Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-01-05
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Golden Text: For In That He Himself
Hath Suffered Being Tempted, He lie
Able to Succor Them That Are
Tempted.-Heb. g: Is.

The section includes only the lesson
| Read each verse
| Suggestions to teachers.-Note the posi-
ton OF this lesson in the life of Christ,
as the last of his preparations for his
great work upon which he enters imme-
diately after. Note the necessity and
universality of the testing by tempta-
| ton. Almost every true and useful life
begins in this way. sometimes by def
| mite and distinct battle. sometimes by
| choices In little things between good and
| evil. but which are really decisive. Make
| this lesson mirror i'm which we may see
our own temptations and the way to vic
tory. Look up the Bible passages con-
| corning temptation, and the helps they
| give toward overcoming. The whole les
son is very practical in It's nature.
historical Setting. Time. - Probably
about January. A. D. q. directly after his
| baptism. Place.-There Is no hint given
| as TO the place where Jesus went to be
| tempted, but most authorities incline to
the northern part of the wilderness of
Judea. between Jerusalem and Jericho
| on the west. and the Jordan and the up
per part of the Dead Sea on the east.
Tradition places 1t in Mount Quaranta-
MIA. not far from Jericho. near the Jor-
dan. 1t was named Quarantania (Which
| means space of forty days. because
jesus was supposed to have passed his
orty days of fasting in one of It's caves.
Explanatory.-The Initiatory Battle and
Testing.-V. l. 1.-THE story of our Lords
temptation. as we have it recorded in de-
tail both in St. Matthew and in ST. Luke.
is almost certainly a fragment of auto
biography. 1 do not mean, of course,
written by our Lord. but 1t must have
Deen related by him to his disciples.
There was no human witness."-Rev. A.
C. a. Hall. Bishop of Vermont.
AS the first Adam. the head Of the race.
must be tempted and tested at the begin
nirg Of his career so must the second
Adam. the head of the redeemed people
or God. be tempted and tested at the be-
ginning of his work The first Adam
failed. and changed Paradise into a des-
ert; the second Adam gained the victory
and Is changing the desert into Paradise
Some Introductory Questions. - First
what was the purpose of these tempta-
lions? They proved that he was worthy
to be the Messiah. as battleship is test
ed before 1t is sent to war "a For his
own sake. He was a man and had
character to build. and temptation is es-
sential to character building. No man
knows what is in him-how weak he Is
or how strong-till he Is tried" Tempta-
ton vanquished is strength, character,
nope, Observation-Disclosures. He needed
TO realize his work and that he was the
Messiah, to conquer his doubts. and gain
assurance. Hence Satan's question, 'Tf
thou be the Son of God?" (O For the
sake of others. If Jesus would be the
Saviour and helper of men, II was neces-
sary that he should not only be exposed |
to the same temptations as we are, but
that he should gain the victory over
them. and by the same means which are
available to us. (Heb. 4: 15) He con- |
quered. not as the Son of God, but as
man. else his victory would be no pledge |
that he could give us the victory. Sec |
ond. How can holy being be tempted? |
Simply because every living being has ap- |
petites, desires, avenues of pleasure, these |
right things. Jesus was tempted through |
the good that was In him. (See below on |
each temptation) 1.-THE force of a temp |
tation depends not upon the sin involved |
in what is proposed. but upon the ad-
vantage connected with it. And a right
eous man. whose win never falters for |
moment. may feel the attractveness of
the advantage more keenly than the weak |
man who succumbs; for the latter prob
ably gave way before he recognized the
whole of the attractveness or his ma
cure may be less capable of such recogni-
ton. In this way the sinlessness of Jesus
augments his capacity for sympathy; for
In every case he felt the full force of
temptation" Prof. Albert Plummer. d.
d. Sympathy with the sinner in his trial
1oes not depend on the experience of sin.
but on the experience of strength of the
temptation to sin, which only the sinless
can know in its full intensity. He who
falls yields before the last strain."-West-
soft on Heb. 2: 1S International Critical
Commentary on Luke. Third In what
form did the temptations come? They
must have come from without and not
from within. Satan could not have come
rs Satan as Apollyon to Bunyan's Pill
grim. with horrible form and sulphurous
End flaming breath; for he does not mot
us in that way. and Jesus was tempted
like as we are" He may have come as
an angel of light, or perhaps as some
traveller; or he suggested the temptations
to his mind. as 1.-The wicked ones wh!s-
perlngly suggested many blasphemies' to
in the Valley of the Shadow of
Death. There are three questions that
must be answered concerning each temp
Lation. in order to understand IT'D What
made the act desirable. so as to become
temptation to an innocent being; 90 What
was the wrong in doing it, C3) How did
Jesus gain the victory?