The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-02-10
THE SUNDAY. SCHOUl
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR FEBRUARY Ia.
Subject: Jesus Forrives Sins, Mark H., l.
12-Golden Text, Mark H., 1o-Mem.
.'. cry Verses, 3-5-Commentary OIL tie
Days Lesson. ..3.


Days Lesson. .5....
!. A palsied sinner brought to Christ
Tvs. Ia. i. "And again" At. the e;ose
Of the missionary tour in Gatiiee. Cap
ernaum." Which was his home or nead'
quarters. 1T was noised." The news
spread very rapidly. In the house"
Either the house which He occupied with
His mother and His brethren Matt. 4:
l3l, or possibly that Of St; Peter.
2. Many were gathered" The audience
Included Pharisees and doctors Of the law
who had come from the towns of Galilee,
Judea and Jerusalem Luke 5: ~. They
had come to inspect and criticise this new
Teacher. Z About the door, There was
great concourse of people 50 that the
house and court were both filled. preached
the word" The doctrine of the Son oi
God. They had come partly to criticise
and partly out of curiosity, and now jesus
seizes the opportunity to preach the gos.
pei. We should be instant in season. and
out of season to point others to Jesus;
Preaching and healing went together and
made powerful impression. -
3. Come unto Him., Access to Jesus
seemed impossible. There were many OBJ.
stacles in the way. Should they have
waited for convenient season? No. They
must force their way to Christ. Bringing
one" He was young, for Jesus calls him
son, but he was full grown, for it re-
quired four to carry him. There are many
so weak and discouraged that they cannot
60 to Jesus without assistance; we should
always be ready to help such. Sick of
the palsy" Paley, a contraction rofs the
word ,paIalyss, .issa diseaseSthat deprives
the part affected OF sensation, or the pow.
er Of motion, or both. This patient is
hal,, n1n Il.
cred incurable. Borne of four" Each
one holding a corner of the pallet or
bed, which was merely thickiy hadded
quilt or mat. There was cooperation in
this work. One could not have done it.;
it needed four. In the union of hearts
and hands there is strength. United they
had no difficulty. @ e -.
!. THE pres" ."& It seemed quite impos1,
ssibIe for the crowd to make an opening
sufficiently large for them to pass through.
Uncovered the roof" Luke says,
through the thing" In the Eastern coup..
tries the houses were ,fat.roofed and
them from one end of the city to the
other. These housetops were places of
prayer and meditation, and from the
housetops criers proclaimed the times o.
public wofshipl Outside stairs alwaysiled
to the roof. Broken it up" They took
uo the thing. They determined that moth
ing should stand in their way. Let
down." Imagine the surprise of the
crowd as this opening through the tiles
appeared, and pallet was let down before,
them. .-. :.E
I. II. Christ forgiyes sins Tvs. SD; 5:
healing tnen and Ia Restoration were vi e obtained
through the faith and prayers Of the
friends of the sufferers. See Matt. 8: 49,;
Mark S: Sc; John 4: so. Jesus saw their
faith. Real faith acts. Their holy boidness
pleased Him. THY sins are forgiven" r.
W Our first great need is the forgive.
ness of sins. Jesus rightly puts this
ahead of the healing of the body. We can
not doubt that this paralytic was a. con
.science-stricken young man! The eondi-
tions necessary to forgiveness are repent
ance, confession, forsaking sin and faith
r 6. Certain of the scribes." The scribes
were the leaders of the nation, the the.
ologians, legislators, politicians. They, had
come up from Jerusalem and other places
their hearts" They had not spoken open
iy. 7. "Blasphemies." To blaspheme is
20 SANDER God or speak impiousiy against
God: In this case they supposed that
Christ was taking to Himself what be-
longs to God: only. He is intruding on the.
divine rights. The blasphemer was to be
put to death by stoning. "But God only"
they rightly understood that all sins are
sins against God, and therefore only God
could forgive them. See Psa: 81: AZ
III. Christ heals disease Tvs. s-l2). 8.
thoughts Of their hearts Jesus gave them
rsearcheth all hearts and understandeth
Ill the imaginations of the thoughts.R No
sin escapes His notice. '"Why reason yer
Matthew says: Wherefore think yesevil"
Why are you putting a misconstruction
IN my words? 9. Whether it is easier"
Both are equally easy and equally difficult.
Everything is equally easy to that power
which is unlimited. A universe can be as
.asilyYproduced by a single act of the di-
vine. will as the smallest part of matter.
10. "That ye may know" External mira.
cles are the proof of internal ones. Christ
was conscious of divine power. If failure
had been theresult; His humiliation would
have been overwhelming and final. Heprc
tion. "Son of Man" This is the title which
Christ most frequently applied to Himself,
sometimes interchanging It with the s"Son
Of God."L He appropriated to Himself the
prophecy of Daniel Matt. 26: 63, g.; Dan,
I: l3). 1t is applied to Christ more than
.ightys times ms the New aTestaments l.
It inplies His humiliation Matt. $500,
and that He,f the Son Of, God, became; .
true man Rom. s: 81. 2. That He was the
one perfect man, sinless, and complete IN
every human virtue. g.. That He was tho
representative man, elevated above lndr
vidual, class and national prejudices. A.
That He was, officially, the representative
bf the human race in His life and death for
thinking Of God: as being in heaven, and
Jesus calls attention to the fact that there
is power on earth now to forgive sins
The Son of Man has come to earth and
has brought this power with Him.
II. "Arise." Here is the test Christ
shows His ability to forgive sins by His
ability to heal. u. He arose" The man
had a part to perform. Had he not acted
at the word Of command he could not
have been. healed. He exercised the pow
er OF his will and put forth the necessary
effort to arise, believing that strength and
healing would be given him. Before them
all" This thing was mot done in cor
ner." Christ's miracles were performed IN
questioned by those, who witnessed them;
With fear" "Glorifed Cod, They had
high degree of reverence for God and were
filed with admiration for His power and
goodness. ''On this fashion" Christ's
Works are without precedent. He acts
independently and advises with no one.
They bad seen three marks of His divinity:
!. Forgiving sins. 2. Perceiving thoughts.
8. Healing disease. The works OF Christ
are astonishing the world to-day. He is
the same mighty Saviour as ever, and is
still abe to forgive sins, perceive thoughts
and heal diseases.