Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-25
SUBJECT: WHO WAS JEsIIsn

| ffns tiiS question hame out upon me
IRON iron, the headlines of a daily newspaper
Who Was Jesusp We'll, let us try to
md out who He was from some of the
people who lived when He was here In
| the flesh, and who met Him face to face.
| me nrst l will question are strong
man and his wife, and so to them will
| say; Who Was Jesus2' Both their
races brighten, and they both eagerly
exclaim, Why He came to our wedding,
though we were only poor and unknown
| peasants and turned the water into
| wine for us, so that we had as much
| good cheer as II we had been rich
And did you love Him and keep UP
acquaintance with Him afterward7
| Yes, indeed sir and we soon found
that the more we loved Him the more
we loved each other, and the happier
and more contented we were In our hum
| BILE lot. Yes, sir; He has always been
| made cordially welcome I'm our home,
and 1t has been JOY to set the very
best we had before Him. We have never
had a trouble that He did not come to
deliver us from 1t or TO bear II for us
Did YOU ever want to separate from
each other7'
d" No, indeed, sir We shall always cling
to each other, and try to live to please
Jesus, for He Is the best friend we ever
had.
"And from countless other homes has
at the wedding and friend ever after
wards, who repeated time and again the
miracle of turning water Into wine for
them. The bitter water of affiiction,
poverty and misfortune He turned into
the wine of blessing, happiness and joy.
and from thousands of others have come
the bitter cry that Jesus wanted to turn
water into vine for them, but they
frowned upon Him and slammed the door
in His face, and then dark shapes of dis
content and rancor, resentment and nate
stole in and shattered their hearthstone.
Next I see father, a lordly man. and
with him there walks a noble youth OF
frank. noble face.
Who was Jesus? I say to this father,
and his eyes kindle with great Joy as
he makes quick reply: Why sir. IT was
Jesus who gave me back this boy when
all the doctors said he must die. When
they told me this l was in despair, for
only the father of an only son knows
how 1 loved my boy,
while I was in this great darkness
of despair a friend came and told me OF
Jesus. and described some of the great
wonder she had seen Him do. When L
learned that He was only II miles away,
I called for the feetest of the many high
bred horses in my stable, and was soon
in the saddle, gallopng with great speed
for Cana, in Galilee, where found Jesus,
quietly teaching His disciples, and cr1ed
out TO Him from the anguish of my soul:
sir, Come down ere my child die!
with a look of such compassion and
assurance that | had confidence ere he
smoke. he said Go thy way thy son
Ilveth!' and when I was still some dis
tancc from home my servants met lnc
with the glad news that my son was
we'll. inquired at what hour the fever
left him, and 10, it was at the very tilne
when Jesus said Thy son liveth.'
From that day 1 became HIS disclpie'
and SO did all my family and servants
and this noble son of mine, that re gave
back from the grave, Is deVotins 10 nm nm
his new-found life. 1t was jesus VINO
turned sorrow into joy for me and NINE,
That is who Jesus was; the HBnI any
comfort of my home.
"Next | see n man we'll along in life; a
man whose hair Is gray, but whose step
Is quick and strong; man whose race
is full of happiness, and whose cheek Is
ruddy with the glow of health. but
hail him and say, Who was Jesus| And
at the name there Is gladness in his eyes
and in Joyful tones lie cries out: why,
sir. It was Jesus who made me what l
am today. For IS long years had lain
through storm and cold, and through neat
of summer. and through long, waketul
nights, among a great number OF SICK
and helpless people on the porch at the
pool of Bethesda, anXiously and almost
1eSDHlrlnBly WHITING lOl lllS uiicNA ~ '''S'S
in the water, that 1 might get into the
and be healed; but l never had
any such good fortune.
"a Some one with more strength and
energy was always sure to get into the
water ahead of me. In this way disap-
pointment after disappointment sorely
me, until all hope died
within me, and l was sick in soul as well
as in body. But one day, after my hair
had become as gray as you see 1t now,
through the long and frutless waiting,
a heartrending cry went up from the
sick followed by struggle that shook
the place from one end of the porch on
which I lay to the other, and from this
knew that the angel was again moving |
in the water.
1.-THE next witness would summon is a
man so strong and robust that he seems
never to have had an i'll day in his life. |
His flesh Is clear and ruddy, and has the |
sweet and wholesome look we find in the
face of a child. Let us ask him Who
was Jesus?' Instantly his face is SO
radiant 1t is evident that he has just
heard the name of his best friend. Who
was Jesus? Why, sir 1t was Jesus who |
made life all that it is to me today. 1 !
mad long been a leper.
"It first showed itself in little white |
looking spot upon my hand !
when | was a boy. Somebody told the |
or me to come to the temple and be |
examined, according to our holy law, and |
when 1t was proclaimed that l was a !
eper, everybody stunned me.
II was utterly desolate and without |
rope until one day another leper told me |
lbout Jesus and still others told OF great |
.ures He had wrought, and yet others /
old OF how kind and compa ssionate He |
vas One of them from a distance had |
een him touch a lame man and instantly |
make him well. Then l began TO long
md hope and pray that He would some
lay come near me. At last one day, after /
many disappolntments. | saw Him COM
ng down a mountain, followed by great
multitude, and without stopping to think
What | was doing, ran and fell on my
ace before Him and cried out: Lord II
hou wilt thou canst make me clean!'
INSTEAD of rebuking me, as l deserved
or my insane presumption. and turning
oddly from me, as, any rabbi would have
lone, He laid his hand upon me and said:
| will. Be thou clean' and instantly / |
vas sound and well again, for my flesh
lad become like that OF a little child.
,oured out my thanks to Him In a way
hat quickly raised tumult about Him,
md He charged me to go my way and
ay no more about II. But / couldn't |
,eep my JOY to myself, and went on my
way, loudly declaring 10 every one what
lad been done for me, and never once
rying out. 'Unclean! UneleanI as had
one for so many years. From then till
low have been telling the story wher-
4 haua 9ana