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aThe Art of Living

As Taught By

The One Who Mastered Life

A SERIES OF STUDIES
In The
LIFE OF CHRIST

By

Glenn ClarkCOPYRIGHT, 1906
BY GLENN CLARKPREFACE

| HESE studies are especially designed for

college Bible classes. Their briefness

and simplicity make them adapted for use in

the regular Sunday school classes where the

class hour periods are short. They are meant

for all those wishing to gain a comprehensive
view of Jesus’ life in brief form.

The aim of the work is to study Jesus with-
in the bounds of his human limitations with the
purpose of stimulating the student to apply the
same ideals to his own life. ‘‘To be like Jesus”
is the motto the student should always hold be-
fore him. G. Stanley Hall, after years of
study of the educational value of the Bible,
recommends that we first look at Jesus from
the point of view of our own life and experi-
ence, taking from that life those elements

—5—-eeeten

 

which will serve to make our life nobler, and
not until after we have exhausted the human
side of Jesus should we consider the theology.
Briefness and simplicity has been the aim of
he author. To attain this it seemed best to

emphasize the central teachings of Jesus and

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ble in order to avoid’ giving attention to the

—Oo—mere accessories of Jesus’ life. The author
feels that he has not altogether succeeded in his
aim; there is frequent occurrence of his intrud-
ing on the student’s own experience and offer-
ing suggestions where suggestions were not re-
quired; but where he has robbed some, of the
joy of independent discovery, he trusts he may

have aided others. in directino aitention to the

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COVETIES Uji DiS OV Lis INO Gri Jit SHOU Ul W/
spared to attain this attitude of mind. Lhe

greatest aid to this would be to use some othe1
text than the regular Bible version. Some stu-
dents have used the 20th Century Bible with
good results, but it is hardly a literary transla-
tion and mars some of the beauty of the original

/BOLATRBROe eae uaa

Greek. The most correct version as to form
is the Modern Readers’ Bible, edited by Prof.
R. G. Moulton of the Chicago University.
After years of study of the subject, the author
has selected this as his regular class text in the
study of Bible subjects. It presents the subject
in the form most similar to the original Greek
editions, and the notes are helpful. The present
study has been based upon the volume of
Moulton’s edition that contains Mark and Mat-
thew. So little is the book of Luke called up-
on in this study that it would serve all practical
purposes to use the regular Bible for the few
lessons given in Luke. In directions for read-
ings from day to day, the first reference will be
to The Modern Reader’s Bible, (M. R. B.), but
in each case will be given in parenthesis a cross
reference to the regular Bible.
GLENN CLARK.

Des Moines, Iowa.Foreword.

Study I.

VI.
Vil.

VUll.
IX.

Xl.
Xl.

XIll.
AlV.

CONTENTS

PAGE
GB aed sie\ oF nse amelie a ave mia de Sine eas 11
The Centralizing Power of the Per-
sondity of Jesus: Chlrist........ 15
TNS Siete Years. oo aoe, 33
A Voyate of DISCOVETY 60.6. cave as 55
Jesus’ Art of Living Compared with
ERG OG... <jon's.s vols eens eee. 62
Eubics of the Simple Life. 3... 1... 65

Jesus’ Use of Form—His Methods.. 68
The High Water Mark of Jesus’

POBUISEIEY oi coos aces ee 3
Pee TGUIOIN BE oi sn Vg eee 75
Whatis Troe Greainess:.. cis... 79
The Infinite Value of the Individual

Haine, SOG). sacs 56 us wane wake 85
WHat 15 ile. po yes. ches Sepa: o2
Jesus’ Last Battle with the Religious

LGABENS 5.x. Sees vewew rece en ee
Last Hours with: Friends.:.:5 064 4050 98
ot is Finished” i. Chas bee eee 100

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**There is no better rule than so to live that Christ
would approve your life.””»—JOHN STuAaRT MILL.

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ntForeword

To succeed in modern times, a young man
must be an artist in his profession. Every-
where the specialist is demanded. Even farm-
ing, one of the simplest of professions, has
been reduced to an art. In nearly every state
of the Union is to be found a college, where
young men meet together to study the art of
raising cattle and hogs and corn and wheat.
But while studying how to bring calves and
pigs to the top of the market, how few of these
young men find time to devote one-fifth the
amount of thought to the study of themselves,
and of their friends, with an eye to that highest
of all arts—the art of shaping human souls!
Men give up their lives to the mastering of a
chosen profession, who never give more than
a passing thought to the art of living. Young

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maidens devote their lives to the art of music,
who nevertheless jangle human chords out of
tune. It is strange that we strive so hard to
make our lives narrow and case-hardened,
when we might make them so broad and sym-
pathetic and free. Life, itself, is the highest
of all arts.

The old Greeks knew life as an art. The
well trained body, the well poised mind, not
the manufacture of pins and gloves and shoes,
were the aim of the Greeks’ education. The
joy of the whole nation helped to round out
the physical manhood of its sons in the con-
tests at the foot of Mt. Olympus. In the songs
of the poets and the orations of the Parthenon
the human mind was given freedom for its
simplest and noblest expression. Within the
confines of one little peninsula, the world had
flowered out into physical and intellectual life.

But the Greek civilization waned, and itssimple spirit degenerated, and priests grew
skeptical, and philosophers began to wonder
where they might have overlooked some rock
bottom principle, that such decay had crept in
upon them unawares.

About this time a young Nazarene, up among
the Galilean hills, startled the world by daring
to live a life on a simple plan, founded on the
basic principle of life. While other men talked
of philosophy, of politics, of wars, and rumors
of war, he told men how to make life enduring
and eternal, denounced the officers who would
make life cramped and narrow, told the peni-
tent, the weak and suffering how they might
have lifeand have it more abundantly. While
other men boasted of being sons of rulers, or
sons of warriors, or sons of Abraham, he was
content with a title that was simpler yet great-
er than all—the son of Man. Truly he was
the Master Specialist in life.a

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By a study of this life we hope to discover
some basic principle that will make our own
lives simple and large like our Great Teacher’s.
We may all come to be truly sons of men,
and like Paul and Peter and John, each in our
Own way, as business man, fisherman, or poet,
carry the glad tidings, not in words, but in
our lives, wherever we go. There isno nobler

 

nor purer ambition than the ambition to live

well.STUDY I

The Centralizing Power of the Personality
of Jesus Christ.

First DAY: Introductory.

The most primary of all known laws is the
law of gravitation. The entire universe ismade
up of bodies of matter revolving around larger
bodies, and these larger bodies in their turn
revolving around still larger bodies. Thus we
have our moons, our planets, our suns, our
solar systems, our universe. Within this
world of ours we find this same law working
out in all conceivable forms. Take a great
city with its great railroads, its highways and
byways ramifying out like spokes from a giant
hub. It, too, is subject to the law of gravita-
tion. ‘*When we come near a great city we
see life becoming more and more centralized
every mile; the scattered interests and pleasuresStudy I

and pursuits of village life begin to look city-
ward; the great roads begin to run in long
straight lines on to the distant center; the little
lanes creep on between their hedges, striving
the same way; houses begin to take the city
look; men are working for city needs with an eye
to the demands of city taste or necessity, and
each newcomer falls into the great stream and
is carried on to the market-place with the rest.”

And likewise when we approach a great fact
on the highway of history, we see all life find-
ing its center in it. The two greatest facts in
history are, the personality of Jesus Christ
and the French Revolution. Before they came,
all literature, all philosophy, all religion, fore-
casted their approach. When they came, all
history, all religion, all philosophy, converged
to them as acenter. After they passed, the his-
tory of the world, ecclesiastical, philosophical,Study I

political, fell into the mould they had given it.

The central message of Jesus was LOVE;
the central message of the French Revolution
was LIBERTY. The great circles that reach
out from these two centers comprehend all
that is of value tous, andin us. For instance,
we are even yet living within the period of the
French revolution; it is not yet over. In 1793
it worked out the problem of man’s political
liberty; in 1865 it struck a blow for man’s racial
liberty. We are only now in the throes of the
greatest problem of all—how to work out the
attainment of man’s economic and_ social
liberty. With the proclaiming in Paris of the
“Rights of Man,” a fire was kindled that will
never be extinguished until man all over the
world has come into his divine heritage.

But when we look long at this doctrine of
liberty as it percolates through the frame-work

KSStudy I

of society we see that it does not comprehend
all of life; that it only fulfills its real mission
when interpreted in the light of a still larger
doctrine. It, in its turn, is but a planet revolv-
ing about a larger sun. The message of the
French Revolution is related psychologically
with the message of Jesus of Nazareth. Phillips
Brooks put this thought in clear light when he
said—‘‘In every department of life whether |
look at politics, at government, at social life,
and the relation of ethics thereto, whether |
look at religion, there is only one word that
expresses the cord that binds the human race:
that word is sympathy. Present and _ past
religion seems to have been developing condi-
tions under which sympathy might work. The
characteristic word of the past hundred years
has been liberty. Liberty is a negative term;
the removal of obstacles, the setting free ofStudy I

conditions under which the essential and abso-
lute and positive power of sympathy, of the
relation of man to man under the recognition
of their brotherhood, should find place and
expression.”

Thus we find, not to carry this analysis
further, that if we go to the heart of any epoch
in history, or any message of philosophy,
science, or religion, we will discover threads,
which, if traced to their source, will lead us
back to Jesus of Nazareth.

SECOND Day: Place.

We have just noted how Christ and his
message stand at the center of all truth. In
any great picture the first thing to be planned
for is the background. The background of
the life of Christ is the geographical setting.
It is now interesting to discover that in theStudy I

time of Jesus, Jerusalem was considered by all
people to be the exact center of the earth.
Maps of the scientists of the time all place
Jerusalem in that position. Imagine the
world to be one great sea at that time and a
stone cast into it at its center and we would
find that the ripple started by the splash of the
stone would spread outward in an ever widening
circle until it reached the farthest ends of the
world. That is what did happen in the world
at that time, only that the sea was a sea of
human souls.

The land of Palestine is situated at the meet-
ing place of three great continents. It served
as the highway over which passed Assyrians,
Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, Romans and
Turks, on their way to possess the Nile Valley.
It received, with the imprint of the traveler’s
feet, also the imprint of his thought and char-Study I

acter. While exchanging merchandise with
the merchants of the nations on all sides,
Palestine exchanged customs, ideas and views
of life.

Yet in spite of this central position, in spite
of the cosmopolitan character of the people
who trod the great highways of the land,
Palestine retained her distinctive national char-
acter. We may consider the desert on the
south and the Mediterranean on the west as
protecting barriers which served to keep the
national spirit intact. But the real cause was {i
the conservative spirit of the Jew. The Tf
answer to the question, ‘‘How did the Jew
keep his identity through all these years?’ is—
Tradition. The traditions of his race charmed |
him, held him faithful to his own customs, i
his own language, and above all, to his own tf
national religion.ee aes

nt

Study I

THIRD DAY: Time.

‘When the fullness of the time was come God sent
forth His son.”—Gal. 4.

The Mississippi Valley is generally considered
the richest land in the world. We find that
along its banks are washed up the sediment of
three great streams—the Ohio, the Missouri,
and the upper Mississippi. At only one spot
in history do we find anything analogous to
this wonderful valley of nature. And that is
the meeting place of three great national streams
in the history of man, where the accumulation
of ages is brought from three different sources,
and for once the world is made rich with ma-
terial for great achievements.

The first great stream of life we meet with,
at this particular time, is the stream of Roman
history. Rome is the conqueror. The name
of her river is ‘‘Law.” The rich sediment

—99—

an heStudy I

which she has accumulated in the past and
which she now casts up for the use of man in
this propitious time, islaw and order. Asa
result of her supremacy there is now practically
universal peace; a sense of unity hitherto un-
known; opportunities for travel and traffic;
and, above all, a uniform law and protection
of the citizen.

The Greek stream is called ‘‘Culture.’”’ The
history of this stream is of wonderful interest,
but we have merely time now to notice the ef-
fects of that history and see what it now has to
contribute to the richness of the time. As the
first permanent result of the conquests by
Alexander we find great colleges scattered
throughout the empire for the exchange of
thought. We find practically a universal lan-
guage, Greek being spoken everywhere, and as
a result a grand opportunity for a new brother-Perera whe he eR

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A a ee rmireeeen!

peu en oie

Study I

hood of man; and for the first time an adequate
language at hand for recording and preserving
a great fact. Even our wonderful English
language of today is not more adequate than
was the Greek of that age, as can be quickly
discerned when we remember that a Greek
lexicon is the size of our own dictionary.

And last we come upon the great stream of
Hebrew history, a stream into which has
emptied many smaller branches: the Egyptian
in the time of Pharaoh, the Persian in the time
of Cyrus, the Babylonian, the Macedonian and
many others. Yet in spite of the many tribu-
tary branches it has kept its individuality and
bears the name of “‘Religion.’’ As a result of
this stream we find at this time a broadcast
scattering of Jews; an example of their pre-
dominating influence throughout parts of the
world being the fact that two-fifths of the in-

Sa00)

BEEoe See E!Study I

habitants of Alexandria in Africa were Jews.
Along with this scattering goes a new doctrine
of proselytism for Judaism, the first infantile in-
stinct of the modern missionary spirit. A part
of this proselytism was the hope being spread
throughout all nations of a coming Messiah.
In Luke’s account of the Magi we see an in-
stance of where this hope had spread beyond
the borders of Israel. Perhaps nowhere better
is expressed the influence of the great Jewish
stream of life than is found in the Roman
philosopher Seneca. ‘‘The Jewish faith is now
received over every land. Theconquered have
given laws to the conqueror.”’

It was in such a time, under such influences,
in the focal point of the three greatest nations
of antiquity, that Jesus came.

SRE U LORDS SE!Study I
FOURTH DAY: The Gospels.

Standing as he does at the meeting place of
historical movements, and sounding the com-
mon depths of all mankind, there came, nec-
essarily, the impulse to put the record of such
a life into form that would rapidly be carried
into the life of the different nations. To fill
such a need the three synoptic gospels came
into being; not primarily as histories, but as
books composed for evangelization. Matthew
wrote to the Jews, Mark to the Romans, Luke
to the Greeks.

Mark being least remote from the time of
Jesus gives the purest account and burdens him-
self with least material dragged in for the pur-
pose of evangelization. The characteristics of
this gospel are brevity and force of diction,
augmented by heaping up details and graphic
word-pictures.Study I

Matthew connects the life of Jesus with the
past. His gospel is the true conclusion to the
history of the Old Testament. It is the spirit-
ual triumph reared out of the ruins of a nation’s
failure to attain its temporal ambitions. He
traces the development of the conception of
the kingdom of heaven, beginning with the
old view which Jesus took as a starting point,
to its purely spiritual conception which Jesus
finally gave to it. It gives special attention to
Christ’s relations to the Mosaic law and his de-
nouncing Pharisaism. Matthew constantly
tries to show where prophecy is being fulfilled,
and to that end frequently quotes from the
Old Testament. In regard to form, he has
recourse to grouping his material under the
Hebrew symbolic number seven. This prac-
tice, while not a device calculated to adhere
closest to actual sequence of events, has a de-

—2?7—TTC TEL!

Study I
cided advantage in giving order and system to
Christ’s otherwise disconnected discourses.
Where Matthew especially adds to Mark's ac-
count is in that grand summit of Jesus’ teach-
ings called the Sermon on the Mount. Our
use of Matthew will be limited to this discourse.

Luke shows the relation of the life of Christ
to time future to the time in which he lived.
He omits just what Matthew especially empha-
sizes, that which connects Christ with the past,
namely, the attitude of Jesus to the Mosaic
law and criticism of the Pharisees, and at the
same time he puts little attention to Old Tes-
tament prophesy, probably merely copying that
element from Matthew. On the other hand,
he turns from the philosophical to the human
interest in Jesus, emphasizing the gentler sides
of his character, the world-wide character of
his teachings, his family life, relations to hisStudy I

friends at Bethany, dwells on the motherhood
of Mary, and emphasizes, above all, the broth-
erhood of Jesus and the Fatherhood of God.
As Matthew spoke in terms of Old Testament
theology, Luke speaks in terms of apostolic
theology, using such terms as Holy Spirit,
which is a term not coined until after Jesus’
death. Where Luke most differs from Matthew
and Mark is in that precious little body of
teachings ascribed to Jesus’ Perean Ministry.
Our use of Luke will be limited to a few selec-
tions representing the gist of the discourses of
that period.

We will not use the fourth gospel save where
it throws a little light on the personalities of
the disciples. It is not history so much as the-
ology. It is the argumentative, interpretative
attempt to put before the church those features
that will lead men to believe Jesus is the Son

—29—Study I
of God. As our purpose is largely to gather
the every-day record of the acts and teachings
of Jesus, that we, in similar circumstances,
may be led to follow in his footsteps, the con-
tents of the fourth gospel will check, rather
than speed our purpose. After the human side
of Jesus has been mastered, and every possible
phase of it exhausted, then it is fitting, for
those that wish, to turn to study the theology
of that life.

FIFTH DAY: Dvrawn to the Loadstone Rock.

It was from a need of simplifying the reck-
oning of time that led the church fathers to take
the birth of Jesus Christ as the center of his-
tory. It was from a similar need in locating
places that led the ancients to hit upon Jeru-
salem as the exact center of the then known
world. Notonly has Place and Time beenStudy I

reckoned from Jesus, but teachers and _philo-
sophers have made Jesus’ teachings, or their
interpretation of them, the final test in the great
problems of life.

‘‘The great roads run in long straight lines
on to the distant center” and we as ‘‘the new-
comer”? may as well fall into the great stream
and ‘‘be carried on to the market place with
the rest.”

‘If | ever feel like envying anyone, it is not the
world famous author, but some serene, devout
soul, who has made the life of Christ his own,
and whose will is the divine will.”—John
Greenleaf Whittier, the poet.

‘‘Christianity has not yet been tried. There
is no single act of your life, there is no single
dilemma in which you find yourself placed, in
which the answer is not in Jesus Christ.’”’—
Phillips Brooks, the preacher.

‘In him is centered all that is exalted in our
nature. Whatever may be the unlooked for

eee R GEEee ee ee aaa aneas

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Study I

phenomena of the future, Jesus will never be
surpassed. His worship will go on forever.
All ages will say that among the sons of men
none has ever been greater than Jesus.”—
Renan, the skeptic.

“The gospel is the revelation of this truth,
that the first source of everything is the under-
standing of life itself.”—Tolstoy, the novelist.

“In morality there are books enough written
both by ancient and modern philosophers; but
the morality of the gospel doth so exceed them
all that to give a man a full knowledge of true
morality, I shall send him to no other book
than the New Testament.’’—Locke, the phil-
osopher.STUDY II
The Thirty Years of Silence.

FIRST Day: What We Know of the First Thirty Years
of Jesus’ Life.

‘As regards the thirty years of silence, we
gather from our evangelists that Jesus did not
think it necessary to give his disciples any in-
formation about them. But much may be
said about them negatively. First of all, it is
very improbable that he went through any
Rabbinical school; he nowhere speaks like a
man who had assimilated any theological
culture of a technical kind, or learned the art
of scholarly exegesis. Compare him in this
respect with the apostle Paul; how clearly it
can be seen from the latter’s epistles that he
had sat at the feet of theological teachers.
With Jesus we find nothing of the kind; and
hence he caused a stir by appearing in the
schools and teaching at all. He lived and hadStudy II

his being in the sacred writings, but not after
the manner of the professional teacher.
‘Neither can he have had any relations to
the Essenes, a remarkable order of the Jewish
monks. Were that so, he would have be-
longed to the pupils who show their depen-
dence on their teachers by proclaiming and do-
ing the opposite of what they have been taught.
The Essenes made a point of extreme purity in
the eye of the law, and held severely aloof
not only from the impure but even from those
who were a little lax in their purity. It is only
thus that we can understand their living strictly
apart, their dwelling in particular places, and
their practices of frequent ablutions every day.
Jesus exhibits a complete contrast with this
mode of life; he goes in search of sinners and
eats with them. So fundamental a difference
alone makes it certain that he had nothing to
do with the Essenes. His aims and the means
which he employed divide him from them.
If he appears to coincide with them in manyStudy II

of his individual injunctions to his disciples,
these are accidental points of contact, as his
motives were quite other than theirs.
‘Further, unless all appearances are decep-
tive, no stormy crisis, no breach with his past,
lies behind the period of Jesus’ life that we
know. In none of his sayings or discourses,
whether he is threatening and punishing or
drawing and calling people to him with kind-
ness, whether he is speaking of his relations to
the Father or to the world, can we discover
the signs of inner revolutions overcome, or
the scars of any terrible conflict. Everything
seems to pour from him naturally, as though
it could not do otherwise, like a spring from
the depths of the earth, clear and unchecked in
its flow. Where shall we find the man who
at the age of thirty can so speak, if he has
gone through bitter struggles, struggles of the
soul, in which he has ended by burning what
he once adored, and by adoring what he burned?
Where shall we find a man who has brokenbee ed et a ee ee

Sere y nner Tn

Study II

with his past, in order to summon others to
repentance as well as himself, but who through
it all never speaks of his own repentance?
This consideration makes it impossible that
his life could have been spent in inner conflict,
however little it may be lacking in deep emo-
tion, in temptation and in doubt.

“One final point: The picture of Jesus’
life and his discourses stand in no relation
with the Greek spirit. That is almost a mat-
ter for surprise; for Galilee was full of Greeks,
and Greek was then spoken in many of its
cities, much as Swedish is nowadays in Finland.
There were Greek teachers and philosophers
there, and it is scarcely conceivable that Jesus
should have been entirely unacquainted with
their language. But that he was in any way
influenced by them, that he was ever in touch
with the thoughts of Plato or the Porch, even
though it may have been only in some popu-
lar redaction, it is absolutely impossible to
maintain.”—Adolph Harnack.

=
0.Study II

SECOND Day: What We Know of Conditions That

Extsted in Jesus’ Childhood.

What do we know of the home life of Jesus’
childhood and youth? We infer that his
father died when he was still a small lad,
leaving the care of his mother and younger
brothers and sisters upon his shoulders. We
infer that his family removed from Nazareth,
a town with a bad reputation, to Cana, when
Jesus was still a youth. Tradition reports
Mary, his mother, to be a woman of beautiful
character. Further than this we cannot venture.
But we can gain some information regarding
the probable home influences under which he
was raised, from a study of the conditions that
existed in his day.

In the first place, the home in Palestine was
held very high. The pentateuch had said—
“Honor thy father and thy mother,” and witheee seaemace nearer eee eet

ero

Study II

that command was linked, necessarily, ‘‘Honor
thy home.” A writer who is considered
authority on the subject says: ‘“‘In no other
people has family life maintained itself so
powerfully.”

The center of every home was the mother.
In no eastern race was woman held so high.
Although the lax rules regarding divorce were
beginning to have a bad effect upon the nation’s
morality at this time, just as similar conditions
in the United States today, yet the position of
the wife and mother was a peculiarly honored
one in the most typical homes. Says a writer
‘The mother’s love is the basis of all family
life in Jewish romance; its passion, its mystery.”

The child was the hope of Israel. In He-
brew song and story the greatest disgrace a
woman could have was barreness, and her
greatest honor, a law-abiding son. The storiesStudy II

of Sarah, of Hannah, of Elizabeth, are the ex-
pression of the Hebrew women of all time—
the songs they sang are gratitude poured
forth by every woman of the land for the gift
ofason. One fact that added a halo of glory
to the mothers of sons, was the Messianic hope,
and the prayer of every faithful daughter of
Judea was to be the mother of the Anointed. It
is true that at all times one of the singularly
Strong traits of the Jews was the love of
children, and this both on the side of the father
and of the mother.

As to the education of the Jews of Jesus’
day, we are at once struck with the high place
given to manual labor. This was partly due
to the fact that the Pharisees, the most popu-
lar religious leaders, were not allowed to take
money for their teachings but were forced to
learn a trade. Paul, one of the most aristo-Study II
cratic of the sect, worked for his living at
making tents. Jesus learned the carpenter
trade in the shops of Nazareth.

As to the intellectual education of the child
of Palestine, great was the responsibility felt
by every true Jew to live up to the mandate
given to him in the law and prophets. The
educational motto of the Jew was as follows:
‘And thou shalt teach them (the scriptures)
diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of
them when thou sittest in thy house, and when
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down,and when thou riseth up.” (Deut. VI: 7
and Deut. XI; 19.)

The course of study that Jesus received was
probably that outlined by Juda Ben Tema for
all Jewish youth: ‘‘A son of five years is to
read the scriptures aloud, one of ten years to
give himself to the Mischana, of thirteen toStudy II

the Ten Commandments, of fifteen to the
Talmud, of eighteen to miarriage,’” ~The
last step in this educational system Jesus
omitted.

The library that Jesus had access to, the
text book that he studied for his philosophy,
his history, his poetry, his literature, was the
Bible. The greatest mind of the modern era,
Goethe, who read and studied nearly every
work that was ever written, makes this claim
for the study of the Bible: ‘‘The greater the

intellectual power of the a

both as the foundation and as the instrument
of education—that education by which not
pedants, but truly wise men are formed.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the greatest thinker of
our country, holds that the Bible ‘‘is the most

original book in the world,” that it comes outSe a I
at mt at cov

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

ee eee

  

SS

Study II

of profounder depths of human experience than
any other book.

The novelist, Hall Caine, claims that ‘‘what-
ever strong situations he has in his books are
not his own creation, but are taken from the
Bible.” Daniel Webster says his style was
made by the study of the scriptures, as do
also Sir Edwin Arnold and John Quincy
Adams.

Speaking of the Bible being a training school
in style, Charles A. Dana says that there is
no book whose styleis more suggestive. “From
it you learn that sublime simplicity which
never exaggerates, which recounts the greatest
event with solemnity but without sentimen-
tality.”

Perhaps John Ruskin put the Bible to edu-
cational use more like unto Jesus’ use of it
than any one else in modern times. Listen toStudy II

what he says of it. ‘‘My mother forced me
by steady, patient daily toil to learn long
chapters of the Bible by heart, as well as to
read it every syllable through, hard names and
all, from Genesis to the Apocalypse, about
once every year; and to this discipline—patient,
accurate and resolute—I owe not only a
knowledge of the book | find indispensable,
but much of my general power of taking pains
and the best part of my taste in literature.”’

It was the custom in Jesus’ day for the best
readers in the community to enter into the
synagogue and read the lesson on the Sabbath
day. It was while Jesus was still a youth
that his wonderful interpretative power in
reading the Scriptures became known, and
from then on he was selected regularly to do
the reading. Wonderful it must have been
to have heard that young man bringing out
aene sae ome sao ee

Study II
the beauty of the old Hebrew legends and
poems, and to have heard him expound the

93

“prophets” and the “‘law

THIRD DAY: Political Background— ue Religious and
Political Parties of Palestine.
Daniig! mnalbawnm 5 ee ee AT ha
Roughly speaking, all Palestine could be said
to be divided Into CWO artles al LNs time, one
Me Ace een nen Henakssviesor nll te ac “sic
Conservative and draw Ing all 1tS resOurces from

ie past, the other Progressive, skeptical of

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ne Ll adcitions OT thi Vy OL and 91\ IN? its ) S rt up

t
entirely to the new Roman civilization.
I. Conservative.

(a> -Pharsecs: ‘The Puritans’ of Paies-
tine; sought to keep the religion of their fore-
fathers intact, but emphasized the form rather
than the spirit. They were poor and learned a
trade for livelihood, or married rich. Paul’s
trade was that of a tent maker. No Rabbi
eeStudy II
took pay for his teaching; he enslaved the
minds, not the purses, of his audience, They
numbered six thousand and held great power
over the popular mind at this time.

Gy Scribes: Interpreters of t

and lawyers of the people. Belonged mainly

Sin Ma AnceuAder: saad <; BAA SA wasn alata
to the Pharisaic Darly. Aqagded an unwieldy
: to ee ee a eh Lee Oh oe eae eet ie F
mass of interpretations to the scriptures called

the ‘‘Traditions of the Elders.” Were literalists

in enforcing the law. In the gospels they are
rly always spoken of in the same breath

with the Pharisees.

I]. Progresstve.

(a) Sadducees: The ‘‘Cavaliers” of Pal-
estine. They rejected all traditions save Moses,
and did not believe in the immortality of the
soul. Were less numerous than the Pharisees
but held places of wealth and station.

(b) Herodians: An extreme section of the

ih4aaidi PAREEEAELEEEEAIELALATAOTT TA ARTa TREE }Study Il
Sadducees who had given in to the usurpation
of Herod, and with courtly flattery attached
themselves to the favor of his sons. Outdid
the Sadducees in aping Gentile ways.

Besides these parties there were Essenes, a
party of Jewish monks who lived apart and
wielded no influence on the nation at large.
Pilate, a Roman soldier, was at this time
governor of Judea, and Herod, of Arabian
blood and descendant of Herod the Great, was
tetrarch of Galilee and Perea.

FOURTH DAY: John the Baptist.

We know little or nothing of the early life
of John the Baptist. That he was deeply in-
fluenced by the Essenes is very probable; that
he spent many years in the wilderness studying
the Scriptures and brooding over the sins of his
countrymen is certain. When he finally

—46—Study II
emerged with his message he attracted great
crowds by his stirring teachings.

He found a ready-made apparatus used by all
the prophets which he did not hesitate to use. This
apparatus was no other than the simple declar-
ation that the day of judgment was at hand.
Beyond this his message was simple, and con-
tained nothing but what the prophets had
taught before him. What then was new about
John’s teachings? Simply this—that he brought
things to a focus. The Day of Judgment had
been prophesied as going to come somewhere
in the next thousand years. No one gave any
thought to such an indefinite announcement.
But John came forward crying, ‘‘Now is the ax
laid unto the root of the trees.” Again, the
Day of Judgment had been considered as a time
for the judging of the Gentiles and the raising
up of the sons of Israel. But John places the

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Study II

  

judgment upon the Jews themselves, claiming
no man can be saved because of his race. He
says, ‘‘Who warned you to flee from the wrath

to come? Think not to say within vourselves
as i y

eS eee os re a ~

we have Abraham for our father: for I say

unto you that God is able of these stones to

hae Blecl Alene “Ak: A heokhnen 2 das ete
raise up children of Abraham. Here—right
in this nation is the judgment to be made.
¢ Irn)? , } ATmx17)) 2a PE : TN a
‘HERE’ and ‘‘NOW”’ is his message. Thus he

Benen faa ARO AnnAC He swan” vee
awakened the consciences of men In prepara-

fe £ a “ a ea i oon met nies Vas ox
tion LO] One wno Was [O come artel nim.
1 at AXY eitiiati iN f hic lifa ~ hie lan
in every Situation of Nj lire, Trom nis déai-
ee eee fe Vda Hie Faslinne wath abs
ings with Herod to his dealings with the com-

monest man, he never hesitated to lay bare the

central sin. He brought each man up against

the sin in his own heart. To the Publicans,
he says, ‘‘Exact no more than that which is
appointed you;’’ to the soldiers, “Do violence
to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be

2
48 eeeStudy II
content with your wages;” to the well-to-do,
‘‘He that hath two coats, let him impart to him
that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him
do likewise;’’ and to all, ‘‘Forget not the poor.”
1aS given us our best character-
ization of John.

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behold A reed shaken with the wind? But
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what went ye out to see? A man clothed in
4 ) } ~ } ~ t } 7 gC £
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went ye Out AU OL’ DrOpNecc: Lea. A Say
mt TTA] an 4 mn1Ie +4 + ‘NH 4 yy Arh wb aT
unto YOu, aAliu LidtLicil More than a Pit pie °

his is he of whomit is written, Benold,
my messenger before thy face, who shall pre-
pare the way before thee. Verily I say unto
you, among them that are born of women
there hath not arisen a greater than John the
Baptist; yet he that is but little in the kingdom
is greater than he. And from the
in the Baptist until now the king-Leena ceeeameses =

a

abe eae ee

Study II

dom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of
violence take it by force. For all the prophets
and the law prophesied until John. Andif ye
are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, which is
to come. Hethat hath ears to hear, let him
hear. But whereunto shail | liken this genera-
tion? It is like unto children sitting in the
market places, which call unto their fellows,
and say, We piped unto you, and ye did not
dance; we wailed, and ye did not mourn. For
John came neither eating nor drinking, and
they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man
came eating and drinking, and they say, Be-
hold, a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, a
friend of publicans and sinners! And wisdom is
justified by her children.’’

FIFTH DAY: The Temptation.

In the life of all great persons there is a period
of solitude at their entrance upon their life’s
work, when they prepare themselves for the
temptations that are to assail them. Jesus wasStudy II

no exception to the rule. Some time during
these thirty years of silence he is reported to
have retired from the world for a number of
days and pondered on the problems of life.
There his great preliminary battle was fought.
He had reached the crossing of the ways and
must decide once for all, which aim he would
make dominant, and which subordinate. Notice
that the great temptations did not assail him
openly but in the guise of virtue, clothed in the
garb of Scripture, and when he was at his
weakest.

*Read in Modern Reader’s Bible—Matt. Il
P43. (Gy. 3 464: 15)

 

*All references in this book are to Moulton’s Modern
Reader’s Bibles. In parenthesis will be given at the same
time reference to the King James version.

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Study II

 
    
  
    
 
  
   
    
  
  
   
  
  
  

SIXTH DAY: Introduction to the Period of Public
Ministry.

The study upon which we are about to enter

is not a new field. You have. read detached
fragments of the gospel before, and as you
approach each section its contents will loom
up before you with a dull sort of familiarity.

ho ny Ceca elem ates ant - a manqtact
itlat Very TamMmularity WIL: be Our greatest
a 2 7 a

c

e to getting a vivid picture of the life of
Jesus.

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row Can we Overcome this difficulty? Here

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ae oe ek oat Fisd “uses, was el) ee

Into it heartily. ful aAWay all preconceived
ra - ia A ce a ig eA ae A ae ek oat a fice ow! ial
1aéaS 3 OU bave oF Lhe IVEW Le Stament. Imag-

ine we have just discovered some old records

this month. What astrange story they relate!
It is of a strange people living on the eastern

I
Shore of the Mediterranean Sea, a people whose

entire history has been marked by the pe-Study II
culiarity that it has ever been searching for
God. Years have roiled by since any Godly
man has given the people a fresh and living
message, and religion has passed from being a
force to be taken iufo men’s lives, to an obli-
gation to be borne on their backs. But one
day the people hear that down by their sacred
river, a great teacher has come, who is declar-
ing in homely, outspoken language, that re-
ligion is not an affair for barter and exchange,
but a battle with sin. While he is yet speak-
ing and the soldiers, publicans, and Pharisees,
are flocking to hear him, his stirring message
suddenly takes a different turn. A silent per-
son appears on the hillside, coming from the
shops of Nazareth, who seems to make a won-
derful impression on the man who is speaking.

‘My message has to do with the battle with
sin,’ cries John. ‘‘My message carries no

a
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Ba eta SOSTATRLOTAEDOUOROGRTOTLAE EEE LEELA ERLE EEL PEAS ES EEEener er

etme et cre eer te a a eee = ene

Study II
complete code of human morals. But behold
the Lambof God. Heit is that will take away
the sin of the world. He must be your teacher
now.’’ We look at the stranger. Behind
that quiet exterior are the signs of a life of in-
tensity, variety, and grandeur.

It now remains for us to trace the footsteps
of this wonderful personality and find out what
impression he makes upon us.STUDY III
A Voyage of Discovery.

When Jesus started forth to show men how
to live, he was first of all confronted with an
amazing fact—that there were no men to talk
to. Where he expected to find human beings,
he discovered masses of Hebrew traditions and
religious formalities. Man was buried beneath
the heap. When a prospector starts out to
bring to the light the finest gold, he must first
discover the land where gold is to be found.
Likewise, Jesus, before he could begin to reveal
to the world the treasures to be found in the
human heart, must first discover the human
heart. This first journey of Jesus is therefore
a voyage of discovery—the precious country
he is seeking for is the real man as contrasted
with the shell, the mould, the crust, the tradi-
tions, the laws—that have usurped his place.

ei ee ree PEER EG
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Study Iii

First DAY: Read M. R. B. Mark I. (Ch. 1:1-13) not-
ing the characteristic differences from Matthew’s

ccount.

SECOND Day: The Beginnings. Read Mark II., (Ch.

This is a sample day in the life of Christ—
probably recorded here because it marks (1)
the entrance on the great Galilean ministry,
(2) beginning of authoritative teaching in tl
synagogues, (3) the first call to discipleship,
(4) the first extensive use of power to work
miracles, (5) permanent removal to Caper-
Jome city, (6) beginning of wide-
spread fame, (7) and the earliest preaching
tour in Galilee.

Note the significance of Jesus’ statement—

‘‘fishers of men.” No mention of what he

57Study III
THIRD DAY: Read Mark iii. (Ch, 1:40-II: 12,)

Yesterday we saw Jesus introduced into re-
lations with two classes, ‘‘the multitude,” and
“Simon and those who were with him” (no
mention yet of disciples). We are now in-
troduced to a third class. Note the signifi-
cance of, ‘‘there were certain of the scribes
sitting there.”’

Read Mark iv. (Ch. I1:12-32.)

Jesus is prying beneath the traditions of so-
cial cast and religious ceremony to find Man.
Notice that here for the first time ‘‘Simon
and those who were with him’’ are called
“disciples.” Likewise notice the evolution of
the relation of the religious leaders to him,
from ‘there were certain of the scribes
sitting there” to ‘‘And the Pharisees went out
and straightway with the Herodians (their

37

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Study III

former enemies) took counsel against h m
how they might destroy him.”

Fourth .Y: Read Mark v. (Ch. Il:23—III:6)

Jesus is continuing to discover man beneath
the religious forms and customs.

Now watch the final evolution of his formal
relation to the body of men who ‘‘were with
Simon”’ and

Read Mark v1, (Ch. Ill:7—19a)

Did the clash with the Pharisees precipitate
the step of organizing the disciples?

FIFTH DAY: Read Mark vit. (Ch. III:19b—35)

The religious leaders have found fault with
Jesus already because of the company he
keeps, and his breaking the rules of fasting
and Sabbath-keeping, and to these charges they
bring the most serious and preposterous charge
of all. Was this suggested to them by over-Study III

hearing his friends say— ‘‘He is beside himself ?”’

In the last half of this section, Jesus, having
by this time thoroughly shown what the real
man is as contrasted with the traditions that
were heaped upon him, points out the true
basis of kinship between men. Character is
the only test. Even the ties of family life
may prove hollow forms, as was the tradition
of social caste, if they make us forget our
kinship to our fellow-men.

SIXTH Day: Summary of the Other Synoptic Gospels.

Luke tells of how he went to Nazareth, his
native town, and entered ‘‘as his custom was,’
into the synagogue and stood up to read. He
opened the book and found the place where it

was written, ‘‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he anointed me to preach good
tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to pro-
claim release to the captives, and recovering of——

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Study III

sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that
are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord.”” And he closed the book and
gave it back to the attendant and sat down:
and the eyes of all in the synagogue were
fastened on him. And he began to say unto
them, ‘‘Today hath this Scripture been fulfilled
in your ears.” But they rejected him and
would have stoned him.

The above selection from Isaiah, read by
Jesus, has been called the ‘‘Program of Chris-
tianity.”

Then occurs the raising of the widow’s son
at Nain. John from his prison sends a mes-
Sage to Jesus asking if he were the one that
cometh or if they were to look for another.
Jesus answers John’s doubt not by words but
by an act—that of healing the sick, and when
he has sent back John’s disciples, he pro-Study III

nounces a eulogy on John, one of the only
two recorded eulogies he ever pronounced on
mortal man.

At a feast at the house of the Pharisee,
Simon, a sinful woman came in and broke an
alabaster box over Jesus’ feet which lead him
into a conversation with Simon concerning
the insignificance of sin, as contrasted with a
hypocritical life without love.

Luke also gives the additional information
that on Jesus’ preaching tour among those
who aided his work was Joanna, the wife of
Chuza, Herod’s financial manager. Was
Christ supported by ‘‘tainted money?”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     

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BOERS ERETARI SGOT HER eRA GH TTEL EEE eH 4STUDY IV

Jesus’ Art of Living Compared With the
Old.

Up to this time we have seen that Jesus
went about all Galilee preaching, but what he
preached we have not learned; all the words
that we have heard from Jesus, so far, have
been in the form of short conversations with
his friends, and controversies with his enemies.
That he had one great sermon, parts of which
he preached over and over again, seems ex-
ceedingly probable. We now meet that
Sermon.

FIRST Day: Read Matthew III-i (Ch. V:1—12)

Jesus everywhere points out that the life
without love is a valueless and empty life—in
Short, to cease loving is to commit suicide as
far as real living is concerned. We divein our
relations to our fellow men and our Father,Study IV
The entrance into life is therefore based on
our being of the right attitude, that our soul be
purged, through long suffering and striving for
righteousness, until we have attained unto that
simplicity of spirit that will make human and
divine relationships possible. We cannot love
while our heart is full of the zeal of persecut-
ing others, while our heart is filled with war,
when we are puffed up with pride and self-
satisfaction. It is rather the opposite of these
qualities that will bring us to that attitude of
soul that Jesus considers necessary. He takes
therefore for his opening theme—“‘Blessed Are
the Simple in Spirit.”’

SECOND Day: Read Matt, III:ii and 11. (Ch. V:13—16)

Whatisthe difference aimed at in the thought

of these two sections?

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
    

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TTT ME a ;
EALLUSELLILARTADUOTTUGLETURTEL ETE EELELERET ERLE RA a La ELE ce eee eeStudy IV

THIRD Day: Read Matt. III-tv to the passage ‘‘thou
shalt not foreswear thyself’ (Ch. V:17—32)

So far Jesus has spoken as though his plan
of life were diametrically opposed to the exist-
ing order of things. He now shows how his
teachings are really inharmony with the funda-
mental teachings of the old prophets and law-
givers. Where does he surpass them?

FOURTH Day: Read Matt. I1]—iv“Thou shalt not for-

swear thyself”’ to III—v (Ch. V':33—48)

What do you understand as Christ’s con-
ception of perfection? Is it practicable?

FIFTH DAY: Read Matt. V—o (Ch. VI:1—18)

Yesterday Jesus aimed at the teachings of
the Pharisees; today he aims at their practices.
‘‘When—thou doest alms,” ‘when ye
pray,’’ “‘when ye fast”: what is the evident

Spirit manifest throughout these several in-
Stances which Jesus condemns?

SIXTH Day: Review this half of the sermon.STUDY V
Ethics of the Simple Life.

FIRST Day: Read Matt. III-vi to “Therefore I say unto
you.’’—(Ch. VI:19-24.)

The two vices that work most potently and
subtly in the human heart to destroy that sim-
plicity of spirit that Jesus so extols are Greed
and Worry. They are both merely overstrained
attention on the worldly treasures. One is
the vice common to rich men, the other
common to poor men. Today we take up the
subject of Greed.

SECOND Day: Read Matt. “Therefore I say unto you.”
to [I]-vit (Ch. VI:25-34)
This is Jesus’ prose poem on Care.

THIRD Day: Read Matt. Il]-vtiz1-2, (Ch. VII:1-6)

Does not 2 contradict 1?

FOURTH DaY: Read Matt. III-vii:3 (Ch. VII:7-11)Study V

Jesus believed in the primary forces of
the universe—the primary, divine forces behind
our weak and petty efforts. He also believed
that it only requires a human need to call these
divine forces into expression. ‘The little child
digs its well in the seashore sand and the great
Atlantic, miles deep, miles wide, is stirred all
through and through to fill it for him.” Every-
Where we see the creatures of the world grow-
ing into the attainment of their desires. Need,
Desire, Prayer, these are merely prophesies of
what is constantly coming. Blessed is the man
who sets his heart on the essentials of life, then,
and not on its superficialities—who prays for
loaves and fishes and not for stones and scor-
pions, who asks and seeks and knocks for sin-
cerity, courage and sustaining elements of
character,and not for wealth, fame, and power.Study V
FIFTH Day: Read Matt, II]]—vti:4-7 (Ch, VII:12-20)

We have reached the climax of the discourse.
Jesus is going to show them a straight and
narrow way that will lead them to life—“do
unto others as you would have them do unto
you,” a statement that sums up all the law and
the prophets. Thisis the only way to life,
there are no short cuts; the broad and tempting
ways all lead to destruction. False teachers
will try to invent other ways: to enter the
church, to be baptized, to do penance, these
and a thousand other ways are as sounding
brass and tinkling symbol in comparison with
the golden rule. To live is to love. Wecan
tell false prophets by the fruits they bring forth
in their life. Jesus asks only one test for his
teachings—will they make us live better?

SIXTH DAY: Review the entire Sermon on the Mount.

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STUDY VI

   
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
   
  
   

Jesus’ Use of Form--His Methods.

Up to this time Jesus has Spent much time
in preaching and has probably acquainted his
listeners with the main plan of the new form
of life he has been preaching. Now he begins
to use an entirely new form of discourse—evi-
dently intended to awaken the thought of
his listeners. The multitude of followers have
been constantly increasing—it is time to begin
the sifting process—separating those who fol-
low from mere curiosity, from those who have
honest ‘‘ears to hear.”

FIRST DAY—Read Mark viii: 1. (Ch, [V:1-9)
SECOND DAaY—Read Mark visi:2. (Ch. IV:10-25)

‘‘Neither was anything made secret but that
it should come to light.” Does this show

—638—Study VI

whether Jesus’ use of parables was to conceal
his teachings or rather that they should be
brought to light all the more forcibly by being
clothed in language that for a time conceals it?
“To him who hath shall be given”; recall if
you can an instance where Jesus did the think-
ing for his listeners—where he treated them like
jugs waiting for water to be poured into them.
He may have overturned a physical law to heal
the sick, but he never overturned a psychologi-
cal or spiritual law to make men learn. He
always treated men like men—not like empty
vessels. He trusted all to their initiative.

THIRD DaY—Read Mark viti:3 aud tx to “And they

came to the other side.” (Ch. IV: 26-40)

From now on Jesus’ public discourses take
less the form of the sermon and more the
form of the short story. ‘‘Without a parable
spake he not unto them.”
ageseaten

Study VI

FOURTH DAY—Read Mark ix—‘‘And they came to the
other side” to “And when Jesus had crossed over
again.” (Ch. V:1-20).

This is the only recorded visit of Jesus
to the land of the Gerasenes. ‘‘Go to thy
house.”” Why did Jesus tell him to publish it
abroad in this out-of-the-way place while up
and down the main highways of his public
ministry he always restrained those he had
healed ?

FIFTH DAY—Read Mark ix, ‘‘And when Jesus had
crossed over again” to x. (Ch. V:21-43),

SIXTH DAY: Methods of the Great Teacher.
The First Fundamental Principle of His Teaching:

He spoke as one who had mastered his subject
—with authority.
The Second Fundamental Principle of His Teaching:

He spoke only on the fundamental topics of
life.Study VI

  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

(1). He did not define, state exceptions or
make rules,

(2). He accepted the current views as a
common basis on matters not essential to his
message.

(3). He addressed each individual, sect, or
city, with the one particular message needed.

The Third Fundamental Principle of His Teaching:
He made the people do their own thinking.

(1). He made the people furnish their own
apparatus for clothing his message.

(a) He connected his teachings with
themes familiar to the people:
“Kingdom of Heaven,” “Son of
God,” etc.

(b) He used forms of discourse familiar
to the people: Proverbs, figures of
speech, parables.

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AS

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

(c) He used the ‘‘objective method:” He

frequently opened his discourses
with miracles, or made allusions
to objects of nature, ‘ ‘the flowers,”
‘‘the birds,” “‘the gtass,’’ 6t6, etc.

He made the people furnish the
initiative in understanding his message:
(a) By concealing his truth under par-

ables and figures of speech he tried
rather to awaken the destre to
understand than to impart knowl-
edge itself.

(b) By making the demands of disciple-

Ship very high and difficult, he
tried rather to arouse the will and
awaken resolve, than to feed cu-
riosity.

(c) By answering questions, by questions,

he made people think out their
own problems.STUDY VII
The High-water Mark of Jesus’ Popularity
FIRST Day: Read Mark x (Ch. VI: 1—6a)

Jesus is starting forth on an extended
preaching tour through Galilee. We find him
today at his first stopping place.

SECOND Day: Read Mark xi to ‘And the apostles
gathered themselves together’? (Ch.

V1: 6b—29)

Jesus has been educating his disciples in the
‘Cmysteries” of the New Order, and has been
training them to think by talking to them in
parables. He now organizes them to co-oper-
ate with him in spreading the new gospel of
life.

Meanwhile Herod hears of this organization
and is disturbed, for he has heard of Jesus’
growing popularity, and his Arabian super-
stition conjures up the fear of something super-

natural in Jesus.

— 47 os

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Study VII

THIRD DAY: Read Mark xi “And the apostles gath-
ther’? to “And straightway he con-
strained his disciples (Ch. V1:30—44)

The apostles have just returned from their
missionary journey. After such active service
they all need solitude and rest. You can see
the effects of the disciples’ work by the state-
ment ‘tand the people—ran there together on
foot from all the cities.”

FOURTH DAY: Read Mark xi “And straightway’’ to

xit (Ch. VI:45—56)

In the fourth gospel’s account of this feed-
ing of 5000 people, there is the statement that
“they were about to make him king.”’ This
is the high-water mark of his popularity. In
his desire for solitude Jesus does not appear to
be in exact accord with the wishes of his dis-

ciples; note the significance of the word ‘‘con-
Strained.”

FIFTH DAY: Read Mark xii (Ch. VII:1—23)
SIXTH Day: Review the ‘‘Methods of Jesus,”?

eae G,STUDY VIII

In Retirement

First Day: Read Mark xiti and xiv (Ch VII:
24—37)

Jesus is still seeking in vain for solitude.
After a northward journey he returns only to
find that, instead of quieting down, his notor-
iety has increased in his absence.

SECOND Day: Read Mark xv to “And the Pharisees
came forth.” (Ch, VIII:1—10)

Contrast ‘‘And he commanded the multi-
tude to sit down ‘‘on the ground” with “upon
the green grass” in xi. It is now parched
summer. Does this suggest a reason for his
leaving the lowlands of Galilee for the hills of
Cesarea Philippi? Is that the only reason?

Name others.

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Study VIII

THIRD DAY: Read Mark xv “And the Pharisees came
Jorth” to xvit. (Ch VIII:11—26)

xv: “The leaven of the Pharisees—and of
Herod.” The first time Jesus has mentioned
Herod. Jesus is not deceived by the friendly
appearances of these hypocrites. His popular-
ity with the people is now so great that his
enemies dare not show hostility towards him.
Their hatred is all the more dangerous there-
fore for they work secretly. The disciples do
not understand Jesus’ figurative language. He
rebukes them for remembering the facts and
figures of the past, but totally failing to com-
prehend a simple moral statement.

FOURTH Day: Read Mark xvii to “And after six
days.” (Ch. VII:27—IX:1)

At this height of his popularity he startles
his disciples by foretelling the inevitable end of
his life. He is putting up the requirements of
discipleship to their highest possible standard.Study VIII
FIFTH DAY: Read Mark xvit ‘And after. six days’’
to xviti (Ch. LX:2—29)

Notice the gradual narrowing of Jesus’ circle
of contact in the last few sections. In xiii he
stood face to face with all races as represented
in the Gentile woman; in the first part of xv
he came in contact with one nation of the
human race—the Hebrew nation; in the last
part of xv he came in contact with one party
of the Hebrew nation—the Pharisees; now he
is alone with his disciples. And out of that
twelve he has just selected three to go with him
to the mountain top. The smaller and more
select the company, the deeper can the com-
mon ground of intercourse be. He /o/d the
twelve of his divinity; he allows these three to
see an instance of it.

‘‘Transfigured before them’’: He probably
opened up that wonderful heart of his and

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Study VIII

talked on the deepest themes of life, and
opened up great vistas of the human soul, giv-
ing wonderful light and meaning to the law
and the prophets, until his garments shown
and he appeared to bein actual communion
with the sages and prophets of the past.

Contrast the grandeur of the scene on the
mountain top with the scene of disorder,
wrangling, and misery below. Is not the se-
cret of the great life, merely the power of
bringing the ideals of the quiet hour of medi-
tation into effective operation in the life of
every day?

<7STUDY IX

What Is True Greatness? Jesus Disciples

At the close of this summer Jesus returns
from his rest in Cesarea Philippi. During
this lull, before he recontinues his active work,
let us take a look at his twelve closest com-
panions. This week will be largely spent in
gathering up the material that will aid us in
getting a clearer conception of the inner circle
about Jesus.

First DAY: Read Mark xviii (Ch. 1X:30—50)

In the opening sentence we see that Jesus
was not entirely satisfied with the results of
his summer training of the twelve, for he is
still desiring more solitude, in order to impress
upon them the full nature of what they have
to expect by following him.

‘If any man would be first;’’ the selected

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Study IX

twelve are growing proud of their close intim-
acy with this great king of men, and the ques-
tion arises who is the greatest. Jesus tries to
call them back from the luxury of nursing
their dreaming ambitions, to the stern realities
and demands of life: ‘For every man shall
be salted with fire.’ What is Jesus’ definition
of greatness?

SECOND Day: Read Mark xtx (CB. X of—f5)

“Tempting him:’’ the Pharisees no longer
dare to bring charges against him because of
his great popularity with the people. But
under the guise of friendship they tempt him
into committing himself ona Subject dealt
with most loosely by the majority of his fol-
lowers. His?answer probably alienated a num-
ber ofthe multitude from him and thus laid
the foundation®for the Pharisees to win backStudy IX

their influence. Consider Jesus’ view of this
subject in the light of modern times.

Christ’s Twelve Apostles

On their missionary tours Jesus sent forth
the disciples two and two. It is evident that
they worked in pairs, and that to understand
them individually we must study them in this
relation, as well as in that of the group of
twelve.

THIRD Day: The First Quartet.

First pair:

Peter—outspoken, impetuous; Matt. 14:
28-31; 16:22; 26:69-75; Jn. 43:6;
18:10.

Andrew—prudent, cautious; In, TAs
6:3,9; 12:22; Mk. 132).

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Second pair:

James (oldest) experience, counsel:
Father of the church when Acts and
first three gospels were written (Acts
a202).

John (youngest) ideas, learner; Jn. 43:
23, 24; 19:26,27.

Characteristics of James and John in
common: Mk. 3:17; 9:38; 10:35-41;
Lu. 9:54—‘‘ Ambition.”

FOURTH Day: Second Quartet.
Third pair:
Philip—slow of intelligence, conservative;

Jn. 6:5-7; 14:8. 12:20-22.

Bartholomew (Nathanael)—alert, broad-

minded, Jn. 1:46, 48, 49,
Fourth pair:

Thomas—honest doubt, impulsive devo-
tion. Jn. 14:16; 14335 20:35. 28:Study IX

Matthew—fearless faith, thoughtful devo-
tion; See his gospel.

FIFTH DaY Third Quartet,
Fifth pair:

James (of Alphaeus) ‘‘works;” See his
epistle; its keynote is 2:18.

Jude (of James); ‘‘Faith;”’ See his epistle;
its keynote is v.3.

Sixth pair:

Simon the Zealot; the doctrine of the
“Zealots” was hatred of Rome and
preparation for the Messiah as a tem-
poral ruler. Living, sleeping, traveling,
and working with Judas, he probably
had many talks with him, anditis very
probable that both shared the same
misconception of the coming kingdom,
considering it to be a material realiza-

tion.

RERES PALE:Study IX

14 Judas; probably his chief characteristic
iF was ambition for worldly power, and
the chief motive for betraying Christ

was disappointed ambition. See how

soon after Jn. 6:15 comes the state-

ment in Jn. 6:71. After the triumphal

| entry into Jerusalem resulted in nothing,
Judas made his compact. Some think

that Judas was patriotic and betrayed

Jesus in order to save Judea from de-

struction by Rome in case of a popular

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rising in Palestine for this new teacher.

Others think that Judas was devoted to

his master and betrayed him merely to
precipitate a miracle and the final de-
Struction of his enemies. What do you
think?ane

STUDY X

The Infinite Value of the Individual
Human Soul

In last week's study we saw that when Jesus
returned from hissummer of retirement with
the disciples, he had a great task to clarify their
ideas of greatness. They still feel that they
are the chosen ones of the New Order, how-
ever, and Jesus continues to correct their in-
terpretation of the relative value of a life.
FIRST DAY: Read Mark xx and xxi (Ch. X:13—31)

xx. The disciples resent dirty children
touching their master.

xxi. Jesus did not rebuke him until he
‘loved’ him. Notice ‘‘trust in riches’’—is it
always applicable to the rich man alone?
SECOND Day: Read xxii (Ch. X:32—45)

Jesus tries to impress upon his disciples that
trust in the present popular enthusiasm and

    
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
    

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Study X

devotion of the crowd will not avail when the
hours of trial come upon them.
THIRD DAY: Read Mark xitt (Ch. X:46—52) and

Luke xtv to “And he said: Acertain
man had two sons’? (Ch. XV:A—10(

Mark xxiii. Jesus for some time had prob-
ably been dealing with the mass as a whole,
talking to them allin parables. They conse-
quently resent any individual separating him-
self from the mass and standing out as an in-
dividual. The ‘“‘crowd spirit” and the ‘‘crowd
conscience” is beginning to usurp the place of
the individual thought and conscience.

Luke xiv. We will take a glimpse of the
most characteristic and representative parables
ascribed to this period of Jesus’ ministry as
recorded in Luke. We here see Jesus telling
the crowd of the infinite value of the indivi-
dual human soul.Study X

FOURTH Day: Read Luke. xtv—‘And he said: A
certain man,’’ etc,,toxv (Ch. XV:
11—Ch, XV1)

This is one of the finest pieces of literature
ever produced, a good example of Jesus’ best
parables. It illustrates Jesus’ reverence for the
innate worth in the individual human soul.

FIFTH Day: Summary of the other Synoptic Writers

When Jesus returned from his summer’s
retirement in the north he did not tarry very
long in Galilee but immediately set about mak-
ing preparations for his final journey south to
Jerusalem. In order to make this last trip as
effective as possible, he organized seventy of
his chosen followers and sent them before him,
two and two, to the thirty-five or more Perean
cities and villages he intended to visit, where
they were to make things ready for his arrival.
They were advance agents of the Teacher of

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Study X

Life. Before starting forth, Jesus turns to
Galilee, which he is about to leave for the last
time, and pronounces a formal judgment upon
the three cities by the lake which had furnished
the largest share of the audiences he had
talked to: Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Caper-
naum. ‘‘If the mighty works had been done
in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you,
they would have repented long age, sitting in
sackcloth and ashes!”’

In section xix (Mark) there is the statement
—‘‘and he arose from thence and cometh into
the borders of Judea and beyond Jordan,” 1. e.
Perea. In section xxiii Mark says—‘‘And
they come to Jericho”. Between these two
statements occurs the whole period of the
Perean ministry

+
-

winter in time. Luke records Jesus’ teachings

This period comprises a

very fully. Jesus does not add much that isStudy X

new to what he has already given, save that it
is largely put into the form of the short story,
which, as we have already noted, was growing
to be the characteristic form of Jesus’ teachings.
The recorded parables of this period, the chiet
of which we will study, are The Good Samart-
tan, the Marriage Feast, The Ninety and Nine
Sheep, The Lost Coin, The Prodigal Son, The
Unjust Steward, Lazarus and Dives, The Judge
and the Widow, The Talents, The Pharisee and
the Publican.

SIXTH Day: Summary of the Other Synoptic Writers.
(concluded)

On the way to Perea, Luke tells us, Jesus’
disciples started to take the straight road
through Samaria, but the natives prevented
them because their faces were set toward Jeru-
salem. This enraged his leading disciples who
considered this final journey to be a pre-coro-
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Study X

nation journey of their master. Some in his
train of followers, in order to get into his good
graces, promise devotion to him as soon as he
returns as the crowned king, but at present they
beg off because of household demands. To
these he says that no one having put his hand
to the plow and looking back is fit for the
kingdom of God. Others over-enthusiastically
say, “I will follow thee whithersoever thou
goest;’’ and these he restrains by reminding
them that this ‘‘king” has not where to lay his
head, much less a kingdom on earth.

While dining at a Pharisee’s house, his host
criticised him for his disregard of form, where-
upon he launched forth into the most severe of
all his discourses, pronouncing woes upon the
Scribes and Pharisees for regarding the outside
of things and not the inside. Afterwards he

oanStudy X

warned the disciples against the leaven of the
Pharisees in all its forms.

In answer to questions put to him by the
multitude he said that good and bad men are
not discovered by good and bad fortune, but
by inward repentance. To the question
whether few are saved, he said that not by
mere confession of his name alone were men
to be saved, but by the narrow door, which
‘narrow door,” as definedin the Sermon on
the Mount, was ‘‘do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.”

“And being asked by the Pharisees, when the
kingdom of God cometh, he answered them
and said, ‘The Kingdom of God cometh not
with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo,
here! or, there! for lo, the kingdom of God is

within you.’ ”’

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COPUGERSEECAELSOLLCIELOTEPO AUTO DRS ODRD EPO ERE LPO LODERELIECOLOIOR IPAS EERIE O RASS OBEYSTUDY XI
What is Life?
FIRST DAY: Read Luke iti (Ch. X:25—37)

What is life? asks the philosopher. What
is life? asks the poet. What quality of life is
enduring and eternal? is the most momentous
question any man has ever asked.

SECOND Day: Read Luke vii to ‘‘In the meantime’.
(Ch. X1:37—54)

What destroys life? is the negative form of
the great question asked by the lawyer yester-
day.

THIRD DAY: Read Luke vii ‘In the meantime’ to viit
(Ch. XII:1—12)

Jesus takes up the great sin he condemned

in yesterday’s study from a slightly different

view point. Why is it Jesus considers this

particular sin to be the plague spot that stifles
out the life of love?

Pe eeStudy XI

FOuRTH Day: Read Luke viii to ‘‘And he said unto
his disciples: Therefore’? (Cb.XI:
137—21)

Hypocrisy is an attempt to cover up true
values with false appearances. In striving for
these false appearances arise two sins, the twin
offspring of hypocrisy, which stifle out the
simple life at its roots. One sin threatens the
rich man; Covetousness; the other threatens
the poor man, Care. Today we take up the
subject of Covetousness.

FIFTH DAY: Read Luke viti ‘And he said unto his
disciples: ‘‘Therefore? to ‘Let your
loins be girded about,” (Ch. XII:

22—34)

‘‘And he said unto his disciples,” evi-
dently his disciples were liable to the poor
man’s sin rather than the sin of the rich.

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ORREGCEEL EEAEAURECAEAEOTORDOUSUSTRPOEDERPOE TRE LI DEI EOCRIRESEOS ENTE OSUeEeaLy :Study XI

SIXTH DAY: Read Luke iv (Ch. X:38—qz2)

Jesus’ friends as well as his disciples appear
to be poor. ‘‘Mary hath chosen the good
part;” glance back over the study for the first
day for Jesus’ formula of enduring life: ‘‘Love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy
neighbor as thyself.’’ “This do and thou shalt

live,”STUDY XII

Jesus’ Last Battle with the Religious
Leaders

It is now just the close of the winter and
Christ has never met such opposition as he has
just passed through. For the past year his
life has been one long battle with the subtle at-
tacks of the Pharisees, with the gross mis-
understandings of the multitude, with the am-
bitious desires of the disciples. There is a lull
in the tempest just now and Jesus is moving
on to Jerusalem. There is something grand
‘n this march of the greatest hero of all time
toward Jerusalem, where nothing waits him
but a howling rabble under the domination of
the Pharisees. He has won his victory before
he started. This is his last charge to drive
the blow home and make the triumph com-

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Study XII

plete. He crosses swords for the last time in
argument with his enemies.

FIRST DAY: Read Mark xxiv and xXD, first sentence
(CB Xisr-11)

Sunday

This triumphal entry might be called the

“exciting force” for the controversy which
was to follow.

SECOND Day: Read Mark xxo (Ch. XI:12—25)
Monday— Tuesday Morning
‘The requirements that the Temple- tribute
of a half-shekel be paid in exact half-shekels of

the Sanctuary made necessary the presence of
money-changers in Jerusalem. ’’

THIRD Day: Read Mark xxvi (Ch. XT:27—X1I:12)
Tuesday

The challenge!Study XII

FOURTH Day: Read Mark xxvii to “And Jesus
answered and said’ (Ch, XII:13—34)

Tuesday
The attack! | Christ’s enemies combine
against him for a last attack. The Pharisees
and Herodians present a political question, then
the Sadducees present a doctrinal question, and
last of all the lawyers present a legal question.
This episode shows how well his enemies had

encompassed his destruction.
FIFTH DAY: Read Mark xxvii ‘And Jesus answered
and said’? to xxix (ch. XII:35—44)

Tuesday
Jesus’ victory! Having defeated his enemies
on his own ground, Jesus takes the aggressive
and asks them a question of a minor doctrinal
character where they assume to be perfect
masters, merely to show them he could meet

them on their own ground.

PULEELICUTL ATT S LET SPREE eeeSTUDY XIII
| | Last Hours With Friends

FIRST DAY: Read Mark xxix 1, 2, (Ch. XIII:1—23)
Tuesday

SFCOND Day: Read Mark xxix—3, 4, 5. (Ch. XT:
24—37)
Tuesday

THIRD Day: Read Mark xxx (Ch. XIVi1—11
Wednesday

Jesus probably spent Wednesday resting in
Bethany.

ne

FOURTH Day: Read Mark xxxi (Ch. XIV:12—25)

Thursday

FIFTH DAY: Read Mark xxxii to ‘‘And they hed Jesus
away” (Ch. XIV:26—52)

Thursday Night
“And a certain young man followed with

him;” itis conjectured that the “goodman”

—Y9 8—Study XIII

who owned the guest chamber where the dis-
ciples celebrated the Passover, was Mark’s
father, and that this young man, who had
risen from his couch in the dead of night to
follow the band, seeking to arrest Jesus, after
it had failed to find him in the guest chamber,
was Mark himself.

SIXTH Day: Read Mark xxxit “And they led Jesus
way” to xxxitt (Ch. XIV353—72)

Thursday night

In this trial the judges were the prosecutors
and no witness was allowed the defense. This
was contrary to all Jewish tradition and Roman

law.

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STUDY XIV

‘It is Finished’’

During this Passion week Jesus spent Sun-
day with the multitude, Tuesday with the
religious leaders, Wednesday with his friends in
Bethany, Thursday with his disciples, and now
that the last day of his life has come he stands
out before them all.

FIRST Day: Read Mark xxxiii (Ch. XV:1—15)
Friday

SECOND Day: Read Mark xxxiv to “And when the
sixth hour was come’’(Ch, XV:16—32)
Friday

THIRD DAY: Read Mark xxxiv “And when the sixth
hour was come” to xxxv (Ch. XV:
33—41)

FridayStudy XIV

FouURTH Day: Read Mark xxxv and xxxv1 to Appen-

dix (Ch. XV: 42—XVI1:8)

Interval from Friday night to Sunday
morning

FIFTH DAY: Read Mark Appendix (Ch. XV1I:;9—20)
SIXTH DAY: Review the Passion Week.

—A01—

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STUDY XV

Review

FIRST DAY: Jesus

To refresh your mind on the central aim of
our study of Jesus re-read Foreword and First
Day of Study I.

SECOND Day: Jesus View of Life

Jesus believed that personality was the end
and aim of Creation. To live is to put our-
Selves in harmony with our environment. Our
proper environment is persons—and fo love
constitutes the highest qualification of life. To
gain the loving spirit we need simplicity of
spirit. Hypocrisy kills this quality of the
human heart in man, and anxiety and greed
stifle out the simple trusting attitude which
makes human relationship possible.

—102-—Study XV

Read Section i. in the Sevenfold Discourse
(Matt. V: 1-12)

Review Study XI. Compare Study V, first,
second and fifth days.

Glance over Jesus’ Voyage of Discovery in
his entrance on his Public ministry—Study III.

THIRD DAY: Jesus’ Methods

Jesus began his public ministry using didactic
discourses, probably one sermon which he
preached over and over again. Later he turned
to the parable which required more art to con-
ceive and compose, and which required more
vigorous and independent minds to understand.
He also organized his disciples into co-workers
with himself and sent them forth on journeys.

Review Studies VI and VII with especial
attention to the Sixth day of Study VI.

+105Study XV
FOURTH DAY: Jesus and His Disciples

There was from the first a sifting process
going on among those who followed Jesus.
Early in his ministry a few who seem to best
understand him stand out more prominently
than the rest. Simon Peter is at the head of
this group. After Herod had killed John and
the Pharisees were threatening to bring Jesus’
public work to a close, Jesus selects twelve out
of this group and trains them to assist him in
spreading his work more effectively.

Review Studies VIII and IX.

FIFTH Day: Jesus and the People

Jesus came to bring men life; he healed the
sick in soul and body, he made the blind see,
the lame walk, and to those who labored and
were heavy laden he gave rest unto their souls.
The people at first followed him as a marvel

—104—

Sore a a Sn

i aeeEeeESe Bean) ie eeeelStudy XV

and great wonder-worker. He tried to prevent
this attitude by preventing those whom he had
healed from spreading it abroad and by adopt-
ing the parable as his form of discourse. His
fame continued to grow, however, until they
were almost ready to make him a temporal
king. Leaving them at this crisis for the
Summer, he returned and redoubled his efforts
to correct their misconception of his mission.
All this time the Pharisees were secretly spread-
ing their web about him, and were assisting
him in drawing off the sincere and merely
curious fromhis adherence. Those who stayed
true to him were not the ones who admired
his power of working miracles, nor the ones
who respected his power of intellect which
could overturn the arguments of the Pharisees,
but they were the ones whofelt and appreciated

aStudy XV

 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   

Jesus’ deep reverence for the individual man,
hy whatever his wealth or station in life.

Review Study X.

SIXTH Day: Jesus and the Religious Leaders

Early in Jesus’ public ministry, the Judean
Pharisees sent out a committee to sit by and
watch the work of the new religious teacher of
Galilee. It is not long until they are involved
in disputes with him regarding the interpreta-
tion of the law, and the result of the disputes
prove to them that this new teacher must be

eS.

put out of the way assoon as possible. Jesus’
growing fame, however, soon puts any open
opposition out of the question. Meanwhile
they organize with great pains to encompass
his destruction, and, by secret methods, have
the final plot perfected by the time Jesus
reaches Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.

—-100-—Study XV

Review Study XII.

For a description of the political and religious
parties of Palestine see Study II, Third Day.

To appreciate where Jesus’ interpretation of
the Law and the Prophets departed from the
Pharisees’ and Sadducees’, review Study IV,
Fourth and Fifth days.

—AO7

CUREEELALELATLE LTTE Lae TEECUUETEEUERELE LeeLee eae a con eee
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Such was the life of Jesus Christ. He gives
us no theoretical system of doctrine, nor phil-
osophy of the universe. He proclaims no
creed save the Fatherhood of God and the infi-
nite value of the human soul. The whole
life of the Hebrew nation had been given up to
inventing new forms and ways of worshiping
God. Jesus proclaimed only one—that of
reverencing every human soul. Prophets and
priests had searched high and low to locate
the kingdom of God but Jesus said ‘Lo, the
Kingdom of God is within you.” He brings
us back to a fresh appreciation of the character
of man by calling us to personal allegiance to
himself, by revealing to us the wealth of pur-

—108—

   
   
  
 
 
 
   
   
 
  
  
  
  

nn a EN IE neConclusion

pose, of love, of long-suffering, hidden in his
own grand soul—himself the Son of Man. He
calls us to show this appreciation of his person-
ality by growing to have deeper appreciation
for every human personality that we need. If
we claim to be his disciples, we will love
one another as he has loved us; when we do
good unto one of the least of these we are doing
it unto him.

“It was just this that stamped his peculiar
genius, that he gave perfectly simple expres-
sion to profound and ali-important truths, as
though they could not be otherwise: as
though he were uttering something that was
self-evident; as though he were only remind-
ing men of what they knew already, because
it lives in the innermost part of their souls.
The forces of the Gospel appeal to the deepest

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Conclusion

foundations of human existence and to them
only; it is there only that their leverage is
applied. If a man is unable then to go down
to the root of humanity, and has no feeling
for it and no knowledge of it, he will fail to
understand the Gospel, and will then try to
profane it or else complain thatit is of no use.”
—Adolph Harnack.

—110--

 

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