And Jesus said again to his disciples some of the things that he had already taught them in his great "Sermon on the Mount"; for he often repeated the same teachings, over and over, until the disciples knew them by heart, so that after he should be taken from them, they in turn could tell them to others. At this time he said:

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life here on the earth, what you can get to eat, nor what you can get to wear. Life is something more than food and the body is more than its clothes. Look at the crows flying through the air! They neither sow nor reap; they have no storehouse nor barns; and yet God gives them food. How much more are you worth to God than are the birds? And however anxious you may be, can you add one minute to your life? And if you cannot do even this, why be anxious about other matters?

"Look at the lilies, and see how they grow. They neither spin nor weave; and yet, I tell you, even King Solomon in all his splendor was not dressed like one of these. Now, if God so beautifully clothes the grass in the field, which blooms today, and tomorrow will be thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O men, who trust God so little?

"So do not worry about food and drink and clothes; these are the things for which the nations of the world who know not God are seeking after, and you should not wish to be like them. Besides, your Father in heaven knows that you have need of these common things. Only seek the kingdom of God, and your heavenly Father will see to it that you have these things. Do not be afraid, my little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you a place in his kingdom."

At this time some people brought to Jesus the news that Pilate, the Roman governor, had killed in the Temple some men from Galilee, while they were worshipping at the altar, so that their blood was poured out with the blood of their offerings. This act of the governor had terribly shocked the people.

"Do you suppose," said Jesus, "that because those Galileans suffered these things, that they were worse sinners than the rest of those living in Galilee? I tell you, no; unless you turn from your sins and seek God, you will all perish as they did.

"Then, too, think of those eighteen men in Siloam, just outside of Jerusalem; those men on whom the tower fell and killed them all; do you suppose that they had been worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; unless you turn to God, you will all perish as they did."

Then Jesus gave to the people the parable of "The Fruitless Fig Tree." He said:

"A man who had a fig tree growing in his garden came at the time when figs were ripe, looking for fruit, but found on it not a single fig. So he said to the gardener, 'Here I have come for three years looking for fruit on this tree, without finding any. Cut it down! Why should it take up room and rob the soil?' But the gardener answered him, 'O please, sir, leave it one year more. I will dig around it and enrich the soil; then it may bear fruit next year. If it does not, then let it be cut down.'"

In the Church and at the Feast

"Woman," he said, "you are set free from your weakness."

He placed his hands upon her, and instantly power came to her. She stood up erect, and with a loud voice praised God for her cure. But the president of the board in the church was greatly displeased that Jesus had done this on the Sabbath. He said to the people:

"There are six days in the week for work; come on one of these to be cured, and not on the holy Sabbath."

"O you false-hearted men, making a pretense of serving God!" said the Lord Jesus. "Does not each one of you on the Sabbath day unloose his ox or his ass from its manger, and lead it out to drink? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham our father, whom the evil one has held bound for all these eighteen years, should she not be set free on the Sabbath?"

As he said this all those who were opposed to him felt ashamed of themselves; while the people rejoiced to see all his wonderful doings. As Jesus went through the towns and villages, all the time on his way toward Jerusalem, he repeated many of the parables and teachings that he had given in other parts of the land, such as "The Narrow Door," "The Mustard Seed," "The Yeast in the Dough," and others.

The land of Perea, where he was now teaching, belonged to the Kingdom of Herod. Some Pharisees, who were enemies of Jesus, came to him and said:

"You had better get away from this land, for King Herod means to kill you."

This they said, not to save the life of Jesus, but to make him leave their land. But Jesus answered them:

"You may go and tell that fox that I am casting out the evil spirits and curing diseases today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall finish my work. But I must go on my way today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, for it would never do for a prophet to meet his end except in Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! killing the prophets and stoning those whom God has sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children around me, as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not come! Truly, your house is left to you to be destroyed. Never, I tell you, shall you see me again until the day comes when you will say, 'Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

In one place he was invited by one of the rulers who was a Pharisee to come to his house for dinner. There were at the table other Pharisees and people not friendly to Jesus, and they watched him closely. He saw in the room a man who was swollen with the dropsy; and Jesus asked the teachers of the law and the Pharisees:

"Is it according to the law to cure a sick man on the Sabbath, or is it not?"

They said nothing. Then Jesus laid his hands on the man and cured him, and sent him away. Afterward he said:

"Is there any one of you who, finding on the Sabbath day that his ass or his ox has fallen into a pit, will not at once pull him out without waiting for a working day?"

They could not answer him this question. He noticed that those who had been invited to the dinner picked out for themselves the best places, near the head of the table; and he gave them this advice.

"When you are invited to a marriage feast, do not take one of the best places. It may be that some person of higher rank than you has been invited; and then the one who gives the feast comes to you and says, 'Here, make room for this man!' Then you must get up ashamed and take a place down at the foot of the table. No, when you come to the feast, go to the lowest place, then when the giver of the feast sees you, he will say, 'My friend, come up higher,' and you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow-guests. For every one who lifts up himself shall be humbled; and the one who humbles himself shall be lifted up."

Jesus said also to the ruler who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, or your brothers, or those who are your relatives, or your rich neighbors, for they may invite you in turn, and thus you will be repaid. No, when you give a dinner, invite the poor, the cripples, those who have lost an arm, and the blind. Then God will give you his blessing; for these people cannot repay you; and you will receive your reward when God raises up the good from their graves to everlasting life."

One of those at the table heard these words of Jesus; and he spoke out, "Happy will he be who shall sit down at that feast in the kingdom of God!"

Jesus answered him by giving the parable of "The Supper and the Excuses." He said:

"There was once a man who was giving a great supper, to which he had invited many of his friends. At the hour for the supper, he sent out his servant to say to the guests who had been invited, 'Come at once, for everything is now ready!' But all of them with one mind began to decline his invitation. The first man said to the servant:

"'I have bought some land, and I must go and look at it. Please to excuse me.'

"The second said, 'I have bought five pair of oxen, and I am going to give them a trial. Please to have me excused.'

"Another said, 'I cannot come, because I have just married a wife.'

"The servant went home and told his master all these answers. Then the master of the house was very angry. He said to his servant:

"'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in here the poor, the cripples, the blind and the lame.'

"Soon the servant came back, saying, 'Your orders have been carried out, sir; but there is still room for more.'

"'Go out into the country,' said the master of the house, 'to the roads and the hedges, and make the people come in, to fill up my house; for I tell you that not one of those that were invited shall taste of my supper.'"

On Counting the Cost

Jesus was not willing to have such careless and thoughtless followers as these. He spoke to them words that seemed harsh and forbidding, but were meant to make them think of what they must meet if they would be among those who believed in him. Turning to the multitudes that were flocking around him, he called out to them:

"If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life besides, he cannot be a disciple of mine. Whoever does not carry his own cross and walk in my steps cannot be a disciple of mine!"

Jesus did not mean quite all these words he seemed to speak. He did not wish sons and daughters really to hate their fathers and mothers, nor parents to hate their own children; but he did mean that no one should say, 'My father and mother do not consent to my following Jesus, and therefore I cannot be his disciple.' Nor did he wish that parents should say, 'I have children to care for, and I must not believe in Jesus, and become his disciple.' He wished those who were following him without thought, to ask themselves whether they were willing to lose all for Christ's sake, and to serve him, no matter who were opposed to him or what they might suffer in his service.

"Who of you," said Jesus, "when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, and see whether he has enough money to finish it? If he can only lay the foundation, and then must leave the work unfinished, everybody who sees the half-completed wall will laugh at him and say, 'This fellow began to build, but he could not finish!'

"Or what king sets out to go to war with another king, and does not first sit down to consider whether with ten thousand soldiers he can fight the king who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he does not dare to meet his enemy, then while his army is still a great way off, he sends an officer to ask for terms of peace. So will it be with every one of you who will not give up all that he has; he cannot be a disciple of mine."

What Jesus meant was this, "Think whether you will hold out to the end, if you would be among my followers. And think, too, whether you will dare to meet the hate and opposition that you must overcome in becoming my disciples." He went on with such words as these:

"Every true disciple of mine is like salt; and salt is good as long as it has its own salty taste. But if it loses its saltiness and becomes tasteless, is there any way to make it good salt again? It is of no use either for the land, nor even for the manure heap, but people throw it away as useless. So will it be with everyone who loses the salt of my life in himself. Now, do not let these words of mine go into one ear and out from the other. Listen, and think of what I have said!"

Seeking the Lost

The Pharisees and the scribes said in great scorn of Jesus, "This man welcomes sinners, and even sits down at the table to eat with them!"

Jesus heard of their words, and answered them in the parable of "The Lost Sheep." He said:

"If one of you has a hundred sheep, and loses one of them, does he not leave the ninety and nine sheep in the sheepfold out in the fields, and go after the lost one until he finds it. When he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders with great joy and carries it home. And when he comes to his house, he calls together his neighbors and his friends, saying to them, 'Come and be glad with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.'

"So I tell you, there is more joy in heaven over one outcast sinner who turns away from his sin to God, than over ninety-nine religious men who are good already and do not need to turn from sin."

A lady has written this parable in verses that have been set to music and sung many times. These are her verses:

Jesus also gave to the people another parable, "The Lost Silver-piece." He said:

"Or, if there is a woman who has ten silver coins, and loses one of them, what will she do? She will light her lamp, and sweep her house, and search carefully for her money, until she finds it. And when she finds it, she goes out and calls together her women-friends and neighbors, and says, 'Come and rejoice with me, for I have found the silver-piece which I had lost.'

"Even so, I tell you there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner that turns to God."

It might be asked—why did the woman need to light a lamp when searching for her lost coin? In that land, the houses of the plain people have either no windows, or one window for the whole house, which is merely a hole in the wall. The rooms are dark, even at mid-day, and to look on the floor thoroughly, and especially in the corners, a lamp must be lighted and carried close to the floor.

The Parable of the Lost Son Found

"There was once a man," said Jesus, "who had two sons. The older son stayed at home and helped his father in the care of his farm, but the younger son was restless and wanted to go away. The young man said to his father:

"'Father, give me now the share of what you own which will come to me after you die.'

"So the father divided all that he had, his land, his vineyards, his olive orchards, his fig trees, his houses, his flocks of sheep and goats, and his money, into three equal parts. Two of these parts he kept for the older son; and the third part he gave to the younger son; for in that land it was the rule for the older son, as the head of the family, to receive twice as much as a younger son.

"After a few days, the young man sold out his share of the property for ready money, and then went away to a land far off, where he could live as he pleased. There he began to lead a foolish and wild life, feasting and drinking wine with worthless men and women. It did not take him many months to spend all his money and to be in great want. None of these people who had helped him in his pleasures were now ready to help him in his need. And what added to his trouble was that just then food became very scarce in that country and there was not bread enough for all the people.

"This young man was in want of everything. His clothes became rags, his shoes were worn out, and what was worse, he could get nothing to eat and was starving for the want of food. Never before had he done any work, but now, driven by hunger he went everywhere looking for something to do which would give him a mouthful of bread. At last he found a man who was willing to hire him. This man sent him out into his field to take care of his pigs and feed them. This was a work felt to be disgraceful, for no Jew would eat pig's meat or in any way touch the vile animals. But even this work the poor young man was compelled to do rather than starve to death. In the field he was so hungry that he was ready to snatch up some of the bean-pods on which the pigs were feeding; and no one in that country cared for him or would even give him something to eat.

"So there in the open field among the grunting hogs sat this young man, ragged, famished and almost ready to die. Suddenly the thought came to him of his father's house, where once he had enjoyed plenty and lived at ease, waited upon by servants. He now saw how foolish, how ungrateful to a kind father, and how wicked he had been. It seemed to him as if he had been living in a dream, had now for the first time awaked and had come to his senses. He said to himself:

"'Why, even the hired men on my father's farm have more food than they can eat; and here I am almost dead with hunger! I will get up and will go to my father; and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I don't deserve any more to be called your son; only make me one of your servants working for wages."'

"So the poor young man left the field and the pigs, and went back to his father's house. There in the door sat his father waiting and watching for his wandering son. While the son was still a long distance away, the father saw him and knew him, barefoot and ragged as he was. He felt pity for his son, whose looks showed his utter misery, and ran to him, fell upon his neck, placed his arms around him and kissed him.

"'Father,' said the young man, 'I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I don't deserve any more to be called your son—' But the father did not wait to hear him any further. He called out to the servants:

"'Be quick, bring some new clothes, the very best in the house, and put them on him; bring a ring to place around his wrist and sandals for his feet; go pick out the fattest calf in the stall, and kill it for a feast! Let us all eat and have a happy time together. For this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and is found!'

"So they began to make merry. Now the older son was out in the field; and as he came near the house, he heard the sounds of music and dancing. Wondering what was the cause of such gladness, he called to him one of the servants and asked what all this meant.

"'Your brother has come home,' answered the servant, 'and your father has killed the fattest of the calves, and is having a feast, because he has him back safe and sound.'

"This made the older son very angry. He would not go in to the supper, but stayed outside. His father came out and begged him to come in and give a welcome to his brother.

"But he refused, saying, 'Think of all the years that I have been serving you! Never have I once disobeyed you; and yet you have never given me even a little kid out of the flock of goats, for me to have a merrymaking with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours comes home, who has wasted your money with vile people, you kill the fatted calf and for him make a great feast.'

"'My son,' said the father, 'you and I are always together, and everything that I have is yours. We could not help being glad and rejoicing; for your brother here was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"

You can see that in this elder brother of the story was the spirit of the Pharisees and the scribes, who were displeased because Jesus was willing to welcome those who had been sinful, when they came to him, sorry for their sins.

The Parable of the Dishonest Steward

"There was a rich man who had a steward who took charge of all his business. Some one told the rich man that his steward was cheating him and making a wrong use of his money. So the master sent for the steward and said:

"'What is this that I hear about you? Hand in your accounts, for you shall not be my steward any longer.'

"The steward was at first greatly troubled at this; and he did not know how he could live if his office as steward was taken away.

"'What shall I do,' he said to himself, 'now that my master is taking away from me my place as steward? I am not strong enough to dig in the ground as a farmer, and I am ashamed to beg in the streets. Oh, I know what I can do, so that when my office as steward is taken away the people will invite me to their homes to live with them.'

"One by one the steward called to him the men that were owing his master.

"'How much do you owe my master?' he asked of the first.

"'A hundred barrels of oil,' answered the man.

"'Here, take your bill,' said the steward, 'and instead of a hundred barrels, make it fifty barrels.'"

This, you see, was making a present to the man of fifty barrels of oil, but not from the steward himself; instead, stealing it from his master, to give to the man who owed him.

"Then to the next man he said, 'And how much do you owe?'

"'A hundred bushels of wheat,' answered the man.

"'Here is your bill,' said the steward; 'make it eighty.'

"And so he treated all those who were owing to his master, giving to each one a part of his debt; so that they would be friendly to him and give him help when he should need it.

"When his master heard of all this, he praised the steward, not for doing rightly, but for looking ahead and taking care for the time to come."

And Jesus said, "The people of this world often are wiser in looking ahead, and planning for the days to come, than are those who have the light of God. And I say to you: use the money of this world to make friends with it, not on earth, but in heaven; so that when you leave the earth, they may welcome you to homes in heaven that never pass away. He who is faithful with a small trust is also faithful with a large trust; and he who is not honest but tries to cheat in little things, will be dishonest and try to cheat in great things. So if you cannot be trusted with the money of this world, who will trust you with the riches of God? And if you are not faithful with what belongs to another, how can you expect to have anything forever as your own?

"No servant can serve two masters at the same time; for either he will hate one master and love the other; or else he will stand by one master and despise the other. You cannot serve God and at the same time live for money."

All these things were spoken in the hearing of the Pharisees, who were fond of money and grasping. They listened, with contempt and scorn in their hearts.

Jesus knew what was in their minds, and he said to these Pharisees:

"You are the men who make people believe that you are good, but God sees and knows what is in your hearts. What is lofty in the sight of men is vile in the sight of God."

A Parable for the Lovers of Money

"There was a rich man," said Jesus, "who dressed in purple robes, like a king, and lived in a splendid great house, with many servants to wait upon him, and feasted every day upon the finest food. Outside the door of the rich man's house was laid every morning a poor beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores and was glad to eat the crumbs and broken pieces from the rich man's table. The dogs of the street used to come and lick his sores.

"After a time, the poor man died, and his soul was taken by the angels to be in heaven with Abraham, the father of God's people; because in all his poverty he had lived for God, trying always to do God's will. The rich man died, too, and was buried. But no angels came to carry him to the land where Abraham was living in happiness. His soul went to the place of woe and sorrow and suffering; not because he had been rich, but because in his riches he had never thought of God.

"The rich man, being in torment, looked up, and far away saw Abraham, with Lazarus in his arms.

"'O Father Abraham,' he called out, 'take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am burning in this flame!'

"'My son,' answered Abraham, 'remember that when you were alive on the earth you had all your enjoyment, while Lazarus in his life had poverty and pain. Now Lazarus has comfort for all his trouble and you are in misery. Besides all that, between us in heaven and you in the dwelling place of the wicked, there is a great valley, a gulf which no one can cross, either to go from us to you or to come from you to us.'

"'If that be so,' said the once-rich man, now so poor, 'and Lazarus cannot come to me, I beg of you, Father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my father's house; for I have five brothers; let him speak to them in time, so that they may not come to this place of terrible suffering.'

"'They have the writings of Moses and the words of all the prophets,' said Abraham; 'let them listen to these.'

"'But, Father Abraham,' he said, 'if some one from the dead should go to them, they would turn from sin to God.'

"'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,' said Abraham, 'they will not believe, even if some one should rise from the dead.'"

As the twelve disciples of Jesus heard this parable, they said, "Lord, make our faith stronger!"

"If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed," said Jesus, "you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"Which one of you, if he had a servant plowing in the field or tending sheep, when he comes in from the field will say to him, 'Come at once and take your place at the table for your supper'? No, he will say to his servant, 'Get my supper ready; then make yourself ready to wait on me while I am eating and drinking; and after that you may have your supper.'

"Does a master thank his servant for doing what he has been told? Well, it is the same with you; when you have done all that you have been told, say, 'We are only servants; we have done no more than we ought to have done.'"

Two Parables Upon Prayer

"In a certain city," he said, "there was a judge who in his rule did not try to do right, but was often unjust and wicked; for he had no fear of God and no care for what men said about him. And in that city there was a widow who came many times to this judge, crying over and over again, 'Do for me what is right against the man who has done me wrong!'

"For some time the judge paid no attention to her, for right and wrong were both the same to him. But after a while the judge said to himself:

"'Although I have no fear of God and no care for man, yet as this widow is so troublesome to me, and gives me no rest, I will do what she asks, for I am tired of her coming and of her calling out for her right every day.'

"Listen," said the Lord Jesus, "to what this unjust judge says. And if a man who does not care for right or wrong will at last answer a prayer, how much more will your heavenly Father listen to his own children when they call upon him day and night, even though he seems to make them wait long for the answer to their prayers? I tell you that God will do right by them and answer their prayers, and that very soon! Yet when the Son of Man comes, will he find on earth those who are looking for him and who believe in him?"

Jesus also told a parable to some people who were sure of their own goodness and looked down upon others. This parable is that of "The Pharisee and the Tax-Gatherer."

"Two men," said Jesus, "went up to the Temple to pray. One of these men was a Pharisee; and the other was a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood up and began praying to himself, not to God, in words like these:

"'O God, I thank thee that I am not like other men—thieves, wrongdoers, and wicked—or even like this tax-gatherer. Twice in every week I eat no food, to show that I am worshipping God; I give to God's house one-tenth of all that I get.'

"But the tax-gatherer stood far away, and would not raise his eyes toward heaven. He beat his breast, saying:

"'O God, have mercy on me and forgive my sins!'

"I tell you," said Jesus, "this tax-gatherer went to his house with his sins forgiven, instead of the Pharisee. For every one who uplifts himself will be brought low; and every one who humbles himself will be lifted up."

The Little Children; and the Rich Young Man

"Take these babies away!" they said. "The Lord is too busy with greater things to attend to them!"

But Jesus heard them, and he was displeased, not with the parents and their children, but with his disciples.

"Let the little ones come to me," he said, "and do not stop them; for the kingdom of God comes only to those who are child-like. I tell you, whoever will not give himself up to the kingdom of God as a little child shall never come into the kingdom."

Then he took the little ones up into his arms, laid his hands upon them and gave them his blessing. After that he went away from that place.

Soon afterward a young man who was one of the leaders in the church of his town came running, and bowed low before Jesus. "Good Teacher," said the young man, "tell me what to do if I am to be saved and have life everlasting."

"Why do you call me 'good'?" answered Jesus. "There is only one who is really good; that is God. To be saved, you have only to do God's will. You know what his commandments are; keep them."

"Why, what commands do you mean?" asked the young man. He supposed that Jesus, like many of the scribes, who were the teachers of God's law, had given some special rules of his own.

Jesus said to him, "I mean the ten commandments of God, such as, 'Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not say what is false; honor thy father and thy mother,' and so on."

The young man said, "Teacher, all these I have kept ever since I was a child. What more do I need?"

As Jesus looked at this young man, so eager in his wish to please God, he loved him, and felt a special longing to have him among his disciples.

"If you really wish to be perfect," he said to the young man, "you do need one thing more. Sell everything that you have, and give all the money to the poor, and you will have your treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, and be one of my disciples."

When the young man heard those words, he felt greatly disappointed, and turned away, unwilling to do what Jesus asked, for he was very rich, and he loved his money. After he had left them, Jesus turned to his disciples:

"How hard it is," said Jesus, "for a rich man to come into the kingdom of God!"

As the disciples heard this, they were greatly surprised, for all the Jews thought that to have riches was a sign of God's special favor. As they stood silent, not knowing how to answer these words, Jesus said again:

"Children, how hard it is for those who trust in their riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of God!"

They were amazed at this, and said, "Then who can be saved?"

"What is impossible with men," answered Jesus, "is possible with God."

"But we," said Simon Peter, "have left everything, and have followed you. What shall we have in the kingdom for all this?"

Peter thought, as did all the crowds who were going up to Jerusalem with Jesus, that there he would set up his kingdom and give rich rewards to his disciples.

"In truth I say to you," answered Jesus, "that you who have followed me, in the new kingdom when the Son of Man shall sit upon his throne, you twelve men, my disciples, shall sit upon twelve thrones, ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one who has left home, or wife, or children, or parents, or brothers, or sisters on my account, and for the sake of God's kingdom, shall receive in this life a hundred times as much as he has lost, and in the world to come, life everlasting. But many that are first in this world shall be last in the kingdom; and some that are the lowest here will be the highest there."