It came to pass, not many days afterwards (about a month after the Feast
of the Harvest), that we journeyed to Capernaum; and Nathanael, and
Gorgias the son of Philip, and I, had been sent on before to prepare a
lodging. Now when we were standing at the door of the house where we were
to lodge, we heard a sound as of many feet; and, looking up, Gorgias said,
“See, hither cometh the Tetrarch’s Thracian guard.” I looked and saw a
band of about three hundred men, of a wild and savage aspect, bearing
targets and girt with scimitars. But Gorgias, noting as I suppose the
anger in my countenance, answered, “These dogs (may the Lord destroy them
root and branch!) are swift indeed to shed the blood of women and
children, but they are as naught compared with the Romans. Could’st thou
but see a Roman legion how they march, these would seem unto thee but as
jackals at the lion’s tail. Mark but how the dogs straggle. But when the
Romans march, the spears in their hands all point one way, and the swords
by their sides hang all after one fashion, and even their stakes and tools
(which they carry behind their backs) do all swing to one time, and their
feet, arms, and heads, yea, even to the winking of their eyes, go all
together after the manner of a five‐banked corn‐ship of Alexandria, with
her five hundred oars all keeping time; and when they charge, they charge
like ten thousand elephants clad in iron. Moreover, they add to their
power so much wisdom, that when they halt for the night, each man setteth
up his stake in the ground, and taketh his spade, and diggeth his portion
of trench before his stake, and behold, the solitary place becometh in a
trice a fortified city, with streets and walls and ditches. Verily these
Roman swine are all as children of Satan; but a Roman legion is as Satan
himself.” By this time our Master had arrived; so I was silent. But when
he went into the house, I remained without, musing; for the words of Jesus
came into my mind again, concerning the entering into the Kingdom; and
methought it would be very hard to overthrow these Thracians, and much
more the Romans, by becoming as little children.
While I thought on these things there came to the door of the house
Jonathan the son of Ezra; for he knew that I was coming to Capernaum, and
he had appointed to meet me there. When he had greeted me in loving terms,
he said that he desired to speak with me touching Jesus of Nazareth;
“For,” said he, “I hear that he turneth from him the minds of many, in
that he observeth not the Sabbath.” I could not deny this; for indeed
Jesus had oftentimes, during our journey in Galilee, broken the Sabbath.
Sometimes he had healed the sick on the Sabbath; and but lately on the
Sabbath before the Feast of the Harvest, he had healed one that had an
impediment in his speech; and when certain of the Pharisees had blamed it,
he had said aloud, before all the people, that it was right to do good on
the Sabbath, but not to do evil. Moreover, he had not rebuked them that
carried the sick to him on the Sabbath, though the bearing of burdens be
forbidden. Once, indeed, he had even commanded a sick man to carry with
him the bed whereon he lay. I therefore held my peace, but Jonathan added,
“Even though he cure the sick on the Sabbath, yet why need he offend the
learned and the pious by bidding the sick bear burdens on the day of rest?
Moreover, if he desire to go more than a Sabbath day’s journey on some
errand of mercy, why doth he not use the device of meat, so that he may
keep the letter of the Law? Therefore, speak thou unto him, as one that
loveth him; and warn him that the Pharisees are wroth.”
Then there came into my mind how, on the last Sabbath day, Jesus had
passed by a house in a certain village, which was the house of a poor
widow; and a great storm of wind and rain, which had arisen in the night,
had washed away some part of the wall thereof, so that the rest was in
danger to fall. And behold, a man, a mason by trade, was working
diligently to repair the breach. When we saw it we were ready to take up
stones for to stone him; but Jesus forbade us, and said to the man, “Man,
if thou knowest what thou doest, blessed art thou; but if thou knowest not
what thou doest, cursed art thou.”(6) Thereat we all marvelled, and there
was much questioning among us. But when we had considered the matter, we
perceived no more but this; that Jesus would not have us to observe the
Sabbath as the Scribes observed it.
I therefore replied that I durst not speak to Jesus, nor did I believe
that he would give heed to my speech: for that I thought he brake the
Sabbath, not out of heedlessness, but of set purpose. Jonathan was
astonished at these words, but I continued, “Not that our Master aimeth at
breaking the Sabbath: but if a sick man needeth to be healed, he thinketh
it right that the Sabbath should be broken for the sick man’s sake.” Then
Jonathan said, “Then what new rule doth he teach? Doth he suffer you to go
four thousand paces or even five thousand paces on the Sabbath, instead of
two thousand, which the Law alloweth?” But I replied, “Neither four
thousand paces, nor five thousand; for our Master maketh no rules. But, as
it seemeth to me, there is in him a certain spirit from God which
prompteth him to do this or that, and forbiddeth him to do otherwise: and
if the spirit of kindness say unto him ‘Go,’ then he will go and bid us
go, though it be ten thousand or twenty thousand paces; and this, even on
the Sabbath. For, in fine, he saith that the Sabbath is made for man, and
not man for the Sabbath.”
Hereat Jonathan was sorely grieved, and said, “If this be so, I fear lest
counsel be of no avail.” But after that he had weighed the matter, he
said, “Even though he be a prophet, and have a message from God, yet are
there seasons and ways of delivering a message; and in these matters the
experience and counsel of old age may have weight. Therefore I will
adventure to speak to him.” I was glad that he had thus determined: for
many of us had desired to speak with Jesus. Yet I feared lest Jonathan
might not prevail. For I had noted that Jesus at first brake the Sabbath,
only when a kindness compelled; but when the Scribes and Pharisees were
wroth, and strove to place the yoke on his neck, so as to cause him to
cease from good works on the Sabbath, then he not only rebelled against
it, but made as if he would break the yoke from off the necks of all,
especially the poorer sort, to whom the Sabbath was rather a burden than a
joy. For the more the Pharisees raged against him, the more he made war
against the Sabbath. Therefore I did not forebode well for Jonathan:
howbeit, I accompanied him into the presence of Jesus.
When we entered into the house, behold, Barabbas was with Jesus,
beseeching him that he would not go into the synagogue on the next
Sabbath: “For,” said he, “the chief ruler of the synagogue hath a plot
against thee, and desireth to question thee touching the Sabbath, that he
may raise up a tumult of the people against thee. For all the Pharisees
and elders of the synagogue are wroth with thee for the sake of the
Sabbath, saying that thou dost both break it and teach others also to
break it.”
Hereon Jonathan, finding his occasion, spake to the same effect, saying
that all the Scribes in the country round about Sepphoris had been turned
away from Jesus because it had been noised abroad that he observed not the
Sabbath. So he besought Jesus to consider his course well: “Despise not
instruction from an elder, O my son, even though thou art a prophet. Art
thou confident in thine heart that it is a spirit from God, and not a
spirit from Satan, that tempteth thee thus to break the Sabbath? Bethink
thee also how thou wilt cause the people of the land to go astray. For the
simple walk by rules, and straighten their path by ordinances. But lo,
thou takest away rules and ordinances; and what dost thou leave in the
place thereof? I have heard from Eliezer the son of Arak that a certain
man was working even at his handicraft on the Sabbath day, and thou sawest
him, and didst not rebuke him: but didst say, that if he had knowledge of
that which he did, he was blessed; but if he had not that knowledge, he
was accursed. Whence, O my son, should the simple and unlearned gain this
knowledge whereof thou speakest? But if thou sayest, ‘I am a prophet and
will give them this knowledge,’ then remember that thou too art mortal,
and as the grass of the field; and when thou shalt pass away, thy
knowledge shall perish with thee, unless it be set forth in rules. But
thou givest no rules to thy disciples.
“But come, let us reason together as though thou wert altogether right in
this matter, having a message from God to us touching the Sabbath.
Notwithstanding, is there not a place and a time for delivering a message,
and a place and a time for concealing it? There is a time to go forward;
but is there not also a time to make a stand? It is good to set thy face
toward the light, that thou mayest advance; but it is good also to turn
thy face from the light, that thou mayest see whither thou hast advanced.
Moreover, why dost thou cause the Pharisees to stumble, and the rich to
take offence at thy doctrine? Art thou not the Redeemer of all Israel? Are
not the Pharisees also thy brethren, and the rich also sheep of the flock?
Why therefore dost thou drive them from the fold and cast them forth into
the wilderness? If thou sayest, ‘They are weak,’ then take pity, O my son,
on the weak ones of Israel, yea and perchance on thine own disciples, lest
they that may come after thee drink of thy doctrine and die, and the Name
of Heaven be profaned.”
Now at the first the face of Jesus was not altered toward Jonathan the son
of Ezra, and he heard him kindly, yet patiently withal, and as if he knew
what the old man would say, before he said it. But when Jonathan begged
him for compassion’s sake not to cause the weak ones to stumble, then the
fashion of his countenance was changed as if he would have wept, and he
seemed to us like one in sore straits, for he changed colour and was
silent. Judge, therefore, how great was our astonishment when he stood up
and rebuked Jonathan as though his words were from Satan.
Perplexity and sore grief fell upon us all, and the old man would have
retired abashed. But Jesus took him by the hand and constrained him to
stay, and made him sit down by his side and spake kindly unto him. Yet he
began to speak again of the words of Jonathan as being a sore temptation,
telling us how in former times he had undergone a like temptation from
Satan. He had been in the wilderness, he said, and lo, in a moment of time
he had been borne to the top of a mountain, whence he saw the kingdoms of
the earth and the glory thereof, and Satan said to him, “All these things
will I give unto thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
While we marvelled at the words of Jesus, and disputed among ourselves how
that temptation in the wilderness could be like unto this temptation,
behold, Judas of Kerioth came into the chamber, saying the same things
which Barabbas had said, to wit that the Pharisees in Capernaum were
laying a snare for Jesus, for to catch him in his teaching, that they
might cause the people to stone him. But Jesus gave command that we should
pass over on the morrow to the other side of the lake.
On the morrow, while we rowed across the lake, I asked Nathanael what
seemed to him the nature of the temptation of Satan whereof Jesus had
spoken. Nathanael made answer and said, “Thou perceivest that the heart of
our Master overfloweth with pity for the miseries of men; and even to
redeem them from these miseries he hath been sent by the Lord. Now as for
silver and gold, or fame, or wisdom, none of these things can in any wise
tempt him once to go aside either to the right hand or to the left from
the straight path of Redemption. Howbeit, pity and love can tempt him.
Wherefore the only temptation that can befal him is from the Voice that
saith, Be pitiful, even though thou transgress in pitying; Do evil that
thou mayest do good; Gain power by crooked ways, that thou mayest
straighten the paths of salvation for them which wander astray; Wink thou
at falsehood, that they which err may be guided toward truth. Now this
Voice, as it seemeth to me, is to our Master the Voice of Satan; and to
listen to it is to bow down to Satan. And Satan, perchance, knowing that
in this way alone can our Master be tempted, hath caused Jonathan the son
of Ezra to tempt him. But I know no more than thou; only such is my
conjecture.”
While we thus conversed together the boat drew nigh unto the eastern
shore. The mountains came down to the water’s edge, so close, and so
precipitous withal, that there was scarce space enough to land: and,
because the sun still lay low in the east, all was dark before us, though
the waters behind us shone fair and bright. But when we were now entering
under the shadow of the cliffs, so that we could discern things more
clearly, we perceived that there was a margin of shore, but narrow and
exceeding rocky, strewn all over with large and small fragments of black
rock, which had fallen from the mountain above. Then suddenly there fell
on our ears a marvellous strange cry, neither as of a man nor yet as of a
wild beast; and while we ceased rowing for to listen, behold, yet another
cry, more piercing and strange than the first, and then straightway
another: and withal the rocks and cliffs took up the sound and multiplied
it, and tossed it this way and that way till all the land seemed alive
with the clamour. But Gorgias trembled and said it was an evil spirit,
for, said he, “There be burial‐places in this part of the coast.” Then
Peter cried aloud and said, “I see a form as of a man, lank and lean,
coming out from the rocks; and it is naked.” Then some of us bade steer
towards another part of the coast; but Jesus commanded to keep on our
course.
Now when we landed, we perceived that it was a man, but he was one
possessed with evil spirits. For he had chains about his body; and he had
cut and lanced his flesh with grievous wounds. When he saw us, he took up
stones to cast at us, so that we feared to approach him; and certain
shepherds from afar off beckoned to us to go back from him. But Jesus went
before the rest of us and accosted him. And lo, at the voice of Jesus, the
man straightway let the stones fall from his hands; and, for a moment, he
stood as one astonied and in a trance. Then he shrieked aloud and made
answer to Jesus in two voices, after the manner of those possessed with
unclean spirits. For at one time the man spake, and at another the devils.
But the devils, speaking in a deep hollow voice, declared that they were
swine, and three thousand in number, and that their name was Legion.
Moreover they besought Jesus that he would not send them into the abyss
(for by this name do the evil spirits use to call that place wherein they
must needs wander so long as they have no bodies of men to dwell in), but
that he would suffer them to remain in the man’s body. But Jesus drove
them out, and the Legion went forth into the abyss, to the number of three
thousand, and in the shapes of swine. But Jesus did not suffer the man to
accompany him, but bade him return to his friends, and to tell them what
great things the Lord had done for him.
This mighty work of Jesus I have set down the more exactly, because no
such unclean spirit as this was ever cast out by any other exorcist. For
other men have been possessed with swine, or toads, or scorpions, or
serpents, but not with many in number, seldom with more than seven. But
this man was possessed with three thousand swine. For I not only heard him
say this to Jesus, but he also repeated it to me; for I conversed with
him. He told me also that he himself saw the three thousand swine go forth
and run, first upward, and then violently down from the cliff, even to the
abyss. Now the man was a Gadarene, a Jew by birth, and a patriot, one of
the sect of the Galileans. Howbeit, living in Gadara, which is a Greek
city, he had suffered himself to become defiled, and had rejected the Law
and the Worship, and had eaten swine’s flesh. But it came to pass that on
a certain day, even at the hour of prayer, when he thought on these
things, a darkness fell upon his soul, and he saw sights of demons; and
sometimes also he saw the sun as though it were red as blood; and he
loathed his food as it had been poison. And this continued for the space
of six months. But at the end of the six months, on a certain Sabbath, as
he stood in the streets of Gadara, so it was that there came a cohort,
which is the tenth part of a Roman legion, marching through the town. And
he turned and cursed them in the name of the Lord; and lo, as the curse
went forth from his mouth, the devils entered into him in the shape of a
legion of swine; and they possessed him even to the day when Jesus healed
him. All this I heard from the demoniac himself.
When Jesus had worked this miracle we all rejoiced greatly; for we thought
that whoso could do so mighty a work, to him all things were possible; and
we desired Jesus to go back to the other side of the lake, and there to
work miracles that he might convince the Pharisees. But we marvelled that
Jesus set so little store on his mighty works, insomuch that he even
seemed oftentimes unwilling to work them. Many also he wrought in private;
and many he would fain have kept secret, but he could not. Now when I
asked Nathanael (for he was as it were an interpreter unto me to explain
such sayings of Jesus as were hard to understand) for what cause Jesus
lightly esteemed his own miracles, he asked me whether I had not noted how
the common folk resorted to Jesus as a mere worker of wonders, so that
sometimes they even interrupted his discourse, being desirous that Jesus
should cease to teach that he might begin to work cures. “Now Jesus,” he
said, “doth not desire that men should come to him merely as the healer of
their bodies, but as the healer also of their souls.”
“For this cause,” said Nathanael, “Jesus often biddeth such as he healeth
in Galilee to keep silence, although he suffered the Gadarene in these
distant parts to make it known. For he deemeth it his especial work not so
much to drive out diseases and evil spirits from the body, as rather to
heal the soul, ministering bread to the hungry and wine to them that are
athirst, loosing the tongue of the dumb, and causing the deaf to hear,
opening the eyes of the blind, and making the lame to leap as a hart in
the paths of salvation.”
We made no long stay on the eastern side of the lake; but when we came
again to Capernaum we found the hearts of the people turned from us. For
not only did the chief ruler and the elders of the synagogue watch us, as
before, if perchance they could take us at an advantage; but the zeal of
the townsmen also seemed to have waxed cold. Scarcely had our boat touched
the strand at Capernaum when my uncle Manasseh met me. He took me aside
and spake with me very earnestly, saying that he had rebuked his son
Baruch for his slackness at business, because poverty was coming upon them
as an armed man, by reason of his constant attending on Jesus; and he
added, “It is true also of thee as of Baruch, ‘He becometh poor that
dealeth with a slack hand; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He
that gathereth in summer is a wise son; but he that sleepeth in harvest is
a son that causeth shame.’” “And what said Baruch?” I asked. “He hath
consented to my words,” said Manasseh, “and hath promised that he will no
longer accompany this Jesus of Nazareth in his wanderings: and do thou the
like.” But this I would not do; so we parted in anger.
Not a few left Jesus at this time, mostly they of the wealthier sort, as
were Baruch and Manasseh; some going back to their vineyards, others to
their olive‐presses, others to the dye‐works and glass‐furnaces, whereof
there were many in Galilee. But the poorer sort joined themselves to Jesus
as much as before, being drawn unto him by the fame of his mighty works.
Howbeit they also began to wax impatient that Jesus should give the sign
for war. Nor did they give now much heed to the words of Jesus; but they
paid regard to him as to some great exorcist and sorcerer, who useth his
art for good ends. Therefore the heart of our Master was sad at this time;
and he was grieved that the simple folk knew him not: and their words of
praise were an abomination to him.
Now it came to pass that on the third day after we had returned to
Capernaum, the fame of Jesus, how he had driven out the legion of swine
into the abyss, having been now noised abroad on our side of the lake,
behold, the common people thronged him more than before; insomuch that,
when he began to teach the people on the shore after his manner, during
the cool of the evening, they pressed in upon him and interrupted him, so
that he was not able to continue his discourse. But Jesus, being grieved
thereat, gave command to Peter and to Andrew that they should straightway
launch a boat; and he went on board. When the people saw it, they made
lamentation; but the boat was stayed at about fifty paces from the land;
and Jesus sat in the boat and taught us while we stood on the shore.
When he opened his mouth, we perceived that he taught after a new fashion.
For he no longer said “Do this,” “Do not that”; but he spake in parables.
Now almost all the teaching of the Wise is in parables, and Jesus also had
before taught in parables; but these parables had been short, and along
with the parables there had been added the interpretation thereof. But it
was not so now; for the parable was naught but a tale about a certain
sower, how he sowed seed on several kinds of ground: of the seeds, some
falling on rock were destroyed by birds; others by heat and the
shallowness of the soil; others by weeds; but some brought forth fruit.
Hereat certain murmured, and Gorgias said aloud, “Doth he think to redeem
Sion with a tale? Lo, the prophet John is in prison, and the men of
Galilee wait but for a nod from Jesus to rescue him; and our Master
rescueth him not, but openeth his mouth in dark sayings.” But the greater
number listened all agape, as though spell‐bound; for the very voice of
Jesus had power to bind the souls of a multitude. Howbeit, when evening,
or at the most when the morrow came, the parable had clean vanished out of
the minds of the greater part. Notwithstanding some (but these only a very
few) stored up the words of Jesus in their hearts, and diligently pondered
them.
In the evening I went with the rest to Jesus; and we besought him to tell
us what the parable might mean, and also why he taught thus in parables.
When he had answered, I perceived the meaning of the parable, how that
Abuyah the son of Elishah, and Eliezer the son of Arak, were the rocky
ground from which the birds picked up the seed; but Baruch, and such as
Baruch, were the shallow ground; and Manasseh and the rich merchants and
artificers were the fertile ground wherein weeds choked the seed. But
still we were fain to know why he spake in parables.
When we again questioned him of this, behold, Jesus cried aloud with an
exceeding bitter cry, saying, in the words of the Prophet Isaiah: “I heard
the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
Then said I, Here am I; send me. And the Lord said, ‘Go and tell this
people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but
perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears
heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with
their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and be
healed.’”
Then were we all sad, and sat silent for a while; for our Master’s face
was full of sorrow, and this was, as it were, the first shadow of evil
that had fallen upon our path. Moreover we began to fear that, as in the
days of Isaiah, so it would be now. The Lord had sent his prophet, even
Jesus of Nazareth; but the hearts of the people would be hardened against
the words of the prophet; yea, the prophet himself would seem to make the
hearts of the people hard and not soft, as it was with Abuyah the son of
Elishah and Eliezer the son of Arak, whose hearts were made fat and their
ears heavy by the words of Jesus of Nazareth.
For we perceived in part his meaning, to wit, not that he desired in truth
to shut the eyes of the people, but that he was constrained of the Lord to
preach the Gospel, and all pressed to hear it; yet could he in no wise
preach it so as to make it plain to all, but only to a few. For behold, he
had made trial of the plain way of teaching, and men had thought they had
understood him, but they had understood him not; but had esteemed him
lightly, as little better than an exorcist. For his words had not pierced
into their hearts, but had rested without, as seeds on the wayside;
insomuch that they had been carried away by the angels of Satan. Therefore
must he now adventure a new path of teaching to the end that, at the
least, some few of us might be convinced of our want of understanding, so
that we might seek and find the truth; but, to the most, all things should
be in darkness, yea, the light itself should be as darkness unto the most.
All this the Lord Jesus spake more clearly afterwards, when he perceived
the will of the Father that only a few should be chosen, though many were
called: but at this time (perchance because it had been but newly revealed
to him) he spake more darkly and with a greater bitterness of sorrow.
Howbeit when he had lifted up his head and perceived that we also were
weighed down with his affliction, then straightway he made himself to be
of a cheerful countenance, and comforted us, saying, “Unto you it is given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are
without, all things are done in parables.” Then he bade us take heed that
we taught others even as he had taught us; for, said he, “with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.” He said also, “Take heed
how ye hear; for whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.” These latter words
we understood not then; but, as I take it, the meaning of Jesus was
twofold; first, that whoso had not faith nor honesty would receive damage
(even as Judas received damage, and not advantage) from the doctrine of
Jesus; but, secondly, he seemed to mean that the doctrine was, as it were,
lent to each of the disciples, as money upon usury; each being bound to
traffic with the doctrine in the commerce of his own thoughts, so as to
add thereto. In the same way he told us, at another time, that we were to
bring forth out of our treasuries things new as well as old; and he also
bade us to “be trustworthy bankers.”(7) For of all things Jesus misliked
that we should repeat his words by rote; nor did he even bid us copy his
actions exactly (but he even said that a time should come when we should
do greater works than he had done); and the like also of his words. For
this cause perchance, Jesus spake afterwards to us also, even to us his
disciples, sometimes in dark sayings; to the intent that we might ponder,
and ask and know the truth. For albeit we often feared to ask him
questions (because of our folly and our want of faith), yet did he ever
desire us to question him; teaching us that only to them that knock, is
the door opened; and only to them that hunger, is given of the bread of
Life.
When we went forth from the chamber, Gorgias said, “What meaneth the
Prophet? Doth he say that whosoever is rich, he shall be made richer? And
whosoever is poor, shall he also be made poorer?” Hereat we all smiled;
for we knew that our Master spake not of money, but of wisdom: and one
made answer to Gorgias to this effect. Then said Judas, “But if Jesus mean
wisdom, then how sayeth he ‘With what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you?’” But Jonathan the son of Ezra replied, “Is not this even
according to the saying of the Wise, ‘Man is born to learn in order to
teach?’ And again, ‘He that learneth the Law and doth not teach it, he it
is that despiseth the Name of the Lord.’ Therefore the meaning of Jesus
is, that if a man teach others what he hath learned, the angels give into
his bosom a hundredfold reward.” To this Nathanael agreed, and he added,
“The reward is not as a price that is paid, so many shekels for so much
teaching; but it is even as the rain cometh from the cloud, or as heat
cometh from the fire. Even so doth wisdom come from teaching. For wisdom
is not as a dead block that wasteth with the using, but as a living thing
that groweth with exercise. But most of all is this true of that kind of
wisdom whereof our Master speaketh.”
Then Judas said, “But I would to God that our Master would leave off to
speak of wisdom and would do somewhat.” And Gorgias said Amen to that. But
Simon Peter replied: “It is said, ‘Take to thyself a master, and be quit
of doubt.’ Now my Master is Jesus of Nazareth, and I purpose not to spend
the time in doubting, nor to halt between many opinions. For the man that
is given to much doubting, to what is he like? He is like unto a ship with
many pilots, which attaineth not to the harbour. Therefore have I settled
my mind to believe that whatsoever Jesus doeth, that is righteousness, and
whatsoever he purposeth, that is wisdom.”
To this we agreed, and no more was said. Howbeit many of us could not so
far constrain ourselves, but we had some searchings of heart; and passing
clouds of trouble sometimes crossed our souls for that the Pharisees were
set against us, and because Jesus himself had that day seemed like unto
one bearing a burden of the Lord. Notwithstanding on the morrow, when we
looked upon his countenance, full of brightness and cheerfulness, and when
we heard him speak, after his wont, of the greatness and the glory of the
Kingdom that was to come, behold, all our dark thoughts had immediately
vanished away.