Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-29

During the quarter we have been
studying a series of lessons selected from
Matthew's gospel, which was written to
persuade the Jewish people that Jesus
was their long-expected Messiah. He
chose those events in the Masters life
that proved conclusively that Jesus in
His BIRTH life and ministry fulfilled the
predictions OF the prophets. The lessons
have moved forward with dramatic in
terest as Matthew weaved into his
biography of Jesus from the genealogical
records and the events Of His birth In
Bethlehem, where Jesus was born Of the
seed of David and in accordance with
prophecy. how the acts Of heather
potentate ordering the census Of his
kingdom should determine that Jesus
cording to the words of the prophet.
The wise men of the East had seen the
evidence of the birth of the Nations
King in the heavens and, guidcd by
science, scholarship and Scripture,
found the newborn Child and wor-
SHIPPED Him as king. The miraculous
way He was saved from the murderous
plans of Herod, who sought His life, and
His return from Egypt and location in
Nazareth in fulf1llment Of the sayings
OF the prophets we considered in our
first lesson
Matthew passed over the silent years
OF Christ'S development until we saw
how Jesus was moved by the spirits
urge to leave His Nazareth home and
identify. Himself with the ministry of
John the Baptist, whom the Master
recognized as the Elijah. who was to
point Him out to the nation in accord
arlce with prophecy. His baptism marked
the Lords dedication to undertake His
divinely given mission. It brought forth
conclusive testimony that convinced
John that He was the Messiah. Follow
ing His baptism. the Lord had the bat
tie with Satan in the wilderness, where
He determined how He would establish
His kingdom.
Public Ministry.
Matthew does not refer to Christ's
ministry in Judea, probably because it
would not have helped his argument
had he presented the fact that the
nations leaders, political, social and re-
hgious, had rejected His claims. Jesus
attained great popularity in Galilee.
preaching the doctrines of the kingdom
OF God. His personality gripped men.
His philanthropic work attracted the
multitude by His power to heal all man
ner OF diseases. His principles and au-
thority as teacher proved that He was
divinely appointed. His success, follow
ing His making Capernaum His head
quarters. resulted in His summoning
some OF His disciples to enroll in HIS
peripetetic college of apostles, where
He taught them by precept and practice
how to take men alive
The ordination Of the twelve called
Tor the formal explanation of the prin-
ciples of His kingdom that He outlined
IN the Sermon on the Mount. Three
of our lessons were taken from this
homiletical masterpiece. He called for
them to live up to the standards of the
kingdom Of God so as to show by life,
love and labor that they were seeking
first the kingdom of God, striving at
all times and under all circumstances
to live up to the high ideals Of Christ'S
gospel In the temperance lesson we
considered how we ought to deal with
modern social, economic and moral
problems in accordance with the golden
rule.
In considering how Jesus healed and
helped needy humanity. we saw the
large place that cooperative faith
played in His curing the various diseased
persons. Faith in His personality
power and purpose played a large part
in His miracles of healing. His power
over disease revealed His glory. His
sympathetic touch healed the leper
His word restored the centurion's
servant. He cured Peters mother-in
law of the fever, so that she arose from
her sick bed and administered unto the
Master and His disciples. He demon
strated His power over the waves and
silenced the winds when He stilled the
tempest by His orders. He cured the
Gadarene demoniacS. Tie established
His claims to the authority Of God in
forgiving sins by healing the paralytic
He showed His sympathetic attitude
toward all sinners by calling Matthew,
publican, to be one of the students
of His apostolic college and then eating
with the publicans at feast.
The Apostolic Mission.
Having taught the twelve how to meet
the physical, spiritual, social and intel
lectual needs of humanity, He sent them
forth upon their first mission. His COM
passion for the multitude moved Him
to call upon the apostles to pray that
the Lord would send forth laborers into
the harvest field that He pointed out
was ripe, awaiting to be harvested. I'M
perfect as they were, Jesus thrust
them forth upon their mission. In out
lining the program for them to carry
out the Lord mapped out their field
Of service, gave them their message and
sent them forth free from all financial
worries. His promise to them contains
the assurance that He has given to all
who carry out His work in obedience to
His commands. If we heed His requests
and try to win souls for Him we know
that We will succeed
When the disciples of John the Bap-
list sought information concerning
Christ's claims as the Messiah Jesus
answered by a series of deeds that
proved to His forerunner that in HIS
ministry the Master was fulfilling the
prophecies concerning the Messiah. His
words and works were of such char
acter that none but the long-expected
MeSSianic ruler could perform. While
seeking to meet the needs of John, who
was IN prison, our Lord proclaimed His
Messiahship.
Seaside Ministry.
Opposition had manifested itself.
Jesus saw the faces of men whom He
knew in Jerusalem and in His Judean
ministry in His congregations. They
| charged Him with violation Of the
ceremonial law. They made an attack
upon Him concerning His healing upon
the Sabbath. They charged that He
was in collision with Satan. This caused
Jesus to change His method OF preach
ing. He had taught with authority,
not as the ScribeS. He adopted in His
sermons delivered from the floating
pulpit upon the Sea of Galilee the use
of parallels in describing the kingdom.
In His first parable He taught them
that the source of the kingdom was
His words, but that the power of His
gospel depended upon its reception by
the people. He used the illustration of
the sower sowing seed upon his farm
for this parable. The returns from the
a. lilo dc - enn in fl1o for nrfc
field were negligible but the fourth
produced amazing results.