Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-08-13

MS COIupdllN Was Hlo OnH hioVHNis "N'
she was SO poor that in the most deli
cate and solemn hour that ever comes
to a woman's soul she was obliged TO
lie down amid camel drivers grooming
the beasts of burden.
l imagine Christ one day standing in
the streets Of Jerusalem. A man de-
scended from high lineage is standing
beside him and says: my father was a
merchant prince. He had castle on
the beach at Galilee. Who was your
father" Christ answers, Joseph, the
carpenter. " A man from Athens is
standing there unrolling his parchment
of graduation and says to Christ,
where did you go to school;' Christ
answers, II never graduated. " Aha!
The idea Of such an unheraldod young
man attempting to command the atten-
ton of the worldl AS well some little
fishing village on Long Island shore at
tempt to arraign New York. Yet 10
sooner does he set his foot III the towns
or cities of JudRa than everything is in
commotion. The people 60 out On a pic
mic, taking only food enough for the
day, yet are so fascinated with Christ
that, at the risk Of starving, they fol-
low him ont into the wilderness. A
nobleman falls down fat before him
and says, my daughter is dead. " A
beggar tries to rub the dimness from
his eyes and says, Lord, that my eyes
may be opened" " A poor, sick, painting
woman pressing through the crowd
says, II must touch the hem Of his
garment" Children, who love their
mother better than any one else, strug-
gle to get into his arms, and to kiss his
cheek, and to run their fingers through
his hair, and for all time putting Jesus
SO in love with the little ones that there
is hardly q nursery in Christendom
from which he does not take one, say
ing: Il must have them. | will fill
heaven with these. For every cedar
that plant in heaven l will have 80
white lilies In the hour when | was a
poor man in Judea they were not
ashamed Of me, and now that l have
come to "a throne / do not despise them.
Hold it not back, oh, weeping mother;
lay it Oh my warm heartl Of such is
the kingdom of heaven. "
What is this coming down the road:
A triumphal procession. He is seated,
not in a chariot, but on an ass, and yet
the people take off their coats and throw
them in the way. Oh, what a time Je-
sus made among the children, among
the beggars, among the fishermen,
among the philosophers You may boast
Of self control, but if you had seen him
gou would have put your arms around
his neck and said, Thou art altogether
lovely"
Jesus was wonderful in the opposites
and seeming antagonisms Of his nature
You want things logical and consistent,
and YOU say, "How could Christ be
God and man at the same timer John
SAYS Christ was the Creator All
things were made by him, and without
him was not anything made. " Matthew
saws that he was omnipresent Where
two or three are met together in my
name there am l in the midst Of them.
Christ declares his own eternity, u
am Alpha and Omega" How can ne be
a lion. under his foot crushing king
doms, and yet lamb licking the hand
that slays him? At what point do the
throne and the manger touch? II Chrls'
was God. why flee into Egypt! Why
not stand his ground? Why, instead Of
hearing the cross, not lift up his right
hand and crush his assasslns: why
stand and be spat upon? Why sleep OIL
the mountain, when he owned the pal
aces of eternity? Why catch fish for hi
breakfast on the beach in the chill
morning. when all the pOmegranate
are his and all the vineyards his an'
all the cattle his and all the partridge
his? Why walk when weary and hi
feet stone bruised, when he might hav'
taken the splendors Of the sunset Tor III
eouipage and moved with horses anC
chariots of fire? Why beg drink iron
the wayside. when out OF the crysta
ohalices of eternity be poured the Lu
phrates, the Mississippi and the ANA
zon, and dipping his hand IN tie ioun
tains of heaven and shaking that h.h'
over the world, from the tips OF his III
gers dripping the great lakes aud 10
oceans? Why let the Roman regimen
mt him to death, when he might hav
ridden down the sky followed by al
the cavalry of heaven, mounted O
white horses Of eternal victory!
Who Can Understand
You cannot understand. Who car
You try to confound me. | am cor
founded before you speak. Paul SAID
was unsearchable. He went climbln
mn from argument to argument an
from antithesis to antithesis and trol
glory TO glory and then sank down J
exhaustion as he saw far above him otf
er heights Of divinity unscaled and e'
claimed THAT in all things he mgr
have the e-eminence.
Again, Christ was wonderful IN D
teaching. The people had been used
formalities and technicalities Chrl
upset all their notions as to how preaci
ING ought to be done. There was tn
neculiarity about his preaching-tf
neople knew what he meant. His illu
trations were taken from the hen cal
ING her chickens together, from sal
from candles, from fishing tackle, fro
a hard ere litor collaring a adebtor. ho
few pulpits Of this day would have a
lowed him entrance? He would nay
been called undignitied and familiar
his STYLE Of preaching. And yet Il
neonle went to hear him. Those O
Jewish rabbis might have preached
the side of Olivet 90 years and new
cot an audience The philosophe
= sneered at his ministrations aud sal
"This will never do. " The lawye
caricatured. but the common peop
heard him gladly. Suppose you tn
there were any sleepy people ID
audiences? Suppose you that any wol
= an who ever mixed bread was ignora
u of what be meant when he compar
; the kingdom of heaven with leayen
= Yeast? Suppose you that the sunburn'
- A.N.