Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1923-03-07
The Last Sad Days.


pathos in the scriptures, should APP
peal to every thoughtful person.
Christian or unbeliever.
We do not imagine that the trial
and execution of Jesus was more than
an everyday incident in priest-ridden
and misgoverned Jerusalem of the
time. An humble prophet and teacher
had stirred up the ignorant masses
with his works and sermons and the
duty of the clerical and government
hierarchy was to destroy him. There
was nothing new about this-they
had done similar things before and
similar hierarchies have repeated the
action many times since.
On the night before his death Jesus
went into Gethsemane, garden, with
Peter, James and John. He prayed
knowing that his end was soon to
come. He reproved his companions
because in these last hours with him
they slept. In a short time Judas
came leading the ravishers and Jesus
was betrayed
Jesus was taken to the palace Of the
high priest where he sat with the SER
wants for a while and warmed himself
by the fire. Amid the lowly and hum
Bile he was non-resistant and the
humblest. There he was reviled and
cursed The next day came his ap-
pearance before Plate, Herod, and
PLATE again. PLATE, broad-minded
and just pagan as we read the scrip
lures, would have released Jesus, but
the hierarchy and the rabble would
have none of it. They chose Barab-
bas, thief, demanding the death of
Jesus.
3arabbas typifed worldly greed,
selfishness, evil. Jesus typified gen
crosby, love, good. The Jews chose
Barabbas and subsequent generations
have made the same choice. This
generation has made it. The religion
of Jesus has never worked because
the world has never given it chance.
For several hours the batting went
on during which time Jesus answered
not, nor complained. Then they took
him to a place called Golgotha, mean
| ing the skull There between two
! thieves they crucified him.
The subsequent manifestations of
angry Nature as naively described by
the apostle do not appeal to us as i'm
portant. The common mind must
| have it's mysteries then as now, losing
sight Of the spiritual in the material.
We think life went on in Jerusalem
that night just as before, the crucifix-
ion Of an humble prophet and teacher
| being more or less of an everyday af-
| fair with a half savage, ignorant and
base-minded population, angered daily
| over the power of Rome, but unable
! to resist They hoped Jesus would
! liberate them with a sword and when
! he told them that the Kingdom was to
| be found within their hearts they
straightway slew him.
! Amid this pomp and glory, barbaric
as it was, there moved many powerful
men. From Herod and PLATE, the
high priests, the others in the drama,
| not one would be remembered today
were it not for their connection with
| the story of Jesus. Because they per-
secuted him they live in history. This,
| to us. is one important thing to note
along with the historical and memoir
able side of the last days of Jesus:
That his spiritual example, meek as
| it was, triumphed in letters of fire
through the ages over human might,
! is a lesson to draw from this story.
We do not conclude that the perse-
cutors of Jesus were the arch-fiends
| v
! Again the human mind must have its
symbols of good and bad, angel and
devil. These men evidently were part
and parcel of their time, about as good
and about as bad as those around
them No doubt today in similar cir
cumstances we would find plenty of
arrogant Herods, plenty of cruel
Caiaphases and a few broadminded
Pilates, helpless in the face of public
opinion.
After the crucifxion, when the
worn, delicate body was cold and the
sport no longer paid because the man
on the cross could suffer no more, the
soldiers left Then the relatives and
| friends took their dead and bound the
body in linen clothes. 1t was placed
| in a sepulchre wherein man was
never yet laid"
There they laid Jesus"
! -
The subsequent story of the resur-
rection and days following has equal
power with the story of the passion.
The note, however, is exalted instead
of sad and subdued and the motif un
derlying is exultant and joyful.
AS men grow in life this story
grows on them. They try all things
and find their hollowness. Again and
again the story captivates their minds
and hearts. 1t appeals to their SYM
pathies. It's universal appeal IS in
evitable and unacceptable. They re-
cognize its power and see the road it
points out as the only avenue to re-
| lieve the world from it's troubles.
| The Sacred Five Percent.
New York city with one-twentieth
! of the nations population has but 800