My Dear Father:
Like all my letters, the theme of this will be Jesus, whose claims
to be the Messiah I unspeakably rejoice to hear you are beginning to
regard with more favorable eyes.
Now Jesus, whose power to work miracles you yourself, my dear father,
have confessed must be conferred by Jehovah alone, asserts distinctly
and everywhere that he is Messias, the Son of God, the Shiloh of
Israel, of whom Moses and the prophets so eloquently wrote. Besides
claiming for himself this high character, he was heard, by both my
Uncle Amos and myself, in the synagogue at Bethany, two days after he
raised Lazarus from the dead, to read from Esaias the words following,
and apply them to himself, which he had done before at Nazareth:
"The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the
broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering
of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised; to
preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
The synagogue was thronged, so that people trod upon one another. All
eyes were now intent, and all ears were ready to hear what he should
speak. He then said unto them:
"This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. Ye ask me, O
scribes and men of Israel, to tell you plainly who I am--whether I am
the Christ or no. What saith the prophet of Messias when he shall come?
Ye have just heard his words. If such works as he prophesieth do show
forth themselves in me, know ye not who I am?"
Here a voice cried out in the assembly:
"Tell us plainly, art thou the Christ, the Son of the Highest?"
At this direct inquiry there was intense interest shown to hear the
reply.
Jesus seemed about to answer, when a man, who stood near the reading
desk, in whom was an unclean spirit, cried out, with a shrieking voice
of mingled terror and awe:
"Let me alone! Leave me as I am, thou Jesus of Nazareth! Art thou come
hither to destroy me? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God!"
Jesus rebuked the devil which possessed the man and said, in the voice
of a master commanding a bond slave:
"Hold thy peace, Satan! The Son of man needeth not, though thou givest
it, thy testimony. Hold thy peace, and come out of the man!"
At this word the man uttered a fearful cry of despair and rage, and
foaming at the mouth cast himself, or rather was thrown down by the
devil within him, to the ground; where, after a moment's terrific
struggle, with contortions of bodily anguish, he lay senseless as if
dead. Jesus took him by the hand, and he stood up and, looking in the
face of the Prophet with earnestness and wonder, burst into tears of
gratitude, exclaiming:
"I am escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler; the snare is
broken, and I am escaped. God hath delivered me out of the hand of my
enemy!" He then sat at the feet of Jesus, calm, grateful, happy, and in
his right mind! All gazed on him with wonder, while from the great mass
of the people rose a great shout, for they were all amazed, saying:
"This is none other than the Christ, the Son of David! This is the
King of Israel!" while the loud shouts of "Hosanna! hosanna! hosanna!"
cheered by a thousand voices, "Hosanna to our King!" shook like a
passing storm the synagogue.
When the noise had a little subsided, some of the Scribes and Pharisees
said, reproving him for not rebuking these cries:
"Who is this that suffereth himself to be hailed as king? This is
treason to the emperor!"
Jesus then said in a loud, clear voice:
"My kingdom is not of this world! I seek not an earthly throne or
earthly sceptre. My kingdom is from above. Ye say truly, I am king," he
added, with indescribable majesty, "and hereafter ye shall behold me
sitting upon the throne of heaven."
When he had thus far spoken he could not proceed farther, on account of
the sudden and immense uproar which his words produced. Some shouted,
"Hosanna!" others said he blasphemed; one cried for the Roman guard,
another for the priests, to eject him from the tribune; many rushed
towards him to cast themselves at his feet, while many, putting their
fingers in their ears, hurried forth from the synagogue, crying:
"His blasphemies will cause the house to fall upon us and crush us!"
Never was such an uproar heard. In the midst of it Jesus conveyed
himself away, none knew whither; and when I returned to the house of
Martha I heard his low, earnest, touching voice in prayer to God in his
little chamber. He had sought its sacred quiet to be alone with his
Father in heaven. At times I could hear him praying and supplicating,
in tones of the most heart-breaking pathos; at others the silence of
his room was only broken at intervals by sighs and pitiful groans that
seemed to come from a breaking and crushed heart. Oh, what hand may
remove the veil and reveal what passed there in that holy retirement
between the Prophet and his God!
It was late in the day when he came forth, Martha having softly tapped
at his door to say that the evening meal was prepared and alone waited
for him. When he appeared his face was colorless and bore traces of
weeping, and though he smiled kindly upon us all, as he was wont to do,
there was a deep-seated sorrow upon his countenance that brought tears
to my eyes. Æmilius joined us at the table, and with dear Lazarus and
with Uncle Amos, we passed a sacred hour; for the Prophet ate not, but
talked to us much and sweetly of the love of God, and as all listened
the viands were forgotten.
Pardon me, dearest father, if I am too warm and urgent in my efforts to
bring you to accept Jesus as the Christ. Convinced, as I am, that he
is Messias, I cannot but ardently desire that you, also, should come
to the knowledge of this truth. What he is yet to be, how he is yet
to develop his majesty and power, is unknown to us all. Some do think
that he will enter Jerusalem ere long, attended by tens of thousands
of his followers, and that before him Pilate will peaceably vacate his
Procuratorial chair, and retire, not only from the Holy City but from
Judea, with his legions; that Jesus will ascend the throne of David,
and the glory of the age of Solomon be revived under his rule.
Such, dear father, is the future of the Prophet, as looked for by all
his disciples save one, and this is John, the husband of my Cousin
Mary. John, on hearing our views of the coming glory of the Prophet,
looks compassionate and says:
"His kingdom is not of this world. He has naught to do with the
splendors of earth. His glory you will behold, but it is a glory of the
spirit. Ere perceiving it fully we may first pass through the valley of
darkness, the gate of the tomb. He has distinctly said to me, 'I must
first suffer many things at the hands of men before I enter upon my
reign of glory. The Jews will seek me to kill me, and I shall be taken
from among you; but let not sorrow fill your hearts. Death can have no
power over me save such as I permit it to hold. I lay down my life and
I take it again. Through much tribulation and sorrow must the Son of
God win the sceptre of this earth--the hearts of men. I shall conquer,
but to do so I must fall. Yet fear not. My death shall be the gateway
to Paradise for you all!'"
Thus, dear father, do we discourse together about this wonderful
Prophet, whose future life is all a mystery, save that, from the
prophecies, we know it is to be inconceivably glorious; from his own
lips, to be inconceivably sorrowful. But whether on a throne, giving
laws to the world, or in the dust, borne down by the deepest woe, I
shall still love, honor, reverence him and trust in him as my Savior,
my Prince, and the Holy One of God!
Your devoted and loving,
Adina.