Helen Braun Hojt - The Story of Jesus The Christ

people see angels taking care of you, and not allowing you to fall,

they will believe at once that you are the Christ, and they will

worship you.» Again Jesus answered with a Bible verse. What

he said means that although it is true that God has promised to

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A CHILD’S STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST

help us when we are in trouble, it is wicked to do things that

are dangerous just to see if he will help us.

Satan now took Jesus where he could see a long way oh, and

as he thought of all the cities lying beyond the hills, filled with

people and riches, Satan said: u All these you can have, if you

will obey me. The people

will he glad to have you

for their king if you will

not find fault with their

wicked ways. Never mind

if they are wicked. Try

to please them and me in¬

stead of trying to please

God.»

But Jesus answered him:

«Go away from me, Satan,

I will have nothing to do

with you. It is written,

4 Thou shalt love the Lord,

thy God, and him only shalt

thou serve.» ” The wicked

spirit found that here was

a man whom he could not

tempt to do wrong, and he

Temptation of Christ went away for that day.

Many other times the evil

spirit tried to make Jesus do what was wrong, for the Bible says

that he was tempted in every way just as we are, but never

sinned. That is why our Saviour can help us conquer sin, if we

ask him; because he knows just how hard it is for us to do

right, and just what we need to conquer Satan. After Satan had

gone angels came and comforted Jesus.

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Shortly after this Jesus went back to the Jordan, where John

was still preaching to a great many people. As John looked up

and saw Jesus coming toward them,

he said to his hearers,» Behold the

Lamb of God, which taketh away

the sins of the world.» What did

John mean? Just this. Before

long, Jesus, a pure, gentle man

who had never done a wrong thing,

would be put to death like the

lamb in the temple service, for the

sins of other people. After this

happened people need not offer

sacrifices any more; for their sins

would be forgiven if they asked

God to do it for Jesus’ sake.

The next day Jesus passed that

way again. John the Baptist was

there talking to two of his friends,

John and Andrew, and seeing Je¬

sus coming he said again, “ Behold

the Lamb of God.» This time the

two men followed Jesus, who,

turning round and seeing them

close behind him, asked, “ What

are you looking for?» They answered, «Rabbi» (which means

master or teacher), “ where do you live?» He said, “ Come and

see.» They went with him to the place where he was staying,

and spent the rest of the day there. Andrew was so much pleased

with his new friend that he found his brother Simon, afterward

called Peter, and brought him to Christ.

The next day Jesus started on a journey to Galilee, and his

Jesus walking by the Sea

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A CHILD’S STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST

three new friends went with him. On the way they met a man

named Philip, who lived in the same town as Andrew and Peter.

Jesus invited Philip to go with them, and he was very glad to do

so. Before he went he found his friend Nathanael, and asked

him to join them.

Nathanael did not wish to go when he heard that Jesus was

from Nazareth. You remember that the people of Nazareth were

not thought to be good, so Nathanael did not think a man from

that place could be the Christ. But Philip asked him to go and

see Jesus before he decided, and Nathanael went with him. Af¬

ter talking for a little while he said, 44 Rabbi, you are the Son of

God; you are the King of Israel.» He was as much pleased with

the new friend as the others were, and was glad to join the little

company on their w T ay to Galilee. There were six in the company

now, – Jesus, and the five men, John, Andrew and Peter, Philip

and Nathanael, who were dear friends of Jesus the rest of their

lives. They are called his disciples, or learners, because they lis¬

tened to his teachings and learned from him.

On the third day that they were together there was a wedding

in Cana of Galilee, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the

feast. When they came to the house, they found Mary, the mother

of Jesus, there. The feast lasted several days, and before it was

over the wine gave out. What should they do? It would not

do to be without any, yet they did not know where to get more.

Mary told Jesus that they had no wine, and although he seemed

very unwilling to do anything about it, she was so sure that life

would help them that she said to the servants, 44 Do whatever he

tells you.»

There were six water-pots, or large stone jars, outside the door,

filled with water. For it is so hot and dusty in that country that

the people need to bathe often, and jars for that use are kept out¬

side the doors of most houses. The tops of the jars are filled

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with fresh, green leaves, and these leaves keep the water clean and

cool. Jesus told the servants to empty all the water from the jars,

and then to fill them again with clear water. This they did, fill¬

ing them to the brim.

Then Jesus said, u Draw some out now, and take it to the gov¬

ernor of the feast. This was the chief guest, who had the

direction of much of the

feast. The servants did

as he told them. The

governor took a taste of

what they brought him,

and said: 66 How is this?

At most feasts they

serve their best wine at

the beginning, and keep

the poorest till the last;

but here at the end of

the feast they are serv¬

ing their best wine.»

And it was so, for Jesus

had changed the water

in the six jars to the

richest of wine.

You remember that

although he was very

hungry in the wilder- The Marriage Feast at Cana

ness a few days before

this he would not turn the stones into bread for his own use.

Now it was different; other people were in trouble, not he him¬

self. By using this power which God had given him, he could

not only do a kindness to these people, but he could also show

them that he was different from the other teachers they had

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A CHILD’S STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST

known; that he was the Son of God. And so he did what no one

else could possibly have done; it was a miracle. It was the first

time Jesus had done anything of the kind, so far as we know;

but we shall hear of a good many miracles after this, and we

shall find that every time that he used this wonderful power,

during all his life, it was for this very same reason; to do a

kindness to some one. He never used it to make himself more

comfortable; and, least of all, to make any one else uncomfort¬

able.

No one was more interested in what he had done than his five

new friends. They had known their Master only a few days, but

in that time they had learned to love him; and now they were

sure that they had made no mistake in believing him to be the

Christ, for no one could do such things as this unless God gave

him the power.

After the feast was over Jesus and his disciples went to Caper¬

naum, a busy city on the shore of a lake which is known by three