Page:Philochristus, Abbott, 1878.djvu/246

238 him and trust in him; and the same was true also of the other disciples. Moreover Jesus desired that men should be drawn unto him in this way, by love and trust, and by feeling that he was needful to them, and not by being astonished at signs and wonders. Further I questioned myself and said, "If Jesus had caused the sun to stop still, would Abuyah the son of Elishah, and Eliezer the son of Arak, and the chief ruler of the synagogue, straightway have loved Jesus and trusted in him, as Jesus desireth his disciples to love and trust in him?" Now I knew that they might have obeyed him and followed him, but they could not have loved him. For Jesus was light, but they loved darkness. Wherefore Jesus could not redeem them nor deliver them, even though he had worked a sign in heaven. For he could not deliver them which loved him not; no, not though he had worked ten thousand signs in heaven.