L. 
 
 cift or 
 
 MICHAEL REESE 
 
/■( 
 
 * 1 
 
<r /* 
 
 <$ <si2^(rwi 
 
 y-j(ru 
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE OF JESUS.- 
 
 » # ' • •• * » 
 
 > 11 
 
 BY 
 
 h+jL> 
 
 ERNEST RENAN, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. 
 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 TRUBNER & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 PARIS : M. LtiVY FRERES. 
 
 M.DCCC.LXIV. 
 
A 
 
 <IP 
 
 
 PRINTED BY J. HAMER, BRIGGATE, LEEDS. 
 
 iff J 
 
/ f 
 
 87 £ 
 
 TO ^42, 
 
 Cfce gure g>oul 
 
 OF 
 
 MY SISTER HENRIETTA, 
 
 WHO DIED AT BYBLUS, ON THE 24TH SEPTEMBER 1861. 
 
 Dost thou recall, from the bosom of God where thou reposest, 
 those long days at Ghazir, in which, alone with thee, I wrote 
 these pages, inspired by the places we had visited together? 
 Silent at my side, thou didst read and copy each sheet as soon as 
 I had written it, whilst the sea, the villages, the ravines, and the 
 mountains were spread at our feet. When the overwhelming 
 light had given place to the innumerable army of stars, thy shrewd 
 and subtle questions, thy discreet doubts, led me back to the 
 sublime object of our common thoughts. One day thou didst tell 
 me that thou wouldst love this book — first, because it had been 
 composed with thee, and also because it pleased thee. Though at 
 times thou didst fear for it the narrow judgments of the frivolous, 
 yet wert thou ever persuaded that all truly religious souls would 
 ultimately take pleasure in it. In the midst of these sweet medi- 
 tations, the Angel of Death struck us both with his wing : the sleep 
 of fever seized us at the same time — I awoke alone ! . . . 
 Thou sleepest now in the land of Adonis, near the holy Byblus 
 and the sacred stream where the women of the ancient mysteries 
 came to mingle their tears. Eeveal to me, good genius, to me 
 whom thou lovedst, those truths which conquer death, deprive 
 it of terror, and make it almost beloved. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 In presenting an English version of the celebrated work 
 of M. Kenan, the translator is aware of the difficulty of 
 adequately rendering a work so admirable for its style 
 and beauty of composition. It is not an easy task to 
 reproduce the terseness and eloquence which characterise 
 the original. Whatever its success in these respects may 
 be, no pains have been spared to give the author s mean- 
 ing. The translation has been revised by highly com- 
 petent persons ; but although great care has been taken 
 in this respect, it is possible that a few errors may still 
 have escaped notice. 
 
 The great problem of the present age is to preserve 
 the religious spirit, whilst getting rid of the superstitions 
 and absurdities that deform it, and which are alike 
 opposed to science and common sense. The Works of 
 Mr F. W. Newman and of Bishop Colenso, and the 
 "Essays and Reviews," are rendering great service in 
 
Viii PREFACE. 
 
 this direction.- The work of M. Kenan will contribute 
 to this object ; and, if its utility may be measured by 
 the storm which it has created amongst the obscur- 
 antists in France, and the heartiness with which they 
 have condemned it, its merits in this respect must be 
 very great. It needs only to be added, that whilst 
 warmly sympathising with the earnest spirit which per- 
 vades the book, the translator by no means wishes to be 
 identified with all the opinions therein expressed. 
 
 December 8, 1863. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 IN WHICH THE SOURCES OF THIS HISTORY ARE PRINCIPALLY 
 
 TREATED, ...... 1 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PLACE OF JESUS IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, . . 35 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 INFANCY AND YOUTH OF JESUS : HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS, 46 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EDUCATION OF JESUS, . . . . .53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ORDER OF THOUGHT WHICH SURROUNDED .THE DEVELOPMENT 
 
 OF JESUS, ...... 62 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE FIRST SAYINGS OF JESUS : HIS IDEAS OF A DIVINE FATHER 
 
 AND OF A PURE RELIGION — FIRST DISCIPLES, . . 79 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST — VISIT OF JESUS TO JOHN, AND HIS ABODE 
 IN THE DESERT OF JUDEA — ADOPTION OF THE BAPTISM OF 
 JOHN, ....... 
 
 93 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGR 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEAS OF JESUS KESPECTING THE KING- 
 DOM OF GOD, ...... 104 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 JESUS AT CAPEKNAUM, . . . . .114 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS, . . . . 1 25 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE PREACHINGS ON THE LAKE, . . . . 134 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF GOD CONCEIVED AS THE INHERITANCE OF THE 
 
 POOR, ....... 142 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 EMBASSY FROM JOHN IN PRISON TO JESUS DEATH OF JOHN — 
 
 RELATIONS OF HIS SCHOOL WITH THAT OF JESUS, . . 152 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FIRST ATTEMPTS ON JERUSALEM, . . . .158 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 INTERCOURSE OF JESUS WITH THE PAGANS AND THE SAMARI- 
 TANS, . . . . . . .170 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF THE LEGENDS CONCERNING JESUS HIS OWN 
 
 IDEA OF HIS SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER, . . 177 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 MIRACLES, . . . . . . .188 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 DEFINITIVE FORM OF THE IDEAS OF JESUS RESPECTING THE 
 
 KINGDOM OF GOD, . . . . .197 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 INSTITUTIONS OF JESUS, ..... 209 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 INCREASING PROGRESS OF ENTHUSIASM AND EXCITEMENT, . 219 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO JESUS, . . . . .227 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 LAST JOURNEY OF JESUS TO JERUSALEM, . . .236 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MACHINATIONS OF THE ENEMIES OF JESUS, . . . 248 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 LAST WEEK OF JESUS, . . . . .257 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ARREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS, . . . . 270 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 DEATH OF JESUS, ... . 284 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXYI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 JESUS IN THE TOMB, . . . . . 292 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 FATE OF THE ENEMIES OF JESUS, . . . .297 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OF THE WORK OF JESUS, . . 301 
 

 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 IN WHICH THE SOURCES OF THIS HISTORY ARE PRINCIPALLY 
 TREATED. ' * ' ' 
 
 A history of the " Origin of Christianity " ought to embrace all 
 the obscure, and, if one might so speak, subterranean periods which 
 extend from the first beginnings of this religion up to the moment 
 when its existence became a public fact, notorious and evident to 
 the eyes of all. Such a history would consist of four books. The 
 first, which I now present to the public, treats of the particular 
 fact which has served as the starting-point of the new religion ; 
 and is entirely filled by the sublime person of the Founder The 
 second would treat of the apostles and their immediate disciples, 
 or rather, of the revolutions which religious thought underwent in 
 the first two generations of Christianity. I would close this about 
 the year 100, at the time when the last friends of Jesus were 
 dead, and when all the books of the New Testament were fixed 
 almost in the forms in which we now read them. The third would 
 exhibit the state of Christianity under the Antonines. We should 
 see it develop itself slowly, and sustain an almost permanent war 
 against the empire, which had just reached the highest degree of 
 administrative perfection, and, governed by philosophers, combated 
 in the new-born sect a secret and theocratic society which obsti- 
 nately denied and incessantly undermined it. This book would 
 
nI 
 
 2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cover the entire period of the second century. Lastly, the fourth 
 book would shew the decisive progress which Christianity made 
 from the time of the Syrian emperors. We should see the learned 
 system of the Antonines crumble, the decadence of the ancient 
 civilisation become irrevocable, Christianity profit from its ruin, 
 Syria conquer the whole West, and Jesus, in company with the 
 gods and the deified sages of Asia, take possession of a society for 
 which philosophy and a purely civil government no longer sufficed. 
 It was then that the religious ideas of the races grouped around the 
 Mediterranean became profoundly modified ; that the Eastern reli- 
 gions everywhere took precedence ; that the Christian Church, 
 having became v^ry numerous, totally forgot its dreams of a mil- 
 lennium,, broke its last ties with Judaism, and entered completely 
 into the Greek and ftOman world. The contests and the literary 
 labours of the third century, which were carried on without conceal- 
 ment, would be described only in their general features. I would 
 relate still more briefly the persecutions at the commencement of the 
 fourth century, the last effort of the empire to return to its former 
 principles, which denied to religious association any place in the 
 State. Lastly, I would only foreshadow the change of policy 
 which, under Constantine, reversed the position, and made of the 
 most free and spontaneous religious movement an official worship, 
 subject to the State, and persecutor in its turn. 
 
 I know not whether I shall have sufficient life and strength to 
 complete a plan so vast. I shall be satisfied if, after having 
 written the Life of Jesus, I am permitted to relate, as I understand 
 it, the history of the apostles, the state of the Christian conscience 
 during the weeks which followed the death of Jesus, the formation 
 of the cycle of legends concerning the resurrection, the first acts of 
 the Church of Jerusalem, the life of Saint Paul, the crisis of the time 
 of Nero, the appearance of the Apocalypse, the fall of Jerusalem, 
 the foundation of the Hebrew-Christian sects of Batanea, the com- 
 pilation of the Gospels, and the rise of the great schools of Asia 
 Minor originated by John. Everything pales by the side of that 
 marvellous first century. By a peculiarity rare in history, we see 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 much better what passed in the Christian world from the year 50 
 to the year 75, than from the year 100 to the year 150. 
 
 The plan followed in this history has prevented the introduction 
 into the text of long critical dissertations upon controverted points. 
 A continuous system of notes enables the reader to verify from the 
 authorities all the statements of the text. These notes are strictly 
 limited to quotations from the primary sources; that is to say, 
 the original passages upon which each assertion or conjecture 
 rests. I know that for persons little accustomed to studies of this 
 kind many other explanations would have been necessary. But it 
 is not my practice to do over again what has been already done 
 well. To cite only books written in French, those who will con- 
 sult the following excellent writings * will there find explained a 
 number of points upon which I have been obliged to be very 
 brief. 
 
 Etudes Critiques sur VEvangile de saint Maithieu, par M. Albert Reville, 
 pasteur de l'eglise Wallonne de Rotterdam. 2 
 
 Histoire de la Theologie Chretienne au Sidcle Apostolique, par M. Reuss, 
 professeur a la Faculte de Theologie et au S^minaire Protestant de Stras- 
 bourg. 3 
 
 Des Doctrines Religieuses des Juifs pendant les Deux Siecles Anlerieurs 
 d VEre ChrStienne, par M. Michel Nicolas, professeur a la Faculte de Theo- 
 logie Protestante de Montauban. 4 
 
 Vie de Jesus, par le Dr Strauss; traduite par M. Littr6, Membre de 
 lTnstitut. 5 
 
 Revue de Theologie et de Philosophie Chretienne, publiee sous la direc- 
 tion de M. Colani, de 1850 a 1857. — Nouvelle Revue de Theologie, faisant 
 suite a la prec6dente depuis 1858. 6 
 
 The criticism of the details of the Gospel texts especially, 
 
 1 While this work was in the press, a book has appeared which I do not hesitate 
 to add to thi3 list, although I have not read it with the attention it deserves 
 — Les Evangiles, par M. Gustave d'Eichthal. Premiere Partie : Examen Critique 
 et Comparatif des Trois Premiers Evangiles. Paris, Hachette, 1863. 
 
 2 Leyde, Noothoven van Goor, 1862. Paris, Cherbuliez. A work crowned by 
 the Society of The Hague for the defence of the Christian religion. 
 
 3 Strasbourg, Treuttel and Wurtz. 2nd edition, 1860. Paris, Cherbuliez. 
 
 4 Paris, Michel Levy freres, 1860. 
 
 5 Paris, Ladrange. 2nd edition, 1856. 
 
 6 Strasbourg, Treuttel and Wurtz. Paris, Cherbuliez. 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 has been done by Strauss in a manner which leaves little to be 
 desired. Although Strauss may be mistaken in his theory of 
 the compilation of the Gospels ; * and although his book has, 
 in my opinion, the fault of taking up the theological ground 
 too much, and the historical graund too little, 2 it will be neces- 
 sary, in order to understand the motives w T hich have guided me 
 amidst a crowd of minutiae, to study the always judicious, though 
 sometimes rather subtle argument, of the book, so well translated 
 by my learned friend, M. Littre. 
 
 I do not believe I have neglected any source of information as 
 to ancient evidences. Without speaking of a crowd of other 
 scattered data, there remain, respecting Jesus, and the time in 
 which he lived, five great collections of writings — 1st, The Gospels, 
 and the writings of the New Testament in general ; 2nd, The com- 
 positions called the "Apocrypha of the Old Testament ;" 3rd, The 
 works of Philo ; 4th, Those of Josephus ; 5th, The Talmud. The 
 writings of Pliilo have the priceless advantage of shewing us the 
 thoughts which, in the time of Jesus, fermented in minds occupied 
 with great religious questions. Philo lived, it is true, in quite a 
 different province of Ju'daism to Jesus, but, like him, he was very 
 free from the littlenesses which reigned at Jerusalem ; Philo is truly 
 the elder brother of Jesus. He was sixty-two years old when the 
 Prophet of Nazareth was at the height of his activity, and he sur- 
 vived him at least ten years. What a pity that the chances of life did 
 not conduct him into Galilee ! What would he not have taught us ! 
 
 Josephus, writing specially for pagans, is not so candid. His 
 short notices of Jesus, of John the Baptist, of Judas the Gaul- 
 
 1 The great results obtained on this point have only been acquired since the 
 first edition of Strauss's work. The learned critic has, besides, done justice to 
 them with much candour in his after editions. 
 
 2 It is scarcely necessary to repeat that not a word in Strauss's work justifies the 
 strange and absurd calumny by which it has been attempted to bring into dis- 
 repute with superficial persons, a work so agreeable, accurate, thoughtful, and 
 conscientious, though spoiled in its general parts by an exclusive system. Not 
 only has Strauss never denied the existence of Jesus, but each page of his book 
 implies this existence. The truth is, Strauss supposes the individual character of 
 Jesus less distinct for us than it perhaps is in reality. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 onite, are dry and colourless. We feel that he seeks to pre- 
 sent these movements, so profoundly Jewish in character and 
 spirit, under a form which would be intelligible to Greeks and 
 Eomans. I believe the passage respecting Jesus 1 to be authentic 
 It is perfectly in the style of Josephus, and if this historian has made 
 mention of Jesus, it is thus that he must have spoken of him. We 
 feel only that a Christian hand has retouched the passage, has 
 added a few words, — without which it would almost have been 
 blasphemous, 2 — has perhaps retrenched or modified some expres- 
 sions. 3 It must be recollected that the literary fortune of Josephus 
 was made by the Christians, who adopted his writings as essential 
 documents of their sacred history. They made, probably in the 
 second century, an edition corrected according to Christian ideas. 4 
 At all events, that which constitutes the immense interest of 
 Josephus on the subject which occupies us, is the clear light which 
 he throws upon the period. Thanks to him, Herod, Herodias, 
 Antipas, Philip, Annas, Caiaphas, and Pilate, are personages whom 
 we can touch with the finger, and whom we see living before us 
 with a striking reality. 
 
 The Apocryphal books of the Old Testament, especially the Jewish 
 part of the Sibylline verses, and the Book of Enoch, together with 
 the Book of Daniel, which is also really an Apocrypha, have a pri- 
 mary importance in the history of the development of the Messianic 
 theories, and for the understanding of the conceptions of Jesus 
 respecting the kingdom of God. The Book of Enoch especially, 
 which was much read at the time of Jesus, 5 gives us the key to 
 the expression " Son of Man," and to the ideas attached to it. The 
 ages of these different books, thanks to the labours of Alexander, 
 
 1 Ant., xviii. iii. 3. 
 
 2 " If it be lawful to call him a man." 
 
 3 In place of xP L(XT os ovtos t)i>, he certainly had these \piaros ovtos e'Xeyero. 
 — Cf. Ant., xx. ix. 1. 
 
 4 Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., i. 11, and Demonstr. Evang., iii. 5) cites the passage 
 respecting Jesus as we now read it in Josephus. Origen (Contra Celsus, i. 47; ii. 1 3) 
 and Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., ii. 23) cite another Christian interpolation, which is not 
 found in any of the manuscripts of Josephus which have come down to us. 
 
 5 Jude Epist. 14. 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Ewald, Dillmann, and Reuss, is now beyond doubt. Every one is 
 agreed in placing the compilation of the most important of them 
 in the second and first centuries before Jesus Christ. The date 
 of the Book of Daniel is still more certain. The character of 
 the two languages in which it is written, the use of Greek words, 
 the clear, precise, dated announcement of events which reach even 
 to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, the incorrect descriptions 
 of Ancient Babylonia, there given, the general tone of the book, 
 which in no respect recalls the writings of the captivity, but, on 
 the contrary, responds, by a crowd of analogies, to the beliefs, the 
 manners, the turn of imagination of the time of the Seleucidse ; 
 the Apocalyptic form of the visions, the place of the book in the 
 Hebrew canon, out of the series of the prophets, the omission of 
 Daniel in the panegyrics of chapter xlix. of Ecclesiasticus, in 
 which his position is all but indicated, and many other proofs 
 which have been deduced a hundred times, do not permit of a doubt 
 that the Book of Daniel was but the fruit of the great excitement 
 produced among the Jews by the persecution of Antiochus. It is 
 not in the old prophetical literature that we must class this book, 
 but rather at the head of Apocalyptic literature, as the first model 
 of a kind of composition, after which come the various Sibylline 
 poems, the Book of Enoch, the Apocalypse of John, the Ascension 
 of Isaiah, and the Fourth Book of Esdras. 
 
 In the history of the origin of Christianity, the Talmud has 
 hitherto been too much neglected. I think with M. Geiger, that 
 the true notion of the circumstances which surrounded the de- 
 velopment of Jesus must be sought in this strange compilation, 
 in which so much precious information is mixed' with the most 
 insignificant scholasticism. The Christian and the Jewish theo- 
 logy having in the main followed two parallel ways, the his- 
 tory of the one cannot well be understood without the history of 
 the other. Innumerable important details in the Gospels find, 
 moreover, their commentary in the Talmud. The vast Latin collec- 
 tions of Lightfoot, Schcettgen, Buxtorf, and Otho, contained already 
 a mass of information on this point. I have imposed on myself 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 the task of verifying in the original all the citations which I have 
 admitted, without a single exception. The assistance which has 
 been given me for this part of my task by a learned Israelite, M. 
 Neubauer, well versed in Talmudic literature, has enabled me to go 
 further, and to clear up the most intricate parts of my subject 
 by new researches. The distinction of epochs is here most im- 
 portant, the compilation of the Talmud extending from the year 
 200 to about the year 500. We have brought to it as much dis- 
 cernment as is possible in the actual state of these studies. Dates 
 so recent will excite some fears among persons habituated to 
 accord value to a document only for the period in which it was 
 written. ' But such scruples would here be out of place. The 
 teaching of the Jews from the Asmonean epoch down to the 
 second century was principally oral. We must not judge of this 
 state of intelligence by the habits of an age of much writing. The 
 Vedas, and the ancient Arabian poems, have been preserved for 
 ages from memory, and yet these compositions present a very 
 distinct and delicate form. In the Talmud, on the contrary, tlievform 
 has no value. Let us add that before the Mishnah of Judas the 
 Saint, which has caused all others to be forgotten, there were 
 attempts at compilation, the commencement of which is probably 
 much earlier than is commonly supposed. The style of the Tal- 
 mud is that of loose notes ; the collectors did no more probably 
 than classify under certain titles the enormous mass of writings 
 which had been accumulating in the different schools for genera- 
 tions. 
 
 It remains for us to speak of the documents which, presenting 
 themselves as biographies of the Founder of Christianity, must 
 naturally hold the first place in a Life of Jesus. A complete trea- 
 tise upon the compilation of the Gospels would be a work of itself. 
 Thanks to the excellent researches of which this question has 
 been the object during thirty years, a problem which was formerly 
 judged insurmountable has obtained a solution which, though 
 it leaves room for many uncertainties, fully suffices for the 
 necessities of history. We shall have occasion to return to 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 this in our Second Book, the composition of the Gospels having 
 been one of the most important facts for the future of Christi- 
 anity in the second half of the first century. We will touch here 
 only a single aspect of the subject, that which is indispensable 
 to the completeness of our narrative. Leaving aside all which 
 belongs to the portraiture of the apostolic times, we will inquire 
 ; " only in what degree the data furnished by the Gospels may be em- 
 L ployed in a history formed according to rational principles. 1 
 
 That the Gospels are in part legendary, is evident, since they are 
 fall of miracles and of the supernatural ; but legends have not all the 
 same value. No one doubts the principal features of the life of 
 Francis d'Assisi, although we meet the supernatural at every step. 
 No one, on the other hand, accords credit to the " Life of Apollo- 
 nius of Tyana," because it was written long after the time of the 
 hero, and purely as a romance. At what time, by what hands, 
 under what circumstances, have the Gospels been compiled ? This 
 is the primary question upon which depends the opinion to be 
 formed of their credibility. 
 
 Each of the four Gospels bears at its head the name of a 
 personage, known either in the apostolic history, or in the Gospel 
 history itself. These four personages are not strictly given us 
 as the authors. The formulae " according to Matthew," " ac- 
 cording to Mark," " according to Luke," " according to John/' do 
 not imply that, in the most ancient opinion, these recitals were 
 written from beginning to end by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
 John ; 2 they merely signify that these were the traditions pro- 
 ceeding from each of these apostles, and claiming their autho- 
 rity. It is clear that, if these titles are exact, the Gospels, with- 
 out ceasing to be in part legendary, are of great value, since 
 they enable us to go back to the half century which followed the 
 
 1 Persons who wish to read more ample explanations, may consult, in addition 
 to the work of M. Reville, previously cited, the writings of Reuss and Scherer in 
 the Revue de Theologie, vol. x., xi., xv. ; new series, ii., iii., iv. ; and that of 
 Nicolas in the Revue Germanique, Sept. and Dec. 1862; April and June 1863. 
 
 t In the same manner we say, " The Gospel according to the Hebrews," " The 
 Gospel according to the Egyptians." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 death of Jesus, and in two instances, even to the eye-witnesses of 
 his actions. 
 
 Firstly, as to Luke, doubt is scarcely possible. The Gospel of 
 Luke is a regular composition, founded on anterior documents. 1 
 It is the work of a man who selects, prunes, and combines. 
 The author of this Gospel is certainly the same as that of the 
 Acts of the Apostles. 2 Now, the author of the Acts is a com- 
 panion of St Paul, 3 a title which applies to Luke exactly.4 I 
 know that more than one objection may be raised against this 
 reasoning ; but one thing, at least, is beyond doubt, namely, that 
 the author of the third Gospel and of the Acts, was a man of the 
 second apostolic generation, and that is sufficient for our object. 
 The date of this Gospel can moreover be determined with much 
 precision by considerations drawn from the book itself. The 21st 
 chapter of Luke, inseparable from the rest of the work, w r as cer- 
 tainly written after the siege of Jerusalem, and but a short time 
 after. 5 We are here then upon solid ground ; for we are con- 
 cerned with a work written entirely by the same hand, and of the 
 most perfect unity. 
 
 The Gospels of Matthew and Mark have not nearly the same 
 stamp of individuality. They are impersonal compositions, in 
 which the author totally disappears. A proper name written at the 
 head of works of this kind does not amount to much. But if the 
 Gospel of Luke is dated, those of Matthew and Mark are dated also ; 
 for it is certain that the third Gospel is posterior to the first two, 
 and exhibits the character of a much more advanced compilation. 
 We have, besides, on this point, an excellent testimony from a 
 writer of the first half of the second century — namely, Papias, 
 bishop of Hierapolis, a grave man, a man of traditions, who was all 
 
 1 Luke i. 1-4. 
 
 2 Acts i. 1. Compare Luke i. 1-4. 
 
 3 From xvi. 10, the author represents himself as eye-witness. 
 
 4 2 Tim. iv. 11 ; Philemon 24 ; Col. iv. 14. The name of Lucas (contraction 
 of Lucanus) being very rare, we need not fear one of those homonyms which cause 
 so many perplexities in questions of criticism relative to the New Testament. 
 
 5 Verses 9, 20, 24, 28, 32. Comp. xxii. 36. j 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 his life seeking to collect whatever could be known of the person 
 of Jesus. 1 After having declared that on such matters he pre- 
 ferred oral tradition to books, Papias mentions two writings on the 
 acts and words of Christ : first, a writing of Mark, the interpreter of 
 the apostle Peter, written briefly, incomplete, and not arranged in 
 chronological order, including narratives and discourses, (Xe^devra 
 rj irpa^OevTa) composed from the information and recollections 
 of the apostle Peter ; second, a collection of sentences (Xoyta) 
 written in Hebrew 2 by Matthew, " and which each one has trans- 
 lated as he could." It is certain that these two descriptions 
 answer pretty well to the general physiognomy of the two books 
 now called " Gospel according to Matthew," " Gospel according to 
 Mark;" — the first characterised by its long discourses; the second, 
 above all, by anecdote, — much more exact than the first upon small 
 facts, brief even to dryness, containing few discourses, and indiffer- 
 ently composed. That these two works, such as we now read 
 them, are absolutely similar to those read by Papias, cannot be 
 sustained : firstly, because the writings of Matthew were to Papias 
 solely discourses in Hebrew, of which there were in circulation 
 very varying translations ; and, secondly, because the writings of 
 Mark and. Matthew were to him profoundly distinct, written with- 
 out any knowledge of each other, and, as it seems, in different lan- 
 guages. Now, in the present state of the texts, the "(Gospel according 
 to Matthew" and the "Gospel according to Mark" present parallel 
 parts so long and so perfectly identical, that it must be supposed, 
 either that the final compiler of the first had the second under his 
 eyes, or vice versa, or that both copied from the same prototype. 
 That which appears the most likely, is, that we have not the entirely 
 original compilations of either Matthew or Mark ; but that our first 
 two Gospels are versions in which the attempt is made to fill up 
 
 1 In Eusebius, Hist. Feci., iii. 39. No doubt whatever can be raised as to 
 the authenticity of this passage. Eusebius, in fact, far from exaggerating the 
 authority of Papias, is embarrassed at his simple ingenuousness, at 'his gross mil- 
 lenarianism, and solves the difficulty by treating him as a man of little mind. 
 Comp. Irenseus, Adv. Hcer., iii. 1. 
 
 2 That is to say, in the Semitic dialect. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 the gaps of the one text by the other. Every one wished, in fact, to 
 possess a complete copy. He who had in his copy only discourses, 
 wished to' have narratives, and vice versa. It is thus that "the 
 Gospel according to Matthew" is found to have included almost all 
 the anecdotes of Mark, and that " the Gospel according to Mark " 
 now contains numerous features which come from the Logia of 
 Matthew. Every one, besides, drew largely on the Gospel tra- 
 dition then current. This tradition was so far from having been 
 exhausted by the Gospels, that the Acts of the Apostles and the 
 most ancient Fathers quote many words of Jesus which appear 
 authentic, and are not found in the Gospels we possess. 
 
 It matters little for our present object to push this delicate analy- 
 sis further, and to endeavour to reconstruct in some manner, on 
 the one hand, the original Logia of Matthew, and on the other, the 
 primitive narrative such as it left the pen of Mark. The Logia are 
 doubtless represented by the great discourses of Jesus which fill a 
 considerable part of the first Gospel. These discourses form, in fact, 
 when detached from the rest, a sufficiently complete whole. As 
 to the narratives of the first and second Gospels, they seem to have 
 for basis a common document, of which the text reappears some- 
 times in the one and sometimes in the other, and of which the 
 second Gospel, such as we read it to-day, is but a slightly modified/ 
 reproduction. In other words, the scheme of the Life of Jesus, in 
 the synoptics, rests upon two original documents — first, the dis- 
 courses of Jesus collected by Matthew ; second, the collection of 
 anecdotes and personal reminiscences which Mark wrote from the 
 recollections of Peter. We may say that we have these two docu- 
 ments still, mixed with accounts from another source, in the two 
 first Gospels, which bear, not without reason, the name of the 
 " Gospel according to Matthew " and of the " Gospel according 
 to Mark." 
 
 What is indubitable, in any case, is, that very early the discourses 
 of Jesus were written in the Aramean language, and very early 
 also his remarkable actions were recorded. These were not texts 
 defined and fixed dogmatically. Besides the Gospels which have 
 
12 • INTRODUCTION. 
 
 come to us, there were a number of others professing to represent 
 the tradition of eye-witnesses. 1 Little importance was attached to 
 these writings, and the preservers, such as Papias, greatly preferred 
 oral tradition. 2 As men still believed that the world was nearly 
 at an end, they cared little to compose books for the future ; it 
 was sufficient merely to preserve in their hearts a lively image of 
 him whom they hoped soon to see again in the clouds. Hence 
 the little authority which the Gospel texts enjoyed, during one 
 hundred and fifty years. There was no scruple in inserting addi- 
 tions, in variously combining them, and in completing some by 
 others. The poor man who has but one book wishes that it may 
 contain all that is dear to his heart. These little books were lent, 
 each one transcribed in the margin of his copy the words, and 
 the parables he found elsewhere, which touched him. 3 The most 
 beautiful thing in the world has thus proceeded from an obscure 
 and purely popular elaboration. No compilation was of absolute 
 value. Justin, who often appeals to that which he calls "The 
 Memoirs of the Apostles," 4 had under his notice Gospel documents 
 in a state very different from that in which we possess them. At 
 all events, he never cares to quote them textually. The Gospel 
 .quotations in the pseudo-Clementinian writings, of Ebionite origin, 
 present the same character. The spirit was everything ; the letter 
 was nothing. It was when tradition became weakened, in the 
 second half of the second century, that the texts bearing the 
 names of the apostles took a decisive authority and obtained the 
 force of law. 
 
 Who does not see the value of documents thus composed of 
 the tender remembrances, and simple narratives, of the first two 
 Christian generations, still full of the strong impression which 
 
 1 Luke i. 1, 2 ; Origen, Horn, in Luc. 1 init. ; St Jerome, Comment, in Matt., 
 prol. 
 
 2 Papias, in Eusebius, H. E., iii. 39. Comp. Irenseus, Adv. Hcer., in. ii. and iii. 
 B It is thus that the beautiful narrative in John viii. 1-11 has always floated, 
 
 without finding a fixed place in the framework of the received Gospels. 
 
 4 Ta anop.vqjxovevyi.aTa rap aivoaTokav, a. KaXeirai evayyeXia. Justin, Apol. 
 i. 33, 66, 67; Dial, cum Tryph., 10, 100-107. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 the illustrious Founder had produced, and which seemed long to 
 survive him ? Let us add, that the Gospels in question seem to 
 proceed from that branch of the Christian family which stood 
 nearest to Jesus. The last work of compilation, at least of the 
 text which bears the name of Matthew, appears to have been 
 done in one of the countries situated at the north-east of Pales- 
 tine, such as Gaulonitis, Auranitis, Batanea, where many Christians 
 took refuge at the time of the Roman war, where were found rela- 
 tives of Jesus 1 even in the second century, and where the first 
 Galilean tendency was longer preserved than in other parts. 
 
 So far we have only spoken of the three Gospels named the 
 synoptics. There remains a fourth, that which bears the name of 
 John. Concerning this one, doubts have a much better foundation, 
 and the question is further from solution. Papias — who was con- 
 nected with the school of John, and who, if not one of his auditors, 
 as Irenaeus thinks, associated with his immediate disciples, among 
 others, Aristion, and the one called Presbyteros Joannes — says not 
 a word of a " Life of Jesus" written by John, although he had zeal- 
 ously collected the oral narratives of both Aristion and Presbyteros 
 Joannes. If any such mention had been found in his work, 
 Eusebius, who points out everything therein that can contribute to 
 the literary history of the apostolic age, would doubtless have 
 mentioned it. 
 
 The intrinsic difficulties drawn from the perusal of the fourth 
 Gospel itself are not less strong. How is it that, side by side 
 with narration so precise, and so evidently that of an eye- 
 witness, we find discourses so totally different from those of 
 Matthew ? How is it that, connected with a general plan of the 
 life of Jesus, which appears much more satisfactory and exact than 
 that of the synoptics, these singular passages occur in which we 
 are sensible of a dogmatic interest peculiar to the compiler, of 
 ideas foreign to Jesus, and sometimes of indications which place us 
 on our guard against the good faith of the narrator? Lastly, how is 
 it that, united with views the most pure, the most just, the most truly 
 
 1 Julius Africanus, in Eusebius, Hist. Feci., i. 7. 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 evangelical, we find these blemishes which we would fain regard 
 as the interpolations of an ardent sectarian ? Is it indeed John, 
 son of Zebedee, brother of James, (of whom there is not a single 
 mention made in the fourth Gospel,) who is able to write in Greek 
 these lessons of abstract metaphysics to which neither the synop- 
 tics nor the Talmud offer any analogy ? All this is of great im- 
 portance ; and for myself, I dare not be sure that the fourth Gospel 
 has been entirely written by the pen of a Galilean fisherman. 
 But that, as a whole, this Gospel may have originated towards 
 the end of the first century, from the great school of Asia 
 Minor, which was connected with John, that it represents to us 
 a version of the life of the Master, worthy of high esteem, and 
 often to be preferred, is demonstrated, in a manner which leaves 
 us nothing to be desired, both by exterior evidences and by exami- 
 nation of the document itself. 
 
 And, firstly, no one doubts that, towards the year 150, the 
 fourth Gospel did exist, and was attributed to John. Explicit 
 texts from St Justin,! from Athenagorus, 2 from Tatian,3 from 
 Theophilus of Antioch, 4 from Irenoeus, 5 shew that thenceforth 
 this Gospel mixed in every controversy, and served as corner-stone 
 for the development of the faith. Irenseus is explicit ; now, 
 Irenseus came from the school of John, and between him and 
 the apostle there was only Poly carp. The part played by this 
 Gospel iu Gnosticism, and especially in the system of Valentinus, 6 
 in Montanism,? and in the quarrel of the Quartodecimans, 8 is not less 
 decisive. The school of John was the most influential one 
 during the second century ; and it is only by regarding the origin 
 of the Gospel as coincident with the rise of the school, that the 
 
 1 Apol, i. 32, 61 ; Dial, cum Tryph., 88. 
 3 Legatio pro Christ., 10. 
 
 3 Adv. Grose, 5, 7 ; Cf. Eusebius, H. E, iv. 29 ; Theodoret, Hceretic. Fabul., i. 20. 
 
 4 Ad Autolycum, ii. 22. 
 
 5 Adv. Hcer., n. xxii. 5, in. 1. Cf. Eus., H. E., v. 8. 
 
 * Irenseus, Adv. Hcer., I. iii., 6; in., xi. 7; St Hippolytus, Philosophumena 
 vi., ii., 29, and following. 
 7 Irenseus, Adv. Hcer., in. xi., 9. 8 Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., v. 2i. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 5 
 
 existence of the latter can be understood at all. Let us add that 
 the first epistle attributed to St John is certainly by the same author 
 as the fourth Gospel ; x now, this epistle is recognised as from John 
 by Polycarp, 2 Papias, 3 and Irenaeus. 4 
 
 But it is, above all, the perusal of the work itself which is calcu- 
 lated to give this impression. The author always speaks as an 
 eye-witness ; he wishes to pass for the apostle John. If, then, this 
 work is not really by the apostle, we must admit a fraud of which 
 the author convicts himself. Now, although the ideas of the time 
 respecting literary honesty differed essentially from ours, there 
 is no example in the apostolic world of a falsehood of this kind. 
 Besides, not only does the author wish to pass for the apostle 
 John, but we see clearly that he writes in the interest of this 
 apostle. On each page he betrays the desire to fortify his 
 authority, to shew that he has been the favourite of Jesus ; 5 that 
 in all the solemn circumstances (at the Lord's supper, at Calvary, 
 at the tomb) he held the first place. His relations on the 
 whole fraternal, although not excluding a certain rivalry with 
 Peter ; 6 his hatred, on the contrary, of Judas,? a hatred, prob- 
 ably anterior to the betrayal, seems to pierce through here and 
 there. We are tempted to believe that John, in his old age, 
 having read the Gospel narratives, on the one hand, remarked 
 their various inaccuracies, 8 on the other, was hurt at seeing that 
 there was not accorded to him a sufficiently high place in the 
 history of Christ ; that then he commenced to dictate a number of 
 things which he knew better than the rest, with the intention of 
 
 1 1 John, i. 3, 5. The two writings present the most complete identity of style, 
 the same peculiarities, the same favourite expressions. 
 
 2 Epist. ad Philipp., 7. 
 
 3 In Eusebius, Hist. Feci., ill. 39. 
 
 4 Adv. Ilcer., hi. xvi. 5, 8; Cf. Eusebius, Hist. EccL, v. 8. 
 
 5 John xiii. 23, xix. 26, xx. 2, xxi. 7, 20. 
 
 6 John xviii. 15-16, xx. 2-6 x»i. 15-19. Comp. i. 35, 40, 41. 
 
 7 John vi. 65, xii. 6, xiii. 21, and following. 
 
 8 The manner in which Aristion and Presbyteros Joannes expressed themselves 
 on the Gospel of Mark before Papias (Eusebius, H. E., in. 39) implies, in effect, a 
 friendly criticism, or, more properly, a sort of excuse, indicating that John '8 
 disciples had better information on the same subject. 
 
1 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 shewing that in many instances, in which only Peter was spoken 
 of, he had figured with him and even before him. 1 Already during 
 the life of Jesus, these trifling sentiments of jealousy had been mani- 
 fested between the sons of Zebedee and the other disciples. 2 After 
 the death of James, his brother, John remained sole inheritor of 
 the intimate remembrances of which these two apostles, by the 
 common consent, were the depositaries. Hence his perpetual 
 desire to recall that he is the last surviving eye-witness, 3 and the 
 pleasure which he takes in relating circumstances which he alone 
 could know. Hence, too, so many minute details which seem like 
 the commentaries of an annotator — " it was the sixth hour ;" " it 
 was night ; " " the servant's name was Malchus ; " " they had made 
 a fire of coals, for it was cold;" "the coat was without seam." 
 Hence, lastly, the disorder of the compilation, the irregularity of 
 the narration, the disjointedness of the first chapters, all so many 
 inexplicable features on the supposition that this Gospel was but a 
 theological thesis, without historic value, and which, on the con- 
 trary, are perfectly intelligible, if, in conformity with tradition, we 
 see in them the remembrances of an old man, sometimes of re 
 markable freshness, sometimes having undergone strange modifi- 
 cations. 
 
 A primary distinction, indeed, ought to be made in the Gospel 
 of John. On the one side, this Gospel presents us with a rough 
 draft of the life of Jesus, which differs considerably from that 
 of the synoptics. On the other, it puts into the mouth of Jesus 
 discourses of which the tone, the style, the treatment, and the doc- 
 trines, have nothing in common with the Logia given us by the syn- 
 optics. In this second respect, the difference is such that we must 
 make choice in a decisive manner. If Jesus spoke as Matthew re- 
 presents, he could not have spoken as John relates. Between these 
 two authorities no critic has ever hesitated, or can ever hesitate. 
 
 1 Compare John xviii. 15, and following, with Matthew xxvi. 58; John xs. 2 to 
 6, with Mark xvi. 7. See also John xiii. 24, 25. 
 
 2 See page 131. 
 
 3 Chap. i. 14, xix. 35, xxi. 24, and following. Compare the First Epistle of St 
 John, chap. i. 3, 5. 
 
INTKODUCTION. 17 
 
 Far removed from the simple, disinterested, impersonal tone of the 
 synoptics, the Gospel of John shews incessantly the pre-occupation 
 of the apologist, — the mental reservation of the sectarian, the desire 
 to prove a thesis, and to convince adversaries. 1 It was not by pre- 
 tentious tirades, heavy, badly written, and appealing little to the 
 moral sense, that Jesus founded his divine work. If even Papias 
 had not taught us that Matthew wrote the sayings of Jesus in 
 their original tongue, the natural, ineffable truth, the charm beyond 
 comparison of the discourses in the synoptics, their profoundly He- 
 braistic idiom, the analogies which they present with the sayings of 
 the Jewish doctors of the period, their perfect harmony with the 
 natural phenomena of Galilee, — all these characteristics, compared 
 with the obscure Gnosticism, with the distorted metaphysics, which 
 fill the discourses of John, would speak loudly enough. This by no 
 means implies that there are not in the discourses of John some 
 admirable gleams, some traits which truly come from Jesus. 2 
 But the mystic tone of these discourses does not correspond at all 
 to the character of the eloquence of Jesus, such as we picture it 
 according to the synoptics. A new spirit has breathed ; Gnosticism 
 has already commenced ; the Galilean era of the kingdom of God 
 is finished; the hope of the near advent of Christ is more distant; 
 we enter on the barrenness of metaphysics, into the darkness of 
 abstract dogma. The spirit of Jesus is not there, and, if the son 
 of Zebedee has truly traced these pages, he had certainly, in writing 
 them, quite forgotten the Lake of Gennesareth, and the charming 
 discourses which he had heard upon its shores. 
 
 One circumstance, moreover, which strongly proves that the 
 discourses given us by the fourth Gospel are not historical, but 
 compositions intended to cover with the authority of Jesus certain 
 doctrines dear to the compiler, is their perfect harmony with the 
 
 1 See, for example, chaps, ix. and xi. Notice especially, the effect which such 
 passages as" John xix. 35, xx. 31, xxi. 20-23, 24, 25, produce, when we recall the 
 absence of all comments which distinguishes the synoptics. 
 
 2 For example, chap. iv. 1, and following, xv. 12, and following. Many words 
 remembered by John are found in the synoptics, (chap. xii. 16, xv. 20.) 
 
 B 
 
18 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 intellectual state of Asia Minor at the time when they were written. 
 Asia Minor was then the theatre of a strange movement of syncreti- 
 cal philosophy ; all the germs of Gnosticism existed there already. 
 John appears to have drunk deeply from these strange springs. It 
 may be that, after the crisis of the year 68 (the date of the Apoca- 
 lypse) and of the year 70 (the destruction of Jerusalem), the old 
 apostle, with an ardent and plastic spirit, disabused of the belief in 
 a near appearance of the Son of man in the clouds, may have 
 inclined towards the ideas that he found around him, of which 
 several agreed sufficiently well with certain Christian doctrines. 
 In attributing these new ideas to Jesus, he only followed a very 
 natural tendency. Our remembrances are transformed with our 
 circumstances ; the ideal of a person that we have known changes 
 as we change. 1 Considering Jesus as the incarnation of truth, 
 John could not fail to attribute to him that which he had come to 
 consider as the truth. 
 
 If we must speak candidly, we will add that probably John himself 
 had little share in this ; that the change was made around him rather 
 than by him. One is sometimes tempted to believe that precious 
 notes, coming from the apostle, have been employed by his dis- 
 ciples in a very different sense from the primitive Gospel spirit. 
 In fact, certain portions of the fourth Gospel have been added 
 later ; such is the entire twenty-first chapter, 2 in which the author 
 seems to wish to render homage to the apostle Peter after his 
 death, and to reply to the objections which would be drawn, or 
 already had been drawn, from the death of John himself, (ver. 
 21-23.) Many other places bear the trace of erasures and correc- 
 tions. 3 It is impossible at this distance to understand these 
 singular problems, and without doubt many surprises would be in 
 store for us, if we were permitted to penetrate the secrets of that 
 mysterious school of Ephesus, which, more than once, appears to 
 
 1 It was thus that Napoleon became a liberal in the remembrances of his com- 
 panions in exile, when these, after their return, found themselves thrown in the 
 midst of the political society of the time. 
 
 2 The verses, chap, xx. 30, 31, evidently form the original conclusion. 
 
 3 Chap. vi. 2, 22, vii. 22. 
 
INTRODUCTION. ] 9 
 
 have delighted in obscure paths. But there is a decisive test. 
 Every one who sets himself to write the life of Jesus without any 
 predetermined theory as to the relative value of the Gospels, letting 
 himself be guided solely by the sentiment of the subject, will be 
 led in numerous instances to prefer the narration of John to that 
 of the synoptics. The last months of the life of Jesus especially 
 are explained by John alone; a number of the features of the passion, 
 unintelligible in the synoptics, 1 resume both probability and possi- 
 bility in the narrative of the fourth Gospel. On the contrary, I dare 
 defy any one to compose a Life of Jesus with any meaning, from the 
 discourses which John attributes to him. This manner of inces- 
 santly preaching and demonstrating himself, this perpetual argu- 
 mentation, this stage-effect devoid of simplicity, these long arguments 
 after each miracle, these stiff and awkward discourses, the tone 
 of which is so often false and unequal, 2 would not be tolerated by 
 a man of taste compared with the delightful sentences of the 
 synoptics. There are here evidently artificial portions,^ which 
 represent to us the sermons of Jesus, as the dialogues of Plato 
 render us the conversations of Socrates. They are, so to speak, 
 the variations of a musician improvising on a given theme. 
 The theme is not without some authenticity ; but in the exe- 
 cution, the imagination of the artist has given itself full scope. 
 We are sensible of the factitious mode of procedure, of rhe- 
 toric, of gloss. 4 Let us add that the vocabulary of Jesus cannot 
 be recognised in the portions of which we speak. The expression, 
 " kingdom of God," which was so familiar to the Master, 5 occurs 
 there but once. 6 On the other hand, the style of the discourses 
 
 1 For example, that which concerns the announcement of the betrayal by 
 Judas. 
 
 2 See, for example, chaps, ii. 25, iii. 32, 33, and the long disputes of chapters 
 vii., viii., and ix. 
 
 3 We feel often that the author seeks pretexts for introducing certain discourses, 
 (chaps, iii., v., viii., xiii , and following.) 
 I 4 For example, chap.xvii. 
 
 5 Besides the synoptics, the Acts, the Epistles of St Paul, and the Apocalypse, 
 confirm it. 
 
 6 John iii. 3, 5. 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 attributed to Jesus by the fourth Gospel, presents the most com- 
 plete analogy with that of the Epistles of St John ; we see that in 
 writing the discourses, the author followed not his recollections, 
 but rather the somewhat monotonous movement of his own thought. 
 Quite a new mystical language is introduced, a language of which the 
 synoptics had not the least idea, ("world," "truth/' "life," " light," 
 " darkness," &c.) If Jesus had ever spoken in this style, which 
 has nothing of Hebrew, nothing Jewish, nothing Talmudic in it, 
 how, if I may thus express myself, is it that but a single one of his 
 hearers should have so well kept the secret ? 
 
 Literary history offers, besides, another example, which pre- 
 sents the greatest analogy with the historic phenomenon we have 
 just described, and serves to explain it. Socrates, who, like 
 Jesus, never wrote, is known to us by two of his disciples, 
 Xenophon and Plato ; the first corresponding to the synoptics in 
 his clear, transparent, impersonal compilation ; the second recall- 
 ing the author of the fourth Gospel, by his vigorous individuality. 
 In order to describe the Socratic teaching, should we follow the 
 " dialogues" of Plato, or the ''discourses" of Xenophon? Doubt, 
 in this respect, is not possible; every one chooses the "discourses," 
 and not the " dialogues." Does Plato, however, teach us nothing 
 about Socrates? Would it be good criticism, in writing the 
 biography of the latter, to neglect the " dialogues ?" "Who would 
 venture to maintain this ? The analogy, moreover, is not complete, 
 and the difference is in favour of the fourth Gospel. The author 
 of this Gospel is, in fact, the better biographer ; as if Plato, who, 
 whilst attributing to his master fictitious discourses, had known im- 
 portant matters about his life, which Xenophon ignored entirely. 
 
 Without pronouncing upon the material question as to what 
 hand has written the fourth Gospel, and whilst inclined to believe 
 that the discourses, at least, are not from the son of Zebedee, we 
 admit still, that it is indeed " the Gospel according to John/' in the 
 same sense that the first and second Gospels are the Gospels 
 " according to Matthew," and "according to Mark." The historical 
 sketch of the fourth Gospel is the Life of Jesus, such as it was 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 known in the school of John ; it is the recital which Aristion and 
 Presbyteros Joannes made to Papias, without telling him that it 
 was written, or rather attaching no importance to this point. I 
 must add, that, in my opinion, this school was better acquainted 
 with the exterior circumstances of the life of the founder, than 
 the group whose remembrances constituted the synoptics. It had, 
 especially upon the sojourns of Jesus at Jerusalem, data which 
 the others did not possess. The disciples of this school treated 
 Mark as an indifferent biographer, and devised a system to explain 
 his omissions. 1 Certain passages of Luke, where there is, as it 
 were, an echo of the traditions of John, 2 prove also that these 
 traditions were not entirely unknown to the rest of the -Christian 
 family. 
 
 These explanations will suffice, I think, to shew, in the course of 
 my narrative, the motives which have determined me to give the 
 preference to this or that of the four guides whom we have for the 
 Life of Jesus. On the whole, T admit as authentic the four cano- 
 nical Gospels. All, in my opinion, date from the first century, 
 and the authors are, generally speaking, those to whom they are 
 attributed ; but their historic value is very diverse. Matthew evw 
 dently merits an unlimited confidence as to the discourses ; they 
 are the Logia, the identical notes taken from a clear and lively 
 remembrance of the teachings of Jesus. A kind of splendour at 
 once mild and terrible — a divine strength, if we may so speak, 
 emphasises these words, detaches them from the context, and renders 
 them easily distinguishable. The person who imposes upon him- 
 self the task of making a continuous narrative from the gospel 
 history, possesses, in this respect, an excellent touchstone. The 
 
 1 Papias, loc. cit. 
 
 2 For example, the pardon of the adulteress ; the knowledge which Luke has of 
 the family of Bethany ; his type of the character of Martha responding to the 
 dirjxovei of John, (chap. xii. 2;) the incident of the woman who wiped the feet of 
 Jesus with her hair ; an obscure notion of the travels of Jesus to Jerusalem ; the 
 idea that in his Passion he was seen by three witnesses ; the opinion of the author, 
 that some disciples were present at the crucifixion ; the knowledge which he has 
 of the part played by Annas in aiding Caiaphas ; the appearance of the angel in 
 the agony, (comp. John xii. 28, 29.) 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 real words of Jesus disclose themselves ; as soon as we touch them 
 in this chaos of traditions of varied authenticity, we feel them 
 vibrate ; they betray themselves spontaneously, and shine out of 
 the narrative with unequalled brilliancy. 
 
 The narrative portions grouped in the first Gospel around this 
 primitive nucleus, have not the same authority. There are many 
 not well defined legends which have proceeded from the zeal of 
 the second Christian generation. 1 The Gospel of Mark is much 
 firmer, more precise, containing fewer subsequent additions. He is 
 the one of the three synoptics who has remained the most primi- 
 tive, the most original, the one to whom the fewest after-elements 
 have been added. In Mark, the facts are related with a clearness 
 for which we seek in vain amongst the other evangelists. He likes 
 to report certain words of Jesus in Syro-Chaldean. 2 He is full of 
 minute observations, coming doubtless from an eye-witness. There 
 is nothing to prevent our agreeing with Papias in regarding this 
 eye-witness, who evidently had followed Jesus, who had loved 
 him and observed him very closely, and who had preserved a lively 
 image of him, as the apostle Peter himself. 
 
 As to the work of Luke, its historical value is sensibly weaker. 
 It is a document which comes to us second-hand. The narrative is 
 more mature. The words of Jesus are there, more deliberate, 
 more sententious. Some sentences are distorted and exaggerated. 3 
 Writing outside of Palestine, and certainly after the siege of Jeru- 
 salem, 4 the author indicates the places with less exactitude than 
 the other two synoptics ; he has an erroneous idea of the temple, 
 which he represents as an oratory where people went to pay their 
 devotions. 5 He subdues some details in order to make the differ- 
 
 1 Chaps, i., ii., especially. See also chap, xxvii. 3, 19, 51, 53, 60, xxviii. 2, and 
 following, in comparing Mark. 
 
 2 Chap. v. 41, vii. 34, xv. 34. Matthew only presents, this peculiarity once, 
 (chap, xxvii. 46.) 
 
 3 Chap. xiv. 26. The rules of the apostolate (chap, x.) have there a peculiar 
 character of exaltation. 
 
 4 Chap. xix. 41, 43, 44, xxi. 9, 20, xxiii. 29. 
 
 5 Chap. ii. 37, xviii. 10, and following, xxiv. 53. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 ent narratives agree; 1 he softens the passages which had become 
 embarrassing on account of a more exalted idea of the divinity 
 of Christ; 2 he exaggerates the marvellous; 3 commits errors in 
 chronology; 4 omits Hebraistic comments; 5 quotes no word of . 
 Jesus in this language, and gives to all the localities their Greek 
 names. We feel we have to do with a compiler — with a man who ? 
 has not himself seen the witnesses, but who labours at the texts j 
 and wrests their sense to make them agree. Luke had probably 
 under his eyes the biographical collection of Mark, and the Logia 
 of Matthew. But he treats them with much freedom ; sometimes 
 he fuses two anecdotes or two parables in one ; 6 sometimes he 
 divides one in order to make two.? He interprets the docu- 
 ments according to his own idea ; he has not the absolute impas- 
 sibility of Matthew and Mark. We might affirm certain things 
 of his individual tastes and tendencies ; he is a very exact devo- 
 tee ; 8 he insists that Jesus had performed all the Jewish rites ; 9 
 he is a warm Ebionite and democrat, that is to say, much opposed 
 to property, and persuaded that the triumph of the poor is approach- 
 ing; 10 he likes especially all the anecdotes shewing prominently the 
 conversion of sinners — the exaltation of the humble ; n he often 
 modifies the ancient traditions in order to give them this meaning; 12 
 
 1 For example, chap. iv. 1 6. 
 
 2 Chap. iii. 23. He omits Matt. xxiv. 36. 
 
 3 Chap. iv. 14, xxii. 43, 44. 
 
 4 For example, in that which concerns Quirinius, Lysanias, Theudas. 
 
 5 Compare Luke i. 31 with Matt. i. 21. 
 
 6 For example, chap. xix. 12-27. 
 
 ' 7 Thus, of the repast at Bethany he gives two narratives, chap. vii. 36-48, and 
 x. 38-42. 
 
 8 Chap, xxiii. 56. 
 
 9 Chap. ii. 21, 22, 39, 41, 42. This is an Ebionitish feature. Cf. Philosophumena 
 vii. vi. 34. 
 
 10 The parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Compare chap. vi. 20, and follow- 
 ing, 24, and following, xii. 13, and following, xvi. entirely, xxii. 35. Acts ii. 44, 45, 
 v. 1 , and following. 
 
 11 The woman who anoints his feet, Zaccheus the penitent thief, the parable of 
 the Pharisee and the publican, and the prodigal son. 
 
 12 For example, Mary of Bethany is represented by him as a sinner who becomes 
 converted. 
 
24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 he admits into his first pages the legends about the infancy of 
 Jesus, related with the long amplifications, the spiritual songs, and 
 the conventional proceedings which form the essential features of 
 the Apocryphal Gospels. Finally, he has in the narrative of the 
 last hours of Jesus some circumstances full of tender feeling, 
 and certain words of Jesus of delightful beauty, 1 which are not 
 found in more authentic accounts, and in which we detect the pre- 
 sence of legend. Luke probably borrowed them from a more recent 
 collection, in which the principal aim was to excite sentiments of 
 piety. * 
 
 A great reserve was naturally enforced in presence of a docu- 
 ment of this nature. It would have been as uncritical to neglect 
 it, as to employ it without discernment. Luke has had under his 
 eyes, originals which we no longer possess. He is less an evan- 
 gelist than a biographer of Jesus, a "harmoniser," a corrector after 
 the manner of Marcion and Tatian. But he is a biographer of the 
 first century, a divine artist, who, independently of the information 
 which he has drawn from more ancient sources, shows us the cha- 
 racter of the founder with a happiness of treatment, with a uni- 
 form inspiration, and a distinctness which the other two synoptics 
 do not possess. In the perusal of his Gospel there is the greatest 
 charm ; for to the incomparable beauty of the foundation, common 
 to them all, he adds a degree of skill in composition which singu- 
 larly augments the effect of the portrait, without seriously injuring 
 its truthfulness. 
 
 On the whole, we may say that the synoptical compilation has 
 passed through three stages : first, the original documentary state, 
 (Xoyca of Matthew, Xe^devra rf irpa^Oevra of Mark,) primary 
 compilations which no longer exist ; second, the state of simple 
 mixture, in which the original documents are amalgamated with- 
 out any effort at composition, without there appearing any per- 
 sonal bias of the authors, (the existing Gospels of Matthew and 
 
 1 Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, the bloody sweat, the meeting of the holy- 
 women, the penitent thief, &c. The speech to the women of Jerusalem (xxiii. 
 28, 29) could scarcely have been conceived except after the siege of the year 70. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 Mark ;) third, the state of combination or of intentional and 
 deliberate compiling, in which we are sensible of an attempt to 
 reconcile the different versions, (Gospel of Luke.) The Gospel of 
 John, as we have said, forms a composition of another order, and 
 is entirely distinct. 
 
 It will be remarked that I have made no use of the Apocryphal 
 Gospels. These compositions ought not in any manner to be put 
 upon the same footing as the canonical Gospels. They are insipid 
 and puerile amplifications, having the canonical Gospels for their 
 basis, and adding nothing thereto of any value. On the other 
 hand, I have been very attentive to collect the shreds preserved by 
 the Fathers of the Church, of the ancient Gospels which formerly 
 existed parallel with the canonical Gospels, and which are now lost, 
 — such as the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel accord- 
 ing to the Egyptians, the Gospels styled those of Justin, Marcion, 
 and Tatian. The first two are principally important because they 
 were written in Aramean, like the Logia of Matthew, and appear 
 to constitute one version of the Gospel of this apostle, and because 
 they were the Gospel of the Ebionim, — that is, of those small 
 Christian sects of Batanea who preserved the use of Syro-Chaldean, 
 and who appear in some respects to have followed the course 
 marked out by Jesus. But it must be confessed that in the 
 state in which they have come to us, these Gospels are inferior, as 
 critical authorities, to the compilation of Matthew's Gospel which 
 we now possess. 
 
 It will now be seen, I think, what kind of historical value I attri- 
 bute to the Gospels. They are neither biographies after the manner 
 of Suetonius, nor fictitious legends in the style of Philostratus ; they 
 are legendary biographies. I should willingly compare them with 
 the Legends of the Saints, the Lives of Plotinus, Proclus, Isidore, 
 and other writings of the same kind, in which historical truth and 
 the desire to present models of virtue, are combined in various 
 degrees. Inexactitude, which is one of the features of all popular 
 compositions, is there particularly felt. Let us suppose that ten or 
 twelve years ago, three or four old soldiers of the Empire had each 
 
26 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 undertaken to write the life of Napoleon from memory. It is clear 
 that their narratives would contain numerous errors, and great 
 discordances. One of them would place Wagram before Marengo ; 
 another would write without hesitation that Napoleon drove the 
 government of Robespierre from the Tuileries ; a third would omit 
 expeditions of the highest importance. But one thing would cer- 
 tainly result with a great degree of truthfulness from these simple 
 recitals, and that is the character of the hero, the impression which 
 he made around him. In this sense such popular narratives would 
 be worth more than a formal and official history. We may say as 
 much of the Gospels. Solely attentive to bring out strongly the 
 excellency of the Master, his miracles, his teaching, the evangelists 
 display entire indifference to everything that is not of the very 
 spirit of Jesus. The contradictions respecting time, place, and 
 persons, were regarded as insignificant ; for the higher the degree 
 of inspiration attributed to the words of Jesus, the less was 
 granted to the compilers themselves. The latter regarded them- 
 selves as simple scribes, and cared but for one thing, — to omit 
 nothing they knew. 1 
 
 Unquestionably certain preconceived ideas associated themselves 
 with such recollections. Several narratives, especially in Luke, 
 are invented in order to bring out more vividly certain traits of 
 the character of Jesus. This character itself constantly underwent 
 alteration. Jesus would be a phenomenon unparalleled in history 
 if, with the part which he played, he had not early become idea- 
 lised. The legends respecting Alexander were invented before the 
 generation of his companions in arms became extinct ; those re- 
 specting St Francis d'Assisi began in his lifetime. A rapid meta- 
 morphosis operated in the same manner in the twenty or thirty years 
 which followed the death of Jesus, and imposed upon his biography 
 the peculiarities of an ideal legend. Death adds perfection to the 
 most perfect man ; it frees him from all defect in the eyes of those 
 who have loved him. With the wish to paint the Master, there 
 was also the desire to explain him. Many anecdotes were con- 
 
 1 See the passage from Papias, before cited. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 ceived to prove that in him the prophecies regarded as Mes- 
 sianic had had their accomplishment. But this procedure, of 
 which we must not deny the importance, would not suffice to ex- 
 plain everything. No Jewish work of the time gives a series of 
 prophecies exactly declaring what the Messiah should accomplish. 
 Many Messianic allusions quoted by the evangelists are so subtle, 
 so indirect, that one cannot believe they all responded to a 
 generally admitted doctrine. Sometimes they reasoned thus : 
 ** The Messiah ought to do such a thing ; now Jesus is the Mes- 
 siah ; therefore Jesus has done such a thing/' At other times, 
 by an inverse process, it was said : " Such a thing has happened 
 to Jesus ; now Jesus is the Messiah ; therefore such a thing was 
 to happen to the Messiah." 1 Too simple explanations are always 
 false when analysing those profound creations of popular sentiment 
 which baffle all systems by their fulness and infinite variety. 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that, with such documents, in 
 order to present only what is indisputable, we must limit 
 ourselves to general features. In almost all ancient histories, 
 even in those which are much less legendary than these, details 
 open up innumerable doubts. When we have two accounts of 
 the same fact, it is extremely rare that the two accounts agree. 
 Is not this a reason for anticipating many difficulties when we 
 have but one ? We may say that amongst the anecdotes, the 
 discourses, the celebrated sayings which have been given us by the 
 historians, there is not one strictly authentic. Were there steno- 1 
 graph ers to fix these fleeting words ? Was there an annalist always 
 present to note the gestures, the manners, the sentiments, of the 
 actors ? Let any one endeavour to get at the truth as to the way 
 in which such or such contemporary fact has happened ; he will not 
 succeed. Two accounts of the same event given by different eye- 
 witnesses differ essentially. Must we, therefore, reject all the 
 colouring of the narratives, and limit ourselves to the bare facts 
 only ? That would be to suppress history. Certainly, I think that 
 if we except certain short and almost mnemonic axioms, none of the 
 
 1 See, for example, John xix. 23-24. 
 
28 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 discourses reported by Matthew are textual ; even our stenographic 
 reports are scarcely so. I freely admit that the admirable account 
 of the Passion contains many trifling inaccuracies. Would it, how- 
 ever, be writing the history of Jesus to omit those sermons which 
 give to us in such a vivid manner the character of his discourses, and 
 to limit ourselves to saying, with Josephus and Tacitus, " that he 
 was put to death by the order of Pilate at the instigation of the 
 priests?" That would be, in my opinion, a kind of inexactitude 
 worse than that to which we are exposed in admitting the details 
 supplied by the texts. These details are not true to the letter, 
 but they are true with a superior truth, they are more true than 
 the naked truth, in the sense that they are truth rendered expres- 
 sive and articulate — truth idealised. 
 
 I beg those who think that I have placed an exaggerated con- 
 fidence in narratives in great part legendary, to take note of the 
 •vj observation I have just made. To what would the life of Alexan- 
 der be reduced if it were confined to that which is materially cer- 
 tain ? Even partly erroneous traditions contain a portion of truth 
 which history cannot neglect. No one has blamed M. Sprenger for 
 having, in writing the life of Mahomet, made much of the hadith 
 or oral traditions concerning the prophet, and for often having 
 attributed to his hero words which are only known through 
 this source. Yet the traditions respecting Mahomet are not su- 
 perior in historical value to the discourses and narratives which 
 compose the Gospels. They were written between the year 50 
 and the year 140 of the Hegira. When the history of the 
 Jewish schools in the ages which immediately preceded and fol- 
 lowed the birth of Christianity shall be written, no one will make 
 any scruple of attributing to Hillel, Shammai, Gamaliel, the maxims 
 ascribed to them by the Mishnah and the Gemara, although these 
 great compilations were written many hundreds of years after the 
 time of the doctors in question. 
 
 As to those who believe, on the contrary, that history should 
 consist of a simple reproduction of the documents which have 
 come down to us, I beg to observe that such a course is not allow- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 able. The four principal documents are in flagrant contradiction 
 one with another. Josephus rectifies them sometimes. It is ne- 
 cessary to make a selection. To assert that an event cannot take 
 place in two ways at once, or in an impossible manner, is not to" 
 impose an a priori philosophy upon history. The historian ought . 
 not to conclude that a fact is false because he possesses several j 
 versions of it, or because credulity has mixed with them much ' 
 that is fabulous. He ought in such a case to be very cautious, — to 
 examine the texts, and to proceed carefully by induction. There 
 is one class of narratives especially, to which this principle must 
 necessarily be applied. Such are narratives of supernatural 
 events. To seek to explain these, or to reduce them to legends, is 
 not to mutilate facts in the name of theory ; it is to make the ob- 
 * servation of facts our groundwork. None of the miracles with which ^y 
 the old histories are filled took place under scientific conditions. 
 Observation, which has never once been falsified, teaches us that 
 miracles never happen but in times and countries in which they \ 
 are believed, and before persons disposed to believe them. No 
 miracle ever occurred in the presence of men capable of testing 
 its miraculous character. Neither common people nor men of the 
 world are able to do this. It requires great precautions and long 
 habits of scientific research. In our days have we not seen J 
 almost all respectable people dupes of the grossest frauds or 
 of puerile illusions ? Marvellous facts, attested by the whole 
 population of small town's, have, thanks to a severer scrutiny, been 
 exploded. 1 If it is proved that no contemporary miracle will bear / 
 inquiry, is it not probable that the miracles of the past, which 
 have all been performed in popular gatherings, would equally 
 present their share of illusion, if it were possible to criticise them 
 in detail ? 
 
 It is not, then, in the name of this or that philosophy, but in 
 the name of universal experience, that we banish miracle from his- 
 tory. We do not say, " Miracles are impossible." We say, " Up 
 to this time a miracle has never been proved." If to-morrow a 
 
 1 See the Gazette des Tribunaux, 10th Sept. and 11th Nov. 1851, 28th May 1857. 
 
30 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 thaumaturgus present himself with credentials sufficiently im- 
 portant to be discussed, and announce himself as able, say, to raise 
 the dead ; what would be done ? A commission, composed of 
 physiologists, physicists, chemists, persons accustomed to histori- 
 cal criticism, would be named. This commission would choose a 
 corpse, would assure itself that the death was real, would select 
 the room in which the experiment should be made, would arrange 
 the whole system of precautions, so as to leave no chance of doubt. 
 If, under such conditions, the resurrection were effected, a prob- 
 ability almost equal to certainty would be established. As, however, 
 it ought to be possible always to repeat an experiment, — to do over 
 again which has been done once ; and as, in the order of miracle, 
 there can be no question of ease or difficulty, the thaumaturgus would 
 be invited to reproduce his marvellous act under other circum- 
 stances, upon other corpses, in another place. If the miracle suc- 
 ceeded each time, two things would be proved : first, that super- 
 natural events happen in the world ; second, that the power of 
 producing them belongs, or is delegated to, certain persons. But 
 who does not see that no miracle ever took place under these con- 
 ditions ? but that always hitherto the thaumaturgus has chosen 
 the subject of the experiment, chosen the spot, chosen the public ; 
 that, besides, the people themselves — most commonly in conse- 
 quence of the invincible want to see something divine in great 
 events and great men — create the marvellous legends after- 
 wards? Until a new order of things prevails, we shall main- 
 tain then, this principle of historical criticism — that a super- 
 natural account cannot be admitted as such, that it always implies 
 credulity or imposture, that the duty of the historian is to ex- 
 plain it, and seek to ascertain what share of truth, or of error, it 
 may conceal. 
 
 Such are the rules which have been followed in the composition of 
 this work. To the perusal of documentary evidences, I have been able 
 to add an important source of information — the sight of the places 
 where the events occurred. The scientific mission, having for its 
 object the exploration of ancient Phoenicia, which I directed in 1860 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 1 
 
 and 1861, 1 led me to reside on the frontiers of Galilee, and to travel 
 there frequently. I have traversed, in all directions, the country 
 of the Gospels ; I have visited Jerusalem, Hebron, and Samaria ; 
 scarcely any important locality of the history of Jesus has escaped 
 me. All this history, which at a distance seems to float in the 
 clouds of an unreal world, thus took a form, a solidity, which 
 astonished me. The striking agreement of the texts with the 
 places, the marvellous harmony of the Gospel ideal with the 
 country which served it as a framework, were like a revelation to 
 me. I had before my eyes a fifth Gospel, torn, but still legible, and 
 henceforward, through the recitals of Matthew and Mark, in place 
 of an abstract being, whose existence might have been doubted, 
 I saw living and moving an admirable human figure. During the 
 summer, having to go up to Ghazir, in Lebanon, to take a little 
 repose, I fixed, in rapid sketches, the image which had appeared to 
 me, and from them resulted this history. When a cruel bereave- 
 ment hastened my departure, I had but a few pages to write. In 
 this manner the book has been composed almost entirely near the 
 very places where Jesus was born, and where his character was 
 developed. Since my return, I have laboured unceasingly to verify 
 and check in detail, the rough sketch which I had written in haste 
 in a Maronite cabin, with five or six volumes around me. 
 
 Many will regret, perhaps, the biographical form which my work 
 has thus taken. When I first conceived the idea of a history of the 
 origin of Christianity, what I wished to write was, in fact, a history 
 of doctrines, in which men and their actions would have hardly 
 had a place. Jesus would scarcely have been named ; I should 
 have endeavoured to shew how the ideas which have grown under 
 his name took root and covered the world. But I have learned 
 since, that history is not a simple game of abstractions ; that 
 men are more than doctrines. It was not a certain theory on jus- 
 tification and redemption which brought about the Reformation ; 
 it was Luther and Calvin. Parseeism, Hellenism, Judaism, might 
 have been able to have combined under every form ; the doctrines 
 
 1 The work which will contain the results of this mission is in the press. 
 
32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of the Resurrection and of the Word might have developed them- 
 selves during ages without producing this grand, unique, and 
 fruitful fact, called Christianity. This fact is the work of Jesus, 
 of St Paul, of St John. To write the history of Jesus, of St 
 Paul, of St John, is to write the history of the origin of Chris- 
 tianity. The anterior movements belong to our subject only in 
 so far as they serve to throw light upon these extraordinary men, 
 who naturally could not have existed without connexion with that 
 which preceded them. 
 
 In such an effort to" make the great souls of the past live again, 
 some share of divination and conjecture must be permitted. A 
 great life is an organic whole which cannot be rendered by the 
 simple agglomeration of small facts. It requires a profound sen- 
 timent to embrace them all, moulding them into perfect unity. 
 The method of art in a similar subject is a good guide ; the ex- 
 quisite tact of a Goethe would know how to apply it. The essen- 
 tial condition of the creations of art is, that they shall form a 
 living system of which all the parts are mutually dependent and 
 related. 
 
 In histories such as this, the great test that we have got the 
 truth is, to have succeeded in combining the texts in such a man- 
 ner that they shall constitute a logical, probable narrative, har- 
 monious throughout. The secret laws of life, of the progres- 
 sion of organic products, of the melting of minute distinctions, 
 ought to be consulted at each moment ; for what is required to 
 be reproduced, is not the material circumstance, which it is impos- 
 sible to verify, but the very soul of history ; what must be sought is 
 not the petty certainty about trifles, it is the correctness of the 
 general sentiment, the truthfulness of the colouring. Each trait 
 which departs from the rules of classic narration ought to warn us 
 to be careful ; for the fact which has to be related, has been living, 
 natural, and harmonious. If we do not succeed in rendering it such 
 by the recital, it is surely because we have not succeeded in seeing 
 it aright. Suppose that, in restoring the Minerva of Phidias 
 according to the texts, we produced a dry, jarring, artificial 
 
INTKODUCTION. 33 
 
 whole ; what must we conclude ? Simply that the texts want 
 an appreciative interpretation ; that we must study them quietly 
 until they dovetail and furnish a whole in which all the parts are 
 happily blended. Should we then be sure of having a perfect 
 reproduction of the Greek statue ? No ; but at least we should 
 not have the caricature of it ; we should have the general spirit of 
 the work — one of the forms in which it could have existed. 
 
 This idea of a living organism we have not hesitated to take 
 as our guide in the general arrangement of the narrative. The 
 perusal of the Gospels would suffice to prove that the compilers, 
 although having a very true plan of the Life of Jesus in their 
 minds, have not been guided by very exact chronological data ; 
 Papias, besides, expressly teaches this. 1 The expressions : " At this 
 time . . . after that . . . then . . and it came to pass . . /' &c., 
 are the simple transitions intended to connect different narratives 
 with each other. To leave all the information furnished by the 
 Gospels in the disorder in which tradition supplies it, would only 
 be to write the history of Jesus as the history of a celebrated man 
 would be written, by giving pell-mell the letters and anecdotes of 
 his youth, his old age, and of his maturity. The Koran, which 
 presents to us, in the loosest manner, fragments of the different 
 epochs in the life of Mahomet, has yielded its secret to an 
 ingenious criticism ; the chronological order in which the frag- 
 ments were composed has been discovered so as to leave little room 
 for doubt. Such a rearrangement is much more difficult in the 
 case of the Gospels, the public life of Jesus having been shorter and 
 less eventful than the life of the founder of Islamism. Meanwhile, 
 the attempt to find a guiding thread through this labyrinth ought 
 not to be taxed with gratuitous subtlety. There is no great abuse 
 of hypothesis in supposing that a founder of a new religion com- 
 mences by attaching himself to the moral aphorisms already in cir- 
 culation in his time, and to the practices which are in vogue ; that, 
 when riper, and in full possession of his idea, he delights in a kind 
 of calm and poetical eloquence, remote from all controversy, sweet 
 
 1 Zoc. cit. 
 C 
 
o4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and free as pure feeling; that he warms by degrees, becomes ani- 
 mated by opposition, and finishes by polemics and strong invec- 
 tives. Such are the periods which may plainly be distinguished in 
 the Koran. The order adopted with an extremely fine tact by the 
 synoptics, supposes an analogous progress. If Matthew be atten- 
 tively read, we shall find in the distribution of the discourses, a 
 gradation perfectly analogous to that which we have just indicated. 
 The reserved turns of expression of which we make use in unfold- 
 ing the progress of the ideas of Jesus will also be observed. The 
 reader may, if he likes, see in the divisions adopted in doing this, 
 only the indispensable breaks for the methodical exposition of a 
 profound and complicated thought. 
 
 If the love of a subject can help one to understand it, it will also, 
 I hope, be recognised that I have not been wanting in this con- 
 dition. To write the history of a religion, it is necessary, firstly, to 
 have believed it (otherwise we should not be able to understand how 
 it has charmed and satisfied the human conscience); in the second 
 place, to believe it no longer in an absolute manner, for absolute 
 faith is incompatible with sincere history. But love is possible 
 without faith. To abstain from attaching one's self to any of the 
 forms which captivate the adoration of men, is not to deprive our- 
 selves of the enjoyment of that which is good and beautiful in 
 them. No transitory appearance exhausts the Divinity ; God was 
 revealed before Jesus — God will reveal Himself after him. Pro- 
 foundly unequal, and so much the more Divine, as they are grander 
 and more spontaneous, the manifestations of God hidden in the 
 depths of the human conscience are all of the same order. Jesus 
 cannot belong solely to those who call themselves his disciples. 
 He is the common honour of all who share a common humanity. 
 His glory does not consist in being relegated out of history ; we 
 render him a truer worship in shewing that all history is in- 
 comprehensible without him 
 

 %x 
 
 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PLACE OP JESUS IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 The great event of the history of the world is the revolution by 
 which the noblest portions of humanity have passed from the 
 ancient religions, comprised under the vague name of Paganism, 
 to a religion founded on the Divine Unity, the Trinity, and the In- 
 carnation of the Son of God. It has taken nearly a thousand years 
 to accomplish this conversion. The new religion had itself taken 
 at least three hundred years in its formation. But the origin of 
 the revolution in question is a fact which took place under the 
 reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. At that time there lived a 
 superior personage, who, by his bold originality, and by the love 
 which he was able to inspire, became the object and fixed the 
 starting-point of the future faith of humanity. 
 
 As soon as man became distinguished from the animal, he became 
 religious, that is to say, he saw in nature something beyond the phe- 
 nomena, and for himself something beyond death. This sentiment, 
 during some thousands of years, became corrupted in the strangest 
 manner. In many races it did not pass beyond the belief in sorcerers, 
 under the gross form in which we still find it in certain parts of 
 
36 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 Oceania. Among some, the religious sentiment degenerated into 
 the shameful scenes of butchery which form the character of the 
 ancient religion of Mexico. Amongst others, especially in Africa, 
 it became pure Fetichism, that is, the adoration of a material object, 
 to which were attributed supernatural powers. Like the instinct 
 of love, which at times elevates the most vulgar man above him- 
 self, yet sometimes becomes perverted and ferocious, so this 
 divine faculty of religion during a long period seems only-io be ■ 
 "a cancer which must be extirpated from the human race, a cause of__ 
 errors and crimes which the wise ought to endeavour to suppress. 
 
 T-he brilliant civilisations which were developed from artery"" 
 remote antiquity in China, in Babylonia, and in Egypt, caused a 
 certain progress to be made in religion. China arrived very early 
 at a sort of mediocre good sense, which prevented great extrava- 
 gances. She neither knew the advantages nor the abuses of the 
 religious spirit. At all events, she had not in this way any in- 
 fluence in directing the great current of humanity. The religions of 
 Babylonia and Syria were never freed from a substratum of strange 
 sensuality ; these religions remained, until their extinction in the 
 fourth and fifth centuries of our era, schools of immorality, in which 
 at intervals glimpses of the divine world were obtained by a sort 
 of poetic intuition. Egypt, notwithstanding an apparent kind of 
 Fetichism, had very early metaphysical dogmas and a lofty sym- 
 bolism. But doubtless these interpretations of a refined theology 
 were not primitive. Man has never, in the possession of a clear 
 idea, amused himself by clothing it in symbols : it is oftener after 
 long reflections, and from the impossibility felt by the human mind 
 of resigning itself to the absurd, that we seek ideas under the 
 ancient mystic images whose meaning is lost. Moreover, it is not 
 from Egypt that the faith of humanity has come. The elements 
 which, in the religion of a Christian, passing through a thousand 
 transformations, came from Egypt and Syria, are exterior forms of 
 little consequence, or dross of which the most purified worships 
 always retain some portion. The^grand defect of the religions of 
 which we speak was their essentially superstitious character. They 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 37 
 
 only threw into the world millions of amulets and charms. No 
 great moral thought could proceed from races oppressed by a secular 
 despotism, and accustomed to institutions which precluded the 
 exercise of individual liberty. 
 
 The poetry of the soul, faith, liberty, virtue, devotion, made 
 their appearance in the world with the two great races which, in 
 one sense, have made humanity, viz., the Indo-European and the 
 Semitic races. The first religious intuitions of the Indo-Euro- 
 pean race were essentially naturalistic. But it was a profound and 
 moral naturalism, a loving embrace of nature by man, a delicious 
 poetry, full of the sentiment of the Infinite, — the principle, in fine, 
 of all that which the Germanic and Celtic genius, of that which a 
 Shakspeare and a Goethe, snould express in later times. It was 
 neither theology nor moral philosophy — it was a state of melancholy, 
 it was tenderness, it was imagination ; it was, more than all, ear- 
 nestness, the essential condition of morals and religion. The faith 
 of humanity, however, could not come from thence, because these 
 ancient forms of worships had great difficulty in detaching them- 
 selves from Polytheism, and could not attain to a very clear symbol, 
 ^ranminism has only survived to the present day by virtue of the 
 astonishing faculty of conservation which India seems to possess. 
 Buddhism failed in all its approaches towards the West. Druidism 
 remained a form exclusively national, and without universal capacity. 
 The Greek attempts at reform, Orpheism, the Mysteries, did not 
 suffice to give a solid aliment to the soul. Persia alone succeeded 
 in making a dogmatic religion, almost Monotheistic, and skilfully 
 organised ; but it is very possible that this organisation itself was 
 but an imitation, or borrowed. At all events, Persia has not 
 converted the world ; she herself, on the contrary, was converted 
 when she saw the flag of the Divine unity as proclaimed by Mo- 
 hammedanism appear on her frontiers. 
 
 It is the Semitic race 1 which has the glory of having made the 
 
 1 I remind the reader that this word means here simply the people who speak 
 or have spoken one of the languages called Semitic. Such a designation is entirely 
 defective ; but it is one of those words, like " Gothic architecture," " Arabian 
 
38 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 religion of humanity. Far beyond the confines of history, resting 
 under his tent free from the taint of a corrupted world, the 
 Bedouin patriarch prepared the faith of mankind. A strong 
 antipathy against the voluptuous worships of Syria, a grand 
 simplicity of ritual, the complete absence of temples, and the idol 
 reduced to insignificant theraphim, constituted his superiority. 
 Among all the Jxibes of the nomadic Semites, that of the Beni-Israel 
 was already chosen for immense destinies. Ancient relations with 
 Egypt, whence perhaps resulted some purely material ingredients, 
 did but augment their repulsion to idolatry. A " Law " or Thora, 
 very anciently written on tables of stone, and which they attri- 
 buted to their great liberator Moses, had become the code of Mono- 
 theism, and contained, as compared with the institutions of Egypt 
 and Chaldea, powerful germs of social equality and morality. A 
 chest or portable ark, having staples on each side to admit of 
 bearing poles, constituted all their religious materiel; there were 
 collected the sacred objects of the nation, its relics, its souvenirs, 
 and lastly the " book/' 1 the journal of the tribe, always open, but 
 which was written in with great discretion. The family charged 
 with bearing the ark and watching over the portable archives, being 
 near the book and having the control of it, very soon became im- 
 portant. From hence, however, the institution which was to con- 
 trol the future did not come. The Hebrew priest did not differ 
 much from the other priests of antiquity. The character which 
 essentially distinguishes Israel among theocratic ' peoples is, that 
 its priesthood has always been subordinated to individual inspira- 
 tion. Besides its priests, each wandering tribe had its nabi or 
 prophet, a sort of living oracle who was consulted for the solu- 
 tion of obscure questions supposed to require a high degree of 
 clairvoyance. The nabis of Israel, organised in groups "or schoqls, 
 had great influence. Defenders of the ancient democratic spirit, 
 enemies of the rich, opposed to all political organisation, and to 
 
 numerals," which we must preserve to be understood, even after we have demon- 
 strated the error that they imply. 
 1 1 Sam. x. 25. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 39 
 
 whatsoever might draw Israel into the paths of other nations, they 
 were the true authors of the religious pre-eminence of the Jewish 
 people. Very early they announced unlimited hopes, and when 
 the people, in part the victims of their impolitic counsels, had been 
 crushed by the Assyrian power, they proclaimed that a kingdom 
 without bounds was reserved for them, that one day Jerusalem 
 would be the capital of the whole world, and the human race be- 
 come Jews. Jerusalem and its temple appeared to them as a city 
 placed on the summit of a mountain, towards which all people 
 should turn, as an oracle whence the universal law should pro- 
 ceed, as the centre of an ideal kingdom, in which the human race, 
 set at rest by Israel, should find again the joys of Eden. 1 
 
 Mystical utterances already make themselves heard, tending to 
 exalt the martyrdom and celebrate the power of the "Man of 
 Sorrows." \ [Respecting one of those sublime sufferers, who, like 
 Jeremiah, stained the streets of Jerusalem with their blood, one of 
 the inspired wrote a song upon the sufferings and triumph of the 
 " servant of God," in which all the prophetic force of the genius 
 of Israel seemed concentrated. 2 " For he shall grow up before him 
 as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground : he hath no 
 form nor comeliness. He is despised and rejected of men : and 
 we hid as it were our faces from him ; he was despised, and we 
 esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried 
 our sorrows ; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, an* 
 afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was 
 bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon 
 him ; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have 
 gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the 
 Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, 
 and he Was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth : he is brought 
 as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is 
 
 1 Isa. ii. 1--4, and especially chaps, xl., and following, lx., and following ; Micah 
 iv. 1, and following. It must be recollected that the second part of the book of 
 Isaiah, beginning at chap, xl., is not by Isaiah. 
 
 2 Isa. Hi. 13, and following, and liii. entirely. 
 
40 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. And he made his grave 
 with the wicked. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for 
 sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the plea- 
 sure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." 
 
 •Important modifications were made at the same time in the 
 Thora.: New texts, pretending to represent the true law of Moses, 
 such as Deuteronomy, were produced, and inaugurated in reality a 
 very different spirit from that of the old nomads. A marked fa- 
 naticism was the dominant feature of this spirit. Furious believers 
 unceasingly instigated violence against all who wandered from the 
 worship of Jehovah, — they succeeded in establishing a code of 
 blood, making death the penalty for religious faults. Piety brings, 
 almost always, singular contradictions of vehemence and mildness. 
 This zeal, unknown to the coarser simplicity of the time of the 
 Judges, inspired tones of moving prophecy and tender unction, 
 which the world had never heard till then. (A strong ten- 
 dency towards social questions already made itself felt; Utopias, 
 dreams of a perfect society, took a place in the code. The Penta- 
 teuch, a mixture of patriarchal morality and ardent devotion, 
 primitive intuitions and pious subtleties, like those which filled the 
 souls of Hezekiah, of Josiah, and of Jeremiah, was thus fixed in 
 the form in which we now see it, and became for ages the absolute 
 rule of the national mind, j 
 
 This great book once created, the history of the Jewish people 
 unfolded itself with an irresistible force. The great empires which 
 followed each other in Western Asia, in destroying its hope of a 
 terrestrial kingdom, threw it into religious dreams, which it cher- 
 ished with a kind of sombre passion. Caring little for the national 
 dynasty or political independence, it accepted all governments 
 which permitted it to practise freely its worship and follow its 
 usages. Israel will henceforward have no other guidance than that 
 of its religious enthusiasts, no other enemies than those of the 
 Divine unity, no other country than its Law. 
 
 And this Law, it must be remarked, was entirely social .and 
 moral. It was the work of men penetrated with a high ideal of 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 41 
 
 the present life, and believing that they had found the best means 
 of realising it. ( The conviction of all was, that the Thora, well 
 observed, could not fail to give perfect felicity. This Thora has 
 nothing in common with the Greek or Eoman "Laws," which, 
 occupying themselves with scarcely anything but abstract right, 
 entered little into questions of private happiness and morality. 
 We feel beforehand that the results which will proceed from it 
 will be of a social, and not a political order, that the work at 
 which this people labours is a kingdom of God, not a civil re- 
 public ; a universal institution, not a nationality or a country. 
 
 Notwithstanding numerous failures, Israel admirably sustained 
 this vocation. A series of pious men, Ezra, Nehemiah, Onias, 
 the Maccabees, consumed with zeal for the Law, succeeded each 
 other in the defence of the ancient institutions. The idea that 
 Israel was a holy people, a tribe chosen by God and bound to 
 Him by covenant, took deeper and firmer root. An immense 
 expectation filled their souls. All Indo-European antiquity had 
 placed paradise in the beginning ; all its poets had wept a vanished 
 golden age. Israel placed the age of gold in the future. The 
 perennial poesy of religious souls, the Psalms, blossomed from this 
 exalted piety, with their divine and melancholy harmony. Israel 
 became truly and specially the people of God, while around it 
 the pagan religions were more and more reduced, in Persia and 
 Babylonia, to an official charlatanism, in Egypt and Syria to a 
 gross idolatry, and in the Greek and Eoman world to mere parade. 
 That which the Christian martyrs did in the first centuries 
 of our era, that which the victims of persecuting orthodoxy have 
 done, even in the bosom of Christianity, up to our time, the Jews 
 did during the two centuries which preceded the Christian era. 
 They were a living protest against superstition and religious 
 materialism. An extraordinary movement of ideas, ending in the 
 most opposite results, made of them, at this epoch, the most strik- 
 ing and original people in the world. Their dispersion along all 
 the coast of the Mediterranean, and the use of the Greek language, 
 which they adopted when out of Palestine, prepared the way for a 
 
42 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 propagandism, of which ancient societies, divided into small nation- 
 alities, had never offered a single example. 
 
 Up to the time of the Maccabees, Judaism, in spite of its per- 
 sistence in announcing that it would one day be the religion of 
 the human race, had had the characteristic of all the other wor- 
 ships of antiquity, it was a worship of the family and the tribe. 
 The Israelite thought, indeed, that his worship was the best, and 
 spoke with contempt of strange gods ; but he believed also that 
 the religion of the true God was made for himself alone. Only 
 when a man entered into the Jewish family did he embrace the 
 worship of Jehovah. 1 No Israelite cared to convert the stranger 
 to a worship which was the patrimony of the sons of Abraham. 
 The development of the pietistic spirit, after Ezra and Nehemiah, 
 led to a much firmer and more logical conception. Judaism be- 
 came the true religion in a more absolute manner: to all who wished, 
 the right of entering it was given 2 ; soon it became a work of 
 piety to bring into it the greatest number possible. 3 Doubtless 
 the refined sentiment which elevated John the Baptist, Jesus, and 
 St Paul above the petty ideas of race, did not yet exist ; for, by a 
 strange contradiction, these converts were little respected and were 
 treated with disdain.4 But the idea of a sovereign religion, the 
 idea that there was something in the world superior to country, to 
 blood, to laws — the idea which makes apostles and martyrs — was 
 founded. Profound pity for the pagans, however brilliant might 
 be their worldly fortune, was henceforth the feeling of every 
 Jew. 5 By a cycle of legends destined to furnish models of im- 
 movable firmness, such as the histories of Daniel and his coin- 
 
 1 Ruth i. 16. 2 Esther ix. 27. 
 
 3 Matt, xxiii. 15; Josephus, Vita, 23 ; B. J., n. xvii. 10, vn. iii. 3; Ant., xx. 
 ii. 4; Horat., Sat. L, iv., 143; Juv., xiv. 96, and following; Tacitus, Ann., u, 
 85; Hist, v. 5; Dion Cassius, xxxvii. 17. 
 
 4 Mishnah, Shebiit, x. 9; Talmud of Babylon, Niddah, fol. 13 b, Jebamoth, 47 b; 
 Kiddushim 70, b; Midrash, Jalkut Ruth, fol. 163 d. 
 
 5 Apocryphal letter of Baruch, in Fabricius, Cod. pseud, v. L, ii., 147, and fol- 
 lowing. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 43 
 
 panions, the mother of the Maccabees and her seven sons,i the 
 romance of the race-course of Alexandria 2 -f the guides of the 
 people sought above all to inculcate the idea, that virtue consists 
 in a fanatical attachment to fixed religious institutions. 
 
 The persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes made this idea a pas- 
 sion, almost a frenzy. It was something very analogous to that 
 which happened under Nero, two hundred and thirty years later. 
 Eage and despair threw the believers into the world of visions and 
 dreams. The first apocalypse, " The Book of Daniel/' appeared. 
 It was like a revival of prophecy, but under a very different form 
 from the ancient one, and with a much larger idea of the destinies 
 of the world. The Book of Daniel gave, in a manner, the last ex- 
 pression to the Messianic hopes. The Messiah was no longer a 
 king, after the manner of David and Solomon, a theocratic and 
 Mosaic Cyrus ; he was a " Son of man " appearing in the clouds 3 
 — a supernatural being, invested with human form, charged to rule 
 the world, and to preside over the golden age. \ Perhaps the Sosi- 
 osh of Persia, the great prophet who was to 'come, charged with 
 preparing the reign of Ormuzd, gave some features to this new 
 ideal.* The unknown author of the Book of Daniel had, in any 
 case, a decisive influence on the religious event which was about 
 to transform the world. He supplied the mise- en- scene, and the 
 technical terms of the new belief in the Messiah ; and we might 
 apply to him what Jesus said of John the Baptist, — Before him, 
 the prophets ; after him, the kingdom of God. 
 
 It must not, however, be supposed that this profoundly religious 
 and soul-stirring movement had particular dogmas for its primary 
 impulse, as was the case in all the conflicts which have disturbed 
 
 1 II. Book of Maccabees, ch. vii. and the De Maccabceis, attributed to Josephus. 
 Cf. Epistle to the Hebrews xi. 33, and following. 
 
 2 in. Book (Apocr.) of Maccabees; Bufin, Suppl. ad Jos., Contra Apionem, ii. 5. 
 
 3 Chap. vii. 13, and following. 
 
 4 Vendidad, chap. xix. 18, 19; Mindkhired, a passage published in the " Zeits- 
 chrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft," chap. i. 263; JBoundehesck, 
 chap. xxxi. The want of certain chronology for the Zend and Pehlvis texta 
 leaves much doubt hovering over the relations between the Jewish and Persian 
 beliefs. 
 
44 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 the bosom of Christianity. The Jew of this epoch was as little 
 theological as possible. He did not speculate upon the essence 
 of the Divinity; the beliefs about angels, about the destinies of 
 man, about the Divine j)ersonality, of which the first germs might 
 already be perceived, were quite optional — they were meditations, 
 to which each one surrendered himself according to the turn of 
 his mind, but of which a great number of men had never heard. 
 They were the most orthodox even, who did not share in these 
 particular imaginations, and who adhered to the simplicity of the 
 Mosaic law. No dogmatic power analogous to that which ortho- 
 dox Christianity has given to the Church then existed. It was 
 only at the beginning of the third century, when Christianity had 
 fallen into the hands of reasoning races, mad with dialectics and 
 metaphysics, that that fever for definitions commenced which 
 made the history of the Church but the history of one immense 
 .controversy. There were disputes also among the Jews — excited 
 schools brought opposite solutions to almost all the questions 
 which were agitated ; but in these contests, of which the Talmud 
 has preserved the principal details, there is not a single word of 
 speculative theology. _ To observe and maintain the law, because 
 the law was just, and because, when well observed, it gave happi- 
 ness — such was Judaism. No credo, no theoretical symbol. One 
 of the disciples of the boldest Arabian philosophy, Moses Mai- 
 monides, was able to become the oracle of the synagogue, because 
 he was well versed in the canonical law. 
 
 The reigns of the last Asmoneans, and that of Herod, saw the 
 excitement grow still stronger. They were filled by an uninter- 
 rupted series of religious movements. In the degree that power 
 became secularised, and passed into the hands of unbelievers, the 
 Jewish people lived less and less for the earth, and became more 
 and more absorbed by the strange fermentation which was operat- 
 ing in their midst. The world, distracted by other spectacles, had 
 little knowledge of that which passed in this forgotten corner of 
 the East. The minds abreast of their age were, however, better in- 
 formed. The tender and clear-sighted Virgil seems to answer, as 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 45 
 
 by a secret echo, to the second Isaiah. The birth of a child throws 
 him into dreams of a universal palingenesis. 1 These dreams 
 were of every day occurrence, and shaped into a kind of literature 
 which was designated Sibylline. The quite recent formation of 
 the empire exalted the imagination ; the great era of peace on 
 which it entered, and that impression of melancholy sensibility 
 which the mind experiences after long periods of revolution, gave 
 birth on all sides to unlimited hopes. 
 
 In Judea expectation was at its height. Holy persons — among 
 whom may be named the aged Simeon, who, legend tells us, held 
 Jesus in his arms ; Anna, daughter of Phanuel, regarded as a 
 prophetess 2 — passed their life about the temple, fasting, and pray- 
 ing, that it might please God not to take them from the world 
 without having seen the fulfilment of the hopes of Israel. They 
 felt a powerful presentiment j they were sensible of the approach 
 of something unknown. 
 
 This confused mixture of clear views and dreams, this alternation 
 of deceptions and hopes, these ceaseless aspirations, driven back by 
 an odious reality, found at last their interpretation in the incom- 
 parable man, to whom the universal conscience has decreed the 
 title of Son of God, and that with justice, since he has advanced 
 religion as no other has done, or probably ever will be able to do. 
 
 1 Egl. iv. The Cumosum carmen (v. 4) was a soi+ of Sibylline apocalypse, 
 borrowed from the philosophy of history familiar to the East. See Servius on 
 this verse, and Carmina Sibyllina, hi. 97-817; cf. Tac, Hist, v. 13. 
 
 2 Luke ii. 25, and followiog. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 INFANCY AND YOUTH OF JESUS — HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 Jesus was born at Nazareth,! a small town of Galilee, which before 
 his time had no celebrity. 2 All his life he was designated by 
 the name of " the Nazarene," 3 and it is only by a rather embar- 
 rassed and round-about way,4 that, in the legends respecting him, he 
 
 1 Matt. xiii. 54, and following ; Mark vi. 1, and following ; John i. 45-46. 
 
 2 It is neither named in the writings of the Old Testament, nor in Josephus, 
 nor in the Talmud. 
 
 3 Mark i. 24 ; Luke xviii. 37; John xix. 19; Actsii. 22, iii. 6. Hence the name 
 of Nazarenes for a long time applied to Christians, and which still designates them 
 in all Mohammedan countries. 
 
 4 The census effected by Quirinus, to which legend attributes the journey 
 from Bethlehem, is at least ten years later than the year in which, according to 
 Luke and Matthew, Jesus was born. The two evangelists in effect make Jesus to 
 be born under the reign of Herod, (Matt. ii. 1, 19, 22 ; Luke i. 5.) Now, the 
 census of Quirinus did not take place until after the deposition of Archelaus, 
 i.e., ten years after the death of Herod, the 37th year from the era of Actium, 
 (Josephus, Ant., xvn. xiii. 5, xviii. i. 1, ii. 1.) The inscription by which it was 
 formerly pretended to establish that Quirinus had levied two censuses is recog- 
 nised as false, (see Orelli, Inscr. Lat., No. 623, and the supplement of Henzen in 
 this number; Borghesi, Fastes Consulaires, [yet unpublished,] in the year 742.) The 
 census in any case would only be applied to the parts reduced to Roman pro- 
 vinces, and not to the tetrarchies. The texts by which it is sought to prove that 
 some of the operations for statistics and tribute commanded by Augustus ought 
 to extend to the dominion of the Herods, either do not mean what they have been 
 made to say, or are from Christian authors who have borrowed this statement 
 from the Gospel of Luke. That which proves, besides, that the journey of the 
 family of Jesus to Bethlehem is not historical, is the motive attributed to 
 it. Jesus was not of the family of David, (see Chap. XV.,) and if he had been, 
 we should still not imagine that his parents should have been forced, for an 
 operation purely registrative and financial, to come to enrol themselves in the 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 47 
 
 is made to be born at Bethlehem. We shall see later 1 the motive for 
 this supposition, and how it was the necessary consequence of the 
 Messianic character attributed to Jesus. 2 The precise date of 
 his birth is unknown. It took place under the reign of Augustus, 
 about the Roman year 7o0, probably some years before the year 1 
 of that era, which all civilised people date from the day on which 
 he was born. 3 
 
 The name of Jesus, which was given him, is an alteration from 
 Joshua. It was a very common name ; but afterwards, mysteries, 
 and an allusion to his character of Saviour, were naturally sought 
 for in it. 4 Perhaps he, like all mystics, exalted himself in this 
 respect. It is thus that more than one great vocation in history 
 has been caused by a name given to a child without premeditation. 
 Ardent natures never bring themselves to see aught of chance in 
 what concerns them. God has regulated everything for them, t 
 and they see a sign of the supreme will in the most insignificant 
 circumstances. 
 
 The population of Galilee was very mixed, as the very name of 
 
 place whence their ancestors had proceeded a thousand years before. In imposing 
 such an obligation, the Eoman authority would have sanctioned pretensions 
 threatening her safety. 
 
 1 Chap. m^-#-J^ «X~£ ' 
 
 2 Matt. ii. 1, and following; Luke ii. 1, and following. The omission of this 
 narrative in Mark, and the two parallel passages, Matt. xiii. 54, and Mark. vi. 1, 
 where Nazareth figures as the "country" of Jesus, prove that such a legend was 
 absent from the primitive text which has furnished the rough draft of the present 
 Gospels of Matthew and Mark. It was to meet oft-repeated objections that there 
 were added to the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew reservations, the con- 
 tradiction of which with the rest of the text was not so flagrant, that it was 
 felt necessary to correct the passages which had at first been written from 
 quite another point of view. Luke, on the contrary, (chap. iv. 16,) writing' more 
 carefully, has employed, in order to be consistent, a more softened expression. 
 As to John, he knows nothing of the journey to Bethlehem ; for him, Jesus is 
 merely " of Nazareth " or " Galilean," in two circumstances in which it would have 
 been of the highest importance to recall his birth at Bethlehem, (chap. i. 45, 46, 
 vii. 41, 42.) 
 
 3 It is known that the calculation which serves as basis of the common era was 
 made in the sixth century by Dionysius the Less. This calculation implies cer- 
 tain purely hypothetical data. 
 
 * Matt. i. 21 ; Luke i. 31. 
 
48 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 the country 1 indicated. This province counted amongst its in- 
 habitants, in the time of Jesus, many who were not Jews, (Phoeni- 
 cians, Syrians, Arabs, and even Greeks.) 2 The conversions to 
 Judaism were not rare in these mixed countries. It is there- 
 fore impossible to raise here any question of race, and to seek to 
 ascertain what blood flowed in the veins of him who has contri- 
 buted most to efface the distinctions of blood in humanity. 
 
 He proceeded from the ranks of the people.3 His father Joseph 
 and his mother Mary were people in humble circumstances, arti- 
 sans living by their labour, 4 in the state so common in the East, 
 which is neither ease nor poverty. The extreme simplicity of life 
 in such countries, by dispensing with the need of comfort, renders 
 the privileges of wealth almost useless, and makes every one 
 voluntarily poor. On the other hand, the total want of taste 
 for art, and for that which contributes to the elegance of 
 material life, gives a naked aspect to the house of him who 
 otherwise wants for nothing. Apart from something sordid and 
 repulsive which Islamism bears everywhere with it, the town of 
 Nazareth, in the time of Jesus, did not perhaps much differ from 
 what it is to-day. 5 We see the streets where he played when a 
 child, in the stony paths or little cross ways which separate the 
 dwellings. The house of Joseph doubtless much resembled those 
 poor shops, lighted by the door, serving at once for shop, kitchen, 
 and bed-room, having for furniture a mat, some cushions on the 
 ground, one or two clay pots, and a painted chest. 
 
 The family, whether it proceeded from one or many marriages, 
 
 1 Gelil haggoyim, " Circle of the Gentiles." 
 
 2 Strabo, xvi. ii. 35 ; Jos., Vita, 12. 
 
 3 We shall explain later (Chap. XffV.) the origin of the genealogies intended to 
 connect him with the race of David." The Ebionites suppressed them, (Epiph., 
 Adv. Rcer., xxx. 14.) 
 
 4 Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi. 3; John vi. 42. 
 
 6 The rough aspect of the ruins which cover Palestine proves that the towns 
 which were not constructed in the Roman manner were very badly built. As to 
 the form of the houses, it is, in Syria, so simple and so imperiously regulated by 
 the climate, that it can scarcely ever have changed. 
 
1 
 
 \ LIFE OF JESUS. 49 
 
 was rather numerous. Jesus had brothers and sisters,'* of whom 
 he seems to have been the eldest. 2 All have remained obscure, 
 for it appears that the four personages who were named as his 
 brothers, and among whom one, at least, — James, had acquired 
 great importance in theWrliest years of the development of Chris- 
 tianity, were his cousin^^erman. Mary, in fact, had a sister also 
 named Mary, 3 who married a certain Alpheus or Cleophas (these 
 two names appear to designate the same person 4 ), and was the 
 mother of several sons who played a considerable part among the 
 first disciples of Jesus. These cousin s-german who adhered to the 
 young Master, while his own brothers opposed him, 5 took the title 
 of " brothers of the Lord." 6 The real brothers of Jesus, like their 
 mother, became important only after his death.? Even then they do 
 
 1 Matt. xii. 46, and following, xiii. 55, and following ; Mark iii. 31, and following, 
 vi. 3 ; Luke viii. 19, and following; John ii. 12, vii. 3, 5, 10; Acts i. 14. 
 
 2 Matt. i. 25. 
 
 3 That these two sisters should bear the same name is a singular fact. There 
 is probably some error arising from the habit of giving the name of Mary indis- 
 criminately to Galilean women. . 
 
 4 They are not etymologically identical. *AX$a!os is the transcription of the 
 Syro-Chaldean name Halpha'i; KXconas or KXeotras is a shortened form of 
 KXeoirarpos. But there might have been an artificial substitution of one for the 
 other, just as Joseph was called " Hegissippus," the Eliakim " Alcimus," &c. 
 
 6 John vii. 3, and following. 
 
 6 In fact, the four personages who are named (Matt. xiii. 55, Mark vi. 3) as sons 
 of Mary, mother of Jesus, Jacob, Joseph or Joses, Simon, and Jude, are found 
 again a little later as sons of Mary and Cleophas. (Matt, xxvii. 56 ; Mark xv. 40 ; 
 Gal. i. 19 ; Ejoist. James i.l ; Epist. Jude 1 ; Euseb., Chron. ad. ann. R. dcccx. ; Hist. 
 Eccl., iii. 11, 32; Constit. Apost., vii. 46.) The hypothesis we offer alone removes 
 the immense difficulty which is found in supposing two sisters having each three 
 or four sons bearing the same names, and in admitting that James and Simon, 
 the first two bishops of Jerusalem, designated as brothers of the Lord, may have 
 been real brothers of Jesus, who had begun by being hostile to him and then 
 were converted. The evangelist, hearing these four sons of Cleophas called 
 " brothers of the Lord," has placed by mistake their names in the passage Matt. 
 xiii. 5= Mark vi. 3, instead of the names of the real brothers, which have always 
 remained obscure. In this manner we may explain how the character of the 
 personages called "brothers of the Lord," of James, for instance, is so different 
 from that of the real brothers of Jesus as they are seen delineated in John vii. 3 
 and following. The expression " brother of the Lord " evidently constituted, in 
 the primitive Church, a kind of order similar to that of the apostles. See especially 
 1 Cor. ix. 5. 7 Acts i. 14. 
 
 D 
 
50 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 not appear to have equalled in importance their cousins, whose 
 conversion had been more spontaneous, and whose character seems 
 to have had more originality. Their names were so little known, 
 that when the evangelist put in the mouth of the men of Nazareth 
 the enumeration of the brothers according to natural relationship, 
 the names of the sons of Cleophas first presented themselves to 
 him. 
 
 His sisters were married at Nazareth, 1 and he spent the first 
 years of his youth there. Nazareth was a small town in a hollow, ^ 
 opening broadly at the summit of the group of mountains which 
 close the plain of Esdraelon on the north. The population is now 
 from three to four thousand, and it can never have varied much.2 
 The cold there is sharp in winter, and the climate very healthy. 
 The town, like all the small Jewish towns at this period, was a 
 heap of huts built without style, and would exhibit that harsh and 
 poor asjDect which villages in Semitic countries now present. 
 The houses, it seems, did not differ much from those cubes of 
 stone, without exterior or interior elegance, which still cover the 
 richest parts of the Lebanon, and which, surrounded with vines 
 and fig-trees, are still very agreeable. The environs, moreover, are 
 charming; and no place in the world was so well adapted for 
 dreams of perfect happiness. Even in our times Nazareth is still 
 a delightful abode, the only place, perhaps, in Palestine in which 
 the mind feels itself relieved from the burden which oppresses 
 it in this unequalled desolation. The people are amiable and 
 cheerful ; the gardens fresh and green. Anthony the Martyr, at 
 the end of the sixth century, drew an enchanting picture of the 
 fertility of the environs, which he compared to paradise. 3 Some 
 valleys on the western side fully justify his description. The 
 fountain, where formerly the life and gaiety of the little town were 
 concentrated, is destroyed ; its broken channels contain now only a 
 
 1 Mark vi. 3. 
 
 2 According to Josephus, (B. J., in. iii. 2,) the smallest town of Galilee had 
 more than five thousand inhabitants. This is probably an exaggeration. 
 
 3 Itiner., § 5. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 51 
 
 muddy stream. But the beauty of the women who meet there in 
 the evening, — that beauty which was remarked even in the sixth 
 century, and which was looked upon as a gift of the Virgin Mary,l 
 — is still most strikingly preserved. It is the Syrian type in 
 all its languid grace. No doubt Mary was there almost every 
 day, and took her place with her jar on her shoulder in the 
 file of her companions who have remained unknown. Anthony the 
 Martyr remarks, that the Jewish women, generally disdainful to 
 Christians, were here full of affability. Even now religious animo- 
 sity is weaker at Nazareth than elsewhere. 
 
 The horizon from the town is limited. But if we ascend a / 
 little, the plateau, swept by a perpetual breeze, which overlooks the 
 highest houses, the prospect is splendid. On the west are seen 
 the fine outlines of Carmel, terminated by an abrupt point which 
 seems to plunge into the sea. Before us are spread out the double 
 summit which towers above Megiddo ; the mountains of the country 
 of Shechem, with their holy places of the patriarchal age ; the hills 
 of Gilboa, the small picturesque group to which are attached the 
 graceful or terrible recollections of Shunem and of Endor; and 
 Tabor, with its beautiful rounded form, which antiquity compared 
 to a bosom. Through a depression between the mountains of 
 Shunem and Tabor, are seen the valley of the Jordan and the high 
 plains of Persea, which form a continuous line from the eastern side. 
 On the north, the mountains of Safed, in inclining towards the sea 
 conceal St Jean d'Acre, but permit the Gulf of Kha'ifa to be dis- 
 tinguished. Such was the horizon of Jesus. This enchanted 
 circle, cradle of the kingdom of God, was for years his world. 
 Even in his later life he departed but little beyond the familiar limits ,, 
 of his childhood. For yonder, northwards, a glimpse is caught, 
 almost on the flank of Hermon, of Csesarea-Philippi, his furthest 
 point of advance into the Gentile world ; and here southwards, 
 the more sombre aspect of these Samaritan hills foreshadows the 
 dreariness of Judea beyond, parched as by a scorching wind of 
 desolation and death. 
 
 1 Ant. Martyr, Itiner., § 5. 
 
52 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 If the world, remaining Christian, but attaining to a better idea 
 of the esteem in which the origin of its religion should be held, 
 should ever wish to replace by authentic holy places the mean and 
 apocryphal sanctuaries to which the piety of dark ages attached 
 itself, it is upon this height of Nazareth that it will rebuild its 
 temple. There, at the birthplace of Christianity, and in the centre 
 of the actions of its Founder, the great church ought to be raised 
 in which all Christians may worship. There, also, on this spot 
 where sleep Joseph the carpenter and thousands of forgotten 
 Nazarenes who never passed beyond the horizon of their valley, 
 would be a better station than any in the world beside for the 
 philosopher to contemplate the course of human affairs, to console 
 himself for their uncertainty, and to reassure himself as to the 
 Divine end which the world pursues through countless falterings, 
 and in spite of the universal vanity. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 EDUCATION OF JESUS. 
 
 ' This aspect of nature, at once smiling and grand, was the whole 
 « education of Jesus. He learnt to read and to write, 1 doubtless, 
 according to the Eastern method, which consisted in putting in 
 the hands of the child a book, which he repeated in cadence with 
 his little comrades, until he knew it by heart. 2 It is doubtful, 
 however, if he understood the Hebrew writings in their original 
 tongue. His biographers make him quote them according to the 
 translations in the Aramean tongue ; 3 his principles of exegesis, 
 as far as we can judge of them by those of his disciples, much 
 resembled those which were then in vogue, and which form the 
 spirit of the Targums and the MidrashimA 
 
 The schoolmaster in the small Jewish towns was the hazzan, 
 or reader in the synagogues. 5 Jesus frequented little the higher 
 schools of the scribes or sopherim, (Nazareth had perhaps none of 
 them), and he had none of those titles which confer, in the eyes of 
 the vulgar, the privileges of knowledge. 6 It would, nevertheless, 
 be a great error to imagine that Jesus was what we call ignorant. 
 Scholastic education among us draws a profound distinction, in 
 respect of personal worth, between those who have received and 
 
 1 John viii. 6. 
 
 2 Testam. of the Twelve Patriarchs, Levi, 6. 
 
 3 Matt, xxvii. 46 ; Mark xv. 34. 
 
 4 Jewish translations and commentaries of the Talmudic epoch. 
 6 Mishnah, Shabbath, i. 3. 
 
 6 Matt. xiii. 54, and following ; John vii. 15. 
 
54 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 those who have been deprived of it. It was not so in the East, 
 nor, in general, in the good old times. The state of ignorance in 
 which, among us, owing to our isolated and entirely individual 
 life, those remain who have not passed through the schools, was 
 unknown in those societies where moral culture, and especially the 
 general spirit of the age, was transmitted by the perpetual inter- 
 course of man with man. The Arab, who has never had a teacher, 
 is often, nevertheless a very superior man; for the tent is a kind 
 of school always open, where, from the contact of well-educated 
 men, there is produced a great intellectual and even literary 
 movement. The refinement of manners and the acuteness of the 
 intellect have, in the East, nothing in common with what we call 
 education. It is the men from the schools, on the contrary, who 
 are considered badly trained and pedantic. In this social state, 
 ignorance, which, among us, condemns a man to an inferior rank, 
 is the condition of great things and of great originality. 
 
 It is not probable that Jesus knew Greek. This language was 
 very little spread in Judea beyond the classes who participated in 
 the Government, and the towns inhabited by pagans, like Ceesarea. 1 
 The real mother tongue of Jesus was the Syrian dialect mixed 
 with Hebrew, which was then spoken in Palestine. 2 Still less 
 probably had he any knowledge of Greek culture. This culture 
 was proscribed by the doctors of Palestine, who included 
 in the same malediction " he who rears swine, and he who 
 
 1 Mishnah, Shelcalim, iii. 2 ; Talmud of Jerusalem, Megilla, halaca xi ; Sota, 
 vii. 1 ; Talmud of Babylon, Baba Kama, 83 a; Megilla, 8 b, and following. 
 
 2 Matthew xxvii. 46 ; Mark iii. 17, v. 41, vii. 34, xiv. 36, xv. 34. The 
 expression rj irarpws cfxovr) in the writers of the time, always designates the 
 Semitic dialect, which was spoken in Palestine, (n. Mace. vii. 21, 27, xii. 37; Acts 
 xxi. 37, 40, xxii. 2, xxvi. 14; Josephus, Ant., xviil, vi., 10, xx. sub fin; B. 
 J., procem 1 ; v. vi.. 3, v. ix. 2, vi. ii. 1 ; Against Appian, i. 9 ; Be Mace, 12, 
 16.) We shall shew, later, that some of the documents which served as the basis 
 for the synoptic Gospels were written in this Semitic dialect. It was the same 
 with many of the Apocrypha, (iv. Book of Mace. xvi. ad calcem, &c.) In fine, the 
 sects issuing directly from the first Galilean movement, (Nazarenes, Ebionim, &c.,) 
 which continued a long time in Batanea and Hauran, spoke a Semitic dialect, 
 
 Eusebius, Be Situ et Nomin Loc. Hebr., at the word Xw/3a ; Epiph., A dv. Hcer., xxix. 
 7, 9, xxx. 3; St Jerome, in Matt. xii. 13 ; Dial, adv. Pelag., iii. 2.) 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 55 
 
 teaches his son Greek science." 1 At all events it had not pene- 
 trated into little towns like Nazareth. Notwithstanding the 
 anathema of the doctors, some Jews, it is true, had already em- 
 braced the Hellenic culture. Without speaking of the Jewish school 
 of Egypt, in which the attempts to amalgamate Hellenism and 
 Judaism had been in operation nearly two hundred years, a Jew, 
 Nicholas of Damascus, had become, even at this time, one of the 
 most distinguished men, one of the best informed, and one of the 
 most respected of his age. Josephus was destined soon to furnish 
 another example of a Jew completely Grecianised. But Nicholas 
 was only a Jew in blood. Josephus declares that he himself was 
 an exception among his contemporaries; 2 and the whole schismatie_ 
 school of Egypt was detached to such a degree from Jerusalem 
 that we do not find the least allusion to it either in the Talmud or 
 in Jewish tradition. Certain it is, that Greek was very little 
 studied at Jerusalem, that Greek studies were considered as dan- 
 gerous, and even servile, that they were regarded, at the best, as a 
 mere womanly accomplishment.3 The study of the Law was the 
 only one accounted liberal and worthy of a thoughtful man.4 
 Questioned as to the time when it would be proper to teach child- 
 ren " Greek wisdom," a learned Eabbi had answered, " At the time 
 when it is neither day nor night ; since it is written of the Law, 
 Thou shalt study it day and night." 5 
 
 Neither directly nor indirectly, then, did any element of Greek 
 culture reach Jesus. He knew nothing beyond Judaism ; his 
 mind preserved that free innocence which an extended and varied 
 culture always weakens. In the very bosom of Judaism he re- 
 ' mained a stranger to many efforts often parallel to his own. On 
 the one hand, the asceticism of the Essenes or the Therapeutae ; 6 
 
 1 Mishnah, Sanhedrim, xi. 1 ; Talmud of Babylon, Baba Kama, 82 b and 83 a ; 
 Sota, 49 a and b ; Menachoth, 64 b ; comp. il Mace. iv. 10, and following. 
 
 2 Jos., Ant. xx. xi., 2. 
 
 3 Talmud of Jerusalem, Peak, i. 1. 
 
 4 Jos., Ant., loc. cit. ; Orig., Contra Celsum, ii. 34. 
 
 6 Talmud of Jerusalem, Peak, i. 1 ; Talmud of Babylon, Menachoth, 99 b. 
 
 6 The Therapeutce of Philo are a branch of the Essenes. Their name appears 
 
H^KJUi 
 
 tM 
 
 55 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 on the other, the fine efforts of religions philosophy pnt forth 
 by the Jewish school of Alexandria, and of which Philo, his con- 
 temporary, was the ingenious interpreter, were unknown to him. 
 The frequent resemblances which we find between him and Philo, 
 those excellent maxims about the love of God, charity, rest in 
 God, 1 which are like an echo between the Gospel and the writings 
 of the illustrious Alexandrian thinker, proceed from the common 
 tendencies which the wants of the time inspired in all elevated 
 minds. 
 
 Happily for him, he was also ignorant of the strange scholasti- 
 cism which was taught at Jerusalem, and which was soon to 
 constitute the Talmud. If some Pharisees had already brought 
 it into Galilee, he did not associate with them, and when, later, he 
 encountered this silly casuistry, it only inspired him with disgust. 
 We may suppose, however, that the principles of Hillel were not 
 unknown to him. Hillel, fifty years before him, had given utter- 
 ance to aphorisms very analogous to his own. By his poverty, 
 so meekly endured, by the sweetness of his character, by his oppo- 
 sition to priests and hypocrites, Hillel was the true master of 
 Jesus, 2 if indeed it may be permitted to speak of a master in con- 
 nexion with so high an originality as his. 
 
 The perusal of the books of the Old Testament made much im- 
 pression upon him. The canon of the holy books was composed 
 of two principal parts — the Law, that is to say, the Pentateuch, 
 and the Prophets, such as we now possess them. An extensive alle- 
 gorical exegesis was applied to all these books ; and it was sought 
 to draw from them something that was not in them, but which 
 responded to the aspirations of the age. The Law, which repre- 
 sented not the ancient laws of the country, but Utopias, the fac- 
 titious laws and pious frauds of the time of the pietistic kings, 
 
 to be but a Greek translation of that of the Fssenes, (Eo-acuoi, asaya, " doctors.") 
 Cf. Philo, De Vita Contempl., init. 
 
 1 See especially the treatises Quis Rerum Divinarum Hceres sit and De Philan- 
 thropia of Philo. 
 
 2 PirJce Aboth, chap. i. and ii. ; Talm. of Jerus., Pesachim, vi. 1 ; Talm.of Bab., 
 Pesachim, 66 a ; Shabbath, 30 6 and 31 a ; Jotna, 35 b. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 57 
 
 had become, since the nation had ceased to govern itself, an inex- 
 haustible theme of subtle interpretations. As to the Prophets and 
 the Psalms, the popular persuasion was that almost all the some- 
 what mysterious traits that were in these books, had reference to 
 the Messiah, and it was sought to find there the type of him who 
 should realise the hopes of the nation. . Jesus participated in . the 
 taste which every one had for these allegorical, interpretations. 
 But the true poetry of the Bible, which escaped the puerile exe- 
 getists of Jerusalem, was fully revealed to his grand genius. The , 
 Law does not appear to have had much charm for him ; he 
 thought that he could do something better. But the religious! 
 lyrics of the Psalms were in marvellous accordance with his poetic! 
 soul ; they were, all his life, his food and sustenance, j The pro-J 
 phets — Isaiah in particular, and his successor in the record of the 
 time of the captivity — with their brilliant dreams of the future, 
 their impetuous eloquence, and their invectives mingled with 
 enchanting pictures, were his true teachers. He read also, no 
 doubt, many apocryphal works, — i.e., writings somewhat modern, 
 the authors of which, for the sake of an authority only granted to 
 very ancient writings, had clothed themselves with the names of 
 prophets arid patriarchs. One of these books especially struck 
 him, namely, the book of Daniel. This book, composed by an 
 enthusiastic Jew of the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, under 
 the name of an ancient sage, 1 was the resume of the spirit of 
 those later times. Its author, a true creator of the philosophy 
 of history, had for the first time dared to see in the march of 
 the world and the succession of empires, only a purpose subor- 
 dinate to the destinies of the Jewish people.^ Jesus was early pene- 
 trated by these high hopes. Perhaps, also, he had read the books 
 of Enoch, then revered equally with the holy books, 2 and the other 
 
 1 The legend of Daniel existed as early as the seventh century B.C., (Ezekiel 
 xiv. 14 and following, xxviii. 3.) It was for the necessities of the legend that he 
 was made to live at the time of the Babylonian captivity. 
 
 2 Epist. Jude, 14 and following; 2 Peter ii. 4, 11 ; Testam. of the Twelve Patri- 
 archs, Simeon, 5; Levi, 14, 16 ; Judah, 18 ; Zab., 3; Dan, 5; Naphtali, 4. The 
 '• Book of Enoch" still forms an integral part of the Ethiopian Bible. Such as 
 
58 LIFE OF JESUS, 
 
 writings of the same class, which kept up so much excitement 
 in the popular imagination. The advent of the Messiah, with his 
 glories and his terrors,— the nations falling down one after another, 
 the cataclysm of heaven and earth,- — were the familiar food of his 
 imagination ; and, as these revolutions were reputed near, and a 
 great number of persons sought to calculate the time when they 
 should happen, the supernatural state of things into which such 
 visions transport us, appeared to him from the first perfectly na- 
 tural and simple. 
 
 That he had no knowledge of the general state of the world is 
 apparent from each feature of his most authentic discourses. The 
 earth appeared to him still divided into kingdoms warring with 
 one another ; he seemed to ignore the " Eoman peace/' and the 
 new state of society which its age inaugurated. He had no precise 
 idea of the Eoman power ; the name of " Csesar " alone reached 
 him. He saw building, in Galilee or its environs, Tiberias, Julias, 
 Diocsesarea, Csesarea, gorgeous works of the Herods, who sought, 
 by these magnificent structures, to prove their admiration for Eo- 
 man civilisation, and their devotion towards the members of the 
 family of Augustus, structures whose names, by a caprice of fate, 
 now serve, though strangely altered, to designate miserable hamlets 
 of Bedouins. He also probably saw Sebaste, a work of Herod 
 the Great, a showy city, whose ruins would lead to the belief that it 
 had been carried there ready made, like a machine which had only 
 to be put up in its place. This ostentatious piece of architecture 
 arrived in Judea by cargoes ; these hundreds of columns, all of 
 the same diameter, the ornament of some insipid " Rue de Rivoli" 
 these were what he called " the kingdoms of the world and all their 
 glory." But this luxury of power, this administrative and official 
 art, displeased him. What he loved were his Galilean villages, 
 
 we know it from the Ethiopian version, it is composed of pieces of different dates, 
 of which the most ancient are from the year 130 to 150 B.C. Some of these 
 pieces have an analogy with the discourses of Jesus. Compare chaps. xcvi.--xcix. 
 with Luke vi. 24, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESU& 59 
 
 confused mixtures of huts, of nests and holes cut in the rocks, of 
 wells, of tombs, of fig-trees, and of olives. JIe^JwjLyij2luiig„clQse. ... 
 to nature. The courts of kings appeared to him as places where 
 men wear fine clothes.! The charming impossibilities with which 
 his parables abound, when he brings kings and the mighty ones 
 on the stage, 2 prove that he never conceived of aristocratic society 
 but as a young villager who sees the world through the prism of 
 his simplicity. 
 
 ( Still less was he acquainted with the new idea, created by Grecian 
 science, which was the basis of all philosophy, and which modern 
 science has greatly confirmed, to wit, the exclusion of capricious 
 gods, to whom the simple belief of ancient ages attributed the 
 government of the universe. Almost a century before him, 
 Lucretius had expressed, in an admirable manner, the unchange- 
 ableness of the general system of nature. The negation of miracle, 
 — the idea that everything in the world happens by laws in which 
 the personal intervention of superior beings has no share, was uni- 
 versally admitted in the great schools of all the countries which had 
 accepted Grecian science. Perhaps even Babylon and Persia were 
 not strangers to it. Jesus knew nothing of this progress. Although 
 born at a time when the principle of positive science was already 
 proclaimed, he lived entirely in the supernatural, j Never, per- 
 haps, had the Jews been more possessed with the thirst for the 
 marvellous. Philo, who lived in a great intellectual centre, and 
 who had received a very complete education, possessed only a 
 chimerical and inferior knowledge of science. 
 
 Jesus on this point differed in no respect from his companions. 
 ^He believed in the devil, whom he. regarded as a kind of evil 
 genius,^ and he imagined, like all the world, that nervous maladies 
 were produced by demons who possessed the patient and agitated 
 him. The marvellous was not the exceptional for him ; it was his 
 normal state. The notion of the supernatural, with its impossi- 
 bilities, is coincident with the birth of experimental science. 
 
 2 See, for example, Matt. xxii. 2, and following. 3 Matt. vi. 13. 
 
60 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 The man who is strange to all ideas of physical laws, who believes 
 that by praying he can change the path of the clouds, arrest dis- 
 y^ ease, and even death, finds nothing extraordinary in miracle, inas- 
 much as the entire course of things is to him the result of the free 
 will of the Divinity. This intellectual state was constantly that of 
 Jesus. But in his great soul such a belief produced effects quite 
 opposed to those produced on the vulgar. Among the latter, the 
 belief in the special action of God led to a foolish credulity, and 
 the deceptions of charlatans. With him it led to a profound idea of 
 the familiar relations of man with God, and an exaggerated belief 
 in the power of man, — beautiful errors, which were the secret of his 
 power ; for if they were the means of one day shewing his defi- 
 ciencies in the eyes of the physicist and the chemist, they gave 
 him a power over his own age of which no individual had been 
 possessed before his time, or has been since. 
 
 His distinctive character very early revealed itself. Legend 
 delights to shew him even from his infancy in revolt against 
 paternal authority, and departing from the common way to fulfil 
 his vocation. 1 It is certain, at least, that he cared little for the 
 relations of kinship. His family do not seem to have loved him, 2 
 and at times he seems to have been hard towards them.^y^Jesus, 
 like all men exclusively preoccupied by an idea, came to think little 
 of the ties of blood. The bond of thought is the only one that 
 natures of this kind recognise, i "Behold my mother and my 
 brethren/' said he, in extending his hand towards his disciples; "he 
 who does the will of my Father, he is my brother and my sister." 
 The simple people did not understand the matter thus, and one 
 day a woman passing near him cried out, " Blessed is the womb 
 that bare thee, and the paps which gave thee suck!" But he 
 said, "Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, 
 
 1 Luke ii. 42 and following. The Apocryphal Gospels are full of similar histories 
 carried to the grotesque. 
 
 2 Matt. xiii. 57 ; Mark vi. 4 ; John vii. 3, and following. See page 128, note 5. 
 
 3 Matt. xii. 48 ; Mark iii. 33 ; Luke viii. 21 ; John ii. 4 ; Gospel according to 
 the Hebrews, in St Jerome, Dial. adv. Pelag., iii. 2. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 61 
 
 and keep it." 1 / Soon, in his bold revolt against nature, he went 
 still further, and we shall see him trampling under foot everything 
 that is human, blood, love, and country, and only keeping soul and 
 heart for the idea which presented itself to him as the absolute 
 form of goodness and truth. 
 
 1 Luke xi. 27, and following. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ORDER OF THOUGHT WHICH SURROUNDED THE 
 DEVELOPMENT OF JESUS. 
 
 As the cooled earth no longer permits us to understand the phe- 
 nomena of primitive creation, because the fire which penetrated it 
 is extinct, so deliberate explanations have always appeared some- 
 what insufficient, when applying our timid methods of induc- 
 tion to the revolutions of the creative epochs which have de- 
 cided the fate of humanity. < Jesus lived at one of those times 
 when the game of public life is freely played, and when the 
 stake of human activity is increased a hundredfold./ Every 
 great part, then, entails death ; for such movements suppose 
 liberty and an absence of preventive measures, which could not 
 exist without a terrible alternative. ^In these days, man risks 
 little and gains little. In heroic periods of human activity, man 
 risked all and gained all. The good and the wicked, or at least 
 those who believe themselves and are believed to be such, form 
 opposite armies. The apotheosis is reached by the scaffold ; char- 
 acters have distinctive features, which engrave them as eternal 
 types in the memory of men. Except in the French Revolution, 
 no historical centre was as suitable as that in which Jesus was 
 formed, to develop those hidden forces which humanity holds as 
 in reserve, and which are not seen except in days of excitement 
 and peril. 
 
 If the government of the world were a speculative problem, and 
 the greatest philosopher were the man best fitted to tell his fellows 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 63 
 
 what they ought to believe, it would be from calmness and reflec- 
 tion that those great moral and dogmatic truths called religions, 
 would proceed. But it is not so. If we except Cakya-Mouni, the 
 great religious founders have not been metaphysicians. Buddhism 
 itself, whose origin is in pure thought, has conquered one-half of 
 Asia by motives wholly political and moral. { As to the Semitic re- 
 ligions, they are as little philosophical as possible. Moses and 
 Mahomet were not men of speculation : they were men of action. 
 It was in proposing action to their fellow-countrymen, and to 
 their contemporaries, that they governed humanity. Jesus, in 
 like manner, was not a theologian, or a philosopher, having 
 a more or less well-composed « system. In order to be a disciple 
 of Jesus, it was not necessary to sign any formulary, or to pro- 
 nounce any confession of faith ; , one thing only was necessary — 
 to be attached to him, to love him. He never disputed about 
 God, for he felt Him directly in himself. ,)j JJhe rock of meta- 
 physical subtleties, against which Christianity 1>roke from the 
 third century, was in no- wise created by the founder^ Jesus had 
 neither dogma nor system, but a fixed personal resolution, which, 
 exceeding in intensity every other created will, directs to this ( 
 hour the destinies of humanity. 
 
 The Jewish people had the advantage, from the captivity of 
 Babylon up to the Middle Ages, of being in a state of the greatest 
 tension. This is why the interpreters of the spirit of the nation, 
 during this long period, seemed to write under the action of an 
 intense fever, which placed them constantly either above or below 
 reason, rarely in its middle path. Never did man seize the problem 
 of the future and of his destiny with a more desperate courage, more 
 determined to go to extremes. ( Not separating the lot of humanity 
 from that of their little race, the Jewish thinkers were the first who 
 sought for a general theory of the progress of our species. Greece, 
 always confined within itself, and solely attentive to petty quarrels, 
 has had admirable historians; but before the Eoman epoch, it 
 would be in vain to seek in her a general system of the philosophy 
 of history, embracing all humanity. The Jew, on the contrary, 
 
V 
 
 64 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 thanks to a kind of prophetic sense which renders the Semite at 
 times marvellously apt to see the great lines of the future, has 
 made history enter into religion. 1 Perhaps he owes a little of this 
 spirit to Persia. Persia, from an ancient period, conceived the 
 history of the world as a series of evolutions, over each of which a 
 prophet presided. Each prophet had his hazar, or reign of a thou- 
 sand years (chiliasm), and from these successive ages, analogous to 
 the Avatar of India, is composed the course of events which prepared 
 the reign of Ormuzd. At the end of the time when the cycle of 
 chiliasms shall be exhausted, the complete paradise will come. 
 Men then will live happy ; the earth will be as one plain ; there 
 will be only one language, one law, and one government for 
 all. But this advent will be preceded by terrible calamities. 
 Dahak (the Satan of Persia) will break his chains and fall upon 
 the world. Two prophets will come to console mankind, and to 
 prepare the great advent. 1 These ideas ran through the world, 
 and penetrated even to Eome, where they inspired a cycle of pro- 
 phetic poems, of which the fundamental ideas were the division of 
 the history of humanity into periods, the succession of the gods cor- 
 responding to these periods, — a complete renovation of the world, 
 and the final advent of a golden age. 2 The book of Daniel, the 
 book of Enoch, and certain parts of the Sibylline books, 3 are the 
 Jewish expression of the same theory. These thoughts were cer- 
 tainly far from being shared by all, they were only embraced at 
 first by a few persons of lively imagination, who were inclined to- 
 wards strange doctrines. The dry and narrow author of the book 
 of Esther never thought of the rest of the world except to despise 
 it, and to wish it evil. 4 The disabused epicurean who wrote Eccle- 
 
 1 Yagna, xiii. 24 ; Theopompus, in Plut., Be hide et Osiride, sec. 47 ; Minokhired, 
 a passage published in the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenldndischen Gesell- 
 schaft, i., p. 263. 
 
 2 Virg., Eel. iv. ; Servius, at v. 4 of this Eclogue ; Nigidius, quoted by Ser- 
 vius, at v. 10. 
 
 s Book iii., 97-817. 
 
 4 Esther vi. 13, vii. 10, viii. 7, 11-17, ix. 1-22; and in the apocryphal parts, 
 ix. 10, 11, xiv. 13, and following, xvi. 20, 24. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 65 
 
 s'iastes, thought so little of the future, that he considered it even 
 useless to labour for his children ; in the eyes of this egotistical 
 celibate, the highest stroke of wisdom was to use his fortune for 
 his own enjoyment. 1 But the great -achievements of a. people are 
 ^generally wrought by the minority, [Notwithstanding all their en- 
 ormous defects, hard, egotistical, scoffing, cruel, narrow, subtle, and 
 sophistical, the Jewish people are the authors of the finest move- 
 ment of_ disinterested enthusiasm which history records. Opposi- 
 tion always makes the glory of a country. The g r^ate^jrien.,of 
 ^^i^ipjn^aj^^those--wiiom it puts to death. I Socrates was the 
 glory of the Athenians, who would not suffer him to live amongst 
 them. Spinoza was the greatest Jew of modern times, and the 
 synagogue expelled him with ignominy. Jesus was the glory of 
 the people of Israel, who crucified him. 
 
 A gigantic dream haunted for centuries the Jewish people, 
 constantly renewing its youth in its decrepitude. A stranger 
 to the theory of individual recompense, which Greece diffused 
 under the name of the immortality of the soul, Judea concentrated 
 all its power of love and desire upon the national future. She 
 thought she possessed divine promises of a boundless future ; and 
 as the bitter reality, from the ninth century before our era, 
 gave more and more the dominion of the world to physical force, 
 and brutally crushed these aspirations, she took refuge in the 
 union of the most impossible ideas, and attempted the strangest 
 gyrations. Before the captivity, when all the earthly hopes of the 
 nation had become weakened by the separation of the northern 
 tribes, they dreamt of the restoration of the house of David, the 
 reconciliation of the two divisions of the people, and the triumph 
 of theocracy and the worship of Jehovah over idolatry. At the 
 epoch of the captivity, a poet, full of harmony, saw the splendour 
 of a future Jerusalem, of which the peoples and the distant isles 
 should be tributaries, under colours so charming, that one might 
 
 1 Eccl. i. 11, ii. 16, 18-24, iii. 19-22, iv. 8, 15, 16, v. 17, 18, vi. 3, 6, viii. 15, ix. 
 9,10. 
 
 B 
 
66 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 say a glimpse of the visions of Jesus had reached him at a dis- 
 tance of six centuries. 1 
 
 The victory of Cyrus seemed at one time to realise all that had 
 been hoped. The grave disciples of the Avesta and the adorers 
 of Jehovah believed themselves brothers. Persia had begun by 
 banishing the multiple devas, and by transforming them into 
 demons (divs), to draw from the old Arian imaginations (essen- 
 tially naturalistic) a species of Monotheism. The prophetic tone 
 of many of the teachings of Iran had much analogy with certain 
 compositions of Hosea and Isaiah. Israel reposed under the 
 Achemenidae, 2 and under Xerxes (Ahasuerus) made itself feared 
 by the Iranians themselves. But the triumphal and often cruel 
 entry of Greek and Roman civilisation into Asia, threw it back 
 upc^i its dreams. More than ever it invoked th'e Messiah as 
 judge and avenger of the people. A complete renovation, a 
 revolution which should shake the world to its very foundation, 
 was necessary in order to satisfy the enormous thirst of ven- 
 geance excited in it by the sense of its superiority, and by the 
 sight of its humiliation. 3 
 
 I If Israel had possessed the spiritualistic doctrine, which divides 
 man in two parts — the body and the soul — and finds it quite 
 natural that while the body decays, the soul should survive, this 
 paroxysm of rage and of energetic protestation would have had 
 no existence. But such a doctrine, proceeding from the Grecian 
 philosophy, was not in the traditions of the Jewish mind. The 
 ancient Hebrew writings contain no trace of future rewards or 
 punishments. Whilst the idea of the solidarity of the tribe existed, 
 it was natural that a strict retribution according to individual 
 merits should not be thought of. So much the worse for the 
 pious man who happened to live in an epoch of impiety ; he 
 suffered like the rest the public misfortunes consequent on the 
 
 1 Isaiah lx., &c 
 
 2 The whole book of Esther breathes a great attachment to this dynasty. 
 
 3 Apocryphal letter of Baruch, in Fabricius, Cod. pseud., V.T., ii. p. 147, and 
 following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 67 
 
 general irreligion. This doctrine, bequeathed by the sages of the 
 patriarchal era, constantly produced unsustainable contradictions. 
 Already at the time of Job it was much shaken ; the old men of 
 Teman who professed it were considered behind the age, and the 
 young Elihu, who intervened in order to combat them, dared to utter 
 as his first word this essentially revolutionary sentiment, "Great men 
 are not always wise ; neither do the aged understand judgment/' % 
 With the complications which had taken place in the world since 
 the time of Alexander, the old Temanite and Mosaic principle 
 became still more intolerable. 2 Never had Israel been more faith- 
 ful to the Law, and yet it was subjected to the atrocious per- 
 secution of Antiochus. Only a declaimer,. accustomed to repeat 
 old phrases denuded of meaning, would dare to assert that these 
 evils proceeded from the unfaithfulness of the people. 3 What I 
 these victims who died for their faith, these heroic Maccabees, 
 this mother with her seven sons, will Jehovah forget them eter- 
 nally ? Will he abandon them to the corruption of the grave ? 4 
 Worldly and incredulous Sadduceeism might possibly not recoil 
 before such a consequence, and a consummate sage, like Antigonus 
 of Soco, 5 might indeed maintain that we must not practise virtue 
 like a slave in expectation of a recompense, that we must be vir- 
 tuous without hope. But the mass of the people could not be con- 
 tented with that. Some, attaching themselves to the principle of 
 philosophical immortality, imagined the righteous living in the 
 memory of God, glorious for ever in the remembrance of men, 
 and judging the wicked who had persecuted them,6 " They live in 
 
 1 Job xxxiri. 9. 
 
 2 It is nevertheless remarkable that Jesus, son of Sirach, adheres to it strictly, 
 (chap. xvii. 26-28, xxii. 10, 11, xxx. 4, and following, xli. 1, 2, xliv. 9.) The author 
 of the book of Wisdom holds quite opposite opinions, (iv. 1, Greek text). 
 
 3 Esth. xiv. 6, 7, (apocr.) ; the apocryphal Epistle of Baruch (Fabricius, Cod. 
 pseud., V. T., ii. p. 147, and following). 
 
 4 2 Mace. vii. 
 
 6 PerTce Aboth., i. 3. 
 
 6 Wisdom ii.-vi. ; De Rationis Imperio, attributed to Josephus, 8, 13, 16, 18. 
 Still we must remark that the author of this last treatise estimates the mo- 
 tive of personal recompense in a secondary degree. The primary impulse of 
 
68 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 the sight of God ; . . . . they are known of God/' 1 That was 
 their reward. Others, especially the Pharisees, had recourse to the 
 doctrine of the resurrection. 2 The righteous will live again in 
 order to participate in the Messianic reign. They will live again 
 in the flesh, and for a world of which they will be the kings and 
 the judges ; they will be present at the triumph of their ideas and 
 at the humiliation of their enemies. 
 
 Y We find among the ancient people of Israel only very indecisive 
 traces of this fundamental dogma. The Sadducee, who did not be- 
 lieve it, was in reality faithful to the old Jewish doctrine ; it was 
 the Pharisee, the believer in the resurrection, who was the innovator. 
 But in religion it is always the zealous sect which innovates, 
 which progresses, and which has influence. Besides this, the 
 resurrection, an idea totally different from that of the immortality 
 of the soul proceeded very naturally from the anterior doctrines and 
 from the position of the people. Perhaps Persia also furnished 
 some of its elements. 3 /In any case, combining with the belief in 
 the Messiah, and with the doctrine of a speedy renewal of all things, 
 it formed those apocalyptic theories which, without being articles 
 of faith, (the orthodox Sanhedrim of Jerusalem does not seem to 
 have adopted them,) pervaded all imaginations, and produced an 
 extreme fermentation from one end of the Jewish world to the 
 other. The total absence of dogmatic rigour caused very contra- 
 dictory notions to be admitted at one time, even upon so primary 
 a point. Sometimes the righteous were to await the resurrection ;4 
 sometimes they were to be received at the moment of death into 
 Abraham's bosom; 5 sometimes the resurrection was to be general; 6 
 
 martyrs is the pure love of the Law, the advantage which their death will 
 procure to the people, and the glory which will attach to their name. Comp. 
 Wisdom iv. 1, and following ; Eccl. xliv., and following ; Jos., B. J., n. viii. 10, 
 in. viii. 5. 
 
 1 Wisdom, iv. 1 ; De Bat. Imp., 16, 18. 
 
 2 2 Mace, vii. 9, 14, xii. 43, 44. 
 
 3 Theopompus, in Diog. Laert., Prosm, 9. Boundehesch, xxxi. The traces of 
 the doctrine of the resurrection in the Avesta are very doubtful. 
 
 4 John xi. 24. 
 
 5 Luke xvi. 22. Cf. De Rationis Imp., 13, 16, 18. « Dan. xii. 2. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. G9 
 
 sometimes it was to be reserved only for the faithful ; 1 sometimes 
 it supposed a renewed earth and a new Jerusalem ; sometimes it 
 implied a previous annihilation of the universe. 
 
 Jesus, as soon as he began to think, entered into the burning y 
 atmosphere/ which was created in Palestine by the ideas^we have 
 just stated. These ideas were taught in no school ; but they were 
 in the very air, and his soul was early penetrated by them. Our 
 hesitations and our doubts never reached him. r On this summit 
 of the mountain of Nazareth, where no man can sit to-day with- 
 out an uneasy, though it may be a frivolous, feeling about his des- 
 tiny, Jesus sat often untroubled by a doubt. Free from selfishA 
 ness— pthat source of our troubles, which makes us seek with eager-) 
 ness a reward for virtue beyond the tomb— he thought only of i 
 his work, of his race, and of humanity. Those mountains, that i 
 sea, that azure sky, those high plains in the horizon, were for 
 him not the melancholy vision of a soul which interrogates nature 
 upon her fate, but the certain symbol, the transparent shadow, of 
 an invisible world, and of a new heaven. 
 
 / He never attached much importance to the political events of 
 his time, and he probably knew little about them. ) The court of 
 the Herods formed a world so different to his, that he doubtless 
 knew it only by name. Herod the Great died about the year in 
 which Jesus was born, leaving imperishable remembrances — 
 monuments which must compel the most malevolent posterity to 
 associate his name with that of Solomon ; nevertheless, his work 
 was incomplete, and could not be continued. Profanely am- 
 bitious, and lost in a maze of religious controversies, this astute 
 Idumean had the advantage which coolness and judgment, strip- 
 ped of morality, give over passionate fanatics. But his idea of a 
 secular kingdom of Israel, even if it had not been an anachronism 
 in the state of the world in which it was conceived, would inevit- 
 ably have miscarried, like the similar project which Solomon 
 formed, owing to the difficulties proceeding from the character of 
 the nation. His three sons were only lieutenants of the Romans, 
 
 1 2 Mace. vii. 14. 
 
70 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 analogous to the rajahs of India under the English dominion. 
 Antipater, or Antipas, tetrarch'of Galilee and of Persea, of whom 
 Jesus was a subject all his life, was an idle and useless prince, 1 a 
 favourite and flatterer of Tiberius, 2 and too often misled by the 
 bad influence of his second wife, Herodias.3 Philip, tetrarch of 
 Gaulonitis and Batanea, into whose dominions Jesus made fre- 
 quent journeys, was a much better sovereign.^ As to Archelaus, 
 ethnarch of Jerusalem, Jesus could not know him, for he was 
 about ten years old when this man, who was weak and without 
 character, though sometimes violent, was deposed by Augustus. 5 
 ; The last trace of self-government was thus lost to Jerusalem. 
 United to Samaria and Idumea, Judea formed a kind of depend- 
 ency of the province of Syria, in which the senator Publius Sd- 
 picius Quirinus, well known as consul,^ was the imperial legate, 
 A series of Roman procurators, subordinate in important matters 
 to the imperial legate of Syria — Coponius, Marcus Ambivius, 
 Annius Rufus, Valerius Gratus, and lastly, (in the 26th year of 
 our era,) Pontius Pilate 7 — followed each other, and were constantly 
 occupied in extinguishing the volcano which was seething beneath 
 their feet. 
 
 Continual seditions, excited by the zealots of Mosaism, did not 
 cease, in fact, to agitate Jerusalem during all this time. 8 The death 
 of the seditious was certain ; but death, when the integrity of the 
 Law was in question, was sought with avidity. To overturn the 
 Roman eagle, to destroy the works of art raised by the Herods, in 
 
 1 Jos., Ant., xvm. v. 1, vii. 1 and 2; Luke iii. 19. 
 
 2 Ibid., xvm. ii. 3, iv. 5, v. 1. 
 
 3 Ibid., xvm. vii. 2. 
 
 4 Ibid., xvm. iv. 6. 
 
 5 Ibid., xvii. xii. 2 ; and B. J., n. vii. 3. 
 
 6 Orelli, Inscr. Lat., No. 3693; Henzen, Suppl., No. 7041; Fasti prcenestini, on 
 the 6th of March, and on the 28th of April, (in the Corpus Inscr. Lat., i. 314, 317); 
 Borghesi, Fastes Consulages, (yet unedited,) in the year 742 ; R. Bergmann, Be 
 Inscr. Lat. ad. P. S. Quirinium, ut videtur, referenda (Berlin, 1851). Cf. Tac, 
 Ann., ii. 30, iii. 48 ; Strabo, xii. vi. 5. 
 
 7 Jos., Ant., 1. xvm. 
 
 8 Ibid., the books xvii. and xvin. entirely, and B. /., books I. and ii. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 71 
 
 which the Mosaic regulations were not always respected 1 — to rise 
 up against the votive escutcheons put up by the procurators, the in- 
 scriptions of which appeared tainted with idolatry 2 — were perpetual 
 temptations to fanatics, who had reached that degree of exaltation 
 which removes all care for life. Judas, son of Sariphea, Matthias, 
 son of Margaloth, two very celebrated doctors of the law, formed 
 against the established order a boldly aggressive party, which con- 
 tinued after their execution.3 The Samaritans were agitated by 
 movements of a similar nature. 4 -: The Law had never counted a 
 greater number of impassioned disciples than at this time, when 
 he already lived who, by the full authority of his genius and of 
 his great soul, was about to abrogate it. The "Zelotes," (Kena'im), 
 or "Sicarii," pious assassins, who imposed on themselves the 
 V task of killing whoever in their estimation broke the Law, began 
 to appear. 5 Eepresentatives of a totally different spirit, the Thau- 
 maturges, considered as in some sort divine, obtained credence in 
 consequence of the imperious want which the age experienced for 
 the supernatural and the divine.6 
 
 A movement which had much more influence upon Jesus was) 
 that of Judas the Gaulonite, or Galilean. Of all the exactions 
 to which the country newly conquered by Eome was subjected, the 
 census was the most unpopular. 7 This measure, which always 
 astonishes people unaccustomed to the requirements of great cen- 
 tral adminstrations, was particularly odious to the Jews. "We see 
 that already, under David, a numbering of the people provoked 
 violent recriminations, and the menaces of the prophets.^ The 
 census, in fact, was the basis of taxation ; now taxation, to a pure 
 
 1 Jos., Ant, xv. x. 4. Compare Book of Enoch, xcvii. 13, 14. 
 
 2 Philo, Leg. ad Caium, § 38. 
 
 3 Jos., Ant., xvii. vi. 2, and following ; B. J., I. xxxiii. 3, and following. 
 
 4 Jos., Ant, xviii. iv. 1, and following. 
 
 5 Misknah, Sanhedrim, ix. 6 ; John xvi. 2 ; Jos., B. J., book iv., and following. 
 
 6 Acts viii. 9. Verse 11 leads us to suppose that Simon the magician was 
 already famous in the time of Jesus. 
 
 7 Discourse of Claudius at Lyons, Tab, ii. sub fin. De Boisseau, Inset. Ant. de 
 Lyon, p. 136. 
 
 8 2 Sam. xxiv. 
 
72 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 theocracy, was almost an impiety. God being the sole Master 
 whom man ought to recognise, to pay tithe to a secular sovereign 
 was, in a manner, to put him in the place of God. Completely 
 ignorant of the idea of the State, the Jewish theocracy only acted 
 up to its logical induction — the negation of civil society and of 
 all government. The money of the public treasury was accounted 
 stolen money. 1 The census ordered by Quirinus (in the year 6 
 of the Christian era) powerfully reawakened these ideas, and 
 caused a great fermentation. An insurrection broke out in the 
 northern provinces. One Judas, of the town of Gamala, upon the 
 eastern shore of the Lake of Tiberias, and a Pharisee named 
 Sadoc, by denying the lawfulness of the tax, created a numer- 
 ous party, which soon broke out in open revolt, 2 The funda- 
 mental maxims of this party were — that they ought to call no man 
 * master," this title belonging to God alone ; and that liberty was 
 better than life. Judas had, doubtless, many other principles, 
 which Josephus, always careful not to compromise his co-re- 
 ligionists, designedly suppresses ; for it is impossible to under- 
 stand how, for so simple an idea, the Jewish historian should 
 give him a place among the philosophers of his nation, and 
 should regard him as the founder of a fourth school, equal to 
 those of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. Judas 
 was evidently the chief of a Galilean sect, deeply imbued with the 
 Messianic idea, and which became a political movement. The 
 procurator, Coponius, crushed the sedition of the Gaulonite ; 
 but the school remained, and preserved its chiefs. Under the 
 leadership of Menahem, son of the founder, and of a certain 
 Eleazar, his relative, we find them again very active in the last 
 contests of the Jews against the Komans. 3 Perhaps Jesus saw this 
 Judas, whose idea of the Jewish revolution was so different from 
 
 1 Talmud of Babylon, Baba Kama, 113a; Shabbath, 336. 
 
 2 Jos., Ant., xviii. i. 1 and 6 ; B. J., n. viii. 1 ; Acts v. 37. Previous to Judas the 
 Gaulonite, the Acts place another agitator, Theudas; but this is an anachronism, 
 the movement of Theudas took place in the year 44 of the Christian era, (Jos., 
 Ant., xx, v. 1.) 
 
 3 Jos., B. J., II. xvii. 8, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 73 
 
 his own ; at all events he knew his school, and it was probably 
 to avoid his error that he pronounced the axiom upon the penny 
 of Caesar. Jesus, more wise, and far removed from all sedition, 
 profited by the fault of his predecessor, and dreamed of another 
 kingdom and another deliverance. 
 
 Galilee was thus an immense furnace wherein the most diverse 
 elements were seething.* An extraordinary contempt of life, or, 
 more properly speaking, a kind of longing for death, 2 was the 
 consequence of these agitations. Experience counts for nothing 
 in these great fanatical movements. \ Algeria, at the commence- 
 ment of the French occupation, saw arise, each spring, inspired 
 men, who declared themselves invulnerable, and sent by God to 
 drive away the infidels ; the following year their death was 
 forgotten, and their successors found no less credence. ( The 
 Eoman power, very stern on the one hand, yet little disposed 
 to meddle, permitted a good deal of liberty. Those great brutal 
 despotisms, terrible in repression, were not so suspicious as 
 powers which have a faith to defend. They allowed everything 
 up to the point when they thought it necessary to be severe. It 
 is not recorded that Jesus was even once interfered with by the 
 civil power, in his wandering career. Such freedom, and, above all, 
 the happiness which Galilee enjoyed in being much less confined 
 in the bonds of Pharisaic pedantry, gave to this district a real 
 superiority over Jerusalem. The revolution, or, in other words, 
 the belief in the Messiah, caused here a general fermentation. 
 Men deemed themselves on the eve of the great renovation ; the 
 Scriptures, tortured into divers meanings, fostered the most 
 colossal hopes. In each line of the simple writings of the Old 
 Testament they saw the assurance, and, in a manner, the pro- 
 gramme of the future reign, which was to bring peace to the 
 righteous, and to seal for ever the work of God. 
 
 1 Luke xiii. 1. The Galilean movement of Judas, son of Hezekiah, does not ap- 
 pear to have been of a religious character; perhaps, however, its character has 
 been misrepresented by Josephus, (Ant., xvil. x. 5.) 
 
 2 Jos. Ant,, xvl vi. 2, 3; xvm. i. 1. 
 
74 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 From all time, this division into two parties, opposed in interest 
 and spirit, had been for the Hebrew nation a principle which 
 contibuted to their moral growth. J Every nation called to high des- 
 tinies ought to be a little world in itself, including opposite poles. 
 Greece presented, at a few leagues' distance from each other, 
 Sparta and Athens — to a superficial observer, the two antipodes ; 
 but, in reality, rival sisters, necessary to one another. It was the 
 same with Judea. Less brilliant in one sense than the develop- 
 ment of Jerusalem, that of the North was on the whole much 
 more fertile ; the greatest achievements of the Jewish people have 
 always proceeded thence. A complete absence of the love of 
 nature, bordering upon something dry, narrow, and ferocious, has 
 stamped all the works purely Hierosolymite with a degree of 
 grandeur, though sad, arid, and repulsive. With its solemn 
 doctors, its insipid canonists, its hypocritical and atrabilious de- 
 votees, Jerusalem has not conquered humanity. The North has 
 given to the world the simple Shunammite, the humble Canaanite, 
 the impassioned Magdalene, the good foster-father Joseph, and the 
 Virgin Mary. The North alone has made Christianity ; Jerusalem, 
 on the contrary, is the true home of that obstinate Judaism, which, 
 founded by the Pharisees, and fixed by the Talmud, has traversed 
 the Middle Ages, and come down to us. 
 
 A beautiful external nature tended to produce a much less 
 austere spirit — a spirit less sharply monotheistic, if I may use the 
 expression, which imprinted a charming and idyllic character on 
 all the dreams of Galilee. The saddest country in the world is 
 perhaps the region round about Jerusalem. Galilee, on the con- 
 trary, was a very green, shady, smiling district, the true home of 
 the Song of Songs, and the songs of the well-beloved, i During the 
 
 1 Jos., B. J., in. iii. 1. The horrible state to which the country is reduced, 
 especially near Lake Tiberias, ought not to deceive us. These countries, now 
 scorched, were formerly terrestrial paradises. The baths of Tiberias, which are 
 now a frightful abode, were formerly the most beautiful places in Galilee, (Jos., 
 Ant, xviii. ii. 3.) Josephus {Bell. Jud., in. x. 8) extols the beautiful trees of the 
 plain of Gennesareth, where there is no longer a single one. Anthony the Martyr, 
 about the year 600, consequently fifty years before the Mussulman invasion, still 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 75 
 
 two months of March and April, the country forms a carpet of 
 flowers of an incomparable variety of colours. The animals are 
 small, and extremely gentle : — delicate and lively turtle-doves, 
 blue-birds so light that they rest on a blade of grass without 
 bending it, crested larks which venture almost under the feet of 
 the traveller, little river tortoises with mild and lively eyes, storks 
 with grave and modest mien, which, laying aside all timidity, 
 allow man to come quite near them, and seem almost to invite his 
 approach. In no country in the world do the mountains spread 
 themselves out with more harmony, or inspire higher thoughts. 
 Jesus seems to have had a peculiar love for them. The most 
 important acts of his divine career took place upon the mountains. 
 It was there that he was the most inspired ; 1 it was there that he 
 held secret communion with the ancient prophets; and it was 
 there that his disciples witnessed his transfiguration. 2 
 
 This beautiful country has now become sad and gloomy 
 through the ever-impoverishing influence of Islamism. But still 
 everything which man cannot destroy breathes an air of freedom, 
 mildness, and tenderness, and at the time of Jesus it over- 
 flowed with happiness and prosperity. The Galileans were con- 
 sidered energetic, brave, and laborious. 3 If we except Tiberias, 
 built by Antipas in honour of Tiberius, (about the year 15,) in 
 the Eoman style, 4 Galilee had no large towns. The country 
 was nevertheless well peopled, covered with small towns and 
 large villages, and cultivated in all parts with skill.5 From the 
 ruins which remain of its ancient splendour, we can trace an 
 agricultural people, no way gifted in art, carirjg little for luxury, 
 indifferent to the beauties of form, and exclusively idealistic. The 
 
 found Galilee covered with delightful plantations, and compares its fertility to 
 that of Egypt, (J tin., § 5.) 
 
 1 Matt. v. 1, xiv. 23; Luke vi. 12. 
 
 2 Matt. xvii. 1, and following; Mark ix. 1, and following; Luke ix. 28, and fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 3 Jos., B. J., in. iii. 2. 
 
 4 Jos., Ant, xvin. ii. 2 ; B. J., n. ix. 1 ; Vita, 12, 13, 64. 
 6 Jos., B. J., in. iii. 2. 
 
76 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 country abounded in fresh streams and in fruits; the large 
 farms were shaded with vines and fig-trees ; the gardens were 
 filled with trees bearing apples, walnuts, and pomegranates. 1 The 
 wine was excellent, if we may judge by that which the Jews still 
 obtain at Safed, and they drank much of it. 2 This contented and 
 easily satisfied life was not like the gross materialism of our 
 peasantry, the coarse pleasures of agricultural Normandy, or 
 the heavy mirth of the Flemish. It spiritualised itself in ethereal 
 dreams — in a kind of poetic mysticism, blending heaven and 
 earth. ) Leave the austere Baptist in his desert of Judea to preach 
 penitence, to inveigh without ceasing, and to live on locusts in the 
 company of jackals. Why should the companions of the bride- 
 groom fast while the bridegroom is with them ? Joy will be 
 a part of the kingdom of God. Is she not the daughter of the 
 humble in heart, of the men of good will ? 
 
 The whole history of infant Christianity has become in this 
 manner a delightful pastoral. A Messiah at the marriage festival, 
 — the courtezan and the good Zaccheus called to his feasts, — the 
 founders of the kingdom of heaven like a bridal procession ; 
 — that is what Galilee has boldly offered, and what the world 
 has accepted.; Greece has drawn pictures of human life by sculp- 
 ture and by charming poetry, but always without backgrounds 
 or distant receding perspectives. In Galilee were wanting the 
 | marble, the practised workmen, the exquisite and refined language. 
 But Galilee has created the most sublime ideal for the popular 
 imagination; for behind its idyl moves the fate of humanity, 
 and the light which illumines its picture is the sun of the king- 
 dom of God. 
 
 1 We may judge of this by some enclosures in the neighbourhood of Nazareth. 
 Cf. Song of Solomon ii. 3, 5, 13, iv. 13, vi. 6, 10, vii. 8, 12, viii. 2, 5; Anton. 
 Martyr, I. c. The aspect of the great farms is still well preserved in the south 
 of the country of Tyre, (ancient tribe of Asher.) Traces of the ancient Pales- 
 tinian agriculture, with its troughs, thrashing-floors, wine-presses, mills, &c, cut 
 in the rock, are found at every step. 
 
 2 Matt. ix. 17, xi. 19 ; Mark ii. 22; Luke v. 37, vii. 34; John ii. 3, and follow- 
 ing. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 77 
 
 ' Jesus lived and grew amidst these enchanting scenes. From his 
 'infancy, he went almost annually to the feast at Jerusalem.^ The 
 pilgrimage was a sweet solemnity for the provincial Jews; Entire 
 series of psalms were consecrated to celebrate the happiness of 
 thus journeying in family companionship 2 during several days in 
 the spring across the hills and valleys, each one having in prospect 
 the splendours of Jerusalem, the solemnities of the sacred courts, 
 and the joy of brethren dwelling together in unity. 3 The route 
 which Jesus ordinarily took in these journeys was that which is 
 followed to this day through Ginsea and Shechem. 4 From Shechem 
 to Jerusalem the journey is very toilsome. But the neighbourhood 
 of the old sanctuaries of Shiloh, and Bethel, near which the travellers 
 pass, keep their interest alive. Ain-el-Haramie, 5 the last halting- 
 place, is a charming and melancholy spot, and few impressions equal 
 that experienced on encamping there for the night. The valley is 
 narrow and sombre, and a dark stream issues from the rocks, full 
 of tombs, which form its banks. It is, I think, the " valley of tears/' 
 or of dropping waters, which is described as one of the stations on the 
 way in the delightful Eighty-fourth Psalm, 6 and which became the 
 emblem of life for the sad and sweet mysticism of the Middle Ages. 
 Early the next day they would be at Jerusalem ; such an expec- 
 tation even now sustains the caravan, rendering the night short 
 and slumber light. 
 
 v These journeys, in which the assembled nation exchanged its 
 ideas, and which were almost always centres of great agitation, 
 placed Jesus in contact with the mind of his countrymen, and 
 no doubt inspired him whilst still young with a lively antipathy 
 for the defects of the official representatives of Judaism. ) It is 
 
 1 Luke ii. 41. 2 Luke ii. 42-44. 
 
 3 See especially Ps. Ixxxiv., cxxii., cxxxiii. (Vulg., ixxxiii., cxxi., cxxxii.) 
 
 4 Luke ix. 51-53, xvii. 11 ; John iv. 4; Jos., Ant., xx. vi. 1 ; B. J., ii. xii. 3; 
 Vita, 52. Often, however, the pilgrims came by Peroea, in order to avoid Samaria, 
 where they incurred dangers ; Matt. xix. 1 ; Mark x. 1. 
 
 5 According to Josephus ( Vita, 52) it was three days' journey. But the stage 
 from Shechem to Jerusalem was generally divided into two. 
 
 6 Ixxxiii. according to the Vulgate, v. 7. 
 
7.8 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 supposed that very early the desert had great influence on his 
 development, and that he made long stays there. 1 But the God 
 he found in the desert was not his God. It was rather the God 
 of Job, severe and, terrible, accountable to no one. Sometimes 
 Satari came to tempt him. He returned, then, into his beloved 
 Galilee, and found again his heavenly Father in the midst of the 
 green hills and the clear fountains — and among the crowds of 
 women and children, who, with joyous soul and the song of angels 
 in their hearts, awaited the salvation of Israel. 
 
 i Luke iv. 42, v. 16. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE FIEST SAYINGS OF JESUS — HIS IDEAS OP A DIVINE FATHER 
 AND OF A PUKE RELIGION — PIEST DISCIPLES. 
 
 Joseph died before his son had taken any public part. Mary 
 remained, in a manner, the head of the family,/ and this explains 
 why her son, when it was wished to distinguish him from others 
 of the same name, was most frequently called the " son of Mary." l 
 
 A.t seems that having, by the death of her husband, been left 
 friendless at Nazareth, she withdrew to Can aj from which she 
 may have come originally. Cana 3 was a little town at from two 
 to two and a half hours' journey from Nazaretly at the foot of the 
 mountains which bound the plain of Asoehis yon the north. 4 The 
 prospect, less grand than at Nazareth, extends over all the plain, 
 and is bounded in the most picturesque manner by the mountains 
 of Nazareth and the hills of Sepphoris. f Jesus appears to have 
 resided some time in this place. Here he probably passed a part 
 of his youth, and here his greatness first revealed itself.^ 
 
 j He followed the trade of his father, which was that of a carpen- 
 
 1 This is the expression of Mark vi. 3 ; cf . Matt. xiii. 55. Mark did not know 
 Joseph. John and Luke, on the contrary, prefer the expression " son of Joseph," 
 Luke iii. 23, iv. 22 ; John- i. 45, iv. 42. 
 
 2 John ii. 1, iv. 46. John alone is informed on this point. 
 
 3 I admit, as probable, the idea which identifies Cana of Galilee with Kana el 
 Djelil. We may, nevertheless, attach value to the arguments for Kefr Kenna, a 
 place an hour or an hour and a half's journey N.N.E. of Nazareth. 
 
 4 Now El-Buttauf. 
 
 6 Johnii. 11, iv. 46. One or two disciples were of Cana, John xxi. 2 ; Matt, 
 x. 4; Mark iii. 18. 
 
80 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 ter.l This was not in any degree humiliating or grievous. The 
 Jewish customs required that a man devoted to intellectual work 
 should learn a trade) The most celebrated doctors did so ; 2 thus 
 St Paul, whose education had been so carefully tended, was a tent- 
 maker. 3 Jesus never married. All his power of love centred upon 
 that which he regarded as his celestial vocation. The extremely 
 delicate feeling towards women, 4 which we remark in him, was 
 not separated from the exclusive devotion which he had for 
 his mission. Like Francis d'Assissi and Francis de Sales, he 
 treated as sisters the women who were loved of the same work 
 as himself;/ he had his St Clare, his Frances de Chantal. 
 It is, however, probable that these loved him more than the 
 work ; he was, no doubt, more beloved than loving. Thus, as 
 often happens in very elevated natures, tenderness of the heart 
 was transformed in him into an infinite sweetness, a vague 
 poetry, and a universal charm. N His relations, free and intimate, 
 but of an entirely moral kind, with women of doubtful character, 
 are also explained by the passion which attached him to the glory 
 of his Father, and which made him jealously anxious for all 
 beautiful creatures who could contribute to it. 5 
 J What was the progress of the ideas of Jesus during this obscure 
 period of his life ? Through what meditations did he enter upon 
 the prophetic career ? We have no information on these points, 
 his history having come to us in scattered narratives, without 
 exact chronology. But the development of character is every- 
 where the same ; and there is no doubt that the growth of so 
 powerful individuality as that of Jesus obeyed very rigorous laws. 
 A high conception of the Divinity — which he did not owe to 
 Judaism, and which seemsjcubave been in all its parts the crea- 
 tion of his great mind-^was in a manner the source of all his 
 
 1 Mark vi. 3 ; Justin, Dial, cum Tryph., 88. 
 
 2 For example, " Rabbi Johanan, the shoemaker, Rabbi Isaac, the blacksmith." 
 
 3 Acts xviii. 3. 
 
 4 See pp. 126, 127. 
 
 5 Luke vii. 37, and following; John iv. 7, and following; viii. 3, and following. 
 
 
LIFE OP JESUS. 81 
 
 pjMteiL. jit is essential here that we put aside the ideas familiar to 
 us, and the discussions in which little minds exhaust themselves. 
 In order properly to understand the precise character of the piety 
 of Jesus, we must forget all that is placed between the gospel and 
 ourselves. Deism and Pantheism have become the two poles of 
 theology. The paltry discussions of scholasticism, the dryness of 
 spirit of Descartes, the deep-rooted irreligion of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, by lessening God, and by limiting Him, in a manner, by the 
 exclusion of everything which is not His very self, have stifled in 
 the breast of modern rationalism all fertile ideas of the Divinity. 
 If God, in fact, is a personal being outside of us, he who believes 
 himself to have peculiar relations with God is a " visionary," and 
 as the physical and physiological sciences have shewn us that all 
 supernatural visions are illusions, the logical Deist finds it im- 
 possible to understand the great beliefs of the past. Pantheism, 
 on the other hand, in suppressing the Divine personality, is as far 
 as it can be from the living God of the ancient religions. Were 
 the men who have best comprehended God — pakya-Mouni, 
 Plato, St Paul, St Francis d'Assissi, and St Augustine (at some 
 periods of his fluctuating life) — Deists or Pantheists 1 Such a 
 question has no meaning, ( The physical and metaphysical proofs [/' 
 of the existence of God were quite indifferent to them. They felt 
 the Divine within themselves. We must place Jesus in the first 
 rank of this great family of the true sons of God. Jesus_JiaiLno ^/ 
 visiojij3j_QojLdiaL^!^^ ; 
 
 God was jn. him ; ha-fejt_Minself__with God, an d he drew from 
 hjs-hearJ^all-hQ-^aid-jQf his Father. He_ LiveiLir L the bosom of 
 GpjJxyjioiistanJL^ojmiim^ he saw Him not, b ut 
 
 he unjjftrstQnd Hjjrij vqthcoikjaeeiLof the_ thunder and the _burn- 
 ing jbush o f JMoses, of ihe^revealing tempest_of, JoJyoI the oracle 
 oX^e^ojoLJjrcelc-sages^jolthp, familiaiLgamus of So^rato^_mixiLthfi 
 angeljjabriel Of Mahomet./ The imagination and the hallucina- 
 tion of a St Theresa, foyexample, are useless here. The intoxi- 
 cation of the Soufi proclaiming himself identical with God is also 
 quite another thing, ^esusjieyer ojice_gayejii^^ \\ 
 
82 LIFE OP JESUS. 
 
 U ijlegiousjdea that_he wasjGtod. He Jbelieved himself to be in 
 (iirect cjommunion with God ; he Jbelieved himself to be the Son 
 of God. The highest consciousness of God which -tiasjexisted in 
 the bosom of humanity was that of Jesus. / 
 
 We understand, on the other hand, howSfesus, starting with 
 such a disposition of spirit, could never be a speculative philoso- 
 pher like' Cakya-Mouni. Nothing is further from scholastic theo- 
 logy than the Gospel. 1 The speculations of the Greek fathers on 
 the Divine essence proceed from an entirely different spirit^ god, 
 conceived simply as Father, wa^-alLite theoloffy-oiLJesus. And 
 this was not with him a theoretical principle, a doctrine/more or 
 less proved, which he sought to inculcate in others. £Le_did not 
 argue with Jii^jiisciplesi ; 2 he demanded from them no effort of 
 attention. He did not preach his opinions ; he preached himself/ 
 Very great and very disinterested minds often present, associated 
 with much elevation, that character of perpetual attention to them- 
 selves, and extreme personal susceptibility, which, in general, is 
 peculiar to women. 3 Their conviction that God is in them, and 
 occupies Himself perpetually with them, is so strong, that they 
 have no fear of obtruding themselves upon others ; our reserve, 
 and our respect for the opinion of others, which is a part of our 
 weakness, could not belong to them. This exaltation of self is not 
 egotism ; for such men, possessed by their idea, give their lives 
 freely, in order to seal their work • it is the identification of self 
 with the object it has embraced, carried to its utmost limit.' It 
 is regarded as vain glory by those who see in the new teaching 
 only the personal phantasy of the founder ; but it is the finger of 
 God to those who see the result. The fool stands side by side 
 here with the inspired man, only the fool never succeeds. It has 
 
 1 The discourses which the fourth Gospel attributes to Jesus contain some 
 germs of theology. But these discourses being in absolute contradiction with those 
 of the synoptical Gospels, which represent, without any doubt, the primitive 
 Logia, ought to count simply as documents of apostolic history, and not as ele- 
 ments of the life of Jesus. 
 
 2 See Matt. ix. 9, and other analogous accounts. 
 8 See, for example, John xxi. 15, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 83 
 
 not yet been given to insanity to influence seriously the progress 
 of humanity. 
 
 Doubtless, Jesus did not attain at first this high affirmation of 
 himself. But it is probable that, from the first,/ he regarded his 
 relationship with God as that of a son with his father. This^was.^ 
 his great act of originality ; in this he had nothing in common 
 with his race. 1 Neither the Jew nor the Mussulman has under- 
 stood this delightful theology of love. The God of Jesus is not / 
 that tyrannical master who kills us, damns us, or saves us, accord- 
 ing to His pleasure. The God of Jesus is our Father. We hear 
 Him in listening to the gentle inspiration which cries within us, \ 
 "Abba, Father." 2 The God of Jesus is not the partial despot who ] 
 has chosen Israel for His people, and specially protects them. He is 
 tfhe God of humanity/^ Jesus was not a patriot, like the Maccabees ; 
 or a theocrat, like Judas theG^u!onite>» Boldly raising himself 
 above the prejudices of his nation, he established the universal 
 fatherhood of God. The Gaulonite maintained that we should 
 die rather than give to another than God the name of " Master;" 
 Jesus left this name to any one who liked to take it, and reserved 
 for God a dearer name. Whilst he accorded to the powerful of the 
 earth, who were to him representatives of force, a respect full of 
 irony, he proclaimed the supreme consolation — the recourse to the 
 Father which each one has in heaven— and the true kingdom of 
 God, which each one bears in his heart. 
 
 This name of "kingdom of God," or "kingdom of heaven," 3 
 was the favourite term of Jesus to express the revolution which 
 lie brought into the world. * Like almost all the Messianic terms, 
 
 1 The great soul of Philo is in sympathy here, as on so many other points, with 
 that of Jesus. De Confus. Ling., § 14 ; De Migr. Abr., § 1 ; De Somniis, ii., § 41 ; 
 De Agric. Noe, § 12 ; De Mutatione Nominum, § 4. But Philo is scarcely a Jew 
 in spirit. 
 
 2 Galatians iv. 6. 
 
 3 The word " heaven '.' in the rabbinical language of that time is synonymous 
 with the name of " God," which they avoided pronouncing. Compare Matt. xxi. 
 25; Luke xv. 18, xx. 4. 
 
 4 This expression occurs on each page of the synoptical Gospels, the Acts of 
 l e Apostles, and St Paul. If it only appears once in John, (iii. 3, 5,) it is be- 
 
84* LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 it came from the book of Daniel. According to the author 
 of this extraordinary book, the four profane empires, destined to 
 fall, were to be succeeded by a fifth empire, that of the saints, 
 which should last for^.ever.1 This reign of God upon earth natu- 
 rally led to the most diverse interpretations, -" To Jewish theology, 
 the "kingdom of God" is most frequently only Judaism itself 
 — the true religion, the monotheistic worship, piety, 2 In the later 
 periods of his life, Jesus believed that this reign would be realised 
 in a material form by a sudden renovation of the world. But 
 doubtless this was not his first idea. 3 The admirable moral which 
 he draws from the idea of God as Father, is not that of enthu- 
 siasts who believe the world is near its end, and who pre- 
 pare themselves by asceticism for a chimerical catastrophe j it 
 is that of men who have lived, and still would live. " The 
 kingdom of God is within you/' said he to those who sought 
 with subtilty for external signs. 4 ) The realistic conception of 
 the Divine advent was but a cloud, a transient error, which 
 his death has made us forget. [The Jesus who founded the true 
 kingdom of God, the kingdom of the meek and the humble, was 
 the Jesus of early life, 5 — of those chaste and pure days when 
 the voice of his Father re-echoed within him in clearer tones. 
 At was then for some months, perhaps a year, that God truly 
 \dwelt upon the earth. J The voice of the young carpenter suddenly 
 acquired an extraordinary sweetness. An infinite charm was ex- 
 haled from his person, and those who had seen him up to that time, 
 no longer recognised him.6 ) He had not yet any disciples, and the 
 
 cause the discourses related in the fourth Gospel are far from representing the true 
 words of Jesus. 
 
 1 Dan ii. 44, vii. 13, 14, 22, 27. 
 
 2 Mishnah, Berahoth, ii. 1, 3 ; Talmud of Jerusalem, Berakoth, ii. 2 ; Kiddus- 
 hin, i. 2; Talm. of Bab., Berakoth, 15 a; Mekilta, 42 b; Siphra, 170 6. The ex- 
 pression appears often in the Medrasliim. 
 
 3 Matt. vi. 33, xii. 28, xix. 12; Mark xii. 34; Luke xii. 31. 
 
 4 Lukexvii. 20,21. 
 
 5 The grand theory of the revelation of the Son of man is in fact reserved, in 
 the synoptics, for the chapters which precede the narrative of the Passion. The 
 first discourses, especially in Matthew, are entirely moral. 
 
 6 Matt. xiii. 54, and following; Mark vi. 2, and following; John vi 42. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 85 
 
 group which gathered around him was neither a sect nor a school ; 
 but a common spirit, a sweet and penetrating influence was felt. 
 His amiable character, accompanied doubtless by one of those 
 lovely faces 1 which sometimes appear in the Jewish race, threw 
 around him a fascination from which no one in the midst of these 
 kindly and simple populations could escape. 
 
 Paradise would, in fact, have been brought to earth if the ideas 
 of the young Master had not far transcended the level of ordinary 
 goodness beyond which it has not been found possible to raise the 
 human race. The brotherhood of men, as sons of God, and the 
 moral consequences which result therefrom, were deduced with 
 exquisite feeling. Like all the rabbis of the time, Jesus was little 
 inclined toward consecutive reasonings, and clothed his doctrine in 
 concise aphorisms, and in an expressive form, at times enigmatical 
 and strange. 2 Some of these maxims come from the books of the 
 Old Testament. ) Others were the thoughts of more modern sages, 
 especially thoafe of Antigonus of Soco, Jesus, son of Sirach, and 
 Hillel, which/ had reached him, not from learned study, but 
 as oft repeated proverbs. The synagogue was rich in very hap- 
 pily expressed sentences, which formed a kind of current proverbial 
 literature. 3 ^ Jesus adopted almost all this oral teaching, but im- 
 bued it with a superior spirit. 4 Exceeding the duties laid down 
 by the Law and the elders,Ahe demanded perfection. All the 
 virtues of humility, — forgiveness, charity, abnegation, and self- 
 
 1 The tradition of the plainness of Jesus (Justin, Dial, cum Tryph., 85, 88, 
 100) springs from a desire to see realised in him a pretended Messianic trait, (Isa. 
 liii. 2.) 
 
 2 The Logia of St Matthew joins several of these axioms together, to form 
 lengthened discourses. But the fragmentary form makes itself felt notwithstand- 
 ing. 
 
 3 The sentences of the Jewish doctors of the time are collected in the little 
 book entitled, Pirfce Aboth. 
 
 4 The comparisons will be made afterwards as they present themselves. It has 
 been sometimes supposed that — the compilation of the Talmud being later than 
 that of the Gospels — parts may have been borrowed by the Jewish compilers from 
 the Christian morality. But this is inadmissible — a wall of separation existed 
 between the Church and the Synagogue. The Christian and Jewish literature had 
 scarcely any influence on one another before the thirteenth century. 
 
86 life or JESUS. 
 
 denial — virtues which with good reason have boon called Christian] 
 
 if we moan by that that they have been truly preached by Christ, — 
 
 were in this first teaching, though undeveloped. As to justice, ho 
 
 Mvas content with repeating the well-known axiom — " Whatsoever 
 
 ye would that men should do to you. do ye oven so to them."' l 
 But this old though somewhat selfish wisdom did not satisfy him. 
 He went to excess, and said — " Whosoever shall smite thee on thy 
 right cheek, turn £o_ him the other also. And if any man will sue 
 thee at the law. and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak 
 jtfso."2 "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cas 
 from thoe."3 "Love your enemies, do good to thorn that hate 
 yon. pray for them that persecute you.'* 4 " Judge not, that j 
 not judged." 5 " Forgive, and ye shall be i."6 "Be 
 
 therefore merciful as your Father also is merciful." " " It is more 
 blessed to give than to receive." 8 ••Whosoever shall exalt- him- 
 self shall be abased ; and he that shall humble himself shall be 
 exalted." 9 
 
 Upon alms. pity, good works, kindness, peaeefulness. and 
 complete disinterestedness of heart, he had little to add to the 
 doctrine of the synagogue. l f But he placed upon them an em- 
 phasis full of unction, which made the old maxims appear new. 
 
 1 Matt. vii. 12; Luke vi. 31. This axiom is in the book of Tobit. iv. 16. 
 Hillel used it habitually, (Talm. of Bab., Shabbati, 31 a,) and declared, like Jesus, 
 that it was the sum of the Law. 
 
 • Matt. v. 39, and following; Luke vi. 29. Compare Jereniiah, Lamentations 
 iii. 30. 
 
 » Matt. v. 29, 30, xviii. 9 ; Mark ix. 46. 
 
 4 Matt. v. 44; Luke vi. 27. Compare Talmud of Babylon, tikabbath, N 
 /bM, 23* 
 
 • Matt. vii. 1; Luke vi. 37. Compare Talmud of Babylon, Ketkubotk, 105 b. 
 
 9 Luke vi. 37. Compare Lev. xix. 18; Pro*, xx. 22; Ecclcsiasticus xxviii. 1, 
 and following. 
 T Luke vi. 36; Siphre\ 51 6, (Sultabach, 1S02.) 
 8 A saying related in Acts xx. 35. 
 
 • Matt, xxiii. 12; Luke xiv. 11, xviii. 14. The sentences quoted by St Jerome 
 from the * Gospel according to the Hebrews," (C in Epist.ad Eph<$., v. 
 4; in Esek. xviii.; Dial. adr. Pelag., iii. 2,) are imbued with the same spirit. 
 
 M Lkut. xxiv., xxv., xxvi., &c.; Isa. lviii. 7^ Pro*, xix. 17; Pirki Aboth^ 14 
 Talmud of Jerusalem, Peak i. 1 ; Talmud of Babylon, Shabbatk, c 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 87 
 
 Morality is not composed of more or less well-expressed prin- 
 cipleSj/a/? The poetry which makes the precept loved, is more 
 than the precept itself, taken as an abstract truth. Now, 
 it cannot be denied that these maxims borrowed by Jesus 
 from his predecessors, produce quite a different effect in the 
 Gospel to that in the ancient Law, in the Pirke Aboth, or in the 
 Talmud. It is neither the ancient Law nor the Talmud which 
 has conquered and changed the world. Little original in itself — 
 if we mean by that that one might recompose it almost entirely 
 by the aid of older maxims-Ajthe morality of the Gospels remains, 
 nevertheless, the highest creation of human conscience — the most' 
 beautiful code of perfect life that any moralist has traced.^ 
 
 (Jesus did not speak against the Mosaic law, but it is clear that v 
 he saw its insufficiency/ and allowed it to be seen that he did so. 
 He repeated unceasingly that more must be done than the ancient 
 sages had commanded.ly*He forbade the least harsh word ;2 he pro- 
 hibited divorce^ and all swearing ; 4 he censured revenge ; 5 he con- 
 demned usury ; ° he considered voluptuous desire as criminal as 
 adultery; 7 he insisted upon a universal forgiveness of injuries. 8 ^ 
 The motive on which he rested these maxims of exalted charity 
 
 was always the same " That ye may be the children of 
 
 your Father which is in heaven i^or he maketh His sun to rise on 
 the evil and the good. For if ye love them which love you, what 
 reward have ye ? do not even the publicans the same ? And if 
 ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others ? do 
 not even the publicans so ? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
 Father which is in heaven is perfect." 9 
 
 /A pure worship, a religion without priests and external ob- 
 servances, resting entirely on the feelings of the heart, on the 
 
 1 Matt. v. 20, and following. 2 Matt. v. 22. 
 
 3 Matt. v. 31, and following. Compare Talmud of Babylon, Sanhedrim, 22 a. 
 
 4 Matt. v. 33, and following. 5 Matt. v. 38, and following. 
 
 6 Matt. v. 42. The Law prohibited it also, (Deut. xv. 7, 8,) but less formally? 
 and custom authorised it, (Luke vii. 41, and following.) 
 
 7 Matt. xxvn. 28. Compare Talmud, Massihet Kalla, (edit. Fiirth, 1793,) fol. 
 34 b. 8 Matt. v. 23, and following. 
 
 9 Matt. v. 45, and following. Compare Lev. xi. 44, xix. 2. 
 
 # 
 
1 
 
 88 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 imitation of God, 1 on the direct relation of the conscience 
 with the heavenly Father, was the result of these princi- 
 ples. \ Jesus never shrank from this bold conclusion, which 
 made him a thorough revolutionist in the very centre of Judaism.-^ 
 [Why should there be mediators between man and his Father? 
 As God only sees the heart, of what good are these purifica- 
 tions, these observances relating only to the body ? 2 Even 
 tradition, a thing so sacred to the Jews, is nothing compared to 
 sincerity. 3 The hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who, in praying, 
 turned their heads to see if they were observed, who gave their 
 alms with ostentation, and put marks upon their garments, that 
 they might be recognised as pious persons — all these grimaces of 
 false devotion disgusted him. " They have their recompense," said 
 he ; " but thou, when thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand 
 know what thy right hand doeth, that thy alms may be in secret, 
 and thy Father, which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee 
 openly/' 4 « And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the 
 hypocrites are : for they love to pray standing in the synagogues, 
 and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. 
 Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when 
 thou prayest, enter into thy closet ; and when thou hast shut thy 
 door, pray to thy Father which is in secret. ; and thy Father, which 
 seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use 
 not vain repetitions, as the heathen do : for they think that they 
 shall be heard for their much speaking. Your Father knoweth 
 what things ye have need of before ye ask him." 5 
 
 He did not affect any external signs of asceticism, contenting 
 himself with praying, or rather meditating, upon ' the mountains 
 and in the solitary places, where man has always sought God. 6 
 This high idea of the relations of man with God, of which so few 
 
 1 Compare Pliilo, Be Migr. Abr., § 23 and 24 ; Be Vita Contemp., the whole. 
 
 2 Matt. xv. 11, and following; Mark vii. 6, and following. 
 
 3 Mark vii. 6, and following. 
 
 4 Matt. vi. 1, and following. Compare Ecclesiasticus xvii. 18, xxix. 15; Talm. 
 of Bab., Chagigah, 5 a; Baba Bathra, 9 b. 
 
 5 Matt. vi. 5-8. 6 Matt. xiv. 23 ; Luke iv. 42, v. 1 6, vi. 12. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 89 
 
 minds, even after him, have been capable, is summed up in a 
 prayer which he taught to his disciples : — 1 
 
 " Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name ; thy ^ 
 kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 
 Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as 
 we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temp- 
 tation ; deliver us from the evil one." 2 He insisted particularly 
 upon the idea, that the heavenly Father knows better than we 
 what we need, and that we almost sin against Him in asking Him 
 for this or that particular thing.3 J 
 
 Jesus in this only carried out' the consequences of the great 
 principles which Judaism had established, but which the official 
 classes of the nation tended more and more to despise. The 
 Greek and Eoman prayers were almost always mere egotistical 
 verbiage. Never had Pagan priest said to the faithful, " If thou 
 bring thy offering to the altar, and there rememberest that thy 
 brother hath aught against thee ; leave there thy gift before the 
 altar, and go thy way ; first be reconciled with thy brother, and 
 then come and offer thy gift." 4 Alone in antiquity, the Jewish 
 prophets, especially Isaiah, had, in their antipathy to the priesthood, 
 caught a glimpse of the true nature of the worship man owes 
 to God. " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices 
 unto me : I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the 
 fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, 
 or of lambs, or of he-goats. . . . Incense is an abomination 
 unto me : for your hands are full of blood ; cease to do evil, 
 learn to do well, seek judgment, and then come." 5 In later 
 times, certain doctors, \ Simeon the just, 6 Jesus, son of Sirach,? 
 Hill el, 8 /almost reached this point, and declared that the sum 
 
 1 Matt. vi. 9, and following; Luke xi. 2, and following. 
 
 2 i.e., the devil. 3 Luke xi. 5, and following. 4 Matt. v. 23, 24. 
 
 5 Isaiah, i. 11, and following. Compare ibid., lviii. entirely; Hosea vi. 6; 
 Malachi i. 10, and following. 
 
 6 Pirke Aboth, i. 2. 7 Ecclesiasticus xxxv. 1, and following. 
 
 8 Talm. of Jerus., Pesachim, vi. 1 ; Talm. of Bab., the same treatise 66 a ; Shah- 
 bath, 31 a. 
 
/ 
 
 / 
 
 90 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 of the Law was righteousness. Philo, in the Judseo-Egyptian 
 world, attained at the same time as Jesus ideas of a high 
 moral sanctity, the consequence of which was the disregard of the 
 observances of the Law. 1 ] Shemaia and Abtalion also more than 
 once proved themselves to be very liberal casuists. 2 Eabbi Johanan 
 ere long placed works of mercy above even the study of the Law ! 8 
 Jesus alone, however, proclaimed these principles in an effective 
 manner. Never has any one been less a priest than Jesus/aever 
 a greater enemy of forms, which stifle religion under the pretext 
 of protecting it By this we are all his disciples and his suc- 
 cessors ; by this he has laid the eternal foundation-stone of true 
 religion ; and if religion is essential to humanity, he has by this 
 deserved the Divine rank the world has accorded to him. An 
 absolutely new idea, ihe idea of a worship founded on purity of 
 heart, and on human brotherhood, through him entered into the 
 world — an idea so elevated, that the Christian Church ought to 
 make it its distinguishing feature, but an idea which, in our days, 
 only few minds are capable of embodying. <U^V 
 
 An exquisite sympathy with nature furnished him each moment 
 with expressive images. ) Sometimes a remarkable ingenuity, which 
 we call wit, adorned his aphorisms ; at. other times, their liveliness 
 consisted in the happy use of popular proverbs. " How wilt thou 
 say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye ; 
 and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye ? Thou hypocrite, first 
 cast out the beam out of' thine own eye, and then thou shalt see 
 clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." 4 
 
 These lessons, long hidden in the heart of the young Master, 
 soon gathered around him a few disciples. The spirit of the time 
 favoured small churches; it was the period of the Essenes or 
 
 1 Quod Deus Immut, § i. and 2 ; De Abrahamo, § 22 ; Quis Herum Divin. Hceres, 
 §13, and following; 55, 58, and following; De Profugis, § 7 and 8; Quod 
 Omnis Probus Liber, entirely ; De Vita Contemp., entirely. 
 
 2 Talm. of Bab., Pesachim, 67 b. 
 
 3 Talmud of Jerus., Peak, i. 1. 
 
 4 Matt. vii. 4, 5. Compare Talmud of Babylon, Baba Bathra, 15 b, Erackin, 
 16 b. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 91 
 
 Therapeutae. Kabbis, each having his distinctive teaching, She- 
 ma'ia, Abtalion, Hillel, Shammai, Judas the Gaulonite, Gamaliel, I 
 and many others, whose maxims form the Talmud, 1 appeared \ 
 on all sides. They wrote very little ; the Jewish doctors of this j 
 time did not write books ; every thing was done by conversa- 
 tions, and in public lessons, to which it was sought to give 
 a form easily remembered. 2 The proclamation by the young 
 carpenter of Nazareth of these maxims, for the most part already 
 generally known, but which, thanks to him, were to regenerate the 
 world, was therefore no striking event. It was only one Kabbi I 
 more (it is true, the most charming of all), and around him some 
 young men, eager to hear him, and thirsting for knowledge. It I 
 requires time to command the attention of men. As yet there I 
 were no Christians ; though true Christianity was founded, and, 
 doubtless, it was never more perfect than at this first period. 
 Jesus added to it nothing durable afterwards. Indeed, in one 
 sense, he compromised it ; for . every movement, in order to 
 triumph, must make sacrifices ; we never come from the contest 
 of life unscathed. 
 
 To conceive the good, in fact, is not sufficient ; it must -be made 
 to succeed amongst men. To accomplish this, less pure paths must 
 be followed. Certainly, if the Gospel was confined to some chapters 
 of Matthew and Luke, it would be more perfect, and would not 
 now be open to so many objections; but would Jesus have con- 
 verted the world without miracles ? If he had died at the period 
 of his career we have now reached, there would not have been in his 
 life a single page to wound us ; but, greater in the eyes of God, he 
 would have remained unknown to men ; he would have been lost 
 in the crowd of great unknown spirits, himself the greatest of all ; 
 the truth would not have been promulgated, and the world would 
 not have profited from the great moral superiority with which his 
 Father had endowed him. ) Jesus, son of Sirach, and Hillel, had 
 
 1 See especially PirTce Aboth, ch. i. 
 
 2 The Talmud, a resume of this vast movement of the schools, was scarcely 
 commenced till the second century of our era. 
 
02 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 A 
 
 uttered aphorisms almost as exalted as those of Jesus. Hillel, 
 owever, will never be accounted the true founder of Christianity. 
 In morals, as in art, precept is nothing, practice is everything. 
 The idea which is hidden in a picture of Raphael is of little 
 moment; it is the picture itself which is prized. So, too, in 
 morals, truth is but little prized when it is a mere sentiment, and 
 only attains its full value when realised in the world as fact. 
 Men of indifferent morality have written very good maxims. 
 Very virtuous men, on the other hand, have done nothing to 
 perpetuate in the world the tradition of virtue. The palm is his 
 who has been mighty both in words and in works, who has dis- 
 cerned the good, and at the price of his blood has caused its 
 triumph. Jesus, from this double point of view, is without equal; 
 his glory remains entire, and will ever be renewed. 
 
 r 
 
CHAPTER VL y i>^ ' 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST— VISIT OF JESUS TO JOHN, AND HIS ABODE IN 
 THE DESERT OF JUDEA — ADOPTION OF THE BAPTISM OF JOHN. 
 
 An extraordinary man, whose position, from the absence of do- 
 cumentary evidence, remains to us in some degree enigmatical, 
 appeared about this time, and was unquestionably to some extent 
 connected with Jesus. This connexion tended rather to make the 
 young prophet of Nazareth deviate from his path ; but it sug- 
 gested many important accessories to his religious institution, and, 
 at all events, furnished a very strong authority to his disciples in 
 recommending their master in the eyes of a certain class of Jews. 
 
 About the year 28 of our era, (the fifteenth year of the reign of 
 Tiberius,) there spread throughout Palestine the reputation of a 
 certain Johanan, or John, a young ascetic full of zeal and en- 
 thusiasm. John was of the priestly race, 1 /and born, it seems, at 
 Juttah near Hebron, or at Hebron itself. 2 Hebron, the patriarchal 
 city par excellence, situated at a short distance from the desert of 
 Judea, and within a few hours' journey of the great desert of 
 Arabia, was at this period what it is to-day — one of the bulwarks 
 of Semitic ideas, in their most^ austere form. ( Prom his infancy, 
 John was Nazir — that is to say, subjected by vow to certain 
 
 1 Luke i. 5 ; passage from the Gospel of the Ebionites, preserved by Epiphanius, 
 [Adv. Hair., xxx. 13.) 
 
 2 Luke i. 39. It has been suggested, nut without probability, that "the city 
 of Juda " mentioned in this passage of Luke, is the town of Jutta, (Josh. xv. 55, 
 xxi. 16.) Eobinson (Biblical Researches, i. 494, ii. 206) has discovered this Jutta, 
 still bearing the same name, at two hours' journey south of Hebron. 
 
94 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 abstinences. 1 The desert by which he was, so to speak, sur- 
 rounded, early attracted him. 2 He led there the life of a Yogi of 
 India, clothed with skins or stuffs of camels' hair, having for food 
 only locusts and wild honey. 3 A certain number of disciples were 
 grouped around him, sharing his life and studying his severe 
 doctrine. ) We might imagine ourselves transported to the banks 
 of the Ganges, if particular traits had not revealed in this recluse 
 the last descendant of the great prophets of Israel. 
 
 From the time that the Jewish nation had begun to reflect 
 upon its destiny with a kind of despair, the imagination of the 
 people had reverted with much complacency to the ancient 
 prophets. [ Now, of all the personages of the past, the remem- 
 'brance of whom came like the dreams of a troubled night to 
 awaken and agitate the people, the greatest was Elias.^ This giant 
 of the prophets, in his rough solitude of Carmel, sharing the life 
 of savage beasts, dwelling in the hollows of the rocks, whence he 
 came like a thunderbolt, to make and unmake kings, had become, by 
 successive transformations, a sort of superhuman being, sometimes 
 visible, sometimes invisible, and as one who had not tasted death. 
 It was generally believed that Elias would return and restore 
 Israel. 4 The austere life which he had led, the terrible remem- 
 brances he had left behind him, — the impression of which is 
 still powerful in the East,5 — the sombre image which, even in 
 our own time, causes trembling and death, — all this mythology, 
 full of vengeance and terror, vividly struck the mind of the 
 people, and stamped as with a birth-mark all the creations of the 
 popular mind.) Whoever aspired to act powerfully upon the 
 
 1 Luke i. 15. 2 Luke i. 80. 
 
 3 Matt. iii. 4 ; Mark i. 6 ; fragm. of the Gospel of the Ebionites, in Epiph., 
 Adv., Hcer., xxx. 13. 
 
 4 Malachi iv. 5, 6; (iii. 23, 24, according to the Vulg.;) Ecclesiasticus xlviii. 
 10 ; Matt. xvi. 14, xvii. 10, and following; Mark vi. 15, viii. 28, ix. 10, and follow- 
 ing; Luke ix. 8, 19 ; John i. 21, 25. 
 
 5 The ferocious Abdallah, pacha of St Jean d'Acre, nearly died from fright 
 at seeing him in a dream, standing erect on his mountain. In the pictures of 
 the Christian churches, he is surrounded with decapitated heads. The Mussul- 
 mans dread him. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. V? 95 
 
 people, must imitate Elias ; and, as solitary life had been the 
 essential characteristic of this prophet/ they were accustomed to 
 conceive " the man of God " as a hermit.) They imagined that all 
 the holy personages had had their days cf penitence, of solitude, and 
 of austerity. 1 The retreat to the desert thus became the condition 
 and the prelude of high destinies. 
 
 I No doubt this thought of imitation had occupied John's mind. 2 
 The anchorite life, so opposed to the spirit of the ancient Jewish 
 people, and with which the vows, such as those of the Nazirs and 
 the Kechabites, had no relation, pervaded all parts of Judea. \ The 
 Essenes or Therapeutse were grouped near the birthplace of John, 
 on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea. 3 It was imagined that 
 the chiefs of sects ought to be recluses, having rules and institutions 
 of their own, like the founders of religious orders. The teachers of 
 the young were also at times species of anchorites, 4 somewhat re- 
 sembling the gourous 5 of Brahminism. In fact, might there not 
 in this be a remote influence of the mounis of India ? Perhaps, 
 some of those wandering Buddhist monks who overran the world, 
 as the first Franciscans did in later times, preaching by their 
 actions and converting people who knew not their language, 
 might have turned their steps towards Judea, as they certainly 
 did towards Syria and Babylon ? 6 On this point we have no 
 certainty. Babylon had become for some time a true focus of 
 Buddhism. Boudasp (Bodhisattva) was reputed a wise Chaldean, 
 and the founder of Sabeism. Sabeism was, as its etymology 
 indicates,? baptism — that is to say, the religion of many bap- 
 tisms, — the origin of the sect still existing called " Christians 
 of St John," or Mendaites, which the Arabs call el-Mogtasila, 
 "the Baptists." 8 It is difficult to unravel these vague analo- 
 
 1 Isaiah ii. 9-11. 2 Luke i. 17. 
 
 3 Pliny, Hist. Nat, v. 17; Epiph., Adv. Boer., xix. 1 and 2. 
 
 4 Josephus, Vita, 2. 5 Spiritual preceptors. 
 
 6 I have developed this point elsewhere. Hist. Gener. des Langues Stmitiques, 
 in. iv. 1; Joum. Asiat., February-March, 1856. 
 
 7 The Aramean word seba, origin of the name of Sabians, is synonymous with 
 
 8 I have treated of this at greater length in the Journal Asiatique, Nov -Dec. 
 
96 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 gies. The sects floating between Judaism, Christianity, Baptism, 
 and Sabeism, which we find in the region beyond the Jordan 
 during the first centuries of our era, 1 present to criticism the 
 most singular problem, in consequence of the confused accounts 
 of them which have come down to us. We may believe, 
 at all events, that many of the external practices of John, of 
 the Essenes, 2 and of the Jewish spiritual teachers of this time, 
 were derived from influences then but recently received from the 
 far East. The fundamental practice which characterised the sect 
 of John, and gave it its name, has always had its centre in lower 
 Chaldea, and constitutes a religion which is perpetuated there to 
 the present day. < 
 
 (This practice was baptism, or total immersion^ Ablutions were 
 already familiar to the Jews, as they were to all religions of the 
 East. 3 The Essenes had given them a peculiar extension. 4 Bap- 
 tism had become an ordinary ceremony on the introduction of 
 proselytes into the bosom of the Jewish religion, a sort of initiatory 
 rite. 5 Never before John the Baptist, however, had either this im- 
 portance or this form been given to immersion. John had fixed the 
 scene of his activity in that part of the desert of Judea which is in 
 the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea. 6 At the periods when he ad- 
 ministered baptism, he went to the banks of the Jordan,? either to 
 Bethany or Bethabara, 8 upon the eastern shore, probably opposite 
 
 1853, and August-Sept. 1855. It is remarkable that the Elchasaites, a Sabian or 
 Baptist sect, inhabited the same district as the Essenes, (the eastern bank of the 
 Dead Sea,) and were confounded with them, (Epiph. Adv. Hcer., xix. 1, 2, 4, xxx. 
 16, 17, liii. 1, 2; Philosophumena, ix. iii. 15, 16, x. xx. 29.) 
 
 1 See the remarks of Epiphanius on the Essenes, Hemero-Baptists, Nazarites, 
 Ossenes, Nazorenes, Ebionites, Samsonites, (Adv. Hcer., books i. and ii.,) and those 
 of the author of the Philosophumena on the Elchasaites, (books ix. and x.) 
 
 2 Epiph., Adv. Hcer., xix., xxx., liii. 
 
 3 Mark vii. 4; Jos., Ant, xvm. v. 2; Justin, DiaZ. cum Tryph., 17, 29, 80; 
 Epiph., Adv. Hcer., xvii. 
 
 4 Jos., B. J., ii., viii. 5, 7, 9, 13. 
 
 5 Mishnah, Pesachim, viii. 8 ; Talmud of Babylon, Jebamoth, 46 b ; Kerithuth, 
 9 a; Aboda Zara, 57 a; Masstket Gerim, (edit. Kirchheim, 1851,) pp. 38-10. 
 
 6 Matt. iii. 1 ; Mark i. 4. 7 Luke iii. 3. 
 
 8 John i. 28, iii. 26. All the manuscripts say Bethany ; but, as no one knows of 
 Bethany in these places, Origen (Comment, in Joann., vi. 24) has proposed to substi- 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 97 
 
 to Jericho, or to a place called JEnon, or "the Fountains," 1 
 near Salim, where there was much water. 2 Considerable crowds, 
 especially of the tribe of Judah, hastened to him to be bap- 
 tized. 3 In a few months he thus became one of the most influen- 
 tial men in Judea, and acquired much importance in the general 
 estimation. 
 
 The people took him for a prophet, 4 and many imagined that 
 it was Elias who had risen again.5 The belief in these resurrec- 
 tions was widely spread ; 6 it was thought that God would raise from 
 the tomb certain of the ancient prophets to guide Israel towards 
 its final destiny. 7 Others held John to be the Messiah himself, 
 although he made no such pretension. 8 The priests and the 
 scribes, opposed to this revival of prophetism, and the constant ene- 
 mies of enthusiasts, despised him. But the popularity of the Bap- 
 tist awed them, and they dared not speak against him .9 It was 
 a victory which the ideas of the multitude gained over the priestly 
 aristocracy. When the chief priests were compelled to declare 
 themselves explicitly on this point, they were considerably embar- 
 rassed. 10 
 /Baptism with John was only a sign destined to make an impres- 
 
 tute Beihabara, and his correction has been generally accepted. The two words 
 have, moreover, analogous meanings, and seera to indicate a place where there was 
 a ferry-boat to cross the river. 
 
 1 JEnon is the Chaldean plural, Jlnawan, "fountains." 
 
 3 John iii. 23. The locality of this place is doubtful. The circumstance 
 mentioned by the evangelist would lead us to believe that it was not very near the 
 Jordan. Nevertheless, the Bynoptics are agreed in placing the scene of the bap- 
 tisms of John on the banks of that river, (Matt. iii. 6; Mark i. 5; Luke iii. 3.) 
 The comparison of verses 22 and 23 of chap. iii. of John, and of verses 3 and 4 of 
 chap. iv. of the same Gospel, would lead us to believe that Salim was in Judea, 
 and consequently in the oasis of Jericho, near the mouth of the Jordan ; since it 
 would be difficult to find in any other district of the tribe of Judah a single na- 
 tural basin in which any one might be totally immersed. Saint Jerome wishes to 
 place Salim much more north, near Beth-Schean or Scythopolis. But Robinson 
 
 | (Bibl. Res., iii. 333) has not been able to find anything at these places that justifies 
 
 i this assertion. 
 
 3 Mark i. 5 ; Josephus, Ant., xvm. v. 2. 4 Matt. xiv. 5, xxi. 26. 
 
 6 Matt. vi. 14; Mark vi. 15; John i. 21. 6 Matt. xiv. 2; Luke ix. 8. 
 
 7 See ante, p. 94 note 4. 8 Luke iii. 15, and following; John i. 20. 
 
 8 Matt. xxi. 25, and following ; Luke vii. 30. 10 Matt., loc. cit. 
 
 G 
 
98 LIFE OF JESUSL 
 
 sion, and to prepare the minds of the people for some great move- 
 ment. No doubt he was possessed in the highest degree with the 
 Messianic hope, and that his principal action was in accordance 
 with it. y' Repent," said he, "for the kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand." l He announced a "great wrath," that is to say, terrible 
 calamities which should come to pass, 2 and declared that the axe was 
 already laid at the root of the tree, and that the tree would soon 
 be cast into the fire. He represented the Messiah with a fan in 
 his hand, collecting the good wheat and burning the chaff. Re- 
 pentance, of which baptism was the type, the giving of alms, the 
 reformation of habits, 3 were in John's view the great means of 
 preparation for the coming events, though we do not know exactly 
 in what light he conceived them. It is, however, certain that he 
 preached with much power against the same adversaries as Jesus, 
 against rich priests, the Pharisees, the doctors, in one word, against 
 official Judaism ; and that, like Jesus, he was specially welcomed 
 by the despised classes. 4 He made no account of the title " son 
 of Abraham," and said that God could raise up sons unto Abraham 
 from the stones of the road.5 It does not seem that he possessed 
 even the germ of the great idea which led to the triumph of 
 Jesus, the idea of a pure religion ; but he powerfully served this 
 idea in substituting a private rite for the legal ceremonies which 
 required priests, as the Flagellants of the Middle Ages were the 
 precursors of the Reformation, by depriving the official clergy of 
 the monopoly of the sacraments and of absolution. The general 
 tone of his sermons was stern and severe. The expressions which 
 he used against his adversaries appear to have been most violent. 6 
 It was a harsh and continuous invective. It is probable that he 
 did not remain quite a stranger to politics. Josephus, who, through 
 his teacher Banou, was brought into almost direct connexion with 
 John, suggests as much by his ambiguous words, 7 and the catas- 
 trophe which put an end to John's life seems to imply this. His 
 
 1 Matt. iii. 2. 2 Matt. ill. 7. 3 Luke iii. 11-14; Josephus, Ant., xvm. v. 2- 
 4 Matt' xxi. 32 ; Luke iii. 12-14. 5 Matt. iii. 9. 6 Matt. iii. 7; Luke iii. 7. 
 7 Ant. xvm. v. 2. We must observe that, when Josephus described the secret 
 
LIFE OP JESUS. 99 
 
 disciples led a very austere life, 1 fasted often, and affected a sad 
 and anxious demeanour. We have at times glimpses of com- 
 munism — the rich man being ordered to share all that he had 
 with the poor. 2 The poor man appeared as the one who would 
 be specially benefited by the kingdom of God. 
 
 Although the centre of John's action was Judea, his fame 
 quickly penetrated to Galilee and reached Jesus, who, by his first 
 discourses, had already gathered around himself a small circle of 
 hearers. Enjoying as yet little authority, and doubtless impelled 
 by the desire to see a teacher whose instruction had so much in 
 common with his own, Jesus quitted Galilee and repaired with 
 his small group of disciples to John.3 The newcomers were 
 baptized like every one else. John welcomed this group of Gali- 
 lean disciples, and did not object to their remaining distinct from 
 his own. The two teachers were young ; they had many ideas in 
 common ; they loved one another, and publicly vied with each 
 other in exhibitions of kindly feeling. At the first glance, such a 
 fact surprises us in John the Baptist, and we are tempted to call 
 it in question. Humility has never been a feature of strong Jew- 
 ish minds. It might have been expected that a character so stub- 
 
 and more or less seditious doctrines of his countrymen, he suppressed everything 
 which had reference to the Messianic beliefs, and, in order not to give umbrage to 
 the Romans, spread over these doctrines a vulgar and commonplace air, which 
 made all the heads of Jewish sects appear as mere professors of morals or stoics. 
 
 1 Matt.ix. 14. 2 Luke iii. 11. 
 
 3 Matt, iii. 13, and following; Mark i. 9, and following; Luke iii. 21, and fol- 
 lowing ; John i. 29, and following ; iii. 22, and following. The synoptics make 
 Jesus come to John, before he had played any public part. But if it is true, as 
 they state, that John recognised Jesus from the first and welcomed him, it must 
 be supposed that Jesus was already a somewhat renowned teacher. The fourth 
 Gospel brings Jesus to John twice, the first time whilst yet unknown, the second 
 time with a band of disciples. Without touching here the question of the precise 
 journeys of Jesus, (an insoluble question, seeing the contradictions of the docu- 
 ments and the little care the evangelists had in being exact in such matters,) and 
 without denying that Jesus might have made a journey to John when he had as 
 yet no notoriety, we adopt the information furnished by the fourth Gospel, (iii. 
 22, and following,) namely, that Jesus, before beginning to baptize like John, had 
 formed a school. We must remember, besides, that the first pages of the fourth 
 Gospel are notes tacked together without rigorous chronological arrangement. 
 
100 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 bom, a sort of Lamennais always irritated, would be very passionate, 
 and suffer neither rivalry nor half adhesion. But this manner of 
 viewing things rests upon a false conception of the person of John. 
 We imagine him an old man; he was, on the contrary, of the 
 same age as Jesus, 1 and very young according to the ideas of the 
 time. In mental development, he was the brother rather than the 
 father of Jesus. The two young enthusiasts, full of the same 
 hopes and the same hatreds, were able to make common cause, 
 and mutually to support each other. Certainly an aged teacher, 
 seeing a man without celebrity approach him, and maintain 
 towards him an aspect of independence, would have rebelled ; we 
 have scarcely an example of a leader of a school receiving with 
 eagerness his future successor. ( But youth is capable of any sacri- 
 fice, and we may admit that John, having recognised in Jesus a 
 spirit akin to his own, accepted him without any personal 
 reservation. These good relations became afterwards the start- 
 ing-point of a whole system developed by the evangelists, which 
 consisted in giving the Divine mission of Jesus the primary 
 basis of the attestation of John. Such was the degree of autho- 
 rity acquired by the Baptist, that it was not thought possible to 
 find in the world a better guarantee. ( But far from John abdi- 
 cating in favour of Jesus, Jesus, during all the time that he passed 
 with him, recognised him as his superior, and only developed his 
 own genius with timidity. 
 
 It seems, in fact, that, notwithstanding his profound originality, 
 Jesus, during some weeks at least, was the imitator of John. His 
 way as yet was not clear before him. At all times, moreover, 
 Jesus yielded much to opinion, and adopted many things which 
 were not in exact accordance with his own ideas, or for which he 
 cared little, merely because they were popular ; but these accessories 
 never injured: his principal idea, and were always subordinate to it. 
 Baptism had been brought by John into very great favour ; Jesus 
 thought himself obliged to do like John ; therefore he baptized, and" 
 
 J Luke i., although indeed all the details of the narrative, especially those which 
 refer to the relationship of John with Jesus, are legendary. 
 
y 
 
 LIFE OF JESUS. 101 
 
 his disciples baptized also. 1 No doubt he accompanied baptism with iL^ 
 preaching, similar to that of John. The Jordan was thus covered \ 
 on all sides with Baptists, whose discourses were more or less sue- \ 
 cessful. The pupil soon equalled the master, and his baptism \ 
 was much sought after. There was on this subject some jealousy \ 
 among the disciples; 2 the disciples of John 'cam'e-tb complain to 
 him of the growing success of the young Galilean, whose baptism 
 would, they thought, soon supplant his own.. But the. two teacher's \ 
 remained superior to this meanness. The superiority of John 
 was, besides, too indisputable for Jesus, still little known, to think 
 of contesting it. ( Jesus only wished to increase under John's 
 protection ; and thought himself obliged, in order to gain the mul- 
 titude, to employ the external means which had given John such 
 astonishing success. ) When he recommenced to preach after John's 
 arrest, the first words put into his mouth are but the repetition of 
 one of the familiar phrases of the Baptist.3 Many other of John's 
 expressions may be found repeated verbally in the discourses of 
 Jesus. 4 The two schools appear to have lived long on good 
 terms with each other ; 5 and after the death of John, Jesus, as 
 his trusty friend, was one of the first to be informed of the event. 6 
 John, in fact, was soon cut short in his prophetic career. Like 
 the ancient Jewish prophets, he was, in the highest degree, a 
 censurer of the established authorities. 7 The extreme vivacity 
 with which he expressed himself at their expense could not fail 
 to bring him into trouble. In Judea, John does not appear to 
 have been disturbed by Pilate ; but in Perea, beyond the Jordan, 
 he came into the territory of Antipas. This tyrant was uneasy 
 at the political leaven which was so little concealed by John in his 
 preaching. The great assemblages of men gathered around the 
 Baptist, by religious and patriotic enthusiasm, gave rise to sus- 
 picion. 8 An entirely personal grievance was also added to these 
 
 1 John iii. 22-26, iv. 1, 2. The parenthesis of ver. 2 appears to he an inter- 
 im polation, or perhaps a tardy scruple of John correcting himself. 
 
 2 John iii. 26, iv. 1. 3 Matt. iii. 2, iv. 17. 4 Matt. iii. 7, xii. 34, xxiii. 33. 
 6 Matt. xi. 2-13. 6 Matt. xiv. 12. 7 Luke iii. 19. 
 8 Jos., Ant., xviii. v. 2. 
 
102 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 motives of state, and rendered the death of the austere censor 
 inevitable. 
 
 One of the most strongly marked characters of this tragical 
 family of the Herods was Herodias, grand- daughter of Herod the 
 Great. Violent, ambitious, and passionate, she detested Judaism, 
 and. despised a^s Jaws. 1 She had been married, probably against 
 he,r ,willj . to her* uncle «Herod, son of Mariamne, 2 whom Herod 
 the Great had ■ disinherited^ and who never played any public 
 part. The inferior position of her husband, in respect to the 
 other persons of the family, gave her no peace ; she determined 
 to be sovereign at whatever cost. 4 Antipas was the instrument 
 of whom she made use. This feeble man having become despe- 
 rately enamoured of her, promised to marry her, and to repudiate 
 his first wife, daughter of Hareth, king of Petra, and emir of the 
 neighbouring tribes of Perea. The Arabian princess, receiving a 
 hint of this design, resolved to fly. Concealing her intention, she 
 pretended that she wished to make a journey to Machero, in her 
 father's territory, and caused herself to be conducted thither by 
 the officers of Antipas. 5 
 
 Makaur,6 or Machero, was a colossal fortress built by Alexander 
 Jannaeus, and rebuilt by Herod, in one of the most abrupt wadys 
 to the east of the Dead Sea.? It was a wild and desolate country, 
 filled with strange legends, and believed to be haunted by demons. 8 
 The fortress was just on the boundary of the lands of Hareth and 
 of Antipas. At that time it was in the possession of Hareth .9 
 The latter having been warned, had prepared everything for the 
 
 1 Jos., Ant, xviii. v. 4. 
 
 2 Matthew (chap. xiv. 3, in the Greek text) and Mark (chap. vi. 17) have it 
 that this was Philip ; but this is certainly an inadvertency (see Jos., Ant., xviii. 
 v. 1, 4.) The wife of Philip was Salome, daughter of Herodias. 
 
 3 Jos., Ant, xvn. iv. 2. 4 Ibid., xviii. vii. 1, 2; B. J., n. ix. 6. 
 
 5 Ibid., xviii. v. 1. 
 
 6 This form is found in the Talmud of Jerusalem, (Shebiit, ix. 2,) and in the 
 Targums of Jonathan and of Jerusalem, (Numb. xxii. 35.) 
 
 7 Now Mkaur, in the wady Zerka Main. This place has not been visited since 
 Seetzen was there 
 
 8 Josephus, Be Bell. Jud., vn. vi. 1, and following, 
 
 9 Jos., Ant., xviii. v. 1. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 103 
 
 flight of his daughter, who was conducted from tribe to tribe to 
 Petra. 
 
 The almost incestuous 1 union of Antipas and Herodias then 
 took place. The Jewish laws on marriage were a constant rock 
 of offence between the irreligious family of the Herods and the 
 strict Jews.2 The members of this numerous and rather isolated 
 dynasty being obliged to marry amongst themselves, frequent 
 violations of the limits prescribed by the Law necessarily took 
 place. John, in energetically blaming Antipas, was the echo of 
 the general feeling. 3 This was more than sufficient to decide 
 the latter to follow up his suspicions. He caused the Baptist to 
 be arrested, and ordered him to be shut up in the fortress of 
 Machero, which he had probably seized after the departure of the 
 daughter of Hareth.4 
 
 More timid than cruel, Antipas did not desire to put him to 
 death. According to certain rumours, he feared a popular sedi- 
 tion. 5 According to another version,^ he had taken pleasure in 
 listening to the prisoner, and these conversations had thrown him 
 into great perplexities. It is certain that the detention was pro- 
 longed, and that John, in his prison, preserved an extended in- 
 fluence. He corresponded with his disciples, and we find him 
 again in connexion with Jesus. His faith in the near approach 
 of the Messiah only became firmer; he followed with attention 
 the movements outside, and sought to discover in them the signs 
 favourable to the accomplishment of the hopes which he cherished, 
 
 1 Lev. xviii. 16. 2 Jos., Ant., xv. vii. 10, 
 
 3 Matt. xiv. 4 ; Mark vi. 18 J Luke iii. 19. 
 
 4 Jos., Ant., xviii. v. 2. 6 Matt. xiv. 5. 
 6 Mark vi. 20. I read ^7rop«, and not iirolti. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OP THE IDEAS OF JESUS KE6PECTING THE 
 KINGDOM OF GOD. 
 
 Up to the arrest of John, which took place about the summer of 
 the year 29, Jesus did not quit the neighbourhood of the Dead 
 Sea and of the Jordan. (An abode in the desert of Judea was 
 generally considered as the preparation for great things, as a sort 
 of " retreat" before public acts. Jesus followed in this respect the 
 example of others, and passed forty days with no other compa- 
 nions than savage beasts, maintaining a rigorous fast. The dis- 
 ciples speculated much concerning this sojourn. The desert was 
 popularly regarded as the residence of demons. 1 ; There exist in 
 the world few regions more desolate, more abandoned by God, 
 more shut out from life, than the rocky declivity which forms the 
 western shore of the Dead Sea. It was believed that during the 
 time which Jesus passed in this frightful country, he had gone 
 through terrible trials ; that Satan had assailed him with his illu- 
 sions, or tempted him with seductive promises ; that afterwards, in 
 order to recompense him for his victory, the angels had come to 
 minister to him.2 
 
 1 Tobit viii. 3 ; Luke xi. 24. 
 
 2 Matt. iv. 1, and following ; Mark i. 12, 13 ; Luke iv. 1, and following. Cer- 
 tainly, the striking similarity that these narratives present to the analogous legends 
 of the Vendidad (farg. xix.) and of the Lalitavistara (chap, xvii., xviii., xxi.) would 
 lead us to regard them only as myths. But the meagre and concise narrative of 
 Mark, which evidently represents on this point the primitive compilation, leads 
 us to suppose a real fact, which furnished later the theme of legendary develop, 
 ments. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 1 05 
 
 It was probably in coming from the desert that Jesus learnt of 
 the arrest of John the Baptist. He had no longer any reason to 
 prolong his stay in a country which was partly strange to him. 
 Perhaps he feared also being involved in the severities exercised 
 towards John, and did not wish to expose himself, at a time in 
 which, seeing the little celebrity he had, his death could in no way 
 serve the progress of his ideas. He regained Galilee,! his true 
 home^ripened by an important experience,/ and having, through 
 contact with a great man, very different from himself, acquired a 
 consciousness of his own originality. 
 
 i On the whole, the influence of John had been more hurtful than 
 useful to Jesus. It checked his development ; for everything leads 
 us to believe that he had, when he descended towards the Jordan, 
 ideas superior to those of John, and that it was by a sort of con- 
 cession that he inclined for a time towards baptism.) Perhaps if 
 the Baptist, whose authority it would have been difficult for him to 
 escape, had remained free, Jesus would not have been able to throw 
 off the yoke of external rites and ceremonies, and would then, no 
 doubt, have remained an unknown Jewish sectary; for the world 
 would not have abandoned its old ceremonies merely for others of 
 a different kind. It has been by the power of a religion, free from 
 all external forms, that Christianity has attracted elevated minds. 
 The Baptist once imprisoned, his school was soon diminished, and 
 Jesus found himself left to his own impulses. ( The only things he 
 owed to John, were lessons in preaching and in popular action. 
 From this moment, in fact, he preached with greater power, and 
 spoke to the multitude with authority. 2 
 
 It seems also that his sojourn with John had, not so much by 
 the influence of the Baptist, as by the natural progress of his own 
 thought, ( considerably ripened his ideas on "the kingdom of 
 heaven." His watchword, henceforth, is the " good tidings," the 
 announcement that the kingdom of God is at hand.3 Jesus is no 
 longer simply a delightful moralist, aspiring to express sublime 
 
 1 Matt. iv. 12 ; Mark i. 14 ; Luke iv. 14 ; John iv. 3. 
 
 8 Matt. vii. 29; Mark i. 22 ; Luke iv. 32. » Mark i. 14, 15. 
 
106 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 lessons in short and lively aphorisms ; he is the transcendent 
 revolutionary, who essays to renovate the world from its very 
 basis, and to establish upon earth the ideal which he had con- 
 ceived. • " To await the kingdom of God 5 ' is henceforth synony- 
 mous with being a disciple of Jesus. 1 This phrase, " kingdom of 
 God/' or "kingdom of heaven," was, as we have said,2 already 
 long familiar to the Jews. But Jesus gave it a moral sense, a social 
 application, which even the author of the Book of Daniel, in his 
 apocalyptic enthusiasm, had scarcely dared to imagine. 
 
 He declared that in the present world evil is the reigning power. 
 Satan is ' ' the prince of this world,'? 3 and everything obeys him. 
 The kings kill the prophets. The priests and the doctors do not 
 that which they command others to do ; the righteous are perse- 
 cuted, and the only portion of the good is weeping. The "world" is 
 in this manner the enemy of God and His saints ; 4 but God will 
 awaken and avenge His saints. The day is at hand, for the 
 abomination is at its height. The reign of goodness will have 
 its turn., 
 
 The advent of this reign of goodness will be a great and sudden 
 revolution. The world will seem to be turned upside down ; the 
 actual state being bad, in order to represent the future, it suffices 
 to conceive nearly the reverse of that which exists. The first 
 shall be last.5 j A new order shall govern humanity. Now the 
 good and the bad are mixed, like the tares and the good grain in 
 a field. The master lets them grow together ; but the hour of 
 violent separation will arrive. 6 ) The kingdom of God will be as 
 he casting of a great net, which gathers both good and bad fish ; 
 the good are preserved, and the rest are thrown away.? The germ 
 of this great revolution will not be recognisable in its beginning. 
 
 1 Mark xv. 43. 2 See ante, pp. 83, 84. 
 
 3 John xii. 31, xiv. 30, xvi. 11. (Comp. 2 Cor. iv. 4 ; Ephes. ii. 2.) 
 
 4 John i. 10, vii. 7, xiv. 17, 22, 27, xv. 18, and following ; xvi. 8, 20, 33, xvii. 
 9, 14, 16, 25. This meaning of the word "world" is especially applied in the 
 writings of Paul and John. 
 
 5 Matt. xix. 30, xx." 16 ; Mark x. 31 ; Luke xiii. 30. 
 
 6 Matt. xiii. 24, and following. 7 Matt. xiii. 47, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 107 
 
 It will be like a grain of mustard-seed, which is the smallest of 
 seeds, but which, thrown into the earth, becomes a tree under the 
 foliage of which the birds repose ; 1 or it will be like the leaven 
 which, deposited in the meal, makes the whole to ferment. 2 A 
 series of parables, often obscure, was designed to express the sud- 
 denness of this advent, its apparent injustice, and its inevitable 
 and final character. 3 
 
 \ Who was to establish this kingdom of God? Let us remember 
 that the first thought of Jesus, a thought so deeply rooted in 
 him that it had probably no beginning, and formed part of his 
 very being, was that he was the Son of God, the friend of his 
 Father, the doer of his will. The answer of Jesus to such a 
 question could not therefore be doubtful. The persuasion that he 
 was to establish the kingdom of God took absolute possession of 
 his mind. * He regarded himself as the universal reformer. The 
 heavens, the earth, the whole of nature, madness, disease, and 
 death, were but his instruments. In his paroxysm of heroic will, 
 he believed himself all powerfuL If the earth would not submit to 
 this supreme transformation, it would be broken up, purified by 
 fire, and by the breath of God. A new heaven would be created, 
 and the entire world would be peopled with the angels of God. 4 
 
 (^A radical revolution,^ embracing even nature itself, was the 
 fundamenta lidea of Jesus. Henceforward, without doubt, he 
 renounced politics ; the example of Judas, the Gaulonite, had 
 shewn him the inutility of popular seditions. He never thought 
 of revolting against the Eomans and tetrarchs. His was not the 
 unbridled and anarchical principle of the Gaulonite. His sub- 
 mission to the established powers, though really derisive, was in 
 appearance complete. 5 He paid tribute to Caesar, in order to avoid 
 
 1 Matt. xiii. 31, and following ; Mark iv. 31, and following ; Luke xiii. 19, and 
 following. 
 
 2 Matt. xiii. 33 ; Luke xiii. 21. 
 
 3 Matt. xiii. entirely; xviii. 23, and following; xx. 1, and following; Luke 
 xiii. 18, and following. 
 
 4 Matt. xxii. 30. 
 
 8 ' Ano^aTdaTaais nduTaiv, Acts iii. 21. 
 
1 08 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 disturbance. Liberty and right were not of this world, why should 
 he trouble his life with vain anxieties if Despising the earth, and 
 J/convinced that the present world was not worth caring for, he 
 took refuge in his ideal kingdom ; he established the great doc- 
 trine of transcendant disdain, 1 the true doctrine of liberty of 
 souls, which alone can give peace] But he had not yet said, " My 
 kingdom is not of this world." C^uch darkness mixed itself with 
 even his most correct views. Sometimes .strange temptations 
 crossed his mind. In the desert of Judea, Satan had offered him 
 the kingdoms of the earth. Not knowing the power of the Roman 
 empire, he might, with the enthusiasm there was in the heart 
 of Judea, and which ended soon after in so terrible an outbreak, 
 hope to establish a kingdom by the number and the daring of his 
 partisans. (Many times, perhaps, the supreme question presented 
 itself, — will the kingdom of God be realised by force or by gentle- 
 ness, by revolt or by patience ? \ One day, it is said, the simple 
 men of Galilee wished to carry him away and make him king,2 but 
 Jesus fled into the mountain and remained there some time alone. 
 (His noble nature preserved him from the error which would have 
 made him an agitator, or a chief of rebels, a Theudas or a Bar- 
 kokeba!) 
 
 The. revolution he wished to effect was always a moral re- 
 volution ; but he had not yet begun to trust to the angels and 
 the last trumpet for its execution, i It was upon men and by the 
 aid of men themselves that he wished to act. A visionary who 
 had no other idea than the proximity of the last judgment, would 
 not have had this care for the amelioration of man, and would not 
 have given utterance to the finest moral teaching that humanity 
 has received. ^Much vagueness no doubt tinged his ideas, and it 
 was rather a noble feeling than a fixed design, that urged him to 
 the sublime work which was realised by him, though in a very 
 different manner to what he imagined. 
 j (it was indeed the kingdom of God, or in other words, the king- 
 "I dom of the Spirit, which he founded^ and if Jesus, from the bosom 
 
 i Matt. xvii. 23-26; xxii. 16-22^ 2 John vi. 15. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 109 
 
 of his Father, sees his work bear fruit in the world, he may in- 
 deed say with truth, "This is what I have desired." That which 
 Jesus founded, that which will remain eternally his, allowing for the 
 imperfections which mix themselves with everything realised by 
 humanity^is the doctrine of the liberty of the soul. \ Greece had^^ 
 already had beautiful ideas on this subject. 1 Various Stoics had 
 learnt how to be free even under a tyrant. But in general the 
 ancient world had regarded liberty as attached to certain political 
 forms; freedom was personified in Harmodius and Aristogiton, 
 Brutus and Cassius. The true Christian enjoys more real free- 
 dom ; here below he is an exile ; what matters it to him who 
 is the transitory governor of this earth, which is not his home ? 
 Liberty for him is truth. 2 ). Jesus did not know history suffi-^p 
 ciently to understand that such a doctrine came most opportunely 
 at the moment when republican liberty ended, and when the small 
 municipal constitutions of antiquity were absorbed in the unity 
 of the Eoman empire. But his admirable good sense, and the 
 truly prophetic instinct which he had of his mission, guided 
 him with- marvellous certainty. (^Bj the sentence, " Eender unto 
 Csesar the things which are Csesar 's, and to God the things 
 which are God's," he created something apart from politics, a 
 refuge for souls in the midst of the empire of brute force/) As- 
 suredly, such a doctrine had its dangers. / To establish as a prin- 
 ciple that we must recognise the legitimacy of a power by the 
 inscription on its coins, to proclaim that the perfect man pays 
 tribute with scorn and without question, was to destroy republi- 
 canism in the ancient form, and to favour all tyranny. Chris- 
 tianity, in this sense, has contributed much to weaken the sense 
 of duty of the citizen, and to deliver the world into the absolute 
 power of existing circumstances. But in constituting an immense 
 free association, which during three hundred years was able to 
 dispense with politics, Christianity amply compensated for the 
 wrong it had done to civic virtues. The power of the state 
 
 1 See Stobseus, Florilegium, ch. lxii., lxxvii., lxxxvi., and following. 
 8 John viii. 32, and following. 
 
110 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 was limited to the things of earth ; the mind was freed, or at 
 least the terrible rod of Eoman omnipotence was broken for 
 ever. 
 
 The man who is especially preoccupied with the duties of public 
 life, does not readilg forgive those who attach little importance to 
 his party quarrels. He especially blames those who subordinate 
 political to social questions, and profess a sort of indifference for 
 the former. In one sense he is right, for exclusive power is pre- 
 judicial to the good government of human affairs. But what 
 progress have " parties" been able to effect in the general morality 
 of our species? If Jesus, instead of founding his heavenly 
 kingdom, had gone to Eome, had expended his energies in 
 conspiring against Tiberius, or in regretting Germanicus, what 
 would have become of the world ? As an austere republican, or 
 zealous patriot, he would not have arrested the great current 
 of the affairs of his age, but in declaring that politics are insigni- 
 ficant, he has revealed to the world this truth, that one's country 
 y* is not everything, and that the man is before, and higher than, the 
 citizen. 
 
 I Our principles of positive science are offended by the dreams 
 contained in the programme of Jesus.: We know the history of 
 the earth ; cosmical revolutions of the kind which Jesus expected 
 are only produced by geological or astronomical causes, the con- 
 nexion of which with spiritual things has never yet been demon- 
 strated. ( But, in order to be just to great originators, they must 
 not be judged by the prejudices in which they have shared. 
 Columbus discovered America, though starting from very errone- 
 ous ideas ; Newton believed his foolish explanation of the Apoca- 
 lypse to be as true as his system of the world. Shall we place an 
 ordinary man of our time above a Francis d'Assissi, a St Bernard, 
 a Joan of Arc, or a Luther, because he is free from errors which 
 these last have professed ? ( v Should we measure men by the correct- 
 ness of their ideas of physics, and by the more or less exact know- 
 ledge which they possess of the true system of the world ? Let us 
 understand better the position of Jesus and that which made his 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. Ill 
 
 power. The Deism of the eighteenth century, and a certain kind of 
 Protestantism, have accustomed us to consider the founder of the 
 Christian faith only as a great moralist, a benefactor of mankind. 
 We see nothing more in the Gospel than good maxims ; we throw 
 a prudent veil over the strange intellectual state in which it was 
 originated. There are even persons who regret that the French 
 Revolution departed more than once from principles, and that 
 it was not brought about by wise and moderate men. Let 
 us not impose our petty and commonplace ideas on these ex- 
 traordinary movements so far above our everyday life.. Let us 
 continue to admire the " morality of the gospel" — let us suppress 
 in our religious teachings the chimera which was its soul ; but 
 do not let us believe that with the simple ideas of happiness, or 
 of individual morality, we stir the world. The idea of Jesus 
 was much more profound ; it was the most revolutionary idea 
 jeyer formed in a human brain ; it should be taken in its totality, 
 and not with those timid suppressions which deprive it of pre- 
 cisely that which has rendered it efficacious for the regeneration of 
 humanity. 
 
 The ideal is ever a Utopia. When we wish now-a-days to repre- 
 sent the Christ of the modern conscience, the consoler, and the 
 judge of the new times, what course do we take ? That which 
 Jesus himself did eighteen hundred and thirty years ago. We 
 suppose the conditions of the real world quite other than what they 
 are ; we represent a moral liberator breaking without weapons 
 the chains of the negro, ameliorating the condition of the poor, 
 and giving liberty to oppressed nations. We forget that this im- 
 plies the subversion of the world, the climate of Virginia and that of 
 Congo modified, the blood and the race of millions of men changed, 
 our social complications* restored to a chimerical simplicity, and the 
 political stratifications of Europe displaced from their natural 
 order. The "restitution of all things" 1 desired by Jesus was not 
 more difficult. This new earth, this new heaven, this new Jeru- 
 salem which comes from above, this cry : " Behold I make all 
 
 1 Acts iii. 21. 
 
112 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 things new I" 1 are the common characteristics of reformers. The 
 contrast of the ideal with the sad reality, always produces in man- 
 kind those revolts against unimpassioned reason which inferior 
 minds regard as folly, till the day arrives in which they triumph, 
 and in which those who have opposed them are the first to re- 
 cognise their reasonableness. 
 
 ( s That there may have been a contradiction between the belief in 
 the approaching end of the world and the general moral system of 
 -c_ Jesus, conceived in prospect of a permanent state of humanity, 
 nearly analogous to that which now exists, no one will attempt to 
 deny. 2 \ It was exactly this contradiction that insured the success 
 of his work. The millenarian alone would have done nothing last- 
 ing ; the moralist alone would have done nothing powerful. The 
 millenarianism gave the imj^iilse, the moralist insured the future. 
 Hence Christianity united the two conditions of great success in 
 this world, a revolutionary starting point, and the possibility of 
 continuous life. Everything which is intended to succeed ought 
 to respond to these two wants ; for the world seeks both to 
 change and to last. Jesus, at the same time that he announced 
 an unparalleled subversion in human affairs, proclaimed the prin- 
 ciples upon w r hich society has reposed for eighteen hundred years. 
 That which in fact distinguishes Jesus from the agitators of his 
 time, and from those of all ages, is his perfect idealism. Jesus,- 
 in some respects, was an anarchist, for he had no idea of civil 
 government. ) That government seemed to him purely and simply 
 an abuse. He spoke of it in vague terms, and as a man of the 
 people who had no idea of politics. Every magistrate appeared 
 to him a natural enemy of the people of God ; he prepared his dis- 
 ciples for contests with the civil powers, without thinking for a 
 moment that there was anything in this to be ashamed of. 3 But 
 he never shews any desire to put himself in the place of the rich and 
 
 * Rev. xxi. 1, 2, 5. 
 
 2 The millenarian sects of England present the same contrast, I mean the belief 
 in the near end of the world, notwithstanding much good sense in the conduct of 
 life, and an extraordinary understanding of commercial affairs and industry. 
 
 3 Matt. x. 17, 18; Luke xii. 11. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 113 
 
 the powerful. He wishes to annihilate riches and power, but not 
 to appropriate them. He predicts persecution and all kinds of 
 punishment to his disciples; 1 but never once does the thought 
 of armed resistance appear. { The idea of being all-powerful by 
 suffering and resignation, and of triumphing over force by purity 
 of heart, is indeed an idea peculiar to Jesus. Jesus is not a 
 spiritualist, for to him everything tended to a palpable realisa- 
 tion ; he had not the least notion of a soul separated from the 
 bodff. But he is a perfect idealist, matter being only to him the 
 sign of the idea, and the real, the living expression of that which 
 does not appear. 
 
 To whom should we turn, to whom should we trust to establish 
 the kingdom of God ? The mind of Jesus on this point never 
 hesitated. That which is highly esteemed among men, is abom- 
 ination in the sight of God. 2^ The founders of the kingdom of 
 3rod are the simple. Not the rich, not the learned, not priests ; 
 mt women, common people, the humble, and the young. 3 The 
 Vreat characteristic of the Messiah is, that "the poor have the 
 gospel preached to them." 4 ) The idyllic and gentle nature of Jesus 
 here resumed the superiority.- A great social revolution, in which 
 rank will be overturned, in which all authority in this world will 
 ibe humiliated, was his dream. The world will not believe him ; 
 the world will kill him. But his disciples will not be of the 
 world. 5 They will be a little flock of the humble and the simple, 
 who will conquer by their very humility. The idea which has 
 made " Christian " the antithesis of " worldly," has its full justi- 
 fication in the thoughts of the master. 6 
 
 1 Matt. v. 10, and following; x. entirely; Luke vi. 22, and following ; John xv. 
 18, and following ; xvi. 2, and following, 20, 33; xvii. 14. 
 
 2 Luke xvi. 15. 
 
 3 Matt. v. 3, 10, xviii. 3, xix. 14, 23, 24, xxi. 31, xxii. 2, and following; 
 Mark x. 14, 15, 23-25 ; Luke iv. 18, and following ; vi. 20, xviii. 16, 17, 24, 25. 
 
 4 Matt. xi. 5. 5 John xv. 19, xvii. 14, 16. 
 
 6 See especially chapter xvii. of St John, expressing, if not a real discourse 
 delivered by Jesus, at least a sentiment which was very deeply rooted in his 
 discipler, and which certainly came from him. 
 
 H 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 JESUS AT CAPEKNAUM. 
 
 Beset by an idea, gradually becoming more and more imperi- 
 ous and exclusive, Jesus proceeds henceforth with a kind of fatal 
 impassibility in the path marked out by his astonishing genius, 
 and the extraordinary circumstances in which he lived. I Hitherto 
 he had only communicated his thoughts to a few persons secretly 
 attracted to him ; henceforward his teaching was .sought after 
 by the public. He was about thirty years of age. 1 ") The little 
 group of hearers who had accompanied him to John the Baptist, 
 had, doubtless, increased, and perhaps some disciples of John had 
 attached themselves to him. 2 ; It was with this first nucleus of a 
 church that he boldly announced, on his return into Galilee, the 
 "good tidings of the kingdoifl of God." This kingdom was 
 approaching, and it was he, Jesus, who was that " Son of Man " 
 whom Daniel had beheld in his vision as the divine herald of 
 the last and supreme revelation. 
 
 We must remember, that in the Jewish ideas, which were averse 
 to art and mythology, the simple form of man had a superio- 
 rity over that of Cherubs, and of the fantastic animals which the 
 imagination of the people, since it had been subjected to the in- 
 fluence of Assyria, had ranged around the Divine Majesty. Already 
 in Ezekiel, 3 the Being seated on the supreme throne, far above the 
 
 1 Luke iii. 23 ; Gospel of the Ebionites, in Epiph., Adv. Hcer., xxx. 13. 
 
 2 John i. 37, and following. 3 Chap. i. 5, 26, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 115 
 
 monsters of the mysterious chariot, the great revealer of prophetic 
 visions, had the figure of a man. In the book of Daniel, in the 
 midst of the vision of the empires, represented by animals, at 
 the moment when the great judgment commences, and when 
 the books are opened,/ a Being "like unto a Son of Man," 
 advances towards the Ancient of days, who confers on him the 
 power to judge the world, and to govern it for eternity. 1 Son of 
 Man, in the Semitic languages, especially in the Aramean dialects, 
 is a simple synonym of man. ( But this chief passage of Daniel 
 struck the mind ; the words, Son of Man, became, at least in 
 certain schools, 2 one of the titles of the Messiah, regarded as judge 
 of the world, and as king of the- new era about to be inaugurated. 3 
 The application which Jesus made of it to himself was therefore 
 the proclamation of his Messiahship, and the affirmation of the 
 coming catastrophe in which he was to figure as judge, clothed 
 with the full powers which had been delegated to him by the 
 Ancient of days. 4 
 
 The success of the teaching of the new prophet was this time 
 decisive. A group of men and women, all characterised by the 
 same spirit of juvenile frankness and simple innocence, adhered 
 to him, and said, " Thou art the Messiah."^ As the Messiah was 
 to be the son of David, they naturally conceded him this title, 
 which was synonymous with the former^) Jesus allowed it with 
 pleasure to be given to him, although it might cause him 
 some embarrassment, his birth being well known. The name 
 which he preferred himself was that of " Son of Man," an ap- 
 parently humble title, but one which connected itself directly 
 
 ''Daniel vii. 13, 14 ; comp. viii. 15, x. 16. 
 
 2 In John xii. 34, the Jews do not appear to be aware of the meaning of this 
 word. 
 
 3 Book of Enoch, xlvi. 1-3, xlviii. 2, 3, lxii. 9, 14, lxx. 1 (division of Dilmann) ; 
 Matt. x. 23, xiii. 41, xvi. 27, 28, xix. 28, xxiv. 27, 30, 37, 39, 44, xxv. 31, xxvi. 64 ; 
 Mark xiii. 26, xiv. 62; Luke xii. 40, xvii. 24, 26, 30, xxi. 27, 36, xxii. 69; Acts 
 vii. 55. But the most significant passage is John v. 27, compared with Rev. 
 i. 13, xiv. 14. The expression "Son of woman," for the Messiah, occurs once in 
 the book of Enoch, lxii. 5. 
 
 4 John v. 22, 27. 
 
116 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 with the Messianic hopes. This was the title by which he desig- 
 nated himself, 1 and he used "The Son of Man" as synony- 
 mous with the pronoun "I," which he avoided. But he was 
 never thus addressed, doubtless because the name in question 
 would be fully applicable to him only on the day of his future 
 appearance. 
 
 f His centre of action, at this epoch of his life, was the little 
 town of Capernaum, situated on the shore of the lake of 
 Gennesareth. \ The name of Capernaum, containing the word 
 caphar, " village/' seems to designate a small town of the ancient 
 character, in opposition to the great towns built according to the 
 Roman method, like Tiberias. 2 That name was so little known, 
 that Josephus, in one passage of his writings, 3 takes it for the 
 name of a fountain, the fountain having more celebrity than the 
 village situated near it. Like Nazareth, Capernaum had no his- 
 tory, and had in no way participated in the profane movement 
 favoured by the Herods. Jesus was much attached to this town, 
 and made it a second home. 4 Soon after his return, he at- 
 tempted to commence his work at Nazareth, but without success. 5 
 He could not perform any miracle there, according to the simple 
 remark of one of his biographers. 6 The knowledge which existed 
 there about his family, not an important one, injured his authority 
 too much. People could not regard as the son of David, one whose 
 brother, sister, and brother-in-law they saw every day, and it is 
 remarkable besides, that his family were strongly opposed to him, 
 and plainly refused to believe in his mission.? The Nazarenes, 
 
 1 This title occurs eighty-three times in the Gospels, and always in the dis- 
 courses of Jesus. 
 
 2 It is true that Tell-Houm, which is generally identified with Capernaum, con- 
 tains the remains of somewhat fine monuments. But, besides this identification 
 being doubtful, these monuments may be of the second or third century after 
 Christ. 
 
 3 B. J., in. x. 8. 4 Matt. ix. 1 ; Mark ii. 1. 
 
 5 Matt. xiii. 54, and following; Mark vi. 1, and following; Luke iv. 16, and fol- 
 lowing, 23-24 ; John iv. 44. 
 
 6 Markvi. 5; cf. Matt. xii. 58; Luke iv. 23. 
 
 7 Matt. xiii. 57; Mark vi. 4; John vii. 3, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 117 
 
 much more violent, wished, it is said, to kill him by throwing 
 him from a steep rock. 1 Jesus aptly remarked that this treat- 
 ment was the fate of all great men, and applied to himself the 
 proverb,[" J^pne3s^a_pmphejLin. Jiis. own country/ [j £— -v 
 
 This check far from discouraged him. He returned to Caper- 
 naum, 2 where he met with a much more favourable reception, 
 and from thence he organised a series of missions among the 
 small surrounding towns. The people of this beautiful and fertile 
 country were scarcely ever assembled except on Saturday. This 
 was the day which he chose for his teaching. (At that time 
 each town had its synagogue, or place of meeting. This was a rec- 
 tangular room, rather small, with a portico, decorated in the Greek 
 style. The Jews not having any architecture of their own, never 
 cared to give these edifices an original style. The remains of 
 many ancient synagogues still exist in Galilee. 3 They are all con- 
 structed of large and good materials ; but their style is somewhat 
 paltry, in consequence of the profusion of floral ornaments, foliage, 
 and twisted work, which characterise the Jewish buildings. 4 In 
 the interior there were seats, a chair for public reading, and a 
 closet to contain the sacred rolls. 5 These edifices, which had 
 nothing of the character of a temple, were the centre of the whole 
 
 1 Luke iv. 29. Probably the rock referred to here is the peak which is very 
 near Nazareth, above the present church of the Maronites, and not the pretended 
 Mount of Precipitation, at an hour's journey from Nazareth. See Kobinson, ii. 335 
 and following. 
 
 2 Matt. iv. 13 ; Luke iv. 31. 
 
 3 At Tell-Houm, Irbid (Arbela,) Meiron (Mero,) Jisch (Giscala,) Kasyoun, 
 Nabartein, and two at Kefr-Bereim. 
 
 4 I dare not decide upon the age of those buildings, nor consequently affirm 
 that Jesus taught in any of them. How great would be the interest attach- 
 ing to the synagogue of Tell-Houm were we to admit such an hypothesis ! The 
 great synagogue of Kefr-Bereim seems to me the most ancient of all. Its style 
 is moderately pure. That of Kasyoun bears a Greek inscription of the time of 
 Septimus Severus. The great importance which Judaism acquired in Upper 
 Galilee after the Roman war, leads us to believe that several of these edifices 
 only date back to the third century, — a time in which Tiberias became a sort of 
 capital of Judaism. 
 
 5 2 Esdras viii. 4; Matt, xxiii. 6; Epist. James ii. 3; Mishnah, Megilla, iii. 1 ; 
 Rosh Hasshana, iv. 7, &c. See especially the curious description of the syna- 
 gogue of Alexandria in the Talmud of Babylon, Sukka, 51 b. 
 
118 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 Jewish life. There the people assembled on the Sabbath for 
 prayer, and reading of the law and the prophets. As Judaism, 
 except in Jerusalem, had, properly speaking, no clergy, the first 
 comer stood up, gave the lessons of the day, (parasha and haph- 
 tara,) and added thereto a midrash, or entirely personal com- 
 mentary, in which he expressed his own ideas. 1 This was the 
 origin of the " homily," the finished model of which we find in 
 the small treatises of Philo. The audience had the right of 
 making objections and putting questions to the reader ; so that 
 the meeting soon degenerated into a kind of free assembly. It 
 had a president^ " elders," 3 a hazzan, i. e., a recognised reader, or 
 apparitor,* deputies, 5 who were secretaries or messengers, and con- 
 ducted the correspondence between one synagogue and another, 
 a shammash, or sacristan. 6 ( The synagogues were thus really 
 little independent republics, having an extensive jurisdiction. 
 Like all municipal corporations, up to an advanced period of the 
 Roman empire, they issued honorary decrees,? voted resolutions, 
 which had the force of law for the community, and ordained 
 corporal punishments, of which the hazzan was the ordinary 
 executor. 8 / 
 
 'With the extreme activity of mind which has always charac- 
 terised the Jews, such an institution, notwithstanding the arbitrary 
 rigours it tolerated, could not fail to give rise to very ani- 
 mated discussions. Thanks to the synagogues, Judaism has been 
 able to sustain intact eighteen centuries of persecution. They 
 
 1 Philo, quoted in Eusebius, Prcep. Etang., viii. 7, and Quod Omnis Probus 
 Liber, §12; Luke iv. 16 ; Acts xiii. 15, xv. 21; Mishnah, Megilla, iii. 4, and fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 2 'Ap^icrwaywyoy. 3 TIpeo-fivTepoi. 
 
 4 'YTnjperrjs. 5 'A7roa-roAoi, or ayyikoi. 
 
 6 Aidnovos. Mark v. 22, 35, and following ; Luke iv. 20> vii. 3, viii. 41, 49, 
 xiii. 14; Acts xiii. 15, xviii. 8, 17; Rev. ii. 1; Mishnah, Joma, vii. 1; Rosh 
 Hasshana, iv. 9 ; Talm. of Jerus., Sanhedrim, i. 7; Epiph., Adv. Hcer., xxx. 4, 11 
 
 7 Inscription of Berenice, in the Corpus Inscr. Grose, No. 5361 ; inscription of 
 Kasyoun, in the Mission de Phenicie, book iv. [in the press.] 
 
 8 Matt. v. 25, x. 17, xxiii. 34; Mark xiii. 9; Luke xx. 11, xxi. 12; Acts xxii. 
 19, xxvi. 11 ; 2 Cor. xi. 24; Mishnah^ Maccoth, iii. 12; Talmud of Babylon, Me- 
 gilla, 7 6; Epiph., Adv- Hcer., xxx. II. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 110 
 
 were like so many little separate worlds, in which the national 
 spirit was preserved, and which offered a ready field for intestine 
 struggles, i A large amount of passion was expended there) The 
 quarrels for precedence were of constant occurrence. To have a 
 seat of honour in the first rank was the reward of great piety, or 
 the most envied privilege of wealth.* C On the other hand, the 
 liberty, accorded to every one, of instituting himself reader and 
 commentator of the sacred text, afforded marvellous facilities for 
 the propagation of new ideas.) /This was one of the great in- 
 struments of power wielded by Jesus, and the most habitual 
 means he employed to propound his doctrinal instruction. 2 He 
 entered the synagogue, and stood up to read ; the hazzan offered 
 him the book, he unrolled it, and reading the parasha or the 
 haphtara of the day, he drew from this reading a lesson in 
 conformity with his own ideas. 3 ) As there were few Pharisees in 
 Galilee, the discussion did not assume that degree of vivacity, 
 and that tone of acrimony against him, which at Jerusalem would 
 have arrested him at the outset. These good Galileans had never 
 heard discourses so adapted to their cheerful imaginations. 4 They 
 admired him, ^they encouraged him, they found that he spoke well, 
 and that his reasons were convincing. He answered the most 
 difficult objections with confidence ; the charm of his speech and 
 his person captivated the people, whose simple minds had not yet 
 been cramped by the pedantry of the doctors. 
 
 The authority of the young master thus continued increasing 
 every day, and, naturally, the more people believed in him, the more 
 he believed in himself. His sphere of action was very limited. It 
 was confined to the valley in which the Lake of Tiberias is situated, 
 and even in this valley there was one region which he preferred. 
 The lake is five or six leagues long and three or four broad ; 
 although it presents the appearance of an almost perfect oval, it 
 
 1 Matt, xxiii. 6; Epist. James ii. 3; Talmud, of Bab., SukTca, 51 b. 
 
 2 Matt. iv. 23, ix. 35; Mark i. 21, 39, vi. 2; Luke it. 15, 16, 31, 44, xiii. 10; 
 John xviii. 20. 
 
 3 Luke iv. 16, and following. Comp. Mishnah, Joma, vii. 1. 
 
 4 Matt. vii. 28, xiii. 54; Mark i. 22, vi. 1 ; Luke iv. 22, 32. 
 
120 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 forms, commencing from Tiberias up to the entrance of the Jordan, 
 a sort of gulf, the curve of which measures about three leagues. 
 Such is the field in which the seed sown by Jesus found at last a 
 well-prepared soil. Let us run over it step by step, and endeavour 
 to raise the mantle of aridity and mourning with which it has been 
 covered by the demon of Islamism. 
 
 On leaving Tiberias, we find at first steep rocks, like a mountain 
 which seems to roll into the sea. Then the mountains gradually 
 recede ; a plain (El Ghoueir) opens almost at the level of the 
 lake. It is a delightful copse of rich verdure, furrowed by abun- 
 dant streams which proceed partly from a great round basin of 
 ancient construction (A in-Medawara.) At the entrance of this 
 plain, which is, properly speaking, the country of Gennesareth, there 
 is the miserable village of Medjdel. At the other extremity of the 
 plain (always following the sea,) we come to the site of a town 
 (Khan-Minyeh,) with very beautiful streams (Ain-et-Tin,) a pretty 
 road, narrow and deep, cut out of the rock, which Jesus often 
 traversed, and which serves as a passage between the plain of 
 Gennesareth and the northern slopes of the lake. A quarter of 
 an hour's journey from this place, we cross a stream of, salt water 
 (Ain-Tabiga,) issuing from the earth by several large springs 
 at a little distance from the lake, and entering it in the midst of 
 a dense mass of verdure. At last, after a journey of forty minutes 
 further, upon the arid declivity which extends from Ain-Tabiga to 
 the mouth of the Jordan, we find a few huts and a collection of 
 monumental ruins, called Tell-Houm. 
 
 Five small towns, the names of which mankind will remember 
 as long as those of Rome and Athens, were, in the .time of Jesus, 
 scattered in the space which extends from the village of Medjdel 
 to Tell-Houm. Of these five towns, Magdala, Dalmanutha, Caper- 
 naum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin, 1 the first alone can be found at 
 the present time with any certainty. The repulsive village of 
 Medjdel has no doubt preserved the name and the place of the 
 1 The ancient Kinnereth had disappeared or changed its name. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 121 
 
 little town which gave to Jesus his most faithful female friend.* 
 Dalmanutha2 was probably near there. It is possible that Chorazin 
 was a little more inland, on the northern side. 3 As to Bethsaida 
 and Capernaum, it is in truth almost at hazard that they have 
 been placed at Tell-Houm, Ain-et-Tin, Khan-Minyeh, and Ain- 
 Medawara. 4 We might say that in topography, as well as in 
 history, a profound design has wished to conceal the traces of the 
 great founder. It is doubtful whether we shall ever be able, upon 
 this extensively devastated soil, to ascertain the places where man- 
 kind would gladly come to kiss the imprint of his feet. 
 
 The lake, the horizon, the shrubs, the flowers, are all that re- 
 main of the little canton, three or four leagues in extent, where 
 Jesus founded his Divine work. The trees have totally disappeared. 
 In this country, in which the vegetation was formerly so brilliant 
 that Josephus saw in it a kind of miracle, — Nature, according to 
 him, being pleased to bring hither side by side the plants of cold 
 countries, the productions of the torrid zone, and the trees of tem- 
 perate climates, laden all the year with flowers and fruits, 5 — in this 
 country travellers are obliged now to calculate a day beforehand 
 the place where they will the next day find a shady resting-place. 
 The lake has become deserted. A single boat in the most miser- 
 able condition now ploughs the waves once so rich in life and joy. 
 
 1 We know in fact that it was very near Tiberias. — Talmud of Jerusalem, 
 Maasarot7i, iii. 1 ; Shebiit, ix. 1 ; Erubin, v. 7. 
 
 2 Mark viii. 10. Comp. Matt. xv. 39. 
 
 8 In the place named Khorazi or Bir-Tcerazeh, above Tell-Houm. 
 
 4 The ancient hypothesis which identified Tell-Houm with Capernaum, though 
 strongly disputed some years since, has still numerous defenders. The best argu- 
 ment we can give in its favour is the name of Tell-Houm itself, Tell entering into 
 the names of many villages, and being a substitute for Caphar. It is impossible, 
 on the other hand, to find near Tell-Houm a fountain corresponding to that men- 
 tioned by Josephus (B. J., in. x. 8.) This fountain of Capernaum seems to be Ain- 
 Medawara, but Ain-Medawara is half an hour's journey from the lake, whilst 
 Capernaum was a fishing town on the borders of the lake (Matt. iv. 13 ; John vL 
 17.) The difficulties about Bethsaida are still greater; for the hypothesis, some- 
 what generally admitted, of two Bethsaidas, the one on the eastern, the other on 
 the western shore of the lake, and at two or three leagues from one another, is 
 rather singular. 6 B. J., in. x. 8. 
 
122 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 But the waters are always clear and transparent. 1 The shore, 
 composed of rocks and pebbles, is that of a little sea, not that of 
 a pond, like the shores of Lake Huleh. It is clean, neat, free 
 from mud, and always beaten in the same place by the light move- 
 ment of the waves. Small promontories, covered with rose laurels, 
 tamarisks, and thorny caper bushes, are seen there ; at two places, 
 especially at the mouth of the Jordan, near Tarichea, and at the 
 boundary of the plain of Gennesareth, there are enchanting parterres, 
 where the waves ebb and flow over masses of turf and flowers. The 
 rivulet of Ain-Tabiga makes a little estuary, full of pretty shells. 
 Clouds of aquatic birds hover over the lake. The horizon is daz- 
 zling with light. The waters, of an empyrean blue, deeply im- 
 bedded amid burning rocks, seem, when viewed from the height 
 of the mountains of Safed, to lie at the bottom of a cup of gold. 
 On the north, the snowy ravines of Hermon are traced in white 
 lines upon the sky ; on the west, the high undulating plateaux of 
 Gaulonitis and Perea, absolutely arid, and clothed by the sun with 
 a sort of velvety atmosphere, form one compact mountain, or rather 
 a long and very elevated terrace, which from Csesarea Philippi runs 
 indefinitely toward the south. 
 
 The heat on the shore is now very oppressive. The lake lies in 
 a hollow six hundred and fifty feet below the level of the Mediter- 
 ranean, 2 and thus participates in the torrid conditions of the Dead 
 Sea. 3 An abundant vegetation formerly tempered these excessive 
 heats ; it would be difficult to understand that a furnace, such as 
 the whole basin of the lake now is, commencing from the month 
 of May, had ever been the scene of great activity. Josephus, more- 
 over, considered the country very temperate. 4 No doubt there 
 has been here, as in the campagna of Rome, a change of climate 
 introduced by historical causes. It is Islamism, and especially the 
 
 1 B. J., in. x. 7 ; Jac de Vitri, in the Gesta Dei per Francos, i. 1075. 
 
 2 This is the estimate of Captain Lynch (in Bitter, Erdkunde xv., 1st part, 
 p. 20.) It nearly agrees with that of M. de Bertou {Bulletin de la Soc. de Geogr. x 
 2d series, xii., p. 146.) 
 
 3 The depression of the Dead Sea is twice as much. 
 
 4 B. J., in. x. 7 and 8. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. ] 23 
 
 Mussulman reaction against the Crusades, which has withered as 
 with a blast of death the district preferred by Jesus. The beautiful 
 country of Gennesareth never suspected that beneath the brow of 
 this peaceful wayfarer its highest destinies lay hidden. 
 
 Dangerous countryman ! Jesus has been fatal to the country 
 which had the formidable honour of bearing him. Having become a 
 universal object of love or of hate, coveted by two rival fanaticisms, 
 Galilee, as the price of its glory, has been changed to a desert. But 
 who would say that Jesus would have been happier, if he had lived 
 obscure in his village to the full age of man ? And who would 
 think of these ungrateful Nazarenes, if one of them had not, at the 
 risk of compromising the future of their town, recognised his 
 Father, and proclaimed himself the Son of God ? 
 
 Four or five large villages, situated at half an hour's journey 
 
 from one another, formed the little world of Jesus at the time of fa* 
 
 iff 
 which we speak. He appears never to have visited Tiberias, a K' v 
 
 city inhabited for most part by Pagans, and the habitual residence 
 of Antipas. 1 Sometimes, however, he wandered from his favourite 
 region. He went by boat to the eastern shore, to Gergesa, for in- 
 stance. 2 Towards the north we see him at Paneas or Csesarea 
 Philippi, 3 at the foot of Mount Hermon. Lastly, he journeyed 
 once in the direction of Tyre and Sidon, 4 a country which must 
 have been marvellously flourishing at that time. In all these 
 
 1 Jos., Ant., xvm. ii. 3 ; Vita, 12, 13, 64. 
 
 2 I adopt the opinion of Dr Thomson {The Land and the Booh, ii. 34, and fol- 
 lowing), according to which the Gergesa of Matthew viii. 28, identical with the 
 Canaanite town of Girgash {Gen. x. 16, xv. 21; Dent. vii. 1;. Josh. xxiv. 11,) , 
 would be the site now named Kersa or Gersa, on the eastern shore, nearly opposite 
 Magdala. Mark v. 1, and Luke viii. 26, name Gadara or Gerasa instead of Ger- 
 gesa. Gerasa is an impossible reading, the evangelists teaching us that the town 
 
 in question was near the lake and opposite Galilee. As to Gadara, now Om-Keis, 
 at a journey of an hour and a half from the lake and from the Jordan, the local 
 circumstances given by Mark and Luke scarcely suit it. It is possible, moreover, 
 that Gergesa may have become Gerasa, a much more common name, and that the 
 topographical impossibilities which this latter reading offered may have caused 
 Gadara to be adopted. — Cf. Orig., Comment, in Joann., vi. 24, x. 10; Eusebius and 
 St Jerome, Be situ et nomin. loc hebr., at the words rep-yead, Tepyaarel. 
 
 3 Matt. xvi. 13 ; Mark viii. 27. 4 Matt. xv. 21; Mark vii. 24, 31. 
 
1 24 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 countries he was in the midst of Paganism. 1 At Csesarea, he saw 
 the celebrated grotto of Panium, thought to be the source of the 
 Jordan, and with which the popular belief had associated strange 
 legends; 2 he could admire the marble temple which Herod had 
 erected near there in honour of Augustus ; 3 he probably stopped 
 before the numerous votive statues to Pan, to the Nymphs, to the 
 Echo of the Grotto, which piety had already begun to accumu- 
 late in this beautiful place. 4 
 
 ' (A rationalistic Jew, accustomed to take strange gods for deified 
 men or for demons, would consider all these figurative representa- 
 tions as idols. The seductions of the naturalistic worships, which 
 intoxicated the more sensitive nations, never affected him. He was 
 doubtless ignorant of what the ancient sanctuary of Melkarth, at 
 Tyre, might still contain of a primitive worship more or less ana- 
 logous to that of the Jews. 5 The Paganism which, in Phoenicia, 
 had raised a temple and a sacred grove on every hill, all this aspect 
 of great industry and profane riches, 6 interested him but little. 
 Monotheism takes away all aptitude for comprehending the Pagan 
 religions ; the Mussulman, thrown into polytheistic countries, 
 seems to have no eyes. Jesus assuredly learnt nothing in these 
 journeys. He returned always to his well-beloved shore of Gen- 
 nesareth. There was the centre of his thoughts ; there he found 
 faith and love. 
 
 1 Jos., Vita, 13. 
 
 2 Jos., Ant., xv. x, 3; B.J.,i. xxi. 3, m. x. 7 ; Benjamin of Tudela, p. 46, edit. 
 Asher. 
 
 3 Jos., Ant., xv. x. 3. 
 
 4 Corpus inscr. gr., Nos. 4537, 4538, 4538 b, 4539. 
 
 5 Lucianus (ut fertur,) De Dea Syria, 3. 
 
 6 The traces of the rich Pagan civilisation of that time still cover all the Beled- 
 Besharrah, and especially the mountains which form the group of Cape Blanc and 
 Cape Nakoura. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS. 
 
 In this terrestrial paradise, which the great revolutions of history 
 had till then scarcely touched, there lived a population in perfect 
 harmony with the country itself, active, honest, joyous, and ten- 
 der-hearted. The Lake of Tiberias is one of the best supplied 
 with fish of any in the world. 1 Very productive fisheries were 
 established, especially at Bethsaida, and at Capernaum, and had 
 produced a certain degree of wealth. These families of fishermen 
 formed a gentle and peaceable society extending by numerous ties 
 of relationship through the whole district of the lake which we 
 have described. Their comparatively easy life left entire freedom 
 to their imagination. The ideas about the kingdom of God found 
 in these small companies of worthy people more credence than 
 anywhere else. Nothing of that which we call civilisation, in the 
 Greek and worldly sense, had reached them. Neither was there 
 any of our Germanic and Celtic earnestness ; but, although good- 
 ness amongst them was often superficial and without depth, their 
 habits were quiet, and they were in some degree intelligent and 
 shrewd. We may imagine them as somewhat analogous to the 
 better populations of the Lebanon, but with the gift, not possessed 
 by the latter, of producing great men. Jesus met here his true 
 family. He installed himself as one of tliem ; Capernaum became 
 " his own city ; "2 in the centre of the little circle which adored him, 
 
 1 Matt. iv. 18 ; Luke v. 44, and following ; John i. 44, xxi. 1, and following; Jos., 
 B. J., in. x. 7; Jac. de Vitri, in the Gesta Dei per Francos, i. p. 1075. 
 
 2 Matt. ix. 1 : Mark ii. 1, 2. 
 
] 26 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 he forgot his sceptical brothers, ungrateful Nazareth and its 
 mocking incredulity. 
 
 One house especially at Capernaum offered him an agreeable 
 refuge and devoted disciples. A It was that of two brothers, both 
 sons of a certain Jonas, who probably was dead at the period when 
 Jesus came to stay on the borders of the lake. I These two brothers 
 were Simon, surnamed Cephas or Peter, and Andrew^ Born at 
 Bethsaida, 1 they were established at Capernaum when Jesus com- 
 menced his public life, I Peter was married and had children ; his 
 mother-in-law lived with him. 2 Jesus loved this house and dwelt 
 there habitually. 3 Andrew appears to have been a disciple of John 
 the Baptist, and Jesus had perhaps known him on the banks of 
 the Jordan. 4 The two brothers continued always, even at the 
 period in which it seems they must have been most occupied with 
 their master, to follow their business as fishermen.5 Jesus, who 
 loved to play upon words, said at times that he would make them 
 .fishers of men.6 In fact, among all his disciples he had none more 
 faithfully attached. 
 
 Another family, that of Zabdia or Zebedee, a well-to-do fisher- 
 man and owner of several boats,? gave Jesus a welcome reception. 
 Zebedee had two sons : James, who was the elder, and a younger son, 
 John, who later was called to play so prominent a part in the his- 
 tory of infant Christianity. Both were zealous disciples. Salome, 
 wife of Zebedee, was also much attached to Jesus, and accompanied 
 him until his death. 8 
 
 Women, in fact, received him with eagerness. He manifested 
 towards them those reserved manners which render a very sweet 
 union of ideas possible between the two sexes. The separation 
 
 1 Jotmi. 44. 
 
 2 Matt. viii. 14; Mark i. 30; Luke iv. 38; 1 Cor. ix. 5; 1 Peter v. 13 ; Clem. 
 Alex., Strom., iii. 6, vii. 11 ; Pseudo-Clem., Recogn., vii. 25 ; Eusebius, H. E., iii. 30. 
 
 3 Matt. viii. 14, xvii. 24 ; Mark i. 29-31 ; Luke iv. 38. 
 
 4 John i. 40, and following. 
 
 5 Matt. iv. 18 ; Mark i. 16 ; Luke v. 3; John xxi. 3. 
 
 6 Matt.iv. 19; Mark i. 17; Luke v. 10. 
 
 7 Mark i. 20; Luke v. 10, viii. 3 ; John xix. 27 
 
 8 Matt, xxvii. 5Q ; Mark xv. 40, xvi. 1. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 1 *27 
 
 of men from women, which has prevented all refined development 
 among the Semitic peoples, was no doubt then, as in our days, 
 much less rigorous in the rurai districts and villages than in the 
 large towns. Three or four devoted Galilean women always ac- 
 companied the young master, and disputed the pleasure of listening 
 to and of tending him in turn. 1 They infused into the new sect 
 an element of enthusiasm and of the marvellous, the importance of 
 which had already begun to be understood. One of them, Mary 
 of Magdala, who has rendered the name of this poor town so 
 celebrated in the world, appears to have been of a very enthusiastic 
 temperament. According to the language of the time, she had 
 been possessed by seven demons. 2 That is, she had been affected 
 with nervous and apparently inexplicable maladies. Jesus, by 
 his pure and sweet beauty, calmed this troubled nature.' The 
 Magdalene was faithful to him, even unto Golgotha, and on the 
 day but one after his death, played a prominent part ; for, as we 
 shall see later, she was the principal means by which faith in the 
 resurrection was established. Joanna, wife of Chuza, one of the 
 stewards of Antipas, Susanna, and others who have remained un- 
 known, followed him constantly and ministered unto him. 3 ( Some 
 were rich, and by their fortune enabled the young prophet to live 
 without following the trade which he had until then practised. 4 
 
 Many others followed him habitually, j and recognised him as 
 their master ; — a certain Philip of Bethsaida ; NathanaelJ son of 
 Tolmai or Ptolemy, of Cana, perhaps a disciple of the first period; 5 
 and Matthew,! probably the one who was the Xenophon of the 
 infant Christianity. The latter had been a publican, and, as such, 
 doubtless handled the Kalam more easily than the others. Per- 
 haps it was this that suggested to him the idea of writing the 
 Logiap which are the basis of what we know of the teachings of 
 
 1 Matt, xxvii. 55, 56 ; Mark xv. 40, 41 ; Luke viii. 2, 3, xxiii. 49. 
 
 2 Mark xvi. 9 ; Luke viii. 2 ; cf . Tobit iii. 8, vi. 14. 
 
 3 Luke viii. 3, xxiv 10. 4 Luke viii. 3. 
 
 8 John i. 44, and following; xxi. 2. I admit the identification of Nathanael 
 with the apostle who figures in the lists under the name of Bartholomew. 
 6 Papias, in Eusebius, HUt. Eccl., iii. 39. 
 
128 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 Jesus. Among the disciples are also mentioned Thomas, or Didy- 
 mus, 1 who doubted sometimes, but who appears to have been a 
 man of warm heart and of generous sympathies; 2 one Lebbaeus 
 or Thaddeus '; Simon Zelotes, 3 perhaps a disciple of Judas the 
 Gaulonite, belonging to the party of the Kenaim, which was 
 formed about that time, and which was soon to play so great a 
 part in the movements of the Jewish people. Lastly, Judas, son 
 of Simon, of the town of Kerioth, who was an exception in the 
 faithful flock, and drew upon himself such a terrible notoriety. 
 He was the only one who was not a Galilean. Kerioth was a 
 town at the extreme south of the tribe of Judah, 4 a day's 
 journey beyond Hebron. 
 
 tWe have seen that in general the family of Jesus were little 
 inclined towards him. 5 James and Jude, however, his cousins 
 by Mary Cleophas, henceforth became his disciples, and Mary 
 Cleophas herself was one of the women who followed him to 
 Calvary. 6 At this period we do not see his mother beside him. 
 It was only after the death of Jesus that Mary acquired great 
 importance,? and that the disciples sought to attach her to them- 
 selves. 8 It was then also that the members of the family of the 
 founder, under the title of "brothers of the Lord/' formed 
 an influential group, which was a long time at the head of the 
 church of Jerusalem,^ and which, after the sack of the city, took 
 refuge in Batanea." 10 The simple fact of having been familiar 
 
 1 This second name is the Greek translation of the first. 
 
 2 John xi. 16, xx. 24, and following. 
 
 3 Matt. x. 4; Mark iii. 18; Luke vi. 15; Acts i. 13; Gospel of the Ebionites, 
 in Epiphanes, Adv. Hcer., xxx. 13. 
 
 4 Now Kuryetein, or Kereitein. 
 
 5 The circumstance related in John xix. 25-27 seems to imply that at no 
 period of the public life of Jesus did his own brothers become attached to him. 
 
 6 Matt, xxvii. 56 ; Mark xv. 40 ; John xix. 25. 
 
 7 Acts i. 14. Compare Luke i. 28, ii. 35, already implying a great respect for 
 Mary. 
 
 8 John xix. 25, and following. 9 Ante, p. 49, note 6, 
 10 Julius Africanus, in Eusebius, H. E., i. 7. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 129 
 
 with him became a decisive advantage, in the same manner as, 
 after the death of Mahomet, the wives and daughters of the 
 prophet, who had no importance in his life, became great autho- 
 rities. 
 
 In this friendly group Jesus had evidently his favourites, and, so 
 to speak, an ; inner circle.) The two sons of Zebedee,j James and 
 John,^ appear to have been in the first rank. They were full 
 of fire and passion. Jesus had aptly surnamed themr' sons of 
 thunder/' • on account of their excessive zeal, which, if it could 
 have controlled the thunder, would often have made use of it. 1 
 John, especially, appears to have been on very familiar terms with 
 Jesus. Perhaps the warm affection which the master felt for this 
 disciple has been exaggerated in his Gospel, in which the personal 
 interests of the writer are not sufficiently concealed. 2 The most 
 significant fact is, that, in the synoptical Gospels, Simon Bar- 
 jona, or Peter, James, son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, form 
 a sort of intimate council, which Jesus calls at certain times, when 
 he suspects the faith and intelligence of the others. 3 It seems, 
 moreover, that they were all three associated in their fishing. 4 
 The affection of Jesus for Peter was strong. The character of the 
 latter — upright, sincere, impulsive — pleased Jesus, who at times 
 permitted himself to smile at his resolute manners. Peter, little 
 of a mystic, communicated to the master his simple doubts, his 
 repugnances, and his entirely human weaknesses, 5 with an honest 
 frankness which recalls that of Joinville towards St Louis. Jesus 
 chided him, in a friendly manner, full of confidence and esteem. 
 
 1 Mark iii. 17, ix. 37, and following, x. 35, and following; Luke ix. 49, and 
 following ; 54, and following. 
 
 2 John xiii. 23, xviii. 15, and following, xix. 26, 27, xx. 2, 4, xxi. 7, 20, and 
 following. 
 
 3 Matt. xvii. 1, xxvi. 37 ; Mark v. 37, ix. 1, xiii. 3, xiv. 33 ; Luke ix. 28. The 
 idea that Jesus had communicated to these three disciples a Gnosis, or secret 
 doctrine, was very early spread. It is singular that John, in his Gospel, does not 
 
 .once mention James, his brother. 
 
 4 Matt. iv. 18-22 ; Luke v. 10 ; John xxi. 2, and following. 
 
 5 Matt. xiv. 28, xvi. 22 ; Mark viii. 32, and following. 
 
 I 
 
1 30 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 As to John, his youth, 1 his exquisite tenderness of hearty and his 
 lively imagination, 3 must have had a great charm. The person- 
 ality of this extraordinary man, who has exerted so peculiar an 
 influence on infant Christianity, did not develop itself till after- 
 wards. / "When old, he wrote that strange Gospel, 4 which contains 
 such precious teachings, but in which, in our opinion, the character 
 of Jesus is falsified upon many points, j The nature of John was 
 too powerful and too profound for him to bend himself to the 
 impersonal tone of the first evangelists. He was the biographer 
 of Jesus, as Plato was of Socrates. Accustomed to ponder over 
 his recollections with the feverish restlessness of an excited mind, 
 he transformed his master in wishing to describe him, and some- 
 times he leaves it to be suspected (unless other hands have altered 
 his work) that perfect good faith was not invariably his rule and 
 law in the composition of this singular writing. 
 
 No hierarchy, properly speaking, existed in the new sect. They 
 were to call each other " brothers ;" and Jesus absolutely proscribed 
 titles of superiority, such as rabbi, "master," father, — he alone be- 
 ing master, and God alone being father. The greatest was to be- 
 come the servant of the others. 5 \ Simon Bar-jona, however, was 
 distinguished amongst his fellows by a peculiar degree of impor- 
 tance. Jesus lived with him, and taught in his boat; 6 his house 
 was the centre of the Gospel preaching. In public he was regarded 
 as the chief of the flock ; and it is to him that the overseers of the 
 tolls address themselves to collect the taxes which were due from 
 the community. 7 He was the first who had recognised Jesus as the 
 Messiah. 8 In a moment of unpopularity, Jesus, asking of his dis- 
 
 1 He appears to have lived till near the year 100. See his Gospel, xxi. 15 
 and the ancient authorities collected by Eusebius, H. E., iii. 20, 23. 
 
 2 See the epistles attributed to him, which are certainly by the same auth 
 as the fourth Gospel. 
 
 3 Nevertheless we do not mean to affirm that the Apocalypse is by him 
 
 4 The common tradition seems sufficiently justified to me on this point. It 
 evident, besides, that the school of John retouched his Gospel, (see the whole of 
 chap, xxi.) 
 
 5 Matt, xviii. 4, xx. 25-26, xxiii. 8-12; Mark ix. 34, x. 42-46. 
 
 6 Luke v. 3. 7 Matt. xvii. 23. 8 Matt. xvi. 16, 17 
 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 131 
 
 ciples, "Will ye also go away?" Simon answered, "Lord, to whom 
 should we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life." x Jesus, at 
 various times, gave him a certain priority in his church ; 2 and gave 
 him the Syrian surname of Kepha, (stone,) by which he wished to 
 signify by that, that he made him the corner-stone of the edifice. 3 
 At one time he seems even to promise him " the keys of the king- 
 dom of heaven," and to grant him the right of pronouncing upon 
 earth decisions which should always be ratified in eternity. 4 < 
 (No doubt, this priority of Peter excited a little jealousy^ Jeal- 
 ousy was kindled especially in view of the future, — and of this 
 kingdom of God, in which all the disciples would be seated upon 
 thrones, on the right and on the left of the master, to judge the 
 twelve tribes of Israel. 5 They asked who would then be nearest 
 to the Son of man, and act in a manner as his prime minister and 
 assessor. The two sons of Zebedee aspired to this rank. Pre- 
 occupied with such a thought, they prompted their mother Salome, 
 who one day took Jesus aside, and asked him for the two places of 
 honour for her sons. 6 Jesus evaded the request by his habitual 
 maxim that Jie who exalteth himself shall be humbled, and that the 
 kingdom of heaven will be possessed by the lowly. This created some 
 disturbance in the community ; there was great discontent against 
 James and John. 7 The same rivalry appears to shew itself in the 
 Gospel of John, where the narrator unceasingly declares himself 
 to be " the disciple whom Jesus loved/' to whom the master in 
 dying confided his mother, and seeks systematically to place him- 
 self near Simon Peter, and at times to put himself before him, in 
 important circumstances where the older evangelists had omitted 
 mentioning: him. 8 
 
 1 John vi. 68-70. 
 
 2 Matt. x. 2; Luke xxii. 32; John xxi. 15, and following; Acts i. ii. v., &c. ; 
 Gal. i. 18, ii. 7, 8. 3 Matt. xvi. 18 ; John i. 42. 
 
 X 4 Matt. xvi. 19. Elsewhere, it is true, (Matt, xviii. 18,) the same power is 
 granted to all the apostles. 
 
 5 Matt, xviii. 1, and following; Mark ix. 33 ; Luke ix. 46, xxii. 30. 
 
 6 Matt. xx. 20, and following; Mark x. 35, and following. 7 Mark x. 41. 
 
 8 John xviii. 15, and following, xix. 26, 27, xx. 2, and following, xxi. 7, 21. 
 Comp. i. 35, and following, in which the disciple referred to is probably John. 
 
132 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 Among the preceding personages, all those of whom we know any- 
 thing had begun by being fishermen. At all events, none of them 
 belonged to a socially elevated class. Only Matthew or Levi, son 
 of Alpheus, 1 had been a publican. But those to whom they gave 
 this name in Judea were not the farmers-general of taxes, men of 
 elevated rank (always Roman patricians), who were called at Rome 
 publicani. 2 They were the agents of these contractors, employes 
 of low rank, simply officers of the customs. The great route from 
 Acre to Damascus, one of the most ancient routes of the world, 
 which crossed Galilee, skirting the lake, 3 made this class of em- 
 ploye very numerous there. Capernaum, which was perhaps on 
 the road, possessed a numerous staff of them. 4 This profession 
 is never popular, but with the Jews it was considered quite criminal. 
 Taxation, new to them, was the sign of their subjection ; one school, 
 that of < Judas the Gaulonite, maintained that to pay it was an act 
 of paganism. The customs-officers, also, were abhorred by the 
 zealots of the law. They were only named in company with 
 assassins, highway robbers, and men of infamous life. 5 The Jews 
 who accepted such offices were excommunicated, and became inca- 
 pable of making a will ; their money was accursed, and the casuists 
 
 1 Matt. ix. 9, x. 3 ; Mark ii. 14, iii. 18; Luke v. 27, vi. 15; Acts i. 13. Gospel 
 of the Ebionites, in Epiph., Adv. Hazr., xxx. 13. We must suppose, however 
 strange it may seem, that these two names were borne by the same person- 
 age. The narrative, Matt. ix. 9, conceived in accordance with the ordinary model 
 of legends, describing the call to apostleship, is, it is true, somewhat vague, and 
 has certainly not been written by the apostle in question. But we must remember 
 
 I that, in the existing Gospel of Matthew, the only part which is by the apostle 
 consists of the Discourses of Jesus. See Papias, in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., in. 39. 
 
 2 Cicero, De Provinc. Consular., 5; Pro Plancio, 9; Tac., Ann., IV. 6; Pliny, 
 Hist. Nat., xii. 32; Appian, Bell. Civ., n. 13. 
 
 3 It remained celebrated, up to the time of the Crusades, under the name of 
 Via Maris. Cf. Isaiah ix. 1 ; Matt. iv. 13-15; Tobit, i. 1. I think that the road 
 cut in the rock near Ain-et-Tin formed part of it, and that the route was directed 
 from thence towards the Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob, just as it is now. A 
 part of the road from Ain-et-Tin to this bridge is of ancient construction. 
 
 4 Matt. ix. 9, and following, 
 
 5 Matt. v. 46, 47, ix. 10, 11, xi. 19, xviii. 17, xxi. 31, 32; Mark ii. 15, 16 ; Luke 
 v. 30, vii. 34, xv. 1, xviii. 11, xix. 7 ; Lucian, Necyomant, ii. ; Dio Chrysost., orat. 
 iv., p. 85, orat. xiv., p. 269, (edit. Emperius); Mishnah, Nedarim, iii. 4. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 133 
 
 forbade the changing of money with them. 1 These poor men, 
 placed under the ban of society, visited amongst themselves. Jesus 
 accepted a dinner offered him by Levi, at which there were, according 
 to the language of the time, " many publicans and sinners." This 
 gave great offence. 2 In these ill-reputed houses there was a 
 risk of meeting bad society. We shall often see him thus, caring 
 little to shock the prejudices of well-disposed persons, seeking to 
 elevate the classes humiliated by the orthodox, and thus exposing 
 himself to the liveliest reproaches of the zealots. 
 
 Jesus owed these numerous conquests to the infinite charm of 
 his person and his speech.) A penetrating word, a look falling 
 upon a simple conscience, which only wanted awakening, gave him 
 an ardent disciple. Sometimes Jesus employed an innocent arti- 
 fice, which Joan of Arc also used : he affected to know something 
 intimate respecting him whom he wished to gain, or he would 
 perhaps recall to him some circumstance dear to his heart. It was 
 thus that he attracted Nathanael, 3 Peter, 4 and the Samaritan 
 woman. 5 ( Concealing the true source of his strength, — his superi- 
 ority over all that surrounded him, — he permitted people to believe 
 (in order to satisfy the ideas of the time — ideas which, moreover, 
 fully coincided with his own), — that a revelation from on high re- 
 vealed to him all secrets and laid bare all hearts. Every one 
 thought that Jesus lived in a sphere superior to that of humanity. ) 
 They said that he conversed on the mountains with Moses and 
 Elias ; 6 they believed that in his moments of solitude the angels 
 came to render him homage, and established a supernatural in- 
 tercourse between him and heaven.? 
 
 1 Mishnah, Bala, Kama,.x, 1 ; Talmud of Jerusalem, Demai, ii. 3 ; Talmud of 
 Bab., Sanhedrim, 25 6. 
 
 3 Luke v. 29, and following. 3 John i. 48, and following. 
 
 4 John i. 42. 6 John iv. 17, and following. 
 8 Matt. xvii. 3 ; Mark ix. 3 ; Luke ix. 30-31 . 7 Matt. iv. 11 ; Mark i. 13. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE PREACHINGS ON THE LAKE. 
 
 Such was the group which, on the borders of the lake of Tiberias, 
 gathered around Jesus. The aristocracy was represented there by 
 a customs-officer and by the wife of one of Herod's stewards. The 
 rest were fishermen and common people. Their ignorance was 
 extreme ; their intelligence was feeble ; they believed in appari- 
 tions and spirits. 1 Not one element of Greek culture had pene- 
 trated this first assembly of the saints. They had very little 
 Jewish instruction ; but heart and good- will overflowed. The 
 beautiful climate of Galilee made the life of these honest fisher- 
 men a perpetual delight. They truly preluded the kingdom of 
 God, — simple, good, and happy, — rocked gently on their delight- 
 ful little sea, or at night sleeping on its shores. ) We do not realise 
 to ourselves the intoxication of a life which thus glides away in 
 the face of heaven, — the sweet yet strong love which this per- 
 petual contact with nature gives, and the dreams of these nights 
 passed in the brightness of the stars, under an azure dome of 
 infinite expanse. It was during such a night that Jacob, with 
 his head resting upon a stone, saw in the stars the promise of 
 an innumerable posterity, and the mysterious ladder by which 
 the angels of God came and went from heaven to earth. At the 
 time of Jesus the heavens were not closed, nor the earth grown 
 cold. The cloud still opened above the Son of man ; the angels 
 
 1 Matt. xiv. 26 : Mark vi. 49 : Luke xxiv. 39 : John vi. 19. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 135 
 
 ascended and descended upon his head ; \ the visions of the king- 
 dom of God were everywhere, for man carried them in his heart. 
 The clear and mild eyes of these simple souls contemplated 
 the universe in its ideal source. The world unveiled perhaps its 
 secret to the divinely enlightened conscience of these happy chil- 
 dren, whose purity of heart deserved one day to behold God. 
 
 Jesus lived with his disciples almost always in the open air. 
 Sometimes he got into a boat, and instructed his hearers, who were 
 crowded upon the shore. 2 Sometimes he sat upon the mountains 
 which bordered the lake, where the air is so pure and the horizon 
 so luminous. The faithful band led thus a joyous and wander- 
 ing life, gathering the inspirations of the master in their first 
 bloom. An innocent doubt was sometimes raised, a question 
 slightly sceptical ; but Jesus, with a smile or a look, silenced the 
 objection. At each step, — in the passing cloud, the germinating 
 seed, the ripening corn, — they saw the sign of the Kingdom draw- 
 ing nigh, they believed themselves on the eve of seeing God, of 
 being masters of the world ; tears were turned into joy ; it was 
 the advent upon earth of universal consolation. 
 
 " Blessed," said the master, * are the poor in spirit : for theirs 
 is the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 " Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted. 
 
 " Blessed are the mgek : for they shall inherit the earth. 
 
 " Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteous- 
 ness : for they shall be filled. 
 
 " Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy. 
 
 " Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God. 
 
 " Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called the 
 children of God. 
 
 " Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake : 
 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 3 
 
 /His preaching was gentle and pleasing, breathing nature 
 and the perfume of the fields. He loved the flowers, and took 
 
 1 John i. 51. 2 Matt. xiii. 1, 2; Mark iii. 9, iv. 1; Luke v. 3. 
 
 3 Matt. v. 3-10; Luke vi. 20-25. 
 
136 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 from them his most charming lessons. The birds of heaven, the 
 sea, the mountains, and the games of children, furnished in turn the 
 subject of his instructions. His style had nothing of the Grecian 
 in it, but approached much more to that of the Hebrew para- 
 bolists, and especially of sentences from the Jewish doctors, 
 his contemporaries, such as we read them in the " Pirke Aboth." 
 His teachings were not very extended, and formed a species 
 of sorites in the style of the Koran, which, joined together, 
 afterwards composed those long discourses which were writ- 
 ten by Matthew. 1 No transition united these diverse pieces ; 
 generally, however,^ the same inspiration penetrated them and 
 made them one. ( It was, above all, in parable that the master 
 excelled. Nothing in Judaism had given him the model of this 
 delightful style. 2 He created it. ' It is true that we find in the 
 Buddhist books parables of exactly the same tone and the same 
 character as the Gospel parables ; 3 but it is difficult to admit 
 that a Buddhist influence has been exercised in these. The spirit 
 of gentleness and the depth of feeling which equally animate 
 infant Christianity and Buddhism, suffice perhaps to explain these 
 analogies. 
 
 A total indifference to exterior life and the vain appanage of 
 the " comfortable," which our drearier countries make necessary 
 to us, was the consequence of the sweet and simple life lived 
 in Galilee. I Cold climates, by compelling man to a perpetual con- 
 test with external nature, cause too much value to be attached 
 to researches after comfort and luxury. On the other hand, the 
 countries which awaken few desires are the countries of idealism 
 and of poesy. The accessories of life are there insignificant com- 
 pared with the pleasure of living. The embellishment of the 
 house is superfluous, for it is frequented as little as possible. The 
 
 1 This is what the Aoyia Kvpiana were called. Papias, in Eusebius, H. E., iii. 
 39. 
 
 2 The apologue, as we find it in Judges ix. 8, and following, 2 Sam. xii. 1, and 
 following, only resembles the Gospel parable in form. The profound originality 
 of the latter is in the thought with which it is filled. 
 
 3 See especially the Lotus of the Good Law, chap. iii. and iv. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 137 
 
 strong and regular food of less generous climates, would be con- 
 sidered heavy and disagreeable.. And as to the luxury of gar- 
 ments, what can rival that which God has given to the earth and 
 the birds of heaven ? ! Labour in climates of this kind appears 
 useless; what it gives is not equal to what it costs. The 
 animals of the field are better clothed than the most opulent 
 man, and they do nothing. This contempt, which, when it is not 
 caused by idleness, contributes greatly to the elevation of the soul, 
 inspired Jesus with some charming apologues : — u Lay not up for 
 yourselves treasures upon earth," said he, " where moth and rust 
 doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal ; but lay 
 up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust 
 doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal : 
 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 1 No man 
 can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one and love 
 the other ; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. 
 Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.2 Therefore I say unto you, v . 
 take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall. V 
 drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the 
 life more than meat, and the body than raiment ? Behold the 
 fowls of the air : for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor ga- 
 ther into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. , Are ye 
 not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought 
 can add one cubit unto his stature ? And why take ye thought 
 for raiment ? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; 
 they toil not, neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto you, That 
 even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 
 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, 
 and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe 
 you, ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, 
 What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal 
 shall we be clothed ? For after all these things do the Gentiles 
 seek ; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all 
 
 1 Compare Talm. of Bab., Bala Bathra, 11a. 
 
 a The god of riches and hidden treasures, a kind of Plutus in the Phoenician 
 and Syrian mythology. 
 
138 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, 1 and his 
 righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you. 
 Take therefore no thought for the morrow : for the morrow shall 
 take thought of the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the 
 evil thereof." 2 
 
 This essentially Galilean sentiment had a decisive influence on 
 the destiny of the infant sect. The happy flock, relying on the 
 heavenly Father for the satisfaction of its wants, had for its first 
 s principle -the regarding of the cares of life as an evil which choked 
 the germ of all good in man.3 Each day they asked of God the 
 bread for the morrow. 4 Why lay up treasure? The kingdom 
 of God is at hand. " Sell that ye have and give alms," said the 
 master. " Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in 
 the heavens that faileth not." 5 What more foolish than to heap 
 up treasures for heirs whom thou wilt never behold? 6 As an 
 example of human folly, Jesus loved to cite the case of a man 
 who, after having enlarged his barns and amassed wealth for long 
 years, died before having enjoyed it!? The brigandage which 
 - ! was deeply rooted in Galilee, 8 gave much force to these views. 
 The poor, who did not suffer from it, would regard them- 
 selves as the favoured of God ; whilst the rich, having a less sure 
 possession, were the truly disinherited. (In our societies, estab- 
 lished upon a very rigorous idea of property, the position of the 
 poor is horrible ; they have literally no place under the sun. 
 There are no flowers, no grass, no shade, except for him who pos- 
 , ^ ' sesses the earth. In the East, these are gifts of God which belong 
 to no one. The proprietor has but a slender privilege ; nature is 
 the patrimony of all. ) 
 
 1 I here adopt the reading of Lachmann and Tischendorf. 
 
 2 Matt. vi. 19-21, 24-34. Luke xii. 22-31, 33, 34, xvi, 13. Compare the 
 precepts in Luke x. 7, 8, full of the same simple sentiment, and Talmud of Baby- 
 lon, Sota, 48 h. 
 
 3 Matt. xiii. 22; Mark iv. 19 ; Luke viii. 14. 
 
 4 Matt. vi. 11 ; Luke xi. 3. This is the meaning of the word emovaios. 
 
 5 Luke xii. 33, 34. 6 Luke xii. 20. 7 Luke xii. 16, and following. 
 8 Jos., Ant., xvii. x. 4, and following; Vita, 11, &c* 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 139 
 
 The infant Christianity, moreover, in this only followed the 
 footsteps of the Essenes, or Therapeutse, and of the Jewish sects 
 founded on the monastic life/ A communistic element entered into 
 all these sects, which were equally disliked by Pharisees and Saddu- 
 cees. The Messianic doctrine, which was entirely political among 
 the orthodox Jews, was entirely social amongst them. By means of 
 a gentle, regulated, contemplative existence, leaving its share to 
 the liberty of the individual, these little churches thought to inau- 
 gurate the heavenly kingdom upon earth. Utopias of a blessed 
 life, founded on the brotherhood of men and the worship of the 
 true God, occupied elevated souls, and produced from all sides bold 
 and sincere, but short-lived attempts to realise these doctrines. 
 
 Jesus, whose relations with the Essenes are difficult to deter- 
 mine (resemblances in history not always implying relations), was 
 on this point certainly their brother. The community of goods 
 was for some time the rule in the new society. 1 Covetousness 
 was the cardinal sin. 2 Now it must be remarked that the sin of 
 covetousness, against which Christian morality has been so severe, 
 was then the simple attachment to property. The first condition of 
 becoming a disciple of Jesus, was to sell one's property and to give 
 the price of it to the poor. Those who recoiled from this ex- 
 tremity, were not admitted into the community. 3 Jesus often re- 
 peated that he who has found the kingdom of God ought to buy it 
 at the price of all his goods, and that in so doing he makes an ad- 
 vantageous bargain. " The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure 
 hid in a field ; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and 
 for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that 
 field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman 
 seeking goodly pearls ; who, when he had found one pearl of great 
 price, went and sold all that he had and bought it"*/ Alas ! the 
 inconveniences of this plan were not long in making themselves 
 
 1 Acts iv. 32, 34-37 ; v. 1, and following. 
 
 2 Matt. xiii. 22; Luke xii. 15, and following. 
 
 3 Matt. xix. 21 ; Mark^x. 21, and following, 29, 30 ; Luke xviii. 22, 23, 28. 
 
 4 Matt. xiii. 44-46. 
 
140 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 felt. A treasurer was wanted. They chose for that office Judas 
 of Kerioth: Eightly or wrongly, they accused him of stealing 
 from the common purse j* it is certain that he came to a bad end. 
 Sometimes the master, more versed in things of heaven than 
 those of earth, taught a still more singular political economy. 
 In a strange parable, a steward is praised for having made him- 
 self friends among the poor at the expense of his master, in order 
 that the poor might in their turn introduce him into the kingdom 
 of heaven. The poor, in fact, becoming the dispensers of this 
 kingdom, will only receive those who have given to them. A 
 prudent man, thinking of the future, ought therefore to seek to 
 gain their favour. u And the Pharisees also," says the evangelist, 
 " who were covetous, heard all these things : and they derided 
 him." 2 Did they also hear the formidable parable which follows ? 
 " There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and 
 fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day : and there was a 
 certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of 
 sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the 
 rich man's table : moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 
 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the 
 angels into Abraham's bosom : the rich man also died, and was 
 buried ; 3 and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and 
 seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried 
 and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus 
 that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue ; 
 for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, re- 
 member that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things ; and 
 likewise Lazarus evil things : but now he is comforted and thou 
 art tormented." 4 What more just ? Afterwards this parable was 
 called that of the " wicked rich man." But it is purely and simply 
 
 1 John xii. 6. 2 Lukexvi. 1-14. 3 See the Greek text. 
 
 4 Luke xvi. 19-25. Luke, I am aware, has a very decided communistic tendency, 
 (comp. vi. 20, 21, 25, 26,) and I think he has exaggerated this shade of the teach- 
 ing of Jesus. But the features of the Aoyta of Matthew are sufficiently signi 
 ficant. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 141 
 
 the parable of the " rich man/' He is in hell because he is rich, 
 because he does not give his wealth to the poor, because he dines 
 well, while others at his door dine badly. Lastly, in a less ex- 
 travagant moment,/ Jesus does not make it obligatory to sell one's 
 goods, and give them to the poor except as a suggestion towards 
 greater perfection. But he still makes this terrible declaration : 
 "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than 
 for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." 1 j 
 
 An admirable idea governed Jesus in all this, as well as 
 the band of joyous children who accompanied him and made ,/ 
 him for eternity the true creator of the peace of the soul, the 
 great consoler of life. { In disengaging man from what he called 
 "the cares of this world," Jesus might go to excess and injure 
 the essential conditions of human society ; but he founded that 
 high spiritualism which for centuries has filled souls with joy in 
 the midst of this vale of tears. He saw with perfect clearness 
 that man's inattention, his want of philosophy and morality, come 
 mostly from the distractions which he permits himself, the cares 
 which besiege him, and which civilisation multiplies beyond mea- 
 sure. 2 The Gospel, in this manner, has been the most efficient 
 remedy for the weariness of ordinary life, a perpetual sursum 
 corda, a powerful diversion from the miserable cares of earth,) a 
 gentle appeal like that of Jesus in the ear of Martha, — " Martha, 
 Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things ; but 
 one thing is needful." Thanks to Jesus, the dullest existence, that 
 most absorbed by sad or humiliating duties, has had its glimpse 
 of heaven. In our busy civilisations the remembrance of the free 
 life of Galilee has been like perfume from another world, like the 
 " dew of Hermon," 3 which has prevented drought and barrenness 
 from entirely invading the field of God. 
 
 1 Matt. xix. 24 ; Mark x. 25; Luke xviii. 25. This proverbial phrase is found 
 in the Talmud (Bab., Berakoth, 55 b, Baba metsia, 38 b) and in the Koran, (Sur., 
 vii. 38.) Origen and the Greek interpreters, ignorant of the Semitic proverb, 
 thought that it meant a cable, (KafuXos.) 
 
 2 Matt. xiii. 22. 3 Psalm cxxxiii. 3. 
 
CHAPTEK XL 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF GOD CONCEIVED AS THE INHEEITANCE OF 
 THE POOE. 
 
 j These maxims, good for a country where life is nourished by 
 the air and the light, and this delicate communism of a band 
 of children of God reposing in confidence on the bosom of their 
 Father, might suit a simple sect constantly persuaded that its 
 Utopia was about to be realised. But it is clear that they could 
 not satisfy the whole of society. Jesus understood very soon, in 
 fact, that the official world of his time would by no means adopt 
 his kingdom.' He took his resolution with extreme boldness. 
 Leaving the world, with its hard s heart and narrow prejudices on 
 one side, he turned towards the simple. ^A vast substitution of 
 classes would take place. } The kingdom of God was made, — 1st, For 
 children, and those who resemble them ; 2nd, For the outcasts of 
 this world, victims of that social arrogance which repulses the good 
 but humble man ; 3rd, For heretics and schismatics, publicans, 
 Samaritans, and Pagans of Tyre and Sidon. An energetic parable 
 explained this appeal to the people, and justified it. 1 A king has 
 prepared a wedding feast, and sends his servants to seek those 
 invited. Each one excuses himself ; some ill-treat the messengers. 
 The king, therefore, takes a decided step. The great people have 
 not accepted his invitation. Be it so. His guests shall be the 
 first comers ; the people collected from the highways and byeways, 
 
 1 Matt. xxii. 2, and following; Luke xiv. 16, and following. Comp. Matt. viii. 
 11, 12, xxi. 33, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 143 
 
 the poor, the beggars, and the lame; it matters not who, the 
 room must be filled. " For I say unto you/' said he, " that none 
 of. those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper." 
 / Pure Ebionism — that is, the doctrine that the poor (ebionim) t, 
 alone shall be saved, that the reign of the poor is approaching — ; 
 was, therefore, the doctrine of JesusA " Woe unto you that are 
 rich/' said he, "for ye have received your consolation. Woe 
 unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you 
 that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep." 1 " Then said 
 he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a 
 supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmon, 
 nor thy rich neighbours, lest they also bid thee again, and a recom- 
 pense be made thee. < But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, 
 the maimed, the lame, the blind : and thou shalt be blessed ; for 
 they cannot recompense thee ; for thou shalt be recompensed at 
 the resurrection of the just." 2 It is perhaps in an analogous sense 
 that he often repeated, " Be good bankers," 3 — that is to say, make 
 good investments for the kingdom of God, in giving your wealth 
 to the poor, conformably to the old proverb, " He thafhath pity 
 upon the poor, lendeth unto the 'Lord." 4 ,• 
 ,^This, however, was not a new fact. The most exalted demo- 
 cratic movement of which humanity has preserved the remem- 
 brance (the only one, also, which has succeeded, for it alone has 
 maintained itself in the domain of pure thought), had long dis- 
 turbed the Jewish race. The thought that God is the avenger 
 of the poor and the weak, against the rich and the powerful, 
 is found in each page of the writings of the Old Testament. 
 The history of Israel is of all histories that in which the popular 
 spirit has most constantly predominated. The prophets, the true, 
 and, in one sense, the boldest tribunes, had thundered incessantly 
 against the great, and established a close relation, on the one hand, 
 
 1 Luke vi. 24, 25. 2 Luke xiv. 12, 14. 
 
 3 A saying preserved by very ancient tradition, and much used, Clement of 
 Alexandria, Strom, i. 28. It is also found in Origen, St Jerome, and a great num- 
 ber of the fathers of the Church. 
 
 4 Prov. xix. 17. 
 
144 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 between the words "rich, impious, violent, wicked," and, on the 
 other, between the words "poor, gentle, humble, pious." 1 Under 
 the Seleucidse, the aristocrats having almost all apostatised and 
 gone over to Hellenism, these associations of ideas only became 
 stronger. The Book of Enoch contains still more violent male- 
 dictions than those of the Gospel against the world, the rich, and 
 the powerful. 2 Luxury is there depicted as a crime. The " Son 
 of man," in this strange Apocalypse, dethrones kings, tears them 
 from their voluptuous life, and precipitates them into hell. 3 The 
 initiation of Judea into secular life, the recent introduction of ar» 
 entirely worldly element of luxury and comfort, provoked a furious 
 reaction in favour of patriarchal simplicity. "Woe unto you 
 who despise the humble dwelling and inheritance of your fathers ! 
 Woe unto you who build your palaces with the sweat of others ! 
 Each stone, each brick, of which it is built, is a sin." 4 The name 
 of " poor " (ebion) had become a synonym of " saint," of " friend of 
 God." This was the name that the Galilean disciples of Jesus 
 loved to give themselves \) it was for a long time the name of the 
 Judaising Christians of Batanea and of the Hauran (Nazarenes, He- 
 brews) who remained faithful to the tongue, as well as to the pri- 
 mitive instructions of Jesus, and who boasted that they possessed 
 amongst themselves the descendants of his family. 5 At the end 
 of the second century, these good sectaries, having remained be- 
 yond the reach of the great current which had carried away all 
 the other churches, were treated as heretics (Ebionites,) and a 
 pretended heretical leader (Ebion) was invented to explain their 
 name. 6 
 
 1 See, in particular, Amos ii. 6; Isa. lxiii. 9; Ps. xxv. 9, xxxvii. 11, lxix. 33; 
 and, in general, the Hebrew dictionaries, at the words : 
 
 .yny ,ubbvi nntfy ,TDn ,r:y ,^y ,bn ,ivin 
 
 3 Ch. lxii., lxiii., xcvii., c, civ. 
 
 3 Enoch, ch. xlvi. 4-8. 4 Enoch, xcix. 13, 14. 
 
 5 Julius Africanus in Eusebius, H. E., i. 7 ; Eus., Be situ et nom. loc hebr., at 
 the word Xa>(3d ; Orig., Contra Celsus, ii. 1, v. 61 ; Epiph., Adv. Hcer., xxix. 7, 9, xxx. 
 2, 18. 
 
 6 See especially Origen, Contra Celsus, ii. 1 ; De Principiis, iv. 22. Compare 
 Epiph., Adv. Hcer., xxx. 17. Irenseus, Origen, Eusebius, and the apostolic Consti- 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 145 
 
 - 
 
 (We may see, in fact, without difficulty, that this exaggerated 
 taste for poverty could not be very lasting. It was one of those 
 Utopian elements which always mingle in the origin of great move- 
 ments, and which time rectifies. Thrown into the centre of human 
 society, Christianity very easily consented to receive rich men into 
 her bosom, just as Buddhism, exclusively monkish in its origin, 
 soon began, as conversions multiplied, to admit the laity. But the 
 mark of origin is ever preserved. Although it quickly passed away 
 and became forgotten, Ebionism left a leaven in the whole history 
 of Christian institutions which has not been lost. The collection 
 of the Logia, or discourses of Jesus, was formed in the Ebionitish 
 ' centre of Batanea. 1 ''Poverty" remained an ideal from which the true 
 followers of Jesus were never after separated. To possess nothing, 
 was the truly evangelical state ;) mendicancy became a virtue, a holy 
 condition. The great Umbrian movement of the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, which, among all the attempts at religious construction, 
 most resembles the Galilean movement, took place entirely in the 
 name of poverty. Francis d'Assissi, the man who, more than any 
 other, by his exquisite goodness, by his delicate, pure, and tender 
 intercourse with universal life, most resembled Jesus, was a poor 
 man. | The mendicant orders, the innumerable communistic sects 
 of the middle ages {Pauvres de Lyon, Begards, Bons-Hommes, 
 Fratricelles, Humilies, Pauvres evangeliques, &c.) grouped under 
 the banner of the " Everlasting Gospel," pretended to be, and in 
 fact were, the true disciples of Jesus. But even in this case the 
 most impracticable dreams of the new religion were fruitful in re- 
 sults. ( Pious mendicity, so impatiently borne by our industrial and 
 well-organised communities, was in its day, and in a suitable climate, 
 full of charm. It offered to a multitude of mild and contemplative 
 souls the only condition suited to them>\ To have made poverty an 
 object of love and desire, to have raised the beggar to the altar, 
 
 tutions, ignore the existence of such a personage. The author of the Philosophu- 
 mena seems to hesitate, (vii. 34 and 35, x. 22 and 23.) It is by Tertullian, and 
 especially by Epiphanes, that the fable of one Ebion has been spread. Besides, all 
 the Fathers are agreed on the etymology, 'EftLcov =7tt<0%6s. 
 1 Epiph., Adv. Hcer., xix., xxix.,-and xxx., especially xxix. 9. 
 
146 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 and to have sanctified the coat of the poor man, was a master- 
 stroke which political economy may not appreciate, but in the 
 presence of which the true moralist cannot remain indifferent. 
 Humanity, in order to bear its burden, needs to believe that it is 
 not paid entirely by wages. The greatest service which can be 
 rendered to it is to repeat often that it lives not by bread alone. 
 
 Like all great men, (Jesus loved the people, and felt himself at 
 home with them. N The Gospel, in his idea, is made for the poor ; 
 it is to them he brings the glad tidings of salvation. 1 All the 
 despised ones of orthodox Judaism were his favourites. / Love of 
 the people, and pity for its weakness, ;(the sentiment of the demo- 
 cratic chief, who feels the spirit of the multitude live in him, and 
 recognise him as its natural interpreter,) shine forth at each 
 moment in his acts and discourses. 2 
 
 The chosen flock presented, in fact, a very mixed character, 
 and one likely to astonish rigorous moralists. I It counted in its fold, 
 men with whom a Jew, respecting himself, would not have asso- 
 ciated. 3 Perhaps Jesus found in this society, unrestrained by 
 ordinary rules, more mind and heart than in a pedantic and formal 
 middle-class, proud of its apparent morality. The Pharisees, ex- 
 aggerating the Mosaic prescriptions, had come to believe them- 
 selves denied by contact with men less strict than themselves ; in. 
 their meals they almost rivalled the puerile distinctions of caste in 
 India. Despising these miserable aberrations of the religious senti- 
 ment, Jesus loved to eat with those who suffered from them ; 4 by 
 his side at table were seen persons said to lead wicked lives, per- 
 haps only so called because they did not share the follies of the 
 false devotees. The Pharisees and the doctors protested against 
 the scandal. " See," said they, "with what men he eats !" Jesus 
 returned subtle answers, which exasperated the hypocrites : " They 
 that be whole need not a physician." 5 Or again : " What man of 
 you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 5; Luke vi. 20, 21. 2 Matt. ix. 36; Mark vi. 34. 
 
 8 Matt. ix. 10, and following; Luke xv. entirely. 
 
 4 Matt. ix. 11 ; Mark ii. 16; Luke v. 30. 5 Matt. ix. 12. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 147 
 
 leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that 
 which is lost until he find it ? And when he hath found it, he 
 layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing." 1 Or again : "The Son of 
 man is come to save that which was lost." 2 Or again : " I am not 
 come to call the righteous, but sinners." 3 Lastly, that delightful 
 parable of the prodigal son, in which he who is fallen is repre- 
 sented as having a kind of privilege of love above him who has 
 always been righteous. Weak or guilty women, surprised at so 
 much that was charming, and realising, for the first time, j:he at- 
 tractions of contact with virtue, approached him freely. ( People 
 were astonished that he did not repulse them. ) " Now when the 
 Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, 
 saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who 
 and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him : for she is 
 a sinner." Jesus replied by the parable of a creditor who forgives 
 his debtors' unequal debts, and he did not hesitate to prefer the 
 lot of him to whom was remitted the greater debt. 4 He appre- 
 ciated conditions of soul only in proportion to the love mingled 
 therein. Women, with tearful hearts, and disposed through their 
 sins to feelings of humility, were nearer to his kingdom than 
 ordinary natures, who often have little merit in not having fallen. 
 We may conceive, on the other hand, that these tender souls, find- 
 ing in their conversion to the sect an easy means of restoration, 
 would passionately attach themselves to him. 
 
 Far from seeking to soothe the murmurs stirred up by his dis- 
 dain for the social susceptibilities of the time, he seemed to take 
 pleasure in exciting them. Never did any one avow more loftily 
 this contempt for the " world," which is the essential condition of 
 great things and of great originality./ He pardoned the rich man, 
 
 1 Luke xv. 4, and following. 2 Matt, xviii. 11 j Luke xix. 10. 3 Matt. ix. 13. 
 
 4 Luke vii. 36, and following. Luke, who likes to bring out in relief everything 
 that relates to the forgiveness of sinners, (comp. x. 30, and following, xv. entirely, 
 xvii. 16, and following, xix. 2, and following, xxiii. 39-43,) has included in this 
 narrative passages from another history, that of the anointing of feet, which took 
 place at Bethany some days before the death of Jesus. (But the pardon of sinful 
 women was undoubtedly one of the essential features of the anecdotes of the life of 
 Jesus.— Cf. John viii. 3, and following; Papias, in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl.% iii. 39. 
 
148 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 but only when the rich man, in consequence of some prejudice, 
 was disliked by society. 1 He greatly preferred men of equivocal 
 life and of small consideration in the eyes of the orthodox leaders. 
 "The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God be- 
 fore you. For John came unto you and ye believed him not : but 
 the publicans and the harlots believed him." 2 We can under- 
 stand how galling the reproach of not having followed the good 
 example set by prostitutes must have been to men making a pro- 
 fession of seriousness and rigid morality. ) 
 
 He had no external affectation or show of austerity. He did 
 not fly from pleasure ; he went willingly to marriage feasts) One 
 of his miracles was performed to enliven a wedding at a small 
 town. Weddings in the East take place in the evening. Each 
 one carries a lamp ; and the lights coming and going produce a 
 very agreeable effect. , Jesus liked this gay and animated aspect, 
 and drew parables from it.3 ) Such conduct, compared with 
 that of John the Baptist, gave offence. 4 One day, when the 
 disciples of John and the Pharisees were observing the fast, 
 it was asked, " Why do the disciples of John and of the Phari- 
 sees fast, but thy disciples fast not ? And Jesus said unto 
 them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bride- 
 groom is with them ? As long as they have the bridegroom with 
 them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bride- 
 groom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast 
 in those days/' 5 ( His gentle gaiety found expression in lively 
 ideas and amiable pleasantries. ' " But whereunto/' said he, " shall 
 I liken this generation ? It is like unto children sitting in the 
 markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped 
 unto you, and ye have not danced ; we have mourned unto you, 
 and ye have not lamented.^ Eor John came neither eating nor 
 drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came 
 
 1 Luke xix. 2, and following. a Matt. xxi. 31, 32. 
 
 3 Matt. xxv. 1, and following. 4 Mark ii. 18; Luke v. 33. 
 
 5 Matt. ix. 14, and following; Mark ii. 18, and following; Luke v. 33, and fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 6 An allusion to some children's game. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 149 
 
 eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and 
 a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But Wisdom is 
 justified of her children." 1 
 
 He thus traversed Galilee in the midst of a continual feast. 
 He rode on a mule. In the East this is a good and safe mode' of 
 travelling ; the large black eyes of the animal, shaded by long eye- 
 lashes, give it an expression of gentleness. His disciples sometimes 
 surrounded him with a kind of rustic pomp, at the expense of 
 their garments, which they used as carpets. They placed them 
 on the mule which carried him, or extended them on the earth 
 in his path. 2 His entering a house was considered a joy and a 
 blessing. He stopped in the villages and the large farms, where 
 he received an eager hospitality. In the East, the house into 
 which a stranger enters becomes at once a public place. All the 
 village assembles there, the children invade it, and though dispersed 
 by the servants, always return. Jesus could not permit these simple 
 auditors to be treated harshly ; he caused them to be brought to him 
 and embraced them. 3 The mothers, encouraged by such a recep- 
 tion, brought him their children in order that he might touch 
 them. 4 Women came to pour oil upon his head, and perfume on 
 his feet. His disciples sometimes repulsed them as troublesome ; 
 but Jesus, who loved the ancient usages, and all that indicated 
 simplicity of heart, repaired the ill done by his too zealous friends. 
 He protected those who wished to honour him.5 (^Thus children 
 and women adored him. The reproach of alienating from their 
 families these gentle creatures, always easily misled, was one of 
 the most frequent charges of his enemies. 6 \ 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 16, and following ; Luke vii. 34, and following. A proverb which 
 means " The opinion of men is blind. The wisdom of the works of God is only- 
 proclaimed by his works themselves." I read epyoov, with the manuscript B. of 
 the Vatican, and not tckvcov. 
 
 2 Matt. xxi. 7, 8. 
 
 3 Matt. xix. 13, and following; Mark ix. 35, x. 13, and following; Luke xviii. 
 15, 16. 4 Ibid. 
 
 5 Matt. xxvi. 7, and following ; Mark xiv. 3, and following; Luke vii. 37, and 
 following. 
 
 6 Gospel of Marcion, addition to ver. 2 of chap, xxiii. of Luke, (Epiph., Adv. 
 
150 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 The new religion was thus in many respects a movement of 
 women and children. The latter were like a young guard around 
 Jesus for the inauguration of his innocent royalty, and gave him 
 little ovations which much pleased him, calling him " son of David," 
 crying Hosanna, 1 and bearing palms around him. Jesus, like 
 Savonarola, perhaps made them serve as instruments for pious 
 missions ; he was very glad to see these young apostles, who did 
 not compromise him, rush into the front and give him titles which 
 he dared not take himself. He let them speak, and when he 
 was asked if he heard, he replied in an evasive manner that the 
 praise which comes from young lips is the most agreeable to God. 2 
 (He lost no opportunity of repeating that the little ones are 
 sacred beings, 3 that the kingdom of God belongs „to children,* that 
 we must become children to enter there, 5 that we ought to receive 
 it as a child, 6 that the heavenly Father hides his secrets from the 
 wise, and reveals them to the little ones.? The idea of disciples 
 is in his mind almost synonymous with that of children. 8 On 
 one occasion, when they had one of those quarrels for prece- 
 dence which were not uncommon. Jesus took a little child, placed 
 him in their midst, and said to them, " Whosoever therefore shall 
 humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the 
 kingdom of heaven." 9 
 
 1 It was infancy, in fact, in its divine spontaneity, in its simple 
 bewilderments of joy, which took possession of the earth. Every 
 one believed at each moment that the kingdom so much desired 
 was about to appear. Each one already saw himself seated on a 
 
 Hcer., xlii. 11.) If the suppressions of Marcion are without critical value, such is 
 not the case with his additions, when they proceed, not from a special view, but 
 from the condition of the manuscripts which he used. 
 
 1 A cry which was raised at the feast of tabernacles, amidst the waving of palms. 
 Mishnah, SukJca, iii. 9. This custom still exists amongst the Israelites. 
 
 2 Matt. xxi. 15, 16. 3 Matt, xviii. 5, 10, 14; Luke xvii. 2. 
 4 Matt. xix. 14; Mark x. 14; Luke xviii. 16. 
 
 * Matt, xviii. 1, and following; Mark ix. 33, and following; Luke ix. 46. 
 6 Mark x. 15. 7 Matt. xi. 25 ; Luke x. 21. 
 
 8 Matt. x. 42, xviii. 5, 14; Mark ix. 36; Luke xvii. 2. 
 
 9 Matt, xviii. 4; Mark ix. 33-36 ; Luke ix. 46-48. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 151 
 
 throne 1 beside the master. They divided amongst themselves y 
 the positions of honour in the new kingdom, 2 and strove to reckon 
 the precise date of its advent. ( This new doctrine was called the 
 "Good Tidings;" it had no other name. An old word, "para- 
 dise" which the Hebrew, like all the languages of the East, had 
 borrowed from the Persian, and which at first designated the parks 
 of the Achaemenidse, summed up the general dream ; a delight- 
 ful garden, where the charming life which was led here below 
 would be continued for ever. 3 How long this intoxication lasted 
 we know not. No one, during the course of this magical appari- 
 tion, measured time any more than we measure a dream). Dura- 
 tion was suspended ; a week was an age. But whether it filled 
 years or month§, the dream was so beautiful that humanity has 
 lived upon it ever since, and it is still our consolation to gather its 
 weakened perfume. Never did so much joy fill the breast of man. 
 For a moment humanity, in this the most vigorous effort she ever 
 made to rise above the world, forgot the leaden weight which 
 binds her to earth and the sorrows of the life below. Happy he 
 who has been able to behold this divine unfolding, and to share, 
 were it but for one day, this unexampled illusion ! / But still more 
 happy, Jesus would say to us, is he who, freed from all illusion, 
 shall reproduce in himself the celestial vision, and, with no mil- 
 lenarian dream, no chimerical paradise, no signs in the heavens, 
 but by the uprightness of his will and the poetry of his soul, shall 
 be able to create anew in his heart the true kingdom of God ! ) 
 
 1 Luke xxii. 30. 2 Mark x. 37, 40, 41. 
 
 3 Luke xxiii. 43; 2 Cor. xii. 4. Coinp. Carm. .Sibyll., procem, 86; Talm. of 
 Bab., Chagigah, 14 b. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 EMBASSY FROM JOHN IN PRISON TO JESUS— DEATH OP JOHN — - 
 RELATIONS OF HIS SCHOOL WITH THAT OF JESUS. 
 
 Whilst joyous Galilee was celebrating in feasts the coming of the 
 well-beloved, the sorrowful John, in his prison of Machero, was 
 pining away with expectation and desire. The success of the 
 young master whom he had seen some months before as his auditor 
 reached his ears. It was said that the Messiah predicted by the 
 prophets, he who was to re-establish the kingdom of Israel, was 
 come, and was proving his presence in Galilee by marvellous 
 works. John wished to inquire into the truth of this rumour, 
 and as he communicated freely with his disciples, he chose two of 
 them to go to Jesus in Galilee. 1 
 
 The two disciples found Jesus at the height of his fame. The 
 air of gladness which reigned around him surprised them. Accus- 
 tomed to fasts, to persevering prayer, and to a life of aspiration, 
 they were astonished to see themselves transported suddenly into 
 the midst of the joys attending the welcome of the Messiah. 2 They 
 told Jesus their message ( " Art thou he that should come ? Or 
 do we look for another?" Jesus, who from that time hesitated no 
 longer respecting his peculiar character as Messiah, enumerated 
 the works which ought to characterise the coming of the kingdom 
 of God, — such as the healing of the sick, and the good tidings of 
 a speedy salvation preached to the poor. He did all these works- 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 2, and following; Luke vii. 18, and following. 
 
 2 Matt. ix. 14, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 153 
 
 " And blessed is he/' said Jesus, " whosoever shall not be offended 
 in me." We know not whether this answer found John the Bap- 
 tist living, or in what temper it put the austere ascetic. Did he 
 die consoled and certain that he whom he had announced already 
 lived, or did he remain doubtful as to the mission of Jesus ? There 
 is nothing to inform us. Seeing, however, that his school con- 
 tinued to exist a considerable time parallel with the Christian 
 churches, we are led to think that, notwithstanding his regard 
 for Jesus, John did not look upon him as the one who was to 
 realise the divine promises. Death came, moreover, to end his per- 
 plexities. The untamable freedom of the ascetic was to crown his 
 restless and stormy career by the only end which was worthy of it. 
 
 The leniency which Antipas had at first shewn towards John 
 was not of long duration. In the conversations which, according 
 to the Christian tradition, John had had with the tetrarch, he did 
 not cease to declare to him that his marriage was unlawful, and 
 that he ought to send away Herodias. 1 We can easily imagine 
 the hatred which the grand-daughter of Herod the Great must 
 have conceived towards this importunate counsellor. \ She only 
 waited an opportunity to ruin him. 
 
 Her daughter, Salome, born of her first marriage, and like her 
 ambitious and dissolute, entered into her designs. That year, (pro- 
 bably the year 30), Antipas was at Machero on the anniversary 
 of his birthday. Herod the Great had constructed in the interior 
 of the fortress a magnificent palace, where the tetrarch frequently 
 resided. 2 He gave a great feast there, during which Salome exe- 
 cuted one of those dances in character which were not considered 
 in Syria, as unbecoming a distinguished, person. Antipas being 
 much pleased, asked the dancer what she most desired, and 
 she replied, at the instigation of her mother, "Give me here 
 John Baptist's head in a charger." 3 Antipas was sorry, but 
 
 1 Matt. xiv. 4, and following ; Mark vi. 18, and following; Luke iii. 19. 
 
 2 Jos., Be Bellojud., vn. vi. 2. 
 
 3 A portable dish on which liquors and viands are served in the East. 
 
154 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 he did not like to refuse. A guard took the dish, went and cut 
 off the head of the prisoner, and brought it. 1 
 
 The disciples of the Baptist obtained his body and placed it in 
 a tomb, but the people were much displeased. Six years after, 
 Hareth, having attacked Antipas, in order to recover Machero 
 and avenge the dishonour of his daughter, Antipas was completely 
 beaten ; and his defeat was generally regarded as a punishment for 
 the murder of John.2 
 
 I The news of John's death was brought to Jesus by the disciples 
 or the Baptist. 3 John's last act towards Jesus had effectually 
 united the two schools in the most intimate bonds. Jesus, fearing 
 an increase of ill-will on the part of Antipas, took precautions and 
 retired to the desert, 4 where many people followed him. By exer- 
 cising an extreme frugality, the holy band was enabled to live 
 there, and in this there was naturally seen a miracle. 5 ) From this 
 time Jesus always spoke of John with redoubled admiration. He 
 declared unhesitatingly 6 that he was more than a prophet, that the 
 Law and the ancient prophets had force only until he came,? 
 that he had abrogated them, but that the kingdom of heaven 
 would displace him in turn. In fine, he attributed to him a spe- 
 cial place in the economy of the Christian mystery, which consti- 
 tuted him the link of union between the Old Testament and the 
 advent of the new reign. 
 
 The prophet Malachi, whose opinion in this matter was soon 
 brought to bear, 8 had announced with much energy a precursor of 
 the Messiah, who was to prepare men for the final renovation, a 
 messenger who should come to make straight the paths before the 
 elected one of God. This messenger was no other than the pro- 
 phet Elias, who, according to a widely-spread belief, was soon 
 
 1 Matt. xiv. 3, and following ; Mark vi. 14-29 ; Jos., Ant, xvni. v. 2. 
 
 2 Josephus, Ant., xvm. v. 1, 2. 3 Matt. xiv. 12. 4 Matt. xiv. 13. 
 
 3 Matt. xiv. 15, and following; Mark vi. 35, and following; Luke ix. 11, and 
 following; John vi. 2, and following. 
 
 8 Matt. xi. 7, and following ; Luke vii. 24, and following. 
 
 7 Matt. xi. 12, 13 ; Luke xvi. 16. 
 
 8 Malachi iii. and iv. ; Ecclesiasticus xlviii. 10. See ante, Chap. VI. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 155 
 
 to descend from heaven, whither he had been carried, in order 
 to prepare men by repentance for the great advent, and to re- 
 concile God with his people. 1 Sometimes they associated with 
 Elias, either the patriarch Enoch, to whom for one or two centu- 
 ries they had attributed high sanctity ;2 or Jeremiah, 3 whom they 
 considered as a sort of protecting genius of the people, constantly 
 occupied in praying for them before the throne of God. 4 This 
 idea, that two ancient prophets should rise again in order to serve 
 as precursors to the Messiah, is discovered in so striking a form in 
 the doctrine of the Parsees, that we feel much inclined to believe 
 that it comes from that source. 5 However this may be, it formed 
 at the time of Jesus an integral portion of the Jewish theories 
 about the Messiah. It was admitted that the appearance of " two 
 faithful witnesses," clothed in garments of repentance, would be 
 the preamble of the great drama about to be unfolded, to the 
 astonishment of the universe. 6 
 
 (it will be seen that, with these ideas, Jesus and his disciples 
 could not hesitate about the mission of John the Baptist. When 
 the scribes raised the objection that the Messiah could not have 
 come because Elias had not yet appeared,? they replied that Elias 
 was come, that John was Elias raised from the dead. 8 / By his 
 manner of life, by his opposition to the established political au- 
 thorities, John in fact recalled that strange figure in the ancient 
 history of Israel. 9 Jesus was not silent on the merits and excel- 
 lences of his forerunner. He said that none greater was born 
 among the children of men. He energetically blamed the Phari- 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 14, xvii. 10; Mark vi. -15, viii. 28, ix. 10, and following; Luke 
 ix. 8, 19. 
 
 2 Ecclesiasticus xliv.,16. 3 Matt. xvi. 14. 4 2 Mace. v. 13, and following 
 
 5 Texts cited by Anquetil-Duperron, Zend-Avesta, i., 2d part, p. 46, corrected 
 by Spiegel, in the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlcendischen Gesellschaft, i. 261, 
 and following ; extracts from the Jamasp-Nameh, in the Avesta of Spiegel, i., p. 
 34. None of the Parsee texts, which truly imply the idea of resuscitated pro- 
 phets and of precursors, are ancient ; but the ideas contained in them appear to 
 be much anterior to the time of the compilation itself. 
 
 6 Rev. xi. 3, and following. 7 Mark ix. 10. 
 
 8 Matt. xi. 14, xvii. 10-13; Mark vi. 15, ix. 10-12; Lukeix. 8; John i. 21-25. 
 
 9 Luke i. 17. 
 
156 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 sees and the doctors for not having accepted his baptism, and for 
 not being converted at his voice.* 
 
 The disciples of Jesus were faithful to these principles of their 
 master. This respect for John continued during the whole of 
 the first Christian generation. 2 He was supposed to be a relative 
 of Jesus. 3 In order to establish the mission of the latter upon 
 testimony admitted by all, it was declared that John, at the first 
 sight of Jesus, proclaimed him the Messiah ; that he recognised 
 himself his inferior, unworthy to unloose the latchets of his shoes ; 
 that he refused at first to baptize him, and maintained that it was 
 he who ought to be baptized by Jesus. 4 These were exaggera- 
 tions, which are sufficiently refuted by the doubtful form of 
 John's last message.^ But, in a more general sense, John re- 
 mains in the Christian legend that which he was in reality, — the 
 austere forerunner, the gloomy preacher of repentance before the 
 joy on the arrival of the bridegroom, the prophet who announces 
 the kingdom of God and dies before beholding it. This giant in 
 the early history of Christianity, this eater of locusts and wild 
 honey, this rough redresser of wrongs, was the bitter which pre- 
 pared the lip for the sweetness of the kingdom of God. fHis 
 /beheading by Herodias inaugurated the era of Christian martyrs ;/ 
 J he was the first witness for the new faith. The worldly, who 
 .1 recognised in him their true enemy, could not permit him to 
 live ; his mutilated corpse, extended on the threshold of Chris- 
 tianity, traced the bloody path in which so many others were to 
 follow. 
 
 ' The school of John did not die with its founder. It lived some 
 time distinct from that of Jesus, and at first a good understanding 
 existed between the two. Many years after the death of the two 
 masters, people were baptized with the baptism of John. Certain 
 persons belonged to the two schools at the same time, — for example, 
 the celebrated Apollos, the rival of St Paul, (towards the year 50,) 
 
 1 Matt. xxi. 32; Luke vii. 29, 30. 8 Acts xix. 4. 3 Luke i. 
 
 4 Matt. iii. 14, and following; Luke iii. 16 ; John i. 15, and following, v. 32, 33. 
 * Matt. xi. 2, and following; Luke vii. 18, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS 157 
 
 and a large number of the Christians of Ephesus. 1 Josephus 
 placed himself (year 53) in the school of an ascetic named Banou, 2 
 who presents the greatest resemblance to John the Baptist, and 
 who was perhaps of his school. This Banou 3 lived in the desert, 
 clothed with the leaves of trees ; he supported himself only on wild 
 plants and fruits, and baptized himself frequently, both day and 
 night, in cold water, in order to purify himself. James, he who 
 was called the " brother of the Lord/' (there is here perhaps some 
 confusion of homonyms), practised a similar asceticism. 4 After- 
 wards, towards the year 80, Baptism was in strife with Christianity, 
 especially in Asia Minor. John the evangelist appears to combat 
 it in an indirect manner. 5 One of the Sibylline 6 poems seems to 
 proceed from this school. As to the sects of Hemerobaptists, Bap- 
 tists, and Elchasaites, (Sabiens Mogtasila of the Arabian writers, 7 ) 
 who, in the second century, filled Syria, Palestine, and Babylonia, 
 and whose representatives still exist in our days among the 
 Mendaites, called "Christians of St John;" they have the same 
 origin as the /movement of John the Baptist rather than an au- 
 thentic descent from John. The true school of the latter, partly 
 mixed with Christianity, became a small Christian heresy, and died 
 out in obscurity, v John had foreseen distinctly the destiny of the 
 two schools. If he had yielded to a mean rivalry, he would to-day 
 have been forgotten in the crowd of sectaries of his time. By his 
 self-abnegation, he has attained a glorious and unique position in 
 the religious pantheon of humanity. 
 
 1 Acts xviii. 25, xix. 1-5. Cf. Epiph., Adv. Hcer., xxx. 16. 
 3 Vita, 2. 
 
 3 Would this be the Bouna'i who is reckoned by the Talmud (Bab., Sanhedrim, 
 43 a) amongst the disciples of Jesus ? 
 
 4 Hegesippus, in Eusebius, H. E., ii. 23. 
 
 5 Gospel, i. 26, 33, iv. 2 ; 1st Epistle, v. 6. Cf. Acts x. 47. 
 
 6 Book iv. See especially v. 157, and following. 
 
 7 Sabiens is the Aramean equivalent of the word " Baptists." Mogtasila has the 
 same meaning in Arabic. 
 
CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 FIRST ATTEMPTS ON JERUSALEM. 
 
 Jesus, almost every year, went to Jerusalem for the feast of the 
 passover. The details of these journeys are little known, for the 
 synoptics do not speak of them, 1 and the notes of the fourth Gospel 
 are very confused on this point. 2 It was, it appears, in the year 
 31, and certainly after the death of John, that the most important 
 of the visits of Jesus to Jerusalem took place. Many of the disciples 
 followed him. Although Jesus attached from that time little value 
 to the pilgrimage, he conformed himself to it in order not to wound 
 Jewish opinion, with which he had not yet broken. These jour- 
 neys, moreover, were essential to his design ; for he felt already that 
 in order to play a leading part, he must go from Galilee, and attack 
 Judaism in its stronghold, which was Jerusalem. 
 
 1 They, however, imply them obscurely, (Matt, xxiii. 37; Luke xiii. 34.) They 
 knew as well as John the relation of Jesus with Joseph of Arimathea. Luke even 
 (x. 38-42) knew the family of Bethany. Luke (ix. 51-54) has a vague idea of the 
 system of the fourth Gospel respecting the journeys of Jesus. Many discourses 
 against the Pharisees and the Sadducees, said by the synoptics to have been de- 
 livered in Galilee, have scarcely any meaning, except as having been given at Jeru- 
 salem. And again, the lapse of eight days is much, too short to explain all that 
 happened between the arrival of Jesus in that city and his death. 
 
 2 Two pilgrimages are clearly indicated, (John ii. 13, and v. 1,) without speaking 
 of his last journey, (vii. 10,) after which Jesus returned no more to Galilee. The 
 first took place whilst John was still baptizing. It would belong consequently to 
 the Easter of the year 29. But the circumstances given as belonging to this 
 journey are of a more advanced period. (Comp. especially John ii. 14, and follow- 
 ing, and Matt. xxi. 12, 13 ; Mark xi. 15-17; Luke xix. 45, 46.) There are evidently 
 transpositions of dates in these chapters of John, or rather he has mixed the cir- 
 cumstances of different journeys. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 159 
 
 The little Galilean community were here far from being at home. 
 Jerusalem was then nearly what it is to-day, a city of pedantry, 
 acrimony, disputes, hatreds, and littleness of mind. Its fanati- 
 cism was extreme, and religious seditions very frequent. The 
 Pharisees were dominant ; the study of the Law, pushed to the most 
 insignificant minutiae, and reduced to questions of casuistry, was 
 the only study. This exclusively theological and canonical culture 
 contributed in no respect to refine the intellect.^ It was something 
 analogous to the barren doctrine of the Mussulman fakir, to that 
 empty science discussed round about the mosques, and which is a 
 great expenditure of time and useless argumentation, by no means 
 calculated to advance the right discipline of the mind. The theo- 
 logical education of the modern clergy, although very dry, gives us 
 no idea of this, for the Renaissance has introduced into all our 
 teachings, even the most irregular, a share of belles lettres and 
 of method, which has infused more or less of the humanities into 
 scholasticism. The science of the Jewish doctor, of the sofer or 
 scribe, was purely barbarous, unmitigatedly absurd, and denuded 
 of all moral element. \ To crown the evil, it filled with ridiculous 
 pride those who had wearied themselves in acquiring it. The 
 Jewish scribe, proud of the pretended knowledge which had cost 
 him so much trouble, had the same .contempt for Greek culture 
 which the learned Mussulman of our time has for European civili- 
 sation, and which the old catholic theologian had for the know- 
 ledge of men of the world. The tendency of this scholastic cul- 
 ture was to close the mind to all that was refined, to create esteem 
 only for those difficult triflings on which they had wasted their 
 lives, and which were regarded as the natural occupation of per- 
 sons professing a degree of seriousness. 2 
 
 ( This odious society could not fail to weigh heavily on the tender 
 and susceptible minds of the north. The contempt of the Hiero- 
 solymites for the Galileans rendered the separation still more com- 
 
 1 We may judge of it by the Talmud, the echo of the Jewish scholasticism of 
 that time. 
 
 2 Jos., Ant., xx., xi. 2. 
 
1 60 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 plete. In the beautiful temple which was the object of all their 
 desires, they often only met with insult. A verse of the pilgrim's 
 psalm, 1 " I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God," 
 seemed made expressly for them. A contemptuous priesthood 
 laughed at their simple devotion, as formerly in Italy the clergy, 
 familiarised with the sanctuaries, witnessed coldly and almost 
 jestingly the fervour of the pilgrim come from afar./ The Ga- 
 lileans spoke .a rather corrupt dialect ; their pronunciation was 
 vicious ; they confounded the different aspirations of letters, which 
 led to mistakes which were much laughed at. 2 In religion, they 
 were considered as ignorant and somewhat heterodox; 3 the ex- 
 pression, " foolish Galileans," had become proverbial. 4 ) It was be- 
 lieved (not without reason) that they were not of pure Jewish 
 blood, andfno one expected Galilee to produce a prophet. 5 } Placed 
 " thus on the confines of Judaism, and almost outside of it, the poor 
 Galileans had only one badly interpreted passage in Isaiah to 
 build their hopes upon. 6 " Land of Zebulon, and land of Naphtali, 
 way of the sea, 7 Galilee of the nations ! The people that walked 
 in darkness have seen a great light : they that dwell in the land of 
 the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." The 
 reputation of the native city of Jesus was particularly bad. It 
 was a popular proverb, " Can there any good thing come out of 
 Nazareth? "8 
 
 The parched appearance of nature in the neighbourhood of 
 Jerusalem must have added to the dislike Jesus had for the place. 
 The valleys are without water ; the soil arid and stony. Looking 
 into the valley of the Dead Sea, the view is somewhat striking ; 
 elsewhere it is monotonous. The hill of Mizpeh, around which 
 clusters the most ancient historical remembrances of Israel, alone 
 
 1 Ps. lxxxiv. (Vulg. Ixxxiii.) 11. 
 
 2 Matt. xxvi. 73 ; Mark xiv. 70; Acts ii. 7; Talm. of Bab., Erubin, 53 a, and 
 following ; Bereschith Rabba, 26 c. 
 
 3 Passage from the treatise Erubin, loc. cit. 
 
 4 Erubin, loc. cit., 53 b. 5 John vii. 52. 
 
 c Isa. ix. 1, 2; Matt. iv. 13, and following. 7 m Ante p. 132, note 3. 
 
 8 John i. 46. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 161 
 
 relieves the eye. The city presented, at the time of Jesus, nearly 
 the same form that it does now. It had scarcely any ancient monu- 
 ments, for, until the time of the Asmoneans, the Jews had remained 
 strangers to all the arts. John Hyrcanus had begun to embellish it, 
 and Herod the Great had made it one of the most magnificent cities 
 of the East. The Herodian constructions, by their grand character, 
 perfection of execution, and beauty of material, may dispute supe- 
 riority with the most finished works of antiquity. l A great num- 
 ber of superb tombs, of original taste, were raised at the same time 
 in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. 2 The style of these monu- 
 ments was Grecian, but appropriate to the customs of the Jews, 
 and considerably modified in accordance with their principles. The 
 ornamental sculptures of the human figure which the Herods had 
 sanctioned, to the great discontent of the purists, were banished, 
 and replaced by floral decorations. The taste of the ancient inha- 
 bitants of Phoenicia and Palestine for monoliths in solid stone, 
 seemed to be revived in these singular tombs cut in the rock, 
 and in which Grecian orders are so strangely applied to an archi- 
 tecture of troglodytes. ( Jesus, who regarded works of art as a \( 
 pompous display of vanity, viewed these monuments with dis- 
 pleasure. 3 His absolute spiritualism, and his settled conviction 
 that the form of the old world was about to pass away, left him 
 no taste except for things of the heart. 
 
 The temple,^, at the time of Jesus, was quite new, and the 
 exterior works of it were not completed. Herod had begun its 
 reconstruction in the year 20 or 21 before the Christian era, in 
 order to make it uniform with his other edifices. The body of the 
 temple was finished in eighteen months ; the porticoes took eight 
 years ; 4 and the accessory portions were continued slowly, and 
 
 1 Jos., Ant., XV. viii. xi. ; B. J., v. v. 6; Mark xiii. 1, 2. 
 
 2 Tombs, namely, of the Judges, Kings, Absalom, Zechariah, Jehoshaphat, and 
 of St James. Compare the description of the tomb of the Maccabees at Modin 
 (1 Mace. xiii. 27, and following.) 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 27, 29, xxiv. \, and following ; Mark xiii. 1, and following; Luke 
 xix. 44, xxi. 5, and following. Compare Book of Enoch, xcvii. 13, 14; Talmud of 
 Babylon, Shabbath, 33 b. 
 
 4 Jos., Ant., xy. xi. 5, 6. 
 
162 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 were only finished a short time before the taking of Jerusalem. 1 
 Jesus probably saw the work progressing, not without a degree of 
 secret vexation. ( These hopes of a long future were like an insult 
 to his approaching advent. \ Clearer- sighted than the unbelievers 
 and the fanatics, he foresaw that these superb edifices were des- 
 tined to endure but for a short time. 2 
 
 The temple formed a marvellously imposing whole, of which 
 the present haram,3 notwithstanding its beauty, scarcely gives 
 us any idea. The courts and the surrounding porticoes served 
 as the daily rendezvous for a considerable number of per- 
 sons, — so much so, that (this great space was at once temple, 
 forum, tribunal, and university. All the religious discussions of 
 the Jewish schools, all the canonical instruction, even the legal 
 processes and civil causes, — in a word, all the activity of the nation 
 was concentrated there. 4 It was an arena where arguments were 
 perpetually clashing, a battle-field of disputes, resounding with 
 sophisms and subtle questions. The temple had thus much ana- 
 logy with a Mahometan mosque. The Komans at this period 
 treated all strange religions with respect, when kept within proper 
 limits, 5 and carefully refrained from entering the sanctuary ; 
 Greek and Latin inscriptions marked the point up to which those 
 who were not Jews were permitted to advance. 6 But the tower, 
 of Antonia, the headquarters of the Eoman forces, commanded 
 the whole enclosure, and allowed all that passed therein to be 
 seen.? The guarding of the temple belonged to the Jews ; the 
 entire superintendence was committed to a captain, who caused 
 
 1 Jos., Ant., xx. ix. 7 ; John ii. 20. 
 
 2 Matt. xxiv. 2, xxvi, 61, xxvii. 40 ; Mark xiii. 2, xiv. 58, xv. 29 ; Luke xxi. 
 6; Johnii. 19, 20. 
 
 3 The temple and its enclosure doubtless occupied the site of the mosque of 
 Omar and the haram, or Sacred Court, which surrounds the mosque. The foun- 
 dation of the haram is, in some parts, especially at the place where the Jews go to 
 weep, the exact base of the temple of Herod. 
 
 4 Luke ii. 46, and following; Mishnah, Sanhedrim, x. 2. 
 
 5 Suet., Aug., 93. 
 
 6 Philo, Legatio ad Caium, § 31 ; Jos., B. J., v. v. 2, yi. ii. 4 ; Acts xxi> 28. 
 
 7 Considerable traces of this tower are still seen in the northern part of the 
 haram. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. - . -n7 v//4 . * 163 
 
 the gates to be opened and shut, and prevented any one from cross- 
 ing the enclosure with a stick in his hand, or with dusty shoes, or 
 when carrying parcels, ox to shorten his path. 1 They were espe- 
 cially scrupulous in watching that no one entered within the inner 
 gates in a state of legal impurity. The women had an entirely 
 separate court. 
 
 (^It was in the temple that Jesus passed his days, whilst he 
 remained at Jerusalem. x The period of the feasts brought an 
 extraordinary concourse of people into the city. Associated in 
 parties of ten to twenty persons, the pilgrims invaded everywhere, 
 and lived in that disordered state in which Orientals delight. 2 
 Jesus was lost in the crowd, and his poor Galileans grouped 
 around him were of small account. ( He probably felt that he was 
 in a hostile world which would receive him only with disdain. 
 Everything he saw set him against it The temple, like much- 
 frequented places of devotion in general, offered a not very edify- 
 ing spectacle. The accessories of worship entailed a number of 
 repulsive details, especially of mercantile operations, in conse- 
 quence of which real shops were established within the sacred 
 enclosure. There were sold beasts for the sacrifices ; there were 
 tables for the exchange of money; at times it seemed like a 
 bazaar. The inferior officers of the temple fulfilled their func- 
 tions doubtless with the irreligious vulgarity of the sacristans 
 of all ages. This profane and heedless air in the handling of 
 holy things wounded the religious sentiment of Jesus, which 
 was at times carried even to a scrupulous excess. 3 He said 
 that they had made the house of prayer into a den of thieves. 
 One day, it is even said, that, carried away by his anger, he 
 scourged the vendors with a " scourge of small cords," and over- 
 turned their tables. 4 In general, he had little love for the temple. 
 The worship which he had conceived for his Father had nothing 
 
 1 Mishnah, Berahoth, ix. 5; Talm. of Babyl., Jebamoth, 6b; Mark xi. 16. 
 
 2 Jos., B. J., ii. xiv. 3, vi. ix. 3. Comp. Ps. cxxxiii. (Vulg. cxxxii.) 
 8 Markxi. 16. 
 
 4 Matt. xxi. 12, and following; Mark xi. 15, and following; Luke xix. 45, and 
 following; John ii. 14, andjiollowing. 
 
164 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 in common with scenes of butchery. All these old Jewish institu- 
 tions displeased him, and he suffered in being obliged to conform 
 to them. (Except amongst the Judaising Christians, neither the 
 temple nor its site inspired pious sentiments. • The true dis- 
 ciples of the new faith held this ancient sanctuary in aversion. 
 Constantine and the first Christian emperors left the pagan 
 construction of Adrian existing there, 1 and only the enemies of 
 Christianity, such as Julian, remembered the temple. 2 When 
 Omar entered into Jerusalem, he found the site designedly polluted 
 in hatred of the Jews. 3 It was Islamism, that is to say, a sort of 
 resurrection of Judaism in its exclusively Semitic form, which 
 restored its glory. The place has always been antichristian. 
 
 The pride of the Jews completed the discontent of Jesus, 
 and rendered his stay in Jerusalem painful. In the degree that 
 the great ideas of Israel ripened, the priesthood lost its power. 
 The institution of synagogues had given to the interpreter of the 
 Law, to the doctor, a great superiority over the priest. There 
 were no priests except at Jerusalem, and even there, reduced to 
 functions entirely ritual, almost, like our parish priests, excluded 
 from preaching, they were surpassed by the orator of the syna- 
 gogue, the casuist, and the sofer or scribe, although the latter was 
 only a layman. The celebrated men of the Talmud were not 
 priests ; they were learned men according to the ideas of the time. 
 The high priesthood of Jerusalem held, it is true, a very elevated 
 rank in the nation ; but it was by no means at the head of the 
 religious movement. The sovereign pontiff, whose dignity had 
 already been degraded by Herod, 4 became more and more a Eo- 
 man functionary, 5 who was frequently removed in order to divide 
 the profits of the office. Opposed to the Pharisees, who were 
 very warm lay zealots, the priests were almost all Sadducees, that 
 is to say, members of that unbelieving aristocracy which had been 
 
 1 Itin. a Burdig. Hierus., p. 152, (edit. Schott;) S. Jerome, in Is. i. 8, and in 
 Matt. xxiv. 15. 
 
 2 Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 1. 
 
 3 Eutychius, Ann., n. 286, and following, (Oxford, 1659.) 
 
 4 Jos., Ant., xv. iii. 1, 3. 5 Ibid., xviii. ii. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 165 
 
 formed around the temple, and which lived by the altar, whilst 
 they saw the vanity of it. 1 The sacerdotal caste was separated to 
 such a degree from the national sentiment and from the great 
 religious movement which dragged the people along, that the 
 name of " Sadducee," (sadoki,) which at first simply designated a 
 member of the sacerdotal family of Sadok, had become synony- 
 mous with "Materialist" and with "Epicurean." 
 
 A still worse element had begun, since the reign of Herod the 
 Great, to corrupt the high-priesthood. Herod having fallen in 
 love with Mariamne, daughter of a certain Simon, son of Boethus 
 of Alexandria, and having wished to marry her, (about the year 
 28 B.C.,) saw no other means of ennobling his father-in-law 
 and raising him to his own rank, than by making him high- 
 priest. This intriguing family remained master, almost without 
 interruption, of the sovereign pontificate for thirty-five years. 2 
 Closely allied to the reigning family, it did not lose the office 
 until after the deposition of Archelaus, and recovered it (the year 
 42 of our era) after Herod Agrippa had for some time re-enacted 
 the work of Herod the Great. Under the name of Boethusim? 
 a new sacerdotal nobility was formed, very worldly, and little 
 devotional, and closely allied to the Sadokites. The Boethusim, 
 in the Talmud and the rabbinical writings, are depicted as a 
 kind of unbelievers, and always reproached as Sadducees. 4 From 
 
 1 Actsiv. 1, and following, v. 17; Jos., Ant, xx. ix. 1 ; PirJce Aboth, i. 10. 
 
 2 Jos., Ant., xv. ix. 3, xvn. vi. 4, xiii. 1, xvm. i. 1, ii. 1, xix. ji. 2, 
 viii. 1. 
 
 3 This name is only found in the Jewish documents. I think that the " Hero- 
 dians " of the gospel are the Boethusim. 
 
 4 The treatise of Aboth Nathan, 5; Sqferim, iii., hal. 5; Mishnah, Menachoth, x. 
 8 ; Talmud of Babylon, Shabbath, 118 a. The name of Boethusim is often changed 
 in the Talmudic books with that of the Sadducees, or with. the word Minim, 
 (heretics.) Compare Thosiphta, Joma, i., with the Talm. of Jerus., the same 
 treatise, i. 5, and Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 19 b ; Thos. SulcTca, iii. with the 
 Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 43 b ; Thos. ibid., further on, with the Talm. of Bab., 
 same treatise, 48 6; Thos. Bosh hasshana, i. with Mishnah, same treatise ii. 1 ; 
 Talm. of Jerus., same treatise, ii. 1 ; and Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 22 b ; Thos. 
 Menachoth, x. with Mishnah, same treatise, x. 3 ; Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 65 a; 
 Mishnah, Chagigah, ii. 4; and Megillath Taanith, i.; Thos. Iadalm, ii. with Talm. 
 
166 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 all this there resulted a miniature court of Rome around the temple, 
 living on politics, little inclined to excesses of zeal, even rather 
 fearing them, not wishing to hear of holy personages or of inno- 
 vators, for it profited from the established routine. These epi- 
 curean priests had not the violence of the Pharisees ; they only 
 wished for quietness ; it was their moral indifference, their cold 
 irreligion, which revolted Jesus. Although very different, the 
 priests and the Pharisees were thus confounded in his antipathies. 
 But a stranger, and without influence, he was long compelled to 
 restrain his discontent within himself, and only to communicate 
 his sentiments to the intimate friends who accompanied him. 
 
 Before his last stay, which was by far the longest of all that he 
 made at Jerusalem, and which was terminated by his death, Jesus 
 endeavoured, however, to obtain a hearing. He preached ; people 
 spoke of him ; and they conversed respecting certain deeds of his 
 which were looked upon as miraculous. v But from all that, there 
 resulted neither an established church at Jerusalem nor a group 
 of Hierosolymite disciples. ( The charming teacher, who forgave 
 every one provided they loved him, could not find much sympathy 
 in this sanctuary of vain disputes and obsolete sacrifices. jThe 
 only result was that he formed some valuable friendships, the 
 advantage of which he reaped afterwards. He does not appear 
 at that time to have made the acquaintance of the family of 
 Bethany, which, amidst the trials of the latter months of his life, 
 brought him so much consolation. ; But very early he attracted 
 the attention of a certain Nicodemus, a rich Pharisee, a member 
 of the Sanhedrim, and a man occupying a high position in Jeru- 
 salem. 1 This man, who appears to have been upright and sincere, 
 felt himself attracted towards the young Galilean. Not wishing 
 
 of Jerus. ; Baba Bathra, viii. 1 ; Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 115 b ,• and Megillath 
 Taanith, v. 
 
 1 It seems that he is referred to in the Talmud. Talm. of Bab., Taanith, 20 a; 
 Gittin, 56 a; Ketuboth, 66 b; treatise Aboth Nathan, vii. ; Midrash Rabba, ETca, 
 64 a. The passage Taanith identifies him with Bounai, who, according to San- 
 hedrim, (see ante, p. 157, note 3,) was a disciple of Jesus. But if Bounai is the 
 Banou of Josephus, this identification will not hold good. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 167 
 
 to compromise himself, he came to see Jesus by night, and had a 
 long conversation with him. 1 - He doubtless preserved a favourable 
 impression of him, for afterwards he defended Jesus against the 
 prejudices of his colleagues, 2 and, at the death of Jesus, we shall 
 find him tending with pious care the corpse of the master.3 
 Nicodemus did not become a Christian ; he had too much regard 
 for his position to take part in a revolutionary movement which 
 as yet counted no men of note amongst its adherents. But he 
 evidently felt great friendship for Jesus, and rendered him service, 
 though unable to rescue him from a death which even at this 
 period was all but decreed. 
 
 As to the celebrated doctors of the time, Jesus does not appear 
 to have had any connexion with them. Hillel and Shammai 
 were dead ; the greatest authority of the time was Gamaliel, 
 grandson of Hillel. He was of a liberal spirit, and a man of the 
 world, not opposed to secular studies, and inclined to tolerance by 
 his intercourse with good society. 4 Unlike the very strict Pharisees, 
 who walked veiled or with closed eyes, he did not scruple to gaze 
 even upon Pagan women. 5 This, as well as his knowledge of 
 Greek, was tolerated because he had access to the court. 6 After 
 the death of Jesus, he expressed very moderate views respecting 
 the new sect. 7 St Paul sat at his feet,8 but it is not probable that 
 Jesus ever entered his school. 
 
 One idea, at least, which Jesus brought from Jerusalem, and 
 which henceforth appears rooted in his mind, was that there was "> 
 no union possible between him and the ancient Jewish religion. 
 The abolition of the sacrifices which had caused him so much dis- 
 gust, the suppression of an impious and haughty priesthood, and, 
 in a general sense, the abrogation of the law, appeared to him 
 
 1 John iii. 1, and following, vii. 50. We are certainly free to believe that the 
 exact text of the conversation is but a creation of John's. 
 . 2 John vii. 50, and following. 3 John xix. 39. 
 
 4 Mishnah, Bala Metsia, v. 8 ; Talm. of Bab., Sota, 49 6. 
 
 5 Talm. of Jerus., Berakoth, ix. 2. 
 
 6 Passage Sota, before cited, and Bala Kama, 83 a. 
 
 7 Actsv. 34, and following 8 Acts xxii.3. J 
 
168 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 absolutely necessary, j From this time he appears no more as a 
 Jewish reformer, but as a destroyer of Judaism. Certain advocates 
 of the Messianic ideas had already admitted that the Messiah would 
 bring a new law, which should be common to all the earth. 1 The 
 Essenes, who were scarcely Jews, also appear to have been indif- 
 ferent to the temple and to the Mosaic observances. But these 
 were only isolated or unavowed instances of boldness. Jesus was 
 the first who dared to say that from his time, or rather from that 
 of John,2 the Law was abolished. If sometimes he used more 
 measured terms, 3 it was in order not to offend existing prejudices 
 too violently. When he was driven to extremities, he lifted the 
 veil entirely, and declared that the Law had no longer any force. 
 On this subject he used striking comparisons. " No man putteth 
 a piece of new cloth into an old garment, neither do men put 
 new wine into old bottles." 4 This was really his chief charac- 
 teristic as teacher and creator. The temple excluded all except 
 Jews from its enclosure by scornful announcements. Jesus had 
 no sympathy with this. The narrow, hard, and uncharitable Law 
 was only made for the children of Abraham. Jesus maintained 
 that every well-disposed man, every man who received and loved 
 him, was a son of Abraham .5 /The pride of blood appeared to him 
 the great enemy which was to be combated. In other words, 
 Jesus was no longer a Jew. He was in the highest degree revo- 
 lutionary ; he called all men to a worship founded solely on the 
 fact of their being children of God. He proclaimed the rights 
 of man, not the rights of the Jew ; the religion of man, not the 
 religion of the Jew ; the deliverance of man, not the deliverance 
 
 1 Orac.Sib., book iii. 573, and following, 715, and following, 756-58. Compare 
 the Targum of Jonathan, Isa. xii. 3. 
 
 2 Luke xvi. 16. The passage in Matt. xi. 12, 13, is less clear, but can have no 
 other meaning. 
 
 3 Matt. v. 17, 18, (Cf. Talm. of Bab., Shabbath, 116 b.) This passage is not in 
 contradiction with those in which the abolition of the' Law is implied. It only sig- 
 nifies that in Jesus all the types of the Old Testament are realised. Cf. Luke 
 xvi. 17. 
 
 4 Matt. ix. 16, 17; Luke v. 36, and following. 
 
 5 Luke xix. 9. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 169 
 
 of the Jew. 1 How far removed was this from a Gaulonite Judas 
 or a Matthias Margaloth, preaching revolution in the name of the 
 Law ! The religion of humanity, established, not upon blood, but 
 upon the heart, was founded. Moses was superseded, the temple 
 was rendered useless, and was irrevocably condemned. 
 
 1 Matt. xxiv. 14, xxviii. 19 ; Mark xiii. 10, xvi. 15; Luke xxiv. 47. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 INTERCOURSE OP JESUS WITH THE PAGANS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 Following out these principles, Jesus despised all religion which 
 was not of the heart. The vain practices of the devotees, 1 the 
 exterior strictness, which trusted to formality for salvation, had in 
 him a mortal enemy. He cared little for fasting. 2 He preferred 
 forgiveness to sacrifice. 3 The love of God, charity and mutual 
 ^p- forgiveness, were his whole law. 4 Nothing could be less priestly. 
 The priest, by his office > ever advocates public sacrifice, of which 
 he is the appointed minister ; he discourages private prayer, which 
 has a tendency to dispense with his office. 
 
 We should seek in vain in the Gospel for one religious rite 
 recommended by Jesus. Baptism to him was only of secondary 
 importance ; 5 \nd with respect to prayer, he prescribes nothing, 
 except that it should proceed from the heart. As is always the 
 case, many thought to substitute mere good- will for genuine 
 love of goodness, and imagined they could win the kingdom of 
 heaven by saying to him, "Rabbi, Rabbi." He rebuked them, 
 and proclaimed that his religion consisted in doing good. 6 He 
 often quoted the passage in Isaiah, which says : " This people honour 
 me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. "7 
 
 1 Matt. xv. 9. 2 Matt. ix. 14, xi. 19. 
 
 3 Matt. v. 23, and following, ix. 13, xii. 7. 
 
 4 Matt. xxii. 37, and following; Mark xii. 28, and following; Luke x. 25, and 
 following. 
 
 5 Matt. iii. 15; 1 Cor. i. 17. 6 Matt. vii. 21; Luke vi. 46. 
 7 Matt. xv. 8 ; Mark vii. 6. Cf. Isaiah xxix. 13. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. ] 71 
 
 The observance of the Sabbath was the principal point upon 
 which was raised the whole edifice of Pharisaic scruples and sub- 
 tleties. This ancient and excellent institution had become a pre- 
 text for the miserable disputes of casuists, and a source of super- 
 stitious beliefs. 1 It was believed that nature observed it; all 
 intermittent springs were accounted "Sabbatical." 2 / This was the 
 point upon which Jesus loved best to defy his adversaries. 3 He 
 openly violated the SabbatB^and only replied by subtle raillery 
 to the reproaches that were neaped upon him. He despised still 
 more a multitude of modern observances, which tradition had added 
 to the Law, and which were dearer than any other to the devotees 
 on that very account. Ablutions, and the too subtle distinctions 
 between pure and impure things, found in him a pitiless opponent : 
 TljftT-A isuapt^ing f r P m witho ut a. man/' sfliri Vm, "that PPtfiriTig 
 i nto him can defile him • hut the thing s which o.nmp. nut of hirn, 
 tjn2s^jax£_they_jthat ripfile the man*" } The Pharisees, who were the 
 propagators of these mummeries, were unceasingly denounced 
 by him. He accused them of exceeding the Law, of inventing 
 impossible precepts, in order to create occasions of sin : " Blind 
 leaders of the blind," said*he, " take care lest ye also fall into the 
 ditch/ 5 " generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak 
 good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
 speaketh." 4 
 
 He did not know the Gentiles sufficiently to think of founding 
 anything lasting upon their conversion. Galilee contained a great 
 number of pagans, but, as it appears, no public and organised wor- 
 ship of false gods. 5 Jesus could see this worship displayed in all 
 
 1 See especially the treatise Shaboath of the Mishnah and the Livre des Jvbiles, 
 (translated from the Ethiopian in the Jahrbiicher of Ewald, years 2 and 3,) chap. 1. 
 
 2 Jos., B. J., vii. v. 1; Pliny, H, N. t xxxi. 18. Cf. Thomson, The Land and 
 the Boole, i. 406, and following. 
 
 3 Matt. xii. 1-14; Mark ii. 23-28; Luke vi. 1-5, xiii. 14, and following, xiv. 1, 
 and following. 
 
 4 Matt. xii. 34, xv. 1, and following, 12, and following, xxiii. entirely; Mark vii. 
 1, and following, 15, and following; Luke vi. 45,- xi. 39, and following. 
 
 6 I believe the pagans of Galilee were found especially on the frontiers — at 
 Kedes, for example ; but that the very heart of the country, the city of Tiberias 
 
172 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 its splendour in the country of Tyre and Sidon, at Caesarea Philippi 
 and in the Decapolis, 1 but he paid little attention to it. / We never 
 find in him the wearisome pedantry of the Jews of his time, those 
 declamations against idolatry, so familiar to his co-religionists 
 from the time of Alexander, and which fill, for instance, the book 
 of " Wisdom." 2 That which struck him in the pagans was not 
 their idolatry, but their servility. 3 The young Jewish democrat 
 agreeing on this point with Judas the Gaulonite, andsadmitting 
 no master but God, was hurt at the honours with which they 
 surrounded the persons of sovereigns,\ and the frequently men- 
 dacious titles given to them. With this exception, in the greater 
 number of instances in which he comes in contact with pagans, 
 he shews great indulgence to them ; sometimes he professes to 
 conceive more hope of them than of the Jews. 4 The kingdom of 
 God would be transferred to them. " When the lord, therefore, 
 of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto these husbandmen ? 
 He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his 
 vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the 
 fruits in their seasons." 5 Jesus adhered so much the more to this 
 idea, as the conversion of the Gentiles was, according to Jewish 
 ideas, one of the surest signs of the advent of the Messiah. 6 
 In his kingdom of God he represents, as seated at a feast, by the 
 side of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, men come from the four winds 
 of heaven, whilst the lawful heirs of the kingdom are rejected. 7 
 
 excepted, was entirely Jewish. The line where the ruins of temples end, and 
 those of synagogues begin, is to-day plainly marked as far north as Lake Huleh, 
 (Samachonites.) The traces of pagan sculpture, which were thought to have been 
 found at Tell-Houm, are doubtful. The coast — the town of Acre, in particular — 
 did not form part of Galilee. 
 
 1 See ante, p. 124. 2 Chap. XIII. and following. 
 
 8 Matt. xx. 25 ; Mark x. 42 ; Luke xxii. 25. 
 
 * Matt. viii. 5, and following, xv. 22, and following; Markvii. 25, and following; 
 Luke iv. 25, and following. 
 
 8 Matt. xxi. 41 ; Mark xii. 9 ; Luke xx. 16. 
 
 6 Isa. ii. 2, and following, lx. ; Amos ix. 11, and following; Jer. iii. 17; Mai. i. 
 11 ; Tobit, xiii. 13, and following; Orac. Sibyll., iii. 715, and following. Comp. 
 Matt. xxiv. 14; Acts xv. 15, and following. 
 
 7 Matt. viii. 11, 12, xxi. 33, and following, xxii. 1, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 173 
 
 Sometimes, it is true, there seems to be an entirely contrary ten- 
 dency in the commands he gives to his disciples : he seems to 
 recommend them only to preach salvation to the orthodox Jews ;* 
 he speaks of pagans in a manner conformable to the prejudices 
 of the Jews. 2 But we must remember that the disciples, whose 
 narrow minds did not share in this supreme indifference for the 
 privileges of the sons of Abraham, may have given the instruc- 
 tion of their master the bent of their own ideas. Besides, it is 
 very possible that Jesus may have varied on this point, just as 
 Mahomet speaks of the Jews in the Koran, sometimes in the most 
 honourable manner, sometimes with extreme harshness, as he had 
 hope of winning their favour or otherwise. Tradition, in fact, 
 attributes to Jesus two entirely opposite rules of proselytism, 
 which he may have practised in turn : " He that is not against 
 us, is on our part." " He that is not with me, is against me/' 3 
 Impassioned conflict involves almost necessarily this kind of con- 
 tradictions. 
 
 It is certain that he counted among his disciples many men 
 whom the Jews called " Hellenes." 4 This word had in Palestine 
 divers meanings. Sometimes it designated the pagans ; sometimes 
 the Jews, speaking Greek, and dwelling among the pagans; 5 some- 
 times men of pagan origin converted to Judaism. 6 It was pro- 
 bably in the last-named category of Hellenes that Jesus found 
 sympathy. 7 The affiliation with Judaism had many degrees ; but 
 the proselytes always remained in a state of inferiority in regard 
 to the Jew by birth. Those in question were called " prose- 
 lytes of the gate," or " men fearing God," and were subject to the 
 precepts of Noah, and not to those of Moses. 8 This very inferiority 
 
 1 Matt. vii. 6, x. 5, 6, xv. 24, xxi. 43. 
 
 1 Matt. v. 46, and following, vi. 7, 32, xviii. 17 ; Luke vi. 32, and following, 
 xii. 30. 
 
 s Matt. xii. 30 ; Mark ix. 39; Luke ix. 50, xi. 23. 
 
 4 Josephus confirms this, (Ant., xviii. iii. 3.) Comp. John vii. 35, xii. 20, 21. 
 
 5 Talm. of Jerus., Sota, vii. 1. 
 
 6 See in particular, John vii. 35, xii. 20; Acts xiv. 1, xvii. 4, xviii. 4, xxi. 28. 
 
 7 John xii. 20 ; Acts viii. 27. 
 
 • Mishnah, Baba Metsia, ix. 12; Talm. of Bab., Sank., 56 b; Acts viii. 27, 
 
174 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 was doubtless the cause which drew them to Jesus, and gained 
 them his favour. 
 y He treated the Samaritans in the same manner. Shut in, 
 like a small island, between the two great provinces of Judaism, 
 (Judea and Galilee,) Samaria formed in Palestine a kind of en- 
 closure in which was preserved the ancient worship of Gerizim, 
 closely resembling and rivalling that of Jerusalem. This poor 
 sect, which had neither the genius nor the learned organisation of 
 Judaism, properly so called, was treated by the Hierosolymites 
 with extreme harshness. 1 They placed them in the same rank as 
 pagans, but hated them more. 2 Jesus, from a feeling of oppo- 
 sition, was well disposed towards Samaria, and often preferred 
 the Samaritans to the orthodox Jews. If, at other times, he 
 seems to forbid his disciples preaching to them, confining his 
 gospel to the Israelites proper, 3 this was no doubt a precept 
 arising from special circumstances, to which the apostles have 
 given too absolute a meaning. Sometimes, in fact, the Samaritans 
 received him badly, because they thought him imbued with the 
 prejudices of his co-religionists ; 4 — in the same manner as in our 
 days the European free-thinker is regarded as an enemy by the 
 Mussulman, who always believes him to be a fanatical Christian. 
 Jesus raised himself above these misunderstandings. 5 He had 
 many disciples at Shechem, and he passed at least two days there. 6 
 On one occasion he meets with gratitude and true piety from a 
 Samaritan only. 7 One of his most beautiful parables is that of 
 the man wounded on the way to Jericho. A priest passes by and 
 sees him, but goes on his way ; a Levite also passes, but does not 
 stop ; a Samaritan takes pity on him, approaches him, and pours 
 oil into his wounds, and bandages them. 8 / Jesus argues from this 
 
 x. 2, 22, 35, xiii. 16, 26, 43, 50, xvi. 14, xvii. 4, 17, xviii. 7; Gal. ii. 3; Jos., Ant., 
 xiv. vii. 2. 
 
 1 Ecclesiasticus 1. 27, 28 ; John viii. 48 ; Jos., Ant, IX. xiv. 3, xi. viii. 6, 
 xn. v. 5; Talm. of Jerus., Aboda zara, v. 4; Pesachim, i. 1. 
 
 2 Matt. x. 5 ; Luke xvii. 18. Comp. Talm. of Bab., Cholin, 6 a. 
 
 3 Matt. x. 5, 6. . 4 Luke ix. 53. 
 
 6 Luke ix. 56. . 6 John iv. 39-43. 
 
 7 Luke xvii. 16, and following. 8 Luke x. 30, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 175 
 
 that true brotherhood is established among men by charity, and 
 not by creeds. A The " neighbour " who in Judaism was specially 
 the co-religionist, was in his estimation the man who has pity on 
 his kind without distinction of sect. Human brotherhood in its 
 widest sense overflows in all his teaching. 
 
 These thoughts, which beset Jesus on his leaving Jerusalem, 
 found their vivid expression in an anecdote which has been pre- 
 served respecting his return. The road from Jerusalem into 
 Galilee passes at the distance of half-an-hour's journey from 
 Shechem, 1 in front of the opening of the valley commanded by 
 mounts Ebal and Gerizim. This route was in general avoided by 
 the Jewish pilgrims, who preferred making in their journeys the 
 long detour through Perea, rather than expose themselves to the 
 insults of the Samaritans, or ask anything of them. It was for- 
 bidden to eat and drink with them. ? It was an axiom of certain 
 casuists, that " a piece of Samaritan bread is the flesh of swine/' 3 
 When they followed this route, provisions were always laid up 
 beforehand; yet they rarely avoided conflict and ill-treatment. 4 
 Jesus shared neither these scruples nor these fears. Having come 
 to the point where the valley of Shechem opens on the left, he felt 
 fatigued, and stopped near a well. The Samaritans were then as 
 now accustomed to give to all the localities of their valley names 
 drawn from patriarchal reminiscences. They regarded this well" 
 as having been given by Jacob to Joseph ; it was probably the 
 same which is now called Bir-Iakoub. The disciples entered the 
 valley and went to the city to buy provisions. Jesus seated him- 
 self at the side of the well, having Gerizim before him. 
 
 It was about noon. iV woman of Shechem came to draw water. 
 Jesus asked her to let him drink, which excited great astonishment 
 in the woman, the Jews generally forbidding all intercourse with 
 the Samaritans. Won by the conversation of Jesus, the woman 
 recognised in him a prophet, and expecting some reproaches about 
 her worship, she anticipated him : — " Sir/' said she, " our fathers 
 
 1 Now Nablous. 2 Luke i*. 53 ; John iv. 9. 8 Mishnah, Shebiit, viii. 10. 
 4 Jos., Ant., xx. v. 1 ; B. J., n. xii. 3 ; Vita, 52. 
 
176 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 worshipped in this mountain, and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the 
 place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, (Woman, 
 believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this moun- 
 tain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the hour 
 cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the 
 V Father in spirit and in truth." 1 
 
 The day on which he uttered this saying, he was truly Son of 
 God. He pronounced for the first time the sentence upon which 
 will repose the edifice of eternal religion. He founded the pure 
 worship, of all ages, of all lands, that which all elevated souls will 
 practise until the end of time. Not only was his religion on this 
 day the best religion of humanity, it was the absolute religion ; 
 and if other planets have inhabitants gifted with reason and 
 morality, their religion cannot be different from that which Jesus 
 proclaimed near the well of Jacob. Man has not been able to 
 maintain this position ; for the ideal is realised but transitorily* 
 This sentence of Jesus has been a brilliant light amidst gross 
 darkness ; it has required eighteen hundred years for the eyes 
 of mankind (what do I say ! for an infinitely small portion of 
 mankind) to become accustomed to it. But the light will become 
 the full day, and, after having run through all the cycles of error, 
 mankind will return to this sentence, as the immortal expression 
 of its faith and its hope. 
 
 1 John iv. 21-23. "Verse 22, at least the latter clause of it, which expresses an 
 idea opposed to that of verses 21 and 23, appears to have been interpolated. Wo 
 must not insist too much on the historical reality of such a conversation, since 
 Jesus, or his interlocutor, alone would have been able to relate it. But the anec- 
 dote in chapter iv. of John, certainly represents one of the most intimate 
 thoughts of Jesus, and the greater part of the circumstances have a striking 
 appearance of truth. 
 
( 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF THE LEGENDS CONCERNING JESUS — HIS OWN 
 IDEA OF HIS SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER. 
 
 Jesus returned to Galilee, having completely lost his Jewish faith, 
 and filled with revolutionary ardour. His ideas are now expressed 
 with perfect clearness. The innocent aphorisms of the first part 
 of his prophetic career, in part borrowed from the Jewish rabbis 
 anterior to him, and the beautiful moral precepts of his second 
 period, are exchanged for a decided policy. The Law would be 
 abolished ; and it was to be abolished by him. 1 The Messiah had 
 come, and he was the Messiah. The kingdom of God was about 
 to be revealed; and it was he who would reveal it. He knew 
 well that he would be the victim of his boldness ; but the kingdom 
 of God could not be conquered without violence ; it was by crises ^v^ 
 and commotions that it was to be established. 2 The Son of man 
 would reappear in glory, accompanied by legions of angels, and 
 those who had rejected him would be confounded. 
 
 The boldness of such a conception ought not to surprise us. 
 Long before this, Jesus had regarded his relation to God as that of 
 a son to his father. That which in others would be an insupport- 
 able pride, ought not in him to be regarded as presumption. 
 
 1 The hesitancy of the immediate disciples of Jesus, of whom a considerable 
 portion remained attached to Judaism, might cause objections to be raised to this. 
 But the trial of Jesus leaver no room for doubt. We shall see that he was there 
 treated as a " corrupter." The Talmud gives the procedure adopted against him 
 as an example of that which ought to be followed against " corrupters," who seek 
 to overturn the Law of Moses. (Talm. of J eras., Sanhedrim, xiv. 16; Talm. of 
 Bab., Sanhechim, 43 a, 67 a.) 
 
 2 Matt. xi. 12; Luke xvi. 16. 
 
 M 
 
178 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 The title of (" Son of David " was the first which he accepted, 
 probably without being concerned in the innocent frauds by which 
 it was sought to secure it to him. The family of David had, as it 
 seems, been long extinct 3 the Asmoneans being of priestly origin, 
 could not pretend to claim such a descent for themselves ; neither 
 Herod nor the Romans dreamt for a moment that any representa- 
 tive whatever of the ancient dynasty existed in their midst. ( But 
 from the close of the Asmonean dynasty the dream of an unknown 
 descendant of the ancient kings, who should avenge the nation of 
 its enemies, filled every mind. The universal belief was, that the 
 Messiah would be son of David, and like him would be born at 
 Bethlehem. 2 The first idea of Jesus was not precisely this. The 
 remembrance of David, which was uppermost in the minds of the 
 Jews, had nothing in common with his heavenly reign. He believed 
 himself the Son of God, and not the son of David.) His kingdom, 
 and the deliverance which he meditated, were of quite another 
 order. But public opinion on this point made him do violence 
 to himself. The immediate consequence of the proposition, "Jesus 
 is the Messiah," was this other proposition, " Jesus is the son of 
 David." (He allowed a title to be given him, without which he 
 could not hope for success. \ He ended, it seems, by taking plea- 
 sure therein, for he performed most willingly the miracles which 
 were asked of him by those who used this title in addressing him. 3 
 In this, as in many other circumstances of his life, Jesus yielded to 
 the ideas which were current in his time, although they were not 
 precisely his own..\ He associated with his doctrine of the " king- 
 dom of God " all that could warm the heart and the imagination. 
 It was thus that we have seen him adopt the baptism of John, 
 although it could not have been of much importance to him. 
 
 1 It is true that certain doctors — such as Hillel, Gamaliel — are mentioned as 
 being of the race of David. But these are very doubtful allegations. If the 
 family of David still formed a distinct and prominent group, how is it that we 
 never see it figure, by the side of the Sadokites, Boethusians, the Asmoneans, 
 and Herods, in the great struggles of the time ? 
 
 2 Matt. ii.. 5, 6, xxii. 42; Luke i. 32; John vii. 41, 42; Acts ii. 30. 
 
 3 Matt. ix. 27, xii. 23, xv. 22, xx. 30, 31 ; Mark x. 47, 52 ; Luke xviii. 38. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 179 
 
 / > 
 
 One great difficulty presented itself-r-his birth at Nazareth, 
 which was of public notoriety. We do not know whether Jesus 
 strove against this objection. Perhaps it did not present itself in 
 Galilee, where the idea that the son of David should be a Beth- 
 lehemite was less spread. To the Galilean idealist, moreover, the 
 title of " son of David " was sufficiently justified, if he to whom it 
 was given revived the glory of his race, and brought back the great 
 days of Israel. Did Jesus authorise by his silence the (fictitious 
 genealogies which his partisans invented in order to prove his- 
 royal descent ? * Did he know anything of the legends invented 
 to prove that he was born at Bethlehem ; and particularly of the 
 attempt to connect his Bethlehemite origin with the census which 
 had taken place by order of the imperial legate, Quirinus ? 2 
 We know not. ( The inexactitude and the contradictions of the 
 genealogies 3 lead to the belief that they were the result of 
 popular ideas operating at various points, and that none of 
 them were sanctioned by Jesus. 4 } Never does he designate him- 
 self as son of David. His disciples, much less enlightened than 
 he, frequently magnified that which he said of himself; but, as 
 a rule, he had no knowledge of these exaggerations. , Let us 
 add, that during the first three centuries, considerable portions of 
 Christendom 5 obstinately denied the royal descent of Jesus and 
 the authenticity of the genealogies. 
 
 The legends about him were thus the fruit of a great and 
 
 1 Matt. i. 1, and following; Luke iii. 23, and following, 
 
 2 Matt. ii. 1, and following; Luke ii. 1, and following. 
 
 3 The two genealogies are quite contradictory, and do not agree with the lists 
 of the Old Testament, The narrative of Luke on the census of Quirinus implies 
 an anachronism. See ante, p. 46, note 4, It is natural to suppose, besides, that 
 the legend may have laid hold of this circumstance. The census made a great im- 
 pression on the Jews, overturned their narrow ideas, and was remembered by them 
 for a long period.. Cf. Acts v, 37. 
 
 4 Julius African us (in Eusebius, H. E. f i. 7) supposes that it was the relations 
 of Jesus who, having taken refuge in Batanea, attempted to recompose the 
 genealogies. 
 
 5 The Ebionites, the " Hebrews," the "Nazarenes," Tatian, Marcion. Cf. Epiph., 
 Adv. Hair., xxix, 9, xxx. 3, 14, xlvi. 1 ; Theodoret, Hccret. fab., i. 20 ; Isidore of 
 Pelusium, Epist. i. 371, ad Pansophium, 
 
180 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 entirely spontaneous conspiracy, and were developed around him 
 during his lifetime. No great event in history has happened with- 
 out having given rise to a cycle of fables ; and Jesus could not 
 have put a stop to these popular creations, even if he had wished 
 to do so. Perhaps a sagacious observer would have recognised 
 from this point the germ of the narratives which were to attribute 
 to him a supernatural birth, and which arose, it may be, from the 
 idea, very prevalent in antiquity, that the incomparable man could 
 not be born of the ordinary relations of the two sexes a or, it may be, 
 in order to respond to an imperfectly understood chapter of Isaiah, 1 
 which was thought to foretell that the Messiah should be born of 
 a virgin ; or, lastly, it may be in consequence of the idea that the 
 " breath of God," already regarded as a divine hypostasis, was a 
 principle of fecundity. 2 Already, perhaps, there was current more 
 than one anecdote about his infancy, conceived with the intention 
 of shewing in his biography the accomplishment of the Messianic 
 ideal; 3 or, rather, of the prophecies which the allegorical exegesis 
 of the time referred to the Messiah. At other times they con- 
 nected him from his birth with celebrated men, such as John 
 the Baptist, Herod the Great, Chaldean astrologers, who, it was 
 said, visited Jerusalem about this time, 4 and two aged persons, 
 Simeon and Anna, who had left memories of great sanctity. 5 
 A rather loose chronology characterised these combinations, which 
 for the most part were founded upon real facts travestied. 6 But 
 a singular spirit of gentleness and goodness, a profoundly popular 
 sentiment, permeated all these fables, and made them a supplement 
 to his preaching. 7 It was especially after the death of Jesus that 
 such narratives became greatly developed ; we may, however, be- 
 
 1 Matt. i. 22, 23. 
 
 2 , Gen. i. 2. For the analogous idea among the Egyptians, see Herodotus, iii. 
 28 ; Pomp. Mela, i. 9 ; Plutarch, Qucest. symp., vin. i. 3 ; Be hid. et Osir., 43. 
 
 3 Matt. i. 15, 23; Isa. vii. 14, and following. 
 
 4 Matt. ii. 1, and following. 5 Luke ii. 25, and following. 
 
 6 Thus the legend of the massacre of the Innocents probably refers to some 
 cruelty exercised by Herod near Bethlehem. Comp. Jos., Ant., xiv. ix. 4. 
 
 7 Matt, i., ii. ; Luke i., ii. ; S. Justin., Dial, cum Tryph., 78, 106 ; Protoevamj. of 
 James, (Apocr.,) 18, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS.- 181 
 
 lieve that they circulated even during his life, exciting only a pious 
 credulity and simple admiration. 
 
 That Jesus never dreamt of making himself pass for an incar- 
 nation of God, is a matter about which there can be no doubt. L- 
 Such an idea was entirely foreign to the Jewish mind; and 
 there is no trace of it in the synoptical gospels -, 1 we only find 
 it indicated in portions of the Gospel of John, which cannot be 
 accepted as expressing the thoughts of Jesus. \ Sometimes Jesus 
 even seems to take precautions to put down such a doctrine! 2 The 
 accusation that he made himself God, or the equal of God, is pre- 
 sented, even in the Gospel of John, as a calumny of the Jews. 3 ^v 
 In this last Gospel he declares himself less than his Father. 4 
 Elsewhere he avows that the Father has not revealed everything 
 to him. 5 /He believes himself to be more than an ordinary man, 
 but separated from God by an infinite distance. He is Son of \[ 
 God, but all men are, or may become so, in divers degrees. 6 \ 
 Every one ought daily to call God his father ; all who are raised 
 again will be sons of God. 7 The divine son-ship was attributed in 
 the Old Testament to beings whom it was by no means pretended 
 were equal with God. 8 The word " son" has the widest meanings in 
 the Semitic language, and in that of the New Testament. 9 Besides, 
 the idea Jesus had of man was not that low idea which a cold 
 Deism has introduced. In his poetic conception of nature, one 
 
 1 Certain passages, such as Acts ii. 22, expressly exclude this idea. 
 
 2 Matt. xix. 17 ; Mark x. 18; Luke xviii. 19. 
 
 3 John v. 18, and following, x. 33, and following. 
 
 4 John xiv. 28. 5 Mark xiii. 35. 
 
 6 Matt. v. 9, 45; Luke iii. 38, vi. 35, xx. 36; John i. 12, 13, x. 34, 35. Comp. 
 Acts xvii. 28, 29; Rom. viiL 14, 19, 21, ix. 26; 2 Cor. vi. 18; Gal. iii. 26 ; and in 
 the Old Testament, Deut. xiv. 1; and especially Wisdom, ii. 13, 18. 
 "" 7 Luke xx. 36. 
 
 8 Gen. vL 2; Job i. 6, ii. l^xxviii. 7 ; Ps. ii. 7, Ixxxii. 6; 2 Sam. vii. 14. 
 
 9 The child of the devil, (Matt. xiii. 38; Acts xiii. 10;) the children of this 
 world, (Mark iii. 17; L\ike xvi. 8, xx. 34;) the children of light, (Luke xvi. 8; 
 John xii. 36 ;) the children of the resurrection, (Luke xx. 36 ;) the children of the 
 kingdom, (Matt. viii. 12, xiii. 38;) the children of the bride-chamber, (Matt. ix. 
 15 ; Mark ii. 19 ; Luke v. 34;) the children of hell, (Matt, xxiii. 15 ;) the children 
 of peace, (Luke x. 6,) &c. Let us remember that the Jupiter of paganism is 
 Tvarrjp avdpa>v re 6ecov re. 
 
■> 
 
 182 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 breath alone penetrates the universe : the breath of man is that of 
 God ; God dwells in man, and lives by man, the same as man 
 dwells in God, and lives by God. 1 The transcendent idealism of 
 Jesus never permitted him to have a very clear notion of his own 
 personality. He is his Father, his Father is he. He lives in his 
 disciples; he is everywhere with them; 2 his disciples are one,. as 
 he and his Father are one. 3 The idea to him is everything; the 
 body, which makes the distinction of persons, is nothing. 
 
 The title " Son of God," or simply " Son/' 4 thus became for 
 Jesus a title analogous to " Son of man," and, like that synony- 
 mous with the " Messiah," with the sole difference that he called 
 himself " Son of man," and does not seem to have made the same 
 use of the phrase, " Son of God." 5 The title, Son of man, ex- 
 pressed his character as judge; that of Son of God his power 
 and his participation in the supreme designs. This power had 
 no limits. His Father had given him all power. He had the 
 power to alter even the Sabbath. 6 No one could know the Father 
 except through him.7 The Father had delegated to him ex- 
 clusively the right of judging. 8 Nature obeyed him ; but she obeys 
 also all who believe and pray, for faith can do everything. 9 We 
 must remember that no idea of the laws of nature marked the 
 limit of the impossible, either in his own mind, or in that of his 
 hearers. The witnesses of his miracles thanked God " for having 
 given such power unto men." 10 He pardoned sins ; H he was 
 superior to David, to Abraham, to Solomon, and to the prophets. 12 
 We do not know in what form, nor to what extent, these affirmations 
 
 I Comp. Acts xvii. 28. 2 Matt, xviii. 20, xxviii, 20. - 
 
 3 John x. 30, xvii. 21. See in general the later discourses of John, especially 
 chap, xvii., which express one side of the psychological state of Jesus, though we 
 cannot regard them as true historical documents. 
 
 4 The passages in support of this are too numerous to be referred to here. 
 
 5 It is only in the Gospel of John that Jesus uses the expression " Son of God," 
 or " Son," in speaking of himself. 
 
 6 Matt. xii. 8 ; Luke vi. 5. 7 Matt. xi. 27. 8 John v. 22. 
 9 Matt. xvii. 18, 19; Luke xvii. 6. 10 Matt. ix. 8. 
 
 II Matt. ix. 2, and following; Mark ii. 5, and following; Luke v. 20, vii 
 47, 48. 
 
 12 Matt. xii. 41, 42, xxii. 43, and following; John viii. 52, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. ] 83 
 
 of himself were made. Jesus ought not to be judged by the law of 
 our petty conventionalities. The admiration of his disciples over- 
 whelmed hiin, and carried him away. It is evident that the title of 
 Rabbi, with which he was at first contented, no longer sufficed him ; 
 even the title of prophet or messenger of God responded no longer 
 to v his ideas. The position which he attributed to himself was 
 that of a superhuman being, and he wished to be regarded as 
 sustaining a higher relationship to God than other men. But 
 it must be remarked that these words, "superhuman" and "super- 
 natural," borrowed from our petty theology, had no meaning 
 in the exalted religious consciousness of Jesus. To him nature 
 and the development of humanity were not limited kingdoms 
 apart from God — paltry realities subjected to the laws of a hope- 
 less empiricism. There was no supernatural for him, because 
 there was no nature. Intoxicated with infinite love, he forgot the 
 heavy chain which holds the spirit captive; he cleared at one 
 bound the abyss, impossible to most, which the weakness of the 
 human faculties has created between God and man. 
 
 We cannot mistake in these affirmations of Jesus, the germ of the 
 doctrine which was afterwards to make of him a divine hypostasis, 1 
 in identifying him with the Word, or " second God," 2 or eldest Son 
 of God, 3 or Angel Metathronos* which Jewish theology created 
 apart from him.5 A kind of necessity caused this theology, in order 
 to correct the extreme rigour of the old Monotheism, to place 
 near God an assessor, to whom the eternal Father is supposed 
 to delegate the government of the universe. The belief that 
 
 1 See especially John xiv., and following. But it is doubtful whether we have 
 here the authentic teaching of Jesus. 
 
 2 Philo cited in Eusebius, Prcep. Evang., vii. 13. 
 
 3 Philo, Be migr. Abraham, § 1 ; Quod Beus immut., § 6; Be confus. ling., § § 
 14 and 28; Be profugis, § 20; Be somniis, i. § 37; Be agric. Noe, §12; Quis 
 rerum divin. hares, § 25, and following, 48, and following, &c. 
 
 4 MerdOpovos, that is, sharing the throne of God ; a kind of divine secretary, 
 keeping the register of merits and demerits; Bereshith Rabba, v. 6 c; Talm. of 
 Bab., Sanhedr., 38 6; Chagigah, 15 a; Targum of Jonathan, Gen., v. 24. 
 
 5 This theory of the Aoyos contains no Greek elements. The comparisons which 
 have been made between it and the Honover of the Parsees are also without foun- 
 
 <^ 
 
184 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 certain men are incarnations of divine faculties or "powers," 
 was wide-spread ; the Samaritans possessed about the same time 
 a thaumaturgus named Simon, whom they identified with the 
 " great power of God." \ For nearly two centuries, the speculative 
 minds of Judaism had yielded to the tendency to personify the 
 divine attributes, and certain expressions which were connected 
 with the Divinity. Thus, the " breath of God," which is often 
 referred to in the Old Testament, is considered as a separate being, 
 the " Holy Spirit." In the same manner the " Wisdom of God " 
 and the " Word of God " became distinct personages. This was 
 the germ of the process which has engendered the Sephiroth of 
 the Cabbala, the JEons of Gnosticism, the hypostasis of Chris- 
 tianity, and all that dry mythology, consisting of personified ab- 
 stractions, to which Monotheism is obliged to resort when it wishes 
 to pluralise the Deity. 
 
 Jesus appears to have remained a stranger to these refinements 
 of theology, which were soon to fill the world with barren disputes. 
 The metaphysical theory of the Word, such as we find it in the 
 writings of his contemporary Philo, in the Chaldean Targums, 
 and even in the book of " Wisdom," 2 is neither seen in the Logia 
 ' of Matthew, nor in general in the synoptics, the most authentic in- 
 terpreters of the words of Jesus. The doctrine of the Word, in fact, 
 had nothing in common with Messianism. The " Word " of Philo, 
 and of the Targums, is in no sense the Messiah. It was John the 
 
 dation. The Minolchired or "Divine Intelligence," has much analogy with the 
 Jewish Aoyos. (See the fragments of the book entitled Minolchired in Spiegel, 
 Parsi-GrammatiJc, pp. 161, 162.) But the development which the doctrine of the 
 Minolchired has taken among the Parsees is modern, and may imply a foreign 
 influence. The "Divine Intelligence," (Maiyu-KhratH,) appears in the Zend 
 books ; but it does not there serve as basis to a theory ; it only enters into some 
 invocations. The comparisons which have been attempted between the Alex- 
 andrian theory of the Word and certain points of Egyptian theology, may not be 
 entirely without value. But nothing indicates that, in the centuries which pre- 
 ceded the Christian era, Palestinian Judaism had borrowed anything from Egypt. 
 
 1 Acts viii. 10. 
 
 2 ix. 1, 2, xvi. 12. Comp, vii. 12, viii. 5, and following, ix., and in general ix.- 
 xi. These prosopopoeia of Wisdom personified are found in much older books. 
 Prov. viii., ix. ; Job xxviii. ; Rev, xix. 13. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 185 
 
 Evangelist, or his school, who afterwards endeavoured to prove 
 that Jesus was the Word, and who created, in this sense, quite a 
 new theology, very different from that of the " kingdom of God." 1 
 The essential character of the Word was that of Creator and of 
 Providence. Now, Jesus never pretended to have created the 
 world, nor to govern it. His office was to judge it, to renovate it. 
 The position of president at the final judgment of humanity, was 
 the essential attribute which Jesus attached to himself, and the 
 character which all the first Christians attributed to him. 2 Until 
 the great day, he will sit at the right hand of God, as his Meta- 
 thronos, his first minister, and his future avenger. 3 The super- 
 human Christ of the Byzantine apsides, seated as judge of the 
 world, in the midst of the apostles in the same rank with him, and 
 superior to the angels who only assist and serve, is the exact 
 representation of that conception of the " Son of man," of which 
 we find the first features so strongly indicated in the book of 
 Daniel. 
 
 At all events, the strictness of a studied theology by no means 
 existed in such a state of society. All the ideas we have just 
 stated, formed in the mind of the disciples a theological system 
 so little settled, that the Son of God, this species of divine dupli- 
 cate, is made to act purely as man. He is tempted — he is ignorant 
 of many things — he corrects himself 4 — he is cast down, dis- 
 couraged — he asks his Father to spare him trials — he is sub- 
 missive to God as a son.5 He who is to judge the world does 
 not know the day of judgment. 6 He takes precautions for his 
 safety. 7 Soon after his birth, he is obliged to be concealed to avoid 
 
 1 John, Gospel, i. 1-14 ; 1 Epistle v. 7 ; moreover, it will be remarked, that, in 
 the Gospel of John, the expression of " the Word " does not occur except in the 
 prologue, and that the narrator never puts it into the mouth of Jesus. 
 
 2 Acts x. 42. 
 
 3 Matt. xxvi. 64; Mark xvi. 19; Luke xxii. 69; Acts vii. 55; Eom. viii. 34; 
 Ephes. i. 20; Coloss. iii. I ; Beb. i. 3, 13, viii. 3, x. 12, xii. 2; 1 Peter iii. 22. 
 See the passages previously cited on the character of the Jewish Metathronos. 
 
 4 Matt. x. 5, compared with xxviii. 19. 
 
 6 Matt. xxvi. 39; John xii. 27. 6 Markxiii. 32. 
 
 7 Matt. xii. 14-16, xiv. 13; Mark iii. 6, 7, ix. 29, 30; John vii. l,and following. 
 
186 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 powerful men who wish to kill him. 1 In exorcisms, the devil 
 cheats him, and does not come out at the first command. 2 In his 
 miracles we are sensible of painful effort — an exhaustion, as if 
 something went out of him. 3 All these are simply the acts of a 
 messenger of God, of a man protected and favoured by God. 4 
 We must not look here for either logic or sequence. The need 
 Jesus had of obtaining credence, and the enthusiasm of his dis- 
 ciples, heaped up contradictory notions. To the Messianic be- 
 lievers of the millenarian school, and to the enthusiastic readers of 
 the books of Daniel and of Enoch, he was the Son of man — to the 
 Jews holding the ordinary faith, and to the readers of Isaiah and 
 Micah, he was the Son of David — to the disciples he was the Son 
 of God, or simply the Son. Others, without being blamed by the 
 disciples, took him for John the Baptist risen from the dead, for 
 Elias, for Jeremiah, conformable to the popular belief that the 
 ancient prophets were about to reappear, in order to prepare the 
 time of the Messiah. 5 
 
 An absolute conviction, or rather the enthusiasm, which freed him 
 from even the possibility of doubt, shrouded all these boldnesses. 
 We little understand, with our cold and scrupulous natures, how any 
 one can be so entirely possessed by the idea of which he has made 
 himself the apostle. To the deeply earnest races of the West, 
 conviction means sincerity to one's self. But sincerity to one's 
 self has not much meaning to Oriental peoples, little accustomed 
 to the subtleties of a critical spirit. Honesty and imposture are 
 words which, in our rigid consciences, are opposed as two irre- 
 concilable terms. In the East, they are connected by number- 
 less subtle links and windings. The authors of the Apocryphal 
 books, (of "Daniel" and of "Enoch," for instance,) men highly 
 exalted, in order to aid their cause, committed, without a shadow 
 of scruple, an act which we should term a fraud. The literal 
 
 1 Matt. ii. 20. a Matt.'xvii. 20 ; Mark ix. 25. 
 
 3 Luke viii. 45, 46 ; John xi. 33, 38. 4 Acts ii. 22. 
 
 6 Matt. xiv. 2, xvi. 14, xvii. 3, and following ; Mark vi. 14, 15, viii. 28; Luke 
 ix. 8, and following, 19. 
 
LTFE OF JESUS. 187 
 
 truth has little value to the Oriental ; he sees everything through 
 the medium of his ideas, his interests, and his passions. 
 
 History is impossible, if we do not fully admit that there are 
 many standards of sincerity. All great things are done through the 
 people ;- now we can only lead the people by adapting ourselves to 
 its ideas. The philosopher who, knowing this, isolates and fortifies 
 himself in his integrity, is highly praiseworthy. But he who takes 
 humanity with its illusions, and seeks to act with it and upon it, 
 cannot be blamed. \ Caesar knew well that he was not the son of 
 Venus ; France would not be what it is, if it had not for a thousand 
 years believed in the Holy Ampulla of Eheims. It is easy for us, 
 who are so powerless, to call this falsehood, and, proud of our timid 
 honesty, to treat with contempt the heroes who have accepted the 
 battle of life under other conditions. When we have -effected by 
 our scruples what they accomplished by their falsehoods, we shall 
 have the right to be severe upon them. {At least, we must make 
 a marked distinction between societies like our own, where every- 
 thing takes place in the full light of reflection, and simple and 
 credulous communities, in which the beliefs that have governed 
 ages have been born. Nothing great has been established which 
 does not rest on a legend. /The only culprit in such cases is the 
 humanity which is willing to be deceived. ) 
 
 4. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MIRACLES. 
 
 Two means of proof — miracles and the accomplishment of pro- 
 phecies — could alone, in the opinion of the contemporaries of Jesus, 
 establish a supernatural mission. 1 Jesus, and especially his dis- 
 ciples, employed these two processes of demonstration in perfect 
 good faith. For a long time, Jesus had been convinced that the 
 prophets had written only in reference to him. He recognised 
 himself in their sacred * oracles; he regarded himself as the mirror 
 in w T hieh all the prophetic spirit of Israel had read the future. 
 The Christian school, perhaps even in the lifetime of its founder, 
 endeavoured to prove that Jesus responded perfectly to all that 
 the prophets had predicted of the Messiah. 1 . In many cases, 
 these comparisons were quite superficial, and are scarcely appreci- 
 able by us. They were most frequently fortuitous or insignificant 
 circumstances in the life of the master which recalled to the 
 disciples certain passages of the Psalms and the Prophets, in which, 
 in consequence of their constant preoccupation, they saw images 
 of him. 2 The exegesis of the time consisted thus almost entirely 
 in a play upon words, and in quotations made in an artificial and 
 arbitrary manner. The synagogue had no officially settled list of 
 the passages which related to the future reign. The Messianic 
 references were very liberally created, and constituted artifices of 
 style rather than serious reasoning. 
 
 1 For example, Matt. i. 22, ii. 5, 6, 15, 18, iv. 15. 
 
 2 Matt. i. 23, iv. 6, 14, xxvi. 31, 54, 56, xxvii. 9, 35; Mark xiv. 27, xv. 28; 
 John xii. 14,15, xviii. 9, xix. 19, 24, 28, 36. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 189 
 
 (As to miracles, they were regarded at this period as the indis- 
 pensable mark of the divine, and as the sign of the prophetic 
 vocation.^ The legends of Elijah and Elisha were full of them. It 
 was commonly believed that the Messiah would perform many. 1 
 In Samaria, a few leagues from where Jesus was, a magician, 
 named Simon, acquired an almost divine character by his illu- 
 sions. 2 Afterwards, when it was sought to establish the repu- 
 tation of •Apollonius of Tyana, and to prove that his life had 
 been the sojourn of a god upon the earth, it was not thought 
 possible to succeed therein except by inventing a vast cycle of 
 miracles.3 The Alexandrian philosophers themselves, Plotinus 
 and others, are reported to have performed several.* Jesus was, 
 therefore, obliged to choose between these two alternatives — either 
 to renounce his mission, or to become a thaumaturgus. It must 
 be remembered that all antiquity, with the exception of the great 
 scientific schools of Greece and their Eoman disciples, accepted 
 miracles ; and that Jesus not only believed therein, but had not 
 the least idea of an order of nature regulated by fixed laws. His 
 knowledge on this point was in no way superior to that 'of his 
 contemporaries. Nay, more, (one of his most deeply-rooted opinions 
 was, that by faith and prayer man has entire power over nature. 5 
 The faculty of performing miracles was regarded as a privilege 
 frequently conferred by God upon men,6 and it had nothing 
 surprising in it. 
 
 The lapse of time has changed that which constituted the power 
 of the great founder of Christianity into something offensive to 
 our ideas, and if ever the worship of Jesus loses its hold upon 
 mankind, it will be precisely on account of those acts which 
 originally inspired belief in him. Criticism experiences no em- 
 barrassment in presence of this kind of historical phenomenon. 
 
 1 John vii. 34 ; IV. Esdras, xiii. 50. 2 Acts viii. 9, and following. 
 
 3 See his biography by Philostratus. 
 
 4 See the Lives of the Sophists, by Eunapius; the Life of Plotinus, by 
 Porphyry; that of Proclus, by Marinus; and that of Isidorus, attributed to 
 Damascius. 
 
 6 Matt. xvii. 19, xxi. 21, 22 ; Mark xi. 23, 24. •« Matt ix. 8. 
 
^ 
 
 190 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 A thaumaturgus of our days, unless of an extreme simplicity, like 
 that manifested by certain stigmatists of Germany, is odious ; for 
 he performs miracles without believing in them ; and is a mere 
 charlatan. But, if we take a Francis d'Assissi, the question be- 
 comes altogether different ; the series of miracles attending the 
 origin of the order of St Francis, far from offending us, affords us 
 real pleasure. The founder of Christianity lived in as complete a 
 state of poetic ignorance, as did St Clair and the tres socii. The 
 disciples deemed it quite natural that their master should have 
 interviews with Moses and Elias, that he should command the ele- 
 ments, and that he should heal the sick. We must remember, 
 besides, that every idea loses something of its purity, as soon as it 
 aspires to realise itself. Success is never attained without some 
 injury being done to. the sensibility of the soul. Such is the feeble- 
 ness of the human mind that the best causes are ofttimes gained 
 only by bad arguments. The demonstrations of the primitive 
 apologists of Christianity are supported by very poor reasonings. 
 Moses, Christopher Columbus, Mahomet, have only triumphed over 
 "obstacles by constantly making allowance, for the weakness of men, 
 and by not always • giving the true reasons for the truth. It is 
 probable that the hearers of Jesus were more struck by his miracles 
 than by his eminently divine discourses. Let us add, that doubtless 
 popular rumour, both before and after the death of Jesus, exag- 
 gerated enormously the number of occurrences of this kind. The 
 types of the gospel miracles, in fact, do not present much variety ; 
 they are repetitions of each other, and seem fashioned from a very 
 small number of models, accommodated to the taste of the country. 
 It is impossible, amongst the miraculous narratives so tediously 
 enumerated in the Gospels, to distinguish the miracles attributed 
 to Jesus by public opinion from those in which he consented 
 to play an active part. It is especially impossible to ascertain 
 whether the offensive circumstances attending them, the groan- 
 ings, the stragglings, and other features savouring of jugglery,! 
 are really historical, or whether they are the fruit of the belief 
 
 1 Luke viii. 45, 46 ; John xl 33 and. 38., 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 191 
 
 of the compilers, strongly imbued with theurgy, and living, 
 in this respect, in a world analogous to that of the "spiritual- 
 ists" of our times. 1 jAlmost all the miracles which Jesus thought 
 he performed, ajypear "to have been miracles of healing. Medi- 
 cine was at this period in Judea, what it still is in the East, 
 that is to say, in no respect scientific, but absolutely surren- 
 dered to individual inspiration. Scientific medicine, founded by 
 Greece five centuries before, was at the time of Jesus unknown to 
 the Jews of Palestine. \Ln such a state of knowledge, the presence 
 of a superior man, treating the diseased with gentleness* and giving 
 him by some sensible signs the assurance of his recovery, is often 
 a decisive remedy. \ Who would dare to say that in many cases, 
 always excepting certain peculiar injuries, the touch of a superior 
 being is not equal to all the resources of pharmacy ? The mere 
 pleasure of seeing him cures. He gives only a smile, or a hope, 
 but these are not in vain. 
 
 Jesus had no more idea than his countrymen of a rational 
 medical science ; he believed, like every one else, that healing was 
 to be effected by religious practices, and such a belief was perfectly 
 consistent. From the moment that disease was regarded as the 
 punishment of sin, 2 or as the act of a demon, 3 and by no means I 
 as the result of physical causes, the best physician was the holy 
 man who had power in the supernatural world. Healing was 
 considered a moral act ; Jesus, who felt his moral power, would 
 believe himself specially gifted to heal. Convinced that the touch- 
 ing of his robe, 4 the imposition of his hands 5 did good to the sick, 
 he would have been unfeeling, if he had refused to those who 
 suffered, a solace which it was in his power to bestow. The heal- 
 ing of the sick was considered as one of the signs of the kingdom 
 
 1 Acts ii. 2, and following, iv. 31, viii. 15, and following, x. 44, and following. 
 For nearly a century, the apostles and their disciples dreamed only of miracles. 
 See the Acts, the writings of St Paul, the extracts from Papias, in Eusebius 
 Hist. Eccl., iii. 39, &c. Comp. Mark iii. 15, xvi. 17, 18, 20. 
 
 2 John v. 14, ix. 1, and following, 34. 
 
 3 Matt. ix. 32, 33, xii. 22; Luke xiii. 11, 16. 
 
 4 Luke viii. 45, 46. e Luke iv. 40. 
 
 * 
 
192 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 of God, and was always associated with the emancipation of the 
 poor. 1 Both were the signs of the great revolution which was to 
 end in the redress of all infirmities. 
 
 One of the species of cure which Jesus most frequently per- 
 formed, was exorcism, or the expulsion of demons. \ A strange 
 disposition to believe in demons pervaded all minds. It was a 
 universal opinion, not only in Judea, but in the whole world, that 
 demons seized hold of the bodies of certain persons and made 
 them act contrary to their will. A Persian div, often named in A 
 the Avesta, 2 Aeschma-daeva, the " div of concupiscence/' adopted 
 by the Jews under the name of Asmodeus, 3 became the cause of 
 all the hysterical afflictions of women. 4 Epilepsy, mental and 
 nervous maladies, 5 in which the patient seems no longer to 
 belong to himself, and infirmities, the cause of which is not 
 apparent, as deafness, dumbness, 6 were explained in the same 
 manner. The admirable treatise, " On Sacred Disease," by Hip- 
 pocrates, which set forth the true principles of medicine on this 
 subject, four centuries and a half before Jesus, had not banished 
 from the world so great an error. It was supposed that there 
 were processes more or less efficacious for driving away the demons ; 
 and the occupation of exorcist was a regular profession like that 
 of physician.? There is no doubt that Jesus had in his lifetime 
 the reputation of possessing the greatest secrets of this art. 8 
 There were at that time many lunatics in Judea, doubtless in 
 consequence of the great mental excitement. These mad persons, 
 who were permitted to go at large, as they still are in the same 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 5, xv. 30, 31 ; Luke ix. 1, 2, 6. 
 
 2 Vendidad, xi. 26; Yacna, x. 18. 
 
 3 Tbbit, hi. 8, vi. 14 ; Talm. of Bab., Gittin, 68 a. 
 
 4 Comp. Mark xvi. 9; Luke viii. 2 ; Gospel of the Infancy, 16, 33 ; Syrian Code, 
 published in the Anecdota Syriaca of M. Land, i., p. 152. 
 
 5 Jos., Bell. Jud., vii. vi. 3 ; Lucian, Philopseud., 16 ; Philostratus, Life of Apoll., 
 iii. 38, iv. 20 ; Aretus, De causis morb. chron., i. 4. 
 
 6 Matt. ix. 33, xii. 22; Mark ix. 16, 24; Luke xi. 14. 
 
 7 Tobit, viii. 2, 3; Matt. xii. 27; Mark ix. 38; Acts xix. 13; Josephus, Ant., 
 viii. ii. 5; Justin, Dial, cum Tryph., 85; Lucian, Epigr., xxiii. (xvii. Dindorf.) 
 
 8 Matt. xvii. 20 ; Mark ix. 24, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 193 
 
 districts, inhabited the abandoned sepulchral caves, which were the 
 ordinary retreat of vagrants. Jesus had great influence over these 
 unfortunates. 1 A thousand singular incidents were related in con- 
 nexion with his cures, in which the credulity of the time gave 
 itself full scope. But still these difficulties must not be exagger- 
 ated. The disorders which were explained by " possessions," were 
 often very slight. In our times, in Syria, they regard as mad or 
 possessed by a demon (these two ideas were expressed by the same 
 word, medjnounZ) people who are only somewhat eccentric. A 
 gentle word often suffices in such cases to drive away the demon. 
 Such were doubtless the means employed by Jesus. Who knows 
 if his celebrity as exorcist was not spread almost without his own 
 knowledge ? Persons who reside in the East are occasionally sur- 
 prised to find themselves, after some time, in possession of a great 
 reputation, as doctors, sorcerers, or discoverers of treasures, with- 
 out being able to account to themselves for the facts which have 
 given rise to these strange fancies. 
 
 Many circumstances, moreover, seem to indicate that Jesus only 
 became a thaumaturo-us late in life and against his inclination. 
 He often performs his miracles only after he has been besought 
 to do so, and with a degree of reluctance, reproaching those who 
 asked them for the grossness of their minds. 3 One singularity, 
 apparently inexplicable, is the care he takes to perform his 
 miracles in secret, and the request he addresses to those whom he 
 heals to tell no one. 4 When the demons wish to proclaim him 
 the Son of God, he forbids them to open their mouths ; but they 
 recognise him in spite of himself. 5 These traits are especially 
 
 1 Matt. viii. 28, ix. 34, xii. 43, and following, xvii. 14, and following, 20; Mark 
 v. 1, and following ; Luke viii. 27, and following. 
 
 2 The phrase, Dcemonium habes (Matt. xi. 1 8 ; Luke vii. 33 ; John vii. 20, viii. 
 48, and following, x. 20, and following,) should be translated by : " Thou art mad," 
 as we should say in Arabic : Medjnoun ente. The verb daijiovqv has also, in all 
 classical antiquity, the meaning of "to be mad." 
 
 8 Matt. xii. 39, xvi. 4, xvii. 16 ; Mark viii. 17, and following, ix. 18 ; Luke ix. 41. 
 
 4 Matt. viii. 4, ix. 30, 31, xii. 16, and following; Mark i. 44, vii. 24, and follow- 
 ing, viii. 26. 
 
 5 Mark i. 24, 25, 34, hi. 12 ; Luke iv. 41. 
 
 N 
 
194 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 characteristic in Mark, who is pre-eminently the evangelist of 
 miracles and exorcisms. It seems that the disciple, who has 
 furnished the fundamental teachings of this Gospel, impor- 
 tuned Jesus with his admiration of the wonderful, and that the 
 master, wearied of a reputation which weighed upon him, had 
 often said to him, " See thou say nothing to any man/' Once this 
 discordance evoked a singular outburst,! a fit of impatience, in 
 which the annoyance these perpetual demands of weak minds 
 caused Jesus, breaks forth. /One would say, at times, that the 
 character of thaumaturofus was disagreeable to him, and that he 
 sought to give as little publicity as possible to the marvels which, 
 in a manner, grew under his feet. When his enemies asked a 
 miracle of him, especially a celestial miracle, a " sign from heaven," 
 he obstinately refused. 2 We may therefore conclude that his repu- 
 tation of thaumaturgus was imposed upon him, that he did not 
 resist it much, but also that he did nothing to aid it, and 
 that, at all events, he felt the vanity of popular opinion on this 
 
 point. ) 
 
 We should neglect to recognise the first principles of history 
 if we attached too much importance to our repugnances on this 
 matter, and if, in order to avoid the objections which might 
 be raised against the character of Jesus, we attempted to suppress 
 facts which, in the eyes of his contemporaries, were considered of 
 the greatest importance. 3 It would be convenient to say that 
 these are the additions of disciples much inferior to their Master 
 who, not being able to conceive his true grandeur, have sought to 
 magnify him by illusions unworthy of him. But the four narrators 
 of the life of Jesus are unanimous in extolling his miracles ; one of 
 them, Mark, interpreter of the apostle Peter, 4 insists so much on 
 this point, that, if we trace the character of Christ only according 
 to this Gospel, we should represent him as an exorcist in possession 
 of charms of rare efficacy, as a very potent sorcerer, who inspired 
 
 1 Matt. xvii. 16; Mark ix. 18; Luke ix. 41. 
 
 2 Matt. xii. 38, and following, xvi. 1, and following ; Mark viii. 11. 
 ' Josephus, Ant., xvin. iii. 3. 4 Papias, in Eusebius, Hist. Ecd., iii. 39. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 195 
 
 fear, and whom the people wished to get rid of. 1 We will admit, 
 then, without hesitation, that acts which would now be considered 
 as acts of illusion or folly, held a large place in the life of Jesus. 
 Must we sacrifice to these uninviting features the sublimer aspect 
 of such a life ? God forbid. A mere sorcerer, after the manner 
 of Simon the magician, would not have brought about a moral 
 revolution like that effected by Jesus. If the thaumaturgus had 
 effaced in Jesus the moralist and the religious reformer, there 
 would have proceeded from him a school of theurgy, and not 
 Christianity. 
 
 The problem, moreover, presents itself in the same manner with 
 respect to all saints and religious founders. Things now considered 
 morbid, such as epilepsy and seeing of visions, were formerly 
 principles of power and greatness. Physicians can designate the 
 disease which made the fortune of Mahomet. 2 Almost in our own 
 day, the men who have done the most for their kind (the excellent 
 Vincent de Paul himself!) were, whether they wished it or not, 
 thaumaturgi. If we set out with the principle that every 
 historical personage to whom acts have been attributed, which 
 we in the nineteenth century hold to be irrational or savouring 
 of quackery, was either a madman or a charlatan, all criticism 
 is nullified. The school of Alexandria was a noble school, but, 
 nevertheless, it gave itself up to the practices of an extravagant 
 theurgy. Socrates and Pascal were not exempt from hallucina- 
 tions. Facts ought to explain themselves by proportionate causes. 
 The weaknesses of the human mind only engender weakness; 
 great things have always great causes in the nature of man, 
 although they are often developed amidst a crowd of littlenesses 
 which, to superficial minds, eclipse their grandeur. 
 
 In a general sense, it is therefore true to say that Jesus was 
 
 1 Mark iv. 40, v. 15, 17, 33, 36, vi. 50, x. 32; cf. Matt. viii. 27, 34, ix. 8, xiv. 27, 
 xvii. 6, 7, xxviii. 5, 10 ; Luke iv. 36, v. 17, viii. 25, 35, 37, ix. 34. The Apocryphal 
 Gospel, said to be by Thomas the Israelite, carries this feature to the most 
 offensive absurdity. Compare the Miracles of the Infancy, in Thilo, Cod. Apocr. 
 JV. T., p. ex., note. 
 
 3 Hysteria Muscularis of Shcenlein. 
 
196 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 only thaumaturgus and exorcist in spite of himself. Miracles are 
 ordinarily the work of the public much more than of him to whom 
 they are attributed. Jesus persistently shunned the performance of 
 the wonders which the multitude would have created for him ; the 
 greatest miracle would have been his refusal to perform any; 
 never would the laws of history and popular psychology have 
 suffered so great a derogation. The miracles of Jesus were a 
 violence done to him by his age, a concession forced from him by 
 a passing necessity. The exorcist and the thaumaturgus have 
 alike passed away ; but the religious reformer will live eternally. 
 
 Even those who did not believe in him were struck with these 
 acts, and sought to be witnesses of them." 1 The pagans, and per- 
 sons unacquainted with him, experienced a sentiment of fear, and 
 sought to remove him from their district. 2 Many thought perhaps 
 to abuse his name by connecting it with seditious movements. 3 
 But the purely moral and in no respect political tendency of the 
 character of Jesus saved him from these entanglements. His 
 kingdom was in the circle of disciples, whom a like freshness of 
 imagination and the same foretaste of heaven had grouped and 
 retained around him. 
 
 1 Matt. xiv. 1, and following; Mark vi. 14; Luke ix. 7, xxiii. 8. 
 
 3 Matt. yiii. 34; Mark v. 17, viii. 37. 3 ' John vi. 14, 15. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 DEFINITIVE FORM OF THE IDEAS OF JESUS RESPECTING THE 
 KINGDOM OF GOD. 
 
 We suppose that this last phase of the activity of Jesus continued 
 about eighteen months from the time of his return from the Pass- 
 over of the year 31, until his journey to the feast of tabernacles 
 of the year 32.1 During this time, the mind of Jesus does not 
 appear. to have been enriched by the addition of any new element > 
 but all his old ideas grew and developed with an ever-increasing 
 degree of power and boldness. 
 
 The fundamental idea of Jesus from the beginning, was the 
 establishment of the kingdom of God.- But this kingdom of God, 
 as we have already said, appears to have been understood by 
 Jesus in very different senses. At times, we should take him for 
 a democratic leader desiring only the triumph of the poor and the 
 disinherited. At other times, the kingdom of God is the literal 
 accomplishment of the apocalyptic visions of Daniel and Enoch. 
 Lastly, the kingdom of God is often a spiritual kingdom, and the 
 approaching deliverance is a deliverance of the spirit. In this 
 _£ast sense, the revolution desired by Jesus was the one which has 
 really taken place ; the establishment of a new worship, purer 
 than that of Moses. All these thoughts appear to have existed at 
 
 1 John v. 1, vii. 2. We follow the system of John, according to whom the 
 public life of Jesus lasted three years. The synoptics, on the contrary, group all 
 the facts within the space of one year. 
 
198 LIFE or JESUS. 
 
 the same time in the mind of Jesus. The first one, however — that 
 of a temporal revolution— does not appear to have impressed him 
 much ; he never regarded the earth or the riches of the earth, or 
 material power as worth caring for. He had no worldly ambition. 
 Sometimes by a natural consequence, his great religious importance 
 was in danger of being converted into mere social importance. 
 Men came requesting him to judge and arbitrate on questions 
 affecting their material interests. Jesus rejected these proposals 
 with haughtiness, treating them as insults. 1 Full of his heavenly 
 ideal, he never abandoned his disdainful poverty. As to the other 
 two conceptions of the kingdom of God, Jesus appears always to 
 have held them simultaneously. If he had been only an enthusiast, 
 led away, by the apocalypses on which the popular imagination 
 fed, he would have remained an obscure sectary, inferior to those 
 whose ideas he followed. "If he had been only a puritan, a sort of 
 Channing or " Savoyard vicar," he would undoubtedly have been 
 unsuccessful. The two parts of his system, or, rather, his two con- 
 ceptions of the kingdom of God, rest one on the other, and this 
 mutual support has been the cause of his incomparable success. 
 The first Christians were dreamers, living in a circle of ideas which 
 we should term visionary ; but, at the same time, they were the 
 heroes of that social war which has resulted in the enfranchisement 
 of the conscience, and in the establishment of a religion from 
 which the pure worship, proclaimed by the founder, will eventually 
 proceed. 
 
 •The apocalyptic ideas of Jesus, in their most complete form, 
 may thus be summed up. The existing condition of humanity is 
 approaching its termination. This termination will be an immense 
 revolution, " an anguish " isimilar to the pains of child-birth ; a 
 palingenesis, or, in the words of Jesus himself, a "new birth/' 2 
 preceded by dark calamities and heralded by strange phenomena. 3 
 
 1 Luke xii. 13, 14. 2 Matt. xix. 28. 
 
 3 Matt. xxiv. 3, and following; Mark xiii. 4, and following; Luke xvii. 22, and 
 following, xxi. 7, and following. It must be remarked that the picture of the end 
 of tiine attributed to Jesus by the synoptics, contains many features which relate 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 199 
 
 In the great day, there will appear in the heavens the sign of the 
 Son of man ; it will be a startling and luminous vision like that 
 of Sinai, a great storm rending the clouds, a fiery meteor flashing 
 rapidly from east to west. The Messiah will appear in the clouds, 
 clothed in glory and majesty, to the sound of trumpets and sur- 
 rounded by angels. His disciples will sit by his side upon thrones. 
 The dead will then arise, and the^Messiah will proceed to judgment. 1 
 At this judgment men will be divided into two classes accord 
 ing to their deeds. 2 The angels will be the executors of the sen- 
 tences. 3 The elect will enter into delightful mansions, which have 
 been prepared for them from the foundation of the world ; 4 there 
 they will be seated, clothed with light, at a feast presided over by 
 Abraham,^ the patriarchs and the prophets. They will be the 
 smaller number. 6* The rest will depart into Gehenna: Gehenna 
 was the western valley of Jerusalem. There the worship of fire 
 had been practised at various times, and the place had become a 
 kind of sewer. Gehenna was, therefore, in the mind of Jesus, a 
 gloomy, filthy valley, full of fire. Those excluded from the king- 
 dom will there be burnt and eaten by the never-dying worSi, 
 in company with Satan and his rebel angels.? ; There, there will be 
 
 to the siege of Jerusalem. Luke wrote some time after the siege, (xxi. 9, 20, 24.) 
 The compilation of Matthew, on the contrary (xxvi. 15, 16, 22, 29,) carries us back 
 exactly to this precise period, or very shortly afterwards. There is no doubt, how- 
 ever, that Jesus predicted that great terrors would precede his reappearance. These 
 terrors were an integral part of all the Jewish 'apocalypses. Enoch, xcix., c, cii., 
 ciii., (division of Dillman;) Carm. sibyll., iii. 334, and following, 633, and follow- 
 ing, iv. 168, and following, v. 511, and following. According to Daniel also, the 
 reign of the saints will only come after the desolation shall have reached its 
 height. Chap. vii. 25, and following, viii. 23, and following, ix. 26, 27, xii. 1. 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 27, xix. 28, xx. 21, xxiv. 30, and following, xxv. 31, and following, 
 xxvi. 64 ; Mark xiv. 62 ; Luke xxii. 30 ; 1 Cor. xv. 52 ; 1 Thess. iv. 15, and 
 following. 
 
 2 Matt. xiii. 38, and following, xxv. 33. 3 Matt. xiii. 39, 41, 49. 
 
 4 Matt. xxv. 34. Comp. John xiv. 2. 
 
 5 Matt. viii. 11, xiii. 43, xxvi. 29 ; Luke xiii. 28, xvi. 22, xxii. 30. 
 
 6 Luke xiii. 23, and following. 
 
 7 Matt. xxv. 41. The idea of the fall of the angels, detailed in the Book of 
 Enoch, was universally admitted in the circle of Jesus. Epistle of Jude 6, and 
 following; 2d Epistle attributed to Saint Peter, ii. 4, 11 ; Revelation xii. 9; 
 Gospel of John viii. 44. 
 
 << 
 
200 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 wailing and gnashing of teeth. 1 The kingdom of heaven will be. 
 as a closed room, lighted from within, in the midst of a world of 
 darkness and torments. 2 
 
 This new order of things will be eternal. Paradise and Gehenna 
 will have no end. An impassable abyss separates the one from 
 the other. 3 The Son of man, seated on the right hand of God, 
 will preside over this final condition of the world and of 
 humanity. 4 
 
 That all this was taken literally by the disciples and by the 
 master himself at certain moments, appears clearly evident from 
 the writings of the time. If the first Christian generation had 
 one profound and constant belief, it was that the world was near 
 its end, 5 an <i that the great "revelation" 6 of Christ was about to 
 take place. The startling proclamation, ""The time is at hand" 7 
 which commences and closes the Apocalypse ; the incessantly 
 reiterated appeal, "He that hath ears to hear let him hear !" 8 were 
 the cries of hope and encouragement for the whole apostolic age. 
 A Syrian expression, Maran atha, "Our Lord cometh !" 9 became 
 a sort of password, which the believers used amongst themselves 
 to strengthen their faith and their hope. The Apocalypse, written 
 in the year 68 of our era, 10 declares that the end will come in three 
 
 1 Matt. v. 22, viii. 12, x. 28, xiii. 40, 42, 50, xviii. 8, xxiv. 51, xxv. 30 ; 
 Mark ix. 43, &c. 
 
 2 . Matt. viii. 12, xxii. 13, xxv. 30. Comp. Jos., B. J., in. viii. 5. 
 
 a Luke xvi. 28. 4 Mark iii. 29 ; Luke xxii. 69 ; Acts vii. 55. 
 
 5 Acts ii. 17, iii. 19, and following; 1 Cor. xv. 23, 24,52; 1 Thess. iii. 13, iv. 
 14, and following, v. 23; 2 Thess. ii. 8; 1 Tim. vi. 14; 2 Tim. iv. 1; Tit. ii. 
 13 ; Epistle of James v. 3, 8 ; Epistle of Jude 18 ; 2d Epistle of Peter, iii. entirely; 
 Revelation entirely, and in particular, i. 1, ii. 5, 16, iii. 11, xi. 14, xxii. 6, 7, 12, 
 20. Comp. 4th Book of Esdras, iv. 26. 
 
 6 Luke xvii. 30; 1 Cor. i. 7, 8; 2 Thess. i. 7; 1 Peter i. 7, 13; Revelations 
 i. 1. 
 
 7 Revelations i. 3, xxii. 10. 
 
 8 Matt. xi. 15, xiii. 9, 43; Mark iv. 9, 23, vii. 16 ; Luke viii. 8, xiv. 35; Revela- 
 tions ii. 7, 11, 27, 29, iii. 6, 13, 22, xiii. 9. 
 
 9 1 Cor. xvi. 22. 
 
 10 Revelations xvii. 9, and following. The sixth emperor, whom the author repre- 
 sents as reigning is Galba. The dead emperor, who was to return, is Nero, whose 
 name is given in figures, (xiii. 18.) 
 
201 
 
 years and a half. 1 The "Ascension of Isaiah," 2 adopts a calcula- 
 tion very similar to this. 
 
 Jesus never indulged in such precise details. When he was 
 interrogated as to the time of his advent, he always refused to 
 reply ; once even he declared that the date of this great day was 
 known only by the Father, who had revealed it neither to the 
 angels nor to the Son. 3 He said that the time when the kingdom 
 of God was most anxiously expected, was just that in which it 
 would not appear. 4 He constantly repeated that it would be a 
 surprise, as in the times of Noah and of Lot ; that we must be 
 on our guard, always ready to depart ; that each one must watch 
 and keep his lamp trimmed as for a wedding procession, which 
 arrives unforeseen ; 5 that the Son of man would come like a 
 thief, at an hour when he would not be expected ; 6 that he would 
 appear as a flash of lightning, running from one end of the heavens 
 to the other. 7 But his declarations on the nearness of the catas- 
 trophe leave no room for any equivocation. 8 u This generation," 
 said he, " shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. There be 
 some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see 
 the Son of man coming in his kingdom." 9 He reproaches those 
 who do not believe in him, for not being able to read the signs 
 of the future kingdom. " When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair 
 weather ; for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul 
 weather to-day ; for the sky is red and lowering. ye hypocrites, 
 ye can discern the face of the sky ; but can ye not discern the 
 signs of the times?" 10 / By an illusion common to all great reformers, 
 
 1 Revelation xi. 2, 3, xii. 14. Comp. Daniel vii. 25, xii. 7. 
 
 2 Chap, iv., v. 12 and 14. Comp. Cedrenus, p. 68, (Paris, 1647.) 
 8 Matt. xxiv. 36 ; Mark xiii. 32. 
 
 4 Luke xvii. 20. Comp. Talmud of Babyl. Sanhedrim, 97 a. 
 
 5 Matt. xxiv. 36, and following ; Mark xiii. 32, and following ; Luke xii. 35, and 
 following, xvii. 20, and following. 
 
 6 Luke xii. 40 ; 2 Peter iii. 10. 7 Luke xvii. 24. 
 
 8 Matt. x. 23, xxiv., xxv. entirely, and especially xxiv. 29, 34; Mark xiii. 30; 
 Luke xiii. 35, xxi. 28, and following. 
 
 9 Matt. xvi. 28, xxiii. 36, 39, xxiv. 34 ; Mark viii. 39 ; Luke ix. 27, xxi. 32. 
 
 10 Matt. xvi. 2-4 : Luke xii. 54-56. 
 
202 - LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 Jesus imagined the end to be much nearer than it really was ; 
 he did not take into account the slowness of the movements of 
 humanity ; he thought to realise in one day that which, eighteen 
 centuries later, has still to be accomplished. 
 
 These formal declarations preoccupied the Christian family for 
 nearly seventy years. It was believed that some of the disciples 
 would see the day of the final revelation before dying. John, in 
 particular, was considered as being of this number ; l many be- 
 lieved that he would never die. Perhaps this was a later opinion 
 suggested towards the end of the first century, by the advanced 
 age which John seems to have reached ; this age having given rise 
 to the belief that God wished to prolong his life indefinitely until 
 the great day, in order to realise the words of Jesus. However 
 this may be, at his death the faith of many was shaken, and his 
 disciples attached to the prediction of Christ a more subdued 
 meaning. 2 
 
 At the same time that Jesus fully admitted the Apocalyptic 
 beliefs, such as we find them in the apocryphal Jewish books, he 
 admitted the doctrine, which is the complement, or rather the 
 condition of them all, namely, (the resurrection of the dead. \ This 
 doctrine, as we have already said, 3 was still somewhat new in 
 Israel; a number of people either did not know it, or did not 
 believe it. 4 It was the faith of the Pharisees, and of the fervent 
 adherents of the Messianic beliefs. 5 Jesus accepted it unre- 
 servedly, but always in the most idealistic sense. Many imagined 
 that in the resuscitated world they would eat> drink, and marry. 
 Jesus, indeed, admits into his kingdom a new passover, a table, 
 and a new wine; 6 but he expressly excludes marriage from it. 
 
 1 John xxi. 22, 23. 
 
 2 John xxi. 22, 23. Chapter xxi. of the fourth Gospel is an addition, as is 
 proved by the final clause of the primitive compilation, which concludes at verse 
 31 of chapter xx. But the addition is almost contemporaneous with the publication 
 of the Gospel itself. 
 
 3 See ante, p. 68. 4 Mark ix. 9 ; Luke xx. 27, and following. 
 
 6 Dan. xii. 2, and following; 2 Mace. vii. entirely, xii. 45, 46, xiv. 46; Acts 
 xxiii. 6, 8; Jos., Ant, xviii. i. 3; B. /., n. viii. 14, in. viii. 5. 
 • Matt. xxvi. 29; Luke xxii. 30. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 203 
 
 The Sadducees had on this subject an apparently coarse argument, 
 but one which was really in conformity with the old theology. It 
 will be remembered that according to the ancient sages, man sur- 
 vived only in his children. The Mosaic code had consecrated this 
 patriarchal theory by a strange institution, the levirate law. 
 The Sadducees drew from thence subtle deductions against the 
 resurrection. / Jesus escaped them by formally declaring that in the 
 life eternal there would no longer exist differences of sex, and that 
 men would be like the angels. 1 Sometimes he seems to promise 
 resurrection only to the righteous, 2 the punishment of the wicked 
 consisting in complete annihilation. 3 Oftener, however, Jesus 
 declares that the resurrection shall bring eternal confusion to the 
 wicked.4 \ 
 
 It will be seen that nothing in all these theories was absolutely 
 new. The Gospels and the writings of the apostles scarcely con- 
 tain anything as regards apocalyptic doctrines but what might 
 be found already in " Daniel," 5 "Enoch," 6 and the "Sibylline 
 Oracles," 7 of Jewish origin. Jesus accepted the ideas, which 
 were generally received among his contemporaries. He made 
 them his basis of action, or rather one of his bases \ for he had too 
 profound an idea of his true work to establish it solely upon such 
 fragile principles,— principles so liable to be decisively refuted by 
 facts. 
 
 { It is evident, indeed, that such a doctrine, taken by itself in a 
 literal manner, had no future. The world, in continuing to exist, 
 caused it to crumble. One generation of man at the most was the 
 limit of its endurance. The faith of the first Christian generation 
 is intelligible, but the faith of the second generation is no longer 
 
 1 Matt. xxii. 24, and following ; Luke xx. 34-38 ; Ebionite Gospel, entitled, " Of 
 the Egyptians," in Clem, of Alex., Strom, ii. 9, 13; Clem. Rom., Epist. ii. 12. 
 
 2 Luke xiv. 14, xx. 35, 36. This is also the opinion of St Paul : 1 Cor. xv. 23, 
 and following; 1 Thess. iv. 12, and following. See ante, p. 69. 
 
 3 Comp. 4th book of Esdras, ix. 22. 4 Matt. xxv. 32, and following. 
 6 See especially chaps, ii., vi.-viii., x.-xiii. 
 
 6 Chaps, i., xlv., lii., lxii., xciii. 9, and following. 
 
 7 Book iii. 573, and following; 652, and following; 766, and following; 795, 
 and following. 
 
204 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 so. After the death of John, or of the last survivor, whoever he 
 might be, of the group which had seen the master, the word of 
 
 , Jesus was convicted of falsehood. 1 If the doctrine of Jesus had 
 
 yK been simply belief in an approaching end of the world, it would 
 
 certainly now be sleeping in oblivion.) What is it, then, which has 
 
 » saved it ? The great breadth of the Gospel conceptions, which 
 has permitted doctrines suited to very different intellectual con- 
 ditions to be found under the same creed. The world has not 
 ended, as" Jesus announced, and as his disciples believed. But it 
 has been renewed, and in one sense renewed as Jesus desired. It 
 is because his thought was two-sided that it has been fruitful. 
 His chimera has not had the fate of so many others which have 
 crossed the human mind, because it concealed a germ of life which 
 having been introduced, thanks to a covering of fable, into the 
 bosom of humanity, has thus brought forth eternal fruits. 
 
 And let us not say that this is a benevolent interpretation, 
 imagined in order to clear the honour of our great master from 
 the cruel contradiction inflicted on his dreams by reality. No, 
 no ; this true kingdom of God, this kingdom of the spirit, which 
 makes each one king and priest ; this kingdom which, like the 
 grain of mustard-seed, has become a tree which overshadows the 
 world, and amidst whose branches the birds have their nests, 
 was understood, wished for, and founded by Jesus. By the side of 
 
 as the false, cold, and impossible idea of an ostentatious advent, he 
 
 / | conceived the real city of God, the true "palingenesis," the 
 Sermon on the Mount, the apotheosis of the weak, the love of the 
 people, regard for the poor, and the re-establishment of all that is 
 humble, true, and simple. This re-establishment he has depicted 
 as an incomparable artist, by features which will last eternally. 
 Each of us owes that which is best in himself to him. Let us 
 pardon him his hope of a vain apocalypse, and of a second coining 
 in great triumph upon the clouds of heaven. Perhaps these were 
 the errors of others rather than his own ; and if it be true that he 
 
 1 These pangs of Christian conscience are rendered with simplicity in the second 
 epistle attributed to St Peter, iii. 8, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 205 
 
 himself shared the general illusion, what matters it, since his dream 
 rendered him strong against death, and sustained him in a struggle, 
 to which he might otherwise have been unequal ? 
 
 We must, then, attach several meanings to the divine city con- 
 ceived by Jesus. If his only thought had been that the end of 
 time was near, and that we must prepare for it, he would not 
 have surpassed John the Baptist. To renounce a world ready to 
 crumble, to detach one's self little by little from the present life 
 and to aspire to the kingdom about to come, would have 
 formed the gist of his preaching. The teaching of Jesus had 
 always a much larger scope. ( He proposed to himself to create a 
 new state of humanity, and not merely to prepare the end of that 
 which was in existence. Elias or Jeremiah, reappearing in order 
 to prepare men for the supreme crisis, would not have preached 
 as he did. This is so true, that this morality, attributed to the 
 latter days, is found to be the eternal morality, that which has 
 saved humanity. Jesus himself in many cases makes use of modes 
 of speech which do not accord with the apocalyptic theory. /He 
 often declares that the kingdom of God has already commenced ; 
 that every man bears it within himself ; and can, if he be worthy, 
 partake of it ; that each one silently creates this kingdom by the 
 true conversion of the heart. 1 The kingdom of God at such times 
 is only the highest form of good. 2 A better order of things than 
 that which exists, the reign of justice, which the faithful, according 
 to their ability, ought to help in establishing; or, again, the 
 liberty of the soul, something analogous to the Buddhist " deliver- 
 ance/' the fruit of the soul's separation from matter and absorption 
 in the divine essence. These truths, which are purely abstract to us, 
 were living realities to Jesus. Everything in his mind was concrete 
 and substantial. Jesus, of all men, believed most thoroughly in 
 the reality of the ideal. / 
 
 In accepting the Utopias of his time and his race, Jesus thus 
 was able to make high truths of them, thanks to the fruitful mis- 
 
 1 Matt. vi. 10, 33; Mark xii. 34; Luke xi. 2, xii. 31, xvii. 20, 21, and following. 
 8 See especially Mark xii. 34. 
 
: v 
 
 * 
 
 206 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 conceptions of their import. His kingdom of God was no doubt 
 the approaching apocalypse, which was about to be unfolded in the 
 heavens. But it was still, and probably above all the kingdom of- 
 the soul, founded on liberty and on the filial sentiment which the 
 virtuous man feels when resting on the bosom of his Father. It 
 \ was a pure religion, without forms, without temple, and without 
 priest ; it was the moral judgment of the world, delegated to the 
 conscience of the just man, and to the arm of the people. This is 
 what was destined to live ; this is what has lived. When, at the 
 end of a century of vain expectation, the materialistic hope of a 
 near end of the world was exhausted, the true kingdom of God 
 became apparent, i Accommodating explanations threw a veil over 
 the material kingdom, which was then seen to be incapable of 
 realisation. The Apocalypse of John, the chief canonical book of 
 the New Testament, 1 being too formally tied to the idea of an im- 
 mediate catastrophe, became of secondary importance, was held to 
 be unintelligible, tortured in a thousand ways and almost rejected. 
 At least, its accomplishment was adjourned to an indefinite future. 
 Some poor benighted ones who, in a fully enlightened age, still 
 preserved the hopes of the first disciples, became heretics, (Ebionites, 
 Millenarians) lost in the shallows of Christianity. Mankind had ■ 
 passed to another kingdom of God. The degree of truth con- 
 tained in the thought of Jesus had prevailed over the chimera 
 which obscured it. 
 
 Let us not, however, despise this chimera, which has been the 
 thick rind of the sacred fruit on which we live. This fantastic 
 kingdom of heaven, this endless pursuit after a city of God, which 
 has constantly preoccupied Christianity during its long career, has 
 been the principle of that great instinct of futurity which has 
 animated all reformers, persistent believers in the Apocalypse, from 
 Joachim of Flora, down to the Protestant sectary of our days. This 
 impotent effort to establish a perfect society, has been the source 
 of the extraordinary tension which has always made the true 
 Christian an athlete struggling against the existing order of things. 
 
 1 Justin, Dial, cum Tryph. } 81. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 207 
 
 The idea of the " kingdom of God," and the Apocalypse, which is 
 the complete image of it, are thus, in a sense, the highest and most 
 poetic expressions of human progress. But they have necessarily 
 given rise to great errors. The end of the world, suspended as a 
 perpetual menace over mankind, was, by the periodical panics 
 .which it caused during centuries, a great hindrance to all secular 
 development. Society being no longer certain of its existence, con- 
 tracted therefrom a degree of trepidation, and those habits of servile 
 humility, which rendered the Middle Ages so inferior to ancient 
 arid modern times. 1 A profound change had also taken place in 
 the mode of regarding the coming of Christ. When it was first 
 announced to mankind that the end of the world was about to 
 come, like the infant which receives death with a smile, it expe- 
 rienced the greatest access of joy that it has ever felt. But in grow- 
 ing old, the world became attached to life. The day of grace, so long 
 expected by the simple souls of Galilee, became to these iron ages 
 a day of wrath : Dies irce, dies ilia ! But, even in the midst of 
 barbarism, the idea of the kingdom of God continued fruitful. In 
 spite of the feudal church, of sects, and of religious orders, holy 
 persons continued to protest, in the name of the Gospel, against 
 the iniquity of the world. Even in our days, troubled days, in 
 which Jesus has no more authentic followers than those who seem 
 to deny him, the dreams of an ideal organisation of society, which 
 have so much analogy with the aspirations of the primitive Chris- 
 tian sects, are only in one sense the blossoming of the same idea. 
 They are one of the branches of that immense tree in which ger- 
 minates all thought of a future, and of which the " kingdom of 
 God'' will be eternally the root and stem./ All the social revolu- 
 tions of humanity will be grafted on this phrase. But, tainted by 
 a coarse materialism, and aspiring to the impossible, that is to say, 
 to found universal happiness upon political and economical mea- 
 sures, the " socialist " attempts of our time will remain unfruitful, 
 
 1 See, for example, the prologue of Gregory of Tours to his Histoire Ecclesias- 
 tique des Francs, and the numerous documents of the first half of the Middle Ages, 
 beginning by the formula, " On the approach of the night of the world " 
 
208 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 until they take as their rule the true spirit of Jesus, I mean absolute 
 idealism — the principle that, in order to possess the world, we must 
 renounce iC\ 
 
 The phra4e, "kingdom of God," expresses also, very happily^ 
 the want which the soul experiences of a supplementary destiny, of 
 a compensation for the present life. Those who do not accept the 
 definition of man as a compound of two substances, and who regard 
 the Deistical dogma of the immortality of the soul as in contra- 
 diction with physiology, love to fall back upon the hope of a final 
 reparation, which under an unknown form shall satisfy the wants 
 of the heart of man. Who knows if the highest term of progress 
 after millions of ages may not evoke the absolute conscience of the 
 universe, and in this conscience the awakening of all that has 
 lived ? A sleep of a million of years is not longer than the sleep 
 of an hour. St Paul, on this hypothesis, was right in saying, 
 In ictu oculi ! 1 It is certain that moral and virtuous humanity 
 will have its reward, that one day the ideas of the poor but honest 
 man will judge the world, and that on that day the ideal figure of 
 Jesus will be the confusion of the frivolous who have not believed 
 in virtue, and of the selfish who have not been able to attain to it. 
 The favourite phrase of Jesus continues, therefore, full of an eter- 
 nal beauty. A kind of exalted divination seems to have main- 
 tained it in a vague sublimity, embracing at the same time various 
 orders of truths. 
 
 1 1 Cor. xv. 52. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 INSTITUTIONS OF JESUS. 
 
 That Jesus was never entirely absorbed in his apocalyptic ideas 
 is proved moreover by the fact that at the very time he was most 
 preoccupied with them, he laid with rare forethought the foun- 
 dation of a church destined to endure. It is scarcely possible to 
 doubt that he himself chose from among his disciples those who 
 were pre-eminently called the " apostles," or the " twelve/' since on 
 ' the day after his death we find them forming a distinct body, and 
 filling up by election the vacancies that had arisen in their midst. 1 
 They were the two sons of Jonas ; the two sons of Zebedee ; James, 
 son of Cleophas ; Philip ; Nathaniel bar-Tolmai ; Thomas ; Levi, 
 or Matthew, the son of Alphseus ; Simon Zelotes ; Thaddeus or 
 Lebbseus ; and Judas of Kerioth.2 It is probable that the idea of 
 the twelve tribes of Israel had had some share in the choice of this 
 number. 3 
 
 The " twelve/' at all events, formed a group of privileged disciples, 
 among whom Peter maintained a fraternal priority, 4 and to them 
 Jesus confided the propagation of his work. There was nothing, 
 however, which presented the appearance of a regularly organised 
 sacerdotal school. The lists of the "twelve," which have been 
 preserved, contain many uncertainties and contradictions ; two or 
 
 1 Acts i. 15, and following; 1 Cor. xv. 5; Gal. i. 10. 
 
 a Matt. x. 2, and following; Mark iii. 16, and following; Luke vi. 14, and fol^ 
 lowing; Acts L 13; Papia3, in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iii. 39. 
 
 3 Matt. xix. 28 ; Luke xxii. 30. 
 
 4 Acts i. 15, ii. 14, v. 2, 3, 29, viii. 19, xv. 7 ; Gal. i. 18. 
 
 
 
210 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 three of those who figure in them have remained completely- 
 obscure. Two, at least, Peter and Philip, 1 were married and had 
 children. 
 
 Jesus evidently confided secrets to the twelve, which he forbade 
 them to communicate to the world. 2 It seems as if his plan at 
 times was to surround himself with a degree of mystery, to post- 
 pone the most important testimony respecting himself till after his 
 death, and to reveal himself completely only to his disciples, con- 
 fiding to them the care of demonstrating him afterwards to the 
 world. 3 " What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light ; 
 and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops." 
 This spared him the necessity of too precise declarations, and created 
 a kind of medium between the public and himself. ) It is clear 
 that there were certain teachings confined to the aposues, and that 
 he explained many parables to them, the meaning of which was 
 ambiguous to the multitude. 4 An enigmatical form and a degree 
 of oddness in connecting ideas, were customary in the teachings of 
 the doctors, as may be seen in the sentences of the Pirk£ Aboth. 
 Jesus explained to his intimate friends whatever was peculiar in 
 his apothegms or in his apologues, and shewed them his meaning 
 stripped of the wealth of illustration which sometimes obscured 
 it. 5 Many of these explanations appear to have been carefully 
 preserved. 6 
 
 / During the lifetime of Jesus, the apostles preached,? but without 
 ever departing far from him. Their preaching, moreover, was 
 limited to the announcement of the speedy coming of the kingdom 
 of God. 8 They went from town to town, receiving hospitality, or 
 
 1 For Peter, see ante, p. 126; for Philip, see Papias, Polycrates, and Clement of 
 Alexandria, quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iii. 30, 31, 39, v. 24. 
 
 2 Matt. xvi. 20, xvii. 9 ; Mark viii. 30, ix. 8. 
 
 3 Matt. x. 26, 27; Mark iv. 21, and following; Luke viii. 17, xii. 2, and follow- 
 ing ; John xiv. 22. 
 
 4 Matt. xiii. 10, and following, 34 and following; Mark iv. 10, and following, 
 33, and following; Luke viii. 9, and following, xii. 41. 
 
 5 Matt. xvi. 6, and following; Mark vii. 17-23. 
 
 6 Matt. xiii. 18, and following; Mark vii. 18, and following. 
 
 7 Luke ix. 6. 8 Luke x. 1 1. 
 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 21 1 
 
 rather taking it themselves, according to the custom of the country. 
 The guest in the East has much authority ; he is superior to the 
 master of the house, who has the greatest confidence in him. This 
 fireside preaching is admirably adapted to the propagation of new 
 doctrines. The hidden treasure is communicated, and payment is 
 thus made for what is received ; politeness and good feeling lend 
 their aid ; the household is touched and converted. ( Remove 
 Oriental hospitality, and it would be impossible to explain the 
 propagation of Christianity. \ Jesus, who adhered greatly to good 
 old customs, encouraged his disciples to make no scruple of pro- 
 fiting by this ancient public right, probably already abolished in 
 the great towns where there were hostelries. 1 " The labourer/' 
 said he, "is worthy of his hire!" Once installed in any house, 
 they were to remain there, eating and drinking what was offered 
 them, as long as their mission lasted. 
 
 Jesus desired that, in imitation of his example, the messengers 
 of the glad tidings should render their preaching agreeable by 
 kindly and polished manners. He directed that, on entering into a 
 house, they should give the salaam or greeting. Some hesitated ; 
 the salaam being then, as now, in the East, a sign of religious com- 
 munion, which is not risked with persons of a doubtful faith. 
 u Fear nothing," said Jesus ; '" if no one in the house is worthy of 
 your salute, it will return unto you." 2 Sometimes, in fact, the 
 apostles of the kingdom of God were badly received, and came to 
 complain to Jesus, who generally sought to soothe them. Some of 
 them, persuaded of the omnipotence of their master, were hurt at 
 this forbearance. The sons of Zebedee wanted him to call down 
 fire from heaven upon the inhospitable towns. 3 Jesus received 
 these outbursts with a subtle irony, and stopped them by saying : — • 
 " The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save 
 them." 
 
 1 The Greek word navdoKelov, in all the languages of the Semitic East, desig- 
 nates an hostelry". 
 
 2 Matt. x. 11, and following; Mark vi. 10, and following; Luke x. 5, and fol- 
 lowing. Comp. 2 Epistle of John 10, 11. 
 
 3 Luke ix. 52, and following. 
 
 * 
 
 S 
 
212 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 He sought in every way to establish as a principle that his 
 apostles were as himself. 1 It was believed that he had communi-- 
 cated his marvellous virtues to them. They cast out demons, 
 prophesied, and formed a school of renowned exorcists,2 although 
 certain cases were beyond their power. 3 They also wrought cures, 
 either by the imposition of hands, or by the anointing with oil, 4 
 one of the fundamental processes of Oriental medicine. Lastly, 
 like the Psylli, they could handle serpents and could drink deadly 
 potions with impunity.5 The further we get from Jesus — the 
 more offensive does this theurgy become. But there is no doubt 
 that it was generally received by the primitive Church, and 
 that it held an important place in the estimation of the world 
 around. 6 Charlatans, as generally happens, took advantage of this 
 movement of popular credulity. Even in the lifetime of Jesus, 
 many, without being his disciples, cast out demons in his name. 
 The true disciples were much displeased at this, and sought to 
 prevent them. Jesus, who saw that this was really an homage 
 paid to his renown, was not very severe towards them. 7 It must 
 be observed, moreover, that the exercise of these gifts had to some 
 degree become a trade. Carrying the logic of absurdity to the 
 extreme, certain men cast out demons by Beelzebub, 8 the prince of 
 demons. They imagined that this sovereign of the infernal 
 regions must have entire authority over his subordinates, and that 
 in acting through him they were certain to make the intruding 
 spirit depart. 9 Some even sought to buy from the disciples of 
 Jesus the secret of the miraculous powers which had been con- 
 ferred upon them. 10 The germ of a church from this time began 
 to appear. This fertile idea of the power of men in association 
 (ecclesia) was doubtless derived from Jesus. Full of the purely 
 
 1 Matt. x. 40, 42, xxv. 35, and following ; Mark ix. 40 ; Luke x. 16 ; John xiii. 
 20. 
 
 3 Matt. vii. 22, x. I ; Mark iii. 15, vi. 13; Luke x. 17. 3 Matt. xvii. 18, 19. 
 
 4 Mark vi. 13, xvi. 18 ; Epist. Jas. v. 14. 6 Mark xvi. 18 ; Luke x. 19. 
 
 6 Mark xvi. 20. 7 Mark ix. 37, 38 ; Luke ix. 49, 50. 
 
 8 An ancient god of the Philistines, transformed by the Jews into a demon. 
 
 9 Matt. xii. 24, and following. 10 Acts. viii. 18, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 213 
 
 idealistic doctrine that it is the union of love which brings souls 
 together, he declared that whenever men assembled in his name, 
 ,he would be in their midst. He confided to the Church the right 
 to bind and to unbind, (that is to say, to render certain things 
 lawful or unlawful), to remit sins, to reprimand, to warn with 
 authority, and to pray with the certainty of being heard favour- 
 ably. 1 It is possible that many of these words may have been^ 
 attributed to the master, in order to give a warrant to the collective 
 authority which was afterwards sought to be substituted for that 
 of Jesus. At all events, it was only after his death that particular 
 churches were established, and even this first constitution was 
 made purely and simply on the model of the synagogue. Many 
 personages who had loved Jesus much, and had founded great 
 hopes upon him, as Joseph of Arimathea, Lazarus, Mary Magdalen, 
 and Nicodemus, did not, it seems, join these churches, but clung to 
 the tender or respectful memory which they had preserved of him. 
 Moreover, there is no trace, in the teaching of Jesus, of an 
 applied morality or of a canonical law, ever so slightly defined. 
 Once only, respecting marriage, he spoke decidedly, and forbade 
 divorce. 2 Neither was there any theology or creed. There were 
 indefinite views respecting the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, 3 
 from which, afterwards, were drawn the Trinity and the Incarna- 
 tion, but they were then only in a state of indeterminate imagery. 
 The later books of the Jewish canon recognised the Holy Spirit, 
 a sort of divine hypostasis, sometimes identified with Wisdom or 
 the Word. 4 Jesus insisted upon this point, 5 and announced to 
 his disciples a baptism by fire and by the spirit, 6 as much prefer- 
 able to that of John, a baptism which they believed they had 
 received, after the death of Jesus, in the form of a great wind and 
 
 1 Matt, xviii. 17, and following; John xx. 23. 
 3 Matt. xix. 3, and following. 
 
 3 Matt, xxviii. 19. Comp. Matt. iii. 16, 17; John xv. 26. 
 
 4 Sap. i. 7, vii. 7, ix. 17, xii. 1 ; Eccle. i. 9, xv. 5, xxiv. 27, xxxix. 8 ; Judith 
 xvi. 17. 
 
 5 Matt. x. 20 ; Luke xii. 12, xxiv. 49; John xiv. 26, xv. 26. 
 
 6 Matt. iii. 11 ; Mark i. 8 ; Luke iii. 16 ^ John i. 26, iii. 5 ; Acts i. 5, 8, x. 47. 
 
 **' A CKA^V 
 
214 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 tongues of fire. 1 The Holy Spirit thus sent by the Father was to 
 teach them all truth, and testify to that which Jesus himself had 
 promulgated. 2 In order to designate this Spirit, Jesus made use of 
 the word Peraklit, which the Syro-Chaldaic had borrowed from 
 the Greek, (7rapdfc\r)To<;,) and which appears to have had in his 
 mind the meaning of "advocate/' 3 "counsellor," 4 and sometimes 
 that of " interpreter of celestial truths," and of " teacher charged 
 to reveal to men the hitherto hidden mysteries." 5 He regarded 
 himself as a. Peraklit to his disciples, 6 and the Spirit which was to 
 come after his death would only take his place. This was an appli- 
 cation of the process which the Jewish and Christian theologies 
 would follow during centuries, and which was to produce a whole 
 series of divine assessors, the Metathronos, the Synadelphe or 
 Sandalphon, and all the personifications of the Cabbala. But in 
 Judaism, these creations were to remain free and individual 
 speculations, whilst in Christianity, commencing with the fourth 
 century, they were to form the very essence of orthodoxy and of 
 the universal doctrine. 
 
 ( It is unnecessary to remark how remote from the thought of Jesus 
 was the idea of a religious book, containing a code and articles of 
 faith. Not only did he not write, but it was contrary to the spirit 
 of the infant sect to produce sacred books. They believed them- 
 selves on the eve of the great final catastrophe. The Messiah came 
 to put the seal upon the Law and the Prophets, not to promul- 
 gate new Scriptures. With the exception of the Apocalypse, 
 which was in one sense the only revealed book of the infant Chris- 
 tianity, all the other writings of the apostolic age were works 
 evoked by existing circumstances, making no pretensions to fur- 
 nish a completely dogmatic whole. The Gospels had at first an 
 entirely personal character, and much less authority than tradition.? 
 
 1 Acts ii. 1-4, xi. 15, xix. 6. Cf. John vii. 39. 2 John xv. 26, xvi. 13. 
 
 3 To Peraklit was opposed Katigor, (Karrj-yopos,) the "accuser." 
 
 4 John xiv. 16 ; 1st Epistle of John ii. 1. 
 
 B John xiv. 26, xv. 26, xvi. 7, and following. Comp. Philo, De Mundi opificio, § 6. 
 
 6 John xiv. 16. Comp. the epistle before cited, I. c, 
 
 7 Papias, in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iii. 39. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 215 
 
 Had the sect, however, no sacrament, no rite, no sign of union ? 
 It had one which all tradition ascribes to Jesus. One of the 
 favourite ideas of the master was that he was the new bread, bread 
 very superior to manna, and on which mankind was to live. 
 This idea, the germ of the Eucharist, was at times expressed by 
 him in singularly concrete forms. On one occasion especially, in 
 the synagogue of Capernaum, he took a decided step, which cost 
 him several of his disciples. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 Moses gave you not that bread from heaven ; but my Father giveth 
 you the true bread from heaven." i And he added, " I am the 
 bread of life : he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and 
 he that believeth on me shall never thirst." 2 These words excited 
 much murmuring. " The Jews then murmured at him because he 
 said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they 
 said, Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother 
 we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?" 
 But Jesus insisting with still more force, said, " I am that bread of 
 life ; your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. 
 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man 
 may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came 
 down from heaven ; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for 
 ever : and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give 
 for the life of the world." 3 The offence was now at its height : 
 "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus going still 
 further, said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the 
 flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in 
 you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal 
 life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat 
 indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh 
 and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the 
 
 1 John vi. 32, and following. 
 
 2 We find an analogous form of expression provoking a similar misunderstand- 
 ing, in John iv. 10, and following. 
 
 3 All these discourses bear too strongly the imprint of the style peculiar to 
 John, for them to be regarded as exact. The anecdote related in chapter vi. of 
 the fourth Gospel cannot, however, be entirely stripped of historical reality. 
 
216 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father : so he that 
 eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which 
 came down from heaven : not as your fathers did eat manna, and 
 are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." 
 Several of his disciples were offended at such obstinacy^in paradox, 
 and ceased to follow him. Jesus did not retract ; he only added : 
 "It is the spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing. 
 The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are 
 life." The twelve remained faithful, notwithstanding this strange 
 preaching. It gave to Cephas, in particular, an opportunity of 
 shewing his absolute devotion, and of proclaiming once more, 
 " Thou art that .Christ, the Son of the living God." 
 
 It is probable that from that time, in the common repasts of 
 the sect, there was established some custom which was derived 
 from the discourse so badly received by the men of Capernaum. 
 But the apostolic traditions on this subject are very diverse and 
 probably intentionally incomplete. The synoptical gospels sup- 
 pose that a unique sacramental act, served as basis to the mys- 
 terious rite, and declare this to have been "the last supper." 
 John, who has preserved the incident at the synagogue of Caper- 
 naum, does not speak of such an act, although he describes the 
 last supper at great length. Elsewhere we see Jesus recognised 
 in the breaking of bread, 1 as if this act had been to those who 
 associated with him the most characteristic of his person. When 
 he was dead, the form under which he appeared to the pious 
 memory of his disciples, was that of president of a mysterious 
 banquet, taking the bread, blessing it, breaking and presenting it 
 to those present. 2 It is probable that this was one of his habits, 
 and that at such times he was particularly loving and tender. 
 One material circumstance, the presence of fish upon the table, 
 (a striking indication, which proves that the rite had its birth 
 on the shore of Lake Tiberias, 3 ) was itself almost sacramental, 
 
 1 Luke xxiv. 30, 35. 3 Luke I. c. ; John xxi. 13. 
 
 3 Comp. Matt. vii. 10, xiv. 17, and following, xv. 34, and following; Mark vi. 
 38, and following; Luke ix. 13, and following, xi. 11, xxiv. 42; John vi. 9, and 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 217 
 
 and became a necessary part of the conceptions of the sacred 
 feast. 1 
 
 Their repasts were amongst the sweetest moments of the 
 infant community. At these times they all assembled ; the master 
 spoke to each one, and kept up a charming and lively conversation. 
 Jesus loved these seasons, and was pleased to see his spiritual 
 family thus grouped around him. 2 The participation of the same 
 bread was considered as a kind of communion, a reciprocal bond. 
 The master used, in this respect, extremely strong terms, which 
 were afterwards taken in a very literal sense. Jesus was, at the 
 same time, very idealistic in his conceptions, and very materialistic 
 in his expression of them. , Wishing to express the thought that 
 the believer only lives by him, that altogether (body, blood, and 
 soul) he was the life of the truly faithful, he said to his disciples, 
 " I am your nourishment/' — a phrase which, turned in figurative 
 style, became, " My flesh is your bread, my blood your drink." 
 Added to this the modes of speech employed by Jesus, always 
 strongly subjective, carried him still further. At table, pointing 
 to the food, he said, " I am here " — holding the bread — u this is 
 my body ; " and of the wine, * This is my blood," — all modes of 
 speech which were equivalent to, " I am your nourishment." 
 
 This mysterious rite obtained great importance in the lifetime 
 of Jesus. It was probably established some time before the last 
 journey to Jerusalem, and it was the result of a general doctrine 
 much more than a determinate act. After the death of Jesus, it 
 became the great symbol of Christian communion, 3 and it is to 
 the most solemn moment of the life of the Saviour that its estab- 
 lishment is referred. It was wished to see, in the consecration of 
 
 following, xxi. 9, and following. The district round Lake Tiberias is the only- 
 place in Palestine where fish forms a considerable portion of the diet. 
 
 1 John xxi. 13 ; Luke xxiv. 42, 43. Compare the oldest representations of the 
 Lord's Supper, related or corrected by M. de Rossi, in his dissertation on the 
 IX6Y2, (Spicilegium Solesmense de dom Pitra, v. iii., p. 568, and following.) The 
 meaning of the anagram which the word 1X0Y2 contains, was probably com- 
 bined with a more ancient tradition on the place of fish in the Gospel repasts. 
 
 8 Luke xxii. 15. 3 Acts ii. 42, 46. 
 
218 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 bread and wine, a farewell memorial which Jesus, at the moment 
 of quitting life, had left to his disciples. 1 They recognised Jesus 
 himself in this sacrament. The wholly spiritual idea of the pre- 
 sence of souls, which was one of the most familiar to the Master, 
 which made him say, for instance, that he was personally with his 
 disciples 2 when they were assembled in his name, rendered this 
 easily admissible. Jesus, we have already said,3 never had a very 
 denned notion of that which constitutes individuality. In the 
 degree of exaltation to which he had attained, the ideal surpassed 
 every thing to such an extent that the body counted for nothing. 
 We are one when we love one another,, when we live in depen- 
 dence on each other ; it was thus that he and his disciples were 
 one. 4 His disciples adopted the same language. Those who for 
 years had lived with him, had seen him constantly take the bread 
 and the cup "between his holy and venerable hands," 5 and thus 
 offer himself to them. It was he whom they ate and drank ; he 
 became the true passover, the former one having been abrogated 
 by his blood. It is impossible to translate into our essentially 
 determined idiom, in which a rigorous distinction between the 
 material and the metaphorical must always be observed, habits of 
 style the essential character of which is to attribute to metaphor, 
 or rather to the idea it represents, a complete reality. 
 
 1 1 Cor. xi. 20, and following. 2 Matt, xviii. 20. 
 
 3 See ante, p. 182. 4 John xii., entirely. 
 
 5 Canon of the Greek Masses and the Latin Mass, (very ancient.) 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 INCREASING PROGRESSION OF ENTHUSIASM AND OF EXALTATION. 
 
 It is clear that such a religious society, founded solely on the 
 expectation of the kingdom of God, must be in itself very incom- 
 plete. ( The first Christian . generation lived almost entirely upon 
 expectations and dreams. On the eve of seeing the world come to an 
 end, they regarded as useless everything which only served to pro- 
 long it. Possession of property was interdicted. 1 Everything 
 which attaches man to earth, everything which draws him aside 
 from heaven, was to be avoided. Although several of the disciples 
 were married, there was to be no more marriage, on becoming a 
 member of the sect. 2 The celibate was greatly preferred ; even in / 
 marriage continence was recommended. 3 ] At one time the master 
 seems to approve of those who should mutilate themselves in 
 prospect of the kingdom of God. 4 In this he was consistent with 
 his principle, — " If thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, 
 and cast them from thee ; it is better for thee to enter into life 
 halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be 
 cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it 
 out, and cast it from thee ; it is better for thee to enter into life 
 with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell- 
 
 1 Luke xiv. 33; Acts iv. 32, and following, v. 1-11. 
 
 2 Matt. xix. 10, and following; Luke xviii. 29, and following. 
 
 3 This is the constant doctrine of Paul. Comp. Rev, xiv. 4. 
 
 4 Matt. xix. 12. 
 
220 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 fire." * The cessation of generation was often considered as the 
 sign and condition of the kingdom of God. 2 
 
 Never, we perceive, would this primitive Church have formed a 
 lasting society but for the great variety of germs deposited by Jesus 
 in his teaching. It required more than a century for the true 
 Christian Church — that which has converted the world — to dis- 
 engage itself from this little sect of "latter-day saints," and to 
 become a framework applicable to the whole of human society. 
 The same thing, indeed, took place in Buddhism, which at first 
 was founded only for monks. The same thing would have hap- 
 pened in the order of St Francis, if that order had succeeded in 
 its pretension of becoming the rule of the whole of human society. 
 Essentially Utopian in their origin, and succeeding by their very 
 exaggeration, the great systems of which we have just spoken have 
 only laid hold of the world by being profoundly modified, and by 
 abandoning their excesses. Jesus did not advance beyond this 
 first and entirely monachal period, in which it was believed that the 
 impossible could be attempted with impunity. He made no con- 
 cession to necessity. ) He boldly preached war against nature, and 
 total severance from ties of blood. " Verily I say unto you/' said 
 he, " there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or 
 wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not 
 receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to 
 come life everlasting." 3 
 
 The teachings which Jesus is reputed to have given to his dis- 
 ciples breathe the same exaltation. 4 He who was so tolerant to 
 the world outside, he who contented himself sometimes with 
 half adhesions, 5 exercised towards his own an extreme rigour. He 
 would have no " all buts." We should call it an " order/' consti- 
 
 1 Matt, xviii. 8, 9. Cf. Talmud of Babylon, Niddah, 13 b. 
 
 2 Matt. xxii. 30 ; Mark xii. 25 ; Luke xx. 35 ; Ebionite Gospel, entitled, " Of 
 the Egyptians," in Clem, of Alex., Strom, iii. 9, 13, and Clem. Horn., Epist. ii. 12. 
 
 3 Luke xviii. 29, 30. 
 
 4 Matt, x., entirely, xxiv. 9; Mark vi. 8, and following, ix. 40, xiii. 9-13; Luke 
 x. 3, and following, x. 1, and following, xii. 4, and following, xxi. 17; John xv. 
 18, and following, xvii. 14. 
 
 * Mark ix. 38, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 221 
 
 tuted by the most austere rules. Faithful to his idea that the 
 cares of life trouble man, and draw him downwards, Jesus required 
 from his associates a complete detachment from the earth, an abso- 
 lute devotion to his work. They were not to carry with them 
 either money or provisions for the way, not even a scrip, or change 
 of raiment. They must practise absolute poverty, live on alms 
 and hospitality. " Freely ye have received, freely give/' 1 said he, 
 in his beautiful language. Arrested and arraigned before the 
 judges, they were not to prepare their defence ; the Peraklit, the 
 heavenly advocate, would inspire them with what they ought to 
 say. The Father would send them his Spirit from on high, which 
 would become the principle of all their acts, the director of their 
 thoughts, and their guide through the world. 2 If driven from any 
 town, they were to shake the dust from their shoes, declaring 
 always the proximity of the kingdom of God, that none might 
 plead ignorance. " Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel," 
 added he, " till the Son of man be come/' 
 
 A strange ardour animates all these discourses, which may in 
 part be the creation of the enthusiasm of his disciples, 3 but which 
 even in that case came indirectly from Jesus, for it was he who 
 had inspired the enthusiasm. He predicted for his followers 
 severe persecutions, and the hatred of mankind. He sent them forth 
 as lambs in the midst of wolves. They would be scourged in the 
 synagogues, and dragged to prison. Brother should deliver up 
 brother to death, and the father his son. When they were per- 
 secuted in one country, they were to flee to another. "The 
 disciple," said he, " is not above his master, nor the servant above 
 his lord. v Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able 
 to kill the soul. \ Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? 
 and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father. 
 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not 
 
 1 Matt. x. 8. Comrx Midrash Ialkout, DeuL, sect. 824. 
 8 Matt. x. 20 ; John xiv. 16, and following, 26, xv. 26, xvi. 7, 13. 
 3 The expressions in Matt. x. 38, xvi. 24 ; Mark viii. 34 ; Luke xiv. 27, can only- 
 have been conceived after the death of Jesus. 
 
222 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." 1 " Who- 
 soever, therefore," continued he, " shall confess me before men, 
 him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 
 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny 
 before my Father which is in heaven." 2 
 
 y x In these fits of severity he went so far as to abolish all natural ties. 
 His requirements had no longer any bounds. Despising the healthy 
 limits of man's nature, he demanded that he should exist only for 
 him, that he should love him alone. " If any man come to me," 
 said he, " and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and chil- 
 dren, and brethren, and sisters, and his own life also, he cannot 
 be my disciple." 3 " So likewise, whosoever he be of you that for- 
 saketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." 4 There 
 was, at such times, something strange and more than human in 
 his words ; they were like a fire utterly consuming life, and 
 reducing everything to a frightful wilderness." The harsh and 
 gloomy feeling of distaste for the world, and of excessive self-abne- 
 gation which characterises Christian perfection, was originated, 
 not by the refined and cheerful moralist of earlier days, but by the 
 sombre giant whom a kind of grand presentiment was withdraw- 
 ing, more and more, out of the pale of humanity. We should 
 almost say that, in these moments of conflict with the most 
 legitimate cravings of the heart, Jesus had forgotten the pleasure 
 of living, of loving, of seeing, and of feeling. S Employing still 
 more unmeasured language, he even said, " If any man will come 
 after me, let him deny himself and follow me. He that loveth 
 father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; and he 
 that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 
 He that findeth his life, shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for 
 my sake and the gospel's, shall find it. What is a man profited 
 if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" 5 Two 
 
 1 Matt. x. 24-31 ; Luke xii. 4-7. 
 
 2 Matt. x. 32, 33 ; Mark viii. 38 ; Luke ix. 26, xii. 8, 9. 
 
 3 Luke xiv. 26. We must here take into account the exaggeration of Luke's 
 style. 4 Luke xiv. 33. 
 
 5 Matt. x. 37-39, xvi. 24, 25; Luke ix. 23-25, xiv. 26, 27, xvii. 33; John xii. 25. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 223 
 
 anecdotes of the kind we cannot accept as historical, but which, 
 although they were exaggerations, were intended to represent a 
 characteristic feature, clearly illustrate this defiance of nature. 
 He said to one man, "Follow me !" — "But he said, Lord, suffer 
 me first to go and bury my father." Jesus answered, " Let the 
 dead bury their dead : but go thou and preach the kingdom of 
 God." Another said to him, " Lord, I will follow thee ; but let 
 me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house." 
 Jesus replied, " No man, having put his hand to the plough, and 
 looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 1 An extraordinary 
 confidence, and at times accents of singular sweetness, reversing all 
 our ideas of him, caused these exaggerations to be easily received. 
 "Come unto me," cried he, "all ye that labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and 
 s learn of me : for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall 
 find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is 
 light/' 2 
 
 (A great danger threatened the future of this exalted morality, 
 thus expressed in hyperbolical language and with a terrible energy. 
 By detaching man from earth, the ties of life were severed. The 
 Christian would be praised for being a bad son, or a bad patriot, 
 if it was for Christ that he resisted his father and fought against his yta^+o** 
 country. The ancient city, the parent republic, the state, or the 
 law common to all, were thus placed in hostility with the kingdom 
 of God. A fatal germ of theocracy was introduced into the 
 world.) 
 
 From this point, another consequence may be perceived. This 
 morality, created for a temporary crisis, when introduced into a 
 peaceful country, and in the midst of a society assured of its own 
 duration, must seem impossible. The Gospel was thus destined to 
 become a Utopia for Christians, which few would care to realise. 
 These terrible maxims would, for the greater number, remain in 
 profound oblivion, an oblivion encouraged by the clergy itself ; the 
 Gospel man would prove a dangerous man. The most selfish, 
 
 1 Matt. viii. 21, 22; Luke ix. 59-62. 2 Matt. xi. 28-30. 
 
224 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 proud, hard, and worldly of all human beings, a Louis XIV. for 
 instance, would find priests to persuade him, in spite of the Gos- 
 pel, that he was a Christian. But, on the other hand, there would 
 always be found holy men who would take the sublime paradoxes 
 of Jesus literally. Perfection being placed beyond the ordi- 
 nary conditions of society, and . a complete Gospel life being 
 only possible away from the world, the principle of asceticism 
 and of monasticism was established. Christian societies would 
 have two moral rules ; the one moderately heroic for common 
 men, the other exalted in the extreme for the perfect man ; and 
 the perfect man would be the monk, subjected to rules which pro- 
 fessed to realise the gospel ideal. It is certain that this ideal, if 
 only on account of the celibacy and poverty it imposed, could not 
 become the common law. The monk would be thus, in one sense, 
 the only true Christian. Common sense revolts at these excesses ; 
 and if we are guided by it, to demand the impossible, is a mark 
 of weakness and error. But common sense is a bad judge where 
 great matters are in question. To obtain little from humanity, we 
 must ask much. The immense moral progress which we owe to 
 the Gospel is the result of its exaggerations. It is thus that it has 
 been, like stoicism, but with infinitely greater fulness, a living 
 argument for the divine powers in man, an exalted monument of 
 the potency of the will. 
 
 We may easily imagine that to Jesus, at this period of his life, 
 everything which was not the kingdom of God had absolutely dis- 
 appeared. He was, if we may say so, totally outside nature : 
 family, friendship, country, had no longer any meaning for him. 
 No doubt, from this moment he had already sacrificed his life. 
 Sometimes, we are tempted to believe, that, seeing in his own 
 death a means of founding his kingdom, he deliberately determined 
 to allow himself to be killed. 1 At other times, although such a 
 thought only afterwards became a doctrine, death presented itself to 
 him as a sacrifice, destined to appease his Father and to save man- 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 21-23, xvii. 12, 21, 22. 
 
LIFE OP JESUS. 225 
 
 kind. 1 A singular taste for persecution and torments 2 possessed 
 him. His blood appeared to him as the water of a second bap- 
 tism with which he ought to be baptized, and he seemed possessed 
 by a strange haste to anticipate this baptism, which alone could 
 quench his thirst. 3 
 
 The grandeur of his views upon the future was at times sur- 
 prising. He did not conceal from himself the terrible storm 
 he was about to cause in the world. "Think not," said he, 
 with much boldness and beauty, " that I am come to send peace on 
 earth : I came not to send peace, but a sword. There shall be 
 five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 
 I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the 
 daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her 
 mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own house- 
 hold." 4 "I am come to send fire on the earth ; and what will I, 
 if it be already kindled ? " 5 " They shall put you out of the syna- 
 gogues," he continued ; " yea, the time cometh, that whosoever kill- 
 eth you, will think that he doeth God service." 6 " If the world hate 
 you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. Remember 
 the word that I said unto you : The servant is not greater than 
 his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute 
 
 you." 7 
 
 ( Carried away by this fearful progression of enthusiasm, and 
 governed by the necessities of a preaching becoming daily more ex- 
 alted, Jesus was no longer free ; he belonged to his mission, and, 
 in one sense, to mankind. Sometimes one would have said that his 
 reason was disturbed. He suffered great mental anguish and agita- 
 tion. 8 The great vision of the kingdom of God, glistening before 
 his eyes, bewildered him. His disciples at times thought him 
 mad. 9 His enemies declared him to be possessed. 10 His exces- 
 
 1 Mark x. 45. 2 Luke vi. 22, and following. 
 
 3 Luke xii. 50. 
 
 4 Matt. x. 34-36 ; Luke xii. 51-53. Compare Micah vii. 5, 6. 
 
 6 Luke xii. 49. See the Greek text. 6 John xvi, 2. 
 
 7 John xv. 18-20. 8 John xii. 27. 
 
 9 Mark iii. 21, and following. 
 
 10 Mark iii. 22 ; John vii. 20, viii. 48, and following, x. 20, and following. 
 
 P 
 
226 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 sively impassioned temperament carried him incessantly beyond the 
 bounds of human nature. He laughed at all human systems, and 
 his work not being a work of the reason, that which he most im- 
 tL periously required was " faith." l ) This was the word most fre- 
 quently repeated in the little guest-chamber. It is the watchword 
 of all popular movements. ( It is clear that none of these move- 
 ments would take place, if it were necessary that their author 
 should gain his disciples one by one by force of logic. Eeflection 
 leads only to doubt. ; If the authors of the French Revolution, for 
 instance, had had to be previously convinced by lengthened medi- 
 tations, they would all have become old without accomplishing 
 anything ; Jesus, in like manner, aimed less at convincing his 
 hearers than at exciting their enthusiasm. Urgent and imperative, 
 he suffered no opposition : men must be converted, nothing less 
 would satisfy him. His natural gentleness seemed to have aban- 
 doned him ; he was sometimes harsh and capricious. 2 His dis- 
 ciples at times did not understand him, and experienced in his 
 presence a feeling akin to fear. 3 Sometimes his displeasure at 
 the slightest opposition led him to commit inexplicable and ap- 
 parently absurd acts. 4 ) 
 
 It was not that his virtue deteriorated ; but his struggle for the 
 ideal against the reality became insupportable. m Contact with the 
 world pained and revolted him. ,' Obstacles irritated him. His 
 idea of the Son of God became disturbed and exaggerated. The 
 fatal law which condemns an idea to decay as soon as it seeks to 
 convert men, applied to him. Contact with men degraded 
 him to their level. The tone he had adopted could not be sustained 
 more than a few months ; it was time that death came to liberate 
 him from an endurance strained to the utmost, to remove him 
 from the impossibilities of an interminable path, and by delivering 
 him from a trial in danger of being too prolonged, introduce him 
 henceforth sinless into celestial peace. J 
 
 1 Matt. viiL 10, ix. 2, 22, 28, 29, xvii. 19 ; John vi. 29, &c. 
 
 2 Matt. xvii. 16 ; Mark iii. 5, ix. 18 ; Luke viii. 45, ix. 41. 
 
 3 It is in Mark especially that this feature is visible : iv. 40, v> 15, ix. 31, x. 32. 
 * Mark xi. 12-14, 20, and following. 
 
CHAPTEK XX. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO JESUS. 
 
 Duping the first period of his career, it does not appear that Jesus 
 met with any serious opposition.) His preaching, thanks to the 
 extreme liberty which was enjoyed in Galilee, and to the number 
 of teachers who arose on all hands, made no noise beyond a 
 restricted circle. -But when Jesus entered upon a path brilliant 
 with wonders and public successes, the storm began to gather. 
 More than once he was obliged to conceal himself and fly. 1 Anti- 
 pas, however, did, not interfere with him, although Jesus expressed 
 himself sometimes very severely respecting him.2 At Tiberias, 
 his usual residence, the Tetrarch was only one or two leagues dis- 
 tant from the district chosen by Jesus for the centre of his 
 activity ; he heard speak of his miracles, which he doubtless took 
 to be clever tricks, and desired to see them. 3 The incredulous 
 were at that time very curious about this class of illusions. 4 With 
 his ordinary tact, Jesus refused to gratify him. ( He took care not 
 to prejudice his position by mingling with an irreligious world, 
 which wished to draw from him an idle amusement ; }he aspired 
 only to gain the people ; he reserved for the simple, means suitable 
 to them alone. 
 
 On one occasion, the report - was spread that Jesus was no other 
 than John the Baptist risen from the dead. Antipas became anxious 
 
 1 Matt. xii. 14-16 ; Mark iii. 7, ix. 29, 30. 2 Mark viii, 15 ; Luke xiii. 32. 
 3 Luke ix. 9, xxiii. 8. 4 Lucius ; attributed to Lucian, 4. 
 
228 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 and uneasy ; 1 and employed artifice to rid his dominions of the 
 new prophet. Certain Pharisees, under the pretence of regard for 
 Jesus, came to tell him that Antipas was seeking to kill him.. 
 Jesus, notwithstanding his great simplicity, saw the snare, and 
 did not depart. 2 His peaceful manners, and his remoteness from 
 popular agitation, ultimately reassured the Tetrarch and dissipated 
 the danger. 
 
 The new doctrine was by no means received with equal favour 
 in all the towns of Galilee. Not only did incredulous Nazareth 
 continue to reject him who was to become her glory ; not only did 
 his brothers persist in not believing in him, 3 but the cities of the 
 lake themselves, in general well-disposed, were not all converted. 
 Jesus often complained of the incredulity and hardness of heart 
 which he encountered, \,nd although it is natural that in such 
 reproaches we make allowance for the exaggeration of the preacher, 
 although we are sensible of that kind of convicium seculi which 
 Jesus affected in imitation of John the Baptist, 4 it is clear that 
 the country was far from yielding itself entirely a second time to 
 the kingdom of God. " Woe unto thee, Ohorazin ! woe unto thee, 
 Bethsaida ! " cried he ; ° for if the mighty works, which were done 
 in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have re- 
 pented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It 
 shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment 
 than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto 
 heaven, shalt be brought down to hell ; for if the mighty works, 
 which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would 
 have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall 
 be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment 
 than for thee/' 5 " The queen of the south/' added he, " shall rise 
 up in the judgment of this generation, and shall condemn it : for 
 she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom 
 
 1 Matt. xiv. 1, and following; Mark vi. 14, and following; Luke ix. 7, and 
 following. 
 
 2 Luke xiii. 31, and following. . 3 John vii. 5. 
 
 4 Matt. xii. 39, 45, xiii. 15, xvi. 4; Luke xi. 29. 
 
 5 Matt. xi. 21-24 ; Luke x. 12-15. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 229 
 
 of Solomon ; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The 
 men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and 
 shall condemn it : because they repented at the preaching of 
 Jonas ; and behold, a greater than Jonas is here." \ His wander- 
 ing life, at first so full of charm, now began to w r eigh upon 
 him. " The foxes," said he, "have holes, and the birds of the air 
 have nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." 2 
 Bitterness and reproach took more and more hold upon him. He 
 accused unbelievers of not yielding to evidence^nd said that, even 
 at the moment in w T hich the Son of man should appear in his 
 celestial glory, there would still be men who would not believe in 
 him. 3 
 
 [Jesus, in fact, w T as not able to receive opposition with the cool- jfc 
 ness of the philosopher, who, understanding the reason of the 
 various opinions which divide the w T orld, finds it quite natural that 
 all should not agree with him. One of the principal defects of 
 the Jewish race is its harshness in controversy, and the abusive 
 tone which it almost always infuses into it.) There never were in the 
 world such bitter quarrels as those of the Jews among themselves. 
 It is the faculty of nice discernment which makes the polished and 
 moderate man. Now, the lack of this faculty is one of the most con- 
 stant features of the Semitic mind. Subtle and refined works, the 
 dialogues of Plato, for example, are altogether unknown to these 
 nations. Jesus, who was exempt from almost all the defects of his 
 race, and whose leading quality was precisely an infinite delicacy, was 
 led in spite of himself to make use of the general style in polemics. 4 
 Like John the Baptist, 5 he employed very harsh terms against his 
 adversaries. Of an exquisite gentleness with the simple, he was 
 irritated at incredulity, however little aggressive. 6 He was no 
 longer the mild teacher who delivered the " Sermon on the Mount," 
 who had met with neither resistance nor difficulty. The passion 
 that underlay his character led him to make use of the keenest 
 
 1 Matt. xii. 41, 42 ; Luke xi. 31, 32. 2 Matt. viii. 20 ; Luke ix. 58. 
 
 3 Luke xviii. 8. 4 Matt. xii. 34, xv. 14, xxiii..33. 
 
 6 Matt. iii. 7. I 6 Matt. xii. 30 ; Luke xxi. 23. 
 
230 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 invectives. This singular mixture ought not to surprise us. M. 
 de Lamennais, a man of our own times, has strikingly presented the 
 same contrast. In his beautiful book, the " Words of a Believer," 
 the most immoderate anger and the sweetest relentings alternate, 
 as in a mirage. This man, who was extremely kind in the inter- 
 course of life, became madly intractable toward those who did not 
 agree with him. Jesus, in like manner, applied to himself, not 
 without reason, the passage from Isaiah : l " He shall not strive, 
 nor cry ; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A 
 bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not 
 quench." 2 And yet many of the recommendations which he 
 addressed to his disciples contain the germs of a true fanaticism, 3 
 ^erms which the Middle Ages were to develop in a cruel manner. 
 ( Must we reproach him for this ? No revolution is effected without 
 some harshness. N f If Luther, or the actors in the French Revolu- 
 tion, had been compelled to observe the rules of politeness, neither 
 the Eeformation nor the Revolution would have taken place. Let 
 us congratulate ourselves in like manner that Jesus encountered 
 no law which punished the invectives he uttered against one class 
 of citizens. Had such a law existed, the Pharisees would have 
 been inviolate. All the great things of humanity have been 
 accomplished in the name of absolute principles. A critical 
 philosopher would have said to his disciples : Eespect the opinion 
 of others ; and believe that no one is so completely right that his 
 adversary is completely wrong. But the action of Jesus has 
 nothing in common with the disinterested speculation of the 
 philosopher. To know that we have touched the ideal for a mo- 
 ment, and have been deterred by the wickedness of a few, is a 
 thought insupportable to an ardent soul. What must it have been 
 for the founder of a new world ? 
 
 The invincible obstacle to the ideas of Jesus came especially 
 from orthodox Judaism, represented by the Pharisees. Jesus 
 became more and more alienated from the ancient Law. Now, 
 
 1 Isa. xlii. 2, 3. 2 Matt. xii. 19-20. 
 
 3 Matt. x. 14, 15, 21, and following, 34, and following; Luke xix. 27. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 231 
 
 the Pharisees were the true Jews ; the nerve and sinew of 
 Judaism. Although this party had its centre at Jerusalem, it had 
 adherents either established in Galilee, or who often came there. 1 
 [ .They were, in general, men of a narrow mind, caring much for 
 externals ; their devoutness was haughty, formal, and self-satisfied. 2 , 
 Their manners were ridiculous, and excited the smiles of even 
 those who respected them. The epithets which the people gave 
 them, and which savour of caricature, prove this. There was the 
 "bandy-legged Pharisee," (Nikfi,) who walked in the streets 
 dragging his feet and knocking them against the stones ; the 
 " bloody-browed Pharisee," (Kizai,) who went with his eyes shut 
 in order not to see the women, and dashed his head so much 
 against the walls that it was always bloody ; the " pestle Phari- 
 see,'"' (Medinkia,) who kept himself bent double like the handle 
 of a pestle ; the " Pharisee of strong shoulders," (Shikmi,) who 
 walked with his back bent as if he carried on his shoulders 
 the whole burden of the Law ; the " What-is -there-to-do ?-I-do- 
 it Pharisee!' always on the search for a precept to fulfil ; and, 
 lastly, the "dyed Pharisee," whose externals of devotion were but 
 a varnish of hypocrisy. 3 £_This strictness was, in fact, often only 
 apparent, and concealed in reality great moral laxity. 4 The people, 
 nevertheless, were duped by ito The people, whose instinct is 
 always right, even when it is most astray respecting individuals, . w 
 is very easily deceived by false devotees. That which it loves in 
 them is good and worthy of being loved ; but it has not sufficient 
 penetration to distinguish the appearance from the reality. 
 
 1 Mark vii. 1 ; Luke v. 17, and following, vii. 36. 
 
 3 Matt. vi. 2, 5, 16, ix. 11, 14, xii. 2, xxiii. 5, 15, 23; Luke v. 30, vi. 2, 7, 
 xi. 39, and following, xviii. 12 ; John ix. 16 ; Pirke Aboth, i. 16 ; Jos., Ant., 
 xvii. ii. 4, xviii. i. 3; Vita, 38; Talm. of Bab., Sota, 22 b. 
 
 3 Talmud of Jerusalem, BtraTcoth, ix., sub. fin. ; Sota, v. 7 ; Talmud of Babylon, 
 Sota, 22 b. The two compilations of this curious passage present considerable differ- 
 ences. We have, in general, followed the Babylonian compilation, which seems 
 most natural. Cf. Epiph., Adv. Hcer., xvi. 1. The passages in Epiphanes, and 
 several of those of the Talmud, may, besides, relate to an epoch posterior to Jesus, 
 an epoch in which " Pharisee" had become synonymous with " devotee." 
 
 4 Matt. v. 20, xv. 4, xxiii, 3, 16, and following; John viii, 7; Jos-., Ant., xn. 
 ix. 1 ; xm. x. 5. 
 
X 
 
 232 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 It is easy to understand the antipathy which, in such an impas- 
 sioned state of society, must necessarily break out between Jesus 
 and persons of this character. Jesus recognised only the religion 
 of the heart, whilst that of the Pharisees consisted almost exclu- 
 sively in observances. Jesus sought the humble and outcasts 
 of all kinds, and the Pharisees saw in this an insult to their 
 religion of respectability. The Pharisee was an infallible and 
 faultless man, a pedant always right in his own conceit, taking 
 the first place in the synagogue, praying in the street, giving alms 
 to the sound of a trumpet, and caring greatly for salutations. 
 Jesus maintained that each one ought to await the kingdom of 
 God with fear and trembling. The bad religious tendency repre- 
 sented by Pharisaism did not reign without opposition. Many 
 men before or during the time of Jesus, such as Jesus, son of 
 Sirach, (one of the true ancestors of Jesus of Nazareth,) Gamaliel, 
 Antigonus of Soco, and especially the gentle and noble Hillel, had 
 taught much more elevated, and almost Gospel doctrines. But 
 these good seeds had been choked. The beautiful maxims of 
 Hillel, summing up the whole law as equity, 1 those of Jesus, son 
 of Sirach, making worship consist in doing good, 2 were forgotten 
 or anathematised. 3 Shammai, with his narrow and exclusive 
 spirit, had prevailed. An enormous mass of " traditions " had 
 stifled the Law, 4 under pretext of protecting and interpreting 
 it. Doubtless these conservative measures had their share of use- 
 fulness ; it is well that the Jewish people loved its Law even to 
 excess, since it is this frantic love which, in saving Mosaism under 
 Antiochus Epiphanes and under Herod, has preserved the leaven 
 from which Christianity was to emanate. But taken in themselves, 
 all these old precautions were only puerile. The synagogue, which 
 was the depository of them, was no more than a parent of error. 
 Its reign was ended ; and yet to require its abdication was to re- 
 
 1 Talm. of Bab., Shabbath, 31 a ; Joma, 35 b. 
 
 2 Eccle. xvii. 21, and following, xxxv. 1, and following. 
 
 8 Talm. of Jerus., Sanhedrim, xi. 1 ; Talm. of Bab., Sanhedrim, 100 b. 
 4 Matt. xv. 2. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. | 233 
 
 quire the impossible, that which an established power has never 
 done or been able to do. 
 
 The conflicts of Jesus with official hypocrisy were continual. 
 The ordinary tactics of the reformers who appeared in the reli- 
 gious state which we have just described, and which might be called 
 u traditional formalism/' were to oppose the " text " of the sacred 
 books to " traditions/' Eeligious zeal is always an innovator, even 
 when it pretends to be in the highest degree conservative. Just as 
 the neo-Catholicsof our days become more and more remote from 
 the Gospel, so the Pharisees left the Bible at each step more and 
 more. This is why the Puritan reformer is generally essentially 
 " biblical/' taking the unchangeable text for his basis in criticising 
 the current theology, which has changed with each generation. 
 Thus acted later the Karaites and the Protestants. Jesus applied 
 the axe to the root of the tree much more energetically. We see 
 him sometimes, it is true, invoke the text against the false Masores 
 or traditions of the Pharisees.! But in general he dwelt little on 
 exegesis — it was the conscience to which he appealed. With one 
 stroke he cut through both text and commentaries. He shewed 
 indeed to the Pharisees that they seriously perverted Mosaism by 
 their traditions, but he by no means pretended himself to return 
 to Mosaism. His mission was concerned with the future, not 
 with the past. / Jesus was more than the reformer of an obsolete 
 religion ; he was the creator of the eternal religion of humanity. 
 
 Disputes broke out especially respecting a number of external 
 practices introduced by tradition, which neither Jesus nor his 
 disciples observed. 2 The Pharisees reproached him sharply for 
 this. When he dined with them, he scandalised them much by 
 not observing the customary ablutions. " Give alms/' said he, " of 
 such things as ye have ; and behold, all things are clean unto 
 you." 3 That which in the highest degree hurt his refined feeling 
 was the air of assurance which the Pharisees carried into religious 
 
 1 Matt. xv. 2, and following ; Mark vii. 2, and following. 
 
 2 Matt. xv. 2, and following; Mark vii. 4, 8; Luke v. sub. fin., and vi. init., 
 xi. 38, and following. 3 Luke xi. 41. 
 
234 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 matters ; their paltry worship, which ended in a vain seeking after 
 precedents and titles, to the utter neglect of the improvement of 
 their hearts. An admirable parable rendered this thought with 
 infinite charm and justice. " Two men," said he, " went up into 
 the temple to pray ; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 
 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank 
 thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, 
 adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I 
 give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar 
 off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote 
 upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell 
 you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the 
 other." 1 
 
 / A hate, which death alone could satisfy, was the consequence 
 of these struggles. "y John the Baptist had already provoked enmi- 
 ties of the same kind. 2 But the aristocrats of Jerusalem, who 
 despised him, had allowed sinrple men to take him for a prophet. 3 
 In the case of Jesus, however, the war was to the death. A new 
 spirit had appeared in the world, causing all that preceded to pale 
 before it. John the Baptist was completely a Jew ; .Jesus was 
 scarcely one at all. Jesus always appealed to the delicacy 
 of the moral sentiment. He was only a disputant when he 
 argued against the Pharisees, his opponents forcing him, as gene- 
 rally happens, to adopt their tone. 4 His exquisite irony, his arch 
 and provoking remarks, always struck home. They were ever- 
 lasting stigmas, and have remained festering in the wound. This 
 Nessus-shirt of ridicule which the Jew, son of the Pharisees, has 
 dragged in tatters after him during eighteen centuries, was woven 
 by Jesus with a divine skill. Masterpieces of fine raillery, their 
 features are written in lines of fire upon the flesh of the hypocrite 
 and the false devotee. Incomparable traits, worthy of a son of 
 God ! A god alone knows how to kill after this fashion. Socrates 
 
 1 Luke xviii. 9-14; comp. ibid., xiv. 7-11. 
 
 2 Matt. iii. 7, and following, xvii. 12, 13. 
 
 3 Matt. xiv. 5, xxi. 26 ; Mark xi. 32 ; Luke xx. 6. 
 
 4 Matt. xii. 3-8, xxiii. 16, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 235 
 
 and Moliere only touched the skin. He carried lire and rage to 
 the very marrow. 
 
 But it was also just that this great master of irony should 
 pay for his triumph with his life. Even in Galilee, the Pharisees 
 sought to ruin him, and employed against him the manoeuvre 
 which ultimately succeeded at Jerusalem. They endeavoured 
 to interest in their quarrel the partisans of the new political 
 faction which was established. 1 The facilities Jesus found 
 for escape in Galilee, and the weakness of the government of 
 Antipas, baffled these attempts. He ran into danger of his own 
 free will. He saw clearly that his action, if he remained confined 
 to Galilee, was necessarily limited. Judea drew him as by a 
 charm ; he wished to try a last effort to gain the rebellious city ; 
 and seemed anxious to fulfil the proverb — that a prophet must not 
 die outside Jerusalem. 2 ) 
 
 1 Mark iii. 6. 3 Luke xiii. 33. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 LAST JOUENEY OF JESUS TO JEEUSALEM. 
 
 Jesus had for a long time been sensible of the dangers that 
 surrounded him.l During a period of time which we may estimate 
 at eighteen months, he avoided going on a pilgrimage to Jerusa- 
 lem. 2 At the feast of Tabernacles of the year 32, (according to 
 the hypothesis we have adopted,) his relations, always malevolent 
 and incredulous, 3 pressed him to go there. The evangelist John 
 seems to insinuate that there was some hidden project to ruin him 
 in this invitation. \ " Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy 
 disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no 
 man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh 
 to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the 
 world/'' Jesus, suspecting some treachery, at first refused ; but 
 when the caravan of pilgrims had set out, he started on the 
 journey, unknown to every one, and almost alone. 4 v It was the 
 last farewell which he bade to Galilee. ) The feast of Tabernacles 
 fell at the autumnal equinox. Six months still had to elapse before 
 the fatal denouement. But during this interval, Jesus saw no 
 more his beloved provinces of the north. The pleasant days 
 had passed away ; he must now traverse, step by step, the painful 
 path that will terminate only in the anguish of death. 
 
 His disciples, and the pious women who tended him, met him 
 again in Judea. 5 But how much everything was changed for him 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 20, 21 ; Mark viii. 30, 31. 2 John vii. 1. 
 
 3 John vii. 5. 4 John vii. 10. 
 
 5 Matt, xxvii. 55; Mark xv. 41; Luke xxiii. 49, 55. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 237 
 
 there ! Jesus was a stranger at Jerusalem./ He felt that there 
 was a wall of resistance he could not penetrate. Surrounded 
 by snares and difficulties, he was unceasingly pursued by the 
 ill-will of the Pharisees. 1 Instead of that illimitable faculty of 
 belief, happy gift of youthful natures, which he found in Galilee, — 
 instead of those good and gentle people, amongst whom objections 
 (always the fruit of some degree of ill-will and indocility) had no 
 existence, (he met there at each step an obstinate incredulity, upon 
 which the means of action that had so well succeeded in the 
 north had little effect. ; His disciples were despised as being 
 Galileans. Nicodemus, who, on one of his former journeys, had 
 had a conversation with him by night, almost compromised him- 
 self with the Sanhedrim, by having wished to defend him. " Art 
 thou also of Galilee V they said to him. " Search and look : for 
 out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." 2 
 
 The city, as we have already said, displeased Jesus. Until then 
 he had always avoided great centres, preferring for his action the 
 country and the towns of small importance. Many of the precepts 
 which he gave to his apostles were absolutely inapplicable, except 
 in a simple society of humble men^ Having no idea of the world, 
 and accustomed to the kindly communism of Galilee, remarks 
 continually escaped him, whose simplicity would at Jerusalem 
 ajDpear very singular. 4 His imagination and his love of nature 
 found themselves constrained within these walls. True religion 
 does not proceed from the tumult of towns, but from the tran- 
 quil serenity of the fields. 
 
 The arrogance of the priests rendered the courts of the temple 
 disagreeable to him. One day some of his disciples, who knew 
 Jerusalem better than he, wished him to notice the beauty of the 
 buildings of the temple, the admirable choice of materials, and 
 the richness of the votive offerings that covered the walls. 
 " Seest thou these buildings V said he ; " there shall not be left 
 
 1 John vii. 20, 25, 30, 32. 2 John vii. 50, and following. 
 
 3 Matt. x. 11-13; Mark vi. 10; Luke x. 5-8. 
 
 4 Matt. xxi. 3, xxvi. 18; Mark xi. 3, xiv. 13, 14; Luke xix. 31, xxii. 10-12. 
 
238 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 one stone upon another." 1 He refused to admire anything, except 
 it was a poor widow who passed at that moment, and threw a 
 small coin into the box. " She has cast in more than they all," 
 said he ; " for all these have of their abundance cast in unto 
 the offerings of God : but she of her penury hath cast in all 
 the living that she had." 2 £_ This manner of criticising all 
 he observed at Jerusalem, of praising the poor who gave little, 
 of slighting the rich who gave much,3 and of blaming the opulent 
 priesthood who did nothing for the good of the people, naturally 
 exasperated the sacerdotal caste. - As the seat of a conservative 
 aristocracy, the temple, like the Mussulman haram which suc- 
 ceeded it, was the last place in the world where revolution could 
 prosper. Imagine an innovator going in our days to preach the 
 overturning of Islamism round the mosque of Omar ! There, 
 however, was the centre of the Jewish life, the point where it was 
 necessary to conquer or die. On this Calvary, where certainly 
 Jesus suffered more than at Golgotha, his days passed away in 
 disputation and bitterness, in the midst of tedious controversies 
 respecting canonical law and exegesis, for which his great moral 
 elevation, instead of giving him the advantage, positively unfitted 
 him. 
 
 In the midst of this troubled life, the sensitive and kindly heart 
 of Jesus found a refuge, where he enjoyed moments of sweet- 
 ness. After having passed the day disputing in the temple, 
 towards evening Jesus descended into the valley of Kedron, and 
 rested a while in the orchard of a farming establishment (probably 
 for the making of oil) named Gethsemane, 4 which served as a 
 pleasure garden to the inhabitants. Thence he proceeded to pass 
 the night upon the Mount of Olives, which limits the horizon of 
 the city on the east. 5 This side is the only one, in the environs 
 
 1 Matt. xxiv. 1, 2; Mark xiii. 1, 2; Luke xix. 44, xxi. 5, 6. Cf. Mark xi. 11. 
 
 2 Mark xii. 41, and following; Luke xxi. 1, and following. 
 
 3 Mark xii. 41. 
 
 4 Mark xi. 19; Luke xxii. 39; John xviii. 1, 2. This orchard could not be very 
 far from the place where the piety of the Catholics has surrounded some old olive- 
 trees by a wall. The word Gethsemane seems to signify " oil-press." 
 
 6 Luke xxi. 37, xxii. 39; John viii. 1, 2. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 239 
 
 of Jerusalem, which offers an aspect in any degree pleasing and ver- 
 dant. The plantations of olives, figs, and palms, were numerous there, 
 and gave their names to the villages, farms, or enclosures of Beth- 
 phage, Gethsemane, and Bethany.l There were upon the Mount 
 of Olives two great cedars, the memory of which was long pre- 
 served amongst the dispersed Jews ; their branches served as an 
 asylum to clouds of doves, and under their shade were established 
 small bazaars. 2 All this precinct was in a manner the abode of 
 Jesus and his disciples ; they knew it field by field and house by 
 house. 
 
 CThe village of Bethany, in particular, 3 situated at the summit of 
 the hill, upon the incline which commands the Dead Sea and the 
 Jordan, at a journey of an hour and a half from Jerusalem, was the 
 place especially beloved by Jesus. 4 (jle there made the acquaintance 
 of a family composed of three persons, two sisters and a brother, 
 whose friendship had a great charm for him. 5 ) Of the two sisters, 
 the one, named Martha, was an obliging, kind, and assiduous 
 person; 6 the other, named Mary, on the contrary, pleased Jesus 
 by a sort of languor,? and by her strongly-developed speculative 
 instincts. Seated at the feet of Jesus, she often forgot, in listen- 
 ing to him, the duties of real life. Her sister, upon whom fell all 
 the duty at such times, gently complained. " Martha, Martha," 
 said Jesus to her, " thou art troubled, and carest about many 
 things ; now, one thing only is needful. Mary has chosen the 
 better part, which will not be taken away." 8 Her brother, Eleazar, 
 or Lazarus, was also much beloved by Jesus. 9 Lastly, a certain 
 Simon, the leper, who was the owner of the house, formed, it 
 appears, part of the family. 10 J It was there, in the enjoyment of a 
 pious friendship, that Jesus forgot the vexations of public life. 
 
 1 Talm. of Bab., Pesachim, 53 a. 2 Talm. of Jerus., Taanith, iv. 8. 
 
 3 Now El-Azerie, (from El-Azir, the Arabic name of Lazarus;) in the Christian 
 texts of the Middle Ages, Lazarium. 
 
 4 Matt. xxi. 17, 18; Mark xi. 11, 12. 5 John xi. 5. 
 
 6 Luke x. 38-42; John xii. 2. 7 John xi. 20. 
 
 8 Luke x. 38, and following. 9 John xi. 35, 36. 
 
 10 Matt. xxvi. 6 ; Mark xiv. 3 ; Luke vii. 40-43 ; John xii. 1, and following. 
 
2 10 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 In this tranquil home he consoled himself for the bickerings with 
 which the scribes and the Pharisees unceasingly surrounded him. 
 He often sat on the Mount of Olives, facing Mount Moriah, 1 hav- 
 ing beneath his view the splendid perspective of the terraces of 
 the temple, and its roofs covered with glittering plates of metal. 
 This view struck strangers with admiration ; at the rising of the 
 sun, especially, the sacred mountain dazzled the eyes, and appeared 
 like a mass of snow and of gold. 2 But a profound feeling of sad- 
 ness poisoned for Jesus the spectacle that filled all other Israelites 
 with joy and pride. He cried out, in his moments of bitterness, 
 u Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and 
 stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have 
 gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens 
 under her wings, and ye would not." 3 
 
 It was not that many good people here, as in Galilee, were not 
 touched ; but such was the power of the dominant orthodoxy, that 
 very few dared to confess it. They feared to discredit themselves 
 in the eyes of the Hierosolymites by placing themselves in the 
 school of a Galilean. They would have risked being driven from 
 the synagogue, which, in a mean and bigoted society, was the 
 greatest degradation. 4 Excommunication, besides, carried with it 
 the confiscation of all possessions. 5 By ceasing to be a Jew, a man 
 did not become a Roman ; but remained without protection, in the 
 power of a theocratic legislation of the most atrocious severity. 
 One day, the inferior officers of the temple, who had been present 
 at one of the discourses of Jesus, and had been enchanted with it, 
 came to confide their doubts to the priests : " Have any of the 
 rulers or of the ^Pharisees believed on him V was the reply to 
 them; "but this people who knoweth not the Law are cursed/' 6 
 Jesus remained thus at Jerusalem, a provincial admired by pro- 
 vincials like himself, but rejected by all the aristocracy of the 
 nation. The chiefs of schools and of sects were too numerous for 
 
 1 Mark xiii. 3. 2 Josephus, B. J., v. v. 6. 
 
 3 Matt, xxiii. 37; Luke xiii. 34. 4 John vii. 13, xii. 42, 43, xix. 38. 
 
 5 1 Esdr. x. 8 ; Epistle to Hebrews x. 34 ; Talmud, of Jerus., Moedkaton, iii. 1. 
 
 6 John vii. 45, and following. 
 
LIFE OF jesus; 241 
 
 any one to be stirred by seeing one more appear. His voice made 
 little noise in Jerusalem. The prejudices of race and of sect, the 
 direct enemies of the spirit of the Gospel, were too deeply rooted 
 there. 
 
 His teaching in this new world necessarily became much modified. 
 His beautiful discourses, the effect of which was always observable 
 upon youthful imaginations and consciences morally pure, here fell 
 upon stone. He who was so much at his ease on the shores of 
 his charming little lake, felt constrained and not at home in the 
 company of pedants. His perpetual self-assertion appeared some- 
 what fastidious. 1 He was obliged to become controversialist, 
 jurist, exegetist, and theologian. His conversations, generally so full 
 of charm, became a rolling fire of disputes,2 an interminable train 
 of scholastic battles. His harmonious genius was wasted in 
 insipid argumentations upon the Law and the prophets, 3 in which 
 we should have preferred not seeing him sometimes play the part 
 of aggressor. 4 He lent himself with a condescension we cannot 
 but regret to the captious criticisms to which the merciless 
 cavillers subjected him. 5 In general, he extricated himself from 
 difficulties with much skill. His reasonings, it is true, were often 
 subtle, (simplicity of mind and subtlety touch each other ; when 
 simplicity reasons, it is often a little sophistical ;) we find 
 that sometimes he courted misconceptions, and prolonged them 
 intentionally ;\ his reasoning, judged according to the rules of 
 Aristotelian logic, was very weak. But when the unequalled 
 charm of his mind could be displayed, he was triumphant. One 
 day it was intended to embarrass him by presenting to him an 
 adulteress and asking him what was to be done to her. We know 
 the admirable answer of Jesus .? The fine raillery of a man of 
 
 1 John viii. 13, and following. a Matt. xxi. 23-37. 
 
 8 Matt. xxii. 23, and following. * Matt. xxii. 42, and following. 
 
 5 Matt. xxii. 36, and following, 46. 
 
 6 See especially the discussions reported by John, chapter viii,, for example ; it 
 is true that the authenticity of such passages is only relative. 
 
 7 John viii. 3, and following. This passage did not at first form part of the 
 Gospel of St John ; it is wanting in the more ancient manuscripts, and the text 
 
 Q 
 
242 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 the world, tempered by a divine goodness, could not be expressed 
 in a more exquisite manner. But the wit which is allied to moral 
 grandeur is that which fools forgive the least. In pronouncing 
 this sentence of so just and pure a taste : " He that is without sin 
 among you, let him first cast a stone at her," Jesus pierced hypo- 
 crisy to the heart, and with the same stroke sealed his own death- 
 warrant. 
 
 It is probable, in fact, that but for the exasperation caused by 
 so many bitter shafts, Jesus might long have remained unnoticed, 
 and have been lost in the dreadful storm which was soon about to 
 overwhelm the whole Jewish nation. The high priesthood and 
 the Sadducees had rather disdained than hated him. The great 
 sacerdotal families, the Boethusim, the family of Hanan, were 
 only fanatical in their conservatism. The Sadducees, like 
 Jesus, rejected the "traditions" of the Pharisees. 1 By a very 
 strange singularity, it was these unbelievers who, denying 
 the resurrection, the oral Law, and the existence of angels, were 
 the true Jews. Or rather, as the old Law in its simplicity no 
 longer satisfied the religious wants of the time, those who strictly 
 adhered to it, and rejected modern inventions, were regarded by 
 the devotees as impious, just as an evangelical Protestant of the 
 present day is regarded as an unbeliever in Catholic countries. 
 At all events, from such a party no very strong reaction against 
 Jesus could proceed. The official priesthood, with its attention 
 turned towards political power, and intimately connected with it, 
 did not comprehend these enthusiastic movements. It was the 
 middle class Pharisees, the innumerable soferim, or scribes, living 
 on the science of " traditions," who took the alarm, and whose 
 prejudices and interests were in reality threatened by the doctrine 
 of the new teacher. 
 
 is rather unsettled. Nevertheless, it is from the primitive Gospel traditions, 
 as is proved by the singular peculiarities of verses 6 and 8, which are not in the 
 style of Luke, and compilers at second hand, who admitted nothing that does not 
 explain itself. This history is found, as it seems, in the Gospel according to the 
 Hebrews. (Papias, quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., ill. 39.) 
 1 Jos., Ant, xiii. x. 6, xviii. i. 4. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 243 
 
 One of the most constant efforts of the Pharisees was to involve 
 Jesus in the discussion of political questions, and to compromise 
 him as connected with the party of Judas the Gaulonite. These 
 tactics were clever ; for it required all the deep wisdom of Jesus 
 to avoid collision with the Roman authority, whilst proclaiming 
 the kingdom of God. They wanted to break through this am- 
 biguity, and compel him to explain himself. One day, a group of 
 Pharisees, and of those politicians named "Herodians," (probably 
 some of the Boethusim,) approached him, and, under pretence of 
 pious zeal, said unto him, " Master, we know that thou art true, 
 and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any 
 man. Tell us, therefore, what thinkest thou ? Is it lawful to give 
 tribute unto Caesar, or not?" They hoped for an answer, which 
 would give them a pretext for delivering him up to Pilate. The 
 reply of Jesus was admirable. He made them shew him the 
 image on the coin : " Render," said he, " unto Caesar the things 
 which are Caesar's ; and unto God the things that are God's/' * 
 Profound words, which have decided the future of Christianity ! 
 Words of a perfected spiritualism, and of marvellous justness, 
 which have established the separation between the spiritual and the 
 temporal, and laid the basis of true liberalism and civilisation ! 
 
 His gentle and penetrating genius inspired him when alone 
 with his disciples, with accents full of tenderness ! " Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the 
 sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief 
 and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd 
 of the sheep. The sheep hear his voice : and he calleth his own 
 sheep by name, and leadeth them out. He goeth before them, and 
 the sheep follow him ; for they know his voice. The thief 
 cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. But he 
 that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep 
 are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. 
 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of 
 
 1 Matt. xxii. 15, and following; Mark xii. 13, and following ; Luke xx. 20, and 
 following. Comp. Talm. of Jerus., Sanhedrim, ii. 3. 
 
244 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 mine ; and I lay down my life for the sheep." 1 The idea that the 
 crisis of humanity was close at hand frequently recurred to him : 
 " Now," said he, " learn a parable of the fig-tree : When his branch 
 is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is 
 nigh. Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields ; for they are 
 white already to harvest."? # 
 
 His powerful eloquence always burst forth when contending 
 with hypocrisy. " The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 
 All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and 
 do ; but do not ye after their works : for they say and do not. 
 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay 
 them on men's shoulders ; but they themselves will not move them 
 with one of their fingers. 
 
 " But all their works they do to be seen of men ; they make 
 broad their phylacteries, 3 enlarge the borders of their garments, 4 
 and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the 
 synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, 
 Kabbi, Eabbi. Woe unto them ! 
 
 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye have 
 taken away the key of knowledge, shut up the kingdom of heaven 
 against men ! 5 for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye 
 them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, for ye devour 
 widows' houses, and, for a pretence, make long prayers : therefore 
 ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, for ye 
 compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is 
 made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves ! 
 
 1 John x. 1-16; 
 
 2 Matt. xxiv. 32; Mark xiii. 28; Luke xxi. 30; John iv. 35. 
 
 3 Totafdth or tefilltn, plates of metal or strips of parchment, containing passages 
 of the Law ; which the devout Jews wore attached to the forehead and left arm, 
 in literal fulfilment of the passages, (Ex. xiii. 9 ; Deut. vi. 8, xi. 18.) 
 
 4 Zizith, red borders or fringes which the Jews wore at the corner of their cloaks 
 to distinguish them from the pagans, (Num. xv. 38, 39 ; Deut. xxii. 12.) 
 
 5 The Pharisees excluded men from the kingdom of God by their fastidious 
 casuistry, which rendered entrance into it too difficult, and discouraged the 
 unlearned. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 245 
 
 Woe unto you, for ye are as graves which appear not ; and the 
 men that walk over them are not aware of them. 1 
 
 " Ye fools, and blind ! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and 
 cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, 
 judgment, mercy, and faith : these ought ye to have done, and not 
 to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a 
 gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you ! 
 
 " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye make 
 clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; 2 but within they 
 are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, 3 cleanse 
 first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of 
 them may be clean also. 4 
 
 " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are 
 like unto whited sepulchres, 5 which indeed appear beautiful out- 
 ward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all unclean- 
 ness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but 
 within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 
 
 " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! because ye 
 build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the 
 righteous, and say, ' If we had been in the days of our fathers, 
 we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the 
 prophets.' Wherefore, ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye 
 
 1 Contact with the tombs rendered any one impure. Great care was, therefore, 
 taken to mark their extent on the ground. Talm. of Bab., Baba Bathra, 58 a; 
 Baba Metsia, 45 b. Jesus here reproached the Pharisees for having invented a 
 number of small precepts which might be violated unwittingly, and which only 
 served to multiply infringements of the law. 
 
 2 The purification of vessels was subjected, amongst the Pharisees, to the most 
 complicated laws, (Mark vii. 4.) 
 
 3 This epithet, often repeated, (Matt, xxiii. 16, 17, 19, 24, 26,) perhaps contains 
 an allusion to the custom which certain Pharisees had of walking with closed eyes 
 in affectation of sanctity. See ante, p. 231. 
 
 4 Luke (xi. 37, and following) supposes, not without reason, that this verse was 
 uttered during a repast, in answer to the vain scruples of the Pharisees. 
 
 6 The tombs being impure, it was customary to whiten them with lime, to 
 warn persons not to approach them. See above, note 1, and Mishnah, Maasar 
 hensi, v. 1 ; Talm. of Jerus., Shekalim, i. 1 ; Maasar sheni, v. 1 ; Moed baton, i. 
 2; Sota, ix. 1; Talm. of Bab., Moed baton, 5 a. Perhaps there is an allusion to 
 the " dyed Pharisees" in this comparison which Jesus uses. (See ante, p. 231.) 
 
246 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up 
 then the measure of your fathers. ' Therefore, also/ said the Wis- 
 dom of God, 1 'I will send unto you prophets, and wise men, 
 and scribes ; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify ; and some 
 of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them 
 from city to city. That upon you may come all the righteous 
 blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto 
 the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, 2 whom ye slew between 
 the temple and the altar/ Verily, I say unto you, all these 
 things shall come upon this generation/' 3 
 
 His terrible doctrine of the substitution of the Gentiles, — the 
 idea that the kingdom of God was about to be transferred to others, 
 because those for whom it was destined would not receive it,4 is used 
 as a fearful menace against the aristocracy. The title " Son of 
 God," which he openly assumed in striking parables, 5 wherein his 
 enemies appeared as murderers of the heavenly messengers, was 
 an open defiance to the Judaism of the Law. The bold appeal 
 he addressed to the poor was still more seditious. He declared 
 that he had w come that they which see not might see, and that 
 they which see might be made blind." 6 / One day, his dislike of the 
 temple forced from him an imprudent speech : " I will destroy this 
 temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build 
 another made without hands." 7 His disciples found strained alle- 
 
 1 We are ignorant from what book this quotation is taken. 
 
 3 There is a slight confusion here, which is also found in the Targum of Jonathan, 
 (Lament, ii. 20,) between Zacharias, son of Jehoiadas, and Zacharias, son of Bara- 
 chias, the prophet. It is the former that is spokeri of, (2 Parol, xxi v. 21.) The 
 book of the Paralipomenes, in which the assassination of Zacharias, son of Je- 
 hoiadas, is related, closes the Hebrew canon. This murder is the last in the list 
 of murders of righteous men, drawn up according to the order in which they are 
 presented in the Bible. That of Abel is, on the contrary, the first. 
 
 3 Matt, xxiii. 2-36; Mark xii. 38-40; Luke xi. 39-52, xx. 46, 47. 
 
 4 Matt. viii. 11, 12, xx. J, and following xxi. 28, and following, 33, and fol- 
 lowing, 43, xxii. 1, and following; Mark xii. 1, and following; Luke xx. 9, and 
 following. 
 
 5 Matt. xxi. 37, and following; John x. 36, and following. 
 
 6 John ix. 39. 
 
 7 The most authentic form of this sentence appears to be in Mark xiv. 58, 
 xv. 29. Cf. John ii. 19; Matt. xxvi. 61, xxvii. 40. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 247 
 
 gories in this sentence ; but we do not know what meaning Jesus 
 attached to it. But as only a pretext was wanted, this sentence 
 was quickly laid hold of. It reappeared in the preamble of his 
 death-warrant, and rang in his ears amidst the last agonies of 
 Golgotha. These irritating discussions always ended in tumult. 
 The Pharisees threw stones at him ;J in doing which they only 
 fulfilled an article of the Law, which commanded every prophet, 
 even a thaumaturgus, who should turn the people from the ancient 
 worship, to be stoned without a hearing. 2 At other times they 
 called him mad, possessed, Samaritan, 3 and even sought to kill 
 him. 4 These words were taken note of in order to invoke against 
 him the laws of an intolerant theocracy, which the Eoman govern- 
 ment had not yet abrogated.5 
 
 1 John viii. 39, x. 31, xi. 8. 
 
 3 Deutcr. xiii. 1, and following, Comp. Luke xx. 6 ; John x. 33; 2 Cor. xi. 25. 
 3 John x. 20. 4 John v. 18, vii. 1, 20, 25, 30, viii. 37, 40. 
 
 5 Luke xi. 53, 54. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MACHINATIONS OF THE ENEMIES OF JESUS. 
 
 Jesus passed the autumn and a part of the winter at Jerusalem. 
 This season is there rather cold. The portico of Solomon, with 
 its covered aisles, was the place where he habitually walked. 1 
 This portico consisted of two galleries, formed by three rows of 
 columns, and covered by a ceiling of carved wood. 2 It com- 
 manded the valley of Kedron, which was doubtless less covered 
 with debris than it is at the present time. The depth of the 
 ravine could not be measured, from the height of the portico ; 
 and it seemed, in consequence of the angle of the slopes, as if an 
 abyss opened immediately beneath the wall. 3 The other side of 
 the valley even at that time was adorned with sumptuous tombs. 
 Some of the monuments, which may be seen at -the present day, 
 were perhaps those cenotaphs in honour of ancient prophets 4 which- 
 Jesus pointed out, when, seated under the portico, he denounced 
 the official classes, who covered their hypocrisy or their vanity 
 by these colossal piles. 5 
 
 At the end of the month of December, he celebrated at Jeru- 
 salem the feast established by Judas Maccabeus in memory of the 
 
 1 John x. 23. 
 
 2 Jos., B. J., v. v. 2. Comp. Ant, xv. xi. 5, xx. ix. 7. 
 * Jos., places cited. 
 
 4 See ante, p. 245. I am led to suppose that the tombs called those of Zachariah 
 and of Absalom were monuments of this kind. Cf. Itin. a Burdig. Hierus., p. 153, 
 (edit. Schott.) 
 
 5 Matt, xxiii. 29 ; Luke xi. 47. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 249 
 
 purification of the temple after the sacrileges of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes. 1 It was also called the " Feast of Lights/' because, during 
 the eight days of the feast, lamps were kept lighted in the houses. 2 
 Jesus undertook soon after a journey into Perea and to the banks 
 of the Jordan, — that is to say, into the very country he had visited 
 some years previously, when he followed the school of John, 3 and 
 in which he had himself administered baptism. He seems to have 
 reaped consolation from this journey, specially at Jericho. This 
 city, as the terminus of several important routes, or, it may be, on 
 account of its gardens of spices and its rich* cultivation, 4 was a 
 customs station of importance. The chief receiver, Zaccheus, a 
 rich man, desired to see Jesus. 5 As he was of small stature, he 
 climbed a sycamore tree near the road which the procession had 
 to pass. Jesus was touched with this simplicity in a person of 
 consideration, and at the risk of giving offence, he determined to stay 
 with Zaccheus. There was much dissatisfaction at his honouring 
 the house of a sinner by this visit. In parting, Jesus declared his 
 host to be a good son of Abraham ; and, as if to add to the vexation 
 of the orthodox, Zaccheus became a Christian • he gave, it is said, 
 the half of his goods to the poor, and restored fourfold to those 
 whom he might have wronged. But this was not the only pleasure 
 which Jesus experienced there. On leaving the town, the beggar 
 Bartimeus 6 pleased him much by persisting in calling him " son 
 of David," although he was told to be silent. The cycle of Gali- 
 lean miracles appeared for a time to recommence in this country, 
 which was in many respects similar to the provinces of the north. 
 The delightful oasis of Jericho, at that time well watered, must 
 have been one of the most beautiful places in Syria. Josephus 
 
 1 John x. 22. Comp. 1 Mace. iv. 52, and following; 2 Mace. x. 6, and following. 
 
 2 Jos., Ant., xii. vii. 7. 
 
 3 John x. 40. Cf . Matt. xix. 1 ; Mark x. i. This journey is known to the 
 synoptics. But they seem to think that Jesus made it by coming from Galilee to 
 Jerusalem through Perea. 
 
 4 Eccles. xxiv. 18; Strabo, xvi. ii. 41 ; Justin., xxxvi. 3; Jos., Ant, iv. vi. 1, 
 xiv. iv. 1, xv. iv. 2. K 
 
 5 Luke xix. 1, and following. 
 
 6 Matt. xx. 29; Mark x. 46, and following; Luke xviii. 35. 
 
250 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 speaks of it with the same admiration as of Galilee, and calls it, 
 like the latter province, a " divine country." 1 
 . After Jesus had completed this kind of pilgrimage to the scenes 
 of his earliest prophetic activity, he returned to his beloved abode 
 in Bethany, where a singular event occurred, which seems to have 
 had a powerful influence on the remaining days of his life. 2 Tired 
 of the cold reception which the kingdom of God found in the 
 capital, the friends of Jesus wished for a great miracle which 
 should strike powerfully the incredulity of the Hierosolymites. 
 The resurrection of a man known at Jerusalem appeared to them 
 most likely to carry conviction.) We mnst bear in mind that the 
 essential condition of true criticism is to understand the diversity 
 of times, and to rid ourselves of the instinctive repugnances which 
 are the fruit of a purely rational education. We must also remem- 
 ber that in this dull and impure city of Jerusalem, Jesus was 
 no longer himself. ;Not by any fault of his own, but by that of 
 others, his conscience had lost something of its original purity. 
 Desperate, and driven to extremity, he was no longer his own 
 master. His mission overwhelmed him, and he yielded to the 
 torrent. As always happens in the lives of great and inspired 
 men, he suffered the miracles opinion demanded of him rather 
 than performed them. At this distance of time, and with only 
 a single text, bearing evident traces of artifices of composition, 
 it is impossible to decide whether in this instance the whole is 
 fiction, or whether a real fact which happened at Bethany has 
 served as basis to the rumours which were spread about it?) It 
 must be acknowledged, however, that the way John narrates the 
 the incident differs widely from those descriptions of miracles, 
 the offspring of the popular imagination which fill the synoptics. 
 Let us add, that John is the only evangelist who has a precise 
 knowledge of the relations of Jesus with the family of Bethany, 
 and that it is impossible to believe that a mere creation of the 
 popular mind could exist in a collection of remembrances so 
 
 1 B. J., iv. viii. 3. Comp. ibid., I. vi. 6, I. xviii. 5, and Antiq., xv. iv. 2. • 
 8 John xi. 1, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 251 
 
 entirely personal. It is, then, probable that the miracle in question 
 was not one of those purely legendary ones for which no one is 
 responsible. In other words, we think that something really 
 happened at Bethany which was looked upon as a resurrection.^ 
 
 Fame already attributed to Jesus two or three works of this 
 kind. 1 The family of Bethany might be led, almost without sus- 
 pecting it, into taking part in the important act which was desired. 
 Jesus was adored by them. It seems that Lazarus was sick, and 
 that in consequence of receiving a message from the anxious 
 sisters Jesus left Perea. 2 They thought that the joy Lazarus 
 would feel at his arrival might restore him to life. Perhaps, also, 
 the ardent desire of silencing those who violently denied the divine 
 mission of Jesus, carried his enthusiastic friends beyond all bounds. 
 It may be that Lazarus, still pallid with disease, caused himself to 
 be wrapped, in bandages as if dead, and shut up in the tomb of 
 his family. These tombs were large vaults cut in the rock, and 
 were entered by a square opening, closed by an enormous stone. 
 Martha and Mary went to meet Jesus, and without allowing him 
 to enter Bethany, conducted him to the cave. The emotion which 
 Jesus experienced at the tomb of his friend, whom he believed to 
 be dead, 3 might be taken by those present for the agitation and 
 trembling 4 which accompanied miracles. Popular opinion re- 
 quired that the divine virtue should manifest itself in man as an 
 epileptic and convulsive principle. Jesus (if we follow the above 
 hypothesis) desired to see once more him whom he had loved; 
 and, the stone being removed, Lazarus came forth in his ban- 
 dages, his head covered with a winding-sheet. This reappearance 
 would naturally be regarded by every one as a resurrection. Faith 
 knows no other law than the interest of that which it believes to 
 be true. Eegarding the object which it pursues as absolutely holy, 
 it makes no scruple of invoking bad arguments in support of its 
 
 1 Matt. ix. 18, and following; Mark v. 22, and following; Luke vii. 11, and fol- 
 lowing, viii. 41, and following. 
 
 2 John xi. 3, and following. 3 John xi. 35, and following. 
 4 John xi. 33, 38. 
 
252 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 thesis when good ones do not succeed. If such and such a proof 
 be not sound, many others are ! If such and such a wonder be 
 not real, many others have been! Being intimately persuaded 
 that Jesus was a thaumaturgus, Lazarus and his two sisters may 
 have aided in the execution of one of his miracles, just as many 
 pious men who, convinced of the truth of their religion, have 
 sought to triumph over the obstinacy of their opponents by means, 
 of whose weakness they were well aware. The state of their con- 
 science was that of the stigmatists, of the convulsionists, of 
 the possessed ones in convents, drawn, by the influence of the 
 world in which they live, and by their own belief, into feigned 
 acts. As to Jesus, he was no more able than St Bernard or St 
 Francis d'Assisi to moderate the avidity for the marvellous, dis- 
 played by the multitude, and even by his own disciples. C Death, 
 moreover, in a few days would restore him his divine liberty, and 
 release him from the fatal necessities of a position which each day 
 became more exacting, and more difficult to sustain/ 
 
 Everything, in fact, seems to lead us to believe that the miracle 
 of Bethany contributed sensibly to hasten the death of Jesus. 1 
 The persons who had been witnesses of it, were dispersed through- 
 out the city, and spoke much about it. The disciples related the 
 fact, with details as to its performance, prepared in expectation of 
 controversy. The other miracles of Jesus were transitory acts, 
 spontaneously accepted by faith, exaggerated by popular fame, and 
 were not again referred to after they had once taken place. This 
 was a real event, held to be publicly notorious, and one by which 
 it was hoped to silence the Pharisees. 2 The enemies of Jesus were 
 much irritated at all this fame. They endeavoured, it is said, to 
 kill Lazarus. 3 It is certain, that from that time a council of the 
 chief priests 4 was assembled, and that in this council the question 
 was clearly put : " Can Jesus and Judaism exist together ? " To 
 raise the- question was to resolve it ; and without being a prophet, 
 
 1 John xi. 46, and following, xii. 2, 9, and following, 17, and following. 
 
 2 John xii. 9, 10, 17, 18. 
 
 3 John xii. 10. 4 John xi. 47, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 253 
 
 as thought by the evangelist, the high priest could easily pronounce 
 his cruel axiom : " It is expedient that one man should die for 
 the people." 
 
 " The high priest of that same year," to use an expression of 
 the fourth Gospel, which well expresses the state of abasement to 
 which the sovereign pontificate was reduced, was Joseph Kaiapha, 
 appointed by Valerius Gratus, and entirely devoted to the Romans. 
 From the time that Jerusalem had been under the government of 
 procurators, the office of high priest had been a temporary one ; 
 changes in it took place nearly every year. 1 Kaiapha, however, 
 held it longer than any one else. He had assumed his office in 
 the year 25, and he did not lose it till the year 36. His character 
 is unknown to us, and many circumstances lead to the belief that 
 his power was only nominal. In fact, another personage is always 
 seen in conjunction with, and even superior to him, who, at the 
 decisive moment we have now reached, seems to have exercised a 
 preponderating power. 
 
 This personage was Hanan or Annas, 2 son of Seth, and father- 
 in-law of Kaiapha. He was formerly the high priest, and had in 
 reality preserved amidst the numerous changes of the pontificate 
 all the authority of the office. He had received the high priest- 
 hood from the legate Quirinius, in the year 7 of our era. He lost 
 his office in the year J4, on the accession of Tiberius ; but he 
 remained much respected. He was still called "high priest," 
 although he was out of office,^ and he was consulted upon all 
 important matters. During fifty years the pontificate continued 
 in his family almost uninterruptedly; five of his sons succes- 
 sively sustained this dignity, 4 besides Kaiapha, who was his son- 
 in : law. His was called the " priestly family," as if the priesthood 
 had become hereditary in it. 5 The chief offices of the temple 
 
 1 Jos., Ant., xv. iii. 1, xviii. ii. 2, v. 3, xx. ix. 1, 4. 
 
 2 The Ananus of Josephus. It is thus that the Hebrew name Johanan became 
 in Greek Joannes or Joannas. 
 
 3 John xviii. 15-23 ; Acts iv. 6. 
 
 4 Jos., Ant., xx. ix. 1. 
 
 5 Jos., Ant., xv. iii. 1 ; B. J., iv. v. 6 and 7 ; Acts iv. 6. 
 
254 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 were almost all filled by them.1 Another family, that of Boethus, 
 alternated, it is true, with that of Hanan's in the pontificate. 2 But 
 the Boethusim, whose fortunes were of not very honourable origin, 
 were much less esteemed by the pious middle class. Hanan was 
 then in reality the chief of the priestly party. Kai'apha did 
 nothing without him ; it was customary to associate their names, 
 and that of Hanan was always put first.3 It will be understood, 
 in fact, that under this regime of an annual pontificate, changed 
 according to the caprice of the procurators, an old high priest, 
 who had preserved the secret of the traditions, who had seen many 
 younger than himself succeed each other, and who had retained 
 sufficient influence to get the office delegated to persons who were 
 subordinate to him in family rank, must have been a very im- 
 portant personage. Like all the aristocracy of the temple, 4 he 
 was a Sadducee, " a sect," says Josephus, " particularly severe in 
 its judgments." All his sons also were violent persecutors. 5 One 
 of them, named like his father, Hanan, caused James, the brother 
 of the Lord, to be stoned, under circumstances not unlike those 
 which surrounded the death of Jesus. The spirit of the family 
 was haughty, bold, and cruel ; 6 it had that particular kind of 
 proud and sullen wickedness which characterises Jewish politicians. 
 ( Therefore, upon this Hanan and his family must rest the responsi- 
 bility of all the acts which followed. It was Hanan (or the party 
 he represented) who killed Jesus. \ Hanan was the principal 
 actor in the terrible drama, and far more than Kai'apha, far more 
 than Pilate, ought to bear the weight of the maledictions of man- 
 kind. 
 
 It is in the mouth of Ka'iapha that the evangelist places the 
 decisive words which led to the death of Jesus.7 It was sup- 
 posed that the high priest possessed a certain gift of prophecy ; 
 his declaration thus became an oracle full of profound meaning to 
 
 1 Jos., Ant, xx. ix. 3. 
 
 2 Jos., Ant., xv. ix. 3, xix. vi. 2, viii. 1. 
 
 3 Lukeiii. 2. 4 Acts v. 17. 
 
 6 Jos., Ant., xx. ix. 1. 6 Jos., Ant, xx. ix. 1. 
 
 7 John xi. 49, 50. Cf. ibid., xviii. 14. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 255 
 
 the Christian community. But such an expression, whoever he 
 might be that pronounced it, was the feeling of the whole sacer- 
 dotal party. This party was much opposed to popular seditions. 
 It sought to put down religious enthusiasts, rightly foreseeing that 
 by their excited preachings they would lead to the total ruin of 
 the nation. Although the excitement created by Jesus was in no- 
 wise temporal, the priests saw, as an ultimate consequence of this 
 agitation, an aggravation of the Eoman yoke and the overturning 
 of the temple, the source of their riches and honours. 1 1 Cer- 
 tainly the causes which, thirty-seven years after, were to effect 
 the ruin of Jerusalem, did not arise from infant Christianity. 
 They arose in Jerusalem itself, and not in Galilee. We cannot, 
 however, say that the motive alleged in this circumstance by the 
 priests was so improbable that we must necessarily regard it as 
 insincere. In a general sense, Jesus, if he had succeeded, would 
 have really effected the ruin of the Jewish nation. According 
 to the principles, universally admitted by all ancient polity, 
 Hanan and Ka'iapha were right in saying : " Better the death of 
 one man than the ruin of a people ! " In our opinion this reason- 
 ing is detestable. But it has been that of conservative parties from 
 the commencement of all human society. The "party of order" (I 
 use this expression in its mean and narrow sense) has ever been 
 the same. Deeming the highest duty of government to be the 
 prevention of popular disturbances, it believes it performs an act 
 of patriotism in preventing, by judicial murder, the tumultuous 
 effusion of blood. Little thoughtful of the future, it does not 
 dream that in declaring war against all innovations, it incurs the 
 risk of crushing ideas destined one day to triumph. The death 
 of Jesus was one of the thousand illustrations of this policy. 
 The movement he directed was entirely spiritual, but it was still 
 a movement ; hence the men of order, persuaded that it was 
 essential for humanity not to be disturbed, felt themselves bound 
 to prevent the new spirit from extending itself. Never was seen 
 a more striking example of how much such a course of procedure 
 
 1 John xi. 48. 
 
256 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 defeats its own object. \, Left free, Jesus would have exhausted 
 himself in a desperate struggle with the impossible. The unin- 
 telligent hate of his enemies decided the success of his work, and 
 sealed his divinity. 
 
 The death of Jesus was thus resolved upon from the month of 
 February or the beginning of March. 1 But he still escaped for 
 a short time. He withdrew to an obscure town called Ephraim or 
 Ephron, in the direction of Bethel, a short day's journey from 
 Jerusalem. 2 He spent a few days there with his disciples, letting 
 the storm pass over. But (the order to arrest him the moment he 
 appeared at Jerusalem, was given) The feast of the Passover was 
 .drawing nigh, and it was thought that Jesus, according to his 
 custom, would come to celebrate it at Jerusalem. 3 
 
 1 John xi. 53. 
 
 s John xi. 54. Cf. 2 Chron. xiii. 19; Jos., B. J., iv. ix. 9; Eusebius and St 
 Jerome, De situ et nom loc. heir., at the words E<£peoi/ and E<ppcu'fi. 
 
 3 John xi. 55, 56. For the order of the events, in all this part we follow the 
 system of John. The synoptics appear to have little information as to the period 
 of the life of Jesus which precedes the Passion. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 LAST WEEK OP JESUS. 
 
 Jesus did in fact set out with his disciples to see once more, and 
 for the last time, the unbelieving city. The hopes of his com- 
 panions were more and more exalted. All believed, in going up 
 to Jerusalem, that the kingdom of God was about to be realised 
 there. 1 The impiety of men being at its height, was regarded as 
 a great sign that the consummation was at hand, j The persuasion 
 in this respect was such, that they already disputed for precedence 
 in the kingdom. 2 This was, it is said, the moment chosen by 
 Salome to ask, on behalf of her sons, the two seats on the 
 right and left of the Son of man. 3 The Master, on the other hand, 
 was beset by grave thoughts. Sometimes he allowed a gloomy 
 resentment against his enemies to appear ; he related the parable 
 of a nobleman, who went to take possession of a kingdom in a far 
 country; but no sooner had he gone than his fellow-citizens 
 wished to get rid of him. The king returned, and commanded 
 those who had conspired against him to be brought before him, 
 and had them all put to death.* At other times he summarily 
 destroyed the illusions of the disciples. As they marched along 
 ■ the stony roads to the north of Jerusalem, Jesus pensively pre- 
 ceded the group of his companions. All regarded him in silence, 
 
 1 Luke xix. 11. * Luke xxii. 24, and following. 
 
 * Matt. xx. 20, and following ; Mark x. 35, and following. 
 
 * Luke xix. 12-27. 
 
258 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 experiencing a feeling of fear, and not daring to interrogate him. 
 Already, on various occasions, he had spoken to them of his 
 future sufferings, and they had listened to him reluctantly.* Jesus 
 at last spoke to them, and no longer concealing his presentiments, 
 discoursed to them of his approaching end. 2 There was great 
 sadness in the whole company. The disciples were expecting soon 
 to see the sign appear in the clouds. The inaugural cry of the 
 kingdom of God : " Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord/' 3 resounded already in joyous accents in their ears. The 
 fearful prospect he foreshadowed, troubled them. At each step of 
 the fatal road, the kingdom of God became nearer or more remote 
 in the mirage of their dreams. As to Jesus, he became confirmed 
 in the idea that he was about to die, but that his death would 
 save the world. 4 The misunderstanding between him and his dis- 
 ciples became greater each moment.) 
 
 The custom was to come to Jerusalem several days before the 
 Passover, in order to prepare for it. Jesus arrived late, and at one 
 time his enemies thought they were frustrated in their hope of 
 seizing him. 5 The sixth day before the feast (Saturday, 8th of 
 Nisan, equal to the 28th March) 6 he at last reached Bethany. He 
 entered, according to his custom, the house of Lazarus, Martha 
 and Mary, or of Simon the leper. They gave him a great recep- 
 tion. There was a dinner at Simon the leper's, 7 where many 
 persons were assembled, drawn thither by the desire of seeing 
 him, and also of seeing Lazarus, of whom for some time so many 
 things had been related. Lazarus was seated at the table, and 
 attracted much attention. Martha served, according to her 
 custom. 8 It seems that they sought, by an increased show of 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 21, and following; Mark viii. 31, and following. 
 
 2 Matt. xx. 17, and following; Mark x. 31, and following; Luke xviii. 31, and 
 following. 
 
 3 Matt, xxiii. 39; Luke xiii. 35. 
 
 * Matt, xx. 28. 5 John xi. 56. 
 
 6 The Passover was celebrated on the 14th of Nisan. Now in the year 33, the 
 1st of Nisan corresponded with Saturday, 21st of March. 
 
 7 Matt. xxvi. 6 ; Mark xiv. 3. Cf. Luke vii. 40, 43, 44. 
 
 * It is customary, in the east, for a person who is attached to any one by a tie 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 259 
 
 respect, to overcome the coolness of the public, and to assert the 
 high dignity of their guest. Mary, in order to give to the event a 
 more festive appearance, entered during dinner, bearing a vase of 
 perfume which she poured upon the feet of Jesus. She afterwards 
 broke the vase, according to an ancient custom by which the vessel 
 that had been employed in the entertainment of a stranger of dis- 
 tinction was broken. 1 Then, to testify her worship in an extraor- 
 dinary manner, she prostrated herself at the feet of her Master 
 and wiped them with her long hair. 2 ^ All the house was filled with 
 the odour of the perfume, to the great delight of every one except 
 the avaricious Judas of K'erioth. Considering the economical habits 
 of the community, this was certainly prodigality. The greedy 
 treasurer calculated immediately how much the perfume might 
 have been sold for, and what it would have realised for the 
 poor. This not very affectionate feeling, which seemed to place 
 something above Jesus, dissatisfied him. He liked to be honoured, 
 for honours served his aim and established his title of Son of 
 David. Therefore, when they spoke to him of the poor, he replied 
 rather sharply : " Ye have the poor always with you ; but me ye 
 have not always." And, exalting himself, he promised immortality 
 to the woman, who in this critical moment gave him a token of love. 3 
 The next day, (Sunday, 9 th of Nisan,) Jesus descended from 
 Bethany to Jerusalem.4 When, at a bend of the road, upon the 
 summit of the Mount of Olives, he saw the city spread before him, 
 it is said he wept over it, and addressed to it a last appeal. 5 At 
 the base of the mountain, at some steps from the gate, on entering 
 the neighbouring portion of the eastern wall of the city, which was 
 called Bethphage, no doubt on account of the fig-trees with which 
 
 of affection or of domesticity, to attend upon him when he goes to eat at tha 
 house of another. 
 
 1 1 have seen this custom still practised at Sour, (Zoar.) 
 
 2 "We must remember that the feet of the guests were not, as amongst us, con- 
 cealed under the table, but extended on a level with the body on the divan, or 
 triclinium. 
 
 3 Matt. xxvi. 6, and following; Mark xiv. 3, and following; John xi. 2, xii. 2, 
 and following. Compare Luke vii. 36, and following. 
 
 4 John xii. 12. * Luke xix. 41, and following. 
 
260 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 it was planted, 1 he had experienced a momentary pleasure. 2 
 (His arrival was noised abroad. The Galileans who had come to 
 the feast were highly elated, and prepared a little triumph for 
 him. An ass was brought to him, followed, according to custom, by 
 its colt. The Galileans spread their finest garments upon the back 
 of this humble animal as saddle-cloths, and seated him thereon. 
 Others, however, spread their garments upon the road, and strewed 
 it with green branches. The multitude which preceded and fol- 
 lowed him, carrying palms, cried : " Hosanna to the son of David ! 
 Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!" Some 
 persons even gave him the title of king of Israel. 3 " Master, 
 rebuke thy disciples," said the Pharisees to him. "If these should 
 hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out/' replied 
 Jesus, and he entered into the city. The Hierosolymites, who 
 scarcely knew him, asked who he was : " It is Jesus, the prophet 
 of Nazareth, in Galilee," was the reply. Jerusalem was a city of 
 about 50,000 souls. 4 A trifling event, such as the entrance of a 
 stranger, however little celebrated, or the arrival of a band of 
 provincials, or a movement of people to the avenues of the city, 
 could not fail, under ordinary circumstances, to be quickly noised 
 about. But at the time of the feast, the confusion was extreme. 5 
 Jerusalem at these times was taken possession of by strangers. It 
 was amongst the latter that the excitement appears to have been 
 
 1 Mishnah, Menachoth, xi. 2 ; Talm. of Bab., Sanhedrim, lib; Pesachim, 63 b, 
 91 a ; Sota, 45 a ; Baba metsia, 85 a. It follows from these passages that Beth- 
 phage was a kind of pomozrium, which extended to the foot of the eastern base- 
 ment of the temple, and which had itself its wall of inclosure. The passages 
 Matt. xxi. 1, Mark xi. 1, Luke xix. 29, do not plainly imply that Bethphage was a 
 village, as Eusebius and St Jerome have supposed. 
 
 2 Matt. xxi. 1, and following; Mark xi. 1, and following; Luke xix. 29, and 
 following ; John xii. 12, and following. 
 
 3 Luke xix. 38 ; John xii. 13. 
 
 4 The number of 120,000, given by Hecatseus, (in Josephus, Contra Apion, I. xxii.,) 
 appears exaggerated. Cicero speaks of Jerusalem as of a paltry little town, (A d 
 Atticum, ii. ix.) The ancient boundaries, whichever calculation we adopt, do not 
 allow of a population quadruple of that of the present time, which does not reach 
 15,000. See Robinson, Bibl. Res., i. 421, 422, (2nd edition ;) Fergusson, Topogr. of 
 Jerus., p. 51 ; Forster, Syria and Palestine, p. 82. 
 
 5 Jos., B.J, ii. xiv. 3, vi. ix. 3. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 261 
 
 most lively. Some proselytes, speaking Greek, who had come to the 
 feast, had their curiosity piqued, and wished to see Jesus. Tbey 
 addressed themselves to his disciples ;* but we do not know the 
 result of the interview. Jesus, according to his custom, went to 
 pass the night at his beloved village of Bethany. 2 The three fol- 
 lowing days, (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday,) he descended 
 regularly to Jerusalem ; and, after the setting of the sun, he 
 returned either to Bethany, or to the farms on the western side 
 of jthe Mount of Olives, where he had many friends. 3 
 
 A deep melancholy appears, during these last days, to have 
 filled the soul of Jesus, who was generally so joyous and serene. 
 All the narratives agree in relating that, before his arrest, he 
 underwent a short experience of doubt and trouble ; a kind of 
 anticipated agony. According to some, he suddenly exclaimed, 
 " Now is my soul troubled. Father, save me from this hour." 4 
 It was believed that a voice from heaven was heard at this mo- 
 ment : others said that an angel came to console him.5 According 
 to one widely-spread version, the incident took place in the garden 
 of Gethsemane. Jesus, it was said, went about a stone's throw 
 from his sleeping disciples, taking with him only Peter and the 
 two sons of Zebedee, and fell on his face and prayed. His soul 
 was sad even unto death ; a terrible anguish weighed upon him ; 
 but resignation to the divine will sustained him. 6 /This scene, 
 owing to the instinctive art which regulated the compilation of 
 the synoptics, and often led them in the arrangement of the narra- 
 tive to study adaptability and effect, has been given as occurring 
 on the last night of the life of Jesus, and at the precise moment 
 of his arrest. If this version were the true one, we should scarcely 
 
 1 John xii. 20, and following. 3 Matt. xxi. 17 ; Mark xi. 11. 
 
 3 Matt. xxi. 17, 18 ; Mark xi. 11, 12, 19 ; Luke xxi. 37, 38. 
 
 4 John xii. 27, and following. "We can easily imagine that the exalted tone of 
 John, and his exclusive pre- occupation with the divine character of Jesus, may 
 have effaced from the narrative the circumstances of natural weakness related by 
 the synoptics. 
 
 5 Luke xxii. 43 ; John xii. 28, 29. 
 
 6 Matt. xxvi. 36, and following ; Mark xiv. 32, and following ; Luke xxii. 39, 
 and following. 
 
262 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 understand why John, who had been the intimate witness of so 
 touching an episode, should not mention it in the very circumstan- 
 tial narrative which he has furnished of the evening of the Thurs- 
 day.! All that we can safely say is, that, during his last days, the 
 enormous weight of the mission he had accepted pressed cruelly 
 upon Jesus. Human nature asserted itself for a time. Per- 
 haps he began to hesitate about his work. Terror and doubt 
 took possession of him, and threw him into a state of exhaustion 
 worse than death. He who has sacrificed his repose, and the 
 legitimate rewards of life, to a great idea, always experiences a 
 feeling of revulsion when the image of death presents itself to him 
 for the first time, and seeks to persuade him that all has been in 
 vain. Perhaps some of those touching reminiscences which the 
 strongest souls preserve, and which at times pierce like a sword, 
 came upon him at this moment. Did he remember the clear 
 fountains of Galilee where he was wont to refresh himself ; the 
 vine and the fig-tree under which he had reposed, and the young 
 maidens who, perhaps, would have consented to love him ? Did 
 he curse the hard destiny which had denied him the joys conceded 
 to all others ? Did he regret his too lofty nature, and, victim of 
 his greatness, did he mourn that he had not remained a simple 
 artizan of Nazareth ? We know not. For all these internal 
 troubles evidently were a sealed letter to his disciples. They 
 understood nothing of them, and supplied by simple conjectures 
 that which in the great soul of their Master was obscure to them. 
 It is certain, at least, that his divine nature soon regained the 
 supremacy. He might still have avoided death; but he would 
 not. Love for his work sustained him. He was willing to drink 
 the cup to the dregs, j Henceforth we behold Jesus entirely him- 
 self; his character unclouded. The subtleties of the polemic, the 
 credulity of the thaumaturgus and of the exorcist are forgotten. 
 
 1 This is the less to be understood, as John is affectedly particular in noticing 
 the circumstances which were personal to him, or of which he had been the only 
 witness, (xiii. 23, and following, xviii. 15, and following, xix. 26, and following, 
 35, xx. 2, and following, xxi. 20, and following.) 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 263 
 
 jf There remains only the incomparable hero of the Passion, the 
 ' . founder of the rights of free conscience, and the complete model 
 which all suffering souls will contemplate in order to fortify and 
 console themselves. ) 
 
 The triumph of Bethphage — that bold act of the provincials in 
 celebrating at the very gates of Jerusalem the advent of their 
 Messiah- King — completed the exasperation of the Pharisees and 
 the aristocracy of the temple^ A new council was held on the "Wed- 
 nesday (12th of Nisan) in the house of Joseph Kaiapha. 1 The 
 immediate arrest of Jesus was resolved upon. A great idea of 
 order and of conservative policy governed all their plans. The 
 desire was to avoid a scene. As the feast of the Passover, which 
 commenced that year on the Friday evening, was a time of bustle 
 and excitement, it was resolved to anticipate it. Jesus being 
 popular, 2 they feared an outbreak ; the arrest was therefore fixed 
 for the next day, Thursday. It was resolved, also, not to seize 
 him in the temple, where he came every day, 3 but to observe his 
 habits, in order to seize him in some retired place. The agents of 
 the priests sounded his disciples, hoping to obtain useful informa- 
 tion from their weakness or their simplicity. They found what 
 they sought in Judas of Kerioth. This wretch, actuated by 
 motives impossible to explain, betrayed his Master, gave all the 
 necessary information, and even undertook himself (although such 
 an excess of vileness is scarcely credible) to guide the troop which 
 was to effect his arrest. ) The remembrance of horror which the 
 folly or the wickedness of this man has left in the Christian 
 tradition has doubtless given rise to some exaggeration on this 
 point. Judas until then had been a disciple like the others ; he 
 had even the title of apostle ; and he had performed miracles and 
 driven out demons. Legend, which always uses strong and decisive 
 language, describes the occupants of the little supper-room as eleven 
 saints and one reprobate. Eeality does not proceed by such abso- 
 lute categories. Avarice, which the synoptics give as the motive 
 
 1 Matt. xxvi. 1, 5 ; Mark xiv. 1, 2 ; Luke xxii. 1, 2. 
 » Matt. xxi. 46. 3 Matt. xxvi. 55. 
 
264 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 of the crime in question, does not suffice to explain it. It would 
 be very singular if a man who kept the purse, and who knew what 
 he would lose by the death of his chief, were to abandon the profits 
 of his occupation! in exchange for a very small sum of money. 2 
 Had the self-love of Judas been wounded by the rebuff which he 
 had received at the dinner at Bethany ? Even that would not 
 explain his conduct. John would have us regard him as a thief, 
 an unbeliever from the beginning, 3 for which, however, there is no 
 probability. "We would rather ascribe it to some feeling of jealousy 
 or to some dissension amongst the disciples. The peculiar 
 hatred John manifests towards Judas 4 confirms this hypothesis. 
 Less pure in heart than the others, Judas had, from the very 
 nature of his office, become unconsciously narrow-minded. By a 
 caprice very common to men engaged in active duties, he had 
 come to regard the interests of the treasury as superior even to 
 those of the work for which it was intended. The treasurer had 
 overcome the apostle. ) The murmurings which escaped him at 
 Bethany seem to indicate that sometimes he thought the Master 
 cost his spiritual family too dear. No doubt this mean economy 
 had caused many other collisions in the little society. 
 
 .Without denying that Judas of Kerioth may have contributed 
 to the arrest of his Master, we still believe that the curses with 
 which he is loaded are somewhat unjust.^ There was, perhaps, 
 in his deed more awkwardness than perversity. The moral con- 
 science of the man of the people is quick and correct, but 
 unstable and inconsistent. . It is at the mercy of the impulse of 
 the moment. The secret societies of the republican party were 
 characterised by much earnestness and sincerity, and yet their 
 denouncers were very numerous. A trifling spite sufficed to con- 
 vert a partisan into a traitor. But if the foolish desire for a few 
 pieces of silver turned the head of poor Judas, he does not seem 
 
 1 John xii. 6. 
 
 2 John does not even speak of a payment in money. 
 
 3 John vi. 65, xii. 6. 
 
 4 John vi. 65, 71, 72, xii. 6, xiii. 2, 27, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 265 
 
 to have lost the moral sentiment completely, since when he had 
 seen the consequences of his fault he repented, 1 and, it is said, 
 killed himself. 
 
 Each moment of this eventful period is solemn, and counts 
 more than whole ages in the history of humanity. We have ar- 
 rived at the Thursday, 13th of Nisan, (2nd April.) The evening of 
 the next day commenced the festival of the Passover, begun by 
 the feast in which the Paschal lamb was eaten. The festival con- 
 tinued for seven days, during which unleavened bread was eaten. 
 The first and the last of these seven days were peculiarly solemn. 
 The disciples were already occupied with preparations for the feast. 2 
 As to Jesus, we are led to believe that he knew of the treachery of 
 Judas, and that he suspected the fate that awaited him. In the 
 evening he took his last repast with his disciples. It was not the 
 ritual feast of the passover, as was afterwards supposed, owing to 
 an error of a day in reckoning, 3 but for the primitive church 
 this supper of the Thursday was the true passover, the seal of the 
 new covenant.) Each disciple connected with it his most cherished 
 remembrances, and numerous touching traits of the Master which 
 each one preserved were associated with this repast, which became 
 the corner-stone of Christian piety, and the starting-point of the 
 most fruitful institutions. 
 
 Doubtless the tender love which filled the heart of Jesus for the 
 little church which surrounded him overflowed at this moment, 4 
 and his strong and serene soul became buoyant, even under the 
 weight of the gloomy preoccupations that beset him. He had 
 a word for each of his friends ; two among them especially, John 
 and Peter, were the objects of tender marks of attachment. John 
 
 1 Matt, xxvii. 3, and following. 
 
 2 Matt. xxvi. 1, and following ; Mark xiv. 12 ; Luke xxii. 7 ; John xiii. 29. 
 
 3 This is the system of the synoptics, (Matt; xxvi. 17, and following; Mark 
 xiv. 12, and following; Luke xxii. 7, and following, 15.) But John, whose narra- 
 tive of this portion has a greater authority, expressly states that Jesus died the 
 same day on which the Paschal lamb was eaten (xiii. 1,2, 29, xviii. 28, xix. 14, 31.) 
 The Talmud also makes Jesus to die " on the eve of the Passover," (Talm. of Bab.. 
 Sanhedrim, 43 a, 67 a.) 
 
 4 John xiii. 1, and following. 
 
266 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 (at least according to his own account) was reclining on the divan, 
 by the side of Jesus, his head resting upon the breast of the Master. 
 Towards the end of the repast, the secret which weighed upon the 
 heart of Jesus almost escaped him : he said, " Verily I say unto 
 you, that one of you shall betray me." 1 To these simple men this 
 was a moment of anguish ; they looked at each other, and each 
 questioned himself. Judas was present ; perhaps Jesus, who had 
 for some time had reasons to suspect him, sought by this expres- 
 sion to draw from his looks or from his embarrassed manner the 
 confession of his fault. But the unfaithful disciple did not lose 
 countenance ; he even dared, it is said, to ask with the others : 
 " Master, is it I ?" 
 
 Meanwhile, the good and upright soul of Peter was in torture. 
 He made a sign to John to endeavour to ascertain of whom the 
 Master spoke. John, who could converse with Jesus without 
 being heard, asked him the meaning of this enigma. Jesus having 
 only suspicions, did not wish to pronounce any name ; he only 
 told John to observe to whom he was going to offer a sop. At 
 the same time, he soaked the bread and offered it to Judas. John 
 and Peter alone had cognizance of the fact. ( Jesus addressed to 
 Judas words which contained a bitter reproach, but which were 
 not understood by those present ; and he left the company. They 
 thought that Jesus was simply giving him orders for the morrow's 
 feast. 2 
 
 At the time, this repast struck no one; and apart from the 
 ajmrehensions which the Master confided to his disciples, who only 
 half understood them, nothing extraordinary took place. But 
 after the death of Jesus, they attached to this evening a singularly 
 solemn meaning, and the imagination of believers spread a colour- 
 ing of sweet mysticism over it. The last hours of a cherished 
 friend are those we best remember. By an inevitable illusion, we 
 
 1 Matt. xxvi. 21, and following; Mark xiv. 18, and following; Luke xx. 21, 
 and following; John xiii. 21, and following, xxi. 20. 
 
 2 John xiii. 21, and following, which shews the improbabilities of the narratir* 
 of the synoptics. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 267 
 
 attribute to the conversations we have then had with him 
 a meaning which death alone gives to them ; we concentrate into 
 a few hours the memories of many years. The greater part of 
 the disciples saw their Master no more after the supper of which 
 we have just spoken. It was the farewell banquet. In this 
 repast, as in many others, Jesus practised his mysterious rite of 
 the breaking of bread. As it was early believed that the repast 
 in question took place on the day of the Passover, and was the 
 Paschal feast, the idea naturally arose that the Eucharistic institu- 
 tion was established at this supreme moment. Starting from the 
 hypothesis that Jesus knew beforehand the precise moment of his 
 death, the disciples were led to suppose that he reserved a number 
 of important acts for his last hours. As, moreover, one of the 
 f andamental ideas of the first Christians was that the death of 
 Jesus had been a sacrifice, replacing all those of the ancient 
 Law, the " Last Supper," which was supposed to have taken place, 
 once for all, on the eve of the Passion, became the supreme sacri- 
 fice — the act which constituted the new alliance — the sign of the 
 blood shed for the salvation of all. 1 The bread and wine, placed 
 in connexion with death itself, were thus the image of the new 
 testament that Jesus had sealed with his sufferings — the com- 
 memoration of the sacrifice of Christ until his advent. 2 
 
 Very early this mystery was embodied in a small sacramental 
 narrative, which we possess under four forms, 3 very similar to one 
 another. John, preoccupied with the Eucharistic ideas, 4 and who 
 relates the Last Supper with so much prolixity, connecting with it 
 so many circumstances and discourses, 5 — and who was the only 
 one of the evangelists whose testimony on this point has the value 
 of an eye-witness, does not mention this narrative. This is a proof 
 that he did not regard the Eucharist as a peculiarity of the Lord's 
 Supper. Eor him the special rite of the Last Supper was the washing 
 of feet. It is probable that in certain primitive Christian families 
 
 1 Luke xxii. 20. 2 1 Cor. xi. 26. 
 
 " Matt. xxvi. 26-23; Mark xiv. 22-24; Luke xxii. 19-21 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23-25. 
 
 * Chap. vi. * Chaps, xiii.-xvii. 
 
268 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 this latter rite obtained an importance which it has since lost. 1 
 No doubt, Jesus, on some occasions, had practised it to give his 
 disciples an example of brotherly humility. It was connected 
 with the eve of his death, in consequence of the tendency to 
 group around the Last Supper all the great moral and ritual re- 
 commendations of Jesus. 
 
 A high sentiment of love, of concord, of charity, and of mu- 
 tual deference, animated, moreover, the remembrances which were 
 cherished of the last hours of Jesus. 2 It is always the unity of 
 his Church, constituted by him or by his Spirit, which is the soul of 
 the symbols and of the discourses which Christian tradition 
 referred to this sacred moment :[ " A new commandment I give 
 unto you," said he, " that ye love^one another ; as I have loved 
 you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know 
 that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Hence- 
 forth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth not what 
 his lord doeth : but I have called you friends ; for all things that 
 I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. These 
 things I command you, that ye love one another." 3 ) At this last 
 moment there were again evoked rivalries and struggles for 
 precedence. 4 Jesus remarked, that if he, the Master, had been in 
 the midst of his disciples as their servant, how much more ought 
 they to submit themselves to one another. According to some, 
 in drinking the wine, he said, "I will not drink henceforth of 
 this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you 
 in my Fathers kingdom." 5 According to others, he promised 
 
 1 John xiii. 14, 15. Cf. Matt. xx. 26, and following; Luke xxii. 26, and fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 2 John xiii. 1, and following. The discourses placed by John after the narrative 
 of the Last Supper cannot be taken as historical. They are full of peculiarities and 
 of expressions which are not in the style of the discourses of Jesus ; and which, 
 on the contrary, are very similar to the habitual language of John. Thus the ex- 
 pression "little children" in the vocative (John xiii. 33) is very frequent in the 
 First Epistle of John. It does not appear to have been familiar to Jesui. 
 
 3 John xiii. 33-35, xv. 12-17. 
 
 4 Luke xxii. 24-27. Cf. John xiii. 4, and following. 
 * Matt. xxvi. 29; Mark xiv. 25; Luke xxii. 18. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 269 
 
 them soon a celestial feast, where they would be seated on thrones 
 at his side. 1 
 
 It seems that, towards the end of the evening, the presentiments 
 of Jesus took hold of the disciples. All felt that a very serious 
 danger threatened the Master, and that they were approaching a 
 crisis. At one time Jesus thought of precautions, and spoke of 
 swords. There were two in the company. " It is enough," said 
 he. 2 He did not, however, follow out this idea ; he saw clearly 
 that timid provincials would not stand before the armed force 
 of the great powers of Jerusalem. Peter, full of zeal, and feeling 
 sure of himself, swore that he would go with him to prison and to 
 death. Jesus, with his usual acuteness, expressed doubts about 
 him. According to a tradition, which probably came from Peter 
 himself, Jesus declared that Peter would deny him before the 
 crowing of the cock. All, like Peter, swore that they would 
 remain faithful to him. 3 
 
 1 Luke xxii. 29, 30. 2 Luke xxii. 36-38. 
 
 3 Matt. xxvi. 31, and following; Mark xiv. 29, and following; Luke xxii. 33, 
 and following ; John xiii, 36, and following, 
 
CHAPTER XXtV. 
 
 AEEEST AND TRIAL OF JESUS. 
 
 (It was nightfall * when they left the room.2 Jesus, according to 
 his custom, passed through the valley of Kedron ; and, accom- 
 panied by his disciples, went to the garden of Gethsemane, at the 
 foot of the Mount of Olives, 3 and sat down there. Overawing his 
 friends by his inherent greatness, he watched and prayed. They were 
 sleeping near him, when all at once an armed troop appeared bearing 
 lighted torches. It was the guards of the temple, armed with 
 staves, a kind of police under the control of the priests. They 
 were supported by a detachment of Eoman soldiers with their 
 swords. The order for the arrest emanated from the high priest 
 and the Sanhedrim. 4 Judas, knowing the habits of Jesus, had 
 indicated this place as the one where he might most easily be sur- 
 prised. Judas, according to the unanimous tradition of the earliest 
 times, accompanied the detachment himself; 6 and according to 
 some, 6 he carried his hateful conduct even to betraying him 
 
 by a kiss.] However this may be, it is certain that there was some 
 j 
 
 1 John xiii. 30. 
 
 2 The singing of a religious hymn, related by Matt. xxvi. 30, and Mark xiv. 26, 
 proceeds from the opinion entertained by these two evangelists that the last repast 
 of Jesus was the Paschal feast. Before and after the Paschal feast, psalms were 
 sung. Talm. of Bab., Pesachim, cap. ix. hal. 3, and fol. 118 a, &c. 
 
 3 Matt. xxvi. 36; Mark xiv. 32; Luke xxii. 39; John xviii. 1, 2. 
 
 4 Matt. xxvi. 47; Mark xiv. 43; John xviii. 3, 12. 
 
 6 Matt. xxvi. 47; Mark xiv. 43 ; Luke xxii. 47; John xviii. 3; Acts i. 16. ■ 
 • This is the tradition of the synoptics. In the narrative of John, Jesus declares 
 himself. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 271 
 
 show of resistance on the part of the disciples. 1 One of them 
 (Peter, according to eye-witnesses 2 ) drew his sword, and wounded 
 the ear of one of the servants of the high priest, named Malchus. 
 Jesus restrained this opposition, and gave himself up to the 
 soldiers. Weak and incapable of effectual resistance, especially 
 against authorities who had so much prestige, the disciples took 
 flight, and became dispersed ; Peter and John alone did not 
 lose sight of their Master. ) Another unknown young man followed 
 him, covered with a light garment. They sought to arrest him, 
 but the young man fled, leaving his tunic in the hands of the 
 guards. 3 
 
 The course which the priests had resolved to take against Jesus 
 was quite in conformity with the established law. The procedure 
 against the " corrupter," (mtfsith,) who sought to injure the purity 
 of religion, is explained in the Talmud, with details, the naive 
 impudence of which provokes a smile. A judicial ambush is there 
 made an essential part of the examination of criminals. When a 
 man was accused of being a " corrupter," two witnesses were sub- 
 orned who were concealed behind a partition. It was arranged to 
 bring the accused into a contiguous room, where he could be heard 
 by these two without his perceiving them. Two candles were 
 lighted near him, in order that it might be satisfactorily proved 
 that the witnesses " saw him."* He was then made to repeat his 
 blasphemy, and urged to retract it. If he persisted, the witnesses 
 who had heard him conducted him to the tribunal, and he was 
 stoned to death. The Talmud adds, that this was the manner in 
 which they treated Jesus ; that he was condemned on the faith of 
 two witnesses who had been suborned, and that the crime of 
 " corruption " is moreover the only one for which the witnesses 
 are thus prepared. 5 
 
 1 The two traditions are agreed on this point. J John xviii. 10. 
 
 8 Mark xiv. 51, 52. 
 
 * In criminal matters, eye-witnesses alone were admitted. Mishnah, Sanhedrim, 
 iv. 5. 
 
 * Talm. of Jerus., Sanhedrim, xiv. 16; Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 43 a, 67 a. 
 Cf. Shabbath, 104 6. 
 
272 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 We learn from the disciples of Jesus themselves that the crime 
 with which their Master was charged was that of " corruption ;" * 
 and apart from some minutiae, the fruit of the rabbinical imagina- 
 tion, the narrative of the Gospels corresponds exactly with the pro- 
 cedure described by the Talmud. The plan of the enemies of Jesus 
 was to convict him, by the testimony of witnesses and by his own 
 avowals, of blasphemy, and of outrage against the Mosaic religion, to 
 condemn him to death according to law, and then to get the con- 
 demnation sanctioned by Pilate. The priestly authority, as we have 
 already seen, was in reality entirely in the hands of Hanan. The 
 order for the arrest probably came from him. It was before this 
 powerful personage that Jesus was first brought. 2 Hanan questioned 
 him as to his doctrine and his disciples. Jesus, with proper pride, re- 
 fused to enter into long explanations. He referred Hanan to his 
 teachings, which had been public ; he declared he had never held any 
 secret doctrine ; and desired the ex-high priest to interrogate those 
 who had listened to him. This answer was perfectly natural ; but 
 the exaggerated respect with which the old priest was surrounded 
 made it appear audacious ; and one of those present replied to it, 
 it is said, by a blow. 
 
 Peter and John had followed their Master to the dwelling of 
 Hanan. John, who was known in the house, was admitted with- 
 out difficulty ; but Peter was stopped at the entrance, and John 
 was obliged to beg the porter to let him pass. The night was 
 cold. Peter stopped in the antechamber, and approached a brasier, 
 around which the servants were warming themselves. He was 
 soon recognised as a disciple of the accused. The unfortunate 
 man, betrayed by his Galilean accent, and pestered by questions 
 from the servants, one of whom, a kinsman of Malchus, had 
 seen him at Gethsemane, denied thrice that he had ever had 
 the least connexion with Jesus. He thought that Jesus could not 
 hear him, and never imagined that this cowardice, which he sought 
 
 1 Matt, xxvii. 63; John vii. 12, 47. 
 
 2 John xviii. 13, and following. This circumstance, which we only find in John, 
 is the strongest proof of the historic value of the fourth Gospel. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 273 
 
 to hide by his dissimulation, was exceedingly dishonourable. But 
 his better nature sodn revealed to him the fault he had com- 
 mitted. A fortuitous circumstance, the crowing of the cock, 
 recalled to him a remark that Jesus had made. Touched to the 
 heart, he went out and wept bitterly. 1 
 
 Hanan, although the true author of the judicial murder 
 about to be accomplished, had not power to pronounce the 
 sentence upon Jesus ; he sent him to his son-in-law, Kaiapha, who 
 bore the official title. This man, the blind instrument of his 
 father-in-law, would naturally ratify everything that had been 
 done. The Sanhedrim was assembled at his house. 2 The inquiry 
 commenced ; and several witnesses, prepared beforehand accord- 
 ing to the inquisitorial process described in the Talmud, ap- 
 peared before the tribunal. The fatal sentence which Jesus 
 had really uttered : "I am able to destroy the temple of God 
 and to build it in three days," was cited by two witnesses. To 
 blaspheme the temple of God was, according to the Jewish law, 
 to blaspheme God himself. 3 Jesus remained silent, and refused 
 to explain the incriminated speech. If we may believe one version, 
 the high-priest then adjured him to say if he were the Messiah ; 
 Jesus confessed it, and proclaimed before the assembly the near 
 approach of his heavenly reign. 4 The courage of Jesus, who had 
 resolved to die, renders this narrative superfluous. It is probable 
 that here, as when before Hanan, he remained silent. This was 
 in general his rule of conduct during his last moments. The 
 sentence was settled ; and they only sought for pretexts. Jesus 
 felt this, and did not undertake a useless defence. In the light of 
 orthodox Judaism, he was truly a blasphemer, a destroyer of the 
 established worship. Now these crimes were punished by the law 
 with death.5 With one voice, the assembly declared him guilty 
 
 1 Matt. xxvi. 69, and following; Mark xiv. 66, and following; Luke xxii. 54> 
 and following; John xviii. 15, and following, 25, and following. 
 
 3 Matt. xvi. 57 ; Mark xiv. 53 ; Luke xxii. 66. 
 
 8 Matt, xxiii. 16, and following. 
 
 * Matt. xxvi. 64; Mark xiv. 62; Luke xxii. 69. John knows nothing of this 
 scene. 3 Levit. xxiv. 14, and following; Deut. xiii. 1, and following. 
 
 8 
 
274 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 of a capital crime. The members of the council who secretly 
 leaned to him, were absent or did not vote. 1 The frivolity which 
 characterises old established aristocracies, did not permit the 
 judges to reflect long upon the consequences of the sentence 
 they had passed. Human life was at that time very lightly sacri- 
 ficed ; doubtless the members of the Sanhedrim did not dream 
 that their sons would have to render account to an angry posterity 
 for the sentence pronounced with such careless disdain. 
 
 The Sanhedrim had not the right to execute a~sentence of 
 death. 2 But in the confusion of powers which then reigned in 
 Judea, Jesus was, from that moment, none the less condemned. 
 He remained the rest of the night exposed to the ill treatment 
 of an infamous pack of servants, who spared him no indignity. 3 
 
 In the morning the chief priests and the elders again assembled. 4 
 The point was, to get Pilate to ratify the condemnation pronounced 
 by the Sanhedrim, which, since the occupation of the Romans, 
 was no longer sufficient.) The procurator was not invested, like 
 the imperial legate, with the disposal of life and death. But 
 Jesus was not a Roman citizen ; it only required the authorisation 
 of the governor in order that the sentence pronounced against 
 him should take its course. As always happens, when a political 
 people subjects a nation in which the civil and the religious 
 laws are confounded, the Romans had been brought to give to the 
 Jewish law a sort of official support. The Roman law did not 
 apply to Jews. The latter remained under the canonical law 
 which we find recorded in the Talmud, just as the Arabs in 
 Algeria are still governed by the code of Islamism. Although 
 neutral in religion, the Romans thus very often sanctioned penalties 
 inflicted for religious faults. The situation was nearly that of the 
 sacred cities of India under the English dominion, or rather that 
 which would be the state of Damascus if Syria were conquered by 
 a European nation. Josephus asserts, though this may be doubted, 
 
 1 Luke xxiii. 50, 51. 2 Johnxviii. 31 ; Jos., Ant, xx.ix. 1. 
 
 3 Matt.xxvi. 67, 68 ; Mark xiv. 65; Luke xxii. 63-65. 
 
 4 Matt, xxvii. 1 ; Mark xv. 1 ; Luke xxii. 66, xxiii. 1; John xviii. 28. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 275 
 
 that if a Eoman trespassed beyond the pillars which bore inscrip- 
 tions forbidding pagans to advance, the Romans themselves would 
 have delivered him to the Jews to be put to death. 1 
 
 The agents of the priests therefore bound Jesus and led him to 
 the judgment-hall, which was the former palace of Herod, 2 adjoining 
 the Tower of Antonia. 3 It was the morning of the day on which the 
 Paschal lamb was to be eaten, (Friday the 14th of Nisan, our 3d of 
 April.) The Jews would have been denied by entering the judg- 
 ment-hall, and would not have been able to share in the sacred 
 feast. They therefore remained without. 4 Pilate being informed 
 of their presence, ascended the bima 5 or tribunal, situated in the 
 open air, G at the place named Gabbatha, or in Greek, Lithostrotos, 
 on account of the pavement which covered the ground. 
 
 He had scarcely been informed of the accusation, before he 
 displayed his annoyance at being mixed up with this affair.? He 
 then shut himself up in the judgment-hall with Jesus. There a 
 conversation took place, the precise details of which are lost, no 
 witness having been able to repeat it to the disciples, but the tenor 
 of which appears to have been well divined by John^. His narra- 
 tive, in fact, perfectly accords with what history teaches us of the 
 mutual position of the two interlocutors. 
 
 The procurator, Pontius, surnamed Pilate, doubtless on account 
 of the pilum or javelin of honour with which he or one of his 
 ancestors was decorated, 8 had hitherto had no relation with the 
 new sect. Indifferent to the internal quarrels of the Jews, he only 
 saw in all these movements of sectaries, the results of intemperate 
 
 Jos., Ant., XV. xi. 5 ; B. J., VI, ii. 4. 
 
 Philo, Legatio ad Caium, § 38. Jos., B. J., n. xiv. 8. 
 
 3 The exact place now occupied by the seraglio of the Pacha of Jerusalem. 
 
 4 John xviii. 28. 
 
 6 The Greek word B^/xa had passed into the Syro-Chaldaic. 
 
 6 Jos., B. J., ii. ix. 3, xiv. 8; Matt, xxvii. 27 ; John xviii. 33. 
 
 7 John xviii. 29. 
 
 8 Virg., JSn., xii. 121; Martial, Epigr., I. xxxii., x. xlviii.; Plutarch, Life of 
 Romulus, 29. Compare the hasta pura, a military decoration. Orelli and Henzen 
 Inscr. Lat., Nos. 3574, 6852, &c. Pilatus is, on this hypothesis, a word of the 
 same form as Torqualus. 
 
276 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 imaginations and disordered brains. In general, he did not like the 
 Jews, but the Jews detested him still more. They thought him 
 hard, scornful, and passionate, and accused him of improbable 
 crimes. 1 
 
 Jerusalem, the centre of a great national fermentation, was 
 a very seditious city, and an insupportable abode for a fo- 
 reigner. The enthusiasts pretended that it was a fixed design of 
 the new procurator to abolish the Jewish law. 2 . Their narrow 
 fanaticism, and their religious hatreds, disgusted that broad sen- 
 timent of justice and civil government which the humblest 
 Eoman carried everywhere with him. All the acts of Pilate 
 which are known to us, shew him to have been a good adminis- 
 trator. 3 \Tn the earlier period of the exercise of his office, he had 
 difficulties with those subject to him which he had solved in a very 
 brutal manner ; but it seems that essentially he was right. The 
 Jews must have appeared to him a people behind the age ; he 
 doubtless judged them as a liberal prefect formerly judged the 
 Bas-Bretons, who rebelled for such trifling matters as a new road, 
 or the establishment of a school. In his best projects* for the 
 good of the country, notably in those relating to public works, 
 he had encountered an impassable obstacle in the Law. The Law 
 restricted life to such a degree that it opposed all change, and all 
 amelioration. The Roman structures, even the most useful ones, 
 were objects of great antipathy on the part of zealous Jews. 4 Two 
 votive escutcheons with inscriptions, which he had set up at his 
 residence near the sacred precincts, provoked a still more violent 
 storm. 5 Pilate at first cared little for these susceptibilities ; and 
 he was soon involved in sanguinary suppressions of revolt, 6 which 
 afterwards ended in his removal. 7 The experience of so many 
 conflicts had rendered him very prudent in his relations with this 
 intractable people, which avenged itself upon its governors by 
 
 1 Philo, Leg. ad Caium, § 38. 2 Jos., Ant., xvm. iii. 1, init. 
 
 3 Jos., Ant, xviii. ii.-iv. 4 Talni. of Bab., Shabbath, 33 b. 
 
 5 Philo, Leg. ad Caium, § 38. 
 
 6 Jos., Ant, xvm. iii. 1 and 2; Bell. Jud., n. ix. 2, and following; Lukexiii. 1. 
 
 7 Jos., Ant, xvm. iv. 1, 2. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 277 
 
 compelling them to use towards it hateful severities. The pro- 
 curator saw himself, with extreme displeasure, led to play a cruel 
 part in this new affair, for the sake of a law he hated. 1 He 
 knew that religious fanaticism, when it has obtained the sanction 
 of civil governments to some act of violence, is afterwards the first 
 to throw the responsibility upon the government, and almost accuses 
 them of being the author of it. Supreme injustice ; for the true 
 culprit is, in such cases, the instigator ! 
 
 Pilate, then, would have liked to save Jesus. Perhaps the digni- 
 fied and calm attitude of the accused made an impression upon 
 him. According to a tradition,2 Jesus found a supporter in 
 the wife of the procurator himself. She may have seen the gentle 
 Galilean from some window of the palace, overlooking the courts 
 of the temple. Perhaps she had seen him again in her dreams ; 
 and the idea that the blood of this beautiful young man was about 
 to be spilt, weighed upon her mind: Certain it is that Jesus found 
 Pilate prepossessed in his favour. The governor questioned him 
 with kindness, and with the desire to find an excuse for sending 
 him away pardoned. 
 
 The title of " King of the Jews/' which Jesus had never taken 
 upon himself, but which his enemies represented as the sum and 
 substance of his acts and pretensions, was naturally that by 
 which it was sought to excite the suspicions of the Koman autho- 
 rity. They accused him on this ground of sedition, and of treason 
 against the government. Nothing could be more unjust ; for 
 Jesus had always recognised the Roman government as the estab- 
 lished power. But conservative religious bodies do not generally 
 shrink from calumny. Notwithstanding his own explanation, they 
 drew certain conclusions from his teaching ; they transformed him 
 into a disciple of Judas the Gaulonite; they pretended that he 
 forbade the payment of tribute to Csesar.3 C_Pilate .asked him if 
 he was really the king of the Jews. £) Jesus concealed nothing of 
 what he thought. But the great ambiguity of speech which had 
 
 1 John xviii. 35. 2 Matt, xxvii. 19. 3 Luke xxiii. 2, 5. 
 
 4 Matt, xxvii. 11 : Mark xv. 2: Luke xxiii. 3; John rviii 33. 
 
278 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 been the source of his strength, and which, after his death, was to 
 establish his kingship, injured him on this occasion. An idealist, 
 that is to say, not distinguishing the spirit from the substance, Jesus, 
 whose words, to use the image of the Apocalypse, were as a two-edged 
 sword, never completely satisfied the powers of earth. If we may 
 believe John, he avowed his royalty, but uttered at the same time 
 this profound sentence : " My kingdom is not of this world." He 
 explained the nature of his kingdom, declaring that it consisted 
 entirely in the possession and proclamation of truth. Pilate under- 
 stood nothing of this grand idealism. 1 Jesus doubtless impressed 
 him as being an inoffensive dreamer. N vThe total absence of reli- 
 gious and philosophical proselytism among the Eomans of this 
 epoch made them regard devotion to truth as a chimera. Such 
 discussions annoyed them, and appeared to them devoid of mean- 
 ing. Not perceiving the element of danger to the empire that 
 lay hidden in these new speculations, they had no reason to em- 
 ploy violence against them. All their displeasure fell upon those 
 who asked them to inflict punishment for what appeared to them 
 to be vain subtleties. Twenty years after, Gallio still adopted the 
 same course towards the Jews. 2 Until the fall of Jerusalem, the 
 rule which the Eomans adopted in administration, was to remain 
 completely indifferent to these sectarian quarrels. 3 
 
 An expedient suggested itself to the mind of the governor by 
 which he could reconcile his own feelings with the demands of the 
 fanatical people, whose pressure he had already so often felt. It 
 was the custom to deliver a prisoner to the people at the time of 
 the Passover. Pilate, knowing that Jesus had only been arrested 
 in consequence of the jealousy of the priests, 4 tried to obtain for 
 
 1 John xviii. 38. 2 Acts xviii. 14, 15. 
 
 3 Tacitus (Ann., xv. 44) describes the death of Jesus as a political execution by 
 Pontius Pilate. But at the epoch in which Tacitus wrote, the Eoman policy to- 
 wards the Christians was changed ; they were held guilty of secretly conspiring 
 against the state. It was natural that the Latin historian should believe that 
 Pilate, in putting Jesus to death, had been actuated by a desire for the public 
 safety. Josephus is much more exact, (Ant., xviii. iii. 3.) 
 
 4 Mark xv. 10. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 279 
 
 him the benefit of this custom. He appeared again upon the 
 bima, and proposed to the multitude to release the " King of the 
 Jews." The proposition made in these terms, though ironical, 
 was characterised by a degree of liberality. The priests saw the 
 danger of it. They acted promptly, 1 and in order to combat the 
 proposition of Pilate, they suggested to the crowd the name of a 
 prisoner who enjoyed great popularity in Jerusalem. By a singu- 
 lar coincidence, he also was called Jesus, 2 and bore the surname 
 of Bar- Abba, or Bar-Rabban.3 He was a well-known personage, 4 
 and had been arrested for taking part in an uproar in which 
 murder had been committed. 5 A general clamour was raised, 
 " Not this man ; but Jesus Bar-Rabban ;" and Pilate was obliged to 
 release Jesus Bar-Rabban. ) 
 
 His embarrassment increased. He feared that too much indul- 
 gence shown to a prisoner, to whom was given the title of " King 
 of the Jews," might compromise him. Fanaticism, moreover, 
 compels all powers to make terms with it. Pilate thought him- 
 self obliged to make some concession ; but still hesitating to 
 shed blood, in order to satisfy men whom he hated, wished to 
 turn the thing into a jest. Affecting to laugh at the pompous 
 title they had given to Jesus, he caused him to be scourged. 6 
 Scourging was the general preliminary of crucifixion.? Perhaps 
 Pilate wished it to be believed that this sentence had already been 
 pronounced, hoping that the preliminary would suffice. Then 
 took place (according to all the narratives) a revolting scene. The 
 soldiers put a scarlet robe on his back, a crown formed of 
 branches of thorns upon his head, and a reed in his hand. Thus 
 attired, he was led to the tribunal in front of the people. The 
 
 1 Matt, xxvii. 20; Markxv. 11. 
 
 2 The name of Jesus has disappeared in the greater part of the manuscripts. 
 This reading has, nevertheless, very great authorities in its favour. 
 
 3 Matt, xxvii. 16. 4 Cf. St Jerome. In Matt, xxvii. 16. 
 
 5 Mark xv. 7 ; Luke xxiii. 19. John, (xviii. 40,) who makes him a robber, ap- 
 pears here too much further from the truth than Mark. 
 
 6 Matt, xxvii. 26 ; Mark xv. 15 ; John xix. 1. 
 
 7 Jos., B. J., ii. xiv. 9, v. xi. 1, vn. vi. 4; Titus-Livy, xxxm. 36; Quintus 
 Curtius, vn. xi. 28. 
 
 >RNIA. 
 
280 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 soldiers defiled before him, striking him in turn, and knelt to him, 
 saying, "Hail ! King of the Jews/' 1 Others, it is said, spit upon 
 him, and struck his head with the reed. It is difficult to under- 
 stand how Eoman dignity could stoop to acts so shameful. It is 
 true that Pilate, in the capacity of procurator, had under his com- 
 mand scarcely any but auxiliary troops. 2 Eoman citizens, as the 
 legionaries were, would not have degraded themselves by such 
 conduct. 
 
 Did Pilate think by this display that he freed himself from 
 responsibility ? Did he hope to turn aside the blow which 
 threatened Jesus by conceding something to the hatred of the 
 Jews, 3 and by substituting for the tragic denouement a grotesque 
 termination, to make it appear that the affair merited no other 
 issue ? If such were his idea, it was unsuccessful. The tumult in- 
 creased, and became an open riot. The cry " Crucify him ! Crucify 
 him !" resounded from all sides. The priests becoming increas- 
 ingly urgent, declared the law in peril if the corrupter were not 
 punished with death. 4 Pilate saw clearly that to save Jesus he 
 would have to put down a terrible disturbance. He still tried, 
 however, to gain time. He returned to the judgment-hall, and 
 ascertained from what country Jesus came, with the hope of 
 finding a pretext for declaring his inability to adjudicate. 5 ^ Ac- 
 cording to one tradition, he even sent Jesus to Antipas, who, it is 
 said, was then at Jerusalem. 6 Jesus took no part in these well- 
 
 Matt, xxvii. 27, and following; Mark xv. 16, and following; Luke xxiii. 11 ; 
 John xix. 2, and following. 
 
 2 See Inscript. Rom. of Algeria, No. 5, fragm. B. 
 
 3 Luke xxiii. 16, 22. 4 John xix. 7. 
 
 5 John xix. 9. Cf . Luke xxiii. 6, and following. 
 
 6 It is probable that this is a first attempt at a " Harmony of the Gospels." 
 Luke must have had before him a narrative in which the death of Jesus was 
 erroneously attributed to Herod. In order not to sacrifice this version entirely, 
 he must have combined the two traditions. What makes this more likely is, that 
 he probably had a vague knowledge that Jesus (as John teaches us) appeared 
 before three authorities. In many other cases, Luke seems to have a remote idea 
 of the facts which are peculiar to the narration of John. Moreover, the third 
 gospel contains in its history of the Crucifixion a series of additions which the 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 281 
 
 meant efforts ; he maintained, as he had done before Kaiapha, a 
 grave and dignified silence, which astonished Pilate. The cries 
 from without became more and more menacing. The people had 
 already begun to denounce the lack of zeal in the functionary who 
 protected an enemy of Cresar. The greatest adversaries of the 
 Roman rule were suddenly transformed into loyal subjects of 
 Tiberius, that they might have the right of accusing the too tole- 
 rant procurator of treason. " We have no king," said they, " but 
 Csesar. If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend : 
 whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar/' 1 (,The 
 feeble Pilate yielded ; he foresaw the report that his enemies would 
 send to Rome, in which they would accuse him of having pro- 
 tected a rival of Tiberius. )Once before, in the matter of the votive 
 escutcheons, 2 the Jews had written to the emperor, and had 
 received satisfaction. He feared for his office. By a compliance, 
 which was to deliver his name to the scorn of history, he yielded, 
 throwing, it is said, upon the Jews all the responsibility of what 
 was about to happen. The latter, according to the Christians, 
 fully accepted it, by exclaiming, " His blood be on us and on our 
 children !"3 
 
 Were these words really uttered ? We may doubt it. But they 
 are the expression of a profound historical truth. Considering the 
 attitude which the Romans had taken in Judea, Pilate could 
 scarcely have acted otherwise. How many sentences of death 
 dictated by religious intolerance have been extorted from the civil 
 power ! The king of Spain, who, in order to please a fanatical 
 clergy, delivered hundreds of his subjects to the stake, was more 
 blameable than Pilate, for he represented a more absolute power 
 than that of the Romans at Jerusalem. When the civil power 
 becomes persecuting or meddlesome at the solicitation of the 
 priesthood, it proves its weakness. But let the government that 
 
 author appears to have drawn from a more recent document, and which had 
 evidently been arranged with a special view to edification. 
 
 1 John xix. 12, 15. Cf. Luke xxiii. 2. In order to appreciate the exactitude of 
 the description of this scene in the evangelists, see Philo, Leg. ad Caium, § 38. 
 
 a See ante, p. 276. 8 Matt, xxvii. 24, 25. 
 
282 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 is without sin in this respect throw the first stone at Pilate. The 
 " secular arm/' behind which clerical cruelty shelters itself, is not 
 the culprit. No one has a right to say that he has a horror of 
 blood when he causes it to be shed by his servants. 
 
 It was, then, neither Tiberius nor Pilate who condemned Jesus. 
 It was the old Jewish party ; it was the Mosaic Law. According 
 to our modern ideas, there is no transmission of moral demerit 
 from father to son ; no one is accountable to human or divine 
 justice except for that which he himself has done. Consequently, 
 every Jew who suffers to-day for the murder of Jesus has a right 
 to complain, for he might have acted as did Simon the Cyrenean ; 
 at any rate, he might not have been with those who cried " Crucify 
 him I ) But nations, like individuals, have their responsibilities, and 
 if ever crime was the crime of a nation, it was the death of Jesus. 
 This death was " legal" in the sense that it was primarily caused 
 by a law which was the very soul of the nation. The Mosaic law, 
 in its modern, but still in its accepted form, pronounced the penalty 
 of death against all attempts to change the established worship. 
 Now, there is no doubt that Jesus attacked this worship, and 
 aspired to destroy it. The Jews expressed this to Pilate with 
 a truthful simplicity : u We have a law, and by our law he 
 ought to die; because he has made himself the Son of God." 1 
 The law was detestable, but it was the law of ancient ferocity ; 
 and the hero who offered himself in order to abrogate it, had first 
 of all to endure its penalty. 
 
 Alas ! it has required more than eighteen hundred years for the 
 blood that he shed to bear its fruits. (Tortures and death have 
 been inflicted for ages in the name of Jesus, on thinkers as noble 
 as himself. Even at the present time, in countries which call them- 
 selves Christian, penalties are pronounced for religious offences. 
 Jesus is not responsible for these errors. He could not foresee 
 that people, with mistaken imaginations, would one day imagine 
 him as a frightful Moloch, greedy of burnt flesh. Christi- 
 anity has been intolerant, but intolerance is not essentially a 
 
 1 John xix. 7. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 283 
 
 Christian fact. It is a Jewish fact in the sense that it was Judaism 
 which first introduced the theory of the absolute in religion, and 
 laid down the principle that every innovator, even if he brings 
 miracles to support his doctrine, ought to-be stoned without trial.!/ 
 The pagan world has also had its religious violences. But if it 
 had had this law, how would it have become Christian ? The 
 Pentateuch has thus been in the world the first code of religious 
 terrorism. Judaism has given the example of an immutable 
 dogma armed with the sword. If, instead of pursuing the Jews 
 with a blind hatred, Christianity had abolished the regime which 
 killed its founder, how much more consistent would it have been ! 
 — how much better would it have deserved of the human race ! 
 
 1 Deut. xiii. 1, and following. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 DEATH OF JESUS. 
 
 .Although the real motive for the death of Jesus was entirely 
 religious, his enemies had succeeded, in the judgment-hall, in repre- 
 senting him as guilty of treason against the state ; they could not 
 have obtained from the sceptical Pilate a condemnation simply on 
 the ground of heterodoxy. Consistently with this idea, the priests 
 demanded, through the people, the crucifixion of Jesus. This 
 punishment was not Jewish in its origin ; if the condemnation of 
 Jesus had been purely Mosaic, he would have been stoned. 1 Cruci- 
 fixion was a Roman punishment, reserved for slaves, and for cases 
 in which it was wished to add to death the aggravation of igno- 
 miny. In applying it to Jesus, they treated him as they treated 
 highway robbers, brigands, bandits, or those enemies of inferior 
 rank to whom the Romans did not grant the honour of death by 
 the sword. 2 It was the chimerical " King of the Jews," not the 
 heterodox dogmatist, who was punished. Following out the same 
 idea, the execution was left to the Romans. We know that amongst 
 the Romans, the soldiers, their profession being to kill, performed 
 the office of executioners. Jesus was therefore delivered to a 
 
 1 Jos., Ant., xx. ix. 1. The Talmud, which represents the condemnation of 
 Jesus as entirely religious, declares, in fact, that he was stoned; or, at least, that 
 after having been hanged, he was stoned, as often happened, (Mishnah, Sanhedrim, 
 vi. 4.) Talmud of Jerusalem, Sanhedrim, xiv. 16. Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 
 43 a, 67 a. 
 
 1 Jos., Ant, xvn. x. 10, xx. vi. 2; B. J., v. xi. 1; Apuleius, Metam., iii. 9; 
 Suetonius, Galba, 9; Lampridius, Alex. Sev., 23. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 285 
 
 cohort of auxiliary troops, and all the most hateful features of 
 executions introduced by the cruel habits of the new conquerors, 
 were exhibited towards him. It was about noon. 1 They re-clothed 
 him with the garments which they had removed for the farce 
 enacted at the tribunal, and as the cohort had already in reserve 
 two thieves who were to be executed, the three prisoners were 
 taken together, and the procession set out for the place of exe- 
 cution. 
 
 The scene of the execution was at a place called Golgotha, 
 situated outside Jerusalem, but near the walls of the city. 2 ,) The 
 name Golgotha signifies a skull ; it corresponds with the French 
 word Chaumont, and probably designated a bare hill or rising 
 ground, having the form of a bald skull. The situation of this 
 hill is not precisely known. It was certainly on the north or 
 north-west of the city, in the high irregular plain which extends 
 between the walls and the two valleys of Kedron and Hinnom,3 
 a rather uninteresting region, and made still worse by the objec- 
 tionable circumstances arising from the neighbourhood of a great 
 city. It is difficult to identify Golgotha as the precise place 
 which, since Constantine, has been venerated by entire Christen- 
 dom. * This place is too much in the interior of the city, and we 
 are led to believe that, in the time of Jesus, it was comprised 
 within the circuit of the walls.5 
 
 1 John xix. 14. According to Mark xv. 25, it could scarcely have been eight 
 o'clock in the morning, since that evangelist relates that Jesus was crucified at nine 
 o'clock. 
 
 3 Matt, xxvii. 33 ; Mark xv. 22; John xix. 20; Heb. xiii. 12. 
 
 3 Golgotha, in fact, seems not entirely unconnected with the hill of Gareb and 
 the locality of Goath, mentioned in Jeremiah xxxi. 39. Now, these two places 
 appear to have been at the north-west of the city. I should incline to fix the 
 place where Jesus was crucified near the extreme corner which the existing wall 
 makes towards the west, or perhaps upon the mounds which command the valley 
 of Hinnom, above BirTcet-Mamilla. 
 
 4 The proofs by which it has been attempted to establish that the Holy 
 Sepulchre has been displaced since Constantine are not very strong. 
 
 5 M. de Vogue" has discovered, about 83 yards to the east of the traditional 
 site of Calvary, a fragment of a Jewish wall analogous to that of Hebron, which, 
 if it belongs to the inclosure of the time of Jesus, would leave the above-men- 
 
286 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 He who was condemned to the cross, had himself to carry the 
 instrument of his execution. 1 Bat Jesus, physically weaker than 
 his two companions, could not carry his. The troop met a certain 
 Simon of Cyrene, who was returning from the country, and the 
 soldiers, with the off-hand procedure of foreign garrisons, forced 
 him to carry the fatal ticee. } Perhaps they made use of a recog- 
 nised right of forcing labour, the Eomans not being allowed to 
 carry the infamous wood. It seems that Simon was afterwards of 
 the Christian community. His two sons, Alexander and Rufus, 2 
 were well known in it. He related perhaps more than one circum- 
 stance of which he had been witness. No disciple was at this 
 moment near to Jesus. 3 
 
 tioned site outside the city. The existence of a sepulchral cave (that which is 
 called " Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea,") under the wall of the cupola of the 
 Holy Sepulchre, would also lead to the supposition that this place was outside the 
 walls. Two historical considerations, one of which is rather strong, may, more- 
 over, be invoked in favour of the tradition. The first is, that it would be singular 
 if those who, under Constantine, sought to determine the topography of the Gos- 
 pels, had not hesitated in the presence of the objection which results from John 
 ■xxx. 20, and from Heb. xiii. 12. Why, being free to choose, should they have 
 wantonly exposed themselves to so grave a difficulty ? The second consideration 
 is, that they might have had to guide them, in the time of Constantine, the 
 remains of an edifice, the temple of Venus on Golgotha, erected by Adrian. We 
 are, then, at times led to believe that the work of the devout topographers of the 
 time of Constantine was earnest and sincere, that they sought for indications, and 
 that, though they might not refrain from certain pious frauds, they were guided by 
 analogies. If they had merely followed a vain caprice, they might have placed 
 Golgotha in a more conspicuous situation, at the summit of some of the neigh- 
 bouring hills abqut Jerusalem, in accordance with the Christian imagination, 
 which very early thought that the death of Christ had taken place on a mountain. 
 But the difficulty of the inclosures is very serious. Let us add, that the erection 
 of the temple of Venus on Golgotha proves little. Eusebius, ( Vita Const., hi. 26,) 
 Socrates, (H. E., i. 17,) Sozomen, (H. E., ii. 1,) St Jerome, (Epist. xlix., ad Paulin.,) 
 say, indeed, that there was a sanctuary of Venus on the site which they imagined 
 to be that of the holy tomb ; but it is not certain that Adrian had erected it ; or 
 that he had erected it in a place which was in his time called " Golgotha ; " or 
 that he had intended to erect it at the place where Jesus had suffered death. 
 
 1 Plutarch, Be Sera Num. Vind., 19 ; Artemidorus, Onirocrit., ii. 56. 
 
 2 Mark xv. 21. 
 
 3 The circumstance, Luke xxiii. 27-31, is one of those in which we are sensible 
 of the work of a pious and loving imagination. The words which are there attri- 
 buted to Jesus could only have been written after the siege of Jerusalem, 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 287 
 
 The place of execution was at last reached. According to 
 Jewish custom, the sufferers were offered, a strong aromatic wine, 
 an intoxicating drink, which, through a sentiment of pity, was 
 given to the condemned in order to stupify him.1 ) It appears 
 that the ladies of Jerusalem often brought this kind of wine to 
 the unfortunates who were led to execution ; when none was pre- 
 sented by them, it was purchased from the public treasury. 2 Jesus, 
 after having touched the edge of the cup with his lips, refused to 
 drink. 3 (This mournful consolation of ordinary sufferers did not 
 accord with his exalted nature. He preferred to quit life with 
 perfect clearness of mind, and to await in full consciousness the 
 death he had willed and brought upon himself. ;: He was then 
 divested of his garments, 4 and fastened to the cross. The cross 
 was composed of two beams, tied in the form of the letter "J"- 5 
 It was not much elevated, so that the feet of the condemned 
 almost touched the earth. They commenced by fixing it, 6 then 
 they fastened the sufferer to it by driving nails into his hands ; 
 the feet were often nailed, though sometimes only bound with 
 cords.? A piece of wood was fastened to the upright portion of 
 the cross, towards the middle, and passed between the legs of 
 the condemned, who rested upon it. 8 Without that, the hands 
 would have been torn and the body would have sunk down. At 
 other times, a small horizontal rest was fixed beneath the feet, and 
 sustained them. 9 
 
 Jesus tasted these horrors in all their atrocity. A burning 
 
 1 Talm. of Bab., Sanhedrim, fol. 43 a. Comp. Prov. xxi. 6. 
 
 2 Talm. of Bab., Sanhedrim, 1. c. 
 
 3 Mark xv. 23; Matt, xxvii. 34, falsifies this detail, in order to create a Messianic 
 allusion from Ps. lxix. 20. 
 
 4 Matt, xxvii. 35 ; Mark xv. 24; John xix. 23. Cf. Artemidorus, Onirocr., ii. 53. 
 
 5 Lucian, Jud. Voc, 12. Compare the grotesque crucifix traced at Rome on a 
 wall of Mount Palatine. Civilta Cattolica, fasc. clxi. p. 529, and following. 
 
 6 Jos., B. J., vii. vi. 4; Cic, In Verr., v. 66 ;'X-enoph. Ephes., Ephesiaca, iv. 2. 
 
 7 Luke xxiv. 39 ; John xx. 25-27 ; Plautixis, Mostellaria, XL i. 13 ; Lucan, 
 Phars., vi. 543, and following, 547 ; Justin, Bjal cum Tryph., 97 ; Tertullian, 
 Adv. Marcionem, iii. 19. \ 
 
 8 Irenseus, Adv. Nazr., ii. 24; Justin, Dial, cum Tryphone, 91. 
 
 9 See the graffito quoted before. 
 
288 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 thirst, one of the tortures of crucifixion, 1 devoured him, and he 
 asked to drink. There stood near, a cup of the ordinary drink of 
 the Eoman soldiers, a mixture of vinegar and water, called posca. 
 The soldiers had to carry with them their posca on all their expe- 
 ditions, 2 of which an execution was considered one. A soldier 
 dipped a sponge in this drink, put it at the end of a reed, and 
 raised it to the lips of Jesus, who sucked it. 3 The two robbers 
 were crucified, one on each side. The executioners, to whom were 
 usually left the small effects (pannicularia) of those executed, 4 
 drew lots for his garments, and, seated at the foot, of the cross, 
 kept guard over him. 5 According to one tradition, Jesus pro- 
 nounced this sentence, which was in his heart if not upon his lips : 
 " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do/' 6 
 
 According to the Koman custom, a writing was attached to the v 
 top of the cross, bearing, in three languages, Hebrew, Greek, and 
 Latin, the words : " The King of the Jews." There was 
 something painful and insulting to the nation in this inscrip- 
 tion. The numerous passers-by who read it were offended. The 
 priests complained to Pilate that he ought to have adopted an 
 inscription which would have implied simply that Jesus had 
 called himself King of the Jews. But Pilate, already tired of the 
 whole affair, refused to make any change in what had been 
 written. 7 
 
 His disciples had fled. John, nevertheless, declares himself to 
 have been present, and to have remained standing at the foot of 
 
 1 See' the Arab text published by Kosegarten, Chrest.Arab., p. 64. 
 3 Spartianus, Life of Adrian, 10 ; Vulcatius Gallicanus, Life of Avidius 
 Cassius, 5. 
 
 3 Matt, xxvii. 48; Markxv. 36; Lukexxiii. 36; John xix. 28-30. 
 
 4 Dig., xlvii. xx., De bonis damnat, 6. Adrian limited this custom. 
 6 Matt, xxvii. 36. Cf. Petronius, Satyr., cxi. cxii. 
 
 6 Luke xxiii. 34. In general, the last words attributed to Jesus, especially such 
 as Luke records, are open to doubt. The desire to edify or to shew the accomplish- 
 ment of prophecies is perceptible. In these cases, moreover, every one hears in 
 his own way. The last words of celebrated prisoners, condemned to death, are 
 always collected in two or three entirely different shapes, by even the nearest 
 
 7 John xix. 19-22. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 289 
 
 the cross during the whole time. 1 It may be affirmed, with more 
 certainty, that the devoted women of Galilee, who had followed 
 Jesus to Jerusalem and continued to tend him, did not abandon 
 him. Mary Cleophas, Mary Magdalen, Joanna, wife of Khouza, 
 Salome, and otjiers, stayed at a certain distance, 2 and did not lose 
 sight of him. 3 jlf we must believe John, 4 Mary, the mother of 
 Jesus, was also at the foot of the cross, and Jesus seeing his 
 mother and his beloved disciple together, said to the one, ' Behold 
 thy mother ! " and to the other, " Behold thy son ! " But we do 
 not understand how the synoptics, who name the other women, 
 should have omitted her whose presence was so striking a fea- 
 ture. Perhaps even the extreme elevation of the character of 
 Jesus does not render such personal emotion probable, at the 
 moment when, solely pre-occupied by his work, lie no longer existed 
 except for humanity. 5 
 
 Apart from this small group of women, whose presence 
 consoled him, Jesus had before him only the spectacle of the 
 
 1 John xix. 25, and following. 
 
 2 The synoptics are agreed in placing the faithful group " afar off " the cross. 
 John says, " at the side of," governed by the desire which he has of representing 
 himself as having approached very near to the cross of Jesus. 
 
 3 Matt, xxvii. 55, 56 ; Mark xv. 40, 41 ; Luke xxiii. 49, 55 ; xxiv. 10 ; John xix. 
 25. Cf. Luke xxiii. 27-31. 
 
 4 John xix. 25, and following. Luke, who always adopts a middle course 
 between the first two synoptics and John, mentions also, but at a distance, " all 
 his acquaintance," (xxiii. 49.) The expression, yvcoaroi, may, it is true, mean 
 " kindred." Luke, nevertheless, (ii. 44,) distinguishes the yvcoaroi from the 
 
 ' avyyevels. Let us add, that the best manuscripts bear ol yvaxxToi avra>, and not 
 oi yvo3(TTo\ avrov. In the Acts, (i. 14,) Mary, mother of Jesus, is also placed in 
 company with the Galilean women ; elsewhere, (Gospel, chap. ii. 35,) Luke predicts 
 that a sword of grief will pierce her soul. But this renders his omission of her at 
 the cross the less explicable. 
 
 5 This is, in my opinion, one of those features in which John betrays his per- 
 sonality and the desire he has of giving himself importance. John, after the 
 death of Jesus, appears in fact to have received the mother of his master into his 
 house, and to have adopted her, (John xix. 27.) The great consideration which 
 Mary enjoyed in the early church, doubtless led John to pretend that Jesus, 
 whose favourite disciple he wished to be regarded, had, when dying, recommended 
 to his care all that was dearest to him. The presence of this precious trust 
 near John, insured him a kind of precedence over the other apostles, and gave his 
 doctrine a high authority. 
 
 T 
 
290 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 baseness or stupidity of humanity. ,- The passers-by insulted 
 him. He heard around him foolish scoffs, and his greatest cries 
 of pain turned into hateful jests : " He trusted in God ; let him 
 deliver him now, if he will have him : for he said, I am the Son 
 of God. He saved others," they said again; "himself he cannot 
 save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from 
 the cross, and we will believe him ! Ah, thou that destroyest the 
 temple, and buildest it • in three days, save thyself." 1 Some, 
 vaguely acquainted with his apocalyptic ideas, thought they heard 
 him call Elias, and said, " Let us see whether Elias will come to 
 save him." It appears that the two crucified thieves at his side 
 also insulted him. 2 The sky was dark; 3 and the earth, as in all 
 the environs of Jerusalem, dry and gloomy. For a moment, 
 according to certain narratives, his heart failed him ; a cloud hid 
 from him the face of his Father ; he endured an agony of despair 
 a thousand times more acute than all his torture. He saw only 
 the ingratitude of men ; he perhaps repented suffering for a vile 
 race, and exclaimed : " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 me ? " But his divine instinct still prevailed. In the degree that 
 the life of the body became extinguished, his soul became clear, 
 and returned by degrees to its celestial origin. He regained the 
 idea of his mission • he saw in his death the salvation of the 
 world ; he lost sight of the hideous spectacle spread at his feet, 
 and, profoundly united to his Father, he began upon the gibbet 
 the divine life which he was to live in the heart of humanity 
 through infinite ages. 
 
 (The peculiar atrocity of crucifixion was that one might live 
 three or four days in this horrible state upon the instrument 
 of torture. 4 The haemorrhage from the hands quickly stopped, 
 and was not mortal. The true cause of death was the unnatural 
 
 1 Matt, xxvii. 40, and following; Mark xv. 29, and following. 
 
 2 Matt, xxvii. 44 ; Mark xv. 32. Luke has here modified the tradition, in ac- 
 cordance with his taste for the conversion of sinners. 
 
 3 Matt, xxvii. 45; Mark xv. 33; Luke xxiii. 44. 
 
 4 Petronius, Sat., cxi., and following; Origen, In Matt. Comment, series, 140; 
 Arab text published in Kosegarten, op. tit., p. 63, and following. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 291 
 
 position of the body, which brought on a frightful disturbance 
 of the circulation, terrible pains of the head and heart, and, 
 at length, rigidity of the limbs. Those who had a strong consti- 
 tution only died of hunger. 1 The idea which suggested this cruel 
 punishment was not directly to kill the condemned by positive 
 injuries, but to expose the slave, nailed by the hand of which he 
 had not known how to make good use, and to let him rot on the 
 wood. The delicate organization of Jesus preserved him from 
 this slow agony. Everything leads to the belief that the instan- 
 taneous rupture of a vessel in the heart brought him, at the end . 
 of three hours, to a sudden death. Some moments before yielding 
 up his soul, his voice was still strong. 2 All at once, he uttered a 
 terrible cry, 3 which some heard as: "Father, into thy hands I 
 commend my spirit ! " but which others, more pre-occupied with 
 the accomplishment of prophecies, rendered by the words, " It is 
 finished !" His head fell upon- his breast, and he expired. 
 
 Rest now in thy glory, noble initiator. Thy work is completed ; 
 thy divinity is established. Fear no more to see the edifice of thy 
 efforts crumble through a flaw. Henceforth, beyond the reach of 
 frailty, thou shalt be present, from the height of thy divine peace, 
 in the infinite consequences of thy acts. At the price of a few 
 hours of suffering, which have not even touched thy great soul, 
 thou hast purchased the most complete immortality. For thousands 
 of years, the world will extol thee. Banner of our contradictions, 
 thou wilt be the sign around which will be fought the fiercest 
 battles. A thousand times more living,, a thousand times more 
 loved since thy death than during the days of thy pilgrimage here 
 below, thou wilt become to such a degree the corner-stone of 
 humanity, that to tear thy name from this world would be to shake 
 it to its foundations. Between thee and God, men will no longer 
 distinguish. Complete conqueror of death, take possession of thy 
 kingdom, whither, by the royal road thou hast traced, ages of 
 adorers will follow thee. 
 
 1 Eusebius, Hist. Eccl, viii. 8. 2 Matt, xxvii. 46; Mark xv. 34. 
 
 3 Matt, xxvii. 5.0; Mark xv. 37 ; Luke xxiii. 46; John xix. 30. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 JESUS IN THE TOMB. 
 
 It was about three o'clock in the afternoon, according to our 
 manner of reckoning, 1 when Jesus expired. A Jewish law 2 for- 
 bade a corpse suspended on the cross to be left beyond the evening 
 of the day of the execution. It is not probable that in the execu- 
 tions performed by the Romans this rule was observed ; but as the 
 next day was the Sabbath, and a Sabbath of peculiar solemnity, 
 the Jews expressed to the Roman authorities 3 their desire that 
 this holy day should not be profaned by such a spectacle. 4 Their 
 request was granted ; orders were given to hasten the death of 
 the three condemned ones, and to remove them from the cross. 
 The soldiers executed this order by applying to the two thieves a 
 second punishment much more speedy than that of the cross, the 
 crurifragium, or breaking of the legs, 5 the usual punishment of 
 slaves and of prisoners of war. As to Jesus, they found him dead, 
 and did not think it necessary to break his legs. But one of them, 
 to remove all doubt as to the real death of the third victim, and to 
 
 1 Matt, xxvii. 46; Mark xv. 37; Luke xxiii. 44. Comp. John xix. 14. 
 
 2 Deut. xxi. 22, 23; Josh. viii. 29, x. 26, and following. Cf. Jos., B. /., iv. v. 
 2; Mishnah, Sanhedrim, vi. 5. 
 
 3 John says, "To Pilate;" but that cannot be, for Mark (xv. 44, 45) states that 
 at night Pilate was still ignorant of the death of Jesus. 
 
 4 Compare Philo, In Flaccum, § 10. 
 
 5 There is no other example of the crurifragium applied after crucifixion. But 
 often, in order to shorten the tortures of the sufferer, a finishing stroke was given 
 him. See the passage from Ibn-Hischam, translated in the Zeitschrift fiir die 
 Kunde des Morgenlandes, i., p. 99, 100. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 293 
 
 complete it, if any breath remained in him, pierced his side with 
 a spear. They thought they saw water and blood flow, which was 
 regarded as a sign of the cessation of life. 
 
 John, who professes to have seen it, 1 insists strongly on this 
 ' circumstance. It is evident, in fact, that doubts arose as to the 
 reality of the death of Jesus. A few hours of suspension on the 
 cross appeared to persons accustomed to see crucifixions entirely 
 insufficient to lead to such a result. They cited many instances 
 of persons crucified, who, removed in time, had been brought to 
 life again by powerful remedies. 2 Origen afterwards thought it 
 needful to invoke miracle in order to explain so sudden an end. 3 
 The same astonishment is found in the narrative of Mark. 4 To 
 speak truly, the best guarantee that the historian possesses upon 
 a point of this nature is the suspicious hatred of the enemies of 
 Jesus. It is doubtful whether the Jews were at that time pre- 
 occupied with the fear that Jesus might pass for resuscitated • but, 
 in any case, they must have made sure that he was really dead. 
 Whatever, at certain periods, may have been the neglect of the 
 ancients in all that belonged to legal proof and the strict conduct 
 of affairs, we cannot but believe that those interested here had 
 taken some precautions in this respect.5 
 
 According to the Koman custom, the corpse of Jesus ought to 
 have remained suspended in order to become the prey of birds. 6 
 According to the Jewish law, it would have been removed in 
 the evening, and deposited in the place of infamy set apart for the 
 burial of those who were executed.? If Jesus had had for disciples 
 only his poor Galileans, timid and without influence, the latter 
 
 1 John xix. 31-35. 2 Herodotus, vii. 194; Jos., Vita, 75. 
 
 3 In Matt. Comment, series, 140. 4 Mark xv. 44, 45. 
 
 6 The necessities of Christian controversy afterwards led to the exaggeration of 
 these precautions, especially when the Jews had systematically begun to maintain 
 that the body of Jesus had been stolen. Matt, xxvii. 62, and following, xxviii. 
 11-15. 
 
 6 Horace, Epistles, I. xvi. 48 ; Juvenal, xiv. 77 ; Lucan, vii. 544 ; Plautus, 
 Miles glor., n. iv. 19 ; Artemidorus, Onir., ii. 53 ; Pliny, xxxvi. 24 ; Plutarch, 
 Life of Cleomenes, 39 ; Petronius, Sat., cxi.-cxii. 
 
 7 Mishnah, Sanhedrim, vi. 5. 
 
294 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 course would have been adopted. But we have seen that, in spite 
 of his small success at Jerusalem, Jesus had gained the sympathy 
 of some important persons who expected the kingdom of God, and 
 who, without confessing themselves his disciples, were strongly 
 attached to him. One of these persons, Joseph, of the small town 
 of Arimathea, (Ha-ramathaim, 1 ) went in the evening to ask the 
 body from the procurator.2 Joseph was a rich and honourable 
 man, a member of the Sanhedrim. The Roman law, at this 
 period, commanded, moreover, that the body of the person exe- 
 cuted should be delivered to those who claimed it. 3 Pilate, who 
 was ignorant of the circumstance of the crtirifragium, was 
 astonished that Jesus was so soon dead, and summoned the cen- 
 turion who had superintended the execution, in order to know how 
 this was. Pilate, after having received the assurances of the 
 centurion, granted to Joseph the object of his request. The body 
 probably had already been removed from the cross. They delivered 
 it to Joseph, that he might do with it as he pleased. 
 
 (Another secret friend, Nicodemus, 4 whom we have already seen 
 employing his influence more than once in favour of Jesus, came 
 forward at this moment. He arrived bearing an ample provision 
 of the materials necessary for embalming. Joseph and Nicodemus 
 interred Jesus according to the Jewish custom — that is to say, 
 they wrapped him in a sheet with myrrh and aloes. The Galilean 
 women were present, 5 and no doubt accompanied the scene with 
 piercing cries and tears. 
 
 It was late, and all this was done in great haste. The place 
 had not yet been chosen where the body would be finally deposited. 
 The carrying of the body, moreover, might have been delayed to 
 a late hour, and have involved a violation of the Sabbath — now 
 the disciples still conscientiously observed the prescriptions of the 
 
 1 Probably identical with the ancient Rama of Samuel, in the tribe of Ephraim. 
 
 3 Matt, xxvii. 57, and following ; Mark xv. 42, and following ; Luke xxiii. 50, 
 and following; John xix. 38, and following. 
 
 8 Dig., xlviii. xxiv., De cadaveribus punitorum. 
 
 4 John xix. 39, and following. 
 
 • Matt, xxvii. 61 ; Mark xv. 47 ; Luke xxiii. 55. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 295 
 
 Jewish law. A temporary interment was determined upon. 1 
 There was at hand, in the garden, a tomb recently dug out in the 
 rock, which had never been used. It belonged, probably, to one 
 of the believers. 2 The funeral caves, when they were destined for 
 a single body, were composed of a small room, at the bottom of 
 which the place for the body was marked by a trough or couch 
 let into the wall, and surmounted by an arch. 3 As these caves 
 were dug out of the sides of sloping rocks, they were entered 
 by the floor ; the door was shut by a stone very difficult to move. 
 Jesus was deposited in the cave, and the stone was rolled to the 
 door, as it was intended to return in order to give him a more 
 complete burial. But the next day being a solemn Sabbath, the 
 labour was postponed till the day following. 4 
 
 The women retired after having carefully noticed how the body 
 was laid. They employed the hours of the evening which re- 
 mained to them in making new preparations for the embalming. 
 On the Saturday all rested. 5 
 
 On the Sunday morning, the women, Mary Magdalen the first, 
 came very early to the tomb. 6 The stone was displaced from the 
 opening, and the body was no longer in the place where they had 
 laid it. At the same time, the strangest rumours were spread in 
 the Christian community. The cry, " He is risen ! " quickly spread 
 amongst the disciples. Love caused it to find ready credence every- 
 where. What had taken place ? In treating of the history of the 
 
 1 John xix. 41, 42. 
 
 2 One tradition (Matt, xxvii. 60) designates Joseph of Arimathea himself as 
 owner of the cave. 
 
 3 The cave which, at the period of Constantine, was considered as the tomb of 
 Christ, was of this shape, as may be gathered from the description of Arculphus, 
 (in Mabillon, Acta SS. Ord. S. Bened., sec. iii., pars ii., p. 504,) and from the 
 vague traditions which still exist at Jerusalem amongst the Greek clergy on the 
 state of the rock now concealed by the little chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. But 
 the indications by which, under Constantine, it was sought to identify this tomb 
 with that of Christ, were feeble or worthless, (see especially Sozomen, If. E., ii. 1.) 
 Even if we were to admit the position of Golgotha as nearly exact, the Holy 
 Sepulchre would still have no very reliable character of authenticity. At all 
 events, the aspect of the places has been totally modified. 
 
 / 4 Luke xxiii. 56. s Luke xxiii. 54-56. 
 
 6 Matt, xxviii. 1 : Mark xvi. 1 ; Luke xxiv. 1 : John xx. 1. 
 
296 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 apostles we shall have to examine this point and to make inquiry 
 into the origin of the legends relative to the resurrection. For 
 the historian, the life of Jesus finishes with his last sigh. But 
 such was the impression he had left in the heart of his disciples 
 and of a few devoted women, that during some weeks more it was 
 as if he were living and consoling them. Had his body been taken 
 away, 1 or did enthusiasm, always credulous, create afterwards the 
 group of narratives by which it was sought to establish faith in 
 the resurrection ? In the absence of opposing documents this can 
 never be ascertained; Let us say, however, that the strong ima- 
 gination of Mary Magdalen 2 played an important part in this 
 circumstance. 3 Divine power of love ! Sacred moments in which 
 the passion of one possessed gave to the world a resuscitated God! 
 
 1 See Matt, xxviii. 15; John xx. 2. 
 
 2 She had been possessed by seven demons, (Mark xvi. 9 ; Luke viii. 2.) 
 
 3 This is obvious, especially in the ninth-?Chd following verses of chap. xvi. of 
 Mark. These verses form a conclusion of the second Gospel, different from the 
 conclusion at xvi. 1-8, with which many manuscripts terminate. In the fourth 
 Gospel, (xx. 1, 2, 11, and following, 18,) Mary Magdalen is also the only original 
 witness of the resurrection. 
 
CHAPTEB XXV1L 
 
 FATE OF THE ENEMIES OF JESUS. 
 
 According to the calculation we adopt, the death of Jesus hap- 
 pened in the year 33 of our era. 1 It could not, at all events, be 
 either before the year 29, the preaching of John and Jesus having 
 commenced in the year 28, 2 or after the year 35, since in the year 
 36, and probably before the passover, Pilate and Kaiapha both lost 
 their offices. 3 The death of Jesus appears, moreover, to have had 
 no connexion whatever with these two removals. 4 In his retire- 
 ment, Pilate probably never dreamt for a moment of the forgotten 
 episode, which was to transmit his pitiful renown to the most 
 distant posterity. As to Kaiapha, he was succeeded by Jonathan, 
 his brother-in-law, son of the same Hanan who had played the 
 principal part in the trial of Jesus. The Sadducean family of 
 Hanan retained the pontificate a long time, and more powerful 
 than ever, continued to wage against the disciples and the family 
 of Jesus, the implacable war which they had commenced against the 
 Pounder. ) Christianity, which owed to him the definitive act of its 
 
 1 The year 33 corresponds well with one of the data of the problem, namely, 
 that the 14th of Nisan was a Friday. If we reject the year 33, in order to find a 
 year which fulfils the above condition, we must at least go back to the year 29, or 
 go forward to the year 36. 
 
 2 Luke iii. 1. 3 Jos., Ant, xvm. iv. 2 and 3. 
 
 4 The contrary assertion of Tertullian and Eusebius arises from a worthless 
 apocryphal writing, (See Thilo, Cod. Apocr., N.T., p. 813, and following.) The sui- 
 cide of Pilate (Eusebius, H.E., ii. 7 ; Chron. ad annl. Caii) appears also to be de- 
 rived from legendary records. 
 
298 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 foundation, owed to him also its first martyrs. Hanan passed for 
 one of the happiest men of his age. 1 He who was truly guilty of 
 the death of Jesus ended his life full of honours and respect, never 
 having doubted for an instant that he had rendered a great service 
 to the nation. His sons continued to reign around the temple, 
 kept down with difficulty by the procurators, 2 oft-times dispensing 
 with the consent of the latter in order to gratify their haughty and 
 violent instincts. 
 
 Antipas and Herodias soon disappeared also from the political 
 scene. Herod Agrippa having been raised to the dignity of king 
 by Caligula, the jealous Herodias swore that she also would be 
 queen. Pressed incessantly by this ambitious woman, who treated 
 him as a coward, because he suffered a superior in his family, 
 Antipas overcame his natural indolence, and went to Borne to 
 solicit the title which his nephew had just obtained, (the year 39 
 of our era.) But the affair turned out in the worst possible mari- 
 ner. Injured in the eyes of the emperor by Herod Agrippa, 
 Antipas was removed, and dragged out the rest of his life in exile 
 at Lyons and in Spain. Herodias followed him in his misfortunes. 3 
 A hundred years, at least, were to elapse before the name of their 
 obscure subject, now become deified, should appear in these remote 
 countries to brand upon their tombs the murder of John the 
 Baptist. 
 
 As to the wretched Judas of Kerioth, terrible legends were 
 current about his death. It was maintained that he had bought 
 a field in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem with the price of his 
 perfidy. There was, indeed, on the south of Mount Zion, a place 
 named Hakeldama, (the field of blood.) 4 It was supposed that this 
 was the property acquired by the traitor. 5 According to one tra- 
 
 1 Jos., Ant, xx. ix. 1. 2 Jos., £ c. 
 
 3 ,Jos., Ant., xvin. vii. 1, 2 ; B. J., n. ix. 6. 
 
 4 St Jerome, De situ et nom. loc. hebr. at the word Acheldama. Eusebius(ifo'd.) 
 ■ays to the north. But the Itineraries confirm the reading of St Jerome. The 
 tradition which styles the necropolis situated at the foot of the valley of Hinnom 
 Haceldama, dates back, at least, to the time of Constantine. 
 
 6 Acts i. 18, 19. Matthew, or rather his interpolator, has here given a less satis- 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 299 
 
 dition, 1 he killed himself. According to another, he had a fall in 
 his field, in consequence of which his bowels gushed out. 2 Ac- 
 cording to others, he died of a kind of dropsy, accompanied by 
 repulsive circumstances, which were regarded as a punishment 
 from heaven. 3 The desire of shewing in Judas the accomplish- 
 ment of the menaces which the Psalmist pronounces against the 
 perfidious friend 4 may have given rise to these legends. Perhaps, 
 in the retirement of his field of Hakeldama, Judas led a quiet and 
 obscure life ; while his former friends conquered the world, and 
 spread his infamy abroad. Perhaps, also, the terrible hatred 
 which was concentrated on his head, drove him to violent acts, in 
 which were seen the finger of heaven.^ 
 
 The time of the great Christian revenge was, moreover, far dis- 
 tant. ;The new sect had no part whatever in the catastrophe 
 which Judaism was soon to undergo. The synagogue did not 
 understand till much later to what it exposed itself in practising 
 laws of intolerance. The empire was certainly still further from jfc 
 suspecting that its future destroyer was born. During nearly three '4^/i 
 hundred years it pursued its path without suspecting that at its 
 side principles were growing destined to subject the world to a com- 
 plete transformation. At once theocratic and democratic, the idea 
 thrown by Jesus into the world was, together with the invasion of 
 the Germans, the most active cause of the dissolution of the empire 
 of the Csesars. ■ On the one hand, the right of all men to parti- 
 cipate in the kingdom of God was proclaimed. On the other, 
 religion was henceforth separated in principle from the state. The 
 rights of conscience, withdrawn from political law, resulted in the 
 constitution of a new power, — the " spiritual power." This power 
 has more than once belied its origin. For ages the bishops 
 
 factory turn to the tradition, in order to connect with it the circumstance of a 
 cemetery for strangers, which was found near there. 
 
 1 Matt, xxvii. 5. 
 
 2 Acts, I. c. ; Papias, in (Ecumenius, Enarr. in Act. Apost, ii., and in Fr. Miinter, 
 Fragm. Patrum Grcec. (Hafnise, 1788) fasc. i. p. 17, and following ; Theophylactus, 
 in Matt, xxvii. 5. 
 
 8 Papias, in Miinter, I. c. ; Theophylactus, I. c. 
 4 Psalms lxix. and cix. 
 
300 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 have been princes, and the Pope has been a king. The pretended 
 empire of souls has shewn itself at various times as a frightful 
 tyranny, employing the rack and the stake in order to maintain 
 itself. But the day will come when the separation will bear its 
 fruits, when the domain of things spiritual will cease to be called 
 a " power," that it may be called a " liberty." Sprung from the 
 conscience of a man of the people, formed in the presence of the 
 people, beloved and admired first by the people, Christianity was 
 impressed with an original character which will never be effaced. 
 It was the first triumph of revolution, the victory of the popular 
 idea, the advent of the simple in heart, the inauguration of the 
 beautiful as understood by the people. Jesus thus, in the aristo- 
 cratic societies of antiquity, opened the breach through which all 
 will pass. } 
 
 . The civil power, in fact, although innocent of the death of 
 Jesus, (it only countersigned the sentence, and even in spite of 
 itself,) ought to bear a great share of the responsibility. In pre- 
 siding at the scene of Calvary, the state gave itself a serious blow. 
 A legend full of all kinds of disrespect prevailed, and became uni- 
 versally known, — a legend in which the constituted authorities 
 played a hateful part, in which it was the accused that was right, 
 and in which the judges and the guards were leagued against the 
 truth. Seditious in the highest degree, the history of the Passion, 
 spread by a thousand popular images, displayed the Eoman eagles 
 as sanctioning the most iniquitous of executions, soldiers executing 
 it, and a prefect commanding it. What a blow for all established 
 powers ! They have never entirely recovered from it. How can 
 they assume infallibility in respect to poor men, when they have 
 on their conscience the great mistake of Gethsemane ? * 
 
 1 This popular sentiment existed in Brittany in the time of my childhood. The 
 gendarme was there regarded, like the Jew elsewhere, with a kind of pious 
 aversion, for it was he who arrested Jesus ! 
 
CHAPTER XXVIIL 
 
 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OF THE WORK OP JESUS. 
 
 Jesus, it will be seen, limited his action entirely to the Jews. 
 Although his sympathy for those despised by orthodoxy led him 
 to admit pagans into the kingdom of God, — although he had re- 
 sided more than once in a pagan country, and once or twice we 
 surprise him in kindly relations with unbelievers, 1 — it may be said 
 that his life was passed entirely in the very restricted world in 
 which he was born. He was never heard of in Greek or Eoman 
 countries ; his name appears only in profane authors of a hundred 
 years later, and then in an indirect manner, in connexion with 
 seditious movements provoked by his doctrine, or persecutions of 
 which his disciples were the object. 2 Even on Judaism, Jesus 
 made no very durable impression. Philo, who died about the 
 year 50, had not the slightest knowledge of him. Josephus, born 
 in the year 37, and writing in the last years of the century, men- 
 tions his execution in a few lines, 3 as an event of secondary 
 importance, and in the enumeration of the sects of his time, he 
 omits the Christians altogether. 4 In the Mishnah, also, there is no 
 trace of the new school ; the passages in the two Gemaras in 
 which the founder of Christianity is named, do not go further 
 
 1 Matt. viii. 5, and following ; Luke vii. 1, and following ; John xii. 20, and 
 following. Comp. Jos., Ant., xviii. iii. 3. 
 
 5 Tacitus, Ann., xv. 45 ; Suetonius, Claudius, 25. * 
 
 3 Ant., xviii. iii. 3. This passage has been altered by a Christian hand. \f 
 
 4 Ant, xviii. i. ; B. /., n. viii. ; Vita, 2. 
 
302 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 back than the fourth or fifth century. 1 (The essential work of 
 Jesus was to create around him a circle of disciples, whom he 
 inspired with boundless affection, and amongst whom he de- 
 posited the germ of his doctrine. To have made himself beloved, 
 " to the degree that after his death they ceased not to love him," 
 was the great work of Jesus, and that which most struck his 
 contemporaries. 2 His doctrine wa& so little dogmatic, that he 
 never thought of writing it or of causing it to be written. Men_. 
 did not become his disciples by believing this thing or that thing, 
 but in being attached to his person and in loving him.^ A few sen- 
 tence's collected from memory, and especially the type of character 
 he set forth, and the impression it had left, were what remained 
 of him. Jesus was not a founder of dogmas, or a maker of creeds ; 
 he infused into the world a new spirit. ( The least Christian men 
 were, on the one hand, the doctors of the Greek Church, who, 
 beginning from the fourth century, entangled Christianity in a path 
 of puerile metaphysical discussions, and, on the other, the scho- 
 lastics of the Latin Middle Ages, who wished to draw from the 
 Gospel the thousands of articles of a colossal system. To follow 
 Jesus in expectation of the kingdom of God, was all that at first 
 was implied by being Christian. A 
 
 It will thus be understood how, by an exceptional destiny, pure 
 Christianity still preserves, after eighteen centuries, the character 
 of a universal and eternal religion. It is, in fact, because the reli- 
 gion of Jesus is in some respects the final religion. Produced by 
 a perfectly spontaneous movement of souls, freed at its birth from 
 all dogmatic restraint, having struggled three hundred years for 
 liberty of conscience, Christianity, in spite of its failures, still reaps 
 the results of its glorious origin. To renew itself, it has but to 
 return to the Gospel. The kingdom of God, as we conceive it, 
 
 1 Talm. of Jerusalem, Sanhedrim, xiv. 16; Abodazara, ii. 2; Shabbath, xiv. 4; 
 Talra. of Babylon, Sanhedrim, 43 a, 67 a ; Shabbath, 104 b. 116 b. Comp. Chagiga, 
 4 b; Gittin, 57 a, 90 a. The two Gemaras derive the greater part of their data 
 respecting Jesus from a burlesque and obscene legend, invented by the adver- 
 saries of Christianity, and of no historical value. 
 
 2 Jos., Ant., xviii. iii. 3. 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 303 
 
 differs notably from the supernatural apparition which the first 
 Christians hoped to see appear in the clouds. * But the sentiment 
 introduced by Jesus into the world is indeed ours. ( His perfect 
 idealism is the highest rule of the unblemished and virtuous life. 
 He has created the heaven of pure souls, where is found what we 
 ask for in vain on earth, the perfect nobility of the children of 
 God, absolute purity, the total removal of the stains of the world; 
 in fine, liberty, which society excludes as an impossibility, and 
 which exists in all its amplitude only in the domain of thought. 
 The great Master of those who take refuge in this ideal kingdom 
 of God is still Jesus. He was the first to proclaim the royalty 
 of the mind; the first to say, at least by his actions, " My kingdom 
 is not of this world." The foundation of true religion is indeed 
 his work : after him, all that remains is to develop it and render it 
 fruitful. 
 
 "Christianity" has thus become almost a synonym of "reli- 
 gion." All that is done outside of this great and good Christian 
 tradition is barren. Jesus gave religion to humanity, as Socrates 
 gave it philosophy, and Aristotle science. There was philosophy 
 before Socrates and science before Aristotle. Since Socrates and 
 since Aristotle, philosophy and science have made immense pro- 
 gress; but all has been built upon the foundation which they laid. 
 In the same way, before Jesus, religious thought had passed 
 through many revolutions; since Jesus, it has made great con- 
 quests : but no one has improved, and no one will improve upon 
 the essential principle Jesus has created; he has fixed for ever 
 the idea of pure worship. The religion of Jesus in this sense is 
 not limited. ( The Church has had its epochs and its phases ; it has 
 shut itself up in creeds which are, or will be but temporary: but 
 Jesus has founded the absolute religion, excluding nothing, and 
 determining nothing unless it be the spirit. His creeds are not fixed 
 dogmas, but images susceptible of indefinite interpretations.^ We 
 .should seek in vain for a theological proposition in the Gospel. 
 All confessions of faith are travesties of the idea of Jesus, just as 
 the scholasticism of the middle ages, in proclaiming Aristotle the 
 
304 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 sole master of a completed science, perverted the thought of 
 Aristotle. Aristotle, if he had been present in the debates of the 
 schools, would have repudiated this narrow doctrine ; he would 
 have been of the party of progressive science against the routine 
 which shielded itself under his authority ; he would have applauded 
 his opponents. In the same way, if Jesus were to return among us, 
 he would recognise as disciples, not those who pretend to enclose 
 him entirely in a few catechismal phrases, but those who labour 
 to carry on his work. The eternal glory, in all great things, is 
 to have laid the first stone. It may be that in the " Physics/' and 
 in the " Meteorology" of modern times, we may not discover a 
 word of the treatises of Aristotle which bear these titles; but 
 Aristotle remains no less the founder of natural science. 
 Whatever may be the transformations of dogma, Jesus will ever 
 be the creator of the pure spirit of religion; the Sermon on the 
 Mount will never be surpassed. Whatever revolution takes place 
 will not prevent us attaching ourselves in religion to the grand 
 intellectual and moral line at the head of which shines the name 
 of Jesus. In this sense we are Christians, even when we separate 
 ourselves on almost all points from the Christian tradition which 
 has preceded us. 
 
 And this great foundation was indeed the personal work of 
 Jesus. In order to make himself adored to this degree, he must 
 have been adorable. Love is not enkindled except by an object 
 worthy of it, and we should know nothing of Jesus, if it were not 
 for the passion he inspired in those about him, which compels 
 us still to affirm that he was great and pure. The faith, the 
 enthusiasm, the constancy of the first Christian generation is 
 not explicable, except by supposing at the origin of the whole 
 movement, a man of surpassing greatness. At the sight of the 
 marvellous creations of the ages of faith, two impressions equally 
 fatal to good historical criticism arise in the mind. On the one 
 hand we are led to think these creations too impersonal ; we 
 attribute to a collective action, that which has often been the work 
 of one powerful will, and of one superior mind. On the other 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 305 
 
 hand, we refuse to see men like ourselves in the authors of 
 those extraordinary movements which have decided the fate of 
 humanity. Let us have a larger idea of the powers which nature 
 conceals in her bosom. Our civilisations, governed by minute 
 restrictions, cannot give us any idea of the power of man at 
 periods in which the originality of each one had a freer field wherein 
 to develop itself. Let us imagine a recluse dwelling in the 
 mountains near our capitals, coming out from time to time in 
 order to present himself at the palaces of sovereigns, compelling 
 the sentinels to stand aside, and, with an imperious tone, announc- 
 ing to kings the approach of revolutions of which he had been the 
 promoter. The very idea provokes a smile. Such, however, was 
 Elias ; but Elias the Tishbite, in our days, woulcl not be able to 
 pass the gate of the Tuileries. The preaching of Jesus, and his 
 free activity in Galilee, do not deviate less completely from the 
 social conditions to which we are accustomed. Free from our 
 polished conventionalities, exempt from the uniform education 
 which refines us, but which so greatly dwarfs our individuality, 
 these mighty souls carried a surprising energy into action. 
 They appear to us like the giants of an heroic age, which could 
 not /have been real. Profound error ! Those men were our 
 brothers; they were of our stature, felt and thought as we do. 
 But the breath of God was free in them^; with us, it is restrained 
 by the iron bonds of a mean society, and condemned to an irre- 
 mediable mediocrity. 
 
 Let us place, then, the person of Jesus at the highest summit of 
 human greatness. Let us not be misled by exaggerated doubts in 
 the presence of a legend which keeps us always in a superhuman 
 world. The life of Francis d'Assisi is also but a tissue of miracles. 
 Has any one, ho we ve£ doubted of .the existence of Francis d'Assisi, 
 and of the part played by him ? ) Let us say no more that the 
 glory of the foundation of Christianity belongs to the multitude 
 of the first Christians, and not to him whom legend has deified. 
 The inequality of men is much more marked in the East than 
 with us. It is not rare to see arise there, in the midst of a 
 
306 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 general atmosphere of wickedness, characters whose greatness 
 astonishes us. So far from Jesus having been created by his 
 disciples, he appeared in everything as superior to his disciples. 
 The latter, with the exception of St Paul and St John, were 
 men without either invention or genius. St Paul himself bears 
 no comparison with Jesus, and as to St John, I shall shew 
 hereafter, that the part he played, though very elevated in one 
 sense, was far from being in all respects irreproachable. Hence 
 the immense superiority of the Gospels among the writings of 
 the New Testament. Hence the paifrful fall we experience in 
 passing from the history of Jesus to" that of the apostles. The 
 evangelists themselves, who have bequeathed us the image of 
 Jesus, are so much beneath him of whom they speak, that they 
 constantly disfigure him, from their inability to attain to his 
 height. Their writings are full of errors and misconceptions. 
 We feel in each line a discourse of divine beauty, transcribed by 
 narrators who do not understand it, and who substitute their own 
 ideas for those which they have only half understood. ( On the 
 whole, the character of Jesus, far from having been embellished 
 by his biographers, has been lowered by them. Criticism, in 
 order to find what he was, needs to discard a series of misconcep- 
 tions, arising from the inferiority of the disciples. These painted 
 him as they understood him, and often in thinking to raise him, 
 they have in reality lowered him. 
 
 I know that our modern ideas have been offended more than 
 once in this legend, conceived by another race, under another sky, 
 and in the midst of other social wants. There are virtues which, 
 in some respects, are more conformable to our taste. The virtuous 
 and gentle Marcus Aurelius, the humble and gentle Spinoza, not 
 having believed in miracles, have been free from some errors 
 that Jesus shared. Spinoza, in his profound obscurity, had an 
 advantage which Jesus did not seek. By our extreme delicacy in 
 the use of means of conviction, by our absolute sincerity and our 
 disinterested love of the pure idea, we have founded — all we who 
 have devoted our lives to science — a new ideal of morality. But 
 
orx^. 
 
 LIFE OF JESUS. ^ 307 
 
 the judgment of general history ought not to be restricted to con- 
 siderations of personal merit. Marcus Aurelius and his noble 
 teachers have had no permanent influence on the world. Marcus 
 Aurelius left behind him delightful books, an execrable son, and a 
 decaying nation. Jesus remains an inexhaustible principle 
 moral regeneration for humanity. Philosophy does not suffice for 
 the multitude. They must have sanctity. \Axi Apollonius of 
 Tyana, with his miraculous legend, is necessarily more success- 
 ful than a Socrates with his cold reason. " Socrates," it was said, 
 u leaves men on the earth, Apollonius transports them to heaven ; 
 Socrates is but a sage, Apollonius is a god." l Eeligion, so far, 
 has not existed without a share of asceticism, of piety, and of 
 the marvellous. When it was wished, after the Antonines, to make 
 a religion of philosophy, it was requisite to transform the philoso- 
 phers into saints, to write the "Edifying life" of Pythagoras or 
 Plotinus, to attribute to them a legend, virtues of abstinence, 
 contemplation, and supernatural powers, without which neither 
 credence nor authority were found in that age. 
 I Preserve us, then, from mutilating history in order to satisfy our 
 petty susceptibilities ! Which of us, pigmies as we are, could do 
 what the extravagant Francis d'Assisi, or the hysterical saint Theresa 
 has done ? Let medicine have names to express these grand errors 
 of human nature ; let it maintain that genius is a disease of the 
 brain; let it see, in a certain delicacy of morality, the commencement > 
 of consumption ; let it class enthusiasm and love as nervous accidents 
 — it matters little. The terms healthy and diseased are entirely 
 relative. Who would not prefer to be diseased like Pascal, rather 
 than healthy like the common herd ? J The narrow ideas which are 
 spread in our times respecting madness, mislead our historical 
 judgments in the most serious manner, in questions of this kind. 
 A state in which a man says things of which he is not conscious, , 
 in which thought is produced without the summons and con- ' 
 trol of the will, exposes him to being confined as a lunatic. 
 
 1 Philostratus, Life of Apollonius, i. 2, vii. 11, viii. 7 ; Unapius, Lives of the 
 Sophists, pages 454, 500, (edition D.idot.) 
 
308 LIFE OP JESUS. 
 
 Formerly this was called prophecy and inspiration. The most 
 beautiful things in the world are done in a state of fever ; every 
 great creation involves a breach of equilibrium, a violent state of 
 the being which draws it forth. 
 
 We acknowledge, indeed, that Christianity is too complex to have 
 been the work of a single man. In one sense, entire humanity 
 has co-operated therein. There is no one so shut in, as not to 
 receive some influence from without. The history of the human 
 mind is full of strange coincidences, which cause very remote por- 
 tions of the human species, without any communication with each 
 other, to arrive at the same time at almost identical ideas and 
 imaginations. In the t hirteen th century, the Latins, the Greeks, 
 the Syrians, the Jews, and the Mussulmans, adopted scholasticism, 
 and very nearly the same scholasticism from York to Samarcand ; 
 in the fourteenth century every one in Italy, Persia, and India, 
 yielded to the taste for mystical allegory ; in the sixteenth, art was 
 developed in a very similar manner in Italy, at Mount Athos, and 
 at the court of the Great Moguls, without St Thomas, Barhebrseus, 
 the Eabbis of Narbonne, or the Motecallemin of Bagdad, having 
 known each other, without Dante and Petrarch having seen any 
 sofi, without any pupil of the schools of Perouse or of Florence 
 having been at Delhi. (We should say there are great moral 
 influences running through the world like epidemics, without 
 distinction of frontier and of race. The interchange of ideas in 
 the human species, does not take place only by books or by direct 
 instruction. Jesus was ignorant of the very name of Buddha, of 
 Zoroaster, and of Plato ; he had read no Greek book, no Buddhist 
 Sudra, nevertheless there was in him more than one element, 
 which, without his suspecting it, came from Buddhism, Parseeism, 
 or from the Greek wisdom./ All this was done through secret 
 channels and by that kind of sympathy which exists among the 
 various portions of humanity. fThe great man, on the one hand, 
 receives everything from his age ; on the other, he governs his 
 age. \To shew that the religion founded by Jesus was the natural 
 consequence of that which had gone before, does not diminish its 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 309 
 
 excellence ; but only proves that it had a reason for its existence, 
 that it was legitimate, that is to say, conformable to the instincts 
 and wants of the heart in a given age. 
 
 Is it more just to say that Jesus owes all to Judaism, and that 
 his greatness is only that of the Jewish people V No one is more 
 disposed than myself to place high this unique people, whose par- 
 ticular gift seems to have been to contain in its midst the extremes 
 of good and evil. /No doubt, Jesus proceeded from Judaism ; but 
 he proceeded from it as Socrates proceeded from the schools of the 
 Sophists, as Luther proceeded from the Middle Ages, as Lamennais 
 from Catholicism, as Rousseau from the eighteenth century. A man 
 is of his age and his race even when he reacts against his age and his 
 race. jFar from Jesus having continued Judaism, he represents 
 the rupture with the Jewish spirit. The general direction of 
 Christianity after him does not permit the supposition that his 
 idea in this respect could lead to any misunderstanding. The 
 general march of Christianity has been to remove itself more and 
 more from Judaism. It will become perfect in returning to Jesus, 
 but certainly not in returning to Judaism. The great originality 
 of the founder remains then undiminished ; his glory admits no 
 legitimate sharer. • 
 
 Doubtless, circumstances much aided the success of this mar- 
 vellous revolution ; but circumstances only second that which is 
 just and true. Each branch of the development of humanity has 
 its privileged epoch, in which it attains perfection by a sort of 
 spontaneous instinct, and without effort. No labour of reflection 
 would succeed in producing afterwards the masterpieces which 
 nature creates at those moments by inspired geniuses. That which 
 the golden age of Greece was for arts and literature, the age 
 of Jesus was for religion. ( Jewish society exhibited the most 
 extraordinary moral and intellectual state which the human species 
 has ever passed through. ) It was truly one of those divine hours 
 in which the sublime is produced by combinations of a thousand 
 hidden forces, in which great souls find a flood of admiration 
 and sympathy to sustain them. The world, delivered from the 
 
S10 LIFE OF JESUS. 
 
 very narrow tyranny of small municipal republics, enjoyed great 
 liberty. Eoman despotism did not make itself felt in a dis- 
 astrous manner until much later, and it was, moreover, always 
 less oppressive in those distant provinces than in the centre of the 
 empire. Our petty preventive interferences (far more destructive 
 than death to things of the spirit) did not exist. Jesus, during 
 three years, could lead a life which, in our societies, would hsrn 
 brought him twenty times before the magistrates. Our laws upon 
 the illegal exercise of medicine would alone have sufficed to cut 
 short his career. The unbelieving dynasty of the Herods, on the 
 other hand, occupied itself little with religious movements ; under 
 the Asmoneans, Jesus would probably have been arrested at his 
 first step. An innovator, in such a state of society, only risked 
 death, and death is a gain to those who labour for the future. 
 Imagine Jesus reduced to bear the burden of his divinity until 
 his sixtieth or seventieth year, losing his celestial fire, wearing 
 out little by little under the burden of an unparalleled mission ! 
 Everything favours those who have a special destiny; they become 
 glorious by a sort of invincible impulse and command of fate.^) 
 
 This sublime person, who each day still presides over the destiny 
 of the world, we may call divine, not in the sense that Jesus has 
 absorbed all the divine, or has been adequate to it, (to employ an 
 expression of the schoolmen,) but in the sense that Jesus is the 
 one who has caused his fellow-men to make the greatest step 
 towards the divine. Mankind in its totality offers an assem- 
 blage of low beings, selfish, and superior to the animal only 
 in that its selfishness is more reflective. From the midst of this 
 uniform mediocrity, there are pillars that rise towards the sky, 
 and bear witness to a nobler destiny. Jesus is the highest of 
 these pillars which shew to man whence he comes, and whither 
 he ought to tend. In him was condensed all that is good and 
 elevated in our nature. He was not sinless ; he has conquered 
 the same passions that we combat; no angel of God comforted 
 him, except his good conscience ; no Satan tempted him, except 
 that which each one bears in his heart. In the same way that 
 
LIFE OF JESUS. 31 1 
 
 many of his great qualities are lost to us, through the fault of 
 his disciples, it is also probable that many of his faults have been 
 concealed. But never has any one so much as he made the 
 interests of humanity predominate in his life over the littlenesses of 
 self-love. Unreservedly devoted to his mission, he subordinated 
 everything to it to such a degree that, towards the end of his life, 
 the universe no longer existed for him. It was by this access of 
 heroic will that he conquered heaven. There never was a man, 
 Pakya-Mouni perhaps excepted, who has to this degree trampled 
 under foot, family, the joys of this world, and all temporal care. 
 Jesus only lived for his Father and the divine mission which he 
 believed himself destined to fulfil. 
 
 As to us, eternal children, powerless as we are, we who labour 
 without reaping, and who will never see the fruit of that which ^ v 
 we have sown, let us bow before these demi-gods. They were 
 able to do that which we cannot do : to create, to affirm, to act. 
 Will great originality be born again, or will the world content 
 itself henceforth by following the ways opened by the bold creators 
 of the ancient ages ? We know not. But whatever may be the 
 unexpected phenomena of the future, Jesus will not be surpassed. 
 His worship will constantly renew its youth, the tale of his life 
 will cause ceaseless tears, his sufferings will soften the best hearts ; 
 all the ages will proclaim that, among the sons of men, there is 
 none born who is ^reaterjthan Jesus., 
 
 THE END. 
 
 J. HAilER, PRINTER, LKBDS. 
 

 RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 
 
 TQb» 202 Main Library 
 
 LOAN PERIOD 1 
 HOME USE 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405 
 
 6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation Desk 
 
 Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 KE6CULWR31 77 
 
 JUL 21 1999 
 
 APRM 
 
 \m™ m 
 
 OEC 081988 
 
 RECEIVED 
 
 Pf8 6 M>9 
 
 CIRCULATION DEPT. 
 
 AUG 5 1998 
 
 FORM NO. DD 6, 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY 
 BERKELEY, CA 94720 
 
 ®i 
 
 LOJ -" /•*!«.« 
 
 JBerkeley 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 ; 
 
W u.u. BtnruiLtT unnamed iu ^ojci 
 
 CD0b2E328fl 
 
 5\e>3© 
 
 -* r- 
 
 
 
 #1