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B u s i n e s s
December 1927
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K i n g ' s
fulness. Only the Master’s touch can re vive it ,(3:1). How candid some people are in con fessing other people’s sins! (3:2.) ’S uggestive Q uestions How often did the Pharisees fast? (V. 18. Cf. Lk. 18:12.) Possibly it was one of their fast days when Jesus ate with sin ners at Levi’s house. Was it lawful for the disciples to pluck a man’s corn on thè Sabbath day or any other day ? (Deut. 23:25.) What did the Jewish Sabbath com memorate? (Deut. 5:13-15; Ex. 20:1-2; 31:16-17; Ezek. 20:12.) Is the Lord’s Day to be identified with the seventh day .Sabbath of Israel? (Col. 2:16; Gal. 4:10.) Did Paul consider it essential that New Testament Christians should worship on Saturday with the unbelieving Jews? (Rom. 14:5.) How was the Lordship of Jesus Christ demonstrated, and on what day of the week? (V. 28, Cf. Rom. 1:4; Mt. 28:1.) Is it lawful to refuse to do good on any-day of the week? (3:4. Cf. Jas. 4: 17.) G olden T ext I llustration Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets. I am come not to destroy but to fulfil (Mt. 5:17). Malan told the story of an artificer who took a piece of iron, melted it and mold ed it, filed it and gilded it with gold paint, and then tried to make himself believe that it had become gold. It did shine, it was true, but its brilliancy was no proof that it was no longer iron. Some imagine that by accepting Christ and being justi fied from their sins, all requirements are met. If they are truly born of God, they do indeed have a glorious standing; but does not God require pure gold accord ing to His standards, the same as in olden times? We must have a practical right eousness and holiness, from testing our selves continually by His law, and seeking by the Holy Spirit’s help, to produce the fruits of righteousness. 18. At the time of the events of which this lesson speaks, the disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fast ing. Fasting was customary at that sea son among the Jew ish people. Then
the bridechamber fast while the bride groom is with them?" And immediately He answered His own question in the negative, adding in the next verse that the days would come when the bride groom shotild be taken away from them and at that time they would fast. The interpretation of these verses is very manifest, namely, Christ is the Bride groom, and the disciples the “sons,of the bridechamber.” It is in times of sorrow and despondency, disappointment and gloom, that people fast. Christ’s pres ence with His disciples caused them to rejoice, as the attendants of a bridegroom rejoice in association with the bride groom, but here, the Lord predicts the time when He would be taken from them. That, is, when He will be; received up into heayen. He did not mean that the disciples would necessarily be discour aged and despondent after His departure, but simply that they would be sad be cause of the loss of His personal pres ence, Jesus referred to this fact (John 14:1-5), when He, in His last talks with His disciples, urged them not to be sad, and in the same quiet talk assured them that the Comforter would come to them. Though Christ is bodily absent from His people now, He and the Holy Spirit are present with them, to comfort and cheer them. Vs. 21, 22,’, In these verses Jesus illus trates the truth about which He had been talking by the illustration of sewing a new piece of cloth upon an old garment and putting new wine into old wine skins. Though there is some discussion as to the significance of these illustrations, it seems to the writer that the Savior meant to teach that the old, formal, ceremonial dispensation was not to be patched, up, as it were, and continued; but that the Mosaic dispensation with its outward ob servances, which was more or less me chanical and severe, was to give way to the new dispensation of the Spirit, when people would serve, not in the oldness of the letter, but in newness of spirit. Fur thermore, it is quite likely that this prin ciple applies to the individual in rela tion to his outward, formal life, before accepting Christ and after his regenera tion and consequent Christian life. V. 23. On the Sabbath day Christ was passing through the grain fields, which is. probably the same occasion as in Matthew 12:1-8, and His disciples, being hungry, plucked the heads of grain, mashing them in their hands in order to separate the grains from the chaff, and eat. This ac tion was, according to the Pharisaical law, gross violation of the Sabbath. The Sabbath law had been by the traditions of the elders applied to innumerable cases and circumstances, which made it almost impossible for one to do anything on the Sabbath lest he violate its traditions made by the elders. As an example of the ex treme to which the rabbinical law inter preted the commandments concerning the Sabbath, note the fact that a woman was not permitted to look into a mirror on the Sabbath day, lest she should see a gray hair and be tempted to pull it out, which would be a violation of the Sabbath. V. 24. The Pharisees, upon seeing the disciples eating the grain, complained to Jesus, affirming that the disciples were doing that which was not lawful on the Sabbath. If one is in the spirit of crit icism and fault-finding he will always find something to criticize. On the other hand, if ione is endeavoring to find something
good in another he can find it. The dis ciples were not violating the Sabbath law as found in the ten commandments, but were .simply giving contrary interpreta tions to those of men. V. 25. Jesus informed His critics what David had done in an extreme case, namely, He entered the house of God and ate of the Shewbread, which was only for the priests to eat. In the account as given in Matthew 12, Jesus spoke from Hosea the prophet, “I desire mercy and not sac rifice," stating that they did not have un derstanding to know the significance of this quotation or they would not have condemned the innocent. The law was to be observed strictly by all Israelites, yet there were times, said Hosea, that God preferred the Israelites to show mercy in stead of engaging in outward religious worship. The occasions are very seldom when there is a clash between duties and responsibilities ; but when an emergency arises, which is an opportunity of show ing mercy, until one cannot engage in worship and show mercy to an unfortun ate person, God prefers that he omit the worship and service and show mercy to an unfortunate soul. The apostles were hungry; they were engaged in the service of God; according to the custom of the country it was lawful and ordinary for one to pluck the grain as he passed through the field; hence, there was an emergency and therefore God desired mercy and not sacrifice. Thus Jesus vin dicated to the Pharisees the conduct of His disciples. They were not, however, guilty of violating the real Sabbath com mandment, but were simply going counter to the commandments of men concerning the'Sabbath. Vs. 27, 28. Jesus furthermore vindi cated their conduct by saying, “The Sab bath was m.ade for man, and not man for the. Sabbath; so that the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." God never in tended any of the commandments to bean occasion of bondage to any of His wor shipers, but designed them for the good of His people; the Pharisees, however, had by their traditions, made the Sabbath unbearable to men. The latter part of Christ’s statement justifies their action upon the ground that He, their Leader, was Lord of the Sabbath, by which state ment He shows that the Son of Man could at His discretion set aside the Sab bath Law, which commandment has in the Christian dispensation been set aside as far as Christians are concerned. 3:1. Jesus again entered a synagogue in which there was a man with a withered hand. V. 2. By this time Jesus, having incur red the displeasure of the Jews, was watched on all occasions for an oppor tunity to condemn Him. V. 3. “And He saith unto the man that had his hand withered, Stand forth." Jesus wanted everything to be in the open light so that there could be no ques tion as to the miracle which was per formed. All of God’s works are out th the open. Only those whose deeds are evil( seek the cover of darkness. V. 4. Knowing the thoughts of His critics, Jesus said, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? to save a life, or to kill?" Jesus very wisely put His questions to the critics so that there was but one answer to them, which answer would condemn them; hence they held their peace.
again fasting was a matter of choice with some people in order to get into closer touch with the Lord. There is a very close connection between fasting and prayer, as is set forth in the
New Testament, and is known by many consecrated souls from actual experience. Formal fasting, religiously Speaking, amounts to nothing. When these dis ciples of John and the Pharisees saw that the disciples of Jesus did not fast, they quizzed Him, asking the reason for the failure to do as they were doing. In order to be consecrated and to fast, it is not necessary for everyone to do and act as some one else is doing. Religion is a personal matter; it is a personal relation between God and the individual soul. V. 19. Jesus answered their query by asking1 them a question; “Can the sons of
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