Part 2

Then Jesus told them all that Mary had done what she could for Him; that "she had anointed Him for His burial," and that in after years, all over the world, wherever the gospel should be preached, this should be told for a memorial of her!

Many of the Jews were at that supper, partly to see Jesus, and partly to see Lazarus, whom he had just raised from the dead.

When Jesus left Bethany, and drew near to the city, He sent on two of His disciples to find a colt for Him to ride on.

Our Lord knew everything beforehand, and He told them just where the colt was tied, and what they should say to the man to whom the colt belonged.

No one had ever ridden on this colt before, but Jesus, the Lord of Glory, did not have any trouble with it. They put their garments on the colt for a saddle, and so they set out towards Jerusalem.

Then the people ran before Him, casting down their clothes for him to ride over; others cut down branches of the trees, and strewed them along the path, crying out, "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord!"

Some of the Jews were very angry, and asked Jesus to stop the disciples. But Jesus told them that "if they were to hold their peace, the very stones would cry out for joy!"

As they were coming down the hill towards Jerusalem, suddenly they turned a corner and came in view of the beautiful city, and when Jesus beheld it He wept over it.

Why did He weep? Why did the Son of God, Who was going there to obtain eternal salvation for us—why did He weep?

He wept because the people in that city would not have Him for their Saviour!

When the great rejoicing multitude reached Jerusalem, they all followed Jesus into the temple, and the blind and the lame came to Him to be healed, and all the city was moved at the sight of Him.

And the little children gathered round Him, crying out joyously, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!"

XI. THE LABOURERS IN THE HARVEST-FIELD

[MATTHEW 20]

THERE was an Eastern householder, who had great vineyards, stretching far up on the hillsides. By and by the grapes were ready for picking, and the householder went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard; and when he had agreed with them, he sent them into his vineyard.

By and by, he went out again; and seeing others standing idle, he said to them, "Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will pay you."

At length, at the last hour before sundown, the householder went once more, and found others standing idle, and he said to them, "Why are you standing here idle, all the day?" And they answered him, "Because no one has hired us."

Then he sent them also into his vineyard, and said, "I will pay you."

* * * * *

There are many lessons for us in this parable, but I think the chief one is this:

The Vineyard spoken of belongs to the Lord God.

The Grapes represent the people all over the world, whom He wants to have in His Heavenly Home.

The Labourers are God's own people, whom He tells to go and get in the harvest.

God calls each one of us who love Him, to be a labourer in His Kingdom.

To each one, when the day is ended, the Lord will give us our own reward, and He gives us great promises to encourage us.

He says, if His workers are "Wise and turn many to righteousness—they shall shine as stars for ever and ever."

Does not this encourage us to do all we can to tell others of the love of Jesus, who died on the Cross that we might be saved.

We can all pray, that God will call us to work for Him; and surely, if He does call, and we listen to His Voice, He will teach us how to bring many to righteousness, and earn "the crown of glory, that fadeth not away!"

XII. JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, "RISE"

JOHN 5.8

THERE was a Pool just outside Jerusalem, which was called Bethesda.

Here, numbers of sick people congregated, for there was a wonderful thing happened there, and the poor sick people watched eagerly to see if that wonderful thing was going to happen that day!

If you have never heard the story, you will wonder very much what that could be!

It was, that God sent an angel down at a certain season to stir the water in that Pool; and whoever was fortunate enough to step down first into the Pool, after the water was stirred, was made quite well of whatever disease he had.

One day, our Lord Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on His way, He passed this Pool of Bethesda.

Looking round on the sick people, He saw the man He had come to seek.

The Bible says: "Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been a long time in that case."

So He came close to him, and said, "Wilt thou be made whole?"

Ah! the poor man could not answer that question straight off! There was only one remedy he knew of, and that was impossible.

So he looked up into the face of Jesus, and gave a very pitiful and simple answer, in words like these:

"Sir," he said, "I am lying here helpless, and when the water is stirred, there are numbers of others who can step down into the water before me, and I am left behind!"

Then our dear Lord Jesus gave 'The Word of Command'—and when He, the Son of God, commands, He gives the power to obey—and He said to the poor man, "Rise! take up thy bed and walk!"

And immediately the man was made well; and without any hesitation, he rose straight up, took up the mat he had been lying on, and was able to walk away quite well.

Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "Thou art made whole; go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."

Jesus had seen how hopeless this man had been, and He healed him, but He wanted him to have a greater blessing still, even to have his sins forgiven.

And for us—He sees how we need to be healed of our sins, and from the remembrance of what we have done wrong; and He says to us, too: Wilt thou be made whole? Wilt thou have my forgiveness, and come to me and be saved? And then, like the helpless man in the story, we can look up into the face of Jesus, Who is in Heaven looking down on us now, and all at once we can realize His mighty power to save us! and we can yield ourselves to His love.

If we come to Him so, He will make life a different thing for us.

We shall go about our work, or our school, or our home, or our play, with a glad heart because we have Jesus, as our own Saviour.

XIII. LET THROUGH THE ROOF

MARK 2.4

THE poor man, who you see in this picture, had been very ill for a long time.

He had four friends who loved him very much, and who had heard that the Lord Jesus could heal those who were sick.

When these friends heard that Jesus was in their city, they were very anxious to get the sick man to Him. But he was so helpless that he could only lie on his bed, waited on by those around him.

But these four friends firmly believed that Jesus could heal the sick man, and they decided to carry him, just as he was on his bed, and ask Jesus to cure him.

But when they reached the house where Jesus was, there was such a crowd that they could not even get near the door.

You can imagine how they tried to persuade the people to make room for them to get in; but everyone was so anxious to see the Lord Jesus, and to hear Him speak, that they could not even get near the door.

What was to be done now? Should they turn back?

What? get so near to Jesus, and not be healed after all!

Then the four friends thought of another plan.

They would get the invalid up the outside staircase that there often is in Eastern houses, and would get on to the roof!

So they carried the poor sick man carefully up the staircase, and when they had uncovered a place in the roof, they let down his bed right through the ceiling to the feet of Jesus.

Ah! what do you think the dear Lord said then?

When He saw their faith—the faith of those men who had brought the sick man to Jesus—He said to the poor trembling invalid, "Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee!"

And then when the people wondered very much at Jesus being able to forgive sins, He showed them His great power, by making the sick man quite well the very next moment.

He asked the people which was the easiest for God to do, to forgive sins, or to make people well in an instant?

Then He said to the man, sick of the palsy, "Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house."

Jesus made him so well that though he had to be carried there on a bed, he received strength to obey, and walked back to his home, carrying his bed in his arms!

This wonderful story of one of the miracles of Jesus helps us to understand three things: first, the great power of Jesus; and next, that we should bring our friends to Jesus, to get blessed; and third, that we should let no difficulties stop us in coming to Him.

He is in heaven now, but He is always close to us, and we can speak to Him at any moment; and no difficulty, however great it seems to us, is beyond His power to overcome.

XIV. "ASK—SEEK—KNOCK!"

[LUKE 11.5]

THESE words are a wonderful encouragement, and a wonderful promise.

As our Lord Jesus looked into the anxious faces of the multitude round Him, He revealed to them some of the deepest needs of our hearts.

His words are very simple, and the youngest child can understand a little about them.

"Ask," He says. Do you not know how the tiny child asks his mother for what he wants? And how the little girl runs to her father, and says, "May I have it?"

So when we remember how full of love God is, we can go to Him at any moment, and tell Him what we need. It may be forgiveness; or it may be help in some trouble; or comfort in some disappointment; or ease in some bad pain. Yes, He says, "Ask!"

And when God says, "Seek" and "Knock," He expects you to be looking for an answer. He does not always answer at once; He waits to see if we are in earnest in what we are asking. He says, "Men ought always to pray and not to faint."

Our Lord Jesus tells us a beautiful little story about knocking and asking, in the 11th of Luke, verse 5.

"And He said unto them, which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say unto him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves: for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'"

"And he from within shall answer and say, 'Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.'"

"I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth."

"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."

XV. THE PRECIOUS OINTMENT

JOHN 12.3, and MATTHEW 26.6

THREE of the chief friends of our Lord Jesus lived at Bethany, which was a village near Jerusalem, just on the other side of the Mount of Olives.

Their names were Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus.

Jesus often went to their home when He was staying at Jerusalem, and they loved Him very much, and He loved them dearly, too.

Only a little time before our Lord Jesus died on the Cross, and while He was some distance away from Bethany, Lazarus was taken very ill, and his sisters sent in haste to Jesus to beg Him to come and heal their brother.

But our Lord Jesus waited for two whole days before He set out to their help. And you must hear why.

This was not because He did not care about their trouble: Oh, no! But He had a great reason in staying away.

He knew that Lazarus was dying, and He intended to come and raise him from the dead!

And when Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus had died, and had been buried four days before.

When Martha had the news that Jesus was coming, she hastened to meet Him, and in her grief she exclaimed, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died!"

But Jesus told her that her brother should rise again; and that He, Himself, was the Resurrection and the Life: and He said that if only she would believe, she should see the glory of God!

And when Jesus came to the grave, and they rolled away the big stone, then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said: "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 it!" ... And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice: "Lazarus, come forth."

And Lazarus came out of the grave, and they unbound his grave clothes, and he was alive again.

So Martha did see "the glory of God!"

From this time, many of the Jews determined to destroy Jesus; and would gladly also have put Lazarus to death.

Not long after this, Simon the leper, who lived at Bethany, made a feast for Jesus.

Martha helped to serve the guests, but Lazarus sat down to the table with the Lord.

Many Jews were also guests, who came, not only to see Jesus, but to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.

Then, as Jesus sat at supper, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, brought an alabaster box of precious ointment, and poured it over His head and His feet, and the room was filled with the lovely odour.

Some who were there were indignant at what they thought was waste, but the Lord said, "Let her alone ... she hath done what she could; she is come beforehand to anoint My body for the burying."

And then He added this wonderful promise—"Verily I say unto you, 'Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also, that she hath done, shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.'"

XVI. TEN THOUSAND TALENTS

MATTHEW 18.24

ONE day Peter asked Jesus how often we ought to forgive anyone who had done us a wrong?

And our Lord told them this story—

There was a certain king, who wished to settle up his accounts with his servants; and when he had begun to reckon with them, one was brought before him who owed him ten thousand talents.

It was quite impossible for the servant to pay, and as he had not the money, the king commanded that he and all his family should be sold, and payment made.

Then the servant fell at the king's feet and besought him to have pity, and he would try to pay it all.

And the king was sorry for him, and had compassion, and forgave every bit of it, and set him free!

But what do you think that forgiven servant did?

He found one of his fellow-servants who owed him a hundred pence; and he seized him, and said, "Pay me what thou owest!"

And the poor fellow-servant said, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you all!"

But the servant who had been forgiven, would not; but cast his fellow-servant into prison till he should pay the debt.

So the other servants were very sorry, and went and told their Lord all about it.

And the king called that unforgiving servant, and said to him: "I forgave thee all that debt; shouldest not thou have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?"

And the king was angry, and said he would have to be punished, and to pay the debt.

And our dear Lord Jesus adds this solemn warning to us all—

"So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts do not forgive everyone his brother their trespasses."

Now this brings us to ourselves. Perhaps you know yourselves how difficult it is to forgive?

Now, suppose someone has done you a wrong, or you think so, and you feel it is quite impossible for you to forgive that person: Then what is to be done?

Go into your room, or some quiet spot, or speak to God in your heart, and say, "Heavenly Father, I can't forgive So-and-so, but do help me to! Do give me a forgiving spirit!"

Very soon, if you wait quietly for a few minutes, you will find softer feelings coming into your heart. You will, perhaps, begin to find excuses for the person who has done you the wrong.

Sometimes we can only reverently pray that beautiful prayer of our dear Lord on the Cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

And if you do, I am sure you will find that His loving Spirit will come into your hearts; and you will find the battle is over, and you have forgiven, and have won the Victory.

"As Christ forgave you, so also do ye."

XVII. THE LOST PIECE OF SILVER

[LUKE 15.8]

YOU see that woman? She has lost something which she is most anxious to find.

Yesterday she had ten pieces of silver in her hand, which she was counting up with joy, but this morning—somehow—one was missing! She was sure she had them all right last night!

So she looked all over the rooms, but not a trace could she find of her piece of silver.

Her neighbours were sorry for her trouble, but when they had sympathized with her, they returned to their own affairs.

At length, she thought of getting a light, and a broom—perhaps she would find it that way.

And so she searched all over again; and would not allow herself to leave off until she found it.

Then clasping her precious coin in her hand, she ran out to her neighbours, calling to them to rejoice with her, as she had found the piece that was lost!

And then our Lord seems to turn to His disciples, and to us now, as He says, "Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth."

That woman sought until she found it! and this lesson comes home to us to-day, as we travel along life's pathway.

Perhaps we know someone who has wandered away into wrong-doing! That is like the coin that was lost!

We look sorrowfully round, and wonder if there is anything we can do?

And at last we take the candle and the broom, and begin to seek.

What do "the candle and the broom" mean to us?

The candle seems to me to be the Light of God's loving promises to help.

And the broom seems to me to link us with those words, "Pray without ceasing!"

God says: "Do not stop praying till you find the one that was lost is brought back to God!"

And then our dear Lord's words come back to us again: "I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

XVIII. THERE AROSE A GREAT STORM

MARK 4.37

YOU have often heard of the Lake of Gennesaret, or the Sea of Galilee, for the gospels tell us many beautiful stories of what happened around those shores.

Several large cities had been built, and the lovely Lake was surrounded by mountains, and there were numbers of ships and boats which went across the Lake, some with fishermen plying their trade, and others carrying merchandise to the opposite shores.

But the Lake, looking so beautiful in the sunshine, and reflecting in its waters every shade of colour of the sky, or of the surrounding mountains, sometimes had violent storms, instead of calm on its lovely waters.

The wind suddenly rose, and swept down between the mountains; and almost before the sailors could furl their sails, the wind would drive the boat before it, as if it would swamp it altogether.

But one day, when all was beautiful and bright, Jesus was walking by the Lake, and a number of people out of the cities around came out to see Him, for they longed to hear His words; no one had ever spoken to them as He did, nor comforted them with assurances that their sins might be forgiven.

As the Lord saw the multitudes around Him, He entered into one of the fishing boats which were moored to the shore, and He talked to the people from there, because they could hear Him better.

So all day He sat and talked to them, until evening came on, and then He said to His disciples, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake."

And when His disciples had sent the multitude away, they took Jesus, just as He was, in the ship. And there were other little ships with Him.

But soon a great storm of wind swept down between the mountains, and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full.

And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him, and said unto Him, "Master, carest Thou not that we perish?"

And Jesus arose, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"

And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

And Jesus said to them, "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?"

And the disciples feared exceedingly, and said one to another, "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

Children! It is because Jesus is the Son of God, that He can do these wonderful miracles!

If we are in any trouble we can look up to Jesus in heaven and say, "Lord, help me!"

If we are sad, we can ask Him to comfort us.

If we have done what is wrong, we can ask Him to forgive us. He has all power in Heaven and Earth, and He will listen to our cry, and come to our help, as He helped the disciples in that great storm!

XIX. HIS VESTURE

MATTHEW 27.35

PERHAPS you ask, "What are these men so busily doing?"

Little did they know that hundreds of years before it had been written by God's Prophet: "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots."

Those four soldiers, whom Pilate had ordered to crucify the Lord of glory, and who had heard our dear Lord say, when they had nailed Him to the Cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!"—those four soldiers, did not take any heed of the matchless love of those words of forgiveness. They were only thinking about dividing His clothes.

They had crucified Jesus, the Saviour of the world, and two malefactors with Him, one on the right hand and the other on the left, and Jesus in the midst.

And now the people who were watching, saw the four soldiers carry away His raiment to a little distance, to divide it between themselves.

When they found that His coat, or under-robe, was seamless, and woven in one piece, they cast lots for that, so that it should not be torn or divided, as God had said, so long ago.

In this picture we do not see the Cross on which our dear Lord was crucified, but it must have been very near to the men.

There was a piece of parchment nailed on the Cross; and though Pilate had said, "I find no fault in Him," yet when he sat down to write his accusation on the parchment, he was obliged to put something; and he wrote, in Hebrew, and in Greek, and in Latin, "JESUS OF NAZARETH—THE KING OF THE JEWS."

This writing was read by many people, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near to Jerusalem, and many were passing backwards and forwards at this Passover time.

The cruel Jews, who had urged Pilate to crucify Jesus, wanted him to take the writing down from the Cross.

They said, "Do not say that He is the King of the Jews! But say that He said He was!"

But Pilate would not alter it. "What I have written, I have written," he said.

So when Jesus died, this was His accusation—that He is King!

Then the rulers who were standing by mocked him, saying, "He saved others, Himself He cannot save! Let Him come down from the Cross!"

Perhaps some of you who read this may think that it was the cruel nails which held His dear hands fast, so that he could not come down?

But that was not the reason—oh no!

It was love that made the Son of God stay there; love to you, and to me. "He gave His life a ransom for us."

He stayed there that He might die for us; that His precious Blood should be shed to pay the price of our sins.