On the way back from Rome, Gonod had extensive business to transact in Corinth so the travelers remained in this large and cosmopolitan Greek city for two months. Of course, Jesus and Ganid were busy getting to know the city and its more spiritually forward looking citizens. They were frequent guests in the home of Justice and his wife Martha. Justice was a devout Jewish merchant who lived next door to the synagogue.
Ganid loved to visit the Citadel which stood almost two thousand feet above the sea. One evening as Jesus and Ganid were walking near the Citadel, they were propositioned by two prostitutes. Now, in their months of association, Ganid had correctly gathered that Jesus would never participate in anything unclean or that savored of evil. So he responded to the women sharply and rudely motioned them away.
When Jesus saw this, he spoke to Ganid and in the presence of the women. “Ganid, you mean well, but you shouldn’t presume to treat the children of God that way, even if they happen to be his erring children. We have no need or right to sit in judgment on these women. You don’t know all of the circumstances which led them to resort to this method of earning a livelihood. Stop and let’s talk about these matters.” The two courtesans and Ganid were astonished at what Jesus was saying.
As they stood in the moonlight, Jesus went on, “Ganid, there lives within every human mind a divine spirit, the gift of the Father in heaven. This good spirit ever strives to lead us to God and to know God. But also within mortals there are many natural physical tendencies which the Creator put there to serve the well-being of the individual and the race. Men and women often become confused in their efforts to understand themselves and to grapple with the many difficulties of making a living in a world so largely dominated by selfishness and sin. Ganid, neither of these women is willfully wicked. I can tell by their faces that they have experienced much sorrow; they have suffered greatly at the hands of an apparently cruel fate; they have not intentionally chosen this sort of life; they have in discouragement bordering on despair, surrendered to the pressure of the hour and accepted this distasteful means of earning a livelihood as the best way out of a situation that, to them, seemed hopeless. Ganid, some people are really wicked at heart; they deliberately choose to do mean things, but, tell me, as you look into these now tear-stained faces, do you see anything bad or wicked?”
And as Jesus paused for his reply, Ganid’s voice choked up and he stammered out his answer: “No teacher, I do not. And I apologize for my rudeness to them. I deeply desire their forgiveness.”
Then Jesus said, “And I speak for them that they have forgiven you as I speak for my Father in heaven that he has forgiven them. Now all of you come with me to a friend’s house where we will seek refreshment and plan for the new and better life ahead.”
Jesus took them to Justice’s house where he surprised Martha with the guests and presumed upon her to help the women find a way out of their lifestyle. And Martha overcame her shock, fed them and helped them find respectable employment. Both became lifelong followers of Jesus.
The very first words Jesus spoke in the women’s presence told them that they were children of God and worthy of respect. Jesus took a situation of Ganid’s casual evil treatment of the women and quickly transformed it into a manifestation of spiritual power by applying love, mercy, understanding and forgiveness. This is an example of the transforming power of doing good instead of evil.
From the time Ganid rebuked them until Jesus and Ganid left them with Martha, neither woman had spoken. All of what Jesus had said about them had come from Jesus’ understanding of their lives and his reading of the expressions on their faces. Jesus saw Ganid home and then went out into the night, prostrated himself on a rock and prayed for the women. Pray with him. Feel what Jesus feels for his wrongdoing children. Reflect on their past and future. Ask our Father and his universe of helpers to assist them, to free them from the bad habits and influences of their past and set them on a course for a glorious and eternal future of spiritual achievement of divine values.
Peace Be Unto You