CHAPTER 27

THE TIME came for another feast at Jerusalem, and as on the year before, Jesus went to attend it. We do not know whether his disciples were with him on this visit, for in the story as given by John in his gospel, they are not mentioned.

On one Sabbath day, while Jesus was in the city, he walked past a public bath not far from the Temple. It was a large pool or cistern, where several could bathe at once; and beside it were five porches, forming an arched-over platform. These porches, when Jesus came to the pool, were crowded with people, all suffering with disease. Some were blind, some were lame and some had legs or arms all withered and palsied.

At certain times the water in this bath used to bubble and rise up; then it would go down again and be quiet. The people believed that this bubbling up of the water was caused by an angel (whom no one could see) going down and stirring up the pool. They believed, too, that at such times when the water bubbled up, any person who was ill would be cured by taking a bath in the pool. We know that there are many springs whose water will cure diseases, and this pool may have been one of these health-giving springs.

Jesus saw lying there upon a mat beside the bath one man who had been helpless, unable to walk for almost forty years. Jesus who knew all things, knew that this man had been ill for a long time. He said to him:

"Would you like to be made well?"

This man had never seen Jesus before and did not know who he was.

"Sir," he answered, "there is n.o.body to put me in the bath when the water rises; but while I am trying to crawl down and get into the water, somebody who can walk steps in ahead of me."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pool of Bethesda from above]

Jesus said:

"Rise, take up your mat, and walk!"

The crippled man had never heard words like these; but as soon as they were spoken, he felt a new power shooting through his body. He stood up for the first time in thirty-eight years, picked up his piece of matting, rolled it up and put it upon his shoulder. Then he started to walk toward his house, carrying his burden.

You remember that it was on the Sabbath day that this took place. The Jews were exceedingly careful in keeping the Sabbath. G.o.d had said to their fathers many years before, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." But the Jews had added to this commandment many useless rules.

They could not light a fire on that day, for that would be working; they could not hold a pen, for that would be carrying a load. These little rules had not been given by G.o.d, but had been made by the scribes or teachers of the law.

Some people saw this man carrying his roll of matting through the street. They said to him:

"Stop! don't you know this is the Sabbath day? You have no right to be carrying your bed."

The man did not lay down his load. He said, "A man saw me helpless by the pool, for I was nearly forty years a cripple. This man made me well; and he it was who said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'"

"Who was this man," said the Jews, "who told you to carry your bed on the Sabbath day?"

The man who had been cured did not know who it was that had cured him, for many were standing near, and after healing the man Jesus had walked away without being noticed. Soon after, the man went up to the Temple to give thanks to G.o.d for his cure, and there he met his healer and learned for the first time his name. Jesus said to him at that time:

"You are now free from the disease which for so many years has made you helpless. Do not sin any more against G.o.d, or something worse will come to you."

The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. The leaders among the Jews, the priests, the scribes and the Pharisees, were very angry at Jesus, because he had made this man well on the Sabbath and because he had told the man to carry his mat on that day. The rulers tried to stir up the people against Jesus, saying that he was a Sabbath-breaker, and n.o.body should listen to his words.

But Jesus said to them, "My Father works on all days doing good to men; and I do only what he does."

He meant to show them that G.o.d sends his sunshine and his rain every day in the week, causing the gra.s.s and the grain and the flowers to grow as much on the Sabbath as on other days; and that it was right for him and for every man to do good works, helping men and curing their sickness, on the Sabbath day.

But his words only made the Jews all the more angry, because he had spoken of G.o.d as his Father, making himself (they said) equal with G.o.d.

They would have killed him if they could, so great was their hate against him.

Jesus did not stay long in Jerusalem at this visit. Soon after the feast he went again to his home at Capernaum.

The Lord of the Sabbath

CHAPTER 28

THE QUESTION whether Jesus was a Sabbath-breaker or not, arose again soon after he came back to Galilee. On a Sabbath day Jesus was walking with his disciples through the fields of grain. Some of the disciples were hungry, and as they walked picked the heads of the wheat, rubbed them in their hands, blew away the chaff and ate the kernels of grain.

The law of the Israelites allowed anyone walking by a field of grain to help himself to all that he wished to eat, but forbade him to take any to his home.

But to the Pharisees, who were very exact in their rules of keeping the Sabbath, to pluck the grain was the same as reaping it with a sickle, to carry it in the hand was the same as bearing a load, and to rub it in the hands was the same as thrashing; and to do these on the seventh day of the week was breaking the Sabbath. These were rules, not given by G.o.d, but made by the scribes; and Jesus had already taught his disciples to pay no attention to them.

The Pharisees were constantly watching Jesus and his followers, to catch them, if possible, in doing or saying something that might be thought wrong. They said to Jesus:

"Do you see that your disciples are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath day; picking the ears of grain, carrying handfuls of them and rubbing them in their hands?"

"Have you never read," answered Jesus, "what David did when he was flying from King Saul; how he went into the house of G.o.d and took away the holy bread, laid on the table as an offering to G.o.d, which was to be eaten by the priests only; ate it himself and gave it to the men that were with him? And do you not know that the priests in the Temple do all kinds of work, killing animals for the offering, placing wood on the altar and many other things; yet they do right, for these things are necessary, and whatever is needful may be done on G.o.d's holy day. The Sabbath was made for the good of man and not man for the Sabbath. I tell you that One greater than the Temple is here, for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jesus and His Disciples in the field of grain]

On another Sabbath day Jesus went into the church to worship G.o.d and to preach the word. A man was there whose hand was withered and helpless.

The Pharisees watched Jesus to see if he would cure this man on the Sabbath. They hoped he would cure him, not because they cared for the poor, crippled man, but because they were eager to find something to say against Jesus.

Jesus spoke to the man with the withered hand, "Stand up and come forward." The man stood up before them all; and then Jesus, looking straight at his enemies, said:

"Is it against the law on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm; to save a life, or to try to kill a man, as you are trying to do? If one of you men owns a single sheep, and he should happen on the Sabbath day to find it fallen into a pit, would he not take hold of it and lift it out?

And how much more is a man worth than a sheep? Thus it is right to do a kind and helpful act on the Sabbath."

[Ill.u.s.tration: The man with the withered hand healed by Jesus in the church]

He looked around sternly at his enemies, being sad and grieved because their hearts were so hard. They did not have a word to say; and after waiting a moment he turned to the man with the withered hand and said:

"Stretch out your hand!"

He reached out his arm, and the withered hand was at once made well and strong, as sound as the other. Jesus went away, but the Pharisees were filled with anger against him. They talked together, seeking some way to kill Jesus; and they called upon the friends of King Herod, the ruler of Galilee, to see if they could not persuade the king to order that Jesus should be put to death.

But Jesus went on teaching and curing those that were sick, paying no attention to the plans of his enemies. He told those whom he cured, not to go out and speak to others about him, but to stay quietly at home; for the crowds coming to hear him were already great, and he did not wish them to be any greater. So many people came together from all parts of the land, and even from places outside the land of Israel, from the country of Tyre and Sidon on the north and from Edom or Idumea on the south. They thronged around Jesus, and pressed upon him; so that he spoke to his disciples to have a little boat at hand, to wait upon him, and take him out into the lake for quiet and rest.

Jesus on the Mountain

CHAPTER 29

ABOUT TWELVE miles southwest from Capernaum and six miles west of the Sea of Galilee stands a mountain which can be seen many miles away. It is now called "Kurn Hattin," which means, "The double horns of Hattin."

The name is given because the mountain has two tops, one at each end, and a wide hollow between them, its form making it look somewhat like a saddle or a camel with two humps. Near this mountain, roads ran to almost every part of the land of Israel, so that from every place it could be reached.