But they could not understand what he meant by these words; and they were afraid to ask him.
The Little Child in the Arms of Jesus
Matthew xvii: 24, to xviii: 35; Mark ix: 33 to 48; Luke ix: 46 to 50.
From Caesarea-philippi, in the far north, Jesus went with his disciples through Galilee, but not, as at other times, with a great multitude following him. At this time Jesus wished no one to know of his coming, for he had already preached to this people, and now he sought to be alone with his disciples. They came to Capernaum; and while they were there the officer to whom the Jews paid the tax of half a shekel, or about thirty cents, for each man, said to Peter, "Does not you Master pay the half-shekel?"
Peter said, "Yes." But when Peter came into the house, Jesus said to Peter, "Simon, do the kings of the earth take taxes of their own children, or of strangers?"
Peter said to him, "Of strangers, not of their own children."
And Jesus said, "Then the children of the King should be free from the tax. But that w3e may not cause trouble, do you go to the lake, and cast in a hook, and pull up the first fish that comes; and when you have opened his mouth you shall find in it a piece of money. Take that, and pay it to them for you and for me."
While Jesus was in the house, he said to his disciples, "What was it that you were talking about among yourselves while you were on the way?"
They looked at one another, and said nothing; for on the way they had been disputing as to who of them should have the highest places in their Lord's kingdom. Then Jesus said to him, "If any one among you wises to be first, let him be willing to be the last of all, and to be a servant of all."
And Jesus took a little child in his arms, and held him up before all his disciples, and said to them, "Unless you turn from your ways, and become like little children in spirit, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoever shall be gentle and lowly and willing to be taught, like this little child, he shall be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever shall receive one such little child for my sake, he receives me. Take care not to despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always look upon the face of my Father who is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost; and it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, how many times should I forgive a brother when he has sinned against me? Till seven times?"
JESUS TAKES A LITTLE CHILD IN HIS ARMS
Jesus said to Peter, "I do not say that you should forgive him seven times only, but seventy times seven."
Then Jesus gave to his disciples the parable or story of the Unkind Servant:
"There was once a king who had an account made with his servants of how much money they owed him. One servant was brought before the king; and he owed the king a great sum of money, ten millions of dollars. The man had nothing with which to pay his debt, and the king commanded that the man, and his wife, and his children should be sold as slaves for the debt. Then the servant fell down before the king, and said, 'Be patient with me; give me time, and I will p ay all that I owe!'
"Then the king felt a pity for his servant, set him free, and let him go without any payment, giving him all that he owed.
"But that servant went out and found another servant who owed him a small sum, only ten dollars. He came tot his man, and took hold of him by the throat, and said, 'Pay what you owe me!' The man fell down before him, and said, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you!' He would not wait for the man to earn the money, but threw the man in prison, to stay there until he should pay the debt. When his fellow-servants heard of what he had done, they were sorry for the poor debtor in prison, and came and told the king all that had been done. Then the king sent for the servant, and said to him, 'You wicked servant, I forgave you all your debt when you asked me to give you time. And you should have had mercy on your fellow-servant, just as I had mercy on you!' And the king was angry against the unkind servant, and sent him to prison, and ordered that he should be made to suffer until he should pay all his debt. So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if from your hearts you do not forgive your brothers who have sinned against you."
At the Feast of Tabernacles
Matthew viii: 19 to 22; Luke ix: 57 to 62; x: 38 to 42; xvii: 11 to 19; John vii: 2 to 52.
In the fall of every year there was held at Jerusalem "The Feast of Tabernacles." It was kept to remind the people of the time when the Israelites came out of Egypt and lived for forty years in the wilderness, more than a thousand years before the days when Jesus was on the earth. At this feast the people from all parts of the land came up to Jerusalem, and worshipped in the Temple. And as the Israelites had lived in tents in the wilderness, the people during the feast did not sleep in-doors, but made arbors and huts from green boughs on the roofs of the houses, and on the hills around the city, and slept in them at night.
Jesus and his disciples went from Galilee to Jerusalem to attend this feast. Just as Jesus was leaving, a man who had heard Jesus said to him, "Master, I will follow thee wherever thou goest."
And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has not a place where he can lay his head."
There was another man to whom Jesus had said, "Follow me." This man said, "Lord, let me go and bury my father, who is very old and must die very soon, and then I will follow thee."
Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but do you go and preach the kingdom of God."
And another said, "Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go home and say 'good-bye' to those who are in my house."
Jesus said to him, "No man has put his hand to the plow, and looks back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
On his way to Jerusalem Jesus went through the country of Samaria, where the people hated the Jews. In one place the Samaritans would not let Jesus and his disciples come into their village, because they saw that they were Jews going up to Jerusalem. The disciples were very angry at such treatment of their Master; and James and John said to him, "Lord, shall we call down fire from heaven, to destroy this village, as Elijah the prophet did once?"
But Jesus would not allow them to do this to their enemies. He said to them, "Your spirit is not the spirit of my kingdom. The Son of man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
And they went to another village to find a resting place. At one town they met outside the gate ten men with the dreadful disease of leprosy, of which we read in the story of Naaman (Story Thirteen in Part Fourth). These men had heard of Jesus and his power to heal; and when they saw him they cried out aloud, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
Jesus said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests."
If ever a leper became well, he went to the priest, and offered a sacrifice, and then was allowed to go to his home. These men obeyed the word of Jesus, believing that he would cure them; and as soon as they started to go to the priests they found that they were already well. All but one of the men went on their way, but one turned, and came back to Jesus, and fell at his feet, giving praise to God; and this man was not a Jew, but a Samaritan. Jesus said as he saw him, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there none who came back to give glory to God, except this stranger?"
Then he said to the man, "Rise up, and go your way; your faith has saved you."
Jesus came to Jerusalem not on the first day of the feast, but in the middle, for the feast was held for a week. He stood in the Temple, and taught the people, and all wondered at his words. On the last and greatest day of the feast, when they were bringing water and pouring it out in the Temple, Jesus cried aloud, "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink! He that believes on me, out of him shall flow rivers of living water."