Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 2, Number 46, DeMotte, Jasper County, 30 March 1933 — IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL Lesson [ARTICLE]

IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL Lesson

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

Lesson for April 2 JESUS MINISTERING TO JEWS AND GENTILES (World Friendship Lesson) LESSON TEXT--Mark 7:1-37. GOLDEN TEXT--And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. John 10:16. PRIMARY TOPIC--Little Neighbors. JUNIOR TOPIC--A Foreign Woman Meeting Jesus. INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP-IC--Our Attitude to Other Races. YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP-IC--The Ministry of Jesus to All Races. I. Jesus Dealing With the Pharisees and Scribes (vv. 1-23). The Pharisees and Scribes zealously sought to preserve Judaism from the encroachments of heathenism. In this effort they built up a wall of traditions which in turn obscured the very law of God. As they gathered together unto Christ, he taught them: 1. The emptiness of formal worship (vv. 1-7). The tendency of the human heart is to depart from the life and rest in the form which was calculated to express the life. Christ declared that worship which centered in forms was as empty and meaningless as lip service while the heart is away from God. This kind of service he calls “hypocrisy,” and it is common today. 2. It made the Word of Cod of none effect (vv. 8-13). A case in point was the consecration of earthly goods to escape the responsibilities of caring for one’s parents. This made it possible for a man to be living in luxury while his parents were in the poorhouse. 3. The real source of defilement (vv. 14-23). Sin is moral and spiritual. A man is defiled by that which springs out of his soul and not that which enters his mouth. The deliberate choice of the will is the source of defilement (v. 20). II. Jesus Healing the Daughter of the Syrophenician Woman (vv. 24-30). In sharp contrast with the apostasy of Israel and their rejection of the Savior, we see in the Syrophenician woman the foregleam of the offer of the Savior to the Gentiles. 1. The mother’s awful distress. Her daughter was grievously vexed with the devil. The daughter was the one afflicted, but the mother carried the burden. Doubtless, this Gentile woman had heard of the fame of Jesus, his power to heal, and many times longed for him to come that way that her daughter might be healed. She now came straightway to him. 2. Her fervent appeal for help (vv. 25, 26). She humbly fell at Jesus’ feet and besought him to cast the devil out 3. Her faith rewarded (vv. 27-30). a. Jesus’ apparent refusal (v. 27). According to Matthew he answered her not a word. The reason for his silence was that she appealed to him on the wrong basis, addressing him as the Son of David (Matt. 15:22). An Israelite only had a right to seek his blessing as the Son of David. He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Jesus said. “Let the children first be filled; for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it unto the dogs.” b. The woman’s quick response (v. 28). As soon as she perceived the real difficulty she addressed him as Lord and cried for help (Matt. 15:2527). Only an Israelite could approach him as the Son of David, but all could come to him and own him as Lord. She willingly took her place as a Gentile, showing her willingness to receive but the crumbs from the children’s table. c. The glorious issue of her faith (vv. 29, 30). Jesus said, “Go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter.” III. Jesus Healing a Deaf-mute (vv. 31-37), 1. The place (v. 31). This is the region where he had healed the Gadarene demoniac and where the people had requested his withdrawal from this country (Mark 5:20), because of the loss of their swine. 2. The method (vv. 33, 34). a. “He took him aside from the multitude” v. 33). He did this to avoid publicity. b. “Put his fingers in his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue” (v. 33) This was a sign language designed to objectify to the man what Jesus was going to do for him. c. “He looked up to heaven” (v. 34) to show to the man that his help was from God. d. A command issued (v. 34). The cure was immediate and complete (v. 35). 3. The effect (vv. 36, 37). Though he charged them to “tell no man,” so much the more they a great deal published it.