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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
January, 1940
latter scheme often produced a rather I admirable type of human character, such as a Nicodemus. But the very mor ality of these men often blinded them to their need of a Saviour, and thus led th’em to a final doom. 4. “Did ye never read in the Scrip tures, The stone, etc.” (v. 42). It is quite remarkable and significant that our Lord quotes here from Psalm 118, and the verse- that He quotes (v. 22) is only four verses removed from the one (v. 26) quoted by the multitude only a short while before when He had ridden into Jerusalem and they shouted, “Bles sed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 21:9). A famous traveler said that he once tried with his party to climb one of the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada, and "after infinite difficulty, exertion, and peril, succeeded in surmounting the last precipice, and reached the summit, to find there the tracks of a wagon and the traces of a social feast.” If he had only taken the other side of the moun tain, he would have found an easily traveled road all the way up. There were two ways up Sierra. There is only one way to heaven. “No man cometh Golden Text Illustration J o h n 14:6
was righteous. Dispensationally, this judgment occurred when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, A. D. 70. The “vineyard” has been given into other hands. But the same judgment awaits the “other hands,” if they in turn adopt the practice of those to whom our Lord was speaking. In these parables, the Lord Jesus traces the history of Israel, showing their hypocrisy and greed and their scattering among all nations. But we know also that in the mercy of God, their rejection and dispersion will ulti mately be at an end (cf. Rom. 11). Points and Problems 1. “But what think ye?” (Matt. 21: 28). In this lesson we find an interest ing example of our Lord’s skill as a teacher. One of the most effective ways of teaching a moral or religious lesson is to embody the problem in a story, to appeal to the hearers to decide what is right, and then to make the application. This our Lord does. After appealing to His hearers’ judgment in the general question, “What think ye?” He relates two parables: one about the two sons; the other about the householder and his vineyard. He then challenges them to decide the moral issue in each case: ■Which of the sons did right? (v. 31). What will happen to the evil husband men? (v. 40). And in each case His hearers decide correctly (vs. 31, 41), thus opening the way for a practical application of the truth to their own lives. If you want to learn to teach suc cessfully, study the methods of Christ. 2. “ A certain man had two sons” (v. 28^. The first son said he would not go but afterwards repented and went. The second son said he would go but did not go. The picture presents two classes of men: the first son represents publi cans and sinners who made no profes sion but repented at the preaching of God’s message. The second son stands for the Pharisees who professed much but whose practice did not conform to their profession. The lesson should be clear to all of us. There«is always hope for a man who has said “No” to God but repents of his rebellion. On the other hand, there is no hope for the man who says “Yes” to God but lies when he says it. Both alike are rebels against God, but the latter is a moral liar. 3. “ The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (v. 31). Why should such sinners as these go into the kingdom before the religious and often moral Pharisees? Certainly it is not that God puts any premium on that kind of sin. A holy God must hate all sin. But the point is that the publi cans and harlots knew they were sin ners and sometimes had sense enough to repent. But the Pharisees thought they could earn their salvation by works and character and religious ordinances. The
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