The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young Part 8

Soon after breakfast, his wife opened the front window, to dust off the sill. Just then a rude boy, who was pa.s.sing, threw a dead raven in through the window. It fell at the feet of the pious weaver. As he threw the bird in, the boy cried out in mockery, "There, old saint, is something for you to eat." The weaver took up the dead raven, saying as he did so:--"Poor creature! you must have died of hunger!"

But when he felt its crop to see whether it was empty, he noticed something hard in it. And wishing to know what had caused its death, he took a knife and cut open its throat. How great was his astonishment on doing this, to find a small diamond bracelet fall into his hand! His wife gazed at it in amazement. "Didn't I tell you," he asked, in grateful gladness, "that the Lord will help?"

He went to the nearest jeweler's, and telling how he had found the precious jewels, borrowed some money on them. On making inquiry about it, it turned out that the bracelet belonged to the wife of the good weaver's late employer. It had suddenly disappeared from her chamber.

One of the servants had been charged with stealing it, and had been dismissed. On hearing how the bracelet had disappeared, and how strangely it had fallen into the hands of his late worthy workman, the gentleman was very much touched; and not only rewarded him liberally for returning it--but took him back into his employ, and said he should never want work again so long as he had any to give.

How willing, and how able our glorious Saviour is to help those who trust in him!

"The Sailor Boy's Belief." One night there was a terrible storm at sea. All at once a ship, which was tossing on the waves, keeled over on her beam ends. "She'll never right again!" exclaimed the captain.

"We shall all be lost!"

"Not at all, sir!" cried a pious sailor boy who was near the captain.

"What's to hinder it?" asked the captain. "Why you see, sir," said the boy, "they are praying at this very moment in the Bethel ship at Glasgow for all sailors in danger: and I feel sure that G.o.d will hear their prayers: Now see, sir, if he don't!"

These words were hardly out of the boy's mouth, before a great wave struck the ship, and set her right up again. And then a shout of praise, louder than the howling of the storm, went up to G.o.d from the deck of that saved ship.

And so, in the miracles that he performed, one thing that Jesus taught was his power to help.

_In the next place, among the miracles of Christ, we find some that were performed in order to teach us his power to_--COMFORT.

One day, a great mult.i.tude of people waited on Jesus from morning till evening, to listen to his preaching. They were so anxious to hear that even when hungry they would not go away to get food. As the evening came on, the disciples asked their master to send the people away to get something to eat. But Jesus told them to give the people food. They said they had only five loaves and two fishes. Jesus told them to make the people sit down on the gra.s.s. And when they were seated he took the loaves and blessed, and brake them, and gave them to the disciples, and they gave them to the people. And great as that mult.i.tude was the supply did not fail. This was wonderful! Those loaves were very small. They were not bigger than a good-sized roll.

The whole of the five loaves and two fishes would not have been enough to make a meal for a dozen men. And yet they were made sufficient to feed more than five thousand hungry people. How strange this was! The mighty power of Jesus did it. We are not told just _where_, in the interesting scene, this wonder-working power was put forth. It may have been that as Jesus brake the loaves and gave the pieces to the disciples, the part left in his hands grew out at once, to the same size that it was before. Or the broken pieces may have increased and multiplied while the disciples were engaged in distributing them. It is most likely that the miracle took place in immediate connection with Jesus himself. The power that did it was his: and in his hands, we may suppose that the wonderful work was done. As fast as he broke the loaves they increased, till all the people were fed. This was indeed not _one_ miracle, but a mult.i.tude of miracles, all performed at once. The hungry mult.i.tude ate till all were satisfied: and yet the fragments left filled twelve baskets.

Five thousand men were fed, and then there was twelve times as much food left as there was before they began to eat. All this was done to satisfy that hungry crowd, and to teach them, and us, what power this glorious Saviour has to comfort those who are in need or trouble.

And when he healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman, as we read in St. Matt, xii: 21-28; when he healed the lunatic child, as we read in St. Matt, xvii: 14-21; and when he raised Lazarus from the dead, after he had lain four days in the grave, as we read in St.

John xi: 1-54, he was working miracles to show his power to comfort those in trouble.

And we see him using his power still to comfort persons who are in distress. Here are some ill.u.s.trations of the way in which he does this:

"Shining in Every Window." A Christian lady, who spent much time in visiting among the poor, went one day to see a poor young girl, who was kept at home by a broken limb. Her room was on the north side of the house. It did not look pleasant without or cheerful within. "Poor girl!" she said to herself, "what a dreary time she must have!" On entering her room she said:

"I am sorry, my friend, that your room is not on the other side of the house, where the sun could shine upon you. You never can have any sunshine here."

"Oh, you are mistaken," she said: "the sunshine pours in at every window, and through every crack."

The lady looked surprised.

"I mean Jesus, 'the Sun of righteousness,' shines in here, and makes everything bright to me."

Here we see Jesus showing his power to comfort.

"Ice in Summer." Some years ago a Christian merchant, in one of our eastern cities, failed in business, and lost everything he had. After talking over their affairs with his wife, who was a good Christian woman, they concluded to move out to the west and begin life again there. He bought some land on the wide rolling prairie, built a log cabin, and began to cultivate his farm. In the midst of the second summer, hard work and exposure to the sun brought on an attack of sickness, and a raging fever set in. They were twelve miles away from the nearest town. One of the neighbors went there and came back with a doctor. He examined the case very carefully, and left some medicine with them, and told them what to do. He said it was a very dangerous attack. If they could only get some ice to apply to the burning brow of the sick man, he thought he might get over it; but, without that, there was very little prospect of his recovery.

As soon as the doctor was gone, the sorrowful wife gathered her family and friends round the bedside of her sick husband, and kneeled down with them in prayer. She told G.o.d what the doctor had said, and prayed very earnestly that he who has the power to do everything, would send them some ice.

When the prayer was over, some of the neighbors whispered to each other that the poor distressed woman must be losing her mind. "The idea of getting ice here," they said, "when everybody knows there isn't a bit of ice in all the country! It would be contrary to all the laws of nature to have ice in summer."

The wife of the sick man heard their remarks, but they did not shake her faith in G.o.d, and in the power of prayer. Silently, but earnestly, her heart breathed forth the cry for ice.

As the day wore on, heavy clouds began to gather in the western sky.

They rolled in darkness over the heavens. The distant thunder was heard to mutter. Nearer and louder it was heard. The lightning began to flash. Presently the storm burst in its fury. It came first in rain, and then in hail. The hail-stones came in lumps of ice as big as eggs. They lay thick in the furrows of the field. The thankful wife went out, and soon came in rejoicing with a bucket full of ice.

It was applied in bags to her husband's head. The fever broke, and he was restored to life and health.

This grateful woman never troubled herself with any questions about whether it was a miracle or not. She only knew that she had prayed for ice in summer, and that the ice had come. And her faith was stronger than ever that the gracious Saviour, who did so many miracles when he was on earth, has just the same power now to comfort his people when they are in trouble.

_In the third place, we see Jesus performing miracles to teach us what power he has to_--ENCOURAGE--_his people_.

We have an account in St. Luke xiii: 10-17, of the miracle he performed on the woman who had "a spirit of infirmity." This means that she was a cripple. Her body was bound down, so that she had no power to straighten herself or to stand upright. She had been in this condition we are told for _eighteen_ years. How hard to bear--and how discouraging this trial must have been to her! No doctor could give her any relief, and she had made up her mind, no doubt, that there was no relief for her till death came. But when Jesus saw her, he pitied her. A miracle of healing was performed upon her. He laid his loving hand upon her bent and crippled body, and in a moment her disease was removed. She stood straight up, and glorified G.o.d. What encouragement that must have given to her!

One day, when Jesus was at Capernaum, the tax-gatherers came to Peter to get the tribute, or tax-money, that was due to the Roman government, for himself and his master. But, it happened so that neither of them had money enough with which to pay that tax. Peter went into the presence of Jesus to speak to him about this matter.

But Jesus knowing what was in his mind, before Peter had time to say anything on the subject, told him what to do. He directed him to take his fishing-line and go to the lake, and cast in his line, and catch the first fish that should bite; and said that in its mouth he would find a piece of money with which he might pay the tribute that was due for them both.

Peter went. He threw in his line. He soon caught a fish. He looked into the fish's mouth and lo! there was a piece of money called a stater. It was worth about sixty cents of our money, and was just enough to pay the tribute for two persons. How wonderful this was! If Jesus made this piece of money in the mouth of the fish, at the time when Peter caught it, how wonderful his _power_ must be! And if, without making it then, he knew that _that_ one fish, the only one in the sea, probably, that had such a piece of money in its mouth, would be the first to bite at Peter's line, then how wonderful his _knowledge_ must be!

Peter would not be likely to forget that day's fishing as long as he lived. And when he thought of the ill.u.s.tration it afforded of the wonderful power and the wonderful knowledge of the master whom he was serving, what encouragement that would give him in his work!

And Jesus is constantly doing things to encourage those who are trying to serve him.

Let us look at some of the ways in which this is done. Our first ill.u.s.tration is from the life of Washington Allston, the great American painter. We may call it:

"Praying for Bread." Many years ago Mr. Allston was considered one of the greatest artists in this country. At the time to which our story refers, he was living in London. Then he was so poor that he and his wife had not a morsel of bread to eat; nor a penny left with which to buy any. In great discouragement he went into his studio, locked the door, and throwing himself on his knees, he told the Lord his trouble, and prayed earnestly for relief.

While he was still upon his knees, a knock was heard at the door. He arose and opened the door. A stranger stood there.

"I wish to see Mr. Allston," said he.

"I am Mr. Allston," replied Mr. A.

"Pray tell me, sir, who has purchased your fine painting of the 'Angel Uriel,' which won the prize at the exhibition of the Royal Academy?"

"That painting has not been sold," said Mr. A.

"Where is it to be found?"

"In this very room," said the artist, bringing a painting from the corner, and wiping off the dust.

"What is the price of it?" asked the gentleman.

"I have done fixing a price on it," said Mr. A., "for I have always asked more than people were willing to give."

"Will four hundred pounds be enough for it?" was the next question.

"That is more than I ever asked."

"Then the painting is mine," said the stranger, who introduced himself as the Marquis of Stafford; and from that day he became one of Mr. Allston's warmest friends.

What a lesson of encouragement the great painter learned that day, when he asked for bread, and while he was asking, received help that followed him all his days!

"The Hushed Tempest." A minister of the gospel in Canada gives this account of a lesson of encouragement to trust G.o.d in trouble, which he once received.