Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-10-31
MARK XII, 81.

Se99AOns 81
MARK XII, 81.
"Thecommon people heard him gladly"
Our Savior was popular preach
er. Great multitUdes hung upon his
lips. They followed him by the
thousands to listen to the gracious
words that proceeded out of his
mouth" Once they followed him
in such numbers, to a desert place
that they were in danger of starv-
ing had not Jesus wrought great
miracle to supply them with bread.
And on account of the press of the
crowd Zacchius was obliged to climb
a sycamore tree, even to see him.
And 1 suppose that several thousand
were converted through the Savior's
preaching. Though Scribe and Phar-
/ isee and Sadducees hated him and
tried to entangle him in his talk,
the "common people" " which are,
usually, about nine tenths of all the
people, ,eheard him gladly" The rea-
son why the Scribes and Pharisees
hated him, was because he put them
to silence. This was done in a way
that made them marVel-as when
they so1ght to catch him in his talk,
they asked :-"Isi it lawful to give
tribute to Caesar OF not?" Taking
a Roman coin, he asked d:-"Whose
! is this image and superscription?"
They said unto him Caesars. And
Jesus answering said:-"Render un-
to Caesar the things that are Cae
sar's, and unto God, the things that
are Gods of the keenest an
swers that was ever given. The
coin bears Caesars image, which
shows that you accept the protection
of the government, you ought to
support it. You have Gods image.
Give God the service of your hearts
and lives, which is justly his due.
He had also put to silence the Sadu-
cees-whieh-sav there is no resurec-
tion-by a text from their own Scrip
tures-"I am the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac and the God
of Jacob" to which was added
word of comment-"God is not the
God of the dead, but of the living"
Then came a Scribe with the ques-
tioD-"Whieh is the greatest COM
mandment?" referring, probably,to
some external rite on ceremony. Je-
sus met this by the wonderful answer
including the law and the prophets
-"Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and
with all thy strength, and thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself." And
so the common people learned that
these burdens, grievous to be borne,
of rites and ceremonies and tradi-
tions, of the elders, and tithes of
mint, and anise, and cummin, of
which the Scribes made so much,
were of little account in view of the
great teacher. Love to God and
love to man were to be supreme.
Here dawned the idea of freedom
in religion-of love, and especially
love to their great teaoher--the prom
ised Messiah. Indeed this was the ba-
sis upon which the new dispensatiOn
was founded. This would change
the current of their thoughts and
lives, Elevate them. Their present
tendencies were downward - sin
ward. Water flows downward. The
river shows its tendency, as steadily
onward it pursues its way to the
| gulf. The sweeping rapids and the
precipitate plunge of the cataract
attest the law of nature. But may
not their course be changed? Put
your ear to that pipe reaching to
the upper portions of your dwelling.
Is not the water ascending? The
counteractiug force onyondsr hill is
found in the reservoir, or accummu-
lated supply. Instead Of downward
now, it leaps upward, in obedience to
this sufficiently counteracting force.
On the hill called CalvanN there
is a great fountain. It's currents and
propelling power are brought to bear
against the natural, downward cur
rents and currents are changed. The
tendency Of the currents of life are
upward, and as they rise purer at
mosphere is reached, and man is
transformed and fitted for the socie-
ty of the blessed. The common peo-
pie began to see and feel, and so
they heard him gadly.
l cannot but think there was some
thing in the face of him who was at
once the Son of God and the Son of
Man, to produce solemn impression
something to win confidence and
love. Have you never seen a face
that beamed with the spirit of the
Gospel? Something typefied by that
of Moses when he descended from the
mount? So indeed are some of Its
representations. He rebukes with
majesty and counsels with mlldness
His whole address is eloquent and
grave, for extraordinary grace and
divine perfections, surprising the
children of men were his. Our Sa
vior was probably nearly perfect al
human being-body, soul and sPir
it. "Thou art fairer than the child
ren of men," We may infer thi,
from the fact that lamb for the al
ter must be without spot or blemish
We read of his beingweary, but nev
er of his being sick. His manner o.
speaking was wonderfully impressive
and eloquent. Those sent to taxi
him, come back saying-"never maj
spake like this man." The only rea
son given for their failure to execGt,
their commission was his manner o
speaking. Again we read:-''Th,
eyes of all were fastened upon him.
In casting about for the manner o
I his speaking with such power anc
effect, we are met by this explana
tion-'His doctriue - teaching
drops as the rain, and his speech dis
! tils as the dew" In it's general ten
: or, his speech was full of tenderness