They never once thought that Jesus might be the Messiah. When they saw the kind of friends he had, they wondered if he was even a good man.
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5. A Busy Time
The Pharisees may not have liked Jesus, but no one could deny that he knew how to preach. The crowds that came to hear him were growing larger. Often Jesus stood at the foot of a hill and preached to the crowd that had gathered on the hillside.
Now everyone who heard Jesus preach was likely to be surprised. For he did not say the things that people expected to hear. Often he said the very opposite of what they wanted him to say.
He did not believe in giving people a good opinion of themselves. He told them what was wrong with them. He did not say that it was easy to be good. He said that it was much harder than anybody thought. He did not try to preach sermons that would make him popular, for he was not thinking of himself. He was thinking of what G.o.d had to say to the people, and so he told them plainly what they ought to know and what they ought to do.
Jesus knew that his listeners found it easier to hate other people than to love them. And so he stood one day at the foot of the hill and said:
"You have all heard the saying, Love your friend and hate your enemy.
But that is not what I say. I say, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who use you badly. That is what G.o.d does. He makes the sun rise on everybody, good or bad. He sends the rain to fall on everyone, no matter who he is.
"If you love only those who love you, you don"t deserve any credit for that. That"s what everybody does. Be like G.o.d. He is merciful, and you ought to be merciful too. Forgive those who do you a wrong, or you cannot expect G.o.d to forgive you."
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All the people thought that they were at least doing the right thing in hating the Romans. How could anyone help hating those rough Roman soldiers, who often came along and made Jews carry their packs for them? But Jesus said,
"If a Roman soldier makes you carry his pack for a mile, carry it another mile as well, to show that you love him."
Another thing that Jesus knew about his listeners was that many of them were worried about money, and food and clothes. It was hard to blame them for that; for some of the people were very poor, and were never sure that they were going to get enough to eat.
Jesus was poor enough himself. His disciples were also poor, and they got no richer by following him. Turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them,
"Blessed are you who have nothing you can call your own."
The disciples p.r.i.c.ked up their ears. "Blessed"--that meant to be fortunate, or well off. What was good about having nothing? Jesus went on:
"Blessed are you who have nothing, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you who often go hungry, you shall be fed later on.
"Blessed are you who are sad, the time will come when you will be joyful.
"Blessed are you, when other people hate you, and will have nothing to do with you, because you are my disciples. Be glad when that happens, because that is what has happened to all G.o.d"s servants. G.o.d will reward you for everything you suffer for my sake."
There was silence. Jesus looked out over the crowd and spoke again,
"Woe to you who are rich!"
Again the disciples were amazed. The rich people would not like that!
The disciples were poor themselves, but they wondered what was wrong with being rich.
Jesus thought of a rich man whom he knew, who wore fine purple clothes and ate the best food in the land. And he thought of a poor beggar who sat all day long outside the rich man"s house. His body was covered with sores, and he was so hungry that he would have been glad to get the crumbs that fell from the rich man"s table. But the only friends he had were the dogs that came and licked his sores.
Jesus continued, in a stern voice:
"Woe to you who are rich! For you have already had everything you are ever going to have! Woe to you who are well-fed! The time is coming when you will go hungry. Woe to you who are enjoying yourselves all the time! Someday you will weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you! It is easy to be popular if you aren"t faithful to G.o.d. That"s the way it has always been."
Jesus knew that all of them were too much interested in the things that money could buy. They wanted the Messiah to come so that he would make them all rich. And so Jesus said, to show them where they were wrong:
"Don"t be always thinking about what you are going to eat and drink and wear. Why, that"s the kind of thing the Romans worry about. There is more to life than food and clothing."
He paused for a moment. It was a warm summer day. The birds were flying overhead, and singing; and up the hillside the wild flowers made patches of color in the gra.s.s. Jesus spoke again:
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"Look at the birds of the air. They never plant crops, or reap harvests, or gather the grain into barns. Yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than birds? Think of the lilies of the field, how they grow. They never yet made any clothes for themselves, and yet the great King Solomon in all his glory was not so beautifully clothed as one of these little flowers. You people who have so little faith in G.o.d--think! If G.o.d clothes the flowers of the field, which are here today and gone tomorrow, will he not clothe you?
Seek the Kingdom of G.o.d first of all, and you will be given all the food and clothes you need. Never worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will look after itself when it comes. Think about how you ought to live today."
There was another weakness that Jesus had seen in people, especially in the Pharisees. They loved to show off their good deeds. He had to speak about this too.
"When you give something to the poor," he said, "don"t make a great noise about it, like some people I could mention, who want to impress everybody with how generous they are. If you give anything, keep quiet about it. G.o.d will know what you have done, and that"s enough.
"It"s the same with prayer," Jesus continued. "Don"t stand praying on the street corners where everyone can see you. There are many people who do that. When you pray, go into your own room and pray with the door closed. G.o.d will hear you, and he is the only one who needs to hear."
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Jesus had his admirers. Some people admired him so much that they began to call him "Master" and "Lord." But Jesus did not think that they were all in earnest. He spoke plainly about this also.
"It won"t do you any good to come saying, "Lord, Lord,"" he said, "unless you do the things G.o.d expects of you. Someday, I suppose you will come and tell me of all the wonderful things you have done in my name. And then I will have to say to you: "I don"t even know who you are. Go away!"
"If anyone hears my teachings, and does what I tell him to do, he will be like a man who builds his house upon a rock. The rain comes down and the wind blows, and the house keeps on standing there, because it is built upon a rock. You will be strong like that house, if you do as I say. But anyone who hears my teachings and pays no attention to them is like a man who builds his house upon the sand. When the rains and the floods and the winds come, the house will fall down and that will be the end of it. You will be weak like that house, if you do not obey my words."
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Now when the people heard how Jesus preached, they were amazed. They wondered who this was who spoke to them as though he were G.o.d himself.
That was not how other preachers taught. They were always quoting somebody else, as though they were afraid to speak for themselves.
But Jesus simply said, "_I_ am telling you." He said, "Listen to _me_."
Every Friday evening at sunset the Sabbath began, and there could be no more work until sunset on the following day. Sat.u.r.day morning all the Jewish people went to attend the service in the synagogue. The people would come in and take their places, with the most important people up in front. At the beginning of the service, everyone stood and faced in the direction of Jerusalem, and recited some verses from the Scriptures. These were always the same. They began: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our G.o.d is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy G.o.d with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."