Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-04-06

a Scholarly Exposition Of the Lesson
-Thoughts worthy of Cain Reaec-
tion-Half an Hour's Study OF the
scripturss-Time Well Spent.
The lesson for April o, the text of which
Is John IL: Ill, tells us OF ''The Anoint-
ing In Bethany" We come now to the
close of the ministry OF Jesus. IL the
raising Of Lazarus occurred some time in
February or early in March, there Is an
interval of several weeks between that
and the amounting by Mary; for the date
OF the latter Is definitely fixed-''six days
before the passover that Is, Saturday of
the preceding week. the day before the
triumrhal entry. The exact date is fixed
by scholars (reckoning the date Of the
passover by the full moon near the vernal
equinox Of the year 30) as April L. Be
tween the raising of Lazarus and the
amounting at Bethany there occurred sew
eral events and discourses in Judea; for
example, the healing of the ten lepers
duke II: lilo. the parable of the Phari-
see and the Publican luke IS: 9-14), the
blessing of little children duke IS: 15-1O,
the conversation with the rich young ruler
luke Is: 1880, the rebuke to James and
John, the healing of the blind men near
Jericho, the visit to Zacchaeus, etc.
Explanatory.
martha saved: strong indication
that she was in the house Of relative or
intimate friend. There is a tradition that
Martha was married and that Simon was
her husband; another that she was his
widow (the house retaining the name of
its deceased mastery. or course these
are merely guesses.
"A pound of ointment of spikenard. very
costly" this ''nard' is said to be the
liquid perfume, of an oily nature. obtained
from an Indian plant. 1t is mentioned in
the classic writers as one of the costliest
of perfumes. Amounting with oil-olive
oil-was universal in ancient times. The
richer man was the finer the quality of
the oil he used, and the more profuse in
quantity. Some degree of amounting seems
to have been regarded as necessary to
health, to soothe the skin after exposure
to the burning sun and to preserve the
suppleness of the muscles. Beyond this,
it was luxury: and of course the use of
costly perfumes was possible only to the
wealthy. Mary's yard was contained in
an alabaster flask (AIatthew and Mark),
which in itself was mark of luxury. 1t
has sometimes been supposed that this
family at Bethany was humble one, and
that this flask OF ointment represented the
one heirloom of the household. or the saw
ings of years, so that in pouring the nard
freely upon her Masters feet Mary was
spending her all. There are some things
to indicate that this was not the case,
that the family were people Of some afiiu-
ence. The number of mourners at the
nf Il. tc nivf nacta ltx
| the fact that Jews came presumably from
Jerusalem) among that number. This
very passage is another hint pointing in
that direction, since neither the DIRECTORS
nor Jesus made any reference to Mary's
having beggared herself by her extrava-
gance-ther point was that she ought to
have helped the poor; and the natural in
| ference is that she herself was not poor.
John names only Judas; but Judas,
| though the first to see the financial folly
| of the act-being business man himself
soon got followers among his fellow dis
| ciples, as we learn from Matthew and
Mark. We cannot believe that all of the
| twelve joined in; certainly John himself
cannot have done so.
Three hundred pence: that is, 300 de-
narii; about $50, but equal in purchasing
| power at our prices to six or seven times
| that sum. Only the very wealthy would
use a pound Of nard to anoint the feet of
a single guest, and then only il he were a
| distinguished person, a prince or great
| general or famous ruler. Even in our
| time, IL person in ordinary circum-
| stances were to present $500 worth Of
| cut flowers to guest, it would be thought
very extravagant, yet the flowers would
last for days, while the perfume of this
nard was a fleeting pleasure. This is fine
practical way of looking at it-Judas'
way. In the thought of Jesus, and of all
| true followers of him, the perfume Of
| Mary's precious gift outlasts the centu-
| ries.
John speaks concerning Judas almost
| the only severe words that he utters in
his whole gospel. What could be more
| cutting than this little parenthesis-'This
| he said, not that he cared for the poor
but because he was a thief, and having
| the bag took away what was put therein"
| Neither Jesus nor John could find it in
| his heart to speak bitterly or sarcastically
| concerning any man, however sinful, ex-
cept he be hypocrite, pretending to be
that which he was not.
| The seventh verse reads somewhat diff
| ferently in the revised version: Suffer
her to keep it against the day of my bury
ing" Mark prefaces "She hath done
what she could" We are not to suppose
that Mary consciously anointed her Mas
ter as one who was shortly to come to his
death, but rather that her act, performed
out of pure alteration, had n deeper and
more somber significance to him.
For the poor always We have with
| you;" there has been not a little dispute
about a supposed msapplication of these
| words as an Indictment to benevolence. In
many churches 1t is custom-the origin
of which is obscure-to quote these words
previous to the collection for the poor
which is commonly taken before the
Lords supper, Some extremely critical
persons have objected to this. because
Jesus was not primarily recommending
charitable giving, but rather calling at
tention to the superior virtue and grace
funess of direct personal ministry to him
self. That Is true; it is true that he spoke
the words as a reproof to disingenuous
DIRECTORS, saying in effect: You profess
i to be so anxious about the poor; then why
i do you not show your anxiety on ordinary
occasions, in every day life? Why do you
i forget all about them until some money
Is spent in another way? Charity to the
i poor Is right and necessary, but there are
other duties as WELL"
The end was now rapidly approaching.
This Saturday eveninp nj Refhanv mn rk q