JESUS HEALS THE SICK, AND DOES GOOD WORKS ON THE DAY OF REST.
A man came to Je-sus and knelt down at his feet and said, Lord, if thou
wilt thou canst make me clean. This man was a lep-er. He had white sores
on his skin, and had to live by him-self or with those as bad off as
him-self, and there was no cure for him but death. It was not safe to
breathe the air near a lep-er, and so he was sent at once out of the
town, as soon as his case was known.
This lep-er must have heard of Je-sus and the great works he had done,
and the hope that had died out must have sprung up in his heart once
more. If he could heal the sick, and make the lame walk, why could he
not cure him, so that he would be fit to live with those he loved? At
least he could ask; and oh! how great must have been his faith when he
fell down at the feet of Je-sus and cried out, Lord, if _thou_ wilt
_thou_ canst make me clean.
[Illustration: CUR-ING THE MAN LAME WITH PAL-SY.]
Je-sus put out his hand and touched the man, and said, I will: be thou
clean.
And at once the sores left the man and his skin was white and smooth.
Then Je-sus sent him off, and bade him tell no man who had made him
well, but to go to the priest and do as Mo-ses bid all those do who had
been lep-ers and were cured.
But the man was so full of joy that he could not keep it to him-self,
and he went out and told what Je-sus had done for him.
Now there were some Jews who were known as Scribes and Phar-i-sees. They
made out that no one else was quite as good as they were. They knew all
the laws of Mo-ses by heart, and they were strict to see that no Jews
broke those laws. A Scribe is one who writes.
These Scribes and Phar-i-sees were thought to be wise and good men, for
they would fast and pray for a long while at a time, and look as though
they thought them-selves too pure for earth.
But their hearts were bad and full of sin, and when Je-sus told them
they must give up their sins and lead the right kind of lives, they were
wroth with him, and tried to make all the rest of the Jews hate him as
much as they did.
Je-sus went down to Ca-per-na-um, and when it was known that he was in
the town great crowds came to the house where he was to hear him preach.
Now there was a man who had been in bed for a long time, and could not
move hand or foot. He had heard of the fame of Je-sus, and it was the
wish of his heart to get near him that he might heal him with a touch.
But Je-sus was a long way off, and the poor sick man could not walk one
step. But he had kind friends, and they thought of a plan by which he
could be brought near to Je-sus, that he might at least hear him preach.
So they took him on his bed and bore him to the town; but when they came
to the house where Je-sus was, the crowd was so great that there was no
chance to get near him. What were they to do?
Now the house was low and had a flat roof, with a wall round it, so that
those who dwelt there could walk or sleep on it and have no fear that
they would fall off. All the rooms down stairs led out in-to a court,
which had a roof that could be slid off when it did not rain, or there
was need of fresh air.
So the friends of the lame man drew the bed up on the house-top with him
in it, and brought him to the space in the roof, through which they
could see Je-sus and the crowds round him. And they let the man down on
his bed in the midst of the crowd, which had to make way for him.
When Je-sus saw what great faith they had, he spoke to the sick man, and
said, Thy sins are for-giv-en thee. Some of the Scribes and Phar-i-sees
who sat near said, but not out loud, Who is this that dares speak in
this way? None but God can for-give sins.
Je-sus knew their thoughts, and he said to them, Why think ye these
things? Which could be said with the most ease, Thy sins be for-giv-en
thee, or Rise up and walk?
But to show you that I have pow-er to for-give sins, I will make him
well.
So he said to the sick man, Rise, take up thy bed, and go to thy house.
And the man rose and stood on his feet, and took up the bed on which he
had lain and went out and gave praise and thanks to God.
And those who saw him were in a maze and said, We have seen strange
things to-day.
Now the Jews, as you know, were slaves of the Ce-sar of Rome, and to
keep their peace with him they had to pay a tax. And the men to whom
they paid the tax were known as pub-li-cans. Some of them were harsh and
stern, and the Jews could not but hate them. But all were not so. And as
Je-sus went by he saw one of these pub-li-cans with his gold and sil-ver
close at hand. His name was Matth-ew. Je-sus spoke to him, and said,
Come with me.
And Matth-ew left all, and went with Je-sus, and from that time did all
that he could to spread the good news, and to serve the Lord Christ.
Af-ter this there was a feast of the Jews, and Je-sus went up to
Je-ru-sa-lem. Now there was at Je-ru-sa-lem a pool, which was known as
the Pool of Be-thes-da. And there were five courts, or door-ways, that
led down to the pool. And in these courts lay a great crowd of folks who
were sick, or blind, or lame.
For this was the time of the year when an an-gel came to stir the pool.
And it was thought that the one who went in-to the pool the first, when
the an-gel had made it fresh and sweet, would be cured of all the ails
that he might have.
[Illustration: THE POOL OF BE-THES-DA.]
And a man was there who had been sick for most two-score years. Je-sus
saw him, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, and it made him
sad to think of it. So he said to the man, Wilt thou be made well?
The man said, I have no one to help me in-to the pool, for when I try to
get down to it, some one steps in a-head of me and I am too late.
Je-sus said to him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk.
And at once the man was made well, and took up his bed, and walked.
Now it was the Day of Rest. And the Jews, who were quick to find fault
with those who broke the laws, said to the man when he came their way,
It is not right for thee to move thy bed on this day.
He said to them, he that made me well told me to take up my bed and
walk.
They said to him, Who was it told thee that?
And the man did not know, and could not point Je-sus out to them, the
crowd was so great.
But ere the feast was at an end Je-sus met the man He had cured and said
to him, Now thou art well, sin no more lest a worse thing come to thee.
Then the man went out and told the Jews that it was Je-sus who had cured
him on the Day of Rest. And for this the Jews sought to kill Je-sus. But
he told them that the works he did were proof that God had sent him, and
that he was the one of whom the seers had told in the days that were
past, and of whom Mo-ses wrote.
He said that the time was near at hand when the dead should hear the
voice of the Son of God, and those who were in their graves should come
forth. Then he would judge them. Those who had done good would be blest,
for God would give them a home with him in the sky; but those who had
done ill, and died in their sins, would not meet the smile of God, nor
have a place near his throne.
Je-sus said if the love of God was in their hearts they would trust him
whom God had sent, and feel that he had come to do them good, and to
save their souls from death.
[Illustration: IN THE CORN-FIELDS.]
Je-sus and his five friends, An-drew, Pe-ter, James, John, and
Matth-ew, went out on the next Day of Rest, and their walk led them
through a field of corn. And as the men had need of food, Je-sus told
them to pluck and eat the ears of corn. And they did so.
In the East they gave the name of corn to all kinds of grain.
When the Phar-i-sees saw it they found fault, and Je-sus told them that
he was the best judge of what was right to do on that day; for he was
Lord of the Day of Rest.
[Illustration: THE WITH-ER-ED HAND.]
In the course of a few weeks he went in-to a church and taught on the
Lord's day. And a man was there whose hand was so drawn up that he could
not stretch it out or do aught with it. And the Phar-i-sees kept a
close watch on Je-sus to see if he would heal the man on that day, so
that they might find fault with them.
Je-sus knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the lame hand,
Rise up, and stand where all can see you. And the man rose, and stood
forth.
[Illustration: JER-U-SA-LEM.]
Je-sus said to them, I will ask you one thing: Is it right to do good or
to do ill on the Day of Rest? to take life or to save it? And he stood
and looked at all those that were in the place. Then he said to the man,
Stretch out thy hand. And he did so, and it was well and strong.
This made the Phar-i-sees hate Je-sus, so that they went out of the
church and sought for some way to put him to death. When he knew of it
he left the place, and came down to the sea of Gal-i-lee. And crowds
came to him from the land of Ju-dah and from large towns that were far
off, to see the great works that he did. And the sick crept near so that
they could touch him, and he made them all well.