The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-21
International SundaySchool
 Lesson
r,r.s au.rter. L...e. XII. March as'

an eagle as the empiem or ol. sohh'
 He scars high and sees far. The pro duct of his pen is the most valuable portion of the Bible. It has been call cd the gospel of eternity and the heart of Christ. His stye is un.que. He does not attempt . minute or chronolo- Rica1 narrative. His writing is an ar gument. He states q proposition and addresses himself to the maintaining of it, His purpose is to cause the reader to believe that Jesus is the Christ His method is to take scenic incidents and typical persons and report Jesus words in connection with them so that there may be reciprocal illumination. He calls to a halt that he may reflect. he ep.tomizes the argument. makes appli- cation, and before he closes swings the golden censer of praise to God.
 Peculiar interest attaches to Johns person as well as to his writing. An incident illustrates his character. It may. of course, be apocryphal but Fuse hius and Clement both affirm it to De true. The apostle left a young man In care of . certain bishop to be instruct ed. On the next visit he surprised the bishop by asking for hts deposit" The bishop denied that he had any ''de-
 posit," supposing St. John meant mon ey. Then the apostle said; "I demand the young man" The bishop reluctant ly admitted that he had allowed the catechumen to apostatize. and that he had become a robber chief The apos- tie mounted on a horse and put him. self in the way of being captured by the robber In order that he might re- claim him. And in this he said to have succeeded. If this tradition and others like 1t are true. sacred art has done an injustice to St John when 1t has pictured h i'm as eliminate. He was. in fact, mundie of paradoxes; fisl1er- man. yet having social access to the high, priests palace; a Galiiean. yet in- finitely familiar with Judea: of none of the schools yet penning the noblest thing in literature; gentle yet son or thunder.
 Johns gospel is the oral teaching of his whole ministry reduced to writing. It 1t a restatement of apostolic doctrine by the last living apostle. It is not merely supplement to the other Cos pels. He did not merely bring up the rear for the purpose of gleaning what others had passed by. He takes great scenic events. six miracles Cor signs. as he significantly calls them) and three parables. He gives the setting and background of each and then in- terprets. or. better, makes the Lord His own interpreter by recording His say ings in the connection. Thus by a series of clusters of sayings, deeds.
 and events. he makes what origen did not hesitate to call "the main Gospel"
 There is not in literature finer ex- ample of adoption of style to subject. The noblest and profoundest thought is here clothed in language ample and
 royal. What the Sistine frescoes are
 in art the exordium of the fourth Cos pei is to written speech. Yet with all it's etateiiness, there Is an inherent simplicity. The similarity between the opening of the Book of Genesis and
 the opening of this Gospel will be read fly recognized. The prologue is in the
 form of Hebrew poetry. which consists
 largely of the recurrence of previously
 expressed thoughts with altered phrase
 and added meaning.
 John the Evangelist paints a noble
 and fadeless portrait of John the Bap-
 tist. He was intensely human. He
 had like passions to those of other l men. The glory of 1t n that with
 these he acted divinely in a great
 national crisis. And that not because 1 irresisttbly impelled by power ex- l ternal fo. himself. His ascetic life was
 a ratiohaI protest to the voluptuousness
 of his age. His solitariness rebuked | the self-interested combinations in | Church and State. He sought the des-
 ert that he might think to a finish a | patriotic course of conduct and might
 fortify his soul with those matured
 convictions of truth which would in-
 ure him even to martydom. when at
 length he felt he was ready to speak
 and some at least ready to hear, he | went to the place where the most peo- | pie would naturally congregate.
 l Now follow two Illuminating incl | dents---the calling of the first disciples and the working of the first miracle l To them attaches the natural interest in first things. Origins always fascin- | 1tw E. | tive. This Is the beginning of the | Christian Church. The interest ordi- narily attaching to the start of things | is in this instance greatly enhanced by | the sacred character of the institution, its phenomenal history, and its world
 wide and benefcent effects. The visit of Nicodemus to Jesus ought to be viewed in the light of events then transpiring. The breach.
 between the officials or the Hebrew Church and the reforming rabbi had already begun. Nicodemus rose supe- rior to the prejudice of his clique and
 visited the Teacher Wonder is not
 that he came at night, but that he came at all. What nonpulsed NIcode- mus was to be tod that he could only come into the kingdom as the proselyte came into the hebrew Church. lie
 considered himself a charter member.
 To md that 1t was not question of
 higher or lower seat, but or any seat ar all was what dumDfounded him.
 The scenes shift swiftly in this ab- sorbtngIy interesting panorama. Jesus conversation with me woman at Jacoo's !
 well to whom He makes His nrst cate
 KoricaI declaration or Messtahsntp. The
 healing ot the nobleman's sons is a history ot tn generation, growth ana
 trultaRe of taitn all m epitOme. Jesus. at the Pool of Bethesda. is picture ol
 Ills sympathy ana power. The event also marks the beginning Of of1ctaI hostility to Jesus.
 There is a phllosophic continuity in Johns presentation or incidents wnlcn is far more effective than bald ehron- oloRical series. He does not do vio- fence to chronology, but he is not ham
 pered by 1t. Ills purpose Is to snow inc evolution or Jesus character and
 work. Next in this order comes the
 miracle of the loaVes and fishes. follow
 ed by the appearance of Jesus at the
 Feast of the Tabernacles. and closing
 with the miracle of the healing Of the man born blind. This latter miracle
 was like so many others, an acted
 parable. Jesus refused to enter with Ills disciples into the current and fa-
 yoritA speculation which summed it. self in the question whether the man or his parents were sinners; whether the suffering was sign of sin, and the de- gree of 1t indicated the degree of the sin. He turned from splitting hairs to opening eyes. It pleased Him to condescend to the use oI the cruae ma taria medica of the day in order to