Shiloh: the Man of Sorrows by Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jan 3, 1911

Shiloh: the Man of Sorrows

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

Chapter XLV. The Feast at Bethany

It is six days before the great feast of the Passover is to be held at Jerusalem. The hospitable mansion of Simon of Bethany, once known as "the leper," is crowded with guests.

The tall man with a somewhat cynical and wholly sensual cast of countenance, is Simon, the host. No taint of leprosy disfigures the broad, white brow, or mars the perfect freshness of the ruddy cheek. His manner is suave, genial, and care-free; and a stranger would never have thought it possible that this man had known the agony of a living death for more than two long years.

His devoted wife, Prisca, the daughter of Elkanah the nobleman, is continually by his side.

Martha, the sister of Lazarus, busy with the tasks which have been assigned her, hurries from one room to another, now chatting with Prisca, the mistress, and again giving a word of direction to a servant.

Huldah, the beautiful sister of the scribe Jazer, is conversing earnestly with Zilpha, the gentle wife of Machbor of Jericho.

"Wherefore came not Machbor, thine husband, to the feast?" questions Huldah; "and why art thou so sad? for thine eyes are red with weeping."

"Ah! my heart is verily sad," responds the woman, sighing; "for I spake unto mine husband even yesterday, to accompany me to this feast, and he said, 'I will not go with thee; for why should I meet the Nazarene?' And when I had questioned with him, behold, he told me that the Master had said unto him, 'Go sell that thou hast, if thou wouldest be perfect, and come, follow Me!' But as the Lord liveth, the heart of mine husband is bound up in his possessions; but lo, I have heard the Man say, 'How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven!'"

The voice of the woman, Zilpha, trembles; and the tears of a sorrow too deep for words, are filling her gentle eyes.

From this time onward, Machbor, the rich ruler, is no longer associated in the remotest degree with the humble disciples of the Nazarene. The god of this world has blinded his eyes; he has made his choice.

Many others of the guests are known to us; but Jazer, the scribe, is not at the feast. Already the coveted seat in the Sanhedrin has been secured for him; but he is not satisfied. A prey to unhappiness and jealousy, he spends much of his time within the precincts of the temple, miserable and alone. His old-time self-assertive manner has departed, and in his hollow eyes gleam the restless fires of discontent. As for his sister Huldah, who still lingers at Jerusalem, he studiously avoids her.

But Shaphan, the rabbi of Nazareth, true to his awful pledge, is present. Just now he is conversing with the man servant Demas, and seeking to disguise under a loud and blatant manner the madness and hatred and jealousy of his wicked heart.

Close by his side sits Lazarus — the resurrected — the center of all eyes, and the object of all interest. But He for whom the feast is given, the Nazarene Miracle-Worker, has not yet come.

"What thinkest thou, Simon?" began Shaphan. "Thou hast given this feast in honor of the Nazarene Carpenter; now what thinkest thou of Him? Is this Man, as some foolish dreamers declare, the Shiloh of the prophets?"

"I say not so, O rabbi; but of a truth He hath healed me, even as thou very well knowest. And as this Man receiveth neither gold nor silver, I was minded to give Him a feast; for many believe Him to be indeed a mighty prophet."

"It is well, O Simon, that thou shouldest make this Carpenter a feast, albeit He is not select as to the company He keepeth; for behold, He eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners,—and I have seen this man in company with Barabbas!"

"They be both of them outlaws and sorcerers!" blustered Demas.

"Yes, and I have known the Fellow from His birth. Aha! Aha!" sneered the rabbi, "from His birth have I known Him,—Tubal, my son, and I,—from His very infancy; and no man knoweth His father, save Mary of Nazareth, her who bore Him."

"Yet hath He healed mine husband," interrupted Prisca, the hostess, "and He hath given life to this man Lazarus, who hath been bound by the garments of the tomb for four whole days!" And the woman fixed her gentle eyes upon her guest.

"What sayest thou for thyself, O Lazarus?" questioned another of the company; "for behold, I am a Sadducee, the son of a Sadducee; and how shall I believe in a resurrection from the dead? How—"

"Hast thou verily seen death, O thou young man of Bethany?" interrupted another.

"Hast thou?" chimed in a third; "for of a truth I have heard of thee from afar; and behold, I have journeyed from the coasts of Tyre that I might look upon thy face — the face of him who hath once been dead and now liveth." And the speaker gazed earnestly into the calm, beautiful face of the resurrected man.

"Fools!" interrupted Rabbi Shaphan angrily. "Of a truth ye know nothing at all! Am I not a teacher in Israel? Am I not Shaphan the rabbi? Have I not the rolls of the prophets? Am I not a Pharisee? Said I not that there shall be a resurrection from the dead? But if indeed this man hath been dead, then shall he be able to tell us of those things which are known only by them who have been in the grave. But if he faileth to do this, what more proof need we that he hath not yet seen death, and is an impostor, even as is this Carpenter, and in league with Beelzebub?"

So strong was the prejudice of every Israelite, in favor of the rabbi, that the closest attention was given by the entire company to this ill-timed and boastful speech; seeing which, Shaphan continued:

"Ought not this man, if he hath been long time dead, to be able to tell us somewhat of the Paradise to which he went and from which he came? For," he continued sarcastically, "verily, he is a good man, because he followeth after this Nazarene. Now tell us, where wast thou, O Lazarus? and what sawest thou, while thy body lay in the sepulcher? Aha! Aha! He maketh no answer,—he hesiteth!" sneered Shaphan, as for a moment a deep silence reigned, while the resurrected man fixed his luminous eyes full upon the rabbi.

"Art thou a teacher in Israel, and a Pharisee, and understandest thou not the Scriptures, O rabbi? Wherefore then askest thou me, saying, 'What sawest thou?' for the grave is a place of darkness and silence, as even thus saith the prophet David, 'The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence;' and again he saith, 'His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish!' Knowest thou not the Scriptures, O rabbi? And again, what saith the Lord by the mouth of the wise man, even King Solomon? Doth He not declare plainly, 'For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything'? But now I live; and I say unto thee that this Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God!"

Just in time to hear these words from the lips of her beloved brother, the woman Martha entered the room, busied with some final preparation for the feast. Lazarus would have spoken further; but with blazing eyes and blatant manner, the rabbi interrupted him:

"Thou art even as Jannes and Jambres, who withstood Moses. Thou also art in league with Beelzebub, even as is thy Master, the Carpenter."

"Wherefore speakest thou thus, O rabbi," exclaimed Martha, "because my brother hath spoken to thee the words of the Most High? Why is thine heart angry? Hath not the wise man said plainly that 'there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest'? And now of a truth, O rabbi, thou believest in a resurrection from the dead,—as even saith the patriarch Job,—'His sons—'"

"Thou knowest, woman, that I am a Pharisee."

"Verily; and hence thou knowest the words of the patriarch, which he spoke concerning the dead: 'His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.' Then why askest thou this my brother to bring thee word from the dark chambers of death, where there is neither wisdom nor device nor knowledge? Knowest thou not that the dead know not anything, but that they shall all rise in the resurrection at the last day? And behold, we have been with the Master, and we have learned of Him. Why should we believe any longer the fables of the heathen?"

The woman had spoken rapidly. Her cheek was flushed, and her eyes shone with unwonted luster, for she perceived that the eyes of all the company were fixed upon her.

"Thou art but a woman; and dost thou instruct me, a teacher of the law, a rabbi, and a master in Israel?"

The face of Rabbi Shaphan had grown livid with rage; and his eyes gleamed like those of a wild animal at bay, as he brought his clenched fist down upon the triclinium.

"I had thought, O Simon, to partake of thy bounty even to-day; but how shall I, Shaphan the rabbi, eat and drink with these people, and with this Nazarene Carpenter, for whom thou hast made this feast? So, verily, I now go up to Jerusalem," he continued, nervously fingering a small wine-bottle which he drew from the folds of his ample abba.

"Behold, I have fetched a bottle of fresh wine,—fresh from the vineyards of Eschol, which one of thy friends, O Lazarus, desired that I bring thee." And with a low bow, the rabbi was gone.

At the same moment, a servant hastily thrust a message into the hand of the resurrected man:

"Let Lazarus of Bethany drink no wine at the feast of Simon to-day."

The message was rudely written, and unsigned. It was from Rufus, the guard of Herod Antipas.

Chapter XLVI. The Compassionate Healer

BEHOLD, the Nazarene cometh,—the Miracle-Worker, for whom Simon hath made the feast!"

The murmur went round the room: "Behold, He cometh who hath raised this man from the dead! Is not this the Messiah of the prophets? See! He cometh with His disciples!"

"Behold!" exclaimed Simon, the host, "I have prepared a dinner for the Nazarene Prophet, because He hath healed me. Who hath shown such honor to this Carpenter as I, Simon of Bethany?"

Every eye was now fixed upon the entrance, and followed every movement of the little band of plainly clad men, even after they were seated at the feast.

But more than one noticed, that day, that the customary kiss of welcome was not given to the Guest of honor, nor had the usual bath been prepared for the tired feet.

"Seest thou?" whispered one of the women in waiting, to another, "seest thou that this Nazarene geteth scant honor from the host, even from Simon? Ought he not to do this Man honor, because He hath healed him? For, behold, I have seen the brow of Simon, and his hair, and his beard, white and horrible as the ashes of a furnace,—white with the pestilence of the leper. But behold him now! for his cheek is ruddy as the new-blown rose of Sharon!"

"Verily," interrupted another, a woman with

three children — who desire to teach and have a permanent home, he would like to correspond with them at once.

At the eighth biennial union conference session in Australia the membership was reported as 4,047, showing an increase of 391 over the two preceding years. There are at present 118 churches. Of the 1,126 Sabbath-keepers in New South Wales, 107 await baptism and enrolment.

FROM January to August, 1910, the Review and Herald, a sister publishing house, shipped from Washington, D. C., 508,733 pounds of books, periodicals, and other reading-matter. This is a rate of 2½ cars a month, on a basis of 25,000 pounds to the car, and 30 cars to the year.

THE week of prayer has passed. As we have read the heart-hardened appeals of our sacrificing missionaries in the great white harvest-fields of the world, we plead with the dear Master “to send forth more laborers into the harvest.” In the heavenly garner will be found sheaves gathered “from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.” Let us continue to pray for more laborers and facilities to hasten the work.

FROM our Jewish paper, The Good Tidings of the Messiah, we note that during last year the Yiddish New Testament and Jewish tracts have been circulated in nearly every State in the Union and in seven foreign countries. Thousands of pages of evangelical reading-matter have been sent to rabbis and other prominent men among the Jewish people. Thus again “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” are sought with the message of the Messiah’s second coming, and there are many who acknowledge “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.”

IN an interesting report from Brother F. Hall, covering ten months’ work, we count forty-four who have been baptized among companies of our people in Jamaica, while several Sabbath-schools have been organized. The following is an interesting incident related by Brother Hall: “One morning I had the privilege of baptizing a grandmother, her daughter, and two grandchildren, with four others. This was a glorious occasion. The river bank was thronged with spectators, who looked on with interest. Many went away thoroly convinced that this work is of God.”