LETTER XXXVIII.
Bethany, House of Mary and Martha,
one month after the Passover.
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I deeply regret, my dearest father, the delays which
have detained you so long from arriving at Jerusalem,
but I trust that ere many days, the caravan for which you
wait will reach Gaza, and that you will be enabled to resume
your journey to the Holy City. I am now at
Bethany, where I have been some time making it my
home, for such was the hostility of the Jews, incited by
the chief priests, against us, that, by Pilate's command,
we were compelled to leave Jerusalem on the day of the
resurrection, to remain until their hatred had in some degree
subsided; for he said that the continued presence
there of the disciples of Jesus, kept up constant occasion
for tumult and interposition of the Roman authority.
Uncle Amos has retired for the present to his farm, near
Jericho; but will be here to-morrow to remain with us.
Therefore when you come near to Jerusalem, instead of
going directly into the city, turn aside by the road leading
past the king's gardens and go up the brook of Kedron,
into the way to Bethany. I pray that God may preserve
you in safety, and soon permit me the happiness of once
more embracing you, after three long years of separation.
And what events have transpired, and to which I have
been a witness in these three years! From the preaching
of John the Baptiser and the baptism of Jesus by him,
until the glorious resurrection of the mighty Son of God!
Favored, indeed, have I been to have been a dweller in
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Judea, during this eventful period, and to have seen and
heard these things, which no other age of the world can
parallel! But so far as one could know them, who was
not an eye-witness, you, my dear father, have been faithfully
informed of them through my letters. You have,
therefore, before you the same testimony as I have, and
those who have seen and now believe. Once more, my
dear father, read carefully over the whole narrative, from
the first letter, and thus, with all the facts fresh in your
mind, answer to yourself this inquiry:
“Was not this man the Son of God? Was no the the
very Christ, the divine and long-looked for Messias? Was
he not that mighty Prophet which should come into the
world? If he were not, who is He? Who is He at whose
birth the air was filled with angels, over whose couch
hung a celestial star; before whose infant feet the three
wisest men of the world, Shapha of Egypt, the son of
Ham, Beltazar of Assyria, the son of Shem, and Thoropha,
of Grecia, the son of Japhet, representing the family of
mankind, bowed in adoration and worship, as to a God!
Who is He for whom Herod the first slew three hundred
and two-score children in Bethlehem, in order to reach his
life? Who was He whom John the Baptiser proclaimed
the “Lamb of God,” whose blood was the only fountain
for sin? Who was He at whose baptism the heavens were
opened above his head, and the spirit of God descended
upon him in the form of a dove of light, while the voice
of the Lord, like the voice of many thunders, proclaimed
from the depths of the cloudless skies, “This is my beloved
Son?” Who was He, my dear father, at whose word
the tempest became still; the billowy waves placid; the
winds hushed? Who was He that healed the sick and
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leprous by a word; who restored a lost arm or leg by a
touch; who by a look re-animated the lifeless limb of the
paralytic; who raised the daughter of Jairus; healed the
Centurion's servant; restored to life the son of the widow
of Nain; cast out a legion of devils from Beor, the Levite;
restored the deaf and dumb nephew of the Governor of
Syria to hearing and speech; gave to his disciples also
the same power to do miracles; feeds at one time four
thousand men, and another time five thousand, from a few
pounds of bread and a few fishes, which a lad could carry
in a basket; whom Moses and Elias came from the regions
of the blessed, shining in resplendant glory, bright
from the presence of the Father, to visit and hold communion
with; who calls forth from the tomb of corruption
Lazarus to life and health; who once while praying, was
answered by a voice from Heaven in the hearing of many
people, “I have glorified My name, and will glorify it
again?”
Who was He, my father, at whose trial nothing could
be found against him, and who, when delivered to execution
by Pilate to save himself and appease the Jews, was
publicly declared to be an innocent man, by the act of the
Procurator, in calling for water and washing his hands,
and saying that he was clear of his blood, for he found no
fault in him? Who was He at whose crucifixion the
heavens grew black as sackcloth, the sun withdrew its
light, the stars shot from their spheres, the lightnings leaped
along the earth, the earth itself quaked, and the dead
sprung from their graves? Who was He who on the third
day burst the bars of the tomb, received as he walked
forth the homage of an archangel, whose servants were a
seraph and a cherub, waiting behind him in the tomb;
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who appeared alive to his mother—to the women of Galilee—
to Mary of Bethany, to Martha and Lazarus, and
last of all to me also? Who was this wonderful person,
my father—who was He but the Christ? Oh, read, reflect,
compare the prophets that speak of Messias, with
the life, and words, and deeds of Jesus; and the life of
Jesus with the prophets. There thou wilt see that he has
proven himself the very Christ, by what we in our ignorance
looked upon as the seal affixed to an impostor.
Isaias prophesied of the Christ whom he saw afar off, that
“he should be a man of sorrow;” that he should be “despised
and rejected of men;” that he should be brought
“as a lamb to the slaughter;” that he should be “taken
from prison and judgment, and cut off from the land of the
living;” that he should be “numbered with the wicked in
his death, and make his grave with the rich!” How light,
how clear, how plain, all these prophecies now are to
me, and to us all! How wonderfully in their minuteness
they have been fulfilled, you already know.
His resurrection also was foretold by himself, but we
did not understand his words until now. When he spoke
of destroying the Temple and raising it in three days, he
spoke of the tabernacle of his body! Oh, how many sayings,
which, when spoken by his sacred lips, we understood
not, now rush upon us in all their meaning, proving
to us that every step of his life was foreknown to him;
that he went forward to his death aware of all things
whatsoever that were going to befall him!
But his resurrection was also foretold by the holy David,
when he said, “Thou wilt not leave his soul in Hades, nor
suffer thy Holy One to see corruption; therefore my flesh
shall rest in hope!” Even his arraignment before Pilate,
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Caiaphas, and Herod, was foretold by David, when he said:
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers
take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his
Anointed;” yet the Lord saith, “Thou art my Son, this
day I have begotten thee.” Also, my dear father, turn to
the Psalm xxii. of king David, and compare the following
words, which speaks of Messias, with what I have described
in my previous letters:
“My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me!” are
prophetic words put into the mouth of Messias when he
shall come, and be forsaken of God. You will find that
in my letters I have told you that on the cross Jesus uttered
these very words.
Again, king David makes Messias, a few sentences further
on, to say, “They shoot out the lip at me; they shake
the head; they laugh me to scorn. They say, `He trusted
in the Lord that he would deliver him.' Thou hast
brought me into the dust of death.”
All this shows that Messias, if he were to be a king,
was also to suffer, to be forsaken of God, to be brought to
death! and yet we rejected Jesus as soon as he died!
But, my dear father, read the same Psalm of the holy
king a little further, and you will see these words, which
were put by the royal prophet into the lips of his future
Messias:
“The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They
pierced my hands and my feet. They part my garments
among them, and upon my vesture cast lots!”
Read and compare these acknowledged prophecies of
Messias with the accounts in my letters, dear father, and
you will not only be convinced that Jesus is the Messias
of the prophets, and Christ of God, but you will perceive
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that his humiliation and sufferings before Pilate and Caiaphas,
his agony on the cross, his death and burial, instead,
as we ignorantly conceived, of being evidences that he
was not the Christ, were proof that He was the very Son
of the Highest—the Shiloh of Jehovah foretold by the
prophets—the Anointed King of Israel.
Oh, wonderful is all this! How marvelous these things
passing before our eyes! Yet how have we been blinded—
how gross and dark our minds that we could not, until
He died, and has arisen again, see in him, all that He
was in his sufferings and in his death—the Divine Messias.
Now all is dazzlingly clear! The prophets are unveiled to
our sight, and we see that these things must have happento
him. Yet how quickly was He deserted and faith
lost in him! How his disciples denied that they ever
knew him; and how we all were ashamed that we had
ever followed him! Oh, our darkness, our blindness, to
have seen in the prophecies of Messias, only the passages
which speak of his glory and power, and passed by those,
which as positively foretold of his humiliation, degradation,
and death! Read the prophets no longer, my dearest
father, with a veil before your eyes! See, in all you
read, Jesus as the end of the prophets, the goal of all their
far-seeing prophecies, the veritable and sure realization of
their prophetic visions.
But you have said, in one of your late letters to me,
“that Elias must first come, ere Messias appear on earth;
and then you ask me, where is Elias? Hath he come?
Who hath seen him?
This question, my dear father, was also put by some of
the Jews to Jesus. He replied:
“Elias truly has come, and ye knew him not, and ye
have done unto him whatsoever you list.”
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“Who was he?” demanded several of the scribes and
priests, surprised at hearing this.
“He who came crying in the wilderness before me, and
who spake of me, and whom Herod hath slain,” He answered.
“But his name was John, master,” said they. “But
his spirit and power were those of Elias,” answered Jesus.
“In Elijah's spirit and power he came, and thus was called
the Elias that should come. The reality is the man.
John was the Elias of Malachi the Prophet—for prophetic
eyes see natures independently of names.”
Thus, my dear father, has Jesus in all particulars proved
himself to be the subject of all prophecy—the King of
Israel. But you will now ask, “Is He to re-establish the
throne of David, and live forever?”
Yes, but not in Jerusalem on earth. Oh, how clear are
all things to my apprehension now! His kingdom, which
I once believed to be the land of Judah, is to be in a
world beyond the skies, which he has created for his followers,
and to which they are to pass, like him, through
the gates of death. The Jerusalem, in which His Throne
is to be placed, is heavenly, and the true Jerusalem, of
which the present one is but the material type—what the
body is to the soul of a man.
Jesus has talked with me since his resurrection,
and explained all this to me, and much more that is
wonderful and full of joy. It is now four weeks since
he arose, and during that time, he has been not only
seen by all the disciples, but by hundreds of his followers.
The seventh day after his resurrection he appeared
openly at Nazareth, on the sea-shore, to Peter,
John, Andrew, James, and other disciples, to his numerous
relatives, and many of the chief citizens of his town, all
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of whom not only recognized him, but marveled to see his
crucified hands and feet. The effect of this recognition,
which was made by many, who, being up at the Passover,
had seen him crucified, was to bring the whole population
worshiping at his knees. The only change in his usual
appearance, dear father, to the eye, is a transparent paleness,
which gives a soft radiance to his whole aspect, and
a certain majestic reserve, which awes all who draw near
to him; so that men speak in his presence in subdued
whispers. His mother, happiest of women now, as she
was before the most wretched, ever sits at his feet, and
silently enjoys his sacred presence, seldom speaking, and
looking up to him, rather as a worshiper, to her God,
than a mother upon her son. That He is in the flesh in
reality, and not a spirit, He has proven to his disciples, by
eating with them; and in a remarkable way to an incredulous
disciple, called Thomas, who, not believing that Jesus
was risen in his real body from the dead, was told by the
Divine Lord to place his fingers into his hands, and his
hand into his side; which Thomas in fact did do; when,
falling at his feet in amazement and adoration, he worshiped
him as God.
It would take much time, my dear father, to record the
numerous instances in which the risen Lord has been seen
and spoken with, by persons who knew him before his
crucifixion; so that there is no fact so fully established in
the minds of many thousands in Judah, as the resurrection
of Jesus from the dead.
And if fuller proof is wanted, it is to be had, as Abram,
the learned Pharisee, has been forced to confess to Rabbi
Amos, in the conduct of his disciples, after their Master's
crucifixion. For they began their defection by denying him,
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and deserting him; they fled in all directions, and studiously
concealed the fact of their former connection with him. They
were not only moved by fear to this concealment, but by
shame being sorely mortified at having been led away by
him: for they were honest, plain, sensible men, without
fanaticism or fanciful vagaries. They had become the followers
of Jesus, because they saw in him that moral purity
and truth, which formed the elements of their own characters.
These plain, homely men,—these poor fishermen,
and humble countrymen, deeply felt how their false position,
among judicious folks, would now make them appear,
and so they hastened to bury their disgrace and disappointment
in the seclusion of the fishing hamlets of Galilee;
and doubtless desired never more to hear spoken into their
ears the name of their crucified Master.
But what do we behold, within a week after the resurrection
is made known through the length and breadth of
Judah? They who had hidden in dismay, from the face
of day, came boldly forth, and once more were with their
Lord, forgiven by him, and received by him again into
his holy confidence. They went with him wherever He
went, even to Jerusalem, from which they had but a few
days before fled. They walked with animated steps, and
elevated faces, like men no longer serving a defeated monarch,
but like men whose Master was Lord of heaven and
of earth.
To-day they are with him in the gardens of David, at
Bethlehem, where he is holding daily a solemn council
with the eleven, unfolding to them the future glory of his
kingdom, and opening their understanding to the clear
apprehension of all which the prophets have written concerning
him. John, who is a member of this divine
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council, says that the power of Jesus, the extent and majesty
of his kingdom, the infinite results of his death and resurrection,
are not to be conceived of by those who have not
listened to the sublime revelations of his own lips.
“He hath shown us,” said John, “how that his true
office as Son of God, and Son of Man, is to be a mediator
between both; that by his death he reconciled the race
of Adam to his Father, having become our Lamb of sacrifice
for the whole world. He showed us that He himself
was the High Priest; his own precious body was the victim,
which He himself offered up to appease the wrath of
Jehovah against transgressions, and how that the Cross
was the Altar of this great world's sacrifice, and the Temple
the whole earth and heavens. He showed us how
that all the lambs which had bled since Adam's day, typified
himself, the one only true and efficient Lamb, which
God ultimately looked to, to be sacrificed for sins! How
wonderful, dear father, is all this! He further teaches his
disciples, that he will shortly ascend from the earth, to
enter upon his celestial reign; and that his subjects there
are to be all who love him and keep his commandments.
It is a kingdom of holiness, and none enter there but the
pure in heart. He says further, that as we do now confess
our sins over the blood of the victim we sacrifice for
ourselves in the Temple, so henceforth, we must look to
him (by faith when we see him no longer), slain a sacrifice
for us, and confess our sins to the Father for his
blood's sake, which the Father has accepted, in the one
sacrifice he made on the cross, once for all. Jesus has
moreover taught his disciples that the Gentiles are to
share equally with the children of Abraham the benefits
of his death and resurrection; that this good news shall
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be proclaimed to them by his disciples, and that they will
gladly hear it and believe. That the gospel of redemption,
no longer by the blood of bulls and of goats, but by his
blood, shall in the progress of ages fill the whole earth;
when every knee shall bow to his name.
“The foundation of my everlasting kingdom,” he saith,
“truly shall be laid upon earth in the hearts of men; but
the building is with God eternal in the heavens. The
tomb through which I have passed is the gate, and all
who would come after me, and enter in, must follow in
my foot-steps.”
Thomas then asked his Lord whither he would go,
and the way? How he would leave the earth, since he
could die no more?
“Thou shalt see for thyself ere many days pass,” answered
Jesus. “In that I have risen, all whom my
Father giveth me shall rise also from the dead; and those
whom I raise up, I will take with me the way I go; for
where I am they shall evermore be with me also.”
Such, dear father, is a brief account of what John has
told us, on visiting us, touching the divine teaching of
Messias, the Son of God, respecting his kingdom. Yet
much is still mysterious; but we know enough to be willing
to trust ourselves to him for this life, and for that
which is to come. We know that all power is given into
his hands, and that he can save all men who believe in,
and accept him as the only sacrificed Lamb, whom the
Father hath accepted for the iniquities of men. The sacrifices
of the Temple must henceforth cease.
What is remarkable, dear father, notwithstanding the
Jews have heard that Jesus walks everywhere through
Jewry, yet no efforts are made to lay hands on him. At
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his presence, crowds of his enemies fly like the stricken
multitude before the advancing sirocco. His presence in
Judea is a present dread, like some great evil, to those who
fear him; but like a celestial blessing to more who love
him. Pilate, on the eve of making a journey last week to
Bethel, before quitting the city, dispatched couriers in advance
to ascertain whether Jesus the crucified was on the
line of his route! Caiaphas having occasion to go to Jericho,
a few days after the Passover, hearing that Jesus had
been seen with his disciples on the road, made a circuit
round by Luz and Shiloh, in order not to meet him. The
gates of this city are kept constantly shut, lest he should
enter within the walls: some of the chief priests fearing
greatly to behold his face, while others imagine that he is
engaged in raising an army, to advance upon and take
Jerusalem from the Romans. And doubtless, dear father,
were the kingdom of Jesus of this world, he would in a
few days lead a countless host against the city, and
make himself master of Judea. But his kingdom is above;
and all who dwell in the true Jerusalem, must follow him
thither through sufferings, humiliation and death.
I rejoice to see by your last letter, that you may be expected
to reach here the week after next. Oh, that you
were here now, that you might be taken by John to see
Jesus: for from what he says he will not long remain visible
among us. Whither he goeth or how he goeth away, no man
can say. We are filled with expectation of some great
event, which will conclude the brilliant and wonderful
succession of marvels, that attend his foot-steps and presence
on earth.
Faithfully, your loving daughter,
Adina.
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Ingraham, J. H. (Joseph Holt), 1809-1860 [1855], The Prince of the house of David, or, Three years in the Holy City. Being a series of the letters of Adina... and relating, as by an eye witness, all the scenes and wonderful incidents in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, from his baptism in Jordan to his crucifixion on Calvary. (Pudney & Russell, New York) [word count] [eaf612T].
