A LAYMAN'S LIFE OF JESUS [Illustration: logo] A LAYMAN'S LIFE OF JESUS BY MAJOR S. H. M. BYERS OF GENERAL SHERMAN'S STAFF Author of "With Fire and Sword," "Sherman's March to the Sea," "Iowa in War Times," "Twenty Years in Europe," and of other books [Illustration: Publisher's Mark] NEW YORK THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912 Copyright, 1912, by THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY PREFACE Every book should have a purpose. The object of this little volume is to try and harmonize, in a sense, and bring nearer to us, the story of the Master. It is free from the fog of creed, and the simple picture of the Times and the Man may help to waken new interest, especially with the young in the greatest tale of the world. H. S. M. B. Des Moines, Sept. 3, 1912. CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I 7 Palestine two thousand years ago. The Little Land of Galilee. An Oriental Village. The Boy Carpenter. CHAPTER II 12 A Boy of Babylon. The Founder of Judaism. Philo, the Philosopher. An out-door Man. The Poet-Carpenter. Staying in the Desert. The Silence of History. Where was Jesus in these silent years? CHAPTER III 23 Christ still a Jew. Is the Child's escape at Bethlehem still a secret? Performing wonders. A strange age. Rome still in the thrall of Heathendom. Augustus dead. Tiberius the Awful. Palestine itself half Heathen. A Religious Enthusiast. Jesus is ceasing to be a Jew. A church tyranny. Subjects of Cæsar. Human suffering counted for nothing with the Romans. The Jews are longing for the New Time when God might come and rule the world in Pity. An age of Superstitions and Magic. Laws of Science unknown. Nobody even knew that the world was round. CHAPTER IV 41 The Fairy Prince. His Home is everywhere. John the Baptist is preaching down by Jericho. The young Jesus hears of him and goes a hundred miles on foot to see him. A stranger steps down to the River to be baptized. Look quick, it is the Lamb of God! John is put to death in a palace by the Dead Sea. A Woman's Revenge. CHAPTER V 55 An Oriental Wedding, and the first miracle. Jairus. "Little Maid, Arise." The Light of the World. The Poet of the Lord. Do we know what a Miracle is? CHAPTER VI 67 A wandering Teacher. Lives in a borrowed house at Capernaum. The Testament Books, fragments written from memory. The whole Law of Life boiled down to Seven Words. He visits Tyre by the Ocean. Walking on the Sea. A hard saying, and not understood. His friends begin to leave Him. They demand Wonders, Miracles. Raffael's great picture.