For a full hour before the opening of the service the synagogue was crowded, and a dense throng gathered outside. At length the exercises began. Saulus arose to speak, but had hardly uttered a sentence before there was such a tumult that his voice could not be heard. He beckoned for silence, but the uproar continued. At length he picked up a roll of the law to read from the prophets, and the gathering, willing to show some respect to their Scriptures, was quieted. He read the following passages from Isaiah:—
“ ‘To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, [pg 417]and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.... Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.... He was oppressed, yet he humbled himself, and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth.’
“Behold what the Lord saith through the lips of Isaiah concerning sacrifices, and burnt offerings of rams, and the blood of lambs and he-goats! The voice of the prophet bringeth judgment and condemnation to this generation! Wash you, and make yourselves clean through the gospel of the New Faith! Again, behold what Isaiah saith concerning the Messias who should arise in the fulness of time! ‘By oppression and judgment he was taken away, but there was no deceit in his mouth.’ Behold its fulfilment in the Nazarene!”
Laughing scornfully, they cried out,—
“Cursed be thy mouth! The Nazarene was an impostor, and no Messias!”
Listening no longer, they rushed madly forward, and dragged him from the reading-desk.
“The scourge! the scourge! the scourge!” shouted angry voices from all parts of the synagogue.
Looking steadfastly into the malignant faces which [pg 418]surrounded him, a mingled expression of dignity, compassion, and contempt was upon his countenance. The spiritual exaltation of his soul so overshadowed his bodily consciousness that he felt no fear, and neither he nor his friends offered any resistance to the howling mob which threatened him.
It was one of those upheavals with which history is crowded, which have taken place among nearly all races and religions. There is no crime nor indignity that has not again and again been committed by religious bigotry gilded by assumed dutiful consecration.
Their decision was spontaneous, and Saulus was taken away without legal formality or deliberation. Through the irony of fate, he was led outside the gates to the same spot where Stephanos had been stoned under his own supervision.