Crisis in Galilee
331
With a yearning heart, Jesus saw those who had been His disciples
departing from Him, the Life and the Light of men. The consciousness
that His compassion was unappreciated, His love unrequited, His
mercy slighted, His salvation rejected, filled Him with sorrow that was
inexpressible. It was such developments as these that made Him a man
of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.
Without attempting to hinder those who were leaving Him, Jesus
turned to the twelve and said, “Will ye also go away?”
Peter replied by asking, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” “Thou hast
the words of eternal life,” he added. “And we believe and are sure that
Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”
“To whom shall we go?” The teachers of Israel were slaves to
formalism. The Pharisees and Sadducees were in constant contention.
To leave Jesus was to fall among sticklers for rites and ceremonies,
and ambitious men who sought their own glory. The disciples had
found more peace and joy since they had accepted Christ than in all
their previous lives. How could they go back to those who had scorned
and persecuted the Friend of sinners? They had long been looking
for the Messiah; now He had come, and they could not turn from His
presence to those who were hunting His life, and had persecuted them
for becoming His followers.
“To whom shall we go?” Not from the teaching of Christ, His
lessons of love and mercy, to the darkness of unbelief, the wicked-
ness of the world. While the Saviour was forsaken by many who
had witnessed His wonderful works, Peter expressed the faith of the
disciples,—“Thou art that Christ.” The very thought of losing this
anchor of their souls filled them with fear and pain. To be destitute of
a Saviour was to be adrift on a dark and stormy sea.
Many of the words and acts of Jesus appear mysterious to finite
minds, but every word and act had its definite purpose in the work
for our redemption; each was calculated to produce its own result.
If we were capable of understanding His purposes, all would appear
[394]
important, complete, and in harmony with His mission.
While we cannot now comprehend the works and ways of God,
we can discern His great love, which underlies all His dealings with
men. He who lives near to Jesus will understand much of the mystery
of godliness. He will recognize the mercy that administers reproof,
that tests the character, and brings to light the purpose of the heart.