The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
THE GREAT DOCTOR
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
THE GREAT DOCTOR
The Sabbath day ended at sunset on the day we call Saturday. When the sun went down on this Sabbath afternoon, crowds of men and women came to Peter’s house. They came because they had heard what Jesus had done earlier that day. Many brought their sick friends to Jesus because they wanted Him to heal them. All sorts of people came to Jesus, both men and women, old and young. Some who were brought to Jesus had been sick so long that they never expected to be any better. Some who came to see Jesus on this day had evil spirits, like the insane man who had cried out in the synagogue that morning.
Jesus was tired. Do you think He felt like seeing all these sick people? Do you think He felt like doing something for every one of them? He did not think of Himself. He thought of their pain. He laid His hands on all the sick ones. He cured them and drove out all the evil spirits.
Early the next morning, long before sunrise, He slipped quietly away from the house. He walked out into the country where He could be alone with God. He prayed. Jesus felt that He needed to ask His Father for help. He felt the need to ask God for strength to do His work. But He was not alone for long. Peter and the other disciples came to Him, and said, “The people have come again this morning for help and are looking for you.”
Jesus answered, “We must not stay here any longer, for people in other places need us. Let us go to the next towns that I may preach there also.”
By this time many of the men and women who had followed the disciples joined them and begged Jesus not to leave Capernaum. But He could not do as they wished. He said, “I must go and preach the Kingdom of God to other cities, also, for that is my work.”
So Jesus left Capernaum and went through other towns in Galilee. He healed the sick and taught in the synagogues.
While passing through one of these cities a man who was a leper saw Jesus and kneeled down before Him. Leprosy is a very dreadful disease, or sickness that people in hot countries sometimes have. When someone gets the disease they almost never get free from it. When Jesus was on the earth, a leper had to leave his home and live with other lepers. If a leper saw anyone coming near to him, then he must call out so that people will keep away. The leper also called out to anyone coming close, “Unclean! Unclean!”
But this leper did not cry out, “Unclean.” He went as near Jesus as he dared. He fell down before the Lord and said, “Lord, if you are willing you can make me well.”
The Savior felt sorry for the poor man. Jesus put out His hand and touched him and said, “I am willing; you shall be well.”
As soon as He spoke, the leprosy left the man. He was well.
Jesus said, “Tell no man how you were cured, but go and show yourself to the priest.”
The leper must do that to obey the law of the country. That law was something like this: If a man who thought he had leprosy found that it was a mistake and he did not have the disease, or if one who was a leper had been cured of his trouble, then he must first go to the priest and prove that he was free from the disease. Then he must go through a form of cleansing. The priest must also offer sacrifices for him. After all this had been done, he was called clean. He was allowed to then live with his family again. The lepers went to the priest to be sure that they did not have the disease. Why did they do that? – Because the priests were the ones who were taught to know the disease when they saw it. The priests were by law the ones who had the right to make such a decision. The good doctors in those days were among the priests. Therefore, the people always went to them for such things as this, just as we go to a doctor today.
Jesus told this man with leprosy to obey the law by showing himself to the priest to be cleansed. He also told him not to say anything about how he was cured. But the healed man was so happy and grateful that he could not keep silent. He went out and told everyone he met that the Lord Jesus had cured him and that now he was well.
The news spread fast. People from far and near came to see the preacher who made more wonderful cures than any doctor they had ever known. Jesus needed rest. For a few days He kept away from the crowded cities and spent time in the wilderness.
But in a very few days He was ready for work again. He then went to His friends in Capernaum. It did not take long for people to find out that He was there again. Crowds from the city came to hear Jesus, as well as crowds from all the towns in Galilee and Judea.
Scribes and Pharisees were often among Jesus’ hearers. The scribes were lawyers. They spent much time studying the Jewish law. They taught the people what they must do to obey the law. They were the men who made the copies of the Holy Scriptures. They did not know how to print with machines as we do today. Every book back then had to be written by hand with a pen. It took a long time to write a book by hand. These books did not look like our books. They were on long rolls of paper. They had a stick fastened to each end, so they could be rolled up smoothly. When anyone wanted to read from a book he would have to unwind the roll until he came to the place he wanted.
The Pharisees were another very important class among the Children of Israel, the Jewish people. Jesus called them hypocrites. Why did the Lord call them that? – Because they pretended to be one thing when they were really something else. They prayed long prayers at the corners of the streets so people could hear them. They gave money and food to the poor only to impress people who could see what they were doing. They were very strict about some things, but their hearts were not good. When no one was watching them they could not be trusted. They were dishonest and sly and very unloving. These Pharisees did not like Jesus. Why? Because He told them they were dishonest men. Because Jesus was honest about them, they wanted to find something to say against Jesus.
One day in Capernaum a number of these people came to the house where Jesus was preaching. The houses of Palestine are not like ours. Many of them are only one story high. They are covered with a flat roof that can be reached from the outside by stairs. This roof is very useful. For instance, after the sun goes down in the hot summer days, families sit on the roof. Sometimes they even sleep there. A railing around the edge makes it safe. It is very easy to carry a bed up there. Beds in that country are only a thin mattress or a heavy mat which is spread out on the floor when needed. But when not needed it remained rolled up and put to the side. In the center of the house there is often a large room called the court. The roof above the court could easily be removed. It was in the court of such a house that Jesus was preaching.
The crowd had filled the house. The doorway was blocked with those who could get no farther. Four men came, bringing with them a man who was sick with the palsy. Palsy, or paralysis, is a disease which takes the life from some part of the body. If one has palsy in his arm, he cannot use that arm to help himself. If one has palsy in his throat, he cannot swallow. If one has palsy in his leg, he cannot walk or even move that leg. This man had the palsy, and because he could not walk his friends were bringing him on a bed to see the Savior, Jesus Christ.
They tried to get in through the door, but the crowd would not make way. What should they do? They must see Jesus. Their friend must be healed. There was another way to get to Jesus, besides going through the door. So, they tried another way. The stairs which led to the roof were usually on the outside of the houses in that country. They would have no trouble in going there, for all the people were crowding the door. They took the sick man up to the housetop. They uncovered the roof above the court, where Jesus was teaching people. Still lying on his bed, they let the sick man down to Jesus’ feet.
The Savior knew what trouble they had taken to come to Him. It pleased Him that they were willing to do so much hard work, that they showed great trust. Jesus stopped His lesson and said to the man who was sick with the palsy, “Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven.”
Remember those scribes and Pharisees who were trying to find something to say against Jesus? They were looking for something they hoped to be able to use to show that Jesus was not a good person and that He was teaching people wrong things. Now they thought they had found something at last. They said to one another, “This man pretends to be God; for no one can forgive sins but God.”
They accused Jesus of one of the very greatest sins that any man could commit – pretending to be God; pretending to have the power that belongs only to God. Trying to make people think that God is not so great and good as He really is. This was called “blasphemy.” The Jewish law commanded that any man who spoke blasphemy, or any man who “blasphemed,” should be put to death. But Jesus was God’s Son. God had given to Jesus power which had never been given to any one before.
Jesus knew what they were saying. He answered them, “Why do you think evil of me? which words are easier to say, “your sins are forgiven,” or “arise and walk?” But I will show you that I did not say mere words, but that I, the Son of man, have the power to forgive sins.”
Then Jesus turned to the sick man and said, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
And immediately that man, who was not able to get to Jesus without being carried by his friends rose, rolled up his bed, put it under his arm, and walked away. The heart of the healed man was full of love and thankfulness to God. The crowd, filled with wonder, left the house soon afterward, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”
After the people had all gone, Jesus went out to take a walk. While walking He came to the place where Matthew was sitting. Matthew was a publican or tax-collector, and he was working. Jesus stopped and spoke to him, saying, “Will you follow me?”
Matthew probably knew Jesus, and was glad to be chosen a disciple of the great Master. He arose at once, left his work, and followed the Christ.
The publicans were the men who gathered the money which the Jewish people had to pay the Roman Empire. Some of the publicans were Romans and some were Children of Israel, or Jews. Probably many of them were dishonest men who tried to collect more money than they should, especially from the poor. The scribes and Pharisees thought no publican was honest. So, they never tried to make one of them a better man. They looked down on them all and thought of them as wicked men. The scribes and Pharisees thought publicans should not be allowed to associate with anyone who was good.
The scribes and Pharisees hated to pay taxes. They also hated publicans because they collected taxes. They hated both Roman and Jewish publicans, but the Jewish publicans were hated the most. Why? Because they thought their fellow-countrymen should have more love for their country than to help the Romans collect taxes. But Jesus did not think as the Pharisees did. Jesus chose Matthew, who was sometimes called Levi, to be one of His beloved disciples.
Matthew very soon made a feast and invited his publican friends to come to his home and meet the Master and the new companions he had chosen. It was the custom back then to allow people who were not invited to the feast to come into the house and just watch the invited guests eat. So the scribes and Pharisees followed Jesus to Matthew's house. When they saw Jesus at the table eating with publicans, they said to the disciples, “How is it that your Master is willing to eat and drink with these wicked people?”
Jesus heard what they said, and He answered them in these words, “They that are well need not a physician [or doctor], but they that are sick. I came, not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
The Pharisees knew the meaning of His words. Jesus called them well and righteous because they thought they were good enough. They thought they did not need help to be better. The Christ came to make people’s souls well and happy. But the Lord could do nothing for the Pharisees because they would not accept what Jesus offered to give them. That is why Jesus did not work with the Pharisees. But the publicans knew that they were wicked people and they were willing to be made better. They were sick and they knew it. Why did Jesus, the great Physician, go among the publicans? – Because He could do them good.
The time came for one of the Jewish feasts at Jerusalem. Jesus went to this feast. Many of the cities in those times were surrounded by strong walls. In the walls were gates through which people went in and out of the cities. Jerusalem was one of these walled cities with five gates. Near one of the gates, known as the Sheep Gate, was a pool of water called Bethesda, which means House of Mercy. Water was never very plentiful in Jerusalem. All the wells and pools were precious to the people. But they were especially fond of Bethesda, because the water there was supposed to cure disease.
Around the pool someone had built five stone porches with steps leading down into the water. Sick people would wait here, sheltered from the weather, until they could slowly step down into the pool. But sick people could not do this whenever they wanted to. Only at certain times there was a bubbling motion in the water. People back then believed this bubbling motion in the water was made by an angel going into the pool. The people thought that when the pool bubbled with motion, anyone who stepped into the water first would be cured of any disease he had. Can’t you just see all the sick people sitting by the pool, hoping to be the first one in? No one knew when the water would bubble with motion. So, the porches were usually filled with sick people, all waiting for the time to come.
Walking by this pool of water, on Saturday, the Sabbath day, Jesus saw on one of the porches a very feeble man. This man had been sick for thirty-eight years. His friends had brought him to the pool and left him there alone. The Savior saw this sick man lying there. Jesus knew how long the man had been sick and wanted to help him.
Jesus asked, “Would you like to be made well?”
The poor man did not know that the One who spoke to him was better able to cure him than the waters of Bethesda. The sick man answered, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool at the right time, and while I am trying to get there myself, some one steps in before me.”
What Jesus had said to the palsied man at Capernaum, He now says to this sick man, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”
Strange enough, the man did not say, “I cannot do it. I have not walked for thirty-eight years.”
He felt as if he could walk now. He rose at once and walked away, carrying his bed with him. The Bible does not say that this sick man ever stopped to thank Jesus for healing him. Soon Jesus was caught up in the crowd around the pool.
Before going very far, the healed man was stopped by some of the Pharisees. They thought it was wrong to carry anything in their hands on Saturday, the Sabbath day. They thought it was wrong to cure the sick, or move them in a bed, or even to do any of the little things that make sick people more comfortable. When these very strict Pharisees saw this man with his bed under his arm they said, “Do you not know that it is the Sabbath day, and that it is against the law to carry your bed?”
The healed man excused himself by saying, “He that made me well told me to take up my bed and walk.”
It seems as if everyone would have been glad that the man was able to do that, but the Pharisees were not. They asked, angrily, “Who was it that told you to take up your bed?”
The healed man could not tell them, because he did not know.
A little later the healed man and Jesus met again in the temple. Jesus talked with him about the kind of life he was living. If he had been a really good man he probably would not have had this trouble. Jesus said to him, “You are well now, but if you keep on doing wicked things something worse may happen to you. Go, and sin no more.”
The man left the temple, saw the Pharisees again and told them that it was Jesus who had cured him. Then they crowded about the Savior, and began to abuse Him, because He had done these things on Saturday, the Sabbath day.
Who do you think spent that Sabbath day more pleasing to God? Jesus, the Christ – with a heart of love, doing what He could to help someone in trouble? Or the Pharisees – whose hearts were full of so much hatred that they wanted to kill Jesus?
Jesus was not afraid of them. He told them that He was only doing His Father’s work. It made them even more angry because Jesus called God His Father. The Lord tried to prove to them that He was the Son of God. He tried to prove to them that He could not do such things as they had seen Him do if His Father did not give Him the power. Jesus said that if they would trust Him they would see even greater works. The Lord asked them if they did not remember that John the Baptist had called Him the Christ. More than that, The Lord’s Father at His baptism, had said, “This is my beloved Son.”
Jesus said to them, “You study the Scriptures, because you think they will save you; and they tell of me. Why do you not come to me and learn what I can teach you? I know why you do not come. It is because your hearts are not full of the love of God. How can you believe?”
After He had said all He wanted to, Jesus left them.
They did not dare touch Him at that time. But they did not forgive Him, and they made up their minds that they would watch Him, and see if they could find something for which they could punish Him. It seems very strange that they would not listen to Him and believe what He taught. Probably if they had been better men they would have been willing to listen, and they would have learned to love Jesus, Who was always doing so much for others. But they liked to be the rulers of the people. They were afraid that if Jesus were allowed to teach, then the people would not follow them, and they would lose their power. They were jealous.
One Sabbath, not long after this, Jesus and His disciples were walking through a field of grain in Galilee. The disciples were hungry, and as they walked along they picked some of the grain and ate it. It was perfectly right for them to pick this grain, for the law of the Children of Israel said that anyone could pick the ears with his hands if he wanted to eat them, but the law stated that no one must cut the grain with a sickle and take it home unless it was his.
Wherever Jesus went now, some of the Pharisees followed to see what He was doing. So when these men saw the friends of Jesus eating the grain they said to Him, “Your disciples are doing what is not right on the Sabbath.”
If the law gave people the right to pick grain in this way, why did the Pharisees blame them? Do you remember that the scribes and Pharisees were very strict about some things, while in other ways they were very bad? One of the things they were very strict about was the keeping of the Sabbath. Their law said that they must not work on the Sabbath. Therefore, they said that rubbing off the grain with the hands was work. So they did not allow it to be done on the Sabbath. They could not blame Jesus for breaking the law, because He had not picked any of the grain. But they blamed the Lord for allowing His disciples to do so.
Jesus said to them, “The priests in the temple do more work than this when they offer the sacrifices and burn the incense. Do they break the law? If you had any love in your hearts you would not try to find fault with those who have done no wrong.”
The disciples went with their Master to the synagogue, and the Pharisees followed. There was a man there who had a withered hand. His hand had dried up and was of no use to him. Jesus saw this man, and the Pharisees saw him, too. The Pharisees wondered if Jesus would dare do anything for this man on the Sabbath day. The Lord knew that they were watching Him, but that did not make any difference. Jesus felt displeased with those Pharisees because they were so hardhearted. So, the Lord asked them this question, “Which is right, to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? If any of you men have one sheep and it should fall into a deep hole on the Sabbath day, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? And how much better is a man than sheep!”
There was no answer. So, Jesus then said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand.”
He could not possibly have done so a moment before, but now the man stretched it out, and it was like his other hand. It was healed. How angry this made the Pharisees. Those Pharisees left the synagogue at once and planned how they could stop the work of this Teacher, Jesus Christ.
