Gamaliel held those eyes full of rage and he remembered Jesus’ words to him on that day of parting so many years ago. He had told him that the Messiah would not be recognised by the rabbis if they continued to create an image of him in their minds that did not fit the truth. Gamaliel could see now the veracity of those words, for Saul would never see the Messiah in Jesus, since Jesus did not fit the image of an awesome, angry God come to pronounce judgment on all those who did not follow the law!
The realisation of this warning, spoken so long ago by his old pupil, made Gamaliel full of despair, for it made him realise something else – what lived in the heart of Jesus, that light of lights, was the Kingdom that was promised! This was Christ, the hope of all Jews and the consolation of Israel!
Gamaliel remembered cautioning Jesus that the priests could unmake him with just one word, and his answer resounded now in his heart,
‘The priests may unmake me and perhaps they will…that’s true, but they can never unmake the truth…that, rabbi, is imperishable.’
Gamaliel fell to his knees.
56
BETRAYAL
Caiaphas the high priest and chairman of the Sanhedrin sat among his priests and rabbis in the cold room lit by torches and bothered by draughts trying to prevent himself from scratching the terrible itch, which like worms crawled under the skin of this back.
His physicians were all bent in the direction of the Pharisees, he was sure of it, for they all agreed his itch was due to transgressions of the law: he had either eaten honey not blessed separately, or crumbs from the table of a gentile, he had either kindled the incense before entering the sanctuary or worst of all spilt the water of libation upon the altar on the Feast of Tabernacles.
Incantations had not worked, nor had the poultice of onion, aniseed and saffron, which he had worn day and night for a year, whose smell being combined with his natural perfume, caused revulsion in all those who came near him.
How he hated the Pharisees! He hated them because he was a Sadducee and it was only natural that a Priest of the line of Levi should hate such a mongrel breed; for they were a plague on the earth with their endless laws and their predilection for religious concerns. It was ill fortune indeed the Sanhedrin was composed of both Sadducees and Pharisees in somewhat equal parts, since it forced him to be conciliatory and amicable to these upstarts! Meaning he must live always with one eye keenly upon the Romans, to whom he owed his office and its privileges, and the other upon those Pharisees, who hated all things Roman, and would, by the by, subject even the light of the Sun itself to their laws!
In truth he did not put them beyond causing his itch with their evil eye!
But it was not only his eyes that were made to stretch to unnatural performances. Caiaphas’ ears, too, were also pulled in diverse directions. One ear was reserved for his father-in-law, the bilious Ananias, whose intrusions, disapproval and superior scorn he suffered day in and day out, while the other ear was reserved for his wife, the old man’s daughter, whose only trace of womanliness was her constant nagging.
He surmised that his itch came, therefore, from a stretching of his soul in every direction at once! A stretch that his poor skin was forced to follow! Of course he prickled and broke out in sores!
Oh the hour was late! And beyond his bodily distress his head was also full of inconvenience. Still, he could blame no one but himself, for he had called this council together at this hour so that it might be held in secret. For only this way could the exclusion of those members of the Sanhedrin known to be sympathisers of that annoying Jesus of Nazareth be guaranteed. Joseph of Arimathea, Gamaliel and Nicodemus, had succumbed to Jesus’ soft words an he knew they would have proved unhelpful to his plans.
For his part, Caiaphas had grown a special hate over the years for the arrogant Nazarene, a hatred that had fired up the festering wounds on his back whenever he thought of him. Two nights ago, quite alone, he betook himself to the sanctuary to consult his priestly oracle. He threw the sacred stones over the altar and in their patterns he had discerned death for Jesus of Nazareth at the hand of Jerusalem’s enemy. He made a resolve, then and there, to side with power: he would sneak in first and make a present of the insurrectionist.
Afterwards, he had sent his guards to seize Jesus, but the stupid men had returned time and again saying that many spoke like Jesus and looked like Jesus, so they had not known whom to seize!
Now in the cold hall a sudden raised voice brought him to this testing moment.
‘Caiaphas! This man does too many miracles! He raises the dead from the temple sleep in broad daylight and the people are in a frenzy over it! Something must be done!’