Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-01-10


i pages of that divine life after his full
mission had been revealed to him at
the Jordanlc baptism. We would
speak about the parallels which Christ
uttered, but which were not written
down, and Of the miracles he did of
which there Is no record given, and Of
/ the gentle words of love and sympathy
which he uttered to those about him
Of which there is no mention. oh,
what volumes Of spiritual truths there
would be If we could only have them
at hand! wonder If some time In the
dim future the records of some of these
unrevealed wondrous deeds of Jesus
will not yet be exhumed from some OF
| the eastern tombs for man to ponder
over and to study and to translate in
| his human life.
Mr.. Beecher thus bewails the loss Of
the unrevealed words and deeds Of
Christs life: "When | see how much
has been written Of those who have
lived. how the Greeks preserved every
saying of Plato's, how Boswell fol
lowed Johnson. gathering up every leaf
that fell from that rugged old oak and
pasted it away, | almost regret that
one OF the disciples had not been II re-
cording angel, to preserve the odor and
richness of every word of Christ.
When John says, And there are also
many other things which Jesus did, the
which, If they should he written every
one. suppose that even the world It
sele could not contain the books that
should be written it affects me more
I profoundly than when | think Of the
destruction of the Alexandrian library
or the perishing of the Grecian art in
Athens or Byzantium The creations
Of Phidias were cold stones overlaid by
warm thought but Christ described his
own creation when he said, The words
that | speak unto you. they are life.
The leaving out of these things from
the New Testament, though dvlnely
wise, seems to my yearning not so
much the Accomplishment of noble
things as the destruction of great treas
ures which had already had oral life.
but failed Of ncarnat ton in literature"
But though these unrevealed deeds and
sayings of Jesus Christ did not have
their lives purely evanescent? Like
the dewdrops tuInbling upon the finger
of leaf were they soon to pass away?
Nay. The unwrtten words and deeds
of Jesus found their incarnation in the
! lives of the men and the women and
the children by whom he was sur
rounded. These people to whom he
spoke not Only heard, but they also be
lieved and they lived his teachings.
Not spoken In Vain.
Take that night which Jesus spent in
Jericho, in tie house of ZacchaeuS, the
publican. There is not word written
/ about his evening conversations From
the gospel of Luke we know that Jesus
called Zacchaeus down from the syca-
more tree and went to the home of the
publican. But not one word is written
about what happened when he was at
that house. After the multitudes had
gone to their homes and Jesus sat
down to meat with Zaccbaeus and his
wife-and his children, what do you sup
pose he did? DO you suppose Christ
quickly in silence ate his supper and
then turned and said. "Zacchaeus. |
am tired and want to go to bed" Then
do you suppose he took his lamp and
went off and shut his bedroom door
and went to sleep, or do you suppose
that Jesus acted in that home like
true. warm hearted friend? At first.
! think, the family were n little shy.
Then the ice of bashful reserve gradu-
ally wore away. Then rs soon as the
supper was ended think Jesus took Il
couple of the youngest children upon
his knee and stroked their hair and
told them some sweet stories Yes,
think | can hear Jesus telling these
children some simple parallels like that
Of the sheep that was lost up in the
mountains or Il story like the prodigal
son. You see the chldren's eyes grow
bigger and bigger. They are SO inter
ested that the Youngest little girl, who
had been sucking her thumb for an
hour, has not once wanted to sQurm
out of his lap. The two boys. leaning
on his knee, have not once attempted
to pull each others hair. Then. as
Christ talks on. think he brings the
spiritual lessons so near home that
tears nre rolling down the fathers and
mothers checks. Then the little fam
lily knelt for the good night prayer and
the family altar was started. We're
all those words of Jesus lost words?
We're all those sentences which he
spoke only short lived sentences and
ephrmeral In their influence: If you
think thus then you must say that all
the prayers which the visiting pastor
uttcrs by the sickbed, all the quiet
talks the Christian mother has with
her boy after the rest of the family
have gone to bed. all the words Of adj
vice the Sunday school teacher gives
to her scholars are ephemeral words
and short lived words No. The I'M
written words and deeds Of Jesus live.
They never died. They lived and they
continue to live in the lives of the men
and the women and the children to
whom he spake.
Turn to the gospel Of John and read
there the account of the conversation
Jesus had with the woman of Samaria
by Jacobs well. Christ was a-weHried,
He sat down to rest by this famous
well while his disciples went into Sy-
char to buy bread. This cell is about