The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-08
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

RY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
The key to Christianity IS cross.
Without the event on Mount Calvary
the religion of Jesus is inexplicable-
Take that chap out of its history
ard all the others lose their signif1-
canoe and vitality The gospel OF
Christ is the story of a crucifixion-
That simple message is the hammer
which breaks down all the walls of
opposition. Men may merely admire
the Philosophy of Jesus. but it is His
broken heart that breaks their stony
hearts.
The most characteristic phase Of the
life OF Jesus is this scene of the cru
cif1xion. which the Sunday-schools
study next Sunday. It is typical
of his whole careers. for He
was being crucified all through
His mission; and into the few
terrible DAYS when the gentle, sensi-
tive Son Of Mary hung upon the rough
beams set up on the place of a Skuli
was crowded, for the world to see. the
significance of all His thirty-three
The Road to Power.
All roads to helpfulness lead over
a rocky crest called in the Hebrew.
ssGolgotha." Sacrifice must precede
service The Scripture truly says that
Jesus must needs have suffered only
so could He have become saviour
Sorrow is the one universally compre-
hended experience, the common lot of
mankind. No man enters into the
depths of human nature, except
through his own broken heart only
he who is lifted up on the some cross
draws men unto him. AS a recent
magazine quatrain suggestively called
Credentials" puts it thus.
II preach the Word. why then that
And why Gods message laughed to
scOrn?
your cheek hath known no Judas
Kiss
And your brow no crown of thorns."
It was only shame that the rabble
saw in the dreadful spectacle upon
the. central one Of those three crosses:
had their eyes been open they would
have beheld sovereignty there. Plate
might we'll say-though all uncOmpre-
hendingly=''W I have written, I
have written" concerning the inscrip-
ton, This is Jesus of Nazareth, the
King of the Jews" For this supreme
act of sacrifice and service, this ulti-
mate pouring out of His soul unto
death Is the true sceptre of Christ's
kingliness. And this mark of the
Lord Jesus must be upon His church,
If she is to prevail over the world Not
& cross on her steeple but the cross
in her. spirit. is the sign of a church's
servicea bleness- $1,000
A Tragedy'sf saasdadeest Side.
What was the KeHneAr suffering Of
the Man who hun eF4aaHnehded there in
agony until His heHre bboze? Not His
own pain; physical pain cannot crush
a great soul. Not the Shame of it;
He was above the power of mems
opinion. Not the ending of his life,
though life was sweet to this young
man. as to every other. Not defeat,
for He knew that He was on the way
to a victory great enough to satisfy
His all-embracing love-
The pang which fairly rent His
heart was that His people whom He
q
loved, could do such a deed. Not for
Himself. but for the state of heart
that could make possible so foul an
act and in the name of religion, did
significance of the cry, Father for
give them; they know not what they
do" He IS truly Christ-lile who
grieves less over a wrong done to him
self than over the sin Of the wrong
doer. Such was the magnanimous
spirit of the Crucified. Mans sin was
the Redeemer's sorrow.
A Great Man Among Little Men.
Even crude souls catch the pathos
of the plight of Napoleon on the Is
land of st. Helena, when subjected
to the petty indignities and insults and
sights of small-souled official The
httleness and coarseness of his jailor
was the worst punishment of the great
soldier with a WOrld-cOnQuering spirit. /
PLATE, the politician, the petty-fogging
Pharisees, the pitiless priests, the pur-
blind popu-ace-these- were the set
ting of the tragedy of Cavalry. OF such
as these the great and sensitive Jesus
was made the sport. BY the rough
and ribald soldiers his delicate flesh
was beaten To the accompaniment
of their jeers and coarse laughter and
taunts He was driven forth beneath |
the heavy load of the crossed timbers |
that finally crushed him to earth Tru-
". It was the refinement of cruelty.
the very ingenuity of the pit. Wher-
ever a fine spirit is the victim of gros-
ser ones there is some understanding
of this experience of the Saviour.