TWO BY TWO.
Jesus had a desire to once more speak to the people of His own little
town of Nazareth, and so He came again to His own, but His own received
Him not. Once more he went into the Nazareth Synagogue where He had
listened to the reading of the law all through His childhood and to
teach as He had done nine or ten months before. They did not rise up
and thrust Him out as they did then, but they cast cold looks and
scornful words upon Him. They could not understand His great power and
wisdom, but they would not believe in Him.
"Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary," they said, "the brother
of James and Joses, and of Juda and Simon? And are not His sisters
here with us?" They were offended with Him. Jesus, knowing their
faults said,
"A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his
own kin, and in his own house."
He wondered why they were so unbelieving, when in His great love for
them He was ready to do works of mercy among them, and to tell them the
glad tidings of the Kingdom of Heaven, but He laid His hands on a few
sick folk and healed them, and that was all.
As He went away to come back no more, His heart turned toward the many
who were waiting for the tidings that His old friends had rejected, and
He called the twelve together to send them out, two by two, into the
world around them. He gave them power to cast out evil spirits, and to
heal the sick; and He put the preaching power within them so that they
could tell to others the wonderful truths of the Kingdom of Heaven. He
told them that they must take nothing for their journey, except a
staff, with which to walk over the steep mountain paths. He told them
also to bless the house that sheltered them, and to leave the house or
the city that would not receive them. He said that they would have
many trials, and that their lives would be sought by wicked men, but
that they need not fear, for the very hairs of their head were
numbered, and that even a sparrow could not fall to the ground without
their Father, and they were of more value than many sparrows.
He said many other words to them that gave them comfort and strength.
They had left all to follow Him, and He showed them how, in losing
their all in this life they were finding much more than that--even
eternal life.
So, two by two, they went forth and left Jesus alone.
That great and good man, John the Baptist, was still in the prison of
King Herod Antipas, down by the Dead Sea. He had been there more than
a year, but no word came from the king saying that he was free. Queen
Herodias wanted him to be put to death for he had spoken against her
marriage with King Herod. She was a wicked woman, and the evil hate
the good. Herod believed in his heart that John should go free, but
for the Queen's sake he kept him in prison, but allowed his friends to
see him, and sometimes sent for him secretly to hear him talk of the
Kingdom of Heaven.
On the king's birthday he gave a great feast to his lords and captains,
and when they had been served with dainty food in dishes of silver and
gold, and had tasted the rare fruits and the costly wines, the dancing
girls came in to flit over the polished marble floor, and wave their
airy scarfs to please the king and his guests.
At last a young girl came in and danced alone. She was dressed like a
princess, and she was a princess.
Queen Herodias had sent her young daughter, Salome, where an innocent
girl and a queen's daughter should not have gone.
She pleased the king and his lords greatly, and when she had finished,
and had knelt before the king to hear what he had to say to her, he
cried,
"Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee," and with an
oath he declared that he would certainly do it if she should ask the
half of his kingdom.
She did not decide for herself, but ran to her mother, saying,
"What shall I ask?" And the cruel mother said,
"The head of John the Baptist."
King Herod did not expect this. He thought she might ask for some
jewel of great price, or perhaps a royal palace for her very own, and
when he heard her request he was very sorry. But an oath made before
his lords could not be broken.
He sent men to the prison, and the good prophet, who had never known
fear, went home to God, and they brought his head to the princess who
gave it to her mother. The king's feast ended in gloom, and the poor
girl, who only obeyed her wicked mother, had nothing but a dreadful
memory to keep forever as the king's gift.
And the king himself--what trouble followed him during the rest of his
life! Riches and honors were all taken from him, and he was sent out
of his own country, while John had gone to his Father's house in the
Heavenly Country to suffer no more forever.
John's disciples buried the body of their beloved master, and then went
and told Jesus. Only Jesus can give real comfort in trouble.
The disciples--now called apostles, or teachers--who had been out
teaching among the villages, heard, perhaps, of the death of John the
Baptist, and came back to Jesus two by two, as they had gone out. They
had been preaching, healing the sick, and casting out evil spirits.
They often said "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," and the people
wondered if it would not be best to rise up and make Jesus their king.
Herod heard of the work of Jesus and the apostles, and was afraid. He
half believed that John whom he had killed had risen from the dead. He
tried to see Jesus, but the One who had come to preach the gospel to
the poor had no time to give to Herod.
As Peter, and John, and Andrew and all the rest came back they were
full of stories of the wonderful things that had been done through the
power that the Lord had given them. Many came with them to find Jesus.
He saw that they needed to come away from the crowds that were always
around them so that He could speak to them of their work, and so that
they could rest, and think, and pray.
They took a boat and crossed the Lake. The shore was crowded with
people who wished to be with Jesus, and when they knew that He was
going to Bethsaida-Julias at the northern end of the Lake they resolved
to follow Him, for it was only a few miles away.
At the end of the Lake they entered the Jordan river, and sailing up a
little way to the landing-place they saw the people coming, some in
boats, and more in groups along the shore--men, women and children--and
Jesus, filled with love and pity for them, led them to a green hillside
where He sat down to teach them as He had often done before.
It was spring, and the grass was like a great green carpet sprinkled
with bright wild-flowers, while the river, lined with bushes flowed
below, and beyond lay the beautiful blue Lake. The disciples stood
around their Master while He taught the people in simple language that
they could understand the greatest truths the world has ever heard.
All the afternoon He spoke to them, and when the sun was slowly going
down over the hills of Galilee they still wished to stay. They were as
sheep having no shepherd. The disciples were troubled about them, for
they were far from the villages where bread could be bought, and they
had nothing to eat. They begged Jesus to send them away.
"Give ye them to eat," said Jesus. Then the disciples were astonished,
for there were about five thousand men, beside the women and children.
"Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to
eat?" said Philip. Then Jesus, who knew what He would do, said, "How
many loaves have ye? Go and see."
They went among the people, and Andrew came back, saying,
"There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves, and two small
fishes; but what are they among so many?"
Then Jesus told His disciples to seat all the people in order upon the
green grass, and soon there were little companies of fifty, and larger
ones of an hundred sitting all over the hillside with their faces
turned toward Jesus, who stood looking out upon them as a father would
look upon his children. What were they waiting for? No one knew, but
they saw Him take the little lad's basket of bread and the two little
fishes and look up to heaven, blessing them as He did so. Then He
began to break the bread and divide the fishes. As He broke the bread
and gave to the disciples they took it away to the people sitting on
the grass, and when they came back to Jesus there was still more
waiting for them. In this way all the people were fed.
[Illustration: Feeding the five thousand]
When they were satisfied Jesus said to His disciples,
"Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."
And they filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the barley loaves
that were left.
What a silent and wonderful supper of bread fresh from the hand of its
Creator!
At last they began saying to each other in a low voice,
"This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world!" and
they began to ask each other if it would not be best to take Him at
once and make Him king whether he would or would not consent, but when
He saw what they wished to do, He slipped away and went farther up
among the hills to rest.
Evening had now come, and the people not finding Jesus, went away to
their homes, and the disciples in their little ship returned to
Capernaum. The people could not understand, nor could His disciples,
that Jesus did not come to be an earthly king over the little nation of
the Jews. Not until the Holy Spirit came to make all things clear did
they understand that He was to be the Spiritual King of all the world.