1. To all who are sinful and unpardoned. Go and tell Jesus the unpardoned sins of your life.
2. To all who are tempted.
3. To all who are slandered and persecuted.
4. To all who have been bereaved.
5. Christ is always near. (Dr. Talmage.)
The true Friend and Interpreter
1. In Jesus we have the true, Divine Friend of humanity, not of our circumstances, but of ourselves, who undertakes for us just what no one else can.
2. The providence which permitted the removal of John from their head was necessary to send them forward to the great Teacher.
3. When we make great ones, heroes, of the servants, we are in danger of dishonouring and keeping at a distance from the Master.
4. By this critical turn in their history, John’s disciples were not only brought forward to Christ, but actually brought closer and nearer to Him than they otherwise could or would have been. They round the grace to help in time of need.
5. They learnt and did the right thing. They brought the mystery of the Divine providence to Him who alone could throw light upon 2:6. Of what use is it to have such a Friend unless we make use of Him? No religious means can be put in place of Ibis; we may be with Him more intimately in the spirit than His disciples in the flesh. (W. Smith.)
Tell Jesus-a word to the troubled
I. Some of the grounds upon which the believer is warranted to repair to the Lord Jesus in every trying hour.
1. His mediatorial work-anticipates every objection, and answers every argument growing out of a deep and painful sense of unworthiness, etc. Ever accessible.
2. His earthly experience enables him to sympathize with all the forms of human suffering.
3. The mutual relations which exist between the Christ and the believer.
4. The invitations and declarations of His Word.
II. Some of the blessings that will follow the cultivation of this habit.
1. Intimate communion.
2. It will nourish and strengthen all the Christian graces.
3. It will free us from anxious care.
4. It will bring continuous honour and glory to Jesus. (C. Winslow, D. D.)
A complaining Christian once said to a cheerful, happy Christian, “Things always seem to go smoothly with you; I never hear you make any complaints.” To which he replied, “I have found out an effectual way of guarding against that fault-telling Jesus all, and telling Him before I tell any one else; then, I find, I seldom need tell any one else, for in telling Him about my troubles, I often find the burden entirely removed.” (A. Tucker.)
“Go and tell Jesus”
I. A lesson of encouragement for weary labourers. The twelve disciples fatigued from their mission.
II. A lesson for Christian mourners.
1. The last act of affection-“They took up the body and buried it.”
2. The best step for consolation. There is access to Jesus, sympathy with Jesus, relief from Jesus. (C. J. P. Eyre, M. A.)
The body, not the man, buried
“The disciples came and took up the body and buried it.” I like that way of speaking of human burial; it is the true way; it is emphatically the Christian way of speaking of the act. You buried it, not Him. “By and by,” said Socrates to his friends, “you will be saying, ‘ Socrates is dead, but Socrates will not be dead. By and by you will be saying, ‘ Socrates is in his coffin,’ but Socrates will not be in his coffin. By and by you will be saying, ‘ We are going to bury Socrates,’ but you will not bury Socrates, you will only bury something that belonged to him.” Well spoken, thou Old World philosopher; the fuller light of Christianity comes to confirm thy conjecture, and to verify thy reasoning. No; there is no burying a man. You cannot bury a soul. (J. B. French.)
