I By Mr*. Bessie Wllbon
LESSON BACKGROUND
. .After the raising of Lazarus, some of those present went
to the Pharisees and reported the miracle. Hie Pharisees
were so upset by this news that they immediately
convened the Sanhedrin to decide on what action to take.
Caiaphas, the high priest, urged the council to kill Jesus in
order to protect the Jewish nation and the temple from the
Romans. In order to avoid a premature confrontation,
Jesus left Jerusalem and the surrounding area and went lb
the town of Ephraim, which Bible scholars believe was
located about fifteen miles north and east of Jerusalem.
Jesus then returned for a brief ministry in Perea, east of
the Jordan.
It is not known how long Jesus remained in Perea, but
six days before the Passover He returned to Bethany. It
was while he ate supper there that Mary anointed Him
with precious ointment. Jesus’ presence could no longer
be k«>t a secret, and soon a curious crowd gathered to see
both Jesus and Lazarus. The next day Jesus made His
triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Upon entering the temple
area the following day, He drove out the merchants and
the money changers. The event related in Today’s lesson
text may have occurred the day after this cleansing of the
templef •: -vV ' . • 1
THE LESSON
i Some Greeks were among those who had gone to
Jerusalem to worship during the festival. They went to
Philip and said, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew, and the two of them went
and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has now
come for the Son of Man to receive great glory. I am
telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more
than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and
dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. Whoever
loves his own life will lose it; whoever hates his own life in
this world will keep it for life eternal. Whoever wants to
serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with
me where I am. And my Father will honor anyone who
serves me.” /
“Now my heart is troubled - and what shall I say? Shall I
say,/Father, do not let this hour come upon me’? But that
is why I came - so that I might go through this hour of
suffering. Father, bring glory to your name! ”
Then a voice spoke from heaven, “I have brought glory
to it, and I will do so again.” The crowd standing there
heard the voice, and some of them said it was thunder,
while others said, “An angel spoke to him! ”
But Jesus said to them, “It was not for my sake that this
voice spoke, but for yours. Now is the time for this world to
be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown.
When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to
kne”. In saying this he indicated the kind of death he was
going to suffer. (John 12:20-33) .*)
The Greeks in this Scripture were not Greek-speaking
Jews but ethnic Greeks. But they were not pagans. They
had come to Jerusalem to worship. They were therefore
proselytes, Greeks who had come to believe in one God and
to follow the Old Testament, at least in part. As the
Wisemen came Atom the Gentile world to honor Jesus at
His birth, so now Gentiles once more came to see Him at
the close of His ministry.
• Philip, in this Scripture is the apostle Philip. These men
may have come to him because he bore a Greek name. It
is possible that these Greeks knew Philip prior to this.
Because they did not know Jesus, they probably thought it
best to approach Him through one of His disciples. “Sir,
we want to see Jesus.” It is obvious that they wanted to do
more than look at Him. They sought an interview with
Him. We cannot be sure what attracted them to Him, but it
may have been the triumphal entry or His cleansing of the
temple.
Philip was a hit perplexed oy the request. He didn t go
immediately to Jesus because he may have doubted
whether Jesus would want to talk to Gentiles, especially in
public. As a result, he went to his friend Andrew, and
together they carried the Request to JesUs. '
“The hour is come.” Jesus’ words were probably
addressed to Philip and Andrew and others, including the
Greeks, who must have surrounded Him by now. Jesus
knew the minds of the Greeks, and he may well have been
speaking to their needs without, talking directly to them.
John uses this expression several times in his Gospel
{John 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30-8:20). By it he indicates that Jesus
operated within a definite time framework established by
the Father. Now the time had come for the climax in that
chain of events that would lead to the completion of God’s
plan for human redemption. In speaking of himself Jesus
used His favorite title Son of Man. Paradoxically, Jesus’
glorification would come through His humiliation.
Because He obediently submitted himself to a shameful
death. He would be glorified through the resurrection and
His eventual return to Heaven.
“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth
his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal: (w.
25-26) Jesus strengthened His illustrations by using a
double paradox. What He had just spoken about himself
He now made applicable to His disciples. One who is
concerned only for his own interests, who is unwilling to
make any kind of a commitment to others, may succeed in
protecting himself. He may even exist in ease and prolong
his life; but he will never know the toys that come to one
who lives for others. Much more - the one who is selfish
with no thought of serving Christ, will perish forever.
So much in our world is aimed at causing us to develop
an unhealthy concern for ourselves. Advertising is aimed
at arousing desires for things that we don’t need or can’t
really afford. It is amazing how quickly a luxury becomes
commonplace, which then becomes a necessity. But the
very fact that Jesus speaks against the sin of self-centered
ness shows that ours was not the first generation to fall
victim to it.
Father, thank you for permitting Your Son to be “lifted
W>” so that we could be drawn to Him. Lead us, Father, to
surrender to the drawing power of the cross. May this lead
us into lives of service for You. In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
Boy And Sophease Blackmon’s
Love Has Endured
By Loretta Manago I ^ ]
Past Staff Writer
"...Love endures long and la kind.
Love is not Jealous ..It bears every
thing in silence, has unquenchable
faith, hopes under all circumstances
and endurea without limit.” Those
words taken from the first letter of
Corinthians and written by the
apostle Paul epitomize the very
essence of the feeling that is so
important that books, seminars and
even a day out of the year is
centered around.
In recognition of that special day,
Valentine’s day, a love that so aptly
fits Paul’s description is focused
upon. That is the love shared
between Roy and Sophease Black
mon. They recently celebrated their
35th wedding anniversary.
“We were married on Chistmas
Eve,” began Mrs. Blackmon. They
spoke their solemn vows after a year
of dating. Both had been married
before, but Mrs. Blackmon’s hus
band was deceased and Blackmon
was no longer with his wife at the
time that the two met.
"I was living by myself, having
come from Washington, D.C. to
Charlotte to live and Roy was the
coal and wood man, making deli
veries throughout the neighbor
hood,” reminisced Mrs. Blackmon.
She admitted that she had always
known that Blackmon was a nice,
kind and understanding man, but
said that she had no idea that they
would later become husband and
wife. Even Mr. Blackmon confessed
that he had no idea that the two of
them would marry. After a while,
Mrs. Blackmon admitted: “I got to
thinking. Now that’s a pretty nice
fella.”
What has made their marriage so
special is that the same thing that
attracted Mrs. Blackmon to her
husband are qualities that he still
possesses today. "He’s still as
nice and kind and understanding as
he ever was. I wouldn’t trade
nothing for him,” she revealed.
Black Leaders
Continued From Page 1A
total Black community." He points
out that many groups, dubs, sorori
ties and fraternities are efficiently
involved in the community.
Interestingly, Coleman stresses,
‘‘Ministers have more influence
than anyone in town. If they wanted
to they could unite the entire Black
community.”
Unity is a key issue when dealing
with the subject of “Black Leaders.”
The question of effectiveness some
times denotes bow many people does
one such leader have under his or
her influence. There is power in
numbers.
But you’d be hard pressed to try to
find a large body of Blacks who
would agree upon one person as
their leader. Marsh claims, "People
tend to get offended when you start
identifying “Black Leaders.” They
will question it.”
There is an apparent lack of unity
in the black community as the
“leaders” are divided up into spe
cial interests groups.
And it appears as though the
notion of a single effective black
community leader has become obso
lete. So if you, as a black citizen,
need help for your community you
may end up with a long list of people
to talk to. You may feel confined as
to who to begin with. You may be
shuttled from one person to another.
You may be confronted with a “pass
the buck” sort of bureaucracy. Is
this the direction in which Black
leadership is going?
“There is the need to recognize all
the “leaders” and form a coalition of
all of them,” suggests Coleman.
“We need to be together. Everyone
should sit down at one table and
understand each other. This is what
is needed in order to help the total
Black community to do for ourselves
in a constructive way.”
This sounds easier than it will be.
It will take deflation of egos, genero
sity of time, openness of mind,
compassionate spirit, and logical
rationality. As yet, there has been
no movement, in Charlotte, to form
such a governing body of Black
Leaders.
It remains to be seen whether a
Black leader will recognize this need
and be truly effective by bringing
together all "leaders” in a concerted
effort to help the black community.
And you, the person with the
problem, you should not be excluded
from this group. For as Marsh
concludes, "Every individual is a
leader of themselves. Thus they ars
capable of transferring their ideas in
collective bargaining."
r-——-r*1
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Mr. and Mrs. Roy Blackmon
. .35 years of marriage
The bond that Mr. and Mrs.
Blackmon share Is a much stronger
one, than the ones shared by hun
dreds of couples today. According
Mrs. Blackmon, it’s not that she and
her spouse haven’t experienced
tough times, it’s just that they
haven’t been as easy to give up as
some of the younger couples seem
to.
“With couples today, it just seems
like at the least' little thing, why
they’re ready to fly off the handle.
They don’t seem to be willing to
work at their marriage and make it
work. In the early years of our
marriage, Roy and me had it rough,
but now that we’re older we’re
having the good times.”
She advises anyone contemplating
marriage to consider a few things:
“Put the Lord first and continue
to ask Him to bless you. Anytime the
Lord is upfront, then you’re bound to
stay together. He’s got to be in
the midst. Love one another if you
don’t have nothing but bread and
butter and try to marry someone
like yourself. If you like to be
involved in church, then pray for
someone who is interested in church,
too."
“What is it all boils down to is that
marriage is what you make it. And
you've got to be able to take as well
as give. It’s a two-way street.”
There are no arguments for the
Blackmons. Mrs. Blackmon confes
sed that on the occasions that she
gets upset with her husband, he
never argues. He simply goes to
sleep. This leaves them plenty of
time for all the other things that they
both enjoy doing. “I think what has
helped us get along so well is that we
do everything together. We go out to
eat, go shopping and visiting. It’s
rare when someone will see one of us
without the other.”
And aside from doing things to
gether the Blackmons have man
aged to hold on to something else,
equally as important as their love -
their sense of humor. “Oh, we’re
always picking at the way each
other talks or walks. We just have so
much fun together.”
Both natives of South Carolina, the
Blackmons attend St. Paul Baptist
Church. She is a member nf
the Gospel choir, chairperson of
ber of Missionary No. 2, a Sunday
School teacher and a deaconess.
Blackmon is a deacon and a Gospel
choir leader as well as a part-time
custodian.
And where was Blackmon during
the interview of this article? Well,
he was on his way to the church, but
said before leaving the house, “My
wife usually does all the talking. She
can answer your questions!”
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