The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1914-01-02
NTEpNGlON
SUNDASCII()a
LESSON
By E. o. SELLERS, Director of Evenir,
Department, The Moody Bible INSTITUTE
Chicago.)
LESSON FOR JANUARYl4
JESUS AND THE CHILDREN.

We now return to the New Tesla
ment, and during this year finish those
studies on the life of Christ which
were followed during the year 1912.
Almost as though it were an answer
to the question, who are for him, and
who are against him." that was asked
in the last lesson for that year, we
have presented for our study today,
the relations of Jesus with children. In
his teachings about children, as about
SO many other things, Jesus stand
unique among all religious teacherS
The events of this lesson occurre
during the summer of A. D. 29. dur.
ing the time Of his Perean ministry,
which extended from his final depart
ure from Galilee until his triumphal
entry into Jerusalem.
Lust for Power.
I. A Wayside Dispute, w. 3o-37.-As
though by way of contrast, the lesson
committee has given us this side-light
as to the effect, up to this time, upon
the hearts Of the disciples of those
great truths Jesus had been teaching
them, about the method whereby he
was to establish his Kingdom. The
disciples lusted for power, a wrangling
which had not yet ceased, Jesus wait
ed until they had arrived at Caper-
naum, and Their heat had cooled some1
what before taking any notice of ~
dispute. In response to his questidee
inc thav hold fhair paooa Ror 90 n
reflection, they we're ashamed Of wHer
had taken place, v. a. Jesus then Inae
scented to them a concrete exampl4re-
what Is to be required Of all of te Vi
who shall seek to enter into this nose
kingdom. That was a more pert ne"
question than tho ono tbov n dfnent
been discussing. duke 1S:15-17t just
ma that these discinles dosirod ri tells
the children away, hence the senu
Suffer them IN come " Ever lords,
when this mean, low, ambition ai'ef'
"tba preateet" con,a IN there to be
have arisen before them In mo, must
this picture His anneaI IN cbimory,
meets a we'll nigh universal resi- lureh
in the hearts of men Tho factoonse
the child was On near NJ hand 10 that
gestive of the attractiveness of j sue'
Tho disoinles wora oaoroinoly Jesus.
of him ". 32), not so. howeveI gu gu
child. For US to receive one who<peE
fectly trusts him is to receive Jesus
himself, and to receive Jesus Is to re-
ceive the Father, for he came as the
representative Of the Father, the full
revelation of God, Col. 2:9. To en-
ter the kingdom is of course prelim-
mary to any question of precedence
in that kingdom. Jesus taught these
disciples that as a little child is
teachabIe Matt. 1879, so must all be
who are to follow him.
Thus Jesus contrasts the spirit Of
humility with that of pride which they
had just shown. The lower we put
ourselves the higher God will exalt US,
Phil. 2:6-11. Jesus rebuked his disci-
pies and taught them that rather than
seek the place of authority and leader
ship, they ought to take the place of
a child, that they may be taught and
be ruled.
IL. Authority Denied, w. 39-41. The
spirit manifested by these disciples
". 3S) is far from having been re-
moved from the earth after all of these
years. The ability t. cast out devils
in the name of Jesus was evidence
enough in his mind that such persons
were for, and not against, him, Wv. 80,
40. 1t is not, however, the ability to
cast out the devils, but rather the
fact that service had been perform.
ed "in his name," which bulked large
in his mind. Such is the service that
has its reward, v. Al and Matt 1890.
Set Good Example.
III. Angels in Disguise, 1o:13-1G.
This attitude of Jesus towards those
children about him (9:36) led others
to bring their children to him, and
among these we're the babies, Luke
1875. Try and picture the scene asl
Jesus extended his hands in blessed
benediction. What effect this blessing
may have had upon baby's heart we
are not told, but we can imagine
that sense of responsibility for Chris
tian nurture must have remained with
these parents, Eph. GA. Those in
charge of these children have set US
a good example in bringing them thus
early to Jesus. To allow children to
reach the years of understanding" be-
fore teaching them the way Of life,
is as unreasonable as is neglect teach
ing children the habits of physical
cleanliness, until they are old enough
to understand sanitation, hygiene, or
the laws of medical science.
AS we look back over these Incl
dents we are impressed by the fact
that those who engage in such silly,
nay, even wicked. discussion as to
the matter Of pre-eminence-whe
1t be that they had spiritual or tenn
poral idea of that kingdom-stood
dumb before him when called upon to
justify themselves. Those who fain
would send the children away are re-
buked, and 1t is revealed to them that
these stool nearer to the Christ than
did the disciples themselves. Even
those not socially nor personally at
tractive may be received Sin my
NAME" L O.. for his sake.