Samuel was relieved. He could tell that his successor was going to be well accepted.
“Thank you for lending Abija your trust.” Now it was Samuel's turn again. “Now I wish to thank each and every one of you for having given me your trust all of the years that I was your rabbi. It probably was not always easy with me.” Samuel cleared his throat, and many listeners nodded. “But we always did well for ourselves here in the village. That is why we should thank the almighty and praise him. May God bless you and protect you. I will often think about this time when I am far away from here. Dear children, now your celebration may begin.” Samuel had ended his speech among much empathic sobbing and consolation by the audience.
The children did not wait for someone to tell them a second time and launched their attack on the table full of goodies. Everything they could desire was there. Warm sesame bread, cheese in garlic-steeped olive oil, fishes fried in coriander, grilled lamb with mint, wine-leaves stuffed with goat cheese, honey balls in butter, spinach soup, leek salad, carrots with caraway, almond sauce, semolina cake with cinnamon, nut cakes with juicy dates and figs with cream. Miriam prepared the most delicious cream in town, and had brought an extra-large bowl full to the feast. There also was goat milk, yoghurt, grape juice and tamarind juice. The grown-ups had various wines to choose from. One of the new inhabitants of Nazareth even brought a kind of syrupy Chios along, which had to be watered down. Everything necessary for a happy celebration was at hand. Today even the men and women sat mixed. Somehow everything was different today. As if a spirit of renewal was wafting through Nazareth.
Merriment abounded at the children’s tables as well. Jesus sat at the head of one of the tables. Next to him were Joshua and Rachel, Ismael and little Joseph. Seated at the far end were Simeon and Amos, who were stuffing themselves with cake. It felt as if a huge cloud of joy and love had enveloped the village.
“What would you do if you were an olive tree?”, Jesus suddenly asked the group of children with a smile.
“What’s the point of a stupid question like that?”, was Simeon’s immediate reaction.
“I mean it just the way I put it. Imagine that you were an olive tree. What would you do, Simeon?”
“Hmm. I would use the power of my thoughts to get a child to bring me a large nut cake with lots of cream every day.”
“That is great.” Amos almost fell over laughing.
“What would you do, Joshua?”
“I would want to grow to be as strong and durable as the tree that stands on the hill above our village. I would also want to stand on a hilltop, for from there I would have a wide and beautiful view of the land around me.”
“And what would you do, Jesus?” Rachel wanted to hear Jesus speak again.
“I would bear many juicy fruits, so that people could eat their fill of them and be able to make olive oil with which to light their lamps when it was dark.”
Now the table of the children was quiet. Rachel, Joshua and little Joseph had a notion of what Jesus was referring to. It filled their hearts to the brim, so that they were not able to say anything. The other end of the table was also quiet, yet merely because they had not grasped the depth of what Jesus said and did not know how to reply. “What would you ask God, if you were able to see him now?” Jesus continued with another question.
“These questions are getting better and better “, Simeon interjected. “I would ask him, whether I could be the donkey, on which our saviour will come riding into our village, if he ever comes at all.” Simeon laughed like a madman and Amos joined in as usual.
“Very intelligent, Simeon. What would you ask God, Ismael?”
“I would ask God, why there is so much violence and why the Romans are occupying our country.”
“And you, Jesus?”, Simeon asked, desiring to make fun of Jesus again. “Please announce to us in words of praise, what you would ask, being the hidden Messiah and all?”
“Do you really want to know, Simeon?”
“Would I have asked it otherwise?”
“Very well, I will tell you. I would ask him, how one goes about loving the very people who mock and insult one.”
Joshua was speechless. How was Jesus able to come up with such words? Whence did he draw his power to convince? Where did he get these ideas? Where did he get these spontaneous flashes of insight? Joshua would not have been able to think of anything in such a situation, he would merely have blushed probably.
“Jesus, why are you asking us these questions? They seem so .. different to me.” Joshua wanted to hear more about this from Jesus.
“Joshua, we all live with the very strict rules and regulations of our forefathers.. I simply wanted to show all of you that life and such rules can be seen from a different perspective. Keep this fact in mind and don’t forget about it when you are in Ephesus, you hear me?” Jesus was obviously very serious about this.
“What would you do, Jesus, if you were the Messiah?” Simeon made one last attempt at mocking Jesus.
“That is the best question that you have asked yet today. I will answer it in a moment.”
Jesus stood up and disappeared in the crowd of the grownups. He soon reappeared with a plate full of nut cakes and cream and set them on the table in front of Simeon.
“Simeon, I would try to love you unconditionally. God bless you. Enjoy.” Simeon sat speechless in front of a plate full of cake. Now the others started smiling, at first in silence, then slowly and quietly, laughter erupted, until the whole village joined in. Simeon very slowly and surreptitiously began to eat the cake, until the incident, which he found to be kind of spooky, had passed.
Joshua and the other children had fun the whole evening. There was lots of laughter, song and general merriment until late into the evening. Rachel and Jesus hugged Joshua close to themselves. They intended to say goodbye to Joshua very early the next morning, when the family of the rabbi was to depart toward Caesarea. But now they all first had to go to bed.
Sadly I know that I will not be able or allowed to say goodbye to my friend Joshua tomorrow. Very well, I will not say goodbye to him, even though it will be hard for me not to. But I don’t have to understand this, or? I don’t think I want to understand it, since Joshua was my best friend here in Nazareth. Sometimes I have great doubts about you and your thoughts. Sometimes I have the feeling that this doubt is killing me. And whenever I have these doubts, the ugly faces appear, as if you had called them. Even now I notice how they are spitting at me, how they are mocking me and seeking to take away my energy. Father, help me to not doubt your deeds and instructions. Father, I love you, even if I do not understand what you are doing.
And above all, bless Joshua and protect him in this life. Also protect his family, which seems to be headed toward very difficult times.
∞
Now the morning of the departure had arrived. Joshua had not been able to sleep all night due to his great sorrow. Samuel’s donkey was already laden, and Samuel had bought another donkey and a mule in Sepphoris. Many villagers stood around the family of the rabbi. There was a lot of hugging, crying, comforting and blessing. Sarah had said goodbye to Miriam, Esther to her girlfriends and Samuel to Jacob and Jeroham, who were his closest friends. Joshua wrapped his arms around Rachel and they promised each other to meet again at some point in the future. The only one who was missing was Jesus.
“Where is Jesus?”, Joshua asked, panic-stricken.
“Joshua, sadly Joseph departed