His parents were amazed when they saw him, and his mother said to him: "My child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been searching for you in great distress."

And the Holy Spirit descended, in a visible form, like a dove, upon him, and from the heavens came a voice--"Thou art my Son, the Beloved; in thee I delight."

At daybreak, Jesus went out and walked to a lonely spot. But crowds of people began to look for him; and they came to where he was and tried to detain him and prevent his leaving them.

Once, when the people were pressing round Jesus as the listened to God's Message, he happened to be standing by the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats close to the shore.

A scholar is not above his teacher; yet every finished scholar shall be like his teacher.

And why do you look at the straw in your brother's eye, while you pay no attention at all to the beam in your own?

So he summoned two of them, and sent them to the Master to ask--"Are you 'The Coming One,' or are we to look for some one else?"

When these men found Jesus, they said: "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask--'Are you 'The Coming One,' or are we to look for somebody else?'"

"What did you go out into the Wilderness to look at? A reed waving in the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in rich clothing? Why, those who are accustomed to fine clothes and luxury live in royal palaces.

"To what then," Jesus continued, "shall I compare the people of the present generation? What are they like?

They are like some little children who are sitting in the market-place and calling out to one another--'We have played the flute for you, but you have not danced; We have wailed, but you have not wept!'

One day about that time, Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them: "Let us go across the lake."

So they put off. While they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. A squall swept down upon the lake, and their boat was filling and they were in danger.

They came out from the man and took possession of the pigs; and the drove rushed down the steep slope into the lake and were drowned.

And just then a man in the crowd shouted out: "Teacher, I entreat you to look at my son, for he is my only child;

Now, go. Remember, I am sending you out as my Messengers like lambs among wolves.

And Jesus replied: "I have had visions of Satan, fallen, like lightning from the heavens.

Alas for you! You are like unsuspected graves, over which men walk unawares."

Think of the lilies, and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin; yet, I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was not robed like one of these.

And be like men who are waiting for their Master's return from his wedding, so that, when he comes and knocks, they may open the door for him at once.

And Jesus told them this parable-- "A man, who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, came to look for fruit on it, but could not find any.

So he said to his gardener 'Three years now I have come to look for fruit on this fig tree, without finding any! Cut it down. Why should it rob the soil?'

So Jesus said: "What is the Kingdom of God like? and to what can I liken it?

It is like a mustard-seed which a man took and put in his garden. The seed grew and became a tree, and 'the wild birds roosted in its branches.'"

It is like some yeast which a woman took and covered in three pecks of flour, until the whole had risen."

But Jesus answered: "Go and say to that fox 'Look you, I am driving out demons and shall be completing cures to-day and to- morrow, and on the third day I shall have done.'

They all with one accord began to ask to be excused. The first man said to the servant 'I have bought a field and am obliged to go and look at it. I must ask you to consider me excused.'

'No,' he said to his father, 'look at all the years I have been serving you, without ever once disobeying you, and yet you have never given me even a kid, so that I might have a merry-making with my friends.

But the Master said: "If your faith were only like a mustard- seed, you could say to this mulberry tree 'Be up-rooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Nor will people say 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!'; for the Kingdom of God is within you!

The Pharisee stood forward and began praying to himself in this way--'O God, I thank thee that I am not like other men-- thieves, rogues, adulterers--or even like this tax-gatherer.

I tell you, unless a man receives the Kingdom of God like a child, he will not enter it at all."

He tried to see what Jesus was like; but, being short, he was unable to do so because of the crowd.

Nor indeed can they die again, for they are like angels and, having shared in the resurrection, they are God's Sons.

"Be on your guard against the Teachers of the Law, who delight to walk about in long robes, and like to be greeted in the streets with respect, and to have the best seats in the Synagogues, and places of honor at dinner.

And, when these things begin to occur, look upwards and lift your heads, for your deliverance will be at hand."

Then he taught them a lesson thus-- "Look at the fig tree and all the other trees.

As soon as they shoot, you know, as you look at them, without being told, that summer is near.

Be on your guard lest your minds should ever be dulled by debauches or drunkenness or the anxieties of life, and lest 'That Day' should come suddenly upon you, like a snare.

But with you it must not be so. No, let the greatest among you become like the youngest, and him who leads like him who serves.

Simon! Simon! listen. Satan demanded leave to sift you all like wheat,

"Master," they exclaimed, "look, here are two swords!" "Enough!" said Jesus.

And, as his anguish became intense, he prayed still more earnestly, while his sweat was like great drops of blood falling on the ground.]

Look at my hands and my feet, and you will know that it is I. Feel me, and look at me, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see that I have."