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

JESUS HAD now preached in nearly all parts of Galilee, except in the middle portion, the region around Nazareth, the home of his younger days. You remember that when he had tried to speak in Nazareth, soon after coming from Judea, the people refused to listen to him, thinking that one who had been only a workingman and not a Rabbi or scribe could not teach them anything.

But Jesus loved those people in Nazareth, for many of the men had been with him boys at school; and his own sisters lived there with their children, boys and girls, who were his nephews and nieces. He longed to see them all, and made up his mind to go again to Nazareth, and see if its people would this time listen to him. On his earlier visit he had been alone, and the men of Nazareth in their anger had tried to kill him by throwing him down a very steep hill; but now Jesus had with him his twelve disciples and many more who followed him from place to place. On this visit the men of Nazareth did not venture to do him harm, because of his many friends around him.

As before, Jesus went to the village church on the Sabbath day and preached. Again the people listened to him with wonder at his words; but again they said:

"Is not this the carpenter who used to make plows and hoes and tables for us? How can he teach us?"

He could only do a few of his great works, because the people would not believe in him. He did, indeed, lay his hands upon a few that were sick, and made them well; but he could only wonder at the hardness of heart in those among whom he had lived so many years.

Leaving Nazareth with a sad heart, he went around the villages in middle Galilee, teaching in the churches and curing sickness of all kinds. As he saw how poor the people were, how little they knew of the truth, and how greatly they longed for it, he felt a great pity for them. They seemed to Jesus like sheep that were lost and wandering, not having any shepherd. He said to his disciples:

"The harvest truly is rich, but the workers in it are very few. Pray very earnestly to the Lord of the harvest that he may send out workers to gather in his harvest."

Jesus knew that the time of his work in Galilee was nearly ended. There were other parts of the land of Israel where he had not yet preached, and he wished to visit them. He knew, too, what none but himself knew, that in a year he would be taken away from the earth, and his disciples would be left alone to carry on his work and preach to all the people the news of God's kingdom. He made up his mind to send out his twelve disciples, whom he named "the apostles," and to let them begin their work by preaching in the villages of Galilee which he had not found time to visit.

So he called together his twelve disciples, and divided them into pairs, sending two men together, that they might help each other. He poured upon them some of his own power to cure diseases and to cast out evil spirits from men. He gave them commands about their work, to whom they should go and how they should act. He said:

"Do not go to any city of the Gentiles, the foreigners; and keep away from the villages of the Samaritan people. Your work just now is to be among the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Go to the Jews throughout the land, and tell them that the kingdom of God has come, and that they may enter it. Cure the sick, raise the dead to life, cleanse the lepers, cast out the evil spirits from men. Give freely, without being paid; for you have received the gift of God freely.

"Do not take with you any money of gold or silver or copper in your girdle; nor a bag to carry food for the road; nor two shirts, nor a pair of shoes; but go wearing only sandals on your feet. For God's workman deserves his food, and it will be given to him.

"When you come to a village, ask for some good man, go to his house, and stay there while you are in that village. Do not go visiting from one house to another. When you come to a house say, 'Peace be to this house.' If the people dwelling in that house are worthy of your peace, then peace shall be given to them; if they are not worthy, your peace shall come back to you. And if in any place the people will not hear you nor give you welcome, then as you go out of that house or that city, take off your sandals and shake the dust of that place from them as a sign. I say to you in truth that in the day of judgment it shall be worse for the cities that have refused you than for Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities upon which God rained down fire.

"You are sent forth like sheep among wolves; so be wise like serpents, yet harmless like doves. But you must watch against evil men, for they will seize you and hand you over to courts to be judged; you will be beaten in their court-rooms; you will be brought before governors and kings, because you are my followers. Now, when they bring you up for trial, do not be anxious about what you shall speak or how you shall say it; for what to speak shall be given you when you need it. For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father in heaven that speaks in you."

Many more words Jesus spoke to his twelve disciples; and at the end of his charge he said this:

"Whoever receives you and listens to you, it is the same as though he received me, your teacher; and whoever receives me, receives my Father who sent me. He that receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. He who receives a good man because he is a good man shall receive a good man's reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple of mine, I tell you truly, he will not lose his reward."

After giving his commands to the twelve disciples, Jesus sent them out to preach, while he himself went to other places telling the people the good news of the Kingdom of God.

A Dance; and How It Was Paid For

DURING NEARLY all the year of Jesus' teaching and preaching in Galilee, John the Baptist was in Herod's prison at a lonely place called Machærus, on the east of the river Jordan, near the Dead Sea. You remember that John was put into prison because King Herod's queen, Herodias, became angry against him, when John said to Herod that it was not right for him to take away his brother's wife and have her as his own. Herodias hated John and tried many times to have him killed, but Herod held John in high respect and would not suffer him to be slain.

But at last the chance came for Herodias to carry out her purpose. On King Herod's birthday, he held at Machærus, which was not only a prison but a palace, a great feast to his lords, the captains of his army, and the chief men of his kingdom. At this feast the daughter of Herodias, a young girl, came in and danced before the company. Herod and the guests with him were so delighted with the girl's dancing that the king made her a very foolish promise. He said to her:

"You may ask for anything that you please, and I will give it to you." He went further and even swore with an oath to her, "I will give you whatever you choose, even to half of my kingdom."

The girl went in haste to the king, and said, "I want you to give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist."

The king was greatly displeased and very angry. He knew that his wife Herodias had led the girl to make this choice, and he would have liked to break his promise. But because he had given his word and was ashamed to call it back before all the nobles at his feast, he gave orders, very unwillingly, to his guards to have her will carried out. They went into the prison, and with a sharp sword cut off the head of John the Baptist, the best and noblest man in all his kingdom. The head was laid on a platter and given to the young girl, who carried it to her mother. So the man whom Jesus called "a prophet and more than a prophet" was slain to satisfy the whim of a dancing girl and her wicked mother!

The few followers who had still clung to John the Baptist, and visited him in his prison, took up his headless body and buried it. Then they went to Jesus and told him all the sad story of John's death.

But Herod was not yet done with John the Baptist. Soon he began to hear wonderful stories of the new prophet, Jesus the Nazarene, who had risen up in John's place. He heard that amazing powers were shown by Jesus, that the sick were cured, the lepers were made clean, the blind were made to see, and, most wonderful of all, the dead were raised to life.

People were saying to each other, "Who is this great Prophet that is working all these wonders?"

Others said, "If he is not Elijah, it may be Jeremiah or some other prophet of the old times."

But Herod was filled with a terrible fear, for his conscience troubled him on account of his wicked deeds. He said:

"I know who this is. It is John the Baptist, whose head I had cut off. He has come to life again. It is on his account that all these wonderful things are taking place!"

Thus the bloody head of John the Baptist, like a terrible ghost, rose before the sight of Herod the king!

painting After he had blessed the food and broken it, Jesus gave a portion to each of his disciples, who went among the people and fed them. As the loaves and fishes were broken they grew in their hands until every one had enough to eat.

The Boy with His Five Loaves

THE NEWS that King Herod had slain the holy prophet John the Baptist sent a thrill of horror to all who heard it. It came to the twelve disciples, who were just completing their work of preaching in the villages of Galilee. They feared that Herod might seize them and put them in prison; but they were more alarmed for their Master. Having slain John who had made Jesus known to the people, they feared that Herod might now try to kill Jesus himself.

They all hastened to Capernaum, where they found Jesus, and gave him the report of the places which they had visited, the work which they had done in healing and helping people and the message which they had given everywhere about the Kingdom of God. The disciples found the crowds around Jesus greater than ever before; for not only had the preaching of these disciples aroused an interest in Jesus and led many to leave their homes and seek him, but the Passover, the greatest of all Jewish feasts, was to be held soon, and the city of Capernaum was thronged with people who were on their way to Jerusalem; for as you know, this feast was held only in that city, and from every part of the land people went up to Jerusalem to attend it.

So many were the people coming and going and those who were looking for Jesus and seeking his power to cure their diseases, that Jesus and his disciples could scarcely find a chance to eat. The crowds were constantly pressing upon them. He said to his disciples:

"Come, let us take the boat and go across the lake to some quiet place, away from the crowds, and there rest for a time."

They went into the boat and started to row over the lake. But the people saw them going and many tried to follow them. Those who had boats sailed in them after the course in which they saw the boat with Jesus and his disciples. And the others, a great multitude, walked and ran around the head of the lake, waded across the river Jordan where it enters the Sea of Galilee, still keeping Jesus' boat in sight, and were at the beach to meet Jesus when he landed near the town of Bethsaida, which was on the northeastern shore. Here Jesus was safe, for Bethsaida was outside the rule of King Herod and in the land governed by Herod's brother Philip.

When Jesus stepped out of his boat on the shore near Bethsaida, there he found a great throng of people, more than five thousand men, besides some women and children. When Jesus saw how eager they were and how glad to meet him, his heart of love and pity went out toward them. He cured some sick people that they had brought and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God.

The day began to draw to its close and the sun was almost sinking below the hills of Galilee, when the disciples said to Jesus:

"It is getting late and will soon be night. These crowds of people came so suddenly that they have brought with them nothing to eat. Send them away, so that they may go to the city of Bethsaida and the villages around and buy food and find places to stay through the night. We are here, you see, in a desert place, where there is neither food nor lodging for them."

But Jesus said to his disciples, "There is no need for them to go away; you give them something to eat."

They said to him, "Shall we go into the town and buy thirty dollars' worth of bread, so that each one of them may have a little?"

Jesus turned to Philip, one of his disciples, and asked him, "Philip, where shall we find bread that all these people may eat?"

Jesus said this to try Philip's faith, for he himself knew already what he would do. Philip looked over the crowd gathered upon the level ground, and he answered, "Thirty dollars' worth of bread would not be enough to give to each one even a little piece."

Just then another of the disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, came up to Jesus and said, "There is a boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two little fishes; but what use would they be among so many people?"

So they led to Jesus this boy with his lunch basket, in which his mother had placed five large flat biscuits of barley and two small salted fishes.

Jesus said to his disciples, "Go out among the people and tell them to arrange themselves into companies, with fifty or a hundred in each company, and to sit down upon the grass."

The disciples did as Jesus ordered, and soon all the crowd was divided up into groups of fifty or a hundred people, all seated on the ground. On the green grass, arranged in rows and squares with their clothes of different colors, they looked like beds of flowers.

Then, in the sight of all the people, Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes. He waved his hand for silence, and while all were still, looked up to heaven, gave thanks to God for his gift of food, and blessed it. He broke the loaves which were like large flat crackers or biscuit, and gave to each of his disciples a piece and also a piece of dried fish. The disciples went among the people breaking off pieces of the loaves and fishes and handing them out. As they were broken, the loaves and fishes grew in their hands, until every one in the company had enough to eat.

Then Jesus said, "Go and gather up the pieces of food that are left, so that nothing may be wasted."

Each of the twelve disciples carried a basket among the people, and took from them all that was left. When they came back to Jesus, all the twelve baskets were filled with the pieces left over of the loaves and fishes. There had been in the beginning only five loaves and two fishes. Of these, five thousand men, besides women and children, had eaten as much as they wanted. And now came back twelve baskets full of bits left over—much more at the end after all had eaten than at the beginning.

When the people saw that here was one who could give them food, all that they wanted, they said to each other, "This is the man that we want for our king! He can give us bread to eat without our working for it. Let us break away from the rule of the Romans and make Jesus our king!"

Jesus knew their thoughts and what they were saying to each other, for he knew all things. He knew, too, that he was a king, but not such a king as they wished. His kingdom was to be in the hearts of those who loved him, not a kingdom won by armies and by swords. Jesus found that his disciples were pleased to find the people so eager at once to crown Jesus as their King, for that would mean high rank and offices for themselves.

Jesus, therefore, began by sending away his disciples. He compelled them, much against their will, to get into the boat, and to row over the lake toward Capernaum. After sending away his disciples, he sent away the multitudes, who were also unwilling to go, for they could not understand why Jesus should refuse to be made king.

When all were gone away and quiet was around him and the night had come on, Jesus went to the top of a mountain near by, and spent some hours in prayer to his heavenly Father. He needed prayer, for he saw in this attempt to make him king another effort of Satan to bring Jesus under his power, by giving him a worldly kingdom, instead of a heavenly.

photo A distant view of "The Horns of Hattin," in the hollow of which Christ sat while he preached "The Sermon on the Mount" to the multitude gathered about him

How the Sea Became a Floor

ON THE night after the multitude was fed with the five loaves, while Jesus was praying alone on the mountain, his disciples were rowing over the lake toward Capernaum. It was very dark; and soon after midnight a terrible storm arose, as storms often come very suddenly upon the Sea of Galilee. From his mountain top, through all the darkness and miles away, Jesus could see them struggling with the waves, and in great danger of losing their lives, for he could see all things.

While the disciples were pulling hard with their oars, suddenly they saw someone walking upon the waves and drawing near their boat. They were more alarmed, when they saw this form walking over the waves as though the waters were a solid floor, than they had been at the storm threatening to swallow them up, for they thought that surely this was a spirit from the world of the dead, coming to give warning that death was awaiting them. They cried out in their terror; but soon heard a voice speaking to them above the roaring of the wind and the dashing of the waves; a voice which they knew well. It was the voice of Jesus, saying:

Then they knew that it was no spirit or ghost from the grave, but their own Lord and Saviour coming to help them. What a load of fear was lifted from them when they heard that voice!

But one of the disciples, one who was always putting himself in the front, thought that if Jesus could walk on the water, he would like to do the same. You would know that this one was Simon Peter, a good man, but very quick in his impulses. He cried out, as Jesus drew near, "Lord, if it is really you, command me to come to you on the water."

And the Lord said, "Come." Then Peter leaped overboard from the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But after a few steps on the sea, he saw how heavy the storm was, and was afraid; and at that moment he began to sink. He shouted out, "Lord, save me!"

Jesus reached out his hand and caught him and kept him from sinking, saying to him:

When Jesus, holding Peter's hand, came with him into the boat, the wind stopped, and the sea became calm. They found that they were close to the land. Then all the men in the boat fell down at the feet of Jesus and said, "Truly you are the Son of God!"

Soon the daylight came, and they saw that their boat was beside a plain, reaching into the lake, a few miles south of Capernaum, called the land of Gennesaret. They went ashore and drew up their boat on the beach. The people of that place knew Jesus, for many of them had heard him in Capernaum. They were glad to have him come to their land; and sent word through all the plain that Jesus, the great teacher and healer, had landed on their shore. From all the country around they brought on their beds those that were sick, and laid them before Jesus, begging him to cure them. Many came near his side, and asked him if they might only touch the border of the mantle which he wore; and all who touched it were made perfectly well, so strong was their faith in Jesus.

The Bread of Life

ON THE morning after the day when Jesus had fed the five thousand people with the five loaves, the crowd came together once more, hoping again to see Jesus; and some of them expecting to have the miracle or wonder-work repeated. On the evening before, they had seen the twelve disciples go out upon the lake in their boat, and had noticed that Jesus did not sail with them. They thought that Jesus must still be there, and looked all around for him, not knowing that in the night he had walked upon the sea to help his disciples in the storm. Failing to find Jesus, they thought that he must have gone back to his home in Capernaum. They found some other boats upon the shore, and in these they crossed the lake to Capernaum.

They found Jesus at the church in Capernaum, and said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"

"I tell you the truth," answered Jesus, "it is not on account of the signs of power which you saw that you are looking for me, but because you ate of the bread which I gave you, and had your fill. You should work, not for the food which does not last, but for that which endures to everlasting life; that bread the Son of Man will give you, for upon him the Father has set his seal of power."

Jesus wished them to understand that the truth which he could give them was more to the soul than food was to the body, for it would give the life of God, which never passes away.

"The work that God would have you do," answered Jesus, "is to believe in him whom God has sent to you as his message-bearer."

"Well, then," they said to Jesus, "show us the sign that will prove that you have come from God, then we will believe in you. What is the work that you are doing? Our fathers under Moses in the desert ate the manna that Moses gave them. You remember that it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

You see, the people wanted Jesus to show his power again by repeating the miracle with the loaves, and giving them more bread in the same way.

"In truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "it was not Moses who gave your fathers the bread from heaven; it was my Father, the Lord God. And my Father does give you now the real bread from heaven. For God's bread is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"I am the life-giving bread," answered Jesus. "He who comes to me shall never be hungry, and he who believes in me shall never be thirsty. But, as I told you, you have seen me, and yet you do not believe in me. All those whom the Father gives me will come to me; and no one who comes to me will I ever turn away. For I have come down from heaven not to carry out my own will, but the will of Him who sent me; and his will is this—that I should not lose even one of all those whom He has given me, but shall raise them up to life at the last great day. For it is the will of my Father that every one who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have everlasting life; and I myself will raise him up at the last day."

The Jews who heard Jesus began to find fault with him for saying, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."

"Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, 'I came down from heaven?'"

They could not understand his words, and they were angry with him because he would not again work the miracle of giving them bread. Also they now found that Jesus was not willing to be a king such as they wanted, one that would sit on a throne and live in a palace; would raise an army to drive away the Romans and make the Jews a ruling people upon the earth. It was, as we have seen, the time of the Passover, and one reason for the great crowds around Jesus was that all were expecting him to lead the people to Jerusalem and take his place as the king of Israel. But this year Jesus did not go, as he usually did, to the feast in Jerusalem, for he had other plans for himself and his disciples.

When the crowd following Jesus found that he would not be a king according to their desires, that he would not do wonders for them to look upon, and that his words were such as they could not understand, nearly all of them turned against Jesus. They went away, leaving the twelve disciples alone with him.

Simon Peter answered for them all, "Lord, to whom shall we go if we leave you? You have the words that will give us everlasting life. And we believe and are certain that you are the Holy One of God."

These men did not understand all the words of Jesus, but they had learned to love him and to believe that he was the promised King. They were ready to stay with him until death.

"Did I not choose you to be the Twelve?" said Jesus, "and yet, even among you there is one who is doing the devil's work."

They did not know of whom he was speaking; but he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot; the one of the twelve disciples who a year afterward was to give up his Master to death. At that time Judas himself did not know this. Jesus, who could read the hearts of men, saw in Judas the signs all unknown to himself that he would do this dreadful deed.

Jesus in a Strange Country

WITH HIS sermon on "The Bread of Life," given in the church at Capernaum, Jesus finished his work among the people of Galilee. He had lived in that land for more than a year; he had traveled through every part of it; he had spoken in most of its villages and cities, and had sent out his disciples to preach in many other places. Everybody in Galilee had either heard Jesus or had heard about him. If they did not believe in him and his gospel, it was because they would not.

There was another and important work which now lay before Jesus. That was the training of his twelve disciples. These men, the apostles, as they were called later, had been with him for nearly a year. They had listened to his preaching and had heard his sermons many times, over and over again; for in different places Jesus gave the same talks to the people; but those talks and parables the Twelve heard in each place, as Jesus wished those men to hear his words until they knew them by heart and could give them as his message to others who had not heard Jesus himself.

One reason why we have in the four gospels, by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, so many of the teachings and parables of Jesus, is that the disciples heard them so many times, learned them, could tell them to others; and thus at least thirty years after Jesus passed away from earth, his words were remembered and could be written down.

But besides the public teachings of Jesus, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the parables, there were other great truths of the gospel that could not be given to the people, for they were not ready for them and could not understand them. We can see how the common people were puzzled by his words about "the bread of life." Jesus saw that it was needful for him to take the twelve disciples apart by themselves, that he might teach them some of the deeper truths of his gospel. In Galilee he could not be alone with these men; for wherever he might go there would always be many sick people coming to be cured and others leading men held in the power of evil spirits begging Jesus to cast them out. Then, too, in every place were the Pharisees and scribes, bringing their questions, asking for miracles, and trying to stir up the people against Jesus. Wherever Jesus was, a crowd was always around him, and he could find no time to teach his disciples some truths needful for them to know.

He made up his mind to go away from Galilee to some quiet place where no one would know of his coming. On the northwest of Galilee was a narrow land, on the other side of the Lebanon mountains, beside the great Mediterranean Sea. It was called Phœnicia, from the people who lived there, the Phœnicians; and also called "the land of Tyre and Sidon," from its two leading cities. The people who lived in that country were not Jews, and few of them even spoke the Jewish language. Jesus thought that this would be a quiet place where he could talk alone with his disciples.

Jesus and the Twelve quietly left Capernaum, and walked over the mountains to this land of Tyre and Sidon. There they found a house and went into it, intending for a time to live there. Jesus wished nobody to know of his coming; but he could not be hidden. A woman of that country heard of him, and at once went to Jesus, threw herself at his feet, and begged him to come and cast an evil spirit out of her daughter.

This woman was not of the Jewish people. She was a foreigner, of a mingled Syrian and Phœnician race, a people called "Canaanites." She cried aloud and kept on crying:

"Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David! My little daughter is terribly troubled with an unclean spirit. Will you not please come and help her?"

At first Jesus did not answer her one word. But his disciples said to him, "O Master! send this woman away, for she is making a great noise and disturbing us!" To them she was only a Gentile, a heathen woman, and the Jews, even those who followed Jesus, looked with great contempt on all such people. They did not know that Jesus was sent to save not only the Jews but also the Gentiles.

Jesus wished to teach his disciples a lesson, that a Gentile could have the same faith as a Jew. He said to the woman:

"I was not sent to your people, but only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

But the woman kept on following him. She knelt down before Jesus, and said, "Master, help me!"

He said to her, "Let the children be satisfied first of all; it is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

"That is true, Lord," said the woman; "yet the little dogs under the table do pick up some of the children's crumbs."

Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great. Your prayer is granted as you wish. The evil spirit is gone away from your daughter."

The woman believed the word of Jesus. She hastened to her home and found her daughter well and resting upon her bed.

In the Land of the Ten Cities

JESUS SOON found that if he wished to be alone with his disciples, he must leave the land of Tyre and Sidon; for after he had cured the woman's child of her evil spirit, the people were coming to him for other mighty works. He made up his mind to go farther away, and taking his disciples, he went to Sidon, north of Tyre, and then not through Galilee, but around it, to the river Jordan, north of the Sea of Galilee. He crossed the Jordan, and on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee came to a country called Decapolis, or "the land of the Ten Cities," from ten large places in that region. While they were on this journey, few people saw them, and as they walked together he talked to his disciples and taught them many things.

The place to which Jesus came was not far from the town where some months before he had cast out from a poor man a whole army of evil spirits and had sent them into the drove of hogs. At that time, you remember, the people had come to Jesus and had begged him to go away from them, for they had seen his power, but knew nothing of his goodness. But after that miracle, the man who had been cured went all through this land of the Ten Cities, telling the people everywhere of the good work Jesus had done to him and how much they had lost in sending him away.

On this second visit of Jesus to this land, the people were ready and eager for his coming. They gathered around Jesus with great joy, and came from near and from far to see him. He went up into a mountain and sat down with his disciples, hoping to be alone. But the people came to him in great crowds, bringing with them those that were lame, and ill with different diseases. They laid these suffering people at his feet, and asked him to cure them. He made them all well. They all wondered, as they saw the dumb talking, the cripples made sound, the lame walking about and the blind seeing; and they all praised the God of Israel.

At this time they led to Jesus a man who was very deaf, and who stammered so that people could scarcely understand his words. They asked Jesus to place his hand on this man and cure him. But Jesus would not do this in public, with a crowd of people looking on. He led him away out of the throng to a place where they could be by themselves. He put his fingers into the man's ears, and then, moistening one finger upon his own tongue, with it touched the man's tongue. Looking up to heaven with a sigh, he said, "Be opened." The man's ears and his tongue were at once set free; he could hear and could speak plainly. Jesus forbade the man and his friends to tell anyone about the cure; but contrary to his command they made it known everywhere. All who saw this man were astonished; and they said of Jesus, "He has done everything well! He makes even the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!"

The crowd clung to Jesus and followed him for three days. By that time whatever food the people had brought with them had been eaten and yet they stayed with Jesus, never thinking of their needs. Jesus called his disciples together and said to them:

"My heart is touched on account of all these people; for they have now been with me three days and they have nothing to eat. Some of them have come from distant places, and I cannot bear to send them away hungry for fear that they may break down by the way."

"Where can we," the disciples asked him, "in a lonely place like this, with no towns near, find bread for such a crowd as this?"

"We have in all seven loaves," they answered, "and with them a few small fishes."

Jesus told all the crowds to sit down upon the ground; and when they had done so, he held up the loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks to his heavenly Father for them. Then he broke the loaves into pieces, also the dried fish, and gave them to the disciples. The disciples distributed them among the people; and everyone had all that he wanted to eat.

After the meal, the disciples went around with large baskets, and picked up of the food left over seven baskets full. At this time the people who were fed by Jesus were four thousand men, besides women and children. When all were satisfied, Jesus told them to go back to their homes; then with his disciples, he went into the boat and sailed across the Sea of Galilee.

Again on the Sea of Galilee

FROM THE land of the Ten Cities, Jesus and his disciples sailed straight across the Sea of Galilee, and on its southwestern shore they came to a city called Magadan or Magdala. One of the women who went with Jesus on his journeys in Galilee, Mary Magdalene, that is, Mary of Magdala, was from this city. Jesus came to this place for rest and for quiet talking with his disciples; but as soon as he landed he was met by some Pharisees and others who did not believe in him. They said to him:

"Teacher, show us some sign from heaven that you are a prophet or one whom God has sent."

They wished Jesus to do some miracle or wonderful work, not that they might believe in him, but only that they might see what he could do. Everywhere the Pharisees, who looked upon themselves as leaders, were opposed to Jesus and stirred up the ignorant people against him.

We have already seen that Jesus never gave any cures or wonderful works merely to be looked upon. He would help those who were in need or in trouble; but he would not merely satisfy an idle desire to see a miracle. He answered these Pharisees as he had answered others:

"I will give you a sign from heaven. In the evening, at sunset you say, 'It will be fine weather, for the sky is as red as fire.' But in the morning, if the sky is red, you say, 'It will be a stormy day, for the sky is red as fire, and threatening.' You learn to read the signs in the sky, yet you do not know how to read the signs of the times. If you would look, you might see whether I come from God or not. It is a wicked and a disobedient people who continually ask for signs. No sign shall be given to this people, except the sign of the prophet Jonah."

He did not even tell them how Jonah was to be a sign or token to them. Perhaps a few months later, when these people heard that Jesus had been slain and buried; then after three days had risen again to life, just as Jonah had come forth alive after being buried for three days in the great fish, they would then understand how Jonah had been as a sign of Jesus.

Jesus saw at once that this was no place to find quiet and a chance to teach his disciples, so he went into the boat again, with his disciples, and sailed away up the lake. They left in such haste that the disciples did not think, while they were ashore, to buy some bread, and they had with them in the boat only one loaf for Jesus and twelve men.

"Take care and be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

They thought that he was speaking to them about their having failed to bring more bread, and they began talking among themselves. Jesus noticed this, and he said:

"Why are you talking to one another about your being short of bread? How little trust you have in me! Do you not remember the five loaves with which I fed the five thousand, and the twelve baskets full of pieces that you picked up afterward? Have you forgotten about the seven loaves among the four thousand, and the seven baskets full that you picked up? How is it that you do not see that I was not speaking to you about bread? No, be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

In warning his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees, Jesus meant their pride and pretense of religion and exactness in obeying rules, while failing to serve God with the heart. By the leaven of Herod, he meant the spirit of living for the world, of guilty pleasure, without a thought of doing God's will.

They came to Bethsaida; and as soon as the people saw Jesus they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him, hoping to see Jesus give him his sight. But Jesus would not let them look on the curing of the man. He took him away from the crowd, and outside the town, to a lonely place. There, after spitting upon the man's eyes, he laid his hands upon him, and asked him:

The man looked up, and said, "Yes, I can see a little, but not very clearly. I see men moving about, but they look like trees."

Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes. He looked around, and now could see everything distinctly.

Jesus said to him, "Now go directly to your home; and do not go into the town, where men will see you and ask how you received your sight."

Jesus and his disciples did not stop in Bethsaida; for he felt that he must find some quiet, lonely place, where he could teach his disciples the great truths of which they knew nothing; truths, too, which it would be hard for them to believe and to understand. So from Bethsaida he went on, following a road beside the river Jordan to the foot of Mount Hermon, far in the north.