Milford chronicle., 1893-05-26

asked, "Who touched me" Mark v, SDf
A great crowd of excited people elbowing
each other this way and that and Christ in
| the midst OF the eommotion. They were on
the way to see him restore to complete
health a dying person. Some thought he
could effect the cure, others that he could
not At any rate, it would be an interest
ing experiment. A very sick woman of l.
years invalidism is in the crowd. Some say
her name was Martha, others say it was
Veronica l do not know what her name
was, but this is certain-she had tried all
styles Of cure. Every shelf of her humble
home had medicines on it. She had en-
ployed many of the doctors Of that time
when medical science was more rude and
rough and ignorant than we can imagine
in this time, when the word physician OF
surgeon stands for potent and educated
skill. Professor IightfOot gives list OF
what he supposes may have been the rene
dies she had applied. 1 suppose she had
been blistered from head to foot and had
tried the compress and had used all styles
Of astringent herbs, and she had been
malled and hacked and cut and lacerated
until life to her was plague. Besides that,
the Bible indicates her doctors bills had
run up frightfully, and she had paid money
for medicines and for surgical attendance
and for hygienic apparatus until her purse
was as exhausted as her body.
A POOR woMAN's FAITH.
What, poor woman, are you doing in that
jostling crowd? Better gOhOme and to bed
and nurse your disorders. MOI Wan and
wasted and faint she stands there, her face
distorted with suffering, and ever and anon
biting her lip with some acute pain, and
sobbing until her tears fall from the hollow
eye upon the faded dress, only able to stand
because the crowd Is so close to her push
ing her this way and that. Stand back
Why do you crowd that poor body? Have
YOU no consideration for dying wOmani
But Just at that time the crowd parts, and
this invalid comes almost up to Christ, but
she is behind him and his human eye does
not take her in. She has heard so much
about his kindness to the sick, and she does
feel so wretched she thinks if she can only
lust touch him once it will do her good.
She will not touch him on the sacred head,
for that might be iTreverent. She will not
touch him on the hand, for that might seem
too familiar. She says: Il will, l think,
touch him on his coat, not on the top OF 1t
or on the bottom of the main fabric, but on
the border, the blue border, the long threads
of the fringe Of that blue border; there can
be no harm in that l don't think he will
hurt me; | have heard so much about him.
Besides that, / can stand this no longer.
Twelve years of suffering have worn me
out. This is my last hope" And she
presses through the crowd still farther and
reaches for Christ. but she cannot quite
touch him. She pushes still farther through
the crowd and llneels and puts her finger
to the edge of the blue fringe of the border.
She lust touches it. Quick as an electric
shock there thrilled back into her shattered
nerves and shrunken veins and exhausted
arteries and painting lungs and withered
muscles health, beautiful health, rubicund
health. God given and complete health.
! The IL years march Of pain and pang and
suffering over suspension bridge of nerve
and through tunnel of bone instantly
halted.
Christ recognizes somehow that magnet
ic and heathful influence through the me
dium of the blue fringe of his garment had
shot out. He turns and looks upon that ex-
cited crowd and startles them with the in
terrogatOry of my text, who touched
me?" The insolent crowd III substance re-
piled; "Tiow do we EnOw2 You get in
| crowd like this, and you must expect to be
| iostled. You ask US question you know
we cannot answer" But the roseate and
| reiuvenated woman came up and knelt In
| front of Christ and told of the touch and
told of the restoration, and Jesus sald'
| DAUGHTER, thy faith hath made thee whole.
| Go in pence" So Mark gives usa dramati-
zation of the gospel. Oh, what a doctor
/ Christ isl In every one of our households
! may he be the family physicianl
CuRIsT's PHYSICAL MAGNETISM.
Notice that there is no addition of help
] 10 others without subtraction of power
| from ourselves. The context says that as
| soon as this woman was healed Jesus felt
| that virtue OF strength had gone out OF
! him. No addition of help to Others without
subtraction Of strength from ourselves. Did
! YOU never get tired for others? Have you
| never risked your health for others? Have
J YOU never preached a sermon or delivered
| an exhortation or offered burning prayer
and then felt afterward that strength had
zone out of you? Then you have never i'm
| itated Christ.
Are YOU curious TO know how that gar
nent of Christ should have wrought sucL
IA cure for this suppliant invalid? l sup
nose that Christ was subcharged with vital
! ity. You know that diseases may be con
veved from city to city by garments, as IL
case of epidemic, and I suppose that gar
nents may be subcharged with health
silpDose that Christ had such physical mag
netism that it permeated all his robe dowI
% the last thread on the border Of the blue
fringe. But in addition to that there was
divine thrill, there was a miraculous po
tency. there was an omnipOtent therapeu
tics. without which this u years invalid
would not have been instantly restored.
Now, if omnipotence cannot help other'
without depletion, how can we ever expect
to bless the world without self sacrifice? A
man who gives to some Christian Object
until he feels 1t, a man who in his occupa
tion or profession overworks that he may
educate his children, a man whoon Sunday
night goes home, all his nervous energy
wrung out by active service in church o.
Sabbath school or city evangelization, hal
initiated Christ, and the strength has gon'
ont Of him. A mother who robs herself O
sleep in behalf of a sick cradle wife wn'
hears M cheerfully under domestic mis-
fortune that she may encourage her hus
band in the combat against disaster, wo
man who by hard saving and earnest praye
and good counsel, wisely given, and man.
wears. devoted to rearing her family for Go;
land usefulness and heaven, and who ha
nothing to show for it but premature gra.
ihairs and a profusion of deep wrinkles, 4
like Christ, and strength has gone out Q
her. That strength or virtue may hay'
gone out through garment she has mad
for the home; that strength may have gon
out through the sock you knit for the bare
foot destitute; that strength may so ou
through the mantle hung up in some close
after yo1 are dead. So a crippled child sa
every morning on her fathers front step 3
that when the kind Christian teache
passed by to school she might take hold 9
her dress and let the dress slide throug
her pale fingers. She said it helped be
main SO much and made her 50 happy all th
dav. Ave, have we not in all our dwelling
garments Of the departed, touch OF whic
thrills us through and through, the lie
those who are gone thrilling through th
life Of those who stay2 But, mark you, "a
principle / evolve from this subject
addition Of health to others unless there
a subtraction of strength from ourselves
T.. - f.nf1 mona ont of him