p. 14 | THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 27, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 13.

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

INTERNATIONAL SERIES

LESSON 13.—MARCH 31.—REVIEW.

The lessons for the past quarter were all comprised in the last week of the life of Jesus before His crucifixion. They have been a very impressive and instructive series, and will repay a careful rehearsal. The subjects were as follows:—

LESSON 1.—Jesus Anointed at Bethany. Matthew 26: 6-16. Golden Text: “She hath done what she could.” Mark 14: 8. The ointment was very costly, and was a great sacrifice for one in Mary’s circumstances. The disciples said, “To what purpose is this waste?” Mark notes that Judas was the mouthpiece of this indignation. Of course it seemed a waste to one who was willing to sell his Master for less than one-third of the value of the ointment. But Jesus, altho He knew of the sacrifice, commended the service.

LESSON 2.—The Triumphal Entry. Matt. 21: 1-17. Golden Text: “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Chapter 21: 9. Here was a fulfilment of Zech. 9: 9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” He came on an ass, as the Prince of peace, and not on a horse, as a hero of war and display. The action of the people also accorded with the declaration of the prophecy. But the rulers rejected Him, and the faith of the multitude weakened when He did not further fulfil their expectations.

LESSON 3.—Greeks Seeking Jesus. John 12: 20-33. Golden Text: “We would see Jesus.” Verse 21. These persons were Greeks who had adopted the Jewish religion; they were known as proselytes. Philip and Andrew are the only Greek names among the apostles, and it is thought that they spoke Greek, and for this reason the Greek inquirers sought thru them an introduction to Jesus.

LESSON 4.—Christ Silences the Pharisees. Matt. 22: 34-46. Golden Text: “What think ye of Christ?” Verse 42. The chapter, of which the lesson scripture is a part, and which is necessarily included in the lesson title, shows how Jesus, while not seeking controversy, was always ready and able to answer those who sought to entrap Him in His words. So the Word says to us: “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” 1 Peter 3: 15.

LESSON 5.—Parable of the Ten Virgins. Matt. 25: 1-13. Golden Text: “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” Verse 13. Watching does not mean being fretful, uncertain, or over-anxious. It means to be ready and alert, but patiently biding the Lord’s own time.

LESSON 6.—Parable of the Talents. Matt. 25: 14-30. Golden Text: “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Rom. 14: 12. The talents represent the powers and means God has given to His people with which to carry on His work. As these are well improved, others will be added. See also 1 Cor. 12: 4-11, and Eph. 4: 7-13.

LESSON 7.—The Lord’s Supper. Matt. 26: 17-30. Golden Text: “This do in remembrance of Me.” Luke 22: 19. While all Christian denominations observe in some way the Lord’s Supper, commemorating His tragic death, nearly all of them ignore the ordinance of feet washing, instituted on the same occasion, which was designed to commemorate His humility of life. So, as a rule, we find men more ready to die for Christ than they are to live for Him. The injunction to observe the one ordinance, is just as plain and positive as is the command to observe the other. See John 13: 3, 17.

LESSON 8.—Jesus in Gethsemane. Matt. 26: 36-46. Golden Text: “Not My will, but Thine, be done.” Luke 22: 42. A notable example is here given of asking the co-operation of the brethren when seeking the help of God in a trying emergency: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; tarry ye here, and watch with Me.” And how their failure saddened His already overburdened heart: “What, could ye not watch with Me one hour?” And they so much needed that co-operation for themselves: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And so it proved, for in a very short time “they all forsook Him and fled.”

LESSON 9.—Jesus Betrayed. John 18: 1-4. Golden Text: “The Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” Matt. 26: 45. Judas took advantage of the knowledge he had of the habit of Jesus of resorting to Gethsemane with His disciples. So Satan is using the wisdom he acquired in heaven in his endeavor to thwart all of God’s purpose in the plan of salvation. Yet the sacrifice of the life of Jesus was a freewill-offering; the officers could not have taken Him had He not voluntarily surrendered. But His time had come, and He was ready for the ordeal.

LESSON 10.—Jesus and Caiaphas. Matt. 26: 57-68. Golden Text: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Chapter 16: 16. In connection with the Sanhedrim, or grand council, at the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, there were also the scribes, who were learned in the literature of the church, and the elders, men chosen from the most influential laymen. “The priests were there, whose greed and selfishness Jesus had reproved; the elders, whose hypocrisy He had branded; the scribes, whose ignorance He had exposed.”—Farrar. Both Sadducees and Pharisees were represented, whose doctrines He had publicly condemned. Never was a more vindictive assembly called together.

LESSON 11.—Jesus and Pilate. Luke 23: 13-26. Golden Text: “I find no fault in this man.” Luke 23: 4. The Spirit of God dictated to the governor the true verdict—the Prisoner was innocent. But Pilate was a politician; he had not the courage of his conviction. By a vacillating course he grieved away the Spirit, and was left to the weakness of the flesh. Then he soon “saw that he could prevail nothing,” and not only yielded his own prerogative into the hands of the mob, but added the indignity of a cruel scourging upon the One whom he had pronounced innocent. Verily “the flesh is weak.”

LESSON 12.—Jesus Crucified and Buried. Golden Text: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” 1 Cor. 15: 3. He was true to His mission to the last. He had come to seek and to save the lost. On the way to Calvary He reminded the weeping women of the sad calamity that was awaiting themselves and their children. For those who nailed Him to the cross He asked forgiveness of His Father in heaven. As He hung amid the railings of His persecutors, He pointed a fellow-sufferer to the eternal kingdom; and on the repentance of the dying thief, assurance was given of a place in paradise. When He cried, “It is finished!” there was nothing on His part left undone.