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 [pg 164]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, [pg 165]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 [pg 167]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.