Viewing page 34 of 40

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

62   THE CONVENTION TEACHER

INTRODUCTION

In setting up a Spiritual Kingdom, Jesus recognizes clearly, and He would have all the citizens recognize, that every person must determine what he will put in first place in his life.  That will determine the direction of that person's attitude throughout life.  The true citizen of the Kingdom must put the Kingdom itself in first place; nothing must be allowed to take a place of greater importance than that.  Jesus tries to emphasize that fact time and time again throughout His ministry, and He uses the most forceful and striking language possible to do so.  Every person has the ambition to lay up treasure for himself, but each one must determine whether will be earthly or heavenly treasure that will occupy his major attention.  There may come times when there will be a definite conflict between the two; A person may be able to make a large sum of money if he is willing to give up certain Christian principles.  When that conflict comes, the Christian citizen must be loyal to the righteousness of the Kingdom above all else.

At times there will be competition between the two and if we give too much time to the gain of earthly goods to the neglect of the Spiritual treasure we have sinned against the Kingdom; but when the Christian has definitely put the Kingdom in first place, he may well use the material wealth which he has acquired richly in the service of the Kingdom.

EXPOSITION

I.  THE DOCTRINE AND GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.  (VV. 16-20; 26-29.) (16) And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.  Having made a circuit through the other parts of Galilee, He came to Nazareth where He had spent His former life principally till the 30th year of His age; but, after He entered on His public ministry, His usual place of residence was at the home of Peter in Capernaum (Sort of headquarters). And as his custom was --On the sabbath day according to His constant custom in every place, He resorted to the synagogue, that He might join in the public worship here performed, and, use the opportunity of instructing the people, either because of the reputation which He had acquired by His miracles and doctrine in the places, we do not find that even the persecuting Jews ever hindered Jesus or His disciples from preaching in their synagogue. And stood up for to read.  The Jews generally sat while they taught or commented on the sacred writings, or traditions of the elders; but when they read, either the law or the prophets they invariably stood up. It was not lawful for them even to lean against anything while employed in reading. They gave Him a roll containing the prophecy of Isaiah that He might read the Scriptures to them, which was always a part of their stolid service.

(17)And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, Jesus had carried great influence as a Teacher of His mighty words, so the book was given Him. When he opened the book. When he had opened the book. When He had unrolled it. The sacred writings used to this day, in all the Jewish synagogues are written on skins, or basil, parchment or vellum sewed end to end, and rolled on two rollers, beginning at each end; so that, in reading them from right to left, they roll off with the left, while they roll on with the right. Probably the place in the prophet Isaiah, here mentioned, was the lesson for that day; and Jesus unrolled the manuscript till He came to the place.

(18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. This is found in Isaiah 61:1; but Jesus adds to it verses 7-8 of chapter 43. Because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor--Jesus says, I have been designed and set apart for the purposes named. My business among men is to preach the Gospel. In short, all the functions of this new prophet are exercised on the hearts of men; and the grace by which He works in the hearts is a grace of healing, deliverance, and illumination; which by an admirable virtue, causes them to pass from sickness to health, from slavery to liberty, from darkness

[[end page]]
[[start page]]

THE CONVENTION TEACHER   63 

to light, and from the lowest degree of misery to supreme eternal happiness.

(19) To preach the acceptable year of the lord. To those who further spiritual purity, whose hearts are broken through a sense of their own sins, who see themselves tied and bound with the chains of many evil habits, who sit in the darkness of guilt and misery without a friendly hand to lead them in the way they should go. To those, the gospel of the grace of Christ is a pleasing sound, because a present and full salvation is proclaimed by it, and the present is shown to be the acceptable year of the lord: The year, the time in which he saves to the uttermost all who come unto him in the name of his son jesus Christ.

(20) And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. Having chosen the foregoing words as the subject of his discourse, jesus gave the book into the hands of the minister (or stated servant of the synagogue, who took care of those matters) and sat down, as teachers used to do. He stood up to read and, closing the book he sat down. Here christ conforms to the ceremonies of the jewish church. The report of his miracles and doctrines when compared with the remarkable prophecy, caused the people to fix their eyes upon him with the greatest expectation and attention.

(26) And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; This parable which is not found in any other gospel represents the manner in which the Kingdom of God gains ground in the world. He who faithfully and diligently preaches the Word of the truth of the Gospel may be likened unto a husbandman who sows his seed with suitable care and attention and then leaves it.

(27) And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.  The husbandman does sleep and rise daily--Sleeping at night, rising by day, and during that time the seed is taking root and growing into sight, but how the plant grows is a mystery in nature which the wisest philosopher in the land cannot fully explain. Receiving the influence of the sun, rain, and varying seasons, as ordered by Him spontaneously produces the increase.

(28) For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Bringeth forth fruit of herself. By its own energy, without either the influence or industry of man. "Some (trees) grow of their own accord without the labor of men. All the endlessly varied herbage of the field is produced in this way, first the blade--after a brief period, the blade of the fruit appears, and, during the changes of the weather, it sometimes appears more flourishing and at other times it seems to wither; yet at length its ears fill, and ripen, and the husbandman gathers in the crop which god has given him as the increase of his seed sown."

(29) But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle because the harvest is come. He sendeth out the reapers, the instrument, by a metonymy. It has been supposed that our Lord intimates here that, as soon as the corn is ripe, it is reaped for the benefit of him who sowed it, for it can be of little or no use till it is ripe. So when a soul is saved from all sin it is capable of being fully employed in the work of the lord; it is then, and not till then, fully fitted for the master's use. god saves men to the uttermost that they may here perfectly love him, and worthily magnify his name. To take them away the moment they are capable of doing this, would be, so far, to deprive the world and the church of the manifestation of the glory of his grace.

II. THE SPIRITUAL NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (VV. 20-21.) (20) And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of god should come, he answered them and said, the kingdom of god cometh not with observation.  That the coming of the kingdom of god will be a visible, observable event the scriptures amply testify. It will come like a lightning flash, accompanied by signs and portents in heaven as well as on earth.  But it will not be a small local occurrence, known only to those who are watching closely. This is the force of the word usually rendered "observation." It denotes scrutiny, a careful inspection lest something elude observation. Thus they "watched" the gates of Damascus day and night in order to apprehend Saul of Tarsus. This suggests quite the opposite thought, that it comes with such apparent and public "observation" that careful scrutiny is useless.