John insisted he had. At the front, Jesus was asking Brotherton what he could do for him.
'As it happens, Jesus,' Brotherton replied, making his way to the front, 'you can tell me how to inherit eternal life.'
A collective groan sprang up from the disciples. They were all sick of Brotherton and his questions.
'He knows Boss.' Peter growled. 'The guy's stubborn, he refuses to accept it.'
Jesus held his hand up for silence. He asked Brotherton, 'What is written in the law? How do you read it?'
Brotherton considered the question. 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, all your strength, and your entire mind...'
'And love your neighbour as yourself.' Peter jumped in, ignoring Brotherton's glare, and basked in the cheers of the disciples.
Jesus grinned. 'That's right. Do this Brotherton and you'll live.’
'Like I said, Boss. He knows.' Peter pushed his chair back, stretched his legs. 'No excuses.'
Brotherton ignored Peter. 'But Jesus, who is my neighbour?'
'Ah, that's easy.' Jim declared. The disciples muttered their agreement.
'We'll see, shall we?' Jesus said. 'Today lads,' he paused, 'we're going to watch a video.'
Ragged cheering met this announcement. It's like being back at school, Peter thought. Teacher showing a film on a rainy afternoon.
'What's this film, Jesus?' Brotherton again.
Jesus didn't answer. He turned on the big screen. 'Who's heard of The Shades and The Rench?' He asked.
Who hadn't?
The Shades and The Rench were by far the two biggest criminal gangs jostling for position and eminence in the kingdom. Both gangs were into drugs, pimping, protection, and a host of minor crime. They often clashed over territory, vicious beatings were commonplace, and any gang member who fell into the hands of the rival outfit knew it wouldn't end well.
The hall descended into a hubbub of noise as the disciples swapped horror stories of what they'd heard about the two gangs. After a few minutes, the noise died down and Peter asked Jesus why he wanted to know.
In reply Jesus pressed play on the laptop. 'Watch this.'
Jude dimmed the hall lights as the screen flickered into life.
The film was put together from CCTV images taken in a city centre. It opened on a man, mirror wrap round sunglasses, walking in a busy pedestrianised shopping centre. A large, four-wheel drive vehicle appeared in shot following behind the man. Shoppers looked, nudged each other and moved out of the way. Mothers gathered children, held them close. The doors on the car flew open and three men, each holding a baseball bat, jumped from the slow moving vehicle. They moved into position behind their unknowing victim.
The violence, when it started, was all the more shocking for being silent. One of the assailants struck the Shades man behind the knees. As he fell to the floor, the others started laying into to him, the bats rising and falling in hypnotic rhythm as they struck him time and again. Peter counted over twenty sickening blows, then, almost as soon as it had begun, it was over. The three men jumped back into the vehicle, it turned off into a side turning, and was lost from sight. The camera remained focussed on the victim lying motionless on the floor.
A few of the twelve shifted uncomfortably. Okay the guy was a member of a criminal gang, but he didn't deserve to be beaten like that.
On the screen, life in the city centre was continuing as normal. Shoppers continued shopping, none spared a glance for the stricken man. A Polizei officer walked towards the man on the pavement. It was obvious he hadn't seen him, but when he did he stopped, turned and walked the other way.
A priest, robes flapping behind, hurried past. 'He's seen him.' Jim said, indignant.
Minutes passed, the disciples continued to watch. A man, with a baseball cap, wearing a dark blue hoody, walked up to the injured man, stooped, and spoke to him. As he dropped to his knees to help, the yellow TR, signifying The Rench, came into view.
What now, Peter wondered. Stiletto to the ribs, finish him off?
The Rench man helped the Shades member to a sitting position. He took out his phone, made a call, and then walked away. Jesus forwarded the video. An estate car, blue flashing lights on top, appeared. It stopped, a paramedic got out, and started attending to the injured man.
The screen went blank. There was silence in the hall.
'Which of these was a neighbour to the victim Brotherton,' Jesus asked, 'the Polizei officer, the priest, or the Rench member?’
Brotherton squirmed in his seat, caught between a rock and a hard place.
'Yeah, come on Brotherton.' Nathan called out.
'The one who helped him.' Brotherton muttered.
'That's right.' Jesus replied. 'Go and do likewise.'
✝
Maggie, back from the sending out of the seventy-two, opened the door of the Ops centre, and scanned the room. The office was dotted with work stations, four to a pod, desks facing inwards. Everybody here was a committed follower of Jesus, all engaged in advancing the kingdom.
This was the place where Maggie spent her time. Long hours coordinating the schedule, making sure Jesus and the disciples had the most up to date info. She hovered for a while, monitoring conversations. Could Jesus, open a fete, visit a school, a retirement home, a prison, and speak at a business conference?
Calls came in from the press and TV stations. Everybody wanted an interview with Jesus. If he wasn't available one of the disciples would do, at a pinch. The media beast needed feeding on a regular basis. This was where social network feeds were monitored, staff searching for #Jesus or #Messiah, and then posting replies.
Maggie caught Poppy's eye as she moved to her desk. She watched as her old friend wrote the number, 34, next to the legend, DMP - Daily Marriage Proposals. She always had a slight pang at this figure. All those lonely women who wanted Jesus for themselves, believing he would make the perfect husband. She sympathised with them all, but knew it would never happen. Maggie recalled the conversations she'd had with him about marriage. How he'd told her about the church that would be built in his name, that he would come back one day as the bridegroom, claim the church as his bride. Not that she’d understood what he'd meant, but realised that if she wanted a husband, kids, it would be with somebody else a little less perfect than the Son of God.
At her desk in a corner of the large room, she switched her computer on, sighed when she saw the number of emails in her inbox. It was so different to the early days when most of her time was spent on the road with Jesus and the lads. She checked Jesus' online diary and making a call to Peter, confirmed that Jesus had arrived for the civic lunch at Wakefield Town Hall.
✝
Wakefield, Northumbria.
Jesus shook his hands, turned from the hot air dryer and held the door for Tom, who frowned as Brotherton forced his way into the gap, blocking the exit.
'I notice you didn't wash before eating?' Brotherton said. Tom wondered why he still bothered. Trailing round after them all the time, chipping in, sniping away. It didn't seem to bother him how many times he got knocked back, he'd still be there trying his best to undermine Jesus.
Jesus threw back his head, laughed. 'You Pharisees, you crack me up.'
'Why?' Brotherton frowned.
'You wash the outside, scrub it clean, but inside,' Jesus sighed, shook his head, 'inside, you are full of greed and wickedness. You are foolish people. Didn't the one who made the outside make the inside as well? But what is inside you now? I tell you the truth, Brotherton, be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean.'
'Now hang on a minute.' Brotherton blustered.
Jesus held up his hands. 'Woe to you Pharisees. You give a tenth of your income to the Temple, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should do both.'
Brotherton was silent.
'Woe to you Pharisees.' Jesus continued, 'You love the most important seats in the synagogue. You revel in the respect shown to you. Woe to you Pharisees.
You are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.'
Another of the Pharisees came in at that moment. Tom couldn't recall his name, knew him as an expert in the law. He joined Brotherton in condemning Jesus. 'When you say these things, Jesus, you insult us.'
'And you experts of the law,' Jesus replied, 'Woe to you as well. You load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you don't lift a finger to help. You have taken away the keys of knowledge. You have not entered the kingdom, and you hinder those that want to enter.'
✝
Leeds, Northumbria.
The seventy-two apostles had all returned without incident, which Peter thought amazing. He'd been expecting a few casualties. Thought one or two might have been seduced by the bright lights of the world. He pursed his lips and looked them over. They didn’t seem much the worse for their experience. The fact was, a few days after their return, they were still full of it, still bubbling over with enthusiasm. He called the gathering together, thanked them for their obedience, made sure they were rested, and then began the meeting in prayer before handing over to Jesus.
'It is so good to see you all back safe and well.' Jesus said. 'I'm sure you've all had amazing adventures for the sake of the kingdom of God.' He continued with a twinkle in his eye, 'And now it's time to share those adventures.' Jesus looked round the room. 'The last to go were Carl and Ben. I think it fitting that they be the first to share with us.'
The two young men were met with thunderous cheering as they took their place in front of the room. Carl took stock of his fellow apostles, the disciples and Jesus. He waited for the applause to die away, and then said, 'Lord, even the demons submit in your name.'
More applause, cheering, and echoes of appreciation greeted this remark.
'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.' Jesus replied. 'I gave you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'
Carl considered this, then said, 'We had an amazing time. Like you, we had nothing apart from the clothes we wore. No money, no food, no phone. Just the two of us and a bag o' nerves.'
Ben nodded his agreement.
'And as you know,' Carl continued, 'the idea was simple enough, preach the good news about Jesus,' he smiled, 'heal the sick.' He paused for a moment. 'Simple enough, eh, lads?'
Silence.
'Anyway,' Carl continued, 'we arrived in Wolverhampton on Friday evening, and headed out into the city to get our bearings. I must admit I was half expecting someone to meet us at the station with our names on a board. They’d whisk us away to a five star hotel with hot food, shower, warm bed, and clean sheets - the works.' He paused, laughed. 'Nah, didn't happen.
'We got talking to a few people on the streets. We prayed for them, we prayed for the healing of the sick. While we were walking round, I stumbled, fell over, and hit the deck, hands and knees job. It would have been embarrassing if anybody noticed, but, nobody did.’
'We spent the night in a shop doorway. We were cold and too hungry to sleep. At one stage a couple o' drunks peed in the doorway. We had to move on, find a dry place.'
‘My faith was low, I'm sure Ben was feeling the same, but I could hear him whispering to himself, "God is good, God is good." After a while I joined in. The angels didn't come down to save us, fire from heaven didn't appear to warm us, but God was with us, and hope returned.’
'The next morning we were up early after an hour's sleep. We prayed, walked around for a while to get warm. We were both very hungry and light-headed with it.’
'For the rest of Saturday we wandered around the city. We met many homeless people; difference was, they weren’t playing at it, like us. I felt challenged to try to get some food for them. We went into lots of places, burger bars, and kebab shops. Nobody wanted to know. We kept being told, get a job, and feed yourselves. After a lot of searching, we found one place, Subway, where they gave us two free sandwiches. We wandered round looking for somebody deserving to give them to. I have to confess, I was hoping Ben suggested we ate them, but he didn't.'
Ben laughed. 'I was hoping the same, mate.'
'Then we met these two homeless guys, Derek and Steve. Originally from Scotland, they'd been working down in Wessex, but their contract had come to an end sooner than expected. They'd been left adrift without any money, and were hitch hiking back up north when they'd washed up in Wolverhampton. They were grateful for the food. While we were standing chatting with these guys a group of lads out on the town wandered past. One of them pulled out a wad of notes, flashed it, taunting us. I asked Derek if that happened a lot. He told me it happened every day. After a bit more chat, they wandered off to find a place to sleep.’
'Then Ben started talking to this man, Stuart. We asked if he'd heard of Jesus. He told us he was part of a group who met on a Sunday morning to talk about Jesus and what he means for the world. Stuart was amazed when we told him who we were and who'd sent us. He invited us back to spend the night at his house, before the meeting on Sunday. We spent the night with Stuart and his family, chatting, watching the latest uploads on the Boss, and what was happening. We each had a sleeping bag on his living room floor. We were warm, we had hot food, but you know, I couldn't stop thinking about the two Scottish lads who were trying to get home.’
'We woke early on Sunday morning, had breakfast, and made extra bacon and egg rolls, then set out to find Derek and Steve. After what seemed like ages, we found them huddled together in a shop doorway. We gave them the food and invited them along to the meeting.’
'At the meeting there were about twenty or so people, men and women who wanted to know about the Boss,' Carl nodded at Jesus, 'we had to tell them all we knew, what he was about, what he'd come to achieve. Derek and Steve shared their stories, and were amazed when Stuart and his friends had a whip round. It made them enough money to get a train back to Scotland. They left with tears in their eyes. To them, after months of living rough, existing on what other people had thrown away, such generosity was unbelievable.’
'After the meeting we went back into the city centre with Stuart and his group. We approached the lovely people at Subway, and asked for more food for the homeless, which we got, and then we spent the afternoon distributing it. When we left, they were talking about setting up a permanent soup kitchen to feed the homeless on a regular basis.'
The hall was silent. The disciples as enthralled as the new recruits.
'You never realise,' Carl continued, 'until you're in a position to see them, just how many people are living down there,' he pointed at the floor, 'in the gutter.
'We were doing this for the weekend. Friday night through Sunday night, then we came home, back to civilisation. There are people out there, good people, men, women, children,' Carl took a deep breath. 'It’s their way of life. They exist on the streets, in the shadows. They're invisible, and when we joined them, we became like them. Invisible. Anonymous.'
There were nods of recognition from the other apostles, the disciples. They knew too well just how bad it could be for people on the margins of society.
FOURTEEN
LEEDS, NORTHUMBRIA.
Once the woman had rung the bell, Beaumont couldn't settle to anything. He interspersed pacing the floor with surfing the afternoon TV channels. It was the standard fare. Old films, shopping channels, glamorous girls selling you stuff you didn't know existed, much less wanted. He lingered for a while in horrified fascination over a studio filled with a baying audience as two women fought over a smirking young scrote. Worn out by watching, he switched off in disgust, smoked a joint, drank two cans of lager, and convinced himself the black clad Ninjas would be through the door any second. It took all of his will-power not to rush out in the street and give himself up.
The gate creaked. Beaumont took up his position at the back of in the living room near the kitchen door, saw the
woman as she approached the door again. The bell rang loud and shrill. Beaumont waited for her to realise there was nobody home. After a minute she wandered down the path, looked back at the house, and closed the gate.
Through the open window, he could hear the noise of the machinery, the pneumatic drill, the diggers, the clash of shovels, could imagine the men, stripped to the waist, glistening with sweat. He pulled the settee away from the wall, grabbed cushions, and wedged himself into the space.
✝
Despite the heat of the day the car windows were closed, engine running, air con going full blast. Swanger watched as the road crew, stripped to the waist, dug holes in the street. Her young colleague, Barnabas, out in the field for the first time, fidgeted in the passenger seat. For Swanger, used to working alone, being anonymous, it felt like she had somebody surgically attached. Every time she turned round the kid was there. At her elbow, under her feet, asking questions, complaining, moaning. It was too hot, it was too cold. The air con was too loud.
'You want to try lying in a ditch for a week, drinking water from a tube.' Swanger told him.
Barnabas considered this, 'What about toilet facilities?'
'Piss yourself.' Swanger replied tersely, and turned on the radio. These surveillance jobs could get downright boring. Infinite patience was needed, and she wasn't sure Barnabas had what it took. It was a mystery how he got through training.
'Hey.' Barnabas turned up the volume. 'It's Jesus.'
So chuffing what?
'...Jesus speaking earlier to his disciples, told them, "I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink. Or about your body, what clothes you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the pigeons. They do not sow or reap, they have no storerooms, yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable are you than birds. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you can't do this simple thing, why worry about the rest.”
Saviour Page 18