Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-01-20
SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON
For January %, Matt. 20-17:28
BY DIR. MARION NH. HULL

Golden Text: "For the Son of Man
came not to be ninistered unto, but
to minister"
The Perean ministry had ended.
l Jesus had been called to Bethlehem
! on account of Lazarus death and
had gone thence to Ephriam, where
| He might be in retirement, but now
! that the passover was near at hand,
! He returned toward Jerusalem again
for His final journey. He told His
disciples all Of the details that would
happen to Him. The first time, He
had merely given them some init
nation of His suffering, the second
time, He had given them more de-
tails, but now this, the third time,
He tells them He is to be betrayed
sport of by them, scourged and cru
Gifted, and finally to be raised from
the dead. He has full apprehen-
sion of all that is to happen to Him
and He does not keep back anything
from the disciples. They, however,
at what He has to say, astonished
and filled with fear. They had tried
to keep Him from going to Bethle-
hem at the time of Lazarus death,
because they realized the great dan
ger to Him by His presence there.
They could appreciate that the very
wonder of the miracle of raising
Lazarus from the dead had only in
creased the antagonism of the Phar-
| isees. His words only tended to in
crease their fear and apprehension
concerning Him, and incidentally
they realized that association in and
around Jerusalem was frau'ght with
great danger to themselves.
| Therefore, as He turned His face
toward Jerusalem and began to de-
scend into the Jordan Valley, He
walked on ahead of them alone
Never had He looked more kingly,
as with head erect and determine
ton in His face and with firmness
of step, He led the way, although
fully apprectating what would hap
pen to Him within the next ten
days.
In the company with those who
followed was Salome, the mother of
James and John. She had had a con-
ference with her two sons and ii
mad been decided that she was to
approach their Master with a re-
and worshipped Him, asking that
He would grant request of hers.
Going straight to the matter, Jesus
asked her, What wouldst thou?" to
which she replied that she wanted
Him to promise that when He came
into the kingdom He would let her
| two sons sit on the throne with Him
one on the right and the other on
the left. Now this was a very
selfish request. James and JOHN
were responsible, though their moth
err made the request. These two with
Peter had been the ones who had
| been the closest to Jesus for three
years; it was to be presumed, there
fore, that two of those three would
get the best appointments, and this
|
squeeze Peter out On the other
hand, it was perfectly right to be
ambitious. to desire the best. But
when the ten heard of it, they were
eStremely indignant.
Let us see though whether they
were wholly in the wrong. Jesus
had just told them what He was to
also told them He was to be raised
fl ON the dead on the third day; this
woman, therefore, with womanly in
tuition sees beyond the suffering
Ills ultimate triumph. When Jesus
asked whether they were able to
drink of the cup that He was to drink
of, they replied without hesitation
that they were able; so far as they
knew, they were willing to pay
the price and were loyal enough to
Him to be willing to share in all
the suffering which He had just
! IOIu tllCllI IlS was " D6ol'
Jesus told them that they showed
their ignorance in this pledge, as
we'll as in their request, for while
! they should drink of 61ls aup, it was
mot His TO give the places which
they asked; promotion in the new
kingdom to be established was not
to be by personal preference, but
to be by appointment by the Father.
When the ten heard it, they were
indignant, but their indignation
shows that they were equally gull
ty. They were piqued because Je-
sus and John had gotten there first
It was necessary, therefore, for Je-
sus to call them all together to teach
them a lesson about the kingdom
which they had not yet learned.
The Kingdom That's Different
This kingdom which He was to