THE PRODIGAL SON.--THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.--BABES BROUGHT TO
JESUS.--ZACCHEUS CLIMBS A TREE.
JE-SUS said, There was a rich man who had two sons. One of them was
wild, and fond of feasts and of gay times, and did not care for his
home, or the life that he led there. So he went to his fa-ther and said,
Give me, I pray thee, my share of the wealth thou hast laid up for thine
heirs, that I may spend it as I choose. And he took his share, and went
far from home, and led a gay life.
And when he had spent all he had, there came a dearth in that land, and
he was in great want.
That he might not starve, he went out in search of work, and a man hired
him, and sent him in the fields to feed swine. And so great was his need
of some-thing to eat that he would have been glad to have had some of
the coarse food with which the swine were fed, but none of the men gave
it to him.
Then he said to him-self, The men my fa-ther hires have more food than
they can eat, while I starve for want of what they can well spare. I
will rise and go to my fa-ther, and will say to him, Fa-ther, I have
done wrong in thy sight, and in the sight of God, and have no more right
to be called thy son. Let me come back to thy house, and be as a
ser-vant.
So he rose and went to his fa-ther. And while he was yet a long way off
his fa-ther saw him, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
And the son said to him, Fa-ther I have done wrong in thy sight, and in
the sight of God, and have no more right to be called thy son.
But the fa-ther said to his hired men, Bring forth the best robe and put
it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring
in the fat-ted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be glad. For this
my son was dead, and now lives; he was lost and is found. And tears and
sighs gave place to smiles and songs of joy.
[Illustration: THE PROD-I-GAL'S RE-TURN.]
Now the son who had staid at home and kept his share of wealth that his
fa-ther gave him, was at work in the field. And as he came near the
house he heard the gay sounds, and called one of the hired men to him
and asked what it all meant.
The man said, Thy broth-er is here, and thy fa-ther has made a feast, so
great is his joy to have him back safe and sound. And the young man was
in a rage, and would not go in the house; so his fa-ther came out and
coaxed him.
And he said to his fa-ther, For years and years have I been true to thee
and broke none of thy laws. But thou didst not kill a kid for me that I
might make a feast for my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come,
who spent thy wealth in ways of sin, thou didst kill the fat-ted calf
for him.
And the fa-ther said, My son, I have loved thee all thy life, and all
that I own is the same as if it was thine; yet it was right that we
should be glad and sing songs of joy, for this thy broth-er was dead and
now lives; he was lost and is found.
In this way Je-sus taught those who found fault with him, that God was
glad to have men turn from their sins and come back to him. He loved
them in spite of their sins, and when they made up their minds to leave
them, and to do what was right, God met them more than half way, and
gave peace and joy to their hearts.
A prod-i-gal is one who wastes all that he has.
Then Je-sus spoke to those who were proud, and felt as if no one else
was quite as good as they were. And he said, Two men went up in-to the
church to pray. One of them--a Phar-i-see--chose a place where all could
see him; and he stood up and said, God I thank thee that I am not like
oth-er men. I fast twice a week, and I give to the aid of the church a
tenth part of all I own.
[Illustration: THE PHAR-I-SEE.]
But the oth-er man stood far off, and bowed his head, and beat on his
breast as he said, God help me, and for-give my sins. And God for-gave
this man more than he did the oth-er, for those that are proud shall be
brought low, and those who are meek shall be set in a high place.
Then babes were brought to Je-sus that he might lay his hands on them
and bless them. And when the twelve saw it, they tried to keep them
back, and would have sent them a-way.
This did not please Je-sus, and he said to them, Let the chil-dren come
to me, and do not hold them back, for of such is the king-dom of God.
He meant that no one could have a home with God who was not as good, and
sweet, and pure as a young child, who hates sin, and loves God with his
whole heart. Then Je-sus took the babes up in his arms, and laid his
hands on them, and blest them.
And as he and the twelve went on their way, Je-sus told them that they
were to go to Je-ru-sa-lem that those things might be done to him of
which the seers and proph-ets spoke. He said that the Jews would beat
him and put him to death, but that he should rise from the dead on the
third day.
None of the twelve knew what he meant by these things, but thought he
would set up his throne on earth, and reign as kings do in this world,
and that each one of them would have a place of high rank near his
throne.
[Illustration: "SUF-FER LIT-TLE CHIL-DREN TO COME UN-TO ME."]
When it was known that they were to pass through Jer-i-cho a great crowd
came out to meet them. And there was a rich man there who had a great
wish to see Je-sus. And his name was Zac-che-us. He was so small that he
was quite hid by the crowd, and he was in great fear that Je-sus would
pass and he not see him. So he ran on a-head of the crowd; and got up
in-to a tree, from whence he could look down at this great man of whom
he had heard.
And when Je-sus came to the place he raised his eyes and saw him, and
said to him, Zac-che-us, make haste and come down, for to-day I must
stay at thy house.
And Zac-che-us came down and went with Je-sus, and was glad to have him
as a guest. And there was quite a stir in the crowd, and the Jews found
fault with Je-sus, and said that he had gone to be a guest with a man
that was full of sin.
But Zac-che-us told Je-sus that if he had done wrong he would do so no
more, but would try to be just to all men and to lead a good and pure
life.
And when Je-sus saw that he meant what he said, he told Zac-che-us that
God would blot out the sins of the past, and help him to lead a new
life. For he said that he had come to the world to seek those who had
gone wrong, and were like lost sheep, and to save them and bring them
to his home in the sky, where there was no such thing as sin or death.