The Son of God         

It is the spring of my twenty-seventh year when I meet John again. He is baptizing people in the Jordan, at the border crossing with Perea. Once again, he addresses the pilgrims who are passing by. They want to be in Jerusalem in time to purify themselves for Passover. John calls out to them:

"You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Yes, the axe is already at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

Perhaps you need to feel guilty to be moved by these words. It doesn't work for me, I don't feel I need to return to my Father. But there are plenty of pilgrims who respond to the message. Some even ask if John is the promised Messiah, God's Anointed One.

'I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I is coming. He will baptize you with fire! Look, the farmers are bringing in their harvest, but the threshing floor is polluted with the blood of the innocent. I tell you that when he comes, he will purify his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.'

The language is still strong, but the Baptist seems tired. Later that day, I speak to him. I tell him that I did not want to be baptized when I first saw him. "Your time will come," he replies.

Then I ask him whether I am right in thinking that he seems less strong than a few years ago. "I think that I have run my course. I have tried to bring this people back to God for five years now, but I feel that I do not have much time left."

"Why?"

"I cannot be sure. But when I read the scroll of Malachi, God's messenger, it resonates with me. I feel that He is going to put an end to all this oppression and this corrupt temple service. For that is the threshing floor I spoke of, the threshing floor that King David bought to build the temple."

            Behold, I send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me;
            suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come to His temple,
            even the Messenger of the covenant, whom you desire.
            Behold, he comes, says the Lord of hosts.
            But who can endure the day of his coming,
            and who will be able to stand when he appears?

            For he will be like the fire of the smelter and like the lye of the bleachers.
            He will sit as a refiner, melting the silver and purifying it.
            He will purify the priests; he will purify them like gold and silver.
            Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord
            so that they may offer sacrifices to the Lord in righteousness.
            as in the days of old, as in former years.

            I am bringing a lawsuit against you.
            And I will be a swift accuser
            against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely,
            against those who oppress the day laborer,
            oppress widows and orphans, and push aside the stranger,
            but do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
           
            For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven!
            Then all the proud and all who are godless will be like stubble.
            The day that is coming will set them ablaze (says the Lord of hosts)
            and will leave them neither root nor branch.
            But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise,
            and healing will be found under its wings.
           
            Remember the law of Moses, my servant,
            which I gave on the mountain for all Israel, statutes and ordinances.
            Behold, I will send the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.
            He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
            and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
            so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.                                                                        Malachi 3 and 4, selection

"Are you Elijah?"

'I am just myself. When Elijah comes, the Anointed One will come. '

'Are you the Anointed One?'

'He may not be a man like us. The Essenes say that he is the son of the Most High God and will reign forever.

'But when can that be?'

"I think the temple must first be cleansed, as Malachi says. The Anointed One will come to a new temple. A temple of the heart instead of this mass of stone that Herod the Great built. The Essenes think that only their community is the new temple, but I cannot believe that God would write off his entire people so easily. They should not presume to play God. After all, the temple is still standing. The fire has yet to come, Yeshua.

"Do you think that everyone who is unfaithful to God will be lost?"

"Am I God, that I should judge life and death?"

I see sadness in his eyes. I am looking for words to comfort him. "Do you know the prophet Hosea?"

            Behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness
            and speak to her heart.
            There she will sing as in the days of her youth,
            when she came out of Egypt.
           
            I will betroth you to me forever.
            I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice,
            by kindness and compassion
            I will betroth you to me in faithfulness.'                                                                                                                        Hosea 13:14b, 18, 19a

He is silent for a moment. Then he nods, "thank you."

*      

My time has come. I had planned to stop here for a day, but it is already a week now. Every day that I stayed longer, more people told me about their broken lives and their regrets and their mistakes. But is not an individual decision that makes them go down into the water. There is a spirit that drives them as a new people of God, crossing the waters from slavery to the promised land. They come out in joy and with determination. And with every story that I hear, every psalm that is sung, I feel more at one with them. I know I am not a sinner in the traditional sense, but what is the difference really between the one who commits adultery and the one who harbors the desire but is blessed not to act on it? God sees the heart, doesn't He? I realize that holy spirit drives us all towards the purifying water and I want to be caught up by her. 

The Baptist stands in the waters of the Jordan as I come to him:

"Why now?"

'To fulfill all righteousness.'

John throws me back into the water. And then, like a gust of wind from above, a great breath fills me; the splashing water is like a white dove flapping its wings and landing on my head. John felt it too; I can see it in his bewildered gaze. And then a voice: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

I don't know what the others heard, but John says, "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?"

       *      *

The breath of God's Spirit drives me away from the Jordan to the desert of Judea. Moses led the people through the waters out of Egypt, but they had to wander in the desert for forty years. I feel torn apart. Who am I? Who is the Son? What does God want from me? I seek shelter in the caves. At night I dig into the wadi's bed for a drop of water. Then hunger comes. 

I hear the voice of the devil: "If you are truly God's Son, tell this stone to become bread." But God's word says: "Man shall not live by bread alone."

The devil says, "All the riches of the world are in my power. If you want them, you must worship me." But God's word says, "You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only."

'If you are really God's Son, what does it matter if you jump from the temple roof? Is it not written: "He will command his angels to protect you" and "They will carry you on their hands, so that you will not even strike your foot against a stone."?' But God's word also says: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God."

I am a son of man.

*       *       *

Somehow I come upon a road that takes me through the hills of Samaria, and on to the plain of Jezreel. From afar I see Nazareth, high on the hills, where my sisters still live. I sleep there until late in the afternoon. That evening the day of rest begins and my brothers-in-law and I go to the meeting.

As usual, the leader of the meeting asks seven people to read aloud, including me, their guest. I stand up and am handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. When I open it at the requested place, I read out this shocking text:

            The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
            because the Lord has anointed me;
            He has sent me to bring good news to the humble;
            to bind up the brokenhearted,
            to proclaim liberty to the captives
            and to set free those who are bound
            to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.                                                                                                                                           Isaiah 61:1,2a

Here I break off. I try not to tremble as I return the scroll to the servant. I need to sit down for a moment. As usual, someone else translates the words into Aramaic for those who cannot follow the Hebrew well. Then all eyes are on me again. They are waiting for me to continue reading. But I cannot. And then I speak to them: "While you were listening, this word became reality. This is what has happened to me." Words of grace come from my lips and the people listen approvingly. Some wonder how it is possible that one of them is speaking these words. "This is Yeshua, the son of Joseph, isn't it?"

Back home in Capernaum, I tell my mother. She is not surprised or happy, but seems sad and concerned. She asks me not to speak about this with anyone, but to calmly go back to work and pray for clarity.

Back with the Baptist                                                           

When summer comes, the Baptist leaves the Jordan Valley and returns to Batanea in the east. He has many disciples there. People from Capernaum also go to him. Some are fishermen or farmers who are less busy now that the fishing season is over and the harvest has been brought in.

I too go to him. I tell him about what happened in Nazareth. When he sees me, he takes me aside. "I don't know who or what you are, Yeshua, but I have something to tell you. Before my father died, he taught me a prophecy that he had received when I was born. It was my calling, he said. And it sounded very much like the words you received in the synagogue: 

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.
For he has looked upon his people and brought them salvation,
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David, his servant.
God will save us from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
for the sake of our fathers and because of his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to Abraham our father.
He wants us to serve him without fear and redeemed from our enemies,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
You will tell his people about the salvation that lies in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of God's inner compassion,
with which he will look upon us from on high like the rising sun,
to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace."

       *      

The large groups of people whom John managed to attract raised questions among the authorities. This was especially because John spoke openly about his aversion to the high priests, whom he believed had sold themselves for money. While I am with John, a delegation of priests from Jerusalem arrives at the Batanea. They want to know what John's plans are and what he is telling people about the Anointed One.

"I am not the Anointed One."

"What then? Are you Elijah?"

"I am not."

"Who are you then? We must give an answer to those who sent us; what do you say about yourself? Are you the prophet that Moses spoke of?"

"No."

"But why do you baptize, if you are not the Anointed One, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?"

"I am the messenger who goes before him. He is standing among you, whom you do not know. He is the one who comes after me. Be on your guard. I am honored just to carry his sandals."

The next day, after the delegation had left, I returned to John. His disciples asked him what he had meant the day before. Before I know it, he points to me. "This is the one I said would come after me. I had no idea who it would be, but to prepare for his coming, I came baptizing with water. I saw the Spirit descend like a dove from heaven and remain on him."

The next day, the Baptist speaks to two other disciples, Andrew and my cousin John, the son of Zebedee and Salome from Capernaum. "Look there," he says and points at me, "the son of David who will open the fountain that washes off our sins"

They are as astonished as I am. because they know me very well. I try to leave, but they follow after me. "What do you want from me?" They come with me and stay with me for most of the day. We talk about John and also about what has happened to me. That same evening, Andrew returns with his brother Simon. Andrew introduces me as "the Anointed One of Israel." But I tell them that I don't know what my anointing is. Simon immediately says that he wants to help me, whatever my work may be. "I am a builder," I say. "I make houses from trees and rock." "Let me be your rock," he answers, "your Petra."

The next day, I want to return to Galilee. We run into Philip from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. "Come with us." Philip quickly fetches his friend Nathanael from Cana. I know him and his family, for Cana lies on the road from Nazareth to Capernaum. He is a smart guy who knows the scriptures. "Hi Yeshu, they tell me you are Nazareth's Anointed!" He laughs. I embrace him, and say: "Come sit with me under the vine and under the fig tree." He recognizes the words of the prophet Zechariah. "So is this the time of God's Anointed?," he asks. "I think of it as Jacobs dream, when he saw a ladder with angels ascending to heaven and descending upon him. One day, you will see it too."

That evening we arrive in Capernaum. I am glad that after a while the days return to normal. I try not to think too much about the words of the Baptist. Time will tell. But John did give me the push I needed. From now on, I regularly stand up in the meeting to tell people about the salvation that lies in repentance and in the forgiveness of sins. Although I am not a teacher, people accept that I speak more often than others. They feel that my words have power.

The wedding                                                             

That fall, Peter marries a girl from Capernaum, the daughter of a fisherman's widow looking for a new captain. He leaves Bethsaida to live with. There is plenty of room. Around the courtyard of the house are three dwellings. One for the widow, one for the young couple, and one for his brother Andrew, who will join their crew.

By the spring of my twenty-eighth year, Nathanael, from Cana, also marries. My mother knows his family, because Cana is not too far from Nazareth. Together with my mother and my brothers, and my friends and I walk up from the Sea of Galilee to Cana. In the evening, on the eve of the third day, we, the friends of the groom, come to the bride's house and take her to the groom's house. There the marriage contract is signed, the blessing is spoken, and the wedding feast is celebrated. The celebration continues until the evening of the next day. This third day of the week is a favorite wedding day, because on the third day of the creation of heaven and earth, God saw that "it was good" not once, but twice.

In Cana, things are not going well. They are running out of wine. My mother tells me in a tone that sounds like 'do something about it'. But what can I do? It's not my wedding day, is it?

There are six stone water jars filled with water, which the people use to clean themselves according to Jewish custom. I say, "Then draw some water for the people." And my mother tells the servants to do as I say. They bring a cup of water to the leader of the feast. When he tastes the water, he calls the groom: 'Why did you save this delicious wine for last? Everyone serves the good wine first and only when everyone has drunk well, the lesser wine!'

My friends are excited about the incident, but my brothers shrug it off.

*

We descend again to Capernaum. On the day of rest, we go to the meeting. During the service, someone stands up and starts shouting at me: 'What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: God's holy one.'

It is as if I hear the voice of the devil again, back to test me. "Be silent and leave this man alone." The man falls writhing on the floor in the middle of the meeting, then he calms down. Everyone stands amazed. "What is this? He commands sick spirits with authority?" I quickly leave the gathering and go to Peter's house across the street. There I find his mother-in-law, shivering with fever. They ask me to pray for her. As I pray, the fever leaves her. She immediately gets up. "Are you all as hungry as I am?" she asks.

The news spreads throughout the city, and by sunset, when the Sabbath is over, they bring the sick from the city to me. I lay my hands on each of them individually, and they feel better. More sick people are brought. Some cry out that I am the Son of God, but I rebuke them and they are calmed. It is getting late. Exhausted, I try to find a place to be alone. But they find me wherever I go. I want to leave. But they won't let me go. I run away, but Peter and my friends run after me.

I know this is a sign from God. The words of the Baptist burn in my memory. "We must not stay here. We have to go to Judea and cleanse the temple."

*      *

It is almost Passover when we set out for Jerusalem. Spring has begun. As we walk through the Jordan Valley, we see hundreds of storks circling upon the rising air. Then the landscape changes into a salt desert, through which the Jordan winds its way south. We pass through the oasis of Jericho and find the bed of the Nahal, on which Herod the Great built his palace. From there we walk upstream to Jerusalem.

The temple                                                                         

When we reach the top of the Mount of Olives, we see the temple and the city of Jerusalem before us. We see the enormous square, surrounded by a double colonnade fifteen meters high. In the middle, on the rock of the former threshing floor, stands the actual sanctuary, fifty meters high. Covered with gold and bright white, from a distance it looks like a snow-covered mountain peak rising above the city.

Thousands of people are swarming around the temple when we arrive. They come from all over the country and all over the world. In the square, under the colonnades, they can buy their sacrificial animals. They also exchange their money so that they can pay the temple tax with coins that do not bear the image of foreign gods or the Roman emperors ( ). Annas, the first high priest appointed by the Romans and the father and father-in-law of his successors, receives a commission on every transaction that takes place here. Mockingly, the people call this part of the temple "the bazaar of Annas."

I stand up and proclaim the message of the Baptist. "Return to God our king, for it is time for him to take control!" At first, the people think that John has come to Jerusalem, but then they realize that it is someone else. They look at me expectantly. I make a whip out of ropes and drive the sheep and cattle out of the temple. I throw the money changers' money on the ground and overturn their tables. "Take everything away from here; my Father's house is not a marketplace."

*

It is a Pharisee, Nicodemus, a member of the High Council, who points out the temple guard to us and advises us to leave now. He asks one of my friends where we are spending the night and comes to see me that evening. He tells me that he also comes from Galilee and is looking forward to God's kingdom.

"Teacher, we know that you preach the kingdom of God. But no one can do what you did in the temple unless he is certain that God is with him. And I cannot see how it is God's will that there should be riots in the temple and people killed."

"How can you understand? Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

"How can a man be born when he is already old? Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?"

'Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot accept the kingdom of God. It is not just a matter of baptism, but of God who wants to guide us. The breath of God blows where it wills, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit and driven by the breath of God. How can I do anything other than what I must do?"

"How can God want this?"

"Are you the teacher of Israel? You have read what is written about this temple, haven't you?"

Later in the conversation, we come closer together. We part as friends. And Nicodemus was right in a way; it is too dangerous.

*      *

We leave the city and travel through the land of Judea. The hills of Judea are covered with grass and forests. The plains between them are dotted with fields and fruit trees. They are sandwiched between the desert and the Mediterranean Sea. There are towns and villages everywhere, and there is enough rain for a rich harvest. Yet it is not Galilee, for the streams dry up and the grass withers in the summer.

We stay in Judea for a few more weeks and speak in synagogues. My friends baptize those who convert. The Baptist is also in these regions, but a little north of Judea, near the springs of Salim, from where much water flows into the Jordan.

One day I hear that there was a discussion between a Judean and one of the followers of the Baptist about purification. The Baptist is not concerned with purification itself in the water bath, but with the conversion that precedes it. But the Judean did not agree with John's follower; he wanted to hear what I had to say about it. Then this follower complained to John the Baptist, "Master, the man who was with you in Batanea on the other side of the Jordan is also baptizing, and people are flocking to him." But John's answer was full of grace. "You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Anointed One, but I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. I am glad to hear that the people are going to him. He must increase, but I must decrease."

I am startled when I hear his loving words. Did he really call me the Anointed One and the Bridegroom? How should I interpret his words? The experience in the temple has made me cautious. I decide to return to Galilee and wait to see what God wants of me.

*       *       *

We travel through Samaria. Samaria is not Jewish, but populated by descendants of Jews and pagan colonists who were brought here centuries ago by the Syrians. When our people returned from Babylon and rebuilt the temple, we rejected their help. They then built their own temple on Mount Gerizim, led by descendants of a high priest who had been rejected in Jerusalem. It was later destroyed by a Jewish army. There is often tension between Jews and Samaritans, especially around holidays when groups of Galileans march demonstratively through the hills of Samaria to Jerusalem and militant Samaritans sometimes pelt them with stones. Sensible people take the road through the Jordan Valley on those days. But in the summer, the heat here is unbearable, and then you have no choice but to go through Samaria.

Like Judea, Samaria is governed from Caesarea by the Roman governor. He leaves the day-to-day administration to the city council of Sebaste, the city that Herod the Great had built on the ruins of ancient Samaria. The region resembles that of Judea. It is alternately hilly and flat, with soil that is easy to work. There are abundant forests and countless wild and cultivated fruit trees. The flowing water is sweet and the grass is excellent, so that the milk of the small cattle tastes delicious. Although it is not Galilee, which is lovely even in summer, it is no wonder that the region is dotted with towns and villages.

We come to the town of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; there is Jacob's well. My friends go into the town to buy food, but I am so tired from the journey that I stay sitting by the well. It is the hottest part of the day. A woman from Samaria comes to draw water. I ask her for some water. "You, a Judean, are asking me, a woman, a Samaritan, for a drink?"

For the Judeans do not associate with Samaritans, and it is not proper for a man to speak to a woman who is a stranger. 'If you knew who I am, you would have asked me for water.'

"Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. How can you give me water?"

"I am not talking about water that quenches your thirst when it is gone. I am talking about the water of forgiveness of sins and the love of our God."

Somehow, I struck a chord with her. "I long for forgiveness."

"Go, call your husband and come here." Even I will not baptize a Samaritan without consulting her husband.

"I have no husband." She lowers her eyes. I understand why she longs for forgiveness and fetches water at this hour, when all the other women stay at home in the coolness of their houses. "You are right to say, 'I have no husband.' The man you have now is not yours. But it is better that you fetch him."

"Sir, I see that you are a prophet. But I am a Samaritan woman. How can I listen to a Jewish prophet? Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you say that Jerusalem is the place where one must worship."

"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. The time is coming when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such worshipers."

"I know that the Anointed One is coming; when he comes, he will explain everything to us."

"You are talking to him."

My friends have returned and are surprised to see a woman talking to me alone. Fortunately, no one says to her, "What are you doing?" or to me, "Why are you talking to her?" The woman leaves her water jug and goes into the city.

Meanwhile, my friends ask me if I want something to eat, but I am no longer hungry: "I have something to eat that you don't know about. Don't you say, 'Four months after sowing comes the harvest'? Look, do you see those people there? I planted one seed, and already the fields are white for harvest. The sower rejoices at the same time as the reaper. You know the saying, 'One sows, another reaps'? Go to the people and gather the fruit for God.' Some Samaritans ask us to stay. We stay for two days and more of them are converted.

Finally, we continue on to Galilee. I doubt we will be as well received there, for a prophet is often unwelcome in his own country. But everywhere we are welcomed by the people. Many of them have also been to the feast and are enthusiastic about what they saw me do in the temple.