The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
WONDERFUL TEACHINGS
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
WONDERFUL TEACHINGS
Jesus went through the cities and villages teaching men and women how to enter the kingdom of God. Every day Jesus was drawing nearer to Jerusalem, because it almost time for another Jewish feast. A group of Pharisees met Jesus when He was not far from the city. They said to Him, “Go away from here. You are not safe, for Herod is looking for you, and if he finds you he will kill you.”
Jesus answered, “You may go back to Herod and tell him that I will work cures as long as I live; but before long my work will be done. I must go to Jerusalem, for that is the place where a prophet ought to die.”
Jesus thought of the city which He loved so much. The Lord wanted so much to be of help. As Jesus thought of the unkind way in which He had already been treated, and as He thought of the cruel punishment which was going to come to Him in Jerusalem, Jesus cried, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to you; how often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not let me! And now it is too late!”
On one Sabbath day, Jesus was invited to the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat. While there Jesus was watched every moment. We have already seen that it was a very common custom in that country for people who are passing a house to walk in when the door was open. While they were at the table on this Sabbath day, a man who was ill came into the Pharisee’s house. Jesus looked at the man and said to the scribes and Pharisees, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath?”
There was no answer.
Jesus took the man, healed him, and let him go. Then Jesus again spoke to those at the table, asking, “Which one of you, if one of your animals should fall into a deep hole, would not pull him out on the Sabbath?”
They would not answer this question, because they knew that all of them would do that. And, if they would do that for a suffering animal, then how could they blame Jesus for saving a suffering man? So they said nothing, and Jesus began to talk to them in parables.
There were certain places at the table which were set aside for guests who were the most worthy of respect. Jesus noticed that at this feast the guests chose these places for themselves. No seat of honor was left for Jesus, the chief guest. And so Jesus spoke this parable, “When you are invited by any man to a wedding, do not sit down in the highest place, for perhaps a more honored guest than you has been invited. Then he who invited you both will say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and with shame you will have to take the lowest place. But when you are invited go and sit down in the lowest place. Then when he who asked you to come says, ‘Friend, go up higher,’ you can take another place, and be respected by all who are at the feast. It is better to begin at the bottom and go up than to begin at the top and go down.”
That was the first lesson that Jesus taught. The second shows who ought to be invited to share our good times. Jesus said, “When you make a dinner or a supper do not invite your friends or relatives or rich neighbors, who will later make a feast and invite you back again. But call in the poor, the deformed, the lame, and the blind, who do not have many good times. They cannot pay you back, but the Lord will reward you.”
A great many people have learned this lesson now, but very few knew it then. Just think how many kind things are done for the poor people among us today. There are a good many Thanksgiving dinners given to children in orphan homes and hospitals. The poor children in many cities are given days or weeks in the country and by the sea. All these things, and many more, are done because Jesus taught this lesson of love.
The next lesson was given in this parable: “A certain man made a great supper, and invited many guests. When the supper was ready the man sent out his servant to say to all those who had been invited, ‘Come, for all things are ready.’”
Another custom back in that day was that people were sometimes invited beforehand, and then when everything was prepared the servant would go around telling those who had accepted the invitation to come. They had no clocks or watches, and perhaps that was one reason why they did this. These guests had said that they would accept the invitation, but when the servant went to get them the second time, they began to make excuses. The first said he had bought a piece of ground that he wanted to go and see about, and must be excused.
Another said, “I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I must try them to see if they are as good as they ought to be; I shall have to be excused.”
Still another said, “I have just been married, so I cannot come.”
All the guests had some kind of an excuse, and when the servant went back to his master and told him of these things he was very angry, for he had prepared good things for the feast. He said to the servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, the deformed, and the lame, and the blind.”
The servant did this, and then said to his master, “Lord, I have done as you commanded, and yet there is room.”
The master said, “Go out again and bring in more people till the house is filled, for none of those invited shall taste of my supper.”
This is the story of what had happened in Jesus’ own life. The gospel Jesus had come to teach was the feast of good things which had been made ready, and the Children of Israel were the invited guests who had found every kind of excuse for not coming. The publicans and the common people were the lame and the blind who had been willing to come to Jesus. They had received the blessings which the Pharisees would not take.
These rulers of the Children of Israel, these scribes and Pharisees, did not themselves want to be friends with Jesus. They also found great fault with Jesus, because He went among publicans so much. They did not want Jesus to go into their homes and eat with them. But He did anyway. At one time, when the scribes and Pharisees were complaining about the company Jesus kept, Jesus told them three stories, to show why He did what they thought was so bad.
Jesus wanted to show them that God even cared for people who had been very wicked, if they would only be truly sorry for their sins. Jesus cared for such people really more than for those who had never done anything that was very bad, and who thought they were very good, and were not sorry for the wrongs they did.
Jesus told these stories: “What man is there with a hundred sheep who, if he should lose one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine wherever they were (even in the wilderness) and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? He is willing to go through a lot of trouble, if he can only find the sheep which has wandered away from the flock. And when he has found it he is very joyful, and lays it gently on his shoulder, and carries it home to the sheepfold. And when the man gets home he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Be glad with me, for I have found the sheep which I had lost.’ Jesus said that in the same way there is joy in heaven over one wicked person who truly repents, more than over ninety-nine persons who are not so very bad, and who think they need no repentance.”
Repentance, you remember, is being so sorry for what we have done that we will try very, very hard not to do the wrong thing again. Do you remember the story Jesus told the Pharisee, Simon, when the woman anointed His feet? Jesus said that the one who had done many wrong things, but who had repented and been forgiven, would love God better than one who had been a better man, but who was not sorry for what wrong things he had done.
You know, the more we love anyone the more willing we are to please that person, even when it takes a lot of our time and a lot of trouble. If we truly love our heavenly Father, we will want to be as sweet, loving, and obedient as possible, because we know it pleases God.
Here is the second of Jesus’ three stories: “What woman, who has ten pieces of silver, if she should lose one piece, would not light a lamp and sweep the house, and look carefully till she finds it? And when she has found it she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Be glad with me, for I have found the piece of silver that was lost.’ So Jesus said, ‘there is joy among the angels of God in heaven over one sinner that repents.’”
The third story was one which has been loved by a great many people ever since Jesus told it to these Children of Israel a long time ago: “A certain man had two sons, and the younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your money and property, for I want to go away from here.’ The father did as the boy wished, and, not many days after, this younger son gathered together all that he had and took a journey into a far country. He fell into bad trouble there, and spent his money very fast for wicked pleasures. The time came when he did not have enough money left to even buy food he needed. So, he got a job working for a man, who sent him into the man’s fields to take care of pigs. There were many days when the young man was so hungry that he ate the food given to the pigs. One day, while at work, the young man thought of his happy home, and how foolish he had been to leave it. He said to himself, ‘How many hired servants does my father have who enjoy all the food they want, with some left over. Here I am, suffering from hunger. I will leave this place and go home to my father and will say, Father, I have been wicked. I have broken God’s laws, and have done many things that I am ashamed for you to know. Let me be one of your hired servants.’ The more the young man thought about it, the more he decided to go back to his father, until at last he left his work and started home. Now when he was still a long way off, the father, who dearly loved his boy, saw him coming and ran to meet him. He put his arms around his son’s neck and kissed him. The young man, who was ashamed of the life he had led, said, ‘Father, I have been wicked. I have broken God’s laws, and done wrong to you. I am not worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring here the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. Kill the fatted calf, and let us be merry; for this my son was lost and is found.’ His orders were carried out, and the household began to celebrate the coming home of his younger son. Now the older son was in the field, and as he came toward the house he surely heard the joyful excitement of everyone in a party spirit. He called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. The servant said, “Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he is so glad to have him back safe and well.” The older son was angry and would not go in. His father came out, and urged him to come in and be glad that his brother had come back home. But the older brother would not. He said, “I have stayed here all the time, doing as well as I could for you, and you never made a party for me; you have not killed as much as a kid for me, that I might be merry with my friends. But as soon as my brother, who has been away wasting your money, has come back, you have killed for him the fatted calf.” The father answered, “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. Still it is right we should be merry now, and very happy; for your brother was lost, and is found.”
Jesus spoke these three parables to show the Children of Israel why He worked among the publicans and wicked people. They were the sheep that had strayed away, and the treasure that had been lost. They were the younger son, and had indeed been more wicked than their brothers, the scribes and Pharisees. They had not wanted to obey the law of God, their Father, and to serve Him, but had wandered away and wasted their lives in doing just what they wanted to do.
But now they were learning how foolish they had been, and were coming back to their Father, asking Him to forgive them. They wanted God to take them as His workers. And the Son of God, Jesus, was teaching them to do His Father’s work.
Soon after this Jesus told two other different stories. In the first one, Jesus showed how the people who care for money and what it will buy in this world, plan carefully for the time that is coming. The man about whom the story is told was not honest in his planning, and Jesus did not praise him for that. But Jesus did say that those who serve God should try to plan for the future; and should try to make themselves liked by their companions.
The other story was about two men. One was very rich and had everything he wanted; the other was a beggar who, poor and sick, sat on the steps of the rich man’s house, and begged for the scraps of food that they were going to throw away.
But there is another side to the story. After telling about the two men while they were living on this earth, Jesus told them that in the other world the poor beggar was to have the highest place, because he had served God in his poverty better than the rich man, with all his money. Jesus showed the people that having good things in this life does not mean that good things will come to us in the other life, unless we are good, and love and serve God.
One day a messenger came hurriedly to Perea, to find Jesus. The messenger said, “Lord, your friend Lazarus, whom you love so dearly, is very sick, and his sisters, Mary and Martha, have sent for you.”
Although Jesus loved this family, He did not go to them in Bethany at once, but Jesus stayed two or three days longer there in Perea.
For two days Jesus said nothing about going away, but, at the end of that time Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.”
They answered, “Master, do you not remember that the Children of Israel almost stoned you the last time you were there? Are you going to risk it again?”
Jesus told them that He was going to risk it, because His work in Judea was not yet done. Jesus then said, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping; I must go and wake him out of his sleep.”
The disciples thought that if he could sleep, then Lazarus must be better, and they answered, “Lord, if he is sleeping he is better.”
Jesus said, “He is not sleeping in the way you mean; Lazarus is dead. I am glad, for your sakes, that I was not there when he died; you will have greater reason than ever for believing in me. Come, let us go to him.”
The disciples were almost afraid to have Jesus go back into Judea. Thomas said to the others, “We will go and die with him.”
When they reached Bethany they found that Lazarus was dead, as Jesus had said. They learned that Lazarus had been in the grave for four days. You remember that Bethany was only a few miles from Jerusalem, and many of the Children of Israel had come from that city to comfort Mary and Martha. They were a sad and lonely family now that Lazarus was dead, because they loved their brother who had been taken from them, and they missed him very very much.
Martha heard that Jesus was on the way, and she went out to meet Him. But Mary stayed in the house. When Martha came to Jesus, she said, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died. But I know that God will give you whatever you ask of Him.”
Jesus said to Martha, “Your brother shall rise again.”
Then Jesus spoke to her words which have, ever since that time, cheered people when their friends have been taken away from them. Jesus told Martha that one who believes in Him shall never die. Jesus told Martha that even though he dies on earth, he is living somewhere else, and will live forever.
These words were a comfort to Martha, for she believed them, and she went back to the house to tell Mary about it. She called so softly that no one else could hear what she said, “Mary, the Master is come, and is calling for you.”
As soon as Mary heard this glad news she rose quickly and went to see Jesus, who had not come into the town, but was waiting in the place where Martha had left Him. Now when some of the Children of Israel who had come to this home to comfort the sisters saw Mary rise in such haste and go away from the house, they followed her, saying, “She is going to the grave to weep there.”
Mary went away, and when she got to the place where Jesus was waiting she bowed down at His feet. She was crying so hard that she found it hard to talk, but she said, “O Lord, if you had only been here my brother would not have died.”
And when Jesus, the loving Savior, saw her crying, and the group of the Children of Israel who had followed her crying too, Jesus could not keep back the tears from His own eyes. Jesus wept, for He, too, had lost a friend whom He dearly loved.
The Children of Israel noticed this, and some of them said, “See how he loved him.”
From others came the question, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind have kept his friend from dying?”
Jesus asked, “Where have you laid Lazarus?”
And they replied, “Come and see.”
Still weeping, Jesus went to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Someone took it away.
Then, raising His eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed in these words, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I knew that you always hear me, but because of the people who stand by, I said it; that they may know that you have sent me into the world.”
When Jesus had finished this prayer He called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”
The people looked on in wonder. No doubt the people watching wondered if it could be possible that Lazarus would hear that voice, and obey. But they probably thought that something like that would not happen because Lazarus had been dead and buried for several days. While they were still talking in this way Lazarus walked out of the grave, a living man.
Many of those Children of Israel who had never before believed in Jesus changed their minds when they saw what Jesus had done for Lazarus. But some of those who saw it went to the Pharisees and told them about it.
At once a meeting of the great council, the Sanhedrin, was called, and the question was asked, “What shall we do? for this man surely works many miracles. If we let him alone all the people will soon believe on him. Then the Romans, fearing that we will try to make him king, will take away even the freedom that we now have.”
The High Priest then rose and said, “You are not very wise about this thing. Is it not better that one man should die than for the whole nation to be punished?”
Before the meeting was over it was voted that Jesus should die, and the command was sent out that any man who knew where Jesus was must tell, so that Jesus might be arrested.
The council even planned to kill Lazarus, too. They said, “For every one who sees him will know that he was raised from the dead, and will believe that Jesus, who raised him, is the Christ.”
