His Life Part 9

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

"Not every one that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works?' And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

"Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon the rock. And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof."

And it came to pa.s.s, when Jesus had finished these words, the mult.i.tudes were astonished at his teaching: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

A TOUR IN GALILEE

THE WORTHY CENTURION.

After he had ended all his sayings in the ears of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick and at the point of death. And when he heard concerning Jesus, he sent unto him elders of the Jews, asking him that he would come and save his servant.

And they, when they came to Jesus, besought him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy that thou shouldest do this for him; for he loveth our nation, and himself built us our synagogue."

And Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, "Lord, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goeth; and to another, 'Come,' and he cometh; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he doeth it."

And when Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned and said unto the mult.i.tude that followed him, "Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnas.h.i.+ng of teeth."

And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole.

RAISING THE WIDOW'S SON.

And it came to pa.s.s soon afterwards, that he went to a city called Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great mult.i.tude. Now when he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, there was carried out one that was dead, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.

And when the Lord saw her, he had compa.s.sion on her, and said unto her, "Weep not."

And he came nigh and touched the bier: and the bearers stood still.

And he said, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise."

And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.

And fear took hold on all: and they glorified G.o.d, saying, "A great prophet is arisen among us: and, G.o.d hath visited his people."

And this report went forth concerning him in the whole of Judaea, and all the region round about.

A QUESTION FROM JOHN THE BAPTIST.

And the disciples of John told him in the prison of all these things.

And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to the Lord, saying, "Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?"

And when the men were come unto him, they said, "John the Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, 'Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?'"

In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and on many that were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered and said unto them, "Go and tell John the things which ye have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good tidings preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me."

JESUS' ESTIMATE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to say unto the mult.i.tudes concerning John, "What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written.

"'Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee.'

"Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And all the people when they heard, and the publicans, justified G.o.d, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of G.o.d, being not baptized of him.

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah that is to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

"But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the marketplaces, who call unto their fellows and say, 'We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He hath a demon.' The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!' And wisdom is justified of all her children."

THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

And Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee. And the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and pleased Herod, and them that sat at meat with him; and the king said unto the damsel, "Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee."

And he sware unto her, "Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it to thee, unto the half of my kingdom."

And she went out, and said unto her mother, "What shall I ask?"

And she said, "The head of John the Baptist."

And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, "I will that thou forthwith give me on a platter the head of John the Baptist."

And the king was exceeding sorry; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat, he would not reject her. And straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring his head: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother.

And when his disciples heard thereof, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb; and they went and told Jesus.

FORGIVENESS OF THE REPENTANT WOMAN.

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he entered into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that he was sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster cruse of ointment, and standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner."

And Jesus answering said unto him, "Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee."

And he saith, "Teacher, say on."

"A certain lender had two debtors: the one owed five hundred s.h.i.+llings, and the other fifty. When they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?"

Simon answered and said, "He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most."

And he said unto him, "Thou hast rightly judged." And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon, "Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath wetted my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. Thou gavest me no kiss: but she, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but she hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little."