The Story of Jesus The Christ - Helen Braun Hojt

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one whom he saw doing wrong, whoever he was, and wherever

      he was. One day he told King Herod that he was leading a sin¬

      ful life, and that both

      he and his wife were

      wicked people. This

      was true, but they did

      not like to hear John

      say it. They were so

      angry that they would

      have killed John if

      they had dared. But

      the Baptist had so

      many friends that

      thought he was a great

      prophet that Herod

      was afraid to do this.

      So instead of killing

      him he took him and

      put him in prison.

      Jesus, you remem¬

      ber, was travelling in

      John the Baptist in Prison Galilee. The people

      there were glad to

      have him with them once more. Many of them had seen what

      he had done at the feast at Jerusalem, and others had heard so

      much about this preacher who talked so well and did so many

      miracles that they wanted to know him.

      THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST

      39

      In the course of liis journey he came to Cana where he had

      made the water into wine. While there, one day at noon, a

      nobleman came to him

      in great haste. He had

      come twenty miles, from

      Capernaum, on purpose

      to see Jesus and ask

      him a great favor. He

      had a son at home who

      was very, very ill; it

      seemed as if he must

      die. But the father

      had known of the mir¬

      acles of Jesus, and be¬

      lieved that he could

      make his child well.

      So when he heard

      that Jesus was in Cana

      he went to him as

      quickly as he could, and

      begged him to go to

      Capernaum and heal

      the boy. Jesus said to him, “ Unless you see wonders you will

      not believe.» But the father only thought of his sick boy, and

      said, “ Sir, come down before my child dies.» The Saviour

      looked at the father who seemed to trust him so, and said, “ Go

      home, your son will live.» Did the man believe that Jesus had

      the power to cure a sick boy twenty miles away, without any

      medicine? Yes, he believed, and went home, sure that he would

      find him well.

      When be was almost home he met his servants coming to tell

      him that his boy was well. He asked them when he began to get

      The Appeal of the Nobleman

      40

      A CHILD’S STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST

      better, and they told him it was at one o’clock, just the time when

      Jesus had said, «Your son will live.» So the nobleman and all

      his family believed that Jesus was the Christ, and became hi?

      friends.

      Though the Jews had only one temple they had in every town

      places where they met to worship when they did not want to offer

      sacrifices. These were called synagogues. They had only one

      room. The men sat on one side of the room and the women on

      the other behind a screen. There was a raised seat for the

      preacher and ten «chief seats» where the leading Jews sat.

      The service was much like ours. There were prayers and

      hymns, and a passage was read from the Scripture, or that part

      of our Bible which we call the Old Testament. The most of what

      our New Testament tells had not yet happened. Any one could

      read this lesson, and could explain it afterward, if he had permis¬

      sion from the ruler of the synagogue, who was the man who had

      the charge of the service. It was the custom for the reader to

      stand while he read the lesson, and to sit down in front of the

      people when he began to talk. The hymns they sang were not

      like ours, and they had no hymn books. What they usually sang

      were the Psalms, which we can read in our own Bibles. One

      man, standing in front of the others, led the singing, sometimes

      singing alone, while the people joined in the chorus.

      Soon after healing the nobleman’s son Jesus spent a Sabbath

      day at his old home, Nazareth. As his custom always was, he

      went to the synagogue, to read the lesson and talk to the people.

      They handed him the book from which the lesson was to be read,

      and he found one of the places where the prophet Tsaiah tells

      about the Christ that was to come, and what he was to do to help*

      the people. You can find just what Jesus read to them that day

      if you look in your Bibles at the first two verses of the sixty-first

      chapter of Isaiah.

      T1IE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST

      41

      After reading a few words he handed the book to the man

      who took care of it, and began to talk to the people. He told

      them that these words that he had just read were even then com¬

      ing true; that he was doing just the things that Isaiah said the

      Christ would do.

      For a little while they were glad to listen to him, for he spoke

      very gently and lovingly. But soon they began to ask one

      another: “ Is this not

      the son of Joseph the

      carpenter? We know

      his father and mother,

      and we know him.

      He is no better than

      we are. What does

      he mean by saying

      that he is the Christ?

      How

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