XIII.
THE GREAT REFUSAL.
Thou canst imagine with what feelings of expectation all Jerusalem awaited the coming of Jesus next morning. Many of the Pharisees had come together the eve before, and spoken of the public insult Jesus had given to their sect on the preceding day. Hanan the High Priest, we heard, had quarrelled furiously with his son-in-law Joseph Caiaphas, for that he had not allowed him to summon his guard after the humiliation he had put upon them in the Temple. Yet neither the Pharisees nor the Sadducees who followed the High Priests dared lay hands upon this Jesus, because of the evident favor in which he was held by the common folk of Jerusalem, and above all by the many from country parts who had come up, like him, to spend the Passover in the Holy City. Among all these there was no talk but of Jesus the Liberator; nay! many spake of him as Jesus the [pg 158]Christ. And if he were indeed to be the Christ, the King of Israel, the Founder of the New Kingdom, it could not be that he would suffer longer the yoke of the Romans to lie upon the neck of Israel.
Yet there was one thing that perplexed many, and opinion went hither and thither among the minds of men concerning it. The Christ who was to deliver Israel and to rule over mankind, was he not to be the son of David? Yet this Jesus was of Galilee, where the admixture of blood had been greatest in all Israel. “There is no unleavened bread in all Galilee,” the scoffers used to say, meaning thereby that their genealogy was sprinkled with yeast, as we call foreign admixture. And for this man’s genealogy, who could declare it? Many, indeed, as I have told thee, thought him to have no right even to be called son of his father. A mamzer shall not sit in the congregation of Israel. How, then, could one ascend Israel’s throne?
When, therefore, Jesus came next morning from his lodging in Bethany, all Jerusalem turned out to welcome him, for the [pg 159]Passover was coming anear, and if aught was to be done to clear the city of the Romans, it must be done quickly, must be done on that day. Never saw I the courts of the Temple so crowded as on that day when I came thither, and found Jesus standing in the Court of the Gentiles, with almost all the leading men of Jerusalem and many of the common folk surging about him. Scarce room was left for the Roman sentry to march his guard in front of the Beautiful Gate. Yet he took no heed of us barbarians, but with shield and spear shouldered his way backward and forward, backward and forward, a sign to all men that the house of God was in the hands of God’s enemies.
Never saw I the men of Jerusalem so exultant as on that morning. Wherever I looked, joy—a grim joy—was on every man’s countenance, and there was no man there but was armed, save only Jesus himself and some ten or a dozen men who had come with him from Bethany, and these, indeed, were the only men who had not shown joy. Never had I seen the Nazarene with a countenance so saddened and [pg 160]aweary. Yestermorn he had been flashing with anger and indignation as he spake his words against the Pharisees, but on this day his force seemed to be spent, and he appeared like one who had passed through a great agony.
Now, as they were standing there, I saw a man, one of the leaders of the Zealots, armed as if for battle, go up and lay a hand upon one of those with Jesus. He spake eagerly with him, and pointed with his thumb to the Roman soldier as he passed to and fro. But the other shook his head vehemently, and took his arm away from the grasp of the Zealot and turned his back upon him.
Now, at this moment certain of the Pharisees came through the crowd and advanced to Jesus. So great was the crowd that I heard not at first what they said unto him; but it must have been some question about the matter that was in all men’s minds, for I heard his reply, and that, as was his wont, was in the form of a counter-question to their inquiry, for he said, “What think ye of the Christ? Whose son is he?” And they, speaking [pg 161]with the thought of all Israel, said, “The Christ is the son of David.”
Then all men watched with expectancy to hear what the Nazarene would say to this; for if he agreed with them, then would he deny himself to be the Christ: for his genealogy had by no means been proven. But yet, how could he disprove the belief of all Israel, that the Christ was the Son of David? Yet that did he after the manner of our Sages, using words of Scripture as his confirmation; for he said unto them, “How then is it that David himself saith in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool’? David therefore himself calleth the Christ Lord; how then can the Christ be his son?”
At this the Pharisees knew not what to say, for no man had hitherto used that stichos of the Psalms, and they knew not what to reply. But the common folk were rejoiced exceedingly; joy spread on their faces, and I saw many a fist raised and shaken in exultant defiance at the Roman sentry, who walked hither and [pg 162]thither on his guard as if he were a living mass of steel.