December, 1934
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His proof of Messiahship treated with dis dain. In these scoffers, the prophecy of tsaiah was being fulfilled; their hearts were hardened, their ears closed, and their eyes blinded (Isa. 6). To the truth al ready proclaimed, Jesus would not add the testimony of the disciples until all had been fulfilled, and He had risen from the dead. He set before His disciples the program He was to follow (v. 22). He must go to Jerusalem and suffer the many things prophesied in the Old Testament. His suf ferings were minutely foretold by the prophets, and the smallest detail must be fulfilled. He was to be rejected in spite of all His mighty works and wondrous words. The rejection would be climaxed in the slaying of Jesus. In this act of crucifixion, the whole world—the Jew with his ethics and religion, the Greek with his learning and culture, and the Roman with his power and government—was combined against the Lord of glory. But, cast out and slain, He would be seen as the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. Thus the crime of all crimes would be used by God as the means through which He would bring greatest blessing to the whole world. Jesus declared that He would not only be slain, but that He would also rise again the third day. In raising Him from the dead, God would de clare His acceptance of the One whom man rejected, and His pleasure in the sac rifice that man had spurned. II. T h e L ord ’ s I nstruction (L k . 9:23-26). After telling His disciples of His own program, the Lord warned them of the nature of the pathway they must tread, if they would continue as His disciples. To follow the Lord requires, first, a definite act of the will—a determination to accept His leadership. Second, there must be a denial of self. This requirement is some times confused with the thought of de priving oneself of certain things. But de nial of self really -means the choosing of another instead of self. The word is used in Acts 3 :14: “Ye denied the Holy One . . . and desired” another. In this case, the people had a choice of two, Jesus or Barab- bas, and they chose Barabbas, thus denying Christ.' Likewise every one who would fol low Christ must choose between two, Christ or self. Third, the cross must be assumed. This expression does not refer to the cross of Christ. Neither is it the burden that is inescapable, nor the trial from which no relief can be found. It is, rather, that which one voluntarily assumes —something that may be taken up or not at one’s own desire. Christ took up His cross and carried it to the completion of His work; now He asks us to take up our cross and carry it to the gaining of the “well done” which 'may be ours when He shall return. Finally, one must go forth, following the Lord whithersoever He may lead. This is true discipleship: self-denial, assumption of the cross, and obedience to the Lord. The reason for such a program is im mediately stated (vs. 24, 25). There is just one thing that each person has to invest —his life. Lot invested his life in material things and seemingly made a good bargain. But when the things were gone, Lot’s life .was seen to have been squandered; he had nothing to show for it. Even had he gained the whole world, instead of a mere portion of Sodom’s wealth, he actually would have made a poor bargain, because a human life is infinitely more valuable than all the
BLACKBOARD LE SSO N
about Jesus? The important thing is to follow His precepts. Now the reply to this erroneous view is very simple: How Well we follow Christ’s precepts will de pend altogether on what we really think about Him. If we regard His voice as the voice of God, we are more likely to give heed and to obey than if He is to us only a Man. 2. “But whom say ye that I am?” This question, addressed to the Lord’s disciples, proves that He was not satisfied with the conceptions held by “the people.” The greatest man might well be content to be called “John the Baptist” or “Elijah.” But our Lord was not content with such a title. He was satisfied with nothing less than a complete acceptance of His Messianic claims. “Ye call me Master and Lord,” He said to those who knew Him. And then He added: “Ye say well; for so I am” (John 13:13). 3. But how can we explain His strange word, after Peter’s great confession? “He straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing.” A num ber of explanations have been offered, some of which are helpful. But there is one thing too often overlooked: His Messiah ship had already been declared throughout the nation in deeds. It is an easy; thing to claim to be the Messiah; and other men had made just that claim. But our Lord came with deeds, the very works which the Old Testament prophets had declared would be the credentials of Messiah when He came. The testimony had been given; the people had seen; yet they had not be lieved. Could mere words add anything to what had been done (cf. Matt. 11 :l-5) ? Golden Text Dlustration At the beginning of the Reformation, Martin of Basel came to a knowledge of the truth, but, afraid to make a public con fession, he wrote on a leaf of parchment: “O most merciful Christ, I know that I can be saved only by the merit of Thy blood. Holy Jesus, I acknowledge Thy sufferings for me. I love Thee. I love Thee.” Then he removed a stone from the wall of his chamber and hid it there. It was not discovered for more than a hun dred years. About the same time, Martin Luther found the truth as it is in Christ He said: “My Lord has confessed me be fore men; I will not shrink from confess ing Him before kings.” The world knows what followed, and today it reveres the memory of Luther; but as for Martin of Basel—who cares for him? How many have ever heard of him?—D. J. B urrell , in 5,000 Best Modern Illustrations, by Hallock. How Peter Pleased Jesus M atthew 16:13-28; L uke 9:14-39 Memory Verse: “Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Approach: For three years, Peter fol lowed Jesus as His disciple. Up and down the country Jesus went preaching to the
world. Hence Jesus says that He who gains the whole world and loses his life has made a poor bargain. And the end will be, as far as disciples are concerned, that the Lord will be ashamed of them when they stand before Him at last (v. 26). III. T he L ord ’ s T emple (1 P et . 2:5, 6 ). Doubtless remembering what the Lord had said concerning building His church (Matt. 16), Peter refers to the church as a temple built of living stones (v. 5, R. V.). They are living stones because they are connected by organic union with the living Head Stone, Jesus Christ Himself. The true church is composed of born-again persons exclusively. No one who is un saved can be built into that edifice; but each one who has exercised faith in Jesus Christ finds his place in that temple erected for the glory of God. The figure changes. While believers are spoken of as living stones, they are seen also to be a holy priesthood unto God—set apart, or separated, or sanctified, by God unto this sacred occupation. They exercise their priesthood by appearing before the Lord with spiritual sacrifices and con stant intercessions. Their sacrifices are not of material things; they are spiritual: “the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name” (Heb. 13:15). We sometimes forget, under the pressure of having so much work to do, and the needs of perishing men and women, and the necessity of giving the gospel to every creature, that we have a service to perform within the holy place where none of the world may intrude, and where the needs of men are for the time forgotten, and only the eternal God is in view. We need to give ourselves to wor ship and sacrificial service. When we speak of sacrificial service, we are prone to think only of material things, given for the furtherance of the gospel. But true sacrifice involves far more. Peter’s testimony (v. 6) grew out of his great confession concerning the Lord’s per son. If we take our place with the multi tude and only accord to Jesus the place reserved for the great ones of earth, even though we give Him the very highest place among them, we will fall far short of being what the Lord desires us to be, and far short of doing what He desires us to do. We must join with Peter and de clare of Jesus, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and then bow before His true deity and worship Him as the living God and serve Him as the One who has the right to demand the fullest sacrificial service from each of us. Points and Problems 1. "Whom say the people that I am?” This question uttered by our Lord indi-» cates one thing that modern religion would like to forget, namely, that Christ was deeply interested in what men thought about Him. What difference does it make, the modern prophet cries, what we think
people, telling them that He was God’s Son who had come to save them from their sins. Je su s taught them about God and the world to come. He healed the sick and worked m a n y m ira c le s among them. After three years of know ing Jesus, still many
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