f-breed
Samaritan, the aggressive Roman, the cultured refined Greek,--that was
_all the world_. And all these recognized Him as some one kin to
themselves, bound by closest spirit-ties, to whom they were drawn by the
strong cords of His common kinship with themselves. The waves of His
personal influence were, geographically, like His last commandment to
His disciples. The movement was from Jerusalem to Judea, through
Samaria, and out into the uttermost part of the earth and the innermost
heart of the race.

And all sorts of men understood. Jesus wiped out social differences and
distinctions in the crowds that gently jostled each other in His
presence. The aristocrat and the cultured, the student and the gentle
folk, mingled freely with simple country folk, the unlettered, the
humblest and lowliest, all drawn alike to Him, and all unconscious of
differences when under the holy spell of His presence. The wealthy like
Joseph of Arimathea, and the beggar like the man born blind, the pure in
heart like Mary of Bethany and the openly bad in life like the accused
woman of Jerusalem,--all felt alike that this Jesus belonged to them,
and they to Him.

The underneath tie of real kinship of heart rubbed out all outer
distinctions. The old families of Jerusalem were glad to unlock their
jealously guarded doors to Him. And the simple Capernaum fisherfolk were
grateful when He shared bread and roof with them. All men recognized
Jesus as belonging to themselves.

And the calendar has not changed this, neither Gregorian nor Old Style.
Time finds the race the same always. Centuries climb slowly by, but the
human heart is the same, and--so is Jesus. I was greatly struck with
this in my errand among the nations. The East balks at the ways of the
West sometimes. Many books say there is no point of contact between the
two. The East balks at our Western organization, our rule of the clock,
and our rush and hurry. Our Westernized church systems and our closely
mortised logical theologies are sometimes a bit bewildering, not exactly
comprehensible to their Orientalized mode of thought.

But they never balk at Jesus. When they are told of Him, and get some
glimpse of Him, their eyes light, their faces glow, their hearts leap in
response. You book people say there is no point of contact between
Orient and Occident? But there is. Jesus is the point of contact. One
real touch of Jesus makes all the world akin. No; that can be put
better. One