The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-04-11
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR APRIL B..

SUBJECT: jesus ana the StoDat"t "aet'
Kill, 1-14-Go1den Text, EIod. 1x.,
g. Memory Verses, :, g. Topics
The Lords Day.
/. An act of necessity performed on
che Sabbath Tvs. 49,. !. AT that
time" 1t must have been in early sum-
mer during. the harvest season.
Through the corn" To an American
reader the word corn suggests the idea
of Indian corn or maize; but the word
in the text has reference to grain,
such as wheat. rye or barley. Began
to pluck" They rubbed it in their
hands duke 6:1 to separate the grain
from the chaff. This was allowable &C.
cording to the law Deut. 1925. 2.
"Pharisees saw it," The Pharisees,
who were watching for an opportunity
to catch him, object to the disciples
doing this on the Sabbath day. They
considered the plucking and rubbing
in the hand sufficiently near to reaping
and threshiqgs to. constitute them sec.
Ondary violations Of the fourth COM
mandment. mot lawful" The Phari-
sees extended their Sabbath regula-
tons beyond what Moses commanded
in order to. avoid the possibility OF
transgression. The worthless childish
ness Of the Sabbath rules Christ OPP
posed may be judged from its being
forbidden to 60 out with a needle or
a pen when Friday was closing, as n
might forget to lay them aside before
the Sabbath began. Thirty-nine classes
of work were forbidden, and each Of
these had endless subdivisions. These
regulations tended to make void the
law, and many Of them were in direct
opposition to the real design Of the
Sabbath. 8. Have ye not read"
To Yindicate His disciples Christ re-
ferred the Pharisees to q similar case
recorded in their own Scriptures and,
with which they should have been
familiar. See i Sam. Ellis. IAN
hungered." Our Lord here is not ar
guing for an excuse to break the law,
but for its true construction.
. 4. 1.-The house of. God" The taber-l
nacle. did eat Ahimelech, the
priest at Mob. gave David and his
companions five ,~loayes! Of the shew-
bread. The law provided that twelve
loayes Of bread should be put in two
piles upon the table in the sanctuary,
to remain a week End then to be eaten
by the priests only (Lev. 1860. Now
David, fleeing from Saul, weary and
hungry, had eaten this bread contrary
to the letter of the law. Christ's argp-
ment was that if David could do this
without blame il must be right for the
disciples to satisfy their hunger on the
Sabbath day. "~Shewbread." Liter
ally bread of setting forth-that is,
bread that was set forth in the sane
tuary LEV. 24:6-S).. 5. "Profane the
Sabbath" Jesus continued His argu-
ment by showing that yer the law
under certain circumstances provided
for the doing of that which had been
expressly forbidden by the law. On
the Sabbath days as well as on the
other days the priests were engaged in
killing, preparing and burning the sac
rifces- and in performing the whole
temple service. 1t was n of the say
Sabbath keeping in the temple.
6. Greater than the temple" In
as much as the one who builded the
house Is greater than the house. Christ
refers there to His own authority and
power. The law-giver is greater than
the law. Christ was greater than the
temple. z. IF ye had known" A
knowledge of the true meaning Of
Gods word will prevent rash judy
ment. Jesus here charges His critics
with ignorance Of their own prophets.
8. Lord even Of the sabbath" Jesus
now affirms Hirself greater than the
statute law Of Moses; nay, He is
greater than the Sabbath law estab-
lished by God at the creation. Thus
does BE maintain Himself to be the
incarnce Legislator Of the world. At
ter the resurrection of Christ the Jew
ish Sabbath WIS abolished, and "the
Lords day" (Rev. 7:10), or Christian
Sabbath, was given Us in its stead. .
II. An act of mercy performed on
the Sabbath Tvs. 9-13). 10. Hand
:withered." A case of paralysis. Such
diseases were considered incurable.
Luke say it was his right hand.
"They asked Him." From Luke we
learn that they had been watching Him
before they asked this question.
might accuse" Might bring Him to
trial for breaking The Sabbath.
LIZ Ilc SdIO. hoAS ST. LIZ nav"
their thought. Jesus proceeded to an
swer them by drawing an argument
from their own conduct. IF it fall"
etc. This was a ~self-evident PROPOSE
ton. Deeds of mercy and humanity
did not infringe on the Sabbath day.
"Pit." Cisterns dug in the earth for
the purpose Of holding water, into
which animals often fell. II. "a man
better than a sheep" Christ always
puts an enormous value on man. A
man is OF, infinitely more consequence
and value than a brute. If they would
show an act of kindness to a sheep,
would they not show mercy to q man?
1T is lawful. This was universally
allowed by the Jews themselves.
Is. Stretch forth" A remarkable
command. The man might have rea-
soned that his hand was withered Il
that he could not obey, but being COM
manded it was his duty to make the
effort; he did so and was healed. Faith
disregards apparent impossibilities
where there is a command and prom
Use of God. Restored whole" A
little before this Christ had claimed
divine authority; He now proves that
He possesses it. these two cases de-
termined what may be done on the
Sabbath. The one was a case Of neces-
sity, the other of mercy.
IA. Held a council" Mark says
they called in the + erodians who were
in favor Of the Roman dominion over
Judea. Thus did these sticklers for
the law of Moses unite with its bold,
political subverters in order to accom-
plish their designs against Jesus.