AN incident during the Prince of Wales’ visit to India, which was a great event in the history of the pitiful “untouchables” in that land, has been well told by Katherine Mayo in her famous book “Mother India.” The fact of the Prince’s kindness of heart had reached the ears of these poor outcasts and, says the author of that remarkable book: “When he turned back from his transit of the Great North Gate―the Khyber Pass itself―a strange thing awaited him. A swarm of Untouchables, emboldened by news that had reached them, clustered at the roadside to do him reverence.
“‘Government ki jai!’ ‘Hail to the Government!’ they shouted with cheers that echoed from the barren hills. And when the Prince slowed down his car to return their greetings, they leaped and danced in their excitement.
“For nowhere in all their store of memory or of legend had they any history of any Indian Magnate who had noticed an Untouchable, except to scorn him. And here was a greater than all India contained― the son of the Supreme Power―to them almost divine, who deigned not only to receive, but even to thank them for their homage. Small wonder that their spirits soared, that their eyes saw visions, that their tongues laid hold on mystic words.
“‘Look, look!’ they cried to one another; ‘behold, the Light! the Light!’
“And such was their exaltation, that many of them somehow worked through to Delhi, to add themselves to the 25,000 of their kind, who there awaited the Prince’s coming. The village people from round about flocked in to join them―the simple people of the soil, who know nothing of politics, but much of friendship as shown in works. And all together haunted the roadside, waiting, and hoping, for a glimpse of his face.
“At last he came, down the Grand Trunk Road, toward the Delhi Gate; and in the center of the hosts of Untouchables, one, standing higher than the rest, unfurled a flag.
“‘Yuvaraj Maharaj ki jai! Raja ke Bete ki jai!’ ‘Hail to the Prince! Hail to the King’s son!’ they all shouted together, as if to burst their throats. And the Prince, while the high-caste Indian spectators wondered, and revolted within themselves, at his lack of princely pride, ordered his car to be stopped.
“Then a spokesman ventured forward to offer, in a humble little speech, the love and fealty of the 60,000,000 of the Unclean, and to beg the heir to the throne to intercede for them with his father, the King Emperor, never to abandon them into the hands of those who despised them and would keep them slaves. “The Prince heard him through. Then, whether he realized the magnitude of what he did, or whether he acted merely in the impulse of his natural friendly courtesy toward all the world, he did an unheard-of thing. He stood up―stood up for them, the ‘worse than dogs’!― spoke a few words of kindness, looked them all over, slowly, and so with a radiant smile, gave them his salute.
“No sun that had risen on India had witnessed such a sight. As the car started on, moving slowly, not to crush them, they went almost mad. And again their Eastern tongues clothed their thought. ‘Brother― that word was truth that our brothers brought us―behold, the light is there indeed! The light, the glory, on his face!’”
It was not much that the Prince could do for those almost hopeless people; he did what he could, and won their hearts by what he did. But I would seize upon the incident to illustrate what I want to tell in this book. God—so—loved—the—world. It is an old story that I am telling, and these are familiar words that I am repeating, but I ask you to consider them afresh; you know them well, but look at them again. The heart of God is behind what He has done, and it is more than sinful to ignore that fact. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” He sent Him into the world, not to condemn it, but with the light of His love shining in His face.
To the angels in heaven, this world must have seemed an unlikely place for their Creator and Lord to visit; and they must have marveled as they saw His sacred, sinless feet treading the filthy streets of those Eastern cities; and when He touched the lepers, and looked kindly upon the outcasts, and spoke in tones of mercy even to the vilest, they must have wondered as to what the end would be. It is recorded that “He was seen of angels.” But most men were unmoved by His presence among them. Proud Jerusalem asked scornfully, “Who is this?” But some beheld the glory in His face, and they bore witness and said, “He dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” God’s love smiled upon sinners through the eyes of Jesus. In Him was the light. He is the Light, and those that follow Him “shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
His progress in this world was not through admiring multitudes to a glorious throne, it ought to have been, but it wasn’t. Instead, He was despised and rejected of men, and God knew that He would be when He sent Him, and every step that He trod, took Him nearer to the Cross.
“That path uncheered by earthly smiles
Led only to the Cross.”
And the wonder of all ages is that that Cross is the supreme witness of God’s love to men. I must repeat that it is an old story that I am telling, but to those who have believed it, its charm endures, and it will live to be rehearsed when the exploits of the greatest and kindliest of men are forgotten. It is the story of a love that is eternal and unmeasurable.
“You might count all the days of the ages,
All the snowflakes come down from above,
All the flowers of summers departed―
But you cannot measure this love.”
And it shines still in the face of Jesus, for, though He died, He lives again―risen from the dead, and exalted to the throne in Heaven there still shines from His face the glory of the love and grace of God to men; and I take up the words that those astonished and enraptured Untouchables spoke of the kindly Prince. I say to you, “Brother―that word was truth that our brothers brought us―behold the light is there indeed! The light, the glory, on His face!” And I can give you more reliable authority than that of any man, or of any brother of ours who has spoken to us, though tens of thousands would willingly bear their witness to you, and their witness would be true; but I turn to the Bible, the infallible Word of God, and tell you that it tells us that, “The light of the knowledge of God is in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:66For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)).
And if that light shines into a heart, what is the result? Have you read the story of old Mr. Honest in John Bunyan’s wonderful book?
He wanted to join the Pilgrim band that was traveling to the Celestial City, and Greatheart, the leader of the band, asked him to give an account of himself. “I come,” said he, “from the town of Stupidity, it lieth about four degrees beyond the City of Destruction.”
“I have often wondered,” said Greatheart, “that any should come from your place; for your town is worse than the City of Destruction.”
“Yes,” said old Honest, “we lie more off the sun, and seem more cold and senseless. But were a man in a mountain of ice, yet if the Sun of Righteousness will rise upon him, his frozen heart shall feel a thaw. THUS IT HATH BEEN WITH ME.”
“I believe it, Father Honest, I believe it,” cried Greatheart, “for I know the thing is true.”
Yes, it is true, if but one ray of light shines from the face of Jesus into a man’s heart, it melts and warms and changes it, and he becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus, a lover of God and a possessor of eternal life.