FOR FURTHER STUDY AND HONOR WORK

(To be written out by pupils working for High-school

credit)

7. In Farrar's Life of Christ read the chapter on the "Home at Nazareth." Then state in writing what you think Jesus owed to his home and parents. 8. For a vivid description of his early life and training read pages 49-56 in Kent's Life and Teachings of Jesus. Then write your conclusions as to the way his work as a carpenter developed his ideals of living. 9. Can you fully explain the origin of his ideals without considering his close friendship with his heavenly Father? How did his personal religious life affect his character? How do you think God taught him his standards of right and wrong?

10. Try to figure out where you got the ideals you are now living by. Which of them came from your home, your school teachers, your chums, your older friends, your church school and church, your mates in the shop, the books you have read, etc. Have you lost some good ideals that used to mean a lot to you? Why?

CHAPTER III

HIS VICTORY OVER FALSE IDEALS

A YOUNG man still in his teens was making good wages in a great metal industry in which there was a secret process carefully guarded by the company. Because of this secret process the product of this factory was the best of its kind in the world and the enterprise was very successful. Only the most trusted employees were allowed in the secret-process shop. It was rigidly guarded against all others. The sign "Positively No Admittance" was enforced by guards at both entrances.

This young man had worked two years for the company and the manager had noticed his unusual skill and his loyalty to his work. He was promoted several times and finally was asked to join the trusted, highly paid staff in the secret-process shop. Here he gradually learned the jealously guarded secrets, unknown to any competitors of his company. One evening as he was sitting alone in the park he was approached by a man with a foreign accent who proved to be an industrial spy. After some friendly conversation the stranger explained his errand to the young mechanic. This secret process, it seems, was so greatly needed in his country, in connection with its military plans, that he was prepared to pay a large sum for the secret. He finally offered the young man a bribe-he politely styled it a "bonus"equal to ten years' wages, if he would furnish him a typewritten description of the coveted process. Never had this young man of nineteen faced such a

moral battle. He saw at once it would mean treason to his country as well as disloyalty to his employers who trusted him, if he should sell this important trade secret to a representative of a foreign and unfriendly government. The Spirit of Evil within him said: "What difference does that make? You are in this world for what you can get out of it. Every one else is getting his; now is your chance to get yours." Thus ideals of selfishness and greed clashed viciously with his Christian ideals of honesty and fair play to those who trusted him. If he had proved false to these ideals of honor, it would have changed the whole course of his life. God must have helped him, for he refused the bribe. He won the victory over false ideals.

The perplexity of the young man Jesus.-We must not think that Jesus escaped the usual perplexities of young men on the verge of a career. As he faced his lifework we find he was very much troubled. At last the longed-for time had come when he was not needed at home to support the family; so he was free to go on his public mission. For a long while the conviction had been growing upon him that he must be the Messiah for whom his people had been waiting. His experience when John baptized him confirmed this belief. But he began to see that he could not become the kind of Messiah the people wanted, for his ideals would not let him. In fact, the more he learned about life at the capital, the surer he was that his ideals of righteousness and justice and religion, which he had learned at Nazareth, were quite contrary to the ideals of the Pharisees and other religious leaders at Jerusalem. He saw it was going to be harder than he thought, to be faithful to the vision God had given him. Even after making his public consecration at the Jordan, he faced the battle of his life. It was easier to go back to

Nazareth and stay there the rest of his days. In great conflict of mind he plunged into the wilderness, to get away from men, where he could think and think and think.

The conquest of selfishness. So keen was Jesus' mental struggle that he forgot to eat. His appetite was entirely gone. Perhaps he snatched heedlessly the meager food the wilderness afforded; but he was so much troubled by his doubts and temptations that he ate practically nothing for days. After several weeks had passed, hunger suddenly reminded him of the urgent need of food:

If you are really the Son of God as you imagine, tell these loaf-shaped stones to turn into bread.

It was the voice of the Tempter, a sarcastic suggestion, doubting his Messiahship and daring him to test his power by a selfish miracle. By this time he must have been nearly starved; but no, he could not be a selfish Christ and save the world. So he conquered his appetite and remained true to the unselfish ideals of his boyhood home. It was the memory of a Bible passage that helped him win this victory:

It is not bread only that keeps a man alive, but the message of God to his soul.

The temptation to abuse his power. The longer Jesus kept up his vigil in those lonely days of struggle the surer he became that God had given him a unique mission in the world, with unusual powers. The big question for any young man on the threshold of his lifework is the problem of how to use his power. Of course this problem absorbed the thought of Jesus in those critical days.

From that dreary wilderness of Judæa he could probably see gleaming in the morning sunlight the golden towers of the Temple, on the mountain miles away. As he was thinking of the popular expectation of the coming of a King-Messiah, the temptation came to him, Why not make the daring leap some day from the Temple pinnacle, when a great crowd is there to see his divine power save him from injury? It was the kind of thing the people were watching for. How quickly they would welcome him, worship him, and hail him as their Christ! It would be the shortest cut to immediate success.

Ah, but this recklessness would be tempting Providence; and would do no one any good, even if it should do him no harm. He must not use his wonderful power except to help people in need. Again his ready knowledge of the Bible helps him conquer the false ideal suggested in this second temptation.

The temptation to compromise with evil.-We may be sure that in those days of mental conflict Jesus suffered a great variety of temptations, of which the three reported by Matthew and Luke are only samples. He was fighting the battle royal for the supremacy of his high ideals, and every evil motive and false ideal attacked him. It was no mere drama or sham battle. He was fighting for his soul. The climax evidently came with the insidious suggestion, in the last temptation, that at least he might do a little evil, that good might come:

The Tempter then led him to the top of a very high mountain and let him see at a glance all the kingdoms of the world with their pomp and glory. "To you," he said to Jesus, "I will give all this authority and splendor, for it is mine to give to whom I will. If you will only do homage to me as your overlord, this shall all be yours."