Chapter 15

The first time it happened, only two men stood their ground and calmly waited for the hapless crew to draw near. They were Jesus and Simon. Simon had his jaw set and his big fists clenched to tighten his courage, but he stayed by Jesus’ side. And when the Master had spoken the words that healed them, Simon grasped the leader of the party by the hand. After they had turned to go, their faces contorted so you couldn’t rightly say whether they were laughing or weeping, Jesus gave Simon a comradely smile that made the Big Fisherman’s eyes swim. Jesus hadn’t said anything to him, but that approving smile had given him stature. Andrew, John, James, Philip, and Thaddeus, who had retreated to a safe distance, gathered about Simon with admiration on their faces. There was no longer any doubt which one of them deserved to stand closest beside their Master.

It was a quiet, awe-stricken crowd that slowly closed its broken ranks and listened again to the interrupted message of Jesus. Making no reference to the dangerous miracle he had performed, he continued to speak about the security of a life that is lived by faith. There were, he said, two habitations from which one might choose one’s place of spiritual residence. One of these houses was built upon the rock of faith: the rain might pour in torrents and the tempest might rage; but that house would stand firm, for it was founded upon a rock…’Upon a petros,’ he had added, for the benefit of whatever Greeks might be in the audience…The other house was built upon the sand; it might be good for fair weather, but it could not survive a storm.

That evening, after the people had been dismissed to return to their homes or their encampments, Jesus and his small party of companions rested after supper in the shelter of a grove on a secluded hillside. The Master sat a little way apart from the others, for he was very tired. But he listened to the low voices as they reviewed the unprecedented events of the day.

Philip, always proud of his Greek ancestry and his own familiarity with the language, remarked, ‘I wonder where he picks up his Greek words. He uses them frequently. Did you notice how he said “petros” when he talked about the rock?’

Nobody made any comment on that. They were tired of Philip’s Greek.

Then they fell to discussing again the marvellous powers of the Master and their speculations as to how he had come by these amazing gifts.

‘I was listening to one of these conversations in the crowd today,’ remarked Andrew. ‘One of the old men from Nain said he believed that Jesus is the great prophet Elisha returned in the flesh.’

‘Why Elisha?’ wondered the newest member of the group, one Judas from the town of Kerioth.