Thereupon certain of the crowd who were known to be followers of Herod had speech with Jesus, and spake to him: “Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man; that thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in all truth—tell us, therefore, what thinkest thou: is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar or not? shall we give, or shall we not give?” All men were silent, and drew their breath to hear what Jesus might say to this. For if he claimed to be the Anointed One, to whom but to the King of Israel should Israel’s tribute be paid?
But he said unto them, “Why tempt ye me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it.” And they brought one and put it into his hand. And he held it forth unto them, and said, “Whose is this image and superscription?” And they answered, “Cæsar’s.” And then Jesus said unto them, “Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And these Herodians mar[pg 163]velled at the subtlety with which he had answered them, but the common folk were amazed and dumfounded at his answer. And soon I heard one say to another, “He denieth: he would pay tribute to Cæsar.” And gradually all the men drew away from him, leaving him alone with only the company with him from Bethany.
But he, seeing this, turned to one of those with him, and said, “Peter, of whom do the kings of the earth take custom? of their own children, or of the aliens?” And Peter answered and said, “Of the aliens.” Then Jesus said to him, “Then are the children free?” And Peter said to him, “Yes.” Then said Jesus unto him, “Then do thou also give, as being an alien to them.” The common folk heard this, indeed, but were in no wise satisfied. If they were to give tribute to the Romans for whatever cause, they were still to be under subjection to Rome, and then Jesus refused to be their Liberator; that had become clear to them of a sudden. And they drew still further away from him. And a deep silence of mortification fell upon all men there, so that thou couldst [pg 164]hear distinctly the tread of the Roman sentry as he moved on his march.
Amid the deep silence suddenly came a gentle tinkling, as of silver bells; it came nearer and nearer, and a crier called out, “Way for the High Priests!” Then Hanan the High Priest, with Caiaphas his son-in-law, and others of the priests accompanied by their guard, came down the steps from the Beautiful Gate. The Roman sentry stopped his march and stood upright, with spear on ground, and all made way as the procession of the High Priests passed through the court. All men were silent, and thou couldst hear the tinkling of the silver bells which were attached to the hems of the High Priests’ garments. Hanan walked at the head of the procession with his usual haughty gait, and had nearly passed through the court, when he saw Jesus and those with him. At once he halted, and summoned one of the crowd to him. Then we saw much eager talk between this man and the High Priest. And Hanan summoned the captain of his guard, who would have turned towards Jesus, but that Joseph [pg 165]Caiaphas stayed him and spake unto Hanan, pointing to the Roman sentry. After much talk between these, the High Priests resumed their march and left the Temple. And all the other men began to pass away from the court, leaving Jesus and his men alone with none to listen to him. For the word passed swiftly in the mouths of all the men of Jerusalem,—“He refuseth; he would have us be slaves of the Romans forever.”
XIV.
THE MEETING OF THE HANANITES.
The next day being the fifth day of the week, and the thirteenth day of the month Nisan in that year, many rumors went about the city as to the man Jesus. There were who said that he had been seized by the guards of Hanan; others said that he had left the village of Bethany and gone no man knew whither. But for that day Jesus came not into Jerusalem, and men’s minds were occupied more with one of the difficulties of our Law which form the occupation and delight of our Sages. I must explain this unto thee, for upon it turn the events of the next day, so fateful for the man about whom thou art inquiring. Thou canst easily understand what I shall say, for thou hast, I know, a copy of the Scriptures in Greek, for did I not procure it for thee?
It is said in the Law, thou wilt find, that the Passover lamb is to be killed in the twilight between the fourteenth and the [pg 170]fifteenth of Nisan, and it is also said in our Law that the whole of the lamb must be consumed that evening. Now, in the years when the fifteenth of Nisan, which is the first day of the Passover, falleth upon the Sabbath, the killing and roasting of the lamb would take place on the Sabbath eve, when no killing must take place and no fire must be lit. Hence arises a conflict of the Law of the Passover with the Law of the Sabbath. Now, the older view was, that the Passover was superior to the Sabbath, and its law was to be followed in preference. This the priests held and followed, and in this they seemed to have the authority of the great Hillel, who also declared the Passover superior to the Sabbath.
But many among the Pharisees and the more pious preferred to slay the Passover lamb on the eve between the thirteenth and the fourteenth day of Nisan, and to eat it on the fourteenth day; that is, in those years when the Passover fell on the Sabbath, as was the case in the year of which I am now writing. It would appear that Jesus and his followers held with the [pg 171]latter opinion, for, as I have heard, on the eve of the fourteenth of Nisan he came stealthily into the city of Jerusalem, and ate the Passover lamb concealed in an upper chamber of one of his friends in the city. It showeth how earnest this man was in following the larger precepts of the Law, though in smaller matters he seemed to neglect it. For by this time he must have known that he was no longer safe in Jerusalem; and, indeed, he proved this by his secret entry into it. Yet in order to fulfil the Law, which saith, “The Passover lamb is to be eaten in Jerusalem,” he risked his own and his followers’ lives. Yet was he careful of them; for, as thou shalt soon hear, as soon as he had gone through the meal prescribed by the Law, he escaped out of Jerusalem.
Now, that night I was standing at the door of my house, looking upon the city bathed in the light of the moon, which was near its full, when suddenly a man seized me by the arm and said, “Thou art wanted.” I looked, and behold it was Simon Kantheros, my brother-in-law. And I said to him, “Who wants me? and [pg 172]wherefore?” And Simon answered me and said, “Hanan the High Priest has summoned suddenly a meeting of the Sanhedrim at his house on the Mount of Olives.” Then said I, “But if it be at his house, it can only be the Priestly Sanhedrim of Twenty-Three that he summons.” “Nay, nay, man,” answered Simon, “the case is urgent. He saith, ‘any member of the Sanhedrim.’ Come, then, with me, and quickly.” So with that I seized my mantle and my staff, and went forth with him.