Aleph, the Chaldean; or, the Messiah as Seen from Alexandria

by E. F. Burr

And this, too, was the question that was asked at the gate of Canopus. But they reflected that, according to the prophets, Christ must have a forerunner of just this Elijah-like character; and so they were prepared to hear, as they soon did, that the reformer’s name was John the son of Zacharias, and that he distinctly told the people that he was not the Christ, only his forerunner. Then came rumors of Another; at first low-voiced and vague, then more distinct and emphatic—that John had introduced him to the people as the Greater One for whom he had been preparing the way; then that John himself had been slain by Herod; then that the new prophet whose name was Jesus was drawing the multitudes after him by a sublime teaching and a course of miracles such as had not been seen since the days of Moses, if ever. Of course the Alexandrian friends then felt sure that they had recovered the long lost Child. The king of whom they had heard from the Chaldean sages, whose star had conducted that most memorable of all pilgrimages, and whose sublime childhood they had been permitted to look in upon, as by a window into heaven, was now being manifested to the nation at large. And though he had not come in the way the nation at large was expecting—was appearing as a king of wisdom and mercies, instead of as a king of battles and conquests—they felt sure that at last the Messiah had come to his own; and that, beyond all doubt, Jesus was he. In the joy of this great conviction the father died.

Such, in substance, though not in words, was the narrative of the Jew. As he proceeded in it he gradually came to speak with profound emotion. He ended with a voice that trembled and eyes that wept. Cimon was hardly less moved. They sat for a few moments in silence. Then Cimon said:

“This has been the fairest of mornings to me. Though a Greek by birth, I am a Hebrew in faith and expectations; and never did David so long for the waters of Bethlehem as I have longed for news of that Son of David and of Bethlehem, your Messiah. I say your Messiah; but I have reason to think that he is mine also; even to think that he belongs to all nations. Sometimes, perhaps, when my young friend is with me I will explain further. But I may now say that, from what you have just told me, and from what I knew before, I am satisfied that the Christ has at last come and that Jesus is he. God be praised! Some difficulties still remain, and perhaps will always remain. Hard questions, questions that I cannot answer, stare at me out of the night. And yet, God be praised! The King has at last come.”

The Jew grasped the hand of the Greek and murmured Brother.

“Let me tell you another thing,” the Jew added, after a moment. “I have seen him. Yes, I have seen Jesus and recognized in the full-grown man the unutterable something that spoke so powerfully to us in the child.”

“When and where?” demanded the other.

“Not in dreams, though I scarcely dream of anything else, but with these bodily eyes. You see that, as news of the wonderful doings in Judea thickened upon us, I became too restless to remain quietly here while the world was being shaken only a few days’ journey away. My brother, who long before the death of our father had taken this khan, felt very much as I did; and so we agreed to go together and see for ourselves, instead of having the facts filtered to us through the imaginations and prejudices, it may be, of other people. Accordingly we went; and not only recognized him, as I have said, but were at once recognized by him and called by our names. None of our acquaintances were about him, we knew not a soul in Capernaum, and yet, as soon as he saw us, he said ‘Shaphan and Nathan, sons of Reuben, welcome.’.... We were with him several days and heard him teach the people as surely people were never before taught. We said, as did his other hearers, Never man spake like this man. And then the things that he did! Oh, it was good and yet awful to be there! How mightily and easily he did things which God alone can do! We saw lepers white as snow turned into sound men at his simple word: also one man who had lost a hand had it instantaneously restored in our presence. In passing through the country we met many who testified that they had been cured by him of the worst forms of disease in their last stages—cured in a moment, and without the use of any natural means whatever. Indeed, the land is full of such cases, so that not even the worst enemies of Jesus pretend to doubt his miraculous powers.”

“Tell me of the man whose hand was restored,” said Cimon.

“A company of us were passing through a street when some blind men met us and cried to Jesus for help. We halted just before a butcher’s stall where a man was dividing some meat with a cleaver. Another man and myself were pressed by the crowd close to the block where the work was being done. In his anxiety to see Jesus deal with the blind men, my neighbor laid his hand on the block suddenly, for the purpose of raising himself somewhat to get a better view, when the cleaver descended and struck off his entire hand. The blood spouted. A great outcry was made, and Jesus came up. He calmly said to the maimed man as he held up the bleeding stump, Be whole: and at once I saw a new hand occupying the place of the old. The whole crowd, as well as myself, carefully inspected the substitute and compared it with the original hand that still lay on the block.”

“Missing limbs are not suddenly reproduced by human art,” said Cimon.