After that they both went back to the village in silence. Samuel did not say anything anymore because he felt betrayed by Jacob, and Jacob remained silent because he did not feel understood by Samuel.
∞
“Joshua, please say something.” Sarah was desperate, for her son had not spoken for over two weeks. Not a single word. “Are you o.k.? Are you still in pain?”
A barely noticeable shaking of his head, followed by a stronger nodding. The desperation of the loving mother was interrupted by a gentle knocking on the door. Sarah quickly went to the door.
“Greetings Miriam, please come inside.” Sarah’s soul always smiled, whenever she saw the new female inhabitant of the village.
“I just saw how your husband took the path down to the meadow. And since he has been walking around among the hills for many hours the past few days, I thought I would quickly come around and say hi to you and to Joshua.” Miriam hugged Sarah closely to her heart.
“How is Joshua doing?”
“He simply is not speaking. The ear pain seems to have passed. Now only the wounds on his bottom are still worrying me. Miriam, why does Samuel beat our son?” As soon as Sarah had asked the question, she was surprised at her own natural openness when dealing with Miriam. She trusted her.
“Samuel loves your son, but he expects too much from him.” They both went into the room next door, in which Joshua was lying motionless on his stomach and staring at the ceiling. He seemed to have crept into another world.
“Joshua, I greet you. How are you?” Miriam bent over his body a little. No answer, just a little shake of the head. Sarah was obviously deeply moved by the reaction, and tried to change the subject.
“Miriam, please tell me everything that you did not tell on the evening of the celebration. The birth in Bethlehem seems to have been something very special. Who is your son?”
“Sarah, I know that he is a prophet. Yeshua was chosen. He has a difficult path ahead of him. He is prepared for his future, since he is ahead of it.” Miriam paused for a moment to reflect upon the truth of her words again. “Yeshua is not like other children. He is more serious. And simultaneously he is also like a normal child, for he does a lot of nonsense and silly things at home. And this combination enables him to fulfil his task. But sometimes his physical condition worries me. He often appears to be much weakened.” Miriam winked at Sarah and nodded in the direction of Joshua. Both noticed that Joshua was hearing every word and hardly breathed due to suspense.
“Miriam, I am now going to tell you something that I have never told anyone else before.” Sarah took a deep breath of air and slowly exhaled. “And it happened around the time of the birth of your son. Samuel was in Jerusalem with other men and their sons while you, as I have know heard, were barely an hour away in Bethlehem. Miriam, I had a dream. Or rather a vision, for shortly before waking up I saw an angel that told me that the Messiah was going to be born that night. I could hardly believe it, however I wanted to, for our land urgently needs a saviour.” Sarah looked deeply into Miriam’s eyes. Miriam had doe brown eyes that gave her a love and a sense of comfort that she had never before received in her life. Not even from her mother. “Miriam, is Yeshua the Messiah?”
“Yes“, Miriam whispered and underlined it with a nod. “When we had travelled to Egypt after the birth we lived with Bakenor, a wise man residing in Alexandria. Bakenor was also present at the birth. He said that a messenger of light had told him to take us with him to Egypt for a while. There Yeshua would be taught and gain some strength. He said that he would only speak with Yeshua in Greek, since he had to learn that language. Greek is the language of trade and of the future, he said. Yeshua was also instructed in the wisdom teachings at a very early age. After all he required this knowledge for his life. He would not have been able to receive these teachings if we had returned to Nazareth directly after the birth.” Miriam raised her shoulders. “There is no one here who could teach Jesus the real things.”
“I can imagine that.”
“Not even Samuel.”
“Miriam, I know Samuel is very strict and stuck in his ways. He closes his heart off from other people through his strictness. Even a goat reaches their hearts better than my man.” She smiled. “Who doesn’t smile when looking at a bleating goat?”
“Oh how right you are. God bless your sense of humour.” Miriam placed both of her hands on her heart.
“He will not be able to learn much from Samuel here,“ Sarah added, “at best he will realize how stuck in their ways and strict rabbis tend to be. You too are aware of how my husband is by now. He certainly has knowledge, but unfortunately that is not the most important thing in life.” She winked at Miriam.
“It’s a good thing that Yeshua’s heart is stronger than his spirit.” Miriam gazed in the direction of Joshua, who still seemed to be eavesdropping. “As saviour Yeshua will hardly be able to learn much from most of the grown-ups here in the village. But from the children who play with him in order to distract him from the premonitions of his future life which sometimes catch up with him. Sometimes he feels so heavy, as if he had to fight with thousands of demons in his mind. “
Miriam had not completed the last word when there was a quiet knocking on the door.
“That ought to be Yeshua. He wanted to catch up with me here. As far as I know he has a little surprise for Joshua with him.” At this instant Joshua turned his head to both of the women, his eyes began to shine and he sat up straight in bed in no time at all.
This was the first time that had happened in two weeks. Sarah went to the door full of wonder. A moment later she returned with Yeshua, who was full of joy. He seemed to be hiding something behind his back.
“Greetings, Joshua. I have brought you something.” He took the right hand from behind his back and handed Joshua a roughly hand-sized piece of wood. It looked like a cross and at the same time also like a figure. The upper part featured a face emerging from the grain of the wood. The lower part of the cross became wider, so that it might just as well have been a gown. It was not carved evenly, but was sanded very smooth, so that it was easy on the hands.
“This cross will take away your pain and brighten your soul. It is a symbol of our father in heaven. It is still too early to understand this, but I know that the time will come eventually when you will recognize the whole meaning of this.” Yeshua put his hand on his shoulder.
“Yeshua. I thank you so much. However I see a figure in this cross. You are that figure. And this figure will give me strength and always remind me of you. I thank you.” A tear rolled down Joshua’s face while Sarah and Miriam looked at each other full of joy and wonder.
“I will come by again tomorrow.” Jesus smiled at Joshua. “I want to tell you and your mother that I prefer to be called Iesous, or Jesus. It is the Greek version of my name, but since that is how I was called in Alexandria it is also my preference here. I have gotten used to that name now.” He brightened the dark room with his smile. “By the way, Samuel will be back soon, for I saw him at the well hurrying up here quickly. I think we should go.”
The words of Jesus had a convincing power that did not allow for any contradiction. Then Jesus took his hands from Joshua’s shoulder. Miriam and Yeshua said goodbye and left behind a marveling Sarah and a moved Joshua.
The evening meal went by without a word except for the prayers spoken by Samuel. For the first time Joshua could take part in the family gathering again, for his pain had miraculously vanished. Jesus’ hands were very warm and afterwards Joshua had the feeling as if his behind was well again. Then his mother took a look at it and indeed the wounds had vanished.
Samuel did not look at his wife or his children. He only ate a little bread with olive paste, stood up after a short while and informed Sarah that he still had to take a walk outside for a bit. Then the disharmony vanished from the room and love entered again. Sarah cleared off the table