Cana
Sihon spoke to her tenderly, with
great regret as he turned around, finding her slightly shorter than he as Ahava crouched, holding the energetic puppy at an
angle where his busy tongue couldn’t strike her trembling lips. As he leaned forward to kiss her, holding the speckled
dog’s head under his palm, she wanted to flee him but she remained, transfixed by the gentle desire he awoke in her
virgin’s heart. He gave her a kiss that thrilled and frightened her at the same time, but as he pulled back, a greater
sadness and emptiness filled his eyes, and he seemed cold toward her at an instant when she was suddenly open and vulnerable to him in a way she couldn’t understand,yet desired
.
“ You haven’t lost me. I’m right here, Sihon. “
The shortness of her breath made words
difficult to speak, but he stepped back again and she felt a deep gulf between them she could never cross.
“
I’m married. “ He said coldly.
She blushed, suddenly chilled and frightened
by her own savagery at taking advantage of his grief
and vulnerability as at his cross look and unnerving calm.
‘What sort of terrible person was she?‘ She raged inwardly and
would have fled if she had been standing.
He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders,
his face becoming as set and distant as any offended adult.
“ I’ll go see my sister. “ He
said, lifting his head and looking at her disdainfully.
Her gaze
dropped institutively at his look of revulsion, as if the happy puppy had some how bared her faint badges of womanhood to
his disgust. She sat down abruptly in the empty corridor formed by the two tall buildings and she began to cry because she
was too confused and too hurt to keep the fears locked inside, and yet she didn’t know why she was so overwhelmed. Simply
that she was, and her feelings of inadequacy were overwhelming.
“ Why are you angry at me, Sihon? “ She pleaded desperately,
feeling the tears leap to her eyes as she saw his pain and knew that there was nothing she could do to lessen it. She had
felt the same way at the shocking loss of Joseph. Angry at GOD for taking him, angry at Joseph for deserting them, feeling
the loss of his voice, his hands, his tone of love
which she hadn’t heard duplicated, except in the rare times she was alone with her eldest brother, who wasn’t
even his son, although he raised him as such with great love and affection.
The shorter man stopped in his advance toward her, looking confused, and then hurt. As his gaze swept the empty, familiar
vista of buildings and sun baked walls that had seemed so alien just the moment before. His eyes seemed to focus on her and
his actions lost their frenzied haste but as he took a step toward her, she stepped back. Even his voice lost its high pitched,
hysterical edge as he calmed, being near the child he had loved since her birth.
“
I’m not mad at you, Beloved. “ He temporized, reaching out
in her direction.
She found
herself repulsed by him, staring at the squared, pudgy hand and its shortened fingers as if she were looking at a stranger.
Tears
began to trickle down the reddened welts on his face, clumping individual strands of his beard together, making her feel worse
at her sudden feelings of repugnance for the gentle spoken scholar but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
“ I’m
not angry at you...Beloved? “ He repeated, vainly coaxing her from
her intense desire to flee. His hand reached out and caressed the tiny swelling of her left pap. His eyes fixed on hers with
incredible sadness and longing.
Without warning,
they heard barking and a boy’s happy shouting from behind them as the fat, speckled pup ran past him, trailing a throng of leather and a nameless little boy who was so intent on catching the runaway that he didn’t even watch
where he was going. Sihon jumped back with an oath
that silenced both of them and left them immobile, while the round, gangly pup jumped and wiggled happily at the feet of his
lost mistress. Ahava The boy stopped short, using the edge of the wall to stop his forward plunge, then mouth open and eyes
wide with shock he turned on his heels and fled them, suddenly silent with terror. She stooped and picked up the wiggling
pup to protect her body from further unwanted touch. He was an adult, she was a child, even if she was taller than him; she
had to obey him, but a part of her rebelled at being touched in such an intimate manner when she had no intention of progressing further into the realms her thirteen year old niece described so glowingly. Not until she was forced too by her
legitimate husband. Seeing her fear and her repugnance, his foul mood returned, more harsh than before, but this time he was
sober, and he had no outlet for the rage welled up inside of him.
He turned away from her, struggling to regain control over the wild swing of his emotions since they laid his father’s
withered body in the tomb and rolled the stone in front of it that would seal in the gasses of decomposition. It seemed a
disgusting and foul end to a righteous life! And worse, he had been impaled on the realization that some day it would happen
to him! The shortness of her breath made words difficult to speak, but he stepped back again and she felt a deep gulf between
them she could never cross.
“
She needs something to drink and a chance to sleep. “
A dry, yet compelling voice said from over her
head and tender female hands ministered to her before she gave herself permission to sleep soundly for the first time in forty-eight
hours. It was dark when she awoke, and the strange hollowness was gone. Yet she’d never felt so alone or isolated as
when she walked through Job’s familiar house to find that night had fallen and taken the day’s activity with it.
When she first saw Sihon standing beside his sleeping sister, she tensed, but he was obviously glad to see her and just as
obviously the old self she knew and trusted. He hastened toward her, taking her hand as she approached the freshly scented
bed. Then he pulled on her hand until she bent to where he could kiss her cheek tenderly. She pulled back beyond his reach
instinctively, her heart aching with the resumed weariness she couldn’t explain away, even inwardly. She longed to find
her brother and return to Nazareth even though they had only been here a night and a day. Sihon’s voice was breathless,
as it was on the rare occasions he taught her a verse from the holy texts he’d just understood for himself. But she
felt no link to him, breathless and awed, as she had then. He was flawed for the first time, and by the same motion of fate’s
hand, she was likewise soiled by failure even though she hadn’t done anything but walk into the room where he was watching
over his ailing sister as she slept.
She was
‘imperfect’. James was right. She had the weakness of all her kind. Men were much more noble and quicker to forgive
than she was, remembering his uninvited touch. As an adult she would have known to look at the experience
in a different light, but as grown up as she sometimes acted and thought, she was still a little girl inside and she blamed
herself rather than him as he leaned against the foot of the couch smiling down on her benignly.
“
How can I thank you or your brother enough for this miracle? The servants told me Keren-happuch ate and see, she sleeps
now wholesomely, as before our father’s death! What can I give you in thanks, when Jesus will soon be king?
“
She sank to her
knees on the cushions left warmed and empty by the low couch. His hand was warm to the touch and almost repugnant in its intimacy.
“ Allow him to heal all those people waiting outside. “
Sihon laughed deep in her throat, risking
the opening a door within her that she’d only
recently discovered and tentatively allowed his offer of friendship to enter this expanded view of herself and her own capabilities.
The
dwarf looked at her strangely, keeping his smile on his lips and in his voice despite the alteration in his eyes.
“ He
did that, hours ago. They’ve gone back tot heir homes, or their tents. What is it? “
He cried out in alarm as she seized her
leg, crying out in sharp pain, the muscles knotted like corded wood.
“ Growing pains. “ He teased. Rubbing
the afflicted area gently until blood began to flow back into it.
She laughed despite the pain; then stopped, stricken.
“
Don’t! It’s all right, Beloved! “
He assured her earnestly,
looking at her so intently she couldn’t look away. “ I’ve made peace with the way the
Holy One of Israel, Blessed be His Name, chose to form me in my mother’s womb. I’ve friends and family that would
make any cost worth it, I can assure you. He’s seen fit to give me a bride the same size as I am,
and I needs must be content with that. “ He
said with sadness that drove her away from her own intense involvement momentarily. “ How I
envy Jesus having a sister like you. “
His hands became still, annoying her.
“
But you have Peinnah and Keren-happuch! “
She said in rebuke,
pushing away from him in the uncomfortable ebb and flow of her new emotions toward men and masculinity. With her so near,
it seemed an insult to his sister to betray such a sense of lack! She might waken and hear them, and then she’d be angry
with her, not him!
“
Not like the bond you and Jesus have. “
She glanced around nervously but none of the watching servants seemed to be paying any attention to the conversation
being held in a different dialect. But her discomfort put the small man on his guard. He took up her hand and stroked it gently,
watching for the small reactions a woman can’t control when she has an interest in a man, the dilation of small vessels,
the size of her pupils, the rate of her breath.
“
For now I think we should just let your sister rest. Let me use your shoulder to try and stand. Perhaps I can walk
it out? “
“
See, Beloved, you have but to command, and I obey. “
When she tried to stand however, she fell, lying on the smooth surface whimpering with shock.
“
Let me find someone to help you, Ahava. “ Sihon said nervously
at sudden invalidism. Giving her name a formal twist rather than the tender meaning he usually implied. He had been looking
to her for an escape from the tortured femininity wrapped around him by his pregnant wife and giving sister.
“ No!
“ She said firmly, anger giving her new resolve. “
I can do it myself! “
Left alone
in the poorly lighted room, Sihon brooded somberly on the unwanted intruder in their quiet lives since that Roman dog had
come to court a rich man’s daughter, the beauty he knew his sister to be.
-
In the deepest shadows behind him the well dressed Pharisee in mortal form smiled
as he felt his control over the rich young couple deepen despite the near presence of the Holy One. It was the kind of victory
he hoped to build upon. But as quickly as he came he was dismissed
and his objective felt only an oddly chill wind and an unpleasant odor from behind him.
-
Her leg muscles loosened with her brother’s touch and she leaned against him, feeling as though she hadn’t
slept in a week. Though she smiled at their host’s jovial remark again of ‘growing pains’ as he entered
belatedly, cheeks flushed, she was asking inwardly how long their visit was going to last? This wasn’t at all what she
expected on the long walk here from Nazareth. It troubled her to be more aware of the motives that moved the other two men
in the room as she looked around in envy at Abner’s kitten playing with the speckled pup’s tail. Under Jesus’
watchful gaze and the small beast’s lack of fear, the gangly speckled dog was patiently enduring the momentary pinpricks
of its tiny claws and its annoying habit of playing
with any-thing that moved. Even Nimrod was growing up. But did he face as dismal a future as she, now that she recognized
the change in her status from child to young woman?
Machba`nel waited until he was certain he was welcomed to leave with the quiet teacher tomorrow on their return to
Nazareth. He planned to make his excuses to the girl’s delightful mother and then return to Jerusalem and the life where
he belonged. Only one matter needed to be resolved now, and with the unexpected appearance of a friend from his youth, Job
ben Shelmiah’s slow passage from life was obviously being rendered easier. There was only one thing left to do.
It
was easy to bribe a servant to point him to the room where Job’s three heirs were hunched in heated dispute, united
by their hatred of one another, scarcely concealed in their shock to find the man in soldier’s garb appearing unexpectedly
in the night time shadows of the windowless room.
“ I divorce you! “ He said toward both of
them, Sihon and Keren-happuch, three times, completing the necessary ritual for ending their engagement, as he would have
had to do if they had completed the marriage supper and become husband and wife. Then allowing her to approach him for the
clear intention of a vicious rake of her nails across his chest, to inflict punishment on himself, he strode from the room,
leaving behind the last of any softness, even that which the gentle Carpenter from Nazareth had awakened.
When
he reached the stables, he was so pleased by the care the nameless country man had taken of the weary gelding that he saddled
the horse himself and gave the man another coin, in his hand, as befit the quality of work and not tossed at his feet like
an inferior or a beggar, then he rode away just far enough that no one but GOD would hear his tears and wails of regret. Had
it been Titan, he would have lead the stallion out under the stars and slept using his belly as both warmth and pillow, but
because he felt he owed the dying man some measure of pride to his final moments, he simply made a rough camp near a shepherd’s
flock, knowing that the dogs would alert him to anything, or anyone...approaching the sheep.
“
Why didn’t your mother come with you? “ Sihon asked quietly from
the shadows, to alert her to his presence in the over-sized room.
“ My brother didn’t ask her too. He just asked for me. “
“ That’s
strange. I wonder why? “
She forgot her instinctive
examination of him as a model for her future husband and began to question the same thing, although she trusted her brother
implicitly. Why had he? Returning to the crowded sleeping chamber, she found the brazier burnt out and the room exceptionally cold. Going back through the maze of rooms she sought out
the smells of the kitchen since these would be the first servants to rouse. The boy Abner was asleep in one corner with his
kitten and his small stringed harp curled safely in his arms and she decided not to wake him. Instead she took a scarred metal
plate and covered it with straw chaff, placing glowing
embers from the fire on it until it cast a small, brief light from its flame. Gathering coals to lay alongside the heated
center, she tip toed back to Keren-happuch’s room, as Nimrod cast repeated glances over his shoulder at the smells of
boy and kitten behind him.
Placing
the worn bearskin from her own sleeping area over the shivering woman, she lifted one corner and stretched out to share her
body warmth. Keren-happuch was as cold as a corpse, mottled with blue but she stirred sleepily and turned to the warmth as
Ahava carefully turned away from the sleeping woman’s bad breath, allowing Nimrod time to settle between the extra pair
of legs and the crook of her knees where he customarily slept, and she was quickly and soundly asleep,
The stranger in mortal form watched in helpless rage as life flowed back into the withered form beside the girl and
the speckled puppy.
The day fled swiftly for the young
country girl in a mix of restoration of the household from its terrible grief under the stern leadership of the scarred centurion
and the heir’s betroth and the need to prepare for the New Moon celebrations. Next month the festivity would be held over two days, as it was following any of the Sivan,
Tishri, or Shebat,
her birth month, which had thirty days, or after Heshvan or Adar on the years when they had
the extra day. But she was glad they could wait an additional thirty days for the added burden of the enforced gaiety. It
seemed too close to the founder’s loss for it now, although he was old and well stricken with years.
On Monday, the day of their departure Ahava awoke at first light, grateful they could leave at last. As
the beautiful young woman regained her strength she was more and more reminded that she was Deborah’s friend, more than
her own. The stars were faded to mere promises but the light was already fading which had appeared to signal the dawn. Everyone else was still asleep, so she motioned for the armed man in the
watch tower to come down and unlatch the gate for
her so she and the puppy could go outside the walls within the circle of torchlight. He did so unwilling but she was adamant about escaping the cloistered ‘safety’ of the rich couple’s
house.
“
I’ll set a watch over her, she’ll be safe. “
A voice demanded arrogantly. It was the
old man her niece was married to so recently by Zaavan.
Thrilled and embarrassed, Ahava turned her back on their power struggle and paid more attention to the sniffing puppy than she would have otherwise, thankful that she’d taken
a moment to wash her face and comb her hair while she was saying her prayers. She couldn’t admit even to herself that
she had half-hoped she would encounter the sullen but strangely attractive man again
before they left. If he was to marry Keren-happuch it would not only give the lovely woman a new lease on life, but they would
be able to see each other frequently without the
weight that was now between her and Sihon because of his sexual interest in her. She was already married to one of the three
boys Masrekah picked for her, she just didn’t know which one, and that gave her a heady freedom to explore being around
so powerful a male animal as the Jew turned Roman soldier, Machba`nel ben Abishalom!
The bright daylight accompanying their departure shone
down on the last gleaning of the fields and the amount demanded for the poor after harvesting of the barley seemed a fitting
summation of the end of their visit. The sense of gathering up all that Job had established in his life,
for the care of others. Uzziah had tried very hard to cut back the amount left behind during the harvest, but her brother’s
presence had forced the smaller man to stand up to his lifelong companion, Ahava noted with pride. Secretly she believed it
was Job’s generosity before GOD and the people who depended on him that had allowed Yahweh Elohim so
much room to bless him with extravagant bounty but she was human enough to understand the feeling that so much was being given
away, it seemed illogical that more could be returned. She was sure in her heart that this was a temporary phase, since both
men had grown up at the patriarch’s knee. The sun overhead seemed to bear down on them with relentless force as they
prepared to leave. Sihon stood to one side consciously entertaining his shy bride while Keren-happuch leaned on the arm of her soldier who still seemed in awe of the rapid changes in her. She had refused
Jesus’ kind offer of help but she was blossoming naturally under the watchful care and easy laughter of the prophet’s
sister Beloved. His heart was in his eyes as he helped the slender woman sit in a chair discretely set in place for her by
a loving serving woman.
There
seemed to be hope for both of them when he had given up all hope for either! Sihon and Keren-happuch had showered them with
so many gifts for her brothers and their new families that she’d been forced to accept the gift of a younger donkey
for the short but difficult journey home. There was an air of urgency growing to her brother’s actions that she respected
enough not to question their leaving two days early. For herself she could have stayed for Sihon and Peinnah’s marriage
feast! But the sight of Abner’s growing kitten reminded her of Sheba’s small family. She wanted
to be there to tame them so they could get good homes of their own.
At
the edge of town, she and Jesus met with Jude Thaddeus, who carried good news from their family. But they had scarcely begun
the journey south when shouting voices brought a band of infirm men and women from the landscape, to cluster nosily around
her brother. The small donkey bared his teeth and laid back his ears flat against his head, shaking his head in warning but
still they came, swirling around her and the standing man as if they didn’t exist. It frightened her to have so many
people crowding around her at one time and she tried to pull the small donkey backwards to avoid the crush but he refused
to move, jerking her arm painfully as he sought to bite and snap at whatever body came too near. Then Jesus laid his arm across the roached neck of the small, quarrelsome beast and
he seemed to calm at the gentle touch.
Even
though she sympathized with their needs as they crowded around her brother expectantly, she fought against them inwardly.
There were too many, their needs were too great. Jesus was just one man, even a mighty prophet from GOD! So
many of the bearded faces that gathered were expectant, yet hard with disbelief as they found themselves unable to pass by
on the road for the press of unwashed, unclean people. The women’s faces full of pain and beseeching as Jesus asked
her to sort out the lame into one group and Jude Thaddeus to sort the others by their affection, with the greatest need being
placed closest to him as he spoke words of a loving and merciful GOD.
‘What
do they expect from him, he’s only one man?‘ She thought angrily, but as her brother walked amongst each family group and its disfigured or sickly member,
shouts of praise began to echo back from the hills and trees on the near horizon. Then shock and disbelief, a higher pitched
calling of his name from the people he hadn’t yet spoken too. She watched the healings in disbelief long after the expensively
robed men had gone on their way, shaking their heads and mumbling curses against magicians and hysterical, self-deceived masses.
It was so dark they made camp under the protection of the Centurion who had ridden out to see what the tumult was about.
As she snuggled close to her brother’s feet to help keep them warm as he and the older man sat talking in low tones, she was grateful they hadn’t gone back into the house after all.
The stars overhead seemed as warm a cover as the aging, nearly hairless hide that pulled around her neck in a comfortable
curl of age and use. This way Joseph could see her easier when he looked down from the heavenlies. She wanted him to know that she’d learned how to
smile again, although the ache of losing him still resided within her as a last link to a childhood she no longer coveted.
This was her chance to start growing up and Jesus knew it.
That
was why he’d given her the opportunity to begin to explore her own gifts and limits. It was time! Time to reach up,
to stretch out and see how far she could reach! Even if she couldn’t touch the star themselves, any more than
she had been able too the night Joseph lifted her on his shoulder to let her get nearer as she begged him to do. Jesus was doing the same thing for her spirit, and she giggled as she slept, briefly
drawing the attention of the soul-weary warrior. While her brother smiled within himself, watching them both without seeming
too.
They found a second crowd of people waiting in the center of town. Amongst the poorly dressed and merely curious, there
stood apart an armed escort of royal soldiers clustered around a solitary, tear-stained man who kept glancing around anxiously
as if he expected to be mobbed or murdered at any
second! Their own escort, Machba`nel ben Abishalom, excused himself politely and walked over to talk with the centurion heading
up the royal guard. From their high pitched greetings and loud back slapping, it was obvious that they were close friends.
But the man was still careful to turn sideways to where he could watch for the safety of the royal administrator he’d
accompanied from Tiberius to his home in Capernaum, and now south, to Cana. Names he knew too well from bitter experience
in Caesar’s army. He gave a small curse and pushed on his friend’s shoulder for support as the royal official
fell to the young rabbi’s feet with a fearful cry. He though Machba`nel’s restraining hand was to offer him further
support.
“ Adonai. My name is Chuza, I am an official to the king’s household. I heard
you were here and I have come all night to find you. Please sir! A moment of your time,please! “
At a movement of Jesus’ fingers, the crowd parted, stilled and expectant.
“ But I
have come to you as a beggar, a father who pleads for his only child’s life! Please sir, a moment of your time!
“
Even with Jesus’
assistance at his elbows, the exhausted man had a difficult time standing up. He gently urged Chuza to a stone jar where he could rest his feet and back.
“ I know that you are come from El Dhu Olam, The GOD of Eternity, sir!
Creator of the heavens and the earth and the author
of men’s souls! My son is dying! The physicians cannot help, I am undone. His mother will be killed by this loss and
I will be bereft of all that makes life worth living! “
He paused, gasping for breath. Encouraged when the younger man took hold of his shoulders and crouched down at eye
level, clearly listening to his half-inarticulate sobs.
“ If I have pleased you, if I have in any way done a good service to the
Heavenly One, Blessed
be His name… “
He stopped,
unable to block the flow of tears down his cheeks, soiling his expensive robes.
“ Come back to
Capernaum with me and heal my son, or he dies! “
Chuza
leaned forward against the shoulder of the younger man, weeping violently but having so strength or hope left in him
“ The heavens have not heard me. Will you come, Master? Come up there before my child dies.
“ He whispered, forsaken of all hope or dignity.
Jesus stroked the man’s head until he calmed, having made his last plea.
As the crowd fell back murmuring, Ahava was finally able to push her way to her brother’s side, leaving the reins for the patient gray donkey in her cousin’s hand.
“ Yes!
Yes! Heal him, master Magician! Show us a sign! “ A gray
haired man in wealthy clothing demanded from the
edge of the crowd. In his lap lay a scroll written with the oddly shaped text of the ancient words, the hand which held back
the linen curtain covered from knuckle to knuckle with gold rings and mounted with extravagant jewels flashing in the sunlight.
The
two burly men holding his litter stationary were beginning to be covered with a sheen of sweat but he never thought to instruct them to lower the conveyance since it would place him at mid-waist of the other watchers. But as Jesus helped the
grieving father to his feet, he silenced the speaker with a single hard look.
“ Unless you people see signs and wonders,
you simply will not believe. “ Chuza’s
gray chin beard struck the damp cloth of his travel tunic, thinking that he had failed in gaining the compassionate man’s help. He tried to raise his head but it felt like the weight
of the world was pushing it down. He was so ashamed of the arrogance that had driven him south. But his heart still ached
for the memory of his wife’s cries as the physicians walked away from their palace home, shaking their heads, unable
to heal the boy or even slow his steady decline into death. Chuza accepted the soiled cup of cool water from Ahava’s
hand, seeing the sympathy and compassion in the beautiful
child’s eyes. It only made him think of his beloved son David. Teardrops trembled from the old man’s beard as
he opened his mouth and tried to thank her, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in his futile attempt to speak.
“ LORD,
I am not worthy, but my son has done no wrong, he is but a youth and the joy and the reason for the beating of his mother’s
heart. Please overlook my offensiveness in making this demand of you. “He turned to go.
Jesus
bent his head to place his mouth beside the grieving man’s ear.
“ Go your way. Your son lives!
“ Hope instantly won out over the father’s fear as he painfully gripped the taller
man’s arms, staring intently into his eyes. Slowly he began to smile, drawing the scarred warrior near beside his regimented
friend.
“
Machba`nel! Machba`nel ben Abishalom, my dear friend! Have you come to see me home? David lives!
“ He exclaimed in purest joy, setting off a new buzz of voices as the country folk fell
back first from the tramping approach of the Roman guard.
“
Hurry! Hurry! I must get home to my wife and son. He lives! “
Retreating to the curt order from
the royal official, the Centurion turned, barking curt orders in Latin. A horse drawn chariot was wheeled into view as the
excited man ordered the charioteer to hand the reins to the travel stained Centurion at his side. Not being a Roman or a soldier,
he looked as if he would disobey but Machba`nel helped Chuza unto the shifting vehicle as the horses stepped sideways in nervous
anticipation, feeling a different hand on the reins, then he pulled up the burly driver, suggesting he help protect the burly
steward with his own body. Allowing the man to ride with his beloved treasures.
The
younger Tribune stood by the brightly painted spokes, asking the same question echoing in Machba`nel’s head.
“ You’re asking me to run my men into the ground. I need to know there is a good
reason for the destruction of so many valiant men, sir! “
Chuza looked at the pacing horses impatiently.
“
Follow at a speed you think good, I absolve you of all risk. My son is at my house in Capernaum even as we speak. I
have an excellent bodyguard to take me there. Meet me there and when we go back to Tiberius I will say a kind word for your
sincere care for the men under you and your unswerving loyalty, Centurion. But now, let me go! My son waits. “
Profoundly humbled by the father’s anxious
concern there was still a light of pleasure in the younger man’s eyes as he stepped away. Such a recommendation would
only stand him in good stead! With a speculative look over his shoulder at the unspectacular Jew who had given the portly
man such hope with a whisper, he called his men into as rapid but well paced retreat.
“ He didn’t
even say thank you. “ Jude Thaddeus complained softly as a means of rejoining himself to his cousins as they passed through the healed multitude
still lingering on streets and side roads to cheer them as they passed.
Ahava
looked up about to agree with him when she saw the lines of weariness on her brother’s face. Saying
goodbye to her brother’s new disciples was bittersweet experienced for Ahava as she clung to Jesus’ hand, half
afraid that he would follow the rough and boisterous men rather than help her to return to their mother’s house. It
seemed the most logical and manly of all things for him to do, after he’d made such a public beginning, healing so many people from the far edges of Judea and Galilee and even the Decapolis and Perea, which was as
far as her imagination could conceive, with his name on so many lips as the Chosen One of the Most High. But as she swallowed
hard and risked looking over his shoulder, she saw his face turn into the strong sunlight, his lips parting in a sweet and
tender smile, the light retuning to his eyes in a way that made her heart skip a beat. Part of him was still simply her meek
and loving older brother, but the very nature of the healings she’d witnessed and the ease with which He brought down
Heaven’s fullness to mere mortals left her in awe of the Person she guessed was merely cloaked in flesh.
Too aware that
she was only a girl, a woman, a female, demanding his personal attention by the grace of her having grown up in his mother’s
house, when she had nothing to say with that, she looked down to the bend of the cloth falling carelessly across his forearms,
to the slight hairs on his arms which caught and held the sunlight with a vibrancy and claim to flesh and blood that relieved
some of the superstitious awe creeping into her attitude toward him.
“
I’m here with you, Beloved. Where I’ll always be. “
His voice seemed strangely
loud over the pounding of blood in her ears, although she knew he hadn’t spoken in a louder voice than he normally used.
It was her keen sense of this moment in time and space, the blood rushing through her chest, the sounds of the birds and animals
as they moved around them, the passage of the slight breeze through the tops of the wild vines and grasses that she knew she’d
be able to recall in all their fleeting glory no matter how old a woman she became!
“ Thank you, adonai. “ She
whispered humbly, feeling the stone under her right foot as if it had suddenly become a boulder, and the glad cry of the speckled
puppy as he flushed out a bird hidden in a tall clump of grass nearby. her first warning that her brother had moved was the
tension on his hand and the way the cloth pulled as he leaned forward to touch his head to hers. It shocked her to realize
she’d gotten so much taller than she used to be, and she hadn’t even been watching it like she did last year!
“ I’m here with you, Beloved. Where I’ll always be. “
He repeated, and her heart nearly drowned in the sudden flood of joy.
“ Thank you again, adonai. “ She demanded
rakishly this time, breaking her handclasp with him unwillingly, but choosing to make her own step toward independence than
to hold so tightly that he had to break free of her. But as quickly as she did, she pressed a nearer to him, rewarded by his
smile of understanding. -
*
-
Tuesday,
halfway on their journey through the fertile valley toward the distant mountains they were met by servants who ran to Chuza
excitedly, calling him ‘Abba’ , nearly unable to speak from joy and exertion. And when he asked at what
hour David had begun to recover, they answered him ‘Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him!’
Chuza looked at Machba`nel in mute wonder and joy, tears coursing down his cheeks as he clasped and unclasped his hands
in front of him, raising the jeweled digits humbly into the air in thankfulness to the Unseen GOD and Machba`nel urged him
to allow the continued escort., so he could see his son as quickly as possible and reassure his wife Joanna of his joy as well.
“ You will stay at my house, you will be my honored friend! “
“ I’ll
stay until the Master returns. “
Chuza said
something under his breath, it looked as though he were repeating the word’ Master’ under his breath with new
reference and awe.
“ Surely the kingdom of GOD is come upon us, Ba’nel. How we have prayed for this day,
your father and I, but now its here! Did you ever expect to live to see it? “
Thinking of how recently last
winter he had almost died of rotting flesh he had to look away himself, near to unmanly tears, and he had to admit that no,
he hadn’t expected to see it in his lifetime.
That night
they stayed in the house of a wealthy merchant who listened to the excited father with polite interest and sent them on their
way with lavish gifts, but it was clear that for some, such a matter was only of interest to those in shul or scholars with
beards longer than their memories. Still, it was a treat to see Chuza reunited with his wife and only son, and when the boy
was excited about going to the Temple with his parents to give a small sacrifice from his own purse, Machba`nel joined them.
His muscles hardening with use and his mind a whirl with questions to ask Lady Tyra if she could get free to come to the royal
steward’s house before it was time to retrace their steps, this time along the Jordan, to be in Jerusalem in time for
Shavuot, and the sacred celebration of First fruits for the 50th day since Passover in Abib. Fifty
days? Hadn’t it been fifty months? It seemed that way!
-
*
-
Ahava expected Jesus to sleep, instead. He excused himself and went apart to pray. She napped to avoid the new sights
and insights rushing at her. Wakened by the anxious barking of the puppy, Ahava stretched slowly, expecting the weight of
her doubts but instead she simply felt rested and refreshed. While Jesus sat dangling his feet from a rock on the edge of
the deep hole, Ahava dove deeply into the chill, greenish water, examining the sway of the plant leaves that lived their entire
lives underwater There was a small, dark cave under a cleft in the rocks she would have loved to explore if it was a little
wider, but she regretfully passed it by, kicking upwards with powerful strokes. She could hear Jude Thaddeus stomping around
clumsily in the bushes behind them and she knew she’d have a moment to race out of the water, pulling the clinging cloth
away from her straightened form. Her brother didn’t have his prayer cloth over his head but he was looking skyward,
smiling in reverent repose as he seemed to be listening to a Voice only he could hear. Once she dried, she pulled a long toothed
comb through her hair and folded an unused cloak to put under her against the warmth of the sun warmed rock, Leaning against
his ribcage once raised his arm to make room for her, they quietly discussed the events of the last week.
Jesus seemed
excited being this near to home, so as soon as they showed they were ready, he struck out impatiently, laughing out loud for
the joy of it as he shared with his sister and younger cousin, to whom he’d always been closer than his own half-brothers.
Never had the courtyard of their house at the end of the street of carpenters looked so good as the shadows of the Nazarene
hills and the setting of the sun welcomed them in their cooling embrace. Then all too soon he left them and none
of His sister’s tears o His mother’s meaningful looks could stay Him from the people gathered in the nearby village
who needed the healing of His words and His work callused hands.
