aims to forgive sin! God alone can
do that."

The Pharisees and scribes rose to leave. They walked through the crowd
without looking at the people. When they were outside, the elderly
leader shook his head very gravely. "I had hoped this man would be a
friend of the Law, but I am afraid he is not. 'Your sins are forgiven!'
What a blasphemous thing for a man to dare to say!"

[Illustration]

6. THE OLD AND THE NEW

"Rabbi, it is a serious mistake for us to mix with outcasts!" Simon was
disturbed. Jesus had summoned a tax collector named Levi to follow him.
On this night the tax collector had asked Jesus and his disciples to
come to his home for dinner. "I know that Levi is different now,"
protested Simon, "but we ought not to get mixed up with his old cronies.
We should take him away from that class of people!"

Jesus came straight to the point. "Don't you want to eat at Levi's home
at all?"

"No!" Simon answered bluntly. "After all, look who he is! A taxgatherer!
A traitor to our nation! For my part, I want nothing to do with him."
Simon realized that his tone was not respectful. "I am thinking of our
work, Master. People will not listen to us if we eat with those men. The
best people will look down on us!"

"Levi has sinned," answered Jesus. "That is why we called him to join
us. His friends have sinned. We are going to eat with them because they
need help. And do not forget, Simon, you will be judged by the same
measuring stick that you use on Levi's friends."

"I am far from perfect. Rabbi," persisted Simon, "but I try to obey the
Law." His tone became bitter. "Anyway, I never worked for King Herod! I
cannot stand the idea of sitting down at the same table with tax
collectors. It might as well be a gang of robbers!"

"Simon," said Jesus sternly, "before you start looking for the sliver in
Levi's eye you had better dig the tree trunk out of your own." Strongly
rebuked, Simon consented to eat with Levi and his friends, but he was
very unwilling.

The next day two close friends of Symeon, the most respected citizen of
Capernaum, stopped to visit him. The report of what Jesus had done came
up.

"What I cannot understand," remarked Symeon, a dignified man of about
sixty, "is how a man who wants to teach religion can actually associate
with such people."

"For that matter," replied one of his friends, "look at the men who
follow him. They are very common people--fishermen, this tax collector,
and s