The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1891-07-31

International Gunday-school Lesson %
August =. 1921.

International Hunday-schooI Lesson Tor
August .. 1921.
Especially Arranged from 8. s. Quartcriy.l
LEssoS TgxT-John 45-ss-
GOLDEN TExT ~Whosoeyer will lot him take
the water Of life freely -Hcv. .3:i7.
CENTRAL TRuTn.-Jcsus satisfies every thirst
OF the soul.
TNE December A. D. a. About eight
months after the last lesson
PLACE Jacobs we'll II sychar. part Of the
ancient Shcchem ~ the foot Of Mount Gcrixinn.
The we'll was one half . mile from Sychar and
two miles from shechem. between Mounts Ebai
and Gcrixim In Samaria
HELPS Own HARD PLACES. - 8. Jacob
gave" Gen. ls:0. Jacobs wcl:" feet In
dug In solid rock. sixth hour:" probably six
O'Clock IN the evening. Roman reckoning; BY
Jewish reckoning Il would b twelve O'Clock.
sixth hour from sunrise. But John VAS writing
In Ephesus. among Romano 8 "Mcat:" food
q Jews have no dealings with samaritans;"
no free social intercourse, but would buy ard
and sell They had rival forms OF religion rival
temples. The Samaritans accepted only the
Ave books OF Moses Us their Bible. and we're
partly descended from heather ancestors. u
Kings n: q 90 80 10. Living water:" now
ing Is from fountain The Holy Spirit be-
slowing spiritual life. John =; 81? =:
Thirst never thirst:" every person IL full OF
desires, bodily, mental. spiritual. Tho world
cannot satisfy the soul. Jesus Christ sancti-
0es the natural desires. and satisfies the epfr-
itua'. the longing for happiness for worthy life.
for friendship. for forgiveness, for eternal life.
for God. TO- Go calls" said In order 70 con-
vince her OF sin: that she might seek the living
water. 70 Our fathers" etc: question OF
great interest to her Tho Samaritan temple
was on Gcrizim. close BY e. I'VE worship"
etc: that which 10 know not They accepted
only part Of the Bible, and therefore their
knowledge Of God was imperfect salvation
Of the Jews" promised In their Bible. and the
Messiah was TO be descended from them
LESSON COMMENTS.
The story of to-day's lesson IL
most interesting. At the well Of
Jacob sits Jesus weary with His
Journey. He sits alone. as the dis
ciples have gone into the city to buy
food. Just then q Samaritan woman,
Of evil life, but exceedingly smart and
intelligent, and possessed Of large in
flucnce in her town, comes to the well
to draw water. She has her water Jug
with her, and the wherewithal for
drawing water; for the well Is very
deep, and has no bucket attached to Il.
Silently lie looks at her; and silently
she looks at Him, and realizes, at q
glance, that lie is hated jew. Then
He speaks: "Give Me to drink" With
surprise, and perhaps also with undis-
guised scorn. she replies: How Is Il
that THOU, being jew, asl<eth drink
Of me, who am a woman Of Samaria?"
Untouched by the discourtcous reply,
| Jesus speaks again, and al. Ides TO ''liv-
| ing water" which He says He has at
His disposal. The woman's curiosity
seems to be aroused by this calm mem
ton OF ''living water" and knowing
| that there were no springs Of Giving
water" near by, and that He had no
rope nor bucket with which to draw
water from the we'll. she asks: From
whence then hast Thou that living
water?" Then. in gentle sarcasm. she
asks whether He considers Himself
| greater than the great Jacob In an
| swer, Jesus speaks Of living water Of
| such nature that II shall forever slake
a mans thirst. Still misunderstanding
Him, and yet perhaps thinking that He
| really had some mysterious power Of
| which she might perhaps avail herself.
and SO be saved much trouble, she re-
| plies: s'Give mo this water" Having
| thus thoroughly arc used her interest,
| Jesus proceeds 10 pierce, at one stroke,
deep into her inner life. go, call thy
| husband II have no husband" Thou
hast had Ave husbands; and he whom
| thou now hast is not thy husband"
| How swiftly these sentences were
spoken. but. as result, the woman
| evidently perceived that a prophet stood
| before her. The veil that hid her past
| life was to Him no veil Ut all. She saw
| clearly that lie knew all about her. and
! she realized that denial was useless.
| So. unwilling to pursue that personal
| theme any farther, she tried hard TO
| turn the conversation. and make m is
| sue on the old stock argument between
| jew and Samaritan. The calm reply
| Of Jesus to her evasive words seems To
| have solemnized her, and she says: II
| know that Messiah cometh. when He
! Is come, He win declare unto us all
| things" This is rs though she had
said; "You need not try to reveal truth
| 70 us; for there Is already provision
made for sufficient revelation in the
| Messiah, who Is coming in due time. I"
| Then came. as . fitting climax to all
| that lie had said. the declaration: II. 4.
| am He." So closes the lesson.
| In what a strange contrast do this
| clever woman and Christ stand, as they
face each other by the well! She speaks
Of earthly waters; He Of Heavenly. Her
thoughts are all bodily; His all spirit
ual. Thou hast nothing to draw
with, and the well is deep" she says
With truth lie might have replied:
"Thou hast nothing to draw with
and the well Is deep" The well
OF truth, Of which lie was speak
ing, was indeed deep beyond any
power Of mortal to reach. Mere un-
aided human understanding has not
rope enough to draw from the well Of
eternal truth. Greek and Roman,
Egyptian and Assyrian, had tried to
draw up truth concerning God with
human ropes; and 10! all they produced
were idols Of gold and silver and
marble, and bulls and beetles and
crocodiles. Athens thought the rope Of
her wisdom had reached the deepest
depths Of truth, but many affairs bore
witness to her bitter dclusion. Phariscc
and scribe and Jew and Samaritan had
also drawn, but had gotten nothing but