The Story of the Bible
- Автор: Hurlbut Jesse Lyman
- Год: 1904
- Язык: английский
- Год: Heritage History
- Жанр: Культурология
Электронная книга - «The Story of the Bible». Краткое содержание книги:
After these men had gone to bear the words of Jesus to John, Jesus spoke to the people about John the Baptist. He said:
"What was it that you went out into the wilderness to see? Was it a reed shaken by the wind? Was it a man dressed in rich robes? Those who are clad in splendid garments, and sit at feasts, are in the houses of kings. Who was the man whom you went out to see? Was he a prophet of God? I tell you that he was a prophet, and more than a prophet; for he was the one who came to make men ready for the coming of the king. And I say to you, that among those who are born on the earth, there has never arisen a greater man than John the Baptist. Yet he who is the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John; for he can see with his own eyes, what John can only hear of from others, the works of the gospel."
All the common people who heard this were glad, for they believed that John was a prophet, and they had been baptized by him. But the Pharisees and the rulers were not pleased, because they had refused to listen to John the Baptist or to be baptized by him.
Not long after this the end came to the noble life of John the Baptist. A great feast was held on King Herod's birthday, and all the princes and nobles of his kingdom were in the palace, eating and drinking together. While they were making merry, the young daughter of the woman Herodias, who lived with Herod as his wife, came into the supper-room and danced before the guests. Herod was so greatly pleased with her dancing that he said to her, "Ask whatever you please, and I will give it to you."
He swore a solemn oath that he would give her whatever she might ask, even to the half of his kingdom. The girl went to her mother, and said to her, "Tell me, what shall I ask?"
Her mother told her what to ask, and she came back with haste to the king, and said, "I will ask that you give me here upon a plate the head of John the Baptist!"
The king was very sorry that he had made the promise, but he was ashamed to break his word in the presence of his princes. He sent a man to the prison, with orders that the head of John the Baptist should be cut off and brought. It was done; and the young girl took it upon a plate, and gave it to her mother Herodias.
So, as Herod's father, thirty years before, had caused all the little children of Bethlehem to be killed, as we read in Story Three of this Part, this King Herod, the son, caused John the Baptist, one of the best of men and a great prophet, to be put to death.
The followers of John the Baptist went to the prison, and took away his body and buried it; and then they went and told Jesus of all that had been done. After this they were among the followers of Jesus.
Herod the king heard of what Jesus was doing, the sick healed, the blind made to see, and the dead raised to life. Everybody by this time was talking of Jesus and wondering who he was. Some said, "This is the prophet Elijah come again to earth."
Others said, "If he is not Elijah, he is surely one of the prophets of the old time who has come to life."
But Herod said, "I know who this is. It is John the Baptist, whom I killed! He has come back to life, and by him all these great works are wrought!"
And Herod was in great alarm, for he was afraid of the man whom he had slain.
TIBERIAS, ON THE SEA OF GALILEE, WHERE HEROD LIVED
The Feast Beside the Sea, and What Followed It
Matthew xiv: 13 to 36; Mark vi: 30 to 56; Luke ix: 10 to 17; John vi: 1 to 71.
When the twelve disciples came back to Jesus, after preaching in his name among the villages of Galilee, they told him of all that they had done, and of what they had said to the people. The multitudes seeking after Jesus were now greater than ever before, for it was again near the time of the Passover, and very many on their way to Jerusalem turned aside to see and to hear the great Teacher. So many people were coming and going that they could scarcely find time even to eat. Jesus said to the twelve:
"Come with me apart into a quiet place, away from the crowds, and let us rest for a time."
They went into the boat and rowed across the lake to an open place, where no one lived, not far from the city of Bethsaida. But they could not be alone, for the people saw them going, and watched them from the shore, and went on foot around the northern end of the lake, and found them. When Jesus saw how eager the crowds were to hear him, he took pity on them and taught them, and healed such among them as were sick.
As it began to grow toward evening, the disciples said to Jesus, "This is a lonely place, and there is nothing here for such a crowd of people to eat. Send them away before it is too late, and tell them to go to the towns and get food."
But Jesus said to them, "They need not go away. You can give them food to eat."
They said to him, "Shall we go into the town and buy two hundred shillings' worth of bread, so that each one of them may have a little?"
Jesus turned to Philip, one of his disciples, and said to him, "Philip, where shall we find bread, that all these may eat?"
Jesus said this to try Philip's faith, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip looked at the great crowd, full five thousand men, besides women and children, and he said, "Two hundred shillings' worth of bread would not be enough to give to every one even a little piece."
Just then another of the disciples, Andrew, the brother of Peter, said to Jesus, "There is a boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two little fishes; but what use would they be among so many people?"
Jesus said to the disciples, "Go out among the people, and divide them into companies of fifty and a hundred, and tell them to sit down in order."
So the people all sat down; and upon the green grass, arranged in rows and squares in their garments of different colors, they looked like beds of flowers.
Then Jesus took into his hands the five loaves and the two fishes which the boy had brought. He looked up to heaven, and blessed the food; and broke the loaves and the dried fishes, and gave the pieces to the disciples. They went among the companies of people, and gave to everyone bread and fish, as much as each needed. So they all ate, and had enough.
JESUS BLESSES THE FOOD
Then Jesus said, "Gather up the pieces of food that are left, so that nothing may be lost."
Each of the disciples carried a basket among the people, and when they came to Jesus all the twelve baskets were filled with pieces that were left over of the five loaves and the two fishes.
When the people saw that here was one who could give them food, they were ready at once to make Jesus their king, and to break away from the rule of the Romans. Jesus was a King, but he would not be such as king as they wished. His kingdom was to be in the hearts of men who loved him, not a kingdom set up by the swords of soldiers. He found that his disciples were ready to help the people to make him a king, even against his own will.
So Jesus first compelled his disciples to go on board the boat, though they were not willing to do so, and to row across the lake to Capernaum. Then he sent away the great crowd of people who were still eager that he should be their king. And when all had gone away, and he was left alone, he went up into the mountain to pray. While he was praying in the night a great storm arose upon the lake, and from the mountain Jesus could see his disciples working hard with their oars against the waves, although they could not see him. A little after midnight, when the storm was the highest, Jesus went to his disciples, walking upon the water, just as though the sea was dry land. The men in the boat saw a strange figure coming near them upon the sea, and cried out with fear, for they thought that it must be a spirit. But Jesus called out to them, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid!" And then they knew that it was their Lord.