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diff --git a/12671-0.txt b/12671-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b42e925 --- /dev/null +++ b/12671-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,953 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12671 *** + +AN EASTER DISCIPLE + +The Chronicle of Quintus, the Roman Knight + +By + +ARTHUR BENTON SANFORD + +1922 + + + + + + + +IN MEMORY OF ABSENT ONES + +WHO HAVE ENTERED INTO LIFE + + + + +CONTENTS + + An Opening Word + + I. A Roman Quest + + II. In Solomon's Porch + + III. Christ Himself the Witness to Immortality + + IV. Cicero or Christ? + + V. The Vision of the Risen Christ + + VI. Christ's Witnesses at Rome + + + + +AN OPENING WORD + +Many voices had been speaking of eternal life, before the days of +the Son of man. Especially pronounced had been the teachings of +the Egyptians that there is another world. In their Acadian hymns +the Chaldaeans had dimly foretold a future life. The belief of the +Parsees, as expressed in their Zend-Avesta, had included a place of +darkness for the evil soul and a reward for the good in the realm +of light. The Hindus had declared, in their Rig-Veda, their +beautiful conception of the immortality of the soul, and had +written of a future "imperishable world, where there is eternal +light and glory." The Grecian and Roman mythologies had voiced +their hope of blessedness for the shades of the departed. +Everywhere serious men had been asking as to the experiences beyond +the grave. It was as if the Eastern world had become a vast +parliament chamber, wherein the nations were proclaiming their +different doctrines as to a future life. + +In the midst of these varying and uncertain voices, Christ spoke +his authoritative message. There was no wavering in his tone. +What the Oriental philosophers were guessing, he revealed; what the +Hebrew prophets had foreshadowed in their holy writings, he +unfolded in full light. The ancient Vedic hymns, the oracles of +Greece, the Egyptian _Book of the Dead_, anticipating by two +thousand years the Hebrew exodus--all these are naught compared +with the words of that inspired Teacher who spoke in Palestine. + +In addition, Christ was himself the vital evidence of the +resurrection which he taught. Against the assaults of doubt his +unique teachings are buttressed forevermore by his own return from +the land of silence. In a short week after his words to Martha at +Bethany he had become, through his own rare experience, the +resurrection and the life. Not the dead Buddha, nor the departed +Zoroaster, nor the vanished Pythagoras ever came back through the +opened door of the sepulcher, wearing the grave clothes of those +who sleep. Human fancy had never dreamed of such a rapturous +denouement for faiths other than Christianity. The resurrection of +the Lord is the crowning narrative with which the Gospels close. +It is a risen Christ who repairs the wastage of human decay and +death. A voice above all those from Ind or Persia or the Nile +speaks henceforth in Judaea and the world concerning immortality. +The superlative Easter argument is the risen Christ himself. + + + + +I + +A ROMAN QUEST + +"If one might only have a guide to the truth."--_Seneca_. + + +On Scopus, the high mountain north of Jerusalem, the Roman camp was +pitched, that last autumn in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. A +few years further on, if the warriors of the Emperor Tiberius could +then have foreseen the future, Titus was to quarter his famous +legions on that vantage point; and from its elevation he was to +hurl himself as a resistless battering ram against the Holy City. +But, on this autumn day, when these chronicles begin, no blare of +trumpets was summoning the Roman soldiery to arms; only the feet of +the camp sentinels, as they walked their appointed rounds, broke +the quiet of the sunlit afternoon. + +That lithesome, cultivated, serious-minded young knight, Quintus +Cornelius Benignus, is standing on the height which overlooks the +great metropolis. He is the son of Marcus Cornelius Magnus, that +Roman noble who is the intimate associate of the reigning Caesar, +and who has been a luxurious resident on the Palatine Hill since +his distinguished proconsulship in Africa. + + * * * * * + +NOTE.--It is not from any time-marked Hebrew roll that this story +of Quintus is now taken. He was of Roman blood, and his record is, +rather, to be found in the Latin literature of his time. Well it +is when some new leaf is discovered among the musty folios, +reciting the saintly character and the triumphs of those who lived +when Christianity was new. This record shows the worth of +consecrated life and service in the days when the luxurious Roman +state most needed a Christian citizenship. But the lesson is none +the less for these last days, when the hope of the world is in the +creed of Quintus. + + * * * * * + +By the side of Quintus is his fellow soldier Aulus. They had spent +their boyhood together among the scenes of Rome; now they are +companions still, on this last Roman expedition to the district of +Judaea. While the common soldiery are throwing their dice in +the camp thoroughfare, these are speaking of more serious things. +The picture on which they look from lofty Scopus includes the +shining roofs of Jerusalem, the wooded Mount of Olives, and the far +landscape to the south and west; its undulations and brilliant +colorings no Roman artist might put upon the canvas. + +With the autumn haze covering the extended panorama, Quintus says +first to his comrade: + +"What the fates have in store for me, here in the city of +Hierosolyma, I am much wondering. The day before our trireme +sailed from Brundisium for Tyrus I made a visit to the augur's +tent. His prediction was that my journey hither would be followed +by strange consequences. The flight of the birds through the air +did not reveal to him just what was to occur; but that something +eventful was to take place he was very sure. What is to be my +fortune?" + +"Your lot it may be," answers Aulus, "to perform some daring deed, +here in our Jewish campaign; and on your return to Rome you may +receive a great reward from the hand of Tiberius." + +"In my mind this has been," replies Quintus; "before I left Rome I +had an audience with our divine Caesar, and he was pleased to say +that my fidelity here might bring me special recompense. Yet would +that be satisfying? I have seen the triumphal processions in the +streets of Rome, when heroes have been acclaimed; I have heard our +statesmen in the Senate hall, and prize the joys of oratory; I have +been served all my days by slaves in my father's palace, and know +the sweetness of the Falernian wine in the banquet room. A +proconsulate, if I might come to that dignity, would be a high +honor to write in my life story. But, my dear Aulus, would there +be content in this? My restless soul seems crying out for some +better gift from the gods." + +"It cannot be," continues Aulus. "that your heart's love is +involved. When our military movements bring the Roman knights to +Palaestina, in their pride of birth they do not wed the black-eyed +daughters of the Jews. On your earlier expedition to Egypt you met +a princess of the land, but were not let to espouse that swarthy +maiden of the Nile. The reward of love cannot be the experience of +which the augur spoke at Brundisium." + +"Not so," says Quintus in response; "as I was leaving Rome, it was +the beautiful Lucretia who sent me forth with her rare farewell. +For my return from Palaestina she is now waiting; and under the +blue skies of Italia we are to wed. I have been wondering," +Quintus adds further, "if the augur, watching the flight of birds +there at Brundisium. could mean that I am to fall by death, here +in Palaestina. We have not come for battle, but to guard the +peace. Yet it is easy for Atropos, that cruel fate, to clip the +slender thread of life and send men on to die land of shades. If +this was what the augur meant, no Roman in the days of Tiberius has +ever set forth upon a more serious adventure." + +"You are given to melancholy, this autumn afternoon, my comrade +Quintus," the other says; "you are feeling that sadness which comes +to men when the Dryads move over the earth and touch the leaves +into crimson and gold and brown." + +"Not so," answers Quintus; "but I am remembering that I have come +into a land where a strange Teacher is speaking to men of a future +life. Yet are men to live again? I have seen the marble tombs on +the Appia Via where the Scipios, the Metelli, and so many more of +our great Romans lie asleep. Shall I soon follow them? Is it an +endless slumber? What is it that the new Rabbi from Nazareth +means, when in the city yonder he speaks of another life?" + +"A fig for your weird autumn fancy," responds Aulus; "down to the +streets of Hierosolyma we will go, and among their novel sights we +will forget your serious meditations." + + +They walk that afternoon as sightseers through the crowded Jewish +emporium. The shops remind them, with all their contrasts, of the +marts of Rome, for men always and everywhere have the trader's +passion. In the narrow streets of Jerusalem they see the stir of +many activities. The workman is hammering his brass; the shoemaker +shapes his sandals; the flax spinner is winding his thread; the +scribe sits on his mat, and is ready for his writing. In the shops +they see costly merchandise for sale--silks and jewels, fine linens +and perfumes, delicious foods and drinks. These have been imported +from far Arabia and India; they have been brought from distant +Persia and Media. With all their variety, no taste, however +fitful, need go unsatisfied. + +What a motley crowd is on the streets! They hear the Aramaic +speech of Palestine, which Quintus has been taught by his Athenian +tutor, and their ears also catch the accents of other foreign +tongues. They meet traders from western Zidon, sailors from Crete, +bearded Idumaeans from beyond Judaea, and scholars from far +Alexandria. Magnificent Jerusalem it is! Yet destined soon to +fall. For the day draws near when the Roman Titus shall weep on +Scopus over its fading splendors and then shall smite it to the +dust. + +One purchase only does Quintus make. In a shop where Egyptian +wares are sold he says to Aulus: + +"Look on this scarab, this sacred beetle, which has been shaped by +some workman down in Thebae on the Nile. We may be sure that no +people believes more intensely in a future life. What compliment +they pay this physical frame of men when they hold that embalmment +restores to the soul its former body! After the judgment of +Osiris, if their lives be true, the worthy shall enjoy the +companionship of the great god forever. No other people wears such +a visible emblem of their faith in another life. I will buy this +scarab for an amulet against accident and evil." + + +But where had the workman gone who once had shaped that token of +immortality? Whither had vanished his carver's skill? Where had +disappeared his projects and his dreams? Quintus is not thinking +of any proconsulship he may win, or even of the love light in the +eyes of Lucretia, as he climbs again the heights of Scopus. Rather +he is meditating on the departed maker of scarabs--and on the +destiny of the soul. For ages the philosophers have been +speculating about the future life. Familiar is Quintus with the +views of Laelius and Seneca, among the Roman inquirers, and with +the teachings of the great Grecians who have spoken in classic +Athens. But now the question leaps to the front. Quintus is in +the city where Ayran travelers and Persian magi and Egyptian +priests are busy telling their theories of immortality. He is in +the very streets, besides, where a sandaled Teacher from Nazareth +is declaring that the dead shall live again. If but half is true +that this strange Man is reputed to have said, no priest of Jupiter +has ever uttered at Rome so luminous a word. Can it be that +Quintus himself shall see this Christus and hear his message? If +so, his will be in very truth a momentous quest. + + + + +II + +IN SOLOMON'S PORCH + +"Give me new consolation, great and strong, of which I nave never +heard or read."--_Pliny_. + + +With increasing frequency Christ was now speaking his prophecies of +the life immortal. In his earlier ministry he had been dwelling +upon the presence of the divine kingdom in the earth, the practical +conditions for membership therein, and the inclusion of Gentile as +well as Jew in the gracious provision. Novel were his words. +Whoever had heard his discourse on the Mount or the parable of the +lost sheep was rich beyond the modern sons of men. But now, in the +closing period of his stay with mortals, he was more frequently +foretelling the life to come. Like a footworn traveler drawing +near the homeland, he was keenly anticipating his return to the +spirit world. Those who listened to him heard majestic intimations +of a celestial country which eye had not beheld. Nor is it to be +thought that the Gospels, in their restricted pages, have recorded +half his words concerning the heavenly land. + +Now comes the opportunity for Quintus himself to hear this new +Teacher of the Jews. A messenger from Pilate, sent on an errand to +the headquarters at Scopus, brings the tidings that Christ is in +Jerusalem as a visitor at the Feast of Dedication. Favored are +those who hear through the years the world's commanding voices; +beyond estimate is the high privilege now granted Quintus. + +"I will hasten in to Hierosolyma," he says to Aulus, who is +detained by camp duties; "I will hear him for myself; and I will +bring you back report as to this latest prophet of immortality." + + +With his soldier's cloak about him, in protection against the +winter's chill, Quintus is away to Jerusalem. The national Feast +of Dedication attracts his notice. A courteous Hebrew explains to +him that the joyful festival commemorates the cleansing of the +Temple after its profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes, two hundred +years before. The procession of pious Jews, carrying their palm +branches and marching to the heights of Moriah, the chanting of the +great Hallel within the imposing fane, the ascription of praise to +Jehovah all impress the keen-eyed soldier. + +The enthusiasm of it all! Though of other blood, Quintus clearly +feels the thrill of patriotism that stirs the multitude about him; +and he understands in some measure their impatient waiting for the +coming prince who shall deliver Israel. + + +But is this all? Instead it is only the beginning of the wonders +which the serious Quintus is to witness. Forth he passes to the +eastern cloister of the Temple, known then among the Jews as +Solomon's Porch, in memory of their illustrious king. The +bystanders tell Quintus that it is built of a fragment of the first +Temple which Nebuchadnezzar had left standing. As the soldier +looks down the far-reaching aisle, he sees a quadruple row of white +Corinthian columns, one hundred and sixty in number, and extending +a length of many hundred feet. The vista is most amazing. +Accustomed though he has been all his days to the magnificence of +the Roman architecture, he yields in willing admiration to the +splendors of the Solomonic porch. + +Then--he sees the Christ! Walking through that forest of massive +columns is the superlative Jew of his times, and of all times. For +now--when the voices of that winter day are still, and Solomon's +Porch has vanished where stood those blessed feet--there is no +earthly measurement by which to estimate the Man whom Quintus saw. + + +Among the throng that surround him hostile Pharisees challenge him +to tell them plainly if he be the foretold Messiah. With impatient +hearts they have waited long for their redemption. Let him say if +their deliverer has now come. Then shall they throw off the yoke +of the detested Roman rule and renew their ancient monarchy with +enlarging influence and increasing splendors. + +Memorable words in answer does Quintus hear. The Stranger puts +aside the thought of the Jewish struggle for an earthly throne, +and turns in his fancy to the quiet pastures where feed the flocks. +He is a guardian Shepherd; Israel and all the world besides are his +cherished sheep. Those who are truly his shall hear his guiding +voice, and shall follow him. They shall never perish. From the +hand of the Shepherd no vandal shall steal his own away. How the +words thrill! Sometimes Quintus has seen in the Judaean pastures +the keeper with his flocks, and knows how unchanging is his +fidelity. It is as if this watcher in his devotion is anticipating +the faithfulness of the greater Shepherd. How entrancing is the +lesson to this seeking soldier from beyond the Adriatic! + +Then does the Christ add another word more surprising than the +rest. To men who are his sheep he makes a promise that compasses +the furthest limit of the eternities. Of such he says: "Unto those +who follow me I will give the Life of the Ages. Beyond the tomb +they are to live on forevermore." Nor to the Jews alone, amid the +maze of those Corinthian columns, does the coming Shepherd speak. +The listening Roman soldier, wearing the armor of the empire on the +Tiber, comes within the circle of his promise. Into the face of +Quintus he looks and benignly says: "There are other sheep not of +the Jewish pasture, to whom I shall give this unending life. I +covet your great empire as my own. O soldier of the Caesars, +follow after me!" + + +Back to the camp on Scopus the soldier goes, moved to his deepest +soul. Impossible it seems to longer worship the Roman gods. When +he has described to Aulus the Feast of Dedication, he repeats the +words he has heard in the Temple cloister, and says in deepest +seriousness: + +"Most unearthly is the Man on whom I have looked to-day. In his +speech a divine patience, kindness, and dignity combine. As for +the words he spoke, I cannot tell their moving power. The sayings +of our noblest Romans are feeble in the comparison. Never have I +heard another speak as he has done about a future world. Truly, an +unequaled Man is this new Teacher who is abroad in Judaea." + +Sleep is of little consequence that night. Is the word of the +augur at Brundisium beginning to be fulfilled? In his tent Quintus +is wondering through the long hours if, among his people on the +Tiber, the Shepherd shall not find some sheep to whom he will give +the unending life. + + + + +III + +CHRIST HIMSELF THE WITNESS TO IMMORTALITY + +"He appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine +prophets had foretold."--_Josephus_. + + +How often have men missed the sight of great historic occurrences, +in their attention to the routine of life! So it was that Quintus +did not witness the tragic events of that Passover week on which +human destiny was to turn. To Tyre on the Great Sea he had gone, +to arrange for the landing of a new quota of troops from +Brundisium. The commander at Scopus had chosen him for the +responsible mission, in token of his especial fitness. The +compliment was pleasing. But in his absence he was ever thinking +of the promise made by the Teacher in Solomon's Porch, that the +sheep who followed him should have eternal life. + +Astir was all Jerusalem, when the knight returned to Scopus. It +was on the morning after the Lord's resurrection. That Roman +centurion who had been at Calvary reviewed for Quintus the fateful +happenings. With pomp reminding of a Roman triumph the Christ had +entered David's city; after four days Iscariot had betrayed him +with a kiss; for blasphemy Pilatus, the procurator, had sentenced +him to the cross; they had put on him a scarlet robe in mockery; +they had hung him between two robbers on the hill of Golgotha; a +brutal soldier now at Scopus had won by lot his seamless robe, and +was jauntily displaying it as a trophy; an uncanny darkness had +covered the Judaean sky; the soldier Longinus had pierced the +sufferer's side; they had buried the dead Christ in the garden tomb +of the Arimathaean Joseph. Monumental events were these--all new +to Quintus, but destined to be written indelibly in the calendars +of Christendom. + +"More than this," continues the centurion, "an amazing rumor is now +abroad in the city that yesterday the dead Christus awoke from his +sleep and has been five times seen by his amazed disciples. When I +beheld him yield up the ghost, I hailed his death as that of a +devout man, but little did I think that he was a God and would +return from the tomb. The report says he has now come back. On +swift wing the rumor has flown through Jerusalem and even into +Pilate's palace." + + +Down from the heights of Scopus the hurrying feet of Quintus carry +him to Jerusalem. Doubts and wonderings and half-beliefs fill his +mind. What if by any shadow of possibility the prediction of the +strange Teacher has been fulfilled, that he should return from the +dead on the third day? Finding his way to Joseph's garden, Quintus +stands by an empty sepulcher. There is a group of wondering +visitors near, and among them is one whose inviting face leads +Quintus to accost him. Not frightened by the sword and armor of +the Roman knight, but assured by his candid look, the other answers +in the Aramaic which both can speak: + +"Johannes is my name. Till three years ago I was a fisherman, up +on the waters of Gennesaret. Since then I have been a disciple of +this Man from Galilee. In his company I have heard surprising +words and have felt a heavenly influence. He was no ordinary +Teacher. He was indeed from above." + +"Is it true," asks Quintus in breathless words, "that your Master +has risen from the grave? I have been away in Tyrus. Now in the +Roman camp on Scopus I have heard that he has come forth from the +sepulcher. What means such a marvelous report?" + +"Yes, it is all true," John answers with his face aglow; "this is +the very sepulcher where our Lord was laid. Your own sentries kept +guard before the tomb securely sealed. But on the morning of +yesterday there was a shaking of the earth; some angelic visitants +rolled away the stone door of the grave; and our immortal Christus +came forth again. + +"Astounding," Quintus interrupts in a whirl of words; "but did he +make any promise of another life for men, before he was put to +death?" + +"He truly did," replies the disciple; "when we had eaten the +Passover supper with him, he spoke a word more marvelous than any +of your Roman teachers has ever uttered. Into the spirit world he +said he was departing, to make ready a room in the Father's ample +house for those who were his own; and on his return he would take +them to be with himself. Ever since our sad-hearted band have been +comforting themselves with this last promise in the upper room." + +"None of our Roman gods has ever promised such a future." responds +Quintus; "but is this all?" + +"No," answers the disciple; "on his cross our Christus spoke again +about another experience for men. By his side was Dysmas, the +crucified robber, grieving for his faults and asking comfort. When +the cross pain and thirst were over, our Lord replied, the outlaw +should walk with him among the bowers of the beautiful Paradise +beyond this world's horizon. It was enough. In this consolation +the tortured Dysmas passed on, with a smile of peace upon his face." + +"Have you more wonders to tell?" presses Quintus, in his eagerness, +while the story of the cross begins to compel his judgment and call +for his heart's surrender. + +Then, the consummation! In ecstatic words John tells of the one +final and overmastering proof, in the thought of the eleven +disciples; + +"Greatest of all, we have ourselves seen our Friend again. Five +times already has he showed himself. First, Mary of Magdala saw +him under the trees of the garden, and spoke with him; then the +other women met him and fell at his feet; next our fellow disciple +Petros saw him; then two of our band walked with him to outlying +Emmaus, and knew him as he broke bread at the journey's end; and +then last evening, he came to ten of us in the Passover room and +spoke his peace on us. + +"Perhaps you have all seen a spectral form which has no real +existence," remonstrates Quintus, while all the time he is yielding +himself to the compelling story. + +"It cannot be," responds the convincing John; "there have been too +many witnesses for that. We have seen the very wound made by the +spear of Longinus; we have heard his familiar voice; we have +received his blessing. Our number is our evidence; it cannot be +possible that all of us have been deceived. It is surely he, O +Roman soldier, unless the senses of the women and of ten honest men +are far astray. No other teacher of the East has ever come back +from the sepulcher. Look and see for yourself. Yonder is Joseph's +empty tomb. The Christus is himself the evidence." + + +What can Quintus do, in the face of such proof as this? He returns +to Scopus in wildest tumult. Little does he say to Aulus, his +chosen friend. The company of Longinus or the centurion he does +not seek. The time has come--as it comes to all--when he must +commune with himself, and make the decision confronting every soul +that has heard the resurrection story. + + + + +IV + +CICERO OR CHRIST? + +"The name of Jesus can still remove distractions from the minds of +men."--_Origen_. + + +Shall men believe in a future life because of Christ's return from +the grave? Is his established resurrection at Jerusalem the +climacteric proof for immortality? The problem is inescapable. +Every man is himself a judge; before every man the accumulated +evidence passes; for every man it is doomsday when he stands at the +point of decision. + +In his sore perplexity Quintus says to himself that night, when he +has returned from his interview with the disciple John: "My soul is +like a traveler who halts at the point where two roads meet. Great +issues depend upon his choice. But while he hesitates may the +immortals, who watch over the destinies of men, guide his feet +aright." + +Clearly defined are the alternatives before the Roman soldier. On +the one hand are his ancestral beliefs, long established and deeply +cherished by the nation. Nor does any man quickly toss aside the +faith of his fathers. If belief is waning in the primitive +mythologies, and if the social life of the Empire is moved by +unrest and despair, the problem is to find a greater satisfaction. +There have been spoken many beautiful words by the Roman scholars +which are sweet premonitions of immortality. Does not Quintus +remember that Cicero likens to heaven a port prepared, and prays +that he may sail thither with full-spread sails? And if the gifted +Cicero has just gone tragically out of life, let it be hoped that +he has reached the harbor. + +But on the other hand are the challenging and captivating words of +Christ. Had he only spoken of the future life as an enthusiastic +Teacher, and then had passed to the perpetual slumber of the grave +like other philosophers of the time, he would be remembered long. +But, when he had spoken his words concerning immortality, he had +added, "I myself shall surely come back again." From the evidence +which Quintus has heard in Jerusalem he has now fulfilled his +prediction. He has put to scorn the fidelity of the Roman +sentinels at the tomb of Joseph; he has reversed the laws of +nature; he has appeared again, in unique proof that there is to be +a resurrection of the dead. Wide is the difference between Cicero +and the Christ. The one has spoken a mere opinion, so beautiful in +its phrase that it shall pass down into the future literature of +men. The other has spoken a revelation, and then has returned to +prove that revelation true. Which shall it be--Cicero or the +Christ? + +But to accept the Jewish Teacher means earthly loss. As he keeps +guard with himself through the night hours Quintus is wondering if +he shall incur the hostility of his father Marcus and shall be +forced to sacrifice his estates on the Palatine. He fancies also +the grief of the fair Lucretia when she learns that he has chosen +an alien faith. And he remembers, further, that in the choice of +the Christus he is joining a company on whom the Eastern world is +already casting its withering contempt. Cicero or the Christus. +Which shall it be? + + +There are no struggles like the night wrestlings of the soul in +matters of religion. What words can measure the divers arguments, +the opposing considerations, the conflicting emotions that shape +human choice? Quintus stands at the point where soon--in the +progress of the new faith--Saul from Tarsus, Clement of Rome, and +so many more of the great spirits of that first era are to stand. +The wrestlings of the night! Then foul demons are abroad; and then +God's good angels are descending the ladders of the sky. + +Soon comes a great moment. While the soul of Quintus is in wild +commotion, there falls upon him a mighty force which is not of +earth. Coming he knows not whence, but not invading the department +of his will, it impels him to the Christ. Transformed is this +Roman knight, who has been taught the doctrines of the Latin cult, +and whose nation can only feel disdain for a Galilaean who proposes +to revolutionize the ages. The words of the augur at Brundisium +are having in truth a strange fulfillment. + +As if the Man were present on whom he had looked in the Porch of +Solomon. Quintus speaks his choice for the long eternities: + +"Happen what may, I take thee, O Christus, for my Lord and Master. +I sacrifice my Roman knighthood for thee, if it shall be required. +I choose thee, because thou hast risen from the dead and hast +proven that there is another life for men." + +Not Cicero, but Christ! The Roman knight has made the great +decision. + + + + +V + +THE VISION OF THE RISEN CHRIST + +"After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at +once."--_Paul_. + + +Once for himself was Quintus to see the Lord, before his departure +heavenward. When midnight hours afterward came to him in Italy, +the memory of that vision was golden. When, among the temples of +the gods in pagan Rome, men challenged his belief, his sufficient +answer was: "With mine own eyes I have seen the risen Teacher who +has revealed immortality to men." So did the first disciples of +the faith who bore its weightiest burdens, enjoy its highest +privilege. + +It was the disciple John who told Quintus of the opportunity to see +the risen Lord. In an hour of fellowship at Jerusalem--when the +knight had confessed his new allegiance--John spoke of the Master's +wish. The disciples who were in the city and its environs were to +gather in Galilee with those from that upper district. Once more +would their Lord show himself to all who believed on him, and would +speak with them. Nor did Quintus ever cease to rejoice that he was +reckoned worthy to look that day on the Conqueror of death. + +With light feet the Jerusalem company, some six score in number, +made the journey north to Galilee. One subject only was on their +lips, as they followed the road through Samaria to Kurn Hattin, +near the Sea of Tiberias. Here the Lord at the opening of his +mission had spoken his nine blessings to needy mortals; most +fitting it now was that on this memorable hillside he should utter +his farewell to those who had come to believe on him. Thus would +the circle of his teachings end where it had begun. Bright was the +picture. The glint of the sunlight on the Galilaean sea so near at +hand, with the uncounted flowers of the spring-time that covered +the lower plains, lent a charm to the scene that Quintus remembered +always. + + +At the outset the Roman convert is impressed with the goodly number +of those first disciples. They are not twelve or six score, but +many more. They greet each other with the salutation, "Peace be to +you," and then they rapturously add, "To-day we shall see our +Lord." In that intimacy which should always mark the followers of +Christ, they give Quintus their welcome; and at once he feels +himself among a congenial brotherhood. + +One is by name Nicodemus, a member of the Great Sanhedrin. Another +is one Bartimaeus, from southern Jericho, whose finger tips have +been his eyes, till the Lord has healed his blindness. A third has +been a demoniac among the hills of the Gergesenes, and has been a +wandering and truculent challenge to his times. A woman is there +from Jacob's well, with Salome and Susanna and the virgin mother +herself. They are from southern Bethlehem; they have come from the +wild hills of Peraea, beyond the Jordan; many are from Galilee, +where Christ has found so many devoted followers. All these, as +well as the immortal eleven who have composed the inner circle of +the Master's associates. + +Two other peculiar disciples does Quintus see, both of whom have +been raised from the dead. Lazarus has come, who has so often +welcomed the Lord to his home in Bethany; and with him are the +sisters, of whom one has heard the Teacher say. "Whosoever liveth +and believeth in me shall never die." The other is a young +vineyard keeper from the neighboring village of Nain, whom Christ +has restored. His word to Quintus is: + +"Last year I sickened with a fever and passed through the door of +death. They were carrying me out for burial, and my widowed mother +was weeping as one weeps who has lost her only son. The Master +halted the mourners, and called me back to earth. I have never +told of the wonders which I saw in the spirit world; it would not +be lawful. But I have been in the great spaces beyond the stars, +and know that the tomb is only a resting place for a little sleep." + +"How many disciples are there here?" Quintus asks of the good John. +To which question the other answers: + +"Over a half thousand. It has been our Master's wish that every +disciple of his throughout the land should come to this meeting +place. Unto all he would show himself once more, before he returns +to the upper life. So they shall have a glad memory of his face, +and shall be strengthened in their coming tribulations by the hope +of immortality." + +Then suddenly--the risen Lord has come! The marvel of it! The +splendor of it! While the five hundred are talking together, the +air grows luminous with his presence. Out of the invisible he +appears. As suddenly he comes as Aurora in her chariot drives up +the eastern sky and brings in the shining day. When the company +have fallen on their faces and have adored their Master, in the +hush that follows he gives them a great commission: + +"You are to go forth." he says, "and herald my gospel to the world. +Let there be no laggards in your company. It is a lifelong charge. +There is a task for Petrus and Johannes, for Philippus and +Mattheus, and for all. You are to look for disciples everywhere. +You are to proclaim the message of repentance. You are to give +them the waters of baptism, in the name of the God triune. You are +to declare to sad-hearted men the promise of eternal life, until I +shall come again to take men to myself." + +That honorable commission! It was in coming days to stir the souls +of apostles and quicken the feet of missioners and fire with zeal +earth's coming reformers. Nor does Quintus forget that he too has +his charge. In the city on the Tiber is to be his task. To his +home circle, to priests in the temples of the gods, and even to the +royal Tiberius he is to herald the gospel of the resurrection. His +vision of the risen Lord is the measure of his opportunity. + +Then the Master looks into his very face, and remembers him as the +Roman knight he had seen in the Porch of Solomon. The half +thousand disciples on Kurn Hattin prostrate themselves to the +earth; and in their acclaim the soldier joins his voice, "Rabboni! +Rabboni! Our great Master!" Then departs the Christ, and back to +their homes they go, evermore to comfort themselves with the vision +of their risen Lord. + + +Soon afterward their Rabboni goes from earth. Out beyond the hill +of Olivet he walks one day with his eleven. In their last words +together he reminds them again that they are to be his heralds to +the eastern world. A cloud gathers above their heads, like some +halting chariot, and he is gone forever from human sight. Yet only +in the distance it seems a cloud. For John afterward says to +Quintus that it was in reality a phalanx of ten thousand angels, +robed in whiteness and sent to convoy the Son of God to glory +everlasting. + +With Quintus that visit to Kurn Hattin shaped all his future. His +Master's countenance had seemed to him more wonderful than any face +which the gifted Phidias had ever carved in stone. But never in +after days could he worthily tell to Lucretia the vision he had +seen. Only in one poor sentence could he sum it up: "I have seen +for myself the risen and ascending Lord." + + + + +VI + +CHRIST'S WITNESSES AT ROME + +"A great multitude."--_Tacitus_. + + +With jubilation Quintus sees again the shores of Italy rise over +the Adriatic, and finds himself once more in his beloved Rome. The +center of magnificence and power it seems. Alter clamorous public +greetings in the Forum, there comes another welcome which happens +only in a returning soldier's life. In the palace of Marcus the +kindred of Quintus are gathered, and Lucretia also is in the +circle, to hear his great adventure. + +"How wonderful it seems," the knight begins: "so many times have +your faces come to me in my dreams, but now I am fully awake and +see them once again. Hail to you all! When I was sailing away +from Brundisium, the augur foretold for me an unusual experience. +In the Jewish life beyond the Sea I have learned much, if that were +the fulfillment. But, most of all, I have come back with a new +religious faith. In Judaea, as you must have heard, a certain +Galilaean has called himself the Son of the one true God. He has +spoken of a future life for men; and he has now risen from the +grave, after his torture on a cross, to prove his doctrine true. I +now believe in him, as the interpreter of the future life. +Forevermore he is my High Priest, and not the great pontifex in the +temple of your Jupiter." + +Brave words they are. There in the great hall of Marcus, with the +sunlight shining on the gorgeous palaces of the Caesars, the Temple +of Apollo, and all else which crowns the Palatine, the noble +Quintus confesses his new belief. Come what will the consequences! + +Then, while they hear in amazement, he further says; "Most inviting +is this new creed. Our wise Roman scholars, as well as those in +Greece, have only been guessers about the future life. But the +Christus speaks as one who has come from the heavens. Those who +keep his commandments are to dwell with him forevermore in eternal +joy. Everywhere through Judaea men are becoming his followers, and +the wide world is to believe on him. Perhaps you also, my +cherished ones, will come to accept his teaching of the future +life." + +So Quintus speaks, with his vibrant voice and with a strange light +on his face. Wonderingly they hear the tidings that he brings--the +recital of the greatest happening that can ever befall a man. Not +deriding their valiant soldier, and not withholding their wealth of +love from one who has come safely back to them, they watch the +changes in his life. + +"I do not care," he says, "to loiter in the baths of Agrippa and to +hear from the idlers there the gossip of the hour. The +gladiatorial struggles in the Circus Maximus and the comedies in +the theaters have lost for me their relish. For the civic rewards +which Tiberius gives his favored ones I have no wish. Senatorships +and proconsulships are like the dust in the apothecaries' scales. +I have seen the risen Lord!" + +Influential is such a life on the home group of Quintus. With his +pride of birth and his great properties, Marcus becomes a believer. +A conversion it is which is the surprise of Rome. The rare +Lucretia, as well, receives the truth. At times, before she has +called herself a disciple, Quintus escorts her to the worship of +the Roman Christians. Their captivating speech, their holy love +for one another, their rapturous faces move her deepest heart. +Till, one day, when Quintus has been telling her of the womanhood +in Judaea which the Christ has ennobled, she replies: + +"I believe it all, O Quintus. Of late into my heart an untold +peace has come. All things are changed for me. The sunlight is on +the hills!" It is her open confession. Lucretia is thenceforth +enrolled among the Roman saints of whom the world was not worthy, +and who looked for the life to come. + + +In the fellowship of the Roman church--already founded and rapidly +enlarging--Quintus finds his pleasure. A few are Jews from the +ghetto beyond the Tiber, till the persecution of Claudius drives +them forth. More are of the varied nationalities met in that +commercial and luxurious center. Most are of plebeian blood. +There are smiths and mechanics; there are stone cutters, workers in +mosaics, and decorators. There are slaves from the very palace of +Tiberius. There is Amon from Egypt, who sells his jewelry down in +the Nova Via. There is Polemon, the Grecian shopkeeper, in the +Clivus Victoriae. There is Onesimus, the servant of Philemon, from +Colossae. There are Amplias and Epaenetus and Stachys, the +particular friends of the Gentile apostle. There is, as well, +Pomponia Graecina, that woman of noble blood, who accepts the +Christ. An ever-increasing company it is. + +In their assemblies, on the first day of the week, Quintus has his +influential place. He listens to the reading of the older +Scriptures; he celebrates with the gathered company the eucharistic +suppers and agapae; he keeps with them the Easter celebration, in +memory of Him who shall give them eternal life. In emblem of their +faith the sign of the fish is on their evening lamps. Theirs is a +sterling citizenship. The wanton metropolis of the Caesars is +blessed immeasurably by the company of these who follow the risen +Lord. + +It is after the midcentury that the great Paulus, having met with +shipwreck on Melita, draws near to Rome. Quintus leads the company +that goes out southward forty miles, to welcome the Christian +traveler. At Appii Forum, that common town with its bargemen and +its tavern keepers, they give the kiss of welcome to a little bent +and gray-haired Jew, who shall go down into history as Christ's +most illustrious apostle. The faithful Luke is his companion. +Along the famous highway of the Via Appia, where emperors and +warriors, scholars and Oriental tradesmen have walked, Quintus +escorts their guest. Past the tombs of the Roman great, by +uncounted statues, past suburban villas they go, until, through the +Porta Appia, the holy prisoner, chained to a Roman guard, finds +himself in the city of the Caesars. + +One rare privilege the Roman knight then envoys. In his hired +house, near the Pretorian camp, Paul speaks without interruption +his words of grace. The doctrines he had before written to the +Roman church he now explains; the wish he had made to see them face +to face now expresses itself in words of love. The flood tides of +his eloquence move resistlessly on, as he interprets the new faith +and speaks of Him who is to give them eternal life. Quintus is +enriched by his frequent association with the peerless soul. Nor +did he have a prouder thing to say, in the days to come, than to +declare, "I heard great Paulus tell of the life immortal." + +But how fares our knight when persecution comes? Through the years +he has been bravely declaring the Christian doctrine of the eternal +life to priests in the temples, to Roman nobles, to all most +hostile. But his wealth and social standing, as well as the +emperor's favor, now insure his safety. His father Marcus has long +since passed on, in hope of the heavenly life. Having wedded the +graceful Lucretia, when an apostle was in Rome to speak their +nuptials, he has her efficient counsel in the testing times. + +"Look! look! Lucretia," he cries, one evening; "through the lower +city the flames are running like unbridled horses. There is danger +that all Rome may go to ashes." + +For nine long days they watch the sweep of the lurid flames. The +light shines out like a signal torch, to mark an emperor's folly. +Then the undeserved charge that they have lit the flames brings on +the martyrdom of the Roman Christians. Sometimes Quintus and +Lucretia are able to soften the trials of the sufferers, by +permission of the capricious Nero. To old Chilo, the Grecian, +before he meets his doom, they unfold the promise of eternal reward +in the Father's house. The hope of immortality they carry to those +who go to the lions, at the emperor's whimsical command. And the +glorious company of martyrs passes singing to the skies, because of +their consoling words. + +Down into the dungeon of the Mamertine they are permitted once to +go, to visit Paulus. But he needs not their consolation. Rather +he is the comforter. With the poise of a conqueror he bids them +not to mourn for him: he is going to the Lord in the unending life. +Over their bowed heads he stretches his aged hands, in apostolic +benediction. Soon ends his imprisonment. At _Tre Fontane_, in a +few days more, his weary body rests; but his immortal spirit mounts +beyond the stars. + + +At last the Christian knight comes to the crossing. The prediction +of the augur at Brundisium has been strikingly fulfilled. Matured +in all the graces, he is like the ripened Chian clusters that await +the vintager in the autumn days. The friends of Quintus have gone +before; as the old century wanes, the old man is to follow them. + +"My time has come to go," he says one day; "the portals of eternal +life and joy I see swinging open wide. I shall pass through the +gates, because my ascended Lord has gone in before me to prepare my +dwelling place. With him as my Teacher I believe in the life +immortal." + + +In the Roman catacombs, those most remarkable testimonies to the +eternal life, his resting place may be found. The sign of the fish +is on his stone. Its time-eaten inscription is still legible, +among the many which tell of the early Christian expectation and of +all future Christian hope: + + +"HERE RESTS THE DUST OF QUINTUS, OF NOBLE BLOOD; IN THE FAITH OF +THE ASCENDED LORD HE HAS ENTERED UPON THE ETERNAL LIFE." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12671 *** |