The Teaching of Christ Narrated for Children

Chapter 52
And when Jesus was already hanging on the cross, people surrounded him and cursed him. People came to him, nodded to him, and told: “Well, you wanted to destroy the Temple in Jerusalem in three days, and in three days to build the new one. Come on now, rescue yourself, come down from the cross!” And the chief priests and the scribes stood nearby and also laughed at him and told: “You saved others, but cannot save yourself. Show us now that you are the Christ, come down from the cross, and then we will believe you.” “He said that he is the son of God, and said that God would not leave him. What about now – has God left him?” And people, and the chief priests, and soldiers laughed at him. And one of the robbers crucified next to him, told the same: “If you are the Christ, then save yourself and us as well.” But another robber heard this and said: “Aren’t you’re afraid of God, you are hanging on the cross yoursel... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Chapter 51
Pilate wanted to release Jesus so much that he again began to speak to people and said: “How come you want to crucify your king?” But the Jews said to him: “If you'll let Jesus go, then by doing this you’ll show that you are a bad servant to Cesar, because the one who makes himself a king is the enemy of Cesar. We have one Cesar, so crucify this king.” And when Pilate heard these words, he realized that he could no longer avoid executing Jesus. Then Pilate went out to the Jews, poured water on his hands in front of them and said: “I’m washing my hands from the blood of this innocent man.” And the people shouted: “Let his blood be on us and on our children.” And then Pilate commanded first to whip Jesus out. When they whipped him, the soldiers who did that put a wreath on his head and gave a stick into his hands and put a red cloak on his back and began to mock him. Mocking him, they bowed to him and told: "Hail, the king... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Chapter 50
And they have brought Jesus to Herod. Herod heard a lot about Jesus and was now glad to see him. Herod called Jesus to come closer and began to question him about all he wanted to know. But Jesus didn’t answer him anything. And the chief priests and scribes, just like they did before Pilate, and now before Herod, accused Jesus in all crimes and told that he was a rebel. But Herod took Jesus for an empty person, and to make fun of him, ordered to put a red dress on him, and in that clown dress sent him back to Pilate. When the second time they brought Jesus to Pilate, Pilate again called the leaders of Jews and said to them: “You have already brought this man to me for agitating the people, and I interrogated him in front of you, and I do not see him being a rebel. I sent him with you to Herod, and here you can see that nothing dangerous was found about him. And, in my opinion, there is nothing to execute him to death for, wouldn't it be better to whip him up and let hi... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Chapter 49
After that, they took Jesus to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. When they brought him to Pilate, the governor came out on the porch and said those who bought him: “What do you accuse this man for?” They said: “He is a villain, that’s why we brought him to you.” Pilate said to them: “But if he's a villain according to you, then punish him according to your law.” And they said: “We brought him to you so that you execute him, as we are not allowed to execute anyone to death.” Then Pilate asked them again what they accused him for. They said that he agitates people, forbids them to pay taxes to Cesar, and calls himself the king of Jews. Pilate listened to them and told them to bring Jesus to his judgment hall. When Jesus entered, Pilate asked him: “Are you the king of Jews?” Jesus said to him: “Are you are asking this on your own or are you repeating what was told?” Pilate said: “I am not a Jew, but... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Chapter 48
And the elders and the scribes gathered at the high priest’s place. And when everyone has gathered, they brought Jesus there, and the high priest asked him what his teaching was about and who were his disciples. Jesus said: “I have always spoken before everyone and hided nothing from anyone. What do you ask me about? Ask those who have heard and understood my teaching, they will tell you.” When Jesus said that, one of the guards struck Jesus on his face and said: “To whom are you talking? Is this the way to respond to the high priest?” Jesus said: “If I said something bad, tell me, what’s wrong with what I said. And if I didn’t say anything wrong, then why did you hit me?” The high priest and the elders tried to accuse Jesus, but did not find enough evidences to prosecute him. Then they found two false witnesses, and those witnesses said about Jesus as if he told that he would destroy the temple and build it again for three day... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Another time, Jesus went through Samaria . He got tired and sat down by the well. And his disciples went to town went to get some bread. And a woman from the village comes to get water. Jesus asked her to drink. And the woman says to him: “How come you, the Jews, do not communicate with us, Samaritans, but you ask me for a drink?” – And Jesus said to her: "If you would know me and what I teach, you would not say that, but would give me a drink, and I would give you to drink the water of life. The woman didn't understand him and said: “Where will you take some other water? The only water here is in this well, of our father Jacob.” And he said to her: “Who will drink your water, he will get thirsty again, b... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Once Jesus left the disciples and began to pray. And when he finished, the disciples approached him and asked, “Teacher, teach us to pray.” And he said to them: “First of all, make sure you pray not as it is often done – for people to see you and praise for it. If it is done that way, it is done for people, and so the reward comes from people. But there is no benefit for your soul from such prayer. However, if you want to pray, go to such place where nobody would see you, and there pray to your Father, and your Father will give you what you need for your soul. And when you pray, do not tell more than you need to. Your Father knows what you need, and even if you won’t say everything, he will give you everything ... (From : Wikisource.org.)

And scribes and Pharisees, with all their power tried to destroy Jesus; they gathered in the council and began to decide how to do it. They said: “We must stop this person. He proves his teaching in such a way, that if we leave him alone, everybody will believe in him and will abandon our faith. By now already half of the people got to believe in him. And if everybody will believe in his teaching, that all people are children of one Father and that all are the brothers, and that there is nothing special in our Jewish people that would stand them out from other people, then the Romans will come and take us, and there won’t be Jewish Kingdom anymore.” And scribes and Pharisees consulted for long time. They wanted to kill Jes... (From : Wikisource.org.)

And then the disciples said to Jesus: “Your teaching is difficult. Increase in us the belief that we will be well if we live according to your teaching.” Jesus has realized that the students wanted to know about the reward for good life. And he said to them: “Faith is not in the belief in a reward, but faith is in clear understanding of what life is. If you understand clearly that your life is in the spirit of God, then you're not going to wait for the reward. The master will not thank a worker for doing what he was supposed to do. And the worker, if he understands that he is a worker, doesn’t get offended at that, but works and knows that he will get what he deserves. So as you, fulfill the Father's will, and unders... (From : Wikisource.org.)

And Jesus told another parable about how people should live. He said: “An owner has planted a garden, tended it, done everything for the garden to give as much fruits as possible. And he sent workers in this garden to work, collect fruits, and pay him a share. The deadline came, and the owner sent an employee to collect fruits, but the workers forgot that it’s not them who planted and arranged the garden, and they drove the messenger of the owner away with nothing, and lived in the garden as if they were owners, without thinking that the garden is not theirs and that they lived in it by the mercy of the owner. Then the owner sent another, senior, servant to remind the workers about the payment. The workers chased this one away, ... (From : Wikisource.org.)