PAPER 154
LAST DAYS AT CAPERNAUM
154:0.1 ON THE eventful Saturday night of April 30,
as Jesus was speaking words of comfort and courage to his downcast and
bewildered disciples, at Tiberias a council was being held between Herod
Antipas and a group of special commissioners representing the Jerusalem
Sanhedrin. These scribes and Pharisees urged Herod to arrest Jesus; they did
their best to convince him that Jesus was stirring up the populace to
dissension and even to rebellion. But Herod refused to take action against him
as a political offender. Herod's advisers had correctly reported the episode
across the lake when the people sought to proclaim Jesus king and how he
rejected the proposal.
154:0.2 One of Herod's official family, Chuza, whose
wife belonged to the women's ministering corps, had informed him that Jesus
did not propose to meddle with the affairs of earthly rule; that he was only
concerned with the establishment of the spiritual brotherhood of his
believers, which brotherhood he called the kingdom of heaven. Herod had
confidence in Chuza's reports, so much so that he refused to interfere with
Jesus' activities. Herod was also influenced at this time, in his attitude
toward Jesus, by his superstitious fear of John the Baptist. Herod was one of
those apostate Jews who, while he believed nothing, feared everything. He had
a bad conscience for having put John to death, and he did not want to become
entangled in these intrigues against Jesus. He knew of many cases of sickness
which had been apparently healed by Jesus, and he regarded him as either a
prophet or a relatively harmless religious fanatic.
154:0.3 When the Jews threatened to report to Caesar
that he was shielding a traitorous subject, Herod ordered them out of his
council chamber. Thus matters rested for one week, during which time Jesus
prepared his followers for the impending dispersion.
1. A WEEK OF COUNSEL
154:1.1 From May 1 to May 7 Jesus held intimate
counsel with his followers at the Zebedee house. Only the tried and trusted
disciples were admitted to these conferences. At this time there were only
about one hundred disciples who had the moral courage to brave the opposition
of the Pharisees and openly declare their adherence to Jesus. With this group
he held sessions morning, afternoon, and evening. Small companies of inquirers
assembled each afternoon by the seaside, where some of the evangelists or
apostles discoursed to them. These groups seldom numbered more than
fifty.
154:1.2 On Friday of this week official action was
taken by the rulers of the Capernaum synagogue closing the house of God to
Jesus and all his followers. This action was taken at the instigation of the
Jerusalem Pharisees. Jairus resigned as chief ruler and openly aligned himself
with Jesus.
154:1.3 The last of the seaside meetings was held on
Sabbath afternoon, May 7. Jesus talked to less than one hundred and fifty who
had assembled at that time. This Saturday night marked the time of the lowest
ebb in the tide of popular regard for Jesus and his teachings. From then on
there was a steady, slow, but more healthful and dependable growth in
favorable sentiment; a new following was built up which was better grounded in
spiritual faith and true religious experience. The more or less composite and
compromising transition stage between the materialistic concepts of the
kingdom held by the Master's followers and those more idealistic and spiritual
concepts taught by Jesus, had now definitely ended. From now on there was a
more open proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom in its larger scope and in
its far-flung spiritual implications.
2. A WEEK OF REST
154:2.1 Sunday, May 8, A.D. 29, at Jerusalem, the
Sanhedrin passed a decree closing all the synagogues of Palestine to Jesus and
his followers. This was a new and unprecedented usurpation of authority by the
Jerusalem Sanhedrin. Theretofore each synagogue had existed and functioned as
an independent congregation of worshipers and was under the rule and direction
of its own board of governors. Only the synagogues of Jerusalem had been
subject to the authority of the Sanhedrin. This summary action of the
Sanhedrin was followed by the resignation of five of its members. One hundred
messengers were immediately dispatched to convey and enforce this decree.
Within the short space of two weeks every synagogue in Palestine had bowed to
this manifesto of the Sanhedrin except the synagogue at Hebron. The rulers of
the Hebron synagogue refused to acknowledge the right of the Sanhedrin to
exercise such jurisdiction over their assembly. This refusal to accede to the
Jerusalem decree was based on their contention of congregational autonomy
rather than on sympathy with Jesus' cause. Shortly thereafter the Hebron
synagogue was destroyed by fire.
154:2.2 This same Sunday morning, Jesus declared a
week's holiday, urging all of his disciples to return to their homes or
friends to rest their troubled souls and speak words of encouragement to their
loved ones. He said: "Go to your several places to play or fish while you pray
for the extension of the kingdom."
154:2.3 This week of rest enabled Jesus to visit
many families and groups about the seaside. He also went fishing with David
Zebedee on several occasions, and while he went about alone much of the time,
there always lurked near by two or three of David's most trusted messengers,
who had no uncertain orders from their chief respecting the safeguarding of
Jesus. There was no public teaching of any sort during this week of rest.
154:2.4 This was the week that Nathaniel and James
Zebedee suffered from more than a slight illness. For three days and nights
they were acutely afflicted with a painful digestive disturbance. On the third
night Jesus sent Salome, James's mother, to her rest, while he ministered to
his suffering apostles. Of course Jesus could have instantly healed these two
men, but that is not the method of either the Son or the Father in dealing
with these commonplace difficulties and afflictions of the children of men on
the evolutionary worlds of time and space. Never once, throughout all of his
eventful life in the flesh, did Jesus engage in any sort of supernatural
ministration to any member of his earth family or in behalf of any one of his
immediate followers.
154:2.5 Universe difficulties must be met and
planetary obstacles must be encountered as a part of the experience training
provided for the growth and development, the progressive perfection, of the
evolving souls of mortal creatures. The spiritualization of the human soul
requires intimate experience with the educational solving of a wide range of
real universe problems. The animal nature and the lower forms of will
creatures do not progress favorably in environmental ease. Problematic
situations, coupled with exertion stimuli, conspire to produce those
activities of mind, soul, and spirit which contribute mightily to the
achievement of worthy goals of mortal progression and to the attainment of
higher levels of spirit destiny.
3. THE SECOND TIBERIAS CONFERENCE
154:3.1 On May 16 the second conference at Tiberias
between the authorities at Jerusalem and Herod Antipas was convened. Both the
religious and the political leaders from Jerusalem were in attendance. The
Jewish leaders were able to report to Herod that practically all the
synagogues in both Galilee and Judea were closed to Jesus' teachings. A new
effort was made to have Herod place Jesus under arrest, but he refused to do
their bidding. On May 18, however, Herod did agree to the plan of permitting
the Sanhedrin authorities to seize Jesus and carry him to Jerusalem to be
tried on religious charges, provided the Roman ruler of Judea concurred in
such an arrangement. Meanwhile, Jesus' enemies were industriously spreading
the rumor throughout Galilee that Herod had become hostile to Jesus, and that
he meant to exterminate all who believed in his teachings.
154:3.2 On Saturday night, May 21, word reached
Tiberias that the civil authorities at Jerusalem had no objection to the
agreement between Herod and the Pharisees that Jesus be seized and carried to
Jerusalem for trial before the Sanhedrin on charges of flouting the sacred
laws of the Jewish nation. Accordingly, just before midnight of this day,
Herod signed the decree which authorized the officers of the Sanhedrin to
seize Jesus within Herod's domains and forcibly to carry him to Jerusalem for
trial. Strong pressure from many sides was brought to bear upon Herod before
he consented to grant this permission, and he well knew that Jesus could not
expect a fair trial before his bitter enemies at Jerusalem.
4. SATURDAY NIGHT IN CAPERNAUM
154:4.1 On this same Saturday night, in Capernaum a
group of fifty leading citizens met at the synagogue to discuss the momentous
question: "What shall we do with Jesus?" They talked and debated until after
midnight, but they could not find any common ground for agreement. Aside from
a few persons who inclined to the belief that Jesus might be the Messiah, at
least a holy man, or perhaps a prophet, the meeting was divided into four
nearly equal groups who held, respectively, the following views of Jesus:
1. That he was a deluded and harmless religious
fanatic.
2. That he was a dangerous and designing agitator
who might stir up rebellion.
3. That he was in league with devils, that he
might even be a prince of devils.
4. That he was beside himself, that he was mad,
mentally unbalanced.
154:4.2 There was much talk about Jesus' preaching
doctrines which were upsetting for the common people; his enemies maintained
that his teachings were impractical, that everything would go to pieces if
everybody made an honest effort to live in accordance with his ideas. And the
men of many subsequent generations have said the same things. Many intelligent
and well-meaning men, even in the more enlightened age of these revelations,
maintain that modern civilization could not have been built upon the teachings
of Jesus -- and they are partially right. But all such doubters forget that a
much better civilization could have been built upon his teachings, and
sometime will be. This world has never seriously tried to carry out the
teachings of Jesus on a large scale, notwithstanding that halfhearted attempts
have often been made to follow the doctrines of so-called Christianity.
5. THE EVENTFUL SUNDAY MORNING
154:5.1 May 22 was an eventful day in the life of
Jesus. On this Sunday morning, before daybreak, one of David's messengers
arrived in great haste from Tiberias, bringing the word that Herod had
authorized, or was about to authorize, the arrest of Jesus by the officers of
the Sanhedrin. The receipt of the news of this impending danger caused David
Zebedee to arouse his messengers and send them out to all the local groups of
disciples, summoning them for an emergency council at seven o'clock that
morning. When the sister-in-law of Jude (Jesus' brother) heard this alarming
report, she hastened word to all of Jesus' family who dwelt near by, summoning
them forthwith to assemble at Zebedee's house. And in response to this hasty
call, presently there were assembled Mary, James, Joseph, Jude, and
Ruth.
154:5.2 At this early morning meeting Jesus imparted
his farewell instructions to the assembled disciples; that is, he bade them
farewell for the time being, knowing well that they would soon be dispersed
from Capernaum. He directed them all to seek God for guidance and to carry on
the work of the kingdom regardless of consequences. The evangelists were to
labor as they saw fit until such time as they might be called. He selected
twelve of the evangelists to accompany him; the twelve apostles he directed to
remain with him no matter what happened. The twelve women he instructed to
remain at the Zebedee house and at Peter's house until he should send for
them.
154:5.3 Jesus consented to David Zebedee's
continuing his countrywide messenger service, and in bidding the Master
farewell presently, David said: "Go forth to your work, Master. Don't let the
bigots catch you, and never doubt that the messengers will follow after you.
My men will never lose contact with you, and through them you shall know of
the kingdom in other parts, and by them we will all know about you. Nothing
that might happen to me will interfere with this service, for I have appointed
first and second leaders, even a third. I am neither a teacher nor a preacher,
but it is in my heart to do this, and none can stop me."
154:5.4 About 7:30 this morning Jesus began his
parting address to almost one hundred believers who had crowded indoors to
hear him. This was a solemn occasion for all present, but Jesus seemed
unusually cheerful; he was once more like his normal self. The seriousness of
weeks had gone, and he inspired all of them with his words of faith, hope, and
courage.
6. JESUS' FAMILY ARRIVES
154:6.1 It was about eight o'clock on this Sunday
morning when five members of Jesus' earth family arrived on the scene in
response to the urgent summons of Jude's sister-in-law. Of all his family in
the flesh, only one, Ruth, believed wholeheartedly and continuously in the
divinity of his mission on earth. Jude and James, and even Joseph, still
retained much of their faith in Jesus, but they had permitted pride to
interfere with their better judgment and real spiritual inclinations. Mary was
likewise torn between love and fear, between mother love and family pride.
Though she was harassed by doubts, she could never quite forget the visit of
Gabriel ere Jesus was born. The Pharisees had been laboring to persuade Mary
that Jesus was beside himself, demented. They urged her to go with her sons
and seek to dissuade him from further efforts at public teaching. They assured
Mary that soon Jesus' health would break, and that only dishonor and disgrace
could come upon the entire family as a result of allowing him to go on. And
so, when the word came from Jude's sister-in-law, all five of them started at
once for Zebedee's house, having been together at Mary's home, where they had
met with the Pharisees the evening before. They had talked with the Jerusalem
leaders long into the night, and all were more or less convinced that Jesus
was acting strangely, that he had acted strangely for some time. While Ruth
could not explain all of his conduct, she insisted that he had always treated
his family fairly and refused to agree to the program of trying to dissuade
him from further work.
154:6.2 On the way to Zebedee's house they talked
these things over and agreed among themselves to try to persuade Jesus to come
home with them, for, said Mary: "I know I could influence my son if he would
only come home and listen to me." James and Jude had heard rumors concerning
the plans to arrest Jesus and take him to Jerusalem for trial. They also
feared for their own safety. As long as Jesus was a popular figure in the
public eye, his family allowed matters to drift along, but now that the people
of Capernaum and the leaders at Jerusalem had suddenly turned against him,
they began keenly to feel the pressure of the supposed disgrace of their
embarrassing position.
154:6.3 They had expected to meet Jesus, take him
aside, and urge him to go home with them. They had thought to assure him that
they would forget his neglect of them -- they would forgive and forget -- if
he would only give up the foolishness of trying to preach a new religion which
could bring only trouble to himself and dishonor upon his family. To all of
this Ruth would say only: "I will tell my brother that I think he is a man of
God, and that I hope he would be willing to die before he would allow these
wicked Pharisees to stop his preaching." Joseph promised to keep Ruth quiet
while the others labored with Jesus.
154:6.4 When they reached the Zebedee house, Jesus
was in the very midst of delivering his parting address to the disciples. They
sought to gain entrance to the house, but it was crowded to overflowing.
Finally they established themselves on the back porch and had word passed in
to Jesus, from person to person, so that it finally was whispered to him by
Simon Peter, who interrupted his talking for the purpose, and who said:
"Behold, your mother and your brothers are outside, and they are very anxious
to speak with you." Now it did not occur to his mother how important was the
giving of this parting message to his followers, neither did she know that his
address was likely to be terminated any moment by the arrival of his
apprehenders. She really thought, after so long an apparent estrangement, in
view of the fact that she and his brothers had shown the grace actually to
come to him, that Jesus would cease speaking and come to them the moment he
received word they were waiting.
154:6.5 It was just another of those instances in
which his earth family could not comprehend that he must be about his Father's
business. And so Mary and his brothers were deeply hurt when, notwithstanding
that he paused in his speaking to receive the message, instead of his rushing
out to greet them, they heard his musical voice speak with increased volume:
"Say to my mother and my brothers that they should have no fear for me. The
Father who sent me into the world will not forsake me; neither shall any harm
come upon my family. Bid them be of good courage and put their trust in the
Father of the kingdom. But, after all, who is my mother and who are my
brothers?" And stretching forth his hands toward all of his disciples
assembled in the room, he said: "I have no mother; I have no brothers. Behold
my mother and behold my brethren! For whosoever does the will of my Father who
is in heaven, the same is my mother, my brother, and my sister."
154:6.6 And when Mary heard these words, she
collapsed in Jude's arms. They carried her out in the garden to revive her
while Jesus spoke the concluding words of his parting message. He would then
have gone out to confer with his mother and his brothers, but a messenger
arrived in haste from Tiberias bringing word that the officers of the
Sanhedrin were on their way with authority to arrest Jesus and carry him to
Jerusalem. Andrew received this message and, interrupting Jesus, told it to
him.
154:6.7 Andrew did not recall that David had posted
some twenty-five sentinels about the Zebedee house, and that no one could take
them by surprise; so he asked Jesus what should be done. The Master stood
there in silence while his mother, having heard the words, "I have no mother,"
was recovering from the shock in the garden. It was at just this time that a
woman in the room stood up and exclaimed, "Blessed is the womb that bore you
and blessed are the breasts that nursed you." Jesus turned aside a moment from
his conversation with Andrew to answer this woman by saying, "No, rather is
the one blessed who hears the word of God and dares to obey it."
154:6.8 Mary and Jesus' brothers thought that Jesus
did not understand them, that he had lost interest in them, little realizing
that it was they who failed to understand Jesus. Jesus fully understood how
difficult it is for men to break with their past. He knew how human beings are
swayed by the preacher's eloquence, and how the conscience responds to
emotional appeal as the mind does to logic and reason, but he also knew how
far more difficult it is to persuade men to disown the past.
154:6.9 It is forever true that all who may think
they are misunderstood or not appreciated have in Jesus a sympathizing friend
and an understanding counselor. He had warned his apostles that a man's foes
may be they of his own household, but he had hardly realized how near this
prediction would come to apply to his own experience. Jesus did not forsake
his earth family to do his Father's work -- they forsook him. Later on, after
the Master's death and resurrection, when James became connected with the
early Christian movement, he suffered immeasurably as a result of his failure
to enjoy this earlier association with Jesus and his disciples.
154:6.10 In passing through these events, Jesus
chose to be guided by the limited knowledge of his human mind. He desired to
undergo the experience with his associates as a mere man. And it was in the
human mind of Jesus to see his family before he left. He did not wish to stop
in the midst of his discourse and thus render their first meeting after so
long a separation such a public affair. He had intended to finish his address
and then have a visit with them before leaving, but this plan was thwarted by
the conspiracy of events which immediately followed.
154:6.11 The haste of their flight was augmented by
the arrival of a party of David's messengers at the rear entrance of the
Zebedee home. The commotion produced by these men frightened the apostles into
thinking that these new arrivals might be their apprehenders, and in fear of
immediate arrest, they hastened through the front entrance to the waiting
boat. And all of this explains why Jesus did not see his family waiting on the
back porch.
154:6.12 But he did say to David Zebedee as he
entered the boat in hasty flight: "Tell my mother and my brothers that I
appreciate their coming, and that I intended to see them. Admonish them to
find no offense in me but rather to seek for a knowledge of the will of God
and for grace and courage to do that will."
7. THE HASTY FLIGHT
154:7.1 And so it was on this Sunday morning, the
twenty-second of May, in the year A.D. 29, that Jesus, with his twelve
apostles and the twelve evangelists, engaged in this hasty flight from the
Sanhedrin officers who were on their way to Bethsaida with authority from
Herod Antipas to arrest him and take him to Jerusalem for trial on charges of
blasphemy and other violations of the sacred laws of the Jews. It was almost
half past eight this beautiful morning when this company of twenty-five manned
the oars and pulled for the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
154:7.2 Following the Master's boat was another and
smaller craft, containing six of David's messengers, who had instructions to
maintain contact with Jesus and his associates and to see that information of
their whereabouts and safety was regularly transmitted to the home of Zebedee
in Bethsaida, which had served as headquarters for the work of the kingdom for
some time. But Jesus was never again to make his home at the house of Zebedee.
From now on, throughout the remainder of his earth life, the Master truly "had
not where to lay his head." No more did he have even the semblance of a
settled abode.
154:7.3 They rowed over to near the village of
Kheresa, put their boat in the custody of friends, and began the wanderings of
this eventful last year of the Master's life on earth. For a time they
remained in the domains of Philip, going from Kheresa up to Caesarea-Philippi,
thence making their way over to the coast of Phoenicia.
154:7.4 The crowd lingered about the home of Zebedee
watching these two boats make their way over the lake toward the eastern
shore, and they were well started when the Jerusalem officers hurried up and
began their search for Jesus. They refused to believe he had escaped them, and
while Jesus and his party were journeying northward through Batanea, the
Pharisees and their assistants spent almost a full week vainly searching for
him in the neighborhood of Capernaum.
154:7.5 Jesus' family returned to their home in
Capernaum and spent almost a week in talking, debating, and praying. They were
filled with confusion and consternation. They enjoyed no peace of mind until
Thursday afternoon, when Ruth returned from a visit to the Zebedee house,
where she learned from David that her father-brother was safe and in good
health and making his way toward the Phoenician coast.
