The Crown and the Cross: The Life of Christ

by Frank G. Slaughter

  Gradually the rays of the rising sun revealed details of the countryside among the mountains to the east. Across the lake it bathed with a warm glow the marble columns of Hippos, known as “the city on a hill which cannot be hidden” because it was visible at almost any point around the lake. As the sun rose higher, the white buildings of Bethsaida-Julias, the tetrarch Philip’s capital at the northern end of the lake, took form and the voices of the fishermen, still invisible in their boats because of the veil of mist that shrouded the lake at night, could be heard across the water as they returned home with their catch.

  Slowly the lovely new city of Tiberias materialized on the western shore. Symbol of heathen rule, it was nevertheless beautiful in its pristine whiteness against the background of the jagged black basalt cliffs overlooking the lake. Nearby was smaller Magdala, looking almost innocent in the morning light in spite of its brazen sinfulness. From His lofty perch Jesus could look down upon the whole lake region, asleep now and for a brief period untroubled by human complaints and misery.

  In Simon Peter’s home, almost directly below where Jesus was still in prayer, the household began to stir. When Peter discovered that Jesus had left during the night, he went to confer with the sons of Zebedee but no one knew where He had gone. With the people already beginning to gather in the street before the house, demanding the attention of the Nazarene healer, the three were at a loss to know what to do.

  The dilemma was partly resolved when a shepherd who had been tending his flock on one of the small meadows behind the city reported seeing Jesus following a cliffside path some time before dawn. The people outside were growing restless, so the disciples decided to go into the hills and seek the Master, as they often called Him now. Those of the crowd who were able to walk followed, and a considerable procession, growing all the while, fell in behind Peter’s tall figure as he climbed the narrow path.

  Jesus heard the clamor of the crowd when they were still some distance below Him, but He made no move to go and meet them. Peter was the first to reach His side, puffing a little and red-faced from the climb.

  “All are seeking you, Master,” he said with a note of reproof in his voice.

  Because of his size, his wide acquaintance in the region of the lake, and because it had been in his house that miracles of healing had been performed, the people naturally looked upon Simon Peter as the leader of those who were following Jesus. So he could hardly be blamed for feeling hurt that the man he served had left that morning without telling him where He was going.

  Jesus did not explain His action, perhaps sensing that it would be difficult for Peter and the others to understand that His mission was not simply to restore broken and diseased bodies but to heal the souls of men with a new medicine of infinite power. Instead He said simply, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

  Seeking new listeners now, Jesus began going from city to city while the crowds grew larger and the fame of His healing, if not of His teaching, spread abroad. People thronged to Him from all of Galilee and the cities of the Decapolis across the lake, even from as far away as Judea and Jerusalem and the other side of the lower Jordan. Soon the synagogues could no longer hold those who came, and Jesus was forced to teach as had John, using any open space large enough to accommodate the crowd.

  II

  Of all the diseases to which man became victim, none was so dreaded as leprosy. No remedy for this malady had been included in the ancient writings of the Torah and a sufferer from leprosy was treated literally as if he were already dead. He at all times had to have the appearance of a mourner, his clothes rent, his hair and beard unkempt. The lower part of his face had to be almost continually covered, a precaution probably taken originally to hide the thickening of the tissues about the nose and below the eyes that was one of the earliest signs of the disease.

  Wherever he went the leper was required to announce his presence with the mournful cry of “Unclean! Unclean!” a signal for all to draw away lest they be contaminated by the dread scourge. Lepers could mingle only with their own kind and could not enter the temple at Jerusalem nor any walled city on pain of being lashed with not less than forty lashes. Since all religious authorities admitted to being utterly without power to cure the leper, what help he obtained could come only from God.

  On one of the rare occasions when Jesus happened to be alone, He was walking by the lake and a leper approached Him. Jesus could have drawn Himself away without incurring any onus, for the leper was forbidden to come nearer than four cubits. Instead, however, Jesus waited until the man approached, crawling upon the ground and voicing his cry of “Unclean!” as was required. The odor of his uncleanness went with him, for lepers avoided bathing lest they defile any source of water.

  When the desperately sick man was the required four cubits away, he looked up at Jesus and said piteously, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean!”

  Jesus recognized more in the sick man than simply the desire to be healed. The words, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean,” were in themselves a statement of complete faith and trust, such as one gives only to God. And being who He was, Jesus could not repudiate the faith of the sick man. Stooping, He did what no Pharisee, no rabbi, and not even any devout Jew would have done; He touched the leper and said, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

  At the touch of Jesus’ hand, the disease vanished and the man stood up and groveled no more. He sought words to express his gratitude but Jesus forestalled him. “See that you tell no one,” He directed, “but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded.”

  The man understood His instructions for it was expressly stated in the Torah: “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest,” and numerous ritual acts were listed which had to be carried out to complete the cleansing. So great was this leper’s joy at being healed that on the way he forgot the command of Jesus and told everyone he met what had happened. Thus news of this greatest of all Jesus’ miracles spread rapidly, and soon He could no longer enter a city openly because of the crowds, and hundreds followed Him even into the desert country away from the lake.

  The long days of teaching and healing were exhausting and when Jesus voiced a wish to return to Capernaum and rest awhile, Simon Peter attempted to protect Him. The journey was made by boat and the arrival timed for early morning, when few people would be about to spread word of His coming. Unfortunately, Simon’s boat fell in with the fishing fleet which was returning from the teeming waters where the Jordan plunged into the lake. And, since the fishermen knew Jesus by sight, word spread quickly that He had returned to Capernaum. As always, the sick and the afflicted stormed Simon’s house and the streets around it, but the tall fisherman took strenuous action to keep them away so that Jesus could have a period of companionship and discussion with the men who were closest to Him. He shut the gate to the courtyard and posted strong guards so none could enter.

  III

  Arza, the coppersmith, had been ill and now lay paralyzed. One side of his body was useless, and even if he lived, he knew he would never wield the hammer or pump the bellows again. He had been unconscious when Jesus had performed the miracles in Capernaum several months before, and having heard people say that the press of the crowds following the miracle-worker was now so great that He did not enter cities, Arza had almost given up hope of ever reaching the Nazarene. When he was told on the morning of Jesus’ visit to Capernaum that the prophet of Nazareth was at the home of Simon Peter, Arza sent his son posthaste to beg that Jesus visit him.

  When the boy returned, Arza saw in his face that he had failed. “Simon has shut up the courtyard,” his son reported. “But even if he had not, you could not reach the Teacher. The streets are packed all around the house and they say Jesus is only resting and teaching there and will
not heal any more while He is in Capernaum.”

  Arza could not accept failure. If the Nazarene did not heal him, he might as well be dead.

  “Go hire four strong men,” he told the boy. “Have them come here at once.”

  “But why, father?”

  “To carry me to the Nazarene.”

  “The streets are packed. You could not get through.”

  “Is the road of the roof blocked?” Since many of the buildings in Capernaum had common walls, as in most cities, it was possible to travel from one rooftop to the other. People frequently used this route when visiting in the cool of the evening, hence the reference to the “road of the roof.”

  “No,” the boy said, “most of the people are in the street.” Then his face fell. “But it will take all you have saved to hire the men. And if they fail—”

  “They will not fail,” Arza said. “They must not. Hurry now before Jesus leaves Simon’s house.”

  With so many people thronging the streets, it was no problem to hire four strong men for an easy task like carrying a man on his pallet. Bearing Arza, they approached Peter’s house. When the press of the crowd increased to where further progress was blocked, the coppersmith directed the bearers to enter the house of his friend Henadad, the seller of doves.

  Henadad welcomed Arza and courteously granted the strange request that the bearers be allowed to carry him to the rooftop of the house. Moving from roof to roof, Arza and his bearers finally reached Simon Peter’s house. There was no guard on the roof, but Arza could see that the house and courtyard were packed with the disciples and members of their families, listening to Jesus as He stood under a covered gallery between the house and the court. Nor was there a chance of getting the pallet down the stairway outside the building, for the press of people at the foot of the stairs was much too great.

  Arza had not come this far only to experience failure. When the men carrying him stumbled over one of the loose tiles forming the roof of the gallery, he had the solution to his problem. Quickly he directed them to lay him down and remove the tile above the place where Jesus stood, being careful to cause as little noise as possible. Since the tiles were laid side by side and were not bound down, an opening was quickly made. Before Peter realized Arza’s strategy, the bearers were lowering him and his pallet through the opening.

  When those around Jesus saw what was happening, willing hands reached up to support the pallet from below and lower Arza to the ground at Jesus’ feet. And seeing to what lengths the sick man had gone in order to get help, Jesus said quietly, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

  The coppersmith felt strength flowing into his wasted limbs like the current of the Jordan pouring into the lake. He moved the arm and leg that had been paralyzed for so long, and a great joy filled him at being whole again. In his happiness at his own healing, he did not notice two Pharisees standing nearby, until one of them spoke.

  “Blasphemy!” the Pharisee shouted. “The Nazarene claims to forgive sin, which only the Most High can do.”

  Jesus seemed unconcerned by the charge. “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” He demanded of the Pharisee sternly. “Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’? Or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?”

  The Pharisees had no answer. “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,” Jesus said, turning to Arza, “I say to you: Arise, take up your bed, and go home.”

  Arza obeyed immediately. Getting to his knees, he rolled up the pallet on which he had been carried into the presence of Jesus, put it upon his shoulder, and stood erect. As proud and straight as he had ever been, he walked through the crowd which, stricken with amazement that a man known to be dying of the palsy should in an instant be whole again, opened a way for him to pass.

  Chapter 14

  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

  John 3:16

  Jesus and His Galilean followers were busy that winter moving about Galilee while He taught and healed the sick. Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John, with Matthew the tax gatherer who had been called as he sat in his booth at the customs station on the Way of the Sea, were with Him always. As time went on, others became members of this inner circle which accompanied Him wherever He went.

  When spring came, Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem with His small group of intimate followers to celebrate the Passover at the fountainhead of the Jewish faith, the Holy City with its gleaming golden temple. As He went about Jerusalem, a crowd soon began to follow, for word of the wonderful things He had been accomplishing in Galilee had gone before Him. At the same time He was closely watched by the scribes and Pharisees because neither He nor His teachings, they felt, gave proper respect to the Law.

  Among the many lapses of which they accused Him was failure to observe the ritual of handwashing. The true Pharisee kept a jug of water standing never more than three paces from his bed, since the Law let him go no farther without washing his hands upon arising. In addition he washed before entering the synagogue, when he returned home from any public place, and both before and after eating. Some of the strictest Pharisees even washed between the courses of a meal.

  Nor was the washing merely a perfunctory dipping of the hands into a basin of water. First the hands were carefully washed to remove any dirt, whether visible or not. Because they became defiled by the dirty water after washing, they were next rinsed with clear water, the hands being held up so the water would run down the arms and drop off the elbows. If it did not reach as far as the wrist during this rinsing, the hands were not considered clean and had to be washed again. By insisting upon such strictness, the Pharisees made it impossible for the ordinary working Jew to maintain complete purity under the Law, as they interpreted it.

  Jewish custom demanded that when praying, the pious should wear, attached to a band around the forehead and the wrist, a small leather box called a phylactery containing pieces of parchment upon which were written portions of the Law. The boxes grew larger and more noticeable as time passed, and many Pharisees had come to wear them continually except when asleep, so that the over-large phylactery had become a badge of the self-righteous Pharisee.

  An ancient custom also dictated that Jews should wear blue fringes or tassels at the four corners of the robe or mantle. Again the Pharisees, believing that their piety increased with the width of the fringes, wore broad and heavily ornamented ones which could be seen by the world. They made themselves conspicuous, too, by stopping to pray in public places where they would be seen by men and admired for their great piety.

  Nowhere was the absurdity of Pharisaic custom more evident than in the observance of the Sabbath. A wedding could not be celebrated on the Sabbath or on the days preceding and following it lest the feast extend over into the holy day. No removable teeth could be worn on the Sabbath because that would constitute carrying a burden, nor could more than two letters of the alphabet be written. A gray hair could not be plucked from the head, or a husk of wheat shelled. One who had a sore throat could not gargle on the Sabbath because he would be practicing medicine and therefore doing work. If a man suffered an aching tooth, he must find a Gentle to extract it. And nothing heavier than a scroll of the holy writings could be carried; even in the case of fire, a really pious Pharisee could flee his house on the Sabbath with only the clothing he wore, lest again he be accused of carrying a burden. Thus the Pharisees had reduced almost to an absurdity what was originally a day of rest and thanksgiving to God, and had made it practically impossible for one who did not concern himself every moment with the Law to avoid breaking some portion of it.

  Jesus ignored these minute and literal interpretations which perverted the spirit of the Law, and the Pharisees were angered because He did not encourage the people to follow these strict precepts. Kn
owing that the easiest way to discredit Jesus would be to catch Him in the act of breaking the Law, the group who sought to destroy Him trailed Him everywhere He went in Jerusalem and watched His every act.

  North of the temple where the road entered from the Mount of Olives and the suburb of Bethany was the Sheep Gate, so named because it was near the sheep market. Near this gate was a pool fed by an underground spring. Known as the Pool of Bezatha, or more popularly Bethesda, it was surrounded by five terraces, sometimes called porches, one of which projected into the pool and almost separated it into two parts.

  Intermittently the rush of water from a subterranean spring feeding one section of the Pool of Bezatha caused the water to boil up. Pious Jews believed an angel roiled the waters of the pool at these times, and tradition said that the first sick or afflicted person who stepped into the water after it was disturbed would be healed. As a result, there was always a group of the afflicted lining the terraces at the Pool of Bezatha, and there was a great scramble to be first into the water when it boiled up.

  On a Sabbath day during this visit to Jerusalem, Jesus came to the Pool of Bezatha and stood looking down at the poor unfortunates gathered there. Every eye except His was on the water, eager to detect the periodic roiling and be the first into the pool.

  Jesus noticed one man whom He had seen in this same spot on several previous journeys to Jerusalem. In fact, it was said that this man had been afflicted for thirty-eight years with a paralysis, never once having been able to enter the pool at the moment when it boiled.

  “Do you want to be made well?” Jesus asked the afflicted man.

  The paralytic took his eyes off the pool with some reluctance, lest he miss the next stirring up of the waters. “Sir,” he said, “I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another always steps down before me.”