The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hurlbut's Life of Christ, by Rev. Jesse Lyman Hurlbut.

JESUS STAYED at the school in the village church until he was twelve years old. By that time he could read and write and could also repeat many verses. But as his reading book and spelling book and copy book and memory verses were all in the Bible, and as he heard long readings from its books at the church service, we may be sure that he knew quite well all the best things in that best of all books, the Bible. One proof of this is that in later years, when anyone tried to puzzle him with a hard question, he often answered promptly with a sentence from the Bible.

A Jewish boy generally left school at the age of twelve, unless he wished to become a rabbi, which was the name among the Jews for a teacher of their law. If that was his wish or the purpose of his parents, he was sent up to Jerusalem to study in the college held by the scribes or teachers in the Temple. Saul of Tarsus, a boy about four years younger than Jesus, whom we know as Paul the Apostle, was a student in the Temple college, but Jesus was not. While the young Saul was studying in Jerusalem, Jesus as a young man was working in the carpenter shop at Nazareth.

When Jesus was twelve years old he was taken on his first journey from Nazareth up to Jerusalem to attend the great feast of the Passover. Three great feasts were held during the year. The feast of the Passover was in the early spring, and kept in mind the great day when the Israelites went out of Egypt, no longer slaves but free men. The feast of the Pentecost was held in the late spring, just fifty days after the Passover—the word "pentecost" meaning "fifty days"—and reminded the people that fifty days after their fathers went out of Egypt, God gave them their law amid lightning and thunder on Mount Sinai. The feast of the Tabernacles, or "feast of tents" (for that is the meaning of the word tabernacles), was held in the fall; and at this time the people built for themselves huts of green branches, ate in them and slept in them for a week, to show the outdoor life of the early days in the wilderness, while they were marching to Canaan, the Promised Land. These three great feasts were held in Jerusalem, and from every part of the land the people came up to the city to attend them.

It was a great event when the boy Jesus for the first time went on this journey to Jerusalem. The younger children were left at home, under the care of some friend, for a boy did not begin attending these feasts until he was twelve years old. Of course, Joseph and Mary knew all about this journey, for they had made it many times. They went in the caravan or company from Nazareth, following the road that Joseph and Mary had taken on their way to Bethlehem, twelve years before. As they journeyed, Mary seated on the ass, Joseph and the boy Jesus walking beside her, they would talk about the places which they passed, and the stories of old times told about them. Jesus knew all those stories, for every Jewish boy had heard them, over and over.

As they paused on the top of the hill beside Nazareth, below them was spread out the great plain of Esdraelon, and they would say, "That mountain by the Great Sea on the west is Mount Carmel, where Elijah built his altar and made his great offering, when in answer to his prayer the fire came down from heaven and burned up the bullock laid on the altar. Do you see that road running across the plain? On that road Elijah ran in front of King Ahab's chariot, after the long drought, when the rain was coming. And then, this plain! Over it from Mount Tabor, there on the left, Deborah and Barak chased the flying Canaanites across the plain. Do you see that second mountain beyond Tabor? That is Mount Gilboa; and at its foot Gideon with his brave three hundred frightened at night the Midianite host and won a great victory."

They went down into the Jordan valley and walked southward by the Roman road, following the Jordan River. At one place the mountains on either side came down close to the river, and there was barely room for the road between the foaming stream on one side and the steep rocks on the other.

"Look," said Joseph, "this is the place where the waters rose up and stood in a heap when our fathers under Joshua were about to cross the river, thirty miles below."

They crossed a brook which fell into the river; and Joseph said, "Do you see this brook? Up there among the mountains was the place where the prophet Elijah was fed by the ravens; for this is the brook Cherith."

They came to the place just above Jericho where under Joshua the Israelites walked across the dry bed of the river, the holy ark carried by the priests in front and the people following in a long procession. There the river is very wide and quite shallow, so that people walk across, except in the early spring, when it is swollen by the rains and the melting snow on the high mountains far to the north.

The Temple of Herod restored by Fergusson. The covered portico on the left is the royal porch extending along the southern side of the Temple area. The colonnade running from left to right is Solomon's porch extending across the eastern side of the area. The courts were much larger than as here shown. The Temple of Herod restored by Fergusson. The covered portico on the left is the royal porch extending along the southern side of the Temple area. The colonnade running from left to right is Solomon's porch extending across the eastern side of the area. The courts were much larger than as here shown.

painting At last his parents found Jesus in the Temple, the center of a company of learned scholars; he was asking questions of them and they were asking questions of him, while all around were people listening and wondering at this boy's deep knowledge of the truth.

There they would point out across the river Mount Nebo, where Moses stood looking upon the land and then all alone lay down and died. They stopped for a rest at Jericho, where were stories to tell of the walls that fell down when the Israelites marched around them, and the priests blew their ram's-horn trumpets. Perhaps they stopped and drank at the great spring near Jericho where the water was made pure by Elisha the prophet. And after a climb up to the mountains, at the end of six days or a week, they came to Jerusalem, the end of their journey, and the place called by the people "the holy city."

And then, there was the splendid Temple of God! How the boy's heart was stirred as he walked over the bridge leading from Mount Zion to Mount Moriah! They went into the great outside court, the court of the Gentiles, the only place in the Temple where foreigners were allowed to enter; and the boy Jesus was shocked to see that it had been turned into a market, where cattle and sheep and doves were sold, and where tables stood around for the men who changed foreign money into Jewish shekels.

Over the eastern wall and the Golden Gate, they saw the Mount of Olives, then covered to the top with vineyards and olive trees and gardens. They climbed up a flight of steps and passed through a gate called "the Beautiful Gate," into a smaller court, like the outer court open to the sky. This was named "The Court of the Women" because from its lattice-covered gallery the women looked down on the altar and the services of worship. Jesus noticed that in this Court of the Women were many classes of young men studying, seated in a circle, listening to their teachers. How he longed to sit down among them and listen to these wise scholars; for though only a boy, he had thought deeply on many things which he had read, and many questions had come to his mind which he greatly desired to have answered. He saw the sacrifice offerings laid on the altar and burned, while trumpets sounded and censers of incense were waved and the priests chanted the psalms of David.

While the family were in Jerusalem they found friends with whom they stayed, and in their house the Passover feast was eaten. It was a very simple meal, just a roasted lamb, some vegetables and bread made without yeast, in thin cakes, like soda biscuit, only larger. They ate the meal lying down on couches around the table, their heads toward the table, their feet away from it. It was the custom or rule of the Jews, at this feast, to have the story of the first Passover. Perhaps Joseph said to Jesus:

"My son, you know what took place when this passover was eaten for the first time. Tell us the story."

Then the boy Jesus told of the terrible plagues that fell upon the land of Egypt; of the last and greatest sorrow, the death of the oldest son in every house; how the Israelites sprinkled their door-posts with the blood of the slain lamb and were passed over by this death-angel; how they ate the lamb on that night, dressed for their journey; and how they went out of Egypt and marched through the Red Sea.

The family were in Jerusalem for a week, and every day Jesus went up to the Temple to worship in its services and to learn what he could from its teachers. The last day of their visit came, and at its close the families going to Galilee met together for their homeward journey. A horn was blown and the caravan or company started northward. Mary missed her son, but thought that he was somewhere in the crowd, talking with other boys of his own age. But when night came, the company stopped to rest and Jesus did not appear. Mary was alarmed. They looked through all the crowd, but no Jesus was to be found.

Then in great trouble, Joseph and Mary hastened back to Jerusalem, looking for their boy. They asked for him among the friends at whose house they had stayed, but he had not been there. They wandered up and down the narrow streets, but while they saw many groups of boys, their boy was not among them. At last, on the third day, they looked for him in the Temple. In one of its courts a crowd of people were listening to the teachers who seemed to be talking with someone. They drew near, and Mary's heart began to beat as she suddenly heard a boy's voice sounding from the middle of the throng. She knew that voice, in its clear, rich, honest tone! She pressed her way in; and there stood her boy, the center of a company of the learned scholars. He was asking questions of these men, and they in their answers were asking him questions in turn, while all around were people listening and wondering at this boy's deep knowledge of the truth.

"My son, why have you treated us so unkindly? Your father and I have been looking for you, in great trouble, for three days!"

"Why should you look for me? Did you not know that I would be in my Father's house?"

Evidently on the last day of their stay, he had slipped away for one more visit to the Temple; and once there his mind and heart had been so full that no thought of the home-going had come to him. He had just stayed there in the courts of the Lord's house without a thought of the outside world.

Where had he slept on those two nights? Who had given him food during those three days? He might have lain down, as thousands did during the feast, under the olive trees on the Mount of Olives. Some stranger may have seen him and invited him to a meal. But it would not be strange if in his deep, whole-souled interest, he had never thought of food and had eaten nothing during those three days.

But without a word he took his mother's hand and walked out of the Temple. He made the journey home to Nazareth, saying little but thinking much of all that he had seen and heard. One great, precious truth at least had come home to his heart. He felt that the Lord God of Israel was his own Father and he could trust fully the Father God.

The Young Woodworker

FOR EIGHTEEN years after the visit to the Temple, Jesus was living in Nazareth, growing up from a boy to a young man. A Jewish boy generally left his school at about thirteen years of age, and began working at some trade or business. Jesus went into Joseph's shop and helped in the work, making plows and ax-handles and rakes and the plain furniture for the houses. Whatever Jesus did was done well, and we cannot doubt that in his trade he soon became a skilful worker. His ax-handles and plows were as good as the best; and if he made a bushel measure, it was a true one, for Jesus was a boy that could be trusted.

As a boy, he was like other boys, playing happily in play-time and working heartily in work-time. Some boys like to be alone, reading and thinking and dreaming; but Jesus was not one of that kind. All through his life he liked to have people around him, and as a boy we may be sure he had many friends among other boys. He was strong, in good health, could run and jump and climb trees. With his boy friends he wandered among the mountains and upon the great plain just over the hills from his town. The Sea of Galilee was only twenty miles away, and we do not doubt that Jesus with his friends went fishing in its blue waters and brought home to his mother the fish which he had caught.

Tools of an oriental carpenter. 1, 3, 4. Drills. 2. Chisel. 5. Handle of a drill. 6. Nut held in the hand while the drill revolves. 7. Saw. 8. Punch. 9. Horn of oil. 10. Mallet. 11. Bag for nails. 11. Basket to hold tools.

After a time, Joseph, the husband of Mary, died, and Jesus was left to care for his mother and her large family of children. It is no light load for one just coming out of boyhood and just beginning to be a man, to have laid upon him the earning of enough money to buy food for a mother and at least six younger brothers and sisters; and this was the load which the young Jesus took up. But although Joseph who had been a father to him was gone, Jesus knew that his heavenly Father was still with him, and he could call upon him for help in every need.

Jesus worked hard all the long days, but when the Sabbath day came, which among the Jews was Saturday, his shop was shut up and he sat on the floor of the village church, listening to the reading of the Old Testament and joining in the songs of praise. He took his turn as the reader at the desk, and as he read the lesson in Isaiah or Micah or Hosea, he saw meanings in the verses that others could not see, for in the long hours of the workshop he was thinking and praying and listening to the voice of God.

While Jesus was living this quiet life in the home and the shop some changes were going on in the land. The ruler in Galilee was Herod Antipas, the son of that wicked Herod who killed all the babies in Bethlehem; and he was very little better than his father. In Judea, the part of the land around Jerusalem, Archelaus, another son of Herod, ruled so badly that all the people sent to the Emperor Tiberius at Rome asking to have him taken away. The Jews hoped that they might then have rulers of their own people; but the Emperor sent them a Roman governor, whom they did not like but dared not make angry. In many places through the land, especially in Galilee, where Jesus was living, some of the people refused to pay their taxes to the Roman empire, and began fighting against the rulers. They could not battle with the Roman armies, and hid in the woods and caves and mountains, but came out in bands and robbed the people on the roads. All through the land, north and south, were fear and trouble. The people were not contented with their rulers, and all hoped that the time was near when the Kingdom of God would come and their Roman officers and tax-gatherers would be driven away. They looked for a kingdom like the one over which David reigned a thousand years before, a kingdom with armies and victories over its enemies and a palace for the king.

But they did not know that in that little one-room house on the hillside of Nazareth, the King was waiting for his call to go forth and bring in the true Kingdom of God.

The Voice by the River

WHILE JESUS was still living in Nazareth and working in his carpenter shop, suddenly the news went through all the land that a strange man was preaching in the desert country of Judea, not far from Jerusalem; and that all the people were going out of the cities and villages to hear him.

This man was John, the son of the old priest Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth. You remember that an angel came to Zacharias while he was standing by the altar in the Temple, and told him that he should have a son, and that his name should be John. John had now grown up and was a young man about thirty years old. He had lived out in the desert places away from the cities and their crowds, so that he could be alone and think and pray and listen to the voice of God. And God had spoken to him in the desert and he had told him to preach to the people and tell them how to get ready for the Kingdom of God, which was soon to come.

John was preaching beside the river Jordan, at the foot of the mountains; and from the cities and villages everywhere the people went to listen to his words. John did not look like the men of his time. He had never cut his hair, and it hung upon his shoulders in a long black mass. His black beard, too, was very long, for it had never been trimmed. His clothing was a skin torn from a beast or a mantle woven from the rough, shaggy hair of the camel, fastened by a leather belt around the waist. He had lived out of doors in the sun and the winds and the rain, so that his face and arms and legs and his bare feet were all brown and hard. He ate for his food the locusts which he could pick up in the fields and the woods and the honey to be found in the hollow trees. When the people looked at him, they thought of the great prophet Elijah, who many hundred years before had gone up to heaven in a chariot of fire near that very place where John was preaching, and they said wonderingly to each other:

A prophet among the Israelites was a man who brought to the people the word which God had given him to speak. The books of the Old Testament, which all the people knew almost by heart, told of many prophets, such as Moses, who brought water for his people by striking the rock; Samuel, whose prayers saved the people from their enemies; Nathan, who spoke bold words to David the king; and Elisha, who had made the bitter waters of a spring sweet, had cured the leper Naaman and wrought many wonderful works. Of all the prophets, they thought Elijah the greatest, and they remembered that in the last book of the Old Testament, the book of the prophet Malachi, it was written:

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great day of the Lord shall come."

And when the people looked at this strange man who was preaching by the river, they thought that the day of the Lord was surely coming, and that here was the prophet Elijah as had been promised.

John said to the people, in his preaching, that the Kingdom of God was near at hand and that every man must be ready for it. To make themselves ready, they were to confess their sins, to stop doing wrong and to begin to do right. As a sign of their willingness to cease from evil and to serve the Lord, they were baptized by John in the river Jordan. John said to them:

"I baptize you with water, but there is one among you, of your own people, one whom you do not know, who is greater than I, so much above me that I am not worthy to stoop down and tie his shoestrings. He will come soon; and when he comes, he will not baptize with water as I do. He will baptize you with fire and with the Spirit of God."

"He shall deal with the people as the farmer deals with his grain on the threshing floor. He will sweep the floor most carefully; the wheat he will put in his barn and the chaff he will burn up with a fire that cannot be put out."

"Let everyone do what he can to help those who are in need. If any of you have two coats, give one of them to some poor man that has no garments; and those of you who have wheat and barley, give to those who are hungry something to eat."

Some of the men who gathered the taxes from the people for the Roman rulers came to John and said:

"What would you have us do to make ready for the coming of the King? Shall we tell the people that they are to pay no more taxes?"

"No," answered John. "Let the people pay their taxes as before; but see that you do not make them pay more than is right, and do not rob them."

For many of these tax-collectors (who were called publicans) took from the people more than they had a right to take, and used the people's money for themselves. They made themselves rich by robbing the people. Everywhere the people hated these tax-collectors, and called them "sinners."

"Do not be harsh and rough with the people. Treat everyone kindly. Be contented with your pay, and do not make the people give you money that you have no right to ask."

These were some of the many things that John said to the people. All his words came to this: "If you are doing wrong, stop it and begin to do right. Do not be selfish, but love your fellow men and do good to them. And be ready when the King comes to obey him."

John was called "John the Baptist" because he baptized in the river Jordan all those who promised to follow his teachings.

The leaders of the people in Jerusalem did not believe the words of John and were not baptized by him. They did not know exactly what to think of him, and they sent some priests and others to see him. These men came and asked him:

"What then?" said they. "Are you Elijah the prophet come to earth again, as some people say you are?"

"Well, then," they said, "tell us who you are, so that we can give an answer to the rulers who have sent us."

"In the book of the prophet Isaiah it is written, 'The Voice of him that cries in the desert: prepare ye the way of the Lord, make a straight path before him.' I am that voice to speak to the people and make them ready for the King, who is even now among you, although you do not know him, and who will soon make himself known."

The Carpenter Leaves His Shop

AFTER SOME months the news was brought to Nazareth that John the Baptist had come up the river Jordan and was now preaching at a place about twelve miles south of the Sea of Galilee. The place where John was preaching had two names. It was called "Bethany beyond Jordan," there being another Bethany quite near Jerusalem; and it was also called "Bethabara," a word which means "the place where one can walk across the river"; for there the river Jordan was so shallow that people waded across it. John had chosen this place because the sloping shore beside the river was fitted for the crowds to listen to his preaching, and the shallow water was near at hand for baptizing the people.

Bethabara or Bethany was about twenty-five miles from Nazareth; and over the plain just across the hill was a road leading down to the river at that place, where people used to cross the Jordan on their way to the land of Decapolis and Perea beyond. Nearly all the people had heard John preach, and most of them had been baptized by him as a sign that they promised to turn from evil and do good and look for the King who was soon to come.

Jesus felt that the time had now come for him to begin the work to which God had called him. He had told no one of his purpose, not even his mother; but one day he left his carpenter shop to his younger brothers, who were now young men and able to care for their mother. He walked down the valleys, came to the river Jordan, waded the stream, and at Bethabara, in front of a crowd of people from every part of the land, for the first time he saw John the Baptist. No doubt Mary had told her son all the story of the angel by the altar, of John's birth and of his early life; but in all the years Jesus and John had never met.

Jesus listened to the words of John, and then with the others he came forward to be baptized. John looked at this strange young man who was drawing near, and as he looked the voice within him said:

John felt that here was one who needed no baptism; for he knew that this man had no sins to give up, and was already doing God's will perfectly. He felt unwilling to baptize him, and said:

"It is not fitting that I should baptize one so good and so great in the sight of God as you are. I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

"It is best that it should be so. Whatever is right for other men is right also for me. Let me do this as my duty to God."

Painting As Jesus rose out of the water, a light flashed from the sky, resting on his head, and the voice of God was heard saying: "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am well pleased."

Then John yielded to the will of Jesus and baptized him. Just as Jesus rose out of the water a strange thing happened. While he was praying a light flashed from the sky and seemed to rest upon the head of Jesus like a white, shining dove coming down upon him; and a voice was heard somewhat like a peal of thunder. Those standing on the shore felt that some words were spoken, but they could not understand them. John alone heard and understood. It was the voice of God, and John afterward told the people that these were the words spoken:

At that instant a mighty Power came upon Jesus. The Spirit of God had always been with him and had caused him to feel that the Lord was fitting him to do some great work. But in that moment when the light from heaven fell upon him and the voice of God was heard, Jesus was filled with the Spirit of God as no man, not even the greatest of the prophets, had been filled before. He knew now that he was not only a prophet, one who hears God's voice and speaks God's words; but more than a prophet, he himself was the Son of God. He saw as in a flash what was God's plan for his kingdom on the earth; and that it was a kingdom far different from that expected by the Jewish people. He knew that he, who up to that moment had been the woodworker of Nazareth, was from that hour to be the Prince of the heavenly kingdom. He was to lead the people to God and to show in his own life how men should live. He was to bring God down to men and to bring men to God. All this and more that we cannot understand came to the soul of Jesus as he stood on the brink of Jordan with the light of God upon his face.

Alone in the Desert

AFTER HIS baptism Jesus felt that for a time he must be alone to think over the great change that had come upon him. Only yesterday he had been the carpenter in Nazareth, and now he knew that he was the Son of God and the King of Israel! So sudden and mighty a change as this made him feel that he must go to some quiet, lonely place, where he could think and pray and find out his Father's will for himself and the work that he was to do.

Without speaking even a word with John, Jesus slipped out of the crowd upon the bank of the river. He walked toward the south, not following the well-known road beside the Jordan, over which he had walked many times while attending the feasts in Jerusalem, but choosing the paths along the mountain-side where he would not meet people, for he wished not to talk with men but with God.

He came at last to a very lonely place, between Jericho and Jerusalem; a place where no man lived and where even the Arabs of the desert scarcely ever wandered. The only living creatures in the desolate land were the wild beasts, the wolves and the foxes, whose howls could be heard at night. There upon the top of a hill, with rocks all around, he sat down to rest. His mind had been in such a whirl of excitement, and his heart was beating with such strong feeling, that he had never thought of taking with him any food to eat. For many days and nights he was alone, praying and talking with God and never once thinking of eating. More than a month passed away, even forty days, before the feeling of hunger came upon him.

Then suddenly he felt a sharp gnawing in his body, and he knew that he was famishing for food. He felt that he must have something to eat or he would die there in the desert, with the great work to which God had called him all left undone. Around him were the rough stones of the wilderness, and as he looked on them, this thought came to his mind:

"There is no need for me to starve in this desert. If I am the Son of God, as the voice from heaven said, then I need only to speak a word and these stones will be turned to bread!"

Then Jesus thought again, and said to himself, "Yes, I am the Son of God, and I have the power to make these stones turn into bread for me to eat. But that power was given me by my heavenly Father; and it was given, not that I should use it for myself, but for the help of others who are in need. It is not God's will that I should make bread out of stones for myself."

And then a sentence out of the Bible came to the mind of Jesus, and he said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God."

Jesus seemed to be alone in the desert, but there was one who was watching him, all unseen. That one was the evil spirit, Satan, who hated Jesus, knowing that he was the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. He had put into the mind of Jesus the thought of turning stones to bread and using the power which God had given him for himself alone. Jesus was quick to see the purpose of Satan and to turn away from it.

Then another thought came to the mind of Jesus. He said to himself, "I know that I am the King of Israel, the Messiah whom the people have been looking for so long. But how shall I cause the people to know that I am their King? What can I do to make them believe in me?"

At that moment, while Jesus was trying to think out the best plan for beginning his work and making himself, as the Son of God, known to the people, Satan, the evil spirit, was ready with another word. He said, "Here is a good plan. Go to the Temple in Jerusalem at some feast-time when it is crowded with people, and in the sight of all the crowd, leap off one of the towers. You will not fall to the ground, but will come sailing down through the air, for all power is yours. And when the people see you, they will fall on their faces before you and will believe in you as the King so long promised. You know that you are the Son of God and that God will take care of you. Don't you remember that in one of the psalms it is written, 'He shall give his angels charge over thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up so that thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone?'"

Jesus saw at once that this was not God's plan, but Satan's plan. It would not be trusting God, but would be putting God's power and God's care to a trial to show what Jesus himself could do. He would not perform this foolish act, nor anything like it, of his own accord. He would wait until God told him what to do, and would do nothing until he was sure that it was the will of God. Again a sentence out of the Bible came to his mind, and he said:

That means that we should never make a show of our trust in God or let others see by some act that is not needed what God can do to help us. We must not venture into danger to show how God can bring us out of danger.

Jesus had now settled two great questions. He would not use his wonder-working powers for himself, even to save his own life; and he would do nothing merely as a show, but would in all things work only the will of his Father. There was one more question to be met: he was to become the King of Israel, but what kind of a kingdom would he have?

He knew well that all the Israelite people, not only in Judea and Galilee, but in all the lands, were looking for a king who should rule in Jerusalem, somewhat as the Emperor Tiberius was ruling in Rome. They hoped for a king who should gather an army, should drive out the Romans, should fight battles, win victories and make his kingdom the ruling power in the world. They looked for the time when the Romans should be under their feet, and when all other lands should pay taxes and serve their king in Jerusalem.

All this Jesus knew, and Satan, the wicked spirit, was at his side, though unseen, to say to him:

"Take my advice, and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world; for they are mine and I can give them to whom I please."

Jesus knew that what the people wanted was just what Satan wanted, a worldly, wicked kingdom, built out of war and blood and the killing of all who would not submit to it. But that would not be the Kingdom of God. It would be the Kingdom of Satan, as so many kingdoms and nations have been in the past. To do as Satan wished him to do would be just the same as if he bowed down before Satan and worshipped him as his Lord and Master. This he would not do; and his last words to the tempter were:

"Go away from me, Satan! It is written, 'Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve!'"

Jesus saw plainly that in making this great choice to please God, he would not please his own people, the Jews. He knew that the rulers and the priests and the scribes, those who were the leading men of the time, would be against him, would refuse to follow him, would try to stir up the people against him and would try to kill him. But Jesus was ready to die in serving God, rather than to live in doing the will of Satan.

When Satan, the wicked spirit, found that he could not persuade Jesus to do his will, he left him. And afterward, angels from heaven, sent by his Father, came to him in the desert and gave him all the food that he needed.

The gospels of Matthew and Luke, which tell the story of this meeting with Satan and of Jesus' victory, do not say just where it took place. All we know is that it was in the "desert" or the "wilderness." But near Jericho stands a mountain where it is thought by some that Jesus stayed during those forty days. This mountain on that account is called by a name which means "forty days"—Mount Quarantania.

The Earliest Followers of Jesus

AFTER HIS forty days in the desert, Jesus began his work of winning men to the Kingdom of God. This plan was, at first, to talk to men one by one, until he could gather around him a little company of those who would believe in his words as a teacher, and follow him as their leader. The men who would be best fitted to become his first followers were some of those who had been already taught by John the Baptist. So from the wilderness Jesus turned his steps northward once more, and walked up the well-trodden road toward Bethabara, where nearly two months ago he had been baptized.

At Bethabara with John the Baptist was a group or company of young men, who were known as John's "disciples," that is, men who stayed with him to learn his teachings after the crowds had gone home. Some of these were fishermen from the Sea of Galilee who had left their nets and their work that they might listen to John.

John was standing with some of these men around him, when at some distance a stranger was seen walking up the road. These disciples of John did not know who this man was, but John remembered him, for the light flashing from the sky upon his face at the moment of his baptism and the voice from the heavens, had stamped Jesus upon his memory. He pointed to Jesus and said:

"Look! Yonder is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one of whom I spoke when I said, 'After me shall come a man who is greater than I, and who shall baptize not in water but in the Holy Spirit.' Upon this man I saw the Spirit coming down like a dove and resting upon him. And I tell you all that this man is the Son of God."

While John was speaking these words, Jesus passed out of sight, and John and his disciples saw no more of him that day. But on the next day, when John was standing with two of his followers, Jesus again walked by, and John again looked at him and said to the young men:

The two young men when they heard these words at once left John and walked toward Jesus. As they drew near, Jesus turned and said to them:

They said to him: "Teacher, we wish to know where you are staying, so that we can see you and talk with you."

"Come and see," said Jesus; and he led them to the house where he was staying as a guest. In those times the Jews welcomed to their homes those who were on a journey and for a few days needed a resting place. It was about ten o'clock in the morning when those two men sat down in the house with Jesus, and they stayed with him all the rest of the day until the sun went down, listening as he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. His words went straight to their hearts, and on that day those two young men believed in Jesus as their Messiah-Christ; that is, the King of Israel, long promised by the prophets of the Old Testament and long looked for by the Israelite people. The two words Messiah and Christ mean the same. One is in the Hebrew language; the other in the Greek, and both words mean "The Anointed One," or "the King of Israel."

Thus, on the first day of his teaching Jesus found two followers. Both of these men were fishermen from the Sea of Galilee, not many miles away. One was a man named John, who was afterward called "the disciple whom Jesus loved," for of all his followers, John was the one nearest to Jesus. Long afterward, John wrote one of the most precious books in the Bible, "the Gospel according to John," which shows us, more than any other book, the inmost heart of Jesus.

The other young man was named Andrew. He thought at once of his older brother, Simon, who was also a follower of John the Baptist. He went to find Simon, and said to him:

He spoke in the Hebrew tongue, which was the language of his people. If he had spoken in Greek, the tongue in which the New Testament was first written, he would have said, "We have found the Christ;" that is, the King. Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus; and as soon as Jesus looked at him, before Andrew had spoken his name, he said:

"Your name is Simon, and you are the son of Jonas. But I will give you a new name. In the time to come you shall be called 'the Rock.'"

In the Hebrew language the word meaning "rock" is "Cephas" or "Kephas." In Greek it is "Peter." After this Simon was sometimes called Cephas, but more often Peter. He became a leader among the followers of Jesus, and many years later wrote one, perhaps two, of the books in the New Testament.

Jesus had now three followers who believed in him as their Lord and King; and the next day he found a fourth. This man was named Philip, and he came from a place called Bethsaida, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus said to Philip:

And he too joined the little company of the disciples or followers of Jesus. Philip at once thought of a friend of his own, a very good and pure man, who he thought would be glad to join him as a follower of Jesus. He went to look for him and found him standing under a fig tree. He said:

"We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and of whom the prophets spoke, the Christ. His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph; and he comes from the town of Nazareth."

Now Nathanael's home-town was Cana, only a few miles from Nazareth. Nathanael thought of Nazareth as a mean place. He could not believe that the great King of Israel, the Christ, should spring from such a village. He looked for him to come from some great city, like Jerusalem, or from Bethlehem, David's town. He did not know that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem; in fact he had never heard of Jesus, and he said:

Now, Philip was not wise enough to tell Nathanael the reasons why he believed in Jesus. It is hard to put into words some of our deepest thoughts. But he gave to Nathanael a very wise answer.

Jesus had never seen Nathanael before, but as he drew near, Jesus said to those who were standing by:

"Look! here comes a true Israelite, a man of God, one whose heart has in it nothing evil."

"Before Philip spoke to you," answered Jesus, "while you were standing under the fig tree, I saw you."

"Teacher," said Nathanael, "you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

"Do you believe because I said, 'I saw you underneath the fig tree?' You will yet see greater things than these. In truth, I say to you that you shall see the heaven opened and the angels of God going up and coming down upon the Son of Man."

By "the Son of Man," Jesus meant himself. He used those words to show that while he was "the Son of God," he was also a man among men.

Jesus had been preaching or talking to a few men about the Kingdom of God, and already he had gained five followers. There may have been others, for not long afterwards we find James, the brother of John, among his disciples.