Newspaper Page Text
4
1 Il | igj|g||||| j ||||
Efl
Hwkß I Hwl
' - i' * IflO WBIw WSS
lilfflEßSW
Patchwork and Purity.
“Then came to Him the disciples of John, saying,
Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy dis
ciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the
children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the
bridegroom is with them? But the days will come,
when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them,
and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece
of new cloth into an old garment, for that which
is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and
the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new
wine into old bottles; else the bottles break, and the
wine runneth out, and the bottles perish; but they
put new evine into new bottles, and both are pre
served.” Matt. 9:14-17.
In our present study we find Jesus in the house
of Matthew, sitting at meat. During the progress
of the feast the disciples of John came to Him with
a very important question: Why do we and th*.
Pharisees fast oft, but Thy disciples fast not?” The
question is a good one, although it is put as a crit
icism upon Jesus.
At the beginning of the feast Jesus was criticised
by the scribes and Pharisees who made complaint
that He was eating with publicans and sinners.
Now the criticism is from an entirely different
source, one at which we are surprised. It is from
the disciples of John the Baptist.
There was nothing in common between the disci
ples of John and the Pharisees. They both looked
with a kind of contempt upon the religion of each
other, still they were ready to join in the common
criticism of Christ. How often this is the case. I
have seen the very same thing in thousands of ways.
Men who have nothing in the world in common, yet
they can unite in opposition to a common enemy.
I must think that John’s disciples were jealous
of Jesus. John had a rugged, strong personality
which bound his followers to him in a very peculiar
manner; and I think they were loathe to leave him
and follow Jesus.
Certainly this was not John’s fault, for all the
time lie insisted that he was not the Christ. Some
of his followers, however, refused to believe this,
and continued to follow him for a long time. In
deed, it is said that there were followers of John all
along until about the second century.
It was from this element of John’s disciples that
the criticism came. How easy it is for the devil of
jealousy to work. I believe he is more powerful
in this form than in any other. Sometimes it al
most seems that he is in this form all-powerful.
Nothing seems to satisfy him, or defeat him. He
will ruin a home that might otherwise be happy;
destroy a Church, and disrupt society. No argu
ment will satisfy him; reason he knows nothing
about, and cares nothing for.
Christian people ought to be careful, how they
tamper with this monster. When he enters he ought
quickly to be shown the door. If he is allowed to
stay at all he will wreck and ruin. Better a thous
and times to be blind entirely, than to see things
that are not. Better fail to see some things that
are, than to go to pieces over things that never will
AAA
Le n G . Broughton
be. Jealousy is truly a hydra-headed monster. He
has no regard for rank or station, and when he
comes he comes to destroy.
The Question of Abstention.
There is another sense in which the question of
these disciples of John is a good one. It had to do
with the matter of abstention which was very vital
to these disciples. The fact is, their whole religion
was summed up in negatives. Their spiritual hori
zon was exceedingly limited. The strongest thing
about their religion was its prohibition. Sinai’s
“Thou shalt nots” was still the guidepost in the
pathway of holiness.
May this not be true of many of us? Is not the
chief characteristic in the religion of many good peo
ple not doing* things? Some will not eat pork;
some will not wear feathers; some will not wear jew
elry. It is “not! not! not!” their whole life is
made up of nots. They are like the South Georgia
pines, only not half so valuable.
I feel very sorry for such people. They have got
ten hold of the wrong conception of Christ. The*
have a half truth, which only serves to make them
miserable. They will never do anybody any special
harm, but will fail to accomplish any great good.
Abstinence is a good principle where it relates
to things that are positively wrong, or where it re
lates to directions that lead to the wrong. But ab
stinence is not the Christian’s end: it is the end of
the Pharisee. It is very hard for these “riotty”
Christians to keep from becoming Pharisaical. They
are so strongly convicted themselves that they take
the liberty of censuring in terms sometimes very ug
ly those who differ with them. Generally such con
tentions lead to confusion rather than to good.
They are for the most part about things that are
small and immaterial. A man, for example, who is
bald can easily persuade himself to criticise another
man who wears long hair. A woman who has no
special fondness for jewelry can easily remark upon
another woman who wears it. These things ought
always to be taken into account when we are passing
judgment upon the religion of other people.
The religion of Christ is not expressed in nega
tives. It has them, but they do not form the most
conspicuous part of our creed of life.
Paul’s Creed.
Paul had the right conception. His creed was
practically summed up in one sentence: “I am
crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not 1,
but Christ liveth in me.”
A great many good people never get any further
than the first part of this confession: they are cruci
fied. Go to them with an invitation to a feast, and
they say, “No, I am crucified.” Suggest a few
colors on the dress, something that will make bright
er and happier the world, and the answer is “No, I
am crucified.” Suggest to such a woman that she
wear a rose in her hair, something that might, per
haps, brighten her up a good deal, and her answer
is, “No, I am crucified.”
There are other Christians who live altogether in
the second clause of Paul’s creed, without any re
gard whatever to the first part of it. Suggest to
them anything like abstinence, and they say, “No,
I live. My religion is life. I believe in having a
good time, and getting all the pleasure out of life I
can. ”
Now both of these are right as far as they go.
There are some things that the Christian must not
do. He must not do anything that is in itself
wrong; and he must not do anything that takes
him in the wrong direction. On the other hand it
must be remembered that activity is essential. We
have got to do as well as don’t. All the don’t Chris-
The Golden Age for March 8, 1906.
tians in the world will not make a Church go; there
must be workers as well as “won’ters.”
Then, like the apostle Paul, we want to unite
them by the plus sign of the cross. “Not I, but
Christ liveth in me.”
This is the secret of a happy and useful Christian
life. The man who can adopt this creed and live it
will not have to go to some human teacher to get
a code for life. He will not have to have somebody
lay down a series of rules for him to live by.
The Children of the Bridechamber.
But Christ has an answer to this question: “Can
the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as
the bridegroom is with them? But the days will
come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from
them, and then shall they fast.”
It will be seen here that Jesus deals with the ob
ject of fasting. In the Old Testament dispensation
the object of fasting w’as prophetic. The people
fasted looking for Him who was to come, just as we
in partaking of the Lord’s supper today look for
Him to return. The disciples of John incorporated
this custom with the same object in view, hence the
Master’s reference to the mourning children of the
bridechamber. The Bridegroom is now come, why
should there be mourning? It was well to mourn for
Him during His tarrying, but now that He is here,
let mourning cease. Instead of fast, let there be
a feast.
“But,” He continues, “the days will come when
the bridegroom shall be taken from them, then shall
they fast.” This refers to His departure from Oli
vet, following His death and resurrection. It is
the first hint that He has given of such plan.
Now one asks, “What of the present place of fast
ing? Is the Christian Church to observe days of fast
ing?” This depends entirely upon the object and
spirit of the fast. If it be observed as a kind of
penance, a means to gain the sympathy and love of
Jesus, then most emphatically I say, “no.” Pity
the soul that has not had a clearer vision of Jesus
than that! Such an one is in the same catalogue
with the monk who shaves one side of his head, or
the man who climbs the holy stairway upon his bare
knee. I have seen them doing this thing in Rome
by the hundreds. I have seen men not only climb
ing with the bare knee, but licking every step as they
climbed.
'Such practice is an abomination. It is utterly
false teaching. Jesus Christ is not to be bought
by any such penal servitude.
If on the other hand, fasting is observed from
physical reasons, to give the soul more freedom in
prayer and meditation, then it is well. But even
then it is not a set, indispensable fact. Such would
make if bind instead of liberate. The fasting that
is helpful is that which is spontaneous. I like such
a fast. There are times when one feels like he can
not enjoy the company of the nearest and dearest
friend; when the daintiest meal canot be relished;
when books and papers must go; when even prayer
is prayerless; such a time is the time for fasting.
Oh, soul, dost thou long for such closeness of fellow
ship? Hast thou lost the all-mastering sense of
His presence? Wouldst thou bring back the days
of long ago? Then go to thy place of fasting, and
with everything else put out of thy life, feast awhile
on Jesus.
New Cloth and New Wine.
But Jesus has yet another answer, and He gives
it in two striking illustrations. They both mean
the same thing: “No man putteth a new piece of
cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in
to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent
is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into
old wine-skins; else they break, and the wine run*