The Crown and the Cross: The Life of Christ by Frank G. Slaughter Page A

over to the east side of the river. Great fields of flax grew all around the city, watered by irrigation ditches from the Jordan.
    Coursing like a giant snake in its narrow valley, the Jordan dropped steadily and the climate grew hotter, the strain on the travelers greater as they moved southward. The children stayed close to the others now and made frequent visits to the waterskins. No rain ordinarily fell at this season, so the travelers were quite comfortable sleeping in the open. All along the river were fig trees and date palms and broad fields of wheat and flax, flourishing in spite of the heat because of the plentitude of water from the Jordan. At the fords opposite Jericho, the travelers recrossed the river and set out on the last stage of the journey to the Holy City.
    The climb from the deep rift in which the Jordan flowed to the high elevation of the hilly country around Jerusalem was laborious and the whole group traveled close together with grim-faced men bearing clubs guarding the flanks, since this area was heavily infested with robbers who preyed on travelers going to and from the Holy City. It was worth the discomfort, the thirst, and the aching feet bruised by the rocky road, however, when finally they climbed the steep incline of the Mount of Olives and saw Jerusalem lying across the Kedron Valley, with the roof of the temple shining in the sunlight like purest gold and the black smoke from the altars of sacrifice curling upward into the afternoon sky. No Jew could fail to be moved by this sight, for here was the center of his faith, a golden monument to the glory of his God.
    The pilgrims from Galilee did not go into Jerusalem on the day of their arrival but busied themselves selecting a campsite and setting up their tents on the western slope of the Mount of Olives. The Passover was the most sacred of all the Jewish religious festivals and more people came to it than to any other, so that space for camping was at a premium. In fact they had left early partly to find a place near enough to the city so they could come and go daily.
    Jesus helped set up the camp but His eyes were constantly drawn to the beautiful city and particularly toward the temple, the place holiest in all the world to the worship of the Most High. As darkness began to fall and lights winked into flame across the narrow Kedron Valley to the west, while hundreds of campfires began to glow on the hillsides surrounding Him, Jesus’ heart was filled with thanksgiving to the God to whose commandments and service He would soon be dedicated in the ceremony of bar mitzvah.
    Seeing the glow of wonder and adoration in Jesus’ eyes, Mary was happy, too. But as she looked across to where the massive stadium built by Herod the Great loomed, she could not help being reminded of another occasion when the angel had appeared to Joseph in a dream with the warning: “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” Remembering the desperate flight southward from Bethlehem, she could not repress a shiver of fear.
III
    By rising before dawn, the visitors from Nazareth were able to squeeze themselves into a synagogue inside the city. When the service there was ended, Joseph took Jesus into the temple with him, while Mary went on to the Court of Women where she could see without encroaching upon the area from which women were barred.
    The men of Nazareth had joined together, as was allowed by the Law, to purchase a lamb for the sacrifice. When the blast of a trumpet and the singing of the Levites, who were the lay assistants to the priests, announced the beginning of the sacrifices for the day, one of them hurried to the Gate of the Sheepfold at the northern sector of the terrace to claim his purchase.
    The lamb obtained, the leader of the Nazareth delegation pushed through the Gate of the Sheepfold into the Court of Israel and the Place of Slaughter.