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January 1931 V. 43. How did Simon answer the question? Was his answer correct? Did his answer condemn him? Vs.. 44-46. What honors had the wo man paid Jesus, to which attention was called? What had Simon failed to do? Had he omitted to do some things which common courtesy demanded of a host? V. 47. Did the woman have more sins than the Pharisee? Did she recognize the greatness of her sins while the Pharisee refused to acknowledge his? Was the woman saved because she loved, or be cause she had faith? Did her love prove that she had believed? V. 48. What announcement did Jesus make ? Could any Sweeter word ever be spoken to a sinner? V. 49. How did other guests criticize Jesus? Did our Lord have a right to for give the woman’s sins? Does His power to forgive sins prove that He is God (cf. Lk. 5:21) ? V. 50. What declaration about the wo man’s faith did Jesus make? Into what did she go? Can anyone have peace whose sins are not forgiven ? * * * P ractical P oints II Judge every sinner by his attitude toward Christ and his opinion of himself. 2. The Pharisee invited Jesus to his home but kept him out of his heart—like many other respectable sinners. 3. Many, like the Pharisee and his friends, draw near to Jesus to criticize. Some, like this woman, draw near to con fess their sins and receive forgiveness. 4. The Lord Jesus always draws men. He is attractive because of His power to save (cf, John 12:24). 5. Our Lord knows the thoughts and intents of every heart. Confess all to Him now. Leave nothing hidden, to be laid bare at the judgment Seat (cf. Rom. 2:16). 6. Every sinner is a bankrupt in the sight of God. 7. It is possible for one to love but little, even after he has been forgiven much (cf. Matt. 18:23-34). 8. Salvation is always received by faith. It is manifested to the world in a life of love. 9. Sin is more than debt, but all sinners are debtors. We owe to God gifts that have been withheld, service that has not been rendered, love that has not been dis played—and much more. Yet with con fidence we can say, “Jesus paid it all.” 10. The very day this sinful woman came to Jesus, she heard Him say, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy- laden” (Matt. 11:28). She accepted the invitation of Christ and found rest. 11. This woman received forgiveness for the past, she entered into peace for the present, and she had the prospect of un ending glory for the future. Such is the privilege of every saved sinner. 12. Two proofs of the deity of Christ appear in this lesson: He read the thoughts of men and He forgave sin. * * * G olden T ext I llustration There is a celebrated painting entitled, “Nothing to be Done.” It is one of An tonio Rotta’s scenes of Venetian peasant life. A young girl has brought a pair of shoes to the village cobbler to be repaired. His is a typical old-fashioned shoe re pair shop. The old cobbler at his bench looks the part of a connoisseur in his humble but most useful art. The paint-
she had been so bad; and now she wanted to do better. She didn’t like it when she saw how rude Simon was to Jesus. She remembered how. good Jesus had been to her. And it made her cry. Her tears fell on Jesus’ feet. So Jesus’ feet were bathed after all. They were washed with the woman’s tears. She had no towel, so she used her long hair to dry His feet. When Simon saw what was happening, I guess he felt a little ashamed of him self. But all that he thought was, “If Jesus were a prophet, He would know that this woman who is washing His feet is a great sinner.” Jesus knew all about her. But do you suppose that He was thinking about it? No, He was just sorry for Simon who didn’t even know that he, too, had sins which needed to be forgiven. —o— February 22, 1931 Jesus Bearing th e Good Tidings Lesson: Luke 8. (Lesson Text: Luke 8:1-15.) Golden Text: “He went about through cities and villages, preaching and bring ing the good tidings of the kingdom of God” (Lk. 8:1). * * * L esson in O utline I. Spreading the Good News (1-3). 1. The field—“cities and villages” ( 1 ). 2. The message—“good tidings of the kingdom” (1). 3. The m e ssen g e rs—Jesus, the twelve, and certain women (1-3): II. Parable of the Sower (4-8). 1. The hearers—“great multitude” (4)-, a. Wayside ground (5). b. Stony ground (6). c. Thorny ground (7). d. Good ground (8). 4. A call to attention (8). III. The Parable Interpreted (9-15). 1. The privileged disciples (9, 10). 2. The willfully blind (10). 3. The seed—the Word of God (11). 4. The careless, “wayside” hearers ( 12 ). 5. The shallow, “stony ground” hear ers (13). 6. The w o rld ly -m in d ed , “thorny ground” hearers (14). 7. The fruitful, “good ground” hear ers (15). * * * A pproach to the L esson T TP to this time, the Lord Jesus had met at least four successive attacks by the Pharisees. The first two revolved around the question of the Sabbath (cf. Matt. 12:2, 10). In the third attack, they ques tioned the power by which He cast out demons (Matt. 12:24). In the fourth, they demanded a sign from heaven to substan tiate His Messianic claims (Matt. 12:38; Mk. 8:11). In charging that Jesus was in league with Beelzebub in the casting out of demons, the Pharisees had committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It marked the point of complete and final separation between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. The parable of the sower illustrates Jesus’ own experience. Among the Scribes and Pharisees were hard-hearted, “way- 2. The sower (5). 3. The soils (5-8).
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ing is done with all the minute detail for which the artist is justly noted. The bird cages, the old Chianti flask on the shelf, humbly filling the office of a container for shoe oil, the implements of trade, and the old shoes on the floor—all have been the recipients of the artist’s most careful at tention. The old cobbler is not unac quainted with hard tasks in his line of work. Scattered about the floor are speci mens of hard-worn shoes, some of them looking hopelessly beyond redemption; but all in their turn are to experience a decid ed change for the better in the hands of the aged tradesman. The shoes brought in by the peasant girl have certainly done full duty. She looks as if she rather ex pects an unfavorable verdict. The old cobbler holds one of the shoes in his left hand, gives it a close examination with his experienced eye, and sees that any attempt at mending it is entirely out of the ques tion. With a deprecating gesture of his upturned right hand, he shakes his head and says, “Nothing to be done.” Here was one case that was hopeless indeed. But, thank God, in the case of the hu man soul there is always something to be done. No man has ever gone so far down in sin that Jesus Christ cannot reach him and lift him up. * * * Jesus and Those Who Do Wrong Luke 7:36-50 Memory VersA— ' Thou Lord, art good, and ready to forgive” (Psa. 86:5). Approach.— Wouldn’t you feel bad if you went to a friend’s house to a party and your friend didn’t come to meet you when you rang the doorbell, and didn’t polite way to treat a guest was to give him a basin of water and a towel to bathe his feet, for his feet would have become dusty from walking along the road; and, instead of shaking hands, in that day men greeted each other with a kiss. Lesson Story. —One day a wealthy man (his name was Simon, too, but he was not Simon Peter) invited Jesus to have din ner with him and some of his friends. He didn’t really love Jesus. I don’t believe that he thought Jesus was the Son of God, for he was very rude to Him. He didn’t greet Him with a basin of water nor with a kiss. Simon thought that Je sus was just an ordinary poor man, and that it wouldn’t matter how he treated Him. But someone else thought that it did matter. It was a woman whom the Bible calls a sinner. •She had been a very wicked woman, but Jesus had made her feel sorry that take your hat and coat from you or tell you to sit down? In Jesus’ day, the
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