Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-04-26
ing familiarity; He unitcs implacable
hatred of sin with the warmest love for

ing familiarity; He unites implacable
hatred of sin with the warmest love for
the sinner, and keeps beautiful bal
ance between severity and tenderness.
Our human nature, even at its best,
can hold nothing settled. The scales
are always slipping off the balance.
The finite nature seems to exhaust IT.
self in success in any one line OF hu.
man achievement. But this balance OF
the character of Jesus is never dis.
turbed nor needs readjustment. In !
Him the diverse prophecies of the Old
Testament unite. In one place He Is
described as "a root out Of dry |
ground" in another as "the living |
branch" as "despised and rejected
of men" in one passage and as 1.-THE
desire of all nations" in another. In
His character He combines the char
acteristics of moral excellence.
Think also of the universally of the
character of Jesus. No nation or race.
no time or sect can claim Him as its
own. While Hebrew, yet there does
not seem to be any particular Hebrew,
or even Oriental, characteristic about
Him. And this is the more remark
able If we remember that the Jews
there have been no other such people
in the world-have kept the mood OF
mind, the passive disposition through
all generations, and they have flowed,
like the gulf stream, through the ocean,
vet unaffected by 1t. They have been
more eternal than the eternal City"
itself The race remains as when
Pompey led their captive fathers to the
imperial city. 1000 years ago. Out OF
this unmlngnng race there energies
Jesus, the cosmopolitan, the man OF
the whole world We cannot seem to
account for Him or bring Him into line
with His predecessors. In all centuries
He has been recognized as the type Of
human virtue. Socrates would not be
considered an exemplary man to-day.
nor Marcus Aurelius. good many
saints have been canonized that ought
to have been cannonaded. Jesus Christ
was what He always called Himself.
''The Son of Man." rs if in Him hui
mainly was complete.
Again, think of the uniqueness or
Jesus In His teaching. Plato has been
dominant influence in the world. by
comparing school with school he be-
came one of the most learned men. Not
so with Jesus. He did not sit at the
feet of any Jewish rabbi. He was only
carpenters son In rural district.
"How knOweth this man letters, hav-
Ing never learncd" was asked. He as
ISOLATED with those who were His mas.
tiers in learning, and yet COMPOUNDED
them. Erudite lawyers and Pharisees
Joined to catch Him, and yet He al.
ways answered them Immediately and
never asked for time to consider. Ills
replies were in terms so explicit that
His teachings have settled casuistry
for 1000 years. No man has ever been
able to add a single iOta to the moral
and spiritual truth He taught.
Once more think of the uniqueneSs OF
His character in regard to His mighty
works, and His manner of doing them.
He never asccnds to His work. but
always dcScends. His efforts are with
out righteousness or strain, as il rather
relaxation, unlike other men when
engaged in great performance. He
never prepared Himself for a miracle
or studied the laws of dynamics or
force. In the first chapter of Genesis
it is written. "God said. Let there be
light" That seems to indicate the way
Ill WHICH JcSuS pei iol iiNu iii' h'i'"
Giles. He acted as if He were accus-
toned to doing them. as If they were
spangles on the regala Of king. The
disciples rejoiced that "the devils were
subject" to them, and He told them
rather to rejoice that their names were
written in heaven" That is the best
thing.
so we come back to the question,
"What think We of Christ? Whose Son
is IIe:" What answer are we going
to make? We have got to answer; no
man can escape it, That personal
query stands dominant and persistent
in front of every man alive; the one
great Interrogation point facing every
generation and every individual. we
know answers that have been given:
That He was the natural product of
the outgrowth of the ages; the flower
of the preceding ages, the proceed of
the force long held in solution. That
is the explanation with which evOlu-
ton accounts for Jesus Christ. Then
why does not evolution produce an
other Jesus. or something like Him?
Some say He was 4 literary product,
the ideal of inventive minds. Renan
tells us the gospels are the supreme ro-
mancps of the world. My friends, 1t
would seem to be as credible that
Zulu composed paradise Lost" as that
this superb, marvellous character
should be simply the weaving of hui
man brains. That Interrogation point
still stands: what think We of Christ"