The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-02-07
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR FEBRUARY II.


l. Jesus teaching the people Us. i-3,.
]. The people pressed" Leaving
Nazareth our Lord went 10 Caperuaum
and perhaps abode in the house OF
Peter. The power of His preaching
drew crowds. which pressed upon Him
as He was walking along the white
beach which forms the margin of Lake
Genesaret. ITO hear" There was
good prospect for a glorious revival
of religion. There were times in the
life of our Lord when thousands were
anxious to hear Him. for the
common people heard Him gladly.
Lake of Gennesaret." The most sa-
cred sheet of water which this earth
contains. Called also the Sea of Cali
lee. 1t is clear lake about twelve
miles long aud five broad. with the
Jordan River flowing through It, This
was the region of the carly laborS OF
our Lord.
?. Two ships" Fishing boats.
They must have been small This is
clear from the accounts given of them.
A few men could handle one. and a
single large draught Of fishes endan-
gered them. standing by" Anchored,
or drawn up upon the beach "The
John. Washing their nets" They
had spent the night in frutless effort.
and now they were cleaning the filth
of the sea from the threads of the nets
and mending any defective or broken
parts. 1t is interesting to notice how
often Christ appeared to men while
they were busy with their temporal
affairs. 3. zone of the ships" The
ship Of James and john appeared to he
at some distance away: this one he
longed to Simon Peter and to his broth
er Andrew. See Mark 1:1G Prayed
him" Asked him. Jesus in familiar
manner takes possession of Peters
boat and makes it His pulpit.
H. The draught of fishes Us. 40.
4. Launch out" Christ forgot His
own WEAKNESS and only seemed to re-
member the disappointment of His fol-
lowers in toillng all night in vain. This
verse has often been used to illustra te
The fact thai Christ would have us
leave the shore of selfishuess. worldi-
ness and sin and launch out into the
depth of His love and fulness "For
draught" Let down your nets for the
taking of fish .. "Master." This is
the first time that the word here trans.
lated master is used in the New Testa-
nent and it is used only by Luke. The
other evangelists called Him Rabbi or
Lord. This is not the word usually
rendered master. but is title of re-
spect. Note how Familiarity Peter ad-
dresses Jesus. "Toiled all the night"
Peter thus shows how unlikely it was
that they would catch anything. The
night was the best time for catching
certain kinds os fish and if they had
caught nothing then they could not
expect to catch any in the daytime.
This is no DOUBT reported by Luke to
cause the miracle TO appear all the
more striking "At Thy word" No
doubt Peter was weary and somewhat
discouraged. but he had faith enough
in Christ TO lead him to go at the dl-
rection Of his divine Master g. "Their
net brake "Their nets We're break
ing" r. " There was such a multi
lude of fishes that snap in some weak
part of the net warned them that they
must have assistance or lose the entire
catch The miracle was an acted
parable, of which the significance is
explained in Matthew 13:47.
Z. "Beckoned." Made signals. The
distance evidently being too great for
the voice to reach. "They came"
James and John with their ship. BE
gan to sink" The boats would hardly
hold as much as the nets
III. The disciples astonished Tvs. 8.
D.. 8. Simon Peter" His full name
Is here given. for this is the turning
point in his life. Simon is destined TO
become Peter. a rock. PETER ey-
I.ra h,, I,fI
the nature of Simon" saw" 1t seems
that it was not till Peter saw the boats
beginning TO sink that he realized the
greatness of the miracle. Fell down"
The common posture of a supplant. In
amazement he fell at the feet of Jesus
trembling and afraid Depart from
me-" Peters feelings were not un-
natural. but Were an Involuntary. sud
den request, and arose from ignorance
of the character of Jesus. We are NOT
worthy TO be with Him, but He came to
seek the lost and to save the impure.
The exclamation of Peter was Wrung
from a heart touched with a sense of
humility, and his words did not ex-
press his thoughts. "A sinful man"
Peter saw himself very sinful crea-
ture. When We get near Christ we
snail see that in our unregenerate state
we are without moral beauty or holi-
ness. o. "Was astonished." "Was
amazed" Humanity stands amazed"
before the power of God.
" FOrsaking all for Christ Tvs. 10,
IL. 10. Sons of Zebedee" The chill
dren and wife of Zebedee are often re.
ferred to, but in this transaction ONLY
do we meet with Zebedee himself
Matt. 4.2D. Fear not" He Gained
their fears and stlled all their troubled
feelings. From henceforth." Here
after. Catch men, Literally. thou
shalt be catching alive.
II. ships TO land" They drew
them up on the beach for a final aban-
donment. "Forsook all" Although 1t
was not much which they had to leave.
yet it was all they had. even all their
living. The sacrifice was willing one
and showed their love for Christ and a
readiness TO obey Him. Followed
Him They returned again to their
occupation as fishermen after the cruel
fXion, and We're again called to aban-
don it and devote themselves by a
second miraculous draught of fishes
and by the direct preceDt of Jesus.
Families in Alliance.
There is living at Corsham, Wilt
shire, England, an ord lady named