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January 1928
T h e
K i n g ' s
B ü s i n e s s
as if God, had said it. There is but one .explanation : “Surely this was the Son of God." May we not rejoice that God’s infinite Son was a carpenter when here on earth? It assures us of His complete sympathy with all who toil. The very hands thaj: hold the scepter of'the universe (Col. 1: 16) once held the hammer and the saw. His stamp of approval is upon the toiler. He chose the chief toilers as His greatest instruments. .“Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house” (6:4). Envy still causes men to find fault with those who have been honored, when once the person was their inferior or their equal. - “He could do no mighty work there” (v. 5). Jesus did not work miracles to con vince skeptics, or He would have worked His greatest ones where there was the worst unbelief. Miracles were the seal of His authority to those w,ho were ready to receive the truth. Unbelief ties the hands of the Almighty so that He cannot do all that He desires to do. Nazareth saw most of Jesus and profited least. “Light obeyed increaseth light. Light resisted bringeth night.” -. —o— P ith and P oint The snares of Satan may be concealed within the.glove of friendship (y. .21). Professed. followers of Jesus often furnish the fuel for His enemies to burn (v. 22). Some who cannot deny the reality of Christ’s power are quick to attribute it to the devil (v. 22). The sin that hath never forgiveness is the sin for which forgiveness is not de sired. No tie is so-close as that which joins one regenerate soul to another (vs. 33- 35). ' ;/ . Even* the bonds of family affection can find no stability save in Christ (v. 33). Many a man goes to college to learn to express his ignorance, in scientific terms (6:3). —P~ S uggestive Q uestions What special fellowship does a servant of God sometimes have with His Master ? (Mk. 3:21; cf. Jn. 7:5.) . Was anyone else called crazy beside Jesus? (Acts 26:24; cf. 1 Cor. 1 :27.) If a man has a desire to be saved, has he committed the unpardonable sin? (Jn. 6:37.) _ . ., Is ordinary blasphemy the unpardon able sin? (Mk. 3:28.) If any man calls Jesus accursed, by what power has he done it ? (1 Cor. 12:3.) _What does God say of those who de 7 liberately shut their eyes to spiritual light? (Isa. 5 :20-21.) . Find the two tests of spiritual kinship in Jn. 6 :29 and Mk. 3 :35. What is the only answer to the question of Mk. 6:2? (Col. 2:3; Heb. 1:2-3.) —o— G olden T ext I llustration He came unto His own and His own received Him not. But as many as re ceived Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name (John 1:11, 12). . An evangelist tells how when he was conducting a gospel service, a woman who was anxious about her soul’s salva
tion, came to him. She had long said that she could not understand the plan of sal vation. The evangelist, having learned her name,'asked: “Mrs. Franklin, how long have you been Mrs. Franklin ?” “Why, ever since I was married,” she replied. “And how did you become Mrs. Frank lin?” he asked. “When the minister said ‘Wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband?’ I just said yes.” “Didn’t you say, T hope'so’ or ‘I’ll try to’?” asked the evangelist. “No,” she replied, “I said, T will.’ ” Then pointing the woman to God’s Word, the preacher said : “God is asking you if you will receive His Son as your personal Savior. What will you say to that ?” Her face lightened up and she answered:—“Why, how simple that is. Isn’t it queer that I didn’t spy ‘Yes’ long ago?” That is just the simple Faith the Bible calls for, the act of the will in re ceiving Christ ; and God’s jiart is to make us sons. âSr ~\J 19 b. “And He cometh into a. house." ' Between the first part of this verse and the statement just quoted quite a few things occurred, which facts are learned John to Jesus,- and the latter’s eulogy of the former, the pronouncing of woes up on cities whère His mighty works had been done, and a sinful woman’s anoint ing Jesus’ feet with her tears. It be comes necessary for one, in order to have an adequate idea of the life of Christ, to Compare the different records very care fully. At this time Jesus had completed His “first tour” of Galilee, on which He preached the Gospel1and performed many miracles; confirmatory of the same in Galilee.: After this tour He returned to His headquarters in Capernaum, the city of Simon and Andrew, V. 2 . “And the multitude ^someth to gether again, so that they could not so much as eat bread" The -statement that "the multitude- cometh together again” probably refers to the time when Jesus, after His return from Judea, on the Sab bath day, healed the man in the syna gogue, raised Peter’s mother-in-law from a sick-bed, and at-evening all thé city were gathered together to the house (Mk. 1 :29-34), or it may refer to the great en thusiasm which had just occurred a few days before this time and which is men tioned in Mk. 2 :1-12. Many people doubt less thronged Jesus simply for the thrill of exciting experiences, but many doubt less came to Him because they realized that He could meet their needs. The ex citement and enthusiasm were so very great that it was impossible for them to eat. Jesus, who saw the needs of every heart, was not interested in eating the physical food, for He realized that “Mar. shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The great zeal and passion for souls in Jesus was so very strong that those with less spiritual perception could not understand Him, for He had “meat to eat that ye know not." from a comparison of the other records of the Gospel with this ohe.y:-. Chief among these events are thç Sermon on the Mount (Mt, 5 :6, 7 ; Lk. 6 :2Q- 49), the h.ealing of the : centurion’s serr vant ;at ;Capernaum, the message from
V. 21. “And when His friends heard it, they went out to lay hold on Him : for they said, He is beside. Himself." Even the friends of Jesus and His im mediate family were unable to under stand Him properly. His refusal to eat in order that He might minister to the spiritual needs of the people was misin terpreted by them; they by their lack of spiritual perception thought that He had lost His mind and felt that it was neces sary for them to take personal charge of Him. Today ,the one who has a holy -passion for the salvation of souls,Qis likewise misunderstood even by many Christians who are still “carnal” and who do not evaluate spiritual things properly. V. ,22:. “And the scribes that came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and, By- the prince of the demons casteth He out the demons.” The Scribes were the most learned in the law because they were the copyists of the Scriptures and hence were very familiar with the same because of their handling the Word of God daily. The fact that one handles the Word of God either in books or by writ ing or preaching, is no guarantee that he is in touch and fellowship with God. The Word of God becomes* a savor unto life-or unto death.. - It is doubtless true that many men today hàndle.the Word of God but do not know God. The word “Jerusaleml’ÿprobably means “the city of peace,” which was anciently the city of the Jebusites whom David dispossessed when he moved his capital from Hebron to Je rusalem, : and changed its name. T h e word “Beelzebub” is of doubtful origin. Some scholars think that it comes from the two Hebrew words which mean “a lord of dung or filth”';) i.e., a référencé to idolatry'and .its filth, whereas other schol ars think it is a .combination of two He brew words which mean “master. of flies’/ ; i.e., the false god of the Ekronites. The scribes attributed the power which Jesus used in casting out demons to that o f the prince of demons. Satan doubtless isi the' prince of demons. Demons are fallen spirits (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6). Satan is their prince- (Eph. 2:1, 2 ; Rev. -9:11). Demons were very active prior to Christ’s coming ; likéwise they have been active in the darker parts of the world, and in these last days they are very actiye according to the predictions of 1 Tim. 4 :1, 2. V: 23. “And He called them unto Him, and-said unto them.in parables, How. can Satan cast out Satan?” Seeing that He was 'misunderstood, Jesus spoke in par ables to the people. A parable is a com parison : illustrating the unknown by that which is: well known, the word meaning to throw beside ; i.e., laying down the known beside the unknown in order to ascertain the unknown quantity. A parable was also used in order to conceal truth from those who did not wish to know. (Mk. 4:11, 12). “Satan” is a Hebrew word Anglicized, meaning “adversary.” V. 24. “And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom, cannot stand. This verse states a general principle which is true in all spheres of life : “United we stand, divided we fall.” V.-.25.. “And if a house be divided against itself, that house.will not be able to stand.” The principle of v. 24 applies to a house. A church can never do the work that God intends it to do, so long as It is divided up into warring, antagon istic and sectarian bodies. God’s people
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