CHAPTER VII
A FRIEND FOR THE SORROWFUL
One day Jesus went to a town called Nain (or Beautiful), about twenty-five miles from Capernaum. A great crowd of people followed Jesus and His disciples; and when they came near to the gate of the city of Nain, they saw a funeral coming out. The dead body of a young man was being carried out on a bier to be buried.
When Jesus saw the poor mother crying and sobbing, He felt very sorry for her, and He said to her, 'Weep not.' And Jesus came and touched the bier, and the men who were carrying it stood still. And Jesus said, 'Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.' And life came back into that dead body again. He that was dead sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
A Pharisee, called Simon, once asked Jesus to come and have dinner with him. When anyone in that land went to a feast, the master of the house used to kiss him, and say, 'The Lord be with you,' and put some sweet smelling oil on his hair and beard, and the servants used to bring the visitor water to wash his feet. But none of those kind things were done to Jesus when He came to that Pharisee's house. Presently Jesus and Simon began to eat. In that country, people often lay down to eat. Broad settees, or couches, were put round the table, and the visitors used to lie down in rows on these settees. Their heads were near the table, and their feet were the other way. They lay down on their left side, and they had cushions to put their elbows on, so that they could raise themselves up while they were eating. While Jesus and Simon were at dinner, a woman came in out of the street. In the East, people walk in and out of other people's houses just as they like. But that woman had been very wicked, and Simon was not pleased when he saw her come in. But nobody said anything to her. So she came to Jesus, and stood at His feet, behind the couch on which He w as lying, and cried till the tears ran down her face. Then as her tears dropped on to the feet of Jesus, she stooped down and wiped them away with her long hair. And then she kissed the feet of Jesus many times, and put precious sweet-smelling ointment upon them. Perhaps she had heard some beautiful words which Jesus had just been saying to the people out of doors—
'COME UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT LABOUR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU BEST.'
Her sins were like a heavy load, and so she had come to Jesus.
But Simon thought to himself, 'If Jesus had really come from God, He would have known how wicked this woman is, and He would not have allowed her to touch Him.'
Jesus knew what Simon was thinking, and He said that once upon a time there were two men who owed some money. One owed a great deal of money, and the other owed a little. But when the time came for them to pay the money they could not do it. And the kind man forgave them both.