1884 



GLEANtNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



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0a^ peME?. 



hend or realize what was involved in this 



Tf any man will come after mo, It^t him deny him- 

 self, anil take up his eross, and follow me.— Mat- 

 thew .(j-.j^i. 



fllESE words have been repeated so 

 ' much that dt)nbtless many of us have 

 almost forgotten their real meaning 

 and import ; and I tear that a good 

 many of us have never thought of the 

 circumstances which brought them forth. 

 The sixteenth chapter of Matthew is indeed 

 a wonderful chapter. Jesus liad been hav- 

 ing a talk with tlie Pharisees and Sadducees, 

 and, as usual, they were trying to entrap 

 him with their sophistry. After the talk 

 was ended he turned to his disciples and 

 bade them beware of the leaven of the Phari- 

 sees and Sadducees. They, poor fellows, 

 did not understand his words, but thought 

 they had something to do witli the fact tliat 

 they were out of Vjread. He reproved them 

 gentlv for this want of faith, and asked them 

 now it was they had so soon forgotten that 

 he fed live thousand with only live loaves. 

 Finally they caught the idea tliat they were 

 to beware of the doctrine and influence of 

 these Pharisees and Sadducees. Neither the 

 disciples nor those people of whom we have 

 been speaking understood or comprehended 

 what it was he labored to teach, or what it 

 was to have Chrisfs spirit. They seemed 

 utterly incapable of comprehending the 

 existence of any one, either human or divine, 

 who could be utterly free from selfishness, 

 or outside of self. ' Finally he turned to 

 them and asked, " Whom do men say that I, 

 the Son of man. amV' They gave a diversi- 

 ty of replies, and he finally asked them the 

 question direct, '• But whom say ye that I 

 am?" I can imagine a brief silence. Per- 

 liaps they looked from one to another, hes- 

 itating to speak out just what they thought 

 of him. Judas, probably, could not believe 

 that Jesus was not selfish and narrow, like 

 humanity in general ; perhaps doubting 

 Thomas liad often pondered on the matter, 

 but did not yet feel quite satisfied that he 

 was really and truly the Son of God. Im- 

 pulsive Peter finally speaks right out — 

 " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 

 God." 



Xow, I am not really sure that Peter was 

 so much in advance of the rest, as this speech 

 would seem to imply. In fact, what follow- 

 ed afterward seems to indicate, that he was 

 as niuch at fault, or perhaps even more, in 

 comprehending the true spirit and mission 

 of the Savior, as any of the rest of them. 

 His outspoken fearlessness and honest con- 

 fession of his Master was, however, com- 

 mendable, at all events, for his Master paid 

 him a great compliment for it. I think it 

 would be well for many of us if we had a lit- 

 tle more of Peter's impulsiveness, when 

 there is urgent need that somebody stand up 

 fearlessly and take the- lead. Jesiis replied, 

 " Blessed art thou, Siinon Bar-jona, for flesh 

 and blood hath not revealed it iinto thee, but 

 my Father which is in heaven." Then 

 followed a sacred and solemn promise to Pe- 

 ter, involving a prophecy as well. But, little 

 did the poor fellows, any of them, compre- 



promise and prophecy. While they were on 

 this subject, Jesus seemed to think it proper 

 and fitting that he should tell them, or per- 

 [ haps remind tliein. that his kingdom was not 

 I to be in achieving great things here among 

 men, l»ut Ihat lie should suffer and die. 

 Once more lie seen s powerless to lift their 

 dull comprehension to the things tiiat per- 

 tain to immortality and eternity. Even Pe- 

 ter could not catch a glimpse of any glory or 

 any thing [)raisew(n-thy, in being killed by 

 I the elders and chief priests and scribes. He 

 \ even began to rebuke Jesus, and declared 

 I that no such thing should happen. He says, 

 j '• Be it far from thee, Lord ; this shall not be 

 done unto thee." 



Now come the solemn and sacred words 

 from our Savior, as he replied to Peter. 

 Peter had certainly got a little overbearing, 

 j and one might almost imagine patronizing. 

 He could not bear just those few words of 

 I praise from the ]VIaster. No doubt our Sa- 

 j vior was touched by his loyalty, as he had 

 ! been many times before, for it was out of 

 i love and friendship to Jesus that he spoke as 

 he did. He could not bear the thought that 

 the Lord Jesus should ever be put down and 

 trodden under foot by wicked men. For one 

 brief instant the huinan part of the Son of 

 God may have looktd upon Peter's proposal 

 , to escape this great cross. But almost in- 

 j stantly he recognizes his mission to this 

 world of sin. He turns to Peter and says, 

 "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an 

 offense unto me." Poor Peter ! Was this 

 his reward for so stoutly declaring that the 

 Master should not suffer in this way V And 

 then Jesus tells him how far he is away from 

 the spirit that should possess every follower 

 of Christ. " Thou savorest not of the things 

 that be of God, but those that be of men." 

 They are all human, and only human, and 

 Peter, perhaps, the most human of them all. 

 Jesus turns to them again all together, and 

 ! speaks plainer than he ever did before. I 

 j can imagine him communing with himself 

 { as he looked upon them. Perhaps he felt 

 toward them something as we feel while we 

 gaze upon the baby of tlie household—" Poor 

 little chick ! little do you know of this 

 world's cares and troubles!" As the Mas- 

 ter opens his mouth to speak he utters the 

 words of our text — "If any man will come 

 after me, let him deny himself, and take up 

 i his cross, and follow me." 

 i Jesus was part divine and part human. 

 We are altogether human, with just a spark, 

 as it were, of the divine in us. We are con- 

 stantly settling back, as it seems, into the 

 human, and the divine in us must be con- 

 stantly exhorted, or fanned into a flame, as 

 it were, for we continually settle back and 

 stumble blunderingly, forgetting the divine 

 that is in us, and forgetting and misunder- 

 standing the Savior who would lift us up 

 and bear our trials, and lead us. The disci- 

 ples were continually forgetting. The task 

 of teaching them to comprehend the true 

 spirit and mission of Jesus seemed almost a 

 hopeless one. At one time they came into a 

 town where the people would not receive 

 them, and the disciples, knowing his miracu- 

 lous power, and having faith this time in his 



