Questions.-With what words did the Devil begin the first and second Temptations? ['If Thou be the Son of God.'] What did he imply by these words? [That Our Lord was required to give a proof that He really was the Son of GOD.] What was the first proof that the Tempter asked for? [That Our Lord should turn stones into bread.] What was the second? [That He should throw Himself down from a pinnacle of the Temple, and show His Divine power by doing this without injury to Himself.] What is meant by a pinnacle of the Temple? How did the Devil quote Scripture to support his case? Show that he did not quote the Psalm accurately. [He left out the important words To keep thee in all thy ways.] What was the meaning of the words he left out? [GOD's promise is that His angels shall guard His servants in all the ways that He appoints for them, but it is not for them to appoint ways of their own and then expect or demand the protecting care of GOD's angels.] How did Our Lord answer the Tempter? What is meant by the words dash thy foot against a stone? [Come to any harm.] What is meant by tempting GOD?

What was the third Temptation? What is meant by all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them? Had the Devil power to give these? [He has a certain power allowed him by GOD for a season, and is able to recompense those that serve him, with earthly and temporary rewards.] Did not Our Lord come to make the kingdoms of the world His own? [Yes! see Rev. xi. 15.] How did He effect this? [By His sufferings and death.] How did the Devil wish Him to effect it? [By an act of sinful submission to his authority.] How did Our Lord answer the Tempter? What followed on the conclusion of Our Lord's Temptation?

From whom, or from what, do all our temptations to evil come? Which of Our Lord's Temptations came from the World? Which from the Flesh? Which (specially) from the Devil? What do we learn from the Epistle to the Hebrews about Our Lord's Temptation and our temptations? What was the weapon with which He encountered the Tempter? [The SWORD of the Spirit, which is THE WORD OF GOD.] What do we learn from this? [The help which we may gain from Holy Script ure in resisting and overcoming temptation.]

HYMN.

Hymns Ancient and Modern, No. 92.
'Forty days and forty nights.'

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS.

SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT.

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST'S RENEWED TESTIMONY TO OUR LORD.

THE CALL OF THE FIRST DISCIPLES.

'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the World.'

The Teacher will begin by referring to the first section of Lesson XII., which tells us of the expectation raised in the minds of men by the preaching and baptism of St. John; The people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John whether he were the Christ or not' (St. Luke iii. 15). The Baptist then told them that he was not the Christ they expected, but only a humble minister of HIM WHO WAS TO COME. We turn to the Fourth Gospel for an account of the further testimony which St. John bore to Our Lord.*

St. John's Account of himself and his work.

Read St. John i. 19-28.

Commentary and Explanation.-St. John was continuing his work of leading men to repentance, and baptising them for the remission of sins; the scene of his work was BETHABARA [or BETHANY], on the eastern side of the river Jordan (v. 28). The wonder of the people as to the meaning and purpose of his work had spread and increased; it was no longer confined to the people who thronged to his baptism, but it was felt also by the great men of the nation, and they sent a deputation of Priests and Levites [the appointed ministers of their religion] to ask WHO ART THOU? He told them as he had told the people before, that he was not THE CHRIST. Then they asked if he was ELIAST [or ELIJAH] whom the prophet Malachi (iv. 5) had taught them to expect before the coming of the Messiah; or

* Perhaps younger children will need to be reminded that St. John, the writer of the Fourth Gospel, was not the same person as St. John the Baptist.

† Elias and Esaias are only the Greek forms of the Old Testament names, Elijah and Isaiah. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew; the New in Greek.

was he THAT PROPHET, of whom Moses had spoken ['The Lord thy GOD will raise up unto thee A PROPHET from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me'; Deut. xviii. 15]? To both these questions he answered 'No'! And then in answer to their repeated inquiries, he gave them his own account of himself and his work; he professed to be the one spoken of by the prophet Esaias* [or Isaiah], whose mission it was to make straight the way of the Lord; he explained to them as he had previously explained to the people, that his baptism was only preparatory to the work of ONE, far greater than himself, who was even then present amongst them.

Questions.-What is meant by the record of John? [The account which he gave of himself and the testimony which he bore to Our Lord.] On what occasion did he bear this testimony? [When the Jews of Jerusalem sent a deputation to ask him who he was.] Of whom was this deputation composed? [Of priests and Levites.] Who were the Levites? [Those belonging to the tribe of Levi, who acted as assistant-ministers under the priests.] To what party did these priests and Levites belong? [The Pharisees.] Who were they? [A sect, or party, amongst the Jews, who professed to be more strict than other men in their religious observances.] What answer did the Baptist give to their questions? [He told them he was not the Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet.] Who was meant by that Prophet? What then did St. John claim to be? What reason did he give for his baptism? Whom did he mean by the One standing among them'? [Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who had come into the world, and was then on the point of beginning His public ministry.] Where did these things occur?

Our Lord pointed out by St. John as the Lamb of God.
Read St. John i. 29-34.+

Commentary and Explanation.-It was on the day following the events narrated in the last section, that Our Lord presented Himself before John the Baptist, on the eastern side of the Jordan. It is probable that this followed close upon Our Lord's Temptation, and so was about six weeks after His baptism. It was then that St. John pointed Him out to his own disciples, and to the bystanders, under the name of THE LAMB OF GOD WHICH TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD. St. John no doubt had in his mind the passage of the prophet Isaiah, which says of the Messiah that He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter,' and that 'the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us

* See note on previous page.

This passage has been previously read and commented upon in Lesson XIL

all' (Isaiah liii. 6, 7), and thus, in giving this name to Our Lord, he marked Him as THE MESSIAH foretold by the Prophet.

The Call of Andrew, Peter, and another.

Read St. John i. 35-42.

Commentary and Explanation.-The day following, Our Lord again passed by, as John stood with two of his disciples [The name disciple means a scholar; the disciples of St. John were those who placed themselves under his instruction, and professed to accept him as their guide and teacher]. One of these two we are told was ANDREW; it seems most likely that the other was ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, the writer of the Gospel from which the account is taken [He probably kept back his name from a feeling of modesty (not wishing to obtrude himself in the history of his Divine Master), as he did, we know, on a later occasion, Chapter xxi. 20-24]. The Baptist directed the attention of his disciples to the Christ, applying to Him the same Title [THE LAMB OF GOD] which he had used on the previous day. The two followed Our Lord; they addressed Him as Rabbi [i.e. Master-thus acknowledging Him as a great Teacher, and professing themselves ready to become His disciples]; and were graciously invited to enter His abode [probably a mere hut, erected for temporary accommodation in this desert place; it is not likely that there were houses near]; and with Him they spent the remainder of the day.*

But a

:

Thus were attracted to Our Lord two of those who were afterwards enrolled amongst the twelve Apostles. greater one was to be brought to Jesus. Andrew was not content to enjoy alone the society and instruction of the great Teacher, under whose influence he had been brought he hastened at once to convey the good tidings to his brother Simon, We have found THE MESSIAH, or THE CHRIST. When this new disciple was brought to the Lord, He immediately called him by name, and recognised the place which he was destined to fill in the Apostolic company; He gave him the new name of CEPHAS, or

The time when they joined Our Lord is given as the tenth hour; if this is according to Jewish reckoning, from 6 o'clock in the morning, the time would be 4 o'clock in the afternoon, as we read in the margins of our Bibles, two hours before night. But many scholars think that St. John's notes of time are according to the Roman way of reckoning, which was the same as our own, and that the tenth hour in this place would mean 10 o'clock in the morning.

PETER [both of which words mean A STONE*], the name by which he is best known to us, and which we shall find to be descriptive, in some way, of his position amongst the Apostles, and of his special work as the leader of the Twelve,

Questions.-Under what Title did St. John the Baptist speak of Our Lord? What was the origin of this Name? What did it imply? [That Jesus was the Messiah, foretold by the prophet Isaiah.] How did St. John say that he had been assured that Jesus was the Messiah? [By the Holy Ghost descending upon Him at His Baptism.]

Who were the two disciples whom St. John directed to Jesus? [One was Andrew, the other probably St. John the Evangelist.] What is the meaning of Evangelist? [The writer of a gospel.] If this second disciple was St. John the Evangelist, why does he not mention his name in his own account of the circumstances? Have we any other example of a similar modesty in the writer of this Gospel? [Yes! in several places, where he speaks of himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved,' without giving his name.] What is meant by a disciple'? How were the disciples directed to Jesus? By what name did they address him? What is the meaning of the word 'Rabbi'? How were they received by Our Lord? What is meant by the tenth hour?

Who was the third disciple brought to Jesus? By whom was he brought? What was the new name given to him? [Cephas or Peter.] What is the meaning of this name? What does Andrew teach us by his eagerness to bring his brother to Our Lord? [That we should not be content simply with enjoying our own privileges in the Church, but should be anxious to make our relatives, friends, and neighbours partakers of the same privileges. Andrew teaches us that we are all, in one sense, Missionaries, with a work to do in bringing men to the knowledge of Our Lord.]

HYMN.

Hymns Ancient and Modern, No. 187.
'Behold the Lamb of GOD.'

* The phrase which is being interpreted, or which is by interpretation, occurs three times in the course of these eight verses, as well as in various other places of this Gospel. The Evangelist explains a Hebrew word by using a Greek word, and this shows that he was writing not for Jews, who would understand the Hebrew, but for Gentiles, who understood Greek.