News came from Judaea that King Herod was dead. It was also reported
that his successor, called Herod the younger, was of milder temperament
and a true friend of his people. So Joseph considered that the time
was now come when he might return to his native land with his wife and
his tall, slender son. His basket-making, through industry and thrift,
had, almost without his noticing it, put so much money into his pocket
that he was able to treat with a Phoenician merchant regarding the
journey home. For they would not go back across the desert: Joseph
wanted to show his family the sea. He took willow twigs with him in
order to have something to do during the voyage. Mary occupied herself
in repairing and making clothes, so that she might be nicely dressed
when she arrived home. The other passengers who were in the big ship
were glad of the idleness, and amused themselves in all sorts of ways.
Jesus often joined them, and rejoiced with those who were glad. But
when the amusement degenerated into extravagance and shamelessness, he
retired to the cabin, or looked at the wide expanse of waters.
One moonlight night when they were on the high seas, a storm sprang up.
The ship's keel was lifted high at one moment only to dip low the next,
so that the waves broke over the deck; bundles and chests were thrown
about, and a salt stream struck the travellers' faces. The rigging
broke away from the masts, and fluttered loosely in the air out into
the dark sea which heaved endlessly in mountains of foam, and
threatened to engulf the groaning ship. The people were mad with
terror and anguish, and, reeling and staggering, sought refuge in every
corner in order to avoid the falling beams and splinters. Joseph and
Mary looked for Jesus, and found him quietly asleep on a bench. The
storm thundered over his head, the masts cracked, but he slept
peacefully. Mary bent over him, and climbed on to the bench so that
they might not be hurled apart. She would let him sleep on, what could
a mother's love do more? But Joseph thought it time to be prepared,
and so they woke him. He stood on the deck and looked out into the
wild confusion. He saw the moon fly from one wall of mist to the
other, he saw dark monsters shoot up from the roaring abyss, and throw
themselves on the ship with a crashing noise, and turn it on its side
so that the masts almost touched the surface of the water, while birds
of prey hovered above. The ship heaved from its inmost recesses, and
cracked from end to end as if it would burst. Jesus, pale-faced, his
eyes sparkling with delight, held on to the railing. Joseph and Mary
tried to protect him. He thrust them back, and without ceasing to gaze
at the awful splendour, said: "Let me alone! Don't you see that I'm
with my Father?"
It is written of him that he is the only man who had no father on
earth, and so he sought and found Him in heaven.
Others who saw the youth that night became almost calm in spite of
their terror. If he is not afraid for his young life, is ours so much
more valuable? And then, whether to conquer or to fail, they went to
work with more courage to steer the ship, to mend the tackle with tow,
to bale out the water, until gradually the storm subsided. When day
dawned Jesus was still gazing with delight at the open sea, where he
had watched the struggle of winds and waves of light and darkness. At
last he had found it--light both within and without! The helmsman blew
his horn, and announced, "Land in sight!" Far away over the dark-green
water shone the cliffs of Joppa.
When the ship was safely steered through the high cliffs into the
harbour, our family landed in order to journey thence to Jerusalem on
foot. For it was the time of the Passover, and it was many years since
Joseph had celebrated it in Solomon's Temple. The feast--a memorial of
the deliverance from Egypt--had now a double meaning for him. So he
wished to make this _détour_ to the royal city on his way to his native
Galilee, and especially that, after their sojourn in the land of the
heathen, he might introduce Jesus to the public worship of the chosen
people. Joseph and Mary clasped each other's hands in quiet joy when
they were once again journeying through their native land, breathing
its fresh air, seeing the well-known plants and creatures, hearing the
familiar tongue. Jesus remained calm. If he found any childish
memories there, they would be of the king who had persecuted him. He
could regard the land with calm impartiality. And when he saw his
parents so glad to be at home again, he thought how strange it was that
lifeless earth should have so much power over the heart. Does not the
Heavenly Father hold the whole earth in his hand? Does not man carry
his home within his own bosom?
Their possessions were tied on to the back of a camel, and they trudged
cheerfully after it. Joseph carried an axe at his waist in order to
defend them from attacks, but he only had occasion to try it on the
blocks of wood that lay in the road, which he liked to hack at a little
if they were good timber. The nearer they approached the capital the
more animated the stony roads became. Pilgrims who were proceeding to
the great festival in the holy place streamed along the paths. After
sunset on the second day our travellers found themselves at an inn in
Jerusalem. Joseph could afford to be more independent than he had been
twelve years back--he had money in his pocket! Their first walk was to
the Temple. They hastened their steps when passing Herod's palace.
The Temple stood in wondrous splendour. All sorts of people filled the
forecourt, hurrying, pushing, and shouting, pressing forward through
the lines of pillars into the Holy Place, and thence into the Holy of
Holies, where the ark of the covenant stood, flanked by golden
candelabra. Every fifth man wore the robes of a rabbi, and was thus
sure of his place in the Temple as one learned in the law. Pharisees
and Sadducees, two hostile parties in the interpretation of the law,
talked together of tithes and tribute, or entered on lively disputes
over the laws of the Scriptures, a subject on which they never agreed.
Joseph and Mary did not observe that others were quarrelling; they
humbly obeyed the rules, and stood in a niche of the Holy Place and
prayed. But Jesus stood by the pillars and listened to the disputants
with astonishment.
The next day they inspected the city as far as the crowds rendered it
possible. Joseph wished to visit the grave of his noble ancestor, and
pushed through the crowds that filled the dark, narrow streets, noisy
with buyers and sellers, donkey-drivers, porters, shouting rabbis, and
an endless stream of pilgrims. When they reached David's tomb Jesus
was not with them. Joseph thought that he had remained behind in the
crowd, and, feeling quite easy about him, paid his devotions at the
tomb of his royal ancestor. When they returned to the inn, where they
thought to find Jesus, He was not there; time passed, and He did not
come. Someone said He had joined a party of pilgrims going to Galilee,
because He thought that His parents had already set out. "How could He
think that?" exclaimed Joseph. "As if we should go without Him!"
They hurried off to fetch their son, but when they came up with the
pilgrims, Jesus was not there, nothing was known of him, and his
parents returned to the town. They sought him there for two whole
days. They visited every quarter of the city, searched all the public
buildings, inquired of every curator, asked at the strangers' office,
questioned all the shop-keepers about the tall boy with pale face,
brown hair, and an Egyptian fez on his head. But no one had seen him.
They returned to the inn, fully expecting to find him there. But there
was no sign of him. Mary, who was almost fainting with anxiety,
declared that he must have fallen into the hands of Herod. Joseph
comforted her, though he was himself in sad need of consolation.
"Poor mother," he said, drawing her head down on his breast, "let us go
and place our trouble before the Lord."
And when they had gone up into the Temple, there, among the scholars
and the men learned in the law they found Jesus. The youth sat among
the grey-bearded rabbis, and carried on a lively conversation with
them, so that his cheeks glowed and his eyes shone. Judgment had to be
pronounced on a serious case of transgression of the law. A man in
Jerusalem had baked bread on the Sabbath, because his neighbour had
been unable to lend him the oven the day before. The Pharisees met
together, and eagerly brought forward a crowd of statutes regarding the
culpability of the transgressor. Young Jesus listened attentively for
a while, and then suddenly stepped out of the crowd. Placing himself
in front of the learned men, he asked: "Rabbis, ought a man to do good
on the Sabbath or not?"
They did not know at first whether to honour this bold young man with
an answer. But there is a precept in the law which declares that every
inquirer must be answered, so one of them said curtly and roughly: "Of
course a man should do good."
Jesus inquired further; "Is life a good thing or not?"
"As it is the gift of God, it is a good thing."
"Should a man then preserve life or harm it on the Sabbath?"
The wise men were silent, for they would have been compelled to
acknowledge that life must be preserved on the Sabbath, and their
accusation of the man who had baked bread for his food would have
fallen to the ground.
Jesus walked quickly up the steps to the table, and said: "Rabbis, if a
sheep fell into a brook on the Sabbath, would you leave it there till
the next day? You would not first think: To-day is the Sabbath day,
but you would pull it out before it was drowned. Which is of greater
value, a sheep or a man? If a sick man comes on the Sabbath day, and
needs help, it is given him at once. And if you have a splinter in
your flesh, no one asks if it is the Sabbath; the splinter must be
taken out. But you come with your laws against a poor man who was
obliged to prepare his food on the Sabbath, and you imagine yourselves
better than he is. No, that will not do. The intention must decide.
If any one bakes bread on the Sabbath, I should say to him: 'Is it for
your own good or for gain?' In the first case you are acting rightly,
in the last you desecrate the Sabbath."
As they now did not know what to say, they decided that the youth was
too insignificant for them to dispute with.
Jesus, still excited, came down and joined the crowd, where his mother
was wringing her hands over the boldness with which her son had spoken
to the elders and the wise men. She stretched her arms towards him.
"Child! child! What are you doing here? Why treat us so? What we
have not suffered on your behalf! We have sought you for three whole
days in the greatest anxiety."
Then Jesus said: "Why did you seek me? He who has a task to do, cannot
always stay with his own people. I have been about my Heavenly
Father's business."
"Where were you all the time?"
He did not answer. Others might have told how he stood between the
pillars listening to the discussions of the Rabbis until he could keep
silence no longer.
Joseph said to him with some severity: "If you are learned enough to
interpret the Scriptures to those honourable men, you must know the
fifth commandment: 'Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may
be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.'"
Jesus said nothing.
"And now, my son, we will betake ourselves to that land."
And so they set out on the last stage of their journey. It was hard
walking over the vineyards of Judaea and Samaria, and Mary, when they
were quite near home, asked if she should ever see Nazareth again.
Jesus marched the distance, so to speak, twice, for he was never tired
of turning aside to gather dates, currants, and figs, or to fetch a
pitcher of water in order that his parents might quench their thirst.
So they went slowly over the rocky land, and when the mule-path led to
an eminence over which flat stones lay scattered, and which was thickly
sown with stumpy shrubs, the fertile plain of Israel lay before them.
It was surrounded by wooded hills, while villages were scattered about
its surface, and shining rivers wound through it. Opposite, one range
of mountains showed behind the other, and the highest lifted their
snowy peaks into the blue sky.
Joseph let fall the camel's guiding rein and his staff, extended his
arms and exclaimed: "Praise the Lord, oh my soul!" For Galilee, his
native place, lay before him.
When they saw the little town of Nazareth nestling in a bend of the
hills--ah! how small the place was, and how peaceful amid the green
hills!--Mary wept for joy.