The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1900-12-06
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson in the International Series
for Dece mber o, 10OO-Bar-
timaeus Healed.
prepared by II. c. Lenington.1
THE LESSON TEXT.


Prepared by II. c. Lenington.1
THE LESSON TEXT.
mark 1O:46-52.)
49, And they came to Jericho; and as
He went out of Jericho with His disciples
and a great number Of people, blind Barti-
maeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side begging.
AZ. And when he heard that IL was Jesus
of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say:
Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on
me.
As. And many charged him that he should
hold his peace; but he cried the more a
great deal: Thou Son of David, have
mercy on me.
40. And Jesus stood still, and command
ed him to be called. And they call the
blind man, saying unto him: Be of good
comfort, rise; He calleth thee
so. And he cast away his garment. rose
and came to Jesus.
81. And Jesus answered and said unto
him: What wilt thou that ! should do
into thee? The blind man said unto Him:
Lord, that might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him: Go thy way;
thy faith hath made thee whole. And i'm
mediately he received his sight, and foi-
lowed Jesus in the way.
GOLDEN TEXT.-Lord, that l might re-
ceive my sight. Mark 10:51.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The connection with last Sundays
lesson includes the parable of the Ia
borers in the vineyard Matt. 20: 116),
a third prediction by Jesus of His
death and resurrection Mark 1882
BAY, the request of Jesus and John that
they might occupy high places when
Jesus came into His Glory Mark 10:
35-45). and then the present lesson.
Jesus had now crossed the Jordan and
had come into the land of Judea prop
er. Matthew gives us the account of
two blind men, but Mark and Luke
tell the story only of these men, Bar
timeus by name.
On this part of His journey Jesus
was accompanied by great crowds,
doubtless mostly people who were 60
ing to Jerusalem for the approach
ing feast of the Passover.
Bartimeus, a blind beggar by the
roadside, soon learned that it was
Jesus who was coming. Jesus had
healed blind men before, and Bartim-
Gus determined to appeal to Jesus for
help.
Where had Bartimeus heard that
title, "son of David" applied to Jesus?
1t may be that the disciples had
preached the Messiah, but it is as well
at least to suppose the blind man had
made his own deduction. Jesus had
healed lepers, restored sight to the
blind, made the lame to walk, and
even raised the dead. He could be no
other than the Messiah, therefore the
"Son of David"
His cry was for mercy, 'have mercy
on me-" That is word upon which
emphasis is laid in the Scriptures. The
publican in the temple prayed: "Be
merciful to me, a sinner BLESSED are
the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy" declares Jesus in His Sermon
on the Mount. There are none who do
not need mercy, none who can afford
not to show it to others. 1t is the
quality which has in it the essence of
Divine love.
Jesus stopped and called for the man
who needed help. "He calleth for thee"
Here we have one order of events. The
man sought Jesus, and Jesus re-
sponded by calling for him. In many
cases it occurs otherwise. We have it
in the Gospel record that "Jesus saw
a man named Matthew. sitting at the
receipt of custom, and He saith unto
him. follow me. And he arose and
followed Him." The important mat
ter is not so much whether the voice
of Jesus is heard before we seek Him
as it is that the right answer be made
to the call. Matthew arose and fol-
lowed him. "Bartimeus rose and came
to Jesus"
Lord, that l might receive my
sight" There is a spiritual and moral
blindness. There is the awful calamity
of him who has yielded to sin, namely,
that he fails to perceive clearly there
after what is right and what is wrong.
Jesus not only restored physical sight
moral vision. To perceive the right and
have the power to persist in that
course is the privilege of those who
have heard of Jesus. 1t is not that
Christians never err in judgment or
conduct. The true Christian is he who
strives as best he may to know his
duty, to be in sympathy with move
ments of the highest progress. to do his
duty as he knows it, and leave the re-
suits with God. He strives to bring
his purposes and motives into absolute
accordance with that which is divinest
and purest.
''Thy faith hath made thee whole:"
Again Jesus commends faith as the
cardinal principle upon which any
lasting results can be built. Faith may
be said to be the eyes of the soul. They
see furthest who have most faith, not
necessarily those who have the best
reasoning faculties. Faith may be
weak, the eyes of the soul may have
lost their light. Lord, help thou
my unbelief."
''And Immediately he received his
sight. and followed Jesus in the way"
Gratitude is one, of the lessons indi.
rectly taught. Bartimeus was grateful
for restored sight. The only way he
could show his gratitude was by fol
lowing and adding his praises to the
praises of the throng. The Christian
life consists not only in acknowledging
faith in Christ, there is after that the
following persistence in the course
that has been chosen.