66

tain of the blood of Christ to take away all sin," he writes, was afresh typified by the miraculous virtue, which God put into this pool, to heal all manner of diseases. And as the fountain of Christ's blood was to be opened at the passover, at which feast he was crucified, so Dr. Lightfoot imagines, that the miraculous cure was effected by this pool at that feast only." It is impossible, both from the properties of the fountain itself, and the usual course of God's method of instruction towards the Jews, to believe that the order of nature should be reversed, without conveying some inner and spiritual meaning to the nation, in whose presence the marvel was exhibited; and it seems highly probable, that the ground of the opinion, which we have quoted, is the correct one. It is a touching image of the state of man in the eyes of God; -the state of the world. unredeemed, and unregenerate. In the sight of men it is fair and beautiful;-It is abundant in enjoyments; - Revelry and mirth are in our dwellings; and our streets are thronged with the gay, fortunate and happy. But in the eyes of God they are but the "blind," wandering from the light of Truth; "the halt"-immoveable to divine grace; -"the withered" - languishing in their worldliness; - a crowd of beings, subject to his wrath, and spiritually wretched by their long habitude to sin. "A great multitude!" and like their image at Bethesda, judged by their own powers, all of "impotent folk." All however "wait for the moving of the water." Weak and sinful as they are, they know still that they are watched and guarded by God's Providence. They *Jennings' Jewish Antiquities, lib. 3. cap. 3,

would not die in their present state; -concealed as their real feelings may be, from the common gaze by its outward splendour. There are none who would carry the unsoundness of their heart, into the Eternal Presence of their Creator; and ill defined as their feelings may be to their own selves,-they all wait, with a secret desire, until God shall send down his angel, and by mercy "make them whole of whatsoever disease they had."

-

If however the narrative has any force in this general application, which we conceive it has, -it is exceeded an hundred-fold, by a reference to the watchful anxiety of the world, in the times anterior to the descent of Christ. The world eagerly looked for the coming of the Messiah. It waited for him, under a painful sense of their own maladies and alienations; waited until the Angel-the messenger of God's Covenant-should be sent down and impart to the waters their soothing and healing qualities. They knew that he would come; and in the consciousness of their own impotency, put their entire Faith in him for their deliverance.

Spiritualizing then the visible symbol, which our Saviour selected for a demonstration of his saving Power; the pool, the receptacle of the waters-is an emblem of the heart, the seat of divine truth and wisdom. The sick and the infirm, wait for the descent of the Spirit of God into their hearts; and, through the movements of the conscience, look for the infusion of a right faith, and the true power of salvation through a Redeemer. Whoever first entered after the troubling of the waters-whoever in the sense of his own infirmity, embraced at once the

faith of Christ, -embraced it when first proclaimed to him, and when first assured in his heart of its divine origin and veracity, was healed.* The Angel descended, and the soul revived. This was the great doctrine forthshadowed to Jerusalem. The miracle performed by Christ on one of the afflicted, stands out in a more individual power, and grounded on the general principle, gives a lesson to the sinner of every age, sex and country.

Among the expectants at Bethesda, behold a man, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. A soul grown old in sin! so long afflicted-with the means of recovery in sight, and yet without effect! What accumulated misery! He had no one to lead him, to the healing waters;-no friendly hand; no sustaining power; and all eagerness for health, he found it yet unattainable. In himself he was wholly weak and nerveless; and without other assistance, he must have died, as he had lived, in his corruption

and his sin.

But at length Jesus-as ever at some period of life to the soul in sin-at length Jesus came to him. He had long seen his affliction; had long known his unavailing efforts to arise from his infirmity without his assistance; had witnessed his faith in the

There is a difficulty in this part of the parallel ;-though one very easily to be surmounted. The great principle asserted by it, seems to be a readiness in Faith. It may mean, taken in an enlarged sense. though it is hazarded as a mere opinion, that whoever first embraced the Law of Christ, whether the Jew, or the Gentile — whoever first entered should be healed; the other rejected; which is historically true. I am however inclined to the opinion in the text, under the idea, that a readiness in faith, was the doctrine to be inculcated.

virtue of the waters, from their effect on others :though incapable himself through weakness, of experiencing their efficacy. He comes to him, and utters the cheering voice. "Wilt thou be made whole?" The word was but the prelude to the great work. The expected confession is scarcely made, before the command is uttered" Rise; take up thy bed and walk." It is a portrait of our every-day existence. Urged by long habits of sin, men are often incapable of raising their thoughts faithfully to God, when the sense of their infirmity first becomes painful to them. Their heart is pressed down to earth; and it is God alone who can raise it from its abasement. They wait for his favor, that they may shake off their languor. But it remains only with themselves to confess Him and to receive it. He wills it; and by signs and wonders performed on men of old; -and by the records of Sacred Writ, animated by the influence of the Holy Spirit now;-he manifestly entreats it; and takes away, even the pretence of distrust, by the prevention-the anticipation of his grace. Let them pray to Christ fervently, as those who pray for their soul's life;-assiduously, and from the heart; and the waters will be moved, and the depths of the heart troubled. They may have tarried long,-but not in vain. Halt, blind, and withered-they may have looked anxiously for the descent of the angel; and have feared lest to them his influence should have been denied ;-but the Spirit of Christ will come at last; yea, CHRIST Himself will be present to thee; and although thy limbs may not at once be straightened; nor thy sinews at once strengthened; though thine efforts to move may at first be slow and

languid; and thine infirmity may still be felt within; -yet Christ still stands by thee,-still watches; still compassionates; still loves thee;-and at length will so adapt every pulse and every breath to the great object he has in view, that in renewed strength and vigor he will exclaim to thee in present power and in future hope; "Son, thou hast waited faithfully my salvation. Rise; be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee."

for

The subject, brought down to this point, ceases from its present claim to our attention. A farther pursuance might accumulate examples, but perhaps give none which would possess decided novelty. The one principle, as usual, would be oft repeated, without being essentially strengthened. Important to the last degree, as such a scrutiny would be to the mind of the individual in his search for Truth; the object we have had in idea seems sufficiently to have been answered by the passages already cited. Whether the mind of the reader yields to the mode of revelation which has been presented to his decision,-or whether he resists it, one point is sufficiently clear, that the examination of those instances in the Bible which have been omitted, would not alter, in the slightest degree, his present reception of the principle. If it will not stand the test of his opinion in the selections which have been made, there are no new facts in the reserved histories, which might confute or falsify his judgment. If his mind assents, there is nothing in those less prominent examples, which