Evening star., 1931-04-18

Jesus was a teacher of religion. He
emphasized two fundamental relation
ships, mans spiritual attitude toward
God and his social obligation to his fell
low men. He taught that true religion
called for. spirit OF justice, mercy ana
service to all men. This called for the
Master to severely condemn the social
and ethical wrongs of His day. This
accounts for the large place that money
had in His teachings. In the section
assigned for our consideration this
week, Luke gives us the parable OF the
unjust steward, enforcing the power OF
wealth to make friends. 1t angered the
mammon- loving PhariseeS and they ex-
hibited their contempt for the teachings
of Jesus upon the right use OF wealth
and His terrible charges against them
of willful hypocrisy. In asnwer to their
Insulting derision Of His teachings in
regard to the proper use of wealth, He
gave the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus, warning them concerning the
penalty of a selfish use of wealth.
One of the surprising things Of
Christ's ministry is the fearless way
He handled the perils faced by the
possessors of great wealth. A careful
study of this parable shows that Jesus
did not mention the rich mans sin.
We ascertain it by comparative study
Of the Scripture. Perhaps one reason
why the Master did not mention the sin
of the rich man was because in his out
ward life Dives had lived strictly re-
Iigious life and Christ was seeking to
impress upon His hearers that under
the hypocritical cloak of religion that
the rich man wore there was sinful
life, which was the reason for the ter
rible judgment that overlook Dives in
the other world. Let us study the two
scenes that are presented so that we
can better understand the rich mans
sin and punishment. The two pictures
presented to us in the lesson represent
not only the rich man, but the poor beg
gar in this life, in death and in eternity.
The Two Men in Life.
Riches and poverty have always
marked the records of men. They still
exist, although through the influence
OF Christ's teachings much mas been
done to alleviate the conditions under
which the poor exist today. There has
been an increase of riches and the gulf
between the two classes, represented in
the lesson, continues. The contrasts in
life are startling. Rich and poor jostle
one another upon the street. We learn
in Progress and Poverty" how luxury
unp11eS QeSLiCuLlOD. Inc tramp COIIlcS
with the locomotive, and elmshouses
and prisons are surely the marks of
material progress as are costly man
sions, large warehouses and magnificent
churches. Beggars are still seen upon
our streets and usually close to places
of worship and along busy highways of
commerce. This was the contrast pre-
sented in the opening of our lesson.
The unnamed rich man, or Dives,
which many suppose to be his name, is
the Latin for rich man. Jesus does not
condemn the way he had acquired his
riches, which would imply that it had
been secured legally and by fair means.
The Master points out the mans love
for show and dress. His outer gar
mentS were made of purple, the mark of
royalty, and his inner garments were
made of fine Egyptian flax, worth twice
their weight in gold. He lived sump-
tuously. but he paid no attention TO the
poor blind man who begged outside the
rich mans home. The rich mans neg
lect to try and assist the more unfor-
tunate man furnishes the revelations OF