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GAMALIEL, looking forth.
Who is this
Exhorting in the outer courts so loudly?
CHRISTUS.
Their works they do for to he seen of men.
They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge
The borders of their garments, and they love
The uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats
In Synagogues, and greetings in the markets,
And to be called of all men Rabbi, Rabbi!
GAMALIEL.
It is that loud and turbulent Galilean,
That came here at the Feast of Dedication,
And stirred the people up to break the Law!
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom
Of heaven, and neither go ye in yourselves
Nor suffer them that are entering to go in!
GAMALIEL.
How eagerly the people throng and listen,
As if his ribald words were words of wisdom!
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye devour the houses
Of widows, and for pretence ye make long prayers;
Therefore shall ye receive the more damnation.
GAMALIEL.
This brawler is no Jew,--he is a vile
Samaritan, and hath an unclean spirit!
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! ye compass sea and land
To make one proselyte, and when he is made
Ye make him twofold more the child of hell
Than you yourselves are!
GAMALIEL.
O my father's father!
Hillel of blessed memory, hear and judge!
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint,
Of anise, and of cumin, and omit
The weightier matters of the law of God,
Judgment and faith and mercy; and all these
Ye ought to have done, nor leave undone the others!
GAMALIEL.
O Rabban Simeon! how must thy bones
Stir in their grave to hear such blasphemies!
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes, and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye make clean and sweet
The outside of the cup and of the platter,
But they within are full of all excess!
GAMALIEL.
Patience of God! canst thou endure so long?
Or art thou deaf, or gone upon a journey?
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye are very like
To whited sepulchres, which indeed appear
Beautiful outwardly, but are within
Filled full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness!
GAMALIEL.
Am I awake? Is this Jerusalem?
And are these Jews that throng and stare and listen?
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! because ye build the tombs
Of prophets, and adorn the sepulchres
Of righteous men, and say: if we had lived
When lived our fathers, we would not have been
Partakers with them in the blood of Prophets.
So ye be witnesses unto yourselves,
That ye are children of them that killed the Prophets!
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
I send unto you Prophets and Wise Men,
And Scribes, and some ye crucify, and some
Scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute
From city to city; that on you may come
The righteous blood that hath been shed on earth,
From the blood of righteous Abel to the blood
Of Zacharias, son of Barachias,
Ye slew between the Temple and the altar!
GAMALIEL.
Oh, had I here my subtle dialectician,
My little Saul of Tarsus, the tent-maker,
Whose wit is sharper than his needle's point,
He would delight to foil this noisy wrangler!
CHRISTUS.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! O thou
That killest the Prophets, and that stonest them
Which are sent unto thee, how often would I
Have gathered together thy children, as a hen
Gathereth her chickens underneath her wing,
And ye would not! Behold, your house is left
Unto you desolate!
THE PEOPLE.
This is a Prophet!
This is the Christ that was to come!
GAMALIEL.
Ye fools!
Think ye, shall Christ come out of Galilee?
III
LORD, IS IT I?
CHRISTUS.
One of you shall betray me.
THE DISCIPLES.
Is it I?
Lord, is it I?
CHRISTUS.
One of the Twelve it is
That dippeth with me in this dish his hand;
He shall betray me. Lo, the Son of Man
Goeth indeed as it is written of Him;
But woe shall be unto that man by whom
He is betrayed! Good were it for that man
If he had ne'er been born!
JUDAS ISCARIOT.
Lord, is it I?
CHRISTUS.
Ay, thou hast said. And that thou doest, do quickly.
JUDAS ISCARIOT, going out.
Ah, woe is me!
CHRISTUS.
All ye shall be offended
Because of me this night; for it is written:
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd! Smite
The shepherd, saith the Lord of hosts, and scattered
Shall be the sheep!--But after I am risen
I go before you into Galilee.
PETER.
O Master! though all men shall be offended
Because of thee, yet will not I be!
CHRISTUS.
Simon,
Behold how Satan hath desired to have you,
That he may sift you as one sifteth wheat!
Whither I go thou canst not follow me--
Not now; but thou shalt follow me hereafter.
PETER.
Wherefore can I not follow thee? I am ready
To go with thee to prison and to death.
CHRISTUS.
Verily I say unto thee, this night,
Ere the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice!
PETER.
Though I should die, yet will I not deny thee.
CHRISTUS.
When first I sent you forth without a purse,
Or scrip, or shoes, did ye lack anything?
THE DISCIPLES.
Not anything.
CHRISTUS.
But he that hath a purse,
Now let him take it, and likewise his scrip;
And he that hath no sword, let him go sell
His clothes and buy one. That which hath been written
Must be accomplished now: He hath poured out
His soul even unto death; he hath been numbered
With the transgressors, and himself hath borne
The sin of many, and made intercession
For the transgressors. And here have an end
The things concerning me.
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