if you even hold a grudge against another person,
you have no right to pray to God. The Pharisees give much attention to
small rules and forget the important things."

"This seems so new," said Simon. "I don't understand very well."

"I have only told you what Moses and the Prophets taught," replied
Jesus. "The meaning of their words has been forgotten, even though the
Pharisees talk about them a great deal."

"But don't you think we are likely to get into trouble if we speak out
like this in public?" urged Andrew. "We can teach the people, but I
don't think we need to be so harsh with the Pharisees and the elders of
the synagogues. We ought to be careful. The Pharisees are really good
people and we must not offend them. How can we preach the good news to
the people if we do? When we go to the synagogues, I think it is much
safer to keep quiet."

Jesus watched the men listening to Andrew and knew why they agreed. He
knew the inward emptiness of fear--fear of a future they could not know.
Andrew was right; their peril was increasing every day. But Jesus shook
his head. "My followers," he said, "do not think that I was sent to
bring peace to this nation. I came to bring strife. It cannot be any
other way. Men enter the Kingdom of God only through conflict and pain."

When the disciples arrived in Capernaum on the day after the Sabbath,
they heard a report that dismayed them: John the Baptizer had been
thrown into prison by King Herod. They found out about it through one of
his followers who had come to Capernaum to find Jesus and was waiting
for them at Simon's home. The man's name was Jacob. Andrew and John
remembered him as one of the Baptizer's most loyal disciples.

"What made the king do it?" asked Andrew.

"John told the king he was doing wrong in the sight of God," replied
Jacob.

_John is no bolder than Jesus_, thought Andrew.

Jacob added, "John himself told us just before he was taken prisoner
that we should come to you."

Andrew turned to Jesus. "What will Herod do to him?"

"There is no way to tell. We must be prepared to hear the worst."

"Why did John send you to us?" Simon asked Jacob.

"Some of us went to him and told him that more people were following
your Master than were following him," answered the man. "He just said to
us: 'Didn't I tell you that I am not the Christ? I am glad that Jesus
has many followers. He must grow even stronger, and I must decrease.'
When he was thrown into priso