The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-01-05

HEROD AND JOHN.
FIRST LESSON OF THE tNTERNA-
TIoNAL S. S. SERIES. JAN. /, 1883.

FIRST LESSON OF THE tNTERNA-
TIoNAL S. S. SERIES. JAN. |, 1883.
Comments by Rev.. william Newton,
D. D.-Text of Lesson. Matt. xiv, 1-I2.
Golden Text, Matt. XIV, 1a-aemorize
Verses $40.
from Lesson Helper Quarterly, by permission
Of II. S. Hoffman, Philadelphia, publisher.l
Notes.-At that time i. g., of the preced-
ing chapter. Herod the Tetrarcll, Or Herod
Antipas, son OF Heroa- the Great; Tetrarch
in strictness, of meaning, lis the ruler of the
fourth part Of a Kingdom, but sometimes, as
here, the third part, or e5saIilee and Perea
Fame, or reports about his mighty works.
His servants. or the officers of his court
Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great
Charger, a large dish or platter. The
danlsel, or young woman, came, i. e., to the
prison where John had been confined Told
Jesus, j. e., OF the death of john
/ V. l. Those words seem to intimate that
Herod had just then heard of the great
works of Jesus. It seems that now, at last
] the officers Of his. court had just begun to
talk about him, and wonder who he could
! be. Now, as jesus had been going about
4 doing his great works and speaking his won-
derful words sor about eighteen months, this
i ignorance onsrhe part of Herod and his great
/ men shows vea y clearly ass--icw great csis-
tance they wore living from all high and
holy influences.
V. 2. Clearly his courtiers were discussing
Jesus, and Herod undertook to enlighten them
about Him. This great teacher, with whose
fame the lard was now ringing, was not
Jesus at ALL IT was John the Baptist, whom
he had beheaded, who was risen ON the
dead, and who therefore had power to do
these great works Now this declaration of
Herod showsI
The power of guilty conscience; and the
wide spread belief in the resurrection; and
His conscience would not let him rest. He
knew that he was a murderer. Heknew that
John was an upright and holy man, and that
truth and right were on his side Yet he
knew that to please an adulterous woman he
had shamefully put him to death. Is it a
wonder he could not rest? If such man as
Herod could hold the doctrine of the resur-
rection, its place in the popular mind must
have been well assured. At least it must
have been widely discussed. as indeed the
the doctrine, proves it to have been
V. 3-5. Hero hes the secret of Herods
great disquist And the links in the chain
Of events are these Herod had repudiated
his own lawful wife and was living in adult
cry with the wife Of his brother Philip, John
bad fearlessly rebuized him for his great sin.
and of course, had incurred the bitter en-
nifty of Herodias. From that day he was a
doomed man, and nothing but fear of the
people restrained Herod from putting him to
death
What could John do? Just what he did
He must be ''clear In his great Office" and
rebuke the offender. Publicly rebuke him
The sin was before the people and SO must
its condemnation be. At all hazards he must
be true to his Lords words. And so must
the minister Of Jesus now. He must not only
'exhort," but be must t'reprove and rebuke, y
and that too with all authority"
And how ready was Herods response 'sHe
would have killed John" No thought of
breaking OFF his sin by Righteousness or his
transgression by turning to the Lord. John
was the transgressor here. And so the burn
ing and shining light in Israel must be put
out and the greatest of the prophets of the
Lord borne to a bloody death in order that
an adulterous woman might be gratified in
her revenge.
Yet all through John Yves stronger than he
thought. Herod feared John. He knew he
was a prophet, and the sanctties Of a spot
less character shut him in on every side.
V. z. The birthday here, probably
means the anniversary OF his accession to
power. 1t was usual for kings to observe
this day with great pomp-as Herod doubt
less did on this occasion. This s'daughte- OF
Herodiasu was Salome, her daughter by her
first husband. She must bave partaken OF
her mothers character, for no modest female
would have made such an exhibition of her
self before such an assembly. Knowing him
as she did, was this all planned by Herodias
to bring about her long plotted revenge OF
Johns Inhamed by wine, by music, by the
brilliant surroundings of the feast and the
dancing girl, the king bound himself with an
oath to give her whatsoever she desired
Mark adds, 'even to the half of his king
dom"
V. $40. Here was the opportunity de
sired And it was well improved, too; for
instructed by her mother, she demanded
''the head of John the Baptist" What re
quest for q young girl to make. What sa
tanic hate must have ranked in the hear
that prompted it. What aptitude in hateful
things i'll the lips that uttered it. No doub
Herod was beyond measure surprised Ever
he had not expected it. But in the madness
of his folly he had bound himself by oatl
which he thought he could not break, ane
the presence of those invited guests forbade
him to do even If he could. And so the com
mand was given; John was beheaded and hi
head presented to the damsel, who in turn
presented it to her mother The whole ghast
iy business is done, and John lies headless il
the prison,
V. 12. The news was not long in spreading
His disciples heard of it, and with reveren
and affectionate sorrow took up his body ant
buried it, and "went and told Jesus" Now
there is something very beautiful in this
Their former jealousy of Jesus, for john
!, sake, seems to have died away; and they toll
him of the danger that might reach even t.
| him OF course they knew not the secret I'll
that bound them together, They knew no
, that as it Jared with John so it would wit
him whose coming John heralded. The
knew not that Johns bloody death in hi
, prison was but the index finger pointing t
: Jesus on the cross. Still they went and toll
him.
GENERAL LESSONS.
l. The power of guilty conscience.-1
this a foretaste of future retribution9 Hero
.. could not get away from the presence G
John He was with him everywhere.
vision never moro 10 be shut out Juda
csnld not bear to leok spen bis thirty pieces G
silver, ana went go and hanged himself
to get away from the vision.
, 3 The binding power of an oath.-In thi
3 sense an oath is an appeal to Almighty God, t
3 do or not to do. "a given act, And what powe
: | has it, If the act in view Is right, 10,00
, oaths cannot increase our obligation to do i
{ because it rests on the will of God, which
truth in itself. And if it be not right, notl
, ing can make an obligation to do it.
, 3. How silently, yet how powerfully, al
: Johns words about Jesus act on his disciples
: As the forerunner of Jesus, who can tell ho'
many he brought to Christ! The Lords ow
disciples were thus prepared to receive hin
He made ready the way of the Lord An
8 now his disciples seem prepared to entt
t theirs no faithful testimony about Jesus
8 } sver lost
: q l N SSS q Z