But He went on, speaking gently and softly; “I
have preached to the people in vain about faith in
Me. I need not preach to you, for a mother believes
in her child. They will all testify against Me.
Mother, do not believe them. Believe your child.
And when the hour comes for Me to appear with outstretched
arms, not on earth and not in heaven, believe then
in your child. Be sure then that your carpenter
has built the Kingdom of God. No, mother, do
not weep; look up with bright eyes. Your day
will be everlasting. The poor, those forsaken
by every heaven, will pour out their woes to you, the
blessed, the rich in grace! All the races of
the earth will praise you!” He kissed
her hair, He kissed her eyes, and sobbed Himself.
“And now go, mother. My friends are waking.
They must not see Me cast down.”
He arose from this sweet rest. The disciples
raised their heads one after another.
“Did you get some rest, Master?” asked
Simon.
He answered: “Better rest than you had.”
A messenger who had been sent out returned with a
basket, and they paid him with a little gold ring,
the last to be found on the fingers of the wanderers.
They ate, and rejoiced over God’s beautiful
world and its gifts, and then prepared for further
wanderings, Whither? Towards the metropolis.
Mary stood behind the rocks and gazed after Him as
long as He was visible in the haze of the Galilean
sun.
And so they made their way towards Jerusalem for the
celebration of the Passover. Long ago Moses
had delivered the Jews from bondage in Egypt, and
led them back to their native land. In grateful
remembrance many thousands assembled every year at
Jerusalem at the time of the first full moon of spring,
made a pilgrimage to the Temple, and, according to
the ancient custom, ate of the Paschal lamb, with bitter
herbs, and bread made without yeast, as once they
ate manna in the wilderness. At such an assembly
there was of course much commerce and show. The
execution of criminals took place at that time, so
that people were sure of one terrible spectacle in
accordance with the words of the Rabbis in the Temple
who said; He who breaks the Law shall be punished
according to the Law.
“I should like to see such a thing once,”
said the disciple Thaddeus to his comrades as they
went along. “I mean such a punishment.”
“You’ll easily find an opportunity in
Jerusalem,” replied Andrew; and added with light
mockery, “to see criminals impaled is the correct
merry-making for poor men. It costs nothing.
And yet I do not know a costlier pleasure.”
“How is the impaling done?” Thaddeus wanted
to know.
“That’s easily described,” Matthew
informed them. “Think of an upright post
planted in the earth and a cross-beam near the top.
The poor sinner is bound naked to it, his arms stretched
out. When he has hung there in the people’s
eyes for a while, they break his legs with a club.
For very serious crimes they sometimes fasten the
limbs to the post with iron nails.”
