Began with a doxology—spontaneous, universal, mighty; flooding the whole temple with rhythmic billows of uplifting sound. As the last note died away, the man at the desk began to read from a roll that vivid picture of the consequences to Israel of both obedience and disobedience contained in Deut. 28th—read them sonorously and with great distinctness, but not without something of the artificial and professional in his tone—read them with here and there a word of comment which did not always content itself with the literal sense instead of an allegorical and mystical one. This reading concluded, he waved a small flag; and all the people broke out again into a doxology—this time the entire psalm, beginning with, “Praise ye the Lord; praise the Lord, O my soul; while I live will I praise the Lord,” in a rapid and triumphant march of unified sound. He then proceeded to read on his knees, the people all kneeling, the prayer contained in the psalm that begins with “Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubims shine forth;” at the conclusion of which he waved the flag again and a universal Amen arose. This was followed by readings from the prophets of selections commonly understood to point to the Messiah. Again the flag waved, and the people exclaimed as with one voice, but in a plaintive tone:
“Though he tarry long he will surely come.”
The reader then became a preacher. His theme was the Messiah. He spoke of the certainty of His coming, of the time and other circumstances of it, of the character and functions that would belong to Him, of the way in which He would prove Himself, and of the universal current expectation of Him among their own people. He showed that from the beginning of the race hints of Him had been given—hints that gradually enlarged and brightened as the ages rolled on, until, in the later prophets, all veils were removed and the dimmest eye could see the King that cometh in the name of the Lord. As to the time—he shared the common belief of the present and the last generation that the time was near, if not already arrived. How could the dates of Daniel be reconciled with any other view? To be sure, some allowance should be made for round numbers: it would not do to say that this or the next year is the time for the Coming; but after all it is safe to say in a general way that we are living in the times of the Christ. It ought not to surprise them if He should come to-morrow. As to the family from which He is to spring, the place of His birth, the forerunner Elias He is to have, there is and can be but one opinion. Exactly how He will prove himself to the people it were hard to say: perhaps by a supernatural beauty and glory of person, perhaps by a mysterious inward voice speaking to the whole nation as it spoke to individual prophets, perhaps only by His wonderful success over all obstacles in becoming our Redeemer and King.
The preacher evidently did not deem it wise to be at all specific on this last point—the conquering and kingly character of the Messiah—in a city held by the Romans for the Cæsars. He contented himself with glittering generalities. He spoke ornately and enthusiastically of the prosperity and felicity of Israel in the golden age that was sure to come. What the Gentiles call by that name was a poor thing compared with that which was knocking at the doors of the Chosen People.
He, however, cautioned his hearers not to allow themselves to be impatient in their waiting for this good time. Their faith might be tried. They must be on their guard against pretenders. It would not be strange if the current expectation should itself produce false Christs. It would seem indeed as if this had already happened. At this moment, as most of them knew, there was a man in Judea who was making much noise with his claims, but whom the principal men of the nation did not feel able to accept. When the true Messiah comes he doubtless will commend Himself to the natural leaders of the people. Meanwhile the people should rest quietly in their various places and occupations.
When the orator had finished, the Alabarch rose and gave the usual invitation to approved persons to speak—immediately adding, however, that he saw that one of their own elders, Simeon the son of Simeon, had returned from Jerusalem, and that whatever account he could give of religious matters there would be acceptable.
A venerable looking man rose from among the Seventy. He brought salutations from the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem. They had been much disturbed over the case of Jesus of Nazareth to whom the preacher had just referred. The multitude were disposed to listen to him; attributing to him many signs and wonders, and asking whether he is not the Messiah. It was not clear, however, that he himself had put forward any such claim. His Messiahship seemed to be merely an inference of the multitude from his wonderful works at a time when all are on the lookout for the Shiloh. As to the reality of these wonderful works, the brethren of the Great Council and the principal men generally do not seem to call it in question. They concede that Jesus has, with a word or a touch, cured all sorts of incurable diseases; given sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, wholeness to the maimed, reason to the insane, and even life to the dead. Two of them, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, a cousin of the great teacher Gamaliel, go further than this, and affirm that no man could do such mighty works unless God were with him. “If such deeds could not prove a Divine mission, they were at a loss to see how such a mission could ever be proved. How was Moses authenticated?” But the rest agree in ascribing the marvels to magic and evil spirits; especially as there never has been known a time when so many people seemed possessed with demons. They say that they are compelled to resort to this explanation, not merely by the fact that Jesus speaks so unfavorably of the ecclesiastical authorities and of their oral traditions, but still more by the fact that he does not answer in origin, appearance, or aims to the Messiah. The Messiah comes from Bethlehem, Jesus from Nazareth: the Messiah comes from the royal family of David, Jesus from a peasant family of no property or social standing; the Messiah is a mighty King and Deliverer, Jesus is plain in his appearance, associates even with publicans and sinners, and has nothing of the warrior and statesman about him—in fact, says that his kingdom is not of this world. He has even been understood to give out that his mission here is to teach and suffer rather than to conquer and reign. Such a person differs so widely from what they have been accustomed to expect and from what the Sacred Books have been supposed to promise, that the leading brethren in Judea, with the exceptions mentioned, are unanimous in ascribing the miracles of Jesus to the Evil One, and in trying to break his influence with the people. Whether they will succeed seems doubtful. But their determination to do so is very strong and will probably lead to severe measures. He was sorry not to be able to judge of the man from personal observation; but Jesus at the time was in Galilee, and could not be reached in the time at command. Besides, it was evident that a visit of Simeon to Jesus would be looked upon as a discourtesy by the chief men—so decided have their views become, and so high runs the tide of feeling.
Such in a few words was the purport of what Simeon said in more.
The reading of the psalm beginning, “Give the king thy judgments O God, and thy righteousness to the king’s son;” the waving of the flag; Amen and Amen by the people, as with one voice, concluded the service.
The congregation rapidly disappeared through the many doors that suddenly revealed themselves; for the architect had thought it possible that occasion might arise for a hasty evacuation of the premises—had also thought it possible to have the means of egress as unnoticeable by a stranger as were the means of light. But a few of the elders, among whom were Alexander and the preacher, gathered about Simeon, whose chair stood near the daughter of Alexander. Cimon and Aleph had also lingered; it may be with the idea of making some inquiry of Simeon or the preacher. Seeing this, the Alabarch beckoned them near, and, simply introducing them as co-religionists, proceeded to say to Simeon: