Chapter 1: The New And Living Way

Some of the great minds we have come across have the most wonderful logic in the world, and their views are correct from the standpoint of logic. But these learned men sometimes place a stumbling block in the path of one who wishes to serve God and man because their fine logic, clothed in flawless literary terms, does not comprehend creation -- nor the living Christ.

Any Christian knows that Jesus Christ lived, that the Christos is a reality in this solar system, and that there is a Great Intelligence which is at the foundation of it -- give it what name you may, it matters not. If a force is in action, and the force works so that the words may be made manifest, we know it is there or here.

The stumbling block of many of our brilliant people who are our historians and professors is that they forget one thing, and that is, that the power of God does not need a system to work from outside of the original creative way in which the Father created it -- that the Infinite Power, the Base of which everything is made, it may do, may correct, may heal, and may bring into existence anything, when it is needed.

And if you seek the experience of the Great Christ force, you will know when you have experienced it -- without asking any dictionary or outside advice.

We have gazed so long and hard at the image and reflection of the great "man" who lived in an era nearly 2,000 years ago, regarding him steadfastly as one would an orator on a raised platform just above our level; so that by the insistence of our gaze we have caused a sort of clay shell to form between ourselves and the Fire of his Spirit. This shell is in the image of a man, much larger than ourselves, but still formed after the pattern of our own minds, and to some extent like unto the models employed by ancient artists.

This clay shell cannot stop the fiery and ever present reality of our Lord from acting, but it does cut down on the effectiveness, just as would a shield of earth in front of an open fire. Some heat filters through whether you believe a fire is there or not, but you have to remove the obstruction in order to get much value from it on a cold day. Each person must remove the block between himself and the Saviour of mankind.

As we follow the path our Lord took when he walked the earth long ago -- let us not leave him in Palestine. For he is here, with us in the present time, in the very room where we are; and he encircles this globe with his mind and spirit. He is like the Father -- nearer than hands and feet -- but he does require some reaching upward in consciousness toward the level of his consciousness. And he can help when this is done with sincerity, for his spirit pervades this solar system to the same extent as do the energies of the Sun itself, like the all-existant Akasha.

His healings and miracles were not confined to that distant time. They are still in effect, but he does not advertise this now any more than he did then. He does not force the hardened doubters to accept him, but he comes to those who believe. He shows no credentials and offers no proof. He just is.

Going back over his words, we know that he was not only talking to people then; he is still saying these words now, and they still have Life in them, with the power to heal and save. They can be understood at any level of spiritual unfoldment, and as each person progresses, he will understand them more deeply, yet more simply, as he goes along.

The day comes when we see the Bible re-enacted in a new way, sometimes playing each various role ourselves. And when one puts all of himself into the play, though not learning until later what it really was, yearning and straining with anguish, joy or desire, She, our Soul, will give birth to the Son, the Christ in us, while He, the Mind, looks on and watches over Him.

We take on the work of Jesus then, and grow in the burning Reality of God, as we become, and live and teach. Then crucified from within, we rise again victorious over death and matter.

At length we may become somewhat like Paul, to act on what is shown, seeking with driving energy to bring this unto others, and to organize the means whereby they also may experience and live the truth.

With advancing years one waits the great day, when he may once more meet his Creator face to face, and then he seeks to become more like St. John, to receive the inner work through revelation from on high.

Jesus did not live his earthly life merely to set an example for all other humans to copy. He lived this life in the flesh by the same mercy ministry through which all on earth may live. And as in his day he lived this mortal life, and as he then was, so thereby did he set an example for all of us to live in our day and as we are.

We need not live a life the same as he, but only in the manner in which he lived his, applying the same general principles as he used. His is not necessarily a technical and detailed example, but always the inspiration and guide of each heaven-directed pilgrim from the point of initial ascension, up through the universe and on to heaven itself.

This has not been taught in the average church -- if we don't understand heaven or hell, then what are we preaching for? He is the new and living way from man to God, from the primitive to the perfect, from earthly to heavenly, and from time to eternity.

He finished the work of living the life required of mortals as sojourners in the flesh in order to bring them closer to where he was and a real consciousness of Jesus as he is now.

He was the greatest of all men, being able to fulfill every requirement for changing mortal life into the everlasting and divine. He is so far above all men as not to be compared with anybody.

Other great beings did not reach up to him, since they could not manage to overbridge the great gulf that existed between the Creator and created ones, after the fall of Lucifer; nor did they succeed in changing the corruptible into incorruptibility.

Jesus of Nazareth, a son of man, was the first and only one among all intelligent human beings on this earth and the other globes, who fully succeeded in amalgamating his individuality, his soul and Self, completely with that indwelling spirit spark of God through the center of the Self. He achieved the greatest victory that a man ever has in the way of an avatar, and his success was Cosmic. It effected this entire solar system. Therefore, everywhere in this universe his name reverberates and everyone who spiritually comprehends it bends the knee in reverence and gratitude if it is possible for us to conceive of the greatness of his gift to the earth and mankind.

He did not seek suffering for suffering's sake, for at Gethsemane he would gladly have welcomed an easier way. Our redemption was achieved with a love which expressed itself in the particular form of suffering because of the conditions of humanity and his desire to re-enact in the physical world the crucifixion.

Because matter is inert and human and external conditions offer opposition to man's objectives, outside himself he met with great resistance, inertia, apathy, etc. He had to experience these, and in order to translate his plan of love into action he needed to encounter suffering. His objective was to break the power of sin and to bring about through the entire world the reign of God's redemptive love.

Chapter 2: The Feast Of The Tabernacles

Autumn had come, and the countryside of Galilee was rich and colorful with the ripening harvest. Until now Jesus had avoided going to Judea, knowing full well that the Jews, both Herodians and Pharisees, were seeking to kill him, for he and his "new" teachings had become a thorn in their side.

He caused no trouble, but they mistrusted him. Galilee was more tolerant, less "Jewish," being a land of mixed races, for here he could work until the proper time had come for taking a final public stand.

Despite all the marvelous works which they had both seen and heard, his own brethren continued to doubt him, and as the yearly Feast of the Tabernacles drew near, they urged him once again with the impatience of youth, "Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples there may see the works you are doing. For no man works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world." Prove to them that you are the Christ -- that is what they really said, but he saw the trap.

The central gathering place for the world of the Jews was at Jerusalem, and everyone who could travel would be there for the Feast. Moreover, they would question his brethren, who uneasily anticipated having to meet these queries without knowing how to answer them.

His mother had once before urged him to perform the first public miracle, but she had known he could and had not challenged him with such doubtful words. As he had answered her then that his time was not yet, now he again said to the brethren, "My time has not yet come but your time is always here.

"The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it, that its works are evil.

"Go to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come." So saying, he remained in Galilee until after they had left.

Indeed the world was not yet ready to receive the Light of the Christ. It could not accept the one who challenged them, but was ready to welcome all those who conformed with their ways.

His brethren were swept up with the pilgrims who thronged all the highways, for every road at that season led to Jerusalem. The name of Jesus was heard on all sides, his fame having spread far and wide, and it was to be expected that he would show himself at this festival.

The Jews were looking for him at the feast and saying, "Where is he?" and there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, "He is a good man," others argued, "No, he is leading the people astray." Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

The autumn Feast of the Tabernacles, or Booths, was a time of thanksgiving for the harvest. It was a very festive occasion of rejoicing for all the goodness of the year and commemorated also the long years during which the nomadic Israelites had lived in tents during their wanderings. At the celebration they would erect little booths out of boughs in the streets and courts of the Temple, and some even on the housetops.

Five days before this festival was held, they observed a Day of Atonement during which all the people fasted and confessed their sins and made their peace with heaven. But at the Festival of the Tabernacles they broke forth with singing and feasting. The east lasted for seven days, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Tishri, and seems to have been carried over from an ancient vintage festival.

It was one of the three main festivals of the year when the people generally made pilgrimage to the Temple at Jerusalem, the other two being the Passover and the Pentecost.

Instruction had been given Moses in the Old Testament, in Chapter 23 of Exodus, as follows:

"Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto Me in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast of Unleavened Bread (after Passover) .... And the feast of harvest, called the Feast of Weeks or First Fruits, the first fruits of thy labors (this is Pentecost) . . . . And third the feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles), which is the end of the year, when thou has gathered in thy labors out of the field."

The Feast of Tabernacles falls on the fifteenth day of Tishri, in late September or early October. It was a gay and popular feast, recalling their sojourn in the desert, and the people would go to the Temple bearing branches in the right hand and a citrus fruit in the left. The three feasts mentioned above are called feasts of pilgrimage, because every male Israelite who had reached a reasonable age was obliged then to go to the Temple of Jerusalem.

Jesus waited a couple of days after the crowds had passed by and the highways were all clear, in fact almost totally empty, and he too went to Jerusalem, not publicly but in private. It was about the middle of the feast when Jesus arrived, and he went up into the Temple and taught.

The Jews marveled at this, saying, "How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?" So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but His Who sent e; if any man's will is to do His Will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

"He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of Him Who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?"

The people answered, "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?"

Jesus answered them, "I did one deed, and you all marvel at it." (He referred to the healing of a man on the Sabbath.) "Moses gave you circumcision -- not that it is from Moses but from the fathers -- and you circumcise a man upon the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearance, but judge with right judgment."

Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? Yet we know where this man comes from; and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from."

So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the Temple, "You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord; He Who sent me is true, and Him you do not know. I am Him for I come from Him, and He sent me."

So they sought to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him; they said, "When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?" The Pharisees heard the crowd thus muttering about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.

Jesus then said, "I shall be with you a little longer, and then I go to Him Who sent me; and you will seek me and you will not find me; where I am you cannot come."

The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we shall not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, 'You will seek me and you will not find me,' and 'Where I am you cannot come'?"

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' " Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some of the people said, "This is really the prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ."

But some said, "Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" So there was a division among the people over him. The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this man!"

The Pharisees answered them, "Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed."

Nicodemus of the Sanhedrin, who had gone to Jesus privately before, was among the Pharisees, but he now spoke up in defense of Jesus, saying, "Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?"

They replied, "Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee."

Chapter 3: Hebrew Festivals

Old Testament Rulings

This has been inserted merely to expand information given in the previous chapter, through quoting in part the official Biblical directives which formed the authority for Jewish festivals. These were an important factor in the framework of their religious activities, and Jesus and his family participated in them as faithfully as did other good Jews.

So let us go directly to the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus, which states the regulations for such observations, as they were given to Moses. If any should wish to study these in further detail, he is directed to Exodus, Chapter 12, and Numbers, Chapters 28 and 29. Add to this Deuteronomy, Chapter 16.

Passover (The first feast of obligation):

This occurred in the month now called Nisan, at the beginning of spring, approximating the time the Sun is in Aries. It was the first month of their year, as the Order also celebrates it. But the Jews celebrate actual New Year's Day at the beginning of their seventh month -- that is, Rosh Hoshana, in late September. Of course, the timing of months varied from year to year, since each month extended from one New Moon to the next.

Quoting from Leviticus 23:

"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to he Lord. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. But you shall present an offering of fire to the Lord seven days; on the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work."

On the following, or the eighth day of the Passover,

"You shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest; and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And on that day you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. And a cereal offering mixed with oil, to be offered by fire; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God; it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings."

Pentecost or Feast of Weeks (the second feast of obligation)

Following the Passover by seven weeks or fifty days came the Feast of the Weeks, or Pentecost, a Greek word meaning "fiftieth day." It lasted only one day, and then loaves from the newly harvested wheat were offered in the Temple along with other special sacrifices. It marked the beginning of the offering of the firstfruit. But the Christians later adopted this date to commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit, because the two occasions coincided. The descent of the Holy Spirit came to the disciples during the Jewish Feast of the Pentecost.

From Leviticus again:

"And you shall count from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven full weeks shall they be, counting fifty days to the orrow after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord.

"And you shall present with the bread, seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one young bull, and two rams. And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall save them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord, for the priest. And you shall make proclamation on the same day; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work; it is a statute forever . . . "

Our modern civilization could do well to observe the following, as directed in Leviticus 19:9 --

"And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to its very border, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger; I am the Lord your God."

Rosh Hoshana

"On the seventh month," (Tishri, corresponding to the sign of Libra), "on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work; and you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord."

(This day is now called Rosh Hoshana, the Jewish New Year, in the latter part of September.)

Yom Kippur

Only on the yearly day of Atonement, now called Yom Kippur, on the tenth day of Tishri, around the end of September, did the high priest enter the Holy of Holies to perform the symbolic ceremony of the scapegoat, to drive all the sins from the people, and to atone for them. Yom Kippur was a day of rest and strict fast, the one day when fasting was mandatory.

"On the tenth day of the seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present an offering by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on this same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whoever is not afflicted on this same day shall be cut off from his people.

"And whoever does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no work: it is a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves; on the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep the Sabbath."

Feast of Tabernacles (in early October, five days after the atonement)

"On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and for seven days is the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles) to the Lord. On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. Seven days you shall present offerings by fire to the Lord: on the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord; it is a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work.

"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord seven days; on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. And you shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. You shall keep it as a feast forever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month.

"You shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are native in Israel shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."

Other celebrations became customary, but those were the three originally commanded by God.

Among the later feasts are Hanukkah, the Feast of Light, or of Dedication, which takes place in early December and lasts for eight days, with an additional candle being lighted each evening, and gifts exchanged. This commemorates the reconstruction of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in 164 B.C.

Another, known as the Feast of Purim, falls in the month of Adar, (February-March), and commemorates the liberation of the Jews in the time of Esther.

But even before the captivity of Babylon, their great prophet Isaiah told them what the Lord thought of the ways of sacrifice, as seen in Sodom and Gomorrah, and he hinted at better ways to come:

"Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

"What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

"When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts?

"Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

"Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.

"When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

"Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil.

"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.

"If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

"But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

Jesus also warned us to beware of vain repetition and empty words. The celebrations and rituals have value according to what we put into them.

Chapter 4: Stoning

As the great feast day ended, all the people returned, each to his own house. But Jesus went outside Jerusalem, past the Garden of Gethsemane to the Mount of Olives, and spent the night there. In Acts 1, Luke says the "Mount called Olivet (or Olives) is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away." This journey amounts to something like 2,000 paces from the walls of a city -- or the maximum distance one is permitted to travel on any Sabbath day.

Early in the morning Jesus came again to the Temple. All the people were coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst of the group they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. Now in the law of Moses, it is commanded that such women should be stoned; but what do you say?" (Stoning was to "purge out evil from their midst.")

This was a tricky question, which was spoken to test him, in order that they might find some cause to accuse him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they continued to question, he straightened himself up and said to them in a penetrating voice, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. As he wrote, the minds of all were opened so that each man remembered some guilty secret in his past when he too had broken one of the law of Moses; and he was convicted by his own conscience. When they heard his words they went away silently one by one, beginning with the eldest, so that Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing before him.

When he looked up and saw none but the woman, he said to her, "Where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

She said, "No one, Lord."

And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again."

Until now the record of her actions had been written on her secret soul, but when she was brought to judgment, the deeds were made manifest to all, being brought out into the light of earth where they must be dealt with openly. He wrote these things in the sand, the outermost element of earth, where they might be finally swept away.

It would seem that the first time Jesus bent down to write, it was according to the old law of Moses, and the second time it was according to the new law of God's forgiveness, as brought by His Son.

Again Jesus spoke to the people, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

The Pharisees then said to him, "You are bearing witness to yourself; your witness is not true."

Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for I know whence I have come and whither I am going, but you do not know whence I have come and whither I am going.

"You judge according to the flesh, I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone that judge, but I and He Who sent me. In your law it s written that the testimony of two men is true. I bear witness to myself, and the Father Who sent me bears witness to me."

They said to him therefore, "Where is your Father?"

Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father also."

These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the Temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Again he said to them, "I am going away, and you will seek me and die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come."

Then said the Jews, "Will he kill himself, since he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?"

He said to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of the world, I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he."

They said to him, "Who are you?"

Jesus said to them, "Just what I have told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge; but He Who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from Him."

They did not understand that he spoke to them of the Father.

So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but as my Father has taught me I speak these things. And He Who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I do always those things that are pleasing to Him." As he spoke thus, many believed in him.

Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my Word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been in bondage to any man. How is it that you say, 'You will be made free'?"

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house forever; the son continues forever." (The sin will leave, the Son remains.) "So if the son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

"I know you are descendants of Abraham; yet you will seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father."

They answered him, "Abraham is our father."

Jesus said to them, "If you were sons of Abraham, you would do the deeds of Abraham . . . But now you seek to kill me -- a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; Abraham did not act thus. You do the deeds of your father."

They said to him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God."

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but He sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot hear my Word.

"You are from your father the devil, the accuser, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not abide with the truth because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

"But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you can convict me of sin? If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the Words of God; the reason you do not hear them is that you are not of God."

The Jews answered him, "Do we not speak well in saying that you are a Samaritan and possessed of a demon?"

Jesus answered, "I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it and He will be the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if a man keeps my saying, he will never see death."

The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets, and you say, 'If any one keeps my word, he will never taste death.' Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?"

Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father Who glorifies me, of Whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not know Him; but I know Him. And if I should say I do not know Him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know Him and I obey His Word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad."

The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?"

Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."

So they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was not to be seen and went out of the Temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Chapter 5: Farewell To Galilee

The Gospel of John tells us of Jesus' hurried trip to Jerusalem for the autumnal Feast of Tabernacles, but nowhere mentions a return trip to Galilee. The other Gospels, however, describe his final journey to Jerusalem as a deliberately planned and leisurely affair, during which he taught many things along the way.

Since no logical point is offered for breaking through the train of events in Jerusalem after the feast, we will simply make the break and return to Galilee just long enough to prepare for the final trip of our Lord to Jerusalem, where his activities will resume later.

This last period of time spent in Galilee was brief and could have occurred just before or after the Feast of Dedication, which comes around early December, for it is recorded that he attended both festivals.

Luke says, when the days drew near for him to be received up he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but the people would not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

They would have welcomed him for his works and teachings, except for the fact that he was not of their faith and was going on to the Jewish Temple instead of the place where they worshipped on Mount Garizim.

And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to bid fire to come down from heaven and consume them, as Elijah did?"

But he turned and rebuked them, saying, "You do not know to what manner of spirit you belong. For the Son of man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." And they went on to another village.

It was around this time also that Jesus actually sent out the seventy (or seventy-two) disciples on their mission of healing and preaching, which we have already discussed in an earlier chapter.

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother.' "

And the man said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth."

And Jesus looking upon him loved him and said to him, "You still lack one thing; go, sell all that you have, and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

At this saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he was very rich, having great possessions.

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were amazed at his words.

But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Lamsa explains the Aramaic word for camel is "gamla," and this same word also means "rope" or "beam." Therefore, he says Jesus meant, "It is easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle . . . "

Those who heard it were exceedingly astonished and said to him, "Then who can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "With men this is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God."

Peter began to say to him, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you . . . "

Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands -- with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first."

Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. Great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." (The Lord of love was not recommending hatred of one's family as such, but rather of any one or any thing which stands in the way of serving God, even to his own life. The disciple of Christ can be no respecter of persons.)

"For which of you," he said, "desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.'

"Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." Jesus was giving them fair warning of the cost and the requirements they would have to meet, to carry on all the way through.

And behold, a lawyer stood forth to test him with a question, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"

And the man answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

And Jesus said to him, "You have answered rightly; Do this, and you will live."

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Jesus replied in this manner, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him of his raiment and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down the road; and when he saw the man he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place looked at him and passed by on the other side.

"But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where the man lay; and when he saw him, he had compassion and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

"And the next day when he departed, he took out two silver coins and gave them to the inn-keeper, saying, 'Take care of him; and whatever you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'

"Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?"

He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

This was a new idea that Jesus brought out in the parable of the Good Samaritan -- that a good heart is preferable to a selfish one regardless of the vehicle it inhabits, or the religious and political category under which this vehicle is classified. For the peoples of those days were rigidly clannish, and it was hard for them to see good in an "outsider" who was in any way different from themselves.

Chapter 6: Repentance

Jesus went on his way through towns and villages teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.' "

There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. It appears the Roman soldiers had violated the sanctity of the Jewish Temple and killed some worshippers. And Jesus answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

"What do you think? A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he repented and went. And the father went to the second and said the same to him, and he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did the will of the father?" They said, "The first."

Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him."

Though their sins were more grievous, they gladly turned from them to a new way, when they were shown the reality. Those who have so little thought for self-preservation as to literally throw their lives away in sinful living, when they turn about may find it easier for them to give themselves completely over to the service of God than it is for the self-righteous. That is, if it was not mere weakness which lay at the root of their wandering from the Path.

Repentance is turning about with remorse from a past course of action, feeling sorrow for errors committed to the extent of reforming and changing one's ways. This changing requires real strength and whole-hearted desire. While we seldom think of a "penitentiary" or "reform" school as anything but a place of de-tention or punishment -- their true function and intent is to bring about the condition denoted by their names, "penitent-iary" and "re-form."

To do penance is to voluntarily take upon oneself some act of self-mortification (not self-punishment, but subduing of natural inclination), for the atonement of sins. In ecclesiastical terms, penance is a sacramental rite involving first a sincere contrition for sins committed, followed by confession to a priest, the acceptance of suitable penalty, and absolution, or being absolved from error.

You have heard in our communion service when partaking of the Body through the bread, that "through the fruits of your labors you are absolved from all past error." This involves a gradual working-off of many debts and dissolving their roots as you go.

Jesus told them this parable: "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously very day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." (The name Lazarus means "helpless," or "whom God helps.")

"Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.'

"But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner received hardships; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'

"And he said, 'Then I beseech you therefore, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' But Abraham said, 'They have the words of Moses and the prophets; let them hear them."

"And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if only some one would go to them from the dead, they will repent.' Abraham said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded though one should rise from the dead."

Now the publicans and sinners were drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were heard murmuring and saying, "This man welcomes sinners, and even eats with them." So Jesus spoke this parable to them: "What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the rest until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.'

"Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

"Or what woman having two silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.' Just so," Jesus said, "I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

As they walked along, Jesus told them another parable which has since become a favorite, the one about the Prodigal Son. The central figure in this parable is not so much the son, as the forgiving father who acts as a symbol of God Himself in setting the example of the jubilance which should be felt over each sinner who goes all the way in repentance.

And he said, "There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all that he had and took his journey into a far country, and there squandered his property in loose living.

And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything." (These were probably the pod-like fruit of the carob tree, which abounds in Palestine; however, he was among alien people, for the Jews do not keep swine.)

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.'

"And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to make merry.

"Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.'

"But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me even a kid, that I might make merry with my friends.

But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!"

"And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.' "

Chapter 7: Riches

One of the men from the crowd of his followers said to Jesus, "Teacher, bid my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?" And he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Then he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have not room enough to store my crops?' Then he said, 'I will do this, I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul; Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.'

"But God said to him, 'Fool! This very night your soul shall be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' Such is the man who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

Jesus stopped one day to dine with an important personage who was a Pharisee, and all were watching him. Now he told a parable to those who were invited when he noticed how they were choosing the places of honor. So he said to them, "When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you may be invited there, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give the place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest seat. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

He said to the man who invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

When one of the guests who sat at table with him heard this, he said to him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"

But Jesus said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet and invited many, and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for all is now made ready.'

"But they one and all began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.' And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.' And another said, 'I have just married a wife, and therefore I cannot come'

"So the servant came and reported to his master these things. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and afflicted, the maimed, and the blind.' When the servant had brought them, he said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'

"And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges, and urge people to come in so that my house may be filled. For I tell you that none of those men who were invited shall taste of my banquet.' "

At a later date, when he with the disciples entered Jericho and was passing through, there happened to be a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass by that way.

Ane when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully.

And when the people saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I will restore it fourfold."

And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." While they were listening to these things, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near to Jerusalem and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

He said therefore, "A nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom for himself and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds and said to them, 'Trade with these till I come.' (The Greek "mena" translated here as "pound" was equal to about $20.00.) "But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us as king.'

When he returned, however, having received the kingly power, he commanded these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading in business. The first came to him, saying, 'Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more.' And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.'

"And the second came, saying, 'Lord, your pound has made five pounds.' And he said to him, 'And you are to be over five cities.' Then another came saying, 'Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin; for I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man; you take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you have not sown.'

"He said to him, 'I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money into the exchange that at my coming I should have collected it with interest?' And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the pound from him and give it to him who has the ten pounds.'

"And they said to him, 'Lord, he already has ten pounds!'

"But the ruler said, 'I tell you that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.' "

Though one does not approve of his employer, so long as he works for the man he is obliged to do the best he can for him, or seek other employment.

Chapter 8: Stewardship

"Watch, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." He who waits for the Lord must be ready at all times.

Jesus said, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that when he comes and knocks they may open to him at once.

"Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake and watching when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third and finds them so, blessed are those servants!

"But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would have been awake and would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us, or for all?" And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

"But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the manservants and the maid servants and to eat and drink with the drunken, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the untrustworthy.

And that servant who knew his master's will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

"But he who does not know better and does what deserves a punishment, shall receive a light beating. For every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men entrust much they will demand the more."

Jesus also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your steward- ship, for you can no longer be steward.'

"And the steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg .... I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.'

"So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'

"He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.'

"And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

"Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?'

"He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.'

"He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'

"The master commended the dishonest steward for his prudence; for the sons of this world are wiser in their own generation than the sons of light.

"And I say to you also, make friends for yourselves by means of such unrighteous mammon, so that when it is gone, they may receive you into the eternal habitations."

"Mammon" means "riches." Where a man has been endowed with wealth, even though it was gained by unrighteous means, it is a point of wisdom to use this worldly gain for helping others. Material objects and worldly pleasures deteriorate, but kindness is remembered in heaven.

If a man has been guilty of dishonesty or deceit in the service of the Master and faces the prospect of being cast out from a position of grace, he can turn his wit to some good work for the Master's benefit, and so receive some commendation before it is too late.

"He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much," Jesus said, "and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

Remember this when you have been given a minor responsibility. He who slights it will not be given a greater one. But the man who does his best with what little he is given to do, plus something extra of his own volition -- he will be commended when the opportunity arises.

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at him. But he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

"The law and prophets were until John; from that time the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone presses to enter into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one letter of the law to pass away."

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" And the Lord said, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, 'Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink'?

"Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants, we have only done what was our duty.' "

One can always come out even by doing exactly what he is asked to do -- no more. But the "profitable servant" is he who goes beyond the call of duty and does more than is required of him. For service begins where duty leaves off.

We are all stewards of those things over which we have been put in charge, whether they be great or small. Those in authority over others are stewards of a greater portion and carry an obligation for what they do with this charge.

Those who have great wealth are stewards over that and bear the responsibility for wider distribution than does a man who just has enough to feed his family.

Those who are in a position to help others, whether to provide good government, or to bear tidings of the Lord -- each is a steward of that which he has to offer.

Chapter 9: Marriage

Jesus did not speak extensively on marriage, and such teachings as he gave were spoken from the vantage point of his time; yet he always used eternal principles which apply to any time.

Jesus had now come to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan where crowds gathered to him again, and so, as was his custom, he taught them there.

Some Pharisees came up, and in order to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?"

He answered them, "What did Moses command you?"

They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to put her away."

But Jesus said to them, "It was for the hardness of your hearts that he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation this was not so. For God made them male and female and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.' So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

And when they went into the house, his disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

At another time, Jesus rephrased the same teaching thus: "Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."

"It was written," Jesus repeated, " 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry."

But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it." (Yet unless one is ready and able to carry this out, it would be foolish to attempt it.)

A eunuch was a castrated man, usually employed in those days as a harem attendant or palace official. Jesus was showing them that there are various reasons for celibacy, and for marriage as well. Celibacy has been an important factor of monastic life for hundreds of years, a factor which is changing now, and must change in this day to meet the standards of a new way of greater responsibility in which the Master has encouraged marriage where feasible, with the stipulation that man's first marriage and duty is to God, and secondly to his mate.

Marriage is not always easy, but when wisely entered into by mature individuals, it should provide an ideal way of life. He has told us that, "Marriage is not essential, but good. They shall be one; but both shall know their way and know my face in this work, and in this day."

A Roman priest has explained thus his position on celibacy: "The responsibilities which come with the choice of a mate, the birth of children, the creation of a little community in the midst of the great community of the human race are so heavy that they would be a daily hindrance to undertakings of a larger scope. The man who wishes to lead other men and to transform them can hardly bind himself for all his life to one person alone. He would need to be faithless to his wife or to his mission. Marriage means abandoning oneself to another being, but the Saviour must abandon himself to all other beings. The union of two souls might make more difficult the union with all other souls.

"Perfect celibacy is a grace, a reward of victory of spirit over the body. Though such a priest may sometimes experience solitude, the love in his heart, when communicated to all men, is multiplied into a sublimation of sacrifice surpassing all earthly joys. He is alone, but is free. He begets no children of his own flesh, but brings to a second birth the children of his spirit. It is not given to everyone to resist and abstain, nor should it be."

(These are not sanctioned viewpoints of the Order.) We do agree that two persons following the calling of Christ must be ready to follow his mandates all the way, and to fulfill whole-heartedly this function. Then marriage must be placed secondary in importance, as an added privilege rather than the determining factor.

From an evolutionary standpoint, in primitive times, a hasty mating with a stolen woman was enough for the unevolved instinctive nature. Then man rose to the higher level -- of union with one woman alone. But he who has become like unto an angel in heaven in the new kingdom has conquered the flesh, and his soul remains free, whether he is married or unmarried.

The statements of Jesus which point to almost complete prohibition of divorce have been thought by some to refer less to the present time than to the coming time, when the kingdom of heaven is to come upon the earth, and when there would be less than total involvement in the marriage state -- or perhaps they only hope that he didn't mean it for now.

At another time Jesus had called an adulterer not only the man who takes the wife of another, but even the one who looks at her in the street with lustful eye.

The aristocratic Sadducees denied that there was such a thing as the immortal duration of the human soul, for they did not believe in after life; neither, according to Josephus, did they believe in punishment or rewards, nor in the existence of spirits and saints, though this was not true of the Jews as a whole. Therefore, when they brought to Jesus a question about the resurrection, presenting it as a test cast, they were not seeking enlightenment, but only to find out how he would answer concerning the "levirate" law laid down by Moses. This law places upon the nearest surviving male relative the responsibility to continue his brother's line by marrying his widow, and not claiming her children for himself, but for his brother, and they would receive both his brother's name and inheritance. The desired result was to keep both children and properties within the family.

The Gospel continues: There came to him some Sadducees who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies and leaves a wife, but had no children, his brother must marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.' Now there were seven brothers among us; the first took a wife, and when he died leaving no children, he left his wife to his brother. And the second took her, and died leaving no children, and the third likewise, down to the seventh; all died without children. And last of all, the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, to which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her."

But Jesus answered them, "This is why you are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For when they rise from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

"The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that world to come, and to the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die any more because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

"But that the dead are raised even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush. Have you not read how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live in Him. You are quite wrong."

When the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. And some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well." For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

Chapter 10: Kingdom Of Heaven

He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."

And again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened."

Then in reply to Peter who had said, "Lo, we left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?" Jesus said to the twelve, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my sake will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first."

And Jesus proceeded to speak parables concerning the kingdom: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; and to them he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went and going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.

"And about the eleventh hour, (This was eleven hours since dawn, or around five in the afternoon) he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, 'Why do you stand there idle all day?'

"They answered him, 'Because no one has hired us.' And he said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'

"And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.

"Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.'

"But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be the first, and the first last."

Again, Jesus said, "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

"As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out and meet him.' Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'

"But the wise replied, 'Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut.

"Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he replied, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

(It is a waste of time to beat on the bridal chamber door of another. But go into your own chamber, and prepare for the bridegroom who will find you there.)

Jesus continued with another parable about the kingdom of heaven very similar to the one recounted at the home of Zacchaeus, which went thus: "For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another, two; to another, one; to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

"He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

"Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing the five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I made you five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.'

"And he also who had the two talents came forward saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, ood and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.'

"He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents.

"For unto every one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."

The talent was a large sum of money, its value not precisely determined, but it was something like ninety pounds of silver, with a probable value of between $1,500 and $2,000 for each talent.

We feel that the word "talent" can be applied just as readily to this parable in its present day usage -- that is, a special endowment of skill or ability, a gift or faculty which we are expected to use for the increase of general good, and not to hide or leave buried where none can benefit therefrom, lest it atrophy.

And Jesus spoke again of the kingdom of heaven, saying: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.

"Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you fed me, and thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'

"Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.'

"Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you inasmuch as you did not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And so they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Chapter 11: Healing

Jesus did not place overmuch emphasis on his work as a healer of bodies, for his mission was to bring people to the kingdom of God. But the needs of the populace were so great and their demands so heavy that he could not turn them away.

He had compassion on the poor and suffering, but was interested in healing more than the body of a sick person -- he strove to bring wholeness of mind and spirit as well. He endeavored with each healing to raise the individual to a more advanced state of spirituality, for his primary purpose was to save the soul of the sufferer unto the divine kingdom, thus his miracles were used not merely as a proof, but a specimen of the power of Christ.

He had God-given powers from the time of his youth, so it was not necessary for him to practice how to perform miracles. Indeed he seldom depended upon extra-ordinary methods to accomplish his purposes, for he must teach the disciples and all posterity the correct use of the laws of nature.

He knew that when a miracle was necessary he was able to meet any demand, but though he could walk on the surface of the water, he more often used a boat. And when he was thirsty, he did not make water appear from nowhere, but instead asked a Samaritan woman to draw for him from the well, because in so doing he was able to teach many things that could help her and the village, whereas a miracle would have been merely an occasion of wonderment.

Miracles were performed in cases of emergencies, or to help persons in great distress, but more often they were used at such times as he felt it necessary to convince people of the powers of God resident in man. His purpose was not to amaze or mystify.

Such healings as he performed were spontaneously done according to the requirements of the moment. He always knew that with the Father all things are possible, but he had not come to entertain -- rather to teach and show the way.

Luke said, "The power of the Lord was with him to heal."

Mark proclaimed that these healings were a sign that the acceptable year of the Lord had been inaugurated.

The predicted character of the age was realized when he sent forth the disciples with authority to heal every disease and every infirmity, as evidence of the nearness of God's kingdom.

It has been said that the most positive findings of modern psychiatry equal but a small part of the wisdom contained in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus did not accept disease as being part of the Divine Order.

He struck at the root of their disorders, knowing fully the conflicts of mind and emotion, the motives, and the spiritual turmoil underlying each disability.

Since disease was considered a divine punishment that could only be canceled out by repentance and prayer, the saying, "God has pardoned thee," was the formula ordinarily used by the priests in healing rituals, speaking as interpreters of God.

The Pharisees thought that Jesus was assuming priestly powers that he could not legally claim, but Jesus did not say, "I forgive," but rather, "Thy sins be forgiven." He did not dwell on the idea that ill health was caused by sin, or that disease was a punishment for wrong-doing.

For Jesus looked not merely at the outer evidence of illness or imperfections, but at the ever-perfect spiritual body whence the healing could be directed. Illness focuses attention on a faulty link in the chain of perfect becoming and being. When the required inner lesson is correctly learned, the mirrored condition is also corrected. In nature's method this is a slow gradual process, but Jesus could dispense with limitations of time.

The human system is thrown out of harmony when the normal action of spirit is disturbed. The system needs to be polarized in order to establish equilibrium and effect a cure.

As Dr. Holmes has said, "Belief in a duality has made man sick, and the understanding of Unity alone will heal him." Along with this the aim is to heal men's minds, to enable them to see the perfect body, and produce it by remembering they are made in the image and perfection of God. The body of man, as the living Temple of the indwelling Spirit, should be reverently cared for.

Jesus did not perform the so-called "faith healings" as they are done today, where moral therapeutics and suggestions, with the influence of mind over body are used.

It was not their faith that cured, but faith was a condition, a definite prerequisite for the operation of divine law to manifest, when he spoke the Word of God to heal, and in certain places he did little work because of their unbelief.

The Word of Power used by Jesus in his healing work enabled men to reach beyond their own vision and to change the mental condition that produced the disease. He willed them to be whole, and let power flow through his touch to facilitate its taking place. But they had to believe that this could take place, or otherwise a block would have been set up within them to prevent the perfect flow of power in them to heal. Sometimes he said, "According to your faith be it unto you."

The power of love was present in all his work of healing and only by partaking of such love, through faith, can we become instruments for his work to let the life-giving currents flow. Unbelief robs man of his access to the glory and power of God. He taught men to look upon every needy person as his brother, and the whole world as his field.

Disease does not enter the body from without, but that which is external simply activates something which is already within us. It is a mistake to assume that the germ is creator of the disease rather than its creation.

Even in Jesus' day healing did not appear to convince the populace of the divinity of Jesus as much as one might expect, for healings were not unknown among the priests and prophets. But they had never been accomplished to such an extent as he did them, nor with the washing away of their deep-rooted causes. Neither had they been accomplished with such ease and power, or in anything approaching such numbers. The radiation from his Being was so powerful that even those who touched his garments could be made whole.

After he had risen, many healings continued to take place through the apostles, as he poured down from above a measure of his power, and they invoked his name to heal. With the passage of time, there came to be more of a formula involved in healings, in techniques such as anointing and prayer.

Incense was used, not only as an accessory to worship, but it also served as a fumigant and deodorant. The use of aromatic oils and perfumes for personal hygiene was dictated by climatic conditions; the symbolic anointing of the head or feet of a host or a guest was an indication of respect.

Present day anointing with oil is based on the instructions of the Epistle of James (sometimes called a brother of Jesus), which said, "Is any sick among you? Let him call he elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him." But when he has been forgiven, he is asked to "go and sin no more" lest a worse thing "befall him."

Healing and forgiveness of sins go together. The churches inherited from ancient times the moral precept of physical illness as a punishment for sins committed. Mankind needs to learn how to live constructively, in harmony with divine law, wisely but harming no one, and to let loose the fears caused by repressed feelings of guilt, which often in turn cause illness.

While anointing with oil was originally intended as a method of healing, this came to be used only in the latter extremes of illness when the patient had passed beyond the hope of curing; for the simple reason that when people were ill, they called for the doctor first and left the priest as a last resort. A cure was then held to be possible only if God granted His pardon and remitted the penalty, this to be gained through special rites of purification. How far religion has brought man from the origin of his faith; yet the whole Truth is there, ready to be uncovered at all times.

The healing power which Jesus demonstrated was only one of the remarkable powers used by him. And it was natural that this would have developed within one who was devoting his life to cosmic work and had offered himself as a channel for whatever the Cosmic might desire him to do in fulfilling the divine laws.

He is still just as willing to heal the suffering today as when he was physically present upon this planet. And so too do all those who willingly serve him become channels for his healing work.

Chapter 12: Some Of His Healings

At a time previous to this trip when Jesus had been returning from Tyre through Sidon past the Sea of Galilee, to the region of the Decapolis, the people of that area had brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech and they be- sought him to lay his hand upon him. Then taking him aside from the multitude privately, Jesus put his fingers on the man's ears, and he spat and touched his tongue, and looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to the man, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."

And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And the people were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well; even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."

The early church referred to "ephphatha" as the mystery of the Opening, or the Apertio, and it is used in the ritual of baptism of Christ, where the disciple receives extended sight and hearing. The fact that Jesus looked up to heaven as he said this signified that he wanted the individual to have his hearing opened to that which is of heaven.

(Lamsa says the word commonly called "ephphatha" is cor-rectly "ethpathakh" which means "be opened." It was a copyist's error, and the former word has not meaning in any language.)

We are now examining some of those healing which were explicitly described in the gospels, to better observe what he did in each case. For instance, when Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law, he "rebuked" the fever, as though in reprimand, and showing his authority over the intruder.

But the real wonder is not so much how he performed these healings, but how much restraint he used over such power, never aimlessly showing them off, but always carefully directing them for purposes of greater good. When one watches a dramatized story about some being from outer space, it is fully expected that this being will demonstrate great powers of reading minds or controlling people with the mere pointing of a power-packed finger. Jesus had these same powers which people seek to analyze, so we not wonder how the Lord of this planet performed the wonders that are told of him. Marvel rather at the love, the total discipline and restraint which enabled him to control his own impulses to use such powers to destroy or control other people.

Let us now resume the earlier part of their journey on the way to Jerusalem, where Jesus with his disciples was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village he was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance and lifted their voices crying out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."

Leprosy was a dread disease and those who contracted it were outcast from among their fellows as "unclean," being required to wear a type of clothing which would distinguish them so as to avoid contaminating others. They had to announce themselves whenever approaching or passing near to other persons, and so give them opportunity to get out of the way.

When Jesus saw the ten pleading for help, he said to them, "Go show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

Faith that the law of the word worked is that which we call knowing; this was the first requirement in each healing.

And there must be faith in the law with the power of God to heal through the being of Jesus Christ. The healings were done in co-operation with the Father.

He also used certain auxiliary measure or actions which formed a pattern for the healing action to take place. This was different for each person, due to the differing needs of the inner man of those souls Jesus sought to lift up -- along with and more important than the bodily healing. By asking the Being to do something, he enabled the man to step forward on his faith, thus enacting an acceptance that the healing had taken place.

Hebrew regulations for sanitation and ritual cleanliness prevented many of the problems of disease which plagued the surrounding nations of Jesus' time. Eye diseases were one of the most common in Palestine, caused by continual exposure to dust and glaring sunlight.

The Hebrews like all early peoples used natural remedies, but only the Hebrews used them in conjunction with certain complicated procedures which minimized the direct importance of the remedy and transferred the balance of power to the accessory rituals. This was a move toward the idea of eventually dispensing with the product and relying on the ritual alone.

The disinfectant property of saliva has long been known, as can be seen from animals instinctively licking their wounds to heal themselves. Greek and Roman physicians wrote concerning the use of sputum, and ancient rabbis taught that diseases of the eye should be treated with sputum of the first-born of a father.

Again returning to the time Jesus had been in Galilee, one day as they came to Bethsaida some people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?"

And the man looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking." Then again Jesus laid hands upon his eyes, and he looked intently and was restored and saw everything clearly. And he sent him away to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."

Another healing had occurred more simply while he was still in Galilee: One day as he was passing on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." When he had entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, "See that no one knows it." But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

Again, on his last visit to Jerusalem, as Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work the works of Him Who sent me while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, saying, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which means 'sent')." So he went and washed and came back seeing. (There is also an ancient rite wherein the novitiate candidate had his eyes anointed with clay, then washed with holy water, to signify the opening of the spiritual sight.)

The neighbors and those who had seen this man before as a beggar said, "Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?"

Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No, but he is like him." He said, "I am the man." Therefore, they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"

He answered, "A man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash'; so I went and washed and received sight."

They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I know not."

Then they brought to the Pharisees this man who had been formerly blind. Now it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."

Therefore, some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such things?" And there was a division among them.

So they again said to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."

But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?"

His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself." His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, his parents said, "He is of age, ask him."

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner."

He answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see."

They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"

He answered them, "I have already told you, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?"

They reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from."

The man answered, "Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if any one is a worshipper of God and does His Will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing."

They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out from among them.

Jesus heard that they had expelled him, and having found the man he said, "Do you believe in the Son of man?"

He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?"

Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." He said, "Lord, I believe"' and he worshipped him.

Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind." Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, "Are we also blind?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains."

Later, when he passed through Jericho, it appears that the blind were waiting to be healed at both entrances to the town. For Luke recounts that as he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging; and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." And he cried, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him; and when they came near, he asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me receive my sight." And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God, and all the people when they saw it gave praise to God.

Almost the identical words were used again by Matthew in telling that as they went out to Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the roadside, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"

And Jesus stopped and called them, saying, "What do you want me to do for you?" They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened." And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Again, Mark tells of a healing in very similar words. Since it is not certain that all were of the same incident and each has slightly different circumstances, we have given you all three.

As he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimae'us, a blind beggar, the son of Timae'us, was sitting by the roadside. ("Bar" is the Aramaic word meaning "son," while "ben" is Hebrew for the same word.) And when he heard it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying, 'Take heart; rise, he is calling you." And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus.

And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Master, let me receive my sight."

And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. Now Jericho means "city of the Moon," and in former days the Canaanites had conducted moon-worship in that city. It thus symbolized the sense-life to some extent. So when Bartimae'us flung side his cloak, he was also casting aside the material darkness which had coated over his vision.

There is a blindness worse than the physical; as Paul said, "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not."

And it is likely that physical blindness is the end result of some former refusal to look at things clearly and "see" reality, for a man's body is said to represent his past. The important thing is to awaken the inner man to really open his eyes to God's Truth.

Chapter 13: The Rightful Son

Jesus said to them, "Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, then he went into another country.

"When the season of fruit drew near, he sent a servant to the tenants that they should give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

"Again he sent another servant; him also they wounded in the head and treated shamefully and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one they wounded and cast out, and so with many others who were beaten and stoned or killed.

"Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; surely they will respect him.'

"But when the tenants saw the son they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours.' And they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"

They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons."

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

"Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken in pieces; but when it falls on any one it will crush him. Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it."

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him: "Teacher, which is the great commandment of the law?"

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. One these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well asked him again, "Which commandment is the first of all?"

Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that He is one, and there is no other but He; and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the nderstanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any questions.

Now while the Pharisees gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, "What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David."

But he said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is David's son? For David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, calls him Lord as he says in the Book of Psalms,

'The Lord said to my Lord

Sit at my right hand, ill I make thine enemies a footstool under thy feet.' "

And no one was able to answer him a word, not from that day did any one dare to ask him any more questions, for the throng gladly heard the words of Jesus.

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.' But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully and killed them.

"The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not orthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. (For his heart was not in agreement, and his host knew this.)

"Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking against them. The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people who held him to be a prophet. So they took counsel how to entangle him in his talk, and they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be sincere that they might take hold of what he said so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.

And they sent to him some of their disciples along with the Herodians to entrap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true and show no partiality; for you do not regard the position of men, but truly teach the way of God. Tell us then, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said to them, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Bring me a coin, and let me look at it." They brought one, and he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's."

Jesus said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him by what he said; but marveling at his answer they were silent.

They recalled a former time at Capernaum of Galilee when the collectors of the half-shekel tax came up to Peter and said, "Does not your teacher pay the tax?" He said, "Yes." (A half-shekel tax was collected yearly for the Temple from each person over twenty, for his atonement according to the laws of Moses.)

And when Peter came home, before he could ask, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from others?" And when Peter said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel; take that and give it to them for me and for yourself."

Now Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the multitude putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their substance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living."

The Tribute Money

Chapter 14: The Good Shepherd

A sheep is a relatively helpless animal, peaceful and obedient, in need of leadership and protection from danger. As has been mentioned, once when Jesus "saw a great throng, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things."

The Psalmist too had sung, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." And many of the Old Testament prophets quoted the Lord as calling Himself the Shepherd of His flock -- "I Myself will search for My sheep, and will seek them out . . . "

Sheep represented the chief wealth and means of livelihood for a pastoral people, providing their owners with meat, milk, skins, cloth and a commodity of exchange. They were also prized for sacrificial purposes, being considered more acceptable than the goat, though the latter was also a valuable animal.

The differentiation between sheep and goats from a symbolic standpoint, may have been due to the acceptance of leadership by the sheep, in contrast to the rugged individualism of the goat, who tended to explore on his own.

A shepherd has remarkable rapport with his flock, for they recognize his voice, and can distinguish it from others. They learn to obey commands given by him and appear to have perfect confidence in following him. He in turn keeps the flock together, diligently searches out any strays, and for their sakes leads a nomadic life, traveling with his flock from one pasture to another, wherever grass and water may be found with the changing seasons.

There were large shelters or sheepfolds maintained for bad weather, and these held more than one herd, so that when the shepherd came he would call out his own sheep from among them, and they would recognize him and come forth.

Jesus was speaking to the Jews in the Temple when he said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

"To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger will they not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

"And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father."

There was a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, "He has a demon and he is mad; why listen to im?" Others said, "These are not the sayings of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

It was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the Temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, Who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and my Father are one."

The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?"

The Jews answered him, "We stone you for no good work but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God."

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, you are gods'? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken), do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

"If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained. And many came to him; and they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." And many believed in him there.

Chapter 15: Reprimand

Monday and Thursday were market days and an apt time for a man to make a display of himself by fasting before the people. The Pharisees attributed an intrinsic value to fasting, independent of a man's intention; whereas Jesus placed the greater value on his intentions, indicating that unless fasting is undertaken with the right motives it is spiritually valueless.

When they came again to Jerusalem, one day he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel. He had reached the point of open declaration and began to step out more boldly than ever before in denouncing those who offended God.

One day as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, "Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority."

He answered them, "I also will ask you a question, and if you tell me the answer then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?"

And they discussed it with one anther, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We do not know."

And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

Jesus antagonized the religious authorities because his teaching was a threat to their influence over the people, as well as to their whole system of religious interpretation and regulation. To them he was a heretic who was criticizing and interfering with the national culture.

He neither appealed to the authority of the elders, nor made reference to the names of such esteemed teachers as Hillel or Schammai to substantiate his theories. Instead he applied to him-self the words of the prophets, with great power and conviction.

"I came to cast fire upon the earth," he cried out to them, "and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished!

"Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in- law."

He also said to the multitudes, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, 'A shower is coming'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

And in the hearing of all the people he said to the disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes, and love salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."

Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with their finger.

"They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love being called rabbi by men.

"But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted!

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice a child of hell as yourselves.

"Woe to you blind guides, who say, 'If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?

"And you say, 'If any swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

"So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him Who dwells in it; and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him Who sits upon it.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law; justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. You blind Pharisees! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside may also be clean.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

"Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, rom the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zachariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' "

The words of Jesus exhibit more sorrow than anger at the failure of these spiritual stewards to properly accomplish their assignments for the good of mankind.

Chapter 16: Warnings

As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, one of his disciples pointed out to him the buildings of the temple saying, "Teacher, what wonderful stones, and what wonderful buildings!" And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

They walked outside the city to the nearby Mount of Olives where he was wont to spend the night with his disciples. And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign when these things are all to be accomplished of your coming and the closing of the age?"

And Jesus began to say to them, "Take heed that you are not being led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he! I am the Christ'; and, 'The time is at hand!' and they will lead many astray. But do not go after them.

"And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be alarmed; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once."

Then he said to them, "Nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven; but this is but the beginning of the sufferings.

"But take heed to yourselves; for before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you up to councils and prisons; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will be brought before governors and kings for my name's sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony before them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.

"Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. When they bring you to trial and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say; but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation. You will be delivered up even by your parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

"And many will fall away, and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold.

"But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives, for he who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.

"So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place set up where it ought not to be, (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything away that is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle.

"And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been seen from the beginning of God's creation of the world until now, no, and ever will be.

"And if the Lord had not shortened the days, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect whom He chose, those days will be shortened.

"Then if any one says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. But take heed, I have told you beforehand.

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter into it; for these are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.

"For