The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-04-12
For April IA Is, Jesus Requires
Confession and Loyalty" - Mark

thinking of some persons concerning
this great war if they were to look at
only one sectior of it, that part which
is comprehended within Bible lands,
and realize that the question is
whether Christianity and civilization,
or Islam and deterioration and ter
rorization, is to rule over the ancient
pages. The Christian allies are thun-
derinS in dread gunpowder tones,
THU art the Christ, Thou, and
not Mohammed. The issue that has
brought on this long expected war is
at root the question of the place of
Christ in life. Shall the Carpenter be
sovereign or the camel-driver? May
Moslen continue to Cypress Chris
tan?
Vivid and near as this supreme
question of life is made by the war
in Europe, it iT not singular for it
thus to be aetualized. This is the
issue which has been dividing human
society, and creating wars and con-
flict, ever since the gentle Galilean
peasant trod the pleasant fields of
Palestine. Walking close by every
| nation, and rising to assert itself at
the most unexpected moment, is this
question of questions, which no man
can escap-. for hinsclf-'Whom say
| we that = am?
Getting Down to Basis.
A town meeting is called to con-
slider an Important and immediate is
sue, and then it fritters its oppor-
eunity away by irrelevant questions
and discussions This is so with al
| most every gathering. Lying on the
| surface of this tragic conference at
Caesarea Phillippi, which we study
/ today, are many subjects for discus
| sion. Yet at bed rock the issue is
wholly on of the character and mis-
sion OF Christ. Was He the Messiah,
|
pected?
| The lieutenants of Jesus reported
to their leader the common opinion
of their day and world He was re-
puted by one party, they said, to be
| the Baptist: another declared that He
| tended that He was jeremiah in the
flesh. All conceded Him an extraor-
! binary place. This was the opinion
of the scholars and of the sophisti-
Gated men of the time. The world s
best wisdom agreed that Jesus was
not like other men: and the most
grudging of verdicts in the centuries
since grants Him at least this much
| Not f1attered, but rather disheart-
! ened by this report. Jesus turned
from the wisdom of the wise to the
simple faith of His own friends.
had clearest vision. Lowly belief saw
further than scholarly skepticism.
! Therefore Peters prompt reply rang
I boldly out, thrilling the heart of the
I lonely Leader, who in this hour of
4 being understood and trusted, Thou
art the Christ" With all his faults
/ Peter had that spiritual faculty which
1 discerns the inwardness of truth His
fias elemental wisdom.
That same wisdom discerns Christ
standing at the crossroads of time.
awaiting the Judgment of men upon
i Himself. by which judgment men
4 themselves are to be judged.
A Great Souls Suffering.
Lifting it's snow-crowned head in
grandeur SO high that 1t dominates
the entire region of Palestine from
mon. strong in its majesty and
i beauty. To the solitude and strength
of this mountain Jesus had taken
His friends At its foot, in or near
Caesarea Phillippi, He underwent
4 this experience which some writers
have called the passion of the
north" Here He faced the question
of what He had come into the world
for and how far the world recognized
Him and His mission. Into every
fences, when the soul is searched to
its depth, and the eternal why %
is fronted in all its solemnity.
Suffering by anticipation is keen
est pain. 1t is not the shock of the
bullet in the body, but the thought
of it that hurts the more. Jesus I'M
derwent His Calvary in spirit be-
meath the shadow of Mt. Hermon
} What this crisis ot self-examination
and of realized public appraisal
meant to Him we cannot understand
We know that His soul was exceed
J ing sorrowful. Out of the depths OF
: this hour flowed the sublime teach
ing of self-renunciation. Here Christ
/ lifted up the cross upon which He
, later was to be lifted
/ A Friends Foolish Counsel.
Nobody suffers alone. We are tied
, together in the bundle of life. for
veal or for woe. The sharpest thorn
the knowledge of the suffering of His
disciples. To prepare them for what
lay before them Jesus began to
teach them, that the Son of Man
jected by the elders and the CHIEF
priests and the scribes and be killed
and after three days rise again
without figure of speech and with
utmost directness and plainness He
hold these men who were looking for
, ward to earthly crowns that the
f world had for them nothing better
than crosses.
, At this point the mistake which is
5 being made every day by fond parents
: hand friends was made by impulslve
!. Peter. He wanted to spare his deal
81 Master the suffering which Jesus hao
: Indicated.
lust so there are some short-sighted
t families who would keep their sons
t from the dangers and discipline Of
, war. They unconsciously hold to the
craven philosophy that the comfor'
4 of the carcass is the real end of life
r Whereas we know that the war ma:
3 won the achievement OF grandeur OF
character by myriads of men.
/ OF course Peter was shortslghtee
S and foolish. The Peter plan is respon
e sible for thousands of sons and daugh
tiers who have come to mans estate
unfit for life's burdens. Parents have
FL shared children hardship to the soft
!. ening of their soul fiber Pedagogy