As others saw Him/chapter 5
V.
THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY.
THE RICH YOUNG MAN.
V.
It must have been many months after I had heard him discourse in the Galilæen synagogue that I again saw Jesus the Nazarene. We in Jerusalem had our own concerns to think of.
At this time the long monopoly of rule by the Sadducees was gradually being broken. Of the three divisions of the Sanhedrim, that of the ordinary Israelites had become almost entirely composed of the Pharisees; I myself had been elected as one of that party, and even in the other two sections of the Priests and of the Levites, many, especially among the latter, held with the Pharisees. Nor was this without influence upon the political issues of the times. The Sadducees, being the sacerdotal party, had no cause why they should be dissatisfied with the position they held in the State under the Romans; but we of the Pharisees felt far otherwise about the national hopes for deliverance. Since my days the influence of the Pharisees has become predominant in the nation, and I foresee that the struggle between us and the Romans cannot be delayed for long. At the time of which I am writing, the hegemony had not yet passed over to the Pharisees, and it was of import for us all to know whether any man of influence was on our side, or on that of the Sadducees, or whether he cared for neither, and cast in his lot with the smaller sects.
Now, it happened about this time that I was attending my place in the Sanhedrim of Israelites, to judge of a case of adultery. But in this matter our Sages, and especially those of the Pharisaic tradition, had made great changes in the Law as laid down for us by Moses; for he, as thou knowest, commands that a woman taken in adultery shall be stoned to death. Now, for a long time among us there has been an increasing horror of inflicting the death penalty. If a Sanhedrim inflicts capital punishment more than once in seven years, it is called a Sanhedrim of murderers. Yet the Law of Moses declared that whosoever was guilty of adultery would be put to death. What, then, was to be done? It is against the principle of justice that any should be punished for an offence of which he is ignorant. Hence, in capital offences, our Sages, to mercy inclined, have laid it down that a man must be assumed to be ignorant of the guilt of the offence, unless it be proved that he had been solemnly warned of its gravity; and in our Law proof can only be given by two simultaneous witnesses. Hence it is impossible to obtain conviction for a woman who hath committed adultery, unless proof is given that she hath been previously warned by two persons at once. This can scarcely ever be. No Jewish woman in my time has ever been stoned as the Law commands for this sin. Some think that this is too great a leniency, and of evil result for the morality of the folk.
When I arrived at the hall of polished stones near the Temple, in which the Sanhedrim holds its sittings, the trial had nearly come to a conclusion. The inquiry had been made if any two credible witnesses had given the woman the preliminary caution, and none answering to the call, it remained only for the Ab Beth Din, the president of the court, to dismiss the prisoner with the words of caution and advice which are customary on such occasions: "My daughter, perhaps thou wert led into sin by too much wine, or by thoughtlessness, or perhaps by thy youth; perchance it was mixing in crowds, or wicked companions that led thee to sin: go, and for the sake of the great Name, do not bring it to pass that thou must be destroyed by the water of jealousy." And with these words the court was dismissed, and several of us were appointed to take the woman to her home, and induce the man, her husband, to take her to him once again. Now, as we were passing through the courts of the Temple, we saw Jesus the Nazarene in one of the smaller courts, seated, teaching the people, some of whom sat at his feet. But it seemed to some of us a favorable opportunity to test what he would say as regards the Law of Moses relating to adultery: for if he would declare that the Law must be carried out in all its rigor, that would show that our Sages were more merciful than he; if, on the other hand, he adopted the opinion of our Sages, that would in so far commit him to support their attitude towards the Law in general. In any case, it seemed a suitable occasion to test his power of dealing with the Law, and it is customary among us to put such test cases before the younger Sages.
We therefore turned aside and entered into the smaller court, and all rose to do honor to the Sanhedrim. Then one of us said to him, "Rabbi, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now, Moses in the Law hath commanded that such should be stoned: what sayest thou?" Now, when the man told him that the woman had been taken in the very act of adultery, a deep blush passed over his face, and he turned his eyes downwards. Then he bent down to the ground, hiding his face altogether from us, and writing, as it were, something on the sand of the floor. Now, at first, I thought of the cry of the money-changers that I had heard, and felt ashamed in my soul that such a question should be brought before this man, of all men: for our Sages have said, "The greatest of sins is this—to bring a blush upon thy neighbor's face in public." But the others thought not of this, but once more they asked him, "Rabbi, what sayest thou shall be done in this case?" Then, without raising his head, Jesus said in a low tone, "Let him among you that is without sin cast the first stone." Then we saw that his shame had been for us, and for our want of feeling in putting such a question in the very presence of her who had sinned. And in this matter we hold that sin can be in thought as well as in act, and which of us could say that we were without sin even in thought? So, in very shame, we turned and went, and left Jesus alone with the woman.
Yet, after we had come away from him, Matathias ben Meshullam said, "That is well,—we are rightly rebuked; but yet, dost thou not see that this man hath not answered our question, nor do we know, as we wished, what attitude he takes towards the carrying out of the Law? I hear that each morning he preaches to the people in the Temple. Let us now tomorrow put such questions to him that he cannot evade, and find out to which of our parties he belongs; for this is a man that is getting great weight with the people, and it imports us to know where he stands with regard to us." So it was determined among us that the next morning a Sadducee and a Pharisee should put to him queries which should determine what views he held on the great questions which distinguished the two great parties of the State.
But that very afternoon I was to learn that this Jesus had to deal with questions with which none of our parties concerned themselves. For, as I was coming near to Gethsemane, I met Jesus with a band of men and women going out towards Bethany, and I passed them with the salutation of "Peace." But as I passed, a young man whom I knew, that had recently come into great possessions upon the death of his father, came up and asked, "Who is that man whom thou hast just greeted?" and I said, "Jesus the Nazarene." Then, suddenly, he set off running to catch them up, and being curious, I turned and followed him. When I reached them I found the young man kneeling before Jesus, gazing up to him, and he said, "Good Master, I have inherited great possessions; what shall I do that I may inherit the life everlasting?" Jesus said to him, "Call not me 'Good;' none is good but the One. If thou wouldest enter into life, do the commandments." The young man asked, "Which?" Jesus said, using the doctrine of "The Two Ways," "Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor thy father and thy mother, and love thy neighbor as thyself." Then the young man said, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" Then Jesus said, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell all thou hast, and give unto the poor, and thou shalt have heavenly treasures: come then and follow me." The young man began to scratch his head, and seemed in doubt. Then Jesus said unto him, "How is it thou canst say, 'I have done the Law and the Prophets,' since it is written in the Law, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'? Behold, many of thy brothers, sons of Abraham, are clothed but in dung, and die for hunger, while thy house is full of many goods, and there goeth not forth aught from it unto them." But the young man rose, and went away in sorrow and confusion. Then Jesus looked round upon those who were there, and said, "How hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for an elephant to go through a needle's eye, as the saying is, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Then a murmur arose among all those present, and they began to move on, and I left them. And I said to myself, "This man is neither Pharisee, nor Sadducee, nor Herodian; these be the thoughts of the Ebionim."