Men Called Him Master

MEN CALLED HIM MASTER
By ELWYN ALLEN SMITH
THE WESTMINSTER PRESS - PHILADELPHIA
COPYRIGHT, MCMXLVIII, BY W. L. JENKINS
Transcriber's Note There is no evidence that the U.S. copyright on this
publication was renewed.
All rights reserved--no part of this book may be reproduced in any form
without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer
who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review in
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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS
Have You Ever Wondered? 6
1 A Voice in the Wilderness 7
2 Fishers of Men 14
3 A Man of Authority 25
4 God Is Now King! 34
5 Who Is This Carpenter? 45
6 The Old and the New 54
7 Missionaries of the Kingdom 64

8 He Is More than a Teacher 74
9 How Will You Know the Messiah? 80
10 "You Are the Christ" 88
11 A Secret Is Told 102
12 The Greatest Among Us 113
13 The Messiah Must Die 122
14 A Day of Victory 131
15 Dispute in the Temple 141
16 The End of Hope 152
17 The Darkest Hour of All 165
18 The Rock of Faith 173

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED?
What kind of men were Jesus' disciples? What was it like to be with
Jesus in Palestine? Why did some of the disciples find it so hard to
understand Jesus? Who were the people who killed Jesus? Why did
they do it? This book has been written to help you to answer these
questions. It takes you right into Jesus' world so that you can hear his
conversations with the disciples and watch the things they did.
The stories of Jesus and the disciples in this book are told in different
words from those you will find in your Bible, and background has been
built in from other records of the time. For example, the Bible gives
only the fact that one of the disciples was a Zealot; in this book the
disciple is shown speaking and acting as we know Zealots spoke and
acted. The story of the rich young ruler has been placed early in Jesus'

ministry to show that he would not accept every man who wanted to be
his disciple. The parable of the Good Samaritan has also been placed in
the early period as an example of the informal way in which Jesus
taught. That you may know what is from the Bible and what is added to
make a complete story, Scripture references for each event are given in
the back of the book. These references will help you to read and
understand the Gospels. As you read what it meant to be a disciple of
Jesus while he was on earth, you will see more clearly what it means to
be one of his disciples today.
[Illustration]

1. A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS
"Andrew! The baskets are slipping!" Two men on foot were driving
heavily loaded donkeys ahead of them. Across the back of Andrew's
tiny beast hung two huge baskets. One slanted crazily forward.
"It ought to hold until we get to the top," answered Andrew. He looked
critically at the load and then at the path ahead. They were climbing the
bank of a wide gully cut by the floods that rushed down from the barren
hills into the valley of the Jordan River every spring. Andrew shouted a
command and the donkeys climbed slowly upward. At the top the men
stopped to catch their breath.
"John," exclaimed Andrew in disgust, "I have tightened this thing on
every hill between Galilee and Judea!" He worked impatiently at the
knotted ropes that bound the baskets on the donkey's back. John was
not listening. He was gazing at the scene before them.
Torrents of muddy water poured through the gully during the season of
rains. Now the clay in the bottom was dry and cracked. Under the hoofs
of the animals it was as hard as stone. John pushed his damp hair back
from his forehead. His home province, with its green hillsides
surrounding the cool Lake of Galilee, was very different from this burnt,
rocky land of Judea, which lay southwest of where they stood. The

gully carried a sluggish stream of heated air up from the valley; he
could feel the damp warmth on his skin. Even on the hilltop there was
no cooling breeze.
Andrew wiped his face with a dusty sleeve and left a dirty streak above
his brows. "There!" he exclaimed. "These baskets ought to stay on
now." The rope was drawn tightly around the belly of the donkey.
"We should be at Bethany soon," remarked John.
Andrew struck the donkey with his whip and said gruffly, "Come on!"
as though the animal had