have it that His mother came to live also at Capernaum,
together with some of His brothers. It is also related that his
sisters and brothers, both those remaining at Nazareth and those
removing to Capernaum, were sorely vexed with Him at His conduct at
the synagogue, which they deemed not "respectable" nor proper, and
they accordingly looked upon Him as an eccentric relative whose
vagaries had brought disrepute upon the family. He was regarded much
in the light of a "black-sheep" and "undesirable relation" by all of
His family except His mother, who still clung to her beloved
first-born. The mother made her home with some of the brothers and
sisters of Jesus, but He was not made welcome there, but was looked
upon as an outcast and wanderer. He once spoke of this, saying that
while the birds and beasts had nests and homes, He, the Son of Man,
had nowhere to lay his head. And so He wandered around in His own
land, as He had in foreign countries, an ascetic, living upon the alms
of the people who loved Him and listened to His words. And in so doing
He followed the plans and life of the Hindu ascetics, who even unto
this day so live, "with yellow-robe and begging bowl," and "without
money or scrip in their purses." The Jewish ascetic--for such was
Jesus--has His counterparts in the wandering holy-men of India and
Persia today.

But it must be remembered that even in Jesus' time, the spectacle of a
rabbi living this ascetic life, forsaking the emoluments of His
priestly rank and deliberately taking up the roll of a poverty-stricken
mendicant, was a rare one. It ran contrary to all the thrifty and
prudent customs and ideals of the race. It was an importation from
the Essenes, or from the strange people of far-off lands, and it was
not relished by the Jewish authorities, or people who preferred the
synagogues and Temple, with their sleek, well-fed priests, with fancy
robes and attractive ceremonies.

Making His base at Capernaum, Jesus began to form His band of
disciples with more show of a working organization. To some He
delegated certain authority, and bade them perform certain dues of the
ministry. For some reason He selected some of His leading lieutenants
from the ranks of the fishermen who plied their vocation along the
waters of that port of the country. The fishers of fish became the
fishers of men. Jesus became very popular among the fishing
fraternity, and the legends, as well as the New Testament narratives,
tel