Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the LordAbbott, Edwin Abbott
Religion
Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the Lord
Abbott, Edwin Abbott
Christian fiction; Jesus Christ -- Fiction
But as I was now near to the street called Straight, whereby one turneth
to the right hand to go unto the gate, methought I heard the sound of the
voice of the night‐watch going their rounds. So I drew near to the wall,
and remained in a corner where I could not be seen. And straightway
Hezekiah the Scribe came by, and Judas with him, walking very near the
place where I was (but they discerned me not) and talking in a low voice
together. And as they passed, I clearly heard Judas say to Hezekiah, “But
if he should call down fire upon the guards?” And Hezekiah made answer,
“Then thou wouldst have done him good service,” or words to that effect:
but the exact words of Hezekiah I heard not, because they were by this
time gone somewhat past me. Neither could I hear what Judas said in answer
to the words of Hezekiah. Only I noted, even afar off, that after they had
conversed some while longer, Judas held out his right hand to Hezekiah,
and Hezekiah seemed to take it as a pledge.
When I saw this, my mind misgave me that all was not well; yet did it not
so much as enter into my mind, at that time, that one of the Twelve could
purpose treachery against our Master; and, because of my message and my
haste, I gave no thought to the words that I had heard. But I sped away to
the gate, and passing through unquestioned, I went up the mountain in
haste; and when I came to the top, I found John, the son of Zebedee,
waiting for me, to take me to the house where Jesus lay that night; for he
was not to abide in the same house as before, for fear of the Pharisees.
So I came to Jesus and delivered my letter; and I found with him a certain
Nicodemus, a great teacher among the Pharisees. He had come to converse
with Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the chief priests. Then I delivered
my letter to Jesus, and I told him how I had seen Judas discoursing with
Hezekiah. But the old man, even Nicodemus, was troubled when he heard me
make mention of Judas, and he turned to Jesus and said that from friends
came sometimes even more dangers than from enemies; and as he had before
warned Jesus against the plotting of the Chief Priests, so now again he
besought Jesus not to adventure himself in Jerusalem on the morrow. Then
he gave thanks to Jesus for his doctrine, and departed. But when the
letter of Joseph of Arimathea was opened, it confirmed the words of
Nicodemus; for he also bade Jesus not come to Jerusalem on the morrow, but
to tarry till the next day. He also added (but these words Jesus read not
aloud, so that I knew not of them till afterwards) that Jesus should keep
the Passover on the day after the morrow; howbeit not at his house, but at
another house which his servants should prepare. He also gave Jesus a sign
whereby he might be guided to the house. Likewise the letter bade him
beware of false friends.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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