196 JESUS ESCAPES FROM JUDEA INTO GALILEE. of God" (John 10: 31), and set a price upon His head, He escaping out of their hands by some unknown cause, and fleeing for His life into Galilee.-John 7: 1. And He had not since (April 28) been in Judea. It could not be that Luke referred to this occasion, as returning to Galilee "in the power of the Spirit." "But it means 'Holy Spirit," which should act on the hearts of men, not a moral state of mind, an inspiration," one says. To this we reply by quoting John (7: 39) still later"THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS NOT YET GIVEN.' Therefore, leaving Luke in the past, we go forward four months to our present date, and follow Matthew and Mark in the continuation of our "Journeys." First, Matthew 4: 12, 13. "Jesus came and DWELT in Capernaum." The wisdom evinced in His selection of this city for His future operations is very evident. It was in the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas; hence He was here exempt from arrest by the Council of Jerusalem. They could only send spies here to watch Him and induce others in this vicinity to annoy Him. All of which they soon did. It was away from Nazareth, the place of His rejection. Capernaum occupied a central position, second to none in Palestine. It lay upon the northwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee, on the direct route from Damascus to all lower Palestine and to the Great Sea and route to Egypt. "Through this city passed the great caravans on their way from Egypt to Damascus, and the heathens who congregated at Bethsaida and Cæsarea Philippi must have been constantly seen. in the streets of Capernaum." In the time of Christ it was, for population and activity, the manufacturing district of Palestine, and the waters of its lake were sailed by four thousand vessels* of every description, from the war vessels of the Romans and the gilded pinnaces from Herod's palace, to the rougher fishing-boats of Bethsaida *Farrar.―Josephus quotes 230 vessels, into some of which he placed four men! Very small "ships."-Wars, 2: 21, 8. CAPERNAUM BY THE SEA. 197 and the entire coast. The sea was His grand highway be tween the flourishing capital of Philip, at Bethsaida, to the beginning of that of Pontius Pilate. At the very commence 198 BLUE GALILEE-A PROLIFIC SEA. ment of His ministry at Capernaum, He caused a "ship" to be placed at His disposal, in which we find Him crossing and recrossing, this beautiful expanse of water, mid calms and storms, by night as well as by day. When exhausted nature could no longer hold out, He would say to His disciples"Let us take the boat and cross the sea," to which they would cheerfully respond, “and taking Him as He was," would cross to the eastern shore.-Mark 4: 36. Wherever they chanced to land, for a circuit into the country, there they left their boat until their return. After their long sojourn in the Gentile land of Tyre and Sidon, we find them returning to their boat on the eastern shore, and crossing thence to Magdala, over the Sea of Galilée. On its waters a thousand fishermen cast their lines and nets at early dawn, and on its shores they spread their nets to dry and fish to cure at evening's quiet hour. So extensive and important was this occupation, that sea-shore towns derived their names therefrom. Bethsaida, at the head of the sea, was named a "fishing-house;" Tarichæa, at the foot, was the pickling-town "-the great fish-curing port of the lake;* and Chorazin derived its name from a fish peculiar to the waters of this inland sea.† A ready market for these fish was found at Capernaum, at Tarichæa-which city, Josephus says, contained 40,000 inhabitants and at Jerusalem. Since no ice is made in Palestine, of any great thickness, fish could only be marketed during winter, except dried or pickled fish. Capernaum was the border city of the territory, on the north, of Herod Antipas, hence had its garrison and its custom-house. The chief officer of the former was evidently a Roman, a proselyte, called "a centurion," who loved the Jews, and built for them a beautiful synagogue, in this city (Luke 7: 2, 5). The officer of the customs was Matthew, formerly called Levi.‡... * Herzog, 5: 7; quoted by Geikie, 488. † Corâcin, a fish, named by Josephus, Wars. Mark and Luke say "Levi," but Matthew, despising his former name and calling, calls himself Matthew.. THE CITY-HOUSES AND STREETS. 199 This seat of customs" may have been as far east of the town as the west bank of the Jordan-perhaps near two miles distant from the centre of Capernaum. The houses of Capernaum were built of black basalt rock, or lava, which were generally kept whitewashed. The synagogue was built of white limestone. Its entrance was from the north, under a high portico, supported by immense columns, "of the florid and composite style (of architecture) which marks the Herodian age" (Farrar). Some of these now lie half hid in the earth and rank thistles and coarse grass, with blocks chiselled and carved, once the frieze, architrave and cornices, which help to make up the evidences of its former splendor.-Geikie. The main street of the town extended north and south, about half a mile, as indicated by its ruins, which are about one-fourth of a mile wide. A beach extends along its water front. The ancient name of this city was Kefr-na-hum. Under 200 CIRCUITS FROM CAPERNAUM. the depreciating influences of the lazy Arabs, it has dwindled down to "Hum "-or "Tell Hum." From Capernaum Jesus had ready access to all Galilee on the west, Trachonitis on the north, and Decapolis and Perea on the east, beside the numerous cities and villages lying on the immediate coast of the sea, as Chorazin, Magdala, Bethsaida and many others. From this centre Jesus made numerous circuits into Galilee, and countries adjacent. I think we may trace some ten of these circuits, made within about a year's time. This Galilee work seems made up of alternate sojourns in Capernaum and circuits into Galilee and other and northern countries. Of these circuits we give the following outline, all of which were made from Capernaum, returning to the same pointexcept the last.-John 21: 1. FIRST, to "next villages." About May, A. D. 28. 1 THIRD, to Nain; raised the widow's son. FOURTH, over lake by boat, to the Gerasenes. SEVENTH, to Tyre and Sidon. Matt. 15: 21-29. NINTH, Jerusalem to Tabernacles. TENTH, final departure. Matt. 19: 1; Mark 10: 1 Luke 9: 51. |