Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-03-24
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

, a source of revenue. Jesus, by His dras-
tic action of driving the traftckers OUT
of the temple. proclaimed Ills Sohshlp
al the basis of His authority, ana gave
the rulers an opportunity to recognize
Him. Although the Master was rlSht
in His claims that His Fathers mouse
should be a house of prayer, praise
and power through spiritual mlnlstra,
ton, yet the cause of the intense hatred
of the ecclesiastical authorities with
which the gospels pages TEEN, John
points out. was due TO ChrlSts touch-
ing their financial interest, which was
their most sensitive nerve. ana his eA-
posture of them as grafters.
Jesus showed His desire to make the
spiritual dominate over the material
and the eternal over the temporal III
His interview with Nicodemus, the SIN
cere scholar of the sanhedrin, who had
been convinced that Jesus was
Teacher come from God by His signs
or miracles. The Master went to the
very heart of religion when lie IN
sisted upon the necessity OF the new
birth or Il birth from above before even
Nicodemus could understand the king
dom of God. Corrupt humanity with
out being born again could not compre-
bend the spiritual life, which Christ
offers to give TO all who repent of
their sins and accept Hia as their
Savior.
when Jesus found that through the
opposition of the Pharisees his work
W al
had been imprisoned by Herod. Christ
revealed His courageous spirit by turn
ing toward Galllee. Passing through
Samaria, He won a semi-alten woman,
who was a social outCaSt. by opening
up to her the need of Savior and re-
vealing Himself as the Messiah. To
this woman the Master gave the mag
ma charta'' of religious liberty freeing
men from the bondage of worshipins
God in any one locality and revealing
do "
The farther away from Jerusalem
Jesus went, the deeper and more re-
sponsive did He find the peoples faith
in Him as the Messiah. The father
driven by the serious illness OF his son
sought Christ in Cana for the recovery
of his boys life. The nobleman recetN-
ed more than he sought for through the
cure of his son. i'll accordance win the
promises of the Master, he came to-
gether with the members of his family
to believe in Christ and 10 possess
spiritual and eternal lie
John passes over many incidents mar
rated by the other recorders OF the NE
of Jesus. but all readers OF ms gospel
for whom he inscribed his record, were
familiar with the other narratives. John
sought to show that even when Jesus
was absent from Jerusalem His heart
turned toward the nations capital in
His desire to win the leaders for His
cause Upon another passover feast He
deliberately selected on tue Ntttdti
day one of the worst cases that could be-
found at the pool OF Bethesda and
cured him of his chronic troubles. so AS
to demonstrate to Israel that He was
the source of life and law. He started
hostility among the people by His
claim to be equal with God and the
Lord of the Sabbath.
Although He caused breech in His
popularity with the people by His cure
of the man at the pool of Bethesda. the
n he
Galilee. about year afterward. 1t
came after He had fed the 5000 who had
followed Him because of His miracles.
They did not understand the spiritual
message of Christ's power to increase
the food supply. so they planned to
make Him king. When Jesus refused
the crown. declining to use His power
for anything except to carry out God
will. the Master found that the multi
tude who had desired to make Him
king commenced to oppose Him. He
tried to impress upon all that the es-
sential thing was faith in Him the
Savior of men and the acceptance of
Him as the bread of life. In presenting
Himself as the bread of life Jesus
claimed Sonship with God, and sought
to teach men that just bread sus-
tains, satisfies and strengthens men.
only as it is appropriated. SO only as
men take and make Him the source of
their life can they have strength and
success.
He also claimed in last weeks study
to be the light of the world and the
liberator of mems sins as their Savior.
Spiritual freedom. which is the founda-
ton of all other freedom, can only be
obtained through Christian expert
ence. Intelligence, self-control and the
stability of character are the products
of searching of Gods word and the
earnest desire in all things to do the
viii and work of the Lord Jesus. who in
every lesson of the quarter has been
presented as the Christ. the Son of God.
John sought to confirm the doubter's
faith by presenting facts connected
with the career and character of the
Master that ought to have convinced
them of the deity of Jesus of Nazareth
1t is only by believing in Him that men
are sure of salvation and of a life here
after in the home that He has gone to
prepare for all who love Him and seek
to do His will in the world.