The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-04-11
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
SERIOUS SUBJECTS CAREFULLY AND
ABLY CONSIDERED.

SERIOUS SUBJECTS CAREFULLY AND
ABLY CONSIDERED.
a Scholarly Exposition Of the Lesson
Thoughts Worthy of Calm Refiec-
tlon-Half an Hours Study of the Scrip
~urcs-Tim Well Spent.
The lesson for Sunday, April l3. may be
.ound in Luke q: ILLS.
INTRODUCTORY.
This incident, as related. is peculiar to
Luke, aud we have here illustrated for us
one important purpose. served for us by the
our-fold cord OF the gospel narrative. What
sionally all uniting in reporting from diff
%ferent ~standpoints the same circumstance
or DISCOURSE. 1t is interesting also 70 note
Low natu al 1T is that this miracle ghould
Each man spoke freely of the things which
impressed him most; all together they
spoke the things the Spirit would have inn
pressed.
WHAT H LESSON SAYS.
1t came to pass. A. common story tell
al, on tho next. probably, though not
necessarily, the next day. The account OF
tie healing OF the centurion's servant at
Capcrnaum has Just preceded this.-Nain.
dilItle Guy VI 1dllle6, near NOunb laDCr,
and south Of Nazareth. itself built. on the
hiiiside.-Many OF his disciples. To
wnom he had but recently been spe aking Fin
the plain" See last lesson.-Much peo-
pie. This was Christ,s year Of popularity.
year of obscurity:"' gJ The year Of pub
lie favor" 90 Tho year of opposition"
Nigh to the gate. 1t was a walled city.
signincant-of days of hostility.
] WOrfhv-A dpad man, arfonf pnrfioin1n
of the verb to die. literally. one having died.
Only son. Greek. son. only-born.
Mono-genes) usually translated only-be-
gotten. Childlessness was an overwhelm-
ing grief to a jewish mother.-And she q
widow. Luke is the sympathetic evange-
list. aud he notes especially the touching
circumstances OF an incident. See Luke
I: 49, Is: 20; 8: 42-With her. To show
aif1iction.
,When the Lord saw her. Christ going
about with senses alert. eye and ear open
to all, see v. 9 above r"When Jesus heard
OF the heart. His dealings were always
sincere.-Weep not. Tho Greek order
is not weep.
Touched. This is the word used OF com
Cor. Z: L; l JOIN S: 18.-The bier. Orig
%inally, casket or urn.-They that bare
him. The him is not in the Greek. Liter
ally. Those bearing. or the pail bearers.
stood still. On word: stood. i. g.,
came to a and.--Young man. The
suddenness of this direct address to the
dead. most startling in the narrative, as
given.|i say unto thee. In the Greek
the thee comes first. emphatic Arise.
See, in what follows, the effect OF that one
word OF Christ.
And he that was dead sat up. The Greek
Is even more expressive: And sat up the
dead. The latter word is the term for dead
body or corpse nekrosl.-Began to speak
or RI tall Nalpoa What wara hiS Grcr
words? A mere writer OF legends would
have told us.-Delivered. Tho word is
gave strikinsly suggestive one here.
There came a fear on all. Literally. II feal
1t is from this word doxazo, that our ia
miliar doxology comes.-A great prophet
These were the signs which marked the
career of the great prophets Elijah and
Eiishai ! Kings II q; Z Kings !: s5:M
power. See Luke 1:6S. The verb means
literally. to look upon. or. more idiomattc-
ally, look in upon.
This rumor. Or report. The Greek word
is Qogos). This was the first miracle o
Christ's career on earth. Throughout al
Judea. Where perhaps it produced the
greatest sensation.-Al the region. II
spread also through other parts.
And the disciples OF John. Here is a case
Of bad paragraphing; this verse more prop
Wy ILL tuC hOAU llSuilotLuCS udi
rated.-Showed him.. Told him.-All
these things. Not this one incident, mere
lv. but as suggested in v. % below. all the
wonder-works recently performed.
WHAT hi LESSON TEACHES.
Behold, there was a dead man carried
out. An Interrupted funeral. AS some one
has suggested. Christ while on earth broke
up every funeral he met. Going into that
city OF Main. over eighteen hundred years
ago, he stood right across the path OF bro
| Enn.ha n cto1 rriAf anH "a honraI m ", N nc
into Joy, giving the garments Of praise TO
the spirit of heavincss. Christ does no
give us back the dead bodies OF our dea
ones ,,s t to a. ~ but butt ne IS stays tthSyy US on the way t t
which he taught then, although not nov
with the physical demonstration. H
whispers to US of larger life beyond. h,
brings for us life and immortality to light
lowe | up OF life. o. bereaved one. why di,
you not see Jesus at the gate? Lo. he il
there now. on the way to the graves OF gu
dead.
The Lord saw her. II is need that catche
the SaviOr's eye. The pro cession ma,
have been a very fine one. the decoration
and furnishings very tasteful in tine eyes O
the multitude who journeyed with him
One thing shone out for Ill with the dis
tinctness of a gem or a star in the midst
1t was the woman's grief. Be sure. poo
sorrowing one. tho eye of the Master will
not. has not passed by you. There are in tn,
company. it may be in the congregation, i,
the corner of some class in the Sunday
school room. his compassionate eye find!
vol And if you would only look up. lool
up in faith. you would see him STANDING
right over against you and saying with low
ing accent. What is it. child? What woulds
thou OF me?" Will you answer?
Weep not. Tears seemed to deeply toucl
our Lord. His sensitive heart here seem.
to give Il ereat ttrob of pain at sight of tn,
woman's distresi and he appears instinct
lively. almost Involuntary. to eXclaim, DO
not weep!"-for such is the force OF thu
original. The tears of Gods children are
not unnoted. If the heart of All earthly
parent is moved by the tear stained face o
his offspring what must be the tender ant
compassionate heart of him whose name il
Love? Our tears are in his bottle: he pitie:
us with a sympathy that is ineffably deel
and strong. That sympathy, rightly appre.
hended, should assuage our own grief ant
lift us above repining.
cannot always trace the way
Where thou, Almighty One, dost move,
But l can always, always say
That God is love.
He touched the bier. That touch was
slight. but it stayed four pair OF feet. I
was the touch of omnipotence: there was
unfathomed promise in it. The bear err:
looked up. saw a rabbi coming. See. he Is
from fear OF corruption or ceremonial un.
cleanliness out Of the way. Why there. he
has touched the bier-seti it down!" Christ's
religion. mark you. is the only religion tina
touches the bier. Other masters star
back in alarm or with hiding of face. or fall
in behind with the "nirvana" OF vlrtua
despair upon their lips. Christ's mission
is directly to the sick. the down fallen
yea. to the dead. He but touched the toni
itself in Joseph's garden and it became 1
portal of paradise.
Young man. 1 say unto thee. And will he
speak thus to the dead? Our ordinary
English translation falls far short of the
graphic power of the Greek in the nara
tive. Up to this point it is a thing. ~lifeless
insensate. that is borne upon the bier. A
the opening Of the lesson it is not so muct
"a dead man" as a dead body that is being
carried out. At verse ID it is not they thai
bare him that stood still but simply the
bearers. The man was nothing. dead. gone
And in verso Is it is not "he that was dead
that sat up. but. point blank, the corpse. {
marvellous transformation! Christ speaks
and there is a response from beneath thu
shroud of death. What has been treated
before as a dead thing he looks upon as /
living soul. He stops and speaks to it
1 Call - ~, n-J -. --l