The Good Shepherd | Page 5

of
chickens and dogs, of donkeys and camels, of blind beggars and
children. There are little shops by the side of the streets, something like
the leewans in the inn which I told you about. But the tailors, the
shoemakers, the carpenters, and the coffee-grinders do not always sit in
their shops. They like to sit on the ground outside, and do their work in
the street; and the sellers of dates and of figs, beans, barley, oranges,
and other things, sit down in the street to sell their goods.
Joseph, Mary's husband, was a carpenter, and Jesus became a carpenter,
and often came out of the little shop and sat on the ground with plane,
hammer, glue, and saw, and worked away in the narrow street, just as
the carpenters of Nazareth do now.
When the Jewish boys were twelve years old, they were called 'Sons of
the Law,' and they were taken to Jerusalem for the Passover. When
Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph and His mother took Him up with

them to the Passover. When the week was over, Mary and Joseph
started for the journey back to Nazareth. But Jesus stayed behind in
Jerusalem. Thousands of people must have been leaving Jerusalem just
at the very time that Mary and Joseph went away. So when Mary and
Joseph did not see Jesus in the crush, they did not at first feel
frightened. They thought, 'We shall find Him soon with some of our
friends.' All day long they kept on looking for Him in the crowd, but
they did not see Him. And at last they went back again to Jerusalem
looking for Him.
Next day they found Him in one of the courts of the Temple. Several
Rabbis were there, and everyone who saw and heard Him was
astonished. They asked Him questions too, and He answered them
wisely and well. Nobody could understand how a young boy could be
so wise.
When Mary and Joseph saw Jesus sitting here, with Rabbis coming all
around Him, they were greatly surprised. But His mother asked Him
why He had stayed behind, and said, 'Thy father and I have sought
Thee sorrowing.' Jesus said to His mother, 'HOW IS IT THAT YE
HAVE SOUGHT ME? WIST YE NOT (DID YOU NOT KNOW)
THAT I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS?'
And now He went back with her and with Joseph to Nazareth, and
obeyed them, exactly as He always had done. We do not know much
more about Jesus when He was a boy. But we do know that as He grew
taller, He 'increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and
man.'
CHAPTER IV
JOHN THE BAPTIST
You remember about the child that was called John. Zacharias, his
father, and Elisabeth gave John to God directly he was born. They
never cut his hair, and they never let him drink wine, or eat grapes, or
eat raisins. That was the way they did in those days to show that he
belonged to God.

When John was old enough to understand, he gave himself to God. And
as he grew older, he made up his mind that he would leave his home
and friends, and go and live in the wilderness; and his food there was
locusts and wild honey. Locusts are like large grasshoppers, and poor
people in the East often eat them. They taste like shrimps, but are not
so nice.
God had said that John should go before the Messiah to prepare the
way for Him--to get people's hearts ready for the Saviour. And when
John was in the wilderness, God told him to begin his work. So John
went down from the wild hills of Judaea to the River Jordan, and he
began to preach to everyone who passed by. There were many people
passing by, for he went to the place where people crossed the Jordan.
[Illustration: The River Jordan.]
John said, REPENT!' (that means, 'Be really sorry for your sins'), 'FOR
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is AT HAND.' A very great many
people went from Jerusalem, and out of all the land of Judaea, on
purpose to hear John preaching. And when they had heard him, some of
them said to him, 'What shall we do then?' And John told them that
they were to be kind to one another; that they were to give food to the
hungry and clothing to the naked.
Some even of the proud Rabbis came down to the Jordan to John, and
John told these Rabbis that they must not be proud because they were
Jews, but must try to be good really and truly.
A great many of the people who heard John preach felt sorry for the
things they had done, and