Volume 2

202 Life of Jesus Christ
14. JESUS IN ENGANNIM AND NAIM
From the inn on the hill Jesus proceeded to Engannim,
which was not far off. He was accompanied by Saturnin,
by the son of the bridegroom of Cana's maternal aunt,
and by the son of the widow of Obed of Jerusalem, a
youth of about sixteen years. Jesus had some distant relatives
in this place. They were Essenians of Anne's family.
They received Jesus very respectfully and as an intimate
friend. They dwelt apart at one side of the city, and led a
very pure life, many of them being unmarried and living
together as in a cloister. They, however, no longer strictly
observed the ancient discipline of the Essenians; they
dressed like others and frequented the synagogue. They
supported in Engannim a kind of hospital that was full of
the sick and suffering of all sects, and where the poor
were fed at long tables. They received all that presented
themselves, supported them, and cared for them. In the
dormitories of the sick, they always put the bed of a bad
man between two good ones that, by their exhortations,
they might try to nlake him better. Jesus visited this hospital,
and healed some of the sick.
Jesus taught the whole day in the synagogue of Enganninl.
Crowds had come thither from the country around,
and because the synagogue could not accommodate them
all, they remained in troops outside. When one crowd
came out, another went in. Jesus taught here as at other
places on this journey, only not so severely since these
people were well-disposed. It was then as now, the people
of the different localities being well or ill-disposed
according to the good or bad dispositions of their priests.
Jesus told them that He would cure the sick after the instructions.
He taught of the nearness of the Kingdom and
of the coming of the Messiah, citing passages from the
Scriptures and the Prophets and proving that the time had
arrived. He mentioned Elias, his words and his visions,