ALIVE: Chapter 158, Boldness Personified

Meanwhile, with the excitement of the healing of the leper still resonating in their minds and hearts, the holy group continued on their route to Jerusalem. Walking in silence, praying, thinking, hardly any talking but rather like a moving window into another world for all stationary life to see and contemplate Jesus and His followers floated slowly en masse, southward toward the City of David, the holiest place on earth. Like a homing pigeon Jesus was focused on the Temple Mount where Abraham was told to sacrifice his son Isaac and both were prepared to obey. Where since that day hundreds of thousands sacrifices for sins and thanksgiving were being made to reenact the humility of Father Abraham.

Three days later the Holy Window arrived in Bethlehem where many of them had friends and family to stay with. Mary was happy to have the chance to visit and stay with her cousin Salome, the daughter of her mother Anne’s sister. Salome not only invited the three Mary’s to stay with her, but she arranged for a village feast to fete their guests. The fatted calf, plenty of cured olives, and falafel, and plenty of wine united foreigners and locals in jubilation. That welcome of Mary and Jesus was an event long remembered.

As it turned out Bethlehem was also host to several Pharisees who were traveling north from Jerusalem. They sat at the long table with Jesus and several of His disciples. One Pharisee, a short chubby younger Pharisee  with curly golden hair from head to toe, from a wealthy family, sincere and faithful, who was sitting on the right side of Jesus turned to Him and asked, “Rabbi, tell me, when will the kingdom of God come?”

Jesus answered, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation. No one will say, ‘Look here! or, there! for the kingdom of God is within you.”

Hearing that, the young Pharisee looked at Jesus in awe and confusion. All his life he had been waiting for salvation from heaven to relieve the Jews from the oppression of Rome. He prayed for it, he cried for it. Often in the morning, he wondered if that would be the day that his world changed. And here this Man told him that the rule of God that he yearned for was within him all along. He grabbed a piece of bread from the nearby basket and and thought about that, and how it sounded so simple. A person’s soul can contain the Kingdom of God, everyone, and no one can capture it from him, unless the person allows it. Rome could dictate his moves, it could take his earnings, but it could not take his awareness of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from him, nor his faith or his inner worship. He liked this guy, Jesus. He could tell that He was wise.

Just as the chubby young Pharisee was feeling comfortable in himself and with Jesus, Jesus who also finished a piece of bread, said something that confused him again and shocked him.

He said, “And as during the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. In those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Then, one day, when God directed Noah, he and his family entered the ark. It rained, it poured. The people on the outside of the ark who laughed and criticized Noah building a boat miles away from and shore, dealt with the rain, and then tired of the rain, then were frightened by the rain, and then were drowned by the rains that never stopped. It was as if an ocean was propelled from heaven onto the earth. Where could all that water have come from?” Jesus paused to give the nearby people who were listening to him time to visualize the magnitude of the situation in those days, when the lives within each of the doomed had been nothing but strife and merriment, of gluttony and lusts.

“Then suddenly, one by one each person succumbed to the shock of drowning. No one knew how to swim, and even if they had known, there was no place to rest. There was no longer air to breathe, only water to fill their lungs with and it was over. All theirs fears and passions suddenly stopped and they awoke in the prison of hades.” Jesus paused again, and concluded, “So will be the coming of the Son of man.”

The chubby Pharisee, with dropped jaw and raised eyebrows looked at Jesus in fear, and asked, “Who is this Son of man, and what will He do?”

Jesus replied calmly, “You will find out. Just remember that the kingdom of God was perceived and nourished in the heart of Noah and his family. He become a dwelling worthy to receive the immense God who ruled in him, and he listened and obeyed. Noah was given many tests before the rains came and qualified himself in spite of the fact that the society all around him was vile, seeking only their own pleasures and warring with each other, clashing egos making unbearable dissonance to God’s ears. Yet, of all mankind, Noah maintained aloofness. He lived in a pure interior world, quiet, calm, distinct from natural man. That world was the kingdom that ruled him and saved him and ultimately all human life on earth.”

Hearing that, the chubby Pharisee bowed before Jesus, having been filled with the spirit of His words. The chubby man had been starved for such purity of heart and isolation from the attitudes, the fears, and hatred of his associates, which was why he often ate too much.

Knowing his thoughts Jesus added, “You may want to find a place of solitude my friend and discover what you crave. It is waiting for you there.”

The chubby Pharisee looked up to reveal his wet cheeks and simply nodded because he couldn’t speak. Jesus reached out His hand for his and they shook hands before the Pharisee got up from his seat and walked away with an inner healing.

……

After dropping His mother off in Jerusalem, Jesus and His disciples, and His entourage returned to Galilee, with people peeling off as they neared their homes, full of wisdom and peace in their hearts, ready to live as good Jews who knew their God better than ever before, they felt like unraveled yarn.

Sensing that the Jews sought to kill Him, He decided to stay in Galilee. Judea was too unsafe. He wasn’t ready. There were many more broken people to fix.

As the feast of the tabernacles was approaching, and they were sitting comfortably in Peter’s home talking after a big delicious supper where three of his cousins had come from Nazareth to visit, one of His cousins said, “Why don’t you go down to Judea to celebrate the feast? I’ve heard that there are many in those parts who still don’t know about Your powers. Let them see You. No man does anything in secret if he wants to be known openly, and You obvious want to be known openly, my cousin. Since You do these things, show the world!”

Several of His disciples hearing this cynical cousin started murmuring among themselves saying, “Who is this guy, and what is he doing here? He obviously doesn’t believe.”

Jesus replied calmly, “My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but Me it hates, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. You go down to the feast, not Me because my time is not yet fulfilled.”

The cousin answered with the same cynical and challenging tone of voice, ‘Fulfilled? What does that mean?”

Jesus answered, “You’ll find out. Now, it’s time for Me to rest. Please excuse Me, I’m going to bed.”

Jesus passed Bartholomew, Phillip and Andrew on His way to the bedroom. Phillip stopped Him and asked, “Do you mind if a few of us go to the feast with them?”

“No.” replied Jesus, “Go, and have a good time.”

“Thank you. We may leave in the morning but we’ll be back, will you stay here?”

Jesus said, “We will find each other. Good night.”

“Good night.”

When His disciples left the next morning and Jesus was in prayer with His Father, He was told to go to the feast after all, but secretly, so no one knew Him. Somehow, He managed to disguise Himself in the caravan.

Jesus arrived in Jerusalem just as the feast was about to begin and the city was packed with visitors. While He was walking through the crowd He heard people murmuring about Him. They were looking for Him, assuming He would be there. “Where is He?” Where is He?” “Have you seen Him? No?”  “Have you seen Him? No?”

“He is such a good man! I hope I find Him.”

“Me too, I’ve met Him before. I saw him heal a deaf person! It was amazing! I want to see a miracle again!”

A cynical man said, “Don’t be ridiculous! He is just a magician. He has demons, that’s how he does those things! He is deceiving the people and making them want the wrong things. He is leading them astray, but not me. I know his number!”

“How can you say that?”

All these murmurings among the people passed through the crowds like a spring breeze. The conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees and Scribes was well known. It was a subtle war; no one among the people wanted to add fuel to the fire. They were afraid of the Jews.

“If I defend him openly,” thought Asa, “I may not be given my seat in the synagogue.”.

“If I criticize Him openly, the healed people and His defenders many try to stone me.” thought Asher.

So the majority of the people, being cowards, kept silent as if God was not in their midst. As if they were mere trees standing still with deep roots in the earth, oblivious to the myriad of mammals that moved from place to place, from shade to sunshine. Instead, the massive tree simply endures whatever weather affects it, even hurricanes, and if it falls and is uprooted, so be it.

Meanwhile, Jesus exposed Himself at the feast, neither cowering at the threats of the elite, nor keeping His distance from His enemies. He boldly walked into the temple and taught.

The local Jews who regularly went to the temple to pray to the God of faithful Abraham, trusting Isaac, and Jacob, the patient father of all the tribes of Israel, therefore marveled having found Him, and then murmured to each other saying, “How does this man know so much about God when He was never even schooled?”

Jesus, without hearing their words nevertheless intuited them and replied by answering for Himself saying, “My teaching is not Mine, but His that sent Me. If any man chooses to do His will, He too will know whether My teaching is of God, or whether I speak from Myself. The man that speaks from himself seeks his own glory: but he that wants only to Glorify God, Who sent him, speaks truth, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

Among the fifty or so people listening to Him speaking in the temple there were the sincerely curious, the reverent, the humble who went through this earthly life absorbing as much wisdom as possible, to give meaning and purpose to their lives, and there were the haughty who looked for and of course, found fault in whatever any teacher was saying, always thinking that they knew best.

Speaking to both the high and the humble, Jesus confidently said, “Didn’t Moses give you the law to follow, to be the people of God that He wants you to be, and yet none of you obeys the law?” Yes, that was an insult, but it was a true statement because the law was deep and rich, specific and high. So high that no one could reach it. The Pharisees and Scribes thought they were reaching it by pulling it down to a reachable level, as when they accused Jesus of breaking the law by healing on the Sabbath. They had convinced themselves that they had come down from Mount Sinai with Moses, when instead they were as impatient and self-centered as the those at the foot of the mountain, fashioning the golden calf.

Without hesitating after that bold statement, because He knew that those He was speaking to were not capable of considering the accusation, went on to say, “Why do you want to kill me?”

Asher replied out loud what most of the people were thinking, “You are crazy, you must have a demons! Who wants to kill you?”

Jesus replied, “I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses gave you circumcision; actually circumcision did not originate with Moses, but from Abraham; and on the sabbath you circumcise a man. Well then, If a man is circumcised on the sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken; why are you angry with Me, when I make a man whole on the sabbath? Judge not according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Saying that, Jesus challenged those who had free ears to hear, and minds to think, to study and understand righteousness. He wanted the people to stop accepting the false interpretation of Sabbath rest, to become aware of the institutional hypocrisy. Jesus was speaking directly to the Pharisees who were out to get rid of Him.

Hearing that, Asa turned to Simon standing beside him and said, “Is this the man they want to kill?”

Simon replied, “I think so, and I can see why.”

Asa said, “But look, He is speaking openly here in the temple and look over there at those Pharisees, they aren’t even defending their position. Do they have no defense, or do you think the rulers know that He is the Messiah?”

Simon was surprised at the notion that this cocky Man could be the Messiah. Simon couldn’t accept such an outrageous concept so he replied, “This man is from Galilee, He has a mother and father. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where He came from. He will probably come down from heaven. Right?”

Again, intuiting that sentiment from Simon and probably from several others in that group, Jesus said loud enough for most people to hear, “You know Me, and most of you know where I came from. What you don’t know is that I did not come from Myself, but from He that sent me. He is True, and you don’t know Him.

Asher heard that and was shocked.

Jesus continued, “I know Him; because I am from Him, and He sent me.”

Asher said, “Come on this man is speaking blasphemy, let’s get him! We can’t stand to hear these things that He is saying.”

Meanwhile, in the same group there were others, men and women, young and old, who sensed that Jesus could be the Messiah. Those were the followers in the crowd who had seen and heard Him heal people and do many supernatural things that they could not do. He was always honoring God, so He could not be a magician.

Sarah turned to her friend Debra and said in a low voice, “When the Messiah comes, will He do more signs than those which you and I have seen this Man do?” Debra replied, “I know. Shhhh.” Both ladies were perplexed and feared the angry men among them.

Meanwhile, Asher tried to rally some men to his side and capture Jesus and send him to  be tried by the chief priest. But, as much as he wanted to, he had to hold back. No one else was willing to capture Jesus in that mixed crowd, because His hour had not come. The Father would not allow it then.

Amidst the hubbub of chatter of opinions about Him, Jesus slipped away.

Two Pharisees slipped out as well and went to the chief priest’s quarters. When they found him, their spokesman said, “We must do something about this man called Jesus! We can’t go on like this. He is disrupting our whole system. People don’t know what to believe. He calls God His Father. He claims that He speaks for God! There will be nothing left of us and our religion if we allow Him to continue like this. Too many people even believe He is the Messiah. We must put an end to it. To Him!”

The tall bald chief priest listened in agreement and replied, “I know. You’re right. Let’s get the Roman officers to arrest Him. Let’s go now while He is still in town.” The Pharisees along with two chief priests left their temple quarters and walked through the village to the magistrate’s office. Finding an officer at his desk they said, “We want you to arrest the man who calls himself Jesus for violating the laws of Moses, and for blasphemy.”

The officer knew that he could not arrest Jesus on those grounds, but to pacify the Jewish leaders he said he would go and look for Jesus.

“Thank you, let’s go.” said the angriest of the Pharisees who first went back into the temple, and not finding him there went into the streets to look for Jesus.

Oddly enough, they spotted Him not far from the magistrate’s office.

“Hey you!” shouted the angriest Pharisee to Jesus.

Jesus turned to see who was calling Him and replied, “Yes?”

The tall priest took over and replied loudly, “We found you. Now we want to talk with you, come here.

Jesus approached the hostile men. The officer not knowing exactly what to do, since Jesus had not broken any Roman law, just stood there trying to look official. He said, “Where are you going? We need to know your whereabouts while you are here.

Jesus replied, “Yet a little while am I with you, and I go to Him that sent me. You will seek me, and will not find me: and where I am, you cannot come.”

Another chief priest murmured, “Where can this Man go that we cannot not find Him?”

The Pharisee replied with another question, “Will he go out into the Diaspora among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?” The priest said, “What can He mean by ‘You will seek Me, and not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come?”

The officer decided to step in and put an end to this petty strife. “Look mister,” he said looking Jesus in the eyes, “I think it is best that you leave town. I don’t care where you go, just go.”

The two frustrated angry Pharisees had to accept a loss.

“Thank you officer.” He said looking at the officer, then turning to the Pharisees and the priests, He said, “Gentlemen, excuse me, I’ll be on my way. Good day.” And He turned and walked toward the sunset, smiling to Himself.

The following day was the last day of the feast and Jesus boldly went to the center of the city square. His disciples were surprised to see Him there. In all the crowds they somehow hadn’t seen Him all week.

Where Jesus stood His personal power was so strong that it created a clearing around Him. He cried aloud, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He that believes in Me, as the scripture says, ‘From within him shall flow rivers of living water.”

Reader, Jesus was speaking this of the Spirit, which they that believed in Him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Again the crowd was mixed. Some were in awe and wonder, while others ridiculed such a dramatic statement. But here we are, almost two thousand years later, and isn’t it the same? Some people are ridiculing or ignoring Him, the same man Jesus, while others indeed have living rivers flowing from within them.