all who were ill or possessed by demons; and the whole city 33 was gathered round the door. Jesus cured many who were 34 ill with various diseases, and drove out many demons, and would not permit them to speak, because they knew him to be the Christ. Jesus retires In the morning, long before daylight, Jesus 35 for Prayer. rose and went out, and, going to a lonely spot, there began to pray. But Simon and his companions has- 36 tened after him; and, when they found him, they exclaimed: 37 "Every one is looking for you! But Jesus said to them: Let us go somewhere else, into the country towns near, that I may make my proclamation in them also; for that was why I came. 38 And he went about making his proclamation in their Syna- 39 gogues all through Galilee, and driving out the demons. Cure One day a leper came to Jesus and, falling on 40 of a Leper. his knees, begged him for help. If only you are willing," he said, "you are able to make me clean. Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and 41 touched him, saying as he did so : "I am willing; become clean." Instantly the leprosy left the man, and he became clean; and 42, 43 then Jesus, after sternly warning him, immediately sent him away, and said to him: 44 Be careful not to say anything to any one; but go and show yourself to the Priest, and make the offerings for your cleansing directed by Moses, as evidence of your cure. The man, however, went away, and began to speak about it 45 publicly, and to spread the story so widely, that Jesus could no longer go openly into a town, but stayed outside in lonely places; and people came to him from every direction. Cure of 2 Some days later, when Jesus came back to I 2 a paralyzed Capernaum, the news spread that he was in a Man. house there; and so many people collected together, that after a while there was no room for them even round the door; and he began to tell them his Message. And some people came bringing to him a paralyzed man, who 3 was being carried by four bearers. Being, however, unable 4 to get him near to Jesus, owing to the crowd, they removed the roofing below which Jesus was; and, when they had made an opening, they let down the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man : 5 Child, your sins are forgiven." 44 Lev. 13. 49. But some of the Teachers of the Law who were sitting there 6 were debating in their minds : "Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! 7 Who can forgive sins except God ?” Jesus, at once intuitively aware that they were debating with themselves in this way, said to them: "Why are you debating in your minds about this? Which is easier?-to say to the paralyzed man 'Your sins are forgiven? or to say Get up, and take up your mat, and walk about'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins on earth "--here he said to the paralyzed man-"To you I say, Get up, take up your mat, and return to your home." The man got up, and immediately took up his mat, and went out before them all; at which they were amazed, and, as they praised God, they said: "We have never seen anything like this!" Call of J 8 9 IC II 12 13 Jesus went out again to the Sea; and Levi. all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of 14 Alphaeus, sitting in the tax-office, and said to him: "Follow me." Levi got up and followed him. 16 And later on he was in his house at table, and a number of 15 tax-gatherers and outcasts took their places at table with Jesus and his disciples; for many of them were following him. When the Teachers of the Law belonging to the party of the Pharisees saw that he was eating in the company of such people, they said to his disciples : ་་ 'He is eating in the company of tax-gatherers and outcasts!" Hearing this, Jesus said: "It is not those who are in health that need a doctor, but those who are ill. I did not come to call the religious, but the outcast." Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were The Disciples keeping a fast, and people came and asked Jesus: Why is it that John's disciples and the the Law. disciples of the Pharisees fast, while yours do blamed for not observing not?" Jesus answered: ... 17 18 19 20 "Can the bridegroom's friends fast, while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom will be parted from them, and they will fast then when that day comes. No man ever sews a piece of 21 unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it-the new from the old- and a worse rent is 10 Dan. 7. 13. made. And no man ever puts new wine into old wine-skins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are lost. But new wine is put into fresh skins." 22 23 One Sabbath, as Jesus was walking through the cornfields, his disciples began to pick the ears of wheat as they went along. "Look!" the Pharisees said to him, "why are they doing 24 what is not allowed on the Sabbath?" "Have you never read," answered Jesus, "what David did 25 when he was in want and hungry, he and his companionshow he went into the House of God, in the time of Abiathar 26 the High Priest, and ate 'the consecrated bread,' which only the priests are allowed to eat, and gave some to his comrades as well?" Then Jesus added: Cure of 27 28 I 3 2 "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” On another occasion Jesus went into a Synaa Man with gogue, where there was a man whose hand was a withered withered. And they watched Jesus closely, to see if he would cure the man on the Sabbath, so that they might have a charge to bring against him. "Stand out in the middle," Jesus said to the man with 3 the withered hand; and to the people he said: Hand. 4 "Is it allowable to do good on the Sabbath-or harm? to save a life, or destroy it? 5 As they remained silent, Jesus looked round at them in anger, The man stretched it out; and his hand had become Cures by Then Jesus went away with his disciples to 7 the the Sea, followed by a great number of people Lake-side. from Galilee. And a great number, hearing of all that he was doing, came to him from Judaea, from 8 Jerusalem, from Edom, from beyond the Jordan, and from the country round Tyre and Sidon. So Jesus told his dis- 9 ciples to keep a small boat close by, for fear the crowd should crush him. For he had cured many of them, and so people kept crowding upon him, that all who were afflicted might touch him. The foul spirits, too, whenever they caught sight II of him, flung themselves down before him, and screamed out: "You are the Son of God"! But he repeatedly warned them not to make him known. 261 Sam. 21. 6. 11 Ps. 2. 7. ΙΟ 12 B* 13 14 15 16 The twelve And Jesus made his way up the hill, and called Apostles. those whom he wished; and they went to him. And he appointed twelve-whom he also named 'Apostles that they might be with him, and that he might send them out as his Messengers, to preach, and with power to drive out demons. So he appointed the Twelve-Peter (which was the name that Jesus gave to Simon), James, the son of Zebediah, and his brother John (to whom he gave the name of Boanerges, which means the Thunderers), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the man that betrayed 19 him. Jesus and his Relations. Jesus went into a house; and again a crowd collected, so that they were not able even to eat their food. When his relations heard of it, they went to take charge of him, for they said that he was out of his mind. And the Teachers of the Law, who had come down from Jerusalem, said : Jesus accused of Acting by the Help of Satan. "He has Baal-zebub in him, and he drives the demons out by the help of Baal-zebub, their 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 chief." So Jesus called them to him, and answered them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? When a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot last; and when a household is divided against itself, it will not be able to last. So, if Satan is in revolt against himself and is divided, he cannot last-his end has come ! No man who has got into a strong man's house can carry off his goods, without first securing him; and not till then will he plunder his house. I tell you that 28 men will be forgiven everything—their sins, and all the slanders that they utter; but whoever slanders the Holy Spirit remains 29 unforgiven to the end; he has to answer for an enduring sin." This was said in reply to the charge that he had a foul spirit 30 in him. The true And his mother and his brothers came, and 31 Brotherhood. stood outside, and sent to ask him to come to them. There was a crowd sitting round Jesus, and some of 32 them said to him: 'Look, your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you. "Who is my mother? and my brothers?" was his reply. 33 Then he looked around on the people sitting in a circle round 34 him, and said: Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does 35 the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." Parable Jesus again began to teach by the Sea; and, of the Sower. as an immense crowd was gathering round him, he got into a boat, and sat in it on the Sea, while all I 4 the people were on the shore at the water's edge. Then 2 3, 4 5 6 "Listen! The sower went out to sow; and presently, as he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path; ard the birds came, and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and, having no depth of soil, sprang up at once; but, when the sun rose, it was scorched, and, having no root, withered away. Some of the seed fell among brambles; 7 but the brambles shot up and completely choked it, and it yielded no return. Some fell into good soil, and, shooting up 8 and growing, yielded a return, amounting to thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold." And Jesus said: 66 Let any one who has ears to hear with hear. "To you the hidden truth of the Kingdom of God has been imparted; but to those who are outside it all teaching takes the form of parables, that— Though they have eyes, they may see without perceiving ; 9 ΙΟ II 12 16 17 You do not know the meaning of this parable!" he went 13 on; "then how will you understand all the other parables? The sower sows the Message. The people meant 14, 15 by the seed that falls along the path are these--where the Message is sown, but, as soon as they have heard it, Satan immediately comes and carries away the Message that has been sown in them. So, too, those meant by the seed sown on the rocky places are the people who, when they have heard the Message, at once accept it joyfully; but, as they have no root, they stand only for a short time; and so, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Message, they fall away at once. Those meant by the seed sown among the brambles are different; they are the people who hear the Message, but the cares of life, and the glamour of wealth, and cravings for many other things come in and completely choke the Message, so that it gives no return. But the people meant by the seed sown on the good ground are those who hear the Message, and welcome it, and yield a return, thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold." Lesson from And Jesus said to them : a Lamp. "Is a lamp brought to be put under the cornmeasure or under the couch, instead of being put on the lampstand? Nothing is hidden unless it is some day to come to light, nor was anything ever kept hidden but that it should 12 Isa. 6. 10. 18 19 20 21 22 |