King of the Jews Part 25

The crowd took up the cry and said, "Quick; forward to Calvary!"

"Are we really going forward again?" said the rabbi, and Nathanael said, shrugging his shoulders, "The centurion is far too mild."

"Do not spare him so much," said a priest.

The long procession was once more in motion when there appeared a servant from Pilate. The man cried, "Halt!" and the procession stopped. "By command of the governor the centurion must appear before him as quickly as possible and receive further orders."

Caiaphas exclaimed, "What does this mean? What new orders are required? The death sentence is p.r.o.nounced and must be carried out without delay."

Then said the centurion bluntly, "No, this will not happen until I have received the further orders of my lord." Then turning to the soldiers he said, "Keep watch meanwhile and go with the condemned to Golgotha.

Then dismiss this man (Simon) and await my arrival." The centurion then went with the servant to Pilate and the procession set forth again.

The people cried wildly, "Up to Golgotha, to the cross with him. Hail to Israel. The enemy is vanquished. We are free. Long live the Sanhedrin."

Jesus looked upon his mother as the procession pa.s.sed the corner of Annas' street, but spoke not.

Then said John, when the dolorous procession had pa.s.sed, "Mother, shall we not go back to Bethany? Thou wilt not be able to bear the sight?"

But Mary answered, "How can a mother leave her child in the last and bitterest need?"

Cleophas objected, "But evil might befall thee, if they recognized thee as his mother."

Mary replied, "I will suffer with him, bear scorn and shame with him; die with him."

"Only," said John, "if the strength of thy body does not give way."

"Fear not," said Mary. "I have asked strength of G.o.d and he has heard me. Let us go after them."

All answered, "Best of mothers, we follow thee," and they slowly followed the procession to Calvary.

And when they reached Golgotha, which is by interpretation the place of a skull, they crucified him there. But first they hanged the two thieves on the crosses, the one on the left, the other on the right.

Their arms were tied over the cross at the wrists, and their feet were tied with cord to the beam. But Jesus was nailed to the central cross while it yet lay with the head slightly raised upon the ground. One nail was driven through the palms of each hand, and one through the two feet, which were placed the one above the other. Jesus lay silent without moving. On his head was the crown of thorns, from which a little blood trickled over his brow. His hands and his feet bled a little, but the rest of his body was pale and colorless, a light cloth only being cast around his loins.

The centurion who had returned from Pilate, stood on the right of the cross giving orders. The lictor, mounted on a white horse, stood near the soldiers, who held on high the Roman standard with the letters S.

P. Q. R. Caiaphas, Annas and all the members of the Sanhedrin stood on the left exulting. A great crowd of sightseers thronged the place.

Among them, coming from behind the centurion, were the holy women from Bethany, with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and John, and Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.

Then said the executioners to the centurion, "We have finished with these," pointing to the thieves, "Now must the king of Jews be exalted upon his throne."

Which, hearing, the priests cried angrily, "Not king! Deceiver, traitor!"

The centurion, who held in his hand a scroll or escutcheon, said, "First, by command of the governor, this writing must be fastened to the cross. Faustus," he added, turning to one of the hangmen named Faustus, "make fast this t.i.tle over the cross." Faustus took the scroll from the centurion, and going to the cross, nailed it with one hammer stroke over the head of Jesus, saying, "Ah, an escutcheon displayed; this is right royal!" When this was done according to the command of the governor, the centurion said to the executioners, "Now, up with the cross! Not carelessly, but lay hold firmly." Then two hangmen, taking the cross by the arms, lifted it up so that its foot fell into the hole prepared for it. But as the cross bearing the body of Jesus was heavy, the third hangman placed his back under it near to the feet of Jesus, saying, "Come, now, all together," and so helping raised it on high. The fourth then filled in the hole at the foot saying when he finished, "All right, the cross stands firm."

Then said the centurion, addressing the chief priests, "The execution is accomplished."

"Quite admirably so," said Caiaphas with a radiant face. "Thanks and applause from us all!" "Yea, thanks, and applause from us all," echoed the Pharisees, looking up at the cross.

Caiaphas then declared, "This shall be a feast day forever."

And the Pharisees said, "Yes, for all time to come it shall be kept every year with grateful jubilation."

"And now," said the aged Annas, "now gladly will I go down to my fathers since I have lived to have the joy of seeing this wretch on the cross." And as he gazed long as if exultingly drinking in the pleasure of satisfied vengeance, he saw for the first time the writing on the cross, but his old eyes could not decipher the words. Turning to Caiaphas he said, "The superscription seems to be very short." Then the Jews drew nearer to see what was written. The hangmen seated themselves on the ground at the foot of the cross and looked up at Jesus.

Then the rabbi, reading the words written by Pilate exclaimed, "That is an insult, an outrage upon the people and the Sanhedrin!"

Caiaphas, hearing him, asked, "What is written?"

Annas, who had also looked at the inscription, said, "The rabbi is right. The Sanhedrin cannot allow this to pa.s.s."

Then said the rabbi, "It is written, 'Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews!'"

Caiaphas as if incredulous, approached the cross and reading it himself, started back with indignation. "Verily," he cried, "that is an affront upon the honor of our nation."

"Down with it at once," cried the priest.

But Caiaphas said, "We dare not touch it ourselves, but do you two,"

addressing the rabbi and Saras, "hasten at once to the governor to demand from him, in the name of the Sanhedrin and the a.s.sembled people that the superscription shall be altered. Say to him, 'Write not the king of the Jews, but that he said, I am king of the Jews?'"

"We are off at once," said the rabbi and Saras.

"Stay," said Caiaphas, "also request from the governor that he may order the bones of the crucified to be broken and their bodies taken down from the cross before the eve of the Pa.s.sover."

When the rabbi and Saras departed on their mission, the hangmen, who had been sitting at the foot of the cross, bethought themselves, and the first, who was named Agrippa, standing up, said, "Now, comrades, let us divide our share." Taking the mantle of Jesus, they seized each one corner, and then pulling all together, rent it into four parts.

The coat remained. Agrippa held it up, "The mantle has made just four pieces; shall we rip up the coat also? See, it is without seam."

"No," said Faustus, who had fastened the superscription over the head of Jesus, "it would be better to cast lots for it."

"Look," said Agrippa, as he went to the foot of the cross and took up the basket, "see, here are dice." Then the four hangmen, standing at the feet of Jesus threw the dice, Agrippa threw them first, saying, "I will try my luck first. Alas, that is too little," he added, as he counted up the result of his throw, "I have lost."

Catiline, the third hangman, as he rattled the dice in his hand, looked up at Jesus and said, "Hi! you up there, if you can still work miracles on the cross, give me good luck." The others shrugged their shoulders and said, "What does he care about us?" Catiline's throw was not high.

Then Nero said, "I ought to have had better luck," and throwing the dice he counted fifteen. "Nearly enough; now, Faustus, it is your turn."

Faustus threw the dice, saying, "I ought to get it." They all bent over to see the result.

"Eighteen!" cried Catiline; "that is the best yet."

Then said Agrippa, "Take it," handing him the mantle, "it is thine; take it away."

And Nero consoled himself by saying, "You are not to be envied."

Faustus gathered up the coat, and folding it up put it away.

By this time the rabbi and Saras returned from Pilate, and coming back to Caiaphas they said, "Our mission was in vain. The governor would not listen to us."

Caiaphas indignantly asked, while the priests and Pharisees crowded around, "Did he give you no answer at all?"