Evening star., 1923-03-03

Christs triumphant entrance into
Jerusalem revealed His popularity
and power with the people. who had
| assembled in Jerusalem for the pass
| over. The influence of the Master
| with the masses threatened the re-
| ligious and political leaders with a
! reformation that would destroy them.
Jesus had demonstrated His attitude
toward the combination of religious
and financial interests when He
drove the monoy changers out of the
Temple. During most of His minis-
try He had met the intense opposition
I OF the Pharlsees. His teachings were
Numerically opposite their hypocrtcaI
| and formalistic ideals which He had
exposed with such skill that they
| were determined to destroy Him
! They formed combination Of the
| religious and political forces to mur-
der Him. The Sadducees. who had
not been as bitter against the Lord
as the Pharisees, were offended by
| Ills teachings, which were, they felt
| antasonlstiC to their interests. They
| could not endure the revelation of
| the sinful life of the Jewish leaders.
! The orthodox Pharisees and the
| liberal Sadduoees would never have
| entered into combination with the
Herodians except they had been
moved by the strongest possible mo-
yves. They hated the despised Hero
dlans, VINO were champions OF the
! supporters of the family OF Herod
| They were considered to be renegades
and would not have been welcomed
as allies IL they had not feared that
| the popularity of Jesus threatened
1 n,ln MI
| had no sympathy with the Herodians'
| position that the law of Moses, pro-
| hioitlng tho placing of a stranger
over the nation as ruler, did not ap-
| ply II they were placed over them by
| some conquering power. The COM
bination of these three Hebrew par
| ties. which were naturally and his
| toriSally antaGonistic to one another,
| In an effort TO destroy the popular
| ity, prestige and power of Jesus, was
a powerful combine. They sought 10
| entrap Him by series OF questions
/ ethics.
! They tried TO turn the tide of
/ popular favor against Jesus by ques-
! tionins His authority. He in turn
! put them to confusion by questioning
| them concerning the authority of
John Ae Baptist. He indirectly an
swered them by the parable of the
vineyard, which vividly painted Israel's
| approaching doom. They understood
His charges against themselves that
| the Master pictured in the parable.
| Jesus sealed His fate by His predic-
tion OF the displacement of the
! chosen people by the gentiles, His
| condemnation of the ecclesiastical
| leaders iniquity, and His claims to
deity.
! They tried to entrap the Christ with
a political problem that was an adroit
and dangerous dilemma. They tried
70 throw Him of His guard by a hyp-
| ocritical profession of faith and con-
| ftdence In His sincerity and fearless
ness. They asked concerning the law
| fulness of tribute to Caesar. An in
! dorsement of tribute giving would
| alienate the taX-burdened Jew. A
protest against it would bring Jesus
into conflict with the strong arm of
| the Roman government 8 a traitor.
! They would have willingly appeared
| as witnesses against the Master il lie
were charged with sedition and dis
loyalty.
Christ wa. not deceived. He met
their attempt by compelling them to
become witnesses to their own by
| pocrfsy. He asked them to produce a
| Roman denarius, that was worth
| about IL cents or a days wages He
| answered them in a statement that
Won Ranke has we'll called "the most
revolutionary utterance" of the Lord
They were silenced and bafT'ed by the
profound and far-reaching principles
stated in our golden text, Render
| unto Caesar the things that are Cae-
sars. and unto God the things that
are Gods" His answer filled the ex-
pert lawyers with amazement. He
stated an evidently just political prin-
| ciple, that was destined to lift en-
pires or their hinges and to turn the
current Of the ages out of its chan
nell" but its significance was beyond
them. In emphasizing the duty of all
to pay both their religious and politi-
cal obligations, the one TO God and
| the other to the state, Jesus did not
teach that there existed no relation
! between church and state He taught
| that the state, as a state, has abso-
lutely no religious function: the
church, as church. has absolutely no
to church and proper loyalty to state
never conflict" Christ did not come
TO set up kingdom that would over
throw or dominate any political gov
ernment. But the principle He enun-
ciated has become a part of national
constitutions. In the providence Of
| God 1t remained for our country to
first demonstrate the practicability of
the Masters teachings concerning
religious liberty. The American ideal
OF government Is In accordance with
Christs answer that organized reli-
gion and organized politics are to be
| KEPT forever separate. We must re-
! member that the success and stability
OF any nation depends upon the work
ing out in its political life of the prjn-
cipies of Jesus in the life of its citi-
zenS.
The Pharisees and Herodians hav-
ing been silenced. the Sadducees
next tried to insnare the Master with
a theological test question that ha 9
been puzzling to others besides this
Jewish sect which. as a class, denied
the resurrection. They presented for
| levirate marriage law to prove the
| confusion that would result in the
| world to come as result OF plural
| marriages. But Jesus pointed out
calmly and courteously the two err
rors In their reasoning: first, a lack
| OF knowledge of the Scriptures them
selves, and second, a misconception of
| the power of God.
! The Masters teachings concerning
| the form Of tho body of the risen
dead in His answer to the Sadducees
Is the only distinct teaching that He
| has given upon this subject. The fact
that our resurrection bodies will be
like those Of angels, not earthly or
physical, is in accord with Paul's ex-
position upon the resurrection given
us in Corinthians. Jesus pointed out
that His teachings concerning i'm
mortality harmonized with those of
| the Olu Testament. ne lmpl1ed that
all the dead are alive. He conquered
| them by answers that slenced His
| opponents, While the Master did not
answer all OF the questions Of the
human heart concerning the future
| and life beyond the grave, yct He an
YELLED enough in this lesson to justi-
fy hope in such a life.
| The two other synoptic gospels tell
| of a scribe who was attracted by the
Lords way of handling the questions
put to Him. He approached the
Teacher with an old test question of