The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1890-11-13
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
Int rnatioual Sunday School Lesson Z
November 23. 1890.


Especially arranged from S. S. Qusrterly.1
LESSON TExT-LulSe 90: S3-i7.
GOLDEN TExT-The Lord hath laid on Him
the iniquity Of US all.-Isa. So: g.
CENTRAL TRUTH-Christ crucifed is the wis
dom and power Of God for the salvation Of man.
TIME-Friday April z. A. ID. 30, from u. m.
TO pm.
PLAGE-Calvary (Golgotha), just outside the
city Of Jerusalem on the north.
PARALLEL ACCoUNTs-Matt. "a: 39-5i; Mark
IS. 2l-39; John 10: 1880
HELPS OVER HARD PLACEs-33., "Calvary:"
Latin for the Hebrew Golgotha, "a place OF
skull" skull shaped hill probably north Of
Jerusalem, outside Of the walls. 81. Parted
His iment:" divided it up among the four
soldiers but "cast lots" for the seamless tunic
or undergarment. S5. Let Him save Bimself:"
If He really was the Son of God and could
really work miracles, He could Of course work
another now for Himself But He would not
because He was the Son Of God. SO. Wine
gar:" their common sour wine. 49, "Greck:"
then the literary language Of the world.
"Latin:" the language Of the Romans He
brew:r the language of the Jews The word
ing was slightly different in each language. 80.
"And one Of the malefactors:" there is every
likelihood that the two malefactors crucined
with Jesus belonged to the band OF Barabbas
For good or for evil they knew something about
the Christ; the taunt uttered by the one ex-,
presses this 40 less than the prayer of the oth-
er. 42 Lord the very use of the word i'm
plies faith "Remember me" lin mercy, to
save) when Thou comest into dn) Thy king
DOM" that is, in the glory of Thy established
kingdom. A. Sixth hour" twelve o'clock.
"The earth" the land of Judea. Ninth hour:''
three o'clock p. M, the hour Of the daily even
ing sacrifice. Is. Vail of the temples" the
great vail of the temple that hung between the
Holy Place and the Holy of Holes, forty cubits
(sixty feet) long, and twenty dhirty feeD wide,
of the thickness of the palm Of the hand The
rending of the vail typifed that the vail that
shut out the vision of holiness from the hearts
Of the people had been taken away e Cor. 3:14-
t6), and the way into the Holy Place, the state
OF holiness, and the place Of holiness, was now
opened.
LESSON COMMENTS.
From the combined stories of the
Evangelists we learn that at the
beginning of that scene of cruciic-
tion both malefactors rallied on the
Master. We do not know what it was
that influenced one to stop his re-
vilings, and to offer the most won-
derful prayer that we find in verse AZ.
| Doubtless the Spirit Of God touched his
| heart and he responded to the blessed in
| fiuence. 1t may have been that the prayer
of Jesus for His prosecutors in verse "a
! began to open his eyes, and that the
abuse that was heaped on the Master by
all who came to that spot deepened the
impression further; and that, combined
with the gentle department of his fell
low sufferer, really melted his stony
heart. However that was, there came
the time when he began to believe that
this crucified one was no mere man.
| Then the deep sense of his own un-
worthiness came over him, and the de-
sire for help filled his soul. This led
him at last to cry: "Lord, remember
me when Thou contest into Thy king
dom" And at once there came the
most wonderful reply that was ever
made to any one in this world.
Looking now more closely at this
scene we shall see that it may we'll be
studied under the following three heads:
(a) Wonderful faith. (b) Wonderful
grace. (c) Wonderful works.
(a) Wonderful faith. That is what
the thief on the cross exercised. For
remember, just at the time that he was
praying, all others in the world had
given up their faith that Jesus was the
Messiah. To believe that a crucifed
man, at your side, who was soon to die,
was the Messiah and that He had power
to help you, was more wonderful than
to believe the same thing while He was
working miracles and showing His
power over the evil spirits. Faith then
was in a measure natural. But in this
case, under the circumstances, it was
most surprising. See what his PRAYER
involves. 1t shows that he believed that
Jesus had kingdom, that in that king
dom He had power, that His remember
ing the thief when He came into that
kingdom would be Of advantage to the
thief, and finally that He would be will
ing to remember His fellow sufferer, in
spite of all his i'll desert. In the mo-
ment when Jesus bowed His head and
died, it really seems as though in all
the world there remained only one per-
son who truly believed in Him, and that
was this dying man. The bright spot in
all that scene of darkness is found
where least we should expect it.
Now turn to the wonderful grace
This was displayed by the blessed Mas
ter. Remember that the man who thus
appealed to Him was no ordinary man.
His life had been one of violence and
bloodshed. We can not tell all that
that involved, but we know that it i'm
plies much of persistent evil. And yet,
in spite of all this, as soon as his prayer
was directed to Jesus, the consoling
words of promise came back, full of Di-
vinest love and pardon: 'HThis day shalt
thou be with Me in Paradise"
Now look at the wonderful works.
These belong to the thief. James says
that faith without works is dead, stand
ing as it does alone. But if eve, we
could expect that faith would have "
stand alone because there was no chance
for works to manifest themselves, this
was that case, for the man was dying
and was nailed to cruel cross. Yet He
found way to make his faith fruitful
in works, and in this respect again hs
seems to stand as an example to the
whole world. He could not use his hands
or his feet, for they were nailed. But hi:
lips were free, and these he could and die
use for his Lord. On the other side of tn,
IL L.