Volume 2

The Harvest Banquet
289
penance and conversion. The Scribes with all their opposition
and cunning had not another word to say. It was
extremely ridiculous to see those men, who had so loudly
boasted to one another, not once daring to open their
mouths. They could not in even the least thing carry their
point against Jesus, they could not answer even His
simplest question.
After the Sabbath, a great banquet was spread in one
of the public pleasure resorts of the city. It was intended
to celebrate the close of the harvest, and Jesus with His
disciples was invited. The guests were made up of the
most distinguished citizens of the place, also many visitors
to the city, and even some rich peasants. At several
tables, laden with the products of the harvest, all kinds of
fruit and grain and even poultry were eaten. Whatever
had yielded an abundant crop was here represented with
profusion. The flocks also yielded their share to the entertainment.
Some of the animals were roasted ready to
be eaten, while others were slaughtered and ready for
cooking, as sylnbols of abundance.
The first places had been assigned to Jesus and His
disciples, notwithstanding which, a haughty Pharisee had
put himself foremost. When Jesus went to the table, He
asked him in a low voice how he had come by the place
that he occupied. The Pharisee replied: "I am here
because it is the praiseworthy custom of this city for the
learned and distinguished to sit first." Jesus responded:
"They that strive after the first places upon earth, shall
have no place in the Kingdom of My Father." The
Pharisee, quite ashamed, resigned the seat for a lower
one, though at the same time he tried to make it appear
that he did so on an inspiration of his own. During the
repast Jesus spoke of sonle things regarding the Sabbath,
especially of that passage of Isaias 58:7: "Deal thy bread
to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harborless
into thy house," and asked whether it was not customary