JESUS HEALS A WOMAN ON THE SABBATH, AND THE RULER OF THE SYNAGOGUE FINDS FAULT WITH HIM. HE TELLS WHAT IS NEEDED IN A DISCIPLE. THE PARABLES OF THE LOST SHEEP, THE LOST PIECE OF SILVER, THE PRODIGAL SON, THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS, THE UNJUST JUDGE, AND THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICAN. HE BLESSES LITTLE CHILDREN.
JESUS was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And a woman was there who, for eighteen years, had been bent down with disease, so that she could not straighten herself nor lift herself up. When he saw her he called her to him, and said, Woman, thou art made well of thy sickness. Then he laid his hands on her, and immediately she lifted herself up and was made straight, and she spoke, praising God.
But the ruler of the synagogue was angry because Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. He said to the people, There are six days in which men ought to work; if any of you want to be healed, come then, and not on the Sabbath. Jesus answered him, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you, on the Sabbath, take his ox or his ass from the stable and lead him out to water him? And if it is right to do what is needful for the ox or the ass, is it not right that this woman, who has been suffering for eighteen years, should be made well on the Sabbath day? When he said this, his enemies were ashamed; but the people were glad for the miracles that were done by him.
On another Sabbath, Jesus went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees, and, while there, spoke a parable about a man who made a great supper. When everything had been set on his table, the man sent his servant to those who were invited, saying, Come, for all things are now ready. But they began with one accord to make excuse. The first said, I have bought a piece of ground and must go and see it; I pray thou wilt have me excused. Another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and am going to try them; I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
So the servant came and told his master these things. Then the master, being angry, said to him, Go out quickly into the streets and bring into my house the poor, the lame and the blind. And the servant did as he was commanded. Afterward he came to his master, saying, I have done as thou commandedst me, and there is room for still more. The master said, Go again, through the streets and lanes of the city, and make the people come in, that my house may be filled; for I declare that none of those men who were first invited shall taste of my supper.
In this parable the man who gave the supper means God; the supper itself means the good news of the gospel. The servant means God's ministers who preach that gospel; and the men who were first invited and would not come, mean the Jews, because the gospel was preached to them first, and they would not believe it. The men who were brought into the supper afterward, mean the people of other nations, who have heard the gospel since that time, and obeyed it. And the command to go out into the streets and lanes and bring them in, means that not only the rich and the great, but also the poor and despised, are invited to come and be saved.
And great multitudes came to hear Jesus. But he turned and said to them, that although a man might come and listen to his words, yet if he did not, in his heart, care more for him than for any one else in the whole world, he could not be his disciple. And if he did not take up his cross, that is, deny himself to do what is right, as Jesus himself did, he could not be his disciple.
For which of you, he asked, who intends to build a house or a tower, does not first sit down and count how much it will cost, and find out whether he has enough money to build it? Lest after he has begun and built only a little way, he may have to stop, and all that see it mock him, saying, This man began to build but was not able to finish. Or what king, who is going to make war against another king, does not before he sets out, consider how large an army his enemy has, lest his own army be too small to fight against it? So, Jesus said, that any man who wanted to follow after him, must think first of what he would have to do. For unless he was willing to give up all that he had, if Jesus commanded it, he could not be his disciple.
Then the publicans, or tax-gatherers, and other men who were sinners, came near to hear him. Therefore the Scribes and Pharisees found fault with Jesus, saying, He keeps company with wicked men, and eats with them. But Jesus answered, Which of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave all the rest and go after that which is lost till he find it? And when he has found it, he takes it up on his shoulders and carries it home, rejoicing. And when he comes there, he says to his neighbors and friends, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.
Or what woman who has ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, does not light a candle and sweep the house and look carefully till she find it. And when she has found it, she says to her friends and her neighbors, Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which was lost. Jesus meant, by these parables, to teach the Scribes and Pharisees, that the publicans and sinners who came to hear him were like the lost sheep and the lost piece of silver, because they were wicked. Yet he would not, for this reason, send them away; but would rather seek for them, and encourage them to come to him, so that he might teach them to repent. For he said, that even the angels in heaven were glad whenever one of those wicked men repented and began to serve God.
And he spoke a parable, saying, There was a man who had two sons; and the younger one said to his father, Father, give me my share of the riches which thou hast laid up for thy children. And his father gave him his share. Not many days after, the younger son took all that he had and went away into a far country, and there wasted what his father had given him, among wicked companions. When he had spent all, there came a great famine in that land and he began to want bread to eat. And he went and hired himself to a man of that country, who sent him out into his fields to feed swine. And he would have been glad to have enough of the coarse food which the swine ate, but the man did not give it to him.
And after he had suffered awhile, he said to himself, In my father's house, at home, how many hired servants there are who have plenty to eat, and more than they want, while I stay here starving with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against God and done wickedly to thee, and do not deserve any more to be called thy son; let me come back to thy house, and treat me as one of thy hired servants.
So he left that country to go back to his father. But as he went, while he was yet a good way off, his father saw him and pitied him, and ran out to meet him, and put his arms around his neck and kissed him. Then the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against God and done wickedly to thee, and do not deserve any more to be called thy son. But his father said to the servants, Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring here the fatted calf and kill it; and let us eat and be merry; for this my son had left me, and is come back again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Now the elder son was out in the field, and when he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked him what these things meant. The servant answered, Thy brother is here and thy father has killed the fatted calf, because he has come back safe and sound. Then the elder son was angry and would not go in; therefore his father came out to him and begged him. But he answered his father, and said, For a great many years I have served thee, neither did I ever disobey thy commandments, yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make a feast for my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, who had wasted thy money in doing wickedly, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. The father answered, My son, I have always loved thee, and everything that I have is the same as though it were thine. Yet it is right that we should be glad and rejoice, for this thy brother had left us, and he is come back again; he was lost, and is found.
In this parable Jesus taught the proud Scribes and Pharisees, who blamed him for preaching to sinners, that God loved those sinners and was willing to forgive them, and take them for his children again, if they would only cease doing evil and obey him.
And he spoke another parable to those persons who loved to be rich, and to spend their time only in enjoying themselves, but did not care to obey God. He said, There was a rich man who was dressed in the most beautiful garments, and ate the nicest of food every day. And there was a beggar named Lazarus, who was sick, and covered with sores. And because he was poor, and had nothing to eat, his friends carried him and laid him down at the rich man's gate, so that he might get the crumbs and pieces of food that were left from the rich man's table. And even the dogs seemed to pity him, for they came and licked his sores.
And the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to heaven. He was not poor there, neither had he to beg his food. He ate at the table with Abraham and leaned upon Abraham's bosom. Afterward, the rich man died also, but his soul went where the wicked go. And in hell, while he was being punished for his sins, he looked up and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus leaning on his bosom. And he cried, saying, Father Abraham, have pity upon me, and send Lazarus. that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and come with it and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said to him, Remember that in thy lifetime thou hadst good things, but Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and thou art tormented. And, beside this, there is between us and you a great gulf which no one can pass, so that those who would go from us to you cannot, and those who would come to us from you cannot come.
Then the rich man said, If Lazarus cannot come to me, I pray thee send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren living there, that he may tell them to repent and obey God, so that they come not, when they die, to this dreadful place. Abraham answered, They have the Scriptures to read, let them learn to repent from them. And the rich man said, Nay, Father Abraham, but if one from the dead shall go and speak to them, they surely will repent. Abraham answered him, If they will not hear what God says to them in the Scriptures, they would not be persuaded to obey him, even though one rose from the dead.
And Jesus spoke yet another parable, when he wanted to teach his disciples that they should continue to pray, and not be discouraged, although God did not at first seem to answer their prayers. He said, There lived in a city a wicked judge, who did not fear God nor care to act justly toward men. And in the same city lived a poor widow who kept coming to him, and asking that he would punish a man who was her enemy. For a while the judge would not listen to her, but afterward he said to himself, Though I will not do it because I fear God or care to act justly toward men, yet, because this woman wearies me, I will do what she asks. And Jesus said, Hear what this judge saith. And if he, who was a wicked man, would do what the widow asked for, because she asked him so often, will not God, who is holy, and who loves his children, give them what they pray for, by day and by night, though he seem for a while not to hear them?
And Jesus spoke a parable to those persons who thought themselves more righteous than others. He said, Two men went up to the temple to pray, one of them was a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee chose a place where the people would see him; there he stood up proudly and prayed in this way: God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, who are unjust, and who take more than belongs to them. I thank thee that I am not a sinner like this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give to the priests and Levites a tenth part of all that I get. But the publican, who felt himself to be wicked and was sorry for it, stood where he hoped no one would notice him, and bowing down his head, he beat upon his breast in great distress, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Then Jesus told those who listened to him that this publican went back to his home forgiven more than the Pharisee. For, he said, every one who is proud and thinks much of himself, shall be put down, but he that is humble and confesses his sin shall be raised up higher.
The people brought little children to Jesus, that he might put his hands on them and bless them. And his disciples found fault with those who brought them, and would have sent them away. But Jesus was much displeased at his disciples, and said, Let the little children come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of heaven. He meant that only those persons who are humble and loving, like little children, shall come into his Kingdom. And he took the little children up in his arms, and put his hands upon them and blessed them.
And as they journeyed together, he took the twelve apostles aside by themselves, and told them they were going up to Jerusalem, and that when they should come there, all those things would happen to him which the prophets had spoken. He would be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon, and crucified; and the third day he would rise again. But the apostles, because they still expected that he was going to set up an earthly kingdom, could not understand him when he spoke of those things.