Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-11-20
JESUS BEFORE PLATE
SUNDAYS LESSON
eLet Us Stone Him; He Deserves
No Mercy; Crooked
Judge"-ElEs
MOST INFAMOUS POLTROON
Are You a Lesser Pilatea Craven
Instead of Courageousl Politic
Rather Than Outright9
MOST INFAMOUS POLTROoN
JUDGE FOUND GUILTY

The International Sunday School les
son Tor November % Is "Jesus and
Ptiate."-Matt. 27:11-S1; Luke
2S:1-25
(By William T. Ellis)
There sits old PLATE, the crooked
fudge and politician. Let US stone
him. He deserves no mercy, For
he is a petty-souled tyrant, an OBJ
stinate martinez, a shifty. sordlo,
craven creature. At him now, ana
let the stones fly. He failed the no
BILE Roman name and law in crisis.
He played false to the human race.
He sacrificed the greatest Man be-
cause OF his own smallness. Gather
more stones and bigger; for this Is
the most infamous poltroon of his
tory. The sneak, the shirk, the cow
ard! Bury him beneath the missiles
of justice; for Pilace, with Judas,
has earned an immortality of shame,
Stay: what is this word that holds
back our hands? 81 .et him that Is
without sin among you cast the first
stone" What, Master, would you
have us turn to examining ourselves
when we have so clear and easy
mark of obloquy before us? May
we not have the joy of denounclng
this false judge whom the centuries
have found guilty?
We confess ourselves lesser Pilates,
for we too, have been supine when
truth needed testilers; we have been
craven when we should have been
courageous; we have been polite
when we should have been outright;
we have put self-interest above holy
truth; we have squirmed and shirked
and evaded when loyalty to our own
manhood and our trust called for
downright, unequivocating and fear
less steadfastness. In contrition we
"a 2
Judge who failed to play the man.
Public Office and Private Character
Fear for votes unmans many
politician. Solicitude for Office takes
the place of fidelity to trust. That
is the difference between the petty
politician scheming, whispering,
trading-and the great statesman,
willing to sacrifice all for an ideal.
j know a man, recently a candidate
for high office, who received many
letters from ministers Of the gospel
(to their shame be the story told),
asking him to contribute to various
church enterprises, and promising to
influence votes for him if he did so.
All this was Immediately before cleo
tion, and my friend had he been a
mere politician, would either have
made the gifts or sent some con-
ciliatory, evasive reply. Because he
is first of all a fearless Christian
TO every such correspondent clear
cut rebuke, pointing out that the
proposal was a violation of the cor
rupt practices act. Perhaps he lost
some votes thereby; but he retained
his manhood.
That instance occurs to me in con-
trast with the conduct of Pilate, who
was essentially a politician, caring
more for his place than for his honor
If 1t had been convenient and polite,
he would have freed Jesus, in accord
Rnce with the failure of the Jews to
make out a legal case against the
prisoner. But he was ruled by the
mob spirit; he always chose the ma
3ority 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 manhood, but the stain still re-
mains, red and glaring, for all the
world to see. Your character was not
up to the level of your office. Time