ALIVE: Chapter 122 The Inside of Capernaum

When the place was quiet again, Jesus and His men came out of their rooms to join Athanasee and his wife in the great room. They looked up at the open ceiling. 

“I am sorry this happened to your home Athanasee. I can help to repair your roof? I am very good with a hammer and saw.” said Jesus. The disciples all nodded to volunteer too. 

“No, no. We probably needed a new roof anyway. But thank you. You have your more important work to do. I will find builders to take care of this.” Athanasee’s wife looked at her husband curiously, and then nodded in agreement. 

“I am very sorry this happened to your home, we will leave you to it though. Please don’t hesitate to let us know what we can do to repay you.” added Andrew. 

“Son,” said Athanasee turning to Jesus, “Your presence blesses this home, and my household. What is a roof? Now go about your day, today we will see about a new roof, and tomorrow we celebrate with a fatted calf. Go, find more people to heal and to bless. This world of ours needs You more than it needs roofs.”

Athanasee’s wife, to confirm what her husband said hugged Jesus like a son. He returned her hug and she felt a warm glow emanate from her heart. The sensation was accompanied by pure joy and wonderment. It was a feeling that she would recall until the day she died. 

The men all thanked Athanasee and filed out the front door to head back to the sea. The troupe was easy to spot. Anyone who could break away from what he or she was doing joined them to see what would happen, and to hear what the Teacher had to say.  From time to time Jesus stopped and looked around at the crowd that His presence amassed. He felt His Father’s pleasure that so many people craved Wisdom, and sadness too that there was so much suffering. But He kept walking. 

As they were approaching a toll booth Jesus spotted the man He came for. Like Simon Peter, this man had two names, some called him Levi others called him Matthew. He was a tax collector. Jesus instinctively knew this man from inside and out. He could read him, his joys, his fears, what made him harsh, what made him greedy, but he knew his goodness too. Levi was ready for a change in his life. 

Jesus approached Levi and looked him in the eye with a look that like a magnet sucked the deepest contents of his mind and heart up to the surface. He said, “Come, follow Me. Join us.”

At first, Levi was astonished, then he melted. He was speechless. Someone, not just someone, but this healer wanted him. He was used to being shunned. More mysteriously though, the concept of dropping everything had been haunting him.  He was tired of cheating people, and he didn’t know why he did it. He had everything he needed. Guilt. Was it guilt, was it a desire to repent?

After several moments deliberating with himself Matthew replied, “I will.” He rose up. Placed all his coins in the box, put it under his arm, and said, “Let’s go.” 

The crowd looked in awe. What! Matthew the terrorist is abandoning his cushy job? They were pleased. One less threat. 

“Come to my house. I will make a big feast to mark my new life. Yes, I am going to do this. I am. Thank you for this.” proclaimed the new Matthew. To himself he added, ‘How did He know how ready I was?’

As the word spread that Levi was leaving his dastardly duty, and that he was offering a feast (using the money he extorted from many of them) the moving group grew bigger and bigger and finally arrived at his house. The guests chipped in to set up, and some women brought the stews they had been preparing for their families. Others brought tables and chairs. It seemed as if the whole town of Capernaum was there. From publicans to prostitutes, scribes of the Pharisees to fishermen all assembled for the celebration of soon being rid of the tax collector. Some feared the man who would take the job, others wanted the job. 

By sunset the goats, turning and turning on the spit, were just about done. Mouths were watering in anticipation of the hearty meal ahead. 

Jesus, His disciples with his newest disciple Matthew were seated scattered among the people. Even a disciple of John named James, son of Alpheus, came with his brother who he was visiting. James was seated to the left of Jesus with his brother to his left. He turned to Jesus and asked Him,  “With all due respect, may I ask you something?” Jesus replied, “Speak.” James mustered up the courage to ask, because he didn’t want to offend the Master, but the question had been gnawing at him, “My name is James, I am a disciple of John, very pleased to meet you.”

Jesus answered, “How is John? What brings you to Capernaum?”

James replied, “John is well. I came to visit my brother here,” he said introducing his brother with a nod. “He is a fisherman. My question is this. We disciples of John fast frequently, as do the disciples of the Pharisees. But...” and he scanned the crowd who were all eagerly anticipating the feast “your disciples don’t fast, at least that’s what I heard. Why not?”

Jesus paused to frame his reply, James patiently waited. Jesus said, “Can the sons of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? No. As long as the bridegroom is with them, they celebrate. But the days will come, when the bridegroom is gone, then they will fast.” James was confused by that answer. Was Jesus calling Himself a bridegroom? How odd? Where was the bride? When is the wedding?

Jesus saw the confused expression on James’ face, and decided to answer in a different way. James looked at him attentively with a slightly furrowed brow that betrayed his confusion. 

“Let Me explain it this way James. When a man has a rip in his cloak, and he goes to mend it, he uses another old cloth as a patch. If he used a new cloth, when the cloak is washed, the new cloth will shrink, and the cloak will be easily torn.” Jesus look for comprehension in Jame’s face. His furrowed brow both amused and frustrated Jesus. James was afraid to voice his confusion. ‘Did Jesus refer to Himself as a new piece of cloth? Yes, He is certainly different than anyone he had known, but cloth?!.’

Jesus decided to try one more time. “James, no one puts new wine in an old wineskin, or else the wine will burst the skin (which couldn’t stretch any more.) They put new wine in a fresh wine skin, right?”

James smiled a big toothy smile that reflected either that he finally got it or that he was going to give up. He said, “Yes! I have seen that happen! When the wine ferments poof! all over the place!” And he chuckled. 

Jesus chuckled with him. James went for the glass of wine before him and took a big swig. Jesus lifted his glass too and drank.

Meanwhile, a scribe of the most important Pharisee in Capernaum who was sitting next to Peter across the table from Jesus and Jude turned to Peter with his mouth still chewing a chunk of meat, leaned into his ear and said, “Aren’t you embarrassed? Look at your master over there eating and drinking with sinners and publicans.”  

From where He sat across from them, despite that the room was filled with chatter, Jesus managed to hear the criticism. He looked at the scribe, and as if on cue everyone at their table stopped talking. To the scribe Jesus said matter-of-factly, “They that are healthy have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. Think about what this means I desire mercy, and not sacrifice: for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners (like you) to repentance.”

The sinners chuckled. Peter smiled and nodded confidently at the good push-back. The scribe shrugged his shoulders and took another big bite of meat. The moment passed like a fly out of the room, but the power of those words lingered through the centuries, through the rise and fall of Byzantium, passed Magellan, those words were contemplated by Columbus while bravely crossing the Atlantic Ocean, it stuck in the hearts of the pilgrims, and hovered over the earth during world wars and peace treaties, gaining strength as it traveled through time, being stamped on scrolls, on parchment, on paper, in books and on computers and swam through the internet. “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

Matthew heard those words with shame, but also with abandonment. He knew he needed to give his all, his home, his wealth, his heart to Jesus, to be healed of his greed and arrogance and to be forgiven. Mercy or sacrifice? Jesus didn’t want his money, or his sacrificial lambs. He wanted Matthew to have pity and compassion for others. For those he had cheated to proof his change of heart. 

That night as James, the disciple of John, lay in his bed at his brother’s home waiting for sleep to whisk him away to the dark place of rest for his body and mind, he thought more about the wine and wine skins, the bridegroom and the cloth. ‘How exactly does this relate to fasting? Why do we have to fast? Who is this man Jesus? James reached deep into his mind and further into his heart for the answers. We fast to discipline ourselves. To control our passions. If I can say No I won’t eat that meat, or that cake, then I am training myself to say No to myself. With that same discipline I can refrain from lingering on that angry or prideful thought. If I can say NO to myself, then I can become strong enough to say NO to the demons that try to manipulate me through my thoughts. That’s why I fast. 

But Jesus, that powerful Man has complete mastery over the devil. It is so obvious that He is not bothered in the least with the destructive temptations of the demons. How else could He heal, how else could He know so much about God? He doesn’t need to fast because He has already has the strength, the power that is the objective of our fasting. And His disciples being with Him, near Him are also protected by His power and His purity. 

Bridegroom? He called Himself a bridegroom. How strange? True, no one fasts at a wedding. It is the time of celebration of joy that two people become as one; that love united them. Being with Jesus, especially being His disciple is as being one with Him. His love joins people to Him, a cause for joy, but also because of His purity, His power over evil. To be one with Him is like being free from the evil temptation. ...as long as we are physically together. 

Okay, I am beginning to understand. Maybe I am the bride! Oh, that’s absurd. I am a man. I understand this and I don’t accept that. Okay, what else did He say? Ummm?  He is the new wine that should only be placed in a new wineskin. Would that I could become, that I could be a new wineskin. Cloth - likeness.  Old to old, new to new. He is new, like a new kind of person. This must explain why the scribes and their Pharisees reject Him. They are old wineskin, set in their ways. They are prideful and arrogant, stiff necked. I have so much to learn from this Man. Perhaps, I should follow Him. I must follow Him to really understand these strange words.’ In all that mental rambling James slipped into a deep sleep. 

He woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, feeling ‘new’. Such as he had never felt before. He told his brother that he had to go and find Jesus. He wouldn’t be back. 

James hugged his brother good bye and walked out into the village. He decided to go back to the tax collector’s house to see if Jesus was still there.  He knocked on the door, and sure enough, John opened. 

He said, “Hello, my name is James. I was at the feast last night. I want to join you. Do you have room for one more?”

“Come in,” replied John. Jesus is not here, but he will be back. Do you want to come in and wait for him?”

James still standing at the entrance looked around at the clean-up crew, and said, “I can help.”

Nathanael, hearing that looked up and said, “Good, come help me move this table.”

About an hour later Jesus walked into the house. He was so quiet that no one noticed. 

‘Ah, James!  Good to see you again. What can I do for you?” said Jesus knowing very well why James was there. 

“I want to join You. May I?”

“Of course you may, but do you want to tell John the baptizer first?”

“No, he will understand when he finds out. If I see anyone going to him, I will send the message, but I don’t want to leave you, even for a few days.”

“That’s fine. Peter!” called Jesus.”This is James, we met last night and now he wants to join us. He was a disciple of John. Will you fill him in on what my disciples do?”

Peter smiled inside and out to think of how much shock this guy was in for. Then turning to James he said, “Sure. James, let’s go for a walk. I want to go to the baker and get some bread for the house.”

As the two men walked out the door, Jesus heard Peter ask James what he did with John as the two men were walking away. 

As they were walking Peter said, “Get ready to piss off the Pharisees. I know He does this on purpose to goad them. It’s His favorite past time. He just won’t let them get away with their hubris.”

“What do you mean?” asked James. 

Peter thought for a minute, and while walking and talking said, “Yep! Perfect example. A few weeks ago. We were walking from one village to another, I don’t even remember which, we have been to so many. It was a Sabbath which was bad enough, you know, just to be walking, after leaving a synagogue. A few  Pharisees followed us to see where we were going. They love to do that, like spies, always looking for something Jesus does wrong. Jesus said, kind of loud for them to hear, ‘Who else is hungry?’ Come to think of it I was, and the others one by one caught on and agreed. Jesus said, ‘Look, there’s a field of grain, let’s eat. So we headed to the field, sneaking a peak back to make sure they were watching, which they were, even daring to come closer.”

James started to chuckle, because he guessed what was coming. 

Peter continued, “We started picking at the grain and eating it! Didn’t taste very good, but we followed Jesus’ lead and pretended that we were ravenous, eating those hard kernels. Next thing we knew, these three Pharisees, without their scribes, come rushing up to us. With all the arrogance they could muster, the shortest Pharisee said, ‘That’s illegal! And it’s Sabbath. What are you doing? Criminals every one of you! How can you even call yourselves Jews!’

“We stopped chewing on the kernels, frankly, I spit it out. It was a showdown. Nathanael and Phillip just kept chewing and grabbed more. Anyway, Jesus looked at them calmly as if He was giving them the weather report, and said, ‘Haven’t you read the Scripture? Remember when David and his men were hungry, they went into the temple and ate the showbread...which by the way, probably tasted a heck of a lot better than those pellets of grain! Jesus went on to show them how poorly they interpret the Scripture. ‘Was that legal? NO! You must know that only the priests can eat the showbread. Right?!’ He says. ‘Didn’t you read that on the sabbath day, the priests profane the sabbath themselves by performing the service, and they are guiltless.’ Then He was quiet, and waited for their come-back.”

James was fascinated. He asked, “What did they say?”

Peter replied, “Nothing! They were stone silent! So, Jesus just to anger them even more... and with a hearty laugh, Peter went on, ‘He really knows how to infuriate them! He says, ‘One greater than the temple is here.’ Referring to Himself, which after all I have seen was the absolute truth. I was watching their faces turning redder and redder. I was surprised that the little guy didn’t try to hit Him. But that’s what we are here for, body guards. You look strong Jude.”

James smiled because he was strong. 

“You know James, you think that you picked Jesus, but soon you will realize that He picked you.”

James replied, “You’re probably right.”

Peter concluded. “Then, to rub it in even more Jesus said, ‘One greater than the temple stands in front of you. If as knowledgeable as you think you are, evidently you don’t even know the meaning of the scripture that says ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ Maybe if you understood what that means, you wouldn’t have been so foolish as to condemn the guiltless.’ Then He said, and I was really sure He was going to get it, He said, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. Besides,’  then He hit them with one last dig and it was big, He said, ‘For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.’ Now He was right, but they refused to see it.”

James said, “So then did they start fighting?”

Peter replied, “No, the other two Pharisees, held the short one back. Jesus plucked a few more grains and popped them in His mouth. As they walked away, I think I heard the little guy say, “We will get him, that guy doesn’t have long to live. Not today, but I will have the last word!” 

James said, “Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Honestly, yes it does. But is doesn’t bother Him, so we just take it.”

By then the two new friends reached the ovens where James offered to pay for five loaves of bread.