Others were of that opinion, so they followed—followed their Messiah.
But during their long wandering over the bad roads of the desert and over the fertile plains they suffered continual distress. Although they had now been some time in the plains they were not always in good humour. They saw how the Master renounced the power and pleasure of the world and yet walked the earth strong and cheerful. It was only later that they understood how the two things could be reconciled. He enjoyed what was harmless if it did not hurt others, but He attached little value to it. His bodily senses were all He needed to recognise the Father's power in nature, and to be happy in that knowledge. He did not deny the world; He spiritualised it and made it divine. The things of earth were to Him the building-stones for the Kingdom of Heaven. So, in spite of increasing doubt, the disciples always found that things came right, and they, too, determined to despise the world and to love their simple life.
One day they came to a place in which there was great activity. Men were ploughing in the fields, hammering in the workshops, lithe carmen and slow camel-drivers were driving hard bargains. And it was the Sabbath! "Did heathens dwell here?" the disciples asked. No; it was a Jewish village, and the inhabitants were so pious that they seldom let a Passover go by without going up to Jerusalem. Many years ago they had heard a young man speak words in the Temple which they had never forgotten. "Men should work on the Sabbath if it was for the good of their fellows," the young man had preached with great impressiveness. Now, it is generally admitted that all work is for the good of the individual and also of the community. So they began there and then, and had never since stopped working for a single day. The result was great local prosperity.
When Jesus saw how His words at Jerusalem on that occasion had been so utterly misunderstood or were misapplied through a desire for gain, He was filled with indignation, and began to speak in the market-place: "I tell you the Kingdom of God will be taken from these lovers of gain and given to a people more worthy of it. For the good of one's fellow-men? Does good depend on the property a man possesses? Property is harmful to men; it hardens their hearts, and makes them continually fearful of loss and death. And you call that good! There was once a rich man who after years of toiling and moiling had his barns full, and thought: Now I can rest and enjoy life. But the next night he died, and the property to gain which he had destroyed body and soul he had to leave to those who quarrelled and disputed over it and mocked at him. I tell you, if you gain the whole world and lose your soul—all is lost."
When He had so spoken a very old man came up to Him and said: "Rabbi, you are poor, and it is easy for you to talk. You do not know how difficult it is for a rich man to cease adding to his wealth. Oh, the delightful time I had when I was poor! Then I began to get money unawares, was glad of it, and began to fear I might lose it. And then as the needs of my family increased more quickly than my means, I thought my money was not sufficient, and the more one had the more one required. I am now an old man; I possess thirty sacks full of gold, and I know that I cannot enjoy my wealth any more. But I cannot stop gaining and amassing. I could sooner stop breathing."
Jesus told the old man a little story: "Some children by the roadside attacked a strange boy for the sake of some broken potsherds which they were collecting. But when they had got a great heap together the roadman came along, and with his spade threw the pieces into the gutter. The children raised a great cry. But the man saw that there was blood on some of the fragments, and asked: 'Where did you get these from?' Whereupon the children grew pale with terror, and the man took them off to the magistrate."
The old man understood. He went away and compensated all who had come to harm through him, and then on his way home he started once more to amass treasure!
The next day Jesus and His followers reached another village. There all was quiet, and the inhabitants lay under the fig-trees although it was not the Sabbath. Then Jesus asked: "Why do they not work?"
And one of the villagers said: "We should like to work, but we have no tools. We want spades, ploughs, sickles, and axes, but our smith is always making holiday. And it is just he who makes the best knives. There are no other smiths here."
Our wanderers then went to the smith. The man was sitting in his room, reading the Holy Scriptures and praying. One of the disciples asked him why he was not at work although it was a week-day.