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 magazine or newspaper.
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 shaken its load loose on purpose. The little caravan started again, Andrew in the lead.
The road was built on the slope of the hills which closed in the plain of the Jordan. Stretching far to the west the