The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-09-16

u Wicked Husbandmen and Ihe Mar
riagn Feastl. naturally exaspe-dted
the enemies of Jesus and they ROW
determined to bring matters o "A erals
& whatever the cost. They had already
talked the matter over and they had
apparently concluded that they could
not hope TO secure his arrest without
K stirring up a tumult unless they could
entangle him in his talk and lead him
Al 10 saw something that would sound
II like biasphemy. III they could do this
{ they could safely move against him,
# for ali true Jews hated a biasphcmer,
Is And so they got together-Pharisees
{ EadduceeS ard Herodlans-men who
s9 surely had never gotten together be-
" fore. for their hatred for one another
( was only less than their hatred OF
Jesus--and arranged 10 attack him
one after another with hard questions
until they had succeeded in ensnaring
him in his talk. First the Pharisees
and Herodians came and with ftatter-
ting words tried to draw from him a
direct answer fo the question whether
5 il was lawful for jew to pay the
Roman poll tax or not II was shrewd
/ Isl pitt. II he said Yes he would lose
the sympathy OF the people, for the
Jews generally were riercely opposed
I To the poll tax, and If he said no they
They admitted that ii was danger
Gus question to answer, but they knew
$50 they satd-that he was not afraid
OF anybody and therefore they hoped
for an answer. But Jesus saw their
poiat, and instead of giving them
3 direct answer demanded that they
Y show him a piece of the tribute
money. They brought him a Roman
penny, thereby acknowledging that
- =
and therefore as Roman subjects. Thus
they were made to answer their own
question. IL they accepted the SER
vice OF Caesars government they
should certainly render an equivalent.
they should render unto Caesar the
things that are Caesars and unto God
the things that are Gods.
The Pharisees and Herodians with
drew in confusion. The Sadduceee
came with the supposed case OF
woman who was successfully the wife
OF seven husbands and asked the silly
question whose wife she would be in
v the resurrection. These also were
quickly silenoed. Then--~but here the
lesson text begins,
The Lesson Text In Everyday Dress.
When the Pharisees learned that
4 Jesus had COMPOUNDED and silenced the
Eadducees. thay came together to try
their hand at entrapping him. One
ut the number, s. teacher OF the law.
who had been deeply impressed by his
answers, undertook to test him fur
ther with an old, puzzling theological
question: What kind OF command
n1ent stands foremost in the law 80 he
asked. Which takes the first rank;
the ceremonial or the moral---the Law
about this or the law about that ."
Jesus answ ered: Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart ana
with all thy soul and with all thy
mind This is the foremost command
u1ents this rs the very essence Of all
the commandments. And ne added,
second one that grows out of Ii
and liz OF the same nature Is this.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy
SELF The whole word OF God rests
upon these two comma ndments"
IL was now the Masters turn TO ask
question What is your opinion OF
the Messiah Whose son is he?" They
answered. He is the son OK David"
Well, then" said Jesus, why does
David under the inspiration of the
{ Holy Spirit call him Lord, as in the
llvth Psalm, where he says, Jehovah
said unto my Lord, sit thou at my
right hand until make thine enemies
4 Thy fcotstool?" David called him Lord
how then Is he his SOM" There could
be but one answer and that was that
nS human being he was Dayid's
son. but as a divine being he was Da-
fads Lord. But IL they thus answered
xhey would condemn themselves, Tor
they had taught the people to look
Ter temporal Messiah and not such
= Messiah as David foresaw, and so
they could answer nothing, and fear
Ing TO be brought again into such a
EST -,
asking him any more questions.
The Heart OF the Lesson.
The Pharisees FILTERED away their
lives with endless discussions about
non-essentials and with the tithing OF
mint anise and cummin to the neglect
of this weightier matters OF the law
They would sit together for hours and
discuss tribes with gravity which
Il axcites smile from serious men
even to this day. In their thoughts
the naole hill vas q mountain and the
mountain was q mole hill. They dwelt
50 much upon little things that they
lost all sense OF proportion. and the
great essentials Of life We're often
4 wholly overlooked. The question the
lawyer asked of Jesus was not, What
~ the first commandment, but, What
sort OF n commandment is of first i'm
portance? What are the fundamentals
! " religion. Which il more import
ant~--the law about tithes or the law
shout washing! In his answer Jesus
Qkteriy ignores the whole realm OF
NAouEht To which the lawyer was ac-
4 euStomed and goes at once to the
/: vary kernel of the matter. The essence
~ religion. he says. is loye-the out
going OF the heart, mind and soul
i the devotion of the whole being to
God and to ones fellow-men. Then
4 ~ turns upon his enemies and asks
xhem question. and herein we see
the kind of question that is worth
asking. What think We OF Christ %
Newer mind your thousand and lone
xabhinicai interpretations and perver-
ai0ns OF the ceremonial law--what
think ye of Christ? II salvation is
q the one. essential thing. then the great
Gmbject Of our religious thought
gAhould be the Christ who lis to save US.
And this word which he spoke to the
HhArtSees he speaks to US. Never mind
n shout the thousand and-one questions
ok controversy with which We like to
ouend our time In Improbable dis
GnanionE; never mind about those the
OaOgicaI questions which we can never
seattle, however wise we may become
u III This world: never mind your bibli-
cal puzzles and conundrums; never
1 mind your trifiing distinctions about
81 3of1na or worship-these are matters
ABOUT which Ii may make little diff
&4Srnnce what you think. but what
E3h4nk We of Christ? All depends upon
tA11{Af III In not a matter of much mo-