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 Sunday School Lesson LESSON VII CONSERVING THE SABBATH FOR MAN Mark 2:23â€"3:6. Godlen Text And bib said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man. Mark 2: 27. The Lesson In Its Setting Time.â€"Early summer, A.D. 28. Place.â€"The incident of the pluck- ing of the corn took .place near Cap- ernaum;, the healing of the man with the withered hand occurred in Galilee, in which province Capernaum was lo- cated. 23. "And it came to pass, that he.” Was going on the Sabbath through the grain fields.” Mark graphically shows us Je sms walking through the wide stretches of waving corn which cov- ered the plain of Gennesaret and neighboring valleys. The roads were only narrow foot-paths, and travel- lers had all the appearance of wading through the grain. The word “corn” in our Bible is a general term for cer- eal grains, and those cultivated in Bible lands were wheat, barley, vetch, millet, beans, lentils, and pulse. Here the grain is probably wheat and not j barley, for barley cannot be treated by rubbing in the hands as wheat can. The Sabbath was, of course, our Sat- urday, and not our Sunday, It was the seventh day of the week, a day which God .net apart far back at the crea- tion to be a holy day, free from un- necessary labor, the1 most sanctified of all the days of the week. After the close tif the Old Testament the scribes and Pharisees multiplied with vast and complicated details laws pertain- ing to the observance of; the Sabbath day, especially in regard to avoidance of labor. If a person were in one place, and his hand filled with fruit stretched into another, and the Sab- bath Overtook him in this attitude, lie would have; to drop the fruit, since if he Withdrew- his full hand from one locality to another, he would be car- rying a burden on the Sabbath. If a hen laid on a Sabbath day, the egg was forbidden. Hunger on the Sabbath ‘‘And .hlr, disciples began, us they went, to pluck the cars.” The dis- ciples were hungry and had been long fasting; and, as they went, they plucked and ate those ears of corn which grew on the old pathway. This was allowed by custom and by the law (Dent. 23: 25), but by rabbinical tradition to pluck ears was to reap, an act forbidden on the Sabbath (Exod. 34: 2.1), and to rub ears in the hand was to thresh, and these actions were therefore forbidden on the Sab- bath, A cry for food is holy, it is sac- red! Were it not so, in the economy of God he would provide that men never ; become hungry on the Sabbath day. 24. ‘‘And the Pharisees spid unto him, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?” The Phar- isees were always the enemies of Jesus, It was their deliberate pur- pose, by the questions which they continually asked him, to weaken his great ! influence among the Jewish people of that day, and to find ulti- mately sufficient cause whereby they could : condemn him as a breaker of the law. 25. ‘‘And he said unto them, Die ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry, he, and they that were with him?” 26., ‘‘How he entered into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful fo eat save for the priests, and gave also to them that were with him” The incident to which our Lord here refers in the life of David is, found recorded in I Sam. 21: 16. The point the Pharisees were making was that plucking oars on the Sabbath day was unlawful. Jesus comes back at them by reminding them, for their own sacred records, that David had done something which was normally unlawful (Lev. 24. 5-9), but to which exceptions could be made when the exigency of circumstances demanded, as, e.g„ great hunger on the part of one not a priest, By ail of this the Lord means that circumstances can sometimes arise in which minute de- tails of a law are to be ignored. Sabbath Made For Man 27. “And he -said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and tiot man for the sabbath." The Sabbath, the' day of rest; was made, was brought into existence, was created; for, because of, on account of, for thé sake of, man; mankind, not for the Jews, but for the .race. Map Is the end, and the Sabbath the means, not man the means and the Sabbath the end. Men are not brought into existence Bâ€"1> because of institutions, but institu- tions because of men. What matters first is man; but that does not mean that the Sabbath does not matter at all. What our Lord says lends no sanction to either Pharisaic Sabba- tarianism or Parisian latitudlnarian- ism. If man would be sound, physi- cally, mentally, and spiritually, he must have periodical rest, and for this purpose the Sabbath has been given. “So that the Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath.”, The Sabbath, being made for man’s benefit, is subject to the control of the ideal and represen- tative man to whom it belongs. The scribes maintained that the regula- tions about the Sabbath were the most important part of the whole law, and that their observance formed the essential contents of religion. Thus Jesus sets himself above Mos- aisrn, and announces his right to in- terpret, to fulfill, to set aside. A Time For Doing Good 1. “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there who had his hand withered." His disease, which probably extended through the arm, had its origin in a deficient absorption of nutriment by the limb; was a partial atrophy, show- ing itself in a gradual wasting of the size of the limb, with a loss of its powers of motion. Many people who go to church have a withered hand, i.e„ they do only half the work they should; they work with one hand only, they are working on only half their possible power. It is that sort of thing which accounts largely for the church’s ineffectiveness. Only fullness of life in sacrificial service will con- vince a critical world, 2. “And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath clay; that they might accuse him.” According to the rabbinical rule, re- lief might be given to a sufferer on the Sabbath day only when life was in danger, 3. “And he. saith unto the man that had his hand withered, Stand forth.” The word rendered “hand” is compre- hensive and includes the entire arm. God makes no unjust exaction. He ever gives power with the effort to oUny hirn, Let us say that God could deliver" us* without arty effort of our own. He does not deliver us in that way. No truth of Scripture is clearer than that he has affixed the condition of personal faith to the gift of eternal life. We must stretch forth our hand to accept the gift, else we shall not receive it. 4. “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? to save a life, or to kill? But they held their peace." This is not a question of doing or not doing, but of what one does; and it is made plain that all negatives are posi- tives; that not to do good when one can, is to do evil; that not to save life when one can, is to kill. Anger of Love 5. “And when he had looked round about, on them with anger.” Because Jesus so yearned over them and so longed for the victory of truth and sincerity in their souls, therefore as he gazed upon them in their suicidal obduracy, his eyes flashed with the instinctive wrath of love. He was an- gry as one might be angry at a sick man who, in sheer perversity, refuses the remedy in which lies his only hope. “Being grieved at the hardening of their heart,” The anger was tem- pered by grief. The word, here used implies sorrow arising from sympathy with another’s unconscious plight. The word here translated “hardening” means to grow callous. “He saith. un- to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and his hand was restored.” Jesus never be- gan anything that he could not ac- complish. He knew when he told this man to stretch forth his hand that he would be able to heal it and did heal it, 6. “And the Pharisees went out, and straightway with the llorodiaus took counsel against him, how they might destroy him,1’ The Herodtans appear again in the same company (12; IS), and some understanding be- tween the two parties is implied also in Mark 8: là. The kingdom of lies is no longer A, kingdom divided against itself when the kingdom of the truth is to he opposed, Herod and Pilate can be friends together» |f it be % the destroying oil the Ondst (Luke 23: là). :: .V..; : M©¥i€ Æ" By VIRGINIA DALS James Cagney has patched up his quarrel with Warner Brothers and Margaret Sullavan has made peace with the Universal company, which is good news to all the admirers who have missed them. Cagney will he rewarded with the very best story, Warner’s own, the great New \orlc stage hit “Boy Meets Girl.” It is a rollicking story about two looney Hollywood scenario writers, and if all of Cag- ney’s requests are granted, he will have Pat O’Brien playing his partner in foolish antics. Miss Sullavan will play in “The Road to Keno.” That leaves Jean Arthur the only major at- traction who is still feuding with her company, Columbia, and staying off the screen in revolt. However, Ann Sothern has parted company with R K 0 and Barbara Stanwyck is suspended from the pay roll because they refused to play in a picture called “Distant Fields.” Margaret Sullavan Felix Knight, who sang recently on the Metropolitan auditions, is be- ing hailed as the greatest discovery of the year, but Hollywood claims that they discovered him some two years ago. He sang the juvenile lead in “Babes in Toyland,” the Hal Roach film, and has sung in opera in the Hollywood Bowl. Mo- tion picture fans will be interested to know that this thrilling young tenor was recently married to the daughter of Alice Joyce. “I’s All Yours,” the new Columbia film starring Madeleine Carroll and Francis Lederer, turns out to be all Mischa Auer’s. Beauty and romantic interest just cannot compete with the litter nonsense that this tragic-faced Russian puts over so hilariously. Off~ screen Mischa Auer is entertaining too. Any one of a dozen voices that you hear on “Grand Central,” “The Gold- bergs” or “True Story” or innumer- able other radio hours is apt to be a youth named Lawson Zerbe who comes from the University of Cali- fornia. He is known affectionately as radio’s one-man stock company. Recently when he was scheduled, to play six roles on one dramatic hour, he was delayed at another studio and when he finally arrived just in the nick of time, the frantic director had sent out for six well-known actors to replace him. John Barrymore had great fun on his vacation in New York. Knowing that he was going to portray an eld- erly and somewhat acid society re- porter in his next Paramount picture, “Cafe Society,” he did the fashion- able night clubs and watched the jew- elled set at play. “Suicidal* Wage Cute WASHINGTON, â€" President Roose- velt this week opposed wage cuts by industry during the business recession us “suicidal’’ and warned that it sal- aries are slashed this winter and spring the Government will be forced to consider “other means" of creating purchasing power. Joe Fenner is the radio favorite of 22,146 boys and girls between the ages of six. and six- teen. Every year a survey is conducted by the Boys Athletic league among chil- dren in playgrounds, -vacation camps, and work agencies to learn their prefer- ences in sports, bçolts, movies, ra- dio programs, foods and hobbies which is used as a guide for educators in plan- ning their diversions, Eddie Can- ill, Ttie Lotie Rangôr, and Jack Rhïipÿ Were. runn@i%~tip in the youiig- «lêfi? election of radio favorites. IbfthiS proved to â-  be the boys’ favorite motion picture star, while Sjiirîéÿ Tinipli led In the girls’ di- vision. Eugen Weidmann, left, the “Bluebeard” charged with the murder of Jean de woven and many others, seems to have adopted the tokens identifying him with the legendary criminal, having grown a full beard While in a Hongkong Prepares For Possible Trouble iSH ; *vmÊm â€" s* B«tS§8 A machine gun squad of the Middlesex Regiment rehearses battle tactics at Hongkong, China, preparing for possible conflict, as the Far Eastern trouble - approaches the city. Century-Fox talent scout found her, will play the lead in “Kidnapped.” A long period of training at the stu- dio came between the two careers . . , A practical joker put a sign on Kay Francis’ lawn that read “Open for Inspectionâ€"Public Welcome.” Kay claims that this drew her biggest; audience to date . . . Ginger Rogers awards prizes at her parties for the. best concoctcions turned out at the soda fountain recently installed in her home . Joe Fenner ODDS AND ENDSâ€"Clark Gable vdp portray a newsreel cameraman in. “Tèo Hot to Handle” . , . Fibber Mc- Gee and. Molly have been engaged for ail oilier Paramount picture , . , Janet Gayhor m “The Star Wagon7’ will play the role that Lillian Gish is play- ing on the stage. Lillian was Janet’s favorite motion-picture star when she was a youngster . . . A.relen Whelan, who was a.manicurist before a 20th â-º5 ' ; hi | The Stars Anri You | By A. R. WEIR $ WHAT THE STARS FORETELL FOR THOSE BORN ON FEBRUARY 7<t M 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 $ % ★ & j® All the above dates come under the sign Aquarius. Aquarians often A have inventive genius and are particularly interested in inventions of $ ipi kinds. Aquarians do well where concentration and application are $ pecessary and make excellent musicians, secretaries, artists. Any kind i& of literary work usually appeals to those born under this sign. YOUR OWN BIRTHDATE: $ FEBRUARY 11â€"Some change may have a big influence over your life $ tfiis year. You will be well advised to take stock of your assets and your $5 capabilities and to put forth every effort to.forge ahead. You should got ® more fresh air. $ M FEBRUARY 12-*A very busy time is ahead for you which will result in t§ financial progress if your efforts are not dissipated. Some new work ti may arise and social affairs will bring you pleasure. Do not be deceptive a of moodyâ€"these are traits some Aquarians have to combat. FEBRUARY 13â€"You ma*y receive a considerable sum of money by loan or legacy this year. A long journey is indicated Which may have bene- ficial results?. Be careful when dealing with strangers and elderly people. Yon are a clear reasonev, intuitive and somewhat clairvoyant. FEBRUARY 14â€"Some dispute may arise over a loan or debt and there t&ay bo a •misunderstanding, -with your business associates. Your problem is tp understand the other person’s viewpointâ€".you yourself are 'Clear- sighted and dependable. You have a brilliant year ahead for social af- fairs and much happiness is indicated. FEBRUARY 15â€"You are approaching a,prosperous and successful per- iod. Domestic matters, social affairs and relations with relatives are all favourably defined. Your health .also should be good and you are aqyte- éd to take advantage of this bright period in yotir life and to efijoy It to the full. FEBRUARY 16â€"Correspondence and documents figure in the working out of your destiny this year and their sane handling is necessary if ÿoti |rp to Avoid pitfalls. A removal of residence is Indicated. You are faith- fid and loyal to the opposite sex, FEBRUARY 17â€"You are very easy to get along with, have high ideals and make it a rule to practice what you preach. You have a philosophi- cal outlook on life which helps you to overcome difficulties when they do arise. An obstacle is indicated, in business but all is bright for social affairs and love. If you birth date is not listed above and you would like a horoscope for any birth date in the year, or if you would like a complete personal horoscope for any date listed above, send 10c to A, R. Weir, 73 Adelaide St, W., Toronto. Please print your name, address and birth date plainly. I I I I $ | I $ f I %