For the Temple Part 40

"But I do not think this feeling will last long. All those who fought with me outside Jerusalem, against the Romans, know that I was faithful to the cause of my country. The few survivors of the band I led into Jerusalem can testify that I fought until the Temple fell, and that I escaped by my own devices, and not from any agreement with the Romans.

"Moreover they will, in time, judge me by my acts. I shall rule, as I said, as a Jew, and not as a Roman--rule as did the judges in the old times, sitting under my own fig tree, here, and listening to the complaints that may be brought to me--and I trust that wisdom will be given to me, by the Lord, to judge wisely and justly among them."

"You have decided well, my son," Simon said. "May G.o.d's blessing be upon you!

"What think you, little Mary? How do you like the prospect of being the wife of the ruler of this district?"

"I would rather that he had been the ruler only of this farm," Mary said, "but I see that a great power of good has been given into his hands, and it is not for me to complain."

"That reminds me," Simon said, "of what Martha and I were speaking together, last night. You have both waited long. There is no occasion for longer tarrying. The marriage feast will be prepared, and we will summon our neighbours and friends to a.s.semble here, this day week.

"And now, John, what are you going to do?"

"I am going, father, at once to Hippos, the chief town in the district. I shall see the authorities of the town, and the captain of the Roman garrison, and lay before them the commission of Caesar. I shall then issue a proclamation, announcing to all people within the limits of the district that have been marked out that I have authority, from Rome, to judge all matters that may come before me, in the district; and that all who have causes of complaint, or who have been wronged by any, will find me here, ready to hear their cause, and to order justice to be rendered to them. I shall also say that I shall shortly make a tour through the district, to see for myself into the condition of things, and to give aid to such as need it."

Great was the surprise of the Roman and Jewish authorities, in Hippos, when John produced the imperial commission. There was, however, no doubting or disputing it. The Roman officers at once placed themselves under his orders, and issued proclamations of their own, in addition to that of John, notifying the fact to all the inhabitants of the district.

Among the Jewish authorities there was, at first, some feeling of jealousy that this young man should be placed over them; but they felt, nevertheless, the great benefits that would arise from the protection which one of their own countrymen, high in the favour of t.i.tus, would be able to afford them. When showing his commission, John had also produced the letter of t.i.tus, giving his reasons for the nomination; and indeed, the younger men in the district, many of whom had followed John in his first campaigns--and who had hitherto, in accordance with the oath of secrecy taken on enrollment, concealed their knowledge that John of Gamala was the son of Simon--now proclaimed the fact, and hailed his appointment with joy.

On the appointed day, the marriage of John and Mary took place and, as the news had spread through the country, a vast gathering a.s.sembled, and it was made the occasion of a public demonstration.

The preparations which Martha and Mary had made for the feast, ample as they had been, would have availed but little among such a mult.i.tude; but Isaac and the menservants drove in and slaughtered several cattle and, as those who came for the most part bore presents of wine, oil, bread, goats, and other articles, and the neighbours lent their a.s.sistance in preparing a feast at the great fires which were lighted along the sh.o.r.e, while Simon contributed all the contents of his wine store, the feast proved ample for all a.s.sembled.

John and his wife moved among the throng, receiving congratulations and good wishes; Mary blushing, and tearful with happiness and pride in the honour paid to John; John himself radiant with pleasure, and with satisfaction at the thought of the good which the power, so strangely conferred upon him, would enable him to effect for his neighbours.

After that, things went on in their ordinary routine at the farm; save that John was frequently away visiting among the villages of the district, which was some thirty miles long by ten wide. The northern portion was thinly inhabited; but in the south the villages were thick, and the people had suffered greatly from the excursions of the Roman foragers, at the time of the siege of Gamala. Many of the villages had been rebuilt, since that time; but there was still great distress, heightened by the number of fugitives from the other side of Jordan.

The aid which John gave enabled most of the fugitives in his district to return to their distant villages, and to rebuild their homes, where there was now little fear of their being again disturbed. The distress in his own district was also relieved. In some cases money was given, in others lent, to enable the cultivators to till their fields, to replant vineyards, and to purchase flocks so that, in the course of a year, the whole district was restored to its normal appearance, and the signs of the destructive war were almost entirely effaced.

Then John was able to settle down in his quiet home. In the morning he worked with his father. In the afternoon he listened to the complaints, or pet.i.tions, of those who came before him; settling disputes between neighbours, hearing the stories of those who considered that they were too hardly pressed upon by the tax collector, and doing justice to those who were wronged.

Soon after he married, mindful of the doctrines he had heard during his visit among the community of Nazarites by the Dead Sea, John made inquiries and found that many of the sect, who had left the land when the troubles with the Romans commenced, had now returned; and were preaching their doctrines more openly than before, now that those of the ancient religion could no longer persecute them.

At Tiberias a considerable community of the sect soon established themselves; and John, going over, persuaded one of their teachers to take up his abode with him, for a time, and to expound their doctrines to him and his family. He was astonished at the spirit of love, charity, and goodwill which animated the teaching of the Christians--still more at the divine spirit that breathed in the utterances and animated the life of their Master.

The central idea, that G.o.d was the G.o.d of the whole world--and not, as the Jews had hitherto supposed, a special Deity of their own--struck John particularly, and explained many things which had, hitherto, been difficult for him to understand. It would have been galling to admit as much, in the days of Jewish pride and stubbornness; but their spirit was broken, now; and John could understand that although, as long as the nation had believed in him and served him, G.o.d had taken a peculiar interest in them, and had revealed to them much of his nature and attributes--while the rest of the world had had been left to worship false G.o.ds--He yet loved all the world, and was now about to extend to all men that knowledge of him hitherto confined to the Jews. Above all, John saw how vastly higher was the idea of G.o.d, as revealed in the new teaching, than that which the Jews had hitherto entertained regarding him.

A month after the arrival of the teacher, John and Mary were baptized into the new faith; and a few months later Simon and Martha, who had been harder to convince, also became converts.

When t.i.tus was raised to the imperial throne, John, in compliance with the request he had made him, journeyed to Rome, and remained there for a short time as his guest. t.i.tus received him with affection.

"I shall not try to tempt you with fresh offers of honours," he said, "though I regret that you should refuse to accept a sphere of wider usefulness. From time to time, I have heard of you from the reports of my governors; who say that the district under your charge is the most prosperous and contented in all Palestine, that there is neither dispute nor litigation there, that there are no poor, that the taxes are collected without difficulty; and that, save only that you do not keep up the state and dignity which a Roman official should occupy, you are in all respects a model ruler."

"I have every reason to be thankful," John said. "I have been blessed in every way. My parents still survive. I am happy with my wife and children. Your bounty has enabled me to bind up the wounds, and relieve the distress caused by the war. My mind has been opened to heavenly teaching, and I try humbly to follow in the steps of that divine teacher, Jesus of Nazareth."

"Ah, you have come to believe in him!" t.i.tus said. "There are many of his creed, here in Rome, and they say that they are even on the increase. I would gladly hear, from you, something of him. I have heard somewhat of him from Josephus, who for three years dwelt among the Essenes, and who has spoken to me very highly of the purity of life, the enlightenment, and religious fervour of that sect--to which, I believe, he himself secretly inclines; although, from the desire not to offend his countrymen, he makes no open confession of his faith."

John, before he left, explained to the emperor the teachings of his Master; and it may be that the wisdom, humanity, and mildness which t.i.tus displayed, in the course of his reign, was in no small degree the result of the lessons which he learned from John.

The latter came no more to Rome but, to the end of his life, dwelt on the sh.o.r.e of Galilee, wisely governing his little district after the manner of the judges of old.

Jonas never left his friend. He married the daughter of one of the fishermen, and lived in a small house which Simon built for him, close to his own. At the death of the latter, he became John's right hand on the farm; and remained his friend, and brother, to the end.