Simon glanced at Jesus and almost shivered. Jesus had seen the distress and embarra.s.sment of the woman. "You hypocrite!" The man cringed. He had not imagined Jesus would dare speak to him like this. "Do you scold this woman for coming to be healed on the Sabbath? Every single one of you will lead your ox to water as soon as you get home. If that isn"t work, what is?" His scorn bit into the elders like a whiplash. "You say the Law allows you to give your cattle water. Hasn"t this woman the right to be healed? For eighteen years her body has been twisted. She is a child of Abraham! Isn"t she more important than any animal?" Jesus looked right through the men. They felt like fish wriggling on a spear.
The friends of the woman stole triumphant glances at the elders. Simon knew Jesus was getting into trouble, but it made no difference: his Master was right!
Without another word, Jesus strode out of the synagogue. The people left in the room felt suddenly cold, and all but the elders hastened away to their homes.
Hardly wishing to look at one another, the elders sighed and sat down.
It was not just that they were angry. They were baffled by what Jesus had said. Their respect for the Sabbath rule was sincere; they believed it was the most important regulation in the entire Jewish Law. No one who disobeyed it, they were certain, could possibly love G.o.d. "Never in my life have I seen such a fanatic!" exclaimed the minister finally.
"He is dangerous," agreed another. "What will happen to our religion if the people begin to think that they don"t need to keep the Sabbath?"
"We must tell the people how serious a matter this is," said the minister. "I am going down to Capernaum tomorrow. I will stop and talk to our friend Symeon. He may know about this Jesus. Perhaps he can tell us what we ought to do."
At the inn where they were staying, the disciples were gloomy and silent. They were worried about the dispute with the elders; but they were troubled also about the thing Jesus had done that morning. Jesus knew that he had perplexed them, and he was not surprised when the next day, on the road down to Capernaum, Simon spoke up.
"Master, we would like to ask a question," said Simon. The others gathered closely around. "Moses told us at Mount Sinai, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." He told us never to work on the Sabbath.
Yet, Rabbi, you healed the woman on the Sabbath. We _do_ believe she is more important than any animal--but still. Rabbi, you did break the Sabbath rule! Do you want the Sabbath forgotten? Do you intend to cast out all the laws and rules?" Simon"s tense voice told Jesus he was deeply disturbed. The other disciples looked at Jesus gravely.
"I have not come to destroy the Law," he answered. "Rather, I am showing you what it really means to obey the Law."
"But you did heal the hunchbacked woman on the Sabbath, didn"t you?"
persisted Simon.
"Unless you obey the Law better than these men who make the Sabbath so important, you can never enter the Kingdom of Heaven," replied Jesus.
"We don"t think they are right. Master," explained Simon. "We think that the woman was more important than the animals, which they feed and water on the Sabbath. But...." Jesus knew Simon was not satisfied.
"Even though the Pharisees are very careful about little things," said Jesus, "that does not mean that they know what G.o.d asks of them. They obey the Sabbath rule--but inwardly they have forgotten justice and mercy. They all know that it is wrong to kill another Jew. But much more is required than that: if you even hold a grudge against another person, you have no right to pray to G.o.d. The Pharisees give much attention to small rules and forget the important things."
"This seems so new," said Simon. "I don"t understand very well."
"I have only told you what Moses and the Prophets taught," replied Jesus. "The meaning of their words has been forgotten, even though the Pharisees talk about them a great deal."
"But don"t you think we are likely to get into trouble if we speak out like this in public?" urged Andrew. "We can teach the people, but I don"t think we need to be so harsh with the Pharisees and the elders of the synagogues. We ought to be careful. The Pharisees are really good people and we must not offend them. How can we preach the good news to the people if we do? When we go to the synagogues, I think it is much safer to keep quiet."
Jesus watched the men listening to Andrew and knew why they agreed. He knew the inward emptiness of fear--fear of a future they could not know.
Andrew was right; their peril was increasing every day. But Jesus shook his head. "My followers," he said, "do not think that I was sent to bring peace to this nation. I came to bring strife. It cannot be any other way. Men enter the Kingdom of G.o.d only through conflict and pain."
When the disciples arrived in Capernaum on the day after the Sabbath, they heard a report that dismayed them: John the Baptizer had been thrown into prison by King Herod. They found out about it through one of his followers who had come to Capernaum to find Jesus and was waiting for them at Simon"s home. The man"s name was Jacob. Andrew and John remembered him as one of the Baptizer"s most loyal disciples.
"What made the king do it?" asked Andrew.
"John told the king he was doing wrong in the sight of G.o.d," replied Jacob.
_John is no bolder than Jesus_, thought Andrew.
Jacob added, "John himself told us just before he was taken prisoner that we should come to you."
Andrew turned to Jesus. "What will Herod do to him?"
"There is no way to tell. We must be prepared to hear the worst."
"Why did John send you to us?" Simon asked Jacob.
"Some of us went to him and told him that more people were following your Master than were following him," answered the man. "He just said to us: "Didn"t I tell you that I am not the Christ? I am glad that Jesus has many followers. He must grow even stronger, and I must decrease."
When he was thrown into prison, I came to you."
Andrew looked at Jesus and spoke the thought in the minds of them all: "If we go on proclaiming the gospel, the same thing may happen to us."
Jesus" answer was firm: "Nothing must stand in our way. We speak for G.o.d."
Never before had the men felt the strength of Jesus as they did now.
There was not a trace of fear in his actions. He knew that their danger was increasing every day! And he acted with such authority! Everything he said or did proved that he knew what he was about. It was his certainty that convinced the people!
An event occurred on the second day of their return to Capernaum which showed the disciples that they might soon share the fate of John the Baptizer. It did not take many hours for the report to spread through all Capernaum that Jesus was back in the city. From every corner of the town came those needing help--not only the sick and lame, but people of all kinds who were restless and dissatisfied. So many people crowded into the courtyard of Simon"s home that Jesus decided to stand in the doorway of his room where he could see them all. The porch roof shaded him. He was about to raise his hand to quiet the people when Andrew hurried to him.
"Master," he whispered excitedly, "there are Pharisees and their scribes outside."
"Well, bring them in."
Andrew was amazed. "But, Master, some of them are from Jerusalem!"
Jesus knew what that meant. Over the crowd he caught Simon"s eye. The fisherman was worried. _From Jerusalem!_ Simon was thinking. _They have come to see if what we are teaching is against the Law of Moses._
Jesus realized that news of his preaching must have traveled to Jerusalem. He knew that officials of the Pharisees would come to hear him personally. He expected no friendliness from them; but he was ready.
He glanced behind him. "There is room for them there. Bring them in."
Andrew looked anxiously at Jesus. "O Master, don"t...."
Jesus looked at him. "Courage, Andrew! Make certain that they see and hear everything that happens."
People stepped back respectfully as the scribes and Pharisees came in.
Jesus paid no special attention. He had turned to the people who stood before him.
"I have been sent by G.o.d with news," he began. "If you are poor, you can be rich if you will humble your heart and trust G.o.d."
He saw a man covered with sores. "Are you unclean?" he said, looking at him. "G.o.d will accept you. You are clean in his sight if your heart is turned toward him.
"Are you full of fears and worries? Come unto me, all of you that are burdened in spirit, and I will give you rest."
There were many outside the house who could not get in because there was no room. Among them were four men carrying a stretcher. On it lay a man who was helpless from paralysis. His body had wasted away to skin and bone. His four friends had heard about Jesus" power, but now they stood in front of the house in dismay.
"We can never get in," said one.
"There"s no use waiting until they leave," said another.
"Let"s take him back," said the first, discouraged.