Upon hearing this, all our hearts bounded with hope and confidence in him, and we all together burst forth into a voice of thanksgiving, and sang this hymn of praise:
"O sing unto the Lord a new song. He hath done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten the victory.
"The Lord hath made known his salvation; his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
"He hath remembered his mercy and his truth towards the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God."
There was this morning, dear father, no little excitement produced among the chief priests by a formal inquiry sent by Pilate to Caiaphas, the High Priest, asking whether this new prophet was to be acknowledged by them as their Messiah, "for, if he is to be, it will be my duty," said the Governor, "to place him under arrest, inasmuch as we understand the Jewish Messias is to declare himself king." Upon this there was a tumultuous assembling together of the priests in the porch of the Temple, and with many invectives they agreed to send answer to Pilate that they did not acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth to be the Christ. What Pilate will conclude to do, I know not. Rabbi Amos informed us that the Procurator had got some news by courier that morning that Jesus, on his way to Cana, had been followed by a full thousand people, who hailed him as the Christ.
Thus you see, my dear father, that this divine person is already taking hold of the hearts of the people, and arousing the jealousy of our enemies. Be assured that the day will come when he will lift up his standard to the Gentiles, and draw all men unto him.
Your loving,
Adina.
[LETTER XIII.]
My Dear Father:
Since I last wrote you, my faith has been confirmed by the testimony which in one of your letters you demanded. You said, "Let me hear that he has done an authentic miracle in attestation of the divinity of his mission—such a miracle as was prophesied Messias shall do, as healing the sick by a word, restoring the blind to sight, and raising the dead—and I will prepare to believe in him."