SIMON the leper sat at the door of his cave. He held a roll of vellum in
his unsightly fingers; it was a copy of the Psalms that Lazarus had once
made for him in happier days.
Many a time he had found comfort in these hope-inspiring songs of David;
but to-day he was reading a wail that seemed to come from the depths of
his own soul:
"Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy
waves. Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me. Thou hast made me an
abomination unto them. I am shut up and I cannot come forth. Lord, I
have called daily upon Thee. I have stretched out my hands unto Thee.
Wilt Thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise again and
praise Thee? Lord, why casteth Thou off my soul? Why hidest Thou Thy
face from me?"
The roll dropped to the ground, and he hid his face in his hands,
crying, "How long must I endure this? Oh, why was I not taken instead of
Lazarus?"
The sound of some one scrambling over the rocks made him look up
quickly.
Seth never made his visits at this time of the day, and strangers had
never before found the path to this out-of-the-way place.
Joel came on, and stopped by the rock where the water-jar stood.
Simon stood up, covering himself with his mantle, and crying out,
warningly, "Beware! Unclean! Come no further!"
"I bring you news from the village," said Joel. The man threw out his
hand with a gesture of alarm.
"Oh, not of my wife Esther," he cried, imploringly, "or of my little
Joseph! I could not bear to hear aught of ill from them. My heart is
still sore for the death of my friend Lazarus. I went as near the
village as I dared, and heard the dirge of the flutes and the wailing of
the women, when they laid him in the tomb. I have sat here ever since in
sackcloth and ashes."
"But Lazarus lives again!" exclaimed Joel, simply. He had seen so many
miracles lately, that he forgot the startling effect such an
announcement would have on one not accustomed to them.
[Illustration: "'YOU BUT MOCK ME, BOY'"]
The man stood petrified with astonishment. At last he said bitterly,
"You but mock me, boy; at least leave me to my sorrow in peace."
"No!" cried Joel. "As the Lord liveth, I swear it is the truth. Have you
not heard that Messiah has come? I have followed Him up and down the
country, and know whereof I speak. At a word from Him the dumb sing, the
blind see, and the lame walk. I was lame myself, and He made me as you
see me now."
Joel drew himself up to his fullest height. Simon looked at him,
completely puzzled.
"Why did you take the trouble to come and tell me that,--a poor despised
leper?" he finally asked.
"Because I want everybody else to be as happy as I am. He cured me. He
gave me back my strength. Then why should not my feet be always swift to
bring others to Him for the same happy healing? He Himself goes about
all the time doing good. I know there is hope for you, for I have seen
Him cleanse lepers."
Simon trembled, as the full meaning of the hope held out to him began to
make itself clear to his confused mind: health, home, Esther,
child,--all restored to him. It was joy too great to be possible.
"Oh, if I could only believe it!" he cried.
"Lazarus was raised when he had been four days dead. All Bethany can
bear witness to that," persisted Joel. The words poured out with such
force and earnestness, as he described the scene, that Simon felt
impelled to believe him.
"Where can I find this man?" he asked.
Joel pointed down the rocky slope. "Take that road that leads into
Bethany. Come early in the morning, and as we all pass that way, call to
Him. He never refuses any who have faith to believe that He can grant
what they ask."
When Joel was half-way down the hill, he turned back. "If He should not
pass on the morrow," he said, "do not fail to be there on the second
day. We will surely leave here soon."
Simon stood in bewilderment till the boy had passed down the hill; he
began to fear that this messenger had been only the creation of a dream.
He climbed upon the cliff and peered down into the valley. No, he had
not been deceived; the boy was no mirage of his thirsty soul, for there,
he came out into full sight again, and now, he was climbing the opposite
hillside.
"How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of him who bringeth good
tidings!" he murmured. "Oh, what a heaven opens out before me, if this
lad's words are only true!"
Next morning, after they left Bethany, Joel looked anxiously behind
every rock and tree that they passed; but Simon was not to be seen.
Presently Joel saw him waiting farther down the road; he was kneeling in
the dust. The white mantle, that in his sensitiveness was always used to
hide himself from view, was cast aside, that the Great Healer might see
his great need.
He scanned the approaching figures with imploring eyes. He was looking
for the Messiah,--some one in kingly garments, whose jewelled sceptre's
lightest touch would lay upon him the royal accolade of health.
These were evidently not the ones he was waiting for. These were only
simple wayfarers; most of them looked like Galileans.
He was about to rise up with his old warning cry of unclean, when he
caught sight of Joel. But where was the princely Redeemer of prophecy?
Nearer and nearer they came, till he could look full in their faces. No
need now to ask on which one he should call for help; indeed, he seemed
to see but one face, it was so full of loving pity.
"O Thou Messiah of Israel!" he prayed. "Thou didst call my friend
Lazarus from the dead, O pass me not by! Call me from this living death!
Make me clean!"
The eyes that looked down into his seemed to search his soul. "Believest
thou that I can do this?"
The pleading faith in Simon's eyes could not be refused. "Yea, Lord," he
cried, "Thou hast but to speak the word!"
He waited, trembling, for the answer that meant life or death to him.
"I will. Be thou clean!" He put out His hand to raise the kneeling man
to his feet. "Go and show thyself to the priests," He added.
The party passed on, and Simon stood looking after them. _Was_ it the
Christ who had passed by? Where were His dyed garments from Bozrah? The
prophet foretold Him as glorious in apparel, travelling in the greatness
of His strength. No sceptre of divine power had touched him; it was only
the clasp of a warm human hand he had felt. He looked down at himself.
Still a leper! His faith wavered; but he remembered he had not obeyed
the command to show himself to the priests. Immediately he started
across the fields on a run, towards the road leading into Jerusalem.
Far down the highway Joel heard a mighty shout; he turned and looked
back. There on the brow of a hill, sharply outlined against the sky,
stood Simon. His arms were lifted high up towards heaven; for as he ran,
in obedience to the command, the leprosy had gone from him. He was
pouring out a flood of praise and thanksgiving, in the first ecstasy of
his recovery, at the top of his voice.
Joel thought of the tiresome ceremonies to be observed before the man
could go home, and wished that the eight days of purification were over,
that the little family might be immediately reunited.
Meanwhile, Seth, with his basket and water-bottle, was climbing the hill
toward the cave. For the first time in seven years since he had
commenced these daily visits, no expectant voice greeted him. He went
quite close up to the little room under the cliff; he could see through
the half-open door that it was empty. Then he cautiously approached the
mouth of the cave, and called his master. A hundred echoes answered him,
but no human voice responded. Call after call was sent ringing into the
hollow darkness. The deep stillness weighed heavily upon him; he began
to be afraid that somewhere in its mysterious depths lay a dead body.
The fear mastered him. Only stopping to put down the food and pour out
the water, he started home at the top of his speed.
As he reached the road, a traveller going to Bethany hailed him. "What
think you that I saw just now?" asked the stranger. "A man running with
all his might towards Jerusalem. Tears of joy were streaming down his
cheeks, and he was shouting as he ran, 'Cleansed! Cleansed! Cleansed!'
He stopped me, and bade me say, if I met a man carrying a basket and
water-skin, that Simon the leper has just been healed of the leprosy. He
will be home as soon as the days of purification are over."
Seth gazed at him stupidly, feeling that he must be in a dream. Esther,
too, heard the message unbelievingly. Yet she walked the floor in a
fever of excitement, at the bare possibility of such a thing being true.
The next morning, she sent Seth, as usual, with the provisions. But he
brought them back, saying the place was still deserted.
Then she began to dare to hope; although she tried to steel herself
against disappointment, by whispering over and over that she could never
see him again, she waited impatiently for the days to pass. At last they
had all dragged by.
The new day would begin at sunset, the very earliest time that she might
expect him. The house was swept and garnished as if a king were coming.
The table was set with the choicest delicacies Seth could find in the
Jerusalem markets.
The earliest roses, his favorite red ones, were put in every room. In
her restless excitement nothing in her wardrobe seemed rich enough to
wear. She tried on one ornament after another before she was suited.
Then, all in white, with jewels blazing in her ears, on her throat, on
her little white hands, and her eyes shining like two glad stars, she
sat down to wait for him.
But she could not keep still. This rug was turned up at the corner; that
rose had dropped its petals on the floor. She would have another kind of
wine on the table.
At last she stepped out of the door in her little silken-bound sandals,
and climbed the outside stairs to the roof, to watch for him.
The sun was entirely out of sight, but the west was glorious with the
red gold of its afterglow. Looking up the Mount of Olives, she could see
the smoke of the evening sacrifice rising as the clouds of incense
filled the Temple. Surely he must be far on the way by this time.
Her heart almost stopped beating as she saw a figure coming up the road,
between the rows of palm-trees. She strained her eyes for a nearer view,
then drew a long tremulous breath. It was Lazarus; there went the two
children and the lamb to meet him. All along the street, people were
standing in the doors to see him go past; he was still a wonder to them.
She shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked again. But while her gaze
searched the distant road, some one was passing just below, under the
avenue of leafy trees, with quick impatient tread; some one paused at
the vine-covered door; some one was leaping up the stairs three steps at
a time; some one was coming towards her with out-stretched arms, crying,
"Esther, little Esther, O my wife! My God-given one!"
For the first time in seven years, she turned to find herself in her
husband's arms. Strong and well, with the old light in his eyes, the old
thrill in his voice, the glow of perfect health tingling through all his
veins, he could only whisper tremulously, as he held her close, "Praise
God! Praise God!"
No wonder he seemed like a stranger to Joseph. But the clasp of the
strong arms, and the deep voice saying "my son," so tenderly, were
inexpressibly dear to the little fellow kept so long from his birthright
of a father's love.
He was the first to break the happy silence that fell upon them. "What a
good man Rabbi Jesus must be, to go about making people glad like this
all the time!"
"It is He who shall redeem Israel!" exclaimed Simon. "To God be the
glory, who hath sent Him into this sin-cursed world! Henceforth all that
I have, and all that I am, shall be dedicated to His service!"
Kneeling there in the dying daylight, with his arms around the wife and
child so unexpectedly given back to him, such a heart-felt prayer of
gratitude went upward to the good Father that even the happiest angels
must have paused to listen, more glad because of this great
earth-gladness below.