Joseph Jacobs

“ 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. ”

“ For in the Prophets Daniel and Enoch it is clearly said that the Son of Man would come in victory over the world; and what other could this universal victor be than the Anointed One whom the prophets had foretold? If Jesus put another meaning upon the prophetic words, why spake he not his meaning fully unto the people? All we may have gone like sheep astray, but he that might have been our shepherd went apart alone with God.
O Jesus, why didst thou not show thyself to thy people in thy true character? Why didst thou seem to care not for aught that we at Jerusalem cared for? ”

“ But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. ”

“ Among us Jews, none has more honor than the Nabi, the man who speaks the word of wisdom in the name of God. How know we that a man is a Nabi? Chiefly by his words, but mainly by his eyes, in which there shines the light of prophecy. Now, when Jesus was about thirty years old, three or four years before I first saw him, the light of prophecy came in the eyes of his cousin, Jochanan ben Zacharia Ha-Cohen. Thou knowest, Aglaophonos, that amongst us there is a sect of Essenoi, who answer in much to the Pythagoreans among the Hellenes. ”

“ Then Jesus looked round upon those who were there, and said, “How hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for an elephant to go through a needle’s eye, as the saying is, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Then a murmur arose among all those present, and they began to move on, and I left them. And I said to myself, “This man is neither Pharisee, nor Sadducee, nor Herodian; these be the thoughts of the Ebionim.” ”

“ 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 [pg 117] 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? ”

“ Thou and I have often wondered how it has come about that both Hellenes and Hebrews, who feel ourselves in different ways higher than these stolid Romans who rule us, have yet become subject to them. Thy nation hath acquiesced in their rule; my people never will. Every man who promises greatness among us is hoped for as the Deliverer. Many men about this time began to ask, Will Jesus the Nazarene be the Deliverer? ”

“ Yet who should lead the people? Jochanan, the only man whom of recent times the people followed gladly, had been done to death by Herod. One man alone since his death had won the people’s heart, to wit, Jesus the cousin of Jochanan. He, and he alone, could lead the people against the Romans, and all men wondered if he would. ”

“ If any had said at this time, “Jesus the Nazarene is a follower of Jochanan the Baptizer, and preaches ‘The Two Ways’ to the Poor,” none could have gainsaid him.
Yet all were wondering what he would say to the other side of our nation’s hopes. The life of our nation had begun with a deliverance; our chief national feast recalls that deliverance from Egypt to us every year as the spring comes round. We have become subject to all the great kingdoms that have grown up round us, yet again and again we have been delivered from each. ”

“ Thou knowest our pride of birth; I learnt from thee to abate it. Every man in Israel taketh his place in [pg 25] the nation according as he is a son of Aaron or of Levi, a simple Israelite, or a proselyte that fears the Lord; each man knoweth his own and his neighbor’s genealogy. The greatest slur upon a man is to accuse him of “mixture,” the greatest insult is to call him “bastard.” Why had the money-changers cast this slur upon the Nazarene? Thou and I, Aglaophonos, who boast to be citizens of the Kosmos, would not think the worse of him if the taunt were true. ”

“ It was this cruel form of punishment that the Romans were dealing out to Jesus the Nazarene. It happeneth oft that men live for two or three days on the cross, till they die even of hunger. I learnt to my dismay that Jesus had refused, with words of menace, to take the draught of myrrh and wine which the ladies of Jerusalem, as I have said, prepare for all men condemned to capital punishment, so that they may not feel the pain and torture. ”

“ Each of our Sages prides himself on this— [pg 45] that he has said some maxim of wisdom that none had thought of before him, and so each of them is remembered in the minds of men by one or more of his favorite maxims. But it is rare if in a whole lifetime a sage sayeth more than one word fit to be treasured up among men. Yet was this man Jesus dropping pearls of wisdom from his mouth in prodigal profusion. As each memorable word fell from his lips, a murmur of delighted surprise passed round the synagogue, and each man looked to his neighbor with brightened eyes. ”

“ As for what thou sayest, that inward thought and outward act should go together in the service of God and man, that is a verity, and often have I heard the saying from the great Hillel—may his memory be for a blessing! But if outward act may be clean when inward thought may be unclean, how, on the other hand, can we know the purity of what is within, except it be decided by the cleanliness of what is without? How, above all, shall we teach our little ones, like my Lazarus there, to feel what is good and seemly, except by first teaching them to do the acts that are seemly and good? ”

“ Then Jesus spoke out, and as he spoke he strode up and down the room, with his hand clutching the air, and the vein throbbing on his left temple. “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” Then facing us all, he added, “For ye lay aside the commandment of God, and hold the tradition of men.”
“How so, master?” said Elisha; “prove thy words.” ”

“ Only in Israel have the men who have led us farthest reviled us most. As our God, who has been to us a Father, has chastened us while he loved us, so our prophets have rebuked us their brethren. Many generations of men have passed since the last of the prophets spake his words of loving reproof. Now has appeared this Jesus, who again takes up their work. ”

“ If the power of life and death were solely in our hands, I would not depart in aught from the wise provision of our forefathers; but, in truth, if this man be put to death, it will not be our doing, for his fate rests with Pilate. I would remind the younger members of the Sanhedrim that the final decision is not with us, and if they vote for this man’s death, as I cannot doubt they will, considering the pressing danger [pg 180] to our nation, they need not fear to be called members of a bloodthirsty Sanhedrim, since his death, if death he suffers, will be at the hands of the Roman Procurator. ”

“ Guard the flesh pure, and the signet spotless, so that ye may take hold upon eternal life. For our possessions are in heaven; therefore, sons of men, purchase unto yourselves by these transitory things which are not yours, what is yours, and shall not pass away.”
I cannot tell thee, Aglaophonos, how deeply this discourse affected me. Just as the Hellenes are eager to find each day some new beauty in man or the world, or some new truth about the relation of things, so we Hebrews rejoice in finding new ideals in the relations of men. ”

“ Now, it happened about this time that I was attending my place in the Sanhedrim of Israelites, to judge of a case of adultery. But in this matter our Sages, and especially those of the Pharisaic tradition, had made great changes in the Law as laid down for us by Moses; for he, as thou knowest, commands that a woman taken in adultery shall be stoned to death. Now, for a long time among us there has been an increasing horror of inflicting the death penalty. If a Sanhedrim inflicts capital punishment more than once in seven years, it is called a Sanhedrim of murderers. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ Yet he turned against him many who would have been well disposed towards him, in that he followed his cousin’s example, and spake kindly to the tax-gatherers and to the soldiers, whom the greater part of the Jews regard as the enemies of their country.
Now, as he began to live his life among the people, he began to do many signs and wonders, like all our great teachers and prophets. In truth, we say, how shall a man be accounted a prophet unless he can do wonders? Indeed, as Jesus himself said, “Why marvel ye at the signs? I give unto you an inheritance such as the whole world holds not.” ”

“ Even the Romans, who had deposed him from his position as High Priest, had not dared to interfere with him otherwise. Yet had this rude countryman, who had never been seen, never been known to set foot in Jerusalem before, dared to strike at the root of his power and wealth. Thou canst not wonder that men were curious to know what manner of man he might be who had dared this great thing, and busy rumor ran through all the bazaars of Jerusalem, asking, Who is this Jesus of Nazara? ”

“ 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 [pg 80] 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 now I think thereon, I am almost certain that the slain man was of the followers of Jesus the Nazarene, and this Saul was
among the bitterest against them. And yet thou writest that the same Saul has spoken of the Nazarene that he was a god like Apollo, that had come down on earth for a while to live his life among men. Truly, men’s minds are as the wind that bloweth hither and thither.
But as for that Jesus of Nazara, I can tell thee much, if not all. For I was at Jerusalem all the time he passed for a leader of men up to his shameful death. ”