"Yea, so far as I am able to do so; and to that end I ask thee if thou canst tell what reason is repeatedly given in the gospels why the Pharisees ’were offended’ at our Lord’s teachings; why they ’derided’ him; in a word, why they hated him and his gospel?" "Yea! The reason that is always given for their hatred of Jesus is that they were ’covetous’?" "Dost thou think that the fact that they were rich and covetous could account for their rejection of their own scriptures, which showed them the Messiah plainly, and in which they all believed, unless the gospel which Jesus taught in some way antagonized their legal right to their property?" "Nay, verily," said the boy. "The gospel must have interfered with their property, or the fact that they were ’covetous’ would not be given as the reason for their hatred of Jesus." "Then let us examine what this gospel was that was ’good news to the poor.’ Dost thou remember any other place in which the same words occur?" "Yea," answered Arius. "It is written in Luke: ’_And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it is written, The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor: he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives; and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all of them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears._’" "Now canst thou find the place in Isaiah referred to in the text?" "Yea," replied Arius; "it readeth as follows: ’_The spirit of the Lord God_ is upon me; because he hath anointed me to _preach good tidings_.’" "Stop," said Ammonius; "thou seest that the ’gospel’ is the same thing which the prophet calleth ’good tidings?’" "Yea," answered the lad, "but whence cometh this expression of ’the acceptable year of the Lord,’ and what signifieth it?"