«Take these things away
from here, and do not make
my Fathers house a place
of business.» His voice
was stern, and no one dared
to disobey him; so the
temple court was soon
cleared.
You may wonder why
they ever thought of doing
such things as buying and
selling animals in the tem-
The Purification of the Temple pie. The reason Was that
many of the people who
came to worship lived a long way from Jerusalem, and could not
easily bring with them the animals for their sacrifices; it was
better that they should buy them in Jerusalem and near the
THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST
33
temple. Then, too, money had to be changed; for nothing but
Jewish money would be taken at the temple, and people from
different parts of the world had to bring the kinds of money that
were used where they lived.
If these things were true, what was there wrong about it?
Why was Jesus displeased? It was not because the things were
done, but because they were done in the wrong place; for the
temple, was built to worship God in, not for a place of business.
There was plenty of room outside of the temple, and if they had
cared about Gods house, and keeping it sacred, as God had told
them, they would not have wanted to do their selling there.
The priests should not have allowed such things to be done; but
probably they got a share of the money that was taken, and so
they were willing.
These priests were astonished and angry at what was done.
They might lose some money if the buying and selling in the
temple was stopped. They had another reason, too: they were
the rulers of the people, and they did not like to have this
stranger come and take the control they thought belonged to
them. So they asked Jesus to give them a sign that he had the
right to do such things. He answered them in a way that no one
understood then; but years afterward the disciples remembered
the answer he gave, and then they knew what he had meant.
Jesus stayed in Jerusalem through the Passover week. The
Bible says that many people believed that he was the Christ
when they saw the miracles that he did, but it does not tell us
what these miracles were. One of these men was a very promi¬
nent man among the Jews, named Nicodemus. This man wanted
to learn more from this wonderful teacher, but he was afraid to
have his friends know that he did so. So he waited till one
night after dark. Then, when no one could see what he was
doing, he came to the place where Jesus was staying.
34
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
Jesus was always willing to teach those who wanted to learn
from him, and now he was glad to tell Nicodemus about the new
life that every one
must live who wants to
please God and make
the best of himself. He
said that because men
did not know the best
way to live, God sent
his Son into the world
to teach them; and
whoever believes on
him and obeys his
teachings has this life
that goes on forever
and ever. He told him
that the coming of the
Son of God, like the
sunshine, brought light
into the world, showing
people what was good
Jesus and Nicodemus and what was bad. But
as people who have
been doing wrong do not like to have the light show what they
have been doing, but want to hide away in the dark, so these
people would like their own wicked ways and thoughts better
than those he had come to bring.
After the Passover was over, Jesus and his disciples left
Jerusalem and travelled through Judea, until they came to the
place where John the Baptist was still preaching and baptizing.
Jesus, too, began to preach. At first only a few people listened
to him; soon more and more became interested in hearing him
THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST
35
talk. Before long the crowds who had been so fond of hearing
John, left him to follow this new Rabbi, or teacher. He did not
baptize any of them, but his disciples baptized more than John
did. The friends of John did not like to have the crowds leave
their master to follow this new teacher; they went to John, find¬
ing fault with Jesus and with the people. But John said: «It
is just as it should be. I am not the Christ. My work is almost
done, but his will be greater and greater. You must take him
for your master, and believe what he tells you. He is the Son
of God.»
Some of the Jewish teachers, too, were envious because he
was winning so many friends. They did not like John very well,
but they liked Jesus even less. This was because the people who
had trusted them and come to them to be taught were leaving
them to listen to these two men. Jesus knew that they did not
feel kindly toward him, and he thought it best for him to leave
Judea for a while and to go into Galilee.
THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK IN GALILEE
The shortest road between Judea and Galilee lay through the
province of Samaria. Few Jews ever took that way, for there
had been a quarrel between the Jews and Samaritans hundreds
of years before this time, and they had never become friends
again. They hated each other so much that the Jews were
unwilling to have anything to do with them, and would much
rather take a longer journey than to go through their country.
And the few Jews who did go there were not always treated very
well by the Samaritans.
After they decided to go to Galilee Jesus and the five disciples
who were still with him left Judea early in the morning; for the
days were so hot that they wanted to travel as far as they could
before the sun was high. They took the shortest way, the one
36
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
through Samaria. At noontime they came to a well, and Jesus,
who was hungry, thirsty, and tired, sat down by the well to rest,
while his disciples went into the city to buy food. The well was
one which Jacob had built when he lived there hundreds of years
before, and it was still in use. It was wide and deep, and held
water enough for all the people and their flocks.
As Jesus sat there, weary and alone, a woman of Samaria
came to this well to get some water. Jesus spoke to her and
asked, Will you give
me a drink? It was
a little favor to ask,
was it not? Yet the
woman was so sur¬
prised to have a Jew
speak to her that she
said: How does it
happen that you, who
are a Jew, are asking
a drink from me, a
woman of Samaria?»
This gave Jesus
the chance he wanted,
and he told her about
the Living Water,
which was the spirit
of love and kindness
which he had himself,
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman and which lie WOllld