"Granny's Chapters" Part 5

Knowing how the Pharisees were offended by His words, He only repeated His a.s.surance to the woman in other words; saying, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." Her faith had brought her to Jesus; and those who come to Him in faith and penitence, He will in no wise cast out.

In the parable which Jesus spake to Simon, reference is made to two customs of the Jews: one, washing the feet, or making the servants wash the feet, of every guest, to remove the dust which must settle on the feet during the shortest journey; the other, the custom of welcoming a distinguished guest with a kiss, as a sign of respectful attention and love.

Jesus continued to go throughout the country of Galilee, "preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of G.o.d: and the twelve were with him, and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance." These women, one of whom, at least, had been delivered from bondage to Satan, having "substance," that is, some property of their own, seem to have been constant attendants upon our Lord, and to have supplied His temporal wants. Jesus so devoted himself to the work He had undertaken, that from the constant thronging of people around Him, He had not time "so much as to eat bread."

At this time there was brought to Jesus a wretched object, a man possessed with a devil, who was also blind and dumb: "and he healed him," so that the man who had been blind and dumb both saw and spake.

The mult.i.tudes marvelled, saying, "It was never so seen in Israel"--never before had such things been done in the land of Israel; and therefore the mult.i.tude rightly felt, that He who could do such wonderful things must be a very different Being from any of their teachers, or from the prophets or holy men of old.

Seeing the wonderful miracles worked by Jesus, "all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the Son of David?"--that is, is not this Man, who can cast out devils, the Messiah of David's seed, so long promised to our fathers and to us?

These people saw the truth; but the Scribes and Pharisees laboured hard to prevent their accepting Jesus as the promised Messiah: and they immediately declared, that the evil spirits were only cast out by the permission of Beelzebub, or Satan, the prince of the devils; and that therefore, so far from proving Jesus to be the Messiah, these miracles showed that He was under the power of the Devil, and that no one ought to listen to His teaching. This was dreadful blasphemy; and might have drawn upon them the immediate wrath of G.o.d: but instead of punishing them, Jesus tried to show them and all the people, how foolish it was to suppose that the Devil would fight against himself, and undo his own work. But when people are determined not to listen to those who warn them of their sins, and point out their duty, they will believe, or pretend to believe, anything however foolish, that gives them an excuse for not listening to good advice.

Jesus warned the Pharisees, that speaking of the work done by the Holy Spirit of G.o.d as being done by the Devil was a most fearful sin; and one for which there could be no forgiveness.

Jesus also told the people, that if the heart of a man was not full of faith and love, it would be as impossible for him to do anything pleasing to G.o.d, as it would be for a bad tree to bring forth good fruit; for the quality of the tree is known by its fruits; and the heart of man is known by his conduct and actions.

Certain of the Scribes and Pharisees, asked Jesus to give them a sign of His being indeed the Son of G.o.d. This was displeasing to the Lord, for His miracles were a sufficient sign of His having come from Heaven; and from the writings of their own prophets, the Jews should have understood, that the promised Messiah whilst on earth would be in a humble condition, and be finally put to death for the sins of His people. Jesus therefore told the Scribes and Pharisees, that no further sign of His being the Messiah would be given, than the sign of the prophet Jonas, or Jonah. "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." The meaning of this was, that the only further sign they could expect as to His being the Messiah, would be that one, of which Jonas was a type (or sign): for that as Jonas, though buried in the whale's body, came out alive; so He would be buried in the ground for three days, and then rise up again to live for ever. Then Jesus took occasion to show the Pharisees, that they were more sinful in the eyes of G.o.d than the men of Nineveh, "because _they_ repented at the preaching of Jonas," whilst the Scribes and Pharisees refused to listen to Him, who was far greater than Jonas.

Many other things Jesus said unto the people, teaching them also by parables. One parable spoken at this time was that of the Sower.

Afterwards, when they were alone, the disciples asked Jesus the meaning of this parable, which He immediately explained: teaching them that many may hear the Gospel, and receive no benefit from it; either because they listen carelessly; or because, having listened, they have not faith to hold its doctrines fast when temptations and trials come; or because they allow the cares and pleasures of life to take up too much of their hearts, and so prevent their serving G.o.d properly. None of these will be the better for hearing the Word: but those who listen to it with a sincere and honest intention of obeying it, and pray to G.o.d for grace to do so, striving at the same time to root out all those sinful feelings and pa.s.sions which, like stones and thorns, prevent their bringing forth the fruit of good works; those, and those only, will bear fruit pleasing unto the Lord.

Let us learn from this parable to listen attentively to the Word of G.o.d, and try to do whatever it bids us.

Other parables, which seem to have been delivered at this time, are those of the Tares, the Grain of Mustard Seed, and the Leaven: "and with many such parables spake he the word unto them"; "and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples," and added the parables of the Hidden Treasure, the Goodly Pearl, and the Net. "And it came to pa.s.s when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence."

After this, Jesus went down to the Lake of Gennesareth, "and said unto his disciples, Let us go over unto the otter side of the lake."

"And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him." And there were also with him other little "ships." "And they launched forth."

Chapter XVI.--STILLING THE TEMPEST, ETC.

The Lake of Gennesareth, or Sea of Galilee, is a large body of water; and the River Jordan, which runs through it, causes at all times a considerable motion in the centre of the lake; when the wind blows strongly from the S.E., and meets the current of the river, the sea becomes so rough, that any small vessels are in the greatest danger, and in this way many are lost. We read, that as they sailed, Jesus fell asleep. We must remember, that for our sakes Jesus had become subject to all the pains of hunger, fatigue, cold, &c.; well might He, therefore, be tired out with his continual labours, for He never spared Himself, or consulted his own ease or comfort; but was always at work, going from one place to another, doing good to others. What a difference between Him and us! For we are unwilling to deny ourselves in the least thing for the sake of saving trouble to others; nor are we willing to give up our own wills, even for the sake of pleasing G.o.d.

Whilst Jesus and his disciples were now crossing the Lake of Gennesareth, "there came down a storm of wind on the lake," and a "great tempest in the sea," "insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves," and was filled with water, and in great danger of sinking.

"And Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow."

The disciples knew where to look for help; they were in jeopardy or danger, so they "came to Him and awoke him, saying, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Lord, save us: we perish!"

The fears of the Apostles were at this time stronger than their faith; they should have felt that sleeping or waking their Lord could preserve them through every danger. For this they were blamed, for "he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" but He had compa.s.sion on their weakness, for "he arose, and rebuked the winds and the raging of the water: and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." After a great storm the waves naturally continue rough for some hours, but now at a word the waters of the lake became at once smooth and still. This sudden ceasing of the storm filled the Apostles, accustomed as they were to see wonderful works done by Jesus, with astonishment and awe. We are told, that "the men marvelled, and they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this? for he commandeth even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Such a miracle must have strengthened the faith of the disciples, and convinced them more and more, that he who could do such things, was indeed no mere man, but the Son of G.o.d, the Ruler of the universe, to whom all things do bow and obey. The voyage was now over; the ship reached the sh.o.r.e; and Jesus and His disciples came into the country of the Gadarenes, or Gergesenes, where Jesus immediately performed another miracle, on a man possessed with devils, exceeding fierce. Jesus, pitying the condition of this unhappy man, commanded the unclean spirit to come out of him. Then the devil who spake in this poor demoniac, cried out, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high G.o.d?

Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? I beseech thee, torment me not." Even the devils acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah; and knew well that in the end of the world, all evil spirits would be driven away into misery and darkness; but he now asks Him not to interfere with his power before that time. To such a request Jesus could not, of course, listen: and the devils, finding that they must leave the poor man whom they had so long tormented, then besought Him that He would at least suffer them to go away into a herd of swine, which were feeding nigh unto the mountains, a good way off from them.

"And Jesus said unto them, Go." No sooner was the permission given, than the evil spirits entered into the swine, and the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters: and they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country; and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.

Pigs were unclean animals, and it was therefore sinful of any Jew to keep them: if the owners of these swine were Jews, they were justly punished for their disobedience. Perhaps the Gadarenes were not Jews, and kept these swine to show that they did not regard or obey the Law of Moses; if so, it was well for them to see that the Lord G.o.d of the Hebrews could force men to obey His commands. When we read what happened as soon as the evil spirits took possession of the swine, we should remember the dreadful fate of all who suffer themselves to be led or guided by the Devil. There is no escape for them; the swine could not help themselves, but the Devil has no more power over us now than we choose to give him. If we resist him, he will not harm us; he will try, and we may have to fight hard, but if we do, we shall be more than conquerors through Jesus Christ.

We read that the keepers of the swine fled, and told how they had been destroyed, and how the demoniac had been healed. The men of the city, grieved at the loss of their property, and probably afraid that if Jesus remained amongst them the same sort of thing might happen again, besought Him to depart out of their coasts: a request in which the whole mult.i.tude of the Gadarenes joined. They had better have besought Him to remain, and teach them what they should do. It is a dreadful thing to wish G.o.d to leave us undisturbed in our sins! The man who had been delivered from the power of the Devil, wished, on the contrary, to go away in the ship with Jesus and his disciples; but he was told rather to go home to his friends, and tell them what great things the Lord had done for him. And he did so, and declared through all the country what great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.

After this, Levi, or Matthew, made a feast for Jesus in his own house; and a great company of Publicans, and of others, and of sinners, sat down together with Jesus and his disciples. The Scribes and Pharisees took occasion to find fault with this, and asked the disciples, "How is it that your Master eateth with publicans and sinners?" But Jesus told them, that it was to do good to sinners that He was come upon earth: He reminded them that it was only sick people who had need of a physician, and that those who thought themselves well, would not send for one; and that it was the same with Him, for He was come as a Physician to heal the souls of the sick, and that therefore He must go amongst those who, feeling themselves to be sinners, wished for pardon. The Pharisees thought themselves righteous, and therefore they did not feel the need of a Saviour. After these things, Jesus appears to have returned into his own city, that is, to Capernaum, where He had taken up His abode, at those times when He was not occupied in going about the country.

Here a ruler of the synagogue, named Jairus, came to entreat Jesus to go and heal his little daughter, who was dying. Jesus immediately went with him, and on the way He cured a poor woman, whose faith was strong enough to make her believe that if she did but touch the hem of His garment she should be made whole. Her hopes were not disappointed, and Jesus commended her faith. While Jesus was yet speaking with her, messengers came from the ruler's house to tell him that his daughter was even now dead. The Lord, however, bid Jairus not to be afraid, for that if he would only believe, his child should still be made whole.

No doubt the miracle that Jairus had just witnessed strengthened his faith, and the result was, that his little daughter was restored to life. On quitting the house of Jairus, two blind men followed our Lord, who gave them sight; and He also enabled a dumb man to speak, by casting out the devil which possessed him. The mult.i.tudes were filled with wonder in seeing things which had never been so seen in Israel; but the Pharisees again declared, "He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils."

Jesus continued to teach, and to preach, and to heal sicknesses and diseases, in spite of the unbelief of the people; for though they all marvelled, and some doubtless became his disciples, many rejected Him, saying, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" meaning that a man in such a humble condition of life could not be the Messiah. After this, Jesus gave his Apostles a more solemn charge or commission for the work they were to do. For He called the twelve together, and gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease; and then He sent them forth two by two to preach the Gospel, and to heal the sick. The Gospel was to be first offered to the Jews, and therefore Jesus now commanded the twelve, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And as ye go say, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Jesus also bade the twelve not to make any provision of money or food for their journey, but to depend on the charity of those to whom they should preach: promising a blessing to those cities where they would be well received. Many other things did He say unto them at this time: and when He "had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He departed thence, to teach and to preach in their cities."

And the twelve also departed, and went through the towns, preaching the Gospel, that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, healing them everywhere.

Chapter XVII.--DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

We must now return to the history of John the Baptist; he was about this time put to death by Herod, who, as we have already seen, had thrown the Baptist into prison to please Herodias, who was angry with him because he had reproved her and Herod for their sins. But this wicked woman was not satisfied with the imprisonment of this holy man; she wanted to destroy him, and watched for an opportunity of doing so.

It is a terrible thing to determine in one's heart to do a wicked action: it is bad enough to give way to temptation, and so sin against G.o.d, but to make up one's mind to break His commandments, is far worse.

After John the Baptist had been in prison for some months, Herod's birthday came round; and to celebrate this event, the king made a great feast to the officers of his household, and the chief men in Galilee. On this occasion, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, came in and danced before Herod and his guests, in order to amuse them. This was a very old custom among the kings of the East at that time, though to us it seems a very strange and bad custom. Herod and those who sat with him, were very much pleased with the damsel's dancing; and Herod, very rashly and foolishly, made a solemn promise, that he would, as a reward, give her anything she liked to ask for. "And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask?" Herodias had probably expected something of this kind; at any rate, she had an answer ready, and said, "The head of John the Baptist". It does not seem that Salome was astonished at this advice, or that she was at all unwilling to follow it: for she returned straightway with haste unto the king, and said, "I will that thou give me by and by in a charger, the head of John the Baptist". A charger was a large dish or tray: in some countries, even to this day, when the king orders a great man to be beheaded, the head is brought to him afterwards, to show that his commands have been obeyed. Such a request as Salome now made, startled even Herod himself: we read that "the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat at meat with him, he would not reject her." He therefore sent an executioner, who cut off John the Baptist's head in the prison, and brought it to Salome, who gave it to her mother. This history teaches us many things: first, although it is the duty of children to obey their Parents, they must obey G.o.d before them: thus, if Parents are unhappily so wicked as to tell their children to do anything that G.o.d has forbidden, they must please G.o.d rather than their Parents.

Children should, be very thankful when they have Parents who will never wish them to break the Lord's commandments. Another thing we learn is, to be careful how we make promises. A solemn promise once made ought to be kept, however inconvenient it may be to keep it; and therefore we should never promise positively to do anything, unless we are quite sure that we can do it. But though it is displeasing to G.o.d that an oath should be broken, it is still more displeasing to Him that it should be kept, when it can only be done by committing some positive act of sin. Herod made a rash oath, and to keep it, he was guilty of the murder of a good and holy man.

Although Herod was angry with John, he had a high opinion of his holiness and goodness, and would not willingly have put him to death: but amongst men it was considered shameful to break an oath; and Herod, caring more for the praise of men than the praise of G.o.d, sacrificed John the Baptist at the request of a bad woman.

When the disciples of John heard of their master's death, they came to the prison, and took up his body and laid it in a tomb, and went and told Jesus.

After this, Herod heard of the fame of Jesus, and of all the wonderful things that He had done, and he was greatly troubled, and knew not what to think. Some people said, "That John was risen from the dead;"

others, "That Elias, who was expected to come before the Messiah, had appeared;" and others, "That one of the old prophets was risen again."

Amongst these different opinions, Herod was greatly perplexed: like most of the Jews of high rank, Herod belonged to the sect of the Sadducees, who denied that the body would rise again, or the soul live for ever. He would not, therefore, willingly allow the possibility of John the Baptist having returned to life; but his fears got the better of his opinions. His conscience told him that he had done wickedly in putting to death a true servant of G.o.d, and therefore, when he heard that there was One going about the country working miracles, he feared that John had returned to life, armed with power to punish all who had ill-treated him.

Herod, disturbed by all he heard of Jesus, questioned his servants who told him these things, and said, "John have I beheaded; but who is this of whom I hear such things?" He could get no satisfactory answer, and his guilty conscience drove him to the conclusion, "It is John whom I beheaded; he is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him." "And he desired to see Jesus."

Herod's desire to see Jesus, does not appear to have been gratified until just before our Lord's death; and then the king derived no profit from the interview. Herod had had plenty of opportunities for learning the truths of the Gospel from John the Baptist. He would not make use of them. Our Lord has told us, that if we do not make a good use of all the opportunities given to us, He will take from us the blessings we will not use. In our country, the young are blessed with innumerable opportunities of learning their duty to G.o.d: make a proper use of them, and do not force the Lord to take them away, and leave you in wilful ignorance and sin.

The Feast of the Pa.s.sover was now drawing near: the second Pa.s.sover which had occurred, since our Saviour had entered on his public work.

For this Feast, our Lord went up to Jerusalem; and on His way, He fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two small fishes; and after they had all eaten as much as they wanted, pieces enough were left to fill twelve baskets; although the whole quant.i.ty of loaves and fishes, if they had at first been broken into pieces, could not probably have filled one of these baskets. In working this miracle, Jesus taught us never to waste anything; he said, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." Let us remember that many things that we do not want, may be useful to others, and that nothing should be wasted. Children should be careful not to ask for more food than they are sure they can eat, for that is wasteful.

The people, who had been fed in such a wonderful manner, now said, "This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world": meaning the Messiah, spoken of by all the prophets, and whose coming was expected about this time. Having come to this conclusion, the people, according to their mistaken ideas, that the Messiah was to be an earthly sovereign and conqueror, determined to make Him king over the land of Judaea. But Jesus desired only to rule the hearts of men; "When, therefore, he perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king," He sent His disciples by ship unto Bethsaida, and having dismissed the mult.i.tude, He went up into a mountain alone to pray.

A storm of wind overtook the disciples in the midst of the lake, and then it was that Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. If the faith of the disciples had been strong, they would have felt that it was as easy for Jesus to walk on the water, as to work any other miracle; but they could not believe it was Him, and "they cried out for fear." The Lord, in His mercy, spake straightway unto them, saying, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." "And Peter answered, and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And He said, Come."

Peter at once obeyed; but his faith was not strong enough to carry him through this trial: for a little while he walked on the water to go to Jesus, but when he found himself in the midst of raging waves, with a boisterous wind howling around him, his faith failed, and he was afraid. But he had not forgotten where to look for help; and finding himself beginning to sink, he cried out earnestly, "Lord, save me."

Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said, "Oh thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?--why didst thou doubt my power and my will to save thee?" No sooner had Jesus with Peter come into the ship, than the storm ceased, and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. They were sore amazed: but "they came and worshipped Him saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of G.o.d."

Chapter XVIII.--THE WOMAN OF TYRE.

In the land of Gennesaret again, the people flocked to Jesus to be healed of their diseases: and when Jesus returned to Capernaum, many followed Him: and the Lord spake to them and told them that they only came to Him because they had seen His miracles, and more particularly because they had partaken of the loaves and fishes; and He warned them, that they had better seek those far greater spiritual blessings, which the Son of Man could give them. Many things He said unto them, trying to persuade them to believe in Him, as the Messiah the Son of G.o.d.