Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1917-01-24
Iht oOAUAY SCHOOL
LESSON FOR JAN. q
SECURED EXCLUSIVELY III THE
BANNER FOR IT'S MANY
READERS
ACCORDING TO THE
INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Text of the Lesson, John ii, 1922.
Memory Verses, Is, 16-GOlden
Text Matt xxi, documentary
Prepared by Rev. ID. M. Stearrs.

AS In our last lesson, our thoughts
were carried back to Jacobs dream
and that which 1t pointed onward to.
so In this marriage at Cana. where He
wrought His first miracle and mani
tested forth His glory chapter II. III.
we are taken back to the first mar
riage in Eden and onward to the mar
riage OF the Lamb REV. xix, co., after
which will come the kingdom, when
He will drink again the fruit Of the
vine and others shall eat and drink at
His table In His kingdom duke xii
IS, 30).' II these earthen vessels OF
ours, these mortal bodies, were as full
of the water Of the word as the vessels
at the marriage were full OF literal
water up to the brim, He could easily
change the water to wine and we
would be filed with the Spirit and
with Joy and peace In believing, and
perhaps be counted drunken, as the
disciples were at Pentecost QI Cor. iv.
Z; Col Ill. 16; Rom. XIV, 13: Acts. Ii.
1915. As this marriage was at Cana
and that was Nathaniels home Gil, /;
XXI, p, If 1t Is OF interest to you to think
OF this as being the marriage OF Ma
thaniel you are at liberty to do so until
you can see him and ask him about it.
But 1t is the Lord Jesus and not Ma
thaniel In whom we are especially in
1 terested. Let us not forget Mary's
word to the servants. Whatsoever He
saith unto you, do It" Verse 81. After
brief stay Of few days at Caper-
naum with His mother and His breth-
rem and His disciples. we next find
Him at Jerusalem at Passover time
! verses IL, 49,. We think of the first
Passover to which He went with His
mother and Joseph when He was
twelve years old. and when, after three
days search for Him they found Him
In the temple and when they asked
Him why He had so dealt with them
He replied, twist We not that | must
be about my Fathers business?" or, as
In the revised version, lin my Fa.
theirs house" duke Ii, 42-51). We
now find Him again in the temple and
again Ee calls 1t my Fathers house"
! verses 13-10 In verses 1922 He
speaks of His own body as the Tenn
pie, for both the tabernacle and the
temple were typical OF Him as the true
tabernacle and temple, in whom God
dwelt Heb. will, %. When God gave
Moses instructions to build the taber-
nacle In the wilderness He said, Let
them make me sanctuary that ! may
dwell among them lex. XIV, s..
The temple was for the same pur
pose that God might dwell in the midst
OF His people-Israel; an house for the
name OF the Lord God of Israel that
all the people OF the earth might know
! that the Lord is God and that there
is none else q Kings viii, 90 Coz The
body prepared In the womb Of Mary
was for the same purpose. as IL Is
written, "A body hast thou prepared
me-" Heb. X, 81. AS we had 1t in a
recent lesson. 1.-The word was made
| fiesh," God manifest In the flesh
John 1. IL Tim. fiji, 1G). Every re-
deemed person is now temple or man
sion, In which the Father, Son and
Spirit come to dwell q Cor. vi, 10, 20:
John xiv, II, 23), and all the redeemed
are living stones built upon the foun-
dalton Of Jesus Christ, the chief cor
fifty framed together groweth unto an
holy temple In the Lord, an habitation
of God through the Spirit (Eph. H. 10
%; Pet. ii. A, 81.
The tabernacle and the temple might
/ be desecrated and defled, and they
were; the individual believer also and
/ the whole company Of believers called
the church may be defled. but He who
was the true tabernacle and temple.
was never defiled by sinful thought
or word or act; He was without sin.
He knew no sin. He did no sin. lie
was the Lamb Of God without blemish
and without spot Therefore He could
as such bear our sins by dying in our
I stead. Ills own self bare our sins I'm
His own body on the tree" q Pet. H.
24). 1t is His own death and resur-
rection which He refers to in verses
I 1920. They asked Him for q sign, and
He told them that this would be the
sign, Just as at a later date He spoke
Of Jonah's experience as typical of His
death and resurrection Matt. xii, So
40). In connection with the temple as
a type Of Himself it is most interest
ing and suggestive TO note that in the
thirty fourth year after its completion
1t was desecrated and plundered by the
king of Egypt II Kings, vi. 81. So; xiv,
25). 1t was probably in His thirty
fourth year that IL was crucified.
AS TO His cleansing the temple. He
did II again nj the end OF His ministry,
as recorded in Matt. xxi. u. 10. when
lie told them that they had made His
house n den OF thieves instead Of a
house of prayer. May He cleanse US
from all that hinders and make us as
individual believers. all srayer like
to think Of His two dwelling places.
heaven and the lowly heart Of every
penitent sinner lisa. lvii. 10. and here
is another answer to the question In
last weeks lesson, Master where
dwelest thou?" The last two verses
Of our lesson chaDtpr toll MS that He