The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1933-05-18
Lesson for May Fl
JESUS ANSWERS HIS ADJ
VERSARIES

t6hONhi6S
LESSON TEXT-Mark 12:13-44.
GOLDEN TEXT-The officers an
swered, Never man spake like this man.
John 7:46.
PRIMARY ToPIC-Talking With
Jesus.
JUNIOR ToPIC-Jesus Answering
Hard Questions.
INTERMEDIARY AND SENIOR TOP
IC-The Way to Meet Opposition.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
IC-How to Deal With Directors.
!. Jesus siIences His Enemies wv.
1880.
1. The Pharisees and Herodians
wv. 1910. In order to destroy him
they sought to discredit him among
the people. To this end they sent rep
resentatives Of both factions ". 13).
a. Their question ". 14). The
Pharisees contended that since God
was the real king of Israel, it was
not obligatory to pay taxes to heath
en- king. The Herodians were support
ers of Herod. They came to him with
flattery on their lips with this subtle
question. For him to answer yes
would have discredited him with the
people, and to have said no would
have made him liable to arrest by the
Roman authorities.
b. Jesus reply wv. 15-1O. He
asked for coin to be brought and in
quired whose image and superscription
it bore, declaring that those who ac-
nf TaoSaf. chnuI6
taxes to Caesar. In this reply Jesus
ESCAPES their trap and enunciates
principle which applies to all time and
conditions as to the responsibility Of
Christians to civil government. Those
who accept the protection and benefits
of civil government should support
that government. However, being a
loyal citizen is not enough. There is
a duty to God.
2. The Sadducees wv. 1920. The
Pharisees and HerOdians being ST.
fenced, the Sadducees came with
question which involved not only i'm
mortality but the resurrection of the
body.
a. The case proposed wv. 1929.
The law of Moses made it not only le-
gal but morally binding in the case
of a man dying without children for
his brother to take his wife Oeut.
25:5). They proposed the case Of a
woman married successfully to seven
brothers. They asked whose wife she
shall be in the resurrection.
b. Jesus reply wv. 24-2G). BY
quotation from the Mosaic law (Exod.
800, he proves the resurrection of the
dead and their continued existence be-
yond death as human beings. He
showed that marriage is for the pres
ent life only. In this respect human
beings will be as the angels in the
resurrection life. He pointed out that
their gross error was due to two
things:
~ Ignorance of the Scriptures ".
24). In the very Scriptures which
they professed to believe was positive
proof of the resurrection (Exod. 3:6).
(2) Ignorance of the power of God
". 24. God is able to provide life
where there will be no death, no
DlrLnS, OF HldrrldSeS.
3. The scribes wv. 2S-34. Per-
ceiving that Christ had effectively an.
swered the Sadducees, one of the
scribes came with the question as to
which was the great commandment.
Jesus summed up mans whole duty
in one word, love-"love to God and
love to man."
II. Jesus Question wv. $500.
He now turned upon his adversaries
with counter question. Its answer
involves the central problem of Chris
tian philosophy, indeed of all rational
thinking. Christ's place in the scale
of being is the foundation truth of all
right thinking. SIS Jesus Christ man
or God, is ne God and man?' David
spoke of the coming Messiah as both
his son and God. There is but one
answer to this questionable incarna-
ton Of God in Christ.
III. Jesus Condemns the scribes
wv. $50.
The attitude of these people toward
Jesus was not determined by insuper-
able intellectual difficulties, but by
their moral nature.
l. They loved to go in long cloth
ing ". 3S) This means they loved
ostentation and display.
2. They loved to be saluted in pub
lie places ". So.
3. They sought to occupy the chief
seats in the syndgogues, and the up
permost rooms at feasts ". 80.
4. They devOured widows houses
". 40). They lined their pockets at
the expense of helpless women.
5. They offered hypocritical prayers
". 40).
w. Jesus Praise of the sacrficiaI
Giving of the Widow wv. 41-4D.
These words of Jesus reveal unto
us the fact that in Gods sight a gift
is measured by the heart motive.