The Life of Jesus Part 17

[Hebrew: evion, dal, ani, anav, chasid, ashir, holelim, aritz].]

[Footnote 2: Ch. lxii., lxiii., xcvii., c., civ.]

[Footnote 3: _Enoch_, ch. xlvi. 4-8.]

[Footnote 4: _Enoch_, xcix. 13, 14.]

[Footnote 5: Julius Africa.n.u.s in Eusebius, _H.E._, i. 7; Eus., _De situ et nom. loc. hebr._, at the word [Greek: Choba]; Orig., _Contra Celsus_, ii. 1, v. 61; Epiph., _Adv. Haer._, xxix. 7, 9, x.x.x. 2, 18.]

[Footnote 6: See especially Origen, _Contra Celsus_, ii. 1; _De Principiis_, iv. 22. Compare Epiph., _Adv. Haer._, x.x.x. 17. Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius, and the apostolic Const.i.tutions, ignore the existence of such a personage. The author of the _Philosophumena_ 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, [Greek: Ebion] = [Greek: ptochos].]

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 movements, 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 pa.s.sed away and became forgotten, _Ebionism_ left a leaven in the whole history of Christian inst.i.tutions 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 century, which, among all the attempts at religious construction, most resembles the Galilean movement, took place entirely in the name of poverty. Francis d'a.s.sisi, 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 results. Pious mendicity, so impatiently borne by our industrial and well-organized communities, was in its day, and in a suitable climate, full of charm. It offered to a mult.i.tude 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, 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 burdens, 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.

[Footnote 1: Epiph., _Adv. Haer._, xix., xxix., and x.x.x., especially xxix. 9.]

Like all great men, Jesus loved the people, and felt himself at home with them. 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 favorites. Love of the people, and pity for its weakness (the sentiment of the democratic chief, who feels the spirit of the mult.i.tude live in him, and recognize him as its natural interpreter), shine forth at each moment in his acts and discourses.[2]

[Footnote 1: Matt. xi. 5; Luke vi. 20, 21.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. ix. 36; Mark vi. 34.]

The chosen flock presented, in fact, a very mixed character, and one likely to astonish rigorous moralists. It counted in its fold men with whom a Jew, respecting himself, would not have a.s.sociated.[1] Perhaps Jesus found in this society, unrestrained by ordinary rules, more mind and heart than in a pedantic and formal middle-cla.s.s, proud of its apparent morality. The Pharisees, exaggerating the Mosaic prescriptions, had come to believe themselves defiled 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 sentiment, Jesus loved to eat with those who suffered from them;[2] by his side at table were seen persons said to lead wicked lives, perhaps 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."[3] Or again: "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not 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."[4] Or again: "The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost."[5] Or again: "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners."[6] Lastly, that delightful parable of the prodigal son, in which he who is fallen is represented 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 realizing, for the first time, the attractions 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.[7] He appreciated 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, finding in their conversion to the sect an easy means of restoration, would pa.s.sionately attach themselves to him.

[Footnote 1: Matt. ix. 10, and following; Luke xv. entirely.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. ix. 11; Mark ii. 16; Luke v. 30.]

[Footnote 3: Matt. ix. 12.]

[Footnote 4: Luke xv. 4, and following.]

[Footnote 5: Matt. xviii. 11; Luke xix. 10.]

[Footnote 6: Matt. ix. 13.]

[Footnote 7: 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 pa.s.sages 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. 30.]

Far from seeking to soothe the murmurs stirred up by his disdain 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 a rich man, 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 G.o.d before you. For John came unto you and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him."[2]

We can understand how galling the reproach of not having followed the good example set by prost.i.tutes must have been to men making a profession of seriousness and rigid morality.

[Footnote 1: Luke xix. 2, and following.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. xxi. 31, 32.]

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.[1] Such conduct, compared with that of John the Baptist, gave offence.[2] One day, when the disciples of John and the Pharisees were observing the fast, it was asked, "Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?

As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast in those days."[3] 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.[4] For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came 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."[5]

[Footnote 1: Matt. xxv. 1, and following.]

[Footnote 2: Mark ii. 18; Luke v. 33.]

[Footnote 3: Matt. ix. 14, and following; Mark ii. 18, and following; Luke v. 33, and following.]

[Footnote 4: An allusion to some children's game.]

[Footnote 5: 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 G.o.d is only proclaimed by His works themselves." I read [Greek: ergon], with the ma.n.u.script B. of the Vatican, and not [Greek: teknon].]

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 traveling; the large, black eyes of the animal, shaded by long eyelashes, 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.[1] 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 a.s.sembles 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.[2] The mothers, encouraged by such a reception, brought him their children in order that he might touch them.[3] 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 honor him.[4] 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.[5]

[Footnote 1: Matt. xxi. 7, 8.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. xix. 13, and following; Mark ix. 35, x. 13, and following; Luke xviii. 15, 16.]

[Footnote 3: Ibid.]

[Footnote 4: Matt. xxvi. 7, and following; Mark xiv. 3, and following; Luke vii. 37, and following.]

[Footnote 5: Gospel of Marcion, addition to ver. 2 of chap. xxiii. of Luke (Epiph., _Adv. Haer._, 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 ma.n.u.scripts which he used.]

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 t.i.tles 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 G.o.d.[2]

[Footnote 1: A cry which was raised at the feast of tabernacles, amidst the waving of palms. Mishnah, _Sukka_, iii. 9. This custom still exists among the Israelites.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. xxi. 15, 16.]

He lost no opportunity of repeating that the little ones are sacred beings,[1] that the kingdom of G.o.d belongs to children,[2] that we must become children to enter there,[3] that we ought to receive it as a child,[4] that the heavenly Father hides his secrets from the wise and reveals them to the little ones.[5] The idea of disciples is in his mind almost synonymous with that of children.[6] On one occasion, when they had one of those quarrels for precedence, 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."[7]

[Footnote 1: Matt. xviii. 5, 10, 14; Luke xvii. 2.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. xix. 14; Mark x. 14; Luke xviii. 16.]

[Footnote 3: Matt. xviii. 1, and following; Mark ix. 33, and following; Luke ix. 46.]

[Footnote 4: Mark x. 15.]

[Footnote 5: Matt. xi. 25; Luke x. 21.]

[Footnote 6: Matt. x. 42, xviii. 5, 14; Mark ix. 36; Luke xvii. 2.]

[Footnote 7: Matt. xviii. 4; Mark ix. 33-36; Luke ix. 46-48.]

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 throne[1] beside the master. They divided amongst themselves the positions of honor 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, "_paradise_," which the Hebrew, like all the languages of the East, had borrowed from the Persian, and which at first designated the parks of the Achaemenidae, summed up the general dream; a delightful garden, where the charming life which was led here below would be continued forever.[3] How long this intoxication lasted we know not.