"If thou lettest this man go, thou art not Cæsar's friend. Thou art in league with him. He that sets himself up as a king in all the wide bounds of Cæsar's dominions, wars against Cæsar, as well at Jerusalem as at Rome. If thou release this man, I and my nation will accuse thee to thy master, Tiberius, of favoring this Galilean's sedition."
When Pilate heard the name of Galilee, he asked if the prisoner were a Galilean. Upon being answered in the affirmative by the excited priests, he said to Æmilius:
"Hold! Loose not his bonds just now! Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee, last night came up to the Passover feast of the Hebrew God, and is now at the old Maccabean Palace, with his retinue. Conduct your prisoner to him, and let Herod judge his own subjects!"
The chief priests and scribes now shouted with approbation at this decision, for they began to fear that Pilate would release Jesus, and they knew that the vacillating and reckless Herod would do whatsoever would gain popular applause.
"To Herod! To the Tetrarch of Galilee with him!" arose the cry.
But Caiaphas, frowning and dissatisfied, remained behind; and Pilate, glad to get rid of the delicate affair of condemning an innocent man, smilingly came out and spoke to the gloomy High Priest:
"Thou knowest I can condemn men only for crimes committed against the laws of the empire. This Jesus hath done nothing worthy of death."
"Noble Governor," answered Caiaphas, stopping in his angry strides up and down the porphyry floor of the outer portico, "thou forgettest that I brought him not before thee on this charge of blasphemy alone, but for sedition! By the altar of God, this is a crime known to thy laws, I wot!"
"True. You charge a young, defenceless, quiet, powerless man, destitute of money, men or arms, an obscure fisherman or carpenter of Galilee, with setting up a throne and kingdom against that of Tiberius Cæsar, the ruler of the earth! The idea is absurd! It should be treated only with ridicule. So will Herod say, when he understands the affair."
"So will not Cæsar say, my lord!" answered Caiaphas, with a sneer upon his curled lip. "If you let this man go, the Jewish nation will draw up a memorial, accusing you to the emperor of protecting treason. You will be summoned by the senate to answer the charge; and though you should succeed in clearing yourself, you will have lost your government, given to another, and for your fair name, you will live, ever after, under Cæsar's suspicion."