The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1900-07-12
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
,n In the International Series fos
July Is, 10OO-The Gentle
woman's Faith.
Prepared by H. C. Lenington.]
THE LESSON TENT.

nan know 1t; but He could not be hid.
os For a certain woman whose young
daugther had an unclean spirit heard of
Him. and came and fell at His feet
a6 The woman was a Greek. Syrophe-
,tcian by nation: and she besought Him
that He would cast forth the devil out OF
her daughter.
., Rut Jesus said unto her, Let the chill
Avon first be filled: for 1t is not meet to
take the children's bread. and to cast 1t
unto the dogs. WI,
Yes. Lord, yet the dogs under the table
cat OF the children crumbs.
- And He said unto her. For this say
Ing go thy way; the devil Is gone out OF
10 And when she was come to her house
she found the devil gone out. and her
daughter laid NJ, upon D 4 the bed; ,.,, u.
GOLDEN TEAT.-LOru' heip me-
Matt 1898.
triumphant Faith" would be an
appropriate topic for this lesson, and
for the second time as recorded in the
Gospels it is the faith Of Gentle
that is held up to the admiration of
the world. We remember that upon
another occasion Jesus, speaking OF
the Roman centurion said: II have
not found SO great faith, no, not in
Israel" This time it is the faith of
a Syrophoenician woman that is held
up as an example by which we might
proft. However, before entering upon
this study we may make brief note
of what happened between the last
lesson and the present. This includes:
Visit to Jesus OF Pharsees from Jerusa-
Discourse on Eating with Unwashen
Hands.
Increasing Opposition to Jesus.
The feast of the passover occurred
April 16, A. ID. 30, but Jesus did not go
10 Jerusalem to attend it, probably
because Of the already apparent oppo-
sition of the Jews. The Jews of Ju-
dea had evidently looked forward to
His coming, and were disappointed.
Even the Pharisees wanted to see Him,
for as soon as the passover feast was
over they started north for an inter-
view. Jesus did not avoid them; He
and the disciples went on in their ac-
customed way. No sooner had the dis
tinguished men from Jerusalem ar
rived than they found an occasion for
controversy. The disciples did not
follow the traditions of the Jewish
elders and rabbis in the custom Of
washing their hands before eating.
Jesus reply, as usual, went straight
to the heart Of the matter. He said
Matt. 1916, "Ys have made the
commandment ot God Of none effect
by your tradition" and cites in illus
tration traditions which have had the
effect Of causing open violation of one
OF the ten commandments. Then to
the multitude that gathered about
Him He declared that It Is mot that
: witch goyth into the mouth that de-
! |tileth a man, but that which cometh
out" explaining that "those things
y which proceeded out of the mouth
come forth from the heart; and they
detile the man. For out of the heart
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adul-
teries, foundations, thefts, false wit
ness. blasphemies; these are the
things which defile a man; but to eat
with unwashen hands detileth not a
of the Pharisees before the people
helped increase the growing hostility
to Jesus. So lie departed for a short
rest among the hills of eastern Phoe-
nicia. There He entered into house,
"and would have no man know it, But
word soon got abroad that the great
miracle worker and preacher of Cali
lee was in the neighborhood. and the
incident of the visit of the Syrophoe-
nician woman occurs.
Faith Triumphing Over Obstacles
The beautiful story of a Gentle wom-
ans faith turns on the point that the
Jews in general and the Pharisees
with especial scorn used to speak Of
all Gentiles as dogs. The fact that
Jesus used the term seems not to have
surprised the woman, and probably
for the reason that the exclusiveness
OF the strict Jews was universally un-
derstood, and at this place, only so or
90 miles from Capernaum, the Phoe-
nicians were accustomed to meeting
with the naughty contempt of their
neighbors to the east and south. Her
daughter had an unclean spirit, a
demon, according to Matthew. She
needed help, and, from what she had
heard of Jesus, she knew He could
give it to her, and she was willing TO
sink her own pride to gain it. The
answer Of Jesus in. no wise discouraged
her. II the Jews were the children"
and the Gentiles only "dogs," yet she
remembered that even "the dogs un-
der the table eat of the children's
crumbs "For this saying" showing
her humility, trust and faith, Jesus
granted her prayer. 20 woman, great
Is thy faith: be it unto thee even as
thou wilt."-Matt. 1928.
Living In This Life.
Hpraof flor 1itt1a