The Story of the Bible

And Jesus said to them, "I saw Satan, the king of the evil spirits, falling down like lightning from heaven. I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions; and nothing shall harm you. Still, do not rejoice because the evil spirits obey you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." And at that time, one of the scribes,—men who wrote copies of the books of the Old Testament, and studied them, and taught them,—came to Jesus and asked him a question, to see what answer he would give. He said, "Master, what shall I do to have everlasting life?"

Jesus said to the scribe, "What is written in the law? You are a reader of God's law; tell me what it says?"

Then the man gave this answer, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Jesus said to the man, "You have answered right; do this, and you shall have everlasting life."

But the man was not satisfied. He asked another question, "And who is my neighbor?"

To answer this question, Jesus gave the parable or story of "The Good Samaritan." He said, "A certain man was going down the lonely road from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, who stripped him of all that he had, and beat him; and then went away, leaving him almost dead. It happened that a certain priest was going down that road; and when he saw the man lying there, he passed by on the other side. And a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw the man, too, went by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he was going down, came where this man was; and as soon as he saw him he felt a pity for him. He came to the man, and dressed his wounds, pouring oil and wine into them. Then he lifted him up, and set him on his own beast of burden, and walked beside him to an inn. There he took care of him all night; and the next morning he took out from his purse two shillings, and gave them to the keeper of the inn, and said, "Take care of him; and if you need to spend more than this, do so; and when I come again I will pay it to you."

THE GOOD SAMARITAN AIDING THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN ROBBED

"Which one of these three do you think showed himself a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?"

The scribe said, "The one who showed mercy on him."

Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do thou likewise."

By this parable Jesus showed that "our neighbor" is the one who needs the help that we can give him, whoever he may be.

Lazarus Raised to Life

John xi: 1 to 55.

While Jesus was at Bethabara beyond Jordan, and ready to begin preaching in the land of Perea, he was suddenly called back to the village of Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem. You remember, from Story Twenty-three, that Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus, the friends of Jesus, were living in this place.

The word came to Jesus that Lazarus was very ill. But Jesus did not hurry away from Bethabara to go to Bethany. He stayed two days, and then he said to his disciples, "Let us go again to Judea, near Jerusalem."

The disciples said to Jesus, "Master, when we were in Judea last the people tried to stone you and to kill you; and now would you go there again?"

Jesus said, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go that I may awake him out of his sleep." The disciples said, "Master, if he has fallen asleep, he may be well."

For they thought that Jesus was speaking of taking rest in sleep; but Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead. Then Jesus said to them, "Lazarus is dead; and I am glad that I was not there to keep him alive; for now you will be led to believe in me all the more fully. But let us now go to him."

Then one of the disciples, named Thomas, said to the others, "Let us also go, and die with our Master!"

So Jesus left Bethabara with his disciples, and came to Bethany; and then he found Lazarus had been buried four days. Many of the Jews had come to comfort Martha and Mary in the loss of their brother. They told Martha that Jesus was coming, and she went to meet him, but Mary sat still in the house. As soon as Martha saw Jesus, she said to him very sadly, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother need not have died. And even now, I know that God will give you whatever you ask."

Jesus said to her, "Your brother shall rise again."

"I know that he shall rise," said Martha, "when the last day comes, and all the dead are raised."

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection, the raising from the dead; and I am the life. Whoever believes on me, even though he may die, he shall live; and whoever lives and believes on me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, the one who comes into the world."

Then Martha went to her home, and said to her sister Mary, but quietly, so that no other person heard her, "The Master is here, and he asks for you!"