THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS.
In this terrestrial paradise, which the great revolutions of history
had till then scarcely touched, there lived a population in perfect
harmony with the country itself, active, honest, joyous, and
tender-hearted. The Lake of Tiberias is one of the best supplied with
fish of any in the world.[1] Very productive fisheries were
established, especially at Bethsaida, and at Capernaum, and had
produced a certain degree of wealth. These families of fishermen
formed a gentle and peaceable society, extending by numerous ties of
relationship through the whole district of the lake which we have
described. Their comparatively easy life left entire freedom to their
imagination. The ideas about the kingdom of God found in these small
companies of worthy people more credence than anywhere else. Nothing
of that which we call civilization, in the Greek and worldly sense,
had reached them. Neither was there any of our Germanic and Celtic
earnestness; but, although goodness amongst them was often superficial
and without depth, their habits were quiet, and they were in some
degree intelligent and shrewd. We may imagine them as somewhat
analogous to the better populations of the Lebanon, but with the gift,
not possessed by the latter, of producing great men. Jesus met here
his true family. He installed himself as one of them; Capernaum
became "his own city;"[2] in the centre of the little circle which
adored him, he forgot his sceptical brothers, ungrateful Nazareth and
its mocking incredulity.
[Footnote 1: Matt. iv. 18; Luke v. 44, and following; John i. 44, xxi.
1, and following; Jos., _B.J._, III. x. 7; Jac. de Vitri, in the
_Gesta Dei per Francos_, i. p. 1075.]
[Footnote 2: Matt. ix. 1; Mark ii. 1, 2.]
One house especially at Capernaum offered him an agreeable refuge and
devoted disciples. It was that of two brothers, both sons of a certain
Jonas, who probably was dead at the period when Jesus came to stay on
the borders of the lake. These two brothers were Simon, surnamed
_Cephas_ or _Peter_, and Andrew. Born at Bethsaida,[1] they were
established at Capernaum when Jesus commenced his public life. Peter
was married and had children; his mother-in-law lived with him.[2]
Jesus loved this house and dwelt there habitually.[3] Andrew appears
to have been a disciple of John the Baptist, and Jesus had perhaps
known him on the banks of the Jordan.[4] The two brothers continued
always, even at the period in which it seems they must have been most
occupied with their master, to follow their business as fishermen.[5]
Jesus, who loved to play upon words, said at times that he would make
them fishers of men.[6] In fact, among all his disciples he had none
more faithfully attached.
[Footnote 1: John i. 44.]
[Footnote 2: Matt. viii. 14; Mark i. 30; Luke iv. 38; 1 _Cor._ ix. 5;
1 Peter v. 13; Clem. Alex., _Strom._, iii. 6, vii. 11; Pseudo-Clem.,
_Recogn._, vii. 25; Eusebius, _H.E._, iii. 30.]
[Footnote 3: Matt. viii. 14, xvii. 24; Mark i. 29-31; Luke iv. 38.]
[Footnote 4: John i. 40, and following.]
[Footnote 5: Matt. iv. 18; Mark i. 16; Luke v. 3; John xxi. 3.]
[Footnote 6: Matt. iv. 19; Mark i. 17; Luke v. 10.]
Another family, that of Zabdia or Zebedee, a well-to-do fisherman and
owner of several boats,[1] gave Jesus a welcome reception. Zebedee had
two sons: James, who was the elder, and a younger son, John, who later
was called to play so prominent a part in the history of infant
Christianity. Both were zealous disciples. Salome, wife of Zebedee,
was also much attached to Jesus, and accompanied him until his
death.[2]
[Footnote 1: Mark i. 20; Luke v. 10, viii. 3; John xix. 27.]
[Footnote 2: Matt. xxvii. 56; Mark xv. 40, xvi. 1.]
Women, in fact, received him with eagerness. He manifested toward them
those reserved manners which render a very sweet union of ideas
possible between the two sexes. The separation of men from women,
which has prevented all refined development among the Semitic peoples,
was no doubt then, as in our days, much less rigorous in the rural
districts and villages than in the large towns. Three or four devoted
Galilean women always accompanied the young master, and disputed the
pleasure of listening to and of tending him in turn.[1] They infused
into the new sect an element of enthusiasm and of the marvellous, the
importance of which had already begun to be understood. One of them,
Mary of Magdala, who has rendered the name of this poor town so
celebrated in the world, appears to have been of a very enthusiastic
temperament. According to the language of the time, she had been
possessed by seven demons.[2] That is, she had been affected with
nervous and apparently inexplicable maladies. Jesus, by his pure and
sweet beauty, calmed this troubled nature. The Magdalene was faithful
to him, even unto Golgotha, and on the day but one after his death,
played a prominent part; for, as we shall see later, she was the
principal means by which faith in the resurrection was established.
Joanna, wife of Chuza, one of the stewards of Antipas, Susanna, and
others who have remained unknown, followed him constantly and
ministered unto him.[3] Some were rich, and by their fortune enabled
the young prophet to live without following the trade which he had
until then practiced.[4]
[Footnote 1: Matt. xxvii. 55, 56; Mark xv. 40, 41; Luke viii. 2, 3,
xxiii. 49.]
[Footnote 2: Mark xvi. 9; Luke viii. 2; cf. _Tobit_ iii. 8, vi. 14.]
[Footnote 3: Luke viii. 3, xxiv. 10.]
[Footnote 4: Luke viii. 3.]
Many others followed him habitually, and recognized him as their
master--a certain Philip of Bethsaida; Nathanael, son of Tolmai or
Ptolemy, of Cana, perhaps a disciple of the first period;[1] and
Matthew, probably the one who was the Xenophon of the infant
Christianity. The latter had been a publican, and, as such, doubtless
handled the _Kalam_ more easily than the others. Perhaps it was this
that suggested to him the idea of writing the _Logia_,[2] which are
the basis of what we know of the teachings of Jesus. Among the
disciples are also mentioned Thomas, or Didymus,[3] who doubted
sometimes, but who appears to have been a man of warm heart and of
generous sympathies;[4] one Lebbæus, or Thaddeus; Simon Zelotes,[5]
perhaps a disciple of Judas the Gaulonite, belonging to the party of
the _Kenaïm_, which was formed about that time, and which was soon to
play so great a part in the movements of the Jewish people. Lastly,
Judas, son of Simon, of the town of Kerioth, who was an exception in
the faithful flock, and drew upon himself such a terrible notoriety.
He was the only one who was not a Galilean. Kerioth was a town at the
extreme south of the tribe of Judah,[6] a day's journey beyond Hebron.
[Footnote 1: John i. 44, and following; xxi. 2. I admit the
identification of Nathanael with the apostle who figures in the lists
under the name of Bartholomew.]
[Footnote 2: Papias, in Eusebius, _Hist. Eccl._, iii. 39.]
[Footnote 3: This second name is the Greek translation of the first.]
[Footnote 4: John xi. 16, xx. 24, and following.]
[Footnote 5: Matt. x. 4; Mark iii. 18; Luke vi. 15; _Acts_ i. 13;
Gospel of the Ebionites, in Epiphanes, _Adv. Hær._, xxx. 13.]
[Footnote 6: Now _Kuryétein_, or _Kereitein_.]
We have seen that in general the family of Jesus were little inclined
toward him.[1] James and Jude, however, his cousins by Mary Cleophas,
henceforth became his disciples, and Mary Cleophas herself was one of
the women who followed him to Calvary.[2] At this period we do not see
his mother beside him. It was only after the death of Jesus that Mary
acquired great importance,[3] and that the disciples sought to attach
her to themselves.[4] It was then, also, that the members of the
family of the founder, under the title of "brothers of of the Lord,"
formed an influential group, which was a long time at the head of the
church of Jerusalem, and which, after the sack of the city, took
refuge in Batanea.[5] The simple fact of having been familiar with him
became a decisive advantage, in the same manner as, after the death of
Mahomet, the wives and daughters of the prophet, who had no importance
in his life, became great authorities.
[Footnote 1: The circumstance related in John xix. 25-27 seems to
imply that at no period of the public life of Jesus did his own
brothers become attached to him.]
[Footnote 2: Matt. xxvii. 56; Mark xv. 40; John xix. 25.]
[Footnote 3: _Acts_ i. 14. Compare Luke i. 28, ii. 35, already
implying a great respect for Mary.]
[Footnote 4: John xix. 25, and following.]
[Footnote 5: Julius Africanus, in Eusebius, _H.E._, i. 7.]
In this friendly group Jesus had evidently his favorites, and, so to
speak, an inner circle. The two sons of Zebedee, James and John,
appear to have been in the first rank. They were full of fire and
passion. Jesus had aptly surnamed them "sons of thunder," on account
of their excessive zeal, which, if it could have controlled the
thunder, would often have made use of it.[1] John, especially, appears
to have been on very familiar terms with Jesus. Perhaps the warm
affection which the master felt for this disciple has been
exaggerated in his Gospel, in which the personal interests of the
writer are not sufficiently concealed.[2] The most significant fact
is, that, in the synoptical Gospels, Simon Bar-jona, or Peter, James,
son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, form a sort of intimate
council, which Jesus calls at certain times, when he suspects the
faith and intelligence of the others.[3] It seems, moreover, that they
were all three associated in their fishing.[4] The affection of Jesus
for Peter was strong. The character of the latter--upright, sincere,
impulsive--pleased Jesus, who at times permitted himself to smile at
his resolute manners. Peter, little of a mystic, communicated to the
master his simple doubts, his repugnances, and his entirely human
weaknesses,[5] with an honest frankness which recalls that of
Joinville toward St. Louis. Jesus chided him, in a friendly manner,
full of confidence and esteem. As to John, his youth,[6] his exquisite
tenderness of heart,[7] and his lively imagination,[8] must have had a
great charm. The personality of this extraordinary man, who has
exerted so peculiar an influence on infant Christianity, did not
develop itself till afterward. When old, he wrote that strange
Gospel,[9] which contains such precious teaching, but in which, in our
opinion, the character of Jesus is falsified upon many points. The
nature of John was too powerful and too profound for him to bend
himself to the impersonal tone of the first evangelists. He was the
biographer of Jesus, as Plato was of Socrates. Accustomed to ponder
over his recollections with the feverish restlessness of an excited
mind, he transformed his master in wishing to describe him, and
sometimes he leaves it to be suspected (unless other hands have
altered his work) that perfect good faith was not invariably his rule
and law in the composition of this singular writing.
[Footnote 1: Mark iii. 17, ix. 37, and following; x. 35, and
following; Luke ix. 49, and following; 54, and following.]
[Footnote 2: John xiii. 23, xviii. 15, and following, xix. 26, 27, xx.
2, 4, xxi. 7, 20, and following.]
[Footnote 3: Matt. xvii. 1, xxvi. 37; Mark v. 37, ix. 1, xiii. 3, xiv.
33; Luke ix. 28. The idea that Jesus had communicated to these three
disciples a Gnosis, or secret doctrine, was very early spread. It is
singular that John, in his Gospel, does not once mention James, his
brother.]
[Footnote 4: Matt. iv. 18-22; Luke v. 10; John xxi. 2, and following.]
[Footnote 5: Matt. xiv. 28, xvi. 22; Mark viii. 32, and following.]
[Footnote 6: He appears to have lived till near the year 100. See his
Gospel, xxi. 15-23, and the ancient authorities collected by Eusebius,
_H.E._, iii. 20, 23.]
[Footnote 7: See the epistles attributed to him, which are certainly
by the same author as the fourth Gospel.]
[Footnote 8: Nevertheless we do not mean to affirm that the Apocalypse
is by him.]
[Footnote 9: The common tradition seems sufficiently justified to me
on this point. It is evident, besides, that the school of John
retouched his Gospel (see the whole of chap. xxi.)]
No hierarchy, properly speaking, existed in the new sect. They were to
call each other "brothers;" and Jesus absolutely proscribed titles of
superiority, such as _rabbi_, "master," father--he alone being master,
and God alone being father. The greatest was to become the servant of
the others.[1] Simon Bar-jona, however, was distinguished amongst his
fellows by a peculiar degree of importance. Jesus lived with him, and
taught in his boat;[2] his house was the centre of the Gospel
preaching. In public he was regarded as the chief of the flock; and it
is to him that the overseers of the tolls address themselves to
collect the taxes which were due from the community.[3] He was the
first who had recognized Jesus as the Messiah.[4] In a moment of
unpopularity, Jesus, asking of his disciples, "Will ye also go away?"
Simon answered, "Lord, to whom should we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life."[5] Jesus, at various times, gave him a certain priority
in his church;[6] and gave him the Syrian surname of _Kepha_ (stone),
by which he wished to signify by that, that he made him the
corner-stone of the edifice.[7] At one time he seems even to promise
him "the keys of the kingdom of heaven," and to grant him the right of
pronouncing upon earth decisions which should always be ratified in
eternity.[8]
[Footnote 1: Matt. xviii. 4, xx. 25-26, xxiii. 8-12; Mark ix. 34, x.
42-46.]
[Footnote 2: Luke v. 3.]
[Footnote 3: Matt. xvii. 23.]
[Footnote 4: Matt. xvi. 16, 17.]
[Footnote 5: John vi. 68-70.]
[Footnote 6: Matt. x. 2; Luke xxii. 32; John xxi. 15, and following;
_Acts_ i., ii., v., etc.; _Gal._ i. 18, ii. 7, 8.]
[Footnote 7: Matt. xvi. 18; John i. 42.]
[Footnote 8: Matt. xvi. 19. Elsewhere, it is true (Matt. xviii. 18),
the same power is granted to all the apostles.]
No doubt, this priority of Peter excited a little jealousy. Jealousy
was kindled especially in view of the future--and of this kingdom of
God, in which all the disciples would be seated upon thrones, on the
right and on the left of the master, to judge the twelve tribes of
Israel.[1] They asked who would then be nearest to the Son of man, and
act in a manner as his prime minister and assessor. The two sons of
Zebedee aspired to this rank. Preoccupied with such a thought, they
prompted their mother Salome, who one day took Jesus aside, and asked
him for the two places of honor for her sons.[2] Jesus evaded the
request by his habitual maxim that he who exalteth himself shall be
humbled, and that the kingdom of heaven will be possessed by the
lowly. This created some disturbance in the community; there was great
discontent against James and John.[3] The same rivalry appears to show
itself in the Gospel of John, where the narrator unceasingly declares
himself to be "the disciple whom Jesus loved," to whom the master in
dying confided his mother, and seeks systematically to place himself
near Simon Peter, and at times to put himself before him, in important
circumstances where the older evangelists had omitted mentioning
him.[4]
[Footnote 1: Matt. xviii. 1, and following; Mark ix. 33; Luke ix. 46,
xxii. 30.]
[Footnote 2: Matt. xx. 20, and following; Mark x. 35, and following.]
[Footnote 3: Mark x. 41.]
[Footnote 4: John xviii. 15, and following, xix. 26, 27, xx. 2, and
following, xxi. 7, 21. Comp. i. 35, and following, in which the
disciple referred to is probably John.]
Among the preceding personages, all those of whom we know anything had
begun by being fishermen. At all events, none of them belonged to a
socially elevated class. Only Matthew or Levi, son of Alpheus,[1] had
been a publican. But those to whom they gave this name in Judea were
not the farmers-general of taxes, men of elevated rank (always Roman
patricians), who were called at Rome _publicani_.[2] They were the
agents of these contractors, employés of low rank, simply officers of
the customs. The great route from Acre to Damascus, one of the most
ancient routes of the world, which crossed Galilee, skirting the
lake,[3] made this class of employé very numerous there. Capernaum,
which was perhaps on the road, possessed a numerous staff of them.[4]
This profession is never popular, but with the Jews it was considered
quite criminal. Taxation, new to them, was the sign of their
subjection; one school, that of Judas the Gaulonite, maintained that
to pay it was an act of paganism. The customs-officers, also, were
abhorred by the zealots of the law. They were only named in company
with assassins, highway robbers, and men of infamous life.[5] The Jews
who accepted such offices were excommunicated, and became incapable of
making a will; their money was accursed, and the casuists forbade the
changing of money with them.[6] These poor men, placed under the ban
of society, visited amongst themselves. Jesus accepted a dinner
offered him by Levi, at which there were, according to the language of
the time, "many publicans and sinners." This gave great offense.[7] In
these ill-reputed houses there was a risk of meeting bad society. We
shall often see him thus, caring little to shock the prejudices of
well-disposed persons, seeking to elevate the classes humiliated by
the orthodox, and thus exposing himself to the liveliest reproaches of
the zealots.
[Footnote 1: Matt. ix. 9, x. 3; Mark ii. 14, iii. 18; Luke v. 27, vi.
15; _Acts_ i. 13. Gospel of the Ebionites, in Epiph., _Adv. Hær._,
xxx. 13. We must suppose, however strange it may seem, that these two
names were borne by the same personage. The narrative, Matt. ix. 9,
conceived in accordance with the ordinary model of legends, describing
the call to apostleship, is, it is true, somewhat vague, and has
certainly not been written by the apostle in question. But we must
remember that, in the existing Gospel of Matthew, the only part which
is by the apostle consists of the Discourses of Jesus. See Papias, in
Eusebius, _Hist. Eccl._, III. 39.]
[Footnote 2: Cicero, _De Provinc. Consular._, 5; _Pro Plancio_, 9;
Tac., _Ann._, IV. 6; Pliny, _Hist. Nat._, XII. 32; Appian, _Bell.
Civ._, II. 13.]
[Footnote 3: It remained celebrated, up to the time of the Crusades,
under the name of _Via Maris_. Cf. Isaiah ix. 1; Matt. iv. 13-15;
Tobit, i. 1. I think that the road cut in the rock near Ain-et-Tin
formed part of it, and that the route was directed from thence toward
the _Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob_, just as it is now. A part of
the road from Ain-et-Tin to this bridge is of ancient construction.]
[Footnote 4: Matt. ix. 9, and following.]
[Footnote 5: Matt. v. 46, 47, ix. 10, 11, xi. 19, xviii. 17, xxi. 31,
32; Mark ii. 15, 16; Luke v. 30, vii. 34, xv. 1, xviii. 11, xix. 7;
Lucian, _Necyomant_, ii.; Dio Chrysost., orat. iv., p. 85, orat. xiv.,
p. 269 (edit. Emperius); Mishnah, _Nedarim_, iii. 4.]
[Footnote 6: Mishnah, _Baba Kama_, x. 1; Talmud of Jerusalem, _Demai_,
ii. 3; Talmud of Bab., _Sanhedrim_, 25 _b_.]
[Footnote 7: Luke v. 29, and following.]
Jesus owed these numerous conquests to the infinite charm of his
person and his speech. A penetrating word, a look falling upon a
simple conscience, which only wanted awakening, gave him an ardent
disciple. Sometimes Jesus employed an innocent artifice, which Joan of
Arc also used: he affected to know something intimate respecting him
whom he wished to gain, or he would perhaps recall to him some
circumstance dear to his heart. It was thus that he attracted
Nathanael,[1] Peter,[2] and the Samaritan woman.[3] Concealing the
true source of his strength--his superiority over all that surrounded
him--he permitted people to believe (in order to satisfy the ideas of
the time--ideas which, moreover, fully coincided with his own) that a
revelation from on high revealed to him all secrets and laid bare all
hearts. Every one thought that Jesus lived in a sphere superior to
that of humanity. They said that he conversed on the mountains with
Moses and Elias;[4] they believed that in his moments of solitude the
angels came to render him homage, and established a supernatural
intercourse between him and heaven.[5]
[Footnote 1: John i. 48, and following.]
[Footnote 2: John i. 42.]
[Footnote 3: John iv. 17, and following.]
[Footnote 4: Matt. xvii. 3; Mark ix. 3; Luke ix. 30-31.]
[Footnote 5: Matt. iv. 11; Mark i. 13.]