The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1894-09-29
LESSON STORY.

Our early home is sacred spot to
US all. Its localized memory is dear to our
hearts. 1t is therefore by an inner witness
common to us all, yet in some ways pecu-
liar to each individual, we are made to feel
how holy were the moments in the life of
the Lord when he, for the first time after
his public ministry had absorbed his life,
walked the familiar streets of Nazareth
and taught in the synagogue where for
many years he had studied and worshipped
in silence.
When Jesus returned to Galilee from his
protracted ministry in Judea, he did not go
to Capernaum, where he had established
his Galilean home, but he went to Cana,
the place where he had attended the we'd
ding feast and wrought his first marvel
At Cana, we re ember, was the home of
Nathaniel ;eand we conjecture it was at
Nathanael's home Jesus tarried while he
renamed W. rflis hill-village. During the
days Jesus spent at Cana nobleman came
to him from Capernaum beseeching him in
behalf of his sick son; and Jesus, after
some remonstrance against being sought as
a mere healer, pronounced the son cured /;
and it was subsequently found that the
restoration of the son began at the moment
Jesus announced the fact.
The fame of this marvel, the second sign
of Jesus in Galilee, went abroad. He
spoke in the synagogues; he was heard
with general eagerness.
1t was natural that he should soon come
to Nazareth, his old home. To this place
apparently his mother and his brethren had
returned from Capernaum during his alb
sence in Judea. Here too he would meet
the friends of his childhood: here he could
commune again with the heart of nature
among the scenes which had become blend
ed with his life.
1. The Reading of the Text from
Isaiah, VS.. 1920.
He entered, as his custom aOaS, into the
synagogue on tie sabbath day. 1t was
good habit, this Sabbath attendance on the
synagogue, and worthy of continuance in
the days of his maturity.
The synagogues were established By the
Jews during their captivity, when there
was no access to the temple; but they re-
ceived more complete development in the
period subsequent to the return. They
were multiplied to such an extent that one
vas to be found in every village, while
there were, according to the rabbinical au-
thorities, no less than 48o in Jerusalem at
the time of Christ. They were usually
built on elevated places, and so located
that the people on entering them, and dur
ing prayer within their walls, would face
Jerusalem. They were formally dedicated
to religious education and worship, and
were kept sacred from all ordinary uses,
such as eating and drinking, buying and
selling. The synagogue is the parent of
the Christian church-edfice.
Jesus was probably silent participant
in the exercises of the synagogue in Naza-
reth during the customary reading from
the Law and during the subsequent litur-
gical prayers. But when the lesson from
the prophets was to be read, he Sto0d H1
to read That is, as LANCE interprets, he
signi6ed by rising that he wished to make
use of the liberty which was accorded to
dSlIGultCI idOOlo, VI anu CApOuuQ-
ing some passage from the prophets.
The privilege was accorded to Jesus by
the ruler of the synagogue; it was APP
proved by the expectant assembly.
The roll containing the prophecy of
Isaiah was taken by the appointed officer
from the ark, the repository of the scrip
lures, and delivered into his hands. With
the roll he assembled the pulpit. He0pened
tie took and tOWndMs place. The unroll-
ing of the scroll of Isaiah from the first to
the sixt, first chapters, while the eager eyes
of the assembly were fixed upon him, was,
by the impressive manner of the Reader,
made a spectacle worthy of special record.
Some scholars, finding that the sixty-frst
chapter of Isaiah is, in the modern syna-
gogue, the appointed lesson for the Day of
Atonement, assume that it was also in
Jesus day, and therefore fix the date of
Jesus visit in Nazareth as the Day OF
Atonement, the 10th of Tishri, correspond
ing to our September. But this does not
o,anaralI,r a~oantoJ