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

OF CHRIST'S ROBE 87
ous—and when she saw Him, her faith strengthened
itself. His Personality attracted and impressed her
;
the tidings she had gathered of His restoring power
and grace combined with His presence, His learning,
His magnetic charm, all led her to cast herself on
His bounty, and she said, " If I do but touch His
garment I shall be whole." This is an instance of
the intuitive or instinctive power of faith. It flies
directly to the mark, as an eagle soars to the sun.
It does not consciously reason, although it always has
reason for its base. The faith faculty comes into
active exercise when reason has done its
mission, and
there is no more that it can do. When urged by a
craving which will not be gainsaid, and by a need
that must be satisfied, faith leaves all other mental
processes to grope in their darkness, and springs to
its goal of light and grace.
This is
the experience of the sinner burdened with
his iniquities and groaning for relief. When the
Christ comes into view, he is
arrested, he looks with
entranced gaze, the conviction of His ability to
save
takes hold upon him, and with simple, childlike
directness he grasps the blessing and cries, " My Lord
and my God."
It is the needle vibrating to the pole
it is the plant creeping to the light ; it is the sensitised
nature, made ready by need and suffering, which
responds to a secret call of the Divine Spirit. " My
sheep hear My voice," said Jesus, " and I know them,
and they follow Me." The words of the woman
whispered in her heart, " If I do but touch," was but
the eager response to the secret voice which invites
us still, the sweetness of His yoke to prove. The
sinner's appeal for help is but the outcome of an