Evening star., 1920-11-27

| the Saviour, coming In every stage OF
need and departing cleansed and
cured. 1t was an indirect answer that
would call back to the mind Of John
that these works were in accordance
! with the prophecies of the Messiantc
age. lisa, 1856; 61.1.) Christ recog-
nized the difficulty of John and how
hard 1t would be for him to change
his own program and remove his
doubts, which were due to prejudice,
because he had wrong expectations,
but the beatitude with which Jesus
closed His message (Matt., 11:6) IN
volved a delicate suggestion that the
Baptist should review the work OF
| the Master without. prejudice, and
conform his. Messianic outlook to
truer perspective. M
Christ was not a. politician, whose
honeyed words are spoken to influence
| did not speak ''the most apprectattve
eulogium upon the lonely prisoner OF
| Machaerus that ever. fell from His
| lips SO that 1t would influence the
BAPTIST" It must have, been remark
! able to the multitude that Jesus
/ born Of woman. The humble and mod
est prophet, VINO Closed the prophetic
/. age and opened a new era In the
worlds history. had won the place
Of pre-eminence, even though man
; may have considered that. shut up in
! Jail. awaiting martyrs, death, he
was a failure. His independence.
simplicity, and loyalty marked John
! in the eyes Of Christ as the greatest
born among men. yet Jesus insisted
greater. than the Baptist. who was
the greatest prophet in history. He
claimed that they were greater. not
| in intellect; magnantmity, nobleness
! of soul. or purity OF devotion. but In
privilege. knowledge and possibilities.
person. whose faith in Christ is free
=, from perplexity and fault. is greater
than the Baptist, If he has accepted
Jesus and defeated his life to Him; he
! is greater than John. because he
Knows God better and knows more
; Of what God 'gave~to His own. This
statement shows the Masters sense OF
His own supreme importance in all
! relations Of God and man.
While He commended, the character
! Of John, Jesus condemned the attt-
| tude OF the public. who found fault
with John because he was so severe.
and with Him because He was gen
| tie and humane. He considered their
| dissatisfaction childish. He suggests
that because of their thoughtlessness
constantly changing they were doomed
| to miss the kingdom. which only the
! violent" or. eager. earnest and ag-
gressive souls could succeed in OBJ
| the gospel in the right attitude OF
mind. II we notice only the Incl
dentais and overlook the fundamen-
tails Of the gospel. we will be as rest
! less and dissatisfied as was the pub
lie and the cities that He condemned
! tunity of accepting Him and entering
His service. Jesus claimed that judg-
ment inevitably follows but never
precedes opportunity. While He ex-
pressed the certain condemnation of
the cities where his mighty works
/ had been done, He summons. them to
accept His offer OF mercy. The only
! hope for the restless world is to ac-
cept Christ's offer to bear their bur-
| dens II all that labor and are heavy
! faith, then they would find rest. It is
only as men become yoke-fellows with
Christ Jesus and commence to learn
Of Him. that they obtain rest.
In connection with the two Sabbath
Of the Pharisees' hostility that. grew
| out of the question concerning the
proper observance Of the Sabbath. 1t
commenced when the carping critics
found fault with His disciples pluck
! through the fields. Jesus did not de-
| fend His disciples by the plea which
He might have made that they had
not broken any law Of God. He pre-
! ferred to lay down the broad princf-
pie that necessity has no law. He
+! cited the case Of David violating the
sanctities of the holy place when he
was hungry. His statement that
| 'tthe Sabbath was made for man. and
not man for the Sabbath" is most
sublime In it's simplicity clarity. in
| clusiveness and ffnality. He held that
| the sabbath came into being as an
institution in the interest Of man..
| being for rest reflection and rev.
| erence. It was not a dfstinctively
! Jewish institution. but divine pro-
vision made i'm the interest Of hu-
4 manity.
in the day. In the synaRogue. where
their memory Of his attitude earlier
antaeonism against Him. when He
! challenged them by healing the man
I with a withered hand upon the Sab
bath, Here the controversy was
over mans, responsibility to his
neiThbor They were watching Him
angry at the ,wav. they. slandered
the rather by treating a man worse
| than a dumb beast The necessity
| .or rest, reflection and reverence does
| not conflict with our responsibility to
our neighbor The Master held that
the day did not arrest the benefi-
cence OF God. It should not arrest
to do good to men. no matter what
the letter of the commandment de-
ciared.
TRFT fVsTRT6T7oS n THT
| CHRISTIAN SCIENCE