Jesus and the Samaritan Woman and which lie WOllld
give to all who would
ask him for it. The woman asked him to give her some of this
water; but she did not know what he meant by it. She thought
that if she could have some of it she would never need to go to
TIIE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST
37
the well again. Jesus did not explain to her what he meant; he
began to talk to her about the wicked life she was leading; for
she was not a good woman. She was very much surprised that
he should know all about her when he had never seen her before,
and she was sure he was a prophet. So she asked him one of
the questions about which Jews and Samaritans had often quar¬
relled, whether people ought to worship in Jerusalem or in a tem¬
ple they had built in Samaria. But Jesus told her that neither
was necessary; that if people prayed to God in their hearts they
would be heard wherever they were. She was not satisfied, and
said that when the Christ came he would tell them what was
right. Jesus said, I, who am speaking to you, am he.»
The woman was so anxious to tell her friends that the Christ
had come that she forgot her water and went right into the city.
On the way she met some of her friends, and said to them: u Come
and see a man who told me all things that ever I did. Is not
this the Christ?»
The disciples had come back while Jesus was talking to the
woman, and had been very much surprised; but they said noth¬
ing about it. They had learned that their Master had some good
reason for everything he did, although they could not understand
it. After she had gone they begged him to eat of the food they
had brought him. But he was no longer hungry. The chance
to help somebody to be better was more to him than food, or
anything else. It was this that made him so lovable.
Very soon the Samaritans came to see him, and were so
pleased with him that they asked him to stay with them, instead
of going to Galilee. He was always glad to stay where he could
do good, so he went with them and stayed there two days. In
that time many of the people believed from listening themselves
to his teaching that he was the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
At the end of these two days Jesus and his disciples started
38
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
again on their journey. They were together, however, only a
short time. The disciples went back to their homes, and Jesus
travelled alone through the towns of Galilee.
While Jesus had been doing these things John the Baptist had
been getting into trouble. John was a preacher who spoke to
any one whom he saw doing wrong, whoever he was, and wherever
he was. One day he told King Herod that he was leading a sin¬
ful life, and that both
he and his wife were
wicked people. This
was true, but they did
not like to hear John
say it. They were so
angry that they would
have killed John if
they had dared. But
the Baptist had so
many friends that
thought he was a great
prophet that Herod
was afraid to do this.
So instead of killing
him he took him and
put him in prison.
Jesus, you remem¬
ber, was travelling in
John the Baptist in Prison Galilee. The people
there were glad to
have him with them once more. Many of them had seen what
he had done at the feast at Jerusalem, and others had heard so
much about this preacher who talked so well and did so many
miracles that they wanted to know him.
THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST
39
In the course of liis journey he came to Cana where he had
made the water into wine. While there, one day at noon, a
nobleman came to him
in great haste. He had
come twenty miles, from
Capernaum, on purpose
to see Jesus and ask
him a great favor. He
had a son at home who
was very, very ill; it
seemed as if he must
die. But the father
had known of the mir¬
acles of Jesus, and be¬
lieved that he could
make his child well.
So when he heard
that Jesus was in Cana
he went to him as
quickly as he could, and
begged him to go to
Capernaum and heal
the boy. Jesus said to him, Unless you see wonders you will
not believe.» But the father only thought of his sick boy, and
said, Sir, come down before my child dies.» The Saviour
looked at the father who seemed to trust him so, and said, Go
home, your son will live.» Did the man believe that Jesus had
the power to cure a sick boy twenty miles away, without any
medicine? Yes, he believed, and went home, sure that he would
find him well.
When be was almost home he met his servants coming to tell
him that his boy was well. He asked them when he began to get
The Appeal of the Nobleman
40
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
better, and they told him it was at one oclock, just the time when
Jesus had said, «Your son will live.» So the nobleman and all
his family believed that Jesus was the Christ, and became hi?
friends.
Though the Jews had only one temple they had in every town
places where they met to worship when they did not want to offer
sacrifices. These were called synagogues. They had only one
room. The men sat on one side of the room and the women on
the other behind a screen. There was a raised seat for the
preacher and ten «chief seats» where the leading Jews sat.
The service was much like ours. There were prayers and
hymns, and a passage was read from the Scripture, or that part
of our Bible which we call the Old Testament. The most of what
our New Testament tells had not yet happened. Any one could
read this lesson, and could explain it afterward, if he had permis¬
sion from the ruler of the synagogue, who was the man who had
the charge of the service. It was the custom for the reader to
stand while he read the lesson, and to sit down in front of the
people when he began to talk. The hymns they sang were not
like ours, and they had no hymn books. What they usually sang
were the Psalms, which we can read in our own Bibles. One
man, standing in front of the others, led the singing, sometimes
singing alone, while the people joined in the chorus.
Soon after healing the noblemans son Jesus spent a Sabbath
day at his old home, Nazareth. As his custom always was, he
went to the synagogue, to read the lesson and talk to the people.
They handed him the book from which the lesson was to be read,
and he found one of the places where the prophet Tsaiah tells
about the Christ that was to come, and what he was to do to help*
the people. You can find just what Jesus read to them that day
if you look in your Bibles at the first two verses of the sixty-first
chapter of Isaiah.