Volume 2

270 Life of Jesus Christ
from Jetebatha rose another wild mountain pierced right
and left by broad ravines. It was a region full of wonderful
hiding places. There were numerous Herodians in
Jetebatha. In a wall of the fortifications they had a secret
meeting place. The sect was composed of shrewd, intelligent
people ranged under a secret superior. They had
signs whereby they recognized one another, and the chiefs
could also tell (how, I do not now know) if a member had
betrayed anything. Secret enemies of the Romans, they
were plotting a revolution in favor of Herod. Although in
reality followers of the Sadducees, yet in the exterior they
conformed to the Pharisees, thinking in this way to draw
over both parties to their designs. They knew indeed that
the time had come for the appearance of the Messiah, the
King of the Jews, and they resolved to make use of the
general belief for the furtherance of their ends. Exteriorly
and through motives of cunning, they were very bland and
tolerant, though really treacherous sneaks. They had,
properly speaking, no religion at all; but under the cloak
of piety, they labored at the founding of an independent
kingdom of this world, and Herod supported them in their
intrigues.
When the synagogue of Jetebatha heard of Jesus' presence
in the neighborhood, they sent two Herodians to the
baths of Bethulia, to find out what sort of a person He
was and to invite Him to Jetebatha. Jesus, however, gave
them no decided answer as to whether He would go or
not. About seven of the disciples that had journeyed with
Him a couple of weeks before met Him here again. Two
of them were John's disciples, some relatives of his who
also were disciples, from the country of Hebron, and one
was a cousin from Lesser Sephoris. They had been seeking
Him in Galilee, and had now found Him. During
those days, I saw Jesus speaking confidentially with
several of the guests at the baths. There must have been
some of His own followers among them.