Samaritan." He said: "A certain man was going down the lonely road from
Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, who stripped him of all
that he had and beat him; and then went away, leaving him almost dead.
It happened that a certain priest was going down that road; and when he
saw the man lying there, he passed by on the other side. And a Levite,
also, when he came to the place, and saw the man, he too went by on the
other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he was going down, came where
this man was; and as soon as he saw him, he felt a pity for him. He came
to the man, and dressed his wounds, pouring oil and wine into them. Then
he lifted him up, and set him on his own beast of burden, and walked
beside him to an inn. There he took care of him all night; and the next
morning he took out from his purse two shillings, and gave them to the
keeper of the inn, and said: 'Take care of him; and if you need to spend
more than this, do so; and when I come again I will pay it to you.'"
[Illustration: _Then he lifted him up_]
"Which one of these three, do you think, showed himself a neighbor to
the man who fell among the robbers?"
The scribe said: "The one who showed mercy on him."
Then Jesus said to him: "Go and do thou likewise."
By this parable, Jesus showed that "our neighbor" is the one who needs
the help that we can give him, whoever he may be.
THE STORY OF THE PALM BRANCHES
[Illustration: _Came to Bethany where his friends Martha and Mary
lived_]
From Jericho, Jesus and his disciples went up the mountains, and came to
Bethany, where his friends Martha and Mary lived, and where he had
raised Lazarus to life. Many people in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was
there, and they went out of the city to see him, for Bethany was only
two miles from Jerusalem. Some came also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had
raised from the dead; but the rulers of the Jews said to each other:
"We must not only kill Jesus, but Lazarus, also; because on his account
so many of the people are going after Jesus and are believing on him."
The friends of Jesus in Bethany made a supper for Jesus, at the house of
a man named Simon. He was called "Simon the leper"; and perhaps he was
one whom Jesus had cured of leprosy. Jesus and his disciples, with
Lazarus, leaned upon the couches around the table, as the guests; and
Martha was one of those who waited upon them. While they were at the
supper, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, came into the room, carrying a
sealed jar of very precious perfume. She opened the jar, and poured some
of the perfume upon the head of Jesus, and some upon his feet; and she
wiped his feet with her long hair. And the whole house was filled with
the fragrance of the perfume.
But one of the disciples of Jesus, Judas Iscariot, was not pleased at
this. He said: "Why was such a waste of the perfume made? This might
have been sold for more than forty-five dollars, and the money given to
the poor!"
This he said, but not because he cared for the poor. Judas was the one
who kept the bag of money for Jesus and the twelve; and he was a thief,
and took away for his own use all the money that he could steal. But
Jesus said:
"Let her alone; why do you find fault with the woman? She has done a
good work upon me. You have the poor always with you, and whenever you
wish, you can give to them. But you will have me with you only a little
while. She has done what she could; for she has come to perfume my body
for its burial. And truly I say to you, that wherever the gospel shall
be preached throughout all the world, what this woman has done shall be
told in memory of her."
[Illustration: _She wiped his feet with her hair_]
Perhaps Mary knew what others did not believe, that Jesus was soon to
die; and she showed her love for him, and her sorrow for his coming
death, by this rich gift. But Judas, the disciple who carried the bag,
was very angry at Jesus; and from that time he was looking for a chance
to betray Jesus, or to give him up to his enemies. He went to the chief
priests, and said: "What will you give me, if I will put Jesus in your
hands?"
They said, "We will give you thirty pieces of silver."
And for thirty pieces of silver Judas promised to help them take Jesus,
and make him their prisoner.
On the morning after the supper at Bethany, Jesus called two of his
disciples, and said to them:
"Go into the next village, and at a place where two roads cross; and
there you will find an ass tied, and a colt with it. Loose them, and
bring them to me. And if any one says to you, 'Why do you do this?' say,
'The Lord has need of them,' and they will let them go."
They went to the place and found the ass and the colt, and were loosing
them, when the owner said:
"What are you doing, untying the ass?"
And they said, as Jesus had told them to say:
"The Lord has need of it."
Then the owner gave them the ass and the colt for the use of Jesus.
They brought them to Jesus on the Mount of Olives; and they laid some of
their own clothes on the colt for a cushion, and set Jesus upon it. Then
all the disciples and a very great multitude threw their garments upon
the ground for Jesus to ride upon. Others cut down branches from the
trees and laid them on the ground. And as Jesus rode over the mountain
toward Jerusalem, many walked before him waving branches of palm trees.
And they all cried together:
[Illustration: _They threw their garments upon the ground for Jesus
to ride upon_]
"Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of
the Lord! Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the
name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
These things they said, because they believed that Jesus was the Christ,
the Anointed King; and they hoped that he would now set up his throne in
Jerusalem. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd, who did not believe in
Jesus, said to him:
"Master, stop your disciples!"
But Jesus said:
"I tell you, that if these should be still, the very stones would cry
out!"
And when he came into Jerusalem with all this multitude, all the city
was filled with wonder. They said: "Who is this?"
And the multitude answered:
"This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth in Galilee!"
And Jesus went into the Temple, and looked around it; but he did not
stay, because the hour was late. He went again to Bethany, and there
stayed at night with his friends.
These things took place on Sunday, the first day of the week; and that
Sunday in the year is called Palm Sunday, because of the palm branches
which the people carried before Jesus.
Many people heard him gladly, but the great city was deaf to his
pleadings. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem," he cried, "thou that killest the
prophets, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
[Illustration: _The great city was deaf to his pleadings_]
THE STORY OF THE BETRAYAL
At the foot of the Mount of Olives, near the path over the hill toward
Bethany, there was an orchard of olive trees, called "The Garden of
Gethsemane." The word "Gethsemane" means "oil press." Jesus often went
to this place with his disciples, because of its quiet shade. At this
garden he stopped, and outside he left eight of his disciples, saying to
them, "Sit here while I go inside and pray."
He took with him the three chosen ones, Peter, James, and John, and went
within the orchard. Jesus knew that in a little while Judas would be
there with a band of men to seize him; that in a few hours he would be
beaten, and stripped, and led out to die. The thought of what he was to
suffer came upon him and filled his soul with grief. He said to Peter
and James and John:
"My soul is filled with sorrow, a sorrow that almost kills me. Stay here
and watch while I am praying."
He went a little further among the trees, and flung himself down upon
the ground, and cried out:
"O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me;
nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou willest!"
So earnest was his feeling and so great his suffering that there came
out upon his face great drops of sweat like blood, falling upon the
ground. After praying for a time, he rose up from the earth and went to
his three disciples, and found them all asleep. He awaked them, and said
to Peter: "What, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray
that you may not go into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak."
He left them, and went a second time into the woods, and fell on his
face, and prayed again, saying:
"O my Father, if this cup cannot pass away, and I must drink it, then
thy will be done."
He came again to the three disciples, and found them sleeping; but this
time he did not awake them. He went once more into the woods, and
prayed, using the same words. And an angel from heaven came to him and
gave him strength. He was now ready for the fate that was soon to come,
and his heart was strong. Once more he went to the three disciples, and
said to them: "You may as well sleep on now, and take your rest, for the
hour is at hand; and already the Son of man is given by the traitor into
the hands of sinners. But rise up and let us be going. See, the traitor
is here!"
The disciples awoke; they heard the noise of a crowd, and saw the
flashing of torches and the gleaming of swords and spears. In the throng
they saw Judas standing, and they knew now that he was the traitor of
whom Jesus had spoken the night before. Judas came rushing forward, and
kissed Jesus, as though he were glad to see him. This was a signal that
he had given beforehand to the band; for the men of the guard did not
know Jesus, and Judas had said to them:
"The one that I shall kiss is the man that you are to take; seize him
and hold him fast."
Jesus said to Judas, "Judas, do you betray the Son of man with a kiss?"
Then he turned to the crowd, and said, "Whom do you seek?"
They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth."
Jesus said, "I am he."
When Jesus said this, a sudden fear came upon his enemies; they drew
back and fell upon the ground.
After a moment, Jesus said again, "Whom do you seek?"
And again they answered, "Jesus of Nazareth."
And Jesus said, pointing to his disciples, "I told you that I am he. If
you are seeking me, let these disciples go their own way."
[Illustration: PETER DENIES CHRIST--"And Peter remembered the word of
Jesus, which said unto him, 'Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me
thrice.'"--(Matt. 26:75.)]
But as they came forward to seize Jesus, Peter drew his sword, and
struck at one of the men in front, and cut off his right ear. The man
was a servant of the high-priest, and his name was Malchus. Jesus said
to Peter:
"Put up the sword into its sheath; the cup which my Father has given me,
shall I not drink it? Do you not know that I could call upon my Father,
and he would send to me armies upon armies of angels?"
Then he spoke to the crowd, "Let me do this." And he touched the place
where the ear had been cut off, and it came on again and was well. Jesus
said to the rulers and leaders of the armed men:
"Do you come out against me with swords and clubs as though I were a
robber? I was with you every day in the Temple, and you did not lift
your hands against me. But the words in the scriptures must come to
pass; and this is your hour."
When the disciples of Jesus saw that he would not allow them to fight
for him, they did not know what to do. In their sudden alarm they all
ran away, and left their Master alone with his enemies. These men laid
their hands on Jesus, and bound him, and led him away to the house of
the high-priest. There were at that time two men called high-priests by
the Jews. One was Annas, who had been high-priest until his office had
been taken from him by the Romans, and given to Caiphas, his son-in-law.
But Annas still had great power among the people; and they brought
Jesus, all bound as he was, first to Annas.
Simon Peter, and John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, had followed after
the crowd of those who carried Jesus away; and they came to the door of
the high-priest's house. John knew the high-priest and went in; but
Peter at first stayed outside, until John went out and brought him in.
He came in, but did not dare to go into the room where Jesus stood
before the high-priest Annas. In the court-yard of the house, they had
made a fire of charcoal, and Peter stood among those who were warming
themselves at the fire.
Annas in the inner room asked Jesus about his disciples and his
teaching. Jesus answered him:
"What I have taught has been open in the synagogues and in the Temple.
Why do you ask me? Ask those that heard me; they know what I said."
Then one of the officers struck Jesus on the mouth, saying to him:
"Is this the way that you answer the high-priest?"
Jesus answered the officer calmly and quietly:
"If I have said anything evil, tell what the evil is; but if I have
spoken the truth, why do you strike me?"
While Annas and his men were thus showing their hate toward Jesus, who
stood bound and alone among his enemies, Peter was still in the
court-yard warming himself at the fire. A woman, who was a serving-maid
in the house, looked at Peter sharply, and finally said to him:
"You were one of those men with this Jesus of Nazareth!"
Peter was afraid to tell the truth, and he answered her:
"Woman, I do not know the man; and I do not know what you are talking
about."
And to get away from her, he went out into the porch of the house. There
another woman-servant saw him and said: "This man was one of those with
Jesus!"
And Peter swore with an oath that he did not know Jesus at all. Soon a
man came by, who was of kin to Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off. He
looked at Peter, and heard him speak, and said:
"You are surely one of this man's disciples; for your speech shows that
you came from Galilee."
Then Peter began again to curse and to swear, declaring that he did not
know the man.
Just at that moment the loud, shrill crowing of a cock startled Peter;
and at the same time he saw Jesus, who was being dragged through the
hall from Annas to the council-room of Caiphas, the other high-priest.
And the Lord turned as he was passing and looked at Peter.
Then there flashed into Peter's mind what Jesus had said on the evening
before!
"Before the cock crows to-morrow morning, you will three times deny that
you have ever known me."
Then Peter went out of the high-priest's house into the street; and he
wept bitterly because he had denied his Lord.
THE STORY OF THE EMPTY TOMB
After Jesus was taken before the high-priest where he was ridiculed and
the people spat upon him, he was taken before the Roman Governor,
Pontius Pilate, who ruled over Judea. He heard their complaints, but did
not find any cause for putting him to death. But at last he yielded to
their demands, although he declared Jesus was innocent of all wrong.
[Illustration: _He heard their complaints_]
And so Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, gave command that Jesus
should die by the cross. The Roman soldiers then took Jesus and beat him
most cruelly; and then led him out of the city to the place of death.
This was a place called "Golgotha" in the Jewish language, "Calvary" in
that of the Romans; both words meaning "The Skull Place."
With the soldiers, went out of the city a great crowd of people; some of
them enemies of Jesus, glad to see him suffer; others of them friends of
Jesus, and the women who had helped him, now weeping as they saw him,
all covered with his blood and going out to die. But Jesus turned to
them and said:
"Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and
for your children. For the days are coming when they shall count those
happy who have no little ones to be slain; when they shall wish that the
mountain might fall on them, and the hills might cover them, and hide
them from their enemies!"
They had tried to make Jesus bear his own cross, but soon found that he
was too weak from his sufferings, and could not carry it. They seized on
a man who was coming out of the country into the city, a man named
Simon, and they made him carry the cross to its place at Calvary.
It was the custom among the Jews to give to men about to die by the
cross some medicine to deaden their feelings, so that they would not
suffer so greatly. They offered this to Jesus, but when he had tasted it
and found what it was, he would not take it. He knew that he would die,
but he wished to have his mind clear, and to understand what was done
and what was said, even though his sufferings might be greater.
At the place Calvary, they laid the cross down, and stretched Jesus upon
it, and drove nails through his hands and feet to fasten him to the
cross; and then they stood it upright with Jesus upon it. While the
soldiers were doing this dreadful work, Jesus prayed for them to God,
saying: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing."
The soldiers also took the clothes that Jesus had worn, giving to each
one a garment. But when they came to his undergarment, they found that
it was woven and had no seams; so they said, "Let us not tear it, but
cast lots for it, to see who shall have it." So at the foot of the cross
the soldiers threw lots for the garment of Christ.
Two men who had been robbers and had been sentenced to die by the cross,
were led out to die at the same time with Jesus. One was placed on a
cross at his right side, and the other at his left; and to make Jesus
appear as the worst, his cross stood in the middle. Over the head of
Jesus on his cross, they placed, by Pilate's order, a sign, on which was
written:
"This is Jesus of Nazareth,
The King of the Jews."
This was written in three languages; in Hebrew, which was the language
of the Jews; in Latin, the language of the Romans, and in Greek. Many of
the people read this writing; but the chief priests were not pleased
with it. They urged Pilate to have it changed from "The King of the
Jews" to "He said, I am King of the Jews." But Pilate would not change
it. He said:
"What I have written, I have written."
And the people who passed by on the road, as they looked at Jesus on the
cross, mocked at him. Some called out to him:
"You that would destroy the Temple and build it in three days, save
yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!"
And the priests and scribes said:
"He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Come down from the cross,
and we will believe in you!"
And one of the robbers, who was on his own cross beside that of Jesus,
joined in the cry, and said: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and
save us!"
But the other robber said to him: "Have you no fear of God, to speak
thus, while you are suffering the same fate with this man? And we
deserve to die, but this man has done nothing wrong."
Then this man said to Jesus: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into
thy kingdom!"
And Jesus answered him, as they were both hanging on their crosses:
"To-day you shall be with me in heaven."
Before the cross of Jesus his mother was standing, filled with sorrow
for her son, and beside her was one of his disciples, John, the disciple
whom he loved best. Other women besides his mother were there--his
mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and a woman named Mary
Magdalene, out of whom a year before Jesus had sent an evil spirit.
Jesus wished to give his mother, now that he was leaving her, into the
care of John, and he said to her, as he looked from her to John: "Woman,
see your son."
And then to John he said: "Son, see your mother."
And on that day John took the mother of Jesus home to his own house, and
cared for her as his own mother.
At about noon, a sudden darkness came over the land, and lasted for
three hours. And in the middle of the afternoon, when Jesus had been on
the cross six hours of terrible pain, he cried out aloud words which
meant:
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!" words which are the
beginning of the twenty-second psalm, a psalm which long before had
spoken of many of Christ's sufferings.
After this he spoke again, saying, "I thirst!"
And some one dipped a sponge in a cup of vinegar, and put it upon a
reed, and gave him a drink of it. Then Jesus spoke his last words upon
the cross:
"It is finished! Father, into thy hands I give my spirit!"
And then Jesus died. And at that moment, the veil in the Temple between
the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, was torn apart by unseen hands
from the top to the bottom. And when the Roman officer, who had charge
of the soldiers around the cross, saw what had taken place, and how
Jesus died, he said: "Surely this was a righteous man; he was the Son of
God."
After Jesus was dead, one of the soldiers, to be sure that he was no
longer living, ran his spear into the side of his dead body; and out of
the wound came pouring both water and blood.
There were even among the rulers of the Jews a few who were friends of
Jesus, though they did not dare to follow Jesus openly. One of these
was Nicodemus, the ruler who came to see Jesus at night. Another was a
rich man who came from the town of Arimathea, and was named Joseph.
Joseph of Arimathea went boldly in to Pilate, and asked that the body of
Jesus might be given to him. Pilate wondered that he had died so soon,
for often men lived on the cross two or three days. But when he found
that Jesus was really dead, he gave his body to Joseph.
Then Joseph and his friends took down the body of Jesus from the cross,
and wrapped it in fine linen. And Nicodemus brought some precious
spices, myrrh and aloes, which they wrapped up with the body. Then they
placed the body in Joseph's own new tomb, which was a cave dug out of
the rock, in a garden near the place of the cross. And before the
opening of the cave they rolled a great stone.
And Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, and some other women, saw the
tomb, and watched while they laid the body of Jesus in it. On the next
morning, some of the rulers of the Jews came to Pilate, and said:
"Sir, we remember that that man Jesus of Nazareth, who deceived the
people, said while he was yet alive, 'After three days I will rise
again.' Give orders that the tomb shall be watched and made sure for
three days, or else his disciples may steal his body, and then say, 'He
is risen from the dead'; and thus even after his death he may do more
harm than he did while he was alive."
Pilate said to them:
"Set a watch, and make it as sure as you can."
Then they placed a seal upon the stone, so that no one might break it;
and they set a watch of soldiers at the door.
And in the tomb the body of Jesus lay from the evening of Friday, the
day when he died on the cross, to the dawn of Sunday, the first day of
the week, when he arose from the dead and appeared unto his disciples.
But the brightest day in all the world was this Sunday morning. For on
that day the stone was rolled away from the tomb and Jesus came forth
from the dead to gladden his disciples. This he had told them he would
do. On this Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and another Mary, called
Salome, came to the tomb, found the stone rolled away and an angel
standing by the open tomb. He told them that Jesus was not there, but
had risen.
Afterward Jesus was with his disciples for forty days, after which he
was taken up into heaven.
THE STORY OF THE MAN AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE
Soon after Jesus was taken up into heaven, his disciples began to
preach, as he had told them to do. They stood up in the streets, and in
the Temple, and spoke to the people all the words that Jesus had given
to them. And although they could no longer see Jesus, he was with them,
and helped them, and gave them great power.
The two apostles, Peter and John, were one day going up to the temple at
the afternoon hour of prayer, about three o'clock. They walked across
the court of the Gentiles, which was a large, open square paved with
marble, having on its eastern side a double row of pillars with a roof
above them, called Solomon's Porch. In front of this porch was the
principal entrance to the Temple, through a gate which was called "The
Beautiful Gate." In front of this gate they saw a lame man sitting. He
was one who in all his life had never been able to walk; and as he was
very poor, his friends carried him every day to this place; and there he
sat, hoping that some of those who went into the Temple might take pity
on him, and give him a little money.
In front of this man Peter and John stopped; and Peter said: "Look at
us!"
The lame man looked earnestly on the two apostles, thinking they were
about to give him something. But Peter said:
"Silver and gold have I none; but what I have that I will give you. In
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!"
And Peter took hold of the lame man's right hand, and raised him up. At
once the lame man felt a new power entering into his feet and
ankle-bones. He leaped up, and stood upon his feet, and began to walk,
as he had never done before in all his life. He walked up the steps with
the two apostles, and went by their side into the Temple, walking, and
leaping, and praising God. The people who now saw him leaping up and
running knew him, for they had seen him every day sitting as a beggar at
the Beautiful Gate: and every one was filled with wonder at the change
which had come over him.