Evening star., 1924-11-15

issues of world wide significance fire.
quenuy turn upon some apparently
trivial event. Our Lesson for today COW
'ers a section of the Scripture that re
cords a crisis in the life OF Christ and
in the training of the apostles. Proba-
bly, no Other portion of the Bible has
necn subject to a greater controversy
than that assigned for our considera-
ton. 1t will not be possible to consider
the Gifferent es in exposition. I've must
be content to consider In a brief man
ner one .: the greatest events recorded
III the annals of men. Peters confess
sion marked the commencement OF a
n=w era in the history Of humanity.
The apostles did not realize the Sig
MA ance cf their examination. They
I'D not know that they were facing
their last test and that the results OF ii
wtle destined to mold the religious life
oi the world. Looking back We can see
tne definite plan, purpose and pcda-
.ugica, principles that Jesus used in
preparing His disciples to understand
the truth concerning Himself that
'.IS destined to revolutioni"e their
lives and human history he follow
ID Il re.co SniZed psychological law in
Dri:. gins Them face to face with the
great question that every soul must
tnsWer concerning the character of
Jesus.
IN preparing the apostles for their
iinal examination the Master had at
tracted them to Himself by His per-
Sonality, secured their confidence and
aroused their desire TO become aSso-
iLtcd with Him. During their fel-
ipwShiD with Jesus they had lear NJ Il
aow He practiccd what He preached
e had demonstrated to them the
practic..bility and power Of His
;eachings. They had tested them
during their missionary tours. They
aad witnessed the application OF them
on their trip northwsrd into heather
,erritory to those who were not chill
tren Of Abraham. Evidently Jesus
mad considered for some time the
crisis that He faced before He put
dis apostles to their final test. Their
I;reply would reveal the fruitfulness
i.of His teaching. II they had not
grasped His message and understood
through their association His char
acter, no one would.
The Personai Question.
Marks gospel frequently furnishes
the clue 10 the development of the
Lords ministry. He gives us two
facts concerning this crucial hour
First, that Christ had practically
closed His Galilean ministry; and see
methods and teachings after He had
tested His disciples. whom He had
taken up into the solitude OF Caesarea
Philippi. where. free from the strife
they could realize their separation
from Judaism. They had witnessed
the final break Of Jesus with the
priests, Pharisees and people, before
they had started north into the sec.
ton of the heather.
The psychological hour had arrived
when Christ decided to ask them the
personal question for which He had
been preparing them to answer by al
His previous training. Luke tells u
that it was while He was praying
He asked them. There was a
suggestion in the first question
! which Matthew gives in It's full form
that pointed to Jesus as the Messiah
The replies showed that the public
opinion was divided concerning Him
Some believed He was John the Bap-
tist Others considered Him to be
Elijah, who. the Jews believed, would
return as the forerunner of the Mes
siah, or jeremiah. or one of the
prophets Opinions are not faith
The Master had compelled people TO
form their personal opinion concern
ing Him. He does so today. They
frequently are superficial and some
times they are superstitious.- All
who consider His life and its inf1u
ence will give Him a high place. but