“He is with you?” Maxwell asked in a whisper.

“He is in my house, asleep.”

“Your guest?”

“My guest. In my home.”

“What does he look like?” Three voices asked the question at the same time.

“Like an average man, only . . . different.”

“There! I told you the same!” cried Martha.

“But that does not describe him,” said Mr. Maxwell.

“Why not?” It was Stanton speaking. “What are we to look for? An angel? Would he not appear as an average man, yet something more?”

Grey looked around the eager, excited group. “What Mr. Stanton says is true. When you come to see him, you will understand how impossible it will be to describe his appearance in exact terms. And yet no one of you will for a moment doubt that it is Jesus. Jesus is here! On earth again! I have seen him! He has spoken in our church! He is a living presence in the flesh among men!”

“What will all this mean?” Mr. Maxwell spoke almost inaudibly.

“It will mean everything for the church!” Grey spoke with intense earnestness. “The church is under fire. It is being criticized. It is being scorned. Did you not all read that editorial in the Gazette only two night ago, advising the closing of all the churches in Raymond on the grounds that they were useless and an unnecessary expense? And even our religious papers are full of articles deploring the weaknesses and shortcomings of churches and church members, speaking of the church as a weak and inefficient organization, whereas in reality it is the most powerful and useful institution in the world today.”

“Just as Mr. Norman wrote in his reply in the News,” said Virginia.

“But the ministers and church members right now need to be assured of that fact. And the coming of Jesus will be the greatest impulse the church ever had to begin an entirely new and wonderful chapter of its history. If you could have heard Jesus speak to our people tonight! He declared the church to be the most useful and necessary of all institutions, and said his own disciples did not understand its might, power, and greatness.”

“Grey, do you actually believe this person is Jesus? The same Jesus whom the world crucified twenty centuries ago?”

“I am as certain of it as I am certain that I am here with you. No one can question his identity.”

“But what is your proof? What is the real proof that people are going to accept?”

“Just himself. He is his own proof. No one can deny him. Some will not see anything but a common man at first, but I believe there will be times when all the people, his own disciples and others, will be compelled to bow down to him as King of kings.”

“Do you think he will do any miracles to prove his identity?”

“No, not to prove it. But I believe he can do them if it is necessary for any purpose. The whole bearing of the man breathes power of an infinite quantity.”