The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1942-05-28

Suffering such as no man ever
faced came upon our Lord in the
night between Thursday and Friday
as He prayed in Gethsemane. Ha-
tired and condemnation were poured
upon Him as He went through the
mockery of false trials on Friday.
The important events of last
weeks lesson had taken place, the
precious words of comfort and as
surance had been spoken, and now
as midnight brings the darkness of
night to its deepest hue, the Son OF
Man goes alone into the depth of the
garden where we see Him
l. SorrOwful unto Death (l4:32-34).
This Scripture portion uses many
words to convey the depth OF His
souls agony, as though it were I'M
possible to express it in the faulty
medium of speech. So it is, for our
Lord here experienced something
far more serious than a dread of
physical death. He was not cow
ard. He was not afraid to die. But
now His soul was about to have put
upon its spotless sinlessness the
stain and dishonCr of the world s
sins.
AS Krummacher says: ''Some-
thing approached Him which threat
ened to rend Ills nerves and the
sight of it to freeze the blood in
His veins" Little wonder that He
was 'sorroWful even unto death"
". 34). 1t should break our hearts
to see His loving heart break!
Since this was the road the Mas
ter trod, should not His servants
tread it still? Service for Christ may
call for passing through deep and
chilling waters, but never as deep or
as cold as those of Gethsemane.
Jesus took with Him into the gar
den the three who were closest to
Him in the circle Of disciples He
counted on their fellowship and SYM
pathy in His hour of anguish. Mere
ly to have them near Him, to know
that they were there to watch and
pray even though they could not
share His holy burden, was to be a
comfort to Him.
How ANONYMOUSLY they failed.
The spirit was willing ". 33), but
the flesh took the upper hand, and
they slept! He was alone with His
Father when He prayed that if it
were possible the hour might pass
from Him, but in true and beautiful
submission said, mot what l will,
but what thou wilt"
II. Betrayed With a Kiss Q4:44-46).
To betray the one who had done
nothing but good, who had loved
him and served him even in the
washing of his feet, this would have
been far more than one could have
expected of even the sin-blackened
heart of a Judas. But he filled the
measure Of his ignominy to over
flowing by betraying his Lord with
the sign of affection-a kiss.
We know that we may not stand
on the same ground as our Lord
even here, for, whereas He had done
nothing to merit betrayal, we at our
best are not able to stand forth
without fault. Nevertheless, great
is the hurt when we face the be-
trayals of life. 1t may be one
whom we have befriended, who has
been the object of our loving thought
and care, and who in the hour when
he thinks to gain himself some adj
vantage or avenge some fancied
wrong strikes us in the back, even
as he snilingly processes to be
friend. Shall we be embittered in
soul and give like for like? God for
bid! Let us rather say as Jesus did
to Judas, Friend, wherefore art
thou Gomez" (Matt. $3.50.
III. Condemned by Hatred and
Cowardice G5:1-5).
We have only a partial picture
of the betrayal of Jesus in our les
son, but it is typical of all that took
place, for it reveals the hatred-in-
spired false witness of the Jews,
which, combined with the cowardice
of PLATE, resulted in His being con-
demned to death.
PLATE was convinced of His inno-
cence, but because of the pressure
by Jewish leaders he was in diff
fcult position He was afraid to
follow his convictions, feeling that
it was more expedient to yield to
the will of the populace. So he lost
his great opportunity to write his
name large among the heroes of
history.
Many there are who follow in Pi-
late's steps. They know what they
ought to do with Jesus, but fearing
the comments of friends or the PCS
sible loss of earthly advantage, they
let Him be crucified afYesh by their
unbelief.
The Jewish leaders and those
whom they had misled hated Jesus
with a malicious hatred which made
them relentless in their determi-
nation to destroy Him. Now they
had their quarry at bay and they
were determined to close in for
'the kill
They have their present day coun-
terpart in those who have so long
rejected Christ that they have be-
come embittered against Him.
1 L