His relations went away.  They talked violently against Jesus.  His mother could not endure that, so she remained behind and climbed the stony path by herself.  In her sorely tried heart she prayed:  “My Father which art in Heaven, Thy will be done!” And she had no idea that it was her son’s prayer, in which she found the same faith and comfort as He did.  She knew not that thus she, too, became a disciple of Jesus.

CHAPTER XIX

Elsewhere Jesus’s fame had become so great that all men came to Him.  The poor crowded to Him in order to eat at His table where the word had become flesh.  The rich invited Him to their houses, but He mostly declined those invitations, accepting, however, one here and there.

He Himself went to those who humbly remained in the background and yet desired to go to Him.  A man lived in the district whose greatest desire was to see the Prophet.  When he heard that Jesus was coming his way, he began to tremble and to think what he should do.  “I should like to meet Him face to face, and yet dare not venture to go to Him.  For I have a bad reputation as a publican, and am not in any way worthy.  Then He is always accompanied by so many people, and I am short and cannot see over their heads.”  When Jesus approached, the man climbed a bare sycamore-tree and peeped between the branches.  Jesus saw him, and called out; “Zacchaeus, come down from the tree!  I will come and visit you to-day.”

The publican jumped down from the tree and went over to Him, and said humbly:  “Lord, I am not worthy that you should go to my house.  Only say one word to me, and I shall be content.”

The people wondered that the Prophet should so honour this person of somewhat doubtful character.  Zacchaeus was almost beside himself to think that the Master should have recognised and spoken to him.  He set before his guest everything that his house afforded.  Jesus said:  “These things are good.  But I want the most precious thing you possess.”

“What is that, sir?” asked Zacchaeus in terror, for he thought he had given of his best.  “Everything I possess is yours.”

Then Jesus grasped his hand, looked at him lovingly, and said:  “Zacchaeus, give me your heart!”

The man became His follower.

One day He was dining with a man who was very learned and a strict censor of morals.  Several of His disciples were among the guests, and the talk, partly intellectual and partly guided by feeling, turned on the Scriptures.  At first Jesus took no part; He was thinking how much pleasanter it would be to hear simple talk at His mother’s fireside at home than to dispute with these arrogant scholars about the empty letter.  But He was soon drawn into the conversation.  Someone mentioned the commandment which enjoins a man to love his neighbour, and, as often happens, the simplest things became confused and incomprehensible in the varied opinions of the worldly-wise.  One of the guests said:  “It is remarkable how we do not reflect on the most important things because they are so clear; and yet if we do reflect on them by any chance, we don’t understand them.  So that I really do not know who it is I should love as myself.”