CHAPTER XXXII

SCOURGING AND FLIGHT

On the following morning Saulus was up betimes, after a restless night, which was marked by dreams and visions of varying import.

It would be unreasonable to expect that as yet he was able to put under foot all adversities, and continually dwell upon the heights of a spiritual consciousness. Even in a great and lofty soul, Adam dies hard, and in an intense nature he fights desperately for his life, and has many apparent resurrections. Spiritual evolution has its ebb and flow, and except from a broad point of view its declensions often appear to be enduring. As with material structures, if the work projected is to reach beyond the hidden foundation, it must needs wait until the latter is broadened.

While Saulus had a good measure of the same spirit which filled the great Prophet of Nazareth, he also had an earnest desire during his stay in the Holy City to learn more of the particulars of the Master’s outward life.

At the rising of the sun he set out for Golgotha. He fain would stand upon the spot of the great Martyrdom. Even the hallowed ground, with its associations, would be a means of inspiration to one like Saulus. As he reached the skull‐shaped hill, the sun was shining brightly, the air clear and soft, and the whole scene quiet and peaceful. He felt a benediction!

How much the great Tragedy that was here consummated signifies to the world! How the outgoing circles of spiritual life and love ever pulsate from this centre! No nation is too remote to be washed and beat upon by its outgoing waves, for a divine discontent never permits of stagnation!

Golgotha, or the hill of Calvary, was a peculiarly sacred place to the disciples, and they often resorted to its summit for converse and meditation.

As Saulus lingered, busy with the thoughts of the past and questions of the future, a man, apparently having the same purpose, came near. Lo, it was Barnabas!

They beheld each other, face to face, and surprise was pictured upon the features of both.

“And _thou_ here, Saulus!” said Barnabas, involuntarily drawing back with trepidation.

“O Barnabas, hear me! I love thee and all the brethren!” Stepping forward, he embraced his old friend, saluting him warmly.

“_Saulus_ numbered among the disciples!” said Barnabas, putting his hands upon his shoulders and earnestly looking into his face, still hardly able to believe the truth.

“As I live,” said Saulus, “my heart hath been warmed by the New Faith! Oh, receive my testimony!”

“I doubt no more, and rejoice in thy behalf. Accept a brother’s welcome!”

Falling on each other’s necks, they had great joy in a fellowship of faith and love.

After a season of delightful converse, they started, arm in arm, for the city. Barnabas gladly went with Saulus to the house of Peter, and set him and the other disciples aright concerning their former persecutor.

“Thou sayest,” said Saulus, “that the churches have peace, and are edified, and walk in the comfort of the Spirit! Hath the Sanhedrin ceased all persecution against them?”

“Of late it seemeth to have given little heed to us, so we have in no wise been disquieted. They have not hindered us from teaching that Jesus was indeed a great Prophet.”

“How is it that their bitterness hath been put away?”

“Peradventure that Gamaliel and other of the liberal Jews counselled that we be let alone until our doctrine came to naught, and also because the disciples in great measure have returned to a conformity to the wonted ordinances and ceremonies.”

A shadow passed over the face of Saulus.

“Dost thou not count such a conformity as a fellowship with dead works? I am minded that the gospel should be separate, and that the household of the New Faith should be counted no longer as a Jewish sect!”

“It hath seemed expedient to some that for the present the ordinances be continued for the sake of peace, but verily I am persuaded that our spiritual life hath been deadened thereby, and its power diminished. Now that thou art here to cast in thy lot with us, our zeal may be warmed, and we receive a quickening.”

It seems probable that the Sanhedrin had come to regard the church of Peter, James, and John as but one more sect added to the complex Jewish economy, which was willing to continue the established ritual. But in the movement of Jesus, and afterward of Stephanos and Saulus, it discerned a disturbing and vital force which in due time would logically supplant Judaism through the establishment of a religion radically different.

It was not difficult for Barnabas to reconcile the disciples to Saulus, for not only was his sincerity manifest, but his earnest aggressiveness in their behalf was bold and untiring.

The law of specific gravity among souls is no less invariable and operative than with fluids and solids. If a born commander be placed in the ranks of the private, he will not remain, for all the laws of the universe conspire to lift him into his fitting niche. The moral and spiritual dynamics of a great soul can no more stay pent up than the forces that stir a volcano into activity. The advent of Saulus into the Holy City ended all indifference and stagnation, and soon the various elements were glowing at a white heat.

But a few days elapsed after his arrival before he began teaching and preaching in the synagogues. Among all the enemies who sprung up to oppose his work and persecute him, none were more bitter and unrelenting than his former comrades of the _Urim_. These were the same who once had glorified him beyond measure.

The dignified Sanhedrin for the time was disposed to close its official ears to the work of their former agent and instrument, doubtless having in mind their moral discomfiture at the trial of Stephanos. They thought it more politic to leave the rabble to deal with him through some sudden outbreak than to take formal cognizance of his heresies through the procedure of a regular trial.

Saulus boldly entered into the synagogues of the Hellenists, and eloquently commended the New Faith, contrasting its power and beauty with the traditions, ordinances, and dead works of the Temple service.

One afternoon at a meeting in the synagogue of the Cyrenians, Saulus essayed to make an address according to previous announcement. It was in the same room where Stephanos had spoken with such zeal, and from which he had been dragged to trial and condemned.

Upon this occasion the enemies of Saulus gathered in strength, the members of the _Urim_, by secret understanding occupying the front seats, thoroughly organized for offensive action. He had been warned of trouble by the more prudent of his friends, but would not consent to abate one jot of his stirring presentation of the new gospel, and the contrasting hollowness of the whole ceremonial system.

For a full hour before the opening of the service the synagogue was crowded, and a dense throng gathered outside. At length the exercises began. Saulus arose to speak, but had hardly uttered a sentence before there was such a tumult that his voice could not be heard. He beckoned for silence, but the uproar continued. At length he picked up a roll of the law to read from the prophets, and the gathering, willing to show some respect to their Scriptures, was quieted. He read the following passages from Isaiah:—

“‘To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he‐goats.... Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.... He was oppressed, yet he humbled himself, and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth.’

“Behold what the Lord saith through the lips of Isaiah concerning sacrifices, and burnt offerings of rams, and the blood of lambs and he‐ goats! The voice of the prophet bringeth judgment and condemnation to this generation! Wash you, and make yourselves clean through the gospel of the New Faith! Again, behold what Isaiah saith concerning the Messias who should arise in the fulness of time! ‘By oppression and judgment he was taken away, but there was no deceit in his mouth.’ Behold its fulfilment in the Nazarene!”

Laughing scornfully, they cried out,—

“Cursed be thy mouth! The Nazarene was an impostor, and no Messias!”

Listening no longer, they rushed madly forward, and dragged him from the reading‐desk.

“The scourge! the scourge! the scourge!” shouted angry voices from all parts of the synagogue.

Looking steadfastly into the malignant faces which surrounded him, a mingled expression of dignity, compassion, and contempt was upon his countenance. The spiritual exaltation of his soul so overshadowed his bodily consciousness that he felt no fear, and neither he nor his friends offered any resistance to the howling mob which threatened him.

It was one of those upheavals with which history is crowded, which have taken place among nearly all races and religions. There is no crime nor indignity that has not again and again been committed by religious bigotry gilded by assumed dutiful consecration.

Their decision was spontaneous, and Saulus was taken away without legal formality or deliberation. Through the irony of fate, he was led outside the gates to the same spot where Stephanos had been stoned under his own supervision.

Tying both of his hands to a column, they proceeded as was usual in cases of punishment by the scourge. The leaders tore down his robe until his breast and shoulders were laid bare, then the _Chazzan_ of the synagogue, as was customary, was selected to administer the flagellation. The scourge was composed of two thongs of ass’s hide which passed through a hole in the handle. Standing on a block of stone behind the prisoner, the executioner wielded the blows with all the force of one hand, thirteen times on the breast, and thirteen back of each shoulder—in all, forty, save one.

Although there had been no formal trial and condemnation, the usual custom in cases of scourging was followed. Three judges were chosen,—one reading the prescribed passages from the law while the punishment was being inflicted, the second numbering the blows, the third giving the order before each blow, “_Hakkehu_” (strike him). Even in the methods of a mob the slavish literalism and ingrained devotion to traditional detail were not lacking.

Though the scourging was given in full measure, Saulus was not greatly overcome. Before the first blow fell he passed into such a spiritual ecstasy that little consciousness of the body or of painful sensation was manifest.

Among a little group of women who gathered to witness the punishment was Cassia, who as the blows fell had alternations of hysterical weeping and laughter. She insisted upon being present, and could not be dissuaded. The most opposite emotions possessed her. After the scourging, but before Saulus was led away, a look of recognition passed between them.

He was silent!

“The stripes were well laid on, and thou hast thy just reward!” she cried with a loud, scornful voice; then, bursting, into tears and groans, she was led away by her friends. Hatred and love, burning in their severity, struggled within her for mastery, but the former was victorious.

Saulus rapidly recovered from his punishment, and utterly undaunted by his experience, again began preaching and teaching. But the brethren became apprehensive for his life, and also feared that another general persecution might begin. Though holding his power and zeal in great respect, they advised his immediate retirement from the Holy City. But he was reluctant to follow their counsel. Soon a well‐matured plot among the members of the _Urim_ came to the knowledge of the brethren, and they yet more strongly urged his flight. But as it seemed like an abandonment of his long‐cherished plans, and a dishonor to the cause which was so all important, he still lingered.

On the day before a whispered conspiracy was to have been consummated, Saulus retired to a quiet place for spiritual communion and guidance. He had trusted the inner Voice before, and been led aright, why not in the present strait? The intensity of his desire and emotion ended in a vision.(13) He entered into a state where a broadened outlook of condition, duty, and privilege was opened before him. The dark curtain which made the future obscure and perplexing was parted, and a highway, leading forward, illumined and made plain.

The inner Voice said,—

“Depart, for I will send thee forth afar unto the Gentiles!”

History is ever repeating itself. Persecution of the Truth scatters its seed and multiplies its influence.

Saulus hastily escaped from Jerusalem, being conducted by his brethren as far as Cæsarea on his way to Tarsus.