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- Machba`nel
watched glumly. Whatever they expected to happen they felt required Roman soldiers near, nothing happened within sight of
the crowd except that an old woman and a deaf mute boy were thrust in front of the Nazarene pressured to come here by the
scribes from Jerusalem who felt they could show Jesus as a trickster and a fake by bringing a man they KNEW to be incapacitated.
Calling on Pilate to send troops to quell the riot they expected, but Jesus touched the young man’s body and released
him from his affliction and the impressive and spontaneous worship of the crowd drove the scribes and the soldier’s
away. He went to his mother’s house to speak privately with Xavier, but the usually placid household was filled with
strident voices. The recent earthquake which shook Rueben and Evi’s ancient fortress to the ground couldn’t have
been the shock they and the obese merchant from Jerusalem were pretending as they sensed Shelomith had no desire to offer
them the hospitality of the quarter sized establishment from the one leveled at the lake’s edge. But if anything it
highlighted how remote they were from one another’s lives. His sister Claudia was furious with the lack of attention
given to her, and when he made no attempt to divert the boring political conversation, she left them to attend her baby daughter
Uriel as if the wet nurse were incapable if unsupervised. He kept his silence until his mother grudging granted the unwanted
guests rooms and servants to attend them, since to force them to stop arguing in front of her, but when he walked over to
inquire about his father’s heath Xavier’s turned on him. “
This Jesus phenomenon was too quickly growing out of hand for such persuasive but hidden tactics. Unless
we do something soon, the Romans will, you of all people know that, Xavier! “ Zaavan
fumed, the gall between his legs burning with a fresh wave of fire despite the salve the Jebusite had sent in with a man servant
at noon. “ You
don’t KNOW the pressure we’re under in Jerusalem! Day and night they come at him! ‘Pilate do this, Pilate
do that!’ I had to leave simply to die in peace! And if we prove unable to deliver a certain
fixed level of containment, we will be replaced by those who’ve promised they can! “
Machba`nel wondered if the old man’s intense pain even allowed him to know there was someone else in the room?
Clearly he was expected to take the severe tongue lashing as a subordinate, or at the very least, as David, the younger son.
Roles between parent and child were more durable than a badger’s hide. He might as well be trying to gnaw through
one with his bare teeth, bur the weight of his age and the experiences they’d shared on the battlefield, even here in
this city by the lake nullified the tender regard that had formed since Apulio’s hands cut him free from the whipping
stock that he might serve the man he came to honor as a minor god. Xavier had come up from the ranks, just
as he had, and as a good leader who understood the strengths and weakness of men under duress and strong physical peril, he
had a whole new regard for the dying soldier. But they were locked at opposite ends of the struggle against the Nazarene,
and as he stood there, a gulf opened between them so deep he fancied he could hear the screams of the damned in Sheol’s
torment, for certainly, in that moment, he knew their pain as his own.
“ What do you want me to do about it Abba? “ “ How dare
you speak in such a tone to me! “ Machba`nel
felt the weight of the older man’s rejection but shock, but a weight was already pressing so hard on his shoulders it
made sitting upright impossible. He leaned forward and weighed down the jiggle in his knees with the weight of his upper body.
“ I dared to risk my life and my career to care for you as you lay sick, possibly dying a
few days ago. I thought that repaid the debt between us. But I was wrong. Forgive me, if you can. “ “ What career?
You think everything I believe in back in my face by publicly aligning yourself with a man his own people reject. “ “
As you did, Xavier. To save the life of a man who love as a brother. Can I do less for the people from whom I sprang?
For the continued contempt of a handful of a few men indebted to Rome for their power? I love you, and I have wronged you.
Please forgive me. “ He stood with an effort and walked from the room, bent and
old beyond his years.
“ Better to die a soiled Roman than to ask help in living, Abba? “ “ Better
to die a Roman of any kind that a cur licking his master’s feet, Isaac. “ Xavier sat where he was, mouth ajar
in shock as Giovanni walked to his side and knelt. “ Don’t! Don’t
say anything, I couldn’t bear it, man! “
The old slave nodded, the motion loosening the warmth of his tears on the bared skin above the seated man’s toga
but Xavier hardened his heart. All he had left was his pride in himself as a Roman, and as a man. Only women grieved and apologized.
- * - Thursday, 26th of Tammuz
First watch of the day
3788 Capernaum Lake Gennersart of the Galilee - When Mary
suggested the girls go to the swimming area set aside for women only, with Hilkiah to watch over them, Ahava, Hulah, and Little
Jerusha accepted willingly, without guessing they were being removed from a potentially threatening situation between herself
and three of her sons. All of her life she had taken extra care to never ‘choose between her children, with accepting
them as they were and accepting their decisions once they were grown enough to make their own choices and live with the consequences,
but in this she could be passive no longer, needing to confront her sons as men, rather than as their mother. She couldn’t
protect her youngest daughter from the wickedness of her sister’s choices in life, but with that foul man so near, willing
being a part of the assembly which had gathered to vainly prove Jesus a liar and a fraud, she had no choice but to speak her
mind, even if it meant offending them, or pushing them away. Her paps were dried, if they were able to see to their offspring
and wife’s needs, they were strong enough to hear her unvarnished opinion of their selfishness and disloyalty.With the sun high overhead and their clothes safely hidden on shore, nearly a quarter
mile from the main road lading back to town, Ahava, Hulah, Esther ben Libni, and Jerusha splashed in the shallow end of the
deep pond, briefly putting away all outside demands on their time or their thoughts. Nimrod chose one of the miniature caves
formed by the fallen boulders and he slept, his head resting to one side on his outstretched paws. Near enough to respond
to any danger but lured by the easy gayety of the girl’s high-pitched voices. At
dinner Young John, near her own age, made room for Ahava beside Judas Iscariot and her brother, as protective of her as a
father, even though there was only six years and four inches difference between them. The Magdalene glowed like a new bride
as she introduced the guests who’d come to stay till Ethanim in her long absence. Sapphira, her middle
daughter, her son-in-law Nehemiah, her granddaughter Ruth, and her grandsons Josiah and Meshullam.
“ These are my three favorite grandchildren! “
She said in unmistakable pride, having to raise her voice to be heard over the loud music.
“ Oh, Ima! “ Sapphira protested, as she
accepted her husband’s hand and rose to dance.
“ They’re all your favorites! “
The Magdalene’s smile was brilliant as she flashed her answer back to the rosy- cheeked matron. It seemed as
if the time she’d had this new large family had been unbroken, and if those terrible events in Jerusalem had happened,
they had happened a very long time ago, and they came to have less and less importance to her. She was startled by her long
and private thoughts by the brush of the Magdalene’s fingertips requesting, but not demanding her attention. She broke
free from her somber introspection only because four of the remaining women still seated leaped to their feet with a glad
cry and joined the dance in the center preempted for the impromptu celebration. With the seductive lure of the tambourines,
the laughter and the shepherd’s flutes being put to good use, the entire night had the festive air of a wedding party,
or a harvest festival. She leaned over to the older woman, glad for the excuse to reestablish the deep maternal friendship
with a portion of her natural family so near. “ Sapphira
was born deaf, Nehemiah lost his hearing at the age of two, so it seemed a good match, but I was so angry at GOD. Now I look
at the gift given so freely from His hand, and I am so in awe of our good LORD! So ashamed of my anger
and the cruel things I said and did to Him. To myself!
“ Ahava opened
her mouth to answer but the music stopped abruptly and the dancers drifted back to their original seating, so she simply answered
with a heartfelt smile. Within moments she was covered with squirming boys and dog again, and she forgot her brief try at
adulthood as she lay prone to allow them better access to tickling her, as Nimrod tried to wash the features from her face
with his damp tongue. Nothing, however, foreshadowed the strange loneliness she woke with in the middle of the night. Stepping
over the other women’s ankles and legs until she’d found a safe retreat to the doorway and the portion set aside
for their needs, Ahava waited for the nimble little dog to complete his hunt for the few sluggish insects who had burrowed
to the ground’s surface this early in the season. She supposed it was because her eleventh birthday was only thirty-one
days away, and she no longer had a clear vision of what that would mean to her, or what that would bring to her life. She
looked around eagerly but Nimrod found Jesus before she did. The
view of the lake from Mathew’s mansion was breathtaking. It was late enough in the morning dark that the light’s
on the fishermen’s boats were visible on the low horizon, and the low mountains which were usually blue and pressed
back against the sky now pressed near, dark and moist with promises of things she couldn’t quite understand except that
they were exotic to her, foreign, promising new adventures within a day or two of travel, while her own adventure was fast
winding down. “
Am I disturbing your prayers, Jesus? “
“ No. I was just sitting here waiting for you. Like I used
to do with Joseph. “ The mention of
her father’s name so intimately arose unbidden tears to scald her eyes despite the cold. She nestled close under her
half-brother’s arm for warmth and closeness. “
When you were too grown too any more, he used to bring Judas and me up to the roof, to look at the stars, to learn
a new word, to explore mathematics. “
“ I know. “ “ How
could you? “ She demanded incredulously. “
You were asleep! “ “ You two needed
that time alone with your Abba. I wasn’t about to intrude. “ “ How
old are you, Jesus? “ When He laughed gently, she
feared he wasn’t going to answer her. Then she felt his arm tightened, making a place for her nearer to Him. In the
silence of faded stars and nearly motionless trees and grass spears, she could hear the thump of his heart against his rib
cage. She knew the answer, without knowing how she knew it, and it made her feel more peaceful with him somehow. “ I created time and Space for this sphere and this purpose, Little One.
As far back as your mind can conceive, I was already there. As far into the future as you can reach, I am there. And you are
with me. Now that you exist, you will never be without me, nor I without you. And that pleases my heart more than I can begin
to describe to you. “
“ Where was I before I was here? “
“ Waiting in my heart for your time to be born. “ His
head moved and he looked down at her with a smile that eased so many small fears she hadn’t been able to put a name
too.
“ Then... “
She stopped short. “ Never mind. It seems silly to ask. “ “
Yes. “ He agreed, in answer, and she was too pleased,
too sleepy and happy to want more than that reassurance in answer to her deepest concern. - When all twelve of the disciples were in the chief room of the house
and the rain poured down on the roof like it was trying to beat it down and drown them, Ahava found a place near Jerusha and
Joel, who sat protectively near his mother and new baby sister, while she found a place within herself where the present and
the past curled together companionably. The feminine side of her nature that she shared with Judith and Jerusha in a way that
never mattered to her before, listening as Sapphira and Shirah laughing exchanged their ‘worst’ stories about
trying to keep over-active boys from tearing up the house on rainy afternoons like this, seizing and hiding little bits of
maternal information in her mind, beside the deep thoughts that she and Ishmael shared in their two hours a day in his tent.
Because there were four other boys deeply interested in his lessons on math, geography and history, their own and Gentile
nations if he felt there was a lesson to be learned, she was able to escape his intense need for accuracy until they were
alone for the studies in Law. Although he frequently left her in tears of frustration after twelve repetitions of what appeared
to be the same sound to her, he’d try to make up for it by ending the lesson with a root, explaining how words with
very different meanings arose in the ancient as well as the modern forms of Liturgical Hebrew. It
was difficult to return to her more familiar lessons of the ancient texts in Aramaic once the lessons were ended, because
her tongue was as tired as the rest of her and she slept for nearly an hour after each of the lessons, but she bore it because
she sensed from his very insistence on perfection, that anything less risked corruption of the whole. They had received these
words from the mouth of the creator Himself, and passed them down unchanged through the generations. Now it was her turn to
preserve the truth and he gave no more though to her gender than he did his own while they were pupil and teacher.
While they were on the road, the lessons were considerably shortened, and he was usually too gruff and annoyed at her
to give her phonic lessons, but that also allowed her a new freedom as she joined with the mature women in setting up groups
for the women who were to be healed, and then those who had already been healed, for many of the same questions and problems
arose, and they found it a comfort to be able to suggest solutions, or at the very least show these largely uneducated but
deeply caring women that what had happened arose from no innate weakness of their own. She also learned how to make three
different barley cake desserts. So it wasn’t all just a one-way delivery of information. Wherever
they went the common people came out to see and receive Jesus with great joy. Unlike many of the leaders of their community,
who had learned the complexities of Oral tradition by spending years as the student and disciples sitting at the feet of great
thinkers in Jerusalem who could make a drop of water as complex as the lake which lay at their feet, they had no previous
commitment to a philosophy or an ancient scribe. As Jesus and the Twelve went about to their marketplaces and synagogues and
taught them in simple stories of everyday life that a deep, spiritual core, they received the truths they themselves could
envision and healings became as commonplace as full-bodied seeds left on the chaff trays after a good wind brew across the
space where they were tossed aloft as well! Some of the women who had been healed of evil and spirits and sicknesses, like
Mary, the Magdalene, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others were contributing to
their support out of their private means. So that they were able to help many with food and clothing and basic needs that had been denied them while they were yet outcast because of their
disease. While they were walking back to the house
near the edge of the water where they were staying, it became increasingly more difficult to follow a straight line on the
country road, for the entire area was crowded with groups of people and families of varying ages, all with their faces pointed
in one direction, on the main road leading up from the fishing boats toward the center of town. The same direction they were
trying to walk. Seeing her brother, as he walked among them, they began to cry out in piteous voices and grasp at the hands
and clothes of those nearest him, begging for attention before he passed them by. He slowed and talked to the most challenged
of each group, while three of his disciples, who had spent the night with them at Matthew’s compound, began to organize
what the families into groups, to be seated, fan like, away from the member who actually needed the healing so the largest
number of those needing to be healed could have access to Jesus within a contained space. When He was
done with teaching, he rose with an effort, from the intensity of his body, even while seated, and he made his way to the
door of the soldier’s borrowed house. Smiling and speaking to the people who pressed their hands near his flesh to touch
him and reassure themselves as He passed. But he wasn’t allowed to remain alone for any length of time, for the crowd
seemed hungry to be near him, to hear the words he spoke that made deep and isolated truths, usually reserved for the rich
and the educated, available to their hungry hearts. To the point that as they poured out of the house unwilling to be left
behind, and they saw Him seated on the beach, with his own thoughts, they gathered at his side again, more thickly than before
because they was no room for the people who’d been forced to wait outside by the walls of the house and the low courtyard
wall. To the point that He had to get unto a boat to talk to them as he taught, and the multitude pressed
upon the length of beach until the pebbled shore couldn’t be seen for the men, women, and families who gathered eagerly
to be near him.
This day Jesus hid his own sorrow and taught them of goodness and reward, cautioning them against the snares of being
so involved in daily life that they missed the value of Spirit. Was he thinking of the carpentry shops in Nazareth on three
houses apart? He reached inside himself and taught them, in simple yet profound stories about a sower using the same seed
on different areas of the field and how the ground receiving the seed made such a difference in the results of the intended
harvest, of how a man casts seed upon the ground to sow it, but it is GOD who gives the increase in the fullness of the time
until harvest. “ Hear me, I want to tell you an important story,
so you’ll remember. There was a man went to sow seed in his field. Some of the seeds fell by the side of the road, and what wasn’t
trampled underfoot, the birds came along and ate them up. And other seed fell upon the rocky places, where they didn’t
have much soil and immediately they sprang up, but because they had no depth, when the sun came up they were quickly scorched
and withered away. While others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out, so that it yielded no crop.
And other seed fell on the good soil, and it yielded a crop; some thirty, and some sixty,
and some an hundred. Let him who has an ear hear! “ Leaving them abruptly, he returned to the
house where they had been staying. But his twelve closest friends pressed in, baring the door, eagerly
demanding that he explain himself, as they sensed his urgency more than they did what he was attempting to communicate. There
was a shortness about her gentle brother that she hadn’t seen before, the dark circles under his eyes and the difficulty
with which he stopped short, or rose again, as if too restless to be able to stay in one place. He was driving himself too
hard, staying away for night long prayers, refusing to turn anyone aside, whether he himself had had enough to eat or sleep,
yet she didn’t know how to help ease his path. He could hardly pass through them unnoticed! Even if he were willing
too. “
Why do you speak to them in parables? “ One of the familiar
voices asked.
“ To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of GOD, but to the
rest it is in parables. For whoever has, to him ore will be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whosoever does not
have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak in stories to them, because while seeing, they may
see and not perceive. And while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven. For the heart
of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear. And they have closed their eyes, lest they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and with their understanding. “
But blessed are your eyes, because you see, and your ears, because you hear! For of a truth I tell you, many prophets
and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it. And to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
“ Ahava found a quiet
place along the wall where she could sit and not draw attention from any of the men. She couldn’t seem to get enough
of the sight of her mother moving about the crowded room. “
Master! Explain to us the story of the tares “ Simon the
fisherman demanded with the happy impatience of a cherished child as soon as they were back inside the house and the greeting
between Jesus and his mother had broken off in deference to the men who crowded around so eagerly.. Ahava
glared at him. Couldn’t he see how exhausted Jesus was? How
troubled his spirit was by the blind refusal of the religious to see His right to be priest and king for the people, or we
were boisterous and happy men just as blind? ‘ Why was it ‘womanish’ to see past through
to the pain or the loneliness of others? ‘ But her brother’s smile
and out reached hand calmed her resentment, the gentle squeeze her gave as she passed him into the kitchen drew out a ragged
sigh from her but pulled away the pain like a closed wound that finally releases and even the pain is welcomed because it
promises healing. Perhaps she was a little taunt and a little tired herself? Clearly a love and a strength flowed back into
him as he reasoned and spoke to listeners eager to hear him and wanting truly to understand, if enjoying their special status. He made room for his mother to sit on the cushion at his feet, her arm and head resting wearily
on his lap in repose at last. Nimrod curled up as close as the back folds of her garment. “
But Master! “ James ben Zebedee complained impatiently, looking
around to gather support for his objection. “ You have not answered Simon’s question
about the story of the seeds and weeds? “ “
Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? “ There was a conspicuous
lull in the low drone of conversation between themselves
in answer to his low but poignant point. There was a quiet reshuffling of places, some of the men half-standing
to make room for Hilkiah and the Lord’s half-brokers, who wrapped themselves in their cloaks, stony faced, at this painful
necessity after such a long journey. Only ten year old Judas had the courage to walk over to where his mother and little sister
rested near Jesus’ feet. Who smiled as he watched each find a place on the floor of the crowded room. “
The sower sows the word. And there are those that are beside the road where the word is sown, and when they hear, immediately
Satan comes and takes away the word which was sown in them. And in a similar way, these are the ones on whom seed was sown
on the rocky places, who when they heard the word, immediately receive it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but is
only temporary, and when time of affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the
one on whom seed was grown among thorns, this is the man who hears the words, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness
of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And the one on whom seed was sown on good soil, this is the man who hears
the Word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and
some thirty. For whosoever has,
to him shall more be given, but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to
them in parables because while seeing they see not, and hearing they do not hear, neither do they understand. And in their
case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘ You will keep on hearing, but will not understand.
And you will keep on seeing but will not perceive. For the heart of this people has become dull. And with their ears they
hardly hear. And they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand
with their hearts and return, that I should heal them. ‘ “
A thrill of joy ran through the shy eleven year old as she was able to whisper the complete verse
along with him under her breath. So those months of teaching hadn’t been ‘for nothing’, as David ben Chuza’s
tutor Philip tried to say!
“ But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they
hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and desired to hear what you
hear, and did not hear it. “ Jesus continued to
teach in a gentle voice.
“ A lamp is not brought to be put under a peck-measure, is it? Or under a bed? Is it
not brought out to be put on a lamp stand? “ His face eased
as he spoke to them, yet the urgency remained in his voice. It was obvious he coveted their understanding, and this as quickly
as possible, and she felt the weight of the enormous task ahead of him for the first time. Realizing that he had been under
its weight from the very beginning. It opened her eyes with new compassion toward her brother, but more importantly, toward
the men he was attempting to reach. “ For nothing
is hidden, except that it be revealed. Nor is anything secret, but that it should come to light. If any man can hear,
let him hear! Therefore take care how you listen, for whoever has, to him it shall be given more, and whoever does not have,
even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him. “ He
waited for them to get settled and he began to instruct them with a strange intensity “
In like manner, the kingdom of GOD may be compared to a man who sowedgood seed in his field. But while the man was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds also among the
wheat and went away. But when the wheat sprung up and began to grow grain, then the weeds became
evident also. And the servants of the landowner came to him. ‘ Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? When then
does it also have weeds? ‘ And he said to them, ‘ An enemy has done this! ‘ And the servants said, ‘
Do you want us to and gather them up? ’ But he said, ‘ No, lest while you are gathering
up the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the time of harvest, and in the time
of harvest, I will say to the reapers. “ First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather
the wheat into my barns. ‘ “ He presented another parable to
them, saying, “ The kingdom of heaven is like unto a mustard seed, which
a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds. But when it is grown, it is larger than the garden
plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and rest in its branches. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven
which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind, and
when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad
they threw away. So shall it be at the end of the age. The angels shall go forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous
and will cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you understood
these things? “ And
they said to him, “ Yes. “
“ Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is
like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasures things new and old. “ Jesus spoke to the multitudes only in parables, that what
was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled. ‘ I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since
the formation of the world. ‘
As her brother stood and stretched, obviously preparing to leave again, a thought struck Ahava with
the weight of her brother’s weary glance in her direction.
‘If she, as a woman, wasn’t intended to be part of the coming kingdom and aware of its spiritual nature
and beauty, why had Jesus involved her from the beginning? Even before He spoke with Master Nicodemus? Why did He go out of
his way to allow her to see things with her own eyes denied even to those energetic, loving men who were clearly being trained
as his future leaders? ‘ Though he had left them once with great deliberation, a throng of people
formed as soon as he stepped away from the borrowed house. When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to depart to
the other side of the lake. Though Judas Iscariot made a bold gesture of offering to stay behind, so the addition of the young
girl wouldn’t ‘overload’ the boat, Simon stopped Ahava from slipping over the side of the boat, meekly.
“ There’s room enough. Please yourself. “ He said
in annoyance at the younger man’s superior attitude. Judas helped the other two men pushed the heavily loaded craft
into deeper water, but climbed on board rather than remain on shore. Judas sought out Jesus to protest, but he was already
asleep at the end of the boat. Ahava
curled up in as small a space as she could beside him as she could and tried not to see the three angry faces turned in her
direction. In the growing heat and darkness, the rocking of the boat and the sullen silence around her caused her to sleep
but there was not the escape she had dreamed. Anything was better than waiting alone in the house with Joseph’s other
children! “
Save us LORD! We’re perishing! “ - - End Chapter 26
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