Parable of the Jesus said to his disciples : "There was a rich man who had a steward; dishonest and this steward was maliciously accused to him Steward. of wasting his estate. So the master called him and said 'What is this that I hear about you? Give in your accounts, for you cannot act as steward any longer.' 'Here 3 4 'What am I to do,' the steward asked himself, 'now that my master is taking the steward's place away from me? I have not strength to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do, so that, as soon as I am turned out of my stewardship, people may welcome me into their homes.' One by one he 5 called up his master's debtors. 'How much do you owe my master?' he asked of the first. 'Four hundred and forty 6 gallons of oil,' answered the man. Here is your agreement,' he said; sit down at once and make it two hundred and twenty. And you,' the steward said to the next, 'how much 7 do you owe?' 'Seventy quarters of wheat,' he replied. is your agreement,' the steward said; 'make it fifty-six.' His 8 master complimented this dishonest steward on the shrewdness of his action. And indeed men of the world are shrewder in dealing with their fellow-men than those who have the Light. And I say to you 'Win friends for yourselves 9 with your dishonest money,' so that, when it comes to an end, there may be a welcome for you into the Eternal Home. He who is trustworthy in the smallest matter is trustworthy in a great one also; and he who is dishonest in the smallest matter is dishonest in a great one also. So, if you have proved untrustworthy with the 'dishonest money,' who will trust you with the true? And, if you have proved untrustworthy with True what does not belong to us, who will give you Service. what is really our own? No servant can serve two masters, for, either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will attach himself to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Jesus All this was said within hearing of the rebukes the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, and they Pharisees. began to sneer at Jesus. IC II 12 13 14 You," said Jesus, "are the men who justify themselves 15 before the world, but God can read your hearts; and what is highly esteemed among men may be an abomination in the sight of God. The Law and the Prophets sufficed until 16 the time of John. Since then the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been told, and everybody has been forcing his way into it. It would be easier for the heavens and the 17 earth to disappear than for one stroke of a letter in the Law to be lost. Every one who divorces his wife and marries 18 another woman is an adulterer, and the man who marries a divorced woman is an adulterer. Parable of 20 21 There was once a rich man, who dressed in 19 the rich Man purple robes and fine linen, and feasted every day and Lazarus. in great splendour. Near his gateway there had been laid a beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores, and who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table. Even the very dogs came and licked his sores. After a time the beggar died, and was taken by the 22 angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In the Place of Death he looked up in his torment, and saw Abraham at a distance and Lazarus at his side. So he 24 called out 'Pity me, Father Abraham, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering agony in this flame.’ And not 23 26 'Child,' answered Abraham, 'remember that you in 25 your lifetime received what you thought desirable, just as Lazarus received what was not desirable; but now he has his consolation here, while you are suffering agony. only that, but between you and us there lies a great chasm, so that those who wish to pass from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us.' 'Then, Father,' he said, 'I beg you to send Lazarus to my father's house-for I have five brothers--to warn them, so that they may not come to this place of torture also.' They have the writings of Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham; let them listen to them.' 29 'But, Father Abraham,' he urged, 'if some one from the dead were to go to them, they would repent.' 30 31 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,' answered Abraham, they will not be persuaded, even if some one were to rise from the dead.' Against hindering Others. Jesus said to his disciples : I 17 2 "It is inevitable that there should be snares; yet alas for him who is answerable for them! It would be good for him if he had been flung into the sea with a mill-stone round his neck, rather than that he should prove a snare to even one of these lowly ones. Be on your guard! If 3 your brother does wrong, reprove him; but, if he Even if he wrongs you 4 repents, forgive him. Wrong-doers. seven times a day, but turns to you every time and says 'I am sorry,' you must forgive him. On dealing with The Power "Give us more faith," said the Apostles to the of Faith. Master; but the Master said: "If your faith were only like a mustard-seed, you could say to this mulberry tree' Be up-rooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Duty. 56 Which of you, if he had a servant ploughing, 7 or tending the sheep, would say to him, when he came in from the fields, 'Come at once and take your place at table,' instead of saying' Prepare my dinner, and then make 8 yourself ready and wait on me while I am eating and drinking, and after that you shall eat and drink yourself'? Does he feel 9 grateful to his servant for doing what he is told? And so with 10 you-when you have done all that you have been told, still say 'We are but useless servants; we have done no more than we ought to have done. Jesus heals ten On the way to Jerusalem Jesus passed between II Lepers. a village, ten lepers met him. When Jesus saw them, he said: "Go and show yourselves to the priests." Standing still, 13 14 One of 15 And, as they were on their way, they were made clean. them, finding he was cured, came back, praising God loudly, and threw himself on his face at Jesus' feet, thanking him for 16 what he had done; and this man was a Samaritan. 18 "Were not all the ten made clean?" exclaimed Jesus. 17 "But the nine—where are they? Were there none to come back and praise God except this foreigner? Get up," he said to 19 him, "and go on your way. Your faith has delivered you.' The Coming of the Kingdom. ་ Being once asked by the Pharisees when the 20 Kingdom of God was to come, Jesus answered : "The Kingdom of God does not come in a way that admits of observation, nor will people say 'Look, here 21 it is!' or 'There it is!'; for the Kingdom of God is within you! The day will come," he said to his disciples, 22 "when you will long to see but one of the days of the Son of Man, and will not see it. People will say to you There he 23 is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go and follow them. For, just 24 as lightning will lighten and flare from one side of the heavens to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man. But 25 first he must undergo much suffering, and he must be rejected by the present generation. As it was in the days 26 of Noah, so will it be again in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being 27 married, up to the very day on which Noah entered the ark, and then the flood came and destroyed them all. So, too, in 28 the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; but, on the very day on which Lot 29 came out of Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from the skies and destroyed them all. It will be the same on the day 30 on which the Son of Man reveals himself. On that day, if a 31 man is on his house-top and his goods in the house, he must not go down to get them; nor again must one who is on the 29-31 Gen. 19. 24, 26. 14 Lev. 13. 49. 27 Gen. 7. 7. 35 farm turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever is eager to 32, 33 get the most out of his life will lose it; but whoever will lose it shall preserve it. On that night, I tell you, of two men upon, 34 the same bed, one will be taken and the other left; of two women grinding together, one will be taken and the other left." "Where will it be, Master?" interposed the disciples. "Where there is a body," said Jesus, "there will the vultures flock.'" Parable of the ་ 37 I 18 2 Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never despair. corrupt Judge, "There was," he said, "in a certain town a judge, who had no fear of God nor regard for man. In the 3 same town there was a widow who went to him again and again, and said Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a time the judge refused, but afterwards he said to 4 himself' Although I am without fear of God or regard for man, yet, as this widow is so troublesome, I will grant her justice, to stop her from plaguing me with her endless visits.' Then the Master added: 999 5 6 7 'Listen to what this iniquitous judge says! And God-will not he see that his own People, who cry to him night and day, have justice done them--though he holds his hand? He 8 will, I tell you, have justice done them, and that soon! Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Another time, speaking to people who were satisfied that 9 they were religious, and who regarded every one else with scorn, Jesus told this parable Parable of the "Two men went up into the Temple Courts to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a taxPharisee gatherer. The Pharisee stood forward and began Tax-gatherer. praying to himself in this way--- and the ་ 'O God, I thank thee that I am not like other men-thieves, rogues, adulterers or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of everything I get to God.' Meanwhile the tax-gatherer stood at a distance, not venturing even to raise his eyes to Heaven'; but he kept striking his breast and saying 'O God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' This man, I tell you, went home pardoned, rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, while every one who humbles himself shall be exalted." Jesus blesses little Some of the people were bringing even their 15 babies to Jesus, for him to touch them; but, when Children. the disciples saw it, they began to find fault with those who had brought them. Jesus, however, called the little 16 children to him. 'Let the little children come to me," he said, "and do not hinder them; for it is to the childlike that the Kingdom of God belongs. I tell you, unless a man receives the Kingdom 17 of God like a child, he will not enter it at all." The Re And one of the Presidents asked Jesus this 18 sponsibilities question- of Wealth. "Good Teacher, what must I do if I am to gain Immortal Life?" "Why do you call me good?" answered Jesus. is good but God. You know the commandments -- No one 19 20 'Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not say what is false about others, Honour thy father and thy mother.'" "I have observed all these,” he replied, “from childhood.” Hearing this, Jesus said to him : 66 There is one thing still lacking in you; sell every thing that you have, and distribute to the poor, and you shall have wealth in Heaven; then come and follow me." 23 But the man became greatly distressed on hearing this, for he was extremely rich. Seeing this, Jesus said to his 24 disciples: "How hard it is for men of wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier, indeed, for a camel to get through a 25 needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!" "Then who can be saved?" asked those who heard this. But Jesus said: 26 27 What is impossible with men is possible with God." "But we," said Peter, "we left what belonged to us and 28 followed you.' "I tell you," he answered, "that there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, on account of the Kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much in the present, and in the age that is coming Immortal Life." Jesus, a third time, foretells Gathering the Twelve round him, Jesus said to them: "Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem; and his Death. there everything that is written in the Prophets will be done to the Son of Man. For he will be given up 32 to the Gentiles, mocked, insulted and spat upon; they will 33 scourge him, and then put him to death; and on the third day he will rise again." The Apostles did not comprehend any of this; his meaning 34 was unintelligible to them, and they did not understand what he was saying. 20 Exod. 20. 12-16. 33 Hos. 6. 2. |