say these things to yourselves? Which is easier: to say to the man who
cannot move, 'Your sins are forgiven'; or to say, 'Get up, take your
bed, and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has the power
on earth to forgive sins" (he said to the man who could not walk) "I say
to you, Rise, take up your bed, and go to your home." Then the man rose
and at once took up his bed and went out in the presence of them all, so
that they were all filled with wonder and praised God, saying, "We have
never seen anything like this."
JESUS MAKES EVEN WRONG-DOERS HIS FRIENDS
Then Jesus went out again beside the Sea of Galilee; and all the crowd
came to him, and he taught them. As he passed along he saw Levi, the son
of Alphaeus, sitting at the house where taxes were collected, and he said
to him, "Come with me." So Levi arose and followed him.
Now while Jesus was eating dinner in Levi's house, many tax-gatherers
and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples. The scribes and
Pharisees, seeing this, said to his disciples, "Does he eat with
tax-gatherers and sinners?" On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "Not
those who are well, but those who are sick have need of a physician. I
did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
At another time one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to dine with him. So
Jesus entered the Pharisee's house and sat down at the table. In the
town was a wicked woman who, when she heard that Jesus was sitting at
the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of perfume.
She stood behind at his feet, weeping; and as her tears began to wet his
feet, she wiped them with her hair. And she tenderly kissed his feet and
poured the perfume over them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If
this man were a prophet, he would know about the woman who is touching
him, for she is a sinner."
Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have a word to say to you." He replied,
"Say it, Master." "There were two men who owed a certain money-lender
some silver: one owed him five hundred silver pieces and the other
fifty. Neither of them was able to pay anything; so he forgave them
both. Now which of them will love him the more?" Simon answered, "I
suppose the man who owed the most." Jesus said to him, "You have decided
rightly."
Turning to the woman, Jesus said to Simon, "You see this woman? When I
came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet; but she has wet
my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no
kiss, but she, since I came in, has not ceased tenderly to kiss my feet.
You did not pour any oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my
feet. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, though they be many, are
forgiven, for she has loved much. He to whom little is forgiven, loves
little."
Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." And the other guests
began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?"
But he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go and be at
peace."
JESUS FINDS JOY IN ALL HIS WORK
Once when John's disciples and the Pharisees were keeping a fast, people
came to Jesus and said, "Why do the disciples of John and the disciples
of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus said to them, "Can guests fast at a wedding while the bridegroom
is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot
fast. But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from
them; then they will fast. No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old
coat; otherwise the patch breaks away from it, the new from the old, and
the tear is made worse. No man pours new wine into old wine-skins;
otherwise the new wine bursts the skins, and both the wine and the
wine-skins are lost. Instead new wine is poured into fresh wine-skins."
One Sabbath Jesus was walking through the grain-fields; and his
disciples, as they made their way through, began to pull off the heads
of the grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Sir, why are they doing things
that on the Sabbath are unlawful?" He said to them, "Have you never read
what David did when he and his followers were in need and hungry? how he
went into the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the
holy bread which only the priests are allowed to eat, and gave it also
to those who were with him?"
And Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for
the Sabbath; so that the Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath."
At another time he went into a synagogue. A man was there whose hand was
shrivelled. And they watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on
the Sabbath day, that they might bring a charge against him. Jesus said
to the man whose hand was shrivelled, "Rise and come forward." Then he
said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm?
To save life or to kill? Who of you, if he has but one sheep and it
falls into a hole on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it
out? Is not a man of much greater value than a sheep?" But they did not
answer. Then looking around upon them with sorrow and indignation
because they had no sympathy, he said to the man, "Stretch out your
hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was entirely cured. But the
Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against
him, how they might put him out of the way.
JESUS CALMS THE STORM
Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples, and a crowd followed him
from Galilee. Also from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea the other side of the
Jordan, and from the country about Tyre and Sidon a great number,
having heard what he was doing, came to him. So he told his disciples to
have a small boat ready for him to keep him from being crushed by the
crowd; for he had healed so many that all who were sick and in trouble
were pressing forward to touch him. And whenever those who had evil
spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried, "You are the Son
of God." But again and again he commanded them not to tell who he was.
In the evening Jesus said to his disciples, "Let us cross to the other
side." So, leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just
as he was; and there were other boats with his. A heavy wind-storm arose
and the waves began to break into the boat so that it was filling; but
Jesus was in the stern asleep on the cushion. So they woke him and said
to him, "Master, is it nothing to you that we are lost?" And he awoke
and reproved the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And
immediately the wind ceased and the sea was calm; and he said to them,
"Why are you afraid? Why do you not have faith?" But they were filled
with wonder and said to one another, "Who then is he, that even the wind
and the sea obey him?"
JESUS HEALS A LITTLE GIRL
When Jesus again crossed the Sea of Galilee in a boat to the other side,
a large crowd had gathered to meet him; so he stayed beside the sea. One
of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came up, and, on seeing
Jesus, fell at his feet and earnestly begged him, saying, "My little
daughter is dying; come, I beg of you, and place your hands on her that
she may be cured and live." So Jesus went with him, and a great crowd
followed and pressed about him.
In the crowd was a woman who had suffered from hemorrhage for twelve
years and had been treated by many physicians, spending all that she
had, yet was none the better, but rather had grown worse. Having heard
about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his robe,
for she said to herself, "If I can but touch his garments, I shall be
cured."
[Illustration: _Raising the Daughter of Jairus_
Painted by Leon Gerome]
Immediately the hemorrhage stopped, and she knew that she was cured of
her disease. Jesus, knowing at once that healing power had gone from
him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" His
disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet
do you ask, 'Who touched me?'" But still he looked for her who had
done this, until the woman, frightened and trembling, knowing what had
happened to her, came forward and fell down before him and told him the
truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has cured you. Go and live
in peace, and be healed of your disease."
While Jesus was still speaking, messengers came from the house of the
ruler of the synagogue, saying, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the
Master further?" But Jesus, overhearing the message, said to the ruler
of the synagogue, "Have no fear, only trust."
Jesus would allow no one to go with him except Peter and James and John
the brother of James. When they came to the house of the ruler of the
synagogue, he found a crowd of people weeping aloud and wailing.
Entering, Jesus said to them, "Why are you making an uproar and weeping?
The child is not dead, but asleep." And they laughed at him scornfully.
But he sent them out and took the father and mother of the child and
those who were with him into the room where she was. Then, taking her by
the hand, he said to her, "Talitha koumi," which means, "Little girl,
arise." To the astonishment of all, the little girl (who was twelve
years of age) got up at once and walked about. But Jesus charged them
strictly to let no one know of this, and told them to give the little
girl something to eat.
JESUS VISITS HIS OLD HOME
Jesus went to Nazareth where he had been brought up. As was his custom,
he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read the
lesson. And he was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and on
unrolling it he found the place where it is written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
For he has called me to preach good news to the poor,
He has sent me to proclaim release to captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who have been crushed by cruelty,
To proclaim the year when the Lord will show favor."
Then, having rolled up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant
and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, and he
said to them, "To-day what is here written is fulfilled in your sight."
As he went on to teach in the synagogue, many who heard him were
astonished and said: "Where did he get these teachings? What is this
wisdom which has been given him? and what are these wonderful acts of
healing that he does? Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the
brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters
living here among us?" And they would not believe in him. Jesus said to
them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and
among his relatives and in his own home."
In that place he could do no wonderful acts except laying his hands on a
few sick people and healing them; and he was astonished at their lack of
faith. So he went about the near-by villages teaching.
JESUS CALLS TOGETHER HIS FRIENDS AND HELPERS
Jesus went up on the hillside near Capernaum and called to him the men
whom he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve to be with him
and to go out to preach, with power to cast out evil spirits. These were
the twelve disciples: Simon to whom he gave also the name Peter, James
the son of Zebedee and John his brother, whom he called "Sons of
Thunder," Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of
Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who at last
betrayed him.
Then Jesus went into a house and the crowd gathered again so that it was
impossible even to eat a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they
set out to get hold of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."
Standing outside, his mother and his brothers sent word to him to come
out to them. He was in the midst of a crowd seated about him when some
one said to him, "Here are your mother and your brothers and sisters
outside hunting for you." He answered, "Who are my mother and my
brothers?" Then looking around at those who sat in a circle about him,
he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of
God is my brother and sister and mother."
WHAT JESUS ASKS OF HIS FRIENDS AND HELPERS
[Illustration: _Christ with Mary and Martha_
Painted by H. Siemiradzki]
Once Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha invited
him to her house. She had a sister named Mary who seated herself at
Jesus' feet and listened to his words. But Martha was worried by her
desire to wait on him, and came and said to him, "Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help
me." But Jesus said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and
troubled about many things, but few things are necessary, really only
one. Mary has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken away from
her."
Once when Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road, some one
said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus said to him,
"The foxes have holes and the wild birds their nests, but the Son of Man
has no place to lay his head." He said to another, "Follow me"; but the
man said, "Let me first go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let
the dead bury their dead, but you go and tell about the Kingdom of God."
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say
good-by to my people at home." Jesus said to him, "No one who looks back
after having put his hand to the plough is fit for the Kingdom of God."
Once, when crowds were following him, he turned and said to them, "If
any one who comes to me is not willing to give up his father and mother
and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and his very life,
he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross, as he
follows me, cannot be my disciple.
"Who of you, if he wishes to build a tower, does not first sit down and
count the cost, to see whether he has money enough to finish it?
Otherwise, if he has laid the foundation and is unable to finish the
building, all who see it make fun of him and say, 'This man began to
build but could not finish!'"
THE WAY TO LEARN FROM JESUS
Jesus taught his disciples, saying, "Do not think that I came to set
aside the old law or the teachings of the prophets. I did not come to
set them aside but to complete them.
"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am kind and
sympathetic, and you will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden
light.
"He who hears these words of mine and keeps them in mind will be like a
wise man who built his house upon the rock. The rain fell, the floods
came, the winds blew and beat upon that house; yet it did not fall, for
its foundation was built on the rock.
"He who hears these words of mine but does not keep them in mind will be
like a foolish man who built his house upon sand. The rain fell, the
floods came, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and
great was its downfall."
At another time when Jesus was teaching beside the lake, such a large
crowd gathered about him that he entered a boat and sat in it, while the
crowd stayed on the shore. He then taught them many truths by means of
stories, and said, "Listen to me. The sower went out to sow, and as he
sowed, some of the seed fell on the road where birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had but little soil, and because
there was no depth of earth it began to grow at once; but when the sun
rose, it was scorched with the heat, and having no root it withered
away. Some of the seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and
choked it so that it bore nothing. Other seed fell on good soil, and
sprouted and grew and bore at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a
hundredfold." And he said to them, "Let him who has ears to hear,
remember this."
When Jesus was alone, those who were with him and the twelve disciples
asked him what this story meant. He said to them, "Do you not see the
meaning of this? How then will you understand all my other stories? The
sower sows his teaching. The teaching that is sown along the road is
like some people who hear but immediately Satan comes and takes away the
teaching which has been sown in them.
"And the seed that has been sown on rocky places, is like those people
who hear the teaching and receive it at once with joy, but it takes no
root in them and they remember it only for a short time.
"The seed sown among thorns is like those who hear the teaching but the
pleasures of this life, the desire for wealth and other things makes
them forget the teaching, and so it bears no fruit.
"But the seed sown on good soil is like those people who hear the
teaching and remember it, and it bears fruit; some thirty, some sixty,
and some a hundredfold.
"Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will not both fall into a ditch? A
disciple is not above his teacher; but every pupil when perfectly
trained will be like his teacher.
"No good tree bears rotten fruit; neither does a rotten tree bear good
fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered
from thorns, nor grapes picked from a bramble-bush. From the good stored
in his heart the good man brings forth goodness, but the evil man
from his evil store brings forth evil; for the mouth speaks that with
which the heart is filled.
[Illustration: (C) _Curtis Publishing Company_
_The Sower_
Painted by Herbert Moore]
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. One
does not light a candle to put it under a basket but on a stand, where
it shall give light to all who are in the house. So let your light shine
before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your heavenly
Father."
THE REWARDS FOR FOLLOWING JESUS' TEACHINGS
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, once came to Jesus and said,
"Master, we want you to do for us what we shall ask." So he said, "What
do you want me to do for you?" They answered, "When you enter into your
kingly glory, let one of us sit on your right hand and one on your
left." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can
you drink the cup of woe that I am to drink, or be baptized with the
baptism of suffering with which I am to be baptized?" They said to him,
"We can." Jesus said, "You will drink the cup that I am to drink and be
baptized with my baptism, but to sit on my right hand and on my left is
not mine to give; for it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten other disciples heard this request, they were at first
angry with James and John, but Jesus called them to him and said, "You
know that those who are rulers in foreign countries lord it over those
under them, and their great men have authority over them; but it is not
so among you. Whoever wishes to be great among you must serve you, and
whoever wishes to be first among you must be ready to be the servant of
all. For I did not come to be served but to be of service to others, and
to give my life so as to secure freedom for many."
Then he took a little child and set him in their midst. And taking him
in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever receives a little child like
this, in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me receives not only
me, but God who sent me. Whoever gives one of these little ones even a
cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple will, I tell you,
not lose his reward.
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory and with him all the angels, he
will sit upon his glorious throne, and all people shall be gathered
before him. And he will separate them one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats, placing the sheep on his right hand
and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you whom my Father
has blessed, enter into possession of the kingdom prepared for you since
the creation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was
thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I
was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was in
prison and you came to me.'
"Then the upright will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and
feed you? Or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger
and welcome you? Or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or
in prison and come to you?' The King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to
you, as you have done it even to the least of these my brothers, you
have done it to me.'"
GOD'S LOVE EVEN FOR SINNERS
Because tax-gathers and sinners kept coming to Jesus to hear him, the
Pharisees and scribes complained, "This man welcomes sinners and even
eats with them!" So he told them this story: "What man of you, if he has
a hundred sheep and loses one, does not leave the ninety-nine in the
wilderness and go and hunt for the lost sheep until he finds it? And
when he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and when he
gets home calls together his friends and says, 'Rejoice with me, for I
have found the sheep that I lost.' So, I tell you, there will be more
joy in heaven over one sinner who is truly sorry and promises to do
right than over ninety-nine upright men who have no need to do so.
"Or which one of you women, if she has ten silver coins but has lost
one, does not light a lamp, sweep the house thoroughly, and search
carefully until she finds it? After finding it she calls together her
friends and neighbors and says, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the
coin that I lost.' So, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels
of God over one sinner who is truly sorry and promises to do right."
[Illustration: (C) _Curtis Publishing Company_
_Seeking the Lost Sheep_
Painted by Herbert Moore]
Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. The younger said to his
father, 'Father, give me the part of your property that belongs to me.'
So the Father divided his property between his two sons. A few days
later, the younger son got together all that he had and went into a
distant country where he wasted his money in reckless living. After
he had spent it all, there was a great famine in the land, and he began
to be in want. So he agreed to work for a man of that country, who sent
him into his fields to feed swine; and he was ready to eat even the pods
that the swine were eating, for no one gave him food. But when he came
to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more
than enough to eat while I die here of hunger! I will go to my father
and say, 'Father, I have sinned against God and against you. I am no
longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired
servants.'
"So he went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his
father saw him and felt pity for him, and ran and threw his arms about
his neck and tenderly kissed him. Then his son said to him, 'Father, I
have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer worthy to be
called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Quick, bring a
coat, the best, and put it on him and put a ring on his finger and
sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf, kill it, and let us eat
and be merry; for this son of mine was dead but has come back to life,
he was lost but has been found.' So they began to make merry.
"Now the elder son was out in the fields, and as he came near the house
he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked
what all this meant. The servant said to him, 'Your brother has come,
and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has him back safe
and sound.' And he was angry and would not go in so his father came out
to reason with him, but he answered, 'See all these many years I have
worked for you and never disobeyed one of your commands, yet you never
gave me so much as a young goat that I might have a feast with my
friends. But now when this son of yours comes, who has wasted your money
with wicked women, you kill the fatted calf for him!' His father
answered, 'Son, you are with me always and all that I have is yours; but
it was right to make merry and rejoice because of your brother, for he
was dead but has come back to life, he was lost but has been found.'"
GOD'S READINESS TO ANSWER PRAYER
Jesus said: "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and
the door will be opened to you; for every one who asks receives, and he
who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.
"What man is there among you, who if his son asks him for a loaf of
bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a
snake? Then if you, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to
those who ask him.
"Also I tell you: if two of you on earth agree about that for which you
ask, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or
three have gathered together in my name, I am there with them."
HOW TO PRAY
The apostles said to Jesus, "Help us to have greater faith." But he
said, "If you had faith even the size of a mustard-seed and said to this
mulberry-tree, 'Be rooted up and be planted in the sea,' it would obey
you."