Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/303



UT, when Lazarus joined the little band of disciples, the image of Rebekah, yes, even of the Magdalene, forsook his mind. The Lord, the Master, reigned supreme. Everything to-night must be pressed into His service. These last hours were His, and His alone. Knowing the character of the disciples, how, notwistandingwithstanding [sic] their protestations, they were yet ignorant men, whose only strength lay in the fact of their having obeyed the Christ in the spirit of a little child; conscious of the impetuous, changeable, easily panic-stricken character of the dwellers in the East, Lazarus felt that it behoved him specially to follow Jesus. It might be that that night He would be betrayed. All His words tended to make them think so. It might be that all would be cut down with Him. If so, what greater proof of love could he give the Christ than to die with Him? It might be, though Lazarus would not harbour the thought, that they would flee: some of them, Peter and Thomas, were too impulsive to be relied upon; John and James a shade too presumptuous. He must follow now. "Leave all that thou hast and follow Me," had been the command; he would indeed follow. All he possessed, each rare garment and costly jewel, had been laid aside, and Lazarus even now was clad in the simple white