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Jesus' Mantle of Ceremony
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chair, mingle with the disciples in the crowd, and leave the Temple.
When Jesus taught, the disciples threw around Him a white mantle of ceremony which they always carried with them; and when He left the teacher's chair, they took it off so that, clothed like the others, He could more easily escape the notice of the crowd. Around the teacher's chair were three platforms, one above the other, each enclosed by a balustrade, which was ornamented with carving and, I think, molding. There were all sorts of brown heads and knobs on them. I saw no carved images in the Temple, although there were various kinds of ornamentation: vines, grapes, animals for sacrifice, and figures like swathed infants, such as I used to see Mary embroidering.
It was still bright daylight when Jesus and His followers reached the neighborhood of John Mark's house. Here the Greeks stepped up, and Jesus spoke to them some minutes. The strangers had some women with them, but they remained standing back. These people were converted. They were among the first to join the disciples at Pentecost and to receive Baptism.
Full of trouble, Jesus went back with the Apostles to Bethania for the Sabbath. While He was teaching in the Temple, the Jews had been ordered to keep their houses closed, and it was forbidden to offer Him or His disciples any refreshment. On reaching Bethania, they went to the public house of Simon, the healed leper, where a meal awaited them. Magdalen, filled with compassion for Jesus' fatiguing exertions, met the Lord at the door. She was habited in a penitential robe and girdle, her flowing hair concealed by a black veil. She cast herself at His
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Life of Jesus Christ
feet and with her hair wiped from them the dust, just as one would clean the shoes of another. She did it openly before all, and many were scandalized at her conduct.
After Jesus and the disciples had prepared themselves for the Sabbath, that is, put on the garments prescribed and prayed under the lamp, they stretched themselves at table for the meal. Toward the end of it, Magdalen, urged by love, gratitude, contrition, and anxiety, again made her appearance. She went behind the Lord's couch, broke a little flask of precious balm over His head and poured some of it upon His feet, which she again wiped with her hair. That done, she left the dining hall. Several of those present were scandalized, especially Judas, who excited Matthew, Thomas, and John Mark to displeasure. But Jesus excused her, on account of the love she bore Him. She often anointed Him in this way. Many of the facts mentioned only once in the Gospels happened frequently.
The meal was followed by prayer, after which the Apostles and disciples separated. Judas, full of chagrin, hurried back to Jerusalem that night. I saw him, torn by envy and avarice, running in the darkness over Mount Olivet, and it seemed as if a sinister glare surrounded him, as if the devil were lighting his steps. He hurried to the house of Caiaphas, and spoke a few words at the door. He could not stay long in any one place. Thence he ran to the house of John Mark. The disciples were wont to lodge there, so Judas pretended that he had come from Bethania for that purpose. This was the first definite step in his treacherous course.
When, on the following morning, Jesus was going from Bethania to Jerusalem with some of His disciples, they found the fig tree that Jesus had cursed entirely withered, and the disciples wondered at it. (Mark 11:20). I saw John and Peter halting on the roadside near the tree. When Peter showed his
The Vine Dresser
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astonishment, Jesus said to them: "If ye believe, ye shall do still more wonderful things. Yea, at your word mountains will cast themselves into the sea." He continued His instruction on this object, and said something about the signification of the fig tree.
A great many strangers were gathered in Jerusalem, and both morning and evening, preaching and divine service went on in the Temple. Jesus taught in the interim. He stood when preaching, but if anyone wanted to put a question to Him, He sat down while the questioner rose.
During His discourse today, some priests and Scribes stepped up to Him and inquired by what right He acted as He did, Jesus answered: "I too shall ask you something; and when you answer Me, I shall tell you by what authority I do these things." Then He asked them by what authority John had baptized, and when they would not answer Him, He replied that neither would He tell them by what authority He acted. (Matt. 21:24-32).
In His afternoon instruction, Jesus introduced the similitude of the vine dresser, also that of the cornerstone rejected by the builders. In the former, He explained that the murdered vine dresser typified Himself, and the murderers, the Pharisees. Thereupon these last-named became so exasperated that they would willingly have arrested Him then and there but they dared not, as they saw how all the people clung to Him. They determined, however, to set five of their confidential followers, who were relatives of some of the disciples, to spy Him, and they gave them orders to try to catch Him by captious questions. These five men were some of them followers of the Pharisees; others, servants of Herod.
As Jesus was returning toward evening to Bethania, some kindhearted people approached Him on the road and offered Him something to drink. He passed the night at the disciples' inn near Bethania.
Next day Jesus taught for three hours in the
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Life of Jesus Christ
Temple upon the parable of the royal wedding feast, the spies of the Pharisees being present. Jesus returned early to Bethania, where He again taught. As He mounted the teacher's chair next day in the circular hall of the Temple, the five men appointed by the Pharisees pressed up through the aisle that ran from the door to the chair, the space all around being filled by the audience, and asked Him whether they ought to pay tribute to Caesar. Jesus replied by telling them to show Him the coin of the tribute; whereupon one of them drew from his breast pocket a yellow coin about the size of a Prussian dollar, and pointed to the image of the Emperor. Then Jesus told them that they should render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's.
After that Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God, which He likened to a man who cultivated a plant that never ceased to grow and spread its branches. To the Jews, it would come not again; but those Jews that would be converted, would attain the Kingdom of God. That Kingdom would go to the heathens, and a time would come when in the East all would be darkness, but in the West, perfect day. He told them also that they should perform their good works in secret, as He Himself had done, and that He would receive His reward at noonday. He spoke too of a murderer's being preferred to Himself.
Later in the day, seven of the Sadducees went to Jesus and questioned Him upon the resurrection of the dead. They brought forward something about a woman that had already had seven husbands. Jesus answered that after the resurrection there would be no longer any sex or any marrying, and that God is a God of the living and not of the dead. I saw that His hearers were astounded at His teaching. The Pharisees left their seats and conferred together. One of them, named Manasses, who held an office in the Temple, very modestly asked Jesus which of the Commandments was the greatest. Jesus answered
The Kingdom of God
25
the question, whereupon Manasses heartily praised Him. Then Jesus responded that the Kingdom of God was not far from him, and He closed His discourse by some words on Christ (the Messiah) and David.
All were dumbfounded; they had nothing to reply. When Jesus left the Temple, a disciple asked Him: "What mean the words that Thou didst say to Manasses, 'Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God'?" The Lord answered that Manasses would believe and follow Him, but that they (the disciples) should be silent on that head. From that hour Manasses took no part against Jesus. He lived in retirement till the Ascension, when he declared himself for Him and joined the disciples. He was between forty and fifty years old.
That evening Jesus went to Bethania, ate with the Apostles at Lazarus', then visited the inn where the women were assembled, taught them until after nightfall, and lodged at the disciples' inn.
While Jesus was teaching in Jerusalem, I saw the holy women frequently praying together in the arbor in which Magdalen was sitting when Martha called her to welcome Jesus before the raising of Lazarus. They observed a certain order at prayer: sometimes they stood together, sometimes they knelt, or again they sat apart.
On the next day Jesus taught about six hours in the Temple. The disciples, impressed by His instruction of the preceding day, asked what was meant by the words: "Thy Kingdom come to us!" Jesus gave them a long explanation, and added that He and the Father were one, and that He was going to the Father. Then they asked, if He and the Father were one, why was it necessary for Him to go to the Father. Thereupon He spoke to them of His mission, saying that He would withdraw from the humanity, from the flesh, and that whoever separated from his own fallen nature, to go by Him to Him, went at the
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same time to the Father. Jesus' words on this head were so touching that the Apostles, ravished with joy and transported out of themselves, started up and exclaimed: "Lord, we will spread Thy Kingdom to the end of the world!" But Jesus responded: "Whoever talks in that way accomplishes nothing." At this the Apostles became sad. Jesus said again: "You must not say, 'I have cast out devils in Thy name, I have done this and that in Thy name,' nor should ye do your good works in public." And then He told them that the last time He had left them, He had done many things in secret, but that they had at the same time insisted that He should go to His own city (Nazareth) although the Jews, on account of the raising of Lazarus, wanted to kill Him! But how then would all things have been accomplished? The Apostles then asked how could His Kingdom become known if they had to keep all things secret. But I do not remember what answer Jesus gave them. They again grew quite dejected. Toward noon the disciples left the Temple, but Jesus and the Apostles remained. Some of the former returned soon after with a refreshing drink for Jesus.
After midday, the Scribes and Pharisees crowded in such numbers around Jesus that the disciples were pushed to some distance from Him. He spoke very severely against the Pharisees, and I heard Him say once during this stern lecture: "You shall not now arrest Me, because My hour has not yet come."
Jesus spent the whole of this day at Lazarus' with the holy women and the Twelve Apostles. In the morning He instructed the holy women in the disciples' inn. Toward three o'clock in the afternoon, a great repast was served in the subterranean dining hall. The women waited at table, and afterward withdrew
Peter Reprimanded
27
to the grated, three-cornered apartment, to listen to the instruction. In the course of it, Jesus told them that they would not now be together long, they would not again eat at Lazarus', though they would do so once more at Simon's, but on that last occasion they would not be so tranquil as they now were. He invited them all to be perfectly free with Him, and to ask Him whatever they wanted to know. On hearing this, they began to ask numerous questions, especially Thomas, who had a great many doubts. John, too, frequently put a question, but softly and gently.
After the meal, as Jesus was speaking of the approach of the time when the Son of Man would be treacherously betrayed, Peter stepped forward eagerly and asked why He always spoke as if they were going to betray Him. Now, though he could believe that one of the others (the disciples) might be guilty of such a thing, yet He would answer for The Twelve that they would not betray Him! Peter spoke boldly, as if his honor had been attacked. Jesus replied with more warmth than I ever before saw in Him, more even than had appeared when He said to Peter: "Get thee behind Me, Satan!" He said that without His grace, without prayer, they would all fall away, that the hour would come in which they would all abandon Him. There was only one among them, He continued, who wavered not, and yet he too would flee, though he would come back again. By these words Jesus meant John who, at the moment of Jesus' arrest, fled, leaving his mantle behind him. All became very much troubled, excepting Judas who, while Jesus was talking, put on a friendly, smiling, and insinuating air.
When they asked Jesus about the Kingdom that was to come to them, His answer was inexpressibly kind. He told them that another Spirit would come upon them and then only would they understand all things. He had to go to the Father and send them the Spirit which proceeded from the Father and Himself.
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Life of Jesus Christ
I distinctly remember His saying this. He said something more, but I cannot repeat it clearly. It was to this effect, that He had come in the flesh in order to redeem man, that there was something material in His influence upon them, that the body works in a corporeal manner, and it was for that reason they could not understand Him. But He would send the Spirit, who would open their understanding. Then He spoke of troublous times to come, when all would have to suffer like a woman in the pains of childbirth, of the beauty of the human soul created to the likeness of God, and He showed how glorious a thing it is to save a soul and lead it home to Heaven. He recalled to them how many times they had misunderstood Him, and His own forbearance with them; in like manner should they, He said, treat with sinners after His departure. When Peter reminded Him that He had Himself been sometimes full of fire and zeal, Jesus explained the difference between true and false zeal.
This instruction lasted until late into the night, when Nicodemus and one of Simeon's sons came to Jesus secretly. It was past midnight before they retired to rest. Jesus told them to sleep now in peace, for the time would soon come when, anxious and troubled, they would be without sleep; this would be followed by another time when, in the midst of persecution, a stone under their head, they would sleep as sweetly as Jacob at the foot of the ladder that reached to Heaven. When Jesus concluded His discourse, all exclaimed: "Lord, how short was this meal! How short this evening!"
Very early the next morning Jesus repaired to the Temple—not, however, to the common lecture hall, but to another in which Mary had made her offering. In the center of the hall, or rather, nearer to
The Money Box
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the entrance, stood the money box, an angular pillar, about half the height of a man, in which were three funnel-shaped openings to receive the money offerings, and at its foot was a little door. The box was covered with a red cloth over which hung a white transparent one. To the left was the seat for the priest who maintained order, and a table upon which could be laid doves and other objects brought as offerings. To the right and left of the entrance stood the seats for the women and the men, respectively. The rear of the hall was cut off by a grating, behind which the altar had been put up when Mary presented the Child Jesus in the Temple.
Jesus today took the seat by the money box. It was an offering day for all that desired to purify themselves for the Paschal feast. The Pharisees, on coming later, were greatly put out at finding Jesus there, but they declined His offer to yield to them His place. The Apostles stood near Him, two and two. The men came first to the money box, then the women, and after making their offering, they went out by another door to the left. The crowd stood without awaiting their turn, only five being allowed to enter at a time. Jesus sat there three hours. Toward midday, as a general thing, the offerings ended, but Jesus remained much longer, to the discontent of the Pharisees. This was the hall in which He had acquitted the woman taken in adultery. The Temple was like three churches, one behind the other, each standing under an immense arch. In the first was the circular lecture hall. The place of offering in which Jesus was, lay to the right of this hall, a little toward the Sanctuary. A long corridor led to it. The last offering was made by a poor, timid widow. No one could see how much the offering was, but Jesus knew what she had given and He told His disciples that she had given more than all the rest, for she had put into the money box all that she had left to buy herself food for that day. He sent her
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Life of Jesus Christ
word to wait for Him near the house of John Mark.
In the afternoon, Jesus taught again in the customary place, that is, in the portico of the Temple. The circular lecture hall was just opposite the door, and right and left were steps leading to the Sanctuary, from which again another flight conducted to the Holy of Holies. As the Pharisees approached Jesus, He alluded to their not daring to arrest Him the day before as they had intended, although He had given them a chance to do so. But His hour had not yet come, and it was not in their power to advance it; still, it would come in its own time. The Pharisees, He went on to say, should not hope to celebrate as peaceful a Pasch as in former years, for they would not know where to hide themselves; the blood of the Prophets whom they had murdered should fall upon their heads. The Prophets themselves would rise from their graves, and the earth would be moved. In spite of these signs, however, the Pharisees would remain obstinate. Then He mentioned the poor widow's offering. When toward evening He left the Temple, He spoke to her on the way and told her that her son would follow Him. His words greatly rejoiced the poor mother. Her son joined the disciples even before the Crucifixion. The widow was very devout and strongly attached to the Jewish observances, though simpleminded and upright.
As Jesus was walking along with His disciples, one of them pointed to the Temple and made some remark on its beauty. Jesus replied that one stone of it would not remain upon another. They were going to Mount Olivet, upon one side of which was a kind of pleasure garden containing a chair for instruction and seats cut in the mossy banks. The
"He That Shall Persevere"
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priests were accustomed to come hither to rest at evening after a long day's work. Jesus seated Himself in the chair, and some of the Apostles asked when the destruction of the Temple would take place. It was then that Jesus recounted the evils that were to fall upon the city, and ended with the words: "But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved." (Matt. 10:22). He remained scarcely a quarter of an hour in this place.
From this point of view the Temple looked indescribably beautiful. It glistened so brightly under the rays of the setting sun that one could scarcely fix his eyes upon it. The walls were tessellated and built of beautiful sparkling stones, dark red and yellow. Solomon's Temple had more gold in it, but this one abounded in glittering stones.
The Pharisees were very greatly exasperated on Jesus' account. They held a council in the night and dispatched spies to watch Him. They said, if Judas would only come to them again, otherwise they did not well know how to proceed in the affair. Judas had not been with them since that first evening.
Early on the following day Jesus returned to the resting place on Mount Olivet, and again spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem, illustrating with the similitude of a fig tree that was there standing. He said that He had already been betrayed, though the traitor had not yet mentioned His name, and had merely made the offer to betray Him. The Pharisees desired to see the traitor again, but He, Jesus, wanted him to be converted, to repent, and not to despair. Jesus said all this in vague, general terms, to which Judas listened with a smile.
Jesus exhorted the Apostles not to give way to their natural fears upon what He had said to them, namely, that they would all be dispersed; they should not forget their neighbor and should not allow one sentiment to veil, to stifle another; and here He made use of the similitude of a mantle. In general
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terms He reproached some of them for murmuring at Magdalen's anointing. Jesus probably said this in reference to Judas' first definitive step toward His betrayal, which had been taken just after that action of hers—also, as a gentle warning to him for the future, since it would be after Magdalen's last anointing that he would carry out his treacherous design. That some others were scandalized at Magdalen's prodigal expression of love, arose from their erroneous severity and parsimony. They regarded this anointing as a luxury so often abused at worldly feasts, while overlooking the fact that such an action performed on the Holy of Holies was worthy of the highest praise.
Jesus told them, moreover, that He would only twice again teach in public. Then speaking of the end of the world and the destruction of Jerusalem, He gave them the signs by which they should know that the hour of His departure was near. There would be, He said, a strife among them as to which should be the greatest, and that would be a sign that He was about to leave them. He signified to them also that one of them would deny Him, and He told them that He said all these things to them that they might be humble and watch over themselves. He spoke with extraordinary love and patience.
About noon Jesus taught in the Temple, His subject being the ten virgins, the talents entrusted, and He again inveighed severely against the Pharisees. He repeated the words of the murdered Prophets, and several times upbraided the Pharisees for their wicked designs. He afterward told the Apostles and disciples that even where there was no longer hope of improvement, words of warning must not be withheld.
When Jesus left the Temple, a great number of pagans from distant parts approached Him. They had not, indeed, heard His teaching in the Temple, since they had not dared to set foot therein; but
The Last Love Feast
33
through the sight of His miracles, His triumphal entrance on Palm Sunday, and all the other wonders that they had heard of Him, they wanted to be converted. Among them were some Greeks. Jesus directed them to the disciples, a few of whom He took with Him to the Mount of Olives where, in a public inn formerly used by strangers only, they lodged for the night.
Next morning, when the rest of the Apostles and disciples came thither, Jesus instructed them upon many points. He said that He would be with them at two meals more, that He was longing to celebrate with them the last Love Feast in which He would bestow upon them all that humanly He could give. After that He went with them to the Temple, where He spoke of His return to His Father and said that He was the Father's Will, but this last expression I did not understand. He called Himself in plain terms the Salvation of mankind, said that it was He who was to put an end to the power of sin over the human race, and explained why the fallen angels were not redeemed, as well as man. The Pharisees took turns, two at a time, to spy. Jesus said that He had come to put an end to the domination of sin over man. Sin began in a garden, and in a garden it should end, for it would be in a garden that His enemies would seize Him. He reproached His hearers with the fact of their already wanting to kill Him after the raising of Lazarus, and said that He had kept Himself at a distance, that all things might be fulfilled. He divided His journey into three parts, but I no longer recollect whether it was into thrice four, or five, or six weeks. He told them also how they would treat Him and put Him to death with assassins, and yet they would not be satisfied, they would not be able to effect anything against Him after His death. He once more made mention of the murdered just who would arise again; yes, He even pointed out the spot in which their resurrection would take
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place. But as for the Pharisees, He continued, in fear and anguish they would see their designs against Him frustrated.
Jesus spoke likewise of Eve, through whom sin had come upon the earth; therefore it was that woman was condemned to suffer and that she dared not enter into the Sanctuary. But it was also through a woman that the cure of sin had come into the world, consequently she was freed from slavery, though not from dependence.
Jesus again took up quarters in the inn at the foot of Mount Olivet. A lamp was lighted, and the Sabbath exercises were performed.
Next morning Jesus went with His followers across the brook Cedron, and then northward by a row of houses between which were little grass plots on which sheep were grazing. Here was situated John Mark's house. Jesus then turned off to Gethsemani, a little village as large as Bethphage, built on either side of the brook Cedron. John Mark's house stood a quarter of an hour outside the gate through which the cattle were led to the cattle market on the north side of the Temple. It was built upon a high hill which, at a later period, was covered with houses. It was from here to Gethsemani one-half hour; and from Gethsemani across the Mount of Olives to Bethania, something less than an hour. The last named place lay almost in a straight line east of the Temple and, by the direct route, it may have been only one hour from Jerusalem. From certain points of the Temple and from the castles in the rear, one could descry Bethania. Bethphage, however, was not in sight, as it lay low; and the view was, besides, up to the point at which the Temple could be seen through a defile of the mountain road, obstructed by the Mount of Olives. As Jesus was
"Here Will Ye Abandon Me"
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going over the brook Cedron to Gethsemani with the disciples, He said to the Apostles as they were entering a hollow of the Mount of Olives: "Here will ye abandon Me! Here shall I be taken prisoner!" He was very much troubled. He proceeded afterward to Lazarus', in Bethania, thence to the disciples' inn, after which He went with some of them around the environs of the city consoling the inhabitants, like one bidding farewell.
That evening there was a supper at Lazarus', at which the holy women assisted in the grated apartment. At the close of the meal, Jesus told them all that they could have one night more of peaceful sleep.
Early the next morning Jesus went with the disciples to Jerusalem. Having crossed the Cedron in front of the Temple, He continued His course outside the city toward the south, till He came to a little gate, by which He entered, and, crossing a stone bridge that spanned a deep abyss, He reached the foot of Mount Sion. There were caverns also under the Temple. Here Jesus turned from the south side of the Temple and proceeded through a long vaulted corridor, which was lighted only from above, into the women's portico. Here, turning toward the east, He passed through the doorway allotted to women condemned on account of their sterility, crossed the hall in which offerings were made, and proceeded to the teacher's chair in the outer hall of the Temple. This door always stood open, although at Jesus' instructions, all the other entrances to the Temple were often closed by the Pharisees. They said: "Let the sin-door always remain open to the sinner!"
In words admirable and deeply significant, Jesus taught upon union and separation. He made use of
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the similitude of fire and water, which are opposed to each other, one of which extinguishes the other, though if the latter does not get the better of the former, the flames become wilder and more powerful. He next spoke of persecution and martyrdom. Under the figure of fire, Jesus alluded to those disciples that would remain true to Him; and under that of water, to those that would separate from Him and seek the abyss. He called water the martyr of fire, He spoke also of the mingling of water and milk, naming it an intimate commingling that no one could separate. Jesus wished under this figure to designate His own union with His followers, and He dwelt upon the mild and nutritive properties of milk. From this He passed to the subject of marriage and its union, as the disciples had questioned Him upon the reunion after death of friends and married people. Jesus said that there was a twofold union in marriage: the union of flesh and blood, which death cuts asunder, and they that were so bound would not find themselves together after death; and the union of soul, which would outlive death. They should not, He continued, be disquieted as to whether they would be alone or together in the other world. They that had been united in union of soul in this life, would form but one body in the next. He spoke also of the Bridegroom and named the Church His affianced. Of the martyrdom of the body, He said that it was not to be feared, since that of the soul was the more frightful.
As the Apostles and disciples did not comprehend all that He said, Jesus directed them to write down what they failed to understand. Then I saw John, James the Less, and another making signs from time to time on a little tablet that they held before them resting on a support. They wrote upon little rolls of parchment with a colored liquid, which they carried with them in a kind of horn. They drew the little rolls out of their breast pockets, and wrote
Baptism
37
only in the beginning of the instruction.
Jesus spoke likewise of His own union with them, which would be accomplished at the Last Supper and which could by nothing be dissolved.
The obligation of perfect continence, Jesus exposed to the Apostles by way of interrogation. He asked, for instance, "Could you do such and such a thing at the same time?" and He spoke of a sacrifice that had to be offered, all which led to perfect continence as a conclusion. He adduced as examples Abraham and the other Patriarchs who, before offering sacrifice, always purified themselves and observed a long continence.
When He spoke of Baptism and the other Sacraments, He said that He would send to them the Holy Ghost who, by His Baptism, would make them all children of Redemption. They should after His death baptize at the Pool of Bethsaida all that would come and ask for it. If a great number presented themselves, they should lay their hands upon their shoulders, two and two, and baptize them there under the stream of the pump, or jet. As formerly the angel, so now would the Holy Ghost come upon the baptized as soon as His Blood should have been shed, and even before they themselves had received the Holy Spirit.
Peter, who had been appointed by Jesus chief over the others, asked as such whether they were always to act in this manner without first proving and instructing the people. Jesus answered that the people would be wearied out with waiting for feast days and pining meantime in aridity; therefore they, the Apostles, should not delay to do as He had just told them. When they should have received the Holy Ghost, then they would always know what they should do. He addressed some words to Peter on the subject of penance and absolution, and afterward spoke to them all about the end of the world and of the signs that would precede it. A man enlightened
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by God would have visions on that subject. By these words, Jesus referred to John's revelations, and He Himself made use of several similar illustrations. He spoke, for instance, of those that would be marked with the sign on their forehead, and said that the fountain of living water which flowed from Calvary's mount would at the end of the world appear to be almost entirely poisoned, though all the good waters would finally be gathered into the Valley of Josaphat. It seemed to me that He said also that all water was to become once more baptismal water. No Pharisees were present at any part of this instruction. That evening Jesus returned to Lazarus', in Bethania.
The whole of the next day Jesus taught undisturbed in the Temple. He spoke of truth and the necessity of acting out what they, the Apostles, taught. He Himself, He said, was now about to fulfill it. It is not enough to believe, one must practice one's faith. No one, not even the Pharisees themselves, could reproach Him with the least error in His teaching, and now by returning to His Father He would fulfill the truth He had taught. But before going He would give over to them, would leave to them, all that He possessed. Money and property He had not, but He would bequeath to them His strength and power. He would establish with them a union which should be still more intimate than that which now united them to Him, and which should last till the end of time. He would also bind them to one another as the members of one body. Jesus spoke of so many things that He would still do with them that Peter, conceiving new hope that He would remain longer on earth, said to Him that if He were to fulfill all those things, He would have to abide with them till the end of the world. Jesus then spoke of the essence and effects of the Last Supper, without, however, mentioning it by name. He said also that He was about to celebrate His last Pasch. Peter asked
Noe
39
where He intended to do so. Jesus answered that He would tell him in good time, and after that last Pasch He would go to His Father. Peter again asked whether He would take with Him His Mother, whom they all loved and reverenced so much. Jesus answered that she should remain with them some years longer. He mentioned the number, and in it there was a five. I think He named fifteen years, and then said many things in connection with her.
In His instruction upon the power and effects of His Last Supper, Jesus made some allusion to Noe, who had once become intoxicated with wine; to the children of Israel, who had lost their taste for the manna sent them from Heaven; and to the bitterness they tasted in it. As for Himself, He was going to prepare the Bread of Life before His return home, but It was not yet ready, was not yet baked, not yet cooked.
He had, he continued, so long taught them the truth, so long communicated with them; and yet they had always doubted, indeed they doubted still! He felt that in His corporeal presence He could no longer be useful to them, therefore He would give them all that He had, He would retain only what was absolutely necessary to cover His naked body. These words of Jesus, the Apostles did not understand. They were under the impression that He would die, or perhaps vanish from their sight. As late as the preceding day, when He was speaking of the persecution of the Jews against Him, Peter said that He might again withdraw from these parts and they would accompany Him. He had gone away once before after the raising of Lazarus, He could now go again.
When toward evening Jesus left the Temple, He spoke of taking leave of it, saying that He would never again enter it in the body. This scene was so touching that all the Apostles and disciples cast themselves on the ground crying aloud and weeping. Jesus wept also. Judas shed no tear, though he was anxious
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Life of Jesus Christ
and nervous, as he had been during the past days. Yesterday Jesus said no word in allusion to him.
In the court of the Temple, some heathens were waiting, many of whom wanted to give themselves to Jesus. They saw the tears of the Apostles. On learning their desire, Jesus told them that there was no time now, but that they should later on have recourse to His Apostles and disciples, to whom He gave power similar to His own. Then taking the way by which He had entered on Palm Sunday, and frequently turning with sad and earnest words to gaze upon the Temple, He left the city, went to the public inn at the foot of Mount Olivet, and after nightfall back to Bethania.
Here Jesus taught at Lazarus', continuing His instructions during the evening meal, at which the women, who now kept themselves less aloof, served. Jesus gave orders for a plentiful meal to be prepared at Simon's public house on the following day.
It was very quiet in Jerusalem all this day. The Pharisees did not go to the Temple, but assembled in council. They were very anxious on account of Judas' non-appearance. Many good people of the city were in great distress at Jesus' predictions, which they had heard from the disciples. I saw Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Simeon's sons, and others looking very troubled and anxious, though they had not yet withdrawn from the rest of the Jews. They were still mixing with them in the affairs of everyday life. I saw Veronica also, going about her house sad and wringing her hands. Her husband inquired the cause of her affliction. Her house was situated in Jerusalem between the Temple and Mount Calvary. Seventy-six of the disciples lodged in the halls surrounding the Cenacle.
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