now are._ Here it behooves one to speak guardedly, for opinions
differ. The writer gives his interpretation of what the Word says.
When the Jews refused to receive Jesus as their Messiah, the Apostles
plainly said, "We turn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:46). On account of
their hardness of heart, blindness came to Israel, and a veil fell
before their eyes. "A hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Rom. 11:25). Our Lord alludes
to this same truth when he predicts that Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled
(Luke 21:24). That Jerusalem from the days of Titus to the present day
has been thus trodden under foot of the Gentile world is only too
manifest to all who know its sad history.
In this period our lot is cast, and thus we become actors in the great
Divine drama of the New Testament. Solemn thought, and one calculated
to make us feel the serious nature of our responsibility.
#109. Fifth Period.#--This is yet to come. It will begin with the
"lifting of the veil" from the eyes of Israel. When that is to begin
we know not, and it is neither safe nor wise to venture any guess. But
that it will come in due time is as sure as that all the other
predictions of Old and New Testament have had their commencement and
their close. It will be a great day, for, as the Apostle Paul says,
"if the casting away of them [Israel] is the reconciling of the world,
what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" (Rom.
11:15). That will be a day of vast ingathering into the kingdom of
God, and then Jesus shall see of the travail of his soul and be
satisfied.
#110. Then Comes the End.#--Jew and Gentile will then be one, and the
final triumph of the Redeemer will be ushered in. Then the ransomed
and redeemed of the Lord shall unite in singing praises to him who has
loved them and bought them, and has brought them home to glory. (There
are differences of opinion as to the last two periods in this New
Testament story. Let the student go to the law and the testimony, as
referred to above, and decide for himself whether the writer is upheld
in his laying out of these two great periods.)
Test Questions
How long an interval of silence is there between the Old and the New
Testament times?
Give the prelude to the New Testament Period.
In what does the first period consist?
How long does the first period last?
Give the title of the second period.
How long did this period continue?
What is the third period called?
Into what two divisions may this period be divided?
What was the significance of the admission of the Gentiles to the
church?
Give the fourth period.
Name the fifth period.
What Scripture is there in support of these two periods?
Lesson 2
The Life of Jesus--Thirty Years of Preparation
New Testament Division--Second Period
#The Life of Jesus# may be considered under five subdivisions:
Silence, Obscurity, Popularity, Opposition, The Passion Week.
#Thirty Years of Silence.#--The Bible narrative tells but
little of these early years; but one public utterance of
Jesus is referred to until he was thirty years of age.
#NOTE.--The harmony of the four Gospels used in the following
chapters is not intended to be memorized. It is placed here
in order to familiarize the pupil with its use, and to afford
a ready means to locate the events in the Life of Jesus.#
-----------------------------+---------+--------+---------+-------
EVENTS | MATTHEW | MARK | LUKE | JOHN
-----------------------------+---------+--------+---------+-------
Introduction. | ... | 1:1 | 1:1-4 | 1:1-18
| | | |
The Genealogies. | 1:1-17 | ... | 3:23-38 |
| | | |
Appearance of an Angel to | | | |
Zacharias. | ... | ... | 1:5-25 |
| | | |
An Angel Appears to Mary, | | | |
Annunciation. | ... | ... | 1:26-38 |
| | | |
Mary Visits Elisabeth. | ... | ... | 1:39-56 |
| | | |
Birth of John the Baptist. | ... | ... | 1:57-80 |
| | | |
An Angel Appears to Joseph. | 1:18-25 | | |
| | | |
The Birth of Jesus, etc. | ... | ... | 2:1-21 |
| | | |
Presentation in the Temple | | | |
(1, 2). | ... | ... | 2:22-38 |
| | | |
Visit of the Magi. | 2:1-12 | | |
| | | |
Flight into Egypt, etc. (3). | 2:13-18 | | |
| | | |
Return to Nazareth (4). | 2:19-23 | ... | 2:39,40 |
| | | |
Jesus Goes to the Passover | | | |
(5, 6). | ... | ... | 2:41-52 |
| | | |
Ministry of John the Baptist.| 3:1-12 | 1:2-8 | 3:1-18 |
-----------------------------+---------+--------+---------+-------
(The harmony reproduced here is taken from Professor Riddle's
Outline Harmony of the Gospels; and the Journey Maps are
reproduced from Arnold's Chart of Christ's Journeyings and
Chart of Paul's Journeyings.)
#TIME.#--5 B. C. to A. D. 26.
#PLACES.#--Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Egypt, Nazareth.
[Illustration: PERIOD OF PREPARATION
Copyright, 1898, BY JOHN D. WATTLES & CO.
The figures attached to the journeys refer to events
mentioned in the first column on the opposite page. A
method for using these Journey maps is suggested in
the section entitled Teaching Hints, in the Appendix.]
#SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS.#--The fulfilment of prophecy is strikingly
shown in the events surrounding the coming of Christ and the
preparation for his ministry; and the preaching of John the Baptist
epitomized the message which Jesus was about to proclaim.
The Incomparable Life
#111. The Thirty Years of Silence.#--To these years the Gospels give
small space. Only Matthew and Luke make any mention of them, and these
give to them only four chapters. All the rest of the Gospels are
devoted to the three and a half years of the Lord's active ministry.
#112.# Take, now, first what we _know_ of this early life. It was
lived in Nazareth, in Galilee. Nazareth was a town where caravans
rested on their journeys between Damascus and Egypt. It was a rough
town, as we may infer by the remark of Nathanael, "Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). His home was that of a workingman,
as Joseph was a carpenter. It was therefore the home of a poor man.
Doubtless he himself followed for all those years of silence, the
trade of his reputed father. So Jesus was truly a workingman himself.
His mother was exceptionally godly, as we see by her wonderful
outburst of song in Luke 1:46-55. This song is fairly saturated with
the spirit of the old prophets. Joseph also gives signs of his fear of
the Lord during these early years in more ways than one. Thus we may
be sure that the "atmosphere" of that home was conducive to godliness.
He was taught the Scriptures from his youth. This is apparent from his
great familiarity with them, shown in his later years. To this we
shall refer later.
#113. His Early Education.#--Of course he was taught to read and
write, as every Jewish boy was. He also had the advantage of frequent
visits to Jerusalem, for the visit referred to by Luke, at twelve
years of age, was only the first of a long series of such visits. No
doubt after that first visit he went up to the Holy City every year to
the feast. A lad of his type of mind would not let such an opportunity
pass without taking advantage of it each time that it came. So much we
may say we practically know about these thirty years. But there is
much that we may legitimately _infer_, and when guardedly used,
inference is a legitimate source of knowledge. If you will let me go
into a man's library, I may be able to infer with much accuracy the
calling of that man. If the majority of the books are medical or
legal, I infer that the man is a doctor or a lawyer. If the majority
of the books that are worn are light fiction, my inference is of a
totally different nature. If, to change the illustration, I go to the
home of a lady, and in the afternoon find that I can write my name in
the dust on the polished piano-lid, I infer somewhat about the
housekeeper in whose home I am.
#114.# Making, then, reverent use of inference, what may we learn
about these thirty years of our Lord's life, and of the influences
that were at work all that time? Who were his teachers? For, bear in
mind, that at the time of Jesus' entry into his public ministry, he
came as a full-fledged man, who was prepared for his life's work.
#115. Nature Taught Him.#--Nature is God's first book, and if man had
not sinned, he would have needed no other. To Jesus, nature was an
open volume, and he read it in all its spiritual significance. While
other boys saw only that which was outward, he saw that which was
inward and had spiritual meaning. To him the lily spoke of his
Father's care, the leaven that he saw in his mother's house spoke to
him of the way in which the kingdom of God grew in this world. The
mustard seed was an illustration of the growth of truth. Many of his
most simple and precious teachings were drawn thus from nature.
Sparrows, seed and tares, fig-tree, salt, and many other objects of
nature told him of things unseen.
#116. Men Taught Him.#--He doubtless mingled much with them in
Nazareth, and it is not hard to imagine the boy going to the
camping-place of the passing caravans, and listening to the tales that
the men from far countries had to tell. The stories that he afterward
made use of were in many cases doubtless gathered from such sources.
But he made them illustrate things unseen and spiritual. Look at his
parables, and see how true this may easily be. The ten virgins may
well have been a story that he heard, and of which he made such solemn
use in his ministry. Is it unnatural to suppose that in these
gatherings of men he may have heard some one tell of a pearl merchant
and his fortune in finding a peculiarly valuable pearl? In due time he
used this story to illustrate the wisdom of staking all on one
superlative venture. Look at his parables, and see how he made use of
the interests of men in making clear the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God. The sower, the lost silver, the prodigal son, children
in the market-place, the rich fool, the vineyard and the
laborers--these and many more show how richly the relationships of men
with their fellow-men instructed him.
#117. The Bible Taught Him.#--He was most familiar with its teachings,
and knew how to use them on the spot, without reference to commentary
or concordance. We find in his sayings reference to, or quotations
from, the following books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 1 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 2
Chronicles, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Jonah, Joel, Hosea, Micah, Zechariah, and Malachi--22 in all. Had all
the utterances of our Lord been given to us, I doubt not that we
should have found that he quoted from every book of the Old Testament.
For bear in mind that we have only a very small part of what our Lord
said preserved for us. His recorded words are only 38,422, or the
equivalent of ten short sermons. But for three years he was speaking
incessantly.
#118. Prayer Taught Him.#--His habit of spending all night in prayer
was not one acquired of a sudden. No doubt he spent many a night in
prayer while he was still at the carpenter's trade. But the
prayer-habit is one calculated to shed much light on things that lay
hold on eternal truth. All spiritual seers are men of much prayer.
#119. Finally, His Visits to Jerusalem Taught Him.#--Not in vain did
he go at least 18 times to that city before his public ministry began.
It was in this way that he saw the formality of the Pharisaic party,
and the self-seeking of scribe and chief priest. So when he denounced
them so fiercely in later times, he did it not out of an experience of
day before yesterday, but out of years of observation. Such were some
of the influences that surrounded him, and the teachers that prepared
him during those thirty years of silence for his great work. Thus,
when the fulness of time came, he stepped forth full armed for the
contest with the powers of darkness.
Test Questions
Where were Christ's thirty years of silence spent?
What was our Lord's trade?
What can we say of the religious life of his mother and of his father?
In what way is inference a legitimate ground of knowledge?
What is the first of the teachers of our Lord during that time that is
mentioned?
Give the second of his teachers.
What else did he have as teacher?
Illustrate each of these somewhat in detail.
What else taught him?
What is the last of these teachers mentioned?
Lesson 3
The Year of Obscurity
New Testament Division--Second Period
#Religious Life# of the time was marked by absence of
idolatry, by the presence of numerous synagogues and of
reverence for the Scriptures.
#Government# was that of a foreign nation--Rome.
---------------------+------------+----------+-----------+--------
EVENTS | MATTHEW | MARK | LUKE | JOHN
---------------------+------------+----------+-----------+--------
| | | |
Baptism of Jesus. | 3:13-17 | 1:9-11 | 3:21-23 |
| | | |
The Wilderness. | | | |
Temptation of Jesus | 4:1-11 | 1:12,13 | 4:1-13 |
(1, 2). | | | |
| | | |
The Witness of John, | ... | ... | ... | 1:19-51
etc. | | | |
| | | |
Cana. The First | | | |
Miracle. Capernaum | ... | ... | ... | 2:1-12
(3, 4). | | | |
| | | |
Jerusalem. First | | | |
Cleansing of the | ... | ... | ... | 2:13 to
Temple, etc. (5). | | | | 3:21
| | | |
Ministry in Judea. | | | |
Witness of the | ... | ... | ... | 3:22-36
Baptist. | | | |
| | | |
Imprisonment of John | | | |
the Baptist. Jesus | 14:3-5; | 6:17-20; | 3:19,20; | 4:1-3
leaves Judea, etc. | 4:12 | 1:14 | 4:14 |
| | | |
Jacob's Well. | | | |
Discourse with | | | |
Samaritan Woman, | | | |
etc. (6). | ... | ... | ... | 4:4-42
---------------------+------------+----------+-----------+--------
#TIME.#--A. D. 26 to A. D. 27.
#PLACES.#--Wilderness of Judea, Bethany beyond Jordan, Cana, Sychar,
Jerusalem, Judea.
[Illustration: JUDEAN MINISTRY
Copyright, 1898, BY JOHN D. WATTLES & CO.
The figures attached to the journeys refer to events
mentioned in the first column on the opposite page.]
The Incomparable Life (Continued)
#120. The Year of Obscurity.#--Before examining this at all, it will
be well to consider the state of national life into which the life of
the Master was projected. It was not like that which we have seen
prevailed so constantly before the captivity, for there was now among
Jews no idolatry of any kind to be found. This was a great gain.
Moreover, it was a national life under subjection to a foreign and
Gentile power. With this power the Lord had to reckon, of course. Once
more there was great reverence for the written Word, which was now
more full than it ever had been, for the Old Testament, as we have it,
was all in existence. There was to be found in every Jewish town the
synagogue, where the law was read and expounded. This institution was
an outgrowth of the captivity experience, and was most valuable. But,
alas! there was also much of formality, especially among the religious
leaders. They had so added to or explained the written law that it had
become void through the traditions of men. Much religiosity, but
little true religion, was to be found. Yet among the lowly there was
still true religion, as shown by such persons as Zacharias and
Elisabeth, Joseph and Mary, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Into a national
life such as is here very briefly indicated, Jesus came forth.
#121. The Baptism.#--He is introduced to us in this year, first at his
baptism (Matt. 3:13). Here we have our first foreshadowing of the
Trinity, for here the Son stands, praying, while at the same time the
Father's approving voice is heard, and the Holy Spirit descends and
rests on the Son.
#122. The Temptation.#--This is at once followed by the forty days of
temptation in the wilderness. Of this experience we are given but
three specific instances. These seem to be typical of all the rest,
and relate to: 1. Unlawful use of his miraculous power for himself. 2.
Dramatic display of his power as Messiah. 3. Absolute turning from his
life-purpose for the sake of self-aggrandizement. All these, it is
worthy of note, are resisted, by the use of the written Word, which in
Jesus' hands is a mighty sword. The fundamental reason for this
assault on the part of Satan may be found in the undoubted fact that
the Adversary knew that Jesus had come to this world to destroy his
works. Demons knew who Jesus was long before men did. On that account
the great assault was made, for if Jesus could be stumbled into sin,
then he could not be Saviour, since he himself would need to be saved.
Had Jesus yielded in the wilderness, Calvary would not have been of
any avail.
#123. The First Disciples.#--During this first year Jesus gained many
disciples, though he himself did not, like John the Baptist, baptize
them. This he left to his chosen disciples. This shows that the
popularity of the Baptist had at this time already begun to wane, as
he himself predicted that it would. Not many miracles are recorded
during this period, though we know that the one in Cana of Galilee was
the first of a series. The gathering of disciples, who later became
apostles, begins in this year. In one day the record indicates that he
gained six of these (John 1:35-51).
#124. The Cleansing of the Temple.#--A most dramatic event in this
year is his first cleansing of the Temple. The extortion practised in
the court of the Temple filled him with indignation and he drove out
the money changers, and dealers in cattle and doves, declaring that
his Father's house was a house of prayer, while they had made it a den
of thieves. This drew on him the antagonism of the rulers under whose
fostering care, or at least through whose negligence, these abuses had
grown up. This antagonism never ceased until they had worked on him
their will on Calvary.
#125. Interview with Nicodemus.#--It was during this first year that
we have two most remarkable dialogues of our Lord. The first is that
with the ruler Nicodemus. At this interview either John the evangelist
must have been present, or else Jesus or Nicodemus must have told John
what was said. In this dialogue occurs the most significant sentence
that the world has ever heard, having within twenty-four words more of
Divine truth than any other similar number of words ever
uttered,--John 3:16. In this verse, as Dr. Arthur T. Pierson puts it,
we have five couplets:
1. God the Father and the Son, as the originators of salvation.
2. The Divine action, "loved," and "gave."
3. Those toward whom this action was directed. "The world," and to
make it personal, "whosoever."
4. The condition on which the Divine gift may be had. "Believe," and
therefore "have."
5. That for which all this action is taken, "not perish," but have
"everlasting life."
#126. The Woman of Samaria.#--In this year too, at its close, comes
the interview with the woman at Jacob's well, in Samaria. It is well
worth noticing that to a woman, and she a Samaritan woman, Jesus
poured out truth as prodigally as he did to Nicodemus, a ruler of his
own nation. The result of this interview was the adherence of a large
number of Samaritans to the Master. All the above story of this first
year of our Lord's public ministry we learn only from the Gospel of
John, each of the other evangelists beginning his story with the
Galilean ministry.
#127.# Note that our Lord's whole public life is condensed into three
and a half short years. Yet what a wonderful work he accomplished in
that period! The active life of Alexander the Great was thirteen
years, and that of Napoleon twenty-three years. In those years these
two men wrought wonders. But their empire has long since passed away.
The empire of the Master is to-day wider than ever, and the work of
those three years and a half will never cease to be felt. This is
because he was more than mere man, and brought to his task super-human
power and knowledge.
Test Questions
State the condition of Palestine religiously at the time of our Lord's
entry into public life.
What was the value of the synagogue?
Give the first event of the year in question.
Of what doctrine do we see the foreshadowing at Christ's baptism?
Give the threefold nature of the temptations of which we have record.
What reason may we assign for the attempt of Satan to draw Christ to
sin?
With whom did Jesus have a most significant interview in Jerusalem?
Give the five couplets in John 3:16.
With whom did Jesus have another interview at Jacob's well?
What was the result of that interview?
What is there significant in the brevity of our Lord's public life as
compared with that of Alexander or Napoleon?
Lesson 4
The Year of Popularity
New Testament Division--Second Period (Continued)
------------------------+-----------+----------+----------+--------
EVENTS | MATTHEW | MARK | LUKE | JOHN
------------------------+-----------+----------+----------+--------
Public Teaching in | 4:17 | 1:14, 15 | 4:14, 15 | 4:43-45
Galilee. | | | |
| | | |
Cana. Healing of the | ... | ... | ... | 4:46-54
Nobleman's Son (1). | | | |
| | | |
Rejection at | 4:13-16 | ... | 4:16-31 |
Nazareth (2). | | | |
| | | |
Sea of Galilee. Call of | 4:18-22 | 1:16-20 | 5:1-11 |
the Fishermen, etc. (3).| | | |
| | | |
Healing of Peter's | 8:14-17 | 1:21-34 | 4:31-41 |
Wife's Mother, of a | | | |
Demoniac, etc. | | | |
| | | |
Preaching Tour through | 4:23-25 | 1:35-39 | 4:42-44 |
Galilee (4). | | | |
| | | |
Healing of a Leper. | 8:2-4 | 1:40-45 | 5:12-16 |
| | | |
Healing of a Paralytic, | 9:2-9 | 2:1-14 | 5:17-28 |
etc. | | | |
| | | |
Jerusalem. Healing of | ... | ... | ... | 5:1-47
Infirm Man, etc. (5, 6).| | | |
| | | |
Sabbath Controversies, | 12:1-14 | 2:23 to | 6:1-11 |
etc. | | 3:6 | |
| | | |
Multitudes Gather by | 12:15-21 | 3:7-12 | 6:17-19 |
the Sea. | | | |
| | | |
Galilee. Choice of the | 10:2-4 | 3:13-19 | 6:12-16 |
Twelve (7). | | | |
| | | |
Sermon on the Mount. |5:1 to 8:1 | ... | 6:20-49 |
| | | |
Capernaum. Healing of | 8:5-13 | ... | 7:1-10 |
Centurion's Servant (8).| | | |
| | | |
Nain. Raising of the | ... | ... | 7:11-17 |
Widow's Son (9). | | | |
| | | |
John the Baptist Sends | 11:2-19 | ... | 7:18-35 |
Messengers to Jesus. | | | |
| | | |
Discourse of Jesus | 11:20-30 | | |
about his Mighty Works. | | | |
| | | |
Our Lord Anointed by a | ... | ... | 7:36-50 |
Woman. | | | |
| | | |
Second Circuit in | ... | ... | 8:1-3 |
Galilee (10). | | | |
| | | |
Healing of a Demoniac, | 12:22-50 | 3:20-35 | 11:14-36;|
etc. | | | 8:19-21 |
| | | |
Woes against the | ... | ... | 11:37 to |
Pharisees, etc. | | | 13:9 |
| | | |
Parable of the Sower, | 13:1-53 | 4:1-34 | 8:4-18 |
etc. | | | |
| | | |
Voyage across the Lake. | 8:18-27 | 4:35-41 | 8:22-25; |
Tempest Stilled (11). | | | 9:57-62 |
| | | |
Demoniacs near Gadara. | 8:28 to | 5:1-21 | 8:26-40 |
Recrossing the Lake | 9:1 | | |
(12). | | | |
| | | |
Feast of Matthew, etc. | 9:10-34 | 2:15-22; | 5:29-39; |
| | 5:22-43 | 8:41-56 |
| | | |
Second Rejection at | 13:54-58 | 6:1-6 | |
Nazareth (13). | | | |
| | | |
Another Circuit in | 9:35-38; | 6:6-13 | 9:1-6 |
Galilee; the Twelve | 10:1, 5, | | |
Sent Forth (14). | to 11:1 | | |
| | | |
Herod's Dread of Jesus. | 14:1, 2, | 6:14-16, | 9:7-9 |
| 6-12 | 21-29 | |
------------------------+-----------+----------+----------+--------
#TIME.#--A. D. 28 to A. D. 29.
#PLACES.#--Capernaum, Galilee, Jerusalem, Nain, Gadara, Nazareth.
[Illustration: GALILEAN MINISTRY
Copyright, 1898, BY JOHN D. WATTLES & CO.
The figures attached to the journeys refer to events
mentioned in the first column on the opposite page.]
The Incomparable Life (Continued)
#128. The Year of Popularity.#--This was spent in Galilee. The
Galileans had heard of his fame from those of their number who had
seen him in Jerusalem, so it required but a few deeds of might to
arouse them to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. His activity during
this year may be studied with relation, first, to his miracles, and
second, to his teaching.