At last the news of John's successful career reached Galilee.
There in his home at Nazareth,Jesus had been living the peaceful existence of a carpenter's apprentice.
At the age of twelve his parents had taken him to Jerusalem,to keep the feast of the Passover.The visit to the Temple had made a deep impression upon the boy.As soon as the necessary ceremonies had been finished,Mary and Joseph had returned northward.Jesus was not with them but they thought that he had joined another group of Nazarenes and would probably turn up in the evening.
But when night came,their son was still missing and no one had seen him.Joseph and Mary feared an accident and went back to Jerusalem as rapidly as they could.
After a day of searching,they found Jesus in the Temple,where he was engaged in a deep religious discussion with a crowd of rabbis.
When Jesus saw how greatly he had frightened his poor mother,he had promised that he would never run away again.
But now he was grown up and he was very much interested in the questions of the day and when he heard of John (who by now was generally spoken of as John the Baptist)he left Nazareth and went on foot to the Dead Sea and joined the crowds which were forever at the heels of the grim prophet,clamouring loudly to be immersed beneath the muddy waters of the river Jordan.
The sight of his cousin moved Jesus strangely.
Here at last was a man who had the courage of his convictions.
John's manners and his method of attack were not exactly to his taste.
But Jesus had grown up amidst the pleasant meadows of the north and John was the product of the barren farms of the south,and these early associations had put their stamp upon the characters of the two cousins.
Jesus felt that John could teach him much.He too asked to be baptised and then,after a short while,he decided to go into the wilderness that he too might find his soul in solitude.
When he came back,the career of John was rapidly coming to an end and thereafter the two men met only on rare occasions.
It was not the fault of Jesus,but a result of certain circumstances over which he had no control.
As long as the Baptist had merely spoken of the approaching Kingdom of Heaven,the authorities had not bothered him.But when he began to criticise the more tangible Kingdom of Judaea,it was a very different matter.
Unfortunately,John had excellent reason to find fault with the private life of his sovereign.Herod,the Tetrarch,was a chip off the old block.
When he and his half-brother Philip had been called to Rome on some political business,he had fallen desperately in love with his brother's wife,Herodias.
Herodias,who cared not at all for her own husband,was quite willing to marry Herod provided he (Herod)first divorce his own wife,who happened to be an Arab woman from the famous city of Petra.
In Rome,in those days,all things could be arranged,provided one was very rich,and the divorce had been procured.
Herod had taken Herodias as his queen and Salome,the daughter of Herodias,had gone to live with her stepfather.
The people of Galilee and Judaea had been greatly shocked at this callous arrangement.But they wisely kept their own counsel and did not express their opinions too loudly where the soldiers of the King were near at hand and could overhear them.
John,however,conscious of his high duty as a minister of Jehovah's will,found it impossible to remain silent before so wicked a deed.
He denounced Herod and Herodias wherever and whenever he could.
In time,his fulminations might have incensed the people to such an extent that riots would have taken place,and this,of course,the authorities were obliged to prevent at all cost.
Orders were given for the arrest of John.
Even then the prophet refused to keep quiet.From the bottom of his dark dungeon he continued to thunder away against the royal couple who in his eyes were no better than common adulterers.
The Tetrarch was in a difficult position.He had a wholesome dread of the mysterious power of this unknown man.
But he feared his wife's sharp tongue more.
One day he was going to have John executed.The next day he relented and offered clemency if John would only promise to keep quiet.
At last Herodias grew tired and decided to make an end of all further hesitation.She knew of her husband's great admiration for his stepdaughter Salome.The girl was a very graceful dancer and Herod loved to watch her.
She told her daughter that she must not dance at court,unless the King promised to give her whatever she should ask for.
Herod rashly said “Yes,”and then Salome,following the urging of her mother,demanded the head of John the Baptist.
The stepfather,repenting of his folly,offered her his whole kingdom if she would release him of his oath.But mother and daughter remained steadfast and John was condemned to be killed.
The executioner clambered down into the pit where the prophet lay chained.A minute later the head of John was handed to the frightened Salome.
Such was the death of John,who had dared to speak of serious things to a world which only cared to be amused.
