you are the King of Israel.» He was as much pleased with
the new friend as the others were, and was glad to join the little
company on their w T ay to Galilee. There were six in the company
now, – Jesus, and the five men, John, Andrew and Peter, Philip
and Nathanael, who were dear friends of Jesus the rest of their
lives. They are called his disciples, or learners, because they lis¬
tened to his teachings and learned from him.
On the third day that they were together there was a wedding
in Cana of Galilee, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the
feast. When they came to the house, they found Mary, the mother
of Jesus, there. The feast lasted several days, and before it was
over the wine gave out. What should they do? It would not
do to be without any, yet they did not know where to get more.
Mary told Jesus that they had no wine, and although he seemed
very unwilling to do anything about it, she was so sure that life
would help them that she said to the servants, 44 Do whatever he
tells you.»
There were six water-pots, or large stone jars, outside the door,
filled with water. For it is so hot and dusty in that country that
the people need to bathe often, and jars for that use are kept out¬
side the doors of most houses. The tops of the jars are filled
THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST
29
with fresh, green leaves, and these leaves keep the water clean and
cool. Jesus told the servants to empty all the water from the jars,
and then to fill them again with clear water. This they did, fill¬
ing them to the brim.
Then Jesus said, u Draw some out now, and take it to the gov¬
ernor of the feast. This was the chief guest, who had the
direction of much of the
feast. The servants did
as he told them. The
governor took a taste of
what they brought him,
and said: 66 How is this?
At most feasts they
serve their best wine at
the beginning, and keep
the poorest till the last;
but here at the end of
the feast they are serv¬
ing their best wine.»
And it was so, for Jesus
had changed the water
in the six jars to the
richest of wine.
You remember that
although he was very
hungry in the wilder- The Marriage Feast at Cana
ness a few days before
this he would not turn the stones into bread for his own use.
Now it was different; other people were in trouble, not he him¬
self. By using this power which God had given him, he could
not only do a kindness to these people, but he could also show
them that he was different from the other teachers they had
30
A CHILD’S STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
known; that he was the Son of God. And so he did what no one
else could possibly have done; it was a miracle. It was the first
time Jesus had done anything of the kind, so far as we know;
but we shall hear of a good many miracles after this, and we
shall find that every time that he used this wonderful power,
during all his life, it was for this very same reason; to do a
kindness to some one. He never used it to make himself more
comfortable; and, least of all, to make any one else uncomfort¬
able.
No one was more interested in what he had done than his five
new friends. They had known their Master only a few days, but
in that time they had learned to love him; and now they were
sure that they had made no mistake in believing him to be the
Christ, for no one could do such things as this unless God gave
him the power.
After the feast was over Jesus and his disciples went to Caper¬
naum, a busy city on the shore of a lake which is known by three
names; the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias, and Lake Gen-
nesaret. It was a beautiful lake thirteen miles long and six miles
wide; and on it were thousands of boats of every kind. There
were the war-ships of the Romans, which were very tiny in com¬
parison with those of our time. There were the little rough boats
of the fishermen, and many gay pleasure boats.
The country around the lake was beautiful also. Mountains
and hills sloped down to the shore, and on these mountain-sides
anything that was planted would grow; for the soil was very rich.
Scattered about were fields of wheat, groves of palms, olives, figs,
and oranges. Where nothing else was planted, wild flowers
sprang up in great plenty. There are a great many kinds of
wild flowers in Palestine, many of them very beautiful, with
rich, gay colors. A field of these flowers is said to be a won¬
derful sight that no one ever forgets who has seen it once.
the MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST
31
All along the shores of the lake cities and larg^ towns had
been built; and Capernaum was one of the busiest of these cities.
Roman soldiers were always there on guard, and strangers were
coming and going all the time, for Capernaum was a central place,
through which people passed in going from one country to another,
and from every direction people came here to trade.
It was a place where Jesus could meet and talk with people
of many nations. Later in his life he spent much time in Caper¬
naum; for, besides the work which he could find to do right in
the city, it was easy to make short trips into the country around.
But