taphs in honor of ancient prophets[4] which
Jesus pointed out, when, seated under the portico, he denounced the
official classes, who covered their hypocrisy or their vanity by these
colossal piles.[5]

[Footnote 1: John x. 23.]

[Footnote 2: Jos., _B.J._, V. v. 2. Comp. _Ant._, XV. xi. 5, XX. ix.
7.]

[Footnote 3: Jos., places cited.]

[Footnote 4: See ante, p. 316. I am led to suppose that the tombs
called those of Zachariah and of Absalom were monuments of this kind.
Cf. _Itin. a Burdig. Hierus._, p. 153 (edit. Schott.)]

[Footnote 5: Matt. xxiii. 29; Luke xi. 47.]

At the end of the month of December, he celebrated at Jerusalem the
feast established by Judas Maccabeus in memory of the purification of
the temple after the sacrileges of Antiochus Epiphanes.[1] It was
also called the "Feast of Lights," because, during the eight days of
the feast, lamps were kept lighted in the houses.[2] Jesus undertook
soon after a journey into Perea and to the banks of the Jordan--that
is to say, into the very country he had visited some years previously,
when he followed the school of John,[3] and in which he had himself
administered baptism. He seems to have reaped consolation from this
journey, especially at Jericho. This city, as the terminus of several
important routes, or, it may be, on account of its gardens of spices
and its rich cultivation,[4] was a customs station of importance. The
chief receiver, Zaccheus, a rich man, desired to see Jesus.[5] As he
was of small stature, he climbed a sycamore tree near the road which
the procession had to pass. Jesus was touched with this simplicity in
a person of consideration, and at the risk of giving offense, he
determined to stay with Zaccheus. There was much dissatisfaction at
his honoring the house of a sinner by this visit. In parting, Jesus
declared his host to be a good son of Abraham; and, as if to add to
the vexation of the orthodox, Zaccheus became a Christian; he gave, it
is said, the half of his goods to the poor, and restored fourfold to
those whom he might have wronged. But this was not the only pleasure
which Jesus experienced there. On leaving the town, the beggar
Bartimeus[6] pleased him much by persisting in calling him "son of
David," although he was told to be silent. The cycle of Galilean
miracles appeared for a time to recommence in this country, which was
in many respects similar to the provinces of the north. The delightful
oasis of Jericho, at that time