Taking Him as He Was
George H. Morrison
Mark 4:36
From the first verse of this chapter we infer that Christ had been teaching the people from the boat. He was not particular about His pulpit. He had sat in the ship a little way from land and spoken so to the crowds upon the shore. Now the teaching was over; He was weary; He was craving for a period of rest. And so He bade His disciples cross the lake, and that is the moment to which our text refers-they took Him even as He was. Perhaps the sky was threatening a storm, and someone had suggested fetching cloaks. Or one had hinted at getting a store of food if they were going to camp out on the other side. And then Peter, who was dictating this, recalled a certain eagerness in Christ so that all the kindly hints had come to nothing. They had not waited until any cloaks were brought. They had not sent a messenger ashore. Weary and probably hungry, they had taken Him even as He was. That is a great task for all of us, and I should like to consider for a little some of the many folk who fail to do it.
First, then, I speak of those who take Jesus as they think He ought to be. It is the temptation of many godly people, and that is the reason why I put it first. They never doubt that Jesus is divine. Their confessing cry is that of Thomas. Then they remember what they learned in childhood, that God sees everything and is omniscient. And so, quite independently of Scripture and as an inference from the attributes of God, they conclude that it was so with Him. Then perhaps they open Scripture, and they find Him saying, "I do not know." Or they read that He was astonished and surprised, and, of course, omniscience never is surprised. And it perplexes them and gives them arrowy doubts as if the writers were tampering with their Lord and laying violent hands upon His glory. Then comes the temptation to wrest Scripture, and to make it mean what it could never mean, and to evade the sense that any child would gather if you ...
George H. Morrison
Mark 4:36
From the first verse of this chapter we infer that Christ had been teaching the people from the boat. He was not particular about His pulpit. He had sat in the ship a little way from land and spoken so to the crowds upon the shore. Now the teaching was over; He was weary; He was craving for a period of rest. And so He bade His disciples cross the lake, and that is the moment to which our text refers-they took Him even as He was. Perhaps the sky was threatening a storm, and someone had suggested fetching cloaks. Or one had hinted at getting a store of food if they were going to camp out on the other side. And then Peter, who was dictating this, recalled a certain eagerness in Christ so that all the kindly hints had come to nothing. They had not waited until any cloaks were brought. They had not sent a messenger ashore. Weary and probably hungry, they had taken Him even as He was. That is a great task for all of us, and I should like to consider for a little some of the many folk who fail to do it.
First, then, I speak of those who take Jesus as they think He ought to be. It is the temptation of many godly people, and that is the reason why I put it first. They never doubt that Jesus is divine. Their confessing cry is that of Thomas. Then they remember what they learned in childhood, that God sees everything and is omniscient. And so, quite independently of Scripture and as an inference from the attributes of God, they conclude that it was so with Him. Then perhaps they open Scripture, and they find Him saying, "I do not know." Or they read that He was astonished and surprised, and, of course, omniscience never is surprised. And it perplexes them and gives them arrowy doubts as if the writers were tampering with their Lord and laying violent hands upon His glory. Then comes the temptation to wrest Scripture, and to make it mean what it could never mean, and to evade the sense that any child would gather if you ...
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