Part 1 (1/2)
The King n.o.body Wanted.
by Norman F. Langford.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
_In a very real and interesting way_, THE KING n.o.bODY WANTED _tells the story of Jesus. Where the actual words of the Bible are used, they are from the King James Version. But the greater part of the story is told in the words of every day._
_Since you will certainly want to look up these stories in your own Bible, the references are given on pages 191 and 192. You will discover that often more than one Gospel tells the same story about Jesus, but in a slightly different way. In_ THE KING n.o.bODY WANTED, _the stories from the Gospels have been put together so that there is just one story for you to read and understand and enjoy._
[Ill.u.s.tration]
1. Waiting
Two thousand years ago, in the land of Palestine, the Jewish people were waiting for something to happen--or, really, were waiting for someone to come.
”When will he come?” was the question they were always asking one another. ”Will he come in five years? next year? Or is he already on his way?”
They were waiting for someone, and when he came they would call him ”the Messiah.” If they spoke the Greek language, they would call him ”Christ.” The people thought he would be a great king.
They had one king already. His name was Herod the Great. But Herod was not the kind of king they wanted. Herod was hard and cruel. He poisoned and beheaded those who made him angry. He was not a Jew by birth. The Messiah, when _he_ came, would be a good king. He would be a Jew himself, and a friend to all the Jewish people. One of the prophets said he would be like the shepherds of Palestine, who watched their sheep night and day, and carried the small lambs in their arms.
But the most important thing about the Messiah was that he would drive Caesar and his armies out of the country. Caesar! How they hated his very name! For Caesar was the emperor of the Romans. Some years before, the Romans had occupied the country and begun to rule it.
Herod was still king of the Jews, but now he took his orders from Caesar. Everybody had to take orders from Caesar. The Jews were not a free people any more.
”It used to be so different,” the older people sighed, ”before the Romans came.”
Everywhere in Palestine Roman armies went marching. Their s.h.i.+elds flashed in the sunlight, and when they were on the march they carried golden eagles which stood for Caesar's power.
The Romans tried to rule the country well. They said that everybody would get justice and fair play. But the Jews could not see the fairness in having to pay taxes to a foreign king who did not even wors.h.i.+p G.o.d. They did not like to see Roman soldiers whipping people with long leather whips called scourges, into which bits of gla.s.s and lead and iron were fastened to make them bite more deeply into some poor Jew's back. They were sick at heart when the Romans began to punish criminals by nailing them up by their hands and feet to big wooden crosses, and leaving them to hang there until they died.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Well, the Messiah would take care of the Romans. He would gather an army from east and west and north and south. Then there would be a great day for the Jewish people, a great day for the nation that was called by the glorious name of Israel! From all over the country the men of Israel would rise up. They would come when their king called them, and he would lead them to victory against Caesar. The Romans would go back where they came from, and Israel would be free and peaceful and rich and happy again. The Messiah would make Israel into a great kingdom, bigger and more powerful than the Roman Empire ever was. The Jews would rule the world. Everyone, everywhere, would wors.h.i.+p the G.o.d of Israel, and the Messiah would be King of all the nations of the earth. If only he would come!
[Ill.u.s.tration]
It was hard to wait so long. They had waited for him a long time, and their fathers and grandfathers had waited for him too. Sometimes word would go around that he had finally arrived, and in great excitement some of the Jews would get ready to drive the Romans out of Palestine.
But always it turned out to be a mistake, and the Jews would be disappointed, and shake their heads, and say, ”Will he ever come?”
But when they grew discouraged, they would remember what was written in their Holy Scriptures. For it was surely written there that the Messiah would come someday. There could be no mistake about it.
Someday he would come!
[Ill.u.s.tration]
And so it went on, month after month, year after year. The people worked, and dreamed, and hoped, and prayed. The rains would fall in October and soften the hard, dry ground after the heat of summer, so that the farmer could do his plowing. And as he plowed the land, the farmer thought about the Messiah, and wondered if he would come before the harvest in the spring. Then spring would come, and the wheat and barley would be growing up in the smiling fields, and all down the hillside the grapevines and the olive trees would be full of fruit.