The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-03-18
International
SunddySchoolLesson
BIZ WILLIAM r. ELLIS.

1 1 A~SSseS$ ~ ~ ~ - l
II BIZ WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
For March 20 is: Jesus on the Cross"
Matt. 27:33-50.
A Story Beyond Words.
Recently I tried to re-read a novel
that had greatly moved me in early
youth, 1.-The Story of an Untold Love-"
This time I found it thin and senti-
mental and mawkish. Tonight have
been re-reading another story of I'M
| told love-untold because it surpasses
words--and I am freshly gripped and
awed and overwhelmed by the great
ness of it.
For nearly two thousand years the
mightiest intellects of earth have pom
dered upon this story, and tried to
myriad have been written upon it,
without adequately interpreting it.
More songs and hymns have had it
| for their theme than have dealt with
all the other loves of all men and
| women. Addresses and lectures and
sermons numbering millions and mil
| lions have attempted to set it forth.
Thousands of LAWYERS have sought to
ana1yze it. Painting and sculpture and
music at their highest expression
have tried to portray it. Yet today it
| remains, fresh and exhaustless, the
story of an unreliable love, surprising
! the power of words; the loftiest and
| most important of all the subjects that
engage the, interest of humanity.
| That story, of course, is the love of
God for man as expressed in the death
of Jesus Christ on the Cross, whereby
| all His life and ministry and teach
| ings reached their climax.
| More important, of course, than any
comments upon the record is the in
spired narrative itself. Matthew, a
/ witness, tells the story thus, his Greek
| being rendered in the speech of our
day by the scholarly Weymouth ver-
sion:-
A New Version Of the Great Drama.
"What them said PLATE. shall l
do with Jesus, the so-called Christi
| with one voice they shouted,
| "Let him be crucifiedP
| "'Why, what crime has He COM
mitted?' asked PLATE. But they kept
on furiously shouting,
"Let Him be crucified y
| $50 when he saw that he could gain
nothing, but that on the contrary
| there was a riot threatening, he call
ed for water and washed his hands
| in sight of them all, saying,
"I am not responsible for this muir
| der; you must answer for it.
I "'His blood replied all the people,
| be on us and our childrenP
s'Then he released Barabbas to them
| but Jesus he ordered to be scourged,
and gave Him up to be crucified.
| ''Then the governors soldiers took
Jesus into Preatorium, and called to-
gether the whole battalion to make
sport OF Him. Stripping off His gar
ments, they put on him general S
| short crimson cloak. They twisted a
wreath of thorny twigs and put it on
His head, and they put a. sceptre OF
cane in His right hand, and kneeling
to Him they shouted in mockery,
"Long live the King of the Jews
"Then they spat upon Him, and
taking the cane they repeatedly
struck Him on the head with it. Al
last, having finished their sport
they took off the cloak, clothed Him
again in His own garments, ana led
Him away for crucifiction.
"Going out they met Cyrenaear
named Simon; whom they compelled
place called Golgotha, which means
battle-ground Here they gave Him
a mixture of wine and gall to drink
but having tasted it He refused tC
drink it, After crucifying Him, they
divided His garments among them BY
lot, and sat down there on guard
over His head they placed a writer
| statement of the charge against Him
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF
THE JEWS.
AT the same time two robbers were
crucified with Him, one at His righ'
hand and the other at His left.
And the passers-by reviled Him
They shook their heads at him ant
said,
: ".You who would pull down tn,
sanctuary and build new one within
three days, save yourself. If you are
Gods son, come down from the cross.
'In like manner the high priest.
. also, together with the scribes ane
elders, tainted Him.
He saved Others they said. Him
81
of Israel! Let Him now come dowi
from the cross, and we will believe il
Him. His trust is in God: let God de
. liver Him now, if He will have Him
for He said. 81 am Gods Son.
, Insults Of the same kind wer'
heaped on Him even by the robbers
who were being crucified with Him
Now from noon until three o'clocl
in the afternoon there was darkness
over the whole land; but about three
, o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice
Ell, Eli, lama, sabachthani? tina
is to say. MY God, My God. why has
Thou forsaken me?' Cps. xxi. u
The man is calling for Elijah,
said some of the bystanders.
; "One of them ran forthwith. ant
filling a sponge with sour wine pu
| it on the end of a cane and offered i
Him to drink; while the rest said:
! Let us see whether Elijah is com
ing to deliver Him.
But Jesus uttered another LOUD
cry and then yielded up His spirit
Those Crosses In France.
How strong the hold that the cen
trail truths of life and religion take
! upon the common mind is startlingly
revealed to the visitor to the battle
j fields of France. All the graves O
the fallen are marked by crosses On,
uniform orthodoxy covers them: the,
make the sign of the cross in death
l &t<,t.
all the soldiers who gave their lives il
the great war now rest beneath tn,
Calvary symbol. 1t was the deep con
viction of the soldiers themselves tina
the cross is their eternal hope. Their
were no infidels in the fighting line
Even as the Seer of Patmos per
, ceived the eternal principle of tn
= crucifixion in the lamb slain from