A great hospital

"All of you will desert Me," Jesus told them.
     Mark 14:27

(J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Mark" 1857)

We see in this verse, how well our Lord foreknew
the weakness and infirmity of His disciples. He
tells them plainly what they were going to do.
"All of you shall desert Me."

Let us take comfort in the thought that the
Lord Jesus does not cast off His believing
people because of failures and imperfections.

He knows what they are.

He takes them, as the husband takes the wife, with
all their blemishes and defects, and, once joined to
Him by faith, will never leave them. He is a merciful
and compassionate High priest. It is His glory to pass
over the transgressions of His people, and to cover
their many sins.

He knew what they were before conversion:
wicked, guilty, and defiled; yet He loved them.

He knows what they will be after conversion:
weak, erring, and frail; yet He loves them.

He has undertaken to save them, notwithstanding
all their shortcomings. And what He has undertaken
He will perform.

Let us learn to pass a charitable judgment on the
conduct of professing believers. Let us not set them
down in a low place, and say they have no grace,
because we see in them much weakness and
corruption. Let us remember that our Master in
heaven bears with their infirmities, and let us try
to bear with them too.

The Church of Christ is little better than a great
hospital. We ourselves are all, more or less, weak,
and all daily need the skillful treatment of the
heavenly Physician. There will be no 'complete
cures' until the resurrection day.