Joel: A Boy of Galilee Read online

  CHAPTER VI.

  WHEN Joel went out on the streets next morning, although it was quiteearly, he saw a disappointed crowd coming up from the direction ofSimon's house on the lake shore.

  "Where have all these people been?" he asked of the baker's boy, whom heran against at the first corner.

  The boy stopped whistling, and rested his basket of freshly baked breadagainst his knee, as he answered:--

  "They were looking for the Rabbi who healed so many people last night.Say! do you know," he added quickly, as if the news were too good tokeep, "he healed my mother last night. You cannot think how different itseems at home, to have her going about strong and well like she used tobe."

  Joel's eyes brightened. "Do you think he'll do anything for me, if I goto him now?" he asked wistfully. "Do you suppose he could straighten outsuch a crooked back as mine? Look how much shorter this leg is than theother. Oh, _do_ you think he could make them all right?"

  The boy gave him a critical survey, and then answered, emphatically,"Yes! It really does not look like it would be as hard to straighten youas old Jeremy, the tailor's father. He was twisted all out of shape, youknow. Well, I'll declare! There he goes now!"

  Joel looked across the street. The wrinkled face of the oldbasket-weaver was a familiar sight in the market; but Joel could hardlyrecognize the once crippled form, now restored to its originalshapeliness.

  "I am going right now," he declared, starting to run in his excitement."I can't wait another minute."

  "But he's gone!" the boy called after him. "That's why the people areall coming back."

  Joel sat down suddenly on a ledge projecting from the stone-wall."Gone!" he echoed drearily. It was as if he had been starving, and thelife-giving food held to his famished lips had been suddenly snatchedaway. Both his heart and his feet felt like lead when he got up afterawhile, and dragged himself slowly along to the carpenter's house.

  "'I PEEPED OUT 'TWEEN 'E WOSE--VINES'"]

  It was such a bitter disappointment to be so near the touch of healing,and then to miss it altogether.

  No cheerful tap of the hammer greeted him. The idle tools lay on thedeserted workbench. "Disappointed again!" he thought. Then the dovescooed, and he caught a glimpse of Ruth's fair hair down among the gardenlilies.

  "Where is your father, little one?" he called.

  "Gone away wiv 'e good man 'at makes everybody well," she answered. Thenshe came skipping down the path to stand close beside him, and sayconfidentially: "I saw Him--'e good man--going by to Simon's house. Ipeeped out 'tween 'e wose-vines, and He looked wite into my eyes wiv Hiseyes, and I couldn't help loving Him!"

  Joel looked into the beautiful baby face, thinking what a picture itmust have made, as framed in roses it smiled out on the Tender-heartedOne, going on His mission of help and healing.

  With her little hand in his, she led him back to hope, for she took himto her mother, who comforted him with the assurance that Phineasexpected to be home soon, and doubtless his friend would be with him.

  So there came another time to work by himself and dream of the hoursurely dawning. And the dreams were doubly sweet now; for side by sidewith his hope of revenge, was the belief in his possible cure.

  They heard only once from the absent ones. Word came back that a leperhad been healed. Joel heard it first, down at the custom-house. He hadgotten into the way of strolling down in that direction after his workwas done; for here the many trading-vessels from across the lake, orthose that shipped from Capernaum, had to stop and pay duty. Here, too,the great road of Eastern commerce passed which led from Damascus to theharbors of the West. So here he would find a constant stream oftravellers, bringing the latest news from the outside world.

  The boy did not know, as he limped up and down the water's edge, longingfor some word from his absent friends, that near by was one who watchedalmost as eagerly as himself.

  It was Levi-Matthew, one of the officials, sitting in the seat ofcustom. Sprung from the same priestly tribe as Joel, he had sunk so low,in accepting the office of tax-gatherer, that the righteous Laban wouldnot have touched him so much as with the tip of his sandal.

  "Bears and lions," said a proverb, "might be the fiercest wild beasts inthe forests; but publicans and informers were the worst in cities."

  One could not bear witness in the courts, and the disgrace extended tothe whole family. They were even classed with robbers and murderers. Nodoubt there was deep cause for such a feeling; as a class they wereunscrupulous and unjust. There might have been good ones among theirnumber, but the company they kept condemned them to the scorn of highand low.

  When a Jew hates, or a Jew scorns, be sure it is thoroughly done; thereis no half-way course for his intense nature to take.

  So this son of Levi, sitting in the seat of custom, and this son of Levistrolling past him, were, socially, as far apart as the east is from thewest,--as unlike as thorn and blossom on the same tribal stem.

  Matthew knew all the fishermen and ship-owners that thronged the busybeach in front of him. The sons of Jonah and of Zebedee passed himdaily; and he must have wondered when he saw them throw down their netsand leave everything to follow a stranger.

  He must have wondered also at the reports on every tongue, and thesights he had seen himself of miraculous healing. But while strangelydrawn towards this new teacher from Nazareth, it could have been with nothought that the hand and the voice were for him. He was a publican, andhow could they reach to such depths?

  A caravan had just stopped. The pack-animals were being unloaded, balesand packages opened, private letters pried into. The insolent officialswere tossing things right and left, as they made a list of the taxablegoods.

  Joel was watching them with as much interest as if he had not witnessedsuch scenes dozens of times before, till he noticed a group gatheringaround one of the drivers. He was telling what he had seen on his way toCapernaum. Several noisy companions kept interrupting him to bearwitness to the truth of his statements.

  "And he who but a moment before had been the most miserable of lepersstood up before us all, cleansed of his leprosy. His skin was soft andfair as a child's, and his features were restored to him," said thedriver.

  Joel and Levi-Matthew stood side by side. At another time the boy mighthave drawn his clothes away to keep from brushing against the despisedtax-gatherer. But he never noticed now that their elbows touched.

  When he had heard all there was to be told, he limped away to carry thenews to Abigail. To know that others were being cured daily made him allthe more impatient for the return of this friend of Phineas.

  The publican turned again to his pen and his account-book. He, too,looked forward with a burning heart to the return of the Nazarene,unknowing why he did so.

  At last Joel heard of the return, in a very unexpected way. There wereguests in the house of Laban again. One of the rabbis who had been therebefore, and a scribe from Jerusalem. Now there were longer conferencesin the upper chamber, and graver shakings of the head, over this falseprophet whose fame was spreading wider.

  The miracle of healing the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda, when hehad gone down to Jerusalem to one of the many feasts, had stirred Judeato its farthest borders. So these two men had been sent to investigate.

  On the very afternoon of their arrival, a report flew through thestreets that the Rabbi Jesus was once more in the town. Their host ledthem with all the haste their dignity would allow, to the house where Hewas said to be preaching. The common people fell back when they sawthem, and allowed them to pass into the centre of the throng.

  The Rabbi stood in the doorway, so that both those in the house andwithout could distinctly hear Him. The scribe had never seen Him before,and in spite of his deep-seated prejudice could not help admiring theman whom he had come prepared to despise. It was no wild fanatic whostood before him, no noisy debater whose fiery eloquence would be likelyto excite and inflame His hearers.

  He saw a man of gentlest dignity; truth looked out fr
om the depths ofHis calm eyes. Every word, every gesture, carried with it the convictionthat He who spoke taught with God-given authority.

  The scribe began to grow uneasy as he listened, carried along by theearnest tones of the speaker.

  There was a great commotion on the edge of the crowd, as some one triedto push through to the centre.

  "Stand back! Go away!" demanded angry voices.

  The scribe was a tall man, and by stretching a little, managed to seeover the heads of the others. Four men, bearing a helpless paralytic,were trying to carry him through the throngs; but they would not makeroom for this interruption.

  After vainly hunting for some opening through which they might press,the men mounted the steep, narrow staircase on the outside of thebuilding, and drew the man up, hammock and all, to the flat roof onwhich they stood.

  There was a sound of scraping and scratching as they broke away thebrush and mortar that formed the frail covering of the roof. Then thepeople in the room below saw slowly coming down upon them between therafters, this man whom no obstacle could keep back from the GreatPhysician.

  But the paralyzed hands could not lift themselves in supplication; thehelpless tongue could frame no word of pleading,--only the eyes of thesick man could look up into the pitying face bent over him, and implorea blessing.

  The scribe leaned forward, confidently expecting to hear the man biddento arise. To his surprise and horror, the words he heard were: "Son, thy_sins_ be forgiven thee!"

  He looked at Laban and his companion, and the three exchanged meaningglances. When they looked again at the speaker, His eyes seemed to readtheir inmost thoughts.

  "Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" He asked, with startlingdistinctness. "Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thysins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgivesins," here He turned to the helpless form lying at His feet, "I sayunto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way unto thine house."

  The man bounded to his feet, and picking up the heavy rug on which hehad been lying, went running and leaping out of their midst.

  Without a word, Laban and his two guests drew their clothes carefullyaround them, and picked their way through the crowd. Phineas, who stoodat the gate, gave them a respectful greeting. Laban only turned his eyesaway with a scowl, and passed coldly on.

  "The man is a liar and a blasphemer!" exclaimed the scribe, as they satonce more in the privacy of Laban's garden.

  "Only God can forgive sins!" added his companion. "This paralytic shouldhave taken a sin-offering to the priest. For only by the blood ofsacrifice can one hope to obtain pardon."

  "Still He healed him," spoke up the scribe, musingly.

  "Only through the power of Satan!" interrupted Laban. "When He says Hecan forgive sins, He blasphemes."

  The other Pharisee leaned forward to say, in an impressive whisper:"Then you know the Law on that point. He should be stoned to death, Hisbody hung on a tree, and then buried with shame!"

  It was not long after that Joel, just back from a trip to Tiberias in alittle sailing-boat, came into the garden. He had been away since earlymorning, so had heard nothing of what had just occurred; he had had goodluck in disposing of his wares, and was feeling unusually cheerful.Hearing voices in the corner of the garden, he was about to pass outagain, when his uncle called him sternly to come to him at once.

  Surprised at the command, he obeyed, and was questioned andcross-questioned by all three. It was very little he could tell themabout his friend's plans; but he acknowledged proudly that Phineas hadalways known this famous man from Nazareth, even in childhood, and wasone of his most devoted followers.

  "This man Phineas is a traitor to the faith!" roared Laban. "He is adangerous man, and in league with these fellows to do great evil to ournation."

  The scribe and the rabbi nodded approvingly.

  "Hear me, now!" he cried, sternly. "Never again are you to set foot overhis threshold, or have any communication whatsoever with him or hisassociates. I make no idle threat; if you disobey me in this, you willhave cause to wish you had never been born. You may leave us now!"

  Too surprised and frightened to say a word, the child slipped away. Togive up his daily visit to the carpenter's house, was to give up allthat made his life tolerable; while to be denied even speaking to hisassociates, meant to abandon all hope of cure.

  But he dared not rebel; obedience to those in authority was toothoroughly taught in those days to be lightly disregarded. But his uncleseemed to fear that his harsh command would be eluded in some way, andkept such a strict watch over him, that he rarely got beyond the bordersof the garden by himself.

  One day he was all alone in the grape-arbor, looking out into thestreets that he longed to be in, since their freedom had been deniedhim.

  A little girl passed, carrying one child in her arms, and talking toanother who clung to her skirts. It was Jerusha.

  Joel threw a green grape at her to attract her attention, and thenbeckoned her mysteriously to come nearer. She set the baby on theground, and gave him her bracelet to play with, while she listened to awhispered account of his wrongs through the latticed arbor.

  "It's a shame!" she declared indignantly. "I'll go right down to thecarpenter's house and tell them why you cannot go there any more. AndI'll keep watch on all that happens, and let you know. I go past hereevery day, and if I have any news, I'll toss a pebble over the wall andcluck like a hen. Then if nobody is watching, you can come to this holein the arbor again."

  The next day, as Joel was going in great haste to the baker's, whitherhis aunt had sent him, he heard some one behind him calling him to wait.In another moment Jerusha was in speaking distance, nearly bent doublewith the weight of her little brother, whom she was carrying as usual.

  "There!" she said, with a puff of relief, as she put him on his ownfeet. "Wait till I get my breath! It's no easy thing to carry such aload and run at the same time! How did you get out?"

  "There was an errand to be done, and no one else to do it," answeredJoel, "so Aunt sent me."

  "Oh, I've got such news for you!" she exclaimed. "Guess what hashappened! Your Rabbi Jesus has asked Levi-Matthew to be one of Hisfollowers, and go around with Him wherever He goes. Think of it! One ofthose horrid tax-gatherers! He settled his accounts and gave up hisposition in the custom-house yesterday. And he is getting ready for agreat feast. I heard the butcher and the wine-dealer both telling aboutthe big orders he had given them.

  "All the publicans and low common people that are his friends areinvited. Yes, and so is your friend the carpenter. Think of that, now!He is going to sit down and eat with such people! Of course respectablefolks will never have anything more to do with him after that! I guessyour uncle was right about him, after all!"

  Both the little girl's face and manner expressed intense disgust.

  Joel was shocked. "Oh, are you sure?" he cried. "You certainly must bemistaken! It cannot be so!"

  "I guess I know what I see with my own eyes, and hear with my own ears!"she retorted, angrily. "My father says they are a bad lot. People thatgo with publicans are just as unclean themselves. If you know so muchmore than everybody else, I'll not trouble myself to run after you withany more news. Mistaken, indeed!"

  With her head held high, and her nose scornfully turned up, she jerkedher little brother past him, and went quickly around the corner of thestreet.

  The indignation of some of the rabbis knew no bounds. "It has turned outjust as I predicted," said the scribe to Laban, at supper. "They arenothing but a set of gluttons and wine-bibbers!"

  There was nothing else talked of during the entire meal. How Joel'sblood boiled as he listened to their conversation! The food seemed tochoke him. As they applied one coarse epithet after another to hisfriend Phineas, all the kindness and care this man had ever given himseemed to rise up before him. But when they turned on the Nazarene, allthe stories Joel had heard
in the carpenter's house of His gentlesinless childhood, all the tokens he had seen himself of His pureunselfish manhood, seemed to cry out against such gross injustice.

  It was no light thing for a child to contradict the doctors of the Law,and, in a case of this kind, little less than a crime to take the standJoel did.

  But the memory of two faces gave him courage: that of Phineas as it hadlooked on him through all those busy happy hours in the carpenter'shome; the other face he had seen but once, that day of healing in thesynagogue,--who, having once looked into the purity of those eyes, theinfinite tenderness of that face, could sit calmly by and raise no voiceagainst the calumny of his enemies?

  The little cripple was white to the lips, and he trembled from head tofoot as he stood up to speak.

  The scribe lifted up both hands, and turned to Laban with a meaningshrug of the shoulders. "To think of finding such heresy in your ownhousehold!" he exclaimed. "Among your own children!"

  "He is no child of mine!" retorted Laban. "Nor shall he stay amongthem!" Then he turned to Joel.

  "Boy, take back every word you have just uttered! Swear you willrenounce this man,--this son of perdition,--and never have aught to saywell of Him again!"

  Joel looked around the table, at each face that shone out pale andexcited in the yellow lamplight. His eyes were dilated with fear; hisheart thumped so in the awful pause that followed, that he thoughteverybody else must hear it.

  "I cannot!" he said hoarsely. "Oh, I cannot!"

  "Then take yourself out of my sight forever. The doors of this houseshall never open for you again!"

  There was a storm of abuse from the angry man at this open defiance ofhis authority. With these two cold, stern men to nod approval at hiszealousness, he went to greater lengths than he might otherwise havedone.

  With one more frightened glance around the table, the child hurried outof the room. The door into the street creaked after him, and Joel limpedout into the night, with his uncle's curse ringing in his ears.