Volume 2

144 Life of Jesus Christ
having fallen into error, but at the same time they cared
not to abandon it.
They had given Jesus an extraordinarily gracious
reception, because many signs contained in an old tradition
received by them from the heathens had been
fulfilled, and in accordance with the same, they were now
expecting some great favor from God to befall them.
This promise had been made at the place afterward
named the "Place of Grace." I know only this, that these
heathens had once in great affliction prayed on that spot
with hands raised to Heaven, and that it had been foretold
to thenl that when new streams should flow into the lake
and another into the bathing spring, when the city should
have extended as far as the spring, then should the favor
be received. And now all these signs had been fulfilled.
There flowed at this time, I think, five new streams either
all into the lake, or some into it and some into the Jordan
nearby. Another sign was fulfilled in the taking place of
some change in an arm of the Jordan, and a new stream
of good water had begun to flow into the well at the
"Place of Grace."
It was at this place that Jesus was about to baptize and
it was, very probably, to this that all the prophecies concerning
the water referred. The water here, too, was bad.
The city had also extended entirely on this side. The
northern side lay low and black, full of exhalations arising
from its marshes; only some poor heathen outcasts dwelt
there in little huts. But toward the southeast of the city
were many new houses, gardens, and buildings all the way
to the "Place of Grace." The place was low and the country
around level. By a change in the river banks and the
sudden elevation of a mountain, an arm of the Jordan had
bent its course westwardly as far as the garden, where it
united with a little stream, and then flowed back into its
bed. This bend covered a considerable area. The waters
of the Jordan flowing hither constituted one of the afore­