One Saturday Jesus and his disciples were walking through the fields; and the disciples plucked ears of com, rubbed them between their hands, and ate the grain. But
by the teaching of the Jews, God made an agreement with Moses that people should do not work on Saturdays, but should only pray to God. The Pharisees, seeing that the disciples of Jesus rubbed the cars of the com on a Saturday, stopped them and said: "You should not do that on Saturday. No work should be done on Saturday, but you are rubbing com. The law says that those who work on Saturday must be put to death."
Jesus heard this, and said: "The Prophet said that God wants love and not sacrifices. If you understood those words, you would not condemn my disciples. Men are more important than Saturdays." And the Pharisees did not know what to answer, and were silent.
Another time some Pharisees saw that Jesus entered the house of Matthew, a tax-collector, and dined with his household. And those with whom he dined were considered by the Pharisees to be sinners. So they blamed Jesus, saying that it was not lawful to eat with the unfaithful.
But Jestis said: "I teach the truth to all who wish to learn the truth. You consider yourselves faithful, and think you know the truth; so there is nothing more for you to learn. It follows that only the unfaithful can be tau^t; and how are they to learn the truth, if we do not mix with them?"
Then the Pharisees, not knowing what to answer, began reproaching the disciples of Jesus for eating with unwashed hands. They themselves strictly observed their own tradition of how to wash their hands and their dishes, and they would eat nothing that came from the market unless it had been washed.
And to this Jesus replied: "You reproach us because we do not keep the custom of washing before we eat; but it is not that which enters a man's body that can defile him.
It is that which comes out of a man's soul that defiles hiin, for out of man's soul comes eviclass="underline" adultery, murder, robbery, avarice, anger, fraud, impudence, envy, calumny, pride, and all evil. All evil comes out of the soul of man; and only evil can defile a man. Let there be love for your brothers in your soul, and then everything will he pure."
Mall. X!I. 1-8; IX, 9-13; Mark VII. 1-5; 14-23.
XII.
Once Jesus went apart from the disciples and began to pray. And when he bad finished, they came to him and said: "Master, teach us how to pray."
And he said to them:
"First of all, you must not pray as is often done, that people may see you praying, and praise you for it. If it is done that way, it is done for the sake of men, and it is men who reward it. The soul does not benefit by such prayers. But if you wish to pray, go into a place where no one will see you, and there pray to your Father; and your Father will give you what you need for your soul.
"And when you pray, do not say too much. Your Father knows what you need, and even if you do not say it at all. He will give you all your soul requires.
"You must pray, first of all, that the spirit of God within us should be holy; that the Kingdom of Heaven should come into our souls; that we should live not according to our own will, but according to God's will; that we should not wish for too much, but only for our daily food; that our Father should help us to forgive our brothers in their sins, and that He should help us to avoid temptations and evil.
"Let your prayer be this:
"Our Father, Who art in Heaven! hallowed be Thy
Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we forgive them that sin against us. And deliver us from temptation and from evil.
"That is the way to pray; but if you want to pray, think first whether there is no anger in your heart against any one; and if you remember that there is, then go first and make it up with him; or if you cannot find that man, get the anger against him out of your heart, and only then begin to piay. Only then will your prayer be of use to you." Lukg XI, 1; Matt. VI. 5-13; Mark XI, 25, 26; Matt. V. 23, 24.
xm.
It happened once that Jesus went to dine with a Pharisee. And while he was there, a woman of the town came in. She was one of the unfaithful. She had heard that Jesus was in the Pharisee's house, and came there and brou^t a bottle of perfume. And she knelt at the feet of Jesus and wept, and her tears dropped on his feet, and she wiped them with her hair, and poured on them the perfume out of her bottle.
And the Pharisee, seeing this, was tempted, and thought that if Jesus were really a prophet he would have known that this woman was unfaithful and a sinner, and would not have let her touch him.
Jesus guessed what the Pharisee was thinking, and turning to him said:
"Shall I tell you what I am thinking?"
"Yes, tell me," said the Pharisee.
And Jesus said:
"Two men owed a rich man, one £50 and the other iS. And neither of them had anything to pay with. The rich
man forgave both of them the debt. Now, which of the two do you think would love and tend the rich man best?" The Pharisee said: "Of course the one who owed most." Then Jesus, pointing to the woman, said: "So it is with you and with this woman. You think yourself righteous, and therefore not owing God much. She considers herself unfaithful, and therefore owing him much. When I came into your house, you did not give me any water to wash my feet with, but she has washed them with tears and dried them with her hair. You did not kiss me, but she kisses my feet. You did not give me any oil for my head, but she pours rich perfume on my feet. She thinks herself a great sinner; and therefore it is easy for her to love people. But you consider yourself righteous, and so it is difficult for you to love. But to him who loves much, all is forgiven." Luke VII, 36-48,
XIV.
Another day Jesus was passing through Samaria. He was weary, and sat down by a well, while his disciples went into the town to buy bread. A woman came from the village to fetch water, and Jesus asked her to let him drink. The woman said to him: "Why, you Jews don't have anything to do with us Samaritans. So how can you ask me for a drink?" Jesus answered: "If you knew me, and what I teach, you would not speak like that, but would give me some water, and I should give you the water of lite."
The woman did not understand him, and said, "Where would you get any other water? Here there is no water but this out of the well of our father Jacob."
And he said to her: "He who drinks of your water
will want to drinlc again, but he who drinks of my water will always be satisfied, and will give others to drink of it."
The woman understood that he was talking about godly matters, and said: "But I am a Samaritan, and you are a Jew, so you cannot teach me. Our people pray on this mountain, and you Jews say that God's only house is in Jerusalem."
Jesus said: "That used to be so; but now the time has come when men will pray to the Father, and not on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, but every one will worship Ле heavenly Father, not in this place or that, but in the spirit and in truth. God is a spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth."
The woman did not understand what he said to her, and replied: "I have heard that God's messenger will come, and then everythii^ will be explained,"
And Jesus said: "W<6man, try to understand what I have told you, and do not wait for anything more."
John IV. 4-26. XV.
Jesus went throi^h the towns and villages preachii^r, and he also sent his disciples to places he intended to visit He told them:
"Many people do not know the blessing of real life. I pi^ them all, and should like to show them what I know. As a master cannot manage to work his field alone, but calls laborers for the harvest, so I call you. Go to the different towns, and tell of the teaching about the Kingdom of God everywhere. Tell people the commandments of the Kingdom, and yourselves fulfil those commandments in everything.