The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young by Richard Newton

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THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE YOUNG

BY

THE REV. RICHARD NEWTON, D.D.

_ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY_

VOL. III

THE GALLERY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST

VOLUME III

CONTENTS:

I THE APOSTLES CHOSEN

II THE GREAT TEACHER

III CHRIST TEACHING BY PARABLES

IV CHRIST TEACHING BY MIRACLES

V CHRIST TEACHING LIBERALITY

VI CHRIST TEACHING HUMILITY

VII CHRIST AND THE LITTLE CHILDREN

VIII THE TRANSFIGURATION

IX THE LESSONS FROM OLIVET

X THE LORD'S SUPPER

ILLUSTRATIONS:

MAP OF PALESTINE, IN COLORS

41. THE WOMAN OF CANAAN

42. SIMON PETER'S FAITH IN CHRIST

43. THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST

44. JESUS HEALETH A LUNATIC

45. LET HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN AMONG YOU

46. ONE OF TEN LEPERS CURED IS GRATEFUL

47. JESUS, MARTHA, MARY, AND LAZARUS

48. JESUS BLESSETH LITTLE CHILDREN

49. THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS, FOUR DAYS DEAD

50. CONVERSION OF ZACCHAEUS, A PUBLICAN

51. JESUS RESTORETH SIGHT TO BARTIMAEUS

52. CHRIST'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM

53. CHRIST AVOUCHETH HIS AUTHORITY

54. AT NIGHT, JESUS ABODE ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

55. JESUS WASHETH HIS DISCIPLES' FEET

56. THE BETRAYAL FORETOLD AT THE SUPPER

57. IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

58. THE ARREST OF JESUS

59. JESUS EXAMINED BY CAIAPHAS

60. JESUS IS THRICE DENIED BY PETER

THE APOSTLES CHOSEN

As soon as he returned victorious from the temptation in the
wilderness, Jesus entered on the work of his public ministry. We find
him, at once, preaching to the people, healing the sick, and doing
many wonderful works. The commencement of his ministry is thus
described by St. Matt. iv: 23-25. "And Jesus went about all Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of
disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria; and
they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers
diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils,
and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he
healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from
Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and
from beyond Jordan." What a blessed beginning of the most blessed of
all ministries this was! He came to bless our world. He did bless it,
as no one else could have done. And here, we see, how he entered on
his work.

And one of the first things he did, after thus beginning his
ministry, was to gather his disciples round him. The first two that
we find named among his disciples are John and Andrew. They had been
disciples of John the Baptist. Their master pointed them to Jesus,
and said--"Behold the Lamb of God." When they heard this they
followed Jesus, and became his disciples. When Andrew met with his
brother Simon Peter, he said to him "we have found the Messias--the
Christ. And he brought him to Jesus." After this we are told that
"Jesus findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me." He was an
acquaintance of Andrew and Peter, and lived in the same town with
them. He obeyed the call at once and became one of the disciples of
Jesus.

Philip had a friend named Nathanael. The next time he met him, he
said, "we have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." But Nazareth was a
despised place, and had a bad reputation. Nathanael had a very poor
opinion of the place, and he asked--"Can there any good thing come
out of Nazareth?" Philip saith unto him--"Come and see."

And this is what we should say to persons when we wish them to become
Christians. There is so much that is lovely and excellent in Jesus
that if people will only "come and see," if they will only prove for
themselves what a glorious Saviour he is, they will find it
impossible to help loving and serving him. Nathanael came to Jesus.
And when he heard the wonderful words that Jesus spoke to him he was
converted at once, and expressed his wonder by saying--"Rabbi, thou
art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." We can read all
about this in John i: 43-51. Nathanael became a disciple of Jesus,
and one of the twelve apostles, and is supposed to be the same one
who bears the name of Bartholomew in the different lists of the
apostles.

After this we read of Jesus calling Matthew the publican, who was a
tax-gatherer. This is what is meant by his "sitting at the receipt of
custom." "Follow me," were the words spoken to him. He obeyed at
once; left all and followed Jesus. St. Luke and St. Mark mention this
same call, but they give the name of Levi to the person thus called.
This is not strange, for it was common among the Jews for persons to
have two names. Sometimes they were called by one of these names and
sometimes by the other.

Here we have the account of six persons, who became disciples of
Jesus; and of the different ways in which they were led to follow
him. No doubt many others were led to become his disciples from
simply hearing him preach; and from listening to the gracious words
that he spoke.

And very soon after he had gathered together a large company of
disciples, he made choice of twelve, out of this number, who were to
be his apostles. He wished these men to be with him all the time.
They were to hear his teaching, and see his miracles, and so be
prepared to take his place, and carry on his work when he should
return to heaven.

It was necessary for these men to be chosen. When Washington was
appointed to conduct our armies during the Revolution, he chose a
number of generals to help him. And it is natural for us to think of
Washington and his generals. But just as natural it is to think
of--Jesus and his apostles.

And this is the subject we have now to consider--_The Apostles
Chosen_.

And in considering this subject there are four things of which to
speak.

_The first, is the condition and character of the men whom Jesus
chose as his apostles.

The second, is the work these men were called to do.

The third, is the help that was given them in doing this work; and

The fourth, is the lesson taught us by this subject._ Or, to make the
points of the subject as short as possible, we may state them thus:

_The men. The work. The help. The lesson.

We begin then with speaking of_--THE MEN--_or the condition and
character of those whom Jesus chose to be his apostles or helpers_.

Now we might have thought that Jesus would have chosen his apostles,
or helpers, from among the angels of heaven. They are so wise, and
good, and strong, that we wonder why he did not choose them. But he
did not. He chose _men_ to be his apostles. And what kind of men did
he choose? If we had been asked this question beforehand, we should
have supposed that he would certainly have chosen the wisest and the
most learned men, the richest and greatest men that could be found in
the world. But it was not so. Instead of this he chose poor men,
unlearned men, men that were not famous at all; and who had not been
heard of before. Fishermen, and tax-gatherers, and men occupying very
humble positions in life, were those whom Jesus chose to be his
apostles.

And one reason, no doubt, why Jesus made choice of men of this
character to be his apostles was that when their work was done, no
one should be able to say that it was the learning, or wisdom, or
riches, or power of men by whom that work was accomplished. The
apostle Paul teaches us that this is the way in which God generally
acts; and that he does it for the very reason just spoken of. He
says, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the mighty; and base things of the world, and things which
are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring
to nought the things that are; that no flesh should glory in his
presence." I. Cor. i: 27-29. The meaning of this passage is that God
loves to work by little things. This was the reason why Jesus chose
poor, unlearned fishermen to be his apostles. And we see God working
in the same way continually.

Look at yonder sun. God made it, and hung it up there in the sky that
it might give light to our world. But the light which this sun gives
comes to us in tiny little bits, smaller than the point of the finest
needle that ever was made. They are so small that hundreds of them
can rush right into our eyes, as they are doing all the time, and not
hurt them the least. Here we see how God makes use of little things,
and does a great work with them.

And then look at yonder ocean. The waves of that ocean are so
powerful that they can break in pieces the strongest ships that men
have ever built. And yet, when God wishes to keep that mighty ocean
in its place, he makes use of little grains of sand for this purpose.
Here again we see how God employs little things, and does a great
work with them. And we find God working in this way continually. Let
us look at one or two illustrations.

"What a Plant Did." A little plant was given to a sick girl. In
trying to take care of it, the family made changes in their way of
living, which added greatly to their comfort and happiness. First,
they cleaned the window, that more light might come in to the leaves
of the plant. Then, when not too cold, they opened the window, that
fresh air might help the plant to grow; and this did the family good,
as well as the plant. Next the clean window made the rest of the room
look so untidy that they washed the floor, and cleaned the walls, and
arranged the furniture more neatly. This led the father of the family
to mend a broken chair or two, which kept him at home several
evenings. After this, he took to staying at home with his family in
the evenings, instead of spending his time at the tavern; and the
money thus saved went to buy comforts for them all. And then, as
their home grew more pleasant, the whole family loved it better than
ever before, and they grew healthier and happier with their flowers.
What a little thing that plant was, and yet it was God's apostle to
that family! It did a great work for them in blessing them and making
them happy. And _that_ was work that an angel would have been glad to
do.

"Brought In by a Smile." A London minister said to a friend one day;
"Seven persons were received into my church last Sunday, and they
were all brought in by a smile."

"Brought in by a smile! Pray what do you mean?"

"Let me explain. Several months ago, as I passed a certain house on
my way to church, I saw, held in the arms of its nurse, a beautiful
infant; and as it fixed its bright black eyes on me, I smiled, and
the dear child returned the smile. The next Sabbath the babe was
again before the window. Again I smiled, and the smile was returned,
as before. The third Sabbath, as I passed by the window, I threw the
little one a kiss. Instantly its hand was extended and a kiss thrown
back to me. And so it came to pass that I learned to watch for the
baby on my way to church; and as the weeks went by, I noticed that
the nurse and the baby were not alone. Other members of the family
pressed to the window to see the gentleman who always had a smile for
the dear baby--the household pet.

"One Sunday morning, as I passed, two children, a boy and a girl,
stood at the window beside the baby. That morning the father and
mother had said to those children: 'Get ready for church, for we
think that the gentleman who always smiles to the baby is a minister.
When he passes you may follow him, and see where he preaches.'

"The children were quite willing to follow the suggestion of their
parents, and after I had passed, the door opened, and the children
stepped upon the pavement, and kept near me, till I entered my
church, when they followed me, and seats were given them.

"When they returned home, they sought their parents and eagerly
exclaimed: 'He is a minister, and we have found his church, and he
preached a beautiful sermon this morning. You must go and hear him
next Sunday.'

"It was not difficult to persuade the parents to go, and guided by
their children they found their way to the church. They, too, were
pleased, and other members of the family were induced to come to the
house of God. God blessed what they heard to the good of their souls,
and seven members of this family have been led to become Christians,
and join the church, and, I repeat what I said before: 'they were all
brought in by a smile.'"

What a little thing a smile is! And yet, here we see how God made use
of so small a thing as this, to make seven persons Christians, and to
save their souls forever! Of the God who can work in this way, it
may well be said that he loves to work by little things. It is the
way in which he is working continually.

How eagerly, then, we may try to learn and to practise what has been
very sweetly expressed in

THE MITE SONG.

"Only a drop in the bucket,
But every drop will tell,
The bucket would soon be empty,
Without the drops in the well.

"Only a poor little penny,
It was all I had to give;
But as pennies make the dollars,
It may help some cause to live.

"A few little bits of ribbon,
And some toys--they were not new,
But they made the sick child happy,
And that made me happy, too.

"Only some out-grown garments;
They were all I had to spare;
But they'll help to clothe the needy,
And the poor are everywhere.

"A word now and then of comfort,
That cost me nothing to say;
But the poor old man died happy,
And it helped him on the way.

"God loveth the cheerful giver,
Though the gifts be poor and small;
But what must he think of his children
Who never give at all?"

God loves to work by little means. We see this when we think of the
men whom Jesus chose to be his apostles. The first thing about this
subject is--_the men_.

_The second thing to speak of, in connection with this subject,
is_--THE WORK--_they had to do_.

What this work was we find fully stated in the fourteenth chapter of
St. Matthew. In this chapter Jesus told the apostles all about the
work they were to do for him, and how they were to do it. In the
seventh and eighth verses of this chapter we have distinctly stated
just what they were to do. "As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of
heaven is at hand; Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,
cast out devils."

On this occasion Jesus sent his apostles to do the work committed to
them, not among the Gentiles, but only among the Jews; or as he calls
them--"the lost sheep of the house of Israel," v. 5,6. But, after his
resurrection, and just before he went up to heaven, he enlarged their
commission. His parting command to them then was--"_Go ye into all
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature_." St. Mark xvi:
15.

When Jesus, their Master, went to heaven they were to take up and
carry on the great work that he had begun. Those twelve men were to
begin the work of changing the religion of the world. They were to
overturn the idols that had been worshiped for ages. They were to
shut up the temples in which those idols had been worshiped. They
were to "turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto God." Acts xxvi: 18. They were to go up and down the world,
everywhere, telling the wondrous story of Jesus and his love. And in
doing this work they were to be the means of saving the souls of all
who believed their message, and in the end of winning the world back
to Jesus, till, according to God's promise, he has "the heathen for
his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his
possession." Ps. ii: 8.

This was the grandest and most important work that men were ever
called upon to do. The apostles spent their lives in doing this work;
and then they left it for others to carry on. The work is not
finished yet. And, if we learn to love and serve Jesus, we may help
to carry it on. We may be apostles, too, though in a lower sense than
that in which the first twelve were apostles. An apostle means--one
_sent_. But Jesus _sends_ into the vineyard to work for him all who
become his loving children. And, in this sense it is true that all
who love and serve Jesus are his apostles. He says to each of
us--"Go, work to-day, in my vineyard." St. Matt, xxi: 28. And in
another place he says--"Let him that heareth, say, Come." Rev. xxii:
17.

And when we are trying to tell people of Jesus and his love, and to
bring them to him, then we are helping to carry on the same great
work that Jesus gave his apostles to do. Let us look at some examples
of persons who have been apostles for God and helped to do the work
of apostles.

"Aunt Lucy." I heard the other day of a good old woman in the State
of Michigan, known as Aunt Lucy. She is eighty-four years old, and
lives all alone, supporting herself principally by carpet-weaving.
All that she can save from her earnings, after paying for her
necessary expenses, she spends in buying Bibles, which she
distributes among the children and the poor of the neighborhood.
Thirteen large family Bibles, and fifty small ones, have thus been
given away--good, well-bound Bibles.

A neighbor, who has watched this good work very closely, says that
two-thirds of the persons to whom Aunt Lucy has given Bibles have
afterwards become Christians. In doing this work Aunt Lucy was an
apostle.

"The Charcoal Carrier." One Sunday afternoon, in summer, a little
girl named Mary, going home from a Sunday-school in the country, sat
down to rest under the shade of a tree by the roadside. While sitting
there she opened her Bible to read. As she sat reading, a man, well
known in that neighborhood as Jacob, the charcoal carrier, came by
with his donkey. Jacob used to work in the woods, making charcoal,
which he carried away in sacks on his donkey's back, and sold. He was
not a Christian man, and was accustomed to work with his donkey as
hard on Sunday as on week-days.

When he came by where Mary was sitting, he stopped a moment, and
said, in a good-natured way:

"What book is that you are reading, my little maid?"

"It is God's book--the Bible," said Mary.

"Let me hear you read a little in it, if you please," said he,
stopping his donkey.

Mary began at the place where the book was open, and read:--"Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do
all thy work."

"There, that's enough," said Jacob, "and now tell me what it means."

"It means," said Mary, "that you mustn't carry charcoal, on Sunday,
nor let your donkey carry it."

"Does it?" said Jacob, musing a little. "I tell you what then, I must
think over what you have said."

And he _did_ think over it. And the result of his thinking was, that
instead of going with his donkey to the woods on the next Sunday, he
went with his two little girls to the Sunday-school. And the end of
it all was that Jacob, the charcoal carrier, became a Christian, and
God's blessing rested on him and his family.

Little Mary was doing an apostle's work when she read and explained
the Bible to Jacob and was the means of bringing him to Jesus.

"The Use of Fragments." In the Cathedral at Lincoln, England, there
is a window of stained glass which was made by an apprentice out of
little pieces of glass that had been thrown aside by his master as
useless. It is said to be the most beautiful window in the Cathedral.
And if, like this apprentice, we carefully gather up, and improve the
little bits of time, of knowledge, and of opportunities that we have,
we may do work for God more beautiful than that Cathedral window. We
may do work like that which the apostles were sent to do. Here are
some sweet lines, written by I know not whom, about that beautiful
window, made out of the little pieces of glass:

"Great things are made of fragments small,
Small things are germs of great;
And, of earth's stately temples, all
To fragments owe their weight.

"This window, peer of all the rest,
Of fragments small is wrought;
Of fragments that the artist deemed
Unworthy of his thought.

"And thus may we, of little things,
Kind words and gentle deeds,
Add wealth or beauty to our lives,
Which greater acts exceeds.

"Each victory o'er a sinful thought,
Each action, true and pure,
Is, 'mid our life's engraving, wrought
In tints that shall endure."

The second thing about the apostles is, _the work_--they did.

_The third thing, for us to notice about the apostles, is_--THE
HELP--_they received_.

In one place, we are told that Jesus "gave them power against unclean
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and
all manner of disease." St. Matt. x: 1. In another place we are told,
that for their comfort and encouragement in the great work they had
to do, Jesus said to them, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the
end of the world." St. Matt. xxviii: 20. And if they only had Jesus
with them, no matter what the work was they had to do, they would be
sure of having all the help they might need. The apostle Paul
understood this very well, for he said, "I can do all things through
Christ, which strengtheneth me." Phil. iv: 13.

And then, as if his own presence with them were not enough, Jesus
promised that his apostles should have the help of the Holy Spirit in
carrying on their work. Just before leaving them to go to heaven, he
said to the disciples--"Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you." Acts i: 8. And what this power was we see in
the case of the apostle Peter; for the first sermon he preached
after the Holy Ghost came upon him, on the day of Pentecost, was the
means of converting three thousand souls. Acts ii: 41.

And the same God who gave the apostles all the help they needed, has
promised to do the same for you, and me, and for all who try to work
for him. There are many promises of this kind in the Bible to which I
might refer. But I will only mention one. This is so sweet and
precious that it deserves to be written in letters of gold. There is
no passage in the Bible that has given me so much comfort and
encouragement in trying to work for God as this I refer here to Is.
xli: 10. "Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I
am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea--I WILL HELP THEE." This
promise was not given for prophets and apostles only, but for all
God's people to the end of time. You and I, if we are trying to serve
God, may take it as ours. God meant it for us. And when we get this
promised help from God, we can do any work he has for us to do, and
be happy in doing it.

"For Thine is the Power." "I can't do it--it's quite impossible. I've
tried five times, and can't get it right"--and Ben Hartley pushed his
book and slate away in despair. Ben was a good scholar. He was at
the head of his class, and was very anxious to stay there. But the
sums he had now to do were very hard. He could not do them, and was
afraid of losing his place in the class. Most of the boys had some
one at home to help them; but Ben had no one. His father was dead,
and his mother, though a good Christian woman, had not been to school
much when a girl, and she could not help Ben.

Mrs. Hartley felt sorry for her son's perplexity, and quietly said,
"Then, Ben, you don't believe in the Lord's prayer?"

"The Lord's prayer, mother! Why, there's nothing there to help a
fellow do his sums."

"O, yes; there is. There is help for every trouble in life in the
Lord's prayer, if we only know how to use it. I was trying a long
time before I found out what the last part of this prayer really
means. I'm no minister, or scholar, Ben, but I'll try and show you.
You know that in this prayer we ask God for our daily bread; we ask
him to keep us from evil; and to forgive us our sins; and then we
say: 'for _thine_ is the _kingdom_, and _the power_, and the glory.'
It's God's power that we rely on--not our own; and it often helps
me, Ben, when I have something hard to do. I say, 'For _thine_ is the
power--this is my duty, heavenly Father; but I can't do it myself;
give me thy power to help me,' and he does it, Ben, he does it."

Ben sat silent. It seemed almost too familiar a prayer. And yet he
remembered when he had to stay home from school because he had no
clothes fit to go in, how he prayed to God about it, and the
minister's wife brought him a suit the very next day. "But a boy's
sums, mother! it seems like such a little thing to ask God about."

"Those sums are not a little thing to you, Ben. Your success at
school depends on your knowing how to do them. _That_, is as much to
you, as many a greater thing to some one else. Now I care a great
deal about that, because I love you. And I know your Father in heaven
loves you more than I do. I would gladly help you, if I could; but he
_can_ help you. His 'is the power;' ask him to help you."

After doing an errand for his mother, Ben picked up his book and
slate and went up to his little room. Kneeling down by the bed he
repeated the Lord's prayer. When he came to--"thine is the kingdom,"
he stopped a moment, and then said, with all his heart--"'And thine
is the power,' heavenly Father. I want power to know how to do these
sums. There's no one else to help me. Lord, please give me power, for
Jesus' sake, Amen."

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