Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-05-31


miracle Is not to be overlooked. 1t
tremendously stimulated interest in
Jesus. 1t increased the number of
His disciples, and 1t is given as the
direct cause of the triumphal entry.
Moreover, 1t intensified the bitter
ness of.Christ's enemies. They in
cluded Lazarus in their hate, and
would have put him to death also,
because the testimony of his resur-
rection was so powerful an argument
for the divinity of the Nazarene.
The price paid for Chrtst's friend
ship Is always the enmity of His
enemies. They who would reign
with Him must also suffer with Him.
Contracts at Feast
Life is not as simple as in our
youthful dreams we believe it to be-
Each days newspaper contains, side
by side, tragedies and rejoicings,
failure and successes, sorrows and
joys; and its marriage and death no.
tees are always grouped together.
This Bethany feast was a picture of
life. There was the deep and Won
der1ng joy over the restoration of
Lazarus, chastened by memories of
the great sorrows of his death.
There was also seen the transcend
ing love of Mary who by the way
must not be confounded with Mary
Magdalene, nor with the sinful wom-
an who anointed Jesus at another
feast-and in sharp contrast to this
was the greed of sordid-minded Ju-
das. These were the common run of
people, and the exalted Spirit who
was incarnate God. All gathered
about Simon's table, merged into the
one world, and yet each a world in
himself
1t is suggestive that these diverse
interests found their common meet
ing point in the person of Jesus. For
in Him all the conditions and classes
and races of mankind are discover
ing a common center. The worlds
great point of agreement is the Man
or Nazareth whom every other man
finds close kin to himself. There is
nothing more wonderful about the
character of the Saviour than His
affinity for everybody. He is still in
complete sympathy with the lowli-
est and the highest. Friend gropes
to find congenial nature in friend,
but In Jesus one meets instant and
perfect union.
The Lavismess of Love
This particular feast, the chief
Guest declared, is to be known wher-
ever the gospel is preached for one
supreme occurrence there. Mary
had brought with her what had
probably long been a precious house.
hold heritage, an alabaster cruise of
precious nard, that most fragrant of
spices. In that simple community
which knew nothing of modern lux
ury, its value must have been enor-
nous, for it would have sent three
hundred beggars on their way re-
joicing, or it would have sustained
laborer and his family for more
than a year.
To the astonishment of everybody
and to the horror of some, Mary
poured out without stint, and to the
last drop, this precious ointment
upon the Lord, who had brought
back from the grave her brother. 1t
was a woman's deed-the deed of SUI
preme and self-forgetting and uncal-
culating affection. True love is al
ways lavish in its giving Its best
gins to ponder and weigh and count
the cost, it is no longer love, for in
love there is no Withholding. And
in all this great world, the most fra
grant thing is loves deed done purely
for loves sake. Well did the Master
crown it with a memorial, declaring
that it would be recorded wherever
His gospel is preached.
There are many things in life
WlllCl DIT SN0nIlue We feSTeIa DuI lIle
| lavishness of our love is never one
of them. The deeds we do at af-
fection's prompting are, when we see
most clearly, pride and gratifica-
| ton and happiness. The sorrow
which men feel as they stand beside
the bier of a loved one is not for
their much giving, but for their
short-sighted Withholding. Love
keeps no ledger
"Sentimentalr' "Foolish!" Eek
travagant!" the thrifty and careful
Mary's act. They were unable to
see that there are better things in
| life, than being thrifty and economi-
cal. To feed the spirit is better than
to feed the body, and there is many
wife with a great ache in her
heart, who would gladly surrender
the houses and the bank account
which her true husband had accu-
mulated for her sake, were he but
little more free with words and. to-
kens of affection. There is not
enough of flowers and gifts in life,
and too much of sordid calculation.
Christ placed His stamp of approval
upon love that shows itself in boun-
teous tokens of affection.
The Mercenary Spirit
This whole proceeding must have
been heart-breaking to Judas, as he
watched the precious nard flow down
to the ground while it's perfume fill
ed the house. He cared nothing for
its fragrance, and was blind to the
light that enkindled his Masters eye
as He beheld this glad offering of
pure devotion. Judas spirit was
wholly mercenary, and the finer in
stincts cannot survive sordidness of
soul. 1t is awful to contemplate how
many fair and fragrant growths are
stif1ed by this rank weed of merce-
nariness. 1t enters the most sacred
places and profanes the most hallow-
ed institutions and occasions.
Consider the death chambers that
have been made the scenes of strife,
because the thought of an inheri-
tance was uppermost in the minds of
all present. When the passion for
money enters life lit feeds all other
base passions, and wages constant
war against those passions which are
sacred and enobling. 1t prevents a
proper sense of values. The man
who loves money can never see
| straight, even on questions of poll
/ tics and practical morality.
So stirred was Judas that he could
not contain himself in silence, and
! he cried out: why was not this
ointment sold for three hundred
shilling and given to the poor!"
| This was the cunning of a miserly
man. For a miser is proverbially
! cunning. Judas was shrewd enough
| to cloak a base motive under a pious
pFetense. This was not the first
time nor the last, that self-interest
paraded as religion. John goes to