LESSON XI.—SABBATH, JUNE 10, 1890
PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM, AND THE OBEDIENT ELEMENTS.
On the Shore and Sea of Gennesaret.
37 "Now AS He spake, a Pharisee asketh Him to dine with 38 Him; and He went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter; but your 40 inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. Ye foolish ones, did not He that made the outside make the inside also? 41 Howbeit give for alms those things which are within, and behold, all things are clean unto you. 42 "But wo unto you Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over judgment and the love of God; but these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other un43 done. Wo unto you Pharisees! for ye love the chief seats in 44 the synagogs, and the salutations in the market-places. Wo unto you! for ye are as the tombs which appear not and the men that walk over them know it not. 45 "And one of the lawyers answering saith unto Him, Master, 46 in saying this Thou reproachest us also. And He said, Wo unto you lawyers also: for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one 47 of your fingers. Wo unto you! for ye build the tombs of the 48 prophets, and your fathers killed them. So ye are witnesses and consent unto the works of your fathers; for they killed 49 them, and ye build their tombs. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles, and 50 some of them they shall kill and persecute; that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the 51 world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary; yea, I say unto you, it shall be re52 quired of this generation. Wo unto you lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge; ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. 53 "And when He was come out from thence, the scribes and 54 the Pharisees began to press upon Him vehemently, and to provoke Him to speak of many things; laying wait for Him, to catch something out of His mouth." 1 "On that day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea2 side. And there were gathered unto Him great multitudes, so that He entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach." 18 "Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He 19 gave commandment to depart unto the other side. And there came a scribe, and said unto Him, Master, I will follow Thee 20 whithersoever Thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but 21 the Son of man hath not where to lay His head. And another of the disciples said unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and 22 bury my father. But Jesus saith unto him, Follow Me; and leave the dead to bury their own dead. 23 "And when He was entered into a boat, His disciples fol24 lowed Him. And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves; but 25 He was asleep. And they came to Him, and awoke Him, 26 saying, Save, Lord; we perish. And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!" 1. What invitation was again extended to the Saviour? Luke 11: 37. 2. In complying with the request, what act of Christ's seemed to astonish the Pharisees? Verse 38. (Mark 7: 3, 4.) 3. How did the Saviour meet the scruples of the Pharisees on this point? Verses 39-41. 4. What did Christ then pronounce upon that class because of their formalities? Verses 42-44. (Matt. 23: 23-33.) 5. At this point, what interruption did a certain lawyer offer? Verse 45. See note 1. 6. In reply, what did the Lord say of the lawyer? Verses 46-52. 7. What course was then adopted by the Pharisees? For what purpose? Verses 53, 54. (Mark 12: 13.) 9. What point of vantage did Jesus choose, from which to teach them? Verse 2. (Luke 8: 4.) 10. By what parable did He begin His teaching? Verses 3-8. Note 2. 11. Upon hearing this parable, what question did the apostles ask? Verse 10. 12. What answer did the Saviour return? Verses 11-17. (Mark 4: 11.) 13. What application did He then make of this parable? also the one about the tares? Verses 18-23, 37-43. 14. How many other parables did Jesus utter on this occasion? To what purpose? Verses 24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47. See note 2. 15. Having dismissed the audience, where did Jesus propose to His disciples to go? Matt. 8: 18. (Mark 4: 35.) 16. As they were about leaving, who came to Christ? For what purpose? Verse 19. (Luke 9: 57.) 17. What reply was made to him? Verse 20. 18. What did another say to Jesus? What answer was returned to Him? Verses 21, 22. 19. As they sailed, and Jesus rested from His arduous labors, what exciting circumstance arose? Verses 23-25. (Mark 4: 36-38; Luke 8: 23.) 21. How were the disciples affected? What questions did they ask among themselves? Verse 27. (Luke 8: 25; Mark 4: 41.) 1. THE Pharisees were a sect of the Jews, who believed that all the principles of the law needed to be elaborated, in order to be understood by the common people. They had, therefore, in the days of Christ, so elaborated these as to employ the entire worship of the people in carrying out these multitudinous forms prescribed for them. The lawyers are generally supposed to have been the same as scribes,—Pharisees learned in the law. The term "lawyer" was simply a title used in common parlance. 2. Parables.—We have not space for this scripture on the parables. There are the following in Matthew 13: Parable of the sower and its interpretation by our Lord (verses 3-9, 18-23), the parable of the tares and its interpretation (verses 24-30, 36-43); of the mustard seed (verses 31, 32); of the leaven (verse 33). Besides there is given the important instruction on the necessity of keeping the heart open and tender and willing to hear and do, in verses 10-17. Read the whole chapter carefully. It will be noticed that each of these parables relates to some particular phase of the one great subject,—the kingdom of God. The first (tares) shows the kingdom entire before sin entered, its corruption through sin, and its restoration. The next shows the growth of the kingdom in the heart, and so on through the list. These parables should be closely studied to get the most good from the teaching of Christ relative to the kingdom of God.