:16. In this verse, as Dr. Arthur T. Pierson puts it,
we have five couplets:

1. God the Father and the Son, as the originators of salvation.

2. The Divine action, "loved," and "gave."

3. Those toward whom this action was directed. "The world," and to
make it personal, "whosoever."

4. The condition on which the Divine gift may be had. "Believe," and
therefore "have."

5. That for which all this action is taken, "not perish," but have
"everlasting life."

#126. The Woman of Samaria.#--In this year too, at its close, comes
the interview with the woman at Jacob's well, in Samaria. It is well
worth noticing that to a woman, and she a Samaritan woman, Jesus
poured out truth as prodigally as he did to Nicodemus, a ruler of his
own nation. The result of this interview was the adherence of a large
number of Samaritans to the Master. All the above story of this first
year of our Lord's public ministry we learn only from the Gospel of
John, each of the other evangelists beginning his story with the
Galilean ministry.

#127.# Note that our Lord's whole public life is condensed into three
and a half short years. Yet what a wonderful work he accomplished in
that period! The active life of Alexander the Great was thirteen
years, and that of Napoleon twenty-three years. In those years these
two men wrought wonders. But their empire has long since passed away.
The empire of the Master is to-day wider than ever, and the work of
those three years and a half will never cease to be felt. This is
because he was more than mere man, and brought to his task super-human
power and knowledge.

Test Questions

State the condition of Palestine religiously at the time of our Lord's
entry into public life.

What was the value of the synagogue?

Give the first event of the year in question.

Of what doctrine do we see the foreshadowing at Christ's baptism?

Give the threefold nature of the temptations of which we have record.

What reason may we assign for the attempt of Satan to draw Christ to
sin?

With whom did Jesus have a most significant interview in Jerusalem?

Give the five couplets in John 3:16.

With whom did Jesus have another interview at Jacob's well?

What was the result of that interview?

What is there significant in the brevity of our Lord's public life as
compared with that of Alexander or Napoleon?

Lesson 4

The Year of Popularity

New Testament Division--Second Period (Continued)

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