The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-23

Jesus did his best to propftiate his audi tors. He might have selected par asraph setting forth his regal character. ysut. instead, he chose one which pic tured him az a lowly messenger Of help fuIness. and he carefully stopped short of the sentence which declared his judi cial office. He had purposely delayed his coming in order that the fame of what he did and said in other places might reach Nazareth. and overcome. if pos- sible, the contempt which was bred by familiarity. He almost succeeded. There was a sweet persuasiveness In voice and manner. There was yeritable imperso- nation of humility-a seif-obliviousness that was captivating to the last degree. The fate of Nazareth trembled in the bal ance Tn audible terms, as well as by look and gesture. according to the free manner of the synagogue as well as to the demonstrative custom of Orientals generally. they indicated their admira- ton of both speaker and word spoken. But as the sermon proceeded, the reac- ton set in. Jesus was perfectly aware that it was coming. He knew what was fin man. He knew he was to be rejected before he set foot in Nazareth; but love and sympathy for his townsmen con strained him not to pass them by. Those who a moment before were wondering at the graciousness of his words, were now vocifefating about his low birth and humble profession. and resenting his mild claim to the Messiahship. They were sayine to him: If you are really the promised one, why don't you work a miracle on yourself to begin with? Con- vert your poverty into wealth. your weakness into strength, and we will be- iieve you" Then their local pride. their village jealousy. began to assert itself as they cried: ''why did you not favor your own city with your miracles. instead of Capernaum' Jesus half apologies for his fellow-townsmen as he says: T am only meeting the prophets fate. My towns-folks are not doing worse than Israel in general" But it was his next word which proved a veritable firebrand in their hearts. It was the suggestion that as Elijah and Elisha passed over the unworthy descendants of Abraham and conferred their gracious benefits upon Gentiles, so he. who was their prototype, must do likewise. What! the inalien- able rights of the elect people go to Gen. tile dogs?" The synagogue is in an up- roar. The pendulum of feeling has swung from the point of admiration to the opposite extreme of vindicative hat red.
 Service closed in a most uncommon and unseemly manner that day. There was no closing hymn. in which the soprano and alto came pouring through the lattice from the choir invisible, to blend sweetly with the tenor and basso. There was no blessing or benediction. as was wont, pronounced by priest or invoked by lay men. The synagogue had judicial prero- gatives. As Renan says. Each was c ut- tie independent republic, each could pro- Fov AAP is exactly what the synagogue of Naxa- reth did. It accommodated Jesus on the spot. It cast him out judicially. It proceeded to put him to death in a legal manner; casting down from a precipics being a lawful substitute for stoning. Jesus did not elude his enranged neigh bors by either striking them with blind ness or making himself invisible to them. Luke expressly says: He passed through the midst of them.'' They saw him as he passed. but were powerless to detain him. They instinctively opened an aisle through the awed mob to let him pass. As Pfen- ninEer says, They stood. stopped. in- auired. were ashamed, fled, separated"
 The Teachers Lantern.
 Despicable conduct. that of the Naza- renes! Yes! but they only did what hu- manty is always doing.
 Dejected preachers may find some com- fort in the fact that even the Master himself sometimes failed.
 A prophet not without honor, save in his own country. Fenn. the artist, met some ignoramus in Salem, who remarked 70 him: Hawthorne writ & lot O letters I hearn tell he wrote a scarlet letter O two, whatever that is!'''
 An ideal preacher was Jesus. He "tools 8 text" His style was expository. He sought a common ground with his hear. CTS. He read their minds, and shifted his matter to suit their changing moods. He faithfully, firmly, fearlessly made his ap- plication.
 Did Jesus return to Nazareth? StieT says we'll: ''The denial of his return strikes out of his life a trait as beauti- full as 1t is significant" That fla came again to This own," the probability is strong, though the chronology of the vis- it's may trouble us. But see the inveter- ate character of prejudice and unbnIIsf-- they rejected him again!
 Longfellow. fin Divine Tragedy" finely voices the changing sentiment of that synagogue audience which made the wicked close" possible.
 Child-Study and sunday-school
 Methods.
 Jesus thought 1t not beneath him to study the child. No teacher. ancient or modern, has ever shown q more apprecla- tive or sympathetic interest in childhood. His own genuine boyhood prepared him for this. He had all the various experI- ences, the hopes and fears of the average youth. So the children can say, "Ws have not an high priest who can not be touched with a feeling for us" Jesus and the child has formed a favorite theme for artist and poet. The incidents are among the most familiar of the Bible. He said, Suffer them to come' He took them in his arms: he set a child in the