El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-04-30

there was more than one animal, u
cot. 1t is not necessary to reconcile
these statements if we allow to the
evangelists certain liberty which
detail; but interpreters who under
take to esta blish the exact and
complete accuracy of every word OF
scripture will fini difficulty here. as in
many other places. the
state nent of Matthews as it stands, we
ave before US two disabilities; that
| Jesus rode on the two animals alter
nately, or that he rode on but one, the
word translated thereon" referring to
the garu ents, not the animals. Per-
haps it is no. amiss to suggest to teach
| ers that younger schols rs are not I'M
| likely to get from this verse ludlcrOus
aud so very wrong Impression: that of
Jesus riiing both animals at once, in
some acrobatic fashion. Probably even
a child ought to have common sense
enough to see at once the incODgruity
Of such an i'd ca, and to reason out tina,
| if Jesus rode both the ass and the colt
he must have done so alternately. But
| we often expect too much of children in
such matt rs. 1t is better to spend
minute making clear a detail OF this
sort than to have even one child go
away with so grotesque picture of the
triumphal entry.
| 8. Spreading garments and branch
es in the road would not improve the
| riding. 1t was an instructive and i'm
pulsive mark of distinguished honor,
not unknown in oriental countries to-
day Anglo-Saxons would have per-
haps carried The hero on their Shout
ders-if they had dared. Sometimes
college boys honor distinguished
guest ,by taking the horses from his
carriage and drawing the vehicle
thems elves. The man inside tn. Car
riage is no more comfortable, perhaps
not so much so, but he knows that the
crowds intentions are of the best.
>. 9 The 10 attitudes were passing be-
tween Jerusalem and the towns OF
Bethpage and Bethany, some in one
direction, some in the other. We must
remember tn at during this week hun
dreds of thousand. of pilgrims were in
the city for the passover, and many of
them had to lodge in the villages sur
rounding the city. The shouts of the
multitude, "Hosauna to the Son of
David" etc., were unmistakable as
criptions of praise to the Messiah
Such some believed him to be; while
the enthusiasm of these was con-
tagious, and mauy perhaps shouted who
knew not what the excitement was
about. But this, so far as we know,
was the only time when Jesus was pub
licly honored by great multitude as
| bnS MESSIAH In 18l1le0, 1t Inc ne1RnL
| OF his popularity, he was to the people
only a great rabbi, or perhaps the pro-
phet who was to precede Messiah's
coming.
| IL. The ans yer of the multitude
| indicating that Jesus was not only
from the despised Galilee, but also
from the despised town of Nazareth,
must have cast wet blanket on the
| general enthusiasm, and sudden
qnieting down of the more exclusive
and self-important members of the
crowd. After all, what sort of Mes
sjsh could this be, riding on an ass and
hailing from Nazareth? A worthy
| rural teacher, doubtless, over whom
the people had gone mad. Crowds are
so senseless, you know: AS for Jews
of standing and dignity, of course they
passing Interest in the incident.
II This is the second cleansing of
The temple (see John IL: 1910. The
| attempt to identify the two is not sue
cessful. During the two or three years
that interviewed all the old abuses had
| grown up again: in fact. the tables and
:he stalls were probably all back
Business cannot be allowed to suffer on
account of conscientious scruples-and
those the scrup.es of somebody else.
| 15.-The children had probably
formed part of the throng that had
followed Jesus into the city and on IT.
to the temple, ciiuging to him the
longest and piping their little cheer
when others were silenced. No wonder
the chief priests and scribes were dis
pleased at such juvenile precocity.
The devil takes it hard when he sees
children learning the language of heav-
en- fore they get accustomed to his
own.
Is. "Thou hast perfected PRAISE"
praise had long persisted from the
priests AMI Levites whose hearts were
cold and dead 1t was restored and
ade perfect in the simple acclama-
tiOns of the children.
TEACHING HINTS
| This is emphaticslly a lesson of
authority aud of authority recognized.
| Here we have the king receiving with
out agitation or self depreciation the
homage OF his people. The time had
now come when no more secrecy as to
his true majestyswas imposed. 1t is q
| lesson of worship and of reverence.
We have not enough of this in our
prayers. In our efforts to
| draw near to the divine we
sometimes grow familiar and unduly
cOloquial. If there is anything that
| can excuse these grote :quely imper-
tinent prayers which we so often hear,
It Is the total lack OF any capacity for
more lofty speech or thought. But
nowhere in the Bible, in the passages
which speak of Jesus as friend and
brother, is there warrant for the as
sumption of confidential and easy
familiarity in approaching the Lord Of
the universe. Let us not forget that
the master celebrated his entry into
the holy city by casting out of the
temple those who, probably without
conscious irreverence, were doing their
best to make that city unholy.
Next Lesson-'The Marriage
Feast" Matt. %: LA.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle in Lon
don. made famous by the thirty years
of ministry there by the late Rev.
Charles Hsddcn Sturgeon, was totally
destroyed by fire last week. The
Tabernacle had about thirty mission
halls and schools in addition to aims
houses come c.ed with it. The Rev
Thomas Sturgeon, son of the dis
tinguished divine, is the pastor of the |
MetrOnOlitan Tahernacla havfpn m. |