Retaining the Risen Lord

Yet you would not be so glad to see Him as He would be to see you. He is very dear to you; but He is not so dear to you as you are to Him. . . He loves you more than you can ever love Him.

. . . . When we are running on our Master's errands, we may hope that He will meet us; and, next, when He does meet us, we may expect that He will always have a good word for us. When Jesus meets us, it behooves us to get as near to Him as we can: "And they came to and held Him by the feet."

. . . . They did not flee away backward at all, but they came right up to Him, "and held Him by the feet." Now, dear friends, if Jesus is near to you, come closer still to Him. If you feel that He is passing by, come near to Him by an act of your will. Be all-alive and wide-awake; do not be half-asleep in your pew; but say, "If He is here, I will get to Him. If He is anywhere about, I will speak with Him, and beg Him to speak to me." If ever our heart was active in all our lives, it ought to be active in the presence of Christ. And let us try to be all aglow with joy, for so were these women. They were delighted to behold their risen Lord, so they drew nearer to Him; and, all intent with earnest, burning, all-conquering love, they came so close to Him that they could grasp Him, for they felt that they must adore Him.

Now, beloved, let it be so with you and with me. Do not let us lose a single word that our Lord is ready to speak to us. If this be the time of His appearing to us, let Him not come and find us asleep. If He be knocking at the door. . . let us breathe a mighty prayer, "Come, O Thou blessed One whose voice I know full well, and commune with me."

. . . . When Jesus meets us, we should retain Him, and worship Him: "They came and held Him by the feet, and worshiped Him."

. . . "They came and held Him by the feet"--those blessed feet that the nails had held but three days before. He had risen from the grave, and therefore a wondrous change had taken place in Him--but the wounds were there, still visible, and these women "held Him by the feet." And, beloved, whenever you get your Lord Jesus near you, do not let Him go for a little trifle--nay nor yet even for a great thing, but say. . . "I found Him whom my soul loveth: I held Him, and would not let Him go." . . . Be jealous lest you lose Him, when you have realized the joy, the rich delight, of having Him in your soul! . . . Bow thus at His feet; be humble. Hold Him by the feet; be bold, be affectionate. Grasp Him, for though He is your God, He is also your Brother . . .

. . . We hold Him, but still we reverently bow before Him, and feel like John in Patmos when he wrote, "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead." Well spoke one of old, to whom it was said, "Thou canst not see Christ, and live." "Then," replied the saint, "let me see Him, and die." And we would say the same; for, whatever happens to us, we wish for a sight of Him.

. . . . It must have been joy, and joy alone, with which these blessed women would break in upon the eleven, and say, "We have seen what is far better than a vision of angels, for we have seen the Master Himself. We held Him by the feet till we knew that it was really our Lord, we held Him till we had worshiped Him, and heard Him say, "Be not afraid;" and then He gave us a message from His own dear lips, and this is what He said to us, "Tell my brethren that they go into Galilee; and there shall they see Me" (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 45, pp. 301-309).