The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1949-03-10

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himself had to fur
nj S h Identification. Ks W
No less q person than
his old friend John rs
tn c Baptizer h a
grown uneasy. Are 4
you the one we are
looking for he in s4 4 ..8z
quired, cor shall we DR. Fore,,on
look for someone - '''''''
else?" Jesus answer to John was
not to discuss the theology of the IN
carnation, or anything of that sort.
lie just went about his usual days
work.
In the course Of that day he cured
a good many sick people, and
preached to some very poor people.
Now go back" he said, Ego back
and tell John what you have seen
and heard" What those men saw
that day was what Jesus at another
time called the Ginger Of God" the
genuine divine signature.
Jesus wrote no book, no
letters even; he wrote in action,
and his acts were the handwrit-
ing Of God. It is important to see
where Jesus UNDERSIGNED that
writing. 1t is true, his healings
were what we call miracles.
But Jesus Gid not even mention
that feature.
What he asked John to notice was
simply this: the blind see, the lame
walk; lepers are cured, the deaf
hear, the dead are raised, and Gas
a climaXD the poor hear good news.
The signature Of God, in short, is
not sheer power; it is using what
power one has, to help people in
trouble.
Not BY Bread Alone
FsrHE EXPRESSION, "needy peo-
pie" nowadays suggests people
who haven't enough to eat or wear.
Jesus helped such persons; but he
knew well that mems needs go be-
yond well-cared-for bodies. There
was the poor man from the grave
yard, for example, he was happy
enough. He didn't want clothes, and
he was strong enough to steal all
the food he could eat. All he wanted,
in fact, was to be let alone. But
Jesus knew that what he needed
above all was a sane mind, a mind
no longer run over and trampled by
a regiment Of devils.
When Jesus got through with him
he was clothed, but that was not the
best part Of it. He was in his right
mind. So Gods signature is not only
written in a sound body, it is in
the sound mind. Again, at Jericho
when Jesus invited himself to din
ner with the pint-sized tycoon Fac
chaeus, Jesus did not go just for the
meal. He went because he knew
that Zacchaeus needed something.
Jericho needed something, too,
something only Zacchaeus could
give.
We do know that after dinner
Zacci1aeuS was a changed man.
He was going to give back every
dishonest penny, with interest;
and since he could not locate
every one he had cheated, he
was going to give away half of
his holdings for the benefit of
the poor.
What Jericho needed was a new
administration, any honest one;
they needed slurn clearance; and
Zacchaeus was going to give it to
them. But first of all Zacchaeus had
needed a new heart-and Jesus gave
him that.
We Too
Il LII AROUND us is a troubled
9 ; world. Some men, seeing it,
infer there is no God. Others con
clude that if there is one, he must
be bad or weak. The truth is that
the signature of God is not to be
found in the evil and the confusion
of the world. 1t is to be seen wher-
ever freedom is standing against
slavery, wherever truth is pushing
back ignorance, where diseased
bodies are being healed, where san
ity replaces madness.
More people would believe in
God if they could see more Of
the handwriting Of God. Do you
want to help?
We cannot always do things as
simply as Jesus did. Curing the dis
eased is not for us a simple matter
of saying, Be well. A Christian
woman, distressed by what she had
learned Of the plight of the insane
in her backward state, was asking
the head of the state hospital (him-
self a church officer, "What can
we Christians do?" Get behind the
legislature, P" he said
Copyright by the International Coun.
ell of Religion Education Oh behalf of
40 Protestant denominations Released