IX.
JESUS IN THE TEMPLE.
IX.
But a few days after what I have narrated to thee, I had attended a full meeting of the Sanhedrim in the hall of hewn stones in the Priests' Court of the Temple. When the session was over, we went forth, and, turning to the right, passed into the Court of the Israelites, and so through Nicanor's Gate into the Court of the Women. Now, as we went down the fifteen steps that lead into this court, we could see, through the Beautiful Gate at the other end of it, that something unusual was occurring in the outer court of all, the Court of the Gentiles. So I and some of the other younger members of the Sanhedrim passed rapidly through the Court of the Women, and, hurrying through the Beautiful Gate, found Jesus preaching to the people under Solomon's Porch. Now, it is usual for the people to make way when any member of the Sanhedrim passes by; but the people were so engrossed with the words of Jesus that they took no note of me and my companions, and we had to stand at the edge of the crowd and listen as best we might, and so great was the crowd that I could scarcely hear what the Nazarene was saying, until gradually those near us, recognizing the marks of our dignity, made way for us till we got nearer.
Never saw I Jesus in so exalted a state. Though he was not tall, as I have said, he seemed to tower above the crowd. The mid-day sun of winter was shining full upon the Temple, and though Jesus was in the shadow of the porch, the sunlight from the Temple walls shone back upon his eyes and hair, which gleamed with the glory of the sun. He looked and spake as a king among men. And, indeed, he was claiming to be something even greater than a king. I could not hear very distinctly from where I was at first, but towards the last, as I got nearer, I heard him say these words:—
"Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He that loveth his life shall lose it. If a man keep my word he shall never see death, but has passed from death unto life. He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also. Yet can the Son do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. I am the door: by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I am the Light of the world. I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. I am the Bread of Life: he that Cometh to me shall never hunger. I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Husbandman. I am the Vine, ye are the branches. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Before Abraham was I am."
Now, as Jesus was saying these words, and many like unto them, his form seemed to expand, his eye flashed with the light of prophecy, and all men were amazed at the power of his words. Never had they heard man speak of himself with such confidence. If he had been very God, he could not have said more of his own power over men's souls. Our prophets have spoken boldly indeed, but none of them had boasted of the power of the Lord in such terms as this man spake of himself. Could he be mad, I thought, to say such things? Yet in all other matters he had shown a wisdom and a sound sense equal to the greatest of our Sages. Or had he found that by speaking thus of himself, men, and above all, women, were best moved to believe as he would have them believe, to act as he would have them act? Might it not be the simplest of truths that for them, to them, he was indeed the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
And, indeed, when I looked around and saw the effect of his words on those who were listening, I could in part understand his power among men and women. They drank in his words as travellers at the well of the oasis. They lived upon his eyes, and it was indeed strange to see every man's body bent forward as of a straining hound at the chase. If ever men worshipped a man, these were worshipping Jesus.
And I? What was it with me that his words failed to move me as they did those around me? Why did his eyes rather repel than attract me? Was it thy teaching, Aglaophonos, that had taught me the way of thy race: to measure all things in the balance of wisdom; to be moved in all acts by reason, not feeling? Was, it from thee I learnt to think about the causes of this man's influence, even while I and others were under it? Perhaps not alone; for much that this man was saying would have repelled my Jewish instincts even had I never come under thy influence. What struck thee among us Jews, I remember, was that while we see the Deity everywhere, we localize him nowhere. Alone among the nations of men we refuse to make an image of our God. We alone never regarded any man as God Incarnate. Those among us who have been nearest to the Divine have only claimed to be—they have only been recognized to be—messengers of the Most High. Yet here was this man, as it seemed, claiming to be the Very God, and all my Jewish feeling rose against the claim.
Nor was I alone in this feeling I was soon to learn. Before Jesus had finished his harangue, cries arose from different quarters of the crowd. "Blasphemy!" "Blasphemer!" "He blasphemes!" arose on all sides. These cries awakened men as if from a sleep, all turning round to see whence they came. And the very turning round, as it were, removed them from the influence of Jesus and his eyes. In a moment, many of those who just before were hanging upon Jesus' words joined in the cry, "Blasphemer! blasphemer!" One of the boldest of those who began the cry called out, "Blasphemer! Stone him!"
But Jesus drew himself up, and looked upon the crowd with flashing eyes, and said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Sodom is justified of thee." For a moment all were silent, but soon the cries arose again: "Blasphemer! blasphemer! Stone him!"
Then began great commotion among the people. While some called out, "Stone him!" "Stone him!" others cried, "Sacrilege!" "Sacrilege!" "No stoning in the Temple!" And one called out with a jeer, "In the Temple ye cannot stone, for lo! here there be no stones;" and a bitter, scornful laugh followed his words. Then some who were nearest to Jesus sought to lay hands on him, while others, his friends, stood round him and prevented their approaching, and all was confusion and tumult. When suddenly the blare of a trumpet sounded through the courts, and all cried, "The Romans! the Romans!"
Then round by the royal porch came a company of Roman soldiers to change the sentries at mid-day, and they halted near the Beautiful Gate. And as they came near the crowd began to disperse, and Jesus and his friends went their way from the courts of the Temple.
That day, there was no talk in Jerusalem but of the event in the Temple. Men marvelled at the way in which this Jesus had spoken of himself. "The prophets spake not thus," they said. "Yet how can a man be greater than a prophet, who speaketh the words of the Most High? Even if we had once more a king over us in Israel, he could not be as great as a prophet, and no king would speak of himself as Jesus this day hath spoken of himself." But what if this man were destined to be the Christ, the God-given Ruler that should restore the throne of David? But how could that be, since none of the signs and portents of the last times had come upon the earth? Who had seen the blood trickle from the rocks? or the fiery sword appear in the midnight sky? Had babes a year old spoken like men? But others said, "Nay, the kingdom of God will not come with expectation. As it hath been said, 'Three things come unexpectedly—a scorpion, a treasure-trove, and the Messiah.'" And again, others said, "Perchance this is not the Messiah ben David, but the Messiah ben Joseph, who shall be slain before the other cometh." Thus the minds of men and their words went hither and thither about the sayings of this man Jesus in the Temple.