Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-01-11
LESSON FOR JANUARY 13
JESUS BEGINS HIS WORK.

MEMORY VERSE-Come ye after me-
Mark LII.
INTERMEDIATE TOPIC -. Overcome
temptation.
MEMORY verse; Cor 1918.
SENIOR AND ADULT TOPIC-How Je-
sus faced his task.
]. Introduction wv. II, 13). Mark de-
votes. little or no attention to the early |
incidents Of the life of Jesus, and only |
suggests the events Immediately fol- |
lowing his baptism. Indeed, for the |
record Of the Temptation and the Ser
mon on the Mount, we have to look to !
the other Gospel writer's. In teach
ing the lesson we must not, however,
overlook making some reference to
these two outstanding events in the
life Of our Lord.
II. John the Baptizer (vv. II, 15).
This section not only disposes of John
as having been put into prison, but
Immediately plunges Jesus into his
public ministry. Jesus entry into
Galilee was a part of his connection
with John, inasmuch as he withdrew
himself to that place (See John ALB,
and made Capernaum his headquar-
ters Matt 4 :13). The message here
recorded as proclaimed by Jesus was
the identical summons which John the
Baptizer had uttered. Jesus speaks
of this new kingdom as being already
come, referring, of course, to his own
person and ministry, but in it's actual
establishment it was not really sat
hand" until he shed his blood upon the
cross and the Holy Spirit descended on
the day of Pentecost, when there was
| opened the fountain for sin and un-
! cleanliness for the world at large.
III. His Helpers Called. (vv 1920.
| In this record, we have the call of
four of his helpers: Simon, Andrew
his brother, James and John his
brother, the latter being the sons Of
Zebedee. Luke tells US (5:3) that
Jesus was teaching. Those called
were certainly at work and God al
ways issues his call to those whose
time and effort are being occupied,
even though perhaps for selfish pur-
poses. There is no place for an idler
in the spiritual kingdom. This call
was to "come ye after me" ". I'D,
the purpose being that they might be-
come Fishers of men," Notice he be-
gan upon the common, familiar ground
of fishing, something mutually and
thoroughly understood, and led them
from, that to spiritual truth. In this
we see a good pedagogical hint and a
wise suggestion to the preacher and
teacher, viz, that we must begin to
teach our lessons through the medium
of past experience and of present in
terests. Simon Ouke $50 appears to
have been a dOubter when Jesus
called him. Nevertheless, he was will
ing to try Christ at least once, and so
at his word, he let down the net. The
evidence of obedience is found in verse
10, and Matthew (4:S) also Luke Is:
11) tells US that when they left their
nets, "they left ALL"
~. His Helpers Trained (vv. 21
22). The result of this call was (see
V. 21) that as they went into the city
they entered into the synagogue
where Jesus taught them. The infer
ence, of course, is plain. Whenever
God calls a man into his kingdom, he
begins at once to teach him the du
ties and responsibilities of the king
dom. Notice that in becoming fishers
of men, then began close at home
Brother sought brother. This was no
the first time that Jesus had called
7.d0
, In the call, as accorded by st. John
, we are led to believe that John (tht
, unmentioned disciple) first sought al
, interview with Christ. The question
, of harmonizing the various calls whicl
Jesus gave to his disciples is an in
, teresting one and one which has givel
, rise to a good deal of discussion. Th
. one recorded in the first chapter o
, John occurred in Judea; this one oC
Cured in Galilee. AS to whether thi
Is the one recorded in the FIFTH chap
ter of Luke, there seems to be a gen
eral opinion that it is not the same
: though we can with profit compar
the two callings in teaching this les
son. The probabilities are that ther
> were three calls: First, the one re
corded in John 1 :35 40; second, tha
one recorded in Matthew 4 :18 %; an
i, the third and last was that which oc
Cured just before their appointment
: to become apostles, the one recOrde
in Luke five.
i" Conclusion. When Jesus faced hi
great task, he did not face it alone. II
had first of all the approval of Go
' the Father. He also had the annoini
IL ing of God the Holy Spirit, and h
y called in the cooperation and help G
human agents. Jesus met his temptf
- ton and his tasks not in his oW
strength, but in the strength of tn
Spirit of God. At the same time bt
ing God, he called to his side thOs
who in turn were to become fishers G
men, leaders of others. His call
these disciples was three-fold; Ca
to discipleship, namely, they were
become learners; (b), to Fellowship
for they were to enter into and have
part Of his toll, tasks, temptations an
sorrows (Phil. 3:10); and (c), to ser7
ice. They were 60 go out as his an
bassadors and representatives. Th
world always demands the busy MAJ
The fact that these men had hire
servants indicates their position i
life. Jesus called to be his disciple
men who were busy with the commo
daily tasks, but who with prompt OBJ,
(iience left those tasks to learn Of hil
@ld who then went out to turn tn
world upside down.
Every man whom God calls to be a
y apostle thinks he has made other a
~ rangements for his life. Jesus taugf
at the beginning, Of his ministry as on
having authority, i. e., the positiy
- note of personal knowledge and e,
=" perience, no speculation nor gues
&c work. Jesus set US an example as
II the Sabbath day and the observanc
lie of worship. The more we conterplat
is Jesus the more he astonishes US !,
is his methods of handling those anon