The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-01-04

Lssssn In the International series to-
January q. 1O0i-Jesus An"int-
- ~ bethany.
prepared by II. c. Lenington.l
THE LESSON TENT.

- ~ mummy
Prepared by II. c. Leningtonl
THE LESSON TEXT
Matthew 26:6-i6)
q Now when Jesus was In Bethany In
me house OF Simon the leper.
T. There came unto Him woman having
AN alabaster box OF very precious oins-
ment, and poured II on Ills head. as II. Sat
AZ meat.
5. But when His disciples saw II. they
had Indignation. saying. To what pur-
pose Is this waste?
g. For this ointment might have been
sold for much, and given TO the poor.
10. when Jesus understood Il, lie said
unto them; why trouble ye the woman?
for she hath wrought good work upon
II. For We have the poor always with you:
but Me We have not always.
Il For In that she hath poured this oint-
rnent on my body. sh, did 1t for my burial.
10 Verify say unto you: Whercsoever
tbs Gospel shall be preached In the whole
world there shall also this. that this wom-
an .ath done. be told for a memorial Of
her.
IA Then one OF the u. called Judas Iscar-
lot. went unto the chief priests.
IS And said unto than: What will ye
give me. and | will deliver Him unto your
And they covenanted with him for 80 pieces
Of silver.
l6 And from that time he sought oppor-
turity 10 betray Him.
GOLDEN TENT.-Shc hath done what
che cOu1d.-Mrrk las.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
From Jericho Jesus wen. to Beth
any, arriving there Friday afternoon,
beginning of the last week OF Jesus
life. On Saturday Jesus had supper
at the house of one "Smon the
leper." This man could not have
been leper at this time, having prob
ably been healed by Jesus. lie had
cause for exceptional gratitude, and
this supper was an expression Of that
gratitude.
LESSON ANALYSIS.
The Amounting OF Jesus ..........vs. e.
False Criticism OF Disciples......v g. .
Marys Act Commended. ...........Ns. 1913
striking Contrast .................Vs. H-lb
The Amounting OF Jesus. - While
Jesus was at supper in the house OF
Simon, Mary came TO Jesus to do an
act of loving homage. This Mary was
the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Her
act was to anoint the head, and, ac-
Jesus. with oil. 1t was not uncom-
mon for rabbis to be so honored and
Mary chose this method of honoring
her Master. Amounting the feet was
not so usual as amounting the head,
and Mary's act showed extreme hui
mility as well as affection. Another
point brought out was the costliness
of the ointment. To Mary nothing
within her power to secure was too
costly TO give to Jesus.
The Criticism of the Disciples.-It
was the costiness of the spikenard
that furnished the basis of the criti-
cism Of the disciples. They were in
dignant and asked: "To what pur-
pose is this waste?" II is interesting
to note that while all Tor at the least
most of the disciples shared the feel
ing, il was Judas Iscariot who put
this question TO Jesus. This fact we
learn from Johns record tJohn ~:
4-5). Judas had no love in his heart.
and could not therefore sympathize
with Marys loving act. Judas, too.
was the treasurer of this little COM
pany of disciples. He asks why the
ointment had not been sold, and the
proceeds given TO his bag. He gains
the sympathy Of the other disciples
by suggesting that it ought to have
been given to the poor.
Mary's Act Commcnded.-Juda ar
gument was plausible. TO most people
ii would be convincing. The weak point
in it was that the emphasis is laid on
.xtf .fx.st xxfhf "a
prompted the gift Jesus improved
every occasion to emphasize the spirit
behind the act. gift to the poor is
commendable, If love prompts the gift
it is better by tenfold. Mary's deed was
an act of love. therefore commendable
in itself. But another reason for com
mending the deed was the fact that
Jesus in the physical man could not al.
ways be with them. The indefinite
poor the world would always have. An.
other point to be noticed is the fact
that the standard Of Judgment has
much to do with whether such an act
would be waste. II would undoubtedly
have been waste had ii not been the
spontaneous outburst of loving heart
Following the natural impulse was in
hnitely better for Mary; TO another
Jesus would undoubtedly have taken a
gift to the poor as a sign Of homage tc
Himself, for at another time He said
''Inasnuch as We did IL unto one O
these, my brethren, even these least, "
did it unto me-"
A Striking Contrast.-The last tire,
verses of the lesson present striking
contrast TO the loving act commended
by Jesus. Judas, who had been TIT
leader of the criticism against Mary a
this time bargained to deliver Jesus in
TO the hands of His enemies. This deeS
was undoubtedly provoked by the i'm
piled rebuke of Jesus. for Jesus com
mendation of Mary was surely re
buke to Judas. Another suggestion j
that Judas had aspired to be treasure
of the Kingdom Jesus was to establish