The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-28
THE suNpAY-scHooL LESSON.
April 20, 1905 Luke viii, 1~S-2S-Jesus
and John the Baptist.

The Bible pictures its heroes Just as they are.
1t uses neither veneer nor varnish. We see
Noah drunk. Abraham timorousiy prevaricating.
Moses angry. Elijah flying. David with homi-
cidal blood upon his hands. Solomon most lux
orious of kings If the Bible were a man-made
book it would have given US a series OF ideally
perfect characters. On the contrary. IL deals
with heroic fidelity with its principal heroes.
. Even the dauntless forerunner of Christ
faltered in his faith. The unyielding despotism
of Herod, the sudden and complete change OF
his environment from the unconstrained and
wholesome atmosphere of the wilderness TO the
narrow, miasmatic cell OF Machaerus. whose
only outlook was toward the sulphurous Sea OF
Death: from tireless activity to enforced Idle
ness: from sunlight TO shade-together II was
enough to rive a heart OF oak. So We
find the voice that had so unhesitatingly cried.
Behold the Lamb Of Cod" now sending 10
Jesus to know whether He was that Lamb or
rot So far from treating the prophets embassy
with harshness or indignity. Jesus welcomed IT.
He attached the messengers to His person. and
made them observers of His Messianic miracles.
. . . When they had seen enough to convince
them. Jesus dismissed them with the simple
Injunction that they should tell the imprisoned
prophet what they had observed, knowing that
the oppressed heart would flame up once more
before these indubitable marks of the Messiah.
. . With divine considerateness Jesus fore
stalls any unfavorable impression which Johns
inquiring embassy was liable to make He
hastens to shelter his kinsman and herald from
adverse criticism. He said: You all
were of that mighty throng that went out to
johns preaching and baptism. Did you find a
character as pliable as the reeds on Jordan's
bank? No! no. rather a giant oak unaffected by
yeering gales. Or was 1t to see a dilettante and
obseouious ~courtier. caring only for the luxurious
garments of the kings wardrobe. or the dainty
viands of his buttery? II that was what you
sought, you had better gone to the kings court
than to the wilderness. The leathern girdle. the
lccusts and wild honey. are evidence Of the
self-denying character of John Baptist. Had
he been a ~cringing. currying time-server.
Machaeruss walls would never have closed upon
him. . . You went to see a prophet. You
saw that, and moreover Jehovah's messenger
the last of the line. the only prophet to whom
prophets themselves had borne witness. The
character was fitted to the office, and the Office
to the character. like every dauntless enunci-
ator of truth, he was a wedge splitting society
asunder. People and publicans needed him. jus
titled God. and were baptized unto repentance;
but Pharisees and doctors Of law. welded as
they were to the old regime. needed not the in
ward divine monitions which chorded exactly
with the prophets spoken word. . This
illustrates well the outward character OF the
present generation. They are like children at
dI1uc Ole purity VI VT sim
pettishness. refuses to respond alike to the
lively notes of the wedding march or the Iugu-
brious cadences of the funeral professional. So
my forerunner came, a prince Of ~ascetics, wear
ing the grating sackcloth. woven Of the harshest
kind Of camels hair, eating abstemiously of the
fare Of the abjectly poor. At John you shook
your heads knowingly, and parted his hagel-
lantel blows by affirming him possessed. i
came and mingled In the sweet amenities OF your
social life. and you pronounced me libidinous.
But in the final analysis this wisdom, which Is
from above. is triumphantly indicated In the
lives and characters of those who really possess
it."
THE TEACHERS LANTERN.
Many a noble martyr has weakened before
death. In the throes of torture. or by the subtle
enervation of prison life, the lips have retracted
what the heart still believed. Savonarola, Huss,
the English bishops. all did so. But they failed
not to withdraw the confessions made In the
delirium of pain. Let any who would ~criticise
listen to Thomas Fuller. as he cries: 20 there
is more required to make one valiant than to
call Cranmer and Jewel towards; as IL the fire
in Smithfeld had been no hotter than what is
painted In the Book OF Martyre!" . Even
Jesus himself. though He was straitened to be
baptized with his baptism of death, shrank from
it with the all inexplicable terror and agony of
Gethsemane. Every holy martyr has had a
priest who could be touched with a feeling Of
his infirmities. And John Baptist had. .
Christianity does not SO much need defense as
propagation. It's effects are it's defenses. Its
best arguments are in boots-not in books. at
desk and bench and counter. in parlor, mart.
guileless tongue, chaste eye. sympathetic ear.
helpful hand. pure heart-these are the seals to