previous precedent. They sprang from him as sparks spring from the
red-hot iron of the blacksmith under the hammer. There must have been
single days when he wrought hundreds of miracles. Take that Sabbath
day in Capernaum as an example. In the morning in the synagogue he
healed a demoniac. In the later part of the day he healed Peter's
mother-in-law. Then, as the sun was setting, there came to him all in
that city that had maladies of any kind, and he healed them all. A
wonderful day that, for Capernaum. No wonder that later on he referred
to that city as exalted to heaven. His miraculous power manifested
itself over disease of every kind. No malady was unreachable by him.
The three characteristics of his healing ministry were, first, it was
instantaneous--there was no period of convalescence. Deathly sick one
moment--perfectly well the next; this was the history of each patient.
(One exception there is to this, and that is of the man who needed two
touches to cure his blindness (Mark 8:24.) Was the man's faith at
fault?) Second, it was perfect--there were no signs of weakness left
and no relapses. How unlike the frequent experience under even the
best of modern physicians! In the third place, it was all _without
money or price_.
#130. His Power# was equally great over death. He called, and Lazarus
came forth; he took the dead maiden by the hand and she arose. He
spoke to the young man on his bier and he responded. His power
extended to the spirit world, for he commanded evil spirits to come
out of men, and they obeyed. Nature obeyed his voice, as when he spoke
to the winds and the waves and they were hushed. Man, nature, and the
spirit world all recognized his power and yielded swift obedience. No
wonder that his popularity was immense under these circumstances. It
would not be possible to exaggerate the exciting scenes through which
he passed during this year. Men thronged around him so violently, and
crushed together to see and hear him so vehemently, that many were
thrown down and trampled on. Wild cries must have come from the masses
of people who so excitedly pressed near to him. They actually broke up
the roof of one house so as to get into his presence the patient for
whom they craved his services. He had not time so much as to eat in
peace, as they gave him no respite (Mark 6:31).
#131. His Miracles as Lessons.#--All these miracles of his were in
reality also object-lessons to lead men to an apprehension of things
invisible and spiritual. If he healed a man born blind, it was to make
men see that they needed spiritual sight. If he touched the deaf man's
ears and made him hear, what was this but an object-lesson showing
that they woefully needed spiritual hearing? And if he raised the
dead, this, too, was to teach a great spiritual truth, namely, that
he was the resurrection and the life.
#132.# In all this wonderful life we are glad to note how much of
happiness must have come to the Master as he saw the sick made
instantly well. At the same time his gift of healing sometimes brought
to him exquisite sorrow, as in the case of the ten lepers, nine of
whom did not think it worth their while to go back to say, "Thank
you." It was at this time in his ministry that the Master began to bid
men whom he helped hold their peace, for there was really danger that
the excited throngs would develop into uncontrollable mobs, and that
the Roman government would find it necessary to interfere.
#133. His Teaching# was apparently less important than were his
miracles, though it was really more important. If we could have only
the miracles, or the teaching, we would at once take the teaching. The
miracles were chiefly temporary in their effect, while the influence
of the teaching is eternal. In view of the fact that, as noted in
Lesson 2, we have so few of his words recorded, we may well wonder at
their power. As he said, "the words that I have spoken unto you are
spirit, and are life" (John 6:63).
#134.# His teaching was characterized by its #boldness#. He taught
them as one who had authority, for he knew by inward experience the
truth of all that he uttered. The Scribes were more like parrots, for
they repeated the opinions of those who had gone before them, and had
no true vision of things spiritual. Jesus, on the other hand, did not
hesitate to quote passages from Moses, and set them aside, on his own
authority. He had larger vision than had the great lawgiver, and he
was well aware of that fact. "Ye have heard that it hath been
said--but I say unto you," such was his confident manner of teaching.
And the results of his teaching have fully substantiated his claim.
#135.# In his teaching he was #infinitely tender# with confessed sin,
but at the same time he was equally stern against professed holiness.
No more terrible words have ever been spoken than those of the Master
against the Scribes and Pharisees, on account of their hypocrisy. To
read them with any adequate conception of the occasion is to feel
almost terrified at their vehemence. On the other hand, no zephyr was
ever more gentle than were his words to those who felt their sin and
wished to abandon it.
#136.# In his teaching he #made much use of parable#, for this was in
reality a picture, and he knew that pictures convey truth and are
remembered longer than any other form of speech. What an array of
pictures his parables have hung in the galleries of our memories!
Prodigal Son, Good Samaritan, Ten Virgins, Lost Sheep, Unjust
Judge--what are these but pictures that we cherish, and from which we
gain eternal truths of the most precious nature?
#137.# His teaching for the most part revolved around the idea of #the
Kingdom of God on Earth, and Himself as its Center#. Let the student
look up all the parables of the Kingdom and he will realize the truth
of this statement. The reason why even his nearest disciples
misunderstood him so, and thought that this kingdom was to be like
that of David, was that they did not put the emphasis in the right
place. They thought of "The _kingdom_ of God," while he thought of
"The Kingdom of _God_." There is a great difference between these two
forms of emphasis. The one led them to ask for places on his right and
left in his kingdom; the other emphasized the truth that the Kingdom
of God is within you. Thus in the midst of great excitement, this
year of popularity was spent. Tours through Galilee were like
triumphal processions, and the throngs were never weary of crowding on
him and the disciples. Alas! that the people should not have better
appreciated the inwardness of his mission, but should have taken in
only that which was temporal and not eternal!
Test Questions
What is the second year of our Lord's life called?
Where was it for the most part spent?
What two chief characteristics marked this year?
Over what did the Master show his power?
Name the peculiarities of his healings.
Of what may the miracles be said to be object-lessons?
Which was more truly important--his miracles or his teaching? Why?
What two characteristics did his teaching possess?
Why did he make so much use of the parable?
Around what thought did most of the Lord's teaching revolve?
Why did the disciples so misunderstand him?
Lesson 5
The Year of Opposition
New Testament Division--Second Period (Continued)
-----------------------+-----------+----------+----------+---------
EVENTS | MATTHEW | MARK | LUKE | JOHN
-----------------------+-----------+----------+----------+---------
Sea of Galilee. Return | | | |
of the Twelve, etc. | 14:13-21 | 6:30-44 | 9:10-17 | 6:1-14
| | | |
Jesus Walks upon the | 14:22-36 | 6:45-56 | ... | 6:15-21
Water. | | | |
| | | |
Discourses, etc. | 15:1-20 | 7:1-23 | ... | 6:22-71
| | | |
Northward Journey. | | | |
Region of Tyre and | | | |
Sidon (1, 2). | 15:21-28 | 7:24-30 | |
| | | |
Return to Eastern Side | | 7:31 to | |
of the Lake, etc. (3). | 15:29-38 | 8:9 | |
| | | |
The Lake Crossed. A | 15:39 to | | |
Sign from Heaven | 16:4 | 8:10-13 | |
Demanded (4). | | | |
| | | |
The Lake Recrossed. | | | |
The Leaven of the | 16:5-12 | 8:14-21 | |
Pharisees (4). | | | |
| | | |
A Blind Man Healed. On | | | |
Way to Bethsaida (4). | ... | 8:22-26 | |
| | | |
The Confession of | 16:13-38 | 8:27 to | 9:18-27 |
Peter, etc. | | 9:1 | |
| | | |
Mount Hermon. The | | | |
Transfiguration (5). | 17:1-13 | 9:2-13 | 9:28-36 |
| | | |
Healing of the | 17:14-20 | 9:14-29 | 9:37-43 |
Demoniac Boy. | | | |
| | | |
Prediction of Death | | | |
and Resurrection. | 17:22, 23 | 9:30-32 | 9:43-45 |
| | | |
Arrival at Capernaum, | 17:24 to | 9:33-50 | 9:46-50 |
etc. (6). | 18:35 | | |
| | | |
Jerusalem. Jesus | | | |
attends the Feast of | ... | ... | ... | 7:1 to
Tabernacles (7, 8). | | | | 8:59
| | | |
Return to and Final | | | |
Departure from Galilee | | | |
(9). | 19:1, 2 | 10:1 | 9:51-56 |
| | | |
Mission of the | ... | ... | 10:1-37 |
Seventy, etc. | | | |
| | | |
Bethany. Visit to | | | |
Martha and Mary (10). | ... | ... | 10:38-42 |
| | | |
Healing of a Man Born | | | | 9:1 to
Blind, etc. | ... | ... | ... | 10:21
| | | |
Jerusalem. Jesus at the| | | |
Feast of Dedication. | ... | ... | ... | 10:22-42
| | | |
Retirement to Perea. | | | 11:1-13; |
Discourses, Parables, | ... | ... | 13:10 to |
etc. (11). | | | 17:10 |
| | | |
Bethany. Raising of | | | |
Lazarus (12, 13). | ... | ... | ... | 11:1-46
| | | |
Withdrawal to Ephraim | ... | ... | ... | 11:47-54
(14). | | | |
| | | |
Samaria. Healing of | | | |
the Ten Lepers (15). | ... | ... | 17:11-19 |
| | | |
Discourses, etc. | 19:2 to | 10:2-45 | 17:20 to |
| 20:28 | | 18:34 |
| | | |
Near Jericho. Healing | | | |
of Blind Men (16). | 20:29-34 | 10:46-52 | 18:35-43 |
| | | |
Jericho. Visit to | | | |
Zaccheus, etc. | ... | ... | 19:1-28 |
| | | |
Bethany. Anointing by | 26:6-13 | 14:3-9 | ... | 11:55 to
Mary (16). | | | | 12:11
-----------------------+-----------+----------+----------+----------
#TIME.#--A. D. 29 to A. D. 30.
#PLACES.#--Capernaum, Tyre and Sidon, Decapolis, Caesarea Philippi,
Mt. Hermon, Galilee, Jerusalem, Eastern Bethsaida.
[Illustration: PEREAN 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)
#138. The Year of Opposition.#--Our Lord's year of popularity waned
much after the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. This
miracle stirred the people to the very height of enthusiasm. Now, they
thought, we have one who is worthy to be our king. So intense was this
conviction that they wanted on the spot to proclaim him king, and
raise the standard of revolt against Rome (John 6:15). Even the
disciples seem to have been infected with this mad thought, for he
"constrained" them to go away (Matt. 14:22). On the day following,
however, the multitudes found him again, and tried to persuade him to
repeat the miracle of feeding. This he refused to do. He tried to make
them understand that he had better bread for them, even the bread of
life. But what they really wanted was only bakers' bread. They thought
that if Moses fed the people for forty years for nothing, their
Messiah should do even better than that. So, when he refused to be to
them a "commissariat department," they at once forsook him. "Many" of
his disciples "went back" at that time. For all of this read John
6:22-71. At this moment it was that Peter comes so grandly to the
front and makes his confession. When we see Peter later on denying his
Master, let us bear in mind his bold stand taken at this juncture.
#139. Opposed by the Pharisees.#--During all this year of popularity
the Pharisees were dogging the footsteps of the Master, as spies
dog the criminal. Of these Pharisees there were at this time, in
Palestine, about 6000. They were the ecclesiastical leaders of the
people, and this makes their opposition all the more ghastly. They,
who should have led the people aright, led them astray. The grounds
of their opposition were manifold. Among others were the following:
(1) They opposed him because of their _own intense pride_. They were
those who sought glory one of another, and so they could not believe
in him (John 5:44). His aims and theirs were so widely apart that they
could not even understand him. To them the glory that cometh from God
had no attractiveness. So they opposed him who was meek and lowly.
(2) They opposed him on account of _his humble origin_. He was only a
carpenter's son, and so to them was of no account. Had they made due
investigation, they would have found that he came of the line of
David, their great king. But they did nothing of the sort (Matt.
13:55-58). It was an offense to them that he came from among the
lowly, and not from some of the aristocratic families of the land. His
lack of training in the schools seems to have nettled them, so that
they exclaimed in disgusted surprise, "How knoweth this man letters,
having never learned?" (John 7:15.)
(3) They opposed him bitterly, on account of _the company that he
kept_. In contempt they said, "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth
with them" (Luke 15:2). And they continually complained that he was a
friend of hated publicans and sinners. They could not understand at
all that the very grandeur of his mission consisted just in this, that
he came to call sinners to repentance. Their complaint, as given in
Luke 15:2, called forth from him three of the grandest parables that
we have, namely, those of the lost silver, the lost sheep, and the
lost son. Especially were they angered because he had taken into the
number of his disciples the hated Matthew, the tax-gatherer.
(4) They opposed him again because of his _failure to observe the
Sabbath_ in the manner prescribed by themselves. They had made the day
one of weariness to the flesh, and had passed by deeds of mercy and
helpfulness. So when he healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda and the
man born blind, on the Sabbath, they took counsel how they might
destroy him. While they themselves would pull out a sheep or an ox
from the pit on the Sabbath, they criticized him for healing men on
that day. This brought forth from him stern condemnation, which, of
course, did not mollify their feelings toward him.
(5) Furthermore, they opposed him because he _declined to observe_
certain minute regulations of the law concerning washing of hands and
the like. These regulations they had laid on men's shoulders, but
they were not at all Divine ordinances. This is why he said, in his
denunciation of them, "they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be
borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not
move them with their finger" (Matt. 23:4). (Read the whole of Matt.
23, and you will understand better who and what these men were who
were opposing the Master.) Once more, they opposed him because he had
made such friends of the common people and had not in any way bowed
down to them, as the leaders of the people. The common people heard
him gladly, and that angered them. "This multitude who knoweth not the
law are cursed" (John 7:49). They were furious because the whole world
seemed to have gone after him, while they themselves were left in the
background. This was galling to their innate pride.
(6) What made their opposition all the worse was that though they
could not deny his miracles, they went so far as to ascribe them to
the agency of Satan. "He hath a demon, and is mad: why hear ye him?"
is what they exclaimed (John 10:20). The Pharisees said, "By the
prince of the demons casteth he out demons" (Matt. 9:34). So they
dared to ascribe to demoniac possession the deeds of him in whom the
Spirit dwelt without measure. It was this ascribing to the spirit of
darkness of the works of the Holy Spirit that brought forth from the
Master his statement concerning the unpardonable sin. It really
consisted in ascribing to the Holy Spirit the works of the prince of
darkness.
#140. Away from the Crowds.#--After the miracle of the feeding of the
five thousand, the Master was mostly in out of the way places, such as
Caesarea Philippi, Decapolis, and the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. He
feared lest the Galileans, if he wrought more miracles among them,
would raise insurrection, and so bring on him the power of the Roman
government. This would have ruined his mission to this earth. For
about six months after the miracle of the five thousand he tarried in
Galilee and its immediate vicinity before he started on his final
journey to Jerusalem. It was during these six months that the
transfiguration took place.
Test Questions
What event closes the year of popularity?
What action did the people wish to take in consequence of the miracle
of the feeding of the five thousand?
What sign have we that even the disciples were infected with this
spirit?
What did the people wish Jesus to do on the following day?
When he declined what did the people do?
All this time, what was the attitude of the Pharisees?
How many of these men were there at this time in Palestine?
Give the first ground of their opposition to him.
Give the second ground of their opposition.
Give the third ground.
Give the fourth and the fifth ground assigned for their opposition.
To what did they ascribe his power of working miracles?
Where did the Master stay for the next six months?
What marked event took place during these six months?
Test Questions for Review
Lessons 1 to 5
1. How long an interval of silence between Old and New Testament?
2. Give the limits of each of the five periods of New Testament
history.
3. How may the life of Christ be divided?
4. What was the threefold nature of Jesus' temptation?
5. What is meant by the year of obscurity?
6. With whom did Jesus have a most noteworthy interview in Jerusalem?
7. What is the second year of Christ's life called?
8. Where was it for the most part spent?
9. Why did Jesus use parables so much?
10. Around what thought did most of his teachings revolve?
11. What were the five grounds given for the opposition of the
Pharisees?
12. Where did the Master stay for six months after the year of
popularity?
Lesson 6
The Closing Week
New Testament Division--Second Period (Continued)
-----------------------+-----------+----------+----------+----------
EVENTS | MATTHEW | MARK | LUKE | JOHN
-----------------------+-----------+----------+----------+----------
Triumphal Entry into | 21:1-11 | 11:1-11 | 19:29-44 | 12:12-19
Jerusalem. | | | |
| | | |
Cursing of the Fig | 21:18, 19 | 11:12-14 | |
Tree. | | | |
| | | |
Second Cleansing of the| 21:12-17 | 11:15-19 | 19:45-48;|
Temple, etc. | | | 21:37, 38|
| | | |
Fig Tree Withered Away.| 21:20-22 | 11:20-25 | |
| | | |
Discourses, etc. | 21:23 to | 11:27 to | 20:1-47 |
| 23:39 | 12:40 | |
| | | |
The Widow's Two Mites. | ... | 12:41-44 | 21:1-4 |
| | | |
Greeks Seek to See | ... | ... | ... | 12:20-36
Jesus. | | | |
| | | |
Unbelief of the Jews. | ... | ... | ... | 12:37-50
| | | |
Prediction of the | | | |
Destruction of the | | | |
Temple. | 24:1, 2 | 13:1, 2 | 21:5, 6 |
| | | |
Discourses, Parables, | 24:3 to | 13:3-37 | 21:7-36 |
etc. | 25:46 | | |
| | | |
Conspiracy between the | 26:1-5, | 14:1, 2, | 22:1-6 |
Rulers and Judas. | 14-16 | 10, 11 | |
| | | |
The Last Supper. | 26:17-35 | 14:12-31 | 22:7-38 | 13:1 to
| | | | 17:26
| | | |
Departure to | 26:30, | 14:26, | 22:39 | 18:1
Gethsemane. | 31-35 | 27-31 | |
| | | |
Agony, Betrayal, etc. | 26:36-56 | 14:32-52 | 22:40-53 | 18:2-12
| | | |
Jerusalem. Hearing | ... | ... | ... | 18:13,
before Annas. | | | | 14, 19-24
| | | |
Night Trial before | 26:57-68 | 14:53-65 | 22:54, |
Caiaphas. | | | 63-65 |
| | | |
Three Denials of Peter.| 26:69-75 | 14:66-72 | 22:55-62 | 18:15-18,
| | | | 25-27
| | | |
Formal Condemnation by | | | |
the Sanhedrin; Jesus | 27:1, 2 | 15:1 | 22:66 to | 18:28
led to Pilate. | | | 23:1 |
| | | |
Remorse and Suicide of | | | |
Judas. | 27:3-10 | | |
| | | |
Trial before Pilate. | 27:11-14 | 15:2-5 | 23:2-5 | 18:29-38
| | | |
Jesus before Herod. | | | 23:6-12 |
| | | |
Condemned by Pilate. | 27:15-30 | 15:6-19 | 23:13-25 | 18:39 to
| | | | 19:16
| | | |
Jesus Led Away to be | 27:31-34 | 15:20-23 | 23:26-33 | 19:16, 17
Crucified. | | | |
| | | |
Calvary. The | 27:35-38 | 15:24-28 | 23:33, | 19:18-24
Crucifixion. | | | 34, 38 |
| | | |
Jesus on the Cross. | 27:39-56 | 15:29-41 | 23:35-49 | 19:25-30
| | | |
Burial of Jesus. | 27:57-61 | 15:42-47 | 23:50-56 | 19:31-42
| | | |
Guard at the Sepulcher.| 27:62-66 | | |
-----------------------+-----------+----------+----------+----------
#TIME.#--A. D. 30.
#PLACES.#--Bethany, Jerusalem.
[Illustration: MAP OF JERUSALEM AND VICINITY.
Copyright, 1898, BY JOHN D. WATTLES & CO.
With the Temple as a center a circle is drawn every
quarter mile, to assist in determining distances.]
The Incomparable Life (Continued)
#141. The Passion Week.#--Our Lord arrived at Bethany on his last
journey to Jerusalem on Friday before the Passover. On the following
Sunday came the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Reckoning from that
day to the day of his resurrection, we have eight days. How important
these days were in the minds of the evangelists may be seen from the
amount of space they give to the narrative of these days. To the three
years and more of his public ministry, the four evangelists give in
all 55 chapters. But to the eight days spoken of, they give 30
chapters. It is most significant that had they told the story of his
public ministry in as great detail, it would have occupied over 4000
chapters. This may be seen in part in the accompanying chart.
| 3-1/2 years | 8 days |
| 55 chapters | 30 chapters |
+------------------------------------------------+-------------+
#142.# _Bear in mind_ that the ecclesiastics had by this time
determined on his death. But they did not want that to take place on
the feast day, lest there should be an uproar among the people, who
believed on him. That is, they were afraid of a rescue (Matt. 26:5).
Yet it did come on the feast day. The reasons for this are as follows:
(1) His triumphal entry. The jubilation among the people angered them.
They perceived that the people welcomed him, and that they prevailed
against him not at all. Of course this was stinging to their pride,
and they feared the outcome of this popular enthusiasm.
(2) They were further angered by their failure to discomfit him in
argument in the very presence of the multitude. Their effort to
entangle him in his talk, as shown in Matthew 22:15-46, was a total
failure, and they knew that the people rejoiced at their discomfiture.
This was most galling to their pride as religious leaders of the
nation. Add to this the terrific denunciation that Jesus poured forth
on them, as told in Matthew 23:1-39, and bear in mind that this was in
the presence of all the people, and you have an explanation of the
resentment on their part.
(3) Just about at this juncture Judas came with his offer, which to
them must have seemed most timely. He knew where he could find the
Master when the people would be absent, and they relied on their
influence with Pilate to carry their scheme through swiftly, so that
there would be no chance of any rescue. So, with this combination of
circumstances, they determined to go ahead in spite of the fact of the
approaching Passover.
#143. The Trial.#--This was twofold. In the first place, it was an
ecclesiastical trial. It was before Annas (informal), then before
Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin. Here the charges were all ecclesiastical.
They were that he had spoken against the temple; that he had broken
the Sabbath, and that he was guilty of blasphemy in calling himself
the Son of God. These charges they could not prove, but that made no
difference, for the issue was already determined in their minds. So
they condemned him to death. But they had no power under the Roman
government to inflict the death penalty. So they had to take him
before the Roman Governor. This brings us to the second trial. This
was political. Here the charges were entirely different from those on
which they had condemned him to death. Now they charged him with
forbidding to pay taxes, and with setting himself up to be a king, in
rivalry with Caesar. All this was false, and they knew it, but they
cared nothing for that, so long as they could persuade Pilate to give
them the desired verdict. Pilate repeatedly declared him innocent, as
did also Herod, to whom Pilate sent him. But the ecclesiastics would
take nothing but his death as their right. So at last Pilate weakly
yielded, and gave sentence as they desired.
#144. The scene at the cross# surpasses all description. Note who were
there. Gentiles were there in the form of Roman soldiers. Jews were
there in the persons of the ecclesiastics, who reviled on the cross
him who for so long had gone about doing good. Even at this time they
bore witness to his power, crying out, "He saved others; himself he
cannot save." Had they put it, "He saved others, himself he _will not_
save," they would have been strictly within the truth. For he could
have saved himself, since it lay within his power to call for twelve
legions of angels, and they would have responded at once. Then where
would the chief priests or even the Roman soldiers have been?