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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:54:53 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:54:53 -0700 |
| commit | 2e63d2e243bac147f7713ddb1c638e2b32f1be81 (patch) | |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19087-h.zip b/19087-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1387441 --- /dev/null +++ b/19087-h.zip diff --git a/19087-h/19087-h.htm b/19087-h/19087-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..431b07d --- /dev/null +++ b/19087-h/19087-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5521 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The King Nobody Wanted, by Norman F. Langford + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + a[name] { position:absolute; } + a:link {color:#0000ff; background-color:#FFFFFF; + text-decoration:none; } + a:visited {color:#0000ff; background-color:#FFFFFF; + text-decoration:none; } + a:hover { color:#ff0000; background-color:#FFFFFF; } + + table { width:60%; padding: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + .tocch { text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} + .tocpg {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} + .tr {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 2em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: solid black 1px; text-align:center;} + .f1 { font-size:x-large; } + + img { display: block; } + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style:normal; + } /* page numbers */ + + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter { margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft { float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-right: 1em; padding-bottom: 0em; } + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; +margin-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; } + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The King Nobody Wanted, by Norman F. Langford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The King Nobody Wanted + +Author: Norman F. Langford + +Illustrator: John Lear + +Release Date: August 20, 2006 [EBook #19087] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING NOBODY WANTED *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<p class="tr">Transcriber's note: <br /> +Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the copyright +on this publication was renewed.</p> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 559px;"> +<img src="images/image_001.jpg" width="559" height="720" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<img src="images/image_002.jpg" width="800" height="555" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<h1>The King nobody wanted</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h2>By NORMAN F. LANGFORD</h2> +<p> </p> +<h3><i>Illustrated by John Lear</i></h3> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>THE WESTMINSTER PRESS</h3> +<h4>PHILADELPHIA</h4> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="center">COPYRIGHT, MCMXLVIII, BY W. L. JENKINS +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + + + + + + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr><td class="tocch">1</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#Waiting">Waiting</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">2</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#A_King_Is_Born">A King Is Born</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">3</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#Growing">Growing</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">4</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#Jesus_Goes_to_Work">Jesus Goes to Work</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">5</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#A_Busy_Time">A Busy Time</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">6</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#Friends_and_Foes">Friends and Foes</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">7</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#Slow_to_Understand">Slow to Understand</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">8</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#Jesus_Is_Strong">Jesus Is Strong</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">9</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#Refusing_a_Crown">Refusing a Crown</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">10</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#The_Way_to_Jerusalem">The Way to Jerusalem</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">11</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#Nearing_the_City">Nearing the City</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">12</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#In_Jerusalem">In Jerusalem</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">13</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#The_Last_Night">The Last Night</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">14</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#The_Last_Day">The Last Day</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">15</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#The_Victorious_King">The Victorious King</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td></tr> +</table> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ABOUT THIS BOOK</h2> + + +<p><i>In a very real and interesting way</i>, <span class="smcap">The King Nobody Wanted</span> <i>tells +the story of Jesus. Where the actual words of the Bible are used, they +are from the King James Version. But the greater part of the story is +told in the words of every day.</i></p> + +<p><i>Since you will certainly want to look up these stories in your own +Bible, the references are given on pages 191 and 192. You will +discover that often more than one Gospel tells the same story about +Jesus, but in a slightly different way. In</i> <span class="smcap">The King Nobody Wanted</span>, +<i>the stories from the Gospels have been put together so that there is +just one story for you to read and understand and enjoy.</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_003.jpg" width="600" height="389" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Waiting" id="Waiting"></a>1. Waiting</h2> + + +<p>Two thousand years ago, in the land of Palestine, the Jewish people +were waiting for something to happen—or, really, were waiting for +someone to come.</p> + +<p>"When will he come?" was the question they were always asking one +another. "Will he come in five years? next year? Or is he already on +his way?"</p> + +<p>They were waiting for someone, and when he came they would call him +"the Messiah." If they spoke the Greek language, they would call him +"Christ." The people thought he would be a great king.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> + +<p>They had one king already. His name was Herod the Great. But Herod was +not the kind of king they wanted. Herod was hard and cruel. He +poisoned and beheaded those who made him angry. He was not a Jew by +birth. The Messiah, when <i>he</i> came, would be a good king. He would be +a Jew himself, and a friend to all the Jewish people. One of the +prophets said he would be like the shepherds of Palestine, who watched +their sheep night and day, and carried the small lambs in their arms.</p> + +<p>But the most important thing about the Messiah was that he would drive +Caesar and his armies out of the country. Caesar! How they hated his +very name! For Caesar was the emperor of the Romans. Some years +before, the Romans had occupied the country and begun to rule it. +Herod was still king of the Jews, but now he took his orders from +Caesar. Everybody had to take orders from Caesar. The Jews were not a +free people any more.</p> + +<p>"It used to be so different," the older people sighed, "before the +Romans came."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<img src="images/image_009.jpg" width="800" height="227" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Everywhere in Palestine Roman armies went marching. Their shields +flashed in the sunlight, and when they were on the march they carried +golden eagles which stood for Caesar's power.</p> + +<p>The Romans tried to rule the country well. They said that everybody +would get justice and fair play. But the Jews could not see the +fairness in having to pay taxes to a foreign king who did not even +worship<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> God. They did not like to see Roman soldiers whipping people +with long leather whips called scourges, into which bits of glass and +lead and iron were fastened to make them bite more deeply into some +poor Jew's back. They were sick at heart when the Romans began to +punish criminals by nailing them up by their hands and feet to big +wooden crosses, and leaving them to hang there until they died.</p> + + +<div class="figright" style="width:790px;"> +<img src="images/image_011_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="790" height="276" /> +</div> +<div class="figright" style="width:398px;"> +<img src="images/image_011_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="398" height="280" /> +</div> + + + + + <p>Well, the Messiah would take care of the Romans. He would gather an +army from east and west and north and south. Then there would be a +great day for the Jewish people, a great day for the nation that was +called by the glorious name of Israel! From all over the country the +men of Israel would rise up. They would come when their king called +them, and he would lead them to victory against Caesar. The Romans +would go back where they came from, and Israel would be free and +peaceful and rich and happy again. </p> + + + + +<p> The Messiah would make Israel into +a great kingdom, bigger and more powerful than the Roman Empire ever +was. The Jews would rule the world. Everyone, everywhere, would +worship the God of Israel, and the Messiah would be King of all the +nations of the earth. If only he would come!</p> + + + + + + + +<p> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + + + +<p>It was hard to wait so long. They had waited for him a long time, and +their fathers and grandfathers had waited for him too. Sometimes word +would go around that he had finally arrived, and in great excitement +some of the Jews would get ready to drive the Romans out of Palestine. +But always it turned out to be a mistake, and the Jews would be +disappointed, and shake their heads, and say, "Will he ever come?"</p> + +<p>But when they grew discouraged, they would remember what was written +in their Holy Scriptures. For it was surely written there that the +Messiah would come someday. There could be no mistake about it. +Someday he would come!</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + +<p>And so it went on, month after month, year after year. The people +worked, and dreamed, and hoped, and prayed. The rains would fall in +October and soften the hard, dry ground after the heat of summer, so +that the farmer could do his plowing. And as he plowed the land, the +farmer thought about the Messiah, and wondered if he would come before +the harvest in the spring. Then spring would come, and the wheat and +barley would be growing up in the smiling fields, and all down the +hillside the grapevines and the olive trees would be full of fruit. +The Romans were still marching through the country, and still there +was no Messiah. But the farmer thought that maybe he would come before +the next fall rains.</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<img src="images/image_013.jpg" width="800" height="179" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>The fisherman would go sailing across the deep-blue Sea of Galilee, +and while he waited for the fish to come into his net, he thought of +how long Israel had waited for the Messiah to come. The beggars in the +city streets, who were deaf, or blind, or crippled, would sit at the +corners and ask for money to buy food. They were wondering too if the +Messiah would ever come and help the poor folk of Israel.</p> + +<p>The shepherds, out on the rocky hills where nothing would grow but +grass for sheep and goats and cattle, were also thinking of the +Messiah. In good weather and bad they were there, keeping an eye on +their sheep, and they had plenty of time to think. When the rain and +the snow were in their faces, the shepherds were thinking, <i>When will +he come?</i> And when the hot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> sun climbed overhead, and the heat was +like a furnace, or when the east wind came and blew dust in their +faces, then too the shepherds thought, <i>When will he come and save +us?</i></p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width:775px;"> +<img src="images/image_015_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="775" height="346" /> +</div> +<div class="figleft" style="width:381px;"> +<img src="images/image_015_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="381" height="185" /> +</div> + +<p>Farmers, fishermen, shepherds—these were not the only people who were +thinking of the Messiah. Sometimes along the hot, lonely roads of +Palestine, where robbers and wild animals were hiding, a traveler +would have dreams. Or the dream might come to someone in sunny +Galilee, where camel caravans crossed with their loads of spices and +jewels and precious things from Far Eastern lands. But it was most +likely to come to a man when he was standing in the great, white, +gleaming Temple at Jerusalem, where all good Jews went to worship God.</p> + +<p>And the dream would be that the sky opened, and a great light blazed +down from heaven. An army came marching down out of the sky, led by a +shining warrior whose face was bright as lightning. From his eyes shot +flames of fire. His arms and feet shone like polished brass or gold, +and when he spoke his voice was like the shouting of ten thousand men. +It was King Messiah! "Destroy the Romans!" he would cry. "Burn up +their armies! Let not a single one escape!" Fire would pour down from +the skies when he gave the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>order, and the Romans would melt away to +nothing, as though they had never been.</p> + + + + + + + + + +<p>Then the dream would fade away. The dreamer would just be trudging +along the dusty road, or watching the camel caravans go by, or +standing in the Temple with the crowds of unhappy people pushing all +around him.</p> + + +<p>It was just a dream. The Romans were still there. There was no Messiah +anywhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>If only the King would come!</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_016.jpg" width="600" height="426" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> +<h2><a name="A_King_Is_Born" id="A_King_Is_Born"></a>2. A King Is Born</h2> + + +<p>Nobody saw the lions in the daytime, for they were sleeping in their +caves. But at night they might come out to prowl around the rocky +hills, looking for a fat sheep to eat. After dark the hyenas and +jackals began to howl. Robbers might be somewhere in the darkness too. +In the night, when other folk were fast asleep, a good shepherd needed +to be awake and on the watch, to see that no harm came to his sheep +and lambs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> + +<p>One night when winter was in the air, some shepherds were huddled +together on a stony field not far from the town of Bethlehem. Not many +miles to the north lay Jerusalem, the capital city of Palestine. But +here in the fields it was quiet, and lonely, and cold.</p> + +<p>The shepherds sat upon the rocks, or stood leaning upon their staves. +Now and again one of them would see something move, or hear a little +rustling sound. He would raise his eyes and peer out anxiously into +the darkness to make sure that all was well.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, without any warning, the sky was flooded with light from +beyond the clouds. Everything had been dark a minute before, but now +every stone and tree and hillock in the field showed up bright as day.</p> + +<p>The shepherds jumped to their feet. Some were too frightened to speak, +and others cried out in terror.</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"What can it be?"</p> + +<p>"It's the glory of the Lord," one called out. "Lord, have mercy upon +us!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly they heard a loud, clear voice.</p> + +<p>"Shepherds!"</p> + +<p>Silence fell upon the group.</p> + + + +<p>"Shepherds, do not be afraid. I bring you the good news which all the +Jews have waited so long to hear. This very day, Christ your Saviour +has been born in the city of David. And this is how you will know him: +you will find him as a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying +in a manger."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width:779px;"> +<img src="images/image_019_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="779" height="293" /> +</div> +<div class="figright" style="width:392px;"> +<img src="images/image_019_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="392" height="254" /> +</div> + +<p>The voice broke off, and a great chorus began to sing. The sky rang +with the music, and these were the words of the song:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Glory to God in the highest,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And on earth peace, good will toward men."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>As quickly as they had come, the light and the singing were gone. +There was just the darkness again, and the far-off howling of wild +beasts. Everything was the same as before, except that the shepherds' +eyes were still blinded by the light, and their ears were full of the +music.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> + +<p>Their excited voices broke the spell as they all talked at once.</p> + +<p>"He's come at last—the Messiah's come!"</p> + +<p>"Where did the angel say?"</p> + +<p>"The city of David—that means Bethlehem."</p> + +<p>"Why are we waiting here? Let's go to Bethlehem."</p> + +<p>"Yes, let's go to Bethlehem at once, and find out what has happened +there."</p> + +<p>For the first time in their lives, the shepherds left their sheep to +look after themselves. Across the hills and the stone fences and the +rocky fields the shepherds scrambled, and hardly stopped for breath +till they reached the edge of the town. Everything in Bethlehem was +dark as night can be. But no—not everything. One tiny speck of light +was flickering in the blackness.</p> + +<p>"He must be where the light is," said one of the shepherds.</p> + +<p>Down the street they ran, and in through a door.</p> + +<p>They were standing in a stable. There were no angels there. Instead of +that, the shepherds saw cows and donkeys eating hay. A cold draft of +air was blowing in around the cracks of the door and over the dirt +floor. Beside one of the mangers they saw a man standing. A young +woman was resting close by. She was watching a baby who lay in the +straw.</p> + +<p>"We came to see the Messiah," one of the shepherds stammered.</p> + +<p>The baby cried. The animals munched their food.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was some explaining to do. The shepherds told the story of what +had happened in the field.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<img src="images/image_021.jpg" width="800" height="192" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>The young man beside the manger did not have anything very exciting to +tell the shepherds.</p> + +<p>"My name," he said, "is Joseph. This is my wife Mary. We used to live +here in Bethlehem, but no one remembers us now. I've been working in +Galilee for years. I have a carpenter shop there. The only reason we +came back to Bethlehem was to have our names entered in the government +records.</p> + +<p>"We got here only yesterday. We tried to get a room in the inn, but +there wasn't any room for us with all the important people here. They +said we could sleep in the stable. The baby came tonight. Here he is, +if you would like to see him."</p> + +<p>The shepherds looked at the baby. They hoped that they would see +something unusual about him, but he looked just like any other baby.</p> + +<p>Then they remembered the angels' song.</p> + +<p>Outside again, the shepherds looked up and saw a faint gray light +streaking the blackness in the east. Morning was coming. Soon the +people of the countryside would be getting up.</p> + +<p>What a story the shepherds were going to tell them! Who would have +thought of looking for the Messiah in a manger! The shepherds were the +first to learn the secret. As they walked back to their flocks they +prayed and gave thanks to God.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the little family in the stable were gathered in silence +around the manger. Mary, the mother, said never a word, but her +thoughts were busy with the tale the shepherds had told about her +little child.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The shepherds were not the only people to see strange lights in the +sky. Many miles away, three men saw a new star. They were Wise Men, +and they knew all the stars, but this one they had never seen before.</p> + +<p>It was not only a new star, but a moving star. Like a bright fingertip +in the heavens, it seemed to beckon them on. The Wise Men were rich +and important, and thought nothing of a journey. At once they made +ready and set out to see where the star would lead them. For many days +they traveled across the desert, and at last they came to Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Although they were not Jews, they had heard that a Messiah was +expected someday in Palestine. When they saw that the star had brought +them to Jerusalem, they decided that the Messiah must have come.</p> + +<p>"We are strangers here," they said to each other. "We had better ask +our way."</p> + +<p>King Herod was in Jerusalem just then, and the Wise Men went to his +palace. Since they were rich and famous, they had no trouble getting +in to see the king.</p> + +<p>They bowed down respectfully before the king, and Herod received them +with courtesy. Then the Wise Men asked:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_023.jpg" width="500" height="493" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + +<p>"Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We have seen his star in the +east. We have come to worship him, but we do not know where he is."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>Herod was surprised, and then he was angry. A new king of the Jews? +Why, Herod himself was the king of the Jews! However, he hid his +feelings, and answered,</p> + +<p>"I will find out what you want to know."</p> + +<p>He left the Wise Men, and hurried off to consult with his advisers.</p> + +<p>"The Messiah!" he shouted. "Where do they say the Messiah will be +born?"</p> + +<p>Solemnly he was told:</p> + +<p>"In Bethlehem. An ancient book of the Holy Scriptures tells us that +out of Bethlehem shall come a governor to rule the people of Israel."</p> + +<p>Fear and jealousy boiled up in Herod. But a king must control his +feelings, and Herod was old and wise. When he had called his three +visitors to him, he was as smooth and polite as ever. He told them +that they would find the child in Bethlehem.</p> + +<p>"Go there," Herod said, "and look for him carefully. And when you have +found him come and tell me, for I too want to go and worship him."</p> + +<p>The Wise Men thanked the king, and set out for Bethlehem. Soon they +arrived at the place where Joseph and Mary were staying with the baby. +It was very different from Herod's palace.</p> + +<p>There the three Wise Men fell down on their knees as they would before +a king. They opened their treasures and put their gifts in front of +the baby. One brought gold. The others brought sweet-smelling +ointments, frankincense and myrrh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hail, Messiah!" they murmured in adoration. "Hail, Christ! Hail, King +of the Jews!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_025.jpg" width="500" height="439" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>When they were once more outside on the road, one of them spoke:</p> + +<p>"I think," he said, "that it would be well for us not to see anything +of Herod again. I had a dream...."</p> + +<p>The others agreed with him quickly. They had had a dream too.</p> + +<p>"God sent that dream to warn us that Herod is dangerous," they said. +"Herod means to harm the child. Let us find some other road back +home."</p> + + + + + +<div class="figleft" style="width:784px;"> +<img src="images/image_027_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="784" height="310" /> +</div> +<div class="figleft" style="width:383px;"> +<img src="images/image_027_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="383" height="242" /> +</div> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> + + + +<p>The days went by, and soon the baby was given his name. He was to be +called Jesus.</p> + +<p>One day, when Jesus was about six weeks old, Joseph said to Mary:</p> + +<p>"Now that we have a child, we must go up to the Temple in Jerusalem +and give an offering to the Lord. We cannot afford a lamb. But we can +at least take pigeons or a pair of turtledoves."</p> + +<p>So Joseph and Mary left Bethlehem, and carried Jesus with them to +Jerusalem, five miles away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p>An old man came up to them in the Temple.</p> + +<p>"My name is Simeon," he said. "I have been waiting for you a long +time. All my life I have been waiting to see the Messiah. And now the +day has come."</p> + +<p>He took Jesus from his mother's arms, and as he held the baby he began +to pray.</p> + +<p>"Lord, let me now die in peace," he prayed. "For I have seen the +Messiah, the Saviour of all nations and the glory of the Jewish +people."</p> + +<p>Simeon turned back to Joseph and Mary, who were looking at him in +wonder.</p> + +<p>"Mary," he said, "this child of yours is going to break your heart. He +will make enemies, and cause great trouble in this country. He will +suffer, and others will suffer too, because of him. But also he will +give joy, and bring many people to God. God bless you now."</p> + +<p>With these words the old man handed the baby back to Mary, and turned +away. Joseph and Mary never saw him again, but they remembered his +words forever after.</p> + +<p>They took Jesus, and started on their walk back to Bethlehem. There +was so much for them to think about.</p> + +<p>First there was the story of the shepherds. Then the Wise Men had come +with their wonderful gifts. And now there was this old man with his +strange words of blessing and warning.</p> + +<p>Everything seemed to tell them that Jesus was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> Messiah. They +should be happier than anyone in the world. And yet they were not +happy. There was trouble in the air. Their baby was going to be King +of the Jews. Why should there be any trouble about it? They could not +understand.</p> + +<p>Trouble was not long in coming. One night Joseph had a dream. When he +awoke he called to his wife, and told her that they must leave +Bethlehem at once. God had sent the dream as a warning for them to get +out of the country. They did not dare to stay there any longer. So +Joseph and Mary packed up their belongings, and set out for the far +country of Egypt where they would be safe.</p> + +<p>They left Bethlehem none too soon. For Herod was exceedingly angry +when the Wise Men did not come back. Now he was sure that the Messiah +really had been born! He was afraid that soon there would be a new +king in Palestine to take his throne away from him.</p> + +<p>When Herod was afraid, he never wasted any time. Somewhere in +Bethlehem was a child whom he feared, and somehow that child must be +killed. But he did not know which child it was. How could he be sure +to find the right one? He thought of a simple plan.</p> + +<p>He called his army officers together, and gave them their orders.</p> + +<p>"Send your soldiers to Bethlehem," he told them, "and have them kill +every boy in the place who is two years old or younger."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> + +<p>The officers sent their men to Bethlehem, and all the little boys they +could find there were put to death. No matter who they were they had +to die. It did not take the soldiers very long.</p> + +<p>In a few hours they were back in Jerusalem. Herod breathed more +easily.</p> + +<p><i>That's a good thing</i>, he thought. <i>If every little boy in Bethlehem +is dead, the Messiah must be dead along with the rest.</i></p> + +<p>Herod did not know that the baby whom he feared was gone from +Bethlehem before the soldiers got there. While the fathers and mothers +of Bethlehem were crying because their little ones were dead, Joseph +and Mary and Jesus were safely on their way to Egypt.</p> + +<p>Herod did not live long enough to find out his mistake. After he died, +the little family in Egypt learned that it was safe to go home again.</p> + +<p>But this time they did not go back to Bethlehem. They went straight to +the town of Nazareth in Galilee, where Joseph had worked before Jesus +was born. There they settled down as though nothing unusual had +happened.</p> + +<p>In Galilee nobody knew that anything strange had happened at all. +Nobody there had heard of the shepherds and the Wise Men, and nobody +knew what Simeon had said in the Temple. Nobody knew why it was that +so many babies in Bethlehem had been murdered. Nobody in Nazareth +thought that the Messiah had come.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_031.jpg" width="600" height="478" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + +<p>In Nazareth people only said, "I hear the carpenter has a son." When +Jesus began to walk perhaps they said, "Joseph's son is strong for his +age." And later they said, "The carpenter's lad is doing well at +school."</p> + +<p>But there were more interesting things to talk about in Nazareth than +the carpenter's family. There was the Messiah to talk about. "When +will he come?" the people asked each other.</p> + +<p>Nobody in Nazareth had heard the angels sing.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_032.jpg" width="600" height="379" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Growing" id="Growing"></a>3. Growing</h2> + + +<p>When boys in Nazareth were about six years old, it was time for them +to go to school. No girls were there, for the girls stayed home with +their mothers. But every day except the Sabbath, the boys went to the +school and sat on the floor with their legs crossed, and there the +teacher taught them many things that every Jewish boy would need to +know.</p> + +<p>He taught them their A B C's in the Hebrew language. Instead of A, he +showed them how to make a mark like this: <span class="f1">א</span>. Instead of B, +they learned to make this letter: <span class="f1">ב</span>; and so on, through all +the alphabet. Then when they knew their letters, they could learn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> to +read. And every Jewish boy had first of all to read the Scriptures.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_033.jpg" width="600" height="274" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>The teacher taught them what was in the Scriptures. Over and over they +said their lessons aloud, talking all at once, until they knew +everything they were supposed to know by heart.</p> + +<p>The teacher taught them psalms which had been sung for many years in +the Temple of Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>He taught them also about the prophets. The prophets were preachers +whose words had long ago been written down in the sacred Scriptures. +These books were long pieces of skin, which were kept rolled up when +no one was reading them. There were many prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, +Ezekiel, Amos, Malachi, and many others. Little by little the boys +began to discover what these preachers had said.</p> + + + +<p>The teacher also made sure that they knew about that part of the +Scriptures called the Law. The Ten Commandments were in the Law, and +many other sayings which told people what they must do and what they +must not do in order to please God. The boys learned how God gave the +Commandments to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> Moses, while lightning flashed and thunder crashed, +at the far-off mountain of Sinai.</p> + +<p>The teacher told them stories of all that had happened to the Jewish +people in the years gone by. But the most important was the story of +the Passover. This story explained why their parents went to Jerusalem +each spring.</p> + +<p>Now this was what every Jewish boy had to learn about the Passover, +and remember always:</p> + +<p>Once there was a time, hundreds of years before, when the Jews did not +live in Palestine. They lived in Egypt, where they were slaves. They +wanted to escape, so that they might have a country of their own where +they could be free.</p> + +<p>One spring night God sent a disease into Egypt, and thousands died of +it. There was not an Egyptian home where the oldest child in the +family did not die. But none of the Jews died. Therefore, they said +that God <i>passed over</i> their doors that night.</p> + +<p>Then there was a great uproar and clamor in Egypt, with the Egyptians +weeping, and nursing their sick, and burying their dead. The time had +come for the Jews to get away. Under their leader, Moses, they began +their long journey toward Palestine.</p> + +<p>The Jewish people never forgot what God did for them in Egypt. So in +the spring of each year was held the Feast of the Passover, to give +thanks to God for the help he had given them long ago. They gathered +together and sang:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> + + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: For his mercy +endureth for ever."</p></div> + +<p>To the Passover feast every family brought a lamb to be killed as a +sacrifice to God. Only the best could be given to God. They chose a +lamb that was white, and pure, and fine, and precious. Then they +roasted the lamb, and ate it. What a feast they had, so solemn and so +joyful, as they remembered all that God had done!</p> + +<p>Everyone knew the best place to hold the Passover feast was at +Jerusalem. Therefore, every year, when spring came round, the people +said to one another, "It is Passover time," and as many as could leave +their homes went up to the great city.</p> + +<p>When the boys heard the story, they understood why their parents went +there in the spring.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_036.jpg" width="600" height="361" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>When Jewish boys were twelve years old, and could read the Hebrew +language, and knew the psalms, and understood the prophets, and were +learning to obey the Law—then they were practically grown up. At this +age a boy could be called "a son of the Law." He could go along with +his parents to Jerusalem when it was Passover time.</p> + +<p>Each year Joseph and Mary liked to be in Jerusalem for the Passover. +When Jesus was twelve years old, he was "a son of the Law," like other +boys his age, and for the first time he went with them. Many friends +and relatives kept them company as they started on the road.</p> + +<p>Now from Nazareth it was more than eighty miles to Jerusalem, and +eighty miles is a long way to walk.</p> + +<p>It would have been easier to ride in a cart; but nobody traveled that +way in Palestine. The roads were too rough and narrow for anything but +walking. Donkeys and horses might carry the heavy luggage, but the +people went on foot. There were no bridges, and so the only way to get +from one side of a river to the other was to find a shallow place and +wade across.</p> + +<p>It would take two or three days to go from Nazareth to Jerusalem. When +the travelers were tired at night, there was not likely to be any +place to sleep along the road, except under the open sky and the +stars.</p> + +<p>There were three stages to their journey. The first was the pleasant +part, through Galilee. When the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> travelers left Nazareth that day, the +sky was clear and the air was fresh. The fields lay lovely in the +sunlight. The roads were full of people from many countries. There +were always merchants on the road traveling from the East to Greece +and Egypt, and back to the East again. Galilee was beautiful, and +Galilee was busy.</p> + +<p>Sooner or later the time must come to leave pleasant Galilee behind. +But which way would they go from there? Should they go straight south +through Samaria? That would have been the shortest and the easiest +way. The only thing against it was that the people of Samaria were not +friendly to Jews. Long years before, Samaria had been the home of many +of the Jewish people. But foreigners came and settled among them. Then +their ways became so different that the people of Jerusalem said they +were not Jewish any more. They were bitter rivals of the Jews, and it +was hardly safe to go among them.</p> + +<p>So the travelers chose, for the second stage of their journey, the +long road down the valley of the river Jordan. But they did not find +this very pleasant, either. High above the river stood the banks, and +it seemed as though the river itself were at the bottom of a great, +deep ditch. And down there was the road they had to take. In some +places they came to slime and mud, and dead trees and twisted roots. +But sometimes there were farms and villages. It was hot at the north +end of the Jordan, when first they came to it;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> and the farther south +the travelers went, the hotter grew the weather.</p> + +<p>Very hot, very tired, and very thirsty, they finally reached the last +stretch of the journey—across country from the Jordan to Jerusalem. +They were nearly there. But the last part of the trip was the hardest +of all. Around them stretched a dreary desert. There were bleak hills, +and ugly rocks, and hardly a drop of water anywhere to drink. No +wonder nobody went to Jerusalem, except Jews and Roman soldiers! There +were no gay caravans of Eastern merchants here. Galilee seemed very +far away.</p> + +<p>Up one side of a hill, and down another, and then another higher hill +to climb! Up and up, over stones and bare earth and bushes and thorns, +until they were high above the Jordan—that was the road to Jerusalem. +Would they ever get there? What they would have given just to sit down +and wash the sand off their hot, tired feet!</p> + +<p>Then all at once they saw it. From the top of the hill they saw it, +walls and roofs and towers gleaming in the morning sun. A shout of joy +went up. Every man and woman and child joined in the shouting. +Jerusalem, the city of David! King David built that city, a thousand +years ago. The enemies of God had come and burned it to the ground, +but the Jews built it up again. They were sure that it could never be +destroyed. It would always be there, for ever and ever. Someday the +Messiah would come, and all the peoples<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> and nations of the world +would come to see Jerusalem, as these poor folk from Galilee were +doing now.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_039.jpg" width="600" height="423" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + +<p>The travelers began to march again, but faster this time; forgotten +were the weary miles behind. They marched, and as they marched they +sang. They sang one of the psalms that the boys had learned at school. +Everyone took up the song:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'I was glad when they said unto me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let us go into the house of the Lord.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem....<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They shall prosper that love thee.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> +<p>There were so many visitors in Jerusalem that they could not all find +a place to stay in the city. Some of them stayed in the villages near +by, and others slept in tents out in the open air. At an ordinary time +of the year, there would be only about thirty thousand people living +in Jerusalem. But at the Passover there might be twice that, or even +more.</p> + +<p>Even the Roman governor was in Jerusalem at Passover time. He lived in +another city, but he always came to Jerusalem for the great feast. It +was not that he cared about the Passover. It was because he was afraid +that with such great crowds in Jerusalem there might be trouble unless +his Roman soldiers were on guard. It would be especially bad if anyone +showed up claiming to be the Messiah. All the people might make him +king, and rebel against Rome, and great numbers would be killed.</p> + +<p>With such crowds in the city, it was hard for the people from Nazareth +to get through the narrow streets. All along the streets they saw +shops. Some of the shopkeepers were selling goods that had been +brought down from Galilee—fish and oil and wine and fruit. Besides +the merchants there were shoemakers, butchers, carpenters, tailors. On +the side streets gold-smiths and jewelers were making things for the +rich people. Here and there was a merchant selling fine silks which +had been brought from the Far East. A man could buy almost anything he +wanted in Jerusalem, provided that he had the money.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_041.jpg" width="600" height="508" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + +<p>The travelers from Galilee pushed their way through the crowded +streets, and on up to the Temple on the hill. Here was God's own +house! How large it was! Herod the Great had built this Temple. Ten +thousand men had worked many years to build it, and it was not quite +finished yet. Eight gates led into the beautiful building with the +white walls and the golden towers. Inside there was room for many +thousands of people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p>What a clatter and a clamor and a tumult there was! It seemed as +though all the world were there. Doves and cattle, as well as lambs, +were offered in the Temple as a sacrifice to God. You could hear the +poor creatures calling out—the cows lowing, the lambs bleating, the +doves singing their sweet, sad song. Money was clinking on the tables. +Only one kind of coin could be used as an offering, and travelers had +to exchange those they were carrying for Jewish money. The men who +made the exchange often cheated the visitors.</p> + +<p>The people from Galilee separated when they came to the Court of the +Women. The women and girls could go no farther, but the men and boys +went up some steps into the Court of Israel. There they watched the +priests of the Temple taking the doves and lambs and cattle that the +worshipers had brought, and offering them up as a sacrifice. The +priests killed the animals, and let the blood drip on the altar where +the sacrifices were given to God.</p> + +<p>The Court of Israel was as far as anyone could go, unless he were a +priest. There was another room called the Holy Place, which only +priests could enter. To the people it was a place of great mystery. +Then farther on was a still more mysterious room called the Holy of +Holies. Even a priest did not dare to step inside that door. That was +the secret place of God. Only the high priest, who was head of all the +priests, could enter there. And he could go in only once a year.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> + +<p>The visitors from Nazareth saw a priest coming toward them. Anyone +could tell from his clothes that he was wealthy. He came from one of +the families that were known as the Sadducees. The Sadducees were the +only people who were at all friendly with the Romans. The reason for +this was that they were better off than most other people and +well-satisfied with things as they were. They thought it wise to stay +on good terms with Caesar. Nobody liked the Sadducees very well, but +everyone had to admit that they were certainly very important. They +sat in a high council and governed everything that went on around the +Temple.</p> + +<p>And here was a Pharisee, looking very well pleased with himself! Jesus +had seen Pharisees before, around Nazareth, and they always seemed to +have that look. The word "Pharisee" meant "someone who is different." +What made the Pharisees different was that they were always talking +about the Law, and claiming that they obeyed it better than anyone +else. They were kindly folk, on the whole, and very well respected, +but they did not have any official position, like the Sadducees. All +they did was study the Law and tell other people about it. The +Pharisee whom the visitors were watching began to pray so that +everyone could see him. It seemed as if he were saying, "O Lord, I +thank thee that I am better than these other people here!"</p> + +<p>Most of the great throng crowding the Temple were not priests, or +Sadducees, or Pharisees. They were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> plain people who had come to bring +their sacrifices, or to talk about the Scriptures, or simply to be in +the Temple because they loved God's house.</p> + +<p>Nobody was paying much attention to Jesus. He was just a young boy, +lost in the crowd.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The days went by, and the lambs were killed and eaten. The prayers +were said and the hymns were sung. It was all over at last, and the +time had come to go home.</p> + +<p>Joseph and Mary did not see Jesus the morning they all were supposed +to leave. They did not wait to find him, for the other travelers from +Nazareth were anxious to get started on the long journey back to +Galilee.</p> + +<p>Joseph and Mary said to each other:</p> + +<p>"Jesus is safe enough. There are so many of us from Nazareth that he +can't get lost. No doubt he is somewhere in the party."</p> + +<p>The Nazareth people said good-by to the Temple for another year, and +started off for home. Out through the city gates they went, and back +into the desert through which they had come. They walked a whole day, +and still Joseph and Mary saw no sign of Jesus. This was beginning to +seem strange. Surely they would see him somewhere!</p> + +<p>At last it dawned upon them. He wasn't there at all!</p> + +<p>They were frightened now. What could have hap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>pened to Jesus? What +would become of him in Jerusalem? There was nothing to do but to leave +the party, and turn back alone to the city. But Jerusalem was a big +place, and they hardly knew where to hunt for Jesus. How would they +ever find one boy among all those thousands of people?</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_045.jpg" width="600" height="287" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + +<p>They went to the Temple. But even if he were here, it would not be +easy to find him quickly. Walking through one of the courts, they +noticed a group of people gathered around a rabbi. There was nothing +unusual about that. There were a great many teachers in the Temple, +and a visitor often saw groups gathered around them to listen to their +teaching.</p> + +<p>But there was something different about this group. Most of the men in +it were Pharisees who were themselves rabbis. And the strange thing +was that they were not doing all the talking as they usually did. They +were listening too. And they were not listening to a rabbi, but to the +voice of a boy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> + +<p>Joseph and Mary moved closer. There could be no mistake about it—it +was Jesus who was talking! He was asking questions; he was answering +questions. The long-bearded rabbis were standing there, their mouths +open in astonishment. Jesus was not just a boy in the crowd any +longer. Men old enough to be his grand-father were listening to what +he had to say.</p> + +<p>Mary's surprise turned to anger. She pushed her way through the crowd +and took Jesus by the arm.</p> + +<p>"Why did you do this?" she cried. "Your father and I have been looking +for you everywhere."</p> + +<p>Jesus stood just where he was. It was as though he belonged there. He +said:</p> + +<p>"Why did you come to look for me? Don't you know that I must be +looking after my Father's business?"</p> + +<p>Joseph and Mary stood there too, not knowing what to make of their boy +or of what he said.</p> + +<p>They waited to see what he would do.</p> + +<p>And then, in a minute, Jesus turned and went with them. They did not +have to ask him again. The three of them went home to Nazareth.</p> + +<p>Jesus knew that someday he would go back to the Temple. But he was not +ready for that yet. He must do his duty to his parents. He must obey +God at home. Then he would always know how to obey God in the wide +world beyond Nazareth.</p> + +<p>The lambs went quietly to the Temple when they were taken there to be +offered to the God of Israel. Jesus must be obedient like a Lamb of +God.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_047.jpg" width="600" height="491" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Jesus_Goes_to_Work" id="Jesus_Goes_to_Work"></a>4. Jesus Goes to Work</h2> + + + + +<p>When Jesus was thirty years old, people began to talk about the great +man who had come to Palestine.</p> + +<p>"This man is so great," they said, "that he may be the Messiah."</p> + +<p>But it was not Jesus they were talking about. It was his cousin, John.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> +<p>John was a preacher. He was afraid of no one, and as a result everyone +was a bit afraid of him. John was a rough, strong man. Next to his +skin he wore leather, and over that he wore a cloak of camel's hair. +Honey and locusts were his food.</p> + +<p>Every day John preached down by the river Jordan. The people flocked +out from Jerusalem and from all the countryside round about to hear +him preach. It was a wild and dreary place to come to, but when John +preached everybody wanted to be there.</p> + +<p>This was how he preached:</p> + +<p>"Give up your sins, and begin a new life at once, for God is coming to +rule over men! I am a voice crying in the wilderness. I tell +you—prepare for the Lord!"</p> + +<p>And when the people heard him, they were afraid. Many of them cried +out, "We have sinned!" and came forward out of the crowd. John led +them down the bank into the river and baptized them as a sign that +they wanted to be cleansed of their sins and begin a new life. Thus +John came to be known as "John the Baptist."</p> + +<p>But when John thought that a man was not in earnest, then he refused +to baptize him. Some of the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to be +baptized, and John would have nothing to do with them. They might be +great men in Jerusalem, but John called them "snakes in the grass." He +told them:</p> + +<p>"I've seen the snakes out here in the wilderness,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> wriggling for dear +life to get out of the way when the grass catches fire. That's what +you remind me of. You're scared. You think that something terrible is +going to happen, and so you're pretending to be good people so that it +won't go so hard with you. You will have to show me that you want to +be something different from what you are! And don't think that you +amount to anything just because you are Jews. God could make as good +Jews as you are out of these stones."</p> + +<p>That is how John the Baptist talked to some of the great men of +Jerusalem. It made people think more than ever that he might be the +Messiah. Who except the Messiah would dare to talk that way to +Pharisees and Sadducees?</p> + +<p>But others shook their heads and said, "No—this couldn't be the +Messiah!" For they thought that when the Messiah came he would drive +the Romans out of the country; and many people said that the only way +to do that would be to get an army together. Some men were meantime +killing all the Romans they could. They were called "Zealots," because +they were so much filled with zeal about killing off the Romans. A few +even carried daggers with them, and stuck the daggers into Romans +whenever they got a chance.</p> + +<p>"The Romans will not be overthrown," they said, "just by preaching. +You will have to get out and kill the Romans."</p> + +<p>John himself said that he was not the Messiah.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width:787px;"> +<img src="images/image_051_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="787" height="313" /> +</div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width:388px;"> +<img src="images/image_051_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="388" height="228" /> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p>"There is someone coming who is greater than I," he told the people. +"Someone is coming whose shoe-laces I am not worthy to stoop down and +untie. Compared to him, I am nobody. I am just preparing the way for +the Messiah."</p> + +<p>One day there was a great crowd, as usual, down by the Jordan, and +John was busy baptizing the people as fast as they came to the water. +One after another they came. It went on for hours.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> + + +<p>John had just baptized one man and helped him to the bank. The next +one was coming forward. John looked up to see who it was. He was +looking into the face of Jesus of Nazareth.</p> + +<p>"You! Not you!" John spoke in a hoarse whisper. "No! I can't baptize +you. You must baptize <i>me</i> instead!"</p> + +<p>Before anyone could notice that anything was wrong, Jesus stepped to +the water's edge.</p> + +<p>"Don't say anything about it, John," he said softly. "Treat me just +like the rest of them. We shall all be baptized together into a new +life."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_052.jpg" width="600" height="231" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + +<p>Jesus went forward into the river and John baptized him. In a moment +Jesus was up the bank and lost in the crowd. The next man was coming +forward.</p> + +<p>John stared after the vanishing figure of Jesus. The crowd made way +for Jesus, thinking, <i>There goes another man who came to be cleansed +of his sins.</i></p> + +<p>But John said: "When I baptized <i>him</i>, I saw the Spirit of God come +down out of heaven like a dove, and light upon him. Jesus is the Son +of God. I am nothing. He is everything. He is the Messiah. He is the +Lamb of God!"</p> + +<p>The next man was coming down the bank toward John. John stood peering +into the crowd. Jesus was nowhere to be seen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jesus had gone away to be alone, as God wanted him to do. He went into +the loneliest part of the desert, where there were only the wild +animals to keep him company.</p> + +<p><i>I am the Messiah</i>, he thought. <i>There is no doubt that I am the +Messiah. I must save my people. How should I begin?</i></p> + +<p>There was nothing to eat in the wilderness, and Jesus grew hungry. He +looked around him, and saw that the stones were shaped like loaves of +bread.</p> + +<p>There seemed to be a voice inside him which was not his own. The voice +said:</p> + +<p>"<i>If you really are the Messiah, you oughtn't to be hungry. If you +really are the Messiah, you would just have to say the word and these +stones would be turned into bread. Then you would have plenty to eat +for yourself, and, besides, you could go and give bread to all the +hungry folk out there who are waiting for you to help them.</i>"</p> + +<p>It was very quiet in the wilderness. The voice spoke up again.</p> + +<p>"<i>But maybe you are afraid to try. Suppose you said to the stones, +'Stones, become bread!' and then nothing happened! That would prove +that you weren't the Messiah, wouldn't it?</i>"</p> + +<p>Jesus shook his head, to get rid of the thought. Some words from the +Scriptures came into his mind. "<i>Man shall not live by bread alone, +but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.</i>" No, it +would not do to try playing tricks with stones. It would not matter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +if he did turn them into bread. Bread was not the most important thing +in the world. People might think that there was nothing so important +as eating, but there were bigger things in life than that. People +might think that what the Messiah ought to do was to make the country +prosperous, but that would not help them so much as they thought. That +was not the kind of Messiah he was going to be.</p> + +<p>But what was the best way to prove that he was the Messiah? The +tempting voice inside tried again.</p> + +<p>"<i>Maybe the best idea</i>," it said, "<i>is to go to Jerusalem and climb up +on the tower and jump down! Everyone says that the Messiah is going to +come suddenly out of heaven. You would come down suddenly enough that +way! And nothing would happen to you. It says in the Scriptures that +God will send his angels to hold you up and keep you from being hurt. +Surprise the whole city by jumping off the Temple, and everybody will +worship you at once!</i>"</p> + +<p>Again Jesus shook the thought away, and again he thought of what the +Scriptures said.</p> + +<p>"<i>Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." I can't go and put God to +the test, to see whether he will keep me from being hurt. And it won't +make me the Messiah just to cause a big sensation in Jerusalem. That's +what everyone is expecting, but that is not the right way at all. +There must be some other way.</i></p> + +<p>And the voice spoke up again.</p> + + + +<p>"<i>There is something else you could do. What the world <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>needs is a +ruler like you. Everybody says that the Messiah is going to be a world +ruler, great and good. Don't let the people down! You are a great man. +You could be anything you wanted to be—a general, a governor, a +king.</i>"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_055.jpg" width="500" height="699" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Jesus thought, <i>That's Satan tempting me, that's the devil himself +talking!</i></p> + +<p>He spoke out loud:</p> + +<p>"Go away from me, Satan! For the Scriptures say, 'Thou shall worship +the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve!'"</p> + +<p>The voice said no more. A great quietness came over Jesus. There was +no great thing that he needed to do right away. He was the Messiah, +but he did not need to make the country wealthy. He did not need to +jump from the Temple, and he did not need to command an army or rule +an empire.</p> + +<p>There was one thing that he would have to do, but he could not tell +anybody about it yet. It was going to be his secret for a while. But +someday everybody would see what he was doing. Someday it would be +understood.</p> + +<p>And now it was time to be on his way. He had been in the wilderness +forty days, and that was long enough. He found the trail back to the +outside world, and soon he was on the road to Galilee.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>When Jesus got home to Galilee, he began to preach to people in the +streets. What he said at first was very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> much like what John the +Baptist said:</p> + +<p>"Give up your sins, and begin to live a new life, for God has come to +rule over you!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_057.jpg" width="600" height="143" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>But the crowds that heard Jesus were not so large as those that went +to the Jordan to hear John.</p> + +<p>Jesus needed some followers now who would be with him all the time, +and learn everything he had to tell them. John the Baptist had his +followers; "disciples" was what they were called. Jesus began to look +for disciples of his own.</p> + +<p>One morning he went down to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. When he +came back to the town, he had four disciples with him.</p> + +<p>Two of them were brothers named Simon and Andrew. Andrew remembered +Jesus, for he had once been a disciple of John the Baptist. He had +seen John point to Jesus, and heard him say, "He is the Lamb of God!" +Andrew had told Simon all about it.</p> + +<p>When Jesus came to them along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he +found them putting a net into the water, for Andrew and Simon were +fishermen.</p> + +<p>Jesus said to them,</p> + +<p>"Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."</p> + +<p>Fishing was good business, but Simon and Andrew were ready to give it +up to follow the man John had called "the Lamb of God." They came away +with him at once.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_058.jpg" width="500" height="698" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> + +<p>Farther along the shore was another pair of brothers. One of them had +also been with John the Baptist. Their names were James and John, and +they were with their father, Zebedee. They had done so well at fishing +that they could afford to have servants to help them. But when Jesus +called them they also came at once, and left their father and the +servants behind.</p> + +<p>That was four to start with, and soon he had eight others. But no one +of them was a very important person, and people said that one of them +was wicked. That was Levi, who was also called Matthew. The trouble +with Levi was that he was a taxgatherer. Everybody hated taxgatherers. +They were called "publicans," and it was thought that no one could be +much lower than a publican.</p> + +<p>The publicans worked for the Roman government. They were not Romans +themselves, but Jews, which made it all the worse. They were looked +upon as traitors, for they collected the taxes for the hated Romans, +and made a fortune for themselves by cheating the people.</p> + +<p>Levi's job was to collect the fee for traveling along the road, and +what he could collect over and above the amount he ought to have +charged, he kept for himself. Then Levi heard Jesus preaching. He +heard him say that he ought to give up his sins, and begin to live a +new life. When Jesus came to Levi's table one day, and said, "Follow +me," just as he had said it to the honest fishermen by the lake shore, +Levi was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> ready to come away. Without a word Levi got up and left his +taxgathering behind, and all his fortune. Levi became a disciple like +the other eleven, and was treated like the rest.</p> + +<p>But other people were shocked when they saw a publican with Jesus, and +tongues began to wag. No one seemed to notice that Levi had stopped +collecting taxes. He had been a publican once, and no one except Jesus +was ready to give him a second chance.</p> + +<p>Other publicans sometimes came to have dinner with Jesus and his +disciples, along with many people who were looked down upon in the +community.</p> + +<p>The Pharisees in particular were angry when they saw the company that +Jesus kept. One day they came to one of these dinner parties, and told +the disciples that they did not care for Jesus' choice of friends.</p> + +<p>"How is it," they asked, "that your master eats and drinks with +publicans and sinners?"</p> + +<p>Jesus heard them, and replied:</p> + +<p>"It is not well people who need a doctor, but the sick. I didn't come +here for the sake of the good people, such as you think that you are, +but for the sake of sinners—to lead them into a new life."</p> + +<p>But the Pharisees still objected. They said:</p> + +<p>"Look at John the Baptist. John is a good man. His disciples are so +religious that they sometimes go without their meals. Your disciples +always seem to be eating!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't they eat and feast and be merry?" Jesus answered. "They +are like the friends of a man who is being married. When someone is to +be married, his friends have a great feast. They are joyful because +the bridegroom is with them. In the same way my disciples are joyful +because they have me with them."</p> + +<p>Jesus meant that they were joyful because he was the Messiah, and his +disciples were glad to be with him. But he did not say that he was the +Messiah, and no one knew what he was talking about. The Pharisees +would have had more respect for him if he had had a better class of +friends. Fishermen might do, but not publicans and sinners of that +sort! If only Jesus were more like John the Baptist!</p> + +<p>They never once thought that Jesus might be the Messiah. When they saw +the kind of friends he had, they wondered if he was even a good man.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_061.jpg" width="600" height="364" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_062.jpg" width="600" height="419" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<h2><a name="A_Busy_Time" id="A_Busy_Time"></a>5. A Busy Time</h2> + + +<p>The Pharisees may not have liked Jesus, but no one could deny that he +knew how to preach. The crowds that came to hear him were growing +larger. Often Jesus stood at the foot of a hill and preached to the +crowd that had gathered on the hillside.</p> + +<p>Now everyone who heard Jesus preach was likely to be surprised. For he +did not say the things that people expected to hear. Often he said the +very opposite of what they wanted him to say.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<p>He did not believe in giving people a good opinion of themselves. He +told them what was wrong with them. He did not say that it was easy to +be good. He said that it was much harder than anybody thought. He did +not try to preach sermons that would make him popular, for he was not +thinking of himself. He was thinking of what God had to say to the +people, and so he told them plainly what they ought to know and what +they ought to do.</p> + +<p>Jesus knew that his listeners found it easier to hate other people +than to love them. And so he stood one day at the foot of the hill and +said:</p> + +<p>"You have all heard the saying, Love your friend and hate your enemy. +But that is not what I say. I say, Love your enemies, bless those who +curse you, and pray for those who use you badly. That is what God +does. He makes the sun rise on everybody, good or bad. He sends the +rain to fall on everyone, no matter who he is.</p> + +<p>"If you love only those who love you, you don't deserve any credit for +that. That's what everybody does. Be like God. He is merciful, and you +ought to be merciful too. Forgive those who do you a wrong, or you +cannot expect God to forgive you."</p> + + + +<p>All the people thought that they were at least doing the right thing +in hating the Romans. How could anyone help hating those rough Roman +soldiers, who often came along and made Jews carry their packs for +them? But Jesus said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If a Roman soldier makes you carry his pack for a mile, carry it +another mile as well, to show that you love him."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_064.jpg" width="600" height="451" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Another thing that Jesus knew about his listeners was that many of +them were worried about money, and food and clothes. It was hard to +blame them for that; for some of the people were very poor, and were +never sure that they were going to get enough to eat.</p> + +<p>Jesus was poor enough himself. His disciples were also poor, and they +got no richer by following him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> Turning to the disciples, Jesus said +to them,</p> + +<p>"Blessed are you who have nothing you can call your own."</p> + +<p>The disciples pricked up their ears. "Blessed"—that meant to be +fortunate, or well off. What was good about having nothing? Jesus went +on:</p> + +<p>"Blessed are you who have nothing, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are you who often go hungry, you shall be fed later on.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are you who are sad, the time will come when you will be +joyful.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are you, when other people hate you, and will have nothing to +do with you, because you are my disciples. Be glad when that happens, +because that is what has happened to all God's servants. God will +reward you for everything you suffer for my sake."</p> + +<p>There was silence. Jesus looked out over the crowd and spoke again,</p> + +<p>"Woe to you who are rich!"</p> + +<p>Again the disciples were amazed. The rich people would not like that! +The disciples were poor themselves, but they wondered what was wrong +with being rich.</p> + +<p>Jesus thought of a rich man whom he knew, who wore fine purple clothes +and ate the best food in the land. And he thought of a poor beggar who +sat all day long outside the rich man's house. His body was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> covered +with sores, and he was so hungry that he would have been glad to get +the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. But the only friends +he had were the dogs that came and licked his sores.</p> + +<p>Jesus continued, in a stern voice:</p> + +<p>"Woe to you who are rich! For you have already had everything you are +ever going to have! Woe to you who are well-fed! The time is coming +when you will go hungry. Woe to you who are enjoying yourselves all +the time! Someday you will weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well +of you! It is easy to be popular if you aren't faithful to God. That's +the way it has always been."</p> + +<p>Jesus knew that all of them were too much interested in the things +that money could buy. They wanted the Messiah to come so that he would +make them all rich. And so Jesus said, to show them where they were +wrong:</p> + +<p>"Don't be always thinking about what you are going to eat and drink +and wear. Why, that's the kind of thing the Romans worry about. There +is more to life than food and clothing."</p> + +<p>He paused for a moment. It was a warm summer day. The birds were +flying overhead, and singing; and up the hillside the wild flowers +made patches of color in the grass. Jesus spoke again:</p> + + +<div class="figright" style="width:395px;"> +<img src="images/image_067_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="395" height="418" /> +</div> +<div class="figright" style="width:790px;"> +<img src="images/image_067_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="790" height="116" /> +</div> + +<p>"Look at the birds of the air. They never plant crops, or reap +harvests, or gather the grain into barns. Yet your Heavenly Father +feeds them. Are you not more important than birds? Think of the lilies +of the field, how they grow. They never yet made any clothes for +themselves, and yet the great King Solomon in all his glory was not so +beautifully clothed as one of these little flowers. You people who +have so little faith in God—think! If God clothes the flowers of the +field, which are here today and gone tomorrow, will he not clothe you? +Seek the Kingdom of God first of all, and you will be given all the +food and clothes you need. Never worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will +look after itself when it comes. Think about how you ought to live +today."</p> + + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + + +<p>There was another weakness that Jesus had seen in people, especially +in the Pharisees. They loved to show off their good deeds. He had to +speak about this too.</p> + +<p>"When you give something to the poor," he said, "don't make a great +noise about it, like some people I could mention, who want to impress +everybody with how generous they are. If you give anything, keep quiet +about it. God will know what you have done, and that's enough.</p> +<p style="clear:both;"> </p> <!--spacing--> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_068.jpg" width="600" height="143" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>"It's the same with prayer," Jesus continued. "Don't stand praying on +the street corners where everyone can see you. There are many people +who do that. When you pray, go into your own room and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> pray with the +door closed. God will hear you, and he is the only one who needs to +hear."</p> + + + + + +<p>Jesus had his admirers. Some people admired him so much that they +began to call him "Master" and "Lord." But Jesus did not think that +they were all in earnest. He spoke plainly about this also.</p> + +<p>"It won't do you any good to come saying, 'Lord, Lord,'" he said, +"unless you do the things God expects of you. Someday, I suppose you +will come and tell me of all the wonderful things you have done in my +name. And then I will have to say to you: 'I don't even know who you +are. Go away!'</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_069.jpg" width="600" height="141" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>"If anyone hears my teachings, and does what I tell him to do, he will +be like a man who builds his house upon a rock. The rain comes down +and the wind blows, and the house keeps on standing there, because it +is built upon a rock. You will be strong like that house, if you do as +I say. But anyone who hears my teachings and pays no attention to them +is like a man who builds his house upon the sand. When the rains and +the floods and the winds come, the house will fall down and that will +be the end of it. You will be weak like that house, if you do not obey +my words."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_070.jpg" width="500" height="696" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now when the people heard how Jesus preached, they were amazed. They +wondered who this was who spoke to them as though he were God himself. +That was not how other preachers taught. They were always quoting +somebody else, as though they were afraid to speak for themselves.</p> + +<p>But Jesus simply said, "<i>I</i> am telling you." He said, "Listen to +<i>me</i>."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Every Friday evening at sunset the Sabbath began, and there could be +no more work until sunset on the following day. Saturday morning all +the Jewish people went to attend the service in the synagogue. The +people would come in and take their places, with the most important +people up in front. At the beginning of the service, everyone stood +and faced in the direction of Jerusalem, and recited some verses from +the Scriptures. These were always the same. They began: "Hear, O +Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy +God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy +might."</p> + +<p>After this there was prayer. Then the minister opened a cabinet and +brought out the Scriptures, which were written on long pieces of skin +made into a kind of paper. The pieces were kept rolled up when they +were not in use. The minister brought two of the rolls and laid them +on the reading desk. Someone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> read the Scripture lessons then, and +after that anyone in the congregation who wished could go up to the +front and explain what the lesson meant.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_072.jpg" width="600" height="364" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Like all the other Jews, Jesus went to the synagogue on Saturday +mornings. One Saturday when he and his disciples were in the town of +Capernaum they went to the service as usual. When the time came to +explain the lesson, Jesus went up to the front. He surprised the +people as he always did; but something else happened which surprised +them even more.</p> + +<p>There was suddenly a great commotion at the back of the synagogue. A +man began to cry out. There seemed to be some evil thing inside him, +which made him hate the very sight of Jesus. The people said that he +had "an unclean spirit."</p> + +<p>Strange, wild words came pouring out of the man's mouth.</p> + +<p>"Let me alone!" he cried. "What have I to do with you, Jesus of +Nazareth? Have you come to destroy me? I know who you are. You are the +Holy One of God!"</p> + +<p>Jesus stood his ground, and spoke to the evil thing in the man.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Be quiet," Jesus said, "and come out of that man."</p> + +<p>There was another wild shriek and then silence. The man looked around +him as though he wondered where he was. He was in his right mind +again.</p> + +<p>The people were amazed by what they had seen and heard. On the way +home from the synagogue they asked each other,</p> + +<p>"What kind of preaching is this, which makes a madman well again?"</p> + +<p>Before the day was over, word of what Jesus had done had gone all over +town.</p> + +<p>After the service, Jesus went to Simon's house, and there he found +more trouble waiting for him. Simon's wife's mother was sick in bed. +Jesus went to her bed-side, and took her hand, and helped her to her +feet. All at once the sickness left her, and she was able to prepare +the meal.</p> + +<p>Jesus could rest in the afternoon, but when the sun went down in the +evening he had to go to work again. Everyone had heard of how he cured +people who were out of their minds, and of how he was able to heal the +sick. As long as the Sabbath lasted, the people had to stay quietly at +home. But once the sun had set the Sabbath was over, and they could do +as they pleased. It seemed as though the whole town wanted to do only +one thing, and that was to go to see Jesus.</p> + +<p>A great throng of sick people were soon gathered outside the door of +the house, with everyone else in Capernaum looking on. Jesus came out +to heal the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> sick. Darkness fell, and night came on, and still the +people pressed around Jesus to have him touch them and make them well. +Hour after hour he worked with them, until it was too late to do +anything more that night.</p> + +<p>Yet Jesus was out of bed in the morning before the sun was up. It had +been a busy Sabbath, and he needed to go off by himself and rest. And +what he needed more than anything else was to pray. He wanted to be +alone for a while with his Father. So many people to preach to! So +many men who had begun to hate him! Jesus needed strength for it all, +and he knew that praying would make him strong.</p> + +<p>While everyone else was sleeping, and the darkness still lay upon the +land, Jesus silently slipped away from the house. He found a lonely +place, where no one would disturb him.</p> + +<p>But when Simon and the other disciples woke up, they could not wait +for him to come back. They went at once to look for him. And when they +had found him, they said,</p> + +<p>"Everyone is looking for you."</p> + +<p>It was quiet out there in the hills. Jesus would have liked to stay +there for the whole day. All day long he could have rested and prayed. +But then he thought of the people who were waiting for him. He thought +of the people who needed him. He thought of the places he had not yet +visited. There was so much to do, and there was so little time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_075.jpg" width="500" height="691" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> + +<p>He rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Let us go, then," he said. "Let us go to the next towns, so that I +can preach in them too. After all, that is why I came into the +world—to tell men the good news from God!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_076.jpg" width="600" height="491" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>He left the quiet countryside, and went back to the towns. The people +who loved him were there. The people who needed him were there. And +the people who were afraid of him, and the people who had begun to +hate him—they too were there.</p> + +<p>Jesus returned to the towns, where his friends and his foes were +waiting.</p> + + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_077.jpg" width="600" height="424" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<h2><a name="Friends_and_Foes" id="Friends_and_Foes"></a>6. Friends and Foes</h2> + + +<p>Jesus thought the time had come to visit Nazareth. Before he had gone +away, there was nobody who thought that he was a person of any great +importance. But he had become a famous man. The whole of Galilee was +talking about him. And now he was at home with his friends and family +again.</p> + +<p>On the Sabbath morning he went to the old familiar synagogue. There +was a full congregation that day, for everyone supposed that Jesus +would preach. He had never preached in Nazareth before.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the time came to read the Scripture lesson, Jesus walked up to +the front. He took the roll from the minister, and found the place he +wanted. It was in the book of the Prophet Isaiah. He began to read:</p> + +<p>"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to +preach good news to the poor; he has sent me to heal the +broken-hearted, to preach liberty to the prisoners and recovering of +sight to the blind, to set free those who suffer, and to say that God +will be good to his people."</p> + +<p>Jesus stopped reading and handed the roll back to the minister. He sat +down in the seat from which Jewish preachers always spoke to the +people in the synagogue.</p> + +<p>The whole congregation was very still, waiting to hear what Jesus had +to say. That was an exciting lesson he had read from the Scriptures. +It made the people think of the Messiah. Someday a preacher would be +able to say, "This has all come true!" And that would mean that the +Messiah had come.</p> + +<p>Jesus looked around at the faces he knew so well. Thirty years he had +lived among these people. Now he was back to tell them something that +they had never known before.</p> + +<p>He began to speak.</p> + +<p>"Today," he said, "you are seeing this Scripture lesson come true."</p> + + + +<p>A thrill ran through the audience. The Scripture had come true? The +Messiah was really here? Could <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>he mean that <i>he</i> was the Messiah? +The people gasped. Some laughed. Others were angry. They started to +talk among themselves.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_079.jpg" width="500" height="698" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + +<p>"The Messiah? Him? Why, that's only Jesus! The carpenter's son!"</p> + +<p>"Everybody knows who Jesus is! Lived down the street since I don't +know when!"</p> + +<p>"Who does he think he is?"</p> + +<p>Jesus again raised his voice above the others':</p> + +<p>"I know what you are going to say. You are going to quote that old +saying, 'Doctor, cure yourself.' You are going to tell me to start +doing the things I am supposed to have done in Capernaum. I'm not +surprised. A servant of God never gets any honor among his own people. +The same thing happened to the prophets long ago.</p> + +<p>"Don't expect me to do anything wonderful here in Nazareth. You +wouldn't believe it if you saw it. Why do you think you ought to get +any special favors from God?"</p> + +<p>A great roar went up from the congregation. All his old friends got up +from their seats and rushed to the front of the synagogue. They took +hold of Jesus and dragged him out of the building. At the edge of the +town there was a high cliff, and they took him there to throw him down +on the rocks below. But Jesus slipped out of their hands, and turned +around. Calmly he walked through the crowd. Nobody had the courage to +touch him again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jesus never went back to Nazareth any more. Once, when he was +preaching in another town, someone came and told him that his mother +and his brothers had come to take him home. They thought that he ought +to stop this nonsense of pretending to be the Messiah.</p> + +<p>But Jesus would not go home with them, for they did not believe in +him. It was better to stay with his disciples. He was at home with +those who trusted him.</p> + +<p>"My mother?" he said. "My brothers?"</p> + +<p>He looked around at his disciples, and said: "These are my mother and +brothers—my own disciples. Anybody who obeys the will of God is my +brother and my sister and my mother, all in one. That's the kind of +family I want!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Back in Nazareth nobody thought that Jesus was of much account. But in +other places he meant everything to people who needed help. The +Pharisees were often glad to see him go away. But the poor and the +sick could never see enough of him.</p> + +<p>Once there came to Jesus a man who was sick with the dreaded leprosy. +A leper's skin was deathly white, and his flesh was rotting, and he +was sure to die of the disease. Nobody needed help more than a leper +did, but no one would even touch him.</p> + +<p>The people back in Nazareth were too proud to admit that the +carpenter's son from down the street<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> might be the Messiah. But a +leper did not have any pride. This leper came to Jesus, and fell on +his face before him, crying out, "Lord, if you will do it, you can +make me clean from this disease!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_082.jpg" width="600" height="409" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Then Jesus did what everybody else was afraid to do. He reached down +and put his hand on the sick man, and said:</p> + +<p>"I will. Be clean."</p> + +<p>At once the man was healed of his leprosy. Jesus told him to go and +give thanks to God, and not to tell anyone what had happened. But the +leper could not help telling. Jesus became still more famous as the +man who healed the sick.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another time he made a blind man see again. The Pharisees tried to get +this man to say that the person who cured him had not been sent from +God. But the man who had been blind knew better. When the Pharisees +tried to threaten him, he did not give an inch. He said:</p> + +<p>"Who ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of the blind since the +world began? But this man did it. How could he have made me see, if he +hadn't come from God?"</p> + +<p>When Jesus heard of this, he went and found the man who had been +blind, and asked him,</p> + +<p>"Do you believe that I am the Son of God?"</p> + +<p>The man answered,</p> + +<p>"Yes, Lord, I believe."</p> + +<p>The blind man had found his Messiah.</p> + +<p>Then there was a man who was paralyzed so that he could not move. His +friends wanted to bring him to Jesus, but there were so many people +standing around the house where Jesus was teaching that they could not +get near him. But somehow or other they must get the sick man there.</p> + +<p>Like many of the houses in Palestine, this house had a flat roof, with +a stairway leading up to it. They placed their friend on a mat, +carried him up the stairs, and cut a hole in the roof. After fastening +a rope to each corner of the mat, they gently lowered it to the floor, +right at Jesus' feet.</p> + +<p>Jesus was glad when he saw the faith they had in him. He looked at the +helpless man, and said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Man, your sins are forgiven you."</p> + +<p>There were scribes and Pharisees standing there, waiting, as usual, to +find fault with Jesus. They began to talk among themselves. They said:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_084.jpg" width="600" height="254" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>"Who is this who is talking as if he were God? Such blasphemy! Who can +forgive sins, except God himself?"</p> + +<p>But Jesus knew what they were saying, and he answered them:</p> + +<p>"Which do you think is easier—to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' +or to say to this man, 'Pick up your mat and walk away'? I will show +you that I can do one as well as the other!"</p> + +<p>He turned to the paralyzed man and said,</p> + +<p>"Pick up your mat, and go on back to your house."</p> + +<p>The sick man got up from the floor, rolled up the mat and put it under +his arm, and went home. As he walked, there was a song of praise to +God in his heart. And many of the people who saw what had happened +were so surprised that they did not know whether to be glad or to be +afraid. But they all agreed on one thing. They said,</p> + +<p>"We have seen strange things today!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nothing that Jesus did seemed to please the Pharisees. But there was +one thing that made them especially angry. He was not so careful as +they thought he ought to be about keeping the Law.</p> + +<p>Now the Law meant everything to the Pharisees. They were so much in +earnest about keeping God's Law that they were not satisfied with what +was in the Scriptures. They followed many rules which had been made up +since the Scriptures were written. Unless a man kept all these rules, +it did not matter to the Pharisees how much good he did.</p> + +<p>Jesus was always getting into trouble with them about the Sabbath. The +Pharisees had a list of thirty-nine different kinds of work that +nobody was allowed to do on the Sabbath Day. This list included so +much that unless a Jew was careful, he would be likely to break the +Sabbath without even knowing it.</p> + +<p>If he tied a knot that could be untied with one hand, that was all +right; but if he took two hands to untie it, then he had broken the +Sabbath. He even had to be careful about sitting in a chair, for if he +happened to drag his chair across the dirt floor the Pharisees said +that he was plowing, which was a great sin on the Sabbath Day. It was +forbidden to make a fire on the Sabbath. And so, if a woman wanted hot +food, she had to cook it the day before, and keep it warm. But that +did not mean that she could set it on a stove. For the stove might get +hotter than it was, and make the food hotter, and that was just the +same as making a fire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> The only safe way to keep a meal hot was to +wrap the dishes in cloth or pigeon feathers.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_086.jpg" width="600" height="256" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Jesus did not think that rules like this were what the Scriptures +meant when they said, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." He +did not think that this was the way to honor God. And because Jesus +did not agree with them about the Sabbath, the Pharisees were always +watching for a chance to put him in the wrong.</p> + +<p>Once, when Jesus and his disciples were walking through a field of +grain on the Sabbath Day, the Pharisees saw that the disciples were +eating some of the grain. There was nothing wrong with eating it, if +they were hungry. But the trouble was that in order to get the grain +they had to pluck the ears. That, said the Pharisees, was harvesting! +Moreover, they had to take the ripe ears and rub them in their hands +to get rid of the chaff. The Pharisees thought that that was just the +same as threshing! Such things to do on the Sabbath Day! The Pharisees +stopped the disciples, and demanded to know why they were doing +something that was against the Law.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was really Jesus with whom they wanted to pick a quarrel, and so +Jesus answered for the disciples:</p> + +<p>"Why, you must have read in the Scriptures that King David and his +soldiers once went into the Temple and ate some of the holy bread +which only a priest is allowed to eat. Surely if David could do a +thing like that, my disciples can pick a few ears of grain in a field!</p> + +<p>"You don't understand what the Sabbath is for," Jesus went on. "We +aren't supposed to be slaves to the Sabbath; this day is meant to do +us good. The Sabbath was made for man; man was not made for the +Sabbath."</p> + +<p>Then he added something else, which took the Pharisees by surprise:</p> + +<p>"The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."</p> + +<p>They were puzzled. Jesus was talking again as though he was the +Messiah. So far as the Pharisees could see, Jesus was just a preacher +who broke the Law.</p> + +<p>The Pharisees began to watch him still more carefully. They found +another chance to get him into trouble soon after this. Jesus had gone +into the synagogue to teach, and in the synagogue was a man whose hand +was withered and useless. On any other day there was no doubt that +Jesus would heal this man. But this was the Sabbath, and it was +against the Law to heal anybody on that day unless he were in danger +of dying. A man with a withered hand could wait another day.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> Surely +even Jesus would not dare to break the rules again!</p> + +<p>Jesus knew that they were watching to see what he would do. They would +never forgive him if he made a move to heal this man.</p> + +<p>He called out to the man,</p> + +<p>"Stand up—up here, in front of everybody!"</p> + +<p>When the man had come to the front, Jesus turned to the Pharisees.</p> + +<p>"I am going to ask you something," he said. "If any one of you owned a +sheep, and it fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn't you lift it +out? And don't you think that a man is worth more than a sheep? You +say that it is against the Law to heal a man on the Sabbath. <i>I</i> say +that it is <i>always</i> right to do good to somebody, on the Sabbath just +the same as any other day!"</p> + +<p>He looked around at the whole crowd. He was angry now. Would they +actually let a man suffer one day more than was necessary? He turned +back to the man with the useless hand.</p> + +<p>"Stretch out your hand!" he commanded.</p> + +<p>And when he spoke, the withered hand was healed, and made as good as +the other one.</p> + +<p>The Pharisees went out of the synagogue, and their faces were hard +with anger.</p> + +<p>"He has gone too far!" they said to one another.</p> + +<p>"He is breaking all our good rules. It is not safe for the country to +have him around. He ought to die!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_089.jpg" width="600" height="812" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> + +<p>They really meant it. They thought they were doing the right thing. +They were afraid of what Jesus would do. The Pharisees even called in +some of their enemies to ask their advice about the best way to get +rid of Jesus.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Jesus had gone out of the city to be alone again. On a +lonely mountain, under the moon-light, he prayed to his Father all +night long. Back in the city men were planning to take his life. And +out on the mountain Jesus prayed for power to do good to men.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_090.jpg" width="600" height="487" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_091.jpg" width="600" height="399" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<h2><a name="Slow_to_Understand" id="Slow_to_Understand"></a>7. Slow to Understand</h2> + + +<p>Not all the Pharisees treated Jesus as an enemy. There was one of +them, named Simon, who decided to have Jesus come to his house for +dinner.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Simon thought that the other Pharisees were too hard on Jesus. +Perhaps he thought that he might show Jesus where he was wrong. Or +perhaps he was just curious. Jesus had become very well known, and +many people called him "Rabbi" or "Teacher." It would be interesting +to talk with the famous rabbi all afternoon.</p> + +<p>Whatever the reason was, Simon asked Jesus to come and have a meal +with him and his friends.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> + +<p>While they were eating their dinner, a woman stole in quietly through +the open door. She had not been invited. Simon would never have +dreamed of inviting her into his house, for everyone in town gave her +a bad name. "She's not a good woman—not a nice woman at all," people +said. They turned their eyes away when they met her on the street.</p> + +<p>At any other time the woman would not have wanted to come to Simon's +home, for no one likes to be stared at coldly and be put out of the +house. But today was different. Jesus was there.</p> + +<p>She brought with her a box of ointment. Ointment was the gift that +Jewish people brought, when they wanted to honor an important person +or some dear friend.</p> + +<p>Clutching her box of ointment, the woman crept across the room to +where Jesus was sitting. She began to cry. The tears rolled down her +cheeks and dropped on Jesus' hot, dusty feet. Then she wiped his feet +with her hair and kissed them. She opened her precious box and began +to rub his feet with the soft white salve.</p> + +<p>No one spoke or moved. Simon was angry and disappointed with Jesus. +The other Pharisees were right after all!</p> + +<p><i>So this is the great new prophet, sent from God!</i> he thought to +himself. <i>If Jesus were a prophet, we shouldn't be looking at a scene +like this. He would know what kind of woman that is who is touching +him. Why, everybody knows how bad she is!</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jesus did not need to be told what Simon was thinking. Still sitting +there, while the woman clung to his feet, Jesus spoke.</p> + +<p>"Simon, I have something to say to you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Rabbi?" Simon replied. "What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you a story," Jesus said. "There was once a moneylender +who had two men owing him money. One of them owed him five hundred +dollars, the other owed him fifty. Neither of them had anything with +which to pay him back, so the moneylender told them both to forget +about the debt—that they didn't need to pay. Now tell me—which of +those two men will love the moneylender most?"</p> + +<p>Simon answered,</p> + +<p>"Why, I suppose the man who owed him the most."</p> + +<p>"That's right," Jesus replied. "Now, Simon," he went on, "look at this +woman. When I came to your house today, you didn't even give me any +water to wash the sand off my feet, though that is what is done in +friendly homes. But this woman has washed my feet with her own tears, +and dried them with the hair of her head. You have scarcely been +polite to me; but this woman has done nothing but kiss my feet. You +never thought of putting ordinary olive oil on my head; but this woman +has put precious ointment on my feet.</p> + +<p>"You think this woman is a great sinner," Jesus continued, "and so she +is. She has done many things that are wrong. But her sins have been +forgiven her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> I have brought her to a new life, and she doesn't have +to worry any more about the sins of the past. That is why she loves me +so much. But, of course, a person who hasn't had his sins forgiven +isn't going to know much about love."</p> + +<p>Jesus turned away from Simon. He might have added:</p> + +<p>"A cold Pharisee like you, so sure that nothing is wrong with you, is +a great deal worse off than this poor, sinful woman. You have got all +your sins still to worry about, and you don't even know it!"</p> + +<p>But Jesus did not say it. He left Simon to think that out for himself. +Instead, he spoke to the woman,</p> + +<p>"Your sins are forgiven."</p> + +<p>The other people in the room began to mutter to themselves:</p> + +<p>"There he goes—forgiving sins again! What right has he to forgive +anybody's sins?"</p> + +<p>But Jesus paid no attention. He spoke once more to the woman at his +feet:</p> + +<p>"Your faith in me has saved you," he said. "Everything is all right +now. Go in peace."</p> + +<p>That was the end of the dinner party at Simon's house. But it was not +the end of the talk and gossip about the kind of friends that Jesus +made. Some thought he must be bad himself because he had so much to do +with people to whom the Pharisees would not even speak. Everywhere he +went, there was the same complaint.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> + +<p>Time and time again Jesus tried to explain why he was more interested +in sinners than in anyone else. Why, the people that the Pharisees +despised were the very people who needed his love the most! What could +be better than to save somebody from an evil life?</p> + +<p>Jesus told story after story, to show the Pharisees what he meant. One +time he said:</p> + +<p>"Suppose a shepherd had a hundred sheep, and one sheep strayed away +from the others and got lost. Would he not leave the other +ninety-nine, and go after the lost sheep until he found it? And when +he did find it, he would pick it up and carry it joyfully home. Then +he would go around and tell all his friends and neighbors. He would +say: 'Rejoice with me! For I have found my sheep that was lost.'</p> + +<p>"Or suppose a woman had ten silver coins, and dropped one of them on +the floor. Wouldn't she light a candle and sweep the floor and look +everywhere until she found it? Then she would say to her friends and +neighbors: 'Rejoice with me! For I have found the coin that I lost!'</p> + +<p>"In the same way," Jesus said, "God is more pleased over one sinful +person who stops sinning than over all the others who think they have +never sinned."</p> + +<p>The Pharisees still did not get the point. So Jesus tried again with +another story. He said:</p> + +<p>"A certain man had two sons. One day the younger son said, 'Father, +give me my share of the property<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> which is coming to me,' So the +father gave each of the sons his share.</p> + +<p>"Then the younger son packed up his belongings, and went away to a far +country. There he spent all his money foolishly. After his money was +gone, this young man had nothing left to live on. He went to work for +a farmer, who sent him out to feed the pigs. He was so hungry that he +would have been glad to eat the pigs' food, but no one gave him +anything.</p> + +<p>"Then one day he said to himself: 'What a fool I am! Why am I staying +here?' He thought of how even the servants at home had plenty to eat, +while he was starving to death. He said: 'I will go back to my father, +and tell him that I have sinned against him and against God. I will +tell him that I am not worthy to be his son, and ask him to give me +work as one of his servants.'</p> + +<p>"So he went home. But before he reached the house, his father saw him +coming, and ran out to welcome him. The young man started to say, 'I +have sinned, and I am not worthy to be your son.' But his father +called out to a servant: 'Bring the best clothes in the house, and +shoes for my boy's feet. Then kill the fattest calf we have, and get a +feast ready. My son is back, and we are going to celebrate!'</p> + +<p>"Meanwhile, the older brother was out in the field. When he came home, +he heard music and dancing in the house. He asked a servant why they +were having a party. When he was told, he became very angry.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> He would +not even go into the house. When his father came out to ask him to +join the party, the older brother said: 'All these years I have stayed +at home and helped you! I did everything you told me to. In all that +time you never once gave me a party. But when my brother comes back +from spending your money—why, nothing is too good for him!'</p> + +<p>"But the father answered him kindly. 'Son,' he said, 'you are always +with me, and everything I have is yours. It is right that we should +celebrate, and be happy. For it is as if your brother had been dead, +and now he is alive again. He was lost, and now he is found.'"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_097.jpg" width="600" height="472" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_098.jpg" width="600" height="407" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>The days went by. Some days were good, and some were bad. Once in a +while Jesus would find somebody who seemed to understand him and +believe in him. Then again it would seem that he was failing in what +he tried to do.</p> + +<p>The time he healed the Roman officer's servant was one of the good +days. Jesus was just coming back to Capernaum after preaching out in +the country, when this officer approached him. Although he was a +Roman, and the captain of a company of Roman soldiers, this man was +well liked in Capernaum. For he had built the Jews a synagogue, and +everyone knew that he loved the Jewish people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + +<p>He came to Jesus, and said, "Lord, my servant is lying at home, very +sick and suffering greatly."</p> + +<p>Jesus replied at once, "I will come and heal him."</p> + +<p>But the officer shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Lord," he said, "I am not worthy that you should come into my house. +Just speak a word, standing here, and that will heal my servant. You +see, I have an army under me. I say to a soldier, 'Come here,' and he +comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it right away. +You have that kind of power too. You just have to say that my servant +shall be healed, and he <i>will</i> be healed."</p> + +<p>Jesus was joyful when he heard these words. To those who were standing +around he said:</p> + +<p>"I tell you, I have not found among the Jewish people anyone who +believes in me so much as this Roman does! And I tell you this too: +When you talk about the Kingdom of God you shouldn't think that God +has no place in it for anyone except Jews. God is going to bring +together people from every country, everybody who has faith like this +officer's faith. And some of the Jews may find themselves outside the +Kingdom looking in!"</p> + +<p>Then he turned to the officer and said:</p> + +<p>"Go back to your house. You have had faith in me, and I will give you +what you ask."</p> + +<p>When the officer went home, he found that his servant had recovered +from his illness while Jesus was speaking.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> + +<p>That was one of the good days, when Jesus found a new believer. But a +bad day came, when Jesus found that his oldest friend had begun to +lose faith in him. John the Baptist was not sure any longer that Jesus +was the Messiah.</p> + +<p>And John was in trouble. He had preached against King Herod, the son +of the king who had died when Jesus was a baby. Herod married another +man's wife, and John the Baptist said that this was a sin. Herod threw +John into jail.</p> + +<p>As John lay in his prison cell day after day, he began to wonder about +Jesus. Had he been wrong in thinking that Jesus was the Messiah? Jesus +did not seem to have done very much as yet. The Romans were still in +the country. The rich people were as bad as they had always been, and +the poor were just as poor.</p> + +<p>At last John could not stand it any longer. When two of his followers +visited him in jail, he sent them to ask Jesus who he really was.</p> + +<p>"Ask him," said John, "'Are you or are you not the Messiah?'"</p> + +<p>John's followers found Jesus busy healing the sick. They drew him +aside, and told him what John wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Are you the One who was to come," they asked, "or must we look for +somebody else?"</p> + +<p>So even John the Baptist had his doubts! John, the man who had said +that he was not worthy to baptize<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> Jesus; the same John who once +called Jesus the Lamb of God!</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_101.jpg" width="600" height="423" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Jesus pointed to the crowd of people whom he had been healing, and he +said to John's disciples:</p> + +<p>"Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard here. Tell him I +am doing what I can. Tell him how the blind are getting back their +sight. Tell him too, how the lame are learning to walk, and how the +lepers are being cured. Tell him that I am preaching to the poor. Tell +him all about what I am doing, and let him decide for himself whether +or not I am the Messiah. And tell him this: Blessed is anyone who +believes in me, and takes me just as I am!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jesus never heard what John thought of this message. For John did not +live much longer. One night King Herod gave a birthday party, and a +pretty girl danced so well that the king offered to give her anything +she asked. The girl went to her mother, to find out what she ought to +say. Her mother hated John the Baptist because he had spoken the +truth, and so she told her daughter:</p> + +<p>"Ask for the head of John the Baptist to be brought in here on a +platter!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 786px;"> +<img src="images/image_103.jpg" width="786" height="323" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + +<p>The girl went to the king, and asked for John's head. The king was +sorry then that he had made that promise, for he was half afraid of +John. However, he had to keep his word. And so he sent servants to the +prison, and they cut off the head of John the Baptist with a sword, +and brought it back to the palace on a platter.</p> + +<p>When Jesus heard what had happened, he felt very sad. He said,</p> + +<p>"Let us go out to some quiet place, and rest awhile."</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<p>Things were not going very well. John the Baptist was dead, and Herod +might be planning to kill Jesus next. Some men, in fact, came one day +to warn him to get out of Herod's kingdom.</p> + +<p>"Go and tell that fox," he said, "that I am busy curing the sick and +conquering evil, and neither Herod nor anybody else is going to stop +me until I have finished my work!"</p> + +<p>But things were going badly, just the same. Jesus saw that there were +not many of the people who understood his message or knew who he was. +A few believed in him, but others soon lost interest in him, if they +ever cared at all. Only once in a long while did he see any results +from all his work.</p> + +<p>He explained this in one of his stories when he said:</p> + +<p>"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some of the seed fell +in the pathway, and people walked on it, or the birds ate it up. Some +fell on a rock, and this seed began to grow; but no sooner had it +sprung up than it died, because it did not have deep roots. Some fell +among thornbushes; and the thorns grew faster than the seed, and +choked it. But some of the seed fell on good ground, and there it grew +into a good harvest."</p> + +<p>When the disciples were alone with him, they asked Jesus to tell them +what this story meant. He said that the seed stood for the words that +he spoke to them. Some people heard him, but they soon forgot what he +said. That was like seed falling on the pathway.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_105.jpg" width="600" height="281" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Others were very excited about what he said when they first heard it, +but when it was hard to do what he told them they soon gave up trying. +That was like seed falling on a rock, where there was no soil or water +to give it root.</p> + +<p>Then there were some who cared more about money and pleasure than they +cared about God. That was like seed being choked by thorns.</p> + +<p>But some people heard Jesus preach; and they believed in him, with +good and honest hearts, and they were faithful. That was when his +preaching brought results, and it was like seed falling on good rich +earth.</p> + +<p>"Unless people have faith in me," said Jesus, "they will never +understand God. They will see the things I do, and never even know +what they are looking at. They will listen to me, and never know what +they are hearing. I can do nothing with them. But you—my +disciples—you have faith in me. You will understand everything +someday."</p> + +<p>The disciples were going to be good ground for the seed that Jesus +sowed.</p> + + + + + + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width:779px;"> +<img src="images/image_107_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="779" height="96" /> +</div> +<div class="figleft" style="width:382px;"> +<img src="images/image_107_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="382" height="451" /> +</div> + +<p class="f1"><a name="Jesus_Is_Strong" id="Jesus_Is_Strong"></a><b>8. Jesus Is Strong</b></p> + + +<p>That night Jesus said to the disciples, "Let us go across the lake."</p> + +<p>Simon and Andrew and James and John were fishermen. They knew where to +get a boat, and they knew how to sail it too.</p> + +<p>All twelve disciples, along with Jesus, climbed into a boat and pushed +away from shore.</p> + +<p>The Sea of Galilee was a lovely blue lake in the daytime, when the +sunlight sparkled on the water. In the evening it was lovely too, when +the waves were lapping peacefully against the side of a boat, and the +stars came out twinkling overhead.</p> + +<p>But the Sea of Galilee was not always so lovely or so peaceful. +Sometimes the wind came roaring down the steep banks around the lake, +and the water grew white and angry.</p> + +<p>Then again everything might be calm and quiet when a boat left the +land. But before it had gone very far a storm might be howling all +around. It would toss the boat around like driftwood, and then it +would be too late to turn back to shore.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> + +<p>Some of the disciples were fishermen, and they had fished here all +their lives. They knew what the sudden storms were like. It was no +surprise to them when the stars disappeared as though the rising wind +had blown them out. They knew what was coming now. The night would +grow black as ink, and the great foaming waves would smash against the +ship and fill it up with water. There was nothing anyone could do +about it. Nobody could sail or row or steer the boat any longer. Only +God himself could bring the poor sailors safe to shore.</p> + +<p>The sea was rough already, and getting rougher every minute. They were +afraid. They were always afraid of the sea when storms began to blow. +It was so big and dangerous and terrible, and men were so small and +weak! It was like a frightful monster, tossing them up and down before +it swallowed them alive.</p> + +<p>If only they had stayed on the good, safe land! They had been so +worried and so tired that night; so discouraged about Jesus and his +work. And now there was this storm on top of everything! It looked as +if none of them would live to see another day. They had left their +homes and families behind, to follow Jesus. What was the use of +following Jesus if they were all to be drowned?</p> + +<p>Now the boat was full of water. They tried to bail it out, but the +fishermen knew that nothing they could do would be of any use.</p> + +<p>In the dark they could hardly see one another's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> faces. Where was +Jesus? No one had heard a word from him since the storm began to blow.</p> + +<p>They found him at the back of the boat, just where he was when they +left the shore. He was stretched out on a seat, resting on a pillow. +And he was fast asleep!</p> + +<p>The disciples were angry. Any minute now the boat was going to turn +over, and there was Jesus sleeping as though nothing in the world were +wrong!</p> + +<p>One of the men took Jesus by the shoulders, and shook him awake. They +shouted at him, "Master, doesn't it matter to you if we are all +drowned?"</p> + +<p>Jesus rose to his feet in the tossing boat. The wind blew in his face, +and he seemed to be answering it. The sea smashed against the boat +again, and Jesus cried out, "Peace, be still!"</p> + +<p>All at once the wind began to die away. The waves tossed for a minute +or two longer, but not so strongly now. Everything was growing quiet. +The stars began to shine again, and soon there was no sound but the +water lapping gently against the boat.</p> + +<p>Jesus spoke to the disciples:</p> + +<p>"Why were you so frightened? How is it that you still haven't any +faith in me?"</p> + +<p>But the disciples scarcely noticed what he was saying. They were more +afraid than ever. This time it was not the sea that frightened them. +They were afraid of Jesus. They said to one another:</p> + +<p>"What kind of man is this? When he speaks, even the wind and the sea +obey him!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_110.jpg" width="600" height="518" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>In the morning they brought their little boat to land on the other +side of the lake. Over here in the country of the Gadarenes, Galilee +seemed very far away.</p> + +<p>A high cliff rose above the sea. Jesus and the disciples climbed up +and looked around. There was nothing much to see except some men +feeding a herd of pigs. In the distance was a graveyard.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + +<p>Suddenly a man came running out of the graveyard. He was naked, and +his body was covered with cuts and bruises. The man was out of his +mind, and he lived by himself in the graveyard, and wandered through +the mountains. Other people had often tried to chain him up, but he +was so strong that he broke the chains as if they were made of string. +He could be heard crying out, day and night, and he was always cutting +himself with sharp stones. No one dared to go near him.</p> + +<p>The madman ran toward Jesus, shouting at him. His words were like +those of the other madman who had interrupted Jesus in the synagogue +service.</p> + +<p>"What have I to do with you, Jesus? What have I to do with the Son of +the most high God? Don't torment me!"</p> + +<p>Jesus said to him, "What is your name?"</p> + +<p>The man answered: "My name is Legion. There's a whole legion of devils +inside me!"</p> + +<p>The disciples were meanwhile listening in horror. There was something +evil in this man, something as dreadful as the storm of the night +before. They heard Jesus say: "Come out of the man!" Then they seemed +to hear many Voices crying out, and calling to Jesus, and pleading +with him. And they heard Jesus say, "Go!"</p> + +<p>The wild look left the man's eyes. And at that very moment the pigs +went wild. The man was in his right mind now, but it seemed as though +the pigs had gone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> crazy. With a great snorting and squealing they ran +to the cliff and plunged into the sea.</p> + +<p>After that everything was quiet. It was as quiet as it had been when +Jesus stilled the storm. The evil thing was gone. The morning sun was +shining brightly on a peaceful countryside. There was nothing dreadful +any more.</p> + +<p>But what they had seen was too much for the men who had been feeding +the pigs. As fast as their legs would take them they ran to the +nearest town and told everybody what had happened. The people came +flocking out of the town to see for themselves. When they came they +found the madman sitting there talking to Jesus. He had put on his +clothes, and he was just as sensible as anybody else.</p> + +<p>The people had been terribly afraid of the madman, but now they were +afraid of Jesus. They had tied this man up with chains, and still they +could not hold him. Yet here was a stranger from Galilee who cured the +madman with a few words. <i>What kind of man is this?</i> they thought. +<i>What kind of power does he have?</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 601px;"> +<img src="images/image_112.jpg" width="601" height="285" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> + +<p>They were so worried about what Jesus might do next that they asked +him to leave the country. Without a word Jesus took his disciples back +to the boat. The man who had been out of his mind followed him, and +asked if he might go along. But Jesus told him:</p> + +<p>"No, you have work to do here. Go back home to your friends. Tell them +what the Lord has done for you."</p> + +<p>The man went back to the city, and began to tell his story. The story +went abroad through that whole country, and everyone who heard it was +amazed.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>For the disciples it had been a night and day of wonders. But as they +sailed home across the lake they did not know that an even greater +triumph was waiting for Jesus on the other side.</p> + +<p>As their boat drew near to land, they saw a crowd standing on the +shore. Everyone had been watching anxiously, waiting for Jesus to +come.</p> + +<p>When Jesus stepped ashore, the waiting crowd made way for a man who +was well known in the town. His name was Jairus, and he was the chief +officer of the synagogue.</p> + +<p>Jairus fell down at Jesus' feet and began to plead with him to come to +his house at once:</p> + +<p>"My little girl is dying. Please come and put your hands on her, and +heal her, and make her live!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_114.jpg" width="500" height="689" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Jesus went with Jairus, and the whole crowd followed to see what he +was going to do. As they walked <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>along the street, with people +pressing in on them from every side, Jesus suddenly stopped and said,</p> + +<p>"Who touched my clothes?"</p> + +<p>The disciples could not imagine what he was talking about. They said +to him:</p> + +<p>"Why, don't you see the crowd? Everybody is touching you! What do you +mean by asking, 'Who touched my clothes?'"</p> + +<p>But Jesus answered:</p> + +<p>"There's someone in particular who touched me. I felt power going out +of me."</p> + +<p>With that, a poor woman came out of the crowd and fell down in front +of Jesus. She was trembling with fear. She told him her whole story. +For twelve years she had been sick. She had spent all her money on +doctors, and she never got any better. She thought that if only she +could touch his clothes, without anyone seeing her, she would be made +well.</p> + +<p>Jesus looked at her kindly, and said:</p> + +<p>"Your faith has made you well. Go in peace."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Jairus was waiting impatiently for Jesus to come along. Soon +it might be too late!</p> + +<p>At that very moment a message came from Jairus' house. The worst had +happened. The little girl had died, and there was no use troubling +Jesus. Already it was too late.</p> + +<p>But before Jairus could speak, Jesus took him by the arm and said:</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid. Just keep on believing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> + +<p>He sent the crowd away, and told the disciples that none of them could +come with him except Simon and James and John.</p> + +<p>Jairus led the way to his house. When they got there they found that +the bad news was true. The little girl had really died. Already the +flute players, who played at funerals in Palestine, had arrived. +Everyone was mourning and weeping.</p> + +<p>Jesus spoke sharply to the mourners.</p> + +<p>"Why are you making all this fuss?" he asked. "The little girl isn't +dead. She is only sleeping."</p> + +<p>Everyone laughed at him, as though he were a fool. "So he doesn't know +the difference between being asleep and being dead," they said to +themselves. But Jesus told them to get out of the house. When they +were gone he took Jairus and his wife, and the three disciples, and +went into the little girl's room.</p> + +<p>There could be no doubt about it—the girl was dead. She was lying +white and cold and still. No doctor in the world could ever help her +again.</p> + +<p>Jesus bent over the still body, and opened his mouth to speak. Simon +and James and John held their breath. Not many hours before, they had +heard him say to the sea, "Peace, be still." When he spoke, the sea +obeyed him. They heard him speak to a madman, and after he spoke the +man was in his right mind again. But what use would it be to speak to +someone who was dead? The dead could not hear him!</p> + +<p>Or could they hear him? Had Jesus not once told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> them, "The dead hear +my voice"?</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_117.jpg" width="600" height="408" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>The little girl did not know anything. She did not hear anything. She +could not know or hear anything, for she was dead.</p> + +<p>Then a voice came through the silence. The little girl began to hear +someone talking. It was a man's voice, and it was saying the very +words her mother used each morning to wake her up from sleep.</p> + +<p>"Little girl, get up!" she heard.</p> + +<p>She opened her eyes. She looked into the face of Jesus. He took her +hand, and helped her to her feet. Her parents were there too. She went +to them.</p> + +<p>"Give her something to eat," said Jesus. "And say nothing about what +has happened."</p> + +<p>But no one could keep a secret like that. Soon everyone had heard the +story. Everybody heard how Jesus spoke and brought the dead back to +life.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Refusing_a_Crown" id="Refusing_a_Crown"></a>9. Refusing a Crown</h2> + + +<p>Up until this time, Jesus had done all the preaching, and the +disciples had listened. Jesus had healed the sick, and the disciples +had watched. Now, however, Jesus told the disciples that it was time +for them to work also. He called the twelve together, and said:</p> + +<p>"I am going to send you out in my place. You are to divide up into +pairs. Each pair will go and preach in the towns and villages. You +will tell the people what you have heard me say—that God has come to +the earth to rule over men's hearts. When you see<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> people who are sick +or out of their minds, you are to make them well, just as you have +seen me do."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 781px;"> +<img src="images/image_119.jpg" width="781" height="198" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>He told them plainly what they were to do.</p> + +<p>"Don't take any money with you," Jesus said, "and don't ask for money +from anybody. Don't take many clothes, either; you are to travel +quickly, and attend to your work, without worrying about money or +clothes. You will be taken care of."</p> + +<p>"When you go into a city or a village, find some family that will +welcome a preacher; and stay in that home until you go to the next +place. If nobody will listen to you, go somewhere else. But before you +go, warn the people in the place which you are leaving that they have +sinned by not paying attention to God's message."</p> + +<p>So the disciples went out and preached as Jesus told them. They healed +the sick, as Jesus did.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_120.jpg" width="600" height="418" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>The trip was a great success. After many days the disciples began to +come back home, with many stories about their experiences. When they +were all with Jesus again, they sat down and told him everything they +had said and done.</p> + +<p>Jesus listened to their stories, and then he said:</p> + +<p>"It is time for you to take a rest. Come with me to some lonely place +where nobody will disturb us for a while."</p> + +<p>They got into their boat, and sailed up to a quiet place they knew of, +near the town of Bethsaida. But they got no chance to rest after all, +for the people at Capernaum saw them leaving.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There go Jesus and his disciples!" somebody said. "They're heading +for Bethsaida!"</p> + +<p>A crowd of people began to walk around the shore of the lake. As they +went, others joined them from the towns and countryside round about. +Jesus was the most popular man in Galilee just then. Wherever he went, +he might be sure that a crowd would follow him.</p> + +<p>The people walked and ran, and by hurrying they reached the quiet spot +near Bethsaida as soon as Jesus did. When he stepped out of the boat, +thousands of people were waiting for him on the shore. Jesus had gone +away for a rest, but when he saw the people he felt sorry for them.</p> + +<p><i>They are like a flock of sheep</i>, he thought—<i>a flock of sheep with +no shepherd to look after them.</i></p> + +<p>They had spoiled his holiday, but Jesus spoke to the people and said +that he was glad to see them. Then he began to teach, just as he did +in the cities and towns. All day long he taught, and if there were any +who were sick, he healed them.</p> + +<p>The day wore on, and evening was drawing near. One or two of the +disciples pulled Jesus' sleeve, and said to him:</p> + +<p>"Master, it is getting late. Hadn't you better send them away to find +something to eat in the towns near by? There is nothing for them out +here in the country."</p> + +<p>Jesus answered: "There is no need for them to go away. Give them +something to eat right here!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> + +<p>The disciples looked at him as if they did not know whether he was +serious or not. They said: "Do you mean that you want us to go and buy +food for all these people? Where would we get enough money for that?"</p> + +<p>Andrew said: "There's a boy here with five loaves of bread and a +couple of fishes. But how far will that go among five thousand +people?"</p> + +<p>Jesus only answered, "Tell them to sit down on the grass."</p> + +<p>The disciples went among the crowd, and had the people sit down in +groups, fifty in each group.</p> + +<p>Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes, and as he held them, he +said a prayer of thanks to God. Then he broke the loaves, and gave the +bread and the fish to the disciples and told them to pass the food +around among the crowd. They passed it here and they passed it there, +but they never ran out of food. Nobody could tell where it was coming +from, but there was enough for everyone and some left over.</p> + +<p>The people were hungry after their long walk and the hours of standing +in the sun. They ate heartily. As they finished their meal, they began +to think about what had happened.</p> + +<p>"Where did all this food come from?" they began to ask themselves. +"Where did Jesus get all that food?" "There were but five loaves and a +couple of fishes and yet we have all had enough and to spare!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_123.jpg" width="500" height="701" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>The crowd began to talk in excited voices. "Jesus gave us this food." +"A wonderful thing! He gave us <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>food to eat, when there wasn't +anything here!" "Why, this is just the man we have been looking for!" +"There's the man to make the Jews strong and rich—he makes food out +of nothing!"</p> + +<p>The people were rising to their feet.</p> + +<p>"Make him a king!" they started to cry. "Jesus is the man to be king +of the Jews!" they shouted. "We want our king!"</p> + +<p>But Jesus was not there any longer. Jesus had gone; he had slipped +away through the crowd and disappeared. Even the disciples did not +know where he was. He stayed alone in the mountains until long after +dark.</p> + +<p>Those foolish people! That foolish, foolish crowd! They did not +understand him at all. Did they never think of anything except their +stomachs?</p> + +<p>Jesus remembered how the devil had once tempted him in the wilderness. +What was it that the devil had said? "If you are the Messiah, make +these stones into bread."</p> + +<p>Yes, all the people would be for him so long as he gave them something +to eat. They would even make him a king, if they thought he was the +man to get rid of the Romans and make the country free and rich and +great. Why, they had offered to make Jesus a king that very day! They +said that he was just the man they had been waiting for!</p> + +<p>But that was not what Jesus had come to do. He did not want to be that +kind of king.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was soon to be Passover time. Many years ago, at Passover time, +Jesus had been a boy at the Temple in Jerusalem, watching as the lambs +were killed for a sacrifice. A year from now it would be Passover +again. And then it would be time to go to Jerusalem once more. He +would go to Jerusalem, and he would be the King of the Jews. Then he +would do what he always knew that he would have to do someday.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>When Jesus came back to Capernaum, he gathered his band of disciples +together and took them away again. This time he took them so far away +that no one would follow them. No one wanted very much to follow, +anyway, for the people were hurt and angry because Jesus would not be +their king.</p> + +<p>Jesus led the disciples away to the north, into the country near +Caesarea Philippi. Here one of the rivers that flowed into the Jordan +came springing out of a cave in a hill. Here too the Greek people +round about had built temples for their heathen gods.</p> + +<p>Jesus wanted to be alone with his disciples, for the time had come to +have an important talk. He said to them: "Who do people say that I +am?"</p> + +<p>The disciples answered: "Some people say that you are John the +Baptist, come back from the dead. Others say that you are Elijah, or +Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets come back to earth. Everyone +thinks that you are a great man."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_126.jpg" width="600" height="313" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>"But who do <i>you</i> say that I am?" Jesus asked.</p> + +<p>There was silence. Then Simon spoke up: "You are the Messiah—the +Christ—the Son of the living God!"</p> + +<p>That was it! That was what Jesus was waiting for! His face lighted up +in joy. He turned to Simon, and exclaimed: "That is the best thing +that could happen to you, Simon, to find out who I am! And no human +being could have told you! Only God himself can have shown you that I +really am the Messiah, when nobody else believes it. And now you are +going to have a new name, Simon. I am going to call you 'Peter' from +now on, for the name 'Peter' means 'The Rock.' You have faith in me, +and your faith is like a rock. I am going to build my Church on faith +like yours, and nothing shall ever conquer it. It will be the +strongest thing in all the world.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And now"—Jesus began to speak more quietly—"and now that you know +who I really am, I have many things to tell you. In the first place, +you must not say anything about my being the Messiah—not just yet. +And this is more important: I am not going to be very popular any +more. I am going up to Jerusalem, and when I get there, my enemies +will plot against me and put me to death."</p> + +<p>Peter thought that this was nonsense. Everyone knew that the Messiah +would not be killed like that, but would instead be a great warrior +and a triumphant king. In a bold voice Peter spoke up again: "Don't be +foolish. Nothing of that sort is going to happen!"</p> + +<p>Jesus turned on Peter. This time he was not joyful; he was angry. He +talked to Peter in the same way he had once talked to the devil in the +wilderness.</p> + +<p>He said: "Get behind me, Satan! The devil has got into you, Peter! God +didn't have anything to do with what you said to me just now. You're +talking like everybody else. You're weak. A man who tries to save his +own life is sure to lose it. But if a man gives up his life because of +me—ah, that man will really know what it means to live!"</p> + +<p>But Jesus saw that the disciples did not understand. Even Peter was +losing his faith again. Somehow he must make them believe in him and +trust in him.</p> + +<p>So six days later he took Peter and James and John, to whom he showed +the most secret things, up into a high mountain. And there the +disciples saw a marvel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>ous vision. Jesus' face became bright as the +sun, and his clothes shone like the morning light. They said afterward +that Moses and Elijah, who were great among the Jews in the days of +long ago, came down and talked with Jesus.</p> + +<p>Peter spoke timidly this time, for he did not know what to say.</p> + +<p>"Lord," he said, "it is good for us to be here. Let us build three +tabernacles here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."</p> + +<p>Then a great cloud came, like a shadow, over the mountain. They heard +a voice from the cloud, like the voice of God, saying: "This is my +beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him!"</p> + +<p>The disciples fell down to the ground, and there they lay until Jesus +came and touched them. At his touch they looked up, and there was no +one to be seen but Jesus standing there alone.</p> + +<p>"Come away," said Jesus, "and tell nobody what you have seen."</p> + +<p>They followed him down the mountain, back to where other people were.</p> + +<p>Long afterward, they spoke of what had happened. They told of the +brightness, and the beauty, and the visitors from olden days, and the +voice which said that Jesus was the Son of God. But in those days they +never said a word.</p> + +<p>They knew that on the mountaintop they had been with God.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="The_Way_to_Jerusalem" id="The_Way_to_Jerusalem"></a>10. The Way to Jerusalem</h2> + + +<p>Jesus had made up his mind that he would go to Jerusalem for the +Passover next year. He knew that if he did he would get into trouble. +The disciples knew it too, for he had told them so. There was a hard +time ahead for them all.</p> + +<p>There was hardly anyone whom Jesus could count on any more. Often even +the disciples did not understand him. Once in a while other people +would offer to come along and be disciples too. But few actually came, +after Jesus explained how much he expected his disciples to give up +for his sake.</p> + +<p>There was one man who came to Jesus, and said bravely, "Lord, I will +follow you wherever you go!"</p> + +<p>Jesus replied: "Even the foxes have holes in the ground to sleep in at +night. The birds of the air have their nests. But I travel across the +country without a home that I can call my own."</p> + +<p>The man thought of his own comfortable house, and decided he did not +want to follow Jesus after all.</p> + +<p>Another time Jesus invited a man to join him. This man said that he +would be glad to come, but that his father had just died, and he must +first look after the funeral. That would take a long time, for the +Jews loved their customs, and when anybody died they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> held ceremonies +which lasted for many days. Jesus could not wait for this man, so he +answered:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_130.jpg" width="600" height="216" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>"Let people who don't believe in me look after things like that. You +have something more important to do. Your job is to go out and preach, +right away. That's what you would do if you really believed in me."</p> + +<p>Still another man was willing to come, if only he could first go home +and say good-by to his family. Jesus saw that this man too had not +really decided to give up everything for God. He told him:</p> + +<p>"You're like a farmer who starts to plow a field, and then turns +around and wonders if he shouldn't be doing something back at the +house. Unless you put your whole heart into following me, I'm afraid +you will never be of much use."</p> + +<p>Even some of those who used to call themselves followers of Jesus were +going away. Jesus said to the twelve, who had been with him from the +beginning:</p> + +<p>"Are you going to leave me too?"</p> + +<p>Peter answered: "Lord, where would we go? We should die if we did not +hear your words. We believe that you are the Christ."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jesus said, "Yes, you are the men I have chosen to be with me—though +there is one of <i>you</i> who will come to a bad end."</p> + +<p>He was speaking of a disciple named Judas Iscariot, though the others +did not know it. Jesus knew that Judas was not to be trusted.</p> + +<p>In those difficult days Jesus spent much of his time in prayer. The +disciples felt that they also needed strength and help from God. Once, +when Jesus had finished praying, they said to him,</p> + +<p>"Lord, teach us to pray, just as John the Baptist used to teach his +disciples."</p> + +<p>So Jesus taught them a prayer, and this is how it went:</p> + +<p>"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom +come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day +our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. +And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine +is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."</p> + +<p>Then Jesus looked at his disciples, and told them that they ought to +pray more than they did.</p> + +<p>"Suppose," he said, "one of you went to a friend's house at midnight, +and called through the window, 'Lend me some bread, for company has +come unexpectedly and I haven't anything in my house.' Your friend +might not want to get up out of bed, but if you kept on pleading with +him, he would give you what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> you asked for. In the same way, keep on +praying to God! Prayer is like knocking on a door. Knock, and the door +will be opened."</p> + +<p>Jesus knew, better than the disciples did themselves, how much they +were going to need God's help.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Jesus ran into a great many trying people in the next few months. One +day there was a lawyer who thought that he knew more than Jesus did. +He wanted an argument which would give him a chance to show how much +he knew, so he came and asked Jesus,</p> + +<p>"What should I do to have eternal life?"</p> + +<p>Jesus answered, "What does it say in the Law?"</p> + +<p>The lawyer replied, "It says, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with +all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and +with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.'"</p> + +<p>Jesus said: "That is right. Those are the things you ought to do."</p> + +<p>It sounded to the lawyer as though Jesus were saying, "If you knew all +along, why did you need to ask me in the first place?" The lawyer +thought that he would get the better of Jesus, so he replied,</p> + +<p>"Well, just who is the neighbor that I am supposed to love?"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_133.jpg" width="600" height="352" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Jesus answered with a story:</p> + +<p>"A man was traveling on the lonely road between Jerusalem and Jericho. +As so often happens there,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> some thieves jumped out of a hiding place, +and robbed him and beat him. He was lying there half dead, when a +priest from the Temple in Jerusalem came along. He took one look at +the wounded man, and kept on going along the other side of the road. +Then somebody else from the Temple, who was supposed to be a very +religious sort of person, passed by, and the same thing happened.</p> + +<p>"Finally a Samaritan came along. I don't need to tell you how +Samaritans and Jews hate each other! But this Samaritan was sorry for +the wounded man. He put bandages on his wounds, and took him to an +inn. Before he left next morning, the Samaritan went to the innkeeper. +He paid the bill for the man who had been robbed. Then he told the +innkeeper to take care of the man, and the Samaritan said he would pay +for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> anything more that was needed the next time he came.</p> + +<p>"Now, think of those three men who passed along the road. Which of +them was a real neighbor to the man who was robbed?"</p> + +<p>The lawyer said, "Why, the one who helped him, of course."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Jesus, "go and do the same."</p> + +<p>What Jesus wanted the lawyer to understand was:</p> + +<p>"You really know what a good neighbor should be, because God has been +good to you. But you are not much interested in being a neighbor to +people who need your help."</p> + +<p>But if the lawyer did not see that for himself, there was no use +telling him. He would be too proud to understand.</p> + +<p>Another day there was a man who came to Jesus and said:</p> + +<p>"Master, I wish you would speak to my brother. Our father died a +little while ago, and my brother is keeping all the property for +himself. Make him give me my share of it."</p> + +<p>Jesus would have nothing to do with the quarrel. He told this man:</p> + +<p>"You ought to think of something besides money and property. There is +more to life than owning things. Let me tell you a story.</p> + +<p>"There was a farmer whose crops were so good that he had no place to +put all the harvest. He said to himself: 'I will pull down my old +barns, and build bigger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> ones, and put my crops in them. Then I will +take life easy, for I have enough money to last me for many years.'</p> + +<p>"But do you know what happened? That very night God said to him, 'You +fool, you are going to die tonight; and what good are your crops and +your money going to be to you then?' That's what becomes of people who +keep all their money for their own selfish use, and never think about +God."</p> + +<p>There was another man who was a great disappointment to Jesus. He was +a young man—rich, and a leader in the community. He came and kneeled +before Jesus, and said,</p> + +<p>"Good Master, what should I do in order to have eternal life?"</p> + +<p>This was like the lawyer's question, but this man asked it in a +different spirit. He really wanted to know.</p> + +<p>Jesus answered:</p> + +<p>"Do you know what you are saying when you call me 'Good Master'? No +one is good except God."</p> + +<p>Jesus was wondering if the rich young man knew that he was talking to +the Messiah, or if he thought that Jesus was just a man who was a +little better than others. However, he went on:</p> + +<p>"If you want to have eternal life, keep God's commandments. You know +what they are: Do not kill, do not steal, live a pure life, do not +tell lies, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as +yourself."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_136.jpg" width="500" height="326" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>The young man exclaimed: "But I have kept all those commandments ever +since I was a boy! What is it that is wrong with me?"</p> + +<p>When Jesus saw that the young man was in earnest, he loved him. He +replied:</p> + +<p>"There is indeed something wrong with you. It is the way you love your +money. Give it away to the poor, and you will be rewarded in heaven. +Give up everything you have, and come and follow me."</p> + +<p>The young man got slowly to his feet. No! That was asking too much! +How could he live without his money? He needed his money. How did he +know that God would look after him if he did not take care of himself? +Without another word he went away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How hard it is," Jesus said, "for rich people to obey God!"</p> + +<p>The disciples were amazed. They had always thought that the reason why +some people were rich was that God was pleased with the good lives +they had been living. They said, "If there isn't any hope even for +rich people, is there any hope for <i>anybody</i>?"</p> + +<p>"No," Jesus replied, "there isn't any hope for anybody. No one is good +enough. But God can help and save sinners, whether they are rich or +poor. God is everybody's hope."</p> + +<p>Peter spoke for the rest of the disciples. He said, "Well, we have +given up everything to follow you."</p> + +<p>Jesus answered, "If you have given up anything for my sake you will +never have reason to be sorry for it, either in this life or after you +die."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The months were going by, and it was time to be getting on toward +Jerusalem. Jesus took his disciples and crossed to the east side of +the river Jordan. They traveled south, and then crossed the Jordan +once again and came to the city of Jericho.</p> + +<p>In the rich earth around Jericho beautiful gardens grew, and the palm +trees stood tall. Travelers who came from the swamps of the Jordan +loved to stop at Jericho before they took the hard and lonely road +that led to Jerusalem. There were desert lands and hills ahead, but at +Jericho there was water to drink, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> good food to eat, and a place +to stay in comfort. But Jesus could not stay long in Jericho. It was +to Jerusalem that he was going, and nothing could hold him back.</p> + +<p>The people at Jericho heard that Jesus was passing through their city, +and a crowd gathered in the streets to catch a glimpse of him as he +went by. There was a man named Zacchaeus there. He was shorter than +most other men, and he could not see Jesus because of the crowd around +him. There was no use asking anyone to help him, for no one liked +Zacchaeus. He was a taxgatherer, as Matthew once had been, and had +grown rich collecting taxes. But he had grown unpopular too. The Jews +thought him a traitor, for although he was a Jew he worked for the +Romans, and made his fortune out of cheating his fellow Jews.</p> + +<p>But Zacchaeus was determined not to miss seeing Jesus. Running on +ahead of the crowd, he climbed a sycamore tree. High above the street, +he could look down at Jesus, but there was no reason to think that +Jesus would look up at him.</p> + +<p>However, when Jesus reached the place where Zacchaeus was hiding in +the branches, he stopped, looked up, and saw him. He knew who this man +was. Jesus called out:</p> + +<p>"Hurry and come down out of that tree, Zacchaeus. I am coming to stay +at your house today!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_138.jpg" width="600" height="169" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> + +<p>Surprised but happy, Zacchaeus scrambled down the tree and led Jesus +to his house. The other people also were surprised, but not so happy. +They muttered to themselves, as many people had done before. They +said,</p> + +<p>"He's gone to be the guest of that miserable, cheating traitor of a +taxgatherer!"</p> + +<p>But Zacchaeus became a changed man that day. He said to Jesus:</p> + +<p>"I am going to give half my money to the poor. And if I have cheated +anybody I shall give back four times as much as I took."</p> + +<p>Then Jesus was glad that he had called Zacchaeus down from the tree.</p> + +<p>"You have been saved from your sins today, Zacchaeus," he said.</p> + +<p>Jesus was glad that he had found at least one rich man who did not +love his money more than he loved God. Zacchaeus had not been a good +man. He was not like the rich young man who had kept all God's +commandments since he was a boy. But when he heard Jesus speak to him, +he knew that he had been in the wrong. He was ready to do what he +could to show that he knew how he had sinned.</p> + +<p>"This is what I came for," Jesus said, "to look for sinners like this +man and to save them."</p> + +<p>When Jesus got to Jerusalem, it was going to cost him a great deal to +help men find a new life. But whatever it might cost him, it would be +worth the price.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Nearing_the_City" id="Nearing_the_City"></a>11. Nearing the City</h2> + + + + +<p>Passover time had almost come, so Jesus had to be on his way. Jericho +was left behind, and Jesus and the disciples pushed across the hills +and desert land that lay east of Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>This was the country Jesus had crossed the first time he went to the +Passover feast. That was twenty years ago, when he was a boy of +twelve, and Joseph and Mary had taken him to the feast in the great +city. The stones were just as hard now as they had been then. The land +was as dreary to see as it had ever been, and the desert as dry. And +yet there were just as many pilgrims from all parts of Palestine +traveling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> up to Jerusalem, going, as their fathers did before them, +to keep the Passover in the holy city of the Jews. In a little while a +shout would go up, and many a party would burst into song. They would +sing:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 781px;"> +<img src="images/image_141.jpg" width="781" height="221" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'I was glad when they said unto me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let us go into the house of the Lord....<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They shall prosper that love thee.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A few days more, and they would sacrifice their lambs in the Temple. +They would pray God to be good to the Jews, and to save them from +their enemies. A few nights more, and they would sit down to eat the +roasted flesh of the lambs at the Passover feast; and when they had +eaten they would sing:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For his mercy endureth for ever.'"<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>Jesus and the disciples came out of the desert, and paused among the +olive groves near the village of Bethany. Now only the Mount of Olives +and the brook called Kidron stood between Jesus and Jerusalem. Already +the Passover pilgrims were pouring through the gates of the city and +up to the Temple. It was hard for all the pilgrims to find places to +stay during the week of the Passover. Here at Bethany, Jesus had +friends who loved him, and here he found a place in which to stay.</p> + +<p>A man named Simon, whom Jesus once cured of the dreaded leprosy, had a +house in Bethany where Jesus was welcome. There also was a woman in +Bethany whose name was Mary. She thought that nothing was too much to +give to Jesus. Like another woman who once made the Pharisees angry, +she came to Jesus when he sat at dinner in Simon's house and poured +precious ointment on his head.</p> + +<p>But this time it was not the Pharisees who were angry, for there were +no Pharisees in the house. It was Jesus' own disciples, especially +Judas Iscariot, who said that it was wrong to waste anything that cost +as much as the ointment. Judas spoke up and said, "Why was not this +ointment sold, and the money given to the poor?"</p> + +<p>Judas did not really care about the poor. He looked after the money +for Jesus and the disciples, and when he wanted any, he secretly +helped himself out of what belonged to all of them. He thought that if +the pre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>cious ointment had been sold, there would have been more money +in the purse he carried.</p> + +<p>When Jesus heard the disciples complaining about Mary's gift, he said: +"Let her alone. This is a good thing that she has done. There will +always be poor people, and you can give them all you like after I am +gone. But you will not have <i>me</i> always. You know your custom is that +when your loved ones die you put ointment on their bodies before you +bury them. Well, Mary has come to get me ready to be buried, before I +am even dead. I tell you, this woman's name will be remembered all +over the world because of what she did for me today!"</p> + +<p>The disciples begrudged Jesus the ointment that a loving woman pured +upon his head! That was a bad sign. Many times in these last few +months Jesus had had to speak sharply to his disciples. The longer +they were with him, the less they seemed to understand the things that +he had taught them. Jesus was growing lonelier every day, and the +hardest task was still ahead.</p> + +<p>One time, when they were on the road, John came to Jesus, feeling very +proud of himself.</p> + +<p>"Master," he said, "we saw a man curing people who were out of their +minds and he was using your name to do it! Naturally we told him he +would have to stop. He didn't have any right to use your name, when he +wasn't one of us!"</p> + +<p>Jesus answered: "You shouldn't have stopped him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> If he wasn't doing +us any harm, then he was on our side!"</p> + +<p>Then there was a terrible scene one day, when Jesus found the +disciples quarreling about which of them would be the most important +when Jesus became king. Each thought that he ought to have a higher +position than the rest.</p> + +<p>"You aren't supposed to be looking out for yourselves," Jesus told +them. "That's what the Romans do. They want to be kings, and order +other people about. But the greatest one of you will be the one who +does the most to help others, no matter what it costs him. Which would +you rather do—sit down to a dinner and have your food brought to you, +or bring the food for somebody else? You'd rather sit down and let a +servant wait on you, of course. But I am content to be a servant among +you, the servant of everyone."</p> + +<p>The disciples could not get over thinking that some people were more +important than others, and that they themselves counted for more than +anyone else. Once some mothers brought their little children to Jesus, +hoping that he would put his hands on them and bless them. The +disciples did not think that the children counted for anything, and +they were going to send them away. They told the mothers that they +ought not to come where they were not wanted.</p> + +<p>But Jesus called the little children to him, and said: "Let the little +children come to me, and don't stand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> in their way. God's Kingdom is +made up of people like these children. God hasn't any place for a +person who thinks himself important. These children aren't pushing +themselves forward. They are humble, and it would be better if you +were more like them!"</p> + +<p>With these words Jesus laid his hands upon the children and gave them +his blessing, as the mothers wanted him to do.</p> + +<p>Another thing that Jesus said, which the disciples could not +understand, was that they ought to forgive anyone who did them an +injury. One day Peter came to him and asked: "Lord, if somebody keeps +on doing wrong to me, how many times should I forgive him? Seven +times, perhaps?"</p> + +<p>Peter thought that seven times would be doing very well. But Jesus +answered: "<i>Seven</i> times! Multiply that by seventy! Forgive him until +you have lost count of the times!"</p> + +<p>When the disciples heard that, they knew that Jesus meant they should +never stop forgiving anyone who wronged them. This seemed to them to +be more than they could do unless God helped them. They would need +more faith in God. So they said, "Lord, give us more faith than we +have."</p> + +<p>Then Jesus had to tell them that they really did not have any faith at +all. He said: "If your faith were only as big as a mustard seed—the +smallest seed there is—you could say to that tree over there, 'Be +pulled up and be planted in the sea,' and it would be done."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<p>No, the disciples did not have much faith. They did not understand +Jesus. They were jealous of one another. They thought that Jesus ought +to be a king, and each of them thought that he ought to be the king's +right-hand man. The disciples were afraid. If Jesus went up to +Jerusalem, they could not tell what would happen. Sometimes they +thought it would be best if Jesus would stay out of sight where his +enemies could not find him.</p> + +<p>Worst of all, there was one of the disciples who was not loyal—Judas +Iscariot. Judas was planning something so terrible that no one except +Jesus knew what it was.</p> + +<p>Jesus could not wait until his disciples understood. He could not wait +until they were brave enough, or strong enough or good enough. If he +did, he would wait forever. And there was very little time.</p> + +<p>There was something that he had to do now—the thing he had planned to +do all along. Back in the days when he was all alone in the +wilderness, after John baptized him in the Jordan, he knew that this +was what he would have to do someday. Now the time had come. He must +go back to the Temple, where he had stood and watched the Passover +lambs being killed when he was a boy of twelve. He must go and get +ready for the Passover.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_146.jpg" width="600" height="186" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jerusalem was about two miles away. He could not stay on in Bethany. +He must go to Jerusalem at once.</p> + +<p>He called two of his disciples and gave his orders.</p> + +<p>"Go into the village, and there you will find a young donkey tied. No +one has ever ridden it. Untie it and bring it here. If the owner +questions you, tell him, 'The Lord needs this donkey.' He will let you +have it at once."</p> + +<p>The disciples went to do as they were told, and they did not need to +be told twice. They knew what Jesus meant, for they knew the +Scriptures. If this was the way Jesus was going to Jerusalem, there +was nothing to be afraid of!</p> + +<p>For it said in the Scriptures that the Messiah would come into +Jerusalem riding upon a donkey. How did the words go?</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of +Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, +and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and +upon a colt the foal of an ass."</p></div> + +<p>Jesus was going to do it! He was going to ride into Jerusalem as the +Messiah! Everyone would know who he was at last, for it said in the +Scriptures that this was how the Messiah would come to the city! Let +the Jews get ready to receive the King they had waited for so long!</p> + +<p>They would have to wait no longer. Messiah—King Messiah—was marching +toward his throne.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_148.jpg" width="600" height="381" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<h2><a name="In_Jerusalem" id="In_Jerusalem"></a>12. In Jerusalem</h2> + + + + +<p>The disciples went to the village, as Jesus told them, and there they +found the donkey. They untied it, and led it away. Some of them put +their clothes on the donkey's back, for a king must ride in comfort. +Others spread their clothes out on the street, for a king should ride +in state.</p> + +<p>Jesus got on the donkey, and started for Jerusalem. The disciples +walked ahead. When they had almost reached the city, the disciples +began to shout. Jesus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> used to say that they must not tell anyone that +he was the Messiah. But now they could tell the whole world, for Jesus +wanted everyone to know. They were glad that they did not have to be +quiet any longer.</p> + +<p>They shouted, "Hosanna!" It meant, "Save us," and was a cry of +welcome. They shouted the words of a psalm: "'Hosanna to the son of +David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in +the highest.'"</p> + +<p>The city was crowded with travelers from all over Palestine, and from +foreign countries too. They were the pilgrims who had come for the +Passover feast.</p> + +<p>The crowds saw the procession coming. They saw the donkey, and they +remembered what the Scriptures said. They remembered that that was how +the Messiah would come riding in. They heard the shouting, and they +understood the words. They knew that that was what people would sing +when the Messiah came.</p> + +<p>Some of the crowds began to shout with the disciples. A great cry of +"Hosanna!" went ringing down the street. Everyone seemed to be saying +it. "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Some cut +branches from the trees, and waved them before the Messiah. It was a +royal welcome.</p> + +<p>Only the priests and the rulers and the Pharisees were sorry to see +Jesus come.</p> + +<p>"What is there we can do?" they said to one another. "Look, the whole +world has gone after him!"</p> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width:781px;"> +<img src="images/image_151_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="781" height="257" /> +</div> +<div class="figleft" style="width:386px;"> +<img src="images/image_151_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="386" height="288" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> + + + +<p>The excitement spread through the city. There were strangers there who +had never heard of Jesus.</p> + +<p>"Who is this?" they asked.</p> + +<p>Others who knew him answered, "Why, this is Jesus, the prophet from +Nazareth in Galilee."</p> + +<p>Jesus went into the Temple and looked about at the crowds which +thronged it. This was his Father's house and his house. These were his +Father's people and his people.</p> + +<p>The king for whom the Jews had been waiting had come at last to reign.</p> + +<p>In the evening, Jesus and the disciples returned to Bethany to sleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> + + + +<p>The next day Jesus returned to Jerusalem and again went to the Temple. +This time he carried a whip.</p> + +<p>In the Court of the Gentiles the money was clinking as it had done +when Jesus was a boy. At tables sat the men who grew rich by +exchanging the money of visitors for coins used in Jerusalem. Others +were selling doves for sacrifice. The poor had to pay heavily to +worship God in his own house.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_152.jpg" width="600" height="381" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Jesus strode down the room with the whip in his hand, and upset the +tables where the money was. When the men jumped up from their chairs, +he drove them out of the Temple. Then he drove the sheep and the +cattle out after the men.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is written in the Scriptures: God's house shall be a house of +prayer. But you have made it into a den of thieves and robbers!" he +cried.</p> + +<p>This was too much for the priests of the temple, and all the important +men who ruled Jerusalem. The next day some of the rulers came to Jesus +and said:</p> + +<p>"What right have you to do these things? Who told you that you could +act like this?"</p> + +<p>So far, Jesus had never said that he was the Messiah. He had only +acted as if he was the Messiah. The rulers hoped that he would say +something they could punish him for. But Jesus was too quick for them. +He said:</p> + +<p>"I'll answer your question if you answer a question of mine. When John +the Baptist used to preach to you and baptize people, who gave him the +right to do that?"</p> + +<p>Then the rulers did not know what to say. They thought to themselves:</p> + +<p><i>Now if we say that John was sent by God to preach, he will say, "Why +didn't you listen to him, then?</i>"</p> + +<p><i>If we say that John didn't have any right to preach, the people will +be angry and will likely kill us; for everyone still thinks that John +the Baptist was a great prophet sent by God himself.</i></p> + +<p>So all they said was, "We don't know—we can't tell."</p> + +<p>"Very well," Jesus retorted, "neither am I going to tell you what +right I have to do these things!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> + +<p>Every day that week, Jesus came and taught in the Temple. Several +times his enemies tried to trick him into saying something that would +turn the people against him, but Jesus always had an answer which +silenced them. Once they came and asked, "Should we pay taxes to the +Romans?"</p> + +<p>That was a hard question. All the Jews hated the Romans, and if Jesus +said that it was their duty to pay the taxes, everybody would hate him +too. But if he said they should not pay the taxes—well, they could +count on the Roman governor to settle with Jesus then.</p> + +<p>"Show me a penny," Jesus replied.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_154.jpg" width="600" height="443" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> + +<p>Someone handed him a piece of Roman money. There was a man's picture +stamped on one side of it. Jesus said, "Whose picture is that?"</p> + +<p>"Why," they answered, "that is a picture of Caesar, the emperor of +Rome."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Jesus, "do whatever your duty is to Caesar and his +government. You will have to decide about that for yourselves. And +also do your duty to God!"</p> + +<p>It was such a clever answer that no one had a word to say. And Jesus +still had not said anything that he could be punished for.</p> + +<p>But he said a great deal to make his enemies angry. About the +Pharisees he spoke the hardest words he ever said.</p> + +<p>"Watch out for the scribes and the Pharisees," he told the people, +"and don't be like them. They love to walk around in their long white +robes, and to have everybody bow to them in the street, and to sit in +the best seats in the synagogues and at dinners. All the time they are +taking money from poor widows and they try to cover it up by making +long prayers."</p> + +<p>Turning to the Pharisees themselves, he went on:</p> + +<p>"Woe to you Pharisees! You are like graves with rotting bodies in +them, which people walk over without knowing what is underneath. +Nobody knows how bad you are. You snakes! How can you escape the +punishment which God is bringing upon you?"</p> + +<p>He left the Pharisees and went into the Temple,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> where people were +making their gifts to God. Many rich men came in, and put large sums +of money in the money box. Then came a poor widow who put two small +coins into the box.</p> + +<p>Jesus called his disciples to him, and said:</p> + +<p>"I tell you, this poor widow has given more than all these rich people +are giving. For the rich have plenty of money, and it doesn't cost +them anything to give what they do. But this poor woman needs her +money, and she has given all she has."</p> + +<p>With many words and stories he taught the people who thronged around +him on the days of that week. And this was the last story he ever +told:</p> + +<p>"Someday I shall sit upon my throne, and judge all the nations of the +earth. To some people I will say:</p> + +<p>"'Come—my Heavenly Father loves you. Take the reward he has planned +for you to have. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was +thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you +took me into your homes. I had nothing to wear, and you gave me +clothes. I was sick, and in prison, and you came to visit me!'</p> + +<p>"Then these people will be surprised, and say, 'Lord when did we ever +do anything for you?'</p> + +<p>"And I will say: 'You were kind to the poor and the sick and the +hungry, who did not count for anything on earth. You did not know it +at the time, but when you did a kindness to them, it was to me you +really did it.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then I will say to others: 'Go away. God wants nothing to do with +you! For I was hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and sick, and in +prison, and you did nothing at all for me.'</p> + +<p>"These people will also be surprised. They will say: 'Lord, when did +we ever see you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or sick, or in prison? +If we had seen you needing anything, we would have helped you!'</p> + +<p>"And I will say: 'Many poor people needed your help, and you did not +help them. When you failed them, you failed me. And now it is too +late!'"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The priests and the rulers did not know what to do about Jesus. <i>The +Messiah, indeed!</i> they thought. They hated him, and they were afraid +of him. They were afraid of the Romans too. What would the Roman +governor say if he heard that there was someone in Jerusalem +pretending to be King of the Jews?</p> + +<p>The priests and the rulers wanted to kill Jesus. That was all they +talked about. But they did not know how it was to be done. For +whenever Jesus came to Jerusalem, great crowds gathered around him. +None of the priests dared to lay a finger on him in the open. The +crowds would never let them. It seemed to the people as if the Messiah +might have come at last.</p> + +<p>But something had to be done, the priests and the rulers said. The +week was going by. The Feast of the Passover was nearly there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We shall have to do away with Jesus quietly," someone said.</p> + +<p>"Yes," the others agreed, "we can't wait till the day of the Passover. +If we should do anything to him on that day, there would be a riot."</p> + +<p>They were at their wits' end to know how to get rid of Jesus. The +craftiest men in Jerusalem could not think what to do.</p> + +<p>There was a knock at the door. It was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, +who had come to see the priests and rulers.</p> + +<p>His name? His name was Judas Iscariot.</p> + +<p>"What will you give me," Judas said, "if I turn Jesus over to you?"</p> + +<p>The priests and rulers could hardly believe their ears.</p> + +<p>"Thirty pieces of silver you shall have," they cried, "if you give us +Jesus!"</p> + +<p>So for thirty pieces of silver Judas agreed to show them where Jesus +was, at some time when there was no one around but the twelve +disciples.</p> + +<p>"Send soldiers when I tell you," Judas said. "The other disciples will +all be there, and the soldiers won't know which man to take. But I +will go up to Jesus and kiss him. The man I kiss will be the one you +want."</p> + +<p>Some dark night soon, a quiet place with no one around to see—and +nobody would have to worry about Jesus of Nazareth any more!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_159.jpg" width="500" height="749" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="The_Last_Night" id="The_Last_Night"></a>13. The Last Night</h2> + + +<p>It was Thursday. On Friday afternoon the lambs would be killed for the +Passover, and on Friday evening all good Jews would sit down to eat +the lambs at the Passover feast. The disciples wondered where Jesus +was planning to celebrate the feast with them.</p> + +<p>But Jesus did not wait until Friday to have a meal with all his +disciples. On Thursday he sent two of them into Jerusalem from +Bethany. He told them the name of the man to whom they were to go.</p> + +<p>"Go to this man," said Jesus, "and tell him that I said the time has +come. He will show you where we are going to have supper tonight. Then +you can get the supper ready."</p> + +<p>That evening Jesus and the twelve disciples met together at the house +in Jerusalem. On the second floor there was a room, where food was +spread upon the table.</p> + +<p>As they were eating supper, Jesus suddenly spoke.</p> + +<p>"One of you is a traitor!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_160.jpg" width="600" height="176" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>Everyone stopped eating. And each one of the twelve disciples thought +of his own sins. Each one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> wondered if he were loyal enough to Jesus. +Each one cried out:</p> + +<p>"Master, is it I?"</p> + +<p>Jesus only answered:</p> + +<p>"It is one of you twelve men, eating with me now. It would have been +better for that traitor if he had never been born!"</p> + +<p>A moment later Judas Iscariot slipped quietly out of the door. The +other disciples did not know where he had gone.</p> + +<p>Jesus spoke again: "I wanted so much to eat the Passover feast with +you this year, before I suffer. But I shall not eat it again with you +until a better day, when we shall all be together once more."</p> + +<p>He took up a piece of bread, and said a prayer of thanks to God. Then +he broke the bread, and passed the pieces among the disciples—only +eleven of them now. He said words that they did not understand.</p> + +<p>"Take and eat this. This is my body."</p> + +<p>He took a cup of wine, and once more he gave thanks. Then he passed +the cup among the disciples, saying:</p> + +<p>"Drink—all of you—drink of this wine. It is my blood, which I am +going to shed so that the sins of many people may be forgiven. And in +the days to come, do this same thing often, always remembering me."</p> + +<p>Then they sang a hymn together and walked out into the night air and +went up the Mount of Olives.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> + +<p>As they walked, Jesus said to the disciples:</p> + +<p>"You will all desert me tonight. For it is written in the Scriptures +that when something happens to the shepherd the sheep will go away in +all directions. However, I shall meet you again."</p> + +<p>Peter spoke up, and said bravely,</p> + +<p>"Even if everyone else deserts you, I will not!"</p> + +<p>Jesus answered: "Before the rooster crows at sunrise to tell you that +morning has come, you will have said three times that you do not even +know me."</p> + +<p>But Peter cried out that even if he died for it he would be true to +Jesus. And all the other disciples said the same.</p> + +<p>Presently they came to a grove called Gethsemane. It was late. Jesus +said to the disciples,</p> + +<p>"Sit here, while I go and pray."</p> + + + +<p>He took only Peter and James and John with him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> and went a little way +apart from the rest. To the three disciples he said:</p> + +<p>"I am greatly troubled. I do not know how I can bear it any longer. +Wait here, and stay awake with me."</p> + +<p>Going a few steps farther on, Jesus fell on his knees and began to +pray aloud:</p> + +<p>"O my Father, if it is possible, take this cup away; do not let these +things happen to me! Yet not my will, but thine, be done."</p> + +<p>When he had prayed this way, he came back to Peter and James and John. +All three were fast asleep. Jesus woke Peter up, and said:</p> + +<p>"What! Couldn't you stay with me for one short hour? Stay awake and +pray. Pray for yourselves. You are going to need strength. You are not +so strong as you want to be."</p> + +<p>He left them again, and once more he fell on his knees and prayed,</p> + +<p>"O my Father, if I must suffer these things, thy will be done."</p> + +<p>When he returned, the disciples again were sleeping. They were too +tired to stay awake.</p> + +<p>A third time he went apart from them and prayed. He prayed in the same +words he had used before. And suddenly he began to feel stronger. He +rose from his knees at last, and came back to the disciples. His voice +broke in upon their sleep: "Are you still sleeping? Well, you've slept +long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> enough! My time is up. I am going to be turned over to sinners +now! Get up! Look, the traitor is coming!"</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_164.jpg" width="600" height="166" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>While he was still speaking, a crowd of soldiers carrying swords and +clubs burst into the grove. Judas Iscariot was leading them. Judas ran +to Jesus and kissed him, saying,</p> + +<p>"Hail, Master!"</p> + +<p>Jesus answered, "Well, friend—what have you come to do?"</p> + +<p>Then a band of men laid their hands on Jesus, and held him so that he +could not escape.</p> + +<p>Peter was wide-awake by now. He had brought a sword with him. Pulling +it out, he cut off the ear of a man in the crowd.</p> + +<p>Jesus said to Peter: "Put your sword away. My Father gave me these +things to suffer. He would save me now if I asked him. But that is not +the way it is to be."</p> + +<p>Then Jesus turned to the crowd of soldiers, and said:</p> + +<p>"Have you come to arrest me with swords and clubs, as though I were a +robber? Every day I was in the Temple teaching, and you could have +taken me then, but you never laid a hand on me. But this is what the +Scriptures said would happen to the Messiah."</p> + +<p>The disciples could stand no more. They left Jesus standing there, and +in terror they fled away.</p> + + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_165.jpg" width="600" height="370" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<h2><a name="The_Last_Day" id="The_Last_Day"></a>14. The Last Day</h2> + + +<p>The soldiers bound Jesus and led him back to Jerusalem. They took him +to the palace of the high priest. All the chief priests and rulers +were gathered there in a council meeting.</p> + +<p>The council had already decided that Jesus would have to die, but it +was hard to find a reason for killing him. They had to prove that +Jesus had said or done something for which he could be put to death. +They found a great many people who came and told lies about Jesus, but +no two of them told the same story.</p> + +<p>At last the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, stood up and said to +Jesus:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You hear all the things that are being said about you. Aren't you +going to defend yourself?"</p> + +<p>Jesus did not say a word.</p> + +<p>The high priest spoke again:</p> + +<p>"In the name of the living God I ask you: Are you the Christ—the +Messiah—the Son of God?"</p> + +<p>Jesus answered:</p> + +<p>"You have said it."</p> + +<p>That was all the council wanted to hear. Caiaphas tore his own clothes +in anger, and shouted:</p> + +<p>"Why do we need any more witnesses? You have heard him say it with his +own mouth. He says he's God! What do you think about it?"</p> + +<p>And the whole council answered,</p> + +<p>"He ought to be put to death."</p> + +<p>Then some of them spat in his face. They covered his eyes, and slapped +him, and shouted:</p> + +<p>"If you were the Messiah, you would know who hit you! Tell us, you +Messiah you—tell us who hit you!"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, in another room of the palace, there stood a disciple who +was losing whatever faith he had once had. It was Peter. One of the +other disciples, who knew the high priest, had gone ahead, and he had +told the maid to let Peter in.</p> + +<p>The maid looked at Peter and said, "You were with Jesus, weren't you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you're talking about," said Peter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> + +<p>The night was cool, and the servants of the high priest were standing +around a fire they had made to keep themselves warm. Peter went over +and began to warm himself too. Somebody else said to him,</p> + +<p>"You are one of Jesus' disciples."</p> + +<p>Peter's faith was all gone.</p> + +<p>"Man," he said, "I certainly am not!"</p> + +<p>But after a while another person spoke up and said:</p> + +<p>"Of course you are one of Jesus' disciples. You are from Galilee. We +can tell from the way you talk."</p> + +<p>Peter began to curse and swear, saying, "I don't even know this Jesus +that you are talking about!"</p> + +<p>At that moment the rooster began to crow. At the same time Jesus +passed by the doorway, and looked at Peter.</p> + +<p>Peter remembered what Jesus had said, "Before the rooster crows, you +will three times say that you do not know me."</p> + +<p>Peter went out of the palace, and wept bitterly.</p> + +<p>The great council of the Jews might say that a man deserved to die, +but they could not put anyone to death. Only the Roman governor could +do that.</p> + +<p>The Roman governor, whose name was Pontius Pilate, was in Jerusalem +for the Passover. As soon as it was daylight, the council took Jesus +over to Pilate's palace.</p> + +<p>When Judas Iscariot saw what was happening, he suddenly realized what +he had done. He came to the chief priests, and brought them back the +thirty pieces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> of silver they had given him for turning traitor. He +cried out:</p> + +<p>"I have sinned! I betrayed a man who never did any wrong!"</p> + +<p>The chief priests shrugged their shoulders.</p> + +<p>"That's nothing to us," they said. "Take your money and go!"</p> + +<p>But Judas threw the money down on the floor and ran out. He took a +rope, and found a tree, and hanged himself, for, after betraying +Jesus, he could not bear to live.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Jesus was standing before Pilate. The council had told +Pilate that Jesus was claiming to be the King of the Jews. They said +that he was stirring up the whole country against Caesar. They thought +that Pilate would put him to death for that, because the Romans would +be afraid that Jesus would lead a revolt against the Roman government.</p> + +<p>Pilate said to Jesus,</p> + +<p>"Well, are you the King of the Jews?"</p> + +<p>Jesus answered simply,</p> + +<p>"You have said it."</p> + +<p>Then the priests and rulers burst out with all kinds of evil stories +about Jesus.</p> + +<p>Pilate spoke to Jesus again, and said:</p> + +<p>"Aren't you going to say anything? Listen to what they are saying +about you!"</p> + +<p>But Jesus did not speak. Pilate was astonished. He could see that the +only reason the council had brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> Jesus to him was that they were +jealous of Jesus and hated him.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_169.jpg" width="600" height="399" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>By now a large crowd had gathered to watch the trial. Many of the +people in it had been Jesus' followers, but they followed him no +longer. When they saw Jesus being tried like a criminal they decided +that their priests and rulers had been right all along. They began to +talk against Jesus, among themselves.</p> + +<p>Pilate wondered how he could let Jesus go. Suddenly he remembered a +Jewish custom: every Passover a prisoner was set free.</p> + + + +<p>Pilate said: "Every year at this time I set a prisoner free. Now you +can have your choice. You know we have a man named Barabbas in +jail—he's the fellow that started a rebellion a little while ago. We +were going to crucify him. And now here is Jesus. Which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> one shall I +let go? Barabbas the murderer or Jesus who is called the Christ?"</p> + +<p>A great shout went up,</p> + +<p>"Barabbas!"</p> + +<p>Pilate did not know what to do now. He spoke again to the crowd,</p> + +<p>"Well, what shall I do to Jesus who is called the Christ?"</p> + +<p>Again there was a great shout:</p> + +<p>"Crucify him! Hang him up on a cross till he is dead!"</p> + +<p>Everyone seemed to be against Jesus now. However, Pilate tried once +more.</p> + +<p>"But," he protested, "I can't find that he has been guilty of any +crime!"</p> + +<p>The Jewish rulers replied, "We have a law which says he ought to die +because he pretends to be the Son of God."</p> + +<p>Pilate was worried now. He spoke to Jesus again, and again Jesus did +not answer.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you going to speak to me?" Pilate asked. "Don't you know that +I can crucify you or let you go?"</p> + +<p>Jesus answered, "You wouldn't have any power over me unless God had +given it to you."</p> + +<p>Pilate, when he heard this, tried once more to save Jesus. But the +crowd was bigger, and louder, and more bloodthirsty than ever. +Everyone was shouting:</p> + +<p>"Crucify! Crucify!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Shall I crucify your king?" asked Pilate.</p> + +<p>The chief priests of the Jews, who hated Caesar, answered,</p> + +<p>"We have no king except Caesar!"</p> + +<p>Pilate was too weak to hold out any longer. He was beginning to wonder +what Caesar would say if he heard that Pilate refused to crucify a man +who claimed to be king of the Jews.</p> + +<p>"Take him," Pilate said. "Take him, and crucify him."</p> + +<p>But before the crucifixion came the scourging. Jesus was bound and +beaten with long leather thongs which had cruel pieces of glass and +lead fastened to them so that they would hurt all the more. When that +was over, and his back was covered with cuts and bruises, the Roman +soldiers who had scourged him wanted some more sport. They dressed +Jesus in a purple robe. They made a wreath, like the one that the +Roman emperor wore—only this one was made of thorns, which stuck into +Jesus' head so that the blood ran down his face. Some of the soldiers +spat on him; others made fun of him, bowing down and saying,</p> + +<p>"Hail, king of the Jews!"</p> + +<p>Then the soldiers stripped the purple clothes off Jesus, and put his +own clothes back on him, and led him outside the city to be crucified. +He was too worn out to carry his own cross, as those who were to be +crucified usually did, so the soldiers forced a man of Cyrene named +Simon to carry it for him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_172.jpg" width="600" height="316" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>When they reached a hill called Calvary, they laid the cross down on +the ground, and stripped Jesus of his clothes. They put Jesus on the +cross, and stretched out his arms. They drove a nail through each +hand, and one through his feet, fastening him to the cross. Then they +stood the cross upright, and let Jesus hang there. On the top of it +was written: "This is the King of the Jews." There was a cross on +either side of him, with a thief hanging on each one.</p> + +<p>Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."</p> + +<p>The soldiers took his clothes, and divided them up among themselves. +His coat was too good to tear up, so they threw dice to see which one +of them would get it.</p> + +<p>Jesus was offered a drink which would have made the pain easier to +bear, but he would not take it. People passed to and fro in front of +the cross, shouting insults.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He saved others, but he can't save himself." One of the thieves +turned his head and called out to him angrily,</p> + +<p>"If you are the Christ, save yourself and us too!"</p> + +<p>But the other thief spoke out of his pain:</p> + +<p>"Don't you fear God, seeing that we are all going to die? Aren't you +afraid to talk that way? We deserve to die; but this man never did +anything wrong."</p> + +<p>Then, turning to Jesus, he said, "Lord, remember me when you come to +your Kingdom."</p> + +<p>Jesus said to him,</p> + +<p>"I tell you, today you will be with me in heaven."</p> + +<p>Near the cross stood Jesus' mother and other women who loved him. John +the disciple was also there. Jesus called to his mother and John, and +said:</p> + +<p>"Mother, from now on John will be your son. John, this is your +mother."</p> + +<p>John took Jesus' mother to his own house.</p> + +<p>The hours passed by. It was about time for the Passover lambs to be +killed in the city. Clouds were beginning to cover the sun, and it was +growing dark although it was not yet night.</p> + +<p>Jesus cried out,</p> + +<p>"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"</p> + +<p>There was a stir of interest in the crowd. <i>Let's see what will happen +now</i>, they thought.</p> + +<p>Jesus was becoming weaker. He said, "I am thirsty."</p> + +<p>A soldier dipped a sponge in vinegar, and held it up on a stick to +Jesus' lips so that he could drink.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jesus cried out once more:</p> + +<p>"It is finished. Father, into thy hands I give my spirit."</p> + +<p>His head sank down upon his chest. There was a loud sound like a clap +of thunder, and the earth shook.</p> + +<p>In the silence that followed, a Roman soldier spoke.</p> + +<p>"This man—" he said, "this man was indeed the Son of God."</p> + +<p>But Jesus did not hear him. For Jesus was dead.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>When evening came, a man named Joseph of Arimathaea went to see +Pilate. Joseph was a rich man, and much respected; and he had believed +in Jesus. He went secretly to Pilate, for he was afraid of the Jews. +He asked Pilate if he might have Jesus' body, and Pilate gave +permission.</p> + +<p>Joseph came then to the cross, and took down Jesus' body. He wrapped +it in a white linen cloth, and had it carried away to a tomb which had +been dug out of the rock. Not until after the Sabbath could Jesus' +family and friends come to put spices on the body of him whom they +loved.</p> + +<p>Jesus' body was laid inside the tomb, and a great stone was rolled +against the door.</p> + +<p>Standing there was a woman named Mary Magdalene with Mary the mother +of Jesus. They watched while the body of Jesus, so dear to them, was +laid away to rest.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_175.jpg" width="600" height="319" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<h2><a name="The_Victorious_King" id="The_Victorious_King"></a>15. The Victorious King</h2> + + +<p>At sunrise the day following the Sabbath, three women came to the +garden where Jesus was buried. They came, as the custom was, to put +ointments and spices on the body of Jesus.</p> + +<p>On the way they remembered that a great stone had been rolled against +the door of the tomb. They wondered how they would get in.</p> + +<p>"Who will roll the stone away?" they asked each other.</p> + +<p>But when they reached the tomb, they found that the stone had been +rolled back. Someone had been there before them; the door was open.</p> + +<p>The women went through the door of the tomb. A young man in white +clothes was sitting on one side. Seeing their amazement, the young man +spoke:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do not be surprised. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was +crucified. He is not here. He is risen from the dead. Look! There is +the place where he was!"</p> + +<p>They looked, and they saw that his body was no longer there.</p> + +<p>The young man went on, "Go quickly, and tell this to his disciples: +'Jesus is alive.'"</p> + +<p>The women ran out of the tomb, trembling with fright and with +surprise. One of the women was Mary Magdalene. As she ran, she saw two +of the disciples coming, John and Peter. She cried out to them:</p> + +<p>"Someone has taken Jesus' body out of the tomb. We don't know where +they have put it!"</p> + +<p>John and Peter began to run toward the tomb. John ran faster, and got +there first. He looked through the door, and there he saw the white +cloths that Jesus' body had been wrapped in, but there was no body in +them any longer. Peter caught up to John, and ran right into the tomb. +He too saw the folded cloths. John and Peter went away to their homes, +not knowing what to think.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Mary Magdalene had come back. She stood in the garden near +the tomb, weeping as though her heart would break. She turned around, +and saw that a man was standing near her. He spoke to her, and said:</p> + +<p>"Why are you crying? For whom are you looking?"</p> + +<p>Mary thought that the man must be the gardener.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> Through her tears she +said:</p> + +<p>"Sir, if you have carried away the body of my Lord, tell me where you +have laid him, and I will go and take him away."</p> + +<p>The man said softly,</p> + +<p>"Mary!"</p> + +<p>She looked again. She knew that voice. It was Jesus—Jesus calling her +name!</p> + +<p>She cried out,</p> + +<p>"Master!"</p> + +<p>She moved as though to take hold of him. Jesus spoke again. It was +really he.</p> + +<p>"Do not try to hold me here. I am going to my Father in heaven. But +now go and tell that to the disciples. Tell them that I am going to my +Father."</p> + +<p>And Mary went and told the disciples,</p> + +<p>"I have seen the Lord!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Afterward, no one could ever remember clearly all that happened on +that day. No one knew what to make of it all. No one knew whether to +believe that Jesus was really alive.</p> + +<p>Late that afternoon, two disciples were walking along the road from +Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. They talked of what had happened +on Friday, and now on Sunday. As they were talking, a stranger joined +them. The stranger said,</p> + +<p>"What is it that you are talking about?"</p> + + + +<p>The disciples stopped. They were almost too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> sad to speak any more, +but one of them answered,</p> + +<p>"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn't know the things +that have been happening there these last few days?"</p> + +<p>"What things?" the stranger asked.</p> + + +<p>The disciples replied:</p> + +<p>"Why, all about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a great prophet and teacher. +The chief priests and the rulers had him crucified. We had hoped that +he was the Messiah, who was going to save the Jewish people. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>But now +it is two days since he was put to death, and nothing has +happened—though there were some women who went to the tomb and came +away saying that he was risen from the dead."</p> + + +<div class="figright" style="width:780px;"> +<img src="images/image_179_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="780" height="288" /> +</div> +<div class="figright" style="width:398px;"> +<img src="images/image_179_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="398" height="247" /> +</div> + +<p>The stranger said:</p> + + +<p>"O you foolish men—so slow to believe what it says in the Prophets! +Don't you see that the Messiah had to suffer this way in order to be +King?"</p> + +<p>Then he explained everything in the Scriptures about the Messiah. He +spoke to them of how the Prophet Isaiah had said long ago:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"He was despised and cast out by men; a man of sorrows and +full of grief; and no one would look at him. He was hurt, +because we were so sinful. He suffered for our sakes. He was +killed like a lamb, and he did not try to defend himself."</p></div> + +<p>The stranger explained that Isaiah was talking about the Messiah. The +Messiah was to be humble, and sacrifice himself, like one of the lambs +at the Passover feast. Isaiah meant that the only one who could help +others was the one who was willing to suffer for others. The Messiah +never wanted to be a king like other kings. He did not want to lord it +over others. He wanted to love them, and to give his life for them.</p> + +<p>"And so," the stranger went on, "you ought not to be sad, thinking +that Jesus is not the Messiah after all. Jesus has lived and died as +the Scriptures said the Messiah would. His love and his sufferings +prove that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> he really is the Messiah. And if his believers love one +another, as he has loved them, and sacrifice themselves as he has +done, they will have peace and joy."</p> + +<p>As the three walked on, the stranger talked. When they reached Emmaus, +they came to the home of one of the disciples. They said to the +stranger:</p> + +<p>"Come in and stay with us. It is evening. The day is nearly over."</p> + +<p>They went into the house. Someone lighted the lamps, and food was +placed before them.</p> + +<p>The stranger took some bread, and said a prayer of thanks, and broke +the bread.</p> + +<p>The disciples had seen something like that before—breaking bread. +They looked up quickly.</p> + +<p>Why! This man was not a stranger at all. It was Jesus. They knew him +as they looked into his face. And as they looked, he vanished out of +their sight, and they were alone again.</p> + +<p>They said to each other,</p> + +<p>"Didn't you have a strange feeling, as he talked to us along the road +and explained the Scriptures?"</p> + +<p>Although it was now night, they returned to Jerusalem at once. They +found the other disciples and told their story.</p> + +<p>"The Lord is indeed alive!" they said. "We knew him the moment he +broke the bread!"</p> + + + +<p>While they were speaking, Jesus was suddenly among them once again. +Jesus said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Peace be with you."</p> + +<p>They were frightened then, but Jesus spoke again.</p> + +<p>"Do not be afraid," he said. "I am not a spirit."</p> + +<p>They still could hardly believe it. It seemed too good to be true. And +while they stood there, not daring to believe that Jesus was alive, he +said,</p> + +<p>"Have you anything here to eat?"</p> + +<p>They set a piece of broiled fish before him, and Jesus sat down to +supper.</p> + + +<div class="figright" style="width:775px;"> +<img src="images/image_183_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="775" height="326"/> +</div> +<div class="figright" style="width:395px;"> +<img src="images/image_183_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="395" height="224" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> + + + +<p>One of the disciples was not there when Jesus appeared to the others. +His name was Thomas. And no matter what the others said, Thomas could +not believe that Jesus was alive again.</p> + +<p>"Unless," he said, "I see in his hands the marks that the nails made +when they crucified him, and unless I put my finger into those marks, +I will not believe."</p> + +<p>Eight days later the disciples were all together. This time Thomas was +with the others. The doors were shut.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Jesus appeared again, and said as he had said before,</p> + +<p>"Peace be with you."</p> + +<p>Then Jesus turned to Thomas, and said,</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_184.jpg" width="600" height="351" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> +<p>"Put your finger into the nail holes in my hand, and doubt no more, +but believe in me!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> + +<p>Thomas fell down on his knees. He cried out, "My Lord and my God!"</p> + +<p>Jesus said to him:</p> + +<p>"You believe in me because you have seen me with your own eyes. It is +still better when people believe even though they have not seen me."</p> + +<p>After this the disciples saw Jesus many times and at many places. But +a day came at last after which they did not see him on earth again.</p> + +<p>On this day Jesus appeared to them outside Jerusalem, and said:</p> + +<p>"All power has been given to me in heaven and earth. I am Lord and +King of all men. Go and tell people of every nation about me, so that +they will believe in me. Baptize everybody in my name. Teach them +everything that I have taught you. You will not be alone, for although +you do not see me, I shall be with you always."</p> + +<p>Then Jesus said to them: "Wait a little while. Wait in Jerusalem, and +someday soon you will know that the time has come to go out and +preach. God will give you the power to make other people believe in me +as their Saviour. You shall tell about me in Jerusalem, and in the +country all around; in Samaria, and in the farthest parts of the +earth."</p> + +<p>He lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And as he blessed them, a +cloud covered him, and they did not see him any more.</p> + +<p>Jesus had gone home to his Father.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width:786px;"> +<img src="images/image_187_01.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="786" height="312" /> +</div> +<div class="figleft" style="width:389px;"> +<img src="images/image_187_02.jpg" alt="Illustration" width="389" height="232" /> +</div> + +<p>They stared up into the sky, where he seemed to have gone. As they +looked, they heard voices saying:</p> + +<p>"You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into the sky? The +Lord Jesus will come again!"</p> + +<p>Then they remembered that they had work to do before they again would +see Jesus. They had to go and preach, as Jesus had told them. They had +to tell about him to all people everywhere.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span></p> + +<p>They walked back into Jerusalem. They had to wait; but now they were +not waiting for Christ the Saviour to come. They were waiting only for +the sign that would tell them it was time to go out and preach that +Christ had already come.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Passover was finished for another year, and the farmers of +Palestine had work to do. The warm spring weather spread over the +land, and the wheat was growing in the fields and on the hillsides. +Farmers reaped their crops, and gathered in the grain, and got ready +for another feast at Jerusalem. For when the wheat was gathered, it +was time to go and give thanks to God for the harvest, at the Feast of +Pentecost.</p> + +<p>The disciples waited while the weeks of spring went by. Every day they +went to the Temple and praised God for his goodness, because they knew +that Christ had come.</p> + +<p>Seven weeks passed by. The hot sun ripened the crops, and the farmers +cut their grain. The Day of Pentecost came around, and the streets of +Jerusalem were thronged again. There were men there from near and far, +from every country of which anyone had ever heard. The harvest was +over, and the feast was on!</p> + +<p>That morning the disciples were all together when they heard the +sound. It was a sound like the rushing wind, bringing messages from +God. They saw a vision too, and what they saw seemed like tongues of +fire,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> coming down to each one of them so that all could speak what +God wanted them to say.</p> + +<p>The disciples went out and began to speak. Everyone who heard them +understood what they were saying.</p> + +<p>Excitement went through the city.</p> + +<p>"This is strange!" the people said. "We have come from near and far. +We speak many different languages. Yet when these men tell us about +the wonderful things that God has done, we understand what they are +telling us. What is it that has happened?"</p> + +<p>Peter stood up beside the other disciples, and boldly raised his +voice:</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, everyone who is here at Jerusalem! You have read in the +Scriptures how God said that he would send his Holy Spirit to his +people. That is what has happened! The time has come to preach to you! +Therefore, listen to my words.</p> + +<p>"God sent Jesus of Nazareth to you, and he did many wonderful things +among you, which you saw for yourselves. God let you take him and put +him to death with your own wicked hands. But it was not possible for +him to be held forever by death. God has raised him up from the dead, +and we have seen it! He is King; and he has given us the power to tell +you about him, and you can hear what we are telling you. Let everybody +know this for a fact: this very Jesus whom you crucified is Lord and +Christ!"</p> + +<p>And when the people heard these words, they were greatly troubled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_190.jpg" width="600" height="388" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>"What shall we do?" they cried.</p> + +<p>Peter answered:</p> + +<p>"Repent! Give up your sins, and begin a new life! Believe in Jesus +Christ, and let us baptize you in his name. Then your sins will be +forgiven, and he will send his Holy Spirit to change you!"</p> + +<p>Many were glad when they heard this, and they were baptized in Jesus' +name. That very day about three thousand people became believers and +followers of Christ. They joined with those who had been disciples +before, praying together, and sharing with each other everything they +had. Jesus had a Church, which believed that he was Christ the +Saviour.</p> + +<p>Every day many more were added to the Church. Every day the Church of +Jesus Christ grew stronger.</p> + +<p>It grew like the grainfields in the spring.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> +<h2>SCRIPTURE REFERENCES</h2> + + + +<table summary="SCRIPTURE REFERENCES"> +<tr><td><b>Page</b></td><td></td></tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 2</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td><td>Luke 2:1-20</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td><td>Matt. 2:1-12</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td><td>Luke 2:21-35</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td><td>Matt. 2:13-23</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 3</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td><td>Ex. 12:1-42</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td><td>Ps. 118:29</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td><td>Deut. 16:1-7</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td><td>Luke 2:41, 42</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td><td>Ps. 122:1, 2, 6</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td><td>Luke 18:10, 11</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td><td>Luke 2:41-52</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 4</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td><td>Matt. 3:1-9</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td><td>John 1:19-27</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td><td>Matt. 3:13-15</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td><td>John 1:29-34</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td><td>Matt. 4:1-11</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td><td>Matt. 4:17</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td><td>John 1:35-41</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td><td>Matt. 4:18-22</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td><td>Mark 2:13-17</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td><td>Matt. 9:9-13</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td><td>Mark 2:15-19</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 5</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td><td>Matt. 5:43-48</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td><td>Matt. 6:15</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td><td>Matt. 5:41</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td><td>Luke 6:20-23</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td><td>Matt. 5:11, 12</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td><td>Luke 16:19-21</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td><td>Luke 6:24-26</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td><td>Matt. 6:24-34</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td><td>Matt. 6:1-6</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td><td>Matt. 7:21-23</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td><td>Matt. 7:24-29</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td><td>Mark 1:21-28</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td><td>Mark 1:29-34</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td><td>Mark 1:35-39</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 6</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td><td>Luke 4:16-30</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td><td>Matt. 12:46-50</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td><td>Mark 1:40-45</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td><td>John 9:1-41</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td><td>Mark 2:1-12</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td><td>Mark 2:23-28</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td><td>Matt. 12:9-14</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td><td>Luke 6:6-12</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 7</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td><td>Luke 7:36-50</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td><td>Luke 15:1-10</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td><td>Luke 15:11-32</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td><td>Matt. 8:5-13</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td><td>Luke 7:2-10</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td><td>Matt. 14:3, 4</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td><td>Matt. 11:1-6</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td><td>Mark 6:21-32</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td><td>Luke 13:31, 32</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td><td>Luke 8:4-15</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 8</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td><td>Mark 4:35-41</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td><td>Mark 5:1-20</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td><td>Mark 5:21-40</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td><td>John 5:25</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td><td>Mark 5:41-43</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 9</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td><td>Matt. 10:1-15</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td><td>Luke 9:10-17</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td><td>John 6:1-13</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td><td>John 6:15-51</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td><td>Matt. 16:13-19</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td><td>Matt. 16:20-25</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td><td>Mark 9:2-9</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 10</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td><td>Luke 9:57-62</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td><td>John 6:66-71</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td><td>Luke 11:1-4</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td><td>Matt. 6:9-13</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td><td>Luke 11:5-10</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td><td>Luke 10:25-37</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td><td>Luke 12:13-21</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td><td>Matt. 19:16-22</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td><td>Luke 18:18-23</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td><td>Luke 18:24-30</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td><td>Luke 19:1-10</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 11</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td><td>Ps. 122:1, 6</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td><td>Ps. 106:1b</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td><td>Matt. 26:6-13</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td><td>John 12:1-8</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td><td>Luke 9:49, 50</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td><td>Mark 9:33-35</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td><td>Luke 22: 24-27</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td><td>Matt. 19:13-15</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td><td>Matt. 18:21, 22</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td><td>Luke 17:5, 6</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td><td>Mark 11:1-3</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td><td>Zech. 9:9</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 12</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td><td>Mark 11:4-11</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td><td>Matt. 21:6-11</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td><td>Mark 11:15-17</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td><td>John 2:15</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td><td>Mark 11:27-33</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td><td>Mark 12:13-17</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td><td>Mark 12:38-40</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td><td>Matt. 23:27-33</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td><td>Mark 12:41-44</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td><td>Matt. 25:31-46</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td><td>Matt. 26:3-5</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td><td>Matt. 26:14-16</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 13</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td><td>Mark 14:12-15</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td><td>John 13:1</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td><td>Mark 14:17-21</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td><td>Luke 22:15-20</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td><td>Mark 14:22-26</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td><td>I Cor. 11:23-25</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td><td>Mark 14:27-31</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td><td>Matt. 26:36-46</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td><td>Matt. 26:47-56</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 14</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td><td>Matt. 26:57-68</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td><td>Matt. 26:69-75</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td><td>Luke 22:56-62</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td><td>Matt. 27:1-5</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td><td>Mark 15:1-13</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td><td>Matt. 27:11-18, 20-22</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td><td>John 19:4-16</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td><td>Mark 15:15-21</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td><td>Matt. 27:33-43</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td><td>Luke 23:33-38</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td><td>Luke 23:39-43</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td><td>John 19:26, 27</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td><td>Matt. 27:45-54</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td><td>Luke 23:44-49</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td><td>John 19:28-30</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td><td>Mark 15:42-47</td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td><b>CHAPTER 15</b></td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td><td>Mark 16:1-7</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td><td>Matt. 28:1-7</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td><td>John 20:1-10</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td><td>John 20:11-18</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td><td>Luke 24:13-32</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td><td>Luke 24:33-43</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_184">184</a></td><td>John 20:24-29</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td><td>Matt. 28:16-20</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td><td>Luke 24:49-51</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td><td>Acts 1:8, 9</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td><td>Acts 1:10-12</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Page_188">188</a></td><td>Acts 2:1-47</td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The King Nobody Wanted, by Norman F. 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Langford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The King Nobody Wanted + +Author: Norman F. Langford + +Illustrator: John Lear + +Release Date: August 20, 2006 [EBook #19087] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING NOBODY WANTED *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the + copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + [Illustration] + + + The King nobody wanted + + + + + By NORMAN F. LANGFORD + + _Illustrated by John Lear_ + + + + THE WESTMINSTER PRESS + PHILADELPHIA + + + COPYRIGHT, MCMXLVIII, BY W. L. JENKINS + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS + + +1 Waiting + +2 A King Is Born + +3 Growing + +4 Jesus Goes to Work + +5 A Busy Time + +6 Friends and Foes + +7 Slow to Understand + +8 Jesus Is Strong + +9 Refusing a Crown + +10 The Way to Jerusalem + +11 Nearing the City + +12 In Jerusalem + +13 The Last Night + +14 The Last Day + +15 The Victorious King + + * * * * * + + + + +ABOUT THIS BOOK + + +_In a very real and interesting way_, THE KING NOBODY WANTED _tells +the story of Jesus. Where the actual words of the Bible are used, they +are from the King James Version. But the greater part of the story is +told in the words of every day._ + +_Since you will certainly want to look up these stories in your own +Bible, the references are given on pages 191 and 192. You will +discover that often more than one Gospel tells the same story about +Jesus, but in a slightly different way. In_ THE KING NOBODY WANTED, +_the stories from the Gospels have been put together so that there is +just one story for you to read and understand and enjoy._ + +[Illustration] + + + + +1. Waiting + + +Two thousand years ago, in the land of Palestine, the Jewish people +were waiting for something to happen--or, really, were waiting for +someone to come. + +"When will he come?" was the question they were always asking one +another. "Will he come in five years? next year? Or is he already on +his way?" + +They were waiting for someone, and when he came they would call him +"the Messiah." If they spoke the Greek language, they would call him +"Christ." The people thought he would be a great king. + +They had one king already. His name was Herod the Great. But Herod was +not the kind of king they wanted. Herod was hard and cruel. He +poisoned and beheaded those who made him angry. He was not a Jew by +birth. The Messiah, when _he_ came, would be a good king. He would be +a Jew himself, and a friend to all the Jewish people. One of the +prophets said he would be like the shepherds of Palestine, who watched +their sheep night and day, and carried the small lambs in their arms. + +But the most important thing about the Messiah was that he would drive +Caesar and his armies out of the country. Caesar! How they hated his +very name! For Caesar was the emperor of the Romans. Some years +before, the Romans had occupied the country and begun to rule it. +Herod was still king of the Jews, but now he took his orders from +Caesar. Everybody had to take orders from Caesar. The Jews were not a +free people any more. + +"It used to be so different," the older people sighed, "before the +Romans came." + +Everywhere in Palestine Roman armies went marching. Their shields +flashed in the sunlight, and when they were on the march they carried +golden eagles which stood for Caesar's power. + +The Romans tried to rule the country well. They said that everybody +would get justice and fair play. But the Jews could not see the +fairness in having to pay taxes to a foreign king who did not even +worship God. They did not like to see Roman soldiers whipping people +with long leather whips called scourges, into which bits of glass and +lead and iron were fastened to make them bite more deeply into some +poor Jew's back. They were sick at heart when the Romans began to +punish criminals by nailing them up by their hands and feet to big +wooden crosses, and leaving them to hang there until they died. + +[Illustration] + +Well, the Messiah would take care of the Romans. He would gather an +army from east and west and north and south. Then there would be a +great day for the Jewish people, a great day for the nation that was +called by the glorious name of Israel! From all over the country the +men of Israel would rise up. They would come when their king called +them, and he would lead them to victory against Caesar. The Romans +would go back where they came from, and Israel would be free and +peaceful and rich and happy again. The Messiah would make Israel into +a great kingdom, bigger and more powerful than the Roman Empire ever +was. The Jews would rule the world. Everyone, everywhere, would +worship the God of Israel, and the Messiah would be King of all the +nations of the earth. If only he would come! + +[Illustration] + +It was hard to wait so long. They had waited for him a long time, and +their fathers and grandfathers had waited for him too. Sometimes word +would go around that he had finally arrived, and in great excitement +some of the Jews would get ready to drive the Romans out of Palestine. +But always it turned out to be a mistake, and the Jews would be +disappointed, and shake their heads, and say, "Will he ever come?" + +But when they grew discouraged, they would remember what was written +in their Holy Scriptures. For it was surely written there that the +Messiah would come someday. There could be no mistake about it. +Someday he would come! + +[Illustration] + +And so it went on, month after month, year after year. The people +worked, and dreamed, and hoped, and prayed. The rains would fall in +October and soften the hard, dry ground after the heat of summer, so +that the farmer could do his plowing. And as he plowed the land, the +farmer thought about the Messiah, and wondered if he would come before +the harvest in the spring. Then spring would come, and the wheat and +barley would be growing up in the smiling fields, and all down the +hillside the grapevines and the olive trees would be full of fruit. +The Romans were still marching through the country, and still there +was no Messiah. But the farmer thought that maybe he would come before +the next fall rains. + +The fisherman would go sailing across the deep-blue Sea of Galilee, +and while he waited for the fish to come into his net, he thought of +how long Israel had waited for the Messiah to come. The beggars in the +city streets, who were deaf, or blind, or crippled, would sit at the +corners and ask for money to buy food. They were wondering too if the +Messiah would ever come and help the poor folk of Israel. + +The shepherds, out on the rocky hills where nothing would grow but +grass for sheep and goats and cattle, were also thinking of the +Messiah. In good weather and bad they were there, keeping an eye on +their sheep, and they had plenty of time to think. When the rain and +the snow were in their faces, the shepherds were thinking, _When will +he come?_ And when the hot sun climbed overhead, and the heat was +like a furnace, or when the east wind came and blew dust in their +faces, then too the shepherds thought, _When will he come and save +us?_ + +[Illustration] + +Farmers, fishermen, shepherds--these were not the only people who were +thinking of the Messiah. Sometimes along the hot, lonely roads of +Palestine, where robbers and wild animals were hiding, a traveler +would have dreams. Or the dream might come to someone in sunny +Galilee, where camel caravans crossed with their loads of spices and +jewels and precious things from Far Eastern lands. But it was most +likely to come to a man when he was standing in the great, white, +gleaming Temple at Jerusalem, where all good Jews went to worship God. + +And the dream would be that the sky opened, and a great light blazed +down from heaven. An army came marching down out of the sky, led by a +shining warrior whose face was bright as lightning. From his eyes shot +flames of fire. His arms and feet shone like polished brass or gold, +and when he spoke his voice was like the shouting of ten thousand men. +It was King Messiah! "Destroy the Romans!" he would cry. "Burn up +their armies! Let not a single one escape!" Fire would pour down from +the skies when he gave the order, and the Romans would melt away to +nothing, as though they had never been. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +Then the dream would fade away. The dreamer would just be trudging +along the dusty road, or watching the camel caravans go by, or +standing in the Temple with the crowds of unhappy people pushing all +around him. + +It was just a dream. The Romans were still there. There was no Messiah +anywhere to be seen. + +If only the King would come! + +[Illustration] + + + + +2. A King Is Born + + +Nobody saw the lions in the daytime, for they were sleeping in their +caves. But at night they might come out to prowl around the rocky +hills, looking for a fat sheep to eat. After dark the hyenas and +jackals began to howl. Robbers might be somewhere in the darkness too. +In the night, when other folk were fast asleep, a good shepherd needed +to be awake and on the watch, to see that no harm came to his sheep +and lambs. + +One night when winter was in the air, some shepherds were huddled +together on a stony field not far from the town of Bethlehem. Not many +miles to the north lay Jerusalem, the capital city of Palestine. But +here in the fields it was quiet, and lonely, and cold. + +The shepherds sat upon the rocks, or stood leaning upon their staves. +Now and again one of them would see something move, or hear a little +rustling sound. He would raise his eyes and peer out anxiously into +the darkness to make sure that all was well. + +Suddenly, without any warning, the sky was flooded with light from +beyond the clouds. Everything had been dark a minute before, but now +every stone and tree and hillock in the field showed up bright as day. + +The shepherds jumped to their feet. Some were too frightened to speak, +and others cried out in terror. + +"What is it?" + +"What can it be?" + +"It's the glory of the Lord," one called out. "Lord, have mercy upon +us!" + +Suddenly they heard a loud, clear voice. + +"Shepherds!" + +Silence fell upon the group. + +"Shepherds, do not be afraid. I bring you the good news which all the +Jews have waited so long to hear. This very day, Christ your Saviour +has been born in the city of David. And this is how you will know him: +you will find him as a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying +in a manger." + +[Illustration] + +The voice broke off, and a great chorus began to sing. The sky rang +with the music, and these were the words of the song: + +"Glory to God in the highest, +And on earth peace, good will toward men." + +As quickly as they had come, the light and the singing were gone. +There was just the darkness again, and the far-off howling of wild +beasts. Everything was the same as before, except that the shepherds' +eyes were still blinded by the light, and their ears were full of the +music. + +[Illustration] + +Their excited voices broke the spell as they all talked at once. + +"He's come at last--the Messiah's come!" + +"Where did the angel say?" + +"The city of David--that means Bethlehem." + +"Why are we waiting here? Let's go to Bethlehem." + +"Yes, let's go to Bethlehem at once, and find out what has happened +there." + +For the first time in their lives, the shepherds left their sheep to +look after themselves. Across the hills and the stone fences and the +rocky fields the shepherds scrambled, and hardly stopped for breath +till they reached the edge of the town. Everything in Bethlehem was +dark as night can be. But no--not everything. One tiny speck of light +was flickering in the blackness. + +"He must be where the light is," said one of the shepherds. + +Down the street they ran, and in through a door. + +They were standing in a stable. There were no angels there. Instead of +that, the shepherds saw cows and donkeys eating hay. A cold draft of +air was blowing in around the cracks of the door and over the dirt +floor. Beside one of the mangers they saw a man standing. A young +woman was resting close by. She was watching a baby who lay in the +straw. + +"We came to see the Messiah," one of the shepherds stammered. + +The baby cried. The animals munched their food. + +There was some explaining to do. The shepherds told the story of what +had happened in the field. + +The young man beside the manger did not have anything very exciting to +tell the shepherds. + +"My name," he said, "is Joseph. This is my wife Mary. We used to live +here in Bethlehem, but no one remembers us now. I've been working in +Galilee for years. I have a carpenter shop there. The only reason we +came back to Bethlehem was to have our names entered in the government +records. + +"We got here only yesterday. We tried to get a room in the inn, but +there wasn't any room for us with all the important people here. They +said we could sleep in the stable. The baby came tonight. Here he is, +if you would like to see him." + +The shepherds looked at the baby. They hoped that they would see +something unusual about him, but he looked just like any other baby. + +Then they remembered the angels' song. + +Outside again, the shepherds looked up and saw a faint gray light +streaking the blackness in the east. Morning was coming. Soon the +people of the countryside would be getting up. + +What a story the shepherds were going to tell them! Who would have +thought of looking for the Messiah in a manger! The shepherds were the +first to learn the secret. As they walked back to their flocks they +prayed and gave thanks to God. + +[Illustration] + +Meanwhile, the little family in the stable were gathered in silence +around the manger. Mary, the mother, said never a word, but her +thoughts were busy with the tale the shepherds had told about her +little child. + + * * * * * + +The shepherds were not the only people to see strange lights in the +sky. Many miles away, three men saw a new star. They were Wise Men, +and they knew all the stars, but this one they had never seen before. + +It was not only a new star, but a moving star. Like a bright fingertip +in the heavens, it seemed to beckon them on. The Wise Men were rich +and important, and thought nothing of a journey. At once they made +ready and set out to see where the star would lead them. For many days +they traveled across the desert, and at last they came to Jerusalem. + +Although they were not Jews, they had heard that a Messiah was +expected someday in Palestine. When they saw that the star had brought +them to Jerusalem, they decided that the Messiah must have come. + +"We are strangers here," they said to each other. "We had better ask +our way." + +King Herod was in Jerusalem just then, and the Wise Men went to his +palace. Since they were rich and famous, they had no trouble getting +in to see the king. + +They bowed down respectfully before the king, and Herod received them +with courtesy. Then the Wise Men asked: + +[Illustration] + +"Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We have seen his star in the +east. We have come to worship him, but we do not know where he is." + +Herod was surprised, and then he was angry. A new king of the Jews? +Why, Herod himself was the king of the Jews! However, he hid his +feelings, and answered, + +"I will find out what you want to know." + +He left the Wise Men, and hurried off to consult with his advisers. + +"The Messiah!" he shouted. "Where do they say the Messiah will be +born?" + +Solemnly he was told: + +"In Bethlehem. An ancient book of the Holy Scriptures tells us that +out of Bethlehem shall come a governor to rule the people of Israel." + +Fear and jealousy boiled up in Herod. But a king must control his +feelings, and Herod was old and wise. When he had called his three +visitors to him, he was as smooth and polite as ever. He told them +that they would find the child in Bethlehem. + +"Go there," Herod said, "and look for him carefully. And when you have +found him come and tell me, for I too want to go and worship him." + +The Wise Men thanked the king, and set out for Bethlehem. Soon they +arrived at the place where Joseph and Mary were staying with the baby. +It was very different from Herod's palace. + +There the three Wise Men fell down on their knees as they would before +a king. They opened their treasures and put their gifts in front of +the baby. One brought gold. The others brought sweet-smelling +ointments, frankincense and myrrh. + +"Hail, Messiah!" they murmured in adoration. "Hail, Christ! Hail, King +of the Jews!" + +When they were once more outside on the road, one of them spoke: + +"I think," he said, "that it would be well for us not to see anything +of Herod again. I had a dream...." + +The others agreed with him quickly. They had had a dream too. + +"God sent that dream to warn us that Herod is dangerous," they said. +"Herod means to harm the child. Let us find some other road back +home." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +The days went by, and soon the baby was given his name. He was to be +called Jesus. + +One day, when Jesus was about six weeks old, Joseph said to Mary: + +"Now that we have a child, we must go up to the Temple in Jerusalem +and give an offering to the Lord. We cannot afford a lamb. But we can +at least take pigeons or a pair of turtledoves." + +So Joseph and Mary left Bethlehem, and carried Jesus with them to +Jerusalem, five miles away. + +An old man came up to them in the Temple. + +"My name is Simeon," he said. "I have been waiting for you a long +time. All my life I have been waiting to see the Messiah. And now the +day has come." + +He took Jesus from his mother's arms, and as he held the baby he began +to pray. + +"Lord, let me now die in peace," he prayed. "For I have seen the +Messiah, the Saviour of all nations and the glory of the Jewish +people." + +Simeon turned back to Joseph and Mary, who were looking at him in +wonder. + +"Mary," he said, "this child of yours is going to break your heart. He +will make enemies, and cause great trouble in this country. He will +suffer, and others will suffer too, because of him. But also he will +give joy, and bring many people to God. God bless you now." + +With these words the old man handed the baby back to Mary, and turned +away. Joseph and Mary never saw him again, but they remembered his +words forever after. + +They took Jesus, and started on their walk back to Bethlehem. There +was so much for them to think about. + +First there was the story of the shepherds. Then the Wise Men had come +with their wonderful gifts. And now there was this old man with his +strange words of blessing and warning. + +Everything seemed to tell them that Jesus was the Messiah. They +should be happier than anyone in the world. And yet they were not +happy. There was trouble in the air. Their baby was going to be King +of the Jews. Why should there be any trouble about it? They could not +understand. + +Trouble was not long in coming. One night Joseph had a dream. When he +awoke he called to his wife, and told her that they must leave +Bethlehem at once. God had sent the dream as a warning for them to get +out of the country. They did not dare to stay there any longer. So +Joseph and Mary packed up their belongings, and set out for the far +country of Egypt where they would be safe. + +They left Bethlehem none too soon. For Herod was exceedingly angry +when the Wise Men did not come back. Now he was sure that the Messiah +really had been born! He was afraid that soon there would be a new +king in Palestine to take his throne away from him. + +When Herod was afraid, he never wasted any time. Somewhere in +Bethlehem was a child whom he feared, and somehow that child must be +killed. But he did not know which child it was. How could he be sure +to find the right one? He thought of a simple plan. + +He called his army officers together, and gave them their orders. + +"Send your soldiers to Bethlehem," he told them, "and have them kill +every boy in the place who is two years old or younger." + +The officers sent their men to Bethlehem, and all the little boys they +could find there were put to death. No matter who they were they had +to die. It did not take the soldiers very long. + +In a few hours they were back in Jerusalem. Herod breathed more +easily. + +_That's a good thing_, he thought. _If every little boy in Bethlehem +is dead, the Messiah must be dead along with the rest._ + +Herod did not know that the baby whom he feared was gone from +Bethlehem before the soldiers got there. While the fathers and mothers +of Bethlehem were crying because their little ones were dead, Joseph +and Mary and Jesus were safely on their way to Egypt. + +Herod did not live long enough to find out his mistake. After he died, +the little family in Egypt learned that it was safe to go home again. + +But this time they did not go back to Bethlehem. They went straight to +the town of Nazareth in Galilee, where Joseph had worked before Jesus +was born. There they settled down as though nothing unusual had +happened. + +In Galilee nobody knew that anything strange had happened at all. +Nobody there had heard of the shepherds and the Wise Men, and nobody +knew what Simeon had said in the Temple. Nobody knew why it was that +so many babies in Bethlehem had been murdered. Nobody in Nazareth +thought that the Messiah had come. + +[Illustration] + +In Nazareth people only said, "I hear the carpenter has a son." When +Jesus began to walk perhaps they said, "Joseph's son is strong for his +age." And later they said, "The carpenter's lad is doing well at +school." + +But there were more interesting things to talk about in Nazareth than +the carpenter's family. There was the Messiah to talk about. "When +will he come?" the people asked each other. + +Nobody in Nazareth had heard the angels sing. + +[Illustration] + + + + +3. Growing + + +When boys in Nazareth were about six years old, it was time for them +to go to school. No girls were there, for the girls stayed home with +their mothers. But every day except the Sabbath, the boys went to the +school and sat on the floor with their legs crossed, and there the +teacher taught them many things that every Jewish boy would need to +know. + +He taught them their A B C's in the Hebrew language. Instead of A, he +showed them how to make a mark like this: [Hebrew: a]. Instead of B, +they learned to make this letter: [Hebrew: b]; and so on, through all +the alphabet. Then when they knew their letters, they could learn to +read. And every Jewish boy had first of all to read the Scriptures. + +The teacher taught them what was in the Scriptures. Over and over they +said their lessons aloud, talking all at once, until they knew +everything they were supposed to know by heart. + +The teacher taught them psalms which had been sung for many years in +the Temple of Jerusalem. + +He taught them also about the prophets. The prophets were preachers +whose words had long ago been written down in the sacred Scriptures. +These books were long pieces of skin, which were kept rolled up when +no one was reading them. There were many prophets--Isaiah, Jeremiah, +Ezekiel, Amos, Malachi, and many others. Little by little the boys +began to discover what these preachers had said. + +[Illustration] + +The teacher also made sure that they knew about that part of the +Scriptures called the Law. The Ten Commandments were in the Law, and +many other sayings which told people what they must do and what they +must not do in order to please God. The boys learned how God gave the +Commandments to Moses, while lightning flashed and thunder crashed, +at the far-off mountain of Sinai. + +The teacher told them stories of all that had happened to the Jewish +people in the years gone by. But the most important was the story of +the Passover. This story explained why their parents went to Jerusalem +each spring. + +Now this was what every Jewish boy had to learn about the Passover, +and remember always: + +Once there was a time, hundreds of years before, when the Jews did not +live in Palestine. They lived in Egypt, where they were slaves. They +wanted to escape, so that they might have a country of their own where +they could be free. + +One spring night God sent a disease into Egypt, and thousands died of +it. There was not an Egyptian home where the oldest child in the +family did not die. But none of the Jews died. Therefore, they said +that God _passed over_ their doors that night. + +Then there was a great uproar and clamor in Egypt, with the Egyptians +weeping, and nursing their sick, and burying their dead. The time had +come for the Jews to get away. Under their leader, Moses, they began +their long journey toward Palestine. + +The Jewish people never forgot what God did for them in Egypt. So in +the spring of each year was held the Feast of the Passover, to give +thanks to God for the help he had given them long ago. They gathered +together and sang: + +[Illustration] + + "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: For his mercy + endureth for ever." + +To the Passover feast every family brought a lamb to be killed as a +sacrifice to God. Only the best could be given to God. They chose a +lamb that was white, and pure, and fine, and precious. Then they +roasted the lamb, and ate it. What a feast they had, so solemn and so +joyful, as they remembered all that God had done! + +Everyone knew the best place to hold the Passover feast was at +Jerusalem. Therefore, every year, when spring came round, the people +said to one another, "It is Passover time," and as many as could leave +their homes went up to the great city. + +When the boys heard the story, they understood why their parents went +there in the spring. + +When Jewish boys were twelve years old, and could read the Hebrew +language, and knew the psalms, and understood the prophets, and were +learning to obey the Law--then they were practically grown up. At this +age a boy could be called "a son of the Law." He could go along with +his parents to Jerusalem when it was Passover time. + +Each year Joseph and Mary liked to be in Jerusalem for the Passover. +When Jesus was twelve years old, he was "a son of the Law," like other +boys his age, and for the first time he went with them. Many friends +and relatives kept them company as they started on the road. + +Now from Nazareth it was more than eighty miles to Jerusalem, and +eighty miles is a long way to walk. + +It would have been easier to ride in a cart; but nobody traveled that +way in Palestine. The roads were too rough and narrow for anything but +walking. Donkeys and horses might carry the heavy luggage, but the +people went on foot. There were no bridges, and so the only way to get +from one side of a river to the other was to find a shallow place and +wade across. + +It would take two or three days to go from Nazareth to Jerusalem. When +the travelers were tired at night, there was not likely to be any +place to sleep along the road, except under the open sky and the +stars. + +There were three stages to their journey. The first was the pleasant +part, through Galilee. When the travelers left Nazareth that day, the +sky was clear and the air was fresh. The fields lay lovely in the +sunlight. The roads were full of people from many countries. There +were always merchants on the road traveling from the East to Greece +and Egypt, and back to the East again. Galilee was beautiful, and +Galilee was busy. + +Sooner or later the time must come to leave pleasant Galilee behind. +But which way would they go from there? Should they go straight south +through Samaria? That would have been the shortest and the easiest +way. The only thing against it was that the people of Samaria were not +friendly to Jews. Long years before, Samaria had been the home of many +of the Jewish people. But foreigners came and settled among them. Then +their ways became so different that the people of Jerusalem said they +were not Jewish any more. They were bitter rivals of the Jews, and it +was hardly safe to go among them. + +So the travelers chose, for the second stage of their journey, the +long road down the valley of the river Jordan. But they did not find +this very pleasant, either. High above the river stood the banks, and +it seemed as though the river itself were at the bottom of a great, +deep ditch. And down there was the road they had to take. In some +places they came to slime and mud, and dead trees and twisted roots. +But sometimes there were farms and villages. It was hot at the north +end of the Jordan, when first they came to it; and the farther south +the travelers went, the hotter grew the weather. + +Very hot, very tired, and very thirsty, they finally reached the last +stretch of the journey--across country from the Jordan to Jerusalem. +They were nearly there. But the last part of the trip was the hardest +of all. Around them stretched a dreary desert. There were bleak hills, +and ugly rocks, and hardly a drop of water anywhere to drink. No +wonder nobody went to Jerusalem, except Jews and Roman soldiers! There +were no gay caravans of Eastern merchants here. Galilee seemed very +far away. + +Up one side of a hill, and down another, and then another higher hill +to climb! Up and up, over stones and bare earth and bushes and thorns, +until they were high above the Jordan--that was the road to Jerusalem. +Would they ever get there? What they would have given just to sit down +and wash the sand off their hot, tired feet! + +Then all at once they saw it. From the top of the hill they saw it, +walls and roofs and towers gleaming in the morning sun. A shout of joy +went up. Every man and woman and child joined in the shouting. +Jerusalem, the city of David! King David built that city, a thousand +years ago. The enemies of God had come and burned it to the ground, +but the Jews built it up again. They were sure that it could never be +destroyed. It would always be there, for ever and ever. Someday the +Messiah would come, and all the peoples and nations of the world +would come to see Jerusalem, as these poor folk from Galilee were +doing now. + +[Illustration] + +The travelers began to march again, but faster this time; forgotten +were the weary miles behind. They marched, and as they marched they +sang. They sang one of the psalms that the boys had learned at school. +Everyone took up the song: + + "'I was glad when they said unto me, + Let us go into the house of the Lord. + Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.... + Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: + They shall prosper that love thee.'" + +There were so many visitors in Jerusalem that they could not all find +a place to stay in the city. Some of them stayed in the villages near +by, and others slept in tents out in the open air. At an ordinary time +of the year, there would be only about thirty thousand people living +in Jerusalem. But at the Passover there might be twice that, or even +more. + +Even the Roman governor was in Jerusalem at Passover time. He lived in +another city, but he always came to Jerusalem for the great feast. It +was not that he cared about the Passover. It was because he was afraid +that with such great crowds in Jerusalem there might be trouble unless +his Roman soldiers were on guard. It would be especially bad if anyone +showed up claiming to be the Messiah. All the people might make him +king, and rebel against Rome, and great numbers would be killed. + +With such crowds in the city, it was hard for the people from Nazareth +to get through the narrow streets. All along the streets they saw +shops. Some of the shopkeepers were selling goods that had been +brought down from Galilee--fish and oil and wine and fruit. Besides +the merchants there were shoemakers, butchers, carpenters, tailors. On +the side streets gold-smiths and jewelers were making things for the +rich people. Here and there was a merchant selling fine silks which +had been brought from the Far East. A man could buy almost anything he +wanted in Jerusalem, provided that he had the money. + +[Illustration] + +The travelers from Galilee pushed their way through the crowded +streets, and on up to the Temple on the hill. Here was God's own +house! How large it was! Herod the Great had built this Temple. Ten +thousand men had worked many years to build it, and it was not quite +finished yet. Eight gates led into the beautiful building with the +white walls and the golden towers. Inside there was room for many +thousands of people. + +What a clatter and a clamor and a tumult there was! It seemed as +though all the world were there. Doves and cattle, as well as lambs, +were offered in the Temple as a sacrifice to God. You could hear the +poor creatures calling out--the cows lowing, the lambs bleating, the +doves singing their sweet, sad song. Money was clinking on the tables. +Only one kind of coin could be used as an offering, and travelers had +to exchange those they were carrying for Jewish money. The men who +made the exchange often cheated the visitors. + +The people from Galilee separated when they came to the Court of the +Women. The women and girls could go no farther, but the men and boys +went up some steps into the Court of Israel. There they watched the +priests of the Temple taking the doves and lambs and cattle that the +worshipers had brought, and offering them up as a sacrifice. The +priests killed the animals, and let the blood drip on the altar where +the sacrifices were given to God. + +The Court of Israel was as far as anyone could go, unless he were a +priest. There was another room called the Holy Place, which only +priests could enter. To the people it was a place of great mystery. +Then farther on was a still more mysterious room called the Holy of +Holies. Even a priest did not dare to step inside that door. That was +the secret place of God. Only the high priest, who was head of all the +priests, could enter there. And he could go in only once a year. + +The visitors from Nazareth saw a priest coming toward them. Anyone +could tell from his clothes that he was wealthy. He came from one of +the families that were known as the Sadducees. The Sadducees were the +only people who were at all friendly with the Romans. The reason for +this was that they were better off than most other people and +well-satisfied with things as they were. They thought it wise to stay +on good terms with Caesar. Nobody liked the Sadducees very well, but +everyone had to admit that they were certainly very important. They +sat in a high council and governed everything that went on around the +Temple. + +And here was a Pharisee, looking very well pleased with himself! Jesus +had seen Pharisees before, around Nazareth, and they always seemed to +have that look. The word "Pharisee" meant "someone who is different." +What made the Pharisees different was that they were always talking +about the Law, and claiming that they obeyed it better than anyone +else. They were kindly folk, on the whole, and very well respected, +but they did not have any official position, like the Sadducees. All +they did was study the Law and tell other people about it. The +Pharisee whom the visitors were watching began to pray so that +everyone could see him. It seemed as if he were saying, "O Lord, I +thank thee that I am better than these other people here!" + +Most of the great throng crowding the Temple were not priests, or +Sadducees, or Pharisees. They were plain people who had come to bring +their sacrifices, or to talk about the Scriptures, or simply to be in +the Temple because they loved God's house. + +Nobody was paying much attention to Jesus. He was just a young boy, +lost in the crowd. + + * * * * * + +The days went by, and the lambs were killed and eaten. The prayers +were said and the hymns were sung. It was all over at last, and the +time had come to go home. + +Joseph and Mary did not see Jesus the morning they all were supposed +to leave. They did not wait to find him, for the other travelers from +Nazareth were anxious to get started on the long journey back to +Galilee. + +Joseph and Mary said to each other: + +"Jesus is safe enough. There are so many of us from Nazareth that he +can't get lost. No doubt he is somewhere in the party." + +The Nazareth people said good-by to the Temple for another year, and +started off for home. Out through the city gates they went, and back +into the desert through which they had come. They walked a whole day, +and still Joseph and Mary saw no sign of Jesus. This was beginning to +seem strange. Surely they would see him somewhere! + +At last it dawned upon them. He wasn't there at all! + +They were frightened now. What could have happened to Jesus? What +would become of him in Jerusalem? There was nothing to do but to leave +the party, and turn back alone to the city. But Jerusalem was a big +place, and they hardly knew where to hunt for Jesus. How would they +ever find one boy among all those thousands of people? + +[Illustration] + +They went to the Temple. But even if he were here, it would not be +easy to find him quickly. Walking through one of the courts, they +noticed a group of people gathered around a rabbi. There was nothing +unusual about that. There were a great many teachers in the Temple, +and a visitor often saw groups gathered around them to listen to their +teaching. + +But there was something different about this group. Most of the men in +it were Pharisees who were themselves rabbis. And the strange thing +was that they were not doing all the talking as they usually did. They +were listening too. And they were not listening to a rabbi, but to the +voice of a boy. + +Joseph and Mary moved closer. There could be no mistake about it--it +was Jesus who was talking! He was asking questions; he was answering +questions. The long-bearded rabbis were standing there, their mouths +open in astonishment. Jesus was not just a boy in the crowd any +longer. Men old enough to be his grand-father were listening to what +he had to say. + +Mary's surprise turned to anger. She pushed her way through the crowd +and took Jesus by the arm. + +"Why did you do this?" she cried. "Your father and I have been looking +for you everywhere." + +Jesus stood just where he was. It was as though he belonged there. He +said: + +"Why did you come to look for me? Don't you know that I must be +looking after my Father's business?" + +Joseph and Mary stood there too, not knowing what to make of their boy +or of what he said. + +They waited to see what he would do. + +And then, in a minute, Jesus turned and went with them. They did not +have to ask him again. The three of them went home to Nazareth. + +Jesus knew that someday he would go back to the Temple. But he was not +ready for that yet. He must do his duty to his parents. He must obey +God at home. Then he would always know how to obey God in the wide +world beyond Nazareth. + +The lambs went quietly to the Temple when they were taken there to be +offered to the God of Israel. Jesus must be obedient like a Lamb of +God. + + + + +4. Jesus Goes to Work + +[Illustration] + + +When Jesus was thirty years old, people began to talk about the great +man who had come to Palestine. + +"This man is so great," they said, "that he may be the Messiah." + +But it was not Jesus they were talking about. It was his cousin, John. + +John was a preacher. He was afraid of no one, and as a result everyone +was a bit afraid of him. John was a rough, strong man. Next to his +skin he wore leather, and over that he wore a cloak of camel's hair. +Honey and locusts were his food. + +Every day John preached down by the river Jordan. The people flocked +out from Jerusalem and from all the countryside round about to hear +him preach. It was a wild and dreary place to come to, but when John +preached everybody wanted to be there. + +This was how he preached: + +"Give up your sins, and begin a new life at once, for God is coming to +rule over men! I am a voice crying in the wilderness. I tell +you--prepare for the Lord!" + +And when the people heard him, they were afraid. Many of them cried +out, "We have sinned!" and came forward out of the crowd. John led +them down the bank into the river and baptized them as a sign that +they wanted to be cleansed of their sins and begin a new life. Thus +John came to be known as "John the Baptist." + +But when John thought that a man was not in earnest, then he refused +to baptize him. Some of the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to be +baptized, and John would have nothing to do with them. They might be +great men in Jerusalem, but John called them "snakes in the grass." He +told them: + +"I've seen the snakes out here in the wilderness, wriggling for dear +life to get out of the way when the grass catches fire. That's what +you remind me of. You're scared. You think that something terrible is +going to happen, and so you're pretending to be good people so that it +won't go so hard with you. You will have to show me that you want to +be something different from what you are! And don't think that you +amount to anything just because you are Jews. God could make as good +Jews as you are out of these stones." + +That is how John the Baptist talked to some of the great men of +Jerusalem. It made people think more than ever that he might be the +Messiah. Who except the Messiah would dare to talk that way to +Pharisees and Sadducees? + +But others shook their heads and said, "No--this couldn't be the +Messiah!" For they thought that when the Messiah came he would drive +the Romans out of the country; and many people said that the only way +to do that would be to get an army together. Some men were meantime +killing all the Romans they could. They were called "Zealots," because +they were so much filled with zeal about killing off the Romans. A few +even carried daggers with them, and stuck the daggers into Romans +whenever they got a chance. + +"The Romans will not be overthrown," they said, "just by preaching. +You will have to get out and kill the Romans." + +John himself said that he was not the Messiah. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +"There is someone coming who is greater than I," he told the people. +"Someone is coming whose shoe-laces I am not worthy to stoop down and +untie. Compared to him, I am nobody. I am just preparing the way for +the Messiah." + +One day there was a great crowd, as usual, down by the Jordan, and +John was busy baptizing the people as fast as they came to the water. +One after another they came. It went on for hours. + +[Illustration] + +John had just baptized one man and helped him to the bank. The next +one was coming forward. John looked up to see who it was. He was +looking into the face of Jesus of Nazareth. + +"You! Not you!" John spoke in a hoarse whisper. "No! I can't baptize +you. You must baptize _me_ instead!" + +Before anyone could notice that anything was wrong, Jesus stepped to +the water's edge. + +"Don't say anything about it, John," he said softly. "Treat me just +like the rest of them. We shall all be baptized together into a new +life." + +Jesus went forward into the river and John baptized him. In a moment +Jesus was up the bank and lost in the crowd. The next man was coming +forward. + +John stared after the vanishing figure of Jesus. The crowd made way +for Jesus, thinking, _There goes another man who came to be cleansed +of his sins._ + +But John said: "When I baptized _him_, I saw the Spirit of God come +down out of heaven like a dove, and light upon him. Jesus is the Son +of God. I am nothing. He is everything. He is the Messiah. He is the +Lamb of God!" + +The next man was coming down the bank toward John. John stood peering +into the crowd. Jesus was nowhere to be seen. + +Jesus had gone away to be alone, as God wanted him to do. He went into +the loneliest part of the desert, where there were only the wild +animals to keep him company. + +_I am the Messiah_, he thought. _There is no doubt that I am the +Messiah. I must save my people. How should I begin?_ + +There was nothing to eat in the wilderness, and Jesus grew hungry. He +looked around him, and saw that the stones were shaped like loaves of +bread. + +There seemed to be a voice inside him which was not his own. The voice +said: + +"_If you really are the Messiah, you oughtn't to be hungry. If you +really are the Messiah, you would just have to say the word and these +stones would be turned into bread. Then you would have plenty to eat +for yourself, and, besides, you could go and give bread to all the +hungry folk out there who are waiting for you to help them._" + +It was very quiet in the wilderness. The voice spoke up again. + +"_But maybe you are afraid to try. Suppose you said to the stones, +'Stones, become bread!' and then nothing happened! That would prove +that you weren't the Messiah, wouldn't it?_" + +Jesus shook his head, to get rid of the thought. Some words from the +Scriptures came into his mind. "_Man shall not live by bread alone, +but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God._" No, it +would not do to try playing tricks with stones. It would not matter +if he did turn them into bread. Bread was not the most important thing +in the world. People might think that there was nothing so important +as eating, but there were bigger things in life than that. People +might think that what the Messiah ought to do was to make the country +prosperous, but that would not help them so much as they thought. That +was not the kind of Messiah he was going to be. + +But what was the best way to prove that he was the Messiah? The +tempting voice inside tried again. + +"_Maybe the best idea_," it said, "_is to go to Jerusalem and climb up +on the tower and jump down! Everyone says that the Messiah is going to +come suddenly out of heaven. You would come down suddenly enough that +way! And nothing would happen to you. It says in the Scriptures that +God will send his angels to hold you up and keep you from being hurt. +Surprise the whole city by jumping off the Temple, and everybody will +worship you at once!_" + +Again Jesus shook the thought away, and again he thought of what the +Scriptures said. + +"_Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." I can't go and put God to +the test, to see whether he will keep me from being hurt. And it won't +make me the Messiah just to cause a big sensation in Jerusalem. That's +what everyone is expecting, but that is not the right way at all. +There must be some other way._ + +And the voice spoke up again. + +[Illustration] + +"_There is something else you could do. What the world needs is a +ruler like you. Everybody says that the Messiah is going to be a world +ruler, great and good. Don't let the people down! You are a great man. +You could be anything you wanted to be--a general, a governor, a +king._" + +Jesus thought, _That's Satan tempting me, that's the devil himself +talking!_ + +He spoke out loud: + +"Go away from me, Satan! For the Scriptures say, 'Thou shall worship +the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve!'" + +The voice said no more. A great quietness came over Jesus. There was +no great thing that he needed to do right away. He was the Messiah, +but he did not need to make the country wealthy. He did not need to +jump from the Temple, and he did not need to command an army or rule +an empire. + +There was one thing that he would have to do, but he could not tell +anybody about it yet. It was going to be his secret for a while. But +someday everybody would see what he was doing. Someday it would be +understood. + +And now it was time to be on his way. He had been in the wilderness +forty days, and that was long enough. He found the trail back to the +outside world, and soon he was on the road to Galilee. + + * * * * * + +When Jesus got home to Galilee, he began to preach to people in the +streets. What he said at first was very much like what John the +Baptist said: + +"Give up your sins, and begin to live a new life, for God has come to +rule over you!" + +But the crowds that heard Jesus were not so large as those that went +to the Jordan to hear John. + +Jesus needed some followers now who would be with him all the time, +and learn everything he had to tell them. John the Baptist had his +followers; "disciples" was what they were called. Jesus began to look +for disciples of his own. + +One morning he went down to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. When he +came back to the town, he had four disciples with him. + +Two of them were brothers named Simon and Andrew. Andrew remembered +Jesus, for he had once been a disciple of John the Baptist. He had +seen John point to Jesus, and heard him say, "He is the Lamb of God!" +Andrew had told Simon all about it. + +When Jesus came to them along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he +found them putting a net into the water, for Andrew and Simon were +fishermen. + +Jesus said to them, + +"Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." + +Fishing was good business, but Simon and Andrew were ready to give it +up to follow the man John had called "the Lamb of God." They came away +with him at once. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +Farther along the shore was another pair of brothers. One of them had +also been with John the Baptist. Their names were James and John, and +they were with their father, Zebedee. They had done so well at fishing +that they could afford to have servants to help them. But when Jesus +called them they also came at once, and left their father and the +servants behind. + +That was four to start with, and soon he had eight others. But no one +of them was a very important person, and people said that one of them +was wicked. That was Levi, who was also called Matthew. The trouble +with Levi was that he was a taxgatherer. Everybody hated taxgatherers. +They were called "publicans," and it was thought that no one could be +much lower than a publican. + +The publicans worked for the Roman government. They were not Romans +themselves, but Jews, which made it all the worse. They were looked +upon as traitors, for they collected the taxes for the hated Romans, +and made a fortune for themselves by cheating the people. + +Levi's job was to collect the fee for traveling along the road, and +what he could collect over and above the amount he ought to have +charged, he kept for himself. Then Levi heard Jesus preaching. He +heard him say that he ought to give up his sins, and begin to live a +new life. When Jesus came to Levi's table one day, and said, "Follow +me," just as he had said it to the honest fishermen by the lake shore, +Levi was ready to come away. Without a word Levi got up and left his +taxgathering behind, and all his fortune. Levi became a disciple like +the other eleven, and was treated like the rest. + +But other people were shocked when they saw a publican with Jesus, and +tongues began to wag. No one seemed to notice that Levi had stopped +collecting taxes. He had been a publican once, and no one except Jesus +was ready to give him a second chance. + +Other publicans sometimes came to have dinner with Jesus and his +disciples, along with many people who were looked down upon in the +community. + +The Pharisees in particular were angry when they saw the company that +Jesus kept. One day they came to one of these dinner parties, and told +the disciples that they did not care for Jesus' choice of friends. + +"How is it," they asked, "that your master eats and drinks with +publicans and sinners?" + +Jesus heard them, and replied: + +"It is not well people who need a doctor, but the sick. I didn't come +here for the sake of the good people, such as you think that you are, +but for the sake of sinners--to lead them into a new life." + +But the Pharisees still objected. They said: + +"Look at John the Baptist. John is a good man. His disciples are so +religious that they sometimes go without their meals. Your disciples +always seem to be eating!" + +"Why shouldn't they eat and feast and be merry?" Jesus answered. "They +are like the friends of a man who is being married. When someone is to +be married, his friends have a great feast. They are joyful because +the bridegroom is with them. In the same way my disciples are joyful +because they have me with them." + +Jesus meant that they were joyful because he was the Messiah, and his +disciples were glad to be with him. But he did not say that he was the +Messiah, and no one knew what he was talking about. The Pharisees +would have had more respect for him if he had had a better class of +friends. Fishermen might do, but not publicans and sinners of that +sort! If only Jesus were more like John the Baptist! + +They never once thought that Jesus might be the Messiah. When they saw +the kind of friends he had, they wondered if he was even a good man. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +5. A Busy Time + + +The Pharisees may not have liked Jesus, but no one could deny that he +knew how to preach. The crowds that came to hear him were growing +larger. Often Jesus stood at the foot of a hill and preached to the +crowd that had gathered on the hillside. + +Now everyone who heard Jesus preach was likely to be surprised. For he +did not say the things that people expected to hear. Often he said the +very opposite of what they wanted him to say. + +He did not believe in giving people a good opinion of themselves. He +told them what was wrong with them. He did not say that it was easy to +be good. He said that it was much harder than anybody thought. He did +not try to preach sermons that would make him popular, for he was not +thinking of himself. He was thinking of what God had to say to the +people, and so he told them plainly what they ought to know and what +they ought to do. + +Jesus knew that his listeners found it easier to hate other people +than to love them. And so he stood one day at the foot of the hill and +said: + +"You have all heard the saying, Love your friend and hate your enemy. +But that is not what I say. I say, Love your enemies, bless those who +curse you, and pray for those who use you badly. That is what God +does. He makes the sun rise on everybody, good or bad. He sends the +rain to fall on everyone, no matter who he is. + +"If you love only those who love you, you don't deserve any credit for +that. That's what everybody does. Be like God. He is merciful, and you +ought to be merciful too. Forgive those who do you a wrong, or you +cannot expect God to forgive you." + +[Illustration] + +All the people thought that they were at least doing the right thing +in hating the Romans. How could anyone help hating those rough Roman +soldiers, who often came along and made Jews carry their packs for +them? But Jesus said, + +"If a Roman soldier makes you carry his pack for a mile, carry it +another mile as well, to show that you love him." + +Another thing that Jesus knew about his listeners was that many of +them were worried about money, and food and clothes. It was hard to +blame them for that; for some of the people were very poor, and were +never sure that they were going to get enough to eat. + +Jesus was poor enough himself. His disciples were also poor, and they +got no richer by following him. Turning to the disciples, Jesus said +to them, + +"Blessed are you who have nothing you can call your own." + +The disciples pricked up their ears. "Blessed"--that meant to be +fortunate, or well off. What was good about having nothing? Jesus went +on: + +"Blessed are you who have nothing, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. + +"Blessed are you who often go hungry, you shall be fed later on. + +"Blessed are you who are sad, the time will come when you will be +joyful. + +"Blessed are you, when other people hate you, and will have nothing to +do with you, because you are my disciples. Be glad when that happens, +because that is what has happened to all God's servants. God will +reward you for everything you suffer for my sake." + +There was silence. Jesus looked out over the crowd and spoke again, + +"Woe to you who are rich!" + +Again the disciples were amazed. The rich people would not like that! +The disciples were poor themselves, but they wondered what was wrong +with being rich. + +Jesus thought of a rich man whom he knew, who wore fine purple clothes +and ate the best food in the land. And he thought of a poor beggar who +sat all day long outside the rich man's house. His body was covered +with sores, and he was so hungry that he would have been glad to get +the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. But the only friends +he had were the dogs that came and licked his sores. + +Jesus continued, in a stern voice: + +"Woe to you who are rich! For you have already had everything you are +ever going to have! Woe to you who are well-fed! The time is coming +when you will go hungry. Woe to you who are enjoying yourselves all +the time! Someday you will weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well +of you! It is easy to be popular if you aren't faithful to God. That's +the way it has always been." + +Jesus knew that all of them were too much interested in the things +that money could buy. They wanted the Messiah to come so that he would +make them all rich. And so Jesus said, to show them where they were +wrong: + +"Don't be always thinking about what you are going to eat and drink +and wear. Why, that's the kind of thing the Romans worry about. There +is more to life than food and clothing." + +He paused for a moment. It was a warm summer day. The birds were +flying overhead, and singing; and up the hillside the wild flowers +made patches of color in the grass. Jesus spoke again: + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +"Look at the birds of the air. They never plant crops, or reap +harvests, or gather the grain into barns. Yet your Heavenly Father +feeds them. Are you not more important than birds? Think of the lilies +of the field, how they grow. They never yet made any clothes for +themselves, and yet the great King Solomon in all his glory was not so +beautifully clothed as one of these little flowers. You people who +have so little faith in God--think! If God clothes the flowers of the +field, which are here today and gone tomorrow, will he not clothe you? +Seek the Kingdom of God first of all, and you will be given all the +food and clothes you need. Never worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will +look after itself when it comes. Think about how you ought to live +today." + +There was another weakness that Jesus had seen in people, especially +in the Pharisees. They loved to show off their good deeds. He had to +speak about this too. + +"When you give something to the poor," he said, "don't make a great +noise about it, like some people I could mention, who want to impress +everybody with how generous they are. If you give anything, keep quiet +about it. God will know what you have done, and that's enough. + +"It's the same with prayer," Jesus continued. "Don't stand praying on +the street corners where everyone can see you. There are many people +who do that. When you pray, go into your own room and pray with the +door closed. God will hear you, and he is the only one who needs to +hear." + +[Illustration] + +Jesus had his admirers. Some people admired him so much that they +began to call him "Master" and "Lord." But Jesus did not think that +they were all in earnest. He spoke plainly about this also. + +"It won't do you any good to come saying, 'Lord, Lord,'" he said, +"unless you do the things God expects of you. Someday, I suppose you +will come and tell me of all the wonderful things you have done in my +name. And then I will have to say to you: 'I don't even know who you +are. Go away!' + +"If anyone hears my teachings, and does what I tell him to do, he will +be like a man who builds his house upon a rock. The rain comes down +and the wind blows, and the house keeps on standing there, because it +is built upon a rock. You will be strong like that house, if you do as +I say. But anyone who hears my teachings and pays no attention to them +is like a man who builds his house upon the sand. When the rains and +the floods and the winds come, the house will fall down and that will +be the end of it. You will be weak like that house, if you do not obey +my words." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +Now when the people heard how Jesus preached, they were amazed. They +wondered who this was who spoke to them as though he were God himself. +That was not how other preachers taught. They were always quoting +somebody else, as though they were afraid to speak for themselves. + +But Jesus simply said, "_I_ am telling you." He said, "Listen to +_me_." + + * * * * * + +Every Friday evening at sunset the Sabbath began, and there could be +no more work until sunset on the following day. Saturday morning all +the Jewish people went to attend the service in the synagogue. The +people would come in and take their places, with the most important +people up in front. At the beginning of the service, everyone stood +and faced in the direction of Jerusalem, and recited some verses from +the Scriptures. These were always the same. They began: "Hear, O +Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy +God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy +might." + +After this there was prayer. Then the minister opened a cabinet and +brought out the Scriptures, which were written on long pieces of skin +made into a kind of paper. The pieces were kept rolled up when they +were not in use. The minister brought two of the rolls and laid them +on the reading desk. Someone read the Scripture lessons then, and +after that anyone in the congregation who wished could go up to the +front and explain what the lesson meant. + +Like all the other Jews, Jesus went to the synagogue on Saturday +mornings. One Saturday when he and his disciples were in the town of +Capernaum they went to the service as usual. When the time came to +explain the lesson, Jesus went up to the front. He surprised the +people as he always did; but something else happened which surprised +them even more. + +There was suddenly a great commotion at the back of the synagogue. A +man began to cry out. There seemed to be some evil thing inside him, +which made him hate the very sight of Jesus. The people said that he +had "an unclean spirit." + +Strange, wild words came pouring out of the man's mouth. + +"Let me alone!" he cried. "What have I to do with you, Jesus of +Nazareth? Have you come to destroy me? I know who you are. You are the +Holy One of God!" + +Jesus stood his ground, and spoke to the evil thing in the man. + +[Illustration] + +"Be quiet," Jesus said, "and come out of that man." + +There was another wild shriek and then silence. The man looked around +him as though he wondered where he was. He was in his right mind +again. + +The people were amazed by what they had seen and heard. On the way +home from the synagogue they asked each other, + +"What kind of preaching is this, which makes a madman well again?" + +Before the day was over, word of what Jesus had done had gone all over +town. + +After the service, Jesus went to Simon's house, and there he found +more trouble waiting for him. Simon's wife's mother was sick in bed. +Jesus went to her bed-side, and took her hand, and helped her to her +feet. All at once the sickness left her, and she was able to prepare +the meal. + +Jesus could rest in the afternoon, but when the sun went down in the +evening he had to go to work again. Everyone had heard of how he cured +people who were out of their minds, and of how he was able to heal the +sick. As long as the Sabbath lasted, the people had to stay quietly at +home. But once the sun had set the Sabbath was over, and they could do +as they pleased. It seemed as though the whole town wanted to do only +one thing, and that was to go to see Jesus. + +A great throng of sick people were soon gathered outside the door of +the house, with everyone else in Capernaum looking on. Jesus came out +to heal the sick. Darkness fell, and night came on, and still the +people pressed around Jesus to have him touch them and make them well. +Hour after hour he worked with them, until it was too late to do +anything more that night. + +Yet Jesus was out of bed in the morning before the sun was up. It had +been a busy Sabbath, and he needed to go off by himself and rest. And +what he needed more than anything else was to pray. He wanted to be +alone for a while with his Father. So many people to preach to! So +many men who had begun to hate him! Jesus needed strength for it all, +and he knew that praying would make him strong. + +While everyone else was sleeping, and the darkness still lay upon the +land, Jesus silently slipped away from the house. He found a lonely +place, where no one would disturb him. + +But when Simon and the other disciples woke up, they could not wait +for him to come back. They went at once to look for him. And when they +had found him, they said, + +"Everyone is looking for you." + +It was quiet out there in the hills. Jesus would have liked to stay +there for the whole day. All day long he could have rested and prayed. +But then he thought of the people who were waiting for him. He thought +of the people who needed him. He thought of the places he had not yet +visited. There was so much to do, and there was so little time. + +[Illustration] + +He rose to his feet. + +"Let us go, then," he said. "Let us go to the next towns, so that I +can preach in them too. After all, that is why I came into the +world--to tell men the good news from God!" + +He left the quiet countryside, and went back to the towns. The people +who loved him were there. The people who needed him were there. And +the people who were afraid of him, and the people who had begun to +hate him--they too were there. + +Jesus returned to the towns, where his friends and his foes were +waiting. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +6. Friends and Foes + + +Jesus thought the time had come to visit Nazareth. Before he had gone +away, there was nobody who thought that he was a person of any great +importance. But he had become a famous man. The whole of Galilee was +talking about him. And now he was at home with his friends and family +again. + +On the Sabbath morning he went to the old familiar synagogue. There +was a full congregation that day, for everyone supposed that Jesus +would preach. He had never preached in Nazareth before. + +When the time came to read the Scripture lesson, Jesus walked up to +the front. He took the roll from the minister, and found the place he +wanted. It was in the book of the Prophet Isaiah. He began to read: + +"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to +preach good news to the poor; he has sent me to heal the +broken-hearted, to preach liberty to the prisoners and recovering of +sight to the blind, to set free those who suffer, and to say that God +will be good to his people." + +Jesus stopped reading and handed the roll back to the minister. He sat +down in the seat from which Jewish preachers always spoke to the +people in the synagogue. + +The whole congregation was very still, waiting to hear what Jesus had +to say. That was an exciting lesson he had read from the Scriptures. +It made the people think of the Messiah. Someday a preacher would be +able to say, "This has all come true!" And that would mean that the +Messiah had come. + +Jesus looked around at the faces he knew so well. Thirty years he had +lived among these people. Now he was back to tell them something that +they had never known before. + +He began to speak. + +"Today," he said, "you are seeing this Scripture lesson come true." + +[Illustration] + +A thrill ran through the audience. The Scripture had come true? The +Messiah was really here? Could he mean that _he_ was the Messiah? +The people gasped. Some laughed. Others were angry. They started to +talk among themselves. + +"The Messiah? Him? Why, that's only Jesus! The carpenter's son!" + +"Everybody knows who Jesus is! Lived down the street since I don't +know when!" + +"Who does he think he is?" + +Jesus again raised his voice above the others': + +"I know what you are going to say. You are going to quote that old +saying, 'Doctor, cure yourself.' You are going to tell me to start +doing the things I am supposed to have done in Capernaum. I'm not +surprised. A servant of God never gets any honor among his own people. +The same thing happened to the prophets long ago. + +"Don't expect me to do anything wonderful here in Nazareth. You +wouldn't believe it if you saw it. Why do you think you ought to get +any special favors from God?" + +A great roar went up from the congregation. All his old friends got up +from their seats and rushed to the front of the synagogue. They took +hold of Jesus and dragged him out of the building. At the edge of the +town there was a high cliff, and they took him there to throw him down +on the rocks below. But Jesus slipped out of their hands, and turned +around. Calmly he walked through the crowd. Nobody had the courage to +touch him again. + +Jesus never went back to Nazareth any more. Once, when he was +preaching in another town, someone came and told him that his mother +and his brothers had come to take him home. They thought that he ought +to stop this nonsense of pretending to be the Messiah. + +But Jesus would not go home with them, for they did not believe in +him. It was better to stay with his disciples. He was at home with +those who trusted him. + +"My mother?" he said. "My brothers?" + +He looked around at his disciples, and said: "These are my mother and +brothers--my own disciples. Anybody who obeys the will of God is my +brother and my sister and my mother, all in one. That's the kind of +family I want!" + + * * * * * + +Back in Nazareth nobody thought that Jesus was of much account. But in +other places he meant everything to people who needed help. The +Pharisees were often glad to see him go away. But the poor and the +sick could never see enough of him. + +Once there came to Jesus a man who was sick with the dreaded leprosy. +A leper's skin was deathly white, and his flesh was rotting, and he +was sure to die of the disease. Nobody needed help more than a leper +did, but no one would even touch him. + +The people back in Nazareth were too proud to admit that the +carpenter's son from down the street might be the Messiah. But a +leper did not have any pride. This leper came to Jesus, and fell on +his face before him, crying out, "Lord, if you will do it, you can +make me clean from this disease!" + +[Illustration] + +Then Jesus did what everybody else was afraid to do. He reached down +and put his hand on the sick man, and said: + +"I will. Be clean." + +At once the man was healed of his leprosy. Jesus told him to go and +give thanks to God, and not to tell anyone what had happened. But the +leper could not help telling. Jesus became still more famous as the +man who healed the sick. + +Another time he made a blind man see again. The Pharisees tried to get +this man to say that the person who cured him had not been sent from +God. But the man who had been blind knew better. When the Pharisees +tried to threaten him, he did not give an inch. He said: + +"Who ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of the blind since the +world began? But this man did it. How could he have made me see, if he +hadn't come from God?" + +When Jesus heard of this, he went and found the man who had been +blind, and asked him, + +"Do you believe that I am the Son of God?" + +The man answered, + +"Yes, Lord, I believe." + +The blind man had found his Messiah. + +Then there was a man who was paralyzed so that he could not move. His +friends wanted to bring him to Jesus, but there were so many people +standing around the house where Jesus was teaching that they could not +get near him. But somehow or other they must get the sick man there. + +Like many of the houses in Palestine, this house had a flat roof, with +a stairway leading up to it. They placed their friend on a mat, +carried him up the stairs, and cut a hole in the roof. After fastening +a rope to each corner of the mat, they gently lowered it to the floor, +right at Jesus' feet. + +Jesus was glad when he saw the faith they had in him. He looked at the +helpless man, and said, + +"Man, your sins are forgiven you." + +There were scribes and Pharisees standing there, waiting, as usual, to +find fault with Jesus. They began to talk among themselves. They said: + +"Who is this who is talking as if he were God? Such blasphemy! Who can +forgive sins, except God himself?" + +But Jesus knew what they were saying, and he answered them: + +"Which do you think is easier--to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' +or to say to this man, 'Pick up your mat and walk away'? I will show +you that I can do one as well as the other!" + +He turned to the paralyzed man and said, + +"Pick up your mat, and go on back to your house." + +The sick man got up from the floor, rolled up the mat and put it under +his arm, and went home. As he walked, there was a song of praise to +God in his heart. And many of the people who saw what had happened +were so surprised that they did not know whether to be glad or to be +afraid. But they all agreed on one thing. They said, + +"We have seen strange things today!" + +[Illustration] + +Nothing that Jesus did seemed to please the Pharisees. But there was +one thing that made them especially angry. He was not so careful as +they thought he ought to be about keeping the Law. + +Now the Law meant everything to the Pharisees. They were so much in +earnest about keeping God's Law that they were not satisfied with what +was in the Scriptures. They followed many rules which had been made up +since the Scriptures were written. Unless a man kept all these rules, +it did not matter to the Pharisees how much good he did. + +Jesus was always getting into trouble with them about the Sabbath. The +Pharisees had a list of thirty-nine different kinds of work that +nobody was allowed to do on the Sabbath Day. This list included so +much that unless a Jew was careful, he would be likely to break the +Sabbath without even knowing it. + +If he tied a knot that could be untied with one hand, that was all +right; but if he took two hands to untie it, then he had broken the +Sabbath. He even had to be careful about sitting in a chair, for if he +happened to drag his chair across the dirt floor the Pharisees said +that he was plowing, which was a great sin on the Sabbath Day. It was +forbidden to make a fire on the Sabbath. And so, if a woman wanted hot +food, she had to cook it the day before, and keep it warm. But that +did not mean that she could set it on a stove. For the stove might get +hotter than it was, and make the food hotter, and that was just the +same as making a fire. The only safe way to keep a meal hot was to +wrap the dishes in cloth or pigeon feathers. + +Jesus did not think that rules like this were what the Scriptures +meant when they said, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." He +did not think that this was the way to honor God. And because Jesus +did not agree with them about the Sabbath, the Pharisees were always +watching for a chance to put him in the wrong. + +Once, when Jesus and his disciples were walking through a field of +grain on the Sabbath Day, the Pharisees saw that the disciples were +eating some of the grain. There was nothing wrong with eating it, if +they were hungry. But the trouble was that in order to get the grain +they had to pluck the ears. That, said the Pharisees, was harvesting! +Moreover, they had to take the ripe ears and rub them in their hands +to get rid of the chaff. The Pharisees thought that that was just the +same as threshing! Such things to do on the Sabbath Day! The Pharisees +stopped the disciples, and demanded to know why they were doing +something that was against the Law. + +[Illustration] + +It was really Jesus with whom they wanted to pick a quarrel, and so +Jesus answered for the disciples: + +"Why, you must have read in the Scriptures that King David and his +soldiers once went into the Temple and ate some of the holy bread +which only a priest is allowed to eat. Surely if David could do a +thing like that, my disciples can pick a few ears of grain in a field! + +"You don't understand what the Sabbath is for," Jesus went on. "We +aren't supposed to be slaves to the Sabbath; this day is meant to do +us good. The Sabbath was made for man; man was not made for the +Sabbath." + +Then he added something else, which took the Pharisees by surprise: + +"The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." + +They were puzzled. Jesus was talking again as though he was the +Messiah. So far as the Pharisees could see, Jesus was just a preacher +who broke the Law. + +The Pharisees began to watch him still more carefully. They found +another chance to get him into trouble soon after this. Jesus had gone +into the synagogue to teach, and in the synagogue was a man whose hand +was withered and useless. On any other day there was no doubt that +Jesus would heal this man. But this was the Sabbath, and it was +against the Law to heal anybody on that day unless he were in danger +of dying. A man with a withered hand could wait another day. Surely +even Jesus would not dare to break the rules again! + +Jesus knew that they were watching to see what he would do. They would +never forgive him if he made a move to heal this man. + +He called out to the man, + +"Stand up--up here, in front of everybody!" + +When the man had come to the front, Jesus turned to the Pharisees. + +"I am going to ask you something," he said. "If any one of you owned a +sheep, and it fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn't you lift it +out? And don't you think that a man is worth more than a sheep? You +say that it is against the Law to heal a man on the Sabbath. _I_ say +that it is _always_ right to do good to somebody, on the Sabbath just +the same as any other day!" + +He looked around at the whole crowd. He was angry now. Would they +actually let a man suffer one day more than was necessary? He turned +back to the man with the useless hand. + +"Stretch out your hand!" he commanded. + +And when he spoke, the withered hand was healed, and made as good as +the other one. + +The Pharisees went out of the synagogue, and their faces were hard +with anger. + +"He has gone too far!" they said to one another. + +"He is breaking all our good rules. It is not safe for the country to +have him around. He ought to die!" + +[Illustration] + +They really meant it. They thought they were doing the right thing. +They were afraid of what Jesus would do. The Pharisees even called in +some of their enemies to ask their advice about the best way to get +rid of Jesus. + +Meanwhile Jesus had gone out of the city to be alone again. On a +lonely mountain, under the moon-light, he prayed to his Father all +night long. Back in the city men were planning to take his life. And +out on the mountain Jesus prayed for power to do good to men. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +7. Slow to Understand + + +Not all the Pharisees treated Jesus as an enemy. There was one of +them, named Simon, who decided to have Jesus come to his house for +dinner. + +Perhaps Simon thought that the other Pharisees were too hard on Jesus. +Perhaps he thought that he might show Jesus where he was wrong. Or +perhaps he was just curious. Jesus had become very well known, and +many people called him "Rabbi" or "Teacher." It would be interesting +to talk with the famous rabbi all afternoon. + +Whatever the reason was, Simon asked Jesus to come and have a meal +with him and his friends. + +While they were eating their dinner, a woman stole in quietly through +the open door. She had not been invited. Simon would never have +dreamed of inviting her into his house, for everyone in town gave her +a bad name. "She's not a good woman--not a nice woman at all," people +said. They turned their eyes away when they met her on the street. + +At any other time the woman would not have wanted to come to Simon's +home, for no one likes to be stared at coldly and be put out of the +house. But today was different. Jesus was there. + +She brought with her a box of ointment. Ointment was the gift that +Jewish people brought, when they wanted to honor an important person +or some dear friend. + +Clutching her box of ointment, the woman crept across the room to +where Jesus was sitting. She began to cry. The tears rolled down her +cheeks and dropped on Jesus' hot, dusty feet. Then she wiped his feet +with her hair and kissed them. She opened her precious box and began +to rub his feet with the soft white salve. + +No one spoke or moved. Simon was angry and disappointed with Jesus. +The other Pharisees were right after all! + +_So this is the great new prophet, sent from God!_ he thought to +himself. _If Jesus were a prophet, we shouldn't be looking at a scene +like this. He would know what kind of woman that is who is touching +him. Why, everybody knows how bad she is!_ + +Jesus did not need to be told what Simon was thinking. Still sitting +there, while the woman clung to his feet, Jesus spoke. + +"Simon, I have something to say to you." + +"Yes, Rabbi?" Simon replied. "What is it?" + +"Let me tell you a story," Jesus said. "There was once a moneylender +who had two men owing him money. One of them owed him five hundred +dollars, the other owed him fifty. Neither of them had anything with +which to pay him back, so the moneylender told them both to forget +about the debt--that they didn't need to pay. Now tell me--which of +those two men will love the moneylender most?" + +Simon answered, + +"Why, I suppose the man who owed him the most." + +"That's right," Jesus replied. "Now, Simon," he went on, "look at this +woman. When I came to your house today, you didn't even give me any +water to wash the sand off my feet, though that is what is done in +friendly homes. But this woman has washed my feet with her own tears, +and dried them with the hair of her head. You have scarcely been +polite to me; but this woman has done nothing but kiss my feet. You +never thought of putting ordinary olive oil on my head; but this woman +has put precious ointment on my feet. + +"You think this woman is a great sinner," Jesus continued, "and so she +is. She has done many things that are wrong. But her sins have been +forgiven her. I have brought her to a new life, and she doesn't have +to worry any more about the sins of the past. That is why she loves me +so much. But, of course, a person who hasn't had his sins forgiven +isn't going to know much about love." + +Jesus turned away from Simon. He might have added: + +"A cold Pharisee like you, so sure that nothing is wrong with you, is +a great deal worse off than this poor, sinful woman. You have got all +your sins still to worry about, and you don't even know it!" + +But Jesus did not say it. He left Simon to think that out for himself. +Instead, he spoke to the woman, + +"Your sins are forgiven." + +The other people in the room began to mutter to themselves: + +"There he goes--forgiving sins again! What right has he to forgive +anybody's sins?" + +But Jesus paid no attention. He spoke once more to the woman at his +feet: + +"Your faith in me has saved you," he said. "Everything is all right +now. Go in peace." + +That was the end of the dinner party at Simon's house. But it was not +the end of the talk and gossip about the kind of friends that Jesus +made. Some thought he must be bad himself because he had so much to do +with people to whom the Pharisees would not even speak. Everywhere he +went, there was the same complaint. + +Time and time again Jesus tried to explain why he was more interested +in sinners than in anyone else. Why, the people that the Pharisees +despised were the very people who needed his love the most! What could +be better than to save somebody from an evil life? + +Jesus told story after story, to show the Pharisees what he meant. One +time he said: + +"Suppose a shepherd had a hundred sheep, and one sheep strayed away +from the others and got lost. Would he not leave the other +ninety-nine, and go after the lost sheep until he found it? And when +he did find it, he would pick it up and carry it joyfully home. Then +he would go around and tell all his friends and neighbors. He would +say: 'Rejoice with me! For I have found my sheep that was lost.' + +"Or suppose a woman had ten silver coins, and dropped one of them on +the floor. Wouldn't she light a candle and sweep the floor and look +everywhere until she found it? Then she would say to her friends and +neighbors: 'Rejoice with me! For I have found the coin that I lost!' + +"In the same way," Jesus said, "God is more pleased over one sinful +person who stops sinning than over all the others who think they have +never sinned." + +The Pharisees still did not get the point. So Jesus tried again with +another story. He said: + +"A certain man had two sons. One day the younger son said, 'Father, +give me my share of the property which is coming to me,' So the +father gave each of the sons his share. + +"Then the younger son packed up his belongings, and went away to a far +country. There he spent all his money foolishly. After his money was +gone, this young man had nothing left to live on. He went to work for +a farmer, who sent him out to feed the pigs. He was so hungry that he +would have been glad to eat the pigs' food, but no one gave him +anything. + +"Then one day he said to himself: 'What a fool I am! Why am I staying +here?' He thought of how even the servants at home had plenty to eat, +while he was starving to death. He said: 'I will go back to my father, +and tell him that I have sinned against him and against God. I will +tell him that I am not worthy to be his son, and ask him to give me +work as one of his servants.' + +"So he went home. But before he reached the house, his father saw him +coming, and ran out to welcome him. The young man started to say, 'I +have sinned, and I am not worthy to be your son.' But his father +called out to a servant: 'Bring the best clothes in the house, and +shoes for my boy's feet. Then kill the fattest calf we have, and get a +feast ready. My son is back, and we are going to celebrate!' + +"Meanwhile, the older brother was out in the field. When he came home, +he heard music and dancing in the house. He asked a servant why they +were having a party. When he was told, he became very angry. He would +not even go into the house. When his father came out to ask him to +join the party, the older brother said: 'All these years I have stayed +at home and helped you! I did everything you told me to. In all that +time you never once gave me a party. But when my brother comes back +from spending your money--why, nothing is too good for him!' + +"But the father answered him kindly. 'Son,' he said, 'you are always +with me, and everything I have is yours. It is right that we should +celebrate, and be happy. For it is as if your brother had been dead, +and now he is alive again. He was lost, and now he is found.'" + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +The days went by. Some days were good, and some were bad. Once in a +while Jesus would find somebody who seemed to understand him and +believe in him. Then again it would seem that he was failing in what +he tried to do. + +The time he healed the Roman officer's servant was one of the good +days. Jesus was just coming back to Capernaum after preaching out in +the country, when this officer approached him. Although he was a +Roman, and the captain of a company of Roman soldiers, this man was +well liked in Capernaum. For he had built the Jews a synagogue, and +everyone knew that he loved the Jewish people. + +He came to Jesus, and said, "Lord, my servant is lying at home, very +sick and suffering greatly." + +Jesus replied at once, "I will come and heal him." + +But the officer shook his head. + +"Lord," he said, "I am not worthy that you should come into my house. +Just speak a word, standing here, and that will heal my servant. You +see, I have an army under me. I say to a soldier, 'Come here,' and he +comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it right away. +You have that kind of power too. You just have to say that my servant +shall be healed, and he _will_ be healed." + +Jesus was joyful when he heard these words. To those who were standing +around he said: + +"I tell you, I have not found among the Jewish people anyone who +believes in me so much as this Roman does! And I tell you this too: +When you talk about the Kingdom of God you shouldn't think that God +has no place in it for anyone except Jews. God is going to bring +together people from every country, everybody who has faith like this +officer's faith. And some of the Jews may find themselves outside the +Kingdom looking in!" + +Then he turned to the officer and said: + +"Go back to your house. You have had faith in me, and I will give you +what you ask." + +When the officer went home, he found that his servant had recovered +from his illness while Jesus was speaking. + +That was one of the good days, when Jesus found a new believer. But a +bad day came, when Jesus found that his oldest friend had begun to +lose faith in him. John the Baptist was not sure any longer that Jesus +was the Messiah. + +And John was in trouble. He had preached against King Herod, the son +of the king who had died when Jesus was a baby. Herod married another +man's wife, and John the Baptist said that this was a sin. Herod threw +John into jail. + +As John lay in his prison cell day after day, he began to wonder about +Jesus. Had he been wrong in thinking that Jesus was the Messiah? Jesus +did not seem to have done very much as yet. The Romans were still in +the country. The rich people were as bad as they had always been, and +the poor were just as poor. + +At last John could not stand it any longer. When two of his followers +visited him in jail, he sent them to ask Jesus who he really was. + +"Ask him," said John, "'Are you or are you not the Messiah?'" + +John's followers found Jesus busy healing the sick. They drew him +aside, and told him what John wanted to know. + +"Are you the One who was to come," they asked, "or must we look for +somebody else?" + +So even John the Baptist had his doubts! John, the man who had said +that he was not worthy to baptize Jesus; the same John who once +called Jesus the Lamb of God! + +[Illustration] + +Jesus pointed to the crowd of people whom he had been healing, and he +said to John's disciples: + +"Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard here. Tell him I +am doing what I can. Tell him how the blind are getting back their +sight. Tell him too, how the lame are learning to walk, and how the +lepers are being cured. Tell him that I am preaching to the poor. Tell +him all about what I am doing, and let him decide for himself whether +or not I am the Messiah. And tell him this: Blessed is anyone who +believes in me, and takes me just as I am!" + +Jesus never heard what John thought of this message. For John did not +live much longer. One night King Herod gave a birthday party, and a +pretty girl danced so well that the king offered to give her anything +she asked. The girl went to her mother, to find out what she ought to +say. Her mother hated John the Baptist because he had spoken the +truth, and so she told her daughter: + +"Ask for the head of John the Baptist to be brought in here on a +platter!" + +[Illustration] + +The girl went to the king, and asked for John's head. The king was +sorry then that he had made that promise, for he was half afraid of +John. However, he had to keep his word. And so he sent servants to the +prison, and they cut off the head of John the Baptist with a sword, +and brought it back to the palace on a platter. + +When Jesus heard what had happened, he felt very sad. He said, + +"Let us go out to some quiet place, and rest awhile." + +[Illustration] + +Things were not going very well. John the Baptist was dead, and Herod +might be planning to kill Jesus next. Some men, in fact, came one day +to warn him to get out of Herod's kingdom. + +"Go and tell that fox," he said, "that I am busy curing the sick and +conquering evil, and neither Herod nor anybody else is going to stop +me until I have finished my work!" + +But things were going badly, just the same. Jesus saw that there were +not many of the people who understood his message or knew who he was. +A few believed in him, but others soon lost interest in him, if they +ever cared at all. Only once in a long while did he see any results +from all his work. + +He explained this in one of his stories when he said: + +"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some of the seed fell +in the pathway, and people walked on it, or the birds ate it up. Some +fell on a rock, and this seed began to grow; but no sooner had it +sprung up than it died, because it did not have deep roots. Some fell +among thornbushes; and the thorns grew faster than the seed, and +choked it. But some of the seed fell on good ground, and there it grew +into a good harvest." + +When the disciples were alone with him, they asked Jesus to tell them +what this story meant. He said that the seed stood for the words that +he spoke to them. Some people heard him, but they soon forgot what he +said. That was like seed falling on the pathway. + +Others were very excited about what he said when they first heard it, +but when it was hard to do what he told them they soon gave up trying. +That was like seed falling on a rock, where there was no soil or water +to give it root. + +Then there were some who cared more about money and pleasure than they +cared about God. That was like seed being choked by thorns. + +But some people heard Jesus preach; and they believed in him, with +good and honest hearts, and they were faithful. That was when his +preaching brought results, and it was like seed falling on good rich +earth. + +"Unless people have faith in me," said Jesus, "they will never +understand God. They will see the things I do, and never even know +what they are looking at. They will listen to me, and never know what +they are hearing. I can do nothing with them. But you--my +disciples--you have faith in me. You will understand everything +someday." + +The disciples were going to be good ground for the seed that Jesus +sowed. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +8. Jesus Is Strong + + +That night Jesus said to the disciples, "Let us go across the lake." + +Simon and Andrew and James and John were fishermen. They knew where to +get a boat, and they knew how to sail it too. + +All twelve disciples, along with Jesus, climbed into a boat and pushed +away from shore. + +The Sea of Galilee was a lovely blue lake in the daytime, when the +sunlight sparkled on the water. In the evening it was lovely too, when +the waves were lapping peacefully against the side of a boat, and the +stars came out twinkling overhead. + +But the Sea of Galilee was not always so lovely or so peaceful. +Sometimes the wind came roaring down the steep banks around the lake, +and the water grew white and angry. + +Then again everything might be calm and quiet when a boat left the +land. But before it had gone very far a storm might be howling all +around. It would toss the boat around like driftwood, and then it +would be too late to turn back to shore. + +Some of the disciples were fishermen, and they had fished here all +their lives. They knew what the sudden storms were like. It was no +surprise to them when the stars disappeared as though the rising wind +had blown them out. They knew what was coming now. The night would +grow black as ink, and the great foaming waves would smash against the +ship and fill it up with water. There was nothing anyone could do +about it. Nobody could sail or row or steer the boat any longer. Only +God himself could bring the poor sailors safe to shore. + +The sea was rough already, and getting rougher every minute. They were +afraid. They were always afraid of the sea when storms began to blow. +It was so big and dangerous and terrible, and men were so small and +weak! It was like a frightful monster, tossing them up and down before +it swallowed them alive. + +If only they had stayed on the good, safe land! They had been so +worried and so tired that night; so discouraged about Jesus and his +work. And now there was this storm on top of everything! It looked as +if none of them would live to see another day. They had left their +homes and families behind, to follow Jesus. What was the use of +following Jesus if they were all to be drowned? + +Now the boat was full of water. They tried to bail it out, but the +fishermen knew that nothing they could do would be of any use. + +In the dark they could hardly see one another's faces. Where was +Jesus? No one had heard a word from him since the storm began to blow. + +They found him at the back of the boat, just where he was when they +left the shore. He was stretched out on a seat, resting on a pillow. +And he was fast asleep! + +The disciples were angry. Any minute now the boat was going to turn +over, and there was Jesus sleeping as though nothing in the world were +wrong! + +One of the men took Jesus by the shoulders, and shook him awake. They +shouted at him, "Master, doesn't it matter to you if we are all +drowned?" + +Jesus rose to his feet in the tossing boat. The wind blew in his face, +and he seemed to be answering it. The sea smashed against the boat +again, and Jesus cried out, "Peace, be still!" + +All at once the wind began to die away. The waves tossed for a minute +or two longer, but not so strongly now. Everything was growing quiet. +The stars began to shine again, and soon there was no sound but the +water lapping gently against the boat. + +Jesus spoke to the disciples: + +"Why were you so frightened? How is it that you still haven't any +faith in me?" + +But the disciples scarcely noticed what he was saying. They were more +afraid than ever. This time it was not the sea that frightened them. +They were afraid of Jesus. They said to one another: + +"What kind of man is this? When he speaks, even the wind and the sea +obey him!" + +[Illustration] + +In the morning they brought their little boat to land on the other +side of the lake. Over here in the country of the Gadarenes, Galilee +seemed very far away. + +A high cliff rose above the sea. Jesus and the disciples climbed up +and looked around. There was nothing much to see except some men +feeding a herd of pigs. In the distance was a graveyard. + +Suddenly a man came running out of the graveyard. He was naked, and +his body was covered with cuts and bruises. The man was out of his +mind, and he lived by himself in the graveyard, and wandered through +the mountains. Other people had often tried to chain him up, but he +was so strong that he broke the chains as if they were made of string. +He could be heard crying out, day and night, and he was always cutting +himself with sharp stones. No one dared to go near him. + +The madman ran toward Jesus, shouting at him. His words were like +those of the other madman who had interrupted Jesus in the synagogue +service. + +"What have I to do with you, Jesus? What have I to do with the Son of +the most high God? Don't torment me!" + +Jesus said to him, "What is your name?" + +The man answered: "My name is Legion. There's a whole legion of devils +inside me!" + +The disciples were meanwhile listening in horror. There was something +evil in this man, something as dreadful as the storm of the night +before. They heard Jesus say: "Come out of the man!" Then they seemed +to hear many Voices crying out, and calling to Jesus, and pleading +with him. And they heard Jesus say, "Go!" + +The wild look left the man's eyes. And at that very moment the pigs +went wild. The man was in his right mind now, but it seemed as though +the pigs had gone crazy. With a great snorting and squealing they ran +to the cliff and plunged into the sea. + +After that everything was quiet. It was as quiet as it had been when +Jesus stilled the storm. The evil thing was gone. The morning sun was +shining brightly on a peaceful countryside. There was nothing dreadful +any more. + +But what they had seen was too much for the men who had been feeding +the pigs. As fast as their legs would take them they ran to the +nearest town and told everybody what had happened. The people came +flocking out of the town to see for themselves. When they came they +found the madman sitting there talking to Jesus. He had put on his +clothes, and he was just as sensible as anybody else. + +The people had been terribly afraid of the madman, but now they were +afraid of Jesus. They had tied this man up with chains, and still they +could not hold him. Yet here was a stranger from Galilee who cured the +madman with a few words. _What kind of man is this?_ they thought. +_What kind of power does he have?_ + +[Illustration] + +They were so worried about what Jesus might do next that they asked +him to leave the country. Without a word Jesus took his disciples back +to the boat. The man who had been out of his mind followed him, and +asked if he might go along. But Jesus told him: + +"No, you have work to do here. Go back home to your friends. Tell them +what the Lord has done for you." + +The man went back to the city, and began to tell his story. The story +went abroad through that whole country, and everyone who heard it was +amazed. + + * * * * * + +For the disciples it had been a night and day of wonders. But as they +sailed home across the lake they did not know that an even greater +triumph was waiting for Jesus on the other side. + +As their boat drew near to land, they saw a crowd standing on the +shore. Everyone had been watching anxiously, waiting for Jesus to +come. + +When Jesus stepped ashore, the waiting crowd made way for a man who +was well known in the town. His name was Jairus, and he was the chief +officer of the synagogue. + +Jairus fell down at Jesus' feet and began to plead with him to come to +his house at once: + +"My little girl is dying. Please come and put your hands on her, and +heal her, and make her live!" + +[Illustration] + +Jesus went with Jairus, and the whole crowd followed to see what he +was going to do. As they walked along the street, with people +pressing in on them from every side, Jesus suddenly stopped and said, + +"Who touched my clothes?" + +The disciples could not imagine what he was talking about. They said +to him: + +"Why, don't you see the crowd? Everybody is touching you! What do you +mean by asking, 'Who touched my clothes?'" + +But Jesus answered: + +"There's someone in particular who touched me. I felt power going out +of me." + +With that, a poor woman came out of the crowd and fell down in front +of Jesus. She was trembling with fear. She told him her whole story. +For twelve years she had been sick. She had spent all her money on +doctors, and she never got any better. She thought that if only she +could touch his clothes, without anyone seeing her, she would be made +well. + +Jesus looked at her kindly, and said: + +"Your faith has made you well. Go in peace." + +Meanwhile Jairus was waiting impatiently for Jesus to come along. Soon +it might be too late! + +At that very moment a message came from Jairus' house. The worst had +happened. The little girl had died, and there was no use troubling +Jesus. Already it was too late. + +But before Jairus could speak, Jesus took him by the arm and said: + +"Don't be afraid. Just keep on believing." + +He sent the crowd away, and told the disciples that none of them could +come with him except Simon and James and John. + +Jairus led the way to his house. When they got there they found that +the bad news was true. The little girl had really died. Already the +flute players, who played at funerals in Palestine, had arrived. +Everyone was mourning and weeping. + +Jesus spoke sharply to the mourners. + +"Why are you making all this fuss?" he asked. "The little girl isn't +dead. She is only sleeping." + +Everyone laughed at him, as though he were a fool. "So he doesn't know +the difference between being asleep and being dead," they said to +themselves. But Jesus told them to get out of the house. When they +were gone he took Jairus and his wife, and the three disciples, and +went into the little girl's room. + +There could be no doubt about it--the girl was dead. She was lying +white and cold and still. No doctor in the world could ever help her +again. + +Jesus bent over the still body, and opened his mouth to speak. Simon +and James and John held their breath. Not many hours before, they had +heard him say to the sea, "Peace, be still." When he spoke, the sea +obeyed him. They heard him speak to a madman, and after he spoke the +man was in his right mind again. But what use would it be to speak to +someone who was dead? The dead could not hear him! + +Or could they hear him? Had Jesus not once told them, "The dead hear +my voice"? + +[Illustration] + +The little girl did not know anything. She did not hear anything. She +could not know or hear anything, for she was dead. + +Then a voice came through the silence. The little girl began to hear +someone talking. It was a man's voice, and it was saying the very +words her mother used each morning to wake her up from sleep. + +"Little girl, get up!" she heard. + +She opened her eyes. She looked into the face of Jesus. He took her +hand, and helped her to her feet. Her parents were there too. She went +to them. + +"Give her something to eat," said Jesus. "And say nothing about what +has happened." + +But no one could keep a secret like that. Soon everyone had heard the +story. Everybody heard how Jesus spoke and brought the dead back to +life. + +[Illustration] + + + + +9. Refusing a Crown + + +Up until this time, Jesus had done all the preaching, and the +disciples had listened. Jesus had healed the sick, and the disciples +had watched. Now, however, Jesus told the disciples that it was time +for them to work also. He called the twelve together, and said: + +"I am going to send you out in my place. You are to divide up into +pairs. Each pair will go and preach in the towns and villages. You +will tell the people what you have heard me say--that God has come to +the earth to rule over men's hearts. When you see people who are sick +or out of their minds, you are to make them well, just as you have +seen me do." + +[Illustration] + +He told them plainly what they were to do. + +"Don't take any money with you," Jesus said, "and don't ask for money +from anybody. Don't take many clothes, either; you are to travel +quickly, and attend to your work, without worrying about money or +clothes. You will be taken care of." + +"When you go into a city or a village, find some family that will +welcome a preacher; and stay in that home until you go to the next +place. If nobody will listen to you, go somewhere else. But before you +go, warn the people in the place which you are leaving that they have +sinned by not paying attention to God's message." + +So the disciples went out and preached as Jesus told them. They healed +the sick, as Jesus did. + +[Illustration] + +The trip was a great success. After many days the disciples began to +come back home, with many stories about their experiences. When they +were all with Jesus again, they sat down and told him everything they +had said and done. + +Jesus listened to their stories, and then he said: + +"It is time for you to take a rest. Come with me to some lonely place +where nobody will disturb us for a while." + +They got into their boat, and sailed up to a quiet place they knew of, +near the town of Bethsaida. But they got no chance to rest after all, +for the people at Capernaum saw them leaving. + +"There go Jesus and his disciples!" somebody said. "They're heading +for Bethsaida!" + +A crowd of people began to walk around the shore of the lake. As they +went, others joined them from the towns and countryside round about. +Jesus was the most popular man in Galilee just then. Wherever he went, +he might be sure that a crowd would follow him. + +The people walked and ran, and by hurrying they reached the quiet spot +near Bethsaida as soon as Jesus did. When he stepped out of the boat, +thousands of people were waiting for him on the shore. Jesus had gone +away for a rest, but when he saw the people he felt sorry for them. + +_They are like a flock of sheep_, he thought--_a flock of sheep with +no shepherd to look after them._ + +They had spoiled his holiday, but Jesus spoke to the people and said +that he was glad to see them. Then he began to teach, just as he did +in the cities and towns. All day long he taught, and if there were any +who were sick, he healed them. + +The day wore on, and evening was drawing near. One or two of the +disciples pulled Jesus' sleeve, and said to him: + +"Master, it is getting late. Hadn't you better send them away to find +something to eat in the towns near by? There is nothing for them out +here in the country." + +Jesus answered: "There is no need for them to go away. Give them +something to eat right here!" + +The disciples looked at him as if they did not know whether he was +serious or not. They said: "Do you mean that you want us to go and buy +food for all these people? Where would we get enough money for that?" + +Andrew said: "There's a boy here with five loaves of bread and a +couple of fishes. But how far will that go among five thousand +people?" + +Jesus only answered, "Tell them to sit down on the grass." + +The disciples went among the crowd, and had the people sit down in +groups, fifty in each group. + +Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes, and as he held them, he +said a prayer of thanks to God. Then he broke the loaves, and gave the +bread and the fish to the disciples and told them to pass the food +around among the crowd. They passed it here and they passed it there, +but they never ran out of food. Nobody could tell where it was coming +from, but there was enough for everyone and some left over. + +The people were hungry after their long walk and the hours of standing +in the sun. They ate heartily. As they finished their meal, they began +to think about what had happened. + +"Where did all this food come from?" they began to ask themselves. +"Where did Jesus get all that food?" "There were but five loaves and a +couple of fishes and yet we have all had enough and to spare!" + +[Illustration] + +The crowd began to talk in excited voices. "Jesus gave us this food." +"A wonderful thing! He gave us food to eat, when there wasn't +anything here!" "Why, this is just the man we have been looking for!" +"There's the man to make the Jews strong and rich--he makes food out +of nothing!" + +The people were rising to their feet. + +"Make him a king!" they started to cry. "Jesus is the man to be king +of the Jews!" they shouted. "We want our king!" + +But Jesus was not there any longer. Jesus had gone; he had slipped +away through the crowd and disappeared. Even the disciples did not +know where he was. He stayed alone in the mountains until long after +dark. + +Those foolish people! That foolish, foolish crowd! They did not +understand him at all. Did they never think of anything except their +stomachs? + +Jesus remembered how the devil had once tempted him in the wilderness. +What was it that the devil had said? "If you are the Messiah, make +these stones into bread." + +Yes, all the people would be for him so long as he gave them something +to eat. They would even make him a king, if they thought he was the +man to get rid of the Romans and make the country free and rich and +great. Why, they had offered to make Jesus a king that very day! They +said that he was just the man they had been waiting for! + +But that was not what Jesus had come to do. He did not want to be that +kind of king. + +It was soon to be Passover time. Many years ago, at Passover time, +Jesus had been a boy at the Temple in Jerusalem, watching as the lambs +were killed for a sacrifice. A year from now it would be Passover +again. And then it would be time to go to Jerusalem once more. He +would go to Jerusalem, and he would be the King of the Jews. Then he +would do what he always knew that he would have to do someday. + + * * * * * + +When Jesus came back to Capernaum, he gathered his band of disciples +together and took them away again. This time he took them so far away +that no one would follow them. No one wanted very much to follow, +anyway, for the people were hurt and angry because Jesus would not be +their king. + +Jesus led the disciples away to the north, into the country near +Caesarea Philippi. Here one of the rivers that flowed into the Jordan +came springing out of a cave in a hill. Here too the Greek people +round about had built temples for their heathen gods. + +Jesus wanted to be alone with his disciples, for the time had come to +have an important talk. He said to them: "Who do people say that I +am?" + +The disciples answered: "Some people say that you are John the +Baptist, come back from the dead. Others say that you are Elijah, or +Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets come back to earth. Everyone +thinks that you are a great man." + +[Illustration] + +"But who do _you_ say that I am?" Jesus asked. + +There was silence. Then Simon spoke up: "You are the Messiah--the +Christ--the Son of the living God!" + +That was it! That was what Jesus was waiting for! His face lighted up +in joy. He turned to Simon, and exclaimed: "That is the best thing +that could happen to you, Simon, to find out who I am! And no human +being could have told you! Only God himself can have shown you that I +really am the Messiah, when nobody else believes it. And now you are +going to have a new name, Simon. I am going to call you 'Peter' from +now on, for the name 'Peter' means 'The Rock.' You have faith in me, +and your faith is like a rock. I am going to build my Church on faith +like yours, and nothing shall ever conquer it. It will be the +strongest thing in all the world. + +"And now"--Jesus began to speak more quietly--"and now that you know +who I really am, I have many things to tell you. In the first place, +you must not say anything about my being the Messiah--not just yet. +And this is more important: I am not going to be very popular any +more. I am going up to Jerusalem, and when I get there, my enemies +will plot against me and put me to death." + +Peter thought that this was nonsense. Everyone knew that the Messiah +would not be killed like that, but would instead be a great warrior +and a triumphant king. In a bold voice Peter spoke up again: "Don't be +foolish. Nothing of that sort is going to happen!" + +Jesus turned on Peter. This time he was not joyful; he was angry. He +talked to Peter in the same way he had once talked to the devil in the +wilderness. + +He said: "Get behind me, Satan! The devil has got into you, Peter! God +didn't have anything to do with what you said to me just now. You're +talking like everybody else. You're weak. A man who tries to save his +own life is sure to lose it. But if a man gives up his life because of +me--ah, that man will really know what it means to live!" + +But Jesus saw that the disciples did not understand. Even Peter was +losing his faith again. Somehow he must make them believe in him and +trust in him. + +So six days later he took Peter and James and John, to whom he showed +the most secret things, up into a high mountain. And there the +disciples saw a marvelous vision. Jesus' face became bright as the +sun, and his clothes shone like the morning light. They said afterward +that Moses and Elijah, who were great among the Jews in the days of +long ago, came down and talked with Jesus. + +Peter spoke timidly this time, for he did not know what to say. + +"Lord," he said, "it is good for us to be here. Let us build three +tabernacles here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." + +Then a great cloud came, like a shadow, over the mountain. They heard +a voice from the cloud, like the voice of God, saying: "This is my +beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him!" + +The disciples fell down to the ground, and there they lay until Jesus +came and touched them. At his touch they looked up, and there was no +one to be seen but Jesus standing there alone. + +"Come away," said Jesus, "and tell nobody what you have seen." + +They followed him down the mountain, back to where other people were. + +Long afterward, they spoke of what had happened. They told of the +brightness, and the beauty, and the visitors from olden days, and the +voice which said that Jesus was the Son of God. But in those days they +never said a word. + +They knew that on the mountaintop they had been with God. + + + + +10. The Way to Jerusalem + + +Jesus had made up his mind that he would go to Jerusalem for the +Passover next year. He knew that if he did he would get into trouble. +The disciples knew it too, for he had told them so. There was a hard +time ahead for them all. + +There was hardly anyone whom Jesus could count on any more. Often even +the disciples did not understand him. Once in a while other people +would offer to come along and be disciples too. But few actually came, +after Jesus explained how much he expected his disciples to give up +for his sake. + +There was one man who came to Jesus, and said bravely, "Lord, I will +follow you wherever you go!" + +Jesus replied: "Even the foxes have holes in the ground to sleep in at +night. The birds of the air have their nests. But I travel across the +country without a home that I can call my own." + +The man thought of his own comfortable house, and decided he did not +want to follow Jesus after all. + +Another time Jesus invited a man to join him. This man said that he +would be glad to come, but that his father had just died, and he must +first look after the funeral. That would take a long time, for the +Jews loved their customs, and when anybody died they held ceremonies +which lasted for many days. Jesus could not wait for this man, so he +answered: + +[Illustration] + +"Let people who don't believe in me look after things like that. You +have something more important to do. Your job is to go out and preach, +right away. That's what you would do if you really believed in me." + +Still another man was willing to come, if only he could first go home +and say good-by to his family. Jesus saw that this man too had not +really decided to give up everything for God. He told him: + +"You're like a farmer who starts to plow a field, and then turns +around and wonders if he shouldn't be doing something back at the +house. Unless you put your whole heart into following me, I'm afraid +you will never be of much use." + +Even some of those who used to call themselves followers of Jesus were +going away. Jesus said to the twelve, who had been with him from the +beginning: + +"Are you going to leave me too?" + +Peter answered: "Lord, where would we go? We should die if we did not +hear your words. We believe that you are the Christ." + +Jesus said, "Yes, you are the men I have chosen to be with me--though +there is one of _you_ who will come to a bad end." + +He was speaking of a disciple named Judas Iscariot, though the others +did not know it. Jesus knew that Judas was not to be trusted. + +In those difficult days Jesus spent much of his time in prayer. The +disciples felt that they also needed strength and help from God. Once, +when Jesus had finished praying, they said to him, + +"Lord, teach us to pray, just as John the Baptist used to teach his +disciples." + +So Jesus taught them a prayer, and this is how it went: + +"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom +come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day +our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. +And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine +is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." + +Then Jesus looked at his disciples, and told them that they ought to +pray more than they did. + +"Suppose," he said, "one of you went to a friend's house at midnight, +and called through the window, 'Lend me some bread, for company has +come unexpectedly and I haven't anything in my house.' Your friend +might not want to get up out of bed, but if you kept on pleading with +him, he would give you what you asked for. In the same way, keep on +praying to God! Prayer is like knocking on a door. Knock, and the door +will be opened." + +Jesus knew, better than the disciples did themselves, how much they +were going to need God's help. + + * * * * * + +Jesus ran into a great many trying people in the next few months. One +day there was a lawyer who thought that he knew more than Jesus did. +He wanted an argument which would give him a chance to show how much +he knew, so he came and asked Jesus, + +"What should I do to have eternal life?" + +Jesus answered, "What does it say in the Law?" + +The lawyer replied, "It says, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with +all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and +with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.'" + +Jesus said: "That is right. Those are the things you ought to do." + +It sounded to the lawyer as though Jesus were saying, "If you knew all +along, why did you need to ask me in the first place?" The lawyer +thought that he would get the better of Jesus, so he replied, + +"Well, just who is the neighbor that I am supposed to love?" + +[Illustration] + +Jesus answered with a story: + +"A man was traveling on the lonely road between Jerusalem and Jericho. +As so often happens there, some thieves jumped out of a hiding place, +and robbed him and beat him. He was lying there half dead, when a +priest from the Temple in Jerusalem came along. He took one look at +the wounded man, and kept on going along the other side of the road. +Then somebody else from the Temple, who was supposed to be a very +religious sort of person, passed by, and the same thing happened. + +"Finally a Samaritan came along. I don't need to tell you how +Samaritans and Jews hate each other! But this Samaritan was sorry for +the wounded man. He put bandages on his wounds, and took him to an +inn. Before he left next morning, the Samaritan went to the innkeeper. +He paid the bill for the man who had been robbed. Then he told the +innkeeper to take care of the man, and the Samaritan said he would pay +for anything more that was needed the next time he came. + +"Now, think of those three men who passed along the road. Which of +them was a real neighbor to the man who was robbed?" + +The lawyer said, "Why, the one who helped him, of course." + +"Then," said Jesus, "go and do the same." + +What Jesus wanted the lawyer to understand was: + +"You really know what a good neighbor should be, because God has been +good to you. But you are not much interested in being a neighbor to +people who need your help." + +But if the lawyer did not see that for himself, there was no use +telling him. He would be too proud to understand. + +Another day there was a man who came to Jesus and said: + +"Master, I wish you would speak to my brother. Our father died a +little while ago, and my brother is keeping all the property for +himself. Make him give me my share of it." + +Jesus would have nothing to do with the quarrel. He told this man: + +"You ought to think of something besides money and property. There is +more to life than owning things. Let me tell you a story. + +"There was a farmer whose crops were so good that he had no place to +put all the harvest. He said to himself: 'I will pull down my old +barns, and build bigger ones, and put my crops in them. Then I will +take life easy, for I have enough money to last me for many years.' + +"But do you know what happened? That very night God said to him, 'You +fool, you are going to die tonight; and what good are your crops and +your money going to be to you then?' That's what becomes of people who +keep all their money for their own selfish use, and never think about +God." + +There was another man who was a great disappointment to Jesus. He was +a young man--rich, and a leader in the community. He came and kneeled +before Jesus, and said, + +"Good Master, what should I do in order to have eternal life?" + +This was like the lawyer's question, but this man asked it in a +different spirit. He really wanted to know. + +Jesus answered: + +"Do you know what you are saying when you call me 'Good Master'? No +one is good except God." + +Jesus was wondering if the rich young man knew that he was talking to +the Messiah, or if he thought that Jesus was just a man who was a +little better than others. However, he went on: + +"If you want to have eternal life, keep God's commandments. You know +what they are: Do not kill, do not steal, live a pure life, do not +tell lies, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as +yourself." + +[Illustration] + +The young man exclaimed: "But I have kept all those commandments ever +since I was a boy! What is it that is wrong with me?" + +When Jesus saw that the young man was in earnest, he loved him. He +replied: + +"There is indeed something wrong with you. It is the way you love your +money. Give it away to the poor, and you will be rewarded in heaven. +Give up everything you have, and come and follow me." + +The young man got slowly to his feet. No! That was asking too much! +How could he live without his money? He needed his money. How did he +know that God would look after him if he did not take care of himself? +Without another word he went away. + +"How hard it is," Jesus said, "for rich people to obey God!" + +The disciples were amazed. They had always thought that the reason why +some people were rich was that God was pleased with the good lives +they had been living. They said, "If there isn't any hope even for +rich people, is there any hope for _anybody_?" + +"No," Jesus replied, "there isn't any hope for anybody. No one is good +enough. But God can help and save sinners, whether they are rich or +poor. God is everybody's hope." + +Peter spoke for the rest of the disciples. He said, "Well, we have +given up everything to follow you." + +Jesus answered, "If you have given up anything for my sake you will +never have reason to be sorry for it, either in this life or after you +die." + + * * * * * + +The months were going by, and it was time to be getting on toward +Jerusalem. Jesus took his disciples and crossed to the east side of +the river Jordan. They traveled south, and then crossed the Jordan +once again and came to the city of Jericho. + +In the rich earth around Jericho beautiful gardens grew, and the palm +trees stood tall. Travelers who came from the swamps of the Jordan +loved to stop at Jericho before they took the hard and lonely road +that led to Jerusalem. There were desert lands and hills ahead, but at +Jericho there was water to drink, and good food to eat, and a place +to stay in comfort. But Jesus could not stay long in Jericho. It was +to Jerusalem that he was going, and nothing could hold him back. + +The people at Jericho heard that Jesus was passing through their city, +and a crowd gathered in the streets to catch a glimpse of him as he +went by. There was a man named Zacchaeus there. He was shorter than +most other men, and he could not see Jesus because of the crowd around +him. There was no use asking anyone to help him, for no one liked +Zacchaeus. He was a taxgatherer, as Matthew once had been, and had +grown rich collecting taxes. But he had grown unpopular too. The Jews +thought him a traitor, for although he was a Jew he worked for the +Romans, and made his fortune out of cheating his fellow Jews. + +But Zacchaeus was determined not to miss seeing Jesus. Running on +ahead of the crowd, he climbed a sycamore tree. High above the street, +he could look down at Jesus, but there was no reason to think that +Jesus would look up at him. + +However, when Jesus reached the place where Zacchaeus was hiding in +the branches, he stopped, looked up, and saw him. He knew who this man +was. Jesus called out: + +"Hurry and come down out of that tree, Zacchaeus. I am coming to stay +at your house today!" + +[Illustration] + +Surprised but happy, Zacchaeus scrambled down the tree and led Jesus +to his house. The other people also were surprised, but not so happy. +They muttered to themselves, as many people had done before. They +said, + +"He's gone to be the guest of that miserable, cheating traitor of a +taxgatherer!" + +But Zacchaeus became a changed man that day. He said to Jesus: + +"I am going to give half my money to the poor. And if I have cheated +anybody I shall give back four times as much as I took." + +Then Jesus was glad that he had called Zacchaeus down from the tree. + +"You have been saved from your sins today, Zacchaeus," he said. + +Jesus was glad that he had found at least one rich man who did not +love his money more than he loved God. Zacchaeus had not been a good +man. He was not like the rich young man who had kept all God's +commandments since he was a boy. But when he heard Jesus speak to him, +he knew that he had been in the wrong. He was ready to do what he +could to show that he knew how he had sinned. + +"This is what I came for," Jesus said, "to look for sinners like this +man and to save them." + +When Jesus got to Jerusalem, it was going to cost him a great deal to +help men find a new life. But whatever it might cost him, it would be +worth the price. + + + + +11. Nearing the City + +[Illustration] + + +Passover time had almost come, so Jesus had to be on his way. Jericho +was left behind, and Jesus and the disciples pushed across the hills +and desert land that lay east of Jerusalem. + +This was the country Jesus had crossed the first time he went to the +Passover feast. That was twenty years ago, when he was a boy of +twelve, and Joseph and Mary had taken him to the feast in the great +city. The stones were just as hard now as they had been then. The land +was as dreary to see as it had ever been, and the desert as dry. And +yet there were just as many pilgrims from all parts of Palestine +traveling up to Jerusalem, going, as their fathers did before them, +to keep the Passover in the holy city of the Jews. In a little while a +shout would go up, and many a party would burst into song. They would +sing: + +[Illustration] + + "'I was glad when they said unto me, + Let us go into the house of the Lord.... + Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: + They shall prosper that love thee.'" + +A few days more, and they would sacrifice their lambs in the Temple. +They would pray God to be good to the Jews, and to save them from +their enemies. A few nights more, and they would sit down to eat the +roasted flesh of the lambs at the Passover feast; and when they had +eaten they would sing: + + "'O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: + For his mercy endureth for ever.'" + +Jesus and the disciples came out of the desert, and paused among the +olive groves near the village of Bethany. Now only the Mount of Olives +and the brook called Kidron stood between Jesus and Jerusalem. Already +the Passover pilgrims were pouring through the gates of the city and +up to the Temple. It was hard for all the pilgrims to find places to +stay during the week of the Passover. Here at Bethany, Jesus had +friends who loved him, and here he found a place in which to stay. + +A man named Simon, whom Jesus once cured of the dreaded leprosy, had a +house in Bethany where Jesus was welcome. There also was a woman in +Bethany whose name was Mary. She thought that nothing was too much to +give to Jesus. Like another woman who once made the Pharisees angry, +she came to Jesus when he sat at dinner in Simon's house and poured +precious ointment on his head. + +But this time it was not the Pharisees who were angry, for there were +no Pharisees in the house. It was Jesus' own disciples, especially +Judas Iscariot, who said that it was wrong to waste anything that cost +as much as the ointment. Judas spoke up and said, "Why was not this +ointment sold, and the money given to the poor?" + +Judas did not really care about the poor. He looked after the money +for Jesus and the disciples, and when he wanted any, he secretly +helped himself out of what belonged to all of them. He thought that if +the precious ointment had been sold, there would have been more money +in the purse he carried. + +When Jesus heard the disciples complaining about Mary's gift, he said: +"Let her alone. This is a good thing that she has done. There will +always be poor people, and you can give them all you like after I am +gone. But you will not have _me_ always. You know your custom is that +when your loved ones die you put ointment on their bodies before you +bury them. Well, Mary has come to get me ready to be buried, before I +am even dead. I tell you, this woman's name will be remembered all +over the world because of what she did for me today!" + +The disciples begrudged Jesus the ointment that a loving woman pured +upon his head! That was a bad sign. Many times in these last few +months Jesus had had to speak sharply to his disciples. The longer +they were with him, the less they seemed to understand the things that +he had taught them. Jesus was growing lonelier every day, and the +hardest task was still ahead. + +One time, when they were on the road, John came to Jesus, feeling very +proud of himself. + +"Master," he said, "we saw a man curing people who were out of their +minds and he was using your name to do it! Naturally we told him he +would have to stop. He didn't have any right to use your name, when he +wasn't one of us!" + +Jesus answered: "You shouldn't have stopped him. If he wasn't doing +us any harm, then he was on our side!" + +Then there was a terrible scene one day, when Jesus found the +disciples quarreling about which of them would be the most important +when Jesus became king. Each thought that he ought to have a higher +position than the rest. + +"You aren't supposed to be looking out for yourselves," Jesus told +them. "That's what the Romans do. They want to be kings, and order +other people about. But the greatest one of you will be the one who +does the most to help others, no matter what it costs him. Which would +you rather do--sit down to a dinner and have your food brought to you, +or bring the food for somebody else? You'd rather sit down and let a +servant wait on you, of course. But I am content to be a servant among +you, the servant of everyone." + +The disciples could not get over thinking that some people were more +important than others, and that they themselves counted for more than +anyone else. Once some mothers brought their little children to Jesus, +hoping that he would put his hands on them and bless them. The +disciples did not think that the children counted for anything, and +they were going to send them away. They told the mothers that they +ought not to come where they were not wanted. + +But Jesus called the little children to him, and said: "Let the little +children come to me, and don't stand in their way. God's Kingdom is +made up of people like these children. God hasn't any place for a +person who thinks himself important. These children aren't pushing +themselves forward. They are humble, and it would be better if you +were more like them!" + +With these words Jesus laid his hands upon the children and gave them +his blessing, as the mothers wanted him to do. + +Another thing that Jesus said, which the disciples could not +understand, was that they ought to forgive anyone who did them an +injury. One day Peter came to him and asked: "Lord, if somebody keeps +on doing wrong to me, how many times should I forgive him? Seven +times, perhaps?" + +Peter thought that seven times would be doing very well. But Jesus +answered: "_Seven_ times! Multiply that by seventy! Forgive him until +you have lost count of the times!" + +When the disciples heard that, they knew that Jesus meant they should +never stop forgiving anyone who wronged them. This seemed to them to +be more than they could do unless God helped them. They would need +more faith in God. So they said, "Lord, give us more faith than we +have." + +Then Jesus had to tell them that they really did not have any faith at +all. He said: "If your faith were only as big as a mustard seed--the +smallest seed there is--you could say to that tree over there, 'Be +pulled up and be planted in the sea,' and it would be done." + +No, the disciples did not have much faith. They did not understand +Jesus. They were jealous of one another. They thought that Jesus ought +to be a king, and each of them thought that he ought to be the king's +right-hand man. The disciples were afraid. If Jesus went up to +Jerusalem, they could not tell what would happen. Sometimes they +thought it would be best if Jesus would stay out of sight where his +enemies could not find him. + +Worst of all, there was one of the disciples who was not loyal--Judas +Iscariot. Judas was planning something so terrible that no one except +Jesus knew what it was. + +Jesus could not wait until his disciples understood. He could not wait +until they were brave enough, or strong enough or good enough. If he +did, he would wait forever. And there was very little time. + +There was something that he had to do now--the thing he had planned to +do all along. Back in the days when he was all alone in the +wilderness, after John baptized him in the Jordan, he knew that this +was what he would have to do someday. Now the time had come. He must +go back to the Temple, where he had stood and watched the Passover +lambs being killed when he was a boy of twelve. He must go and get +ready for the Passover. + +[Illustration] + +Jerusalem was about two miles away. He could not stay on in Bethany. +He must go to Jerusalem at once. + +He called two of his disciples and gave his orders. + +"Go into the village, and there you will find a young donkey tied. No +one has ever ridden it. Untie it and bring it here. If the owner +questions you, tell him, 'The Lord needs this donkey.' He will let you +have it at once." + +The disciples went to do as they were told, and they did not need to +be told twice. They knew what Jesus meant, for they knew the +Scriptures. If this was the way Jesus was going to Jerusalem, there +was nothing to be afraid of! + +For it said in the Scriptures that the Messiah would come into +Jerusalem riding upon a donkey. How did the words go? + + "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of + Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, + and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and + upon a colt the foal of an ass." + +Jesus was going to do it! He was going to ride into Jerusalem as the +Messiah! Everyone would know who he was at last, for it said in the +Scriptures that this was how the Messiah would come to the city! Let +the Jews get ready to receive the King they had waited for so long! + +They would have to wait no longer. Messiah--King Messiah--was marching +toward his throne. + + + + +12. In Jerusalem + +[Illustration] + + +The disciples went to the village, as Jesus told them, and there they +found the donkey. They untied it, and led it away. Some of them put +their clothes on the donkey's back, for a king must ride in comfort. +Others spread their clothes out on the street, for a king should ride +in state. + +Jesus got on the donkey, and started for Jerusalem. The disciples +walked ahead. When they had almost reached the city, the disciples +began to shout. Jesus used to say that they must not tell anyone that +he was the Messiah. But now they could tell the whole world, for Jesus +wanted everyone to know. They were glad that they did not have to be +quiet any longer. + +They shouted, "Hosanna!" It meant, "Save us," and was a cry of +welcome. They shouted the words of a psalm: "'Hosanna to the son of +David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in +the highest.'" + +The city was crowded with travelers from all over Palestine, and from +foreign countries too. They were the pilgrims who had come for the +Passover feast. + +The crowds saw the procession coming. They saw the donkey, and they +remembered what the Scriptures said. They remembered that that was how +the Messiah would come riding in. They heard the shouting, and they +understood the words. They knew that that was what people would sing +when the Messiah came. + +Some of the crowds began to shout with the disciples. A great cry of +"Hosanna!" went ringing down the street. Everyone seemed to be saying +it. "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Some cut +branches from the trees, and waved them before the Messiah. It was a +royal welcome. + +Only the priests and the rulers and the Pharisees were sorry to see +Jesus come. + +"What is there we can do?" they said to one another. "Look, the whole +world has gone after him!" + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +The excitement spread through the city. There were strangers there who +had never heard of Jesus. + +"Who is this?" they asked. + +Others who knew him answered, "Why, this is Jesus, the prophet from +Nazareth in Galilee." + +Jesus went into the Temple and looked about at the crowds which +thronged it. This was his Father's house and his house. These were his +Father's people and his people. + +The king for whom the Jews had been waiting had come at last to reign. + +In the evening, Jesus and the disciples returned to Bethany to sleep. + +[Illustration] + +The next day Jesus returned to Jerusalem and again went to the Temple. +This time he carried a whip. + +In the Court of the Gentiles the money was clinking as it had done +when Jesus was a boy. At tables sat the men who grew rich by +exchanging the money of visitors for coins used in Jerusalem. Others +were selling doves for sacrifice. The poor had to pay heavily to +worship God in his own house. + +Jesus strode down the room with the whip in his hand, and upset the +tables where the money was. When the men jumped up from their chairs, +he drove them out of the Temple. Then he drove the sheep and the +cattle out after the men. + +"It is written in the Scriptures: God's house shall be a house of +prayer. But you have made it into a den of thieves and robbers!" he +cried. + +This was too much for the priests of the temple, and all the important +men who ruled Jerusalem. The next day some of the rulers came to Jesus +and said: + +"What right have you to do these things? Who told you that you could +act like this?" + +So far, Jesus had never said that he was the Messiah. He had only +acted as if he was the Messiah. The rulers hoped that he would say +something they could punish him for. But Jesus was too quick for them. +He said: + +"I'll answer your question if you answer a question of mine. When John +the Baptist used to preach to you and baptize people, who gave him the +right to do that?" + +Then the rulers did not know what to say. They thought to themselves: + +_Now if we say that John was sent by God to preach, he will say, "Why +didn't you listen to him, then?_" + +_If we say that John didn't have any right to preach, the people will +be angry and will likely kill us; for everyone still thinks that John +the Baptist was a great prophet sent by God himself._ + +So all they said was, "We don't know--we can't tell." + +"Very well," Jesus retorted, "neither am I going to tell you what +right I have to do these things!" + +Every day that week, Jesus came and taught in the Temple. Several +times his enemies tried to trick him into saying something that would +turn the people against him, but Jesus always had an answer which +silenced them. Once they came and asked, "Should we pay taxes to the +Romans?" + +That was a hard question. All the Jews hated the Romans, and if Jesus +said that it was their duty to pay the taxes, everybody would hate him +too. But if he said they should not pay the taxes--well, they could +count on the Roman governor to settle with Jesus then. + +"Show me a penny," Jesus replied. + +[Illustration] + +Someone handed him a piece of Roman money. There was a man's picture +stamped on one side of it. Jesus said, "Whose picture is that?" + +"Why," they answered, "that is a picture of Caesar, the emperor of +Rome." + +"All right," said Jesus, "do whatever your duty is to Caesar and his +government. You will have to decide about that for yourselves. And +also do your duty to God!" + +It was such a clever answer that no one had a word to say. And Jesus +still had not said anything that he could be punished for. + +But he said a great deal to make his enemies angry. About the +Pharisees he spoke the hardest words he ever said. + +"Watch out for the scribes and the Pharisees," he told the people, +"and don't be like them. They love to walk around in their long white +robes, and to have everybody bow to them in the street, and to sit in +the best seats in the synagogues and at dinners. All the time they are +taking money from poor widows and they try to cover it up by making +long prayers." + +Turning to the Pharisees themselves, he went on: + +"Woe to you Pharisees! You are like graves with rotting bodies in +them, which people walk over without knowing what is underneath. +Nobody knows how bad you are. You snakes! How can you escape the +punishment which God is bringing upon you?" + +He left the Pharisees and went into the Temple, where people were +making their gifts to God. Many rich men came in, and put large sums +of money in the money box. Then came a poor widow who put two small +coins into the box. + +Jesus called his disciples to him, and said: + +"I tell you, this poor widow has given more than all these rich people +are giving. For the rich have plenty of money, and it doesn't cost +them anything to give what they do. But this poor woman needs her +money, and she has given all she has." + +With many words and stories he taught the people who thronged around +him on the days of that week. And this was the last story he ever +told: + +"Someday I shall sit upon my throne, and judge all the nations of the +earth. To some people I will say: + +"'Come--my Heavenly Father loves you. Take the reward he has planned +for you to have. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was +thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you +took me into your homes. I had nothing to wear, and you gave me +clothes. I was sick, and in prison, and you came to visit me!' + +"Then these people will be surprised, and say, 'Lord when did we ever +do anything for you?' + +"And I will say: 'You were kind to the poor and the sick and the +hungry, who did not count for anything on earth. You did not know it +at the time, but when you did a kindness to them, it was to me you +really did it.' + +"Then I will say to others: 'Go away. God wants nothing to do with +you! For I was hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and sick, and in +prison, and you did nothing at all for me.' + +"These people will also be surprised. They will say: 'Lord, when did +we ever see you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or sick, or in prison? +If we had seen you needing anything, we would have helped you!' + +"And I will say: 'Many poor people needed your help, and you did not +help them. When you failed them, you failed me. And now it is too +late!'" + + * * * * * + +The priests and the rulers did not know what to do about Jesus. _The +Messiah, indeed!_ they thought. They hated him, and they were afraid +of him. They were afraid of the Romans too. What would the Roman +governor say if he heard that there was someone in Jerusalem +pretending to be King of the Jews? + +The priests and the rulers wanted to kill Jesus. That was all they +talked about. But they did not know how it was to be done. For +whenever Jesus came to Jerusalem, great crowds gathered around him. +None of the priests dared to lay a finger on him in the open. The +crowds would never let them. It seemed to the people as if the Messiah +might have come at last. + +But something had to be done, the priests and the rulers said. The +week was going by. The Feast of the Passover was nearly there. + +"We shall have to do away with Jesus quietly," someone said. + +"Yes," the others agreed, "we can't wait till the day of the Passover. +If we should do anything to him on that day, there would be a riot." + +They were at their wits' end to know how to get rid of Jesus. The +craftiest men in Jerusalem could not think what to do. + +There was a knock at the door. It was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, +who had come to see the priests and rulers. + +His name? His name was Judas Iscariot. + +"What will you give me," Judas said, "if I turn Jesus over to you?" + +The priests and rulers could hardly believe their ears. + +"Thirty pieces of silver you shall have," they cried, "if you give us +Jesus!" + +So for thirty pieces of silver Judas agreed to show them where Jesus +was, at some time when there was no one around but the twelve +disciples. + +"Send soldiers when I tell you," Judas said. "The other disciples will +all be there, and the soldiers won't know which man to take. But I +will go up to Jesus and kiss him. The man I kiss will be the one you +want." + +Some dark night soon, a quiet place with no one around to see--and +nobody would have to worry about Jesus of Nazareth any more! + +[Illustration] + + + + +13. The Last Night + + +It was Thursday. On Friday afternoon the lambs would be killed for the +Passover, and on Friday evening all good Jews would sit down to eat +the lambs at the Passover feast. The disciples wondered where Jesus +was planning to celebrate the feast with them. + +But Jesus did not wait until Friday to have a meal with all his +disciples. On Thursday he sent two of them into Jerusalem from +Bethany. He told them the name of the man to whom they were to go. + +"Go to this man," said Jesus, "and tell him that I said the time has +come. He will show you where we are going to have supper tonight. Then +you can get the supper ready." + +That evening Jesus and the twelve disciples met together at the house +in Jerusalem. On the second floor there was a room, where food was +spread upon the table. + +As they were eating supper, Jesus suddenly spoke. + +"One of you is a traitor!" + +[Illustration] + +Everyone stopped eating. And each one of the twelve disciples thought +of his own sins. Each one wondered if he were loyal enough to Jesus. +Each one cried out: + +"Master, is it I?" + +Jesus only answered: + +"It is one of you twelve men, eating with me now. It would have been +better for that traitor if he had never been born!" + +A moment later Judas Iscariot slipped quietly out of the door. The +other disciples did not know where he had gone. + +Jesus spoke again: "I wanted so much to eat the Passover feast with +you this year, before I suffer. But I shall not eat it again with you +until a better day, when we shall all be together once more." + +He took up a piece of bread, and said a prayer of thanks to God. Then +he broke the bread, and passed the pieces among the disciples--only +eleven of them now. He said words that they did not understand. + +"Take and eat this. This is my body." + +He took a cup of wine, and once more he gave thanks. Then he passed +the cup among the disciples, saying: + +"Drink--all of you--drink of this wine. It is my blood, which I am +going to shed so that the sins of many people may be forgiven. And in +the days to come, do this same thing often, always remembering me." + +Then they sang a hymn together and walked out into the night air and +went up the Mount of Olives. + +As they walked, Jesus said to the disciples: + +"You will all desert me tonight. For it is written in the Scriptures +that when something happens to the shepherd the sheep will go away in +all directions. However, I shall meet you again." + +Peter spoke up, and said bravely, + +"Even if everyone else deserts you, I will not!" + +Jesus answered: "Before the rooster crows at sunrise to tell you that +morning has come, you will have said three times that you do not even +know me." + +But Peter cried out that even if he died for it he would be true to +Jesus. And all the other disciples said the same. + +Presently they came to a grove called Gethsemane. It was late. Jesus +said to the disciples, + +"Sit here, while I go and pray." + +[Illustration] + +He took only Peter and James and John with him, and went a little way +apart from the rest. To the three disciples he said: + +"I am greatly troubled. I do not know how I can bear it any longer. +Wait here, and stay awake with me." + +Going a few steps farther on, Jesus fell on his knees and began to +pray aloud: + +"O my Father, if it is possible, take this cup away; do not let these +things happen to me! Yet not my will, but thine, be done." + +When he had prayed this way, he came back to Peter and James and John. +All three were fast asleep. Jesus woke Peter up, and said: + +"What! Couldn't you stay with me for one short hour? Stay awake and +pray. Pray for yourselves. You are going to need strength. You are not +so strong as you want to be." + +He left them again, and once more he fell on his knees and prayed, + +"O my Father, if I must suffer these things, thy will be done." + +When he returned, the disciples again were sleeping. They were too +tired to stay awake. + +A third time he went apart from them and prayed. He prayed in the same +words he had used before. And suddenly he began to feel stronger. He +rose from his knees at last, and came back to the disciples. His voice +broke in upon their sleep: "Are you still sleeping? Well, you've slept +long enough! My time is up. I am going to be turned over to sinners +now! Get up! Look, the traitor is coming!" + +While he was still speaking, a crowd of soldiers carrying swords and +clubs burst into the grove. Judas Iscariot was leading them. Judas ran +to Jesus and kissed him, saying, + +"Hail, Master!" + +Jesus answered, "Well, friend--what have you come to do?" + +Then a band of men laid their hands on Jesus, and held him so that he +could not escape. + +Peter was wide-awake by now. He had brought a sword with him. Pulling +it out, he cut off the ear of a man in the crowd. + +Jesus said to Peter: "Put your sword away. My Father gave me these +things to suffer. He would save me now if I asked him. But that is not +the way it is to be." + +Then Jesus turned to the crowd of soldiers, and said: + +"Have you come to arrest me with swords and clubs, as though I were a +robber? Every day I was in the Temple teaching, and you could have +taken me then, but you never laid a hand on me. But this is what the +Scriptures said would happen to the Messiah." + +The disciples could stand no more. They left Jesus standing there, and +in terror they fled away. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +14. The Last Day + + +The soldiers bound Jesus and led him back to Jerusalem. They took him +to the palace of the high priest. All the chief priests and rulers +were gathered there in a council meeting. + +The council had already decided that Jesus would have to die, but it +was hard to find a reason for killing him. They had to prove that +Jesus had said or done something for which he could be put to death. +They found a great many people who came and told lies about Jesus, but +no two of them told the same story. + +At last the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, stood up and said to +Jesus: + +"You hear all the things that are being said about you. Aren't you +going to defend yourself?" + +Jesus did not say a word. + +The high priest spoke again: + +"In the name of the living God I ask you: Are you the Christ--the +Messiah--the Son of God?" + +Jesus answered: + +"You have said it." + +That was all the council wanted to hear. Caiaphas tore his own clothes +in anger, and shouted: + +"Why do we need any more witnesses? You have heard him say it with his +own mouth. He says he's God! What do you think about it?" + +And the whole council answered, + +"He ought to be put to death." + +Then some of them spat in his face. They covered his eyes, and slapped +him, and shouted: + +"If you were the Messiah, you would know who hit you! Tell us, you +Messiah you--tell us who hit you!" + +Meanwhile, in another room of the palace, there stood a disciple who +was losing whatever faith he had once had. It was Peter. One of the +other disciples, who knew the high priest, had gone ahead, and he had +told the maid to let Peter in. + +The maid looked at Peter and said, "You were with Jesus, weren't you?" + +"I don't know what you're talking about," said Peter. + +The night was cool, and the servants of the high priest were standing +around a fire they had made to keep themselves warm. Peter went over +and began to warm himself too. Somebody else said to him, + +"You are one of Jesus' disciples." + +Peter's faith was all gone. + +"Man," he said, "I certainly am not!" + +But after a while another person spoke up and said: + +"Of course you are one of Jesus' disciples. You are from Galilee. We +can tell from the way you talk." + +Peter began to curse and swear, saying, "I don't even know this Jesus +that you are talking about!" + +At that moment the rooster began to crow. At the same time Jesus +passed by the doorway, and looked at Peter. + +Peter remembered what Jesus had said, "Before the rooster crows, you +will three times say that you do not know me." + +Peter went out of the palace, and wept bitterly. + +The great council of the Jews might say that a man deserved to die, +but they could not put anyone to death. Only the Roman governor could +do that. + +The Roman governor, whose name was Pontius Pilate, was in Jerusalem +for the Passover. As soon as it was daylight, the council took Jesus +over to Pilate's palace. + +When Judas Iscariot saw what was happening, he suddenly realized what +he had done. He came to the chief priests, and brought them back the +thirty pieces of silver they had given him for turning traitor. He +cried out: + +"I have sinned! I betrayed a man who never did any wrong!" + +The chief priests shrugged their shoulders. + +"That's nothing to us," they said. "Take your money and go!" + +But Judas threw the money down on the floor and ran out. He took a +rope, and found a tree, and hanged himself, for, after betraying +Jesus, he could not bear to live. + +Meanwhile Jesus was standing before Pilate. The council had told +Pilate that Jesus was claiming to be the King of the Jews. They said +that he was stirring up the whole country against Caesar. They thought +that Pilate would put him to death for that, because the Romans would +be afraid that Jesus would lead a revolt against the Roman government. + +Pilate said to Jesus, + +"Well, are you the King of the Jews?" + +Jesus answered simply, + +"You have said it." + +Then the priests and rulers burst out with all kinds of evil stories +about Jesus. + +Pilate spoke to Jesus again, and said: + +"Aren't you going to say anything? Listen to what they are saying +about you!" + +But Jesus did not speak. Pilate was astonished. He could see that the +only reason the council had brought Jesus to him was that they were +jealous of Jesus and hated him. + +By now a large crowd had gathered to watch the trial. Many of the +people in it had been Jesus' followers, but they followed him no +longer. When they saw Jesus being tried like a criminal they decided +that their priests and rulers had been right all along. They began to +talk against Jesus, among themselves. + +Pilate wondered how he could let Jesus go. Suddenly he remembered a +Jewish custom: every Passover a prisoner was set free. + +[Illustration] + +Pilate said: "Every year at this time I set a prisoner free. Now you +can have your choice. You know we have a man named Barabbas in +jail--he's the fellow that started a rebellion a little while ago. We +were going to crucify him. And now here is Jesus. Which one shall I +let go? Barabbas the murderer or Jesus who is called the Christ?" + +A great shout went up, + +"Barabbas!" + +Pilate did not know what to do now. He spoke again to the crowd, + +"Well, what shall I do to Jesus who is called the Christ?" + +Again there was a great shout: + +"Crucify him! Hang him up on a cross till he is dead!" + +Everyone seemed to be against Jesus now. However, Pilate tried once +more. + +"But," he protested, "I can't find that he has been guilty of any +crime!" + +The Jewish rulers replied, "We have a law which says he ought to die +because he pretends to be the Son of God." + +Pilate was worried now. He spoke to Jesus again, and again Jesus did +not answer. + +"Aren't you going to speak to me?" Pilate asked. "Don't you know that +I can crucify you or let you go?" + +Jesus answered, "You wouldn't have any power over me unless God had +given it to you." + +Pilate, when he heard this, tried once more to save Jesus. But the +crowd was bigger, and louder, and more bloodthirsty than ever. +Everyone was shouting: + +"Crucify! Crucify!" + +"Shall I crucify your king?" asked Pilate. + +The chief priests of the Jews, who hated Caesar, answered, + +"We have no king except Caesar!" + +Pilate was too weak to hold out any longer. He was beginning to wonder +what Caesar would say if he heard that Pilate refused to crucify a man +who claimed to be king of the Jews. + +"Take him," Pilate said. "Take him, and crucify him." + +But before the crucifixion came the scourging. Jesus was bound and +beaten with long leather thongs which had cruel pieces of glass and +lead fastened to them so that they would hurt all the more. When that +was over, and his back was covered with cuts and bruises, the Roman +soldiers who had scourged him wanted some more sport. They dressed +Jesus in a purple robe. They made a wreath, like the one that the +Roman emperor wore--only this one was made of thorns, which stuck into +Jesus' head so that the blood ran down his face. Some of the soldiers +spat on him; others made fun of him, bowing down and saying, + +"Hail, king of the Jews!" + +Then the soldiers stripped the purple clothes off Jesus, and put his +own clothes back on him, and led him outside the city to be crucified. +He was too worn out to carry his own cross, as those who were to be +crucified usually did, so the soldiers forced a man of Cyrene named +Simon to carry it for him. + +[Illustration] + +When they reached a hill called Calvary, they laid the cross down on +the ground, and stripped Jesus of his clothes. They put Jesus on the +cross, and stretched out his arms. They drove a nail through each +hand, and one through his feet, fastening him to the cross. Then they +stood the cross upright, and let Jesus hang there. On the top of it +was written: "This is the King of the Jews." There was a cross on +either side of him, with a thief hanging on each one. + +Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." + +The soldiers took his clothes, and divided them up among themselves. +His coat was too good to tear up, so they threw dice to see which one +of them would get it. + +Jesus was offered a drink which would have made the pain easier to +bear, but he would not take it. People passed to and fro in front of +the cross, shouting insults. + +"He saved others, but he can't save himself." One of the thieves +turned his head and called out to him angrily, + +"If you are the Christ, save yourself and us too!" + +But the other thief spoke out of his pain: + +"Don't you fear God, seeing that we are all going to die? Aren't you +afraid to talk that way? We deserve to die; but this man never did +anything wrong." + +Then, turning to Jesus, he said, "Lord, remember me when you come to +your Kingdom." + +Jesus said to him, + +"I tell you, today you will be with me in heaven." + +Near the cross stood Jesus' mother and other women who loved him. John +the disciple was also there. Jesus called to his mother and John, and +said: + +"Mother, from now on John will be your son. John, this is your +mother." + +John took Jesus' mother to his own house. + +The hours passed by. It was about time for the Passover lambs to be +killed in the city. Clouds were beginning to cover the sun, and it was +growing dark although it was not yet night. + +Jesus cried out, + +"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" + +There was a stir of interest in the crowd. _Let's see what will happen +now_, they thought. + +Jesus was becoming weaker. He said, "I am thirsty." + +A soldier dipped a sponge in vinegar, and held it up on a stick to +Jesus' lips so that he could drink. + +Jesus cried out once more: + +"It is finished. Father, into thy hands I give my spirit." + +His head sank down upon his chest. There was a loud sound like a clap +of thunder, and the earth shook. + +In the silence that followed, a Roman soldier spoke. + +"This man--" he said, "this man was indeed the Son of God." + +But Jesus did not hear him. For Jesus was dead. + + * * * * * + +When evening came, a man named Joseph of Arimathaea went to see +Pilate. Joseph was a rich man, and much respected; and he had believed +in Jesus. He went secretly to Pilate, for he was afraid of the Jews. +He asked Pilate if he might have Jesus' body, and Pilate gave +permission. + +Joseph came then to the cross, and took down Jesus' body. He wrapped +it in a white linen cloth, and had it carried away to a tomb which had +been dug out of the rock. Not until after the Sabbath could Jesus' +family and friends come to put spices on the body of him whom they +loved. + +Jesus' body was laid inside the tomb, and a great stone was rolled +against the door. + +Standing there was a woman named Mary Magdalene with Mary the mother +of Jesus. They watched while the body of Jesus, so dear to them, was +laid away to rest. + +[Illustration] + + + + +15. The Victorious King + + +At sunrise the day following the Sabbath, three women came to the +garden where Jesus was buried. They came, as the custom was, to put +ointments and spices on the body of Jesus. + +On the way they remembered that a great stone had been rolled against +the door of the tomb. They wondered how they would get in. + +"Who will roll the stone away?" they asked each other. + +But when they reached the tomb, they found that the stone had been +rolled back. Someone had been there before them; the door was open. + +The women went through the door of the tomb. A young man in white +clothes was sitting on one side. Seeing their amazement, the young man +spoke: + +"Do not be surprised. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was +crucified. He is not here. He is risen from the dead. Look! There is +the place where he was!" + +They looked, and they saw that his body was no longer there. + +The young man went on, "Go quickly, and tell this to his disciples: +'Jesus is alive.'" + +The women ran out of the tomb, trembling with fright and with +surprise. One of the women was Mary Magdalene. As she ran, she saw two +of the disciples coming, John and Peter. She cried out to them: + +"Someone has taken Jesus' body out of the tomb. We don't know where +they have put it!" + +John and Peter began to run toward the tomb. John ran faster, and got +there first. He looked through the door, and there he saw the white +cloths that Jesus' body had been wrapped in, but there was no body in +them any longer. Peter caught up to John, and ran right into the tomb. +He too saw the folded cloths. John and Peter went away to their homes, +not knowing what to think. + +Meanwhile Mary Magdalene had come back. She stood in the garden near +the tomb, weeping as though her heart would break. She turned around, +and saw that a man was standing near her. He spoke to her, and said: + +"Why are you crying? For whom are you looking?" + +Mary thought that the man must be the gardener. Through her tears she +said: + +"Sir, if you have carried away the body of my Lord, tell me where you +have laid him, and I will go and take him away." + +The man said softly, + +"Mary!" + +She looked again. She knew that voice. It was Jesus--Jesus calling her +name! + +She cried out, + +"Master!" + +She moved as though to take hold of him. Jesus spoke again. It was +really he. + +"Do not try to hold me here. I am going to my Father in heaven. But +now go and tell that to the disciples. Tell them that I am going to my +Father." + +And Mary went and told the disciples, + +"I have seen the Lord!" + + * * * * * + +Afterward, no one could ever remember clearly all that happened on +that day. No one knew what to make of it all. No one knew whether to +believe that Jesus was really alive. + +Late that afternoon, two disciples were walking along the road from +Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. They talked of what had happened +on Friday, and now on Sunday. As they were talking, a stranger joined +them. The stranger said, + +"What is it that you are talking about?" + +[Illustration] + +The disciples stopped. They were almost too sad to speak any more, +but one of them answered, + +"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn't know the things +that have been happening there these last few days?" + +"What things?" the stranger asked. + +[Illustration] + +The disciples replied: + +"Why, all about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a great prophet and teacher. +The chief priests and the rulers had him crucified. We had hoped that +he was the Messiah, who was going to save the Jewish people. But now +it is two days since he was put to death, and nothing has +happened--though there were some women who went to the tomb and came +away saying that he was risen from the dead." + +The stranger said: + +"O you foolish men--so slow to believe what it says in the Prophets! +Don't you see that the Messiah had to suffer this way in order to be +King?" + +Then he explained everything in the Scriptures about the Messiah. He +spoke to them of how the Prophet Isaiah had said long ago: + + "He was despised and cast out by men; a man of sorrows and + full of grief; and no one would look at him. He was hurt, + because we were so sinful. He suffered for our sakes. He was + killed like a lamb, and he did not try to defend himself." + +The stranger explained that Isaiah was talking about the Messiah. The +Messiah was to be humble, and sacrifice himself, like one of the lambs +at the Passover feast. Isaiah meant that the only one who could help +others was the one who was willing to suffer for others. The Messiah +never wanted to be a king like other kings. He did not want to lord it +over others. He wanted to love them, and to give his life for them. + +"And so," the stranger went on, "you ought not to be sad, thinking +that Jesus is not the Messiah after all. Jesus has lived and died as +the Scriptures said the Messiah would. His love and his sufferings +prove that he really is the Messiah. And if his believers love one +another, as he has loved them, and sacrifice themselves as he has +done, they will have peace and joy." + +As the three walked on, the stranger talked. When they reached Emmaus, +they came to the home of one of the disciples. They said to the +stranger: + +"Come in and stay with us. It is evening. The day is nearly over." + +They went into the house. Someone lighted the lamps, and food was +placed before them. + +The stranger took some bread, and said a prayer of thanks, and broke +the bread. + +The disciples had seen something like that before--breaking bread. +They looked up quickly. + +Why! This man was not a stranger at all. It was Jesus. They knew him +as they looked into his face. And as they looked, he vanished out of +their sight, and they were alone again. + +They said to each other, + +"Didn't you have a strange feeling, as he talked to us along the road +and explained the Scriptures?" + +Although it was now night, they returned to Jerusalem at once. They +found the other disciples and told their story. + +"The Lord is indeed alive!" they said. "We knew him the moment he +broke the bread!" + +[Illustration] + +While they were speaking, Jesus was suddenly among them once again. +Jesus said, + +"Peace be with you." + +They were frightened then, but Jesus spoke again. + +"Do not be afraid," he said. "I am not a spirit." + +They still could hardly believe it. It seemed too good to be true. And +while they stood there, not daring to believe that Jesus was alive, he +said, + +"Have you anything here to eat?" + +They set a piece of broiled fish before him, and Jesus sat down to +supper. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +One of the disciples was not there when Jesus appeared to the others. +His name was Thomas. And no matter what the others said, Thomas could +not believe that Jesus was alive again. + +"Unless," he said, "I see in his hands the marks that the nails made +when they crucified him, and unless I put my finger into those marks, +I will not believe." + +Eight days later the disciples were all together. This time Thomas was +with the others. The doors were shut. + +Suddenly Jesus appeared again, and said as he had said before, + +"Peace be with you." + +Then Jesus turned to Thomas, and said, + +"Put your finger into the nail holes in my hand, and doubt no more, +but believe in me!" + +Thomas fell down on his knees. He cried out, "My Lord and my God!" + +Jesus said to him: + +"You believe in me because you have seen me with your own eyes. It is +still better when people believe even though they have not seen me." + +After this the disciples saw Jesus many times and at many places. But +a day came at last after which they did not see him on earth again. + +On this day Jesus appeared to them outside Jerusalem, and said: + +"All power has been given to me in heaven and earth. I am Lord and +King of all men. Go and tell people of every nation about me, so that +they will believe in me. Baptize everybody in my name. Teach them +everything that I have taught you. You will not be alone, for although +you do not see me, I shall be with you always." + +Then Jesus said to them: "Wait a little while. Wait in Jerusalem, and +someday soon you will know that the time has come to go out and +preach. God will give you the power to make other people believe in me +as their Saviour. You shall tell about me in Jerusalem, and in the +country all around; in Samaria, and in the farthest parts of the +earth." + +He lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And as he blessed them, a +cloud covered him, and they did not see him any more. + +Jesus had gone home to his Father. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +They stared up into the sky, where he seemed to have gone. As they +looked, they heard voices saying: + +"You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into the sky? The +Lord Jesus will come again!" + +Then they remembered that they had work to do before they again would +see Jesus. They had to go and preach, as Jesus had told them. They had +to tell about him to all people everywhere. + +They walked back into Jerusalem. They had to wait; but now they were +not waiting for Christ the Saviour to come. They were waiting only for +the sign that would tell them it was time to go out and preach that +Christ had already come. + + * * * * * + +The Passover was finished for another year, and the farmers of +Palestine had work to do. The warm spring weather spread over the +land, and the wheat was growing in the fields and on the hillsides. +Farmers reaped their crops, and gathered in the grain, and got ready +for another feast at Jerusalem. For when the wheat was gathered, it +was time to go and give thanks to God for the harvest, at the Feast of +Pentecost. + +The disciples waited while the weeks of spring went by. Every day they +went to the Temple and praised God for his goodness, because they knew +that Christ had come. + +Seven weeks passed by. The hot sun ripened the crops, and the farmers +cut their grain. The Day of Pentecost came around, and the streets of +Jerusalem were thronged again. There were men there from near and far, +from every country of which anyone had ever heard. The harvest was +over, and the feast was on! + +That morning the disciples were all together when they heard the +sound. It was a sound like the rushing wind, bringing messages from +God. They saw a vision too, and what they saw seemed like tongues of +fire, coming down to each one of them so that all could speak what +God wanted them to say. + +The disciples went out and began to speak. Everyone who heard them +understood what they were saying. + +Excitement went through the city. + +"This is strange!" the people said. "We have come from near and far. +We speak many different languages. Yet when these men tell us about +the wonderful things that God has done, we understand what they are +telling us. What is it that has happened?" + +Peter stood up beside the other disciples, and boldly raised his +voice: + +"Listen to me, everyone who is here at Jerusalem! You have read in the +Scriptures how God said that he would send his Holy Spirit to his +people. That is what has happened! The time has come to preach to you! +Therefore, listen to my words. + +"God sent Jesus of Nazareth to you, and he did many wonderful things +among you, which you saw for yourselves. God let you take him and put +him to death with your own wicked hands. But it was not possible for +him to be held forever by death. God has raised him up from the dead, +and we have seen it! He is King; and he has given us the power to tell +you about him, and you can hear what we are telling you. Let everybody +know this for a fact: this very Jesus whom you crucified is Lord and +Christ!" + +And when the people heard these words, they were greatly troubled. + +"What shall we do?" they cried. + +Peter answered: + +"Repent! Give up your sins, and begin a new life! Believe in Jesus +Christ, and let us baptize you in his name. Then your sins will be +forgiven, and he will send his Holy Spirit to change you!" + +Many were glad when they heard this, and they were baptized in Jesus' +name. That very day about three thousand people became believers and +followers of Christ. They joined with those who had been disciples +before, praying together, and sharing with each other everything they +had. Jesus had a Church, which believed that he was Christ the +Saviour. + +Every day many more were added to the Church. Every day the Church of +Jesus Christ grew stronger. + +It grew like the grainfields in the spring. + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + + + + +SCRIPTURE REFERENCES + + +Page + +CHAPTER 2 +17 Luke 2:1-20 +22 Matt. 2:1-12 +26 Luke 2:21-35 +28 Matt. 2:13-23 + +CHAPTER 3 +34 Ex. 12:1-42 +35 Ps. 118:29 +35 Deut. 16:1-7 +36 Luke 2:41, 42 +39 Ps. 122:1, 2, 6 +43 Luke 18:10, 11 +44 Luke 2:41-52 + +CHAPTER 4 +47 Matt. 3:1-9 +49 John 1:19-27 +51 Matt. 3:13-15 +52 John 1:29-34 +53 Matt. 4:1-11 +56 Matt. 4:17 +57 John 1:35-41 +57 Matt. 4:18-22 +59 Mark 2:13-17 +59 Matt. 9:9-13 +60 Mark 2:15-19 + +CHAPTER 5 +62 Matt. 5:43-48 +63 Matt. 6:15 +63 Matt. 5:41 +64 Luke 6:20-23 +65 Matt. 5:11, 12 +65 Luke 16:19-21 +66 Luke 6:24-26 +66 Matt. 6:24-34 +68 Matt. 6:1-6 +69 Matt. 7:21-23 +69 Matt. 7:24-29 +72 Mark 1:21-28 +73 Mark 1:29-34 +74 Mark 1:35-39 + +CHAPTER 6 +77 Luke 4:16-30 +81 Matt. 12:46-50 +81 Mark 1:40-45 +83 John 9:1-41 +83 Mark 2:1-12 +86 Mark 2:23-28 +87 Matt. 12:9-14 +87 Luke 6:6-12 + +CHAPTER 7 +91 Luke 7:36-50 +95 Luke 15:1-10 +95 Luke 15:11-32 +98 Matt. 8:5-13 +98 Luke 7:2-10 +100 Matt. 14:3, 4 +100 Matt. 11:1-6 +102 Mark 6:21-32 +104 Luke 13:31, 32 +104 Luke 8:4-15 + +CHAPTER 8 +107 Mark 4:35-41 +110 Mark 5:1-20 +113 Mark 5:21-40 +116 John 5:25 +117 Mark 5:41-43 + +CHAPTER 9 +118 Matt. 10:1-15 +119 Luke 9:10-17 +119 John 6:1-13 +123 John 6:15-51 +125 Matt. 16:13-19 +127 Matt. 16:20-25 +127 Mark 9:2-9 + +CHAPTER 10 +129 Luke 9:57-62 +130 John 6:66-71 +131 Luke 11:1-4 +131 Matt. 6:9-13 +131 Luke 11:5-10 +132 Luke 10:25-37 +134 Luke 12:13-21 +135 Matt. 19:16-22 +135 Luke 18:18-23 +137 Luke 18:24-30 +137 Luke 19:1-10 + +CHAPTER 11 +141 Ps. 122:1, 6 +141 Ps. 106:1b +142 Matt. 26:6-13 +142 John 12:1-8 +143 Luke 9:49, 50 +144 Mark 9:33-35 +144 Luke 22: 24-27 +144 Matt. 19:13-15 +145 Matt. 18:21, 22 +145 Luke 17:5, 6 +147 Mark 11:1-3 +147 Zech. 9:9 + +CHAPTER 12 +148 Mark 11:4-11 +148 Matt. 21:6-11 +152 Mark 11:15-17 +152 John 2:15 +153 Mark 11:27-33 +154 Mark 12:13-17 +155 Mark 12:38-40 +155 Matt. 23:27-33 +155 Mark 12:41-44 +156 Matt. 25:31-46 +157 Matt. 26:3-5 +159 Matt. 26:14-16 + +CHAPTER 13 +160 Mark 14:12-15 +160 John 13:1 +160 Mark 14:17-21 +161 Luke 22:15-20 +161 Mark 14:22-26 +161 I Cor. 11:23-25 +162 Mark 14:27-31 +162 Matt. 26:36-46 +164 Matt. 26:47-56 + +CHAPTER 14 +165 Matt. 26:57-68 +166 Matt. 26:69-75 +166 Luke 22:56-62 +167 Matt. 27:1-5 +168 Mark 15:1-13 +168 Matt. 27:11-18, 20-22 +170 John 19:4-16 +171 Mark 15:15-21 +172 Matt. 27:33-43 +172 Luke 23:33-38 +173 Luke 23:39-43 +173 John 19:26, 27 +173 Matt. 27:45-54 +173 Luke 23:44-49 +173 John 19:28-30 +174 Mark 15:42-47 + +CHAPTER 15 +175 Mark 16:1-7 +175 Matt. 28:1-7 +176 John 20:1-10 +176 John 20:11-18 +177 Luke 24:13-32 +181 Luke 24:33-43 +184 John 20:24-29 +185 Matt. 28:16-20 +185 Luke 24:49-51 +185 Acts 1:8, 9 +187 Acts 1:10-12 +188 Acts 2:1-47 + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The King Nobody Wanted, by Norman F. 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