And when Je-sus came to the place he raised his eyes and saw him, and said to him, Zac-che-us, make haste and come down, for to-day I must stay at thy house.
And Zac-che-us came down and went with Je-sus, and was glad to have him as a guest. And there was quite a stir in the crowd, and the Jews found fault with Je-sus, and said that he had gone to be a guest with a man that was full of sin.
But Zac-che-us told Je-sus that if he had done wrong he would do so no more, but would try to be just to all men and to lead a good and pure life.
And when Je-sus saw that he meant what he said, he told Zac-che-us that God would blot out the sins of the past, and help him to lead a new life. For he said that he had come to the world to seek those who had gone wrong, and were like lost sheep, and to save them and bring them to his home in the sky, where there was no such thing as sin or death.
CHAPTER XV.
THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER.—THE SUPPER AT BETHANY.
Now the great feast of the Pass-o-ver was near, and a great crowd of Jews went up to Je-ru-sa-lem to keep it. It had been kept since the days of Mo-ses, when God smote the first-born of E-gypt, and passed o-ver the homes of the Jews.
And those who were on the watch for Je-sus to do him harm, said, as they stood in the church, What think ye? will he not come to the feast? For the chief priests and Phar-i-sees had sent out word that those who knew where Je-sus was should make it known, that they might take him.
Now six days be-fore the great feast, Je-sus came to Beth-a-ny, where Laz-a-rus was whom he had raised from the dead. Some of the Jews knew that he was there, and they came not so much to see Je-sus as to see Laz-a-rus.