The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1900-06-07
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
June 10. 10OO-Death Of John
the Daptist.
Prepared by II. c. Lentngton.l j
THE LESSON TEXT.

THE LESSON TEXT.
mark 6:l4-29)
a. And King Herod heard Of Him (fof
His name was spread abroad; and he
said: That John the Baptist was risen
from the dead. and therefore mighty
works do show forth themselves in him.
Is. Others said: That 1t is Elias. And
others said: That It is prophet. or as one
OF the prophets.
16. But when Herod heard thereof, he
said: 1t Is John. whom beheaded; he is
risen from the dead.
II. For Herod himself had sent forth
and laid hold upon John. and bound
him in prison for Herodias' sake, his
brother Philips wife: for he had married
| her.
IS For John had said unto Herod: II Is
not lawful for thee to have thy brother S
wife.
10. Therefore Herodias had quarrel
against him, and would have killed him;
but she could not:
20. For Herod feared John. knowing that
he was a Just man and an holy, and OBJ
served him: and when he heard him, he
did many things. and heard him gladly.
q. And when convenient day was
come. that Herod on his birthday made a
supper to his lords. high captains, and
chief estates of Galilee:
%. And when the daughter of the said
Herodias came In, and danced, and
pleased Herod and them that sat with
him. the king said unto the damsel: Ask
Of me whatsoever thou wilt, and l will
give 1t thee.
%. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever
thou shalt ask of me, l will give 1t thee,
unto the half of my kingdom.
| - And she went forth, and said unto
| her mother: What shall | ask? And she
said: The head of John the Baptist.
| 25. And she came in straightway with
haste unto the king. and asked. saying:
| l will that thou give me by and by in a
charger the head of John the Baptist.
| % And the king was exceeding sorry:
yet for his oath's sake, and for their
sakes which sat with him. he could not
| reject her.
q. And Immediately the king sent an ex-
| ecutioner and commanded his head to be
brought: and he went and beheaded him
in the prison.
2S And brought his head in a
charger and gave 1t to the damsel: and
the damsel gave it to her mother.
%. And when his disciples Heard Of 1t,
they came and took up his corpse, and
laid 1t In a tomb.
GOLDEN TEXT.-Be not drunk wit
| wine, wherein is excess; but be filled wit
the Spirit-Eph. els.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Herod Antipas, son of Herod the
Great, was the Roman ruler over Cali
lee and PeYea with the title of king. 1t
was in this very territory that Jesus
had been doing His greatest work. His
words and works came to the ears OF
Herod, and to-day's lesson comes in as
the result of the reflections of the
wicked king. What he had said must
have been court gossip, and SO filtered
down to the people generally. We can
then make this lesson study of the
character of Herod and of his relations
with the brave prophet, John the Rap-
tist. noting especially:
Herod's Troubled Conscience
n Herod's Character.
Herod's Crime.
4 Herod's Troubled Conscience. -
There never yet has been q guilty con-
SCIENCE but tAt1s it las been manifested
IN some outward word or act. Herod
had committed great and dreadful
crime, and it torments him when one
might think his thoughts were furthest
from it. The wonderful works that
Jesus has been doing during the au-
tumn of A. D. 2s and the following win
ter are related to him. Nothing had
been said about John, yet the guilty
mind of the king Immediately associ-
ated the two great and good men. 1t
might seem, and probably was the fact,
that good men were generally dis
counted at that court. Here were two
who rose far above the average. One
had rebuked the king, been imprisoned
and murdered; another arises, says
nothing about the king, simply going
about telling the glad tidings of the
kingdom and doing good. While the
works of Jesus were being told Herod
reviews his great crime.
Herod's Character.-This incident
reveals the kind of man Herod was.
Bad associations was one of his fail
ings. Then he had been guilty of break
ing one of the laws of the decalogue in
taking to himself his brothers wife.
John had said this was not lawful, and
the kings intelligence had not been
blunted so far as to deny it. Bat he
could stand out against his wife far
enough to save the life of John from
her hands. This, however, was not
strength Of mind, but the reverse, prob
ably superstition, at least akin TO that
was his fear of killing "a just man and
an holy" But this dread Of conse-
quepces was not so strong as one other
Characteristic of Herod's nature. He
could not stand the scorn Of his COM
panions. It was "for his oath's sake
and for their sakes which sat with him"
that John was finally beheaded, and
we may well suppose that it was not so
much for the oath's sake as for fear of
the scorn of those with him. II IL had
been solely for his oath's sake, he would
probably have let his first refusal to
behead John stand.
Herod's Crime.-Herod's crime was
the beheading of John the Baptist.
John was imprisoned in Macherus. q
strong fortress and castle on the bor-
darc - 49, 49, ~