The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-11-21

A Judge Found Guilty.
The International Sunday School Les,
son for November % is Jesus ana
Pilate."-Matt. 27:11-31; Luke rs:
1-26.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS. :,
There sits old PLATE, the crooked
judge and politician. Let us stohe
him. He deserves no mercy. For ne
is a petty-souled tyrant. an opstana.e
creature. At him now. and let .ne
stones fly. He failed the NOBLE ~.
man name and law in Crisis II
played false to the human race. ne
sacrificed the greatest Man because
of his own smallness. Gather more
stones and bigger: for this is the most
infamous poltroon of history; Inc
sneak. the shirk, the coward! Bury
him beneath the missiles OF 1ustlce' Ioi
PLATE, with Judas. has earned an I'M
mortality Of shame. .o,as
Stay: what is this word that nolos
back our hands? Let him that IS
without sin among you cast the flrst
stone" What, Master. would you nave
us turn to examining ourselves wnen
we have so clear and easy marx o.
oblouuy before US? May we not have
the 10y Of denouncing this false Judge
whom the centuries have 1ouno
guilty?
We confess ourselves lesser Pilates
for we, too, have been sup1ne wnen
truth NEEDED testifiers; we have been
craven when we should have been
courageous; we have been politic
when we should have been outright
we have put self interest above noiy
truth; we have squirmed ana snlrkeo
and evaded when loyalty to our own
manhood and our trust called Tor
downright, unequivocating and rear
less steadfastness. In contrltlon we
admit our kinship to PLATE. the judge
who failed to play the man.
Public office and Private Character.
politician. Solicitude for office takes
the place of fidelity to trust. That is
the difference between the petty poll
misunderstanding, whispering, trading
and the great statesman, willing TO
sacrifice all for an ideal. I know a
man, recently a candidate for high
office, who received many letters from
ministers of the Gospel Ito their
shame be the story todd, asking him
to contribute to various church enter
votes for him If he did SO. All this
was Immediately before election, and
my friend had he been a mere poll
tician, would either have made the
gifts or sent some cOnciliatOry, eva
sive reply. Because he is first of all
a fearless Christian man, my friend
straightway wrote to every such cor
respondent a clearcut rebuke, point
ing out that the proposal was VIOLA
ton of the corrupt practices act. Per-
haps he lost some votes thereby: but
he retained his manhood.
That insistence occurs to me in con-
trast with the conduct of PLATE, who
was essentially a politician, caring
more for his place than for his honor.
If it had been convenient and polite,
he would have freed Jesus. in accord
ance with the failure of the Jew to
m kn a legal against tho nria.
oner. But he was ruled by the mob
spirit; he always chose the majority
side. He wanted to be popular with
the Jews-though all the while he was
offending them-and most of all he
craved the favor of Caesar. All, PLATE,
you may ostentatiously wash your
hands Of responsibility for your own
treason to your trust and your man.
hood, but the stain still remains, red
and glaring. for all the world to see.
Your character was not up to the level
Of your Office. Time has judged you
as a judge. and found you blackly
guilty.
The Strong Man Stands Forth.
1t has not been uncommon through
out history, for the real culprit to be
sitting on the bench, while the Judge
is in the prisoners dock. With all
Pilates it remains true that the judg-
mems they render judge the Judge
Really. PLATE was on trial before Jesus;
even as all of us who. called to sit in
inevitable judgment upon the Christ,
find ourselves being judged by our YER
dict.
In shining contrast to the shifty,
timorOus Roman potentate, a weakling
in character, stands the strong, serene
and silent Savior. What a man was
there! Daring to treat with silent con-
tempt both Herod and Plate on their
thrones. Anybody who looks with dis
eliminating eye upon this scene in the
Roman praetOrium in Jerusalem must
say Of Jesus. There was a man." In
sense that PLATE did not intend, he
may repeat "Ecce Homo!"
In an unconventional but rugged bit
or verse Ezra Pound has drawn a pic
ture of the Master as THE Goodly
Fere. "Fere'' meaning mate or COM
rade. The lines are put into the mouth
Of rough Simon Zelotes, after the cruel
fixion:
''Ha' we lost the goodliest Fere O. all
For the priests and the gallows tree?
aye lover he was OF brawny men,
O. ships and the open sea-
AYE he sent us out through the crossed
high spears
And the scorn Of his laugh rang free.
why took We not me when 1 walked
about
Alone in the town. says he.
"Oh We drank his Hale in the good red
wine
When We last made company,
NO capon priest was the Goodly Fere.
But man O. men was he.
ha' seen him drive a hundred men
WI bundle O. cords swung free.
That they took the high and holy house
For their pawn and treasury
ments.
they'll no get a in a book, think,
Though they write it cunningly;
NO mouse OF the scrolls was the Goodly
Fere,
But aye loved the open sea.
II thy think they ha' shared our Goodly
Fere
Iney are fools to the last degree
III go to the feast quo our Goodlv
Fere.
Though 1 go to the gallows tree
fe ha. seen me heal the lame and