Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/89

Rh But Martha had made answer: "Thinkest thou, Mary, that the Messiah would come as a poor carpenter and in poorest attire, with naught else but a chiton and a tunic? Thinkest thou not that the heavens would rend themselves, and the very thunder-clouds be in waiting on the Lord? Thou art easily carried away, Mary, for thou dreamest much, and Mary Magdalene hath filled thee with these foolish fancies."

"Ah! poor Magdalene. Would I could indeed instil into her life a little joy, and stay the sorrow at her heart! Yet see, even to her He hath been full of pity and love; to her who was aforetime jeered at by the multitude, despised by men and women, who wept daily in the wilderness, conscious of her sins, yet not knowing whence to learn the way to a better life. He hath spoken to her words of sympathy and heavenly love, and now she is a devout, pious woman, having naught to do with any, save only the praying to this Jesus, whom she calls her Lord."

"He can be no God who speaketh to harlots and goeth about with sinners," Martha had replied; for the very mention of Magdalene, the harlot, closed her heart. "The Messiah is not yet come, for, when He cometh, the world will be overwhelmed with the glory and the shame. He will walk through the sea with His horses and scatter the sinners as a whirlwind. Mountains will quake and the valleys be laid low, and every man will know that He is the Lord. There will be no doubting, and all shall know that the Lord He is the God. We must not be blinded by false prophets."

Then, in despair, Mary had exclaimed: "When