April 1931
T h e . K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
180
Jesus in the Garden Luke 22:39-46 Memory Verse. —“Not my will, but thine, be done” (Lk. 22:42). Approach. —After Jesus left the .upper room, He went with His disciples into a garden to pray. Lesson Siory.BHe knew that very soon
L esson Q uestions V. 39. From what place did Jesus come forth? To what place did He go? Was it a place to which He frequently resort ed? Who followed Him? V. 40. What did Jesus say to the dis ciples? Is it right to pray that we may escape from temptation? May we also trust God to give us victory in the hoiir of temptation? Vs. 41, 42. Why did Jesus separate Himself from His disciples? Are there some battles which we must fight alone ? What was Jesus’ attitude in prayer (cf. Matt. 26:39; Mk. 14:35) ? Was Jesus unwilling to- die?' Had He come to earth for the express purpose of giving His life in behalf of sinners? May a “cup” rep resent joy as well as sorrow? What did it represent here ? Whose will did our Lord put first? Was this the secret of His victory ? V. 43. Who came to strengthen Jesus? Had angels ever before helped Him in the time of temptation (cf. Matt. 4:11)? V. 44. Why did our Lord again go to prayer? What physical evidence was there of His great agony of spirit? Vs. 45, 46., When Jesus “rose up,” had His agony of soul passed? How many times did Jesus return to His disciples seeking their help? What did He find them doing? What question did He ask? Why were they unable to watch with Him? What did He tell them to do? Can any one ever obtain victory in the hour of temptation without prayer? Vs. 47, 48. Who came interrupting the conversation between Jesus and the dis ciples? Who guided them to the place’? By what “sign” did Judas betray the Lord Jesus? Had this sign been prear ranged (cf. Matt. 26:48)? , * Vs. 49, 50. Why did Jesus -submit to arrest? How did the disciples realize that He would not at this time seek to escape from His captors? What did they suggest doing? What prompted their in quiry (cf. vs. 36-38) ? Which of the dis ciples used a sworcf? V. 51. Did Jesus want His disciples to Use the sword in His defense? What did He do for the wounded man? ■ Vs. 52,, 53. What different groups com prised the band' which arrested Jesus? Why had not the Jews sought to capture Him when He was teaching in the temple? What did our Lord mean when He said to them: “This is your hour and the pow er of darkness” ? V. 54. Could Jesus have escaped if He had wished to do so (cf. John 18:5, 6) ? Why did He submit to arrest? To what place did they first bring Him ? What did Peter do? What had all the other dis ciples done (Mk. 14:50)? * * * P ractical P oints 1. Jesus said to His disciples, “Watch with me.” “He did not say, ‘Pray with me,’ for in that work the Mediator must be alone.”— A Iford. 2. Gethsemane revealed the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus. He was there being perfected as our High Priest (cf. Heb. 5:7-10), 3. Before every great crisis, the Lord Jesus resorted to prayer. On this oc casion, the disciples also needed to pray. They failed utterly, but He conquered not only for Himself but for His poor dis ciples.
What One Magazine Did A correspondent sends us the following interesting item: I had T he K ing ’ s B usiness sent to a number of my friends. Among them was Mrs.—, the wife of the Congregational min ister here and the teacher of' a large class in the Sunday-school. She was pleased with the maga zine and liked the Sunday-school lessons so much. She invited her class to use T he K ing ’ s B usi ness , and twenty Copies were ordered. That is what one num ber did! Why not' use the magazine in your class or school? In clubs of ten or more, the annual sub scription rate is only $1.00.
t
He was going to have to su ffer a great deal of pain. It. was not to be just a pain in His body, but it was to be a pain in His spirit as well—pain caused by His suffering for all of the sins of the world. Jesus need ed to pray before He was ready to
4
bear this pain. His prayer was this: “Not my will, but thine, be done.” Jesus’ thought was always for others. Jesus knew now that another very sad - thing was going to happen. You see, the chief priests and the Pharisees and many of th e ’Jews had become Jesus’ enemies. Jesus had said that He was the Son of God, and the Jews did not believe that this was tru e ; so they wanted to kill Him. They hadn’t been able to find Him alone. Always there had been crowds of people around Him, and His enemies had been afraid to take Him when His friends were near. Then this sad thing happened. One of Jesus’ own disciples went'to the chief priests and said, “If you’ll give me some money, I’ll tell you where you can find Jesus this very evening.” For Judas knew that Jesus was going into this quiet garden to pray. There Jesus was when Ju das and the priests and the soldiers came to take Him. Jesus looked at them sadly and said, “Why do you come after me with swords and sticks as if I were a rob ber ?” He was sorry ■ for them because they were doing wrong. He was sorry for Judas who had betrayed Him, and He was sorry for the rest of the disciples who had all run away when He was in danger. Are we ever cowards like that? —o— An Open Mind In our day, we hear much about the dis honesty of not having an “open mind.” It goes without saying that all honest thinkers have a mind open to truth, from whatever source it comes. I t is not, however, our privilege to have an open mind to theories and hypotheses that are contrary to the unmistakable teaching of God’s Word, for God’s Word is the ul timate truth on the matter with which it primarily concerns itself. Does anybody for a moment think, that the New Testa ment writers had an “open mind” on such subjects as the supernatural birth of Christ, the atonement made by Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the second coming of Christ? Did John Wesley have an open mind on these subj ects ? Did Charles H. Spurgeon? Did Henry C. Mabie? Did Henry G. Weston? Did A. H. Strong? Did John A. Broadus? An open mind on subjects that, in the nature of the case, are settled is disloyal ty to truth. The matters of fact revealed in the New Testament must be accepted as final. That admits of no argument. —Watchman-Examiner. I 4. We cannot fathom the meaning of the sorrows of Jesus at Gethsemane and Calvary, but He knows all of our trials and is able to fully sympathize (cf. Heb. 4:14-16),,., 5. There are some trials into which we admit our friends, if they will come. There are other trials in which we fight our battles alone with God. 6. A sleeping church is never a pray ing church, nor is it a victorious church, 7. The weapons of the Christian are not carnal. We conquer by the use of the sword of- the Spirit and by prayer (Eph. 6:17, 18). 8. In His last recorded miracle, Jesus healed an enemy who sought to destroy Him. Should not this have proved to ail that He was a loving Saviour and not a criminal ? 9. Peter had been warned that he could not follow Jesus at this time, but it was added that he would follow later (John 13:36). He did not heed the warning, and so ran into unnecessary temptation. Seeking to make good his boast that he would be faithful, he succeeded only in following “afar off.” Presumption is not faith. * * * G olden T ext I llustration There was a picture published recently showing a company of wounded soldiers at Lakewood going- through calisthenic exercises. The title, “The Invisibly Wounded,” struck a deep note of sym pathy. The scars of these men, received in battle, were hidden but awfully real. The empty sleeve did not dangle at their side, nor did frightful furrow of shrap nel glare from eyeless sockets. Their wounds defied the scrutiny of the icurious. The patients felt the ache from racked nerves and from deranged digestion, growing out of barrage fire, gas attacks, and trench fevers, and the doctors knew the stupendous price that such men had paid for liberty and would continue to pay for years to come. But only the very thoughtful could doff their hats at the sight of these martyrs for a race’s eman cipation. The “five bleeding wounds” of the dear Saviour were very visible. Yet, as one has said, “The suffering of Christ’s soul was the soul of His sufferings.”
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker