Chapter 8 — The High Priest’s Threat and the Roman Judge’s Warning

DTT.01_008,01 The high priest said, “If that boy really does such things on his own authority, without our knowledge and without the consent of the Temple, it is plain that he is possessed by Beelzebub, the chief of all devils! Such things can never be done by the power of God outside the Temple. Consider what moral purity it takes to share in divine power! According to the teaching of Moses and all the prophets, that is possible nowhere except in the Holy of Holies in the Temple.

DTT.01_008,02 “Anyone who knows this from Scripture also knows what such miracles outside the Temple amount to. The Temple has an inescapable duty to wipe such children and people from the face of the earth at any cost. If our later inquiries bear out what you have said about the boy, he too will be wiped from the face of the earth as an ally of Beelzebub!”

DTT.01_008,03 The judge said, “That may once have been a custom of your own making. But since we Romans have been your rulers, such a thing is hardly likely to happen again. The sword of justice is now entirely in our hands in every case. Anyone who takes it up on his own authority, without our knowledge or consent, will be treated as an insurgent and a murderous robber, whatever his rank.

DTT.01_008,04 “I heard earlier from this very boy, and from you yourself, that in your Temple fanaticism you even murdered a high priest, there in the Temple itself, because he claimed to have had a vision from above. He must have aroused your bitter envy, and that was enough to make you decide to rid the world of him. It happened twelve years ago, under our rule.

DTT.01_008,05 “This case will be investigated more closely. Who knows whether you will not taste the sword of Roman justice before that marvellous boy tastes the vengeance of your Temple? I tell you Temple officials, by the authority of my office, that I will punish with the sword anyone who dares in the least to do the boy any harm. No more need be said!”

DTT.01_008,06 The high priest replied, “But we have the emperor’s word that our Temple jurisdiction is guaranteed and that no secular judge may interfere with it!”

DTT.01_008,07 The judge said, “I know exactly how far it extends. You may exercise prudent discipline, but there is a very wide gulf between that and the ius gladii, the right of the sword. Woe to any of you who crosses it!”

DTT.01_008,08 The high priest said, “What about the authority of Herod, who is also tetrarch in Galilee? Does he not have the right of the sword as well?”

DTT.01_008,09 The judge said, “Herod and the other rulers in the lands of the Jews hold their authority purely as vassals. Their right of the sword is limited to their own attendants, servants and slaves. If they treat them cruelly, a right they do purchase every ten years, they will soon be left without servants. We compel no one to enter their service. For their own good, therefore, they can make little use of the right they have bought so dearly. All the more so because, apart from some slaves, any of their servants can leave whenever he wishes. The moment he leaves, he is under our jurisdiction instead of the ruler’s.

DTT.01_008,10 “They may also levy the taxes due to them and collect them by force if necessary, but without exercising the right of the sword. They must come to us for enforcement and pay for it.

DTT.01_008,11 “Those are the rights of your Herod and of every other vassal ruler. Anything beyond them is a most severely punishable crime, and even a first offence is punished by forfeiture of the fief.

DTT.01_008,12 “If you imagine you can use Herod’s power to hunt down the wonder-working boy, you are very much mistaken. Herod will know better than to overstep his rights.

DTT.01_008,13 “This boy is now under my protection too. I give him full right to trouble you with every kind of question, and I will not leave his side, for there is more sound wisdom in his mind and heart than in all of you and in your whole sanctuary. And now, my dearest boy, you may speak again, for I have made room for you!”