The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1912-01-26
SATURDAY. might
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RYSAMUELW ". PURv1S. DID.
TEE INSANITY OF JESUS.

Here's the most pathetic biography
ever written. Every chapter tells
new woe. Surely prophecy was true
he would he "a man Of sorrow. aC.
quainted with grief" bat no imagina
ton had over pictured the least Of 1t.
Thirty years OF enforced silence.
Wrongs there to be righted. but bis
hour mot yet come" The regiment
under fire and permission withheld 20
charge. Truth everywhere on the
scaffold. wrong everywhere on the
throne. Hypocrisy, violence. poor
downtrodden, widows unavenged, re-
ligion a hollow mockery. Yet he was
dumb; he opened not his mouth" He
must wait Till the slow years drag
their leaden heels. His face aged I'm
der II. The Jews said. Thou art not
vet Atty years old" Then came the
public life, the temptations, bardships.
insults OF Pharisees. contempt Of rub
| ers. stupidity OF followers. rejection Of
the people, attempted transformations,
Gethsemane. the Judgment ball, Cal
very.
| "Et ~, Brvtsi"
II there are shades OF darkness this
is the blacklist. The text event has
a bitterness all OF it's own. The hatred
| OF the Pharisees was one thing, the
vindictiveness OF the rulers another.
This blow was from hands that loved
him. They had doubted him from the
first. John says, Neither did his
brothers believe in him" and among
the Jews there was a grave suspicion.
Many Of them said: He hath n devil
and is mad. Why hear We him."
Catch the significance Of It? When
he stands Mt the door OF the carpenter
shop, brushing the shavings from his
hair, looking toward the setting sun,
there's a gigantic dream in his heart.
He dreams, this carpenter. Foolish
| fellow! They are watching him. For
some time they remark a growing
strangeness in his manner. He has
said 80 many strange things, done 50
many strange acts. What does It all
mean? Where end? One sad day Il
eliminated. 1t was clear enough now.
He was not quite responsible for what
! he was doing. They tapped their
heads significantly. II was his mind.
alas, that was affected. In plain Eng
| fish. he was mad. An awful thing
to say when true, more awful when
not. Fearful when coming from enc
mics. more fearful when from those
we love. There should have been one
| spot on Gods earth for the Son OF
Man, one roof under which he would
| be understood. where there would be
a mothers pride. sisters love, broth
er's affection. But even that is denied
him. Furtive eyes are watching him
askance: one whispers to another
aside; suspicious gances instead OF
frankness; hands once kind itch to re-
strain, finally the overwhelming an
nouncement, HE is beside himself"
Truly, HE came unto his own and
his own received him notr
The Truth Of q Faisehood.
Sometimes our saintliest men, driven
by overwork, pain or Quivering nerves,
become Sweet bells out of tune" for a
season. Alexander Cruden at work
upon his concordance; William Cowper,
the sweet singer: Aaltbie Babcock, the
Christ man OF a century-the world
loves them more tenderly for the
shadow of the mental cloud. But, listen.
oh, my soul. From the worlds stand
point the charge against my Lord IL
true. 1t is useless to denounce ii as
libel, bitter. blasphemous calumny.
1t is not so. 1t Is true! They had no
alternative. Either he was the Christ,
the Son OF the living God. or he was
beside himself. Either he was Cod
The Father and are one"-or he was
a maniac pTating OF his kingdom. Three
years pass. three brief swift years.
He is hunted as criminal, seized.
hung on the cross. laughingstock.
They mock him; they taunt him; they
spit upon him. The bubbles burst The
dreams ended. A dead mans on the
gibbet That is the end Of all. But, oh,
my God! Two hundred centuries later
his name is whispered with awe; he
leads armies who never buckled sword;
he hlls libraries who never wrote
book; he lights the worlds canvas who
never held a brush. At his name the
worlds millions bow their heads. Is
this the Carpenter? Yes. the mighty
Builder, the great Architect Of the uni
verse, who framed the vault of the
sky and the dome OF eternity.
The Eeeentrieity Of Goodness.
And the Christian? Yes, he. too, is
beside himself In the eyes Of the
world. 1t was always so. Paul, thou
art beside myself" said his lustful,
wicked sccuser. Truly. a holy life Is
always a phenomenon. What is being
beside oneself? What is madness?
Man acts different from others. We say
he Is eccentric. He gathers old coins
or collects stamps or bugs or beetles.
Other wheels in the machine shop re-
volve about a central axis. describing
a perfect circle. Over at one side is
one with a changing curve. The en-
gineer tells you it has peculiar cen.
ter, is eccentric. When the Christ came
the world revolved about one circle.
one center TO human life-self. He
| came to teach new center-GOd. IL
mans center was right. then Christ
was wrong. eccentric, a lunatic. II