The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-11
INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY-scHooL LESSON
6Copyright, Davis W. clark., i

| q
 Save for my daily range
 Among the pleasant fields of Holy Writ. First Quarter. Lesson VII. Jehn iv,
 43-45 February 12, 1905.
 The Second Miracle in Cana.
 Galilee was populous, commercial, and comparatively unconventional dis trict. It was more in touch with the great world of art and trafic. An in- fusion of foreign clements in it's popu- Iation and its distance from the seat of national ecclesiasticsm had Iiberaliz- ing influence. All tended to make 1t favorable field for Jesus ministry. Here He spent most of His time, work ed most of His miracles, preached most of His sermons. M
 One obstacle stood in His way. He was Himself a Galilean. He diagnos- ed the case when He said a prophet is not honored. in his own country. Familiarity with him breeds contempt of him. But Jesus had forestalled this by His brief career at Jerusalem. His honor was an exotic transplanted from Judea to Galilee. The Galliean pilgrims brought Ills fame back with them. So He was received" W At the very scene of His first miracle came an important appeal for the working of another. A fathers heart, wrung by anguish. forgetful of rank and station, makes it's pitiful appeal What rocks 1t if he is q kings oficer? Shall he stand upon any ceremony while his son Hes at the point of death7 Thus early in His career Jesus an- nounees . fundamental principle which shall guide Him in the use of miracul- ous power. His signs and wonders are not wrought to extort faith from A- q | faith that extorte them from Him. This faith the nobleman shows in his jour ney of twenty miles. and in the lam | guage of his appeal. The strength of his faith is further manifest in the way 1t endaree an unexpected and severe test. Healing in absentIa was l not so much as dreamed of. Yet when Jesus spoke the word the man ''believ- ed," and went" There was no dubi- ous hesitation -pr further appeal for Jesus own presence.
 But on the morrow the nobleman's faith was destined to sweep out in a wider circle to embrace the Miracle worker in a new and diviner once When, by comparison of hours, 1t was discovered that tho moment of the childs recovery was identical with that in which Jesus uttered the word of power, Thy son liveth," then the nobIeman believed His Divine nature and Messiahship. Tn this faith his whole house shared. So we have the lovely spectacle of the first converted family. It has been affirmed by several au- thorities that St. John has a philoso- phy of his own In harmony with which he wrote his Gospel. He certainly had method in the selection of incidents, miracles, and discourses which he re- corded. In this instance of the noble man, & story which bears the stamp of the generation, growth, and fruit age of faith. There Is the sense of ina- perative need, the patient insuiicIency of the human resources, the quest of power, the cry of the soul uttered in action, 70, that might find Him of whom Moses and the prophets have spoken" The miracle Is q notable in- stance of not quenching the smoking flax. It has been said that Jesus 1t up the little spark of faith in the breast of the nobleman into a cleaf and enduring flame for the light and comfort of himself and his house.
 Jesus had just been ignominiously thruy out of Nazareth. His own city. It t. Nave been. humaniy speaking, ? under the circumstances to N.F ecognition of His power
 = the nobIeman of Caper- .ne of unfaith here was
 wed faith in Him. It is
 not as high a type of faith
 5nown by the samaritans It f s-trsa a sign for its confirmation. fTeH hobleness of the Samaritan faith
 that 1t required no other sign but
 esus' self. However, it was possible | for the Galilean faith to evolve into a type similar to the Samaritan. And it did.
 The sweet humanness of this narra- tive captures the heart. It Is a voice of nature One can but exclaim. 'It must be trueF' The nobieness of the nobleman Is his affection for his son. His trouble gave him feet. He could not be rebuffed.
 'The Galilean Spring" is the apt |