VIII.
THE REBUKING OF JESUS.
VIII.
Now, it chanced that about this time I was invited to a feast at the house of Elisha ben Simeon, one of the leaders of the Pharisees in Jerusalem. His son had become thirteen years old that week, and, as is our custom, was received into the holy congregation as a Son of the Covenant on the Sabbath. He had been summoned up to the reading of the Law, and had himself read aloud a portion of it; for from this day onward he was to be treated in all matters of religion as if he were a man. Being a friend of his father, I had attended his synagogue, and heard the lad's pure voice for the first time in his life declare publicly his faith in the Most High.
After the service in the synagogue, his friends accompanied the father and the lad to their house, and with them went I, who had known the father from our schoolboy days, and the little lad from the time of his birth.
Now, it chanced that, as we came near the door of Elisha's house, we met Jesus the Nazarene, and two or three with him. So Elisha greeted them, and invited them courteously to join the feast, as is the custom among us. And Jesus and the others assented, and followed into the house with us. "To table, to table!" cried Elisha, pointing to the couches standing round the well-filled board.
When we were all seated, the host and his son came round with an ewer and basin to perform the washing of the hands prescribed by the Law. But when they came to the Galilæan strangers, these refused, saying, "We wash not before meals."
"Then we must serve ye last," said Elisha, with a smile. But the others took not the matter so pleasantly; for since we have one common dish, which is handed round to the guests for them to take their food with their fingers, it is considered gross ill-breeding for a man not to perform the ceremony of washing before meals.
Then Elisha took a seat at the centre of the table, and said the grace before meals. Then he broke bread, and, dipping a morsel into salt for each of the guests, he called his son to him to carry it round. When he saw that each of the guests had a piece of bread dipped in salt, Elisha recited the blessing on the bread, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, who bringest forth bread from the earth," and all said "Amen." And one of the guests said to Elisha, "I am glad we are not in Babylon."
"How so, Phineas?" said Elisha to the man, who was well known at all feasts at that time in Jerusalem.
And Phineas said, "For there they only eat bread with their bread."
"Nay, that would not suit thee, Phineas. Thou art no Nazarite;" and most of the guests who knew him laughed.
Then Elisha clapped his hands, and the slaves took round the first course of salted fish; then afterwards the cold baked meats—for, being the Sabbath, the food had been prepared the day before.
Then one of the guests said to one of the Galilæans, "Is it true that you allow fowl to be boiled in milk in your country?"
"Yes, truly; why not?" said the Galilæan.
"Is it not written thrice in the Law," said the guest, "'Thou shalt not seethe the kid in its mother's milk'?"
"In our country," said the Galilæan, "fowls give no milk." And we all of us laughed, save only Jesus.
"Nay, but the Sages have carried their prohibition even unto fowls, lest the people be led to confuse flesh and flesh."
By this time we had arrived at the third and last course of salted olives, lettuces, and radishes. And again the bowl and ewer were passed round, and this time the Galilæans did not refuse the water. Then the new son of the covenant recited in his clear voice the grace after meals. And all rose, while the slaves removed the remnants. Then said Elisha, "It is not well that when so many are together we should depart without discussing some words of the Law, My little Lazarus here would fain learn some new thing from the many learned men present on this day of his being received into Israel."
"Well, then," said one of the company, "I should like to put a question to our friends here from Galilee." And they said, "Speak, Rabbi."
And he addressed himself to Jesus, and said, "Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?"
Then Jesus spoke out, and as he spoke he strode up and down the room, with his hand clutching the air, and the vein throbbing on his left temple. "Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.'" Then facing us all, he added, "For ye lay aside the commandment of God, and hold the tradition of men."
"How so, master?" said Elisha; "prove thy words."
"It is said in the Word of God, 'Honor thy father and thy mother,' and yet the Sages say, 'If a man be asked by his father or mother to honor them with a gift, and he say, "I vow that thing to the Almighty," then it is Corban,' and put aside for the Lord, so that his parents cannot enjoy thereof. Thus by your tradition about vows ye make the Word of God concerning honor to parents of none effect, and many like things ye do."
Then Elisha said, "But the Sages are by no means at one in that matter of the vows, and in particular many of them declare all the vows annulled that would work against our duty to our parents, or even against our love to our neighbor. Yet, even if we take the more stricter tradition, in what manner that absolves us from washing our hands before meals, I see not."
"Nay, it is the same thing," replied Jesus. "Ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and platter, but your inward thoughts are full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools! did not the Holy One, blessed be He, who made that which is without, make also that which is within? Therefore give for alms that which is within, kindly thoughts and friendly feelings. If ye do that, all things are clean unto you."
Then I said unto Jesus, for this matter touched us scribes nearly, "Master, in speaking thus against tradition thou reproachest us also that be scribes."
And he answered, "Woe, woe unto ye, scribes! which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the higher seats in the synagogues, and the chief places at feasts, which devour widows' houses, and for a show make long prayers."
Then an angry murmur rose among all the folk there assembled at the harsh words of the stranger, when suddenly was heard the voice of Simeon ben Lazarus, the father of Elisha, a very old man, who sat in the corner and said:—
"Young man, fourscore years and two have I lived upon this earth; a Pharisee have I been from the day I became a son of the covenant, like little Lazarus there; a scribe was I during all the working days of my life. I did what the Law and the Sages command, yet never thought I in so doing of men's thoughts or praises. Surely, if the Lord command, a good Jew will obey. And as in many things, many acts of this life, the Law speaketh not in plain terms, surely we should follow the opinion of those who devote all their life to the study of the Law.
"I have never sought the praises of men, their greetings or their honors, in obeying the Law. In all that I have done I have sought one thing—to fulfil the will of our Father which is in heaven.
"As for what thou sayest, that inward thought and outward act should go together in the service of God and man, that is a verity, and often have I heard the saying from the great Hillel—may his memory be for a blessing! But if outward act may be clean when inward thought may be unclean, how, on the other hand, can we know the purity of what is within, except it be decided by the cleanliness of what is without? How, above all, shall we teach our little ones, like my Lazarus there, to feel what is good and seemly, except by first teaching them to do the acts that are seemly and good?
"And as for what thou sayest as to the hypocrisy of us Pharisees and scribes, I say unto thee,—and in a few days I must see the face of my Maker,—I say unto thee, I have known many an Ebionite, which thou seemest to be, who was well spoken within, but ill doing without. So, too, I have known many a scribe and many a Pharisee who neither carried their good deeds on their shoulders, nor said, 'Wait, I have to finish some godly deed;' nor set off their good deeds against their sins; nor boasted of their sacrifices for godly works; nor did they seek out their sins that they might pay for them by their virtues; nor were they Pharisees from fear of the Divine punishment. They were Pharisees from love of the Lord, and did throughout their life what they knew to be his commands."
But Jesus spoke gently unto the old man, and said naught but, "Nay, master, I spoke not of thee, nor of men like thee. These be the true Pharisees; the rest but have the Pharisaic color."
"That is so," said old Simeon. "I have heard what King Jannaus said: 'Fear not the Pharisees, nor those who are no Pharisees; but fear the colored ones, who are only Pharisees in appearance, who do the deeds of Zimri and demand the rewards of Phineas.'"
But before the old man could finish there was a movement at the doorway, and a high, thin voice cried out, "Where is this kidnapper of souls? where is this filcher of young lives? where is Jesus the Nazarene?"
"Behold me," said Jesus, turning towards the voice; and an old man, with the rent garment of the mourner, and with hair all distraught, came up to the Nazarene with arms outstretched and clutching fingers.
"Give me my son, my Elchanan!" he cried. "Thou hast taken him from me last Passover, saying, 'Father and mother, yea, all that a man hath, shall he give up to follow me.' He left me to follow thee; what hast thou done with him?—my Elchanan! my Elchanan!"
"He died, and is at peace."
"Then give him back to me again. Thou canst do all things, men say: make whole the sick, let see the blind, cause the lame to walk, and give peace to the troubled mind. Give me, then, back my Elchanan thou hast taken from me."
"There is One alone that can quicken the dead," said Jesus, and walked sternly past him.