RECOVERY
R. N. Hesterman
These scriptures are well known to the brethren. I could have read the whole section, but the thought I had in mind was how this man came to be recovered. Luke carries the thought of recovery through the book, and this man was proceeding in a wrong direction but was turned around. The two on the way to Emmaus were in a similar situation; they were conversing, and going in a wrong direction, and the Lord intervened. I was thinking of Proverbs 4: 26,
“Ponder the path of thy feet”; and again “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death”, Proverbs 14: 12.
The official side is alluded to in this section, the priest and the Levite, but I was thinking of the service of the Lord Jesus. John the baptist, beholding Jesus as He walked, said, “Behold the Lamb of God”, the One upon whom the Spirit descended. The Spirit descended upon Christ in order that He should take up a place of service. Think of the greatness of Christ in His own ministry! Although it could be said that it was without much outward result, it looked on to Paul’s ministry—a ministry from Christ as ascended. The greatest aspect of Christ’s service was what was for God. On the cross He said, “It is finished”. Think of the greatness of the work He accomplished; then His stoop into death and the grave. What greater service could there be, as He said, “No one has greater love than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends”, John 15: 13.
So the Samaritan here in Luke 10 has affection. It is not the official side, the Samaritan is the side of affection—a person who was ready to stoop down and bring in the necessary ingredients, the oil and wine, and pour them in. We think of how the Lord poured out His blood without reservation, and of how the water flowed. How great it is that this unique pouring out met the requirements of a righteous God as to sins and our sinful state. But here it is the pouring in of oil and wine, and it is open to each one of us to do this, as we see persons set on a wrong course. Of primary importance is our own individual responsibility. “Ponder the path of thy feet” means that in the christian pathway we are concerned as to where we are going. We may seem to be taking the right direction, saying or doing right things, perhaps being very active. In our private circumstances we may be on a course that seems to be very legitimate, but “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death”.
The Lord would speak to us as to our pathway. I would certainly take it to myself that perhaps my feet are taking me where they should not. We have in mind one who lost consciousness and was in a coma for a while. We may enter into a position of temporary death. The Lord, in His grace, has recovered each one of us from that. It may be a matter of only a short time, but think of a man going away from Jerusalem! He is leaving the area of the service of God—where persons can be serviceable in Jerusalem. Think of Daniel (Daniel 6: 10), who prayed with his windows open toward Jerusalem. We pray to God that His service might be enriched. We pray, too, for our brother,
that he might be physically recovered, but all our prayers should have in mind a greater response in praise to God. In Malachi 3: 8 Jehovah asks, “Will a man rob God?” It is a matter of where our feet take us, in principle; and it bears on what we are able to take into the house of God; what we can carry in there as the fruit of individual experience, and pondering is really a background to this. John the baptist must have pondered the feet of Christ. He must have done that as he watched Him walk, and then he exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God”, John 1: 36. It must have been a very wonderful experience to get that impression of Christ.
The simple exercise I have is that our own feet should take us into the area where God can be served in a fuller way. This bears on our practical lives, as our brother was saying, and on our part together in testimony. As we are in relation to one another we may see one turning in a direction that is away from Jerusalem, and see the need to bring in the necessary ingredients, to bring in spiritual food. Indeed we are very thankful that we can assemble together and come under the authority of the word of God, what the Spirit would say in our time. It is a very great privilege to be able to do this, which many do not enjoy. As individual christians they have their links with the Lord, they have the Spirit perhaps, but how good it is to draw on one another. It says, “If they fall, the one will lift up his fellow”, Ecclesiastes 4: 10. The idea of “two or three” is a wonderful thought. So may we be helped to encourage one another, to ponder our own pathway, so that we are able to pick others up and assist in recovery. It is really God’s own doing, but He uses persons to serve in many different ways.
Word in meeting for ministry, Plainfield, N.J.
18 October 1977