For he was afraid. But Jesus said to him, "Fear not; from th

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THE LIFE OF OUR LORD

FOR LITTLE CHILDREN

[Illustration: "SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME."]

THE LIFE OF OUR LORD IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE FOR LITTLE CHILDREN

With numerous illustrations

[Illustration: JERUSALEM]

LONDON

FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.

AND NEW YORK

[Illustration]

PREFACE

IN preparing this brief account of the chief incidents in Our Lord's

Life, the writer has endeavoured to keep as close as possible to the

sacred text; its divine simplicity being far preferable to any other

style of writing the story.

The easiest words and those most familiar to children have generally

been used and every effort has been made to adapt the volume to the

intelligence of the young with the view of instilling into their minds

the love of our Saviour for mankind as shown in the beautiful story of

His life.

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THE LIFE OF OUR LORD

FOR LITTLE CHILDREN

[Illustration: KING DAVID.]

IN ages past God made the world: the earth, the sea, the hills, the

streams, the trees; the fish, birds and beasts; last of all He made

Adam, the first man, and Eve his wife, and they lived in the Garden

of Eden. They were quite good at first, but tempted by Satan they ate

the fruit of a tree God told them not to eat, and that brought sin

into the world; they could not live for ever now, they must die; but

that their souls might go to heaven, God's own Son said He would come

down on earth and die to save them. God said His Son should be born of

Abraham's nation, and should be one of the sons of the line of King

David, who sang the sweet psalms in praise of God.

Abraham was a good man, so good that God called him His friend; and

from him came the people called Jews. David was one of their kings. God

always keeps His word, but He makes men wait till it is His time to do

as He says; and it was a long, long time after Abraham and David that

our Lord came to live among men.

At last God sent His angel Gabriel to a young maiden, named Mary, who

lived at a town called Nazareth, to tell her that God loved her, and

that she should have God's Son for her own son. Our Lord would be her

little babe. When Mary saw the angel she was at first afraid, but he

said to her, "Fear not, Mary," and he told her that she must call the

child's name Jesus--that means Saviour--for He would save the people

from their sins. Then Mary must have been glad. She said, "I am God's

servant; may His will be done." Mary was to be the wife of her cousin

Joseph--they were both of David's family--so the angel went and told

him too, that Mary should have God's Son for her own, and that he must

call the child Jesus.

Joseph and Mary lived at Nazareth. At that time the Jews were ruled

over by the Romans, whose king was called Cæsar. He wanted to know how

many people there were in that land, so he said all the men and women

of it must go to their own towns to be counted. Now Mary and Joseph's

town was Bethlehem. It was a great way off, but they had to go. It took

days and days to get there, for they went slowly, and when at last they

came to the town they found the inn full; there was no room for them,

and they had to go to a stable to sleep and eat and drink.

And that night God sent Mary her Son. She had no nice cradle to lay

the Lord in, but she had some clothes to put on Him, so she wrapped the

sweet babe in them, and laid Him in a manger, where the ox and the ass

fed.

[Illustration: THE JOURNEY DOWN TO BETHLEHEM.]

How good it was of our Lord to be born a poor child for our sakes, was

it not? He was the Son of God, but to save men He came down and was a

babe in a stable of Bethlehem.

Winter had come, the snow was on the hills near Bethlehem, and some

shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks at night for fear the

wolves or bears should come and hurt them, when suddenly they saw a

great light in the dark sky, and from it a bright angel came down close

to them, and they were much afraid. But the angel said, "Fear not, for

I bring you good tidings"--that is, news--"of great joy which shall be

to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David,

a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this is how you will know

Him: you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a

manger." And then a great many angels came out of the light and sang,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace; good-will to men."

The song ended, they went back to heaven, and the shepherds said, "Let

us go to Bethlehem, and see this great thing of which the Lord has told

us." And they made haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying

in a manger. And the shepherds praised God, and told the people all

that they had seen and heard. The Son of God had no nice soft cradle

as you had; He was laid in a manger from which the ox and ass fed: He

chose to be a poor child for our sakes.

[Illustration: THE SHEPHERDS IN THE STABLE.]

Mary gave the name of Jesus to the babe as God had told her, and when

He was six weeks old she and Joseph brought Him to God's Temple to

present Him to the Lord, and to give two doves to show her thanks for

the child God had sent to her. There was an old and good man at that

time, to whom God had promised that he should not die till he had seen

the Lord's Son; and now God's Holy Spirit told him that the Child was

in the Temple; and the old man, Simeon, went there and took the Babe

in his arms, and thanked God, and said that now he should die in peace,

for he had seen the Saviour. And Simeon blessed Joseph and Mary, but

he told her that men would speak ill of her Child. Then a good old

woman--her name was Anna--came in; she was day and night praying in the

Temple, and God let her, too, know that this Child was God's Son, come

to save men; and she was glad, and gave God thanks, and told every one

that the Christ was come.

[Illustration: THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD IN THE TEMPLE.]

The word Christ means anointed--that is, touched with oil, as kings and

priests were--and the Jews always spoke of the Saviour who was to come

as "the Christ," or "King."

Then Mary took the Child back to Bethlehem.

Now there were some Wise Men who lived a long way off, and who knew a

great deal about the stars. At that time all the world expected that

Christ would come, and these wise men had heard that when He was born

they would see a new star. One night they saw a bright one that they

did not know, and it shone over the land of the Jews. So they set off

at once to go and see the new-born King. It was a long way to go; they

rode across the sands on camels, and went on and on to where the star

shone. At last they came to Jerusalem, and they asked the people,

"Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star

in the east, and are come to worship him."

[Illustration: ARRIVAL OF THE WISE MEN.]

Now at that time the Romans had made a very bad, cruel man, whose name

was Herod, King of the Jews. When he heard of the wise men and of what

they wanted to know, he was troubled; for he was afraid if the great

King was born that he (Herod) would not be King any longer. So he sent

for the chief priests and asked them where God had said that the Christ

should be born. He did not know himself, for he was not a Jew. And the

priests said that Christ should be born in the little town of Bethlehem.

Then Herod sent for the wise men and asked them when they first saw

the star; and he sent them to Bethlehem and said: "When you have found

the young Child bring me word, that I may come and worship Him too."

[Illustration: THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.]

But the cruel King meant to kill the Babe if he found him. Then the

wise men went to Bethlehem, and to their great joy, the star that they

saw in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the

young Child was.

Then the wise men went in, and saw the young Child and Mary his mother,

and they fell down and worshipped Him, and gave Him rich gifts--gold

and a sweet scent, and myrrh, which is a kind of gum. But God told

them, in a dream, not to return to Herod, so they went back to their

own land by another way. And when they were gone, the angel of the Lord

came to Joseph in a dream, and told him to rise, and take the young

Child and His mother and flee into Egypt, for Herod would seek for the

Babe to kill Him. Joseph rose at once, though it was night, and took

the Child and His mother and made haste to go to Egypt.

[Illustration: THE SEA OF GALILEE.]

King Herod was very angry when he knew that the wise men were gone

home, and he sent and had all the babes in Bethlehem killed, from quite

babies up to two years old. He thought, thus, that he would be sure to

kill the Holy Child, but God did not let him, you know.

When this cruel King died, an angel came and told Joseph to take the

Child back again into His own land. And Joseph took Him and Mary,

and they went to live at Nazareth, a town on the shore of the Sea of

Galilee.

[Illustration: JESUS IN THE TEMPLE.]

And the Child grew strong and full of wisdom, and the grace of God was

on him. And when He was twelve years old, He went up with Mary and

Joseph to Jerusalem, to keep the Passover--this was a feast that God

had commanded the Jews to keep, to remind them that He had saved them

from death, and set them free when they were slaves in Egypt. They ate

a lamb at it, and drank some wine. When the feast was over, Mary and

Joseph went on their way home, but Jesus stayed behind in the city.

There were so many people going to Galilee that Mary did not miss her

son till night; then she went to look for Him, for she thought He must

be with some friends; but she could not find Him, and in great fear,

she and Joseph went back to the city to seek for Him. They did not find

Him for three days, and then they went to the Temple, and there He was

in the midst of the priests and learned men, listening to them, and

asking them questions. And they were all much surprised at his great

sense and wise answers. His mother, also, was amazed; but she said to

Him, "Son, why have you done this? your father and I have sought You

sorrowing." And He said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did

you not know that I must do My Father's business?" He meant "God's

business," but they did not know the meaning of His words. Then He went

home with them and obeyed them, and was a good, kind Son; but His

mother kept all these things in her heart. Jesus has shown all children

how to behave to their parents; to obey them and be kind to them as He

was.

[Illustration: THE RIVER JORDAN.]

Now about fifteen years after this time there came a man in the wild

part of the land, by the river Jordan, who cried to the people,

"Repent," that is, "Be sorry for your sins and be good," "for the

Kingdom of Heaven is near." This man's name was John, and he was the

cousin of Jesus. He wore only a rough robe of camel's hair and a belt

of leather round his waist; he had never tasted wine; he fed on insects

called locusts, and wild honey.

Then all the people of Jerusalem, and in all the places near, came to

John, and said how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them

in the Jordan--that is, he poured water on their heads as they stood

in the stream as a sign that God would wash their sins away--that is,

forgive them. But he told them all that he was not the Christ who was

to come. He said he was only a Voice to call them from their bad ways

and make them ready for the One that was to come, whose shoes he was

not good enough to untie. At last, one day, Jesus came to be baptized,

but John, who knew how good He was, said, "No, I need to be baptized

by You. Why do You come to me?" But Jesus said, "It was right to do

so," and then John obeyed Him and baptized Him. Our Lord had no sins to

be forgiven, but He wished to set us an example, always to do right.

And as He came up out of the river, the heavens opened, and the Spirit

of God, like a dove, came down and rested on Him, and there came a

voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well

pleased." Then John knew that Jesus was God's Son--the Christ.

After He had been baptized, Our Lord went into the wild country, or

wilderness, for forty days, and was tempted by the wicked spirit,

called the Devil. To tempt any one is to try and make him wicked; but

the devil could not make our Lord say or do a wrong thing, although he

tried in every way that he possibly could, and so he left Him.

But Jesus came back to John the Baptist, and as He came near the

river, John said to those who stood by him, "Behold the Lamb of God

that taketh away the sin of the world." And he told them how he knew

that Jesus was the Son of God, by the voice from heaven and the dove

coming down on Him. Again, the next day as John stood with two of his

disciples--that means, men who were taught by him--Jesus came near, and

John said, "Behold the Lamb of God." And then the two disciples of John

followed Jesus. He turned and saw them, and said, "What seek ye?" They

said, "Master, where do You live?" And He said, "Come and see," and He

took them to His house, and they stayed with Him all day. Now one of

them was called Andrew. He was so sure that Our Lord was Christ, the

Son of God, that he went and found his own brother, Simon, and brought

him to hear and know this great teacher. A good brother or sister will

always try to make his or her own brother know and love Our Lord.

[Illustration: PHILIP AND NATHANAEL.]

The next day Our Lord told Philip to follow Him. And Philip went to

his friend Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found the Lord who is

Christ, He is Jesus of Nazareth." Nathanael said, "Can any good thing

come out of Nazareth?" for Nazareth was a very bad town. Philip said,

"Come and see." He knew that if his friend saw and heard Jesus he

would love Him. So he brought Nathanael to Our Lord, and Jesus said,

"Here is a very good, true man." Nathanael said, "How do You know me?"

Jesus said, "Before Philip called you I saw you when you were under the

fig-tree." God can see us always. So then Nathanael knew that Jesus

must be the Son of God--the King--for only the Son of God could have

seen him so far off; and he stayed with Our Lord as the others did.

Now Jesus had five disciples with Him, and He left the shores of the

Jordan and went with his friends, John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, and

Nathanael, to a town called Cana.

And three days after they came to it, there was to be a wedding in

Cana. The mother of Jesus was there, and Our Lord and His disciples

were invited to the marriage. Now, you know the Lord Jesus and His

mother were poor, and no doubt the people who gave the feast were also

poor, for they had not enough wine to last till the end; and when there

was not any more the mother of Jesus went to Him and said, "They have

no wine." Jesus did not say at once, "I will give them some;" He said,

"What have I to do with thee? My time has not yet come." But His mother

believed that He would help all the same; she knew how good and kind He

was. So she said to the servants, "Do what He tells you."

Now there were some large stone jars or pots in the room used for

holding water, and Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the water-pots

with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And then Our Lord

told them to pour it out and take it to the man who was ruler of the

feast; for the Jews used to get a friend to see that things went right

at their feasts, and he was called the governor or ruler.

[Illustration: CHANGING THE WATER INTO WINE.]

Now Our Lord had changed the water into wine, and when the ruler of

the feast had tasted it he sent for the bridegroom, and said to him,

"You have kept the good wine till now," for it was very good wine. But

the servants knew that it had been water, and they told every one that

Jesus had made it wine. This was the first miracle--that is, wonderful

thing--that Our Lord did before all the people. It was a great miracle;

and when His disciples saw it they were sure that He must be the Christ.

Why did our Lord do this wonderful thing? To be kind, and to show men

that He was God. There are things men cannot do; but God can do them,

and when Jesus did them He showed men that He was God.

Soon after this, Our Lord went up to Jerusalem to keep the Passover. He

went to the Temple--God's house in which He was worshipped; and where

every day they killed a lamb and burnt it on the altar. The lamb was

offered up that God might forgive the sins of the people. So when John

the Baptist said, "Here is the Lamb of God," he meant that Our Lord

would die, as the Temple Lamb did, to save men from their sins.

[Illustration: TURNING OUT THE MONEY CHANGERS.]

But when our Lord came into the Temple He was very angry. For He saw in

it oxen and sheep, doves and pigeons waiting to be sold to people for

sacrifice, and tables with heaps of money on them that came from all

lands; for the men whose the tables were, changed the gold of far off

countries for the Jew's money. Do you not think it was very wrong of

men to bring oxen, and lambs, and money to change into God's House? Our

Lord was very angry to see it. He made a whip of small cords and drove

out the oxen and sheep; and He upset the tables of money, and the seats

of those who sold doves, and said, "Take these things away. Do not make

my Father's house a place to buy and sell in."

The men whom the Lord drove out were very angry, but they knew that

He was quite right, and so they did not strive against Him. But the

priests, who ought not to have allowed such things, came to Jesus and

said, "Give us some sign, you have a right to do this." They meant, do

some miracle.

But our Lord would not do a miracle for them. He said the only sign

that should be given them was, that if they killed Him He would rise

again in three days. But they did not know what His words meant.

While Jesus was here a very good and wise rich man, named Nicodemus,

came to see Him by night. He did not go to see Jesus in the daytime,

because he was afraid of the Jews; but Our Lord taught him a great many

things. Among others, that God so loved the World that He gave His only

begotten Son, that whosoever believed in Him should not perish, but

have everlasting life. For God sent His Son into the World that through

Him it might be saved.

[Illustration: NICODEMUS BEING TAUGHT BY CHRIST.]

Then Jesus left the City, and went about teaching and doing good,

healing the sick, making the blind see, and the deaf hear, and so He

came to Samaria. Now the Jews hated the people who lived there; and the

Samaritans hated the Jews. Our Lord never hated any one. He loved both

the good and the bad, and came to save all. Of course God loves good

men or good children best; Our Lord loved His Apostle John best of

all, but He does good to all men, and lets His sun shine on all alike.

One day Our Lord was very tired; He had been teaching the poor and

making the sick well, and He had walked a long way, and He wanted food.

So He sat down on the stone edge of an old well in Samaria, while the

disciples went to buy food, and while He sat there a woman came from

the town with a jug to draw water. And Jesus said to her, "Give me some

to drink." But she said, "How is it that you, who are a Jew, ask me,

who am a Samaritan, for drink? for the Jews will not have anything to

do with the Samaritans." Jesus told her that if she had but known Who

it was that asked her for drink, she would have begged Him to give her

living water. The woman said, "You have not anything to draw the water

in, and the well is deep. How can you get living water? Are you greater

than our father, Jacob, who gave us this well?" But Our Lord told her

that they who drank the water of that well would be thirsty again;

but that if she drank of the water He could give her she should never

thirst; it should give her life that would not end.

What did Our Lord mean by living water? He meant God's grace--that

is--God's help to make us good. The woman did not know what He meant,

so she said, "Give me this water that I may not have to come here to

draw any more." Then Our Lord told her of her sins; He knew that she

was not good; He knew all her past life, and He told her about God, and

that He must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. The woman said, "I

know that Christ will come soon, and He will tell us all things."

Think how glad she must have been when Our Lord said, "I, that speak

unto you, am He."

Just then His disciples came, and they wondered that He talked to a

Samaritan woman. She left her water-pot, and went to tell her friends,

and to ask them to come and see Jesus. The disciples said to Our Lord,

"Master, eat;" they had brought food; but Jesus cared more to do God's

work than to eat, though He was hungry.

The woman brought many of the people of the town to Our Lord, and they

believed that He was the Christ, and begged that He would stay with

them and teach them; and He did stay there for two days. How good our

Lord was to stay and teach these poor men, to whom the proud Jews would

not even speak. Then Jesus went to Cana again where He had made the

water into wine; and a rich man who had a young son very ill came to

Him and begged Him to make his child well.

[Illustration: JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.]

Our Lord wanted to try the man's faith, so He did not say, "Yes, I

will," at once. He said, "If you do not see signs and wonders you will

not believe." But the man said again, "Sir, do come down or my son will

be dead." Our Lord pitied him and said, "Go thy way, thy son liveth."

[Illustration: JESUS AND THE RICH MAN.]

Jesus could cure the sick boy without seeing him. The rich man had

faith; he believed Our Lord's words and went his way, but before he

reached his house his servants met him, and said, "Your son is getting

well." "When did he begin to get better?" asked the father. "Yesterday,

at the seventh hour, the fever left him," they said. Then the father

knew that it was at the very same hour that Our Lord spoke that his

son was made well. And now Our Lord came to Nazareth where He had

been brought up, and He went into the synagogue--that is the Jews'

chapel--on the seventh day and He stood up to read. The priest gave

Him the book. It was that part of the Bible where God told men what

Christ would do when He came, how He would teach men, and comfort sad

people, and make blind men see. And when Our Lord had read it He gave

the book back to the priest, and said, "All this has come true to-day."

And He told them that He was the Christ. At first they liked to hear

Him preach, for His words and voice were sweet; but when He told them

that He was Christ they grew very angry, and said, "Is not this the

carpenter's son? He is not Christ;" and they got up and dragged Our

Lord out of the town to the edge of the hill on which their city was

built, that they might cast Him down headlong and kill Him. But it was

not the time Jesus meant to die, so He made them not able to see Him,

and He walked through the midst of them and went away.

[Illustration: PREACHING IN THE SYNAGOGUE.]

You see what bad men lived in Nazareth. They drove away the good,

gentle Lord, who came to save them from their sins, because they were

proud and jealous of Him; and He never again came to teach them. He

went down to Capernaum, another town by the Sea of Galilee, and taught

there and did many miracles, and it was called His Town.

Our Lord had not His disciples always with Him yet; John and James and

Andrew and Peter had gone back to their boats to fish; but now Jesus

wished them to be always with Him, so He called them again. I will

tell you how. One day when Jesus was on the sea-shore, such crowds of

people came to hear Him speak to them that there was not room, and they

pressed upon Him. There were two large boats close to the shore; the

fishers had gone out of them and were washing their nets; so our Lord

went into one of them, which was Peter's, and asked him to push the

boat a little way out from the land. Then He sat down and taught the

people from the boat. And when He had done speaking, He said to Peter,

"Pull out into the deep water and let down your nets to catch some

fish." But Peter said, "Master, we have toiled all night and have not

caught one fish; but still at Thy word I will let down the net." Peter

thought that it would be of no use to do so, but still he would obey

the Lord. So he threw the net into the sea, and heaps and heaps of

fishes came into it directly, so many that the net broke.

[Illustration: THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES.]

Then Peter called to the other boat, in which were his partners, James

and John, to help him, and they came and filled both boats with fish;

there were so many that the boats began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw it he fell down at Our Lord's feet, and said, "Go

away from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

For he was afraid. But Jesus said to him, "Fear not; from this time you

shall catch men." What did that mean? Peter knew, and James and John

knew; it meant that they must not fish any more, but come and try to

draw men to the Lord to make them good. They were quite sure now that

Our Lord was the Christ, so when they had brought their boats to the

shore, they left them and all they had, and went with Jesus, and did

not leave Him any more till the end came.

After Our Lord had been away for a time from Capernaum, He went back

there. As soon as the people heard it they came in great numbers to the

house Jesus was in, to see and hear Him.

Now the houses in that land are not like ours: they have flat roofs,

on which you can walk or sit, and a staircase outside the house leads

up to it. Most of the houses--all the large ones--have a court in the

middle of them. The people crowded into the court of the house where

Our Lord was, and He preached to them there. More and more came in till

there was no room, not so much as about the door.

Now there was a poor man in the town who was sick of the palsy, so that

he could not move; and lay always on a bed. He wished very much to go

to Our Lord for help, and his friends who loved him had him carried

by four men on a kind of bed to the house where the Lord Jesus was,

but they could not come near Him through the crowd. So they carried

him up to the roof, and took off enough of the tiles to make room for

them to let the bed down by ropes put at each of the four corners, and

thus they lowered it down with him on it, right in the front of the

Lord. He looked at the sick man, and said, "Son, thy sins be forgiven

thee." Jesus knows all we think, and He knew the poor man wished more

to be forgiven for his sins than to be made well. But some of the

Jews--lawyers--who hated Our Lord, thought to themselves, "How wickedly

this man speaks. Who can forgive sins but God only?" They did not think

the Lord could know their thoughts; but He did know them, and He said,

"Why do you think this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the sick

man, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Arise, take up your bed and

walk? But that you may know that (I) the Son of Man have power on earth

to forgive sins, I will do so." And then our Lord said to the sick man,

who could not move, "Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into

thine house." And the sick man rose up and stood, and took up his bed

and walked out before them all. And they were amazed, and praised God,

saying, "We never saw anything like it before."

[Illustration: THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE SEA OF GALILEE.]

After Our Lord had made the sick man well, He walked down to the shore

of the beautiful sea of Galilee. The crowd followed Him, and there in

the fresh, sweet air, He went on teaching them. Not far off was a place

called the Receipt of Custom. I will tell you for what it was used.

The Romans made the Jews pay them money, and this was called a tax.

They put men in some places to receive this tax for them, and these

men were called Publicans. They were not good men generally, and the

priests and great men hated them; but some of them were just and

honest. Levi was; and we may be sure he had heard Our Lord preach and

loved Him, for one day, as he was sitting at the place where men paid

the tax to him, Our Lord went up to him and said, "Follow Me." Levi

must have known who spoke to him, for he at once rose and was ready to

give up all his riches and go with Jesus. And he was so glad that the

Lord had called him that he gave a feast at his house, and asked all

his friends to come to it to meet their Saviour. His friends were most

of them Publicans like himself, and not all good men; but Jesus and His

disciples sat down and ate with them.

Now some of the Jews hated Our Lord; these were the Scribes and

Pharisees. The Scribes were men who wrote out the laws--there were no

printed books in those days--so they were thought wise; the Pharisees

were a set of men who pretended to serve God better than any other

people, and made a show of praying, saying their prayers in the streets

to be seen of men; but they were not really good. These men came now,

and said to Jesus, "How can You sit down to eat with publicans and

sinners?" Jesus said, "Men who are well do not want a doctor, but those

who are sick do. I am not come to call good men to be sorry for their

sins, but bad men." The Pharisees did not know that they and all men

were sinners, and that all must be saved by Jesus.

[Illustration: THE RECEIPT OF CUSTOM.]

Now I must tell you that Levi had two names, as you have. His first

name was Matthew, and a long time after, he wrote the story of Our

Lord's life. It is called the Gospel--that means good news--of St.

Matthew, and it is in the Bible.

Now just as the feast was ending there came a ruler and he threw

himself down at Jesus' feet, and said, "My daughter is dying, but come

and lay Your hands on her and she shall live." This ruler's name was

Jairus; he had great faith. And Jesus rose up at once and went with

him, and so did His disciples. And as they went along the road a poor

woman who had been ill for years and had spent all her money to pay

doctors, who did her no good, crept softly up behind Our Lord and just

touched the hem of His robe, for she said, "If I may but touch His robe

I shall be well." There was a great mob of people at the time and they

pressed up against Jesus, but He stopped, and said, "Who touched Me?"

Then Peter and the rest said, "Master, all the people press on You; why

do You ask 'who touched Me?'" And Jesus said, "Some one has touched

Me." Then the woman came and knelt down, and said, "I did," and Jesus

was pleased with her faith and told her to go in peace, and she was

quite cured. Then they went on to Jairus' house. The little girl was

dead; but Jesus took the father and mother and Peter, James, and John

with Him and went in where she lay and took her little hand, and said,

"Maid, arise." And the little girl came to life and got up, and Jesus

told them to give her something to eat.

How glad her father and mother must have been to have their dear child

again, alive and well! How they must have thanked and blessed Our Lord!

All her friends would always believe in Him now; and do you not think

the little girl--she was only twelve years old--must have loved the

Lord Jesus very much, and tried to be good to please Him.

[Illustration: THE RAISING OF JAIRUS' DAUGHTER.]

When Jesus left the house where He had raised the child from the dead,

two blind men followed Him crying, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on

us." When they called the Lord the Son of David, they meant that they

believed He was the Christ. And they followed Him into the house. And

Jesus said to them, "Do you believe I can make you see?" They said,

"Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes and said, "As your faith is

so be it unto you." And their eyes were opened and they could see.

They had told the truth, they did believe in Jesus; if they had said

they did untruly they would not have been cured. Our Lord told them

not to let any one know it; but when they were gone they told about it

everywhere.

When Jesus went out again they brought to Him a dumb man; Our Lord

ordered him to speak and he did so. Indeed no poor sick man came to Him

in vain. He made lepers well, and cured a man with dropsy; and made

a crooked woman straight. He made the dumb speak, the deaf hear, the

blind see, the cripple walk. We cannot in this little book tell you

half the kind, good, and wonderful things Our Lord did while He was on

earth.

And He sent His apostles also to teach the people, and made them able

to heal the sick and to do other miracles. One day the disciples were

angry because one who was not a disciple cured a man in Christ's Name,

but Our Lord said, "Forbid him not, for even he who gives you a cup of

water in My Name, shall not lose his reward."

About this time there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to

Jerusalem. Now there was at Jerusalem by the sheep-market a pool of

water which was called Bethesda, that means House of Mercy. Round it

were five porches or doorways, and in these lay a great many poor sick

men.

There was something wonderful about the pool. At times in the year

the water bubbled up--the Jews said an angel made it do so. The first

person who stepped into the pool as it bubbled was cured at once. So

many sick men waited for the chance. One man was there who had been

crippled for thirty-eight years. The Lord Jesus walked down one day to

this pool, and when He saw the poor man and heard how long he had been

thus, He said to him, "Will you be made well?" The helpless man thought

Our Lord meant, "Will you not go into the pool," for he answered, "Sir,

I have no man who will put me in when the pool is bubbling, and while

I try to get to it another man steps down before me." It was, as you

know, only the first who stepped in after the water was troubled that

was cured. Then Jesus said, "Take up your bed and walk."

[Illustration: THE CRIPPLE AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA.]

And the man who could not move at all at once rose, took up his bed--a

rug most likely--and walked.

Now it was the Sabbath day, and you know how strict the Jews were about

it. They said at once to the man who was cured, "Why do you carry your

bed on the Sabbath day? it is forbidden by the law."

The man said, "He that made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and

walk.'"

When they asked him, "What man was it who told you to do so?" But the

man did not know, because Jesus had gone away with the crowd.

Afterwards Jesus found him in the Temple and said to him, "You are well

now; do not sin again lest a worse thing come on you."

The man must have been a sinner, and Jesus told him to take care to be

a better man, or God might punish him with a worse illness, but he was

so ungrateful that, though he must have known the Jews would be angry

with Our Lord for making him well on the Sabbath day, he went at once

to them and told them that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The priests were very angry, but Jesus said to them, "My Father works

on the Sabbath and so do I." Then they wanted to kill Him, because he

had not only done a miracle on the Sabbath, but said that God was His

Father, making Himself equal with God.

And so, you know, He was; but these wicked Jews would not believe

it; they were jealous of Him because the people loved Him, and angry

because He told them how wicked they were.

[Illustration: THE TREASURE HID IN A FIELD.]

Our Lord told His disciples one day this pretty parable. The Kingdom

of Heaven is like treasure--that is, something precious like gold or

gems--hid in a field, and a man who knows about it, and wishes to get

it, sells all that he has and buys the field; the treasure is then his

and he digs it up. In that country much gold had been hidden in the

ground by men who fled from their enemies, and never came back to dig

it up again, and there were many who sought for it.

This parable means that the kingdom of God, the love of Christ, and His

help to make us good are so precious that we should give up anything

for them, and try as hard as we can to gain them.

[Illustration: JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES IN THE CORN-FIELD.]

Our Lord and His disciples were poor, and sometimes wanted food.

One Sabbath day they were walking through the corn-fields, and the

disciples were hungry, so they picked some ears of corn, rubbed them in

their hands, and ate the wheat.

The Jews might eat corn in the fields on week-days, but the Pharisees

had made many hard and silly rules about the Sabbath day. God had said

that they must keep the seventh day holy; but He meant it to be a rest

from work and a day for men to pray to Him, not a day such as they made

it.

The Pharisees said that no fire might be lighted on the Sabbath day, no

food cooked, not one thing might be done; they might only walk a little

way on that day; and doctors might not cure or help the sick. So it was

a day when men, and children too, were not happy, as God meant them to

be.

Now, when the Pharisees saw the disciples eat the corn, they said,

"Why do you do that which is not right on the Sabbath day?" Our Lord

answered, and told them that there was no harm in His disciples eating

the corn, for men must eat on the Sabbath day, and that we might do

needful things on it. Then He went into the synagogue, and He saw there

a man with a withered hand. And the Jews said to Christ, "Is it right

to make men well on the Sabbath day?" And Jesus said, "Yes, it is; for

if a sheep fell into a pit on the Sabbath day you would take it out,

and a man ought to be helped more than a sheep." And He told the poor

man to stretch out his hand; he did so, and found that Jesus had made

it well, and just like the other hand. And the Pharisees were so angry

because He had told men that they were wrong, that they began to talk

about killing Him. But Jesus went away when He knew it; and a great

crowd of people followed Him, and He made all the sick ones well.

[Illustration: THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.]

One day, when He saw how many there were following Him, He wished to

teach them, and, that they might hear Him well, He went up on a mount

close by, and sat down. The Jews always sat down to preach. And when He

was seated, His disciples came to Him, and the words He then spoke are

called the Sermon on the Mount. You will read it when you are older;

it is too hard for you now, but we may tell you a few things out of

it. Jesus told them that God would bless those who were humble--that

is, not proud--and the meek and gentle. He said that God would comfort

those who were sad; that He would bless those who were kind; that the

pure in heart should see God, and that those who made up quarrels

should be called God's children. He told them that they need not "take

thought" about how they should get food and clothes. "See," He said,

"the birds of the air: God feeds them; He will also feed you; and look

at the lilies: they toil not, neither do they spin, yet the grandest

king in all his glory was not arrayed--that is, dressed--like one

of them. Seek to please God, and He will take care of you." Then He

taught them to say the prayer "Our Father," just as you do now at your

mother's knee.

When Jesus had ended the Sermon on the Mount, He came down, and a great

many people followed Him; and there came a leper, and knelt down to

Him, and said, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean."

A leper was a man whose flesh was eaten away by disease; sometimes the

fingers and feet of the leper would fall off. No one could cure him,

and men might catch the complaint, so the lepers were kept in a place

by themselves; and if they went into the town, they had to cry as they

went, "Unclean! unclean!" We are sure that, when this leper came to

Christ, all the people got out of his way, and would not touch the poor

man. But Our Lord put out His kind hand and touched him, and said, "I

will; be thou clean;" and in a moment the leper was quite well; and Our

Lord told him to go to the priest and offer a gift of thanks to God.

No one but God can cure a leper; but Jesus is God, and He could.

[Illustration: CHRIST AND THE CENTURION.]

Now, when Our Lord had come to Capernaum, there came a Roman, the

captain of a hundred men, and begged Him to make his servant well, for

he was very ill with the palsy. Our Lord said at once, "I will come and

heal him." But the Roman captain said, "Lord, I am not good enough for

You to come to my house, but speak the word only, and my servant will

be well." You see, this Roman had even more faith than the rich man,

whose son was ill. "For," the Roman went on, "if I tell my servants

to do anything, they do it; and You, who rule all things, need only

speak to be obeyed." And Jesus wondered at the Roman's words, and said,

"Verily, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel," and He

said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed so be it

done unto you." And the man went home, and found his servant well.

Then Jesus went to Peter's house, and made his wife's mother well of a

fever, and healed many more sick, and made the blind see and the deaf

hear. We cannot, in this little book, tell you half of the good and

kind things Our Lord did.

Jesus sometimes told His disciples lovely tales that meant something

more than just the story, so they were called Parables. One of these

was that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant who wanted to buy

good pearls. You know what pearls are, do you not? They are pure white

shining beads that men find in the shell of the oyster. To get them

the fishers have to go down to the bottom of the sea; so, of course,

they sell the pearls very dear. Now, when the pearl-fishers had found a

very large pearl of great price, they took it to the merchant; it would

cost a great deal, but he knew it was worth even more; so he sold all

he had and bought it. Now this story means that God's Kingdom is such

a beautiful place, and that it is so good for us to serve Christ here,

that we should give up all that we most care for to gain the love of

God.

[Illustration: THE MIRACLE AT NAIN.]

One day, Our Lord, with His disciples and a great crowd who followed

Him, came near a little town called Nain. And just as He drew near the

gate of the city a dead young man was brought out to be buried. His

mother was walking by the side of the bier and crying very much, for

her husband was dead, and she had no other son. And when Our Lord saw

her He had pity on her, and said, "Weep not," and He came and touched

the bier, and the men who were carrying it stood still. And Jesus said,

"Young man, I say unto thee, Arise!" And the dead man came to life and

sat up and began to speak, and the Lord gave him to his mother. And

there came a great fear on all who saw it, and they said, "God has

visited His people."

Another parable Jesus told them was of a sower who went out to sow

seed. And as he cast the seeds about some of them fell by the wayside;

and the birds came and ate them up; some fell on stony places where

they had not much earth to grow in, and they sprang up fast, because

they were not deep in the ground; but when the sun came out, it burned

them up quite dry, for they had no root; and some fell among thorns,

and the thorns sprang up and choked them--that is, did not leave them

room to grow. But some fell on good ground, and grew up and brought

forth much fruit.

The Apostles did not quite know what hidden meaning there was in this

Parable, so Jesus told them.

The seed meant the Word of God; the sower, a servant of God who had to

teach the Word. The seed that fell by the wayside meant that the words

had not been cared for by those who heard them, and the Wicked Spirit

then made them forget all they had heard. That which fell on stony

places and had no depth of earth, meant those who at first are glad

to hear of God's love, and seem as if they would be His children; but

their goodness has "no root," and so a little trouble makes them give

up trying. We must all ask God to keep us Christ's children. The seed

that fell among thorns meant that sometimes when men have been taught

about God, they let the love of money and the cares of life and its

pleasures fill their minds so that they have no time or thought to give

to God, or to read and pray. Those seeds that fell on good ground meant

the children or men who listen to God's Word, and read it, and pray to

Him for help, and try to obey it. These grow better and better, and God

will love and help them.

[Illustration: THE SOWER.]

Our Lord was often very tired when He had been making sick people well

and teaching them by these lovely stories; and then He would go up a

mountain alone and pray to His Father in Heaven, or cross the sea to

some other place, for He had hardly time to eat or sleep. One day He

was very tired and the sun had set, so He said to His disciples, "Let

us cross to the other side." Then they sent away the crowd of people

and took Jesus in the ship, and put out to sea, and there were with

them many other little ships.

And there arose a great wind; the waves were high and beat into the

boat, so that it was full of water and going to sink; but Our Lord was

fast asleep, with his head on a pillow, in the stern of the ship. The

disciples were much afraid, and they woke him, saying, "Lord, do you

not care that we perish?" Then Jesus rose and stood up and spoke to the

wind and waves, and said, "Peace"--that is, Hush!--"be still." And the

wind stopped blowing, and the waves grew still, and there was a great

calm. Then the disciples said to each other, "What kind of man is this,

that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" They ought to have known, for

they had seen Him raise the dead. You know, do you not? He was the Son

of God.

[Illustration: CHRIST STILLING THE TEMPEST.]

Our Lord chose twelve of the men who followed Him to be his apostles,

and He sent seventy of His disciples out to teach, and gave them power

to make sick people well. The apostles also, were sent, but after a

time they came back to Our Lord, and told Him all that they had done

and taught. And He said to them, "Come ye apart into a desert place and

rest awhile," for there were many coming and going, and they had not

even time to eat. And they went by ship with Him to a desert place

near a city called Bethsaida. But when the people found out where He

had gone, they came in crowds after Him. Our Lord was very kind to

them. He went to this desert place to rest, but He did not care for

rest or food, if He could do good, so He did not say, "Why did you come

here?" but He went up on a mount and told them about God, and made all

the sick ones well. And when the day began to wear away, the twelve

apostles came to Him, and said, "Send this great crowd away that they

may go to the towns near and get food, for this is a desert place."

Then Jesus said to Philip, "Where shall we get bread that these may

eat?" And this He said to try him, for He Himself knew what He would

do. And Philip said, "A great deal of bread would not be enough to give

each of them a little piece." Then Andrew said, "There is a lad here

who has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they

among so many?" And Jesus said, "Make the men sit down." And they sat

down on the grass, fifty in one place, and there were five thousand

men there. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He

broke them, and gave the pieces to His disciples, and they gave them to

the people; and He gave them of the fishes as much as they would, and

they all ate and left many pieces. Then Our Lord told the Apostles to

gather the pieces up so that nothing might be lost; for Jesus does not

like people to waste things, and they picked up enough pieces to fill

twelve baskets with the bread that was left. Was not this a very great

miracle? The people who saw it said at once, that Our Lord was the

Christ that was to come, and they wanted to make Him a King; and when

He would not be one, they thought they would take Him by force and

crown Him; but Jesus sent His disciples away and went into a mountain

all by Himself and prayed to His Father. This miracle made the people

believe in our Lord more than any other. They thought that He Who could

feed them when they were hungry, must be the promised Saviour; and

they had been taught by the priests that when Christ came He would be

a king, that He would free them from the Romans and make them rich and

great. That was a great mistake. The Christ was coming to set them free

from their sins, and bring them to His Heavenly Kingdom, not only to do

them good on earth.

[Illustration: FEEDING THE FIVE THOUSAND.]

And when the sun had set the disciples were on the sea, and it was now

dark, and Jesus was not come to them. The wind blew, and the great

waves rose. How they must have wished Our Lord had been there to hush

the storm. But Jesus saw them, and in the middle of the night He went

to them; He had no boat so He walked on the sea. Can men walk on the

sea? No; but Our Lord could, because He was God. When the disciples saw

Him, they were afraid, and cried out. But Jesus spoke to them at once,

and said, "Fear not, it is I." And Peter said, "Lord, if it is You tell

me to come to You on the sea." And Jesus said, "Come." Peter stepped

out of the boat and walked on the water to go to Jesus, but when he saw

the great waves, he was afraid and began to sink; and he cried out,

"Lord, save me." Then Jesus at once put out His hand, and caught him,

and said, "O why have you so little faith!" And when they had both got

into the boat, the wind left off blowing, and the ship was at the place

they were going to at once. Then those in the ship came and knelt down

to Jesus, and said, "Of a truth, Thou art the Son of God."