Volume 2

Jesus Expounds Isaias
259
feet. Many of those present, and especially the disciples,
said in the hearing of the Pharisees, who were scandalized
at what they saw: "What kind of a new doctrine
is this? Who can this Teacher be? He has power over the
impure spirits!"
The crowd was so dense, there were so many sick in
and around the synagogue, that Jesus had to take His
stand on a spot to be seen and heard not only fronl
within, but also from the court, which was crowded. The
Pharisees stood around Him inside, while Jesus turned
toward the court to address the people. Sometimes He
turned toward the interior of the synagogue, and again
toward those outside. The halls around the building were
open for the accommodation of the immense throng of
hearers, who filled not only the court, but mounted the
steps leading to the flat roofs of the buildings that
enclosed it. Below were the cells and oratories reserved
for penitents and those that came to pray. There were
some places specially reserved for the sick.
Jesus again clearly and energetically expounded Isaias,
applying all to their own time and to Himself. The times,
He said, were fulfilled and the Kingdom was near. They
had always longed after the fulfillment of the Prophecies,
they had sighed for the Prophet, the Messiah, who would
relieve them of their burdens. But when He would conle,
they would not receive Him, because He would fail to
realize their erroneous notions of Him. Then taking the
signs of the coming of the Prophet for whose acconlplishment
they always sighed, those signs that were still read
from the Scriptures in their synagogues and for which
they prayed, He proved that they had all been fulfilled.
He said: "The lame shall walk, the blind see, the deaf
hear. Is there not something of this now? What mean
these gatherings of the Gentiles to hear instruction? What
do the possessed cry out? Why are the demons expelled?
Why do the cured praise God? Do not the wicked per­