64 48. Healing the Dumb Demoniac. Matt. 12: 22-45. HEALING THE DUMB DEMONIAC. A ND he cometh into a house. And the multitude cometh together again so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself. Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb; and he healed him, insomuch that when the devil was gone out the dumb man spake and saw. And all the multitudes marvelled, and said, Can this be the Son of David? But when the Pharisees and the scribes who came down from Jerusalem heard it, some of them said, This man hath Beelzebub, and casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And knowing their thoughts, he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself falleth, and will not be able to stand. And if Satan hath risen up against himself, and is divided against himself, and if Satan casteth out Satan, how then shall his kingdom stand? He cannot stand, but hath an end; because ye say that I cast out devils by Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I, by the finger of God, cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. When the strong man fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace; how can one enter the house and spoil his goods except he first bind the strong man? But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him his whole armour wherein he trusted and divideth his spoils. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. Verily I say unto you, therefore, all their sins shall be HEALING THE DUMB DEMONIAC. 65 forgiven unto the sons of men, and their blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme; and whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is guilty of an eternal sin; it shall never be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in that which is to come. Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. The unclean spirit when he is gone out of a man passeth through waterless places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out. And when he is come he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation. And it came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman of the multitude lifted up her voice and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the breasts which thou didst suck. But he said, Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. Then, when the multitudes were gathering together unto him, certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, 66 MY MOTHER AND MY BRETHREN." saying, Master, we would see a sign from heaven from thee. But he answered and said unto them, This generation is an evil and adulterous generation: it seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation; for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-monster, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. No man, when he hath lighted a lamp, putteth it in a cellar, neither under the bushel, but on the stand, that they that enter in may see the light. The lamp of thy body is thine eye when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, thy body is full of darkness. Look therefore whether the light that is in thee be not darkness. If therefore thy whole body be full of light, having no part dark, it shall be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining doth give thee light. 49. 61 'My Mother and my Brethren." Matt. 12: 46-50. WHILE he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold his mother and his brethren came seeking to speak to him, and they could not come at him for the crowd. And, standing without, they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren seek for thee, and Mark 3: 31-35. A DAY OF PARABLES. 67 stand without, desiring to speak to thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And looking round on them that sat about him, he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! My mother and my brethren are these who hear the word of God and do it. For whosoever shall do the will of God, whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother. 50. A Day of Parables. Matt. 13: 1-53. Mark 4: 1-34. Luke 8: 4-18; 11: 33-36; 13: 18-21. The Parable of the Sower. ΟΝ N that day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea-side, and began to teach. And when a very great multitude came together, and they of every city resorted unto him, he entered into a boat and sat in the sea; and all the multitude stood on the beach. And he taught them many things in parables, and said unto them in his teaching, Hearken: Behold the sower went forth to sow his seed: and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven came and devoured it; and other fell on the rocky places, where it had not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no deepness of earth; and as soon as it grew, when the sun was risen, it was scorched; and because it lacked moisture and had no root, it withered away. And other fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and brought forth, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold. As he said these things he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 68 A DAY OF PARABLES. And when he was alone the disciples that were about him, with the twelve, came and asked him what this parable might be, and, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but unto the rest, that are without, it is not given, but all things are done in parables. Take heed, therefore, how and what ye hear; with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you, and more shall be given unto you. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he thinketh he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand; lest haply they should turn again, and it should be forgiven them. And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear and shall in no wise understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive: for this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should turn again, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not. Know ye not this parable? and how shall ye know all the parables? Hear ye then the parable of the sower. The seed the sower soweth is the word of God. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, straightway cometh Satan and snatcheth away from his heart the word which hath been sown, that he may not believe and |