Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1912-06-20
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson XII. - Second Quarter,
For June e, 1912.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

Memory Verses, 81, SO or 4o--eoiden
Text, Tim, !, IS, r. v.-commentary
Prepared by Rev. D. Nj. Stearns.
This amounting of Jesus by penitent
woman Is recorded only by Luke
There is another amounting later in His
ministry which is recorded by Mat
thew. Mark and John. but not BY
Luke. That was at Bethany. and
Mary, the sister of Martha. anointed
Him for his burial. This was probably
at Main. and the name of the woman Is
not given. Both anointings were in
the houses Of men called Simon. but
the one is called Simon the Pharisee
and the other Simon the leper In to-
days lesson the woman washed His
feet with penitential tears. wiped them
ed them. At Bethany Mary anointed
His head as well as His feet. but there
is nc record of her washing them.
They are manifestly two wholly diff
ferent incidents at different times and
In different places. but Jesus Christ
Himself is the center in each, as He is
in all the Bible. and everywhere and at
all times revealing God the Father. In
our lesson He Is in the house of one
who knew Him not nor treated Him
with common courtesy. as we learn
from the words of Jesus In verses A.
%, "Thou gavest me no water for my
feet; thou gavest me no kiss; my head
with oil thou didst not anoint" At
Bethany He was in the house of those
who loved him. This Pharisee reminds
US of the one in chapter xviii, IL, r..
and in verse 30 Of our lesson chapter we
read that "the Pharisees and lawyers
rejected the counsel of God against
themselves In chapter xvi IA, it is
said that the Pharisees derided Him and
His teaching. He went wherever He
could do good and heal sin sick soul
or diseased body, never thinking of
Himself or of His unkind treatment by
others. He did not hesitate to touch
the world In any form for its good, but
He was as separate from it as light
from darkness, He came to save sin
ners, to seek and to save the lost and,
inasmuch as He Himself said. There is
JOY in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner that repenteth'
Duke XIV, 20). He was no doubt full of
joy when He found any one like this
woman. or the woman of Samaria. or
Nicodemus, or Zaccheus, or the peni-
tent thief, willing to be saved Per-
haps she had heard His Come unto
me- or His words to another, "Daugh-
ter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath
made thee whole" Matt xi. Is; tx, 22)
Somehow she had heard and believed
and had wasted her opportunity to
thank Him. Now it had come within
her reach, and she FASTENED to do all
that was In her heart 1t mattered not
to her that the house was that of
Simon the Pharisee; she was not think
ing of either Simon or his house. but
Of just one person who had made her
blind to all but Himself She knew
her sin better than Simon did, and so
did He to whom she had now come.
How unusual such tears and such de-
votion, and how refreshing all must
have been to Him. She washed His
feet with her tears, but He had washed
her soul by His precious blood, soon
to be shed for her. See her humility, at
His feet behind Him; see her contri-
ton, weeping over His feet and think
ing how her own had wandered Some
one has said that the essence of her
heart was distilled to battle His feet
and the glory of her head unbound to
furnish Him with towel. Had she
Kingdoms to give they would have
been laid at His feet, but she did her
best, and He accepted. She did not
send by another. She rendered per-
sonal gratitude. She was so occupied
with Him that Simon's frowns were
nothing to her. There is no record of a
word she uttered; but. oh, how the
tears, the disheveled hair the precious
ointment, did talk for her! She had no
thought of calling any ones attention
to her; she cared for no ones opinion;
she was endeavoring to thank Him.
He accepted her gratitude, He looked
at her, He took her part, He spoke to
her and said to her, Thy sins are for
given; they faith hath saved thee; go in
peace" verses 4S, 50). Her name we
know not, but 1t is written in heaven
duke K, 20). May the joy of sins for
given be reality to US and whole
souled devotion to Him be seen in our
daily lives. Simon thought that he
knew her, but that Jesus did not know
her, whereas Jesus knew both Of them
as they did not know themselves He
would have saved Simon as readily as
He did the woman If Simon had con-
fessed himself sinner, but there Is
neither salvation nor a Saviour for
sol frr,f ri A.