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My Dear Father:—In my last letter to you, I spoke
of our return from Jordan, to Gilgal, to the countryhouse
in the wheat fields of Peniel, where Rabbi Amos
sojourns during the two weeks of harvest. At the house
were assembled, not only John, the cousin of Mary, and
the noble Lazarus, but also Gamaliel, and Saul, his disciple,
of whom I have before spoken, who were invited to
partake of my uncle's hospitality for the night; besides,
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 upon the remarkable
events of the day, an observation made by John, when
speaking of the change in the face of Jesus, that “His
visage was marred more than the sons of men,” led the
venerable Gamaliel to say to us:

“Those are the words of Esaias, and are truly spoken
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.”

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My cousin Mary returned, and placed it on a small stand
before him, for, as I said in my last, we were all seated in
the porch, where the evening breeze was cool. A lamp
then being brought, I held it above the roll of parchment,
while my uncle found the part of the Prophet to which
the words belonged.

“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
Christ, who is to restore all things to us, yet I am prepared
to reverence Him as a Prophet.”

“And,” answered Rabbi Amos, “if we find the prophecies
do meet in him 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 touched
his knees.

“Read, Adina, for thy eyes are young,” said my uncle;
and obedient, though embarrassed before such an audience,
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, these words described
his appearance on the verge of the desert.”

“But,” said Saul, Gamaliel's disciple, “if this be prophesied
of the Christ, then we are to have a Christ of dishonor,
and not one of honor and glory. Read one part
that you have omitted, and you will see that there are
words that import a higher condition than that of this

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unknown person, whom John the Baptizer himself confessed
he did not know, nor ever beheld before.”

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 I could not
but confess that these prophecies of honor could not apply
to the humble person John had baptized; 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 his faith and confidence, which
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

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fine eyes lighting up, as he looked at Saul, “be of the
Christ, as you have confessed, then is this last of him;
and the fact that you reject him, is but the fulfilment 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, the former contending that the
prophecies referred to two distinct Christs, one of whom
was to be lowly and a sufferer, and the other honorable
and a conqueror; while the latter maintained, that the
seemingly opposite predictions referred to but one Christ in
two different periods and circumstances of his life.

“But let this be as it may,” said John, after the arguments
on both sides had been 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 a Babylonish sorcerer, whom I saw 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 the sorcerer; for they do
marvellous 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

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mantle a roll of the Psalms. He read as follows, looking
at Gamaliel:

“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;
this day have I begotten thee.”'

Upon hearing this read, Gamaliel was thoughtful.
Rabbi Amos said: “Of a truth, we Jews believe these
words were to be spoken to our Christ by the Lord Jehovah.
Have we not heard this prophecy fulfilled this very
day in our ears?”

“It is extraordinary,” answered Gamaliel. “I will
search the scriptures when I reach Jerusalem, to see if
these things be so.”

“And the light in the form of a dove! Dost thou find
an explanation for that?” asked Rabbi Amos.

“No,” answered he; “and I will withhold all further
opinion for the present.”

“It becomes you, O Gamaliel,” said Rabbi Amos,
“who art a father and teacher in Israel, to know whether
these things be so, that thou mayest teach thy disciples.”

“But,” said Saul with some vehemence, “listen while
I read some prophecies also.” And he unrolled a 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 ever of old, from everlasting.”
“Now, you will confess, Rabbi Amos,” he added, with a
look of triumph, “that this refers to our expected Messias.”

“Without doubt,” answered my uncle—“but”—

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“Wait,” said Saul, “until I read you another prophecy:
`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 before know of 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 Cesar 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. But it is
on the records in the proper office of the Temple, and can
be referred to there.”

“Admitting, then, that he was born in Bethlehem,”

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said Saul, who appeared to be much given to argument,
“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 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 the command of the law in 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 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

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Bethlehem, and of the house of David, and there are many
in Judah, fulfills, so far, the conditions of these two
prophecies; they are not therefore Messias.”

“What more can you ask for?” asked Mary, with feeling,
for she as strongly believed that Jesus was the Christ
as I did, and she was pained by so many doubts, and such
subtlety of objection from those who were so learned in
the Prophets. But men reason and reason, while women
simply believe.

“Miracles?” answered the disciple of Gamaliel, and
glancing at the face of his master inquiringly.

“Yes, miracles,” answered the sage. “The Messiah is
to heal the sick by a word, restore sight to the blind, cast
out devils, and raise even the dead.” And here he desired
Saul to read the particular prophecy giving the power of
miracles to the Christ.

“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 a
noisy dispute in the court among some of John the Baptist's
disciples, who had been baptized only by kneeling, and
having the water poured on them where the place was
shallow, and others who at the flood had been wholly immersed;
the latter contending that the former were not
rightly baptized. 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.

Thus you see, my dear father, that even on the very day
of these events by eye-witnesses themselves, there is much
difference of opinion concerning who Jesus is; and therefore
I do not expect you, who are so remote from the scene,

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and who know them only by report, to believe all at once,
as I myself do. Will you write me and tell me what
view you take of all this subject, and what can be brought
from the Scriptures to prove that Messias has not yet come?

The next morning early the people departed from the
court where they had lodged; and when the sun was
about an hour high we also took saddle and rode to Jericho,
where we passed the day with Miriam, the daughter of
Joel, who was cousin to my mother. We found them in
very great affliction, and they could not be comforted by
any consolations which we could administer. It seems
that her daughter Marah, or Mary, as they call her, had
been so unfortunate, from her extraordinary beauty, as to
attract the notice of Æmilius Lepidus, the Prefect of the
Legion, who did honorably, though a Roman, and one of
our conquerors, ask her in marriage of her parents. But
they being Hebrews could not consent to such a union
with a Gentile, and kept her with great strictness, so that
he might never behold her again. But Marah, being very
much devoted to the love of the noble Roman; and he
being also attached to her, they met by stratagem, and
she fled with him to the town of Magdala, where he has a
villa. She is therefore lost forever to the faith of her
fathers, by this simple flight with a Gentile lover, who,
though he marry her according to the Roman laws, doth
not make her an honorable wife according to our own.
This event was the cause of our finding the house of
Miriam a house of mourning. It has produced great indignation
among the Jews against the Romans. Mary was,
I am told, the most beautiful maiden of the tribe of Benjamin,
with golden brown hair that flowed to her very

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feet, and she was beloved by all who knew her. Thus am
I disappointed in seeing her, as I hoped to have done; and
the pearl armlet which you wished me to bestow upon her,
I still retain in my possession, a sorrowful memorial of the
loved and lost.

Lazarus has returned to Bethany, where his occupation
demands his attendance; but his friend John remained
with us, having agreed with Lazarus that he would go
into the desert and not give up his search for the Divine
Prophet, Jesus, until he had found him; for both young
men feel as sad as if they had lost a beloved and honored
brother. Your daughter,

p612-165

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