The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-04-11

I their varying conditions Guke 3.) Je- sus did not, ke never divided men into classes-addressing the mule-d drivers one day, shepherds the next, yine- ] dressers a third, and the rich employ CTS of labor fourth, telling each what were their rights and duties as related 1 to the others and all how to get on to- | gether. He told every one what he 1 must do 70 be saved from sin, but He l never meddled with the special politi- cal and social problems of His time. I His message was for all times, His 1 principles were basal and universal i rather than specific. Neither Herodi- i an, Sadducee, Pharisee nor Essene could count Him as of his party; He rebuked all alike and sided with none l against the others. The people could not induce Him to let them crown Him; the disciples could get no promise of place or grant of authority; to one who came begging His influence with an ob- stinate brother to secure division of their inheritance He answered, Man who made Me a judge or divider over you?" Yet nothing is more evident than that He has affected the ideas and institutions of men as no other has | since Moses. Not so rapidly since the first century as He would had men un- derstood Him better. They have been busy with what they have been pleased to call His theology, With what He 1 thought or said about the other world, and with the way to perfect ecclesiasti- cal machinery; they have failed to dis cover the real drift of His talk or the real significance of His conduct. Tn | recent years His life on the earth and 1 His teaching about mans life on the i earth have been the subject of our | study and it is safe to affirm that, during the last thirty years. His in 1 fiuence upon the thought and theories of men regarding present things has been greater and more cumulative than ever before. There is an observable | tendency at this hour to study the con- ditions existing just after Pentecost, and to regard the first century as fur nishing better eidolon of the kingdom as Jesus explained it to His disciples ] than can be found elsewhere in church 1 history. And why not? Is it not sup possible that the men who got their ideas directly from his lips would un derstand Him better than the later in
 terpreters ?-and such men as some of them were? That was before ecclesi asticism was born, before creeds were set in rigid forms, before organism had corrupted ceremony and life, before traditions had so piled themselves up 1 as to obscure the Light of the World" or the church had conceived of herself as an institution for the defense of dog ma, the sovereigns or the sole guaran- tor of heavenly felicity-her simple con- cern was to live the Christ-lfe. and preach the Christ doctrine in joyous expectation of His immediate return. You there get the Christian community in it's simplest and purest form; faith in a. Christ present with them, love of 1 the brotherhood and missionary zeal were the characteristics of the time, the unique forces which held the little company compact and strong and made their life so impressive to the world. 1 Jesus cut down to the core of all so- cial difficulties, as well as to the quick of all questions about individual char acter when He said Men do not I gather grapes of thorns." and insisted upon getting at the heart of things; | that was not only His prescription for making character, but His formula for curing the ills of society-nake the tree good and you will grow good fruit! For, taking Him in the broadest way, what does He mean? Search for caus- es and remove them! Get rid of the disabilities and hinderances that are cramping mems lives and producing the ills and evils from which they suf- fer; do not waste your time fumbling with phenomena, puneturing pustules, salving surfaces; get down to centers and sources, deal with difficulties at first hand.
 And he showed them how to do it, carrying out His theories in His prac- tical contact with men. He said to the padalytic thy sins are forgiven" be- cause in some unrecorded way the mans past sins were at the root of his trouble; when he found an impotent 1 man-if we may use that disputed scripture and waiting at the pool, pushed aside by stronger suffer- CTS when the waters were in propitious tumult, He took away his weakness so that he need moan and wait no longer; when lepers came to Him, instead of advising leper hospitals and more hu- mane treatment, He cured them of lep- rosy; when blind beggars groped their stumbling way to his side, instead of giving them aims, He touched their eyes and removed the cause of begga- ry; He bade a young man, seeking 8 better life but handicapped by great wealth. not to show stricter observ- ance of the law and a wider charity, but sell his property and throw off the load that was sinking his soul into per- dition; then He told the story of a rich farmer putting his trust in bursting barns and pines and ignoring his obli- gation to God and man to show that a mans life consistent not in the abund- ance of the things he possesseth but in l love to God and man. What did it all mean? Get at the heart of peoples difficulties, remove their disabilities, clear path for them; that is the first article in Jesus social creed search out the causes, remove them!
 Then he gave a new organizing and governing principle-the law of love!
 Love everywhere, between man and man, class and class, strong and weak, employer and employed, pure and im- pure; in the spirit of love, He said, put