Our house is not large and our ceiling not high, and you will sit at but a frugal meal. Yet if you will abide in our hovel it will be to us a palace. And would you break bread with us, we in your presence were to be envied by the princes of the land.”

 

 

And He said, “Yea, I will be your guest this night.”

 

 

And I rejoiced in my heart. And we walked behind Him in silence until we reached our house.

 

 

And as we stood at the threshold Jesus said, “Peace be to this house, and to those who dwell in it.”

 

 

Then He entered and we followed Him.

 

 

My wife and my wife’s mother and my daughter stood before Him and they worshipped Him; then they knelt before Him and kissed the hem of His sleeve.

 

 

They were astonished that He, the chosen and the well beloved, had come to be our guest; for they had already seen Him by the River Jordan when John the Baptist had proclaimed Him before the people.

 

 

And straightway my wife and my wife’s mother began to prepare the supper.

 

 

My brother Andrew was a shy man, but his faith in Jesus was deeper than my faith.

 

 

And my daughter, who was then but twelve year old, stood by Him and held His garment as if she were in fear He would leave us and go out again into the night. She clung to Him like a lost sheep that has found its shepherd.

 

 

Then we sat at the board, and He broke the bread and poured the wine; and He turned to us saying, “My friends, grace me now in sharing this food with me, even as the Father has graced us in giving it unto us.”

 

 

These words He said ere He touched a morsel, for He wished to follow an ancient custom that the honoured guest becomes the host.

 

 

And as we sat with Him around the board we felt as if we were sitting at the feast of the great King.

 

 

My daughter Petronelah, who was young and unknowing, gazed at His face and followed the movements of His hands. And I saw a veil of tears in her eyes.

 

 

When He left the board we followed Him and sat about Him in the vine-arbour.

 

 

And He spoke to us and we listened, and our hearts fluttered within us like birds.

 

 

He spoke of the second birth of man, and of the opening of the gates of the heavens; and of angels descending and bringing peace and good cheer to all men, and of angels ascending to the throne bearing the longings of men to the Lord God.

 

 

Then He looked into my eyes and gazed into the depths of my heart. And He said, “I have chosen you and your brother, and you must needs come with me. You have laboured and you have been heavy-laden. Now I shall give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn of me, for in my heart is peace, and your soul shall find abundance and a home-coming.”

 

 

When He spoke thus I and my brother stood up before Him, and I said to Him, “Master, we will follow you to the ends of the earth. And if our burden were as heavy as the mountain we would bear it with you in gladness. And should we fall by the wayside we shall know that we have fallen on the way to heaven, and we shall be satisfied.”

 

 

And my brother Andrew spoke and said, “Master, we would be threads between your hands and your loom. Weave us into the cloth if you will, for we would be in the raiment of the Most High.”

 

 

And my wife raised her face, and the tears were upon her cheeks and she spoke with joy, and she said, “Blessed are you who come in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the womb that carried you, and the breast that gave you milk.”

 

 

And my daughter, who was but twelve years old, sat at His feet and she nestled close to Him.

 

 

And the mother of my wife, who sat at the threshold, said no word. She only wept in silence and her shawl was wet with her tears.

 

 

Then Jesus walked over to her and He raised her face to His face and He said to her, “You are the mother of all these. You weep for joy, and I will keep your tears in my memory.”

 

 

And now the old moon rose above the horizon. And Jesus gazed upon it for a moment, and then He turned to us and said, “It is late. Seek your beds, and may God visit your repose. I will be here in this arbour until dawn. I have cast my net this day and I have caught two men; I am satisfied, and now I bid you good-night.”

 

 

Then my wife’s mother said, “But we have laid your bed in the house, I pray you enter and rest.”

 

 

And He answered her saying, “I would indeed rest, but not under a roof. Suffer me to lie this night under the canopy of the grapes and the stars.”

 

 

And she made haste and brought out the mattress and the pillows and the coverings. And He smiled at her and He said, “Behold, I shall lie down upon a bed twice made.”

 

 

Then we left Him and entered into the house, and my daughter was the last one to enter. And her eyes were upon Him until I had closed the door.

 

 

Thus for the first time I knew my Lord and Master.

 

 

And though it was many years ago, it still seems but of today.

CAIAPHAS

The High Priest

 

In speaking of that man Jesus and of His death let us consider two salient facts: the Torah must needs be held in safety by us, and this kingdom must needs be protected by Rome.

 

 

Now that man was defiant to us and to Rome. He poisoned the mind of the simple people, and He led them as if by magic against us and against Caesar.

 

 

My own slaves, both men and women, after hearing him speak in the market-place, turned sullen and rebellious. Some of them left my house and escaped to the desert whence they came.

 

 

Forget not that the Torah is our foundation and our tower of strength. No man shall undermine us while we have this power to restrain his hand, and no man shall overthrow Jerusalem so long as its walls stand upon the ancient stone that David laid.

 

 

If the seed of Abraham is indeed to live and thrive this soil must remain undefiled.

 

 

And that man Jesus was a defiler and a corrupter. We slew Him with a conscience both deliberate and clean. And we shall slay all those who would debase the laws of Moses or seek to befoul our sacred heritage.

 

 

We and Pontius Pilatus knew the danger in that man, and that it was wise to bring Him to an end.

 

 

I shall see that His followers come to the same end, and the echo of His words to the same silence.

 

 

If Judea is to live all men who oppose her must be brought down to the dust. And ere Judea shall die I will cover my grey head with ashes even as did Samuel the prophet, and I will tear off this garment of Aaron and clothe me in sackcloth until I go hence for ever.

JOANNA
THE WIFE OF HEROD’S STEWARD

On Children

 

Jesus was never married but He was a friend of women, and He knew them as they would be known in sweet comradeship.

 

 

And He loved children as they would be loved in faith and understanding.

 

 

In the light of His eyes there was a father and a brother and a son.

 

 

He would hold a child upon His knees and say, “Of such is your might and your freedom; and of such is the kingdom of the spirit.”

 

 

They say that Jesus heeded not the law of Moses, and that He was over-forgiving to the prostitutes of Jerusalem and the country side.

 

 

I myself at that time was deemed a prostitute, for I loved a man who was not my husband, and he was a Sadducee.

 

 

And on a day the Sadducees came upon me in my house when my lover was with me, and they seized me and held me, and my lover walked away and left me.

 

 

Then they led me to the market-place where Jesus was teaching.

 

 

it was their desire to hold me up before Him as a test and a trap for Him.

 

 

But Jesus judged me not. He laid shame upon those who would have had me shamed, and He reproached them.

 

 

And He bade me go my way.

 

 

And after that all the tasteless fruit of life turned sweet to my mouth, and the scentless blossoms breathed fragrance into my nostrils.