Bible Characters. Joseph Parker
very day—they will open that door and lead me away to be crucified!”
Pretty soon he hears them coming. No mistake this time. They are unbarring the iron door. He hears them turning the key in the rusty lock. Then the door swings open. There are the soldiers.
Good-by to life and hope! Death—horrible death—now! And after death—what will there be then?
The officer of the guard speaks to him: “Barabbas, you are free!”
He hears the strange words, but they make very little impression on him. He is so near dead with fear and horror that the good news does not reach him. His ears catch the sound, but he thinks it is a foolish fancy. He is asleep and dreaming. He stands gazing a moment at the soldiers, and then he comes to himself.
“Do not laugh at me! Do not make sport of me! Take me away and crucify me, but do not tear my soul to pieces!” Again the officer speaks: “You are free! Here—the door is open! Go out—go home!”
Now he begins to take in the truth. But it is so wonderful a thing to get out of the clutches of the Roman law that he is afraid to believe the good news. And so he begins to doubt, and to ask how it can be.
They tell him that Pilate has promised the Jews the release of one prisoner that day, and that the Jews have chosen him instead of one Jesus of Nazareth, who was condemned to be crucified.
Now the poor man begins to weep. This breaks his heart. He knows this Jesus. He has seen Him perform some of His miracles. He was in the crowd, picking pockets, when Jesus fed the five thousand hungry people.
“What! That just man to die! And I—a thief, a highwayman, a murderer—to go free!”
And in the midst of his joy at his own release his heart breaks at the thought that his life is saved at such a cost.
BARTIMEUS AND ZACCHÆUS.
In the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke you will find Christ was going into Jericho, and as He drew near the gates of the city there was a poor blind man who sat by the wayside, begging people to give him a farthing, and crying out: “Have mercy on a poor blind man!”
This blind beggar met a man who said to him: “I have good news to tell you, Bartimeus.”
“What is it?” asked the beggar.
“There is a man of Israel who can give you sight.”
“Oh, no! There is no chance of my ever receiving my sight. I never shall see. In fact, I never saw the mother who gave me birth. I never saw the wife of my bosom. I never saw my own children. I never saw in this world, but I expect to see in the world to come.”
“Let me tell you. I have just come down from Jerusalem, and I saw that village carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth; and I saw a man who was born blind, who had received his sight, and I never saw a man who had better sight. He does not even have to use glasses.”
Then hope rises for the first time in this poor man’s heart, and he says: “Tell me how the man got his sight.”
“Oh,” says the other, “Jesus first spat upon the ground and made clay, and put it on his eyes, and then He told the man to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam, and he would receive his sight. More than that, Bartimeus: He does not charge you any thing. You have no fee to pay. You just tell him what you want, and you get it—without money and without price. It does not need dukes, lords or influence. You just call upon Him yourself. And if He ever comes this way, do not let Him go back without your going to see Jesus.”
And Bartimeus said: “I will try it. There is no harm in trying it.”
I can imagine Bartimeus being led by a child to his seat, as usual, and that he is crying out: “Please give a blind beggar a farthing.”
He hears the footsteps of the coming multitude, and he inquires: “Who is passing? What does this multitude mean?” They tell him that it is Jesus of Nazareth passing by. The moment he hears that he says: “Why, that is the man that gave sight to the blind!”
The moment it reached his ear that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out at the top of his voice: “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me!”
Some of those who went before—perhaps Peter was one of them—rebuked him, thinking the Master was going up to Jerusalem to be crowned King, and did not want to be distracted. They never knew the Son of God when He was here. He would hush every harp in Heaven to hear a sinner pray. No music would delight Him so much. But the blind man still lifted up his voice, and cried louder: “Thou Son of David, have mercy on me!”
This prayer reached the ears of the Son of God, as prayer always will, and they led the poor blind man to Him. Well, when Jesus heard the blind beggar, He commanded him to be brought. So they ran to him, and said: “Be of good cheer. The Master calls you. He has a blessing for you.”
When Jesus saw Bartimeus He said: “What can I do for you?”
“Lord, that I may receive sight.”
“You shall have it.”
And the Lord gave it to him. And now the beggar follows with the crowd, glorifying God. I can imagine he sang as sweetly as Mr. Sankey—and no one can sing more sweetly than he—when he shouted: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” No one sang louder than this one who had received his sight. Then he follows on with the crowd, which we see pressing into the gates of the city. I can imagine, when he gets into the city, he says to himself: “I will go down and see Mrs. Bartimeus.” Of course, after all those years of blindness, he had some curiosity to see what his wife looked like.
As he is passing down the street, a man meets him, and turns around and says: “Bartimeus, is that you?”
“Yes; it is I.”
“Well, I thought so, and yet I feared my eyes must deceive me. How did you get your sight?”
“I just met Jesus of Nazareth outside the walls of the city, and I asked Him to have mercy on me; and He gave me sight.”
“Jesus of Nazareth! Is he now in this part of the country?”
“Yes; He is on His way to Jerusalem. He is now going down to the eastern gate.”
“I should like to see Him,” says the man. And he runs straightway down the street. But he can not get a glimpse of Him, being small of stature, on account of the great throng around Him. He runs to a sycamore tree, and says to himself: “If I get up there and hide, without any one seeing me, He can not get by without my having a good look at Him.”
A great many rich men do not like to be seen coming to Jesus.
Well, there he is in the sycamore tree, on a branch hanging right over the highway, and he says to himself: “He can not get by without my having a good look at Him.” All at once the crowd comes in sight. He looks at John. “That is not He.” He looks at Peter. “No, that is not He.” Then he sees One who is fairer than the sons of men. “That is He!” And Zacchæus, just peeping out from among the branches, looks down upon that wonderful—yes, that mighty—God-Man in amazement.
At last the crowd comes to the tree, and it looks as if Christ is going by; but He stops right under the tree. All at once He looks up and sees Zacchæus, and says to him: “Zacchæus, make haste and come down.”
I can imagine Zacchæus says to himself: “I wonder who told Him my name. I was never introduced to Him.” But Christ knew all about him.
Well, He said to Zacchæus: “Make haste and come down.” He may have added: “This is the last time I shall pass this way, Zacchæus.” That is the way He speaks to sinners. “This may be the last time I shall pass this way. This may be your last chance