[Mt. i. 18.] THE birth of Jesus Christ was thus: — His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph. But, before they began to live as man [19.] and wife, Mary proved with child. But Joseph was a good man, and did not wish to disgrace [24.] her; he took her as his wife, and had nothing [25.] to do with her until she had borne her first son, and called him Jesus.

[Lk. ii. 40.] And the boy grew and matured, and was intelligent beyond his years.

[41.] Jesus was twelve years old; and it happened [42.] that Mary and Joseph went to the feast at [43.] Jerusalem, and took the boy with them. The [44.] feast was over, and they went homeward, and forgot about the boy. Afterward they recollected, and thought that he had gone off with [45.] the children, and they inquired about him along the road. He was nowhere to be found, and [46.] they went back to Jerusalem after him. And it was the third day before they found the boy in the temple, sitting with the teachers, questioning [47.] them, and listening. And every one [48.] wondered at his intelligence. His mother caught sight of him, and said: “Why have you done this way with us? Your father and I have been grieving, and looking for you.” [Lk. ii. 49.] And he said to them: “But where did you look for me? Surely you ought to know that the son must be looked for in his Father’s [50.] house? ” And they did not understand his words; they did not understand whom it was he called his Father.

[51.] And after this, Jesus lived at his mother’s, [52.] and obeyed her in everything. And he advanced [iii. 23.] in age and intelligence. And every one thought that Jesus was the son of Joseph; and so he lived to the age of thirty.

[Mt. iii. 1.] At that time the prophet John appeared in [Mk. i. 4.] Judea. He lived in the desert of Judea, on [Mt. iii. 4.] the Jordan. John’s clothes were of camel’s hair, girt round the waist with a strap; and he fed on bark and herbs.

[Mk. i. 4.] He summoned the people to a change of life, in order to get rid of wickedness; and, as a sign of the change of life, he bathed people [Lk. iii. 4.] in the Jordan. He said: “A voice calls to you: Open a way for God through the wild [5.] places, clear the way for Him. Make it so that all may be level, that there may be neither [6.] hollows nor hills, neither high nor low. Then God will be among you, and all will find their salvation.”

[10.] And the people asked him, “What are we [11.] to do? ” He answered: “Let him who has two suits of clothes give one to him who has none. Let him who has food give to him who has [12.] none.” And tax-collectors came to him, and [13.] asked: “What are we to do? ” He said to them: “Extort nothing beyond what is [14.] ordered.” And soldiers asked: “How are we to live? ” He said: “Do no one any harm, do not deal falsely; be content with what is served out to you.”

[Mt. iii. 5.] And inhabitants of Jerusalem came to him, and all the Jews in the neighborhood of the [Mt. iii. 6.] Jordan. And they acknowledged their wickedness to him; and, in sign of the change of life, he bathed them in the Jordan.

[7.] And many of the orthodox and conventional religionists also came to John, but secretly. He recognized them, and said: “You race of vipers ! Have you, also, got wind of it, that you cannot [8.] escape the will of God? Then bethink yourselves, and change your faith ! And if you wish to change your faith, let it be seen by your fruits that you have bethought yourselves. [10.] The ax is already laid to the tree. If the tree produces bad fruit, it will be cut down [11.] and cast into the fire. In sign of your change I cleanse you in water; but, along with this bathing, you must be cleansed with the spirit. [12.] The spirit will cleanse you, as a master cleanses his threshing-floor; when he gathers the wheat, but burns the chaff.”

[13.] Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be bathed by John; and he bathed, and heard John’s preaching.

[iv. i.] And from the Jordan he went into the wild [2.] places, and there he strove in the spirit. Jesus passed forty days and nights in the desert, without food or drink.

[Lk. iv. 3.] And the voice of his flesh said to him: “If you were Son of the Almighty God, you might of your own will make loaves out of stones; but you cannot do this, therefore you are not [4.] Son of God.” But Jesus said to himself: “If I cannot make bread out of stones, this means that I am not Son of a God of the flesh, but Son of the God of the spirit. I am alive, not by bread, but by the spirit. And my spirit is able to disregard the flesh.”

But hunger, nevertheless, tormented him; and the voice of the flesh again said to him: “If you live only by the spirit, and can disre gard the flesh, then you can throw off the flesh, [Lk. iv. 9.] and your spirit will remain alive.” And it seemed to him that he was standing on the roof of the temple, and the voice of the flesh said to him: “If you are Son of the God of the spirit, throw yourself off the temple. You [10.] will not be killed. But an unforeseen force will keep you; support you, and save you from all [11.] harm.” But Jesus said to himself: “I can [12.] disregard the flesh, but may not throw it off, because I was born by the spirit into the flesh. This was the will of the Father of my spirit, and I cannot oppose Him.”

Then the voice of the flesh said to him: “If you cannot oppose your Father by throwing yourself off the temple and discarding life, then you also cannot oppose your Father by hungering when you need to eat You must not make light of the desires of the flesh; they were placed in you, and you must serve them.” [5.] Then Jesus seemed to see all the kingdoms of the earth, and all mankind, just as they live and labor for the flesh, expecting gain [6.] therefrom. And the voice of the flesh said to him: “Well, you see, these work for me, and I give [7.] them all they wish for. If you will work for [8.] me you will have the same.” But Jesus said to himself: “My Father is not flesh, but spirit. I live by Him; I always know that He is in me. Him alone I honor, and for Him alone I work, expecting reward from Him alone.”

[13.] Then the temptation ceased, and Jesus knew the power of the spirit.

[14.] And when he had known the power of the [Jn. i. 35.] spirit, Jesus went out of the wild places, and went again to John, and stayed with him.

[36.] And when Jesus was leaving John, John said of him: “This is the saviour of men.”

[37.] On account of these words of John, two of John’s disciples left their former teacher and [Jn. i. 38.] went after Jesus. Jesus, seeing them following him, stopped and said: “What do you want? ” They said to him: “Teacher ! we wish to be with you, and to know your teaching.” [39.] He said: “Come with me, and I will tell you everything.” They went with him, and stayed with him, listening to him until the tenth hour.

[40.] One of these disciples was called Andrew. [41.] Andrew had a brother Simon. Having heard Jesus, Andrew went to his brother Simon, and said to him: “We have found him of whom the prophets wrote, the Messiah; we have found him who has announced to us our [42.] salvation.” Andrew took Simon with him, and brought him also to Jesus. Jesus called this brother of Andrew, Peter, which means a stone. And both these brothers became disciples of Jesus.

[43.] Afterward, before entering Galilee, Jesus met Philip, and called him to go with him. [44.] Philip was from Bethsaida, and a fellow-villager [45.] of Peter and Andrew. When Philip knew Jesus, he went and found his brother Nathanael, and said to him: “We have found the chosen of God, of whom the prophets and Moses wrote. This is Jesus, the son of Joseph, [46.] from Nazareth.” Nathanael was astonished that he of whom the prophets wrote should be from the neighboring village, and said: “It is most unlikely that the messenger of God [47.] should be from Nazareth.” Philip said: “Come with me, you shall see and hear for yourself.” [48.] Nathanael agreed, and went with his brother, and met Jesus; and, when he had heard him, [49.] he said to Jesus; “Yes, now I see that this is true, that you are the Son of God and the king [51.] of Israel.” Jesus said to him: “ Learn something more important than that. Henceforth heaven is opened, and people may be in communion with the forces of heaven. Henceforth God will be no longer separate from men.”

[Lk. iv. 16.] And Jesus came home to Nazareth; and on the Sabbath he went as usual into the synagogue [17.] , and began to read. They gave him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and, unrolling it, he began to read. In the book was written: —

[18.] “ The spirit of the Lord is in me. He has chosen me to announce happiness to the unfortunate and the broken-hearted, to announce freedom to those who are bound, light to the [19.] blind, and salvation and rest to the weary. To announce to all men the time of God’s mercy.”

[20.] He folded the book, gave it to the attendant, and sat down. And all waited to hear what he should say. And he said: “This writing has now been fulfilled before your eyes.”

[Mt. xii. i.] IT happened once that Jesus, with his disciples, [Mk. ii. 23.] went through a field on the Sabbath. [Lk. vi. i.] His disciples were hungry, and on the way plucked ears of corn, bruised them in their hands, and ate the grain. But, according to the teaching of the orthodox, God had made an agreement with Moses, that all should observe the Sabbath, and do nothing on that day. According to this teaching of the orthodox, God commanded that he who worked on the [Mt. xii. 2.] Sabbath should be stoned to death. The orthodox saw that the disciples were bruising ears of corn on the Sabbath, and said; “It is not right to do so on the Sabbath. One must not work on the Sabbath, and you are bruising ears of corn. God ordained the Sabbath, and commanded the breaking of it should be punished with death.” Jesus heard this, and said: [Mt. xii. 7.] “If you understand what is the meaning of God’s words, ‘I desire love, and not sacrifice,’ you would not attach blame to that which is [8.] not blameworthy. Man is more important than the Sabbath.”

[Lk. xiii. 10.] It happened another time, on a Sabbath, that [11.] when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, a sick woman came up to him and asked him to [12-14.] help her. And Jesus began to cure her. Then the orthodox church-elder was angry with Jesus for this, and said to the people: “It is said in the law of God: There are six days in the week [xiv. 3.] on which to work.” But Jesus, in reply, asked the orthodox professors of the law: “Well, then, in your opinion, may not one help a man [6.] on the Sabbath?” And they did not know [5.] what to answer. Then Jesus said: “Deceivers ! [Lk. xiii 15.] Does not each of you untie his beast from the manger and lead him to water on the [Mt. xii. 11.] Sabbath? And if his sheep falls into a well, any one will run and drag it out, although even [12.] on the Sabbath. And a man is much better than a sheep. But you say that one must not [Mk. iii. 4.] help a man. What, then, in your opinion, must one do on the Sabbath, good or evil: save a soul or destroy it? Good must be done always, on the Sabbath too.”

[Mt. ix. 9.] Jesus once saw a tax-gatherer receiving taxes. The tax-gatherer was called Matthew. Jesus began to speak with him, and Matthew understood him, liked his teaching, and invited him to his house, and showed him hospitality. [10.] When Jesus came to Matthew, there came also Matthew’s friends, tax-gatherers and unbelievers, and Jesus did not disdain them, and sat [Mt. ix. 11.] down, he and his disciples. And the orthodox saw this, and said to Jesus’ disciples: “How is it that your teacher eats with tax-gatherers and unbelievers?” According to the teaching of the orthodox, God forbade communion with [12.] unbelievers. Jesus heard, and said: “He who is satisfied with his health does not need a doctor, [13.] but he who is ill, does. Understand what is the meaning of God’s words: ‘I desire love and not sacrifice.’ I cannot teach a change of faith to those who consider themselves orthodox, but I teach those who consider themselves unbelievers.”

[xv. 1.] [Mk. vii. 1.] There came to Jesus orthodox professors of [Mt. xv. 2.] the law from Jerusalem. And they saw that [Mk. viii. 2.] his disciples and Jesus himself ate bread with unwashed hands; and these orthodox began to [3.] condemn him for this, because they themselves strictly observed, according to church tradition, how plates and dishes should be washed, and would not eat unless they had been so washed. [4.] Also, they would eat nothing from the market unless they had washed it.

[5.] And the orthodox professors of the law asked him: “Why do you live not according to church tradition, but take and eat bread with unwashed [Mt. xv. 3.] hands?” And he answered them: “But in what way do you break God’s commandment, [Mk. vii. 10, 11.] following your church tradition? God said to you: ‘Honor your father and mother.’ But you have twisted it so that every one can say: I give to God what I used to give my parents.’ [12.] And he who so says need not support his father [13.] and mother. Thus, then, you break God’s commandment by church tradition. Deceivers ! [Mt. xv. 7.] The prophet Isaiah spoke the truth about you: [8.] ‘Because this people only fall down before me in words, and honor me with their tongue, [9.] while their heart is far from me; and because their fear of me is only a human law which they have learnt by heart; therefore I will perform a wonderful, an extraordinary thing upon this people: The wisdom of its wise men shall be lost, and the reason of its thinkers shall be dimmed. Woe to them who take thought to hide their desires from the Eternal, and who [Mk. vii. 8.] do their deeds in darkness.’ And so it is with you: You leave that which is important in the law, that which is God’s commandment, and observe your human tradition as to the washing of cups ! ”

[14.] And Jesus called the people to him, and [15.] said: “Hearken all, and understand: There is nothing in the world that, entering a man, could defile him; but that which goes forth from him, this defiles a man. Let love and mercy be in your soul, and then all will be [16.] clean. Try to understand this.”

[17.] And when he returned home, his disciples [18.] asked him: “What do these words mean?” And he said: “Do you also not understand this? Do you not understand that everything external, that which is of the flesh, cannot defile [19.] a man? The reason is, it enters not his soul, but his body. It enters the body, and [20.] afterward goes out from it. Only that can defile a man which goes out from the man [21.] himself, from his soul. Because from the soul of man proceed evil, fornication, impurity, murder, theft, covetousness, wrath, deceit, insolence, envy, calumny, pride, and every kind of folly. [23.] All this evil is out of the soul of man and it alone can defile a man.”

[Jn. ii. 13.] After this, the Passover came, and Jesus went to Jerusalem, and entered the temple. [14.] In the inclosure of the temple stood cattle, cows, bulls, rams; and there were cotes full of pigeons, and money-changers behind their counters. All this was necessary in order to make offerings to God. The animals were slaughtered and offered in the temple. This was the method of prayer among the Jews, as taught by the orthodox professors of the law. [Jn. ii. 15.] Jesus went into the temple, twisted a whip, drove all the cattle out of the inclosure, and [16.] set free all the doves. And he scattered all the money, and bade that none of this should [Mt. xxi. 13.] be brought into the temple. He said: “The [Mk. xi. 13.](Isa. lvi. 7. Jer. vii. 4, 11.) prophet Isaiah said to you: The house of God is not the temple in Jerusalem, but the whole world of God’s people. And the prophet Jeremiah also told you: Do not believe the falsehoods that here is the house of the Eternal. Do not believe this, but change your life; do not judge falsely; do not oppress the stranger, the widow, and the orphan; do not shed innocent blood, and do not come into the house of God, and say: Now we may quietly do foul deeds. Do not make my house a den of robbers.”

[18.] And the Jews began to dispute, and said to him: “You say that our piety is wrong. By [19.] what proofs will you show this?” And, turning to them, Jesus said: “Destroy this temple and I will in three days awaken a new, living [20.] temple.” And the Jews said: “But how will you at once make a new temple, when this was [Mt. xii. 6.] forty-six years in building?” And Jesus said to them: “I speak to you of that which is [7.] more important than the temple. You would not say this if you understood the meaning of the words of the prophet: I, God, do not rejoice at your offerings, but rejoice at your love to each other. The living temple is the whole world of men, when they love each other.”

[Jn. ii. 23.] And then in Jerusalem many people believed [24.] in what he said. But he himself believed in nothing external, because he knew...