Sometimes my quietness was an advantage. The young and the hesitant seemed to gravitate towards me to ask their questions. I remember one day when Rabbi Jesus had been teaching for hours, and it was now nearing the middle of the day. There was a vast crowd sat around him, we thought about 5,000 in number. We could all see that they were getting restless because they were getting hungry and thirsty. I was sitting on a stone near the edge of the crowd listening with one ear and looking around to see whether there were any villages nearby where I could find food to feed everyone. Then I felt a gentle tap on my arm. I looked down to see a young boy holding a basket containing five loaves of bread and three small fish.
‘My mother has sent me with some food for Rabbi Jesus.’ He said, ‘But there are so many people here, I can’t get to him. What can I do?’
I thought for a moment, then took him by the hand.
‘I know Rabbi Jesus. Come with me.’
I took his hand and we wove our way through the seated crowd. When we got to Jesus we stood and waited, until he stopped talking, then we went round and stood in front of him. I explained the situation, and the boy held up his basket.
‘I know that this will be enough for you Rabbi, but the people, they need food and drink as well. What can we do for them?’
Rabbi Jesus thought for a while then he looked around.
‘Have we got some more baskets? Divide this food between the baskets, then take it out and feed the people.’
‘But this food won’t feed all these people!’.
Rabbi Jesus just smiled, so we divided the food between the baskets putting a small handful in each. Before we left his side Rabbi Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and with the crowd watching closely he prayed and blessed the food. Then we set out certain that we would go no more than a few steps.
What we saw though, was that hands reached out to the baskets, some took food, but more put food in. Packets of food which the sensible and prepared had brought with them, were opened and shared. Water bottles were passed around. People sat and talked together in small groups discussing what Rabbi Jesus had been saying. What could have been a very difficult situation became a time of great sharing and generosity, thanks to the actions of one small boy who shamed the adults in to sharing what was they had brought with them. By the time we had moved right through the crowd, there were twelve baskets full of leftovers, which we took back to Rabbi Jesus. He smiled and gestured for us to sit and eat, while he carried on teaching. We indeed saw a miracle of generosity that day.
Although we would be away from Capernaum for weeks at a time, Rabbi Jesus would regularly circle us back to our homes so that we could see our families and make sure that they had enough food to manage. Sometimes he took advantage of our boats, and would sit out in the lake and preach to the crowds sat on the shore. More people could see him that way, and the water seemed to bounce his words better towards the people. It was strange though. I never heard him shout when he was teaching, but I never heard a complaint that someone couldn’t hear. Everyone from the smallest child to the deafest old man could be reached by the words of Rabbi Jesus
Then the time came that Rabbi Jesus started to send us out to preach and teach for him. He sent seventy two of us out in pairs to all of the villages in the area we were going to next, to begin to teach and proclaim his coming. He gave us some very specific instructions.
‘Do not take a purse or bag or sandals. Do not greet a friend if you should meet them on the road. You have a place to go and be, to which Yahweh has sent you. Go there with all haste. When you enter a house say “Peace be to this house.” If you are made welcome then your peace will rest on the people in that place, if not it will return to you. Eat and drink what is set before you without embarrassment. Now you are workers in the Kingdom of Yahweh. You are worthy of your wages. Do not move from house to house. When you reach a town, if you are made welcome, eat what is set before you, heal the sick and tell them “The kingdom of Yahweh is near you.” If you are not made welcome, leave the place. At the edges of the town make a great show of wiping off the dust from your feet and telling them that they are no better than Sodom. The Kingdom of Yahweh is for those that see and hear, and believe.’
We all went off with great apprehension. I was almost sick with anxiety, but even where we were not made welcome, I felt confident and had the right words to say. Mostly people welcomed us and fed us. When we laid hands on the sick, just as we had seen Rabbi Jesus do, at our commands, at my command, the lame were healed, the blind had their sight restored and demons were cast out.
It was a very energised and enthusiastic group who gradually gathered again around Rabbi Jesus. Each of us had great stories to tell. Rabbi Jesus was full of praise for us all, and was constantly praising Yahweh for all that had happened in his name. We were inclined to boast to each other about who had performed the greatest miracles or seen the most miraculous things. Rabbi Jesus had to bring us back to earth by reminding us that it was not us performing the miracles. We were only doing so because our names are written in heaven. Written in heaven? Well it felt really good. I felt as if I had been waiting my whole life just for this. Who would have thought it!
From then on Rabbi Jesus would send us out regularly. We became skilled at preaching and healing, but always we came back to Rabbi Jesus as children come back to their father. We thought that this would continue for ever, or rather, we didn’t think. For all that we were constantly moving, constantly preaching and teaching in different places, we were so taken up by what we could see happening in front of us, we didn’t look of to see the dark clouds gathering on the horizon. Oh yes, we occasionally saw Pharisees and Sadducees coming and taking a prod at Rabbi Jesus, but he would always have an answer for them, always be able to turn their learning on them, in a way none of the rest of us could. We didn’t see their anger and resentment. We didn’t really see their minds when they looked at the large gatherings they could never have held with their rules and laws and which were now being held by love. We didn’t see ourselves circling in a spiral towards Jerusalem for the Passover. Even if we had, we had no idea what was going to happen there. We should have known, Rabbi Jesus had told us plainly enough, but we had not believed him. All we could see was the love of the crowds for us. We missed the hate of the people in power, and we were shattered when it hit us full force like a storm in the night.
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