And he said unto her, "Thy sins are forgiven."

And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, "Who is this that even forgiveth sins?"

And he said unto the woman, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

THE MINISTERING WOMEN.

And it came to pa.s.s soon afterwards, that he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good tidings of the kingdom of G.o.d, and with him the twelve, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary that was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna the wife of Chuzas Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered unto them of their substance.

GROWING POPULARITY AND RISING OPPOSITION

THE CONCERN OF JESUS' FRIENDS.

And he cometh into a house. And the mult.i.tude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, "He is beside himself."

And there came to him his mother and brethren, and they could not come at him for the crowd. And it was told him, "Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee."

But he answered and said unto him that told him, "Who is my mother?

and who are my brethren?" And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, "Behold, my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother."

WARNING OF ETERNAL SIN.

Then was brought unto him one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw. And all the mult.i.tudes were amazed, and said, "Can this be the son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard it, and the scribes that came down from Jerusalem, they said, "This man doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons."

And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I by the Spirit of G.o.d cast out demons, then is the kingdom of G.o.d come upon you.

"When the strong man fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him his whole armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

"Verily I say unto you, All their sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and their blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin:" because they said, "He hath an unclean spirit."

"Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

THE DEMAND FOR A SIGN.

Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we would see a sign from thee."

But he answered and said unto them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

"But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, pa.s.seth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. Then he saith, 'I will return into my house whence I came out;' and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation."

And it came to pa.s.s, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the mult.i.tude lifted up her voice, and said unto him, "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the b.r.e.a.s.t.s which thou didst suck."

But he said, "Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of G.o.d and keep it."

THE PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM

THE SOWER.

On that day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And there were gathered unto him great mult.i.tudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the mult.i.tude stood on the beach. And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, "Hearken: Behold, the sower went forth to sow: and it came to pa.s.s, as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured it. And other fell on the rocky ground, where it had not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and brought forth, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold." And he said, "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve came, and said unto him, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?"

And he answered and said unto them, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith,

"'By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive; For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes.

And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them.'

"But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not."

And he saith unto them, "Know ye not this parable? and how, shall ye know all the parables? The sower soweth the word. The seed is the word of G.o.d. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and s.n.a.t.c.heth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side. And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.

And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the pleasures of this life, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word in an honest and good heart, and understandeth it, who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

THE TARES.

Another parable set he before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. And the servants of the householder came and said unto him, 'Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares?' And he said unto them, 'An enemy hath done this.'

And the servants say unto him, 'Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?' But he saith, 'Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

THE GROWING GRAIN.

And he said, "So is the kingdom of G.o.d, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how. The earth beareth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, straightway he putteth forth the sickle, because the harvest is come."

THE MUSTARD SEED.

And he said, "How shall we liken the kingdom of G.o.d? or in what parable shall we set it forth? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are upon the earth, yet when it is sown, groweth up, and becometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof."

THE LEAVEN.

Another parable spake he unto them: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened."

THE UNDERSTANDING OF PARABLES.