F
Kjp
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
With Illustrations in CO
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
Chap. Copyright No*_
BhelfJ3Xa02.
UNITED STATES OF AMERJCA.
A CHILD'S
LIFE OF CHRIST
JESUS QUESTIONING THE DOCTORS.
A CHILD'S
LIFE OF CHRIST
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLORS
1*
N E¥ YORK
GILBERT H. McKIBBLN
MDCCCXCIX
TWO COPIES RECEIVED,
Libra* s%
Office o f the
JAN 27 1900
hegister of Copyrights
,C5
51954
Copyright, 1899,
By G. H. McKIBBIN
\
SECOND GOf /,
Printed by the Manhattan Press,
474 W . Broadway, Neiv York
JV\5 -V^^S .
PREFACE,
It is delightful to witness the deep interest which
children take in the History of their Saviour; they
are earl/ attracted and sweetly riveted by the
wonderful Story of the Master from the Manger
to the Throne.
If God has implanted in the infant heart a desire
to hear of Jesus, surely it behooves the friends of
little children (whom Jesus delighted so to gather
around him) to bring together from Scripture
every incident, expression, and description within
the verge of their comprehension, and to weave
them into a memorial garland of their Saviour.
Children will gaze with admiring love upon each
wondrous act and word — from the pure snow-drop
of innocence in the manger to the passion-flower of
agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and thence to
the glorious Ascension of our Divine Saviour into
Heaven.
8 PREFACE.
The command given by our Lord to those He
sent forth was to "Preach and Teach." We, in
this little book, humbly try to follow in their steps.
We have introduced a profusion of illustrations, re-
garding them as being very important in a narra-
tive of occurrences so distant from this modern life
of ours, both in time and place.
A CHILD'S
LIFE OF CHEIST.
CHAPTER I.
PALESTINE AT THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD — THE ANNUNCIA-
TION TO MAKY — THE SAVIOUR BORN IN BETHLEHEM —
THE WISE MEN AND THE STAR.
Very far away from our own country lies the
land where Jesus Christ was born. More than five
thousand miles stretch between us and it. It rests
in the very heart and centre of the Old World, en-
circled by Asia, Europe, and Africa. A little land,
it is only about two hundred miles in length and
but fifty miles broad; but its hills and valleys, its
dusty roads and green pastures, its vineyards and
olive yards, and its village streets have been trod-
den by the feet of our Lord ; and for us, as well as
for the Jews, it is the Holy Land.
Nearly nineteen hundred years ago there lived in
the quiet town of Nazareth a pious Jewish maiden :
her name was Mary. She was going to be married
10 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
to a poor man named Joseph, who was a carpenter
by trade. Though living thus in humble life, they
were of the royal family of Judah, and were the
descendants of King David.
The Jews were very particular to keep exact lists
of the names of their families — genealogies they
called them — and these lists went back for many
hundred years.
Though Joseph and Mary belonged to the royal
family of David, yet they lived in Nazareth of Gali-
lee, far away from King David's city, Bethlehem.
The Roman Emperor Augustus had conquered
Palestine and put a king of his own choosing on the
throne of Judah. His name was Herod the Great
and he was obliged to rule as the emperor ordered.
We now go back to Nazareth, and see Mary, who
is sitting alone in her own house. A glorious
visitor stands before her, and says, Peace be with
you, Mary. Be glad, for the Lord is with you, and
has blessed you more than any other woman. Mary
saw that her bright visitor was an angel of God,
and she felt troubled at his saying. What did it
mean, why was he sent to her? she asked herself.
Then the angel told her not to fear; for he came
to tell her that God would send her a baby — a
wonderful baby. It would be no other than Jesus,
the long-promised Saviour of the world.
Oh, how long the world had waited for this Seed
of the woman, which was to undo the mischief
caused by Satan, according to the promise made
thousands of years ago to Adam and Eve! And
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 11
how often from that time had the prophets foretold
his coming, how a maiden should have a son, who
would be Christ the Lord !
Mary had heard all these wonderful sayings of
God, and she was glad to find that, of all the
women of Israel, she was the one chosen to be the
mother of this child.
But the old prophets said that this child was to
be born at Bethlehem, whereas Mary lived at Naz-
areth. This old saying, however, came exactly
true in a strange way.
The Emperor Augustus, who was the master of
the land of Palestine, said that he wanted a list of
the names of every man and woman, their ages,
their rank, and their trades, throughout the land.
This list was called a census and was taken every
ten years.
Herod was to make out the list; and he said, to
prevent mistakes, he must take the people accord-
ing to the tribe to which they belonged. Every
one was, therefore, obliged to go to the city to
which his tribe or family belonged, however trouble-
some or however far it might be for some of them.
They could not help it — the will of Augustus was
law and had to be obeyed.
Yes, into every city, into every town, into every
village, there came a messenger to say, Ever}7 one
must go to his right place, to have his name put
down in the list for the Emperor.
Now Joseph and Mary belonged to the family of
David, of the tribe of Judah; so they had to go to
12 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Bethlehem, for that was David's city, to have their
names written down.
It was about sixty miles from Nazareth to Beth-
lehem, a very long journey in those days.
How tired they are, and how glad to see the
white walls of the little city through the olive trees
and vines which grew around it !
It is evening, and the city is full, for others, like
them, have come from a distance to be registered.
They go to the inn, but there is no place for them
— where shall they sleep for the night?
The master of the inn pities them, and says, They
may rest in the stable for the night. How glad
Joseph and Mary are even of that lowly place!
There is straw for them to lie upon, and a roof over
their heads; but that is all. The oxen and asses
are around them, and many are going and coming;
but they are thankful, after their long and weary
journey, to find any shelter in Bethlehem.
That night the old saying of Micah the prophet
came true; for there, at Bethlehem, did God send
to Mary the promised baby. Yes, that night was
the most wonderful and most joyous in the world's
history, for then was born the Son of God.
Mary took her baby, and dressed him in some long
clothes, called swaddling clothes, and laid him in a
manger. She had no soft cradle near ; she dared
not lay him on the ground, lest the beasts should
tread on him, so she put him into one of the troughs
from which the cattle ate their food.
On the night that Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
14 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
some shepherds were watching their flocks in the
fields around the city.
More than a thousand years before had David,
when a lad, kept his father's sheep in the very same
place. Now, these shepherds were guarding their
flocks from the wolves and foxes, which still lived
in the hills and woods of Palestine.
All at once, they see a strange bright light. It
is night, so it is not the sun ; nor is it the moon —
nor the stars. Brighter than the brightest day is
this light from Heaven.
The glory of the Lord shines round about them.
No wonder they are afraid. Then an angel spoke
to them, and said, Fear not: for behold, I bring
you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people. For unto you is born, in the city of David,
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. He is a new-
born baby, lying in a manger at the inn of Beth-
lehem. Go, and you will find him.
Now they saw in the sky a great number of
angels, who filled the air with their praises; and
the shepherds heard the words of the angels' cradle-
song. It was this:
Glory to God in the highest,
On earth peace, and good-will to men.
Having sung this song, the angels went back to
Heaven : the light faded away, and all was dark as
before.
The shepherds now began talking together about
these strange sights and sounds. And they said,
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST, 15
Let us go the nearest way to Bethlehem, and see
this thing which has come to pass.
They did not say, Let us wait till morning, be-
cause of our flocks ; no, the event was so great they
could not wait till then to see its truth.
At once, they went to the inn of Bethlehem, into
the court-yard, around which were the stables.
There, even as the angels had said, and as they ex-
pected to find, was the babe lying in a manger,
with Mary and Joseph by his side.
Said they to Mary, This baby is the Saviour of
the world, the long-promised Messiah ; we knew
we should find him here, for God has sent his angels
to-night to tell us of his birth. The whole air was
filled with music from Heaven, and we heard the
angels sing,
Glory to God in the highest,
On earth peace, and good-will
to men.
Mary, like all other mothers, kept these sayings
about her baby like treasures in her heart. Often
and often, in after years, did she think over all the
strange things that had happened at the birth of
this child.
The shepherds could not stay any longer in Beth-
lehem, for their flocks were alone; but they told
many in the city what they had heard and seen.
Every one who heard the good news wondered at
the things which were told them by the shepherds.
Many heard ; but all did not believe. As it was
then, so it is now.
16 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
To you is the Saviour sent ; do you know it — and
do you love him?
Many pious men in Israel were at this time look-
ing for the birth of a great Prince, and this expecta-
tion was shared in by many people in other parts of
the world.
In one of the countries east of Palestine, probably
Arabia, there lived some Wise Men — magi, sages,
or, perhaps, priests. As they lived near the bor-
ders of the old kingdom of Chaldea, no doubt they
had heard of the prophecy of Daniel in which he
spoke of the coming, about this time, of Messiah
the Prince, to whom should be given glory and a
kingdom.
Or they had most likely heard from the children
of Moab, whose country was also near theirs, of the
saying of Balaam, " I shall see him, but not now;
I shall behold him, but not nigh. There shall come
a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of
Israel. Out of Jacob shall come he that hath
dominion."
It was more than fourteen hundred years before
that these words were spoken, and now that "Star "
has arisen.
These Eastern sages were one night looking at
the sli3r, studying, as was their way, the movements
of the stars. As they gazed into the quiet depths
of the midnight sky, they saw a new bright star.
Is this the star of Jacob's Euler? said they; surely
it is the sign of that Great King's coming! With
feelings of awe and wonder they continued to gaze
THE STAR IN THE EAST.
18 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
on. At last they said, We will go to Jerusalem,
where the God of Israel has his temple ; and per-
haps there we shall hear that he has come. We
will go and worship him, and will take some gifts
for his acceptance.
When they reached Jerusalem, they earnestly
asked the people whom they met, Where is he that
is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star
in the East, and are come to worship him !
King Herod and the people of Jerusalem had not
yet heard of his birth, and these inquiries of the
Wise Men troubled them.
Herod was afraid. The King of the Jews, did
the Wise Men say? Perhaps he will one day take
away my crown, and himself sit upon the ancient
throne of David. Thus thought this wicked king.
Herod became more and more frightened, for he
must have heard something of the old prophecies,
which people were expecting to be fulfilled. His
own conscience must have troubled him, too, as the
thought of many of his crimes arose in his mind.
But he need not have feared this King of the Jews,
for his kingdom was to.be one over the hearts of
men: it was "not of this world."
Then Herod said, Call all the men together who
are wise in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Then the chief priests, and the scribes, who were
the writers of the law, met together at Herod's
command. Tell me where your writings say that
Christ should be born, demanded he.
They quickly answered, In Bethlehem of Judea,
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 19
as they unrolled the parchment on which Micah's
ancient prophecy was written.
They showed him the words most plainly writ-
ten, " But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou
be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of
thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be Kuler
in Israel."
It is enough ! said Herod ; and he sent for the
Wise Men. He asked them when they had first
seen the star, for he felt sure that it was the star of
the King of Israel. Go, said he, to Bethlehem, for
it is there, and not at Jerusalem, that the prophets
say this child is to be born. When you have found
him, come back and tell me, that I also may go and
worship him.
These Eastern sages now turned from Jerusalem
to go to Bethlehem, which was a few miles off.
They felt quite sure now that they were walking in
the right road, for lo! they saw again the beautiful
star that they had seen in their own land. Exceed-
ing great was their joy; and the star never left
them again till they came to the place where the
young child was.
They went to the house in which Joseph and
Mary now lived, and there they saw the baby in the
arms of his mother.
Did they turn away and say, This poor infant
cannot be a king; if he were, he would have come
to a kingly dwelling, in the midst of the well-born
and the noble?
No : had not the star guided them ? With faith
20 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
and reverence these Wise Men at once fell down
and worshipped him ; and when they had opened
their treasures, they presented unto him gifts;
gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
That night God told them in a dream not to re-
turn to Jerusalem to tell Herod what they had seen,
but to go straight home some other way.
CHAPTER II.
HEROD SLAYS THE YOUNG CHILDREN THE FLIGHT INTO
EGYPT THE PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST.
Herod was waiting with great impatience for the
return of the Wise Men to Jerusalem. He was
continually asking his servants if they had heard or
seen anything of them. At last, after waiting some
time, he said, They must have gone home again by
now; they have found the infant King, and they
would not come to tell me about him. In great
anger he sent for some Roman soldiers, and said,
Make haste, and go to Bethlehem. A young King
has lately been born there, and I will have him
killed at once. I do not know in which house this
baby is; but to make sure of his death, you shall
go into every house in the place, and kill every child
under two years old.
Do you think that these soldiers said, Sureiy King
Herod will alter his mind when his passion is gone?
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.
22 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
No ; they knew too well that he was old in cruelty,
and that it was of no use for them to refuse to obey
his orders.
His soldiers enter Bethlehem. Why are these
men come here? the people ask. They had not long
to wait for an answer. The soldiers went into one
house after another, and snatched every baby from
its mother's breast, and threw it down again a life-
less corpse. Every little child that was just able
to walk about they caught up in their arms, and
pierced it with their swords. In vain the mothers
ran with their babies to the tops of their houses ; in
vain the fathers carried their little ones to the
vineyards round; every garden was searched, every
door was opened, and every child under two years
old was killed. And from the city of Bethlehem
there arose an exceeding bitter cry.
But I think I hear you ask, Did they find the
baby Jesus, and kill him? No; God would not let
them do that. He knew what the wicked king
would do, so he took care that Jesus should be in a
safe place far away.
The night after the Wise Men had left, God sent
an angel to Joseph, and said to him, Eise from your
bed, and get ready for a journey to Egypt. Take
Mary and the baby away directly, for Herod will
seek for the infant to kill him. I will tell you when
it will be time for you to return home.
Joseph did not wait a moment. In the stillness
of the night they went through the village gate,
and were soon far away in the desert.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 23
Joseph and Mary and the baby did not long live
in Egypt, for Herod died very soon afterward.
Then God sent an angel to Joseph, to tell him that
now he might go back again, because they were
dead who sought the young child's life.
But Joseph felt afraid to go and live at Bethlehem
again, so he went back to his old home at Nazareth
in Galilee.
For twTelve years the life of Jesus is wrapped in
unbroken silence. We only know that he grew,
and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and
the grace of God was upon him.
When Jesus was about twelve years old Joseph
and Mary took him to Jerusalem to the feast of the
Passover. This was a long journey from Nazareth,
but it happened a't a good season of the year, after
the summer's heat and before the winter's rain be-
gan to fall. When the feast was over, Joseph and
Mary set out on their return journey, but Jesus
tarried in Jerusalem, and Joseph and Mary were
some distance from Jerusalem before Jesus was
missed. Not finding him among their kinsfolk and
friends, they returned to Jerusalem, and after three
days they found him in the temple among the
teachers of the law, both hearing and asking them
questions. And when they saw him they were
amazed, and his mother said, Son, why hast thou
thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have
sought thee sorrowing. Jesus answered, How is
it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be
about my Father's business? He would have his
24 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
mother know that implicit obedience to his Heavenly
Father was the first rule of his life. Still, although
the Son of God, he yielded to them the true obedi-
ence of a son, and returned with them to Nazareth,
where, we doubt not, he labored with Joseph at the
carpenter's bench for his own support and that of
the family.
For the next eighteen years there is silence re-
specting the life of Jesus. We only know that he
grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God
and man.
If you had been living in the land of Palestine,
thirty years after the birth of Christ, you would
have heard of a man called John the Baptist.
He lived mostly among the wild places and desert
parts of Judea, and by the river side of Jordan.
He wore the coarsest clothing, and lived on the
plainest food. Yet he was a greater prophet than
all those who had come before him. He was "a
man sent from God " to prepare the Jews for the
teaching of Jesus.
Up to this time Jesus had been living quietly
with his parents at Nazareth. Now the time had
come for him to begin to teach and to preach to the
people.
Some time, however, before Jesus began his work,
John told the Jews to get ready for the teaching of
Jesus. Some one is coming who is greater than I
am. He already stands among you, though you
know him not. Put away, he cried, all that will
hinder his coming to you. He is the Holy One of
JOHN THE BAPTIST.
26 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Israel, turn awa3r from your sins. Kepent! the
kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
These sayings of John roused the whole Jewish
people. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all
Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and
were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their
sins. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan
unto John, to be baptized of him. But John for-
bade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of
thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answer-
ing, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus
it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he
suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting
upon him : and, lo, a voice from Heaven, saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
The Pharisees and Sadducees, too, came to John.
They were mostly proud men, who thought a great
deal of themselves.
John was surprised to see them come, and said,
Who has told you to flee from the wrath to come?
You think you are safe because you are the children
of faithful Abraham ; but I tell you that each one
of you must give up his sins, his pride, and all un-
righteousness, or he can have no part in Messiah's
kingdom; that kingdom is close at hand. Kepent!
for he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.
These plain words of John made the Pharisees
angry — they thought themselves so much better
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 27
than others, that they had no need to repent. But
no one can enter the kingdom of Jesus unless he
turns away from his sins.
I cannot tell you of all the people who came to
John ; but some there were who felt very sorry for
their sins, and to them he spoke words of love and
peace. He told them to look to Jesus as the Lamb
of God who taketh away the sins of the world.
CHAPTER III.
Christ's temptation — the calling of the disciples —
jesus begins his public ministry the miracle of
the fishes — his first miracle at cana drives
the buyers and sellers out of the temple jesus
and nicodemus.
Before Jesus began to teach, he went into the
wilderness for forty days. The quiet of the desert
was only broken by the roar of wild beasts, as they
went about at night seeking for their food.
But Jesus was not afraid of them ; he wanted to
be all by himself, that he might pray to God, his
Father, and think over the great work which he was
so soon going to begin.
God kept him alive without food for these forty
days. At the end of that time, Jesus was hungry.
Now, thought Satan, will be a good time for me to
try to make him do wrong. So he came to Jesus
28 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
and said, You are very hungry, and there is no food
to be had in this desert, but that will not matter.
If you really are the Son of God you can soon turn
these stones that lie around you into bread.
But Jesus said, No; I will trust to God to feed
me in any way that he thinks fit. Man does not
live by bread alone.
You see it was like meat and drink to Jesus to do
the will of his Father.
Then Satan took Jesus to the temple at Jerusalem,
to the top of a very high tower.
Now, said Satan, throw yourself down ; you will
not be hurt, for God your Father will take care of
you. It is said in the Scriptures, The angels shall
bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone.
Jesus said, No, I will not do as you wish. It is
written in the Scriptures, Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God. God only works miracles for wise
ends, not for the sake of making a wonder. Jesus
knew that he could not expect his Father to take
care of him, if he went into danger on purpose.
He could come down from the tower by the steps in
the usual way; he need not throw himself from the
top, in order to reach the ground.
Satan now took Jesus to the top of a very high
mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the
world, and the glory of them. All these, said he,
I will give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship
me. You say you are to be King over all the earth ;
seek my help, and your kingdom shall be set up in
THE TEMPTATION OE JESUS.
30 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
the world, without any giving up of life and ease
on your part.
But Jesus said, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is
written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and
him only shalt thou serve. My kingdom is not one
of show and splendor; it is one in the hearts of men.
Then Satan went away. The holy Jesus would
not yield to him when he tried to lead him into sin.
Adam and Eve listened to the Evil One, they be-
lieved his lies, and disobeyed God ; but Christ, who
is called the Second Adam, was tempted, and did
not fall.
Satan comes to us all with just the temptation
that he thinks we shall listen to. To one he says,
I would not bear that cross word ; give a hard word
back again ; and he tempts to revenge.
Jesus knows how hard it is to do right, when the
devil tempts us to do wrong. One reason why he
let the devil come to him was, that he might know
how hard it was to say "No" to him.
When the devil comes to tempt us, Jesus is by
us, too, watching to see if we mind his words, and
ready to help us to do right if we only ask him.
God sent help to Jesus as soon as Satan had gone
away. We are told that angels came and brought
him the food he so much needed. How glad they
always were to do the least thing that he wanted.
You will often read in the New Testament of the
twelve disciples of Jesus. Do you know what the
word disciple means? It means a learner. These
twelve men were learners of Christ. All who
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST, 31
learned of him were his disciples; but these twelve
were with him always, and learned of him the most.
They are called apostles, too, because Jesus sent
them out into different parts of the country to teach
others. The word apostle means " one who is sent."
The disciples were also the friends of Christ. He
told them things about God and about himself that
he did not tell people generally. They loved Jesus
dearly, and he loved them, too, and took great pains
to correct their mistakes, and to make them good.
Peter, James, and John are the three that wTe
read most about. John was the disciple that was
the most like his Master in spirit, and he was called
"the disciple whom Jesus loved."
One day John the Baptist was teaching his dis-
ciples or learners, when Jesus passed by. He was
just talking to them about Jesus, and as he saw
him looking so calm, so gentle, so meek, he said,
Behold the Lamb of God! Two of John's disciples
heard his words, and as they looked at Jesus, they
felt the words were true; so they turned at once,
and followed him.
It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when
they went after Jesus. They did not speak to him,
lest they should disturb him. Jesus knew that in
their hearts they wanted to speak to him, so he
turned round and said to them kindly, What is it
you wish for?
They said, Will you tell us where you live? Jesus
said, Come with me, and I will show you where I
live.
32 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Then they were very glad; this was just what
they wanted, only they did not like to ask.
Jesus is the Greatest Teacher that has ever lived
in this world, and yet he did not make himself very
grand. No; it was always easy for any one who
really wanted to be his disciple, to see him and to
talk with him.
The names of these two young men were — John,
who was afterwards called the beloved disciple ; and
Andrew. They spent all that evening with Jesus,
and the more they saw of him the more they loved
him : they felt quite sure now that he was the Son
of God. They went and told some other young
men what they knew about Jesus. Andrew went
first of all to his own brother, Simon Peter, and
said, We have found Christ. He brought him to
Jesus, and Peter became one of Christ's disciples.
These young men lived by the sea of Galilee, for
they were fishermen.
One day, as Jesus was walking by the seashore,
he saw two ships — one of them belonged to Peter.
There were a great many people crowding round
Jesus to hear him talk, so he said to Peter, Let me
get into your empty ship, and push it away from
the land a little way ; then I shall be able to speak
to the people, so that all can hear me.
Then Jesus taught the people out of the ship.
When he had quite finished teaching, he said to
Peter, Push your ship out now into deep water, and
throw your nets down into the sea.
Peter said, Master, we have been trying all night
JESUS WALKING ON THE WATER.
34 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
to catch fish and we have caught nothing, but as
thou sayest, Throw in the net, I will do so.
Peter threw in the net, and at once it was full
of fishes — so full that the net broke with their
weight.
Then Peter called his partners, who were in the
other ship, to come and help him. So James and
John went to the ship and helped to pull up the
net ; and they filled both their ships with the fishes.
When Peter saw their number he was astonished
and frightened. He felt that Jesus was more than
man to work such a miracle. He felt that he was
a sinful man and not worthy to be so near to him,
so he begged Jesus to go away from him.
Jesus told him not to be afraid because he had
seen this wonderful draught of fishes. Have faith
in me, and you will see me do yet more wonders,
and I will teach you to bring men to know me too.
Peter and his partners, James and John, then
brought their ships to land, and left them in care
of some hired men, while they followed Jesus wher-
ever he went.
They left all that they had, to go with him:
there was nothing in the world that they cared for
so much as to learn of him, and listen to his sayings.
I have now told you about John and James, who
were brothers, and Simon Peter and Andrew, who
were brothers.
There was one young man who lived in the same
place with Andrew and Peter ; his name was Philip.
Jesus said to him, Follow me.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 35
At once he came ; he knew that Jesus was the
Messiah for whom the Jews had so long been hoping.
Then there was Matthew, a tax-gatherer, who
had often heard Jesus speak. One day Jesus said
to him, Follow me.
He was very glad to hear Jesus ask him to come
and be with him wherever he went ; so he gave up
all at Christ's bidding, and followed him.
At other times Jesus chose the rest of the twelve
apostles. I have already told you of six, — James
and John, Andrew and Peter, Philip and Matthew.
Beside these there were Thomas, Bartholomew (who
was the same as Nathanael), another James, Simon
(called Zelotes), Judas or Jude, who wrote one of
the epistles or letters in the Bible, and Judas Iscariot,
who betrayed Christ.
We next find our Lord at Cana of Galilee where
a marriage was being celebrated. Mary, the moth-
er of Jesus, was there, and he and his disciples
were invited. The bride and bridegroom were poor
people, and in the midst of the feast it turned out
that there was not wine enough. Mary said, in a
low voice, to her Son, They have no wine.
Now there were six great jars standing by, and
Jesus told the servants to fill them with water.
So they filled them up to the brim ; and then he
told the servants to draw out some of what they
had poured in, and carry it to the chief person there.
As soon as this man had tasted it, he found it
was such good wine that he said to the bridegroom
that most people began their feasts with their best
36 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CUEIST.
wine, but that here the best had been kept for the
last. This was the first wonderful thing our Lord
did on earth, and it made his disciples know that
he was God, for no one else could have done such a
wonder. We call these wonders miracles. Our
Lord worked many more while he was on earth,
and most of them were cures to the blind, or the
lame, or the sick. He made them well directly by
his power and love.
After this Jesus went with his mother and dis-
ciples to Capernaum, a city on the Sea of Galilee,
and there they remained until the time for going
up to Jerusalem to keep the feast of the Pass-
over.
This was Jesus' first visit to Jerusalem since his
baptism. On going into the temple he found men
selling oxen, sheep, and doves; also the changers of
money. And when he had made a scourge of small
cords, he drove them out of the temple with it, say-
ing, Take these things hence : make not my Father's
house an house of merchandise.
And when the Jews asked him for a sign that he
had a right to do this, he replied, Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then
said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple
in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Jesus spake of the temple of his body, but they did
not understand. Neither did his disciples at that
time, but after the resurrection they remembered
his words.
During the Passover week Jesus wrought many
THE MARRIAGE FEAST AT CANA,
38 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
miracles, and many believed on him because of the
miracles, but their faith was weak.
The Pharisees, as I told you before, were a party
among the Jews who were mostly rich and learned
men. Thejr were also very proud, and thought
themselves much better than other people. Their
outward conduct was very strict, but in general
their hearts were full of self-glorying and unkind
thoughts of others.
They thought that when Messiah came he would
be a king, just like other kings on earth; and that
he would be sure to give them the chief places in
his kingdom, and make much of them.
Now Messiah has come. He is Jesus of Nazareth.
He has gone from the Sea of Galilee, where he
called some of his disciples; and he is working
miracles, and is teaching in Jerusalem. The Phari-
sees look on, but they say, This new teacher is only
the son of a carpenter. He cannot be the Christ.
They turn away, and talk among themselves,
and say, This man from Nazareth teaches strange
things. He says God is his Father. And then see
how he cures all manner of diseases. If he were
but rich, we might think he was the King of Israel ;
but that cannot be. His disciples are only poor
fishermen : we do not know that any rich men will
believe in him.
But there was one among them, named Nico-
demus, who, when he reached his home that day,
thought over all that he had seen and heard of
Jesus.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHBIST. 39
He thought to himself, I cannot understand this
new teacher: I should like to talk to him all alone.
I will go and see him, but I will wait till it is dark,
for I should not like any to know that I went to
learn of him.
So, when all was still in the streets of Jerusalem,
Nicodemus quietly left his home, and went to the
house wThere Jesus was staying.
He knocked at the door, and asked for Jesus.
Jesus did not say, I am tired with teaching all day;
you must go away, and let me rest now. Besides,
if you are ashamed to.be seen talking to me, I will
have nothing to say to you. No; Jesus was always
courteous, and always ready for his great work : he
at once listened to what Nicodemus had to say.
Master, he said, I know you must be sent from
God to teach men, for no one could do the wonders
that you do if God did not give him the power.
I am from God, said Jesus; I have come to set
up his kingdom on earth, but not the kind of king-
dom that you expect — not one that you can see, nor
one of earthly grandeur. Do not think that because
you are a Jew and a Pharisee, you will have a share
in my kingdom. I tell you truly, that unless you
are born again you can have no part in it.
Born again! cried Nicodemus: what does that
mean?
Yes, said Jesus; I speak the truth. God's spirit
must change a man's heart before he w7ill be able
to enter that kingdom. A man naturally loves to
please himself; but, in the new life that God gives,
40 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
he will be quite changed, for he will seek to please
God, and care for that which he thinks much of.
He is like another man, after he listens to and obeys
God's Spirit.
Nicodemus looked very much astonished.
Jesus said, Do not wonder, Nicodemus, at my
saying, You must be born again. I know that it is
difficult to explain all about a man's soul. But
look at the wind, it blows where it pleases; you
cannot tell where it comes from, nor where it goes.
You can see what it does, but you cannot see it.
So you can see what God's Spirit does.
Again Nicodemus asked, How can it be? He did
not like to think that his birth as a Jew went for
nothing, nor that if he was to be a sharer in the
kingdom of heaven, his heart must bo entirely
changed.
Jesus said, Are you a teacher in Israel, and do
you not understand that God's kingdom is in the
hearts of men? God's way of saving men is not as
you think. You think that the Messiah will come
and reign over the Jews with greater splendor than
Solomon of old ; but I tell you that the Messiah will
have to suffer and die, and that it will be through
his death that the whole world, and not the Jews
only, will be saved.
You may not undorstand this yet, but by and by
you will see more plainly God's great love to the
world in sending his Son to die for it.
Nicodemus then left Jesus. We may be quite
sure that he never forgot the conversation of that
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DRIVING THE SELLERS FROM THE TEMPLE.
42 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
night, and that he thought of it three years after-
ward, when he saw Jesus lifted up on the cross,
dying to give life to the world.
I dare say he often came to Jesus to speak with
him, after this first visit, and that he learned to
love him very much. When Jesus was dead, he
brought costly spices to embalm his body; a mix-
ture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds
weight. What a change from the Nicodemus, who
at the first came to Jesus by night.
Children ! do not say, I am sure to go to heaven,
because I am born in a Christian land, of pious
parents. Unless your hearts are made new by
God's Spirit, you cannot enter there. You must be
born again. God waits to give you his Spirit. He
says, Ask and ye shall have. Will you not pray, O
Lord, for Jesus' sake, give me thy Holy Spirit?
CHAPTER IV.
THE SAMARITAN WOMAN — JESUS HEALS THE NOBLEMAN'S
SON — TEACHES IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT NAZARETH — ■
STILLING THE TEMPEST.
The Pharisees in Jerusalem were very angry with
Jesus because many people, seeing the wonders that
he did, believed on him. They would not love him
themselves, because he reproved their pride, and
did not teach the things that they bid. Jesus, see-
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 43
ing their dislike to him, said to his disciples, We
will go back to Galilee, and leave Jerusalem for a
little time.
It would take three days to go from Jerusalem to
Galilee, straight through the country of Samaria ;
and this was the road that Jesus now took.
When they came near a city of Samaria, called
Sychar or Shechem, Jesus sat down by the well
outside the city.
He was very tired, and hot and thirsty, so he
rested there while his disciples went into the city to
buy some food.
It was about twelve o'clock at noon when a
woman came to the well to draw some water, and
saw Jesus sitting there alone.
He asked her for some water ; she gave it, but
said, How is it that you ask me to give you water,
for you are a Jew, and I am a woman of Samaria?
The proud Jews are not willing to take anything
from the despised Samaritans.
Jesus said, You do not know who I am. I have
taken some water from you, but if you knew me,
you would ask me to give you some ever-springing,
living water.
Sir, said she, how do you get this water? You
have no pitcher with you to draw it up, and the
well is deep.
Jesus said, I am not speaking of the water at the
bottom of this well, for those who drink of this
water will thirst again. But he that drinks of the
water that I will give shall never thirst, for it shall
44 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
be in him a well of water springing up into ever-
lasting life.
The woman was glad to hear of water ever fresh,
ever springing up, which she could always carry
with her. There would be no need then for weary,
hot, dusty walks from the city to the well. Not to
thirst again ! What a delightful thought in that
hot country !
She did not quite understand yet that it was not
real water that Jesus was speaking about. It was
life in the soul he meant.
As water satisfies the thirst of the body, so will
Jesus satisfy the thirst of your soul for goodness.
I cannot altogether explain how, for you must
learn this of yourself; the well of living water is in
you, Jesus says.
Go to him, and ask him to take away sin, which
is like death to the soul, and he will give you life
and strength to be good.
Jesus then went on talking to the woman about
her past life.
She said, Sir, you must be a prophet to know so
much about me, for you have never seen me be-
fore.
Jesus told her he was more than a prophet, he
was the Messiah — the Christ promised to the world
so long ago.
The woman then left her pitcher, and ran back
to the city to tell her neighbors that she had found
the promised Christ.
While she was gone, the disciples, who had by
JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.
46 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
this time come back from Sychar with the food they
had bought, said, Master, why do you not eat?
They had left Jesus hungry and tired, and now
he did not seem to notice the food they offered him.
They thought that perhaps some one had given him
something to eat.
He then explained to them that he had been so
busy that he had forgotten his hunger. It was
meat and drink to him to do his heavenly Father's
will.
The woman came back again with man3r more
people, and they asked Jesus if he would stay in
their city a little while. Jesus stopped two days,
teaching them and answering their questions; and
the people said to the woman, Now we believe, not
because of what you have said, for we have heard
him ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the
Christ, the Saviour of the world.
After two days, Jesus and his disciples left Sy-
char, and continued their journey to Galilee.
There was great sorrow in the house of a noble-
man at Capernaum, for one of his children was
very ill. In vain did the doctors come, for no
medicine would cure him ; and the parents, in deep
grief, watched the progress of the fever.
At last some one said, Jesus of Nazareth has re-
turned from Jerusalem; he is now at Cana, per-
haps he will make the child well.
Cana was not far from Capernaum, so the noble-
man said, I will go at once to Jesus, and see if he
will come here to heal my son.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 47
He soon found Jesus, for his fame was very great;
and he begged him very earnestly to go back with
him at once to Capernaum before the child was
dead.
He believed that when Jesus saw him, he could
cure him, but he thought if the child was dead,
then even lie could do nothing.
Jesus now showed the nobleman that he had
more power than he thought — God had put into the
hands of his Son power to do any miracle.
Jesus could make the child well again, if he stayed
at Cana, just as easily as if he went to Capernaum
and saw him. He said to the father, Go home again,
your son is cured.
The nobleman believed that Jesus had cured his
son, when he spake these words ; so he turned to go
home again.
On the way back to Capernaum he met some of
his servants, who were bringing him the good news
that his son was better.
When did he begin to get well? the father asked.
They replied, Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the
fever left him.
The father knew that that was the exact time
when Jesus had told him his son should live. Now
he knew that Jesus could do anything. He and all
his family, when they saw the kindness and power
of Jesus in sending health to this sick child> knew
that he must be the Son of God.
The fame of Jesus now grew exceedingly. They
who had sick friends brought them to Jesus, and
48 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
he healed them all. No disease was too bad, no one
had been ill too long, for Jesus to cure.
You would have thought that all men would have
loved him ; but they did not.
About this time Jesus went to Nazareth, where
he had spent his childhood and 3routh.
The people there had heard of his miracles, and all
eyes were turned on him one Sabbath day, when he
entered the synagogue, or Jewish place of worship.
He took the roll of parchment on which the
prophecies were written, which they handed to him
to read aloud to them. He unrolled the scroll, and
read from Isaiah. It was where the prophet was
telling how in time to come, God would send
Messiah to preach good news to the poor, to heal
the broken-hearted, to set the captives free, to give
sight to the blind. After Jesus had read these
words, he closed the scroll and sat down. Every
one looked up in astonishment and in silence.
Jesus then said, I" am the Messiah of whom the
prophet speaks. I am come for the very purpose
to set men free from the power of Satan and from
habits of sin. I am come to bring light to the
minds of men, by teaching them about God. I am
come to speak words of pardon and comfort to
those who are sorry for their sin.
At first, all who heard Jesus speak wondered very
much that a man whom they had known from a
little child should say that he came to do these great
things. They said, Is he not the son of Joseph? we
cannot believe him.
JESUS IN THE SYNAGOGUE.
50 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
One evening Jesus said that he should like to
cross over to the other side of the lake. Then he
and his disciples, and a few more men, went into a
ship. All at once a strong wind began to blow, and
the water became very rough. Now the waves get
stronger and stronger, and rise higher and higher,
till they dash over the little ship. The wind roars,
and a black tempest darkens the sky.
Though the men on board were used to the sea,
they could not manage the vessel in this terrible
storm. The waves begin to fill the ship with water,
and in great alarm the disciples went to Jesus.
Where was he all this time? He was fast asleep.
He was very tired, for he had been teaching a great
many people all day long ; and as soon as he got
into the ship he went to the farther end of it, and
laid his head upon a pillow, and the movement of
the vessel soon rocked him to sleep.
The noise of the wind and the waves had not
awaked him, but he awoke at once when he heard
the voice of his disciples asking his help.
Master, Master, they cried, we perish! Do you
not care for us? O Lord, save us!
He arose at once, and said to the wind, Be still;
and then he turned to the waves, and said, Be still.
And the noisy wind heard that calm voice above
all its roar, and was hushed to stillness; and the
raging waves listened to the commands of their
Lord and Master, and became smooth and quiet.
The angry storm, at one word from Jesus,
changed to a great calm.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF C Hit 1ST. 51
The men in the ship feared exceedingly. Who
could he be who could make even ihe wind and the
sea obey his voice? They might well say, that
"God alone could do that." Jesus is God as well
as man, and that is why all things in nature owned
his power.
When Jesus had quieted the fears of his disciples,
he gently reproved them for their want of faith in
him.
Why were you afraid, 0 ye of little faith? he
said. You should have believed that I would have
taken care of you. I knew that you were tossed
about, though I was asleep.
It is not only raging seas that Jesus calms; he
can still the angry passions of men, too.
Have you never felt something like a storm
within 37ou, wThen conscience begged you not to
yield to the power of evil habits — when a sudden
wish to do wrong was met by the thought, "How
can I thus sin?" In that hour of strife between
good and evil, turn to Jesus and ask his help. He
will send a calm, for the evil will flee at his pres-
ence, and leave you strong for good.
You will often read in the New Testament about
Jesus curing people who were possessed with devils.
We can hardly tell you what this sad disease w7as
that Jesus cured. It seemed to be a kind of mad-
ness, in which people lost their senses, and fancied
that an evil spirit lived within them, making them
do dreadful things.
A poor man who was thus afflicted lived at the
52 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CUBIST.
little town at which Jesus landed after he had
stilled the tempest. This poor man lived among
the dreary gravestones and old tombs of the wilder-
ness. He was very fierce, and men were afraid to
pass by the place where he was. It was no use to
chain him, for he broke his chains to pieces, and
got loose again. There he was all day and all
night, in lonely places, crying out and cutting him-
self with stones.
Hearing the noise of the landing of the vessel, he
turned and saw Jesus and his disciples come out of
the ship. He ran to meet Jesus, and fell down at
his feet, and cried very loud.
Jesus told the evil spirits to come out of the man.
The evil spirits said, What have we to do with
thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come to
punish us before the judgment-day?
Jesus now spoke to the man, and said, What is
your name?
The devils would not let the man speak; they an-
swered their name was Legion, which means many.
They said to Jesus, Do not make us leave the man,
but if you do cast us out, let us go into the swine
that are feeding on the hills.
Jesus now spoke to the evil spirits, and told them
they might go.
Then the devils went out of the man and entered
into the swine, and the herd ran down the moun-
tain-side into the sea, and were drowned.
The man was now quite cured, and could listen
to Jesus. He was in his right mind. He felt so
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 53
loving and grateful to Jesus for making him well,
that he wished to follow him everywhere.
Jesus said, No, go to your home, and tell all your
friends what great things God hath done for you.
The people who saw this wonderful cure were
afraid of Jesus, and begged him to go away. Did
they suppose the gentle Jesus ever harmed any one?
His power was always used for mercy; it was only
used against disease, and sin, and evil.
At another time a poor man was brought to Jesus,
who was troubled with an evil spirit that made him
deaf and dumb.
Jesus told the devil to leave the man, and he did so.
When he was gone, the poor man could both hear
and speak. All who saw the cure, wondered, and
said, This Jesus must be the Son of God.
The Pharisees did not like to hear Jesus praised,
for they hated him, and were wicked enough to say
that his great power was given to him by Satan. " It
is by the help of the Evil One that he casts out devils. "
Jesus told them that Satan would not cast out
Satan, that evil would not fight against evil. Evil
could not do good, and good could come only from
God.
If, he said, it is thus God's power that cures
these poor people, then is God very near to you, and
I warn you to believe my teachings. But the
Pharisees only hated Jesus the more, because they
knew he spoke the truth.
54 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
CHAPTER V.
THE EAISING OF JAIRUS' DAUGHTER — THE HEALING OF
THE WOMAN WHO TOUCHED THE HEM OF JESUS' GAR-
MENT— THE WIDOW'S SON — OTHER MIRACLES OF HEALING
■ — A WOMAN WASHES JESUS* FEET WITH HER TEARS,
Jesus crossed the lake again and came to Caper-
naum. A large crowd of people were waiting for
him. They asked him a great many questions.
The Pharisees were always trying to find fault
with what Jesus did. They said to his disciples,
How is it that your Master goes to the houses of
wicked people, and eats and drinks with them? He
keeps bad company.
Jesus heard them speaking to his disciples, so he
turned to them and said, You do not send a doctor
to a man who is quite well, but you send him to a
sick man. So I go to those whose souls are sick,
that I may cure them; I go to sinners, to make
them good. You proud Pharisees say that you are
righteous, so you feel no need of me; if you- felt
your need of a Saviour, I would come to you too.
While Jesus was busy talking to different people,
a man named Jairus came to him, and kneeled at
his feet, and begged him very earnestly to come to
his house directly.
He said3 I have onljr one little daughter; she is
twelve years old, and she is dying. Come, I pray
you, at once, and put your hand on her, and make
her well again.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 55
Jesus then rose up to go with the sorrowing
father. His disciples went with him, and a great
crowd of people besides.
After they had walked on a short distance, Jesus
turned round and said, Who touched my clothes?
Those nearest to Jesus all said that they had not
touched him.
Then Peter said, Master, how is it you ask who
touched 3rou? The crowd is so great, that it is no
wonder if somo one has pressed against you.
Yes, said Jesus; but somebody has touched my
clothes on purpose to be healed by touching them.
Who is it?
Then there came from among the crowd a poor
woman, and she fell down at the feet of Jesus, and
said, It was I, Lord.
She said, I have been very ill for twelve years,
and I have gone from one doctor to another to be
cured, but all in vain. I have suffered a great deal
of pain, and I get worse rather than better, and I
have spent all my money. I heard of you, Lord,
and how you cured all manner of diseases; so I
thought if I could but touch the hem of your gar-
ment I should be made wrell at once. It has been,
too, exactly as I hoped, for the moment I touched
you I felt quite well.
The poor woman trembled very much all the
while she was speaking to Jesus, for she was afraid
that he would think that she had been too bold.
But Jesus spoke to her very kindly, and told her
that he was very much pleased with her faith in
56 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
him. Daughter, he said, be of good comfort, thy
faith hath made thee whole: go home in peace.
Just then some one came with a message from
the house of Jairus, and said to him, Your daughter
is dead, do not trouble the Master any further, for
nothing can be done for her now.
Jesus told the poor father not to be cast down at
the sad news: Be not afraid, only believe in my
power, and she shall be made well again.
At the door of the house the mother meets them,
and a crowd of curious persons seek to enter the
house with Jesus and his disciples. But Jesus will
not let any one come in but Peter, James, and John.
They then, with the father and mother of the little
girl, go into the room where she lies dead. Already
a great many people were in the room who were
paid, as wTas then the custom, to play sad music,
and sing sad songs, and make a great crying over
the dead body.
Jesus said to them, Do not weep; the child is not
dead, she is only sleeping.
Jesus meant that her death would be as a sleep
to her, for he could raise her out of it.
These people did not wait to see what Jesus
wrould do, but laughed at him rudely, and said, She
is dead; you cannot make her alive now.
Jesus put them all out of the room, for they were
not worthy to see the great work he was going tc
perform.
When the noisy mourners were gone, and he was
alone with the father and mother, and Peter, James,
7 T
RAISING OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS.
58 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
and John, he took the hand of the little girl. Then
he said unto her, Maiden, I say to thee, arise!
And the dead body heard the voice of him who is
the Life of the World, and she arose and walked
about the room.
Jesus said to her parents, Give her something to
eat; you see she is really alive and well.
The parents were greatly pleased to have their
little girl well again ; and they, and all who heard
about it, were very much surprised indeed at this
wonderful miracle.
I dare say that you have often met a funeral
when you have been out walking. Is it not a sad
sight to see the mourners following to the grave the
body of a dear friend?
Once, when Jesus was walking along the road,
he saw a funeral coming out at the gates of the
little town of Nain.
A great many people were walking after Jesus, for
they liked to hear him talk, and they also liked to see
the wonderful things which he was constantly doing.
By and by, they came close up to the funeral
procession ; it was a very long one. All the people
who followed the dead body seemed to be grieving
very much indeed. It was a young man that they
were carrying to the grave. He was lying on a
bier, which is something like a coffin without a lid.
One poor woman was crying very much, for she
was the mother of that young man, and he was her
only son : she was a widow too, and now she was
very sad and lonely.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 59
Everybody felt very sorry for her, but no one had
any power to take away her trouble. When Jesus
saw her, he felt very sorry too, and he had power
to help her, and make her glad again. He said to
her very gently, Weep not.
He then went to the bier, and touched it ; and
those who were carrying it stood still, and all the
crowd also stood still.
Xo one spoke, but every one thought, What will
the Master do?
His disciples knew he could raise the dead, as well
as cure the sick; but perhaps many thought, It is
of no use to stop the funeral, for he cannot make
the dead hear his voice ; they are past cure.
Then Jesus spoke to the dead body, Young man,
I say unto thee, arise !
Will he hear? Oh, yes! death obeys the voice of
its Lord, and at once, he that wras dead sat up and
began to speak.
Then Jesus, with great grace and kindness, gave
him to his mother, and said, Here is your son alive
again.
So this funeral procession was changed into a joy-
ful company, and every one wondered at the great
work that Jesus had just done.
He has raised a dead man to life again, people
said, and the news spread in all the country round.
Many people praised God for sending such a great
prophet among them. Surely, they said5 God hath
visited his people.
The fame of the wronderful works of Jesus spread
60 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
everywhere, and many people wanted to see the
man about whom every one was talking.
One day a rich, proud Pharisee, named Simon,
asked Jesus to come and dine with him. I am
afraid he only asked him to come because he wanted
to hear him talk, and not because he loved him.
However, Jesus told Simon that he would come.
When Jesus went, Simon treated him with great
neglect ; he did not honor Jesus as his guest. He
ought to have brought him some water to wash his
feet, as this was the first thing that was done on
coming into a house. As people in those countries
only wore sandals, and not shoes, their feet would
be very dusty after walking, and it was necessary
to their comfort that they should often wash their
feet. Then he should have given him some sweet
ointment, and also a kiss of welcome, which means
nearly the same thing as our shake of the hands.
But Simon paid none of these attentions to Jesus.
Perhaps he thought that he was doing the Lord a
great favor by asking him to come to his house.
When Jesus sat down to dinner, a woman came
into the room.
She had heard that Jesus was in this rich man's
house, and she came to the place where he was
reclining, and stood at his feet.
She began to cry, for she had been very wrong
and wicked, and she longed to hear Jesus pardon
her sins. She knew he would forgive her if she
could but ask him, as she was very sorry, and
wished to forsake her sins. She loved him dearly,
ft>/*J 7 ■7
MARY ANOINTING THE FEET OF JESUS.
62 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
and she felt sure that he would not send her away
unforgiven.
Her tears fell fast — like a shower of rain on the
feet of Jesus, and so she washed them.
She then wiped them dry with her long hair, and
kissed his feet many times.
She then opened a box that she had brought with
her. It was a box of alabaster, a kind of pure
white marble, and in it was some sweet, precious
ointment. This she rubbed on the feet of Jesus.
While she was doing this Simon looked on, and
he was very much surprised that Jesus would even
let the woman touch him.
He said to himself, for he did not dare say it out
loud, This Jesus is no prophet. If he were, he
would know how wicked this woman has been, and
he would have nothing to do with her; he would
send her quite away.
But Jesus did know, and he knew too what was
passing in Simon's thoughts. He turned to him,
and said, Simon, I have something to say to
you.
Simon said, Master, what is it?
There was once a person to whom two men owed
some money. One man only owed a little, the
other owed a great deal. They had neither of them
any money at all with which to pay their debts.
Then the man to whom they owed the money for-
gave them both, and said they need not pay any-
thing, Tell me now which of these two men will
love him the most?
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 63
Simon said, I suppose that he who owed the most,
and who had most forgiven, will love the most.
Yes, said Jesus, that is quite right. He then
turned to the woman, and said to Simon, Do you
see this woman?
Yes, said Simon.
When I came to your house, you gave me no
water to wash my feet ; but she has washed my feet
with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her
head. You gave me no kiss of welcome, but she
has kissed my feet ever since she has been here.
You poured no sweet oil upon my head, but she has
rubbed my feet with precious ointment. She has
done a great many sinful things, but I have for-
given her, and she loves me very much. You think
that you have not much to be forgiven, so you only
love me a very little.
Jesus then turned to the woman, and said to her
in the kindest tones, Your many sins are all for-
given you. You believed I would forgive you, and
I have done so; go to your home in peace.
The poor woman went away comforted at heart
by these kind words of Jesus, but the people who
were sitting at table with Jesus were very angry
indeed.
They would not believe that he could forgive sins,
and they thought that he was taking on himself the
power of God when he forgave the woman.
Who are you, that you should forgive sin? they
said to Jesus.
The poor sinful woman was wiser than the proud,
64 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
self-righteous Pharisee. She knew that Jesus could
pardon sin, for she felt he had done so by the peace
that he had given her.
Jesus will pardon your sins if you confess them
to him and desire to forsake them. Of course he
will not forgive you, if you think yourself very
good, as the Pharisee did. He does not love the
proud, but he does love those who are sorry for
their sin, and he will give them sweet comforting
words of pardon.
CHAPTER VI.
THE PARABLES — THE PRODIGAL SON — THE LOST SHEEP
AND THE LOST MONEY.
Jesus often taught people by parables. Do you
know what a parable is? It is a kind of story, in
which something is explained by showing what it
is like.
We will tell you one of Christ's parables so you
can see what is meant.
Jesus wanted people to know what love God felt
for all those who were sorry for sin, and he showed
them what that love was like, by the love of an
earthly father for his naughty but repentant son.
He said, There was a man once who had two sons.
One day, the younger son said to his father, Father,
give me my share of your money and goods. Then
ggpL 1$%,. i j
-
THE PRODIGAL SON.
66 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
the father divided all that he had between his two
sons.
Not many days after this, the younger son put
all his things together, and took them and his
money with him, and went on a long journey into
a country a great way off. He wished to get as
far from his good father as he possibly could, for he
knew he would not like to see how badly he went on.
He kept rude, bad company, and ate and drank
a great deal, and not only spent his money, but
wasted it in a great many wicked ways.
At last his money and his goods were quite gone,
and there was a great famine, or scarcity of food,
in all the country. He began to want for bread.
His old companions would not help him. Now
that he had no money to spend, they left him all
alone.
He could not starve. What should he do?
He went to a man, and asked him to give him
some work, so that he might earn something to eat.
The man said, I have no work to give you unless
you like to go into the fields to feed the herds of
swine.
There was nothing that a Jew hated worse than
to keep pigs. Only the very lowest and the very
poorest would do such a thing.
But this young man, though he had once been
rich, and had fared sumptuously, was glad to do it,
and even to eat of the coarse food that he gave to
the pigs. This was a kind of pulse or pea.
No one gave him anything else to eat.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 67
Sad, starving, and almost naked, he began to
think of his disgrace, misery, and degradation.
He thought of his old home, of his kind father,
of his folly in leaving him, and wanting to do as
he liked. Then he thought of all the unhappiness
his wicked ways had brought him to, how his money
was gone, and he had nothing left, and how not
one of his sinful companions would help him now
that he was in trouble.
Then he thought of the servants in his father's
house; even they were better off than he was.
They had food enough and to spare, while he was.
dying of hunger.
Then he said, Why should I stop here? I will go
back to my father, and say, Father, I have sinned
against God, and against you. I know I am not
worthy to be called your son, but let me come to
your house and be a servant.
So he began to go back to his father, and at last
he came within sight of his father's house, but as
yet he was a great way off.
The father happened to be looking along the road
by which his son had gone away when he left his
home. I dare say he was wondering what had be-
come of him, he had not heard of him for so long.
Perhaps ho was wishing he could hear something
about him, for he did not know whether he was
alive or dead. At last he sees a poor ragged man
walking in the distance: he comes nearer and
nearer, he seems coming to the house. The poor
ragged man is just about as tall as his youngest
68 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
son, he is something like him too. Can it be his
son come back, poor and wretched? Yes, it is; he
knows him now, notwithstanding his rags and his
half-starved look. Oh, how glad he feels ! he runs
at once to meet him. His heart is full of pity for
his poor son. As soon .as he comes up to him, and
before the son can say one word, he throws his arms
around his neck and kisses him.
Father, says the son, in a voice so full of grief
that the father can only just hear him speak:
Father, I have sinned against God in heaven, and
against you. I do not deserve to be called your son.
The father tells his servants to bring him not
merely clothes, but the best robe; and to put a ring
on his hand, as a mark of honor, and shoes on his
feet.
He said, Get ready the best food too; kill the
fatted calf, for we will have a feast and be merry.
I thought my son was dead, but he is here alive; I
thought he was lost, but now he is found.
Now his elder son drew nigh, and heard music
and dancing. And he was angry, and would not
go in, and said to his father, Lo, these many years
have I served thee, and have not transgressed ; and
yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make
merry with my friends. And the father said, Son,
thou art ever with me. It was meet that we should
make merry, and be glad : for this thy brother was
dead, and is alive again; was lost, and is found.
This parable is one of the most affecting, instruc-
tive, and encouraging in the New Testament; and
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 69
the pathos and divine simplicity of the narrative
are unsurpassed in the sacred writings. Let us,
realizing its meaning, take the good intended in
it, and return to our Heavenly Father, who is the
merciful receiver of all truty penitent sinners. The
Scribes and Pharisees had, as usual, been murmur-
ing at the condescending goodness of the great
Shepherd to the wandering sheep of the Jewish fold,
saying, This man receiveth sinners.
When you begin to think of the kind and good
God whose commands you have broken, and feel
sorry that you have grieved him by your naughty
ways, then you are like the young man when he
began to think of his father and his sins.
"When you think, "I will go to God, and tell him
I have sinned, and am most unworthy of his love,"
then you are like the young man when he said that
he would go back to his father.
But will God hear me when I go to him? Will
he love me again, notwithstanding all my sins?
Will he indeed forgive me? That was the truth
that Jesus wanted to teach. Yes; did not the
earthly father take back his son in the most loving
way to his home and heart?
So God rejoices to see anj7" sinner returning to
him: he waits to be gracious. God's heart is kind-
er and more tender than any earthly father's heart.
Jesus had lived in Heaven before he came to
earth, and he knew how forgivingly the Heavenly
Father receives the repentant sinner. He came to
show us the Father.
70 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRLST.
God can show us his fatherly love, because Jesus
died to bring us near to God, and because he bore
the chastisement which our sins had deserved.
But what about the jealous elder brother? He
was like the Pharisees who outwardly obeyed God,
but had no love in their hearts, and had no pity for
those who did wrong, even when they were sorry
for it.
In the parable of the repenting son, Jesus showed
how God feels to those who are sorry for their sins.
In the parables of the lost sheep and of the lost
money, he shows how the angels feel when men
turn away from sin and pray to God.
Jesus said, There was once a shepherd who had a
hundred sheep. He counted them over one day,
and there were but ninety-nine; one was missing.
He left the ninety-nine sheep and went looking over
the mountains to try to find the lost one. At last,
to his great joy, he found it. He laid it across his
shoulders, and brought it back to the flock. He
then called all his friends together, and said to them,
Be glad with me, for I have found my lost sheep.
It seemed dearer to him, now that he had found
it, than the ninety-nine sheep which had never
strayed away.
There was a woman who had ten pieces of silver
money. She lost one of the ten pieces. She swept
her room all over to try to find it. Then she lit a
candle, so that she might search into every corner.
At last she found it, and that one piece seemed more
precious to her than all the other nine.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 71
She called her friends together and said, Rejoice
with me, for I have found my lost money.
As the shepherd rejoiced over his lost sheep when
he found it, as the woman rejoiced over her lost
money when she found it, so the angels rejoice over
the return of even one lost soul to God.
Why are the angels so glad?
Because they know what a soul is worth. All
the riches of the whole world are of no value com-
pared with the soul of one little child.
Yet people often think but little of their souls.
Not so the angels.
They know so well what a dreadful thing it is to
be lost. They know the awful state of those an-
gels whom God turned out of Heaven because they
sinned, and who now live in the dwelling-place of
lost spirits. They grieve to think that anybody on
earth should go there. They know that all those
who do not love God cannot live with him in heaven ;
so they all rejoice when any one turns away from
sinful ways, and prays to God.
CHAPTER VII.
THE LORD'S PRAYER — THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
Jesus often liked to be alone, that he might pray
to his Father.
He would go sometimes to the quiet mountain
top, and spend the whole night in talking to and
thinking of God.
72 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
One day when he had finished praying, his dis-
ciples came to him and said :
Lord, will jrou teach us to pray?
Jesus then taught them a short prayer. It was
the prayer which we call "The Lord's Prayer." I
dare say you all know it :
"Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive them that trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory, for ever and ever. Amen."
This is not an easy prayer for little children, but
even they may understand some of its meaning.
It begins, "Our Father which art in Heaven."
God is our Father because he made us; but he
is more our Father because Jesus died to make us
his children. It is through Jesus that we dare to
call God " Father." He is our Father in Heaven, so
we must trust him with reverence. Heaven seems
near to us when we pray.
"Hallowed be thy name," means, Let God's
name be honored.
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth
as it is done in Heaven." How is God's will done
in Heaven? It is done always, it is done cheerfully,
it is done perfectly. How is God's will done on
earth? Alas! only a few do it at all, and even
those who do it best, do it very imperfectly. But
mfi ■ mm
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
74 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
most men only do their own will, or Satan's will,
so we may well pray, " Thy will be done."
" Give us day by day our daily bread." It is God
who gives us our daily food, and we may ask him
for that which is necessary for us.
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them
that trespass against us." What are trespasses?
They are sins. I have heard one little child say
to another who has done him a wrong, I don't love
you, and I won't forgive you. Have you ever said
so? I suppose you would like God to forgive you
your sins? You have sinned more against God
than ever a brother could sin against you. What
if God should turn away his face from you ; how
unhappy it would make you feel!
Jesus said, If you will not forgive those who sin
against you, your Heavenly Father cannot forgive
you your sins against him.
Before you pray to be forgiven, in your heart
forgive all those who have done wrong to you ; then
will your Heavenly Father also forgive you.
"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil." This is a prayer to God to keep us from
listening to Satan, who is often watching us and
trying to tempt us to do evil. We are so weak that
we ask God to help us and save us.
"For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the
glory, for ever and ever. Amen." So the prayer
ends with giving God all honor as the High and
Lofty One, who ever lives as the King over all.
When Jesus had finished this prayer, he said to
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 75
his disciples, Yon may ask God for anything you
want, it shall be given you.
Then he said, Suppose a boy should come to his
father, and say, Father I am hungry, will you give
me some bread ? Do you think the father would give
him a stone instead? No; no father would give
his child what he knows he cannot eat.
Do you think then that God will give us what is
of no use to us, instead of something that we have
asked him for, and that we much want? Oh, no.
Then Jesus said, Suppose a child should say,
Father, will you give me some fish? would he give
him a serpent? Or if he said, Father will you give
me an egg? would he give him a scorpion?
No, you know that no father would give poison-
ous, hurtful things to a dear child, when he asked
him for food.
Dear children, your father knows how to give
you good things, but he would not give you things
that were not good for you.
Your father knows how to give you good things,
but God only can give you the best things.
Your father can give you a house to live in, and
clothes, and food, and toys, and money, perhaps,
but God can give you his Holy Spirit. Why is this
the best of ail? Because the Holy Spirit will teach
you to be good, and if you are good you will be
happy. It is better to be good than to have all the
fine things in the world ; if you are good you will
be like God, and live one day with him forever,
and that will be best of all.
76 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
One summer morning, Jesus sat down upon a
mountain plain, and called his disciples around him.
There were a great many people there besides, and
they all listened to the most wonderful sermon ever
preached.
Though the sermon was long, the people who
heard it were not tired, and they went away saying,
What wonderful teaching is this of Jesus! He
speaks as if he knew more than any other teacher
that we ever heard. Jesus began by telling them
who the happy people were.
He did not say, Blessed are the great, the rich,
the famous. No ; he taught them, saying, Blessed
are those who feel that they are poor, and helpless,
and wretched.
Blessed are those who grieve over their sins, and
wish they were better and holier than they are.
Blessed are the meek and gentle-spirited.
Blessed are those who long to be quite good, as a
hungry and thirsty man longs for food and drink.
Blessed are the merciful and kind-hearted.
Blessed are those who wish to be good in their
hearts, to feel right as well as to do right.
Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be
called the children of God.
Jesus said, You, my disciples, must be like a
light in a dark place, you must be so good, that
men may learn of you to love God and goodness.
Your goodness must not be like that of the Phari-
sees, for they do right that men may praise them.
They are like a cup that is washed clean outside,
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 77
but is unwashed and dirty inside. They do not care
about having sinful thoughts and feelings, as men
cannot see into their hearts. You must do right,
not that men may say, How good you are, but that
God, your Heavenly Father, may be praised by
your goodness.
Then Jesus said, You must be kind and forgiving
to one another. I do not mean only to those who
are kind and loving to you, but even to those who
are unkind, and are your enemies. You must be
like your Father in Heaven, for he is kind and good
even to the unthankful and the unworthy.
You must not be always looking out for the faults
of others. Look into your own hearts, for your
own faults. You will see how many you have, and
how great they are, so you will learn to think
kindly of other people's faults.
If you wish to go to Heaven you will meet with
many difficulties in the way. It is easy to walk in
the way that leads to hell. It is like a broad and
smooth road, pleasant to travel on. If you walk in
this road you can be as unkind, as naughty, as
selfish as you like. But if you walk in the narrow
way you will often find it rough — so rough that only
a few will venture in it. In a word, you must give
up seeking to please yourselves, and try to please
God and to do his will rather than your own. You
must be patient, and good, and loving. You must
feel right and think right as well as do right.
But though the narrrow way is hard, it has joys
which are never known in the broad and easy
78 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
way. There is pleasure in overcoming difficulties,
there is peace in doing right, there is joy in God's
smile, and his help is always ready for those who
ask it.
Jesus said, It is of no use for you to say that you
belong to me, unless you really do what I tell you.
The man who hears what I say, and who does what
I tell him, is like a man who built his house upon
a rock. One day a heavy storm of rain came down
like a flood. The wind blew loud and strong, and
the wind and rain together beat upon that house,
but it did not fall. Why? Because its foundation
was a strong rock.
Another man built his house upon the sand by
the sea-shore. One day the sky became very dark,
and the large black clouds burst over his house in
torrents of rain. The wind roared loud, and beat
hard upon the house, and it fell, and great was
the fall of it. Why? Because its foundation was
weak, shifting sand.
The foundation, or that on which the house is
built, must be firm and strong, or the house will
not stand. It does not matter how strongly the
house is built, if the foundation on which it rests is
weak. The house then will be sure to fall.
Jesus said that those who heard what he said and
did not obey him, were like the foolish man who
built upon the sand.
Children, if you do right out of love to Christ,
you will not do right to be seen by others, nor will
you yield to others when they tempt you to do
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 79
wrong, your reason for doing right is built upon
the rock — Christ.
But if you do right to be praised by men, or if
you know what you ought to do but do it not, then
you are like a foolish man — your goodness is with-
out a foundation.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE HEALIXG OF THE MAN WITH THE PALSY THE
SABBATH-DAY CUKES,
You may be sure that the Pharisees did not like
such sermons as those that Jesus preached. They
did not like that he should see through their outside
covering of goodness, into the wicked selfishness of
their hearts.
They showed their dislike by acting as spies upon
all he did and said, and were always trying to find
fault with him. They said that he made himself
equal w7ith God, and pretended to have more power
than he really had.
Jesus had been away from his house in Caper-
naum for a few days, into the towns and villages
near, to preach to the people there4: When he re-
turned home again, a great many people came to
his house. Some were sick people who came to be
made well; some were people in trouble who came
to be comforted ; some came to be taught, some
came out of curiosity, and some came to find fault.
Altogether there were a great many people there,
so that the doorway was quite crowded.
80 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Jesus was interrupted in his teaching by a noise
outside the door. There seemed to be a great deal
of pushing and loud talking. What do you think
it was all about?
A poor man who was ill with palsy, so that he could
not use any of his limbs, or turn himself round in
bed, or help himself in any way, wanted his friends
to take him to Jesus. Beside all his pains of body,
he was very unhappy because of his sins, so he
wanted to be made well in body and mind too.
His friends, seeing his great distress, said that
four of them would carry him on his bed to Jesus.
The beds in those countries were only a very thin,
soft mattress, no bigger than a hearth-rug, and used
to be laid upon the ground.
The four men went each to a corner of the bed,
and carried the sick man along the streets till they
came to the ho7ise where Jesus was. When they
came to it, they found that they could not get
through the door for the crowd. It was of no use
to push, or call out to the people to move; there
was no room to carry a sick man along.
The poor man said, Do not carry me home again,
I must see Jesus.
The man's friends said, We cannot possibly get
into the house. Then they thought of another and
a strange way to reach the Saviour. There was a
staircase outside the house which led to the roof.
The roofs of all houses in those countries were flat,
so that people could walk as well upon the house-
tops as they could upon the floor of a room.
THE CURING OF THE PARALYTIC.
82 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHBIST.
The four men carried their sick friend up this
outside staircase on to the flat roof. There was a
door in the roof leading to an inside staircase, but
this was not large enough to let a man through
lying on his bed, so they made the opening larger
by breaking away some of the tiles. Then they let
him down into the room where Jesus was sitting.
Jesus was pleased to see their faith, and at once
spoke to the sick man.
First of all, he quieted the sorrow of his soul for
his sins: he said, Be comforted, your sins are for-
given you.
The people who came to find fault with Jesus now
said in their hearts, What a wicked man this Jesus
must be, to pretend that he can forgive this man
his sins, when God only can do so.
You know that Jesus can forgive sin because he
is God, but then wicked men would not believe that
he was the Son of God.
He could see into their hearts too, and knew the
thoughts that were there.
He said to them, You think that I cannot forgive
sins, but which is the easiest thing to do, to say to
the man, Your sins are forgiven you, or to tell him
to get up and walk? I never say that I have power
to do anything, without really having that power,
and to show you how true this is, I say now to the
sick man, Arise, take up your bed, and walk back
to your home.
Then the poor man, who before could not move
a limb, but was obliged to be carried to Jesus, now
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 83
rose, rolled up his bed, put it across his shoulders,
and walked home.
The people who looked on feared and wondered :
they said, We never saw anything like this before.
Strange things have happened to-day.
They could but feel that it was only God who had
the power to put life into those palsied limbs, there-
fore he who could do this had also the power of God
to forgive sins.
The enemies of Jesus found yet more fault with
him. Now they said that he did not keep holy the
Sabbath-day.
One Sabbath morning Jesus went into a syna-
gogue to teach, and a man was there whose hand
was so withered that he could not move it. Jesus,
saw the poor man, and his enemies saw him too.
They watched Jesus to see if he would heal him
or not; for, if he did so, they pretended that it
would be as bad as working on the Sabbath-day.
He called to the man with the withered hand, and
said, Stand up, so that all may be able to see you.
The man stood up. Jesus turned to the fault-
finders, and said, I want to ask you a question : Is
it right to do good on the Sabbath-days or to do
evil? to save life or to kill?
Jesus meant them to feel that if any one can do
good and will not, then he does evil by refusing to
do the good. He could cure this poor man, then he
ought to do so, for it was a duty to save life even
on a Sabbath-day.'
Jesus further said, Suppose one of you had a
84 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CUBIST.
sheep which fell into a pit on a Sabbath-day, would
you leave the poor sheep in the deep hole till the
next day because you would not break the Sabbath?
You know you would not. Is not a man better
than a sheep? Why, then, should this poor man
go on suffering pain till to-morrow, when I can
make him well to-day?
Jesus looked all around, to see if any one had
anything to answer. All were silent.
Then he turned to the man and said, Stretch out
your hand. The man obeyed the command; the
hand was cured.
The Pharisees were not glad to see the man made
well. No, they were mad with anger, and said,
We will kill this Sabbath-breaker.
Again, on another Sabbath, while Christ was
teaching in the synagogue, he saw among his hear-
ers a poor woman. Her back was bent down, and
she could in no wise lift herself up.
For eighteen long, weary years had this poor
woman gone about bowed down under this affliction.
The compassionate eye of Jesus saw her. He said,
Woman, come to me: she came, glad to be called
by the Healer. He laid his hands on her, and said,
Woman, you shall be cured. As soon as the words
were spoken, her back was made straight, and she
could walk upright, and she thanked God.
The ruler of the synagogue did not dare to blame
Jesus before all the people, so he turned to them
and said, Why do you come on th6 Sabbath-day to
be healed? There are six days in the week besides;
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 85
in them men ought to work, and in them come and
be healed.
The Lord turned to the ruler, and said, You false
man ; you know that every one of you will take care
of his ox or his ass, and loose them from their stalls
and take them to their watering-place, even on a
Sabbath-day. Why should I not, even on a Sab-
bath-day, loose this poor woman from her burden,
under which she has been bowed down for years?
When Jesus had said these things, his enemies
felt ashamed that he should have reproved them
before all the people, but others rejoiced at the
glorious things that were done by him.
At another time, a Pharisee asked Jesus to come
to his house, to eat a meal with him, one Sabbath-
day. He did not ask him out of friendship, only to
spy his conduct. He had caused a man all swollen
with dropsy to be there too; so this Pharisee and
his friends watched Jesus to see if he would heal
him. Jesus healed the man, and he asked the
Pharisees if it was not right to cure on the Sabbath-
day? They made no answer, and Jesus knew that
it was of no use to try to teach them what was
right, if they were determined not to learn.
86 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PAKABLE OF THE HIDDEN TREASURE — PARABLE OF
THE PEARL FEEDING THE MULTITUDE — THE TRANS-
FIGURATION.
One day Jesus went into a desert place with his
disciples, for he wanted to be alone with them, that
he might teach them quietly.
A great many people saw them go, and followed
after them. When Jesus saw the crowds coming
to him, he was not angry at being disturbed. He
felt pity for them ; they seemed to him to be like
sheep without a shepherd. He began to teach them
many things, and to heal those that had need of
healing.
We do not know exactly what it was that Jesus
taught that day, but the large multitude never
wearied of listening to him. We know that he
spoke to them of God's kingdom, and often talked
in parables.
It may be that he said, The kingdom of God is
like treasure hidden in a field. One day a man
found this treasure: he said nothing to any one
about what he had found, but sold all that he had,
so that he might have money enough to buy the
field, and then the treasure would be his own.
Jesus meant that he who would share in God's
kingdom must be willing to give up everything for
it: wealth, the good opinion of others, ease, self-
pleasing, everything, in fact, that would prevent
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 87
his having that greatest good — treasure in Heaven.
If necessary, all these should be given up for that.
Perhaps he told them the story of the beautiful
pearl. How a man who bought and sold pearls,
went to the countries and markets where they were
to be found, seeking for some which should be pure,
and large, and precious.
One day he saw a pearl so large and costly, that
it was fit to be placed in the crown of a king. This
pearl was worth so much, that he was obliged to
sell all that he had, before he was able to buy it.
When he had bought it, he felt now that he was
rich indeed.
Jesus meant, some of you are going about, seek-
ing for the pearl of happiness. Some of you seek
it in riches, but you will not find it there; some of
you seek it in learning, but you will not find it
there ; some of you seek it in pleasure, but you will
not find it there; and some of you seek happiness
in always trying to have your own way, and in
pleasing yourselves, but you will only find unhap-
piness there.
The pearl or true happiness is only to be found by
believing in me, and learning of me, and obeying
my voice.
You must be willing to give up everything for
me, as the pearl merchant was willing to give up
all that he had, so that he might be able to buy that
lovely pearl.
All who seek thus to enter into the kingdom of
God will be sure to find, what is far better than a
88 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
costly pearl — rest and joy. None ever seek in vain,
all are satisfied.
Perhaps Jesus said, Some of you are poor, I see,
and sometimes you feel afraid that you will not al-
ways have food and clothing enough. Do not be
fearful, have trust in God. Look at the fowls of
the air ; they do not sow seed for food, they do not
reap, nor store up their food in barns, yet your
Heavenly Father feeds them. It is your Father
who feeds them. Did you ever know a father on
earth feed his fowls, and starve his children?
You know that you never did. You may be quite
sure, then, that the Heavenly Father is not less kind
than an earthly one.
Think of the beautiful lilies, too, how they grow
up in all their loveliness, with no care on their part
as to how they shall grow. They do not spin their
white robes, which are more beautiful and glorious
than all the grandeur of your grandest king. Even
Solomon had no robes like theirs. But they take
no thought for heir clothing; God takes care for
them, though they are only flowers. You may be
quite sure, then, that your Father will not let you
want for proper clothing, if he thus clothes the
flowers of the field.
Be more careful to enter the kingdom of God
than to enjoy any earthly good. Your Father
knows what you need, and he will not forget you.
Such things as these, and many others, did Jesus
say to the multitude, as they stood or sat around
him in that desert place.
THE FEEDING OF THE MULTITUDE.
90 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
All wondered at his gracious words, all said,
Never man spake like this man.
The day was far spent, and still they crowded
round to listen to the Heavenly Teacher.
Then some of the twelve disciples said, Will you
not tell the multitude to go home now; the day is
nearly gone, and this is a desert place? Send them
into the towns and villages round about, so that
they may buy themselves food, for they have noth-
ing to eat.
Jesus said unto them, They need not depart;
give ye them to eat.
They replied, We have only a little food our-
selves— five small barley loaves, and two fishes.
(These loaves were only as large as a good-sized
biscuit.)
The disciples thought that it was no use to offer
them to the vast crowds around them. The Master
said, Make all the people sit down upon the grass.
Then they sat down by hundreds and by fifties.
Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given
thanks, he broke them into pieces, and sent his dis-
ciples round to the people with the loaves and the
fishes which he had divided.
I cannot tell you how it was that the loaves and
fishes were enough for all that were there, but Jesus
made enough for all and every man, woman, and
child was satisfied.
Jesus said, Do not let the pieces that are over be
wasted; go round and pick them up and put them
into baskets.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 91
How many people do you think there were to
eat of these five loaves and two fishes?
There were five thousand men, beside women and
children. I dare say one hungiy man could have
eaten those five little loaves and two small fishes,
but Jesus had made them enough for five thousand
men. Beside that, when the disciples had gathered
together all the pieces, there was so much left that
they filled twelve baskets with them. So you see
there was more at the end of the meal than there
was at the beginning.
But though Jesus could thus create, or make some-
thing out of nothing, as only God can, yet he would
not allow waste. He did not say, Never mind the
broken pieces, I can always create more. No, he
said, Take care of the pieces, so that nothing be lost.
Notwithstanding the many and notable miracles
which Jesus wrought continually before the eyes of
his disciples, their faith in him appears, nearly up
to the time of his death, to have been feeble and
wavering. There was, no doubt, much of the na-
tional temper in this. The Jewish mind was na-
turally more inflexible and perverse in the matter
of belief than that of the Gentiles generally. Our
Lord had repeated occasion to reprove the infidelity
even of his own disciples, and to commend the faith
of Gentiles.
They might have known by the wonders that he
did, and by his teaching, that he was more than a
mere man, but they only judged of him by what
he seemed to be.
92 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Once, however, his three favorite disciples saw
him look quite different from his usual appearance.
One day he took Peter, James, and John to the
top of a high mountain, where they were quite
alone. He went there to pray, and as he prayed he
was changed before them. His face did shine as
the sun, and his clothes were like robes of light.
So exceeding white were they, that the disciples
knew that their splendor was not of earth, but of
Heaven.
Two men then came from Heaven to speak to
him. They were Moses and Elijah.
Moses, who was the giver of the Law to the
Jews, came to speak to him who was the End of
the Law. After Christ was offered up upon the
cross, all the Jewish sacrifices, which only pointed
to his death, were to be done away with, as no
longer needful. Elijah, the prophet, was there to
speak to him, of whose coming the prophets had
foretold. Now their prophecy is ended in fulfil-
ment— Christ has come.
They talked together of the great event so soon
to happen — the death of Jesus at Jerusalem, for the
sake of sinful men.
This death was the wonder of the bright angels
in Heaven ; they could hardly understand it. Now
that Moses and Elijah have come from Heaven, it is
that which they talk about. Jesus, too, felt deeply
the need there was for his death, when he saw how
deeply man had fallen. He thought much of it,
he talked about it, he prayed about it.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 93
At last Moses and Elijah went back to Heaven.
Then a cloud of light came all around the disciples,
and they were afraid as they entered into it.
Out of the cloud came a voice, and they heard
these words, — This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased ; hear ye him !
Moses and Elijah are gone; they taught of a
Messiah to come. He is come, he is Jesus who is
my beloved Son, hear and obey him now.
This was the meaning of that voice.
When the disciples heard it, they fell down on
their faces; they were so afraid that they dared not
look upon the glory around them.
Jesus came and touched them : Do not be afraid,
he said. They lifted up their eyes, they saw no one
there but Jesus. Moses and Elijah were gone, the
bright cloud had passed away, the voice spoke no
more.
Jesus said, You have seen my glory, but do not
tell any one what you have seen, until I am risen
from the dead.
CHAPTER X.
THE STRIFE OF THE DISCIPLES AS TO WHO SHOULD BE
GREATEST — HE MAN WHO WAS BORN BLIND THE
STORY OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
Sometimes Jesus sent out his disciples into the
villages, to teach other people what he had before
taught them. Once when they were returning to
94 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Capernaum, after one of these journeys, they began
talking together, and at last their words were sharp
and hasty ; they disputed among themselves.
What do you think it was that they quarrelled
about? It was about which of them was best, who
loved Jesus most, who worked the hardest to teach
others, and who should have the first place in the
kingdom of God.
When they came to Capernaum, they went to
the house where Jesus was.
Jesus looked up to them and said, What was it
that you were quarrelling about as you walked
along? They were all so ashamed of themselves
that they could not give him any answer. Besides,
they knew that if he could tell that they had been
disputing, he could also tell what it was about.
I dare say that each of them thought that he was
the best, and that not one of them was so meek and
lowly as the disciples of so good a Master should be.
Jesus called to a little boy, who was near, to
come to him.
He put him into the midst of the disciples, and
said, This child is the least of you all, he knows the
least, he thinks you are better than he is. Be like
this little child among yourselves ; be humble, think
but little of yourselves, and much of the good of
others. Be meek and lowly, and do not care for
grandeur. Great things and little things done for
me are of the same worth, if both are done out of
love to me. All you do is worth only the love that
leads you to do it.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 95
One Sabbath-day, as Jesus was leaving the temple
at Jerusalem with his disciples, they saw, in pass-
ing along, a man begging, who had been blind from
his birth.
The disciples said, Master, why is this man blind?
Is it as a punishment for his own sins, or for the
sins of his parents?
Jesus answered, Do not suppose that those people
whom you see suffer most pain are the most wicked.
This man is not blind for any sin of his own, nor
for any sin of his parents, but that the power of
God may be seen by his cure. I will remove his
blindness; as long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world.
When he had said these words, he spat on the
ground and made clay of the spittle, and rubbed the
eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said, Now
go and wash yourself in the pool of Siloam. The
man went to the pool, and he came back seeing.
This blind beggar was well known ; many had
seen him as he sat daily by the wayside asking for
charity. The neighbors were astonished, and said,
Is not this he who sat by the wayside begging?
Some said, Yes, it is the same man. Others, It is
not he, but somebody like him. The blind man
said, I am the very man; I once was blind.
They asked, How is it that your eyes are opened?
He answered, A man named Jesus put some clay
upon my eyes, and told me to wash in the pool of
Siloam. I went and washed, as he bade me, and
then my eyes were opened, so that I could see.
96 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
They said, Where is this man Jesus?
He answered, I do not know where he is gone.
Then they took the blind man to the Pharisees,
and they asked him how it was that his eyes were
opened.
He told them, as he had before told his neighbors,
that Jesus had cured him.
Oh ! said some of the Pharisees, this Jesus is not
a good man, for he has broken the Sabbath-day by
curing you.
Others said, He must be a good man, for God
would not give a wicked man the power to do such
a wonderful work as this.
So they could not agree among themselves about
Jesus. They turned to the blind man and asked,
What do you think of him? He opened your eyes,
you ought to be able to tell whether he is a good
man or not.
He answered, He is a prophet, a man of God.
The Jews then said, Surely there must be some
mistake ; you were not really blind before, you only
pretended to be so.
Then they called the man's parents, and asked
them, Is this your son? You say he was born
blind: how is it then that he can now see?
The parents answered, This man is our son, and
he was born blind; but how it is that he can see
now, we do not know. He is grown up, and quite
able to answer any questions himself that you may
wish answered. You had better ask him how it is
that his eyes are opened.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST, 97
When they heard what the parents said, and how
it was quite true that the man was born blind, they
called him to them again.
They said, Give God the praise of your cure, for
we know that this Jesus is a sinner.
The man answered, Whether what you say is
true or not, of one thing I am quite sure, that he
has cured me. I was blind, but now I see.
Again they asked, What did he do to you? How
did he open your eyes?
The man replied, I have told you once already,
but }Tou would not believe me. Why do jrou wish
me to tell you again? Is it because you wish to
become his disciples?
Then they were very angry, and said sharp,
unkind things to the poor man. You are the dis-
ciple of that false teacher! You are the disciple of
that Sabbath-breaker ! But we follow the teaching
of the true prophet, Moses, who was sent of God to
teach us his will. As to this man Jesus, we do not
know where he comes from ! The man said, How
strange this is: you Pharisees, who pretend to be
so wise, and learned, and good, can you not tell a
false teacher from a true one, or know good from
evil? Has not this Jesus opened my eyes, although
I have been blind all my life before, as my par-
ents have told you, and as every one in the town
knows?
No one could do this unless God gave him the
power, and God does not give such power to wicked
men. So wonderful a cure as mine was never
7
98 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
heard of before, and if Jesus was not sent by God
he could not have done it.
The Pharisees were now still more angry, and
said, You wicked, ignorant man! How dare you
pretend to teach us, who are so much wiser and
better than you are?
Then they drove him away from them, turned
him out of the synagogue, and said they would not
let him worship with them any more; a most seri-
ous penalty, as it deprived him of his rights as a
Jew, and made him an outcast from his father's
home. When Jesus heard of this, he sought the
man out. And when he had found him, he said,
Do you believe in the Son of God?
The man had not seen Jesus before, for he had
left him when he sent him to the pool to wash. He
came back seeing, but the Saviour was gone away.
This, therefore, was the first time that the man
saw him who had restored his sight.
In answer to the question of Jesus, he said, Lord,
who is the Son of God, that I might believe in him?
Jesus said, You see him now, it is he who is talk-
ing to you. Then the man knew that it was the
same person who had cured him; he said, Lord, I
believe, and he worshipped him.
Jesus first of all gave sight to the eyes of his
body, then he opened the eyes of this man's mind,
so that he might see in him the Saviour.
Jesus says, I am the light of the world ; he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 99
Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd.
You know that a shepherd is a man who takes
care of sheep. Many of the good men that we read
of in the Bible were shepherds. Jacob and his sons
were shepherds. David wras a shepherd before he
became a king, and many others that we read of in
the Bible were shepherds too.
In Eastern countries, shepherds are very fond of
their sheep. They lead them into swTeet pastures
by day, and at night, should any wild beast come
near the flock, the3r will hasten to save the sheep
even at the risk of their own lives.
When a lamb is tired or ill, they will not let it
walk, but put it into the folds of their loose dress
and carry it in their bosom. They gently lead their
flocks, for it would not do to drive them fast under
the burning sun of those Eastern lands.
When a silly sheep or lamb strays away from the
fold, how carefully does the shepherd look over the
mountain slopes and behind the rocks and bushes to
find the wanderer L When it is found, how greatly
does he rejoice over the lost sheep!
The shepherd goes before his sheep, and they fol-
low him. He does not drive his sheep, as shepherds
do here. They know his voice, and he calls them
by their names.
A few years ago, a gentleman was travelling in
Judea, and he was watching one of these shepherds
as he tended his flock. He saw that the shepherd
often plucked some grass and called one or other of
^•the sheep to him. He went up to him and said,
100 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST,
The sheep come when you call them, but I suppose
they would come to any one dressed as you are.
The shepherd said, Will you try, sir? So the
gentleman and the shepherd changed clothes.
The gentleman, dressed as the shepherd, plucked
a handful of grass, and called a sheep, but it would
not come; it did not know the stranger's voice.
The shepherd, who was dressed as the gentleman,
then called a sheep, and it came directly, even
though he had no food to offer it.
There! see5 sir, the shepherd said, it is my voice
they know, no matter how I am dressed. A
stranger they will not follow.
Jesus is like the good shepherd of whom I have
been telling you. If they believe in him, grown-up
people are the sheep, and believing children are the
lambs of the fold. The good shepherd will seek
after the sheep that has wandered ; Jesus came to
seek and to save those who have gone astray from
God, and are lost in the ways of sin. The good
shepherd will risk his life to save his sheep. Jesus
has laid down his life for the sake of his sheep.
The good shepherd feeds his flocks with sweet
pasture; Jesus feeds his people with truth for the
soul. He puts good thoughts into their hearts.
He gives them the Holy Spirit. Are you one of
the lambs of Christ's flock?
The sheep obey the shepherd's voice, they come
when he calls them, they go where he leads them.
Do you follow Jesus? Do you obey his voice?
When you want to go in the path of your own
JESUS BLESSING THE CHILDREN.
102 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
sinful will, do you stop and say, No, the Good
Shepherd does not lead me here, I will go in the
way that he leads?
He leads from all selfishness, pride, anger, deceit,
envy, and every sin.
He leads to gentleness, meekness, truthfulness,
love, and all goodness.
CHAPTEE XI
JESUS BLESSES THE CHILDEEN — THE EICH YOUNG MAN
In one of the towns beyond the river Jordan
some people might be seen talking earnestly to-
gether. Jesus of Nazareth was coming into their
town, and all day he had been teaching them and
healing their sick. It was about him they spoke.
Surely, said one, He must be Israel's promised
Saviour. Yes, said another, no prophet has ever
yet done such wonderful works as we see him do.
And how strange are his teachings, how full of
love his words! and he heals the sick so tenderly!
said a third.
He is greater than our father Abraham, said a
young Hebrew mother; how I should like his bless-
ing on my child ! She looked fondly on her baby as
it lay asleep in her bosom — it was her first-born son.
Let us take our children to him, said the parents
of the group, and ask him to put his hands on them
and bless them. The parents took their little ones,
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 103
and went to the place where Jesus was sitting with
his disciples.
What are these children coming here for? said
Peter, James, and John. Take them away; the
Master cannot be troubled with young children.
They are not sick, they do not want healing; you
cannot bring them here.
But Jesus said, Come back.
He turned to his disciples and said, I am very
much displeased with you: why do you send them
away? It is true they have not come for healing,
but they want a blessing. Let the little ones come
unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the
kingdom of Heaven.
So the children came near to the gentle Jesus,
and he took the babies in his arms, and put the
little ones on his knee, and placed his hands on the
heads of the others, and gave them his blessing.
Oh, how happy were those parents as they went
to their homes, saying, We knew he would notice
the children. He seemed pleased to have them
brought to him.
Among the many people who came to Jesus was
a rich young man, and he was a ruler of the syna-
gogue. He seemed to be very much in earnest, for
he came running to the Saviour. He looked upon
him as worthy of great respect, for he knelt before
him as he spoke to him. He came to ask the most
important of all questions that any one can ask,
Good Master, what shall I do that I may have
eternal life? He had wealth, he had position, he
104 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
had the good opinion of others, but he felt that he
had not eternal life. The good things of this life
could not make him happy ; he wanted a better life
than they could give, so he came to ask Jesus how
he should obtain it.
Jesus said, If you wish for a life of endless happi-
ness, keep the commandments.
Which? inquired he.
You know them, replied the Saviour; do not kill,
do not steal, do not say unkind and untrue things
of others, obey and honor your father and your
mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Master, I have kept these laws from my youth
until now ; what more need I do?
Jesus looked at him as he asked this question;
and as he looked he loved him.
He saw before him a kind-hearted man, one of
those whose outward conduct was without fault.
But the Saviour looked into his heart, and saw that
all this outward goodness did not spring from love
to God. Something there was loved more than
God : that something was his riches. He cared
more for his treasure on earth, than for treasure
in Heaven.
Jesus said, If you wish for eternal life above
everything else, then go and sell all that you have,
and give away your money to the poor ; you shall
then have treasure in Heaven : and come and fol-
low me.
These words of Jesus fell sadly on the ear of the
rich ruler: he could not do this one thing that Jesus
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 105
asked him. Part of his riches he might have been
willing to have given up, but all — no, the sacrifice
was too great, even if eternal life was the reward.
He had come to Jesus gladly, but he turned away
from him with sorrow, for he could not follow him
and give up his possessions.
When he was gone, Jesus looked round about on
his disciples, and said, How hard is it for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven !
How is it so difficult? asked the disciples.
Because, said the Master, he who would follow
me into eternal life, must be willing to give up all
for me.
Where this rich ruler was wrong was, that he
cared more for his money, his rank, and his ease,
than to please God. He thought that he was very
good, but Jesus showed him that his heart was sin-
ful, even if his outward conduct was good. God
was not chief and first with him. If he had been
kind and good to his neighbor, and so kept part of
the commandments, he had not kept the first part,
which is to love God with all the heart, and soul,
and strength. He loved himself best.
CHAPTER XII
MAKY AND MARTHA — THE RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE
DEAD BLIND BARTIMEUS — THE CALLING OF ZACCHEUS
— MARY ANOINTS JESUS* FEET
About a mile and a half from the city of Jeru-
salem, at the bottom of the Mount of Olives, was
the village of Bethany.
In one of the houses there lived a brother and
two sisters. Their names were Lazarus, Mary, and
Martha. They all three loved Jesus dearly, and
he loved them, too, very much.
He would often go to see them while he was stay-
ing at Jerusalem, for it was a pleasant walk to
Bethany from that city.
Martha was the mistress of the house. She liked
to show her love to Jesus by being very busy and
making him nice things to eat. Mary liked best to
sit at the feet of Jesus and to hear him talk.
Martha was once vexed with Mary because she did
not come and help her, and she said to Jesus, Lord,
bid my sister come and help me.
Jesus said, Martha, you need not take so much
trouble on my account; but one thing is needful,
and Mary is wise to listen to the good things which
I talk about : you had better choose the same good
part too.
So Jesus, instead of sending Mary away to help
Martha get him a feast, told Martha to sit by Mary's
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST, 107
side and have a feast from him of things good for
the soul.
One day Lazarus was taken very ill. He became
worse and worse. The sisters said, Let us send to
our dear friend Jesus, and tell him. Jesus was
then in Peraea, about a day's journey from Bethany.
This was the message that they sent: Lord, he
whom thou lovest is sick.
Jesus told the man who brought the message to
tell Martha and Mary that this sickness would not
end in the death of Lazarus.
This message comforted the sisters : they thought,
He will surely come himself and heal him.
But Jesus stayed on in the place where he was
teaching the people when the message came.
Oh, what a weary time that was at Bethany at
the house of Lazarus! He died on the evening of
the day that the messenger returned from Jesus.
The next day the sisters said one to another,
Surely our dear friend will come to-day; but the
shades of evening closed over Bethany, and Jesus
had not come.
In those hot countries people are obliged to bury
their friends a very short time after death. So
Mary and Martha had to bury their brother before
Jesus came.
All the next day they waited, but they waited in
vain. He seemed to have broken his promise: he
had always been faithful and true before, but now
he seemed false. He said the sickness would not
end in death — but Lazarus was dead.
108 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
At last they sent again to tell him that Lazarus
was dead.
Jesus then said, Let us go to Bethany, our friend
Lazarus sleeps: I will go and awake him.
They said, Lord, if he sleeps he will get better.
But Jesus spoke of the sleep of death, while they
thought that he spoke of the rest of sleep. So
Jesus told them plainly that Lazarus was dead.
When Jesus was near Bethany, Martha heard
that he was coming, and she went to meet him.
She said, Lord, if you had but come before, my
brother would not have died ; but even now I know
that God will do whatever you ask him.
Jesus knew what she was hoping for, and said,
Your brother shall rise again.
Martha said, Yes, Lord, I know he will rise
again at the last day. She hardly liked to say, But
will he rise again now?
Jesus said, It is from me that all life comes: the
souls of those that believe in me shall never die,
and, even if their bodies are dead, I can make them
live again now, as well as at the resurrection-day,
when all dead bodies will rise from the grave. Do
you believe this?
She said, Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Son of
God, and can do all things.
When she had said so, she went back to the house
to her sister Mary, and whispered in her ear the
welcome words, The Master is come, he asks for
you.
Poor Mary was sitting in the house with a great
THE DISCIPLES PLUCKING CORN ON THE SABBATH.
110 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
many friends, some of whom had come from Jeru-
salem to comfort her and her sister in their trouble.
She was broken-hearted with grief, but at these
softly-spoken words of Martha's she felt that he
who could indeed comfort her was come. She rose
up hastily, and went out to Jesus.
The Jews who were in the house had not heard
what Martha had said to Mary, and they thought
that she was going to the grave of Lazarus to weep
there. So they followed her.
Jesus had not yet come into the village; he had
stayed in the place where Martha had left him.
When Mary saw Jesus, she fell down at his feet,
and could only cry out, Lord, if you had but come,
my brother would not have died. She could say
no more: her tears fell fast.
Then the Jews that were with her wept too; the
grief of the sisters was so great.
The sight of all this sorrow went to the heart of
the Man Christ Jesus. He sighed a deep, bitter
sigh.
Tell me where you have buried him.
They said, Lord, come with us and we will show
you. So they walked to the grave, and Jesus wept.
He loved Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus, and his
tender heart could not bear to see this dreadful
grief, and not to share it.
Some of the Jews, when they saw his tears, said,
He must have loved Lazarus very much.
Others, who were not very kind, said, If he can
make blind people see, he couJd have made the sick
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. Ill
man well; so if he had loved him he would not have
let him die at all.
At last they came to the tomb: it was a cave. A
great stone lay against the opening, so as to shut it
up close.
When Jesus saw the grave of his friend, he
again gave a deep sigh. He said to the people
round him, Take away that stone. Martha said,
Lord, he has been dead four days, and so by this
time his body has begun to decay away and smell
badly.
Jesus said, Did I not tell you, that if you believed
you should see the wonderful power of God?
Then they took away the stone from the grave,
and Jesus looked in and saw the body of Lazarus
lying dead.
Jesus prayed to his Father in heaven ; he said,
Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me, and
I know that thou hearest me always, but for the
sake of the crowd that stand by I speak, that they
may believe that thou hast sent me.
When Jesus had finished, all the people stood by,
wondering what he would do next; and Martha
and Mary hoped he would make Lazarus alive
again.
Then Jesus cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth !
The dead man heard the voice of him who is "the
Resurrection and the Life." The grave cannot hold
the dead against the command of the Prince of Life ;
for Life is stronger than Death.
112 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Lazarus came forth, bound hand and foot with
grave clothes wrapped around him.
Jesus said, Loose from him the clothes, and take
the cloth from his face, and let him go home.
Yes, Jesus had not disappointed them. He had
kept his word ; the sickness did not end in death,
for Lazarus was alive and well.
Every one who saw this miracle was astonished,
and many believed that Jesus was the Son of God;
but some of the ill-natured ones went to the Phari-
sees, who were the enemies of Jesus, and told them
of this new and greatest wonder that Jesus had
done. What came of their telling these things to
the Pharisees you shall now hear.
When Lazarus was raised from the dead, some
Jews went to the Pharisees at Jerusalem, and told
them that this wonder of bringing a man back to
life after he had been dead four days, had led many
to believe on Jesus as the Son of God.
The Chief Priests, and Scribes, and Pharisees
then held a meeting or council together, to talk
over what they should do to Jesus. They said : We
must not let him go on working wonders, or else
every one will think he is the Saviour, and will
come and make him king; then the Eomans will be
angry, and fight us, and kill us all.
The High Priest Caiaphas said : It is at any rate
better that one should die for all, than that all the
nation should perish.
Yes, they said, we must try to seize Jesus, arid
when we have taken him, we will find some excuse
MARY AND MARTHA.
114 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
or other for having him put to death. They then
said that if anybody knew where Jesus was, he
must come and tell them, that they might take
him.
The feast of the Passover would soon be held at
Jerusalem, and as the Jews from all parts of the
country came to it, so they hoped to catch him then.
They looked for Jesus everywhere, but they could
not find him. Do you think he will come to the
feast? Do you think he will be afraid and stay
away? These were the questions that they asked
one another, as they met in the temple and in the
streets of Jerusalem.
Where do you think Jesus went after he raised
Lazarus from the grave? He did not stay at Beth-
any, for that was too close to Jerusalem. He went
to Ephraim, which was a very quiet village in the
desert of Judea, and several miles north of Jeru-
salem. There he was not known, and there for a
short time he could talk with his disciples undis-
turbed. He wanted to prepare them for his death,
which was so soon to take place at Jerusalem.
He said : The Chief Priests, and Scribes, and
Pharisees will take me, and they will say I must
die. They will then give me up to the Komans,
who will put me to death. They will laugh at me,
and mock me, and spit on me, and whip me, and at
last they will kill me; but I shall rise from my
grave after I have been dead three days.
The disciples did not like to hear of all these sad
troubles happening to their Master. They were
8
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 115
very much astonished that he should talk so, and
they were frightened.
They did not understand how it could he; but
Jesus told them that if they would but look at what
their own prophets had written in their Scriptures,
they would see that the Saviour would have to suffer
and die. However, they did not yet understand.
After all these things had taken place, then they
understood.
Jesus could not stay long at Ephraim.
He went from thence to Jericho, which place was
about six hours' walk from Jerusalem. At this
place he could meet the people who were coming
from his own country Galilee, as they, too, were on
their way to the feast at Jerusalem.
Just as Jesus came to Jericho he met a large
travelling party from Galilee. The people knew him
at once, and remembered all the mighty works he
had done while he lived among them. They began
to praise and honor him as he joined their company.
When they came to the gate of the town, they
saw a poor blind man named Bartimeus sitting
there, and begging of all those who came in and
out of the town.
Bartimeus heard the noise, as it were, of a great
crowd coming along the road.
What is the meaning of all the noise I hear? he
asked of some one near him.
Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, is coming along
this way, and a great many people are with him,
crying after him.
116 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
The poor blind man thought: Jesus of Nazareth!
Why he is the very person I wanted to meet ; they
say he cures blind people, I hope he will cure me.
So he cried very loudly : Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me.
Hush, said the people, don't make such a noise,
you will disturb the Saviour; it is not likely that
he will stop this procession just to attend to a poor
blind beggar like you.
But I want to be cured of my blindness, and now
is the time. So he cried yet louder, Jesus, have
pity on me.
Then Jesus heard his cry of distress, and he stood
still. Bring that poor man to me, he wants me to
do something for him.
The people knew that he never raised a hope to
disappoint it, that he never called any one to come
to him unless he meant to help him. They said to
the poor man: Be glad, arise, and go to Jesus, he
calls you to him.
Then the blind man, in his haste to go to the
Saviour, threw down his cloak and went.
Jesus said, What is it that you want me to do
for you? Lord, that I may have my sight.
Jesus said: You shall see, because you believed
I could cure you, I will give you your sight.
Directly Jesus spoke these words, he opened his
eyes, and he could then see.
Full of thankfulness, he joined the crowd which
followed Jesus, shouting his praises.
Jesus did not go on to Jerusalem with this large
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 117
travelling party. Just outside the town of Jericho
lived a man named Zaccheus. He was a tax-
gatherer and a rich man. He was short, and as he
wanted to see Jesus, whom all the people were
praising, and of whom he had heard so much, he
climbed into a sycamore-tree.
Now, he thought, I shall be above the people, and
I shall get a good sight of the procession as it passes
along the road.
Jesus, as he went by, saw Zaccheus up in the
tree, so he said to him : Zaccheus, make haste and
come down, for I am going to stay in your house
to-day. Then was Zaccheus very glad indeed. He
made haste down from the tree, that he might take
Jesus home writh him.
When the multitude saw this, they were very
much surprised, and said : It is a strange thing that
the Son of God should go and lodge at the house of
a man who does not bear a good character.
The heart of Zaccheus was full of love to him
who had so honored him. He showed his love by
his sorrow for his past sins. Perhaps he had not
been kind to the poor; now he said he would give
away half his money to the poor. Perhaps he had
taken from people more money than he ought to
have done for the taxes; so he said: If I have
wronged any one, I will give him back four times
as much as I have wrongfully taken from him.
Jesus was very glad to see him repent of his sins,
and begin to do right, and he said that he was one
of those to whom his salvation had come.
118 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Then he told the multitude who were displeased
with him because he went to the house of a sinful
man, that he came into the world on purpose to seek
and to save that which was lost. The worse a man
was, the more he needed some one to bring him
back, like a lost sheep, to the fold.
When Jesus left Jericho, he went to Bethan}^
It was on a Friday that he went; the very next
Friday after that, he was crucified.
The Jewish Sabbath, as you know, is not on our
Sunday, but on our Saturday; it begins after sun-
set on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday. This
last Jewish Sabbath before the death of Jesus was
spent by him with his friends at Bethany.
A man named Simon invited Jesus to come and
eat his Sabbath meal with him. Lazarus, whom
he had raised from the dead, was invited too, and
the busy Martha waited upon Jesus while he sat
at meat.
Mary was also there. She had brought with her
a box of very precious ointment as a present for
Jesus. With thLs she rubbed his feet — those feet
which were so often tired, as he went about doing
good and pleasing not himself; and with the hair
of her head she lovingly wiped them. Very fra-
grant was the scent of this sweet ointment; as
Mary broke the seal of the box to pour it out, the
whole house was filled with its delicious odor. But
sweeter far to Jesus was the love which led her to
make this offering.
It cost much money, but Mary thought nothing
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 119
was too good or too costly for Jesus. She was glad
to show her love by giving him the very best of
what she had.
Then said one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot : It
was very wasteful of you, Mary, to spend so much
money for such a little use; you had better have
sold the ointment, and given the money to the
poor.
Did Judas care for the poor? No, he kept the
bag in which the money for the poor was put, and
he was a thief, and stole some of the money that
was in it. He thought : If all the money that the
ointment was worth had been put into the bag, I
could have taken some for myself without its being
missed.
Jesus said to Judas: Do not blame Mary, she
has not been wasteful. This was a gift of love,
and love is not to be measured by money. There
will always be poor people in the world for whom
you can care, and you can do them good whenever
you please. You will not have me with you long, for
the day of my death is near, and Mary knows this.
As soon as ever the sun had set on this Jewish
Sabbath evening, numbers of Jews came from the
city of Jersalem to see Jesus and to see Lazarus.
These Jews had come from all parts of the coun-
try by thousands, to eat the feast of the Passover
at Jerusalem during the coming week. They had
heard, when they reached Jerusalem, of the won-
derful miracle Jesus had done in raising Lazarus
from the grave, so they wralked to Bethany to see
120 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Lazarus for themselves. Then many of them be-
lieved that Jesus was the Son of God.
This made the Chief Priests and Pharisees still
more angry, and they said : We must put Lazarus
to death as well as Jesus, because by reason of him
many Jews go away and believe in Jesus.
CHAPTER XIII
CHRIST'S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM HE
TEACHES IN THE TEMPLE — THE TRIBUTE-MONEY — JUDAS
SELLS HIS MASTER
On the next day,* which was the first day of the
week, Jesus went from Bethany to Jerusalem, with
his disciples and a large number of people.
As he was going along the road, he said to two
of his disciples : Go into the village close by, and
you will see an ass and her young one tied up.
Untie them and bring them to me.
If the man to whom they belong asks you what
you are doing, say to him, The Lord wants them.
Then he will let you bring them.
The two disciples went and found all as Jesus
had said, so they untied the ass and brought it to
him.
Some of the multitude now threw their cloaks
upon the ass, and Jesus sat thereon ; and they all
shouted his praises.
. .* *^H
QM
THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.
122 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST,
As soon as it was known in Jerusalem that Je-
sus was on his way to the city, great numbers of
people came out to meet him with branches of
the palm-tree, which they waved about as they re-
joiced. Others took off their cloaks and laid them
on the ground, so as to make a carpet for Jesus to
ride upon.
Then the multitude again praised God with a
loud voice, for all the wonders they had seen Jesus
do, and said : It is true that he has raised Lazarus
from the tomb.
They cried : Blessed- be the King that cometh in
the name of the Lord, peace in Heaven, and glory
in the highest.
There were some Pharisees in the crowd, and
they said to Jesus : Teacher, why do you not rebuke
your disciples for crying out so?
Jesus told them that the coming of the Messiah
was so great an event that should the multitude
remain quiet, God would give even the stones a
voice to rejoice at his approach. Yes, it was
enough to make the very dullest shout and be
glad.
Now Jesus v/as within sight of Jerusalem. He
could see its towers glittering in the sunlight.
There was the well-known temple of God, and the
various buildings of which every Jew was so proud.
As he drew near to the city, tears of pity filled his
eyes.
Why did Jesus weep? He saw the vast crowd
around him, and heard the multitude cry, as with
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST, 123
the voice of one man, Behold the King of Israel.
He knew that in a few days this same crowd would
shout, Crucify him, crucify him. It was not for
himself, however, that he wept. He wept over the
sin of the people in refusing to have him as their
Saviour. He wept to think of the heavy woes
which were so soon to come upon this very city, as
a punishment for its great wickedness.
At length Jesus came through the city gate, and
rode into the streets of Jerusalem. Every one came
out of his house to see the throng and to ask who it
is that the multitude is praising.
It is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, people cried.
Jesus then went into the temple, and the blind
and the lame came to him to be cured, and he made
them quite well.
The Chief Priests and the Scribes looked on, and
were much displeased to see the wonders that Jesus
did, and to hear the praises of the multitudes. Even
the children cried, Hosanna to the Son of David.
Then the Chief Priests said to Jesus: Do you not
hear what a noise these children make? Why do
you not stop them?
I hear them, said Jesus. Have you read in the
Psalms of David that God has made praise to come
out of the mouths of babes and sucklings?
Jesus then left the temple, and when the evening
came he went back to Bethany.
Darker and deeper grew the hatred of the Scribes
and Pharisees against Jesus. They had meant to
have seized him when he came to Jerusalem, but
124 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
now they did not dare to take him, for the whole
city was calling him King.
Vexed and disappointed, they said: We are no
nearer getting him into our power than we were
before; the whole world is gone after him. Then
they thought among themselves how they should
get him, and said : We must take him by deceit and
cunning, if we cannot by force. We must not take
him at the time of the feast of the Passover, lest
there be an uproar among the people, and lest they
try to get him away from us. We had better seize
him before the feast, or afterwards ; before will be
best. We will watch him while he is teaching the
people, and try to make him say something which
will seem to be against our law, or against the
Roman government.
The next morning Jesus returned from Bethany,
and went to the temple to teach the crowds who
came to hear him.
The Chief Priests and Pharisees were there, seek-
ing how they might destroy him; but they could
not do anything, for all the people hung round him
to hear him, and listened with great attention.
At evening Jesus again went back to Bethany.
The next morning Jesus returned to the temple
at Jerusalem. At an early hour a large crowd had
gathered there, waiting for his coming from Beth-
any; and there, like beasts of prey, were Christ's
enemies, seeking how they might catch him.
They sent spies to him, who pretended to be good
men who really wanted Christ to teach them what
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 125
was right. They asked him a question which, in
whatever way he answered it, they hoped would be
sure to offend some of the parties at Jerusalem.
They were very sly; they seemed to treat Christ
with respect, for they dared not do otherwise when
every one was looking on him as a prophet of God.
They said to him : Teacher, we know that you say
what is right, and are not afraid to speak the truth.
Now tell us what you think. Ought we to give
tribute to Caesar, or not?
Jesus knew that if he said, No, do not give this
tax money to the "Roman Emperor Caesar, then the
Eomans would say that he was speaking against
the government of the country, and they would
then put him in prison for rebellion. If Jesus said,
Yes, you ought to pay the tax, then the Jewish
chiefs would be offended, and say that he was not
a friend to their nation, because he taught the peo-
ple to pay taxes to an emperor who had conquered
them, and whom they hated.
Jesus saw through all their craft, and said : Why
do you try to catch me in my words? Show me
the money that you pay for the tax. Then they
brought him a Eoman penny.
Jesus looked at the coin and said : Whose image
is stamped upon this piece of money?
They said, It is the likeness of Caesar.
Then Jesus said : Give to Caesar that which be-
longs to Caesar, and give to God the things that are
God's.
This wise and true answer could not give offence
126 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
to any one. His enemies wondered exceedingly at
it, and they held their tongues.
Again and again one party or another came to
him, to try to make him say something for which
they could blame him, but in vain.
This was the last day that Jesus taught in public.
This Tuesday evening he went to Bethanj', and
remained there quietly with his disciples until
Thursday afternoon.
Disappointed and angry, the enemies of Jesus
again met in council. We will have his life, they
said ; how shall we take it?
Just then Judas came to them.
He said: So you want to get Jesus into your
power? I will help you, but you must pay me for
my trouble.
They said, We will give you thirty pieces of
silver. This was about the price of a slave.
Perhaps they offered this small sum in order to
show how they hated and despised Jesus, by putting
upon his life only the value of a slave's life.
Judas said: I will take the money and betray
Jesus. I know where he goes at night, and I will
show you where he is when he is alone with his dis-
ciples. There will then be no crowd near to inter-
fere, and you can take him away quite easily.
It was on Wednesday evening that Judas left the
council to seek for a convenient time to betray
Jesus. This time soon came.
The enemies of Christ said: Now he will soon be
in our power, and then we will kill him ; and they
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CUBIST. 127
rejoiced with a wicked joy. They were like Satan
himself, for he is always glad at wickedness and
CHAPTER XIV
THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER — THE LAST SUPPER JESUS
COMFORTS HIS DISCIPLES
You have been told that this week the feast of
the Passover was held at Jerusalem ; and that many
thousands of Jews had come up from all parts of
the country to keep it.
Do you know why this feast was held, and what
the Passover meant?
It was the chief of the Jewish feasts, and it was
kept at Jerusalem every year in remembrance of
the deliverance of the Jews from the land of Egypt.
About fifteen hundred years before this time, the
Jews were slaves to the Egyptians, who treated
them very cruelly. God heard their cry of suffer-
ing, and sent Moses to bring them out from the
land of Egypt into Canaan, or Palestine.
But Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, would not let
them go; so God sent ten dreadful plagues upon the
Egyptians. The last was the worst, and after that
Pharaoh let the children of Israel go.
This last plague was the death of the first-born.
God said that he would send an angel to pass over
128 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
all the land of Egypt to kill the first-born son in
every house, from the kingly house of Pharaoh to
the house of the poorest beggar.
But God said : The angel shall not go into any of
the houses of the Israelites or Jews ; if there is the
blood of a lamb sprinkled upon the door-posts, the
angel shall pass over those houses.
God also said : You must take a lamb for each
family, it must be a lamb that has nothing the
matter with it, it must have no disease. You must
kill it and sprinkle the blood on your door-posts for
the angel to see. Then you must roast it whole
and eat it. If you cannot eat it all, then you must
burn what is left with fire, and not leave any till
morning. This was because meat in that hot coun-
try turns bad or corrupt in a very short time, and
it was not fit that any part of a sacrifice to God,
such as this lamb was, should become corrupt.
They were to eat the lamb with bread made with-
out yeast or leaven. It was called unleavened
bread. Now leaven is a kind of corruption, and
causes fermentation in the bread in which it is used.
They were to eat bread made without yeast, to
teach them to put away sin in their hearts, which is
like leaven in corrupting and spreading throughout
every part.
They were to eat it also with bitter salad or
herbs, to remind them of the bitter and hard bond-
age that they had suffered in Egypt. They were to
eat it standing, with their shoes on their feet and
their staff in their hands, so as to be quite ready to
--::-
THE LAST SUPPER.
130 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
start at once for their journey that night from the
land of Egypt. As they ate it they thanked God for
sending his angel to pass over their houses, while
he stopped at the houses of the Egyptians.
This was the passover night. Every year after
that, when the same day came round again, the
Jews ate a meal in the same way to remind them
of that night when the loud wail echoed through
every Egyptian habitation ; when the first-born in
each family was dead. The passover was ever after
to be annually observed, a season of holy glad-
ness.
The passover lamb was a type of Christ. Sin
and Satan are worse taskmasters than the Egyp-
tians ever were, and theirs is a harder service than
that suffered by the Jews of old.
Jesus has come to set us free from their power.
We deserve punishment for our many sins. Jesus
gave himself up as a sacrifice for sin. He was with-
out any fault or sin himself, and God will pass
over our sins for the sake of Jesus, if we seek to be
forgiven through his death. So Jesus is called our
Passover.
On the first day of the Feast of the Passover the
disciples of Jesus asked him where he meant to keep
the feast. To what house shall we go? said they,
for Jesus had no house of his own.
Jesus said : When you go into the city you will
see a man with a jug of water in his hand; follow
him. Notice the house where the man goes in, and
then say to the master of that house : The Teacher
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHB1ST. 131
says to you, Where is the guest chamber, that I
may eat the passover with my disciples? He will
show you a large upper room ready furnished, where
you may make the supper ready.
So Peter and John went to Jerusalem, and found
all happen just as Jesus had said.
They found the man with the jug of water, and
they went to the master of the house where he
stopped. He took them up-stairs and showed them
a room with a table and couches, and all the cups
and dishes that they wanted for the supper.
Then Peter and John got some wine, and the
bread without leaven, and the bitter herbs, and had
the lamb killed all ready for the evening.
When the evening came, Jesus and his disciples
returned from Bethany, and went up into the room
where the supper was to be held.
Before they began to eat their supper, Jesus rose
from his place at table, and took off his robe or
upper coat, and tied a towel round his waist after
the fashion of a servant.
Then he took a jug and poured some water into
a basin, and began to wash his disciples' feet, and
to wipe them with the towel that was tied round
his waist. This act of Jesus astonished the disciples
very much.
That their Divine Master, whom they loved and
reverenced so greatly, should do for them such a
lowly service, may well have surprised them. Still
they held their tongues, and obeyed his wish by
allowing him to wash their feet. All but Peter —
132 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
he, with his usual hastiness, said, Lord, dost thou
wash my feet?
Jesus said : Yes, let me do it now, I will tell you
the reason why by and by.
But this did not satisfy Peter; he said, Thou
shalt never wash my feet.
Jesus reproved his self-will by saying, If I do not
wash your feet, you cannot be mine.
This was to teach Peter that every true disciple
must give up his own will entirely to Christ's will,
and that it is Jesus who makes the heart clean.
Peter was frightened at the idea of having no
part in Christ, so he cried out: If it is so, Lord,
wash not my feet alone, but also my hands and my
head.
No, replied Jesus, that would be too much. He
that has bathed does not need to be washed again,
excepting his feet.
Christ meant that as Peter had, according to the
usual custom, bathed before coming to the supper,
he was clean, excepting the dust that had come
upon his feet while walking along the road to the
house. This dust was what Jesus removed in wash-
ing his feet. Then Peter let Jesus do what he
wished.
When Jesus had finished washing all the disciples'
feet, he laid aside the towel, and put on his robe
again.
Now, he said : I will tell you why I have done
this. You call me your Master and Lord, and so
I am. If I, then, your Lord and Master, can do
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 133
kind and lowly acts of service for you, then you
ought to be willing to be kind and loving to one
another. Be humble and do not think yourselves
better than others. It is far better to wait upon and
do good to others than it is to be served yourselves.
If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do
them.
Jesus, having washed his disciples' feet, sat down
with them to supper. As they were eating, Jesus
talked to them. He seemed to be very sorry about
something.
What was it that troubled him so much? Was
it the thought of the cruel death he was about to
die?
No ; it was because he was sorry that Judas was
so wicked. He could hardly bear to think that any
one who had been like a friend so long should be
so false as to be willing to give him up into the
hands of his enemies.
At last he said out aloud: One of you, my dis-
ciples, will betray me.
Then they all looked at one another, for they
could not understand what Jesus meant. Judas
knew, for he was guilty, but the others did not
know. They all felt very grieved to think that
any one of them could be so wicked as to give up
his dear Master to those who wished to put him to
death. They wanted very much to know who it
was that could do this wicked deed, but they did
not like to ask Jesus. At last Peter whispered to
John, Do you ask Jesus who it is.
134 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHBIST.
John was the best loved of all the disciples, and
he was next to his Master at this supper.
You must not suppose that people in those East-
ern countries sat on chairs at their meals, as we do.
No; they leaned on couches or sofas, which were
placed round the table. They lay on one side, rest-
ing their left arm on the table, and their feet were
turned out away from the table. Sometimes two,
or even three people, would lie upon one couch,
and so the head of one came near to the bosom
of him who was reclining above him on the same
couch. It was John who was thus lying on Jesus'
breast now. He liked to be close to one whom he
loved so dearly, and he could speak many a lov-
ing word as he lay thus in the bosom of his
Master.
When Peter told John to ask Jesus who it was
that should betray him, John whispered to Jesus,
Lord, who is it?
Jesus whispered to John : It is he to whom I shall
give the morsel of lamb, when I have dipped it in
the sauce of bitter herbs.
It was Judas' turn to have the next morsel from
the hands of Jesus. Then John knew that it was
Judas who would betray Christ. Judas had seen
the whisperings, and his guilty conscience told him
that his intended sin was found out. As the others
seemed sorry, he pretended to be sorry too, and
asked Jesus very softly, Master, is it I?
Jesus answered, You have said rightly.
As soon as he had eaten what Jesus gave him,
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 135
Jesus said to him, Make haste, and do what you
mean to do.
Then Judas went away from the room out into
the night.
The disciples could not think what Jesus meant
by what he said to Judas. They thought, as Judas
kept the purse, that Jesus told him to go and buy
what they should want next day, or that he was to
give some money to the poor.
Judas knew that Jesus meant, As you have made
up your mind to betray me, do so soon.
Where did Judas go?
He went to the Jewish Council, and said : Jesus is
now at supper with his disciples in Jerusalem. He
will soon go from thence to the Mount of Olives.
There is a garden there to which he often goes. I
know the place well, and I will show it to you by
and by.
Then were they very glad, and promised to send
some of their servants, and some Eoman soldiers,
with Judas, to take him.
As soon as Judas had left the room, Jesus said :
I shall not be with you much longer. I shall want
you to remember me when I am gone ; I shall not
like you to forget me.
Jesus broke one of the thin cakes of passover
bread into small pieces, and said : Look at this
broken bread ; my body will soon be broken on the
cross for you : eat this, and think of me. Then he
gave thanks, and passed the bread round to them,
and they each ate one of the broken pieces.
136 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
After that he poured out some red wine into a
cup, and said : This wine is to remind you of my
blood, which is so soon going to be spilt for you :
drink it and think of me.
This blood of mine is like a seal to a new agree-
ment. Sacrifices need no more be offered, after my
body is offered as a sacrifice for sin. The blood of
no more lambs need be shed, after my blood is shed
for man's sin. After I am gone, when you eat
again of this bread and wine, be sure you think of
me. Think of my love in dying for you, think how
great must man's sin be to need such a sacrifice as
life.
This is the last meal that I shall eat with you.
Be sure you love one another when I am gone
away, even as I have loved you.
Peter said: Lord, where are you going? Jesus
answered : I am going where you cannot follow me ;
at least, not now. Peter said: Lord, why cannot I
follow you? I am willing to die for you.
Jesus said : All of you will forsake me; this very
night you will be afraid, and run away, and leave
me alone with my enemies.
Then Peter began to boast, and said : I am sure
I shall not leave you, even if all the others do. I
will lay down my life for your sake.
Jesus gently said: Will you lay down your life
for my sake? 0 Peter, Peter, before the cock crows
to-morrow morning, you will have said three times
that you do not even know me.
Peter said, again and again, that he was quite
THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN.
138 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
sure that Jesus was mistaken. So, too, all the dis-
ciples said.
Jesus then began to comfort his disciples. He
said : Do not be troubled because I go away from
you. I shall go back to my Father's house, and it
shall be your house too. I will get a place there
ready for you. I know you will like to be where I
am, and so you shall be. I myself will come for
you. Trust in me. While I have been with you
here, you have been used to ask me for what you
wanted. You may still ask me, pray to me for
anything, when I am gone away from you.
Be sure to do as I tell you, for if you love me,
you will keep my commandments.
I shall be very near to those who obey me, and
my Father will be near too ; as close as if we lived
in the same house with them.
My Father will send the Holy Spirit to you when
I am gone, and he will teach you many things that
you do not understand now ; and after I am dead,
he will help you to remember what I have taught
you while I was with you.
Then Jesus gave them his blessing ; he said : My
peace I give to you ; not such as the world gives,
give I to you. It is a real, true peace, that the
world knows nothing about; I give it only to my
disciples.
Jesus then said, Let us rise from the supper table,
and go away from this house; but he could not
leave off talking to and comforting his disciples.
How very great was his love and care for others, if
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 139
he could at such a time forget his own greater sor-
row in the grief that he knew his disciples would
feel when they found their Master roughly taken
from them. He prayed a last prayer with them,
and for them ; a beautiful prayer, in which he most
lovingly committed them to the care of his Heavenly
Father. They then sang a hymn, and went to the
Mount of Olives.
CHAPTER XV
THE AGOXY IN GETHSEMANE — BETEAYED BY JUDAS — JESUS
CAERIED BEFORE THE HIGH PRIEST
At the bottom of the Mount of Olives was a gar-
den ; it was called Gethsemane. The name means
an oil-press; for most likely near there the oil was
pressed out of the olives, ready for use.
The garden itself probably consisted of a grove of
olive-trees; and in that grove, among those large
trees, Jesus could pass many quiet hours unnoticed.
The olive-tree is very tenacious of life, and will
live to a great age. The tree is mentioned very
early in Scripture. It was with an olive leaf in her
mouth that the dove returned to Noah, apprizing
him thereby that the waters of the flood had abated.
It is often mentioned as indicating plenty, prosper-
ity, and strength.
When Jesus reached the garden, after his last
supper with his disciples, it was about midnight.
140 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHBIST.
The full moon was shining brightly but softly, and
the trees threw large dark shadows across the path.
There were many quiet spots for prayer in this
garden ; that was one reason why Jesus chose to go
to it so often.
Now this is his last visit to it, for his work on
earth is nearly done. He began this work by going
alone into the wilderness to pray; he prepares him-
self for its end by prayer too.
Jesus said to his disciples : I am going to pray ; I
wish you to stay here, while I go a little farther
into the garden. Peter, James, and John, you
three may come with me.
They went a little farther in, and Jesus said to
them : I feel full of the greatest sorrow, it is like a
heavy weight, that almost crushes me to death. I
am going to pray, I want you to pray too. Then
Jesus went a little way from them, and kneeled
down under the shadow of an olive-tree and prayed.
Great and bitter was the sorrow that filled his
soul. He grieved over the rage of his enemies, and
over the blindness of the people, who would not see
in him their Saviour. He also shrank at the
thought of his coming death. Death came into the
world through sin. Sin was the cause of all the
suffering in the world, and he was now about to
feel the punishment of sin for man's sake. The
reason of the great agony of Christ, no sinful man
can understand. Because Jesus was holy, he felt,
as none of us can feel, the exceeding sinfulness of
sin.
<• V <■'
.< '4>sS
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it
THE BETRAYAL BY JUDAS.
142 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
This was the chief cause of his present anguish
of spirit. He was now suffering for the world, and
the burden seemed heavier than he could bear. It
was like a bitter drink that he did not know how to
take.
He prayed: 0 my Father, thou canst do all
things; take away this cup from me; but if man-
kind can be saved in no other way ihan by my
drinking it, I will drink it all. Let it be as thou
wilt, not as I will.
Jesus then went to look at the three disciples;
they were not praying — they were not even awake
— no, they were fast asleep.
Jesus was grieved that they showed so little feel-
ing for him in his time of trouble. He remembered
Peter's boasting and said to him : What ! could you
not watch with me one hour?
He told ^hem all to keep awake and pray. Then
he went away Lhv second time and prayed again :
O my Father, if *jhis cup may not pass from me
except I drink it, thy will be done.
Again Jesus returned to the three disciples, and
again they were fast asleep. He left them and
went back to his place of prayer, and kneeling down
he prayed yet more earnestly in the same words as
before.
The conflict was over ; that sharp season of trial
in which his sweat was as drops of blood falling to
the ground. An angel from heaven came to com-
fort and strengthen him. He was now quite ready
to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 143
world. He know that this was the will of God —
the true end of the work that he came to do.
Jesus now returned to Peter, James, and John,
and found them asleep again. He said : You may
sleep on now; I will wake you no more to watch
and pray with me. Soon, however, your sleep will
be rudely broken, for my enemies are near. Al-
ready they are coming; arise, let us go hence.
A number of people now entered the garden.
They were the servants of the Jewish council, with
some Eoman soldiers, and Judas was among them.
The soldiers had swords, and the other men had
heavy sticks. They had lanterns and torches, to
look into the caves and corners, lest Jesus should
hide himself in them. They did not want them,
though; for it was quite light with the full moon,
and Jesus would not run away and hide himself.
Judas had said to the men beforehand: Whoever
I kiss, he is the person that you are to take ; hold
him fast.
Then he went up to Jesus and kissed him, and
said, Hail, Master!
Jesus said, Why have you come here?
He then went forward up to the men and did not
wait for them to find him out.
He said, Who is it that you want?
Jesus of Nazareth, they replied.
Jesus said, I am he.
As soon as he had said this, the men went back
and fell to the ground, struck by his calm, majestic
look. The servants of the Jewish council must
144 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
have known that he was a prophet, and the doer of
many wonderful works ; hence their fear.
Again Jesus asked, Whom seek ye?
Again they answered, Jesus of Nazareth.
I have told you before that I am he. I will go
with you, but I command you to let my disciples go
away.
How thoughtful and unselfish was the love of
Jesus, to care for the safety of his disciples in that
time of danger to himself.
They began to bind him, but they did not dare
to touch the disciples. Hasty Peter drew a sword,
intending to cut through the head of Malchus, who
was the High Priest's servant, but the sword
slipped, so he only cut off his ear. Jesus at once
touched his ear and made it quite well. It was the
ear of a man who was an enemy that Jesus healed.
He forgave injuries, he did not revenge them.
He turned to Peter and said: Put away your
sword. These men could not take me if I did not
willingly give myself up to them. If I were to ask
my Father, he would at once give me, instead of
you twelve apostles, more than twelve legions of
angels.*
But if I were to do so, how would the old writings
come true, which say I am to suffer and die? It is
my Father's wish, and my own wish too, to give
myself up now.
While the men were binding Jesus fast, He said:
Why do you come with swords to take me, as if I
* A Roman legion was composed of six thousand men.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 145
were a thief? When I was with you teaching in
the temple, you did not try to take me. You
thought the people would not let you have me, but
that j'ou would be sure of me if you came when I
was alone. But 3rou could not take me even now,
had the time not come when God allowed you to
do so.
Then all the disciples, when they saw Jesus thus
in the hands of his enemies, were afraid and ran
away, and left him quite alone. All, even boasting
Peter, fled.
The soldiers led Jesus away to the house of the
High Priest.
Peter soon followed, for he wanted to see what
the wicked men would do to Jesus. Another dis-
ciple was with him, and this disciple was known to
the High Priest. He spoke to the woman who
kept the door of the High Priest's house, and said :
Let this friend of mine come into the house with
me.
So Peter went into the hall. This was a square
yard or court, and the rooms of the house were built
on the sides of the open space.
The night was cold, so the servants made a fire
in the hall or court-yard, and Peter went to the fire
to warm himself.
Presently the woman who kept the door came to
the fire too. She looked very hard at Peter, and
said : Why, you are one of the disciples of Jesus of
Galilee!
Peter was frightened ; he did not want any one
10
146 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
to know that he belonged to Jesus, lest they should
kill him too. So he said before all the servants:
No, I am not; I do not even know the man about
whom you spoke.
Peter did not like to stay by the fire any longer ;
he went into the passage between the court-yard
and the street door. Then, after a little while,
some one else saw him and said : Surely, you are
one of the disciples of Jesus?
No, said Peter, you are mistaken ; I am not.
Peter went again into the hall, and about an hour
afterwards some one said : It is quite certain that
you are one of this man's disciples. You talk like
a man from Galilee; your speech is not like that of
the men of Jerusalem.
Then one of the servants of the High Priest, who
was a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut
off, said : Did I not see you in the garden with
Jesus? Yes, I am sure I did.
Peter was now more frightened than ever. He
began to curse and swear, and say: I don't know
what you mean; I know nothing about the man.
This was the third time that Peter had denied
that he knew Jesus, and directly afterwards he
heard a cock crow.
Then Peter remembered how he had boasted to
his Master that he loved him so dearly that he
would die for him. He remembered, too, how
Jesus had said that before the cock crew he would
have said three times that he did not even know
him.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 147
The door of the room where Jesus stood bound
was open, and Peter turned to look at him. Jesus
had heard the cock crow too, and he turned and
looked at Peter.
It was such a look! It was so full of sorrowing
love that Peter could not bear it. He went out of
the hall at once and began to cry as if his heart
would break. He really did love Jesus, and he felt
so sorry that, out of fear for himself, he had said
that he did not even know him.
Peter showed that his sorrow was real, for he was
never afraid to speak the truth after that. He
always owned that he knew and loved Jesus ; and
many years afterwards, he was willing to die for
Christ rather than give up preaching about him.
CHAPTER XVI
JESUS DELIVERED OVEK TO PILATE THE TRIAL BEFORE
PILATE HE SENDS HIM TO HEROD — HEROD INSULTS HIM
AND SENDS HIM BACK TO PILATE — JESUS AND BARABBAS
JESUS SCOURGED — THE DEATH OF JUDAS
As it was in the middle of the night that Jesus
was taken prisoner, they could not bring him before
the Jewish council until the early morning.
The High Priest, however, during the night asked
him many questions about his disciples, and about
his teachings.
148 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Jesus said : You might have known if you had
come to listen to me when I taught in the Jewish
places of worship, and in the temple, where all the
Jews came to hear. Why do you ask me if I have
said anything wrong? Ask those who have heard
me whether I have said anything contrary to the
truth.
Then one of the officers hit Jesus on the face, and
said : Don't speak so to the High Priest.
Jesus quietly said : If I have spoken what was
wrong, prove it ; if not, you should not smite me.
As soon as ever it was day the Chief Priests, and
Scribes, and Pharisees met together in council, and
brought Jesus before them, to ask him questions
before they condemned him to death.
Many wicked men came forward to say that they
had heard Jesus teach wrhat was wrong. One,
however, said one thing, and another something
else, so thejr contradicted each other, and their wit-
ness against Jesus was of no use.
Jesus stood quite still. When he heard all these
things said of him, he did not get angry and say:
You are telling untruths about me.
Then the High Priest stood up in the midst of the
council, and said to Jesus: Do you hear what these
men say about you? Why do you not tell us
whether they are speaking truth or falsehood?
But Jesus held his tongue and answered nothing.
The High Priest then said : I command you, in
the name of the living God, to tell us whether you
are or are not the Son of God.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 149
Then Jesus said : If I say I am it is of no use ; you
know }rou do not mean to let me go free again.
Soon, however, you will see me prove that I am the
Son of God, for my kingdom will spread, and you
cannot hinder it.
All of them said to him : Then you really mean to
say that you are the Son of God ?
I do, said Jesus; it is quite true.
The High Priest rent his robes, to show his great
horror that Jesus should have spoken what he
called blasphemy. To blaspheme is to speak irrev-
erently of God, and they thought that Jesus, whom
they looked upon as only a poor man, did not speak
of God with reverence when he said that he was
God's Son.
They said : We need not call any more witnesses
to tell us whether they have heard him teach wrong
things, for we have heard him ourselves speak
against God, and pretending to be his Son. He
teaches falsely, and he must be put to death.
The Jews, as I told you before, were conquered
by the Eomans, who did not allow them to put any
one to death without their leave.
Less punishment than death the Jews might give
themselves, but they did not want to send Jesus to
prison, nor to scourge him ; they wanted him to be
put to death.
They said: We must take him to the Eoman
Governor Pilate: what shall we tell him is his
fault? Pilate will never put him to death because
he says that he is the Son of God — for Pilate is a
150 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CUBIST.
heathen, and does not care anything about our God.
We must find out something else to say against
him. They thought a little while, and then they
said: We will tell Pilate that he pretends to be a
king, that he tells the people not to pay taxes to the
Boman government, and that he goes about from
one part of the country to another teaching the peo-
ple to rebel against the emperor. Pilate will listen
to this story of treason against the government,
though he will not care about false religious teach-
ing. As soon as Pilate goes into the judgment-hall
in the morning we will take Jesus to him.
While they were thus talking, they gave up Jesus
to their servants, who ill-treated him.
They covered over his eyes, so that he could not
see; then they hit him, and said: You pretend to
be the Son of God, and to know all things; if this
is true, you can tell us who it is that hits you,
though you cannot see.
But Jesus wTas calm and gentle, and spoke not a
single word. They spat upon his face, they beat
him about, they laughed at him, and looked at him
with eyes full of hatred. They were like wild beasts ;
but Jesus was quiet as a lamb.
The Chief Priests, and Scribes, and Pharisees
now led Jesus to the judgment-hall to Pilate, that
he might try Jesus as a prisoner and condemn him
to death.
They would not go into the hall themselves, but
stood outside. They wanted to eat the Passover
that evening, and they said that they should not be
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 151
able to do so, as they would be defiled if they
entered the house of a heathen. Just as if their
evil passions of hatred and anger did not make
them more unclean and unfit for this religious ser-
vice than going into the house of a Eoman and a
heathen would do.
Pilate, therefore, went outside the hall to speak
to the Jewish council. He said to them : Why have
you brought this man Jesus to me?
They answered : Should we have brought him to
you, if he were not an evil-doer?
Pilate said : I have not heard of any disturbance
of the public peace caused by him; I expect that
}'ou do not like him, and have brought him here
because you cannot agree with him on some point
of your religion. You had better settle this matter
among yourselves, so take him and judge him
according to your own laws.
This, however, did not suit the Jewish council.
They replied : The emperor will not let us put any
one to death without your leave, and we want to
have this man punished by death.
Pilate then went back again into the judgment-
hall, and called Jesus to him to question him again.
Are you the king of the Jews?
Jesus answered : Do you ask me because you your-
self think that I am, or because my enemies tell you
that lam?
Pilate said : I only repeat what your own nation
have said to me. What have you done to make
them say so?
152 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CUEIST.
Jesus answered : I am a king, but not in the sense
in which you, a Roman, will understand me. My
kingdom will not interfere with the kings of earth.
If my kingdom were of this world, then my ser-
vants would fight for me, as do the soldiers of
earthly kings for them ; and then the Jews would
not have been able to take me and bring me before
you.
Then you mean to say that you are a king? said
Pilate.
Yes, Jesus replied; I was born into the world
that I might set up a kingdom in the souls of men.
All that love truth, obey my laws and mind my
teaching.
Love truth! cried Pilate; what is truth? Is
there such a thing?
But Pilate did not wait for an answer. He cared
only for the things of this world, such as riches,
and ease, and fame. He cared nothing for the
world to come — the world we cannot see — nor for
truth, and holiness, and God.
He did not care to hear what truth was, but
went outside the hall to the Jewish council. He
thought that Jesus was a verjr harmless man, with
some strange notions on religion, but not guilty of
trying to set up a kingdom to overthrow the Roman
government. He therefore said, I can find no fault
with this man Jesus.
Then they all cried out fiercely, some one thing
and some another, but all speaking against Jesus.
Pilate turned to Jesus and said : Do you hear all
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS.
154 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
these things that the people cry out against you?
What answer can you give to their charges?
But Jesus never spoke a word, so that Pilate
wondered exceedingly.
Then they cried out again : He misleads the people
from Galilee to Judea.
Galilee, did you say? asked Pilate.
Yes, they said ; he was brought up at Nazareth
in Lower Galilee.
Then he belongs to a place of which Herod is the
governor; I will send Jesus to him.
So Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, who was now come
up to Jerusalem to attend the Passover.
Herod had long wanted to see Jesus, and he was
very glad that Pilate had sent him. He had heard
so much of the wonders that Jesus had done while
he lived in Galilee that he was very curious to see
him work some miracle now.
But it was no part of the Saviour's work to
satisfy a vain curiosity.
Herod did not want to learn the truth when he
asked Jesus about his teaching, so he answered none
of his idle questions.
The Chief Priests and Scribes had followed Jesus
to Herod, and began loudly to complain of him.
What a difference between all their angry noise
and the Saviour's calmness!
Herod was vexed with Jesus, because he would
not work a wonder just to please him, nor answer
any of his idle questions ; so he and his soldiers be-
gan to mock him. They threw a beautiful white
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 155
robe over him, such as the Jewish kings wore, and
laughed at him, and said: Are you a king? Thus
robed, Herod sent him back to Pilate.
When Pilate saw Jesus brought back from
Herod, he called together the Jewish council and
said : You have brought this man to me as a person
who misleads the people. I have questioned him,
but I can find no fault in him with regard to those
things for which you blame him. I have sent him
to Herod, as you know, and he says, too, that he
can see no reason why Jesus should be put to death.
I will therefore have him whipped, and let go.
You know that I always release a prisoner to you
in honor of the feast of the Passover.
Yes, they replied, do so now, according to custom.
I will, said Pilate; you know that there is a man,
named Barabbas, now in prison for robbery and
murder. Choose, then, whom I shall let go free,
Barabbas, or he who is called your king.
The Chief Priests had told the multitude to ask
for Barabbas, so the vast crowd cried, as with the
voice of one man: Away with this Jesus, and set
Barabbas free !
Pilate was a Eoman judge, he knew that it was
his duty to punish the guilty and set free the inno-
cent. So he ought to have done what he knew to
be right, and let Jesus go instead of listening to his
enemies. He had a great many soldiers, who could
soon have sent all these wicked people away. Pilate
thought: If I do not please them, they will write to
the Eoman emperor, and tell him of the many cruel
156 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
things I have done to them, and then perhaps
Caesar will not let me be governor any longer, and
perhaps he will kill me. Pilate was afraid to do
right, and this wicked fear led him to the great
crime of allowing the Saviour to be put to death.
Pilate spoke again to the people: This man is
innocent, but Barabbas is guilty, let Jesus go
free.
The only reply was: Crucify him, crucify him!
For the third time Pilate said: I have found no
reason why he should be crucified, but I will have
him whipped.
That will not do! they cried. He is a false
prophet, he has deceived us, he must be crucified.
Pilate found that all he said was useless, for the
crowd became more and more noisy.
Then he called for some water, and washed his
hands before them all, and said : I wash my hands,
to show you that I am innocent of the blood of this
good man. If you will have him put to death, the
fault is yours.
Then all the people said : If we put him to death
as an innocent man, let us and let our children bear
the blame. We will answer for his blood.
What an awful speech! Not many years after
they had crucified the Saviour the Eoman soldiers
came and pulled down all the houses and streets of
Jerusalem, and put many thousands of Jews to
death by crucifixion. The Jews ever since then
have had no home in their own land, but have
wandered about living in strange countries.
JESUS CARRIES THE CROSS.
158 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Pilate now gave Jesus to the soldiers that they
might scourge him. They took him away into the
common hall, and the whole band came together to
see him scourged, and to mock him. They took off
his robes, so as to lay bare his back, and whipped
him with ropes tied in knots till the blood ran
down, and his back was dreadfully cut and sore.
Then they put on him a cloak of purple or red, of
the same color as the robes of the Eoman emperor.
They then said: Our king must have a crown, so
they twisted a thorny plant into a wreath, and put
it on his head.
Our king must have a sceptre, said they, mock-
ingly ; so they took a reed and put it in his hands.
Then they bowed the knee before him, and said
with rude laughter: 0 king of the Jews!
They mocked him, they beat him with their
hands, they spat upon his face, and took the sceptre
out of his hands to hit him on the head.
Pilate now went out to the people, and said : I
will bring Jesus to you again.
Then he brought out Jesus, all bleeding as he
was, dressed out with the purple cloak and crowned
with thorns.
Behold the man ! he cried ; can you believe that
he would wish to make himself king?
Pilate hoped they would be sorry when they saw
him looking so sad, with all the cruel marks of the
ill-treatment of the soldiers. But, no, they had no
pity. Jesus had pity for every one, but no one had
pity on him.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 159
They cried out fiercely : Crucify him, crucify him !
You must crucify him yourselves, then, said
Pilate, for I see no reason why I should do so.
The Jews replied: The emperor wishes you to
govern us by our own laws, and by our own laws
he ought to die. He has spoken against God. He
says that he is the Son of God.
Pilate then was exceedingly afraid ; he asked
Jesus: From whence then do you come? Are vou
the Son of God?
He might well think that there was something
God-like in the prisoner before him.
No man would have so meekly borne pain, and
insult, and injury. He never defended himself
from the evil speaking of his enemies, and his ma-
jestic calmness was in bright contrast to the haste,
and hate, and violence of his enemies.
To the question, Are you the Son of God? Jesus
gave no reply. The worldly heathen Pilate could
not understand in what sense he wished to be
thought the Son of God.
Again Pilate wondered at his strange silence.
Why do you not answer me? he asked. Do you
not know that I have power to crucify you, or
power to set you free?
You could have no power to take my life, replied
Jesus, did not God will, for his own wise purpose,
that I should die.
When Pilate heard this, he tried more earnestly
to save him, but the Jews cried out: If you let this
man go, you are not true to the Emperor Caesar;
160 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
for whoever makes himself a king, as Jesus does,
is an enemy to Caesar.
Then Pilate sat down in the judgment-seat in the
outer paved court ; but before he gave him up to the
soldiers he tried once more to save him.
He said : Look on your king.
They cried with fearful madness: Away with
him, away with him! crucify him, crucify him!
For the last time, Pilate said: Shall I crucify
your king? They said: We have no king but
Caesar.
There was not a man there who did not hate the
very name of the emperor, yet they cried out for
him, because they hated the Saviour more. Pilate
saw it was useless to speak to them again, so he
said to the soldiers: Take Jesus away and crucify
him.
Judas, who betrayed Christ, heard Pilate sentence
Jesus to death ; he saw him led away by the Eoman
soldiers to be crucified.
He felt very miserable and unhappy to think that
he had told the Chief Priests where to find Jesus.
Perhaps he thought that Jesus would be sure to get
away from his enemies, as he knew that he could
do anything; but now, when he saw him led away
to death, he could bear it no longer.
He went to the Chief Priests and Elders, and
said : I have brought back the thirty silver pieces; I
cannot keep this money, for it is the price of the
life of an innocent man.
Pilate, the judge, had said that Christ was inno-
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 161
cent; now the man who betrayed him said the
same
The Chief Priests ought to have sent after Jesus
at once to stop his death, and say that a mistake
had been made.
But these wicked men, when they heard what
Judas said, only replied : It is nothing to us if he is
innocent, we care only to have him killed.
Then Judas threw down the money on the floor;
he had gained it in such a wicked way that he
dared not keep it.
The Chief Priests took up the money, and said :
We must not use it for God's temple-service, be-
cause it is the price given for a man's life; we will
buy some ground with it, to make a burying-place
for strangers. So they bought a field with the
money.
Judas went away as soon as he had thrown down
the money. He felt so full of misery that he went
and hanged himself.
I suppose he tied a rope round his neck, and then
fastened the other end of the rope to a tree. After-
wards the rope broke, and Judas fell down and his
body burst. Such was the sad end of a covetous
man.
The soul of Judas went to its own place, to that
place in the unseen world for which his life h*ve
would make him most fit.
11
CHAPTER XVII
THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH OF JESUS
After Pilate had passed sentence on Jesus, the
soldiers took off the clothes in which they had
dressed him up and put his own on him again.
They led him out of Jerusalem to a little hill close
by, called Calvary. It was the place where evil-
doers were put to death.
They laid upon Jesus the cross to which they were
going to nail him, but after he had carried it a little
way he could bear it no longer. The cross was
heavy, and he was weak and faint.
You know that, the evening before, he had gone
through that dreadful agony in the garden. Since
then, his disciples had run away from him, Peter
had denied him, the Jewish council had vexed him
with questions, Pilate and Herod had tried him,
their servants had mocked him, and the soldiers had
cut his back with their heavy scourges, and crowned
his head with thorns. He had had no sleep all
night long; no wonder that his strength was gone.
The very soldiers now took pity on him when
they saw how weary he was, and they made a man
named Simon carry his cross for him.
As they walked along a great many people went
with them to see the crucifixion.
Some of them were very sorry for Jesus; there
were' women there who cried bitterly.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 163
In all his suffering, Jesus ever had an ear for
the sorrow of others. As he heard their cries he
turned round and said most kindly : Do not cry for
me, cry for yourselves and for your children. Jesus
knew that very soon God would send a heavy woe
to the Jewish nation, because of their sins, espe-
cially that sin of putting him to death.
At last they come to Calvary. Two thieves are
there, to he crucified at the same time as Jesus —
one on his right hand, and one on his left.
The soldiers offer Jesus wine, mixed with some-
thing to take away his senses, so that he may not
feel the pain of dying. Jesus is burning with fever-
ish thirst, so he takes the offered wine, but he will
not drink it when he finds what is mixed with it.
He wishes to know all that happens while he is dy-
ing; he will not shrink from any of the pain.
The soldiers take off nearly all his clothes, and
lift him up to the cross. They tie him to it first,
and they put nails into his tender hands and feet,
and hammer them into the wood of the cross.
The sight of all this agony does not move his
enemies to pity; but even now, when Pilate has
granted their wish, they cannot leave off mocking
him.
See! the lips of Jesus move in prayer. What
does he say? Father, punish my enemies for their
cruelty and wickedness? No! that is not what he
says. The words are very wonderful, — he prays:
Father, forgive them ; they know not what they do.
The soldiers meanwhile divide his clothes among
164 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
themselves; then they sit down and watch the
cross, the multitude standing around.
Pilate had written on a piece of parchment, which
was afterwards nailed on the cross, the reason why
Jesus was put to death ; namely, because he said
he was a king. He wrote it in three languages —
Hebrew, the tongue of the Jews ; Greek, the tongue
of the people who lived in Greece; and Latin, the
tongue of the Romans. This was done that every
one might be able to read it in his own speech.
The words Pilate wrote were these: This is Jesus
the King of the Jews. The Chief Priests did not
like this; they said to Pilate: Write, not the King
of the Jews, but that he said, I am the King of the
Jews. But Pilate said : I will not alter what I have
written.
The people who read this parchment, as it there
hangs nailed over the head of the Saviour, laugh at
the would-be king. Come down from the cross,
they cry, if you are a king ! You who cured the
blind, you who healed the sick, you who raised the
dead, you who saved others, save yourself now!
Ah, you cannot! If you are the Son of God, God
will not leave you to die on the cross. Come down,
and we will believe on you.
Suppose Jesus had come down, suppose Jesus had
saved himself — why, then he could not have saved
the world. He chose to die that sinners might live.
On each side of Jesus is a cross ; a thief is nailed
on each. One of them is grown so hardened in
wicked ways that he mocks at the Holy One beside
JESUS NAILED TO THE CROSS.
166 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
him. Yes, even in dying he cannot leave off scof-
fing. But the other one is sorry. He reproves the
mocker, and says: You and I hang on this cross as
a punishment for our evil doings ; we deserve to die ;
but Jesus has done nothing amiss. Then he turns
to Jesus, and says: Lord, remember me when thou
comest into thy kingdom.
The poor thief believed that Jesus was a Heavenly
king, though he was crucified like a sinner. Jesus
attends at once to his prayer, and promises him
bliss. He says: To-day you shall be with me in
Paradise.
At the foot of Christ's cross three women stand,
watching with aching hearts the dying Saviour.
One of them is Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Things that she had treasured up in her heart
ever since he was a baby she thinks of now. She
thinks of the angel's words, Hail, Mary, you are
more blessed than any woman, when he came to
tell her that God would send her a baby who would
be the Son of God.
She remembers how the shepherds came to him
when he lay in the manger, and how they had heard
the angels sing his cradle soug. She thinks of the
wise men who came a long, long journey to worship
the Infant King. She thinks of his obedient, sin-
less boyhood, his constant love to her. She thinks
of him when he was grown up, how disease fled at
his touch, how raging seas were calm at his word,
bow devils owned his power, how the grave gave up
its dead at his command. These thoughts pierced
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 167
her heart like swords. There he hangs dying a
shameful death. Oh, why?
Mary understood the reason much better soon
afterwards, but her mother's heart is nearly break-
ing now. The sight of her grief pains Jesus too.
He sees close by him John, his best-loved disciple;
so he says to his mother, Behold your son ; and to
John, Behold your mother.
John knew what Jesus meant, and from that time
he took Mary home with him, to live with him as
his own mother. How full of love and thought for
others was Jesus to the very last !
What is this strange darkness, coming on at mid-
day, as if night were near? Why does the sun hide
his light, as if he would not shine upon such an
awful deed as the crucifixion of the Son of God?
The darkness deepens as the end draws near; for
three hours the whole land is covered with gloom.
One loud cry of agony now bursts from the lips
of the sufferer: My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?
All the meaning of those awful words we cannot
tell. Jesus felt that bitter sorrow that we might
never know it.
Burning with thirst, the Saviour asks for a cool-
ing drink. The soldiers offer him some of their own
wine. They fill a sponge with it and put it to his
lips. Jesus drinks it, and speaks for the last time.
The words are no words of sorrow now, but of tri-
umph. It is finished. Yes! the work he came
down from Heaven to do is all done now.
168 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
He bows his head, he dies!
Now the earth quakes, the rocks are rent, the
veil in the Jewish temple, before the Holy of Holies
is rent asunder; — old things are passed away.
It was nine when Jesus was nailed to the cross;
it was three o'clock in the afternoon when he died
— the very hour when the Jews began to kill the
passover lamb. Behold the Lamb of God !
CHAPTER XVIII
THE BURIAL OF JESUS — THE WOMEN AT THE TOMB — " HE
IS RISEN " — APPEARS TO MARY MAGDALENE
It was about three o'clock on Friday afternoon
when Jesus died. The Jewish Sabbath began at
sunset that evening.
The Jews said : It is against our law to have any
one hanging, either dead or dying, on the cross on
a Sabbath-day ; we must bury the bodies of Jesus
and of the thieves before night.
They went to Pilate, and said : Will you bid your
soldiers break the legs of those evil-doers so as to
kill them quite, that we may be able to bury them
before our Sabbath begins?
Then Pilate told his soldiers to do as the people
wished. They went to one thief; he was not dead,
so they broke his legs, and that killed him ; then
THE CRUCIFIXION.
170 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
they went to the other thief, and broke his legs, so
that he died. They then went to Jesus, but he was
dead already, so they did not break his legs.
Then came true the old prophecy: A bone of
him shall not be broken. The Jews never broke a
bone of their passover lamb, which, as I have before
told you, was a type of Christ. This lamb was a
whole sacrifice offered up to God.
But though they did not break the legs of Jesus,
3Tet a soldier, to make quite sure that he was dead,
pierced his side, and there came out of the wound
made by the spear blood and water.
You remember how the evening before, when
Jesus sat at supper with his disciples, that he poured
out some wine and said : Drink this, to remind you
of my blood which will be shed for your sins.
The blood is shed now.
The bodies of the thieves were taken down from
their crosses, and buried in a place set apart for
evil-doers. But the body of Jesus was not buried
there. When he was alive, he gave his life for the
sin of the world; when he died, he died as a sinner,
for sinners. His sacrifice is offered, God has ac-
cepted it now. He will no more be treated as an
evil-doer.
Seven hundred years before, the prophet Isaiah
said that when the Saviour came he would be put
to death with evil-doers, and be counted one of
them, but that his grave would be that of a rich
man's. How this old prophecy came true I will tell
you.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 171
In the Jewish council there were one or two good
men who loved Jesus, and would not consent to
what the others did when they wished to put him
to death. One of these was named Joseph of Ari-
mathea, and another Nicodemus, who once came to
talk to Jesus by night.
Joseph was very rich, as well as good and just.
He went to Pilate and said : Will you give me the
body of Jesus, so that I may bury it?
Pilate said : I should not think that he is dead yet,
for people do not generally die so quickly as that
when they are crucified, but I will call the captain
of the soldiers and ask him.
Then Pilate asked: Is it true that Jesus of Naz-
areth is dead? Yes, he is quite dead, the captain
replied.
Then you may have the body, said Pilate to
Joseph. So Joseph and his servants took down the
body of Jesus from the cross very carefully. They
washed off all the blood-stains from his brow, his
side, his hands, and his feet. Then Nicodemus
came, with a large quantity of costly spices, which
smelt very sweetly, to cover over the body of Je-
sus, so as to prevent its turning bad. Then they
wrapped it round with clean fine linen cloths, and
carried it to Joseph's tomb.
This tomb was in a garden. It was quite new;
no one had been buried in it before. It was cut out
of a rock. When they had laid the body of Jesus
in the tomb they rolled a very large stone to the
opening, so that no one could get in.
172 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Some women, who were friends of Jesus, had
watched him when he hung upon the cross; now
they watched where his body was laid. They said
to one another : As soon as the Sabbath is over, we
will come to the grave, and rub the body of Jesus
with sweet ointment. Then they went home, to
get the things ready to make it.
The enemies of Jesus did not like that he should
be buried in such a sweet, quiet place, all by himself.
They went to Pilate early the next morning, and
said : Sir, that deceiver, Jesus, said when he was
alive, After three days I shall live again. Will you
let us have some soldiers to guard the tomb for
three days? — for perhaps his disciples will come by
night and steal away the body, and then say, He
has risen from the dead. That deceit will be the
worst of all.
Pilate said : You may have a guard of soldiers,
so as to make all as safe as you can.
So they went away, and set some Eoman soldiers
to watch the grave. They put the seal of the
Eoman governor on the stone at the mouth of the
grave. No one could now move it away without
breaking the seal.
If the disciples had come to the guard and said,
Let us have the body of Jesus, they would have re-
plied, No, you will break the seal if you move the
stone, and the governor would know it, and we
should be punished.
On Friday evening Jesus was laid in the quiet
grave; all Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, he lay
THE ANGEL AT THE SEPULCHER.
174 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
there. The place was guarded well, by seal, by-
stone, by soldiers ; and bright angels watched within
the tomb at the Saviour's head and feet.
As they looked at that pale and silent face, they
could see in it no sign of pain. All suffering from
men, and for men, was past forever. The scourged
back, the wounded brow, the torn hands and feet,
the pierced side do not hurt him now.
He rests from this labor of redeeming men, as
God rested from creating on the first Sabbath day,
thousands of years ago.
The Sabbath that Jesus lay in the grave was no
rest-day for the broken-hearted disciples. They
were filled with grief to think that their dear Master
was dead. They had lived with him long, and loved
him much. They could hardly believe that One
whom they had seen work such wonders, and even
make dead men live, should at last have to die
himself. All their hopes are gone now that the
Master is dead. There is no one to teach them now.
Soon, however, their sorrow will be turned into
joy. The dark night is passing away, and before
the dawn of the morning of the first day of the
week, Jesus will have left his grave.
Jesus lay in the tomb from Friday evening until
Sunday morning. Just before the break of day,
there was a great earthqake. An angel of God
came down from Heaven to the tomb of the Saviour.
He broke the seal, he rolled away the stone from
the opening of the grave and sat upon it. His face
was bright as the lightning, his robes were pure and
A CHILD 9S LIFE OF CHRIST. 175
white like snow. The soldiers dared not look at him,
the}r shook with fright: they could no more move
to hinder the angel than if they were all dead men.
Jesus left the tomb — he was alive again — even as
he said he should be.
His enemies could not keep him in the grave,
when he chose to take his life again. In vain had
they sent a guard of brave soldiers to watch the
tomb; they were weak as dead men. In vain had
they sealed the great stone that lay before the
grave; they could not hinder God's angel from
rolling it away.
The soldiers went to the Chief Priests, and told
them what had happened. They told the Jewish
elders, and all of them said : Do not tell any one
what you have told us ; here is a large sum of money
for you to keep quiet and hush up the story. If
any one should ask questions, say the disciples came
in the night, and stole away the body when we
were asleep. The soldiers did as they were bid;
they took the money and told the lie.
As soon as ever the sun rose, the women, who
had been getting ready the sweet ointment to rub
the body of Jesus, came with it to the grave.
As they walked along they said: Whom shall we
get to move away the great stone that is rolled be-
fore the grave?
They did not know that the enemies of Jesus had
sent some soldiers to hinder any one from moving
away the stone. The soldiers, however, were gone
away.
176 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
At last the women came to the grave, but the
great stone was rolled away !
Then they went into the grave, but they did not
see the body of Jesus. Somebody has stolen him
away ! they exclaimed with anxiety.
Then Mary of Magdala, who was one of the
women, ran away from the grave to tell Peter and
John. She said to them: They have taken away
the Lord out of the grave, and we know not where
they have laid him.
While Mary was gone, the other women stood
wondering at the empty grave.
As they stood there, two bright angels in shining
robes came to their side.
The women, afraid, bowed down before them.
One of the angels said: Do not fear; I know
you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He
is not here, he is risen, as he said. Come, see the
place where the Lord lay. Do you not remember,
when he was teaching you in Galilee, how he said,
that he must be given up into the hands of wicked
men, who would crucify him, but that the third
day he should rise again ?
Then, when the angels reminded them, the
women remembered these words of Jesus.
Now, go quick]}7, said the angels, and tell the
disciples that the Lord has risen.
Then the women, with fear and joy, went as fast
as they could from the grave, to tell the disciples
what they had seen and heard.
As they went along they met Jesus himself. He
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 177
spoke to them first, and then they worshipped him.
They knelt at his feet and held him fast, in their
joy at once more seeing their Lord.
Jesus said : Go, tell my brethren that they shall
see me soon, for I am risen from the dead.
They then found the disciples, and told them the
good news that Christ was risen. The news seemed
to the disciples too good to be true. They said : It
is like an idle tale; we cannot believe you, you
must be mistaken.
Now, while the women had gone to tell the rest
of the disciples, Peter and John, who, I suppose,
lived together in another part of Jerusalem from
where the rest lodged, went with Mary of Magdala
to see the grave.
John ran the fastest, and he reached the grave
first. He did not go into the grave ; he only looked
in, and saw nothing but the linen clothes. Then
Peter came up, and he went right into the grave.
He saw no body, only the clothes neatly folded up.
Then John went into the grave too; he thought, if
any one had taken a"way the dead body, they would
have carried it away in the grave-clothes ; but here
they were, not lying on the ground as if they had
fallen off, but neatly folded as if they had been
taken off. He thought of what Jesus had said
about his rising again, and he began to believe it
was true.
Peter and John now went back to their own
home, but Mary stayed by the empty grave, weep-
ing. As she wept, she stooped down to look again
12
178 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
into the tomb, and she saw two angels, one sitting
at the head, the other at the feet, where the body
of Jesus had lain.
They kindly asked her: Woman, why do you
weep? She answered: They have taken away my
Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.
He, who always comforted the mourner, was
near her now, but she knew it not.
She turned round, when a man said to her:
Woman, why do you weep? What are you look-
ing for?
She thought he was the gardener, and said:
Sir, if you have taken him out of the tomb, tell me
where you have laid him, and I will take him away.
The man said: Mary! That one word was
enough — she knew that tone so well. She turned
to him, and said: Master! Now her sorrow was
turned into joy.
He said : You must not think that you can keep
me on earth, for I shall soon go to Heaven, to be
with my Father and your Father, with my God and
your God. Go and tell my brethren this.
Jesus had before told the other women to say to
the disciples that he had risen from the dead; and,
lest they should think that he had returned to stay
with them on earth always, he told Mary to say
that he should soon leave them on earth to go up
into Heaven.
Mary then went to the disciples with the message
of Jesus, but they said : We cannot think what
you say is true; you must be mistaken.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST, 179
CHAPTER XX
JESUS APPEARS TO TWO DISCIPLES OX THEIR WALK TO
EMMAUS, AND TO THE OTHER DISCIPLES — DOUBTING
THOMAS — BLESSES THE DISCIPLES AND TELLS THEM TO
PREACH THE GOSPEL
On the afternoon of the day that Jesus left the
grave, there were two men walking to the village
of Emraaus, which was a short distance from Jeru-
salem. These men were the disciples of Jesus, but
were not of the number of the twelve apostles.
As they walked along, they talked of all the
strange things that had happened in Jerusalem dur-
ing the last few days.
While they were talking, a stranger came up to
them and said : May I know what it is that you
are talking about so earnestly? You seem to be
very sad.
They said : We are talking about Jesus. Surely,
if you are only a stranger here, and have lodged in
Jerusalem but one night, you must have heard
something of him, for every one is talking about him.
Tell me something about him, said the strange
man. Then one of them began: Jesus of Naza-
reth was a wonderful prophet, and worked many
miracles. No one ever spoke as he did, and his
teachings were not like those of the Scribes and
Pharisees. Many people believed in him, but the
chief priests and our rulers hated him. They con-
180 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
demned him to death, and last Friday he was cru-
cified.
We are very sad at this, because we hoped that
he was the promised Saviour, but now we are
afraid that he is not.
It is three days ago since he was put to death.
Some women whom we know went to his grave
this morning, and said that they could not find his
body. They told us, too, that they had seen two
angels, who said that he was alive! Peter and
John, two of his disciples, went to the grave too, and
they found the grave empty as the women had said,
but they did not see Jesus. All these things puz-
zle us very much; we do not know what to believe.
The stranger said: Think over what your old
prophets have written, hundreds of years ago, about
Christ. Did they tell you that he would come as a
great king? No, they said, he would be meek and
lowly, that men would not own him, but would
think meanly of him. They said he would be a
man of sorrows, and know well what it was to
grieve.
They told you, too, that Christ must suffer and
die, for he came to be the Saviour, not of the Jews
alone, but of all the world. He was to save it by
dying for it.
Do you not remember that it is written : He was
wounded for our sins, he was bruised for our iniqui-
ties; by his stripes we are healed, and the Lord
hath laid on him the punishment of us all?
Many other things did the stranger say. He told
THE JOURNEY TO EMMAUS.
182 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CUBIST.
them what Moses had written of Christ, fourteen
hundred years before; what David had said in the
Psalms of him, and how the prophets had told long
beforehand of those things which had just hap-
pened at Jerusalem.
See how true all this is of Jesus of Nazareth, and
still believe in him as the promised Christ. Do not
be cast down because he was crucified, for it was
necessary that he should suffer all these things, to
save the world, before he entered into glory.
The two friends listened very earnestly to the
stranger, and they began to understand the old
sacred writings in a new way.
The road to Emmaus did not seem long to them,
they were so interested in his talk. At last they
reached the village, and the stranger seemed as if
he were going farther on.
Oh, do not leave us, they said ; stay with us, for
the day is nearly gone.
They wanted to hear more of his gracious words,
for they brought hope and comfort to their sorrow-
ing hearts.
When they sat down to take some food, the
stranger took up a piece of bread. He asked a
blessing, and then gave the bread to the two men.
All at once, by this well-remembered act, they knew
the Lord. He was a stranger to them no longer,
for often had he before thus given them food. It is
the Lord ! they cried.
They looked to where he sat, but the seat was
empty, the Lord was gone from their sight!
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 183
They said to one another : Did not his words make
our hearts very warm and glad, while he explained
the Scriptures to us as we walked along the road?
It is true that the Lord has risen from the dead.
This news was too good to keep to themselves ;
they longed to make others as glad as Jesus had
made them.
Though the day was nearly gone, they went back
to Jerusalem that very hour, to tell the disciples
that they had seen the Lord. They found them in
a room, with the door locked, lest their enemies
should come in and interrupt them. All the eleven
were there, except Thomas. As soon as they had
let the two friends into the room, they said to them:
Jesus has risen from the dead ; some women have
seen him, and so has Peter. (How kind of Jesus to
go to Peter before he went to any of the other
apostles! Perhaps he said: I forgive you, Peter,
for denying me.)
Then the two friends said, We have seen Jesus
too ; and they told them how sweetly he had talked
to them ; but that they thought he was a stranger,
until he gave them the bread.
While they were talking together, Jesus stood
before them, and said : Peace be unto you. They
were all very much frightened, for how could he
get into the room — the door was locked? They
thought it was the spirit, not the body, of Jesus
that they saw. Jesus had pity on their fears; so
to quiet them, he said : Come and touch me, look
at my hands and my feet, for it is I myself. You
184 A CHILD 9S LIFE OF CHBIST.
cannot see a spirit, as you can see me ! Then the
disciples looked at his hands and his feet, and saw
the mark where the nails had been. Still they could
hardly believe for joy and wonder.
Jesus said: Have you anything here that you can
give me to eat? They gave him some broiled fish
and some honeycomb, and Jesus ate them.
So they believed that it was indeed the body of
Jesus that was raised from the dead, and not his
spirit, that they saw. Then Jesus told them why
he had died, and he said that when he was gone
back to heaven, they must go and teach everybody
what he had taught them.
The same day at evening the risen Lord ap-
peared again to his disciples, who were assembled
with closed doors for fear of the Jews. When the
apostle Thomas, who was not present, wras told of
this, he said, Except I shall see in his hands the
prints of the nails, and put my finger into the prints
of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I
will not believe.
A week later, the disciples were again met to-
gether with closed doors, when Jesus appeared
among them. After blessing them, he called on
Thomas to reach forth his finger, and put it in the
print of the nails, and to thrust his hand into the
wound in his side, and to be not faithless, but be-
lieving. And Thomas said, My Lord and my God.
Jesus said to him : You believe, because you have
seen me; but blessed are those who believe even
though they do not see.
THE ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN.
186 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
Then they went back to their old homes by the
Sea of Galilee, and began to catch fish as they used
to do.
One night Peter said : I am going out fishing ; six
other disciples said : We will go with you. So they
all got into a boat, and went out to sea.
All night they threw their nets into the still
water, but they did not catch a single fish.
When the morning came, they saw some one
standing on the shore, but they could not tell who
it was.
He called to them: Children, have you anything
to eat? No, they answered.
The man said to them : Put down your net on the
right side of the ship, you will find some fish there.
They did so, and now the net was so full that
they could hardly drag it along.
John said to the other disciples : It is the Lord !
Peter could not wait till the boat came to land,
but he jumped into the water, and swam to Jesus.
Jesus knew that they were tired and hungry with
working all night, so with thoughtful love he had
some food ready for them. They saw, when they
came to land, a coal fire, some fish ready cooked,
and some bread.
Jesus said: Bring here the fish that you have
caught. Then Peter went to the boat, and drew
the net out of it. How many fishes do you think
there were in it ? A hundred and fifty-three ; but for
all that there were so many, the net did not break.
Now, said Jesus, come and take some food. He
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 187
gave them all some bread and fish, and helped them
just as he used to do.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to
Peter: Do you love me, Peter, more than the rest
of my disciples?
He said : Yes, Lord, you know that I love you
dearly. Peter was humble now; he did not say
now that he loved Jesus more than the others.
Jesus said to him : Feed my lambs.
Again Jesus asked : Peter, do you love me?
Again Peter answered : Yes, Lord, you know that
I love you dearly.
Jesus said to him : Feed my sheep.
For the third time Jesus said to Peter: Do you
love me dearly?
Peter was very grieved that Jesus should ask him
three times if he loved him ; it seemed as if he did
not believed him. So he said, very sorrowfully:
Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you.
Jesus said: Feed my sheep.
What did Jesus mean by telling Peter to feed his
lambs and sheep? He meant that Peter was to
show his love by his actions, and that he was to
teach grown-up people and children about him, and
tell them of his great love in dying for them.
Can you think why Jesus asked Peter three times
over if he loved him? How many times did Peter
say that he did not know Jesus? Three times?
Yes. So Jesus wanted to hear Peter say that he
loved him for every time that he had said he did
not know him.
188 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
How sorry Peter must have felt, how ashamed
and humbled! The love of Jesus in forgiving him
had melted away his proud and boastful spirit.
Then Jesus told Peter that he knew that he loved
him, and one day he should indeed lay down his life
for his Master's sake. He said: Some wicked men
will crucify you, because of your love to me. You
will never again be afraid to tell people that you
know and love me. And Peter never was.
After this Peter was one of the first to speak
everywhere the truth about Jesus. Christ crucified
for man's sin, Christ risen and seated at God's
right hand in Heaven, was the good news he
preached without fear, even to the enemies of Jesus.
Jesus said to the apostles: I want you, and all
people who love me, to come and meet me on a
mountain in Galilee. I will tell you when. So
they all met together at the time Jesus had told
them to do so. There were more than five hundred
of them. Jesus came to these disciples and said:
You will soon see me no more, but I shall always
be near you, to help and comfort you.
Go everywhere, and teach every one the things
that I have taught you. First of all, go to the
people of Jerusalem. Tell them that I forgive them
for putting me to death; that I died to save them.
When Jesus had talked some time with them, he
left them. He did not live with his disciples as he
used to do before he died. He only came to ther"
sometimes.
THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST.
1M) A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
CHAPTER XXI
THE ASCENSION" INTO HEAVEN — THE DESCENT OF THE
HOLY GHOST
The apostles had now gone back to Jerusalem,
and they saw Jesus there.
It was forty days since he rose from the dead,
when he led them out as far as Bethany, which
was a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of
Olives.
Jesus gave his parting words to his disciples, and
put his hands on them and blessed them. As he
did so, a cloud came between him and them, and in
that cloud Jesus was carried up into Heaven. So
they saw him no more.
They could not help looking up into the sky long
after he was gone from their sight.
As they gazed, two angels stood by their side, and
said: Why do you stand looking up into Heaven?
Jesus has gone away from you now, but one day he
will oome back again.
Then the disciples returned to Jerusalem.
They were not sad now, as they had been when
he died. No; they knew now why he had died;
they knew that he had risen from the dead ; they
knew that he had gone back to his Father and their
Father, and that he was gone to get a home ready
for them in Heaven, so that they might live with
him there always.
A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 191
What did the angels mean by saying that Jesus
would come again from Heaven in a cloud?
They meant that one day he will come from
Heaven to judge the world. Every one will see
him then. At his voice every grave will open, and
ever}7 dead body will live again.
Our Lord had told the apostles that though he
was going to Heaven, he would send them another
Comforter, who would be with them for ever, and
in whom he himself should be present with them —
even God the Holy Ghost, who is one with God the
Father and God the Son.
Ten days after came the Feast of Pentecost, and
on the first day of this feast the disciples were all
together in a large public room in Jerusalem, when
suddenly there came a sound from the skies as of
a storm of rushing wind, and it seemed to fill the
place where they were sitting, and they saw what
looked like flaming tongues of fire dividing up
among them, and resting on each of them. And
as they sat there in awe-struck silence, they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit, and one after another
they began to speak in strange tongues, and were
full of great joy and enthusiasm, and praised and
thanked God for his gift. The most timid of the
apostolic band was now ready to face the Sanhe-
drim, or the Eoman authorities, charge upon them
the murder of Jesus, and defy their power. To the
multitudes who thronged the Jewish capital they
preached boldly the crucified and risen Christ, and
urged them to repent and believe on him. And
192 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.
many believed and were baptized, and joined the
disciples as followers of Jesus.
The lessons of Christ's beautiful life are briefly
these: That, however pure and amiable are our
natural dispositions, we need to be taught of Christ,
and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, before we
can do our Master's work effectively.
That, since Jesus hath loved us and given himself
for us, the only measure of our love for him should
be his love for us ; and that the nearer we attain to
a perfect and all-absorbing love for him, the fewer
will be the clouds and doubts over our pathway,
and the more perfect and complete our peace and
joy.
That it is only to those who, by long and constant
trust in Jesus, have won this peace which passeth
all understanding, that the heavens are opened and
they are permitted to know the blessedness of the
redeemed in glory, while they are still within this
earthly tabernacle. God has promised: "He that
overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be
his God, and he shall be my son."
May God give to each of the readers of this book
grace thus to overcome.
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