HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1938-01-06, Page 3Sunday Scho
Lesi:ij,
LESSON II
PREPARING FOR A LIFE OF
SERVICE.—Mark I11-13
Golden Text—Make ye ready the
way of the Lord. Mark 1:3.
THE LESSON IN ITS SETTING
Time,—We do not know exactly
When John the Baptist began his
preaching, but it is generally assign-
ed to the summer and fall of A.D.
26, while the baptism of Jesus took
place in January, A.D. 2'7, and was
immediately followed by the tempta-
tion.
Place. — John's preaching took
place in Judaea, the southern part of
Palestine, which included the city of
Jerusalem, though most of it was
,robably done on the eastern side of
udaea in the Wilderness near the
Jordan River, where also Christ was
baptized, and somewhere near which,
possibly on the eastern side of the
Jordan River, he was tempted.
u -.0 -♦-tea
Self in all of his human limitations
that, though he is gladly the servant
of Christ, it is only by the grace of
Goa that he is such, for in himself he
is not worthy even to perform a me-
nial task for the Lord Jesus Christ.
8. I baptized you in water; but he
shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
The contrast between the work of the
Baptist and that of the Messiah
amounts to this, that the mightier
One who is to follow John will do
the real work of which the Baptist
is able to perform only the sign.
Water cleanses only the body. But
the Holy Spirit is the element in
which man is cleansed inwardly and
really, and it is this real baptism
which the coming One was to per-
form."
Jesus Baptized
9. And it cane to pass in those
days, that Jesus came from Nazareth
of Galilee. Nazareth was located
midway between the Lake of Galilee
and the Mediterranean Sea. And was
baptized of John in the Jordan.
"Jesus recognizes that the office of
John was of divine appointment.
Though he had no personal need of
baptism, by refusing or neglecting it
he would (if he had not been baptiz-
ed) have cast discredit upon the
work of John." Furthermore, our
Lord formally identified himself with
the human race in its sin and degra-
dation.
10. And straightway. Coming up
out of the water, he saw the heavens
rent asunder, and the Spirit as a dove
descending upon him. The appear-
ance of the Holy Spirit in the form
of a dove is indicative of the gentle-
ness and pureness of the One upon
whom the Holy Spirit rested.
11. And a voice came out of the
heavens, Thou art my beloved Son,
in thee I am well pleased. This is
the first of three declarations heard
from heaven; the second being at the
transfiguration and the third being
just before the passion of our Lord.
There can be no question that the
voice here heard was the voice of
none other than God the Father.
Of no other person in all history
were these words spoken from heav-
en, or could they be literally true.
And straightway. the Spirit driveth
him forth into the wilderness. The
strong urge of the Spirit met the con-
sent of Jesus. He did not go into this
temptation against his will. Yet Je-
sus did not throw himself into this
temptation of his own accord. Jesus
was brought into it by his Father's
own Spirit. This means that his
temptation had to be, and at this
very time . It was God's will to have
his Son's ministry begin with this
mighty battle against Satan and with
the resultant victory.
13. And he was in the wilderness
forty days. Forty is almost always
in the Scriptures used as a symbol of
testing, of trial, of suffering, of pun-
ishment. Christ could not be tempt-
ed in his divine nature, for God can
never be tempted to evil. The temp-
tation relates only to the human na-
ture of the Lord Jesus. And he was
with the wild beasts.
By inserting this phrase Mark
probably intends only to emphasize
the loneliness and the wildness of the
environment in which Jesus was
tempted. And the angels ministered
unto him.
1. The beginning of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. This verse is a super-
scription or title, not for the first
.fifteen verses of Mark's Gospel, but
for the entire book. All that Mark
records, may be considered only as
the beginning of the gospel of Christ.
The word "gospel" meant limply
"good news." In the phrase "the gos-
pel of Jesus Christ" we are to under-
stand the preposition "of" to mean
"the gospel which concerns the Lord
Jesus Christ," the message of good
new. which men would never have
hear,(, and which never would have
had an existence, except through the
life and work of Jesus Christ.
In the very title "Jesus Christ" is
the ,aospei deeply embedded, for the
fact that there would come One to
deliver his people, a prophet speaking
for God, all are to be taken as not
only good news, but the greatest of
good news.
The Son of God. Mark and the
early Cl.ristians knew the Lord Jesus
to be the very Son of God, partaking
of God', nature, of his power, of his
holiness, of his wisdom, the only be-
gotten Son of the Father.
John the Baptist
2. Even as it is written in Isaiah
the prophet. The two passages here
quoted are from Mal. 3:1 and Isa.
40:3. Professor Lenski well reminds
us that Mark, by referring only to •
Isaiah; and indeed- the form of this -
prophet's words snakes them most
valuable. The words from Malachi
and added as of life nature. Behold,
I send my messenger before thy face,
who shall prepare the way." The Fa-
ther is actually speaking to the Son
concerning the messenger who was to
precede him and prepare for his com-
ing.
3. The voice of one crying in the
wilderness. Literally, the wilderness
here referred to was that great desert
including the whole eastern portion
of Judaea, and extending on both
sides of the Jordan River. "In this
very wilderness Elijah made his last
appearance. John was a living illus-
tration of bow little man really needs
here below, something we are prone
to forget."
Make ye ready the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight. Jose-
phus, when describing a march of
Vespasian, says that with the van-
guard of an Oriental procession were
'such as were to snake the road even
and straight, and, if it were anywhere
rough and hard to be passed over, to
plane ft, and to cut down the woods
that hindered their march, that the
army might not be .tired'."—Thomas
M. Lindsay.
4. John came, who baptized in the
wilderness and preached the baptism
of repentance unto remission of sins.
The word "repentance" means "to
turn around," ' "to change one's
mind," "to reverse one's attitude and
verdiot." It is not here said that
baptism will secure the remission of
sins, but that baptism was a public
recognition that the heart had re-
pented of sin. Baptism for adults,
unless there is repentance and •a
washing away of sins by the Lord
Jesus, is of no value whatever, but
really a mockery.
6. And John was clothed with cam-
el's hair, This probably means that
John wore a long, loose robe woven
from camel's hair, a garment of
coarse texture. often worn by the ex-
treme poor. And had a leathern
girdle about his loins. "The girdle
kept the robe from flapping apart,
and enabled it to be tucked up for
rapid walking."
8. And did eat locusts and wild
honey. "The law permitted the use,
for food, of locusts and certain large
kinds of grasshopper."
"There Cometh After Me"
7. And be preached, saying, There
cometh after me be that is mightier
tint I. John here implies that he
too is strong, the divine strength of
the word having been given to hint.
The latchet of whose shoes 1 am not
worthy to stoop down and unloose.
In an Oriental household it was the
task of the slave to stoop do;wa. and
unloose the thongs which bound the
sandals of a guest or the slave's mas-
ter to their feet, and John here ack-
nowledges that there is such an in-
finite difference between Christ in all
j his glory and perfeetnesft wild flim I
An Austrian, asking for divorce,
said :"My wife's skirts are far too
short. She doesn't seem to mind how
much of her legs she shows when the
wind 'blows." She produced evidence
that she was merely being fashion-
able. Case dismissed.
A—C
,
A Modern-StYle Santa Drops Down From the Clouds
eililSexeees
Using a ne,i type plane, a mode
n Santa Clans finds this
new fiivver plane adequate in making his annual visit
A
/A Around
"fe i. -
From Hollywood conies word that
Mickey Mouse, with Minnie, and oth-
ers of his famous gang, is starting a
series of programs on Sundays from
the Mickey House Theatre of the Air,
which is aired over the coast-to-coast
NBC -Red Network from 5:30 to 6:00
p.m. It's a little over six years, now,
that Mickey has been bringing smiles
and hearty laughs to movie patrons
and 'devotees of the comic strips, but
now he conies in voice directly into
the homes of radio listeners to enliven
their Sunday afternoons. Behind the
voices of Mickey and his gang will be
the music of Felix Mills, noted Holly-
wood musician. Bringing Mickey to
the radio is another leaf in Walt Dis-
ney's crown of laurel, Already, the
antics of the lovable comics have
brought fame and fortune to their
creator. A. native of Chicago, Disney
found the study of art a troublesome
problem in his youth, and it was not
until he left his native city and set-:
RADIO HEADLINERS
OF THE WEEK
It is a little known fact that those
four boys known as the Ragamuffins,
heard every Monday night at 10:00
o'clock, started their career in a cel-
lar. The boys scrimped and saved to
buy instruments, and what were too
expensive for them they made them-
selves. Between them they play two
clarinets, two guitars, a bass fiddle,
and a collection of pots, pans, wash-
boards and tin horns, and believe me,
they make music out of it. On top of
all this, George Boyd, the tin horn ex-
pert, imitates a trumpet and does a
choice bit of singing. To say nothing
of the vocal trios and quartets that
the boys have arranged. Harvey Tem-
plar, Alfy Enning and Tommy Ell -
well, constitute the remaining mem-
bers of the organization. About a year
and a half ago the boys were taken in
tow by Wally Armour, conductor of
the Pond's program, and after' much
work he has produced a smart musi-
eel band with just these,four boys.
*
tied in Kansas City that Micley was._
born. It was there that the first Mick `'j` Aired Six Thousand Amateurs
ey Mouse movie was created. The l The Good Humor Amateur Show,
heard every Sunday at 12:30 over an
eastern network, is blazing ahead,
bringing to the microphone new voices
and new novelties. It is now about
one year since Good humor started
the amateur contests, and in that time
approximately six thousand amateurs
have been auditioned, and approxi-
mately three hundred have been pre-
sented to radio listeners. In the next
few weeks the Good Humor people
will conduct the final contests, the
winner of which will be sent to Holly-
wood for screen and voice tests. From
what we have seen of this talent, we
feel that the lucky one to be sent
down, will,lnake a good stab at sue -
cess in the glamor city of the world.
There still may be an opportunity for
you to take part. Just send your ap-
plication for an audition to Good
Humor, in care of CFRB or CKCL,
Toronto.
working staff of the Disney studios at
that time was Walt and his brother,
Rol. Today, the Disney studios em-
ploy six hundred persons.
* * *
Piano Team's Double Wedding
The two piano team of Lou Snyder
and Murray Ross, playing under the
name of "The Sophisticates of the
Piano," over CBC and the Mutual Net-
works, is perhaps the most popular
piano team in Canada. We understand
that a double wedding is being planned
by these boys at some date in Febru-
ary, and this should be quite a novel
feature in itself. Both Murray and
Lou are very much attached to their
respective young ladies, who are, by
the way, non-professional.
* * *
Community Sing -Song
We dropped in last Sunday to see
the Community Sing -Song out at the
Century theatre. Stan Francis, the
genial M.C. of the program, turned in
quite a nice performance. The little
surprises that come in about the mid-
dle of the program are somewhat
original. Vince Boyd, the man behind
the piano, is quite a favorite with
the audience in the theatre, and turns
in a sparkling piece of solo work dur-
ing the program. The tickets are free,
and all are welcome.
Trying to Return
Land to Italians
Weary Homesteaders 'ere "Dust
Bowl" Area Are Willing to
Sell Out
•
To the Indian, sueeess would mean
a return nearer '''Dinetah"—the sa<
cfed, immemorial homeland of the
Navajo in North Central, New Mexi-
co, .
To Many a white homesteader, it
would;inean a chance to sell out
lands:an which he has battled heat,
drought, bitter cold, dying range and
all the pioneering vicissitudes.
The immediate goal of this unique
association of Indian and paleface is
passage in Congress of the Navajo f
boundary bill The measure would
add approximately 250,000 acres to
the Navajo reservation land now
"cheeker'boarded" in alternate strips'
of public domain, homestead lands,
and Indian holdings.
Sentenced To Life
Discouraged, weather-beaten home-
steaders of New Mexico proposed to
give their land back to the Indians.
Several score work -hardened set-
tlers met with blanketed Navajo in
a big pow -wow at the white man's
kiva at Crown Point, N.M., uniting
efforts to get the Great White Fa-
ther in Washington to buy up the
high, wind-blown plateau homestead
lands and present them to the Navajo.
The smallest English inn consists
of one room measuring 15 ft. by 11
ft. It is the Smith's Arms, Godman
stone, ' near Doethester, and has just
been sold.
British housewives buy something
like 1,600,000,000 tins of foodstuffs
every year.
Still At Work on Ruins of Crystal Palace
Workmen are still breaking up the metallic wreckage of
M bvrfnrd fier►n•
the fanned Crystal
Palace
in
Nick Megugorac, 19, is the youngest
person to be sentenced to life im-
prisorunent in Los Angeles, Cal., in
10 years.
1
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E ondakova casts her voter
in the first
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The Stars
;;;;
By A. R. WEIR ►♦�
;i WHAT THF'. STARS FORETELL FOR THOSE BORN ON *4
►♦1JANUARY 7, H, 9, 10, 11, 12 and'13 �`�
•
odi- 44
i If the date of your birth is listed above, CAPRI OnRN ls lucour stones +�
�! ac sign. This makes the White Onyx and Moos your►�
Kand black or very dark blue your lucky colour. It also suggests that iso
A you should marry one born between August 21st and September 20th; ;♦�
tel Dee. 21 and January 20 or April 21 to May 20, or one who has the A
r moon in Capricornus. Capricornians usually live to a great age and i�(
p are zealous and diligent people as a rule.. 'P
•
AYOUR OWN BIRTH DATE:
JANUARY 7—Your viewpoint is usually serious. You take life seri- 41
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0 ously. You take people seriously. You take your troubles much too ►♦�
V seriously. 'Try to cultivate optimism. This should be a successful and A.
prosperous year for you—there should be more stability in your life. ►14 0
••
,;� JANUARY 8—You are very affectionate, very lory-ing as gni�iedkaatd ��I
ind. PO
►*4 hearted yet no One is aware of thi*. You are too quiet,
kb secretive about your notions as ed even cold and selfish in your manner ►e.
Atowards others. You should be much more demonstrative. Some very ►
Aimportant changes are indicated in your business affairs and all indica- e
►
$� tions are good. '�♦
%+ JANUARY 9—Indications are that you have let yourself get into a ;♦
0 rut. "'Why? It is important to.success that one should keep pace with ►moi
A prog>uess: Capricornians usually amass great wealth when they are ��i
►°i ambitious and steadily and patiently industrious. An unexpected gain V1•
4
® financially' is indicated for you. ►
tt,JANUARY 10—You are sincere but selfish. You are zealous and dill- ;�i
gent but melancholy and introspective. Do not live so much alone with el,
Q yourself. The year is good for social affairs and also for love. N
V Relatives will benefit you. Business affairs should be excellent. �1'
•
JANUARY 11—Much happiness should come your way this year. If ►
L♦l you.are single, you may marry. You do not snake friends easily but N
should cultivate a more friendly attitude toward others. gl
0 JANUARY 12—Your financial affajrs this year should have a big in- %i
X fluence on your later life. It should be a prosperous period. Your ►(
0 health will be good and a pleasant holiday is'indicated. lo"�'careful ;
�� lest your natural thrift becomes meanness. " ►♦,
ur
t 4 `tial affairs this year also impe—A e to improvement
ews from a long distaance. fiYou
'♦° w II also be lucky in love. In business you have great ambitions but ►1-
A socially you consider your family all you eequite. This is not good.
*71
♦� You may allow yourself to get lute a rut.11.
+� If you birth date .is not listed above and you would like a horoscope r♦�
►♦< for any birth date in the year, or if you would like a complete personal ;♦l
►� horoscope for any date listed above, send 10c to A. R. Weir, 73 Adelaide ►
ti*a. St. W., Toronto. Please print your name, addres's and birth date plainly. i.
Patients Vote in the First Soviet Election