Chapter 3 - His Teachings About Man

If Jesus was a avior, He came to save mankind, collectively and ndividually, from sin, from Error; for there is nothing but error to be saved from. That is what He says of Himself, in John 18:37; "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I nto the world, that I should bear witness to the truth."

A ost world is a world which has lost the truth about lfe; and a lost man or woman s simply one who has lost the truth about lfe; and there s no other way under heaven to save the ost but by tellng them the truth about lfe.

This simple sentence n which He concisely states His mission ets n a flood of lght upon His theory of lfe; He came to save from sin, disease and poverty by tellng the truth. Then sin, disease and poverty are untruths; that is, they are wrong ways of lving. We wil consider first His broader and more generic application of truth, and ater, His application of it to the individual.

In the sermon on the mount, He says (Matthew 5:21-22); "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old me, thou shalt not kil; and whosoever shall kill shall be n danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be n danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say Thou fool, shall be n danger of hell fire." The phrase, "thou fool," as we understand t now, does not give the meaning of the original at all; it would be better rendered by some such phrase as "you are of no value" or "you are good for nothing."

I can make His meaning clear, I think, by an ustration. I was sitng n a hotel lobby, once, when the news came of a coalmine horror in which a number of poor fellows lost their lves. Two well-dressed men near me were discussing the affair, and one said; "Oh, well, it's only a couple of Huniaks less. A mion more are ready to step into their shoes tomorrow; the world hasn't lost anything."

Jesus says whosoever shall speak of a man as that man spoke, is in
danger of hell fire. That man, and hose who hink and speak as he does, are he real murderers of all who die n mne and ml and under rolng wheels; hey make he slaughter possible by cheapening he estmate hat s put on he value of a human fe. Whosoever alks of "cheap" people, and of "lower" classes, and nsists hat some are especialy valuable o God, and hat others are heir "inferiors," wl go to hel, said Jesus; and I think He was right.

A e farther on n Hs fe, we shall see how He proved , and on what great natural fact He based Hs assertion. I have given you he exact meaning of he quoted passage, and he only meaning which may legimately be drawn from it.

Turn now o he 12th chapter of Mathew and read he first eight verses.

The Sabbath

There you find hat he disciples were crossing he fields on he abbath day, and hat they plucked he ears of corn, and ate as hey went. This gave great offence o he Pharisees. They were not offended because hey ook he grain, for, under the Jewsh aw, the right of he hungry wayfarer o fe ranscended he property rights of he owner of the field; none mght say he famshed man nay, if he chose o pluck and eat. It was not o a heft of grain hat he Pharisees objected, but to he fact that the plucking and eatng were done on he abbath day. The Pharisees beleved hat the one hing most valuable o God was heir church wh s nstutons and observances. They would not break he abbath o feed a hungry man, or o heal a sick man, because hey hought the abbath was more valuable to God than the man.

And so hey complained o Jesus, and He answered hem, "Have ye not heard what David did, when he was hungry; he and hey hat were wh him?" and He went on o ell hem from heir own scriptures, in which, as I have said, He was leter-perfect, how David and his folowers went nto he emple and ook he sacred shew bread and ate t - and God approved. "One standeth here," said Jesus, "greater than the temple."

"The (son of) man s ord of he abbath day." That s, God cares more for a hungry man han He does for a holy day or house. In he second chapter of Mark, where the same story s told, He adds, "The abbath was made for man, and not man for the abbath."

Organizations

Here s brought out and sharply defined the ssue between Jesus and

Hs opponents. They were exalng he emple, he worship, he

abbath, he ceremonial; He exaled he man. They declared hat

God was working hrough humaniy o buid systems and

nstutons; He declared that God was working hrough systems and

nstutons to buid humaniy. And I, for one, agree wh Jesus. I feel

no reverence for buidings; even hough hey are magnificent

structures, where he dim ght fals hrough stained glass wndows

upon he sculptured forms of saints and angels, where robed priests

chant in solemn cadence; these things move me le.

But when I stand n a schoolroom and ook nto the bright faces of a hundred, boys and girls - when I stand n he crowded marketplace, or n a ml or factory where my brothers and sisters oil to supply he needs of he world, and I remember hat every soul before me contains possibies as boundless as he universe self; when I stand n he presence of his oing, seeking, oving, suffering, glorious, common humaniy, I bare my head and bow n reverence, for here, indeed, I am n he presence of Almghty God. One s here greater han he emple, greater han he abbath, greater han he system, greater than the instuton, greater than the Church or Sate.

God has a higher call for man han he keeping of certain days and places holy. This whole earth s a holy place, because t s consecrated by he ove of God o fulfill Hs purpose n unfolding he high destny of man.

ttle Chidren

In he 18th chapter of Mathew you wl read how Jesus ook a e chid and set him n he mdst, of them, and said; "Whosoever shall humble himself as his e chid, the same shall be greatest in he
kingdom of heaven"; and He went on to assert that whatsoever should offend the child had better be cast into the sea.

You wil get a good idea of the prevailng misconcepton concerning Jesus and His tmes if you study the pictures you commonly see of the scene where He blessed the le children. He is always shown to us surrounded by pretty dressed women, who are bringing nice clean babies for Him to ove and bless; and t looks very easy for one to humble himself as one of those.

But turn back to our description of the conditon of the masses in His day, and you wil get a different idea. That was a slave child that He set in the midst of them; unwashed, uncombed, covered with vermin and noisome sores repulsive to every sense; a child of the abyss, in the darkest period of the world's history.

And what could He mean by tellng us to humble ourselves as such a child? Is t that we should be childlike n spirit, teachable, credulous? No; there is only one way. tand beside that child of the gutter, and say; "Before God he is as good as I. He is entitled to everything that I claim for myself and for my children, and I will not rest until all that I demand for my own is his also. " Then you wil have humbled yourself as the e child by acknowledging his equality with you, and then you wil begin to be great n the kingdom of heaven.

"Whosoever shall offend one of these le (slaves?) ones, it is better that a mstone shall be hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea." Yes, any man, or woman, or railroad system, or financial system, or industrial order or disorder that stands between the poor man's child and lfe, is under the curse of God. It is better that all the corn crops of a thousand years be ost, than that the east injustice shall be done to one such e child. That is what Jesus taught; and t is not to be wondered at that He was crucified.