The Fairy Prince. His Home is everywhere. John the Baptist
is preaching down by Jericho. The young Jesus hears of him
and goes a hundred miles on foot to see him. A stranger
steps down to the River to be baptized. Look quick, it is
the Lamb of God! John is put to death in a palace by the
Dead Sea. A Woman's Revenge.
The young carpenter in his pretty Galilean village was, in a way, a
witness of these strange things. He heard in the synagogue the report
that the world was coming to an end. He, too, had read the awful
forebodings in the Old Scriptures. He may, too, have believed in the
coming disaster, but it is not likely. Vaguely, He interpreted the Old
Bible to mean something else. Between its lines He saw the shadow
coming of a spiritual, not an earthly king. Who that king should be,
He never dreamed. The voice of John He only heard in the distance--far
down by Jericho, and amidst the desolation of the Dead Sea. The cry of
the Baptist scarcely reached to remote little Galilee.
He had no dreams, this Galilean youth, no visions to tell Him of a
glory coming to Himself. It is to be remarked even that visions and
dreams never came to Him at all as they seem to have come to Daniel,
to Buddha, to Confucius and to Mahomet. Neither by vision nor voice
was He bidden to go to some great work. He was not clothed with
infinite power at the time we are speaking of; He was simply a sweet
and beautiful Galilean youth, with the grace of God upon Him.
In all Palestine now people were not agreed as to what the new kingdom
that was coming to the world would be. Some looked for the earth
suddenly to be crashed to pieces. Some looked simply for a renewal of
the earth. Some said the righteous dead would come out of their graves
and help govern. Some said all nature would be changed, and a wondrous
king would come straight from Heaven. When the simple folks of Galilee
talked to the Carpenter about it, He told them they were all mistaken.
It was the "_Kingdom of Heaven_" that was coming, he said--a
revolution in human hearts, when mankind would be made better, and
every one would do as he would be done by. It is doubtful if they
understood Him. That, they felt, was not what the Scriptures had said;
and doubtless many began to think the wonderful teacher wandering in
His mind. Yet many believed on Him.
For a little while now He goes about His beautiful Galilee like a
fairy prince, despite poverty and despite foes. He is so gentle, so
kindly, so loving to the poor! He is the kind physician, the balm in
Gilead. For a while He is met with hosannas; He has no riches, but
every peasant's house is His welcome home. That transcendent smile,
that low sweet voice, is His password to believing hearts. He must be
the coming king, they think; still, they do not understand. He is so
simple, so all-love. He tells them that they themselves are the
kingdom; and again they do not understand. "Surely Thou art the Son of
God," they cry, and the ground He walks on is sacred. Some call Him
the "Son of God." Yet not _once_ did He call himself the "Son of God."
It was the enthusiasts who called Him that. Often He referred to
himself as the "Son of Man"; but, in his Syriac dialect, the word
signified only man. After all it was only the village carpenter's son
who was saying all these mysterious things!
In the days we are describing at Galilee just now, John the Baptist is
still crying to the people of Jerusalem, and along the Jordan, to
hurry to the river, to repent, and to be baptized. He has a school
down there, and disciples of his own. They are greater extremists in
their teaching than the quiet and lovable Galilean, who, till now, is
hardly a public teacher at all. John is not only prophesying a speedy
coming of a new king to the world, a Messiah, he is threatening an
early destruction of almost everything, save the lives of the baptized
and the repentant. He has alarmed all Palestine. A great moral and
social earthquake is taking place. Nor is he backward about still
condemning the king himself for his unlawful marriage. The court is
becoming disturbed, and the doors of Machero prison in a little while
will open to the great prophet and preacher. The alarm among the
people everywhere continues very great. Thousands confess their sins,
enter the sacred river, are baptized, and now await the coming of the
end of the world.
The young carpenter is just now in Galilee, perhaps for a little while
only, back again from a long absence of solitude in the desert. Louder
and louder, nearer and nearer, comes to the youth at Galilee that cry
of John. Full of interest to see and hear the great reformer, He, and
a few of His friends, start for the Jordan river. It is nearly a
hundred miles away, to where John is, and they go on foot.
Let us also go to the Jordan for a little while. We turn our steps to
Bethabara--a little village up the river from the Dead sea. We see a
great crowd of excited people there. John himself is there. He is
still telling them of the coming king, the Messiah of the world. But
he does not dream from whence that king is to come--from earth, or
from Heaven. Shortly something tells John that a great person, unknown
to him, is there in the crowd, and will ask to be baptized. John
wonders who it can be. In a little while a stranger steps down to the
river bank--goes to the water's edge and asks to be baptized. John
does not know Him at first; but shortly a spirit voice whispers to
him, "It is the man from Galilee." It is the Lord. Watch--and as He
comes out of the river you will see the sign. The Holy Spirit in the
form of a dove will rest upon Him! Overawed by the tremendous
announcement, John at first feared to baptize. "Yes," said the
Galilean, "let it be so," and it was done. As the stranger came up out
of the water, John saw the dove, and, to the amazement of all, the
Heavens opened, and a voice called, "This is my beloved son." The
astonishment of the multitude can never be imagined.
After two thousand years, travelers cross the ocean simply to go and
stand a moment in holy reverence at the spot where believers say God
first spoke to Christ on earth. John at once told some of his
disciples to look--quick--"It is the Lamb of God." Two of these men
followed the mysterious stranger, saying, "Master, where dwellest
Thou?" He answered, "Come and see," and he took them with him for a
day to His temporary lodging place in the village. One of them was
Andrew, who breathlessly hurried to his brother Simon, and told him
the great news. "We have found the Christ, Him of whom Moses wrote."
Other friends quickly gathered in, and as one of them named Nathaniel
approached, the Galilean, without knowing who it was, called him by
his right name. A wonder had been performed. It was enough. "Thou art
the Son of God," cried Nathaniel, and they would have worshiped Him
then and there. "Thou shalt see yet greater things than these," said
the Christ, for it was indeed He, and in a little time He slipped away
to the desert as He had so often done before.
We will not follow Him there, though tradition tells strange and
unexplainable things as to how Satan tried to tempt Him, and how the
temptation was resisted by the Galilean, though the nations of the
world were offered Him.
After forty days He returned and went to His dear, sweet Galilee. We
shall go along, for there are troublous times by Jerusalem and in
Judea. In a little while, too, the king of Galilee has thrown John
into a prison that belongs to his dominions down near the Dead Sea.
John's religious, revolutionary, and semi-political preaching is at
last too much for Herod Antipas. Possibly, it was while he was yet in
the desert that the Master heard of the imprisonment of the prophet.
Very shortly a strange message came from John to the Man of Galilee.
John has heard anew of the Master's triumphs, and two friends are sent
to Him to ask if He is indeed the Christ--"or, do we look for
another?" More proof, it seems, was wanted. John had seen the dove
that day at the river, but John had never seen a miracle; and in that
day wonders and miracles were the only accepted proof. The answer
comes back to the prison by the Dead Sea,--"Go and tell John the
things which you do see and hear; tell him how the blind are made to
see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, even the dead raised to life,
and the gospel preached to the poor." If John got the answer we do not
know. It would be sad to reflect that John died without knowing that
this young carpenter, whom he baptized that day in the Jordan, was the
Messiah he had prophesied. When the two messengers left, it was then
the Galilean turned to the listening crowd and said, "Among them that
are born of women, there has not risen a greater than John the
Baptist." How believing hearts must have swelled when He added, "He
who is least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than John." The
promise rings on these two thousand years, and will ring on forever.
Not long has the Galilean been in His home when news comes of the
awful tragedy back there by the Dead Sea where John is.
On the high and desolate rocks close to the Dead Sea there is a
prison and a palace. Possibly there is not another citadel in the
world built amidst such colossal, such difficult scenery. Dark,
desolate mountains are all about it. It is reached through almost
inaccessible valleys. Near it the angry Jordan, with a roar, tumbles
into the Dead Sea and dies forever. The Dead Sea itself sleeps a
thousand feet below--and beyond the hills, lies the burning desert.
Altogether it is one of the most God-forsaken places in the world. Yet
in the midst of this desolation an old king built the mighty fortress
of "Machero." It was destroyed upon a time, and now Herod Antipas, the
Galilean king, has restored it in tenfold splendor. In the center of
it, and on its highest crest, he has built a gorgeous palace of
Oriental beauty. Far down under the marble floors of the palace is a
prison. Let us for a moment look down that prison corridor. In the
farthest cell there is a familiar face. It is the face of John--John,
who, only the other day we saw baptizing the Lord in the river Jordan.
He, to whom thousands flocked to be baptized and saved from the
coming destruction, is himself in a felon's cell. One wonders at the
daring of it. There are two reasons for it. One--he had railed too
often against the people in power, and the hypocrisy of the times. In
his zeal for truth, in his fearful warnings, in his tremendous
language, it was honestly feared he might create a national
disturbance. The poor, the uneducated, the superstitious, were massing
themselves around him as if he were a god. King Antipas had gone to
Rome upon a time, and, being enamored with his brother Philip's wife,
ran away with her to Galilee. Her name was Herodias. John, bold in
this as in all things, so old writers say, told the adulterous couple
what he thought of them. He even told the king that he had poisoned
his brother to get his widow. The king personally had liked John, and
often listened to him gladly. He knew, too, that John was adored by
the people, whose anger _he_ had reason to fear. But Queen Herodias
had other thoughts. John's accusations had insulted her. She longed
for some fierce revenge. The time has come. It is the birthday of the
king, and, with Herodias, and an hundred courtiers, captains and
generals, he has come to this grand palace and citadel of the
mountains to celebrate it in an Oriental fashion. It is midnight in
the palace, but the gorgeous chambers are ablaze with light. Music and
laughter resound from the open windows, for it is a sultry night of
June. Outside the castle, it is inky darkness. The mountains are
tenfold desolate in their silence to-night--far below the Dead Sea
sleeps in fearful midnight. East of the sea, and beyond the hills, is
the scorched and sandy desert. It too sleeps--and is silent. Here and
there a flash of far lightning crosses the horizon, betokening a
desert storm. All is fearfully lonesome out there in the midnight of
the mountains. How different all within! The gay scene grows gayer
still--the bright lights grow brighter--the banqueters are glad with
wine--a new flush is on every cheek, joy and revelry fill the whole
palace. There seems nothing to add to the appetite of pleasure. But
wait--there is a dance--a beautiful young girl half-clad flies into
the room; the music changes--and in a moment she is executing a
sensuous dance of the Orientals. She is the daughter of the queen, and
she is very beautiful. That she is not a professional dancer--just a
beautiful girl--adds to the sensuous delight. Quickly the dance is
done--and amidst the applause of all the court, and with flushed face,
she passes before the king and bows. Drunken with wine and the
banquet, the king seizes her hand and offers to reward her with
whatever she may wish--if need be, with half his kingdom.
"What shall I ask of him?" she whispers to her mother. Herodias'
chance had come. Revenge is sweet to evil people. In a moment she
thinks of John. He is down there in the prison right below the banquet
hall. He has heard all the night's revelry--he has seen from his cell
window the dancing lights reflected against the gray, dark rocks
outside. Yes, revenge is sweet. "Salome, daughter, tell him to kill
John the Baptist for you--to bring his head up here on a platter."
Heavens! was ever such a wish before! There is a little pause. Again
the fair girl is before the king. She has said it. Unwillingly--but
because of his word, and because of his nobles present--he grants the
request. There is a low, sad whisper from the king to a soldier
present, and in a few moments the cell door in the prison below opens.
Murder is nothing to an Oriental king. The deed is done--and on a
golden charger the bleeding head of one whom Jesus called the greatest
human being in the world is carried into the room. Herodias has had
her revenge. The curtain goes down on one of the awfullest scenes in
human history.