Frederick citizen., 1895-01-11
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.

International Lesson for january 8, 1898
John the Baptist Beheaded - Mark |
6:17-29.
Especially Arranged from Peloubet Notesl |
GOLDEN TExT.-Fear not them which kill the |
body, but are not able to kill the soul-Mat- |
thew 1923
THE SECTION OF HISTORY belonging to this
lesson includes Mark 6i2-30 Matthew l4:l-l2;
Luke S:19, 20; 9:7-9, together with . brief re-
view Of the earlier notices of Johns mission In
sll four gospels.
TIME-John was imprisoned in March or
April, A D. 2S He was beheaded year later,
in March or April A. d. %.
PLACE.-Jesus was IN Galilee with His
twelve disciples. John was imprisoned and
put to death at Macherus. strong fortress
and castle at the southern extremity OF Perea,
On the borders Of Arabia, nine miles east of the
northern end Of the Dead sea. The feast held
by Herod at which Herodias demanded the
head of John the Baptist was probably held in
this castle.
JESUS had been preaching more than two
years. He was about thirty-two and = half
years old.
spring OF A. D. 26 to the spring of A. D. 2s. He
was In prison one year and was martyred at
the age Of thirty-three.
PLACE IN THE LIFE OF CHRIsT.-Early IN
the third year Of His public ministry, in the
latter part OF the great Galilesn division Of
His ministry.
INTRoDUCTIoN.-The Gospel had made such
great progress that the echoes Of the wonder
full deeds Of Jesus. by His word and through
Ills disciples had reached the court OF Herod
The conscience Of the guilty king smote him
tor his murder Of the holy prophet john and
made him fear that he had come back to life
with new powers much more dangerous to the
wicked ruler than his former bold reproofS
This fear on the part Of Herod is the occasion
for telling here the story of the martyrdom OF
John.
LESSON NOTES.
The Prosecutor. Herod. The ruler
Of Galilee and Perea was Herod Anti
pas, one of the sons of Herod the Great
Ills mother was Samaritan. He mar
ried daughter Of Aretas, king of Ara
bia Petrea, just south of Perea; but,
becoming acquainted with Herodias,
his brother Philips wife, in Rome, he
sent his wife home, and married
Herodias while her husband was still
living. King Aretas avenged this in
suit by invading Herod's dominions
and defeating him with great loss. 1t
was during the preparations for this
war that John was beheaded. Herod
remained in Palestine till A. d. IS,
when he was banished to Lyons, in
France, but eventually died in Spain.
Herod's Character From the first,
lIerod was light-minded, unreliable,
prodigal and luxurious prince; hence,
also, he proved superstitious and cum
ming luke 1882; Mark s:15), and on
certain occasions, either from folly or
weakness, utterly heartless, cruel and
callous. He was it is said,
Sadducee. and believed in no future
life or resurrection of the dead, vet, by
Il strange contradiction, his guilty con-
science made him believe that Jesus
was the murdered John restored to
life. Nothing is more common than
the union of superstition and unbelief.
1t was said of one of this sort, one of
the most learned men of the day (the
younger Vossius), that he believed
everything but the Bible. have known
persons who have ceased to believe in
the divine mission of Jesus afraid To
pass place with which some absurd
tory of a supernatural appearance was
connected. Cod will, in this way. make
many unbeliev9ls witnesses against
themselves. ."-Expositors Bible.
The Martyr Preacher. life. %
John was the son of a priest, Zacharias,
and of Elizabeth, also descendant of
aaron, and was born probably in or near
Hebron, in the summer of b. c. s. He
vas at this time about thirty years old.
~ He was Nazarite, pledged to drink
no wine nor strong drink. and to let
his hair and beard grow untrimmed as
a sign of conservation to God. See
Mum. g. He was filled with the Holy
spirit from his birth. (3) His early
life, up to thirty years of age, was
passed in the solitudes of the wilder
ness of Judea, where he was prepared
for his great mission as the forerunner
of the Messiah AZ His appearance
was like the popular idea of great
prophet raised above caring for tenn
poral things, and protesting against
the luxury of the age. He greatly re-
embed Elijah in his appearance as
well as character. (5) His work was
to prepare the way for the Messiah. as
foretold in the prophets Qsa. i0:3-5). In
this work he had been engaged for two
years, boldly denouncing sin, and call
ing to repentance. (6) He was fearless,
consecrated reformer, not destroying,
but building up. He was IA tower Of
strength which stood four-square to all
the winds that blow"
His Place Of Imprisonment and Exe-
cution.-'Herod himself" Not led on
hy the Pharisees or other Jewish enc
mics, but for personal reasons. Bound
him in prison." THE place Of his i'm
prisonment and death, as we learn
from Josephus antiquities 1852, was
Macherus, about seven miles from the
Dead sea, on the northeast side"
-lmong mountains higher than those
around Jerusalem, rises from a valley
"a lone fiat ridge more than u mile
long and quite difficult of access, all Of
which was maze strong fortress.
From this ridge rises high, conical
hill, the top of which is one hundred
ards i'll diameter, and which was for
lifted as an impregnable citadel. In this
citadel, besides Il very deep well, and a
very large and deep cemented cistern,
ere now found two dungeons, one of
them deep and its sides scarcely broken
in. which have small holes still visible
in the mas<ary, where staples of wood
and iron had once been fixed One of
these must surely have been the prison
house of John the Baptist (Tristram)
On this high ridge Herod the Great
built very extensive and beautiful
palace.