July 1924
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
432
own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (Jno. 5:30). The imperative, the “must” of His boyhood, was never lost sight of. How often was the word upon His lips during His public ministry. “ Saying, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day” (Lk. 9:22, also Mt. 16:21, Mk. 8:31). In con nection with His prediction concerning His coming again He said: “ But first must he suffer many things, and be re jected” (Lk. 17:25). To Nicodemus He said, “ Even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (Jno. 3:14; see also Jno. 12:32-34). The “ divine imperative” was ever before Him—He must die in order to accomplish that for which He was sent into the world,—- “ to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). We pray that the teachers of this lesson may use the op portunity to point out that the perfect boyhood (and man hood) of Jesus was not an end in itself, but the means to this blessed end— the provision of a perfect Saviour. And may the boys and girls be led to accept Him. The Boy Jesus In God’s House Luke. 2:40-52. , : Memory Verse.—r-“ I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Psa. 122:1. Approaeh.-T-rBoys and girls, I heard something the other day that made me very happy indeed, and it made me think of the beautiful Story we"are to hear today. Now I am going to tell you what made me so happy, I was calling in the home where there was a little boy ELEMENTARY who loved very much to go to Sunday Mabel L. Merrill School! One Sunday his mother was* sick, and could n o t,take him and he was too young to go alone, and he cried because he could not go to Sunday School, It always makes me feel happy to hear of people who love God’s house. Let us bow our heads and thank the Lord for our Sunday School and the faithful teachers who come here each Sunday and tell us the beautiful stories from the Bible. Lesson Story.®Last week we heard the wonderful story of the baby Jesus, and how the news came to the shepherds in the fields as they watched their flocks. Howard you tell us the story. (Review). Now the first thing our story tells us today is that the child Jesus grew and waxed strong. That is what makes fathers and mothers happy to see the baby grow and become strong in body, brain and muscles. It tells us he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. His mother Mary was a Bible lover, and how she would tell him all the great stories of the Old Testament, about the creation of the world, the mighty deeds of Moses, the Passover and its sacred meaning, and the noble lives of many of the people of the Bible. Like all Jewish boys at the age of six he would be sent to the week day school which would be held in the synagogue, or church. What kind of books do you think they studied in. the schools In the days when Jesus was a boy? The Bible was the chief text book of the Jews, the Old Testament, and the Rabbis, or preachers, were the teachers. They committed to mem ory whole books of the Bible. How would you have liked to go to school in those days? Mary and her husband Joseph used to go every year to Jerusalem, to keep the feast of the Passover; and when Jesus was twelve years old he went with them. What a wonderful trip this was for Jesus, Now, people who went
V. 46. An idiom for “ on the third day” one day for their departure, one for their return and one for the search. Pract. Com. They discovered Jesus in one of the many rooms attached to the temple, where the Jewish rabbis taught their schools; or it may have been on the terrace of the temple. The audience sat on the ground, surround ing and mingled with the doctors.—Edersheim “ hearing. . . asking.” But it is not said teaching or disputing. He sat not as a doctor, but as an inquirer among the doctors.-— Pract. Com. V. 47 “ Astonished” (amazed) A strong word having in it the thought of being struck with admiration. He gave them a taste of his divine wisdom and knowledge.—-Henry. V. 49. The implied reproach in Mary’s question is met by an implied reproach in Christ’s question. This is Christ’s first recorded sentence. . . “ My Father” Jesus answered, re ferring to the God whose dwelling the great temple was.— Sei. He is apparently astonished that He should have been sought, or even thought of anywhere else than in the only place which He felt to be properly His home.-#Xiange. Lit erally the Greek is, “ in the (things, matters, affairs) of my Father.” —Pelonbet. In the things or affairs of my Father, in that which be longs to His honor and glory.— Schaff. V. 50 They understood its outward sense, of course, but not the inward meaning as applying to His divine na ture and mission. The realization of many of His words and deeds all through His life came to Mary and to His disciples only gradually, as they meditated on them, in many cases after His death and resurrection had thrown a flood of light upon them.—Peloùbet. V. 51 Though He was the Lord of heaven and earth, Christ submitted Himself to’ the' orders of two Jewish peasants. And He did it in love and with no feeling of degradation. He thus taught the world the beauty of humility, the sanctity I of obedience, and the dignity of service. He became a carpenter like Joseph, as we are told in Mark 6:3. Every Jew was expected to learn some trade, but this was no avocation of a rich man’s son, but the hard daily toil of a poor man.-—Sei. The phrase “ com mon task” should be strucjc out of every life. Jesus taught us that all toil is holy if the toiler be holy.— Campbell Morgan. V. 52 The words of this verse give us all we know of the life of Christ from the age of twelve to the age of thirty.-—Pract. Com. is? “ It has been said that the boyhood of Jesus is like a walled garden, from which we have been given but a single flower, but this is so fragrant as to fill our hearts with a longing to enter within the secret enclosure.” Jesus Christ was God manifest in the DEVOTIONAL flesh. The Word, which was God, be- COMMENT came flesh and dwelt among us (Jno. John A. Hubbard 1:1, 14). And yet He was truly Man tle one perfect, ideal Man. But the ideal Man was the ideal Boy fully developed. The opening verse and the closing verse of this lesson speak of His three fold development. There was the physical— “ the child grew and waxed strong” (the R. V. and other translations omit “ in spirit” ), “ Jesus increased in stature.” There was the mental— “ Jesus increased in wisdom.” There was the spiritual— “ the grace of God was upon him.” Jesus in creased in favor” (or grace)) “ with God and man.” The one flower from the “ walled garden” of Jesus’ boy hood is the record of His first visit to Jerusalem; and it seems to me that the exquisite fragrance of the flower is found in His words: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” These, His first recorded words, strike the key-note of, and give fragrance to, His whole earthly career. The things of His Father (see R. V. mar gin) must come first. Later on He gave expression to the same truth on many occasions in such words as these: “ I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (Jno. 6:38). “ I seek not mine
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