My Dear Father:
In my last letter to you I spoke of our return from Jordan to Gilgal.
At the house were assembled not only John, the cousin of Mary, and the
noble Lazarus, but also Gamaliel and Saul. The court of the dwelling
was thronged with strangers, and the common people who, being far from
their homes and without food, had freely been invited to lodgings and
food by the hospitable priest.
As we sat up late conversing with deep interest upon the remarkable
events of the day, an observation made by John, when speaking of the
change in the face of Jesus, that "His face was marred more than the
sons of men," led the venerable Gamaliel to say to us:
"Those are the words of the prophet Esaias, and are truly spoken by him
of Messias, when he shall come."
"Let us consult Esaias, then, and see what further he hath said," cried
Rabbi Amos. "Mary, bring hither the roll of the Prophets."
My Cousin Mary returned, and placed the book on a small stand before
him.
"Read aloud, worthy Rabbi," said the philosopher Gamaliel, "we will
all listen; for though I do not believe this young man who was to-day
baptized is Messias and the Christ, who is to restore all things to us,
yet I am prepared to reverence him as a great prophet."
"And," answered Rabbi Amos, "if we find the prophecies do meet in him
that which we look for to meet in Messias when he cometh, wilt thou
believe, venerable father?"
"I will believe and reverently adore," answered the sage, bowing his
head till his flowing white beard almost touched his knees.
"Read Adina, for thy eyes are young," said my uncle; and I read as
follows:
"'Behold, my Servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and
extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee; his visage
was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of
men.'"
"How completely," said John, "those words describe his appearance on
the verge of the desert, and yet I used them unconsciously."
"But," said Saul, Gamaliel's disciple, "if this be prophesied of the
Christ, then we are to have a Christ of humiliation, and not one of
honor and glory. Read one part which you have omitted, maiden."
I read on as follows: "'Behold, my Servant shall be exalted and
extolled, and be very high. He shall sprinkle many nations; the kings
shall shut their mouths at him. He shall lift up his hand to the
Gentiles, and set up his standard to the people. Kings shall bow down
to him with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of his
feet!'"
"There! Such is our Messias!" exclaimed Saul.
"Yes, it is a Christ of power and dominion who is to redeem Israel,"
added Gamaliel; "not an unknown young man, scarcely thirty years of
age, who came from whence no one knoweth, and hath gone as he came. As
for the Christ, we shall know whence he cometh!"
At hearing this great and good man thus discourse, dear father, my
heart sank within me, for Lazarus had already told us that his friend
Jesus was of humble birth, a carpenter's son, and his mother a widow;
that he had known him from boyhood, but known him only to love him. I
now looked towards him, but I took courage when I saw that the words
of Gamaliel did not in the least dim the light of faith and confidence
which brightly sparkled in his eyes, that his friend Jesus was truly
Messias of God. But my eye fell on what follows, and as I read it I
gained more confidence: "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we
shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him."
"If the first part of this prophecy," said Lazarus, his fine eyes
lighting up, as he looked at Saul, "be of the Christ, as you have just
now confessed, then is this last of him; and the fact that you reject
him is but the fulfillment of this part of the prophecy."
Hereupon arose a very warm discussion between Gamaliel and Saul on one
side, and Rabbi Amos, John and Lazarus on the other.
"But let this be as it may," said John, after the arguments on both
sides had been mainly exhausted, "how will you, O Gamaliel, and you,
Saul, get over the extraordinary voice and fiery appearance which
distinguished the baptism?"
"That must have been a phenomenon of nature, or done by the art of the
famed Babylonish sorcerer, whom I saw prominent in the multitude,"
answered the philosopher.
"Did you not hear the words?" asked Rabbi Amos.
"Yes, Rabbi; nevertheless, they may have been thrown into the air from
the lungs of this sorcerer; for they do marvelous things."
"Would you suppose that a sorcerer would be disposed to apply the
sacred words of the Lord?" asked John, earnestly.
"By no means," he answered, reverently.
"If Rabbi Amos will allow me, I will show you the very words in King
David's prophecies of Messias."
All looked with interest on John, as he took from his mantle a roll of
the Psalms. He opened it and read as follows:
"'Why do the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against
his Anointed? I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me,
Thou art my Son.'"
Upon hearing this read, Gamaliel was thoughtful.
"It is extraordinary," answered he. "I will search the Scriptures when
I reach Jerusalem, to see if these things be so."
"But," said Saul, with some vehemence, "listen while I read some
prophecies also." And he unrolled the book of the Prophets and read
these words:
"'Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to
be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting.'
"Now, you will confess, Rabbi Amos," he added, with a look of triumph,
"that this word refers to our expected Messias?"
"Without doubt," answered my uncle, "but--"
"Wait, I beseech you, learned Rabbi," said Saul, "until I read you
another prophecy." And he read: "'I have made a covenant with David,
Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to all
generations. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun
before me. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise
unto David a righteous Branch.'
"Now, you will all admit, brethren, that these prophecies refer to
Messias. He is therefore to come of the lineage of David, and he is to
be born in Bethlehem. Show me that this Jesus, the Nazarene, fulfills
both conditions in his own person, and I will prepare to believe in
him."
This was said haughtily, and with the air of one who cannot be answered.
But immediately Lazarus rose to his feet and said: "Although I did not
recollect this prophecy, that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, yet I
am overjoyed to find the fact respecting Jesus fulfills it. He was born
in Bethlehem of Judah. This I have known some years, and--"
Here, while my heart was bounding with joy, Gamaliel said sternly, "I
thought this man was born in Nazareth?"
"He has lived," answered Lazarus, "in Nazareth from childhood only.
During the days when Cæsar Augustus issued a decree that all the world
should be taxed, his mother, and Joseph her husband, went up to the
City of David to be taxed, which is Bethlehem, and there Jesus was
born, as I have often heard from her lips."
"Admitting, then, that he was born in Bethlehem," said Saul, "you have
to prove his lineage from David's line."
"Wherefore did his parents go to Bethlehem, David's city, unless they
were of his royal line?" asked Rabbi Amos, "for none went to any other
city to be taxed than that of their own family. The fact that they went
there is strong evidence that they were of David's house."
"Every one born in the city of David," remarked Gamaliel, "is not of
necessity of David's house; but it is surprising if this Jesus really
was born in Bethlehem."
"But may not his lineage be ascertained without a doubt from the
records of the tribes, and of their families, kept by command of the
law of the Temple?" I asked of my uncle.
"Without question. These books of the generations of our people are to
be relied on," he answered.
"In fact," said Gamaliel, "they are kept with the greatest accuracy,
and it is so ordained by God, for the very reason that when Messias
cometh we may know whether he who claims to be such be of the house of
David or no. I will examine the book of the generations, and see if his
mother and father come of the stock and seed of David."
"And if you find that they do," asked John, with emotion, "can you
doubt any longer whether Jesus be the Christ? Will not the fact of his
being born in Bethlehem, and of the lineage of David, not to speak of
the witness of God's own audible voice, heard by our ears this day,
will not these facts lead you to believe that he is the Christ?"
"They will prevent me from actually rejecting him," answered the cold
philosopher. "But every child born in Bethlehem, and of the house of
David, and there are many of them in Judah, fulfills, so far, the
conditions of these two prophecies; these are not, therefore, Messiahs."
"What more can you ask for?" asked Mary, with feeling, for she strongly
believed that Jesus was the Christ.
"Miracles," answered the disciple of Gamaliel, glancing at the face of
his master inquiringly.
"Yes, miracles," also answered the sage. "The Messiah is to heal the
sick by a word, restore sight to the blind, cast out devils, and even
raise the dead."
"If he restore the blind and raise the dead, I will doubt no longer,"
answered Saul.
There was at this moment an interruption caused by noisy altercations
in the court among some of John the Baptist's disciples. Rabbi Amos, as
host, went out to put an end to these disputings, when Gamaliel retired
to his chamber, and the conversation was not renewed.
Your daughter,
Adina.