ONE Saturday afternoon my father-in-law called on me, and after the usual Sabbath salutation, said in a most solemn tone of voice, “Marks, listen to what I have to say. Sarah (meaning my wife) has told me of your unhappy state of mind, and all through reading that bad book called the New Testament; and from what she has told me, I fear you believe in that Nazarene. I can only express my great surprise and regret that you, with your abilities and standing among our people should have degraded yourself, to the disgrace of your family, as will assuredly be the case when it becomes known that you believe in that crucified One. Think of your dear father and the princely education you have received from him, in return for which you will disgrace him in Paradise by the black curtains being drawn before his face through your believing in that Nazarene.”
I told my father-in-law that as yet I could not say that I was a believer in Jesus Christ, nor did I now read the New Testament. I had left off doing it months ago, and that I had read nothing but the Old Testament ever since. But I found in reading it that which I never discovered before, and I should like him to tell me who was represented to Adam as the seed of the woman who should bruise the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15); to Abraham as the source of blessing in his posterity to all the nations of the earth (Gen. 22:18); to Jacob as the Shiloh to whom the gathering of the peoples should be (Gen. 49:10); to Moses as the great prophet like unto him, who should speak in the name of the Lord (Deut. 18:15); who was it that was to be born of the virgin (Isa. 7:14); who was it that was to be distinguished for His wisdom (Isa. 11:2), and righteousness (Jer. 23:6), and meekness (Isa. 53:7); who was it that was to open the eyes of the blind, and cause the deaf to hear, and lame to walk, and the tongue of the dumb to sing (Isa. 35:5, 6); who was it that was to be despised and rejected of men (Isa. 53:3), yet was to be the chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely (Cant. 5:10, 16); who was it that was to be a man of sorrows (Isa. 53:3), yet was to be anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows (Ps. 45:7); who was to be a worm and no man (Ps. 22:6), yet the mighty God (Isa. 9:6); who is that Son we are to kiss, and all are to be blessed who put their trust in Him (Ps. 2:12); and who is that Messiah who is to be cut off, but not for Himself (Dan. 9:26)? All these things I told him greatly perplexed and troubled me, and I should like to be instructed in these points, and my mind relieved and convinced. “As to the Talmud,” I said, “you know I have been studying that ever since I was eight years of age, and the more I know of it the more I feel that it cannot give peace to a troubled conscience.”
My father-in-law listened to all I said, but not without interrupting me at times, and at last he said, “I am not sufficiently versed in these deep matters, but I will bring some of my friends to speak to you and they will soon put you right in a very little time.”
I told him that I should be pleased to see them, and so we parted friends. Next Saturday he called again. At this time he was not alone, he was accompanied by my uncle and another venerable looking gentleman, whom I had never seen before, and who at once commenced by saying, “Your good father-in-law has told me that you are rather inclined to believe in what the Goiim call their Messiah. But they have no Messiah; no Messiah was promised them. He whom they called Messiah (you must know) was a great impostor. To us Jews God promised a Messiah, and we are looking for Him; or, as our creed most beautifully expresses it, ‘I believe with a perfect faith, that the Messiah will come, and, although His coming be delayed, I still await His speedy appearance.’ This,” he said, “is our hope.”
“I should like you to tell me,” I replied, “if God did not promise a Messiah to the Gentiles, as you affirm He did not, what does Isaiah mean when he says, ‘In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign for the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek’ (11:10)? Who is this root of Jesse? And again, the same prophet says, ‘I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the end of the earth’ (Isa. 49:6), Who is he who was to be a ‘light to the Gentiles’? All I want to know is the truth, and to have my mind set at rest.”
He said, “I can answer all your questions, but I do not see that it is necessary for me to tell you, and for you to know. Besides, the Goiim believe their Messiah to be God, while we Jews believe in one God, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.”
I said, “That is perfectly true, but when I read such passages as Gen. 1:26; 3:15; Prov. 8:22-31; Isa. 7:14; 9:6; 48:16, 17; Jer. 23:5, 6—these and many other scriptures incline me to think that the Messiah must be something more than a mere man—that He must be the Son of God.”
On hearing these words they all three rose from their chairs together, and my uncle said, “I cannot stand this talk any longer. I can now plainly see what you are. You are as much a Meshumad as that young man is who was baptized last Sunday,” and so left me without saying another word.
(Extracted)