The Redeemer (22 page)

Chattering could be heard throughout the crowd.

“Show us something,” said the Pharisee. “What sign will You give that we may see it and believe You?”

“He’s right. What wonder can You do?” someone else called out. “Prove it. You’re just bragging if You can’t.”

“God gave our ancestors the sign they needed in the desert,” said the teacher of the Law. “Moses gave them manna to eat when there was no food in the wilderness. We haven’t had lunch yet. Let’s see what You can do.”

More crowd chattering.

“Are your brains in your stomach?” Jesus rebuked them. “This day My Father gives you the true bread from heaven that gives life to the world.”

“No problem. Just show us this bread; then maybe we’ll believe You.”

“I am the Bread of Life.”

“Sure You are, and I’m a jug of olive oil.”

Chatter, titter, chatter.

“Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.”

The priests clucked their tongues and rolled their eyes.

The disciples closed theirs and hoped this wasn’t going to turn into a riot.

I held my breath and hoped someone would change the subject.

“So that’s it,” the priest mocked. “We’ve been wondering who You are; now we know. You’re a loaf of bread.”

Some struggled not to laugh at the priest’s attempt at humor. Others struggled
to
laugh, depending on which end of the religious/ political spectrum one might be. Jesus did neither.

“You have seen Me and still you do not believe. I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me.”

“Which is?”

“My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

If the religious leaders came looking for a reason to be offended, Jesus did not disappoint.

“Can you believe the nerve?” asked an elder. “How dare He say He can raise the dead on the last day. Does He think He’s God?”

Yes, He does actually.

“Jesus has lived around here all His life. How can he say He came down from heaven?” another spoke up. “Does He think we don’t know all about Him and His family?”

“I tell you, whoever believes in Me has eternal life.” Jesus would not back down. “I am the Bread of Life come down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.”

“You’re talking nonsense. If this bread exists outside of Your overdeveloped imagination, go ahead, slice it up, and we’ll be happy to eat it.”

The disciples were beginning to fidget, and I was beginning to hyperventilate.

Low profile, Jesus. Let it pass. You’ve made Your point, and they didn’t get it. Anything else You say will only make it worse.

And did He ever.

“This bread is my flesh,” Jesus said defiantly, “which I will give for the life of the world.”

“Disgusting,” said a priest as he spat on the ground.

“Did He threaten to make us eat His flesh?”

“What are we, cannibals?”

Fearing a showdown between Jesus and the priests, Peter stepped between Him and the crowd and tried to defuse the escalating situation.

“This discussion has been fascinating—great metaphors—but we really have to be going now. Look at the time. There are mouths to feed, dead to raise. You know how it is; a Messiah’s work is never done.”

Please, Jesus, listen to Peter. He’s not right all that often; seize the moment.

Jesus gently but firmly pushed Peter and me to the side as He got eye to eye with the highest-ranking priest, the right-hand man to Caiaphas. The spiritual energy emanating from Jesus was palpable. The crowd hushed, and every person took a step back. The priest looked like he might run. I felt his pain. If Jesus had looked at me the way He looked at him, run is exactly what I would have done. Jesus spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I tell you, unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you will have no life in you.”

Gasp. Shock. Dismay.

Reading the crowd, John took Jesus’ arm and pleaded, “Please, let’s get out of here. Leave it lie. They don’t understand You.”

“Then let me be clear,” Jesus replied as He freed Himself from John’s grasp and moved an inch closer to the priest’s nose. “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on Me will live forever.”

I was afraid the crowd might stone Him right then and there. I slipped over and hid behind Peter. When no one moved, I realized all of them—followers of Jesus, antagonists, religious leaders, even disciples—were stunned beyond reacting. If Jesus had stayed up all night thinking of how He could most effectively offend and alienate a group of people, He couldn’t have come up with anything more potent than what He said. I just had to do something. I ventured out from behind Peter and stood in front of Jesus.

“Permission to speak candidly, my Lord?”

I took His lack of response as a yes.

“What are You thinking? Could there be anything more repugnant to a Jew—or any person for that matter—than being told to eat flesh and drink blood? The word
vampire
comes to mind. Do You realize what You’ve done? Those who thought You might be crazy are now sure of it. The Pharisees who have accused You of leading a cult now have Your own words as evidence.”

Slowly the crowd broke up. As people left, some shook their heads in confusion. The priests, elders, and other religious leaders had nothing more to say. A few feet away a contingent gathered. I didn’t go over, but they were obviously discussing what Jesus had said. I recognized them as a group of seventy-two who were being specially trained by Jesus to take His ministry into the outlying areas. One named Jeremiah had become the informal leader. When I saw him motion Peter to step aside with him, I feared the worst.

“What just happened here?”

“I—uh, I’m not sure,” Peter vacillated.

“You know how loyal we are to Jesus.”

Peter nodded.

“What provoked Him to talk that way to our religious leaders? Did His words sound like something a sane person would say?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Peter. You heard Him. Are you saying you had no problem with it?”

“It’s a hard teaching. You have to accept it.”

“I don’t know anyone who could accept it.”

“Don’t go there, Jeremiah. Remember what it was like when you ministered in His name, how even the demons had to obey you? Where do you think you got that power?”

“He’s changed since then.”

Peter looked from Jeremiah to the rest of his men gathered nearby.

“Are they with you on this?”

“Not all, but most are. Sorry, Peter, this is as far as we go.”

Jeremiah saluted Peter then turned and quickly walked away. About fifty of the group went with him. The others stayed where they were but didn’t venture closer to Peter or to Jesus. Peter walked a ways down the road, kicking the small rocks that covered the streets of Capernaum. Finally, he took a deep breath and headed back to the place where Jesus was waiting. When Judas saw Peter coming back, he intercepted him.

“What did Jeremiah say?”

“He said they’re done.”

“I knew it. Listen, you’ve got to do something. We need them. We’re outnumbered as it is.”

Peter shrugged and kept walking. Judas grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around.

“You want to be the leader? Fine, then lead.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what everybody thinks and nobody has the nerve to say. Jesus is getting out of hand. We’re not at war with the Sanhedrin or the priests. Why does He continue to provoke them? Can you blame them for being offended?”

Judas was unaware that Jesus had walked up behind him and heard every word.

“And what about you, Judas?” Jesus asked. “Do I offend you as well?”

“Rabbi, I…” Judas stammered.

“The words I spoke are true. There are some who will not believe unless I meet their expectations. The road in front of us is a hard one. No one can come with Me unless My Father has chosen him. From now on it will be difficult to be My disciple. What you saw happen today was My Father’s winnowing fork, sorting out those who are weak in their faith. Before it is done, I will bring greater offense than this.”

“Yes, Rabbi.” Judas gave a slight bow to Jesus then turned and ran away.

Peter called after him.

“Wait, Judas. We need to talk.”

“Let him find his own way,” Jesus said. “Tell me something, Peter. Do you want to leave Me too?”

“Leave you?” Peter spoke hoarsely and looked away.

Oh, no. Peter, not you too?

After a moment, Peter turned his face to Jesus.

“Sometimes I wish I didn’t know who You are. Then it would be easy. But I do know. And because I believe, where else would I go? There’s no one else.”

Jesus put His arm around Peter, and they walked away. I watched them and imagined that I was under Jesus’ other arm.

C
HAPTER 26

W
E SPENT THE
night at Peter’s house in Capernaum. Jesus had a mat to Himself, but the disciples were scattered all over the floor and porch, wherever they could find a place. I sat at the foot of Jesus’ mat, hoping that I could fall asleep again. I hadn’t been able to do it except that one time when Jesus was just getting started in His public ministry. I wondered why it never happened afterward. Here’s my theory. It was Jesus’ way of letting me know He was aware of me without outright acknowledging me. He knew I was wishing for sleep, so He allowed it to happen once to send me a signal that He could help me. I know how it sounds: delusional; that’s what Satan would say. Maybe it is considering Jesus has never one time said or done anything to confirm my theory.

Jesus roused everyone up early the next morning. Some were complaining about a lack of sleep.

“I feel like I just went to bed,” Thaddeus murmured. “Where are we going that we have to get up before the chickens?”

You’re such a wimp complaining because you didn’t get enough sleep for one night. I haven’t slept but one night in ten thousand years. Do you hear me grousing about it out loud?

Soon we were following Jesus down the road to Jerusalem. A few miles from the city, He called for a rest stop and told the men to gather round Him because He had something to tell them.

“It makes me nervous when He does this,” James whispered.

“It can’t be any worse than what He said yesterday,” Matthew answered.

When everyone sat down, Jesus began to talk.

“I want to prepare you for what’s going to happen when we get to Jerusalem.”

No one moved.

“I will ride into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey in fulfillment of the prophecy, and the people will hail me as the Son of Man.”

“Hooray!” several shouted.

“That’s what we’ve been waiting for.”

“Well, it’s about time!”

Jesus waited until they stopped celebrating then continued.

“In a few days’ time I will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn Me to death and will hand Me over to the Gentiles, who will mock Me and spit on Me, flog Me, and finally kill Me.”

Celebration over. Stunned silence.

“No!” Judas shouted as he jumped to his feet. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Why are You so bent on self-destruction?”

“You better sit down,” Peter warned him, recalling his own experience in rebuking Jesus.

“I won’t,” Judas shot back. “This has gone far enough. If He gets Himself killed, what do you think is going to happen to us?”

When no one answered, Judas turned to Jesus.

“Why are You doing this? We know You’re the Messiah, the Son of God. Not one of us doubts that. But why won’t You act like it? Playing the martyr doesn’t help us.”

I knew I was taking a risk, but I just had to say it. I sallied alongside Judas.

“Judas is right. Lord, You simply must think about how the common folk would interpret Your execution. ‘How can He save us if He couldn’t save Himself?’ That’s what they’re sure to say.”

“Three days later, I will rise from the grave,” Jesus said, “just as I told you before. After that, I will return to My Father.”

New information.

“Wait, You haven’t said that before,” John exclaimed.

“You make it sound like You die, You rise from the grave, then You take off and leave us here to face the consequences.” Thomas was distraught.

“I must go, but when I do, My Father will not leave you alone. He will send the Comforter to you.”

“That’s just great,” James said. “And how long will He stay?”

“He will never leave you. He will remind you of all I’ve taught You and empower you to do even greater things than you’ve seen Me do.”

Who are You talking about?

“The Holy Spirit will come and make His dwelling place within you.”

I grabbed my heart, stumbled backward over a rock, and landed tail-side up before I regained my equilibrium.

Ruah Ha Kadosh? He’s coming here? How can it be?

“Jesus,” I ran to Him and tried to make Him answer me. “Satan doesn’t know about this, does he? It’s unthinkable. Are You saying that the third person of the Trinity intends to come to the earth to be with humans—permanently?”

I couldn’t take it in. The balance of power between humans and Satan could change forever.

Having said all He intended to, Jesus stood up and resumed walking toward Jerusalem. I so wished the men would insist He answer more questions, but like always, they didn’t. They followed Him on toward the city, including Judas, who was getting an earful from Peter at the back of the line. I had to force myself to concentrate on the conversation coming from James and John as they hurried alongside Jesus.

“Jesus, we were talking about what You said back there,” said John. “After You rise from the dead, what are Your plans?”