Then said Jesus: "He is of the unhappy ones for whom G.o.d is spoiled by the mere letter of the Word. Would you rather stay with Me, children, than go and read the Haggadah?"

"Yes, yes, we'll stay with you." And all three hung round His neck.

And Martha sought the mother and told her: "They are reading the Haggadah with six arms."

CHAPTER x.x.x

Two days were spent in this quiet, cheerful fashion. Then Jesus said to the disciples: "It is over; we must return to Jerusalem."

They were to spend the festival in the city, and James had hired a room in which the Master and His twelve faithful friends could solemnly celebrate the Pa.s.sover. His disciples again gathered round Him; but they looked anxious. For they had had unpleasant experiences in their walks through the town. The mood of the people had entirely changed; they spoke little of the Messiah but rather of the demagogue and betrayer of the people, just in the same tone as had been used in Galilee. Only here the expressions were more forcible, and accompanied with threatening gestures. In front of the town gates, where there was a rocky hill, Thomas had watched two carpenters nailing crossbeams to long stakes. He asked what they were doing, and was told that criminals were impaled on the festival. Questioning them more closely, he learned that they were desert robbers.

"Desert robbers?" said a pa.s.ser-by. "What are desert robbers? There are desert robbers every year. This time quite different people are to be hoisted up."

"Yes, if they're caught," said another. "His followers are burrowing somewhere in the city, but He Himself has flown. It's too absurd how the police seek everywhere, and can't find out where He is."

Thomas did not want to hear any more, and took himself off.

Judas heard similar things, only more plainly; it was quite clear that it was the Master who was meant. Things had gone as far as that! And all the enthusiasm had been false. The olive-branches and palm-leaves were not yet all trodden down, and they bore witness to the Messianic ecstasy of four days ago. And to-day? To-day the police were searching for Him! But wasn't it His own fault? To run into the jaws of your enemies, and to irritate and abuse them--to do no more than that! If He had only stirred a fold of His cloak to show who He was.

Who believed that He had walked on the water: that He had brought the dead to life? They only laughed when such things were related. Why did He not do something now? Just one miracle, and we should be saved.

Perhaps He is intentionally letting things come to the worst, so that His power may appear the more impressive. They will take Him and put Him in chains, lead Him out amid the joyful cries of the mob, and suddenly a troop of angels with fiery swords will come down from heaven, destroy the enemy, and the Messiah revealed will ascend the throne. That will happen, must happen. The sooner the better for all of us. How can it be hurried on? His indecision must be changed into determination. I wish they had Him already, so that we could celebrate a glorious Pa.s.sover. Such were the thoughts of the disciple, Judas Iscariot. Sunk in deep reflection he walked through the streets that evening. The pinnacles and towers glowed in the dull red of the setting sun. He met several companies of soldiers: a captain stopped him and asked if he did not come from Galilee?

"I suppose you're asking about the Prophet," replied Judas; "no, I'm not He."

"But I'm certain you know about Him."

Judas drew a deep breath, as if he were on the point of saying something. But he said nothing, pursued his way, and came to the house where they were all gathered round the Master.

The room was large and gloomy. A single lamp was suspended over the large table, covered with a white cloth, that stood in the centre, around which they were already seated. The Master was so placed that the whole table could see Him. A large dish with the roasted Paschal lamb stood before Him. By its side were the Pa.s.sover herbs in shallow bowls. On the table were other bowls, and the unleavened bread baked for the festival in remembrance of the manna eaten in the wilderness.

Near the centre of the table was a beaker of red wine. They were silent or speaking in whispers, so that the steps of Judas, as he entered, echoed. He was almost terrified by the echo. Then he greeted them in silence with a low bow and sat down, just opposite John, who was at the Master's right hand, while Peter sat at His left.

There was solemn silence. Their first Pa.s.sover in Jerusalem! Jesus took one of the unleavened cakes, broke it, and laid the pieces down.

James divided the lamb into thirteen portions.

"We are thirteen at table," whispered Thaddeus to his neighbour Bartholomew. He was silent. They did not eat, but sat there in silence. The lamp flickered, and the reddish reflection hovered about the table. Then Jesus began to speak.

"Eat and drink. The hour approaches."

John placed his hand tenderly on His, and asked: "What do you mean, Lord, when you say, The hour approaches?"

"My friends," said Jesus, "you will not understand how what will happen this night can come to pa.s.s. They will come and condemn Me to death.

I shall not flee, for it must be so. I have to bear testimony to the Father in heaven and of His tidings, and therefore I am ready to die.

If I were not willing to die for My words, they would be like sand in the desert. If I were not willing to die, My friends would not be justified, and would doubt Me. A good shepherd must lay down his life for his flock."

"Master," said Thomas, and his voice trembled, "not when you live; only when you die, could we doubt you."

Then Jesus looked sadly round the circle, and said: "One among you doubts Me, though I live."

"What do you mean by that, Lord?" asked Judas.

Jesus said: "The Son of Man goes His appointed way. Yet it would be better for that man never to have been born. One of My own people will betray Me this night."

As if struck down by a heavy weight, they were silent for a moment.

Then they exclaimed: "Who is it? Who is it?"

"One of the twelve who sits at this table."

"Master!" exclaimed Peter, "what causes that gloomy thought? No one is unfaithful."

Jesus said to him; "Yes, Simon Peter! And another at this table will deny Me before morning c.o.c.kcrow."

They were silent, for they were all greatly afraid. After a while He continued speaking. "It must happen as the Father in His wisdom has determined. But the time of work begins for you. You will be My apostles, My amba.s.sadors, who will travel over the world to tell all the nations what I have told you. You shall be the salt of humanity, and season it with wisdom. You shall be the yeast which causes it to ferment. To others I have said, Do the good work secretly; to you I say, Let your light shine forth as an example. Be wily as the serpent, and let not hypocrites deceive you; be like clever money-changers, who accept only good coins and refuse the false. Be without guile, like doves, and go forth, innocent as the sheep who go among wolves. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. Where you sow peace for others, there will be the sword for you. It will also come to pa.s.s that your message of peace will awake discord; one brother will dispute with the others, children will be against their parents, because some will be for Me and others against Me. But the time will come when they will be united, one flock under the care of one shepherd. Then there will be a great fire on earth, that of enthusiasm for the Spirit and for Love. Would it were already burning! Do not despair because, with your simplicity and want of eloquence, your ignorance of foreign tongues, you must travel in strange lands. The moment you have to speak, My Spirit will speak through you in burning eloquence. If you are silent, then the stones must speak, so vital is the word that must be spoken. You must speak to the lowly of the glad tidings; you must speak to the mighty who possess the power to kill your body, but not your soul. Days of temptation and persecution will come, I will not cease to implore the Father to stand by you. Be not cast down. If I did not now depart, the Spirit could not come to you.

The visible is an enemy of the invisible. I have spoken to you much in parables, so that it may the better remain in your memory. I had still much to say to you; but My Spirit will speak to you, and He will make you understand more easily than when I spoke in parables. Upon you I build My Church; do you open the Kingdom of G.o.d to all who seek it.

What you do on earth in My name will also hold good in heaven with the Father. And now I give you My peace as the world can never give it. I remain with you in My Spirit and My Love."

The great words were spoken. A solemn peace fell on their hearts.

Judas went out. The rest sat on in silence and looked at the Master with unbounded affection. They could not understand what He had said, but they felt these were words before which the earth would tremble and the heavens bow down.

And now something extraordinary happened. It was not a miracle, it was more than a miracle. Jesus stood up, took a towel and a washing-bowl, knelt before each, and washed his feet. In their astonishment they offered no resistance. When He came to Peter, Peter said, "No, Master, you shall not wash my feet."

To which Jesus replied: "If I do not, then you are not Mine."

Said Peter: "If that is so, then wash my face and hands, too, O Lord!

so that it may be evident how utterly I am yours."

Then Jesus said: "You call Me Lord, and yet I wash your feet. I do this so that you may know that among men there is no lord, that all are brethren who shall serve one another. See how I love you. No one can give a greater proof of his love than to die so that his friends may live. So I leave you this legacy: Brothers, love one another. As I love you, love one another."

John, overcome by those words, sank on his knees, and, sobbing, laid his head upon His bosom. And Jesus said once more: "Children, love one another."

Then He again sat down with them at the table. They were all silent.

Jesus took bread in His hand, lifted it a little towards heaven that it might be blessed, and broke it in two. He handed the pieces to the right and left of Him, and said: "Take it and eat. It is My body that will be broken for you."

They took it. Then He took the beaker of wine, lifted it to heaven that it might be blessed, pa.s.sed it round, and said: "Take it and drink. It is My blood that will be shed for you."

And when they had all drunk. He added: "Do this in remembrance of Me."

CHAPTER x.x.xI

When the disciples separated after the meal, notwithstanding their fears, they did not realise that it was a farewell. They sought their lodgings. Only John, Peter, and James accompanied the Master when He left the town in the dark night and descended the valley to the foot of the Mount of Olives. There was a garden there. White stones lay between the savin trees and the weeping cypresses, fresh spring gra.s.s covered the ground. Jesus said to His companions: "Stay here a little." He Himself went farther into the garden. The sky was covered by a thin veil of cloud, so that the moon shed a pale light over the earth. The town on the mountain rose up dark and still; no sound was to be heard except the rippling of the brook Kedron in the valley.

Jesus stood and looked up through the trees towards heaven. He breathed heavily, and drops of perspiration stood on His brow. He felt a great agony, an agony He had never before known. Had He not often thought of death, and in His mind felt quite reconciled to it? Did He not know that the Heavenly Father would receive Him? Only He still belonged to this sweet life below, and still the way was open to Him to escape death. Is His soul so weak now that it is troubled by the prospect of the enemy at hand, ready to seize Him? Can He not go over the mountain to Jericho, into the wilderness, to the sea? No, not flight. Of His own free will He is to appear before the judges in order to stand by what He said. Ah! but this surrender to the powers He had offended means death. He sank down on the ground so that His head touched the gra.s.s, as if He would draw the earth to Him with eager arms. "Must it be, O Father? Fain would I stay with men in order to bring them nearer to Me. Who will guide My disciples, still so weak?

Guard them from evil, but do not take them from the world. Let them live and spread Thy name. If it is possible, let Me stay with them.