The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-24
INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL
 LESSON
.Ie.u., Power to rorgive.

If was no matter of caprice that
 Jesus went to Capernaurn. It was tne
 center of population. There were nine
 large cities in immediate proximity
 And the combined population Of the dis-
 trict approximated three million sous. Comparatively remote from the eccie- sfastical centre of Palestine, the pre1- |udice to the new Teacher and His doc Urine was correspondingly less There
 Jesus reached the masses" There
 was an irresistible attractiveness m Jesus. People flew to Him like nlings to a magnet. He drew men to Himself. He could not be hid. He is still the most attractive and conspicuous per lsonage of all history, and having been lifted up, is drawing an ever-increas- ling multitude to Himself. But each must determine for himself whether Ithis attraction shall result in per Imanent attachment to the Master Alas flor Capernaum! 1t was for the most bart curiosity, or mere bodily healing. or loaves and fishes, that brought the Ipopulace to Jesus; and so city exalted Ito Heaven is brought down to he'll IL lis an utter desoIation, as indeed is the whole region. One little, leahy boat floats on Galilee, where once goodly Iffest rode at anchor. Jesus words, ''Woe unto thee. Capernaum" seem to Iyyake the echoes of d complete desola- Ition. Once when Jesus, in the very house where he was seeking repose, was Ibesieged by an audience that complete Ily choked up the courtyard and the Ivery approach to it, a stirring incident occurred Four men, one or more of lwhom may have had a personal and lhappy experience of Jesus power to heal, picked up an afflicted friend as he lay upon his mat, and brought him l1oyously and confidently to the great Healer. They were not dashed when lthey found the ordinary approach hope
 llessly blocked. They did not lay the Isufferer down in the street, or even lretarn with him to his dwelling. They Iwere the kind who take the kingdom
 o; Heaven by storm. They carried the
 paralytic up the outside staircase to the
 IHat roof. They dug up the hard. sum
 ldried, earthen roof, enough to admit
 of their lowering their friend into the room below. There were helping hands Preached up from the astonished audi |ltors below, and the sufferer was gently and safely landed at Jesus feet. A mute, but powerful appeal, that! Jesus |Ehrst word were indescribably com |lforting: Son. be of good cheer" But there Is a surprising change in the for |mula. It is not rebuke to disease. Ht Is a categorical, authoritative re- mission of sin. The startling words |Icould not escape the notice of the in- |uuisitorial coterie of scribes and Phar- |isees. It was not intended they should. IlYt was Jesus gauntlet at their feet. Thay picked 1t up. but not in audible .iwords of dissent. Omniseience unveil- led their unspoken words as Jesus said: .F'Omnipotence knows nothing of de- IRrees. One thing is not easier or hard Her to 1t than another. It Is equally as .|easy to forgive as to heal, and vice Ilversa But that you may know that 8|have authority and power to do both, ,Ei will also say to this utterly powerless l|person, Arise ." He spake. and it was I|done No wonder the people said. as 1.-the audience dispersed: We have seen strange things today" "Our eyes nev- pr beheld anything to match this scene.' 5I''We never saw it on this fashion,"