Part 3

Our Lord chose twelve of the men who followed Him to be his apostles, and He sent seventy of His disciples out to teach, and gave them power to make sick people well. The apostles also, were sent, but after a time they came back to Our Lord, and told Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, "Come ye apart into a desert place and rest awhile," for there were many coming and going, and they had not even time to eat. And they went by ship with Him to a desert place near a city called Bethsaida. But when the people found out where He had gone, they came in crowds after Him. Our Lord was very kind to them. He went to this desert place to rest, but He did not care for rest or food, if He could do good, so He did not say, "Why did you come here?" but He went up on a mount and told them about God, and made all the sick ones well. And when the day began to wear away, the twelve apostles came to Him, and said, "Send this great crowd away that they may go to the towns near and get food, for this is a desert place." Then Jesus said to Philip, "Where shall we get bread that these may eat?" And this He said to try him, for He Himself knew what He would do. And Philip said, "A great deal of bread would not be enough to give each of them a little piece." Then Andrew said, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many?" And Jesus said, "Make the men sit down." And they sat down on the grass, fifty in one place, and there were five thousand men there. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He broke them, and gave the pieces to His disciples, and they gave them to the people; and He gave them of the fishes as much as they would, and they all ate and left many pieces. Then Our Lord told the Apostles to gather the pieces up so that nothing might be lost; for Jesus does not like people to waste things, and they picked up enough pieces to fill twelve baskets with the bread that was left. Was not this a very great miracle? The people who saw it said at once, that Our Lord was the Christ that was to come, and they wanted to make Him a King; and when He would not be one, they thought they would take Him by force and crown Him; but Jesus sent His disciples away and went into a mountain all by Himself and prayed to His Father. This miracle made the people believe in our Lord more than any other. They thought that He Who could feed them when they were hungry, must be the promised Saviour; and they had been taught by the priests that when Christ came He would be a king, that He would free them from the Romans and make them rich and great. That was a great mistake. The Christ was coming to set them free from their sins, and bring them to His Heavenly Kingdom, not only to do them good on earth.

And when the sun had set the disciples were on the sea, and it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. The wind blew, and the great waves rose. How they must have wished Our Lord had been there to hush the storm. But Jesus saw them, and in the middle of the night He went to them; He had no boat so He walked on the sea. Can men walk on the sea? No; but Our Lord could, because He was God. When the disciples saw Him, they were afraid, and cried out. But Jesus spoke to them at once, and said, "Fear not, it is I." And Peter said, "Lord, if it is You tell me to come to You on the sea." And Jesus said, "Come." Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water to go to Jesus, but when he saw the great waves, he was afraid and began to sink; and he cried out, "Lord, save me." Then Jesus at once put out His hand, and caught him, and said, "O why have you so little faith!" And when they had both got into the boat, the wind left off blowing, and the ship was at the place they were going to at once. Then those in the ship came and knelt down to Jesus, and said, "Of a truth, Thou art the Son of God."

One day, Our Lord was with His apostles near the place where the Jews' land joined that of the people who did not know about God. And a poor woman of that country followed Him, and cried after Him, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David, for my daughter is very ill." But He did not answer her; and so she kept crying to Him till the apostles said, "Send her away, for she crieth after us." They wanted Our Lord to cure her child, so that she might go away. But Jesus said, "I am not sent to any but the Jews."

Then the woman came and kneeled down to Him, and said, "Lord, help me." And Jesus said, "It is not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs." Did not Our Lord seem unkind? But He was not; He was only trying the woman's faith. But she was very humble; she said, "That is true, Lord, but the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus said, "O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt;" and her daughter was made well that very hour.

This woman was at first of the Greek religion; that is, she had worshipped and prayed to idols of stone, whom she called Jove and Apollo and Diana. But she had heard of the God of the Jews, and we think had given up her false gods and believed in Him; for she knew of the expected Christ, and that he would be of David's family. Then her dear child was ill, and she went to Jesus for help. Very great was her faith, as Our Lord said.

This was the second miracle Our Lord did for people who were not Jews, but who had learned to believe in God.

Our Lord was often spoken to as He went on His way by people who thought they would like to be His disciples, but had not faith enough in the end to give up the things they loved to go with Him. Once a man said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but I, the Son of Man, have not where to lay My head." For the Lord Jesus was very poor; He had no home then on earth. He stayed, we read, sometimes in Peter's house, and with other friends of whom we shall tell you by-and-by. We do not know if the man who spoke still wished to follow Christ; we fear he did not, or we should have heard he did.

Another day as He was going on His way, a young man ran up to Him, kneeled down, and said, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" And Jesus said, "Why do you ask Me concerning that which is good?[A] One there is who is good; but, if you would enter into life keep God's Commandments." The young man asked "Which?" Jesus said, "Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; honour thy father and mother; thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The young man said, "I have kept all these; what is wanting in me?" And Our Lord looking on him loved him, for he was very good; but he had one great fault, he loved money, and Jesus said, "If you would be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven; and come, and follow Me."

But when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great riches, and he did not like to part with them and go about poor with Our Lord's disciples. We are sure that Jesus was sorry for him, and we hope he came back afterwards, but we do not know. Poor young man! he was so good that we think perhaps in the end he did.

Our Blessed Lord went through every city and village telling them the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God, and the twelve apostles were with Him. There were some women with them also whom Christ had made well. One was called Mary Magdalene, who had been cured of a sad disease, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward, and Susannah, and many others, who brought Our Lord and His apostles food, and did all they could to serve Him.

Jesus had many friends as well as cruel enemies.

There were some good people who lived at Bethany, a pretty little village near Jerusalem. They were two sisters and a brother, called Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. When Our Lord was at Jerusalem, He often went to see them; and they were very glad to have Him in their house. Martha bustled about to get a feast for Him and His apostles one day when He came there; but Mary sat at his feet listening to His words. Then Martha thought her sister ought to help her, so she came, and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her help me." But Jesus said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things; there is only one thing needful; and Mary has chosen that good part that shall not be taken away from her."

Jesus was not angry with Martha; He only told her not to be so full of care about earthly things, but to care most for listening to His words. We cannot hear Christ's voice now, but we can hear and read His words still. Do you know where they are found? In the Bible.

Our Lord prayed a great deal. Sometimes He prayed all night long; He loved to pray to His Father in Heaven. And one day He told a pretty story to His disciples to teach them how to pray.

Two men went into the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed, and said, "God, I thank Thee that I am not as bad as other men, or even as this publican; I obey Thy law." The publican stood a great way off and would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but struck his breast with his hand to show he was sorry, and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

The Pharisee boasted how good he was; the publican only asked God to forgive him. Which of the two prayed best? Our Lord said the publican did; for God will not hear the prayers of the proud, but listens to those of the humble.

The Lord Jesus has told us that God will give us what we ask for in prayer if we do not pray for wrong things. He says, "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." The meaning is, If you ask God's help, He will give it; if you seek to find out what is His will, you will find it; if you beg God to make you understand His word, He will let you; for Our Lord said, "If a son ask his father for bread, will he give him a stone, or, if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?"--that is, a snake. No; you know he will not. Since, then, even men who are not good will be kind to their children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to them who ask Him! The Lord loves to hear the prayer of a little child. You may pray when you like; at your mothers knee, or in the day if you feel you want God's help. He will hear you if you say in your mind, "Make me a good child, for Christ's sake."

One day a lawyer stood up from among the crowd who listened to Our Lord and asked Jesus a question. He did it to try the Lord and see if He would say something that the priests might think wrong. He said, "Master, what shall I do to gain eternal life"--that is, life in Heaven? And Jesus said, "What is written in the law?" And the lawyer said, "The law tells me that I must love the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my strength, and my neighbour as myself." Our Lord said, "You have answered right; do this and live." But the lawyer, not yet satisfied, asked, "Who is my neighbour?" And Our Lord answered by telling him a pretty story.

A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho: it was a wild, lonely road over the hills; and he met some thieves who robbed him, took off his clothes, wounded him, and left him for dead by the road-side. And by chance a priest came by that way but he did not help the poor man; he crossed over to the other side of the way and went on. Then, a Levite, one of the men who served the priests in the Temple, came that way; he stopped and looked at the poor man, and then left him and crossed to the other side of the road.

Next, a Samaritan came along--you remember, do you not, that the Jews hated the Samaritans?--but this man, when he saw the poor wounded Jew lying in the road, had pity on him. And he went to him and bound up his wounds, putting oil and wine to them, as people used then to do; and he lifted him off the hard ground and put him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day, when he had to go away, he called the host--that is, the man who kept the inn--and gave him two pence--which were worth more than a shilling--and said, "Take care of the poor man, and whatever you spend I will repay you when I come again."

"Which of these three men do you think was neighbour to the man who fell among thieves?" asked Our Lord. And the lawyer could not help answering, "He that had mercy on him."

Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

One day Our Lord told His disciples of what would happen soon, how He must go up to Jerusalem and die for them and for all the world; and that made them very sad.

About eight days after, He took Peter and James and John with Him and went up a high mountain to pray. It was late, and the disciples were tired, and while Jesus prayed they fell asleep. But a great light woke them, and then they saw a wonderful thing. Our Lord's face shone like the sun, and His robe was white and glittering as the light; and two men stood by Him in shining white robes; and the apostles knew that they were Moses and Elijah. Moses had been dead very, very long, and Elijah had been taken up to Heaven alive; but now, like two bright angels, they talked with Our Lord. What did they talk about? Of how Jesus would go up to Jerusalem and die to save men. The disciples could not quite tell what it meant, and Peter said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make here three tents for Thee and Moses and Elijah," not knowing what he said; but, as he spoke, a bright cloud came over them, and they were taken into it, and a voice came out of the cloud and said, "This is My Beloved Son; hear Him." And when the voice was past, Jesus was alone. It was He who was God's Dear Son.

Soon after this the disciples began to talk together about which of them should be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And Jesus called a little child to Him, and when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever will receive one of such children in My name receiveth Me, and whosoever shall receive Me receiveth not Me but Him that sent Me." And He told the apostles that they must be as gentle and humble as little children if they would be great in Heaven, for there the humble would be the first, and the proud the last.

Our Lord loved little children very much. Soon after this, some mothers brought their children and infants to Jesus that He might touch and bless them; but the apostles told them to go away and not to trouble the Lord. When Jesus knew it He was very angry, and said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the Kingdom of God." And He took the little ones in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them. How good and kind Jesus was! Little children ought to love Him with all their heart, and be very good to please Him.

Our Lord came, you know, to bear the punishment of our sins; and He told some pretty parables to the Pharisees to try and make them understand why He talked so much to bad men. It was because His great love made Him wish to save them. He told them that if they had a great many sheep and one was lost, the shepherd would leave all the others and go to find the lost one; and when he had found it he would bring it back with great joy.

And He said: "If a woman has ten pieces of silver and she loses one she will light a candle and sweep the house and look carefully for it. And when she has found it she will call her friends, and say, Be glad with me; I have found the piece that I had lost, so"--went on Our Lord--"there is joy in Heaven with the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

Once Our Lord told His disciples a parable of a fig-tree. Fig-trees grow by the side of the road in that land, and people might pick the figs. But this fig-tree grew in a man's garden; and for three years it had borne no figs. Then the master called his gardener and said to him, "For three years I have come to find figs on this tree and there are none; cut it down; it is of no use." But the gardener said, "Lord, let it stay this year, I will dig round it and manure it, and if next year it bears fruit, well; but if not, then you shall cut it down."

This parable meant that Christ is always asking God, His Father, to let us have time to be sorry for our sins before we die. It meant, too, that He asked God to give the Jews time to be sorry before He destroyed their city and sent them out of their own land.

Then He told them this other story: "Once, there was a man who had two sons. The younger of the two said to him one day, 'Father, give me now the share of your money you mean me to have.' And the kind father divided his money between the sons as the greedy one asked. As soon as the younger son had his share he left his father's house and went to a far off land, and there he spent his money in eating and drinking with bad people. And when he had spent all he had, great want came on that land; there was very little food, and bread was very dear. Now this sinful lad had no money left, so he was obliged to go and be a servant to a man of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs; and he had so little food and was so hungry that he would have liked to eat the husks the pigs ate, and no man gave any food to him. Then he felt how sinful he had been, and he said, 'My father's servants have more bread to eat than they want, while I shall die of hunger. I will go back to my father, and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against God and against you, and am not fit to be called your son; make me your servant."' And he arose and went to his father; and when he was yet a great way off his father saw him--a poor, ragged man--and he ran to meet him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said, 'Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against thee, I am not good enough to be called thy son; let me be one of thy servants.' But his father quite forgave him, and told the servants to bring the best robe and put it on him, and to put shoes on his feet, and a ring on his hand, and to cook the fat calf that they might eat; and they were merry.

"Now, when the elder son, who was in the fields, heard the sound of music and dancing, and was told what the feast was for, he was angry, and would not go in; his father came out and begged that he would. But the son said, 'I have been a good son, but you did not give me a kid that I might make a feast for my friends; yet, now your wicked son is come who has spent all on bad living, you have had the calf killed for him.' It was wrong of this son to be jealous, was it not? He ought to have been glad that his brother had come home again. But his father said, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours; but it was right to be glad now, for your brother who was dead is alive again, was lost, and is found.'"

Jesus meant to teach us by this story that God will forgive us and love us as soon as we are sorry for being naughty. People who keep on being naughty are said in God's Book to be dead and lost--and so they are--till they are sorry and do better.

Now it was winter-time, and a feast was being kept in Jerusalem. Our Lord went to it, and walked in the Temple in Solomon's Porch. Then the Jews came round about Him, and said, "How long do You mean to keep us in doubt"--to be in doubt is not to be sure of a thing--"If You are Christ, tell us plainly?"

Jesus said, "I have told you, and you would not believe Me. The works I do show that I am the Christ, but you will not believe. Ye are not My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life, and no man can take them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one."

The Jews knew that Our Lord meant to say that He was God, for He was God's Son, and they were so angry that they took up stones to throw at Him and sought to take Him, but it was not yet time for Jesus to die for us all, so He passed from them and went away to the other side of the river Jordan, to the place where John baptized, and many believed on Him there. John the Baptist was dead, another cruel Herod had had his head cut off.

It was while Our Lord was here that a man was sent to Him by Martha and Mary to say that Lazarus, their brother, whom the Lord loved, was ill. The sisters thought Jesus would be sure to come and make His dear friend well. But, though Our Lord loved these good people, He did not go at once. He waited for two days, and then He said to His disciples, "Let us go into Judea again." But the disciples said, "Master, the Jews of late tried to kill You; why will You go there again?" Then Jesus said, "Our friend Lazarus is asleep; I go that I may awake him." They did not know what Jesus meant, so they said, "If he is asleep he will get well." Then Our Lord told them that Lazarus was dead, and said that He must now go to him. The apostle Thomas said to the others, "Let us go, too, that we may die with Him." For they thought the Jews would be sure to kill Jesus if He went near Jerusalem; and Martha and Mary lived very near it. Lazarus had been buried four days when they arrived at Bethany.

As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, and said to Him, "Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died; but I know that even now if You ask God anything He will give it You." Jesus said, "Thy brother shall rise again." "Yes; I know," said Martha, "he will rise at the last day." But Jesus told her that He could give life to the dead. Then He asked for Mary. She was sitting with a great many friends who had come to comfort her in her grief, but Martha made haste to tell her that Our Lord was come; and Mary went out to the Lord and said, as Martha had, "Lord, if You had been here he would not have died." Then Jesus said, "Where have you laid him?" The Jews had also come out now, and they said, "Come and see." They were all weeping, and Our Lord had such pity for their grief, that He too shed tears. Now the grave was a place in a rock and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." And when they had taken it away, Our Lord said some words to God in heaven, and then He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." And the dead man came out alive, though he had lain four days in the grave. How glad Mary and Martha must have been! A great many of the Jews who were there, when they saw this wonderful thing, believed that Jesus was the Son of God; but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. And they were angry, and said, "What shall we do? for if we let this man alone all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away our place and nation." They meant that the Romans would take them and sell them for slaves, as was sometimes done in those days. Then the high priest said, "One man must die for the people." He did not know how true his words were, for Jesus meant to die to save all men. But the Lord did not let them kill Him yet, He went to another place with his disciples.