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And now Jesus went right away from the Sea of Galilee again to Caesarea
Philippi. That place was called Caesarea after Augustus Caesar,
Emperor of Rome, and Philippi after Herod Philip. When they were going
to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus talked quietly to His disciples, and said,
'Whom do you say that I am?' Peter almost always spoke first, before
the others had time to say anything, and he said quickly, 'THOU ART THE
CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.' Jesus was very much pleased with
that answer.
Then Jesus called the people who stood near, and His disciples too, and
He told them that if they followed Him, they too might have to die for
His sake. But He told them that they must not mind that, because
heaven is better than this world. And He told them that if they were
ashamed of Him, He should be ashamed of them before His Father and the
holy angels. Dear children, I hope, when you go to school, or are with
your little friends, that you will never be ashamed of Jesus.
About a week after that talk with His disciples, Jesus took Peter, and
James, and John into a high hill alone to pray. There is a splendid
high mountain near Caesarea Philippi, called Hermon. All at once, as
Jesus was praying, the disciples saw that His face shown like the sun,
and His clothes were white and shining like the light. And as the
disciples looked, they saw two men talking with Jesus, called Moses and
Elijah, two holy men who went to heaven long, long ago. We do not know
how long they talked. Peter, and James, and John were men, so they
could not look very long at those heavenly visitors; soon their eyes
closed, and they fell fast asleep. When they woke up, Moses and Elijah
were still there, and when the disciples saw Jesus again, looking so
bright and beautiful, they were very much afraid.
When they came down from the mountain, they saw a crowd down below.
Jesus had left nine of His disciples behind when He went up Mount
Hermon; and now He saw a great number of persons all round them, and
heard some Jews worrying them with questions. When Jesus came near
enough to speak, He asked what was the matter. And a man came running
to Him out of the crowd, and begged Him to look at his boy--his only
child. And he said to Jesus, 'If Thou canst do anything, take pity on
me, and help me.' And Jesus made the boy well from that very hour.
The disciples had not had faith enough themselves to be able to do that
sick boy any good.
Every year the Jews had to pay half a shekel of money for the splendid
Temple in Jerusalem; and when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the men who
were collecting the money came to Peter, and said, 'Does not your
Master pay the half-shekel?' And Peter said, 'Yes.' Now the Temple
was God's house, and Jesus was God's Son. And Jesus explained to Peter
when he came into the house that kings did not expect their own sons to
pay them taxes. But it was not wrong to pay the half-shekel, and Jesus
never vexed people if He could possibly help it, so He said to Peter,
'Go thou to the sea and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first
cometh up, and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find a piece
of money. That take, and give unto them for Me and thee.'
And now, after a long time, Jesus and His disciples went up to
Jerusalem again; and as they walked along, they saw ten lepers standing
a long way off. As Jesus came near, they cried out, 'Jesus, Master,
have mercy on us.' Nine of the lepers were Jews, and one was a
Samaritan. And Jesus was sorry for them all, and said, 'Go, show
yourselves to the priests.' So they turned straight round to go to the
priests, and lo! as they were going along the road, they suddenly felt
that they were strong and well again. When the Samaritan felt in
himself that the leprosy had gone away, he turned back, and threw
himself down at the feet of Jesus, and thanked Him, and thanked God too
for all His goodness. But none of the nine Jews came back to thank
Jesus.
A few days after that a man came to Jesus, and asked how he could get
to heaven. Jesus said that he must love God with all his heart, and
his neighbor as himself. Then the man said, 'Who is my neighbor?' So
Jesus told him this story, THE GOOD SAMARITAN: 'A certain man went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him
of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he
saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when
he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other
side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and
when he saw him, he had compassion on him. And went to him, and bound
up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast,
and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow
when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and
said unto him, 'Take care of him: and whatsoever thou spendest more,
when I come again, I will repay thee.' When Jesus had finished that
story, He said, 'Which now of these three was neighbor unto him that
fell among the thieves?' You can answer that question, and can go and
do like that good Samaritan.
[Illustration: The good Samaritan.]
Just opposite the Temple hill, Mount Moriah, there was another hill,
called the Mount of Olives. On the other side of the Mount of Olives
was a village, called Bethany, and Jesus often walked over the hill to
see some friends of His there, a brother and two sisters who lived in
the village. Their names were Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Jesus
loved them very much, and they loved Him. But Mary and Martha showed
their love in very different ways. Mary sat as quiet and still as
possible when Jesus came in, and listened to every word that He said;
and Martha wanted so much to make Him happy and comfortable that she
ran about the whole time doing things for Him, instead of listening to
the beautiful words He was saying.
[Illustration: Bethany.]
Jesus likes you and me to work for Him; but He likes us to talk to Him
in prayer too, and to listen to the things that He whispers in our
hearts, and to the words that He says to us in the Bible.
[Illustration: Child at prayer.]