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My Dear Father:—Although but three days have
elapsed since I completed my last letter to you, I am
so solicitous to have your judgment and counsel upon the
remarkable events now occupying the public mind of Israel,
that I cannot withhold giving you the further relation of
the remaining circumstances connected with the visit of
Mary's cousin, John, to the divine prophet of Jordan. Inasmuch
as his words have made a deep impression upon
my mind, and moved me to believe with him in the truth
of this prophet's words, it is proper that you should know
with me all that he has told me, and which have influenced
my feelings and opinions, in order that you may judge
of the weight and value at which all I have heard is to be
estimated; and be assured, dear father, that I am ready to
be governed in all things by your wisdom and learning.
Listen, then, with your usual goodness, to the residue of
this young man's narration.

“After the prophet had ended his second discourse, and baptized
two hundred more in the sparkling waters of Jordan,”
resumed the eloquent cousin of Mary, “he sent them away
to the city to lodge and buy meat; for few, in their eagerness
to hear him, had brought provisions with them.
Many, before leaving him, drew near to receive his

[figure description] Page 050.[end figure description]

blessing of love, and it was touching to see venerable men, with
locks shining like silver, and leaning upon a staff, bend
their aged heads before the youthful Elias, as if in acknowledgment
of his divine commission. Mothers also
brought their infants, that he might sprinkle water upon
them and kiss them; and youths and maidens knelt reverently
at his feet in tears of love and penitence. Calmly
he stood upon the green shores, like an angel alighted
upon earth, and blessed them in words all new to our ears,
but which thrilled to our hearts with some secret power
that agitated us with trembling joy.

“`In the name of the Lamb of God, I bless thee!'

“What can be the meaning of these words?” asked
Mary, with her gentle earnestness. Her betrothed could
only reply, that he knew not.

“At length, one after another, the multitude departed,
save a few who encamped beneath trees on the banks of
the river. Joseph of Arimathea and I were left almost
alone standing near the prophet, and regarding him with
reverential curiosity. The sun was just disappearing over
the distant towers of Jericho, and painting with the richest
purple the hills between the river and Jerusalem.
Jordan, catching its reddening radiance, rolled past like a
river of liquid gold embanked in emerald. The brow of
the prophet, lighted up by a sun-ray that shone between
the branches of a pomegranate tree, seemed like the face
of Moses when he came down from Sinai, a glory of light.
He appeared rapt in heavenly meditation, and we stood
silent and gazed upon him, not daring to speak. At length
he turned towards us, smiled, and saluting us, grasped the
crook or staff on which he had been leaning, for he was

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weary and pale with his labors of the day, and slowly
walked down the shore in the direction of the wilderness.
He had not advanced many steps when I felt an irresistible
impulse to follow him. I burned to talk with him—
to sit at his feet, and ask him questions about the great
things I had heard him utter in both of his discourses! I
wished him to explain and unfold what had seemed mysterious,
and yet teeming with mighty revelations. I panted
for light—for knowledge. I yearned to have him open
the scriptures to me, and give me that illuminated understanding
of them which he possessed. I therefore said to
my companion:

“`Let us follow him; and learn more of these great
things which we have this day heard.'

“Joseph, like myself, being anxious to hold converse
with him, at once assented, and we proceeded slowly after
him, as he moved in a contemplative mood along the desert
path. The sun had already gone down, and the full moon
rose on the opposite shore, and the prophet stopped as if to
gaze upon its autumnal beauty. We drew near to him.
He beheld us, but did not avoid us; seeing which I advanced
with timid confidence, and said:

“`Holy prophet of the Most High God, wilt thou permit
two young men of Israel to speak to thee, for our hearts
yearn towards thee with love?'

“`And we would fain keep thee company in the desert,
Rabbi,' added Joseph, `for it does not seem well for thee
to dwell thus alone.'

“`But chiefly,' said I, `we would inquire of thee touching
the advent of the Mighty Personage whose near coming
thou dost foretell.'

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“`Friends,' said the prophet, in a calm and serene
manner, `I am a dweller in the desert, and alone, from
choice. I approach men only to proclaim my message.
The delights of earth are not for me. My mission is one.
Its duration is short. Its aim worthy the greatest prophet
of God, yet am I, the least of them, not worthy to be called
a prophet; and before the splendor of Him whom I
announce to the world, I am the dust of the balance. If
thou hast sought me to search after knowledge, come and
sit down with me upon this rock, and let me hear what
thou hast to say, that I may answer thee and go my
way.'

“This was said softly, gently, almost sadly, and in a
tone that made me love him more and more. I could have
cast myself upon his bosom and wept there; for I was
deeply touched that one should be chosen by Jehovah to
become his prophet to earth, and yet show such lowliness
of heart and sincere humility. We seated ourselves, one
on either side of him, for he refused to permit us to place
ourselves upon the ground at his feet, saying reproachfully,
as he did to those whom we had seen kneel to him, `I, also,
am a man!' The scene and the hour were well fitted for
such a converse as we were about to hold. The broad
disc of the moon poured a flood of orange-tinted radiance
full upon us, and lent a hallowed softness to the divine
countenance of the youthful prophet. The Jordan, dark
as India's dye, darted swiftly past at our feet, between its
deeply-shaded banks, sending up to our ears the faintest
murmur of its pebbly passage. Above our heads swelled
the vaulted arch of the Temple of Jehovah, with its myriad
of altar fires. To our left lay Jericho, just visible,

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looking like a black mass of castellated rock, unilluminated
save by a single watch-fire which burned upon its loftiest
tower. Behind us stretched the desert waste, cheerless
and yet grand, in its desolate distances. Afar off rose upon
the air, and was borne to us at intervals, the voice of a
singer in one of the camps; and near us, upon an acacia
tree, sat a solitary bulbul, which ceaselessly sang its sweet
and varied hymn to the listening moon.

“`All things praise God—shall we be silent?' said the
prophet. `Let us sing the evening hymn of the Temple.'
He then commenced, in a rich, melodious chant, such as I
had never heard from the priests, our sacred psalm to the
whole creation of God. We joined our voices with his,
and the tide of praise floated over the waters, and echoed
and re-echoed from the opposing shores, as if the banks
and stream, trees, hills and sky, had found voice as well
as we:

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“Never shall I forget the effect produced upon my inmost
being by this hymn, sung at such a time, and in such
a place, and in such a company. The prophet sang as if
he was leading a choir of angels. My heart leaped at the
chorus, as if it would break out, take wing, and leave the
earth! When we called on the winds and the fowls of the
air to praise Jehovah with us, it may be fancy, but the
thrilling voice of the bulbul seemed to pour from its throat
a wilder, richer, more joyous tide of song, and the audible
wind bent the adoring trees, and mingled its mystic whispers
with the psalm of men! Surely, thought I, it is
good for me to be here, for this is none other than the gate
of Paradise!

“After a few moments' silence, the prophet spoke and
said:

“`You sought me, brethren of Israel, can I do aught
for you?'

“`We would hear more, great prophet, touching this
mighty man, if man he may be termed, who is to come
after thee,' said Joseph.

“I can tell thee but little, my brethren, save what thou
hast heard from me this day. The future is veiled. I
bear a message, indeed, but I may not break the seal and

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read. I am but the courier of God to man. To you it
will be given to know what is now unknown to me.
Happy, thrice happy are ye who will behold face to face
the Divine One whom I can only behold afar off. If it be
permitted me to see him, it will be but for a brief space,
for when he cometh I depart, my errand is done. Blessed
are those who live to witness his glory, and to hear
the gracious voice of God that proceeds from his anointed
lips.'

“`When will be his advent, and with what form and
power cometh this Divine being?' I asked.

“`As a man, but not with comeliness of form that men
should desire him. His appearance will be humble, lowly,
and meek.'

“`Yet you said to-day, Rabbi,' I continued, `that his
power should be infinite, and that of his kingdom there
should be no end. You spoke of the glory of his dominions,
and the humiliation of Gentile kings beneath his sceptrc.'

“`This I cannot explain—it is a mystery to me! I
speak as God, by whom I am sent, gives me utterance.
I know that He who cometh after me is greater than I,
the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose!'

“`You taught us this evening that he would be the Lord
from Heaven; and yet that Esaias saith he will be despised
and rejected of men, wounded for our transgressions, and
bruised for our iniquities!'

“`The Spirit of God teaches me that these words apply
to Shiloh; but I cannot comprehend how these things can
be,' he answered, with deep sadness.

“`May I remind you, good Rabbi,' said Joseph, `that you
taught us how that this Divine Personage should die, though

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Lord of Life, and be numbered in his death with transgressors,
though the Holy One of God!'

“`And such will be the events that are ordained to
happen; but seek not to know what no man hath had
revealed to him. The Divine Messiah himself must be his
own interpreter. Blessed will be the eyes that behold Him,
and listen to the wisdom of His mouth, and keep the law
of His lips!'

“`May I ask you, holy prophet of the Lord,' said Joseph,
`how is it that He whom you are sent by God to bear witness
to can be the Deliverer of Israel, when you predict
for him so sad a fate? Messiah is to restore Jerusalem,
and the glory of the Temple, and the splendor of its worship,
so saith Esaias, so say Ezra and Jeremiah. He is
called a Mighty Prince, a King, the Redeemer of Israel,
who shall rule the nations and have dominion from sea to
sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth! We,
therefore, in the Messias of the Prophets, have looked for a
powerful potentate, who shall reign in Jerusalem over the
whole earth, and subdue all nations, bringing their kings
captive at his foot-stool, and binding their princes with
chains; before whom every knee shall do homage—a
Monarch who shall not leave a heathen sandal to tread on
the sacred soil of Judea, and who shall establish the worship
of Jehovah in every place where now rises a temple
of idolatry.'

“`His kingdom is not of this earth,' answered the
prophet, impressively.

“`How then can we interpret the Prophet David, who
maketh the Lord to say: I have set my King upon my
holy hill of Zion. Also, how shall we interpret those

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sayings of Esaias, who, prophesying of the blessed Christ of
God, hath these words:

“`Of the increase of his government and peace there
shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his
kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and
with justice, from henceforth, even forever?'

“`I know not. These secrets are with God. I can
reveal nothing. I am but the trumpet through which
Jehovah speaks; I know not the words I utter. This I
know, that the least child and lowelist hireling that liveth
in the day of Messias is greater than I. I am the last of
the prophets. I stand on the threshold of that glorious
kingdom, the greatness and brightness of which they saw
afar off, like some heavenly, indistinct vision. Nearer than
they, I am permitted to catch clearer glimpses of its glory,
and it may be vouchsafed to me to see more than I now
see; but of this I have no certain revelation. It is for me
to open the last door that leads out from the night of
prophecy into the glorious dawn of the day of fulfilment;
but I am not permitted to enter beyond the threshold, or
share in its blessings. All who come after me will be
preferred before me. But the will of Jehovah be obeyed!
I am his creature, and to murmur becomes not dust.
Rather let me rejoice that the day-star is about to rise,
though his beams shine on all the earth but me.' This
was said with the most touching pathos.

“We were both deeply moved, I myself even to tears,
at hearing these words spoken by him. My heart yearned
towards him with the most sacred sympathy. I sank on
my knees, and kissing his hand, bathed it with my tears.

He gently raised me, and said in a sweet voice:

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“`Brother beloved, thou shalt see Him to whom I bare
witness, and he will love thee, and thou shalt repose in
his bosom!' At this saying,” continued the cousin of
Mary, whose voice was tremulous with lively sensibility
as he spoke hereof, “I burst into tears; and, rising, I
walked a little ways apart, and lifting up my eyes towards
heaven, I prayed the God of our fathers that I might be
found worthy of this blessed honor.”

“`And shall I also behold this mighty Son of God?'
asked Joseph, with solicitude.

“The prophet took his hand in his, and fixing upon him
his eyes of prophetic brightness, said slowly, and in tones
awe-inspiring and painfully sorrowful:

“`Thou shalt one day bear him in thine arms, and lay
him upon a couch which thou hast prepared for thine own
repose. Thou knowest not now what I say, but thou shalt
remember it when it cometh to pass!'

“When he had thus spoken, he rose, and waving his
hand to us both, he walked rapidly away towards the
desert, and was soon lost to the eye in the obscurity of the
darkness which hung over it.

“`Didst thou hear him?' at length, after some minute's
pause, asked Joseph of me. `What can his words mean?
they are prophetic of some fearful event. His eyes betrayed
some terrible meaning. My heart is troubled.'

“`And mine rejoiceth,' I answered. `We shall see Him!
I shall be near him! Oh, if he be like this sweet prophet
of God, I shall love him with all my soul's being. How
wonderful that we are to be thus associated with this Divine
Person! Welcome the hour of his blessed advent!'

“`Wilt thou welcome the advent of a sufferer?' said a

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voice so near that it startled us by its abruptness; and,
looking round, we saw, standing within the shadow of a
wild olive tree, a young man who was a stranger, but to
whom I afterwards became deeply attached. His face was
pale and intellectual, and his form slight, but of the most
symmetrical elegance. His question at once made me
sorrowful, for it recalled the sad prophecies of Esaias.

“`He is also to be King and Monarch of the world, and
infinitely holy and good,' I said. `If thou hast been near,
thou hast heard the glorious things the prophet has spoken
of Him.'

“`I have been near—I was reclining beneath this tree,
when you seated yourselves there. Be not deceived. The
divine man who is to come is to be a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. He is to be rejected by Israel, and
despised by Judah. Those whom he comes to bless will
despise him for his lowliness and obscurity. His life will
be a life of tears, and toil, and heaviness of heart, and he
will at last be cut off from among the living, with the
ignominy due only to a transgressor. Dost thou welcome
the advent of a sufferer?'

“`But how knowest thou this? Art thou a prophet?'
I asked, with surprise and admiration.

“`No, brother, but I have read the Prophets. I heard,
moreover, the words of this holy man, sent from God, and
he dwells more on the humility of Christ than on his
kingly grandeur. Believe me, the kingdom of Shiloh is
not of this world. It cannot be of this world, if such is to
be his life and death; and that it is to be his life, Esaias
clearly states. Let me read to you his words.' He then
took a roll of parchment from his bosom, and read by

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moonlight that mysterious and inexplicable passage which
beginneth with the words: `Who hath believed our report?'
When he had ended, and perceived the assenting impression
he had made upon our minds, he resumed: `This is
not the history of a prosperous earthly monarch, but rather
the painful record of a life of humiliation, of shame, and of
contempt.'

“`But thou dost not say, brother,' said Joseph, with
some warmth, `that the sacred person borne witness to by
this prophet is to be an object of contempt?'

“`Does not Esaias say that he will be despised, beaten
with stripes, rejected of men, imprisoned, and put to death
as a transgressor of the law?'

“`There can be no question but that Esaias speaks of
the Messiah,' I remarked.

“`This prophet of Jordan now bears full testimony to
Esaias, and plainly maketh application of his words to
Him whom he has come beforehand to proclaim,' answered
the young man, with singularly graceful eloquence in all
he said. `Let us who have been baptized this day for
the remission of our sins, expect a Messiah of sorrows, not
a conquering prince. Let us behold one who is to humble
himself beneath the yoke of human infirmities, that he
may be exalted, and draw all men after him to a kingdom
in the heavens.'

“`But the throne of David,'—objected Joseph—

“`Is at the right hand of God.'

“`But Jerusalem, and its rule over the nations—'

“`Jerusalem that is above, is above all.'

“`But his kingdom that is to be everlasting—'

“`Is where life is everlasting. How can he rule an

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everlasting realm here on earth, without living forever,
and his subjects also? Read not the Prophets so. As
Adam fell and lost Paradise, so Messias, like a second
Adam, must, as man, humble himself in human nature,
to atone for our guilt; and having made full atonement
for us by his life and his death, he will repurchase the
kingdom of Paradise for the race of man; but he restores
it to us not on earth, but translated on high, where the
angels still guard it in the kingdom of God. It is this
kingdom which this prophet proclaims as being at hand,
and the path to which our leader and king can only tread
through the mire of Adam's sin, which spread through
this world; but without taint of sin upon his robes. He
being the bearer of our iniquities, we shall thereby escape
their chastisement. Healed by his stripes, we shall be free
from the penalty which our sins demand. Laid upon him
will be the transgressions of the world; and by one mighty
sacrifice of himself, thus laden, as a sin offering, he shall
make atonement for the great family of Adam, and restore
our race to reconciliation with Jehovah. Such is to be our
looked for Messiah. Alas, while we look for him, let us
mingle tears with our gladness, and humble ourselves,
that one so holy and excellent should be destined to endure
these things for our sakes; and when we behold him,
let us sink at his feet in grateful adoration of his love and
charity, of his mercy and goodness, of his noble self-denial
and voluntary upgiving of himself as a sacrifice for us; for
there could be no higher or more valuable victim than he
in the universe of God, therefore he hath offered himself,
according to the words of the prophet, recording his offer,
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God!'

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“When the young man had spoken, he walked away.
Impelled by an unconquerable impulse, I followed, and took
him in my arms, and embracing him, said: `Of a truth
thou art a prophet! Thy words come home to my heart
like the echo of ancient prophecy.'

“`Nay. I have learned these things from the study of
the Scripture,' he said, with angelic candor and modesty.
`But I have been aided, how much I have no words to
tell thee, by one who hath wisdom and truth abiding in
him above all men, and whom it is my happiness to have
my bosom friend, as he is near my own age. If I am
wise, or virtuous, or good, or know the Scriptures, it
is that he hath been my counsellor and teacher.'

“`What is his name?' I asked, `for I also would go and
learn of him.'

“`He withdraws from the public eye, and hath little
converse but with few, and shuns all notice. Without
his permission I could not take thee to him. Yet I will
ask him, if you desire it.'

“`What is his appearance, and where doth he dwell?'
I inquired, more deeply interested.

“`He abides at present at Bethany, my own city. He
is so beloved by us, that we detain him as our guest. But
he dwelleth at other times with his mother, a holy widow
of great sanctity and matronly dignity, living at Nazareth
in humble condition, and he contributes by labor to her
support, with the most exemplary filial piety; thus setting
an example to the young men of Judah, who in this age
make a mock at parental restraint, and under the evil practices
which the free license of the wicked custom of Corban
giveth, neglect them, and no more do aught for their

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father or mother. Indeed, no person ever approaches and
speaks with him, without leaving him a wiser and better
man.'

“`Verily,' said both Joseph and I together, `you have
only increased our desire to behold him. His appearance
must be noble.'

“`He possesseth neither beauty of form nor comeliness
to strike the eye; but there sits upon his brow a serene
dignity, tempered with mildness, that commands the
respect of age, and wins the confiding love of childhood.
His eyes beam with a light, calm and pure, as if shining
from interior holy thoughts, and they rest upon you, when
he speaks, with a tenderness of love that is like the dewy
light of the young mother's gaze, when she bends in silent
happiness and tears over the face of her first-born. He
never smiles, or rather his face is one soft sunshine of
smiling rays, tempered in an indescribable manner with
a settled look of sadness, an almost imperceptible shade
of permanent sorrow, that seems to foreshadow a life of
trial and suffering. When he reads from the Prophets,
and unfolds to us with a wisdom that we can regard only
as given him from heaven, the great truths that relate
to the long-looked-for, and, as we now believe, the nearpresent
Messiah, he seems to speak by inspiration, yet
without emotion, but calmly and naturally, in a low-toned
voice, that is never lifted up at any time, nor ever heard
in the streets.'

“`He must be another prophet,' said Joseph, with deep
earnestness.

“`He does not prophesy, nor preach,' answered the
young man.

“`What is his name?' I asked.

[figure description] Page 064.[end figure description]

“`Jesus, the Nazarene!'

“We both promised to remember this name; and as
our way to Jerusalem lay through Bethany, we wished
much to call and see him; but this step the young man
mildly objected to, until, he having made known our
wishes to him, he then might, if he desired to see us, send
into Jerusalem for us to go to Bethany.

“As the young man was then about to move away,
I asked him his name, as he had greatly drawn out
my heart towards him, and I felt that I could be his
friend, and the friend of the wise young man of Nazareth,
who sojourned with him, I should be perfectly
happy, and have no other desire—save, indeed, to live till
the Messiah came, that I might behold him, and lay my
head upon his sacred bosom.

“`My name is Lazarus, the Scribe,' he answered, as he
took his leave.”

“What,” interrupted Mary, when her cousin had spoken
this name, “then I know him well. It is the brother of
Mary and Martha, both my friends at Bethany, where I
passed a week last year, just before the Passover.”

“I am glad to hear that,” said John, “for this will be
a closer bond of friendship between us. The next day we
renewed our acquaintance, and after three days departed
together homeward. Upon arriving at Bethany, he learned
that his friend had gone to Cana, in Galilee, on a visit
with his mother, to the house of one of her kinsfolk, whose
daughter is in a few weeks to be married.”

Having now, my dear father, communicated to you all
that John related to us, you will see what grounds there
are to look upon the prophet of Jordan as a man sent from
God, or to believe that he is the true Elias, whom Malachi

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hath foretold, and who, as the most learned of the Scribes
say, must first come to proclaim the approach of the Prince
of Peace, the Shiloh of Israel's hopes. My emotions, my
ideas, my opinions, at present, are conflicting and full of
indecision. On one hand, I am ready to become one of
John of Jordan's disciples, and be baptized of him, looking
with faith unto Him who is to come after. On the other
hand, I tremble lest all should be a delusion, for it does
not seem possible that it is my lot to live in that blessed
age when Messiah cometh, a period towards which all the
patriarchs and prophets have looked, desiring to see His
day, but died without possessing the promise, beholding it
only afar off. The infinite greatness of this privilege is
all that causes me to doubt. Instruct me, dear father;
open to me the treasures of your wisdom. Thou art read in
the Prophets. Doth the youthful prophet of the wilderness
truly use their predictions in their application to Messias?
Is it that the intellectual Lazarus truly drew the sad porportraiture
of His dark career on earth? How are the
opposing prophecies to be reconciled in another manner
than the young man of Bethany has unfolded them? Explain
to me one other interpretation, dear father, how he
can be both king and a prisoner! Lord of life, yet suffer
death! With a kingdom boundless as the world, yet despised
and contemned of men!

The account brought by John has set Rabbi Amos to
studying the Prophets, and indeed all men are looking into
them with interest unknown before; for the multitudes
that go away from the new prophet, noise his predictions
abroad, throughout all the land. May God be indeed
about to bless his people, and remember his inheritance!

p612-097

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