The people who were in front told him to be quiet; but he felt that this was the chance of his life, and he kept on calling, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!" Jesus stopped, and said to those near, "Go, and bring this man to me." Then they said to Bartimeus, "Be of good cheer; get up and go to Jesus, for he is calling you!" Bartimeus was in such a hurry to get to Jesus that he sprang up, flung aside his cloak, and left it on the ground, while they led him to the Lord. When he came near, Jesus said to him: "What would you have me do for you?" "Lord," he answered, "let me have my sight again!" "Have your sight," said Jesus, "your faith has made you well." And at once his sight came back to him; and he joined the crowd following Jesus, giving praise to God with a loud voice. And all those who saw this wonderful work added their praises to God. In the Rich Man's Home at Jericho CHAPTER 71 BUT BLIND Bartimeus was not the only man in Jericho who was eager to meet Jesus. In that city was living a very rich man named Zaccheus, who was the head of all the tax collectors in that part of the country. He had heard that Jesus was unlike other Jews, in being friendly toward the tax gatherers, and he greatly desired to see him. But Zaccheus was a small man, and in the crowd he could have no chance to look at Jesus, so he ran on ahead and climbed up into a mulberry tree that stood beside the road, and from a place among its branches he could look down upon the passing multitude. When Jesus came opposite to the tree, he stopped, looked up and saw Zaccheus, and said to him: "Zaccheus, make haste and come down; for I must stop at your house today!" He was surprised and glad that the great Teacher should choose his house, out of all the homes in Jericho, to stay in. He came down and walked with Jesus to his house. But all the people began to find fault, saying: "He has gone to visit at the house of a man who is a sinner!" For they took for granted because many of the tax gatherers were wicked men and robbed the people, that all of them were bad. [Illustration: Jesus called out to Zaccheus in the tree: "Make haste and come down, for I must stop at your house today!"] Zaccheus knew how they were feeling and what they were saying; so he came forward, and stood before Jesus and said: "Hear me, Master! I will give half of all that I own to help the poor; and if I have robbed or cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much as he has lost!" "Today," said Jesus, "in this house a man has been saved from his sins; since even Zaccheus here is a true son of Abraham our father. For the Son of Man has come to look after the lost ones and to save them." As the people were listening, he went on and spoke a parable to them; for he knew that as he was going up to Jerusalem, they were looking for the kingdom of God to be set up at once. This was "The Parable of the Pounds."