Chapter 20

The arrest was quite obviously unauthorized and singularly lacking in dignity. It was not conducted by the Roman patrols, but by an unofficial rabble under the leadership of the High Priest’s butler, Malchus, a Roman.

Malchus, with an ear accustomed to lingering at keyholes, had learned of his eminent employer’s decision to hale the Galilean into court; and, thinking to improve his rating in the esteem of Caiaphas, had taken it upon himself to make the capture, which was the last thing that the High Priest desired on the solemn night of the Passover.

There was quite a crowd of them, armed with sticks and stones, as if they were out to hunt down a mad dog and beat it to death. Judas had been shameless enough to come along with the riff-raff that comprised the mob. Malchus needed him to identify the victim.

Peter lunged forward and surprised the butler with a savage blow on the head, but Jesus cautioned him against further resistance. He would go with them quietly. Seeing that their captive intended no defence, the crowd became boldly courageous, bound his hands, tugged him roughly down the long hill and through the darkened streets to the palace of the High Priest.

Although it was long past old Annas’ bedtime, he was still up. With a dozen or more dignitaries of the Rabbinical College and the Sanhedrin, he had accepted the invitation of Caiaphas to celebrate the Passover with him in his council-chamber. Deep in a discussion of the most feasible procedure to dispose of the Nazarene with a minimum of protest from his adherents, the pundits were suddenly startled by an unseemly clamour in the corridor.

Malchus, exuberant over his conquest and confident of a warm welcome, burst in upon the conclave with his quarry, pushing his dishevelled prisoner into the midst of them and presenting him with a proud flourish. ‘Ecce homo!’ announced Malchus dramatically.

The wise men were stunned to speechlessness. This was not the place and certainly not the time to prefer charges against this man; but here he was, and they must do something about him.

‘So—you are this Jesus of Nazareth!’ snarled Caiaphas contemptuously.

Jesus said he was; and, after an awkward pause, Caiaphas asked, ‘What have you been teaching?’

‘You might inquire of those who have heard me,’ said Jesus.

Malchus, standing close beside him, slapped him in the face and shouted, ‘You should not speak so to the High Priest!’

Ignoring the blow, Jesus continued, ‘I have not taught in secret, but openly.’ His eyes swept the group and came to rest on the face of Rabbi Ben-Sholem, who seemed annoyed by this searching scrutiny. ‘Many people,’ Jesus went on, ‘could testify as to my sayings.’