The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1936-01-16
STUDYING THE LESSON
By John c. Siler, D. D.

DlSSUSSiON
The delightful task before us
in this study, of LuEe's Gospel IS
to come to know the Jesus OF
Luke. To accomplish this we must
do much more than to become IA
milar with Luke's beautiful ana
interesting story, we must learn
to explore the mind, heart, anu
personality of Jesus as he IS made
known to us. To do this three = o.
es must be observed-rules made
use of in the Interpretation OF
any personality.
/. We must give the words Of
Jesus the meaning he meant them
to have. II is not what we read
into words of another that gives
their true significance. but what
the speaker or writer actually
meant. 1t is easy to twist the
words of another into an interpre-
tatiOn of our own, but to do tnls
is to be dishonest. The words OF
Jesus have not always received
lust treatment. Men have often
misinterpreted his words for their
own advantage. From this point
on we shall come upon words ac-
tually spoken by Jesus. These
words hold the key to our under
standing of our Lord. Our first
duty is to honestly seek out just
what Jesus meant by the utter
ance. We cannot jump at con-
illusions, nor can we take a SEN
tence here and there-the whole
context must be given due weight
in our Interpretation. This is the
value of studying Il book in its
entirety.
=. We must seek to discover
the experience that gave origin to
the words. Words are expressions
of our experiences when they are
sincerely spoken. Jesus was sim
eere. He spoke out Of The depths
of his experience, and often his
experience is too profound for US,
but it is a gain to discover that.
What must have been the eXper-
fence or consciousness of one who
said, II came not to be minister
ed unto, but to minister, and to
give my life a ransom for many"
This is what we mean by thinking
into the mind of Christ. 1t is not
enough to know the words and
their meaning. if the words are
to carry a mighty force, we must
go behind them into the very
heart and mind of the speaker. 1t
is what lies back of them that
gives the words of Jesus their
tremendous power.
8. We must discover the kind
of person who could have such an
experience. In this way we ex-
plore the personality of our Lord.
The question as to the person OF
Jesus must be answered by this
generation in an honest investl-
CATION. We cannot expect to
plumb the depths, but before we
go very far we shall discover UNI
searchable riches. Paul is the pio-
neer investigator into the person
of Jesus, and we can follow his
leadership with safety. If we will
follow these three rules in our
study of Luke, we shall come out
enriched in mind and strengthen
ed in faith. r.'
TEACHING THE LESSON
There is little need of sugges-
ton as to the method of teaching
this lesson. The passage is a mar
velous introduction to. the minis
try of Jesus. We are standing on
the threshold of His active life of
service; here we see the steps
that prepared both Him. and the
people for His mission. I
GENERAL QUESTIONS e..
How do Matthew, Mark and
Luke compare in them accounts
of the ministry OF john. How as
to the Temptation? How does
Luke date the ministry of John?
What was the nature. of his min
istry? Why did the people flock
to hear him? How do you account
for his severity? Why did John
baptize? How would the baptism
administered by Jesus differ from
that of John? What gives US an
insight into the spirit of John.