The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1900-02-02
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
fssson In the International series Tor
r~bruasg =. iooo-fhe ffrst
g..eipies OF Jesus.


THE LESSON TEXT.
John 1857
& Again the ueNi day AFTER John stood.
and two Of His disciples
IS And l0okt.g upon Jesus as He walked.
he saith. Behold the Lamb Of Cod
e. And the two disciples heard him
speak. and they followed Jesus
- Then Jesus turned. ard saw Them fol-
loving. and saith unto them. What seek
yer They saith unto Him. Rabbi (which y
20 say. being Interpreted. Master). where
dveiiesi Th0uf
- lie saith unto them. Come ard see
They came and saw where lie cwe.t. and
abode WIKI Him that day, for Il was about
the tenth hour.
~ one 81 the TWO which hear John
speak. ard followed him. was Andrew.
Simon Peters brother
Al lie nrst finGeth hts own brother Simon
and saith unto him. We have found the
Messias. which IS. being interpreted. the
Christ
q And he brought him 70 Jesus. Ard
when Jesus hcnelc him. he said. Thou art
Simon. the son 81 iona. thou shalt be
called Cephas. which : ~ Interpretation.
stone.
NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS.
The Piacc.-We are not told just why
Jesus went from the place Of the
temptation TO Bethany. or Beth-abarah,
where John was baptizing. but il can
not have been far out OF the way lie
would naturally take in going back TO
Galilee. and il would probably be there
rather than elsewhere that lie would
ipi disciples. The place is now gen.
orally believed 10 have been a ford
called Damieh. not far from the place
where the boundary between Samaria
and Galilee comes 10 the river. Iradi-
ton has pointed out two places far
Their down the river. in the vicinity
OF Jericho. as the probable locality. but
the tradition IS so late and so variable
as TO be Of little value.
The Inquiry OF the Deputation.-It
was Just about the time OF Jesus ar
rival that the deputation from the rul-
ers al Jerusalem came 10 examine John.
This deputation was doubtless sent 10y
the Sanhedrin. which was the only
body having authority to send an Of
fetal inquiry. Ii was the duty of that
body to investigate and pronounce upon
any such claims as John seemed 10 be
making. As a matter of fact they never
did make such a decision. point OF
weakness of which Jesus afterwards
took advantage luke 2O:1-s). II is
pos sible that the words lin the midst
OF you" CJohn 1890 are TO be taken
literally. as many people must have
pressed among the visitors from Jeru-
salem To hear what they were saying.
Note that Johns answer TO the ques-
ton: why then baptizest thou?" i'm
plies that his baptism symbolized the
work of the coming Messiah rather
than anything merely personal.
The Testimony Of John.-John's first
utterance Of the words: 'Behold. the
Lamb Of God" was apparently some
what public. though we do not know
just what audience he addressed. IL
Is interesting TO observe that John did
not know Jesus as the Messiah except
by special revelation
The First Disciples.-John's second
utterance of the phrase 1.-The Lamb of
God" was made before a small audience
who seem to have taken il as a hint
that they should attach themselves TO
Jesus. John tells US that one Of these
men was Andrew and the other was in
all probability Himself. The words:
"Hc fndeth first His own brother" are
phrased in such a way as to suggest
that the other disciple was also seek
ing His brother and we suppose the
writer 10 have been the unnamed dis
ciple on account OF such details as that
mentioned in John l:3o.
=.
able Of the leaven illustrates the power
OF personal influence in making dis
ciples. The details OF the leaveniug
process are instructive. The leaven,
introduced into the -four. divides in or
der 10 conquer. Each minute particle
OF the leaven attacks that tiny mol.cule
Of fioE- which it touches. separates il
into its chemical constituents. expels
the carbonic acid and transforms the
rest into leaven like unto itself. The
new particle 81 leaven thus formed at
once assails the -four next TO IL and
repeats the process, until. moiecule by
molecule. 1.-The whole is leavened."
Here we see the disciple seeking his
brother or nearest friend and bringing
in turn 90 forth 10 seek another. Along
these lines Of Kindred and friendship
the Gospel spread until in three CEN
turtles il had conquered the world.
The frs; law 81 increase in the king
dom OF God is thus the law Of contact:
every disciple must win the one nearest
10 him.
4 second law Is also illustrated here
the law 81 integrity. The disciple
must be so securely and thoroughly
Chrisilike that he shall win his neigh
Dor and not be drawn away by him. |
The snow must cling 10 the ball. and |
not be pulled from IL by the snow upon
the ground; the leaven must turn the |
flour into leaven, and not itself become
lifeless and inert. A single or piece |
OF bark thrust in the SNOWFALL will |
make hole about il; it cannot attract |
and hold the snow as IL revolves: a