66
February, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
ings which He performed with a touch or a word (v. 31). They were amazed at such healings, and “they glorified the God o f Israel.” But they would not recognize and glorify the Lord Jesus for what He was. They persisted in their unbelief in spite o f all the signs they saw and all the power they witnessed. Thus it is, even today. After nearly two thousand years o f proof that Jesus of Nazareth is actually what He claimed to be, people persist in their blind unbelief. They are willing to accord Him a high place among the reli gious teachers of the world, they readily admit He was the best Man who ever lived, but they reject Him as being what He claimed to be, God manifest in the flesh. The essential deity o f our Lord is some thing which these unbelievers will not ac cept, and because they refuse to accept it, they place themselves beyond the reach of His grace. Points and Problems The woman of this lesson is called in Mark “a Greek” and a “ Syrophenician.” Matthew calls her a “ Canaanitish woman” (15:22, R .V .). The meaning is probably that she spoke the Greek language, lived in Phenecian coast territory, and was de scended from the ancient Canaanite people. As a Canaanite, the woman was under a double disadvantage. First, she was a Gentile and therefore an alien from the divine covenants made to Israel. But sec ond, she was a member o f a Gentile race which was under a special ban: “ Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” (Compare Gen. 9 :18- 27 for the whole sordid story,) When the Israelites entered the promised land, they found the Canaanite dwellers defiled with the most depraved and unnatural forms of vice (Lev. 18). Later, in the days of Ezra, they were still practicing their abominations (Ezra 9 :1 ). So bitter are the prophets toward this people, who were constantly corrupting Israel with their vicious ways, that Zechariah looks forward with relief to that day when in the millennial kingdom “there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house o f Jehovah of hosts” (14:21, R .V .). If the student will keep some of these facts in mind, the exclusion of this people, as the pariah “ dogs” are excluded from society, will not seem so harsh. As to the personal character of this par ticular Canaanitish woman, we know nothing except what appears in the brief New' Testament accounts. One thing is certain : She had a mother’s heart, loving her poor demon-possessed daughter with a love unbounded. In her extremity, when it seemed as if no help could be had for the daughter, she cried, “Lord, help me." Her own happiness was absolutely identi fied with the welfare o f her child. It is the cry of a real mother. And she re ceived help. Lesson Questions Vs. 21-28. O f what nationality was the woman who came to Jesus ? What was her problem? How did she first address the Lord ? Why did He not answer her ? What f is there1to indicate that she understood this to be the reason ? What is the sinner’s 1 only possible approach to Christ (T it.; 3 :5 )? What was Jesus’ response to the; woman’s second plea? How did it affect, her faith in Him ? How was she rewarded ?! As a model o f a Christian’s prayer life,! what have you learned from this incident! (Heb. 4:16; 10:19, 22, 23)? Vs. 29-31. What is the setting o f this scene? In what capacity was Jesus at tempting to reveal Himself to the multi
‘“ No matter, I am in great need, and I think it is your duty to help me.’ “ ‘How much do you think I ought to give you?’ asked Mr. McCormick. “ I told him $1,000.00. “He said, ‘A thousand? Why, surely you don’t mean that, after all I have given you o f late.’ “I said, ‘Yes, I do.’ “ ‘AH right, you shall have it,’ answered Mr. McCormick. “He went upstairs, and then I thought, ‘What a fool I was not to ask for $2,000.00!’ and I fell on my knees there in the parlor and asked the Lord for $2,000.00. Mr. McCormick came down the stairs with this sealed envelope in his hand. I thanked him and rushed over to you.” Both father and son were deeply im pressed. The father one day asked Mr. McCor mick if he remembered giving Mr. Moody a check for $2,000.00. “Yes,” said Mr. McCormick, “ I remem ber it.” ' “Can you recall the operation o f your mind that led you to make the check for twice the amount asked for?” asked Mr. Harsha. Mr. McCormick replied: “As I remem ber it, I went upstairs to my desk and took out my check book. I wrote ‘D. L. Moody’ in the space provided, and then I began to think of the noble work this man o f God was doing in our city, and what a splendid fellow he was. I concluded finally to make the check for the amount I did, $2,000.00.” Moody prayed, God worked, and His servant wrote the check for an extra $1,000.00.-— S elected . Object Lesson T hree K inds of G ivers Objects: A hammer, a piece of flint, a flashlight, and a candle. Lesson: The Bible tells us that God is pleased when we give cheerfully. Giving does not refer only to money, but it in cludes time, possessions, and talents. Peo ple, as well as God, love cheerful givers. Some givers are like this piece o f flint. It has light in it, but you have to strike it with this hammer before it will give out light. It gives light only when it is being struck. Some people give only when they are forced to give. Some children will not give o f their time to do the things their parents have asked them to do, until they have been forced to do it, by some form of punishment. This is not the kind of giv ing which pleases God or any one else. This beautiful flashlight represents an other kind o f giver. It is as cold and hard as the flint, and it must be pressed before it gives light. There are people who wait to be asked before they give of their pos sessions, time, or talents. If they are not asked, they do not give. This kind of giving is much better than the first, but it is not the kind which pleases God most. W e will let this candle represent the kind o f giver with which God is pleased. It gives light without being hit or pressed. As it gives light, it gives o f its life. This kind o f giver gives without being forced to
tude of Jews? Do we find, as a result of His healing the sick, any mention of the multitudes’ believing on Him? What is the difference between the Canaanitish woman’s claim on Christ, and that of the multitudes ? Which have you offered Him ¡^-“wonder,” because of His power, or a faith that calls forth His “ be it unto thee even as thou wilt” ? Jesus Helps a Stranger M atthew 15:21-31 Memory Verse: “Be ye. kind one to an other” (Eph. 4:32). Approach : The thing that Jesus wanted most was that the people should believe in Him—believe that He was the Son of God. He knew that many followed Him just to
see the m ira cle s which He did. He wanted them to have faith in Him as the One who had come to save them. L e s s o n S to r y : Once when Jesus was traveling along, a fo r e ig n w om an came to Him and begged Him to heal her daughter. She
called Jesus “thou Son o f David,” show ing that she thought of Jesus as the Mes siah who had been promised to the Jews. Jesus wanted to find out how much faith this woman had. So He told her that He had come to the Jews, and that she was a stranger and a foreigner and not a Jew. But the woman was not discouraged. She said, “ Lord, help me.” Jesus tried her faith further by saying, “It is not meet [right] to take the chil dren’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” But the woman still begged Him to help her. Even if she were a Gentile and no better than a dog, she would stay until Jesus should cure her daughter. So she said, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, great is thy faith.” And He cured her daughter. Jesus cannot help us unless we have faith in Him. We are God’s children only if we believe in Jesus Christ; and then God no longer thinks o f us as Jews or as foreign ers, for we “are all one in Christ Jesus.” Golden Text Illustration One o f D. L. Moody’s friends, W . J. Harsha, was in his father’s study one day, when Mr. Moody rushed in, holding a sealed envelope. Mr. Harsha relates the following incident: “ Open that!” Mr. Moody cried, extend ing the envelope. “ Open it! There is a check for $2,000.00 there.” “How do you know?” asked the senior Harsha, taking the envelope. “Have you seen it?” “No, I haven’t seen it, but I asked the Lord for it, and I know it is there. I came all the way across Chicago that you might prove my faith in prayer.” The young man stood by his father’s side as the envelope was opened. There was a $2,000.00 check within I “ How did you get it ?” asked Mr. Harsha. “Well,” replied Mr. Moody, “I called on Mr. McCormick this morning and told him the needs of our mission schools on the North Side. “I said to him : ‘Mr. McCormick, I want you to give me some money; we are in dreadful straits.’ “ ‘Why,’ he said, ‘Mr. Moody, you are striking me rather hard of late! I gave you something not long ago.’
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