what occurred in the evening of the “same day.” Jesus came and met with His disciples in blessed fellow ship. That “first day” evening makes every Sunday evening a call to wor ship God and to have fellowship with His people. “Jesus . . . in the midst" (20:19). What blessing followed when Jesus was in the midst! Peace was im parted and gladness filled believing hearts; Jesus gave His amazing com mission. This is always true when the followers of the Lord are willing for Him to be “in the midst.” In Matthew 18:20, we have the state ment of Jesus: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Many of God’s children miss a great blessing when they come together because they fail to acknowledge His presence in their midst. “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (20:22). Pentecost had not yet come, at which time the Holy Spirit would fulfill His promised ministry in the forma tion of the church. The apostles were told to wait for this "promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). In what sense was the Holy Spirit communicated to the disciples on this occasion? Undoubtedly this was but an earnest of the forthcoming Pentecostal out pouring. The disciples needed the Spirit in a special way between this first day evening and the day of Pentecost, and the Lord fitted them for their tasks. One important lesson for every child of God is that no work for the Lord can ever be done apart from the Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:6). For the Children J esus ’ F riends A re S urprised J ohn 20:3,4, 19-21 M emory V erse : "The Lord is risen indeed” (Luke 24:34). Jesus was dead! No longer could He tell the multitudes about the love of God, His Father; no longer could He heal the sick anfl raise the dead: no longer could His disciples walk and talk with Him in person. For three days, the lives of the disciples had been filled with sorrow and hopelessness. What should they do? Why had God permitted their Lord to be killed? PAGE THIRTY-SEVEN
APRIL 6, 1947 THE RISEN LORD AND HIS DISCIPLES J ohn 20:19-23, 26-29; 21:15-17
Outline and Exposition T he A ppearance of the R isen L ord (20:19,20) Fearful lest they should meet the same fate as their crucified Leader, the disciples gathered in. a secluded room and hid from their enemies. Suddenly the risen Lord appeared among them, saying, "Peace be unto you.” When He showed them His hands and side, “Then were the disciples glad,” because they had ocular proof of His resurrection, and their fear was turned to gladness. They could have been glad without such proof had they believed His previous word about His resurrection (John 2:18-22). T he C ommission of the The two small words, as and so, indicated their commission. They were to take the place o f Jesus as representatives of the Father upon earth. They would be empowered by the Holy Spirit, and were expected to exercise discipline among the be lievers. “Remission of sins” does not refer to eternal life, but. has to do with the day-by-day discipline the believers were to exercise among themselves. T he S atisfaction of T homas (20:26-29) The common expression, “Doubting Thomas,” shows how one act or word often produces a huge harvest. The skepticism of Thomas only revealed that he was cautious, honest, and slow to believe everything he heard. But he was as ready as anyone else to believe once the evidence was presented to him. The Lord has many weak, dull, and lame sheep, but He is patient with all and ready to solve the problems of each one, as He did with Thomas. It was Thomas who first declared the Lord’s deity after His resurrection, saying, “My Lord and my God.” MARCH, 1947 D isciples (20:21-23)
T he R estoration of P eter (21:15-17) As a disciple, Peter had been re stored privately after his denial; now he is to be restored publicly to Outline and Exposition B. B. S utcliffe Points and Problems H omer A. K ent For the Children A llison A rrowood y Lesson material is based A I upon outlines of Internation- Y A al Sunday School Lessons, T y copyrighted by the Interna- A I tional Council of Religious A X Education; used by permis- Y A sion. X his place as an apostle. As an apos tle, he was to guide, guard, and feed the Lord’s sheep. The supreme re quirement for such service is love; it is the essence of Christianity and the test of Christian life and service. The other disciples would hear the Lord’s question and wonder if Peter could say he loved the Lord after his denial. Peter declared: “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” The others knew of Peter's denial; the Lord knew Peter’s heart. Points and Problems "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week” (20:19). In the first verse of this chapter, we have the beginning of the story of what happened in the morning of this “same day” : the empty tomb, and Mary Magdalene’s meeting the risen Lord. The events of that morning have made every “first day” morning sacred. Because the tomb is empty, and the Lord lives, every Christian ought to desire to be in the place of prayer and praise. In verse 19 is the account of A i X X Y 1 Y a A
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