Arizona republican., 1922-04-12
PaIr \ Sunday Sern- ION
Delivered by the Rev. William ScarIett, dean of
Trinity Cathedral, on Sunday morning, April g. 1922

On this day our thoughts rever
70 the times which gave the orig.
inaI Palm Sunday it's significance
Sixty years before the first of tht
Roman emperors had taken his seat
shortly afterwards the Roman en-
pire began to extend its boundarie:
until 1t included most of the ther
known civilized world. Running from
the Persian gulf on the southeast anc
Including all of Asia Minor, through
Egypt and northern Africa on the
south and as far west as Gibraltar
then turning north to Spain and Por-
tugai. France and England. Belgium
and Holland. the boundaries OF the
empire ran southeastwardly again
to Germany along the Danube. IN.
cIuding Italy and Switzerland and
part of Austria, taking in all the Bal
kan states, Bulgaria, Romania. SER
via, Greece and Turkey. That was
the time of the glory that was
Rome" Wherever Rome extended her
boundaries ahe Immediately began the
unification of the conquered terri
tory. binding it into the empire. Good
roads were built everywhere. The
good roads slogan, you see. dates
back in history!
Everywhere that Rome went also
went Roman law. and everywhere
that Rome went also went the one
language which can bind the world
together. But along with the splendor
of Roman civilization and the vast
expansion of the empire there tray
eled hand in hand an inner decay.
The many wars Rome was called
upon to wage gradually sapped her
life blood and the golden flood pour
ing into her Golfers from a great con-
uuered territory initiated an era OF
luxury which gradually undermined
the stole virtues that had made Rome
great
While Rome was coming into her
own strange events were taking place
among a fiery people in a far car
ner of the empire. These people We're
few in number. but they were dis
tinguished by their intellectual bril-
liancy and characterized by a genius
for religion. Their tradition had
been, that they were Gods chosen
people, that eventually He would
raise up a leader who would restore
the kingdom of Israel. And the king
dom toward which they looked. the
leadership for. which they longed was
not simply spiritual leadership. which
they might easily have had; it was
also DOlltlCal leadership.
About Is years after Augustus died
a flame appeared among the Jews. at
least John. many years later. think
ing back upon that time and trying
to write down what 1t meant TO him,
so described Him 'In Him was the
light OF men. The Light shone in
the darkness and the darkness failed
to overcome if' The flame spread.
He taught them strange things about
God: strange things about their re-
lations to each other and strange
things about their destiny. For a
WHILE the rulers thought that he In
deed might be the leader who had
been foretold. but when they found
that he was intent alone on renew
ing the soul of his people; that the
leadership he wished to hand on to
them was spiritual leadership:
when they found that in his mind
there was no thought Of the polit-
ical supremacy which loomed so
large in their minds, they then turned
against him. He was brought be-
fore the Roman governor and it was
rather an ironical fact that these men
who were disappointed in Christ be-
cause he refused to advocate a polit-
ical kingdom. charged him before the
Roman governor with the setting up
of the very political kingdom which
he had renounced. And 1t must have
amused Pilate, cynical as he was. to
hear the jealous advocates Of Jewish
crying out in their eager
ness to cruelty Christ. I'VE have