, but why should he? He was already a good man!"

James summed up the thoughts of them all: "Rabbi, if a man as good as
that can't enter the Kingdom, how can anyone?"

Jesus said: "Simon, I want to tell you a story. Two men went up to the
Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee--like the young man we talked with
yesterday. The other was a tax collector, who had been dishonest.

"The Pharisee stood by himself, a distance away from the ordinary folk
who went in and out of the Temple, and prayed this way: 'God, I thank
thee that I am not like other men--thieves, rogues, and immoral--like
that taxgatherer over there. You know I am a good man. I fast twice a
week and pay tithes of all my money.'

"But the taxgatherer," continued Jesus, "went off in a corner where he
could hide from people. He wouldn't even lift up his eyes as he prayed.
Rather, he hung his head and beat his breast in the deepest shame and
said, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'"

The disciples did not seem to understand, so Jesus said: "The
taxgatherer left the Temple accepted by God. But not the Pharisee! He
trusted in his own goodness rather than in God. If he had been humble,
like the taxgatherer, God could have forgiven him."

"But I don't see what that has to do with the young Pharisee," protested
James. "He was not dishonest! Why should he be ashamed?"

"This young ruler was like the Pharisee in the Temple," replied Jesus.
"He was so confident of his own goodness that he could not see how far
he was from what God wants him to be."

"But, Master," urged Simon, "look at the things that the Pharisees do!
They educate our children in religion in the synagogue schools. They
never have anything to do with the Sadducees or priests who take money
from the Romans. They study the Scriptures more than anyone else; don't
these things count for anything?"

"Men may do all these things and yet have no real faith in God,"
answered Jesus. "The Kingdom of Heaven comes to men who love God above
everything else. There was something that meant more to that young man
yesterday than God--and that was his money. Other men depend on other
things; whatever they are, they must get rid of them. Even the most
upright Pharisee must forget his pride in goodness and trust God as
simply as a little child."

John shook his head doubtfully. "The people will never understand that,"
he said. "Even though the Pharisees are often very snobbish, they are
the best people in our natio