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?

Ill.u.s.trate 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 inst.i.tution 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 a.s.sault 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 a.s.sault 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. G.o.d 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sign 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