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REDEMPTION.
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section of the public which could have asked for a doctrine became estranged from him in sympathy. They cared not for his system, and were always at loggerheads with him; whereas, had their attitude towards him been that of eager questioners, the real philosophy of his faith would not have been so difficult to get at. Each party, it seems, took delight in beating the other, but the power of working miracles always decided the issue in favour of Jesus. He used to delight in violating the traditions of the Pharisees as to eating with ünwashen hands, doing work on the Sabbath, non-observance of fasting, and the like ; and his replies to their unfavourable comment on his and his disciple's actions contain many truisms of unequalled merit and worth. What does it matter if you do not wash your hands when you sit down to eat? It is not the things from without; but those from within that defile a man. If the heart is pure and brave, food cannot be affected with ' unwashen' hands, nor mind with food. But where the heart is corrupt and unclean, it is idle to talk of the outward cleanliness of the hands. About fasting, however, his real views were those which he gave to his disciples when, with reference to an evil spirit, which he was finally called upon to expel, they asked him as to why they had failed to exorcise it. He then said :"This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.”
This is sufficient to show that Jesus regarded fasting as a means of training the will and of acquiring certain occult and psychic powers.
Thus, the help one can get from the observations
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