And still more trouble arose from this mistaken kindness which led Jesus to feed the crowd by His occult powers, which, by the way, He knew to be in opposition to the well-established custom of the Occult Brotherhoods.  The formalists, Pharisees and Scribes, having heard of the occurrence, gathered about the Master and accused Him of violating one of the forms and ceremonies prescribed by the ecclesiastical authorities—­the rite which required the faithful to wash their hands before beginning a meal.  They accused Him of heresy and false teaching, which tended to lead the people away from their accustomed ceremonies and observances.  Jesus waxed indignant and, turning on His critics, hurled burning replies upon them.  “Ye hypocrites!” He cried, “You cling to the commandments of men and neglect the commandments of God!  You cleanse your hands but not your souls!  You are the blind leaders of the blind, and both yourselves and your followers fall in the mire and ditches!  Away with you and your hypocrisy!” But the adverse comment aroused by His actions would not down, and, discouraged and disheartened by the evidences of the 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.