Great Lion of God

by Taylor Caldwell

  “Have you not wondered, yourself, Paul of Tarsus, why you have not seen him nor have heard from him?”

  “Yes, lord,” said Saul, and immediately an icy chill enveloped his spirit and he felt ill with premonition.

  “It is suspected that he is a new heretic,” said Pilate.

  Saul sprang to his feet, trembling, swollen and scarlet of face. Lord!” he cried, “that rumor is not to be borne, to be suffered! You know Rabban Gamaliel; you know that he is chief of the Sanhedrin, the Nasi of the Temple, a man famous in Israel and even in the world beyond for his piety and his wisdom, his devotion to God, his writings, his lectures, his dissertations, his influence!” Saul began to shudder. He had thought that he had endured all he could endure, yet now he was faced with this horror, this blasphemy, this terror and shamefulness. “Lord,” he stammered, sweating in his extremity though the autumn evening was cool, “those who spread such evil tidings should be mercilessly punished—and destroyed, for the Rabban is a holy man before the Face of God, and God should not be so flagrantly insulted in the powerful person of His Rabban! It is a plot to crush the very foundations of our Temple, our holy land, our belief, our very survival! If this can be said of Rabban Gamaliel then none is safe in Israel, all are exposed to lies and blasphemies and traducers, all are suborned!” He stopped. His voice choked in his throat. His eyes had reddened with blood. He feared that he would have a seizure, that he would die on the spot of his agony and his abhorrence and dread. It was as if, before his very sight and presence, that the Veil of the Temple had been torn away and the Torah seized and desecrated and befouled by beasts, and that animals had defecated in the Sanctuary. He pressed his hands convulsively to his temples, holding there the roaring cataract that swelled within, threatening to break loose and smash him to fragments. His heart screamed with pain; he could not breathe. His tongue clove to the roof of his mouth; he saw fire and sparks before him and felt a heaving beneath his feet.

  Pilate watched him with curious interest and reflection, then seeing that Saul was indeed in extremity he finally called for wine and himself stood and pressed the goblet into one of Saul’s rigid and shaking hands. “Drink,” he commanded, “or you will surely die! Gods! What exaggerations, what extravagances, you Jews display, out of proportion to the cause! I have said it is a rumor, only a rumor. But you sprang to your feet like one who has been seized by the furies, by Hecate, herself, or as if Charon had appeared before you! Let us be calm. Drink. I command you.”

  Convulsed with tremors, hardly aware of Pilate, Saul obeyed. He could not speak. Tears like burning acid rushed into his eyes. He feared that he would burst into violent weeping and be undone before this Roman, who would only laugh at his agony. For how could Pilate comprehend the awfulness of the lie against the Rabban, the holiest man in Israel, the most learned? Saul was taken by a direful I fear. He had not striven hard enough. He had failed his Lord, his that such a shameful rumor dared to be started in Jerusalem, felt himself pushed into a chair by Pilate, and he sat there in a state of collapse.

  He whispered finally, and in a hoarse voice, “You do not comprehend the monstrousness of this accusation!”

  Pilate shrugged. He said, “I can believe anything of the Jews, my Paul. You are an incredible people. But, be calm, I implore you. I dislike excesses of emotion. They are uncivilized. I thought you a cultivated man, a man of restraint.” He put his tongue in his cheek.

  A little control came to Saul. He stared at Pilate with hatred. “What I gave utterance to a rumor that your Emperor, your Caesar Tiberius, was a pederast?” he asked.

  To his amazement Pilate laughed. “I would put nothing past the Caesars,” he said. “I have heard worse.” He regarded Saul with smiling derision. Then he said, “Let me tell you what I have heard of Gamaliel, but, in the name of the gods, discipline yourself.”

  Chapter 30

  “IT is well known,” said Pontius Pilate to Saul ben Hillel, “that the High Priest, Caiphas, and Rabban Gamaliel are not the most affectionate of friends, for the Rabban has little respect for Caiphas and Caiphas is embarrassed before the Nasi. Annas, the father-in-law of Caiphas, is a subtle and malicious man and delights in the discomfiture of his son-in-law, and therefore cultivates the Rabban who has regard for neither.

  “In the matter of your heretics Caiphas has been relentless for many important reasons, as you know, my Paul, and not only out of fear of me and Rome. He had taken it upon himself to hear their trials in the Temple, and before the Sanhedrin, even in the case of the least of them, including simple old women. He is the High Priest. He is concerned with the consideration of heresy, he proclaims, and would Keep the faith of his people pure and unshaken. He appears, however, to have an almost demented hatred for the Nazarene which he cannot fully explain himself. No matter.

  “As Nasi of the Temple the Rabban is concerned with the immutability of the Law and all learned matters, and teachings, connected with that Law. As chief of the Sanhedrin he is rarely called to listen to accusations against those who infringe the Law, for that is the concern of lower judges. He was not, for instance, present when Jesus of Nazareth was brought before a handful of the judges, for, who was this man? A mere traveling teacher, who spoke only Aramaic, an unlearned man, a carpenter, penniless and homeless, with followers as undistinguished as himself. Such as Rabban Gamaliel would not be called to judge so poor a creature, so humble and without consequence.”

  “I know of these things!” said Saul, with impatience. He was still trembling with shock. Pilate again regarded him thoughtfully. He did not like strong and emphatic men; he considered them barbarians.

  “Ah, yes,” he murmured, playing with the stem of his goblet and leaning backwards in his cushioned lemonwood chair. “Do you not know of these things! But my spies have been informing me of late that Rabban Gamaliel, who has matters of grave moment on his mind every hour, has taken to appearing silently and quietly in the Sanhedrin when the followers of Jesus of Nazareth are brought before the Court, and he has listened to them acutely though never intruding a question or uttering a reprimand, he the chief of the Court. He has neither affirmed nor set aside the opinion of those meeting in the Court, though it is more than his privilege. He has merely listened, and then has departed, without a word. So the High Priest has told me. He finds the presence of the Rabban disconcerting.”

  “That is understandable,” said Saul, with contempt. “Caiphas is a fool, for all his erudition, and a traitor to his people.”

  Pilate arched his brows coquettishly at Saul, but Saul was beyond noticing small matters.

  Pilate continued. It was but yesterday that the fisherman of Galilee, Simon Peter, spoken of as the leading Apostle of Jesus of Nazareth, was brought before the Sanhedrin with a number of his followers. He was one of those who had been loosed from prison by drunken or bribed guards, who were now in prison, themselves. He was found preaching, again, with his idle followers, in the marketplace, and was arrested at once by some of Saul’s own soldiers, while he, Saul, was busy pursuing another investigation. Some members of the Sanhedrin were always meeting hastily in these perturbed days, and so a few were summoned to try this Simon Peter again and this time to assure themselves that he would not escape.

  Again they questioned him, seeking to have him boldly proclaim his blasphemy as he had done often before, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Redeemer of Israel, as the prophecies had foretold. It was a weary subject, and the Sanhedrin, though incensed, yawned. They had now decided on this wretch’s fate: He would suffer the punishment of blasphemy. He would be stoned to death. The Sanhedrin gave their verdict, and rose to leave as the guards seized Simon Peter.

  It was then that Rabban Gamaliel rose, small of stature but heroic of mien and radiating authority and personal grandeur. He commanded that Simon Peter and his followers be taken to a room near the Court and there detained until he had spoken. He was an old man, but his gray eyes were sparkling like ice and his glance was powerful.

  Then
he addressed the other judges, who were far inferior in station to him, standing before them as if an advocate and not the chief of the Court, itself.

  He said, “Of what are these men accused? They are accused of I blasphemy. They are accused of adding another sect to the many now plaguing Israel. They are not accused of crimes against man, but of a crime against God, by pleading that the Messias has already been born to Israel and was executed by the Romans for sedition and inciting riots among the people.

  “Let us examine the alleged crime against God. We know He will not tolerate blasphemy, blessed be His Name. But these fellow Jews of ours, whom we call heretics, exalt God, do not blaspheme Him, contrary to the opinion of many of this Court. They are more passionate in their pious duties, as Jews, than many of the members I see about me now. If they believe that the Messias has already been among us, that he fulfilled the Law and the Prophecies, is this aberration so heinous? We have had many such rabbis as this Yeshua of Nazareth who were thought to be the Messias, and we, remembering the prophecies that he would arrive obscurely and be wounded for our sins and that we would esteem him not and know him not, had these rabbis brought before us to question them, more in hope than in ridicule and outrage.

  “The only difference between Yeshua ben Joseph and the other poor rabbis of the past is that he did not deny that he was the Messias. Let us consider. We know these poor provincial countrymen of ours, and their devotion to the God of their fathers. Some rave and prophesy. Some wander abroad to teach, in their little learning. And some, we have learned, are poor unfortunate madmen, obsessed and haunted by God or their imaginings about God, and disappear into the desert, to be heard of no more except by the stones and the jackals and the vultures. Some, we know well, performed miracles out of the purity and innocence and faith of their souls, for the Almighty looks with gentle tenderness on these children of His who adore Him and live only to serve Him.”

  Rabban Gamaliel permitted himself the smallest of smiles. “We have a legend that the Messias, in Heaven, is continually wounded by our sins and suffers enormous pain and agony, and that the angels bind up His wounds and comfort Him. We have legends that He has even been seen by men, wandering the earth in His bandages, and mourning, and that none knew Him except infants at their mother’s breast and little ones who gazed at Him in compassion. Other legends assert that He had been driven from villages by those who knew Him not, this bloodstained wanderer Who would have men know Him and accept His love and His redemption.

  “So be it. The followers of Yeshua ben Joseph of Nazareth believe fervently, with all their minds and all their souls and all their hearts that the Nazarene was and is the Messias, that He was scourged for our sins and died for our redemption, the Lamb of God. Their belief is not unique. It was believed before, according to the words of Isaias, and was not accounted too horrific.

  “Men of Israel!” said the Rabban, lifting a .portentous hand. “Take care what you are about to do to these men, who await your judgment in the adjoining room. For some time ago, there rose up Theodas, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men in Jerusalem, about four hundred, joined him. But he was slain, and all his followers were dispersed. And he was brought to nothing. After him rose up Judas the Galilean in the days of the Census, and drew some people after him. He, too, perished, and all his followers were scattered abroad. So now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or work is of men it will be overthrown. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it. Else, perhaps, you may find yourselves fighting even against God!” (Actual words of Rabban Gamaliel, Acts of the Apostles, 5:34-39)

  He then turned on his heel and left the Court and the Court and the judges sat in stupefaction and amazement, and pondered, and then argued and discussed vehemently. Many disputed. But the Rabban was illustrious and loved of the people and honored by them, and by themselves, and they did not criticize him even by a word, but only by doubtful frowns. In the end they ordered Simon Peter and the followers with him to be scourged, but not too severely, and commanded them to preach no more in the Temple and the streets and to cry no more that Yeshua ben Joseph of Nazareth was the Messias.

  Concluding his recital, Pilate smiled questioningly at Saul. “Would you, then, consider Rabban Gamaliel to be a heretic, in that he protected these blasphemers and counseled that they not be made to suffer the punishment for blasphemy?”

  Saul had listened, all his instincts and passions protesting and denying what he was hearing. It was not possible! He said, “Lord, who is your informer?”

  Pilate sighed. “The High Priest, himself. You may consider him a traitor and a liar, but that is unfair. He is at heart a timorous man, land wishes only peace for his country and his people. Fearful that I would not believe his story, he brought with him members of the Sanhedrin, who confirmed his words, and they are men of truth and dignity.”

  Saul stood up and began to pace the hall in almost uncontrollable agitation, groaning in himself. He said at last, “Why did they not come to me, instead of to you, lord?”

  Pilate plucked at his smiling lips. “I am distressed to admit that they now fear you, even the High Priest who brought you to my attention. Perhaps they consider you too—zealous?” His face changed, became dark and vicious and he stood up and faced Saul in his path. “Perhaps they have already heard that I had two thousand rebels executed in Tiberias, in Galilee, but four days ago! Could that be the answer to your question, Paul of Tarsus?”

  Saul recoiled from him with tremendous loathing and burning hatred. Seeing this Pilate said, “What is the difference between us, my dear friend? Do we not persecute, or prosecute, equally? For the same reason, the same purpose?”

  Pilate laughed in his face. “What? You start back? But have you not harassed, yourself, Paul of Tarsus, those of your own blood and your own bone? Have you not condemned, ordered lashings and imprisonment? I do not look upon you with disgust and repudiation. I understand you. If,” said Pilate softly, “your friend Gamaliel does not.”

  Saul turned and left him and there was as the roaring of tumultuous wings in his ears. But he had no thoughts, only terrible emotions and tears of blood seemed to seethe against his eyelids, though he could not weep. He returned to his house and fell on his bed like a stone and lay for hours staring sightlessly at the walls until it was midnight.

  He dared not think. He could only adhere to his purpose though he died of grief from it. His heart was torn and throbbing. But he could not retreat. When he slept a little he saw a forest of crosses, and the crucified, and he moaned in his slumber and his pillow was wet with the tears he could not shed when he was awake.

  Chapter 31

  THE dread news of Pilate’s execution of two thousand men and women of Galilee reached Jerusalem, and there was hardly a soul but was stricken with anguish and horror. Multitudes asked each other in the street: “Of what were these peasants and humble laborers guilty? That they believed the Messias had come, even though we believe He is still tarrying? It has been called blasphemy, but now confusion is upon us, and sorrow for our kinsmen. Woe unto us, that we have seen this day!”

  In their despair and anguish the people set upon Roman soldiers who arrested “heretics” in Jerusalem, and injured them in their numbers and drove them off and rescued their fellow Jews and hid them and smuggled them from the city at night. It was nothing now to the rescuers that their brethren had been denounced as blasphemers from the Temper purlieus themselves, and had been proscribed. Angrily the people said, “These are of our blood, and they are our neighbors, and if they be in error let God judge them and not the Romans, and not the venal priests who have oppressed us in all these years! Are we market rabble that we should hoot and encourage the soldiers in their cruelties, and yell like hyenas? No! Our people are our people, and no stranger shall murder them any longer!”

  Caiphas sent for Saul and said, wringing his long white hands, “We have lost control. The issue is in darkness and confusion. Once
it was as clear as spring water. Now it is muddled, and roiling. Once it was the matter of blasphemy and God’s command that blasphemers be put to death. Now it is pious Jew protecting heretical Jew, and crying aloud, ‘We are of one blood and one nation and one God!’ The people are aroused, since the news from Galilee. They stone the Romans in the streets; they attack them in the dark; they shout imprecations upon them. They flock to listen to the heretics who preach to them in spite of rigorous punishments. They fill the river at night, to be baptized. They are like men seized by madness and they know not what they do. We were in danger before Yeshua ben Joseph was executed. We are in more peril now than then, and Pilate waits like a wolf, licking chops and slavering. He needs but a little more prodding—”

  Saul said, “We must not only continue our efforts and our struggle, but we must increase them in intensity and dedication.” He was very lean and haggard now, and his red hair was startling against his pallid flesh and over the hot metal of his blue eyes. “What other choice have we? We, or the heretics, must perish. In truth, we shall all perish unless this heresy is destroyed, Jew and heretic alike. Why did God permit this affliction to come upon us? It is my belief it is His punishment that we tolerated the Sadducees and let them rule us and collaborated with the Roman, who has desecrated the holy earth of Israel. We are being punished by the wrath of the Almighty. We can but accept the flagellation and strive to atone for our sins, and drive the blasphemers into the sea.” He put his weary hands over his tormented face for a moment. “Indeed, once it was clear to the people, and now it is no longer clear. Hell has clouded their minds. But we must persevere, and attain victory. Lord, give me a letter to the elders of Damascus, for I hear the heresy has broken out there in enormous fury and is raging like a disease. For the moment, let the people of Jerusalem be at peace, so that they can regain their wits and understand, again, that we fight not only for their souls but for their very lives.”