Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/236

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224
LAZARUS.

done naught against the Roman law, but he feareth Caiaphas; for once Caiaphas did send word to the Emperor about the pictures of his gods he had set up, and, again, about the Corban. Twice hath Pontius Pilate erred, and twice did Caiaphas obtain hearing of the Emperor, so now Pilate feareth to offend him. Thus in this world do men barter great things for little, and eternal salvation for the good opinion of men like unto themselves. Yet the heart of Pilate is such an one as God doth love. 'T is a noble heart that would do right, a kind heart and one that hateth to do injustice. Yet he hath so mystified himself that he knoweth no longer what Truth is.'

"Then he took me to the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest, and the heart I witnessed there in all its nakedness made my own heart faint, for on it I could see no white spot at all, only craft, and malice, and vengeance, and defiance. It was as if the spark of the Holy Spirit had been quenched. Greed and hate and suspicion were in that heart. Love could not lodge therein, nor Truth; it was like a garden choked with weeds. 'This man,' said the Spirit, 'is a devil, for he knoweth by the spirit of prophecy that is given to him through Aaron that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ; but he hath sold his soul to Satan, rather than have it said that a greater than he is on earth. He knoweth that He whom he persecuteth hath power given Him from above. He knoweth that the vengeance of God will come upon him, and, though he knoweth not for a surety that there is a future life, yet he feareth it, and that he will be eternally consumed. All this he knoweth,