{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_71243/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_71243","id":"gutenberg_71243","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71243","summary":null,"tags":["Bible stories, English -- Juvenile literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.\n\n[Illustration: THE HAUL OF FISHES.]\n\n\n                           HOSANNA\n\n\n                   BIBLE STORIES RETOLD BY\n\n                        CATHARINE SHAW\n\n\n Author of \"Suffer Little Children,\" \"Long Ago in Bible Lands,\" \n           \"Stories from the Book of Books,\" Etc.\n\n\n\n                    JOHN F. SHAW & CO. LTD.\n        4 & 5 Friar Street, Carter Lane, London, E.C.4\n\n                     BRITISH MANUFACTURE\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n I. CHRISTMAS\n\n II. THE GOOD SAMARITAN\n\n III. A MAN WHO BELIEVED IN JESUS\n\n IV. ZACCHAEUS\n\n V. THE INVITATION TO THE FEAST\n\n VI. \"MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE\"\n\n VII. THE DRAUGHT OF FISHES\n\n VIII. THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE LOST SHEEP\n\n IX. \"JESUS CALLED A LITTLE CHILD UNTO HIM\"\n\n X. THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM\n\n XI. THE LABOURERS IN THE HARVEST-FIELD\n\n XII. JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, \"RISE\"\n\n XIII. LET THROUGH THE ROOF\n\n XIV. \"ASK\u2014SEEK\u2014KNOCK!\"\n\n XV. THE PRECIOUS OINTMENT\n\n XVI. TEN THOUSAND TALENTS\n\n XVII. THE LOST PIECE OF SILVER\n\n XVIII. THERE AROSE A GREAT STORM\n\n XIX. HIS VESTURE\n\n XX. THE LAST SUPPER\n\n XXI. DOWN A STEEP PLACE\n\n XXII. GOODLY PEARLS\n\n XXIII. THE WIDOW'S MITE\n\n XXIV. SO RUN, THAT YE MAY OBTAIN\n\n\n\nHOSANNA\n\nI. CHRISTMAS\n\nLUKE 2.11\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE Shepherds near Bethlehem had been quietly watching their flocks,\nand perhaps looking out anxiously for the dawn, when suddenly, without\nany warning, an Angel came down to them from heaven, and the Glory of\nthe Lord surrounded them with a great and wondrous light.\n\nThe Shepherds were very frightened at first, but the Angel quickly\nreassured them by saying that he had brought very good news, which\nwould be a great joy to all people! For a Holy Babe was born in\nBethlehem that night, Who had come to this earth to be the Saviour of\nthe World!\n\nThen the Angel told them that they would know his words were true, by\nfinding the little Babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a\nmanger.\n\nAnd, suddenly, a multitude of the heavenly host were with the Angel;\nand they all praised God, and said, \"Glory to God in the highest, and\non earth peace, good will toward men.\"\n\nThen the Angels all went back to heaven, and the Shepherds turned to\neach other in solemn awe, and they said, \"The Lord has made known to us\na wonderful thing\u2014let us go to Bethlehem and see for ourselves what has\ncome to pass.\"\n\nSo they left their flocks and hurried to the town.\n\nAnd there in a lowly stable, they saw the Holy Babe who was sent to\nMary on the morning of Christmas day!\n\nMonths before this the Angel Gabriel had been sent from heaven to tell\nMary that she was to be the most blessed of all women, for the Holy\nChild who was to be given to her, was to be called the Son of God.\n\nNow He had come! And she laid Him\u2014the Son of God\u2014in a manger, \"because\nthere was no room for them in the Inn.\" The town was so full of\ntravellers at that time, that Mary and Joseph were given a shelter in\nthe stable. And so the Baby Jesus had a manger for His cradle.\n\nNow I am going to tell you a little true story which happened where I\nlive.\n\nThere was a Children's Service, and the clergyman asked the children if\nthey could remember what he had begged them to do the Christmas before?\n\nThen a little girl stood up, and gently and bravely answered, \"You\nasked us to say\u2014\"\n\n    \"Oh, come to my heart, Lord Jesus,\n     There is room in my heart for Thee!\"\n\nAnd he answered \"Yes, that was it and you are a kind little girl to\ntell us!\"\n\nSo to-day, with this sweet prayer in our minds, we can remember that\nthere is a place in the heart of each one of us, which we can keep for\nJesus!\n\nWe can think of His love to us; we can love Him in return; and worship\nHim every day we live.\n\nAnd if we make room for Jesus in our hearts here, we shall find by and\nby, that He will give us \"a crown of glory, that fadeth not away.\"\n\n\n\nII. THE GOOD SAMARITAN\n\n[LUKE 10.30]\n\nTHERE was once a lonely man walking in Palestine on the long\nmountainous road between Jerusalem and Jericho.\n\nBut suddenly a band of thieves sprang out of their hiding-place and\nrobbed him of everything he had, and then cruelly wounded him and made\noff, leaving him by the roadside half dead.\n\nSad indeed was his plight, lying there in the glaring sunshine, aching\nwith pain and consumed with thirst. Would no one come and help him? he\nthought.\n\nThen some footsteps came close to him, and as he lifted his weary eyes,\nhe saw one of the Jewish priests standing, arrested by the sight; but\nhe only passed by on the other side of the road, and went away.\n\nThen a Levite came along the road, and catching sight of the wounded\nman, he came over and looked at him; but he, too, passed by on the\nother side.\n\nBut at length there was a traveller who was making the same journey;\nand he saw the poor man lying there dying, and when he saw him he had\ncompassion on him, and a great pity filled his heart. So he quickly\nwent to his side, and bound up his wounds; and then he lifted him on\nto his donkey, and walking by his side, he brought him at length to an\ninn, and stayed with him all night.\n\nAt length the morning came, and the traveller was obliged to proceed on\nhis journey.\n\nSo he called the master of the inn, and gave him some money, and told\nhim to take care of the stranger, and promised to repay the innkeeper\nwhen he returned, whatever he had spent in caring for the sick man.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd now, I think, our Lord Jesus, who looks down from heaven at all\nthat is happening here, says to each one of us, as we pass on our\njourney through this world: \"Go thou, and do likewise.\"\n\nI think that means, doing little kindnesses for everyone who seems to\nneed help; and then we shall be like the good Samaritan whom Jesus\npraised.\n\n\n\nIII. A MAN WHO BELIEVED IN JESUS\n\nJOHN 9.37\n\n[Illustration: \"And Jesus said unto him, 'Thou hast both seen him,\n and it is he that talketh with thee.'\" John 9.37.]\n\nONE day, as the Lord Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind\never since he had been born.\n\nAnd His disciples asked Him whether this was the poor man's fault, or\nthat of his parents.\n\nAnd Jesus told them that it was no one's fault, and that He was going\nto work a great miracle; and He reminded them that He Himself, while He\nwas in the world, was the Light of the world.\n\nThen the Lord Jesus made clay, and put it on the eyes of the blind man;\nand told him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.\n\nSo the blind man did what Jesus had told him, and he went to the Pool\nof Siloam, and washed, and came back quite cured.\n\nYou can imagine how the people who knew him gathered round him, with\nendless questions.\n\n\"How was it that he could see?\" \"And was he the very blind man who had\nsat all his life, and begged?\"\n\nAnd he answered very simply, \"A man named Jesus made clay, and anointed\nmy eyes, and told me to go and wash in Siloam; and I washed, and came\nback able to see!\"\n\nThen the Pharisees, hearing of all this, came and questioned him again,\neven calling his father and mother to answer them, as to whether this\nwas their son, and if so, had he been born blind?\n\nSo the parents answered that this was quite true.\n\nAnd then the Pharisees argued that the man who cured him must be a\nsinner, for he had healed him on the Sabbath day!\n\nAt last the blind man lost all patience, and exclaimed indignantly:\n\"Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence He is,\nand yet He hath opened mine eyes! Since the world began, it has never\nbeen heard that any man opened the eyes of one that had been born\nblind! If this man were not of God He could do nothing!\"\n\nThen the Jews were so angry that they cast him out of the Synagogue,\nand would have nothing more to do with him.\n\nWhen Jesus heard that they had cast him out, He found him in the\nTemple, and in His great tenderness He cheered him with most glorious\nassurances.\n\nThe blind man had believingly obeyed the Lord Jesus when He told him to\nwash in the Siloam Pool; and he had defended his belief that this Man\nmust be a Prophet if He could do these wonderful things.\n\nAnd now our Lord revealed to him something which was above all other\nbeliefs\u2014and He said to him, \"Dost thou believe on the Son of God?\"\n\nAnd the healed man answered, \"Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on\nHim?\"\n\nAnd Jesus answered him, \"Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that\ntalketh with thee!\"\n\nThen the man who had been blind, and now could see, said adoringly:\n\n\"Lord, I believe!\" and he worshipped Him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nIV. ZACCHAEUS\n\nLUKE 19\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOUR Lord Jesus was journeying towards Jerusalem, where He was going to\ndie for us.\n\nOn the way He came to Jericho, and passing through it, numbers of\npeople followed Him, and when He came out of the gate there was quite a\ncrowd of those who wanted to see Him.\n\nThere was one man who specially wished to catch sight of Jesus, but he\nwas such a short man that he felt sure he would not be able to see Him\nin the midst of the crowd.\n\nSo thinking about what he should do, he saw before him a low tree which\ncould be easily climbed.\n\nThis pleased Zacchaeus very much, for now he made sure that he should\nsee this wonderful Man whom everybody was talking about.\n\nZacchaeus was a chief of the Publicans, and was very rich; but he was\nnot thinking about his riches just then, but just about seeing Jesus!\n\nHe did not know that that sight of Jesus, and that look from His holy\neyes, and the cheering words which He would utter, would completely\nchange the whole of his life!\n\nSo he sat on the bough of the sycamore tree, and looked to see Jesus\ncome through the gate.\n\nAt length He came, among the thronging multitude pressing round Him,\nand Zacchaeus thought he was quite hidden by the branches, and that no\none would think of his being there!\n\nBut when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said\nto him: \"Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for to-day I must abide\nat thy house!\"\n\nAnd Zacchaeus made haste and came down, and received him joyfully.\n\nThat look from the eyes of the Son of God had gone straight into the\nheart of the rich, avaricious Publican; and though the crowd was\noffended, and said that Jesus had gone to be with a man that was a\nsinner, Zacchaeus did not trouble at all as to what they said! He had\nseen the face of Jesus, and he had felt in his own heart that he was\na sinner, and he was longing to ask the forgiveness which he believed\nJesus would give him.\n\nSo he stood before them all, and he told Jesus, in a few simple words,\nthat he wished to make up for what he had taken wrongfully, and would\nmake up four-fold if he had accused anyone without cause.\n\nAnd Jesus said to him, \"This day is salvation come to this house ...\nFor the Son of Man is come to seek, and to save, that which was lost!\"\n\nWhen any of us remember past sins, as Zacchaeus did, the best thing\nwe can do is to go to Jesus and tell Him all about it, and ask Him to\nforgive us; and He will say to us, as he did to Zacchaeus, and to all\nwho heard him: \"The Son of Man is come to seek, and to save, that which\nwas lost!\"\n\n\n\nV. THE INVITATION TO THE FEAST\n\n[LUKE 14.16]\n\nOUR Lord Jesus tells us this story, with its great warning.\n\nA certain man made a great supper, and invited a great many to come to\nit, and when all was ready, he sent his servants to tell the guests.\n\nBut to the astonishment of the servants, the guests all made excuses\nthat they could not come!\n\nOne said he had bought a piece of land, and he must go to look at it.\nAnother said he had married a wife, and therefore could not come; and\nanother that he had bought five yoke of oxen, and he must go to prove\nthem: till at last all of them made excuses that they could not come!\n\nThen the master told his servants to go to the highways and bring in\nall the lonely and homeless, and wandering ones, and compel them to\ncome in, that his house might be filled.\n\nAnd the master of the house said very sorrowfully that none of those\nwho had refused could taste of his supper.\n\nAnd the meaning of this great feast seems to me to be like one of the\nglimpses of Heaven which we get in the Bible. They tell us of the joys\nwhich those who are willing to accept \"God's invitation\" will have for\never and ever.\n\nI knew a little girl, years ago, who heard a sermon which changed all\nher life.\n\nWe were listening to a great preacher, and he was saying, \"God's Holy\nSpirit is here, and He is asking you to come to Jesus, and be saved.\nThe Holy Spirit seems to say, 'Yet there is room.' Let us pause in\nsilence for a few minutes, while you answer this question: Will you\ncome to Jesus, now?\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn the solemn silence that followed, I found my little girl's arm\ngently put into mine, with a little squeeze: and I guessed that all was\nright.\n\nWhen we were going home, I whispered, \"What did you answer?\"\n\nAnd she said softly, \"I said, 'Yes.'\"\n\nChildren, there comes to us a great choice to-day! Shall we accept the\ninvitation to take the Lord Jesus into our hearts?\n\nIf we do, we shall try to please Him, and our lives here will be filled\nwith blessing; and Eternal Life will be ours.\n\n\n\nVI. \"MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE\"\n\nJOHN 10.27\n\n[Illustration: \"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,\n and they follow me.\" John 10.27.]\n\nTHIS is a picture of an Eastern shepherd, leading his sheep on the\nmountains.\n\nHe loves his sheep, he knows every one of them; he leads them, and they\nfollow him.\n\nHe chooses the green pastures for them, and they rest beside the still\nwaters.\n\nHe guards them from their enemies, and if any wild beast comes against\nthem, he is ready to give his life to protect them.\n\nIf the shepherd is away, and a hired man has to take care of them, the\nhireling runs away if he hears the roar of a wild beast, or even if he\nsees a storm coming.\n\nBut our Lord Jesus says to us, \"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good\nShepherd giveth His life for the sheep.\" And Jesus wants the little\nlambs too, and \"He carries them in His bosom.\"\n\nIn the 15th of Luke our Lord tells us about a shepherd who had a\nhundred sheep, who, when he counted them before he put them into the\nfold, found there was one missing.\n\nBut the shepherd would not lose his sheep for anything!\n\nSo he left his ninety-nine in the fold, and hastened away into the\nwilderness to find the one which was lost.\n\nOver the rugged mountains; through the tangles and the briars; through\nthe deep waters of the rushing stream, on he passed; and as he went,\nperhaps these words seemed to dwell in his very heart: \"Until I find\nit!\"\n\nOn he went, weary and worn, till at last he heard a faint cry.\n\nThen the shepherd called, and stood listening for the answer. And again\ncame that faint cry, and the shepherd knew that somewhere near him, his\nlost sheep was lying\u2014lonely, helpless, and hopeless.\n\nThen the shepherd saw beneath him, just at the edge of an awful\nprecipice, the poor sheep caught in a tangled briar.\n\nSo the shepherd leaned over the abyss and stretched out his hands, and,\nregardless of the tearing thorns, he grasped his sheep, he disentangled\nthe briars, and lifted it into safety.\n\nBut the sheep was so weary and faint, that it could not walk; so\nthe tender shepherd put it on to his shoulders, and brought it home\nrejoicing!\n\nAnd then the shepherd called his friends together, saying:\n\n\"Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost!\"\n\nThis is a word-picture of what our Lord Jesus is. \"The Good Shepherd,\nWho giveth His life for the sheep!\"\n\nIf we feel that we have wandered away, we can go and tell Jesus, and He\nwill forgive us.\n\nOr if we are in any trouble or danger, He is ever near us, to help us\nand guide us, and do us good.\n\nAnd when the little lamb comes to Jesus, and says, \"I am sorry,\" or the\nbig sheep comes back and asks forgiveness, then Jesus rejoices, and\nsays to us all: \"I say unto you, That likewise joy shall be in Heaven\nover one sinner that repenteth.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nVII. THE DRAUGHT OF FISHES\n\n[LUKE 5.4]\n\n[Illustration: THE DRAUGHT OF FISHES]\n\nWHEN our Lord Jesus was on earth, He did so many kind and loving\nthings, and made so many people well who were sick, that the multitude\nfollowed Him about everywhere, so that sometimes Jesus and His\ndisciples had not even time to eat.\n\nOne day when He was by the Lake of Gennesaret (which is sometimes\ncalled the Sea of Galilee) the people pressed so close to Him that\nseeing two small ships drawn up on the shore, Jesus entered one of\nthese, and asked the owner to put his ship a little way from the land,\nso that He might speak to the people where they all could hear.\n\nThe ships were empty, for the fishermen were gone out of them, and were\nwashing their nets in the lake.\n\nThe fishing-boat that Jesus entered, belonged to Simon Peter, whose\nwife's mother had been healed by Jesus, a very short time before.\nPeter loved Jesus very much, and he had already been chosen to be His\ndisciple.\n\nSo when the Lord had done talking to the people, He told Simon Peter\nto launch the ship out into deep water, and to let down their nets to\ncatch some fish.\n\nBut Simon told Him that they had been up, working hard all the night,\nbut it had been all for nothing, as they had not caught a single fish\u2014!\n\nBut Simon did not stop there; he added\u2014what has been a comfort to\nhundreds and thousands of people since then\u2014\"Nevertheless at Thy word I\nwill let down the net.\"\n\nDo you think they caught nothing this time?\n\nAh, if you do, you have not thought what it is to be in the boat with\nJesus!\n\nWhen He commands, He makes it possible for us to obey. You will find\nthat out, children, the more you love and trust Him.\n\nSo they let down the net; and now they enclosed such an immense number\nof fishes that their net began to break, and they were obliged to\nbeckon to their partners, who were in the other ship, to come and help\nthem.\n\nAnd they filled both of the ships so full that they began to sink.\n\nThen Simon Peter fell down at the feet of Jesus, and told Him that he\nfelt himself to be too sinful to be near Him.\n\nBut Jesus never turns away because we are sinful; He comforted Simon\nPeter with the loving words we so often read in the Bible; He said,\n\"Fear not!\"\n\nThen Jesus told Simon that he should be a fisher of men; that meant,\nthat he should draw people into the Kingdom of Heaven.\n\nAnd when Simon Peter and his partners, James and John, had brought\ntheir ships to land, they left everything, and followed Jesus.\n\nAnd they became, very soon, His three chief disciples; and were\nprivileged to be with Him on the mountain when He was transfigured, and\nheard God speak from heaven: \"This is My beloved Son, hear Him.\"\n\n\n\nVIII. THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE LOST SHEEP\n\n[LUKE 15.4]\n\nIN this story we have a peep of what happens on earth, and another peep\nof what happens in Heaven.\n\nThink of that, children! For Jesus says that when anyone is sorry and\ncomes back to God to be forgiven, the angels in Heaven rejoice!\n\nJesus tells us of a shepherd in that Eastern land who had a hundred\nsheep\u2014and everybody who heard Him tell this beautiful parable of the\nGood Shepherd, would instantly recognize it as true of what happened\nall around them\u2014of the shepherd, who on counting his sheep at night,\nmight find one of them missing.\n\nHe tells us how that loving shepherd would leave the ninety and nine of\nhis flock in the wilderness, and go to seek the lost one.\n\nOver the mountains wild and bare, the shepherd sought the wandering\none. The thorns pierced his tired feet, and his loving hands, as he\nlooked here and there until he found it, perhaps caught in a thicket of\nthorns, or fallen into a pit from which it could not extricate itself!\n\nHe would disentangle the thorns from the imprisoned sheep, he stooped\nlow, regardless of his own life, to reach it from the miry pit.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd then, when the shepherd had reached it at last, and had grasped it\nin his loving hands, he laid it on his shoulders, rejoicing.\n\nAnd when he got home he called together his friends and neighbours,\nsaying, \"Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost!\"\n\nAnd our Lord Jesus adds these words; and it is here we get a peep into\nHeaven:\n\n\"I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner\nthat repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no\nrepentance.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE ANGEL CHOIR.]\n\nJesus says that He is the Shepherd\u2014the Good Shepherd\u2014Who giveth His\nlife for the sheep!\n\nLittle children are the lambs; and the Bible says, \"He shall gather the\nlambs with His arm.\"\n\nHe sees them wandering, He loves them; He goes after them; He seeks\nthem.\n\nAnd when He finds them, even the angels in Heaven rejoice!\n\n\n\nIX. \"JESUS CALLED A LITTLE CHILD UNTO HIM\"\n\nMATTHEW 18.2\n\n[Illustration: \"And Jesus called a little child unto him,\n and set him in the midst of them.\" Matthew 18.2.]\n\nOUR Lord Jesus loved the little children. He took them up in His arms,\nand blessed them. He rejoiced to hear their glad hosannahs as He\nentered Jerusalem.\n\nOne day there was a crowd round Him, and the disciples were asking Him\nwho should be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.\n\nAmong the crowd there was a little child, and the Lord called him,\nand set him in the midst, close by Him; and then He explained to His\ndisciples, that if they wanted to be great in the Kingdom of Heaven,\nthey would have to be as humble as this little child!\n\nThen He went on to say to them, that they must be careful not to hurt\nor wrong one of these little ones who believed in Him; and that anyone\nwho received such a little child, was receiving Jesus Himself.\n\nAnd then He said these very wonderful words: \"Take heed that you do not\ndespise one of these little ones, for I say unto you, That in Heaven\ntheir angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in Heaven.\"\n\nMany years ago, we had just moved into the country with our three\nlittle children.\n\nA stranger kindly called on me, and having seen our children, she said\ngently to me, \"Do you try to teach them about Jesus?\"\n\nI was an earnest Christian, and I said, \"Are they not too young?\" and I\ntold her that I meant to do so when they were a little older.\n\nAnd I never forgot her reply: \"You cannot begin too soon!\"\n\nAnd then she went on to tell me of her own little boy, who had lately\ngone to be with Jesus in heaven.\n\nShe said, \"I had always talked to him about Jesus, and though he was\nnot much over two years old, he could repeat the verse, ending\u2014\n\n    \"In the kingdom of Thy grace\n     Give a little child a place!\"\n\nThen she told me that a sudden attack of illness had come on, and that\nhe had kept on repeating, \"In the kingdom of Thy grace, give a little\nchild a place!\"\n\nBut he grew weaker, and just before he died, he suddenly looked up with\na lovely smile, and exclaimed: \"White babies! Oh, white babies!\" and so\npassed away to the home above the clouds.\n\n     *     *     *     *     *\n\nI never forgot that visitor's words, and I began at once to teach our\nlittle ones about Jesus; and when, some years after, our most cherished\ndarling came to die, he had a peep into Heaven too.\n\nHe had learned a little hymn also, and he used often to say\u2014\n\n    \"And oh what delight, in heaven so bright,\n     To see the dear Saviour's face\u2014\"\n\nAnd just before he died, he raised his head, and pointed eagerly\ntowards the ceiling, and a lovely smile overspread his face.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe, too, had seen the glory, which Jesus had spoken of, \"Where their\nangels behold the face of My Father which is in Heaven!\"\n\n\n\nX. THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM\n\n[Illustration: THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM]\n\nWHEN the time was getting very close for the Lord Jesus to be\ncrucified, He went up to Jerusalem, going among the Jews, whom He knew\nwould take Him and kill Him. He did all this, because He loved us so\nmuch, and was going to die for us.\n\nOne day when He was at Bethany, Mary came with an alabaster box of very\nprecious ointment, and as Jesus sat at supper, she poured the ointment\non His head, and the whole room was filled with the sweet scent.\n\nBut Judas, the disciple who was going to betray Jesus, said it was\na great waste to pour all that ointment on Jesus, for he said it\nmight have been sold for the poor; but that was because Judas had the\nmoneybag and was a thief.\n\nThen Jesus told them all that Mary had done what she could for Him;\nthat \"she had anointed Him for His burial,\" and that in after years,\nall over the world, wherever the gospel should be preached, this should\nbe told for a memorial of her!\n\nMany of the Jews were at that supper, partly to see Jesus, and partly\nto see Lazarus, whom he had just raised from the dead.\n\nWhen Jesus left Bethany, and drew near to the city, He sent on two of\nHis disciples to find a colt for Him to ride on.\n\nOur Lord knew everything beforehand, and He told them just where the\ncolt was tied, and what they should say to the man to whom the colt\nbelonged.\n\nNo one had ever ridden on this colt before, but Jesus, the Lord of\nGlory, did not have any trouble with it. They put their garments on the\ncolt for a saddle, and so they set out towards Jerusalem.\n\nThen the people ran before Him, casting down their clothes for him to\nride over; others cut down branches of the trees, and strewed them\nalong the path, crying out, \"Blessed be the King that cometh in the\nname of the Lord!\"\n\nSome of the Jews were very angry, and asked Jesus to stop the\ndisciples. But Jesus told them that \"if they were to hold their peace,\nthe very stones would cry out for joy!\"\n\nAs they were coming down the hill towards Jerusalem, suddenly they\nturned a corner and came in view of the beautiful city, and when Jesus\nbeheld it He wept over it.\n\nWhy did He weep? Why did the Son of God, Who was going there to obtain\neternal salvation for us\u2014why did He weep?\n\nHe wept because the people in that city would not have Him for their\nSaviour!\n\nWhen the great rejoicing multitude reached Jerusalem, they all followed\nJesus into the temple, and the blind and the lame came to Him to be\nhealed, and all the city was moved at the sight of Him.\n\nAnd the little children gathered round Him, crying out joyously,\n\"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of\nthe Lord; Hosanna in the highest!\"\n\n\n\nXI. THE LABOURERS IN THE HARVEST-FIELD\n\n[MATTHEW 20]\n\nTHERE was an Eastern householder, who had great vineyards, stretching\nfar up on the hillsides. By and by the grapes were ready for picking,\nand the householder went out early in the morning to hire labourers for\nhis vineyard; and when he had agreed with them, he sent them into his\nvineyard.\n\nBy and by, he went out again; and seeing others standing idle, he said\nto them, \"Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will\npay you.\"\n\nAt length, at the last hour before sundown, the householder went once\nmore, and found others standing idle, and he said to them, \"Why are you\nstanding here idle, all the day?\" And they answered him, \"Because no\none has hired us.\"\n\nThen he sent them also into his vineyard, and said, \"I will pay you.\"\n\n     *     *     *     *     *\n\nThere are many lessons for us in this parable, but I think the chief\none is this:\n\nThe Vineyard spoken of belongs to the Lord God.\n\nThe Grapes represent the people all over the world, whom He wants to\nhave in His Heavenly Home.\n\nThe Labourers are God's own people, whom He tells to go and get in the\nharvest.\n\nGod calls each one of us who love Him, to be a labourer in His Kingdom.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: AN EASTERN PLOUGH]\n\nTo each one, when the day is ended, the Lord will give us our own\nreward, and He gives us great promises to encourage us.\n\nHe says, if His workers are \"Wise and turn many to righteousness\u2014they\nshall shine as stars for ever and ever.\"\n\nDoes not this encourage us to do all we can to tell others of the love\nof Jesus, who died on the Cross that we might be saved.\n\nWe can all pray, that God will call us to work for Him; and surely, if\nHe does call, and we listen to His Voice, He will teach us how to bring\nmany to righteousness, and earn \"the crown of glory, that fadeth not\naway!\"\n\n\n\nXII. JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, \"RISE\"\n\nJOHN 5.8\n\n[Illustration: Jesus said unto him, \"Rise, take up thy bed\n and walk.\" John 5.8]\n\nTHERE was a Pool just outside Jerusalem, which was called Bethesda.\n\nHere, numbers of sick people congregated, for there was a wonderful\nthing happened there, and the poor sick people watched eagerly to see\nif that wonderful thing was going to happen that day!\n\nIf you have never heard the story, you will wonder very much what that\ncould be!\n\nIt was, that God sent an angel down at a certain season to stir the\nwater in that Pool; and whoever was fortunate enough to step down first\ninto the Pool, after the water was stirred, was made quite well of\nwhatever disease he had.\n\nOne day, our Lord Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on His way, He\npassed this Pool of Bethesda.\n\nLooking round on the sick people, He saw the man He had come to seek.\n\nThe Bible says: \"Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been a\nlong time in that case.\"\n\nSo He came close to him, and said, \"Wilt thou be made whole?\"\n\nAh! the poor man could not answer that question straight off! There was\nonly one remedy he knew of, and that was impossible.\n\nSo he looked up into the face of Jesus, and gave a very pitiful and\nsimple answer, in words like these:\n\n\"Sir,\" he said, \"I am lying here helpless, and when the water is\nstirred, there are numbers of others who can step down into the water\nbefore me, and I am left behind!\"\n\nThen our dear Lord Jesus gave 'The Word of Command'\u2014and when He, the\nSon of God, commands, He gives the power to obey\u2014and He said to the\npoor man, \"Rise! take up thy bed and walk!\"\n\nAnd immediately the man was made well; and without any hesitation, he\nrose straight up, took up the mat he had been lying on, and was able to\nwalk away quite well.\n\nAfterwards, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, \"Thou art\nmade whole; go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.\"\n\nJesus had seen how hopeless this man had been, and He healed him, but\nHe wanted him to have a greater blessing still, even to have his sins\nforgiven.\n\nAnd for us\u2014He sees how we need to be healed of our sins, and from the\nremembrance of what we have done wrong; and He says to us, too: Wilt\nthou be made whole? Wilt thou have my forgiveness, and come to me and\nbe saved? And then, like the helpless man in the story, we can look\nup into the face of Jesus, Who is in Heaven looking down on us now,\nand all at once we can realize His mighty power to save us! and we can\nyield ourselves to His love.\n\nIf we come to Him so, He will make life a different thing for us.\n\nWe shall go about our work, or our school, or our home, or our play,\nwith a glad heart because we have Jesus, as our own Saviour.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXIII. LET THROUGH THE ROOF\n\nMARK 2.4\n\n[Illustration: LET THROUGH THE ROOF\n MARK 2.4]\n\nTHE poor man, who you see in this picture, had been very ill for a long\ntime.\n\nHe had four friends who loved him very much, and who had heard that the\nLord Jesus could heal those who were sick.\n\nWhen these friends heard that Jesus was in their city, they were very\nanxious to get the sick man to Him. But he was so helpless that he\ncould only lie on his bed, waited on by those around him.\n\nBut these four friends firmly believed that Jesus could heal the sick\nman, and they decided to carry him, just as he was on his bed, and ask\nJesus to cure him.\n\nBut when they reached the house where Jesus was, there was such a crowd\nthat they could not even get near the door.\n\nYou can imagine how they tried to persuade the people to make room for\nthem to get in; but everyone was so anxious to see the Lord Jesus, and\nto hear Him speak, that they could not even get near the door.\n\nWhat was to be done now? Should they turn back?\n\nWhat? get so near to Jesus, and not be healed after all!\n\nThen the four friends thought of another plan.\n\nThey would get the invalid up the outside staircase that there often is\nin Eastern houses, and would get on to the roof!\n\nSo they carried the poor sick man carefully up the staircase, and when\nthey had uncovered a place in the roof, they let down his bed right\nthrough the ceiling to the feet of Jesus.\n\nAh! what do you think the dear Lord said then?\n\nWhen He saw their faith\u2014the faith of those men who had brought the sick\nman to Jesus\u2014He said to the poor trembling invalid, \"Son, be of good\ncheer, thy sins be forgiven thee!\"\n\nAnd then when the people wondered very much at Jesus being able to\nforgive sins, He showed them His great power, by making the sick man\nquite well the very next moment.\n\nHe asked the people which was the easiest for God to do, to forgive\nsins, or to make people well in an instant?\n\nThen He said to the man, sick of the palsy, \"Arise, take up thy bed,\nand go unto thine house.\"\n\nJesus made him so well that though he had to be carried there on a bed,\nhe received strength to obey, and walked back to his home, carrying his\nbed in his arms!\n\nThis wonderful story of one of the miracles of Jesus helps us to\nunderstand three things: first, the great power of Jesus; and next,\nthat we should bring our friends to Jesus, to get blessed; and third,\nthat we should let no difficulties stop us in coming to Him.\n\nHe is in heaven now, but He is always close to us, and we can speak to\nHim at any moment; and no difficulty, however great it seems to us, is\nbeyond His power to overcome.\n\n\n\nXIV. \"ASK\u2014SEEK\u2014KNOCK!\"\n\n[LUKE 11.5]\n\nTHESE words are a wonderful encouragement, and a wonderful promise.\n\nAs our Lord Jesus looked into the anxious faces of the multitude round\nHim, He revealed to them some of the deepest needs of our hearts.\n\nHis words are very simple, and the youngest child can understand a\nlittle about them.\n\n\"Ask,\" He says. Do you not know how the tiny child asks his mother for\nwhat he wants? And how the little girl runs to her father, and says,\n\"May I have it?\"\n\nSo when we remember how full of love God is, we can go to Him at any\nmoment, and tell Him what we need. It may be forgiveness; or it may be\nhelp in some trouble; or comfort in some disappointment; or ease in\nsome bad pain. Yes, He says, \"Ask!\"\n\nAnd when God says, \"Seek\" and \"Knock,\" He expects you to be looking for\nan answer. He does not always answer at once; He waits to see if we are\nin earnest in what we are asking. He says, \"Men ought always to pray\nand not to faint.\"\n\nOur Lord Jesus tells us a beautiful little story about knocking and\nasking, in the 11th of Luke, verse 5.\n\n\"And He said unto them, which of you shall have a friend, and shall go\nto him at midnight, and say unto him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves:\nfor a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing\nto set before him.'\"\n\n\"And he from within shall answer and say, 'Trouble me not: the door is\nnow shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give\nthee.'\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is\nhis friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as\nmany as he needeth.\"\n\n\"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall\nfind; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh\nreceiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it\nshall be opened.\"\n\n\n\nXV. THE PRECIOUS OINTMENT\n\nJOHN 12.3, and MATTHEW 26.6\n\n[Illustration: \"Then took Mary ~~~ ointment of spikenard, ~~~ and\nanointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair.\"\nJohn 12.3.]\n\nTHREE of the chief friends of our Lord Jesus lived at Bethany, which\nwas a village near Jerusalem, just on the other side of the Mount of\nOlives.\n\nTheir names were Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus.\n\nJesus often went to their home when He was staying at Jerusalem, and\nthey loved Him very much, and He loved them dearly, too.\n\nOnly a little time before our Lord Jesus died on the Cross, and while\nHe was some distance away from Bethany, Lazarus was taken very ill, and\nhis sisters sent in haste to Jesus to beg Him to come and heal their\nbrother.\n\nBut our Lord Jesus waited for two whole days before He set out to their\nhelp. And you must hear why.\n\nThis was not because He did not care about their trouble: Oh, no! But\nHe had a great reason in staying away.\n\nHe knew that Lazarus was dying, and He intended to come and raise him\nfrom the dead!\n\nAnd when Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus had died, and had been buried\nfour days before.\n\nWhen Martha had the news that Jesus was coming, she hastened to meet\nHim, and in her grief she exclaimed, \"Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my\nbrother would not have died!\"\n\nBut Jesus told her that her brother should rise again; and that He,\nHimself, was the Resurrection and the Life: and He said that if only\nshe would believe, she should see the glory of God!\n\nAnd when Jesus came to the grave, and they rolled away the big stone,\nthen Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said: \"Father, I thank Thee that\nThou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because\nof the people which stand by I said it!\" ... And when He had thus\nspoken, He cried with a loud voice: \"Lazarus, come forth.\"\n\nAnd Lazarus came out of the grave, and they unbound his grave clothes,\nand he was alive again.\n\nSo Martha did see \"the glory of God!\"\n\nFrom this time, many of the Jews determined to destroy Jesus; and would\ngladly also have put Lazarus to death.\n\nNot long after this, Simon the leper, who lived at Bethany, made a\nfeast for Jesus.\n\nMartha helped to serve the guests, but Lazarus sat down to the table\nwith the Lord.\n\nMany Jews were also guests, who came, not only to see Jesus, but to see\nLazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.\n\nThen, as Jesus sat at supper, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, brought an\nalabaster box of precious ointment, and poured it over His head and His\nfeet, and the room was filled with the lovely odour.\n\nSome who were there were indignant at what they thought was waste, but\nthe Lord said, \"Let her alone ... she hath done what she could; she is\ncome beforehand to anoint My body for the burying.\"\n\nAnd then He added this wonderful promise\u2014\"Verily I say unto you,\n'Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world,\nthis also, that she hath done, shall be spoken of for a memorial of\nher.'\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXVI. TEN THOUSAND TALENTS\n\nMATTHEW 18.24\n\n[Illustration: TEN THOUSAND TALENTS\n MATTHEW 18.24.]\n\nONE day Peter asked Jesus how often we ought to forgive anyone who had\ndone us a wrong?\n\nAnd our Lord told them this story\u2014\n\nThere was a certain king, who wished to settle up his accounts with his\nservants; and when he had begun to reckon with them, one was brought\nbefore him who owed him ten thousand talents.\n\nIt was quite impossible for the servant to pay, and as he had not the\nmoney, the king commanded that he and all his family should be sold,\nand payment made.\n\nThen the servant fell at the king's feet and besought him to have pity,\nand he would try to pay it all.\n\nAnd the king was sorry for him, and had compassion, and forgave every\nbit of it, and set him free!\n\nBut what do you think that forgiven servant did?\n\nHe found one of his fellow-servants who owed him a hundred pence; and\nhe seized him, and said, \"Pay me what thou owest!\"\n\nAnd the poor fellow-servant said, \"Have patience with me, and I will\npay you all!\"\n\nBut the servant who had been forgiven, would not; but cast his\nfellow-servant into prison till he should pay the debt.\n\nSo the other servants were very sorry, and went and told their Lord all\nabout it.\n\nAnd the king called that unforgiving servant, and said to him: \"I\nforgave thee all that debt; shouldest not thou have had compassion on\nthy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?\"\n\nAnd the king was angry, and said he would have to be punished, and to\npay the debt.\n\nAnd our dear Lord Jesus adds this solemn warning to us all\u2014\n\n\"So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your\nhearts do not forgive everyone his brother their trespasses.\"\n\nNow this brings us to ourselves. Perhaps you know yourselves how\ndifficult it is to forgive?\n\nNow, suppose someone has done you a wrong, or you think so, and you\nfeel it is quite impossible for you to forgive that person: Then what\nis to be done?\n\nGo into your room, or some quiet spot, or speak to God in your heart,\nand say, \"Heavenly Father, I can't forgive So-and-so, but do help me\nto! Do give me a forgiving spirit!\"\n\nVery soon, if you wait quietly for a few minutes, you will find softer\nfeelings coming into your heart. You will, perhaps, begin to find\nexcuses for the person who has done you the wrong.\n\nSometimes we can only reverently pray that beautiful prayer of our dear\nLord on the Cross, \"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they\ndo.\"\n\nAnd if you do, I am sure you will find that His loving Spirit will come\ninto your hearts; and you will find the battle is over, and you have\nforgiven, and have won the Victory.\n\n\"As Christ forgave you, so also do ye.\"\n\n\n\nXVII. THE LOST PIECE OF SILVER\n\n[LUKE 15.8]\n\nYOU see that woman? She has lost something which she is most anxious to\nfind.\n\nYesterday she had ten pieces of silver in her hand, which she was\ncounting up with joy, but this morning\u2014somehow\u2014one was missing! She was\nsure she had them all right last night!\n\nSo she looked all over the rooms, but not a trace could she find of her\npiece of silver.\n\nHer neighbours were sorry for her trouble, but when they had\nsympathized with her, they returned to their own affairs.\n\nAt length, she thought of getting a light, and a broom\u2014perhaps she\nwould find it that way.\n\nAnd so she searched all over again; and would not allow herself to\nleave off until she found it.\n\nThen clasping her precious coin in her hand, she ran out to her\nneighbours, calling to them to rejoice with her, as she had found the\npiece that was lost!\n\nAnd then our Lord seems to turn to His disciples, and to us now, as He\nsays, \"Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the\nangels of God, over one sinner that repenteth.\"\n\nThat woman sought until she found it! and this lesson comes home to us\nto-day, as we travel along life's pathway.\n\nPerhaps we know someone who has wandered away into wrong-doing! That is\nlike the coin that was lost!\n\nWe look sorrowfully round, and wonder if there is anything we can do?\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd at last we take the candle and the broom, and begin to seek.\n\nWhat do \"the candle and the broom\" mean to us?\n\nThe candle seems to me to be the Light of God's loving promises to help.\n\nAnd the broom seems to me to link us with those words, \"Pray without\nceasing!\"\n\nGod says: \"Do not stop praying till you find the one that was lost is\nbrought back to God!\"\n\nAnd then our dear Lord's words come back to us again: \"I say unto you,\nthere is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that\nrepenteth.\"\n\n\n\nXVIII. THERE AROSE A GREAT STORM\n\nMARK 4.37\n\n[Illustration: \"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves\nbeat into the ship,\u2014\" Mark 4.37.]\n\nYOU have often heard of the Lake of Gennesaret, or the Sea of Galilee,\nfor the gospels tell us many beautiful stories of what happened around\nthose shores.\n\nSeveral large cities had been built, and the lovely Lake was surrounded\nby mountains, and there were numbers of ships and boats which went\nacross the Lake, some with fishermen plying their trade, and others\ncarrying merchandise to the opposite shores.\n\nBut the Lake, looking so beautiful in the sunshine, and reflecting in\nits waters every shade of colour of the sky, or of the surrounding\nmountains, sometimes had violent storms, instead of calm on its lovely\nwaters.\n\nThe wind suddenly rose, and swept down between the mountains; and\nalmost before the sailors could furl their sails, the wind would drive\nthe boat before it, as if it would swamp it altogether.\n\nBut one day, when all was beautiful and bright, Jesus was walking by\nthe Lake, and a number of people out of the cities around came out to\nsee Him, for they longed to hear His words; no one had ever spoken to\nthem as He did, nor comforted them with assurances that their sins\nmight be forgiven.\n\nAs the Lord saw the multitudes around Him, He entered into one of the\nfishing boats which were moored to the shore, and He talked to the\npeople from there, because they could hear Him better.\n\nSo all day He sat and talked to them, until evening came on, and then\nHe said to His disciples, \"Let us go over to the other side of the\nlake.\"\n\nAnd when His disciples had sent the multitude away, they took Jesus,\njust as He was, in the ship. And there were other little ships with Him.\n\nBut soon a great storm of wind swept down between the mountains, and\nthe waves beat into the ship so that it was now full.\n\nAnd He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they\nawoke Him, and said unto Him, \"Master, carest Thou not that we perish?\"\n\nAnd Jesus arose, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, \"Peace, be\nstill!\"\n\nAnd the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.\n\nAnd Jesus said to them, \"Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have\nno faith?\"\n\nAnd the disciples feared exceedingly, and said one to another, \"What\nmanner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?\"\n\nChildren! It is because Jesus is the Son of God, that He can do these\nwonderful miracles!\n\nIf we are in any trouble we can look up to Jesus in heaven and say,\n\"Lord, help me!\"\n\nIf we are sad, we can ask Him to comfort us.\n\nIf we have done what is wrong, we can ask Him to forgive us. He has all\npower in Heaven and Earth, and He will listen to our cry, and come to\nour help, as He helped the disciples in that great storm!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXIX. HIS VESTURE\n\nMATTHEW 27.35\n\n[Illustration: HIS VESTURE\n MATTHEW 27.35.]\n\nPERHAPS you ask, \"What are these men so busily doing?\"\n\nLittle did they know that hundreds of years before it had been written\nby God's Prophet: \"They parted my garments among them, and upon my\nvesture did they cast lots.\"\n\nThose four soldiers, whom Pilate had ordered to crucify the Lord of\nglory, and who had heard our dear Lord say, when they had nailed Him\nto the Cross, \"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they\ndo!\"\u2014those four soldiers, did not take any heed of the matchless love\nof those words of forgiveness. They were only thinking about dividing\nHis clothes.\n\nThey had crucified Jesus, the Saviour of the world, and two malefactors\nwith Him, one on the right hand and the other on the left, and Jesus in\nthe midst.\n\nAnd now the people who were watching, saw the four soldiers carry away\nHis raiment to a little distance, to divide it between themselves.\n\nWhen they found that His coat, or under-robe, was seamless, and woven\nin one piece, they cast lots for that, so that it should not be torn or\ndivided, as God had said, so long ago.\n\nIn this picture we do not see the Cross on which our dear Lord was\ncrucified, but it must have been very near to the men.\n\nThere was a piece of parchment nailed on the Cross; and though Pilate\nhad said, \"I find no fault in Him,\" yet when he sat down to write his\naccusation on the parchment, he was obliged to put something; and he\nwrote, in Hebrew, and in Greek, and in Latin, \"JESUS OF NAZARETH\u2014THE\nKING OF THE JEWS.\"\n\nThis writing was read by many people, because the place where Jesus was\ncrucified was near to Jerusalem, and many were passing backwards and\nforwards at this Passover time.\n\nThe cruel Jews, who had urged Pilate to crucify Jesus, wanted him to\ntake the writing down from the Cross.\n\nThey said, \"Do not say that He is the King of the Jews! But say that He\nsaid He was!\"\n\nBut Pilate would not alter it. \"What I have written, I have written,\"\nhe said.\n\nSo when Jesus died, this was His accusation\u2014that He is King!\n\nThen the rulers who were standing by mocked him, saying, \"He saved\nothers, Himself He cannot save! Let Him come down from the Cross!\"\n\nPerhaps some of you who read this may think that it was the cruel nails\nwhich held His dear hands fast, so that he could not come down?\n\nBut that was not the reason\u2014oh no!\n\nIt was love that made the Son of God stay there; love to you, and to\nme. \"He gave His life a ransom for us.\"\n\nHe stayed there that He might die for us; that His precious Blood\nshould be shed to pay the price of our sins.\n\nNo one can tell the depth of woe and loneliness which Jesus suffered,\nwhile the load of our sins rested upon Him; but the more we understand\nit, the more we shall love Him, for His great love.\n\n\n\nXX. THE LAST SUPPER\n\nTHE night before our Lord was crucified for us, He gathered His twelve\ndisciples together, and sat down to eat the Passover Supper with them\nin the Upper Room.\n\nAnd as they were eating, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and told them\nthat one of them would betray Him.\n\nClose to His side, leaning on His bosom, was the disciple whom Jesus\nloved; and Peter beckoned to him to ask the Lord who it was who should\nbetray Him.\n\nSo John, leaning on Jesus' bosom, whispered, \"Who is it, Lord?\"\n\nAnd Jesus answered, \"It is he to whom I give a sop when I have dipped\nit.\"\n\nAnd He gave the sop to Judas Iscariot.\n\nAnd as they were eating, \"Jesus took bread, and gave thanks and brake\nit, and gave unto them, saying: 'This is My Body which is given for\nyou: this do in remembrance of Me.' Likewise also the cup, after\nsupper, saying: 'This cup is the New Testament (covenant) in My Blood\nwhich is shed for you.'\"\n\nAnd from that Last Supper before His death till now, nearly two\nthousand years after, in one unbroken chain, week after week, those who\nlove Christ have partaken of this Holy Feast, in remembrance of Him\ntill He comes back again.\n\nThe Holy Supper was over. Judas had already left them to go and betray\nhis Master to the Chief Priests, for thirty pieces of silver, and he\nhad gone out into the darkness.\n\n[Illustration: In that wonderful conversation, as Jesus talked\n with the disciples for the last time, He told them many things\n which they understood more clearly afterwards.]\n\nIn that wonderful conversation, as Jesus talked with the disciples for\nthe last time, He told them many things which they understood more\nclearly afterwards.\n\nHe told them He would not leave them comfortless, and that He was going\nto prepare a place for all who loved Him, in the many mansions of His\nFather's house.\n\nAnd then they sang a hymn together\u2014Jesus and His disciples\u2014and after\nthat they went into the Garden of Gethsemane, where the Easter moon was\nshining among the sombre trees: and there it was that Judas found Him,\nand betrayed Him to the multitude.\n\n\n\nXXI. DOWN A STEEP PLACE\n\nMARK 5.13\n\n[Illustration: \"And the herd ran violently down a steep place\n into the sea,\u2014\" Mark 5.13.]\n\nAFTER the Lord Jesus had stilled the great storm, and the disciples had\nbeen so amazed that even the wind and the sea obeyed Him, they landed\non the other side of the Lake from that from which they had started.\n\nAnd directly the Lord stepped on the shore from the boat, He performed\nanother great miracle in the sight of the astonished disciples.\n\nFor there was a man there who lived among the tombs. He wore no\nclothes, and he did nothing but wander about and cry and cut himself\nwith stones.\n\nPeople had tried to bind him, but he broke the chains, and no man could\ntame him.\n\nFor it was Satan who had put wicked spirits to live in him, and this\nwas what made him so miserable.\n\nBut when the poor man saw Jesus come out of the ship, he hurried to\nHim, and worshipped Him; and begged Him not to torment him, for he said\nthat he knew that Jesus was the Son of the most high God!\n\nBut Jesus had said at once, \"Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit!\"\n\nThen the Lord Jesus asked the man to tell him his name? And the man\nsaid it was Legion, for that many devils lived in him.\n\nThen the devils asked Jesus not to send them far away, and begged Him\nto send them into the herd of swine which were feeding near on the\nmountain.\n\nSo Jesus gave them leave, and the wicked spirits entered into the\nswine; and instantly the whole herd ran violently down a steep place\nand were drowned in the sea.\n\nThen the keepers of the swine hurried away to the town, to tell the\npeople what had happened; for there were over two thousand swine buried\nin the sea.\n\nBut when the people came out to see for themselves, a wonderful sight\nmet their eyes.\n\nFor there was the man, whom Jesus had healed, sitting quietly by Him,\nwith clothes on, and in his right mind! The wicked spirits had gone out\nof him, and he was happy beyond expression. He only wanted to be near\nJesus, and to show Him how thankful he was! And he begged Jesus to let\nhim stay with Him always.\n\nBut Jesus answered him that He did not wish him to do that, because He\nwanted him to go home to his friends and to tell them what great things\nthe Lord had done for him, and how He had had compassion on him.\n\nSo the poor man, happy now because Jesus had healed him, went back to\nDecapolis and told everybody he met what Jesus had done for him.\n\nAnd it seems to me that this story tells its own tale to each one of us:\n\nJesus is the Son of God, and has all power.\n\nSatan likes to trouble us, and make us sin; and if he can succeed in\nhis wicked wishes, he binds us by the very sins he has made us do.\n\nBut Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is much more powerful than Satan; and\nif we go to Him for forgiveness, He will send Satan away, and He will\nforgive us, and make us clean and white. For on the Cross He died to\nwash away our sins, if we will but look to Him and be saved!\n\nThen we can go, ever so happily, and tell other people what He has done\nfor us!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXXII. GOODLY PEARLS\n\nMATTHEW 13.45\n\n[Illustration: HOSANNA!]\n\n[Illustration: GOODLY PEARLS\n MATT. 13.45.]\n\nOUR Lord Jesus said: \"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man\nseeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price,\nwent and sold all that he had, and bought it.\"\n\nNow all of us are seeking for all sorts of things; and each one, in our\ndifferent ways, desires most earnestly to find the thing we desire.\n\nYou boys want to be splendid at football, or cricket, or games at\nschool! Or you want to be very clever at your lessons, and top of your\nclass, and hoping to be put up higher next term.\n\nAnd you strive and strive for these things, and like the merchant-man,\nyou seek them, as he did his pearls.\n\nAnd you girls\u2014what do you think most about?\n\nTo be a girl-guide? To be top of your class? To be elected \"captain\" in\nyour school? To be a clever artist, or a good musician?\n\nAnd then with older people? All the world seems after fame, or riches,\nor pleasure, more things than I can count; and like the merchant-man,\nthey value them very much.\n\nBut one day this merchant-man comes across a man who offers him the\nmost beautiful pearl he has ever seen.\n\nIt is large, and so pure, so brilliant, and so rare; he takes it in his\nhand, and is lost in amazement.\n\nThe one who offers it to him, tells him that he will have to give up\nall his other pearls to buy it!\n\nThen the merchant-man goes into his chamber, and looks earnestly at his\nown pearls. But the desire for the one Treasure is overwhelming\u2014and at\nlength he returns to his visitor, and he says, \"I will give everything\nI possess, if you will give me this One Pearl of great Price!\"\n\nThis is an allegory; but we may well ask, \"What is this Pearl of great\nPrice?\"\n\nIt is\u2014to take Jesus to be our Saviour.\n\nTo ask Him to wash away our sins; to help us to be pure, and good; to\nbe our light in our darkest hours; to be our joy, our life, and our\nhappiness, if we have taken Him for our own Saviour.\n\n\n\nYears ago, when I was a little girl of twelve, I heard a sermon in\nwhich we were asked to take Jesus into our hearts, then and there.\n\nI remember how, directly I reached home, I ran up into my room, and\nknelt down, and asked Him to take me.\n\nSince then, Jesus has been all the world to me. And He has helped me\nthrough a long life to try to bring others to love Him.\n\nA little girl was asked by the Vicar a few Sundays ago, whether she had\nunderstood what he had said?\n\nShe looked up sweetly, and answered: \"You said, 'we must do all we can\nfor Jesus Christ'!\"\n\n\n\nXXIII. THE WIDOW'S MITE\n\nONE day, our dear Lord was teaching in God's Temple at Jerusalem,\nand preaching the Gospel. He had been warning the people against the\nscribes who made long prayers for a show, but who oppressed poor widows\nand took away their houses.\n\nThe Lord looked straight into people's hearts, and He could not bear\nfor the scribes to seem so very good outside, and to be so wicked\ninside!\n\nJesus was sitting near the Treasury, which was a chest in which people\nput their offerings of money for God's service.\n\nAfter He had been speaking about those scribes that oppressed the\nwidows, He raised His eyes and saw the people casting their gifts into\nthe Treasury; and many that were rich cast in much.\n\nAnd just then a poor widow drew near, and she put in two mites, which\nmake a farthing.\n\nJesus saw it all! He could see into her empty pocket; He knew all about\nit!\n\nThen He called His disciples to Him, and said to them, \"This poor widow\nhas cast more in than all the others who have cast into the Treasury:\nfor they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast\nin all that she had, even all her living!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThere was another poor widow in the time of Elijah, God's Prophet.\n\nElijah had come a long journey, in a time of famine, and he was\nstarving and nearly dying of thirst.\n\nHe came to Sarepta, and saw this poor widow picking up sticks outside\nthe city, and asked her for food and water.\n\nShe told him she had only a handful of meal and a little oil, and when\nthat was eaten she and her boy must die.\n\nThen Elijah begged her to make a little cake for him, too; and he\npromised her that God would give her some more meal and oil, as long as\nthe famine lasted.\n\nSo she believed God, and made him a cake; and the barrel of meal did\nnot get empty, and the cruse of oil did not fail, as the Lord had said.\n\n\n\nXXIV. SO RUN, THAT YE MAY OBTAIN\n\nI CORINTHIANS 9.24\n\n[Illustration: \"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all,\n but one receiveth the prize?\" I Corinthians 9.24.]\n\nYOU have heard of the Olympic games which were practised in old times,\nhundreds and hundreds of years ago, and you may have seen pictures of\nthe old ruins of the Colosseum at Rome, with its tiers and tiers of\nseats all round, so that thousands of people could witness the things\nthat went on in the arena. Some very cruel things; but some, on the\nother hand, were simply men racing with all their might to receive a\ngreat prize.\n\nThese men were trained, for many months, to the highest point of\nperfection. They were taught how to run, looking forward to the spot\nwhere the crown was to be given them, without faltering or looking back.\n\nThe Apostle Paul described these games. He says, \"They all ran, but\nonly one could get the prize;\" but he reminds us that in the Heavenly\nrace, we may all obtain the prize!\n\nThis race that we are to run, is to try to please God in our everyday\nlife! And he again reminds us that we must lay aside every weight (like\nthose runners did of old) and the sin that so easily besets us, and we\nmust run with patience the race set before us. And as the competitors\ndid in those old days\u2014they looked at the goal, and ran with all their\nmight\u2014so we must look to Jesus, who has told us to run this heavenly\nrace, and who is waiting for us to finish it, through faith in Him.\n\nThose runners cast aside every impediment; they were trained with the\nutmost care, so as to leave nothing undone which could help them.\n\nAnd Jesus our Saviour, Who is looking on at all those who have\nundertaken His race, assures us, with most beautiful promises, that we\nshall surely receive the Crown of Life, which He has promised to those\nwho obey Him.\n\nYou boys and girls in these days are all running a race of some sort!\n\nI do not mean only your Sports' Day! That is most interesting to you\nall, and, doubtless, is very good for you.\n\nBut there are heaps of other races which come into your lives\u2014your\ndifficult lessons, your music, your drawing, your languages, and a\ndozen other efforts; to have a good education, and to get on in the\nworld!\n\nBut Jesus is watching you all with the deepest interest. He says to\nyou, that He longs to see you come to Him and join His great Race, and,\nlike Matthew, \"rise up and follow Him.\"\n\nThen if you do, you have undertaken to be in the Race whose crown is\nEverlasting Life.\n\nAnd for this race, the \"looking unto Jesus\" is the safety and the joy\nof it.\n\nSatan loves to tempt us, and at our first failure, perhaps he says,\n\"You will never do it; give it up!\"\n\nBut Jesus our Saviour says to you, \"Do not be discouraged; do not think\nof Satan, but think of ME. Remember, for the joy that was before ME, I\nendured to die on the Cross for your sakes, and I am the Author and the\nFinisher of your faith.\"\n\n\"It is I Who am standing at the goal watching, and it is I Who will\ngive you the Crown of Righteousness that fadeth not away\u2014'reserved in\nHeaven for you who are kept by the power of God.'\"\n\n[Illustration]","title":"Hosanna : $b Bible stories retold","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":11588}