The Story of Jesus The Christ - Helen Braun Hojt 3 стр.


THE BOYHOOD OF THE CHRIST

19


The Bible tells of a journey Jesus took when he was twelve

years old. Every year in the spring there was a great feast in

Jems ale m,

called the Feast

of the Pass-

over; and Jews

from all parts

of the country

went to it. The

women and old

men commonly

rode on mules or

donkeys; some¬

times on horses

or camels. The

young men, with

long sticks in

their hands,

walked beside


them and led the animals. Children were not generally taken

till they were twelve years old; those who did go ran a part

of the way, but when they were tired they were given a ride.


Ever so many people travelled together, and had such a good

time on the way! They talked and laughed and sang together,

stopped at the springs to get water when they were thirsty, and,

as they walked along, picked the fruit and berries they found by

the roadside. When they were tired they stopped to rest; for

manjf of them had a long way to go.


Thousands of strangers were in Jerusalem when the feast

began. Every house was full, and tents were put up for those

who could not find room anywhere else.


When Jesus was twelve years old his parents took him, for


Jesus, Twelve Years Old, on His Way to Jerusalem


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A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST


the first time, to this feast. It lasted seven days, and then the

long procession started home again. Jesus was so much inter¬

ested in what he was seeing and hearing that when the others

left the city he stayed behind. His parents did not know this;

they supposed that of course he was with some of their friends in

the company, and did not look for him until evening. Then he

was nowhere to be found, and no one remembered seeing him all

day. Think how troubled his parents must have felt! The boy

who had never been away from them was lost, and so far away


from home, too! They

must go back to Jeru¬

salem to find him.


It took them an¬

other day to get to the

city, so it was the third

day before they saw

their boy again. Then

where do you think

they found him? In

the temple, hearing the

old, gray-haired men

talk, and asking them

questions so wise that

they were astonished to

find a boy of twelve

years who knew so

much.


Do you think his

Christ in the Temple parents were glad to


see him? His mother

hurried to him and said: My son, wiry did you leave us? Your

father and I have been looking for you, and have been very sad.»

THE BOYHOOD OF THE CHRIST

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Jesus answered her: Why did you look for me? Did you

not know that I must be about my Fathers business?» Jesus

did not mean Joseph when he said my Father,» he meant God.

He was a young boy, but he was very thoughtful, and he knew

that there was work for him to do in the world; and that his

work was to teach people how his Father wants them to live.

He would have liked to have begun his work even now, but it

was not yet time for him to do so. He went back to Nazareth

with his parents, and was the same loving, obedient boy that he

had always been.


Until a Jewish boy was twelve years old he was called a little

boy; but after that he was a young man, and was expected to

study and work as the young men did. Every one must learn

some trade, or some kind of work by which he could earn his

living. Joseph was a carpenter, and he taught Jesus to do car¬

pentry work: to make houses, tables, yokes for oxen, or anything

that is made of wood.


So, busy with his studies and his work, Jesus lived at Naza¬

reth till he was thirty years old. We will leave him there for a

while, and see what has become of the son of Zacharias.


John, too, grew to be a thoughtful, manly boy; for his father

told him what his work was to be, and taught him what he

needed to know, to be ready for it. As he grew older he knew

that he could not do good work unless he thought, studied, and

prayed much about it. To do this he left his home and his

friends, and went to live all alone in the wilderness.


He could find enough to eat there: locusts, and the honey

which the bees left in the rocks and the hollow trees. Locusts

are something like our grasshoppers, and even now, in that coun¬

try, people eat a great many of them. There were caves in the

sides of the hills, where John could find shelter from the cold

and storms, and from any wild beasts that might be about. His


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A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST


clothing was made of the coarse hair which grows on a camel>

and was fastened around his waist with a leather belt.


There in the woods he lived alone for many years with noth¬

ing to take his mind from his work. At last the time came for


him to preach.


There is a river in Pal¬

estine called the Jordan,,

and it was to the banks

of the Jordan that John

came from the wilderness

and began to preach. He

was so much in earnest,

and spoke so well, that

people liked to listen to

him; and before long great

crowds from all around

came everyday to hear him.


They all thought he

must be the Christ; but

John said: 66 No, I am not

the Christ. I am the

prophet from the wilder¬

ness whose work it is to

prepare the way for the

Christ, and tell people about


John the Baptist in the Wilderness llim.


«He is to be so much

greater than I am that I am not good enough even to be his ser¬

vant. Your Saviour is coming very soon, but he will not save

you unless you are sorry for your sins. You must not say to} T> ur-

selves: God will love us because we are the children of Abraham/

You must be good yourselves if you want to be loved and saved/»»

THE BOYHOOD OF THE CHRIST

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Over and over again John said to the people, Repent, and

be baptized, every one of you.» To repent is to be so sorry

for something we have

done that we will ask

Gods forgiveness and

try very hard never to

do it again. After they

repented he baptised

them. You know how

pure and clean water

makes things that are

Washed in it. So water

is used in baptism as a

sign that the one who

is baptized wants his

heart made pure and

clean.


J ohn baptized so

many people that he

is called John the Bap¬

tist, but he told them


John the Baptist Preaching


all that the baptism did

not make them good;


it only show r ed others that they meant to try to be better men

and women. When the Christ conies, he said, he will give

and women. When the Christ conies, he said, he will give

you a new heart, and that is what you need to be really good.»


We should all pray just as David did so long ago: «Create

in me a clean heart, 0 God; and renew a right spirit within

me.» This is nfot a very long prayer, but it means a great deal;

for when we have been given new, clean hearts we will never

again do wrong without being very, very sorry, and praying to

be forgiven.


THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST


THE OPENING OF THE MINISTRY


One day John was preaching as usual, when a stranger came

to him and asked to be baptized. John looked at him for a


minute, and then said:

«I need to be baptized

by you. Why do you

come to me?» For in

that one look something

in the strangers face

told John that it was

Jesus, the Christ, who

had asked to be bap¬

tized. Although they

were cousins, their

homes were so far apart

that they had never

seen each other.


John knew that the

Saviour did not need to

repent, for he had never

done anything that was

wrong. He did not want

to baptize him, but Jesus

said: «I want you to do it. It is right that you should, even if

you do not know the reason why.» Then they both went into the

Jordan, and Jesus was baptized.


When he came up out of the water something in the form of

a dove rested on his head, and a voice from heaven said,  This

is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.» It was Gods

voice.


Baptism of Jesus


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THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST

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Jesus did not wait to talk to the people then; he went off by

himself into the wilderness, where he could be alone with God.

He wanted to think about the new life he had just begun. He

had no home now, for he had given up his home and everything

that was dear to him in Nazareth, to spend the rest of his life in

doing good to others, and in teaching them how to be happy.


Forty days and forty nights he spent in this wilderness, think¬

ing much of what others needed, but so little about what he him¬

self needed that in all that time he had eaten nothing. Now he

felt hungry. Round about him were some smooth stones shaped

much like the loaves of bread they used in that country. They

were something like our crackers.


Has not the wicked spirit Satan sometimes whispered in your

ear, asking you to do something which you knew was not right?

Well, that wicked spirit came to Jesus now when he was so

hungry, and said: If you are the Son of God, you can do any¬

thing you want to. Just turn these stones into bread.» Jesus

was able to do this, for in a few days he did something just as

wonderful; but he had been asking God for power to help other

people, not to help himself. He did not turn the stones into

bread, but answered Satan with a Bible verse which means that

although we need to feed our bodies we also need to trust and

obey God, w T ho has promised to take care of us.


Satan whispered to him again and said: If you are the Son

of God, why do you not throw yourself down from the high roof

of the temple at Jerusalem? God will send his angels to take

care of you, for he has promised to do so. They will hold you

up in their hands so that you will not get hurt. And when the

people see angels taking care of you, and not allowing you to fall,

they will believe at once that you are the Christ, and they will

worship you.» Again Jesus answered with a Bible verse. What

he said means that although it is true that God has promised to


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A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST


help us when we are in trouble, it is wicked to do things that

are dangerous just to see if he will help us.


Satan now took Jesus where he could see a long way oh, and

as he thought of all the cities lying beyond the hills, filled with

people and riches, Satan said: u All these you can have, if you


will obey me. The people

will he glad to have you

for their king if you will

not find fault with their

wicked ways. Never mind

if they are wicked. Try

to please them and me in¬

stead of trying to please

God.»


But Jesus answered him:

«Go away from me, Satan,

I will have nothing to do

with you. It is written,

4 Thou shalt love the Lord,

thy God, and him only shalt

thou serve.» The wicked

spirit found that here was

a man whom he could not

tempt to do wrong, and he

Temptation of Christ went away for that day.


Many other times the evil

spirit tried to make Jesus do what was wrong, for the Bible says

that he was tempted in every way just as we are, but never

sinned. That is why our Saviour can help us conquer sin, if we

ask him; because he knows just how hard it is for us to do

right, and just what we need to conquer Satan. After Satan had

gone angels came and comforted Jesus.

THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST

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Shortly after this Jesus went back to the Jordan, where John

was still preaching to a great many people. As John looked up

and saw Jesus coming toward them,

he said to his hearers,» Behold the

Lamb of God, which taketh away

the sins of the world.» What did

John mean? Just this. Before

long, Jesus, a pure, gentle man

who had never done a wrong thing,

would be put to death like the

lamb in the temple service, for the

sins of other people. After this

happened people need not offer

sacrifices any more; for their sins

would be forgiven if they asked

God to do it for Jesus sake.


The next day Jesus passed that

way again. John the Baptist was

there talking to two of his friends,


John and Andrew, and seeing Je¬

sus coming he said again, Behold

the Lamb of God.» This time the

two men followed Jesus, who,

turning round and seeing them

close behind him, asked,  What

are you looking for?» They answered, «Rabbi» (which means

master or teacher), where do you live?» He said, Come and

see.» They went with him to the place where he was staying,

and spent the rest of the day there. Andrew was so much pleased

with his new friend that he found his brother Simon, afterward

called Peter, and brought him to Christ.


The next day Jesus started on a journey to Galilee, and his


Jesus walking by the Sea


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A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST


three new friends went with him. On the way they met a man

named Philip, who lived in the same town as Andrew and Peter.

Jesus invited Philip to go with them, and he was very glad to do

so. Before he went he found his friend Nathanael, and asked

him to join them.

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