Chapter 13 of 15
As I was soon to discover, Caiaphas had come to the temple not only to speak with me of Jesus. It seems that the old priest had one last sermon to deliver to his people.
Just as the midday prayers were about to begin, I was surprised to see Caiaphas rise to his feet and begin to speak. The priests and the others grew quiet as they strained to hear the words of their former leader.
What Caiaphas said was that Jerusalem could not hope to hold out for long against the might of Rome. He said that, when the Roman army reached our gates, we should appoint a group of elders to speak with them, and that perhaps we might reach an accommodation. He even volunteered to serve on such a delegation. He said that we should not believe the Zealots who tell us that the Lord is sending the legions of Rome to His holy city so that He can punish them for their arrogance, that it was more likely that He was sending the Romans to Jerusalem to punish us for our willfulness. His voice grew stronger as he spoke, and for a few moments he thundered with the same magnificence as when he had ruled the house of God. But then the spark flickered just as quickly as it had been ignited, and the great voice grew silent. He turned from his seat and shuffled slowly out of the temple, an old man once again.
The crowd parted for him as he left the temple – not so much out of respect, I believed, as out of fear, for the Zealots do not suffer opposition lightly, and no one wished to be too close to the old priest when he was struck down. I took a step forward to go to the aid of my old master, but one of the priests grabbed my shoulder from behind. I have to admit that I did not struggle to free myself from his grasp.
The servants of Caiaphas were waiting for him outside the temple, as he had instructed them – and they later told me that the old man was struck down just as he reached them. He was stabbed by an assailant who passed by in an instant, just long enough to drive a dagger deep into the priest's side. The wound might only have injured a younger man, but it quickly overcame the old priest.
It seems that the Sicarii, who once attacked only our Roman oppressors, now turn their knives on their own people.
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©2004 Henry Charles Mishkoff