VI.
THE TESTINGS IN THE TEMPLE.
VI.
Now, on the morrow, many of us who had agreed together to test the opinions of this Jesus went to the Temple and found Jesus walking in the corridors. Then he that was of most authority among us said unto Jesus, "Rabbi, we would ask certain questions of thee;" and Jesus answered, "Ask, and it shall be answered unto thee."
Thou must know that among us Jews there be two chief schools of thought, or rather thou mightest say, parties of the State. The one holds with the High Priest and the rulers, and is mainly made up of those whom ye Hellenes call the Best, and their retainers. These be known as the Sadducees, for their leaders are mainly of the family of the High Priest Sadduk. Now, the other party is in some sort the party of the Demos, in that they seek to lessen the power of the High Priests and their families. But with us, as thou knowest, all things turn upon religion, and this second party differ chiefly from the Sadducees, for that they are more in earnest with the matters of the Law, and chiefly they fear the influence of thy nation, Aglaophonos, in drawing the Israelite away from the Law. Therefore have they increased precept upon precept, so as to make, as they say, a fence round the Law. And as they would separate themselves from the heathen by this fence, they call themselves Pharisees, that is, Separatists.
Now, it was nowise easy to learn whether a man was of the one party or the other. For he might be eager for the Law, and so be Pharisaic in color, and yet approve of the dominion of the priests, and thus be a Sadducee. Yet in one chief matter of thought they went asunder contrariwise, and that was concerning the resurrection of the dead. Now, with regard to that, the Sadducees held that naught was said in the Law of Moses, and therefore no son of Israel need concern himself with it. But the Pharisees, on the other hand, laid great weight upon this. So here was a touchstone by which to learn whether this Jesus followed the one or the other of the two great divisions of our nation.
Then, as was agreed upon, Kamithos the Sadducee came forward to ask him the question which should determine whether he held with them that there was no resurrection from the dead, or with the rest of the nation. He said, "Rabbi, it is written in the Torah, if brethren dwell together, and one of them die and have no son, the wife of the dead one shall not marry without, unto a stranger; her husband's brother shall take her to him to wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Suppose, now, there are seven brethren, and the first takes a wife, and dying leaves no son; and the second takes her, as is our custom, and dies without leaving any seed; and the third likewise, and so on, till the whole seven had married her, and yet had no son; then the woman dies also: when they shall rise from the dead together, whose wife shall she be of them? for all seven had her to wife." And Jesus answered and said, "Ye are at fault, and know not the Scriptures, nor the power of God; for in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are even as the angels which are in heaven. And as an indication from Scripture that the dead rise, is it not written in the book of Moses, when God spake to him from the bush, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: therefore are ye in error."
And we were surprised at the subtlety of the man; and chiefly men marvelled at the wisdom of this man in finding what we call a support, that is, a text of Scripture on which to hang the doctrine of the life after death, which many believe to have grown up among us since the sacred Scriptures were written: for in them little, if anything, was said of the world to come. Now, Jesus in his answer had happened upon a text which said that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were living when they were dead to this world, and the people marvelled greatly thereat.
Now, it had been agreed upon, that after the Sadducees had asked their question and been answered, I should stand forth and test this man Jesus on behalf of the Pharisees. Now, one of our Sages hath said, "Be as careful of a little precept as of a great one;" whereas our great master Hillel had, as I have told thee, summed up the whole Law in one precept, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Therefore, we of the Pharisees wished to know whether this Jesus agreed with the one sage or the other; so I spake unto him and said, "Rabbi, which is the first commandment, by doing which I shall inherit the life everlasting?" But at first he answered me not directly, but said, "How readest thou?" Then I remembered me the words of the "Catechism of the Two Ways," and answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself: whatsoever thou wouldest not for thyself, do not to another." And he said unto me, "Thou hast answered right; and the first of the commandments is the Shema: 'Hear, O Israel; the Lord thy God is one God.' And the second is like, namely this: 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' There is none other commandment greater than these. This do, and thou shalt live." Then I was rejoiced, and said unto him, "Well, Rabbi, thou hast said the truth: there is one God, and there is none other but him; and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as one's self, is more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices." Then Jesus became gracious unto me, and said, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."
But then I would learn further from this man who spake so well, and ask him the question which is current in our schools on this subject, and I said to him, "But, Rabbi, who is my neighbor?" and he answered with a mashal, or parable, and said, "To what is the matter like? A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, which both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And in like manner a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Israelite,[1] as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion, and came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said, 'Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come back again, will repay thee.' Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers?" Then I said, "Not the priest, nor the Levite, though they held office in Israel, but the simple Israelite who showed mercy upon him." Then Jesus said unto me, "Go and do thou likewise;" and at this moment we were all summoned to the mid-day sacrifice in the Temple.
When Jesus had departed, after the sacrifice, we all met together and discussed his answers, which had stamped him in our minds as a master in the art of question and answer, which is with us as favorable a trial of skill as oratory or poetry with you Hellenes. Now, as regards the question of the Sadducees, men thought he had spoken more openly; for though he had evaded a direct answer to the question of the seven brothers and their wife, he had yet implied that they all would have a part in the life to come. Some regretted that the question had not been put differently, and the problem set—if a son had been born through the seventh brother: for this might have thrown light upon the question of the schools, whether the brother's widow was to be still regarded as his wife if seed had been raised to him after his death. But as to the support which Jesus had taken from Scripture for the life everlasting, though here again he had answered question by question, it was decided that he was against the Sadducees on this point.
But on the questions which I had put to him, all had agreed that he had answered as a Pharisee, even as Hillel might have answered, for he had yea-said the doctrine which I had cited from the beginning of "The Two Ways" in which the doctrine of Hillel is summed up; and even as to my further question, as to who is the chaber, or neighbor, though opinions were divided, most thought that he had spoken as a Pharisee might have spoken: for thou knowest, Aglaophonos, that our nation is divided into three great classes—the Cohanim, or Priests; the Levites; and the common Israelites. Now, of these, the two former are the officials of the Temple, and most if not all of the Sadducees are from this class. And, in declaring himself on the side of the third class of simple Israelites, Jesus had, we all thought, declared himself on the side of the Pharisees.
- ↑ The gospel version reads "Samaritan."—Ed.