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seemed always to be drugged w ith sleep a t th e moments th a t love to H im should have kep t them most awake. H ere is one evidence th a t th e devil was near a t hand.—Aldrich. v. 47. Judas, one of th e twelve. It may seem strange to us th a t Christ should ever have adm itted Judas to the number. Our Lord acted by Jud as as He did by all th e rest. He accepted him on th e ground of a profession which was consistent as far as human eye could see. Christ received mem bers as He intended th a t we should re ceive them into His church. Jud as ac cordingly entered among th e apostles because in all outw ard things, and even in some inw ard convictions, he was like the others. H e came under th e same influences, listened to th e same invita tions and w arn ing s; and they were m eant as tru ly for J u d a ^ a s for th e rest. It would have gladdened th e h ea rt of Christ had Judas yielded to th e voice of mercy.—Ker. Drew n e a r un to Jesus. W hat a revelation is made h ere of the ch aracter of Judas! His definite plan is to break in upon Jesus in th e very place sacred to communion w ith God. Judas had been th ere ofttimes, a w it ness to the devotions of His Master, bu t never in devout sympathy. No hallowed associations w ith th a t sacred spot de te rred his treason for one moment.— Cowles. v. 5. Led Him to th e p riest’s house. The death of Christ was a voluntary su rrend ering of H imself for th e redemp tion of th e world. Knowing th e de signs of th e Pharisees against Him, He could have eluded th em by remaining beyond Jo rd an . Knowing th e purpose of Jud as to betray Him, He could have w ithdraw n to some place of safety. Now th a t His mission of teaching, heal ing and guiding was accomplished, th e hou r of sacrifice had come, and He was prepared to meet it. A t th e last, He could have summoned legions of angels to His help, b u t He gave H imself up for us.—Thompson. An Angel Helps Jesus. Luke 22:39- 48, 54. Memory Verse: “He will give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Psa. 91:11. Approach.— If I should hold up our offering basket, would th a t help you to remember w hat Jesus said about some
one who dropped an offering in the church treasu ry a BEGINNERS long tim e ago when AND PRIMARY Jesus was living Mabel L. M errill upon th is earth ? Yes, we th ink of the poor widow woman who pu t in all she had, and even though it was the smallest am ount of all the people, yet Jesu s said she had given the most. Jesus could see in h er h ea rt and knew th a t she loved Him, and p u t in all she had, tru stin g Jesus to help her get some more. You know, children, a few Sundays ago, when th e money was counted in our offering basket, there was a dime w ith a hole in it; now of course th a t dime was no good, and could not be passed a t th e store or on the stre e t car. Now we do not know who dropped it into th e basket, but is th ere some one who knows th e very boy or girl who dropped the worthless dime in? Yes, Jesu s knows, and He saw them as they walked by and dropped it in, and i t made Him feel very sad to th ink th a t any one would put money in for Him th a t was no good. Jesus sees everything we do, and hears everything we say. P rayer. Lesson Story.— Our story today tells us about Jesu s ju st a few days before his death on the cross. Even though he was th e Son of God, he loved to have his friends stay by him ju st as. friends do now. It was a tim e when Jesus suffered, and his h eart was heavy. We will feel like being very still as we listen. Jesus and his disciples were in a beautiful garden ju st outside th e city of Je ru salem. As he went fa rth e r into the garden, he left eight of the disciples, and th re e went w ith him. As they passed on, he told the th ree friends th a t he was very sad, and asked them to watch and pray. It was th e sins of th e world th a t Jesus bore, and it seemed as if his body could not b ear it, and he wished to feel th a t these d earest friends of his were' sorry for him and ready to stay n ea r by. Then he went on a little way and fell to
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