the temple and the altar.'1 I tell you that all this blood will be required of this generation.2

The terrible dogma of the substitution of the Gentiles the idea that the kingdom of God was to be transferred to others, because those for whom it was destined would not receive it 3-recurs as a bloody menace against the aristocracy; and the title "Son of God," which Jesus openly assumed in striking parables* where his enemies appear as murderers of the heavenly messengers, was an open defiance to legal Judaism. The bold appeal addressed to the poor was still more seditious. He declared that he had "come that the blind might see, and that they who see might be made blind." One day his dislike of the Temple forced from him an imprudent speech: "I might, if I would, destroy this Temple made with hands, and within three days build another made without men's hands." We do not know clearly what meaning he attached to this phrase, in which his disciples sought for some forced allegory. But as only a pretext was wanted, it was quickly laid hold of. It appeared in the preamble of his death-warrant, and rang in his ears amidst the

5

1 There is a confusion here, found also in the Targum of Jonathan (Lam. ii. 20), between Zachariah son of Jehoiada and Zachariah the prophet, son of Barachiah. The reference is to the former (2 Chron. xxiv. 21). With Chronicles, in which the murder of Zachariah is related, the Hebrew canon ends. This murder is the last in the list of murders of holy men, set forth in the order in which they occur in the Bible, — Abel being first.

2 Matt. xxiii. 2-36; Mark xii. 38-40; Luke xi. 39-52 and xx. 46, 47. 3 Matt. viii. 11, 12; xx. 1–16; xxi. 28–32, 33–41, 43; xxii. 1–14. Mark xii. 1-11. Luke xx. 9-16.

4 Matt. xxi. 37-41; Mark xii. 6; Luke xx. 9; John x. 33–38. 5 John ix. 39.

6 The most authentic form seems to be that in Mark xiv. 58; xv. 29: comp. John ii. 19; Matt. xxvi. 61 and xxvii. 40; Acts vi. 13, 14.

last agonies of Calvary. These irritating discussions always ended in tumult. The Pharisees threw stones at him;1 in doing which they only fulfilled an article of the Law, commanding that every prophet, even a worker of miracles, who should turn the people from the ancient worship, be stoned without a hearing.2 At other times they called him mad, possessed, Samaritan,3 or even sought to kill him. His words were taken note of in order to invoke against him the laws of an intolerant theocracy, which the Roman government had not yet swept aside.5

1 John viii. 39; x. 31; xi. 8.

2 Deut. xiii. 1-10: comp. Luke xx. 6; John x. 33; 2 Cor. xi. 25. 4 Ibid. v. 18; vii. 1, 20, 25, 30; viii. 37, 40.

John x. 20.

Luke xi. 53, 54.

CHAPTER XXII.

HOSTILE MACHINATIONS.

JESUS passed the autumn and a part of the winter at Jerusalem. This season is there rather cold.1 Solomon's Porch, with its covered cloisters, was the place where he habitually walked.2 This porch, the only remaining portion of the ancient Temple, consisted of two arcades, formed by two rows of columns and the wall overlooking the valley of Kedron.3 Communication with the country outside was by way of the Susa gate, the piers of which may yet be seen just within what is now called "the golden gate.' The other side of the valley was already decorated with sumptuous tombs. Some of the monuments, which may still be seen there, were perhaps those cenotaphs in honour of ancient prophets which Jesus had in mind, when, seated under the portico, he denounced the official

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"4

1 Jerusalem is something over 2500 feet above the sea-level, according to Vignes (Conn. des Temps, 1886); or 2440, according to Captain Wilson (Le Lien, Aug. 4, 1886). [The altitude ranges from 2000 feet in the valley of Kedron to 2610 at the northwest corner of the city (McClintock and Strong).]

2 John x. 23. See Vogüé's restoration in Le Temple, etc. pl. xv. xvi. pp. 12, 22, 50. [See the description in "History of Israel," v. 245-250.] Josephus, Antiq. XX. ix. 7; Wars, V. v. 2. Apparently, of the time of Justinian.

See ante, p. 340. The so-called "tomb of Zecharia was perhaps such a monument: compare Itin. a Burdig. Hierus., p. 153 (ed. Schott).

classes who covered their hypocrisy or their vanity by these colossal piles.1

At the end of December he celebrated at Jerusalem the feast established by Judas the Maccabee, in memory of the purification of the Temple after the sacrileges of Antiochus Epiphanes. It was called the "Feast of Lights," because, during the eight days of the festival, lamps were kept lighted in the houses. Jesus soon after took a journey into Peræa and along the banks of the Jordan, - that is to say, into the same country he had visited some years previously, when he followed the school of John, and where he himself had administered baptism. Here he seems to have enjoyed some solace, especially at Jericho. This city, either as an important centre of travel, or on account of its gardens of spices and its rich cultivation, contained a customs station of some consequence. The chief collector, Zacchæus, a rich man, desired to see Jesus. As he was "little of stature," he mounted a sycamore-tree near the road where the company had to pass. Jesus was touched with this trait of simplicity in a man of importance, and, at the risk of scandal, he went to the house of Zacchæus. There was much murmuring at his thus honouring the house of a "sinner" by a visit.

1 Matt. xxiii. 29; Luke xi. 47.

2 John x. 22: comp. 1 Macc. iv. 45-54; 2 Macc. x. 6-8.

Josephus, Antiq. XII. vii. 7.

4 John x. 40: comp. Matt. xix. 1 and xx. 29; Mark x. 1, 46; Luke xviii. 35 and xix. 1. This journey is known to the Synoptics, but by Matt. and Mark is referred to the advance from Galilee by way of Perea. The topography of Luke is unintelligible unless we suppose chapters x.-xviii. refer to incidents in the near vicinity of Jerusalem.

5 Eccles. xxiv. 18; Strabo, XVI. ii. 41; Justin, xxxvi. 3; Josephus, Antiq. IV. vi. 1, XIV. iv. 1, and XV. iv. 2; Babyl. Talmud, Berakoth, 43 a. 6 Luke xix. 1-10 (a dubious episode).

In parting, Jesus pronounced his host a good son of Abraham; and, as if to add to the vexation of the orthodox, Zacchæus became a saint: he gave, it is said, half of his goods to the poor, and restored fourfold to those whom he might have wronged. This was not the only pleasure which Jesus experienced there. On leaving the town, the beggar Bartimæus1 pleased him much by persistently calling him "Son of David," although he was bidden to be silent. The cycle of Galilean miracles appeared for a time to revive in this country, which in many respects was like the northern provinces. The delightful oasis of Jericho, at that time well watered, must have been one of the most beautiful spots in Syria. Josephus speaks of it with the same admiration as of Galilee, and calls it, like that province, "a heavenly country."

"2

After Jesus had completed what we may call a pilgrimage among the scenes of his earliest prophetic activity, he returned to his beloved abode at Bethany. What most pained the faithful Galileans at Jerusalem was that no miracles were ever wrought there. Weary of the cold reception which the kingdom of God found in the capital, the friends of Jesus wished, it seems, for some great miracle that should strike powerfully the Jerusalemite unbelief. A resurrection doubtless appeared to them. the most convincing thing in the world. We may suppose that Martha and Mary had expressed themselves to Jesus on the subject. Rumour already accredited to him two or three instances of this class. "If some one

1 Matt. xx. 29; Mark x. 46–52; Luke xviii. 35.

2 Josephus, Wars, IV. viii. 3: comp. ibid. I. vi. 6 and xviii. 5; Antiq XV. iv. 2.

8 John xi. 1.

4 Matt. ix. 18, 19, 22-26; Mark v. 22-24, 35-43; Luke vii. 11-17, and viii. 41, 42, 49–56.