Читать книгу He Who Returned - Martin Fieber - Страница 12

Joshua was sitting at the morning meal with his family. Samuel was still in a bad mood which his son had to endure once again this morning.

“Joshua“, Samuel began, “just so you know, you will be coming to school again tomorrow. You have been lazing about long enough. And tell the son of Joseph that I expect to see him in school tomorrow too. That kid has also not been in school for a while.” Then the rabbi got up and made his way to the synagogue.

Joshua gave his mother a quick glance, who smiled at him lovingly.

“Joshua, he does not mean it that way.”

“You bet he does!” Ever since the evening of the celebration he was afraid of his father. He was happy that did not see Samuel often at the moment.

“Joshua, before our meal I saw Miriam in the alley. She told me that Jesus can not come today after all since he is feeling very weak. “Then I will go to him. I still have time this morning.”

Joshua was happy to see his friend again. Even though Joshua had not known Jesus for a long time yet, he had already grown on him so much that he was really astonished about it. Joshua walked along the main road toward Sepphoris. Jesus lived only about three hundred feet away from his home. Jesus’ house was pretty. Like all of the few houses in Nazareth it was built of limestone. Next to it there was a huge cave barn that served as workshop. Joseph worked there with his elder sons. The construction company was located exactly in the middle of Nazareth. Joshua knocked on the door and looked at the truly beautiful estate expectantly. He had not known that Jesus had such wealthy parents.

Miriam stood before him full of joy. “Jesus will be very happy to see you. He already told me this morning that he hoped you would come by. Jesus is back there in his sleeping area.”

Joshua walked across the small inner courtyard and toward an open door. “Joshua, it is so nice that you have come“, Jesus greeted him directly, although he was still a step away from the entrance.

Jesus looked very weak; nonetheless, a smile appeared on his face.

“I am alas not a very good carver or craftsman. However I brought you a small flower from the wayside.” Joshua handed him a small narcissus.

“A flower bears great wisdom in itself. Joshua, I thank you for your kind gift.”

“I heard that you are not doing well. What is wrong?”

“Nothing too bad, but I often feel very drained and weak. An Egyptian doctor once told me that I would be able to deal with such periods of weakness better once I am older. “

Jesus became very quiet all at once. “May I ask you something, Joshua?”

“Yes, sure.”

“Do you also see those scary ghosts and demons?”

“What do you mean by that? What demons am I supposed to be seeing?”

“There are all of these ugly faces around me that stick out their tongues at me, try to grab me, curse me and invade my thoughts. This costs me so much energy that I always collapses into bed from exhaustion each evening. If I am then able to fall asleep quickly it is good. However most of the time I also see them when my eyes are closed and thus have a hard time switching off. Then I have to pray. By doing so it becomes a bit brighter around me and then those horrible figures disappear.”

“I don’t see them so clearly, Jesus. At times I dream of black dogs and other dark creatures that chase me. But I don’t see them during daytime. What you speak of sounds horrible.”

“Yes, it is horrible. I know that I have difficult life ahead of me and that I have an important task to fulfil here. It must have to do with that.”

“Jesus, I believe that you are a very special boy.”

“Joshua, it is nice of you to say that, but I think that every person is a special person. With your father you don’t have an easy lot either. I on the other hand can’t complain about my father.”

“By the way I am supposed to let you know from the rabbi that he expects both of us to be in the synagogue tomorrow.”

“Sounds like we’ve got a hard time ahead of us then.” Jesus had to laugh at this thought. However Joshua was struck by fear, which Jesus noticed right away.

“Joshua, don’t worry about it. It won’t be as bad as it perhaps looks right now. And don’t forget the Lord our God. He will help you in these coming times. Don’t let fear devour your soul.”

“By the way I wanted to thank you, Jesus. Ever since you gave me your carved figure my pain has gone away. Whatever you did, it was a miracle.”

“Joshua, I did not do anything. If anyone did anything, then it was our father in heaven. Thank him.” Jesus paused for a moment and turned his head to the side, as if listening to an invisible person. Then he continued. “I am going to rest some more now. My friend, I thank you for visiting me. It has mad me feel much better.”

“Maybe you will be feeling even better later on Jesus. If so, then come and join us for playing ‚Jacob and the Lord’. Everyone except the braggart Simeon will surely be pleased.” Joshua had hardly said those words when Jesus had already closed his eyes.

Joshua returned from the sleeping chambers on the way with which he was now familiar. The living areas seemed to be even larger those at his home. Miriam was in the courtyard backing bread. He greeted her, waved goodbye and went home, deep in thought.

Jesus remained awake for a few moments, for he was overjoyed that Joshua had visited him. Joshua was one of the few who accepted him the way he was. Since the celebration Jesus had noticed how he was stared at by the inhabitants of Nazareth, of whom some laughed behind his back and made derogatory remarks about his family. That is why he had not let himself be talked into playing with the other children so far. He had rather carved a flute in that time, which he now had within reach next to his bed. Just a few more adjustments and it would be finished. He would rather wander about alone with the flute in the next couple days. Truly alone, he hoped. He did not want to see another person except for his mother and Joshua. At the moment it was not easy to live. He noticed how his heavy thoughts were weighing down on him.

He thought of Bakenor, the Essene, his fatherly friend in Egypt. Yes, he would like to be there now. There he was respected. There one had spoken with him and prepared him for his great task. It had been so natural for him to ask Bakenor the questions that arose in his soul. Bakenor had told him much about the creation of the world and of peoples that lived on other planets. It was fascinating for him to learn all of this, for it seemed as if he had always known it already. Nothing was new for him, none of what the Egyptian spoke sounded incredible to him. These talks with Bakenor were so fulfilling that he even enjoyed the rather boring lessons about the content of the torah. On the one hand the torah was read to him in Hebrew back then, so that he already understood the language very well by now. And then Bakenor also read to him from the torah in Greek, which also led to him understanding this language and his ability to already speak it fairly well. Jesus recalled how Bakenor had once tired to convince him that ha had to learn much in his early years since he would not have as much time for it later on. Additionally, Bakenor instructed him on the divine laws, the universal rules of life. He instructed him that the earth was a large school for unwilling and backward spirits which lent themselves a body for the duration of their life here. The Essene had also explained to him that he would feel older than even the oldest humans he would meet. He would have to realize this as soon as possible. He was only to meet a few people with whom a soul connection and a deeper understanding would be possible.

Yes, one of them he had already found, here in this village. This made him feel better. The joy he felt chased away the heavy thoughts and made him very happy. He noticed that he was becoming tired, and this time was able to fall asleep peacefully.

∞

When Joshua noticed Jesus, Simeon was just searching for Rachel. Both of them were blindfolded. Once again the children were playing Simeon’s favorite game, who, if he played at all, always had to be the Lord.

“Jacob, where are you?” Simeon shouted across the square.

“Here“, Rachel replied with a gentle voice. Amos, the best friend of Simeon, usually tried to give Simeon secret hints on how to find Jacob as quickly as possible. But today he didn’t, for he had spied the newcomer. Jesus stepped up into the circle next to Joshua and watched the children play.

“Ah, our Messiah has come!”, Amos laughed mockingly. “Don’t you all want to fall on your knees before him?” Amos continued laughing until he got the support of Simeon who had taken of his blindfold.

“Yes, you are right Amos, it is the Messiah, our saviour who wants to free us from the Romans.”

“Amos, Simeon, be quiet“, Rachel interrupted them. “You are just full of yourselves again. Let him play if he wants to.”

“All right blue-eyes, then show us what you can do.” Simeon’s dark eyes flashed at Jesus. “I would suggest that our Messiah plays the Lord. He must know him well.” Simeon laughed.

Whenever Simeon laughed, his face took on the appearance of a rat due to his eyes being so close together. His pointy nose increased this effect.

“And I will play Jacob today, his honorable slave. “ Simeon made sheep sounds.

Many of the children screamed with merriment.

Simeon tied his blindfold around his eyes. “Scarface, don’t give the Messiah any hints. And Rachel, you friend of the blue-eyed one, secure him with the blindfold.

Amos gave her the blindfold.

Jesus, who had not said anything until then, knew that he had to restrain himself if he did not wish to evoke even more animosity from the children. “Rachel, thank you for your help.”

“Blue-eyes, don’t bother with your holy babble. Get started and look for me instead. Ready, set, go!” Simeon was in his element. He felt good when he could verbally attack others. Both of the children were about thirty feet apart, and each of them was rotated a few times to lose any sense of direction. Now the greatest game that had ever existed in Nazareth could begin.

“Jacob, where are you?”, Jesus called out in his calm manner.

“Here, oh my saviour“, Simeon aped Jesus.

Most of the children screamed with delight. Joshua and Rachel gave each other concerned looks, but said nothing.

“Here I am. Lord, my saviour, find me.” The hatefulness was increasing, however Jesus became calmer and calmer. He had closed his eyes.

But then Jesus always saw what he could not see with open eyes. He saw the contours of the children. They were very bright, and had different colors. Today he also saw other, dark entities standing among the children. He saw Simeon, standing opposite him.

He wanted to walk directly towards him when he suddenly heard a very insistent voice: “Do not find Simeon. Pretend to be completely clueless. Do not tell anyone that you are able to see even with a blindfold on.”

Jesus was surprised, for this voice did not come very often. And whenever it had, the situations had always been difficult ones. However this situation did not seem difficult, though it was uncomfortable. However Jesus did as the voice had recommended. He knew exactly that the mocking would increase in the next few moments, but he trusted his intuition.

“Jacob, where are you?” Jesus went in the wrong direction on purpose.

“Here, my Lord.” Simeon’s croaking was atrocious. Jesus turned around and went in his direction. After all he should not act too conspicuously. He spotted two very colorful harmonic contours outside in the circle. One of them had to be Rachel, whom he had taken into his heart from the first moment on. The other was probably Joshua.

The game went on and on. The children laughed about the hatefulness of Simeon and Amos and about the stupidity of their new Lord. They admired how Simeon seemed to escape from seemingly difficult situations again and again. The game had never gone on this long before.

Jesus often approached the children in the circle. Most of the time he was pushed back into the circle rather roughly. However he once approached the two beautiful colors on purpose. When he was gently turned around so that he could return into the circle he was certain that it was Rachel. This was immediately confirmed. She whispered in his ear where Simeon was currently at.

“Oh well blue-eyes, looks like there is no point in continuing.” Simeon was quickly losing interest, for he was not very patient anyway. “I would say that we will end the game now. Boys and girls, now I would say it is proven that our Messiah is none at all. He is even more stupid than Jeroham’s donkey.”

The children laughed. Simeon spat on the ground spitefully and disappeared with his pals and most of the children toward the meadow outside of the village. However all of the girls as well as Ismael, Joseph and a couple others stayed with Jesus.

Joshua felt like lending Jesus his support, but was surprised to see that his eyes were beaming and that he smiled when he had taken off his blindfold. Jesus had nothing in common with the Jesus he had visited just a few hours ago in his chambers.

“That was not very nice of the others.”, Rachel began. “Don’t let it get to you. Whoever has little in their head, has all the more stupid things to say about others. I thought you did a good job Jesus.” her face shone when she smiled. “Joshua told me that you prefer to be called Jesus. “

“And there I thought I had been a total failure at searching.” Jesus was still smiling. He would have liked to say something about her beautiful colorful radiance, but that would have given him away.

“Yeschua, em, Jesus“, Ismael stammered. “Did your father really mean what he said? Are you the Messiah?”

“Ismael, it is not important who that is. The main thing is that he comes some day. You will be able to remember the Messiah later on.” He smiled from the bottom of his heart, so that all of the children around him were enveloped in a cloud of pure divine love before they returned home.

In the evening, when the children were lying in their beds, they heard a gentle flute melody that drifted over Nazareth and spoke of the greatness of God. This melody was more beautiful than any psalm in the books. Much more beautiful ...

∞

“May the power of our Jewish God enlighten our human spirit of little faith, so that we perceive all of his glory and the gifts that God gives us in his glory.” Samuel stood in front of the children and had closed his eyes. It seemed like he was in a trance when he spoke his prayers.

“May you all pay close attention to the writings of our forefathers again today and recognize their meaning.”

Samuel loved going into the synagogue in the morning and teaching the wisdom of the torah to the children, the future of his people. Even if only a few of them would recognize the depth of this wisdom, he would be happy. Today he wanted to deal with this Yeshua, who preferred being called by his geek name. That damned worthless lout, Samuel cursed. He had been in the synagogue only rarely so far and yet was already so impudent. This Yeshua denied his Jewish roots and took on such a horrible sounding pagan name. Pah! Well, he would see who is boss here!

Samuel had to call his thoughts back into order, for they had swerved far from his topic this morning. First of all he wanted to see what this bastard had learned in that cesspool of sin Alexandria. He would deal with Joshua later. The new one had priority first.

“Today we will speak about the faith. I will read from the scriptures and ask you questions about them.” Samuel, the proud rabbi, began to read the story from the torah in which Abraham is supposed to sacrifice his son Isaac to God. Samuel loved this story, for to him obedience was the ultimate symbol of a God-fearing individual. When he had ended, an icy silence filled the synagogue.

“What does this story want to teach us? Joseph, what do you have to say about this?”

“The story wants to show us that God is the most important thing in our life.”

“Yes, very good Joseph. Eleasar, what do you think?”

“God saves one from all difficult situations.”

“Yes, not bad, Eleasar. And what about you, Simeon?”

“That I should never climb up on a mountain alone with my father.” Some of the children laughed.

“Silence!” Samuel was once again speechless. That dumb dog! Well, unfortunately not much good could come of this one if one took a look at his father.

“Not quite. But now I would like to know what our Greek has to say about it, Simeon.” Samuel was full of suspense. “Jesus, what are we supposed to learn from this story?”

Jesus thought a while and tilted his head to one side. Was another child trying to whisper something to him? No, Samuel saw nothing of the sort. He almost wanted to begin speaking again when an answer finally came from the one he had asked.

“Rabbi, I have a problem with this story.” Jesus was calm and glanced around the rooms with wide eyes. “I agree with Joseph and Eleasar, I even agree with Simeon, for I would not go up on a hill alone with someone. But…“

“What, but“, Samuel interrupted him.

“But this story teaches me that it is difficult in this world to distinguish between good and evil intuitions. Demons can hide behind beautiful words and logical thoughts. Good angels can hide behind simple and poor people. This story teaches me that I still must learn even more to check my thoughts and my intuitions in order to determine what power they belong to. Whether to our divine father or to the lord of darkness. In this story is it very simple: God would never demand such a sacrifice from Abraham. A sacrifice is not the intention of our Lord, our one God. And thus those words came from the lord of darkness. “

Samuel was speechless. He did not often fall speechless like this. How dared this lout …? What had this Jesus said there? After a short while he had regained his composure.

“Jesus, how can you say something like that! Even a blind man can see that these were the words of God and not those of a demon. Do you know the lepers that drool out of their mouths as if they were rabid dogs? When you first come to Jerusalem you will recognize them. These people are the demons. Bad things come out of those mouths, not from the torah. You have just denied, no, even slandered the holiness of the scriptures.” Samuel was so full of rage that he was shaking.

“Honourable rabbi, I have seen the kind of people that you describe. They are not demons, they are merely possessed by one. I only said my opinion which you had asked to hear. What am I supposed to do when I read and hear things that go against the sensibility of my soul?”

“Excuse me?” Samuel was boiling with rage.

“Honourable rabbi, one also does not pour new wine into old wineskins, for then the old wineskins would tear and the new wine would spill on the earth. No, one pours new wine into new wineskins, or no?”

Samuel’s horror increased. This boy was eminently intelligent. His choice of words also did not match those of a five-year-old. But what he said was unacceptable.

“I forbid you to speak of the personal records of God in this way. The old scriptures are holy. Do you think that you can act big by speaking the way you do? Do you then also believe what your father says, namely that you are supposed to be the saviour?”

Hit. Now Samuel was curious to see how Jesus would escape from this dilemma.

“Rabbi, much is spoken. Much is right and much is wrong. I would never claim such a thing of myself. After all the true and truly faithful people would recognize the saviour.”

Samuel was placated. This Jesus did not view himself as the Messiah. At least something good there. Now maybe some peace could be restored in the village.

He, the rabbi of Nazareth, would surely recognize the saviour of the Jews. The chosen people could only be saved by a true Jew. And not by a lout who preferred the Greek language over his own roots. Samuel was going to deal with his father later.

“Good, good, good. Let us continue speaking about Abraham. Joshua, what is your opinion? Joshua?”

“Umm, excuse me? What did you say, father?” Once again Joshua was daydreaming.

“I will talk with you later on.” That rotten dreamer. Barely back in school and he was already up to his old tricks. And yet he had so much hidden potential.

After that the rabbis feelings calmed down again, for most of the boys whom he asked about the story of Abraham made the impression that they had understood God’s message. Samuel had regained confidence. Not as much was lost as had seemed at first.

“May the blessing of our almighty father be with you. May he guard and protect you, may he let you recognize that Gods ways and messages are clearly visible. May the saviour appear soon to protect us from evil. See you tomorrow.” He had taken a little dig at Jesus there. After all the boy had to recognize quickly who was the boss in the synagogue.

I don’t like it when Simeon calls me blue-eyes, as if I had any choice in the color of my eyes. It happened again today in the synagogue. I get so angry then that I would like to slap him, but unfortunately I am weaker then he is. I would not stand a chance. But I also know from you that violence and revenge is not the path that I am supposed to take. As I recognize later on these feelings are not mine at all. They are transferred onto me by those grotesque faces. And I know that you are not angry at me for having such thoughts, but I believe that I can return those thoughts to you and share them with you, thereby relieving my human heart some, by regularly writing down my thoughts and impressions. And then the lesson with that rabbi. Samuel truly is a very stupid person. He does not recognize the divine revelations even when they are lying open right in front of his eyes. Instead he considers false messages to be the words of God. Do all rabbis not see this or is only Samuel this dumb? Looks like the task that I am here to do may get gnarly. Fortunately I can always think of something to say, but it will not be easy for me in the future. I can sense that.

Father, please protect me this night and please help all souls that have to suffer. May it always be thus, father.

∞

The family of the rabbi sat at supper. Joshua was happy that all of the rituals which accompanied the meal had been completed. The prayers had also been spoken, and both of the Challoths, two loafs of bread that symbolized the manna had been sliced, and the traditional hymns had been sung.

The evening meal in the house of the rabbi proceeded as usual: without a word, but the atmosphere was more tense than usual. Joshua knew that he would have to face a lecture this evening. He should pay more attention, not dream so much and so on. Thus he ate some more olives to strengthen himself for the talk. He noticed how his mother gave his father an intense look and how he noticed that glance and briefly growled to himself.

“Joshua, I would like to take quick walk with you through our village. I have some things to say to you.”

Samuel did not sound a strict as usual, there was even a hint of kindness but ever since the evening of the celebration which had been given in honor of the family of Joseph, Joshua was afraid of his father. Afraid of that destructive anger, afraid of his helplessness, of being defenseless against Samuel due to his physical weakness. The pain had been too much, the hate of Samuel which he had felt like arrow points had been too overpowering. Thus he merely gave a weak nod in response. After all he was not allowed to speak at the table.

The meal was finished, Sarah sent Judith to the bedroom and Esther to clean the pots. The man and the boy walked out into the clear night. For a long time they walked silently through the village. They headed towards the meadow. Then the passed the house of Zephaniah at the very end of the village.

“I don’t want you to spend so much time with Yeshua, or Jesus, as he prefers to be called.” Samuel spoke quietly and concentrated. “He is dangerous. He is not good for you, for I want you to be raised in the spirit of our forefathers. I want you to continue in my footsteps later on. And that is why I also expect you to be more concentrated in the synagogue. Have you understood me?”

“Yes father. I am sorry, but I was thinking about the words of Jesus. Was what he said so very wrong?”

“Yes, damnations, lord, excuse my expression, it was so very wrong. I explained why this morning already. Did you not hear me then?”

“Of course.”

“Well then everything should be clear.” Samuel paused. Meanwhile they had reached the meadow and the well and were about to head back home.

“Joshua, there is something else I must tell you.” Samuel hesitated a little. “Your mother thinks that I should apologize to you for … yes you know what I mean. You deserved it, for one does not embarrass me in such a way in front of the inhabitants of Nazareth, … but I suppose it was a bit too hard.” Samuel mumbled some words into his beard that Joshua was not able to understand.

“Hmm.”

“What, hmm?”

“I have heard your words.”

“Yes, then all is well. I am glad that we had a good talk about this.”

“Father, may I stay outside a few minutes here and look at the stars?”

“Yes, as an exception. But not too long.”

Joshua waited until his father had disappeared inside. Then he slowly walked up the slope to his olive tree. He leaned against the trunk, looked up at the sky and let his gaze glide across the horizon. There he once again saw a light racing across Mt. Tabor whose outline he could barely make out in the darkness. At the same time, while tracking the light, he heard a voice which seemed to come from inside him.

“Jesus is a very ancient and wise soul“, it said. “He is the saviour of humankind. Try to learn from him. You have chosen this.”

Wow. That voice again. Where did it come from? He looked around again, yet could not see anyone nearby. Joshua was felt torn back and forth. Yes, he loved Jesus and believed this, however if he did not obey the words of his father he would have difficult times ahead of him. He observed the light a while longer until it suddenly disappeared. Just like that. Now only the stars were visible. But what had that been? Should he ask his mother about it some time?

Joshua started to head back home, for Samuel could get pretty ugly otherwise. Joshua had to acknowledge to himself that he had had enough of a lecture already for today. He carefully walked down the stony path, peered in the direction of Jesus’ house, and then went to bed. He fell asleep quickly and dreamt of black dogs again that pursued him and wanted to kill him.

∞

In the late afternoon Joshua sat on the side of the road underneath a mulberry tree and watched the playing children. At the moment he did not feel like playing with them. He had been more attentive in school this morning, he remembered, his father had had no reason to complain. However Jesus had been quieter than usual. And thus the two friends had not had the chance to exchange a few words. The words which he had spoken the day before were still circling in his head. Where did Jesus have this knowledge from? What is am ancient wise soul? He was not able to continue with that thought, for Ismael ran by him and shouted out to everyone that a caravan had appeared on the horizon of the way toward Jafia. Whenever a caravan came from that direction, Joshua knew exactly that it brought much gold and silver from Egypt. Just once he had been allowed to hold a small golden bowl in his hands at one of the merchants. It had been very heavy. He always asked himself how the camels were able to transport all of that weight. He admired their strength.

There was a building near the well which provided a safe shelter for people and animals before the caravan departed again in the morning to reach their next stop Magdala on the coast of the Sea of Galilee the following evening. But now he was just excited because so many people and camels were coming to Nazareth this time. He loved to see the various skin colors. There were even people whose skin was as dark brown as the grain of the olive tree. In comparison their eyes were as bright as if a candle were shining in them.

A great to-do erupted in the village, for now all of the families who had something to sell gathered up their goods, ran to the well at the big meadow and hoped for good business there. His father told him that Galilee was known for the sweet wine, for olive oil, wool and for the good grain that grew here. Grain was not only for the daily bread, but also for sacrificial offerings, as his father always emphasized. Since his father was rabbi, he had other things to do in the village rather than tend to the sales of home-made goods. His family was supported by the village, as it had been for generations and always would be.

Joshua jumped up and ran down the path. It would take some time before the merchants had unloaded the wares which they could possibly sell in Nazareth from the backs of their camels and spread them out for display. There were a lot of merchants this time. This meant lots of smells, laughter and yelling. He had learned a few words of the foreign language just by listening. According to his father he was very talented in languages, not just in writing. Only very few people had such a good ear for and intuitive sense for languages, as he has once mentioned in praise. Of course that rarely happened with him.

Now it became louder in the normally so quiet Nazareth. When everything had been unloaded and set up for sale, the game of trade began. This, as he knew, included lots of discussions, haggling, laughter and cursing. Joshua saw bags filled with caraway and ginger, pepper and healing herbs, coriander und thyme. There was also copper and iron ore which was especially interesting for the smith. His father would mainly look at the frankincense, of which there were many varieties. Now he also saw Joseph, the father of Jesus, who was looking at some unusual kinds of wood. He already had a few smaller knives in is hand and had cast an eye on the ore lying next to him. He was accompanied by Jossi und Judah, the brothers of Jesus, who were learning from him how to distinguish the quality of the wares.

But Joshua was more interested in the people. He paid attention to the gestures, to the laughter, he considered their eyes. He could not get enough of seeing different faces. He paid attention to the conversations and enjoyed the various dialects. However he mainly heard the Greek language, which was the official language for trade throughout the Roman Empire. They were just learning this in school. That is why it was important to master this language. Joshua stood in the middle of all of the people, enjoyed the atmosphere and perked his ears.

“What, you demand four Sesterzes for this lesser quality? It is not even worth three ...”

“… caraway … sixteen As, there’s no way I would pay more.”

“Very well. Let’s finalize the deal then. Sixteen As. May the Lord bless our trade.”

“ … you son of y drunken whore. What is that supposed to be? …“

“Are you trying to insult me?”

“ … this … is not a salad. … Those are weeds that the goats have shat on.”

“…usury! May God burn your lineage and extinguish you from the face of the earth.”

Then Joshua heard the voice of his father, who had just bought his frankincense, as usual.

“We have a deal. Four denars and six lepta. Cyrus, you have the best quality as always. God bless our business. May I bring you a bowl of goat milk later on?”

Then Joshua saw Jesus approaching him with a smile.

“Is it not interesting? When caravans come then there is really a lot going on here. You should have seen the market in Alexandria. This meadow would not have been large enough to contain all of the merchants.”

“That large?” Joshua was impressed. He thought that this was already very large, but could hardly imagine a market even larger than the meadow. Maybe Jesus had fibbed a little.

“You would have enjoyed it. There were a lot of merchants in Alexandria who dealt in fine papyrus. Nothing like the scraps that I saw Samuel has.”

“Even more beautiful?”

“Yes, and they also had very fine parchment. I had not even seen such fine parchment in the library of Alexandria.”

“What is a library?”

“A place where many different writings are stored.”

“Such a place exists?”

“Oh yes, Joshua. I loved the many writings, and especially the place itself, for it was very quiet.”

“I would also like to see a lirba…“

“Library.”

“Yes, exactly, I would also like to see such a place sometime. It must be the most beautiful place in the world.”

“I have only seen few places more beautiful.”

Joshua looked around and became aware of the bustle around him again.

“Yes, but I enjoy just as much being among people, seeing the various colorful clothes and faces and hearing the different languages.”

“That is something we have in common Joshua. I like that too. As you can imagine I especially like spending time with the Egyptians if there are any around.”

“Where are these people journeying to?”

“They are continuing on to Damascus. A long way. Well, I have to get going. Joseph is already waiting back there with my brothers. God protect you my friend.”

“God protect you too Jesus.” Those were wonderful words which would nourish Joshua for a long time. He was happy that Jesus was his friend. That which he radiated, the nice conversations that he had with him now and then were all very fulfilling. Jesus was someone special. He knew this for sure. But now he too to get going, for he did not want such a harmonious day to end in pain. Fear drove him home.

∞

The family of the rabbi had just finished their evening meal. Samuel felt very good today. He had made a good trade earlier in the day. Now he still wanted to bring a bowl of goat milk to Cyrus, the merchant, in the caravansary. Things would have calmed down there by now. He set out on his way there after making sure that his children were getting ready for bed.

“Sarah, I will be right back.”

“Very well, but you will probably meet someone along the way anyway with whom you will talk half the night about the conditions around here. See you later.”

Samuel had walked out briskly into the alleyway. How dared his wife speak to him that way! After all these were serious topics, however of course women knew nothing about such matters. Only a few more feet across the stream and then he had reached the large courtyard whose doors were fortunately still open. They would be closed in a few moments so that the travelling merchants could not be robbed. After all there were plenty of thieves in this area. And one should not underestimate the zealots. And he, the rabbi of the village was responsible for the safety of the merchants. If anything were to happen to them it would quickly become known far and wide, and pretty soon then no more caravans would pass through Nazareth.

After he had brought Cyrus the bowl of milk, he met Jacob in front of the caravansary, who, just like him, was there to check and see whether everything was safe.

“Greetings Jacob, may the Lord give you a pleasant evening. Everything is on order here. The atmosphere among the merchants is good.”

“Are you happy with your frankincense?” Jacob knew that Samuel had made a large purchase earlier in the day.

“Yes, a very select quality. God gives in rich measure. Cyrus is reliable. The caravans that pass through here are getting larger and larger. Did you also see that one of the merchants even offered balm?”

“Yes, that I did.”

“And did you see that he sold his two small jugs?”

“No, is that really so?”

“I’m telling you it is! I think it was to the two families that built their houses at the other end of the village. They seem to be rich people, even though one can not tell by looking at them. Jeroham told me that they are friends of the Romans. They know some influential person in Sepphoris and earn their money with some kind of construction work.”

“Joseph will not be pleased if Roman families from outside come into this village now. Ah well, Joseph, perhaps he deserves this after having called his son the Messiah.”

“Oh Samuel, give it a rest now. Joseph is a nice guy who desires only to help everyone. He truly is a little talkative, but his heart is in the right spot. And besides, by now dust has settled on that whole matter. I have heard that his son is not the exactly the brightest when it comes to playing with the other children. He certainly is no Messiah. The village has already forgotten about that unfortunate incident.” Jacob raised his large shoulders.

“People are already ordering small stools Joseph again. They seem to have forgiven him. May you too forgive him. And Jesus, well, he seems to be a bit reserved sometimes and a bit odd, but he is a good kid.”

“You call him reserved? Pah, he is a know-it-all, a glib little lout. One who befouls the scriptures of our forefathers. And what is worst is that he is highly intelligent., or so at least it appears to me. Now Simeon on the other hand is truly stupid. But he is predictable. With him one always knows what to expect. But Yeshua? He is dangerous, mark my words.”

“Psst, do you here that flute melody, Samuel? Where is it coming from?” Jacob perked his ears.

“It seems to be coming from the hill up there.” They ran a few feet across the stream toward the only intersection in the village. And there sure enough a small figure playing a flute was coming down the stony path.

“That is Jesus. Were we not just speaking of him. He sure plays well for only being five years old.”

“No man plays flute, Jacob. Not even a boy. Flute playing is something for sissies“, Samuel whispered to Jacob, since Jesus was already closely.

“God be with you Rabbi, God be with you Jacob. No need to worry about me. I am already on my way home.”

“God be with you, Jesus.” Jacob fumbled with an awkward moment of silence. “You play very well.. And now you really must be on your way home. May the Lord protect you.”

“Thank you. Good night. May you have a peaceful night and always be in the safekeeping of God.” Jesus walked on down the alleyway playing a quiet yet merry tune.

“Jacob, don’t you hear his mawkish jabbering?”

“Samuel, it is obvious that you do not like the lad.”

“Do I have to pretend that I do? He insults our faith. For me that is the worst of the worst. And besides he spends a lot of time alone. As you see is even about alone in the evening and wanders all about.” Samuel huffed deeply, the deep furrows in his brow relaxing a bit.

“Samuel, discipline your thoughts. You are the rabbi of Nazareth, it is up to you to lead by good example.”

“Maybe you are right. Perhaps I have to deal with him a little … differently.”

“O, do I hear a tiny apology there?” Jacob laughed. “Now this is truly a rare thing with you. You must be feeling excellent this evening.”

“You truly know me better than anyone else, Jacob.” Now both of the men had to smile. What they were not consciously aware of is that the flute melodies of Jesus had lent some warmth to their hearts.

When Jesus und Jacob had left, Samuels thoughts dwelled on the circumcision of a boy which was to take place tomorrow. A circumcision was always something very holy for him, although he did not like seeing blood. Good thing that he was by now even able to do the job blindly, for this allowed him to concentrate on making the ritual a contemplative ceremony. True, the boy did not always react contemplatively, however such was life – sacrifices had to be made. And one was also not joined into union with God everyday either. For on the day of circumcision the boy entered this holy union with God and became a member of the chosen people. Samuel felt good about being a chosen rabbi of the chosen people. God had to love him, yes, God had to be proud of him the way he was.