One Lord's day he went to the house of one of the chief Phar-i-sees, and while there he spoke of a man who made a great feast. And when it was all spread out, he sent his ser-vant out to bid those come in whom he had asked to the feast. And they all cried out that they could not come. The first one said, I have bought a piece of ground, and must go and see it; so pray do not look for me. The next one said, I have bought five yoke of ox-en, and must go and try them; so pray do not look for me. The next one said, I have just ta-ken a wife, and so can-not come. So the ser-vant came back to the house and told his mas-ter these things. Then the rich man was in a rage, and he said to his ser-vant, Make haste and go out through the streets and lanes of the town, and bring in the poor, the lame, and the halt and the blind. And the ser-vant did as he was told. Then he came and said, Lord, I have done as thou didst bid me, and yet there is room for more. The lord of the house then said, Go out through the high-ways, and down by the hedge-rows, and make the folks come in, that my house may be full; for none of those who were first called shall taste of my feast. The man who spreads the feast is God. The feast is the good news--that Christ will save us from our sins. The ser-vant means those who preach, and urge men to come to Christ. Those who were first bid to the feast and would not come mean the Jews. And to bid the poor, the lame, and the blind come in-to the feast, means that the poor and the sick are to be saved as well as the rich and the great. Great crowds drew near to Je-sus, and he told them that though they might come and hear him preach, if they did not care for him in their hearts they were not true friends, and could not be of his band. They must care more for him than for all else in the whole world; and must bear his cross--that is, they must do what is right, as Je-sus did. CHAPTER XIV. THE PRODIGAL SON.--THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.--BABES BROUGHT TO JESUS.--ZACCHEUS CLIMBS A TREE. JE-SUS said, There was a rich man who had two sons. One of them was wild, and fond of feasts and of gay times, and did not care for his home, or the life that he led there. So he went to his fa-ther and said, Give me, I pray thee, my share of the wealth thou hast laid up for thine heirs, that I may spend it as I choose. And he took his share, and went far from home, and led a gay life. And when he had spent all he had, there came a dearth in that land, and he was in great want. That he might not starve, he went out in search of work, and a man hired him, and sent him in the fields to feed swine. And so great was his need of some-thing to eat that he would have been glad to have had some of the coarse food with which the swine were fed, but none of the men gave it to him.