The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-05-09
AMOUNTING AT BETHANY.
LESSON vi, SECOND QUARTER, IN
TERNATIoNAL SERIES, MAY IL.

1EKfSA ioFSfAE oEbiESy MAr IL.
Text of the Lesson, Mark xt-, 7-9-Com-
init Verses 8, e-Golden Text. Mark xiv,
g. Commentary by the Rev. D. N.
Stearns.
TCompiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per.
mission of H. s. Hoffman, Publisher. Philadel
phia-
|. "After two DAYS was the feast of the
passover and of unleavened bread.n The
more full statement of Matthew is, "And it
came to pass, when Jesus bad finished all
these sayings, He said unto His disciples, We
know that after two days is the feast of the
passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to
be crucihed." He was born that He might
die as our passover, the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world; He died that He
might rise again Triumphant over death and
the grave, an immortal man, to reign over
the house of Jacob forever; He assembled that
He might return when He shall have received
the kingdom. and every step of all the way
was clear to Him from the beginning His
sinless life in o mortal body was nearly over,
and after two days Ho would prove Himself
tho true passover Lamb: He saw It ell and
was unmoved, resting in tho Fathers
love, doing tho Fathers viii, supported
by tho joy set before Him The Pass
over Lamb had to be chosen on tho
tenth day of the month and kept till the four
teenth day, that is four days; Jesus was set
apart before the foundation Of the world, and
now four days 1900 years. had passed, and
He was about to be slain. OK. xii, 3, G; l Pet
i,19, 20)
q mot on the feast day, lest there be an
uproar Of the people, This very fear on
their part helped to bring about the sacrifice
of Christ at the appointed time. The SER
wants of Satan are often filed with fear,
cvcn the fear of man; the servants Of God
are taught to fear neither men nor the devil,
nor sufferings, nor death, but knowing that
their lives are hid with Christ In God they
arc to see sJesus only" and say, SIN God
have put my trust; will not be afraid
what man can do unto mo-" Though an
host should encamp against me, my heart
shall not fear.n Cps. wi, IL; xvii, 81
8. "And being in Bethany, in the house of
| Simon the leper." In John xii, Is, we find
that this supper and amounting at Bethany
| took place SIX days before the Passover and
before His public entry into Jerusalem
| 'As He sat at meat" John tells us that
they mado Him supper, that Martha served,
and that Lazarus disen from the dead was
one Of them that sat at tho table with Him.
| Here is love and life and resurrection in Him,
and on their part loving service and whole
hearted devotion We wou.d like to know
| who Simon the ,sper was, and his relation to
| this family; we would like to know what
| Lazarus, who had been tlirea days in the spirit
world talked about; but these things are
comparatively unimportant, and let us rather
| fix our attention upon Jesus and Mary who
anointed Him John xii, 81.
''There came u woman having an alabaster
| box of ointment of spikenard very precious;
| and she brake the box and poured it on His
| head.n John says that she also anointed His
| feet, and wiped them with her hair; and that
tho house was Oiled with tho pdor of tho oint-
ment We must not get this anointing con-
| fused with the amounting in the house of ST.
mon the Pharisee, at a much earlier period in
His ministry, and by q wenian whose name
we know not Quke vii 36 50)
4. "And there were some that had indigna-
| tion within themselves, and said, Why was
this waste of the ointment maden That
Judas, who, though treasurer Of the disciples,
was thief and possessed with tho devil,
should say this was not strange, for to talk
| of anything given to or done for Jesus as
| being wasted was surely devilish saying;
but that any of the other disciples Matt.
/ XVI, s. should talk SO was strange indeed.
:. 1T might have been sold for more than
three hundred pence and have been given to
the poor. And they murmured against her,
In the parable of Matt Xxx, penny was a
days wages, SO that at that estimate this
ointment was equal in valuo to nearly a
years wages of g laharing Eian. If the MEM
! hors of any church wero to be- asked to give
unto the Lord Jesus for soao special work
even q weeks wages, how some of them
| would look and shrug their shoulders; and
what murmuring there would be against the
mover Of such resolution, tho instigator Of
such en- unwarranted waste Of precious
money.
6. Jesus said, let her alone; why trouble
ye hera She hath wrought a good wJrk on
Me-" How precious is the Masters approval,
| how restful His blessed wordsl What does it
matter who, or how many, find fault, if we
are only well pleasing unto Him9 Let no
criticism OF thoughtless remark from fellow
Christians hinder you in your devotion to
Christ, o fellow laborer, but being sure
that your motive is right and that love to
| Him prompts you to seek in all things His
| glory, go steadfastly forward and do all that
| Is IN thine heart unto Him. Good works are
| not those which men, or even Christians, al
ways approve but only those which are done
to the glory of God.
7. HFor ye havo the poor with you ale
ways, and whensoever ye will ye may do them
! good; but me ye have not always" The dis
ciples did not understand His going away
from them, but thought he would continue
with them in person and at that time restore
the kingdom to Israel; though He had so often
spoken so plainly of His death and resurreo-
tion they had never received it, while Mary,
on the contrary, who sat at His feet and
heard His word Q4uke K, 39D seems to have
understood that His enemies would put Him
to death, ana that she would therefore, with
all His friends, be deprived of the privilege
of ministering to Him at His death or burial.
s. "She hath done what she could" So
many say, "How would like to co thus and
SO If | only had tho power" "iIow much
good would do If had Alr. 3. s money, or
thinking and talking about wlIat t,,cy would
do others like Mary are doh'g it;st ysiiat they
can, remembering that iii taero te first a
| willing mind 1T IS accepted acccf'iiiii.. II that
a man hath, and not according q faat he
hath not" I'll Cor. s, ~ We ere not ex-
pectet, to use other peoples taleE.s - cpPo.-
! tpnities. but simply TO do what or own
hands find to do Us unto Him God Knows
just how we are situated aud just what we
have to do with, and all talk about what we
would do If we had the power, and how
| sorry we are that we cannot do more, is
too often only idle talk. Mary did what
she could let US do likewise and He
| viii approve. ''She is como afore-
j hand to anoint my body to the
| burying.n When He was buried it was
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodernus who
were privileged to wrap tho body in linen
| with spices and lay it in the tomb; when the
| women came on the first day of tho y7eek to
anoint His body it wGs too late, for Ho was
| risen, so that Mary's hands were the only
woman's hands that helped cnoiE. Him
| 8. "Verily, | say unto you, ssEercsoever
this gospel shall be preached throughout the
whole world, this also that she l.aih Gone shall
be spoken Of for memorial ,f :er" And so
it has come to pass, as Ee said Tia. IN all the
| wide world Mary and her anu...;.Eg II Christ
is spoken Of; and how many i--.t lsen en-
eouraged by her set esa lsr ..s's's apr
proval 70 do for Elm gid ESQ 81 J.s. yhff
they could, win neser IL i-i;sss.;l az; day
Tberass NIialfouz of sEn