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T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
December 1932
Golden Text Illustration “ O h ! He is a great Forgiver.” Such were the words of a hardened sinner as he stood on the scaffold in the town o f Ayr to suf fer the last penalty o f the law for his crimes. While in prison, he had been brought to repentance; and so full was his assurance in the efficacy of Christ’s atone ment, and so real his sense of pardon, that when he came to the place o f execution, he could not help crying out to the people, “Oh! He is a great Forgiver'!” adding, “How hath perfect love cast out fear!” Truly Christ is “able to save to the utter most” (Heb. 7:25), the Sabbath day, the disciples began to pluck some ears o f corn and to eat them. This was unobjectionable as far as the act itself was concerned, because Deuteronomy 23:25 gave them this privilege. But the day happened to be a Sabbath, and upon that day no work was permitted, The Pharisees interpreted this to mean that the mere plucking o f the ears o f grain was a species of threshing; hence, unlawful. Be cause the Pharisees looked for every op portunity to condemn Jesus, they seized upon this occurrence to charge Him with allowing His disciples to break the law of the Sabbath. In their eagerness to uphold the law, they had surrounded its com mands with a host o f traditions which, in stead o f maintaining the law, actually made it of none effect. Thus legalism always turns the truth o f God into a lie. The legalistic Pharisees, as well as their descendants today, debased the. Sabbath in the following ways: (1 ) by pleading its sacredness as a reason for not doing good upon that day; (2 ) by pleading its obliga tions as a reason for trampling upon hu man need; and (3 ) by pleading its preem inence as a reason for not performing du ties o f mercy. T o these would-be law- abiders, the mere performance of ceremon ial rites meant Sabbath keeping. Because the day happened to be the Sabbath, they would let a neighbor die rather than help him, or go hungry rather than feed him. Thus they hid their inherent selfishness be hind religious excuses. But the Lord o f the Sabbath was now present, restoring to the Sabbath (1 ) its rightful position, as a gift from God to be used for man; (2 ) its useful purpose, to show forth God’s honor in meeting man’s need; and (3 ) its original purity, as a re minder of His creatorship and ownership o f all. II. T he E xample of N ecessity (2:25, 26). In reply to their objections to the dis ciples’ plucking o f the ears o f corn on the Sabbath, our Lord referred to the case of David when, in necessity, he did that which was contrary to the written word of the law. He was guiltless, because the law was never intended for man’s hurt but for his welfare. The Pharisees put the cart before the horse, as all legalists do today, by putting the means, the Sabbath, before the pur pose, God’s glory and man’s good. They placed the Sabbath in the position of the Sabbath’s Lord, the ceremonial observance o f the Sabbath in the place of its moral significance, and the ritualistic keeping of
the house I But they were not discouraged. They climbed the outside staircase to the flat roof. They lifted off some o f the tiles, until there was a hole big enough for them to lower the stretcher down into the room. Every one paused to see what Jesus would do. Would He be angry at being interrupt ed? Not Jesus ! He had come to help every one who would come to Him. He not only cured the sick man, but He forgave His sins, too. This astonished the people. Many did not realize that Jesus was the Son o f God and could forgive sins. But others, when they saw the sick man healed, knew that Jesus was the Christ, and they glori fied God. Lesson Text: Mark 2:23 to 3:6. Golden Text: “ The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath; therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath” (Mk. 2:27, 28). Holy Days in the Holy Land P a l e s t in e is the home o f the three into the promised land. Christianity came next—in a sense an outgrowth o f the Jew ish religion, although it is founded upon a “new covenant.” Six hundred years later, Mohammed founded his religion upon both a Jewish and a Chris tian basis. Although there are marked sim ilarities am o n g a ll three religions, and although, from t h e human sta n d p o in t, they had a very similar origin, yet today their adherents are bitter rivals. Their rivalry is clearly shown in their observance o f holy days. The Moham medan holy day comes first. The Koran declares that Adam was created on the sixth day of the week, consequently the faithful observe that day as a time o f rest and special religious observance. More o f them can be found in the mosques on this day than upon any other. As has been their custom from time immemorial, the Jews observe the seventh day as their Sab bath. It is usually on Friday, just before sunset, that the special ceremony is held at the famous wailing wall, but Saturday is their true Sabbath, and corresponds to the day designated in the fourth command ment. The Christians, of course, observe Sunday, the first day o f the week, as their ■ time of rest and worship. The chief char acteristic of Sunday is the incessant ring ing o f church bells. The calls to worship •begin about five o’clock in the morning, and continue throughout the day till about ten o’clock at night. The conclusion we draw from these three customs is that a day is holy not because it falls upon a certain day o f the week, but because we esteem it as holy unto the Lord (Rom. 14: S, 6). Outline and Exposition I T he E xpression of L egalism (2:23, 24). While going through the corn fields on
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JANUARY 29, 1933 JESUS AND THE SABBATH M ark 2:13 to 3:6
largest religious sects of the western world. Judaism began first in the days when Joshua led the wandering tribes
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