nt up on the hillside near Capernaum and called to him the men
whom he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve to be with him
and to go out to preach, with power to cast out evil spirits. These were
the twelve disciples: Simon to whom he gave also the name Peter, James
the son of Zebedee and John his brother, whom he called "Sons of
Thunder," Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of
Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who at last
betrayed him.

Then Jesus went into a house and the crowd gathered again so that it was
impossible even to eat a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they
set out to get hold of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."
Standing outside, his mother and his brothers sent word to him to come
out to them. He was in the midst of a crowd seated about him when some
one said to him, "Here are your mother and your brothers and sisters
outside hunting for you." He answered, "Who are my mother and my
brothers?" Then looking around at those who sat in a circle about him,
he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of
God is my brother and sister and mother."

WHAT JESUS ASKS OF HIS FRIENDS AND HELPERS

[Illustration: _Christ with Mary and Martha_

Painted by H. Siemiradzki]

Once Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha invited
him to her house. She had a sister named Mary who seated herself at
Jesus' feet and listened to his words. But Martha was worried by her
desire to wait on him, and came and said to him, "Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help
me." But Jesus said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and
troubled about many things, but few things are necessary, really only
one. Mary has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken away from
her."

Once when Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road, some one
said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus said to him,
"The foxes have holes and the wild birds their nests, but the Son of Man
has no place to lay his head." He said to another, "Follow me"; but the
man said, "Let me first go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let
the dead bury their dead, but you go and tell about the Kingdom of God."
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say
good-by to my people at home." Jesus said to him, "No one who looks back
after having put his han