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T H E
K I N G ' S
B U S I N E S S
February, J936
INTERNATIONAL LESSON Commentary Outline and xposition Blackboard Lesson Children’s Division Golden Text Illustration Object Lesson B y B. B. S utcliffe B y B essie B. B urch B y H elen G ailey B y A lan S. P earce B y E lmer L. W ilder Points and Problems B y A lva J. M c C lain , Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio
MARCH 1, 1936 VISION AND SERVICE L uke , C hapter 9
Points and Problems 1. We should not fail to see the close connection between verse 27 and verse 28 with which this lesson begins. The entire transfiguration scene came in fulfillment of the prediction o f verse 27: “There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.” These favored disciples were given a pre-vision o f the power and glory of the King whose visible presence brings the kingdom from heaven to earth. Read the parallel accounts in Matthew 16:28 to 17:1 and in Mark 9:1, 2. An unfortunate chap ter division in Matthew obscures the con nection. 2. There is no contradiction between Luke and the other synoptics, regarding the number of days. Matthew and Mark say: " after six days.” Luke says: “about an eight days.” The Greek hosei ( “about” ) indicates that Luke intends his statement to be merely approximate. He probably uses the inclusive method, counting both the day of the prediction and the day of the transfiguration in addition to the six full days intervening. 3. “Went up into a mountain to pray” (v. 28). Only Luke tells us exactly why Christ went up into the mountain. With Him He took the “inner circle” of disciples that we meet more than once — Peter, James, and John. But, as usual, they fail, and are found sleeping when they should be praying. See also the Gethsemane ex perience. Between the best o f the disciples and our Lord there i^ no greater contrast than that which appears in their personal prayer life. To a recent questionnaire sent out to two thousand ministers, asking among other things what they found the hardest task in their ministerial duties, a large majority replied, “To get the people to pray.” 4. “There talked with him . . . Moses and Elias . . . and spake o f his decease” (vs. 30, 31). He had tried to talk, with His disciples about “his decease,” and He had found them unresponsive. Peter even rebuked Him (Matt. 16:21, 22)1 But Moses and Elijah are interested. And it is no wonder. These men, as some one has said, were in heaven on credit. If Christ had not died, they could not have remained there. Thank God for the cross. Golden Text Illustration There is a very famous vine at Hampton Court, England, which has at times borne a thousand or more bunches of grapes, and the secret is that the vine sends its roots hundreds o f yards through the ground to the Thames, where it gets moisture and nourishment. Another vine to which great interest has been attached is situated at San Gabriel Mission, California. It, is the largest grapevine in the United States. It is a hundred and five years of age. The stock is five feet six inches in cir cumference, nearly two feet in diameter, and the vine is said to have borne two tons of grapes in one season. The roots are
thought of our Lord is seen in the igno rance of the disciples, voiced by Peter, “not knowing what he said” (v. 33). Peter’s word would suggest that all three of the personalities before him were upon the same plane. He would build an altar for Moses, thus unconsciously professing ability to do all the law; an altar for Eli jah, thus unconsciously professing ability to know all the prophets; and an altar for our Lord, thus unconsciously professing ability to attain the perfection revealed by the transfiguration. The nature o f this revelation of God’s thought o f our Lord is seen in verse 35: “This is my beloved Son,” the beloved Son of Psalm 2, the appointed King. Matthew adds, “ in whom I am well pleased”—the acceptable Priest, the appointed Interces sor. And the words, “hear him,” speak of the appointed Prophet. Our Lord Jesus supersedes all the prophets, priests, and kings, who went before Him, not by con tradicting their teachings nor by altering their messages, but by fulfilling all that was said by and through them. “ To him give all the prophets witness” (Acts 10: 43). “We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand o f the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb. 8:1 ). IV. T he S ervice of O ur L ord (37-43a). Coming down from the mountain, our Lord was met by a distracted father whose son was in the toils of emissaries of Satan. Humanly speaking, there was no hope of assuaging the father’s distress or the boy’s affliction. Appeal had been made to the Lord’s disciples, but they, like the father, were helpless in the presence of the un seen but very real power o f evil. Our Lord spoke a word o f rebuke, because o f the ab sence o f faith (v. 41), but He did not leave the distressed ones to Satan’s purposes. Satan was present and must be met (vs. 42, 43a), and with a word from our Lord the evil spirit was driven out and the boy delivered to his father. It was little won der that the people were all amazed at the mighty power o f God. But alas, while recognizing the power of God, they would not acknowledge that God Himself was present in the person o f Jesus o f Naza reth who stood before them ! BLACKBOARD LESSON
Lesson Text: Lk. 9:28-43a. Golden Text: “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (John 15:5). Outline and Exposition I. T he P erfection qf O ur L ord (28, 29). O ur L ord is presented here as a Man. As such, He was manifesting the highest mark o f true humanity in the fact that He was praying. When a man prays, he is confessing his dependence upon the God to whom he prays, his confidence in that God, and his spirit of obedience to Him. As this Man prayed, His face and even His clothing took on a glory that re vealed the absolute purity of soul and the utter yieldedness of spirit which were with in Him. The glory was nothing else than the amazing perfection and matchless beauty of His own soul, as a Man—the only man who “ did no sin;” It was a revelation of the glory o f humanity, not deity; the Only Begotten Son could not be trans figured. The Lord Jesus Christ had volun tarily laid aside His heavenly glory when He came to earth. II. T he K ingdom of O ur L ord (30-32). The righteousness of the kingdom is suggested by the presence o f Moses and Elijah, two men of former ages, who ap peared-and spoke with the Lord. Moses had been the human instrument in giving the law, while Elijah had been a reformer and the vindicator of the law. Both these men had been with God on Mount Horeb (Ex. 3:1; 1 Ki. 19 :8); both had fasted forty days (Ex. 34:28; 1 Ki. 19:8) ; both had divided the waters (Ex. 14:21; 2 Ki. 2 :8) ; and both had been messengers to kings (E x. 3:10; 1 Ki. 18:1). It should be noted that the disciples only saw, they did not speak with, Moses and Elijah. The possession o f the kingdom was to be secured only through the decease, or ex odus, which our Lord was to accomplish on the cross (v. 31). His perfection re vealed that He could have gone back to heaven right then, as a Man in His own right; but had He done so, He would have -had to go back unaccompanied by those for whom He came, and without the kingdom which was promised Him. His kingdom and His people could be secured only through the work of the cross. III. : G od ' s T hought of O ur L ord (33-36). The need for this revelation of God’s [These lessons are developed from out lines prepared by the Committee on Im proved Uniform Lessons o f the Interna tional Council. The outlines are copy righted, 1934, by the International Council o f Religious Education and used by per mission .—E ditor .1
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