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

334 THE DEMONIAC
goes with it ; and nothing more offensive than
the handshake which is purely formal, ceremonious,
and without feeling. I do not want a stiff hand held
out to me and to all comers alike, when I enter or
leave a sanctuary, by some minister or deacon who
does it as if he was ticking off figures. I resent it,
because it is machine - like or patronising. But a
hand that quivers with real feeling as it touches
mine, and has something in it of the magnetism of
love ! that lifts me up and sets me on my feet and
gives me a bit of self-respect, and a breezy something
in my heart which lasts all the day.
Now think of all there was in that action of Jesus.
He took him by the hand. Ah, what a hand-shaking
was that. It was the whole hand, you maybe sure,
no finger-tips ; and the muscles that strengthened
the grip were firm as iron though the pressure was
so gentle. And it was as warm as love could make
it. It was thrilling with tenderness, and vibrating
with compassion. The beating of a divine heart
was in all its pulses. It was soft as a mother's,
and mighty as a giant's. There was not the least
shrinking in it, or the faintest touch of condescension.
It was so sweet, so pitiful, so powerful, that
the boy felt new life coming into him. If you could
learn to hold men's hands like that, you could wellnigh
work miracles.
If Jesus were here now, it is just such a handshaking
that He would give some of you, some of
you who came into the sanctuary to-night with a
feeling that you were absolute strangers here, and
with almost a certainty that you would go away unnoticed
;
some, perhaps, who crept into the sanctuary