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diff --git a/41500-8.txt b/41500-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d5e4726..0000000 --- a/41500-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2271 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's A Layman's Life of Jesus, by Samuel H. M. Byers - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: A Layman's Life of Jesus - -Author: Samuel H. M. Byers - -Release Date: November 28, 2012 [EBook #41500] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LAYMAN'S LIFE OF JESUS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Julia Neufeld and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - -A LAYMAN'S LIFE OF JESUS - -[Illustration: logo] - - - - - A LAYMAN'S LIFE - OF JESUS - - BY - MAJOR S. H. M. BYERS - OF GENERAL SHERMAN'S STAFF - - Author of "With Fire and Sword," "Sherman's - March to the Sea," "Iowa in War Times," - "Twenty Years in Europe," and - of other books - -[Illustration: Publisher's Mark] - - NEW YORK - THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY - 1912 - Copyright, 1912, by - THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY - - - - -PREFACE - - -Every book should have a purpose. The object of this little volume is -to try and harmonize, in a sense, and bring nearer to us, the story of -the Master. It is free from the fog of creed, and the simple picture -of the Times and the Man may help to waken new interest, especially -with the young in the greatest tale of the world. - - H. S. M. B. - - Des Moines, Sept. 3, 1912. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - CHAPTER I 7 - - Palestine two thousand years ago. The Little - Land of Galilee. An Oriental Village. The - Boy Carpenter. - - CHAPTER II 12 - - A Boy of Babylon. The Founder of Judaism. - Philo, the Philosopher. An out-door Man. The - Poet-Carpenter. Staying in the Desert. The - Silence of History. Where was Jesus in these - silent years? - - CHAPTER III 23 - - Christ still a Jew. Is the Child's escape at - Bethlehem still a secret? Performing wonders. A - strange age. Rome still in the thrall of Heathendom. - Augustus dead. Tiberius the Awful. - Palestine itself half Heathen. A Religious - Enthusiast. Jesus is ceasing to be a Jew. A - church tyranny. Subjects of Cæsar. Human - suffering counted for nothing with the Romans. - The Jews are longing for the New Time when - God might come and rule the world in Pity. - An age of Superstitions and Magic. Laws of - Science unknown. Nobody even knew that the - world was round. - - CHAPTER IV 41 - - The Fairy Prince. His Home is everywhere. - John the Baptist is preaching down by Jericho. - The young Jesus hears of him and goes a hundred - miles on foot to see him. A stranger - steps down to the River to be baptized. Look - quick, it is the Lamb of God! John is put to - death in a palace by the Dead Sea. A - Woman's Revenge. - - CHAPTER V 55 - - An Oriental Wedding, and the first miracle. - Jairus. "Little Maid, Arise." The Light of - the World. The Poet of the Lord. Do we know - what a Miracle is? - - CHAPTER VI 67 - - A wandering Teacher. Lives in a borrowed house - at Capernaum. The Testament Books, fragments - written from memory. The whole Law of - Life boiled down to Seven Words. He visits - Tyre by the Ocean. Walking on the Sea. A - hard saying, and not understood. His friends - begin to leave Him. They demand Wonders, - Miracles. Raffael's great picture. - - CHAPTER VII 82 - - Jesus goes alone and on foot to Jerusalem, to try - and prove Himself. In six months they will kill - Him. The rich Capital no place for Socialism. - "If thou be Christ, tell us, plainly." He is a - fugitive from a city mob. The Raising of - Lazarus. Again the people are following Him. - The great Sanhedrin is alarmed. "This Man - has everybody believing on Him. He will create - a Revolution yet." Jerusalem is in political - danger, anyway; so is the Roman Empire. - Everything seems going to pieces. "This - Man has too many Followers; we must kill - Him." Judas is hired to betray Him. - - CHAPTER VIII 94 - - The last supper. Leonardo's great picture. Betrayal. - With a rope around his neck the Savior of mankind is - dragged before a Roman Judge. The scene at Pilate's - palace. Pilate's wife warns him. The awful murder and - the End. - - - - -A Layman's Life of Jesus - - - - -CHAPTER I - - Palestine two thousand years ago. The Little Land of - Galilee. An Oriental Village. The Boy Carpenter. - - -One of the beauty spots of the world, a couple of thousand years ago, -was the little land of Galilee, in upper Palestine. That was a land -for poets and painters. - -Lonesome, deserted, and little inhabited as it seems now, there was a -time when this little paradise of earth had many people and many -handsome cities. "In my time," says Josephus, "there were not less -than four hundred walled towns in Galilee." Nature, too, was lavish in -its gifts to this little land. There were green valleys there, -picturesque mountains, clear blue lakes, running brooks, and grassy -fields. An Eastern sun shone on the province almost all the time. -There was no winter there. Like a diamond in the very heart of this -beautiful land sat the town of Nazareth, "The Flower of Galilee." -Close by the village were the hills that fenced in the upper end of -the plain of beautiful Esdralon. Figs grew there at Nazareth, and -oranges, and grapes luscious and bountiful as nowhere else. The -flower-lined lanes stretched from the village clear down to the blue -lake of Galilee, only a dozen miles or so away. It must have been a -delight to live in a climate so delicious, in a land so lovely. - -It all belonged to Rome then, as did the whole country known -as Palestine. The Romans had divided the land into three -provinces,--Galilee, Samaria, and Judea, with its splendid city of -Jerusalem, then one of the noted capitals of the world. Governors or -kings were appointed for these three provinces by the emperors at -Rome; they were usually Orientals. - -Just now two sons of Herod the Great, oftener known as "the splendid -Arab," are ruling there. The one named Herod is at Jerusalem; his -brother Antipater, or Herod Antipas, is governing little Galilee in -the north end of Palestine. Like many another Oriental king he is an -idle, luxurious, dissipated, and corrupt ruler. - -There is yet another brother of these two kings. His name is Philip, -and he lives in Rome. He has a very beautiful wife, who some day is to -bring great trouble on the world, for Antipater will yet desert his -Galilean queen and marry this Roman beauty. - -It is all in the time of the great Augustus that we are talking of -now. In Rome it is called the Golden Age. It is not quite that in -Palestine. Yet the world's greatest era is just beginning there. In -how small a territory the world's greatest deeds are about to be -enacted! Palestine, taken all together, did not make much of a country -in area; many of the states in the American union have more square -miles, but all the nations in the world combined have no such history. -Palestine is a strip of territory reaching along the Mediterranean for -one hundred and fifty miles on one side, and along the Arabian desert -on the other. It is hardly over sixty miles across. It is -topographically of the most diversified character. It has some -beautiful valleys and purling streams; it has mountains, too, lofty -and desolate, and its principal lakes are almost a thousand feet below -the level of the sea. The whole land is cut in two lengthwise by the -Jordan river, the most peculiar, the most rapid, and the most historic -river on the face of the earth. - -We are now in Galilee. In the midst of the wonderful beauty of the -scene at Nazareth any one would be attracted by the appearance of a -youth there who is just out of school. This Nazareth, though not His -birthplace, is His home; here all His brothers and sisters and cousins -live. In a village close by His mother Mary was born. The boy's own -birth was at a country inn up near Jerusalem, at a time when His -parents had gone there to pay taxes, and be counted as citizens of the -Roman empire. - -The lovely little village where this youth is, happy among His kith -and kin, is not unlike many an Oriental village of to-day. Strange -little stone-paved streets run into the open square where the -fountain of the village is. And this is the fountain where, on summer -evenings, the village girls, among them the beautiful Mary herself, -came for water. The little square, and the streets, and possibly some -of the old houses, and the ruins of the fountain are there yet, in -this 1912, and clustering vines and roses are still there--and so too -are the clear skies, the starlit nights, the purple hills, and the -dark-eyed women, just as in the long ago. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - A Boy of Babylon. The Founder of Judaism. Philo, the - Philosopher. An out-door Man. The Poet-Carpenter. Staying in - the Desert. The Silence of History. Where was Jesus in these - silent years? - - -Let us go back to that long ago for a little while. At the foot of one -of the little streets, close by the square and the fountain, stands a -simple shop for carpenters. At the door, ax and saw in hand, we see -again that Galilean youth. He is a carpenter's apprentice now, and is -working with Joseph, His father. He is tall and beautiful, His eyes -are blue, and very mild--His hair is yellow. He is wearing the -working-man's costume common to Galileans of His age. He is perhaps -twenty--handsome in countenance, and kindly beyond expression. He has -long since finished with the little village school, where the tasks -consisted only in chanting verses from the Scriptures with the other -boys and girls of the village. But as He was apt, He has learned the -Scriptures well. He knows them by heart almost; and later at the -synagogue He heard the priests read from the Great Hillel, the -Babylonian, who is writing and saying things about life, religion, and -the Scriptures that are shaking the religious world. Philo, also, He -almost knows by heart. He also knows the Psalms of David, the Proverbs -of Solomon, as well as the aphorisms and maxims, the dreams and -stories of great men who were writing in Palestine just before He was -born. It was a day of maxims in literature. Men wrote short, strong, -simple sentences, full of thought. Their sayings were easy to -remember. Indeed, even to-day, there is no book so easy to commit to -memory as the Bible. - -The young carpenter stored them all in a retentive mind. Some day He -would have use for them. At times the youth stops His work and talks -with His father Joseph about the magnificent temple that Herod is just -completing up there at Jerusalem. He has seen it often as a boy, and -He tells of the strange questions the priests there once asked Him, -and how easily He answered every one. He is talking in the peculiar -Arimean dialect, a speech ridiculed in great Jerusalem, as everywhere -else, outside His Galilee. Occasionally, too, He is relating to His -father the beautiful aphorisms from the gentle Hillel. - -And who is this wonderful Hillel of whom Testament writers and -teachers say almost nothing at all? Few of the young ever heard of -him. We must ask, for some have even called him another Jesus, he was -so good and great. He was a very princely Jew, this Hillel, this lover -of mankind, this gentle and humane reformer, whose life benefited the -whole age in which he lived. As a poor Babylonian youth, he went over -to Jerusalem to study under the great rabbis of the church. He soon -became very distinguished, and through him Jewish life and religion -were reformed. He is often called the founder of Judaism as taught in -the Talmud. Herod made him president of the great Sanhedrin, with the -title of prince, and the honor descended in his family. His -aphorisms, his maxims, his wise sayings were known to every Jew in -Palestine, and affected all Jewish life. One of his sayings was: "Do -not unto others what thou wouldst not have done unto thyself. This is -the whole law; the rest go and finish." Another: "Do not believe in -thyself till the day of thy death." Again: "If I do not care for my -soul, who will do it for me?" Still one: "Say not I will repent at -leisure. Leisure may never come." And another: "Whosoever is ambitious -of aggrandizing his name will destroy it." Beyond a doubt, many of the -sayings of this great and gentle teacher were as familiar to the young -carpenter working at His bench in little Nazareth as the Galilean's -own sayings are to the youth of to-day. - -Hillel was thirty years older than Christ, and survived Him ten years. -Many of the heart-sayings of the Master can be traced to Hillel, to -Philo, the Egyptian, or to Moses. Let us not forget that He was -human--divinely so--and that His mind, like that of any other human -being, was susceptible to the teachings, the sayings, the surroundings -that were nearest. He not only absorbed all, He refined all. - -Philo was another of the great philosophers whose works helped to -influence the young Galilean. He, though a Jew, lived all his life in -Egypt. There he wrote maxims worthy of the Master himself. He was -twenty years older than the Galilean. He had studied Plato, and spent -his life in trying to harmonize religious Greek thought with the -thoughts of Moses, the lawgiver of the Jews. - -We will hear little in our Testament writers of these two wise men, -who must have had a tremendous influence on the youth at Nazareth. -Indeed, as already said, the Testament anyway tells us not much of the -life at Galilee, or elsewhere. The larger part of the Testament story -relates to the deeds of the passion week, or the last days of the -Master's life. One-third of the book is taken up with that single -week. It has been guessed that had the details of the Galilean's -whole life been written out fully, it would have made a book eighty -times as big as our Bible. - -The things that the Galileans heard in the village synagogue, the -things that He read in the old Scriptures, all, all that found its way -to the village from Hillel, from Philo, and other men renowned then, -and forgotten now, were reflected in Him. More, He beautified all, -simplified all, glorified all. Most of all, however, His divine -instinct enlarged itself from scenes in nature. The young carpenter -was a poet. No beauty of the fields, the hills, the brooks, the lovely -lake escaped His eye, or failed to feed His soul. He was an outdoor -man. Scarcely one of His miracles later, but would be performed out of -doors. The wedding at Cana was probably on the green lawn of a -peasant's home. The stilling of the tempest, the feeding of the five -thousand, the transfiguration, the numberless wonders and cures in all -the Galilean villages were nearly always performed out of doors. Half -His parables have to do with things out of doors. To Him God was in -everything--the rocks, the trees, the blue sky of Galilee, the very -desolation of the Dead sea inspired Him. How often the Testament tells -of His flying away from crowds to be alone with nature. Is it not -altogether possible, almost certain, that these long absences were in -the wilderness of the desert? His long stay in solitary places, later, -communing with God at first hand, may they not account for so much of -the silence of history as to much of His life? It need not seem -strange to us at all. In the old Jewish days half a lifetime of -contemplation in the solitude of the desert was regarded by every one -a first step to leadership. - -Whoever sought a high religious calling, or sought to be a founder of -a new belief, went through this solitary preparation in the desert. -Even Moses did it, and spent forty years as a shepherd on the plains. -John did it, Jerome did it, Mahomet did it. Why not Jesus? Even great -teachers of modern times locked themselves up in the desert of -cloister cells for years. Savonarola did it--Martin Luther did -it--Assisi did it--so did a thousand other luminaries of the religious -world. - -Certainly most of the Galilean's life is a blank to human history, -otherwise not explained. Why should He not have been absent in some -desert solitude, some wilderness, preparing for immortal deeds, -immortal words? There is absolutely no other explanation for these -silent years. - -How little the youth at this moment is dreaming of all that future as -He works by His father's side, or goes about the village encouraging -and helping by His gentle smile! He is healing by His strong faith and -His pure soul. The poor love Him, not yet knowing who He is. He -himself does not know. We even wonder if He knows how it is that He -helps so many. He is no magician, no doer of wonders just to make a -show. Perhaps He only knows as yet that goodness and kindness and love -and extreme faith can do everything. Anyway He is the loved of every -one. How easy it all is to be loved. One can be just a carpenter, and -yet by love do everything. Of all things He is a helper of the poor, -the unfortunate. Sometimes the very ignorant adopt the notion that -salvation is for the poor only. They, too, misunderstand and -exaggerate. A little later a sect of the overzealous poor build a -church on the theory that the poor only, go to Heaven. They call -themselves "Ebionites," or "The Poor." Of course, these sects in a few -years ended in religious suicide. They had forgotten that the Galilean -could be no respecter of class or persons. - -To-morrow this young carpenter, this village doctor, will again -disappear in the wilderness of the desert; who knows how long? Old -church writings say that He was seven years in the desert of Egypt as -a child. He is used to solitude. Legends tell, too, that He studied -law in these days--by law they meant the books of Moses and the -prophets. Likely enough He took the parchment rolls with Him, and in -the long days there in the desert learned them all by heart. Later He -will tell all the people to go and read the same great Scriptures. - -What His life may have been at such times in the desert we can more -than guess. It was a meditation, an inspiration. It is told of John -the Baptist, whose coming birth like that of Christ was announced by -an angel, that he also spent years as a hermit of the desert, and in -its solitude learned a language and received a revelation not -vouchsafed to ordinary man. What then must the great soul of the -Galilean not have absorbed there alone with the voice of the great -creation speaking to Him all the day--the night there with the "floor -of Heaven inlaid with patines of bright gold, and the music of the -spheres sounding in his ears forever." His was a soul to enjoy and to -be inspired with such a scene. - -Little as the sacred writings tell of Him, silent as history is in the -Galilean days, we have other glimpses of the times, and of what He was -doing, by reading the old books, now called Apocryphal, that were -discarded from our present Testament in the fourth century. Why all -of them were discarded, is hard to imagine; for, though buried in an -ocean of nonsense and legend, there was still at the bottom of them a -grain of pure gold. Besides, for over three centuries these discarded -books were regarded as part of the sacred writings. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - Christ still a Jew. Is the Child's escape at Bethlehem still - a secret? Performing wonders. A strange age. Rome still in - the thrall of Heathendom. Augustus dead. Tiberius the Awful. - Palestine itself half Heathen. A Religious Enthusiast. Jesus - is ceasing to be a Jew. A church tyranny. Subjects of - Caesar. Human suffering counted for nothing with the Romans. - The Jews are longing for the New Time when God might come - and rule the world in Pity. An age of Superstitions and - Magic. Laws of Science unknown. Nobody even knew that the - world was round. - - -But let us go back there to Galilee and stay yet a while with the -village carpenter. The youth is older now. Perhaps He is going back -and forth between Galilee and the solitude of the wilderness. This -so-called "wilderness" is nothing more than the secret hills beyond -the Jordan, or the mysterious edge of the near-by desert coming up to -them like a speechless sea. At this moment He is again in Nazareth, -and the wondering villagers again see Him at His daily toil. He is -still learning by rote the striking maxims and proverbs of the Jewish -masters. He is yet a Jew. Like all Israel He is counting on the -completion of prophecy; a new world is sure to come soon--and with it -a king from Heaven. It will be a glorious thing, that new world, that -great king. The villagers familiarly call Him Jesus--but they know -nothing of the beautiful tradition of His birth--how an angel had -announced it to Mary, and how His name was fixed in Heaven. - -No--Mary had meditated much on the angel's visit and on what the angel -had said to her, but steadily she had kept the great secret in her own -heart. She had not even whispered to the villagers about the shepherds -and the star at Bethlehem, nor the sudden flight of herself and the -child to far-off Egypt. Why, her secrecy is just now hard to guess. Is -it possible that Herod or his successor, who would have slain the -child, is still watching for Him--not knowing even of the return from -Egypt years ago? Even now one indiscreet word from her might cause His -death. We wonder if now, on this day, there in His father's workshop, -the youth dreams that some day He is to be a king, and that of his -kingdom there will be no end? I think not. He is not publicly -preaching now. That, Luke says, will come much later. But what -delightful whisperings go about Galilee concerning Him already. -Possibly these beautiful heart-stories about Himself were as familiar -to the young carpenter then as they now are to every reader of the -sacred book. He may have known of them, thought of them, but He, too, -kept them largely to Himself. It was an age of prophecies, of dreams, -of visions, of fables, and of superstitious tales. Perhaps He was -waiting to see if the angel's words to Mary were to be fulfilled. Two -thousand years have not dimmed the beauty of the wondrous tale told of -Mary and the child. If parts of it were only the longings of a few -persons' imaginations, we may never clearly know, nor is it of the -least importance that we should know. The happenings at the birth of -the world's great ones have little to do with the grandeur of their -lives. - -Yes, the young carpenter, with the tender eyes and the radiant face, -may have known of some of these wonderful sayings about Himself. Mary -must have told Him some of them; and Joseph working at His side must -have told Him how, on His account, the little children had been -murdered at Bethlehem, and how narrow His own escape had been when he -and Mary and the child had hurried away to Egypt. We can imagine the -wonderful incidents told by Joseph of that strange flight into a -foreign country. Our Testament barely mentions it. His birth is almost -the only bit of history the Testament gives us of almost twenty-five -years of the Galilean's life. They went to Egypt to escape the wrath -of the tyrant Herod. Old writings tell us of two, even seven, years in -Egypt, and of child-miracles in that far-away land. Of all this our -accepted Testament tells us nothing. Hearing that the tyrant was long -dead, Joseph and Mary and the child secretly returned to the old home -in Galilee. - -Are they living there in secret yet--and is the new king at Jerusalem -wondering if they are alive--and does he too want the child's blood in -case He was not killed that night at Bethlehem, and does he wonder -what became of the wise men of the east who saw the child, but dared -not go back to tell it? Does he wonder if they are somewhere in hiding -yet? Does he dream that this youth in Galilee is possibly the child -the shepherds told of that wonderful night? Just now we still see Him -standing by the little carpenter shop, ax in hand, possibly thinking -of what His father has told Him of His youth; or of what Mary hinted -to Him of the bright Angel of the Annunciation? Who knows? We only -guess at the secret, for history, sacred and profane, has left it all -a blank. We only know that it was a feeling of the whole Jewish race -that an aspirant to leadership must, first of all, retire to the -desert and live for years in solitude, just as Elias had done. It has -been said that a retreat to the desert was the condition of and the -prelude to high destinies. The Galilean knew all about these men, -from Moses and Elias down to John, who found their inspiration on the -desert, or in secret places. If He was not much in the desert in these -unknown years, where then was He, that no one tells of Him? Was there -indeed nothing for Matthew, nor Mark, nor Luke, nor John, nor -Josephus, nor anybody else to write about Him? Was it all a blank -these long years? If secrecy from Herod, or from his successor -Archelaus, was needed--that would account for everything, even for the -whole world's silence. - -This retreat for meditation would not hinder that at far intervals He -return a little to His home in Galilee, where we see Him now with that -ineffable smile of kindness on His face and tenderness shining in His -eyes. The peasants passing by are uplifted, moved by His tender -compassionate look. They wonder why. They wonder too where He has been -so long, and before they are done wondering He is gone. Sometimes He -disappears so suddenly--it was just as if a spirit had come and gone. -Is He again in His hermit cave now beyond the Jordan? Sometimes when -there at home, as now, He has quietly taught the villagers of truth; -He has blessed the poor; He has healed the sick; He has performed -wonders, and they know not how it is done. Some day He will tell them -all. - -It is a strange age He has been living in. Let us look at it for a -little while. This Palestine boy had been just fourteen years old when -the news came that the great Augustus at Rome was dead, and that the -awful and licentious emperor Tiberius was governing the Roman empire. -Just now the Galilean is twenty-six, and other news comes--that -Tiberius has gone to the heavenly little island of Capri in the -Mediterranean sea, and is there holding a court that shall shock the -world. No wonder the youth begins to think, with all His people, that -God must soon send somebody to put an end to the wickedness of kings. -Antipater, the idle and licentious favorite at Rome, still rules over -little Galilee as governor, or king. The Roman empire is still in the -thrall of perfect heathendom. There are half as many Gentiles as Jews -in Palestine itself. All over the land beautiful monuments are erected -by Rome to the heathen gods. The young Nazarene can walk across the -hills to Sidon by the sea any day and hear the people chanting hymns -to Jupiter and Apollo. As for Himself, He is still a Jew, like most of -His countrymen; only now, like Philo and like Hillel, and like John -and others, He is more than a Jew; He is passing out of the old -doctrines of the Jewish church into the broad daylight of truth. He -will yet help to do away with the Mosaic law. In a private way, yet -unheard of outside of little Galilee, He himself is teaching that God -is a spirit, and must be worshiped in spirit and not in form, and not -in heathen idols, nor in the way they are doing it at Jerusalem. God -had already become tired of the burnt offering of rams and of the -blood of beasts. Isaiah had told them that, long ago. This Galilean -will go on repeating it so long as He shall live. Like the great -Hillel, He would teach common justice to man--love for one -another--charity to all. This was to be the great commandment. - -We are not sure, but in a vague way this young Galilean already feels -the mantle of a prophet falling about Him. He is saying nothing -exactly new to His Galilean neighbors--but He is saying it in a new -and gracious way, and they listen to Him as He converses in the shop, -or on the street. He sees and feels God in the beautiful nature all -about Him there in Galilee, yet more He feels God in himself. - -Man holds in himself tremendous hidden powers. Science is rapidly -unveiling them. They were being unveiled to a degree by the Greeks -even in the time of this young carpenter; but the Jewish people -neither believed in nor heeded a school that gave an explanation of -things marvelous. They were set in their superstition. No book that -described certain fixed laws of nature was, for one moment, to take -the place of Moses and the prophets. Even the Galilean himself is -clinging to these old Bible poems. It is the wrong interpretation of -them, possibly, by Himself sometimes, that is driving Him to a -religious rebellion. - -The great church doctors might not like it, were they to hear it--this -young carpenter with the soft words, and the radiance in His face, -slipping back and forth from Galilee to the desert and from the desert -to Galilee, proselyting the peasants, and telling them that God is not -to be worshiped in the semi-heathen manner in which they are doing it -at Jerusalem. Yet, no matter. What care the great religious doctors at -the Sacred City? Who ever heard of this Galilean carpenter anyway, or -of His reforms? Some day, and soon, they will hear of Him. They have -already heard of John, but they are about to settle the score with -John. His extremeness and his violence of speech have attracted the -attention of the king of Galilee, and soon news will come that John's -head on a platter has paid for the lascivious dancing of a girl at -court. Some old writers say it was the king's own daughter who did the -dancing that night in Antipater's palace by the Dead sea. Anyway, the -voice of him who called in the wilderness, is soon to be stilled -forever. - -No, the carpenter's name has not yet reached outside His Galilee. -Aside from an occasional journey to Jerusalem when He was younger and -His foot tramps to the solitude by the desert, there is little to tell -that He has been outside the little province where He was born. His -life in His home village, aside from His carpenter work, is that of a -religious enthusiast. Some will call Him even a visionary. He has -heard so much of a coming king and an overturning of everything in the -world that He himself almost begins to look for something -extraordinary. Why not? He is yet a Jew, and the teaching of the -rabbis and of the Old Scriptures has been the coming of some kind of a -king--a great Messiah, who, from out little Palestine, shall rule the -world in an age of gold. The age, perhaps, is taking something out of -the Bible that is not in it. Our own age has done that many times. Is -it doing it to-day? Never in this world did imagination reach so high -a pitch as it did among the Jews in that wonderful time. Nothing was -talked of or thought of, but the coming golden age and the new king, -riding in a chariot of the clouds. It was not only a very expectant, -superstitious age, it had been a troubled one. The world had been full -of disorder, conflict. Everywhere had been war and tyranny. -Especially, the whole Jewish race, the especial people of God, had -known too often only of tyranny and sorrow. Even their own church, and -church was the government with them, had drifted into a religious -tyranny--the worst tyranny of all. It was, too, hemmed in by the -awfullest form and ceremony. No one in this twentieth century who is -not familiar with the Jewish Talmud and the earlier writings, can have -the remotest conception of the thousand formalities, ceremonies, -mummeries even, imposed upon the people of the church in the olden -days. Later, ten volumes of the Talmud will be required to explain, to -interpret, establish, and to write down the manner in which the -commonest things of life might be done. The great Sanhedrin, or -Supreme Court and Senate of the Jews at Jerusalem, together with the -scribes and priests about the temple, seemed banded together to make -religion an awful, unbearable burden, and life a farce. - -Though all Palestine was a Roman province the Romans interfered but -little with this religious despotism. The Romans had enough wrongs of -their own to inflict upon the people. The whole race of Jews in their -home government had their own laws, their own Jewish customs, habits, -and religion. The Romans simply made them subjects of Cæsar, and they -rendered unto Cæsar only that which was Cæsar's, as this youth of -Galilee, later, would suggest their doing. - -The empire collected taxes, very heavy ones, from the people, and -occasionally forced them into its armies. The Roman eagles and the -Roman soldiers were familiar sights in every town and village of -Palestine. The Romans usually had enough to do at home to disincline -them from bothering themselves too much with the religion of the -Jews. Wars they had had everywhere. But just now, at the time of the -Master's coming, there was a sort of peace in the world--a truce for -breath, as it were. That is to say, the Roman empire that has its foot -on almost the whole earth is resting a little. Rome's untold horrors, -wars, corruptions, its licentiousness, its inhumanity to man, its -blood and outrages have stopped their course at the eternal city for a -little while. It is almost out of victims. Violence has ceased, only -because violence has done its work. - -The social conditions at Rome just before Augustus came to the throne -were too terrible to be believed. That some of this outrage and terror -had spread into the provinces of Palestine through governors and petty -kings, appointed by, and tools of Rome, is only too well known. Herod -himself was bloody enough to have served as an example for the worst -the Roman empire, even, could endure. In Palestine, however, the great -Jewish church served somewhat as a little hindering-wall to the -element that had been almost crushing decent humanity out of the -world. - -All the states, like Palestine, bordering on the Mediterranean, says a -distinguished historian, simply looked at one another--partakers of a -common misfortune. They were tranquil, but it was the silence of -despair. Man was not being considered as an individual by the Romans -any more; he was only a "thing." Human suffering in the provinces -counted for nothing, if only Rome had some political gain. If -Palestine, or any other province, had some advantage by the presence -of Roman legions, it was purely incidental, and scarcely intended. At -this very moment Palestine is groaning under awful taxes paid to Rome, -one-third of all produced, the writers say. No wonder the Jews were -longing for the new time, the great time, the king, the Old Scriptures -had told about. They are so afflicted, so depressed. The government of -man had been a failure with them. Would not the day soon be at hand -when God himself, through some vicegerent, would come to the world -and rule in pity? Then the wicked would no longer thrive, the just -would live in delight, the very face of the world would be changed, -all would be transformed into love and beauty, and Palestine would be -the heart of the new world, and Jerusalem the capital of a perfected -humanity. The Scriptures had said it. The prophets had said it. - -Nursing these lovely and lofty expectations the Jews patiently waited, -bearing with many wrongs. All classes shared alike in the great -delusion, rich and poor, high and low, priest and peasant. That a -mighty king on his chariot was coming in the clouds was the common -belief. The too literal reading of the old-time prophets had led a -whole race into a futile misconception. The world was _not_ coming to -an end at all. The Jews were a people easily mis-led. Their confidence -in the supernatural was overwhelming. It was a quality inherited from -their pagan ancestors. Their very neighbors were heathen and worshiped -mystical gods. Tens of thousands, mostly foreigners, had set up -heathen temples and consulted heathen oracles right there in Galilee. -Every time the young carpenter went to Jerusalem His eyes fell on some -vast edifice dedicated to Jove or Juno, and strange gods were -worshiped almost in the shadow of the great temple. This was not all. -The very books read by the Jewish priests in the synagogue, or village -churches, were filled with superstitious tales, with dreams and -visions. In these books the people were told of times when angels -walked upon the earth--they would walk again was the belief. The -outcome of their wonderful superstitions, teachings, and their -surroundings was an abject belief in marvels and impossibilities. If -the most cultured and thinking persons lost their confidence in the -marvelous, they kept it quiet. It was, besides, a day of jugglers, -sleight of hand performers, and magicians. The peasants, mostly -half-educated, could believe in anything. There was no knowledge of -science available to show them the utter falsehood of things their -eyes seemed to behold. The commonest laws of nature were not -understood. The priests themselves did not know that the world was -round. The common people were sufficiently credulous to accept the -most astounding things. In short, the astounding things were to them -the natural things, the expected. No wonder they misunderstood the old -prophets of the Bible, and the signs of the times. No wonder they were -believing and alarmed when John, hurrying from the wilderness, shouted -to them to be ready, to hurry to the Jordan river, confess, and be -baptized. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - The Fairy Prince. His Home is everywhere. John the Baptist - is preaching down by Jericho. The young Jesus hears of him - and goes a hundred miles on foot to see him. A stranger - steps down to the River to be baptized. Look quick, it is - the Lamb of God! John is put to death in a palace by the - Dead Sea. A Woman's Revenge. - - -The young carpenter in his pretty Galilean village was, in a way, a -witness of these strange things. He heard in the synagogue the report -that the world was coming to an end. He, too, had read the awful -forebodings in the Old Scriptures. He may, too, have believed in the -coming disaster, but it is not likely. Vaguely, He interpreted the Old -Bible to mean something else. Between its lines He saw the shadow -coming of a spiritual, not an earthly king. Who that king should be, -He never dreamed. The voice of John He only heard in the distance--far -down by Jericho, and amidst the desolation of the Dead Sea. The cry of -the Baptist scarcely reached to remote little Galilee. - -He had no dreams, this Galilean youth, no visions to tell Him of a -glory coming to Himself. It is to be remarked even that visions and -dreams never came to Him at all as they seem to have come to Daniel, -to Buddha, to Confucius and to Mahomet. Neither by vision nor voice -was He bidden to go to some great work. He was not clothed with -infinite power at the time we are speaking of; He was simply a sweet -and beautiful Galilean youth, with the grace of God upon Him. - -In all Palestine now people were not agreed as to what the new kingdom -that was coming to the world would be. Some looked for the earth -suddenly to be crashed to pieces. Some looked simply for a renewal of -the earth. Some said the righteous dead would come out of their graves -and help govern. Some said all nature would be changed, and a wondrous -king would come straight from Heaven. When the simple folks of Galilee -talked to the Carpenter about it, He told them they were all mistaken. -It was the "_Kingdom of Heaven_" that was coming, he said--a -revolution in human hearts, when mankind would be made better, and -every one would do as he would be done by. It is doubtful if they -understood Him. That, they felt, was not what the Scriptures had said; -and doubtless many began to think the wonderful teacher wandering in -His mind. Yet many believed on Him. - -For a little while now He goes about His beautiful Galilee like a -fairy prince, despite poverty and despite foes. He is so gentle, so -kindly, so loving to the poor! He is the kind physician, the balm in -Gilead. For a while He is met with hosannas; He has no riches, but -every peasant's house is His welcome home. That transcendent smile, -that low sweet voice, is His password to believing hearts. He must be -the coming king, they think; still, they do not understand. He is so -simple, so all-love. He tells them that they themselves are the -kingdom; and again they do not understand. "Surely Thou art the Son of -God," they cry, and the ground He walks on is sacred. Some call Him -the "Son of God." Yet not _once_ did He call himself the "Son of God." -It was the enthusiasts who called Him that. Often He referred to -himself as the "Son of Man"; but, in his Syriac dialect, the word -signified only man. After all it was only the village carpenter's son -who was saying all these mysterious things! - -In the days we are describing at Galilee just now, John the Baptist is -still crying to the people of Jerusalem, and along the Jordan, to -hurry to the river, to repent, and to be baptized. He has a school -down there, and disciples of his own. They are greater extremists in -their teaching than the quiet and lovable Galilean, who, till now, is -hardly a public teacher at all. John is not only prophesying a speedy -coming of a new king to the world, a Messiah, he is threatening an -early destruction of almost everything, save the lives of the baptized -and the repentant. He has alarmed all Palestine. A great moral and -social earthquake is taking place. Nor is he backward about still -condemning the king himself for his unlawful marriage. The court is -becoming disturbed, and the doors of Machero prison in a little while -will open to the great prophet and preacher. The alarm among the -people everywhere continues very great. Thousands confess their sins, -enter the sacred river, are baptized, and now await the coming of the -end of the world. - -The young carpenter is just now in Galilee, perhaps for a little while -only, back again from a long absence of solitude in the desert. Louder -and louder, nearer and nearer, comes to the youth at Galilee that cry -of John. Full of interest to see and hear the great reformer, He, and -a few of His friends, start for the Jordan river. It is nearly a -hundred miles away, to where John is, and they go on foot. - -Let us also go to the Jordan for a little while. We turn our steps to -Bethabara--a little village up the river from the Dead sea. We see a -great crowd of excited people there. John himself is there. He is -still telling them of the coming king, the Messiah of the world. But -he does not dream from whence that king is to come--from earth, or -from Heaven. Shortly something tells John that a great person, unknown -to him, is there in the crowd, and will ask to be baptized. John -wonders who it can be. In a little while a stranger steps down to the -river bank--goes to the water's edge and asks to be baptized. John -does not know Him at first; but shortly a spirit voice whispers to -him, "It is the man from Galilee." It is the Lord. Watch--and as He -comes out of the river you will see the sign. The Holy Spirit in the -form of a dove will rest upon Him! Overawed by the tremendous -announcement, John at first feared to baptize. "Yes," said the -Galilean, "let it be so," and it was done. As the stranger came up out -of the water, John saw the dove, and, to the amazement of all, the -Heavens opened, and a voice called, "This is my beloved son." The -astonishment of the multitude can never be imagined. - -After two thousand years, travelers cross the ocean simply to go and -stand a moment in holy reverence at the spot where believers say God -first spoke to Christ on earth. John at once told some of his -disciples to look--quick--"It is the Lamb of God." Two of these men -followed the mysterious stranger, saying, "Master, where dwellest -Thou?" He answered, "Come and see," and he took them with him for a -day to His temporary lodging place in the village. One of them was -Andrew, who breathlessly hurried to his brother Simon, and told him -the great news. "We have found the Christ, Him of whom Moses wrote." -Other friends quickly gathered in, and as one of them named Nathaniel -approached, the Galilean, without knowing who it was, called him by -his right name. A wonder had been performed. It was enough. "Thou art -the Son of God," cried Nathaniel, and they would have worshiped Him -then and there. "Thou shalt see yet greater things than these," said -the Christ, for it was indeed He, and in a little time He slipped away -to the desert as He had so often done before. - -We will not follow Him there, though tradition tells strange and -unexplainable things as to how Satan tried to tempt Him, and how the -temptation was resisted by the Galilean, though the nations of the -world were offered Him. - -After forty days He returned and went to His dear, sweet Galilee. We -shall go along, for there are troublous times by Jerusalem and in -Judea. In a little while, too, the king of Galilee has thrown John -into a prison that belongs to his dominions down near the Dead Sea. -John's religious, revolutionary, and semi-political preaching is at -last too much for Herod Antipas. Possibly, it was while he was yet in -the desert that the Master heard of the imprisonment of the prophet. - -Very shortly a strange message came from John to the Man of Galilee. -John has heard anew of the Master's triumphs, and two friends are sent -to Him to ask if He is indeed the Christ--"or, do we look for -another?" More proof, it seems, was wanted. John had seen the dove -that day at the river, but John had never seen a miracle; and in that -day wonders and miracles were the only accepted proof. The answer -comes back to the prison by the Dead Sea,--"Go and tell John the -things which you do see and hear; tell him how the blind are made to -see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, even the dead raised to life, -and the gospel preached to the poor." If John got the answer we do not -know. It would be sad to reflect that John died without knowing that -this young carpenter, whom he baptized that day in the Jordan, was the -Messiah he had prophesied. When the two messengers left, it was then -the Galilean turned to the listening crowd and said, "Among them that -are born of women, there has not risen a greater than John the -Baptist." How believing hearts must have swelled when He added, "He -who is least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than John." The -promise rings on these two thousand years, and will ring on forever. - -Not long has the Galilean been in His home when news comes of the -awful tragedy back there by the Dead Sea where John is. - -On the high and desolate rocks close to the Dead Sea there is a -prison and a palace. Possibly there is not another citadel in the -world built amidst such colossal, such difficult scenery. Dark, -desolate mountains are all about it. It is reached through almost -inaccessible valleys. Near it the angry Jordan, with a roar, tumbles -into the Dead Sea and dies forever. The Dead Sea itself sleeps a -thousand feet below--and beyond the hills, lies the burning desert. -Altogether it is one of the most God-forsaken places in the world. Yet -in the midst of this desolation an old king built the mighty fortress -of "Machero." It was destroyed upon a time, and now Herod Antipas, the -Galilean king, has restored it in tenfold splendor. In the center of -it, and on its highest crest, he has built a gorgeous palace of -Oriental beauty. Far down under the marble floors of the palace is a -prison. Let us for a moment look down that prison corridor. In the -farthest cell there is a familiar face. It is the face of John--John, -who, only the other day we saw baptizing the Lord in the river Jordan. -He, to whom thousands flocked to be baptized and saved from the -coming destruction, is himself in a felon's cell. One wonders at the -daring of it. There are two reasons for it. One--he had railed too -often against the people in power, and the hypocrisy of the times. In -his zeal for truth, in his fearful warnings, in his tremendous -language, it was honestly feared he might create a national -disturbance. The poor, the uneducated, the superstitious, were massing -themselves around him as if he were a god. King Antipas had gone to -Rome upon a time, and, being enamored with his brother Philip's wife, -ran away with her to Galilee. Her name was Herodias. John, bold in -this as in all things, so old writers say, told the adulterous couple -what he thought of them. He even told the king that he had poisoned -his brother to get his widow. The king personally had liked John, and -often listened to him gladly. He knew, too, that John was adored by -the people, whose anger _he_ had reason to fear. But Queen Herodias -had other thoughts. John's accusations had insulted her. She longed -for some fierce revenge. The time has come. It is the birthday of the -king, and, with Herodias, and an hundred courtiers, captains and -generals, he has come to this grand palace and citadel of the -mountains to celebrate it in an Oriental fashion. It is midnight in -the palace, but the gorgeous chambers are ablaze with light. Music and -laughter resound from the open windows, for it is a sultry night of -June. Outside the castle, it is inky darkness. The mountains are -tenfold desolate in their silence to-night--far below the Dead Sea -sleeps in fearful midnight. East of the sea, and beyond the hills, is -the scorched and sandy desert. It too sleeps--and is silent. Here and -there a flash of far lightning crosses the horizon, betokening a -desert storm. All is fearfully lonesome out there in the midnight of -the mountains. How different all within! The gay scene grows gayer -still--the bright lights grow brighter--the banqueters are glad with -wine--a new flush is on every cheek, joy and revelry fill the whole -palace. There seems nothing to add to the appetite of pleasure. But -wait--there is a dance--a beautiful young girl half-clad flies into -the room; the music changes--and in a moment she is executing a -sensuous dance of the Orientals. She is the daughter of the queen, and -she is very beautiful. That she is not a professional dancer--just a -beautiful girl--adds to the sensuous delight. Quickly the dance is -done--and amidst the applause of all the court, and with flushed face, -she passes before the king and bows. Drunken with wine and the -banquet, the king seizes her hand and offers to reward her with -whatever she may wish--if need be, with half his kingdom. - -"What shall I ask of him?" she whispers to her mother. Herodias' -chance had come. Revenge is sweet to evil people. In a moment she -thinks of John. He is down there in the prison right below the banquet -hall. He has heard all the night's revelry--he has seen from his cell -window the dancing lights reflected against the gray, dark rocks -outside. Yes, revenge is sweet. "Salome, daughter, tell him to kill -John the Baptist for you--to bring his head up here on a platter." -Heavens! was ever such a wish before! There is a little pause. Again -the fair girl is before the king. She has said it. Unwillingly--but -because of his word, and because of his nobles present--he grants the -request. There is a low, sad whisper from the king to a soldier -present, and in a few moments the cell door in the prison below opens. -Murder is nothing to an Oriental king. The deed is done--and on a -golden charger the bleeding head of one whom Jesus called the greatest -human being in the world is carried into the room. Herodias has had -her revenge. The curtain goes down on one of the awfullest scenes in -human history. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - An Oriental Wedding, and the first miracle. Jairus. "Little - Maid, Arise." The Light of the World. The Poet of the Lord. - Do we know what a Miracle is? - - -The blood of John probably strengthened the Master's spirit, for His -immortal deeds now all at once became open and public. The day of his -"miracles" had come. - -Very soon now He was asked to a little wedding at the village of Cana. -His mother also was there, and some of His brothers and sisters, and -His disciples. It was to be a more joyful event than the awful thing -He had heard of in the hills by the Dead Sea. The most famous marriage -in all history was being celebrated. The Master's first miracle is to -be witnessed. It is twilight of a delicious summer evening in Galilee. -As was the custom among the Orientals, the bride has been carried in -state to the groom's home. It is a bright and hilarious affair. All -the youths in the village are on horseback riding in the gay -procession. There is music of drums and flutes, and song, and all the -little street is ablaze with torches. In front of all, the bridesmaids -come, laughing, and singing, and carrying flaming lamps. The bride, -garlanded with roses, and covered with flowing veil that envelops her -from head to foot, blushes at her own loveliness. Who that happy girl -might be whose marriage story was to live a thousand years we will -never know. Could she, as in a dream, have read the future, how -extreme her happiness would have been. After two thousand years how -glad we would be only to know her happy name. It is after dark; the -stars are out on blue Galilee now. The scene has changed. The invited -guests are now in the home of the happy groom. The governor of the -feast, or the master of toasts, sits at the head of the banquet table. -At a modest place near the center of the table sits the Nazarene -carpenter. He is loved in Cana, as everywhere in Galilee, for His -gentle kindness to the poor. The story of what happened to this -carpenter at the Jordan river has not reached Galilee--the greatness -of the guest at their side is as yet unknown. But there is one present -who knows mighty things. For thirty years Mary, the mother, has kept -the secret told her by the Angel of the Annunciation. It is ten -o'clock--the feast is almost over--the singing, the dancing, and the -joyousness go on. Suddenly the girls waiting on the banqueters see the -wine is done. What shall they do? One of them by accident, perhaps, -mentions it to Mary. Suddenly her mind is filled with an ambitious, a -glorious, thought. She glances toward the middle of the table where -sits her son. The secret of thirty years is burning in her heart. As -she, too, is waiting on the table, she walks to where her son is -sitting and softly, confidently whispers, "They have no wine." His -time has come. In a few words He tells her to have the girls fill all -the six water jars close by with water--and Mary bids them do as He -has said. "Then," said the Master, "bear it to the governor of the -feast." And when the man at the head of the table tasted it, behold -the water had been turned to wine. It was the first miracle of the -Master's life. Now He was consecrated indeed. His disciples saw what -He had done, and for the first time fully believed on Him, and the -fame of that great deed spread to many people. - -He is no longer the simple village carpenter, He is now the Christ, -and in a few days around and about the beautiful blue lake of Galilee, -close by, He will be carrying the glad tidings to all the world. - -It was soon after one of these meetings by the waters of Galilee that -He performed another of the most beautiful and striking miracles of -His life. Jairus, a rich man and a high elder in the Jewish church, -came to Him at a feast given by Matthew and begged Him to come and -heal his little daughter who was sick. If only He will lay His hands -on her, she will be well. There was a little delay, for people crowded -all about the Master as He started on the roadside, to hear him talk, -and praying to be healed. One poor sick woman secretly touched just -the hem of His garment, her mighty faith telling her that even this -little act could make her whole. Jesus turned to her, and simply said, -"Daughter, go; thy faith hath saved thee." - -The delay is awful for the agonized father, who knows not one moment -is to be lost. Suddenly comes a messenger flying to him to tell him it -is already too late--don't worry the Master--the little girl is dead. -Instantly Jesus turned to the broken-hearted one and in deep -compassion told him to have no fear--only believe. In a few minutes -they are at the rabbi's home. The hired mourners and the flute -players, as is the custom, are already there. They laughed at Him when -He told them the little girl was not dead, but sleeping. Turning the -crowd away, He took the little cold hand in His, and sweetly said, -"Little maid, arise," and she arose and went about the house -rejoicing. The miracle made a tremendous sensation, and multitudes -were touched by it. - -Now His home will be Capernaum, almost at the head of the dear lake. -The little carpenter shop in the narrow street at Nazareth is closed -forever; Joseph, the father, has passed away, and sleeps with the sons -of David; Mary, the mother, lives in the town of Cana, where she first -came from; the young carpenter with the soft speech, the tender eyes, -the golden hair, and the radiance on His face goes up, and down -through Galilee--and they call Him "The Light of the World." - -Capernaum, with its houses of white marble, reflected in the blue -waters of Galilee, was, in the Master's day, like Nazareth, one of the -delightful spots of Palestine. All was fresh, green, and restful; and -round about the land was called "The Garden of Abundance." And there -too is the little plain so filled with green fields and flowers and -running brooks that men likened it to "A pure emerald." It was in this -little land of loveliness, surrounded by all that was enchanting in -nature, that Jesus was to begin His public teaching. No wonder that He -found in beautiful nature a thousand indices to the majesty and -goodness of the Creator. No wonder that His language was the language -of poetry, and His similitudes the reflection of the fields and the -flowers. He was in the land of idealism--of fancy--and He himself was -the poet of the Lord. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they -grow." "If they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done -in the dry?" "'Tis your Father's good pleasure to give you the -kingdom." "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." "We have piped to -you, and ye have not danced." - -The whole race of men there are idealists. There was not a better -place than this Galilee in all the world for Christ to be born in. -This is the spot of all the world for a new religion. These Galilean -peasants are not reasoners, they are simply believers. They are the -children of faith. Sad enough it is that the centuries of time, and -the hands of war, changed all the beautiful scene. Even the climate -lost its loveliness--there is almost nothing left that is lovely in -dear Galilee any more save its enchanting lake. All else is desolate -now. The marble houses of Capernaum are now adobe huts, roofed in -straw; the fields are bare and yellow; the trees are dead these -thousand years. Nothing is green there any more. How changed from the -perfect loveliness of that other time, when the Savior of mankind, -amid the roses of Palestine, and the lilies by the sea, walked and -talked and healed the poor. - -It was as a healer of the body, not less than as a healer of the soul, -that the miraculous carpenter now walked from village to village all -over Galilee, followed sometimes by a handful of disciples, sometimes -by a multitude of men, women, and children, though occasionally by -hooting enemies. But what wonderful things He did--and how many poor -He helped! The occasional miracles described in the Testament are -probably not even a fraction of what He did. Why, the evangelist John -says, he does not suppose the world would hold the books telling of -all of them. Of course, this is momentary hyperbole. The people of -the East often exaggerate in telling of what they saw. They are the -greatest tellers of beautiful stories in the world. But were these -things miracles? The world goes on asking this question. Do we know -what a miracle is? "A miracle is an impossibility," say the wise men -of science. "No law of nature yet was ever set aside." Let us not -forget, however, that the Galilean never claimed to set absolute law -aside. By supreme faith in the Almighty, in Himself, He helped the -law, instead of setting it aside. - -A people, superstitious and ignorant of every scientific law, wondered -to see Him do what He did. At that hour of His consecration, in the -Jordan river, Providence gave Him a new birth; and in that birth, a -strength to overcome men's minds--a strength to awaken dormant action -in their bodies. Even the poor sick man He met at the roadside should -be getting well, not dying--Nature intended it so--but pain and -misfortune have cost him every resolution. The Christ came by, the -sunlight of His face, the blessing of His words fall upon him, and he -smiles. "Help yourself," says the Master, "you can do it--only think -so. Do you believe me?" "Yes," cries the weary one, "I believe, help -thou my unbelief." The Master smiles and takes him by the hand. -Instantly the encouraged mind acts on the half withered form. His -blood starts, his nerves thrill,--the miracle is done. - -No, we do not understand--not quite--neither do we understand how a -drop of rain revives a blade of grass, nor how a night's dew wakens -the roses to an untold beauty. Genius is born. The astronomer opens -his book and without an effort understands the stars. The gift of -stirring thoughts, of lifting human souls, is born. No being in the -world had such anointing from above, such Godsent powers, as He who is -just back from the Jordan. He believed in Himself, and that was half -the battle--the other half had to be fought by the soul asking aid. -One must believe. No faith, no miracle, is a principle. Not once did -an unbeliever receive help from the Master. It was impossible. -Impossible then as now. The strong faith of two beings is needed to -produce a wonder. Only two or three times in His history did Jesus -perform a miracle without some human being's faith--and those two or -three wonders lack a perfect confirmation. It is not in question here -whether God, who made every law of nature, could not suspend them -every one if He wanted to. He would not be God, all powerful, if He -could not. It is unimportant to us whether the Galilean did wonders by -His supreme faith, His control over men's minds (a control given Him -there at the Jordan river), or whether His Father in Heaven reached -forth a hand each time and helped Him. - -The peasants of Palestine knew little of any fixed law of nature. They -did not ask as to that. Simply the doing of the unusual was enough for -them. They demanded wonders--and healing of the sick by a word, or a -touch of the hand, was a great wonder,--a miracle. He who could -simply influence mind was the Master. The Galilean was born anointed -with the power. He knew it--and only asked others to believe. The -people of that day asked for wonders. Mere assertions of truth were -not enough. "Give us a clap of thunder, or shake the earth, if You -would have us believe in You. Suddenly cure these sick, and we will -know Your power." He did it, not for a show, but out of pity. And the -healing made adorers for the truths He taught them. One thing is sure, -He never doubted His own beliefs, His God-given powers. In the -solitude of the desert He had reached definite conclusions. All His -assertions were positive. If He said things in parables, it was -because His hearers had no understanding of plain truth. We talk to -children that way when we tell them stories. His wonders, or miracles, -were for the same purpose. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - A wandering Teacher. Lives in a borrowed house at Capernaum. - The Testament Books, fragments written from memory. The - whole Law of Life boiled down to Seven Words. He visits Tyre - by the Ocean. Walking on the Sea. A hard saying, and not - understood. His friends begin to leave Him. They demand - Wonders, Miracles. Raffael's great picture. - - -At this time the wonder-working carpenter had some dear friends in -beautiful Capernaum by the lake. There were two fishermen there, -brothers, Peter and Andrew. Peter was married and his wife and -children joined the two brothers in the earnest welcome to the Master -whenever He returned from His journeys among the lake villages. - -How often He went to Jerusalem never will be surely known. Sometimes -He returned to Peter's home right after a long rest in the solitude of -the desert, bordering on the east side of the lake. There was a Greek -country there called Decapolis. Though also a province of Rome, it was -an alliance of ten confederated cities, and all worshiped the heathen -gods. Over into this strange confederacy the Master also went -sometimes, and the welcome His kindly message met was as warm as in -Galilee itself. He also went over to Tyre and Sidon, by the -Mediterranean sea, at times, and learned at first hand the workings of -heathendom as practiced by a cultured people. On every hilltop, as He -went and came, He saw temples to the gods of Greece or Rome. Here, as -elsewhere, He was going and coming to preach to the poor. He was the -poor man's Christ. He himself often had nothing. It has been said that -it was only as a poor wandering teacher, possessed of nothing, not -even a place to lay His head, that He went all about Galilee. In -Capernaum He lived in a borrowed house, or from the hospitality of His -two dear friends. - -But right now, rich or poor, He is commencing the teachings and the -wonders that are to make Him the loved and the hated of the world. To -the believing He will show that He is not poor; in fact, that He has a -friend ruling in the clouds of Heaven. The disappointed ones, who, -mistaking the signs, had looked for a real earthly king, persecuted -Him at every roadside. The very orthodox Jews hated Him--called Him a -Sabbath-breaker, a glutton among sinners, and a blasphemer of God. -They seemed incapable of understanding anything He said. He talked by -figures and parables--He told them stories--He talked of His father -God--and His sonship--they would not see the spiritual sense in which -He said all things. They put false words into His mouth, and then -demanded He should prove them true. They listened only to deny, and to -defame. Then again they demanded wonders, miracles--more wonders, more -miracles. It was their only way of proving things. Had there been no -wonders, no miracles, no seeming impossibilities performed, Christ -would have had no followers in Palestine. Asserting things was not -enough. "Prove to us that you are God by doing wonders." As He never -had said that He was God He could not prove it. "I and my father are -one," He told them, but only in the sense that every Christian is one -with the father. They could not, would not, see it, and at times would -have stoned Him from their towns. In His meekness, His gentleness, He -bore it all. Sometimes hundreds, thousands, would hear His words, see -His miracles, and believe. Other thousands, though seeing, believed -not. Some of His own nearest friends, not grasping His meaning, turned -their backs and left Him. - -Do not even to-day many feel that He should have spoken plainer, or, -is it that our few fragmentary stories of His life are misconceived, -confused, misinterpreted, mistranslated--and in a sense falsified by -two thousand years of time and change of methods of human thought? No -one knows. The Master did not speak the language of the Bible, not -even the language of the Jews. His was a Syrian dialect called -Arimean. It was the tongue His mother spoke; the same dialect they -talked, and laughed and sang in, that night of the marriage in Cana. -Let us not ask too much of the Testament. Time and circumstances do -strange things with human thought and speech. Despite mystery, and -despite fragments, in the great story, enough is left clear to teach -us the spirit of the Golden Rule. Christ said that was enough. The -people who wrote the books of the Testament wrote wholly from memory, -and some of them were now old men. John was ninety, and was then -almost the last man on earth to have seen Jesus alive. Dates, deeds, -times, places, words, are sometimes much confused in the Testament. -Some things are omitted by one and told by another. Yet the spirit of -each Testament book is the same--and all as authentic as writing from -memory would permit. The Testament books are fragments only--yet -piecing them together what a beautiful whole remains! Sometimes one -wonders that just plain uncultured fishermen could write so -beautifully. It would require a much larger book than this is intended -to be to repeat all the tender stories, the touching words, of the -Master that are portrayed by these inspired fishermen by the sea. -Even they did not tell all. In every village in Galilee, on all the -winding roads, along the dear lake, in every hamlet, synagogue, the -feet of the Master went. Every hour saw miracles of healing, and every -poor peasant heard words of kindness. What delightful little journeys -they were in the beautiful land as the Prince of Peace passed, -scattering blessings. To the happy little communities it must have -sometimes seemed as if the new kingdom, the promised hour, was there -already! Such crowds pressed to Him that time and again He would climb -into a little boat on Galilee lake, ask His friends to push it a -little from the shore, and there, from this improvised altar on the -sea, talk to the crowds on the shore. - -And what did He say to the people standing on the shore? "They were -only the needed things," said in a clear, simple, beautiful language. -If He said them in parables often, it was because the people of His -day understood things better said in that way. Things were made -clearer, stronger, if illustrated in stories. The great Lincoln -understood the effectiveness of such an art, and pointed many a -political moral by a human story. If, occasionally, the Master spoke -in terms too mysterious to be comprehended by even His disciples, it -was occasionally only. The needed things the common wayfarer could -understand then, understands them to-day. He boiled down the whole -duty of life into seven words, "Do as you would be done by." This, He -said, was all there is to religion. How simple, how just, how -necessary, if we hope for happiness even in our every-day life. - -Once at the dawn of a beautiful summer morning in Galilee, the Master -stood on the edge of a mountain and chose twelve disciples to help Him -teach, and to the whole world delivered the wonderful message known as -"The Sermon on the Mount." Lovelier words were never spoken--so -simple, so true, so direct, so sustaining to human hearts, that they -were to reach through all times and to all men. It ended with the -great promise that "unto him who sought God's kingdom all things -should be added." The promise of that morning in Galilee sustains -mankind forever. - -Once He went over to the little city of Tyre by the Mediterranean, -perhaps to teach some there. Possibly it was the only time the Master -ever beheld the ocean. Tyre, with its minarets, its monuments, its -temples, its white sails on the sea, was a heathen city. One can fancy -how profoundly stirred a soul like His, steeped in a love of nature, -must have been at the first sight of the ocean. There were the white -ships going to every known land of the earth--there was a new and -picturesque people; there was heathendom, in luxurious idolatry. The -little journey served Him as material for many a reflection later in -His Galilean home. - -His name was not wholly strange in the beautiful heathen city by the -sea--for it is told how a woman, a Greek, met Him, threw herself at -His feet, and beseeched Him to heal her daughter. The persistence, the -faith of this heathen woman, that He could do it, even without seeing -the afflicted daughter, led to a miracle. As in almost all His life -the miracle came only after the absolute show of faith on the part of -the one asking. No faith, no miracle, was a constant teaching. - -Only a little time there by the blue sea now, and He is soon off for a -three days' stay in that heathen land--the desert cities beyond the -Jordan. Heathen as they are there, they follow in multitudes and are -astounded at His wonders, for He heals many of the sick. - -There, too, almost on the edge of His own country, He feeds another -multitude. It is the five thousand people who have followed Him to a -lonesome place in the country. They are filled, and they glorify His -name. As darkness comes on the vast crowd that He has fed goes home -rejoicing--while the disciples enter a boat, and, despite a coming -storm on the lake of Galilee, start to the other side. Jesus Himself -goes up on a lonesome mountain to pray. The night is utterly dark on -the sea, and the wind howls around the foot of the mountain and over -the tempest-tossed waters. Naturally, the disciples and the boatmen -are alarmed. Their boat is about going down--the wind is more -threatening--midnight is on the sea. Once there is a little rift in -the clouds, and the half-light of a summer moon falls over them; the -sailors glance out onto the waves and behold the form of a man walking -toward them on the billows. It is a spirit. The phantom--as phantom it -surely is--fills them with alarm, but a voice cries out, "Be not -afraid, it is I." It is said, Peter seeing some one walking on the -water tried it himself, and would have drowned had not the strange -spirit taken him by the hand. Then the phantom itself got into the -boat--the winds at once went down--and, as the little ship touched the -shore, the amazed disciples discover the night phantom to be the Lord -Himself. - -The weird story instantly is sent to all the neighboring villages, and -again people come in multitudes, some to be healed, some to revile. -They were willing enough to be healed, everybody, yet the unbelieving -also were there in crowds, and, strangely enough, despite wonders, -miracles, and healing, a storm of opposition grows. His Galileans -themselves even are joining His opponents. It is all unexplainable. - -To us of the twentieth century it would seem that seeing the miracles -He did, and hearing the Heavenly teaching that fell from His lips, the -whole world would have fallen down and worshiped. Perhaps He said too -many things that they could not understand. - -He went up to Capernaum that morning for a little bit, and talked to -the people in the village synagogue. "I am the Bread of Life," he -said, "except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, -ye have no life in you." This was too much for their small -understandings--not a soul knew what He meant. "This is a very hard -saying," His hearers answered. They puzzled their brains over it a -little; loss of faith was seizing on them. Some of them commenced -leaving Him. Then He said something harder still, "If this about the -flesh and blood startles you, what would you say to see me ascending -up where I was?" Now, still, the mystery had deepened; more people -left Him. In a tone of overwhelming sadness He asked His twelve -apostles "if they too would leave Him"? The storm of hatred was -breaking everywhere. Enemies surrounded Him; only a few seemed -absolutely faithful. The rabbis, the scribes, and the big doctrinaires -at Jerusalem had their spies everywhere, watching for His smallest -word to ensnare Him. They surely, earnestly, believed Him a foe to all -their Jewish church. He was teaching people to despise their great -prophet, Moses, and to follow the vagaries of a new, unheard of -religion. He was to them worse than the heathens across the border. - -What a change it all was! Even here in His own beautiful Capernaum -they began to deny Him. Pharisees, Sadducees, and every conceivable -enemy of the new faith are concentrating in crowds to traduce Him. -Once more they demand a sign from Heaven--again, a clap of thunder, a -sudden earthquake, or something, if He wants to prove that He is -really the Christ. To their insolent demands He naturally makes no -reply. Then more than ever conspiracy to destroy Him is rapidly being -set on foot everywhere. Shortly He will leave this people by Galilee -and their hypocrisies and falseness forever. Of course, His immediate -friends all around Lake Galilee and His disciples are mostly sticking -to Him, but not all of them--many have gone back on Him. - -One day walking on a country road He asked His disciples who the -people really said He was? They answered that some thought Him one of -the old prophets, risen from the dead. - -Herod up at Jerusalem believed Him to be John the Baptist, whom he had -murdered to please a dancing girl that night in the castle by the Dead -Sea. Herod was much alarmed about it all, too. "But who do you say -that I am?" the Master asked again--and Peter said, "Thou art the -Christ." "Tell no one this," continued Jesus, and then He explained -to them privately His coming sufferings and death. They were all -astounded. But these sufferings simply "had to be"; likewise His -death. It seemed impossible. - -He spoke to them then about life's duties, the futility of riches, of -earthly success, and added, "What shall it profit a man to gain the -whole world and lose his own soul?" There was much thinking now, but -still little believing. In less than a week He took three of His -disciples on to a high mountain to pray, and, while there before them, -He was transfigured for a little while. "And the fashion of his -countenance altered, and his raiment was white and glistening." Not -only that--two angels, or spirits, appeared in glory with Him and -talked about the death that was to come to Him at Jerusalem. Shortly, -as the Master and His disciples went down the mountain side, they met -a crowd gesticulating and shouting over an epileptic boy led by his -agonized father. Some of the Apostles had tried to cure this boy and -failed. The father prayed to Christ for compassion. "If thou only -canst believe," answered Christ, "all things are possible." Weeping, -the father said, "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief"--and the boy -at once was healed. The scene on the mountain and the story gave rise -to that greatest picture in the world, Raffael's painting of the -"Transfiguration." It is in the Vatican at Rome. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - Jesus goes alone and on foot to Jerusalem, to try and prove - Himself. In six months they will kill Him. The rich Capital - no place for Socialism. "If thou be Christ, tell us, - plainly." He is a fugitive from a city mob. The Raising of - Lazarus. Again the people are following Him. The great - Sanhedrin is alarmed. "This Man has everybody believing on - Him! He will create a Revolution yet." Jerusalem is in - political danger, anyway; so is the Roman Empire. Everything - seems going to pieces. "This Man has too many Followers; we - must kill Him." Judas is hired to betray Him. - - -There is but a little stay in Capernaum now, the great Galilean will -scarcely walk by His beautiful lake again. He is now thirty-two years -old and more. - -In a few days His disciples will have gone up to Jerusalem to the -great festival, the feast of the tabernacle. It is said that some of -the nearest relatives of the Galilean did not believe in Him even now. -It was they, however, who told Him to go up to Jerusalem to the -headquarters of the opposition and "prove himself," if He could. "Show -Thyself to the world," they said, "these things are not done in -secret." And so He went alone and on foot. - -Six months--and it will be the end. They will kill Him. His meditation -on that lonesome foot journey to Jerusalem, with death and the cross -as its last goal, we will never know. - -The great Jerusalem is full of strangers. Tens of thousands are now -beginning to hear of the great Galilean for the first time. There is -great excitement in the city. Most of the newcomers take time to talk -of Him. He is on every tongue. "When does He come, and from whence?" -"Galilee?" "No good can come from there; that is sure." "Where is He -now?" "Why do the people shout?" "What does He look like?" "Will He be -welcomed or stoned?" - -Suddenly the sweet face of the Master himself is on the temple porch -in Jerusalem. Look, He is teaching the people. How strange, how -embarrassing the situation. Save for a little coming of believers and -friends, men and women who have come to Him from Galilee, He is -almost without a friend in all that splendid city. If many souls, -hearing, believe in Him, it is dangerous to say so. All such will be -turned out of the synagogue, their houses and their lands taken from -them. Anyway this great, unbelieving city is not the place to preach -humility in, nor love for the lowly, nor the giving away of property, -nor for the reproaching of the rich. That is a kind of socialism -usually wanted by people who have nothing. This splendid city, with -its minarets and domes, its gorgeous temple, and the magnificent -structures built by Roman emperors, is full of rich people, full of -aristocrats; and is governed by proud priests, who look upon the -Galilean reformer and His small following with utter contempt. - -One day when He was walking on Solomon's porch of the temple, numbers -of Jews came around Him and tauntingly said, "How long dost Thou make -us to doubt? If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." He answered, "I -have already told you, and ye believed not." "The works I do in my -Father's name bear witness of me." Then He happened to say something -very mysterious. "I and my Father are one." That was too much for -them. Not knowing what it meant, they tried to stone Him out of the -city. "I have done many good works," He continued, "for which of those -works do you stone me?" "We stone you for blasphemy," they cried, "and -because being a man Thou makest Thyself God." He had to fly. Another -bitter charge against Him had been His healing the sick on Sunday. Not -even a good deed dare be done on the Sabbath, was a doctrine of these -extreme interpreters of the Mosaic law. Once the Lord restored a blind -man to sight on a Sunday, and the poor man was almost mobbed because -of it. - -The wrangling of the scribes and doctors about Him still goes on. -There is not a moment of peace for Him. He is even in constant danger. - -On a slope of the Mount of Olives, where He often sits summer evenings -looking down to the city at His feet and lamenting over it, stands -the little hamlet of Bethany. Three good friends of his live there. -Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. Many a time after tiresome -disputes and wranglings with insolent priests and rabbis in the city, -who were only trying to entrap Him, He goes to this quiet little home -among the olive groves for rest. - -After a while He leaves the neighborhood of the great city entirely, -and goes over the Jordan near the desert, to the very spot in fact -where John baptized Him two years ago. What strange feelings must have -possessed His soul while there--there where the dove had come down on -Him, and where the great voice had called Him "the beloved Son"! There -His public life commenced. And now He is there again. Not with the -voice of God speaking to Him.--No--He is a fugitive from a city mob. -Yet a great many people from the villages come to Him down there by -the Jordan and believe on Him. Many wonders are again performed. Many -people are healed. A part of this restful time away from Jerusalem is -spent close to Jericho. A lovely plain is there with delightful -plantations and gardens of perfume. "It is a divine country there," -said Josephus, the historian, but in those days it was all fresh and -green--the climate different from now. Lover of beautiful nature as He -was, this little spot of roses and verdure must have delighted His -soul. - -In a few days His dear friends Mary and Martha, back there in Bethany, -send to tell Him that their brother Lazarus, who is very dear to Him, -is sick. - -"Let us go back there at once," exclaimed the Master. His disciples -tried to warn Him. "Why,--they stoned you and you had to fly just -now,--will you risk going back?" He reflected a moment in silence, and -then told them, sadly, plainly, that Lazarus was dead. "Let us go." -And some of the disciples said, "Let us also go that we may die with -Him." - -It is only some twenty-five miles perhaps, and they have come near to -the village. It seems the friend had been dead four days already. But -the coming back is to be followed by one of the astonishing wonders of -Bible history. Lazarus is to be brought to life. The names of Lazarus, -with Mary and Martha, had been well known in Jerusalem, and numbers of -its good citizens had come out to the village to condole with the -bereaved sisters. Hearing of the Master's approach, Martha hurried out -to the edge of the village and met Him at the door of her dead -brother's tomb, a place cut in the solid rock. "If thou hadst been -here, my brother had not died," cried the sister, weeping. "He will -rise again," the Master answered, simply. "Yes, I know, at the -resurrection," said Martha. Again he spoke. "I am the Resurrection, -whosoever believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Hast -thou faith?" And she answered, "Yes." Instantly she ran and told her -sister, and she, too, came, believing and worshiping. "Did I not tell -thee," said the Master, "that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst -see the glory of God?" Then He commanded the door of the tomb to be -taken away--and, in a loud voice, bade the dead to rise. - -In a moment the living Lazarus walked out of the tomb. Some of the -Jews, seeing it, believed. Some of the higher classes also believed. -However it was done, it had been an astounding wonder, and the -excitement ran like wildfire into the city. The great Sanhedrin and -chief priests, hearing of it, instantly called a secret council. - -"What shall we do?" they said. "This man doeth many miracles. If let -alone, all men will believe on him--and the Romans will come and take -our place and nation away from us." There was an ex-high priest named -Annas at this secret meeting. He was a religious tyrant, who had never -lost his power in the Jewish councils. His son-in-law, Caiaphas, was -officially high priest, but only as his tool. Annas was the power -behind the throne. His wishes, his commands, prevailed everywhere. The -murderous strings were pulled by his hands. Annas hated Jesus, hated -the apostles, hated every new doctrine; and possibly, too, he truly -feared that any new religion or excitement might disturb Jewish -politics, might bring on rebellion, might even bring the hatred of -Rome on the Jews. He did not know that the hatred of Rome was already -turned against Palestine; nor that Palestine, Jerusalem, Rome itself, -were all at that moment on the road to destruction, but it is from -causes with which the teaching of the Galilean, whom he is about to -murder, has nothing to do. "It is better to kill this religious -fanatic and disturber and save ourselves," said Annas to the great -council. "We will not do it with our own hands--we will arrest Him, -bring Him before the judges, and incite the mob to do the rest." - -And so an order was sent out that the kind Jesus should be arrested -wherever found. The miracle at the tomb, however performed, or however -believed, had proved to be the most important act of the Galilean's -life. Now it was, alas, to be a warrant for His death. "Now," said the -Sanhedrin council, "it is going too far--all the world is running -after Him." - -In perhaps a week after this there was a little supper at Martha's -home, in Bethany, only two miles out of the city--and the Master was -there, and the resurrected Lazarus sat at the table with them. -Singularly enough Judas, the coming traitor, was also there, and -complained of Mary's using some precious ointment to bathe the feet of -the Master. Because he was treasurer for the apostles and a thief, he -wanted the money value of the ointment put where he could steal it. He -was now already preparing himself for the great betrayal. - -Out of curiosity to see Lazarus, the resurrected one, many went to the -village that night from Jerusalem; some of them also were converted. -The priests, hearing of this, decided it was best to put Lazarus also -to death. The great wonder performed at the tomb had alarmed them. It -had not converted them. - -In a few hours, believing people, hearing that the great Galilean was -entering the city again, went out to meet him, swinging palm leaves -and shouting hosannas. Many even threw their mantles down for Him to -ride over and hailed Him king of Israel. Some of the bystanders, -looking on with contempt, even asked Jesus to silence and rebuke His -zealous followers. "No, no," He answered, "were these to hold their -peace, the very stones would cry out." Again all kinds of snares are -set for Him, every word is watched. Though He is again permitted to -talk at the porch of the temple every day, spies are there listening. -He is hated in the great city. - -Pretty soon they will call Him a criminal for doing cures on the -Sabbath, for with their laws one scarcely dared eat his dinner on a -Sunday; not this only, they will persecute Him for saying He is a king -when there is no king, save Tiberius at Rome. Sometimes the Galilean's -own talk seems wilder, less comprehensible than it even was to His -native villagers. He has himself become so wholly spiritual, so filled -with a quick coming of the new kingdom, that He hardly realizes the -material life about Him. - -Occasionally He climbs up to the top of the Mount of Olives, -overlooking the beautiful city, and sits there for hours, meditating -on its spiritual destruction--a destruction He had come to prevent, -and cannot. Even a material destruction is hanging over Jerusalem. In -thirty-seven years it will be burned to the earth--and where the -gorgeous temple stands, the mosque of Omar will one day lift its head, -type and temple of Mahomet, whose creed would have broken the Master's -heart. It seems the Master in His soul knew all that was about to -happen. Could He not have prevented it? By a miracle could He not have -destroyed all His enemies at a single blow? He did not do it. He only -said, "It is the father's will, these awful things that are about to -happen." He would not shirk them. He regarded Himself foreordained to -suffer. To His mind the Old Scriptures foretold His awful sacrifice. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - The last supper. Leonardo's great picture. Betrayal. With a - rope around his neck, the Savior of mankind is dragged - before a Roman Judge. The scene at Pilate's palace. Pilate's - wife warns him. The awful murder and the End. - - -One evening He and His disciples sat together at their evening -meal--it was to be their last on earth. It is doubtful if the -disciples really believed all was to be finished so soon. Yet He had -most earnestly told them of His coming death. It was now in the -Passover week--and the Master and His nearest ones proposed -celebrating one of its festivals in private and alone. "But where?" -asked his disciples. "Well," He had said, "go into Jerusalem, and the -first man you meet carrying a pitcher of water, follow him to the -house where he goes; there tell the owner I am coming, and he will -show you an upper room, all prepared for us." Two of them went as -told, followed the man with the pitcher, and found all in readiness -for the little supper. That evening the Master and His disciples took -a walk together from little Bethany, over the Mount of Olives, to -Jerusalem. It was their last walk together on earth. At this supper -where they now are, the Galilean once more tells His disciples the -fate awaiting Him. He even points out the betrayer; but they do not -seem to know His meaning. - -Quietly, and aside, He whispers to Judas to "Do that which you are -going to do quickly." It seems that Judas at once slipped away from -the eleven and went out to hunt up the enemies of one he called -Master. For a trifling sum of silver he had sold his own soul. - -This scene, like that of the Transfiguration, has been celebrated by -one of the great pictures of the world. Leonardo da Vinci's picture of -the "Last Supper," in an old church at Milan, Italy, is in itself a -miracle of art. Perhaps no painting on earth has attracted so many -believing pilgrims to see and to sigh over the sorrow of the Master. - -That very night when the moon rose over the towers and walls of the -city, Jesus and His disciples left the supper room and secretly went -out across the little brook Cedron and entered an olive orchard, -to-day known as the Garden of Gethsemane. It is close to the city -walls. There in the moonlight the disciples, tired and afraid, and -probably hiding from their enemies, lay down on the grass and slept. -The Master Himself stepped a little into the shade of the olive trees -to pray. He knew the hour had come. - -In a little while, it was the midnight hour now, he heard men coming, -with stones and swords and lanterns. Fearlessly He stepped out into -the light of the full moon and asked them whom they were looking for. -They answered, "Jesus, of Nazareth." He said quietly, "I am He." At -the same moment Judas, the betrayer, walked up and kissed Him. This -had been a sign agreed upon between Judas and the priests, as to which -one to capture. - -The little handful of friends with the Lord now tried to give battle, -but He would not permit them. He was at once bound, and carried back -into the city. It is past midnight. He is first conducted before -Annas, the church tyrant, who sends Him to Caiaphas, the high priest. -There He is questioned and tortured. By the time it is daylight He is -sent to the judgment hall of Pilate and accused. Pilate is a Roman. -Under the Roman law there still must be some pretense of a charge -against a human being before he can be put to death--some charge of -wrong. - -It is now seven in the morning. Priests, scribes, Pharisees, all come -before Pilate in a howling mob, leading the Savior of mankind with a -rope around His neck. They had tortured Him half the night--they have -decided He shall die; they only want permission to kill Him, or have -Him killed by Pilate. - -As it is the holy festival time, custom does not permit the mob to -enter the heathen palace of Pilate. So they stand out in the street, -on a place called the "pavement," and howl. - -"What is the charge against Him? What has this man done?" demands the -Roman governor, with a show of justice as he steps out to the front of -his palace and looks at the mob. "He says he is Christ, the King," -some of the accusers answer. Pilate goes back into the great hall, -with the marble floor and the gilded ceilings. He himself has no love -for the Jews. They have no love for Pilate. He knows the Jerusalemites -to be a seditious lot of zealots, quarreling forever among themselves, -and fanatical in their adherence to the laws of Moses. The Jews know -Pilate to be a hater of their creeds and customs. They regard him, -too, a brutal governor; but now they would use this brutality against -one of whom they were a little afraid, for in the villages this -Galilean, whom they were persecuting, had many friends. Would not the -people rise, moved by His wonderful miracles, and at last put an end -to all their religious pretenses? It was the temple-people, the -Sanhedrins, and the Pharisaic priests who stood in front of this mob, -gathered at Pilate's palace on that early morning. They had already -decided their victim must die, and they were inciting all the ignorant -to violence. - -Because of the Roman occupation, Pilate's approval was a necessity -before they could quite kill a man. They reckoned, however, that he -would want to please them some, and so lessen his own unpopularity. - -In a little time the governor called Jesus into the judgment hall. -Looking at the wronged, the suffering, the persecuted being who stood -before him, the blood falling from His poor body to the floor Pilate -asked Him plainly if He were the king of the Jews? "Do you ask that of -yourself," said the persecuted but heroic prisoner, "or did others -tell it of me?" - -Pilate was in fact greatly impressed by the face, serene, even in -suffering, and the mild words of one falsely accused. The Savior -explained that if He was a king it was not of this world. His kingdom -was of the spirit. Pilate did not quite understand that. He himself -was not very spiritual. Jesus added, "I am a witness to the Truth." -"Then what is Truth?" said Pilate. We can only guess the answer given -him. It may have greatly moved the Roman, for he at once went out to -the mob assembled on the pavement and said, "I find no fault in this -man." Some one in the crowd spoke up and accused Jesus of stirring up -the peasants in Galilee. - -"If he is a Galilean," said Pilate to himself, "he must be tried by -Antipas, the Galilean governor." Reliable tradition says that they -also shouted at him that this was the very Child Jesus, whom Herod -tried to kill when he massacred the children of Bethlehem. Pilate had -never heard of the flight to Egypt nor of the return. He supposed the -Child Christ dead. Now he is astounded, and alarmed, for where had -Jesus been all these years? Had His origin, His identity been kept a -secret? Does not this tradition and Pilate's alarm add strength to the -supposition that years of His life had passed in the secret of the -desert? - -Pilate gladly sent him to Antipas, who that very day happened to be in -Jerusalem at the festival. The Galilean ruler had heard of Christ a -thousand times, and often had longed to see him and talk with him, but -most he was curious to see a miracle performed. Again the Master is -accused, but to the many questions of Antipater He makes no answer -whatever. Neither does He perform some miracle for the curiosity and -sport of the Galilean court. Offended at His silence, and greatly -disappointed, the king mocks Him, and arraying Him in ridiculous -garments sends Him back to Pilate. But he has found no fault in -Him--no act against the laws of Galilee for which he dare punish Him. - -Again He is before Pilate, the Roman, again full of pain, and -bleeding, He answers mildly as before, or else is silent, submitting -to outrageous injury. Three times Pilate goes out before the crowd and -tells them that Christ has done nothing worthy of death. "Again I -tell you I find no fault in Him. I sent Him over to Antipas, the king -of Galilee. He also finds no fault worthy of death. Let me chastise -Him and set Him free." - -But the crowd yelled the louder for His blood. Once the wife of Pilate -comes and whispers to him to "have nothing to do with that good man, I -have been forewarned in a dream." Again Pilate earnestly strives to -save Him. Again he addresses the mob, "You know it is our custom to -release a prisoner at this festival. I have Barabbas, the robber, here -and Jesus. Let me set Jesus free and hang the robber." "No, no," cry a -hundred voices; "free Barabbas and crucify the heretic." The Roman, -accomplished in killing men, practiced in cruelty as he is, shudders -at the fearful injustice. He knows the Galilean has done no wrong. The -bruised and bleeding body of the Master waits in silence and prayer -there in the hall of the palace. The cries for His murder reach His -ears--they grow louder and louder. Pilate, confused as to the law, as -to his duty, and perhaps alarmed, weakened, in a contemptible moment -of cowardice, yields. - -But first he steps to the front, and in a loud voice exclaims, "Look -you, I wash my hands of the blood of this good man." He could do -nothing more. - -In a moment the robber is set free, and the Christ, followed by a -multitude, some deriding and some weeping for pity, starts for the -awful place of execution. Once as He goes along the thorny way, He -hears pitying women bewailing and weeping. Turning His face to them, -He cries, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me; but weep for -yourselves and your children." - -That weeping, that sorrow, has continued two thousand years. Humanity -will weep forever over the awfulness of what happened. It is hard to -think that God ordained any of this suffering of Jesus. More likely -the Master, in the extremity of His zeal for humanity, believed His -very blood on the cross a needed sacrifice to awaken the world. He -was human. His road from Pilate's palace to the cross has been -followed in tears by millions of people. The awful picture of what -happened there is too dreadful to describe. John, the Evangelist, -himself was present--the only eye witness who has written of it, yet -not even he has the courage to tell the story beyond a dozen verses in -the Testament. The disciples had deserted the Lord, and were in -hiding. They were in fear. They could not drink the cup the Master had -to drink. A few women, including the mother of the Redeemer and her -sister, were present to the very end. To make the anguish as -disgraceful as possible, the Master was nailed to a cross between two -thieves. It was the most agonizing kind of execution known to the -cruel Roman law. Some Roman soldiers put Him to death, as ordered by -their governor, but the blood of it all was on the hands of fanatics -and priests. - -Pilate, in mockery of the Jews, whom he despised for this murder, -forced on him, put an inscription over the cross saying, "The King of -the Jews." The mob of murderers wanted him to amend the phrase, and -have it read, "He said He was King of the Jews." Pilate declined, for -Jesus had never said that. Besides, Pilate had had enough of the -horror that, like an earthquake, was to shock the world. He had washed -his hands of it. - -The deed done, the anguish over, Joseph, a secret Christian convert, -though a rich member of the Sanhedrin, asked Pilate for the body of -Jesus, and put it in a new tomb of his own, hewn in the solid rock, as -was a custom of the land. - -On what is now known as Easter morning, just as the dawn was breaking -over the hills of Jerusalem, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of the -dead Master. It had been opened by angels, as she believed, for, on -looking within, she saw two figures sitting there dressed in white. -Very quickly two of the disciples, whom Mary saw and told, came and -looked into the cave also and saw nothing but the linen clothes of the -Master, and went away. The body was not there. Mary waited a little -yet by herself, when one of the angels asked her why she was weeping. -She answered, "They have taken away my Lord." At that moment she -turned her face a little and saw a spirit standing by her. Thinking at -first it was the gardener, she asked it where the body had been taken -to. To her amazement the spirit spoke and sadly said, "Mary." -Instantly she knew it was the Lord. She would have thrown herself at -His feet, but He bade her not to touch Him, but rather to hasten to -the disciples and tell them He was about to ascend to Heaven. - -That day, on a country road, outside Jerusalem, He overtook two of His -disciples, and walked and talked with them all the way to Emmaus, -telling them the great story of the Scriptures, while they walked and -wondered, not knowing it was the spirit of the dead Master. That same -evening, too, that same Spirit of Jesus appeared to the disciples in a -closed room where they were hiding for fear of the Jews. In a little -while the word went round among the followers that the Lord was -risen. For forty days that Spirit, risen from the tomb, was to be seen -by the faithful in Jerusalem and in Galilee. - -To His apostles His appearance in the spirit could not have been -surprising, for He had repeatedly told them that He would be -crucified, and would rise again in three days. As to a possibility of -life after death--there was little or no question among the Jews. The -Sadducees only argued against it. The belief of that time and of ages -before was in a resurrection. Even Daniel had told the people -distinctly that the time would come "when many that sleep in the dust -of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame -and contempt." - -Indeed, Jews at this very moment were expecting Elias and other -prophets to rise from their graves and rule the world from Palestine. - -Whether Christ's physical body also appeared to Mary Magdalene that -morning in the garden we may never know. Lyman Abbott has rightly said -that it is "not even important that we should know." It is sufficient -that the Spirit that never dies was there. His appearance was the -perfect proof of an after life. Pilate and the murderers had killed -only the body, not the soul. - -Quite possibly spirits have been momentarily seen in our later times, -but His, seen by thousands, walked about the earth for forty days. - -That event was to establish a religion that would reform the world and -live forever. The world now knew there was a second life to strive -for--and the road to that life was in being good to one another. -Millions have walked it, and died in peace. They died, not to an -eternal sleep but to waken with the light of Heaven bursting around -them. - - -THE END - - - * * * * * - - -Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics -(_italics_). - -Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. - -Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained -except in obvious cases of typographical error. - -The transcriber has changed the preface signature "H. S. M. B." to -"S. H. M. B." - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Layman's Life of Jesus, by Samuel H. M. Byers - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LAYMAN'S LIFE OF JESUS *** - -***** This file should be named 41500-8.txt or 41500-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/5/0/41500/ - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Julia Neufeld and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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