The Carlisle independent., 1917-01-25
INTERNATIONAL. SUNnGySQIOOL,
 LESSON (By E. o. SELLERS, Acting Director of the Sunday School Course in the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago) Copyright, 1917, Western Newspaper Union)
LESSON FOR JANUARY 28
OF JESUS FOR HIS
 FOLLOWERS HOUSE.
LESSON TExT-John 2:13-22.

GOLDEN TEXT-My house shall be called house of prayer.-Matt 21:13.
 Skipping the details of genealogy, birth and boyhood. John plunges into the work and ministry of our Lord. Our previous lessons have taken up the matter of his eternal Godhead. the word made flesh, the witness of John, Jesus and John the Baptist, his first disciples and the wedding at Canaan. Some of these events have been skipped over without much consideration, yet the teacher should review them briefly. The wedding at Canaan probably oc- cured in March, A. D. q, and the events of this lesson in April of the Passover week of that year, both events occurring early in the first year of the ministry of our Lord. Jesus went to the wedding for he had many things to teach by means of it. The story is familiar, and yet God is per- forming the same miracle every year except by somewhat slower process. John lays strong emphasis upon the signs which Jesus performed as eyi- dence of his office. This miracle is an allegory. It also throws light upon Jesus relation to the home.
 l. Jesus Applies the Word of God (vv. 12-17). AS the Son of the Law Jesus observed all of it's requirements and therefore went to the Passover Oeut. 16 IS; Luke AID. We would suggest the reading of Edersheim's Life of Christ" at this point, especial ly his description of the feast. Jesus found much of interest, and also saw that which filled his spirit with indig- nation as he entered the temple (v. 1N. Great numbers of oxen and sheep and doves were required for the saeri- fees. Every family must bring for sacrifice a lamb, the sacrifices being lain in the inner court near the great altar. Those living nearer the city could bring their own sacrifices, but those who came from far distant points found it more convenient to purchase their sacrifices nearer the temple. Thus a business had grown up within the courts, which gave rise to an immense amount of covetousness and selfish ness. The yearly tax due from every Jew could not be received except in the native coin; hence the money changers within the courts. The re- suit was that the temple had become a "den of thieves" (Afark Il I'D. This had undermined the power of religion, and turned men away from the truth. This place, made to be a house of prayer Ger. 7:11; Isa. 56:7) had be- come vanity fair; show, and the very object of the temple was sacri- feed to the greed of gain. The de- fense often made in our day, of buy ing and selling in the house of God that it has to do with the cause of worship will not bear scrutiny in the light of this passage. Into these sur roundings this young reformer enters, and places his finger upon the heart of the matter when he quotes the scrip ture. The reason of his action was what the scripture said about the house of God. Present day followers of Jesus can learn a lesson from these words.
 II. Jesus FuIfiIIs the Word of God (vv. 1S-22). Jesus spake as one hav- ing authority, and these merchants knew they were in the wrong. He em- bodied in himself, as prophet, the moral sentiment of the nation, and ex- erted his authority. It looked like high handed usurpation unless Jesus were a prophet sent from God; therefore the demand for his credentials (v. 1S). Jesus gave a sign, a sign which they did not understand at the time (v. 19; Matt. 12 :3S-40; 16:1--i). The resur- rection of Jesus is Gods seal to all of the claims of Jesus. He also speaks of his body as a symbol and type of what is to take place in their national temple, an event which occurred some forty years later, though they at the time did not understand it. Jesus fore saw that these leaders would destroy his body on the cross, and that for the same reason they were at the present time opposing him in what he had done. The Jews, thinking only of their temple, in whose courts they were standing. referred to the time spent in the erection of the building (v. 20), and thought that their argument was invlneible, but they did not know what was to take place. Net even the dis ciples of Jesus understood his words at the time, but after his resurrection they remembered them and their full 6llment. The death and resurrection of Jesus was in accordance with the word of God. His whole life, birth and works can be traced in the Old Testa- , ment in type and prophecy.
 Young people should be taught to be reverent in the Sunday school and in all religious meetings.
 The bodies and souls are temples q Cor :16; :19).
 Church buildings are the temples of God Q4ead A. J. Gordons book on | How Christ Came to the Church'o.
 The Sunday school is temple of God
 Do we see to it that our pupils act