Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1891-11-18

christ Betr.yed-John is:i-l3-Msnery
Verses IA.

Verses "a
Especially Arranged from s. s. Quarterly.I
| LESSON roR NOVEMBER - 1921.
golden TExr.-Thc Son OF Man Is betrayed
into the hands of sinners Mark 14:4L
! CENTRAL TRUTu.-Thc best men and the
best causes have their hours of darkness
agony. descrtion and defeat; but through these
they achieve final victory.
I TINE--From midnight till three O'Clock Fri
day morning. April 2. A ID. 30
PLAcE-The garden OF Gcthsemane and the
/ palace OF Caiaphas.
| PARALLEL ACCOUNTABILITY. e6:3. 32-72:
Mark 1890. 5s-7s; Luke e2 1905.
| OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Jesus prayer they
sang hymn. thus closing their long and
blessed meeting. and went out into the streets
OF Jerusalem. toward the Mount OF Olives.
HELPS OVER HARD PLAcEs.-1 Brook Ced-
ron;" or Kidron; n ravinc. a brook in the rainy
season. that ran between Jerusalem and tho
Mount OF Olives. "A garden" Gethsemanc. on
/ tho lower slope OF the Mount of Olives. Hero
Jesus uttered His agonizing prayer three times.
/ from twelve TO one o'clock Friday morning
3 "a band Of" Roman soldiers from the tower
OF Antonio About ono O'Clock. T. Jesus.
knowing;" He went willingly. conscious OF all
that was before Him. Here is probably where
Judas gave his kiss of betrayal. 9. They went
backward and fell to the ground;" The reasons
for this display OF power may have been; Cd
II took place that He might show that He sur
rendered Himself TO death willingly. Not only
was 1t impossible TO take His life from Him.
but even TO seize His person. till He willed that
men might do so. CD II took place also that He
might send His disciples away In safety. go 1t
convinced those who came to apprehend Him.
that even in the extremity OF weakness aud
submission. in which He suffered Himself To be
bound, He had power TO protect His own. II
they had not thus felt His power, the whole
company OF the disciples would have been ap.
pretended. 90 IL would show His disciples
His power. and awaken courage and faith In
them. o The saying" spoken In chap. i7:is
This was one fulnllment. TO- Peter
smotc cut OF his right earl. Peter was
rash in his bravery. This act was likely to
cause the disciples 10 be arrested as rebels,
and to make Jesus Himself seem q rebel
against Rome, and His kingdom a temporal
kingdom. Jesus destroyed the evil effects by
healing Malchus. ~. Took Jesus:" then all
the disciples forsook Jesus and fed IL
| "Annas:" formerly high priest and now very
influential. He sent Him TO Caiaphas the high
/ priest. who irst examined Him. then called
the Sanhedrim Ctwo to three o'clocll), and they
decided He must die. During this hour Peter
| three times denied his Master who was In the
hall opening into the court where Peter and
John werc around the fire. To understand tho
| position OF Peter. we must remember that
Oriental palaces built around An open
/ quadranguar court; sonnet lines there is n
/ large room open in front to this court In such
q room Jesus had His FIRST trial before the
| Sanhcdrim. Peter and John were in the court
| near the fire, where they could see Jesus and
| watch the proceedings. The first two denials
were IN tue early part OF the trial. or AT the ex-
animation before Caiaphas. soon after His en-
tering John 1870 IL, Luke so:5S) The third
denial must have been about three o'clock,
toward the close OF this first trial; for Il was
about an hour after the others duke eo;59) and
NJ the hour OF cock Growing
| LESSON COMMENT.
! While Jesus was speaking ''these
words"-namely, John l4-17-Judas was
busy with the chief priests and Phari-
: sees, making the final preparation for
! His betrayal. Judas knew that Jesus
would probably go to the quiet Garden
/ of Gethsemane that night, so he
guided the officers to that spot, and
there indicated which one was Jesus by
saluting him with kiss As the
armed throng gathered around Jesus
and His disciples, Jesus made no hest
tation about revealing Himself. AS he
said: 81 am He," it would seem as
though the Divine majesty of His per-
son in some way became for moment
! apparent, for the officers staggered back
and fell to the ground. When they had
recovered their presence of mind they
again proceeded To their business.
Then it was that Peter, full of excite
ment, drew his sword and struck out.
Jesus healed the damage done by His
over-zealous apostle and yielded Him
self quietly to the band of officers.
They tied the Master with ropes and
led him away for a preliminary exam
nation to Annas, father-in-law to
Caiaphas, the high priest This was
probably about two o'clock in the
morning.
Until the very last, none of the apos-
ties in any way suspected that they had
traitor in their midst. In fact, they
must have had a good deal of confidence
in Judas, for they had made him theii
treasurer After his character was re
vealed, they found that he had been q
thief; but before the end came they un
doubtedly entertained no such suspi
cion. How was IL, then, that Judas
came TO betray his Lord and Master;
Did he leap at one bound from the posi-.
ton of true and royal disciple to thai
OF grasping, covetous traitor? Lool
at him, as months before he stood M
preaching the Gospel, and then look al
him hanging on. a tree, a suicidel Car
IT be the same man? Alas, yesl IL 1.
the same. How came this dire end 70
overtake him? OF one thing we may
be sure: he reached the position O
traitor and suicide not at one leap, bu
step by step. FIRST, he tods eoretou& Ne
man steals before lie covcts. Desire al
ways precedes action. First we wan
TO do thing; then we go ahead and do
It, SECOND, actual Meft. Wishing grew
into doing, and coveting ripened int
stealing. THIRD, he became a traitor
Now he has gone very far from where
he once stood. lie has given the rein,
to his wicked desires. and the crisis
comes soon. Conscience Is aroused
He sees himself in his true light. Hor
ror fills his mind; but instead Of turn
ing around and confessing his sin Z,
God, he pushes ahead and. FOURTH, h
commits suicide An apostle. and n sui
cide Is this possible? Yes. NOT only pos
sible, but actual. And when we hav,
watched the downward steps, we ar
no longer so much amazed. Rev A. L
SchauBler, ID. d.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
|. la Gethsemane we are Taught tn
oature Of true prayer and its answer.
Every life has its Gethsemane O
borrow and conflict, and may have IL