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Gospel In Brief Tolstoy "Sayings" Chapter 1

CHAPTER ITHE SON OF GODMan, the son of God, is powerless in the flesh, and free in the spirit("Our father")THE birth of Jesus Christ was thus:His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph (mt 1:18) . But, before they began to live as man and wife, Mary proved with child (mt 1:19) . But Joseph was a good man, and did not wish to disgrace her; he took her as his wife, and had nothing to do with her until she had borne her first son, and called him Jesus (mt 1:24-25) .

And the boy grew and matured, and was intelligent beyond his years (lk 2:40) .

Jesus was twelve years old; and it happened that Mary and Joseph went to the feast at Jerusalem, and took the boy with them. The feast was over, and they went homeward, and forgot about the boy (lk 2:41-43) . Afterward they recollected, and thought that he had gone off with the children, and they inquired about him along the road (lk 2:44) . He was nowhere to be found, and they went back to Jerusalem after him (lk 2:45) . And it was the third day before they found the boy inthe temple, sitting with the teachers, questioning them, and listening. And everyone wondered at his intelligence (lk 2:46-47) . His mother caught sight of him, and said: "Why have you done this way with us? Your father and I have been grieving, and looking for you." (lk 2:48) And he said to them: "But where did you lo

ok for me? Surely you ought to know that the son must be looked for in his Father's house?" (lk 2:49) And they did not understand his words; they did not understand whom it was he called his Father (lk 2:50) .

And after this, Jesus lived at his mother's, and obeyed her in everything (lk 2:51) . And he advanced in age and intelligence (lk 2:52) . And every one thoughtthat Jesus was the son of Joseph; and so he lived to the age of thirty (lk 3:23) .

At that time the prophet John appeared in Judea (mt 3:1) . He lived in the desert of Judea, on the Jordan (mk 1:4) . John's clothes were of camel's hair, girt round the waist with a strap; and he fed on bark and herbs (mt 3:4) .

He summoned the people to a change of life, in order to get rid of wickedness; and, as a sign of the change of life, he bathed people in the Jordan (mk 1:4) . He said: "A voice calls to you: Open a way for God through the wild places, clear the way for Him (lk 3:4) . Make it so that all may be level, that there may beneither hollows nor hills, neither high nor low (lk 3:5) . Then God will be among you, and all will find their salvation." (lk 3:6)

And the people asked him, "What are we to do?" (lk 3:10) He answered: "Let him who has two suits of clothes give one to him who has none. Let him who has food give to him who has none." (lk 3:11) And tax-collectors came to him, and asked: "What are we to do?" (lk 3:12) He said to them: "Extort nothing beyond what is ordered." (lk 3:13) And soldiers asked: "How are we to live?" He said: "Do no oneany harm, do not deal falsely; be content with what is served out to you." (lk 3

:14)

And inhabitants of Jerusalem came to him, and all the Jews in the neighborhood of the Jordan (mt 3:5) . And they acknowledged their wickedness to him; and, in sign of the change of life, he bathed them in the Jordan (mt 3:6) .

And many of the orthodox and conventional religionists also came to John, but secretly. He recognized them, and said: "You race of vipers! Have you, also, got wind of it, that you cannot escape the will of God? (mt 3:7) Then bethink yourselves, and change your faith! (mt 3:8) And if you wish to change your faith, let i

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t be seen by your fruits that you have bethought yourselves. The ax is already laid to the tree. If the tree produces bad fruit, it will be cut down and cast into the fire (mt 3:10) . In sign of your change I cleanse you in water; but, along with this bathing, you must be cleansed with the spirit (mt 3:11) . The spirit will cleanse you, as a master cleanses his threshing-floor; when he gathers the wheat, but burns the chaff." (mt 3:12)

Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be bathed by John; and he bathed, and heard John's preaching (mt 3:13) .

And from the Jordan he went into the wild places, and there he strove in the spirit (mt 4:1) . Jesus passed forty days and nights in the desert, without food or drink (mt 4:2) .

And the voice of his flesh said to him: "If you were Son of the Almighty God, you might of your own will make loaves out of stones; but you cannot do this, therefore you are not Son of God." (lk 4:3) But Jesus said to himself: "If I cannotmake bread out of stones, this means that I am not Son of a God of the flesh, but Son of the God of the spirit. I am alive, not by bread, but by the spirit. And my spirit is able to disregard the flesh." (lk 4:4)

But hunger, nevertheless, tormented him; and the voice of the flesh again said to him: "If you live only by the spirit, and can disregard the flesh, then you can throw off the flesh, and your spirit will remain alive." And it seemed to him

that he was standing on the roof of the temple, and the voice of the flesh saidto him: "If you are Son of the God of the spirit, throw yourself off the temple(lk 4:9) . You will not be killed. But an unforeseen force will keep you, support you, and save you from all harm." (lk 4:10-11) But Jesus said to himself: "I can disregard the flesh, but may not throw it off, because I was born by the spirit into the flesh. This was the will of the Father of my spirit, and I cannot oppose Him." (lk 4:12)

Then the voice of the flesh said to him: "If you cannot oppose your Father by throwing yourself off the temple and discarding life, then you also cannot opposeyour Father by hungering when you need to eat. You must not make light of the desires of the flesh; they were placed in you, and you must serve them." Then Jesus seemed to see all the kingdoms of the earth, and all mankind, just as they liv

e and labor for the flesh, expecting gain therefrom (lk 4:5) . And the voice ofthe flesh said to him: "Well, you see, these work for me, and I give them all they wish for. If you will work for me you will have the same." (lk 4:6-7) But Jesus said to himself: "My Father is not flesh, but spirit. I live by Him; I always know that He is in me. Him alone I honor, and for Him alone I work, expecting reward from Him alone." (lk 4:8)

Then the temptation ceased, and Jesus knew the power of the spirit (lk 4:13) .

And when he had known the power of the spirit, Jesus went out of the wild places, and went again to John, and stayed with him (jn 1:35) .

And when Jesus was leaving John, John said of him: "This is the saviour of men."

 (jn 1:36)

On account of these words of John, two of John's disciples left their former teacher and went after Jesus (jn 1:37) . Jesus, seeing them following him, stoppedand said: "What do you want?" They said to him: "Teacher! we wish to be with you, and to know your teaching." (jn 1:38) He said: "Come with me, and I will tellyou everything." They went with him, and stayed with him, listening to him until the tenth hour (jn 1:39) .

One of these disciples was called Andrew. Andrew had a brother Simon. Having hea

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rd Jesus (jn 1:40) , Andrew went to his brother Simon, and said to him: "We have found him of whom the prophets wrote, the Messiah; we have found him who has announced to us our salvation." (jn 1:41) Andrew took Simon with him, and broughthim also to Jesus. Jesus called this brother of Andrew, Peter, which means a stone (jn 1:42) . And both these brothers became disciples of Jesus.

Afterward, before entering Galilee, Jesus met Philip, and called him to go withhim (jn 1:43) . Philip was from Bethsaida, and a fellow villager of Peter and Andrew (jn 1:44) . When Philip knew Jesus, he went and found his brother Nathanael, and said to him: "We have found the chosen of God, of whom the prophets and Moses wrote. This is Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth." (jn 1:45) Nathanael was astonished that he of whom the prophets wrote should be from the neighboring village, and said: "It is most unlikely that the messenger of God should be from Nazareth." Philip said: "Come with me, you shall see and hear for yourself."(jn 1:46) Nathanael agreed, and went with his brother, and met Jesus; and, whenhe had heard him, he said to Jesus: "Yes, now I see that this is true, that youare the Son of God and the king of Israel." (jn 1:47-49) Jesus said to him: "Learn something more important than that (jn 1:50) . Henceforth heaven is opened, and people may be in communion with the forces of heaven. Henceforth God will beno longer separate from men." (jn 1:51)

And Jesus came home to Nazareth; and on the Sabbath he went as usual into the synagogue, and began to read (lk 4:16) . They gave him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and, unrolling it, he began to read. In the book was written: (lk 4:17)

"The spirit of the Lord is in me. He has chosen me to announce happiness to theunfortunate and the broken-hearted, to announce freedom to those who are bound,light to the blind, and salvation and rest to the weary (lk 4:18) . To announceto all men the time of God's mercy." (lk 4:19)

He folded the book, gave it to the attendant, and sat down. And all waited to hear what he should say (lk 4:20) . And he said: "This writing has now been fulfilled before your eyes." (lk 4:21)