The History of Christianity by John S. C. Abbott (free children's ebooks pdf .TXT) 📖

then in doubt sending to inquire if he were the Messiah, he assured them that John was not “a reed shaken by the wind;” that he was not a luxurious man “clothed in soft raiment,” who could be conquered by imprisonment; but that he was one of the most heroic and inflexible of prophets: “among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater.”

Continuing his remarks, he said that the scribes and lawyers were like capricious children invited by their playmates to join them in their amusements, but who would play neither at weddings nor funerals. Thus they rejected John because he was too austere, and Jesus because he was not austere enough. “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”—“I had read this passage a hundred times,” said John Randolph, “before I perceived its real meaning,—that no lukewarm seeker can become a true Christian.”

There were two cities, Chorazin and Bethsaida, in which Jesus had preached his gospel and performed many miracles, and they had not accepted his doctrine. Having enjoyed and rejected such privileges, Jesus declared that it would be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the heathen inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon than for them. Capernaum also received the severest denunciation. These cities have utterly perished: not even their ruins remain. And yet Jesus closed this impressive discourse with the soothing words, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek, and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”13

Notwithstanding the severity with which Jesus denounced the Pharisees, one of them, by the name of Simon, probably somewhat convicted of sin, invited him to dine. Jesus promptly accepted the invitation. While reclining upon a couch at the table, in the Oriental custom, one of the unhappy women of the city, of notoriously bad character, overwhelmed with remorse, came in with a box of precious ointment, and wept so bitterly, that her tears fell upon the feet of Jesus where she knelt. She wiped the tears off with her flowing hair, and anointed his feet with the fragrant ointment. Jesus did not rebuke her.

The proud, self-righteous Pharisee was offended. Though he did not venture to utter any words of reproof, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him.” Jesus knew his thoughts, and said, in those calm tones of authority which marked all his utterances,—

“Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And, when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most?”

Simon replied, “I suppose that he to whom he forgave most.”

Jesus said unto him, “Thou hast rightly judged.” Then, turning to the weeping penitent at his feet, he said, “Simon, seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house: thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss; but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”

Then, turning to the woman, he said, “Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace.”

From the city of Nain, Jesus set out upon a new tour through the cities and villages of Galilee, accompanied by his twelve apostles. Several devoted women also accompanied them, to minister to their wants. Mary, called Magdalene (from Magdala, the place of her residence), and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, are specially mentioned. It was truly a missionary tour, as Jesus “went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.” It must have occupied several months; and yet we have scarcely the slightest record of its events.

Upon reaching Capernaum, the throng was so great, that Jesus had no time even to partake of food. A man, both blind and dumb, and possessed with a devil, was brought to him; and he healed him. This led many to inquire, “Is not this the Messiah?” It is interesting to observe how the feelings of the people vacillated. The astounding miracles which Jesus performed led them to believe that he must be the Messiah; and yet he was making no movement whatever toward the establishment of that temporal kingdom which they supposed to be the principal object of the Messiah’s coming. The Pharisees, as a body, were growing more and more malignant in their hostility. It was impossible for them to deny that evil spirits were compelled to obey the bidding of Jesus. They therefore absurdly affirmed that the devils obeyed him because he was “Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.” It was in this connection, when the Pharisees, wilfully withstanding the evidence of truth, maliciously, and against the conviction of their own consciences, accused Jesus of being the prince of devils, that he uttered the remarkable declaration,—

“Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”

The serenity with which Jesus ever alluded to the grandeur of his own character and mission is worthy of special notice. There is no apparent want of modesty in his speaking of himself in terms which, from the lips of any other man, would be deemed intolerable boasting. In the very impressive discourse uttered upon this occasion, he said, referring to himself,—

“The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”

While he was thus speaking, he was informed that his mother, and his brothers, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, were standing without, and wished to speak to him. He replied, “Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?” Then, waving his hand towards his disciples, he added, “Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.”

The same day on which the above transactions took place, Jesus left the city of Capernaum, and repaired to a secluded spot upon the shores of the lake. As usual, an immense concourse followed him. Here, addressing listening thousands, he resumed his preaching, standing upon a boat, while the multitude thronged the shore. It was on this occasion that he introduced the beautiful parable of the sower. At the close, his disciples inquired why he addressed the people in parables. His reply was, that he did so, because that, by so speaking, honest inquirers for the truth could easily receive it, and be benefited by it; while cavillers, who hated the truth, and were seeking only for opportunities to revile, had also an opportunity presented to them to develop their own wicked natures.

He then introduced the parables of the wheat and the tares, of the grain of mustard-seed, of the leaven. Returning to the city, he entered a house with his twelve apostles, and there privately explained more fully to them the significance of the parables, and added three more,—the parable of the hidden treasure, of the one pearl, of the net.

As the evening of this busy day approached, Jesus again sought solitude, and requested his disciples to take him in a boat across the lake to the eastern shore. The lake here was about six miles broad. Slowly moving over the calm waters, it was midnight ere they reached the middle of the lake. Suddenly a terrible tempest came sweeping down upon them from the snowy cliffs of Mount Hermon on the north. Jesus slept serenely amidst the surging waves, though the apparent danger was very great. His terrified companions awoke him, saying, rather petulantly, “Lord, save us! Carest thou not that we perish?”

Jesus, as he looked around upon the darkness and the raging waves, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was immediately a perfect calm. Then, turning to his disciples, he gently chided them for their unbelief. “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” Notwithstanding all they had witnessed before, the disciples were greatly impressed by this signal display of power, and said one to another, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

The eastern shore of the lake was a wild, rocky, cavernous district, which, in olden time, had been much used as catacombs for the dead. They had scarcely landed amidst the solitude of this inhospitable region when two demoniacs came rushing out of the tombs to meet him. Of one it is said, he was exceeding fierce, so that “no man could bind him; no, not with chains; because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.”

From his lair this madman rushed upon Jesus to avenge this invasion of his domains. But suddenly he stopped, seemed bewildered, terrified, and, falling upon his knees, gazed upon the approaching stranger with speechless astonishment. Calmly Jesus addressed him, saying, “Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit!” Then ensued the following very singular colloquy:—

The demoniac, with a loud voice, cried out, “What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.”

Jesus replied, “What is thy name?”

“My name is Legion,” answered the demoniac; “for we are many.” The devils then besought Jesus that they might not be sent out of the country, so congenial to them, of desolation, rocks, and deserted tombs. Upon one of the cliffs which bordered the lake there was a herd of swine, nearly two thousand in number: “So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.”

Jesus said unto them, “Go. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine; and the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and were choked in the sea.”

It is, perhaps, not strange that these demons should, under the circumstances, have conducted in a manner to us utterly inexplicable. Certainly no attempts, thus far, to show the reasonableness of their course, have proved successful.

The keepers of the swine fled, reporting throughout the region the disaster which had befallen them, doubtless much more impressed by the loss of the swine than by the restoration of their brother-man from the possession of demons. The desolate country on this side of the lake was inhabited by a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. As the Jews were forbidden by