The King Nobody Wanted

irls stayed home with their mothers. But every day except the Sabbath, the boys went to the school and sat on the fl

is: ?. Instead of B, they learned to make this letter: ?; and so on, through all the alphabet. Then when the

over they said their lessons aloud, talking all at once, un

which had been sung for many ye

ptures. These books were long pieces of skin, which were kept rolled up when no one was reading them. There were many prophets-Is

Law, and many other sayings which told people what they must do and what they must not do in order to please God. The boys

le in the years gone by. But the most important was the story of the Pass

h boy had to learn about the

in Palestine. They lived in Egypt, where they were slaves. They wanted to es

s not an Egyptian home where the oldest child in the family did not die. But none

d nursing their sick, and burying their dead. The time had come for the Jews to g

pring of each year was held the Feast of the Passover, to give thanks to G

rd, for he is good: For hi

be given to God. They chose a lamb that was white, and pure, and fine, and precious. Then they roasted the

ore, every year, when spring came round, the people said to one another, "It is

they understood why their par

ood the prophets, and were learning to obey the Law-then they were practically grown up. At this age a boy c

e years old, he was "a son of the Law," like other boys his age, and for the first time h

n eighty miles to Jerusalem, and

row for anything but walking. Donkeys and horses might carry the heavy luggage, but the people went on foot. There were

n the travelers were tired at night, there was not likely to be any p

y was clear and the air was fresh. The fields lay lovely in the sunlight. The roads were full of people from many countries. There were alway

easiest way. The only thing against it was that the people of Samaria were not friendly to Jews. Long years before, Samaria had been the home of many of the Jewish people. But foreigners came and

ks, and it seemed as though the river itself were at the bottom of a great, deep ditch. And down there was the road they had to take. In some places they came to slime and mud, and dead trees and tw

t the last part of the trip was the hardest of all. Around them stretched a dreary desert. There were bleak hills, and ugly rocks, and hardly a drop of water anywhe

are earth and bushes and thorns, until they were high above the Jordan-that was the road to Jerusalem. Would

salem, the city of David! King David built that city, a thousand years ago. The enemies of God had come and burned it to the ground, but the Jews built it up again. They were sure that it could never be des

weary miles behind. They marched, and as they marched they sang. They sang on

when they s

to the house

nd within thy gate

he peace o

rosper that

in the villages near by, and others slept in tents out in the open air. At an ordinary time of the year, there would

about the Passover. It was because he was afraid that with such great crowds in Jerusalem there might be trouble unless his Roman soldiers were on guard. It woul

n brought down from Galilee-fish and oil and wine and fruit. Besides the merchants there were shoemakers, butchers, carpenters, tailors. On the side streets gold-smiths and jewelers were making thing

large it was! Herod the Great had built this Temple. Ten thousand men had worked many years to build it, and it was not quite finished yet

e to God. You could hear the poor creatures calling out-the cows lowing, the lambs bleating, the doves singing their sweet, sad song. Money was clinking on the tables. Only o

ome steps into the Court of Israel. There they watched the priests of the Temple taking the doves and lambs and cattle that the worshipers had brou

he people it was a place of great mystery. Then farther on was a still more mysterious room called the Holy of Holies. Even a priest did not dare to step insi

nly people who were at all friendly with the Romans. The reason for this was that they were better off than most other people and well-satisfied with things as they were. They thought it wise to stay on good

was that they were always talking about the Law, and claiming that they obeyed it better than anyone else. They were kindly folk, on the whole, and very well respected, but they did not have any official position, like the Sadducees. All they

arisees. They were plain people who had come to bring their sacrifices, or to talk

tion to Jesus. He was just a

. The prayers were said and the hymns were sung. It w

o leave. They did not wait to find him, for the other travelers from N

Mary said t

of us from Nazareth that he can't get los

ty gates they went, and back into the desert through which they had come. They walked a whole day, and still

upon them. He wa

nothing to do but to leave the party, and turn back alone to the city. But Jerusalem was a big place, and th

the courts, they noticed a group of people gathered around a rabbi. There was nothing unusual about that. There were

themselves rabbis. And the strange thing was that they were not doing all the talking as they usua

s; he was answering questions. The long-bearded rabbis were standing there, their mouths open in astonishment. Jesus

She pushed her way through the

ed. "Your father and I have be

was. It was as though he

Don't you know that I must be lo

o, not knowing what to make of

to see what

with them. They did not have to ask him aga

for that yet. He must do his duty to his parents. He must obey God at home.

were taken there to be offered to the God of Is