his
own; whether prayer prevailed; whether the promises were to be
literally appropriated by us?

(3) _Partial views of Christ_. "John heard in the prison the works of
Jesus." They were wholly beneficent and gentle.

"What has He done since last you were here?"

"He has laid his hands on a few sick folk, and healed them; has
gathered a number of children to his arms, and blessed them; has sat on
the mountain, and spoken of rest and peace and blessedness."

"Yes; good. But what more?"

"A woman touched the hem of his garment, and trembled, and confessed,
and went away healed."

"Good! But what more?"

"Well, there were some blind men, and He laid his hands on them, and
they saw."

"Is that all? Has He not used the fan to winnow the wheat, and the
fire to burn up the chaff? This is what I was expecting, and what I
have been taught to expect by Isaiah and the rest of the prophets. I
cannot understand it. This quiet, gentle life of benevolence is
outside my calculations. There must be some mistake. Go and ask Him
whether we should expect _another_, made in a different mould, and who
shall be as the fire, the earthquake, the tempest, while He is as the
still small voice."

John had partial views of the Christ--he thought of Him only as the
Avenger of sin, the Maker of revolution, the dread Judge of all. There
was apparently no room in his conception for the gentler, sweeter,
tenderer aspects of his Master's nature. And for want of a clearer
understanding of what God by the mouth of his holy prophets had spoken
since the world began, he fell into this Slough of Despond.

It was a grievous pity; yet let us not blame him too vehemently, lest
we blame ourselves. Is not this what we do? We form a notion of God,
partly from what we think He ought to be, partly from some distorted
notions we have derived from others; and then because God fails to
realize our conception, we begin to doubt. We think, for instance,
that if there be a righteous God, He will not permit wrong to triumph;
little children to suffer for the sins of their parents; the innocent
to be trodden beneath the foot of the oppressor and the proud; or the
dumb creatures to be tortured in the supposed interest of medical
science. Surely God will step out of his hiding-place and open all
prisons, emancipate all captives, and wave a hand of benediction over
all creation. Thus we think and say; and then, because the world still
groans and t