the Center of attraction to believing hearts

(Continued from p. 144)

Simon finds Himself in the presence of the Searcher of hearts. "And when Jesus beheld him, He said:Thou art Simon, the son of Jona; thou shalt be called Cephas (which is by interpretation, a stone)." "Jesus beheld him." It does not say,, as we might have expected, "And when he saw Jesus." Simon felt the power of that look from the eyes of Him who sees us in the innermost depths of our being, for that look and the words from Jesus transfixed him in such fashion that he never sought God anywhere else than in this One to whom he had been brought that day. Jesus knew him by name, and knew his father Jona-was intimately acquainted with them and all their lives. Who else could He be but the Christ of God? But more than this. Simon has received his new name from the lips of the Christ, who alone could make it good to him. "Thou art Simon…thou shalt be called Cephas (or, Peter), a stone." No one but God has the right to change or add to our names, when it comes to the spiritual significance of them. For He only can furnish us with that which will fulfil the meaning of the name given, as we see in Peter. Naturally, he was not the "rock-man," steadfast, unmovable. His desertion from Christ in the hour of His betrayal proves this; but his recovery to Himself made good the name conferred by Him who knows us altogether. In the inmost depths of his being Simon was attacked to Christ. ."Lord, Thou knowest all things. (Don't You remember how You knew me and my father when I was first brought to You?) Thou knowest that I have affection for Thee" (John 21:17). And the Lord manifested His confidence in His restored servant by putting him in the place of under-shepherd, to care for and mind His sheep and lambs. "Feed MY lambs. Tend MY sheep." With his eye steadfastly fixed upon the "Good," "Great" and "Chief" Shepherd, Peter faithfully carried out his Overseer's command. He could not get away from that "look" which melted his heart in the palace of Caiaphas. He must get to this One again. Never could he be happy or satisfied apart from Him. Hence, when out fishing, he hears the Voice on the shore, and is told that it is the Lord-forgetful of all else, he plunges into the sea to get to Him. With all the failure which comes out in this man, he possessed the true secret of blessing -of all blessing-it was all found in that One to whom he had been brought at first, the Christ of God.

In all of this there shine out the ways of grace in the Son of God. He encourages the heart which shows the initiative of faith, as in the two who followed Him. Hearts that thus yield to Him, He fills, and this impels them to seek others that they too may be filled. He crowns the "obedience" of faith, as in Simon, by bringing the soul into the knowledge of love's purpose, and when failure comes in which seems to almost deny the possibility of it being realized, grace is active in restoring ministry. All this shows how HE must be everything and all to the believing heart.

Next, in Philip's case, we may say, it is the determination of grace in Jesus to find His sheep-there is one of them in Galilee. So "Jesus would go forth into Galilee." Grace in Him does not fail to realize its quest:He "findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow Me." All we know of Philip's origin is told here. "Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter." Bethsaida goes down in the annals of God's history as the! birthplace of these bumble, stalwart men, fisher-folk, who were to shake the throne of the Caesars by their witness of Jesus. "Galilee of the Gentiles," despised, ill-famed in the mind of the religiously-cultured Jew, offered a harvest to the Son of God which Jerusalem and its great shrine could not share, because it would not. Philip found in Jesus all that his heart needed or cared for. But Philip must share his new-found joy, he finds Nathanael. Truly he obeyed and "followed" Jesus, in doing just what Jesus had done. His witness is:"We have found Him of whom Moses, in the law, and the prophets did write:Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

Nathanael was not a sceptic in the evil sense. He illustrates rather those who, being upright themselves, look for this quality in all who claim acquaintance with God. Hence when hearing of Nazareth as the abode of the One of whom Moses and the prophets did write, his honest inquiry is:"Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip employs the best of all arguments for a true "sceptic." He said:"Come and see." That is all one who is honest requires. If he finds on inquiry that the report is true, no matter what a shock he receives, he believes. And so Nathanael, willing to be convinced, goes with his companion and friend. The Lord, perfectly aware of what had transpired, on seeing Nathanael, said of him:"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Instead of taking offence at Nathanael's remark, as we might easily have done (for there is with us much "pride of place"), the Lord shows His greater interest in the man Philip brought to Him. Nathanael shows surprise at Jesus' evident acquaintance with him, for he exclaims:"Whence knowest Thou me?" "Where does this intimacy concerning me arise?" The Lord's answer reveals the truth of who He is, even though He came out of Nazareth:"Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee." That is, Jesus saw this man where no eye but the' eye of God could penetrate. In the shelter of the worshiped's hidden retreat, where doubtless Nathanael poured out his soul before God, there it was that Jesus saw him-aye, and heard too the deep longings of his soul. And He was here to answer, to satisfy those longings as He alone can.

Nathanael, being of the faith-family, exclaims in wonder and in worship:"Master, Thou art the Son of God! Thou art the King of Israel!" How beautiful to see this disciple first worshiping Him as the Son of God; then recognizing in Him also the Anointed One, the true King after God's own heart, the only One worthy of rule and authority over God's elect people Israel. The Lord, delighted at the confession of faith here made, replies:"Because I said unto thee, I saw thee.. .believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these… Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." Faith is to have its sure reward in seeing Him in whom it has found all its delight, honored and adored by all in heaven and earth in the day of His glory. Thus does John the seer, in his wonderful prologue to his Gospel, speak of Him from eternity to eternity. Nathanael, Philip, Simon, Andrew, John, the Gentile Magi, and the shepherds, with all the family of faith of that and of every age, shall witness and share in that honor and glory with which He is to be crowned "in the day of His espousals, and, in the day of the gladness of His heart."

One more look at the past. We go forward in the history to the time of His betrayal and death. It is all foretold by Him, as faithfully and sorrowfully He tells of His going away, His return to the Father by way of the cross of Calvary. Can we wonder at the sorrow and amazement which on their part refused' to hear it? He go away for whom they had waited, and the ages had waited? No; it cannot be. They refuse to believe it, they must have misinterpreted Him. "Lord, whither goest Thou?" "Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way?" "Why cannot I follow Thee now? I will lay down my life for Thy sake!" These were not chance words, nor shallow ones. They wrench the heart-strings as we think of the keen disappointment, the amazement and bewilderment which overtook their hearts under the circumstances. But after all, what made it so hard for them was the love and attachment they had for Him-a love which found its root and anchor in His love, in Himself. To have HIM go away! to lose HIM! What could be sadder, if true? What could be more unbearable? The thought itself meant anguish for them.

This can only be where true love for Christ is implanted in the soul. And this is what we see so genuinely expressed on their part. Whatever mistakes, whatever faults or failings there may have been-and there were such-there was a love for Himself, answering to His great, fathomless love, which could find no rest, no satisfaction but in Himself. "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst" for Him; for "they shall be satisfied." "As the hart panteth after the water brooks"; do our souls so pant after HIM? Is it with us, as with Paul, "For me to live is Christ," and do we readily count as filth that which would displease HIM, that we may have HIM as our gain? Wm. Huss

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