t struggle that would bring Him face to face with
His own soul, we must understand the Jewish longing and expectation of
the Messiah. The Messianic traditions had taken a strong hold upon the
minds of the Jewish people, and it needed but the spark of a strong
personality to set all Israel into a blaze which would burn fiercely
and destroy the foreign influences which have smothered the national
spirit. The idea of a Messiah springing from the loins of David, and
coming to take His rightful place as the King of the Jews, was
imbedded in the heart of every Jew worthy of the name. Israel was
oppressed by its conquerors, and made subject to a foreign yoke, but
when the Messiah would come to deliver Israel, every Jew would arise
to drive out the foreign invaders and conquerors--the yoke of Rome
would be thrown off, and Israel would once more take its place among
the nations of the earth.

Jesus knew full well the fact of this national hope. It had been
installed into His mind from childhood. He had pondered over it often
during the time of His wanderings and sojourn in foreign lands. The
occult legends, however, make no mention of His having ever thought of
Himself as the Messiah until he was about to re-enter His own land
after His years of foreign study and ministry. It is thought that the
idea of His being the long expected Messiah was first suggested by
some of the Essenic teachers, when He rested with them for awhile
before appearing before John the Baptist. It was pointed out to Him
that the marvelous events surrounding His birth indicated that He was
a marked individual destined to play an important part in the history
of the World. Then why was it not reasonable to believe that that role
was to be that of the Messiah come to sit on the throne of His father
David, and destined to bring Israel from her now obscure position to
once more shine as a bright star in the firmament of nations? Why was
it not reasonable that He was to lead the Chosen People to their own?

Jesus began to ponder over these things. He had absolutely no material
ambitions for Himself and all His impulses and inclinations were for
the life of an occult ascetic. But the idea of a redeemed and
regenerated Israel was one calculated to fire the blood of any Jew,
even though the element of personal ambition might be lacking in him.

He had always realized that in some way He was different from other
men, and that some great work lay ahead of Him, but