The Yale expositor., 1920-10-07

LESSON TEXT-Matthew 81: I:li.
GOLDEN TEXT-This Is my beloved
Son, in whom / am we'll pleased.-Matt
3l7
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL-Luke al:
Alb; Heb. 2:1s; AIS.
PRIMARY TOPIC-Jesus Pleasing the
Heavenly Father.
JUNIOR ToPIC-Baptism and Tempta-
ton OF Jesus
INTERMEDIATES AND SENIOR TOPIC
Jesus Overcoming Temptation.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Victory Over Appetite, Pride and Am
bition.
!. The Baptism Of Jesus (3:13-1D.
While the forerunner was discharg-
ing his office. the King emerged from
his seclusion at Nazareth and de-
manded baptism at Johns hands. The
incongruity Of this with the purpose
Of baptism brought from John a pro-
test but Jesus explanation was salts
factory, so John baptized him. Touch
ing Christ's baptism. note:
1. Its significance. "a Negatively.
(a) 1t did not mean his own obedi-
ence to the commandment Of God. be-
cause his entire life had been lived
entirely within the will Of God. Not
a moment In mis- entire life but what
was lived entirely in accordance with
the Fathers will. (b) Not because he
had sin, for he was absolutely sinless,
harmless, undefled, separate from
sinners. This separation was so COM
plete that even the devil could find no
occasion against him John IA :30).
(2) Positively. It's significance Is
found in harmony with the central
purpose Of his coming into the world.
which was TO secure for his people
salvation through death, burial and
resurrection.
2. Approval from the opened
heavens wv. 10, ID. Immediately
following his conservation to his work,
the heavens were opened and the
Spirit came and abode upon him, fol-
lowed by words of approval from the
Father. These all were essential for
the work upon which Christ now en-
tered-revelatiOn (heavens opened),
inspiration (dove abode upon him),
and approval (words from the Fa-
ther).
n. The Temptation Of Jesus (4:1-
~.
This temptation was the opening
battle of the dreadful conflict between
Christ and Satan. In this struggle,
note:
1. The combatants. ~ Jesus Christ,
the Divine Man, now entering upon
his mediatorial work. He went imme-
diately from the place of amounting
and heavenly recognition as the Son
of God to meet the arch-enemy Of the
race. (2) The devil. He was a real
person filled with cunning and malice.
2. The battle ground-the Wilder
ness of Judea. The first man was
tempted in a garden with the most
pleasant surroundings and failed; the
wilderness and gloriously triumphed.
3. The method of attack. Since as
our Redeemer Christ sustains a three
fold relationship, Son of Man, Son of
God and as Messiah. each one was
made ground Of attack. (1) AS Son
OF Man. This was test of the reality
Of his humanity to demonstrate as to
whether the humanity which he OBJ
tanned through the Virgin birth was
real. The appeal was made to the
instinct of hunger. Hunger is nat
ural and sinless. Having been forty
days and nights without food, as a
normal man, Christ had a craving APP
petite. While the appetite was not
sinful, to have satisfied 1t In wrong
way would have been sin. (2) Son of
God. 1t was to test as to whether
this personality which had taken upon
itself humanity, was divine. The
devil quoted from a Messanic Psalm
to get him to presume upon Gods
care. God does care for his own, but
to neglect common precaution-to do
he uncalled for thing just to put
Gods promise to a test is to sin and
fall. (3) AS Messiah. Christ's mis-
sion as Messiah was to recover this
world from the devil. Now the devil
offers to surrender to him on the sim
pie condition that he adopt his
method. thus obviating the necessity
Of the cross. The kingdoms were
really Christ's, and he knew that they
would ultimately become his. The
lnducement was to get immediate pos
session without the sufferings of the
cross.
A. The defense-the Word of God.
Christ met the enemy each time and
repulsed him with at is written"
Each time he quoted from Deuter-
onomy, the book which the higher
critics would dlscredit as reliable.