{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_48974/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_48974","id":"gutenberg_48974","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48974","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. New Testament -- History of Biblical events -- Fiction","Biographical fiction","Category: Historical Novels","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Jesus Christ -- Fiction"],"text":"AS OTHERS SAW HIM\n\n\n\n\n\n                            AS OTHERS SAW HIM\n\n                             _A RETROSPECT_\n\n                                A. D. 54\n\n         \u201c_It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem_\u201c\n                                        LUKE xiii. 33\n\n                     [Illustration: Publisher\u2019s sign]\n\n\nBOSTON AND NEW YORK\nHOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY\n*The Riverside Press, Cambridge*\n1895\n\n\n\n\n\n                            Copyright, 1895,\n                        BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.\n\n                          _All rights reserved._\n\n\n\n\n             _The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A._\n             Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.\n\n\n\n\n\nTO AGLAOPHONOS, PHYSICIAN OF THE GREEKS AT CORINTH, MESHULLAM BEN ZADOK, A\nSCRIBE OF THE JEWS AT ALEXANDRIA, GREETING:\u2014\n\n_It was a joy and a surprise to me to hear news after many days from thee,\nmy master and my friend. To thee I owe whatever I have of Greek wisdom;\nfor when in the old days at the Holy City thou soughtest me for\ninstruction in our Law, I learnt more from thee than I could impart to\nthee. Since I last wrote to thee, I have come to this great city, where\nmany of my nation dwell, and almost all the most learned of thy tongue are\ncongregated. Truly, it would please me much, and mine only son and his\nwife, if thou couldst come and take up thy sojourn among us for a while._\n\n_Touching the man Saul of Tarsus, of whom thou writest, I know but little.\nHe is well instructed in our Law, both written and oral, having received\nthe latter from the chief master among those of the past generation,\nGamaliel by name. Yet he is not of the disciples of Aaron that love peace;\nfor when I last heard of him he was among the leaders of a riot in which a\nman was slain. And now I think thereon, I am almost certain that the slain\nman was of the followers of Jesus the Nazarene, and this Saul was __among\nthe bitterest against them. And yet thou writest that the same Saul has\nspoken of the Nazarene that he was a god like Apollo, that had come down\non earth for a while to live his life among men. Truly, men\u2019s minds are as\nthe wind that bloweth hither and thither._\n\n_But as for that Jesus of Nazara, I can tell thee much, if not all. For I\nwas at Jerusalem all the time he passed for a leader of men up to his\nshameful death. At first I admired him for his greatness of soul and\ngoodness of life, but in the end I came to see that he was a danger to our\nnation, and, though unwillingly, I was of those who voted for his death in\nthe Council of Twenty\u2010Three. Yet I cannot tell thee all I know in the\ncompass of a letter, so I have written it at large for thee, and it will\nbe delivered unto thee even with this letter. And in my description of\nevents I have been at pains to distinguish between what I saw myself and\nwhat I heard from others, following in this the example of Herodotus of\nHalicarnassus, who, if he spake rude Greek, wrote true history. And so\nfarewell._\n\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                             PAGE\n   I.   THE MAN WITH THE SCOURGE                                9\n  II.   THE UPBRINGING                                         21\n III.   EARLIER TEACHING. SERMON IN THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE       37\n        GALIL\u00c6ANS\n  IV.   THE TWO WAYS                                           55\n   V.   THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY. THE RICH YOUNG MAN        63\n  VI.   THE TESTINGS IN THE TEMPLE                             75\n VII.   THE SECOND SERMON                                      87\nVIII.   THE REBUKING OF JESUS                                  99\n  IX.   JESUS IN THE TEMPLE                                   111\n   X.   THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM                              121\n  XI.   THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE                           133\n XII.   THE WOES                                              145\nXIII.   THE GREAT REFUSAL                                     155\n XIV.   THE MEETING OF THE HANANITES                          167\n  XV.   THE EXAMINATION BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM                  181\n XVI.   CONDEMNATION AND EXECUTION                            195\n        EPILOGUE                                              207\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   I.\n                        THE MAN WITH THE SCOURGE.\n\n\nI was crossing one morning the Xystus Bridge on my way to the Temple, when\nI saw issuing from the nearest gate a herd of beasts of sacrifice. Fearing\nthat something untoward had occurred, I hurried to the gate, and when I\nentered the Court of the Gentiles, I found all in confusion. The tables of\nthe money\u2010changers had been overturned, and the men were gathering their\nmoneys from the ground. And in the midst I saw one with a scourge in his\nhand. His face was full of wrath and scorn, his eyes blazed, and on his\nleft temple stood out a vein all blue, throbbing with his passion. He was\nneither short nor tall, but of sturdy figure, and clad in rustic garb.\n\nNow, as the money\u2010changers were escaping from his wrath, one of them ran\nagainst a little child that was in the court, and it fell screaming. The\nfellow took no heed, but went on his course. But the man with the scourge\nwent to the little child and raised it to its feet, and pressed it to his\nside; the hand that rested on the curly head was that of a workman, with\nbroken nails, and yet the fingers twitched with the excitement of the man.\nBut, looking to his face, I saw that a wonderful change had come over it.\nFrom rage, it had turned to pity and love; the eyes that had flashed scorn\non the money\u2010changers now looked down with tenderness on the little child.\nI remember thinking to myself, \u201cThis man cannot say the thing that is not;\nhis face bewrayeth him.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile the money\u2010changers and those with them had collected together\nnear the gate by which I had entered, and stood there whispering and\nmuttering among themselves. All at once they turned towards the man as he\nwas soothing the little child, and shouted out together, \u201c_Mamzer!\nMamzer!_\u201d which in our tongue signifieth one born out of wedlock. Then the\nman looked up from the little child, his face once more full of rage, and\nthe blue vein throbbing on his temple. He took a step towards the men, and\nthen he stopped. His face changed to a look of pity, and the men\nthemselves, in fear and shame, slunk away before his look through the gate\nand were gone.\n\nThen he turned towards those that had for sale doves as sacrifices for the\nwomen and the poor. To these he spoke in a tone that was calm and yet full\nof authority, and then I noticed that his voice had the burr of our\nnorthern peasantry. He said unto them, \u201cTake these things hence; make not\nmy Father\u2019s house a house of merchandise.\u201d And these, too, went away\nthrough the gates, carrying with them the wicker cages full of doves. Ever\nsince that time the doves have been for sale in Hanan\u2019s Bazaar on the\nMount of Olives.\n\nNow I must tell thee that at this time there had been much disputing\nbetween the Pharisees and the Sadducees as to the sale of beasts for\nsacrifice. The Pharisees held that each man might buy such beasts wherever\nhe would; but the Sadducees, being mainly priests, or of priestly blood,\nwould have it that the beasts of sacrifice could only be purchased from\nthe salesmen duly authorized by the High Priest; for they said, \u201cWho shall\ntell that the beasts are according to the Law, if they are bought from any\nchance person?\u201d Yet many thought they only did this in order that they\nmight share the profit from the sale of the animals. And, indeed, the\ngreat riches of the High Priests came mainly from this source. When,\ntherefore, I saw the man with the scourge getting rid of these sacrificial\nanimals from the courts of the Temple, my first thought was that he was of\nthe sect of the Pharisees. Yet these are rarely found in the country\nparts, and the man bore no great marks of special piety; his phylacteries\nwere not broader than my own; the fringes of his garment were not more\nconspicuous, nor did he seem as one of the fanatics who are so many in our\nland. He had done what he had done in all calmness, and with a certain air\nof authority. My wonder was aroused to think what manner of man this could\nbe, who did the work of the Pharisees, and was not one himself.\n\nWhile I thus thought, the man turned to a group of men clad in the same\nrustic garb, saying, \u201cBe ye rather approved money\u2010changers, holding fast\nthe good and casting forth the false;\u201d(1) and, after other words, he\nturned from them and went up the steps leading to the Women\u2019s Court.\n\nNow thou knowest, Aglaophonos, that at the entrance of this court standeth\nan inscription which saith, \u201cLET NONE OF ALIEN BIRTH PASS WITHIN THE\nTEMPLE CLOISTERS: HE THAT TRANSGRESSES IS GUILTY OF DEATH.\u201d As the man\nwith the scourge would enter the Women\u2019s Court, the Roman sentry stopped\nhim, and pointed to this inscription with his spear. He shook his head,\nsaying in faulty Greek, \u201cJewish I am,\u201d and showed the soldier the fringes\nof his garment after the Jewish fashion. Then the sentry drew back, and\nthe man passed through.\n\nThereupon I went up to the men to whom the man with the scourge had\nspoken, and greeted them with the greeting of peace.\n\n\u201cPeace unto thee, master,\u201d said one of them in the same northern accent I\nhad noticed in their leader.\n\n\u201cWho is that man,\u201d I said, \u201cthat has just gone into the Temple cloister?\u201d\n\n\u201cJesus of Nazara, in Galilee.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd whose son is he?\u201d I asked.\n\nThe man looked at his companions ere he answered,\u2014\n\n\u201cOf Joseph ben Eli the carpenter, and Miriam his wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what is his trade?\u201d I continued.\n\n\u201cA wheelwright,\u201d he said; \u201cthe best wheels and yokes in all Capernaum are\nmade by him.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut is he of the country\u2010folk,(2) or a pupil of the wise?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, master, he knoweth the Law and the Prophets.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf what party is he? Boethusian he cannot be, nor Sadducee; but is he\nPharisee or Zealot, Essene or Baptist?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is of no party.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut from whom hath he received the tradition of the elders? At whose feet\nhas he sat? Whom calleth he master?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe hath been baptized by Jochanan his kinsman, but none calleth he\nmaster.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf he have not the tradition, he cannot teach the Law, for his words will\nnot be binding. Doth he sit in judgment or pronounce _Din_?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, master, he but teacheth us to be good.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d said I, \u201che is but a homolist of the Hagada; he addeth naught to the\n_Halacha_. Then what is his motto?\u201d(3)\n\n\u201cHe saith, \u2018Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d\n\nThen I took the man away from his companions, and out of hearing of the\nRoman sentry, and asked him in a low tone, \u201cAnd who shall be the king\nthereof?\u201d\n\nBut the man answered not, but said only, \u201cLo! he cometh.\u201d\n\nAnd, indeed, at that moment Jesus came down by the steps he had ascended\nand beckoned to his companions. And as they went towards him I was\nsurprised, and at the same time horrified, to see amongst them two persons\nwhom I little thought to find in any public place in Jerusalem, still less\nin the courts of the Temple. One was a woman in the yellow veil of a\n_het\u00e6ra_; the other, a mere _Nathin_ who had no name among men, but was\ncalled _Dog o\u2019 Dogs_. These two pressed close to Jesus; the woman rushed\nforward with a sob and raised the hem of his garment to her lips, while to\nthe man he spoke some friendly words, smiling on him as they walked\ntowards the entrance.\n\nI was astonished. The man had seemed so careful of the purity of the\nTemple that he would not allow even the necessary arrangements for its\nservice to be performed in its precincts, yet he allowed its courts to be\ndefiled by the vilest of the vile. Perchance, I thought, he had prevailed\nupon them to perform the vows enjoined by the Law, and cleanse themselves\nof their sin. Or was it that he was ignorant of their characters, being\nbut newly come from rural parts? He must, indeed, be different from other\nrabbis, who kept themselves apart from all transgressors against the Law\ntill they had repented and done penance.\n\nWhile I thus meditated, I saw the High Priest Hanan, whom ye Hellenes call\nAnnas, enter into the court of the Gentiles with his guard. Thou\nrememberest the man, Aglaophonos\u2014how his tyranny extended over all the\ncity. He was still called High Priest, though Valerius Gratius, the\nProcurator, had deposed him years before, lest haply he might regain the\nregal power of the Maccab\u00e6ans. Still, even after his deposition, he had\nsufficient power to get his sons or sons\u2010in\u2010law named High Priests. It was\none of the latter, Joseph Caiaphas, who at that time held the office; yet\nthe people still called Hanan High Priest, and he himself wore on high\ndays the bells and pomegranates round his tunic as a sign of his dignity.\nThou must remember his keen\u2010cut face, his nose like an eagle\u2019s, his long\nwhite beard, bent neck, and sinewy hand. Was it thou or I that first\ncalled him \u201cthe Old Vulture\u201d?\n\nHe had heard of the insult to his dignity by the removal, without his\norders, of the money\u2010changers and others to whom the people paid the fees\nfrom which he and his made such display in his grand dwelling on the Mount\nof Olives. \u201cWhere is he? where is he?\u201d he cried, as he came bustling up,\nwith neck extended, and looking more than ever like a bird of prey. He\nsoon found that the man he sought had gone; but he had given his orders,\nand before I left the court, I saw the money\u2010changers re\u00ebnter and the\ncattle driven back. I had to attend a meeting of the Sanhedrim, for that\nyear I had risen to the third and highest bench of disciples who sit under\nits members when they give judgment. Next year I was elected of the\nSeventy\u2010One myself in the section of Israelites. It must, therefore, have\nbeen in the sixteenth year of Tiberius the Emperor, nearly five\u2010and\u2010twenty\nyears agone, that I thus saw for the first time Jesus the Nazarene.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   II.\n                             THE UPBRINGING.\n\n\nThou canst imagine the wonder and excitement in Jerusalem at this bold\ndeed of the Nazarene. Not even the oracle of Delphi is regarded with so\nmuch reverence as our sacred fane, and none in our time had dared to\ninterfere with its regulations, which have all the sacredness of our\ntraditions. And of these none was regarded by the priestly guardians of\nthe Temple as of greater weight for them than the right of sale of beasts\nof sacrifice. It is from this, as I have said, that the priestly order\ngain their wealth, and no more deadly blow could be struck at their power\nthan to deprive them of this. Hence had the Pharisees protested against\nthis right, but none had hitherto dared to carry out the protest in very\ndeed. All the poor and all the pious would have been glad if they could\nbuy their offerings to the Lord wheresoever they would.\n\nBut more than all, men of Jerusalem were amazed at the daring of the\nGalil\u00e6an stranger in opposing the High Priest Hanan. This man had been the\ntyrant of the Temple and of the city for the whole span of a generation of\nmen, and no man had dared say him nay for all that time. Even the Romans,\nwho had deposed him from his position as High Priest, had not dared to\ninterfere with him otherwise. Yet had this rude countryman, who had never\nbeen seen, never been known to set foot in Jerusalem before, dared to\nstrike at the root of his power and wealth. Thou canst not wonder that men\nwere curious to know what manner of man he might be who had dared this\ngreat thing, and busy rumor ran through all the bazaars of Jerusalem,\nasking, Who is this Jesus of Nazara? All that I learnt of his kindred and\nearly life I learnt at this time, and I here set it forth in order.\n\nIt was natural that I should first direct my inquiries as to his birth,\nfor the insulting cry of the money\u2010changers still rang in my ears. Thou\nknowest our pride of birth; I learnt from thee to abate it. Every man in\nIsrael taketh his place in the nation according as he is a son of Aaron or\nof Levi, a simple Israelite, or a proselyte that fears the Lord; each man\nknoweth his own and his neighbor\u2019s genealogy. The greatest slur upon a man\nis to accuse him of \u201cmixture,\u201d the greatest insult is to call him\n\u201cbastard.\u201d Why had the money\u2010changers cast this slur upon the Nazarene?\nThou and I, Aglaophonos, who boast to be citizens of the Kosmos, would not\nthink the worse of him if the taunt were true. Yet thou canst understand\nhow great, even if he only thought it to be true, would be the influence\nof such a slur on this mans mind and on his career. If in after\u2010days he\nshowed himself so careless of the nation\u2019s hopes, may it not have been\nthat he felt himself in some way outside the nation?\n\nNow I found, upon inquiry among the Galil\u00e6ans settled in Jerusalem, that\nsome such scandal had arisen about his birth. There had even been talk\nthat Joseph ben Eli would have put away his wife, but for the stern\npenalties which our Law inflicts upon the misdoer. Yet there may have been\nnaught but suspicion in the matter, for the two lived together, and Miriam\nbore several children to Joseph after this Jesus. But between him and them\nthere was never good will, and I have heard things told of this Jesus\nwhich seem to show some harshness in his treatment of them, and even of\nhis mother. Once when he was told that his mother and brethren were\nwithout, and would see him, he as it were repudiated them, saying, \u201cWho\nare my mother and my brothers? Whosoever doeth the will of God, the same\nis my brother and sister and mother.\u201d Again, when once his mother came to\nhim and would speak to him, he said to her, \u201cWoman, what have I to do with\nthee?\u201d The man whom I had seen so tenderly thoughtful to a little child\ncould not have spoken thus unless he had felt himself placed by some means\noutside the natural ties of men.\n\nOf Jesus\u2019 upbringing I could learn little. When he was at the age of\nthirteen, when each Jewish male child becomes a Son of the Covenant (_Bar\nMitzva_), and, as we think, takes his sins upon his own soul, his parents\nbrought him to Jerusalem. On this occasion, as some still remember, he\nshowed remarkable knowledge of the Law, when, as is customary, they read\nthe portion of the Law set down for the Sabbath reading next after his\nbirthday, and he was examined in its meaning by the learned men present.\nYet he fulfilled not this promise of devotion to the Law as he grew in\nyears. I cannot learn that he dusted himself with the \u201cdust of the wise,\u201d\nas the sages have commanded.(4) Not having sat at the feet of any of the\nholders of tradition, he could not pronounce decisions of the Law.\n\nHis father brought him up to his own trade, that of carpenter. With us\nmanual toil is not despised, as among you Hellenes; there is a saying\namong us, \u201cWhoso bringeth not his son up to a handicraft traineth him for\na robber.\u201d Jesus was a good and capable worker, and devoted himself\nespecially to the making of yokes and wheels at Capernaum, where he had\nsettled, some five hours\u2019 journey from his native place. Here he would\noften read the _Haphtaroth_, or prophetical lessons, in the synagogue, and\nexplain it after the manner of the Hagada.\n\nThus he would have passed his life, a wheelwright on week\u2010days, a preacher\non the Sabbath and festivals, but for a strange event that occurred in his\nown family. Among us Jews, none has more honor than the _Nabi_, the man\nwho speaks the word of wisdom in the name of God. How know we that a man\nis a Nabi? Chiefly by his words, but mainly by his eyes, in which there\nshines the light of prophecy. Now, when Jesus was about thirty years old,\nthree or four years before I first saw him, the light of prophecy came in\nthe eyes of his cousin, Jochanan ben Zacharia Ha\u2010Cohen. Thou knowest,\nAglaophonos, that amongst us there is a sect of Essenoi, who answer in\nmuch to the Pythagoreans among the Hellenes. These Essenoi eat no flesh,\nthey dwell not in the cities of men, they perform frequent lustrations,\nnor will they admit any into their community until they have been baptized\nof them; they care little for the Temple service, and in this above all\ndistinguish themselves from either Pharisees or Sadducees. Their belief in\nthe angels is strong, and they use magic for the healing of sickness.\n\nNow, this Jochanan, the cousin of Jesus, seems to have adopted in many\nthings the views of these Essenoi: he separated himself from men, and ate\nno flesh, nor did he go up to the Temple on the three great festivals of\nthe year; and above all, when men began to follow after him, he would\nadmit none to communion with him till he had baptized them in running\nwater, and for this he was called among the folk Jochanan the Baptizer.\nYet he was not an Essene, for he joined not their communion, nor\nestablished any distinction of orders among the men who came out to him;\nhe was more like unto the prophets of old, who taught as individuals new\ntruths about life; and his great teaching was this: \u201cRepent ye, for the\nkingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d And men went out to him, asking him in what\nthey should repent so as to become worthy of the kingdom. Above all, those\nwho were despised of the people because they did the work of the Romans,\nby being their tax\u2010gatherers or their soldiers, feared the wrath to come\nin the new kingdom which he preached, and asked him in what they should\nalter their ways. But to them he was by no means hard, saying only to the\ntax\u2010gatherers, \u201cAct justly,\u201d and to the soldiers, \u201cDo no violence.\u201d To the\npoor he was tender and merciful, but exhorted the rich to divide their\npossessions with the poor. In this way he drew unto him all who were\ndespised of the people, and those who were poor and miserable. Thus he\nattracted the notice of the rulers, who feared that he was preparing to\nrebel against them; for they said, \u201cWherefore does this man attract to him\nthe discontented and the soldiery?\u201d\n\nNow, when the family of Jesus heard that their relative was gaining a name\namong men, they sent to Jesus, asking him to go with them unto his cousin;\nbut he, as I have heard, at first refused, saying, \u201cWherein have I sinned,\nthat I should be baptized of Jochanan?\u201d Yet afterwards he consented unto\nthis, and went out to be baptized of his cousin. And when he saw the power\nfor good that Jochanan exercised, his spirit was exalted, and he felt that\nhe too had within him the same power. Many strange things have I heard of\nwhat happened to this Jesus when he submitted to be baptized by his\ncousin. And as none but Jesus would have known his feelings on that\noccasion, these reports must have come from him. Among us it is the custom\nthat each Jew should select from the Psalms some _stichos_ which should\nserve as the motto of his life, and identify him when he appeareth before\nthe Angel of Death. Now, it would appear that as Jesus was being baptized\nof Jochanan he heard the Daughter(5) of the Voice of God say to him the\n_stichos_ of the psalm, \u201cThou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.\u201d\nWhether this was a protest of his soul against the slur cast upon his\nbirth, what man shall say? But henceforth he spake of the fatherhood of\nGod as if it had to him a deeper sense than to most of us Jews, though\nwith us, as I have oft explained to thee, it is the central feeling of our\nfaith.\n\nJesus did not remain long out in the wilderness with his cousin; he,\nindeed, early recognized his superiority, though he was his master and his\nteacher. For at the first the teaching of Jesus differed but in little\nfrom the teaching of Jochanan. He summed up his whole aim in the words\nwhich I had heard his followers use in the Temple: \u201cRepent ye, for the\nkingdom of heaven is at hand;\u201d and this he must have learnt from his\ncousin. So, too, like Jochanan, he mingled with the tax\u2010gatherers and the\nsoldiery, and above all addressed himself to the poor, and, as I was to\nsee, exhorted the rich to distribute their possessions. In all these\nthings he was but the follower of his cousin Jochanan. It is no wonder,\ntherefore, that when Jesus separated himself from Jochanan, and began to\nbe a teacher of men, many left Jochanan and followed after Jesus; and\nuntil this Jochanan met with a violent end at the hands of the rulers,\nthere was in some sort a rivalry if not between the men themselves, at\nleast between the followers of Jochanan and of Jesus.\n\nBut even from the first there was a difference in Jesus\u2019 manner of\nteaching, if not in the teaching itself. He, indeed, did not wait for men\nto come out to him in the wilderness, but returned to the towns and\nvillages around the Sea of Galilee. Many of the fishermen left their work\nto follow him, and become, as he said, \u201cfishers of men.\u201d He preached as\nbefore in the synagogues on the words of the prophets, but now he\ncommenced to go forth to preach and teach among the people in their homes.\nYet it was observed that he went not only among the rich and powerful, who\nare used in our country to receive all who come at meal\u2010times, but most of\nall among the poor, and those despised of men for their ill life or their\ndegraded occupations. Nor did he despise those who know not the Law nor\nkeep its commands, but mixed freely with them, thereby incurring the wrath\nof those among us, and there are many, who are eager for the credit of the\nLaw. Still, though he lived his life among the low and the vile, he\npracticed none of their ways, nor was aught of low or vile seen in him or\nthose with him. Yet he turned against him many who would have been well\ndisposed towards him, in that he followed his cousin\u2019s example, and spake\nkindly to the tax\u2010gatherers and to the soldiers, whom the greater part of\nthe Jews regard as the enemies of their country.\n\nNow, as he began to live his life among the people, he began to do many\nsigns and wonders, like all our great teachers and prophets. In truth, we\nsay, how shall a man be accounted a prophet unless he can do wonders?\nIndeed, as Jesus himself said, \u201cWhy marvel ye at the signs? I give unto\nyou an inheritance such as the whole world holds not.\u201d And the manner of\nhis wonders was this: if a man was afflicted with a demon of madness, he\nwould cause him to fix his eyes upon his, and after a while would speak\nsternly and suddenly to the demon within him, who would depart from him,\nrending his soul. So, too, would he do with women who were torn asunder by\nthe demons fighting within. To these he would speak calmly after he had\nfixed their eyes, and, behold, a great calm would come upon them. But he\nused no exorcisms or magic in his healing, nor spake he in the name of\nGod, but with the tone of one having authority in himself. Hence many\nthought he had within him a greater Daimon than those afflicted men and\nwomen whom he healed. Thence it was thought that for this reason the\ndemons of madness often returned to those whom he had freed for a while\nwith greater violence after he had gone forth from the place of their\nhabitation. There was much murmuring against him for that he did his\nhealing, not in the name of God, but in his own name and his own\nauthority.\n\nYet he claimed no authority to decide the questions of the Law; though\nmany applied to him in difficult cases, these he referred to the learned\nin the Law, saying, \u201cDo ye as the scribes command.\u201d Yet it was complained\nthat he paid no great attention to their commands himself, nor for his\nfollowers. Nor did he rebuke men when he saw them transgressing the Law\neven in the greater transgressions. Thus I have heard it said of him, that\nonce with his followers, he met a man laboring on the Sabbath day, a sin\nwhich, according to the Law, was punished with stoning. But all he said\nunto him was this: \u201cMan, if thou knowest what thou doest, blessed art\nthou; but if thou knowest not, accursed art thou, and a transgressor of\nthe Law.\u201d(6) This is, indeed, a dark saying. Is each man, then, to choose\nfor himself which commands of the Law he shall do, and which not? The\nfence of the Law, which our Sages have built up with such labor and toil,\nwould be stricken down at one stroke. Yet perhaps in this he only followed\nthe principle of our Sages who have said, \u201cThe Sabbath was made for you,\nnot you for the Sabbath.\u201d\n\nSuch was the manner of life of this Jesus up to the time when I first saw\nhim in the Temple. Men knew not what to make of him; many regarded him as\na prophet because of the signs and the wonders which he did; and those who\nwere looking forward to the blessed day in which Israel would be free\nagain under its own king hoped that he was Elijah come again to prepare\nthe way for the new kingdom.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                  III.\n                            EARLIER TEACHING.\n                SERMON IN THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE GALIL\u00c6ANS.\n\n\nIt must have been a year after I had first seen Jesus that I saw him again\nthe second time in Jerusalem. It fell out in this wise: I was proceeding\none morning to the meeting of the Sanhedrim, when, as I came near the\nSynagogue of the Galil\u00e6ans in the Fish\u2010Market, I found a crowd of men\nentering in. I asked one of them what was going forward, and he said,\n\u201cJesus the Nazarene will expound the Law.\u201d So I determined to take the\nmorning service in this synagogue rather than with my colleagues in the\nTemple, and went in, the people giving way before me, as was my due as a\nmember of the Sanhedrim.\n\nNow, this synagogue of the Galil\u00e6ans differed in naught from the rest of\nthe synagogues of the Jews. It cannot be that thou hast not visited one of\nthese when thou wast in the Holy City, but perchance thy memory is dim\nafter all these years, and I will in a few words explain to thee its\narrangement. In the wall at the west end was the cabinet containing the\nscrolls of the Law, with a curtain before it, for this is, as it were, the\nHoly of Holies of the synagogue. The men go up to this, on to the platform\nbefore it, by three steps. Then comes a vacant space, in the midst of\nwhich stands a dais, with a reading\u2010desk whereon the Law is read: this we\ncall by your Greek name _bema_. Then in the rest of the hall sit the folk,\narranged in benches one after another, somewhat as in your theatres. Now,\nas I came in, they had said the morning psalms, and most of the Eighteen\nBlessings, and shortly after the reading of the Law began. The curtain was\ndrawn aside from the holy ark, the scroll of the Law was taken thence, to\nthe singing of psalms unto the _bema_. Then, as is customary, the\nmessenger of the congregation summoned first to the reading of the Law a\nCohen, a descendant of Aaron, one of the priestly caste. And after he had\nread some verses of the Law in the holy tongue, the dragoman read its\ntranslation into Chaldee, so as to be understanded of the unlearned folk,\nand of the women who were in the gallery outside the synagogue, and\nseparated from it by a grating. Then after the priest came a Levite, who\nalso read some verses, and after him an ordinary Israelite. Then the\nmessenger of the synagogue called out, \u201cLet Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph\narise.\u201d Then Jesus the Nazarene went up to the _bema_ and read his\nappointed verses, and these were translated as before by the dragoman. And\nafter the reading of the Law was concluded, the _Parnass_, or president of\nthe congregation, requested Jesus to read the _Haphtara_, the lesson from\nthe prophets; and this he did, using the cantillation with which we chant\nwords of Holy Scripture. Yet never heard I one whose voice so thrilled me,\nand brought home to one the import of the great words; and this was\nstrange, for his accent was, as I had before noticed, that of the Galil\u00e6an\npeasantry, at which we of Jerusalem were wont to scoff. Then, after the\nLaw had been returned to the ark with song and psalm, Jesus turned round\nto the people on the _bema_ and began his discourse. It is near five\u2010and\u2010\ntwenty years since I heard him, and much have I forgotten in that long\ntime. But many of his sayings still ring in my ears, and I will here put\ndown, as far as possible in order, all that I can remember of the\ndiscourse.(7)\n\n\n\u201cIt hath been written by the Prophet Esaias: Behold, his reward is with\nhim, and his work before him. Yea, behold a man and his work before him.\nHe that worketh not, let him not eat. Yet he that plougheth, let him\nplough in hope; he that thresheth, thresh in hope of partaking. Howbeit,\nhe who longs to be rich is like a man who drinketh seawater: the more he\ndrinketh the more thirsty he becomes, and never leaves off drinking till\nhe perish. Blessed is he who also fasts that he may feed the poor: for it\nis more blessed to give than to receive. Yet let thy alms sweat into thy\nhands until thou know to whom thou givest. Where there are pains, thither\nhastens the physician: that which is weak shall be saved by that which is\nstrong. For the sake of the weak I was weak, for the sake of the hungry I\nhungered, for the sake of the thirsty I thirsted. But woe to those who\nhave yet hypocritically taken from others; who are able to help\nthemselves, and yet wish to take from others: for each man shall give\naccount in the day of judgment.\n\n\u201cThat which thou hatest thou shalt not do to another. Good things must\ncome; he is blessed through whom they come. Love covereth a multitude of\nsins; so never be joyful save when you look upon your brother\u2019s\ncountenance in love. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. For the\ngreatest of crimes is this: if a man shall sadden his brother\u2019s spirit.\nBlessed, too, are they who mourn for the perdition of unbelievers. Do not\ngive occasion to the Wicked One. Who is the Wicked One? He that tempts.\nYet none shall reach the kingdom of heaven unless he have been tempted:\nfor our Father which is in heaven would rather the repentance of a sinner\nthan his correction. Yet he will cleanse the house of his kingdom from all\noffence. Be, therefore, careful and prudent and wise, lest any of you be\ncaught in the snares of the devil, for that ancient enemy goes about\nbuffeting.\n\n\u201cIf thou hast seen thy brother, thou hast seen thy Lord, God the Father,\nwhose fatherland is everywhere, in heaven and upon earth. Far and near,\nthe Lord knoweth his own. So grieve not the holy spirit which is in you,\nnor extinguish the light which shines in you. Guard the flesh pure, and\nthe signet spotless, so that ye may take hold upon eternal life. For our\npossessions are in heaven; therefore, sons of men, purchase unto\nyourselves by these transitory things which are not yours, what is yours,\nand shall not pass away.\u201d\n\n\nI cannot tell thee, Aglaophonos, how deeply this discourse affected me.\nJust as the Hellenes are eager to find each day some new beauty in man or\nthe world, or some new truth about the relation of things, so we Hebrews\nrejoice in finding new ideals in the relations of men. Each of our Sages\nprides himself on this\u2014that he has said some maxim of wisdom that none had\nthought of before him, and so each of them is remembered in the minds of\nmen by one or more of his favorite maxims. But it is rare if in a whole\nlifetime a sage sayeth more than one word fit to be treasured up among\nmen. Yet was this man Jesus dropping pearls of wisdom from his mouth in\nprodigal profusion. As each memorable word fell from his lips, a murmur of\ndelighted surprise passed round the synagogue, and each man looked to his\nneighbor with brightened eyes. Some of the thoughts, indeed, I had heard\nfrom other of our Sages, but never in so pointed a form, surely never in\nsuch profusion from a single sage.\n\nAnd if what was said delighted us, the manner in which it was said\nentranced us still more. The voice of the speaker answered to the thoughts\nhe expressed, as the Kinnor of David, according to our Sages, turned the\nwind into music. When he spoke of love, his voice was as the cooing dove;\nwhen he denounced the oppressor, it clanged like a silver trumpet. Indeed,\nhis whole countenance and bearing changed in like manner, so that every\nword he uttered seemed to be the outcome of his whole being.\n\nBut most of all was it the vividness of his eyes that impressed his words\nupon us. I had seen them flashing with scorn in the Temple, I now saw them\nmelting with tenderness in the synagogue; and there was this of strange in\nthem, that they seemed to speak other and deeper words. As he gazed upon\nus, I felt as if all my inmost being was bare to the gaze of those eyes.\nThey seemed to know all my secret thoughts and sins; and yet I felt not\nashamed, for as they saw the sins, so they seemed to speak forgiveness of\nthem.\n\nWhat I felt then, others felt with me, for, as I afterwards learnt, each\nman felt the same as the eyes of Jesus fell upon him; and most curious it\nwas that each man thought as I did, that the eyes of the speaker were upon\nhim during the whole of the discourse. I have seen here in Alexandria\nportraits of men painted by your subtlest artists, in which, from whatever\nplace you looked at them, the eyes seemed to gaze upon you. So was it with\nJesus. Not alone did I, who was, as a member of the Sanhedrim, sitting\nimmediately before him, feel his eyes pierce to my soul, but all who were\nin that synagogue felt the same. Nor did the effect die away after I had\nleft the synagogue; for days and days afterwards, whenever I closed my\neyes, or gazed for long on the wall, I could see the eyes of Jesus, and\nwith it his whole face gazing upon me.\n\nI had left the synagogue a little before the others, because a messenger\nhad been sent from the Sanhedrim to seek for a member who should make up\nthe quorum of Twenty\u2010Three; and this messenger, hearing that a member of\nthe Sanhedrim was in the synagogue of the Galil\u00e6ans, sent in to summon me.\nWhen the sitting was over, I sought for Jesus again, but found that he had\nleft the city. And for a time I neither saw nor heard aught more of him,\nsave such rumors as came to the Holy City from Galilee. About this time\nmany joined themselves unto him, going whithersoever he went. Those, too,\nwho had joined themselves to Jochanan passed over to him, for Jochanan had\nbeen slain by Herod, whom he had rebuked for his wicked living. It was,\nindeed, said that Herod had also captured this Jesus when he found that he\nwas following in the footsteps of Jochanan; but this proved to be untrue,\nand the multitude thronged more and more after Jesus, and from this time\nhe began to teach them regularly, after the manner of our Sages. Yet he\ndid not pronounce decisions of Halacha on questions of our Law; indeed, he\ndisclaimed all interference with such questions. \u201cI am not come,\u201d he said,\n\u201cto take away from the Law of Moses, nor to add to the Law of Moses am I\ncome.\u201d Only one saying of his have I heard of wherein he said aught at\nvariance with the Torah. When the children of a man who had recently died\nasked him in what way should the property be divided, he said, \u201cLet son\nand daughter inherit alike.\u201d In this, as in other things, he was more\nfavorable to the claims of the women than the Law and the Sages. For this\nreason, perhaps, it was that many women followed after him, even joined in\nprayer with him and those with him, against the custom of our nation.\nHence arose much scandal among the more rigidly pious among us, who follow\nthe saying of Joseph ben Jochanan, \u201cEngage not in much converse with\nwomen.\u201d But I have heard naught of evil that resulted from this free\nmingling of men and women among his followers. Yet Jesus was not against\nthe due subordination of women, for he also said, \u201cLet the wife be in\nsubordination to her husband.\u201d\n\nThou must know that among us our Sages are of two kinds, the Halachists\nand the Hagadists. The former deal with matters of the Law according to\nthe tradition they have received from their teacher; but the latter\nexpound the words of the Scripture, and deal with the moral relations of\nman to man. Some of our Sages, indeed, like the great Hillel, who died\nwhen I was a child, have been equally masters both of the Halacha and the\nHagada; and in many ways the teaching of Jesus seems to have resembled, if\nit did not follow, that of Hillel. I must tell thee one anecdote about\nthis Hillel which is well known amongst us. He was distinguished for his\nevenness of temper, and men would often in sport try to make him lose it.\nA heathen came before him one day, and declared that he would become a Jew\nif only Hillel would tell him the whole Law while he stood upon one foot,\nhoping thereby to irritate Hillel by his presumption. But Hillel said\nonly, \u201cWhat thou wilt not for thyself, do not to thy neighbor. This is the\nwhole of the Law; all the rest is but commentary thereon. Go and learn.\u201d\nNow, among the disciples of Hillel was one who compiled for the heathen a\nsummary of the Law in the spirit of Hillel; and it seemed to me, from what\nI heard of Jesus\u2019 teaching, that he had learnt much from this summary,\nwhich is called \u201cTHE TWO WAYS.\u201d I will have a copy written out for thee,\nfor it is very short.\n\nNow, in all the teaching of Jesus which I heard of about this time, he\nseems to have expanded, but in no wise modified, the teaching of \u201cThe Two\nWays.\u201d Above all, he seems to have warned men against the evil feelings\nwithin, that lead to sins against the Law, and therein differed somewhat\nfrom the practice of our Sages, who think that by doing the Law and\nkeeping to it rightful feelings shall grow, and evil thoughts fly away.\n\nYet while in many ways Jesus seemed to be of the School of Hillel, in\nothers he cast in his lot with the men among us who claim to be especially\nfavored of God, because\u2014thou wilt smile, Aglaophonos\u2014because they are\npoor. Thou hast read our Psalms, and knowest with what insistence the poor\nand the righteous, the rich and the wicked, are identified in them. Many\nof our nation have taken this to heart, and as it were pride themselves\nupon their humility, as some of them call themselves _Ebionim_, or the\nPoor; some, the _Zaddikim_, or Righteous; some, _Chasidim_, or Pious. Thou\ncanst not call them a sect, for in a way they include the whole nation. In\nthe Eighteen Blessings which form the staple of our daily prayers, the\nLord is blessed as the Guardian and Refuge of the _Zaddikim_. Now, it was\nchiefly among these men, whether they called themselves _Ebionim_, or\n_Zaddikim_, or _Chasidim_, that Jesus found his chief adherents, though he\nseems to give his preference to the _Ebionim_, who have always been\ninsisting upon the blessedness of the poor. Now, these men consider\nthemselves to be beyond all others the servants of the Lord, and identify\nthemselves with that picture of the servant which has been given by the\nProphet Esaias. Thus in all these ways Jesus appealed to the more earnest\npart of our nation, and in him were conjoined most of the movements that\nhad touched us most deeply. If any had said at this time, \u201cJesus the\nNazarene is a follower of Jochanan the Baptizer, and preaches \u2018The Two\nWays\u2019 to the Poor,\u201d none could have gainsaid him.\n\nYet all were wondering what he would say to the other side of our nation\u2019s\nhopes. The life of our nation had begun with a deliverance; our chief\nnational feast recalls that deliverance from Egypt to us every year as the\nspring comes round. We have become subject to all the great kingdoms that\nhave grown up round us, yet again and again we have been delivered from\neach. Thou and I have often wondered how it has come about that both\nHellenes and Hebrews, who feel ourselves in different ways higher than\nthese stolid Romans who rule us, have yet become subject to them. Thy\nnation hath acquiesced in their rule; my people never will. Every man who\npromises greatness among us is hoped for as the Deliverer. Many men about\nthis time began to ask, Will Jesus the Nazarene be the Deliverer?\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   IV.\n                              THE TWO WAYS.\n\n\nNow, this is the \u201cCATECHISM OF THE TWO WAYS\u201d which I have had copied out\nfor thee, for in it is the essence of the teaching of Jesus, as he himself\nrecognized in speaking to me, as thou wilt shortly hear.\n\n\u201cThere are two ways, one of life and one of death, but there is a great\ndifference between the two ways. Now, the way of life is this: first, Thou\nshalt love God who made thee; secondly, thy neighbor as thyself, and all\nthings whatsoever thou wouldest not should be done to thee, do thou also\nnot do to another. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery,\nthou shalt not corrupt boys, thou shalt not commit fornication, thou shalt\nnot steal, thou shalt not use witchcraft, thou shalt not use enchantments,\nthou shalt not kill an infant whether before or after birth, thou shalt\nnot covet thy neighbor\u2019s goods.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not forswear thyself, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou\nshalt not revile, thou shalt not bear malice.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not be double\u2010minded nor double\u2010tongued; for duplicity of\ntongue is a snare of death.\n\n\u201cThy speech shall not be false nor vain.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not be covetous, nor an extortioner, nor a hypocrite, nor\nmalignant, nor haughty. Thou shalt not take evil counsel against thy\nneighbor.\n\n\u201cThou shalt hate no man, but some thou shalt rebuke, and for some thou\nshalt pray, and some thou shalt love above thine own soul.\n\n\u201cMy child, flee from all evil, and from all that is like unto it.\n\n\u201cBe not soon angry, for anger leadeth to murder; nor given to party\u2010\nspirit, nor contentious, nor quick\u2010tempered, for from all these are\ngenerated murders.\n\n\u201cMy child, be not lustful, for lust leadeth to fornication; neither be a\nfilthy talker, nor a lifter\u2010up of the eyes, for from all these things are\ngenerated adulteries.\n\n\u201cMy child, be not thou an observer of birds, for it leadeth to idolatry;\nnor a charmer, nor an astrologer, nor a user of purifications; nor be thou\nwilling to look on those things, for from all these is generated idolatry.\n\n\u201cMy child, be not a liar, for lying leadeth to theft; nor a lover of\nmoney, nor fond of vainglory, for from all these things are generated\nthefts.\n\n\u201cMy child, be not a murmurer, for it leadeth to blasphemy; neither self\u2010\nwilled, nor evil\u2010minded, for from all these things are generated\nblasphemies.\n\n\u201cBe thou long\u2010suffering, and merciful, and harmless, and quiet, and good,\nand trembling continually at the words which thou hast heard.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not exalt thyself, nor shalt thou give presumption to thy\nsoul. Thy soul shall not be joined to the lofty, but with the just and\nlowly shalt thou converse.\n\n\u201cThe events that happen to thee shalt thou accept as good, knowing that\nwithout God nothing taketh place.\n\n\u201cMy child, thou shalt remember night and day him that speaketh to thee the\nword of God.\n\n\u201cBut thou shalt seek out day by day the faces of the saints, that thou\nmayest rest in their words.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not desire division, but shalt make peace between those at\nstrife; so thou shalt judge justly. Thou shalt not respect a person in\nrebuking for transgressions.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not be of two minds whether it shall be or not.\n\n\u201cBe not one that stretcheth out his hands to receive, but shutteth them\nclose for giving.\n\n\u201cIf thou hast, thou shalt give with thine hands a ransom for thy sins.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not hesitate to give, nor when thou givest shalt thou murmur,\nfor thou shalt know who is the good recompenser of the reward.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not turn away from him that needeth, but shalt share all\nthings with thy brother, and shalt not say that they are thine own; for if\nye are fellow\u2010sharers in that which is imperishable, how much more in\nperishable things.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not take away thine hand from thy son or from thy daughter,\nbut from their youth up shalt thou teach them the fear of God.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not in thy bitterness lay commands on thy man\u2010servant or thy\nmaid\u2010servant, who hope in the same God, lest they should not fear him who\nis God over you both; for He cometh not to call men according to the\noutward appearance, but to those whom the Spirit hath prepared.\n\n\u201cBut ye, servants, shall be subject to your masters as to a figure of God\nin reverence and fear.\n\n\u201cThou shalt hate all hypocrisy, and everything which is not pleasing to\nthe Lord.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not forsake the commandments of the Lord, but shalt keep what\nthou hast received, neither adding thereto nor taking away from it.\n\n\u201cThou shalt confess thy transgressions, and shalt not come to thy prayer\nwith an evil conscience. This is the way of life.\n\n\u201cBut the way of death is this. First of all, it is evil and full of curse;\nmurders, adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, witchcrafts,\nsorceries, robberies, false\u2010witnessings, hypocrisies, double\u2010heartedness,\ndeceit, pride, wickedness, self\u2010will, covetousness, filthy talking,\njealousy, presumption, haughtiness, flattery.\n\n\u201cPersecutors of the good, hating truth, loving a lie, not knowing the\nreward of righteousness, not cleaving to that which is good nor to\nrighteous judgment, watching not for the good but for the evil, far from\nwhom is meekness and patience, loving vain things, seeking after reward,\nnot pitying the poor, not toiling with him who is vexed with toil, not\nknowing Him that made them, murderers of children, destroyers of the image\nof God, turning away from him that is in need, vexing him that is\nafflicted, advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, wholly\nsinful.\n\n\u201cTake heed that no one make thee to err from this way of teaching, since\nhe teacheth thee not according to God.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   V.\n                      THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY.\n                           THE RICH YOUNG MAN.\n\n\nIt must have been many months after I had heard him discourse in the\nGalil\u00e6an synagogue that I again saw Jesus the Nazarene. We in Jerusalem\nhad our own concerns to think of.\n\nAt this time the long monopoly of rule by the Sadducees was gradually\nbeing broken. Of the three divisions of the Sanhedrim, that of the\nordinary Israelites had become almost entirely composed of the Pharisees;\nI myself had been elected as one of that party, and even in the other two\nsections of the Priests and of the Levites, many, especially among the\nlatter, held with the Pharisees. Nor was this without influence upon the\npolitical issues of the times. The Sadducees, being the sacerdotal party,\nhad no cause why they should be dissatisfied with the position they held\nin the State under the Romans; but we of the Pharisees felt far otherwise\nabout the national hopes for deliverance. Since my days the influence of\nthe Pharisees has become predominant in the nation, and I foresee that the\nstruggle between us and the Romans cannot be delayed for long. At the time\nof which I am writing, the hegemony had not yet passed over to the\nPharisees, and it was of import for us all to know whether any man of\ninfluence was on our side, or on that of the Sadducees, or whether he\ncared for neither, and cast in his lot with the smaller sects.\n\nNow, it happened about this time that I was attending my place in the\nSanhedrim of Israelites, to judge of a case of adultery. But in this\nmatter our Sages, and especially those of the Pharisaic tradition, had\nmade great changes in the Law as laid down for us by Moses; for he, as\nthou knowest, commands that a woman taken in adultery shall be stoned to\ndeath. Now, for a long time among us there has been an increasing horror\nof inflicting the death penalty. If a Sanhedrim inflicts capital\npunishment more than once in seven years, it is called a Sanhedrim of\nmurderers. Yet the Law of Moses declared that whosoever was guilty of\nadultery would be put to death. What, then, was to be done? It is against\nthe principle of justice that any should be punished for an offence of\nwhich he is ignorant. Hence, in capital offences, our Sages, to mercy\ninclined, have laid it down that a man must be assumed to be ignorant of\nthe guilt of the offence, unless it be proved that he had been solemnly\nwarned of its gravity; and in our Law proof can only be given by two\nsimultaneous witnesses. Hence it is impossible to obtain conviction for a\nwoman who hath committed adultery, unless proof is given that she hath\nbeen previously warned by two persons at once. This can scarcely ever be.\nNo Jewish woman in my time has ever been stoned as the Law commands for\nthis sin. Some think that this is too great a leniency, and of evil result\nfor the morality of the folk.\n\nWhen I arrived at the hall of polished stones near the Temple, in which\nthe Sanhedrim holds its sittings, the trial had nearly come to a\nconclusion. The inquiry had been made if any two credible witnesses had\ngiven the woman the preliminary caution, and none answering to the call,\nit remained only for the _Ab Beth Din_, the president of the court, to\ndismiss the prisoner with the words of caution and advice which are\ncustomary on such occasions: \u201cMy daughter, perhaps thou wert led into sin\nby too much wine, or by thoughtlessness, or perhaps by thy youth;\nperchance it was mixing in crowds, or wicked companions that led thee to\nsin: go, and for the sake of the great Name, do not bring it to pass that\nthou must be destroyed by the water of jealousy.\u201d And with these words the\ncourt was dismissed, and several of us were appointed to take the woman to\nher home, and induce the man, her husband, to take her to him once again.\nNow, as we were passing through the courts of the Temple, we saw Jesus the\nNazarene in one of the smaller courts, seated, teaching the people, some\nof whom sat at his feet. But it seemed to some of us a favorable\nopportunity to test what he would say as regards the Law of Moses relating\nto adultery: for if he would declare that the Law must be carried out in\nall its rigor, that would show that our Sages were more merciful than he;\nif, on the other hand, he adopted the opinion of our Sages, that would in\nso far commit him to support their attitude towards the Law in general. In\nany case, it seemed a suitable occasion to test his power of dealing with\nthe Law, and it is customary among us to put such test cases before the\nyounger Sages.\n\nWe therefore turned aside and entered into the smaller court, and all rose\nto do honor to the Sanhedrim. Then one of us said to him, \u201cRabbi, this\nwoman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now, Moses in the Law hath\ncommanded that such should be stoned: what sayest thou?\u201d Now, when the man\ntold him that the woman had been taken in the very act of adultery, a deep\nblush passed over his face, and he turned his eyes downwards. Then he bent\ndown to the ground, hiding his face altogether from us, and writing, as it\nwere, something on the sand of the floor. Now, at first, I thought of the\ncry of the money\u2010changers that I had heard, and felt ashamed in my soul\nthat such a question should be brought before this man, of all men: for\nour Sages have said, \u201cThe greatest of sins is this\u2014to bring a blush upon\nthy neighbor\u2019s face in public.\u201d But the others thought not of this, but\nonce more they asked him, \u201cRabbi, what sayest thou shall be done in this\ncase?\u201d Then, without raising his head, Jesus said in a low tone, \u201cLet him\namong you that is without sin cast the first stone.\u201d Then we saw that his\nshame had been for us, and for our want of feeling in putting such a\nquestion in the very presence of her who had sinned. And in this matter we\nhold that sin can be in thought as well as in act, and which of us could\nsay that we were without sin even in thought? So, in very shame, we turned\nand went, and left Jesus alone with the woman.\n\nYet, after we had come away from him, Matathias ben Meshullam said, \u201cThat\nis well,\u2014we are rightly rebuked; but yet, dost thou not see that this man\nhath not answered our question, nor do we know, as we wished, what\nattitude he takes towards the carrying out of the Law? I hear that each\nmorning he preaches to the people in the Temple. Let us now tomorrow put\nsuch questions to him that he cannot evade, and find out to which of our\nparties he belongs; for this is a man that is getting great weight with\nthe people, and it imports us to know where he stands with regard to us.\u201d\nSo it was determined among us that the next morning a Sadducee and a\nPharisee should put to him queries which should determine what views he\nheld on the great questions which distinguished the two great parties of\nthe State.\n\nBut that very afternoon I was to learn that this Jesus had to deal with\nquestions with which none of our parties concerned themselves. For, as I\nwas coming near to Gethsemane, I met Jesus with a band of men and women\ngoing out towards Bethany, and I passed them with the salutation of\n\u201cPeace.\u201d But as I passed, a young man whom I knew, that had recently come\ninto great possessions upon the death of his father, came up and asked,\n\u201cWho is that man whom thou hast just greeted?\u201d and I said, \u201cJesus the\nNazarene.\u201d Then, suddenly, he set off running to catch them up, and being\ncurious, I turned and followed him. When I reached them I found the young\nman kneeling before Jesus, gazing up to him, and he said, \u201cGood Master, I\nhave inherited great possessions; what shall I do that I may inherit the\nlife everlasting?\u201d Jesus said to him, \u201cCall not me \u2018Good;\u2019 none is good\nbut the One. If thou wouldest enter into life, do the commandments.\u201d The\nyoung man asked, \u201cWhich?\u201d Jesus said, using the doctrine of \u201cThe Two\nWays,\u201d \u201cDo not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear\nfalse witness, do not defraud, honor thy father and thy mother, and love\nthy neighbor as thyself.\u201d Then the young man said, \u201cAll these things have\nI kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?\u201d Then Jesus said, \u201cOne thing\nthou lackest: go thy way, sell all thou hast, and give unto the poor, and\nthou shalt have heavenly treasures: come then and follow me.\u201d The young\nman began to scratch his head, and seemed in doubt. Then Jesus said unto\nhim, \u201cHow is it thou canst say, \u2018I have done the Law and the Prophets,\u2019\nsince it is written in the Law, \u2018Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself\u2019?\nBehold, many of thy brothers, sons of Abraham, are clothed but in dung,\nand die for hunger, while thy house is full of many goods, and there goeth\nnot forth aught from it unto them.\u201d But the young man rose, and went away\nin sorrow and confusion. Then Jesus looked round upon those who were\nthere, and said, \u201cHow hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter\ninto the kingdom of God! It is easier for an elephant to go through a\nneedle\u2019s eye, as the saying is, than for a rich man to enter into the\nkingdom of God.\u201d Then a murmur arose among all those present, and they\nbegan to move on, and I left them. And I said to myself, \u201cThis man is\nneither Pharisee, nor Sadducee, nor Herodian; these be the thoughts of the\nEbionim.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   VI.\n                       THE TESTINGS IN THE TEMPLE.\n\n\nNow, on the morrow, many of us who had agreed together to test the\nopinions of this Jesus went to the Temple and found Jesus walking in the\ncorridors. Then he that was of most authority among us said unto Jesus,\n\u201cRabbi, we would ask certain questions of thee;\u201d and Jesus answered, \u201cAsk,\nand it shall be answered unto thee.\u201d\n\nThou must know that among us Jews there be two chief schools of thought,\nor rather thou mightest say, parties of the State. The one holds with the\nHigh Priest and the rulers, and is mainly made up of those whom ye\nHellenes call the Best, and their retainers. These be known as the\nSadducees, for their leaders are mainly of the family of the High Priest\nSadduk. Now, the other party is in some sort the party of the Demos, in\nthat they seek to lessen the power of the High Priests and their families.\nBut with us, as thou knowest, all things turn upon religion, and this\nsecond party differ chiefly from the Sadducees, for that they are more in\nearnest with the matters of the Law, and chiefly they fear the influence\nof thy nation, Aglaophonos, in drawing the Israelite away from the Law.\nTherefore have they increased precept upon precept, so as to make, as they\nsay, a fence round the Law. And as they would separate themselves from the\nheathen by this fence, they call themselves Pharisees, that is,\nSeparatists.\n\nNow, it was nowise easy to learn whether a man was of the one party or the\nother. For he might be eager for the Law, and so be Pharisaic in color,\nand yet approve of the dominion of the priests, and thus be a Sadducee.\nYet in one chief matter of thought they went asunder contrariwise, and\nthat was concerning the resurrection of the dead. Now, with regard to\nthat, the Sadducees held that naught was said in the Law of Moses, and\ntherefore no son of Israel need concern himself with it. But the\nPharisees, on the other hand, laid great weight upon this. So here was a\ntouchstone by which to learn whether this Jesus followed the one or the\nother of the two great divisions of our nation.\n\nThen, as was agreed upon, Kamithos the Sadducee came forward to ask him\nthe question which should determine whether he held with them that there\nwas no resurrection from the dead, or with the rest of the nation. He\nsaid, \u201cRabbi, it is written in the Torah, if brethren dwell together, and\none of them die and have no son, the wife of the dead one shall not marry\nwithout, unto a stranger; her husband\u2019s brother shall take her to him to\nwife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Suppose, now, there are seven\nbrethren, and the first takes a wife, and dying leaves no son; and the\nsecond takes her, as is our custom, and dies without leaving any seed; and\nthe third likewise, and so on, till the whole seven had married her, and\nyet had no son; then the woman dies also: when they shall rise from the\ndead together, whose wife shall she be of them? for all seven had her to\nwife.\u201d And Jesus answered and said, \u201cYe are at fault, and know not the\nScriptures, nor the power of God; for in the resurrection they neither\nmarry, nor are given in marriage, but are even as the angels which are in\nheaven. And as an indication from Scripture that the dead rise, is it not\nwritten in the book of Moses, when God spake to him from the bush, saying,\n\u2018I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob\u2019? He\nis not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: therefore are ye in\nerror.\u201d\n\nAnd we were surprised at the subtlety of the man; and chiefly men\nmarvelled at the wisdom of this man in finding what we call a support,\nthat is, a text of Scripture on which to hang the doctrine of the life\nafter death, which many believe to have grown up among us since the sacred\nScriptures were written: for in them little, if anything, was said of the\nworld to come. Now, Jesus in his answer had happened upon a text which\nsaid that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were living when they were dead to\nthis world, and the people marvelled greatly thereat.\n\nNow, it had been agreed upon, that after the Sadducees had asked their\nquestion and been answered, I should stand forth and test this man Jesus\non behalf of the Pharisees. Now, one of our Sages hath said, \u201cBe as\ncareful of a little precept as of a great one;\u201d whereas our great master\nHillel had, as I have told thee, summed up the whole Law in one precept,\n\u201cLove thy neighbor as thyself.\u201d Therefore, we of the Pharisees wished to\nknow whether this Jesus agreed with the one sage or the other; so I spake\nunto him and said, \u201cRabbi, which is the first commandment, by doing which\nI shall inherit the life everlasting?\u201d But at first he answered me not\ndirectly, but said, \u201cHow readest thou?\u201d Then I remembered me the words of\nthe \u201cCatechism of the Two Ways,\u201d and answered, \u201cThou shalt love the Lord\nthy God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, and with all thy\nmind, and thy neighbor as thyself: whatsoever thou wouldest not for\nthyself, do not to another.\u201d And he said unto me, \u201cThou hast answered\nright; and the first of the commandments is the _Shema_: \u2018Hear, O Israel;\nthe Lord thy God is one God.\u2019 And the second is like, namely this: \u2018Thou\nshalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\u2019 There is none other commandment\ngreater than these. This do, and thou shalt live.\u201d Then I was rejoiced,\nand said unto him, \u201cWell, Rabbi, thou hast said the truth: there is one\nGod, and there is none other but him; and to love him with all the heart,\nand with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and all the\nstrength, and to love one\u2019s neighbor as one\u2019s self, is more than all the\nburnt offerings and sacrifices.\u201d Then Jesus became gracious unto me, and\nsaid, \u201cThou art not far from the kingdom of God.\u201d\n\nBut then I would learn further from this man who spake so well, and ask\nhim the question which is current in our schools on this subject, and I\nsaid to him, \u201cBut, Rabbi, who is my neighbor?\u201d and he answered with a\n_mashal_, or parable, and said, \u201cTo what is the matter like? A certain man\nwas going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, which\nboth stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And\nby chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him,\nhe passed by on the other side. And in like manner a Levite also, when he\ncame to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain\nIsraelite,(8) as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he\nwas moved with compassion, and came to him, and bound up his wounds,\npouring on them oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought\nhim to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow he took out two\npence, and gave them to the host, and said, \u2018Take care of him; and\nwhatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come back again, will repay\nthee.\u2019 Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that\nfell among the robbers?\u201d Then I said, \u201cNot the priest, nor the Levite,\nthough they held office in Israel, but the simple Israelite who showed\nmercy upon him.\u201d Then Jesus said unto me, \u201cGo and do thou likewise;\u201d and\nat this moment we were all summoned to the mid\u2010day sacrifice in the\nTemple.\n\nWhen Jesus had departed, after the sacrifice, we all met together and\ndiscussed his answers, which had stamped him in our minds as a master in\nthe art of question and answer, which is with us as favorable a trial of\nskill as oratory or poetry with you Hellenes. Now, as regards the question\nof the Sadducees, men thought he had spoken more openly; for though he had\nevaded a direct answer to the question of the seven brothers and their\nwife, he had yet implied that they all would have a part in the life to\ncome. Some regretted that the question had not been put differently, and\nthe problem set\u2014if a son had been born through the seventh brother: for\nthis might have thrown light upon the question of the schools, whether the\nbrother\u2019s widow was to be still regarded as his wife if seed had been\nraised to him after his death. But as to the support which Jesus had taken\nfrom Scripture for the life everlasting, though here again he had answered\nquestion by question, it was decided that he was against the Sadducees on\nthis point.\n\nBut on the questions which I had put to him, all had agreed that he had\nanswered as a Pharisee, even as Hillel might have answered, for he had\nyea\u2010said the doctrine which I had cited from the beginning of \u201cThe Two\nWays\u201d in which the doctrine of Hillel is summed up; and even as to my\nfurther question, as to who is the _chaber_, or neighbor, though opinions\nwere divided, most thought that he had spoken as a Pharisee might have\nspoken: for thou knowest, Aglaophonos, that our nation is divided into\nthree great classes\u2014the _Cohanim_, or Priests; the Levites; and the common\nIsraelites. Now, of these, the two former are the officials of the Temple,\nand most if not all of the Sadducees are from this class. And, in\ndeclaring himself on the side of the third class of simple Israelites,\nJesus had, we all thought, declared himself on the side of the Pharisees.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                  VII.\n                            THE SECOND SERMON.\n\n\nI cannot clearly remember at what season of the year it was that I next\nsaw Jesus; indeed, I am surprised to think that, after the lapse of nearly\nfive\u2010and\u2010twenty years, I can still remember almost all that passed on the\nvarious occasions when I was in his presence. Yet I think it was about the\ntime of the feast which we hold in memory of the rededication of the\nTemple under the Maccab\u00e6ans that I again saw and heard the Galil\u00e6an\nstranger; for I mind me that I had just been taking the eight\u2010branch\ncandlestick which we use in the ceremonials of this feast to Petachayah\nthe silversmith to be mended, when on my return I saw a throng collected\nround the synagogue of the Galil\u00e6ans, and entering in, found that Jesus\nwas to preach that day. The same ceremonial was gone through as I have\nalready described to thee: the Law was taken from the ark with rejoicing;\npriest and Levite and four ordinary Israelites were summoned to hear it\nread, and again the crier called, \u201cLet Rabbi Joshua, the son of Rabbi\nJoseph, arise.\u201d Now, it chanced that this time, I, as a member of the\nSanhedrim, was summoned to the reading of the Law immediately after Jesus,\nand for a time, as is customary, we stood together upon the _bema_. I\nobserved that, as the reading of the Law proceeded, the eyes of the\nNazarene became fixed upon the ark, and a veil of mysterious tenderness\nseemed to come over them, as if he were in communion with the _Shechinah_,\nor Glory, itself. It seemed to me that afterwards, when he read the\n_Haphtara_ from the prophets, and when he preached, something remained in\nhim of this mystical communion.\n\nPerhaps it was for this that we seemed to miss that sense of individual\naddress which we had before observed in his eyes. No longer did these\nspeak to us other and deeper thoughts than the words of the preacher; they\nseemed to dream of divine things, and so caused us also to be rapt in\nmystic musings. I cannot on this account recall for you all or even many\nof the words which he uttered on this occasion. He began with some plain\nteaching about practice. Soon he went on to speak of himself in a\nmarvellous way, as if he would imply that communion with him and with the\nMost High were one and the same, and then in his last words he seemed to\nspeak of the Last Things. And here again his words seemed as if he\nidentified himself with the great Judge.\n\nNow, this is not so strange to our mode of thinking in Israel as thou\nmightest think. Almost all our prophets speak the oracles of God as if\nthey were using the very words of the Lord. Thou canst read in the Greek\ntranslation of the Seventy many passages of the prophets in which the very\nwords of the Lord are given. Yet in most, if not all, cases the prophet\nbeginneth, \u201cThus saith the Lord,\u201d or endeth, \u201cThis is the word of the\nLord.\u201d But with this Jesus it was otherwise. He spoke as the ancient\nprophets do, but whether from his rapt intentness in the message he was\ndelivering, or because he felt his spirit for the time merged in the\ndivine, he spoke as if the message was his. And as he spoke, I saw looks\nof amazement pass between many in the synagogue, and one old graybeard\nrose as if to protest, and then, shaking his withered hands above his\nhead, went out of the synagogue.\n\nI will here set down for thee as many of the words that fell from Jesus\u2019\nlips on this occasion as I can remember. They are but few, but many of\nthem are weighty, and I have told thee above the general lines of thought\nwhich seemed to run through his discourse; and these are the words as far\nas I remember them.(9)\n\n\n\u201cCultivate faith and hope, through which is born that love of God and man\nwhich gives the eternal life. Those are the sons of God who walk in the\nspirit of God. What you preach before the folk, do in deed before every\none. Accept not anything from any man, and possess not anything in this\nworld. For the Father wisheth to be given to each man from his own gifts.\nCleave unto the saints: for they that cleave unto them shall be\nsanctified. Yet shall there be schisms and heresies: for there is a shame\nwhich leadeth to death, as there is a shame which leadeth to life. Is it\nnot enough for the disciples to be as the Master? If in a little you are\nnot faithful, who shall give unto you what is much? Seek the great, and\nthe little will be added to you; seek the heavenly, and the things of\nearth will be superadded.\n\n\u201cHe that wonders shall reign, he who reigns shall find rest. My secret is\nfor me, and for those that are mine are the things which eye saw not, and\near heard not, which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things\nGod prepared for them that love him. Those who wish to see me, and wish to\ncling to the kingdom, must take me through affliction and suffering. For\nhe that is near me is near the fire, he that is far from me is far from\nthe kingdom. Where one is, there too am I; where twain are, there too will\nI be. As any of you sees himself in the water or in the mirror, so let him\nsee me in himself.\n\n\u201cThey that love me shall receive the crown. I will choose me the good,\nthose good whom my Father in the heavens hath given me. Let the lawless\ncontinue in lawlessness, the just be justified. Behold, I make the last as\nthe first, and all things new. In whatsoever state I find you, in that\nalso will I judge you.\u201d\n\n\nNever heard I any who spoke of himself as this man did. For days and days\nafterwards some of his words came to me again and again. Whenever I was\nalone I seemed to hear his voice saying, \u201cWhere one is, there too am I;\nwhere twain are, there too will I be.\u201d Whenever I gazed on the running\nstream or looked on the polished steel of the mirror, again I seemed to\nhear him say, \u201cAs any of you sees himself in the water or in the mirror,\nso let him see me in himself.\u201d And, in truth, at times my features seemed\nto fade away, and the face of Jesus gaze upon me.\n\nOthers thought not as I. When we assembled after the sermon, to talk over\nit, as is our custom, I found that most had been chiefly touched by\ncertain sayings at the end of the sermon, in which Jesus seemed to speak\nof the future life and the last judgment. Thou knowest, Aglaophonos, that\nwith regard to these matters I incline more to the teaching of the\nSadducean sect, who hold that Holy Scripture speaketh not of these things,\nand that, therefore, we need not and should not think thereon. But there\nwere few who held that doctrine in the synagogue that day, and these\nthought most of the words in which Jesus seemed to claim the prerogatives\nof the Divine Judge. \u201cI was amazed,\u201d quoth Serachyah ben Pinchas, \u201cwhen he\nspoke of judging us himself in the last days: it wanted but a little that\nI had rent my garments at the blasphemy. But surely, thought I to myself,\nthe man will shortly tell us, \u2018These are the words of the Lord,\u2019 and so I\nrefrained.\u201d\n\nNow I will tell thee of a most strange event that happened with me and\nthis Jesus. A day or two after this, I was sitting in my room and studying\nthe words of Torah, and had fallen into deep thought on the things of this\nlife and the next, and gradually I fell thinking of certain words that I\nhad heard from Jesus the Nazarene, as I have before told you. Hast thou\never felt, Aglaophonos, as if some one was gazing upon thee, and thou\ncouldst not refrain from looking round to see who it was? So I felt at\nthis moment, and I looked up from the sacred scroll, and lo! Jesus the\nNazarene stood before me, gazing upon me with those piercing eyes I can\nnever forget. His face was pale and indistinct, but the eyes shone forth\nas if with tenderness and pity. Then he seemed to lean forward, and spoke\nto me in a low yet piercing voice these words: \u201cAwake thou that sleepest,\nand arise from the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee.\u201d I had\nshrunk back from his gaze, and was, indeed, in all amaze and wonder that\nhe should be in the room; but when I looked again, behold, he was gone,\nthere was no man there.\n\nBut this is not all the wonder of that event, for, being startled, and,\nindeed, somewhat fearful at his sudden appearance and disappearance, I\narose and went out into the highway, and went out to walk on the\nGethsemane road. Now, as I came clear of the city, I saw a group of men\ncoming down the opposite hill, and when they came near, behold, it was\nJesus and some of his friends. I was astonished and surprised beyond all\nmeasure, for how could Jesus have just been with me, and be now coming\nfrom Gethsemane? And when they were passing me, Jesus glanced at me very\nslightly, as at a stranger\u2014he that had spoken to my soul but a few minutes\nsince.\n\nNow, after they had passed me, there came one running after them whom I\nknew\u2014one Meshullam ben Hanoch\u2014and I stopped him and asked him whither he\nwas going, and he said, \u201cStay me not. I have run all the way from Bethany\nto catch up that man thou seest there, Jesus the Nazarene;\u201d and with that\nhe took up his running and left me.\n\nI knew not what to think. I had seen and heard Jesus in my own house in\nJerusalem, and lo! at that very same time, as I now learned, he had been\nat Bethany. What thinkest thou, Aglaophonos,\u2014can a man be in two places at\none and the same time? or can it be that the mind of man, and the power of\nhis eye, can go forth from his body and create a vision of another man\nthat hath all the semblance of reality? I know not what to think; but I\nhave heard that, even after his death, those who were nearest and dearest\nto Jesus saw him and heard him even as I did. Nor do I wonder at this,\nafter what has occurred to myself.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                  VIII.\n                          THE REBUKING OF JESUS.\n\n\nNow, it chanced that about this time I was invited to a feast at the house\nof Elisha ben Simeon, one of the leaders of the Pharisees in Jerusalem.\nHis son had become thirteen years old that week, and, as is our custom,\nwas received into the holy congregation as a Son of the Covenant on the\nSabbath. He had been summoned up to the reading of the Law, and had\nhimself read aloud a portion of it; for from this day onward he was to be\ntreated in all matters of religion as if he were a man. Being a friend of\nhis father, I had attended his synagogue, and heard the lad\u2019s pure voice\nfor the first time in his life declare publicly his faith in the Most\nHigh.\n\nAfter the service in the synagogue, his friends accompanied the father and\nthe lad to their house, and with them went I, who had known the father\nfrom our schoolboy days, and the little lad from the time of his birth.\n\nNow, it chanced that, as we came near the door of Elisha\u2019s house, we met\nJesus the Nazarene, and two or three with him. So Elisha greeted them, and\ninvited them courteously to join the feast, as is the custom among us. And\nJesus and the others assented, and followed into the house with us. \u201cTo\ntable, to table!\u201d cried Elisha, pointing to the couches standing round the\nwell\u2010filled board.\n\nWhen we were all seated, the host and his son came round with an ewer and\nbasin to perform the washing of the hands prescribed by the Law. But when\nthey came to the Galil\u00e6an strangers, these refused, saying, \u201cWe wash not\nbefore meals.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we must serve ye last,\u201d said Elisha, with a smile. But the others\ntook not the matter so pleasantly; for since we have one common dish,\nwhich is handed round to the guests for them to take their food with their\nfingers, it is considered gross ill\u2010breeding for a man not to perform the\nceremony of washing before meals.\n\nThen Elisha took a seat at the centre of the table, and said the grace\nbefore meals. Then he broke bread, and, dipping a morsel into salt for\neach of the guests, he called his son to him to carry it round. When he\nsaw that each of the guests had a piece of bread dipped in salt, Elisha\nrecited the blessing on the bread, \u201cBlessed art Thou, O Lord our God, who\nbringest forth bread from the earth,\u201d and all said \u201cAmen.\u201d And one of the\nguests said to Elisha, \u201cI am glad we are not in Babylon.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow so, Phineas?\u201d said Elisha to the man, who was well known at all\nfeasts at that time in Jerusalem.\n\nAnd Phineas said, \u201cFor there they only eat bread with their bread.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, that would not suit thee, Phineas. Thou art no Nazarite;\u201d and most\nof the guests who knew him laughed.\n\nThen Elisha clapped his hands, and the slaves took round the first course\nof salted fish; then afterwards the cold baked meats\u2014for, being the\nSabbath, the food had been prepared the day before.\n\nThen one of the guests said to one of the Galil\u00e6ans, \u201cIs it true that you\nallow fowl to be boiled in milk in your country?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, truly; why not?\u201d said the Galil\u00e6an.\n\n\u201cIs it not written thrice in the Law,\u201d said the guest, \u201c\u2018Thou shalt not\nseethe the kid in its mother\u2019s milk\u2019?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn our country,\u201d said the Galil\u00e6an, \u201cfowls give no milk.\u201d And we all of\nus laughed, save only Jesus.\n\n\u201cNay, but the Sages have carried their prohibition even unto fowls, lest\nthe people be led to confuse flesh and flesh.\u201d\n\nBy this time we had arrived at the third and last course of salted olives,\nlettuces, and radishes. And again the bowl and ewer were passed round, and\nthis time the Galil\u00e6ans did not refuse the water. Then the new son of the\ncovenant recited in his clear voice the grace after meals. And all rose,\nwhile the slaves removed the remnants. Then said Elisha, \u201cIt is not well\nthat when so many are together we should depart without discussing some\nwords of the Law. My little Lazarus here would fain learn some new thing\nfrom the many learned men present on this day of his being received into\nIsrael.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d said one of the company, \u201cI should like to put a question to\nour friends here from Galilee.\u201d And they said, \u201cSpeak, Rabbi.\u201d\n\nAnd he addressed himself to Jesus, and said, \u201cWhy walk not thy disciples\naccording to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen\nhands?\u201d\n\nThen Jesus spoke out, and as he spoke he strode up and down the room, with\nhis hand clutching the air, and the vein throbbing on his left temple.\n\u201cWell hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, \u2018This\npeople honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.\nHowbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the\ncommandments of men.\u2019\u201d Then facing us all, he added, \u201cFor ye lay aside the\ncommandment of God, and hold the tradition of men.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow so, master?\u201d said Elisha; \u201cprove thy words.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is said in the Word of God, \u2018Honor thy father and thy mother,\u2019 and yet\nthe Sages say, \u2018If a man be asked by his father or mother to honor them\nwith a gift, and he say, \u201cI vow that thing to the Almighty,\u201d then it is\n_Corban_,\u2019 and put aside for the Lord, so that his parents cannot enjoy\nthereof. Thus by your tradition about vows ye make the Word of God\nconcerning honor to parents of none effect, and many like things ye do.\u201d\n\nThen Elisha said, \u201cBut the Sages are by no means at one in that matter of\nthe vows, and in particular many of them declare all the vows annulled\nthat would work against our duty to our parents, or even against our love\nto our neighbor. Yet, even if we take the more stricter tradition, in what\nmanner that absolves us from washing our hands before meals, I see not.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, it is the same thing,\u201d replied Jesus. \u201cYe Pharisees make clean the\noutside of the cup and platter, but your inward thoughts are full of\nravening and wickedness. Ye fools! did not the Holy One, blessed be He,\nwho made that which is without, make also that which is within? Therefore\ngive for alms that which is within, kindly thoughts and friendly feelings.\nIf ye do that, all things are clean unto you.\u201d\n\nThen I said unto Jesus, for this matter touched us scribes nearly,\n\u201cMaster, in speaking thus against tradition thou reproachest us also that\nbe scribes.\u201d\n\nAnd he answered, \u201cWoe, woe unto ye, scribes! which desire to walk in long\nrobes, and love greetings in the markets, and the higher seats in the\nsynagogues, and the chief places at feasts, which devour widows\u2019 houses,\nand for a show make long prayers.\u201d\n\nThen an angry murmur rose among all the folk there assembled at the harsh\nwords of the stranger, when suddenly was heard the voice of Simeon ben\nLazarus, the father of Elisha, a very old man, who sat in the corner and\nsaid:\u2014\n\n\u201cYoung man, fourscore years and two have I lived upon this earth; a\nPharisee have I been from the day I became a son of the covenant, like\nlittle Lazarus there; a scribe was I during all the working days of my\nlife. I did what the Law and the Sages command, yet never thought I in so\ndoing of men\u2019s thoughts or praises. Surely, if the Lord command, a good\nJew will obey. And as in many things, many acts of this life, the Law\nspeaketh not in plain terms, surely we should follow the opinion of those\nwho devote all their life to the study of the Law.\n\n\u201cI have never sought the praises of men, their greetings or their honors,\nin obeying the Law. In all that I have done I have sought one thing\u2014to\nfulfil the will of our Father which is in heaven.\n\n\u201cAs for what thou sayest, that inward thought and outward act should go\ntogether in the service of God and man, that is a verity, and often have I\nheard the saying from the great Hillel\u2014may his memory be for a blessing!\nBut if outward act may be clean when inward thought may be unclean, how,\non the other hand, can we know the purity of what is within, except it be\ndecided by the cleanliness of what is without? How, above all, shall we\nteach our little ones, like my Lazarus there, to feel what is good and\nseemly, except by first teaching them to do the acts that are seemly and\ngood?\n\n\u201cAnd as for what thou sayest as to the hypocrisy of us Pharisees and\nscribes, I say unto thee,\u2014and in a few days I must see the face of my\nMaker,\u2014I say unto thee, I have known many an Ebionite, which thou seemest\nto be, who was well spoken within, but ill doing without. So, too, I have\nknown many a scribe and many a Pharisee who neither carried their good\ndeeds on their shoulders, nor said, \u2018Wait, I have to finish some godly\ndeed;\u2019 nor set off their good deeds against their sins; nor boasted of\ntheir sacrifices for godly works; nor did they seek out their sins that\nthey might pay for them by their virtues; nor were they Pharisees from\nfear of the Divine punishment. They were Pharisees from love of the Lord,\nand did throughout their life what they knew to be his commands.\u201d\n\nBut Jesus spoke gently unto the old man, and said naught but, \u201cNay,\nmaster, I spoke not of thee, nor of men like thee. These be the true\nPharisees; the rest but have the Pharisaic color.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is so,\u201d said old Simeon. \u201cI have heard what King Jannaus said: \u2018Fear\nnot the Pharisees, nor those who are no Pharisees; but fear the colored\nones, who are only Pharisees in appearance, who do the deeds of Zimri and\ndemand the rewards of Phineas.\u2019\u201d\n\nBut before the old man could finish there was a movement at the doorway,\nand a high, thin voice cried out, \u201cWhere is this kidnapper of souls? where\nis this filcher of young lives? where is Jesus the Nazarene?\u201d\n\n\u201cBehold me,\u201d said Jesus, turning towards the voice; and an old man, with\nthe rent garment of the mourner, and with hair all distraught, came up to\nthe Nazarene with arms outstretched and clutching fingers.\n\n\u201cGive me my son, my Elchanan!\u201d he cried. \u201cThou hast taken him from me last\nPassover, saying, \u2018Father and mother, yea, all that a man hath, shall he\ngive up to follow me.\u2019 He left me to follow thee; what hast thou done with\nhim?\u2014my Elchanan! my Elchanan!\u201d\n\n\u201cHe died, and is at peace.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen give him back to me again. Thou canst do all things, men say: make\nwhole the sick, let see the blind, cause the lame to walk, and give peace\nto the troubled mind. Give me, then, back my Elchanan thou hast taken from\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is One alone that can quicken the dead,\u201d said Jesus, and walked\nsternly past him.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   IX.\n                           JESUS IN THE TEMPLE.\n\n\nBut a few days after what I have narrated to thee, I had attended a full\nmeeting of the Sanhedrim in the hall of hewn stones in the Priests\u2019 Court\nof the Temple. When the session was over, we went forth, and, turning to\nthe right, passed into the Court of the Israelites, and so through\nNicanor\u2019s Gate into the Court of the Women. Now, as we went down the\nfifteen steps that lead into this court, we could see, through the\nBeautiful Gate at the other end of it, that something unusual was\noccurring in the outer court of all, the Court of the Gentiles. So I and\nsome of the other younger members of the Sanhedrim passed rapidly through\nthe Court of the Women, and, hurrying through the Beautiful Gate, found\nJesus preaching to the people under Solomon\u2019s Porch. Now, it is usual for\nthe people to make way when any member of the Sanhedrim passes by; but the\npeople were so engrossed with the words of Jesus that they took no note of\nme and my companions, and we had to stand at the edge of the crowd and\nlisten as best we might, and so great was the crowd that I could scarcely\nhear what the Nazarene was saying, until gradually those near us,\nrecognizing the marks of our dignity, made way for us till we got nearer.\n\nNever saw I Jesus in so exalted a state. Though he was not tall, as I have\nsaid, he seemed to tower above the crowd. The mid\u2010day sun of winter was\nshining full upon the Temple, and though Jesus was in the shadow of the\nporch, the sunlight from the Temple walls shone back upon his eyes and\nhair, which gleamed with the glory of the sun. He looked and spake as a\nking among men. And, indeed, he was claiming to be something even greater\nthan a king. I could not hear very distinctly from where I was at first,\nbut towards the last, as I got nearer, I heard him say these words:\u2014\n\n\n\u201cWhosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. Except a man be born\nagain, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He that loveth his life shall\nlose it. If a man keep my word he shall never see death, but has passed\nfrom death unto life. He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall\nhe do also. Yet can the Son do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the\nFather do. I am the door: by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. I\nam the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I am the Light of the world. I am the\ngood Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. I am the Bread of\nLife: he that cometh to me shall never hunger. I am the true Vine, and my\nFather is the Husbandman. I am the Vine, ye are the branches. If any man\nthirst, let him come unto me and drink. Before Abraham was I am.\u201d\n\n\nNow, as Jesus was saying these words, and many like unto them, his form\nseemed to expand, his eye flashed with the light of prophecy, and all men\nwere amazed at the power of his words. Never had they heard man speak of\nhimself with such confidence. If he had been very God, he could not have\nsaid more of his own power over men\u2019s souls. Our prophets have spoken\nboldly indeed, but none of them had boasted of the power of the Lord in\nsuch terms as this man spake of himself. Could he be mad, I thought, to\nsay such things? Yet in all other matters he had shown a wisdom and a\nsound sense equal to the greatest of our Sages. Or had he found that by\nspeaking thus of himself, men, and above all, women, were best moved to\nbelieve as he would have them believe, to act as he would have them act?\nMight it not be the simplest of truths that for them, to them, he was\nindeed the Way, the Truth, and the Life?\n\nAnd, indeed, when I looked around and saw the effect of his words on those\nwho were listening, I could in part understand his power among men and\nwomen. They drank in his words as travellers at the well of the oasis.\nThey lived upon his eyes, and it was indeed strange to see every man\u2019s\nbody bent forward as of a straining hound at the chase. If ever men\nworshipped a man, these were worshipping Jesus.\n\nAnd I? What was it with me that his words failed to move me as they did\nthose around me? Why did his eyes rather repel than attract me? Was it thy\nteaching, Aglaophonos, that had taught me the way of thy race: to measure\nall things in the balance of wisdom; to be moved in all acts by reason,\nnot feeling? Was it from thee I learnt to think about the causes of this\nman\u2019s influence, even while I and others were under it? Perhaps not alone;\nfor much that this man was saying would have repelled my Jewish instincts\neven had I never come under thy influence. What struck thee among us Jews,\nI remember, was that while we see the Deity everywhere, we localize him\nnowhere. Alone among the nations of men we refuse to make an image of our\nGod. We alone never regarded any man as God Incarnate. Those among us who\nhave been nearest to the Divine have only claimed to be\u2014they have only\nbeen recognized to be\u2014messengers of the Most High. Yet here was this man,\nas it seemed, claiming to be the Very God, and all my Jewish feeling rose\nagainst the claim.\n\nNor was I alone in this feeling I was soon to learn. Before Jesus had\nfinished his harangue, cries arose from different quarters of the crowd.\n\u201cBlasphemy!\u201d \u201cBlasphemer!\u201d \u201cHe blasphemes!\u201d arose on all sides. These\ncries awakened men as if from a sleep, all turning round to see whence\nthey came. And the very turning round, as it were, removed them from the\ninfluence of Jesus and his eyes. In a moment, many of those who just\nbefore were hanging upon Jesus\u2019 words joined in the cry, \u201cBlasphemer!\nblasphemer!\u201d One of the boldest of those who began the cry called out,\n\u201cBlasphemer! Stone him!\u201d\n\nBut Jesus drew himself up, and looked upon the crowd with flashing eyes,\nand said, \u201cO Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Sodom is justified of thee.\u201d For a\nmoment all were silent, but soon the cries arose again: \u201cBlasphemer!\nblasphemer! Stone him!\u201d\n\nThen began great commotion among the people. While some called out, \u201cStone\nhim!\u201d \u201cStone him!\u201d others cried, \u201cSacrilege!\u201d \u201cSacrilege!\u201d \u201cNo stoning in\nthe Temple!\u201d And one called out with a jeer, \u201cIn the Temple ye cannot\nstone, for lo! here there be no stones;\u201d and a bitter, scornful laugh\nfollowed his words. Then some who were nearest to Jesus sought to lay\nhands on him, while others, his friends, stood round him and prevented\ntheir approaching, and all was confusion and tumult. When suddenly the\nblare of a trumpet sounded through the courts, and all cried, \u201cThe Romans!\nthe Romans!\u201d\n\nThen round by the royal porch came a company of Roman soldiers to change\nthe sentries at mid\u2010day, and they halted near the Beautiful Gate. And as\nthey came near the crowd began to disperse, and Jesus and his friends went\ntheir way from the courts of the Temple.\n\nThat day, there was no talk in Jerusalem but of the event in the Temple.\nMen marvelled at the way in which this Jesus had spoken of himself. \u201cThe\nprophets spake not thus,\u201d they said. \u201cYet how can a man be greater than a\nprophet, who speaketh the words of the Most High? Even if we had once more\na king over us in Israel, he could not be as great as a prophet, and no\nking would speak of himself as Jesus this day hath spoken of himself.\u201d But\nwhat if this man were destined to be the Christ, the God\u2010given Ruler that\nshould restore the throne of David? But how could that be, since none of\nthe signs and portents of the last times had come upon the earth? Who had\nseen the blood trickle from the rocks? or the fiery sword appear in the\nmidnight sky? Had babes a year old spoken like men? But others said, \u201cNay,\nthe kingdom of God will not come with expectation. As it hath been said,\n\u2018Three things come unexpectedly\u2014a scorpion, a treasure\u2010trove, and the\nMessiah.\u2019\u201d And again, others said, \u201cPerchance this is not the Messiah ben\nDavid, but the Messiah ben Joseph, who shall be slain before the other\ncometh.\u201d Thus the minds of men and their words went hither and thither\nabout the sayings of this man Jesus in the Temple.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   X.\n                        THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.\n\n\nI heard naught and saw naught of Jesus the Nazarene till the very last\nweek of his life, and that was the week before the Passover. The winter\nhad been a severe one, and much misery had arisen among the folk through\nthe exactions of the Romans; indeed, an attempt had been made to throw off\nthe Roman yoke. In several places the people had assembled in arms and\nattacked the soldiery, and in some cases had slain their sentries. Pilate\nhad but sent off a cohort into the district, and all signs of discontent\nwent underground. One of the leaders of the revolt, Jesus Bar Abbas, had\nbeen captured and thrown into prison. He, indeed, had attempted an\ninsurrection in Jerusalem itself, where he was well known and popular\namong the common folk. When he was arrested, a riot had occurred, and one\nof the soldiers was slain who had been sent to arrest him; wherefore he\nlay now in prison on the charges of rebellion and murder. Yet many thought\nthat this man had been put forth to try the temper of the people and the\npower of the Romans, in preparation for a more serious attempt to shake\noff the oppressor.\n\nYet who should lead the people? Jochanan, the only man whom of recent\ntimes the people followed gladly, had been done to death by Herod. One man\nalone since his death had won the people\u2019s heart, to wit, Jesus the cousin\nof Jochanan. He, and he alone, could lead the people against the Romans,\nand all men wondered if he would. In the midst of their wonder came news\nthat Jesus the Nazarene was coming up to the Holy City for the Feast of\nPassover, the feast of redemption from Egypt. Would it prove this year a\nfeast of redemption from the Romans? All hope of this depended upon this\nJesus.\n\nIt was twenty\u2010one years ago, but I can remember as if it were yesterday\nthe excitement in Jerusalem when the news came that Jesus of Nazareth had\narrived in the neighborhood, and was spending his Sabbath at the village\nof Bethany. All those who were disaffected against the Romans cried out,\n\u201cA leader! a leader!\u201d All those who were halt, sick, or blind, cried out,\n\u201cA healer! a healer!\u201d Wherever we went, there was no talk but of the\ncoming deliverance. As I approached one group of men I heard them say,\n\u201cWhen will it be? When will he give the sign? Will it be before or after\nthe feast?\u201d \u201cNay,\u201d said one of the crowd, a burly blacksmith he, \u201cwhat day\nfor the deliverance but the Passover day? But be it when it may, let him\ngive the sign, and I shall be ready.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd prove a new Maccabee,\u201d said one in the crowd, referring to his\nhammer, whereat a grim laugh arose.\n\nThe next day being the first of the week, which the Romans call the Day of\nthe Sun, I was pondering the words of the Law in my little study chamber\nnear the roof of my father\u2019s house in the Street of the Bakers near\nHerod\u2019s Palace, which at that time was inhabited by the Procurator, when\nsuddenly I heard the patter of many feet in the street beneath me, and\nlooking out, I saw them all hurrying, as it seemed, to the Temple. I put\non my sandals, and taking my staff in my hand and drawing my mantle over\nmy head, hurried out after the passers\u2010by. But when they came to the Broad\nPlace before the Water Gate, they turned sharp to the right, and went down\nthe Tyrop\u0153on as far as the Fountain Gate, where I overtook them. There I\nfound all the most turbulent of the city population. Some of the men I\nknew had been engaged in the recent riot under Jesus Bar Abbas. Others\nwere the leading Zealots in Jerusalem, and all were men eager for the\nfreeing of the city from the Romans. And among them, too, were others who\ncared not for freedom, nor hated the Romans, but would only be too pleased\nif the city were given up to disorder and rapine. While these waited\nthere, we heard cries from behind us, and looking back, saw filing out\nfrom the Temple courts on to the Xystus Bridge, and down into the\nTyrop\u0153on, the brigade of beggars who pass almost their whole life in the\nCourt of the Gentiles. These came down slowly, for among them were many\nhalt and some blind, and all were old and feeble of limb. \u201cWhy come they\nforth from the courts?\u201d I asked; \u201cand why are we waiting?\u201d Then said one\nnear me, \u201cKnowest thou not that Jesus the Nazarene enters the city to\u2010day?\nAnd men say he is to deliver us.\u201d And at that moment a cry arose among the\nfolk, \u201cLo! there he is.\u201d Looking south, for a time I could see nothing,\nfor the mid\u2010day sun of the spring solstice was shining with that radiance\nwhich we Jews think is only to be seen in our land. But after a while I\ncould discern, turning the corner of the Jericho Road near En Rogel, a\nmounted man, surrounded by a number of men and women on foot. \u201cIt is\nJesus\u2014it is Jesus!\u201d all cried; \u201clet us to meet him!\u201d And with that, all\nbut the lame rushed forward to meet him, and I with them.\n\nIt is but three hundred paces from the Fountain Gate to En Rogel, and the\nNazarene and his friends had advanced somewhat to meet us, but in that\nshort space the enthusiasm of the crowd had arisen to a very fever, and as\nwe neared him one cried out, and all joined in the cry, \u201cHosanna Barabba!\nHosanna Barabba!\u201d and then they shouted our usual cry of welcome, \u201cBlessed\nbe he that cometh in the name of the Lord!\u201d and one bolder than his\nfellows called out, \u201cBlessed be the coming of the kingdom!\u201d At that there\nwas the wildest joy among the people. Some tore off branches of palms, and\nstood by the way and waved them in front of Jesus; others took off each\nhis _talith_ and threw it down in front of the young ass on which Jesus\nrode, as if to pave the way into the Holy City with choice linen. But when\nI looked upon the face of Jesus, there were no signs there of the coming\ntriumph; he sat with his head bent forward, his eyes downcast, and his\nface all sad. And a chill somehow came over me. I thought of that play of\nthe Greeks which thou gavest me to read, in which the king of men, driving\nto his own palace at Argos, is enticed to enter it, stepping upon soft\ncarpets like an idol of your gods, and so incurs the divine jealousy.\n\nAs we approached the Fountain Gate, the beggars from the Temple had come\ndown to it, and joined in the shouting and the welcome; and one of them,\nTobias ben Pinchas by name, who had, ever since men had known him, walked\nwith a crutch, suddenly, in his excitement, raised his crutch and waved it\nover his head, and danced before Jesus, crying, \u201cHosanna Barabba! Hosanna\nBarabba!\u201d and all men cried out, \u201cA miracle, a miracle! what cannot this\nman perform?\u201d And so, with a crowd surrounding him, Jesus entered\nJerusalem and went up into the Temple. But I that year had been appointed\none of the overseers who distributed the unleavened bread to the poor of\nthe city for the coming Passover, and I had then to attend the meeting of\nmy fellow\u2010overseers.\n\nThat night there was no talk in Jerusalem but of the triumphant entry of\nJesus. The city was crowded by Israelites who had come up to the capital\nfor the festival, and a whisper went about that many of the strangers had\nbeen summoned by Jesus to Jerusalem to help in the coming revolt. During\nthat night, wherever a Roman sentry stood, a crowd of the unruly would\ncollect round him and jeer at him; and in one place the sentry had to use\nhis spear, and wounded one of the crowd. So great was the tumult that,\nwhen the sentries were changed for the midnight watch, a whole company of\nsoldiers accompanied the officer\u2019s guard and helped to clear the streets.\nMeanwhile, where was Jesus? And what was he doing in the midst of this\ntumult? I made inquiry, for perchance he might have been holding\ndisputations about the Law, as is the custom with our Sages; but I learnt\nthat he had left the city at the eleventh hour, and gone back to the\nvillage of Bethany, where he was staying. But I was thinking through all\nthat evening of the strange contrast between the triumphant joy of his\nfollowers and the saddened countenance of the Nazarene.\n\nMen knew not what was to become of this movement in favor of him. Most of\nthe lower orders were hoping for a rising against the Romans to be led by\nthis Jesus. Shrewder ones among the Better thought that the man was about\nto initiate a change in the spiritual government of our people. Some\nthought he would depose the Sadducees, and place the Pharisees in their\nstead. Others feared that he would carry into practice the ideals of the\n_Ebionim_, and raise the Poor against the Rich. Others said, \u201cWhy did he\nnot enter by the gate of the Essenes, for he holdeth with them?\u201d All knew\nthat the coming Passover would be a trying time for Israel, owing to the\npresence of the man Jesus in Jerusalem, and the manifest favor in which he\nwas held by the common folk. But amidst all this I could see only the\npale, sad face of Jesus.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   XI.\n                       THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE.\n\n\nOn the morrow, being the second day of the week, which the Romans call the\nDay of the Moon, Jesus of Nazara came early into Jerusalem, and as soon as\nit was known that he had entered the city, all those that had gone out to\ngreet him on the previous day, and many more with them who had heard of\nthe miracle that he had performed, went to meet him in the Broad Place.\nAnd near upon the time of the mid\u2010day sacrifice, Jesus and all these men\nwent up to the Temple.\n\nNow, I have told thee how, when Jesus had first come to Jerusalem, he had\ndriven forth from the Court of the Gentiles all those who were engaged in\nselling beasts of sacrifice, or in changing foreign moneys for the\nshekels. But the money\u2010changers and others had been replaced by the orders\nof the High Priest Hanan, and nothing had come of this action, nor in his\nlater visits to Jerusalem had he done aught in the matter, and it was\nthought that he had acknowledged the right and the power of the priests to\nhave the monopoly of the sale of sacrifices. Now, that day of the Moon was\nthe tenth day of the month Nisan, and upon it were purchased all the lambs\nfor the forthcoming Passover sacrifices, as it is said in the Law, \u201cIn the\ntenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb according\nto the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house.\u201d As this Paschal\nsacrifice is the only home sacrifice of us Jews, thou mightest imagine\nthat each householder could obtain his lamb whence he would; but the\npriests say \u201cNo\u201d to this, for if a man could take any chance lamb, it\nmight not be without blemish. So it had grown to be a custom that, on the\nmorning of the tenth day of Nisan, the heads of households in Jerusalem\nshould wend their way to the courts of the Temple, there to select each\nman a lamb. And the priests had their profit in this, for they claimed\nfrom those who sold the lambs dues for every animal allowed to be in the\ncourts. And the sellers again were agreeable to this, for none that had\nnot the favor could sell the Paschal lambs. Whence it was that the price\nof a lamb in the Paschal week was more than three times as much as at any\ntime of the year, and the poorer people murmured greatly.\n\nThus it happened that upon this day, when Jesus came into the courts of\nthe Temple, these were crowded with all the householders of Jerusalem, and\nmuch chaffering and haggling was going on in the purchase of the lambs for\nthe Passover. But Jesus, with the favor he had won from the people, was\nfor this day at least Ruler of Jerusalem, and men wondered what he would\ndo with regard to this sale and purchase of the beasts of sacrifice; for\non his first coming to Jerusalem, as I have told thee, he had driven the\nsellers away, but afterwards, when they had been restored to their places,\nhe had seemed to acquiesce. What would he do now, men thought, as they saw\nhim advancing over the Xystus Bridge, the head of a vast concourse of\npeople who would do all that he told them?\n\nThey had not long to wait, for no sooner had he entered the Temple courts,\nthan he spake to those around him, and ordered them to remove the tables\nof the money\u2010changers, with their weights and scales, without which no\npurchase could be; and no man dared say him nay, for all knew that the\npeople were with him. And they, indeed, were rejoiced, for they took this\nas permission to buy their Paschal lambs where they would; and many of\nthose who had been bargaining in the courts of the Temple went off at once\nto the market, and got them their lambs from thence. All this I heard of\nin the inner courts of the Temple, for it chanced that day that I had to\noffer a sin offering, and was waiting my turn in the Court of the\nIsraelites while the priests were preparing the mid\u2010day sacrifice. And I\nsaw one coming up to Hanan and to Joseph Caiaphas, who were presiding over\nthe sacrifice, and they spake earnestly to one another, and stopped the\nsacrifice, and came through the Court of the Israelites and went down the\nCourt of the Women, and all of us followed them thither. And when we came\nto the Beautiful Gate, and turned to the right round the corner of the\nTemple, behold, we saw the flocks of Paschal lambs being driven through\nthe Western Gates. And in the midst of the court stood Jesus, surrounded\nby a multitude clamoring and shouting. Then saw I Hanan lean over to\nJoseph Caiaphas, his son\u2010in\u2010law, and speak somewhat to him. Then the\nlatter advanced in front of the priests and the scribes, who had come\nforth with him, and asked, \u201cWho hath done this?\u201d And Jesus said, \u201cIt is\nI.\u201d Then spake Joseph again and said, \u201cTell us, by what authority doest\nthou these things? And who gave thee this authority?\u201d\n\nNow, Joseph the High Priest was clad this day in the robes of his office,\nwith tiara on head, the ephod on his breast, and silver bells and\npomegranates round the edge of his garment. Whereas Jesus the Nazarene\nwore his wonted garb of a common country workman. Yet for the moment this\ncommon workman was the greater power of the two; since all men knew how he\nhad been received by the people when he had come into Jerusalem, and that\nwhat he willed, all the people of Jerusalem willed also at that time. So\nall were hushed to hear what this Jesus would say to the question of the\nHigh Priest, since now they thought he must declare himself, and justify\nthe power he was exercising.\n\nBut here again, as on former occasions, Jesus answered not directly to the\nquestion of the priests, but rather questioned them. He said, \u201cI also ask\nyou one thing, which if ye tell me, I likewise will tell you by what\nauthority I do these things. The baptism of Jochanan, was it from heaven\nor of men? Answer me.\u201d And they answered and said unto Jesus, \u201cWe cannot\ntell.\u201d Then said Jesus unto them, \u201cThen neither will I tell by what\nauthority I do these things. To what is the matter like? There was a man\nhad two sons. And the man came to the first, and said, \u2018My son, go work in\nmy vineyard.\u2019 But he said, \u2018I will not.\u2019 Howbeit afterward he repented,\nand went to work. But the man went to the second, and spake in like\nmanner. But he answered, \u2018I go, sir.\u2019 But yet he went not. Whether of\nthese twain did the will of his father?\u201d And we all answered, \u201cThe first.\u201d\nThen Jesus looked slowly around at us all, and said, \u201cThis I say unto you,\nthe publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven before you. For\nJochanan came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye heeded him not,\nbut the harlots and the publicans heeded him: but ye, even when ye saw\nthis, repented not.\u201d\n\nNow, at this public insult to all of priestly rank, I saw dart forward\nHanan the High Priest, as if he would have rent the man Jesus. But\nCaiaphas his son\u2010in\u2010law caught him by the wrist, and whispered words in\nhis ear. But Hanan broke loose, and called out in a loud voice, \u201cMy guard,\nmy guard!\u201d Whereat many of the folk who had come with Jesus into the Court\nof the Gentiles came forward round him, and put their hands to their\nweapons. He indeed said naught, nor seemed aware of the conflict that\nthreatened. But Caiaphas turned, and in a loud voice said, \u201cI go to\nperform the mid\u2010day sacrifice,\u201d and walked slowly out of the court back to\nthe Temple. And we all followed him.\n\nNow, when we returned from performing the sacrifice, Jesus had left the\ncourts of the Temple, which had become bare and empty of people. And as I\nwent homeward to my house in the Street of the Bakers, I looked down from\nthe Xystus Bridge, and saw trooping down the Tyrop\u0153on Jesus and a great\nmultitude of the people, who crowded round him, as if eager to touch the\nhem of his garment. I stood and watched till they reached the Fountain\nGate, through which he passed; and shortly afterwards I could see him on\nthe road to the Fountain of Rogel, still accompanied by many of the\npeople.\n\nWhat was to come of that day\u2019s work I knew not. For the first time the\ndiscontent of the common folk with the management of the Temple by the\npriests had come to a head, and had resulted in this open conflict between\nJesus and the High Priests. The city was full of strangers excited by\nthoughts of the coming festival. The common people had not yet calmed\nthemselves from the thoughts of rebellion which had been raised by the\nrising of Jesus Bar Abbas and others. The whole city was as tow ready for\nthe spark of fire.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                  XII.\n                                THE WOES.\n\n\nNow, on the morrow, being the third day of the week, Jesus of Nazara came\nagain into the city, and the rumor of his coming spread through all the\nstreets and places of Jerusalem. And going forth after the morning\nprayers, I found Jesus with many around him in the Broad Place before the\nWater Gate. And as I approached near to them, I saw the crowd part asunder\nand a procession coming through, and almost all the men there bowed and\ndid reverence to the men who were passing through. Now, these were mostly\nof the Pharisaic sect, who were going to the Great Beth Hamidrash, to\npursue the study of the Law and to give decisions on legal questions which\nthe common folk put to them. And at their head walked Jochanan ben Zaccai,\nthe President of the Tribunal. He was regarded as the most capable\nexponent of the Law since the death of Hillel, whose favorite pupil he had\nbeen, and men were wont to refer to him for decision in all the most\ndifficult questions of life. He was walking at the head of the procession\nin his long _talith_ with large borders and in his broad phylacteries. And\nhe passed Jesus with a salutation, indeed, but in it was mingled some of\nthe pride and contempt with which the masters of the Law regarded all\nthose whom they call the Country\u2010folk.\n\nWhen these had passed, Jesus turned round to the people, and spake these\nwords:\n\n\n\u201cThe scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses\u2019 seat: all therefore\nwhatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after\ntheir works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and\ngrievous to be borne, and lay them on men\u2019s shoulders; but they themselves\nwill not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do\nfor to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the\nborders of their garments, and love the chief place at feasts, and the\nchief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be\ncalled of men, \u2018Rabbi, Rabbi.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut be not ye called Rabbi: for One is your Master, and all ye are\nbrethren.\n\n\u201cAnd call no man your father upon the earth: for One is your Father, which\nis in heaven.\n\n\u201cNeither be ye called Masters, for One is your Master.\n\n\u201cBut he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever\nshall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself\nshall be exalted.\n\n\u201cBut woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the\nkingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither\nsuffer ye them that are entering to go in.\n\n\u201cWoe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows\u2019\nhouses, and for a pretence make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive\nthe greater damnation.\n\n\u201cWoe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and\nland to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more\nthe child of hell than yourselves.\n\n\u201cWoe unto you, blind guides, which say, \u2018Whosoever shall swear by the\nTemple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the\nTemple, he is bound!\u2019 Ye fools and blind! for whether is greater, the\ngold, or the Temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, \u2018Whosoever shall swear\nby the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is\nupon it, he is bound!\u2019 Ye fools and blind! for whether is greater, the\ngift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso, therefore, shall\nswear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso\nshall swear by the Temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth\ntherein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God,\nand by him that sitteth thereon.\n\n\u201cWoe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint\nand anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law,\njudgment, mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave\nthe other undone.\n\n\u201cYe blind guides, which strain out the gnat and swallow a camel!\n\n\u201cWoe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the\noutside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of\nextortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee! cleanse first that which is\nwithin the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.\n\n\u201cWoe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto\nwhited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within\nfull of dead men\u2019s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also\noutwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy\nand iniquity.\n\n\u201cWoe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the\ntombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and\nsay, \u2018If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been\npartakers with them in the blood of the prophets.\u2019 Fill ye up, then, the\nmeasure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye\nescape the damnation of hell?\u201d\n\n\nAnd all the people were astonished at these words, for in many of his\nsayings and most of his actions Jesus had seemed to incline more to the\nsect of the Pharisees than to any other section of the house of Israel.\nAnd, indeed, in the opening words of his discourse he had granted their\nright to interpret the Law and to lead the people. Yet wherefore had he\ndenounced them all without distinction as men insincere and void of truth?\nHypocrites there were among them as among other classes of men. Often,\nindeed, their acts did not go with their words; but of what man can it be\nsaid that all his acts and words go together? These men were occupied in\nbuilding a rampart to the Law, and holding the fortress against enemies\nwithout and dissensions within. Those ramparts might confine our actions\nwithin a narrow space, yet is it not well for all men to be kept perforce\nin the path of duty? I know thou thinkest otherwise, Aglaophonos. Thy\nMaster the Stagyrite has taught thee that man should be a law unto\nhimself; but we Jews willingly bear the yoke of the Law, because we\nbelieve it to be the yoke of the Lord. And in this matter Jesus had in\nevery way shown himself to be a Jew of the Jews. Why, then, was he so in\nwrath against the interpreters of the Law?\n\nYet were the common folk not displeased at these sayings of Jesus; nay,\nrather they applauded them. For in many ways our Sages have failed to find\nfavor with the common folk of Israel; for besides that they would regulate\ntheir lives at every point, so that no man dare do this or do that except\nin the way the Sages prescribe, but chiefly the rabbis were out of favor\nwith the folk for that they did openly despise and condemn all but those\nwho were learned in the Law. The unlearned they called the Country\u2010folk.\nWherefore did the people hear with pleasure the bitter words Jesus spake\nagainst the scribes and the Pharisees.\n\nThe night of that same day an event occurred which roused the city of\nJerusalem to a pitch of expectation such as I had never seen there. Two\nyoung Zealots, artisans, that were popular with their fellows for their\nkindness of heart and good humor, fell into an altercation with a Roman\nofficer near the Sheep Gate, not far from Antonia, where all the Roman\nsoldiers lie. Without a word of warning, the Roman officer drew his sword\nand killed one of these young men, and when his companion and the passers\u2010\nby rebuked him, and would have seized him to take him before the\nprocurator, he gave a signal, and a multitude of soldiers poured forth\nfrom Antonia and struck without mercy among the crowd. Five were killed\nand many were wounded, and the whole city was in an uproar at this proof\nof Roman insolence. \u201cHow long, O Lord?\u201d the graybeards said, raising their\nhands to heaven. And the younger men said, \u201cLet us but wait the coming of\nJesus the Liberator; surely before the Passover he will free us from the\nrule of the _Goyim_.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n                                  XIII.\n                            THE GREAT REFUSAL.\n\n\nThou canst imagine with what feelings of expectation all Jerusalem awaited\nthe coming of Jesus next morning. Many of the Pharisees had come together\nthe eve before, and spoken of the public insult Jesus had given to their\nsect on the preceding day. Hanan the High Priest, we heard, had quarrelled\nfuriously with his son\u2010in\u2010law Joseph Caiaphas, for that he had not allowed\nhim to summon his guard after the humiliation he had put upon them in the\nTemple. Yet neither the Pharisees nor the Sadducees who followed the High\nPriests dared lay hands upon this Jesus, because of the evident favor in\nwhich he was held by the common folk of Jerusalem, and above all by the\nmany from country parts who had come up, like him, to spend the Passover\nin the Holy City. Among all these there was no talk but of Jesus the\nLiberator; nay! many spake of him as Jesus the Christ. And if he were\nindeed to be the Christ, the King of Israel, the Founder of the New\nKingdom, it could not be that he would suffer longer the yoke of the\nRomans to lie upon the neck of Israel.\n\nYet there was one thing that perplexed many, and opinion went hither and\nthither among the minds of men concerning it. The Christ who was to\ndeliver Israel and to rule over mankind, was he not to be the son of\nDavid? Yet this Jesus was of Galilee, where the admixture of blood had\nbeen greatest in all Israel. \u201cThere is no unleavened bread in all\nGalilee,\u201d the scoffers used to say, meaning thereby that their genealogy\nwas sprinkled with yeast, as we call foreign admixture. And for this man\u2019s\ngenealogy, who could declare it? Many, indeed, as I have told thee,\nthought him to have no right even to be called son of his father. A\n_mamzer_ shall not sit in the congregation of Israel. How, then, could one\nascend Israel\u2019s throne?\n\nWhen, therefore, Jesus came next morning from his lodging in Bethany, all\nJerusalem turned out to welcome him, for the Passover was coming anear,\nand if aught was to be done to clear the city of the Romans, it must be\ndone quickly, must be done on that day. Never saw I the courts of the\nTemple so crowded as on that day when I came thither, and found Jesus\nstanding in the Court of the Gentiles, with almost all the leading men of\nJerusalem and many of the common folk surging about him. Scarce room was\nleft for the Roman sentry to march his guard in front of the Beautiful\nGate. Yet he took no heed of us barbarians, but with shield and spear\nshouldered his way backward and forward, backward and forward, a sign to\nall men that the house of God was in the hands of God\u2019s enemies.\n\nNever saw I the men of Jerusalem so exultant as on that morning. Wherever\nI looked, joy\u2014a grim joy\u2014was on every man\u2019s countenance, and there was no\nman there but was armed, save only Jesus himself and some ten or a dozen\nmen who had come with him from Bethany, and these, indeed, were the only\nmen who had not shown joy. Never had I seen the Nazarene with a\ncountenance so saddened and aweary. Yestermorn he had been flashing with\nanger and indignation as he spake his words against the Pharisees, but on\nthis day his force seemed to be spent, and he appeared like one who had\npassed through a great agony.\n\nNow, as they were standing there, I saw a man, one of the leaders of the\nZealots, armed as if for battle, go up and lay a hand upon one of those\nwith Jesus. He spake eagerly with him, and pointed with his thumb to the\nRoman soldier as he passed to and fro. But the other shook his head\nvehemently, and took his arm away from the grasp of the Zealot and turned\nhis back upon him.\n\nNow, at this moment certain of the Pharisees came through the crowd and\nadvanced to Jesus. So great was the crowd that I heard not at first what\nthey said unto him; but it must have been some question about the matter\nthat was in all men\u2019s minds, for I heard his reply, and that, as was his\nwont, was in the form of a counter\u2010question to their inquiry, for he said,\n\u201cWhat think _ye_ of the Christ? Whose son is he?\u201d And they, speaking with\nthe thought of all Israel, said, \u201cThe Christ is the son of David.\u201d\n\nThen all men watched with expectancy to hear what the Nazarene would say\nto this; for if he agreed with them, then would he deny himself to be the\nChrist: for his genealogy had by no means been proven. But yet, how could\nhe disprove the belief of all Israel, that the Christ was the Son of\nDavid? Yet that did he after the manner of our Sages, using words of\nScripture as his confirmation; for he said unto them, \u201cHow then is it that\nDavid himself saith in the Book of Psalms, \u2018The Lord said unto my Lord,\nSit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool\u2019? David\ntherefore himself calleth the Christ Lord; how then can the Christ be his\nson?\u201d\n\nAt this the Pharisees knew not what to say, for no man had hitherto used\nthat _stichos_ of the Psalms, and they knew not what to reply. But the\ncommon folk were rejoiced exceedingly; joy spread on their faces, and I\nsaw many a fist raised and shaken in exultant defiance at the Roman\nsentry, who walked hither and thither on his guard as if he were a living\nmass of steel.\n\nThereupon certain of the crowd who were known to be followers of Herod had\nspeech with Jesus, and spake to him: \u201cMaster, we know that thou art true,\nand carest for no man; that thou regardest not the person of men, but\nteachest the way of God in all truth\u2014tell us, therefore, what thinkest\nthou: is it lawful to give tribute to C\u00e6sar or not? shall we give, or\nshall we not give?\u201d All men were silent, and drew their breath to hear\nwhat Jesus might say to this. For if he claimed to be the Anointed One, to\nwhom but to the King of Israel should Israel\u2019s tribute be paid?\n\nBut he said unto them, \u201cWhy tempt ye me? Bring me a denarius, that I may\nsee it.\u201d And they brought one and put it into his hand. And he held it\nforth unto them, and said, \u201cWhose is this image and superscription?\u201d And\nthey answered, \u201cC\u00e6sar\u2019s.\u201d And then Jesus said unto them, \u201cRender to C\u00e6sar\nthe things that are C\u00e6sar\u2019s, and to God the things that are God\u2019s.\u201d And\nthese Herodians marvelled at the subtlety with which he had answered them,\nbut the common folk were amazed and dumfounded at his answer. And soon I\nheard one say to another, \u201cHe denieth: he would pay tribute to C\u00e6sar.\u201d And\ngradually all the men drew away from him, leaving him alone with only the\ncompany with him from Bethany.\n\nBut he, seeing this, turned to one of those with him, and said, \u201cPeter, of\nwhom do the kings of the earth take custom? of their own children, or of\nthe aliens?\u201d And Peter answered and said, \u201cOf the aliens.\u201d Then Jesus said\nto him, \u201cThen are the children free?\u201d And Peter said to him, \u201cYes.\u201d Then\nsaid Jesus unto him, \u201cThen do thou also give, as being an alien to them.\u201d\nThe common folk heard this, indeed, but were in no wise satisfied. If they\nwere to give tribute to the Romans for whatever cause, they were still to\nbe under subjection to Rome, and then Jesus refused to be their Liberator;\nthat had become clear to them of a sudden. And they drew still further\naway from him. And a deep silence of mortification fell upon all men\nthere, so that thou couldst hear distinctly the tread of the Roman sentry\nas he moved on his march.\n\nAmid the deep silence suddenly came a gentle tinkling, as of silver bells;\nit came nearer and nearer, and a crier called out, \u201cWay for the High\nPriests!\u201d Then Hanan the High Priest, with Caiaphas his son\u2010in\u2010law, and\nothers of the priests accompanied by their guard, came down the steps from\nthe Beautiful Gate. The Roman sentry stopped his march and stood upright,\nwith spear on ground, and all made way as the procession of the High\nPriests passed through the court. All men were silent, and thou couldst\nhear the tinkling of the silver bells which were attached to the hems of\nthe High Priests\u2019 garments. Hanan walked at the head of the procession\nwith his usual haughty gait, and had nearly passed through the court, when\nhe saw Jesus and those with him. At once he halted, and summoned one of\nthe crowd to him. Then we saw much eager talk between this man and the\nHigh Priest. And Hanan summoned the captain of his guard, who would have\nturned towards Jesus, but that Joseph Caiaphas stayed him and spake unto\nHanan, pointing to the Roman sentry. After much talk between these, the\nHigh Priests resumed their march and left the Temple. And all the other\nmen began to pass away from the court, leaving Jesus and his men alone\nwith none to listen to him. For the word passed swiftly in the mouths of\nall the men of Jerusalem,\u2014\u201cHe refuseth; he would have us be slaves of the\nRomans forever.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n                                  XIV.\n                      THE MEETING OF THE HANANITES.\n\n\nThe next day being the fifth day of the week, and the thirteenth day of\nthe month Nisan in that year, many rumors went about the city as to the\nman Jesus. There were who said that he had been seized by the guards of\nHanan; others said that he had left the village of Bethany and gone no man\nknew whither. But for that day Jesus came not into Jerusalem, and men\u2019s\nminds were occupied more with one of the difficulties of our Law which\nform the occupation and delight of our Sages. I must explain this unto\nthee, for upon it turn the events of the next day, so fateful for the man\nabout whom thou art inquiring. Thou canst easily understand what I shall\nsay, for thou hast, I know, a copy of the Scriptures in Greek, for did I\nnot procure it for thee?\n\nIt is said in the Law, thou wilt find, that the Passover lamb is to be\nkilled in the twilight between the fourteenth and the fifteenth of Nisan,\nand it is also said in our Law that the whole of the lamb must be consumed\nthat evening. Now, in the years when the fifteenth of Nisan, which is the\nfirst day of the Passover, falleth upon the Sabbath, the killing and\nroasting of the lamb would take place on the Sabbath eve, when no killing\nmust take place and no fire must be lit. Hence arises a conflict of the\nLaw of the Passover with the Law of the Sabbath. Now, the older view was,\nthat the Passover was superior to the Sabbath, and its law was to be\nfollowed in preference. This the priests held and followed, and in this\nthey seemed to have the authority of the great Hillel, who also declared\nthe Passover superior to the Sabbath.\n\nBut many among the Pharisees and the more pious preferred to slay the\nPassover lamb on the eve between the thirteenth and the fourteenth day of\nNisan, and to eat it on the fourteenth day; that is, in those years when\nthe Passover fell on the Sabbath, as was the case in the year of which I\nam now writing. It would appear that Jesus and his followers held with the\nlatter opinion, for, as I have heard, on the eve of the fourteenth of\nNisan he came stealthily into the city of Jerusalem, and ate the Passover\nlamb concealed in an upper chamber of one of his friends in the city. It\nshoweth how earnest this man was in following the larger precepts of the\nLaw, though in smaller matters he seemed to neglect it. For by this time\nhe must have known that he was no longer safe in Jerusalem; and, indeed,\nhe proved this by his secret entry into it. Yet in order to fulfil the\nLaw, which saith, \u201cThe Passover lamb is to be eaten in Jerusalem,\u201d he\nrisked his own and his followers\u2019 lives. Yet was he careful of them; for,\nas thou shalt soon hear, as soon as he had gone through the meal\nprescribed by the Law, he escaped out of Jerusalem.\n\nNow, that night I was standing at the door of my house, looking upon the\ncity bathed in the light of the moon, which was near its full, when\nsuddenly a man seized me by the arm and said, \u201cThou art wanted.\u201d I looked,\nand behold it was Simon Kantheros, my brother\u2010in\u2010law. And I said to him,\n\u201cWho wants me? and wherefore?\u201d And Simon answered me and said, \u201cHanan the\nHigh Priest has summoned suddenly a meeting of the Sanhedrim at his house\non the Mount of Olives.\u201d Then said I, \u201cBut if it be at his house, it can\nonly be the Priestly Sanhedrim of Twenty\u2010Three that he summons.\u201d \u201cNay,\nnay, man,\u201d answered Simon, \u201cthe case is urgent. He saith, \u2018any member of\nthe Sanhedrim.\u2019 Come, then, with me, and quickly.\u201d So with that I seized\nmy mantle and my staff, and went forth with him.\n\nSo we hurried across the market\u2010place towards the Fish Gate, and as we\npassed near the Tower Antonia, we saw the flashing of red lights, and\nheard hoarse cries of command, and knew not what was toward. But when we\narrived at the Fish Gate, we found them changing the sentries of the first\nwatch, and knew that the second watch had begun. At first the sentry would\nnot let us through the gate; but the officer was called, and Simon showed\nhim his badge as member of the Sanhedrim. But even this would not have\nsufficed, but that Simon then pointed to his toga and the purple stripe,\nwhich showed that he was a Roman citizen of rank. Thereat the officer\nspake to the sentry, and we passed through the gate, and turned sharply to\nthe right, and went down the road which leads to the valley of the Kidron.\nAnd as we were passing the Brook Kidron, we looked and saw dots of red\nlight moving up the hill from the Garden of Gethsemane. And as we advanced\nup the hill of the Mount of Olives, we could see from time to time these\nred sparks preceding us; and when we came within sight of the High\nPriest\u2019s house, we saw them enter in and disappear.\n\nSoon we ourselves had come up to the gate, and when we knocked, a wicket\nwas opened, and a face peered out, and our names were asked. When we had\ntold them, the gate was closed, and we had to wait some time. But at last\nthe door was opened, and the captain of the guard received us. He took us\nthrough the passage which led into the open court, with the water\u2010basin in\nthe centre, round which we skirted, and ascended the steps into the inner\nhouse. And again we stopped before the hall\u2010door while our names were\nasked, and again we had to wait till the door was at last opened. Then at\nlast we entered the hall, and found Joseph Caiaphas the High Priest and\nmany of his kinsmen seated round a long table. Caiaphas rose, and motioned\nus to two seats at the end of this table, and we seated ourselves.\n\nWhen my eyes had become accustomed to the light, I looked round, and said\nthe greeting of peace unto those I knew of the assembly. I can still\nremember many of their names. There was Ishmael ben Phabi, who had at\nfirst replaced Hanan as High Priest. There were also the four sons of\nHanan\u2014Eleazar, Jonathan, Theophilus, and Matthias. Then there were\nKamithos the priest, and his two sons, Simon and Joseph. And beside these,\nI remember two men of my own generation\u2014Elioni ben Kantheros and Chananyah\nben Nedebai. Most of these men had been, or were afterwards, High Priests,\nand were all at this time members of the Priestly Sanhedrim. On the left\nof Caiaphas was a low stool, and, even as I looked, Hanan ben Seth the\nHigh Priest came in swiftly from a side door, and took a seat thereon. He\nglanced sharply round at each of us, counting our numbers, and we were\nexactly three and twenty. And when he saw me, he rose and spake somewhat\nharshly, \u201cMeshullam ben Zadok, what dost thou here? This is a meeting of\nthe Priestly Sanhedrim. Thou art a son of Israel.\u201d And I answered and\nsaid, \u201cSimon Kantheros here, my kinsman, summoned me to the meeting,\nsaying that any member of the Sanhedrim could attend.\u201d The High Priest\nthought for a moment\u2014he seemed as if he were counting us again\u2014then he\nsaid, \u201cBe it so; thou art at least a true son of Israel, and this is not a\nformal meeting of the priests.\u201d He sat him down again, and we waited. At\nlast an attendant entered by the same door, and, going up to the High\nPriest, spake to him. He nodded quickly, and dismissed him with a wave of\nhis hand. And when he had passed through the door, Hanan the High Priest\nrose, and spake to us these words:\u2014\n\n\u201cKinsmen and colleagues, ye have all heard, if ye have not witnessed, how\nJesus of Nazara entered the Holy City on the first day of this week, amid\nthe acclamations of his followers and many of the lower people, who even\nwent so far as to hail him as the Deliverer. Now, to\u2010morrow, as ye know,\nis the Passover. Who knows, if the thoughts of deliverance from Egypt,\nwhich come at that time, may not cause this man, or, if not him, his\nfollowers, to attempt a rising against the Romans our masters? We know\nthat any such attempt would be entirely futile, but the very attempt\nitself would be the ruin of the nation. Ye know the character of the man\nPontius Pilate. \u2019Tis but a short time since he slew, of wanton cruelty,\ncertain Galil\u00e6ans, even while they were making sacrifices, and all for\nmere suspicion of disaffection. Ye cannot but remember the building of\nSolomon\u2019s Aqueduct. Because money was taken from the Temple treasury for\nthe building thereof, the people were inflamed, and would have risen\nagainst them. What did he but send his soldiers, disguised in civil garb\nand armed with clubs, among the people, when they came to make their\nprotest? And without warning, and in mere wanton cruelty, did he give the\nsignal for massacre. If he did this at a mere threat of a rising, what\nwill happen should an actual rising take place to\u2010morrow? It is our duty\nto see that such a calamity fall not upon this nation because of the\npresence of this rude provincial in our midst. Better one man should die\nthan the nation should suffer. No time was to be lost, and I therefore\nhave had this Jesus arrested, and he now awaits our pleasure in the\natrium.\n\n\u201cBefore I summon him to our presence, I would briefly state to you what\nseems to me and some of our friends here the right course to be followed.\nWe purpose to hand him over at dawn to Pontius Pilate, to deal with him as\nhe will. For he, by his spies, and by the demonstration on the first day\nof the week, must be aware of the danger of a rising to\u2010morrow night,\ncaused by this man\u2019s presence in our city. Indeed, it is for the very\npurpose of preventing a rising that he cometh up each year about the\nPassover to Jerusalem. Let it, then, be his care to prevent it how he\nwill; we shall have done our part, and he cannot punish the nation, or us\nits leaders.\n\n\u201cBut some of you will say, Why should we deliver this man up to the\nRomans, perhaps, or even probably, to his death? I say, that even apart\nfrom the danger which he offers to the State, he is worthy of death for\nhis manifest blasphemies. He speaketh of himself as very God, and claims\nto be the Anointed One, and puts aside the Law as it pleaseth him. I say\nnaught of his insolence in the Temple cloisters, for this matter concerns\nus that be priests, and in the matter of judgment we must not take account\nof aught that deals with our private concerns; yet it is manifest that he\nhath no reverence for the Lord\u2019s house: witnesses shall prove to you that\nhe hath said he would sweep it away and build another. I wonder not that\nhorror is expressed in your faces at this blasphemy.\n\n\u201cYet, as ye know, our Law hath in mercy provided that none shall be\ncondemned unless on the testimony of witnesses. The Law shall be\nfulfilled. Even now, as I speak, one of his followers, Judas, a man of\nKerioth, is drawing forth from him his blasphemies before two witnesses,\nconcealed, as is the custom. And even if he fail, I know this man Jesus;\nin his arrogance he will not scruple to repeat his blasphemies, even\nbefore us.\n\n\u201cTime presses, and I have but this to add before the prisoner is summoned:\nit is a wise provision of our Law, that in capital charges no final\ncondemnation shall occur until the second day of the trial. The day before\nthe Passover began this eve. If we keep to the Law, no condemnation can\ntake place till after the first day of the Passover, by which time all the\nmischance may have come to pass. If the power of life and death were\nsolely in our hands, I would not depart in aught from the wise provision\nof our forefathers; but, in truth, if this man be put to death, it will\nnot be our doing, for his fate rests with Pilate. I would remind the\nyounger members of the Sanhedrim that the final decision is not with us,\nand if they vote for this man\u2019s death, as I cannot doubt they will,\nconsidering the pressing danger to our nation, they need not fear to be\ncalled members of a bloodthirsty Sanhedrim, since his death, if death he\nsuffers, will be at the hands of the Roman Procurator. In this strait I\npropose, therefore, to examine this man at once, and if, as I doubt not,\nhe avows his guilt, to wait till the morning for his final condemnation,\nand in this way fulfil the Law. Summon the prisoner to our presence.\u201d\nThen, turning to Caiaphas, he said, \u201cThis is a matter between us and the\nRomans, for whom thou, Joseph, art the High Priest. Take thou, then, the\ninterrogatory.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   XV.\n                  THE EXAMINATION BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM.\n\n\nThen from the lower end of the hall entered Jesus the Nazarene, with his\narms bound with withes behind his back, and he was led by the captain of\nthe guard up to the centre of the table opposite Caiaphas the High Priest.\nThen Caiaphas rose, and, looking at a paper in his hand which Hanan had\ngiven him, said unto Jesus, \u201cJesus of Nazara, thou art accused before us\nof blasphemy, and of leading the people of Israel astray: what sayest thou\nthereto?\u201d Jesus gazed haughtily at him, and answered, \u201c_I_ spake openly to\nall the world, I have taught in the synagogue and in the Temple, and in\nsecret I have said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them which heard me\nwhat I have said unto them. Behold, they know what I have said.\u201d Then one\nof the men who had led Jesus in struck him with the palm of his hand, and\nsaid, \u201cAnswerest thou the High Priest so?\u201d But Jesus turned, and said to\nhim in a milder voice, \u201cIf I have said aught that is evil, bear witness\nthereof; but if well, why smitest thou me?\u201d And Caiaphas the High Priest\nbade the man begone and bring in the witnesses. Then one man came forward\nand said he had heard Jesus call himself the Son of God. And another, that\nhe had spoken of himself as if he were very God, and could do all that the\nHoly One, blessed be He, can perform. And yet another came forward and\nsaid he had heard Jesus speak of himself as Son of Man, and had thereby,\nas he thought, claimed to do what the Son of Man is said to do in the\nProphets Daniel and Enoch. But no two of these witnesses agreed as to time\nand seasons, as is required by our Law. At last, however, two of them\ndeclared that on the preceding day in the Temple they had heard him say,\n\u201cI will destroy this Temple that is made with hands, and in three days I\nwill build another without hands.\u201d Now, during all this time Jesus had\nsaid naught, but looked before him with that rapt expression that I had\nseen upon him on the second occasion when I had heard him preach in the\nsynagogue of the Galil\u00e6ans. So Caiaphas the High Priest spake to him,\nsaying, \u201cAnswerest thou naught to what these men witness against thee?\u201d\nAnd Jesus made as if he heard not.\n\nThen Hanan the High Priest leaned over to Caiaphas his son\u2010in\u2010law and\nspake some words to him. Then Caiaphas, rising, spake thus to Jesus: \u201cArt\nthou the Christ, the Son of the Holy One, blessed be He?\u201d Then Jesus\nraised his head, and gazing fixedly at the High Priest, said in a loud\nvoice, \u201cThou hast said. And hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting\non the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.\u201d Then\nHanan the High Priest rose and rent his clothes, as is our wont in time of\nmourning or when blasphemy is heard, and he called out in his keen, shrill\nvoice, \u201cWhat need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy;\nwhat think ye?\u201d And he waved his hand to the captain of the guard, who\nremoved the prisoner.\n\nWhen the door was closed behind him, Hanan said, \u201cWhat need we of further\nwords? let us proceed to the judgment.\u201d And glancing over to Chananyah ben\nNedebai, he said, \u201cChananyah, thou art the youngest; it is thine to\npronounce judgment first. Is not this man guilty of death for his manifest\nblasphemy here before us?\u201d And Chananyah said, \u201cYea.\u201d And so said all till\nHanan had called upon thirteen to give judgment. Then said Hanan, \u201cThis\nman is for certain condemned to death, or at least to be handed over to\nthe Roman Procurator: for already a majority of two have declared his\ndeath, even if all the rest were for an acquittal, as I cannot think\npossible. The Court will rise and reassemble at the time of the saying of\nthe morning prayer, in order to confirm this judgment. Ye will not have\nlong to wait, for even now I heard the crowing of the cock, and the dawn\ncannot be far off.\u201d\n\nThen the Court broke up, and many of the younger members met together and\ndiscussed the case. And I was somewhat surprised to find that very few\nwords of compassion were raised for Jesus. The stubborn conduct of the\nprisoner had set them against him in the first place, and his wild\noutburst had confirmed their ill thoughts of him. But most of all they\nwere influenced by the thought that this was but a preliminary trial, and\ncould only result in handing him over to the Roman Procurator, with whom\nthe last word would be. None of them had seen aught of Jesus but during\nthe last few days in the Temple, when he had interfered with their order\nand prerogatives. I cannot say I was convinced, either by Hanan\u2019s harangue\nat first, or by these men\u2019s arguments afterwards. But I was somewhat\nperplexed, feeling myself in some wise an intruder in their midst, not\nbeing of the priestly order. And as is my custom in such cases, I went out\ninto the open air down the steps into the atrium.\n\nThere I found a great fire had been lit in the court, for the night was\nchilly. Near the fire Jesus was seated, with the High Priest\u2019s guard\naround him. As I came near, behold, one of the guard threw part of his\nmantle across the face of Jesus so as to blindfold him, and then struck\nhim, saying, \u201cThou art a Prophet; prophesy who hath struck thee.\u201d And all\nthe soldiers laughed and jeered. Then sought I the captain of the guard\nand told him this, and he said, \u201cThey mean naught of ill\u2014they be rude\nfellows; howbeit, I will stop them.\u201d And he went up to them and reproved\nthem. And I paced up and down the courtyard, with the silent stars above\nand the glowing fire beneath, till an apparitor of the High Priest\nsummoned me, saying, \u201cIt beginneth to dawn at the back of the house; the\nCouncil will resume its sitting.\u201d\n\nWhen I entered the council\u2010chamber, I found all seated as before, but in\nthe midst was a smaller table, at which was seated a scribe, with a roll\nin front of him. Then Hanan the High Priest came in, and said, \u201cYe have\nall had the time of deliberation prescribed by our sages in capital cases,\nor at least as much time as the urgency of the matter permits. We must\nproceed to the formal ratification of this man\u2019s sentence, for I cannot\ndoubt that ye will see fit to confirm the righteous judgment which your\nzeal for the Lord caused you to pass just now upon this man. And again I\nwould bid you remember you are voting, not so much for this man\u2019s death,\nas whether he is to be delivered to the Romans. Scribe, read the roll.\u201d\nAnd with that the scribe began to read our names, and we all answered to\nthem. Then said Hanan, \u201cWe will now proceed to the voting,\u201d and called\nupon Chananyah ben Nedebai to record his vote. And he voted as before, for\ndeath. Then each in his turn, and all voted as before. And when my name\nwas called upon I arose and hesitated, and Hanan looked over to me and\nsaid, \u201cThou speakest here by our courtesy, Meshullam ben Zadok; if thou\ndisagree with the unanimous opinion of thy colleagues, thou hadst best\ninstruct us in thy reasons. What sayest thou? Is not he guilty of death\nwho is guilty of blasphemy against the Most High?\u201d \u201cYea,\u201d said I. \u201cAnd was\nnot this man Jesus manifestly guilty of blasphemy before us?\u201d \u201cYea,\u201d said\nI. Then said Hanan swiftly to the scribe, \u201cHe voteth for death,\u201d and waved\nme down to my seat. And thereafter all the remaining members of the\nCouncil voted for death, finishing with Hanan as the oldest, who merely\ngave a grim nod to the scribe.\n\nBy this time it was quite light, and all the Council and many of Hanan\u2019s\nhousehold joined together to say the morning prayers. After prayers most\nof the Council, with Hanan and Caiaphas at our head, followed the soldiers\nwho guarded Jesus down from the Mount of Olives. As we came near the Brook\nKidron, behold, a man with haggard face darted out from the shrubs by the\nwayside, and rushing up to Hanan the High Priest, dashed down at his feet\na bag which chinked, and then disappeared into the wayside again. But\nHanan only motioned with his finger to the bag at his feet, and the\ncaptain of his guard lifted it up and poured out its contents into his\nhand, and, behold, it was a number of new shekels from the Temple\ntreasury. Then Hanan smiled grimly, and bade the captain put them aside.\nThereupon we resumed our march, and soon came to the Aldgate. There we\ninquired where the Procurator was, and learnt that he had taken up his\ndwelling at the Palace of Herod, so that he might be in Jerusalem during\nthe Passover, as was his wont, for fear of a rising at that time. Then we\nmarched across and halted in front of the palace. And on our way the rumor\nspread throughout the city that Jesus the Nazarene was being carried\nbefore the Procurator, and soon our procession was joined by all who were\nfree from household duties. I have explained to thee, have I not, how that\nfor those of the older opinion this sixth day of the week was the day on\nwhich the Paschal lamb was to be sacrificed, and for all good Jews the\nmorning would be devoted to the final search after the leaven. That\nmorning, therefore, all the householders of Jerusalem and all the heads of\nfamilies were occupied in the search after leaven, or in preparation for\nthe Paschal sacrifice, and it was only the younger men, and those who\ncared not for acts of piety, who followed our procession on the way to\nHerod\u2019s Palace.\n\nNow, all those of the Council were of the older opinion as to the Paschal\nsacrifice, and were about to perform it on the evening of that day.\nWherefore it behoved them not to enter the dwellings of the heathen during\nthat day, since it is their custom to bury the bodies of men in their\ngardens or in their houses, which render them a defilement to us Jews.\nTherefore on the day of a sacrifice no Jew may enter a heathen\u2019s house,\nabove all the High Priest, upon whose sanctity the holiness of the nation\ndepends. When, therefore, we came within twenty paces of the Procurator\u2019s\ndwelling, Hanan caused our procession to halt, and a summons to be sounded\nupon the trumpet. Thereat a lictor appeared, who asked our business, and\nto him Hanan gave a message to the Procurator. And here for the first time\nsince he had been arrested I could see the countenance of Jesus near me,\nand it surprised me much to observe that all traces of anxiety and\nweariness had disappeared from it. He seemed relieved and resigned, and\npaid no heed to what was passing around him, seeming only to commune with\nhimself, or perhaps, I should say, with some inward friend and comforter.\n\nThen Pontius Pilate came forward and spake to Joseph Caiaphas the High\nPriest, and asked him what he would with him. And Caiaphas answered and\nsaid, pointing to Jesus, \u201cThis man have we captured and brought unto thee,\nfinding that he was perverting the people, and declaring that he was the\nAnointed One of Israel, and therefore the rightful King of the Jews. Him\ntherefore have we brought to thee, seeing it is a matter which toucheth\nour master the Emperor.\u201d Thereupon Pontius Pilate turned round, and said\nsomething in the barbarian tongue, and the guard of Roman soldiers came\nforward and took Jesus from the High Priest\u2019s guard, and took him with\nthem up the steps of the palace. Then Pilate courteously invited the High\nPriests to enter the judgment\u2010hall with him; but they, in answer, pointed\nout that on that holy day they dared not enter to any house but their own\nand the house of God. Then Pilate turned his back with scanter courtesy,\nand re\u00ebntered the palace, and we and the common people remained outside\nwaiting.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                  XVI.\n                       CONDEMNATION AND EXECUTION.\n\n\nAnd after a while of waiting, Pontius Pilate reappeared, and coming down\nto Caiaphas said, \u201cHe hath confessed; he shall join the other criminals\nthat are to be executed this day.\u201d Then one among those who were waiting\nin the crowd came forward unto Pilate, and said unto him, \u201cMaster, it is a\ngrace of our lord the Emperor that at our Passover there be released unto\nus one of the prisoners that are condemned to death.\u201d And Pilate answered\nand said, \u201cThat is so: whom will ye that I release?\u201d And many of those in\nthe crowd called out, \u201cJesus.\u201d And Pilate stepped back, and summoned to\nhim a lictor. And shortly after soldiers came forward in the portico,\nbearing with them Jesus the Nazarene. Upon him was a purple robe of\nroyalty, and upon his brow had been placed the faded rose\u2010wreath of some\nreveller which had been put on in haste, and some of the thorns had torn\nthe flesh, and blood was trickling down. When the people saw him, many\ncried out, \u201cNot this Jesus, but Jesus Bar Abbas.\u201d And one man among the\ncrowd called out, \u201cBetter Jesus Bar Abba(10) than Jesus Bar Amma;\u201d(11) and\nlaughter and jeers followed. Then Pilate seemed puzzled, and called to him\none of his lictors, who spake earnestly to him for a time, and then\nreceived an order from him. And going up the steps, he entered the palace.\nAnd shortly afterwards there came forward the man Jesus Bar Abbas of\nJerusalem, of whom I have spoken to thee before. Now, he had been very\npopular among the folk, and had lost his liberty in a rising against the\nRomans, in which a Roman sentry had been slain. And there stood the two\nJesuses\u2014the one that had risen against the Romans, and the one that had\ntold the people they should pay tribute to their Roman lords. It was\nmanifest that the new\u2010comer, who had done naught against the Romans, was\nmore in favor with Pilate the Procurator, while the folk who had welcomed\nhim on the first day of the week, on this the sixth day reviled and\ndespised him because he had refused to lead a rising against the Romans as\nthe other one had done. Then Pilate called out to them and said, \u201cWhom\nwill ye that I release unto you: Jesus who is called Bar Abbas, or Jesus\nwho is called Christ?\u201d And almost all the multitude cried, \u201cJesus Bar\nAbbas! Jesus Bar Abbas!\u201d Then Pilate gave command, and the soldiers took\ntack Jesus the Nazarene into the palace again, while others removed the\nfetters from Jesus Bar Abbas, and he came down the steps and disappeared\namong the crowd.\n\nAfter a while, there came forward from the side gate a company of Roman\nsoldiers, who took their stand in front of the steps of the palace, moving\nthe crowd away therefrom. And shortly after, other soldiers brought down\nfrom above three men, each carrying two pieces of timber, one fixed across\nthe top of the other, like unto the letter _tau_. One of these was Jesus\nthe Nazarene, clad once more in his own garments, and without the rose\u2010\nwreath; yet couldst thou see the mark of the thorns upon his brow. The\nothers were, as I learnt, malefactors that had been condemned for robbery.\n\nJust at this moment one touched me on the shoulder, and, turning, I found\nit was one of the servants of my household, who spake unto me and said,\n\u201cMeshullam ben Zadok, thy father would speak with thee.\u201d And as the house\nwas not far off, I went with him and spake to my father, who would have me\naccompany him on the search for leaven on that morn. For at that time I\nwas betrothed, and next year I should have a house of my own, and would\nhave to conduct the search for leaven as a master of a household. So I\nwent round the house with my father\u2014peace be upon him!\u2014and searched for\nthe leaven.\n\nBy the time the search for the leaven had been concluded, the hour had\ncome for the mid\u2010day meal, at which all the members of my family\nassembled. But I hurried forth, as soon as the grace after meals had been\nsaid, to ascertain what had been the fate of the Nazarene. I could not go\nto the place of execution, for it is not seemly for a member of the\nSanhedrim to attend an execution. I soon learnt that the Roman soldiers\nhad conducted Jesus and the two others to the Hill Golgotha, somewhat\napart from the place of stoning, where our Jewish executions were held.\n\nAs I have explained to thee, Aglaophonos, our Sages have mercifully\ninterpreted the words of the Law relating to the four modes of capital\npunishment among us\u2014stoning, burning, beheading, and strangulation. For\nstoning they have substituted throwing down from a height after the\ncriminal has been made to feel naught by drinking a mixture of\nfrankincense, myrrh, and vinegar, which the ladies of Jerusalem supply as\none of their pious duties. The criminal condemned to be burnt is in\nreality strangled, and then a lighted wick placed for a moment in his open\nmouth. In every way the aim of the Sages is to shorten the sufferings of\nthe condemned man. But the Romans, at least in their execution of all but\nRoman citizens, seem rather to aim at the opposite of this; for they have\nselected, as their method of execution for slaves and criminals that are\nnot citizens, suspension on a cross, by which all the organs of the body\nare strained and tortured till some vital organ gives way. It was this\ncruel form of punishment that the Romans were dealing out to Jesus the\nNazarene. It happeneth oft that men live for two or three days on the\ncross, till they die even of hunger. I learnt to my dismay that Jesus had\nrefused, with words of menace, to take the draught of myrrh and wine which\nthe ladies of Jerusalem, as I have said, prepare for all men condemned to\ncapital punishment, so that they may not feel the pain and torture.\n\nI could not go to the place of execution, as a member of the Sanhedrim. I\nhurried, therefore, to the northern slopes of the Temple mount, whence one\ncan see Golgotha. At first I could discern naught, for sombre clouds\ncovered all the heights of Scopus. But suddenly a flash came forth from\nthem, followed by a dull roll of thunder, and I could see for a moment\nthree crosses raised side by side on the top of Golgotha. Which of these\nheld Jesus I knew not. I only knew that there was dying one who had seemed\nborn to do honor to his nation, to help to deliver Israel from the men who\nwere now torturing him to his death. Since the night before, events had so\nhurried past me that I had had no time to think of their import till now,\nwhen I sat me down in the purple shadow of Antonia, and gazed upon the\nhill of execution, where from time to time flashes showed me the three\ncrosses on the hill.\n\nThis, then, was the end of the hopes connected with Jesus of Nazara, and\nof the empire which he had wielded over men\u2019s minds! But five days agone\nwelcomed as a king, to\u2010day executed with the ignominy reserved for the\nbasest slave. Each day of his sojourn in Jerusalem he had made another and\nyet another class of the nation his enemies. First he threatens the power\nof the priests; next he insults their opposites, the Pharisees; and then\nhe puts to naught the hope of the common folk that he would help them rise\nagainst the Romans. Between Sabbath and Sabbath he had lost every friend;\nnot even his immediate followers stood by his side in the hour of trial.\n\nAnd yet no man had appeared in Israel for many generations endowed in so\nhigh a degree with all the qualities which mark us Israelites out from the\nnations around. He was tender to the poor; and which of the nations has\ngiven thought for its poor, their feelings as well as their welfare, like\nunto Israel? He bare the yoke of the Law willingly, yet as a son, not as a\nslave, of the Most High. God was to him, as to all of us, as an ever\u2010\npresent Father, to love, to chasten, and to reward; not as a harsh\ntaskmaster or as a boon\u2010companion, as with the commoner minds of thy\npeople, Aglaophonos; nor as a vain figment of the reason, as with thy\nhigher minds.\n\nEven in what thou regardest as defects in our nation, this Jesus seemed\nalso to share. Thou makest us the reproach that we give no thought to the\nbeauties and grandeur of nature, and in nothing that I had seen and heard\nof him did the Nazarene differ from the rest of us in this. Thou\ncomplainest that we look upon life with all too much seriousness. \u201cYe\ncannot see the smile upon the face of things,\u201d thou saidst once to me. In\nthis surely Jesus was a Jew of the Jews. We never saw him smile, still\nless heard him laugh. Thou wouldst hold up to me as a model Socrates thy\nteacher, who taught the Hellenes truth with a smile. That man there, dying\nupon the cross, had tried to teach Israel the truth with tears and\nthreats.\n\nHerein he followed the exemplar of our prophets. Only in Israel have the\nmen who have led us farthest reviled us most. As our God, who has been to\nus a Father, has chastened us while he loved us, so our prophets have\nrebuked us their brethren. Many generations of men have passed since the\nlast of the prophets spake his words of loving reproof. Now has appeared\nthis Jesus, who again takes up their work.\n\nBut in one thing, and that a great thing, he differs from our prophets.\nAll these spake never but as messengers of the Most High. This man alone\nof the prophets speaketh in his own name: therefore he hath been a\nstumbling\u2010block and an offence unto us. He spake as one having authority,\nand it seemed to us as arrogance. And when we would speak with him in the\ngates, and know his own thought, he evaded our questionings and eluded our\ntestings. He seemed aloof from us and our desires. All Israel was pining\nto be freed from the Roman yoke, and he would have us pay tribute to Rome\nfor aye. Did he feel himself in some way as not of our nation? I know not;\nbut in all ways we failed to know him.\n\nAnd as I was communing thus, the sun shone forth from a rift in the clouds\nand illumined for a space the crown of Calvary, and I stretched forth my\nhands to the figures on the cross, and cried aloud in my perplexity,\n\u201cJesus, what art thou?\u201d And then I bethought me, and my hands fell to my\nside, and I said, \u201cWhat wert thou, Jesus?\u201d Naught answered me but the\ndistant rumbling from the gloomy clouds.\n\nBut the sun was setting over Israel, and I turned to my father\u2019s house,\nthere once more to celebrate the Feast of the Deliverance from Egypt.\n\n\n\n\n\n                                EPILOGUE.\n\n\nThus far had I written to thee, Aglaophonos, as to what I knew of that\nJesus the Nazarene about whom thou hast made so earnest inquiry. I had\nminded to hand it to Alph\u00e6us ben Simon, my cousin, who goeth this week in\nthe galley to Cyprus, and thence would have passed it on to thee by the\nhands of one of our brethren who visit Greece from year to year. But there\nhas happened to me an event which has given me much to think of with\nregard to this very matter of Jesus. It chanced that the day before\nyesterday I went from the Jewish quarter in this city of Alexandria for my\nusual walk along the Lochias, which adjoins it. There it is my custom to\ncatch the sea air and to watch the vessels put into the Inner Port. Now,\nit chanced that as I came upon the Lochias, the vessel of Joppa had just\nhoved\u2010to in the Inner Port, and the passengers were being landed up the\nBroad Steps. Now these, by their _talith_ and their faces, I knew to be\nJews, and I went up to them, and greeted them with the greeting of peace.\nBut among them one came to me with the look of recognition in his eyes,\nand said, \u201cKnowest thou me not, Meshullam ben Zadok?\u201d And, behold, it was\nRufus ben Simon, whom I had known before I left the Holy City. So I\nwelcomed him, and brought him home to this house of mine. And here he\nremaineth till the morrow, when he starteth forth to go to Cyrene.\n\nNow, in my inquiries about old friends left behind, and new things that\nhad happened since I went away, I failed not to ask about the followers of\nthe Nazarene. To my wonder, I found that this Rufus had become one of\nthem, even though he was but a child when Jesus died. Yet is he a good Jew\nin all else. He eateth only our meat, and keepeth our Sabbaths and\nfestivals. But he avers that the Anointed One, whom we expect, has already\nappeared, and that he was Jesus the Nazarene. And upon my inquiry how he\ncould know aught of Jesus but from the common talk, he put in my hand some\nMemorabilia of him, written down in Hebrew by one of his chief followers,\nMatathias.(12) This have I read again and again, and pondered much\nthereon. Nor have I been able to sleep these two nights for the new\nthoughts about Jesus that have come to me from reading these memoirs of\nhim.\n\nFor, behold, he appeareth in these records of him by his own followers in\nfar other wise than he showed himself to us in public at Jerusalem. In all\nhis public acts among us he was full of scornful rebukes; among his own\nfollowers he was tender and loving. Scarcely ever could we get him to\nspeak out to us plainly his views about matters of public concern. He\nwould always give us an answer full of evasion and enigma, but to his\nfollowers he would explain all his meaning over and over again,\nillustrated with parable. There at Jerusalem he almost always turned to\nthe people his harsher side. I saw him on every occasion on which he\nappeared in public in Jerusalem, and, save only in his sermons, he was\nalways rebuking one or another, just like the prophets of old. And the\nmanner of his rebuking towards us was as with scorpions, whereas among his\nown he would mingle tenderness even with his reproaches. Nor, saving his\nsermons, which few heard but those who already followed him, had he aught\nnovel to tell us about the things of life. He seemed to us as if he would\ndestroy the temple of our faith, nor in his public actions did he give any\npromise of building it up anew. Yet to those with him he would continually\nbe telling what to do and how to do it, till, behold, a new manner of\nlife, fair and seemly, stood before them, fulfilled of Jewish\nrighteousness, with a tender mercy which was the man\u2019s very own.\n\nI need not detail to thee, Aglaophonos, what these acts and words were\nwhich have given me an altogether new light as to the character and\nthoughts of the man Jesus. From certain words of thine in thy letter,\nwhich I understood not then when I first read it, I can see now that thou\nmust have had some such account of the life and death of Jesus before thee\nas this which Rufus hath shown unto me. Now I can understand wherefore\nthou hast inquired about this Jesus with such eager insistence. And to\nthee as a Gentile the revelation of his character would come with more\nattractive force than to us that be Jews. For in almost every way this\nJesus fulfilleth the idea of a Jew as we have it in these later days.\nWorking with his hands, yet teaching with his voice; obedient to the Law,\nyet ever eager to take a new law upon himself; doing acts of love among\nmen, yet rebuking in love their ill acts, and doing all things as in the\npresence of the Glory;\u2014in all this Jesus was as the best of our Sages.\n\n\u201cWherefore, then, did ye suffer him to be killed?\u201d thou wilt ask me, and\nindeed I ask myself. If I were to answer thee in the way Jesus was wont to\nanswer us, I would say, \u201cWhy did ye Hellenes condemn Socrates to the\nhemlock?\u201d For he was as much the Ideal of the Hellenes as Jesus of the\nJews. Every Hellene would be eloquent and reasonable, and that was\nSocrates. Every Jew would be wise and good and pious, and that was Jesus.\nYet each of these men, if I read their lives aright, died the death of a\ncriminal, because he cared not for that which his fellow\u2010countrymen cared\nfor most. Socrates died because he would force his countrymen to examine\nby their reason the ideas and ideals which they all accepted. Jesus died\nfor the same reason, but also for another\u2014for that he cared naught for our\nnational hopes. We were all panting for national freedom; he would have\nnaught of it. Whether it was that he felt in some sort to be not of our\nnation, I know not; but in all his teaching he dealt with us as men, not\nas Jews. It is this, I can see, that has attracted thee to his doctrine,\nwhereas thou wert always scornful of our Jewish pretensions, as thou\ncalledst them.\n\nYet herein again was he at one with the best thoughts of our Sages. Our\nGod is the God of all, and his Law shall be one day the Law of all. If we\nyearn for the universal realm of the Messiah, it is as much for the sake\nof the world as for ourselves. But methinks I see in the thoughts of this\nJesus an idea quite other than ours as to what the Anointed One shall be\nand shall do. We hope for him as a Deliverer and a Conqueror with force of\narms by God\u2019s aid. Now, Jesus seemed not to think of the Anointed One in\nany way like this. His mind seemed to be filled rather with the picture of\nthe Servant of God as drawn by the Prophet Esaias. Thou knowest the\npassage, Aglaophonos; I remember thy laughter when first I read it thee,\nthat men could look forward to contempt and hatred as a good. Truly the\nidea is far different from the saying of the barbarian, \u201cWoe to the\nconquered!\u201d And surely to us all, Jew and Gentile, Greek and barbarian,\nthe greatest of joys is this\u2014to worst an equal foe in fair fight. But to\nEsaias the prophet, and to Jesus the Nazarene after him, the higher\nvictory is with him that is worsted in the battle of life. That will come\nas good tidings to nine out of every ten of men.\n\nTherefore, if Jesus thought of himself as the Anointed One, it was as\nbeing anointed with the woes of the vanquished, with the sweat and the\nblood of the lowly and despised. Now I know why he seemed so sad when he\nwas greeted at Jerusalem as a victor. He had spent his life in trying to\nimpress a new ideal upon his people, and they had welcomed him only as the\nfulfilment of the old ideal which he desired to replace. None of thy poets\nhave given a drama with more of _eironeia_ in it than this.\n\nYet why did he remain silent before us as to these ideas of his? If,\nindeed, these were his ideas; for even with the new light given by the\nHebrew Memorabilia, I can see his thought but dimly. Why spake he not his\nown thought to the people in Jerusalem, and tell us no longer to hope for\nworldly dominion as the best means for spreading the Law of the Lord, but\nrather to be as servants of God, even as Esaias the Prophet hath spoken?\nWas it that he wished to carry out the description of the prophet even to\nevery iota of his text? For, behold, the prophet sayeth, \u201cHe let himself\nbe humbled, and opened not his mouth.\u201d If so, then was the death of Jesus\nbut a sublime suicide.\n\nFor surely by this silence he has committed a grievous sin against us his\npeople. For if we committed aught of sin and crime that handed him over to\nthe Romans as a pretender to empire, he indeed shared our sin and crime by\nhis silence. Ye Hellenes were at least greater in fault than we in the\nmatter of Socrates; for ye condemned him after he had spoken his whole\nmind and made known his whole thought to his people; whereas we condemned\none who, I make bold to say, was even greater than thy Socrates, mainly\nbecause of what seemed to us his sullen and arrogant silence, broken only\nby a confession of guilt when he knew he was not guilty.\n\nBut yet, let me not be as harsh in judgment upon him after his death, as\nperhaps I was when I allowed the sentence to be declared against him\nwithout protest. He, least of all men, could have died with a lie upon his\nlips. In some sort and in some way he must have combined the thought of\nthe triumphant Messiah and of the despised Servant of God. For in those\nMemorabilia of him which have come into my hands during the last days as\nbeing a message from him that is dead, I find these two things combined.\nHe speaketh ever of the blessedness of the poor and the humble and the\ndespised, even as the Ebionim speak. So that if a man would be blessed, he\nwould choose a lowly career, even as did Jesus. Yet withal he speaketh oft\nof himself as the Son of Man, and every Jew that heard him would think he\nknew what he thereby claimed. For in the Prophets Daniel and Enoch it is\nclearly said that the Son of Man would come in victory over the world; and\nwhat other could this universal victor be than the Anointed One whom the\nprophets had foretold? If Jesus put another meaning upon the prophetic\nwords, why spake he not his meaning fully unto the people? All we may have\ngone like sheep astray, but he that might have been our shepherd went\napart alone with God.\n\nO Jesus, why didst thou not show thyself to thy people in thy true\ncharacter? Why didst thou seem to care not for aught that we at Jerusalem\ncared for? Why, arraigned before the appointed judges of thy people, didst\nthou keep silence before us, and, by thus keeping silent, share in\npronouncing judgment upon thyself? We have slain thee as the Hellenes have\nslain Socrates their greatest, and our punishment will be as theirs. Then\nwill Israel be even as thou wert, despised and rejected of men\u2014a nation of\nsorrows among the nations. But Israel is greater than any of his sons, and\nthe day will come when he will know thee as his greatest. And in that day\nhe will say unto thee, \u201cMy sons have slain thee, O my son, and thou hast\nshared our guilt.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                             RELIGIOUS BOOKS\n\n\n                   _Serviceable, Timely, and Helpful._\n\n_Riverside Parallel Bible._\nContaining the Authorized Version and the Revised Version in parallel\ncolumns. Large type, cloth, $5.00; Persian, $10.00; morocco, $15.00.\n\n_Bible Dictionary._\nDr. SMITH\u2019S GREAT BIBLE DICTIONARY. Edited for America by Professor\nHACKETT and Dr. EZRA ABBOT. By far the fullest and best Bible Dictionary\nin the English language. 4 vols. 8vo, 596 illustrations, 3697 pages,\ncloth, $20.00. Other bindings from $25.00 to $27.50.\n\n_The New Testament._\nSuperbly illustrated with engravings from designs after the Old Masters.\nRoyal 4to, cloth, full gilt, $10.00; morocco, $20.00.\n\n_Robinson\u2019s Palestine._\nBiblical Researches in Palestine. By EDWARD ROBINSON. A work very highly\ncommended by Dean Stanley. With Maps, plans, etc. 3 vols. 8vo, $10.00.\n\n_Physical Geography of the Holy Land._\n8vo, $3.50.\n\n_History of the Sacred Scriptures of the New Testament._\nProbably the fullest and best work on this subject. By EDUARD W. E. REUSS.\nTranslated by E. L. HOUGHTON. 2 vols. 8vo, $5.00.\n\n_Neander\u2019s Church History._\nGeneral History of the Christian Religion and Church. Translated by Rev.\nJOSEPH TORREY. With a very full index. 6 vols. 8vo, $20.00.\nDr. Schaff pronounced Neander the greatest church historian of the\nnineteenth century.\n\n_Into His Marvellous Light._\nStudies in Life and Belief. By CHARLES CUTHBERT HALL, D. 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Thoroughly revised, and forming a book which the _Christian\nRegister_ says, \u201cfor the breadth of its sympathies, for the generosity of\nits inclusions, for the largeness of its spiritual apprehensions, can\nhardly be too highly praised.\u201d $1.25.\n\n_The World to Come._\nA book of vigorous, very readable discourses by Dr. WILLIAM BURNETT\nWRIGHT, with a Lecture full of curious information about Christmas\n($1.25); \u201c_Ancient Cities_,\u201d a volume of popular character, describing the\nmost representative cities of the Bible ($1.25).\n\n_On the Threshold._\nDr. MUNGER\u2019S wise and delightful book for young men and women ($1.00);\n\u201c_Freedom of Faith_\u201d and \u201c_The Appeal to Life_,\u201d two books of broad,\nnoble, readable sermons ($1.50 each), and \u201c_Lamps and Paths_,\u201d a volume of\nexceedingly sensible and attractive sermons to children ($1.00).\n\n_Who Wrote the Bible?_\nDr. Gladden\u2019s frank, scholarly, yet popular book, treating wisely and\nreverently a very important question ($1.25); a book of admirable\ndiscourses on \u201c_The Lord\u2019s Prayer_\u201d ($1.00), and \u201c_Applied Christianity_,\u201d\ntreating very suggestively the moral aspects of social questions ($1.25).\n\n_The Lily Among Thorns._\nA very interesting book on the Biblical drama called The Song of Songs. By\nWM. ELLIOT GRIFFIS, D. D. $1.25.\n\n_An American Missionary in Japan._\nA book of great interest, and giving a great deal of information about the\nsocial and religious development of Modern Japan. By Rev. Dr. M. L.\nGORDON, for twenty years an able and devoted missionary in that country.\n$1.25.\n\n_The Republic of God._\nBy ELISHA MULFORD, LL. D. $2.00. \u201cA unique work, and devotes to the great\ntopics of theology a kind of thinking of which we have had little in\nEnglish literature and need much.\u201d\u2014_The Independent._\n\n_As It Is In Heaven._ _The Unseen Friend._ _At the Beautiful Gate._\nThree books by LUCY LARCOM,\u2014religious, cheerful, delightful to read, and\nof the finest quality in every way. The last\u2010named is a book of exquisite\nreligious lyrics. Each, $1.00.\n\n\u2042 _For sale by all Booksellers. Sent, post\u2010paid, on receipt of price by\nthe Publishers_,\n\n                    _Houghton, Mifflin & Company,__ _\n         _4 Park Street, Boston; 11 East 17th Street, New York._\n\n\n\n\n\n                                FOOTNOTES\n\n\n    1 This, like most other utterances of Jesus, found in this book but\n      not in the Gospels, is also found in the early patristic\n      literature.\u2014ED.\n\n    2 _\u1f4c\u03c7\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u1f00\u03b3\u03c1\u03bf\u1fe6_, seemingly the translation of the Hebrew _\u05e2\u05dd \u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5_\n      used for those unlearned in the Law; this term seems to have passed\n      through much the same history as \u201cpagan.\u201d\u2014ED.\n\n    3 Each of the Jewish rabbis used to sum up his teaching in some\n      pregnant sentence. These are given in the Talmudic treatise, _The\n      Ethics of the Fathers_.\u2014ED.\n\n    4 Jos\u00e9 ben Joeser said, \u201cLet thy place be a place of meeting for the\n      wise; dust thyself with the dust of their feet, and drink greedily\n      of their teaching\u201d (_Pirke Aboth_, i. 4).\u2014ED.\n\n    5 The rabbis use this expression, _Bath Kol_, for any supernatural\n      revelation.\u2014ED.\n\n    6 This Logion is only found elsewhere in one MS. of the Gospels, viz.,\n      in the Codex Bez\u00e6 at Cambridge.\u2014ED.\n\n    7 It must have been from a report of this discourse, and that given on\n      p. 92, that the majority of those utterances of Jesus have been\n      derived which are known in modern theology as \u201cAgrapha.\u201d\u2014ED.\n\n    8 The gospel version reads \u201cSamaritan.\u201d\u2014ED.\n\n    9 See note on p. 42.\u2014ED.\n\n   10 _Bar Abba_ means \u201cson of his father.\u201d\n\n   11 _Bar Amma_ means \u201cson of his mother.\u201d\u2014ED.\n\n   12 Probably the so\u2010called Primitive Gospel, the common foundation of\n      our Synoptics. But the date is somewhat early.\u2014ED.","title":"As Others Saw Him: A Retrospect, A.D. 54","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":33265}