CHRIST'S SYMPATHY TO WEARY PILGRIMS CHRIST'S SYMPATHY TO WEARY PILGRIMS
by Octavius Winslow (1808 - 1878)
WHAT A BOUNDLESS, FATHOMLESS OCEAN!
Eternal love moved the heart of Jesus to relinquish heaven for earth-a diadem for a cross-the robe of divine majesty for the garment of our nature; by taking upon Himself the leprosy of our sin. Oh, the infinite love of Christ! What a b ...read
Consider Jesus– as Afflicted "He was afflicted." -Isa. 53:7
For this Jesus was born. His mission to our world involved it. In the righteous arrangement of God, sin and suffering, even as holiness and happiness, are one and inseparable. He came to destroy the works of the devil; and sin, being Satan's master-work, Jesus could only destroy it as He Himself suffered, just a ...read
Consider Jesus– as Forsaken by God "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" -Matt. 27:46
My soul! was it not enough that your Lord should be forsaken of man in His sorrow? Was it essential to the accomplishment of your salvation, and to your support and comfort in seasons of soul desertion and darkness, that He should likewise be forsaken of God? Yes! it must be so. The hist ...read
Consider Jesus– as Forsaken by Man "Then all the disciples forsook Him, and fled." -Matt. 26:56
What a sad contrast does this picture present to the one we have just been viewing--"Jesus, our fellow-sufferer." His time of suffering has now come, but, lo! "all His disciples have forsaken Him, and fled." Is there nothing, my soul, in this affecting and significant fact from w ...read
Consider Jesus– as Not Alone "And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me." -John 16:32
There is a sweetness in every cup, a light in every cloud, a presence in every solitude of the Christian's experience. It was so with Jesus, who will mold all His followers like unto Himself. We have just considered Him in loneliness--forsaken by man, deserted by God. But no ...read
Consider Jesus– as Receiving Sinners "This man receives sinners!" -Luke 15:2
Nothing gave greater offence to the scribes and Pharisees than the divine mission of Jesus to save sinners. No greater and more virulent accusation could they allege against Him, than that, He extended His compassionate regards to the vile and the wretched, admitting the most flagrant offenders to His me ...read
Consider Jesus– as Tempted by Satan "Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." -Matt. 4:1
It is a consolatory reflection to the child of God that, since the temptations of Satan constitute so severe, yet so essential a part of his spiritual training for glory, Jesus, his Surety-Head, was Himself subjected to a like discipline, equally a ...read
Consider Jesus– as Without Deceit "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 1 Peter 2:22
Purer than the purest crystal, more transparent than the brightest sun, was the character of Jesus. It needed but the visual organ purged from the blinding and distorting effects of sin to have looked into the deepest recesses of His heart, to have seen every pulse, to h ...read
Consider Jesus– in Bereavement "Jesus wept." -John 6:35
With what baptism of suffering was not Jesus baptized? What cup of sorrow did not He drink? Well may He ask, "Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" "Yes, Lord," every believing saint may reply, "by Your grace I AM ABLE; for, while with ...read
Consider Jesus– in Communion with God "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." -Mark 1:35
To whom can this impressive picture of high devotion properly apply but to Him whose life was one continuous act of prayer; whose vital and all-pervading atmosphere was communion with God? Jesus literally "wa ...read
Consider Jesus– in Filial Subjection "He was subject unto them." -Luke 2:51
This was one of the most instructive and lovely traits in our Lord's character--His subjection to parental authority. What period and what condition of life has He not personally impressed with His greatness and hallowed with His sanctity? As Irenaeus beautifully remarks, "He came to save all who are bo ...read
Consider Jesus– in His Atoning Blood "The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from every sin." 1 John 1:7
The blood of Jesus is everything. It is the central doctrine of our faith, the present and eternal life of our souls. There is no pardon, no salvation, no heaven but by blood--the blood of the Lord Jesus. Were we to relinquish every other revealed truth, and concentrate upon ...read
Consider Jesus– in His Second Appearing "Looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." -Titus 2:13
A Savior 'to come' has been the hope of the Church of God in every age and dispensation. The Old Testament saints looked for His coming to save; the saints of the New Testament look for His coming to reign--even "The GLORIOUS ap ...read
Consider Jesus– in Intercessory Prayer "I pray for them." -John 17:9
There is no part of Christ's Priestly office more soothing to the sick, tried, and suffering believer, than His intercessory supplication on their behalf. To know that we are borne upon the prayerful hearts of our fellow-Christians, in times when providences are trying, and our hearts are breaking, is unspeakably ...read
Consider Jesus– in Loneliness "And shall leave me alone." -John 16:32
Jesus, for the most part, lived a lonely and solitary life. It was of necessity so. There was much in His mission, more in His character, still more in His person, that would baffle the comprehension, and estrange from Him the interest and the sympathy of the world; compelling Him to retire within the pr ...read
Consider Jesus– in Lowliness of Birth "Is not this the carpenter's son?"--Matthew 13:55
What a remarkable fact in the history of Jesus does this question, asked with mingled surprise and contempt, betray! It presents Him in a point of light in which, perhaps, few have paused to study Him, and yet than which there is scarcely another more real and instructive. It invites us to con ...read
Consider Jesus– in Obedience to Divine Law "He became obedient unto death." -Phil. 2:8
A higher obedience of Christ is this, than that we have just considered, since it is obedience to a Divine law and to a Heavenly Parent. Those who honor and obey God will not be found willfully and persistently dishonoring and disobeying an earthly one. The higher law, recognized and honored, will mo ...read
Consider Jesus– in Obedience to Human Law "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's." -Matt. 22:21
The obedience of Jesus, whether natural or moral--whether yielded to a divine or a human law--was, like all that He did, worthy of Himself. In no instance did He exhibit anything approaching resistance to constituted authority. Rebellion against Satan and sin was the only insubo ...read
Consider Jesus– in Sickness "He Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses." -Matthew 8:17
How closely and tenderly is Jesus one with His Church! Take the subject of the present meditation as an illustration. There is not a chamber of pining sickness, nor a couch of suffering languor, at which His presence may not be experienced in all the divine power and hum ...read
Consider Jesus– in Soul-trouble "Now My soul is deeply troubled." -John 12:27
In this lay our Lord's greatest suffering--His soul-sorrow. Compared with this, the lingering, excruciating tortures of the cross--the extended limbs, the quivering nerves, the bleeding wounds, the burning thirst--were, as nothing. This was physical, the other spiritual; the one, the suffering of ...read
