III.
EARLIER TEACHING.
SERMON IN THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE GALILÆANS.
III.
It must have been a year after I had first seen Jesus that I saw him again the second time in Jerusalem. It fell out in this wise: I was proceeding one morning to the meeting of the Sanhedrim, when, as I came near the Synagogue of the Galilæans in the Fish-Market, I found a crowd of men entering in. I asked one of them what was going forward, and he said, "Jesus the Nazarene will expound the Law." So I determined to take the morning service in this synagogue rather than with my colleagues in the Temple, and went in, the people giving way before me, as was my due as a member of the Sanhedrim.
Now, this synagogue of the Galilæans differed in naught from the rest of the synagogues of the Jews. It cannot be that thou hast not visited one of these when thou wast in the Holy City, but perchance thy memory is dim after all these years, and I will in a few words explain to thee its arrangement. In the wall at the west end was the cabinet containing the scrolls of the Law, with a curtain before it, for this is, as it were, the Holy of Holies of the synagogue. The men go up to this, on to the platform before it, by three steps. Then comes a vacant space, in the midst of which stands a dais, with a reading-desk whereon the Law is read: this we call by your Greek name bema. Then in the rest of the hall sit the folk, arranged in benches one after another, somewhat as in your theatres. Now, as I came in, they had said the morning psalms, and most of the Eighteen Blessings, and shortly after the reading of the Law began. The curtain was drawn aside from the holy ark, the scroll of the Law was taken thence, to the singing of psalms unto the bema. Then, as is customary, the messenger of the congregation summoned first to the reading of the Law a Cohen, a descendant of Aaron, one of the priestly caste. And after he had read some verses of the Law in the holy tongue, the dragoman read its translation into Chaldee, so as to be understanded of the unlearned folk, and of the women who were in the gallery outside the synagogue, and separated from it by a grating. Then after the priest came a Levite, who also read some verses, and after him an ordinary Israelite. Then the messenger of the synagogue called out, "Let Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph arise." Then Jesus the Nazarene went up to the bema and read his appointed verses, and these were translated as before by the dragoman. And after the reading of the Law was concluded, the Parnass, or president of the congregation, requested Jesus to read the Haphtara, the lesson from the prophets; and this he did, using the cantillation with which we chant words of Holy Scripture. Yet never heard I one whose voice so thrilled me, and brought home to one the import of the great words; and this was strange, for his accent was, as I had before noticed, that of the Galilæan peasantry, at which we of Jerusalem were wont to scoff. Then, after the Law had been returned to the ark with song and psalm, Jesus turned round to the people on the bema and began his discourse. It is near five-and-twenty years since I heard him, and much have I forgotten in that long time. But many of his sayings still ring in my ears, and I will here put down, as far as possible in order, all that I can remember of the discourse.[1]
"It hath been written by the Prophet Esaias: Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. Yea, behold a man and his work before him. He that worketh not, let him not eat. Yet he that plougheth, let him plough in hope; he that thresheth, thresh in hope of partaking. Howbeit, he who longs to be rich is like a man who drinketh seawater: the more he drinketh the more thirsty he becomes, and never leaves off drinking till he perish. Blessed is he who also fasts that he may feed the poor: for it is more blessed to give than to receive. Yet let thy alms sweat into thy hands until thou know to whom thou givest. Where there are pains, thither hastens the physician: that which is weak shall be saved by that which is strong. For the sake of the weak I was weak, for the sake of the hungry I hungered, for the sake of the thirsty I thirsted. But woe to those who have yet hypocritically taken from others; who are able to help themselves, and yet wish to take from others: for each man shall give account in the day of judgment.
"That which thou hatest thou shalt not do to another. Good things must come; he is blessed through whom they come. Love covereth a multitude of sins; so never be joyful save when you look upon your brother's countenance in love. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. For the greatest of crimes is this: if a man shall sadden his brother's spirit. Blessed, too, are they who mourn for the perdition of unbelievers. Do not give occasion to the Wicked One. Who is the Wicked One? He that tempts. Yet none shall reach the kingdom of heaven unless he have been tempted: for our Father which is in heaven would rather the repentance of a sinner than his correction. Yet he will cleanse the house of his kingdom from all offence. Be, therefore, careful and prudent and wise, lest any of you be caught in the snares of the devil, for that ancient enemy goes about buffeting.
"If thou hast seen thy brother, thou hast seen thy Lord, God the Father, whose fatherland is everywhere, in heaven and upon earth. Far and near, the Lord knoweth his own. So grieve not the holy spirit which is in you, nor extinguish the light which shines in you. Guard the flesh pure, and the signet spotless, so that ye may take hold upon eternal life. For our possessions are in heaven; therefore, sons of men, purchase unto yourselves by these transitory things which are not yours, what is yours, and shall not pass away."
I cannot tell thee, Aglaophonos, how deeply this discourse affected me. Just as the Hellenes are eager to find each day some new beauty in man or the world, or some new truth about the relation of things, so we Hebrews rejoice in finding new ideals in the relations of men. Each of our Sages prides himself on this—that he has said some maxim of wisdom that none had thought of before him, and so each of them is remembered in the minds of men by one or more of his favorite maxims. But it is rare if in a whole lifetime a sage sayeth more than one word fit to be treasured up among men. Yet was this man Jesus dropping pearls of wisdom from his mouth in prodigal profusion. As each memorable word fell from his lips, a murmur of delighted surprise passed round the synagogue, and each man looked to his neighbor with brightened eyes. Some of the thoughts, indeed, I had heard from other of our Sages, but never in so pointed a form, surely never in such profusion from a single sage.
And if what was said delighted us, the manner in which it was said entranced us still more. The voice of the speaker answered to the thoughts he expressed, as the Kinnor of David, according to our Sages, turned the wind into music. When he spoke of love, his voice was as the cooing dove; when he denounced the oppressor, it clanged like a silver trumpet. Indeed, his whole countenance and bearing changed in like manner, so that every word he uttered seemed to be the outcome of his whole being.
But most of all was it the vividness of his eyes that impressed his words upon us. I had seen them flashing with scorn in the Temple, I now saw them melting with tenderness in the synagogue; and there was this of strange in them, that they seemed to speak other and deeper words. As he gazed upon us, I felt as if all my inmost being was bare to the gaze of those eyes. They seemed to know all my secret thoughts and sins; and yet I felt not ashamed, for as they saw the sins, so they seemed to speak forgiveness of them.
What I felt then, others felt with me, for, as I afterwards learnt, each man felt the same as the eyes of Jesus fell upon him; and most curious it was that each man thought as I did, that the eyes of the speaker were upon him during the whole of the discourse. I have seen here in Alexandria portraits of men painted by your subtlest artists, in which, from whatever place you looked at them, the eyes seemed to gaze upon you. So was it with Jesus. Not alone did I, who was, as a member of the Sanhedrim, sitting immediately before him, feel his eyes pierce to my soul, but all who were in that synagogue felt the same. Nor did the effect die away after I had left the synagogue; for days and days afterwards, whenever I closed my eyes, or gazed for long on the wall, I could see the eyes of Jesus, and with it his whole face, gazing upon me.
I had left the synagogue a little before the others, because a messenger had been sent from the Sanhedrim to seek for a member who should make up the quorum of Twenty-Three; and this messenger, hearing that a member of the Sanhedrim was in the synagogue of the Galilæans, sent in to summon me. When the sitting was over, I sought for Jesus again, but found that he had left the city. And for a time I neither saw nor heard aught more of him, save such rumors as came to the Holy City from Galilee. About this time many joined themselves unto him, going whithersoever he went. Those, too, who had joined themselves to Jochanan passed over to him, for Jochanan had been slain by Herod, whom he had rebuked for his wicked living. It was, indeed, said that Herod had also captured this Jesus when he found that he was following in the footsteps of Jochanan; but this proved to be untrue, and the multitude thronged more and more after Jesus, and from this time he began to teach them regularly, after the manner of our Sages. Yet he did not pronounce decisions of Halacha on questions of our Law; indeed, he disclaimed all interference with such questions. "I am not come," he said, "to take away from the Law of Moses, nor to add to the Law of Moses am I come." Only one saying of his have I heard of wherein he said aught at variance with the Torah. When the children of a man who had recently died asked him in what way should the property be divided, he said, "Let son and daughter inherit alike." In this, as in other things, he was more favorable to the claims of the women than the Law and the Sages. For this reason, perhaps, it was that many women followed after him, even joined in prayer with him and those with him, against the custom of our nation. Hence arose much scandal among the more rigidly pious among us, who follow the saying of Joseph ben Jochanan, "Engage not in much converse with women." But I have heard naught of evil that resulted from this free mingling of men and women among his followers. Yet Jesus was not against the due subordination of women, for he also said, "Let the wife be in subordination to her husband."
Thou must know that among us our Sages are of two kinds, the Halachists and the Hagadists. The former deal with matters of the Law according to the tradition they have received from their teacher; but the latter expound the words of the Scripture, and deal with the moral relations of man to man. Some of our Sages, indeed, like the great Hillel, who died when I was a child, have been equally masters both of the Halacha and the Hagada; and in many ways the teaching of Jesus seems to have resembled, if it did not follow, that of Hillel. I must tell thee one anecdote about this Hillel which is well known amongst us. He was distinguished for his evenness of temper, and men would often in sport try to make him lose it. A heathen came before him one day, and declared that he would become a Jew if only Hillel would tell him the whole Law while he stood upon one foot, hoping thereby to irritate Hillel by his presumption. But Hillel said only, "What thou wilt not for thyself, do not to thy neighbor. This is the whole of the Law; all the rest is but commentary thereon. Go and learn." Now, among the disciples of Hillel was one who compiled for the heathen a summary of the Law in the spirit of Hillel; and it seemed to me, from what I heard of Jesus' teaching, that he had learnt much from this summary, which is called "The Two Ways." I will have a copy written out for thee, for it is very short.
Now, in all the teaching of Jesus which I heard of about this time, he seems to have expanded, but in no wise modified, the teaching of "The Two Ways." Above all, he seems to have warned men against the evil feelings within, that lead to sins against the Law, and therein differed somewhat from the practice of our Sages, who think that by doing the Law and keeping to it rightful feelings shall grow, and evil thoughts fly away.
Yet while in many ways Jesus seemed to be of the School of Hillel, in others he cast in his lot with the men among us who claim to be especially favored of God, because—thou wilt smile, Aglaophonos—because they are poor. Thou hast read our Psalms, and knowest with what insistence the poor and the righteous, the rich and the wicked, are identified in them. Many of our nation have taken this to heart, and as it were pride themselves upon their humility, as some of them call themselves Ebionim, or the Poor; some, the Zaddikim, or Righteous; some, Chasidim, or Pious. Thou canst not call them a sect, for in a way they include the whole nation. In the Eighteen Blessings which form the staple of our daily prayers, the Lord is blessed as the Guardian and Refuge of the Zaddikim. Now, it was chiefly among these men, whether they called themselves Ebionim, or Zaddikim, or Chasidim, that Jesus found his chief adherents, though he seems to give his preference to the Ebionim, who have always been insisting upon the blessedness of the poor. Now, these men consider themselves to be beyond all others the servants of the Lord, and identify themselves with that picture of the servant which has been given by the Prophet Esaias. Thus in all these ways Jesus appealed to the more earnest part of our nation, and in him were conjoined most of the movements that had touched us most deeply. If any had said at this time, "Jesus the Nazarene is a follower of Jochanan the Baptizer, and preaches 'The Two Ways' to the Poor," none could have gainsaid him.
Yet all were wondering what he would say to the other side of our nation's hopes. The life of our nation had begun with a deliverance; our chief national feast recalls that deliverance from Egypt to us every year as the spring comes round. We have become subject to all the great kingdoms that have grown up round us, yet again and again we have been delivered from each. Thou and I have often wondered how it has come about that both Hellenes and Hebrews, who feel ourselves in different ways higher than these stolid Romans who rule us, have yet become subject to them. Thy nation hath acquiesced in their rule; my people never will. Every man who promises greatness among us is hoped for as the Deliverer. Many men about this time began to ask, Will Jesus the Nazarene be the Deliverer?