Chapter 27

‘They help you tell the story,’ said Simon. ‘It means more to them that way. Don’t ever try to improve your Greek, Peter,’ he added. ‘It’s much better when it’s not so good.’

Those were blessed days—at Joppa. Not only had they brought fresh courage to the hard-pressed slaves, who, to all outward appearance, were irretrievably doomed, but they had renewed Peter’s faith in the inevitable victory of the Kingdom…Perhaps it wasn’t going to be so difficult, after all! Perhaps the world would accept it sooner than he had thought! The unhappy people of every nation needed only to be told that peace and freedom were about to come—and with faith in that promise their yokes would be easy and their burdens light.

‘Surely,’ Peter had remarked to the old Tanner, ‘if these enslaved men of Joppa, who live such wretched lives, can believe in the world’s liberation and look forward with confidence to the future, it shouldn’t be so difficult for the more fortunate to accept the promise.’

‘I think you are in error there, my friend,’ Simon had replied. ‘It is the faith of the beaten men in chains, for whom all human reliances have failed, that will hasten the coming of the Kingdom.’

Late one afternoon—it turned out to be Peter’s last day in Joppa—he climbed the narrow stairs to the flat roof of the Tanner’s house to meditate in private. It was not yet supper-time, but he was hungry; very hungry. Simon was a frail old man who didn’t require much food. Peter’s appetite was robust. He found himself thinking about Hannah’s table. There was always more than enough to eat. Sometimes he and Andy would buy a fat lamb and roast it over a glowing fire in their back yard. He wished he were at home in Bethsaida now!…While he daydreamed, he grew drowsy, stretched out comfortably in the big chair—and slept. The well-pastured sheep and sleek calves of Galilee strolled into his dream. Here came a spring lamb that he might buy. But now the coveted lamb moved on and all the sheep and calves were gone. Presently some other animals appeared: strange, misshapen, repulsive beasts. Peter scowled with disgust.

Someone in the chair opposite chuckled a little.

‘If you are so hungry, Peter,’ remarked the visitor, ‘how about slaughtering one of these?’

‘Ugh!’ Peter heard himself muttering.

His dream companion laughed softly and Peter gazed in that direction to see what manner of man he was. The newcomer was a well-favoured youth, elegantly clad in white, with a broad band of gold encircling his head and a gold cross on the breast of his tunic.

‘You should make the acquaintance of these animals,’ said the youth, with a smile. ‘They’re not to be found in Galilee or Judaea, but you will encounter them. This is a big world, Peter, and it all belongs to our Father…That tall, ungainly beast is a giraffe—and the short, not-very-pretty one behind it is a wart hog. The next one is an ant-eater and beside it is a rhinoceros—’

‘They’re loathsome!’ mumbled Peter.

‘And the one on this side of the wart hog,’ continued the Angel, undisturbed by Peter’s interruption, ‘is a chimpanzee. Looks a little like a man, does he not? And the creature shuffling along behind him really is a man, even if lacking somewhat in refinement.’

‘What’s all this about?’ demanded Peter crossly.

The mysterious visitor drew his chair nearer and when he spoke his tone was serious.

‘Peter—I have been sent to say that you have been entrusted with a very important mission. It will take you to far places and you will meet all manner of God’s creatures. You must learn to say to yourself, “God either created all of us—or none of us!” The Master intends his Kingdom to serve the whole world. If it is not open to everybody, it is not open to anybody! I was sent to tell you this.’

Peter came wide awake now and found himself alone. Good old Simon’s white head appeared at the top of the stairs.

‘There are three strangers here to see you,’ he said. ‘They are from Caesarea.’

‘What can men of Caesarea want of me?’ muttered Peter crossly.

‘Perhaps they will tell you,’ said Simon, retreating down the stairs.

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