Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-06-09
JESUS FACES BETRAYAL
AND DENIAL"
Mark, 14.10-72.
Golden text: Watch and pray,
that We enter not into
temptation.
\ Mark, AS.
By Rev. HUGH 7. Stevenson.

a series Of scenes preceding the cruct-
f1xion of the Christ. Each scene tells
its own story and has its particular
lesson for the human heart. 1t is well
summarized by the golden text. AS
the text warns the Christian, each
soldier of the cross must be on guard
against falling into the same manner
of sin that Judas and Peter fell into
No one because of long period OF
service for God is exempt from
temptation in some form br other,
and it behooves the real follower,
who sincerely wishes to promote the
Kingdoms work, to throw his whole
soul and effort into his divinely APP
pointed task. That Satan finds work
for idle hands to do is just as true
il the spiritual world as in the realm
of every day living. If you wish 10
keep your feet from the pitfalls into
which even these two trusted apostles
fell, get hold of a definite work. There
is no temptation that can pull down
the man or woman who in sincerity is
striving to accomplish some big task
worthy of achievement, such task as
calls forth the noblest and best as
pirations of the human soul. Ana yet
such effort must be reinforced by the
must ever be turned toward the Lord
from whence cometh our help. We
cannot depend, as we see in the les
son. upon our own strength, upon
our own efforts. The human must De
linked with the divine.
After Jesus had censurcd the twelve
apostles and condemned the worldly
attitude of Judas toward the sacrihce
and loving service of Mary, whlch
formed the basis of last weeks study,
the patience of Judas gave way. ~
must have been that the service with
the Nazarene had become distastefui
to him. Yet Jesus was still the same;
1t was something in the heart or Ju-
das that had changed. If the yoke
ever becomes hard and the burden OF
Christian duty irksome and heavy,
we should turn the spotlight upon our
own lives and endeavor to ascertain
what it is that is changing .he JOY
of serving the Master into sullen
obedience. For somewhere in the life
of Judas sin crept in and got
footho1d upon him. For traitor that
he was, we must remember that Christ
had picked him for one of the twelve
who were to carry the message OF d.
vine love to the uttermost parts OF
the earth. There was time when
Judas was upright, when he would
have cast aside as ridiculous an offer
of thirty. pieces of silver to pay for
betraying his Lord. The ruin was the
result of forces that are continually
at work on human hearts today. only
in the case of Judas the result is ex-
hibited on a vast and dreadful scale,
magnified for the instruction and
warning of the world.
Can we say, though. that the crime
of Judas dark as it was. exceeded In
it's infamy the crime of his sancti-
monious employers? He came, offer
ing his help, treacherous and odious,
to the chiefs of religion. These pious
men were too scrupulous to cast
blood-money into the treasury They
would not pollute themselves by en-
tering a pagan judgment hall. Yet
they were willing to seek false wit
ness against the innocent; they were
willing to secure by threat and mem
ace a sentence which Pontius Plate
himself openly pronounced as unjust.
The bitterness of the betrayal to Je-
sus laid in the fact that this awful
crime was planned and perpetrated
against Him by one of His apostles
and his accomplices were the head Of
ficiais of a divinely appointed reli-
gion.
What was this basic weakness that
proved the tindoing of Judas? Not one
of the twelve when chosen could
grasp or would have welcomed the
idea and conception of spiritual
of poverty and scorn. 1t was the task
of the Master to supplant these ideals
in His followers The others be-
came reconciled to Christ's ideals,
secular hopes. AS has been said.
listening to Christ's warnings
against the cares of this world, the
lust of other things, love OF high
places and contempt of 1owly service.
and watching bright offers rejected
and influential classes estranged, it
was inevitable that sense of per-
ssonal wrong. and a vindictive resent
ment should spring up in his gloomy
heart" So as he became further and
further lstranged from the Christ
and His meals. he finally reached the
point where there was no restraint
left upon his baser instincts. The
cycle in the life of Judas is not I'M
familiar. Aspiration. vocation. fail
ure. and then degradation-this is the
! ands.
There is much In the lesson worthy
Of study-in fact. X might well have
been divided into two or three sepa-
rate lessons. For the sake of brevity
It will be necessary to pass over the
scene of the Passover feast and the
institution of the Lords Supper, and
even the scenes of the Mount of
Olives: with its agony. the betrayal
mention the trial before the san
hedrin in order that we may consider
how Peter disappointed the Master
In this crucial hour by his denial.
Yet the faults OF impulsive Peter
were not SO deep-seated as were
those of Judas. 1t was an old story
with Peter. He was so ssIf-confident
and it had gotten him into trouble
time and time again. Peter thought
that he could walk upon the waters
He was not able to be silent on the
holy mountain while Jesus held
sacred communion with heaven. He
was even SO rash as to rebuke the
Master for His warnings and dark
forebodings. Peter was not willing
for his feet to be washed by Jesus.
1t was Peter who was SO sure that,
even If all the rest were to deny
their Lord. he would never deny Him.
In the garden on the Mount of olives
on that fateful night the overconfi-
dent Peter slept. because he did not
obey the Injunction to watch and
pray. But we must give him credit
for his zeal and motive even II he
tried physical force to defend his
Lord when the mob came to arrest
Him. AS has been pointed out. this
was the first act of violence in the
history of Christianity. and 1t was
delivered. not by a foe. but by a
disciple.
The consequences of that hasty
blow made Peter a marked man. The
first denial was made to the maid
at the door. It was rather an eva
sion than a denial. Then a second