The Topeka state journal., 1921-03-04
International
SundaySchoolLesson
BY WILLIAM =. ELLIS.
For March is: Jesus Among His
Friends" 26:1-13.~

For March is: Jesus Among His
Friends."-Matt. 26:1-13.~ /
The Way One Woman Loved.
Still we study the story of the Hero
Who made men marvel and fear and
hate and love; and who called forth
such sympathetic understanding and
passionate devotion from one fine
souled woman that her supreme act
of love is one of earth's immortal
memories. The mere. recital of the
facts lifts life to a loftier plane 1t
is a wonder-tale of love and sympathy
and reverence, bracketed between the
cowardly intrigues Of powerful enc
mics and the cupidity Of a traitor COM
rade.
l Hates hounds were hot on the trail
of Jesus. The aristocrats He had
flouted, the commercial interests He
had attacked, the ecclesiastics He had
healed, were soon to nail Him to IA
cross. Only six days of earthly min
istry remained to Him. The elamor
Of the curious crowd. His own courage,
and the cowardice of His unsleeping
prosecutors protected Him for this Pc
riod; the citadel of the Hero's safety
had to be opened from within by
traitor of His own band
There was mani" The quiet poise
Of Jesus. as He pursued His accus-
tering amid the steadily diminishing
circle of doom that surrounded Him,
is a heartening spectacle that has
made many heroes. He kept His poise
to the end. No panic hours may be
recorded of the Masters life. Nor was
He ever so engrossed with His owns
fate that He failed to show constant
and exquisite appreciation Of the posi-
ton of others. His words concerning
Mary's gift were kin to His Garden
message to the police concerning the
disciples: Let these go their way"
A Refuge for Soul Storms.
Fuller of meaning than many new
books on sociology is the simple fact
that in His hour of sorest soul stress,
Jesus turned to the shelter and peace
Of a home. Not to the seclusion of
a wilderness dungeon, but to the quiet
routine of a normal family life the
Master betook Himself when His
enemies were fiercest and His lot was
most turbulent. In the refuge of
friendship He found peace. The
homeless Saviour accepted the hos
pitality of His Bethany friends.
On shoulder of the Mount of
Olives, just across the brook from
Jerusalem, and within walking dis
tance of the city, was the little suburb
Of Bethany, where Martha and Mary
and Lazarus lived. Thither, to the
intimacy of this domestic circle, Jesus
resorted. His conduct is eloquent with
the truth that il those who know and
love you best remain steadfast in your
hours of trial. all else is endurable.
Everybody owes it to himself, to his
friends and to society. to create q real
home, which shall be just such a
refuge as the Bethany abode. 1t is
fair to ask ourselves whether our
homes are so noble in their ideals,
so essentially religious in their atmos-
phere, and so spacious in their hos
pitality. that the greatest among our
friends would turn to them as a con-
genial place to rest and spirit
strengthening. --zs--r-.
Evidently the Bethany home Of
Jesus was not large enough for a
formal feast to the Hero; SO it may
have been because He had the largest
residences in town that Simon, the
grateful ex-leper, gave the public ban-
quet in honor of the Lord who had
healed him. Martha was there;
wherever there is efficient service to
be rendered there the Marthas are also
to be found. Lazarus, back from the
grave, was a guest to whom all eyes
turned. But it was Mary who created
the sensation of the dinner.
The Best for the Beloved.
Favored travellers to Mt. Sinai may
be honored by a changing salute from
the church bells, and a reverberating
blast from the medieval cannon on the
roof of the monastery; or they may
even have brought out to them, from
secret recesses, the treasures of tha
centuries, in jewels and gold and sill
yer and cunning craftsmanship; even
to wonderful cross containing what
is shown as a fragment of the true
cross on which Jesus died. Only the
most highly honored visitor gets 70
see all this: the best is reserved for
the especially favored. The Orient
has always shown fine discrimina
ton in such matters.
Thus it came about that at the feast
to Jesus, Mary of Bethany-not Mary
Magdalene, who is nowhere recorded
as ancinting the Lord. tho she is often
confused with the woman that did SO
on an earlier occasion, who was a
sinner"-this disciple who best un-
derstoo1 the, Lord, brought out her
richest treasure-perhaps family
heritage; perhaps the concentration
of all her possessions-ando offered it
as a token of honor and love to Ge-
sus. Breaking her alabaster jar of
pure nard, precious and sweet SMELL
ing ointment, she sprinkied it upon
His head and His feet, so that the
fragrance filled all the house of T.
mon.
That is the way a good woman
loves. Her best is for the Beloved.
She has fine sense of spiritual val
ues, and of the worth of sentiment,
that transcends mere prudence or
logic. There is an economy that
wastes life: there is a spendthriftry
that enriches the soul. No price is too
high to pay for the spiritual fra
grancies of life, the odor of which out
lasts the years. More permanent than
any memorial of stone or bronze was
this lavishness of love which caused
the cautious, penny-counting. neigh
bors to cry aloud. What is there of
splendor that the Caesars built that
can compare with the memorial of
Mary's love, which is today shedding
its sweetness over the whole earth,
even as it has done thruout the CEN
trries? Nobody ever was sorry for
laying the best upon the altar of love
and faith.
L., rr- r:r.