‘I am ready, sir.’
‘You and I know that for the Kingdom to flourish, it needs a body of men, and women too, both Jews and Gentiles, faithful followers under the guidance of men of authority and wisdom. And this church – we can call it a church – will need men of formidable organisational powers and deep intellectual penetration, both to conceive and develop the structure of the body and to formulate the doctrines that will hold it together. There are such men, and they are ready and waiting. The church will not lack organisation and doctrine.
‘But you will remember, my dear Christ, the story of Abraham and Isaac. God sets his people severe tests. How many men of today would be ready to act like Abraham, prepared to sacrifice his son because the Lord had told him to? How many would be like Isaac, ready to do as his father told him and hold out his hands to be bound, and lie down on the altar, and wait peaceably for the knife in the serene confidence of righteousness?’
‘I would,’ said Christ at once. ‘If that is what God wants, I would do that. If it would serve the Kingdom, yes, I would. If it would serve my brother, yes, yes, I would.’
He spoke eagerly, because he knew that this would give him the chance to atone for his failure to heal the woman with the cancer. It was his faith that had been insufficient, not hers; he had spoken harshly to her, and he still felt ashamed.
‘You are devoted to your brother,’ said the stranger.
‘Yes. Everything I do is for him, though he doesn’t know it. I have been shaping the history especially to magnify his name.’
‘Don’t forget what I told you when we first spoke: your name will shine as greatly as his.’
‘I don’t think of that.’
‘No, but it may give you comfort to think that others do, and are working to make sure it comes about.’
‘Others? There are others besides you, sir?’
‘A legion. And it will come to happen, have no fear about that. But before I go, let me ask you again: do you understand how it might be necessary for one man to die so that many can live?’
‘No, I don’t understand it, but I accept it. If it is God’s will, I accept it, even if it’s impossible to understand. The story doesn’t say whether Abraham and Isaac understood what they had to do, but they didn’t hesitate to do it.’
‘Remember your words,’ said the angel. ‘We shall talk again in Jerusalem.’
He kissed Christ on the brow before leaving with the scrolls.
Jesus Rides into Jerusalem
Next day, Jesus and his followers prepared to leave for Jerusalem. Word had spread that he was coming, and many people came to see him and welcome him on his way to the city, because his fame was now so widespread. The priests and the scribes, of course, had been aware of him for some time, and they didn’t know how best to react. It was a difficult matter for them: should they endorse him and hope to share his popularity, at the cost of not knowing what he would do next? Or should they condemn him, and risk offending the people who supported him in such numbers?
They resolved to watch closely, and to test him whenever they saw the chance.
Jesus and his disciples had reached Bethphage, near a place called the Mount of Olives, when he told them to stop and rest. He sent two of the disciples to find a beast for him to ride on, because he was tired. All they could find was the foal of a donkey, and when the owner heard who it was for, he refused any payment.
The disciples spread their cloaks on the donkey and Jesus rode it into Jerusalem. The streets were thronged with people curious to see him, or eager to welcome him. Christ was among the crowd, watching everything, and he saw how one or two people had cut palm branches to wave; he was already composing the account of the scene in his mind. Jesus was calm and unaffected by the clamour, and acknowledged all the questions that people called out without answering any of them:
‘Are you going to preach here, master?’
‘Are you going to heal?’
‘What are you going to do, Lord?’
‘Will you go to the temple?’
‘Have you come to speak to the priests?’
‘Are you going to fight the Romans?’
‘Master, will you heal my son?’ The disciples cleared a way to the house where he was going to stay, and presently the crowd dispersed.
The Priests Test Jesus
But the priests were determined to test him, and soon the chance came. They tried three times, and each time Jesus baffled them.
The first test came when they said to him, ‘You preach, you heal, you cast out devils – now, by whose authority do you do these things? Who gave you permission to go about stirring up excitement like this?’
‘I’ll tell you,’ he said, ‘if you’ll give me an answer to this question: did John’s authority to baptise come from heaven, or from earth?’
They didn’t know how to answer him. They withdrew a little way and discussed it. ‘If we say it came from heaven,’ they said, ‘he’ll say, “In that case, why didn’t you believe in it?” But if we say it was of human origin, the crowd will be angry with us. John’s a great prophet as far as they’re concerned.’
So they had to tell him, ‘We find it hard to decide. We can’t answer you.’
‘In that case,’ he said, ‘you’ll have to do without an answer from me.’
The next test they put him to concerned that perennial difficulty, taxes.
They said, ‘Teacher, you’re an honest man, we can all see that. No one doubts your sincerity or your impartiality; you show no favours, and you don’t try to ingratiate yourself with anyone. So we’re sure you’ll give us a truthful answer when we ask you: is it lawful to pay taxes?’
They meant lawful according to the law of Moses, and they hoped they would trick him into saying something that would get him into trouble with the Romans.
But he said, ‘Show me one of those coins you pay taxes with.’
Someone handed him a coin, and he looked at it and said, ‘There’s a picture on here. Whose picture is this? What’s the name underneath it?’
‘It’s Caesar’s, of course,’ they said.
‘Well, there’s your answer. If this is Caesar’s, give it back to him. Give God the things that are God’s.’
The third time they tried to trap him involved a capital offence. The scribes and the Pharisees happened to be dealing with the case of a woman who was caught committing adultery. They thought that they could force Jesus into calling for her to be stoned, which was the punishment authorised by their law, and hoped that this would cause trouble for him.
They found him near the temple wall. The Pharisees and scribes took the woman out and stood her in front of him, and said, ‘Teacher, this woman has committed adultery – she was caught in the act! Moses commands us to stone such a woman to death. What do you say? Should we do it?’
Jesus was sitting on a rock, leaning down and writing with his finger in the dust. He took no notice of them.
‘Teacher, what should we do?’ they said again. ‘Should we stone her, as Moses says?’
He still said nothing, and went on writing in the dust.
‘We don’t know what to do!’ they went on. ‘You can tell us. We’re sure you can find a solution. Should she be stoned? What do you think?’ Jesus looked up and brushed the dirt off his hands.
‘If there’s one of you who has never committed a sin, he can throw the first stone,’ he said. Then he bent down again and wrote some more. One by one the scribes and the Pharisees went away, muttering. Jesus was left alone
