Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-13
Misery, Mercy, Miracle.

The Master was always touched by the
inflrmities of men. The Pharisees knew
il and probably framed up the plot to
entrap Jesus. The man who was present
in the synagogue service was, according
to the apocryphral gospel to the Hebrews,
a mason whose hand, through some ac-
cident, had commenced to wither. Luke
tells US that It was the right hand, so
that, If the legend is true. he could not
work at his trade and faced the necessity
Of begging for his bread The Pharfsees
were evidently prepared to push their plot
against Christ. for they asked the Master.
as Matthew tells US. lis it lawful to heal
on the Sabbath day." that they might
accuse him."
The Pharisees expected Jesus to defend
healing on the Sabbath day, for He per-
formed many of his miraculous cures on
the days Of public worship. They held by
their teachings that 1t was not lawful to
ance on the Sabbath. II Jesus could
cure, as In the case OF the man In the
service, upon Sunday as on the Sabbath,
they believed 1t would be sin for the
Master to heal on the Sabbath and that
the people would reject Christ's claim OF
Messiahship.
Jesus answered their questions by one:
els 1t lawful on the Sabbath day to do
good or to do harm? To save nfe or
kiln" The Masters question disclosed
q person is the same as to do evil" Their
practice which Jesus implied by State
ment given In Matthew preceding His
question. was In accordance with that
Of their dumb beasts. Then why should
not He on the Sabbath heal and help the
poor man whose affiiction appealed to
Him? They refused to answer His ques-
ton.
They had challenged His authority and
His anger was aroused by their moral
cowardice and whitening hearts when
they declined to reply. The elevation of
aroused His righteous Indignation. This
Is the first mention by st. Mark OF the
impressive gaze afterward so frequent in
every gospel" We must not overlook the
significant fact that the same cause that
aroused anger produced grief. Their con-
dition, :ls well as the man standing in
their midst who desired help. touched
ns TO S s tatS He
the man to do what was apparently TIM
possible. but he tried to obey. The mo-
ment he made the effort power TO do
be the Messiah. defeated the Pharisees'
pernicious plot and closed the argument
by acting upon the fundamental pr1ncf-
pie. The Sabbath was made for man.
defeat. the Pharisees went out and
formed a combination with the Herodians
whose financial interests. for they were
grafters. were threatened. They saw the
possibility OF Herod being superseded by
Jesus. They took counsel how they
might destroy Him, and organised the
opposition against our Lord.
The application of the lesson to our
day OF rest IL important, for, as Emerson
says, the Sabbath is the core OF our
civilization" There has always been. ac-
cording to the records of history, an
oscillation from one extreme to another.
The day OF rest. reflection and rever-
ence Is In danger OF being lost In our
modern civilization. The preservation OF
the physical welfare Of man demands
that one day in seven should be saved
for all men az q day OF rest The state
cannot say that the individual is to use
the day In Q religious way. The wise
man win be g'.lded BY the spirit Of
Christ and uss. the day in reverential
rest from all labor, except such as viii
benefit humanity.