spit upon the ground, made clay of the spittle, and placed the clay upon the man’s eyes. He told the man to go and wash his eyes in a certain pool. When the blind man obeyed the Saviour’s words, he began to see. The man’s friends ar gued about the man. Some said it was the blind man; others said that it was a man who looked like him. Finally they asked the man and heard him tell of the miracle which Jesus had performed. The religious leaders of the Jews were angry when the man called Jesus the Son of God. They cast him out of their place of worship. The Saviour found the man and told him that He truly was God’s Son. As Jesus spoke to the man, he said, “Lord, I believe.” Has the Son of God touched your spir itual sight so that you have seen Him dying upon the cross for your sins? If you are a saved child, has He touched your eyes so that they want to see only those things which are clean and pure— those things which will honor Him? Feb. 28, 1954 T h e Good Shephe rd John 10:1-11 Pointers on the Lesson There doubtless is a vital connection between this week’s lesson and the Scrip tural material of last week’s lesson. The healed man in chapter nine was cast out of the fold (v. 34), only to find rest in the Person who is the central figure of today’s chapter. Note two more great 1 Am’s in the lesson before us. The Sheepfold Parable w . 1-5 You will have difficulty with this pas sage if you try to make the sheepfold to be heaven. It seems best to consider it as Judaism. Before Christ came there were many false Messiahs who came mak ing great claims for themselves. But they did not come by the door, that is, accord ing to the Word. They were thieves and robbers (v. 1). But at last Jesus came in accordance with the prophetic Word (v. 2). To Him the “porter” gave recog nition. Very likely this refers to John the Baptist who, when Jesus appealed, sought in every way to exalt Him and to minister to Him (v. 3). When Jesus entered the sheepfold He found therein some who gladly received Him. He called to them as shepherds do. They listened and followed Him out of the fold. Thus Jesus has entered the Jewish sheepfold to lead His Church out of Judaism into the liberty of the gospel of grace. It is great to know that in all of fife’s experi ences our Good Shepherd leads the way (v. 4). The true followers of Christ have no interest in any of the self-appointed saviours abroad in the world today (v. 5). The Shepherd's Explanation vv. 6-T1 The Lord’s parable (1-5) was not un derstood by His hearers so He explains its meaning (v. 6). In summary it is this: Christ came to lead His disciples out of the fold of Judaism into the fold of His grace. In connection with the latter fold (better, flock) He is both the Door (w. 7,9) and the Shepherd (v. 11). Among oriental shepherds they are often literally CONTINUED ►
MILLIONS AR E STARVING FOR THE WORD OF GOD Millions in many areas of the non-Christian world would not have the Word of God in their own languages if it were not for the work of the American Bible Society. Share the good life by helping to send out the Word of God in some of these languages and dialects and many others : Albanian German Lisu Quechua Arabic Greek Lithuanian Ragoli Armenian Hawaiian Luba-Luba Rumanian Aymara Hebrew Malagasy Russian Bengali Hindi Malay Spanish Bulgarian Hopi Manchu Swedish Bulu Hungarian Maya ■ Syriac Cakchiquel Icelandic Miskito Tagalog Cherokee Iroquois Mongolian Thai Tai Choctow Italian Mortlock Tibetan Czech' Japanese Nasu Tshwa Danish Kabba-Laka Nauru Turkish Dutch Karen Navaho Tzeltal Eskimo Kikwanto Norwegian Valiente Estonian Knoyu Ojibwa Welsh Finnish Korean Persian Yipounou French Kurdish Polish Zoque Gallic Latin' Portuguese Zula Also in 36 languages and systems for the blind.
Write for the booklet “ A Gift that Lives” which tells you more about this plan of helping and having.
1
American Bible Society, 450 Park Avenue, New York 22, N. Y. Please send me, without obligation, your booklet KB-9 entitled “A Gift That Lives.”
Mail This Coupon Today Without Fail!
Name ........................................................................................... ..............
Address .............. ......................................................................................
City ................................................. Zone ........... State ...........................
45
J A N U A R Y 1 9 5 4
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker