65 03 1 13 5 f ro m t h e

3m m «E e s t a m e n t
FO R C H IL! RE N

E L SA BA R ! E R

AUT HO R O F T H E SON O F M A R Y BET H EL, T HE F RO! EN G RAI L

AN! OT HER P O EM S

N E W Y O R!

! U FFIE L! 85 C O M PA N Y
19 11
P AU L E U G E N E LL O Y !
 C ONT E NT S

C H A PTER

I .
—T H E B AB Y IN T HE
S TAB L E
II — T HE SHE P HE RD S ON T HE H ILLS
.

III —T HE WIS E ME N AN D T HE S TAR

.

IV .
— O VE R T HE H ILL S TO E GYPT

V .
— T HE LI TTL E T E A C HE R IN T HE T E MP L E

VI — T HE VO I C E C RYIN G IN T HE WIL! E RN E S S
.

VII —A L O N E F OR F O R TY ! AYS
.

VIII — T HE M ARR I AG E AT CAN A

.

I X — R EJ E C T E D B Y H x s N E IG iI B OU R S
.
-

X — T HE F AV O U R IT E C ITY OF J B SUS
.

X I T HE S E R M O N ON T HE MOUN T
.
-

X II —S TILLING T HE S T O R M
.
!

X III — T HE L ITTL E D A U G H T E R OF J A I R US
.

X IV —T HE ME SS ENG E R S
.
!

XV .
-
TH E AN G E L OF T HE P OO L

X VI — J O H N T HE B APT I ST
.

X VII A ! AY OF MI RA CLE S
.
-

X VIII — T HE SH ININ G F O R M
.

X I X — T HE WO M E N F R IEN ! S OF J B S U S
.

XX — T HE E NE M IE S IN J E R USALE M
.

XX I — T HE R A ISIN G OF LA ! AR US
.

XX II — JE SUS AN D T HE LITT LE C H I L! R E N
.
v i ii C ONTENTS
C HA PT ER

X XIII .
— J E SU S AN ! T HE R IC H YOUN G M AN
XX IV . T HE
M O T HE R OF JAME S AN D J OHN
—

X X V — Two ME N OF J E R IC HO
.

XX VI — T HE A LAB A ST E R B o x
.

XX VII — T HE TR IU M P H A L ENT RY I NT O J E R U S ALE M

.

XX VIII — T HE C L EANSING OF T HE T E M P L E
.

XX I X T HE M A ST E R AN D T HE QU E ST I O N E R S
.
-

XXX —ON T HE M O UNT OF O LIVE S

.

X XX I J U DAS I S C AR I O T
.
-

XXX II — T HE L A ST S UPP E R
.

XXX III —T HE GARD E N OF GE THS E MAN E

.

XXX IV — IN T HE HAN ! S OF H I S E N E MI ES
.

XXX V — T HE DE AT H OF J E SU S
.

XXXVI .
-
TH E R E SU RR E CT I ON
 L I ST OF I LL U ST R A T I ONS

T h e T e ac hing of J es u s
F A C IN G P AG E

In E gypt

J esu s H ealing Bli n d Ba rt i m aeu s 2 52

Be a r i n g t h e C ross 3 82
 St ories f ro m t h e New Test a m en t
f or Ch ildren

CH APTE R I

T H E B A B Y I N T H E STA B LE

A long time ago on the other side of the world , there

,

lived a beauti ful young girl whose name was Mary S he .

had no brother s or s isters to play with and her parent s ,

were quite old when she was born They were called.

s imply J o a ch i m and An na , for in those d ays people did

not have surnames as we have now Long afte rward .

Anna was called a great saint and millions of men and

,

women still honour her name— just because she was the
mother of the girl Mary whose life wa s so beauti f ul that
,

even now , after nearly two tho u sand years she is loved ,

by the whole world H er pictures are in hal f the Chri s

.

tian churches and t o this day many per s ons when th ey ,

pray to Go d ask H im to answer their prayers and to give

,

them what they want “

for Mary s sake
,
’
.

But when she was a young girl no one dreamed of a

the strange and sad and wonderful th i ngs that were go i n g r

to happen to her in after years S he wa s much like t l

.

other girls in that far away co u n try except perhaps t h e

-

,
:

she wa s lovel i er t o look a t more ser i ous and thoughtful ,

,

and kinder than the others were t o poor people and to the
old.
2 STORIES FROM THE NEW TEST AMENT
If you close your eyes perhaps you can see her in ,

imagination in her little red dress with a blue cape

,

round her shoul ders going to the Village well with a

,

brown earthen jar to draw water for her mother to use in

their little home For in those days each family did not
.

have a well of their own or draw their water from a ,

faucet in the house as we do ; but they had a large public

,

well or fountain where all the women went for wat er

, ,
.

S ometimes when they were not too busy the girls and
, ,

women would stand a long time together at the well an d ,

tell each other all the happenings of the day and the gos
sip of the neighbouring Villages They had no news .

papers then and the people had to learn from one another
,

what was going on here and there .

And the little Mary used to help her mother with the
spinning and the weaving for they made all their own ,

clothes and usually the cloth of which the clothes were

,

made We may be sure from what we learn of her in

.
,

aft er life that no girl in the village could weave a

,

smoother cloth than hers or sew a straighter seam , So .

she lived quietly and happily like any other girl until
, ,

she had grown to be as tall as her mother , and wa s a

young woman and no longer a little girl .

N ow these people who lived in Jud aea and Galilee

were Jews a very ancient race whose long history you
,

can read in the O ld Testament of the B ible ; and for

thousands of years they had suff ered a great deal from
the people of other nations who had made war s against ,

them and had taken away many things which really

,

belonged to the Jews and had made them pay taxes for
,

the support of foreign government s and kings An d the .

hearts of the Jews were s a d for they knew how many ,

ages their forefathers had been free and independent ; and

they did not like being ruled by foreign kings whose ,
 T HE BABY I N T HE STABLE

fathers had been wild people of the woods Th e J ews .

were very proud of thei r ancient race and they treasured ,

their old books and histories which told the stories of their
ancestors Abraham and Moses K ing Davi d and King
, ,

S olomon and E lij ah the great prophet

,
.

Mary had learned from her father and mother and ,

from the other old men and women who often came in
the evenings to s i t in the house of Joachim and Anna all ,

the stories o f her ancient race : proud stories of the times

gone by when they were free ; sad stories of the present
time when they were ruled by the R omans whose em ,

ero r lived in the great far away city of R ome in the land
p
-

which is now called Italy And she also heard from the
.

old people how the great prophets the wise men of the ,

days gone by had said that after a long time when

, ,

the Jews shoul d be sadder and more enslaved than they

had ever been before God H imself whom they called
, ,

J eh o va h
,
wo ul d come down to the earth a n d be born
as a man a J ew and deliver the people
, ,
And the .

deliverer wh o was to come the man wh o would be God ,

H imself they called the Mess iah — which means the

,

Christ.

All her li fe Ma ry had heard the old people talk about

the Christ who wa s to come and make the J ewi s h people
once more free When she w as alone she thought of it a
.

great deal And when she grew to be a young woman as

.
,

tall as her mother s h e used t o talk about it with her

,

young f riends and they said among themselves that surely

the happ i est woman in all the world would be she wh o
should become the mother of the future Chri st For .

then , as now i t w as cons idered a beauti ful and sacred

,

thing to be a mother ; and to be the mother of the Christ

would be the mo s t wonderful thing that could come to
any woman .
4 STO RIES FRO M THE NEW TE STAMENT
S ometimes , in the evening she would go out and ,
’
stand in the little path before her father s house under ,

the sky and look up at the glittering stars the very

, ,

same stars which you see now when the nights are clear ;
for though the nations of the earth may rise and pass
away the stars have al ways been and always will be
,
.

T hey are eternal like God ; and like H im they seem t o

, , ,

watch the people on the earth A nd the stillness of the .

stars seemed to tell Mary and the other dwellers in Ju d aea

and Galilee as it tells u s to be patient when things go
, ,

wrong and to wait until God is ready to help u s set them

,

right But when Mary w as looking at the stars she used

.

to think more than at any other time about the Christ

, ,

wh o w as to come and about her wh o s houl d b e his mother

,
.

A nd sometimes she asked God that the time of his com

ing might be soon But she never dared to ask God
.

more than that .

N ow there lived not far from the home of Mary and

,

her parents a man named Joseph H e wa s a good man

,
.
,

some years older than Mary and he w as a carpenter , .

In those days and among the Jews of Galilee people ,

were not ashamed to work with th e ir hands They .

thought it honourable as it really i s now ; and the car

,

p en t e r w as often the most respected man in the village .

It was so with Joseph And when he told the parents of

.

Mary that he wished to marry their daughter , they were

glad ; for they knew that he would give her a good home
and work hard for her and that with him she would,

never lack the wool from which to weave the close red
gown she liked so much to wear and the full blue cape ,

that kept her warm when the wind from the sea behind
the hills blew cold over Galilee .

But as Mary w as still very young her mother the , ,

good A nna wh o afterward was called a saint thought it ,

 T HE B ABY IN T HE STAB LE

better to wait yet a few months before giving her d a u gh

ter in marriage to Jo s eph the carpenter .

N ow when Mary reali s ed that she would soon be mar

ried she began to spin and weave more bus ily than be
,

fore ; and often in the quiet aftern oons , as she sat with
,

her dista ff in her hand her thoughts went back to the ,

stories she had heard about the Mess iah the Christ who ,

would be born among the J ews t o make them good and ,

to set them free And as she mused thus alone at her

.

peaceful work she thought more and more about the

,

happy woman perhaps even then living somewhere in

,

Galilee a maiden like herself , who would in the time

, ,

which God s hould choose become the mother o f the ,

Christ .

And one moonlight night in spring after she had gone ,

to bed she lay awake a long time looking at the rays

, ,

of blue grey moonlight which filt ered into her chamber

-

through the one small window at her head In those days .

the people of Galilee did not sleep on beds of wood o r

iron as we do but on mats which they spread out each
, , ,

night upon the fl o o r As Mary lay there she thought

.
,

about the Christ wh o was to come And her heart was so .

full of love for the J ewi s h people her friend s wh o suffered ,

so much and still must suffer more that her eyes filled ,

with tears and she saw the rays of blue grey moonlight
,
-

through a veil of wate r And she asked God more fer .

,

ven t ly than she had ever asked before that H e would ,

s end the Chri st s oon very s oon to save the Jewish

, ,

people .

S uddenly her heart see m ed to stand s till , for there

in the centre of the little room and close besi de her bed
she saw a great angel one of those that watch forever ,

near the throne of God and sometimes come to earth to ,

do God s errands when H e wants to speak with men in

’
,
6 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
words which they can understand The angel was a ll .

glitter i ng white from head to feet and behind his shoul ,

ders were great whi t e wings now folded and at re s t as

, ,

he s tood there in the middle of Mary s room in the fl o o d ’

,
’
of blue grey moonlight And the angel s face was more
-
.

beautiful than any face that Mary had ever seen before ;
it was whiter and lovelier than the lilies that blossomed
’
beside the lake in Galilee A nd the angel s eye s were
.

deep deep blue like the sky after a rain when the
, , ,

clouds are chased away and the sun comes out and ,

heaven and earth seem to be smiling at each other And .

the angel smiled at Mary now .

But though the angel was so beautiful and seemed so

kind Mary was just a little afraid ; for she had never b e
,

fore seen an angel and s he did not know of any one who
,

had S he had read in the Bible how God s angels some

.
’

times came to eart h to talk with wise old men ; but she
was only a young girl— and so she was afraid .

Then the angel still smiling moved nearer to Mary

, , ,

as she lay t here on her little mat ; he came so near that a

fold of his white robe touched her hand which was on ,

the edge of the coverlet A nd Mary wa s no more afraid

.
,

for she knew that the angel loved her ; and though he wa s
so tall and shining she felt as i f she had known him a ll
,

her life .

The angel s poke to Mary and what he said wa s more

,

wonderful than any word s that man or angel ever spoke

before ; for he told Mary that God had chosen h er to be
the mother o f the Christ who was to come H e said that .

in a few short months she would hold him in her arms a ,

little baby her o wn baby

,
.

And the angel told Mary that God wa s pleased with

her and that she should name her baby Jesus ; that he
,

sh ould be called God s son and that there should never

’
,
8 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
much loved E lizabeth was older than Mary ; she wa s
.

married and lived with her husband in a village not far

,

from Jeru s a lem For many days Mary had not been able
.

to think of anyt hing but the great message which the angel
had brought to her ; and though she could not speak
about it t o the girls in Galilee she wanted to tell her ,

cousin E lizabeth t h at God had chosen her to be the mother

o f the Christ who was going to be born It happened .

that s ome people she knew were going to J eru s a lem about
that time and Mary went along with them There were
,
.

no railroads in those days and they walked over the hills

,

and through the valleys s topping to rest at night in a

,

tent which they carr i ed with them on the back of a gen

tle large eyed mule
,
-
.

When Mary reached her cousin s house E lizabeth was ’

,

ve ry glad to see her The two sat down together hand ,

in hand and when Mary had told her cousin the wonder
,
“
ful news E lizabeth s aid
,
Blessed art thou among
,
”
women !
A nd E lizabeth told Mary how happy she wa s that the
future mother of her Lord had come to Vi sit her ; and
now she said all the great things which the prophets
, ,

had foretold for the Jews would really happen .

'

Mary answered that she loved God and wanted to be ,

worthy of the gift which H e was going to send her It .

was because her heart wa s so full of inexpress ible thing s

that she spoke so simp ly .

S he made her cousin a long vis it of about three ,

o n t h s ; and during all that time the two talked much

together about the Christ who wa s coming to Mary as a

little baby and whose name should be called Jesu s
,
And .

Mary told E lizabeth all about Jo s eph the carpenter whom , ,

she was going to marry after she went home to Galilee .

An d when the visit was over and another party of Ma ry s ,

’
 T HE B ABY IN THE STABLE

friends came to take her back to her home E lizabeth ,

kissed her o n both cheeks and told her for perhaps the ,

hundredth time that s h e was blessed among women

,
.

S oon after Mary reached home she wa s married t o

J oseph the carpenter and went to live in his house
,
.

Joseph knew how the angel had come down from heaven
to tell Mary about the Christ who wa s going to be born ,

for one night in a dream an angel had also come to him

and had told him the whole wonderful story A nd he .

was very kind and tender with Mary wh o wa s now h i s ,

wife When she was sad he cheered her with long

.
,

stories about the kings and prophets of the olden time ;

for Mary was s till quite young and s h e enj oyed hearing ,

stories now almost as well as when she wa s a child .

During the warm summer evenings she and J oseph used

to wander hand in hand through the fi elds around the lit
tle village of N azareth which was their home ; and when
,

the quiet sta rs came out in the sky Joseph would tell ,

Mary other stories which he had learned from the

,

R oman people wh o lived in Jud aea storie s about the ,

strange god s of the R omans that were named after the

stars Jupiter , Mar s and Mercury But though Mary
, ,
.

loved the stars she always enj oyed the Jewish stories
,

best ; for in s o many of them there wa s s ome hint about

the Christ who wa s to come .

When the winter came o u and the w i nd blew cold ,

over the hills and the wool of the sheep grew thick and
,

long to shelter them from the storms the people in N aza ,

reth heard new s which troubled them much C aesar .

Augu s tu s E mperor of the R omans wh o now ruled the

, ,

country sent out an order that all the J ews should be

,

taxed ; that i s that the people wh o had already been

,

obliged to pay s o much money to the R omans woul d ,

have to pay sti ll more this year And the R oman rul ers .
10 STORIES FROM T HE NEW T ESTAM ENT
ordered that every man among the Jews shoul d go at a
certain time to the town where he was born in order that ,

the tax collectors might know just where each family b e

-

l o nged and take what i s called a census So Jo s eph

,
.
,

wh o had been born in Bethlehem a city of Ju d aea about ,

seventy miles south of N azareth wa s obliged to go there ,

and pay his tax And though Mary was sad at the
.

thought of taking such a long j ourney in the cold of win

ter she went with her husband
,
.

O ne morning in December they set out from N azareth

together As Jo s eph had only one donkey he placed Mary
.
,

on i t s back wrapped in her warm blue cape and himself

, ,

walked beside her the whole of the long way There were .

many hills to climb and the back of the donkey wa s not

,

a comfortable seat ; but Mary did not complain for she ,

knew that Jo s eph always felt ve ry s ad when she was not

happy because he loved her so much So she made b e
,
.

lieve to enj oy the long ride over the rough roads and up
and down the hills ; though sometimes she wa s so tired
that she nearly fell off the back o f the donkey S he .

pointed out to her husband all the pretty places along the
way the orchards of apricot trees the green A leppo
,
-

that grow even to thi s day i n Jud aea and here and ,

standing solitary and augu st upon a h i ll top a giant ,

cedar of Lebanon .

When they reached Bethlehem Mary was really tired , .

But when they went to the inn the only hotel in the little
,

city they found that every room was full There wa s a

,
.

great crowd of travellers there wh o had come like them

, ,

selves to pay their taxes to the Romans There was not

,
.

a square foot of space for them in the whole house .

But the innkeeper wh o was a kind man felt sorry for

, ,

Mary ; and he to ld J oseph that i f they wanted to they , ,

coul d sleep that night in the stable So they went out .

 T HE B ABY IN THE STABLE

there into the cold s t able among the cows the o xen and , , ,

the sheep Ma ry had always before had a comf o rtable

.

place to sleep even though her people were poor ; and

,

when she saw the sta ble of the inn where they would have
to s tay that night she was so d i s co u ra éed that s h e would
, v

have cried— i f she had not known that her tears would
make Joseph so sad So s h e smiled at him and said
.
,

that the stable was really quite homelike They had a .

lantern which they had brought to light them on the

,

way and J oseph hung it up on a wooden peg against the

,

wall It did not give much light ; but it was better than
.

nothing And there were so many cows and oxen in the

.

stable that their warm breath took away the chill of the
bare place .

Jo seph unstrapped their blankets from the back of the

donkey on which Mary had ridden ; he spread a lot of
,

straw on the fl o o r of the stable to make a bed for her and ,

pla ced the blankets on the straw Then he blew out the .

lantern and they lay down to rest

,
After a while every .

thing grew very still There was no sound in all the .

place except the re gular breath ing of the sleeping oxen

and the cows and now and then a little clicking noise
,

when the hoof of an o x fell again st the fl o o r as he moved ,

in his sleep There was a sweet smell of hay in the sta

.

ble and here and there through a chink in the stone

, ,

walls a ray of starlight filt ered i n

,
But Mary did not .

fall asleep .

’
It was twelve o clock the very middle of the night , ,

when the wonderful thing happened The baby the Christ .

,

whose name was to be called Jesus suddenly came to ,

them— right there in the stable .

Perhaps an angel brought him perhaps the same ,

angel who had told Mary he was coming— I do not kno w .

Anyway Mary found him there beside her H e wa s

,
.
12 STORIES FROM TH E NEW T ESTAMENT
little , and warm and sweet N ow every mother thinks
,
.

her baby is the most wonderful thing in the world ; but

we can understand wh y Mary k n ew that hers wa s .

When she fi rs t felt his breath against her face she was so ,

happy that it seemed to her that she woul d fly right away

to God with the baby in her arms
,
S he forgot that she
.

w a s lying on the fl o o r of a cold stable among the cattle ; ,

she forgot everything except her baby .

Jo s eph took down the lantern from the p eg in the

wall he lighted i t and brought it to Mary In the pale ,
, ,
.

glimmering light the ba by s face s hone like a star and

’
,

it seemed to Mary that all round him wa s a radiance far

brighter than the light of the lantern Before she looked .

at him when she had felt hi s warm little body against

,

her she had only k nown that he was her own baby ; but
,

when she saw his face she realised all that the angel had
told her all that the old prophets had said about him
,

that this little baby was really God H im s elf wh o had ,

come down to the world to make the people good .

And now that Mary had seen the baby s face , though ’

she wa s even happier than she had been a moment before ,

she no longer wanted t o fly away to God with the baby in
her arms For with the coming o f the little Jes u s wh o
.
,

wa s God and who loved the world so much there came

, ,

to her also a great love for the world— for all the world
and everybody in i t S he felt as if she could take them
.

all in her arms the rich and the poor the good people
, ,

and the bad people the old ones and the little children
, .

S he had never dreamed that she could love them so much

but how could she help i t — she who was now the mother
o f J es a s ?

Beside the bed where Mary lay there wa s a little low

manger , a s ort of box which wa s filled with hay for cows
to eat And Mary wrapped the little J esu s i n s waddling
.
 T HE B ABY IN T HE STABLE

clothe s— long s trips of cloth that poor peo ple in those

days always used in which t o wrap thei r new born babies
-

and s he laid him be s ide her in the manger And there

.
,

among the co ws and oxen wh o came to sni ff at him with

,

their s oft warm no s e s the baby went to sleep

, .

And once again it grew still in the s t able and the,

cows and oxen drew long breaths of drowsy content and ,

through the chink s in the sto ne wall the rays of starlight

filte red in and s eemed to lie in pool s of s ilver on the
flo o r
. And the little J es u s slept s weetly i n the manger
be sid e his mother .
16 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
E ast the stars mean much to the people and they believe ,

that they can read in the moving planets what is going to

happen on the earth .

In the middle of that night the shepherds being ,

unable to sleep got up and built a little fire of sticks and

,

brushwood for it was cold They had shivered in their

,
.

blankets lying there on the ground But as they gathered

,
.

round the brushwood fire and held out their hands to the
,

blazing warmth they felt as comfortable and happy and

,

w ide awake as they had ever felt in the middle of the day
-
.

And sitting round the fi re they told each other stories

,

from the ancient histories of the Jew i s h people ; for shep

h erds are like children in their hearts and they love ,

stories .

At the close of a long narrative which one of them

had been telling the others they noticed that the hills ,

and field s all round them were shining with a brilliant

light They would have thought the sun wa s going to
.

rise i f they had not seen a few minutes before the stars
,

of midnight ; for the shepherds coul d tell from the places ,

in the sky where the constellations stood what hour of ,

the night it wa s When the shepherds saw the brilliant

.

light they could not imagine what it meant

,
They .

thought something terrible was going to happen and they ,

were afraid .

S uddenly they saw a great angel standing before the m ,

H is face and garments were all shining H e was so near .

them that the hem of his robe lay right in the blazing
b rushwood but it did n o t catch fi re ! When the shep
-

herds saw the angel they were still more afraid They .

jumped up from the ground ; they hud dl ed together ,

holding each other by the arms and their teeth chattered ,

so that they could not speak O ne of them , in leaping .

to hi s feet had kicked over a drinking cup ; and as it

,
-
 TH E SHEPHE R! S ON T HE HILLS

clattered against the sto nes the sound seemed to them

like the rattle of thunder— which shows how frightened
they really were .

Then the angel spoke H e to ld them not to be .

afraid ; that he brought them tidings of great j oy which ,

shoul d be for all the people in the world For this .

night the angel said there had been born in the city of
, ,

David a S aviour for the J ews who shoul d be called ,

Christ the Lord The city of David wa s a name which

.

the Jews had for Bethlehem ; and when the angel said
that the shepherds knew that he meant the little city
,

right beside them whose buildings they could see in the

,

starlight .

And the angel to ld the shepherds that when they

foun d a new born baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and
-

lying in a manger they would know it was the little

,

Christ whom God had sent to save the world The

, .

swaddl ing clothes and the manger should be to them a

s ign the angel said
,
.

Then sudde nl y there appeared with the angel wh o wa s

talking t o the shepherds a great company of other ,

angels S ome of them looked like men o nl y they had

.
,

shining garments and two broad wings behind their

shoulders these were the angels wh o sometimes walk on
eart h and do God s errands with men ’
O thers were just .

winged heads with faces lik e those of children and no

, ,

bodies at all ; these were the cherubim who sing always ,

round the throne of God and rej oice when little children
,

are born upon the earth O thers had wonderful rapt

'

,
.

faces and six long wings which as they rested there in

, ,

the air before the shepherds were folded round thei r

bodies like a garment ; these were the seraphim wh o love ,

God all the time and think of H im so much that they

cannot s ing but are always silent
,
.
18 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT

Th angels were s o many that they filled the whole

e

eastern sky right up to the place where the big star

,

shone overhead A nd as they rested there in the heavens

.
,

the shepherds heard them praising their Creator and ,

singing :
“
G lory to God in the highest and on earth peace , ,

good will toward men

-
.

T hen quickly at a signal from the fi rs t angel wh o

,

stood nearest the shepherds , with the edge of his long

garment trailing in the brushwood fi re t h e whole host of ,

angelic beings rose right up into the sky up and u p , ,

until they disappeared And the shepherds were left

.

standing alone in the fi eld beside the dying fi re ; and the

,

sheep which had been awakened by the singing of the

,

angels were huddled together on a little knoll with their

, ,

small eyes wide and shining as i f they also understood ,

that something strange had happened to the world .

N ow when the angel s were gone away the shepherds ,

said to each other :

Let u s go down into the city of Bethlehem , now ,

this very hour , and see for ourselves this marvel which
the Lord has sent H is angels to tell u s about Let u s .

look for the child wh o has been born the child wh o shall ,

be wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger ;

for when we fin d a baby like that we shall know he is ,
”
the little Christ .

Th e shepherds left the sheep alone in the fi eld and

started for the city They had never before left their
.

fl o ck s unguarded ; but then nothing like thi s had ever

,

happened before— either to them or to any other shepherds .

They trusted that God wh o had sent the angel would

, ,

watc h the sheep for them while they were away .

When they reached the city of Bethlehem they went

straight to the inn Being themselves shepherds it was
.
,
 TH E SHEPHERDS ON TH E HILLS

natural that they should go fi rs t to the stable where the

sheep and other cattle were Oi course they did not kn ow
.

that Jo s eph and Mary were ins ide ; but they thought th a t
the m a n who tended the sheep and the cows of the i n n
keeper might be sleepi n g there .

They f ound a big door made of boards o n o ne s i d e

, ,

of the stable It was not fastened o n the inside and they

.
,

opened it very slowly and carefully s o as not to awa ken ,

too sudde nl y the man whom they thought might be sleep

ing there They left the door w ide open ; and a s the
.

three shepherds stood in the doorway that brilliant star ,

which they had seen shone right into the stable .

In the light from the star they saw over on the oppo ,

site side the little low manger in which you will remem
,

ber that Mary the mother had placed the new born J es u s -
.

The shepherds could see from the door that something

wa s lying in the manger ; but they could not make out
exactly what it w a s so they moved forward
,
After a few .

steps they came to the place where Jo s eph and Mary

were lying in their blankets on the s traw littered fl o o r -
.

They had both awakened .

Then the shepherds to ld Joseph and Mary that they

were looking for a baby ; that an angel had come to them
out in the field s and told them that one had been born in
Beth l ehem that night They had come to fi n d i t
. .

No w all mothers delight i n showing their babies ; for

it seems to them that every one must love the tiny crea
tures So Mary put out her hand toward the m anger
.

where the little Jesus was lying and told the men that ,

they might come and look at him The brilliant star .

which shone into the stable made it almost as light a s

da y .

The three men leaned eagerly forward They were .

ta ll and strong and brawny and wore rough coats made

,
20 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
of sheepskin with the wo o l outs ide O ne of them had a
.

drinking cup slung over his sh o ulder by a leather strap

-
,

and the tw o others had the leather pouches in which

shepherds used to carry nuts and dates and other food ,

slung over their shoul ders in the same way They all .

had long rough beards ; their faces were tanned from

,

years of exposure to the sun and wind ; but their eyes

were very soft and tender as they looked down at the
little J esus lying there in the manger wrapped in swad ,

dl i n g clothes — just a s the angel had said they would

fi n d him .

N ow the shepherds had been so asto nished at the

appearance of the angels in the field a little while before
, ,

that they were ready to accept any other wonderful thing

which might happen So they were not surprised to see
.

a bright light all round the head of the little Jesus An d .

they bowed themselves down before the baby as before a ,

sacred thing .

While they were standing there by the manger with ,

their heads bowed the baby awoke

,
Perhaps the light
.

from the star shone in hi s face too brightly As the little .

J es u s opened his eyes the shepherds caught their breath ;

,

for the eyes were not those of a little baby— they were
clear and ful l of intelligence N o one had ever before
.

looked at the three shepherds in the same way as this

new born child looked at them Though the eyes were s o
-
.

gentle and full of love they s eem ed t o see everyt hing that
,

was in the hearts of the men— a ll their hidden thoughts .

And the men began t o be very sorry for all the wrong
things they had ever done in their lives and they told ,

themselves that never again would they do anything that

could make the little Jes u s sorry i f he knew about i t .

The shepherd s did not stay in the stable very long ,

for it was s till nighttime and they thought the little

,
 T HE SHEPHE R! S ON T HE HILLS
Jesus and his mother ought to sleep Though they .

wanted to stay they were afraid it might be s elfis h of

,

them to keep the H oly Fam ily awake any longer So .

,

after a long last look at the baby they said good by and ,
-

went out clos ing the door of the stable behind them
, .

Then the shepherds went a little di stance away and

s a t down on a big fi a t rock the three of them and ta lked
, ,

it all over They reminded each other of the s ayings of

.

the ancient prophets that some day a S aviour should be

,

born among the Jews They were happy and just a

.
,

little proud that they had been the very fi rs t strangers

,

to see the little baby wh o wa s going to do such great

things when he grew u p They recounted their ages and
.
,

wondered i f they would live long enough to see him when

he shoul d be a man As Go d had been so kind a s to send
.

H is angel to them with the fi rs t news perhaps H e would ,

let them live to see still greater thing s— i i they were

good and took faithful care of the sheep and did not get
, ,

angry about t ri fl es .

As the three shepherds sat there on the big fla t rock

the sun came up behind the hills It seemed to them .

that the little city of Bethlehem had never looked s o

pretty not even in the summertime a s it looked that
, ,

winter morning after J es a s wa s born Would J csus .

make the whole world beauti ful to everybody they won ,

dered when he should grow to be a man ?

,

When the sun was u p and people began to move ,

about in the city the shepherds left the rock where

,

they had been sitting and went around among the hou s es ,

telling everybody they met about the beautiful baby that

had been born the night before in the stable of the inn .

And they told their friends that the little J es u s was really
the Christ who had come to save the Jews for had not ,

the angel said s o ? N ow s ome of the people were much

22 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAM ENT
pleased to hear the glad news ; but m o st o f the men and
w o men whom the shepherds to ld about the angel di d not
believe a wo rd of i t — they said the three men had been
dreaming But the shepherds knew that they had not
.

been dreaming .
24 STORIES FRO M T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
spect for their wise men who claimed to understand such
thi n gs What their ancient pro phets had been to the
.

Jewish people these wise men were to the pe o ple o f the

,

E ast ; and whenever they said that anyt hing wa s true ,

nobody dared to dispute them .

O ne night in the early winter of the year when Christ

was born the three wise men in their own far c ountry
, , ,

were together on the fla t roof of a palace where they had ,

come to study the stars As they stood there side by .

side on the roof they lo o ked very tall and strange in ,

their long robes embroidered with symbols : the S igns of

the Zodiac Aries Taurus Gemini and so o n ; and other
, , , ,

signs which meant the planets — S aturn Ju p i t er Mars , , ,

the sun the moon V enus and Mercury Any one wh o

, ,
.

s houl d dre ss like that in these days would be c o ns idered

very queer ; but in the olden times the w i men robed
themselves in strange garments that every one wh o saw ,

them might know how wise they were ; for the Magi knew
the meaning of these marks o n their clothes and others ,

did not .

As the three Magi stood there on the fl a t roof of the

palace they saw something which surpri sed them much
,
.

I n the eastern sky right before them wa s a big star

, ,

whi c h they had never seen before No w you will remem .

ber that the shepherds wh o tended their fl o ck s on the

,

hills near Bethlehem had seen this same star and won
,

dered what it meant Th e Magi also wondered But . .

they were not afraid as the shepherds had been For

,
.

the wise men of the E ast believed that when a brilliant

star like that appeared suddenly in the sky , it meant
, ,

that s o me great man was going to be born .

N ow the Magi were indeed very wi s e ; and one of the

strange things they knew was which S ign of the Zodiac
was supposed to rule the various countrie s o f the earth .
 T HE WI SE M EN AND T H E STAR

And because they had seen the star in the E ast in that
part of the heavens which rul ed the land of J ud aea a c ,

cording to their reckoning they decided that a great man ,

was going to be born right away in the country of the

J ews.

So af t er taking a good look at the star and counsel

, ,

ling together they went do wn the stairway which led

,

from the roof to the lower rooms of the palace and began ,

to get ready for the long j ourney to Ju d aea .

It seemed to them that the appearance of so bright a

s tar must mean the birth of a great king ; so they deter
mined to go straight to the palace of King H erod at Jer u
salem E ven the Magi the wi sest of men never thought
.
, ,

of lookin g for a baby king in a s t able They supposed .

that a so n h a d been born to K ing H erod of cour s e N ow

' ’

, .

in thos e dil ys it w a s the custom for men who came to

visit new born princes to bring them handsome presents
-

s o the three wise men who were almost kings themselves

,

so hig h was their position took each a rich casket and ,

filled it with beauti ful gi fts for the little King of the
J ews a s they called him
,
Then they put in their travel.

ling sacks such other things a s they woul d want on the

journey including books and scrolls covered with queer
,

marks which stood for the planets and the S igns of the
,

Zodiac ; for they expected to fi gu re out in that strange

way all the great things which were to happen to the lit
tle king when he grew u p .

Then they call ed for their camels the tall grotesque , ,

animals whi ch the people of the Far E ast often use instead
of horse s because the camels can go so far without get
,

ting tired and need so little to eat and dri n k by the way
,
.

The three camels were ordered to kneel down ; the sacks

containing the presents for the baby the scrolls and other ,

things , were fastened t o thei r sides then each of the Magi

26 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
took his seat on the top of the big b ump in the middl e of
hi s camel s back ; at a signal the camels rose clumsily to
’

their feet wailing and grumbling in camel language , and

,

the wise men were on their way .

They had not even waited for daylight for the stars ,

made the wa y quite plain and they were in a great hurry

,

to reach the far off palace of King H erod They would

-
.

have made an interesting picture had there been any one ,

to see them the three men in their long garments mounted

, ,

high on the backs of the tall camels which swayed grace ,

ful ly from side to side a s they padded o n Can we not .

s ee them in imagination rising slowly up and over the

,

ridge of a hill outlined against the grey morning sky ?

,

They had many adventures and terrible hardships by

the wa y ; for in those days there were few roads and ,

those very bad and there was always danger from robber s
,
.

When at last they reached J erusalem King H erod wa s ,

very glad to see them ; for the kings of that time all had
a great respect for wise men which is not always s o in -

our day .

“
But when the Magi said : Where i s he that i s born
King of the J ews ? for we have seen his star in the E ast
”
and are come to worship him H erod was much trou ,

bled N o little son had been born to him in his palace ;

.

and i f one had been born somewhere else— one whose

‘

com i ng the star foretold— i t needs must be some child of

another family wh o woul d take the throne away from
,

H erod . N o wonder he was distressed .

So the King called together all the old pr i e s ts and ,

the scribes who kept the sacred books and told the people
what they meant and the K ing asked them where the
,

prophets had said that the Christ shoul d be born King .

H erod had also seen the star in the E ast ; and though he
ought to have been glad he wa s not glad at all H e did
, .
 TH E WI SE M EN A ND T HE STAR
not want anybody but himself to be K ing of the Jews
not even the promised Messiah .

When H erod asked the assembled pr i e s ts and scribes

where the old book s declared that Christ should be born ,
“
with one a ccord they answered : I n Bethlehem of J u d as a .

Then the K ing sent for the three Magi wh o had come ,

f rom the E ast on their camels led by the star ,

H e pre .

tended to be ve ry glad that Christ was born at last and ,

he told the wise men to go to Bethlehem and search for

the young child and when they had found him to come
, ,

back to J eru s a lem and let h i m know that he also might

'

go and worship the infant Chri st But H erod really

.

meant to kill the little J es u s and not to worship him

,
.

The three wise men again mounted their camels tak ,

ing with them the presents they had brought and starte d ,

for Bethlehem It wa s night when they came to the city

.

where the little Jes u s was and the great s tar shone in the
,

sky.

They w ent first to the i nn , and a s ked the people there

i f they knew anything a bout a child wh o had been born .

Of cour s e the people in the inn were much interested in

the little Jesu s out in the s table , because of the strange
s tory which the shepherd s had told about the angels
which had appeared to them i n the field on the night of
“
h i s bi rth singing :
,
Glory to God in the highest and on ,

earth peace good will toward men

,
-
They told the .

wise men all they had heard And the Magi went to the
.

stable with the present s for the baby in beauti ful rich
,

boxe s which they carried in their hands .

N ow when the Magi left their own far country they ,

had o n ly supposed , from the star in the E ast that a ,

powerful king was to be born i n Jud aea ; but when they

had learned from King H erod and the prie s ts in J eru
salem that the great Mess iah o f the Jews wa s expected to
28 STORIES FR OM '

TH E NEW TE STAMENT
be born in Bethlehem they were more than ever anx ious
,

to see the wonderful little baby H ad they not been so .

wise they woul d have been surprised to learn that the

,

Chri st had been born in a stable ; but they remembered

that King David wh o wrote the most beautiful songs in
,

all the world had been only a shepherd boy when he was
,

young .

A s the three Magi went along the path to the stable a ,

little black dog came out and barked at them ; and all
the people of the inn looked a fter them with great cur ios
‘

ity for they had never before seen any one who wore gar
,

ments li ke those of the Magi covered with such marks ,

and symbols E ven the H igh Priest at Jeru s a lem when

.
,

dressed for a great ceremony was a less imposing figu re , .

The wi s e men from the E ast created a sensation in the

little town of Bethlehem .

Joseph was standing in the door of the stable look i ng

up at the sta rs when the three Magi came down the path .

H is heart was very full of love that night and he had ,

been wondering wh y God had chosen him to take care of

the little Jes u s and to be a father to him Was he good .

enough and wise enough h e only a s imple carpente r o f

-

N azareth ? When he saw the wise men Jo s eph caught ,

his breath for he had never beheld anyt hing so splendid

,
.

H e wondered wh o the visito r s could b e .

H e invited them to enter just a s i f the stable had ,

been a beauti ful house ; and the three wise men came i n ,
among the cows the oxen and the sheep The one lan
, ,
.

tern did not give much light but the stars were bril ,

liant that night and the middle of the stable s eemed

,

almost as bright as in the dayt ime though in the corner s ,

were dark shadow s from which the eyes of the cows

,

shone out .

When the Mag i saw the mother and the baby Jesus ,
 T HE WI SE M EN AND T HE STAR
they fell down on their knees before them saying strange ,

words in their o wn foreign language whi ch neither J o s ep h ,

nor Mary could understan d ; but they supposed that the

men were saying prayers .

Mary looked very pretty as s he sat there with the,

baby in her arms Around her shoulders wa s the bright

.

blue cape ; her dark hair lay in little curls all round her
.

face her eyes were bright with happiness and on her

, ,

face was that sweet mother look which little children love
-

to see —an d older people as well The wi s e men thought .

they had never seen any woman wh o looked so much like

a queen .

The eyes of the baby Jesu s were wide open though it ,

wa s so late at night H e seemed to understand wh y these

.

strangers had come to visit him And little as he wa s , .

,

it s eemed to all of them that he smiled when the Magi ,

held out to him the gifts which they had brough t — gold ,

frank incense and myr rh

,
For the Magi who were so
.
,

wise and wh o knew t h e m ea n i n gs of things gave the little

o
,

Jesus gold to mean that he wa s a king They gave him .

f rankincense to mean that he was holy for frankincens e ,

was the sweet gum which the priests burned i n the temples
before the altar and which gave out so s weet a smell
, .

An d they gave him myrrh , a re s in f oun d on certain tree s

and shrubs in Arabia and Abyss inia and which wa s used
for medicine to mean that though he wa s Christ himself
, ,

and came from God he was nevertheless a human being

, ,

and wo ul d have to suff er much while he stayed upon the

earth and that some time he would have to die
,
.

The reason why we give each other Christmas present s

now is because the Magi gave those presents to the little
Jes u s and our Christmas i s the anniversary of his birth
,
.

J o s eph and Ma ry did not have any r i ch food t o offer

their noble guests , s o they gave them each a cu p o f cool ,
30 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAM ENT
sweet milk fresh from one of the cows And the Magi
,
.

thought they had never drunk anything s o delicious in

all their lives Then the fou r men the Mag i and Jo s ep h
.
, ,

sat down on the straw beside Mary and the little J es u s .

Though the wise men had murmured their worship of

Ch rist in the s trange tongue of their own far country yet ,

they knew the language of Jo s eph and Mary very well ;

and they sat with them a long time telling s tories of ,

Persia Arabia and A byssinia , and other distant lands

, ,
.

And they explained to Joseph and Mary the meanings of

the strange marks which were embroidered on their gar
ments the symbols which stood for the s un the moon
, , ,

the planets and the S igns of the Zodiac And the Magi
,
.

also told the meaning of other figu res which were em

broidered on the br east of their robes marks which they ,

had themselve s learned in E gypt the far southern land of

,

the river N ile the Pyramid s and the S phinx

,
.

When Mary s aid to the wi s e men that E gypt must be

a wond erful cou ntry and that she would like to go there
,

some time they answered that perhaps she woul d have her
,

wish very soon It did not seem probable to Mary who

-
.
,

had never in a ll her li fe been more than seventy miles

away from home ; but s he knew that these men were wise ,

and i f they s aid that s he might go to E gypt some day

why she was ready to believe i t
,
So many things had
.

happened to her in the last year , that almost anyt hing

s eemed possible for the future .

Before they went away ; the Magi learned from Jo s eph

and Mary the exact time when the little Jes u s was born ,
for they meant to figu re out by thei r knowledge o f the
,

sta rs , what wa s going to happen to him in aft er li fe .

Then they said good by bowed themselves once aga i n be

-

fore the baby Christ and walked with slow and s tately
,

step s out of the stable They found the three camel s

.
 CH A PTE R IV

O VE R T H E H I LL S T O E G YP T

Afte r the three wi se men had ridden away on their

camels leaving Joseph , Mary and the little Jesus in the
, ,

stable at Bethlehem the H oly Family went to sleep ; for

,

the hour was late and they were weary with much talk
,

ing In hi s sleep that night Jo s eph had a dream

. .

It seemed that an angel of God came and stood beside

him and pointing to Mary and the little Jes u s the angel
, ,

told Jo s ep h to take the young child and hi s mother and

flee into E gypt— that strange land which the Magi had
told them about the evening before And the angel also .

s aid to J o s eph in the dream , that he shoul d stay in E gypt

until God sent him word to come away ; because King
H erod wanted to kill the little Jesus and it wa s not s afe ,

f or them in J ud aca .

When Joseph awoke in the morning he was much

troubled about hi s dream H e knew that he would have
.

to do what God said because God had trusted him with

,

th e care of the wonderful baby and his mother But the .

land of E gypt was ve ry far away it wa s then wint er and , ,

Joseph wa s a poor man H e wondered how they woul d

.

be able to get food in that strange far o ff country even ,

-

if they should succeed in reaching there at all H e sup .

posed that the people in E gypt spoke a different lan guage

to theirs .The wise men had told him about the great
Pyramids down there which were made of solid stone
, ,

and were s o high that a man standing at the bottom and

33
34 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT
looking up their sloping s ides felt himself no larger ,

than a fly Joseph wa s a good carpenter , perhaps the

.

best in Galilee but woul d the people of E gypt be willing

to pay him for the kind o f work that he coul d do ? H e
‘

knew , of course that the people of E gypt d id not live in

,

Pyramids .Perhaps they did not even build them any

more for the Magi had sa i d that the great Pyramids
were ve ry , very old .

But even more than he dreaded the strange li fe in

,

E gypt Joseph dreaded the journey there

,
H e did not .

even know exactly how far it was but surely it must be

four or fiv e hundred miles ; a n d they had only the one
donkey on which Mary had ridden down to Bethlehem
,

from thei r home in Galilee J oseph supposed that he .

himself would have to walk the whole of the long way to

E gypt . And how wou l d they get milk on the way ? Per
haps he had better buy a goat and take it along with ,

them H e s upposed that he could buy one in Bethlehem

.
,

and w ondered how much it woul d cost .

H e went outside the stable in the grey morning light

and s itting down on a fl a t stone he count ed over h i s
money It was not very much A nd it never occurred
. .

to him that he could use any of the gold which the Magi
had brought to Jesu s N o j ourney that we could possi
.

bly imagine in these days of railroads and great steam

,

ships would seem so hard an undertaking as that winter

,

journey from Bethlehem to E gypt which the angel had

commanded them to take .

When Jo s eph went back into the stable Mary the ,

mother wa s awake S he smiled at him cheerfully and

.
,

pointing to the little Jes u s wh o wa s lying asleep in the

,

m a n ger b es i d e her she whispered

‘

,
“ ”
H ow beautiful he i s !
Joseph bent over and kissed the sleeping child then ,
 OVER T HE HILLS T O EGYPT

he sat down on the s traw beside Mary and to ld her about

hi s dream H e had supposed she would be terribly d i s
.

tressed H e had even been afraid that she would cry

.
,

though he had never seen her s hed a tear before no mat ,

ter what happened But she wa s still very young and

.
,

he knew how m uch s he loved the hill s and fi eld s of peace

ful Galilee which was th eir home
,
.

H ow great wa s hi s surprise when Mary instead of ,

s aying she wa s s orry , ju s t clapped her hands with j oy ,

and s aid
“
N ow we shall s ee that wonderful country which the
Magi told u s about la s t night Don t you remember
.
’

how , when I s aid I would like to go there one of them ,

an swered that perhaps I would have my wi s h— ve ry

”
soon ?
J o s eph did remember .And Mary wa s so cheerful
that he s oon forgot how troubled he had been When he .

a sked her i f s he wa s not afraid that something would

'

h a pp en t o the little J es u s along the way she smiled and ,

sai d ;
God will take care of him .

Jo s eph could not say no to this ; and as s oon a s they

had had thei r breakfast he went out into the little s treets
,

of Bethlehem to look for a goat to furnish them with m ilk

on the way to E gypt H e found a good one which a
.
,

man wa s willing to sell him for ve ry little money ; and he

s oon came back to Mary in the s table leading the goat by
,

a string If the baby Jesus had been a little older he

.
,

woul d have found the goat a charming playfellow ; but he

was still too small to play The goat however went
.
, ,

right over to the manger where the little Jes u s wa s and ,

la y down be s ide him . This pleased the mother very

much for it s eemed to her that even animals knew by
,

in stinct how lovely her baby wa s .

36 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TESTAM E NT
They started f o r E gypt in the night time and did n o t -

tell anybody where they were go ing ; for they knew that
King H er o d would be furious when he learned that they
had left Bethlehem A nd they were afraid he might send
.

someb o dy after them i f he knew where they were going

, ,

and kill the little Jes u s on the wa y .

By the pale light of the stars they came out o f the

stable closing the door softly after them Jo s eph
,
.

strapped their blankets on the back of the donkey to ,

make a soft cushion for Mary H e lifted her onto the .

donkey s ba ck and put the little Jesus in her arms

’
,
.

Then they started Jo s eph walking beside the donkey

,
.

H e did not have to lead the goat now for the animal had , ,

taken s uch a fancy to the little Jes u s that she would have
followed him anywhere You k now this was a nanny
.

goat — the kind that give delicious milk .

When they reached the hill beyond the town they ,

sto pped and turned for one last look at the dear little city
of Bethlehem where their baby had been born and where
, ,

so many other things had happened to them They did .

not kn o w i f they w ould ever see it again .

We are told that they went across the h i lly country of

J ud aea to the city of J oppa and from thence along the
,

coast of the Mediterranean S ea Joseph was probably .

afraid that they would lose their way i f they did not fol
low the seacoast which curve s around toward E gypt
,
.

Perhaps i f you look at the map of S yria in your geog

,

r a ph
y ,
you can see the way th ey went .

We are to ld that sometimes when they came to a ,

point where two roads met and they did not know which
,

road to take the angel which had come to Jo s eph in the

,

dream appeared suddenly before them pointing out the ,

right wa y .

We are also to l d that one day when they had gone ,

 H W YO R !
T

s
. NE
LIBRARY

l E NO X
T 'l ! E N FO U N! AT IO N S .
 38 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT

been all through the day ; and that in the air all round
them and among the leaves of the trees be s ide the roa d ,
,
’
were hundreds of children s faces — little frightened faces ,

with wide eyes and quivering lips When Mary awoke it .

was still night S he wa s so troubled by the dream that

.

s h e awoke her husband and told him all about i t

, They .

wondered what it meant ; for in those days people had

great faith in dreams and always thought that they
,

meant som ething .

This one had a very deep meaning as you will s ee ,

.

For when the three Magi did not return to King H ero d at
Jerusalem a s he had told them to H erod was enraged
, , .

H e thought the wise men mocked at him So he sent .

out hi s soldiers with orders to kill all the little children

,

in Bethlehem and the places round about— all the little

children wh o were less than two years old ; for he thought
by that wicked order to make sure of killing Jes u s A s .

you know Jesus and his family were now far away from
,

Bethlehem and out of the reach of H erod ; but all the

,

mothers of young children in that country were broken

hearted The old stories tell u s that hundreds of little
.

ones were destroyed that not one was spared wh o wa s

,

less than two years old And that wa s the meaning of .

Mary s strange dream— the meaning of the mass of l i ttle

’

frightened faces she had seen in the air all round her and ,

among the leaves of the trees bes ide the road .

‘i
l The H oly Family went on and o n day after day ,
.

Sev era l weeks had passed since they left Bethlehem ; for
‘

the donkey did not go very fast and it wa s a long long , ,

wa y . After a time they left the seacoast and travelled in

land for they wanted to go to that part of E gypt where
,

the S phinx and the great Pyramids were They had to .

cross rivers and go around lakes ; and sometimes they

were obliged to walk for a day or two along the bank o f a
 O VE R T HE HILLS T O EGYPT
stream , before they coul d fin d a place shallow enough for
them to cross , or fin d a boatman wh o would row them
over to the western s ide .

A s they went farther s outh it grew slowly warmer and

warmer and they began to see more palm trees and fewer
,
-

pine s S ometimes t h ere were no trees or hills at all just

.
4 ,

level s tretches of grey sand in which the donkey sank

,

half way to his knee s as he walked slowly o u , with Ma ry

and the little J es u s on his back .

It wa s well on in the month of February when they

came to the broad desert east of the N ile H ere a real .

grie f met them ; for they found they would be obliged to

have camels to carry them the re s t of the wa y The .

faithful donkey had to be left behind The little nanny .

goat was so ti red from the long journey that she gave
hardly any m ilk , and they had n o t the heart to make her
follow them any farther They found a man with kind
.

eyes wh o gave them two camels in exchange for the don ,

key the nanny goat and a little gold Thi s man also
,
-

,
.

taught them how to guide the camels ; and Joseph wh o ‘

was now very weary from having walked so far , was glad
of a chance to ride .

N ow a camel i s so tall that he has to li e down i n order

to let any one get on hi s back The fi rs t time Mary got
.

on the back of her camel , s he was half frightened ; and -

when the great animal ro s e clums ily to h i s feet , she

thought he was going to pitch her over his head Mary .

wa s not frightened f or her s elf but she had the little J esu s
in her arms and she wa s always afraid he might be
,

hurt It was not the camel s fault that he wa s so clum sy

.
’

in getting on to hi s feet ; for he did not know how to get

up in any other way W ith hi s long legs and queer ,
.

h um ped body he di d the best he could

,
.

Mary had not the hea rt to bid good by to the faithful -

40 STORIES FROM T H E NEW TE STAMENT
donkey and the little nanny goat ; she just m otioned to -

the kind eyed man to take them away out of her s ight
-
.

S he could not speak to the man because she did not ,

k now his language ; but the man of the desert also loved
animals and he understood her
,
.

T hey did not get far that day If you have never rid .

den on the back of a camel you d o not know how hard it ,

is at fi rs t The steady rocking motion makes some per

.
,

sons feel quite sick Before they stopped for the night
.
,

Mary wa s so tired that s he would have wished herself

back in Bethlehem— i i it had not been for t h e danger
which there threatened the little Jes u s from the hatred of ,

H erod the wicked King

,
.

Perhaps i f the camel s had not been over the road be

,

fore and found their own wa y by instinct across the

,

desert to the river N ile Joseph and Mary w o uld never ,

have reached there I f it had not been for the position

.

of the sun which always rises in the east and s ets in the
,

west no matter where we are they would s o metimes

, ,

have s eemed quite tu rned roun d After a f ew days they .

grew fond of their clum sy camels and they also became ,

accustomed to the rocking motion of the camels backs ’

.

These strange animals seemed to smell fresh water a

long way off ; and no matter how grey and lifele s s the
desert looked ahead of the travellers sooner or later their ,

long legged companions wo ul d bring them to a place

-

where there wa s cool p u re water and a grove of palm

,

trees .S ome persons may believe that camels are stupid

creatures and coul d not fi n d their way like th at ; but per
haps the angel which had appeared to Jo s ep h in the dream
and told him to take Mary and the little Jesus down to
this far land gui ded the camel s also I do not know
,
. .

O ne day they came to a place so s trange that Mary

t hought she must be dreaming They found themselves .
 OVER T HE HILLS T O E GY PT

on the edge of a forest with great trees — many of them a

,

hun dred feet in length and three feet thick some lying o n ,

the ground some leaning against each other The trees

,
.

were bro wn and black and shining ; but what surprised

J o s eph and Mary so much was to see that all these trees ,

were made of s t one Travellers in E gypt go to this place

.

now and call it the p et ri fied forest ; but Jo s eph and Mary
,

had never heard of it before S urely E gypt wa s a strange .

land !
They got down from the camels backs and came and ’

to uched the trees with their hands to make sure that ,

they had seen aright Yes these trees were solid stone
.
, .

They kn ew that the great s tone Pyramid s and the S phinx

had been made by human hands but here was something
which they thought wa s quite a s wonderf ul and made by ,

God H imself Mary wished that the little Jes u s were big
.

enough to see and understa nd what a strange place he

was i n !
They once more climbed on the camels backs and ’
,

in a little while they found themselve s on the top of a

range of hill s The camels stopped of their own accord
.
,

and Joseph and Mary caught their breath in surprise and

adm i ration ; for there s pread out before them was the
, ,

valley of the river N ile They were facing the west

.
,

where the sun wa s just going down in a blaze of red and

gold At the foot of the h ill whereon they rested was a
.

little city ; beyond it fl o wed the broad blue water s of the

river N ile quiet maj e stic , bearing on its bosom many
, ,

little boats with three cornered s ail s which made them

-

look like birds flyi n g over the water An d farther west

,
.
, ,

beyond the river , on the edge of the immeasurable desert ,

they s aw the great three cornered Pyr amid s grey , vast -

, ,

my s teriou s their tops now reddened and g i lded by the

,

ray s of the s et ting s un .

42 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TE STA M ENT

R esting there on the backs of their camels , on the top

of that ridge of hills , with the river N ile and the Pyra
mids before them , Joseph and Mary knew that their long
and toilsome journey was at an end They realised that
.

God had brought them safely to the far o fzf land where H e
-

had told them to go ; and they thanked H im for H i s care

and guidance They thanked H im also that H e had
.

made the world so beautiful and so large and that H e wa s

,

now letting them see the most wonderful part of i t — the

land of E gypt , where the J ewish J oseph , son of Jacob ,
had been s old into bondage thousands of years ago ; the
river N ile , beside whose waters in a thicket of bulrushes ,
,

the cradle of the Jewi s h baby Moses had been hidden ,

to save him from the wrath of the K ing of E gypt .

As Mary thought of the little Moses and of how he had

been saved she hugged the little Jesu s still closer to her
,

breast and prayed that God would guard him also forever
,

from the wrath of the King of the J ew s— even as H e had

guarded Moses from that other K ing .

The land of E gy pt wa s a land of great interest for the

young J ewi s h woman , Mary All her life she had heard
.

stories of this country , and now she was really here ! S he

wondered if Moses himself had not sometimes stood on
the top of this very hill , and looked down upon the water s
of the N ile and the great Pyramids , thousands of year s
ago S he was not quite sure whether the Pyramids had
.

been built before the time of Mose s , or afterward for in her

short life she had not had time to learn everyt hing— though
God had found her wise enough to be the mother of Jesu s .

Joseph and Mary rested there on thei r camels , looking

down at the valley of the N ile , while the sunset sky
turned slowly from red to gold , from gold to white , and
the twilight shadows drew near Then they hurried
.

down to the little city by the edge of the river .

 OVE R T HE H I LL S T O E GY PT

They f ound a small temple in a grove of sycamore ,

trees , and there they rested that fi rs t night If you .

s hould ever go to E gypt and should visit O ld Cairo the ,

guides will show you a little church very ancient where , ,

the H oly Family are said to have lived during the firs t
f ew week s of the i r s oj ourn in the land of E gypt The .

church itsel f was not built then ; but the crypt — that is ,

the part below the surface of the ground— is very very ,

old ; and it i s interesting to stand in that crypt and to ,

realise that perhap s the baby voice of J es u s once echoed

along those old stone vaul ts ; as our voices echo now .

H er fi rs t few days in E gypt were days of wonder for

Mary E verything wa s s o different to Galilee where she
.
,

had lived a ll her li fe before The E gyptians were an .

interesting people with thei r dark faces and brilliant

,

black eyes and Mary soon learned that they also like the ,

Jews were ru l ed over by the R omans The poor people

,
.

lived in hut s made of mud which had been baked in the

,

s un . Around these huts were always groups of little

brown E gyptian children some of them with hardly any
,

clothes other s in scanty garments of red and yellow and

,

pink .

S he never t i re d o f look i ng at the broad blue river the ,

field s of Vivid green clover the brilliant poppy field s and

, ,

the tall palm trees — which looked like long handled feather
- -

dusters as they waved against the sky At the twilight .

hour s he loved to watch the herdsmen driving home their

flo ck s and herds of cattle to the little Village but best o f ,

all she loved to listen to the songs of the boatmen on the

,

N ile They were not like any s ongs she had ever heard
.

before ; they seemed to be the voice of the homesickness

of all the ages .

The E gypt i an s w orshipped the r i ver N ile They .

thought it was a god and prayed to i t a s they d i d al s o

, ,
44 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
to the sun which wa s another of their gods This seemed
,
.

strange to Jo s eph and Mary wh o had always prayed to ,

Jeh o va h , and they could not understand how the E gyp

tians felt a bout such things Their dark skinn ed neigh
.
-

bours also believed that a goddess whom they called ,

H ath o r dwelt in the sycamore tree

,
N o w the temple -
.

where Jo s eph and Mary and the little J esu s lived was sur
rounded by sycamore trees they were very beauti ful with
-

their mottled bark of pale green and Violet grey ; but it -

seemed foolish— even wicked— to worship them And .

strangest of a ll to thi s Jewi s h family wa s the adoration

which the E gyptians gave to certain animals cows croco , ,

diles and even cats and beetles They did not worship
,
.

a ll these animals , but special one s which they kept in

the temples .

Then , too the E gyptians did not bury their dead

,

friends but made them into mu mmies These mummie s

,
.

were just dried dead bodies preserved in some peculiar ,

wa y unknown to u s The faces were often covered with

.

gold and the bodies were wound round and round and
,

round with cloths For the E gyptian s believed that the

.

s ouls of the dead would some time come back to the earth
and want their bodies again They put these mummie s .

in tombs made of stone , often cut into the solid rock ; and
with the mummies they placed a quantity of little things
which they thought their friends might need in heaven
dishes jewelry and other ornaments — and even little
, ,

images of men made of glazed blue earthenware which

, ,

they believed would come to li fe in heaven and act as

servants to the people who were dead Do you wonder .

that the E gyptians with these queer beliefs and customs

, ,

seemed very strange indeed to Jo s ep h and Mary ?

But the great event of their soj ourn in E gypt wa s
their visit to the great Pyramids and the S phinx acro ss ,
46 S T OR I E S FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT

them but waited with hi s little craft beside the river

,
.

By motions they had made him understand what they

wanted The Pyramids are at some distance from the
.

N ile and Joseph and Ma ry had to walk

,
As they went.

slowly over the shifting sand toward the greatest of the

Pyramids it s eemed to grow larger and larger The
,
.

Magi had told them in Bethlehem that one hundred thou

sand men had worked for twenty year s to build this giant
mass of stone ; but as they came gradually nearer it ,

seemed to them impo s sible that human hands could ever

have built i t E ach of its four s ides is nearly an eighth
.

of a mile long eight hundred and twenty feet and the

, ,

s ide s slope upward toward the pointed top Jo s eph and .

Mary stood at the bottom and looked u p It made the m .

dizzy .

“
O h that the little Jes u s were large enough to s ee and
,
”
u n derstand ! said Mary to her husband .

It seemed to her that the baby in Jo s eph s arms smiled ’

u p at the P yra m i d t h o u gh he was really too young t o

fi

s mile . But mothers love to imagine such things .

They walked round to the other s ide of the great Pyra

mid and stood looking toward the other two which lie in
, ,

a straight line to the southwest They still wondered if

.

Moses had been here ; but they had not been able to ask
the E gyptians because they could not yet s peak their
,

lan guage .

And now after nearly two thousand years the de

, ,

s cen d a n t s of tho s e E gyptian people love and follow J esu s

— that same Jes u s who was too little even to smile at their
Pyramids the fi rs t time he saw them
,
.

Mary and J oseph wandered around until they came to

the S phinx the great stone monster sixty six feet high
,
-

with the head of a man and the body of a lion which lie s ,

there on the desert sand , facing the ea s t and the N ile .

 OVER T HE HILLS TO EGYPT
Mary cl i mbed up between the s tone paw s of the monster ,

and sat down there with the little Jesus in her arm s .

S he also looked far a way like the S phinx toward the

, ,

east and the river N ile S he thought of the thousands

.

o f years whi ch had pas s ed slowly one by one s ince fi rs t

, ,

the S phinx had stood upon these sand s S he thought of .

the millions of men who had been born and who had died
in that long time each j oying in the sunshine each
, ,

doing the little work which God allotted him then going ,

back to the s ilence from which he came And then she .

thought of the baby in her arms her little J es u s whom

,

the angel had told her was the great Messiah of the Jew s ,

whose coming the prophets had foretold What would he .

do when he s hould be a man ? Though she knew that he

’
was God s o wn son and that he wo u ld transform the
,

world when he grew u p he wa s now just her own little

,

baby It was hard for her to realise how great he wa s

.
,

though it wa s natural for her to think him the most won

d erf ul creature ever born .

The Jew i s h man and woman remained beside the

S phinx until the grey desert was a ll wrapt in the greyer
shadows of the night O ne by one they saw the little stars
.

come out twinkling in the sky And then after a while

.
, ,

the great round silvery moon rose over the eastern hi ll s

beyond the N ile river and all the desert world was
,

touched with magic The Pyramids whi ch had been grey

.
,

a little while before were no w deep blue in the moonlight

,
.

Joseph and Mary wa lk ed a s hort way to the s outh , and

turning looked back at the S phinx lying there long and
, ,

motio n l ess upon the s and In some s trange wa y they

.

could not understand the moo nl ight seemed to bring the

,

S phinx to li fe and over the face of the stone monster a

,
’
faint smile seemed to fli ck er The s ight made Mary s
.

heart beat fast an d she clung to the arm of Jo s eph The

,
.
48 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
little J esus wh o had been asleep moved in her arms a s
, , ,

i f he also felt that something unusual was happening .

Mary asked herself i f the S phinx was smiling with glad

ness because the Christ had come Of course this strange .

appearance wa s only the effect of the moonl ight ; but in

those days the imagination of men and women was more
vivid than now When they saw anything u nu sual , they
.

took it as a sign from God .

A fter a time they turned their backs upon the grea t

stone forms of the desert and walked down to the river
, ,

where t h e E gyptian boatman wh o had brought them over

still waited for them upon the shore A s they drew .

nearer they heard him singing to himself and to the N ile

-
perhaps the very song which the boatmen used to sing
thousands of years ago when the Pyramids were be i ng
,

built ; for things change slowly in the land of E gypt , and

yesterday to day and to morrow seem to be a ll one hour
,
-

,
-

in the li fe of God .

S itting quietly in the little boat under its three co r ,

-

n ered s ail they fl ew lightly back over the water whi ch

, ,

rippled and glimmered in the moonlight They seemed .

to be sailing straight toward the hea rt of the moon which ,

made a path of silver acro s s the wate r before them Oi .

all the beauti ful hours of Mary s li fe thi s hour upon the
’
,

moonlight bosom o f the N ile seemed to her most beauti

f u l ex cept for that one hour in the stable at Bethlehem
h

, ,

when the little Jesus had come to her and she had fi rs t
looked into hi s face S he wa s so happy that she thought
.

she would like to s ail right on and on forever along that ,

silvery pathway toward the heart of the moon

,
.

But in a few minutes they reached the other shore .

And the E gyptian boatman when they o ffered him a ,

piece of silver for ta king them across the river shook his ,

head , and woul d not accept i t H e pointed toward the

.
 OVER T HE HILLS T O EGYPT

little J csus as i f he meant that they should keep the s i l

,

v er for him .

They went back to the temple where they lived and ,

that night Mary had a dream S he dreamed that the

.

baby Je sus was grown to be a man tall and strong and ,

beauti f ul , and that s he wa s walking over the desert sands

with him , to ward the great Pyramids on the other s ide of
the N ile And she dreamed that as they passed the
.
,

S phinx , the monster bent its head and ki ssed with its
stony lip s the hand of her son Jesus the Christ It , .

s eemed so real that when she awoke and found hersel f in

the little temple with the baby J es u s on her arm she
, ,

coul d hardly realise for a moment that it had been all a

dream . But the J ews believed that dreams always came
true in spirit i f not in fact ; and Mary knew then that
,

some time in the far away future the people of E gypt

,
-

would love and follow J es u s .

For several year s Joseph and Mary continued to live

in the city on the ban k of the river N ile They di d not .

live i n the temple a ll thi s time , but had a little house

of their own which Joseph built himself A s the long
,
.

months passed slowly by they came to understand the

,

language of the E gyptian people around them ; and the

good Jo s eph f ound much work to do and was able to ,

s upport his family in comfort without to uching the gold

,

which the three wi se men from the E ast had given to the
little Jes u s in the s ta ble at Bethlehem
,
.

Mary learned from the E gyptian women how to weave

the mats of rushe s on whi ch the people s lept , and how to
make many other useful and beauti ful things And the .

H oly Family were content with thei r li fe in E gypt ; they

were not homesi ck for Galilee and were wi lling to stay
,

here ju s t a s long a s God wanted them t o stay You re .

member that the angel had told Jo s eph in the dream

50 STORIES FROM T HE NEW T ESTAMENT
that God would s end him word when it wa s time to re
turn home .

And the dear baby Js s u s grew and thrived in the

E gyptian sunshine H e wa s now no longer wrapped in
.

swaddl ing clothes but had little dre s ses white and
, ,

pretty , which hi s mother embroidered with her own

hands In a few months he was able to s tand on his feet
.
,

and then to take a few s tep s , guided by his mother who ,

would never leave h i m out of her sight — s o much s he

loved him .

S he had been charme d by the cooing and crooning of

his babyhood ; but the hou r when his little lips fi rs t
formed the name of Mother was a wonderf ul hour for ,

Mary When Jo s eph came home that evening from

.

his day s work , she ran to him to tell the joyou s new s
’

that the baby J esu s had really call ed her Mother ! Jo s eph
wa s almost as happy as she that night and they sat a ,

long time besi de the bed of the sleeping child , hand in

hand talking over their plan s for teaching him all the
,

beautiful stories of the Jew s , and many other things

when he shoul d be older .

A few days later the little J esu s s poke the name of

God for he had heard his parents speak that name s o
,

often Mary wondered i f it was wrong of her to be s o

.

happy that he had s ai d the name of Mother even before

that of God ? For however great he was was he not fi rs t
, ,

of all her own baby ? And she felt that God would for
give her .

When Jesu s wa s a l i ttle older he began to play with

the E gyptian children and so he learned to speak their
,

language also Though he wa s the s malle s t of all the

.

little ones who used to play around the door of Joseph

and Mary yet he always led in the games and all the
, ,

dark skinned children followed him and did j ust what he

-
 OVER T HE HILLS T O EGYPT
wished The E gyptian mothers were not j ealous that he
.

wa s more beauti ful than thei r children ; for they loved

h i m , too .

No w Je s us had a little kitten to play with and Mary

wa s much troubled one d a y when the E gyptian women ,

wh o a s I have told you worshippe d animals declared t o

, , ,

her that the kitten was a god and wanted to take it away ,

for worship in the temple But she would not let them .
,

because the little J esus loved it so much Already a s .

,

Mary told Joseph Jesus was teaching the E gyptians not

,

to worship animals — but to love them and be kind to

them .

O ne day when he was still a small child , they took

,

him in a boat across the river N ile to see the Pyramids ,

and the S phinx Mary told him that he must remember

.

these things all hi s li fe Bu t she did not tell him about

.

her dream that the S phinx had bent and ki s sed his han d
,

for he was s till too young to u n derstand .

O ne night afte r they had been living in E gypt a long

time the angel whi ch had appeared to Jo seph in the
,

dream in Bethlehem years before and had told him to ,

bring Mary and the infant Jesu s down to E gypt — the same
angel appeared to Joseph again in another dream and , ,

said that the time had now come for them to return to
the Jewi s h land .

J es u s wa s now old enough to understand where they

w ere going and he wa s delighted at the thought of the
,

journey H e called together all his little E gyptian play

.

mate s and told them that he wa s going far away and

,

might never s ee them again We may be s ure they .

cried these little dark s kinned children at the thought of

,
-

losing the wonderful boy Perhaps he cried a litt le too .

,

— for the tears o f his f riend s meant much to J esu s always .

That i s one reason wh y we love him .

52 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

But at la st they mounted the camels again the young

,

J es u s riding in front of his mother and started back over

,

the hills and through t h e p et ri fied fore s t and acro s s the

desert toward Ju daea .
54 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
H erod , the wicked King wh o had wanted to kill the little
Je s u s wa s now dead This wa s j ust what the angel had
,
.

told Joseph in E gypt when it had appeared to him in

,

the dream and said that it wa s time for them to go

,

home It is alway s good , w hen an angel has told you

.

something to have it veri fied by the lips of ordinary

,

men Oi course you had co n fi den ce in the angel— but

.

this gives you co n fid en ce in yourself .

When they parte d from that plea s ant and talkative

company of J ews , our wanderers felt a s i f they were
already nearly home They coul d almost smell the fl o w
.

ery lanes of G alilee ; and as Mary rode slowly along on

the back of the leisurely donkey she told the young Jcsus
,

about the home to which they were going H e asked a .

thousand question s , a s children will : were there Pyra

m ids in N azareth ? wa s there a S phinx ? did the peopl e
worship cat s and cows in the temples ? and did they make
their dead friends into mummies , a s in E gypt ? To a ll
these question s Mary answered that N azareth was a very
di ff erent place to E gypt ; that there were no Pyramids no ,

S phinxes there ; that the people worshipped only the one

God Jehovah ; and that they w ould think it wicked to
,

make dead friends into mummie s .

From all thi s we s ee that the youn g Jesu s though he ,

wa s the son of God and the promi sed Mes s iah of the
Jews wa s at that t i me on ly a dear child with all a
, ,

child s thoughts and wonderings about strange places

’
.

And thi s i s one rea s on the more wh y we love him so

much ; becau s e i f he had not been human as well as
,

divine he could not have become the teacher of the

,

world Jo s eph and Mary coul d learn things from an

.

angel so tran s parent that he did not even cast a shadow

,

behind him ; bu t the great mas s o f people love Jes u s most

because he wa s also a man— w ho had once been a child ,
 LITTL E TEAC HER IN T HE TEMPL E

and had asked qu e s t i on s o f hi s mother , the same a s other

children .

When at la s t they came to the green road which

led into thei r own Village o f N azareth , they stood still
and gazed about them E verything was the same — and
.

yet it did not s eem the same It seemed to them that .

the h i ll s were not so high that the stream s were less ,

wide ; and every dear familiar th i ng looked s maller than

of old Thi s wa s because they had stayed so long in the
.

splendi d land o f E gypt where everything wa s large and

, ,

even the horizon s eemed vaster than in other place s For .

a moment Mary felt disappointed with N azareth the ,

home to whi ch s he had looked forward with so much

longing ; and then the old love of it came back to her
stronger than ever You may not un derstand thi s now ;
.

but when you are grown u p and have been away on s ome ,

long j ourney to a great and splendi d land , and at last

come back to your own home and fi n d it s maller than you
had thought— then perhaps you will think of Mary the ,

mother of Jesus and under s ta nd her feelings when she

,

came back to N azareth .

The reason wh y I a m tell i ng you these stories i s b e ,

cause I want you to feel well acquainted with Jo s eph and

Mary and the young Jesus ; becau s e I want you to love
them as i f they were your intimate friends— n o t far off
,
-

people that you only read about in books .

They went straight to the hou s e which s till belonged

t o Jo s eph and they found that nothing had been changed
,

there during a ll the years they had been away The .

large fla t s tone with one corner broken off whi ch served

, ,

a s a door s tep was still in its old place

,
The dusty green .
-

olive tree s till sto od bes ide the hou s e ; and a s the family
-

came up the path a cloud of pigeons alighted at thei r

,

f eet cooing
,
O ne of them tamer than the others rested
.
, ,
56 STORIES FROM T HE NEW T ESTAMENT
for a moment on the shoulder of the little Jes u s a s i f ,

welcoming him to Galilee .

That ni ght all their old friends and neighbour s came

to see them The return of the H oly Family f rom E gypt
.

wa s a great event in N azareth and every one wanted to ,

learn about the strange country where they had lived s o

long The young J esus sat up with the others until a late
.

hour Was he not now a large str o ng boy o f seven

.
,

years ? H e told these old friends of his parents how the

E gyptian women who worshipped animals had wanted
, ,

to take his own pet kitten and make a god of i t The .

kitten now a cat he had been obliged to leave in E gypt ;

, ,

for cats love places more than people and will not follow ,

any master— not even a seven year old J es u s - -

.

H i s mother wa s surprised to hear him tell these men

a n d women whom he had never seen before a ll about the
, ,

land of E gypt S ometimes in speaking of an obj ect by

.
, ,

mistake he used the E gyptian word for it instead of the

Jewish word ; for he had spoken the E gyptian language
with his little dark skinned playmates since he could
-

speak at all It seemed strange to the simple dwellers in

.

N azareth that a little J ew i s h boy of seven should be able

to speak a foreign tongu e Of course they did not know
.

that this boy was the promised Messiah of the Jews and ,

Mary did not dare to tell them S he wanted him to have

.

a happy childhood just like other children

,
.

A nd when the friends and neighbours saying good ,

by at a late hour told Mary that her boy was the most
,

wonderful child they had ever seen she was j ust a s ,

pleased as i f she had not known it all along S he even .

tried to think of some little fault of his that these other ,

mothers might not be j ealous for their o wn children ; but

she could not think of the tinie s t fault —because he had
none .
 LITTL E TEAC HER IN T HE TEMPL E
J esus continued to live happily with h i s parents in
the hous e at N azareth Part of the house was J oseph s
.
’

carpenter shop and the boy used to play there H e loved

,
.

the fresh smell of the sawdust and the shavings he loved

’
to hear his father s plane go whistling over the long
planks as he planed them i nto smoothness ; he loved t o
,

watch him cutting out the wooden ploughs with which ,

the people of Galilee turned up the earth before the plant

ing time And Jesus used to help his father in many
.

little ways S ometimes he held a board for him which

.
,

did not really need to be held at all ; sometimes he gath

e red up all the shavings and put them in a neat pile in
the corner ; sometimes he woul d tie a bunch of wild
flo wer s to the handle of his father s plane — that their
’

sweet perfume m ight make it eas ier for him to work .

The goo d J oseph always thanked the boy for these atten
tions and when the bouquet of wi ld flo wers tied to his
, ,

plane was s o large as to be in his way he would put the

, ,

flo wers in a bowl of water— to keep them fresh as he told ,

the little J es u s .

But of all the flo wers of Galilee the boy loved best the
lilies And now after nearly two thousand years when
.
, ,

we see great white lilies in a church we like to think that ,

they are placed there because J esus cared for them so

much Can you not see him now in imagination a little
.
,

boy beside some quiet pond in Galilee gathering an ,

armful of these lovely fl o wers to car ry home to his

mother ?
It seemed to Mary that he grew more beauti ful every
day S ometimes when she looked at him she trembled
.

with that nameless fear which mothers feel— lest some

un k ind wind s houl d blow upon him too roughly ; lest
so me unl ucky sta r like those which the three wise m e
, n

from the E ast believed i n shoul d sta y too long i n the

,
58 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
heavens above his head And at night after he had gone .
,

to sleep she used to watch over him a long time thinking

, ,

of those words from the S ong of S olomon : My beloved is

“

white and ru ddy the chiefest among ten thou s and

,
.

A s the apple tree among the trees of the wood so is my

-

beloved among the s ons .

L ike all children J esus loved s tories ; and he would

,

sit for hours at the feet o f his mother while she told him
stories from the Jewish B ible the O ld Testament as , ,

we call i t We must remember that in those days there

.

wa s no N ew Testament ; the N ew Testament wa s written

by the friends and followers of Jes u s long years after
ward to tell the world about his life
,
.

Oi all the old stories perhaps Jesus liked best those ,

about David the shepherd boy wh o became King of

,

Israel H e loved to hear his mother tell how David

.

played the harp to cheer K ing S aul when he was heavy ,

hearted .

A ll boys like stories about giants and Mary used to ,

tell J esus about the terrible Philistine giant Goliath of , ,

whom all the J ews were afraid in the time of King S aul
for G oliath wa s nearly twice as tall as any of the other
men and was all dressed in bras s from head to feet so
, ,

that only his face cou l d be s een S he used to tell him .

how the young David wh o wa s small and slender said to

, ,

King S aul that he would go out alone and figh t the giant ;
and when King S aul wa s astonished that a mere boy
s hould dare to do what the s tronge s t men were fearful to
attempt David reminded him how he had killed a lion
,

and a bear which had come to steal the sheep he tended

and David said that the God who had saved him from
the lion and the bear would save him al s o from this
giant And Mary told Je s us how Dav i d clad in his
.
,
’
s hepherd s dre s s went out to fi gh t the giant , who wa s
,
 LITTL E T EACHER I N T HE T EMPLE
dre ss ed all in brass taking only f or weapons fiv e little
,

s t ones f rom the brook ; how Goliath enraged that a mere ,

stripling had come out to figh t him , drew near to David ;

how Dav i d a s he ran fo rward drew a stone from his
, ,
’
shepherd s bag and threw it at the forehead of the giant ,

knocking him sen s eless ; how he then ran to the fallen

’
giant and drawing Goliath s own sword from i t s sca b
,

bard cut o ff the giant s head

,
’
.

We may be sure from what we know of J es u s in his

,

after li fe that he asked hi s mother why David did not go

,

and play h i s harp to the giant Goliath as he had played ,

it to the melancholy S aul , and make the giant love him

as S aul did .

Mary told J esu s many other s tor i e s of the Jews and ,

in all of them there was much about figh t i n g and killing ,

and very little about loving one another S he told him .

the s torie s ju s t as they had been to ld to her ; but the little

J es u s alway s wanted to know w h y people did the thing s
they did H e wanted to understa nd thei r hearts a s
.
,

God must understand them ; and always when a man ,

in one o f these old stories had done a wicked thing the ,

boy wa s sure that it wa s because the wicked man had

known no better and becau s e nobody had ever loved him
,

enough .

These loving thoughts so familiar to u s who have ,

learned them from the teaching s of J es u s were new ,

thought s at that time nineteen hundred years ago when

, ,

J es u s wa s a little boy H e wa s the fi r s t of all the Jews

.

wh o had ever looked at thing s in just that way ; the fi rs t

who had believed that love wa s stronger than an army of
soldiers and that the sure s t way to make a bad man good
,

was to be kind to him These idea s were new even to .

Mary the gentle Jewi s h mother ; and she was always won
,

der i ng at the questions Jesu s asked her S he u s ed s ome .

60 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
times to tell her husband that the little boy really taught
her more than she taught him .

A ft er a few more years J es u s learned to help his father

in other ways than by tying wi ldfl o wers to his plane and ,

gathering all his shavings into neat piles in the corner .

H e learned to work with Jo s eph in the shop and when ,

he was ten years old he could plane a board to satin

smoothness and coul d paint a chest as neatly as his
,

father Whatever the young Jes u s un dert ook to do he

.
,

always did it better than any of the other boys of N aza

reth could have done ; but he did not like to show hi s
work to these young friends for fear they would feel
,

sorry and ashamed that it wa s so much superior to theirs .

For Jes u s the pleasure was in doing a thing and not in ,

boasting about i t .

By the time he was twelve years old he knew all the

O ld Testament stories which Jo s ep h and Mary knew and ,

could repeat them as well as his parents could But .

always in telling these familiar hi stories he used to give

, ,

the reasons wh y people acted as they did— the reasons he

had himself discovered by think i ng so much about the
hearts of others H e knew wh y God did not let Moses go
.

into the Promised Land but on l y let him View it from

,

afar after those forty years of wandering in the wilder

,

ness H e knew why the old King who wrote the Book of
.

E cclesiastes had such a bitter and disappointed view of

life H e knew all the feelings of the little boy S amuel
.
,

son of H annah who served in the temple with the old

,

priest E li that time when the Lord called him in the

,

night and when he had afterward to tell hi s old friend

,

and teacher E li how God wa s wroth with E li s house be ’

cause of the wickednes s of his sons The J ews had lis

.

tened to this story all their lives but none of them before
had ever thought to wonder what were the feelings of the
62 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

the city of Jerusalem which he would see on the morrow

—the H oly City with its great Temple where would be
,

gathered thousands of hi s fellow countrymen , to celebrate

-

the feast of the Passover .

Perhaps I had better tell you what the Passover

means and why the J ews always made a feast on that
,

memorable day A long time before in the days when

.
,

Moses and many other Jews were in the land of E gypt ,

God was wroth with the E gyptians because of their

evil doings and their hardness of heart and because they ,

would not let the Jews go away , as they desired And .

H e had sent many plagues upon the E gyptians — to

remind them that H e wa s God the All powerful O ne the
,
-

Creator of the world and the friend of the J ews God

, .

had turned all the rivers and pools of E gy pt into blood ,

so that the fis h es died and the people had no water to

drink H e had s ent the plague of frogs over all the land
.

of E gypt so that from every s tream these slimy reptiles

,

came up and troubled the people H e had s ent grievous.

swarms of fl ies into the house of Pharaoh King of ,

E gypt and into his s ervants houses and into all the
,
’
,

country , and the land was corrupted by reason of the

swarms of flies H e had sent a plague upon all the cat
.

tle of the E gyptians s o that they died ; but the cattle of

the J ew s did not die H e had sent the plague of boils
.
,

so that all the E gyptian s were covered with sores H e .

had sent the plague of hail and thunder so that every ,

one in the fields wa s killed , and trees and shrubs were

broken and fire ran along the ground H e had sent t h e
,
.

plague of locusts so that the land was covered wi t h them

,

and the air wa s ful l of them , and the people coul d not
even see the earth and the locu s t s ate a ll the green
,

things which the hail had spared And still Pharaoh , .

King of E gypt woul d not let the J ew s go away

,
.
 LITTL E TEAC HER IN T HE TEMPL E

Then God to ld Moses that H e woul d send a plague

upon E gypt which should kill the fi rs t born of every fam -

ily from that of Pharaoh the K ing to the lowest of h i s

,

servants and that a great cry should go up from the land

,

of E gypt such as never had been heard before and never

,

woul d be heard again .

And God told Moses that on the tenth day of the

month every family of the J ews should take a lamb with
out blemish a male o f the firs t year ; that they s hould
,

f eed and keep the lam b until the fourteenth day of the .

month and should kill it in the evening of that day ; that

,

they should take the blood o f the lamb and strike it on the
two s ide posts and on the upper doorpost of thei r houses
that they s hould eat the fl es h of the lamb that night ,

roasted with fi re with unleavened bread and bitter herbs

,

they sho ul d eat i t and that whatever remained of the meat

,

i n the morning should be burned with fi re God sai d that .

they s hould eat this feast with thei r loin s girded their ,

shoes upon their f eet and their sta ff in thei r hand ; that
,

they shoul d eat it in haste— f or i t wa s t h e Lor d s p a s s over ’

.

For God told Mo s es that H e would pass through the

land of E gypt that night and smite all the firs t born of -

the E gyptians from King Pharaoh downward ; but that

,

when H e saw the blood upon the doorposts of the J ews ,

H e would p a s s o ver those houses and leave their fi rs t

born alive ; and that day s hould be unto the Jews a mem
'

orial which they shoul d keep generation after generation

,

as an ordinance forever .

And God di d that night as H e had said H e went .

through the land of E gypt and smote a ll the fi rs t born of -

the E gyptians from the fi rs t born of Pharaoh wh o sat

,
-

upon the throne , to those of the captives that were in the

dungeons so that there wa s not a house where there wa s
,

n o t one dead ,
64 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

A ndthen Pharaoh let the J ews go away as they de ,

sired ; for he saw that God was God t h e Creator of t h e ,

world and the friend of the Jews A nd from that time .

to this the J ews all over the world have kept that day as
,

the Passover and have celebrated it in the way which

,

God commanded .

It was t o keep thi s memorable feast that J oseph

and Mary with the youn g J esus went up to Jeru s a lem
, ,

in the spring of the year after he wa s twelve years

old .

When the boy awoke on the last morning of thei r

journey and realised that that very day he woul d see the
,

city of Jerusalem with its Temple and its splendid,

courts he trembled with anticipation Young as he wa s

,
.
,

he loved God with an intense devotion ; and among t h e ,

“
J ews the great Temple at Jerusalem was called the
,

H ouse of God Jes u s felt as i f he were really coming

.

into the presence of his H eavenly Father the Creator of ,

the U niverse H e wondered wh y the older people aroun d

.

him could seem so indifferent ; and when he heard t wo

men talking to gether about the barley crops in Galilee
that year he was amazed at them H o w could they think
,
.

about such things when they were within a few hours

,
’

journey of the H ouse of God !

It wa s a lovely morning clear and sun shiny with a , ,

soft breeze from the west The co u ntry just north o f .

J eru s a lem is not beautiful ; but J s sus wh o was usually so ,

sensitive to N ature was hardly co ns cious of the barren

,

ness of the region through whi ch they passed His .

thoughts were on the Temple .

When they came to the outer porches of the Temple ,

w i th thei r rows of pillars and their marble pavements ,

the boy wa s so happy that he thrilled all over for he felt ,

that he was coming home to God A nd when he heard .

 LITTL E T EACHER IN T HE T EMPLE

the music o f the harps the viols and the dulcimers h e , ,

thought the angels of heaven were singing to him In .

entering thi s place he forgot the Pyramids o f E gypt for ,

got the S phinx and all the other wonders o f the far awa y -

la nd where he had dwelt so long ; he thought only of the

Jews hi s own people and of the God o f the Jews— h i s
, ,

Father .

When he saw the great braz en gates of the Temple s o ,

heavy that it took twenty porters to open and close them ,

they see m ed to him to be the gates of heaven In after .

years he knew and taught the people that the gate o f

, ,

heaven i s o nl y in the heart and not in any earthly temple ,

and that each man must open it for himself ; but we

must remember that he was now only a boy twelve years ,

of age with a sublime ima gination And though he was

,
.

the son of God whom God had sent to the Jews a s their
,

Messiah he had to gro w u p like any other boy and

, , ,

gradually learn for himsel f all that he was afterward to

teach the world .

Can we imagine what the feeling s of the young Jes u s

were , when he heard the musicians of the Temple s inging
the verses of those s weet Psalms which predict the com
ing of the Christ ?
Th ou a rt m y s on t h i s da y h a v e I begot t en t h ee
; .

As h o f m e, a n d I s h a ll gi ve t h ee t h e h ea t h en f or t h i n e

i n h er i t a n ce, an d th e u t t er m os t p a r ts o
f th e ea r t h f or th y
os s es s i o n
p .

I w i ll m a k e t h y n a m e t o be r em em ber ed i n a ll gen er
e t i on s ; t h er efor e s h a ll t h e p eop le p r a i s e t h ee f o r ev er a n d
ever

P r i n ces sh a ll com e ou t of E gyp t ; E t h i op i a sh a ll 3 0071

s t r et ch ou t h er h a n d s un t o Go d .

I w z ll p r a i s e t h e n a m e of God w i t h d w i ll
'

a, s o n g, a n

m a gm f y h i m wi t h th a n k sgi v i n g .
66 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

H e s h a ll com e d own li k e ra i n up o n t h e m own gr a s s

a s s h ow er s t h a t w a t er t h e ea r t h .

His n a m e sh a ll en d a re
f os ever ; h is n a m e sh a ll be co n

t i n a ed as lon g as th e su n : an d m en sh a ll be bles s ed i n h i m
a ll na t i on s sh a ll ca ll h i m bles s ed .

r e o i ci n g a n
Th e voi ce o f j d s a lva t i on i s i n t h e t a ber
th e r i gh
h a o les o f t eou s .

Th e s t on e w h i ch t h e bu i lder s f
r e u s ed i s becom e t h e
”
h ea cl s t on e f o th e cor n er .

D id he realise a boy twelve years of age s tanding

, ,

there in the court of the Temple that he wa s himself the ,

one whose coming had been predicted in these old Psalms

which had been sung for generation after generation by
‘
the sad and persecuted J ews ? D id he really know a lready
that he was the Mess iah ? I cannot tell you and no one ,

else in all the world can tell you A poet has s aid that .

the thoughts o f youth are long long thoughts but wh o ,

sh a ll d a r e to say just when the kn owledge that he was the

‘

Christ was given to the young Jes u s ?

And wa s it not strange that among all these Jews
gathered there in J eru s a lem for the feast of the Passover ,

to eat the lamb without blemish as God had commanded ,

them in the time of Moses no one ( except Mary and ,

Jo s eph ) knew that the young boy with the beautiful

shining face and the deep eyes who stood so quietly ,

among them , wa s the O ne whom they believed that they

were waiting for ? If any one had told them , they wou ld
not have accepted i t .

The young Jesus could not see all of the Temple

at Jeru s a lem because there were places where only the
,

p riest s were considered pure enough to go There was .

the H oly Place where stood the alta r of incense with the
, ,

table of s h rewb rea d on one side and the golden candl e

s tick on the other A nd there was the H oly of H olies ,
.
 LITTL E TEAC HER I N T HE T EMPLE 67

the i nnermost place which wa s entered only once a year ,

on the Day o f Atonement , and where s tood the Ark of

the Covenant , the greate s t trea sure o f the J ew s and their
mo s t s acred thing The Ark o f the Covenant wa s a chest
.

'

made o f acacia wood , covered with gold ; and over the lid
“ ”
of i t , which wa s called the mercy seat two cherubim
,

( o r angels ) extended the i r w ings In. the Ark were kept

the two tablet s of stone on which were writt en the Ten
Commandments , which God had delivered to Mose s on
Mou nt S inai , thousands o f year s before And betw een .

the H oly Place and the H oly of H olie s there w as a thi ck

veil , t o o sacred for any one to touch except the H igh
Prie st It was called the V eil of the Temple
. .

It seem s strange to u s that J es u s coul d not enter th i s

place But the J ews were very rigid in the ob s ervance o f
.

their ancient laws , and the H igh Priest had great author
i ty at Jeru s alem . H e wou ld have been s hocked had a
you n g boy asked him to be allowed to enter the H oly o f
H olie s and t o look upon the Ark o f the Covenant But .

we may b efs u re that Jes u s thought much about this sacred

place where he could not go . And he must have longed
i ntensely to rai s e the V eil of the T em ple which hid the
Ark of the Covenant from hi s s ight .

The time o f their s oj ourn i n Jerusalem went swi ftly

by, and the great day of the fea s t of the Pas s over came
and went Then all the J ew s who lived in other citie s
.

made ready to go home again ; and on another bright

s pring day , like the one on w h i ch they had entered J eru
salem , they all started f or the i r hom e s And Jo s eph and
.

Mary s tarted with them .

’
It was not u ntil after they ha d gone a whole day s
journey from J eru s a lem that Jo s ep h and Mary discovered
that Jesu s w a s not with the company of N azarene s .

Thou gh they h a d not s een h i m a ll day lon g , they ha d

68 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

supposed he was a little way behind with some of their ,

friends and neighbours But when they came to the .

place where they were to camp that fi rs t night and d i s ,

covered tha t Jesus was nowhere to be seen the father and ,

mother were terribly alarm ed Th eir little boy their .

,

precious J es u s whom God had intrusted to them wa s

, ,

lost ! We can imag i ne the distress of Mary and Jo s eph .

H ow could God ever forgive them they thought i f any , ,

thing were to happen to the child ?

They di d not even stop to rest but started back toward ,

J eru s a lem travelling all night by the light of the stars

, .

T hey di d not know that they were tired so anxious were ,

they and so frightened A s she rode slowly back toward

.

the H oly City on the weary stumbling donkey Mary s

, , ,
’

eyes were blinded with tears S he must have wondered .

wh y the angel did not appear to her now and tell her
where J es a s was ; but if she called upon the angel he did ,

not answer .

When fi n a lly they reached J eru s a lem they went from

, , ,

house to house among the people they knew asking ,

everybody i f they had seen the child But no one had .

seen him They must even have appealed to the R oman

.

guards ; but the Romans in Jeru s a lem did not love the
J ews whom they helped their E mperor to oppress and the ,

loss of one J ewi s h child wa s not a matter of any impor

tance to them .

Poor Mary ! Thi s was the fi rs t real s uffering that she

had known in her li fe ; and when Jo s eph tried to comfort
her he could not think of a n y words to say for he was
, ,

almost as unhappy as she They remembered how King .

H erod twelve years before had conspired again s t the

, ,

young child s li fe ; but the old H erod wa s dead now and

’
,

the King wh o ru led in his stead must long ago have for
gotten the story about the wise men from the E ast who ,
70 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TE STAMENT
“
And Jes u s answered her very gently : H ow i s it that
,

e sought me ? Wi st y e not that I mu s t be about my

y
”
Father s business ?
’

But his mother did not u n der s ta nd all that wa s hid

den in the boy s words , for s he di d not know of the que s
’

tion s which had been puzzling him for many day s And .

she did not know a ll that had been revealed to him by

the answers of the priests and the docto r s concerning the
prophes ies of the Messiah .

J es u s went quietly home with his parents to N azareth ,

a s i f nothing unusual had happened ; and he was gentler
and more obedient than ever and no one could tell
,

exactly what wa s passing in his mind The gi h er won

‘

.
s

dered i f he knew already the great de s tin i wa s i n

‘

store for him when he s hould be a man ?

 CHAPTER V I

THE V OI CE CRYI N G I N TH E WI L D E R N E S S

Imagine now that some e i ghteen year s have pas s ed

, ,

since the young J es u s wa s found by hi s parents in the

Temple at Jeru s alem talking with the prie s ts and doc
,

tors Jes u s i s now a man ; but it i s not about J es u s that

.

I a m go i r r t o tell you i n the beginning of this story I

f
.

will te ll about J ohn the Baptist .

Y0 1 s ember h o w in the very firs t of these storie s

, ,

when J a d learned from the ann un ciation angel that

she ‘
i o s en by God to be the mother of the future
.

- r o- she made a journey to the south to visit her

s
,

cousin E lizabeth who lived not far from J eru s a lem

,
.

’
S oon after thi s vi sit , a son had been born to Mary s
cousin E lizabeth and they had called hi s name John
,
.

N ow John wa s a few month s older than Jesus and he ,

wa s a cousin of his But , as their homes were far apart

.
,

they had not seen much of each other Oi course they .

had met s ometimes in Jerusalem at the annual feast of ,

the Passover and each must have made the other an

,

occasional visit ; but their lives had been s eparate The .

two boy s had been very diff erent and the two men wer e ,

equally different Je s us wa s all gentleness and love and

.

sympathy ; John wa s s te m and cold and solitary J esu s .

loved to wander among the pleasant hill s and the blos

s o m i n g valleys of Galilee ; while the favourite walking
place of the solita ry John wa s the stony and arid desert
o f Jud aea , in the neighbourhood of J eru s a lem .

71
72 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT
I tell you again so that you may not forget i t that
, ,

some eighteen years had passed since our last story .

There was another emperor in Rome another Roman ,

governor in Jud aea .

About thi s time the people of Jeru s alem heard much

,

of a strange man tall and gaunt who used to wander

, ,

alone in the wilderness of J u d aea and farther east along

,

the J ordan river H e wa s dressed in a single and scant y

.

garment of camel s hair a leather strap was around his

’
,

waist and his food was locusts and wild honey H is

,
.

long black hair hung loose and matted over h i s shoul der s ,

his eyes were stern and wild ; and often in the solitary ,

night some lonely person walking under the stars would

,
“
hear a voice crying in the wilderness : R epent ye for the ,

Kingdom of H eaven i s at hand .

At other times the tall gaunt man would appear in

the s treets of Jeru s a lem when they were crowded with
,
“
people still crying in the same loud voice : Repent ye
, ,
”
for the K ingdom of H eaven i s at hand As you have .

probably supposed this strange man was J ohn the cousin

, ,

of Jes u s .

N ow J ohn had been alone so much in the wilderness ,

that the Word of God had been revealed to him there ,

and he had come to understand that the time wa s ripe for

the Messiah of the J ews to appear upon the earth There .

i s always a strange power in desert places and i f a man

like John desiring intensely to do God s will g o es out
,
’
,

alone into the de s ert and passes many days and nights ,

sometimes —only sometimes — God can make known to

him there things hidden fr o m the world of other men .

A s we know for many hundreds of years the J ew s had

,

been looking for their Messiah ; but John wa s the fi rs t to

tell them that the Messiah was indeed come , already .

Th e old prophets had written that God said t o his son ,

 V OICE C RYING I N T HE WILD ERNESS 73

“
the Messiah who was then un born : Behold I send my
, ,

messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way ,

”
before thee .And John wh o had read these w o rd s so,

many times in the S criptures knew now that he wa s ,

himself the messenger whom God had sent to tell the

people that the Chri st had c o me Can we wonder that .
,

knowing thi s he wa s indifferent to such things as clothes

,

and food ; that the one garment of camel s hair girt ’

,

about the waist with a leather strap shou l d seem quite ,

good enough for him ; and that locusts and wild honey
s hould be all the food he wanted ? When a man s hea rt ’

is full of a great idea as Jo h n s wa s sometimes he forgets

,
’
,

to eat .

Many people see i ng and hearing John who wa s so

, ,

di fferent to themselves believed that he wa s the old J ew

,

is h prophet E lias — risen from the dead We must .

remember that the J ews were very unhappy under the

Roman rule and that they believed that God would some
,

time rai s e the old prophet from hi s grave to help them .

As they were now more oppre ss ed by the Romans than

ever before why they wondered should not God raise
, , ,

E lias n o w ? And it wa s this idea whi ch more than any ,

other made them follow John and listen to him when

, ,
“
he said : Repent ye for the K ingdom of H eaven is at
,
”
hand .

When men asked John what they s hould do to

repent and be forgiven of thei r sins he answered that ,

every man who had two coats shoul d give one of them to
his neighbour wh o had none ; and that every man who
had meat to eat should give some of it to other men who
were hun gry When the publicans wh o were the tax col
.
,

lectors asked what they shoul d do to be forgiven by God

, ,

J ohn told them to take no more money from their neigh

bours in taxe s than what the Roman governor f orced them
74 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

to take When the soldiers asked what they should do

.
,

he answered that they must not harm any man And .

“
then he would always add : Prepare ye the wa y of the
”
Lord make his paths straight
,
For ever i n the mind.

of John was the idea that the Lord Christ wa s somewhere

in the world already and that he shoul d see him soon
, .

John himself believed so firm ly that he was sent to pre

pare the wa y of the Christ that hundreds of other person s
,

believed i t too ; and great numbers of them came out to

,

him on the banks of the J ordan river and the Dead S ea

, ,

and confessed their s ins And when John saw that the
.

people were honestly sorry for a ll the wicked things

which they had done he baptised them in the river Jo r
,

d a n and told them to live a new life

,
It was because of .

this that they called him John the Baptist the baptism ,

in the river being to them a sign that God believed in

their repentance and would forgive them .

But when others wh o were not honest such as the ,

Pharisees and the S adducees , came to his baptism , John

answered them with great severity , telling them that every
tree which did not br i ng forth good fruit should be cut
down and cast into the fi re H e meant by this to com .

pare them to tree s which bore no fruit ; for the Pharisees

and S adducees while they talked a great deal about their
,

religion did not seem to think that kindness to others

,

had anything to do with i t .

There are many like them at the present day For i f .

a man really loves God he will want to do good to his

,

fellow beings and i f a man has only bad things to s ay of

hi s neighbour s it i s hard to believe that he love s God
,
.

E ven a child wh o really loves God will sometime s give

one of hi s toys to a poor child wh o has nothing to play
with When we give thing s to the poor we lend them to
.

God .
 V OICE C RYING IN T HE WILD ERNESS 75

O nly a few month s before that time , no one had ever

heard of John except a few of his friend s and ne i ghbour s ;
,

but now he wa s one of the most famou s men in Jud ac a

all because of hi s preaching and bapti s m And he had .

many di s ciple s , that i s to say , he had many friends wh o

believed in him , and who f ollowed him everywhere living ,

as he did in the w i lderne ss and eating very little food .

S eeing h i m s o s urrounded with di s ciples s ome men ,

even wondered i f J ohn him s el f were not the Mess iah wh o

was to come but J ohn alway s denied thi s H e s aid .

“
I indeed bapti se you with water ; but one might i er
than I cometh , the latchet of whose shoe s I a m not wor
t h y to unloose : he will bapt i s e you wi th the H oly Gho s t
and with fi re .

When John sa i d that , men began to under s tand what

he really meant : that Chri s t had come already , and that
he wa s s omewhere at that moment among the J s wish
people And they wondered who it could b e Wa s it
. .

anybody they knew ? Was it anybody in Jeru s a lem ?

What wou ld the Me ss iah do , i f he were really come ?
Woul d b e free them from the Roman rule ? Would he
make him s elf King o f the Jews , and sit upon the throne
o f H erod ? Would he perform m iracle s ?
N o one dreamed that the Me ss iah could be the you ng
J esu s of N azareth , wh o s ometimes came dow n to J eru

s alem to attend the fea s t s In fact , few men had even

.

heard of J es u s at that time .

And now we will leave John f or a little while , preach

ing to the people in the wildernes s of Ju d aea and bapti sing
them i n the river Jordan We will leave J ohn and go up
.

to Na z a ret h in Galilee where J es u s lived

,
.

I have told you much about J esu s when he wa s a little

boy ; but v o u must t hink of him no w as a man , about
thirty years old , tall and s trong and beauti f ul w ith a ,
76 S T OR I E S F R O M TH E NEW TE STAM ENT
look of love in hi s eye s such as no one had ever seen
‘

before and a voice so kind and gentle that every one

,

loved to listen to i t Jo s eph the carpenter who had been

.
,

such a good father and husband was now dead and , ,

Mary and Jes u s lived alone in the little house at N aza

reth surrounded by their friends and neighbour s It i s
,
.

often true that when we have lived near a person all our
lives we do not know how beautiful and good that person
,

really i s and the neighbours of Jes u s had no idea that he

was the greatest man in the world They had seen him .

for years working in the carpenter shop of Joseph ; or

,

walking quietly through the narrow and stony streets ,

followed by the children ; or coming down alone from the

hills beyond the town where he loved to roam in the early
morning or the late evening They had grown accus .

t o m ed to asking hi s advice and help when they were in

any trouble ; but it had always been as a friend and
neighbour that they appealed to him— never a s the Mes
siah of the Jews .

And when Je s u s fi rs t began to s peak to other men

about God and their duties to H im and to one another ,

the people in hi s own town di d not specially care to hear

him So he went to the little Villages round about ,
.

where the men and women listened gladly when he spoke

to them about God For he was very gentle and it
.
,

seemed to them that he must have some beautiful secret

hidden in his heart because hi s eyes were so loving and
,

he smiled so s weetly upon all the world S ometimes .

,

when he di d not know that any one wa s looking at him ,

a wonderful light would suddenly come into his face and ,

they wh o saw it knew that he wa s thi n k ing of God .

Already a few men had begun to follow J esus about

from place to place as other men followed John the Bap
,

t i st
. They loved to hear the beauti ful thing s he said ,
78 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

There was one young friend with him John the son , ,

of Zebedee to whom it wo ul d have been ea s y for J es a s to

,

tell anything For the young J ohn was very gentle and
.

beautiful and he loved Jes u s much

,
.

You must alway s remember in reading the stories ,

which follow that the young John son of Zebedee was a

, , ,

d i fi eren t person to J ohn the Baptist A s Jcsu s had the s e .

two friends who were both named John it i s necessary to ,

keep them distinct from each other in your mind .

N ow when J esu s with his friends came down to the

, ,

place where J ohn the Baptist wa s preaching and baptis

ing by the river J ordan there wa s a large company ,

as s embled ; for many had come out from Jeru s a lem and
the smaller cities round about John had probably seen .

J es u s in the crowd for in his sermon that day he s aid

,
“
There standeth one among you whom ye know not ;
he it is who coming after me is preferred before me
, ,

whose shoe s latchet I a m not worthy to unl oose

’
And .

everybody wondered who J ohn meant .

After the sermon one by one the people went down to

,

the place where J ohn was standing in the water and asked ,

him to baptise them There were old people and young .

people men women and even children wh o confessed

, , , ,

their sins and asked for the rite of baptism The multi .

tudes in all the country round had been thoroughly

aroused by the preaching of thi s strange man J ohn so , ,

t all and dark and fiery looking robed in his garment of ,

camel s hair and with his long black locks hanging on

’

his shoul ders They did not understand him ; but they
.

felt that he kne w s om ething which they did not know ,

and many of them were s incerely sorry for their sins and ,

hoped with all the i r heart s that the prom i s ed Me ss iah had
really come .

We can picture the s cene : the s hore of the river

 V OICE C R YING I N T HE WILD ERNESS 79

crowded with men and women dressed i n their strange ,

O riental garments o f many colour s s o d i fferent to those ,

we wear ; the bright sun shining down upon them all ,

showing here and there a fresh young earnest face , , ,

alight with enthusiasm ; here and there also an old keen ,

crafty face , darkened with un belief— for not every one

who came out to hear John and to s ee the baptism really
had faith i n him ; and down at the foot of the crowded
shore the blue river glittering in the sunshine ; and out
, ,

there i n the water the tall form of the preacher , John .

J s sus was standing there in the crowd , a l i ttle way

back from the river H e had noticed how when John
.
,

said that there was one sta nding among them whom they
’
kn ew not whose shoe s latchet he was not worthy to
,

un loose many had starte d and looked from one to a n

,

other searching with the i r eye s for the person whom John
,

meant Then Jcsus had s een them go down one by one

.

to be bapt i s ed H e had s een hi s o wn friends also go

.

down to J ohn in the river and when they came u p their

, ,

eyes were shining with the light of faith in God .

The heart of J es u s was very ful l ; f or he k new that the

time o f his long waiting was now over The years when .

he had l i ved so peaceful ly in his little home at N azareth ,

with the gentle Mary hi s mother , working in the carpen

ter shop and dreaming his beautiful dreams were of the ,

past Before this hour he had s eemed to belong to him

.
,

s elf and to his mother ; a fter thi s hour , he woul d belong

wholly to God and to the world H e had now to go down .

into the water o f the Jordan like a ll the other s to be

, ,

baptised o f J ohn ; but he knew that when he came up out

of the water , he would come u p a s the announced Mes
siah of the J ew s .

As he stood there on the shore h i s mind went back ,

over all the things which I have told you in these stories
80 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

about his early life H e thought of his bi rth in the sta

.

ble at Bethlehem ; f o r his mother had to ld him about the

sweet breathed cows that had come to sniff at him a littl e
-

baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a man

ger and about the three wise men from the E ast wh o
, ,

had ridden into Bethlehem on their camels bringing him ,

gi fts of gold and frankincense and myrrh — led on by t h e

star H e thought of the enmity of King H erod now
.
,

dead which had driven his parents to E gypt with him

, ,

when he was a newborn baby H e thought of those lon g .

years in E gypt from the time when he could fi rs t remem

,

ber anything until the day they start ed on the l o ng j ourney

back to the land of the Jews after the death of H erod ,
.

H e thought of his fi rs t Vi sit to Jeru s a lem at the time of ,

the Passover when he was twelve years old of the strange ,

questions which had then ari sen in his mind of his talks ,

with the priests and the doctors and of how the knowl ,

edge had fi rs t come to him that he himsel f was the long

promised Christ A nd he thought of all the years that
.

had passed since then years of study and labour which, ,

had prepared him for his great work of teaching the

people about God And now at last that work wa s to
.
, ,

begin .

Jesus wa i ted unt i l all the other people wh o desired i t

had been baptised then without looking behind him or
, ,

thinking any more about the past he went down into the ,

water beside J ohn and asked for the baptism

,
.

J ohn wa s surprised Why he wondered should .

, ,

Jesus want to be baptised ? Bapti sm wa s for sinners he ,

thought surely not for the Christ wh o had come to save

,

sinners And besides J ohn did not feel that he wa s

.
, ,

good enough to baptise Jes a s H e wanted Jes u s to bap .

tise him instead ; but Jes u s said no

,
.

As you will learn perhaps when you are older , the

, ,
 V OICE C RYING I N T HE WILD ERNESS 81

man wh o i s really great is nearly always humble in h i s

heart Though J es n e knew that he wa s the S on o f G o d
.
,

he wa s not willing to let John ta ke the second place there ,

before the people whom he had baptised Oi all the .

beauti ful acts in the li fe of J s sus we can hardly think of ,

one which shows a tenderer consideration for the natural

human feelings of an o ther You may have to think .

about t h is before you will understa nd it fully ; for it has

puzzled many wise and good men including the di sciples ,

who were with Jes u s at that time A smaller man than .

Jesus would have been pleased to push J ohn aside and

take his place here before the multitude of people ; but
J es u s wa s too great for that .

And then perhaps he felt that in being baptised by

, ,

the noble J ohn he would receive at John s hands th e

,
’

dedication of God for the great work he had to do H e .

may have felt that he woul d be stronger after the blessing

o f John , even as a father sometimes feels stronger and
better able to do his hard work in the world i f his little ,

son or daughter lays a loving hand upon his face in the

’
morning before the day s work begins .

So John baptised Jesus We feel that the hands of

.

J ohn must have trembled as he laid them in blessing upon

the head o f the Mess iah— s o much greater than himself .

And then something Very strange and beauti ful hap

pened The B ible says that as Jes u s came up out of the
.

water , the heavens opened above him and the S pirit of ,

God which we call the H oly S pi rit came down in the

, ,

f orm of a dove and reste d upon the head of Jesus a s he

, ,

sto od there on the shore of the river And he heard the .

voice of God , his Father speaking from heaven and

, ,

s aying to him :
‘
Thou art my beloved son , in whom I a m well
”
pleas ed .
82 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAM ENT

When he heard these words Js sus wanted to be alone ,

that he might think quietly of the work he had to do , in

’
teaching his fellowmen about God s love So leaving
.
,

hi s friends there by the J ordan river he went away by

,

himself into the wildern e s s of Judaea It wa s very still

.

and solitary there and he began to th i nk o f what it

,

meant to be the Son o f Go d.

 CHAPTER V II

ALONE F OR F O R TY DAY S

H ave you ever been alone f o r hal f a d ay— a b s olu tely

alone ? If s o perhaps you were lonely perhap s you were
, ,

afraid . Perhap s too you thought you woul d be glad to

, ,

—
see any one no matter whom— s o long as they would
talk to you or even sit quietly on the other s ide of the
,

room You may have felt though you coul d not have
.
,

expre ss ed the feeling that there was something present

,

with you— something invisible— w hich coul d see you ,

but which you could not s ee .

I f you can remember such a t i me , you will be better

able to understand the s tory of Jesu s in the wilderness ,

where he remained alone for for t y d a ys The wilderness .

of Judaea i s a very barren and rocky place and i n the ,

time of Jesus there were wild animals there It was in .

thi s wilderne s s where John the Baptist had wandered ,

when God made him u nderstand that the Mes s iah of the
J ew s had come into the world It was to this same bar
.

ren waste that J esu s went to be alone with h i s own

,

thoughts and with his Father in heaven For he wh o .

really dares to be alone may learn many things in soli

tude ; he may get acquainted fwi t h him s elf , and feel ,
though he may not see God ,
.

After Jesus had been bapti s ed by John i n the r i ver

Jordan and the S pirit of God had descended upon him
,

in the form of a dove and the voice of God had spoken

,
“
from the heaven s , s aying , Thou art my beloved s o n , in
83
84 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
”
whom I a m well pleased J esus had heard John te lling
,

the people wh o pressed around them that h e Jesus of ,

N azareth was the Messiah wh o had come to save the

, ,

J ews .

A nd J es u s who had thought about God a n d the work

,

he had to do for H im these many years felt suddenly ,

that he had not thought about God quite enough to be

able to speak of H im ju s t as he wished to speak So he .

left J ohn and his other friends and all the people who ,

pressed around him asking questions and went away ,

alone to the wilderness H e did not take any food with

.

him and there was no food in the wilderness — except

, ,

perhaps such locusts and wild honey as J ohn the Baptist

,

had lived on but J esus did not want food n o w H e .

wanted God A nd he found H im in the wilderness

. .

The B ible does not tell u s what he did there during

the fi rs t day s ; but can we not imagine ? Can we not see
him by day walking over the stony ground his beauti ful ,

head bent in thought his eyes fix ed on the future ? Can

,

we not see him at night under the stars lying upon the , ,

hard rock praying that God would show him what to do

,

for the world , which needed all the l o ve he had to give

i t ? Perhaps when you have heard the preachers ta lk
,

about Christ you have not had a very clear idea of what
,

and wh o he was H e may have seemed to you very

.

shadowy and far away , and not at a ll like human be i ngs .

It is to make you understand how real and near he was

and is — that I a m telling you these sto rie s .

When J e sus was in the wilderness he wa s thi nk ing

about a ll the people in the world he was loving a ll the ,

sou ls in the universe born and unborn and that means

, ,

our soul s too H e was studying what he cou ld do for

,
.

us ,and trying to learn from God how he could do it

best .
86 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT
In our time shoul d a poor young carpenter say that
,

he wa s greater than the K ing of E ngland , or greater than

the President of the U nited S tates the people of those,

countrie s wou ld merely think him crazy But in the .

time of Jesus , for a young carpenter in Ju d aea to s ay that

he was the Me s siah meant m o re ii n the eyes of the Jews
,

than it would mean in our day if a young man s hould

declare himself king o f the world For wa s not the Mes
.

siah in whose future com ing the Jews believed , to b e

,

greater than a ll the kings of the world put together ?

We have alway s taken as a matter of course that
Jesus , knowing him s elf to be the Christ should tell the ,

world s o when the time came ; but it wa s not so s imple

as we may have s upposed We do not wonder that he
.

wanted a little time alone to think , there in the wilder

ne ss of Ju d aea .

It must even have been d i fficu lt for him brought up ,

like any other young man to reali s e himself that h e wa s

,

the great O ne whom the nation waited for What shoul d .

he do ? H ow shoul d he teach mankind ? Oi course he

knew t hat God would s how him how ; but his very human
que stioning of him s elf make s him seem a ll the greater
and all the nearer to u s For i f he had not been also a
.
,

man , he could not have taught u s about God .

N ow we are told that during the forty days that J esu s

wa s in the wil d erne ss , the devil wa s there also s ometime s ,
tempting him Yo u mu s t often have heard of the devil ;
.

but have you any i dea what the devil i s ? The s tory
books picture him s haped s omewhat like a m a n , but with
horn s and b oo ts and a long tail ; and they tell u s that he
i s the s pirit of evil But what doe s the s pirit of evil
.

mean ? It i s not nearly s o hard to u nder s tand as you

have su ppo s ed , if you will begin by reali s ing that the
dev i l i s th e Opp os i t e of God E veryt h i ng that God i s , t h e
.
 AL ONE F OR FO RTY DA YS

devil i s not God i s loving and the devil i s not God

.
,
.

created the world and the devil being H is opposite

, , ,

seeks to de s troy i t God i s true ; that i s why the devil

.
,

being the opposite of truth i s called the father of lies

,
.

God a ffi rm s H e says that beauty and goodness a r e ; bu t

,

t h e devil denies everything beauti ful and good If a ch i ld .

s ays that h i s mother loves h i m that thought comes from

,

God ; but i f he denie s hi s mother s love that thought i s ’

,

of the devil .

N ow in the t i me o f J esu s — and long afterward even to

our own day— people believed that when a man w as very
good indeed the devil wa s always watching for an o ppo r
,

t u n i t y to come and tempt him They believed that the

.

devil chose an hour when the man wa s weak either from ,

illness or grief and least able to combat the devil s

,
’

denial of everything good and beauti ful A nd then the .

devil would come with doubts and sneer s for sneer s and -

doubt s are always of the devil I hope you will remem .

ber this when you are men and women

,
.

We are told that Jesus had not eaten anything f o r

many days and that he wa s very hungry It wa s then
,
.

that the devil appeared to him in the wilderne ss and ,

said
If thou be the son of God command that the s e ,

stones be made bread .

Thi s wa s the same a s s ay i ng that i f Jes u s could not

make bread out of stones he wa s not the s on of God for
,

the devil alway s reasons well It wa s of course just at

.
, ,

the time when J esu s had come to reali s e what it meant to

be the s on of God when he wa s ready to go back to the
,

multitude of people and tell them that he wa s really the

Messiah , that the devil ( o i doubt ) appeared and posed
“
that simple suggestion : I f thou be the son of God , com
mand that the s e stones be made bread .
88 STORIES FROM T HE NEW T ESTAMENT
But Jes u s though he was hungry did not t ry to turn
, ,

the stones into bread H e merely said to hims elf and

.
,

to the devil
Man shall not live by bread alone but by every ,

word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God .

Oi c o urse the devil hoped that J es u s would try to turn

the sto nes into bread that he would fail in doing s o and
, ,

that his faith in him s elf would thus be weakened For .

the devil can often make a strong man weak by making

the strong man doubt his o wn strength What the devil .

w a s trying to do wa s to make Jes u s doubt that he was

,

really the son of God In other words and that you may
.
,

better understand the devil dared J es u s t o t ry to turn

,

stones into bread .

When he found that Jes u s coul d not be temp te d in

this way the devil to ok him up into a high mounta in
, ,

from which he could see the Temple at Jeru s a lem the ,

palace of the H erods and that of the Ro man governor ;

and he coul d also see in his imagination a ll the other
, ,

powerful kingdoms of the world N ow as the devil had

.
,

failed in trying to make Jesus doubt himself , he thought

he might s ucceed in another way— by making him ambi
tious of worldly glory If Jesu s had wante d to be king
.

o f the world and to live in palaces

,
of cour s e he coul d
,

not have f u lfilled his mission as the S on of God who had ,

to live with the common people to share their poverty ,

and to love them If Jes u s had not been the Christ but
.
,

a mere man strong in his faith in him s elf , the devil

,

might have succeeded this time ; for we may suppose that

J es u s wh o has changed the world by hi s religion might
, ,

have made himself a king if he had wanted t o It .

required greater power to do what J s sus did than to ma ke

one s elf an emperor like C aesar or Al exander There have
,
.

been many emperor s but there ha s been on ly one Jes us

,
.
90 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
him u p In the exaltation of hi s new found power his
.
-

consciousness of being the S on of God , the thought may

well have come to him .

If such a thing could have been i f those doubting

Jews had seen him come down through the air like an ,

angel and alight beside t hem unharmed , surely they

,

would then have believed in him .

But J esus remembered that God rule s the world by

laws and that those laws are never broken , not even by
,

God H imself ; that even s o called miracles are but pro -

founder appli cation s of those same laws H e realised .

that the thought that angels might possibly bear him u p ,

wa s only another and more crafty temptation of the

devil So he answered the spirit of evil
.

“
I t i s said thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God
,
.

Then seeing that Jes u s had grown stronger with every

,

temptation he had resisted and knowing that it is only

,

in hours of weakness that doubt and denial can triumph

over faith the devil sneaked away and left Jes u s alone
,
.

The Messiah came down from the pinnacle of the

‘

Temple and went to rejoin his friends They had .

thought of nothing but him during his forty days in the

wilderness alone away from them When they saw him
,
.

coming he looked to them like an angel There was a

,
.

wonderful light in his face and p ower seem ed to radiate

,

from him .

N ow in all the stories that I have to ld you before ,

J esus has been merely getting ready for his li fe s work ’

.

But in the stories that are to come you will learn how this
same J es u s wh o had been a baby in the manger at Beth
,

lehem and a little boy in far away E gypt among the

,
-

Pyramids and a dreamy eyed youth walking over the

,
-

hills of Galilee became the greatest man in all the world ,

,

and did greater things than any other man had ever done .
 CHAPTER V III

TH E MA R R I AG E A T CANA

O ne of the fi rs t thing s J es u s did after com i ng out o f

the wilderness was to go to a wedding But before he .

went to Cana where the marriage was cele brated , he had

,

chosen several of his disciples — those friends wh o were t o

follow him as long a s he lived , and who were to be near
him all the time , except when he sent them away to
preach his faith in other towns .

When you have heard about the disciples of Jesus ,

you may have wondered h o w he came to have them and ,

why they followed him If yo u can realise how beautiful

.

J es u s was and h o w kind , you will understand wh y these

friends of his were glad to leave everyt hing else in order
to be near him D id you ever know a person , perhaps a
.

teacher of yours , who wa s so lovely to you that you

wanted to have him always in your sight , so lovely that
you thought of hi m a ll the time when he was away and ,

counted the hours until you should see him again ? I

can remember h aving such a teacher , when I wa s a little
child ; and had my beauti ful teacher asked me to follow
her to the end of the world , I would have been very
happy .

The d i sciple s of Jes u s , though they were grown men ,

had the hearts of children ; and you know that J esu s wa s
a very great teacher , the greatest teacher in the world .

E ven before he spent those forty days alone in the wilder

ne ss , he ha d taught hi s f riends much about God ; but
91
92 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
when he came out of the wilderness he had much more to
te ach them and he was also gentler and more loving even
than he had been before though he had always been gen
,

tle and ful l o f love .

In those days many persons really wanted to learn

about God ; they had more time than we have for they ,

did not hurry so from one thing to another And when .

the friends o f Jes u s had learned from John the Baptist

that the Messiah was really come— the promised Messiah
they had heard about a ll their lives and especially when ,

they learned that Jesu s was that Messiah , they were wild
with j oy They thought of nothing el s e but him They
. .

treasured eve ry word he spoke and they coul d never look,

at him long enough If he asked them to do some little

.

thing for him they were happy ; for they felt that he con
,

ferred a great favour upon them by letting them serve

him If you have ever loved any one with all your heart
.
,

you will know how they felt .

I told you in one of the earlier stories about the you ng

J ohn ( not J ohn the Baptist but the other one ) and how
, ,

Jesus loved him so much that he cou l d have to ld him

anything This young man wa s very gentle and aile e
.

t ion a te with large soft eyes and a great faith in hi s

, ,

teacher In after years he wrote a beauti ful story about

.

Jesu s N ow John and hi s elder brother J ames were two

.

of those wh o went with J esus to the wedding feast at

Cana .

And there were several other disciples who went The .

young J ohn tells u s in his sto ry that the disciple An

, ,

d rew wh o was one of those wh o went to Cana had been

, ,

a disciple of John the Baptist the man clothed in the ,

garment of camel s hair girt about the waist with a lea t h er

’

strap the man whose voice had cried in the wildernes s

, ,
“
Repent ye for the Kingdom of H eaven i s at hand
,
.
94 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TE STAM ENT
might have to work all day long like a slave ; they m i ght
be sick and in pain all the time ; and yet if they had let ,

God come and live in their hearts they did not m ind ,

hunger , or toil or pain becau s e they ju st felt God there

, ,

i n the centre of them loving them and telling them of

,

H is love Their heart s seemed alway s to be ful l not

.
,

o nl y of God but f u ll of love for all the world for those

, ,

wh o were their friends and those who were their enemies

-
just the same for knowing that everybody was really a
,

child of God too whether they themselves knew it or

, ,

not these people wh o had God in thei r heart s felt that

,

all other people were thei r brothers and sister s .

And Andrew and the other disciple a s they li s tened ,

to Jesus as they saw hi s lovely smile and felt the love

, ,

for all the world which radiated from h i m were conscious ,

of a strange swelling in their heart s such a feeling as ,

they had never had before and they knew then that God ,

was knocking at the door of their heart s And they .

opened their hea rts wide and took God i n For though .

God i s a s great as the whole universe of star s and worlds

a n d s uns H e can make H imself as small as the heart of
,

even a little child A nd whenever a little child asks God

.

to come and live in hi s heart God always come s And ,

.

then the child can nevermore be cros s w ith any one ,

because God cannot be happy i n the heart of any person

wh o does not love all the world just as H e doe s .

And Jcsus asked Andrew and the other disciples to go

north with him into Galilee and he to ld them that he ,

woul d take them with him to the marriage feast at Cana ,

where they should s ee s omething wonderful which woul d ,

m ake them understand that one who reall y felt himself to

be the S on o f God had great power and coul d do whatever ,

s trange thing God wanted him to do .

And Andrew was so happy at hav i ng fou nd the Mes

 T HE MA RRIAGE AT CA NA

siah and so happy at having opened h i s heart for God to

,

come and live ins ide him that he thought of his brother
, ,

S imon Peter and wanted him to be just as happy a s he

,

So he went and found h i s brother and brought h

'

was .

to J es u s and J es u s told S imon Peter everything which he

,

had told Andrew ; and S imon Peter opened his heart to

God also , and became a disciple of Jes u s .

N ext day they started north into Galilee walking ,

along the beauti ful country roads and over the green
hills And Jesus talked with them on the wa y telling
.
,

them all the time something new about God .

That day he met Philip a friend of Peter and An ,

drew and called him also to be one of his disciples

,
.

And while J es a s and the others waited in one place ,

Philip went away by himself and found another friend of

his Na t h a n a el com i ng from under a fig tree
, ,
-
.

When Philip met N athanael he told him that they ,

had found the Me s siah of whom Moses and the prophets

,

had written long ago that his name wa s J es u s and that

, ,

he came from N azareth And N athanael answered :

.

“
Can there any good thing come out of N azareth ? ’

Among the Jew s there wa s an i dea that N azareth was

a ve ry poor place You know that in almo s t every region
.

t here is some little town or Village which the people of

, ,

other towns all laugh a t for some rea s on or other And

,
.

often the people who live in these unpopul ar towns when ,

any one asks them where they came from answer with ,

j ust a s hade of hesitation as i f they felt beforehand that

,

t hey were somehow in disgrace on account of the place

where they live Perhaps God sent Jes u s to live in N aza
.

reth f or that very reason , to prove that it is really a

man s heart and not the town of his bi rth that make s
’
, ,

him s uperior or inferior to others And Jes u s was born .

poor to teach the world not to despise poverty And

,
.
96 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TESTAM ENT

Jesus worked with his hands as a carpenter that men , ,

might feel that manual labour wa s honourable .

“
So when N athanael said to Philip
,
Can there a n y ,
”
good thing come out of N azareth ? Philip answere d ,
“
Come and see .

For no one by merely ta lking about Jesus could

, ,

make another understand how lovely he wa s It would be .

like trying to describe a rose to a person wh o had never

seen or smelled one .

When Js sus saw N athanael coming he said to him : ,

“ ”
Behold an Israelite indeed in whom i s no guile !
, ,

And when N athanael asked Js sus how he knew him so

well never having seen him before , Jes u s answered :
,
“
Before that Philip called thee when thou wast under ,

the fi g tree I saw thee

-

,
.

We do not kn ow what N athanael had been doing

under the fig tree ; but it wa s probably something i m
-

portant to him because he was so impres s ed by the fact

,

that J csus coul d know of a thing which had happened out

of his sight N athanael told Jesus then that he wa s i n
.

deed the S on of God the King of Israel But J esus ,

.

wanted men to believe in him for better reasons than be

c ause he coul d tell what they were doing when they were
away from him and he answered N athanael :
,
“
Because I said unto thee I s a w thee under the fig ,

tree believe s t thou ? Thou shalt s ee greater things than

,
”
these .

And in a little while N athanael did see greater things

— a t the marriage feast at Cana .

Among the Jews of the olden time a wedding wa s

always a scene of great rejoicing— even more s o than with
us ,
perhaps ; and all the friends and neighbour s of t h e
young couple came together to eat and drink and to wi s h ,

the bride and bridegroom long life and happiness In .

98 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT
fore she was still very beautiful for her face was full o f
,

love and gentleness and love and gentleness are often

,

more attractive than pink cheeks and pretty dimples .

When Mary saw Jes u s at last coming down the road

,

with his disciples and when he greeted her and told h i s

,

new friends who she was Mary was so happy that she
,

cou l d hardly say a word ; she just looked at him , and

looked and looked S he thought of the three Magi wh o
,
.

had come to the stable in Bethlehem when he was a new

born baby and she wished that those wise men coul d s ee
,
“

J es u s now They had called him the King of the J ews

.
,

and surely he looked like a king this day though he ,

wore the same simple garment s he ha d worn before But .

his face wa s shining .

They all went together to the hou s e of the bride where ,

the marriage ceremony was to be perfo rmed It wa s late .

in the afternoon of a beautiful day The bride and .

bridegroom stood under a canopy , they both wore crown s ,

and the bride wore a white veil The Jewi s h elder wh o

.
,

per f ormed the ceremony of marriage , stood with the bride

and bridegroom under the canopy ; he had a cup in h i s
hand which wa s called the cup of blessing and he fi rs t
, ,

asked God to bless the company assembled .

Then he gave a cup of wine to the bride and bride

groom who drank of i t and promised to be faithful to
, ,

each other When the bridegroom had drunk the last o f

.

the wine according to the ancient custom of the J ews he

, ,

dashed the cup to the fl o o r and crushed it under his heel .

This strange act wa s intended to remind them that per

f ect happines s was impossible , so long a s Jerusalem the ,

H oly City was rul ed over by strangers

,
The marriage .

agreement was then read aloud and all the people present
,

drank together— which s ealed the fact that they were wit
n e s ses of the marriage agreement Then all the friends
.
 T HE MAR RIAGE AT CA NA

o f the br i d e and bridegroom — and among them Jes u s hi s ,

mother and the new disciples — walked round the canopy

where stood the married pair s howering them with rice
,

and chanting the Psalms of Davi d At the end of the .

ceremony the elder asked God to bless the couple with

the seven ble s s ing s of the Jews he drank himself of the
,

benedictory cup , and passed it round to the a s sembled

f riends .

We can i mag i ne with what sweetness Jes u s went

through thi s beauti ful ceremony for h i s being the S on of
,

God and the Mes s iah did not separate him from other
people ; instead it drew him nearer to them We feel
, .

sure that the bride at Cana wa s happy all h er li fe ju s t ,

becau s e Jes u s was at her wedding and becau s e he walked ,

around her with the others chanting Psalms Perhaps .

some time when you go yourself to a wedding you will

, ,

think of thi s one i n the little village of Galilee and re ,

member that J esu s walked around the bride and bride

groom blessing them with hi s love
,
.

But the strange event of the day happened later in the

evening at the house of the bri degroom where Jes u s and ,

the other friend s and neighbours went t o eat the marri a ge

f east
. For nearly two thousand years people all over ,

the world have talked of the thing which happened

at the bridegroom s hou s e , and have wondered what it
’

meant .

It wa s now qu i te dark and all the happy company

,

prepared to ta ke the bride to her new home As they .

went out of doors every one carried a lamp according t o

, ,

the custom at J ewi s h weddings and in a few minute s the

,

long dark road was glittering with little lights whi ch ,

moved hither and thither To those who came last the

.
,

proces s ion ahead looked l i ke a long and wavering line of

firefli es J es u s was there with the other s , carrying his
.

O R G ! )
100 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
lamp ; and the new di sciples walked bes ide him with ,

their lamps too We may like to think that the lamp of

,
.

Jes u s was brighter than those of the others but perhaps

it was just the same O ne of the beauti ful things he
.

taught was that a ll men were sons of God .

’
When they reached the bridegroom s house , they
found a great feast spread for them There were delicate
.

meats and luscious fruits and cakes and the pleas ant ,

wine of the country which was not so strong as our wine .

The bride and bridegroom took their places at the head

of the table , and the feast began , with merry laughter
and ta lk
.

We can see Jes u s sitting there with the other s rather ,

quiet and thoughtful not wishing to draw attention to

,

himself and his great m l s s i o n on this evening when all

thoughts were turned toward the new made bride If by -
.

his power he coul d serve them or add to their happiness

, ,

that woul d please him well ; but he woul d not talk even
a bout God this evening when every one else wanted t o
,

talk about the bride and bridegroom S ome one has said .

—and the saying is so true that I will repeat it her

e

that Jes u s was the fi rs t perfect gentleman which the world

ever knew meaning by that that he was the fi rs t man in
, ,

those rougher ancient times wh o always acted with deli

,

cate cons ideration for the feelings of others which is ,

really what it means t o be a gentleman And here we .

see the Messiah the great man for whom the J ew s had
,

waited generation after generation making himself one

,

of a pleasant company ; and a little late r in the evening ,

when he performed a miracle which the world has talked

about ever since it was n o t done to call attention to him
,

self , but to give pleasure to others .

The guests at this wedding party drank much of the

-

pleasant and almost harmless wine of the country ; and

1 02 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
water ; but the servants knew And when the rul er of the
.

feast ta sted the liquid taken from the wat erpots he tasted
delicious wine— far better than any he had ever drunk
before .

And he called out to the bridegroom reminding him ,

that in the beginning of a feast the host usually served

the best wine reserving the wine which was not quite so
,

good for a later hour when the guests had been s a t i s fied
,
” “
with drinking But
. said he to the bridegroom you
, ,
”
have reserved the best wine until now .

We are not told that Jesus said anything to the assem

bled guests about the miracle he had performed Prob .

ably he sat in s ilence watching them drink the wine

,

whi ch he had made out of pure water knowing that by ,

and by when the feast was over the servants wh o had

, ,

seen him turn the water into wine would tell their ma s
ter and that he would tell the others , and that gradually
,

the story woul d spread— to the glory o f God , wh o could

perform such miracles through H is S on .

If we a s k ourselves how Jes u s could turn water i nto

wine it may have been becau s e of the added power which
,

he had gained by resisting the temptations of the devil in

the wilderness For a man or even a child grows strong
.
, ,

with every temptation w hich he overcome s and puts b e

hind him .

But the new di s ciples of Jes u s had seen what he had

done and they now believed more fi rm ly than ever that
,

he wa s the Mess iah whose coming had been foretold .

And they were eager to see him do other things ; for the
miracle whi ch Jesus performed at the marriage feast at
Cana wa s o nl y the fi rs t of a long series of miracles which ,

I will tell you about in the s tories that are to come .

 CHAPTER IX

RE J E CTED B Y H I S N E I G H B O U R S

After the marriage feast at Cana where Jesus had ,

turned the water into wine and after he had been with
,

hi s di s ciples to a few of the other little village s of Gali

lee , preaching the love of God and the brotherhood of
men Jes u s began to f eel a strong des ire to see N azareth
,

again , the to wn where he had been brought u p S ome .

times , when he wa s sitting quietly alone a pi cture of the ,

little s tony s treets of N azareth would come so vividly b e

fore h i s mind that i t seemed almost as if he were really
there H e began to dream of the carpente r shop where
.
,
'

he had worked with Joseph his good foster father H

,
-
.

thought of the high hill beyond the town where the ,

breeze always blew summer and winter and from which

, ,

he coul d s ee the beautiful outline of Mount Carm el to the

west and looking east and north and south the sharp
, , , ,

or curving forms of other hill s and mountains .

And he thought o f his neighbours in N azareth the ,

boy s and girls with whom he had played as a child but ,

wh o were now grown men and women with children of

their own H e wanted t h em to be glad that their old
.

friend wa s the Mess iah wh o had come to save the Jews ;

he wanted to tell th em how to open their heart s to God ,

so that H e woul d come and dwell inside their breasts and ,

make them s o happy and so loving that every day would

seem a holiday and every living creature would be their
brother or s ister H e had made his new friends feel
.

1 03
1 04 STORIES F R OM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
these things and now he longed to make his o ld friends
,

feel the same .

So one pleasant day in the summer of the year Jesu s

, ,

f ound himself again in the old house in Na z areth wi t h ,

his disciples H ow glad his mother must ha ve been to

.

see him c ome home and what a long and loving ta lk they
,

must have had the fi rs t evening after the friends wh o ,

came with Jesus had gone to rest and the moth er and son ,

were alone in the old garden under the starlit sky They ,
.

had so many things to talk about I think she must .

have told him again about the wise men from the E ast
who had foll owed the star to Bethlehem to fin d him as a
little baby now thirt y years ago T hey mus t have ta lked
,
.

about his childhood in E gypt and the strange ways of

that far land But most of all they talked about his
.
, ,

future o f the great work which he wa s going to do for

,

Israel and for all the world Oi course it seemed t o Mary

.

that now the Messiah was really come all the J ews would ,

welcome him with gladness H ad they not been looking.

for him thousands of years ?

Jes u s had learned especially in Jerusalem before he
,

came north t o Galilee that not a ll the Jews believed that

,

he wa s the Messiah A lready he had had some trouble

.

with men of his race wh o were astonished that he should

,

dare t o say he was the Christ F o r it i s ve ry hard for .

some pers o ns to believe that a man whom t h ey know a ,

man they can see and talk with a man who eats and ,

drinks like themselves is di fferent to or better than they

,

are They can understand that Moses wa s a great man ;

.

they can believe that E lij ah wa s a prophet ; but when a

man of their o wn time says that he knows something
which they d o not know and especially when he says
,

that they do something which they should not do these ,

dull and unimaginative people always want to throw

1 06 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
them and from their love to gather strength for whatever
,

the day might bring forth H ard tasks are always eas ier .

when those w e l o ve stand by and help u s with thei r faith .

But on the other hand J es u s may have feared that some

, ,

of hi s new disciples would be discouraged if the people of

N azareth did not love him and accept him as the Mes
siah ; and if he went out in the early dawn and prayed
with them it wa s to strengthen their faith not his own
,
-
.

I have told you about the young man J ohn with the ,

tender eyes and the gentle voice the disciple wh o loved ,

J es u s so much Can you not see him with the morning

.
,

sunlight on his fresh young face as he stood there with ,

J es u s and the other men praying that God woul d reveal

,

H imself that day to the dwellers in N azareth ?

When the hour came for the S abbath se rvice in the
synagogue Jes u s Mary and the five or six disciple s who
, , ,

were there walked along the narrow streets to the small

,

bare building which the J ew s of N azareth used as a place

of worship You know that a synagogue is a J ew i s h
.

church but the synago gu e of N azareth was not like the

splendid churches which you may have seen in cities It .

wa s more like some little Methodist chapel in the country

districts of E ngland or America with a few hard ben ches ,
.

for the worshippers to sit o n and a reading stand or pul , ,

pit where the s peaker of the day read from the old
,

S criptures and tried to explain !them There was no .

regular preacher .

The news had already gone abroad in N azareth that

J esus son of Mary had come back to the town ; that he
, ,

was followed by disciples who called him the Messiah ;

that he was said to have turned water into wine at Cana ,
and that he had cured many people of their sickn esses by
laying his hand s upon them O ld men in N azareth wh o .

had known Jesu s as a little boy , shook their heads sadly

 REJ ECTED BY H I S N E I G H B OU R S
and pointed to thei r forehea d s a s much a s to s a y that he
,

must be crazy Young men wh o had been brought up

.

with Jesus and wh o had known him all thei r lives de ,

cla red that what he claimed was quite impos s ibl e— had

they not seen him every day for years and how cou ld he
,

be the Me s s i ah ? The son of J o s eph and Mary ! H o w

absurd !
We may be s ure that every man woman , and child in
,

N azareth wh o wa s able to walk to the synago gu e was ,

there that S abbath morning It wa s generally the cu s to m

.

in the little Jewi sh to wns for the schoolmaster to read the

S criptures in the synagogue on the S abbath for the syna ,

gogue was also the schoolhouse This schoolmaster wa s

.

“ ” “ ”
one of the elder s ,
or rul ers of the synagogu e who ,

had special s eat s of honour reserved for them and who ,

took themselve s ve ry s eriously The mo s t s acred parts of

.

the s ervice were read by a man called the delegate This .

wa s n o t always the same per s on ; and o n that S abbath

morning when Jes u s with his mother and h i s disciples
, ,

went to the little s ynagogue in N azareth the chief shep ,

herd a s they called the chief elder must have asked

, ,

Je s us to act as delegate for the day You will remember

.

that Jesu s had been brought up in thi s town that he had ,

been in the habit for many years of going t o this syna

gogue on the S abbath , and that he may often in the past
have acted as chief reader or delegate You should al s o
,
.

remember that he probably knew every man woman , and ,

child wh o wa s in the syn ago gue that morning .

N ow none of them had seen him since the day a few ,

months before when he had left Galilee to go down to

,

Jeru s a lem to hear the preaching of J ohn the Bapti st who ,

had fi rs t proclaimed that J s su s was the Messiah A nd .

they were full of curios ity as to what he would s a y and

do The Jew s were a ve ry j ealou s people ; and the elders
.
108 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
of N azareth were resentful that a man of their own town ,

whom they had always regarded as one of themselves and

n o bette r than they were should have become so famous
,

in other towns If the young people of N azareth were

.

full o f unbelief in Js sus the elders o f N azareth were full

,

of j eal o usy and envy and spite What blasphemy they .

,

said to themselves for this young man to claim that he

,

was the Messiah ! A nd when the chief elder gave J e sus

the Book and asked him to read we may be sure that he ,

looked at J esus very hard as much as to say that he wa s

,

giving him an opportunity to do his worst .

Mary the gentle mother must have trembled as she

, ,

sat on her bench with the other women of the congrega

tion Th e night before she had been full of joy ; but
.

when she saw her son among these hard and skeptic al old
men she wa s filled with anxiety Why could they not
,
.

see how beautiful he wa s ! S he may have wondered i f she

should have told her neighb o urs long ago about the visit
of the angel wh o had announced that her son wa s to be
,

the Christ S he may have almost blamed herself f o r

.

her o wn delicacy and fin en es s But the next moment she

.

must have realised that she had done quite right ; for if
s h e had told these same old men years before that her son

was the one whom God had sent to save Israel they ,

w o uld have been just as ful l of unbelief ; and Jes u s i n ,

stead of having had a youth of happiness and quiet ,

would have been tormented all the time .

Mary saw J es u s go into the pulpit with the H oly Book

in his hands H e stood there for a moment silent and
.
,

calm It seemed to her that he had never looked so tall

. .

From where she sat she could see the backs of the elders
on the front benches some of them were turned sidewise ,

s o that she s a w the wrinkles at the corners of their sharp

eyes and the stern or sneering look of their old mouths

, ,
1 10 STORIES F R O M THE NEW TE STAMENT
and they looked at h i m as i f he were quite strange to
them as i f they had never seen h i m before
,
.

Then he went on to tell them what he wanted to do ;

how he hoped not on ly to help the J ew s in their troubles ,

but to teach them how to open their hearts to God th at ,

H e might come and dwell in their hearts and fill them

,

with love for every living creature The s ame beautiful

.

things which he had to ld hi s new di s ciples and which

,

had made them follow him , J esus told to the s e old neigh
bours of his gathered there in the synagogu e at N azareth
, .

A s he stopped speaking for a moment , he heard s ev

eral old J ew s s ay to the men w ho w ere next them on the
benche s
“
I s not this Jo s eph s s on ? Is not thi s the carpenter
’
,

the son o f Mary ? Where did he learn the s e things ?

What new wisdom is this which i s given to him ? H ow
”
coul d he do the thing s which people say he has done ?
When Jes u s heard them murmuring to gether he said ,

— still in the same sweet voice and with a patient smile

that they would probably repeat to him the old s aying ,

“
Physi cian , heal thyself that they woul d probably ask
him why he could not do in N azareth his o wn country
, ,

the same thing s which he h a d done in other town s and

cities Then he repeated to them another old saying
.

“
A prophet i s not without honour but in hi s o wn
,

country and among hi s ow n kin , and in his own hou s e

,
.

Then Jesus knowing that they wo u ld recognise a

,

reference to the prophets , reminded them that there were

many widows in I s rael in the day s of E lias , when there
wa s no rain for three year s and s ix months and eve rybody
was s tarving ; but that the prophet E lia s was sent only to
one of them a widow who lived in a city of S idon And
,
.

he reminded them also that there were many lepers in

Israel in the time of E li s eu s the prophet , and that non e
 REJ ECTED BY H I S NE IGH B O U R S

o f them wa s healed except N aaman the S yrian By thi s .

he meant them t o understand that though there were ,

m any i n h abitant s of N azareth and many elder s in the

,

s yn agogue God had s elected J es u s o n ly t o s ho w f orth H is

,

glo ry .

N ow when the elder s and other men of N azareth heard

thi s they were very ang ry And they rose up in their
,
.

s eats and began talking all at once and threatening

,

Je s us who stood there quietly in the mid s t of them , with

,

a sad smile on h i s face For the s e old friend s and neigh

.

bours were dear to him even though they were s o hard

,

and bitter and unbelieving .

Mary the mother must have been frightened when s he

saw the men surrounding Jcsu s and threatening him but
s he did not dare to say a word There wa s a dreadful
.

u proar in the synagogue everybody wa s moving forward

, ,

trying to get to Jes u s and no one woul d have listened to

the mother even i f s he had tried to soothe them Through
, .

the hubbub of many voices she heard the chief elder tell
J csus that he must leave N azareth right away that they ,

woul d not have him there any longer ; and all the other
voices shouted yes .

Then the s e angry and noi sy men made Jesu s go out of

the synago gu e and his di s ciples and the other people fol
,

lowed Jesu s did not t ry t o stay or even to dispute with

.
,

th em ; for i t wa s a part o f hi s teaching that those wh o

loved God shoul d always meet Violence with gentlenes s .

When he asked them where they wanted him to go they ,

pointed to the brow of the hill whereon the city wa s

built And Jesu s went that way peacefully , his di s ciples
.

and the people of N azareth s till following .

When they reached the brow of the b ill which was ,

high and rocky these elder s and other men of N a z a ret h

,

tried to throw Je s u s down headlong that he might be

1 12 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TESTAMENT

killed— s o angry were they that a man whom they h a d

known as a child s houl d da r e to s ay he wa s the S on of
God .

But Jes u s p a ssed quietly through the crowd with his

disciples and escaped the wrath of the men of N azareth
,
.

For while he would not rai s e his hand against them , he

did not mean to let himself be killed ; because he had
only begun the work which he had to do for God and for
the J ews Js sus must have been very sad that morning ,
.

as he pa ss ed along the road to ward Capernaum a little ,

city near the S ea of Gal ilee where he wa s to do many

,

wonderful works .

The eyes of the mother were full of tears a s she went

back to her lonely home S he had expected s o much
.

from thi s Visit of Jesus to N azareth and it had turn ed,

out so ba dl y S he knew n o w that she could not live any

.

longer among those cold and unbelieving people wh o had

tried to kill her son so she prepared to follow him to
,

Capernaum It is always hard f o r a woman of Mary s

.
’

age t o leave the house where her son has grown to man
hood ; but she felt that wherever J es n e wa s there wou l d,

her home be in the future .

A s she wa s moving sa dly about the house a shadow ,

fell across the doorway Looking u p she s a w the bright

.
,

face of the young John the disciple who loved Jesu s so

,

much The Master had sent h i m back to fetch his moth er

.

to Ca p em a u m .
1 14 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT
men— because they are all equally the children of the
Father N othing like this had ever been heard before in
.

the synagogue at Capernaum The J ews s poke often of

.

the wrath and j ealousy of God but seldom of H is love ;

,

and the scribes wh o taught the people were merely men

learned in the H ebrew scriptures whose hearts were gen ,

era lly as dry and li feless as the parchment on which they

copied the chapters of the Law .

The fame of Jes u s had gone before him to Capernaum ,

and on that S abbath day the synagogue wa s crowded with

men and women all desirous to see this young prophet
,

whose friends proclaimed him as the Messiah There .

wa s of course some incredulity ; but mo s t of the people

, ,

in Capernaum were glad t o listen to Jesus , whether he

were really the Messiah or not And after they had heard
.

him speak even the most skeptical were deeply impre s sed
,

with his s incerity and power The world as s u me s a new

.

and di fferent colour when s een through the eyes of one

wh o believes in the beauty of the world And Js s us did.

not repeat old things in a dul l way , like the scribes ; on

the contrary he said new things boldly and on hi s o wn
, ,

authority .

There was in the synagogue that day an unfortunate

man who , according to the saying of the Jews was pos ,

sessed by an unclean spiri t — that i s to say he was i n ,

sane and said and did revolting things In those days

,
.
,

when a man had lost hi s reason it was generally believed

that he was possessed by a d evil a a 1 d the crazy things he
9 ,

did were attributed to the malice of this demon .

When Jes u s had fi n i s h ed his sermon this insane man ,

or the devil that wa s in him— cried out :

L et u s alone ; what have we to do with thee thou
‘
,

J es u s o f N azareth ? A rt thou come to destroy u s ? I

know thee wh o thou art thou H oly O ne of God
,
.
 TH E FAVO URITE C I T Y OF J ESUS
For the devils wh o pos sessed men were supposed to be
afraid of prophets and of holy beings and of angels and ,

of all that wa s good and pure .

Jesus looked at the madman steadily and in a voice ,

o f authority he s aid to the devil that wa s in him :

“
H old thy peace and come out o f him , .

The unfortunate man fell on the fl o o r of the synagogue

in convulsion s and those wh o stood by said that the
,

devil tore him for he cried with a loud voice moaning

, ,

and s hrieking as i f he were indeed tormented by some

invisible force J s sus regarded him calmly without
.
,

saying another word ; but the look of power was still in

hi s eyes Most of the Jews wh o were present gazed at
.

Jesus , in stead of at the possessed man on the floor for ,

they had never s een any one look as the Master did at
that moment H i s eyes were a fl a m e though he was so
.
,

quiet and the full strength o f his will wa s directed

,

toward the spirit of evil which had made thi s man h i s ,

brother and the child of God more beastly than the ani ,

mals of the fi eld For man the hi ghest of earthly beings

.
, ,

can become the lowest when the soul in him lo s es its con
,

trol of the body which should be i t s servant .

Gradually the convuls ions ceased the harsh voice was ,

s tilled and the man who was no longer possessed by a

,

devil picked himself up from the fl o o r H i s countenance

,
.

wa s changed the leer had left his face hi s whole person

, ,

wa s tran s formed To those wh o had known and pitied

.

and avoi d ed him for year s he seemed suddenly to have ,

become another person H is bent back was straightened .

,

and the eyes whi ch had been almost too terrible to gaze
into were now quiet and wi de and pure The man was
,
.

cured .

Thi s wa s the firs t m i racle wh i ch Jesus performed in

Capernaum , and the men and women wh o beheld it were
1 16 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TE STAM ENT

amazed They questioned each other saying among

.
,

themselves
“
What thing is thi s ? what n ew doctrine is this ? for
with authority c ommandeth he even the unclean spirits ,

and they obey him .

When the people left the synagogue they ta lked of

nothing but Jesus and the miracle he had wrought What .

manner of man was h e ? they asked each other If he .

were not the Messiah as h i s friends claimed what cou l d

, ,

he b e ? Certainly they said no ordinary person could

, ,

drive out a devil as he had d o ne .

A nd his doctrine ! T hey were still thrilling with the

idea of a Father in H eaven wh o loved them and desired
them to love one another Could loving the Father give
.

to other men such power as Jes u s had ? Woul d he remain

long with them ? Would he cure others as he had cured ,

the madman ? They thought of this person and that wh o

was a ffl i ct ed with disease and the new feeling of brother
,

hood which wa s already stirring in thei r hearts made them

desire that all men who suffered should be brought to the
Master It i s thus even to this day with those wh o have
.

found J es u s — they want to share him with others .

When he left the synagogu e Jes u s went to the house o f

Peter followed by those disciples whom he had already
,

c hosen . This home became the favourite resting place of -

the Master In the house of Peter surrounded by the

.
,

family of that g o od man— his wi fe his wi fe s mother and ,

’

his young children— Jesus was to spend perhaps the hap

piest hours of hi s life For peace i s al ways happiness
.
,

even with so exalted a being as the Master from N azareth .

When they reached the house that S abbath day they ,

found that the mother i n law o f Peter wa s si ck with a

- -

fever This good old woman who wa s ever happiest

.
,

w hen she was serving others c o uld do nothing now but

,
1 18 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAM ENT
they arose ! We may be sure that Peter embraced t h e
good old mother of his wi fe and that his honest eyes
,

were wet with tears of happiness The disciple wh o had

.
,

left his family to follow Jesus , now knew that never in

the future would his long absences be blamed For the .

sake of a Master wh o coul d do them service like this , the

women of hi s household might well be willing to endure
a little loneliness — even to take upon them s elves for a
time all the cares of the home .

The mother wh o had been cured now went about the

work of the house as i f nothing unusual had happened ,

and she mini stered to Jesus and his discipl s , preparing e

their food and serving it to them .

And Peter s children— young boys and girls alert

’

with the vivid interests of youth ! We can pi them

in imagination group ed about their father s Ma i r gaz
,
’
,

ing at him with wide open curiou s eyes , and asking him
-

questions about N azareth and Jeru sa lem a s well a s about

,

the kingdom of heaven We can believe that they hung

.

upon hi s arms or even about hi s neck ; for children are

,

never afraid of those who are truly great , and Jes u s loved
the little ones .

Through the long and happy afternoon the Ma s ter re

mained quietly in the house with hi s friends , and when
the evening came and the sun had set they brought to ,

him all the people of Capernaum who were s ick and those ,

wh o were believed to be possessed by devils like the man ,

i n the synagogue— s o many that all the i n h abitants of t h e

city were gathered together at the door of Peter and could ,

not come into the house because there wa s not room for
them .

And Jesus healed those wh o were sick with variou s

di s eases and he cast out the devils from those wh o were
,

i n s ane for there were many such in Galilee

,
And more .
 T HE FAVOU RITE CIT Y OF J ESUS 1 19

and m ore the people wondered at him , a sk i ng each other

how s uch thing s could b e .

Among tho s e who came to s eek the help o f Jes u s was

a certain centur i on a R oman o ffi cer, who had command
,

o f a hundred s oldiers Thi s man u nlike most of the

.
,

R oman o fii cers , w as much liked by the Jew s becau s e he ,

him s elf loved the i r nation H e had even built them a

.

s ynagogue a s an evidence of his friendship

, N ow the .

cent u r i on had a s ick servant that wa s dear to him and ,

having heard of the cures which J es u s had per f ormed in

Capernaum he came to him and said :
,
“
Lord my s ervant lieth at home s ick of the palsy
, ,

grievou s ly torm ented .

H e d i d not suggest that Je s u s should do anyt hing .

H e mere ly stated the facts of the ca s e leaving everyt hing ,

to The Master said :

“
I will go and heal thy s ervant N ow this cen .

turion was d i fi eren t to most of the R omans in Palestine .

H e did not feel merely because he belonged to the ruling

,

race that all J ews even the most exalted were inferior
, , ,

to himself On the contrary he was wise and subtle

.
,

enough to know that no R oman not even the E mperor , ,

wa s really the equal of this Jew this Jesus of N azareth , ,

whose words were like winged flames , and whose deeds

were already the main s ubj ect of conversation in Gali
lee And when the Master offered to go to the cen
.

turion s hou s e, which wa s some di s tance away and to

’
,

heal hi s sick servant , the man was con s cience stricken -

at the thought of giv i ng J s s u s s o much trouble And he .

s aid :
Lord I a m not worthy that thou s houl dst come under
,

my roof ; but s peak the word only , and my s ervant s hall

be healed For I a m a man under authority having
.
,

soldiers under me : and I say to thi s man , Go and he ,

1 20 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

goeth ; and to another Come and he cometh ; and to my , ,

servant Do this and he doet h i t

, ,
.

When J es u s heard this , he marvelled It wa s the .

same as i f the man had said that the N azarene being ,

Master over the power s of N ature as the centurion himself

wa s master over his soldiers , coul d command the di s eas e
of palsy to depart from the a ffl i ct ed s eri a n t even at a f
,

di s tance and it woul d depart — like a s oldier sent away by

,

his commander Je s us said to those wh o followed him :

.

“
V erily I say unto you I have n o t found s o great ,

faith no not in Israel

, ,
.

A nd I say unto you That many shall co me f rom ,

the east and west and shall s it down with Abra ham, ,

and Isaac and J acob in the kingdom of heaven But

, , .

the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into oute r

darkness .

For J esus who had been sent as the Messiah of the

,

J ews woul d become instead the S aviour of the Gentiles

,

if the J ews rejected him and his message A nd he now .

said to the centurion

Go thy way ; and as thou hast believed , s o be it done
unto thee .

The centu rion went away and returned to hi s own

house and when he entered in at the door he s aw his serv
,

ant standing before him— completely cured The promise .

of Jes u s had been ful filled The great fait h of the cen .

tu rion had received its due reward It i s always thus .

with tho s e whose faith is perfect .

At this time J esus had not yet chosen a ll o f hi s twelve

disciples O ne by one and two by two he selected them
.
, ,

from among the men he met The essential qu alities he .

looked for in those wh o were to be hi s companions and

helpers were simplicity of faith a loving heart and
, , ,

strength of character .
122 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT

ci a ls were hate d by the Jews who classed them with sin

,

ners and outcasts .

Je sus wh o had none of this prejudice in pas s ing

, ,

along the road with hi s di s ciples s aw Matthew s itting at

’
the receipt of cu s tom s The man s face wa s honest , his
.

eyes clear and intelligent , for it wa s he to whom we owe

the best record we have of the actual s ayings of Je s u s .

With that s wift intuition which never failed him the ,

Master recognised in this publi can one of tho s e s ou l s which

could be used for the s ervice o f God and he s aid to him : ,
“
Follow me .

Matthew needed no s econd bidding H e had seen .

Jesus before and had heard him speak , and the s torie s
which were told of the N azarene had fired the imagination
of the tax collecto r H e, too would learn of the king
-
.
,

dom of heaven and would experience for himself that

,

love of God and o f his fell owm en which made the face s o f
Jesus and his intimate follower s s hine with s uch a s oft
and radiant light And he ro s e up from the place where
.

he wa s sitting and followed Jesus , leav i ng everything

behind him .

And Matthew made a great fea s t in his hou s e in ,

honour of Jesus ; and when the Ma ster and hi s disciple s

sat down at the table there wa s a great company of pu b
,

lican e and other s who sat down with them .

But the s cribes and Pharisees who in Capernaum a s ,

elsewhere were always complaining about the democratic

ways of Js s u s no w murmured against the di s c i ple s s ay ,

ing t o them
“
Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sin
”
n ers ?
“
They that are whole need not a phy s ician replied ,
“
Jesu s ; but they that are sick I a m not com e to call
.

the righteou s , but sinner s to repentance .

 T HE F A V OU RITE CIT Y OF J ESUS
The scribes and Pharisee s wh o had come into the
,

house of Matthew out of curiosity , now looked at the table ,

laden with meat and fruit and plea sant drinks They were .

astonished having an idea that prophet s and religious

,

teacher s s hould despise all ple a sure especially that o f ,

w holesome food And they said to Jes u s :

.

“
Why do the di sciples of J ohn the Baptist fa s t o f t en ,

and make prayers and likewise the disciples of the Phari

,
”
s ees ; while thine eat and drink ?
Jesu s looked around at the pleasant company of hi s
d i s ciples , and smiled They were so happy to be with
.

him ! And he said to the complaining Pharisees and

s cribes
Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fa st ,

while the bridegroom is with them ? But the days wi ll

come , when the bridegroom shall be taken away from
them and then s hall they fast in those days
,
.

The disciples wh o heard these words caught their

breath . Coul d it b e they asked themselves that Jesus
, ,

woul d ever be taken away from them ? Though they had

only been with him s o short a time , i t s eemed t o them
now that they coul d not live without him For he gave .

to thei r lives a vivid meaning and a purpo s e— and they

loved him s o l But the time wa s not come when Jes u s
wi s hed them to dwell upon the fin a l tragedy of his m i s
s ion ; he wanted them to be happy now and the smile he ,

gave them restored their peace of mind .

More and more the people of Capernaum gathered

about Jesu s and men began to come from other cities to
,

see him and to hear him tal k and to be healed by him .

H e coul d not be alone no w even in the home o f Peter

, ,

and one morning he arose very early a long time before ,

daylight and went away into a s olitary place and there

,

prayed to his Father in heaven The world was wrapped .

1 24 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
in that great stillness which precedes the dawn while the ,

birds are yet asleep , and the stars still twinkl e in the dark
sky It wa s so sweet to Jesu s — this being alone with
.

God Though to his friends he was the Ma s te r the

.
,

greatest one o f earth with power before undreamed o i ,

when he came to his Father in heaven he wa s like a little

child .

H e prayed alone there a long time i n the stillness of

,

the night , until the stars paled and the dark sky be came
,

a pearly grey and the waking birds twittered in the trees

, ,

and in the east a rosy glow crept s lowly upward from the
still un ri sen sun .

When the dawn was ful ly come , the disciples of Jes u s ,

wh o had been seeking for him found him alone in that

,

s olitary place with hi s face uprai sed to the sky and to

the Father And they said to him
.

“
Master a ll men seek for thee
,
.

The spirit of Jesus came back from communion with

heaven to the work which lay before him on the earth .

An d he s aid to his di sciples

Come , let u s go into the next town that I may preach
there also ; for therefore came I forth .

Followed by his friends he left the solitary place a n d

,

prepared to journey into other cities As he came out .

upon the road where the mul ti t ude wa s , one of the scri bes
— a man very different to the others one wh o loved and
,

obeyed the ancient law as well as copied i t — c ame up to

him and said :
“
Maste r I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest
,
.

Jesu s answered
“
The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have
,

nest s ; but the S on of Man hath not where to lay his head .

For he wanted those wh o followed him to follow for

love s sake only without hope of earthly reward H i s wa s
’
,
.
 CHAPTER X I

THE S E R M O N ON TH E M OU N T

It wa s a mountain not far from Capernaum that

on

J es u s preached his most famous sermon .

Wherever he went now he wa s s ur rounded by crowds

of people for his charm and sweetne s s drew men after
,

him whether they willed to follow him or not Though .

they cou l d not have told perhaps what attracted them so

, ,

powerfully to thi s young teacher with the shining eyes it ,

was really the love that wa s in his heart for all beings
which stirred a responsive love in other hearts It i s .

always s o— even w i th lesser men .

H is twelve disciple s now went with him everywhere .

They surrounded him with an aureole of faith The solid .

strengt h of Peter the quiet goodness of James the perfect

, ,

comprehension of John for all the teachings of his Master ,

and the devotion o f the nine others were for Jesu s an ,

abiding help ; while he was to them the living realisation

o f God s love for the world
’
.

With hi s disciples Je s us went upon the mountain and ,

the m ul titude of people followed him It wa s a perfect .

day ; the air was pure a n d the sky a clou dl ess blue Most .

days in Galilee are per f ect days The peaceful wandering

.

li fe which the Master enjoyed with hi s friends sleeping ,

often under the O pen s ky , could not have been lived in a

har s her climate .

Jesus s tood upon the mountain and the people grouped ,

themselves below him H e had taken h i s place on a rock ,

.

127
1 28 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAM ENT
a little above the neare st of his listeners and as he s tood
there tall and slender in white garments his head wa s
, ,

outlined against the vivid blue of the sky To the m u l .

t i t u d e gazing up at him he seemed a being f rom another

,

world They were accustomed to the dry teaching of the

.

scribes untouched by ardour or imagination ; but the ex

,

pression of a new and living faith fell from the lips of

Jes u s and they listened intently
, S lowly he s poke that
.
,

the meaning of every word he uttered might come home

to them H e said : .

Blessed are the poor in sp i rit : for thei rs i s the king

dom of heaven .

“
Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be com
f orted .

“
Blessed are the meek : for they s hall i nh erit the earth .

Blessed are they which do hunger and thi rst after

r i ghteousne s s : for they s hall be filled .

Blessed are the merci ful : for they s hall obtain mercy .

Ble ss ed are the pure i n heart : f or they s hall see

Blessed are the peace makers : for they shall be called

-

the children of God .

“
Ble s sed are they which are persecuted for r i ghteous
ness s ake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
’
.

“
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and
, ,

per s ecute you , and shal l say all manner o f evil against
you falsely , f or my sake .

“
R ej oice and be exceeding glad : for great is your
,

reward in heaven : for so persecu ted they the prophet s

which were before you .

These beautiful verses are now called the Beatitudes .

We read them in a book and even in cold black and white

,

t hey s eem to be alive ; s o we can imagine the feeling of

those who heard them for the firs t time , heard them
130 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
s ee your good works , and glorify your Father which i s in
heaven .

The Jew s of the olden day s had worshipped God as

the great Js hovah but they had not known that H e wa s
,

als o a loving Father It wa s J es u s wh o gave that s upreme

.

idea to the world ; and when thi s multitude of people wh o

had followed him to the mountain heard him talk about
their F a t h er in heaven thei r hearts swelled within them
, .

They wondered why they had never known before that

they were the beloved children of the Creator .

Jesus did not wish any of hi s li s tener s to think b e ,

cause the faith he taught them was so much more loving

than the religion which they had known before that he ,

s ought to do a way wi th Ju da i s m Ou the co n trary he

.
,

s aid to them :
Think not that I a m come to destroy the law , or the
prophets : I a m not come to de stroy , bu t to f u lfil .

“
For verily I s ay unto you Till heaven and earth ,

pass , one j ot or one tittle s hall i n no wi s e pa s s from the

law till a ll be f u lfilled .

Who s oever therefore s hall break one o f the s e lea s t

commandments and shall teach men s o , he s hall be called
,

the lea s t in the kingdom of heaven : but who s oever s hall

do and teach them the same s hall be called great in the
,

kingdom of heaven For I s ay unto you That except

.
‘
,

your righteousness shall exceed the righteou s ne s s of the

s cribe s and Pharisees ye shall in no ca s e enter into
,
”
the kingdom of heaven .

As they looked at Jesu s stand i ng there against the

,

blue sky they thought how different he wa s to the

,

scribes and Pharisees And he wanted them to be more

.

righteous than their harsh old teacher s ! Well they woul d ,

attempt to be They too would try to love and under

.
, ,

s tand the Father in heaven If it was his love for the

.
 T HE SERMON ON T HE M OUNT
Father whi ch made J esus s o much more beauti ful than
other men they wanted also to feel that love , that th ey
,

might be like him It s eemed to them that they had

.

already entered u pon a new and keener li fe They drew .

long breaths of the p ure mounta in ai r tingling with joy ,

from head to feet .

J es u s went on to explain to them certain points of the

old law making them understand that the interpreta tion
,

of the s cribe s and Pharisees wa s i n s u ffi ci en t H e said .

Ye have heard that it was s aid by them of old time ,

Thou s halt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill shall be in

danger of the j udgment :
“
But I say unto you That whosoever i s angry with
,

his brother without a cause s hall be in danger of the judg

ment : and whosoever shall s ay to his brother Raca shall , ,

be in danger of the council : but w ho s oever s hall say Thou ,

f ool sha ll be in danger of hell fi re

,
.

The harsh Jews were always calling each other fools ,

and almost eve ry day they were angry with somebody
with or without cau s e ; yet they brought gi fts to the altar
in accordance with the law as i f by many burnt offerings
,

they could bu y their peace with God Js sus now said to .

them
“
I i thou br i ng thy g i ft to the alta r and there remem ,

berest that thy brother hath aught again s t thee ; leave

there thy gift before the alta r and go thy way ; fi rs t be
,

reconciled to thy brother , an d then com e a n d offer thy

”
gi ft
.

S urely th i s wa s a new i nterpretat i on o f the law— this

counsel of brotherly tolerance ! And how easy it seemed
at the moment while Jesus stood there before them ! As
,

they listened t o the Ma s ter s words old Jews smiled at

’
,

each other , when yesterday they would have frowned or

looked a skance The whole of that great multitude w a s
.
13 2 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

like one being united by one overmastering idea— the

,

idea of brotherhood A nd how happy they were ! They

.

had never before realised what true happiness was Their .

eyes shone .

Jesus now explained other points in the old law and ,

every rul e he touched upon he illuminated Among .

other things he told them

,
“
Ye have heard that it hath been said an eye for an ,

eye and a tooth for a tooth

,
“
But I say unto you That ye res ist not evil : but
,

whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn t o ,

him the other also .

“
And i f any man will sue thee at the law and take ,

away thy coat let him have thy cloak also

,
.

“
And whosoever shall compel the e to go a mile go ,

with him twain .

Give to him that asketh thee and from him that ,

would borrow of thee turn thou not away .

“
The listeners gasped An eye for an eye and a tooth
.
,

f o r a toot had always s eemed to them a j ust law ; but

now they realised how hatef ul it was If a ll other men .

were their brothers as J esus said and i f their enemies

, ,

were the children of God the same as they were of course ,

they must forgive each other Gradually it dawned upon .

the minds of those J ews that if they coul d follow the

“ ”
advice of Jesus R esist not evil
,
by that ve ry passive
,

endurance they wou l d make evil against themselves i m

possible on the part of their fellowmen ; that non resist -

ance was the most powerful of a ll resistance .

As J esus paused a moment to let this ne w idea sink

deep into the minds of his listeners s ome of them gave ,

little joyful cries of comprehension A nd J e s us smiled .

down upon them feeling that they were coming very near
,

to the kingdom of heaven A nd now he added .

1 34 STORIES FRO M THE N E W TE STAMENT

go gu es and in the streets that they may have glory of

,

men V erily I say unto you , They have their reward

. .

“
But when thou doe s t alms let not thy left hand ,

know what thy right hand doeth

“
That thine alm s may be in secret : and thy Father
whi ch s eeth in secret shall reward thee openly .

Then the Master s poke to them about prayer With .

the Jews prayer wa s a form almost a social obligation

, .

If a man wa s not known to pray he lo s t ca ste among ,

hi s neighbours This idea of prayer wa s revolting to

.

J esu s wh o lived i n constant communion with his Father

,

in heaven .

“ ” “
When thou praye st he s aid thou shalt not be a s
, ,

the hypocrites are : for they love to pray sta nding in the
synago gues and in the corners of the street s that they may ,

be s een of men V erily I s ay unto you They have their

.
,

reward .

“
But thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet
, , ,

and when thou hast s hut thy door pray to thy Father ,

whi ch is in s ecret ; and thy Father which s eeth in secret

shall reward thee openly .

But when ye pray use not vain repetitions , as the

,

heathen do : for they think that they shall be heard for

their much s peaking .

“
B e not ye therefore like unto them : for your Father
knoweth what things ye have need o i , before ye ask H im .

Then , s tanding there upon the mountain and looking

down at the upraised earne s t f aces of tho s e men and
,

w omen the Master taught them the Lord s Prayer which

,
’
,

generation after generation of Chri s tian s have repeated

daily for nearly two thousand years that prayer which is ,

the mo s t beautiful supplication ever formed in words i n ,

cluding in its brief line s all that man need s t o s ay to

God in giv i ng him s elf utterly to H im :
 T HE SERMON ON T HE M OUNT

Oa r F a t h er wh i ch a rt i n h ea ven , H a llowed be t h y

Th y ki n gd om com e . Th y wi ll be don e i n ea r t h , as

i t i s i n h ea ven .

Gi ve a s t h i s da y oa r da i ly br ea d .

A a d f orgi a e a s oa r d ebt s , as we forgi ve oa r d ebt or s .

A n d lea d a s n ot i n t o t emp t a t i on , ba t d eli ver a s fr om

evi l: F or t h i n e i s t h e k i n gdom , and t h e p ower , and th e

glor y, for ever . A m en .

When in a Chri stian church we hear a great congre

, ,

i ’
a t o n repeat the Lord s Prayer as with one voi ce we
g ,

think of that first time when it wa s spoken upon the

mountain under the blue s ky o f Galilee by the Master
, ,

himself .

“
Forgive u s our debt s a s we forgive our debtor s , .

The di fference between thi s s upplication and the old

“
J ew i s h rule An eye for an eye and a tooth for a to oth
, , ,

i s the di ff erence between Chr i stianity and Ju da i s m For .

,

a s J s su s said that day

“
I f y e forgive men thei r tre s pa ss es your heavenly ,

Father will al s o forgive yo u :

But i f ye forgive not men thei r tre s pa ss es , neither
wi ll your Father forgive your trespasses .

And he told them also that when they fa sted they

shoul d not be of a sad countenance like tho s e hypocrite s ,

who d i s figu re their face s that they might appear unto ,

men to fast but that they should rather anoint thei r head s
and wash their faces that men s hould not know they were
,

fastin g but that only God shou ld know F o r God wh o

,
.
,

saw in secret woul d reward them openly And J es u s

,
.

s aid
Lay not up for yourselves trea s ure s upon earth , where
moth and rust doth corrupt , and where th i eve s break
thro u gh and s teal :
13 6 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TE STAM ENT

But lay up for yourselves treasur es in h eaven where ,

neither moth nor rust d o t h co rru pt and where thieves d o

’
‘

not break through nor steal

For where your treasure i s there will your heart be ,

” “
No man can serve two ma s ters Jesu s said for , ,

either he will hate the one and love the other ; or el s e he

,

will hold to the one and despise the other Ye cannot

,
.

serve God and mammon .

“
Therefore I say unto you T ake no thoug h t for your ,

life , what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for
,

your body what ye shall put o n

,
Is not the life more .

than meat and the body than raiment ?

,
“
Behold the fowls of the air : for they sow not neither ,

do they reap nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly

,

Father feedeth them Are ye not much better than

.

they ?
“
Whi ch of you by taking thought can add one cubit
unto his stature ?
‘
And wh y take ye thought for raiment ? Consider
the lilies of the field how they grow ; they toil not neither
, ,

do they spin :
“
And yet I say unto you that even S olomon in all ,

his glory was not arrayed like one of these .

Wherefore i f God so clothe s the grass of the field

, ,

which t o day i s and to morrow i s cast into the oven shall

-

,
-

he not much more clothe you O ye of little faith ? ,

“
Therefore take no thought , saying What shall we ,

eat ? o r What shall we drink ? o r , Wherewithal shall we be

,

clothed ?
e r all these things do the Gentiles seek : ) for
( For aft
your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of a ll
these things .

“
But seek ye firs t the kingdom of God a n d his ,
138 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
seeketh fin d et h ; and to him that knocketh it s hall be
opened .

“
what man i s there of you whom if his son ask
Or ,

bread will he give him a s tone ?

,
“
Or i f he ask a fi s h , will he give him a s erpent ?
If ye then being evil , know how to give good gift s
,

un to your children , how m uch more shall your Father

which is in heaven , give good things to them that ask

”
him ?
Then , having spoken of thei r relations with God , Jesus
now spoke again of their relations wi t h t heir fellowmen .

And he gave them the Golden Rule which Christians ,

s ince that day have held up before themselves as the high

est ideal of life :
“
All things whatsoever ye would that men should do
to you , do ye even so to them .

H ow s imple and how beautiful it sounds and yet ,

how few there are of u s wh o follow i t !

Jesus wa s always fond of using fi gu res o f speech and
of talking in s ymbols This gave to hi s teachings a great
.

charm and made hi s words easy to remember

,
.

“ ” “
E nter ye in at the strait gate he said ; for wide ,

i s the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destru o

, ,

tion and many there be which go in thereat

,
“
Because strait i s the gate and narrow i s the wa y,
,
”
which leadeth unto li fe and few there be that fi n d i t
'

,
.

Many other things Jesu s taught them that day upon

the mountain so that it seemed to some of his li s teners
,

that they had learned enough to guide thei r way s a whole

life long yet they desired ever to hear more and more
-
.

At the end of hi s sermon he said

“
Who s oever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth ,

them , I will liken him unto a wi s e man , which built hi s

house u pon a rock
 T HE SERMON ON T HE M OUNT
And the rain d es cen d ed a n d the fl o o d s came and,
'

beat upon that house ; and it fell not : for it wa s founded

upon a rock .

“
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine
and doeth them not , s hall be likened unto a foolish man ,

which built hi s house upon the sand :

“
And the rain descended and the fl o o d s came and , ,

the winds blew and bea t upon that house ; and it fell
,

and great wa s the fall o f i t .

When Jes u s had ended these sayings the people were ,

astonished at the doctrine he had preached Though .

based upon the old Jewi s h faith it was all new and ,

wonderful to them A God who was a loving Father !

.

“ ”
Forgive u s our debts a s we forgive our debtors !
,
“
Ju d ge not , that ye be not ju d ged l Love your enemies ,

bless them that curse you do good to them that hate ,

”
you ! It s eemed to the people that the s e sayings had
power to change the world .

And they were equally astonished at the wa y of the

Master s teaching f or he spoke as one having authority
’
, ,

and not as the scribes The scribes repeated old s ayings

.

in a dull and lifeless wa y ; while the words of J es u s were

l i ke fl a m es illuminating everyt hing they touched
,
.

As long a s they lived these people remembered him

,

a s he had looked that day on the mountain standing ,

upon a rock tall and s lender in white garments h i s head

, ,

ou tlined aga i n s t the Vivid blue o f the Galilean sky .

1 42 STORIES FRO M T H E NEW TE STAM ENT

paid no attention to the raging o f the elements H e had .

been preaching and healing all that day and he wa s ,

weary H e went and laid him s elf down in the stern of

.

the boat and placing his head upon a cushion which wa s

,

there he fell into a deep and u ntroubled sleep H is dis

,
.

ci ples gazed at him through the gathering darkness It .

seemed so strange to them that he s hould fall asleep at

such a time like a child upon the bosom of it s mother
-
.

Would he sleep like that all the wa y ? they wondered— o r

woul d the boat be able to go all the way ? It seemed i m
possible if the wind and the waters continu ed their mad
,

struggle .

Wave after wave wa s hed over the side The mas t .

rocked and groaned and they were obliged to lower the

,

sail Four of the men took to the c ars and one of them
.
,

tried to bail out the water which filled the bottom ; but f o r
every bucketful which he threw over the s ide two bucket ,

ful s poured i n The rain began to fall in whirling sheets ,

.

and the force of the wind itself wa s like a wall of water

against which the oars were powerless to make headway .

At la s t they gave up rowing in despair , and resigned ,

themselves to the will of the tempest The wind wa s not .

blowing them across the lake , neither back to the s hore

they had left but southward , and they knew not where
,

they were .

The day wa s quite gone , and darknes s covered the

water s ; but now and then a vivid fla s h of lightning showed
them the waves which were dashing wild and high and
, ,

in those brief fl a s h es they also saw the faces of one a n

other Pallid they s at with set lips and haggard eyes
.
,
.

And still Jesu s slept in the stern of the boat .

At last a wave greater than any that had come b e

fore washed over the edge and even Peter cried out in,

terror N o , they woul d not wait any longer S urely

. .
 STILLING T HE STORM
the Master would wish to be awakened ! A nd they cried
to him :
“
Master Master awake ! Carest thou n ot that we
, ,
”
perish ?
J esus arose to his feet , standing in the water which
partly filled the boat H i s garments , even the cushion
.

upon which he had lain were s oaked But he uttered no , .

exclamation and to the frightened disciples it seemed a s

,

i f he were s till unaware of the dan ger which menaced

them .

Then he rai s ed h i s voice and s peaking to the wind,

and the waves he commanded them to be still H i s tones .

were clear and ringing yet there wa s in them a thrill of

,

love as i f the tempest he rebuked were a living and way

,

w ard being which knew not the harm it wrought .

”
Peace , be s till !
A s he spoke a v i v i d fl a s h of lightn i ng i llum i ned the
s ea
,
and by i t s light the disciples saw the face of the
Master All thei r lives they remembered him a s he had
.

looked at that moment It seemed to the m that they had

.

s een the face of God H imself .

“ ”
Peace be still ! ,

Was the wind veering ? They no longer f elt it i n their

faces The waves ceased to wash over the edge of the
.

boat which now rode the water steadily The shrieking

,
.

of the tempest died to a gentle whisper the rain ceased ,

to f all In a briefer time than they had taken to arouse

.

the Master , t h e storm wa s s tilled and there was a great ,

calm So quiet it wa s that they could hear the tinkle o f

.

a sheep bell on the far away s hore

- -
.

The disciples w ere s ilent and amazed All their fear .

h ad left them and the calm whi ch had descended upon

,

the lake posses s ed thei r o wn souls too Jesus went back ,

.

to his place in the s tern o f the boat and sat down For ,
.
1 44 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
a little time he said nothing and they knew n ot what to
,

say Then he spoke

.

Why are ye so fearful ? H ow i s it that ye have no

”
faith ?
They could not answer him but they said t o one a n
,

other
“
What mann er of man is this that even the wind and
,
”
the sea obey him ?
A gain they took up the oars and rowed steadily toward
,

the other shore There was no beacon light to guide

.

them and the night wa s still da rk ; bu t n o w they knew

,

that they woul d reach the goal — wherever it might b e .

Why had they been afraid ? Was it indeed true, they

wondered , that they were of little faith ? H ow peaceful ly
Jesus had slept ! And had they not awakened him and ,

had he not stilled the storm they felt that somehow all
,

wo ul d have been well For he wa s the S on of God and

.
,

how could he be drowned or die in any other wa y until

, ,

his work on earth wa s fin i s h ed ? Though they could not

see his face yet they could feel his eyes upon them in the
,

darkness and they knew that the eyes were ful l o f com
,

prehending love They might be fearful they might be

.
,

lacking in faith , but the Master could never despise them .

They would try still harder to be worthy of his love being ,

certa i n of his s ympathy and forgiveness when they failed .

That i s not the wa y of the world s incentives ; but Jes u s

’

had said that hi s kingdom wa s not of this world .

In a little while even the clouds which hid the sky

s eemed t o melt and pass away and the s tars shone out
,

clear and tranquil above their heads When the growing .

light enabled them to see the face of J esus it wore the ,

look they had imagined in the darkness — soft and patient ,

with a great love in the eyes .

An d when after long rowing they drew near to the

, ,
 CHAPTER X III

TH E LI TTLE DAU G H TE R OF J A I RU S

There l i ved i n Capernaum a ruler o f the synagogue

named Jai rus wh o had a little daughter that he dearly
,

loved The child was twelve years old and she was beau
.

ti ful with long curling golden locks and soft dark eyes
, , .

It seemed to the father and mother that never since the

beginning o f the world had there been born a child s o
,

wonderful as thei rs Yet , though they loved her s o they

.
,

had not spoiled her with unwise indulgence ; for s h e wa s

gentle and obedient and s eemed to have no de s i re save to
,

make her parents happy all day long .

But the girl wa s slender and frail and the one anx iety ,

of the f ather and mother wa s lest some cold wind s hould

blow upon her t o o roughly or the hot s u n of summer shine
,

too fiercely upon her little head If any harm should .

come to her they told each other , they would feel that
,

they themselves had lived t o o long upon the earth There .

i s nothing whi ch give s s o pure a happiness a s love ; but

they who love one being too inten s ely live always with
their door wide open to fear .

The thing s we greatly dread always come to u s sooner

or later and the summer when the little girl wa s twelve
,

year s old s he sickened of a fever and lay tossing and

helple ss on her bed The father and mother knew not
.

what to do ; they could only gaze at each other and at

their child with wide despairing eyes The best physi
,
.

eiau s o f the city came and looked at her and went away

1 47
1 48 STORI ES FROM THE NE W TE STAMENT
again leaving remedies behind them— but no hope And
,
.

J ai m s wh o had already learned from J es a s about the

,

Father in heaven prayed a ll day and all night long even

, ,

promising the half of hi s possessions to the po o r i f God

woul d S pare him this one treasure But she grew steadily
.

worse .

“ ”
I f J esus of N azareth were o n l y here ! said Jai ru s
every hour But the Master had gone over t o the other
.

s ide o f the lake , and no one knew just when he would

return .

At last the news came to Jairn s that one of his neigh

bour s had s een S imon Pete r in Capernaum The heart of .

the stricken father leaped with hope for wherever one s aw,

Peter it was certain that J es u s was not far away Leav

,
.

ing his little daughter in the care of her weary mother ,

the ruler of the synagogue went out to look for the

Master .

H e fou nd him in one of the streets of the city sur ,

roun ded as usual by a multitude of people Making his .

w a y with d i ffi cul t y through the crowd Ja i ru s threw him

,

self at the feet o f Jesu s crying : ,

“
My l ittle daughter lieth at the point of death : I pray
thee come and lay thy hands on her that she may be
, ,
”
healed ; and she s hall live .

J esus remembered the daughter of J ai m s for he loved ,

a ll children and knew by name many of the little ones of

,

Capernaum H e turned his face at once toward the

.

father s house But he could only go slowly so great

’
.
,

wa s the throng of people which crowded forward seeking

to have speech with him ; for when the news had come
that Jesus of N azareth had returned from the country of
the Gadarenes the whole city had fl o ck ed forth to meet
,

him .

N ow it o ften happens that when a man sets out to do

1 50 S T OR I E S FRO M THE NEW TE STAMENT

Daughter be of good com f ort ; thy f aith hath made

,

thee whole .

Then rejoicing s he w ent back to her own hou s e And

, ,
.

from that day forward , a s long as she lived , s he talked to

her friend s about Jes u s o f N azareth , trying to give them
also the great faith which had made her whole .

Jairus still s tood be s i de Je s us , wh o wa s coming to

heal his little daughter But even as the Master had
.

spoken to the woman , there came certain friends from the

house of the ruler o f the syn ago gu e and they said to ,

Jairus
“
Thy daughter is dead ; trouble not the Master .

With the shock of h i s grief the face of Jairu s became

pallid as death itself H e would have fallen to the
.

ground , but J es u s quickly took him by the hand , saying

“ ”
Be not afraid only believe
,
.

The hope of a great love needs but little to feed upon ,

and the eyes of Jai rus lost their despairing look What .

did the Master mean ? What could he do i f the child ,

were already dead ? S i lently , stumbling as he walked ,

the poor man followed Jes u s to the little house where all
hi s hopes lay stri cken .

The master permitted no one to go with them but Peter

and Jame s and John H ad it been possible he woul d
.

have performed all hi s cures in secret, for already the very

fame he had achieved by mean s of them was hampering
his work In the country of the Gadarene s , because of
.

hi s miracles , the frightened people ha d asked him to go

away .

A s they drew near to the home of Jairn s , they heard

the s ound of the minstrels who had come to make sad
music in the house of death And coming nearer still ,
.

they heard the wailing of women above the hoarser ,

voice s of men Je s u s standing on the threshold of t h e

.
,
 T HE LITTL E DAUGHTE R OF J A I RUS 1 51

house looked in upon the m ourning company And he

, .

s aid
Why m ake ye th i s ado , and weep ? The damsel is
not dead but s leepeth
,
.

And they laughed him to scorn for some there are ,

always wh o can der i de the words of wi sdom even in the ,

presence of death .

But J esu s made all the people go out of the house the ,

minstrels and the relative s and the neighbours ; for he

di d not wish to be hampered by the disbelief of others in
the work he had to do When tho s e wh o had been bewail
.

’
i ng the maiden s death were a ll outsi de the house J es u s ,

closed the door softly after them ; then he to ok Peter and

J ames and J ohn and the father and mother of the child
, ,

and passed with them in to the chamber where s h e lay .

The faith of his own disciple s and the love o f the parent s
were sources of equal power .

The dead girl lay as if she were indeed asleep It .

seemed impo s s ible that anyt hing so fragile and so fair

could have su ffered the great change which strong men
dread H er little hand s were folded upon her breast and
.
,

some one had laid between them a white lily of the kind ,

which Jesus loved and had himself s o often gathered

when a child H er golden curls lay over the white pil
.

low the long dark lashe s of her closed eyes ca st faint

,

shadows upon her pall id cheeks But what made the .

watchers catch their breath , wa s not the innocent beauty

of the dead child but the pecul iar smile upon her face
,
.

It wa s a smile of my stery and strangeness a s i f s ome ,

lovely s ecret unknown to the wisest of the living had

been revealed to her in the realm of death .

But as they looked from the face of the child to the

face of J e s n e the parent s and the three disciples saw on
,

his lips the same smile Whatever the secret wa s which

.
1 52 STORIES FRO M THE NEW T ESTAMENT

wrapped the dead girl in its mystery , that secret wa s

shared by the Master O nly for a moment he stood there
.

looking down at her and smiling for the grief of the ,

parents was heavy on his heart .

T hen he bent and took her by the hand and a s hi s ,

fin ger s closed over hers they closed also over the stem of
the white lily so that the Master and the child both held
,

it. The disciples could smell its strong fragrance In a .

voice low and tender yet thrilling with intensity , Jes u s

,

said :
Dam s el I say unto thee arise
, ,
.

And the spirit of the child came back again to the

form it had quitted but a little while before H er dark .

lashes fl u t t ered her brown eyes O pened wide and o bedi

, ,

ent to the Master s voice as she had always been to the

’

Voice of her mother she arose and stood before them still
, ,

holding the white lily in her hand .

Th e parents were too happy to say anyt hing They .

o nl y clasped thei r child with loving a rm s whi le the tears ,

rolled down their faces .

Jes u s told them to give the damsel s omething to eat ,

and the mother hurried to obey him The necessity of .

ministering to the child thus s a ved her from the dan

gero u s e ffect of too much joy after her hopeles s grief
,
.

And Jesus told the father and mother and also his ,

three friends that they should not proclaim the miracle

,

he had wrought Tell no man

. he said ,
.

Then , leaving the family of Jairu s alone with their

happine ss the Master beckoned to his di s ciples and w ent
,

back to the waiting multitude .

1 54 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT

Jesus told them that wherever they went they were to

“
declare : Th e k i n gd o m of heaven is at hand
. .

And he said that they should provide nothing for

themselves s ave only a staff to help them along the hard
,

roads that they should take neither gold nor s ilver nor ,

even brass in thei r purses that they should wear but one
coat and put sandals on thei r feet instead of shoe s For
, .
,
“
said Jesus in regard to their penniless mission
, the ,
”
workman is worthy of his meat and they were to ask ,

thei r food of the strangers to whom they brought the

message of Jes u s .

H e told them that whenever they came into any house ,

“
they should s alute i t saying Peace be with you ,
and ,

that if the house wa s worthy peace would indeed come

, ,

to i t but i f the house was unworthy the peace woul d

, ,

return to themselves And i f any house or city woul d .

not receive them they should in leaving shake the dust

,

of it from off their feet as a witness against those who ,

had rej ected the messengers of the Mes s iah .

“ ” “
Behold said Jes u s
,
I send you forth as sheep in ,

the midst of wolves : be ye therefore wise as serpents and ,

harmless as doves .

And he warned them that harm would s ometime s

come to them that they would be arrested and brought
,

before governors and councils but they were not to take

thought beforehand as to what they should say in their
own defense for the words would be given them in the
,
“
hour when words were n ecess a ry I t i s not ye that .

” “
speak said J es u s
,
but the S pirit of your Father which
,
”
s peaketh in you .

The disciples trembled at the very thought of being

themselves the mouthpiece of God It seemed an honour .

too great for them An d though they knew that this mis
.

s ion wa s the proof of thei r worthiness to be called apostles ,

 T HE M E S SENGER S

yet they woul d have postponed i t For grown men are.

often a s timid as children when they enter upon some

great work The very strength of thei r desi re to succe ed
.

makes them afraid .

“ “
What I tell ye in darkness said J s sus that speak
, ,

ye in light : and what ye hear in the ear that preach ye ,

upon the housetops .

“
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men
, , ,

him will I confess also before my Father which i s in

heaven But whosoever shall deny me before men him will
.
,

I also deny befor e my Father whi ch i s in heaven .

“
H e that loveth father or mother more than me i s not
worthy o f me : and he that loveth s o n or daugh t er more
than me i s not worthy of me An d he that ta keth not
.

hi s cross , and followeth after me i s n o t wort hy of me .

“
H e that fin d et h his life s hall lose i t : and he that
loseth h i s li fe for my sake shall fin d i t .

Always when Jesus spoke to his disciples like that

they felt themselve s grow strong So long a s h i s eyes .

were o n them they were able t o do anything but how ,

would it be when they were far away from him ? The

Master tried to make them understand and feel that while
they were on h i s mi s sion they were indeed h i m s elf a part
, ,

of him And being a part of Jes u s they were also a part

.
,

of the Father— the chosen messengers of God H e said : .

H e that receiveth you receiveth me and he that re ,

cei v et h me receiveth him that sent me .

“
And who s oever shall give to drink unto one of these
little ones a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple ,

verily I say unto you he shall in no wi se lose his reward

,
.

Though the disciple s told themselves that they were

working for love of Jes u s and not for any personal reward ,

yet this promise comforted them as it has comfo rted s o ,

many devoted souls s ince then There are few s ayings of

.
1 56 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
Jesus better known than thi s one and many a cup of ,

cold water as well as more substa ntial things has been

, ,

given to the little ones of earth in remembrance o f i t .

For the teacher wh o can embody his wi sdom in s a yi n gs

which are easily remembered has made it imposs ible for
,

the world of men ever to forget him or hi s teachings .

J esus sent his di sciples out two by two instead of ,

singly , that they might strengthen and comfort each other

by daily talks about the Master they had le f t behind And .

also when one of them stood up before strange multitude s

,

and spoke about J esus and the Father in heaven there ,

would be at least one person present who believed in him

and in his message For the Master understood the heart
.

of man and how it lean s upon the sympathy of others

, .

And the disciples were successful in their preaching .

H undreds li stened to them almost eve rywhere they went

— for did they not speak of the Master ? They told the
wonderful story of a Go dm a de man J esus could n o t .

have spoken of himself as they spoke of him and men ,

wh o had never s een the Master from N azareth were thri ll ed

with a desire to know the extraordinary man wh o could
arouse such love in the hearts of his closest friends .

E very day now in seven diff erent places was some one
, ,

telling about the Father in heaven and H is love of the

world ; for Jesus also continued to travel about and to
preach taking with him as companions the new converts
,

and the women disciples his mother Mary Magdalene

, , ,

S alome the mother of J ames and J ohn and many other s , .

But what thrilled each of the twelve disciples most

was the firs t cure which he himself performed his own ,

fi rs t miracle of healing They learned by trying as all

.
,

must learn that they could lay their hand s upon the sick
,

and bring them back to health The firs t time that each
.

o f them commanded disease to leave a sufferer , he was

1 58 STORIES FRO M T H E NEW TE STAM ENT

At last came the day when the disciples co ul d return

to Jesus The allotted time of their miss ion was at a n
.

end and from a ll parts of Galilee they ca me to the place

,

which the Master had appointed During every hour of .

their absence they had yearned to see Jes u s and now they ,

were to see him Would he praise them because they

.

had done s o much ? Would he blame them because they

had not done more ? N o w that their work was over each ,

man thought of little ways in which he might have bet

t ered his o wn .

O ne of them remembered a poor s i ck woman whom

he coul d have healed , had he not forgotten that she was
waiting for him , and was too shy to call attention to her
self Another recalled the question of a Pharisee which
.

he had answered thoughtlessly perhaps giving a wrong ,

im pression of the teachin g of Jesus A third was trou .

bled because he had neglected to speak at a certain place

where several o f the scribe s were present having been ,

afraid of their s uperior smiles at his unscholarly lan

guage E very one of them had something with which to
.

reproach himself— for they were very humble in spirit ,

these messengers of the Master .

But when the twelve men s at down to sup with J esus

on the evening of the i r return and told him all that they
,

had done he declared that their labour had been good

,
.

And he called them faithful servants of the Father .

The soft moon , which seems to shine more lovingly

over Galilee than over other parts of the world , shone in
t hrough the little window of the cham ber where they s at
a t meat a gentle breeze came from the lake where the
,

Master had stilled the storm and the crickets chirped

,

err i l
y in the grass outside the door And in the hearts .

of the devoted messengers was the peace which passeth

understanding .
 CHAPTER XV

TH E ANG E L O F TH E POOL

Je s u s s ometimes went up to Jerusalem t o attend the

J ew i s h feasts because o n those occasions there were many
,

people gathered together from all parts of the country ,

and he could preach to them The great Temple at Jeru

.

salem wa s the very centre of the H ebrew national life a s ,

the great city of London i s now the centre of all things

E nglish . But Jes u s wa s never happy in J eru s a lem as he
was in his own Galilee The cold and formal religion
.

taught in the Temple repelled him And the priests and .

scribes and Pharisees already disliked the young Galilean

with the shining eyes whom all the common people loved
,
"

so much ; bu t at present they onl y s co fi ed at him and ,

sought to throw discredit on his teaching .

They remembered a ru mour which had been spread

a broad some months before when John the Baptist had
,

declared that this young N azarene wa s greater than himself ,

even saying that Jes u s was the Messiah The priests and .

scribe s and Pharisees of Jerusalem had no great respect

— “
for John the Baptis t the voice crying in the wilder
n ess To them he was o nl y a Vis ionary ; yet they did
not speak much against him though he was so popular
,

with the people becau s e they did not cons ider him dan
,

gercus to themselves But thi s Js sus of N azareth was

.

di fferent H e worried them

. .

N ow at J eru s a lem there was a pool called the pool of ,

Bethesda and it was very famous among the J ews for

,

1 59
1 60 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TE STAMENT

they believed that sometimes an angel came down from

h eaven and troubled the waters of the pool and that who ,

ever fi rs t stepped into it after the angel had troubled the

waters was made whole of any disease that he had There .

were five porches about the pool in which sick people ,

waited for the sign of the angel ; and when they saw the
movement of the waters they hurried do wn each trying ,

to be the firs t to step i n N ot every one wh o waited thus

.

had really seen the angel ; but they had seen the troubling
of the waters A few there were wh o claimed to have
.

seen the heavenly visitor himself and of course their ,

friends believed them because they believed in the angel

, .

The firs t S abbath after J es u s came up to Jerusalem

this time he stood by the pool of Bethesda and gazed into
,

the waters which were now still and un troubled H e wa s .

thinking of the work that he wished to do in the H oly

City where though the priests and Pharisees were cold
, ,

and skeptical the common people believed in such celestial

,

beings as the angel of this pool J ohn the beloved dis .

ci ple wa s with the Master and it was he wh o afterward

,

told the world what happened there .

As J esus raised his eyes from the waters he saw an ,

old man lying on a kind of mattress bed in one of the five -

porches surrounding the pool H is face was wasted with

.

diseas e and l ined with age ; but in his eyes there wa s a

look of fla m i n g eagerness as he watched the u n ru fii ed
,

surface of the waters .

Jesus questioned him and learned that he had been

,

s ick and nearly helpless for thirty eight years— a longer -

time than the Master himself had lived upon the earth .

“ ”
Wilt thou be made whole ? J esus asked , with his
radiant s mile .

The unfort unate man seemed to gather a li t t le strength

even from the nearness of the Master Rais ing himself .
162 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TE STAMENT

his cure but only in the fact that he wa s carrying his

,

bed .

Later in the day Jes u s found the man whom he had

healed walking in the Temple A nd he said to him
,
.

“
Behold thou art made whole : s in no more lest a
, ,

worse thing come upon thee For Jesus knew that the .
’

man s long i n firm i t y had been caused by his own s ins

’
.

The Master wa s not yet so famous in Jeru s a lem a s he

was in Galilee but most of the people in the crowd s
,

about the Temple knew him by sight When the man .

learned the name of the stranger wh o had cured him by

the pool of Bethesda he told the Jews that it was Jesus
,
“
of N azareth wh o had s aid to him R ise take up thy bed , , ,

and walk .

Then the Jew s began to persecute Jes u s and wanted ,

to kill him because he had done these things on the S ab

,

bath day But the Master said to them

.

My Father worketh hitherto and I work ,

.

This answer made the J ews angrier than ever It wa s .

bad enough they told themselves that this young carpen

, ,

ter f rom N azareth should come and preach in the courts

of the Temple drawing the attention of a ll men to him
,

self it was bad enough that he broke the S abbath and

taught other men to break i t ; but now by his an s wer to ,

th em , he had said that God wa s h i s F a t h er thus making ,

himself equal with God S uch an idea was preposterous .

to the Jews Was not God the s tern J a aye of Israel ?

.

H ow then could H e be the Father of thi s amaz i ng young

man from the north ?
But Jesu s answered them again and said ,

V erily , verily I say unto you The S on can do

, ,

nothing of himself bu t what he s eeth the Father do : for

,

what things soever he doeth , the s e also doeth the S on

likewi se .
 T HE ANGEL OF T HE P OOL

For the Father loveth the S on and sheweth him all

,

thing s that himself doeth ; a n d h e wi ll s h ew h i m gr ea t er

wor k s t h a n t h es e, t h a t ye m a y m a r vel .

For a s the Father raiseth up the dead and quick ,

en et h them ; even s o the S on quickeneth whom he

vvi ll
.

That all men s hould honour the S on even a s they ,

honour the Father H e that honoureth not the S on

.

honoureth not the Father which hath sent him .

“
V erily verily I say unto you The hour i s coming
, , , ,

and now i s when the dead shall hear the voice of the S on
,

of God : and they that b ear shall live .

“
I can of mine own self do nothing : a s I hear I ,

judge : and my judgment is just ; because I seek not mine

own will but the will of the Father which hath sent me
,
.

Then Jes u s reminded h i s astonished listeners that

J ohn the Bapti s t had borne witnes s that he wa s truly the
S on of God And he said of J ohn
.

“
H e wa s a burning and a shining light : and ye were
w i lling for a season to rej oice in his light .

“
But I have greater witnes s than that of John : for the
works which the Father hath given me to fin i sh the same ,

works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath

, ,

s ent me .

S earch the scriptures for in them ye think ye have

eternal li fe : and they are they which testify of me .

“
H ad ye believed Mo s es ye would have believed me
,

for he wrote of me .

After these sayings the Jew s could no longer fail to

,

understand that J esus claimed to be the long promised -

Messiah In our day it is almost impossible to realise

.
,

how great thei r excitement must have been They did .

not believe in him but they saw that he believed in him

,

self and that he woul d make men follow him in greater

,
1 64 STORIES F RO M T HE NEW TE STAMENT
and greater numbers They could not doubt the works
.

that he had done for hundreds had t es t i fi ed of them and

, ,

they had seen with their own eyes this day the cripple
who had lain so long beside the pool of Bethesda walking ,

a nd carrying his bed upon his back .

N o they could not deny his works ; but they co ul d chal

,

lenge hi s motives There could be no doubt they said

.
, ,

that he ca s t out devil s by the aid of Beelzebub the prince ,

of devils Thi s wa s the s a me as saying that Jesus had

.

sold himself to S atan for the sake of worldly fame and

,

power .

But the Master said to them

I f S atan cast out S atan he is divided a ga i n s t h i m
‘

self ; how then shall his kingdom s tand ? But i f I cast

out devils by the S pirit of God then the kingdom of God
,

i s come unto you .

But the J ew s of Jerusalem did not want the kingdom

of God and they did not want J es u s
,
Se as the time
.
,

had not yet come when he felt that his Father in heaven
commanded him to preach the new doctrine of love in the
very stronghold of Ju da i s m the great Temple he left the
, ,

arid region of Jeru s a lem and went back to hi s o wn beloved

Galilee where the birds s ang in the tree s and the brook s
, ,

rippled over the stones and the hearts of men were sim
,

ple and full of faith ; where there was time for dreams ,

and heaven s eemed near to earth ; and where he and his

friends could live in daily communion with such celestial
beings a s the angel which was we nt at certa in s easons
only t o trouble the water s of the pool of Bethe s da .
1 66 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
in a fortres s , in a place where H erod als o had a palace ,
so that the gorgeous halls where the T etrarch and his
queen H erodias lived with their dissolute friends and the ,

cold dungeon where the prophet from the desert pined in

s olitude were practically under one roof
, .

H erodias the wife of the Tetrarch wa s not a good

, ,

woman S he was the sister i n law of her own husband ,

.
- -

whom she had married for am bition because she wanted ,

to be a queen This whole family of H erods had long

.

been disliked by the Jews They were cruel and pro fl i

.

gate and many of their actions outraged the ste rn H ebrew

,

sense of propriety E specially were the Jew s incensed by

.

this marriage between the Tetrarch and his brother s wife ; .

’

and H erod had divorced a former wi fe without just cause

in order to marry his s ister i n law - -
.

H erodias had a young daughter S alom e a beautiful , ,

but unwholesome creature about sixteen or seventeen years

of age wh o had inherited all the bad qualities of her
,

mother S alome was not the daughter of the Tetrarch

.
,

but of Philip the former husband of the Queen ; and

, ,

young a s she wa s the J ews distrusted her But S alome

,
.

could be very charming when she chose which wa s always ,

when she had some obj ect to gain either for herself or for ,

her mother For H erodias had taught the girl obedience

.

—which was perhaps her only Virtue .

Oi course J ohn the Baptist knew the whole h i story of

thi s strange family with their unlawful intermarriages
, ,

for the fi rs t hu s band of H erodias had been her uncle and

it was as much because of J ohn s public condemnation of ’

the Queen and her action s as because of hi s general ,

preaching again s t the wi ckedness of those in power that ,

H erod had cast him into prison .

O ften by day and by night when the revellers in t h e

, ,

palace were silent for a moment , and the music of the

 J OHN T HE BAPTIST
lutes and viols ceased or only whispered softly , the
,

Tetrarch and H erodias and S alome and the o fficers and ,

courtiers and women in the palace could hear the loud , ,

stern voice of the prophet J ohn calling from his dungeon , ,

“
R epent ye for the kingdom of heaven i s at hand
,
.

N o w H erod himself though he had done many evil

,

actions , wa s at heart rather weak than wicked There .

was somewhere deep in him a fibre which responded to

the spirit of John ; though what might have been religion
in a s tronger man in the Tetrarch was hardly more than
,

s uperstition H e had at this time no intention of killing

.

the Baptist ; he kept John shut up in the fort ress s o that

he sho ul d not cause di sturbances among the pe o ple and ,

especially that he should not say true things about the

Queen H er o dias who had still a strong i n flu en ce over
, ,

her weak h u sband .

S ometimes when H erod was in a mood more s erious

,

than usual or when the gayeties of the court had wearied

,

him he woul d send for John to be brought up from h i s

,

dungeon into the palace And on these occasions the

.

Tetrarch woul d talk with the prophet questioning him ,

about thi s kingdom of heaven which he said was near at

“
hand . The kingdom of heaven The very words had .

a strange fascination for the dissolute ruler H e had some .

knowledge of the kingdom s of this world but what could ,

thi s other kingdom really mean ? The thought of it

troubled hi s sleep H e had strange dreams in which
.
,

heaven and earth angelic beings and the Queen H erodias

, ,

and also the beauti ful daughter of the Queen S alome , ,

were strangely blent And after one of these dreams he

.

always sent for the Baptist and questioned him still

further about hi s prophesies .

Wa s it really true the Tetrarch wondered that thi s

, ,
’
gaunt man robed in hi s garment of camel s hair wa s
, ,
1 68 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

the great prophet E lias risen from the dead ? H erod knew
,

that hi s worldly friends would laugh at him for giving so

much thought to the words of J ohn and sometimes he ,

laughed at himself It was easy to make light of it all in

.

the day time , when the sun shone ; but in the night when ,

he could not sleep and tossed restlessly on hi s carven

,

couch the thought of that fla m i n g eyed prophet in the

,
-

fortress would return to him And sometimes in the .

,

darkest hour before the da wn he would hear the voice of ,

J ohn crying from his dungeon

,
“ ”
R epent ye l R epent ye l
And the Tetrarch would turn over again on his downy
bed vainly trying to sleep
,
.

S ometimes the Queen H erodias would enter his room ,

be aring a lamp in her hand her long black hair stream ,

ing over her shoulder s her face pale with anger And
, .

s he would say to him

“
Why do you not kill that man ? H is raving s mad !

”
den me !
Then she would remind H erod o f the hard things
which Joh n had s aid again s t herself making it seem ,

for s he was wily —that her husband s lenient ways with ’

the prophet were an in s ult to her s elf .

But H erod alway s made excu s es What had John .

really done that wa s deserving of death ? If he should

kill him he would make himself even more unpopular
,

with the people H erodia s was t o o sensitive to criticism

.

again s t herself Would she not be patient for a little

.

while ? Perhap s s omething could be arranged .

And the Queen would go away , down the corridor to

h er own room , the lamp in her hand casting the long
s hadow of her fi gu re against the crimson walls And s he .

“
woul d mutter to herself H ow weak thi s Tetrarch is !
,
"

s om ehow s he would fin d the wa y to rid her s elf of John .

170 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

From hi s prison in the fortress of H erod J ohn sent ,

two of his disciples to Jesus to ask of him :

,
“
Art thou he that should come or do we look for ,
”
another ?
And the mes senger s of the Bapti st themselves t ro u b ,

led by the trouble of their teacher , went to Capernaum

to seek out Jes u s and to ask him the great question .

They found the Master surrounded by those wh o loved

him among whom were many women And the two
,

disciples of John delivered their message

“
John Baptist hath sent u s unto thee s aying Art , ,

thou he that should come or look we for another ?

,
’

The query coming from J ohn must have surprised

, ,

Jesu s ; but he had the loving heart which coul d under

stand all things . As the most convincing answer which
he could send to John would be the testimony of these
two witnesses as to his works in that same hour he cured
,

many s ick persons of their i n fi rm i t i es and plagues and ,

cast the evil spirits out of those who were insane and ,

to many that were blind he restored the sight which they

had lost And the disciples of John were astonished
.

when they saw the wonders which Js sus could perform .

Th e Master said to them

Go your way and tell J ohn what things ye have seen
,

and heard ; how that the blind see the lame walk the , ,

lepers are cleansed the deaf hear , the dead are raised to
, ,

the poor the gospel i s preached And blessed is h e wh o

.
,

soever shall not be offended in me .

The messengers of J ohn went back to their teacher

convinced that J es u s wa s indeed the one they sought a n d ,

that there wa s no need for them to look for another .

When they were gone the Master began to speak to

,

the people about J ohn H is heart was full of a great

.

love for the friend wh o had helped him in the beginning

 J OHN T HE BAPTIST
of his work and he said to the multitude concerning the
,

Baptist :
What went ye out i nto the wildernes s for to see ?
A reed shaken with the wind ?
“
But what went ye out for to see ? A man cl o thed in
s oft raiment ? Behold they which are gorgeously a p ,

pa relled and live delicately are in kings courts

’
, , .

“
And what went ye out for t o see ? A prophet ? Yea ,

I s ay unto you , and much more than a prophet .

“
This is h e of whom it is written Behold I send my
, , ,

messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way ,

before thee .

“
For I say unto you Among those that are born of ,

women there i s not a greate r prophet than John the Bap

t i s t : but he that i s least in the kingdom of God i s greater
than h e .

The B ible does not tell u s whether John in his dun

geon ever knew of the beautiful words which Jesus had
spoken about him but rumour travel s fast in the O rient ,

and we hope that the heart o f the imprisoned man was

comfo rted by the knowledge that the Master had never
doubted h i m ev en for a moment The time wa s soon
u

to come when J ohn would need all the solace which the
love of Jesus coul d give him For he who is in the .

power of a weak and vacillating king has to fear even ,

the worst and the younge s t of that king s associates ’

.

H erodia s , the Queen wa s plotting against the li fe of

,

John S he was a woman of strong will and of great

.

vanity and the word s of the Baptist in regard to her

,

marriage with her brother i n law H erod still rankled in - -

her mind S he kne w that the people believed John to be

.

the prophet E lias risen from the dead ; but that meant
nothing to H erodias E lias himself would have meant
.

nothing to her had she met him walking in the gardens

,
17 2 STORIES FROM TH E NEW T E STAM ENT
of the palace To H erodias the dead were dead whether
.
,

they were prophets or slaves and she wished that J ohn ,

were among them The opportunity to revenge herself

.

came sooner than she had dared to hope .

It wa s the birthday of H erod The K ing had made a .

great supper to his lords his high captains and the rich
, ,

men of Galilee Wine flowed abundantly , and the best

.

musicians of the kingdom played sweet music for the

entertainment of the Tetrarch and hi s guest s Yet H erod .

wa s not happy H e had had unpleasant dreams the night

.

before E ven the wine he had d runken could n ot chase

.

the memo ry of them from hi s mind H e thought of that .

old King Belshazzar in the B ible wh o after a great feast , ,

similar to this one had seen the supernatural handwrit

,
“
ing on the wall Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin
, , , ,
.

“
God hath num bered thy kingdom and fin i s h ed i t Thou ,
.

”
art weighed in the balances and art found wanting ,
.

Though the loud talk and the laughter round the table
made it impossible to hear what any one was saying yet ,

H erod could hear in imagination the voice of J ohn from

“
hi s distant dungeon Repent ye for the kingdom of
, ,

heaven i s at hand H e began to wish that he had not

.

imprisoned the Baptist H e began to wi sh that he were

.

a better man— even that he had not married H erodias ,

thus bringing down upon himself the anathemas of the

J ews .

N ow
whenever H erodias saw that her husband wa s
s ad she always wondered i f he were regretting that he
,

had married her N ot that she loved him so much— but

.

s he loved to be a queen And thi s evening when the .

,

guest s had left the banquet h al l and were all a ss embled in -

the great throne room of the palace H erodia s called her

-

youn g daughter S alome , and said to her :

“
The K i ng i s s ad Dance f or him now , that he may
.
17 4 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
seemed to rise i n the air like a bird , her flu t t eri n g arm s
_

were like white wings and the mus ic of the lute player s
,
-

s eemed to be the voice of her o wn s oul , as her form ro s e

and fell and swayed with the melody .

The lords and captains who watched her held their

breath while the King forgot his sadness in the joy of
,

the dance H e no longer thought of that old king

.
,

Belshazzar and the terrible handwriting on the wall ; he

,

thought o nl y of the vi s ion of beauty before him which ,

seemed not to be o f the earth , but of some mid region -

between the world and the sky— for no one would think
of S alome as having come from heaven .

At la s t with a wild throbbing of the lutes the little

, ,

dancer began to whi rl round and round upon her toes ;

fa s ter and faster she fl ew, until those wh o watched her
were dizzy with the motion S he seemed to be a mad
.

thing o f fire and glinting sparks of light— her ro s y dra

p er i es and her j ewels being blended in one mass of moving
colour whose beauty made the heart s of all to thrill
,
.

Then , with a startled cry , she fl ew toward the King s ’

great chair of state and with a charming little motion

,

like that of a tired and capriciou s child she threw her ,

self at the feet of H erod and hid her face in her rosy
veil .

H erodias had watched the face of the K ing S he had .

s een it change from a mask of weariness to an illuminated

h uman countenance and now when S alome threw herself

,

a t hi s feet with that pretty gesture of modest maiden

hood the expression of H erod s face became tender

,
’
,

solicitous for the happiness of the girl almost a child , ,

wh o had danced so wonderfully to please him H e bent .

and raised her to h er feet and then he said

,
“
S alome thou hast given me great pleasure , and
,

these my f riend s are charmed wi t h thee The s adn es s .

 J OHN T HE BAPTIST

that wa s in my heart thou hast chased away a s the rising ,

s u n di s per s es the shadows of the night .

H erodia s the Queen nodded her head with sa t i s fa c

tion and listened for the King s next words They more
,
’
.

than met her expectation for he said ,

“
S alome ask of me whatsoever thou wilt and I will ,

give it thee .

The maiden stood in silence for a moment a s i f con ,

s i d eri n g what s urpas s ing gift she might demand of this

all powerful man wh o wa s the husband of her mother

-
, .

S eeing her hes itation the King pledged himself anew

, ,

calling upon all his friends to witness h i s oath that he ,

would give her whatsoever s h e desired even t o t h e h a lf of ,

h i s ki n gd om .

Then S alome ran to her mother and whispered to her ,

What shall I ask ? ’

The face of H erodias wa s not beauti ful to look upon

at that moment though she was noted for her beauty
, .

The hardness of her heart was written on her countenance ,

a s she s ai d in a low tone to her daughter

“
A s k f or t h e h ea d
f o J oh n t h e B ap t i s t .

The King had not heard either the question or the

an swer As he watched the pretty creature talking with
.

her mother he supposed that she was asking the advice of

,

H erodias as to what j ewelled bauble would best become

her wild dark beauty H e told himself that he would
,
.

even give her the great j ewelled breastplate of the high

priest should she demand i t
,
But he wa s not prepared .

for what she di d demand .

Coming again before the throne of H erod but sta nd ,

ing erect now instead of kneeling S al o me said in clear , ,

and thrilling tones :

“
I will that you give me on a large tray the head of , ,

John the Baptist .

17 6 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
The face of the King became suddenly scarlet then ,

dea dl y pale H e shrank back in his carven chair of

.

state more startled than he would have been had the

,

young creature clenched her little fis t and struck him in

the face When the fi rs t shock of her w o rds had passed
.

and he realised their meaning he asked himself i f she ,

had suddenly gone mad Then he remembered the brief .

whispered conversation between S alome and her mother ,

and he understood O ne terrible glance he cast at his
.

implacable queen then he looked away fro m her S he

, .

had become horrible to him .

H e pleaded with S alome What could she a girl , .

,

want of this bloody gift ? S he was young and fair and ,

needed j ewels to make her still fairer in the eyes of men .

H e would give her diamonds beyond price a n d great ,

rub ies and emeralds S he should have if she di d n ot

.
,

care for precious stones a little palace a ll her own with , , ,

slaves to wait upon her S he should have— yes What .

,

should she n ot have i f she woul d relinquish this one

,

thing ?
But S alome did not weaken in her purpose which was ,

the purpose of her mother As she sto o d there before the .

King so slender and erect she looked like H erodias and

, ,

the young lords wh o a little while before had all desired

,

to marry her no longer dreamed of marriage or of love

,
.

They thought instead , of blood and horror , of cruelty

,

and death and of all unmentionable things And the

,
.

strange young g irl repeated in a tone more thrilling than ,

before
“
I will that you give me on a large tray the head of , ,

J ohn the Baptist .

Poor H erod ! H e had called his lords and captains t o

witness his oath that he would give this dancing princess
whatsoever she desired and he could not break his word , .
 CHAPTER XV II

A DAY OF MI RA CLE S

When the di sciples of John the Baptist came and to ld

Jesus that thei r teacher wa s dead the Master was very ,

sad H e had loved John a s well a s honoured him ; and

.
,

now that the stern prophet was no longer among the liv
ing the earth seemed lonelier and sadder to J es u s The
, .

spiritual giants among men are few and John had been ,

one of them .

In thi s hour o f h i s grief it seemed impossible for

Jesus to teach the mul titude and to comfort them H e .

himself needed comfort Se he said to h i s di sciples

.

“
Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and ,

rest awhile .

The Master went with his disciples int o a boat ; but

the multitude , s eeing him go away ran after him along ,

the shore .From many cities and villages they had

come s o that when Jesn e woul d have been alone to think
,

of his dead friend and to pray he found himself s u r ,

rounded by several thousand people each of whom wanted ,

something for himself the solace of a word or a touch

,

from the Master or the healing of i n firm i t i es The heart

,
.

of J es u s was so sad that he was moved with sympathy for

a ll these men and women who had left their homes and

followed him on foot If he could not himself fin d conso

.

lation h e could at lea s t bestow it on others The people

,
.

s eemed to him like sheep without a shepherd roaming ,

the pastures of the world seeking what they knew not

,
.

17 9
1 80 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TE STAMENT

And he taught them— forgetting his own sadn ess as ,

one always does in trying to help others A ll day he .

talked to them about God and how they should live their
,

lives with love for one another telling them little para ,

bles or stories to illustrate the meaning of what he said .

For Jes u s understood the hearts of men and he knew ,

that no one i s ever so old or so weary that he cannot for

get himself in listening to a story .

But when the evening came o n the disciples of Jes u s ,

began to be puzzled in their minds as to how all these

people shoul d be fed ; for they had b een following the
Master for three days and they were now in a desert
,

place far from any village While they were considering

.

the question and trying to forget thei r own h u nger Jes u s

, ,

said to the disciple Philip

”
Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat ?
Philip answered h i m :
Two hun dred pennyworth of bread i s not s u ffici en t
for them that every one of them may take a little
,
.

Andrew Peter s brother said to the Master :

,
’
,

There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves

, ,

and two small fis h es : bu t what are they among so

”
many ?
The little boy came and stood before J esus holding ,

out the basket in which were the fi sh es and the loaves .

H i s face was eager H e had been listening to the words

.

of the Master and the stories had pleased him But he

,
.

wanted to sell the provi s ion s he had brought for he wa s ,

very poor .

J esus turned to his disciples and told them to buy the

fiv e barley loaves and the fi s h es from the little boy and ,

then to make all the people men women and children sit
, , , ,

down E ven John wondered what the Master was going

.

to do ; but he obeyed him without question mingling ,

1 82 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT
and children from fiv e loaves of bread and two small
fi s h es could they reasoned do more for them than could
, , ,

H erod , wh o cared principally to feed himself at thei r

“ ”
expense King of the Jews
. they now called Jesus , ,

wh o had only sought to s how them the narrow path which

led to the kingdom of heaven .

When the Master heard the acclaiming cries o f the

people he desired more than ever to go away into some
,

quiet place where he could be alone and pray ; and he

told hi s disciples to get into their boat and go before him
to the other s ide of the lake while he sent the mult itude ,

away .

Then Jes u s went up into a mountain At last he was .

alone with his Father H e prayed and talked with God

.

until he seemed himself to be in heaven far away fr o m ,

all the troubles of the earth H e heard the s inging of the

.

angels , his body seemed to melt and become one with

the elements as light as air a s fl u i d as water H ad he
-

, .

chosen in that hour he could have ascended into heaven

, ,

leaving the world behind So light his body wa s that

.
,

the wind which blew Violently across the lake could have
lifted it like a feather In coming so close to God in
.

prayer and lov e all the grosser elements of his form had
,

become spiritualised H e was like the angels

. .

Down on the lake below his disciples laboured with the

oars The night was dark The wind blew with greater
. .

and greater force and in a direction contrary to where

,

they wished to go Their boat was tossed by the waves ;

.

but they would not put back to the shore because the ,

Master had told them to cro s s to the other side and there
await him Remembering the time when Jesus had
.

stilled the sto rm on thi s same lake , they no longer

thou ght of disobeying him .
 A DAY OF MI RACLES

In the fourth watch of the night looking across the ,

dark water , they s aw the form of their Master coming

toward them walking upon the waves H e seemed to
, .

be made of light and they cried o u t i n terror :

,
“ ”
I t i s a spi rit !
They huddled together in the boat clutching one ,

another s arm s , and staring at that strange figu re out there

’

on the water which moved toward them as i f indeed it

,

were a spirit and not a man Then they heard the voice .

of Jes u s speaking to them across the waves and he sai d

, ,
“
B e of good cheer ; it is I ; be not afraid .

When they heard the familiar voice of the Ma ster all ,

their fear left them And Peter remembering the miracle

.
,

which he had seen in the afternoon felt himself upli fted ,

on the wings of a great faith H e cried to Jes u s : .

“
Lord i f it be thou bid me come u nto thee on the
, ,
”
water .

“
Come sai d Jesus holding out hi s loving arm s to
, ,

the disciple .

S till thrilling with his gr eat faith Peter stepped over ,

the edge of the boat and onto the s urface of the lake as i f
it had been a fl o o r and he also began to w a lk over t h e
,

wa t er towa r d h i s M as t er So long as h i s eyes were fix ed

.

upon the shining form of Jesus a ll wa s well with him ; ,

but glancing down , he saw the boi sterous waves which

were lashed by the wind he grew dizzy and a sudden , ,

fear filled his heart At that moment Peter began to sink

.

i n the water , and he cried out :

”
Lord s ave me save me !
, ,

Jesu s wa s in s tantly at his side Putting out a loving .

arm he caught the trembling form of the di sciple S till

,
.

s tanding upon the water and holding Peter , the Master

s aid
0 th en o f l i ttle fa i th ! Where f ore didst thou doubt ?
1 84 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
Then J es u s with Peter stepped over the edge of the
, ,

boat and j oined the other disciples who had looked on at ,

this still greater miracle with wide and wondering eyes .

N o w that Peter was safe once more upon the solid

planks of the boat he realised that i f he had not been
,

afraid— i i he had not let go of the great faith which had

exalted him for a moment and had seemed to lift his
,

body on broad wings of power he might have walked ,

upon the water as far as he wished to go even as J es u s ,

had Peter felt that he had failed ; but the eyes of J esus
.

shone with thankfulness that his beloved friend had even

dared to go a little wa y toward him across the tossing
waves For he wh o has the courage to attempt the seem
.

i n gly impossible may some day with a still greater

, ,

faith accomplish i t
,
.

N o w that J es u s was with them in the boat the wind ,

ceased to blow and without further trouble they rowed

,

across to the other s ide of the lake It seemed to the dis .

ci p les that N ature herself was the slave of J esus and ,

ai ded him in whatever he wished to do And they knew .

it was because their Master had conquered his own nature

and had made it the servant of the spirit within which ,

was one with the S pirit of Go d .

The next day the multitude which had been fed by

Jes u s in the desert place followed him again to the other
s ide o i the lake They had seen the twelve men set out
‘

in their boat alone and there had been no other boat

,

there but as J es u s was not now upon the mountain where

he had gone to pray nor yet upon the shore they had
, ,

th emselves gone over to the other s ide thinking that he ,

must be there They did not know that the Master coul d
.

walk upon the water ; and when they saw him they said : ,
”
Ra bbi when camest thou hither ?
,

J esus answered them and said :

1 86 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

Then they understood— some of them— that the true

heavenly food was neither loaves nor manna but the love
,

of J es u s and of God A nd they said their eyes shining :

.
,
“
Lord evermore give u s this bread
,
.

J es u s , holding out his hands to them a s if he wi s hed

to give himsel f utterly to ewery one of them forever said :
,
“
I a m the bread of life : he that cometh to me shall
never hunger ; and he that believeth on me shall never
thir s t
.

And they felt — those among them who unders t ood

that they would never hunger or thir s t again for anything
except the true bread of heaven which was the love of
,

this beautiful being wh o s tood there b efore them with

his arms extended , a s if he gave him s elf utterly to them .

And they w ere very happy .

 CHAPTER XVIII

TH E S HI NI N G F O R M

A fe w day s after the disciple s had s een Jesu s walking

u pon the water , he asked them :
“
Whom do men say that I the S on of man a m ?
N ow the disc i ples when absent from their Master
, ,

had heard many discuss ion s in regard to him In that .

far time , even as now it was hard for most men to b e

,

lieve that a person whom they had themselves kn own

cou ld be alto gether great— as great as tho s e per s onages
long dead who s e name s were recorded in histo ry N ever .

t h eles s on ac ount of the miracles of Jesus there were

,
c ,

many wh o were ready to admit that he mu s t be di fferent

to others . And when J es u s a s ked his f r i end s what men
said about him they replied
,

S ome say that thou a rt John the Bapt i s t r i sen from

,

the dead ; some say that thou art the prophet E lia s some
s ay thou art Jerem i a h , or one o f the other prophets .

In those days it wa s believed that m en sometimes

lived upon the earth more than once , coming back from
the dead in a new body when they had some special work
to do which had been left u n fin i sh ed in their former li fe .

Oi course those persons wh o believed that Jes u s was John

the Bapti s t were new acquaintance s , wh o had not kn own
h i m during the life of J ohn .

J s sus now asked his disciples

“ ”
But whom say ye that I a m ?
1 87
1 88 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
“
Thou art the Chri st , answered Peter the S on of ,

the living God .

Jes u s then told Peter that he was blessed among men ;

that flesh and blood had not revealed thi s truth to him ,

but the Father which was in heaven N o w the name of

.

“ ”
Pete r means a stone , and Jesu s wh o wa s always fond
,

of playing upon the inner meaning of words sai d t o this ,

brave disciple who had had the courage to walk toward

him across the waters of the lake
“
Thou art Peter , and upon this r o ck I will build my
church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. And I wi ll give unto thee the keys o f the kingdom of
heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be ,

bound in heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt loo s e on eart h

shall be loosed in heaven .

Peter did not realise at that time the f ul l import ance

of what the Master said ; but he felt that Jes u s wa s prom
“
i sing him some great thing in the future The keys
.

”
of the kingdom of heaven ! D id that mean that he
“
would lead men t o God ? The di sciple hoped s o U pon .

thi s rock ( Peter) I will build my church H e knew

.

that it was because he had recognised Jes u s as the S on of

God because he had a a der s t ood that the Master could
,

build the church of the future upon him as a foundation .

This idea was ever uppermost i n his thoughts — that J esus

was one with God ; and the reason wh y he could love the
Father so much wa s because Jesu s wa s H is son .

H ad J esus told Peter that for hundreds of years all ,

over the world painters then unborn would repre s ent him
,

on innumerable canvasses holding the keys of heaven in

,

hi s hand it would have seemed incredible to the good

,

disciple ; for he sought only the kingdom of heaven and ,

did not dream of earthly glory— which always comes in

largest measure to those wh o labour for something else .
190 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAM ENT
their pain i s necessary and a part of the great plan of
God ; while ordinary men wh o f ollow only their own
,

desires woul d di sarrange the whole universe to save

,

themselves a little s uff ering And Jesus said to his .

disciples
“
I f any man will come after me , let him deny him
self and take up hi s cros s and follow me , .

For who s oever will save his li fe shall lose i t : and

whosoever w i ll lo s e hi s life for my s ake shall fin d i t .

“
For what i s a man pro fit ed , i f he s hall gain the
whole world and lose his own s oul ? or what shall a man
,

give in exchange for hi s s oul ?

“
For the S on of man s hall come in the glory of his
Father with hi s angel s ; and then he shall reward every
man according to his work s .

Ma s ter now wished hi s disciple s to think of him

Th e
always a s the Chri s t who had come into the world to s ave
men ; and a few days afterward he revealed himself to
three o f them in a new and wonderful light H e took .

Peter and J ame s and John with him onto a high moun
tain apart from the others and from the mul titude They
,
.

were utterly alone , Jcs u s and the three fr i ends wh o under

stood him be st .

The air on the mountain wa s clear and pure The .

day was very still har dly a leaf s tirred on the tree s and
, ,

it s eemed to the three disciples that they had left the

world behind and were with the Master in some heavenly
region u nknown to men When they heard a little bird
,
.

s inging afar o fi they wondered i f it was the voi ce of an

,

a ngel It might have been , for they were in a very

.

e xalted s tate and men s ometimes hear the voices of

,

a ngels .

The Master went away from them a little di s tance an d

 T HE SHINING FORM

s tood pray i ng with his eyes upraised to heaven As he

, .

prayed , a great change came over him ; h i s face wa s

s hining like the sun and his garments were white and
,

glittering like the light when it falls upon snow The .

disciples rubbed their eye s thinking that something wa s

,

the matter with their s ight ; but when they looked again ,

Jesus wa s s till standing there his face ra diant as the

,

sun hi s garments glittering And they now understood

,
.
,

as they had never understood before , what it really meant

to be the Christ .

As they watched him hol di ng the i r breath two other

, ,

forms appeared beside the Master talking with him ,

.

There wa s no one to tell Peter and Jame s and J ohn ; yet

they knew that the two wh o s tood with the shining J s sus
were Mo s e s and E lia s the great J s wi s h prophets who had
,

been dead f or thousand s of years The disciples could .

hear thei r vo i ce s which seemed to come from a long d i s

,

tance , though the form s were very near They could not .

u nder s tand all that wa s s a i d between the three radiant

one s ; bu t they knew i t wa s abou t the work which J es u s

had yet to do i n the world and that a part of that work
,

wa s to be hi s death in J eru s a lem .

The three di s ciple s s eemed to be in a dream a s i f ,

the i r bodie s were locked in slumber and it wa s their ,

s pirit s which stood here on the top of this mountain and

beheld such things as they had never thought of behold
ing But after a while they knew that they were really
.
,

wide awake and they s till saw the forms of the two
,

prophet s in communion with Jesus .

And then— Moses and E lias were no longer there but ,

Jes u s only . The world was utterly still The little bird .

no longer sang in th e di stance ; the very leaves upon the

tree s hung motio nl e ss , a s i f waiting for something yet to
happ en .
1 92 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
And Peter wh o wa s beside himself with wonder and
,

hardly knew what he did said to J es u s ,

Lord it is good for u s to be here : i f thou wilt let

, ,

u s make here three tabernacles ; one for thee and one ,

for Moses and one for E lias

,
.

A tabernacle was the movable tent of worship which

the Jew s had carried with them in the wilderness ; it wa s
considered ve ry holy and the building of a tabernacle
,

wa s in it s elf an act of devotion That was wh y it occurred

.

to Peter to build tabernacles at this place this mountain ,

of t ra n s figu ra t i o n where they had been privileged to see

,

the glory of their Master and of the t wo great prophets .

But even as Peter spoke a bright cloud came down ,

from heaven covering the top of the mountain where

,

they were and the disciples were frightened as they felt

,

themselves in the midst of the cloud And then they .

heard a voice out of the cloud , which said :

“
Thi s i s my beloved S on : hear him .

The three men were so t erri fied that they fell upon
their faces on the ground ; for though they loved God ,
and thought of H im as their Father because H e wa s the
Father of J esus yet to hear H im speak thus out of a
,

bright cloud in which they were themselves enveloped ,

gave them a feeling of myste ry and awfulness that took

away all their strength .

But Jes u s came and to uched t hem and said ,

”
A ri se and be not afraid
,
.

At the sound of that gentle voice all fear left the

three disciples , and they raised their faces to the Master
wh o wa s no w s tanding alone before them looking a s he ,

always looked save that there wa s still a little of the

,

heaven l y glory around hi s head and form .

Peter no longer thought of building tabernacles they

were themselves tabernacle s for the love and worship of
 CHAPTER XIX

TH E WOM E N F RIE ND S OF J E SU S

Jesus was alway s happy in the houses of h i s friends ;

and in the little town of Bethany , on the hill beyond
Jer us a lem wa s a home that he dearly loved to visit
, .

There dwelt Martha and Mary two s isters wh o with their

, ,

brother Lazaru s believed in the kingdom of heaven .

Whenever J esu s came to J eru s a lem he sought this house ,

a s a haven of peace beyond the turmoil of the city of

cold priests and wrangling Pharisee s .

H ere his disciples came al s o and w ere w elcomed

,
No .

matter how great wa s the crowd that followed Je s us , in

the home of Martha there was always a cup of milk or a
bit of bread at least f or tho s e who were hungry ; because
the elder s i ster in this household wa s one of those good
women wh o give to the world the service of their hands .

S he was alway s busy moving about the house from morn

,

ing until night preparing food and clearing away the dis
,

order which others had made So willing was her service ,

.

that her family and friend s had come to ta ke it a s a mat

ter of course , and they were s ometime s thoughtle ss ,

g i v i ng Martha u nnecessary labour .

J es u s had come up to J eru s a lem f or one of the great

feast s and had foun d shelter in the ho u s e at Bethany .

There wa s alway s a turmoil in the H oly City at the time

o f t h e fea s ts , becau s e the crowd was very great , and often
a s core o f persons wou ld be lodged in a s ingle room liv ,

19 5
1 96 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
ing as one writer says
,
in that huddled state in which
,
”
O rientals delight But in the house at Betha ny there
.

w a s pea c e and quiet even i f there wa s not s o litude ; and

,

wh en J esus wanted solitude he sought the mountain

tops .

The women who followed the Master Ma ry his mother , ,

S alome the mother of James and J ohn Jo a n n a the wife of ,

’
one of H erod s ste wards Mary Magdalene and the others, , ,

were always glad when Jes u s went to Bethany For they .

were made welcome in the house of Martha and Ma ry ,

to whom all the other women who loved Jes u s were as

s isters .

A nd they were never j ealous one of another ; for the ,

love they gave to the Master was like the love one gives to
God which is always sweetest when shared with many
,
.

It wa s because Jesus never seemed to think of himself ,

that his friends could love him so u n s elfis h ly To him .

the childlike innocence of their affection wa s a foretas t e

of the kingdom of heaven where all would be as the ,

angels .

A s J es u s seemed to dwell always in a sphere of purity

above the s elfis h troubles of the earth those who loved ,

him tried to live also in the same sphere where the ,

things of the world did not matter but only the things of ,

the spirit —love charity kindness mutual service and

, , , ,

peaceful communion Jesus in preaching the kingdom

.
,

of heaven carried it with him wherever he went It

, .

seemed to hi s friends that they had only t o listen intently

at any time to hear the voices of the angels — whenever he
was near them .

There was one of the women disciples for whom this

s imple life was peculiarly sweet and that was Ma ry ,

Magdalene S he had been a beautiful woman full of

.

errors before she found the Master It was sai d that he .

1 98 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TE STAMENT

she forgot herself entirely even forgot her sins which ,

were so many ; she thought of nothing but the heaven of

perfect love which J esus revealed to her S he became .

again as a little child , listening wide eyed to a tale of -

wonder .

But when the Master stopped speaking and the mur ,

m u r of other and less gentle voices began all round her ,

the spell was broken for Mary S he had been for a time .

in the kingdom of heaven with J esus , and the shock o f ,

co ming back to h er own s elf was almost too terri ble to

bear The memory of her sins rushed over her S he
. .

wa s in despair S he wanted t o die . S he could not .

endure herself after being with the Father

,
.

Weeping she fell at the feet of Jesus her face hidden

, ,

in the folds of her veil The disciples were surpri sed . .

They wondered what the Master would s ay to her for she ,

was well known for her sins Would he tell her that she .

was not good enough even to hope for the kingdom of

heaven ?
But when Jes u s saw the woman at h i s feet and heard ,

her sobs a great pity filled his heart H e had s een her
,
.

face a little while before as she had listened spellbound

,

to his words and it had been like the face of an angel

,
.

And now— the dust of the road was not more humble than
she .

Bending hi s head and looking down at her with eyes

full o f pitying love , he sai d gently
“
My si ster arise and sin no more, ,
.

The words were more than an invitation— they were a

“
command which she could not have di sobeyed Arise , .

and s i n no more S he arose and stood before him her

.
,

tear stained eyes uprai sed to h i s in the very adoration o f

-

gratitude S he realised that from that moment it w ould

.

never be poss ible for her to sin any more For she had .
 T HE W OMEN F RIENDS OF J E SU S

had a vi si o n o f the kingdom o f heaven and the great ,

teach er J es u s h a d not even reproached her for her wi c ked

, ,
“ ”
ness but had called her si ster ! I s it a n y wonder that
,

t h e seven devils o f her sins went out of her never t o re —

turn ?
From that hour she be c ame one of the most devoted
’
of the Master s followers And in after days when s h e .
,

had been dead a long long time and the Church o f J es u s

, ,

wanted to do honour to the great names of those wh o had

served him the name of Mary Magdalene wa s placed high
,

on the list of the saints F o r o n e wh o has been very bad

.

can also become very good .

When Jesus went t o Bethany to the house of Martha , ,

Mary Magdalene co ul d always go with him ; for Martha

welcomed the other women who loved Jesus A mong the .

friends of the Master no one was ever reproached for the

,

sins of the past which had been forgiven When they .

became his followers they began a new life It was like

,
.

being born again And Mary Magdalene wh o had been.

,

s o great a sinner w a s n o w as kindly treated a s the pure

,

mother of Jes u s .

O ne day in the house at Bethany the women were sit

ting at the feet o f t h e Master listening to h i s word s ,
.

Martha wa s not with them f o r s h e wa s busy a s usual , , ,

a bout the house cooking a n d cle a n i ng a n d setti n g thing s

,

to rights Martha often did unnecessary labour and the

.
,

cle a ne s t hou s e wa s never quite clean enough to satisfy

N owM a rtha s you n ger s ister who w a s also called

’
,

Mary wa s a lw a ys a t the feet of J esus whenever he wa s in

,

Bethany S he could never hear enough of h i s talk which

.
,

made her s o happy that s h e forgot all about the duties o f

the household F o r Mary was a dreamer and fo r her
.
,
200 STORIES FROM T HE NEW T ESTAM ENT
the things of the spirit were eve rything and the things
of the body nothing S he would not have cared had
.

there been no dinner that day And s he did not remem .

ber that Martha was o bli ged lt o prepare a meal and for a ,

large numb er o f p erson s , as the d i s c i pl es o f Je s u s w ere

all there .

The words of the Master w ere s o beauti fu l that i t is

really no wonder Mary forgot that men had also to eat .

The Bible does not state exactly what Jesus was telling
them that day ; but let u s take any of his sayings which
come into our minds and imagine the group of devoted
,

women with the dreamy eyed Mary among th em , Si tting

,
-

at his feet and lis t ening :

“
Come unto me a ll ye that labour and are heavy
,

laden and I will give you rest

,
.

“
Take my yoke upon you an d learn of me ; for I a m
,

meek and lowly i n heart : and ye shall fin d rest unto your

s ouls.

“
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light
,
.

Again I say unto you that i f two of you shall

,

agree on earth as touching anyt hing that they shall ask ,

it shall be done for them of my Father w hich is in

heaven .

“
For where two or three are gathered together in my
”
name there a m I in the midst of them
,
.

Consider the lilies how they grow : they to il not ,

they spin not ; and yet I say unto you that S olomon in ,

a ll his glory was not arrayed like one of these .

“
I i then God so clothe the grass which is to day in ,
-

the field and to morrow is cast into the oven ; how much
,
-

more will he clothe you O ye of little faith ?

,
202 S T OR I E S F R O M T HE NEW TE STAMENT
many mouths she had to feed that night and stood also
,

listening to the words of J s sus while a dreamy smile stole

,

over her face as she mused on the Father wh o knew that

,

they had need o f s ustenance for the body and would send
,

it in abundance to those who sought the one th i ng need

f ul — the love and know le dge o f H i m
.
 CHAPTER X X

T H E E N E M I E S I N J E R U SA LE M

As Je s u s grew more and more famous the priests and ,

Pharisees and other Jews in J eru s a lem were troubled more

and more by the reports they heard concerning his teach
ing and hi s miracles Whenever he came into the Tem
.

ple a great crowd gathered round him and no one paid ,

any attention to the priests when J es u s was near ; for the

priests never said anything new or interesting while ,

every time Jesus opened his lips he not o nl y made the

people think but he thrilled their hearts which the
, ,

priests left cold and untouched So the Jews in J eru

.

salem wanted to kill J es u s .

Though the Master knew that hi s life was in danger ,

he went up to the feast of Tabernacles ; but he went a

little late after all the others had gone to Jerusalem
,
.

H e felt that the time was not yet come when the predic
tions of his death at the hands of the Jews should be ful
filled. H e had yet other work to do before he le ft t h e
world and returned to God who had sent him .

When he did not come to the feast with the others ,

the Jews wondered where he could b e They wanted him .

to come that they might kill him if possible A nd

,
.

there wa s much murmur ing among the people at the feast

“ ”
concerning Je s us ; for some said H e is a good man
, ,

“
while others said ,
N ay but he deceiveth the people
,
.

The friend s of the Master were even afraid to speak

203
2 04 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TESTAM ENT
openly of him because his enemies were so powerful in
,

J eru s a lem .

A bout the middle of the fea s t Js s u s appeared su dden ly

one day in the Temple Those wh o loved him trembled
.

with joy when they saw his face ; bu t those wh o hated

him trembled with anger Quietly as if the Temple were
.
,

as safe a place for him as hi s o wn Galilee Jes u s began to ,

teach the people wh o gathered round him in such n u m

,

ber s that the priests and Pharisees coul d hardly make a

passage for themselves through the crowd This gave .

them an excuse for standing and listening als o which ,

they woul d have been too proud to do had there been

only a few persons round the Master .

H e s poke with even more than his usual eloquence

and charm so that the J ews marvelled at his discourse
, ,
“
saying : H ow knoweth this man so much having never ,
”
learned ? Becau s e the scribe s and Phari sees and priests
could not un derstand how there coul d be any knowledge
outside of the books which they them s elve s had studied
with so much labour .

J es u s answered them
“
My doctrine is not m i ne , but hi s that sent me
meaning God .

For J esu s never sought to exalt himself as a man ; he

desired only to teach the world about hi s Father and the
kingdom of heaven which wa s based upon love .

The common people of Jeru s alem were surprised to see

J es u s there ; they wondered that he dared to come because ,

the Pharisees now hated him s o And they said to one

.

another :
“
Is not this h e whom they seek to kill ? But lo he
, , ,

speaketh boldly and they say nothing unt o him Do

,
.

the rulers of the synagogue know indeed that this i s the

”
very Christ ?
206 STORIES FROM TH E NEW T ESTAMENT
day Jes u s again came to the Temple and he cried to the
, ,

as s embled multitude :
“
I f any man thirst let him come unto me and
, ,

drink .

It wa s this figu ra t i ve language of Jes u s wh i ch charmed

his friends and enraged his enemies H e meant that i f
.

any man thirsted for the love and knowledge of God ,

he should come unto him and drink of that knowledge

and that love For it wa s always the love which men
.

and women felt in the Master which made him irresistible .

They were not wise enough to judge of the truth o f his

doctrine but they could feel that he loved them and that ,

made them happy It was just this that he wanted them

.

to feel about God A nd when they heard the invitation

.

to come to him and dri n k s ome of them s aid :

,
“
Oi a truth this i s the Prophet
,
This is the .

Chri st .

But others retorted

”
S hall Christ come out o f G a lilee ?
And there was a disagreement among the people about
Jesus ; f or some wh o wanted to believe on him could not
bring themselves to do s o , because he had come from a
poor and despised quarter of the country .

When the chief pri ests and the Pharisees saw the
Master still preaching in the Temple and when they saw ,

the very o fficers whom they had sent to arrest him stand ,

ing and listening to his words they s aid angrily to the

,

officers :
“ ”
Why have ye not taken him ?
The eye s of the o fficers were shining with their en t h u
s i a sm for Jesus , who had touched their heart s with h i s
love and they s aid to the priests and Pharisees
,
“ ”
N ever man spake like thi s man !
’
Are ye also deceived ? cri ed the Pharisees now ,
 TH E ENEMIES IN J ER U SALEM

angrier than ever H ave any of the rulers of the syna

gogue or any of the Pharisees believed on him ? ” A nd
they told the o ffi cers that these common people wh o f o l
lowed J s sus these common people wh o knew not the law
, ,

were cursed .

“
N ow there wa s among the rulers of the s ynago g ue
one man who loved Jesus Thi s wa s N icodemus who
.

had visited the Master by night because he feared h i s

fellow Jews N icodemus now tried to paci fy the Phari
.

s ees
,
sa y 1 n g
“
Doth o u r law judge any man before it hear him , ,

a n d know what he doeth ?

’

“ ”
A rt thou also of Galilee ? sneered the Pharisees ,

looking s cornfully at N i co d em u s as i f he had disgraced

,

himself by even attempting to defend thi s N azarene .

“
And they added : S earch the S criptures and look : for ,
”
o ut of Galilee ari seth n o prophet .

Then raising their chins in the air and swinging

, ,

their long garments in such a way a s to attract a s much

attention a s possible a s they moved through the streets ,

the haughty and s elf righteous Pharisees went to their

-

own homes .

N icodemus al s o went to his hou s e ; but he walked

slowly and haltingly his head bent in troubled thought
,
.

Why wa s he n o t braver ? he wondered H e knew that h i s .

associates would put him o u t of the synagog ue if he

openly proclaimed h i s belief in Jes n e and yet he longed ,

t o proclaim i t What was the value of h i s respected

.

position in Jerusalem i f he were a slave to the opinions

,

of other s ? That was not to be free ! H e envied the

humble N azarenes wh o followed Jesus from city to city ,

for they having nothing to lose could gain everything

, ,
.

A disciple o f the Master ! The very words made N ico

demu s thrill from head t o feet .
208 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT

H ad b e known at that time just when and wh y he

would fi n a lly put aside his fear and stand boldly with
the friends of J e s us N icodemus woul d have been even
,

sadder than he wa s But the future wa s hidden from

.

him .

Th e following day J s sus again went into the Temple ,

and all the people came t o him , and he sat down and
taught them A s he wa s teaching the scribes and Phari
.
,

sees wh o were always plotting to entangle him in his

,

talk brought to him a certain woman wh o had done a

,

forbidden thing and they set her in the midst of the

,

crowd before Jesus Then , interrupting his discourse

.
,

they named the sin which the woman had committed ,

and said
‘
N ow Moses in the law commanded u s that such ,

shoul d be stoned : but what s ayest thou ? ’

For they knew that Jesu s wa s alway s full o f pity f or

wrongdoer s ; and i i by reason of hi s pity they could get
,

him to s ay something against the law of Moses , they

would have an excuse for killing him .

John the beloved di sciple was with Jesus at this

, ,

time and he tells u s that the Master s tooped down and

,

wrote with hi s fin ger on the ground a s if he had not ,

heard them For he was indignant that these h yp o cri t i

.

cal Phari sees wh o were themselves much worse than the

,

woman wh o stood trembling with shame and fear before

them— indignant that these rulers in the synagogue shoul d
da r e t o make an unfortunate woman the means whereby
they sought to entangle the Christ Jo hn does not tell u s .

what J es u s wrote on the ground and it is possible that it,

wa s nothing of importance that he merely wrote to con

,

centrate his own attention and to calm himself .

But the Pharisees pers isted in their accusation of the

woman and asked Jesn e again what should be done with
,
210 STORIES FROM TH E NEW T ESTAMENT

not counsel together ) that Jcsus should not live much

longer upon the earth .

Twice after that they took up s tones to throw at him ,

but each time he passed quietly away from them going,

about his bu s ine s s of healing the sick and restoring

,

sight to the blind , and preaching the love of all creatures

.

An d m ore and more the people f ollowed him .

 CHAPTER XXI

TH E RAI SI N G O F LA ! A RU S

You remember the two si sters Martha the indu s trious

,

housekeeper and Mary the dreamer wh o lived in the lit ,

tle town o f Bethany n o t far from J eru s a lem

, You remem .

ber how Jesu s had gently reproved Martha when she ,

complained to him because Mary listened s o much to his

beauti ful talk about God that she forgot to do her share
of the housework .

N ow Mary and Martha had a brother named Lazarus ,

whom Jes u s loved very much Lazarus wa s a man o f

.

some import ance in the little town of Bethany and he ,

had many friends in Jeru sa lem H e wa s of a gentle and

.

dreamy spirit like h i s sister Mary ; and he also loved t o

,

listen to Je s u s when he talked about God and about the

kingdom of heaven where they wou ld be like the angels
, ,

caring onl y for the love of God and the love of one another .

When Jesus wa s far away from Bethany travelling ,

about the country with h i s disciples the brother and s i s ,

ter Lazarus and Mary used to talk about him all day
, ,

long ; and sometimes for many days together Laza rus

, ,

wa s s o exalted with h i s thoughts of the kingdom of

heaven that he did not care to eat the food prepared for
him by his other s i ster the faithful Martha For J esus had
,
.

said that i n heaven they would be like the angels and ,

Laz a rus wa s s ure that angels did not eat or drink .

Martha as yo u will remember was always troubled

, ,

about many things and s h e wa s especially troubled when

,

21 1
21 2 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
her brother wou l d not eat S he also desired to enter the
.

kingdom of heaven with the other friends of J esus ; but

,

she coul d not see why men shou ld want to stop eating
and drinking while they were still on earth S he was .

always telling Laz aru s that he woul d make himself sick

with his fa sting and his sitting u p of nights to pray -

alone or with his sister Mary .

And at la st Lazarus did really become sick s o sick ,

that he coul d not leave hi s bed and did not even feel ,

well enou gh to pray with the gentle Mary when she came
and sat beside him holding hi s hand and trying to cheer
,

him with talk about Jes u s H e wanted o nl y to lie still

.
,

with hi s large hollow eye s fix ed on the patch of blue sky

,

which co ul d be seen through the little window at the foot

of his bed .

Martha was now thoroughly alarmed about her brother ,

and human nature being much the same in those far days
“
as now s he coul d not refrain from saying a ll the time I
, ,
”
told you s o ! I told you s o !
E ach time she turned away from the bed of Lazarus ,

with the nice hot broth which he could not drink ; each
time she looked at him lying there so still gazing at the ,

little patch of blue s ky through the window Martha s ,

’

face grew more and more troubled and little lines of ,

anxiety would come between her straight black eyebrows .

Mary was troubled also and she was grieved at Mar

,

tha wh o made her feel that she was as much to blame as

,

Lazarus for the sickness which had come upon him If .

Mary had not encouraged Lazarus in too much dreaming

and t o o much praying Martha said he would not have
, ,

refused for weeks to eat his proper food and he would ,

’
not now be lying s ick unto death And Mary s eyes were
.

full of tears not only with anx iety for her brother but
, ,

with gr i ef at her sister s reproaches

’
.
21 4 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT
“
replied : Are there not twelve hours in the day ?
J esu s
If any man walk in the day he stumbleth not because , ,

he seeth the light of thi s world But i f a man walk in .

the night he stumbleth because there is no light in

, ,

him .

J ohn the beloved di sciple wa s the only one who

, ,

understood this saying and remembered i t But none of .

them understood the next thing which J esus said

“
O ur friend Lazarus sleepeth ; but I go that I may ,

awake him out of sleep .

“
Th e disciples answered Lord i f he sleep he shall
, , ,

do well meaning that i f he slept he would recover

, .

Then J s sus seeing that they did not understand him

, ,
“
told them plai n l y : Lazarus i s dead .

The disciples were no longer astonished when the

Master told them of something which was happening or
had happened far away ; for they had now come to believe
that he knew all things An d when J es u s said that Laza
.

ru s w a s dead they knew that it must be s e

, O ne of the .

disciples said that he wa s sorry that the Master had not

been there to save Lazarus from death a s he had s a ved so ,

many others but J esus answered :

“
I a m glad for your sakes that I wa s not there to the ,

intent ye may believe ; neverthele s s let u s go unto him ,

.

A nd still they did not understand all that J es u s

meant But Thomas the disciple whom they called
.
,
“
doubting Thomas because he did not believe things s o
,

readily a s the others said to h i s fellow disciples

,
“
Let u s also go that we may die with him
,
.

For these men who followed J es u s were much troubled

by the enmity which some of the J ews in Jud aea had
shown t o their Master ; and Thomas especially wh o ,

always looked o n the dark side believed th a t Je s a s would ,

be killed i t he went to Bethany where the dead L a zarus

 T HE RAISING OF LAZARU S

was and that all his disciples would be killed with

,

him If Thomas had lived in our day he would have

.

been called a pess imist ; for a pessimist i s a man wh o ,

when he looks at a rosebush in the sunshine sees only ,

the s h a dow cast by the rosebush and not the sun which ,

cau s es the shadow nor the blossoms on the bush

, .

As they j ourneyed southward into Jud aea the dis ,

ci ples noticed that J esus wa s more sad than usual and

;
they questioned among themselves whether he was de
pressed because of the death of Lazarus or because he ,

wa s afrai d the Jews would kill him But it was really .

neither of these things H e wa s meditating the most

.

impo rtant miracle which he had ever performed for h e ,

meant to bring Lazarus t o life again .

When they were still s ome distance from Bethany ,

they learned from a man whom they met on the road that
Lazaru s was not only dead as Jesus had declared but
, ,

that h e had been lying in the grave four days J esus

. .

knew that Mary and Martha were broken hearted at their -

’
brother s death , and that they could not under s tand wh y
he had not come to them when they had sent him word
that Lazaru s was s ick .

At the home o f Mary and Martha wa s a company of

their friends from Je rusalem and elsewhere wh o were
, ,

trying to comfort the grieving sisters and some of these

friends declared that Je s us should have come before i f ,

he intended to come at all But the gentle Mary though

.
,

her eyes were full of tears reproved them for criticising

,

anything which J es u s did or did not do ; for as she told ,

them even his neglect was more loving than the kindness
,

of every one else in the world .

Martha , when she learned that J es u s wa s coming ,

went out to meet him ; but Mary sat still in the house ,

f or s he would n o t hasten by even a few moments the

, ,
21 6 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TESTAM ENT

time that Jes u s himself had chosen to comfort her Yet .

as the minutes passed by her heart beat fast for she ,

wanted to see Jcsus more than she wanted anything else

in the world j ust then Was there deep in her soul a .

secret hope that Jes u s might do for the dead Lazarus

what he had done for the little daughter of Ja i ru s ? I do
not know ; but Mary had great faith and to her loving ,

heart the will of Jesus wa s like the will of God H ad .

she heard him promise to create a man out of a handful

of dust as Adam is said to have been created by God in
,

the beginning of the world she would have watched to see ,

the dust take form and breath and colour .

When Martha who had gone out to m eet Jes u s , s aw ,

him in the distance surrounded as usual by many peo , ,

ple the tears of gladness sprang to her eyes

,
S he coul d .

not pray so m r ch as Mary nor in such lovely words ; for ,

her prayers took the form of useful actions for others

,
,

which may 1 after all the kind of prayer that God likes
s
, ,

best But Mart ha loved Jesus with her whole heart ; and
.

though she o uld not imagine so well a s Mary coul d what

she would willing to do for love of him when the time ,

for action ca ne she coul d do just as muchr A nd when .

she met Jesus coming toward Bethany she went up to ,

him and s aid in her quiet determined wa y , ,

“
Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not
, ,

died Bu t I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt

.
,

ask of God God will give it thee

,
.

“
Thy brother shall rise again said J es u s with a , ,

loving smile .

“
I know that he shall rise again in the re s urrection at
the las t day replied Martha H er eyes were anxiou s
,
.

and f ul l of questions ; for she too like Mary remem , , ,

be red hearing about the daughter of Ja i rus who had been ,

dead yet lived ,

.
21 8 STORIES FROM TH E NEW T ESTAMENT
‘

A s soon as Mary heard this she ran o u t o f the house ,

and the two s isters hurried back together to the place

where Jesus wa s Mary wa s s o happy because J esu s had
.

a s ked for her Perhaps he had even thought of her a

.

few times during the week s when he had been preaching

in the Villages o f the north That Jesu s should think of .

her sometime s when he wa s away meant more to Mary

, ,

than it would have meant to her to be s eated upon the

throne of H erod the King For great love i s alway s
, .

humble and thankful for little things

, .

N ow the Ma s ter was not yet come into the town but ,

wa s still in that place where Martha had met him When .

Mary fi rs t caught s i ght of him in the di stance her eyes ,

filled with tear s H er grief for Lazarus burst forth

'

afresh , now that J cs u s wa s here to s hare it with her and

to comfort her .

The Jews their friend s and neighbours wh o h a d been

, ,

with Mary in the hou s e and had tried to console her ,

when they saw her rise up ha stily and go out s upposed ,

that she had gone to the grave o f Lazarus to weep f or ,

him And they also rose up and f ollowed her and Mar
.

tha along the road .

When Mary came to the place w here Jes u s wa s she ,

f ell down at his feet weeping and s he s aid to h i m the

, ,

ve ry words which Martha had s aid to him before

Lord i f thou hadst been here my brother had not
, ,

died .

When J es u s saw Mary weeping and the J ew s who had ,

followed her weeping also he groaned in the s pirit and ,

was troubled F o r a moment he coul d have wished that

.

he had come down here sooner when they fi rs t sent for ,

‘

him and had s aved them all thi s grief For t h o u gh h e

,
.

kn ew that what he meant to do would be better in the

end and would bring more glory to the name of God ;
,
 T HE RAISING OF LAZARUS

yet the heart o f Je s us wa s so tender that the sight of

others su ffering was almost unendurable to him always
’
.

That i s one of the reason s wh y the world has loved him

so much for nearly two thou s and years .

Jesus asked the sisters where they had laid Laza rus ,

and they answered

“
Lord come and see
, .

J esu s wept .

And the Jews who had followed Mary and Martha ,

“
when they saw the tears of Jesus said : Behold how , ,
”
much he loved him !
But s ome of the Jews s aid among themselves as they ,

walked behind Jesus and the two sister s to the tomb of

Lazarus
“
Coul d not this man which opened the eyes of the
,

blind , have caused that even thi s man should not have
”
died ?
Jesus wh o always knew what was passing in the
,

minds of other s , mu s t have felt that they were blaming

him f o r having left h i s friend to die alone , instead of
coming to save him And the tears which Jesus shed
.

were not o nl y for the sufferings of Ma ry and Martha and

Lazaru s himself , but al s o f o r the unbelieving people who
could n o t understand the power of God unless they s aw
s ome miracle perform ed before their eyes .

S till groaning in s pirit and weeping for the grief of

all mankind and f o r man k ind s lack of faith Jesus
,
’
,

came to the grave of Lazar us It wa s a cave in the rock

.
,

like s o many of the tombs of Jud aea and a large s tone ,

wa s lai d upon i t closing the mouth of the cave

,
.

As J es u s stood looking at that stone which shut the ,

body of h i s dead friend away from the daylight a ll the ,

J ews stood round weeping and groaning

,
The sound of .

their lamentations was terrible t o Jesu s .

220 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

Take ye away the stone he s aid ,

.

Martha reminded Jesus that her brother wa s four days

dead and tha t by this time hi s body had begun to d eco m
,

pose But J es u s an s wered her

.

“
S aid I not unto thee , that i f thou woul dst believe , ,
”
thou shouldst see the glory of God ?
Mary and Martha clung close together for now they ,

really un derstood that Js sus woul d do s ome wonderful

work Before thi s they had hoped i t but they had not
.
,

been sure They questioned each other with thei r eyes

.

and the Jews thei r friends and neighbours stopped

, ,

weeping and lamenting as i f they also understood that ,

some great thing wa s about to take place .

Then the Jews obeying the command of Jesus to ok

, ,

away the stone which hi d the mouth of the tomb Their .

faces were very serious and each man and woman looked ,

intently at the Master , wh o stood there before the mouth

of the tomb , in the attitude of prayer They s a w J esus .

lift up his eyes to heaven , and they heard him say :

“
Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me And
,
.

I knew that thou hearest me always : but because of the

people which stand by I said i t tha t they may believe
“

that thou hast sent me .

They wh o stood by saw that the face of J csu s wa s

shining with a bright light as i f the spirit within had ,

made his features tran s parent And they held their .

breath , trembling f eeling the power wh i ch wen t out from

, ‘

him . S udde nl y they heard Jesus cry with a loud voice

“
L a z a r u s com e for t h !
,

The hands of the sisters Mary and Martha were clasped

so tightly that the nails cut into the tender fl es h but
they did not feel pain so excited were they They hardly
,
.

brea t h ed r Thei r ears made keen with expectation caught

, ,

a faint rustling like that of shaken linen from the

, ,
222 STORIES FRO M T H E NEW TE STAM ENT
been dead and the blood in his veins thrilled him with
,

pleasure instead of pain Those who watched him hold.

,

ing their breath saw a wan smile fl u t t er across his face

, ,

into which the warm blood had come again , re storing to

it the colour and freshness of li fe .

O nly his ey es were different to what they had been

’ "

before ; for one who has been dead knows many things
which he would not care to tell to those wh o have never
felt the chilling embrace of the tomb What was it .

Lazarus had seen on the other side of the door of death ?

We do not know ; we shall never know till we pass ,

through that door ourselves some day ,

.

As he walked slowly home to the little house in

Bethany with Jesus and his s is t ers Lazarus did not ,

speak many words and Mary and Martha could not

,

speak either There are some things which words with

,
.
,

all their subtle meanings can never hope to express But,

.

the eyes of Mary and Martha turned constantly to the

calm face of Js sus who walked so quietly beside them
,
.

The disciples of Jesus had at his request made all the , ,

friends and neighbours— the Jews who had been with

them at the tomb and wh o had seen the raising of Laza
rus— keep back from thi s reunited family and the great
teacher wh o had reunited them The four walked quite .

alone along the road ; and the people who lived beside the
way looking from the doorways of their houses at the
,

slowly moving group could not believe their eyes ; they

,

thought that the man in white garments wh o was with ,

J es u s and the two women must be some stranger in the ,

town who looked and walked like the dead man Lazarus
,
.

Behind them at the still open door of the tomb the

, ,

J ews were talking and gesticulating together and ques ,

t i o n i n g the disciples who remained with them H ad .

L azarus really been dead ? If not how could he have ,

 T HE RAI SING OF LAZARUS

lain four days in the airless rock chamber o f the to m b

-

and ever breathed again ? ! Vh o wa s thi s m a n this J csus ,

of N azareth wh o could perform such wonders ? Wa s he

,

really as h i s disciples claimed the one and only Mes s iah

, ,

of the Jews whom the ages had waited f o r ? The Messiah

, ,

when he should come w o uld surely do such things a s this

,

man did Yes he must really be the Chri s t So the

.
, .

J ews talked and questioned together not o nly there ,

beside the open and musty smelling entrance to the to mb

-

but later when they went down into J eru s a lem A nd .

there wa s great excitement in Jeru s a lem and in Bethany ,

and in all the other towns round about a s the news ,

quickly spread from mouth to mouth and from home to ,

home And now many in Jerusalem believed in J esus

.
,

that he wa s the S on o f God where only a few had b e

,

li ev ed before .

A nd some of those who had witnessed the miracle

went to the Pharisee s in Jerusalem telling them that ,

Jesus had brought a dead man to li fe at Bethany and ,

that more people than ever were following him and b e

lieving on him .

N ow these Phari s ee s were very self righteou s and -

very proud of thei r knowledge of the old Jewish law .

Je s us himself called them hypocrites ; and a s Jesus wa s

inclined to give all men the b en efit of every doubt we ,

may believe that the Pharisees were really hypocritical .

They had so long been accustomed to having men come to

them to ask what wa s right and what wa s wrong that ,

they were j ealou s at the growing crowds that followed

J esu s the crowds o f men wh o now asked Jes u s what wa s
,

right and wrong instead of asking the Pharisees .

It wa s the same j ealous spirit which had led Cain the ,

s o n of A dam to slay h i s brother Abel a s you have read

, ,

in the O ld Te stament It wa s the s ame j ealousy which

.
224 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
had made King H erod want to de s troy the infant Je s u s ,
“ ”
because the Magi had called him King of the J ews ,

after his birth had been revealed to them by the S ta r in

the E ast The spirit of j ealousy i s the most evil spirit
.

in the world ; it even makes little children hate each other

sometimes because one of them has something which the
,

other wants Those wh o wish to be like J esus should

.

destroy thi s spirit in their hearts and whenever they feel

jealous o f any person they should remember that in the
,

heart of that person is a little place where God delights

to dwell For when we realise that God dwells in another
.
,

and look s out at u s through his eyes we cannot pos sibly

,

hate him or be j ealous of him .

But the hypocritical Pharisees did not really love

God ; they only liked to talk about H im because it made ,

them seem important in the eye s of others Se , every .

time they heard that J esus had done something which

they could not do ; every time they heard a man praise
J esus and declare that he was the S on of God the j ealous ,

hatred which they had for him grew stronger and stronger ,

until they wished that he might be killed .

They pretended to think that J esu s wa s of no impor

tance They pretended to think this because they wanted
.

to think i t ; but in their hearts they knew it was not s o ,

and that onl y made them hate him all the more They .

even tried to forget that he existed ; but in the night time -

when all the world was still , and the old Phari sees lay
upon their backs in bed the thought of Jesus came to
,

trouble them They simply eoa lcl n ot put him out of

.

their mind s In the daytime it was not so hard for

.

them , because they had many things to do They could .

walk up and down the streets making parade of their

,

piety and they could argue argue argue with any one
, , , ,

wh o had the time for argument , upon the everlasting que s

226 STORIES FROM T HE NEW T ESTAMENT
we let him thus alone all men will believe on him : and
,

the Romans shall come and take away both our place and
nation .

For always among the Jew s of that time there was

, ,

the fear and hatred of the Romans wh o ruled over them .

And the priests and Pharisees now feared that if the peo
ple more and more came to believe on J es u s the Romans ,

would try to do away with the old Jew i s h religion alto

gether If such a change took place the priests would
.
,

lose all their authority and the Pharisees would fin d no

,

one to listen to them when they argued argued argu ed , ,

about the lett er of the law .

N o w the Jews of that time changed their high priest

eve ry year or two , for political reasons and the high ,

priest f or t hat year was named Caiaphas H e wa s the .

son i n law of a former high priest Annas he was a S ad

- -

ducee of the most unbelieving type ; and though Caiaphas

had a very good opinion of himself he would have been ,

s urprised had any one told him that his fame would last
forever H e would have been still more surpri sed could
.

he have known the reason wh y people would talk about

him in the centuries to come For though these priests .

and Phari s ees hated J e sn e and gave so much thought to

,

him they did not realise how very important he was

,
.

They did not reali s e that for thousands of years the world
woul d be interested in every smallest action o f his li fe ;
and that their own names would be hated for all these
ages just because they were the enemies of Jes u s
,
.

When the priests and Pharisees had talked together a

long time about the raisi ng of Lazarus and a ll the excite
,

ment it had produced they agreed among themselves that

,

the love which Jes u s inspired in the people was a menace

to their own place and authority Then Caiaphas the .

high priest arose in h i s seat and looking round upon the

,
 T HE RAISING OF LAZARUS

circle of sharp and di s contented faces before him he ,

s poke the s e momentou s words

“
Ye know nothing at all nor consider that it is ex p e
,

dient for u s , that one man s hould die for the people a n d ,

that the whole nation perish not .

Then gathering h i s robe about him Caiaphas stalked

, ,

out of the room leaving his fellow counsell o rs t o think

,
-

about hi s words The priests and Phari sees wh o were left

.

sitting there looked at each other questioningly for every ,

man knew what Caiaphas meant : that they must kill

Jes u s in order to s ave themselves .

N ow the time o f the J ewish Passover wa s near and ,

the priests a s ked one another :

”
What think y that he will not come t o the feast ?
e ,

And they nodded thei r heads that he would probably

,

come ; and their sharp eyes grew sharper and they pulled ,

viciously at thei r long beards as they walked t o and fro ,

meditating how they could kill Jes u s And they gave .

order s to their s ervants that i f any man knew where J es u s

was , he s houl d tell the high prie st s that they might take,

him .

J es u s , wh o alway s knew what wa s passing in the

minds of others knew n o w that the prie sts and Phari sees
,

were plo tt i n g t o kill him and he went away from Bethany

with his disciples leaving Lazarus and Mary and Ma rt ha
,

behind H e went into a place called E phraim near to

.
,

the wildernes s of Jud aea where John the Baptist had so

“
often walked crying R epent ye, for the kingdom of
,
”
heaven i s at hand A nd Jesus stayed there with his
.

di s ciples healing those wh o were sick and telling people

, ,

about the love of God .

But his di s ciples noti ced now that h i s eyes were often
very sad , and that he did not like to hear them ta lk about
228 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
Lazarus and of how he had been raised from the t omb
,
.

For J esus knew that the bringing of his dead friend to

life while it had brought much glory to the name of
,

God and to the S on of God , would cause him s erious

trouble in the end .
23 0 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAM ENT
his words — i i at such a time he should lay his hands upon
our children surely the H oly S pirit would descend on
,

them They might s ee visions too which they would

.
, ,
”
remember all thei r lives .

So the fathers and mothers having bathed their chil ,

dren and combed their waving hair put on them their ,

best linen garments They told the little ones that they
.

must be very good and quiet and that perhaps the won ,

d erf ul man J es u s whom they had seen at a distance in the

,

marketplace would touch them with his hands And the

,
.

children were so much excited at the very thought of b e

ing touched by the wonderful man with the shining face ,

that they trembled all over and their little voices shook
,

a s they promised to b e good The fathers and mothers .

gave each little child a fl o wer which it might lay a t the

feet of the wonderfu l man but must not put into his ,

hands which should be left free to bless them then they

,

led the children out into the sunshine and toward the
square of the city where Jes u s sat with hi s disciples u n
,

der a s preading tree .

Those wh o love deeply and purely are not afraid of

seeming bold because thei r desires are u n s elfi s h
,
And .

the parents of the children in leading their little ones to

,

Je s us did not even ask themselves i f they were taking

,

libert ies with a great man With their children they

.

went right up to him , where he sat under the big tree ,

and they said :
“ Master will you not lay your han d s upon our chil
,
’
dren that God may bless them for your sake ?
,

But the disciples of J es u s good men though they were , ,

and men wh o loved Jes u s deeply we re sometimes a little ,

too conscious of their position as the most intimate friends

of the Master They sometimes felt that it wa s for them
.

to protect J es u s from the too near approach of those wh o

 J ESU S AND THE LITTLE CHILDREN 23 1

needed him not realising that they themselves were o nly

,

great because of their love for J esus and because of h i s

love for them . And now , when the disciples s a w t h e
father s and mothers with the group of little children
,

crowding round the Master they rushed forward and would

,

have thrust them back from J es u s sitting there s o beauti ,

ful and benign under the tree .

But J e s us aro s e from his seat and reproved his dis ,

ci p les . We do not know all that he said to them becau s e ,

the disciples wh o told the story only admitted that the

Master reproved them ; but knowing him a s w e do and , ,

knowing his love for the whole world we may be sure that ,

he reminded them that the S on of God wa s sent to a ll

men and to all women and especially to all little chil
, ,

dren And then he said

.

“
S u ffer the little children to come unto me and forbid ,

them not : for of s uch i s the kingdom of God V erily I .

say unto you Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom

,

of God a s a little child he shall not enter therein

,
.

“
Take heed that ye desp ise not one of these little ones
for I say unto you That in heaven their angels do always
,
”
behold the face of my Father which i s in heaven .

And Jesu s s at down again under the tree and called ,

the l ittle children to him They were not afrai d of him

.

because he was so great ; but when he smiled at them they ,

climbed into his lap they hung about hi s neck they

, ,

clu ng to his knee s they laid their little heads again s t h i s

,

sleeve rubbing it softly with their cheeks

,
S ome of them .

prattled to him asking him childish questions , though

,

their parents had to ld them that they must be quiet .

And he answered a ll the que stions as i f the little children ,

had been great philosophers and as i f the questions which ,

they asked had been of value to the nations .

Then , when they had grown quiet with content J es u s ,

232 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
laid his hands upon the head of each little child one after ,

another and raising his eye s to heaven he as ked hi s

, ,

Father— wh o lived in heaven and who al s o lived in the ,

heart of eve ry one in the world who would let H im live

'

there— to bless t h e li t t le children .

And the parents standing a little way apart and look

,

ing on at the lovely scene felt s omething surging in their

,

own hearts which they had never felt before as i f the God ,

who wanted to dwell within them were mutely calling a t

tention to H is presence And their eye s filled with happy
.

tears so that the Mas t er s itting there un der the tree with
,

the children in his arms seemed to be seen through a veil .

But they who see Christ through the veil of thei r o wn

loving tears see him more plainly than when their eyes
,

are clear .

When Jes u s had blessed the children and his eyes and ,

his thoughts came back from heaven to regard the world

around him he gently placed upon their feet the little
,

ones who nestled in his lap ; then he him s elf arose and led
them to their parents With a smile of parting for all
.
,

he beckoned to his disciples and passed out from among,

the people into a little house near by where one lay s ick ,

whom he des ired to heal .

A nd the fathers and mot hers of the children walked

s lowly home with thei r little ones Their he a rts were so .

full of love that they could not talk together and the
, ,

families separated in s ilence each going to their own ,

house .

The children never forgot the happenings of that day .

E ven the smallest of them a little daughter , who could

,

hardly lisp the name of Mother remembered vividly her ,

whole life long the beautiful man with the loving smile
wh o had laid his hands upon her little head and in whose ,

strong arms s he had nestled as a baby And when s he .

 CHAPTER XXIII

J E SU S A N ! T H E RI C H Y OU NG MA N

A s even children may observe i f they look closely at

,

their li fe and at the li fe about them when anything hap

,

pens which makes them very happy it i s generally fol ,

lowed by something which makes them u n happy ; and a

day of calmness and s implicity is li k ely t o be followed by
a day when thing s are puzzling This seems to be a law
.

of li fe which no one can e s cape ; and it was often illus

,

t ra t ed in the hi s tory of J esu s

.

After those lovely moments with the s imple little chil

dren whose parent s had brought them for his blessing the ,

next person wh o came to J es u s wa s a rich young man

whose li fe was anyt hing but s imple .

When the Ma s ter and hi s disciples had gone out o f the

village in which he had blessed the children and as they ,

were walking slowly along the country lane which was bor
dered with the green leave s and the blo s soms of early
s pring a young man i n a rich red dres s came running
,

after Jes u s and knelt at hi s feet in the dusty road As

,
.

the Master bent h i s head and looked at the eager faced -

young man , kneeling there in the du s t before him the ,

young man said :

“
Good Master what good thing s hall I d o , that I may
,
”
have eternal li fe ?
And Jes u s an s wered him
“ Why calle s t thou me good
? There i s none good but
23 5
23 6 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
one and that i s God But i f thou wilt enter into life
,
.
,

keep the comm andments .

”
Which ? asked the rich young man ; for he had been
brought up among the Pharisees and he knew well the ,

ten commandments of the Jews Jes u s answered nam .

,

ing a few of them

“
Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steal T hou shalt
, ,

not speak fal s ely of thy neighbour H onour thy father a n d ,

thy mother .

“
All the s e commandments have I kept from my youth
“
up ,
said the young man What lack I yet ? .
’

And J es u s looking down at him seeing hi s eager face

, ,

and his eyes a fla m e with aspiration felt a great love for ,

the young man s urge up in his heart H e k new that the .

young man wa s one of the Phari sees that he was a ru ler ,

with much power ; and neither the rulers nor the Pharisees
had generally been willing to li sten to the teaching of the
Master But the eyes of thi s young man were clear and
.

honest they looked s traight into the eye of Jes u s ; a n d

,

though he wa s a ruler he did not he s itate in hi s fin e robe

,

to kneel there in the dust Why with this faith and en

.
,

t h u s i a s m should he not really follow the Chri st leaving

, ,

behind him the worldly things which he had loved in the

past ? At that moment it seemed pos s ible to Jes u s And .

he put out hi s hand and raised the young man to his

feet .

For a moment they stood there face to face and eye , ,

to eye the Messiah in hi s white garments and the young

,

rul er in hi s embroidered robe A nd the two so different .

,

in external things felt one with each other in heart The

, .

fl a m e of fee ling which we call sympathy wa s burning b e

tween them ; and Je s us s aid , ve ry gently laying hi s hand ,

upon the arm of the youn g rul er :

“
I f thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou ha s t ,
,
23 8 STORIES FR O M T H E N E W T E S T A M E NT

The things which are impo ss ible w ith men are po s ,

sible with God .

Then hone s t Peter look i ng after the brilliant red robed

,
-

fi gu re of the youn g rul er as it disappeared in the distance ,

and looking from that to the plain and du sty garments of

him self and hi s fellow disciples s aid to the Ma s t er wi t h , ,
.

just a little touch of conscious vi rtue :

“
Behold we have forsaken all and follow ed thee
, ,
.

”
What s hall we have theref ore ?
And Jes u s an s wered him saying ,

There i s no man that hath left hou s e , or brethren or ,

S i s ters or father or mother or wife or children , or lands

, , , , ,

for my s ake and the go s pel s but he s hall receive an

,
’
,

hundredfold now in this time hou s e s and brethren and

, , , ,

sisters and mothers and children , and land s wi t h per

, , ,

s eea t i oa s and in the world to come eternal life But .

many that are fi rst s hall be la st and the last fi rs t ,

.

A nd the di s ciples feeling reproved for having prided

,

themselves upon the fact that they were faithful to Jes u s ,

when every beauti ful thing in thei r lives had been given
them freely by him walked slowly down the road after
,

the Master And each man a s ked himself in hi s heart

.
,

what were the little thing s which he had s a cri ficed in

comparison with W hat Jesu s had given him ? Would he
not rather walk with Jesus cold and hungry and home ,

less along the roads than to have all the riches of the
,

world without him ? For the disciples really loved their

Master , though he was far too great for them to under
stand And when they thought of the rich young ruler
.
,

in hi s embroidered red gown and of the sadnes s of hi s ,

eyes as he turned away from Je sn e they thanked God that ,

they them s elves were poor and shabby , and that no pal
,

aces raised their carven walls between them and the

Master whom they worshipped .
 JE SUS AND THE RICH YOUNG MAN 23 9

Je s us feeling the sadness o f their heart s turned and

, ,

looked at the m with his great lov i ng eyes Then he .

s miled and they cou ld n o t feel sad any longer

, And he .

began to tell them lovely things about the kingdom of

heaven where they would be as the angels s ta nding with
, ,

him in the pre s ence o f God And the breeze blew softly
.

through the trees and the little river sang beside the
,

road and the birds twittered in the branche s and the

, ,

great golden s un sank s lowly to his home in the western

sky leaving a blaze of crim s on and orange clouds behind
,

him And Jesus and h i s friend s walked o n together

.

toward the s un s et .

Back in the c i ty they had left , the rich young ruler

s at alone in a splendi d room in his palace brooding , .

H e wished that he were a poor man even a beggar that , ,

he might follow Jesus H e looked about him at the gor

.

g eo u s fabrics upon the fl o o r and on the walls Why .

coul d he not exchange them for the green grass by the

wayside and the freedom of a wandering disciple of the
,

Ma s ter ? The ceiling o f his palace room wa s made of

precious marbles which glittered in the lamplight Why
,
.

could he not be lying with tho s e other men out under the
stars which glittered far more br i lliantly ? H e did not
,

w ant to be a ruler H e wanted to be a disciple

. But a s .
,
“
Je s us had said : I t i s easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needl e than for a rich man to enter into the
,

kingdom of God .

Late in the night a s ervant of the young ruler passed

,

his door and s eeing his lamp alight looked i n

,
H is ,
.

m a s ter was still s itting there with his chin in his hands
, ,

and his eyes fix ed on vacancy Far o ff somewhere in the .

darkness a dog was howling And the servant stole

,
.

s oftly out leaving h i s master alone

,
Then the s ervant .
240 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TESTAM ENT
went to the bare closet which s erved him for a chamber
,

and lying down upon the hard board which was hi s bed ,

he dreamed beauti ful dreams of Je sus and the kingdom

of heaven For what the young rul er had not dared to
.

b e, hi s s ervant wa s already
.
242 STORIES FRO M T HE NEW TESTAM ENT

older and the mother of the s e two men was almost an old
,

woman H er black hair wa s thickly streaked with grey

.
,

and though her face wa s stron g and even handsome as ,

the faces of old women often are it was marked with ,

many line s which the pa ss ing year s had left there Bu t .

the eyes of S alome were a s bright as the eyes of a young

wo m a n for she had a strong will and a high courage
z .

O nce when her sons were babies s he had a t t a ck ed a wild

'

, ,

animal which had come toward her children as i f to harm

them Where her love wa s concerned S alome knew no
.
,

fear S ome o f the women wh o followed Je s us were s o

. .
,

timid that they were almo s t afraid to s peak to him until

he s poke to them ; but S alome was not like that It w a s .

h eea a s e s he loved the Ma s ter that it never occu rred to her

to be afraid of h i m as some of the other s were who loved
,

him j ust a s much Love expre ss e s it s el f di fferently in

.

di fferent persons .

S alome and several of the other women had joined

Je s us and the men disciples as they came down toward
J eri ch o that spring a little while before the annu al fea s t
,

of the Pas s over at J eru s a lem .

It had been a little time s ince S alome had s een J s s u s

or her two son s ; and it s eemed to her now that Peter ,
“
whom Jes u s had called the foundation stone of his
”
church was becoming more impo rtant than her sons
, ,

Jame s and John , in the little wandering community of

disciples And the heart of S alome was troubled
. S he .

liked Peter , she liked his honest face and his blunt ways ,
and she knew how much he had done to forward the re
li gi o n of J es u s ; and yet— S alome was a mother and she ,

was just a little j ealous .

John had whispered to her s everal times that he wa s

more dearly beloved by Jes u s than any of the other dis
ci ples ; but J es u s himself had never told S alome s e In .
 T HE M OTHER OF JAM ES AND J OHN 24 3

deed , it seemed to be his purpose that all his friends

s hould feel absolutely equal and that no one of them ,

should exalt himself above the others H e wanted them .

to love each other and to forget themselves

, S alome liked .

all the disciples except perhaps J udas Iscariot and s h e

, ,

only disliked him because John said that he was not hon
est , that often when he wante d something for himself h e
, ,

took the coins from the moneybag which J es u s had given

him t o carry S alome did not really care whether J ud a s
.

took silver or not but she cared very much when P eter
seemed to be given the fi rs t place which s h e thought h e ,

longed to her own big sons .

O ne day the Master had been telling h i s friends about

the kingdom of heaven where he and his disciples should
,

s it on thrones and judge the tribe s of Israel When he .

had fin i s h ed talking S alome came up to him and asked

,

i f she could s peak to him alone J es u s wa s s o great that .

he never tried to make himself seem di s tant or u n a p

pre achable and he now went with S alome a little to one
,

s ide , away from the others that she might say to him ,

whatever wa s in her m ind .

H er two sons James and John seeing their mother

, ,

and the Master together came also and stood with them
,
.

And S alome fell down on her knees before Jesu s worship ,

ping him and a s ked i f he would give her something which

,

she much de s ired .

Jesu s alway s loved to m ake others happy but he was ,

far too wise to promise anyt h i ng be forehand , so he a s ked

S alome
“ ”
What wilt thou ?
And S alome s aid point i ng to James and J ohn
,

Grant that these my two sons may sit the o n e on ,

thy right han d , and the other o n thy left , in thy king
”
dom .
244 STORIES FROM T HE NEW T E STAM ENT
J es u s looked at her for a moment in s ilence , then he
answered
“
Ye know not what ye ask .

Turning to the two youn g men wh o stood eager and ,

expectant before him he asked them :,

“
A re ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink o i ,

and to be baptised with the baptism that I a m baptised

”
with ?
By the cup that he s hould drink o i Jesus probably ,

meant the cup of sorrow and by the bapti s m that he was

,

baptised with— his own blood .

“
We are able answered J ames and John for they
”
, ,

did not under s tand the tremendous claim they made .

”
Ye shall drink indeed of my cup
‘
replied Je su s , ,

and be baptised with the baptism that I a m baptised

with : but to s it on my right hand , and on my left is not ,

mine to give but it shall be given to them for whom it is

,

prepared of my Father .

S alome and her sons had not noticed s o intent were ,

they on their question and its answer that the ten other ,

men had come up behind them and had heard a ll they had
said And Peter and Andrew and Philip and the others
.

were filled with indignation at James and John H ow .

dared they ask the Master to sit on his right and left hand
in the kingdom of heaven ? It seemed to them p resu m p
tion deserving s ome grave punishment But Js sus smiled
,
.

gently that they might know he was not seriously dis

,

pleased with these his children even when they were

, ,

presumptuous ; and call ing all the disciples to him he ,

tried to make them understand a little better what it

meant to be a disciple H e sai d .

“
Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise
dominion over them and they that are great exercise
, ,

authority upon them But it shall not be so among yo u :

.
246 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

to Judas and to Peter giving to her own dear sons t h e

,

fragments which were left . And when , turning from

her service she saw the large and loving eyes of J es u s
,

fix ed upon her face s he knew that he understood her ; and

,

she came to see that for a mother to exalt her sons at the
expense of other s merely because they are hers and b e
,

cause she loves them , is but another and more subtle form
of s elfi s h n es s , f or wh i ch there i s no place in the kingdom
of heaven .
 CH APTER XXV

T WO M E N OF J E RI CH O

J esn e came down toward Jerich e o n hi s last journey to

J eru s a lem .H e had already told his twelve di sciple s that
they were going to the Passover in order that all the ,

things written by the old prophets concerning the S on o f

man should be accomplished ; that he should be delivered
unto the chief priests and unto the scribe s who sh ould ,

condemn him t o death and should deliver him t o the

,

Gentiles and that they shoul d scourge him and spit upon
, ,

him and kill him and that o n the third day he sh o uld
, ,

rise again .

The disciples had n o t fully understood what he meant ;

but one of them Juda s Iscariot had been much di stre s s ed
, ,

by these words o f the Master Judas had himself been

.

ill treated in the past before he knew J esus and the

-

, ,

thought that he wa s going to have more trouble made him

frown and mutter to himself All the way up to J ericho
.

he was silent and preoccupied H e wondered how the .

others could s mile and talk a s if nothing had happened .

To him the prediction of Jesus that they were going to

meet with persecution wa s a more important happening
than the healing o f the sick the lame and the blind
,
.

Judas felt that he had had enough of trouble in the past .

H e wanted the kingdom of heaven t o appear in the form of

earthly glory as so many other s do at the present time
,
.

The roads along whi ch they travelled that day were no

longer the blo s soming lanes of Galilee , bu t the stony ways
247
24 8 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
to the north of Jeru s a lem — the road to J erich e The city .

of J eri ch o itself was rather a pleasant pla ce with its ,

gardens o f spices it was at the junction of several routes ,

and there were always strangers there As the Master .

and his friends approached the city they were j oined by

many people S ome of them had seen J esus before in
.

other places and really believed that he was the Messiah

,

whom God had sent to save the J ews O thers and by .

,

far the greater number followed him out of curiosity

,
.

For the fame of J es u s had now spread all over S yria and ,

wherever he went he was followed by crowds S ome wh o .

,

were weary of the world wanted to hear about the king

,

dom of heaven ; others wanted to be healed of their dis

ea s es ; others still wanted the coppers which Judas carried
, ,

in the moneybag and which the Master always shared

with those wh o had no food .

It seemed to the disciples that the face of J esu s wa s

ve ry sad that day H e had been walking alone before
.
,

them and he had walked with his head bent as i f in

,

troubled thought For Jes u s understo od what the disciples

;

did not seem to grasp that the priests and Pharisees

,

were already plotting his death Yet not withstanding .

,

this knowledge he intended to go down to Jeru s a lem for

,

the fea s t of the Passover H e mig ht have escaped his.

enemies by going back again into Galilee but he would ,

not go back ; for it seemed to him that God had told him
to go fo rward that the prophesies must be f ulfilled to the
,

letter The old prophets had declared as Js sus had told

.
,

his disciples that the Messiah when he came shoul d be

, , ,

betrayed by the Jews and mocked and scourged and

, , ,

killed It was strange that none of the disciples except

.
,

Judas had seemed to understand So Jes u s walked sadl y

,
.

at the head of hi s little company of follower s as they ,

came down to Jericho .

250 S I OR I E S F R O
‘
M THE NEW TESTAMENT

with his hands But the little son wa s dead and every
.
,

one else who had loved Bartim aeus wa s dead ; and a s no

one would give a blind man wor k to do Bartim aeus had ,

fin a lly laid aside his pride and sat down in the dust by
the wayside to beg N ot every one wh o holds out an u n
.

washed hand and asks the passers by for pennies h a s -

come to that s ad state through laziness .

“ ”
I f I could only see ! moaned Bartim aeus to himself .

I f I could only see the sun which now warms me with

i t s heat ! If I could see the face of the kind little boy who
seems to have forgotten me this day ! But perhaps he i s
playing somewhere with other children bless his heart ! ,
”
A nd I a m not yet so very hungry after all ,
.

In the distance Bartim aeus heard the sound of many

footsteps and the babble of many voices What could it .

b e he wondered ?
,
S ome passing caravan of traders ,

maybe who would fill his hand with pennies so that he

, ,

could pay the mother of the little boy for the bread and
meat and for the bite of hot cake which she gave him
,

every night The noise of the approaching mult itude

.

drew nearer and nearer ; but there were so many voices

on the air that no one noticed the quavering tones of the
blind beggar .

S uddenly he heard through the sound of many foot

,

falls a light pattering step which b e recognised It was

, .

h i s friend the little boy

,
H e felt the child s soft hands
.
’

upon his own stretched out as usual for alms ; but there
,

wa s nothing in those hands The boy had forgotten the

.

bread and meat !

“ ”
What is i t ? cried Bartim aeus clutching t h e child , .

”
Who i s passing ? Tell me quick !
“
J es u s o f N a z a ret h passeth by said the sweet voice
,

of the child “
My mother told me he was coming
.
”
.

The heart of blind Bartim aeu s leaped beneath his

 TWO M EN OF J ERICHO
rag s H e had heard of J esus of N azareth and how he
.

had raised the dead from their graves and had given sight
to the blind A nd in a loud voice he cried
.

J esu s thou so n of David have mercy on me ! ”

, ,
”
B e silent cried the men wh o went bef o re J esus
, ,

be silent beggar and do not tr o uble the Master

, , .

But Bartim aeus would not be s ilent H e cried again .

and again each time louder than bef o re

,
“
J esus thou s o n of David have mercy on me ! So n
, ,
”
of David have mercy on me !
,

It s eemed to Bartim aeus at that moment that i f J e s us

of N azareth could only hear h i s voice above the n o ise o f
the multitude i f he could o nl y call loudly enough t o make
,

him hear that the marvellous man of whom s o many

,

stories were told would restore the sight to h i s blinded

eyes H i s heart beat violently There was a sound a s of
. .

waters in his ears H is old clawlike hands clutched

.

the hand s of the little boy until the child winced J s sus .

o i N azareth — who gave s ight t o the blind !

And Jesus a s he passed by heard the voice o f some

, ,

one calling on him for mercy And he forg ot the trouble .

that wa s waiting for him in Jerusalem H ow could he .

think of himself when some one cried for mercy ? T here

,

was in the voice he heard a tone of conviction o f faith ,

.

S urely the man who called like that believed on him .

Then the Master coming nearer saw the blind man by

, ,

the wayside h i s ragged garment trailing in the dust h i s

, ,

thin hands groping in the air hi s sightless eyes wide open ,

now in the sunshine And a great pity filled the heart .

o f Je su s
. H e wanted t o do a ll the good he could in the
little time that wa s left to him H e told one of the d i s .

c i ples t o bring the blind man to him .

“ ”
B e of good comfort said the disciple to Bartim aeus
,
”
he calleth thee .
252 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TE STAM ENT

Then those wh o watched saw a sight which they never

I o rgo t They s a w the face of a beggar old seamed with
.
, ,

wrinkles and unclean with sightless eyes become sud

, ,

d en ly beauti ful A fl a m e blazed behind that wrinkled

.

—
countenance the flame of faith Casting aside his tat .

t ered dust stained cloak blind Bartim aeus staggered to

,
-

his feet stretching out his hands as i f groping to fi n d the

, ,

wa y . The disciple would have led him to the Master ;

but the little boy the beggar s friend slipped quickly
,
’
,

between them .

“
I always lead Bartim aeus said the child and it
, ,

wa s he wh o led the blind beggar to J es u s .

“
What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee ? asked ”

Jesus when Bartim aeus stood before him

,
.

“ ”
That I may receive my sight the blind man an ,

s wered and hi s tones thrilled the heart of Js sus

,
.

“ ”
R ecei ve t h y s igh t ! said the Master The power in .

hi s voice was indescribable It wa s a command , which .

no believing soul could resist It reminded the disciples .

“
of that other time when he had said Lazarus come , ,
”
fort h .

And the spirit of the blind man which came from ,

God and which recogni s ed the call of Jesus even as ,

Lazarus had recognised i t — the spi rit of the blind man

s tirred behind his eyes S uddenl y the darkness in which
.

he had lived so long changed to a glimmering twilight ,

the blackness became greyne s s Then the greyness wa s .

shot across with streaks of ro sy white which changed -

and moved and circled before him And in the moving .

brightness he s aw a face At fi rs t he thou ght it wa s t h e

.

face of God ; then looking closer , he realised that it Wa s

,

the face of a man— a man wh o stood before him Moving .

his eyes , he s a w other faces and forms and behind the ,

form s were tree s , and the sky— yes and the bri lliant sun i ,
 TW O M EN OF J ERICHO
Th blind man unable to endure s o much light after
e ,

hi s long darkness covered hi s eyes with h i s h an d s

, ,

c rying
“ ”
I see ! I see !
And Jesus said
Thy faith hath made thee whole .

Then the blind man taking h i s hands away from h i s

,

dazzled eyes Opened them again slowly carefully until

, , ,

he saw once more the face which he had seen fi rs t — the

face of Jes u s of N azareth which he had called to him out
,

of the darkness wherein he dwelt H e wa s s o abs o rbed .

in looking at that face that he forgot all else until he ,

heard a little wistful voice :

“ ”
Bartim aeus Bartim aeus will you not look at m e ?
, ,

Turning toward the voice he saw the face of a little

,

boy s weet and tender with wide eyes raised to h i s A nd

, , .

Bartim aeu s wondered i f he had died sudde nl y and gone

to heaven ; f or the face of the little boy wa s like the face
of his o wn child dead twenty year s before
, .

“
Follow me said the loving voice of J esus as he
, ,

moved on toward the city of Jeri cho .

And Bartim aeus who had been blind so long and

,

wh o n o w saw took in hi s hand the hand of the little child

, ,

and the two walked slowly after J esus But every few .

steps the old man turned and looked down at the face o f
the boy And whenever he looked down he smiled
.
,
.

H ow lovely the world wa s ! The trees we re the tender

green of spring and many o f them were in bl o ssom Th e
,
.

sky was a pure blue and here and there soft fl eecy clouds
, ,

moved slowly across the heavens It seemed to Bartim aeus .

that the world was far more beautiful than when he was
young In those days he had ta ken the beauty of the
.

world as a matter of course ; but now after his l o ng blind ,

n ess it came to him as a revelation H e wondered that

,
.
254 STORIES FRO M THE NEW T ESTAMENT
he had never noticed in the old day s how graceful were
the branches of the palm tree s as they waved in the -

breeze .

In the city of Jer i cho the news had gone f orth that
,

Jesus of N azareth was coming and there was great excite ,

ment among the people Crowds filled the s treet s a ll

.
,

looking in the direction from which J esu s wa s said to be

approaching A s men stood together they told each other
.
,

stories they had heard about this man whom so many ,

persons believed to be the Messiah the Jews were waiting

for how a blazing star had appeared in the E ast before
his birth ; how he had turned water into wine at the
marriage in Cana of Galilee ; how for the last two years
he had been travelling around the country working miracles
and healing the s ick and a ffli ct ed But oftener than any .
,

other s tory men told of how he had raised Lazarus from

,

the dead in Bethany near Jeru s alem only a little while

, ,

before .

Among the men who live d in Jericho wa s a rich tax

collector or publican named Zacch aeus All the Jews of
, ,
.

the city disliked him as they always di s liked those who

,

gathered the taxes for t h e Romans The word publican .

in S yria meant a tax collector and so unpopular were

-

these o ffici a ls that the phrase publicans and sinners

,
"

was in common use among the Pharisees and S adducees .

A self res pecting Jew would not eat in the house of a

-

publican and when he met one in the street , h e would

,

hardly speak to him .

N ow this publican Zacchae u s wa s a man of very s hort

, ,

stature ; and when he saw the crowd which came down the
street before J s sus and when he looked at the other crowds
,

gathered along the way he realised that he himself would

,

no t be able to see the Master at all because he was so ,

short Se he ran on ahead of the people and climbed up

.
,
256 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

though he wa s obliged to serve the R oman s and to take

their ta xes For Jes u s felt the great loving heart whi ch
.

’
beat under the publican s coat .

When the J ew s in the crowd saw Zacch aeus walking

beside Jes u s and when they s a w that the Master wa s going
,
’
to t h e pu blican s house they were amazed A nd they , .

murmured among themselves

“ ”
H e 1 s gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner !
They forgot the things which Jes u s had said on s imi
“
lar occasions : I a m not come to call the righteous but ,
“
sinners And. They that be whole need not a physi
, ,
”
o ian .And What man of you having a hundred
, ,

sheep i f he lose on e of them doth not leave the ninety

, ,

and nine in the wilderness and go after that which i s

-

lost until he fin d i t ? And when he hath found i t h e

, ,
”
layeth it on hi s shoulders rej oicing For Jesus me a nt .

by all these sayings that it wa s the very sinners whom the

Pharisees despised that he specially loved to bring to t h e
,

knowledge of the kingdom of heaven H e ate with publi .

cans and gathered sinners about him that he might make

them good And so the Pharisees wh o did not care to
.
,

make other people good but only wanted to s eem good ,

themselves were shocked

,
.

Zacch aeus w a s so delighted at the idea of entertaining

the Master at his house that he called a ll his servants t o
,

gether and gave orders that a great feast should be pre

pared not only for Jesus and hi s disciples and friends
, ,

but for everybody else in the crowd of his followers wh o

wa s hun gry And the crowd as we know included Barti
.
, ,

m aeu s wh o had been the blind beggar but wh o n o w saw ,

more clearly than others who had not been blind .

So Barti m aeus did not need after all the bread a n d , ,

meat which the little boy had forgott en to bring to him

for his dinner For both he and the child coul d eat at
.
 TW O M EN OF J ERICHO

the house of the ri ch Zacch aeus wh o loved all the w o rl d

,

that day because he loved the Master A nd you will a l .

ways fin d that that i s one of the surest proofs of loving

Jes u s
.

When the feast was begun and Zacch aeus the publican,

sat at his own ta ble with J esus beside him and the d isci ,

ples and friends were all around he wa s s o h a ppy that he ,

wanted to make a public demonstration of h i s faith in the

Master and in the truths which he taught A nd the little .

man stood up before them all and said : ,

“
Behold Lord the half of my goods I will give to the
, ,

poor ; and i f I have taken anything from any man by false

”
accusation I will restore him fourfold
, .

The heart of Jes u s wa s touched by this declaration of

Zacch aeus and he said to his disciples and friends and
, ,

to all the others wh o listened :

“
This day i s salvation come to this house forsomuch ,

as he also i s a son of Abraham For the S on of man i s

.

come to seek and to save that which was lost .

The disciple s greeted Zacch aeus as a brother and as a

true follower of Jesus And Ba rt i m eeu s wh o had been
.
,

blind watched the company from the doorway ; for the

,

room in which Jesus sat was not large enough to hold

every one and some of them had to eat outside A nd
,
.

Bart im aeus rej oiced because the rich Zacch aeus whose
, ,

voice he well knew though of course he had not seen him

,

before had never passed the wall where he sat and begged
, ,

without putting money into his outstretched hand N ow .

that Bartim aeus could see perhaps Zacch aeus would give
,

him work to do and pay him wages so that he need no ,

longer be a beggar by the wayside .

As we know Je s us wa s f o n d of teaching by parables

, ,

that is by telling stories with a hidden moral And that

,
.

day at the fea s t given by Zacch aeus he told the parable of

258 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
the talents They were coming toward Jeru s a lem now
.
,

and Jes u s knew that his work— and his life— were nearing
an end H e wanted to impress upon his friends that
.
,

when he was gone they should each make good u s e of the

,

treasure of faith and love which he had given them H e .

wanted them to increase their faith by use and not hide ,

it away H e wanted them to feel when he was gone that

.
, ,

he was not gone forever ; but that he shoul d return and

demand of them an accounting of their s ervices for him
and for God So he told them the parable of the talents
.
,

and there wa s a hidden meaning in every word of i t .

Jes u s said
“
For the kingdom of heaven is a s a man travell ing
into a far country wh o called his own servants and de
, ,

livered unto them his goods .

“
And unto one he gave fiv e talents to another two , ,

and to another one to every man according to his several

ability ; and straightway took his j ourney .

“
Then he that had received the five talents went and
traded with the same and made them other five talents
,
.

And likewi s e he that had received two he also gained ,

other two But he that had received one went and digged
.
,

in the earth and hi d his lord s money

,
’
.

After a long time the Lord of those s ervants cometh

, ,

and reckoneth with them .

And so he that had received fiv e talents came and

‘

brought other fiv e talents saying Lord thou deliveredst

, , ,

unto me five talent s : behold I have gained beside them ,

fiv e talents more .

H is Lord said unto him Well done thou good and , ,

faithful servant : thou hast been faithful over a few things ,

I will make thee rul er over many things : enter thou into
the joy of thy lord .

“
H e also that had received two talents came and s aid ,
260 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

spread the knowledge of Christ and of the kingdom of

heaven ; that they must teach to others every beautiful
thing which Jes u s had taught to them ; that they must
double the knowledge of God and H is love in the world ,

as the talents given to the faithful servants had been

doubled in their master s absence
’
.

So great was the charm of J es u s as he told the story ,

that every man present des ired above all other things to
, ,

prove himself a faithful servant— even Judas Iscariot .

The dinner was now ended The Master rising from

.

the table and calling his disciples , prepared to go on

toward J erusalem.

To the two men of J eriche Zacch aeus and Bartim aeus

, ,

the pass ing of Jes u s through their city had been the b e
ginning of a new li fe A nd t o day we should probably
.
-

never think of the little Jewish town of J ericho had it

,

not been for the eager and peculiar response of those t wo

“
men to the summons : J esu s of N a z a ret h passeth by
.
 CHAPTER XXV I

TH E A LA B A S T E R B O X

It was s ix days before the feast of the Passover when ,

Jes u s and hi s disciples and friends came up to J e ru s a lem

for the last time But th ey did not go at once into the
.

great and unsympathetic city where the pries t s and ,

Pharisees were even then stirring up anger against the

Master They stopped firs t at the pretty little village o f
.

Bethany the home of Martha and Mary and Lazarus

, ,

where Jes u s some weeks before had raised h i s friend from

the tomb .

Bethany was only a sho rt walk from Jerusalem It .

wa s on the summit of a hill the slopes of which were ,

covered with olive trees and fi g trees and palm trees

-

,
-

,
-
.

J csus had always loved i t since fi rs t he f o und there the

,

delightful home of Lazarus and his s isters A nd n o w .

e specially as he and his friends drew slowly and some

,

what wearily toward J eru s a lem the tranquil slopes of the ,

green hill looking to ward Bethany seemed the way to a

haven of peace Though it wa s so near to J eru s a lem the
.
,

centre of strife and discord J es u s knew that at Bethany,

he would fin d o nl y harmony and love And so he went .

there,

The family at Bethany had been expecting him for

several days Lazarus even more than the others was
.
, ,

anxious t o see J esus S ince he had been brought back

.

from the tomb into the light of the sun many things had ,

happened t o t ro u ble the brother of Ma rtha and Mary H e .

261
262 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
had become altogether too famous for his peace of mind .

Whenever he descended the quiet hill covered with olives ,

and fi gs and palms and went into the busy city of Jeru
,

salem he was beset by all sorts of people wh o a s ked him

,

questions about the life beyond the tomb H ad he seen .

God ? H ad he talked with E lias ? H ad he been asleep

in the bosom of Abraham when Jesus called him back to
earth ? Lazarus did not know how to answer these ques
tions H e did not think it was right to answer them at
.

all H e wa s not certain that J esus would wish him to

.

answer them A nd yet some o f those wh o questioned

.
,

him seemed honest in their desire for knowledge of that

unknown world where he had been .

But there were others whose questions did not seem to

be honest These were the Pharisees those rigid fol
.
,

lowers of the letter of the Jewish law wh o cared not for

the spi rit S ome of their queries filled Lazarus with
.

uneasiness of so u l H ad b e seen S atan the prince of

.
,

devils ? Was it not by the help of S atan that Jes u s had

called him back from the grave ? When the Pharisees ,

with sidelong glances asked these questions Lazaru s

, ,

would usually turn and walk away In the beginni n g .

“ ”
he had answered simply , N o but as the Pharisees ,

troubled him more and more he tried to avoid them ,

.

If J es u s would o nly come back to Bethany and tell him

what to say when people talked to him like that !
But there were other happening s which troubled Laz
“

arus even more than the questions of the Pharisees '

.

S om eti m es when he wa lk ed a lo n e upon the hill below

,

Bethany he would see a suspiciou s looking person fol

,
-

lowing him O nce in the dark an unknown man had

.
, ,

nearly pushed him o ff a precipice ; and s everal times he

had been accosted by insolent stranger s wh o tried to
involve him in a quarrel .
264 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
loathsome disease which h a d made people afraid t o come
near him ; but no one wa s afraid of him any more .

When S imon and Martha saw that Jes u s was sad they ,

determined t o cheer him with a pleasant supper And t o .

this supper they invited not o nl y his disciples and friends ,

but many of their neighbours and a few persons from ,

Jerusalem wh o had met the Master on the way and h a d

followed him to Bethany The family at Bethany were
.

just a little proud of their friendship with so great a man

as Jes u s There is often that little touch of pride i n
.

even the purest love .

Most of the labour of preparing the supper fell as ,

usual on the broad shoul ders of Ma rtha ; for Mary want ed

,

to s it at the feet of J esus and to hear him talk S he .

wanted also to ta lk t o that other Mary wh o wa s ca lled Ma ry ,

Magdalene because she came from the Village of Magdala .

S he with several of the other women wh o were friends of

,

J es u s had come up with him to J eru s a lem for the feast of

,

the Passover The house at Bethany was ve ry full that

.

afternoon .

It wa s a large company that sat down to supper and ,

the faithful Martha se rved them At the table besides .

,

J esus and his friends and disciples and the invited

guests were Lazarus and S imon the master of the hous e
, , .

E ven at the table it wa s plain t o those who loved

,

J es u s that he was very sad H e talked as usual ; he even

.
,

smiled But when he told a lovely sto ry about the king

.

dom of heaven it seemed to the t wo Marys who watched

,

him that he wa s wishing he might be there himself and ,

away from the sadness of the world They wondered .

what hidden sorrow had come to him They did n ot .

know that the priests and Pharisees were at that very mo

ment p lo tt i n g t o kill him— but Jes u s knew .

Lazarus was so happy to see Jesus that he did not

 T HE ALABASTER BOX

even notice the sadness of the Master H e s a t near him .

at the table and could h a rdly take h i s eyes from the face
,

he loved so much H e wa s gl a d now that J es u s h a d

.

brought him back to life even though the Ph a risees and

,

their hired servants had lately made th a t li fe a burden to

him by their persecutions H e h a d been afraid ; but wh o
.

could be afraid when J esus wa s with him ? H e did n o t

know poor
— L a z a ru s l—
that those wh o desire to d o evi l
will do i t in spite of God and a ll H i s angels
, .

Lazarus was too much absorbed in the Ma s ter to notice

with W hat strange eyes all the neighbours present were
“
looking at himself The man who had been dead a n d
.

buried for four days ! And here he wa s eating and ,

drinking as i f nothing had happened to him

, Wh y his .
,
”
cheeks were even red ! So thought these good friends
and neighbours of Lazarus and they were s o excited that ,

they could har dly eat Martha s good supper ’

.

But though they stared at Lazarus they stared still

, ,

harder at Jesu s A man who could s a y to the dead

.
,
”
A rise ,
and they arose ! It is d i fficul t for u s in our ,

cold and skeptical age even to imagine the feelings of

,

these people about the Master Among the nations of the .

E ast there is more faith and more enthusiasm T hat is .

why all the great religions of the earth have come fro m
A sia. The men and women wh o were gathered there at
the house of S imon the leper were not afraid or ashamed
to show thei r feelings .

Among th ose who were happiest to be with Jes u s that

evening was Mary Magdalene the beautiful woman who ,

had been possessed by seven devils but whom the Master ,

had saved and made good again S he cou ld never do .

enough for J es u s either in love or service H ad he to ld

,
.

her to lie down and die she w o ul d have done it gladly

,
.

l
S he woul d have done anyt hing for him glad y except to
—
266 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

go away from him The Catholi c Church has enroll ed

.

the name of this woman among the great saints because ,

she loved J esus so much .

As Mary Magdalene watched the Master at table and

reali s ed that he was s ad she was filled with a great desire
,

t o do something to make him happy But what coul d she

.

d o ? H e seemed to want nothing for himself except love ,

and that all these people gave him in abundance But .

Mary knew that Jes u s enj oyed perfumes as all O rientals ,

do . A nd you must never forget in reading and thinking

about Jesu s that he wa s an O riental— that i s a dweller in ,

the E ast You will never understand him i f you j udge

.

him by the standards of the colder West H i s heart was .

on fi re with love for a ll the world and that is why the

,

world has worshipped him for nineteen hundred years .

The most loving and affectionate person you ever knew

would seem cold hea rted i f compared with J s sus It
-
.

takes a great love for the world to win an answering love

from the world for nineteen hundred years .

Mary Magdalene remembered that Jes u s enj oyed per

fumes Perhaps the subtle i n flu en ce of sweet odours
.

would make him forget his sadness N ow Mary wa s not .

a poor woman as were so many of the followers of Jes u s

,
.

S he had beautiful j ewels and much gold and among her ,

possessions was an alabaster box filled with the very pre

c i o u s ointment of spikenard a sweet and lasting per
,

fume Desiring to make Jesus happy as well as to do

.
,

him some special honour before all these strangers Mary ,

brought the alabaster box into the room where Jes u s sat
at supper Then s he went and stood behind the Ma s ter
.
,

and breaking the alabaster box s h e poured a ll the pre

,

ci o u s ointment upon his head .

Immediately the whole room wa s filled with a de

lightful fragrance It seemed a s i f the winds from far
.
268 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

in Mary s action H e thought o n ly of the money value

’
.

of the ointment In the beginning of Judas s disciple

.
’

ship J esus knowing that he wa s not quite honest had

, , ,

given him their common purse to carry as a proof of his ,

trust But Judas had come to value more the purse and its
.

contents than he valued the deli cate proof of co n fi d en ce

in him which Jesus had made And now when he saw .
,

Mary lav ishing this precious perfume for love s sake he ’

,

w a s angry A nd he cried before all the assembled com

.
,

pany :
Wh y was not thi s ointment sold for much money ,
”
and given to the poor ? A nd he murmured against
Mary .

S trange to say J udas wh o now assumed to take such

, ,

an interest in the poor wa s among all the disciples the ,

one who really cared least for them H e had even .

obj ected on certain occasions in the past to opening the

, ,

purse which he carried when he wa s asked to distribute ,

alms to those who were in need .

The Master looked at J udas who sat there at the ,

ta ble with an angry frown on hi s dark face The glance .

of J esus wa s gentle even pitiful ; for he understood the

,

faul ts o f Judas better than any of the others understood

them better even than J ohn who di sliked him
—
For ,
.

J csus wa s one o f those rare beings wh o can love those wh o

are not lovable H e could see the refl ect i o n of God s
.
’

face even in a broken and di storting m irror .

A nd he now said to J udas

Let her alone ; why trouble ye her ? S he hath
”
wrought a good work upon me By this he probably .

meant that the s weet o d o u r of the ointment with the sight ,

of Mary s devotion as she knelt beside him wiping h i s feet

’

with her long hair had lightened the trouble which had
,

weighed upon his spirit A nd he said .

 T HE ALABASTER BOX
F o r ye have the poor with you always and when ,

ever ye will ye may do them good ; but me ye have n o t

always .

“
S he hath done what s h e could : s h e i s come aforetime
t o anoint my body to the burying For ever in the .

thought of J es u s now was the knowle d ge that he was s o on

to die.

H e looked from the disciples to Ma ry still kneeling ,

th ere at hi s feet and a deep feeling f o r her dev o ti o n

,

s urged up in his tender heart H e realised that the ages

.

to come woul d un dersta nd her and love her for all that ,

s h e had su ffered through repentance and through love f o r

her master And he said to his disciples

.

“
V erily I say unto you Wheresoever this gospel shall
,

be preached throughout the whole w o rld this als o that s h e ,

hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her .

And Judas wa s ashamed though he w a s still ang ry

,
.

In some s elfi s h and bitter hearts to be made ashamed i s ,

t o be made treacherous and it w a s so with J udas

,
For .

the firs t time since he had walked with J esus he felt ,

resentm ent against him S ometimes in the past the Ma s

.

t e r had reproved him but never publicly like this ; for

,

never before had Judas so far lost h i s self control -

.

H e arose and sta lked out of the room As he passed .

the seat of Jes u s he bruised h i s naked foot on a fragment

,

of the broken alabaster box which was lying on the fl o o r .

Mary s till knelt at the feet of the Master wiping them ,

with her long hair And the fragrance of the spikenard

.

filled t h e room bringing to the hearts of all present a

,

keener reali sation of their love for Jes u s .

27 2 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAM ENT
ci t em en t of preparation for the short j o urney to J eru
salem .

They started With Jesus were his twelve di sciples ,

.

his friends from Bethany and many others It wa s a ,

.

large c o mpany which came down the hi ll with the Mas ,

ter walking at their head When they were near to the .

village of Bethphage at the Mount of O lives J esus

, ,

sto pped H e stood still a moment thinking Then he

.
,
.

said t o two of his disciples

Go into the village over against you and straightway ,

ye shall fin d an ass tied and a colt with her : loose them

, ,

and bring them unto me .

“
And i f any man say aught unto y u ye shall say o
, ,

The Lord hath need of them ; and straightway he will

send them .

The men went away as Jesus had told its Brig, ,

they did not know of what he had been thinking when ,

he stopped suddenly a moment before For he had .

remembered a verse from the ancient prophe s ies relating

“
to the Messiah which s aid : Tell ye the daughter of
,

S ion Behold the King cometh u nto thee meek and

, , , ,
”
sitting upon an ass and a colt the foal of an ass
,
It .

had seemed to J es u s that this sudden memory wa s a com

mand from God to f u lfil the prophesies in order that ,

men afterward might believe .

The two disciples went into the Village of Bethphage .

And there they found at a place where two roads met a

, ,

mother donkey with a young colt— j ust as the Master had

said they would And they loosed them and sta rted to
.
,

come away .

Then certa in men wh o stood near asked them what

they were doing and wh y they were ta king the donkey
‘
,

and t h e co lt .

“
The men answered as Jcsus had commanded : The ,
 ENTRY I NTO J ER U SALEM

Lord hath need of them A nd the men made n o fu rther

.

obj ection .

J esus as he stood there , saw them c o m i n g : the tw o

,

men the long eared donkey with the soft a n d gentle eyes
,
-

and running beside her the little c o lt so young th a t it ,

wa s still rather unsteady on i t s thin legs .

S ome of the disciples laid thei r c loaks a cross the

donkey to make a seat of honour for the Master and
, ,

Jesus sat upon the donkey s back A nd as he sta rte d ’

.

slowly the little colt following close behind other di sci

, ,

ples spread thei r cloaks before him in the wa y s o that he ,

might ri de into the city on a carpet made of the garments

of his followers .

A nd others of the men ran on before and cut down ,

branches of the palm trees spreading them als o in hi s

-

p. ha
: a t he feet of h i s donkey might tread on green
t n

ness It wa s a beauti ful sight a sight which h a d never

.
,

before been seen in the neighbourhood of J eru s a lem It .

wa s a sponta neous demonstration of love and enthusiasm ,

and as the disciples waved palm branches before their

Ma ster they cried with j oyou s voices
,
“
H o s anna t o the son of David : Blessed i s he that
cometh in the name of the Lord ; H osanna in the highest .

As they came a little nearer to the city they were met ,

by other men they knew Galileans from the north fro m, ,

Capernaum and the other cities by the lake men w h o

, ,

had loved J esus for a long time and wh o had come d own ,

to Jerusalem thi s week for the feast of the Pass o ver .

They had heard the night before that Jes u s wa s in Beth

any and had come out to meet him also waving green
, ,

branches and crying

“
H osanna to the son of David : Blessed i s h e that
cometh in the name of the Lord ; H osanna in the highest .

And as those who were with Jesus saw these others

27 4 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TE STAMENT

coming and heard their welcoming voice s they cried

, ,

themselves with redoubled fervour so that from before ,

him and behind him and fro m eve ry s ide came a chorus
, ,

of glad voices all saying :,

“
H osanna to the son of David : Blessed i s he that
cometh in the name of the Lord H osanna in the highest .

And Jesus forgot the sadness whi ch had oppressed

him the night before and for many day s before that
,
.

H e felt a s i f he were really coming into the kingdom of

God with all his loved ones with him H e n e w thought
, .

of J eru s a lem as the H oly City —not as the stronghold of

priests and Pharisees At that moment it was to him
.

the Jeru s a lem of the prophet s the city that all hearts ,

yearned toward J eru sa lem the golden

,
.

But going a little farther o n still with his friends b e ,

fore and behind him crying H osannas Jesus turned a ,

bend of the road and came out upon the side of the
Mount of O lives H ere he saw spread out before him the
.

city of Jerusalem itself the city of houses and of the

,

great Temple with its splendid sweep of terraces and its

,

glittering metal covered roof This was the r ea l Jeru

-
.

salem of the priests and Pharisees of wrangling scribes ,

and self —righteous doctors the J eru sa lem which cared ,

only for the letter of the Jewi sh law and cared nothing ,

for the love which Jesus brought i t The J erusalem of .

his dreams was not thi s material city but a city builded ,

in the heart — the a ew Jeru s a lem .

H e remembered h o w a s a boy he had come here with

his parent s making the long j ourney from Galilee on
,

foot one of a happy company of fellow pilgrim s neigh

,
-
,

bours and friends camping at night by the wayside

,
.

H e remembered how wonderful the Temple had seemed to

him then at the age of twelve ; how on entering the sanc
, ,

t u a ry he had thought that he was going into God s own

,
’
276 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
see the palm branches strewn before J es u s as i f he were ,

a king and to hear the joyful shouts of his friends pro

,

claiming him as the Messiah A nd the Pharisees pushed

.

their way through the crowd until they came to the place
where J es u s rode slowly on the donkey with the tender ,

little colt beside him And they said angrily to Jesus :

.

“
R ebuke thy disciples .

But Jcsus knowing that the time was come for him
,

to declare himself in the unbelieving city answered the ,

Pharisees :
“
I tell you that i f these should hold their peace the
, ,

stones would immediately cry out .

The Pharisees were nearly distracted They said to .

one another :
“
Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing ? behold the ,
”
world i s gone afte r him !
A nd it seemed as J es u s came into the city of J eru
,

salem that the world had indeed gone after him as the
, ,

Pharisees said ; for the fame of his miracle in raising

Lazarus from the dead had grown until every man and
woman in the city des ired to see the N azarene who could
work such wonders E ven those wh o were not willing to
.

commit themselves by strewing palm branches in his

way wanted at least to look upon him And bes ides the
,
.

friends and Galileans wh o had come with him along the

Mount of O lives road there were other Galileans and
,

friends wh o met him at the entrance of the city so that ,

his progress toward the Temple was the progress of a

conqueror .

And the chief priests and Pharisees looking on at his ,

triumph wagged their old bearded heads as much as to

, ,

say
S hout , fools and strew palm bra nches ! But no
,

man who says that he is the Messiah of the Jews shall

 ENTRY I NTO J ERU SALEM
live in our day N o man shall live who w ould d estroy
.

our power and place himself in the seat o f Mo ses ”

, .

And still the j oyous disciples went on crying

H osanna : Blessed is he that c o meth in the name of
the Lord : H osann a in the highest .

Men wh o had never seen J es u s before as they s a w and ,

“
heard this strange process ion asked excitedly : Wh o i s ,
”
this ?
And from every side came the answer :
Thi s i s J es u s the prophet o f N azareth in Galilee
, .

And the Pharisees could fin d no one t o listen to them

that day when they tried to expound the letter of the
,

Jewish law saying the same old things which had been
,

uttered from generation to generation and whi c h had l o st ,

their meaning from overuse A nd with every moment a s .

the crowd round Jesus grew larger the Pharisees a n d ,

pries t s be came angrier and more troubled A nd several .

of them now f o und courage to repeat what Caiaphas alone

had said a short time before :
“
I t is expedient for u s that one man should die for
the people and that the whole nation perish not
, .

A nd they further reasoned a s t o how they could put

Lazarus out of the way ; for it seemed to them that h i s
being with J es u s that day increa sed the c ro wd round the
Mast er from Galilee And there were als o with J es u s those
.

men from Bethany and Jeru sa lem who had witnessed the
raising of Lazarus the men who had sto od by the open
,

door of the tomb who had heard the Ma s ter ca ll with a

,
“ ”
loud voice Lazarus come forth ! and who had s een
, ,

the dead man walk out of the tomb into the sun li ght ,

with the look of bewilderment on h i s face These men .

were loud in their assertions of the truth of the mira cl e

which they had witnessed .

Jesus came up to the great Temple which crowned ,

 27 8 STORIES F R O M T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
the city of Jerusalem H e saw the porches with their .
,

row s of pillars and marble pavements familiar to him ,

since boyhood H e went through the court of the Gen

.

tile s , beyond which onl y J ew s could pass H e saw again .

the great bronze gates so heavy that it took twenty por ,

ters to open and close them .

In this Temple was the H oly Place where stood the ,

altar of incense the tables of shewbread and the golden

,

candl esticks You have read in a former story that in

.

the innermost part of the T emple wa s the H oly of H olies ,

which was entered only once a year where stood the A rk ,

of the Covenant the most sacred of all things to the

,

J ews You remember that thi s Ark wa s a chest of acacia

.

wood covered with gold and that over the lid of the
, ,
“ ”
chest which wa s called the mercy seat two angels
, ,

extended their wings that in the Ark were kept the two
tablets of stone on which were written the Ten Command
ments which God had delivered to Moses on Mount S inai .

Between the H oly Place and the H oly of H olies there

wa s a veil called the V eil of the Temple too sacred for
, ,

any one t o touch except the H igh Priest You must .

remember thi s veil because during the week whi ch was ,

to follow something very remar kable was to happen to i t

, ,

something which shoul d be told for generation after gen

era t i o n until the end of the world .

As J esus stood there in the Temple again he heard , ,

a s in boyhood t h e musician s s inging the Psalms which

,

predict the coming of the Messiah

‘
Th oa a rt my t h i s cla y h a ve I begott en t h ee
S ea ; .

As h o f m e, a n d I wi ll gi ve t h ee t h e h ea th en f or t h i n e
'

ea r t h th y
i n h er i t a n ce, an d th e a tt er m os t p a r t s of th e f or
p oss es s i on .

“
I wi ll m a k e t h y n am e t o be r em em ber ed i n a ll gen er a
t i on s ; t h er efor e s h a ll t h e p eep lep r a i s e th ee f or ever a n d ever .
 280 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TE STAMENT

glo r i fied ,and his fri ends were expect i ng a sign t o appear
in the heavens— a phys ical sign which should announce ,

that the old law was passed away and that the kingdom ,

of God wa s to begin Al l the time they were in the Tem

.

ple enclosure with Jes u s they were looking for this sign .

Would it be a blaz ing light in the heavens a sta r in the ,

dayt ime a sta nding still of the sun ? We must remem

,

ber that in those days the science of astronomy was not

known as it is now and we must also remember that the
,

disciples of J esus were simple men with much faith and ,

love but little book learning And though they h ad

,
.

been with the Master nearly all the time for two or three
“

years they had not grasped the simple fact— s o clear to

,

Jesus — that the kingdom of heaven was to be found in

the h ea r t s of men and not in the courts of the great
,

Temple .

As the hours went by that fi rs t day at Jeru s a lem and ,

nothing happened except the healing of a few sick per

sons which they saw almost every day the disciples b e
, ,

gan to wonder Was not the S on of man to be glo ri fied

.
,

after all ? They had seen Jes u s perform so many mira

cles ! They felt that the glo ri fi ca t i o n of the S on of man
must be something d i fieren t t o anything they had known
before— something more extraordinary than the raising
of a dead man or the turning of water into wine .

E ven the three men who had seen J es u s t ra n s figu red

on the mountain where there was no one but themselves
,

to behold the s ight , wanted something like that to hap

pen in this unbelieving and cynical J erusalem They .

“ ”
were hurt at being called foolish Galileans by the
haughty Pharisees and scri bes In Jeru s a lem the visitors
.

’
from Galilee were held in rather low esteem They did .

not speak their lan guage exactly as it was spoken in

Judaea for the Galileans had a characteristic dialect cer
, ,
 ENTRY I NTO J ERU SALEM
tain pecul iarities of which may be likened to the dropping
of the h among the lower classes in London E ven thei r .

enthusia s m in regard to the Temple wa s laughed at b v

those who lived always in the H oly C ity .

N ow they thought if J esus would only perf o rm some

, ,

great miracle right there in the Temple the haughty

, ,

dwellers in J eru s a lem would be obliged t o take b ac k t h e

sneering thing s which they had said The disciples remem .

bered that on a former Visit to the H oly City J es u s had

, ,
“
declared : Destroy thi s temple and I will rebuild it in ,

three days They did not know that he referred to

.

the temple of his own body ; that he meant that when his
body should be destroyed he would arise from the dead,

in three days N o they were inclined to ta ke all the

.
,

beautif u l and fi gu ra t i ve sayings of J es u s in a literal

s ense . Jesus wa s a great poet as well a s a great prophet ;
,

but there are always many persons even true hea rted ones ,
-

wh o do not under s tand poetry S ome of the most beau.

tiful poetry is not written in rhyme and there is n o ,

greater poetry in the world than many of the sayings o f

J es u s. E very real poet know s this .

As the evening shadow s drew do wn the crowd around ,

the Temple grew smaller ; in little groups and one by ,

one the people slipped away A nd Jes u s said to his

,
.

disciples that they woul d return to Bethany H e sta rted .

,

and the di s ciples followed him in silence A fte r all the .

triumph of h i s entry into the city they thought after t h e , ,

palm branche s strewed in h i s path and the shouts of his ,

“ ”
followers H osanna in the highest
,
he wa s going ba ck ,

to Bethany without being glo ri fied ! Perhaps it would

happen on the morrow ; perhaps he had some reason for
waiting ; perhaps it would be better for him to be glori
fi ed on the morro w one day nearer
,
to the great fe a st of
the Passover So they told themselves and each other
.
.
282 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
We should not be too much surpri sed because the dis
ci p les of J es u s often misunderstood him J es u s has been .

misunderstood by many noble souls for nearly two thou

sand years In the Middle Ages and even in later times
.
, ,

men have been tortured and burned at the stake by other

men who believed themselves to be followers of the Ma s
ter It is hard for smaller men to understand a man so
.

great as Jes u s H is sympathy was s o deep that he even

.

found excuses for sinners that i s he always tried to ,

under stand wh y people did wrong in order that he might ,

understand t h em and know how to show them a better

,

wa y It is always eas ier for u s t o blame other s than it is

.

to understand them Jes u s even loved Judas and num

.
,

bered him among his twelve disciples ; though he must

have known that Judas would betray him .

And as they walked slowly back to Bethany that even

ing afte r the day in Je ru salem Jesus must have known
, ,

what wa s passing in the mind of Judas how Judas wa s ,

thinking that if his Master was not going to be glo ri fied ,

in the brilliant way he had supp o sed he might not really ,

be the Messiah after all ,

For that thought was now in
.

the mind of the unhappy man from Kerioth .

Back to Bethany ! H ow the beauti ful peaceful place ,

appealed t o Jes u s after the noise and du s t and wrangling

,

of Jeru s a lem ! H ere was the quiet home of Mary and

Martha where there were no disputes H ere he could be
,
.

himself the gentle leader of friends who loved him as he

, ,

had been during those happy months when he had walked

the blossoming way s of Galilee The sternness which he .

wa s obliged to use with the hyp ocritical scribes and

Pharisees of J eru s a lem wa s not natural to J esu s Wrang
. .

ling and argument were not natural to him H e wanted .

t o teach by love J es u s never disputed about God

. He .

only a s ked his friends to love him and to believe in God .

 CHAPTER XXV III

TH E CLEA N SI N G OF T H E TE M PL E

Monday morning on the wa y back to J eru s a lem J es u s

, ,

did someth i ng whi ch astonished h i s di sciples I n t h e .

past they had s een him bring dead things to li fe but thi s ,

wa s the fi rs t time they had ever seen him destro y a n y

thing .

As they walked toward the city it wa s still early in ,

the morning and J es u s wa s hungry S eeing a fig tree in

, .
-

the dista nce bearing leaves he went toward i t h oping to

, ,

fin d fruit ; but when he came to the tree he found nothing

but leave s J esu s w i s hed to give his disciples a le s s o n
.

in the power of will in the power o f belief in one s o wn

,
’

ability to do the s eemingly impos s ible and he said to ,

the fig tree :
-

“
L et a o fr a i t gr ow on t h ee h ea cef or wa r cl for ever .

That evening when they pa s sed the fig tree again on

,
-

thei r return t o Bethany the disciples could hardly believe

,

their eye s for the tree which had been green and covered
,

with leave s in the morning was n ow yellow and shrivelled

, ,

a s i f a scorching fi re had to uched i t And they expressed

.

their amazement to Jesu s saying ,

“ ”
H ow soon i s the fi g tree withered away !
-

And Jesu s answered them with the look of power ,

st ill on hi s face the look with which he h a d withered t h e

,

u n fruitfu l tree
“
H ave fa i th in God .

For verily I s ay unto you That whosoever shall s a y,

286 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

unto this mounta in B e thou rem oved and be thou cast

, ,

into the sea ; and shall not doubt in his heart but shall ,

believe that those things which he saith shall come to

pass he shall have whatsoever he saith .

“
Therefore I s ay unto you What things soever ye de
,

sire when ye pray believe that ye receive them and ye

, , ,

shall h ave them .

Then the expression of his face softened and a tender ,

light came into his eyes as he continued ,

A nd when ye stand praying forgive if ye have aught , ,

against any : that you r Father also which is in heaven

may forgive you your trespasses .

But i f ye do not forgive neither w ill your father

,
”
which i s in heaven forgive your trespa s ses .

Jcsus meant by these words that in order to command

the powers of N ature b y the strength of one s belief in
,
’

God and in oneself as he had commanded those powers

,

in withering the fig tree it wa s necessary to put away all

-

er s on a l feeling all resentment a gainst others For per

p ,
.

sonal resentment is weakness and only the strong wh o , ,

are above personal weakness and resentment can com ,

mand the powers of Nature .

New Jesus in s t arting for Jerusalem that morning

,

had determined to do a very importa nt thing when he

should reach the Temple , a thing requiring great strength
of hi s will against the wills o i a large n u m b er o f other
“

persons And perhaps hi s action in withering the barren

.

fi g tree bes ide s being a lesson for the disciples was also
-

, ,

an exercise to strengt hen and s teady his own will .

For Je s us wa s dete rmined to cleanse the Temple at

Jerusalem from s om e of the impure and wicked things
w hich he had seen there the day before .

The Jews were always talking about purity Accord

'
.

i n g to the old law o i Mose s a man who had touched any

,
288 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
the s ight of God than any external thing J esus liked .

people t o be clean as we all do ; but he also liked them

,

to be kind at the same time and that was something ,

which di d not interest the Phari sees .

N o w when Jesus came to J eru s a lem this last time he ,

saw many things in and around the Temple whi ch he did

not like If you have read the O ld Testament you know
.
,

that the J ews made bloody s a cri fices to God ; that they
believed that by killing lambs and bullocks and by smear ,

ing their blood upon the altar s in a certain wa y a man ,

could please God The old Mo s aic law said for example
.
, ,

that i f a man had comm i tt ed a sin through ignorance h e ,

shou ld bring a young bullock unto the tabernacle of the

Lord for a sin o ffering and the following were s ome of
,

the bloody things which he should do :

H e shall bring the bu l lock unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord ; and shall
lay hi s hand upon the bul lock s head and kill the bul ’
,

lock before the Lord .

And the priest that i s anointed shall ta ke of the

’
bullock s blood and bring it to the taberna cle of the con
,

grega t i o n
“
And the prie s t shall dip hi s fin ger in the blood , and
sprinkl e of the blood seven times before the Lord , before
the veil of the sanctuary .

“
A nd the priest shall put some of the blood upon the
horn s of the altar of sweet incen s e before the Lord , which
i s in the ta bernacle of the congregation ; and shall pour a ll
the blood of the bull ock at the bottom of the alta r of the
burnt o ffering which i s t the door of the tabernacle o f
the congregation
,

.
a
“
And he shall take off from it al l the fat of the bullock
for the sin offering ; the fat that covereth the inward s ,
and all the fat that i s upon the inwards ,
 T HE CL EANSING OF TH E T EMPLE 289

And the two kidneys a n d the f a t that i s up o n them ,

,

which is by the flanks and the caul a bove the liver with ,
,

the kidneys i t shall he take away

, ,
“
As it wa s taken o ff from the bull o ck of the s a cr i fice
of peace off erings : and the priest shall burn them up o n
the alta r of the burnt offering .

It seemed to Jesus a s it seems t o u s that a ll th e se, ,

details about blood and fat and liver and kidneys had ,

no direct connection with s i n or the forgiveness of s i n .

In that s ame book of laws which is called Leviticus , ,

were other rules regarding the s a cri fices to b e offered f o r

sins of many kinds The Jews washed out thei r sins
.

with the blood of lambs and goats A nd always in thei r .

minds was the fear of uncleanness to their bodies N ow .

Jesus di d not deny that all these rules for bo d ily clea n li
ness were good ; but he wanted them t o make their heart s
clean also And he wante d them t o keep clean the Tem
.

ple at Jeru s a lem which wa s called the H ouse o f Go d

, .

The Temple which wa s the centre of J ew i s h life h a d

, ,

come to be like a marketplace and its courts were full of ,

men who bought and sold This seemed to J es u s to be .

sacrilege the profanation of a holy place and b e d e t ermined

, ,

to make an end of i t .

The morning on which he had withered the barren fig

tree Jesus came again to the Temple with h i s disciples
, .

During the week of the Pas sover Je rusalem wa s full of ,

strangers The merchants and peddlers wh o d rove a

.

thriving bu s iness in the court of the Temple were already

there calling out the things which they had for sale or
,

exchange In one corner were men selling beasts for the

.

bloody s a cr i fices in another corner were men s elling

,

doves in other place s were the money changers talking

,
-

in loud voices ; and here and there were gr ou ps of men ,

Pharisees and others still arguing and quarrelling over

,
29 0 S T O R I ES F R O M T HE NEW T ESTAM ENT
unimportant points of the law If one man said that a .

verse of the scripture had a certain meaning his neighbour ,

woul d declare that it meant quite another thing and ,

then the two would argue and wrangle and all the people ,

wh o stood by woul d wrangle gesticu l ating with their a rms

,

and shouting until a person unaccustomed to their ways

,

would have thought that they were all on the point of

blows And through this din of argument were con stantly
.

heard the shouts of the vendors of beasts and doves and ,

the shrill voices of the money changers -

.

Into thi s noisy court came Jesus with his disciples .

H e stoo d there for awhile in silence listening and watch ,

ing To him the very thought of killing animals and

.

smearing thei r blood upon the altars of the Temple wa s

repugnant A s he stood there with his brows s ternl y
.
,

knit he thought of those wo rds which Isaiah the prophet

,

had written
“
To what purpose is the multitude of your s a cri fices
unto me ? saith the Lord I a m full of the burnt o fi eri n gs
.

of rams and the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not in

,

the blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he goats When

, ,
.

y e come to appear before me who hath required this at,

”
your hand to tread my courts ? ,

S urely indeed , thought J esn e God his Father wa s

, ,

full of the burnt o fferings of rams and the fat of fed

beasts ! They smeared H is hou s e with blood ; they s et up
shops within the sacred enclosure ; they made of the very
s a cr i fi ces which they o ffered to H im a source of p ro fit ;

and instead of s erving H im in humility and truth they ,

wrangled wrangled wrangled about the sayings of the

, ,

prophets S ome even used the court of the Temple as a

.

short cut when they wanted to go somewhere on the other

-

side carrying bun dl es and vessels of various sort s through

,

the Temple court as if it had been a publi c s quare

, .
29 2 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
s eemed to them to be but a form of weakness V ery .

well H e would teach them to day in a language which

.
-

they coa ld understand .

There was lying on the ground b es ide J esus a whip

made of small cords which had probably been used to
,

drive into the Temple enclosure the uno ffending dumb

beasts which were to be s old for sa cr i fice T h e disciples .

sa w J esus stoop and pick up this whip Then they s aw .

their Master usually so quiet and gentle go swiftly

, ,

t oward that part of the court where stood those that sold
animals and those that sold doves They s a w him raise .

the whip in his hand the many corded lash circled in

,
-

the air and then came down upon the back of the nearest
trader in beasts who capered with pain They s a w him
,
.

raise the whip again and again it came down upon the
,

back of a man who sold doves A gain and again he

.

raised the whip and each time it descended upon some

,

one wh o was desecrating the holy place while his clear , ,

strong Voice rose above the noises of the court saying ,

“
I t is written my house shall be called the house of
,

prayer ; and ye have made it a den of thieves .

And he drove them out of the Temple cou rt before

the lash of h i s whip — all them that sold beasts and all
them that sold doves while the disciples looked on with
,

admiration and the J ews looked on with astonishment .

Then Jesu s came back into the court and he went to ,

the tables o f the money changers wh o a moment before

-

had been calling out their unholy trade and he overt hrew ,

thei r tables so that the coins rolled on the pavement ; then

at the end of his whiplash he drove the money changers -

also out of the Temple saying to them as he had said to

, ,

the others :
“
I t is written my house shall be called the house of
,

prayer ; but y e have made it a den of thieves .

 T HE CL EANSING OF T HE T EMPLE 29 3

Then he stood at the entrance and d ro ve ba c k th o s e

who came there with burdens o n thei r shoul d ers o r i n
their hands those who would h a ve carried thei r vessels
,

of wat er through the court of the Temple a s i f it had

b een a public squ a re merely t o sho rten thei r ro a d
, .

There were children standing by a n d when they s a w ,

Jesu s they rai sed their fresh young v o i c es s a ying a s , ,

they had heard the di sciples s a y :

”
H osanna to the son of David !
When the chief priests and the scri bes s a w what t h e
Ma s ter had done and when they heard the children cry
,
“ ”
ing H osanna to the son of David
, whi ch wa s a phrase
,

t h ey had for the expected Messiah they were enraged ; ,

and they said harshly to J esu s :

“ H earest thou what these ”
sa y ?

They wanted J esus to reprove the children for daring

t o call him th e S on of David But the Ma s ter o nly lo o ked
.

at them s t eadily and an s wered

Yea have y e not read O ut of the m o uths o f babes
, ,
”
a n d sucklings thou h a st perfecte d praise ?

A nd the priests and scribes did not know what to

respond They had seen how the pilgrim s from other
.

cities the pilgrims who had come to J erusalem for the

,

Pa s sover and whom the haughty priest s regarded as com

mon people looked at Jesus with love and freely ex
, ,

pre s s ed their adm i ration of his action in driving the ven

dors and money changers o u t of the T emple For many
-
.

of the pilgrims had also felt that the Temple in the H oly
City wa s not a proper place for buying and selling ; but
they had not dared to s a y s o until the Mas ter s et them an
example by hi s courage .

The prie sts wanted now more than ever to kill J es u s ,

f or they saw that if they left him undisturbed he would

gain a greater and greater i n flu en ce over the people .
29 4 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

A nd i f the pure rel1 g1 o n of Jes u s gained the people , what

would become o f the priests with their fat livings and
their high position in Jeru s a lem ?
The Master passing again into the Temple wa s sur
, ,

rounded by many poor people and many lame and blind ,

wh o called on him to help them . A nd as he healed these

of their i n firm i t i es the children cried again and again
,

with thei r fresh pure voices

,

H osanna to the son of David ! H osanna to the son

”
of Davi d !
The priest s and s cribes slunk away , for they could not
endure to hear the praises of the children nor the than k s
,

of the lame and blind whom Jes u s had healed And the .

Maste r wa s left al one with those wh o loved him in the ,

Temple court which he had cleansed of impurity .

When the night shadow s drew down he returned ,

again t o Bethany , on the hill beyond the city , where lived

Mary and Martha and Lazaru s , and many other s wh o now
believed on him .
29 6 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

T hat morning as Jesu s wa s te aching in the T emple

, ,

the chief priests and elder s came to him and said : ,

“
By what authority doe s t thou these things ? and who
”
gave thee this authority ?
Jes u s answered their question by asking another H e .

s a id :
I also will ask you one thing which i f ye tell me I , ,

in likewi se will tell you by what authority I do these

things The baptism of John whence was i t ? from
.
,
”
heaven or of men ?
,

The priests and elders counselled together not know ,

ing what answer to make ; for if they said that the bap
,

ti em of J ohn was from heaven Jcsus would ask them wh y

,

then they had not believed J ohn when he declared that

Jesus wa s the son of God And i f they answered that
.

the baptism of J ohn was of men— that is that it was not ,

inspired by God — the people would be angry with them ,

because the people believed that J ohn was a prophet .

The priests and elders were afraid of o ffending the peo ple .

So after counselling together they answered the que s

, ,

tion of Jesu s by saying :

“
We cannot tell .

N either tell I you by what authority I do these

t hings ,
replied J es u s .

T hen he told them parables s to ries with an inner ,

meaning which could bring home to their minds the

,

things he wanted to say to them about their wickedness

and unbelief A mong these parables wa s the following
.
,

which illustrated their refusal to accept him whom God

had sent J esus said
.

“
T here was a certain householder which planted a ,

vineyard and hedged it round about and digged a

, ,

winepress in i t and built a tower and let it out to hu s

, ,

b a n d m en and went into a far country

,
 MA S T E R A N D QU E S T I O N E R S

And when the time of the fruit drew near he sent ,

his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive ,

the fruits of i t .

And the husbandmen took his se rvants and beat ,

one and killed another and stoned another

, .

A gain he sent other servants more than the fi rs t :

,

and they did unto them likewise .

“
But last of all he sent unto them h i s s o n saying , ,

They will reverence my son .

“
But when the husbandmen s a w the son they said ,

among the m selves Thi s is the heir ; come let u s kill him
, , ,

and let u s seize on his i n herita nce .

And they caught him and cast him out o f the vine
,

yard and slew him .

When the lord therefore o f the vineyard c o meth ,

”
what will he do unto those husbandmen ?
And the priest s and elders not understanding at fi rs t
,

the hidden meaning in the parable answered that the ,

householder would miserably destroy those wicked men ,

and would let hi s vineyard unto other husbandmen which ,

should render him the fruits in their season Thus they .

condemned themselves out of their o wn mouths unwit ,

tingly.

And Jesus said to t hem

Did ye never read in the s criptures The sto ne which ,

the builders rej ecte d the same i s become the head of the
,

corner : this i s t h e Lord s doing and it i s ma rvellous in

’
,

our eyes ?
“
Therefore say I unto you the kingdom of God shall
,

be ta ken from you and given to a nation bringing f o rth

,

the fruits thereof .

“
And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be
broken : but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him ,

to p owder.
29 8 S T O R IE S FRO M THE NE W TE STAMENT
When the priests and elders realised that J es u s meant
that t h ey were the wicked husbandmen of the parable they ,

were angrier than ever at him They would have seized.

him then and there and woul d have killed him had
, ,

they not been afraid of the multitude which stood listen

ing to his words For the common people took Jcs us f o r
.

a great prophet even many of those who did not under

,

stand that he wa s really the Messiah .

And the Master seeing the anger in the faces of the

,

priests and elder s told them another parable which illu s

, ,

t ra t ed still further their blindness and unbelief He .

said
The kingdom of heaven i s like unto a certain king ,

which made a marriage for his son , I

“
And sent forth his servants to call them t fifi t were
bidden to the wedding : and they would not come .

“
Again he sent forth other servants s aying Tell
, , ,

them which are bidden Behold I have prepared my din

, ,

ner : my oxen and my fatlings are killed and all thing s ,

are ready : come unto the marriage .

“
But they made light o f i t and went their way s one
, ,

to hi s farm another to hi s merchandi se

,

“
And the remnant took his servant s and entreated ,

them spitefully and slew them

,
.

“
But when the king heard thereof he was wroth : and ,

he sent forth his armies and destroyed tho s e murderer s ,

,

and burned up thei r city .

“
Then s aid he to his s ervants The wedding is ready , ,

but they which were bidden were not worthy .

G o ye therefore into the highways and as many as ,

y e shall fin d bid to the marriage

,
.

“
So those servants went out into the highways and ,

gathered together all as many as t hey found both bad ,

and good : and the wedding wa s furni s hed with gue sts .
3 00 S TO R I E S FRO M THE NE W TE STAMENT
thou regardest not the person of man Tell u s therefore .
,

What thinkest thou ? I s it lawful to give tribute unto

”
Cm s a r or not ?
,

But Js sus s a w their wickedness how they were trying ,

to get him to say something against the Romans , and he

answered them
“
Why tempt ye me ye hypocrites ? S how me the ,

tribute money .

They brought him a penny which was stamped with ,

the image of C aesar And Jes u s said pointing to the

.
,

head upon the penny

”
Whose i s thi s image and superscription ?
They answered that it wa s C aesar s ’
.

“
Then said J e s us R ender therefore unto C aesar the
,

things which are C aesar s ; and unto God the things that
’

are God s ’
.

When the spie s heard hi s answer and p erceived how ,

much keener hi s mind was than their own they marvelled ,

at him ; and knowing that they coul d never succeed in

entangling him i n that way they left him and went back , ,

to their masters the priests and elder s

,
.

A fter the s pie s went away the S adducees came t o ,

J es u s and put their questions The S adducees were those .

J ews wh o did not believe that there wa s any future for

the soul after the death of the body A s J esus taught .

the resurrection of the soul and the life in the hereafter ,

the S adducees sought by their questions to make the ide a
of resurrection ridicu l ou s They sai d .

“
Master Moses said If a man die having no chil
, , ,

dren his brother s hall marry hi s wi fe and rai s e up seed

, ,

unto hi s brother .

“
N o w there were with u s seven brethren : and the
fi rs t when he had married a wi fe deceased and having
, , , ,

no issue left hi s wife unto his brother

,
 MA S T E R A N D QU E S T I O N E R S

Likewise the second a lso and the thi rd u nto the , ,

seventh .

“
A nd last of all the woman died also .

T herefore in the resurrection whose wi fe shall s h e be

of the seven ? for they a ll h a d h er .

J es u s answered them :
“
Y e do err not kn owi n g the scriptures nor the p o wer
, ,

of God .

“
For in the resurrection they neither marry n o r are ,

given in marriage but are a s the angels o f Go d in heaven

, .

“
But a s to uching the resurrection of the d ea d have ye ,

n o t read that whi ch wa s spoken u nto you by God saying : ,

“
I a m t h e God of Abraham and the G o d of Isaa c , ,

and the God of Jacob ? Go d i s n ot the God of the dead ,

but of the living .

When the S adducees heard thi s they were astonished ,

at hi s te ac hing The idea that heaven wa s a spiritual

.

place had never occurred to them They went away .

,

wagging thei r heads H o w cou l d men be like the angels ?

.

they wondered Co ul d Abraham and Isaac and J a co b be

.

really alive somewhere— when they were not on the earth ?

The very idea wa s preposterous to the S adducees wh o ,

did not believe in the li fe after death .

When the Phari sees s a w that J es u s had put the S ad

du cees to s ilence they came also with other questions
, .

The Phari s ees you will remember were those Jews who
, ,

claimed to be very learned in the J ewi sh law and who ,

laid great stress upon all the little rules of M o ses You .

“
recall the ni cknames blo o dy b ro wed Pharisees
,
andv

“
bandy legged Phari sees
-
which the people called them
, ,

because of thei r ab surd and strutting ways in walking .

Of cour s e w hen the Pharisees came in their turn to

, , ,

question J esu s they asked him regarding the letter of the

,

scripture s ; a n d o n e of them a lawyer said : , ,

3 02 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TE STAM ENT

Master which i s the greate st commandment of the

,
”
law ?
Jesu s an s wered
“
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ,

and with all thy soul and with all thy mind T his i s
, .

the fi rs t and great commandment .

“
And the s econd i s like unto i t Thou shalt love thy ,

neighbour a s thy s elf .

“
On the s e two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets .

“
Well Master , repl i ed the lawyer thou hast said
, ,

the truth : for there i s one God ; and there i s none other
but H e z and to love H im with all the heart and with a ll ,

the understanding and with a ll the soul , and with all the
,

s trength and to love his neighbour a s himself i s more

, ,
”
than all whole burnt offerings and s a cri fices .

J es u s looked at the man who s e face wa s earnest and

,

thoughtful Though he was a Pharisee of J erusalem it

.
,

wa s plain that he admired the Master from N azareth and

f elt the beauty of his teaching In admitting that to
.

love God with all his strength and to love hi s ne i ghbour

as himself wa s more than all burnt offerings put together ,

he proved himself to be very di fferent to the other Phari

s ee s and J es u s s aid to him :
“
Thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven .

After that none of them dared to ask J es u s any more

questions ; they merely li stened to what he had to say .

In telling you about the teaching of J es a s in the Temple

that day I a m giving h i s exact words instead of trying
, ,

to interpret them ; for the sayings of Jes u s were more elo

quent than any words of mine coul d be— more eloquent
than the words of any other man wh o ever lived and
whose words have been recorded H e now s poke to h is .

di s ciple s and to the multitude s aying ,

3 04 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
teaching something always happened to furni s h him with
,

the illustration As he was telling the scribes and Phari

.

s ees what they really were and were not a poor woman a , ,

widow came to the place where he wa s standing which

, ,

w a s beside the treasury of the Temple J esus had seen .

the rich people come u p one by one and put their money
, ,

into the treasury ; and these rich people were alway s

careful that the size and value of the coins which t hey
gave to God shoul d be seen by those wh o stood by But .

when the poor widow came in her worn garments and ,

with her face lean with hunger she threw into the treas ,

ury two mites which made a farthing— about the value

,

of one fourth o f an E nglish penny or half an A merican

-

cent The heart of J s sus throbbed with love and pity ,

.

for he knew that the t wo mites which the widow had

cast into t h e treasury were all she had and that she would ,

probably have no supper to eat that night A nd he said .

to hi s disciples
“
V erily I say unto you That this poor widow hath
,

cast more i n than all they which have cast into the treas
,

ury : For all they did ca st in of their abundance ; but s h e

of her want did cast in all that she had even all her ,

living .

Then Jes u s turned again to the scribes and Phari sees

wh o stood b y and he said ,
“
But wo e unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites !
, ,

for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men : for

y e neither g o in yourselves neither su ffer ye them that
,

are entering to go i n .

“
Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites !
, ,

for ye devour widows houses and for a pretence make

’
,

long prayer : therefore ye shall receive the greater damna

tion .

Then he to ok up s o me of their sayings and beliefs ,

 MA S T E R A N D QU E S T I O N E R S
and proved them to be utterly without s incerity Th e .

Je ws had a ru l e that he wh o shoul d swear by the Temple

to do something or to pay some debt was not held by
, ,

the oath but that he who should swear by the gold in the
Temple , wa s held by that oath And they had another
.

rule that t o s wear by the alta r wa s nothing but that a ,

man was respons ible i f he swore by the gi ft u p o n the

al tar
.

“ ” “
Which is the greater as ked Jesus
, the g ol d o r , ,

the Temple which s a n ct i fiet h the gold ? A nd whi c h

i s greater the gift or the altar that s a n ct i fi et h the
, ,

gift ?
“
Ye blind guides which stra i n at a gn at and swallow
, ,

a camel .

And much more also the Master said to them that after
noon , convicting them of their hypocrisy For J esus .

cam e not o nl y to love the world but to teach the world

,

a better wa y of living ; and there are some wh o cann ot

learn by honeyed words H e reminded them that they
.

were the descendants of those Jews wh o had killed the

prophet s in the olden time ; and knowing that they wished
to ki ll him , a s their fathers had killed the prophets he ,

now said to them :

“
F ill ye up then the measure o f your fathers .

And the Pharisee s huddled together and li s t ened to

Jesus with blanched faces for with his plain speaking
,

this day they had become more than ever afraid of him .

What wou l d he not do they wondered i f they all owed

, ,

him to live ? S urely he woul d turn all the people against

them ; he woul d make all men follow him and seek for
the kingdom of heaven s o that they woul d no longer care
,

to bring their s a cr i fi ces to the Temple nor to pay their

,

money to the priests .H ad not the prophets declared

that the Messiah when he came should bring a new law ?
3 06 STORIES FROM TH E NEW T ESTAMENT
They remembered what J esn e himself had said at another ,

time :
“
N o man putteth a piece of new cloth into an old gar
ment for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from
,

the garment and the rent i s made worse

,
.

N either do men put new wine into old bottles : else

the bottles break , and the wine runneth out and the ,

bottles perish : but they put new wine into new bottles ,

and both are preserved .

The priests and Pharisee s knew that J es u s meant by

this that his religion woul d do away with the old Jew i s h
law If s o , it woul d also do away with the priests and
.

the Pharisees — woul d ta ke away all their power It was .

because hi s teaching threatened to make things harder for

t h em that the priests and Pharisees hated J es a s
, What .

cared they for the kingdom of heaven ? But the tithes of

mint and anise and cummin had a meaning to s ay noth ,

ing of the gold of the trea s ury by which they swore As .

they s tood there listening to J es u s the nails of their

,

clenched hands mu s t have cut into their palms O nly a .

few more days they said to themselves sh ould this N aza

, ,

rene live to trouble their peace of mind .

As the Mas ter was about to leave the Temple and to

return once more to the quiet Mount of O lives he spoke ,

the s e wor ds to the un believing city

“
0 J eru s a lem J eru s a lem
, ,
thou that killest the
prophets , and stonest them which are sent unto thee how ,

often woul d I have gathered thy children together even ,

as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye ,

would not !
“
Behold your house i s left unto you desolate
,
.

Followed by his twelve di s ciples he passed out of the

,

portal of the Temple leaving the priests and the elders

,

and the scribes and the Phari s ee s behind him .

 CHAPTER XXX '

ON TH E M O U N T O F OLI V E S

D u ring the last week of J es u s in J eru s a lem he us u ally ,

spent the night with his disciples upon the Mount o f

O lives This b i ll received its beautiful name from t h e
.

olive trees which grew there in abundance

-
From its .

green side one coul d look down upon the city of Jeru
salem After s pending the early evening in Bethany with
.

his friends Jesus would come out here with the twelve
,

men and lying upon the ground they would watch the
, ,

far o ff glittering stars until they f ell asleep S ometimes

-
.

they woul d talk for a little while the disciples asking ,

question s about God and the kingdom o f heaven S ome .

times they woul d be s ilent each man absorbed in h i s o wn

,

thoughts This quiet retreat upon the Moun t of O lives

.
,

after the noisy day in Jerusalem wa s for J es u s a sweet ,

refreshment a going back to N ature for peace and poise

,
.

God seemed near out there among the olive trees under
,
-

the quiet sta rs ; and all the stri fe and wrangling of Jeru
salem seemed far away .

The night f ollowing the day on which he had answered

the que stion s of the scribes and Pharisees in the great
Temple the Master came out here a s usual with h i s d i s
, , ,

ci ples H e walked a little distance away from the others

.

and sat down upon a great rock H ow still everything .

wa s and how peacef ul ! E ven the en m ity of the J ew s

,

in J eru s a lem seemed here l ike an unreal dream H ere .

only God seemed real — H e and H is love for thi s green

3 09
3 10 STORIES FROM TH E NEW T ESTAMENT
earth , which wa s only a place of trial for H is children .

J s sus wa s almost happy as he sat there alone that night

, ,

under the sympathetic stars H e seemed to breathe the

.

atmosphere of eternity and could consider without too

,

great sadness all the terrible things which he knew were

going to happen in the world .

But soon he heard footsteps coming near and turning ,

his head he s aw in the starlight four of his disciples

, ,

Peter with Andrew hi s brother and the brothers James

, ,

and J ohn They had left the other men back there some
.

where among the shadows o f the night and had sought ,

the Master in s ecret , that they might learn from him the
truth about certain questions which were troubling their
minds .

They sat down at the feet of Jes u s around the ba s e of ,

the rock and began to ask him about his second coming ,
,

and about the end o f t h e present world For Jes u s had .

told them that though he was soon goi n g to hi s Father

,

in heaven he woul d return to the world some day and

,

would bring the kingdom of heaven with him And the .

four disciples now asked him wh en that tim e would b e .

And Jes u s answered them that when he wa s gone , ,

they must ta ke heed that no man deceived them H e .

said that other men woul d come s aying that t h ey were the
Christ and that many per s ons would be deceived b eli ev
, ,

ing that these false pr0 ph et s were t h e S on o f man him

self H e told them that before he shoul d return to the
.

world there wou ld be many wars that nation wo ul d rise ,

against nation and kingdom against kingdom , that there

woul d be f amine and pestilence and earthquakes — that all
these things woul d be only the beginning o f s orrows .

But the end woul d not be yet .

And when the f our men asked how it woul d be with

t h em in this time of trial which wa s to come the Mas t er
, ,
3 12 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

shoul d endure unto the end woul d also be saved with ,

Christ in the kingdom of heaven .

J esus told them that thi s gospel of the kingdom of

heaven should be preached throughout all the world to ,

all the nations of the earth and that when this wa s a o

,

complished the Christ would com e again But before .

that blessed consumm ation when all nations should know

,

the religion of Jes u s the dark time must fi rs t be pas s ed

,

through .

The four disciples had s till not a very clear under

standing of what the dark time woul d be like and they ,

wanted to know what would really happen in tho s e

day s .

Jesus told them that they should posses s their s ouls

in patience ; that when they saw J eru s a lem compassed
with armies they shoul d know that the desolation thereof
,

wa s nigh When they shoul d see sta nding in the holy

.

place the abomination of desolation spoken o f by Daniel

the pr o phet them that were in J udaea shoul d fl ee into
,

the mounta ins he wh o wa s on the house top should not -

come down to take anyt hing out of hi s house ; neither

should the man who wa s in the fi eld return to take his
clothes J esus said that they should pray that their
.

fli gh t be not in winter nor on the S abbath day ; for there

,

should be great tribulation such as had not been from,

the beginning of the world unto that time nor ever ,

should be again E xcept those days should be shortened

.

by God he said no one would be saved alive ; but that

, ,

for the sake of the elect of God those days would be ,

shortened ; for they were the days of vengeance that all ,

the things which had been writt en might be ful filled .

And Jes u s told them further that in those dark days

there should be gr eat wrath upon the people of Israel that ,

many should fall by the sword and many be led away ,

 ON TH E M OUNT OF OLIVES u a u

capt i ve unto other nations and that Jeru s a lem sh o uld be

,

trodden down by the Gentiles .

Then he warned them again against the false pro phets

who were to come declaring that they were the Christ and
, ,

showing si gn s and wonders to the pe o ple s o that by their ,

fal s e work s they should deceive even the elect of G o d .

Wherefore J es u s told h i s disciples if any one sh ould

, ,

say to them g t h a t Christ wa s in the desert they should ,

not go forth to seek him there ; and i f any one sh o uld s a y

that Chri st was in the secret chambers they should n o t ,
“
believe i t ; for he told them
, a s the lightning cometh
,

out of the east and shineth even unto the west so shall
, ,

also the coming of the S on o f man b e .

And the four disciples listened with bated breath and

with wide and troubled eyes They now understood that .

Jesu s wa s really going away from them ; but h ow he was

going they did not know N otwithstanding all that he
.

had to ld them regarding the coming death of the S on of

man through the enmity of the J ews that he shoul d be ,

scourged and killed a s i f he were a common malefacto r ,

they did not comprehend that he meant it in a literal

s ense . To them it seemed even yet that their Maste r , ,

woul d be caught up to heaven in a blaze of glory .

And now they asked him how after he shoul d have ,

left them and gone t o the Father and after the days of ,

trib ul ation al s o they should know beforehand that the

,

Christ was coming soon and be prepared for him

,
.

And J s sus answered them that after the days of tribu

lation there should be signs in the s u n and in the moon , ,

and in the stars and upon the earth distress of nati ons
with perplexity ; that the sea and the waves of the s ea
shoul d roar and that men s hearts sh oul d fail them for
,
’

fear a s they s a w the thing s whic h had come upo n the

,

earth and s a w a ls o the po wers of heaven shaken Then .

,
3 14 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
sa id Jesus the S on of man would come in a cloud with
, ,

power and great glory When all these predict ed things

.

had happened the disciple s shoul d lift up their heads

, ,

for then they would kn ow that their redemption was near .

An d the Christ the S on of man would send hi s angels

, ,

with a great sound of a trumpet and the angels woul d ,

gather together the elect of Christ from the four winds ,

from o n e end of heaven to the other .

As the four disciples heard this promise of the Maste r

to come again with po w er and glory their eyes were ,

a fl a m e with faith In imagination they saw him appear

.

i n the hea ve n s ; they saw the form of Jesus which they ,

loved sudden ly shining in the sky above the troubled

,

earth they heard the trumpet of the angels The f a ce of .

John espe cially , was illuminated with the fire of his

,

ent husi as m ; for John loved Jesu s with an intense love .

On him had been b estowed at birth the divine gift of

imagination ; and long years afterward when he came to ,

write his Revelation it is almost certa in that hi s mind

,

went back to this hour upon the Mount of O lives and to ,

the words whi ch Jes u s spoke there under the stars The .

vision which he had at thi s moment as he listened to ,

the voice of Jesus predicting his second c o ming made ,

po ssible that other and greater Vision upon the Isle of

A fter
a s hort silence the Maste r again spoke to them
,
.

When the fi g tree put forth 1 t s leaves he said they knew

-

, ,

that the summer was nigh ; so also when they should see ,

the te rrible things he had predicted for the days of deso

l ation they would know that the kingdom of heaven was
,

near .

“ ” “
H eaven and earth shall pass away he said but , ,

my words shall not pass away .

N ot even the angels of heaven , J es u s told them knew ,

3 16 STORIES FRO M THE NE W TE STAMENT
dom of heaven , dreamed of the time when J es u s shoul d
come again as he had promised and should take them to
, ,

a place where there woul d be no more sadness or s elfi s h n es s

or pain or strife where every man would love his neigh

,

bour as himself and all would be happy in the bosom of

,

Christ .

It i s no wonder that such a faith in the hearts of even ,

a f ew , had power to change the world ; and though the

kingdom of heaven ha s not yet come to men there are ,

still a few here and there upon the earth wh o dream as

, ,

the di sciples dreamed and wh o watch for the coming of

,

the Christ .

That his friends might ever watch without weariness ,

J es u s told them another parable , that of the wise and

foolish virgins As you will often hear thi s parable
.

referred to I will tell it to you now , in the very words of

,

J es u s
. H e said :
“
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be li kened unto
ten virgins which took their lamps and went fort h to
, ,

eet the bridegroom .

z i d five of t h em w ere wise and five were foolish

' ‘

.
,
”
h ey that were fooli s h to ok their lamps and took ,
h
n t e; w ith them :
{
4 “
Bu t the wi se took 0 11 in their vessels with their
lamps .

“
While the bridegroom tarried they all slumb ered ,

and slept .

“
And at midnight t here wa s a cry made Behold the , ,

bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him .

“
Then all those virgins arose , and trimmed their
lamps .

“
And the foolish said unto the wise Give u s of your ,

o i l ; for our lamps are gone out .

But the w i se answered , saying N o t s o ; l est the re be

,
 ON TH E M OUNT OF OLIVES
not enough for u s and you : but go ye rather t o them that
s ell and buy for yourselves .

And while they went to buy the bridegroom c ame ;

,

and they that were ready went in with him to the mar
ri a ge : and the door wa s shut .

“
Afterward came also the other vi rgins s aying Lord , , ,

Lord open to u s
,
.

But he answered and sai d V erily I s a y unto you I

, ,

know you not .

“
Watch therefore f o r ye know neither the d a y nor
,
”
the hour wherein the S on of man cometh .

O ne reason why the teaching of J esus h a d such a

charm for men , wa s because of the beautiful sym bols
whi ch he used in s peaking of himself To those wh o .

loved him , he wa s the bridegroom o i the parable of the

virgin s the one for who s e coming all watched with
,

eagerness H e called himself the lamb of God because

.
,

the people to whom he wa s talking were born of a race of

shepherds , wh o loved the sheep , and in whose minds the
very i dea o f a lamb s uggested gentl ene s s and love Wh e .
n

he s aid , at another time , that he wa s the rose of Q "

and th e lily of the valley the names of the s e a m

,

fl o wers called up vi sions of beauty and sweetn e s at s

on l y should they love him as their Master , but they

shoul d love him a s they loved the rose s and the lilies ,
whose fragrance coul d make them forget the sadness of
the world If w e knew nothing of the hi sto ry of Jes u s
.
,

and had only his sayings to judge him by , we would still

pronounce him the supreme genius of the world When .

“
he said , Come unto me , all ye that labour and are heavy
”
laden and I will give you rest , he made it impossible
,

that the weary s ouls of earth should ever forget him .

I i , in the year s to come , you shall study the sayings

3 18 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
of a ll the greatest teachers of the world of Manu o f , ,

Bud dh a of Confucius of Lao t s z e of S ocrates of Plato

, ,
-

, , ,

of Mahomet and shall compare them with the simple

,

sayings of Jesus you will still say with me that no

, , ,

other man wh o ever lived could speak as Jes u s spoke .

And he said that night to the f our disciples wh o were

there with him on the Mount of O lives
“
When the S on of man s hall come in his glory and ,

all the holy angels with him then s hall he sit upon the ,

throne of hi s glory :
“
And before him shall be gathered all nations : and
he shall separate them one from another , as a shepherd
divideth hi s sheep from the goats
“
And he shall set the sheep on hi s right hand but ,

the goat s on the left .

Then shall the King s ay unto them on hi s right

hand Come ye bles s ed of my Father , i n h erit the king
, ,

d om prepared for you from the foundation of the world

‘

“
For I was an hun gred and ye gave me meat : I wa s ,

thirsty and ye gave me drink : I wa s a stranger and ye

, ,

took me i n : naked and ye clothed me : I was s ick and ye

, ,

visited me : I was in prison and ye came u nto me ,

.

“
Then shall the righteous answer him , saying Lord , ,

when s aw we thee an hungred , and fed thee ? or thirsty ,

and gave thee drink ? When saw we thee a stranger and ,

took thee i n ? or naked and clothed thee ? Or when s aw

,

we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee ?

, ,
“
And the K ing shall an swer and say unto them Ver i ly ,

I s a y a a t o yea I n a s m u ch a s ye h a ve d on e i t a n t e on e of
,
”
t h e lea s t of t h es e m y br et h r en ye h a ve don e i t a a t o m e
,
.

And he told them also that he woul d say to those on

the left hand , those who were u n fit for the kingd om of
heaven that inasmuch as they had n ot fed the hungry
, ,

nor clothed the naked nor visited the s ick nor minis
, ,
 CHAPTER XXX I

J UDA S I S CARI O T

There are certain names which whenever they a re ,

spoken remind the b earer of certa in qualities When

, .

we hear the name of A lexander for example we think , ,

immediately of wa r of conquest of empire The name

, , .

of Plato suggests philosophy and high thinking We -

.

can hardly hear the name of N ero without shuddering at

the ideas of cruelty which go with i t And the name of .

the man I a m going to tell you about in this story is one

of those which carry a d efin i t e meaning But the name .

o f Judas instead of summoning ideas of conquest and

,

high thinking calls up a very different thought — the

-

thought of t r ea ch er y .

In reading about the min i stry of Jesus and about the ,

men wh o travelled with him as his disciples through

Galilee and Jud aea you have often read the name of
,

Judas Iscariot You remember how at the supper in

.
,

Bethany the evening before the day on which the dis

,

ci ples strewed palm branches for thei r Master to ride over

at Bethphage near J eru s a lem Judas had been angry with

,

Mary Magdalene for breaking the alabaster box and

anointing the head and feet of J esus with the precious
oint ment of spikenard You also remember having read
.

that John the beloved disciple did not trust Judas but
, , ,

declared that he wa s a thief wh o sometimes sto le the

money from the purse which J es u s had given him t o
carry Yet th ese incidents while unl ovely in them
.
,

3 21
3 22 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
selves , were as nothing in comparison with what Juda s
was to do afterward .

During the last week in Jerusalem many thing s had ,

happened to trouble Judas H e had believed that his

.

Master w ould be glo ri fi ed immediately that J es u s would

reveal himself in such a wa y that the scribes and Phari
sees and all the other unbelieving J ews would be obliged
to worship him H e could not have told for certain
.
, ,

just wh a t he e x p ected— perhaps that a fl a m i n g cloud

would come down out of heaven and that Jesus would be
,

snatched up to glory amid the plaudits of the multitu de .

J udas loved plaudits I n Galilee he had delighted to be

.

On e of the followers of J s sus because the simple people in

,

Galilee hailed Jesus a s a Master and did him honours ;

but Judas did not like the shrugs and sneer s of the high
priests in J eru s a lem If the Master were really the
.

Messiah of the Jews he reasoned wh y shoul d not the

, ,

high priests be aware of i t ? Why , J esu s could not even

enter the H oly of H olies — the inner place in the great
Temple ! O nly the high priest could go in there S urely .

something must be wrong ! Could it be that Jes u s wa s

not really the Messiah a fter all ?,

There i s no seed which grow s s o fast as the seed of

doubt From the moment when Judas fi rs t doubted that
.

his Master wa s the Messiah his treachery began S ome

,
.

persons may believe that J udas was alto gether bad from
the beginning ; but that is not possible , because Jesus
named him as a disciple Jes u s had love and pity for
.

the weak the erring and the sinful ; but he would not
,

have made the compact of discipleship with the devil or

"

with a man wh o wa s altogether of the devil N o there .

,

was good as well as evil in the heart of Judas and it was ,

the good which Jes u s saw and had tried to foster .

When you are older you may hear learned discu s s ions
,
3 24 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
bosom of J esus h i s young and wistful face upraised to
,

the face of the Master J udas could hardly control his

,

desire to snatch the young man away from his place

beside J esus What right Judas wou ld mutter to him
.
,

self had J ohn to think that Jes u s loved him best ? The
,

Master had never said s e Then it seemed to Judas that

.

John s mother S alome was always pushing him forward

’
, , .

J udas had no mother and women did not like him very
,

well They liked John E ven the mother of Jesus was

. .

always turning to him with her soft and patient smile .

And Mary Magdalene ! Judas coul d have struck John

sometimes when he saw Mary lean upon hi s arm .

A ll these grudges and exasperations J udas had borne

as patiently as he could for he had loved the Master more
,

than he had ever loved any other being Indeed Jesus .

,

was the o nl y one wh o had ever seemed really to care for

him When he had been called to be a disciple it had
.
,

seemed to Ju das that all his trials were over H e did .

not know that discipleship was the beginning of trials ,

that it was a test of character and strength— not a reward .

J csus had called some of his friends the fi rs t time he saw

them trusting to the future to prove their fit n es s Their
,
.

reward was to come in the kingdom of heaven ; though it

seems to u s that the privilege of being with Jesu s was in
itself the supreme reward .

But now when Judas began to doubt that hi s Ma s ter

,

was really going to be glo ri fi ed after all he began also to , ,

think of the trials which he himself had endured Then .

,

too it i s more than probable that on that Wednesday

,

morning after the beauti ful talk in regard to the coming

,

of the kingdom of heaven which the four favourite dis

ci ples had had with J es u s upon the Mount of O lives one ,

of the four— perhaps A ndrew perhaps Peter— had told ,

J uda s some of the other things which the Master had

 JUDAS ISCARIOT

said that night : how they were themselves t o be perse

outed after J es u s should have returned t o the Father h o w
;
t hey would be beaten in the synagogues and d elivered u
p ,

to councils and ha t ed o f all men on acc o un t o f thei r rela

,

t ions with the Master We can well imagine that th ese

.

predictions were terrible t o J udas T o be bea t n i n the

.
e

synagogues ! To be hated of all men ! Thes e were n o t

the prospects for which he had become a disciple .

Jesus must have known that Wednesday m o rning what

was passing in the mind of the man fro m ! eri o th We .

can see h i s gentle eyes fix ed intently upon the face o f

Judas . H ow he must have pitied him ! But not even
Jesus could choose for another — h i s o wn disciple — the
way in which he should walk .

As I have said before there must have been in J udas

,

some go o d or the Master would not have chosen him to

,

be one of h i s disciples Perhaps it w a s the very ints u

.

s i t y of his nature which made h i s discipleship possible ,

perhaps it was some p ow er in him which J s sus hoped t o

turn altogether in the right way ; for power i s p ower and ,

can be used for good or evil acc o rding to the will o f the
,

possessor This we must never forget The fi re which

. .

warms our house may also burn our house i f it i s not ,

carefully guarded The electricity which gives u s light

.

and moves our cars and carriages is the same p o wer ,

which in the ungoverned lightning can blast the gi a nt

, ,

pine tree or strike a man to death

-
.

Judas left h i s friends that Wednesday morning in

Jerusalem and wandered away by himself J e s us wa s
,
.

preaching as usual in the court of the Temple and the

, , ,

crowd around him wa s so great that Judas felt that he

would not be missed There wa s a te rrible idea in his
.

mind and he wanted to be alone to think ab out i t H e

,
.

was already unfaithful to Jesus in h i s heart ; and from

3 26 STORIES FROM TH E NEW T ESTAMENT
thought to action in a man of his violent temperament ,
,

there i s often but a step That step in the case of J udas

.
, ,

proved t o be the short di stance which separated the court

of the Temple from the palace of Caiaphas the high ,

pr i est .

J udas knew that i n the palace of the high priest the

enemies of Jesus were conspiring against him D id he .

deliberately say to himself that he intended to betray his

Master ? I cannot tell you and neither can any one else
,
.

The thoughts and motives of the simplest man are often

ob s cure even to himself and Judas was not s imple
,
.

S ome men wh o have written about J udas have believed

that he betrayed Jesus to the high priests and helped
them to arrest him in the hope that his Master woul d
,

thereby be obliged to manifest his divinity If he .

doubted that J es u s was the Messiah and was not sur e he , ,

may have wanted to put it to the test But did he really .

believe that the Master when arrested and brought to

,

trial would smite his enemies with the lightning of God ?

,

D id he believe that i f Jesus were really the Messiah he

would be glo ri fi ed immediately after his arrest ; that he
would be trans figured as Peter and James and John had
,

seen him upon Mount H ermon ? During the h a ppy d a ys ‘

in Galilee before the real troubles of J es u s began J udas

, ,

may have believed that hi s Master was all powerful ; but -

it i s extremely doubtful i f he believed it any longer .

J udas went to the palace of the high priest and asked

to see Caiaphas N otwithsta nding the boldness of his
.

action his heart beat very fa s t as he passed through the

,

wide doorway of the palace The d o orkeepers stared at

.

him having already seen him with the Master from N aza
,

reth What did he want there they wondered ? When

.
,

J udas wa s left in an anteroom until hi s vi sit should be

announced to the high priest the master of the palace , ,
3 28 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

w hich would not j eopardise his own pos ition among the
J ews .

It is easy for one who has ever lived in an orienta l

country under the ru le of a E uropean empire to picture
, ,

Caiaphas the ambitious and scheming native lea der who

, ,

curries favour with his masters by adopting th eir Vices ,

and who onl y seeks to hold control over his o wn people

because it i s by rea s on o f that control that he i s petted by
his rulers .

If the religion o f J es u s should make headway among

the J ews Caiaphas reasoned the high priest himself
, ,

would lose i n fl u en ce with them ; and i f he lost i n fl u en ce

among his own people he would lose i n flu en ce also with
the Romans wh o made use of him for their o wn ends
, ,

and as he served those ends piled honours on him— but

, ,

not otherwise .

O ld Annas on the contrary hated Jes u s for quite

, ,

another reason H e had retained more of his Jewish feel

.

ing than had the present high priest ; he was less modern
( using the word in the sense in which it must have been
used about the year 3 0 and his hatred of J esu s wa s
intensely bigoted It was the self —proclaimed Mess iah .

wh o aroused the wrath of Annas .

Let u s take a little liberty of imagination and try to ,

p icture that council of priests and elders a ll of them old ,

or middle aged sitting together in an inner room of the

-

palace and debating what they could do to get rid of

Jesus Their faces were long and serious their eyes
.
,

sharp their foreheads wrinkled with frowns H o w dared

,
.

this N azarene they snarled disturb the p eace of Jeru

, ,

salem ? What were the times coming to when any self ,

styled prophet cou l d come into the Temple and preach a

new doctrine ? Annas the conservative old Jew sugges te d , ,

that it all came from permitting their sons to study

 JU DAS ISCARIOT

Greek ; but the more modern Caiaphas reminded him that

the people wh o followed J esus kn ew nothing of the cult
ure of the Greeks and very little o f the J ewish A nnas
, .

believed that society wa s being destroyed by t o lerating

new things Caiaphas had no obj ection to new things
.

becau s e they were new ; but he o bj ecte d to J es u s becaus e

he was dangerous to law and order A nd o f co urse law .

and order meant the law and order of Caiaphas The .

human heart h a s changed little fr o m those far days until

now .

But however the councillors might di s agree a s to the

reason s why the people followed J es u s they were of one ,

mind in their desire to get rid of him A nd one after .

another s uggested plan s by which they might take Jes u s

and kill him O ne of the scribe s a mere bookworm who
.
,

had no judgment where practical things were c o ncerned ,

s ugge s te d that they fall upon Jesus in the Temple and

carry him away ; but the wiser and more subtle priests
pronounced this plan ab surd becau s e the N azarene was
,

too popul ar w ith the crowds To do such a thing O pe nl y

.

woul d be to bring down upon their heads the wrath of the

m ul titu de .

N o the more worldly among them reasoned it woul d

, ,

be necessary to do whatever they had to do a s quietly as

po ss ible . Caiapha s o f course wa s for having it done in
, ,

a ccordance with the R oman law This would be easy i f

.
,

they coul d make it seem that Jesus wa s a blasphemer

against the Jewish religion for the Romans gave the
,

Jews great freedom in matters of religion— i n order th a t

they might control them the better in worldly matters .

That i s always the way of wisdom and of least resistance

on the part of the rul ers o f orienta l empires .

O ne plan after another wa s suggested and discarded ,

a s being too dangerous The old prie s ts thought Caiaphas

.
3 30 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
was too to lerant Caiaphas thought the old priests were
,

too bigoted Caiapha s did not really care whether J esn e

.

wa s a blasphemer or not ; but of course he did not say so

— h e wa s far too wise for that So long as the others .
,

and especially Annas helped him to get rid of J esus ,

,

what did their motives matter to him ?

It was fin a lly agreed that they must not kill Jes u s dur
ing the feast of the Passover which began two days hence
, ,

on Friday night lest there should be an uproar among the

,

people N o they had better not wait until then but act
.
, ,

quickly In order to do that it would be necessary to

.
,

know where J esn e spent his time when he was not in the
Temple Oi course in those days there were no news
.
,

papers to give details of the private actions and haunts

of noted men and the goss ip of an oriental city can never
,

be depended upon for accuracy Indeed a dozen di fier .

,

ent men might say that the N azarene wa s in a dozen dif

f eren t places at any given time They would need to .

hav e accurate information a s to the whereabouts of Jes u s

when he wa s away from the multitude They all began .

to discuss the question as to how they could best obtain

that information .

Then into thi s wrangling a ss embly ( for the J ews

always wrangled even in the palace of the high priest )
,

came a servant timidly apologetically , and whispered

, ,

something to Caiaphas E very one else looked curiously at

.

the two They saw Caiapha s start they heard him ask the
.
,

servant to repeat what he had said they saw the look of ,

a s to n i shment deepen on the face of the high prie s t .

Then he nodded to the servant wh o withdrew and , ,

Caiaphas turned to his fellow councillors with the simple-

sta tement
“
A disciple of Jesus of N azareth wh o desires to s ee
3 32 STORIES FROM T HE NEW T ESTAMENT
priest s palace wa s almost too terrible to describe The
’
.

Christian world has shuddered at it ever since There .

wa s made there that Wednesday a deliberate compact

between the high priests and J udas in which the latter ,

promised to do all that the priests desired But before .

he made that promise he asked them how much money

,

they would give him .

This man whom Jes u s had loved and called his disci
ple thi s man wh o had wandered with the master along
,

the pleasant ways of Galilee wh o had eaten with him

,

from the same dish and drunk from the same cup who ,

had li stened to hi s teaching and had sat at his feet wh o ,

had seen him still the tempest on the lake of Gennesaret ,

wh o had lain near him under the stars and had stood
beside him at the beds ide of the dying who had himself ,

preached the faith of J es u s and had even cast out demons

,

and healed the sick as all the other disciples had— thi s
,

man now sold his Ma s ter .

“
We are told that the high priest s covenanted with
”
him for thi rty pieces of silver It is likely that the
.

J ewi sh priests fi rs t o ff ered him less than thirty silver

pieces and that Judas stood out for a higher price Was
,
.

not the service which he had to s ell really worth more

money to the high priests ? It wa s a unique se rvice ,

Judas must have argued a s ervice which no one else

,

would perform H e knew all the habits and all the

.

haunts of J esus and no one else whom the high priests

,

could buy had this intimate knowledge Yes at last they .

,

agreed to give him thi rty s ilver pieces It seemed a .

great deal of money to J udas wh o had always been a poor

,

man Perhaps he could have got more if he had i n

.
,

s isted Whatever his feelings were we know that he

.
,

f u lfilled his agreement .

But in order to f u lfil hi s agreement and earn h i s

 JU DAS ISCARIOT

th irty silver pieces it wa s necessary f o r him t o return t u

,

Jesus and his fellow disciples that he might inf o rm t h r

-

priests as t o what they were doing A nd Judas co n.

curred in all the plans o f h i s n ew ass oc i a te s a s he had ,

formerly concurred in all the plans o f h i s Master Th e .

effi ci en t treasurer became now the effi ci en t s py .

Afte r he left the high priest s palace it i s likely that

’
,

he walked about alone for awhile f o rming his plans By

,
.

this time the good angel of J udas whi c h J esus had

, ,

recognised and had tried to help must have spread i t s

,

white wing s and fl o wn away to heaven leaving J udas to ,

the fate which he had deliberately chosen .

You have read in Milto n perhaps a b o ut the fall of

, ,

the rebel angels H ere wa s the fall of a man wh o had

.

been a disciple and wh o might have become a saint

,
.

And hi s reward wa s to be thirty pieces of silver !

336 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TE STAM ENT

And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished

and prepared : there make ready for u s .

The two disciples went into the city as J esu s had told
,

t hem and there they met a man carrying a pitcher of

,

water and they followed him When the man went into a
.

house the disciples went in also Then seeing the

, .
,

owner of the house they said to him exactly what J es u s

,

had told them :

“
The Master saith Where is the guest chamber where
,
-
,
”
I shall eat the Passover with my dis ciples ?
And the owner of the house led the two disciples u p
stairs , and showed them a large upper chamber furni shed
with a long table and with divans And the two disci
.

ples prepared a supper there for their Ma ster and his

followers .

A nd in the evening J esu s came with his disciples to

the house whi ch the two had found by following the man
with the pitcher of water A nd they made ready to eat
. .

In the E ast men take o ff their shoes before meals and ,

oft en when they have been walking a long wa y and their

,

f eet are tired and dusty they bathe them before s itting
,

down at the ta ble That Thursday evening when J esu s

.
,

and the twelve di s ciples were assembled in t hat upper

room in the strange house in Jerusalem J es u s lai d aside ,

hi s outer garments and taking a large towel he girded

, ,

himself The disciples wondered what he was going

.

to do .

Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash

,

the tired and dusty feet of his d isciples and to wipe ,

them on the towel with whi ch he wa s girded .

Peter was astonished that the Master should do thi s

humble service for those so much inferior to himself and
when Jesus came to the place where Peter was sitting the ,

disci p le said to him in amazement

 T HE LA ST SUPP E R
Lord dost thou wash my feet ?
,

Jesus knew how Peter felt and l oved him all the bet ,

ter for i t ; but there wa s a profound meani n g in what he

did and he wanted Peter to understand Se he said to
, .

him very gently

,
“
What I do thou knowest not n o w ; but thou shalt
know hereafter .

But Peter s till shrank from letting the Maste r serve

him H e said :
.

“ ”
Thou shalt never wash my feet !
”
If I wash thee not answered J esus th ou s h a lt
“
, ,
”
have no part in me .

The Master had always taught them by parables and

s ym bols and now Peter understood a part at least of
,

what J csu s meant s o he assented gla dl y s a ying :

, ,
“
Lord not my feet only but als o my han d s and my
, ,
”
head meaning that he wi shed J es u s by his l ove to
,

puri fy him completely .

“ ”
H e that i s washed replied J esus n eedeth not , ,

s ave to wash his feet but is clean eve ry whit A nd ye ,

.

are clean— but not all .

As he sai d this he glanced along the line of his di s ci

,

ples for he knew already in h i s heart that o ne o f them

,

was false to him But the other disciples did not kn o w

. .

When Jesus had fin i s h ed washing the feet o f the

twelve men ( including Judas ) he put on hi s garments ,

again and sat down Then he said t o them :

,
.

“
Know ye what I have done t o you ?
Y e call me Master and Lord : and ye say well for so

If your Lord and Master have washed your

I th
’

en , ,
’
feet ; ye also ought to wash one another s feet .

For I have given you an example that ye should do ,

as I have done to you .

3 38 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
V erily ,
verily I say unto you The s ervant i s not
, ,

greater than his lord ; neither he that is sent greater than

he that sent him .

And the disciples looked lovingly at one another each ,

man ( save J udas ) wondering how he himself coul d

humbly serve the others and so follow the beautiful ,

example in humility which the Master had given them .

This incident like everything else which happened that

,

evening was indelibly stamped upon the memories of

,

the faithful ones The Master had washed them and had
.

made them clean they felt In future they mu st wash

,
.

one another— that is they must help one another to be

,

pure And they must al s o be humble doing the lowest

.
,

s e rvices for all those wh o were weary and dusty from

walking the highways of li fe .

When they were gathered round the table at s upper ,

and were eating together the face of J esus grew very s ad

, ,

so sad that the faithful disciples wondered what new

sorrow wa s in hi s heart Finally he said .

“
V erily I say unto you O ne of you which eateth with ,
”
me shall betray me .

The men looked at one another with sorrowful faces ,

s h o cked and grieved at the words of J csus To the .

eleven it seemed impossible that a disciple of the Ma s ter

should betray him But the heart of J uda s leaped int o
.

his throat though he controlled his agita tion

,
.

Then one after another the disciples began to question

“ ” “ ”
Je s us saying
,
Is it I ?
,
Is it I ? And Juda s also
“ ”
asked even as the others
,
Master i s it I ? , ,
“
J es u s answered gravely I t is one of the twelve that, ,

dippeth with me in the dish Then he added .

“
The S on of man indeed goeth as it is written of him ,

but w o e to that man by whom the S on of man is betrayed !

”
Good were it for that man if he had never been born .
34 0 S T Oi . IE S FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

they had need of f o r the feast of the Passover which fell ,

upon the morrow ; or that he shoul d give something to the

poor It was not until afterward that they knew
. .

When Judas had gone out J esus said to the others ,

that now the S on of man wa s glo ri fied and that God wa s ,

glo r i fied in him H e meant that the betrayal by Ju das

.

wa s a part of that glo r i fica t i o n which J udas had so de

sired to see and which o nl y began now that he was gone
,

to betray his Master to the high priests H ad Judas .

heard those words they would have seemed to him

,

ironical .

“
L ittle children said J es u s tenderly to the eleven
,
“
faithf u l ones yet a little while I a m with you Ye
,
.

shall seek me : and as I said unto the J Whither I go ,

i

ye cannot come ; so now I say to you .

‘
A new commandment I give unto you T hat ye love ,

one another ; as I have loved you that you also love one ,

another .

“
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples ,

if ye have love one to another .

S imon Peter said to him

”
Lord whither goest thou ?
,
” “
Whither I go J esu s repeated
,
thou canst not ,

follow me now ; but thou shalt follow me afterward .

Then he added
“
A ll ye shall be o fi en d ed because of me this night : for
it is written I will smite t h e shepherd and the sheep of
, ,

the flock shall be scattered abroad .

“
But after I a m risen again I will go before you into ,

Galilee .

The honest face of Peter wa s shining with love for his

Master H e came close to him now and said
.
,
“
Though all men shall be o ffended because of thee ,

yet will I never be o ffended .

 TH E LA ST SUPPE R
V erily I say unto thee replied J esus “ that this , ,

night before the cock crow thou shalt deny me t h r i cr

, ,

Peter insisted that though he sh ould d i e with t h e

Maste r he woul d never deny him and all the others said
,

the same But no man knows what even an hour may bring
.

forth and Peter and h i s friends c o uld n o t have im a gined

,

the trials they would pass through that nigh t— before the
crowing of the cock in the morning .

It wa s on this last evening which J es a s spent with hi s

disciple s that he established the sacrament which i s
’
known as the Lord s S upper N ow that he wa s g o ing .

away from them he wanted to leave with them s o me

,

thing some rite which they should do in remembran c e

, ,

of him— they that he wa s actually with them in

i
r
g
the spi rit whi e t ri e y were doing i t
l
.

So while they were still seated round the table he

, ,

took the bread in h i s hands and gave thanks to G o d and , ,

blessed the bread ; then he broke it into pieces and gave ,

a morsel to each o f the eleven men saying a s he did s o : ,

“
Take eat ; this is my body which i s given for you
,

this do in remembrance o f me .

Then he took the cup of wine in his hands and when ,

he had given thanks to God and blessed the wine he ,

gave it to them to drink one after another saying , ,

“
Thi s cup is the new te stament of my blood which i s ,

shed for you .

N o words could describe the beauty and tenderness of

Jesus a s he gave to h i s disciples this fi rs t sacrament of
the Lord s S upper They felt as the morsel of bread
’
.
,

to uched their lips and as they tasted the fl a vo u r of the

wine that the Master s body and blood were really min
,
’

gled with their s and that they were thus a part of him
,

forever .

Among those wh o have followed the religion of Jesus ,

3 42 S T ORIES FROM THE N E W T E S T A M EN T
from that far day until now this sacrament of the bread
,

and the wine has been taken And those who have .

received i t at the hands of the mini s ter s of Christ have

, ,

felt as the eleven disciple s felt that night that they were
, ,

receiving the body and the blood o f their Master which ,

were thus mingled with their s and which made them one ,

with him Behind this belief in the presence of Christ in

.

his sacraments there is a great mystery hidden .

When J es u s had given thi s sacrament to h i s disciples ,

he said to them
“
I will not d ri n k h en cef o rt h of thi s fruit of the Vine ,
'

until that day when I shall drink it new with you in my

”
Father s kingdom
’
.

During all the time that the s e men had w alked with
Jesu s they had never seen him so beauti ful as he wa s
,

this evening— no not even that night on Mount H ermon

, ,

when three o f them had beheld him t ra n s figu red and

shining with a supernatural light After he had given .

them the bread and the wine it s eemed to them that he ,

became— not less human and loving than before but more ,

transcendently spiritual more like the presence of God

,

H imself among them H is eye s were shining with a

.

tendernes s that s eemed beyond the tenderness of earth ,

and there wa s a thrilling tone in hi s voice which mad e

their hearts almost stand still to listen .

Jesus to ld them not to let thei r heart s be troubled ;

that in hi s Father s house wer e many mansions and that
’
,

he went to prepare a place for them that where he wa s , ,

there t hey might be also And he said : Wh i t h er I go ye

.
“

know and the wa y ye know

,
For he had told them so
.

many times that he was going to die and to die by the ,

hands of his enemies that it s eemed to him they m a s t

,

understand But Thomas wh o always wanted to have

.
,

everything explained to him now said : ,

3 44 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

These men were very sad at the thought that J esus

wa s going to leave them even though he was going to,

his Father whom they had learned to love for his sake
,
.

But he said to them :

.

“
I will not leave you comfortless : I will come to
you .

H e said that in a little while the world would see

him no more ; but that his disciples should see him b e ,

cause he woul d really be li vi n g still And because he .

lived they shoul d live also

,
.

Then he told them about the Comforter whom God

would send to them when he was gone ; that this Com
forter wou ld be the H oly Ghost the S pirit of T ruth which ,

the world cannot receive because the world cannot see it

,

with its material eyes ; but that the disciples could see
the S pirit of Truth the H oly Ghost the Comforter , for it
, ,

woul d dwell with them and be i n them .

Jes u s said that those wh o had his comman d ments and

kept them really loved him and that those who loved
, ,

him shoul d be loved by his Father Jes u s him s elf woul d .

love those that were faithful and would manifest himself ,

to them At that time the disciples did not fu lly u h

.

d ers t a n d in what for m the Master would return to them ;

bu t hi s words lighted the fl a m e of hope in their hearts ,

that though he was going away they should somewhere , ,

somehow see him again— before the far o ff coming of

,
-

the kingdom of heaven Yet the faces of the disciples

.

were still sad and Jcsus said ,

“
I f y e loved me ye would rejoice becau s e I said I
, , ,
”
go unto the Father : for my Father is greater than I .

It was hard for the eleven men who loved Jes u s to

realise that even God the Father wa s greater than their
Ma ster though they coul d easily believe that God and Jes u s
,

w ere o n c —be cau s e they loved Jes u s s o much

k The idea .
 T HE LA ST SU PPER
of a God made flesh and dwelling am o ng men charmed ,

them as it has since charmed s o many o ther beauti ful

souls Jesus had said that they could o nly kno w the
.

Father t h r oa yh him ; and because he was s o real and s o

s ympathetic and so dear to them t hey n o w l o ved the ,

Father because the Father wa s o ne wit h the So n They .

had heard about J eh o va h the J s wi sh Go d all thei r lives ;

, ,

they had feared and reverenced H im as the G o d wh o ,

spoke to Job out of the whirlwind ; but until J c sus came

and told them that h e was that God made fl es h they had ,

never really loved God For reverence and fe a r are not

.

the same as love and that is wh y Christianity has

,

triumphed over Ju d a i s m .

As they looked at the M as ter now sitting there bef o re ,

them so gentle and so sad they tried to be glad that he ,

wa s going to his Father— because they felt that he want ed

so much to go But they coul d not be glad for it did
.

n o t seem a s i f they coul d live without him Knowing .

what wa s in thei r hearts he began to teach them again , ,

us i n g one of the beauti ful s ymbols through which he

could teach them best H e said : .

“
I a m the true vine and my Father is the husband
,

I the vine ye are the branches : H e that abideth

am ,

in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much f r uit :

, ,
”
for without me ye can do nothing .

The eyes of the faithful men were full of tears so ,

keenly they felt the truth of what he said— that without

him they could do nothing .

“ ”
I f ye abide in me said Jesus and my words , ,

abide in you ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be

, ,
’
done unto you .

At that moment the disciples felt that the only thing

t hey wanted the o nl y thing they de s ired to ask of G o d
, ,
34 6 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TE STAM ENT

was that Jesus sho ul d remain with them on earth — and

this they dared not ask The eyes of every man were fix ed
.

upon the face of their Master so that the eleven seemed ,

to be one being J s sus said again :

.

“
This is my commandment That ye love one another , ,

as I have loved you .

“
Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay ,

down his life for his friends .

“
Ye are my friends if ye do what s oever I command
,

H enceforthI call you not s ervants ; for the servant

kn oweth not what hi s lord doeth : but I have called you
friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father I
have made known unto you .

The disciples must sudden l y have a s ked themselves if

they really remembered all that Jes u s had made known
t o them —the things which he had heard of his Father .

H e had taught them so much and they were ignorant ,

men and had probably written down but few of his say
,

ings But in the words which he spoke to them next he

.
,

summed up hi s whole teaching

“
These things I command you that ye love one a h ,

other .

H e had repeated thi s so often t hat it might be i m ,

pressed upon their minds Then he spoke to them again .

about the future and all they would have to endure for
,

hi s sake and the gospel s H e said ’

.

“
They shall put you out of the synagogues : yea the ,

time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that

,

he doeth God servi ce .

“
And th e s e things will they do unto you because they ,

have not known the Father nor me ,

.

Though the lips of the disciples were silent thei r ,

eye s pleaded :
3 48 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
an d needest n ot that any man sh ould ask thee : by this we
believe that thou earnest forth from God .

J esus t o ld them that the hour wa s come when they

should be scattered every man t o his own when they ,

should leave their Master alone but that he would n ot be

alone because the Father wa s with him
, .

Then Jes u s lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed

that God would n ow glorify H is S on that the S on might ,
“
gl o rify H i m H e said t o G o d : I have fin i s h ed the work
.

which thou gavest me to do .

A nd he prayed for his disciples whom he so much

“
loved saying : Ho ly Father keep through thine own
, ,

name those whom th o u hast given me th at they ma y be ,

one as we are
,
T hey are not of the world even as I
.
,

a m not of the world A s thou hast sent me into the

.

world even s o have I also sent them into the world

, .

N either pray I for these alone bu t for them also which ,

shall believe o n me through their word ; that they all may

be one ; as thou Father a rt in me and I in thee that
, , , ,

they also may be one in u s

Father I will that they als o whom thou hast given
, ,

me be with me where I a m that they may behold my

,

glo ry which thou hast given me : for thou lovest me before

,

the f oundation of the world .

And as the Master prayed thus with his eyes upraised ,

to heaven the disciples also felt thei r hearts going out to

,

the Father whom Jesus loved so much H e wa s to them .

no longer the Jeh o va h wh o spake to Jo h out of the whirl

wind ; but H e wa s indeed the loving Father of J esus and ,

through Jes u s of themselves and of all the world who ,

would accept H im as their Father H e was the O ne who .

desired to dwell in their hearts wh o looked out at them ,

from the eyes o f all other men and women and little
‘

children E ven those disciples wh o had been puzzled

,
 T HE LA ST SU PPER
before were not puzzled any l onger ; f o r at las t they u nder
!

stood Though a time of forgetfulness wa s to c ome to

.

them— and in a very little while — a t this m oment they

grasped the meaning of what J esus m eant when h e s a id
”
“
My Father . And a s the Master prayed they lif t d thei r
, e

eyes to heaven and prayed with him wordlessly f oll ow

, ,

ing his prayer with the assent o f their souls .

Thi s moment was the supreme moment o f their lives .

They had never been so happy b ef o rc —th ey w ould nev e r

L

be so happy again It seemed a s i f J esus had c aught

.

their spiri t s up in his hands and held them out to his

Father as a parting gift from the w o rld before he left i t
,
.

When the prayer was ended and the eyes o f J esus

,

came back from heaven t o the fa c es o f his disciples h e ,

arose from h is seat and beckoned them t o f oll o w him t o

the Mount of O lives where they usually spent the night
,
.

In silence they passed out of the city o f J e rusalem and ,

across the brook Cedron and into the Garden of Get h s em

,

ane , at the foot of the Mount of O live s .

3 52 STORIES FROM TH E NEW T E STAM ENT
” “
Abba Father he prayed
,
all things are pos s ible
, ,

unto thee ; take away thi s cup from me : nevertheles s not

”
what I will but what thou wilt
,
.

H e could not lie there long he could not pray long , ,

for he was restless and tortu red in spirit H e felt t er .

r i b ly alone now even when praying to the Father and he

, ,

yearned for the companion s hip and comfort of his dearest

friends R ising to hi s feet he went back t o the place
.
,

where he had left them— but Peter and James and John
were sound asleep ! H e wa s astonished H o w could they .

sleep knowing that this was his hour of anguish ? D id

,

they not love him after all ? And he awoke them , saying
,

to Peter
“
S imon sleepest thou ? Coul dst thou not watch with
,
”
me one hour ?
The disciples were ashamed They sat up and rubbed .

their heavy eye s staring at the Ma s ter as h e s t o o d there

‘

, ,

so tall and melancholy in the starlight They were so .

drowsy that his words made little impression on th em at

the moment though they remembered them afte rward
,

with bitter sorrow Jesus said : .

Watch ye and pray lest ye enter into temptation , .

”
The spirit trul y is ready but the flesh i s weak ,
.

Truly indeed wa s the spirit of Je s a s ready to d o all

, ,

that God demanded ; but he was a man still and he ,

shrank with human sensitiveness from the physical suffer

ing that wa s in store for him It i s perhaps the human .
, ,

suffering of Jesu s which has most endeared him t o man

kind H ad he not s u ff ered they could not have realised
.
,

him as that intimate and human friend— the God made

flesh .

Leaving hi s three disciples to watch with him once

more Jes u s went back to the place where he had prayed
,
.

And throwing h imself again upon the ground he turn ed ,

 T H E GARD EN OF GET H SEMANE

a second time to h i s Father in heaven— the G o d wh o h a d

given his beloved s o n a task s o hard A nd he pray ed .

a gain ,as before though with even greater intensity :

,
“
0 my F a ther i f thi s cup m a y n o t p a ss awa y f ro m
,

me except I drink i t thy will be d one

, , .

During the centuries s ince that time the m n a n d ,

e

women who have tried to follow J esus have repea t ed th o s e

words when they were in trouble Oi all the sayings o f .

the Master that i s the hardest t o repe a t sin c e re ly :

,
“ ”
Father thy will be done
, We s a y it in the L o rd s.
’

Prayer ; but few have grasped its meaning and fewer ,

still have really meant it when they spoke the wo rd s .

But Jesus could say it with s incerity and with full kn owl
edge of i t s import even when it led him to the great est
,

suffering of which the human being i s capable— both of

the body and the mind .

When he had thus prayed again to h i s Father repeat ,

“ ”
ing Thy will be done he went back to the three men ,

whom he had left under the olive trees S urely this time -
.

they would have watched with him and prayed .

But when he came to the place in s t ead of fin di n g the ,

three in prayer he saw them again extended upon the

,

ground— sound asleep Whether or not their spirits

.

were ready surely t h ei r fl es h wa s weak

,
.

When he awakened them a second time they knew ,

not what to say to him They had meant to watch and .

to pray that God woul d keep them from tempta tion ; but
the hour was late and they were tired Before they h a d
,
.

r ealised i t thei r heads had fallen upon their breasts the

, ,

whispering of the wind through the trees had seemed a

lullaby and they had sunk upon the ground in a d ee p
,

sleep . Whether or not they dreamed we do not kn o w ; ,

but when they heard the voice of Jesus calling them

a gain they sat up and gazed at him in shame and co n f u
,
3 54 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
s ion Perhaps God permitted them t o sleep that J esu s
.
,

might learn that in the hour of sorrow there is no real

comforter except God E very soul in deep trouble has to
.

learn that lesson .

Jesus left Peter and Jame s and J ohn and went away ,

the third time H e wa s more sorrowful than ever for

.
,

now he knew that he was utterly alone save for the -

Father And he realised that every other soul in its las t

.
,

depth of pain is also alone with God The grief of all

,
.

the world rolled over him in a great fl o o d as he lay there ,

”

on the cold ground He was going to die in order to

.

show the world where comfort might be foun d— but

would the world seek that comfort ? If even his own dis
ci ples coul d not watch with him in this hour of his trial ,

what hope was there for le s ser men ? H e wa s now resigned

to death ; but one wh o loved humanity as Jesu s loved it
could not be re s igned t o the pain of humanity .

What Je su s endured during that last prayer is too t er

rible to write —almost too terrible to think It is pos s ible .

that he suffered more in that hour alone than he su ffered

the f ollowing day upon the cross We are told that in .

his agony he prayed more earnestly than before and that ,

hi s s weat wa s as it were great drops of blood falling down

to the ground Words cannot express such grief nor can
.
,

the mind o f a young per s on imagine i t nor his heart en ,

dure i t .

But when the anguish of Je s u s wa s deepest there ,

appeared to him an angel from heaven giving him ,

s trength Wa s it the same angel that had come to Mary

.

the V irgin in her little room that night so long ago t o

, ,

tell her that she had been chosen by God to be the mother
of the future Christ ? Or wa s it the great angel Ra phael ,

wh o is said to be full of pity for the world ? We do not

know Men like to think o f that angel hovering over
.
356 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
R ise u p, let us go ; 10 , he that betrayeth me is at
hand .

E ven with the words they heard a sound of f ootsteps

, ,

a murmur of voices a clanking of weap ons ,

Looking in .

the direction from which the sounds came they sa w the ,

fl i ck eri n g lights of many lanterns moving over the ,

ground in a wide irregular semicircle as i f those wh o

, ,

b o re them were searching for something .

The three disciples leaped to their feet and the other ,

eight wh o had been a short distan c e away came running

, , .

They had been awakened from sleep by the sound of the

approaching multitude .

As the crowd of men came closer by the light of the ,

stars and of the lanterns the disciples could see that ,

most of them were ru ffia n s They had swords and staves .

in their hands and they had come from the chief priests
,

and the scribes and the elders But wh o wa s that at .

their head— the man wh o s eemed to be leading them ?

The faithful disciples were amazed when they saw Judas
Iscariot H i s face wa s terrible in the starlight for there
.
,

wa s on it a strange expression— half triumph half fli ck er ,

ing shame H e turned away a moment and those who

.
,

were nearest heard him say to th e men behind him

“
Whomsoever I shall kiss that same i s h e ; take h i m , ,

and lead him away safely .

The crowd surrounded the place where J esus st o od

with his friends It would have been impossible for
.

him to escape without Violence even had he wished to ,

escape .

In the uncertain light the ru ffia n s peered into one ,

face and another not knowing which of the men was the
,

Master from N azareth But Judas went boldly up t o .

J es u s and kissed him saying in a loud voice which could

,

be heard by the whole crowd :

 T HE GARDEN OF G ETHS EMANE
”
Maste r Master !
“
Judas ,said J esus betrayest thou the So n o f m a n
,
”
with a ki ss ?
The look of mingled love and reproach in the Maste r s ’

eyes was more than the faithless disciple co u ld bear H e .

drew back and hid himself behind h i s followers At

, .

that moment Jes u s was very strong .

”
Whom seek ye ? he said turning to the m e n fro m ,

Jeru salem who now pressed closer around him

, .

“ ”
Jesus of N azareth replied a d o zen voices h o ars e
, ,

with excitement .

”
I am h e said the Master quietly
, , .

To the disciples who s tood by it seemed that h i s ,

whole person expanded that a strange power went out ,

from him ; and John says that the men wh o were near
Jesus sank backward and fell upon the ground .

“ ”
Whom seek ye ? he asked a second time , .

J es u s of N azareth they answered

, .

”
I have told you that I a m h e said J esus , .

therefore ye seek me let these go thei r way

,
.

H e made a motion toward his disciples meaning that ,

the ru ffi a n s were to take him only and let his friends go ,

f ree
. But they did not want his friends— they only
wan t ed him The di sciples s a w this and when they
.
,

realised that the crowd meant violence to their Mas t er ,

they said to him :

”
Lord shall we smite with the sword ?
,
F o r the men
from Galilee had two swords with them .

We do not know wh at answer Jes u s made i f he made ,

any ; for at that moment the rough men laid hands up o n

him .

This wa s too much for Peter to endure H e drew h i s .

s word and smote a servant of the high priest named ,

Malchus and cut off his right ear

,
.
3 58 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

placed hi s hand upon the servant s wound and

J es u s ’

healed i t Then he said to Peter :

.

“
Put up again thy sword into his place : for all they
that take the sword shall perish with the sword .

Thinkest thou that I cannot n o w pray to my Father ,

and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions

of a ngels ?
“
But how then shall the S criptures be f u lfilled that ,

thus he must die .

Peter put away his sword as the Master had com ,

m a n d ed him .

Then Jesus said to the chief priests the capta ins o f ,

the Temple and the elders who had also come with ,

J udas and the brutal crowd

“
Are ye come out a s against a thief with swords and
, ,

with staves to take me ? When I was daily with you in

the Temple ye stretched fo rth no hand against me : bu t
,
”
thi s is your hour and the power of darkness
,
.

‘
For reply the ru fiia n s bound Jes u s and took him
, , .

When the disciples saw their Maste r thus bound like ,

any malefactor and helpless in the hands of his enemies ,

their courage vanished It s eemed to them that their

.

hearts were broken ; but the more faithful of them did

not know that what they were yet to suffer would make
their present trouble seem a s nothing Casting a last .

despairing glance at Jes u s they turned and fl ed pushing

, ,

their wa y through the crowd which made no effort t o

det ain them Where did they go ? We do not know ,
.

save for two of them Peter and J ohn wh o f ollowed after

, ,

their Master— but not too near .

As Jesus was hustled along toward J eru sa lem in the

midst of this ru ffia n ly multitude there also followed ,

after him a certain young m a n dressed onl y in a linen

cloth thrown hastily around hi s body , a s i f he had
,
 CHAPTER XXX IV

I N TH E H A N D S O F H I S E NE MI E S

When Peter and J ohn s a w J esus in the h a nds o f that

band of ru ffi a n s in the Garden o f Gethsem a ne they knew ,

not what to do Why did he n o t mani fest his p o wer ?

.

they asked each other Why did he n ot c a ll up o n G o d

.

to free him ? S urely the Father would come t o the res c ue

of the S on ? All the other disciples h a d fled— J ohn did
not even know where his brother James had g one .

They could see in the di sta nce ahead o f them the

, ,

fl i ck eri n g lights of the lanterns whi c h the ra tfi a n s c ar

ried ; they heard now and then a sharp v o ice which seemed
to give commands and once or twice the strains o f a
,

ribald song for there were soldiers in the c r owd Where

, .

were they going ? What woul d they do t o the Ma ster ?

Though Peter and John kept well behind out of sight , ,

yet they were near enough to see and to f oll o w the throng .

This was easy for it was so late at night that the count ry
,

roads were quite deserted and even when they entered the
,

city of Jeru sa lem they met almost no o ne .

As the crowd ahead made a sharp turn J o hn said to ,

Peter
“ ”
Look they are ta king Jes u s to the house of A nnas !
,

You will remember that A nnas was the old high

priest the predecessor and father i n law of Caiaphas ; and
,
- -

though he was no longer in authority yet h i s i n flu en ce ,

among the Jews was even stronger than that of the pres
3 61
3 62 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

ent high priest John shuddered when he thought of his

.

Master at the mercy of that old bigot .

The two men saw Jesus taken into the house of Anna s .

They waited in the street opposite hiding in a doorway , .

But they did not have to wait long for after a few min ,

utes the door of the house of Annas opened again and ,

they saw J esus pass out over the threshold between two ,

o f the high priest s servants

’
H is hands were bound a s
.
,

i f he had been a thief and as the light from the lantern

hung over the doorway fell upon his face the two disci ,

ples clutched each other with pity f o r their Master

, .

H ow white and sad he was ! T hey longed to throw them

selves at h i s feet— but they dared not s h ow their faces .

All the courage wa s gone out of them They did not

"

even know what hour of the night it was for the snatches ,

of troubled sleep which they had taken in the garden

while Jes u s prayed had confused their minds They .

seemed to be walking in a nightmare where everything

was unreal especially the white face of the Master
, .

They dared not even whisper to each other for they ,

were too near the crowd Their hearts beat so loud that
.

it seemed as i f their enemies must hear them ; and when

the throng started down the street they came so near to ,

the doorway in which Peter and John were hidden that

they nearly touched them in pass ing .

Following the crowd again the two disciples came to

,

the palace of the high priest Caiaphas There they saw .

J esus disappear into the palace with those highest in

,

authority and with the servants of the high priests .

N ow John wa s the only one of the disciples ( except

Judas ) wh o was known to the high priest and his house
hold and when he came to the palace of Caiaphas he
,

went i n after hi s Master leaving Peter outside the do o r

, ,
.

But he could not follow Jes u s any farther than the main
3 64 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT
”
I a m not answered Peter sullenly a second time
, , ,

denying his Master .

Then one of the men servant s of the high priest a -

kinsman of that Malchus whose ear Peter had cut o ff with

his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane said to the ,

unhappy disciple
“ ”
D id I not see thee in the garden with him ?
“
And another said : S urely thou art one of them for ,

thy speech betrayeth thee .

This made Peter angry for he wa s very sensitive ,

about hi s Galilean accent which had been much laughed

,

at in Jeru s a lem A nd he began to curse and to swear

.
,

saying
“
I k n ow a ct th e m a n .

Immediately the cock crowed for it was nearly morn ,

When Peter heard the crowing of the cock he started ,

as i f some one had struck hi m for he remembered the ,

“
words which Jes u s had said : Before the cock crow thou ,

shalt deny me thrice Leaving J ohn and the servants

.

and o ffi cers still standing around the fire he went out of ,

doors alone in the grey dawn and wept bitterly .

Peter had not meant to deny the Master ; he told him

self now that he would gladly die for Jes u s ; but the con
t em pt u o u s tone of the pretty maid servant as she had -

“ ”
sai d thi s man and the general air of cynical superior
,

ity in the hall of the high priest s palace and especially ’

,

that reference to his Galilean accent had been too much ,

for Peter s loyalty N ot even the presence of John had

’
.

kept him from denying that he wa s a disciple of Jes u s .

H e wondered now what his fellow di s ciple thought of -

him !
The B i ble does not tell u s whether or not John came
out to Peter and comforted him ; but we like to think that
 I N T HE HA NDS OF HIS ENEMIES
he did Peter never denied h i s m omenta ry d is lo ya lt v
.
.

In after years he frankly confessed i t — co nfessed that h e ,

whom Jesus had called the fo undati o n st one o f his -

church had in the h our o f temptati on f o rg ott en his

,
,

Master s trust For a moment al one there in the grey

.

dawn it must have seemed to Pete r himself that he wa s

,

almost as false a s J udas It wa s a bi t ter h our f o r him

.
.

When he realised what he had done a te rrible d esi re to ,

s ee J es a s rushed over him H e wondered what th ey were.

doing to the Master in that council room whither he -

could not go ?

When Je s u s had gone i nto the council chamber he -

had found as s embled there the priests and scribes and

elders with Caiaphas
, !
At last the time had co me f o r
.

which the high priest had schemed and w o rke d and f o r ,

which he had also bribed Judas Iscariot f o r the sake o f

the little help that he could give The high priest n o w .

had Jes u s in h i s power .

You must understand that although the J ew s were ,

not rulers in thei r own land which wa s un der the sway o f

the Romans in all matte rs of strictly religi o us imp o rt
,

the Romans did not interfere with the auth o rity o f the
high priests To have done so woul d have provoked ri o ts
.

and revolutions This p o licy i s still adopted by all

.

E uropean empires in dealing with th o se o riental ra c es

which are under their rul e The Jew i s h high priests had .

not the legal right to carry out a sentence o f death ; but

i i in solemn council they pronounced a man guilty o f
, ,

blasphemy a gainst the Jewish religi on which blasphemy ,

wa s pun ishable by death according to the J s wish law the ,

R oman authorities would carry out the sentence .

H aving failed to entangle Jesus with the R o man

authorities that time in the Temple when they had ques ,
3 66 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
t i o n ed
him as to whether it was law ful to give tribute to
C aesar their only hope was to pronounce him gu ilty of
,

bla s phemy against the J s wish faith and then to hand him ,

over to Pontius Pilate the Roman governor with a de

, ,

mand that he be executed To this end they were now

.

provided with false witnesse s wh o were ready to s wear to

,

anything no matter how absurd which would cause Jes u s

, ,

to be condemned for blasphemy .

Let u s look int o that council chamber in the high -

’
priest s palace— which the two disciples could not enter .

This J ewi s h council of priests scribes and elders wa s

, ,

called the sanhedrim It was the S upreme Court of the

.

J ews . The members who were many sat in a wide semi

, ,

circle with the high priest Caiaphas — president of the

,

sanhedrim — i n the centre of the curve O pposite Caia .

ph a s at a little distance stood the accused man Jesus

, , ,

bound and at the mercy of his questioners all of whom ,

were determined to condemn h im .

It wa s still some time before dayl i ght and the large ,

room was lighted by lamps The face of every member

.

of the sanhedrim was set in rigid lines while his eyes ,

blazed with determination to wreak vengeance at last upon

the daring Galilean who had called them hypocrites and
perverters of the law .

The high priest began by q u estioning Jes u s in regard

to his doctrines and his di s ciples What had he taught .

the people ? Caiaphas asked and what secret doctrine

,

had he taught to his own friends ?

“ ” “
i I spake openly to the world Je s u s answered ; I ,

ever taught in the synagogues and in the temple whither

, ,

the J ews always resort ; and in secret have I said nothing .

Why askest thou me ? Ask them which heard me what ,

I have said unto them : behold they know what I said .

Jesus had s poken gently ; yet one of the o ffi cers of the

3 68 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

after shall ye see t h e So n o f man s itting o n the right hand

of power and coming in the clouds of heaven
, .

When the high priest heard the answer o f J esus h e ,

rent hi s garment which w a s a sign among the J ews when

,

something was too terrible to be endured A nd he cried .

to the assembled members of the sanhedrim

H e hath spoken blasphemy ; what further need have
we of witnesses ? Behold now ye have heard his blas
,
”
p h em y .

It seems strange to u s that the J ews wh o had been ,

waiting so long for their Messiah should declare that ,

Mess iah guilty of blasphemy against the Js wish religion

when he implied that he was the S on of man a name ,

they had for the Redeemer for whom they pretended— and
possibly believed— that they were waiting But such wa s .

the wa y of the Jewish hierarchy .

“
What think ye ? cried the high priest n o w looking
’
,

at the assembled company And as with one voi ce these

.

cruel councill o rs answered

“
H e is guilty of death .

Then all their long controlled malice was let loose

-
.

Their anger and hatred of J es u s which had made them ,

wretched f o r months whenever they had thought of him

and of his noble arraignment of their own hypocrisy now ,

found a vent S ome of them even went up and spat in the

.

face of the Master as he st o od there alone and quiet and

,

d i gn i fi ed in the midst of his powerful enemies O thers .

pushed him back and f o rth and still others held a sc a rf

,

o ver his eyes while their neighbours struck him with their
,

hands saying mockingly :

,
“ Prophesy unto
a s thou Christ who w a s it that smote
, ,
”
thee ?
If they ha d done nothing worse t o J es u s the shame ,

of that scene in the council chamber of the high priest

-

,
 I N TH E HA NDS OF HIS ENEMIES

where the most d i gn i fi ed men of the nati o n d i d and pe r

m i tt ed such things would be a blot up o n the J ewish ra w:
,

forever But these insults and blows were but the com
.

m en cem en t o f what the priests and scribes and el d ers i a

tended to do with J es u s the gentle Master f ro m G alile

, o
,

whose new law was that men sh o uld l ove o ne a no ther ;

whose crime was that men loved him bette r than t h ey
loved the high priests ; whose blasphemy was that he
called himself the S on of man .

H aving convicted him of that blasphemy acc o rding ,

t o their law they prepared to conduct him to the Ro man

,

governor Pontius Pilate whom they believed ( f o r p o lit

, ,

ical reasons ) that they could mould to their c ruel will .

The whole company of priests and scribes and elders with ,

Jesus bound in thei r midst left the pal a ce o f t h e high

,

priest , and sought the judgment h a ll of P o ntius Pila te .

It was n e w day and they exchanged the lamplight o f the

,

coun cil chamber for the light of the morning s u n in the

-

streets of J eru s a lem .

It was at this time that a terrible thing happened .

A s it was still too early in the morning t o s ee P o ntius

Pilate at the governor s hall of judgment the priests and
’
,

elders must have stopped f o r a f ew minutes in the Temple ,

leaving Jes u s bound in the hands of the s o ldiers .

Judas Iscariot came t o the Temple H e h a d been .

wandering a bout all night and n o w with the coming o f

, ,

the daylight he returned to the scene o f h i s treachery

,
.

Judas had seen Jesus standing bound in the cu s to dy o f

the soldiers and he now learned tha t h i s f o rmer M a ster
,

had been condemned to death by the sanhedrim T h e false .

disciple was on the verge of madness That sight o f the .

Master alone with the insolent servants of th o s e enemie s

,

wh o had condemned him to de a th w a s t o o mu c h f o r the ,

faithless friend who had once l oved h i m F o r Judas h a d .

370 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
seen other Roman executions in Ju d aea and he knew what
,

was in st o re for J csus .

Trembling in every limb his face livid with grief and

,

terror at the part which he himself had played in this

tragedy J udas sought out the chief priests and elders as
,

they waited there in the Temple And he tried t o return

.

to them the thirty pieces of s ilver the price of his own

,

p erfidy saying in a voice hoarse with horror

,
“
I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood .

But the rich priests hardly deigned to look at the pal

try sum of money which had been the price of J udas s ’

di sh o nour They were t o o much absorbe d in what they

.

had still to do at the hall of judgment to give more than ,

a p a ss ing glance at this cheap tool which they had used

and thro wn away And when Judas declared his peni
.

tence they merely shrugged their shoulders s aying care

, ,

lessly
“
What i s that to u s ? S ee thou to that .

Then J udas when he realised that they would not take

back the money fl u n g it down on the pavement of the
,

Temple ; and he went out again into the streets of J eru s a

lem which would be horrible to him forevermore
,
.

The voice of J es u s rang in his ears as he had heard it

,

the n ight before when he had kissed the Mast er : Judas ,

”
betrayest thou the S on of man with a kiss ? H e knew
that he would hear that voice until hi s death ; k new that he
would have before his eyes as l o ng as he lived the sad ,

and loving and repr o achful eyes of Jes u s as he had seen ,

them the night before in the light of the lanterns and as ,

he had seen them again this morning when the Master ,

stood bound and condemned in the hands of the soldiers

wh o woul d soon lead him to his death A nd the heart of
.

J udas broke .
372 S T OR I E S FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
ish law with its bigotry and minute distinctions wa s a
, ,

never ending source of perplexity to the Roman governor

-
.

Pilate himself had failed in his attempt to understand

these people whom he had been sent to govern and it ,

seemed to him that they were always trying to involve him

in nee dl ess trouble and to entangle him in thei r tire s ome
,

quarrels So now when they accused J es u s of seeking to

.
,

pervert the nation and turned him over to Pilate to be

,

punished the governor said to them impatiently

, ,
“
Take ye him and judge him according to your
,

But Je s u s had already been judged accor di ng to the

law of the sanhed rim and had been pronounced a blas
,

p h em er worthy of death And the priests and elder s now

.

persisted in thei r demand that Pilate should take a hand

in the aff air ; for as they s aid to him
,

It i s not lawful for u s to put any man to death .

Pilate went back into the hall of j ud gment and gave ,

orders that Jesus shoul d be brought to him there The .

two were now face to face the portly and overfed R oman
,

governor weary of his duties in Jerusalem among a

,

people who hated him and the slender young Galilean

,

prophet with the refin ed and sweet face— s o different to

,

the mass of his countrymen The quiet manners of Jes u s

.

made a deep impression upon Pilate who was accustomed ,

to deal with the talkative and ever wrangling J ews -

He .

looked at Jes u s long and steadily wondering What he ,

shou ld do W ith him Finally he s a i d— being obliged to

.

say something : r

“ ”
Art thou the King of the J ews ?
J esus answered
“
S ayest thou this thing of thyself or did others tell ,
”
it thee of me ?
Pilate was off ended by this reply of Jesus o ffended ,
 I N T HE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES

that a J ewish prophet should a ssume th a t h e took s u lli

cient interest in the aspirati o ns o f this pe o ple t o h a ve a n
idea of his own a bout o ne of them A nd h e s a i d to .

Jesus
“ ”
Am I a Jew ? which wa s the s a me a s saying “ Wh a t
,

do I know about your petty quarrels ? ” A nd he co ntin

“
ued : Thine own nati o n and the chief p riests h a ve ( l v

livered thee unto me : What hast th o u d o ne ? ”

“
My kingd o m is n o t o f this world ” said J esus , ,
’
answering Pilate s fi rs t question as to whether he wa s t h e
“
K ing of the J ews I i my kingd o m were o f this w o rld ,

then would my servants fi gh t that I sh o uld n o t b e d e ,

livered to the Jews : but n o w is my kingdom not fro m

hence .

“ ”
Art thou a king then ? asked Pilate H e wa s be .

coming more and more interested in this unusual pris oner ,

who was charged with making himself o ut a king S urely .

he looked like one .

‘
Thou sayest that I a m a king replied J csus To ,
.

this end was I born and for this cause came I int o t h e
,

world that I sho ul d bear witness unt o the truth E very

, .

one that is of the truth heareth my voice .

”
What i s truth ? asked Pilate with a touch of phil ,

o s o ph i c pride H e was weary of the Greek phil o s o phers

.

and thei r j argon as he called i t and here was a J ew using

, ,

the same abstract terms which to the skeptical R o m a n ,

had no meaning Jes u s now appeared to him a s a harm

.

less dreamer and he wa s less inclined than ever to do

,

him harm H e went o u t again to the J ews and said to

.
,

them :
“
I fin d in him no f ault at all .

But the priests and s cribes and elders were more fierce
than ever for they saw that Pilate wa s not willing t o lend
,

himself to thei r scheme Without h i s con s ent they c o uld

.
374 STO RIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
do nothing And they now began to arraign J esus more
.

severely , saying
“
H e sti rreth up the people teaching throughout all ,
”
Jewry beginning from Galilee to this place
,
.

“ ”
Is the man a Galilean ? asked Pilate eagerly An ,
.

idea had occurred to him by which he might escape this

troublesome busines s .

“
H e i s of Galilee replied the J ews ,
.

Then Pilate left them and going back to J es u s in t h e

,

judgment hall he gave orders that the prisoner should be

,

conducted to H erod the Tetrarch of Galilee wh o wa s in

, ,

J eru s a lem at that time When Pilate saw J esu s led

.

away he breathed a sigh of relief H e did not know how

,
.

soon he s houl d see him again .

N ow H erod was very glad when he heard that J es u s

had been sent to him for judgment for he had long de ,

s ired to s ee him The rumours of the miracles performed

.

by the Galilean had appealed to hi s Vivid imagination .

When J s sus wa s brought before H erod the Tetrarch asked ,

him many questions touching his miraculous works and

hi s teaching But Jesus would answer nothing ; for h e
.

knew that all thi s formality of questioning all thi s send ,

ing of him from one tribunal to another wa s a mere

)
,

mockery H e had been condemned by the sanhedrim the

.
,

members of which would manage s omeho w, to have their ,

sentence of death carried out And Je s us wa s already .

very weary .

H e longed for the death which wa s now certain he

,
,

longed to be at rest in the bosom of the Father whom he

loved .

As J es u s stoo d there before H ero d , the priests and

scribes wh o had followed him to the palace vehemently
accused him c h arging him a gain with s eeking to pervert
,

the nation and with stirring up revolt against the pay

,
376 STORIES FRO M TH E NEW TESTAM ENT

R oman authorities in J udaea , at the annual feast of the

Passover to seek the good will of the Jews by releasing
,

some J ewish prisoner whom the Jews themselves should

select as a kind of peace o ffering in honour of the sacred
,

season H e would o ffer to release Jes u s

. And goi n g o ut .

again to the assembled people he said to them :,

“
Ye have brought this man unto me as o ne that per ,

v ert et h the people ; and behold I having examined him

, , ,

before you , have found no fault in this man touching

those things whereof ye accuse him .

“
N o , nor yet H erod : for I sent you to him , and lo , ,

nothing worthy of death is done unto him .

“
I will therefore chastise him and rel ease him Ye
,
.

have a custom that I should release unto you o ne at the

,

Pa s sover : will ye therefore that I release unto you the

”
King of the Jews ?
But the priests and scribes and elders were not to be
baulked in this way It seemed t o them that Pilate
.

mocked at them , for they could not know that he wa s sick

at heart And they prote sted violently at the suggestion
.
,

crying :
“
Away with this man , and release unto u s Barabbas .

N ow Barabbas wa s a Jew wh o had been cast into prison

by the R omans for causing a r ea l sedition in the city ,
which had resulted in murder Barabbas was very p c pu
.

lar among the J ews who , like most subj ect races , were
,

nearly all seditious in their hearts whatever concess ions ,

to the power of their conquerors their jud gment or their

fear might dictate Pilate now sought to appease the
.

J ews by promising to release Barabbas in honour of the

Passover Then he spoke again o f Je s u s ; but they only
.

cried , louder than before :

Oru czf y Mm Ur uczf y Mm
Why what evil hath he done
,
demanded Pilate ,
 IN T HE HAN! S OF HIS ENEMIES

for the third time I have f o und n o c ause o f death i n

.

him : I will therefore chastise him and let him go ” .

Cr z w if y Mm !
“
But again the terrible cry ,
'

Mm I arose from a hundred throats A nd l o oking d o wn .

from his high place ab ove the cr o wd the Rom a n g overn o r ,

s a w a tossing sea of upturned human faces — a s ea wh o se

every little wave seemed to be a dark eye blazing wi t h t h e

light of hatred .

The perplexity of Pilate increased J c sus was fa ls ely .

“
charged with calling himself King o f the J ews ; and
f o r the R oman governor t o show favo ur to one wh o bo re
such a title in C aesar s dominions might compro mise him
’
,

self .A lready some of the acts o f Pilate in J ud so n had

been severely criticised in R o me .

Part ly to gain time we suppose and in ord er t o evade

, ,

i f possible the demand of the J ews that the Galilean be

cru ci fi ed Pilate commanded that J csus should be s c ourged
, ,

and to that end he turned him over to the ru fli a n ly s o l

diers under hi s command .

The scene that followed wa s revolting beyond des cr i p

tion The very thought of it h a s for nearly ninete en hun
.
,

dred years aroused the wrath of the world ag a inst the

,

J ews wh o caused i t and against Pilate wh o permitted i t

,
.

The ribald Roman soldiers cruelly whipped Jes u s Then .

they platted a crown of thorns and put the to rturing

thing upon hi s head ; they dressed him in a purple robe ,

and put a reed in h i s hand for a sceptre— to ridi c ule h i s

title of King of the Jews A nd a s the s oldiers filed pa s t
.

him they struck him and spit upon him crying mock
, ,

i n gly
”
K ing of the J ews ! H ail King o f the J ews !
H ail , ,

Then Pilate again brought Jesus to the open ai r tri -

bunal before the Jews wh o were still assembled outs ide

,

the judgment hall H e was dressed in the purple r o be

,
-
.
378 STO RIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAMENT
and the crown of thorns and on hi s pallid face were drops
,

of blood N ot a word he utte red now and hi s look of re

.
,

signed dignity in su ffering only made the Jew s more de

t erm i n ed that he should die .

“ ”
Behold the man ! cried Pontius Pilate his voice ,

hoarse with emotion and with anger at these terr i ble

people whom he had been s ent to govern but who seemed ,

now to be governing him .

Ur u czf y h i m Cr u cif y h i m
’

The cry came from all

direction s for besides the priests and the scribes and the
,

elders there were many others in that throng who had

,

re s ented the nam e o f hypocr i te wh i ch Jcs u s had be s towed

on them .

Pilate wa s n o w thoroughly excited H e cried to the .

J ews below :
“
Take ye him and cruci fy him yourselve s ; for I fin d
,

no fault in him .

The J ews answered implacably ,

We have a law and by our law he ought to d i e , b e

,

cau s e he made himself the S on of God .

When Pilate heard those words he wa s more afraid

than ever There wa s certai nl y something godlike about
.

thi s m a n , wh o had not even cried ou t under the lashes of

the s oldier s , and who now s tood in that crown of thorns
and that burle s que pu rple robe as i f he bore indeed the ,

royal title with which they mocked him A nd Pilate .

went back s till another time into the j udgment hall and -

called Je s us to him .

“
Whence art thou ? he a s ked in de s peration and ,

bewilderment .

But J e s us gave him no an swer H is thoughts were .

w ith hi s Father , and all thi s medley of faces and of voices ,

of idle questions and of useless goings back and forth

from j udgment hall to street tribunal seemed like the
- -

,
3 80 STO RIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
against the J ew We shoul d do all we can to overcome
.

that prejudice because it is unfair ; the J ews of our day

,

did not kill J esus Yet there may be a racial justice

.
,

as well as an individual j ustice ; and when contemplating

thi s s c ene— even through the mists of the ages— we i n v o l
u n t a r i ly clench our hands with anger To kill Jesus was .

bad enough but to kill him through a pretended loyalty

‘

t o C aesar wa s a climax of hypocrisy which stands with

out rival in the history of earth s abominations ’
.

The appeal t o the hidden cowardice of the imperial

governor served its ruthless purpose Pilate foresaw the .

report that woul d be sent to Rome : that he had favoured

a J ew wh o sought to usurp the power of the E mperor .

The timid man wa s afraid of lo s ing his o ffi ce !

‘
A way with h i m ! Cruci fy him ! still cried those
terri ble voices from below A nd when Pilate in one last
.
,

effort demanded
,

S hall I crucify your king ? 7

The chief priests answered

We have no king but C aesar .

When Pilate saw that all further efi o rt to save Jesus

w a s hopeless and that he wo ul d be obliged to quell a riot
,

i f he persisted he called for a basin of water Then he

,
.

washed hi s hands in the presence of the multitude saying : ,

I a m innocent of the blood of thi s just person : see

ye to i t .

Then the priests and the scribes and the other J ews
answered
“
H i s blood be up on a s, a n d o n o u r ch i ld r en .

And Pilate delivered J es u s to be cru ci fi ed .

 CH A PTER XXXV

TH E DEA TH O F J E S U S

I have n o w to tell y ou the sa ddest s t ory ever to l d

the story of the cru ci fix i o n o f J csus .

When Pontius Pilate the Roman govern o r fi n a lly

, ,

yielded to the deman d s of the J ews that J csus sh oul d be

put to death he del i vered the Master into the han d s o f
,

h i s brutal R oman soldiers with orders to cru c i fy h i m

, .

The death upon the cross wa s the m o st s hameful o f a ll

deaths according t o Roman ideas and it wa s reserve d
, ,

for slaves a n d highway robbers and such oth er lo w b o rn ,

-

malefactors a s were not c onsidered even go o d en ough t o

die by the sword That was why t h e high pries t s h a d
.

demanded thi s death f o r J es u s .

Af t er beating him and spitting upon him and m oc k

, ,
“ ”
ing him a s the pretended ! ing of the J ews dressed ,

i n a gorgeous robe and with a reed for a sceptre the ,

R o man s o ldiers clothed the Master again in h i s o wn ga r

m ents and led him fo rt h to be cru ci fi ed
,
.

It w a s a sombre day A lready before the h o ur o f

.
,

noon dark clouds had gathered in the s ky shutting out

, ,

the light o f the s u n It seemed to the few fa ithfu l ones

.

who watched from a di stance that E arth h erself wa s in ,

mourning for what s h e wa s obliged to witne s s o f the c r uelty

of mankind .

The Roman auth o rities had in thei r pris o n th a t m o rn

ing tw o thieves wh o were c o n d emned t o cru c i fi x i o n a n d ,

i t wa s in company with these outc a s ts o f s ocie t y th a t J 3 51 4 1 “

3 81
 ’

3 82 STORIES FR OM TH E NE W TE S T A M E NT

wa s to die The soldiers led them out together— Jesus

.

and the two thieves .

There had been prepared in the courtyard o f the prison p

,

three rough crosses of wood on which the prisoners were ,

to be executed and ea ch o f them was commanded to bear

,
'

his own cross to Golgotha— the place selected for their

death .

The two thieves s trong and brutal men had no d itfi

, ,

culty in carrying their heavy crosses upon their bent

backs but even from the start th e soldiers saw that J es u s
wa s hardly strong enough for that grim burden The .

scou rging he had already received had weakened him .

N everthele s s they laid the cros s upon him as they had

, ,

laid the other two crosse s upon the backs of the thieves .

The proces s ion started , Jesu s in front , and the two th ieves
following behind .

They had gone o nl y a little way a few rods perhaps , ,

when J es u s stumbled and fell The soldiers cursed If . .

s sus could not car ry his cross , what were they to do ?

' ’

Ph e soldiers themselves would not carry i t ; that woul d

compromise their dignity as R omans — the ruling race .

When the Master staggered to hi s feet again the four ,

s oldiers looked at him not with pity but with the toler
-

ant contempt of muscular m en for one le ss physically

strong than them s elves They held a consultation
. .

Meanwhile the two thieves halted their crosses still upon ,

their backs E ven they were glad of a moment s rest

.
’
.

The soldiers saw a man walking toward them one ,

S imon a Cyren ea n , who was coming into J eru sa lem from

,

t h e country They called out to him roughly

.
!

“
S imon ! Come you and bear the cro s s of the King of
”
t h e J ews .

Ca sting one quick and p i ty i ng glance at the Ma s ter ,

w h o stood still and pallid at the head of the te rrible pro

 TH E D EATH OF J ESUS

cess i on S imon came f o rward with o ut a w o rd o f p ro t s t

, u

and li fting upon h i s str o ng sh o ulders the c ro ss o f J e s u s

he started for Golg otha T h e Maste r wa lke d s lo w ly lu h i t l
. ' ‘

S imon while the noisy R o man s ol d iers b rought u t h

,
p e

rear keeping ever in thei r sight the tw o thi eve s

, .

The high prie s ts a n d the s c ri bes a n d t h e el d rs g rim

, , e
,

a n d triumphant n o w wagging their lw a d s with s a t i

, s fa c

tion at the work they had acc o mpli s hed walk d i n f ro n t ,

e
.

turning now and then t o fe a s t their ey es u po n t h e pa l .!

face o f the man they hated They w oul d n o t h a ve lw n

.

content that J es u s should merely die in a g ony they want d ,

e

to watch his death themselves They yea m ed t o be h ol d .

him nailed to the infamous c ross — h e wh o had d a r ed t o

say that he wa s the Messiah !
A throng of the inhabitants of J eru s a lem and o f th o s e ,

who had come up to the city for the fe a st o f the Pa ss over ,

a lso followed . S ome of them especi a lly those wh o h a d ,

known J es u s in the north were shocked and grieved ; ,

others were merely curious There were in this c rowd a

.

number of persons who had been healed of thei r i n fi rm i

ties by the Master and these f o llowed him wailing
, .

There were also many women in the thr ong and they ,

cried and sobbed calling to J es u s to save him s elf— f o r it

,

seemed to them that one wh o had done s o much f o r other s

could do something for himself S ome o f these w omen .
,

in thei r grief and excitement came s o near to J es u s that ,

they almost touched him The sight o f their sorro w w a s

.

pitiful to the Master and he turned t o them and said in

, ,

sad and moving tones

“
Daughters of J eru sa lem weep not for me but weep , ,

for your s elves and for your children

,
.

A nd he told them that the days were coming in whi c h

childless women would consider themselves blessed becau s e
t hey had no little ones to suffer ; that the people in those
384 S T OR I E S FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
times would call upon the mountains to fall on them and ,

the b ills to cover them so terr i bly would they be perse

,

o ute d .

When the women hear d th i s they only wailed the ,

louder ; and they beat their breasts praying God t o save ,

Jesus from the Roman soldier s and to save Je rusalem ,

and the Jewish people f rom all their sorrows which had ,

never seemed so heavy as at this hour And with every .

moment the sky grew darker and a piercing wind blew ,

from the hills and dark birds of evil omen fl ew across

,

the sky above thei r heads .

But there was one woman wh o followed J es u s at thi s

hour who s e grie f was voiceless — his mother Mary uttered .

no cry as she saw her son led forth to die The wailing .

of the other women she scarcely heard ; she did not see the
black clouds which shut out the sky nor the dark birds ,

that fl ew overhead S he saw only the face of her s o n a s

.
,

he turned and gazed at her In his eyes was a far away .

-

look as i f he were already with the Father whose messen

,

ger he was upon the earth .

S ince the hour when Mary had learned of her son s ’

arrest her spirit had been with his

,
S he had come up to .

J eru s a lem this last time feeling that some terrible thi n g
,

would happen there For she had read the prophecies

.
,

and Jes u s himself had prepared her for the trial that wa s
in store .S he had known that UI es u s m u s t die a t the
hands of his enemies as t h e prophets had foretold But
,
.

on l y now when the hour of his suffering wa s come di d

, ,

she reali se all that it meant to be the mother of the Christ .

When the annunciation angel had appeared to her in her

little room so long ago to tell her that she had been chosen
,

by God to bring the Messiah into the world he had not ,

told her of thi s day .

The tender ministrations of Mary Magdalene and of

3 86 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

h too followed the Master to Golgotha ; but S alome did

e, ,

not even beckon to him S he thought of nothing but .

Jesus who had been so good to her

,
.

They came to the place that wa s called Golgotha which ,

“
means a skull It was a bare and desolate hill out ,

s ide Jerusalem but near the walls of the city

, .

The Roman soldier s commanded a halt The three .

heavy cros s es slipped from the shoulders of the two thieves

and S imon of Cyrene The hour was come The sol . .

diers fi rs t lifted the crosses into place , and drove them

securely into the ground They were low crosses shaped .
,

in the form of the letter T When a man was to be cruc i .

fi ed he wa s lift ed up and n a i led t o this instrument of tor

,

ture and a s he hung there hi s feet were raised only a

, ,

little way above the ground .

When the crosses were in place the s oldiers o ffered ,

to the three condemned men a highly intoxicating drink ,

of Vinegar and gall This wa s int ended to dull their

.

s ensibilities that they might not s uffer more than wa s

,

nece s sary The two thieves drank the vinegar and gall
.
!

but when a soldier raised the cup to the lips of Jesus he ,

would not drink of i t H e preferred to die with his mind

.

clear to go into the immediate presence of his Father

,

with s oul and spi rit free .

The Go s pels do not tell u s whether J es u s wa s nailed to

the cross before the two thieves or after them If he s aw , .

them suffer fi rs t it o nl y made his martyrdom more terri

,

ble because of his great pity for mankind We are told

,
.

only that the thieves were cru ci fi ed one on the right hand ,

of Jcsus and the other on his left .

The four soldiers came to Jesu s They to ok away his .

clothes They lifted him upon the cros s They drove

. .

sharp nails through his hands and sharp nails through ,

his feet H is blood dripped down to the ground

. .
 TH E D EATH OF J ESUS
did not cry out ; but as the s o ldiers d ro v th
. Jesus e e

na i ls through 11 1 8 tender flesh he raised h i s eyes t o b e a w u

,

and uttered the most sublime words ever sp oken

“
Father forgive them ; for they kno w n o t wh a t th e y
,

For nearly nineteen hundred years th o s e w o rd s h a ve

rung in the ears of all those wh o have tried t o live like
Jesus They only can understa nd them wh o have la w n
.

betrayed and tortured in body or in mind , We m a y n ot .

be able to comprehend all that wa s in the he a rt o f J esus

as he uttered that prayer ; but we can remem ber it when
s ome one makes u s suffer A nd it may be that when a n
y
.

one i s cruel beyond our comprehension a s were th o se ,

s oldiers wh o nailed J es u s to the cross it i s a lways be c ause , ,

as the Master said they know not what they d o F o r i f

, .

they fully realised the cruelty of thei r action they c ould ,

not do i t It s eems to u s that the spirit o f revenge which

.

burn s in le s ser minds would be stricken powerless a n d

a s hamed i f the injured one in h i s hour o f anger c ould
,
“
call to mind that prayer : Father forgive them ; f o r they ,

know not what they do .

The mother and the other women knelt at the f oo t of

the cross John also wa s there now Th e gro a ns of the
. .

cru ci fied thieves were terrible to hear Th e s ky grew .

blacker and blacker a s i f the clouds were anxi ous t o s hut

,

out all light from Jeru s a lem and th o se who dwelt therein .

The sobs of Mary Magdalene and of S alome were le s s pi t i

ful than the silence of the mother as s h e knelt there ,

watching her son .

But the R oman soldiers were not thinking o f the

mother nor even of the s ufferings of the Master up o n t h e
,

c ross They were think ing of the garments of J e s a s

. ,

which according to the Roman custom be came the

, ,

propert y of the s oldier s wh o cru ci fied him They d ivided .

3 88 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
hi s smaller clothing into four lots o ne for ea ch soldier , ,

and then they took up his coat John tells u s that it wa s .

a coat without seam woven in one piece throughout As

,
.

a garment it could belong only to o ne of the four soldiers

, ,

and they argued as t o what they should do with i t each ,

man desiring it for himself T hen one o f them said .

“
Let u s not rend i t but cast lots for i t
,
.

Th e other soldiers agreed and sitting on the ground

,

at the foot of the cross they cast lots fo r the seamless co at

,

of the cru ci fi ed Master The soldier wh o won the garment

.

shouted in triumph for greed c o uld not even give place

,

t o the conclusion of their terrible business but must c o me ,

firs t .

When they had fin i s h ed the division of hi s garments ,

they put up on the cross above the head of Jes u s a placard

which Pontius Pilate had written in three languages in ,

H ebrew in Latin and in Greek :

, ,

JE S U S OF N A Z A R E TH TH E ! I N G

OF T H E JE W S .

T henthe soldiers sat down again not far from the

cross and watched the Master They laughed and j oked
,
.

among t h emselves telling stories to pass the time

,
.

And the priests and s c ribes and elders with other ,

J ews walked to and fr o bef o re the cros s wagging their

, ,

heads at the Master and reviling him

“
Thou that destroyest the T emple and buildest it in ,

three days save thyself If thou be the S on of God come

,
.
,

down from the cross .

T h e c hief priests said

H e saved others ; himself he ca nnot save If he be .
3 90 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
the triumph of evil there is always something lac king .

T hat trouble wa s the inscription which Pontius Pilate had

“
caused to be put up over the head of the Master : Jesus
of N azareth the King o f the J ews The chief priests
.

went back into the city and sought the Roman governor ,

W here he waited in that judgment hall which had now b e

come more hateful to him than ever because of the weight
,

that was on hi s conscience A nd the chief priests said

.

to Pilate
“
Write not The King of the J ews ; but that he said
, ,
”
I a m King of the Jews .

This made Pilate angry Were they not content these

.
,

terrible priests when he had condemned and cru ci fi ed an

,

innocent man to satisfy their malice and their bigotry ,

but they must now come to him complaining of such a

petty thing as an inscription ? And he an s wered them ,

b r i efl y and sharply
“
What I have written I have written .

And the chief priests seeing that they could get noth
,

ing more out of the Roman governor reluctantly went ,

back to the scene of the cru ci fix i o n .

To the mother and tho s e other faithful souls wh o

watched at the foot of the cro s s , the passing minutes
s eem ed en dl es s
. Darker and darker grew the sky Mary
. .

Magdalene and S alome had wept until they could weep no

more It seemed to John that he had already become an
.

old m a n , so tremul ous was hi s whole body ; yet he sup

ported with his arm the weary form of the mother of J esu s .

The Maste r , looking down from the cro s s and seeing

hi s mother with J ohn , said to her
“ ”
Woman behold thy s on !
,

Then to the pale faced disciple he said

,
-

Behold thy mother !

The heart of J ohn rushed forth in love f or the str i cken
 TH E D EATH OF J ESUS
m other of the Master wh o s o t rus te d him c ce lo rt h .

she should be indeed a s h i s o wn m o ther and he a s a S n , u

to her N o more should s h e be h o meless bu t h e would

. '

take her to his o wn h ouse and care f o r her a s l ong a s s h e

should live .

J esus had now passed three h o urs in the t o rture o f t h e

cross Though he had been nearly silent he h a d su ffe r d
.

,
e

even more than the groaning thieves It seemed to him .

that the Father in heaven had forg ott en H is s o n An d .

in his agony he cried :

“
E li E li lama sabachthani ? — My G o d my G o d wh y
, , , ,

hast thou forsaken me ?

Thi s cry of her son wa s almost more than the m other
could endure and the tears o f Mary Ma gd a lene flo we d
,

afresh The thought pierced their hearts that i f he coul d

.

really feel that God had forsaken him h o w terribly must ,

he su ffer ! They gazed at his pale face in an agony o f l ove

and pity .

But some of tho s e wh o stood by when they heard J es a s ,

cry out said ,

“
This man calleth on E lia s .

S traightw ay one of them ran and took a sp onge and ,

put it on a reed and filled i t with vinegar and lifte d it

, ,

to the lips of Jesus a s he hung upon the cross that h i s ,

thirst might be assuaged For a burning thirst wa s one .

of the horrors of cru ci fix i o n But others wh o stood by .

s aid to thi s kinder hearted man -

Let b e let u s see whether E lias will come to c o mfort

,

h im .

When Jesus had received vinega r he cried a gain

,

in a loud voice :
“
I t i s fin i s h ed .

Those wh o watched , saw head fall forward , an d

they knew that he wa s dead .
3 92 STORIES FROM T H E NEW TESTAM ENT

The sublime and fearless spirit of Jes u s had gone t o

rej oin the Father whom b e worshipped No longer would .

the dark world be lighted by his presence as a man among

men no longer w o uld his smile and his voice bring hap
p i n es s t o those wh o were sad nor his gentle
, to uch ease
the su fferings of th o se in b o dily pain The peacef ul ways .

of Galilee would not see him any more nor the s elfi s h city ,

of J erusalem be troubled by his lofty purity which had ,

been a reproach to its base s elfi s h n es s H is disciples could .

no longer lean upon hi s breast nor come t o him f o r coun

,

s el The labour of h i s lif e was fi n i s h ed and the sweet

'

.
,

ness of it was now but a mem o ry .

But the death of pain which he had chosen to die was

the fin a l seal upon his immorta lity as an i n flu en ce am o ng
men The cro wn of thorns upon his head would there
.

after be a more royal emblem than the crowns of empire

or the laurel wreaths of genius A lone and unrivalled in
.

the hearts of men he wo ul d sta nd forever as marking the

,

loftiest height to which humanity had rea c hed or ever

could reach Forever the so ul s of men would turn to him
.

as the still living Christ the invis ible and never sleep i ng
,
-

presence whose love woul d be a ll embracing whose pity

,
-

could reach even t o the forgiveness o f his torturers whose ,

understanding could embrace the highest and the lowest

among human beings The hearts of kings and of beggars
.

would lean upon him as his disciples had leaned ; and

,

his name would become the greatest power upon the lips
of men b ushing into silence all thoughts and words u n
,

worthy calling to activity all aspirations which lead men

,

toward the spiritual life— the li fe beyond the j o ys of the

world and beyond the shadows of the tomb .

We are told in the Gospels that at the moment of the

death of J s sus the veil of the great Temple at Jeru s a lem
,

was rent from the top t o the bottom— though no hand

3 94 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
wound they knew that the Master wa s dead As the old
,
.

prophets had foretold not a bone of him wa s broken , .

N ow among the lesser disciples of J esus there wa s a ,

rich man Jo s eph of Arimath aea wh o awaited the kingdom

, ,

of heaven When thi s man saw that Jesus was dead he

.
,

went to Pontius Pilate and asked that the body might be

delivered to him It wa s in accordance with the Roman
.

law that the body of an executed man should be given to

hi s friends i f they made that demand ,
O therwise it wa s .

buried in a di shonoured place set apart for the interm ent ,

of dead felons .

During the life of Jesus Jo s eph of A rimath aea had not ,

proclaimed his discipleship because he was afrai d of the ,

J ew s ; but when he saw the Master hanging there upon the

cross hi s love triumphed over the desire for honour s
,

among his own people and he boldly sought the Roman ,

governor not caring wh o should know

,
.

When Pontiu s Pilate wa s told that Jes u s wa s already

dead , at fi rs t he did not believe i t Men often lived for .

day s upon the cross— sometimes until they died of s t a rva

tion Three hour s s eemed a short time
. And Pilate .

called the centurion wh o was in charge of the soldier s ,

wh o had performed the execution and demanded to know ,

i f the Master from N azareth were really dead When the .

centurion declared that it was true Pilate gave permission ,

that Joseph o f Arimath aea should remove the body .

N i co d em u s who at fi rs t had come to the Master by

,

night wa s another highly placed friend of J esu s

,
When .

he learned that Pilate had given the body to Joseph , he

brought a great quantity of myrrh and aloes for embalm
ing And Jo s eph when he returned to Golgotha , carried
.
,

With him a clean linen sheet .

Tragedy brings out the hidden courage or the cow

a rd i ce of men These two , N i co dem u s and Jo s eph of
.
 T HE D EATH OF J ESUS
Arimath aea wh o had l o ved and se rved J esus i n s e c ret a n d
,
,

had often saddened h i s hea rt by thei r la c k o f b ra w ry ,

now when their courage and l oyalty c ould d o him n o r al e

good were both courageou s and l oya l They s t oo d a t t h e

, .

foot o f the cr o ss with J ohn and Mary t h e m o the r w ith

, ,

S alome and Mary Magdalene and pro bably als o a f e w o f ,

the other disciples , and prepared t o ta ke d o wn t h e b ody

of thei r Master .

The descent from the cross h a s been the subje c t o f many

a masterpiece of painting and w o rds cann o t pi c ture i t a s ,

lines and colours can These friends drew out t h e cru e l

.

nails which had held the hands and feet o f J esus a n d ,

taking his body gently in their arms they laid it u po n ,

the ground O ne writer tells u s that J ohn hid the nail s

.

that the sight of them might not cause keener su ffering

to the mother A nother write r says that a s they rem o ved
.

the nails and the bleeding hands of Jes u s hung d own the ,

mother took them in her o wn and kissed them yearningly , .

In a picture by Rubens the great Flemish painter the , ,

mother gently removes a thorn fro m the wounded bro w o f

her dead s o n These little touche s of human tenderness
.

move the hea rt to tears .

Poor mother ! Be comforted now f o r y our s o n i s n ot ,

su ffering any more H i s S pirit h a s escaped fro m the

.

cruelty of the world and that brief agony up o n the c ro s s

,

has bought for him an eternity of l ove whi c h h i s mere

teachings however beautiful could never have stirred in
, ,

the slow hearts of men .

With tender hands half hidden from their o wn sight

,

by falling tears these friends wrapped the b ody o f J esus

,

in the linen sheet with the sweet smelling myrrh a n d

,
-

aloes .
There was a garden near G olgotha in whi c h wa s ,

a tomb newly cut out of the rock and t o this re s ting pla c e ,
-

they bore the li feless form of him whom they had l o ved .
3 96 S T OR I E S FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

The night wa s drawing o n it wa s near the h o ur of the

,

Passover and they were o bliged t o work quickly

,
.

When they had laid the b o dy in the tomb they rolled

,

a great stone to the mouth of i t ; then the men went sadly

away But Mary Magdalene and one o f the other women
.
“

remained sitting over against the sepul chre

,
.

A s the twilight deepened into night and as the few

,

traveller s upon the road hurried toward Jeru s a lem they,

saw those two motionle s s fi gu res , watching in silence at

the door of the tomb .
398 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAM ENT

sent a messenger to tell him the day before while he sat ,

in the hall of judgment So that now when the priests

.
,

and Pharisees came to him with their unnecessary request ,

Pilate answered them very b ri efly

“
Ye have a watch : go your wa y make it as sure a s ye ,

Thus armed with the authority of the governor the ,

J ews left the council chamber and went again to the sep
-

u lch re where J csus had been laid And they sealed the
.

stone which f o rmed the door of the tomb and set watch ,

men to guard it day and night .

Then they went back to their homes to enj oy the S ab ,

bath telling each other with a great wagging of heads that

,

the promised resurrection of Jesu s of N azareth had now

been made impossible .

The friends of Jes u s spent that S abbath in sadness and

in prayer The world wa s very di fferent for them now
.
,

that J es u s was no more They were bewildered The

. .

event s of the last two days had left them exhausted in

body and in spirit They had already learned of the
.

suicide of Judas Iscariot W hich added another horror to

,

their burdened hearts for though they now knew that

J udas wa s a traitor yet he had been their companion for
,

a long time and they could not think unmoved of hi s

,

tragi c end .

The disciple s had been widely scattered after the arre s t

of J es u s in the Garden of Gethsemane and only a few of ,

them had even s een the cru ci fix i o n ; but on the S abbath

day they had come together again and had found tem ,

p o ra ry s helter in the house of a sympathiser in J eru s a lem .

They were still afraid for their own lives because they ,

did not know how far the hatred of the Jews would carry
them The priest s having caused the Master to be killed
.
, ,

might now desire to do away with his disciples that there ,

 TH E RESURRECTION

sho ul d be no one left up o n the earth t o c ar ry o n t h wo rk e

of Jesus As the men fr o m G a lilee hud d led t o ge t h e r i n

.

that room in J eru s a lem they made fast t h e d oo r th a t no

, ,

one should come and ta ke them unawa res .

A ll that S abbath day Jo hn h a d been o bliged t o answer

the questions of h i s fell o w disci ples w h o h a d n o t be e n,

with J esus at the cru ci fi x i o n o r had only seen i t fro m a

,

distance .

But when they asked him what they sh o uld d o i n the

future J ohn could not tell them f o r he wa s b u t li t tle
, ,

wiser than they S imon Peter wa s very silent f o r he wa s

.

still bowed with shame for that scene in the hall o f the
’
high priest s palace when he had thrice denied h i s Mas
,

ter O thers might forgive him but he c o uld n o t f o rgive

.

himself .

Mary Magdalene wa s heartbroken S he had wat ched .

the night before at the sepulchre o f J esus a n d yet she ,

“
could not rest this day Th e Master i s d e a d !
. Th e
”
Master is dead ! kept ringing in her bewildered brain .

What was there left in life for her ? s h e a s ked hers elf o ver
and over Where coul d she go for comfo rt ?
.

E arly in the morning of the fi rs t day o f the week she ,

went back to the sepulchre of J es u s taking w ith her o ne ,

of the other women It seemed to her n o w that the t omb

.

of the Ma s te r wa s the onl y home she had in a ll the w o rld .

and she wished that she herself were dead .

As Mary came near to the sepulchre the earth sho o k ,

beneath her feet S he saw a great angel come d o wn fro m

.

heaven and roll away the stone fro m the d oo r of the sep a l
chre H is countenance was like the lightning and h i s
. ,

garments were white as snow .

The watchmen whom the priests had left to gua rd the

tomb were t erri fied at the appeara nce o f the angel In .

their fear they fell to the ground like dead men .

4 00 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
The angel said to Mary and her companion
Fear ye n o t : for I know that ye seek J csus which ,

was cru ci fi ed H e i s not here : for he is risen as he said

.
,
.

Come see the place where the Lord lay A nd go qui ckly
,
.

and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead ; and ,

behold he goeth before you into Galilee ; there shall ye

,

see him : 10 I have told you

,
.

The two women looked into the tomb and saw that it
w a s empty— the b o dy of J es u s was gone Then they went .

quickly away their hearts full of fear and wonder A nd

,
.

Mary ran back into the city and found John and Pete r ;
and she said to them her eyes a fl a m e with excite
,

ment
“
T hey have taken away the Lord o ut of the sepulchre ,

and we know n o t where they h a ve laid him For even .

now she did not understand that he was really arisen from
the dead .

Then Peter and J ohn started running for the tomb .

But J ohn was younger and swifter of foot than his friend ,

a n d he reached there fi r s t S tee ping down he looked

.
,

into the tomb and saw the linen garments lying o n the
’

rock fl o o r But he did not go i n

. .

When Peter came he went into the sepulchre and saw

, ,

the linen garments lying there and the napkin that had , ,

been about the Master s head not lying with the linen
’
,

clothes but wrapped together in a place by itself

,
.

John also went into the to mb now ; and though he did

not kno w the scripture which prophesied that J esus
should rise again from the dead yet when he saw the
,
,

empty sepulchre and the discarded linen garments , he b e

li ev ed that Christ was risen .

Peter and J ohn did not see the angel which had a p
e a ed to Mary Magdalene and when they had s a t i s fi ed
p r ,

themselves that the sepulchre wa s really empty , they went

4 02 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAM ENT
T o uch me not ; for I a m not yet ascended to my
Father : but go to my brethren and say unto them I a s , ,

cend unto my Father and your Father ; and to my God

, ,
”
and your God .

Then he vanished from her sight but the j oy of his ,

presence remained with Mary .

“
H e is risen ! H e i s risen ! she cried over and over
in h er happiness The world wa s no longer a desolate
.

place and the air seemed full of unseen angels The

,
.

little birds that sang in the dawn were like the choristers
of heaven .

Mary ran back into the city S he went to the house .

where the men di sciples were and told them that she had,

seen the risen J es u s that he had spoken to her and she

, ,

repeated hi s words But the disciples though they b e

.
,

li ev ed in Mary did not fully believe her story

,
T hey .

thought that grief and sleeple ss ne ss had unhinged her

brain .

In the palace of the h i gh priest there was excitement

and anxiety The watchmen at the sepulchre wh o had
.
,

been s mitten s enseless with terror at the appearance of the

angel had hurried back into the city and had sought the
, ,

chief priests to whom they had told their story

,
.

The priests immediately called a council of the elders ,

to consider what s hould be done They were all of one .

mind that the s oldiers of the watch must be bribed to say

that the di sciples of J es u s had come by night while they ,

slept and had stolen away the body And the priests
,
.

gave money to the soldiers of the watch instructing them ,

carefully as to what they should tell the people and ,

promising them that if the story came to the ear s of Pon

tiu s Pilate the governor the priests woul d them s elves
, ,

per s uade him that what the watchmen said was true .

So the soldiers took the money which the priests o ffered

 TH E RES URRECTION

them and immediately w ent a b ou t the c ity t elling v ry

, e e

one whom they met that the d isci pl e s o f J esus h a d L l l l '

u u

to the sepulchre by night and had sto len a way t h e bo d y

,

of the cruci fied man .

That night the dis c ipl e s were a ssem bled in t h ir e

room in Jerusalem The d oo rs were still fa ste ne d fo r

.

fear of the J ews Though th e y h a d n o t re a lly beli v d

.
e e

the story of Mary Ma gda lene th a t s h e h a d seen t h e ris en

Christ that morning a n d th a t he h a d ta lked with h r y t e
,
e

they had been much excited by h er o wn beli e f i n t h e t ru t h

of what she said Could it be p o s s ible ? they a sked th e m
.

selves and one another As the b o dy of the M a s t r wa s n o

. e

lo n ger in the tomb where wa s i t ? A nd where w a s h ?

, e

A strange restlessness possessed the d isciples T h e l a st .

few days had been s o full o f terrible events a n d t h e next ,

few days were so uncertain ! They knew n o t wh a t a n h our

might bring forth They had heard o f the rumours which
.

the soldiers of the watch had spread about the city —th a t
the disciples of Jes u s had stolen h i s b o dy from the to m b .

Wo u ld the high priests now seek to punish them f o r what

they had n ot done ?
They sat bowed fo rward sta ring into sp a c e No t a
, .

sound disturbed the stillness of the chamber Th e o n . e

lamp cast fli ck eri n g shadows upon the wall .

S uddenly they felt the thrilling presen c e o f s o meth ing

invisible N ot a man had moved fro m h i s place the
.
,

door wa s s till securely fastened and yet they felt th a t ,

s om et h i n g had entered the room They looked up quickly

.
,

their hearts pounding in their breasts .

J es u s stood there among them H is eyes shone with

.

a light that was not of this earth .

“ ”
Peace be unto you he said ,
.

The di sciples were t erri fied f o r they thought t hat t hey

,
404 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAM ENT
saw a spirit A nd they hud dl ed together sta ring at Jes u s
.
,

with wide eyes of fear But the Master said to them i n

.
,

hi s own calm voice :

“
Why are ye troubled ? and wh y do thoughts arise in
your hearts ? Behold my hands and my feet that it i s I ,

myself : handle me and see ; for a spirit hath not fl es h

,
”
and bones as ye see me have
,
.

A nd he stretched out to them his pierced hands and ,

showed them h i s torn feet and his wounded side And

,
.

while they yet believed not for j oy at seeing him again ,

a n d wondered how such a thing could really b e he s aid ,

to them :
”
H ave ye here any meat ?
And they gave him a piece of a bo iled fish and a piece ,

of honeycomb and he took the f o Od and ate before them .

Then they were less afraid for it seemed to them now that
,

it wa s really the Master and not his spirit which stood

,

there And he said t o them :

.

“
These are th e words which I spake unto you while I ,

wa s yet with you that all things must be f u lfilled which

, ,

were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets an d , ,

in the psalms concerning me

,
.

Then by hi s power he opened their understanding ,

and made them realise that all the terrible things which
they had witnessed and su ffered had been a part of God s ’

plan regarding H is So n that the heart of the world might

,

be tou c hed . A nd J esus said :

“
T hus it is wri t ten and thus it behooved Christ to
,

su ff er and to rise from the dead the third day : and that
,

repentance and remission of sins should be preached in

hi s name among all nations beginning at Jeru s a lem And
,
.

ye are witnesses of these things .

Then he told them that he sent the promise of his

Father unto them — the Comforter the H oly S piri t — but ,
406 STORIES FRO M THE NEW TESTAMENT

Oi all the incidents recorded in the Gospels there is none ,

more touching than this E ven in his new life J esus .

,

had not forgotten the affections of the old .

As they looked at him in the soft starlight he seemed ,

exactly the same as he had been before And the disci .

ples marvelled .

When they reached Bethany and stood again am o ng ,

the olive trees Jesus lifted up his hands and blessed them
-
,

— and then he di sappeared from their sight .

The quiet stars still shone overhead the breeze blew ,

softly through the olive trees bu t the Master wa s no longer -

there They peered into the shadows of the night but

.
,

saw nothing T hen with hearts athrill with hope , and

.

lips hushed with awe they turned again toward Jeru sa lem
,

and entered into the city by the wa y they had come .

Thomas that disciple who was alway s doubtful of

,

what he had not seen with his own eyes wa s not with ,

the others that night And when the disciples told him .

afterward that they had seen the Lord that Jesus had ,

eaten be f ore them had shown them his wounded hands

,

and feet and side had breathed upon them with the H oly
,

S pirit and had walked with them to Bethany , Thomas

,

did not believe H e said .

“
E xcept I shall see in his hands the print of the nails ,

and put my fin ger into the print of the nails and thrus t ,

my hand into his side I will not believe ,

.

But eight day s later Thomas himself saw J esu s The .

disciples after the Master had breathed upon them wit h

,

the H oly S pirit had ceased to be afraid of the Jews and

, ,

they went about the city freely even teaching in the ,

Temple And one night when they were all assembled in

.

their chamber in Jeru s a lem and Thomas with them , ,

J es u s came again and stood in the room saying : ,

 T HE RES URRECTION
Peace be unt o y o u .

Then said he t o Th omas '

R eac h hither thy fi n ger a n d beh o l d my han d s ; a n d ,

reach hither thy hand and thrust it in t o my si d e ; a n d

,
,

be n o t faithless but believing

, .

“
My L o rd and my Go d ! ” a nswe red Th o ma s f o r a ll
,

his doubts were fl o wn away H e t oo h a d b h l d t h e .

, ,
e e

risen Christ and wa s n o w ready f o r h is missi o n o f a po stle

,

Jesus said to him

“
Thomas because th o u hast seen me th o u hast be
, ,

li ev ed : blessed are they that have n ot seen and e t have

y ,

believed .

Many other things J esus did in the presence o f his dis

ci ples during the forty days that he remained near them

in hi s risen body Af t er they had left J erusalem and

.

had gone back into the nort h they saw him a gain in ,

Galilee at the Lake of Tiberias

, .

Peter Thomas N a t h a n a el J ames and Jo hn and two

, , , ,

fis h i ng a t ri i gh t fro m a
i

of the other disciples

z
é ‘

boat on the lake but t , ot h i n g An d in

‘

the morning Jes u s stood e .

“
My children he s a i d h f h av e ye any meat ?
,
’

o
‘
‘
o
‘ ‘

They answered him ,

H e told them to net f ro m the right s ide -

of the boat and they should fin d fis h es ; and when they

,

had cast the net as Jesus told them they were n o t able ,

to raise it out of the water for the multitude they had

The other disciples who were on the sh o re ca me to help

them and when they had dragged the n et ashore they
, ,

counted one hundred and fi ft y three great fis h es — yet t h e -

net w a s not broken .

408 STORIES FROM TH E NEW TE STAM ENT
And they found on the shore a fi re of coals and fis h ,

was laid thereon and bread and J es u s said to them : ,

Come and dine .

And he gave them bread and fi s h and they all ate to ,

gether there on the shore o f the lake The disciples were .

fi lled with j oy to see the Master again and their hea rts ,

were touched because he had helped them in one of the

little and material ways of li fe There wa s never any .

thing distant ab o ut J es u s H is intimacy with those wh o

.

loved him was the se c ret of his greatest power .

A fter they had eaten together J es u s said t o S im o n ,

Peter !

“
S imon son of Jo nas lovest thou me more than
, ,
”
these ?
“
Yea Lord thou knowest that I l ove thee answered
, , ,

Peter .

J es u s s a id to him
“
Feed my l a mbs .

And J es u s said to Peter a second time

”
S im o n son of J onas lo v es t thou me ?
, m
“
Yea Lerd é 2 ans we red Pe e? a ga i n
;’?
thou knowest t
,
c E ,

that I love t h ee
Feed my sheep sus .

T hen he said to 1 r d time

S im o n son of ,
es t thou me

Peter was grieved because J es u s had asked him three

times i f he l o ved him Did not the Master understand
.

his heart ? And Peter said

Lo rd thou knowe s t all things th o u knowest that I
,

love thee .

With a radiant smile J esu s said to him again

“
Feed my sheep The n he added : .

V erily verily I s a y unto thee When thou wa st

, , ,

young thou girdest thyself and walkest whither thou

, ,
4 10 STORIES FROM T HE NEW TE STAMENT
J csus . A lmost eve rywhere they met with persecution ,

and many of them died the death of martyrs but their

faith never faltered It is owing to their labours , and to
.

the labours of Paul who later became one of their num ber
, ,

that the world wa s Christianised and that mill ions on

,

millions of men and women came to love Jes u s almost as

mu c h as his disciples loved him .

F o r he wa s always to them the L iving Christ the friend

,

more intimate than fat her or mother the invisible com

,

panion ready at a ll times and seasons to come at the call

of those wh o needed his love And so he has remained
.

u ntil this day— the L i min g Ch r i s t.