It is supposed that Jesus was at this time on the eastern side of Jordan, nearly opposite Jericho. The reply to Peter was followed by the parable of the householder and his laborers. Jesus crossed the ford, and, entering Judæa, directed his steps towards Jerusalem. His disciples, conscious of the peril to which he would expose himself in the metropolis, were amazed and afraid. Jesus called the twelve around him, and said to them,—
“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles; and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him;and the third day he shall rise again.”[42]
The idea that the Messiah could be put to death—He who had power to bring the dead to life—was so incomprehensible to the apostles, that they could not receive the meaning of his words. They, however, walked along, conversing as they went;and both Matthew and Mark record several of the memorable sayings of Jesus by the way.[43]
As they drew near to Jericho, a blind man, waiting for him by the wayside, earnestly implored relief. Jesus restored his lost vision, simply saying, “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.”
From Jericho, which was about twenty miles north-east from Jerusalem, they continued their journey, followed by an immense multitude. Two blind men, as Jesus approached, loudlyimplored his aid. He touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight.
A rich man, named Zacchæus, a chief publican, being of short stature, climbed a tree that he might see Jesus as he passed. Jesus called him down, saying, “To-day I must abide at thy house.” Zacchæus hastened down, and received Jesus with great cordiality. Again there was murmuring because Jesus was “guest with a man that is a sinner.” It seems that Zacchæus was in heart a better man than he was in repute: for Jesus said, “This day is salvation come to this house; forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” Then, in allusion to the charge that he associated with sinners, he said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Notwithstanding what Jesus had said respecting his approaching sufferings and death at Jerusalem, his disciples still expected that there would be some signal displays of his power there in the establishment of a glorious reign. Jesus, therefore, addressed them in the parable of the nobleman and his servants.
Six days before the passover, Jesus reached Bethany. A very careful computation has led to the opinion that this was on the 30th of March, the year of our Lord 30. A supper was provided for him at the house of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Lazarus sat at the table. The grateful Mary, taking an “alabaster box of ointment very precious,” anointed the head and the feet of Jesus. The house was filled with the fragrant odor. The estimated value of this was about fifty dollars,—a much larger sum in those days than now.
Several who were present considered it an act of great extravagance. That sum, distributed among the poor, would have relieved much distress. Judas Iscariot, who was the treasurer of the little band, murmured loudly, saying, “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” “This he said,” John adds, “not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.”
But Jesus commended the deed in the remarkable words,“She hath wrought a good work on me: for ye have the poor always with you, and, whenever ye will, ye may do them good; but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could. She has come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you,Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.”[44]