By this time the autumn was come round, and it wanted but a few days to
the tenth day of the month Tisri, which is the Great Day of Atonement. Now
so it was that, when we arose on a certain morning (in the first week, as
I remember, of the month Tisri), behold, Jesus was not in the house, and
when we sought him, we found him on the shore musing; insomuch that at
first he was not aware of our presence. But when he saw us, he bade Simon
Peter prepare his fishing‐boat, for he desired to go out into the deep. So
Simon Peter and Andrew launched the boat, and I with them; and Jesus went
on board, and there he sat, still musing, while we made ready the tackling
and the nets. While we busied ourselves herein, many of the sailors and
fishermen of the town came down to the coast and began to launch their
vessels; for the day was fair for fishing.
Now there was standing on the beach the hunchback Barachiah, the son of
Zadok: for his custom was to beg of the sailors, and to do for them such
small services as he was able. But he was hated of the most part of the
sailors by reason of his envious and malignant disposition, and because he
could not refrain from reproaches and revilings. Moreover they accused him
that he had sometimes mislaid or hurt their tackling. Others also said
that he had an evil eye and brought evil fortune. Wherefore he fared ill
with the sailors, and even when they gave him alms, it was as to a dog or
an unclean creature: and oftentimes they struck him when he crossed them.
Now it chanced that while we made ready our nets, behold, a certain
merchant, coming down to the water, stumbled upon a stone and fell against
Barachiah. Then Barachiah cried out in anger, “Wast thou born with a
bridle in thy hand that thou shouldst treat thy brethren as if they were
mules or asses?” But the other replied, “Yea, and thou wast born with a
saddle on thy back, that I might ride upon thee.” So saying, he spurned
Barachiah out of his path, so that he fell to the ground: and hereat all
the sailors laughed.
Not long after this there came down two sailors, nigh to the place where
Barachiah sat wiping the blood from his face; and one of them spake to the
hunchback some words, I know not what, but, as it appeared, of kindness.
Then straightway Barachiah rose up and went with the man, and willingly
helped him to launch his boat and to prepare his tackling. And the man’s
companion laughed and said, “Whence hast thou the power to soften the
heart of that child of Satan?” But when Barachiah was departed, the sailor
answered that he had in times past shown kindness to a brother of
Barachiah, that was now dead; and he added in jest, “In all men there be
two hearts, a heart of stone and a heart of flesh: and Barachiah hath his
heart of flesh, even as others, though he be a child of Satan.” “Nay,”
replied the other, “but if there be a heart of flesh in Barachiah, it
would need Solomon’s ring to find out where it is hid.” And so jesting
they rowed out into the deep.
Now I perceived that Jesus noted all these words of the two sailors, and
likewise that which had befallen Barachiah, and while he listened and
looked, the appearance of his countenance was altered; for before, he had
seemed in his musing like one waiting for an answer to a question, but now
like one that had received an answer. Howbeit still he mused and ceased
not, while we rowed out into the deep, and busied ourselves with casting
our nets.
But so it was that, as we rowed and drifted hither and thither in our
fishing, we were carried very close to the coast, where the rocks came
straight down to the sea after the manner of a wall; and suddenly we heard
a piteous sound as of bleating. When we looked up, we saw a lamb, which
had strayed from the flock, and had come to a stand upon a ledge in the
rock, exceeding narrow, so that it could not go forward, neither knew it
how to turn back: but there it stood, and bleated often and piteously, so
that our hearts were sorry for the creature, and we would fain have helped
it, but knew not how; for there was not space to land. But while we hung
upon our oars not knowing what to do, Peter cried out, “The shepherd
cometh”; and presently we all discerned him, very high up, and clambering
from rock to rock for to reach the lamb. And when we all shouted and
beckoned to him, he straightway understood us, and coming down, though
with much ado, took the lamb on his shoulders and bore it safely away.
Hereat we were all well content; but when I looked on Jesus, his face
shone with an exceeding joy, too great, methought, for so small a matter,
so that I marvelled. For there was no more in his countenance the look of
one questioning, but rather of one gazing upon the glory of God. Then when
we had hauled in the net, he gave command that we should row back to
Capernaum.
Now the next day Jesus showed forth what he had on his mind. For about
noon he went down to the place where one Matthew a tax‐gatherer was
sitting at the house of customs near the quay. And for a while Jesus
beheld him, how he bore himself amid all the concourse and stir of that
busy place; then he drew nigh, and called Matthew to be one of his
disciples, saying unto him, “Follow me.” And Matthew arose and followed
him and bade him to a great feast in his house on the same day, and
thereto he called many of his acquaintance, both tax‐gatherers and
sinners, and others of the poorer sort; and Jesus promised that he would
come to the feast. But when this was noised about the town, the anger of
the Pharisees was great; for they counted it as a sign that Jesus would
not join himself to them, nor do anything to gain their favour. But as for
the sailors and common people, some rejoiced, others marvelled; insomuch
that when we came to Matthew’s house, we found a great concourse of people
both round the doors and in the feast‐chamber.
Now as we entered the chamber, I could not but chafe somewhat for the
baseness of the company with whom we were forced to consort. For they were
all unlearned men, and given to vain conversation; and many of them had
not washed before supper; and the savour of their garments and the heat of
the room were scarce to be borne. Moreover I saw at one of the tables
Barachiah the son of Zadok, and others with whom I should never have
expected to sit at meat. Then the words of Jonathan the son of Ezra came
back to my mind, how he had said that Jesus was misled, in that he knew
not the evil nature of men; nor could I refrain from imparting these words
to Nathanael, who was my companion at the table.
But Nathanael answered that I erred greatly, for that Jesus knew the evil
that was in men better than any man, and hated it more than any man:
“But,” said he, “the evil of unwashed hands and unsavoury garments doth
not seem to Jesus the greatest of evils.” “But,” said I, “these men are
given to other sins; and how cometh it to pass that Jesus beareth with the
sins of these men, but doth not bear with the Scribes, who do not commit
such sins?” Then said Nathanael, “As it seemeth to me, there is a certain
light in the hearts of men; and whoso hath this light in him, loveth
light, and is drawn towards the light whenever the light is placed near to
him, even though he may have turned his back upon the light: and thus
these sinners are drawn towards Jesus. But if a man for many years make it
his business to quench the light in himself, because he feareth it; then
he cannot love the light, nor can he be drawn towards it, even though it
be very close to him. Even as the Pharisees fear the light in themselves,
and say there is no light save in the Law and the Traditions. Therefore
they quench the light in their hearts and cannot see the true light; and
they destroy the Word of God in their hearts, and cannot hear the true
Word.” “But,” said I, “if there be stripped off fine‐sounding words from
thy speech, to what is the matter like? It is as though thou shouldst say,
‘It is better that a man should commit murder and adultery and theft
(provided that he love righteousness), than that he should abstain from
all these sins, but not love righteousness.’” “Thou knowest well,” replied
Nathanael, “that according to a man’s love of righteousness will be his
hatred of sin; and whoso really hateth sin, he cannot live therein. Yet
what thou sayest is true; there is more hope of the vilest sinner than of
the man that hath in his heart no love of righteousness.”
I mused for a while, and then I said, “Thou speakest of hope: but doth it
seem to thee truthful, looking upon a bad man, to say, this man is good,
merely because thou mayest have hopes that he may become good?” But before
Nathanael could make answer, there came into my mind the words of the
sailor, that “If Barachiah the son of Zadok had a heart of flesh as well
as a heart of stone, it would need Solomon’s ring to find out where the
heart of flesh was hid;” so I told the words to Nathanael. Straightway
Nathanael looked toward the place were Barachiah was sitting at table; and
then he turned to me and said, “And hath not our Master the ring of
Solomon?” Then I also looked at Barachiah; and I marvelled to see what a
gentleness there was in his countenance. But Jesus was at that instant
beginning a discourse; so we ceased conversing that we might hearken unto
it.
The discourse told of a certain son of a kind father, who, taking his
patrimony, wandered into a distant city, where he squandered his substance
in riotous living, so that he was forced to keep swine like an hireling;
but returning to his father he was welcomed. Other like parables he spake:
and all the people were marvellously attentive to hear him.
Notwithstanding, Jesus would not always discourse himself alone: for he
gladly heard others, and by questions led many to speak, questioning them
with courtesy in no way akin to condescension (even as a brother meeting
brothers after long absence); the merchants concerning foreign countries;
the officers of the customs concerning the commerce and wares of the
place; the mariners and soldiers concerning the ships and currents and
strong places and fortresses whereof they severally had knowledge. With
all these common people did Jesus converse, and to each, methought, he
added somewhat of his own nature. And so it was that amid all that
concourse of vulgar and unlearned people and boors (as the Scribes would
have called them), not one did or said anything unworthy of the presence
of our Master. Thus did Jesus give to others, and lo, they gave back to
him good measure into his bosom, pressed down and running over, according
to his own saying.
But when he rose up to go, behold, Barachiah the son of Zadok also rose up
in haste, and coming to Jesus he fell down on his knees before him, and
besought him that he would forgive all the slanders and revilings which he
had used concerning Jesus and concerning his disciples. And Jesus both
forgave him and blessed him. And from that hour even to the day of his
death Barachiah was a new creature; insomuch that he was no longer known
among them of Capernaum as the viper, or the child of Satan, but they
called him “the changed man.”
But as Jesus was now going forth, two of the disciples of John the son of
Zachariah came unto him. For they had been present in the chamber, though
they had not partaken of the feast; and they marvelled at the cheerfulness
of Jesus, because he ate bread and drank wine and conversed freely with
the common people, not after the manner of their master. So they were
offended at Jesus, and said to him, “Master, why do we and the Pharisees
fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?” Now John himself had called Jesus
the Bridegroom of Israel. Jesus therefore, using these same words,
answered and said, “Can the children of the bride‐chamber mourn as long as
the bridegroom is with them?” Then he turned and looked at us, and his
face was sorrowful; and he added, “But the days will come when the
bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast in those
days.” Then first did Jesus speak concerning his departure from his
disciples: and he meant, perchance, that as John the Prophet had been
taken from the midst of his disciples, so also would he himself be taken
away from us; for the Lord had revealed unto him that Israel was not to be
redeemed easily, nor without much tribulation. But by what power he should
be thus taken, whether by imprisonment (as had befallen John), or by death
of violence (as was shortly to befall John), or by death in course of
nature, concerning these things he said naught at this time. But we
neither understood his words, neither took we thought of them.
But as we came forth, we met Eliezer the son of Arak, and the chief ruler
of the synagogue, and many of the elders of the synagogue; and they looked
at us with sore displeasure. And the chief ruler did not restrain himself,
but said to Jesus aloud in the presence of us all, “Is it even so that
thou wouldst fain be Ruler over Israel? Behold, on thy side are Matthew
the tax‐gatherer, and Barachiah the child of Satan, and Mary the sinner;
but on my side are Eliezer the son of Arak and all the elders of the
synagogue. Is it not better to be the tail of a lion rather than the head
of a dog?”
But when Jesus noted how certain of the sinners feared to stand before the
faces of Eliezer the son of Arak, and of the ruler of the synagogue, and
how they were shaken in their faith and abashed (for that they were
accustomed to be despised and to be trampled on, as being without all hope
of redemption); then was he exceeding wrath, and he answered and said unto
the ruler of the synagogue, “Woe unto the world because of offences: for
it must needs be that offences come: but woe to that man by whom the
offence cometh.” Then he pointed to the sinners behind him (whom he was
wont to call “little ones,” because they were babes in faith), and he
spake again to the chief ruler and his party, saying, “Take heed that ye
despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you that in heaven
their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.”
Then Eliezer the son of Arak interrupted him and said, “Why eatest thou,
contrary to the Traditions, with tax‐gatherers and sinners?” But Jesus
answered and said, “How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one
of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety‐and‐nine, and goeth
into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be
that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep
than of the ninety‐and‐nine which went not astray.” “But,” said another of
the Scribes, “why dost thou shun and rebuke the righteous? What evil is it
not to be a sinner?” When Jesus heard that, he said unto him, “They that
be whole need not a physician, but they that be sick. But go ye and learn
what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” So saying, he passed on
and left the Pharisees, and we followed him.
Now Andrew and Simon Peter had been disciples of John the son of
Zachariah, before they had joined themselves to Jesus. In the evening,
therefore, they resorted to Jesus to question him touching the answer he
had that day given to John’s disciples concerning fasting. I was with
them, and also Judas of Kerioth, and a certain Eleazar the son of Azariah,
a Scribe of Sepphoris and a friend of Jonathan. Now Eleazar did not
venture to advise Jesus to use shifts and subterfuges so as to keep
friendship with the Pharisees; but he said that perchance such sinners as
might be converted to the path of righteousness might not be able to
continue therein, unless the path were fenced in by rules and laws,
feasts, fasts, and other like ordinances. He also bade Jesus not separate
himself from the congregation; for said he, “Whatsoever is decreed by the
congregation below, that is decreed by the congregation above; and what is
ratified on earth is ratified in heaven; and with whomsoever the spirit of
men is pleased the Spirit of God is pleased.”
But Jesus answered that as new wine was not like unto old wine, nor a new
garment like an old garment, even so the doctrine of John was not like
unto his doctrine; neither could the two be mixed. The doctrine of the
Pharisees also, he said, was not like his doctrine, and the two kinds of
doctrine needed two several and distinct shapes, even as several kinds of
wine need several bottles. When Eleazar heard this, he went out; for these
words seemed to him (as he said to John the son of Zebedee) to be a kind
of proclaiming of war against the Pharisees; so that there appeared no
longer any hope of concord between Jesus and them. Judas also, although he
still seemed strangely perturbed, and spake less than was his wont,
nevertheless said that a great gulf was opening itself between our Master
and the Pharisees; “and,” said he, “unless something is speedily done,
this gulf will be impassable.” Many also that had been disciples of John
the Prophet murmured against Jesus, because he had promised to fulfil the
Law and had been expected to follow in the course of John, but now he went
contrary to the Law and was for choosing a path of his own. For at that
time in Galilee they that honoured John the Prophet were more than they
that honoured Jesus of Nazareth.
But for my part my soul was given up to thanksgiving and to praise of God,
because of this new power which He had sent down to men, of forgiving
sins. For if it seemed a divine word to say “Let there be light,” and
there was light, much more divine a word it seemed to say, “Let there be
righteousness,” and lo, there was righteousness. And when I remembered the
saying of the sailor, how that it needed Solomon’s ring to find out the
heart of flesh in bad men, and when I called to mind how Jesus had found
it out, then it seemed to me that a greater than Solomon was among us. I
thought also on the words of Nathanael, how that, in the day of
Redemption, the Holy One (blessed is He) will bring the Evil Nature and
slay him in the presence of the righteous and of the wicked; and my
thoughts were swallowed up in wonder.