PAGE
I. THE MAN WITH THE SCOURGE 9
II. THE UPBRINGING 21
III. EARLIER TEACHING. SERMON IN THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE 37
GALILÆANS
IV. THE TWO WAYS 55
V. THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY. THE RICH YOUNG MAN 63
VI. THE TESTINGS IN THE TEMPLE 75
VII. THE SECOND SERMON 87
VIII. THE REBUKING OF JESUS 99
IX. JESUS IN THE TEMPLE 111
X. THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 121
XI. THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 133
XII. THE WOES 145
XIII. THE GREAT REFUSAL 155
XIV. THE MEETING OF THE HANANITES 167
XV. THE EXAMINATION BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM 181
XVI. CONDEMNATION AND EXECUTION 195
EPILOGUE 207
I.
THE MAN WITH THE SCOURGE.
I was crossing one morning the Xystus Bridge on my way to the Temple, when
I saw issuing from the nearest gate a herd of beasts of sacrifice. Fearing
that something untoward had occurred, I hurried to the gate, and when I
entered the Court of the Gentiles, I found all in confusion. The tables of
the money‐changers had been overturned, and the men were gathering their
moneys from the ground. And in the midst I saw one with a scourge in his
hand. His face was full of wrath and scorn, his eyes blazed, and on his
left temple stood out a vein all blue, throbbing with his passion. He was
neither short nor tall, but of sturdy figure, and clad in rustic garb.
Now, as the money‐changers were escaping from his wrath, one of them ran
against a little child that was in the court, and it fell screaming. The
fellow took no heed, but went on his course. But the man with the scourge
went to the little child and raised it to its feet, and pressed it to his
side; the hand that rested on the curly head was that of a workman, with
broken nails, and yet the fingers twitched with the excitement of the man.
But, looking to his face, I saw that a wonderful change had come over it.
From rage, it had turned to pity and love; the eyes that had flashed scorn
on the money‐changers now looked down with tenderness on the little child.
I remember thinking to myself, “This man cannot say the thing that is not;
his face bewrayeth him.”
Meanwhile the money‐changers and those with them had collected together
near the gate by which I had entered, and stood there whispering and
muttering among themselves. All at once they turned towards the man as he
was soothing the little child, and shouted out together, “_Mamzer!
Mamzer!_” which in our tongue signifieth one born out of wedlock. Then the
man looked up from the little child, his face once more full of rage, and
the blue vein throbbing on his temple. He took a step towards the men, and
then he stopped. His face changed to a look of pity, and the men
themselves, in fear and shame, slunk away before his look through the gate
and were gone.
Then he turned towards those that had for sale doves as sacrifices for the
women and the poor. To these he spoke in a tone that was calm and yet full
of authority, and then I noticed that his voice had the burr of our
northern peasantry. He said unto them, “Take these things hence; make not
my Father’s house a house of merchandise.” And these, too, went away
through the gates, carrying with them the wicker cages full of doves. Ever
since that time the doves have been for sale in Hanan’s Bazaar on the
Mount of Olives.
Now I must tell thee that at this time there had been much disputing
between the Pharisees and the Sadducees as to the sale of beasts for
sacrifice. The Pharisees held that each man might buy such beasts wherever
he would; but the Sadducees, being mainly priests, or of priestly blood,
would have it that the beasts of sacrifice could only be purchased from
the salesmen duly authorized by the High Priest; for they said, “Who shall
tell that the beasts are according to the Law, if they are bought from any
chance person?” Yet many thought they only did this in order that they
might share the profit from the sale of the animals. And, indeed, the
great riches of the High Priests came mainly from this source. When,
therefore, I saw the man with the scourge getting rid of these sacrificial
animals from the courts of the Temple, my first thought was that he was of
the sect of the Pharisees. Yet these are rarely found in the country
parts, and the man bore no great marks of special piety; his phylacteries
were not broader than my own; the fringes of his garment were not more
conspicuous, nor did he seem as one of the fanatics who are so many in our
land. He had done what he had done in all calmness, and with a certain air
of authority. My wonder was aroused to think what manner of man this could
be, who did the work of the Pharisees, and was not one himself.
While I thus thought, the man turned to a group of men clad in the same
rustic garb, saying, “Be ye rather approved money‐changers, holding fast
the good and casting forth the false;”(1) and, after other words, he
turned from them and went up the steps leading to the Women’s Court.
Now thou knowest, Aglaophonos, that at the entrance of this court standeth
an inscription which saith, “LET NONE OF ALIEN BIRTH PASS WITHIN THE
TEMPLE CLOISTERS: HE THAT TRANSGRESSES IS GUILTY OF DEATH.” As the man
with the scourge would enter the Women’s Court, the Roman sentry stopped
him, and pointed to this inscription with his spear. He shook his head,
saying in faulty Greek, “Jewish I am,” and showed the soldier the fringes
of his garment after the Jewish fashion. Then the sentry drew back, and
the man passed through.
Thereupon I went up to the men to whom the man with the scourge had
spoken, and greeted them with the greeting of peace.
“Peace unto thee, master,” said one of them in the same northern accent I
had noticed in their leader.
“Who is that man,” I said, “that has just gone into the Temple cloister?”
“Jesus of Nazara, in Galilee.”
“And whose son is he?” I asked.