mm Jehovah's SufferingServant .SnwUy

'Sdwol Lenoa hr Hj 9, 1911."." -f - .'

SpedaOyAiransodforXsIpsr '

SYWANV-- LESSON TEXT Isaiah 52:13: 83:12.GOLDEN TEXT "The Lord hath laid!

on him the Iniquity of us alL" Isa. 53 :S.The lesson is from the second part' od

the Book .of Isaiah., v v .. jWhenever written it belongs to the tlmof the exile, just before the return. I

ONG before the discovery of Americathere flourished ' in southern Mexico,Guatemala, and parts of Honduras agreat civilization, which has been call-ed the Maya, It may be said at theoutset without exaggeration that thiscivilization had : reached a height

It brought hope, inspiration, instruction.!life, and light in the darkest period tajthe history of Israel. H

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equalled by no other people of thewestern hemisphere prior to the com-ing of the white man. In architecture

;in sculpture, and; in printing the

Mayas excelled. Their priests were

uod's peculiar people were In exile!among heathen populations. Theirihomeland, Palestine, had been devas--itated. Jerusalem lay in ashes. Thejtemple was a heap of ruins. The na-tion was like the stump of a mighty,tree which had been cut down. Thejtree had been cut down because it refused to bear .the good fruit for whichlGod had planted it. But in captivitythe people had been learning their les-son, and the time had come when itwas possible for a new shoot tospring up from the barren stump, anda renewed nation to take up its ap-pointed mission. But in order to dothis, the nation must be made to seeclearly what they must be and do, and)the deepest motives toward this end!

sno vw orme vorsAs o?sramsrf?ys i r mm .

astronomers of no mean ability, hav-ing observed and recorded' without the aid of in-struments of precision such as are known to usthe lengths of the Solar and Venus years, andprobably the lengths cf the Mercury and Marsyears. In addition to this they had developedit-- calendar system and perfected a chronologywhich in some of its characteristics was supe-rior to our own. . '

The the ancient glory of this people had longsince departed when Hernando Cortez first, came in contact with them on the- - coast of Yu-

catan in 1519. Their star had set. Their great-est cities had been abandoned and lay in ruins,and their country was prostrated by the quar-rels of a score or v more of petty Independentchieftains, each of whom was waging war onthe other.. Even the memory of the older cit-ies, of their culture, ' such as Palenque, Copanand Quiniqua, for example, seems to have pass-ed from the mind of men, their former existenceforgotten. Famine, pestilence and internecinestrife are al said to have been contributorycauses to the decay and eclipse which overtookthis brilliant aboriginal civilization severalcenturies before the Span- - .;;.

be inspired within them. All this ixa parable for the world.

fIt throws no little light on our les4son to realize its relation to theprophecy as a whole. According toall critics the whole lesson really belongs to the fifty-thir- d chapter ofIsaiah, the fifty-secon- d ending: at thetwelfth verse. The prophecy consistsof .27 chapters, of which the fifty-thir- dis tne central one, making the wholeprophecy to consist of three sections.First, the first thirteen chapters are atrumpet call to the captive Isrealiteswho have been "hanging their harpson the widows," unable to "sing thesongs of Zion," to awake to, faith intGod, and obedience and loyalty; tojhim, and to be prepared for their deiliverance. Second: Chapter 53 pre-sents the . means by which the re-demption can be accomplished, theheroic service of his people, and thesupreme self-sacrifici- ng love of hisVW Or TSSfPJL CAlirD COYArCjVOS u a

ish first set foot in the newworld. . x

Probably the largest, andcertainly the most magnifycent, of the ruined citieswhich the Spanish conquer-ors found on their arrival inYucatan was Chichen Itza,around which even in itsdesolation there still clus-ter a thousand traditions offormer sanctity and splen-dor. The name Chichen Itzais Maya, and means Chi-mout- h,

Chen-well- s and Itza,the name of the Maya tribewho lived in the neighbor-hood of the place. "TheMouth of the Wells of theItzas therefore i:j themeaning of the name; norcould a more appropriateone have been applied to

son. Third: The succeeding thirteenchapters present the results of the re-deeming nation, and . the redeemedworld.

The service of God was a commis-sion to witness and prophesy for Godsupon earth." Israel was "elected nottj!

Here desolation is wide-spread. . It seems asthough an earthquakemust have shaken theItza-- capital at sometime. ' .

Row after row of col-umns have ' been . over-turned and now lie pros-trate within ' a foot oftheir original positions,'Perhaps a capital ora drum here and there

to salvation, but to service," or ratheras in the case of any individual, thenatipn was elected, to salvation thatit might be of service. It was necesrrrcAsrzzo ocastjlsary that the ' "servant" who was to--PAjiOAAAtA or rt urns orcwestry jrzsiworld should be a nation, from thecondition of the ancient world. "Of3all possible combinations of men thenation was the only form which in the!ancient wnrlrl ntnnrl o rfia Tina mtf cmtJviving in the struggle for existence.1!The. servant of God was the nation oilIsrael.

Jesus Christ did God's service foriinn wnrm a ronomntirm ttr hAovinnpsorrows and sins of man. - His suffer-ings were not because he himself had)done wrong, but in order that hemight save us from them. He bore!them on his heart and sympathy. He

is broken, but for themost part the stones lie just where they fell.In its entirety this section of the city musthave presented an imposing appearance, beingliterally a forest; of columns surrounding andconnecting the various courts. As to the useof these great colonnades, tradition and his-tory are equally silent. Some think that theywere the law courts of the ancient city, wherejustice- was administered and punishmentmeted out. Others say that they were themarket places, where the produce of . the sur-rounding country was bought and sold. Thislatter explanation has one strong recommenda-tion in its favor in that the descendants ofthe builders of the ; ancient city of Yucatanthe present Maya Indians, still hold their mar-kets under the portals surrounding the plazasin the towns and villages throughout the coun-try today.

South of the Cenote Grande there are a num-ber of well-preserv- ed structures, most of thempresenting beautifully sculptured facades. Tothese fanciful names have been given, whichprobably have little or nothing to do withthe original uses of the buildings. One largestructure, for example, : has been called "TheAkabtzib." The name is Maya and means'The House of the Dark Writing." This build-ing was so called, because of the fact that

outside of the building. This temple containsalso on the walls of an interior room, an elab-orate mural painting representing an attackby some enemy upon a city, perhaps ChichenItza itself, and its defense ,by the inhabitants.Some of the poses taken by the combatants inthe conflict are extremely realistic; such as inthe throwing of javelins, the swinging of warclubs, and the like. "This bit of mural decora-tion in The House of The Tigers at ChichenItza probably marks the high-wat- er mark ofaboriginal painting in the Western Hemi-sphere; at. least it is superior to everythingelse that has survived.

The identification or these two great wallsand the temples associated with them, as aball court, rests on firm historic foundation.When the Spanish first came; to Mexico theyfound the natives playing a game of ball, whichwas of sufficient importance to have a spe-cial court or- - ground set apart for iti exclu-sive use. - Several of the early Spanish writershave . described the game in soi, detail, andall agree as to its having pin 2 an importantpart in the life of the people. One chroniclerhas it that the object of the game was , tostrike the ball so that it would pass throughthe opening in the stone ring above mentionedas an important feature of the Chichen Itzacourt. He adds that th fnat

bore them away by his healing power.He bore them as the martyr and thehero suffers that he may save the op

To visit the ancient city now, one jolts for15 long and weary miles in a two-wheel- ed cov-ered cart drawn by three mules over the rough-est kind of a highway imaginable. This, pres-ent inconvenience fortunately is not to be oneof long standing. A new and straight road isabout to be built and an automobile service tothe ruins probably established, which willshorten the present length of the trip fromfour hours to about half an hour. Now, however, this ride from Citas, the nearest railroadpoint, seems interminable. The read, socalled by courtesy only, winds through the im-penetrable' bush, which everywhere in the nat-ural state covers northern Yucatan. Throughthis the creaking cart finds a dubious way mileafter mile until every muscle Jn one's bodygroans an agonized protest. Finally, when itseems that the limit of physical endurance hasbeen reached, the cart suddenly lurches arounda sharp turn iri the road and as if by magicthe lofty Castillo flashes into view, toweringhigh above the plain and the rest of the cityin its lonely magnificence.

This imposing structure, the highest in Yu-catan, rises 78 feet above the plain. Thepyramid on which the temple stands is 195feet long on each side at the base and coversabout an acre of ground.

The Castillo would seem to have been thecenter of the ancient city, and probably itschief sanctuary. To the north lies the SacredCenote and the causeway, just mentioned,leading to it. On the east is a vast group ofbuildings, colonnades, courts and pyramids."The City of a Thousand Columns," as someone has picturesquely described it. Due westis the group of structures known as the BallCourt. To the south for half a mile or more,scattered through the jungle, are pyramids,courts, temples and palaces. The central lo-cation of the Castillo with reference to all ofthese, as well as its great size and command

pressed and the wronged and personcuted from their sufferings. He boreithem away by transforming them intocharacter. He bore them by giving!his life for our sins, so that by re-moving sin he removed most of thegriefs of man. Christianity has. beenthe chief power in removing the griefajand sorrows of mankind. ,)

The prophet foresees these things'fulfilled in Jesus Christ, . The picturein these verses is afmCst a photographof what took place five hundred yearaj

w MM v wt. vvu over one or its Interior doorways theresiderable dexterity, since the ball could not lintel inscribed with hieroglyphs lintelho hit with V. . , Thismi wuu uie nanas. Dut tnat tne hins hr later. He was oppressed, his suffis so placed that the hieroslvnhiings were unjustly Inflicted on hi:Read the story of his trial. He opennot his mouth In protest. He submit-- j

the place by any people.The whole peninsula ofYucatan is a vast limestone formation with lit-tle or no surface water. One may travel formiles and miles and sever cross river or brook,or even chance upon a modest spring. Indeed,in the northern part, where most of the greatruined cities are located, water is fully 70 feetbelow the surface of the ground. The moderninhabitants overcome this difficulty by meansof wells and windmills, which afford the onlysource of water supply during the dry sea-son (December to June) excepting what littlerain water may have been caught during therainy months and stored in cisterns.

But of wells and windmills the ancient May-as knew nothing, and, generally speaking, hadit not been for the great natural reservoirswhich nature had scattered here and thereover the country Yucatan never could havebeen colonized.

These great natural wells, or, as the Mayascall them, cenotes, are found all over Yucatan.They are usually about 150 feet in diameter, orsometimes more, and about 70 feet in depth tothe level of the water. Geologists say thatthese cenotes are places where the limestonecrust, which everywhere covers the surfaceof Yucatan, has, become weakened by thewashing of subterranean waters and has cal-laps- ed

of its own weight, forming great sinkholes or natural wells on a large scale. Andnow it is clear why the ancient inhabitantsoL, Chichen Itza so named their city. In thecourse of their wanderings, the general trendof .which was northward, the Itzas, enteringYucatan from the 30uth, finally reached thetwo cenotes, around which Chichen Itza laterwas built; but which then was probably noth-ing but wilderness. Here the striking contrastafforded by such an abundance of water in acountry so generally parched could not fail tohave attracted their attention. The place musthave seemed to the thirsty wanderers a God-give-n

site for the location of their new home.By right of discovery they claimed the place,and to the city which grew up around" the cen-otes they gave the name of Chichen Itza, "TheMouth of the Wells of the Itzas."

The two cenotes at Chichen Itia have beenknown by the Mayas from time immemorialas the Cenote Grande and the Cenote Sacra,or the large Cenote and the Sacren Cenote; re-spectively. -- The first of these only in formertimes was used for the water supply of thecity, the Sacred Cenote being reserved for re-ligious use exclusively. It is the latter, how-ever, and the religious observances held inconnection with it, which gave the city itshqly character. From far and near all over.Yucatan, and probably even from points moredistant, pilgrimages wee made to the SacredCenote. It seems to have been the most holyshrine of the Maya people, comparable onlyin importance to the Mohammedan Mecca. andthe Christian Jerusalem. In time of droughtofferings of all kinds were thrown Into ittreasures, and in cases of extremity even liv-ing human sacrifices.

Chichen Itza today is somewhat changed inappearance from the time whenpilgrims camefrom far and near to appease with human sac-rifice the wrath of offended deities. Now thecity lies buried in a thick jungle, which hassteadily won its way into the very heart ofthe holy place. Colonnades have been over-thrown and pyramids covered with trees totheir summit; courts have been lost in a

(tangle of thorn and creepers; and palacesstripped of their sculptured embellishment.Desolation has spread everywhere In thewake of the encroaching vegetation.

ted to the wrong. , ,Jesus was put to death with thej

wicked on the cross, and they thought!to bury him in a. criminal's grave.)They appointed his grave with thewicked, but , by a striking providence)the same authority gave permission to)a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, whetprovided him with an honorable burialin his own rock-hew-n tomb. "

Yet it pleased the Lord because he!saw the good to be gained. He shall

ing height, argue strongly that it was thechief sanctuary of the Holy City.

Another interesting group of structures atChichen Itza, nerhaDsv sliehtlv Ipsa Sflprail i--

see his seed, his spiritual descendants

be seen by artificial light, hence the name,"Thet House of the Dark Writing." Nearby isa round tower,, with but one exception, thoonly structure of its kind in the Maya area.This Is called "The Caraco." CaracOl is theSpanish word for. snail, and since the interiorcircular corridor and spiral stairway cf thisstructure bear some remote resemblance to theconvolutions of .a snail shell, the name wasapplied to the building. The Manjos (Spanishfor monastery) is perhaps the most beautiful' building at Chichen Itza. It is composite,showing three different periods of construction.

The above are only a few of the many struc-tures at Chichen Itza. But in all directions forseveral miles the brush is strewn with ruins.Crumbling walls and jungle-ridde- n courts areto be encountered on every side; disintegration

. so far advanced that these once splendid pal-aces and temples are now but little more thanshapeless mounds of fallen masonry. The totalarea covered by ruins which may be assignedto this center of primitive population has beenestimated by some as, high as ten square miles.That larger Maya cities yet remain to be dis-covered now seem highly Improbable so thor-oughly has the general exploration of the areabeen done. Consequently we may affirm withbut little hesitation that "TheHoly City of theItzas" was the largest and most important ofthe Maya civilization and probably of . abor-iginal America as well.

filled with his spirit and carryinghis plans. He shall prolong his days.He rose from the dead, ascendedheaven, and is the. everlasting leadand king:. Of all kinra ha is th mnglorious. Of all kingdoms his is thea.iGai., uuuiCBl, UCBb UCJfUllU OU Cunt

pare.

other parts of the "body had to be used instead.This rule of the game very materially, in-creased the difficulty in making a "Maya bas-ket;" so much so, in fact, we are told, thatthe lucky player making this winning strokehad forfeit to him as a reward for his skill allthe clothing and ornaments of the spectators.At such times, the chronicler concludes, thespectators were wont to scatter in all direc-tions without loss of time, hoping thus to es-cape paying the penalty, but that the friendsof the lucky player immediately gave chaseand endeavored to exact the full forfeit.

Although the name Ball Court has been giv-e- nto this group of temples at .Chichen ' Itza,it should not be supposed on that account,that this great court was built primarily forsport. Such an explanation of Its fundamentalpurpose is incompatible with any conceptionwhich the, American aborigine ever seems tohave entertained. To the Itza people the chieffunction of their Ball Court was doubtless areligious one. Games played there, if notactually held in connection with religious fes-tivals, were at least sufficiently religious Intheir meaning as to completely overshadowthe element of sport as we understand theterm. That a game was played in which com-petition and skill entered in cannot be doubt-ed in the face of contemporaneous evidence,and" to this extent' perhaps tne Mexican BallCourts were athletic fields; but it must not beforgotten for a moment that its true signifi-cance was religious and that the games whichwere played there probably were held only inconnection with . religious festivals. It is notimprobable, however, that the Aztecs werebreaking away from the religious feature ofsport at tfc time of the Spanish Conquest, butthat "The Holy Men of the Itzas," as the peo-ple of Chichen Itza are sometimes called inthe early manuscripts, had taken any such aradical step is little short of inconceivable, soreligious in character was the whole Mayacivilization.. '

To the east of the Castillo lie a great groupof courts, pyramids and colonnades, "The Cityof a Thousand 'Columns' already mentioned.

oflThis far-o- ff vision of Jesus, andthaithe redeemed world, is one of

strongest proofs of a revelationGod. Professor Ramsay declares

fromithat!

character than the Castillo, is the so-call- ed"Ball Court," mentioned above as . lying justwest of the Castillo. This group is composedof two parallel masses of solid masonry, each272 feet long, 27 feet high and 16 feet' wide,placed 119 feet apart from each other. Thesetwo great walls, for such they really are, forma court nearly 300 feet long by 119 feet wide.High on the side of each at the middle pointfrom end to end there is attached a stonering four feet in diameter with a hole throughit. . These rings are fastened to th4r respec-tive walls by tenons of stone, and are soplaced that the surface of each is perpendicu-lar to the vertical face of the wall. The ar-rangement is very similar to the baskets inour modern game, of basket ball, except thatat Chichen Itza the "baskets" have their open-ings perpendicular to the ground, while in ourgame the openings in the baskets are parallelwith the ground. To make a basket at theChichen Itza court a somewhat horizontalthrow, as in baseball, was necessary, whilenowadays it Is a toss that wins the goal.At the open ends of the court formed bythese two walls stand temples, which in effectinclose the area, definitely marking its boun-daries. On top of the east wall, at its south-ern end, there is a beautiful temple, whichaffords a commanding view of the entire court.This has 'been called "The, House of theTigers,", because of a frieze of stalking tigerswhich is,sculptured in alto-reliev- o around the

the Bible is unique among ancient re-ligions in that "to the Hebrew proph-ets, and to them alone, the better ageilay always in future." !

"The best is yet to be,The last of life for which the first wia

made- We see in this lesson the one sourceof power for saving man, and trans-forming the world. The path of un-selfishness is the path to power. Thaibusiness of all followers of Jesus is tobe servants of Jehovah, to do as far ajin them lies the same kind of serriedthat Jesus did.

. THE SIGH FOR LEISURE.Lives there --the man who has not sighed forleisure? And lives there the man who in his

more sober moments, has not been honestlyglad that he must work? Human nature, whichsweetens under toil, sours in leisure. And It Isby no means sure that the fall from Innocencewhich flrst brought work into the world "andall our woe" was not bringing salvation dis-guised as labor. Faithfulness will dignify andbeautify, even drudgery; no matter what thework is, provided It Is honest, if it is done wellit commands our Instinctive respect. Besides,if we did not all have to work so hard to keepalive the Jails would have standing room only.

Those who discourage us the mostIn an undertaking are the first to tellus "I knew you would succeed," whanwe have attained success.