THE DISCIPLES SENT OUT ON A MISSIONARY TOUR 6.-Jesus visits Nazareth, and sends out ST MATT. 9. 35, 36; 10. 1-5, 11. 1; 13. 54-58; ST MARK 6. 1-13; Nazareth-Around Capernaum. And He went out from thence, and came into His own country; and His disciples follow Him. And when He was come into His own country, and when the Sabbath day was come, He began to teach in the synagogue and many hearing Him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands? Is not this the carpenter? is not His mother called Mary? and His brethren, James and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? and His sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And He marvelled because of their unbelief. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith He unto His disciples. The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest. And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them power and authority over all devils, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. And He sent them forth by two and two, to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. And He said unto them, Take nothing for : JESUS GIVES THE APOSTLES PREVIOUS DIRECTIONS. your journey, save a staff only provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, but be shod with sandals; for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men : for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak : for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops. : And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs KING HEROD ALARMED AT JESUS' PROGRESS. of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven. Think not that. I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it. He that receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. 7.—King Herod beheads John the Baptist. ST MATT. 14. 1-12; ST MARK 6. 14-29; ST LUKE 9. 7-9. Galilee-Machorus. At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, of all that was done by Him: (for His name was spread abroad :) and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead; and of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John have I beheaded but who is this, of whom I hear such things? and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the STORY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST'S TRAGIC DEATH. dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. And he desired to see Him. Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded he is risen from the dead. For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife : for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she, being before instructed of her mother, came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought : and he went and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel and she brought it to her mother. And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb, and went and told Jesus. 8. Miracle of feeding five thousand in the desert. ST MATT. 14. 13-21; ST MARK 6. 30-44; ST LUKE 9. 10-17; ST JOHN 6. 1-13. Capernaum-Desert of Bethsaida. And the apostles, when they were returned, gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And He said unto them, Come ye your FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE FED IN THE DESERT. selves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. After these things, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias, into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida, by ship privately. And the people saw them departing, and many knew Him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto Him, because they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased. And Jesus, when He came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd and He began to teach them many things, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this He said to prove him for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. And when it was evening, His disciples came unto Him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: send them away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat, for we are here in a desert place. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they say unto Him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, one of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto Him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes but what are they among so many? We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. For they were about five thousand men. He said, Bring them hither to Me. And He said to His disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company upon the green grass. Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties, in number about five thousand. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, and when He had given thanks, looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and brake the loaves, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude that were set down; and likewise the two fishes divided He among them all, as much as they would. And they did all eat, and were filled. When they were : |