The Bible Story - Newton Marshall Hall; Irving Francis Wood

John tried to get the people to see how they ought to repent and lead good lives, that God might send the long-expected Messiah. A saying of the rabbis was, "If Israel should keep the law for one day, the Messiah would come." The custom of baptism was in use before he took it up. It signified the desire that God should make the life pure and wash away the sins of the past.

The family of the Herods were the descendants of a courtier of Idumea, in the northern part of Arabia. Herod the Great married a princess of the heroic family of the Maccabees, so that most of the Herods of the New Testament are partly Jewish in blood. The [{486}] family of Herod were very able, but very cruel and selfish, and the people heartily hated them. It is said that Herod the Great gave orders that when he died a large number of the chief men should be killed at Jericho that the people might mourn at his death. Perhaps the poor king was half insane when he ordered this. Anyway, it was not done.

The following is a table of the Herodian family, but only giving those mentioned in the New Testament:--

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While dried fish were brought from abroad, the great source of supply in Palestine was the Lake of Galilee. Its waters abounded in fish. Two methods were used by fishermen: the small hand-net and the great drag-net. The best time for fishing was after sunset or before sunrise, but sometimes men worked all night. In the daytime fishermen took the fish to market, mended their nets, and rested. The fish were eaten fresh by the people in the many villages about the lake, or, dried in the sun and salted, were carried far and wide, and used as a relish with bread.

The custom of a body of disciples was not new to Jesus. John had disciples, and so did the rabbis, who were considered great teachers. It was a sort of primitive university by which a teacher attracted to his personal following a group of loyal, loving pupils who would carry his teaching to others. Socrates and Plato in Greece, Buddha in India, and many another man in other countries, had done the same thing. The difference between Jesus' disciples and other like groups was not in the custom of discipleship but in the kind of a teacher they had; for never was there a teacher like Jesus.

Almsgiving and prayers were two of the most important acts of worship in the Jewish religion. Their books praise giving alms to the poor very highly. It was, indeed, one of the great ways open to them to show an unselfish and brotherly spirit, and in the ancient world, most unfortunate people--the lame, the blind, those unable to work--were supported only by charity, and were expected to beg in the streets for their living.

Decapolis (ten cities). A region lying east of the Jordan, except the city of Scythopolis (the old Bethshean). Its population was much mixed, and many Gentiles lived in it, so that the stricter Jews looked down upon the inhabitants, but Jesus did not hesitate to go among the towns and teach the people.

Ruler of the Synagogue. An officer who was responsible for the proper conduct of the service and the order of the congregation. He did not conduct the service himself, but decided who should take part in it. The position was one of honor, but did not require particular learning like that of the scribes.