Over the last few days and continuing for the next few during this Christmas 2011 season, we are showcasing a little-known book by Charles Dickens (yes, that Charles Dickens…of A Christmas Carol fame). This tremendously personal retelling of the life of our LORD and Savior’s story was written especially for his children and was not originally intended for publication. It is a tribute to Dickens’ heart and humanity, and also, of course, his deep devotion to Our Lord. Charles Dickens frequently shared the gospel to his children and made mention of the LORD in his letters to them. We hope you will be edified by Dickens’ “The Life of our LORD” .
To read Part 1, click on December 18th on the calendar
To read Part 2, click on December 20th on the calendar
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CHAPTER THE SEVENTH
As Our Saviour sat teaching the people and answering their questions, a certian Lawyer stood up, and said “Master what shall I do, that I may live again in happiness after I am dead?” Jesus said to him “The first of all the commandments is, the Lord our God is one Lord: and Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all Thy heart, and with all Thy Soul, and with all Thy mind, and with all thy Strength. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater then these.”
Then the Lawyer said “But who is my neighbour? Tell me that I may know.” Jesus answered in this Parable:
“There was once a traveller,” he said, “journeying from Jerusalem to Jericho, who fell among Thieves; and they robbed him of his clothes, and wounded him, and went away, leaving him half dead upon the road. A Priest, happening to pass that way, while the poor man lay there, saw him, but took no notice, and passed by, on the other side. Another man, a Levite, came that way, and also saw him; but he only looked at him for a moment, and then passed by, also. But a certain Samaritan who came travelling along that road, no sooner saw him than he had compassion on him, and dressed his wounds with oil and wine, and set him on the beast he rode himself, and took him to an Inn, and next morning took out of his pocket Two pence and gave them to the Landlord, saying “take care of him and whatever you may spend beyond this, in doing so, I will repay you when I come here again.” – Now which of these three men”, said our Saviour to the Lawyer, “do you think should be called the neighbour of him who fell among the Thieves?” The Lawyer said, “The man who shewed compassion on him.” “True,” replied our Saviour. “Go Thou and do likewise! Be compassionate to all men. For all men are your neighbours and brothers.”
And he told them this Parable, of which the meaning is, that we are never to be proud, or think ourselves very good, before God, but are always to be humble. He said, “when you are invited to a Feast or Wedding, do not sit down in the best place, lest some more honored man should come, and claim that seat. But sit down in the lowest place, and a better will be offered you if you deserve it. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and whosoever humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
He also told them this Parable: “There was a certain man who prepared a great supper, and invited many people, and sent his Servant round to them when supper was ready to tell them they were waited for. Upon this, they made excuses. One said he had bought a piece of ground and must go to look at it. Another that he had bought five yoke of Oxen, and must go to try them. Another, that he was newly married, and could not come. When the Master of the house heard this, he was angry, and told the servant to go into the streets, and into the high roads, and among the hedges, and invite the poor, the lame, the maimed, and the blind to supper instead.”
The meaning of Our Saviour in telling them this Parable, was, that those who are too busy with their own profits and pleasures, to think of God and of doing good, will not find such favor with him as the sick and miserable.
It happened that our Saviour, being in the city of Jericho, saw, looking down upon him over the heads of the crowd, from a tree into which he had climbed for that purpose, a man named Zacchaeus, who was regarded as a common kind of man, and a Sinner, but to whom Jesus Christ called out, as He passed along, that He would come and eat with him in his house that day. Those proud men, the Pharisees and Scribes, hearing this, muttered among themselves, and said “he eats with Sinners.” In answer to them, Jesus related this Parable, which is usually called THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON.
“There was once a Man,” he told them, “who had two sons: and the younger of them said one day, “Father, give me my share of your riches now, and let me do with it what I please? The father granting his request, he travelled away with his money into a distant country, and soon spent it in riotous living.
When he had spent all, there came a time, through all that country, of great public distress and famine, when there was no bread, and when the corn, and the grass, and all the things that grow in the ground were all dried up and blighted. The Prodigal Son fell into such distress and hunger, that he hired himself out as a servant to feed swine in the fields. And he would have been glad to eat, even the poor coarse husks that the swine were fed with, but his Master gave him none. In this distress, he said to himself “How many of my father’s servants have bread enough, and to spare, while I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father! I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy Son!”
And so he travelled back again, in great pain and sorrow and difficulty, to his father’s house. When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and knew him in the midst of all his rags and misery, and ran towards him, and wept, and fell upon his neck, and kissed him. And he told his servants to clothe his poor repentant Son in the best robes, and to make a great feast to celebrate his return. Which was done; and they began to be merry.
But the eldest Son, who had been in the field and knew nothing of his brother’s return, coming to the house and hearing the music and Dancing, called to one of the Servants, and asked him what it meant. To this the Servant made answer that his brother had come home, and that his father was joyful because of his return. At this, the elder brother was angry and would not go into the house; so the father, hearing of it, came out to persuade him.
“Father”, said the elder brother, “you do not treat me justly, to shew so much joy for my younger brother’s return. For these many years I have remained with you constantly, and have been true to you, yet you have never made a feast for me. But when my younger brother returns, who has been prodigal, and riotous, and spent his money in many bad ways, you are full of delight, and the whole house makes merry!” – “Son” returned the father, “you have always been with me, and all I have is yours. But we thought your brother dead, and he is alive. He was lost, and he is found; and it is natural and right that we should be merry for his unexpected return to his old home.”
By this, our Saviour meant to teach, that those who have done wrong and forgotten God, are always welcome to him and will always receive his mercy, if they will only return to Him in sorrow for the sin of which they have been guilty.
Now the Pharisees received these lessons from our Saviour, scornfully; for they were rich, and covetous, and thought themselves superior to all mankind. As a warning to them, Christ related this Parable: – OF DIVES AND LAZARUS.
“There was a certain man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores and desiring to be fed with crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.
“And it came to pass that the Beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom – Abraham had been a very good man who lived many years before that time, and was then in Heaven. The rich man also died, and was buried. And in Hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus. And he cried and said, “Father Abraham have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that in thy life time thou receivedst good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now, he is comforted, and thou art tormented!
And among other Parables, Christ said to these same Pharisees, because of their pride, That two men once went up into the Temple, to pray; of whom, one was a Pharisee, and one a Publican. The Pharisee said, “God I thank Thee, that I am not unjust as other men are, or bad as this Publican is! The Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up his eyes to Heaven, but struck his breast, and only said, “God be merciful to me, a Sinner!” And God, – our Saviour told them – would be merciful to that man rather than the other, and would be better pleased with his prayer, because he made it with a humble and lowly heart.
The Pharisees were so angry at being taught these things, that they employed some spies to ask Our Saviour questions, and try to entrap Him into saying something which was against the Law. The Emperor of that country, who was called Caesar, having commanded tribute-money to be regularly paid to him by the people, and being cruel against any one who disputed his right to it, these spies thought they might, perhaps, induce our Saviour to say it was an unjust payment, and so to bring himself under the Emperor’s displeasure. Therefore, pretending to be very humble, they came to Him and said, “Master you teach the word of God rightly, and do not respect persons on account of their wealth or high station. Tell us, is it lawful that we should pay tribute to Caesar?”
Christ, who knew their thoughts, replied, “Why do you ask ? Shew me a penny.” They did so. “Whose image, and whose name, is this upon it?” he asked them. They said “Caesar’s”. “Then,” said He, “Render unto Caesar, the things that are Caesar’s.”
So they left him; very much enraged and disappointed that they could not entrap Him. But our Saviour knew their hearts and thoughts, as well as He knew that other men were conspiring against him, and that he would soon be put to Death.
As he was teaching them thus, he sat near the Public Treasury, where people as they passed along the street, were accustomed to drop money into a box for the poor; and many rich persons, passing while Jesus sat there, had put in a great deal of money. At last there came a poor Widow who dropped in two mites, each half a farthing in value, and then went quietly away. Jesus, seeing her do this as he rose to leave the place, called his disciples about him, and said to them that that poor widow had been more truly charitable than all the rest who had given money that day; for the others were rich and would never miss what they had given, but she was very poor, and had given those two mites which might have bought her bread to eat.
Let us never forget what the poor widow did, when we think we are charitable.
CHAPTER THE EIGHTH
There was a certain man named Lazarus of Bethany, who was taken very ill; and as he was the Brother of that Mary who had anointed Christ with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, She and her sister Martha sent to him in great trouble, saying, Lord, Lazarus whom you love is sick, and like to die.
Jesus did not go to them for two days after receiving this message; but when that time was past, he said to his Disciples, “Lazarus is dead. Let us go to Bethany.” When they arrived there (it was a place very near to Jerusalem) they found, as Jesus had foretold, that Lazarus was dead, and had been dead and buried, four days.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she rose up from among the people who had come to condole with her on her poor brother’s death, and ran to meet him: leaving her sister Mary weeping, in the house. When Martha saw Him she burst into tears, and said “Oh Lord if Thou hads’t been here, my brother would not have died.” – “Thy brother shall rise again “, returned Our Saviour. “I know he will, and I believe he will, Lord, at the Resurrection on the Last Day ”, said Martha.
Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Dost thou believe this? She answered “ Yes Lord”; and running back to her sister Mary, told her that Christ was come. Mary hearing this, ran out, followed by all those who had been grieving with her in the house, and coming to the place where he was, fell down at his feet upon the ground and wept; and so did all the rest. Jesus was so full of compassion for their sorrow, that He wept too, as he said, “where have you laid him?” – They said, “Lord, come and see!”
He was buried in a cave; and there was a great stone laid upon it. When they all came to the Grave, Jesus ordered the stone to be rolled away, which was done. Then, after casting up his eyes, and thanking God, he said, in a loud and solemn voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” and the dead man, Lazarus, restored to life, came out among the people, and went home with his sisters. At this sight, so awful and affecting, many of the people there, believed that Christ was indeed the Son of God; come to instruct and save mankind. But others ran to tell the Pharisees; and from that day the Pharisees resolved among themselves – to prevent more people from believing in him, that Jesus should be killed. And they agreed among themselves – meeting in the Temple for that purpose – that if he came into Jerusalem before the Feast of the Passover, which was then approaching, he should be seized.
It was six days before the Passover, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead; and, at night, when they all sat at supper together, with Lazarus among them, Mary rose up, and took a pound of ointment (which was very precious and costly, and was called ointment of Spikenard) and anointed the feet of Jesus Christ with it, and, once again, wiped them on her hair; and the whole house was filled with the pleasant smell of the ointment. Judas Iscariot, one of the Disciples, pretended to be angry at this, and said that the ointment might have been sold for Three Hundred Pence, and the money given to the poor. But he only said so, in reality, because he carried the Purse, and was (unknown to the rest, at that time) a Thief, and wished to get all the money he could. He now began to plot for betraying Christ into the hands of the chief Priests.
The Feast of the Passover now drawing very near, Jesus Christ, with his disciples, moved forward towards Jerusalem. When they were come near to that city, He pointed to a village and told two of his disciples to go there, and they would find an ass, with a colt, tied to a tree, which they were to bring to Him. Finding these animals exactly as Jesus had described, they brought them away, and Jesus, riding on the ass, entered Jerusalem. An immense crowd of people collected round him as he went along, and throwing their robes on the ground, and cutting down green branches from the trees, and spreading them in His path, they shouted, and cried ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ (David had been a great King there) “ He comes in the name of the Lord! This is Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth!” And when Jesus went into the Temple, and cast out the tables of the money- changers who wrongfully sat there, together with people who sold Doves; saying “ My father’s house is a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of Thieves!” – and when the people and children cried in the Temple “This is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth,” and would not be silenced – and when the blind and lame came flocking there in crowds, and were healed by his hand – the chief Priests and Scribes, and Pharisees were filled with fear and hatred of Him. But Jesus continued to heal the sick, and to do good, and went and lodged at Bethany; a place that was very near the City of Jerusalem, but not within the walls.
One night, at that place, he rose from Supper at which he was seated with his Disciples, and taking a cloth and a basin of water, washed their feet. Simon Peter, one of the Disciples, would have prevented Him from washing his feet: but our Saviour told Him that He did this, in order that they, remembering it, might be always kind and gentle to one another, and might know no pride or ill-will among themselves.
Then, he became sad, and grieved, and looking round on the Disciples said, “There is one here, who will betray me.” They cried out, one after another, “Is it I, Lord! – “Is it I!” But he only answered, “It is one of the Twelve that dippeth with me in the dish.” One of the disciples, whom Jesus loved, happening to be leaning on His Breast at that moment listening to his words, Simon Peter beckoned to him that he should ask the name of this false man. Jesus answered “ It is he to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it in the dish” and when he had dipped it, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, saying “What thou doest, do quickly.” Which the other disciples did not understand, but which Judas knew to mean that Christ had read his bad thoughts.
So Judas, taking the sop, went out immediately. It was night, and he went straight to the chief Priests and said “what will you give me, if I deliver him to you?” They agreed to give him thirty pieces of Silver; and for this, he undertook soon to betray into their hands, his Lord and Master Jesus Christ.
CHAPTER THE NINTH
The feast of the Passover being now almost come, Jesus said to two of his disciples, Peter and John, “Go into the city of Jerusalem, and you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him home, and say to him, “the Master says where is the guest-chamber, where he can eat the Passover with his Disciples.” And he will shew you a large upper room, furnished. There, make ready the supper.”
The two disciples found that it happened as Jesus had said; and having met the man with the pitcher of water, and having followed him home, and having been shewn the room, they prepared the supper, and Jesus and the other ten apostles came at the usual time, and they all sat down to partake of it together.
It is always called The Last Supper, because this was the last time that Our Saviour ate and drank with his Disciples.
And he took bread from the table, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them; and he took the cup of Wine, and blessed it, and drank, and gave it to them, saying “Do this in remembrance of Me!” And when they had finished supper, and had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.
There, Jesus told them that he would be seized that night, and that they would all leave him alone and would think only of their own safety. Peter said, earnestly, he never would, for one. “Before the cock crows,” returned Our Saviour, “you will deny me thrice.” But Peter answered “No Lord. Though I should die with Thee, I will never deny Thee.” And all the other Disciples said the same.
Jesus then led the way over a brook, called Cedron, into a garden that was called Gethsemane; and walked with three of the disciples into a retired part of the garden. Then he left them as he had left the others, together; saying “Wait here, and watch!” – and went away and prayed by Himself, while they, being weary, fell asleep.
And Christ suffered great sorrow and distress of mind, in his prayers in that garden, because of the wickedness of the men of Jerusalem who were going to kill Him; and He shed tears before God, and was in deep and strong affliction.
When His prayers were finished, and He was comforted, He returned to the Disciples, and said “Rise! Let us be going! He is close at hand, who will betray me!”
Now, Judas knew that garden well, for Our Saviour had often walked there, with his Disciples; and, almost at the moment when Our Saviour said these words, he came there, accompanied by a strong guard of men and officers, which had been sent by the chief Priests and Pharisees. It being dark, they carried lanterns and torches. They were armed with swords and staves too; for they did not know but that the people would rise and defend Jesus Christ; and this had made them afraid to seize Him boldly in the day, when he sat teaching the people.
As the leader of this guard had never seen Jesus Christ and did not know him from the apostles, Judas had said to them, “ The man whom I kiss, will be he.” As he advanced to give this wicked kiss, Jesus said to the soldiers “Whom do ye seek?”- “ Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “Then,” said Our Saviour, “I am He. Let my disciples here, go freely. I am He.” Which Judas confirmed, by saying “Hail Master!” and kissing Him. Whereupon Jesus said, “Judas, Thou betrayest me with a kiss!”
The guard then ran forward to seize Him. No one offered to protect Him, except Peter, who, having a sword, drew it, and cut off the right ear of the High Priest’s Servant, who was one of them, and whose name was Malchus. But Jesus made him sheath his sword, and gave himself up. Then, all the disciples forsook Him, and fled; and there remained not one- not one- to bear Him company.
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To be concluded on the 24th with Chapters 10 and 11.
To God Be The Glory!
Posted by Jeff & Cindy 
