The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1926-02-18
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 81, 1926.
JESUS RAISES LAZARUS
FROM THE DEAD.
John 11:1-12;12.
I am the resurrection and the life; he
that believeth on me, tho he die, yet
shall he live.-JOhn 11:25.
LOVE IN DARKNESS.
Ephesus had no lack of religious
cults. Devotees of various faiths
thronged her streets at the time this
preacher was making the addresses in
the Christian church that have given
US the Gospel. Spring festivals that
emphasized the continuance of life
thru the bleak days of winter were
common to all of them. One bit of
pageantry included the burial and the
raising of an evergreen tree. There
was stroke of genius that crops out
again and again in the authors US
ug this common thinking a back
round for this story of life that per-
stend; radiant, unchanging, person.
ity unimpaired, through the wintry
SITS of death. And Jesus was the
--.icient guarantor of its quality and
continuance.
Following His visit to Jerusalem at
the Feast of Dedication, about our
: christmas time, Jesus had retired be-
yond the Jordan where among the
teaching of these early weeks of the
year 80 are to be found stories of the
lost sheep, the lost coin, and the Prod
Il Son. He was somewhere in this
IN when sickness invaded that
!. home in Bethany where he had
,1.ften found readiest welcome at the
-ds of Martha, Mary and Lazarus,
m some believe to be the returned
..nNyoung ruler of Luke IS. Lazar-
us was sick and knowing the love
that Jesus held for them all, as natur-
ally as we would do, they posted off a
messenger with the word, "He whom
thou lowest is sick" There was no re-
quest for his coming, for there may
not have been the felt need that soon
followed. They wanted Him to know
and wished for the comfort of His
presence They knew as we'll as Thorn
as the peril and would not jeopardize
Him by urging their WISH. But fol-
lowing the departure of the messen-
ger and the return of the cheering
word, "This sickness is not unto
DEATH" there was the sudden sinking
and collapse of physical forces that
LETT them with the chill presence of
death instead of the glowing form of
life. 1t was shocking in the extreme.
They had appealed to One able to
serve even from death, and it had
brought no response except an en-
couragement that was baseless. And
He did not come And their brother
was dead. Love sat in darkness and
neighbors seemed kinder than God
Or Gods Man. Many life has reeled
under SUCH blow and has repudiated
religion because of it. What is the
use to pray? They had with fullest
confidence and now, see! There is
nothing but a grave in reply. There
was neither understanding nor care.
LOVE IN THE LIGHT.
Out beyond the Jordan there was
One whose heart was linked with
theirs by many affections and there
was no other sign of attention than
the continuance of the work of the
days. There is little doubt that Lar
arus was dead when the messengers
found Him, for he had been buried
four days when Jesus reached Beth
any. If it took two days to make the
trip-more probably it would be made
in one-that marks the day of their
coming as the day of his dying. AS
soon as their plight came to Him there
was the beginning of planning for a
response so much larger than their
dream that it is hard to measure it.
To have merely held off death would
have brought no assurance of persis-
tent life when it again invaded the
home. In face of the prevalent belief
that the spirit remained with the body
for three days, to have restored him
II, that tinoa would have haen eul1a l1v
valueless in the future emergency.
What He would do was to assure them
that no matter what death might do
in the future the family circle could
not be broken by the attack; that the
same person was living whatever the
condition of the body. How hard it
was for Him to delay is seen in the
statement to the disciples, 81 am glad
for your sakes that | was not there.
He felt that if He were there their
presence of love and trust would have
been too great for Him to carry out
the better purpose which He had in
His heart for them and for the rest
of us whoface similar situation. Men
can compel the lesser gift from God
rather than the larger one of His
choosing. Our love in the darkness of
Our lack of understanding may cloud
love that works in the light.
LOVE IN MINISTERING.