The Tribune. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1951-19??, 1955-10-29


Is more bal DIR. Foreman
anced sort of person. II one could
type" Jesus Of Nazareth he
would be the balanced sort, by
all means. He was self-conscious
enough to know and care what
he was doing. but not in the least
self-centered.
Action Portrait
Jesus once had the opportunity,
which to some young people is a
rather frightening thrill, of speak
Ing to a crowded audience In his
own home town. He knew what
was tn nearly everybody's mind:
"Give an account Of yourself Who
do you think you are and what do
you think you are doing?" To
them he was just a hometown
boy; but they had heard of strange
things he had said and done, and
they wanted to hear him talk.
So he had the opportunity on q
Sabbath Day of speaking In the
synagogue. AS he read the Scrip
ture for the day. from Isaiah 81,
Jesus stopped In the middle Of q
sentence, and sitting down Gas
teachers did b those days) he
said. To-day this Scripture has
been fulfilled :" In other words,
as Americans would put It This
Is It. This Is my plan Of Life. This
prophecy. hundreds Of years old.
describes what I am and what I
am doing. In short. Jesus took
this prophecy to himself, as Q
seh-portrait. It is more like q
motion picture than stiII pic
tltre; It expresses what he was, IN
terms Of what he did.
For Others
That, by the way, is typical Of
the Bible way of describing peo-
pie. Adjectives like good" "mer.
ciful," truthful" always have
verbs behind them. Adjectives de-
scribe actions. A man does not
have one kind Of character and
another kind of action. His &C.
lions are his character,-not his
external actions alone. but togeth.
err with the motives and intentions
which are true part Of every
act. Now Jesus describes himself
and his plan for life not only In
terms Of action, but OF action in
relation to other persons. John
Wesley says somewhere that
when Christianity ceases to be
social 1t Is not any longer Chris
tan. The idea that any one can
become q higher type of Chris
tian by retiring permanently from
the world, devoted exclusively to
prayer and contemplation. is a
notion not derived from Jesus.
For him, the meaning Of life Is In
contact with other persons. But
note the sort Of person Jesus
mentions: the poor, the captives,
the blind, the bruised the
very people so many Of us avoid.
Most people jump at the chance
to get their pictures taken with
famous people. Jesus seh-por.
trait was picture Of him with
obscure people, people in trou'
BILE. What would happen in com.
munity IL every church member
became more interested in doing
something for people than In do
ing" people2
For All Others
What really enraged those
churchgoers of Nazareth was not
that Jesus was dedicated to help
ing others. That was fine. they
were all In favor OF 1t. The thing
that raised them to murder-heat
was that he drew no Lines. He
was for helping one and all, yes
even Gentiles. What Jews Of that
day thought of Gentiles Is ex.
pressed In a passage from popu-
lar book written about the same
time as the New Testament: For
our sakes> you tGoO made this
first-borp world But as for the
rest of the nations which are
sprung from Adam. you have said
they are nothing and are like spit.
tie" III Esdrss $3.50. so when
Jesus made 1t clear that be Qike
Elijah and Elisha before him)
would draw no race or national
lines. that he intended to carry
Gods love to the last and least
of men, these rsce-proud Nazs'
renes threatened to lynch him