The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1898-10-27

sought him with sorrow and anxie-
ty, he said: allow is 1t that ye
sought me2 Wish ye not that 1
must be at my Fathers ?"
(b) AT the marriage feast in Cana
of Galilee. On that occasion, in the
emergency of a scarcity of wine,
Mary, "the Mother of Jesus" said
unto him, "they have no wine."
"Jesus saith unto her, woman, what
is to thee and to me, mine hour is
not yet come"
(c) When, from the cross, Jesus
spake to his mother and said,
"Woman, behold thy Son." AS we
contemplate these words, we are
impressed at the first with the fact
that in no instance of his address
ing his mother does Jesus address
her as mother.
She is to him "woman." From
this fact there falls out the obser-
walton, that, Jesus when speaking
from the level of his divine mission
recognized no human relations.
On one occasion, when He was in
tent upon teaching the people, tone
said unto him, behold, thy mother
and thy brethren stand without de-
string to speak with thee. Bnt he
answered and said unto him that
told him, who Is my mother? And
who are my brethern? "For who
soever shall do the will of my
Father which Is in heaven, the
same is my brothers and sisters
and mother" (Matt. IL, 49ff)
"Jesus here places spiritual above
carnal ties" "Thus the Lord
guards his position, the sanctity of
his calling, and the holy effect of
the grand moment, which would
have been destroyed by worldly
prudence" II looks much as if the
introduction of his mother, and his
brethern, at that particular time,
when his words were causing his
enemies to smart for their worldli.
ness was a device of theirs to de-
tract him, and turn his attention
away from spiritual things to mere
ly human and material ties. But,
Jesus was equal to their sinister
spirit, and declared his recognition
of the supremacy of the realm of
grace, and that in that realm the
one who is obedient to the will of
his heavenly Father is everything
to him which obtains under the re-
lation of brother, or sister,or mother.
Turning to the scene in the tenn
pie, nothing seems more apparent,
than, that Jesus recognized his OBJ
legation to be about his heavenly
Fathers business, and his words
spoken then show, that, from the
level of such obligation, he knew no
human ties, "Wist ye not, that, 1
must be at my Fathers?
But, he returned with his mother
to Nazareth, knowing that, the
business of grace, could abide the
demands of righteousness.
And again, in one of the three in
stances cited above, there appears
a marked censure in the words
spoken by Jesus to his mother,
when she informs him of the scar
city of wine, He said unto her,
"Woman, what is it to thee, and to
me? Mine hour is not yet come"
All authorities opposed to the
veneration of Mary as practiced by
some are agreed, that, Jesus did in
these words, reprove his mother.
AS Mariolatry became more pro-
nounced, the censure interpreta.
tion was held only by Protestant
authorities. One says: "Here is
more or less of reproof, and re-
pulse in these words"
| Another: "Christ, in the con.
sciousness of His higher wonder
working power and will, as one
without mother, repels the inter.
ference OF womanly weakness
which here confront ted him, even in
his Mother" (Meyer) If Jesus
himself would thus resent any ap-
proach of his Mother in matters
pertaining to the success Of mar.
riage-feast, from what source oil
authority do men get the right to
invest Mary with powers to inter-
cede with God on behalf of souls.
The last authentic reference to
the Mother of Jesus in history as.
sociates her with the disciples and
the women, as they continued in
prayer in that upper room in
Jerusalem, Immediately after Jesus
had assembled to heaven.
"This is the last view we have ol
her. Holy Scripture leaves her en-.
gagged in prayer. From this point
forward we know nothing of her.