Evening star., 1917-06-03
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

and rally. Jesus now exerts His in
fiuence to protect His disciples from
harm, proving that He willingly offered
Himself to be lied as lamb to the
slaughter" 1t was probably at this
juncture that Judas, who had been
moved by anger, ambition, avarice and
spite to become the traitor. felt that
at all hazards he must show the fright
ened forces that they could touch
Crist's person without suffering any
the Lord-not with the kiss of formal
salutation, but. as the Greek indicates,
kissing him over and over again, in
accordance with his dfabolical plan.
Judas will always remain an enigma
of mystery to the loyal Christian.
During the three years training and
close fellowship with the Master he
had exhibited such executive ability
that he, not Matthew, who was trained
in. finance, became the treasurer of the
the most influential position among
the disciples. During the early days,
especially in Galilee. Judas must have
been an enthusiastic exponent of the
If those three years ought to have
made such traitorous spirit impos-
s1ble. yet the facts prove that he lacked
the spiritual vision to grasp the con-
ception of spiritual kingdom. He
placed his narrow view of religion and
business above that of the Lord Jesus.
Not only Judas but every man who puts
self above Christ is doomed to fail.
Ihe weakness of many modern men is
that they have accepted the standards
or Judas in place of those of the
Savior. The love of money is still the
root of all evil. Close contact with
Christ did not change Judas. Warning
d1d not prevent the traitor or Peter
IRON railing in the hour of trial Self
Lord.
Judas deliberately planned to betray
his Master. Peter showed his devotion
to Christ when he impulsively tried to
start defensive rally to defeat the
pans ma made to imprison Jesus. His act
probably would have succeeded in de-
stroylng Malchus. if the latter had not
lodged the sword that Peter had raised
In defense of Christ. The calm answer
OF the Master reveals the kingship of
Jesus. reproving His rash disciple and
at the same time indicates that He
went willingly to the cross. His atti-
tude toward His enemies reveals His
spirit of love. He recognized that He
was a prisoner. when He courteously
requested permission to stretch forth
the hand whose touch could heal. They
did not dare refuse such a request. and
healing came with His sympathetic
touch. Drawing back His hand, Jesus
with cords and went with them to the
Judgment courts of Annas and Caiaphas
who were priestly men. but who had no
eyes for spiritual beauty. or for any
high truth whatever The examination
was wholly Illegal. irregular and un-
Just. according to Jewish tradition
and methods of procedure.
Peter followed the prisoner afar off.
1t is not safe for any disciples to lag
great distance behind his leader it
probably was one of the causes for
Peters denial of his Lord All four
gospels record Peters denial. with a
wide variation of the incident There
is no serious difficulty in the differences
recorded if a common-sense view of
the variations Is taken. Each account
is an outline written from a different
viewpoint. and not one of them is an
exhaustive record. While Peter denied
Jesus three times with increasing en-
phasis. in spite of his being warned of
this weakness and danger. his actions
were not premeditated His sins, like
his virtues. were due in no small de-
gree to his temperament. He denied at
the fire, at the gate, and after his re-
turn to the fire.
Peters denial of Christ is, however,
without excuse. Every man should mas
ter the weak point of his life and not