Part 2

And now the Lord has to show her that it is something much better than real water that He wants her to have. He explains to her that she is a sinner, and He tells her so much about her past life, which she thought nobody knew, that she begins to guess that Jesus must be the Christ whom the Jews were expecting to come into the world.

Then Jesus said, "I, that speak unto thee, am He."

The woman was so surprised, and so glad, that she left her waterpot and ran back to the town to tell her neighbours all about her wonderful Saviour.

So numbers of them came out to find Jesus, and many believed on Him, not only because the woman had said that Jesus had told her all that ever she did, but because they heard from His own loving lips the words which brought them everlasting life.

XI. "Suffer Little Children to come unto Me"

A number of people are pressing round the dear Lord Jesus!

The mothers have heard how kind He is, and how He is doing good to everybody who comes to Him, and they are anxious that their little ones shall be blessed too.

So they take their babes in their arms, and their toddling children by the hand, and lead them to where they know the Lord Jesus is.

When the little ones see His loving face, they are not a bit afraid. They run to Him, sure that He will not refuse them, and when they come to Him, Jesus takes them up in His arms, puts His hands upon them, and blesses them.

The men who are following the dear Lord Jesus, think that the little children will be a trouble to Him, so they tell the mothers to take the little ones away; but we read that Jesus was much displeased, and said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Yes, Jesus said, when He was here walking about in our world, "Let the children come unto Me, and do not forbid them"; and now He is gone to be with His Father in heaven, He says just the same to all of you little ones. "Come to Me!" He says every day.

He is here in spirit, just as much as He was then, and He wants you to love Him with all your loving little hearts.

He loves you so much that He cares about everything that happens to you. He cares whether you are happy, He is sorry if you are naughty, and He is glad when you are good. He loves to have you do anything to please Him, and His dear eyes see you all day long, and He will help you to please Him if you ask Him.

Besides all this, the Lord Jesus has died on the cross, to bear the punishment of your sins, instead of you.

Should you not think it very kind if a little brother were to offer to be punished instead of the one who had done wrong?

That is what Jesus did. He took upon Himself the sin of the whole world, that whoever trusts Him and comes to Him, may be forgiven, and may go at last to live with Him, and with God our Heavenly Father, in that bright and beautiful home which He is getting ready for all who love Him.

Perhaps you ask, "Why does Jesus want you to come to Him?"

When you have been naughty and are sorry, why does mother hold out her loving arms to you?

Is it not that you may run into there and be forgiven and comforted? Is it not because she loves you?

Does she not wipe away your tears, and tell you that she will not think of your fault any more?

Does she not take you with her about the house, or in the garden, and show you by her manner how glad she is that you have come to her for forgiveness, and that you are going to try to do better?

Well, that is just a little bit like the love of Jesus.

He wishes you to come to Him, that you may have happiness and joy.

He wants you to live with Him all day long, and walk about by His side; to go to Him in every trouble; to ask His help in anything difficult.

You cannot see Him yet, but He is close to you all the time, and He can see you and hear you in an instant when you speak to Him.

By and by He will give you endless pleasures at His right hand for evermore.

"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child; Pity my simplicity, Suffer me to come to Thee.

"Fain I would to Thee be brought, Blessed Lord, forbid it not: In the kingdom of Thy grace Give a little child a place."

XII. "Follow Me"

Soon after Jesus had chosen Peter and James and John as His disciples, He was walking near the lake of Gennesaret when He saw Matthew sitting at the place where the people had to pay taxes.

For Matthew was not a fisherman, like the others, but was a taxgatherer employed by the Romans to collect money from the Jews.

These taxgatherers were very much disliked, as they often took more money than they ought, and kept it for themselves, so that the Jews hated them and dreaded to see them coming.

But the Lord Jesus chooses disciples from all sorts of people. He does not wait till we are good, to call us to follow Him; but He says to us, just where we are, at school, at work, at play, in the street, in the home, in the shop, "Follow Me."

And these words mean, "Keep close to Me, where you can see Me and speak to Me. And if you keep close to Me, by and by when I lead the way into My glory in Heaven, you, if you are following Me, shall come with Me and share all I have."

So Jesus called Matthew the publican; and Matthew heard His call, and rose up, and left all and came after Jesus.

Dear children, if we hear Jesus calling us, let us leave behind anything that would displease Him, and tell Him we are ready to follow Him wherever He may lead.

XIII. Lazarus

Not so very long after the supper where Martha had served, her brother Lazarus fell sick and died.

We are told that "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus," and yet He let him die!

Ah, how often have those whom Jesus loves, to trust Him through the very hardest thing that could happen to them!

Jesus was not there when Lazarus fell ill, and though they sent to Him to tell Him, He did not go to them at once, but stayed where He was for two more days. In the meantime Lazarus died, and was buried.

At length Jesus told His disciples that He would go to Bethany.

When they got near to where Lazarus lived, Martha heard that Jesus was coming, and hurried out to meet Him with the words, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give it to you."

Then Jesus told her that Lazarus would rise again; and Martha showed her faith in answering that she knew he would rise at the last day. And again Jesus questioned her with these wonderful resurrection words, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

And Martha gave one of the most wonderful answers that we read in the Bible: "Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."

Blessed Martha! She had found the one thing needful!

So by and by they come to Bethany, and Jesus sent for Mary to come from the house of mourning to Him.

And Mary's first words were the same as Martha's, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died."

Oh, the compassion of Jesus! He knew that soon their sorrow would be turned into joy, but when He saw them all weeping. He was very troubled, and wept too.

And so they come to the grave; and Jesus told them to take away the stone. The Martha reminded Him that Lazarus had been dead four days.

But Jesus answered her, "Did I not say to you, that, if you would believe, you should see the glory of God?"

And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me . . . that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

And then He called with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" And the dead man came forth, bound with graveclothes and Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

Oh, how happy those sisters were! Did not Martha, indeed, see the glory of God, as Jesus had said?

XIV. The Widow's Mite

One day, very shortly before our dear Lord was crucified, He was teaching in God's Temple at Jerusalem and preaching the gospel.

He had been warning the people against the scribes, who loved to seem very good and to be thought well of, who chose the highest seats in the synagogues and the chief rooms at feasts, who made long prayers for a show, and who oppressed poor widows and took away their houses.

The Lord looked straight into people's hearts, and He could not bear for the scribes to seem very good outside and to be very wicked inside!

Jesus was sitting near the treasury, which was the chest or receptacle in which the people put their offerings of money for God's service.

After He had been speaking about those scribes that oppressed the widows, He raised His eyes and saw the people casting their gifts into the treasury; and many that were rich cast in much.

And just then a poor widow drew near, and she put in two mites, which make a farthing.

Jesus saw it all! He could see into her empty pocket; He knew all about it!

Then He called His disciples to Him and said to them, "This poor widow has cast more in than all the others who have cast into the treasury: for they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living!"

There is another widow we read of, who gave all her living to God! The account is in 1 Kings xvii. God sent the prophet Elijah to her in a time of famine. When he got to where the widow lived, he found her gathering a few sticks to make a fire to bake the last bit of bread that she had!

So Elijah called to her to fetch him a little water. He was nearly dying of thirst, and as she ran to fetch it, he begged her also to bring him a morsel of bread too.

But she told him that she only had a tiny bit of meal left in the barrel, and a little oil in a cruse, and this she was going to make into a little cake for her and her son, and when they had eaten that, she said, they must die!

But Elijah said some words like these to her: "Fear not . . . make me a little cake first, and bring it to me . . . for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, You shall always find a little meal in the barrel, and a little oil in the cruse as long as the famine lasts!"

And she believed God's promise, and went and did as Elijah had said; and she and Elijah and her son had enough to eat for many days.

XV. "Do this in Remembrance of Me"

Very soon after this, just before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that the hour had come that He was to die, and to go back to His Father, He wished to do one last act of love to His disciples, because "He loved them to the uttermost."

And supper being ended, Jesus rose up and taking a towel He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of His disciples.

This astonished them very much, and when it came to Peter's turn, he said, "Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?"

Then Jesus said to him something like this, "You cannot understand what I am doing now, Peter, but you shall understand by and by."

But Peter said to Jesus, "Thou shalt never wash my feet!"

And Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, Peter, you have no part with Me."

So Peter at last let Jesus wash his feet; but he asked Him to wash his hands too, and his head. I think he meant that he wanted to be made wholly clean!

Jesus is our perfect example, and though He was their Lord and Master, He did for them what was the office of the servants in the East, that they might hereafter remember that there is no act, however lowly, that they should be unwilling to perform for one of His disciples.

This loving example has helped thousands of the followers of Jesus to go into prisons and hospitals; or to minister to the sick in crowded, wretched rooms, where dirt and misery abound; that they may brighten and cleanse them, and bring a little, to the poor suffering inmates, of that love of Jesus which loves to the uttermost, and "is able to save to the uttermost, those that come unto God by Him."

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And now the hour for the Passover Feast had come, and Jesus sat down, the twelve apostles with Him, and He told them that with a great desire He had longed to eat that Passover with them before He suffered.

Dear children, you have often heard of the Communion of the Lord's Supper, and some of you may have been with your parents, and may have seen it.

But now I am going to tell you about the first time the Lord's Supper was held.

Ever since that time for nearly nineteen hundred years, the people who love the Lord Jesus have met together "to remember Him" as He told them; and those who love Him are told to do this, till He comes back again to take us to His heavenly home.

So that night "in which He was betrayed" this was how our dear Lord gave us this last command.

"And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.'

"Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the New Testament in My blood which is shed for you.'

"And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives."

And Jesus said to them, "All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, 'I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered!'"

But in His great forgiving love, though Jesus knew they would all forsake Him, He gave them the promise, that when He was risen from the dead He would go before them to Galilee, and there they should see Him again.

XVI. The Lame Man Leaping

Acts iii. 8

One day, very soon after the Holy Spirit had been sent down to give power to the disciples, Peter and John, as their custom was, went up into the Temple to pray.

It was what was called the ninth hour, our three o'clock in the afternoon, and was "the hour of prayer" in Jerusalem.

Peter and John climbed up the many steps that led to the Temple, and reached the gate called the Beautiful Gate.

Some one else had come up those many steps, too; but he had not walked. He had been lame all his life, and daily his friends carried him up that long way, to lay him in the Beautiful Gate.

What do you think they took all that trouble for? It was that the poor lame man might ask for money of the passersby who went up to pray.

He had no means of providing for himself, and, like many other sick and helpless people, he lay there hour after hour, holding out his hand to receive the coins which the pity of the passersby made them give him.

As he saw Peter and John about to go into the Temple, he begged them to have pity on him in his poverty.

Then Peter, knowing that within him rested the great power of God, said to the lame man, "Look on us!"

The poor man eagerly obeyed, thinking they were not going to pass on without showing him some kindness.

He was quite right. Peter at once said: "I have not any silver or gold! But what I have, I will give you! In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones were given strength, and the man, who had been a cripple for more than forty years, walked and leapt, and went with Peter and John into the Temple, walking and leaping and praising God!

Then all the people, who knew all about this lame man for so many years, were filled with amazement at what had happened to him. For the lame man held Peter and John, and all the people ran together into Solomon's Porch to see the wonderful sight. But Peter told them, at once, that it was not by their own power that they had made this man well, but because God had glorified His Son Jesus, and that it was through faith in His Name that he had been given this perfect soundness.

And then he told these wondering, amazed Jews, that it was their God, "the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob," who had sent Jesus to earth to bless them, and to turn away every one of them from their sins.

And that blessed Name of Jesus has the same power now to help and save all who look to Him. Forgiveness, strength, comfort, and help can belong to those who will trust Him!

XVII. Gethsemane

Many, many hundreds of years ago, the Easter full moon was shining down in all its beauty on a garden near Jerusalem.

This garden was called Gethsemane and I should think that every one who loves the Lord Jesus, and who knows about His great agony in that garden, must love the very name of the place, and remember with very tender feelings all He bore for our sakes.

Every Easter now, when the moon shines so sweetly, we can recall that night on which our dear Lord was betrayed, and we can ask Him to help us to watch and pray that we may not enter into temptation.

He had just eaten the Passover Supper with His disciples; He had told them and us, to "do this, as oft as ye take it, in remembrance of ME," and then, after they had sung a hymn, or psalm, they went down the steep path from one of the gates leading out of Jerusalem, to go to the Mount of Olives.

Just at the bottom of the valley there lay the Garden of Gethsemane; and the Lord Jesus, who knew all that was going to happen to Him the next day,—how He would be mocked and beaten and crucified—wanted to pray to His Heavenly Father before He was betrayed into the hands of the Jews.

So He turned into the garden beneath the olive trees, telling some of His disciples to wait outside, but taking Peter and James and John into the garden with Him.

He was very, very sorrowful, so He bade them wait near Him and watch. Then He went a little further on, and fell on the ground and prayed to His Father that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from Him.

He knew that all things were possible with God, but He did not want to have His own will, if His dear Father in Heaven wished anything different. He had come to earth to do His will perfectly.

Then after His prayer, He rose and went to His disciples. But he found them asleep! They had not watched as He bade them.

So He said to Peter, "Simon, sleepest thou? couldest thou not watch one hour?"

And then He told them to watch and pray lest they should enter into temptation.

He said He knew they were willing to do it, but they had tired bodies, and this made it the more necessary to be watchful.

So He went away again and prayed to His Father in an agony that the bitter cup might pass from Him.

We cannot fully understand all that is meant by that bitter cup. It is enough for us to know that our blessed Lord dreaded it above everything.

But even in the midst of that misery, He could say, "Oh, My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me except I drink it, Thy will be done!"

And there appeared an angel from heaven, strengthening Him.

Still again a third time He went away and prayed the same prayer, but all the while His disciples were fast asleep!

At last Jesus rose up from prayer, and when He came to His disciples He told them that now He was going to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.

As He was speaking, a great band of men, led by wicked Judas, came hurrying into the garden.

Now Judas had said to the chief priests (when he sold Jesus to them for thirty pieces of silver), "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He; hold Him fast."

The Lord Jesus, who is God as well as man, could easily have escaped from their cruel hands. He told them He could have prayed to His Father, and He would have sent Him thousands and thousands of angels.

The band of men and officers from the chief priests were so amazed at the majesty of Jesus, that they went backward and fell to the ground.

But Jesus was ready to die for us; for how else could we be saved?

Then they took Jesus prisoner, and bound Him and led Him away to the palace of the High Priest.

And as He was led away from Gethsemane, He said to Peter those memorable words of love and submission—"The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?"

He knew that the Cross to which He was going was His Father's Will! For had He not said Himself, to the people?—

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

XVIII. The Trial

When Judas had betrayed the Lord Jesus with a kiss, and the band of soldiers and officers were going to take Him away, Peter tried to defend Jesus by drawing his sword, and he smote one of the servants of the High Priest and cut off his ear.

But Jesus did not wish His disciples to fight for Him with swords, and He told Peter to put it up in the sheath again; and then, in His love and compassion, He healed the man's ear.

And Jesus said to the soldiers, "Are you come out as if I were a thief, with swords and staves to take me? I was with you every day in the Temple, teaching you, and you did not take Me; but the Scriptures must be fulfilled."

Then all His disciples forsook Him and fled.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd; and now it had come to the time when He was going to lay down His life for the sheep.

But oh! How sad it must have made Him, to have all His disciples run away from Him!

Then the soldiers bound Him and led Him away.

But after the first moment of fear and dismay, John, the beloved disciple, ran to follow his Master, and the crowd tried to prevent his going after Jesus. But he managed to escape from them, and presently he reached the High Priest's house, and, as he was known to the High Priest, he went in with Jesus into the palace.

But Peter was left in the garden, and he followed afar off, even into the palace of the High Priest, and sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.

When the whole band had brought Jesus into the palace, they found there all the chief priests, and the elders, and the scribes.

Then the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put Him to death; but found none.

There were many false witnesses who gave evidence against Him, but they all contradicted each other.

All this time Jesus stood silent, listening to their false charges, but not answering a word.

At last the High Priest exclaimed, "Answerest thou nothing? What is it that these witness against thee?"

But Jesus held His peace, and answered nothing.

Then the High Priest asked Him a question which Jesus answered.

He said, "Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"

And Jesus said, "I am; and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."

Then the High Priest tore his clothes, and said there was no need to examine any more witnesses, for they had heard Him say Himself that He was the Son of God.

And for this they all condemned Him to be guilty of death.

XIX. The King of the Jews

When the chief priests of the Jews had determined to kill the Lord Jesus, after examining Him for many hours on the dreadful night when all His disciples had forsaken Him and Peter had denied Him, they consulted together as to how they could carry out their wicked plan.

The morning dawned before they had decided what to do; and at length, as they did not like to put Him to death themselves, they thought the best way would be to take Him to Pilate the Roman governor, for they thought that he would do what they wished.

The Jews and the High Priest had asked Jesus whether He was really the Christ, the Son of God; and the Lord Jesus, to leave them without excuse, told them plainly that He was, and that hereafter they would see Him sitting in heaven, and coming back to earth in the clouds.

At this they had been fearfully angry, and had torn their clothes, and had bound Him and led Him away to Pilate, in the hopes that Pilate would at once order Him to be put to death.

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