Maximus

by Richard L. Black

  The old man apologized and introduced himself as Jershon and in somewhat halting Greek began to explain the circumstances. “Our sail went slack, then without warning, a strong gust of wind filled the sail and snapped the mast.” He motioned to the man Levi was carrying. “My son was hit in the head when the mast fell. My younger son, Seth, and I have been struggling for hours to get to shore.” The old man looked apprehensively at his eldest son cradled limply in Levi’s arms. “He has lost a lot of blood.” He reached out for the dangling hand of his wounded son and pointed Levi down a side street. “Our home is nearby.” Jacob could hear the emotion and helplessness in the old man’s voice. He walked up beside him and put his arm around his shoulder for comfort and support. “Thank you, young man,” Jershon murmured quietly as he walked rapidly, his head down.

  Jershon led them down a narrow street for about fifty yards, bringing them to a weathered doorway where he bolted inside and began calling out instructions. Levi followed him inside, carrying the wounded man. From outside the doorway, Jacob heard a scream. He entered the humble home and a short, rotund woman, her hand over her mouth, was crying and hastily clearing a spot for Levi to place the man. A small girl entered the room and started to cry as she clutched the older woman.

  Levi laid the man on a low bed as a young woman came out from the back of the house into the room. At the sight of the bloody man lying on the bed, she released a tearful moan and collapsed to the floor. The older couple together gathered her up and leaned her against the side of the bed.

  The older woman then carefully removed the wrapping from the man’s head and gasped. She began to shake and sob; it was obvious she would be no help in assessing the wound and dressing it. Jacob had seen plenty of bloody wounds in the battlefield so he stepped in, knelt at the man’s side, and asked in Greek for warm water and rags. Jershon repeated Jacob’s request in the language that sounded somewhat like Hebrew, and the older woman collected herself and scurried off, the younger girl close behind. Jacob removed the rest of the bloodied dressing and turned the man’s head to the side to get a better look at the cause of the bleeding. There was a deep, ugly four-inch gash behind his left ear. He was most likely unconscious from the blow and now weakened from blood loss. Jacob lifted the torn flap of skin behind Lamech’s ear and, with his finger, carefully felt around the deep cut. He was encouraged upon discovering that the skull had not been fractured. He would clean and dress the wound, and they would have to wait for him to regain consciousness—Jacob hoped for his family’s sake that he would.

  He washed the wound clean with warm water and patted it dry. Naomi collected herself enough to prepare a poultice of ground herbs to dress the wound. Jacob placed it gently over the cut, then began wrapping Lamech’s head with a clean cloth to secure the poultice and cover the wound. When Jacob finished, Naomi stepped in and washed her son’s face and neck, covered him with blankets, and made him comfortable in the bed. Raisa, who had fainted earlier, had come to and was sobbing quietly in the arms of Jershon, who was trying to comfort her. Jacob and Levi stood aside uncomfortably, not knowing what to do.

  Jershon said gratefully, “I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Thank you, my sons, from the bottom of my heart. Our family will always be grateful.”

  Speaking in Greek, Jershon introduced his family to Jacob and Levi: Naomi, his wife; his younger son, Seth; and his younger daughter, Esther. He explained that the injured man was Lamech, his eldest son, and introduced his daughter-in-law, Raisa. She stood, tears streaming down her face and expressed her gratitude in the language they soon learned was Aramaic. Jacob and Levi nodded politely and smiled. She knelt at the side of her husband and held his seemingly lifeless hand.

  “Please, tell us your names and where you are from.” Jershon gestured to Jacob and Levi, inviting them to sit down on a bench near the entry.

  Jacob was more nervous than he had been a month ago in reporting to the emperor Tiberius and the Senate in Rome. He timidly began. “My name is Jacob. This is my brother, Levi. We have recently traveled from Egypt. We arrived in Capernaum just this morning.”

  “Your timely arrival is our good fortune.” Jershon smiled and clapped his hands. “Please, you must stay and eat. Do you have lodging?” he asked.

  Jacob and Levi looked sheepishly at each other. “No, we are just passing through,” Jacob quietly responded.

  “You must eat and stay at least one night with us. I see by the crowds that the rabbi has returned. There will be no place to sleep. You must stay with us.” Jershon was emphatic.

  Naomi came forward and with tears in her eyes, she thanked them and looked longingly at her motionless son.

  “He should be all right,” Jacob tried to assure her. “I have seen wounds like this before; they are not serious. He will sleep awhile and will wake up with a sore head, but he will be fine.”

  “How do you know this?” Jershon asked.

  Jacob thought quickly, calculating his answer. “I have seen wounds like this on ships. They bleed profusely, but the wound in your son’s head isn’t that deep, and the bones are not damaged.”

  “Do you work on ships?” Naomi asked.

  “We have recently traveled on ships,” Jacob answered, not wanting to lie. “We really don’t want to be any trouble to you. We are glad to have been able to help you today,” Jacob said, trying to change the subject.

  “You are no trouble to us. We owe you our lives. A meal and a night’s lodging are small payment,” Jershon said. Turning to Naomi, he inquired, “If the rabbi is back, where are Sariah, David, and Liora?”

  “I don’t know,” Naomi replied.

  “The rabbi?” Jacob asked. “You speak of Jesus?”

  “Yes,” Jershon answered. “Are you disciples?”

  “No,” Jacob answered. “We are just curious. We were on our way to Bethsaida and met him coming into town.”

  “Then will you be staying here for a few days?” Jershon asked.

  “We haven’t decided yet. We will probably head back to Jerusalem soon,” Jacob answered.

  “Well, you are welcome to stay here as long as you are in Capernaum,” Jershon declared.

  The front door flew open with a loud bang, and a crying, distressed young woman burst into the room. It was Sariah. “We went first to the shore, hoping to meet you coming home and heard that Lamech had been hurt,” she sobbed, seeing him lying on the bed with his head bandaged. “Will he be all right?” she asked as she knelt down next to Raisa, hugging her.

  “These men say he will be,” answered Jershon. Sariah hadn’t noticed the two strangers in her home. Jershon made introductions as Naomi tried to comfort Sariah, who was still upset at seeing her injured brother.

  Jershon stood to embrace his niece and nephew, who were standing in the entry to the small room. “Jacob, Levi, this is my nephew David and my niece Liora.” Jacob shook David’s hand, then turned to Liora, standing in the sunlit doorway. He could see only her shadowy figure with the bright sun to her back. Liora shut the door behind her and pulled back her head covering. As Jacob’s eyes refocused in the dimmer light, he was immediately struck by her beauty: her light olive skin, almond-shaped eyes, and high cheekbones were framed in long, dark hair flowing over her narrow shoulders. He didn’t know whether he should bow or shake her hand. He couldn’t make any words come out of his mouth, so he simply stared and smiled at her. Liora smiled at the two strangers as she entered the room, barely taking note of them—too concerned for the well-being of her cousin, lying on the bed with his head bandaged. She knelt beside Sariah and Raisa and asked what had happened.

  Jacob turned to Jershon and said, “You have a large family, and we will be an imposition. We appreciate your invitation, but please let us make lodging arrangements somewhere else.”

  “Nonsense. There are no other arrangements to be made. You will stay here.” Jershon was firm.

  Jacob and Levi nodded in agreement, feeling like children being reprimanded by their father.


  Jershon then recounted the story to everyone: how they set sail to come home, and the wind had turned fierce. Lamech stood to furl the sail. As he slackened the ropes, a sudden and severe gust of wind filled the sail, causing the mast to snap in half. The mast fell and the boom swung around precariously, hitting him in the back of the head. Lamech went down hard, falling inside the boat, fortunately. He was bleeding, but Jershon and Seth had to secure the sail and dangling mast before they could attend to him. The wind whipped the waves, almost capsizing them twice. Jershon tore a piece off the bottom of his tunic and had Seth hold it on the back of Lamech’s head to stop the bleeding as he lay unconscious among the fish in the bottom of the hull. Jershon thought he might be dead, but Seth said he was breathing. The strong wind threatened to blow them to the eastern shore, but after thirty minutes or so it abated and shifted, and Jershon was able to rig a small sail to help them tack back toward Capernaum. Two hours later and fifty yards from shore, the poorly rigged sail failed and they were dead in the water, drifting eastward again. That’s when they stood up and began hailing people on the shore.

  Jershon knew they were doomed when the wind began slowly pushing them offshore again. He explained that the fishermen were reluctant to launch a boat to assist in a rescue, because too often, when one went out to help another on the choppy water, both boats would be lost. Jershon said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a man jump in the water and begin to swim toward them.

  “Our fellow fishermen are watermen for sure, but they are boatmen. Swimming is not something many of us have learned to do,” Jershon added for Jacob and Levi’s benefit.

  “When I saw a man swim up to the boat and gesture for a rope to tow us to shore, I was skeptical. No man could tow an empty boat to shore against the wind, let alone one with three men aboard and half-filled with fish. But I knew it was perhaps our only hope, so I handed a line to Levi here, who swam off as I secured the other end to the bow cleat. We actually began to move forward for a short time, and my hopes soared. But the wind picked up again, and Levi began to tire. That’s when I saw another man swimming out to give us aid. That was Jacob, and between the two of them, they managed to pull us to safety. Then later, amidst the confusion on land, Levi stepped in and picked up Lamech, who is no small man, and carried him to the house. Jacob here,” Jershon pointed to Jacob, “cleaned the wound and dressed it. We are truly fortunate that these two strangers happened into Capernaum today.”

  The family listened to Jershon’s account with fascination. Seth was smiling, admiring the two muscular visitors sitting in his home.

  Jacob and Levi were embarrassed, listening to Jershon extol their heroics in front of the family.

  “Where were your oars?” Liora asked the question no one else had thought about. Jershon looked at his youngest son. Seth hung his head and explained he had taken the oars out the night before while cleaning the bottom of the boat and forgot to put them back. It was a mistake he sorely regretted and said would never happen again.

  Naomi gathered the girls to prepare supper and left Raisa to tend to Lamech and her hungry baby.

  Lamech appeared to be resting comfortably. They all trusted Jacob’s word that he would wake soon; the mood in the house lightened and there was even a small bit of laughter coming from the kitchen.

  David and Seth sat on the floor next to Jershon. Jacob and Levi sat back down on the bench by the door.

  “Where did you learn to swim like that?” Jershon asked Levi.

  “We had a lake near our home. During the hot summers when I was a young boy, each day my brothers and I would go with my father to swim after the work was finished. He was an excellent teacher, and we all learned how to swim,” Levi responded.

  “What work does your family do, Levi?”

  “We are blacksmiths,” Levi answered.

  At this, David spoke up. “So am I. I have a small shop south of here in Magdala. I learned the trade from my father and brothers too.” Levi smiled and nodded.

  “I was thinking of talking with you, Uncle, about moving the business to Capernaum so we could be closer,” David added. Jershon looked at David with his eyebrows raised.

  “Well, perhaps we can discuss that later,” Jershon responded.

  David nodded sheepishly, embarrassed he had brought up family business in front of strangers but glad he had broached the subject with his uncle.

  They heard giggling coming from the kitchen. David began to ask Levi questions about blacksmithing. Jacob knew it had been some time since Levi had actually worked with his family. Under the circumstances, he hoped Levi wouldn’t be put on the spot, but no sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Jershon asked, “Tell me more about your family, Levi.”

  Levi shifted uncomfortably on the bench and fiddled with his robe. Jacob tried to think of something to interject, but Levi calmly said, “They were all killed.”

  The mood in the room changed, and Jershon sat back, looked Levi in the eyes, and said, “I’m sorry, my son. I apologize for asking.”

  “You couldn’t have known,” Levi responded.

  David and Seth stared at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with Levi.

  Jershon sighed heavily, then boldly said, “If I may ask, how did that happen?”

  Levi sat quietly for a moment, looking straight ahead, and then he looked directly at Jershon. “They were killed by a band of marauders.” There was a palpable silence in the entire house. Even the noise and banter in the kitchen stopped. Levi continued, “It was a long time ago. That’s when I became brothers with Jacob. His father became my father.”

  David looked up at Levi from his seat on the floor. A tear formed in the corner of his eye, and he said, “My older brothers were killed by Roman soldiers.”

  Levi was stunned but managed to ask about the circumstances.

  David composed himself and answered, “They were with friends in Bethsaida and were hacked down by two drunken soldiers in an argument over the shade of a tree under which they were sitting. Our father never recovered from the shock of the news. Within a week, he simply let death overcome him. I hold Rome responsible for our father’s death as well.” The tears flowed freely down David’s face. Jershon reached over and put his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. David bowed his head sadly, remembering his loss.

  Jacob felt he had been struck by lightning with David’s revelation. He knew the murderers were likely Roman auxiliary soldiers, the likes of which they had encountered in Caesarea, but there would be no convincing David they weren’t Romans. Then Levi did what Jacob thought was an amazing thing. He extended his hand and pulled David to his feet. They stood toe to toe, and Levi looked directly at David. “I know how painful that is for you, more than anyone here, but it’s important to heal and move on.” Levi then grasped David around the shoulders and embraced him. David hugged him back.

  Jershon stood. “It appears we have much in common and much to give thanks for,” he said.

  The meal was served, and the family took seats on the blankets and cushions surrounding the low table. The family bowed their heads and joined their father in the traditional Jewish blessing. Jacob and Levi recalled the prayers Ezra had taught them and quietly followed along. When the prayer was concluded, Liora suddenly jumped to her feet and went back into the kitchen. She returned with a large urn filled with wine and began moving around the table, filling cups. When she leaned over Jacob to fill his cup, he glanced at her, trying not to be obvious. Her skin was like silk. Liora turned, and their eyes met for a split second. She inadvertently poured too much wine into his cup, and it overflowed onto the cloth in front of him. Seth and David laughed as Liora made a fuss trying to clean it up. Jacob stood to move out of her way.

  Liora cleaned up the spilled wine as best she could, then faced Jacob to apologize. She looked into his eyes, and Jacob looked down at her, smiling broadly. She stared up at him, her mouth open to speak, but no words emerged. It was all she could do not to fall into him and lean agai
nst his chest. The words of her aunt rang in her head, and Liora knew. She quickly caught herself and brushed past Jacob back to the kitchen to regain her composure.

  Naomi, who had been watching, followed. In the kitchen she wrapped her loving arms around her niece and whispered into her ear, “It looks like we have some work to do.”

  Liora smiled and looked into her aunt’s eyes as tears ran down her cheeks.

  Then they heard Raisa let out a short gasp. “He moved—his eyelids fluttered!” she exclaimed. Raisa had not left Lamech’s side. She pushed the food away that Esther had set in front of her at the foot of the bed. Everyone gathered around Lamech. His eyelids fluttered again, then opened.

  Lamech reached up and carefully placed his hand on his head behind his ear. “My head hurts. What happened?”

  Naomi and Liora ran from the kitchen when Raisa shouted and knelt next to her. Naomi cried with relief and opened her arms to Jershon, who had walked over to stand by their son. Everyone was smiling and talking at once. Jacob and Levi were relieved that Lamech had revived. Levi noticed that Sariah was standing by him and had unconsciously clutched his arm with both of her hands. He looked down at her and smiled. She quickly let go of his arm and smiled back.

  “God has been merciful,” Jershon said as he raised his hands to the ceiling. He turned and spoke to Jacob, “You were right—he has returned to us with a good headache.” Everyone laughed, and Jershon knelt to embrace his son.

  A prayer of thanks was given, then Jershon explained to Lamech what had happened since he’d been knocked unconscious and embraced him again. Naomi brought a bowl of warm soup over for Raisa to feed Lamech and then, with fervent hand movements, signaled for everyone else to move back to the table. They all returned to their places and with renewed spirits began to eat and talk.

  Liora knelt next to Jacob at the table and, smiling, leaned over and whispered, “Thank you.”