Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-01-21

and the lily of the field. He has lived
i out of door and studied the action of
sun and rain and lightning; he knows
that cloud rising in the west por-
tends a shower, and south wind
scorching heat, and that when the fig
trees shoot forth, summer is nigh at
hand. He has seen oxen and asses
watered on the Sabbath, and has prob
ably done it himself They are
'1oosed" from the stall and led away to
watering. He is conyersant with the
custom which, when the servant comes
| in from blowing, requires him first to
pare his masters supper. Jesus
| knows well the great estates of the
rich with their stewards and over
seers, and it is such products of hus-
bandry as oil and wheat which formed
the debt reduced by the unjust
steward" He knows well the rich
man who builds great barns and fills
them with his crops, when his soul is
required of him. Country sights of
all kinds furnish him with ready inn
ages; the man who puts his hand to
the pillow and turns back, the treasure
found in the field, the OK or the ass
to have had some knowledge of fish
ing, and of the way in which the
fishermen draw the net up on the
beach, and throw away the bad fish
while they gather the good into yes
sells, and when he advises Peter at
their first meeting where to cast his
net, the result is successful.
No less marked is the familiarity of
Jesus with fruit culture. A fig tree
which has not borne fruit for several
years must be digged about and fer
tilted. A good tree brings forth
good fruit, and a corrupt tree evil
fruit, and the latter must be hewn
down. Men do not gather grapes of
thorns nor figs of thistles. Jesus
knows how laborers are hired in the
market place to work in vineyards,
and how man employs his own sons
in such work, and he tells parable of
householder who planted a vineyard
and set hedge about it, and digged
a wine-press in it, and built tower.
and let it out to husbandmen. He
likens himself to a vine. Vine-branches
that bear no fruit are taken away,
while those that bear are cleansed
so that they may bear more, and the 4
withered branches are burned. The
new wine must be put into new
leather bottles, as it would burst old
bottles.
Jesus also shows special knowledge
of the duties of a shepherd A sheep
may be lifted out of pit on the Sab
bath. He is himself the good shep-
herd. A porter Of the sheepfold opens
the door to the shepherd, but the rob-
Der climbs up some other way. The
sheep recognize their shepherds voice.
and he calls them by name and leads
them cut. When he has brought out
all his own sheep, leaving behind
those of the other shepherds. he goes
before them and they follow him, for
they know his voice. But icy will
flee from a stranger, because they do
not know his voice. He likens him
self, too, to the door of the fold. The
good shepherd gives his life for the
sheep, If they are his own sheep, but a
mere hireling runs away from the wolf,
and the wolf snatches them and scat
ters them When the owner of an
hundred sheep loses one, he leaves all
the rest and searches for the lost one
In the mountains until he finds it, and
then he rejoices over it more than
over the other 80. Jesus sends his
disciples forth as sheep in the midst
of wolves. and he warns them against
false prophets which come in sleeps
clothing. but inwardly are ravening
wolves, and he tells how shepherds
separate the sheep from the goats.
We have now given fairly complete
resume of the references which Jesus
makes to the popular lie around him.
1t is wonderful what living picture
we can construct from it of the society
of his time. Only one feature is All
sent.-almost totally absent,-and that
Is any hint of craftsmanship of any
kind In one place he speaks of the !
two men who built houses ON the rock |
and on the sand, but not a single de- |
tail of the construction is given. 1t is |