A third person stepped up to Jesus and said very sincerely, "I will go with you anywhere."
Jesus looked at him keenly and said: "My way is not easy. The foxes in the woods have holes to sleep in. Even the wild birds have nests--but I have no home and no place to give you."
"I will follow you anywhere," said the man again.
Through the day others returned. Every hour the disciples heard good reports of the success of the Seventy. At sunset all the followers whom Jesus had sent out gathered in the hills. The bright rays of the sinking sun lighted Jesus" face as he raised his hand to quiet the excited men.
"Satan is utterly defeated!" he declared. "The power of G.o.d is yours!
Nothing can stand in the way of G.o.d"s rule!" The people could not restrain their excitement. They burst into a babble of conversation. One man cried out, "Master, we even have power over demons!"
Jesus answered quickly. "You should rejoice because you know what it is to be a part of G.o.d"s Kingdom--not because you can do miracles!" He raised his arms to pray. Like the silent shadow that had stolen over them as the sun sank from sight, a reverent hush settled over the crowd.
"Father in heaven, I thank thee that thou hast concealed thyself from men who think they are wise. I praise thee that thou hast revealed all these things to the humble and the simple. I praise thee that it is thy purpose to rule over all who are willing to give their hearts to thee."
While the group were returning to their lodging in Tiberias, James and John made a discovery that shocked and angered them. One of the Seventy had been turned roughly away from a town on the border of Samaria.
Indignantly the two fishermen came with the man to Jesus.
"This man was driven out of a village in Samaria," they said angrily.
"Let us call down fire from the sky and burn up these people!"
"No!" commanded Jesus. "We have not come to destroy men"s lives but to save them."
"Why should these worthless Samaritans be allowed to stand in the way of the Kingdom of G.o.d?" demanded James hotly. "We should destroy them. They are enemies of G.o.d!"
"Our own towns in Galilee have rejected us as harshly as any town in Samaria," answered Jesus. He pointed northward toward the villages on the Lake of Galilee. His voice sent a chill through the fishermen: "O Bethsaida, you are doomed--you are doomed! If my miracles had been done in Tyre or Sidon, they would have repented long ago. But you have turned your back on me! And you, Capernaum! Will you become great? No! You shall be utterly destroyed for your sin!"
These towns--the ones James and John knew and loved the best--Jesus condemned because they had not accepted his gospel! Did he believe Galilee had rejected him? Of what mighty destruction was he speaking?
By morning the fishermen had forgotten Jesus" somber warning. The little waves on the lake sparkled in the brightness of the sun. As Jesus"
followers walked briskly with him along the road toward Jerusalem, they could talk of nothing but their arrival in the holy city.
"We shall be welcomed in Jerusalem," said Peter. "See how well liked the Master is by all the pilgrims!"
"That is true," agreed a man from Capernaum. "But just the same, Pilate is a dangerous man. Did you hear what he did at the last festival?"
"No," answered James. "What was that?"
"Some Zealots from Galilee started a riot in the Temple. I did not see what happened myself, but they say that the Roman soldiers put a stop to the trouble and within a few hours Pilate crucified twelve of the Zealots." He looked at the others. "There were many Galileans in Jerusalem--but that did not stop Pilate!"
"But we are not going to start a riot," James hastened to say. "As Judas says, we will work from the inside until the right time." Peter glanced curiously at the other men. No doubt of the future seemed to cross their minds. Peter restrained a desire to interrupt. Finally James turned to him and asked, "Do you think Jesus would let himself be trapped by the officials?"
Very forcefully Peter answered: "I do not think he will be trapped. I do not know what will happen. But do not forget what he said; again and again he has told us that he will be killed in Jerusalem!"
"Oh, I am sure he doesn"t mean it the way it sounds," said James hastily. "He was discouraged when he said that."
"Just the same, he definitely said his work in Jerusalem would cost his life!"
"There will be no new kingdom for any of us if that happens!" replied James.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
14. A DAY OF VICTORY
Within two hours Jesus and his friends had reached the southern end of the Lake of Galilee. They knew that the heavy rain had made the lake rise almost to the point of flooding the water front at Tiberias. But they never expected the sight that lay before them.
Usually the Jordan wound sluggishly between low banks. Now a huge overflow was pouring out of the lake, filling the wide river bed with muddy water. The disciples looked with dismay at the uprooted bushes and broken limbs swirling past them. They could hardly believe that this destructive flood had been the narrow Jordan they had forded so many times before.
"Do you think that we can find a place to wade through?" James and John were walking down the bank.
James shook his head. "It is not deep, but it is terribly swift. Look how wide it is!" A quarter mile of water lay between them and the other side.
"I guess we shall have to travel down the road on this side." They turned back to the others.
"I am not going through Samaria!" exclaimed James.
"Perhaps we can find a shallow place to cross before we get that far,"
replied John.
None of the other people were willing to risk their lives by attempting to ford the rushing river. "Come!" called Jesus to the ones who stood wondering what to do. He started down the road toward Samaria; some of the people looked doubtful, but no one objected. The road followed the high hills that shut in the Jordan Valley on the west, but it was well above the flood level of the river. Fully four miles to the east stretched the broad lowlands of the Jordan, small hills, an occasional steep bluff, and at the center, the flooded river.
As the group traveled south, the flat valley narrowed and the hills came closer on both east and west. Some of the farms near the river were under water. "We may be able to cross near here," observed Andrew. They had walked about five miles. "Do you remember if there is a bridge on the road across to Gadara?"
James pointed to a white strip below them. "The road is just ahead."
Jesus walked past the crossroad without turning. "Surely he is not going through Samaria!" exclaimed James.
"Has he forgotten how these people treated our messengers?" asked John.
"Perhaps he does not want all the travelers on the other road to know he is going to the Pa.s.sover," guessed one man. "He is a complete stranger to the people in this part of Samaria. We could go all the way through the province before anyone would discover we are on our way to Jerusalem."
"Perhaps we shall find lodging more easily along this road," observed another.
"I doubt if anyone will even sell us food," said James pessimistically.
"Samaritans are mean."
"We shall soon find out," remarked Andrew. "This road leads right to Scythopolis."
This town was just over the border from Galilee. It was the largest of the ten cities which together were called "Decapolis"; it was part of ancient Samaria, and Jews usually avoided it. North of the city the Jordan Valley grew suddenly wide; here the range of high hills along which they were walking turned almost due west.
"Perhaps there will be some here who know the Master is a great prophet," said one of the men hopefully as the city came into view.
"Probably never even heard of him," replied another. At that moment a small group of men came out of a ramshackly house standing just outside the city gate. Some hobbled; one crawled on his knees.
"Lepers!" exclaimed John. "Don"t get near them!" The ten sick men came straight toward Jesus. Everyone sighed with relief when they stopped several paces from the band of Galileans.