Luke 17:15,16

AT THE FEET OF JESUS

‘And one of them … fell down on his face at His feet.’

Luke 17:15

I. The place of forgiveness.—We cannot tell the origin of sin. ‘An enemy hath done this.’ All beyond that is a puzzle, an insoluble enigma. But we do know where forgiveness is found. We are sure it may be had for the asking at the feet of our Divine Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgiveness comes first, then holiness. Forgiveness is the starting-point: it is the porch of the Christian life.

II. The place of comfort.—In John 11:21; John 11:32, we hear the two sisters utter the same words of unutterable grief. Sorrow is the same all the world over. It makes all hearts kin. But Mary fell at His feet. That is all we can do when our

‘… sorrow lies too deep

For human ministry.’

III. The place of teaching.—‘Mary … sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word’ (Luke 10:39). How many a prayer for teaching there is in Psalms 119! It would make a profitable Bible study to add them up. It reminds us of the yearning cry, ‘Show us the Father.’ The saints longed to be taught of God. At last the Divine Teacher, the Hope of all the ages, came, and He said to His disciples, ‘One is your Teacher’ (Matthew 23:8, R.V.). He said, ‘Learn of Me.’ He is not a Teacher, He is the Teacher. He can teach us ‘what we ought to do, and what we must believe.’ The voice from heaven said, ‘This is My beloved Son … hear ye Him’ (Matthew 17:5). You are to listen to Him. And when we listen to Him we shall no longer ask, Who shall be the greatest? but, Who shall take the lowest place?

IV. The place of praise.—‘He … fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks’ (Luke 17:16). David prayed three times a day. But he said, ‘Seven times a day do I praise Thee’ (Psalms 119:164). David knew something of a Divine Shepherd, very pitiful, and of tender mercy, but he had never seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. If David gave thanks seven times a day, how often ought we to praise God?

Rev. F. Harper.

Illustration

‘As one grows older one understands what one has heard even from childhood upwards, that this world is a world of sorrow. Surely it is so! And strange it is that it should be in a world of a God of love.… What words of sorrow are evermore going up from human lips and rending human hearts asunder! How many a parent is there who, as she looks back upon the little child, who has perhaps laid his burning brow upon her lap, is reminded of that pathetic story in our Bibles of the little boy coming home from the field in the harvest-time and crying, “My head, my head.” There is another—perhaps a maiden—who will be left homeless, and who cries, “My father, my father!” and there is many a father whose son is taken away before him, and who cries with David of old, “My son, my son!” And there are others who think with a riven heart, “My love, my love!” and there is another who cries, “My sin, my sin!” But there is healing for all sorrow and all sin at the feet of our Lord.’