Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-07

Jesus turned away from Galilee and
faced the cross when He entered upon
His Perean ministry. The force of the
opposition, that had revealed its bitter
ness in the closing months Of His work
in Galilee, disappeared when He en-
tered Perea. The fruits of the mis-
sionary efforts of the 20 were seen in
the attitude of the people. Christ's
popularity during His early days in
Galilee was repeated. The multitude
followed Him wherever He went. They
were attracted by His miracles of heal
ing. His preaching gripped the masses
as He journeyed through Perea. The
date of His ministry in this closing pc
Rod of His efforts to obtain favorable
decision from His countrymen is not
sufficient for Gus to follow Him step by
step. We find Him on the borders Of
Samaria, in Perea, on the banks OF
the Jordan, in Bethany, in the village
of Ephraim," during these final months
Of His public ministry.
Not only were the people aroused
by the missionary work of the 10, but
the religious leaders recognized that
they could not be indifferent to His
presence in their communities. Any
religious movement among the people
was sure to excite the attention of the
Pharisees and Scribes, who exercised
religious leadership throughout the ma
ton. We have seen in our lessons how
these conservative, clean-living and Gull
tured men rejected His claims and did
everything in their power to overcome
His influence and claims. They did
not approve of His humble birth. The
men whom He selected as His apostles
were not chosen from the trained or
thodox teachers of religion. Christs as
ISOLATION with publicans and sinners
did not appeal to them. He had clashed
with their views. HE did not Himself
practice, nor encourage His disciples to
practice, many ritual observances, such
as fasts, punctilious washing of the
hands before meals and so forth, which
they considered to be the marks Of a
religious man" They clashed over the
Sabbath. They took advantage of every
opportunity to turn the attention of
the people against Him.
Ecclesiastical Opposition.
One of the probably numerous eff
forts made to weaken Christ's popular
grip upon the multitude is found in the
opening part of our lesson when ga GER
tain lawyer stood up and tempted" the
Lord. PROBABLY Jesus had been preach
ing about eternal life" when He was
interrupted by scribe, who was well
versed in the law. He sought to test
the Masters views by vital question,
Teacher, what shall do to inherit
eternal life?" Following method that
He used frequently of making indi-
viduals answer their own questions,
Jesus compelled the lawyer to answer
his own question by asking him, How
readeSt thou?" Our Lord by His ques-
ton put the scribe in difficult posi-
ton. He did not ask for the mans
Judgment, but requested him to state
what the Scriptures said. He replied
apparently without hesitation, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy mind, and thy neighbor as myself"
Christ's approval of the concise sum-
mary of the ancient Jewish scriptural
requirements touched the mans con-
science, for he tried to raise another
question by asking who Is my neigh
bor?" He recognized that the Master
had put him in an embarrassing situa-
ton, and he wanted to set himself right
before the crowd and quiet his con-
science. Men frequently try to evade