His relations went away. They talked violently
against Jesus. His mother could not endure that,
so she remained behind and climbed the stony path
by herself. In her sorely tried heart she prayed:
“My Father which art in Heaven, Thy will be
done!” And she had no idea that it was her
son’s prayer, in which she found the same faith
and comfort as He did. She knew not that thus
she, too, became a disciple of Jesus.
Elsewhere Jesus’s fame had become so great that
all men came to Him. The poor crowded to Him
in order to eat at His table where the word had become
flesh. The rich invited Him to their houses,
but He mostly declined those invitations, accepting,
however, one here and there.
He Himself went to those who humbly remained in the
background and yet desired to go to Him. A man
lived in the district whose greatest desire was to
see the Prophet. When he heard that Jesus was
coming his way, he began to tremble and to think what
he should do. “I should like to meet Him
face to face, and yet dare not venture to go to Him.
For I have a bad reputation as a publican, and am not
in any way worthy. Then He is always accompanied
by so many people, and I am short and cannot see over
their heads.” When Jesus approached, the
man climbed a bare sycamore-tree and peeped between
the branches. Jesus saw him, and called out;
“Zacchaeus, come down from the tree! I
will come and visit you to-day.”
The publican jumped down from the tree and went over
to Him, and said humbly: “Lord, I am not
worthy that you should go to my house. Only
say one word to me, and I shall be content.”
The people wondered that the Prophet should so honour
this person of somewhat doubtful character.
Zacchaeus was almost beside himself to think that
the Master should have recognised and spoken to him.
He set before his guest everything that his house
afforded. Jesus said: “These things
are good. But I want the most precious thing
you possess.”
“What is that, sir?” asked Zacchaeus in
terror, for he thought he had given of his best.
“Everything I possess is yours.”
Then Jesus grasped his hand, looked at him lovingly,
and said: “Zacchaeus, give me your heart!”
The man became His follower.
One day He was dining with a man who was very learned
and a strict censor of morals. Several of His
disciples were among the guests, and the talk, partly
intellectual and partly guided by feeling, turned on
the Scriptures. At first Jesus took no part;
He was thinking how much pleasanter it would be to
hear simple talk at His mother’s fireside at
home than to dispute with these arrogant scholars about
the empty letter. But He was soon drawn into
the conversation. Someone mentioned the commandment
which enjoins a man to love his neighbour, and, as
often happens, the simplest things became confused
and incomprehensible in the varied opinions of the
worldly-wise. One of the guests said: “It
is remarkable how we do not reflect on the most important
things because they are so clear; and yet if we do
reflect on them by any chance, we don’t understand
them. So that I really do not know who it is
I should love as myself.”
