Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-02-23

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opportunities to come to Him: He
looked them up. If He had remained
quietly in that friendly upper room
in Jerusalem, holding profitable con-
verse with His disciples, or with any
chance Nicodemus who might visit
Him, the man by the Pool of Beth
esda would never have been healed.
1t was Christ's custom to put His COM
passion into shoe-leather. He delib-
erately sought for opportunities to do
| good. Because suffering and need do
| not lie in our regular path of life
does not at all free us from our re-
sponsibility to minister to them.
This Pool of Bethesda has long been
thought to be the Fountain of the
Virgin, southeast of Jerusalem. But
when l was in Jerusalem, a few years
ago, 1 was shown q newly discovered
pool, not far from st. Stephens Gate,
which is now believed to have been the
| famous place of healing. The remains
or CRUSADER church surround 1t, yet
In these few centuries all trace of the
pool had been lost. While 1t is with
in the present city wall, it might easily
have been without the old wall. 1 OBJ
served that the present sheep market
of the city is now outside the Da-
mascus Gate, on the same side of the
city.
Another fact to be noted in pass
ing is that this event took place while
Jesus was at the feast. He combined
work and worship. He was as ''prac-
teal as the most censoriouS critic
would have religion be to-day; but He
did not neglect the spiritual exercises
and institutions of His faith, even
though the feasts and the temple were
not above criticism. We are Witness
ing present-day vogue of "Go-to-
Church" campaigns; the best of all
arguments for them is found in this
lesson. in the practice of Jesus.
After ThiTty-eight Years!
There is nothing wrong with our
times, or with any person in our times,
that cannot be remedied by Jesus
Christ. That is a sweeping statement,
but 1t bears analysis. 1t seems as If
Jesus delights in difficulties, as in the
case of the man who had been paral-
lied for thirty eight years. Our own
day has been brought face to face
with problems of social and political
reconstruction of staggering propor-
rlons. Never before have sober think
ers dared to propose as imme ediately
practicable so many revolutionary
ideas, all attuned to the notes of jus
tice and democracy. let even the
average man may find warrant for
these in the teachings and example of
Jesus of Nazareth. He is wonderfully
the master of these new times. If
We will but let Him, He will bring
new world order out of the present
strife and upheaval. Sometimes the
waters of human society have to be
profoundly stirred, like the Pool of
Bethesda, before healing can come.
Beholding the man who was the
worst of all the cases gathered in the
great concentration of suffering about
the porches, Jesus appealed to the
poor, sick will of the man. Are you
willing to be made whole?" What
a question! Yet the man did not an
swer it directly; he wanted to whine
bit, and talk about his troubles. So
he began his familiar tale of woe, to
the effect that he had no friends, no
chance, no pull" Jesus did not dis
cuss the matter; fixing His eyes upon
the sufferer, with look that startled
the poor fellow into a realization that
this was no common man with whom
he had to do. Jesus gave him the
amazing command, Arise, take up
thy bed and walk
What if the man had stopped to
argue the question. and declare that
the claims and commands of Jesus
were unreasonable and impracticable? =?
Many persons are doing just this now
adays. Fortunately, the man had
faith, and his faith saved him, for he
hysterical enthusiasm he did not even
wait to thank his deliverer, or even
to learn his name. Gathering up his
bedding roll he was off, a new man,
freed by the power of Christ.
Pettifogging Piety
Worse than the bigness of sinners,
a hindrance to righteousness and re-
ligion, is the littleness of the saints. 1t
his been said that the most wonderful
achievement of Christianity is that it
has survived the Christians! Many a
person has been repelled from religion
because it has been interpreted to him
in terms of petty prohibitions and re-
strictions. The person whose faith is
set of "don'ts" never got it from
the Bible. Imagine, if you can, this
healed man, whole for the first time
in thi1ty-eight years, aglow with new
joy, scarcely able to contain himself
being met, as he hastened homeward
not with congratulations or sympa-
thetic inquiries. but with black looks
and open reproof. because he was
carrying his bedding!
Naturally, the man had assumed.
without thinking the matter out at
all, that the Healer who had power to
give him life also had authority to
bid him bear his bed away. Which
was truer than the fellow supposed
For Jesus has given us a new Sab
bath. holy. happy day, free from
petty restriction, day to be kept in
the spirit of reverence and liberty, for
the welfare of man and the glory of
God.
What sort of Sabbath we shall have
is, admittedly, one of the days funda-
mental problems. Let us be careful
that We do not initiate the pettifogging
tactics of the old Jews. The Lords
Day should be kept in the Lord s
spirit and in the Lords way.