The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1894-11-01
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.


2.28-eS; 3:1-5.
Especially arranged from Peloubets notes.l
GOLDEN TExT-The Son of Man is Lord also
Of the Sabbath.-Mark 2:2S
PLACE IN THE LIFE OF CHRisT-Toward the
middle of the second year of His ministry, the
year of development There has so far been
development of His fields of preaching, Of
training His disciples, of His power and teach
ing through miracles,
LESSON NOTES.
A Question of Sabbath Keeping. THE
Scene. 23. "He went through the
corn fields" Through the grain fields
of wheat and barley. The English
call all grain corn. Our corn, Indian
corn, was probably unknown in Pal
estine. ION the Sabbath day." They
were doubtless on their way to or
from the morning service in the syn
agogue, for His disciples were an hun
gered (Matt.). The rabbinical law al
lowed no eating on the Sabbath, ex-
cept in case Of sickness, prior to the
morning prayers of the synagogue. A
similar canon in the ritualistic churches
of to-day forbids breaking the fast be-
fore partalking of the communion.-Ab-
bot Began, as they went, to pluck
the ears of corn" Luke adds: Rub.
bing them in their hands," In order to
separate the kernel from the chaf.
There was no road with fences, but
mere path through the fields of stand
ing grain, 30 that they did not have to
60 out Of their way.
We see Jesus walking along by the
margins of extensive stretches of stand.
| ing grain. These stretches, spreading
far and wide over the plain Of Genesa'
reth, come down, on either side, close
| to the path on which our Lord was
| walking. His disciples are with Him,
| and group of others, inclusive OF
band of disputatious and censorious
| Pharisees. They are on their way to
| or from some adjoining synagogue.
Conversation and lively disputation go
on all along the way. At a certain
point the Lords disciples began to
advance. They began to go ahead OF
| our Lord, plucking the corn as they
went. Morrison.
Note. - The narrative carefully
avoids saying that Jesus plucked the
grain and ate. He simply defended the
right of His disciples to do so. Jesus
had perfect right not to pluck the
grain, If thereby He could remove any
obstacles in the way Of the success OF
His work He gave the Pharisees no
ground for personal accusati On
against Himself. Teachers thus may
often refrain from using their rights
with the same object.
False Critics. a. "And che Phari-
sees said" These Pharisees were accom-
paning Jesus, not to learn the truth,
good or bad, but for the one purpose
Of finding some fault with Him. They
hated. Him because they were wrong,
and His teaching reproved them; He
swept away many of their false rules
and customs, and they must either
change their lives, or prove the teach
er to be in some wrong. Therefore
they found every fault possible; they
perverted His acts and His words; they
measured them by false standard;
they were pitilessly unfair. There can
scarcely be any habit more injurious to
the character than that of looking for
faults in others, putting the worst pos
sible construction on what they say
and do, and shutting their eyes to the
good in them, Why do they on the
Sabbath day that which is not lawful?
| There was no harm whatever in pluck
ing the ears; that was not only sane
toned by custom, but even distinctly
permitted by the Mosaic law. But the
| heinous fact was that this should be
done on Sabbath!-Farrar The law
and practice of Palestine continue to
be this day what they were so many
thousand years ago. Deut. 23:25.)
The law allowed them to pluck the
grain toappease hunger, but not to ap-
| ply the sickle to another mans stand
Ing grain.
The unlawfulness, in the opinion Of
the Pharisees, was that what they
did broke the law of the Sabbath.
1t was doing work, namely,
harvesting on the Sabbath. The
disciples really transgressed, not the
Divine law of the Sabbath, but the
Pharisaical Interpretation of that law.
The Pharisees' Interpretation Of the
Sabbath Law. There are two ways Of
destroying the Sabbath; one by disre-
garding its principles, the other, quite
as effectual, by smothering them
| under an immense number of artificial
| ACCIPfCeoo1oiAo uAio pAohAoAeAOhS, WhASh
keep the letter of the law, but utterly
destroy its spirit. The Pharisees took
this latter course with the utmost in
genuity, almost satanic shrewdness Of
folly. 1t was impossible to keep the
Sabbath on their plan. The conscience
was continually bound with fetters
There could be no true, loving Sabbath
spirit.
The law commanded them to do no
work on the Sabbath day. The Phari-
sees based on this thirty-nine principal
prohibitions. Then they made null
titude of decisions as to the definite
things these thirty-nine permitted or
forbade. For instance, reaping and
threshing were forbidden, hence 1t
was asserted that plucking grain was
wrong because it was kind of reap
ing, and rubbing off the husks was a
sin because it was kind of threshing.
''Grass was not to be trodden, as
being akin to harvest work. Shoes
| with nails were not to be worn. as the