"Granny's Chapters" Part 9

Mean time Jesus was calmly preparing to finish the work given to Him of the Father, by delivering Himself up to death; that through Him all men might have life. Till the time was fully come, Jesus remained with His disciples in the wilderness. "Then six days before the Pa.s.sover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead." It is probable that at this time Jesus abode in the house with Lazarus and his sisters; but we read of Him as being "in the house of Simon the leper," a man whom our Lord had, no doubt, cured of leprosy; where "they made him a supper." Lazarus was one of the guests who "sat at the table with him," "and Martha served"; helped the giver of the feast to entertain and wait upon Jesus.

An event now took place, which is spoken of by St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John; though it is rather differently told by each, some mentioning circ.u.mstances of which the others take no notice: so much so, that some people have thought that they speak of different events; but it seems much more probable that they all allude to the same event, and therefore it will be so considered now.

The circ.u.mstance which happened at the supper given to Jesus in the house of Simon, (distinguished from others of that name by being still called the Leper, though now no longer one,) must be related according to what is generally believed.

"Mary having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious and very costly, brake the box, and poured it on his head as he sat at meat, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment." Thus did Mary show her love for the Lord. "But when his disciples saw it, there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?"

Judas Iscariot, under pretence of wis.h.i.+ng to give the money to the poor, blamed Mary for thus wasting the ointment; and some of the other disciples seem to have held the same idea, and "they murmured against her."

A Roman penny, the money here spoken of, was worth about 7-1/2_d._ of our money; so the cost of this box of ointment was about 9_l._: and probably some of the disciples, not understanding the meaning of Mary's action as afterwards described by Jesus, really thought it would have been well to give that sum away in charity. But this was not the case with Judas, for St. John adds, "This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein." The joint stock of money, out of which the necessaries of life were purchased for Jesus and his Apostles, was trusted to the care of Judas, who was a thief, and took money out of the common bag for his own private purposes. If so large a sum as three hundred pence were to be added to the common stock, Judas would be able easily to take some without being found out; especially if he pretended that he had given it to the poor. Let us, as the Bible bids us, beware of covetousness even in the smallest matter. This feeling indulged in the heart is a great sin; and it constantly leads to the breaking of the eighth commandment as well.

When Mary was blamed for what she had done, the Lord defended her, saying, "Let her alone,"--do not blame her,--"why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good; but me ye have not always.

She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial."

It was the custom among the Jews to anoint the bodies of the dead before burial, with perfumes and spices: this was also a custom of other nations, and the Egyptians had a manner of anointing, or embalming, the body, so that it would keep its shape, and not turn to dust, as it would otherwise do. Bodies so prepared are called mummies; and many have been found, which have been in that state for 3,000 or 4,000 years.

When Jesus said that Mary "had anointed his body to the burying," He meant, that she had done an action which was significant of His approaching death; but, of course, neither she nor the disciples understood it as such. He also declared, that so far from deserving blame, what she had done should be for ever remembered to her praise: "Verily, I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her."

Whilst Jesus was still in the house of Simon, much people of the Jews, knowing He was there, came not only to see Him, "but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead." Such a miracle had naturally been much talked of; and the Chief Priests, fearing the effect it might have on the people's mind, consulted whether they could not "put Lazarus also to death, because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus."

The next day,--that is, five days before the Pa.s.sover,--the people that were a.s.sembled at Jerusalem for the feast, "when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna; Blessed is the King of Israel, that cometh in the name of the Lord." The word "Hosanna" is made up of parts of two Hebrew words, which mean "_Save now_." It was a word commonly used by the people to express their joy upon solemn occasions.

Chapter XXVII.--CHRIST'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.

Then Jesus sent forth two of His disciples, with directions where to find a colt, the foal of an a.s.s, upon which He purposed to ride into Jerusalem. The disciples did as they were directed, and "cast their garments upon the colt, and they sat Jesus thereon": and He rode towards Jerusalem, accompanied by many of the people who had been with Him in Simon's house, and "that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave." These were soon met by those who, with palm branches in their hands, had come from Jerusalem. "And as they went, a very great mult.i.tude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way." Casting garments, branches of trees and flowers on the ground, for Kings and Conquerors to tread upon, was a mark of honour and welcome in the Eastern nations; and it was a fitting homage to Him, Who is King of Kings, and the Conqueror of Sin and Death.

"And when He was come nigh the Mount of Olives, the whole mult.i.tude of the disciples, and the mult.i.tudes that went before, and that followed, began to rejoice, and praise G.o.d with a loud voice, for all the mighty works that they had seen; and cried, saying Hosanna to the Son of David--Hosanna in the highest. Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest."

"All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken" 400 years before "by the prophet" Zechariah, saying, "Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an a.s.s, and a colt the foal of an a.s.s."

At the Feast of Tabernacles, it had long been the custom for the Jewish people to sing Hosannas, and also to carry in their hands branches of palm or other trees, in honour of the Messiah whom they were expecting; and by receiving Jesus as they now did, the mult.i.tudes did, in fact, acknowledge Him to be that expected Messiah--at once G.o.d and man--the King spoken of by the prophets; promised by the Almighty.

No other king ever entered Jerusalem in this manner, which had been foretold by the prophets; and therefore what had now happened, ought to have convinced all the Jews that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah: but nothing will convince those who are obstinately determined not to believe, and even now, "some of the Pharisees from among the mult.i.tude," who chose to think it was blasphemy to give Jesus, a man, the honour due to the Messiah, "said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples." But instead of doing so, Jesus "answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should, hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." By this answer, Jesus plainly told the Pharisees, that so far from meriting a rebuke for speaking _blasphemy_, all that the people had said was so pleasing to G.o.d, that if they were prevented from saying it, the Almighty would, even by a miracle, raise up others to glorify His name, by proclaiming this wonderful truth. Nothing, however, could overcome the obstinate unbelief of the Pharisees. They "said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him."

They could not but own, that in spite of all they had done, the people did believe Jesus to be the Messiah; but this had no other effect than to make them the more anxious to put Him to death. Mean time Jesus rode on; "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." The meaning of what Jesus now said is, that it would have been a happy thing for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, if while He was with them they would have believed on Him, for then He would have given them peace and happiness. And He wept in pity, whilst He foretold the utter destruction that would come upon the city, as a punishment to the Jews for refusing to believe in Him, and receive Him as the Messiah.

Everything that Jesus foretold, came to pa.s.s exactly a few years afterwards, when the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, and made a trench, and a wall with strong towers all round the city, so as to prevent the inhabitants getting any help. The consequence was, that the want of food caused the most dreadful suffering and misery. When at last the city was taken, the Romans did destroy it so completely, that it might truly be said, that one stone was not left upon another.

"And when Jesus was come into Jerusalem," accompanied by mult.i.tudes, waving palm branches, and singing Hosannas, "all the city was moved,"

or filled with astonishment, saying, "Who is this? And the mult.i.tude said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of G.o.d, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."

Very soon after our Lord's baptism, He thus cleared the temple for the first time (Ch. VII.); then He blamed the people for making His Father's house a house of merchandise; now he tells them that they have made it like a den of thieves. There have always been people wicked enough to break the eighth commandment. In the land of Judaea, there were then many lawless men, who, instead of working to gain an honest living, went about the country robbing their fellow creatures, and so living on what they could get. These robbers joined together in bands, and took up their abodes in hollow places in the sides of the mountains, called dens or caves. These dens generally had a small entrance, but inside were of different sizes: they had no light but what came in through the entrance hole; but the inhabitants could burn lamps or torches to give them light, and of course they were quite sheltered from wind and rain. The robbers used to leave their hiding-places at night, and prowl about to take whatever they could find. Even if they met with cattle or sheep unguarded, they drove them away into their dens, where they kept all manner of things which they had stolen; and therefore when the court of the temple was filled with oxen and sheep, and other animals, it might well be compared to a den of thieves. Nothing like this can happen in our days; but let us remember that Jesus referred to the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people": Jesus blamed the people for profaning the temple, and not making the proper use of it: we are guilty of this sin, if we do not make a proper use of our churches, and behave reverently when we are in them. Let us all be careful to make our churches houses of prayer, by joining devoutly in the prayers, and listening attentively to all that we hear there: unless we do this, we shall sin against G.o.d by not hallowing His Name; and He will be as much displeased with us, as He was with the Jews for their desecration of the temple.

The blind and the lame came to Jesus in the temple; "and he healed them. And when the Chief Priests and Scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto Him, Hearest thou what these say?" meaning that He should stop these children from so speaking: instead of that, Jesus again plainly declared Himself to be the Messiah spoken of by the prophets, by applying to what had now taken place, the inspired words of David; for we read, that "Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?"

"And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to wors.h.i.+p at the feast." The Greek language was very much spoken at this time, and the Jews called all foreigners who spoke it, Greeks: many of these persons had been converted, or turned, from the wors.h.i.+p of idols to that of the one True G.o.d: but as they were not really Jews, they could only be admitted to wors.h.i.+p in the Court of the Gentiles. These men wished to see Jesus, and expressed their wish to Philip--"Philip cometh and telleth Andrew; and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus."

Our Lord in His answer, declared that the time was now come, when His power and glory should be shown, not to the Jews alone, but to all nations upon earth. But He also said, that before He could be glorified, He must die; just as a corn or grain of wheat must be put into the ground and die, or rot, before it could bring forth fruit and fulfil its purpose: and then He warned His disciples, that any man who really desired to serve and follow Him, must be ready to give up everything he most values, and even to part with his life, if necessary, for the service of G.o.d.

Jesus in his human nature must have shrunk from suffering as a man; though firmly resolved to suffer the utmost agony for our sakes. He would not, therefore, ask G.o.d to save Him from the approaching trial, because He had come into the world for the express purpose of going through it, in order to purchase the salvation of man.

Chapter XXVIII.--THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN.

At this time Jesus saith, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name." By these last words Jesus expressed His willingness to give Himself up entirely to G.o.d, that G.o.d might do with Him whatever would be for His own praise and glory. This same feeling of perfect resignation and self-denial should also govern us in all things. Jesus spake these words, and "then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him."

One of the most ancient signs, or tokens, of the presence of G.o.d was a voice from heaven, uttering words that could be heard by man. The Jews called such a voice "the Bath Col," which means the "Daughter of the Voice." It was often a deep, loud sound, attended, as in this case, with thunder; and many would not now believe it to be anything more.

Others, who knew that their fathers of old had been spoken to in this way, acknowledged it to be the voice of an angel.

Jesus told those around Him, that this Voice came to show them that He was the true Messiah.

Many other things spake He unto them; but although they had seen so many miracles done by Him, yet they believed not that he was the Messiah; thus fulfilling the words spoken by Isaiah the prophet.

"Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also many believed on him but, because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of G.o.d."

The fear of man bringeth a snare. Never let us be tempted, for fear of man, to say or do the least thing which we know to be displeasing to G.o.d.

In the evening, Jesus again left Jerusalem, and lodged in Bethany, with the twelve disciples.

We are now come to the last week of our Saviour's life: we call it "Pa.s.sion Week," because of His sufferings and death, which are often spoken of as "His Pa.s.sion." The Sunday that begins this Holy Week is often called Palm Sunday, in remembrance of Christ's riding into Jerusalem, accompanied by mult.i.tudes carrying Palm branches; but in our Prayer Book it is only called "The Sunday next before Easter."

On this first day of the week, Jesus, after He had finished speaking to the people in the temple, went out to the little village of Bethany. Now the next morning, answering to our Monday in Pa.s.sion Week, Jesus and His disciples returned into the city. On the way "he hungered, and seeing a fig tree by the way side having leaves, he came to it, if haply he might find any fruit thereon; for the time of figs was not yet,"--that is, it was not yet time for the figs to have been gathered, and therefore a tree which looked so flouris.h.i.+ng ought to have had fruit upon it. But there was none; nothing, but leaves only.

"Then Jesus said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And his disciples heard it."

And they came to Jerusalem, and went into the temple. It appears that, though driven out at the time, the buyers, and sellers, and money-changers had again established themselves in their former places. Again did our Lord cast them out, reminding them that His house was to be a house of prayer only: and this time we are told, that He "would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple." Jesus remained in the temple teaching the people, who "were very attentive to hear him." "And the Scribes, and the Chief Priests, and the chief of the people heard it, and sought how they might destroy him"; but they could do nothing openly for fear of the people, who were "astonished at his doctrine," and evidently inclined at this time to believe in Him as the Messiah.

The next morning, answering to Tuesday in Pa.s.sion Week, Jesus and the twelve again returned to Jerusalem; and "as they pa.s.sed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! And Peter, calling to remembrance" (what had happened the day before), "saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away! And Jesus, answering, saith unto them, Have faith in G.o.d." Then He went on to speak to them of the necessity of having faith; and told them that, if their faith were strong, the most difficult things would become easy for them to do. He also told them to pray earnestly in faith; for that the faithful never pray in vain: but He again warned the disciples, that if they asked G.o.d to forgive their sins, they must truly forgive all who had in any way offended or hurt them; saying, "For if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father, which is in heaven, forgive your trespa.s.ses."

The fate of the fig tree teaches two lessons. In the first place, it was a warning to the Jews, who made a great show of their religion, and were very particular in performing all the outward forms and ceremonies which could be seen by men, and lead them to believe that those who did such things must be really good and religious men. Thus they were like the fig tree, with its green leaves making a good show to the eye. But the Jews, with all their outward show, did not do the Will of G.o.d: they did not bring forth the fruit of good works, and so their whole religion was valueless, and was to be put an end to by the destruction of the temple. Here again they were like the fig tree, which, in spite of its flouris.h.i.+ng leaves, bore no figs, and being therefore useless, was to wither away.

But from all this we may learn an important lesson for ourselves. We should each compare ourselves to this fig tree, and consider whether we bear fruit, or have only a show of leaves. Leaves would be outward observances; such things as can be seen of men. Going to Church, even reading the Bible and saying our Prayers, may be looked upon as leaves, because they can be seen and known by others: but, if under these good leaves there is no fruit of obedience, kindness, self-denial, and holiness,--in short, if we are not trying to please G.o.d by growing better and better day by day, where is the fruit?

If, in spite of our Bible and our prayers, we follow our own wills, and indulge our own naughty tempers and feelings, then we are like the barren fig tree; and in the end, like that, we shall be rejected by our Lord in heaven. Let each of us often ask our own conscience this question, Am I a good or bad fig tree? Have I only leaves, or do I bear fruit also?

At this time Jesus taught daily in the temple; and on one occasion the Chief Priests and the Scribes and the elders of the people "spake unto him, saying, Tell us by what authority thou doest these things? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? was it from heaven, or of men? Answer me."

This question greatly perplexed those to whom it was put. They saw plainly, that if they acknowledged that John the Baptist was sent by G.o.d, Jesus would justly say, Why then did ye not believe him, when he told you I was the Messiah? On the other hand, they were afraid to say that John had no authority from G.o.d, because all the people looked upon him as a prophet, and would be ready to stone any one who said that he was not. "And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell whence it was." They had not asked the question from any real wish to know, for they would not speak what they felt to be the truth, because it would show that they were wrong. Under such circ.u.mstances, "Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things."

But our Lord did not leave them without an answer, if they would have laid it to heart; for, in the parable of the man who bid his two sons "go work to-day in my vineyard," He showed them plainly, that, in spite of all their profession of religion, they did not do what G.o.d had bade them, and therefore they would lose His favour; whilst the Gentiles, and all who repented and became the obedient sons of G.o.d, would go into the kingdom of heaven before them.

"Then began he to speak to the people another parable" of the householder; who, after planting a vineyard and doing all that was necessary to make it produce good wine, sent first his servants and then his son to receive the fruits: but instead of making the proper return, the servants were ill-used, and the son killed. The people, on being asked what the lord of the vineyard would do to such men, answered, "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their due season." Jesus then showed them, that this parable exactly described what the Jewish nation had done; and He said, "Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of G.o.d shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."

Jesus also spake another parable, wherein the kingdom of heaven is said to be like unto a certain king, which made a marriage feast for his son. This parable taught the same lesson; that if people will not come to G.o.d when He calls them, He will deprive them of the blessings they do not value. At the end of this parable, the king is represented as sending away into punishment a man who had not on a wedding garment. This is to warn us, that though the Lord has now given to Christians the blessings refused by the Jews, it is not enough to be called a Christian: each one of us must be really and truly a Christian in heart and life; clothed, as it were, with faith, love, obedience, and holiness, as with a wedding garment: without this, no man can enter into Christ's Church in Heaven.