Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1949-03-10

person than his old
friend John the
Baptizer had grown
uneasy. Are you
the One we are & n A1a@
looking for" he in mr. Eorem.n
CURED, ''or shall
we look for some one else?" Jesus
answer to John was not to discuss
the theology of the Incarnation, or
anything of that sort. He 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.
Nov go back" he said, "go back
and tell John what you have seen
and heard" What those men saw
that day was what Jesus at another
time called the finger of God," the
genuine divine signature.
Jesus wrote no book, no let
tiers even; he wrote in action,
and his acts were the handwrit-
ing of God. 1t is important to
see where Jesus underscOred
that writing. 1t is true, his heal
ings were what we call mira
Giles. But Jesus did 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. That was the sort of per-
son Jesus was.
Not BY Bread Alone
THE EXPRESSION, NEEDY peo-
L ple," 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
al the food he could eat. All he
wanted, in fact, was to be let alone.
But Jesus knew that what he need
cd above all was a sane mind, a
mind no longer run over and tramp
led by regiment of devils.
When Jesus got through with him
he was clothed, b.. ehnt wap T.at
the best part of it. He was in his
right mind. So Gods signature is
rot only written in a sound body, it
is in the sound mind. Again, at Jer-
icho when Jesus invited himself to
dinner with that pint-sized tycoon,
Zacchaeus, Jesus did not 60 just
for the meal. He went because he
knew that Zacchaeus needed some
thing.
We do know that after dinner
ZacchaeuS 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, an honest one; they
needed slum clearance; and Fac
chaeus was going to give it to them.
But first of all Zacchaeus had need
ed a new heart-and Jesus gave
him that. Again it was the gen.
uine signature of God.
We Too
x LII AROUND us is a troubled
I 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 bod
les are being healed, where sanity
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
diseased is not for us a simple mat
ter of saying, Be well. A Christian
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, he said.
Copyright by the International Coun.
Gil Of Religious Education on behalf of
40 Protestant denominations. Released
by WNU Features.)
Problem
Congress is now confronted with