The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1901-04-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the International Series
fer April 2s, 10O1-Jesus Ap-
pears to the Apostles.
Prepared by H. c. Lenington.1
THE LESSON TEXT.

John D19-29.)
10. Then the same day at evening, being
the FIRST day of the week. when the doors
were shut where the disciples were assem-
bled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and
stood In the midst and saith unto them.
Peace be unto you.
20. And when He had so said, He Showed
unto them His hands and His side. Then
were the disciples glad, when they saw the
Lord.
Il. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace
be unto you; as my Father hath sent Me,
even so send I you.
a. And when He had said this. He
breathed on them, and saith unto them.
Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
"a Whose soever sins We remit, they are
remitted unto them; and whose soever sins
ye retain they are retained.
"a But Thomas, one Of the twelve, called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus
came.
Is. The other disciples therefore said
unto Him, We have seen the Lord. But
He said unto them, Except I shall see In
His hands the print OF the nails. and put
my finger into the print Of the nails, and
thrust my hand into His side, will not be-
lieve. .
as And after eight days again His dis
ciples were within, and Thomas with
them; then came Jesus. the doors being
shut, and stood in the midst, and said.
Peace be unto you.
q. Then saith He to Thomas. Reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands;
and reach hither thy hand and thrust 1t
into my side; and be not faithless, but be-
lieving.
2s. Ard Thomas answered and said unto
Him. My Lord and my God.
%. Jesus saith unto Him. Thomas, be-
cause thou hast seen me, thou hast be-
lieved; blessed are they that have not seen,
ard yet have believed.
GOLDEN TEXT,-Blessed are they
that have not seen, and yet have be-
lieved.-JOhn 2O;29.
The text treats of two appearances
of Jesus to His disciples. The one
was upon the evening of the day upon
which He arose from the dead. Upon
that occasion all the apostles were
together, except Thomas. On the fol-
lowing Sunday evening they were to-
gether again, Thomas being present
this time. The lesson text may be
outlined as follows:
The Risen Christ and Ills Apostles. ". 1923
Doubling Thomas ....................V. A-25
Another Appearance; Thomas Con-
rmceu ........ ......................N Zo-.3
The Risen Christ and His Apostles.
The picture we have is that of ten
of the twelve apostles gathered to-
gether in room in Jerusalem. Other
disciples were probably present, in
cluding certain women. 1t was more
or less of a secret meeting, the dis
ciples being afraid of the Jews, who
were likely to molest them on account
of the disappearance of the body of
the crucified Jesus. 1t is into this room
and at this time that Jesus comes.
None of the apostles had as yet seen
Jesus, except Peter; they had only
heard of the resurrection, and the
news seemed too good to be true. In
other words, they hardly dared to be-
| lieve it, and were far from being ut
| terly convinced. To the frightened
| disciples the first message of Jesus
| was one of peace: peace be unto
you" His second message was one of
| assurance. He was the risen Saviour;
they need not longer doubt, for there
were the wounds which they might
see. His third message was call
to service: LAS My Father hath sent
Me, even SO send 1 YOU" His fourth
message was concerning the gift of
the Holy Spirit which should be as
the breath of life to them, and en-
anate from Himself.
The power to forgive sins ". 23)
has been one of the moot questions
of the age. Did Christ confer upon
disciples the power to forgive sins
We would say that He did not. None
can forgive sins save God only. But
Christ did use very impressive
means of teaching the disciples how
very much depended upon their ef-
forts. They were to preach the Cos
pei and proclaim the forgiveness of
sins. 1t is the privilege of any and
every follower of Jesus Christ to say
to those who earnestly seek entrance
into the kingdom: Thy sins be for
given thee"
Doubling Thomas.-Thomas was not
with the other apostles on the occa-
sion just described. The other dis
ciples, therefore, told him that they
had actually seen the Lord. Thomas
declared he would not believe until
he could see and feel the very print of
the nails in the hands of Jesus.
Another Appearances; Thomas Con-
vinced.-A week later, or "after eight
days." including the two Sundays, as
was the Jewish mode Of counting time,
| the apostles again met, tnls tlme
Thomas with them. Jesus again en-
tered in the same manner as He did
the week previous. Seeking out
Thomas, Jesus gave him the literal
proof of His identity Thomas had
asked for, and added: "Be not faith
less, but believing" This incident is
one of the best proofs of the resur-
rection we have, that even doubling.
skeptical Thomas should be convinced.
More than that, he was profoundly
moved, and exclaimed: my Lord and
my God" with the emphasis in the
first case upon my" and later on the
"God." But Jesus added for those
who should come after He had ascend
ed to the Father: blessed are they
that have not seen, and yet have be-