The Life of Jesus Part 14

[Footnote 2: The traces of the rich Pagan civilization of that time still cover all the Beled-Besharrah, and especially the mountains which form the group of Cape Blanc and Cape Nakoura.]

CHAPTER IX.

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 relations.h.i.+p 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 G.o.d 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 a.n.a.logous 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 s.e.xes. 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 princ.i.p.al 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 Lebbaeus, or Thaddeus; Simon Zelotes,[5]

perhaps a disciple of Judas the Gaulonite, belonging to the party of the _Kenam_, 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. Haer._, x.x.x. 13.]

[Footnote 6: Now _Kuryetein_, 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 t.i.tle 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 circ.u.mstance 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 Africa.n.u.s, 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 pa.s.sion. 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 a.s.sociated in their fis.h.i.+ng.[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 wis.h.i.+ng 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.]