The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-05-31

of Nazareth. whom every other man
finds close kin to himself. There is
nothing more wonderful about the
character of the Saviour than His
complete sympathy with the lowliest
and the highest. Friend gropeS to
find a congenial nature in friend, but
in Jesus one meets instant and perfect
union.
The Lavishness 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
| tage, an a1abaster cruise of precious
| nard, that most fragrant of spices. In
| that simple community which knew
nothing of modern luxury. its value
would have sent three hundred beg
gars on their way rejoicing, or it
would have sustained a laborer and
his family for more than a year.
To the establishment 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 wom-
ans deed-the deed of supreme and
self forgetting and uncalculating af-
lection. Tsue love is always lavish in
| its giving. Its best belongs to its be-
| loved. When it begins to ponder and
weigh and count the cost, it is no long
err love, for in love there is no with
| holding. And in all this great world,
| the most Fragrant 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 which
at eventide we regret, but the lavish
ness of our love is meyer one of them.
! The deeds we do at affections prompt
| ings are, when we see most clearly,
pride and qualification and happiness.
| The sorrow which men feel as they
stand beside the bier of loved one is
/ not for their much giving. but Tor
their short-sighted Withholding. Love
keeps no ledger.
l. Sentimental" FOOLISH" Ex-
Ftravagant!" the thrifty and careful
villagers no doubt exclaimed over
Mary's act. These were unable to see
that there are better things in life
| than being thrifty and economical 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 hus-
band had accumulated for her sake,
were he but little more free with
words and tokens Of affection There
is-not enough of flowers and gifts in
|
ton. Christ placed His stamp of ap-
prevail upon love that shows itself in
bounteous 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 tn ground while its perfume filled
| the house. He cared nothing for its
| fragrance, and was blind to the light
~ ,at - 1-1 hi 10 e II a
| beheld this glad offering of pure de-
votion. Judas's spirit was wholly mer-
cenary. and the finer instincts cannot
| survive sordidness of soul. 1t is awful
! to contemplate how many fair and fra
grant growths are stifled by this rank
weed of mercenarineSs. 1t enters the
most sacred places and profanes the
most hallowed institutions and occa-
| sions.A.'
4 Consider the death chambers that
have been made the scenes of strife,
4 because the thought Of an inheritance
was uppermost in the minds of all
present When the passion for money
enters a life, it feeds all other base
passions, ana wages constant war
against those passions which are
sacred and enobling. It prevents a
| proper sense of values. The man who
loves money can never see straight,
even on questions of politics and prac-
teal morality
So stirred was Judas that he could
not contain himself in silence, and he
cried out: why was not this ONT
ment sold for three hundred shilling
and given to the poor!" This. was the
cunning of a misery man. For a
miser is prpverbially cunning. Judas
was shrewd enough to cloak a base
motive under pious pretense. This
was not the first time nor. the last
that self-interest paraded as religion.
John goes to the root of the matter
when he declares: Nov this he said,
not because he cared for the poor,
but because he was thief, and hav-
ing the bag, took away what was put
therein" Despite daily association
!, with Jesus and daily instruction from
Him. one of the twelve had grown to
be a thief!
So stirred was Judas by Mary's
deed, and by what he must have con-
sidered the Impractical" views OF
Jesus regarding the extravaganza, that
he went forth and made an unnoly
bargain with the priests, to sell His
Master for only small fraction OF
the value of the amounting fluid which
| Mary had poured upon Jesus's feet
} Judas had already lost his soul II
had been stifled to death by love OF
money.