they mocked Him. BRT:3:8 He was a true man, a good organiser, strong, alert and resourceful. He had determination and courage, though withal, He could be gentle and compassionate. He was inflexible in purpose, yet, He could bend before the storm and survive where the stubborn man would go down. BRT:3:9 He stood firmly against the holy men of the Jews, whose seeming holiness was but a cloak, for it was something that flourished only in the public eye. It was woven with self-righteousness, lined with intolerance and sewn with threads of sadness. Good men do good deeds out of the sight of others and gain merit from their selfishness and sacrifices.
BRT:3:10 One came to Jesus, saying, "Lord, I give many gifts and alms to the poor. I am ever giving to the needy. I am a rich man, but my riches
have come by lawful means. I have traded with ships and encountered dangers to accumulate them. Having gained wealth, I live in moderation, supplying only my moderate needs. I give the rest to the needy poor, and I am ever ready to serve the deserving. Am I then a sinner?"
BRT:3:11 Jesus said, "No, by giving with discretion and making such sacrifices, you gain merit, and there is no harm in seeking riches for worthy ends. It is the love of money for its own sake that is productive of evil. The evils of riches arise from their misuse. If a man gains wealth in a lawful way and does not live in luxury, supplying no more than his moderate needs, serving the poor and deserving with his surplus, then he does no wrong."
BRT:3:12 A teacher of the Jewish way said to Jesus, "If God is so great and all knowing, why does He not strike down the wrongdoer? Why does He withhold His justifiable wrath when the wicked man swallows up the man who follows the path of goodness? Is he not the God of justice?" Jesus replied, "Justice is not a thing of the time. Though the mills of God grind slowly, they grind to perfection. Life itself metes out justice. The justice of God adjusts the injustice of men. Were this not so, I would not have come."
BRT:3:13 Jesus was then asked if He was one with God, and He answered, "It is not in Me to state that, which I know to be untrue, and truly there can be but one God alone. Because I have been granted visions and
insight into things unseen and unknown to other men, what manner of man would I be did I claim equality with God? I have spoken only that which I am bidden. I have said, 'Worship God who is My Father and your Father.' Does this then raise Me above other men? I have proclaimed all men My brothers, and if I have said I am even as God, then truly I have raised them up also. Yet, this they cannot see, or is it that they fear the burden of their own
godhood?"
BRT:3:14 Jesus came and was like the slasher, which clears away the useless undergrowth in the forest of life. He uprooted and burned that, which was unproductive. He planted good trees, but the undergrowth returns. It is a time for the activities of good men. Jesus found pearls by the seashore. He sowed the good seed in the hearts of those who followed Him closely. For his
sake, many of the rich became poor. BRT:3:15 He came and separated men out from the errors of the world. He brought men a mirror, into which they could look and see their own divinity. He opened a door now open to all, and those who choose to pass through stand on the road to the eternal. He raised up the fallen and healed
the afflicted. He woke those who slept and reminded those who had forgotten. He enlightened the righteous and gathered in those who were lost.
BRT:3:16 To what can He be compared? To the great sun that shines down, giving joy and life to all living things. To a great river giving gladness
to men and the waters of life to beasts. To the good husbandman who cherishes his fields and tends his flocks. To the men of the forests who care for their trees and thankfully gather the fruits thereof. BRT:3:17 The sun shines today, and the air gleams with light. The Earth puts forth blossoms, and the seas are calm. The waters flow clearly, the birds sing and the gloomy Winter has gone. Hope dawns, and so it is with the Son
of Man.
BRT:3:18 The tree of glory has been planted and will survive, for it is well serviced. Its servants are dutiful. So let it be like the holly, whose leaves are not shed in Summer or Winter, which stands with weapons ever ready in persecution or freedom, in good days and bad.
BRT:3:19 He who neglects these scriptures is like the branch of a fruitless tree; his life is fruitless. Blessed are those who seek fruit that grows
out of our good deeds. He who copies a book is like a maimed man who gives his weapons to a whole and healthy man. The lettered man resembles this good land, which takes the seed and nourishes it. The rains fall
plentifully and the crop is good. BRT:3:20 The life men live is like an inn where they dwell shortly, or like a house rented for a limited time. Vessels of metal and earthenware are to them like borrowed utensils. Their riches are held in trust. The wise man uses them and they serve him, but he does not set his heart on these or hug them to
his bosom.
BRT:3:21 Who is most praiseworthy for his goodness, the son of a rich man or the son of a poor man? The rich son gives only what he himself has been given, so surely it is the son of the poor man, for he has overcome the
temptations of poverty and satisfied the cry of hungry mouths with the earnings of his own labour. It is the poor who help the poor, for the rich help
themselves.
BRT:3:22 There are those who fast for the sake of Heaven, but Jesus said it were better did they devote themselves to learning the scriptures and to good works for the sake of Heaven. Yet, it is useless to merely read the scriptures, for unless they be taken into the heart and lived by, then they are things of little value and use. The value of all sacred writings lies in what people do with them. More important still is what the scriptures do to the
people.
BRT:3:23 A man asked Jesus, "Lord, what does it mean when it is written that the iniquities of the fathers shall be visited upon the children?" Jesus said, "When a man commits a sin, for which he does not make full recompense in his lifetime, then the same temptation is placed in the way of the son, for there is a bond of family blood between them. Is it not manifest also that the wrongs a man does within his own household become the sins of the sons within their households? Wrongful living is the heritage of
generations.
BRT:3:24 A man asked, "Where is God?" Jesus took a piece of bread and gave it to the man, saying, "Take this and hold it." Then He said, "Put out the other hand." He poured a little water on the upturned palm and said, "Now you have felt the power of God, for without His spirit in the bread and in the water, these would not exist for you. Split a billet of wood, and God will be there. Lift up a stone, and you will find Him." BRT:3:25 Another said, "Tell us how we may best serve God." Jesus replied, "Talk not of serving God as you would serve a king. In serving God,
man serves himself. You ask in your heart, shall you be this or that or a priest. Let your own heart point the best way, and having chosen it, follow it with devotion and fortitude."
BRT:3:26 At a wedding feast, Jesus was asked, "Master, why do You come to this place when it is a gathering place of those who seek only their own pleasure and will drink to excess if it is provided?" Jesus said, "Our purpose here is to make glad the hearts of the hosts and to share in their enjoyment, blending their pleasure with ours. There will always be those who are neglectful of their obligations and who concern themselves only with their own wellbeing. Yet, is this reason enough not to bring happiness to
those who have invited us?"
BRT:3:27 One day, Jesus and those with Him came upon an old man playing with childish things. A bow and arrow-bearing huntsman passing by mocked him, saying, "Behold the old man playing as a child." Jesus called him over and said, "Do you always keep your bow bent, the string under stress?" "Of course not" replied the huntsman. "To do so would be foolish, for the bow would become useless were it not unbent from time to time." Jesus said, "Just so is it with the old man, and you should know better." BRT:3:28 The bowman strings his bow before he shoots and, when the shooting is over, he unstrings it. A bow kept always strung will break and be useless when needed. So it is with a man who never relaxes. He is ever taut within, and when the testing time comes, his stomach turns to water. BRT:3:29 Jesus taught that there are things, which should be approached with humility of spirit, they are: holiness, wisdom and nobility. Humility bestows upon the soul the benefit of harmony and attunement. A man once said to Jesus, "But who can define these things; that which is holy to one man can be unholy to another. The thing, which one man holds sacred, another holds to be an abomination. That, which one will bless another will curse." Jesus said, "The many nations and men, because of the diversity of their natures, hallow many different persons, places and things, apart from their gods. But nothing can be made holy by men alone, neither can anything wholly of Earth be holy. That, which is wholly of and for God is holy, the place wholly for God is holy and the person who lives wholly for God is