Fishers of Men

by Gerald N. Lund

  She turned and looked at the man sitting on the bench. David was right. She could not simply ignore this any longer. Postponing it day after day wasn’t helping her either.

  She looked down, squeezing Esther’s hand. “Hold my hand tightly, Esther. Granmama just wants to see for a moment.”

  That was unnecessary counsel, for with all the people close around them, Esther was clinging to her now.

  It took Deborah three or four minutes to make her way through the crowd, angling in a way that would bring her to where she could see Jesus’ face and not just watch him from the side. As they neared the front of the crowd, she saw Amram the Pharisee and several of his associates. They were standing directly in front of Jesus, who was seated on the bench. Peter and Andrew stood on each side of Jesus. Deborah then saw John and James in the crowd a few feet away.

  When she reached the place where no one was directly in front of her, Deborah brought Esther around to stand in front of her so she wouldn’t get lost in the press of people. A woman beside her, who had a boy about Esther’s age, looked at her and smiled. “The Pharisees are trying to make Jesus look foolish,” she offered. She seemed amused by that concept—as if such a thing were possible!

  Nodding, Deborah turned to look at the cluster of men confronting Jesus. It was obvious that Amram and his colleagues were quite agitated. Amram was stroking his beard in quick, jerky movements. “By what authority do you speak as you do?” he demanded.

  Peter stepped forward. “Do you not hear what is happening?” he said, clearly irritated. “The blind see. The sick are healed. Evil spirits are cast out from those who are tormented. What more authority do you need than that?”

  Deborah suddenly started. Standing in the group of Pharisees with his back to her was a familiar figure. She leaned forward, and then he partly turned. It was her brother, Aaron. She peered more closely, finding that hard to believe. He was here in Capernaum and hadn’t even let her know?

  Then she was pulled back into what was happening. Amram raised one hand and shook it at Peter. “He casts out devils by the power of Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils.”

  Peter’s face darkened, and he looked as if he was going to erupt, but it was Jesus who spoke. To her surprise, his voice was of perfect mildness. “But how could that be?” he asked. “If a house is divided against itself, it will fall. If a kingdom is divided against itself, it will fail.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” one of the Pharisees snapped.

  “You say that I cast out evil spirits by the power of Beelzebub, but why would Satan give me power to work against his own kingdom? If Satan is divided against himself, his kingdom cannot stand.”

  Amram and those around him were caught completely off their guard with that simple answer. Aaron was fuming, speaking in sharp angry hisses to the man standing next to him. It was clear they had no response to that.

  “And,” Jesus went on, speaking more to the crowd now than to his antagonists, “the Pharisees themselves believe that they have been given the power under the Law to exorcise evil spirits.” He turned back to Amram. “If you cast out evil spirits, do you do it by the power of Beelzebub as well?”

  For a moment Deborah thought Amram was going to explode right there. His eyes glowered in outrage.

  “When a man is strong and well armed in his palace,” Jesus continued, “then his goods are at peace. But when a stronger man comes, he overcomes that man and takes the armor in which he trusted and spoils his goods.”

  Deborah’s head came up slowly. Suddenly Amram and Aaron were forgotten. That was a remarkable statement. Was Jesus saying he was stronger than Satan? She started to shake her head, hardly able to believe that, but then stopped when Jesus went on.

  He lifted one hand and extended his finger, as though he were going to shake it at them, but he didn’t. He just pointed. His voice became firm and strong. “If I, with the finger of God, cast out evil spirits, then why do you doubt that the kingdom of God has come unto you?”

  The crowd gave an approving murmur. Though many of them believed that the Pharisees were probably closer to carrying out God’s will than the aristocratic Sadducees, they were nevertheless pleased to see them taken down a notch in their arrogance and pride. And there was no question that the crowd’s sympathy was with Jesus right now.

  Amram whirled, pulling his robes around him. “We do not have to listen to such babbling,” he snorted. “Come!” He strode away, hissing at the crowd to make way for them.

  As they passed by Deborah, Aaron finally saw her. He was at first startled at the sight of her; then his eyes narrowed. He hurried over to her. “What are you doing here?” he said in a low voice.

  “I’ve just gotten here,” she said, taken aback a little by his anger. “I saw the crowd and wanted to see what was happening.”

  “The man is unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable!”

  Irritation flashed in Deborah. “Good morning, Deborah,” she said in a sweetly mocking tone. “How nice to see you. I’ve just come down from Sepphoris and have dropped by your house to say hello. And by the way, hello to my niece, Esther.”

  The woman beside Deborah snickered. Aaron’s face was red. “Oh, I—we—well, we did just arrive this morning. They’ve called a council to discuss how we should deal with this Jesus and—”

  The same lady broke in. “Why don’t you just listen to him. He is a wonderful teacher.”

  “If I wished to speak to you, Madam,” Aaron said haughtily, “I would address you directly.” He sniffed and turned back to Deborah. “I will be here several days. I was going to come by this evening.”

  Deborah softened a little. “Did you bring Hava and the children?”

  He shook his head, surprised that she would even ask.

  “Do you have a place to stay?”

  “No.”

  She touched his hand. “Supper will be at sundown.”

  He nodded curtly and spun away, hurrying after the others, who were disappearing into the crowd.

  Deborah felt a tug on her skirt. She looked down. “Why is Uncle Aaron angry, Granmama?” Her dark eyes were wide with concern.

  Laying a hand on her cheek, Deborah smiled. “He’s not angry, Esther. He’s just a little upset right now. It’s all right.” She squeezed her hand. “I think it’s time to go home, don’t you?”

  Her head bobbed quickly, gratefully, but before Deborah began to move, the woman beside her grabbed her son’s hand and pushed forward. “Jesus,” she called, “will you give my son a blessing?”

  Surprised at that, Deborah turned back. She saw that with the departure of Amram’s group, the crowd was moving in closer around Jesus. She felt Esther go rigid as the people began to push in around them. Deborah slipped the handles of the bag over her arm and lifted Esther up.

  Other women were bringing their children forward too. Several had babes in arms. “Touch my son, Master,” one cried. “Please bless my baby,” said another. “Here, this is little Joseph. Will you bless him?”

  Peter and Andrew moved forward, holding out their arms and trying to hold the crowd back. “People,” Peter said loudly, “please give the Master some room.”

  The woman with her boy had reached the fisherman by now and tried to duck around him. Simon Peter quickly blocked her way. “Good woman,” he said, “your child does not need a blessing from Jesus. Young children are without sin.”

  “Peter.”

  He turned at the sound of Jesus’ voice. “Yes, Master?”

  “Suffer the little children to come unto me.”

  Peter was clearly caught off guard with that. “But, Master, I—”

  “Suffer them to come,” Jesus said gently, “for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

  With that Peter stepped back, making way. Andrew did the same. To Deborah’s surprise, it was the children who moved in. They swarmed around Jesus, delighted to be given an open invitation.

  Deborah was amazed at what she saw next. Jesus remained seated
, reaching out to take a hand or touch a face, laughing and smiling in delight at the response of the little ones to him. A little boy of about three, with a dirty face and a mop of tangled black hair, edged in close. Deborah couldn’t determine if his mother was with him or not. He watched Jesus in wonder, too shy to move forward but obviously wanting to be noticed. And then Jesus saw him and held out a hand. Slowly the boy came forward. Jesus leaned forward, scooped him up, and deposited him on his lap, laughing at the boy’s startled expression.

  That brought Deborah up with a jerk. She looked at Esther, who was watching what was happening with eyes as wide as the melons they had just bought. “Would you like to go see Jesus?” Deborah asked on impulse.

  Esther turned away sharply. “No!” she blurted.

  Esther held her more tightly. “That’s all right,” Deborah said. “You don’t have to. And Granmama is right here. It’s all right.”

  Greatly relieved, Esther seemed to relax. She turned back to watch.

  Jesus raised a hand and said something to the children. They quieted quickly, and the crowd did the same. He reached out with his hand and ruffled the hair of the boy on his lap; then he looked up at the faces of the surrounding people. “My disciples have asked me, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Well, I say unto you, unless you be converted and become as these little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

  People turned to look at each other in surprise at that pronouncement, but no one spoke.

  “Whosoever humbles himself as this little child, it is that person who shall be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

  The little boy had turned and was watching Jesus as he spoke. He reached up and touched Jesus’ beard, as though to see if it was real.

  Jesus smiled and put an arm around him. “Whoever receives one such little child as this, receives me.” Then his expression grew somber. “But I warn you, whosoever offends one of these little ones, it would be better for them if they had a millstone tied about their necks and they were drowned in the depths of the sea.”

  Then, brightening again, he gave the boy another hug and let him slide off his lap. He stood up, preparing to leave, and the crowd fell back again. As his eyes swept the crowd, they suddenly stopped on Deborah and Esther. When Esther saw that he was looking at her she shrank back a little, but to Deborah’s surprise she did not turn away. She continued watching Jesus with unblinking intensity.

  Jesus smiled and beckoned with one hand for her to come to him.

  When Esther realized it was her that Jesus was beckoning to, she gave a quick shake of her head.

  “It’s all right, Esther,” Deborah said, suddenly wanting Esther to share in the gentleness of what she had just witnessed. “He won’t hurt you.”

  Again there was the brief movement of her head. Deborah looked at Jesus and shrugged helplessly. Jesus only smiled; then, gesturing to Peter and the other disciples, he began to move away.

  Suddenly Esther was squirming in her arms. “Down, Granmama!”

  Deborah let her slide to the ground, grateful to have the weight removed from her arms. Then to Deborah’s utter astonishment, Esther broke free from her grasp. She darted away, weaving through the people.

  “Esther!” Deborah moved quickly after her granddaughter, fearing that she had panicked and would run blindly into the crowd.

  As Deborah cried out again, people turned. They were already making way for the little girl who was threading her way through them. Now hearing Deborah, they opened a path for her as well. As they did so, Deborah saw her granddaughter run up to Jesus, whose back was to them as he moved away. Deborah was dumbfounded as Esther reached up and tugged on the back of Jesus’ robe.

  In surprise he turned and looked down. A smile instantly filled his face when he recognized who it was. He bent down as though to speak to her, and Deborah got her second shock. Esther threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. Jesus was momentarily startled; then, with genuine pleasure, he took her in his arms.

  Deborah reached them just as Jesus lifted Esther up, unable to believe what she was seeing. Jesus looked at her as she came up. “You are Deborah, wife of David the merchant.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “Yes.”

  “And this is your granddaughter?”

  She nodded. She was a little overwhelmed to be so close to the man who had been the cause of so much turmoil within her. She was also disarmed by the great warmth she saw in his eyes.

  Jesus looked at Esther. “And what is your name?”

  “Esther,” she said without hesitation.

  “Ah,” he said soberly. “You are named for the great queen who saved her people.”

  Esther nodded gravely.

  “I—” Deborah had to start again. “This is astonishing. She is usually so shy around people.”

  Jesus was still looking into Esther’s eyes. “Then I consider it the greater privilege,” he said. “Thank you for that sweet kiss.”

  A tiny smile played around Esther’s mouth. It was an expression that Deborah knew well, a signal that the sphinx was happy inside but trying hard not to let the world know.

  Jesus turned to Deborah and searched her face. She fell back a step under the intensity of his gaze. It was as though he were probing her very soul.

  “I—” she started, faltering.

  He smiled and let Esther down to the ground, but his eyes never left Deborah’s. “Except you become converted,” he said softly, “and become as this little child, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven, Deborah, wife of David of Capernaum.”

  With that he briefly laid a hand on Esther’s head, then turned and walked away. The crowd immediately surged in behind him, and he was lost to Deborah’s sight.

  Deborah stood transfixed. A great rush of peace had swept over her, and without realizing it, tears sprang to her eyes. She felt a little hand reach out and take hers. Through blurred vision Deborah looked down.

  “I like Jesus, Granmama,” Esther said. It came out with such complete purity and innocence that Deborah had to take in a quick breath.

  Then she dropped to her knees and threw her arms around her granddaughter. “Yes,” she whispered, holding her tightly. “I do too, Esther. I do too.”

  V

  It took only a moment to realize that the house was empty. Not surprised, he left again, headed up the street to Ephraim’s house. Joseph was playing outside with two other young boys. On seeing David, he waved happily. “Shalom, Papa.”

  “Hello, son. Is Mama inside?”

  He shook his head.

  “Where is she?”

  With the careless shrug that was so typical of a ten-year-old, Joseph answered. “I don’t know.”

  David went inside. Ephraim’s house was much smaller than his parents’, with a courtyard that was only about twenty feet square. As he stepped inside, David saw Esther and Boaz sitting on the tiles playing together. Esther jumped up. “Pampa!”

  “Hello, little one.” She ran to him, and he swept her up and gave her a kiss. “Is Granmama inside?”

  She gave a quick shake of her head.

  “Oh.” He set her down again, a little puzzled.

  “I saw Jesus,” Esther said.

  He had already started toward the house. He stopped short. “You did?”

  She nodded gravely. “With Granmama.”

  “Where?”

  She flipped her head happily. “We bought melons, Pampa! I picked the best ones. I know how.”

  “That’s good, Esther. Where did you see Jesus?”

  Now she was suddenly shy. “I gave him a kiss.”

  He just stared at her.

  With that, she ran back and sat down beside Boaz, who had barely acknowledged the presence of his grandfather. Just then the door opened, and Leah and Rachel stepped out. Leah came over to him and gave him a quick hug. “I thought I heard your voice.”

  “Where’s your mother?”

  Leah gave him
a strange look. “Didn’t she come to see you?”

  “No.”

  The two women exchanged looks. “Then I think she’s down by the water,” Rachel said. “You’d better go find her.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Rachel smiled. “Just go find her.”

  VI

  When Deborah finished, David reached out and touched her cheek, caressing it with the back of his fingers. “I can’t believe it.”

  She laughed softly through her tears. “Neither can I. I was so confused, David. So upset. Then in one instant I knew. It was as if everything was suddenly new within me. And I had this great calm inside. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

  She lifted a hand and laid it over his, pressing it against her face. “I’m sorry I doubted you, David. I am—”

  He shook his head quickly. “Don’t,” he whispered. “This is enough. This is more than I dared hope for.”

  She sat back. “Even my father, David. Suddenly the terrible pain is gone. I don’t know how, but I know that everything is all right with him and Mama. That somehow God will make things right.”

  “Yes. That’s it, isn’t it? Somehow God will make things right.”

  Her face saddened. “What about Simeon? What will he say when he finds out that we’ve all turned against him? Or at least that’s what he’ll think.”

  “I don’t know,” he murmured. “I’ve never prayed for anything as earnestly as I am praying for him right now.”

  Her eyes widened. “Were you praying for me too?”

  “Of course.”

  The tears brimmed over again. “Thank you.”

  He slid over beside her and put his arm around her. “If God can change your heart so completely, then maybe he can change Simeon as well.”

  Struck by that thought, she began to nod. “Yes. It is a miracle what happened to me today. And all because of Esther. If she hadn’t gone up and kissed Jesus, I would have turned away.” She moved in closer against him. “Let’s pray for Simeon now, David, before we go back.”

  He nodded, still filled with wonder at what was happening. “Yes, I would like that very much.”

  Chapter Notes