The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-10-24

me luternatlOnal SunOay SCHooA Leo
SON for October IS IL Jesus and
Judas"-Matt 9e:14-25: 1880;
27:3-1O.
BY WILLIAM r. ELLIS.
Only a very few names are known
to all the civilized world: and there
Is but one that Is the synonym OF
atty. To say Judas" Is to call up
the worlds one personality whose
name Is synonymous with all that hui
ynanfty instinctively cespises. The
worst adjective that can be applied to
any man today is to call him a
Judas"
Yet Judas. the Traitor was once
Judas the loyal. warm-hearted. as
Firing Jewish patriot. seeking to fol-
low the best light he could find. As
q mother sees her innocent babc in
the face Of her murderer son, SO we
cannot help recalling the other Judas.
the man who might have been.
Orthodox-But = Traitor.
Only one of the twelve apostles
came from ultra-orthodox Judea, and
he was Judas. The aristocracy of the
Jewish religion was found in the
Province of Judea. They counted
themselves a little more loyal to Je-
no Yah and the law, than their fellow
Jews from other parts. BY ancestry
anc environment Judas had greater
Advantages than his comrades. He
was the ultra-orthcdox disciple whose
home was nearest to the temple and
It's religious privileges.
If any man is counting on his fam
lily line. or his social and religious
standing to deliver him from disloy-
atty anc sin, he would better take a
long look at the case of Judas. No
man is so high that he may not fall
low. Church membership does not
save one from treason to Christ. Even
activity in religious work is no guar
antee that one may not fall into griev-
Gus sin. The first simple message of
full and modest. Let him that stand
eth take heed lest he fall
zone ship drives East. another drives
West,
While the selfsame breezes blow;
IT'S the set of the sails, and not the
gales,
That bids them where to CO.
Like the winds of the air. are the
wars of the fates,
AS we journey along through life.
Ills the set of the soul that decides
the goal,
And not the storm or the strife
My Way, or Not mt All.
NO man hQOWS the IlOuI WITCH " ONS>'''
the loyal, expectant and trustful dis
ciple. began to change into Judas, tn
resentful, scheming, avaricious traitor.
Evidently, his first disloyalty was I'M
willingness to trust Christ's plan. In
common with the other disciples, he
did not approve of Christ setting up a
spiritual kingdom instead of tenn
poral. All his expectations had been
directed toward the restoration or
earthly power He had always held in
nj M
for himself. Sure of his own worldly
wisdom he could not agree to what he
regarded as an anti-climax for the ca
reer Of Jesus and his friends He rep
resented large number OF us who are
willing to serve God, but on our own
terms.
Then Judas was a lover Of money.
Avarice ate into his soul like a gan
creme. The old Church fathers labeled
avarice as one of the seven deadly sins,
and with reason: 1t Is not only a sin
In itself, but it begets a whole swarm
OF other sins.
Perfectly respectable and lawabiding
persons are the ones likeliest to be
overwhelmed by this sin Of avarice.
which slays more souls than the sin OF i
murder. We are fond OF calling 1t
thrift" prudence" business sagac-
ity,' when 1t is nothing but sheer,
stark. ruthless love Of money. Avarice
made Judas murderer and traitor;
even as 1t has changed many another
God-fearing man into hard. cruel
suspicious. money-grabbing oppressor
OF his fellow men. In the black shadow
Of the Judas crime may we not for
swear solemnly the beginnings Of the
deadly sin of avarice?
Running With q New Crowd.
Sweeter, tenderer and more beautt-
full than all the prayer meetings ever
held was that which Jesus shared with
his disciples on the last night In the
upper room. The comfort Of that gath
ering has blessed the world for nine
teen centuries since. Judas shirked IT
He had no taste for prayer meetings
a symptom of his moral and spiritual
decline, which he did not fully realize
himself. He forsook the gathering In
the upper room before the Last Supper
was instituted. and sought out a crowd
more in accord with his new mood.
Imagine the horror OF it! Judas who
had walked day and night in the sweet
fellowship of Jesus and the Eleven, was
now consorting with the Phartsees and
priests and aristocratic foes Of Jesus
We see him next the center of crowd
made up Of temple police, Roman SOL
diers and the blood-thirsty mob Little
Joy he had In this company.
Nor did they have any more pleasure
in him. In all that mob who accom-.
panied him to the trysting-place OF
Jesus. there was none 80 low as to re-
spect the traitor. He had betrayed his
manhood. The very men who used him
cast him off, and babe him bear his
own sin and shame.
No man ever was permanently salts.
fled with q bad bargain. News has
recently come from Ireland concerning
n well known figure in the financia
world. who was q passenger on the i'll.
xated Titanic. He used his authority t.
secure a place In one Of the boats, al.
though many women and children were
drowned. Tho whole world pointed q
finger Of scorn at him. He was obliget
to retire from all his official positions
Now he has secluded himself in an Irisf
estate. whore even tho peasants curs'
his name n they pass his gates. II