Christian Tri-Pack

Includes: In The Steps Of Jesus, Inspirational Bible Stories, & The Shepherd!

JESUS BEGINS HIS WORK
One day, when the fight of Jesus with the devil in the wilderness was over,
He came to Bethabara, where John was baptizing, and when John saw Jesus
coming towards him, he said:
‘BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD, WHICH TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF
THE WORLD.’
The next day John saw Jesus again, and again he said the same words:
‘BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD!’
John called Jesus the Lamb of God, because He had come to die for our sins.
Two men were standing close to John when Jesus came by, and they heard
what he said. The name of one of these men was Andrew, and of the other
John. Jesus knew that they would like to speak to Him, so He turned around
and asked them what they wanted. ‘Master,’ they said, ‘where dwellest
Thou?’ (that means ‘where are you living?’) Jesus said, ‘Come, and you
shall see.’ And He took the two disciples to His home, and He let them stay
with Him the whole of the day. What a happy day that must have been!
Andrew had a brother called Simon, and he went and found him, and told
him that he had found the Messiah, and brought him to see his new Master.
So now Jesus had three disciples—John, Andrew, and Simon; and next day
He took them away with Him to Galilee. While they were going along,
Jesus saw a man called Philip, who came from the place where Simon and
Andrew lived when they were at home. Jesus told Philip to come with Him,
and he came. But Philip went to a friend of his, a very good man called
Nathanael, also called Bartholomew, and he told him that he had found Jesus
of Nazareth, the Messiah, and begged him to come and see Him.
How many disciples had Jesus now? Let us see. John, Andrew, Simon,
Philip, and Nathanael—five. And very likely John had brought his brother
James to Jesus. If so, that would make six.
Directly, Jesus came into Galilee. He was invited to a wedding, at a place
called Cana, and all of His disciples with Him. Jesus went to the wedding
because He likes to see people happy, and loves to make them happy. In
America, people often drink more wine at weddings and at other times than
is good for them, and a great many people go without any wine at all, so as
to set a good example. But in the East it is different. The people there
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hardly ever take too much wine. So Jesus allowed His disciples to use it,
and He drank it Himself. There was some wine at the wedding party to
which Jesus went; but presently it came to an end. Then Mary came to
Jesus, and said, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus knew what Mary was thinking
about, but He had to tell her to wait; and He had to make Mary understand
that He could not do everything now which she told Him to do, exactly as
when He was a boy. He was God’s Son as well as Mary’s, and He had
God’s work to do, and He must do it at God’s time.
But when Mary went back, she told the servants to do whatever Jesus told
them. Close to the house there were six great stone jars or waterpots, and
Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled
them up to the brim. And lo! when the water was taken out of the jars, it
was water no longer, but wine.
This was the very first miracle that Jesus did, and He did it to make people
happy, and to make them believe that He was the Son of God. Dear
children, Jesus wants you to be happy. And the best way to be happy is to
ask Jesus to go with you everywhere and always, just as those wedding
people asked Him to come to their party.
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He did not stay very many days in Capernaum. The lovely spring flowers
told Him that the Passover time was coming, so He went up with His
disciples, to Jerusalem. When Jesus had come to Jerusalem, you may be
sure that His disciples and He soon went to the Temple, and when they got
inside the great Court of the Gentiles they found a market was going on
there. Men were selling oxen and sheep and doves for sacrifice. Others
were sitting at little tables changing money. And there must have been
plenty of noise, for people in the East shout and quarrel a great deal when
they are buying or selling.
When Jesus saw this, He was angry; and He made a whip with pieces of
cord, and He drove away all the people who were selling in the Temple.
And He turned out the sheep and the oxen; and he told the men who sold
doves to take them away, and not turn His Father’s House into a store. Jesus
upset the tables of the money-changers too, and poured out their money.
Jesus did a great many wonderful things when He was in Jerusalem that
Passover time, and many persons saw...