Chapter 2: EARLY DAYS IN THE MASTER'S COLLEGE
Chapter 2: EARLY DAYS IN THE MASTER'S COLLEGE
John i. 43-iii. 30; Matt. iv. 23-25
"What Thou hast given to me, Lord, here I bring Thee,
Odour and light, and the magic of gold,
Feet which must follow Thee, lips which must sing Thee,
limbs which must ache for Thee ere they grow old."
— C. Kingsley.
THE WONDER OF that first interview with the Lord must have almost dazed the mind of Simon, the son of John. The Baptist's ministry had already stirred his soul to the depths, but this fresh and gracious Personality, so full of grace and truth, had revealed possibilities for his manhood which had never occurred to him. It seemed incredible that he should ever become known as the Rock-man. If angel voices had called to him from out of heaven, or the bushes had begun to burn with fire, he could hardly have been more astonished. That he could become a Man of Rock!
Yet a childless Abram had become Abraham, the father of a countless multitude; and Jacob, the subtle supplanter, had become Israel the prince; and Gideon, the least in his father's house, had delivered Israel from the Midianites. But the incongruity of his nature with that name seemed an unbridged chasm. When a similar promise was made to his great ancestor, he fell on his face and laughed; but notwithstanding, a child's laughter was heard in his tent and a; child's hand was thrust into his aged grasp. Nothing was impossible with God. Already Peter's heart had opened to Christ's knock, never to close to Him again.
His soul had turned to Him with passionate devotion.
Let those who remember how it was with them when they first met Christ bear witness if there is aught of exaggeration in this statement. They who have once really seen His face can never rest content till they have apprehended that for which He has apprehended them.
Walks and Talks. — Whatever may have been the fisherman's reverie, he was soon made aware that Jesus was minded to go forth into Galilee, and he resolved to accompany Him. The distance to Cana from Bethabara was some thirty miles, and the little group would start on their way in the beauty of early morning. Apparently they had hardly left the scene of the Baptist's ministry, when they encountered Philip, and the fact that it is expressly recorded that he was a native of Bethsaida, "the city of Andrew and Peter," suggests that the two brethren had something to do with the Master's discovery of him and his immediate response.
This first journey in such company was the beginning of many similar experiences, until that further day when He would lead them out as far as Bethany and be parted from their sight. But it left an ineffaceable impression; for as these newly-found disciples walked with Him, and heard Him open the Scriptures, their hearts burned within them, and emotions were aroused too tumultuous for words.
When they came within sight of the little village of Cana, the white houses of which, embowered with verdure, beckoned to them as they climbed the slope from the rich Esdraelon plain, Philip seems to have hastened forward to announce his discovery to a devout friend of his — Nathanael. Apparently he found him pondering the story of the ladder that Jacob saw, when he slept and dreamed. The guileless Israelite little thought that the ladder was to be literally reared again on his lawn, that the angel-ministry was actually in operation, and that he might begin to climb the scale of ascent which would presently land him in the Divine Presence-Chamber.
Probably our Lord and His disciples remained as guests in his home, and Peter was introduced to a new friend destined to be knit with him in a life-long companionship. But it was at the marriage-feast to which they were all invited on the following day that he drank in the deepest lessons of the Master to Whom he had given his allegiance.
At first he must have been greatly startled. Until he had come under the influence of the Baptist, his highest ideal of religion had been the Curator of the Synagogue, the Pharisee with his phylacteries, and the Priests who officiated in the Temple, but their inconsistencies had only enhanced the commanding splendour of the holiness of John. Even Herod had been compelled to confess that he was "a just man and an holy." Peter and the rest were impressed and enamoured with a type of holiness that seemed so taken up with God as to be independent of the ordinary accessories of human life. John's rigid asceticism, that he seemed to have no need of a woman's love or a little child's caress, that he was absorbed in face-to-face fellowship with God, that he was absolutely fearless and unyielding — these qualities enthralled their loyalty and respect. "Ah," they remarked to each other, at the close of one of his most terrific utterances, "he speaks like Elijah or Malachi might have done; but, after all, the man is even greater than his words." When, therefore, John introduced them to Jesus, as being incomparably greater than himself, they expected the same type of holiness, in its awful, lonely splendour.
The Marriage Feast of Cana. — But Jesus led them to a village festival, where a group of simple peasants, principally drawn from the vineyards that terraced the adjoining hills, were celebrating a wedding. He sat there among young and old, the life of the party; His face beaming with joy, His words adding to the pleasure of the company. His presence welcomed by the children and greeted by the young lads and girls. This was an altogether new and unexpected type of holiness.
Peter and the rest watched it closely, as they reclined with Jesus at the feast. What would the Baptist have done? Would he approve? Certainly this was not the religion of the Synagogue or the Temple! But as they came more and more under the spell of their wonderful Friend and Teacher, they became more profoundly convinced that this was the religion that the world was waiting for. They could not all imitate the asceticism of the Baptist in the weird loneliness of the desert.
Peter, at least, was already married. But they could all follow in the steps of their new Master in the sweet amenities of the home.
And Peter learnt many things beside. That though the Lord addressed His mother with perfect respect, He was under direction from a higher source. That only a hint of need was necessary — He would know exactly how to meet it. That those who were called to cooperate with Him must always give Him brimfull obedience. That what His servants drew as water would blush beneath His word into the wine of the Sacrament. That He would always lead from good to better, from better to better still. These were wonderful discoveries; and it was a happy group that left Cana when the feast was over. Jesus, and His mother, and His brethren, and His disciples went down to Capernaum. Apparently they settled that their home should be there; but as the Jews' Passover was at hand, they could not then remain many days. What a story the brothers had to tell to their father, and Peter to his wife and her mother! Bethsaida also listened, discussed the strange novelty of their transformation, and wondered greatly.
Growing Influence of the Master. — Though probably the Master and His disciples travelled with their own families to the Feast, they met again in the precincts of the Holy City. Peter and the rest beheld with wonder their gentle and lowly Master cleanse the Temple courts as though girded with the power of an Elijah. They witnessed the signs that convinced men like Nicodemus that God was with Him.
They watched the rising wrath of the Jewish magnates as they challenged the Nazarene's authority over the holy places. They pondered His affirmation that He would build the Temple in three days, though not until He was risen from the dead did they understand that cryptic utterance. Since Peter, in his subsequent address in the house of Cornelius, expressly states that God preached peace by Jesus Christ throughout all Judaea, we may fairly infer that he at least accompanied the Master in that first great itinerary, through the very regions where Aeneas, Tabitha, and Simon the Tanner, in after years, greeted him again. Probably, also, in that journey Peter and his friends had their last interview with their earliest teacher, who reminded them that he had never expected to be other than the Bridegroom's friend. "Do not grieve for me," he said in effect, as they visited him and remarked the diminished numbers that came for his baptism: "I am more than content. My joy is fulfilled. I am of the earth, earthly, and I speak of the earth; He has come from heaven and is above all."
Nine months were spent thus. Perhaps Peter paid occasional brief visits home; but he returned to assist the Master in the baptism of those who confessed and forsook their sins; "for Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples." Then, to avoid the increasing suspicion of the Pharisees, the Lord and His disciples returned through Sychar and Samaria to Cana, where apparently the party broke up. He returned to Nazareth, whilst they made for their several homes. This was probably necessitated by the gathering storm, that broke first on the head of the Baptist, whom Herod cast into the dark dungeons of the grim Castle of Machaerus across the Jordan.
For a further period of nine months our Lord seems to have been unattended. He probably was in constant touch with His disciples and friends, but they were not openly associated with Him. He was quietly preparing them for the great future which awaited them, but was as yet veiled from their view. Finally, when the fate of the Baptist was sealed, and no advantage could be gained by further delay, the Master went forth alone, throughout all Galilee, "teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people; and His fame went throughout all Syria, and there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan."
Peter was aware of this mighty movement, and found it irksome to stay with his boats and nets. He dreamt of Christ by night, and watched for His coming by day. Presently the morning broke, and the Master came along the shore. That day changed the entire current of his career, and the seed sown patiently through months of quiet intercourse began to yield fruit, first the blade. ... So take us unto Thy college and teach us, gracious Lord, we humbly beseech Thee!