Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-08

His time.
whose son lay mortally i'll in Capernaum,
appealed to Jesus to cure him.
At the time, Jesus was at Cana, perhaps
on His way to the lake shore. The officer
set out to meet Him; he must have started
early, riSklng the heat, and he must have
been on horseback, since it was about the
seventh hour" that he reached the little
hillside town. He besought Jesus ito come
down n heal his son" " as If it were neces-
Sary for Him to come down when the divine
power could so easily manifest itself over
seven leagues.
A man Of greater faith would have said,
only say the word" and Jesus realized it.
Except we see signs nd wonders We will
not believe Sir" said the father, come
down ere my child die" Go thy way"
said Jesus, "thy son liveth."
Something in the tone of the words must
have made the officer. who had come to
the prophet as a last recourse. suddenly
believe, for he remounted his horse and
rode away.
Night had fallen, the new day had COM
menced flor among the Jews the day begins
at nightfalD when, at some distance along
the road, the officer was met by his servants
HI had come out to bring the news The
boy lived.
The Hour He Had Spoken
He asked them at what time he began
to get better. Yesterday at the seventh
hour the fever left him." they said. 1t was
the hour when Jesus had spoken.
The authority which His hearers had
recognized IN the teaching of Jesus was
thus displayed In acts far exceeding the
capacity OF ordinary mortalS. He had
power to cure the physical ills Of the human
body-power also over those stronger ills
which seize and enthrall the mind and soul.
In that same Sabbath day at Capernaum.
recreated so wildly by the Evangelist, Jesus
encountered once more, in a terrifying
scene, the Adversary whom he had defeated
In the solitude of Djebel Quarantal.
He went to the synagogue, to CONNER
on the scriptures, n an expectant silence
held the assembled hearers. Suddenly there
was an uproar, the meeting was riven by
shrieks and cries and a man lung himself
forward.
The incident as recorded by the evange-
lists has the unmistakable air of v~eracity.
We do not know exactly what the phe-
nomenon was, but it was a duel between
the force which possessed the wretched
man and spoke with his voice and the
Messiah, majestically calm, who held his
ground and conquered. =
Let us alone, what have we to do with
thee?" W Satan through the mouth
OF his victim. art thou come to DESTROY usp
l know thee who thou art, the Holy One of
God"
The last words were designed to cause
scandal and confusion; the ineffable name
of God might never be pronounced and the
pious Jews present would rend their TUNES
in horror.
But Jesus restored order with a few words.
Hold thy peace and come out of him."
With a scream and an appalling cry, the
possessed man collapsed. 1t was all over:
the unclean spirit had to submit.
Sought Solitude at Dawn
But when on the following day the crowd
began to gather again in front of the house
where He was staying, they sought Him in
vain. Before dawn, while it was still dark,
He had risen and gone away into a solitary
place. We can gather from st. Marks ac-
count, the discounted surprise of Simon
Peter and his associates at finding the
Master gone,
They ran to look for Him.. In a lonely
valley by the lake-calm and a clear, pale
gray in the early hours of the morning
Jesus was praying.
All men seek for Thee" cried Peter and
he would have asked Him why He went
away. But Jesus would not go back.
For the time being, Capernaum had re-
ceiyed enough. He had to go farther afeld.
He had to extend the field of His mission,
to give to all men the essentials of His truth.
The second act of His public life was
about to begin.
tomorrow: s'mon. Andrew. John and jones you
con still see the fishing smoeks slowly leaving the