Many measures were, probably, advocated by various members of the Council, but found no general acceptance. At length Caiaphas arose, and with unconcealed contempt declared that his weak and vacillating colleagues _knew nothing at all_ (Jn. xi. 49). The life and teaching of One Man threatened to imperil the whole nation, and to bring them into collision with their Roman masters. One effectual remedy alone existed. _It was expedient_ that He should be put to death rather than the whole nation should be swept away. As a Sadducee[432] (Acts v. 17) Caiaphas believed in the might of the Roman legions, though he denied the doctrine of the resurrection and the existence of spiritual powers, and rather than embroil the nation in fresh troubles with their unscrupulous masters, he advocated the death of the Holy One, all unconscious[433] of the momentous results of the step he advised. Though there were some dissentients (Lk. xxiii. 50, 51), his words expressed the feelings of the majority of the Council. The more decided and violent party triumphed. It was deliberately determined that Jesus should be put to death, and from that day forward continual councils were held to decide how this should be brought about (Jn. xi. 53). But the Holy One, knowing that His “hour” was not yet come, retired with His disciples to Ephraim, a town situated[434] in the wide desert country north-east of Jerusalem, not far from Bethel, and on the confines of Samaria. Here in quiet and seclusion He remained till the approach of the Passover, and then commenced a farewell-journey along the border-line of Samaria and Galilee, in the direction of the Jordan (Lk. xvii. 11; Mtt. xix. 1), and so to Peræa (Mk. x. 1). It was probably while yet on the confines of Samaria, that at the entrance of a village, the name and position of which are not recorded, He encountered Ten Lepers, one of whom was a Samaritan[435] (Lk. xvii. 16). Standing _afar off_ (Lk. xvii. 12), they all _lifted up their voices_, and implored His aid, on which, filled with compassion for their miserable condition, He bade them go and _shew themselves to the priests_ at Jerusalem. Though they must have been aware that they could not expect healing from the priest, whose only office it was either to pronounce the sufferer affected with this fearful malady, or to restore him with ceremonial washings to the society of his fellow-men[436], the Lepers nevertheless set out, and lo! as they went (Lk. xvii. 14), their flesh came back to them _like unto the flesh of a little child_ (2 K. v. 14), and they were cleansed. But though they all experienced His unlooked-for blessing, one only, and he a Samaritan, returned to give thanks to His Healer, who, accustomed as he was to man’s ingratitude, yet marvelled at this striking proof of it (Lk. xvii. 17, 18), and dismissed the grateful man with a higher and a peculiar blessing[437], saying, _Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole_ (Lk. xvii. 19).