Page:As others saw Him.djvu/198

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
192
AS OTHERS SAW HIM.

the heathen during that day, since it is their custom to bury the bodies of men in their gardens or in their houses, which render them a defilement to us Jews. Therefore on the day of a sacrifice no Jew may enter a heathen's house, above all the High Priest, upon whose sanctity the holiness of the nation depends. When, therefore, we came within twenty paces of the Procurator's dwelling, Hanan caused our procession to halt, and a summons to be sounded upon the trumpet. Thereat a lictor appeared, who asked our business, and to him Hanan gave a message to the Procurator. And here for the first time since he had been arrested I could see the countenance of Jesus near me, and it surprised me much to observe that all traces of anxiety and weariness had disappeared from it. He seemed relieved and resigned, and paid no heed to what was passing around him, seeming only to commune with himself, or perhaps, I should say, with some inward friend and comforter.

Then Pontius Pilate came forward and spake to Joseph Caiaphas the High Priest, and asked him what he would with him.