The Iola register., 1900-04-27
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
lesson In the international series for
April 20, 1OOO-Jesus and John
the Baptist.
Prepared by II. G. Lenington.l
THE LESSON TEXT.
y


IS. And the disciples Of John showed him
Of all these things.
10. And John calling unto him two OF
his disciples sent them to Jesus saying:
Art Thou He that should conner or look we
tor another2
20. When the men were come unto him,
they said John Baptist hath sent us unto
Thee, saying: Art Thou lie that should
conner or look we for another7
21 And in that same hour He cured many
Of their infrmlties and plaques, and of
evil spirits; and unto many that were
blind lie gave sight.
%. Then Jesus answering said unto them:
Go your way, and tell John what things ye
have seen and heard; how that the blind
zee, the lame walk, the lepers are eleansed,
the deaf hear the dead are raised, TO the
poor the Gospel is preached.
23. And blessed is he, whosoever shall
not be offended in Me.
"a. And when the messengers OF John
were departed, He began to speak unto
the people concerning John. What went
ye out into the wilderness for to see? A
reed shaken with the wind?
z5 But what went ye out for to see? A
man clothed in soft ralment7 Behold, they
which are gorgeousty appareled, and live
delicately, are in kings courts.
26. But what went ye out for to seer A
prophet? Yea, say unto you. and much
| more than prophet.
q. This is he, OF whom It is written. Be-
hold, send my messenger before thy face.
which shah prepare thy way before thee
2S For say unto you: Among those that
are born OF women there Is not a greater
prophet than John the Baptist; but he that
| Is least In the Kingdom Of God is greater
| than he.
| GOLDEN TEXT. He hatA done all
things well.-Mark 1887.
NOTES AND COMMENTS
The lesson should include all the
Gospel narrative concerning the mes
sage of John and what Jesus said on
receiving it. This is told in substan-
italy the same language in both Mat
thew IL: a19 and, Luke 7: 1875. The story
of the raising of the widows son (being
the connection with last Sundays les
SOM should also be read. The follow
ing analysis of the Scripture section
can then be made, all from the seventh
chapter of Luke:
Raising OF the Widows Son. 1l-17
Johns Message to Jesus.............vs. 1890
| The Answer OF Jesus. 2l-23
Jesus breaches to the People........vs. 24-35
Raising the Widows Son.-This is
the first one of the three instances
which we have Jesus recorded as rails
ing one from the dead. The other two
cases are the raising of the daughter
Lazarus. 1t emphasizes anew the power
of Jesus over the forces of nature, and
the promise dear to the Christian
hearD of n life after death.
Johns Message to Jesus.-The ac-
count of the miracles of Jesus and pos
sibly of the sermon on the mount,
reached John the Baptist in his prison.
He had been imprisoned at Macherus
since the March before. II was now
midsummer in the year A. d. 2s. He
had pointed Jesus out as "the Lamb Of
Cod" but sitting idly in the prison was
discouraging occupation. He became
gloomy and wondered, perhaps, if after
all he had not missed his calling when
he had gone out to preach that "the
kingdom of Heaven is at hand" He
had seen, and with his own hand bap.
tized, the one he expected was to be
the head of this kingdom, yet this
king was only going about and preach
ing. So he sent two of his disciples
TO Jesus TO ask: Art thou He that
should come? or look we for an
other?"
The Answer of Jesus. How like
|
did! 1t was after Gods own method.
Out of all the countless cons of silence
God has spoken ID mortal man but
few times. But He has not been idle.
BY the wonders of nature, and in the
world around and about men He has
been trying to reveal His purpose. Man
thinks he can learn by precept, but
history shows that experience is the
only instructor man will follow. So
God has been silently working. Now,
when the disciples OF John came to
Jesus, He said nothing directly, but
we are told that Sin that same hour He
cured many of their infirmities and
plaques, and of evil spirits; and unto
many that were blind He gave sight"
This was the answer of Jesus. Then
Jesus said: "Go your way, and tell
John what things ye have seen and
heard"
Following the translation of the re-
vised version, the twenty-third verse
may be paraphrased: Happy is he
who shall not find in Me an occasion
of stumbling"
Jesus breaches to the People.-This
sermon of Jesus is (1) tribute to John,
and (2) an arraignment of the Phari-
sees. He calls the peoples attention
TO the fact that it was the simple
preaching of John which attracted
multitudes to the wilderness to hear
him. He speaks of John as prophet
and the greatest of prophets. He is
more than a prophet; he is the one
who, as it had been foretold, was to
prepare the way of the Lord. Those
who had been baptized by John agreed
to this, or as the text says, Justified
God" But the pharisees and lawyers
scoffed. Jesus turns upon them, and
shows them their inconsistency. They
had evidently said: John hath n
devil" because he neither ate bread
nor drank wine. But Jesus conformed