I.

WHY WOULD WE SEE HIM?

It is related that a company of Greeks who had come up to Jerusalem to attend one of the annual feasts, hearing much about Jesus the prophet of Nazareth, resolved to verify for themselves the current rumors concerning his wonderful words and works. They accordingly spoke to Philip, one of the disciples, saying, "Sir, we would see Jesus." These men ought to interest us, because they were, in a way, relatives of ours.

It was not strange that the Jews wanted to see Jesus, since their Oracles were full of him; but these Greeks were Gentiles, belonging to the great body of outsiders who were regarded as having neither part nor lot in the Messianic heritage. Nevertheless when they heard of Jesus they wanted to see him.

In truth, everybody would like to see Jesus. The deepest longing of the average man is to solve certain questions that revolve about him. If he were to come to our city to-day what a turnout of the people there would be-old and young, rich and poor, thronging the thoroughfares to catch a glimpse of him!

How shall we account for this universal desire to see Jesus? To make it more distinctly personal, why are you, my friend, eager to see him?

Well, to begin with, because he is the most talked-about of all the distinguished personages who have ever lived in this world of ours. His name is exploited everywhere. And this is the more remarkable when we remember that he lived in a remote corner of the earth and died above eighteen hundred years ago. How many times have you heard the name of Plato mentioned in the last twelve months, or that of Marcus Aure

lius, or Epictetus, or Sakya Muni, or any other of the great teachers whom the nations honored in their day?

The influence of Jesus confronts us everywhere. Go into an art gallery and look around you. Here is a picture of the Annunciation, and there of the Immaculate Conception, and yonder of the Nativity, the Crucifixion or the Resurrection. Go into any library and read the titles of the books; observe how many of them have to do with his life, his teachings, his miracles, his atonement, his influence on the welfare of men and nations. Go into the universities and ask what studies are being pursued, and you will find the history, philosophy, sociology, political economy, all centering on him. Go into the public schools in most places, and observe how the attention of the children is directed to him. In some of our New York schools the teachers are not permitted to mention Christ, the only discernible reason being that there are eight hundred thousand Jews in this city and they control a formidable number of votes. This is a singular discrimination, when one reflects upon it. There is no such ban on the names of Plato or Aristotle, Cæsar, Alexander or the Duke of Wellington, Kaiser Wilhelm, or even Abdul Hamid. Why then on the solitary name of Jesus? Can it be because there is reason to fear that some of the little people might come to believe in him? In any case, the interdict itself is a tremendous tribute to the influence which Christ wields in the world to-day.

Another reason why everybody wants to see Jesus is because he has divided the world in two.

As it was in England in the time of the Stuarts, when the people sharply separated into two parties-"Jacobites," or such as were attached to the cause of the Pretender James III., and such as were opposed to him-so is the population of the civilized world to-day divided into Christians or friends of Jesus, on the one hand, and non-Christians on the other. Half the world believes him to be the Messiah, as he claimed, and the other half denies it.

Line up, my friend! You are with one party or the other; and it behooves you as a thoughtful man to be able to give a reason for being where you are.

Still another reason why everybody wants to see Jesus is

because everybody knows that he needs him or somebody just like him.

You and I need a prophet or teacher who is able to advise us as to the problems of the spiritual life; we need a priest who is able to atone for our sins; and we need a king to control and direct us. Here is One who claims to be Prophet and Priest and King; and there are some hundreds of millions of people in the world who have thus received him. It is natural that you should want to see him in order to discover whether or no he is what he claims to be.

II

WHERE CAN HE BE FOUND?

TO BEGIN with, in the Bible. Here is where the chancellor of Queen Candace found him. It was on the desert road leading down to Gaza that, sitting in his chariot, he was reading from the prophecy of Isaiah: "Who hath believed our message and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their face, he was despised; and we esteemed him not." As the man went on reading he was joined by Philip the Evangelist, who explained to him that Isaiah referred to Jesus of Nazareth, who had come into the world to suffer and die for our salvation. And then and there, seeing Jesus, he accepted him.

The Old Testament is full of him. He walks through it from Genesis to Malachi. He appears under many guises and many names: the Seed of Woman, the Messiah, the Son of David, Immanuel, the Redeemer, the Counselor, the Man of Sorrows, Jehovah, the Angel of the Covenant, the King of Kings, the Rose of Sharon, the Lawgiver, the Avenger, the Prince of Peace, the Lamb of God.

And the New Testament contains nothing but him. The four Gospels are biographies of Jesus written from different standpoints by four of his familiar friends. The Acts of the Apostles is the record of the beginning of his influence in history after his death. The Epistles are formulations of his teaching; and the book of Revelation is a prophecy of events

ΙΟ

leading on to his final advent when the whole world shall bow before him.

It is a singular thing, nevertheless, that some people read the Bible and do not see Jesus. Once on a time there were two disciples who walked seven miles with him along a country road and yet did not recognize him; and the reason given is, "Their eyes were holden that they should know him not." In like manner one may read his Bible with eyes holden, and not discover Christ at all. But there he is, looking out from every page: and the man whose eyes are open, the sincere and unprejudiced seeker for truth, will have no difficulty in finding him.

Or, failing there, suppose we search for him in the newspapers. Look at some of the headlines, for example: "THE SUBLIME PORTE IN TROUBLE."

What does that mean? Not only that the unspeakable Turk is trembling on his throne, but also that his unspeakable superstition is passing. The Crescent is on the wane. Thus all false religions are doomed by the fatal logic of events. The path of history is lined with the graveyards of so-called religions. The paganism of the Pantheon. the philosophies of Greece, Zoroastrianism, the gods of Walhalla, Confucianism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, all alike are dead or moribund. Islam alone survives; the religion of the sword, the slave-pen and the harem. Who now is shaking the pillars of the Sublime Porte? Who drove Abdul Hamid from his throne? The Christ of progress, who by the spreading light of the Evangel has been dissipating darkness all along the centuries and is now invading the last strongholds of the shadow of death!

The next headline reads: "WOMEN DEMAND THE BALLOT."

Whether the demand is just or not we do not here presume to say. The question is: How have women come into a position where they can demand anything? Was this possible before the beginning of the Christian era? Were the women who looked forth from behind the lattices of the Orient able to demand anything from their lords and masters? Did ancient Egypt or Assyria have any "suffragettes"? What has wrought this stupendous change in the relation of women to