"If," say the common people, "the watch slept, why does not the Procurator put them to death?"
This question remains unanswered, and the watch go about the streets unharmed! My dear father, remember no more my unbelief, but with me believe in Jesus, that he is the Son of God, the Savior of Israel, the immortal Christ of the Prophets.
Your affectionate daughter,
Adina.
[LETTER XXXVIII.]
Bethany, House of Mary and Martha, a Month after the Passover.
I deeply regret, my dearest father, the delays which have detained you so long from arriving at Jerusalem, but 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 my home.
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 in these three years! Once more, my dear father, read carefully over the whole narrative, and answer to yourself this inquiry: Is not this man the Son of God? Is not he the very Christ, the long-looked-for Messias?