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THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.
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I heard naught and saw naught of Jesus the Nazarene till the very last week of his life, and that was the week before the Passover. The winter had been a severe one, and much misery had arisen among the folk through the exactions of the Romans; indeed, an attempt had been made to throw off the Roman yoke. In several places the people had assembled in arms and attacked the soldiery, and in some cases had slain their sentries. Pilate had but sent off a cohort into the district, and all signs of discontent went underground. One of the leaders of the revolt, Jesus Bar Abbas, had been captured and thrown into prison. He, indeed, had attempted an insurrection in Jerusalem itself, where he was well known and popular among the common folk. When he was arrested, a riot had occurred, and one of the soldiers was slain who had been sent to arrest him; wherefore he lay now in prison on the charges of rebellion and murder. Yet many thought that this man had been put forth to try the temper of the people and the power of the Romans, in preparation for a more serious attempt to shake off the oppressor.
Yet who should lead the people? Jochanan, the only man whom of recent times the people followed gladly, had been done to death by Herod. One man alone since his death had won the people's heart, to wit, Jesus the cousin of Jochanan. He, and he alone, could lead the people against the Romans, and all men wondered if he would. In the midst of their wonder came news that Jesus the Nazarene was coming up to the Holy City for the Feast of Passover, the feast of redemption from Egypt. Would it prove this year a feast of redemption from the Romans? All hope of this depended upon this Jesus.
It was twenty-one years ago, but I can remember as if it were yesterday the excitement in Jerusalem when the news came that Jesus of Nazareth had arrived in the neighborhood, and was spending his Sabbath at the village of Bethany. All those who were disaffected against the Romans cried out, "A leader! a leader!" All those who were halt, sick, or blind, cried out, "A healer! a healer!" Wherever we went, there was no talk but of the coming deliverance. As I approached one group of men I heard them say, "When will it be? When will he give the sign? Will it be before or after the feast?" "Nay," said one of the crowd, a burly blacksmith he, "what day for the deliverance but the Passover day? But be it when it may, let him give the sign, and I shall be ready."
"And prove a new Maccabee," said one in the crowd, referring to his hammer, whereat a grim laugh arose.
The next day being the first of the week, which the Romans call the Day of the Sun, I was pondering the words of the Law in my little study chamber near the roof of my father's house in the Street of the Bakers near Herod's Palace, which at that time was inhabited by the Procurator, when suddenly I heard the patter of many feet in the street beneath me, and looking out, I saw them all hurrying, as it seemed, to the Temple. I put on my sandals, and taking my staff in my hand and drawing my mantle over my head, hurried out after the passers-by. But when they came to the Broad Place before the Water Gate, they turned sharp to the right, and went down the Tyropœon as far as the Fountain Gate, where I overtook them. There I found all the most turbulent of the city population. Some of the men I knew had been engaged in the recent riot under Jesus Bar Abbas. Others were the leading Zealots in Jerusalem, and all were men eager for the freeing of the city from the Romans. And among them, too, were others who cared not for freedom, nor hated the Romans, but would only be too pleased if the city were given up to disorder and rapine. While these waited there, we heard cries from behind us, and looking back, saw filing out from the Temple courts on to the Xystus Bridge, and down into the Tyropœon, the brigade of beggars who pass almost their whole life in the Court of the Gentiles. These came down slowly, for among them were many halt and some blind, and all were old and feeble of limb. "Why come they forth from the courts?" I asked; "and why are we waiting?" Then said one near me, "Knowest thou not that Jesus the Nazarene enters the city to-day? And men say he is to deliver us." And at that moment a cry arose among the folk, "Lo! there he is." Looking south, for a time I could see nothing, for the mid-day sun of the spring solstice was shining with that radiance which we Jews think is only to be seen in our land. But after a while I could discern, turning the corner of the Jericho Road near En Rogel, a mounted man, surrounded by a number of men and women on foot. "It is Jesus—it is Jesus!" all cried; "let us to meet him!" And with that, all but the lame rushed forward to meet him, and I with them.
It is but three hundred paces from the Fountain Gate to En Rogel, and the Nazarene and his friends had advanced somewhat to meet us, but in that short space the enthusiasm of the crowd had arisen to a very fever, and as we neared him one cried out, and all joined in the cry, "Hosanna Barabba! Hosanna Barabba!" and then they shouted our usual cry of welcome, "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord!" and one bolder than his fellows called out, "Blessed be the coming of the kingdom!" At that there was the wildest joy among the people. Some tore off branches of palms, and stood by the way and waved them in front of Jesus; others took off each his talith and threw it down in front of the young ass on which Jesus rode, as if to pave the way into the Holy City with choice linen. But when I looked upon the face of Jesus, there were no signs there of the coming triumph; he sat with his head bent forward, his eyes downcast, and his face all sad. And a chill somehow came over me. I thought of that play of the Greeks which thou gavest me to read, in which the king of men, driving to his own palace at Argos, is enticed to enter it, stepping upon soft carpets like an idol of your gods, and so incurs the divine jealousy.
As we approached the Fountain Gate, the beggars from the Temple had come down to it, and joined in the shouting and the welcome; and one of them, Tobias ben Pinchas by name, who had, ever since men had known him, walked with a crutch, suddenly, in his excitement, raised his crutch and waved it over his head, and danced before Jesus, crying, "Hosanna Barabba! Hosanna Barabba!" and all men cried out, "A miracle, a miracle! what cannot this man perform?" And so, with a crowd surrounding him, Jesus entered Jerusalem and went up into the Temple. But I that year had been appointed one of the overseers who distributed the unleavened bread to the poor of the city for the coming Passover, and I had then to attend the meeting of my fellow-overseers.
That night there was no talk in Jerusalem but of the triumphant entry of Jesus. The city was crowded by Israelites who had come up to the capital for the festival, and a whisper went about that many of the strangers had been summoned by Jesus to Jerusalem to help in the coming revolt. During that night, wherever a Roman sentry stood, a crowd of the unruly would collect round him and jeer at him; and in one place the sentry had to use his spear, and wounded one of the crowd. So great was the tumult that, when the sentries were changed for the midnight watch, a whole company of soldiers accompanied the officer's guard and helped to clear the streets. Meanwhile, where was Jesus? And what was he doing in the midst of this tumult? I made inquiry, for perchance he might have been holding disputations about the Law, as is the custom with our Sages; but I learnt that he had left the city at the eleventh hour, and gone back to the village of Bethany, where he was staying. But I was thinking through all that evening of the strange contrast between the triumphant joy of his followers and the saddened countenance of the Nazarene.
Men knew not what was to become of this movement in favor of him. Most of the lower orders were hoping for a rising against the Romans to be led by this Jesus. Shrewder ones among the Better thought that the man was about to initiate a change in the spiritual government of our people. Some thought he would depose the Sadducees, and place the Pharisees in their stead. Others feared that he would carry into practice the ideals of the Ebionim, and raise the Poor against the Rich. Others said, "Why did he not enter by the gate of the Essenes, for he holdeth with them?" All knew that the coming Passover would be a trying time for Israel, owing to the presence of the man Jesus in Jerusalem, and the manifest favor in which he was held by the common folk. But amidst all this I could see only the pale, sad face of Jesus.