The miracles of Jesus - Classical Christian Literature by Athleo.net

THE TOUCH OF JESUS 249
horrifying, so certain to render Jesus also ceremonially
unclean, that it is no wonder Mark says that
afterwards Jesus "could no more enter into the
city, but was without in desert places, and they
came to Him from every quarter" —the power of
His attractiveness overcoming the scruples of ceremonialism
in the case of those who could not do
without Him. There was cleansing power in His
very presence, and not only did leprosy flee before
Him, but the moral uncleanness which it represented
fled too. In this sense Jesus was the true Light
of the World, for, like natural light, He was the
great detergent and disinfectant, the most effective
destroyer of all germs of disease and death. It is
not in vain that we pray to Him, who is the world's
eternal light
" Come, shine away my sin."
And " If we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ His son cleanseth us from all
sin."
2. Think next of the whole cycle of miracles, in
which illnesses and afflictions of various kinds were
removed.
They are typical of conditions of moral weakness,
and of spiritual debility, which are sadly common
among us. The fever of Peter's wife's mother, for
example, was a symbol of the feverish ways and
tempers which we are troubled with, sapping our
strength for happy and successful service. The
powerlessness of this poor woman, who was bowed
down and unable to lift up herself, was a type of
despondency which is hard to overcome, which no