They Need Not Depart
They need not depart (Matt 14:16)
The Christ of Every Occupation
One recognises how in that crowd there would be folk of very various occupations. Every trade and calling would be there. When a regiment goes marching down the street, every marching unit is a soldier. And sometimes we have processions through the city composed entirely of women. How different—how utterly dissimilar—how unlike the ordering of the regiment—this miscellaneous gathering in Gadara.
The dresser of the olive tree was there, and there the keeper of the vineyard. There was the tenant farmer from his barren patch, and the muscular and hardy fisherman. And the Master says of all of them, no matter what their occupation be, "They need not depart." It is one of the wonderful things about our Lord that He is the Christ of every occupation. He is the Christ of the policeman as surely as the Christ of the professor. And by that I mean that we can have His comradeship, and His delightful presence, and His grace, no matter what our occupation be.
That is why Paul counsels the Corinthians to abide in the callings wherein they have been called (1 Cor 7:20)
Just where we are, whatever be our task, whether we be on the bridge or at the desk, we can have the fulness of the fellowship of Jesus.. There was no need to leave them to find Christ. It would not be easier to be a Christian anywhere.
They need not depart (Matt 14:16)
The Christ of Every Occupation
One recognises how in that crowd there would be folk of very various occupations. Every trade and calling would be there. When a regiment goes marching down the street, every marching unit is a soldier. And sometimes we have processions through the city composed entirely of women. How different—how utterly dissimilar—how unlike the ordering of the regiment—this miscellaneous gathering in Gadara.
The dresser of the olive tree was there, and there the keeper of the vineyard. There was the tenant farmer from his barren patch, and the muscular and hardy fisherman. And the Master says of all of them, no matter what their occupation be, "They need not depart." It is one of the wonderful things about our Lord that He is the Christ of every occupation. He is the Christ of the policeman as surely as the Christ of the professor. And by that I mean that we can have His comradeship, and His delightful presence, and His grace, no matter what our occupation be.
That is why Paul counsels the Corinthians to abide in the callings wherein they have been called (1 Cor 7:20)
Just where we are, whatever be our task, whether we be on the bridge or at the desk, we can have the fulness of the fellowship of Jesus.. There was no need to leave them to find Christ. It would not be easier to be a Christian anywhere.
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