barrenness of the
soil in which He had been sowing the precious seeds of the Truth, He
gathered together His followers and departed into Tyre and Sidon, a
quieter region, that He might rest and meditate over new plans and
work. He could see the beginning of the end.

To understand the nature of the position of the Master at this time,
it must be remembered that His strong hold had ever been with the
masses of the people, who were His enthusiastic admirers. So long as
He remained entrenched in the heart of the populace, the temporal and
ecclesiastical authorities dared not attack Him without a popular
uprising of no mean proportions. But now that they had managed to wean
away His public from Him they pressed Him harder and harder with their
persecutions and complaints. And so at last they had managed to render
Him almost an unpopular outcast. They forced Him away from the larger
towns, and now He was wandering among the less populous regions of the
country, and even there the spies and agents of the authorities hunted
Him down, seeking to further entrap and compromise Him.

About this time Jesus revealed to His apostles the facts of His Divine
origin which was now plain to Him. He also told them of the fate which
awaited Him, and which He had willingly chosen. He told them not to
expect the fruits of His work at this time, for He was but sowing the
seeds of the fruit which would not grow and bear fruit for many
centuries. He gave them the Mystic secret of the nature of His work,
which is taught to the Initiates of the Occult Brotherhoods even unto
this day. But even these chosen men scarcely grasped the true import
of His teachings, and once He was rendered almost broken hearted at
over-hearing a discussion among them regarding high offices which they
hoped to acquire.

Jesus now felt that the time had come for Him to move on to Jerusalem
to meet there the crowning act of His strange career. And, knowing
full well that such a course would be virtually thrusting His head
into the very jaws of the lion of ecclesiastical and temporal
authority, He set His feet firmly on the road which led to Jerusalem,
the capital city, and the center of ecclesiastical influence. And that
road was a hard one to travel, for, as He neared the capital, His
enemies increased in number and the opposition to Him grew stronger.
At one village He had been denied the right of shelter, an indignity
almost unknown in Oriental lands. In another plac