The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1941-03-20

Two nights stand out in the story
Of the life of Christ, and therefore in
the history of the world. The first
was His first night on earth-that
"silent night, holy night" of which
we sing at Christmas, when He was
born as the babe of Bethlehem. The
other was His last night on earth.
Except for the precious hour of fell
lowship in the upper room and His
communion with the Father in the
agony of Gethsemane, it was a night
of darkness, denial, and betrayal.
There were six trials-or mock
trials-of Jesus, three religious ones
before Annas, then Caiaphas, and
then again before the Sanhedrin;
three political trials, before PLATE,
then Herod, and PLATE again. At
the close of this last trial before
PLATE Jesus stands
1. Cleared by the Evidence wv.
13-1D.
At the first trial before him PLATE
had declared on the basis of his eX-
animation that Jesus was "Not
guilty" ". A.. Herod, to whom He
had been sent, had only played with
Him wv. BID. What a travesty!
Now PLATE again presents Him to
the people as having mo fault" 1t
is a striking truth that no man of
any age has ever been able honestly
to point to any fault in the life or
character Of Jesus Christ. Think
that over-unbeliever!
Now came Pilates first step in
the wrong direction. An accused
man without guilt should be de-
clared innocent and released. But
PLATE feared the Jews who had al
ready made trouble for him with
Caesar. So he compromised and
said he would chastise Jesus before
releasing Him. John Merely was
right when he said, Under some
circumstances compromise is the
most immoral word in the English
language" It gained PLATE nothing :;
in fact, it led to his next step down
ward.
II. Condemned Through Coward
ice wv. 1925.
To avoid a disturbance and to keep
the leaders from complaining to
Caesar, PLATE gave Jesus into their
hands with the sentence that it
should be as they required" ". 24)
when they cried Cruelty Him!"
PLATE was in a difficult place, but
that does not excuse him. It is in
the hard and trying place that a
man should stand for the right,
come what may. Too many of those
who profess to follow Christ are
afraid to stand up for Him in the
hour when men deny Him. Some
unbelievers are fearful about declar-
ing their allegiance to Him, because
they fear the opposition of men.
Where is our courage, our manli-
ness? Have we lost the moral stam-
ina of our pioneer forefathers, the
religious conviction of our Christian
fathers and mothers? PLATE was a
coward, and we are ashamed Of
him. Let us not be cowardly and
make Christ ashamed of us (read
Matt. 1922, 33).
III. Crucifed with Malefactors
wv. 32-34a).
The details of and circumstances
surrounding the crucifxion are of
deep interest to every Christian.
We stand with Luther and weep as
we see Christ's unspeakable agony,
not only of body but of spirit, and
we cry as did Luther, For me,
for mel" How can any believer con
template the cross and withhold self,
substance, or service from Christ?
Equally earnest and heart-search-
ing is the message of the cross to
the unbeliever. He knows he is a
sinner (Rom. 1929, he knows that
"the wages of sin is death" (Rom.
6:23), and he knows that neither
is there salvation in any other, for
there is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Here at the cross he meets that one
"who his own self bare our sins in
his own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by whose stripes we
were healed" Il Pet. 2:24).
There were two malefactors who
were crucified with Him ". 32), and
one rallied at Him. The other said,
Lord, remember me when thou
contest into thy kingdom; and Je-
sus said to him, To-day thou shalt
be with me in paradise" duke % So
43). Unbeliever, will you not just
now take the eternal life which Je-
sus died to make possible for you?
Loving His enemies to the last,
our Lord prayed for the forgiveness
of those who thus despitefully used
Him. What matchless grace! One
wonders how many of them by re-
pentance for their deeds made it
possible for that prayer to be an
swered. That door of redemption
stands open today for every one
who up to now has cruciied the Son
of God afresh (Heb. $50 by sin and
unbelief.