78
February 1931
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
T h e
That is true also of your service and mine. Go and stand with McKay in Af rica. Follow Carey as he goes, single- handed, from his shoe-maker’s bench to* win the world for God. See Livingstone dying alone upon his knees in order to heal the open sore of the world. Then tell me what it was that led them on, if it was not the passionate, undying love they had for Christ. If we loved Him more, we would serve Him better. * * * Jesus’ Helpers Luke 9:10-17 Memory Verse. —“We are God’s fellow- workers” (1 Cor. 3:9). Approach. —As soon as people knew that Jesus was a wonderful teacher and could tell them marvelous stories, and that He was a wonderful healer and
H eart of the L esson I. The Lawyer’s Questions (25-29); V. 25. A certain lawyer. Luke did not consider him of sufficient importance to. record his name. He appeared on the scene after the successful mission of the seventy had been completed, and when the
True to the Gospel I am enjoying this lovely true gospel magasine so much. It is a great blessing to me. It comes next after my Bible. . —From Fort Worth, Texas.
reputation of the Lord Jesus among the masses was at its height in the re gion of P e r e a . Stood up. Perhaps, when this lawyer arose to ask his question, Jesus was
Jesus needs us to help Him, and if we give Him what we have, He can do the rest. . — o — March 8, 1931 The Good Sam aritan Lesson: Luke 10:25-37. Golden Text: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Lev. 19:18). * * * L esson in O utline I. The Lawyer’s Questions (25-29). 1. A questionable motive—“make trial” of Jesus (25). 2. A proper quest—how to “inherit eternal life” (26). 3. A searching question—“what is written?” (26). 4. An acknowledgment of the law’s demands—supreme love to God and man (27). 5. A saving work—“this do” contin ually and perfectly (28). 6. The lawyer confessing failure but justifying self (29). II. The Parable o f the Good Samaritan (30-37). 1. The downward road and its dan gers (30). 2. The failure of priest and Levite to fulfill the law of love (31, 32). 3. The genuine, practical love of the Samaritan (33-35). , 4. The true “neighbor” pointed out (36, 37). 5. The right thing to do (37; cf. 25, 28). * 4s ♦ A pproach to the L esson A S the ministry of the Lord Jesus drew near its close, the opposition of Isra el’s officials became more intense. From the first the Pharisees and lawyers had “rejected the counsel of God” (cf. Lk. 7:30). Had the nation repented after the preaching of John the Baptist, and had they accepted the teaching and auth ority of Jesus the Messiah, how different the outcome might have been! The com mon people and even the Publicans rec ognized their sins and “justified God” (cf. Lk. 7:29). But the leaders were unwill ing to humble themselves. It is true, of course, that this whole situation and its outcome were foreknown of God. Jesus Himself anticipated from the very be ginning that He would be rejected. The guilt lay heavily upon the heads of those who claimed to be and should have been the guides and guardians of the people. They had enlarged the law by their many interpretations, so that its inner meaning was obscured or lost. The lawyer of the present lesson was one of these misguided teachers of the law.
seated, as was the custom with teach ers, having a large group of listeners gathered about Him. Mjade trial o f him. This does not necessarily mean more than to put Him to the test. Possibly the lawyer meant to try Jesus’ skill in sol ving legal questions; or he may have been seeking to test His orthodoxy as an in terpreter of the law. What shall I do? The rich young ruler came to Jesus with the same question concerning the method of inheriting eternal life (18:18). There may have been this difference, however: the young ruler’s motive was a practical one, and he was intensely in earnest, at least up to a certain point; whereas the lawyer desired only to exhibit his skill as a debater. The question asked was a very common one, but it was self-contra dictory. Eternal life is the gift of God’s grace. One cannot do anything to merit it. V. 26. What is written? Jesus did not discuss the question of salvation through grace by faith, but met the lawyer on his own ground of the law. He turned the critic’s weapons against himself. He asked him what he understood to be the essence of the law and how he interpreted its inner meaning. V. 27. Thou shalt love the Lord. The lawyer must at least be credited with go ing to the root of the matter and not quibbling about secondary subjects. He summarized the law in its two phases as it is given in Deut. 6:5; 10:12; Lev. 19: 18. These scriptures were recited in the daily prayers of the Jews. With all thy heart. All the powers of body, mind, and soul must be engaged in one’s love to God. True love is not merely a matter of emo tion. Thy neighbor as thyself. The dec alogue shows our duty first of all toward God and then toward our fellow man. Thus religion and morality are properly combined. V. 28. Thou hast answered right. He could not have answered better with re gard to the demands of the law. He had, in fact, answered his own question, “What good thing must I do ?” God demands perfect love toward Himself and also toward one’s neighbors. This do. That is, this do perfectly and continuously. It is not the occasional and sentimental ex pression of love that is required, but the abiding practice of love, without reserva tion or failure, that is necessary if one would gain heaven by means of works. A single defect for an instant would make one guilty and therefore unworthy of heaven. V. 29. Desiring to justify himself. The lawyer’s question was answered, but he was not silenced. Unwilling to be humil iated before the people, he sought to re trieve his reputation and justify himself.
could c u r e them from all diseases, and that He was a wonderful Saviour and could keep them from sinning, great crowds of them be gan to follow Him wherever He went. Sometimes Jesus was tired and need ed to rest; some times His disciples
wanted Him to talk just to them; but al ways, it seemed, there was a crowd gath ering to listen to Jesus. Lesson Story. —On this day, Jesus and His disciples went across the lake in a boat to a quiet desert place, thinking that they could be alone. But the people from the countryside saw where Jesus was go ing, and they began to walk along the shore until they came to the spot where Jesus was. Perhaps, when the disciples saw all of these people coming, they wished that they would stay away. Per haps Jesus Himself was tired and would like to have rested. But do you know, whenever anyone really wants Jesus, He is always there to help him. So all day He talked to them and healed the sick ones. And I think that His disciples help ed Him, too. At least, I know they were thinking about the people and wanting to help them because, as it came near to sunset time, they said to Jesus, “Hadn’t you better send the people away to the towns? They’ve been here all day and they must be hungry and tired.” Then Jesus surprised the disciples by saying to them, “You give them something to eat.” The disciples thought that they had nothing to give to all these thousands of people, but they were willing to do what they could, and so they said, “We have five little loaves of bread and two fishes.” They thought that this couldn’t possibly feed five thousand men. But they offered it to Jesus. The little boy who had brought this lunch was willing, too, to give it to Jesus for Him to use. And that was all that Jesus needed—-just those willing helpers. Because He was God, He could do the rest. The Bible tells us how Jesus took the food and blessed it and gave it to the disciples and they passed it to the people. Before they knew it, everyone had had enough to eat, and there was some left over.
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