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No sooner did they start with a new quirk when it turned political. Coponius, procurator fourth before Pilate, had a pretty time crushing the Gaulonite sedition which arose in this fashion and spread down from Gamala. In Jerusalem, that last time I rode in, it was easy to note the increasing excitement of the Jews. They ran about in crowds, chattering and spouting.
In the course of the morning we passed the spot where Pontius Pilate is said to have thrown himself into the lake. The legend goes that after the Crucifixion his conscience troubled him, and he fled from Jerusalem and wandered about the earth, weary of life and a prey to tortures of the mind.
Look you read: 'Jesus Nasarenus, Rex Judaeorum." The scribe and his visitors laughed heartily. "And lest among the multitude that hath heard of a new king, there are those unfamiliar with our own tongue, Pilate hath given command that the superscription be written in Greek and in the ancient letters of the Jews' own Law. Also I would put the seal on the death sentence. Wouldst thou see this too?"
Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that He said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
Judas his name was, and there were words in that he stole from their common purse which he carried." "Jesus did not steal?" Pilate's wife asked. "No," Pilate answered; "it was Judas, the treasurer." "Who was this John?" I questioned. "He was in trouble up Tiberias way and Antipas executed him." "Another one," Miriam answered. "He was born near Hebron. He was an enthusiast and a desert-dweller.
What hath so defiled them that ablution doth take place in the eyes of the shouting mob?" "A mystery yea. But look you aye, look you! To mystery is added yet more mystery! Herod the Tetrarch doth approach Pilate. He smileth until the rising light doth sparkle on his teeth. He holdeth forth his hand! Will the Procurator whose hands are yet wet from their strange cleansing give him greeting?
Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Pilate must have felt mortified when he heard that Herod had sent Jesus back to his tribunal. He had hoped that the Jewish monarch would so settle the matter that there would be no need for him to choose between his conscience and his fear of the Jewish leaders. But it was not to be. It was decreed that he should pronounce the judicial sentence on our Lord, and so on himself.
"But it is a fine question of legality," I insisted. "You know what the Romans are in such matters." "Then will Hanan avoid the question," she smiled, "by compelling Pilate to crucify him. In either event it will be well." A surging of the mob was sweeping our horses along and grinding our knees together.
These two men, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, were members of the sanhedrin, but they had had no part in the condemnation of Jesus; and after knowing that he was dead, Joseph begged of Pilate the body, and he and Nicodemus took Jesus down from the cross and laid him in a tomb which Joseph owned near the place of crucifixion, rendering such tender ministries as were possible in the closing hours of the day.
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