The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-03-17

the dull. uninteresting composite Of
ordinary people. IH-mannered, sordid
selfish. smitten with many unloyely all
ments, they pressed upon him wherever
he went. intruding their clamOrous de-
mauds into his most sacred privacy.
Many leaders who love the piauolts or
the multitude yet shrink from the
Wearisone contact with them individu-
ally. No so Jesus. He loved men in
the mass, lie loved them one by one
His friendship for them was real and
his fellowship cOngenial. The most
awkward gawk from back-eountry
Galilee found himself more perfectly
at ease with this wonderful Teacher
than with his own family. Cheerfully,
tenderly. patiently and with unfailing
sympathy, the Master stood the test Of
the rabbel's touch, healing them. in
Structing them and inspiring them.
From the extraordinary variety of
types of people with whom Jesus was
at home it is evident that he was the
perfect cosmopolitan. He met all life
at its own level that he might lift it
higher. Though he lived his whole ca
reer except for short and fnconsider-
able excursions into neighboring terri
tory, within the borders of the small
Roman province calleda Palestine, there
was nothing provincial or local or ra-
cial about him. All men found them
selves at home with him who loved to
call himself "the Son Of man not of
a man." but of man, the whole hui
man race. In His own lifetime we
may discern that universally which
has caused Jesus to be welcomed as
Lord by
Every kindred. every tribe, on tn
terrestrial ball.
How to Know a Man.
That is rare public man who can
be truly estimated by the political plat
form upon which he stands. Not by
public professions but by private prac-
tees, is a PERSONS real character de-
termined- Neither do we judge a man
by any one single act; instead, we take
the sum total OF his life the weekdays
with the Sundays, the little unpremedi-
tated words and acts. as we'll as the
carefully formulated utterances and
deeds. In the long run, everyone is
fairly sized up by his fellows
There is at hand sufficient data of
various kinds to enable any honest stu
dent to formulate an opinion of the
chara cter of Jesus OF Nazareth, whose
biography the Sunday schools are for
a year considering. Now what sort of
man was he? What were his out
standing traits
A plain, unassuming. approachable
man of the people was He. No pomp
or state attended him; the only dig
nifty he possessed was that which was
inherent in his great soul. Little chill
dren, umid women. the sick, the blind,
the leper, and all the derelicts of hui
mainly felt free to claim his attention.
Amazing was his gentleness. None
of the naughty arrogance Of the other
teachers of his time could be found
about him. In patience, meekness and
tender helpfulness his great, loving
heart poured itself forth in service
without stint, alike for the Iowliest and
the highest 'tThe Son of man came
not to be ministered unto, but to min
lister"
Withal he was courageous His
meekness was not weakness. It was
the humility of seIf-conscious power
The hand that was so soft and soothing
in the touch Of healing could nightly
grip the scoUrge of cords and drive out
the pollution from the Temple. The
caressing tones that won the confidence
of little children rang like a judgment
knell IN the ears of the proud and pow
erful- The unblinking bravery which
we associate with our heroes belonged
pre-eminently to the gentle Jesus.
A Voice Amid Echoes.
The author of the recent monu-
mental work on George Herbert gives
as a reason why he should devote such
4 immense labor to lOng-dead poet his
belief that there are no vital poets to-
4 day. There are many echoes, but no
/ voices. To a far greater degree was
/ this true of the time into which Jesus
was born. Discerning observers. like
/ Nicodemus, the trained scholar, per
/ ceived that this new Rabbi was an orig
/ inal, and no mere copy. The dead hand
was upon his day in palsying power;
/ the more startling, therefore, his free
and daring character.
Twenty centuries old are the teach
ings of Jesus to US though still pulsat-
ing with a life beside which all reeent
I PHILOSOPHERS seem dead; to the crowds
who heard his words at their first ut
terance the teachings were revolution
airy, amazing, incredible. The news
which the Son of man proclaimed was
not only good news, but It was, to the
fullest meaning of the word. new
With gasps of establishment many OF
his utterances were heard and so di-
rectly counter did he run to time-hon-
ored traditions that deep and deadly
enmities we're awakened.
This Jesus has been the emancipation
of truth throughout the ages but it is
still difficult for US to realize how un-
ltrammeled, unconventional. iconoclas-
tic and original he seemed to his owr
day. His was the first fresh. free vita
voice that had rippled the waters Of
the Dead Sea of Jewish thought fOl
hundreds Of years. So the echoe.
clamored about him. seeking to drown
his voice failing that they did not hest
tate to try to silence it in the grave
But He being dead. vet sDea keith - in
spring the latest. boldest and pro
foundest thought of man today.
A Man With Mission.
One OF the striking characteristics
which even a cursory SURVEY of tht
history Of Jesus reveals is the strange
even uncanny consciousness of q super
natural impulsion behind his life H,
believed himself to be different from
other men. There burned night and
day in his brain a conviction that h,
was a sent man. His business, as u,
never forgot for an instant, was no
merely to live a mans life. but alst
to do his own peculiar work Life t,
him was a divine mission. No studl
Of the Biography can be inteIligen
without a recognition Of this underly
ing fact.
AS a boy in the Temple the passion
bursts forth an the words Knew We no
that I must be about the things Of mr.
Father" 1t was the same lofty con
sCiousness which restrained and sus
tanned him through the eighteen year