The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1908-12-31


D yci silo~s His disciples 10 call Him ~
lhAi awfui tale. NJ u guilty " sscsi'
Z ievx.
y What I'D Paul and ltSsaai.As 10 whei
b the priests aud p~'snie ~ LFsirs wefs
; prvp1fsag 10 offer anls them The homer
: dae auto tiodf Dtl they usf rrui ihell
closhrs and rna amung che people cry
: ina cat. tAirr. whg 81 ~ these ihings'
: We also arr men "a Ike pass,ou- wllf
. yau.
i Bat notice lhs Js.als DOES not only
( aliaH Peter ~ call li'ln the CHRIST, tbs
= son u The living God. hul nisIies Tia
confession ~ His cliief Hposllr with
rnosi soieina woriss Blessed sr thou,
\ Simon. son 81 jonas for frsh and
blood hath ays revealed Il anIo Thee,
I bat nay Father which W IA heaven.
The Jesus sbo speaks these words is
/ The same jesus abo frw hours later
d. iarns upon Peter wiih singing re-
/. bukr when Peter ~ndeayorx TO turn
HIN aside from the path 81 duty. ''Gei
! thee behind me Satan, thou art an
offence aaia NE; for thou savorcsi not
| the things thai be- Of God, bnt those
that be OF men" Can spirit which
holdr snch AN exalted opinion oi duty
be guilty Of the worst form Of sacri.
legrf
As We continue our story of the Cos
pei narrative in search of evidence 10
show thai Jesus WAS not only conyine-
ed in His own mind that He was divine.
but made definite statements 10 that
effect. we come across an incident Of
great significance.
Jesus is attending the feast of Tabcr.
nacles proceeding His crucihxion. Ii
is the last day OF the Feast, and He is
sitting in the Temple courts, teaching.
The audience is largely composed Of
hostile Scribes. Pharisees and priests.
The Master is making long discourse,
frequently interrupted by His enemies
with contradictory statements and in
suits. For lack Of time il is not posi-.
bic 10 review Jesus arguments, al
though 10 do so would shed much light
on the point at issue. Just look at the
closing utterances.
In answer to the assertion that He
had proclaimed the truth some in the
audience call Jesus a Samaritan and
liar. The Master does not grow angry
at the insult; but gently re-affirms that
He has stood and is standing for the
truth; and that whosoeyer keeps His
sayings shall never see death. The
carnal minds OF the hearers fail to un-
derstand that Jesus is speaking of the
Immortality of the soul and not of the |
body. SO they fling back the brutal
answer: Now we know that thou
hast devil. Abraham and the pro-
phets were good men and they died.
Art thou and thy message better than
the prophets and their messagesf'
To this question Jesus gives the an
swer that Abraham did not entertain
the hostile feelings towards Him which
characterized their attitude. Abraham
by spiritual intuition while on earth,
and from the heavens above had re-
joiced to see His day. had seen it, and
was glad.
"Iow can this be, retort the Jews,
"seeing that thou art not yet fifty years
of agef"
And then Jesus gathering himself to-
gether for supreme declaration, and
using the formula of asseyeration
which He uses only when announcing
His most solemn truths" declares:
verify, verify ! say unto you, before
Abraham was, lam.
There il no room for equivacation in I
these words. II language means any
thing at all, il il is vehicle for
thought these words constitute direct
assertion on the part of Jesus that the
thirty-three years of His earthly career {
do not constitute His life; but mere !
incident in an existence which starts :
with the beginning of things in God I
and stretches on throughout eternity. q
] repeat, il language means anything, /
Jesus is here saying that He is the q
"Lobos," the Christ" the "Son." 5
Hence we are shut up to one or two o
either Jesus is speaking I
the truth, and then He is divine; or j
else He is guilty of falsehood and sacri- b
lege, and then He is the greatest i'm. \
poster of the ages. o
Were il not for the limitations of o
time we would study closely the prayer
offered by Jesus after the institution Of d
The Lords Snpper, just before leaving a
Tor the Mount of Olives. A man who v
is standing on the brink of eternity. on a
The eve Of his crucfixion, is not likely p
10 be guilty of falsebood and sacrilege; <
rather is likely to speak words OF truth q,
and soberness. And what is the chief b
pttttioH VI thht ptdyrIi iuht VIC -
Father in Heaven would invest Jesus
with the glory which had been His q
rom the foundation of the world, and
II which He had Invested Himself vol "
II il is mere man who is >,
praying, then the whole thing is mex u
nay, more than that, il is OF
Il
But there is one more piece OF valua- ~
lie testimony, which TO my mind is :
inal.
The arrest in the garden Of Gethse- al
name has taken place. Jesus has been e
ragged before the Sanhedrin and is &c
low facing His chief enemy, the High I
'riest. The seventy members OF the NJ
highest Jewish tribunal are there in re
ull force. with fire in their eyes, and ~
ate in their hearts, ready to rush upon NJ
heir victim and rend Him asunder A
,ut they must save their faces by sc