and largest. It was on Tuesday in the week of the Crucifixion. Two disciples came to Him, saying, "There are certain Greeks here who desire to see Jesus." Impressed with their coming, with this entrance which his words had gained into the world which lay beyond his own people, He gave no answer to the request; but pausing for a moment, it would seem, He said: "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified," and a little later, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself." He would draw men of all nations; the Jew and the Gentile would come, and there were no others. He said this, signifying what death He should die. The suffering at the Cross, the sufferer upon the Cross, the truth that the death was not for himself but for other men, the promise that in this was Eternal Life, would draw men to Him. What He had not accomplished as He walked among men, He would then secure. Men would come to Him, when they saw Him there. The way to God would be open, and they would consent to return to God, by the new and living way of the Cross. He would not compel men, but He would invite them, persuade them, and they would come to Him. It was a sublime assurance for the hour of his agony, and it marks the confidence which belonged to Him and carried Him steadily forward to his death. In this confidence, He was ready to lay down the life which no man could take from Him. He knew that He should draw men, and He has. In every land of the earth, upon the islands, upon the distant points of coral where a few have made their home, He has drawn men to himself; and that which has drawn them, out of every tribe and kindred and nation and people, has been Christ lifted upon the Cross. This was the word preached by Apostles, witnessed by martyrs, established in the Church and its Sacraments, and carried by the messengers of later days to all the earth. It is this which has drawn men to Him, and which must always draw. I do not believe that a man ever saw Christ upon the Cross, really saw Him, knew Him, knew what the lifting up meant to Him and to those for whom He gave his life, and was not drawn to Him. It was so at the beginning; it has been so ever since. It will be so to the end. But it is necessary that He be lifted up. It is not the Cross on Calvary. died upon the Cross, and with what intent. They must see Him, and learn from Him, feel his presence and his life. He must be lifted before the hearts of men now, if they are to be drawn to Him. How shall this be accomplished? By repeating the gospel, telling again the story of the Crucifixion. There is but One who can tell it, and make it deeply enough that He died upon Men must know that He felt, but One who can so lift the Cross of Christ that men shall be held by it, drawn to it, made to feel its infinite compassion, and be brought into the fullness of its endless life. Only the Holy Spirit can take of the things of Christ, the Cross of Christ, Christ lifted up, and so present Him that men shall be drawn to Him. When He lifts the Cross before the heart, men are attracted to the Saviour, unless they will that it shall not be so. Men are free even under this gracious influence, and if they will not come they do not come; but if they will, the Cross lifted by the Spirit of God draws them and holds them. If I may change the imagery a little, the gospel has been compared to a seal. It is not enough that the seal be near the wax, that it touch it, that the wax even be conscious of the presence of the seal. The seal must be pressed into the wax, held there till its impress is made, then it can be removed, and the mark of the seal remains. The truth of Christ may be brought near the heart, may even touch it, and no mark be left. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to press the truth in, to hold it there, till the soul possesses it. Then there is stamped upon the soul the image of Christ lifted upon the Cross. We have the words of the Redeemer of the world. We know his life, his death, his Resurrection, but we need to feel these, or to feel them more deeply, and to have them fixed in our life. It is very simple, but it is very beautiful, even divine, that the Spirit of Truth will enter our thought and affection and will and life, and bring in with Him the grace and truth we need, and make them a part of our thought and life, inspiring our spirit with the spirit of love. He will do this, He will leave the mark of Christ upon us, deepening it, enlarging it; He will make it our life, till its joy and strength are ours; till it becomes courage and constancy and devotion; till we ourselves are spiritual and divine, and the life that we live we live in the faith of Him who loved us and gave himself for us. To Him our Lord intrusted the cause for which He gave his life. To Him He commits us, for whom He died and rose again. He is the Shepherd of Christ's sheep, and He makes us the sheep of the Shepherd, and the shepherds of other sheep. In this light and peace we live, forever drawn on by the vision of the resting Christ in his eternal glory; and as we live on toward Him, we hear the voice encouraging and welcoming us, for out from the heavens comes the greeting to our home: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come!" |