Volume 2

312 Life of Jesus Christ
tions of many among them though, as He said, it grieved
Him that they belonged to that sect. He accompanied
them to the city where He soon came to a court in which
a crowd of sick of all kinds, some natives of the city,
some strangers, were awaiting His arrival. Some were
lying under tents, others were in the halls that opened
into the court. Many could walk, and Jesus helped them
one after another with imposition of hands and words of
admonition. The disciples assisted in bringing the sick
forward, in raising them and freeing them from their
covers, etc. The Pharisees and many others were present.
Several women stood at a distance, pale and enveloped in
their mantles. They were afflicted with an issue of blood.
When Jesus had finished with the rest, He approached
them, laid His hands upon them, and cured them. Among
the sick were paralytics and dropsical; consumptives,
some with abscesses on their necks and other parts of the
body (though not such as to render them unclean); the
deaf and the dumb; in a word, sufferers of all kinds.
At the extremity of this court was a large portico opening
into the city. I saw in it many spectators, Pharisees
and women. To the Pharisees of Ennon, since there were
upright souls among them and also because they had
received Him frankly and respectfully, Jesus showed a
certain indulgence that He had not exhibited in other
places. He wished thereby to make void the reproach that
He associated only with publicans, sinners, and vagrants.
He wanted to show them that He would pay them due
honor if they demeaned themselves properly and with
upright intentions. They showed great activity in preserving
order among the people on this occasion, and Jesus
allowed them to do it.
While Jesus was busy curing the sick, a beautiful
woman of middle age and in the garb of a stranger entered
the large portico by the gate leading from the city.
Her head and hair were wound in a thin veil woven with