Volume 2

278 Life of Jesus Christ
Him what would be the end of His preaching, what would
come of it all. Jesus answered so evasively that they could
make nothing out of His words. They were, however,
something to this effect: If His preaching seemed too long
to some, to others it was short. He spoke in parables of
the harvest, of sowing, of reaping, of separating the tares
from the good grain, of the bread and nourishment of
eternal life, etc. The good husbandman, the host of Jesus,
listened to His teaching with a docile heart. He ceased to
accuse his enemy, later on gave over all he possessed into
the treasury of the rising Church, and his sons joined the
disciples.
There was much talk here of the Herodians. The people
complained of their spying into everything. They had recently
accused and arrested here at Dothain and also in
Capharnaum several adulterers, and taken them to
Jerusalem where they were to be judged. The people of
Dothain were well pleased that such persons should be
removed from among them, but the feeling of being continually
watched was very distasteful to them. Jesus spoke
of the Herodians with perfect freedom. He told the people
to beware of sin, also of hypocrisy and criticizing others.
One should confess his own delinquencies before sitting in
judgment upon his neighbor. Then Jesus painted the ordinary
manner of acting among the Herodians, applying
to them the passage from the Prophet Isaias read in the
synagogue on the preceding Sabbath, which treats of
dumb dogs that do not bark, that do not turn away from
evil, and that tear nlen in secret. He reminded them that
those adulterers were delivered over to justice while
Herod, the patron of their accusers, lived in the open
comnlission of the same crime, and He gave them signs by
which they might recognize the Herodians.
There were in several of the huts nearby some men who
had received injuries during their labor. Jesus visited
them, cured the poor creatures, and told them to go to the