Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 2, Number 28, DeMotte, Jasper County, 2 February 1933 — IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL Lesson [ARTICLE]

IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL Lesson

By REV. P. B. FITZWATER. D. D., Mem-

Lesson for February 5 JESUS CHOOSES THE TWELVE Mark 3:7-35. GOLDEN TEXT--Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:16. PRIMARY TOPIC--Jesus Choosing Special Helpers. JUNIOR TOPIC--Taken Into Partnership. INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP-IC--Our Call to Friendship and Service. YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC--Discipleship and Its Meaning. I. The Divine Servant Ministering by the Sea (vv. 7-12). 1. Why he withdrew (v. 6). It was because of the murderous plotting of the Pharisees against his life. Their opposition began when Jesus claimed to have power on earth to forgive sins (2:10); grew in intensity when he mingled with publicans and sinners (2:16); was fanned into a violent flame when he set at naught their false interpretations of the Sabbath law (2:23-28). 2. To whom he ministered (vv. 7, 8). It was to a great multitude representing a wide stretch of territory. 3. The results (vv. 9-12). a. The disciples prepared a small ship (v. 9). So great was the pressure of the thronging multitudes that he commanded the disciples to provide the ship so that he might be saved from them. b. Unclean spirits fell down before him (vv. 11, 12). They not only bowed before him, but confessed him as the very Son of God. This testimony he refused, doubtless for two reasons: (1) The time was not ripe to proclaim him publicly as the Son of God. (2) They were not the beings to make him known. Jesus consistently refused the testimony of those who were not in moral accord with him. II. The Divine Servant Calling Associates (vv. 13-19). In this way he made provision for the carrying forward of his work after he was gone. Before choosing the twelve he spent a whole night in prayer (v. 13), (cf. Luke 6:12). From among his disciples he choose twelve whom he ordained for a twofold purpose: 1. “That they might be with him" (v. 14). Fellowship with the Lord is not only the highest privilege of the disciples, but it is an indispensable qualification for witnessing. It is needful to be with him to catch his spirit 2. "That he might send them forth to preach” (v. 14). To proclaim the good news of salvation was the supreme mission of the disciples. Concerning those who were to be the messengers of Jesus Christ, note: a. Twelve were ordained (v. 14). This was the beginning of the process by which the Triune God was to make manifest his grace to the whole world. The number twelve is the product of the heavenly three and the earthly four, thus indicating the purpose of the Triune God to reveal himself unto the four quarters of the earth. b. Their characteristics (vv. 17-19). (1) They were from the middle ranks of society, the common walks of life. (2) Men of average ability. Christ did not go to the schools for his apostles and yet he chose men of mental grasp and efficiency. (3) Men of diverse temperamental gifts. The grouping of the apostles shows men of impulse and leadership, of the reflective and inquisitive type, and men of practical business abilities. III. The Servant’s Increasing Difficulties (vv. 20-35). 1. The suspicion of his friends (vv. 20, 21). The needy people pressed upon him so that he had no time to eat. When his friends saw his zeal eating him up, they suspected that he was losing his mind. 2. The violent opposition (v. 22-30). Added to the embarrassment of the suspicion of his friends, the Lord now had to face the sneers of the scribes. 3. Visited by his mother and brothers (vv. 31-35). We are left to conjecture as to the motive to this visit. Perhaps they likewise suspicioned his mental balance. It may be that they desired to take him home and nurse him back to normalcy.