Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-06
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

as rigid observance of certain rules and.
regulations.
Christ had come with spiritual mes
sage. 1t was hard for the masses to get
the real meaning at times Such must
have been the case as He calls the peo-
pie together to give them a straight
from-the-shoulder talk on the source
of defilement- They had been accus-
toned to thinking that it came from
breaking the law or the regulations
that had been built up around the law
! 1t was a bold step for Him to take
when He publicly announces that the
soul cannot be polluted by what goes
into the body. Such teaching. address,
ed with marked emphasis to the
masses. whom the Pharisees despised
as ignorant of the law, could only lead
to widening of the breach between
them and Jesus. The natural result
was that He was soon driven into the
country of the Gentiles, Tyre and
Sidon.
We are sometimes prone to condone
sins of violence as being the result
of sudden provocation. We ascribe SEN
sual indulgences to the flesh. Yet if we
were exacting in our judgments. we
would know that it was the result of
| sinful thought deliberately harbor-
ed. The spark may lead to a confia-
grafton. but only the heart has been
dried up We are reminded of the in
junction. Guide thy heart with all
diligence. for out of 1t are the issues
of life" We are not the creatures of
circumstance that we sometimes i'm
agine ourselves to be. We are what we
have made ourselves through the
thoughts. ideas and habits of the
years. And If the source of the stream
is pure. our lives will be pure. Our
evil deeds are the results of our evil
thoughts and our noble acts the nat
q re t~Hf n fr1y
This may have sounded strange to
the ears of His listeners, but the Old
i Testament itself testifies to the rela-
. ton between the law and soul. For we
read that David ate the shewbread.
The priests profaned the Sabbath
Isaiah spiritualized fasting. Wherever
there was a new impulse to the spirit ual
energies of Israel, there was a tendency
of literal and servile legalism."
Christ had come, however. to preach
that love was the higher law. Unclean-
ness meant more than prescribed
method of washing: it depended upon
I the motive impulse of the heart. SINH
| larly, defilement could not come from
without; it resulted from an impure
! spring in the heart.
| The latter portion of the lesson illus
| trateS how Jesus sets US free. He does
more than relieve US of worship that
: is purely formal. His was the positive
mission. Whether it was the syrophae-
F.. nlcfan woman, whose daughter was
| possessed of a demon. or the deaf man
/ with the impeachment of speech. it mat
/ tered not. for the Master came to give
! freedom to all in slavery to sin or to
(. sickness of body, mind or soul.
| The reference to dogs and to the
| crumbs from the table should not be
/ rnisinterpreted. The oriental speaks
/ often in imagery. 1t is SO here. The
1 Palestinian Jews were accustomed to
| look upon the Gentiles and speak of
| them as dogs. Christ in so addressing
| the woman was expressing views which
| she knew the Jews held. Yet the
| woman with peculiar insight saw the
| Masters meaning. She was content
| that the spiritual blessing should come
| in fullness to the Jews. She was salts
| fled as long as crumbs of the meal fell
| to, her. Such faith and humility was
richly rewarded in the healing of her
daughter.
Christ's message to the twentieth
/ century is still one of freedom. The
| Savior stands with outstretched arms
ready to give peace of mind health
| of body and strength of soul to all
| who seek Him. But He demands in
return a life devoted to His service
not through fear of punishment or by
/ virtue Of routine formality. but through
an ali-impelling love such as He had
which caused Him to give His life as q
1 ransom for all.