While Jesus was speaking in the church, the service was stopped by the loud screaming of a furious man who had come in. This man was suffering with a terrible evil, worse than any disease. Into his body had come in some way an evil spirit, a demon. This demon controlled the man and drove him to wild acts and words. The words which were spoken by this man's tongue were not his own, but the words of the wicked spirit within him. The spirit, using the man's voice, shrieked aloud:
"Ha, you Jesus of Nazareth, let us alone! What business have you with us? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are; you are God's Holy One!"
But Jesus at once said to the wicked spirit in the man, "Be still, and come out of him!"
At these words the demon threw the man down upon the floor, as if to kill him; and then went out of the man suddenly, leaving him almost dead. Soon they found that the man, whom everybody had feared before, so fierce had he been, was now perfectly well and quite free from the evil spirit.
Then surprise and wonder came upon all. They talked about it to one another, saying:
"What does all this mean? What new teaching is this? Why, this man speaks to the evil spirits with power, and they obey him and come out."
As the people left the church they told everyone whom they met of this mighty act of Jesus. These men and women told others, and soon the news of Jesus' power went through all the towns and villages in that part of the land.
After the service in the church was over, Jesus went home to dine in the house of Simon and Andrew, and with him went also the two brothers, James and John. In the house they told him that Simon's mother-in-law, the mother of his wife, was very ill, having a high fever. He came, stood by her bed, leaned over her and took her by the hand as if to raise her up. As he touched her, she felt a new power shoot through her body. Instantly the fever left her; she rose up from her bed, perfectly well, and helped to make ready the dinner and serve it.
Jesus stayed in Simon's house that afternoon. When the sun went down and the Sabbath was ended, they found a crowd of people filling the street in front of the house. From all parts of the city they had brought people that were sick, or had evil spirits, like the man whom Jesus had cured in the church. As he came out of the house he laid his hands upon these sick people, one by one; and as soon as he touched them, they rose up well. The evil spirits in some of the men tried to speak to him. But he would not allow them, and gave them command at once to come out of the men in whom they were. They dared not to disobey Jesus, came out and went away.
On that night, while everybody was sleeping, Jesus rose up long before day, while it was still dark, and went out of the city. He found a quiet place, with no houses or people near, and there for hours he prayed to his Father. In the morning he was missed, and Simon Peter, with the others, went out to look for him. They found him and said to him, "Master, come back to the city, for everybody is looking for you!"
But Jesus said, "I was sent not only to your city but to other places also. Let us go out and visit the towns that are near. It was for this purpose that I have been sent by my Father, to preach everywhere the good news of the Kingdom of God."
At one place a man came to Jesus who was covered with a dreadful disease called leprosy and was called "a leper." No one ever touched a leper or even came near him, for they feared that a touch might cause the disease. A leper was driven out of the home, to live with other lepers in a camp outside the city. When he saw anyone coming near, he must stand at a distance, must cover his mouth with his garment, not to let his breath reach anybody, and must call out, "Unclean! Unclean!" so that no one might take his disease. Many lepers were in the land when Jesus was preaching; and lepers may still be seen in that country.
This leper who saw Jesus came as near to him as he dared. He knelt down before Jesus, touching his head to the ground, and called out to him:
"Oh, sir, if you choose to do it, you can take away my leprosy, and make my flesh pure and clean."
Jesus was not afraid to touch the leper. He went to him and placed his hand upon him. Then he said:
"I do choose; be clean!"
And at once all this man's leprosy passed way. His skin lost its waxen, deadly whiteness, his eyes were bright, his deformed hands became perfect and his voice was no longer hollow and cracked. He was no more a leper, but was a man in perfect health.
Jesus said to him, "Do not tell anyone of your cure; but go to the priest in the temple, let him see that you are clean, and make the offering of thanksgiving to God. Let the priest give you a writing to show that you are well, and then go to your own home."
Jesus knew that if this man should tell very many of his cure, there would come such a crowd of people having diseases of all kinds, seeking to be made well, that he could have no time nor chance to preach the gospel, and his great purpose was, not to cure diseases, but to teach men the way to God. It is better to be saved from sin than to be cured of sickness.
But this man was so happy at being made well that he could not be still. Everywhere he went he told people of his wonderful cure, and roused such a desire among the people to see Jesus that Jesus could not go to the cities, for so great were the crowds that he could no longer preach. Everybody was eager to be cured of some illness or to see Jesus cure others. Jesus was driven to seek the open country, where few people lived, and even there the crowds sought him, coming from many places.
After some time, Jesus came again to Capernaum, which was now his home. As soon as the people heard of his return, they gathered in great crowds to see him, to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. He stood on the porch of a house, where every room was full of people, and a company was in front of him, crowding the court of the house to its utmost corner. In this throng were some who were ready to believe in Jesus; but there were also some men who had come from Judea to see who Jesus was, what he was teaching and what he was doing. These men did not believe in Jesus, but were there to find some fault with him. They belonged to a class called "the Pharisees," who claimed to be better than others, because they carefully kept all the rules of the Jewish law; but in their hearts they were far from good, and they were bitterly opposed to Jesus.
While Jesus was speaking, four men came, carrying on a bed a man who was sick with the palsy, a disease which makes one helpless, unable to use his hands, to walk or to stand alone. They were very eager to bring this man to Jesus to be cured, but on account of the crowd they could not come into the house or even into the yard in front of it. They were bound, however, in some way to get this palsied man to Jesus. They climbed up to the roof of the house and pulled the sick man up. Then they broke open the roof, never minding the dust and litter that fell upon the heads of the people below. When they had made an opening large enough, they let the man down, wrapped in a blanket and lying upon a mattress, right in front of Jesus. All this showed their faith in Jesus. They believed that he could cure the palsied man, and were ready to take any trouble to bring him before the Saviour.
Jesus looked at the man, and said to him:
"My son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven!"
Some of these Pharisees, the enemies of Jesus, were sitting near, and as they heard these words they thought in their own minds, though they did not speak it aloud:
"What wicked words are these! This man speaks as though he were God! No man has the right to forgive sins; that belongs to God alone. What wickedness, for this man to pretend to have God's power!"
Jesus knew their thoughts, for he could look into their hearts. He said to them:
"Why do you think wicked things in your hearts? Which is the easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'? But I will show you that while I am on earth as the Son of Man, God has given me the power to take away sin."
Then he turned to the palsied man lying on the couch, and said with a voice of power:
"I tell you, rise up, take up your bed, and go to your house!"
In an instant a new life came to the palsied man. He stood upon his feet in full strength, rolled up his blanket, took up the mattress upon which he had been lying, placed it upon his shoulder and walked out through the crowd, which opened to make a way for him. Through the streets the man went to his home, praising God for his cure.
By this act of healing Jesus had shown that he was the Son of God, with the right to forgive the sins of men. These Pharisees, the enemies of Jesus, could find nothing to say, but in their hearts they hated him more than before, for they saw that the people believed on Jesus. Wonder filled the minds of those who saw this cure; they praised the God of Israel and said to each other, "We have seen strange things today!"
Among these crowds of people Jesus noticed one man standing, who listened closely to every word. This man was named Levi-Matthew. He was an officer of the government, called "a publican"; and it was his work to gather the taxes which the Roman rulers had laid upon the people. Everybody was called upon to pay money to the Romans, who were the rulers of the land. The people hated the Romans, who held the land under their power, and hated also these tax-gatherers, who were often selfish and unjust men, making the people pay more than they should, robbing the poor and taking much of the money for themselves instead of paying it to the Roman treasury. Because many of these tax-gatherers or publicans were cruel and selfish, all of them were looked upon as wicked. They were called "publicans and sinners," and the people despised them.
One day Jesus was passing the office where Levi-Matthew sat at his table receiving the tax-money from the people. Jesus looked at the publican and said to him, "Come, follow me!" At once Levi-Matthew rose up, left his clerks and helpers to care for the money on the table, and went after Jesus. From that hour he was no longer a tax-collector; he became a disciple of Jesus, and followed him wherever he went, listening to his words and keeping them in his mind and memory. Many years afterward, when Jesus was no longer among men, Matthew wrote a book telling of what Jesus said and did. That book is the Gospel according to Matthew, the first book in the New Testament; and it tells what Matthew remembered of the teachings and acts of the Lord Jesus. So it was well for the people who lived after the time of Jesus, and for all the people who through the ages since have read that gospel, and for the millions all over the world who now read it, that Matthew the tax-gatherer became a disciple of Jesus. But for this man's prompt obedience to Christ's call on that day, that precious book would never have been written.
Matthew wished his fellow-publicans to meet Jesus and hear his words. He gave a supper at his house to Jesus, and invited all the publicans or tax-gatherers in that part of the country to come. Many of them came, and with their friends sat down to the supper with Jesus. The Pharisees, who were enemies of Jesus, looked scornfully at Jesus sitting at the table with all the tax-gatherers around him. They said to the disciples of Jesus:
"Why does your Teacher eat with those publicans and sinners?"
They told Jesus of these words, and he answered:
"Those who are well and strong have no need of a doctor, but only those who are sick. I did not come to call those who think themselves good, but those who know that they are sinful and want to be saved. But let those Pharisees learn the meaning of the text where God says, 'I prefer those who show kindness and mercy, to those who offer sacrifices upon the altar.'"
This pointed to the Pharisees themselves, for while they were careful about fasting and saying their prayers and making their offerings in the Temple, they were often unjust and hard toward the poor.
On one Sabbath day, while Jesus was in the city, he walked past a public bath not far from the Temple. It was a large pool or cistern, where several could bathe at once; and beside it were five porches, forming an arched-over platform. These porches, when Jesus came to the pool, were crowded with people, all suffering with disease. Some were blind, some were lame and some had legs or arms all withered and palsied.
At certain times the water in this bath used to bubble and rise up; then it would go down again and be quiet. The people believed that this bubbling up of the water was caused by an angel (whom no one could see) going down and stirring up the pool. They believed, too, that at such times when the water bubbled up, any person who was ill would be cured by taking a bath in the pool. We know that there are many springs whose water will cure diseases, and this pool may have been one of these health-giving springs.
Jesus saw lying there upon a mat beside the bath one man who had been helpless, unable to walk for almost forty years. Jesus who knew all things, knew that this man had been ill for a long time. He said to him:
"Would you like to be made well?"
This man had never seen Jesus before and did not know who he was.
"Sir," he answered, "there is nobody to put me in the bath when the water rises; but while I am trying to crawl down and get into the water, somebody who can walk steps in ahead of me."
Jesus said:
"Rise, take up your mat, and walk!"
The crippled man had never heard words like these; but as soon as they were spoken, he felt a new power shooting through his body. He stood up for the first time in thirty-eight years, picked up his piece of matting, rolled it up and put it upon his shoulder. Then he started to walk toward his house, carrying his burden.
You remember that it was on the Sabbath day that this took place. The Jews were exceedingly careful in keeping the Sabbath. God had said to their fathers many years before, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." But the Jews had added to this commandment many useless rules. They could not light a fire on that day, for that would be working; they could not hold a pen, for that would be carrying a load. These little rules had not been given by God, but had been made by the scribes or teachers of the law.
Some people saw this man carrying his roll of matting through the street. They said to him:
"Stop! don't you know this is the Sabbath day? You have no right to be carrying your bed."
The man did not lay down his load. He said, "A man saw me helpless by the pool, for I was nearly forty years a cripple. This man made me well; and he it was who said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'"
"Who was this man," said the Jews, "who told you to carry your bed on the Sabbath day?"
The man who had been cured did not know who it was that had cured him, for many were standing near, and after healing the man Jesus had walked away without being noticed. Soon after, the man went up to the Temple to give thanks to God for his cure, and there he met his healer and learned for the first time his name. Jesus said to him at that time:
"You are now free from the disease which for so many years has made you helpless. Do not sin any more against God, or something worse will come to you."
The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. The leaders among the Jews, the priests, the scribes and the Pharisees, were very angry at Jesus, because he had made this man well on the Sabbath and because he had told the man to carry his mat on that day. The rulers tried to stir up the people against Jesus, saying that he was a Sabbath-breaker, and nobody should listen to his words.
But Jesus said to them, "My Father works on all days doing good to men; and I do only what he does."
He meant to show them that God sends his sunshine and his rain every day in the week, causing the grass and the grain and the flowers to grow as much on the Sabbath as on other days; and that it was right for him and for every man to do good works, helping men and curing their sickness, on the Sabbath day.
But his words only made the Jews all the more angry, because he had spoken of God as his Father, making himself (they said) equal with God. They would have killed him if they could, so great was their hate against him.
Jesus did not stay long in Jerusalem at this visit. Soon after the feast he went again to his home at Capernaum.
But to the Pharisees, who were very exact in their rules of keeping the Sabbath, to pluck the grain was the same as reaping it with a sickle, to carry it in the hand was the same as bearing a load, and to rub it in the hands was the same as thrashing; and to do these on the seventh day of the week was breaking the Sabbath. These were rules, not given by God, but made by the scribes; and Jesus had already taught his disciples to pay no attention to them.
The Pharisees were constantly watching Jesus and his followers, to catch them, if possible, in doing or saying something that might be thought wrong. They said to Jesus:
"Do you see that your disciples are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath day; picking the ears of grain, carrying handfuls of them and rubbing them in their hands?"
"Have you never read," answered Jesus, "what David did when he was flying from King Saul; how he went into the house of God and took away the holy bread, laid on the table as an offering to God, which was to be eaten by the priests only; ate it himself and gave it to the men that were with him? And do you not know that the priests in the Temple do all kinds of work, killing animals for the offering, placing wood on the altar and many other things; yet they do right, for these things are necessary, and whatever is needful may be done on God's holy day. The Sabbath was made for the good of man and not man for the Sabbath. I tell you that One greater than the Temple is here, for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
On another Sabbath day Jesus went into the church to worship God and to preach the word. A man was there whose hand was withered and helpless. The Pharisees watched Jesus to see if he would cure this man on the Sabbath. They hoped he would cure him, not because they cared for the poor, crippled man, but because they were eager to find something to say against Jesus.
Jesus spoke to the man with the withered hand, "Stand up and come forward." The man stood up before them all; and then Jesus, looking straight at his enemies, said:
"Is it against the law on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm; to save a life, or to try to kill a man, as you are trying to do? If one of you men owns a single sheep, and he should happen on the Sabbath day to find it fallen into a pit, would he not take hold of it and lift it out? And how much more is a man worth than a sheep? Thus it is right to do a kind and helpful act on the Sabbath."
He looked around sternly at his enemies, being sad and grieved because their hearts were so hard. They did not have a word to say; and after waiting a moment he turned to the man with the withered hand and said:
"Stretch out your hand!"
He reached out his arm, and the withered hand was at once made well and strong, as sound as the other. Jesus went away, but the Pharisees were filled with anger against him. They talked together, seeking some way to kill Jesus; and they called upon the friends of King Herod, the ruler of Galilee, to see if they could not persuade the king to order that Jesus should be put to death.
But Jesus went on teaching and curing those that were sick, paying no attention to the plans of his enemies. He told those whom he cured, not to go out and speak to others about him, but to stay quietly at home; for the crowds coming to hear him were already great, and he did not wish them to be any greater. So many people came together from all parts of the land, and even from places outside the land of Israel, from the country of Tyre and Sidon on the north and from Edom or Idumea on the south. They thronged around Jesus, and pressed upon him; so that he spoke to his disciples to have a little boat at hand, to wait upon him, and take him out into the lake for quiet and rest.
The word went throughout the land that Jesus was coming to this mountain; and a great multitude of people gathered in the hollow place between its two crowns, all waiting to see Jesus. He came to the mountain and went up alone to one of its hill-tops. All night Jesus was there in prayer with his heavenly Father; for he had an important work to do, and before any great work Jesus prayed to God. In the morning he called forth out of the vast company of people before him twelve men, who were to be with him all the time, go with him wherever he should go, listen to his teachings, and learn them by heart, and be ready to preach his words when he should send them out. These twelve men Jesus afterward called "apostles," which means "men sent out"; but they were generally named "the twelve." They are also spoken of as "the disciples," although the word "disciples" is also used of all the followers of Jesus.
Most of the twelve men had been called before, and had been for some time with Jesus. Others were new men whom Jesus called now for the first time. Their names are arranged in pairs, two of them together. They were Simon Peter and Andrew his brother; James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Philip and his friend Bartholomew, also called Nathanael; Thomas and Matthew, who had been the tax-gatherer; James the son of Alphaeus; another Simon, who was called "the Zealot," and Judas Iscariot, the one who afterward became the traitor and sold his Lord to his enemies. About most of these men we know very little, but some of them in later years did a great work for the church of Christ. Simon Peter was always a leader among the Twelve, being a man of quick mind and ready words; and John long after that time wrote "The Gospel according to John," one of the most wonderful books in the world.
In the sight of all the people Jesus called these men to stand by his side. Then he came down from the mountain-top to the hollow place between the two summits. He sat down, with his twelve chosen men around him, and beyond this a great crowd of people. To the Twelve and to the listening multitude Jesus preached that great sermon which is called "The Sermon on the Mount." Matthew wrote it down, and you can read it in his gospel, the first book of the New Testament, in the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters. How fortunate it was that Jesus called the tax-gatherer to be one of his disciples, a man who could remember and write this great sermon for all the world to read! We give here only a few parts from this Sermon on the Mount. Jesus began with words of comfort to his followers:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Then he spoke to his disciples of what they were to be among men:
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men."
He went on, perhaps pointing to a town not far away, built on the top of a hill and seen everywhere around:
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under a bushel, but on the stand; and it giveth light to all the house. Even so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
He told his disciples how they should feel and act toward those who had done wrong to them:
"Ye have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who do you wrong, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends rain alike on the just and on the unjust. For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Why, the tax-gatherers whom you despise do as much. And if you speak only to your friends, wherein are you better than others? For even the Gentiles do the same. You should be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
He spoke also of the aims which men should seek in their lives:
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon, who is the god worshipped by this world. Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Surely, life means more than food, surely the body means more than clothes! Look at the birds flying above you; they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than the birds?
"And why should you be anxious about your clothing? Look how the lilies of the field grow: they neither toil nor spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was never robed like one of these! Now, if God so clothes the grass of the fields, which blooms today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you who trust God so little?"
"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we have to eat?' or 'what shall we have to drink?' or 'how can we get clothes to wear?' Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Seek the kingdom of God, and do right according to his will: then all these things will be yours. Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day's own trouble is enough to be anxious over."
Here is what Jesus said as the ending of his sermon:
"Everyone who hears these words of mine, and acts upon them, is like a wise man, who built his house upon rock. The rain fell, the floods rose, the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, for it was founded upon rock.
"And every one that hears these words of mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods rose, the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was its fall."
When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were filled with wonder at his way of teaching. He spoke with the authority of a Master, unlike their own scribes. Most of the scribes when they were teaching would speak in the name of earlier teachers, and say, "Rabbi Jonathan said this," or "Rabbi Hillel said that." But Jesus spoke in his own name, saying, "I say this to you."
This army captain was a good man, and he was very friendly to the Jews, because through them he had heard of the true God, and had learned to worship him. Out of his love for the Jews he had built for them with his own money a church, and had given it to them. This may have been the very church in which Jesus taught on the Sabbath days.
The army captain had a young servant, a boy whom he loved greatly; and this boy was very sick with the palsy and near to death. The army captain had heard that Jesus could cure those who were sick; and he asked the chief men of the church, who were called its "elders," to go to Jesus and ask him to come to the captain's house, that he might lay his hands on the boy and make him well. The elders spoke to Jesus soon after he came again to Capernaum, after preaching on the mountain. They asked him to go with them to the captain's house and cure his servant, and they added:
"He is a worthy man, and it is fitting that you should help him, for though a Gentile, he loves our people, and he has built for us our church."
Then Jesus said, "I will go and cure him."
But while Jesus was on his way to the captain's house, and with him the elders and a company of people, who hoped to see another wonderful cure, he was met by some friends of the captain, who brought this message:
"Lord, do not take the trouble to come to my house: for I am not worthy to have one so great as you are under my roof; and I sent to you, because I am not worthy to speak to you myself. But speak only a word where you are, and my servant shall be made well. For although I am myself a man under authority and rule, I have soldiers under me to carry out my will. I say to one man 'Go,' and he goes; I say to another man 'Come,' and he comes. I tell my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it. You, too, have power to command and be obeyed. Only speak the word and my servant shall be cured."
When Jesus heard this he wondered at this man's faith. He turned to the crowd that followed and said:
"In truth I say to you all, I have not found such faith as this in all Israel. And I tell you further, that many like this man, who are not Israelites, shall come from places in the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. But many of those who are the children of Israel, because they have not believed, shall never enter into God's kingdom, but shall be thrust forth into the darkness outside."
And Jesus said to those who came from the captain's house:
"Go back and say to this man in my name, 'As you have believed, even so shall it be done to you.'"
They went to the captain's house, and found his servant, who had been at the point of death, now free from his palsy and brought back to perfect health.
When Jesus saw this weeping mother, he felt a great pity for her and said to her, "Do not weep." He stepped forward and touched the couch on which the body was lying. The men who were carrying it stood still with wonder at the coming of this stranger, whose look showed power. Standing beside the dead young man, he said:
"Young man, I say unto you, Rise up!"
Instantly the young man sat up and began to speak. Jesus took him by the hand and gave him to his mother. She received him into her arms, and found his cold body now warm with life, the dull eyes now bright. Her son that had died that day was alive once more.
The people who were looking on now felt that indeed a marvelous work had been done. Many of them had seen Jesus before, and knew him; and even those who had not seen him had heard of him, and said, "This must be that great teacher from Nazareth!" Many fell on their faces before him; and some said, "A great prophet has come among us," and others said, "Surely God has visited his people!"
The news that Jesus had raised a dead man to life spread through all the land and even to the countries around. More and more people after this sought to see Jesus and to hear his words.
While Jesus was slowly journeying through southern Galilee, visiting the towns, teaching the people and curing the sick, two men came asking to see him. These men were followers of John the Baptist, who was still in the prison where Herod had sent him. In his prison John heard of the works that Jesus was doing and of the teaching that Jesus was giving. It may be that John was expecting Jesus to set up his kingdom at once, instead of merely going up and down the land as a teacher. Perhaps also, John, shut up in prison, had grown discouraged and doubtful. In other days he had said to all the people that Jesus was the Coming King, so high above him that he was not worthy to tie his shoestrings. But now these two men had brought from John this question to Jesus:
"John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask—are you the Coming One, the promised King of Israel? Or are we to look for another?"
Jesus did not at once answer this question. He acted for a time as though it had not been asked, and left these two men standing, while he turned to the people about him.