 
# The Galilean Sandals

Mike P. Fay

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2018

Smashwords Edition, License Notes.

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## Chapter 1 Arthur: Field Trip

On most field trips it doesn't matter if you're in the first group to leave the class or the last group \-- it's pretty much the same trip. But on that third field trip of our fifth grade year, it sure did matter.

The day started out great because Ms. Miller let me and Rosa be in the same group. Rosa is Rosalinda Hernandez, my best friend and next door neighbor, and me, I'm Arthur Jefferson. We both thought we would never get to be in the same group after what happened on the first field trip, which was to the Natural History Museum. That was the trip where Rosa bounced a super ball to me while we were on the second floor walkway around the main entrance hall. Of course I wasn't looking at Rosa, I was looking down at the stuffed elephant on the first floor. Anyway, Rosa yelled for me to catch it. Her yelling brought on the attention of the whole class who watched as I missed it, and the ball went down into the main hall, missed a lady rolling her baby in a stroller by about a foot, and bounced up higher than the elephant; in fact, the second bounce landed on top of the elephant's back. The third bounce went on the other side of the elephant and into the hall with the dinosaur bones, and after the fifth or sixth bounce we couldn't see it anymore. You would think that since none of the guards noticed, we wouldn't get in trouble. But Ms. Miller was really mad. She said Rosa and I wouldn't be able to be in the same group for any more field trips. Of course the next field trip Rosa got into trouble without me. She started talking to the zookeeper about what the otters eat and was asking tons of questions, like why did they put a plastic kid's slide in the otter area? The chaperones and the rest of us were on the bottom side of the enclosure watching the otters slide around and swim underwater through the glass, and we didn't notice Rosa was gone until we got up to the rhinos. It took us a half hour to find her.

On this third field trip my mom was a chaperone. Ms. Miller was at the other end of the room when Mom picked me, Rosa, Anthony and Sophie to be in her group. Mom knew those three were my friends because they were the ones I invited to my birthday party the month before. The kids liked my Mom because she let us do stuff. Like at my birthday party, we took two mattresses, put them on the basement steps, and slid down them. Mom not only let us do that, she actually helped us get the mattresses in place.

In the classroom, we had all our group together and Ms. Miller looked over and gave us a worried smile. She walked over, bent down and whispered to me "Arthur, I guess you can go with Rosa today. You'll be a calming influence, O.K.?" Then she whispered something to Rosa. I looked over at Rosa and smiled. I had the feeling this would be the best field trip ever. It turns out, my feelings would change about 3 times that day.

All us fifth graders were going to the Discovery Theater, which is in one of the Smithsonian museums down between the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Sometimes for field trips we walk to the subway from the school in our groups and meet back up at the museum or wherever we are going. That usually works out fine, but that trip it didn't quite work out for us, the last group to leave. Not only were we the last to leave, we were the slowest group. Mom kept talking to each of the kids on the way to the Metro. When she talks she has this habit of standing still to listen when she thinks you are saying something important. This feels kind of nice if you are doing the talking, but it made us really late to the Metro platform. By the time we got there all the rest of fifth grade was gone on a train heading downtown.

"No problem," said Mom, "the trains come fast."

About five minutes later we heard an announcement, "May I have your attention please. There is a delay on the red line trains heading in the direction of Glenmont. The delay is due to a mechanical problem with a train at the Friendship Heights station. Trains are using a single track at that station. We regret the inconvenience and thank you for your patience."

"Kids," Mom said, "I'm afraid we're going in the direction of Glenmont. Did anyone bring a book or something?"

Rosa held up a super ball. Just seeing that ball made me start sweating with the memory of the other one that bounced off the elephant. Why do I still feel so bad about that when I didn't even throw the ball? Mom smiled but shook her head no, even she wouldn't let us play ball on the Metro platform. By the time we got to the Discovery Theater the show had started, and they wouldn't let us in. Mom tried to argue but we already missed most of the show anyway so she gave up. We sat down in the hall, the last, slowest, and now most miserable group in the fifth grade.

Finally Mom got up, "Come on kids let's make our own field trip."

She wrote a note to Ms. Miller and bustled us over to the Natural History Museum across the mall (that's the grassy part between the museums). This is the museum of the super ball incident, but I never did tell Mom about that. Besides the big stuffed elephant and dinosaur bones, it also had movies about mummies, an insect zoo, and a bunch of other stuff. So I was feeling a little better, but I was the only one.

"O.K. kids we got to stick together. Now what'll it be? Dinosaur bones?"

"Seen um." said Anthony.

"Mummies?" said Mom.

"Only saw them a hundred million times." said Rosa.

"O.K., just follow me." Mom said. She lead us to the ground floor, by the museum shop to an old hall where there are stuffed birds of Washington D.C. "Has anyone ever seen one of these around here?"

Mom pointed to the stuffed pileated woodpecker. She was really trying hard, but we were all grumpy because we missed the show. I thought only Rosa's super ball could save us from the boredom. But then something better happened.

Someone called to Mom, "Sara, is that you?" It was Len Strauss, one of our neighbors. We saw him a lot after dinner when he was taking his dog, Rhino, out for a walk. He was tall with light brown skin and long hair that was bunched up into big pieces each one about as big as a finger. He called his hairdo, his dreads. Out walking his dog he always wore old pants with holes in the knees or paint on them. So it looked weird to see him here with his nice pants without any wrinkles.

"Oh, Len, I forgot you worked here. You have to help me, this field trip is not working out."

After hearing the whole story, Dr. Strauss agreed to take us to his office. Mom introduced the rest of the kids, "Kids, this is Dr. Strauss. He is an archaeologist."

"Right this way kids," he said as he lead us to a pair of double gray doors that said 'Staff Only'.

"Technically, you are all supposed to sign a guest log and get a temporary visitor's badge to go back here, but if you stay close to me there shouldn't be any trouble."

Dr. Strauss put his arm around my shoulder as we walked back to his office and pointed out stuff to me.

Back in the staff area there are lots of boxes and file cabinets. They are not normal-sized file cabinets, but ones with all different size drawers, and the drawers stacked all the way up to the ceiling.

"Kids, you hit me at the right time" Dr. Strauss said as we got to his office, "I have a job that I need kids for. Sit right down and I will tell you the story of the magic sandals of Galilee." He looked up at Mom and winked at her.

"The sandals were found inside a carved-out stone near Capernaum. Does anyone know where Capernaum is?"

Rosa raised her hand. "It's by the Sea of Galilee."

How did she know that?, I wondered.

"That's right, Rosa." said Dr. Strauss. "Now Capernaum is a small town on the Sea of Galilee which is not really a sea but a lake in the Middle East. It's far away from here and takes more than a day to get there even by plane. The sandals have been sent to a lab for radiocarbon dating and..."

"For what?" blurted Anthony. That was one good thing about Anthony, if he didn't know what you were talking about he would stop you right there and ask questions.

"Well, let's see" continued Dr. Strauss, "Radiocarbon dating is a method archaeologists use to figure out how old something is. For it to work, it has to be something that was once alive. So since the leather of the sandals used to be the skin of a cow or bull, we can use the method. The lab counts the number of beta particles released by decaying carbon-14 atoms and..."

"What are..." Anthony started to say.

Dr. Strauss held up his hand and smiled. "Please don't ask me what beta particles are or I will never get to the really interesting part." Another wink.

"Here is the bottom line. The lab says that the sandals come from the first century, about the time that Jesus lived. The sandals are special not just because they survived all this time for you to be able to see them -- I'll show you them in a minute-- they are special because inside the stone where they were found is an inscription, in Hebrew, that says something like this:

If you wear us,

and you let us,

you can be,

the one who wore us.

Now who here believes in magic?" All of us kids looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well, I'm not a believer in magic. I'm a scientist. That's why I'm glad you are here. You see sometimes when I put my hands inside these sandals, when I get real calm, and don't think about what I'm going to do next, and just try to imagine what it was like to live in these sandals in Capernaum then...'BAMM!'" We all jumped.

Next he whispered, "Then 'Bamm,' all of a sudden, it's like I'm a person living in the time when these sandals were made. Every time it happens, I learn so much about the times back then. Or I think I'm learning. You see there is a problem. Actually there're two problems. And I need a kid to solve them. The first problem is that I can't wear the sandals because my feet are too big. The second problem is that even the little magic I can feel from holding the sandals in my hand may just be my imagination. I might just be using all the details I know about the history of that time and tricking myself into creating these very vivid daydreams. But I bet none of you all have studied Late Second Temple Jewish history."

"Studied what?" blurted Antony.

Dr. Strauss continued, "Have any of you studied Late Second Temple Jewish history, or history about the times and places where Jesus lived?"

"Oh, I know all about Jesus from church," said Rosa.

"Maybe this was not a good idea, Len" said Mom. "This is a public school field trip and I don't know all these children's parents too well or even what religion they are."

"Don't worry," said Dr. Strauss. "I'll be a strict historian here, I promise. Now Rosa, you can't be the one to do this experiment because you know too much," Dr. Strauss winked again at her. Jeesh, all this winking. I never noticed before how much Dr. Strauss winks. He was acting different than when he is out walking Rhino. He had this look like he was telling us some mysterious secret. The way he was acting made you believe that the sandals really were magic.

Dr. Strauss pointed at me. "Arthur, do you know all about Jesus or Second Temple Jewish history?"

"I hardly know anything about Jesus. We don't go to church," I said. I looked over at Mom, she looked like she was about to say something, but didn't.

"Arthur, look over on top of my desk there. Those are the sandals." I looked over, and it just looked like clear plastic kid's sandals with some black stuff inside.

"I thought, they didn't have plastic back then." I said.

"Ah Ha!" said Dr. Strauss, "So you do know about history after all. You're right. Plastic was invented much later. The magic sandals are the black part inside the plastic."

We looked closer and inside the sandal shaped plastic cases were two very old sandals. The leather of the sandals looked really smooth on the part where the feet went, but the top of the straps were not smooth and looked like the inside of a banana peel, except black.

Dr. Strauss continued, "Without the plastic, I couldn't let you get near them, because you might break them, and they are very, very old. With the plastic, you can try them on. Now are you ready." I nodded.

"Go ahead, put them on." He put those plastic encased magic sandals on the floor in front of me. I put my feet into them, and held my breath. I waited. I started breathing again. Anthony looked at me. Rosa looked at me. Sophie and Mom and Dr. Strauss looked at me. Nothing happened. I was still me. I didn't feel like I was anyone else. Then Dr. Strauss looked at me real seriously. He said very slowly.

If you wear us,

and you let us,

you can be,

the one who wore us.

Still nothing happened. It was kind of freaky with everyone staring at me, and not one of them was smiling, not even Rosa.

"Maybe if I say it in Hebrew." Dr. Strauss started talking in Hebrew (I guess). It sounded strange, but he said the rhyme in the same slow way that he said it in English (only it didn't really rhyme the same way in Hebrew).

Then he looked at me very seriously. Everyone else was still looking at me. Dr. Strauss put his hands on my cheeks and stared into my eyes. "You have to let them, for it to work" he whispered. Something about the way he looked at me gave me the creeps.

I jumped back and kicked my feet out of the sandals, and they went flying up in front of Dr. Strauss. He wasn't used to playing sports, you could tell, because he tried to catch the sandals but ended up just bobbling the sandals between his hands and then knocking them against his desk. We were all quiet. Then Dr. Strauss laughed. He laughed like he does whenever Rhino starts licking my sister's face and she makes that EEW face. He seemed like his regular dog-walking friends-of-the-kids-in-the neighborhood self. We all laughed. It's funny how spooky things can get when nothing is even really happening.

Then he showed us some more old things, and we saw all kinds of old broken pots, old coins and stone dishes. But I kept sneaking looks at the plastic encased sandals that were now on the floor by Dr. Strauss' desk.

When it was time to go, I asked if I could come back and try on the sandals again. "Maybe, if the time is right. But only if you LET THEM." Dr Strauss said, and he winked at me. You know, I kind of liked his winking now that I was the one getting winked at.

## Chapter 2 Arthur: Grapes

After that time at the museum, Dr. Strauss always stopped and waved whenever he and Rhino were walking by. My mom and dad even had him over to dinner one time. I had almost forgot about the sandals, until the night Dr. Strauss invited our whole family over for dinner. Actually, Karen didn't go because she was having a sleep-over. I was the only kid. Maybe if Karen was with us I wouldn't have done what I did. But she wasn't there.

Dr. Strauss served barbecued vegetables. After dinner Mom started teasing Dr. Strauss about the magical sandals of Galilee. He smiled but still insisted that the sandals really were magic. Mom wanted to try to feel the magic of the sandals. Dr. Strauss got real serious. "Now the thing about using these magic sandals is that you have to clear your mind first. You can't just touch the sandals and expect magic. You have to prepare yourself first. Openness is what it's all about. It takes a kind of focus on clearing your mind of worrying about all the silly little things that your mind usually worries about."

"Like what's for dessert?" my Dad said.

"George, where did you learn your manners." Mom said as she lightly slapped Dad on the knee.

"As a matter of fact, I have prepared my famous ice cream pie," Dr. Strauss said. "The key to a perfect ice cream pie is the crust. Rice Krispies and melted chocolate chips, that's the secret. What do you think, Arthur, are you ready for pie?"

We all enjoyed the pie, and somehow the adults never did get back to talking about the sandals. They kept talking way longer than it was fun to listen. I asked if I could go watch T.V.. "Sure, there is a T.V. in the rec room in the basement," Dr. Strauss said. "Also there are some interesting things in the study you can look at. Just don't touch anything that's not enclosed in plastic."

So instead of going to watch T.V., I explored the study. It was the size of a regular bedroom, and the thing that was different about the study was there were bookshelves full of books on every wall. They were tall bookshelves too. In some places there were old pots, and old coins. I was about to go downstairs when I saw them, sitting on a small shelf over next to the big comfortable chair. The sandals.

Should I try them on again? I thought. Surely, Dr. Strauss wouldn't mind. Maybe he even wanted me to try them on. Why else would he say that about not touching anything that wasn't covered with plastic? I sat in the big lounge chair and played with the foot rest. I looked over at the sandals. I can't remember now whether I really thought they were magic or not. But after that night I never thought about those sandals the same way again.

For me it was less like a "BAMM" and more like a FLASH of lightning. I quietly put the sandals on the floor. I slipped my feet in. I said that saying to myself. I was surprised I could still remember it.

If you wear us,

and you let us,

you can be,

the one who wore us.

First I sat there for a long time wondering what would happen. Did he say something about quieting his mind? It was easy to be quiet with my voice, but almost impossible to be quiet in my mind. I kept thinking about all kinds of things. I sat there with my feet in these old, old, sandals with the plastic around them and tried to quiet my mind. But I couldn't, at first. I thought about Steve the sixth grader at school who was always bothering Mike Hooper. Yesterday, he kept calling him 'Hooper the Pooper' until Mike looked like he might start crying. I was glad Steve left me alone, and besides that Mike Hooper was pretty goofy. Anyway, stop thinking about it, I told myself. I wonder what it would be like to be in the time of Jesus anyway. If I did go back to that time, I could come back and go on T.V. And tell everyone about it. Everyone would want to talk to me, the Pope and the President, just about everyone. But I guess none of that would happen if I couldn't quiet my mind.

How do you quiet your mind anyway? Who would have thought, me, quiet Arthur, would have such a loud mind? I tried closing my eyes, and standing up.

FLASH.

I'm standing in the doorway of a house. Not really a house, it's more like a cave with a wall built in front of it. My father is talking to me. Only it's not my dad, and I'm not me. My body is different, and I'm sure if I could see my face, it would be different too.

My other father says, "Today is the day to pick the grapes." Only he doesn't really say that because he is speaking in some other language. But I can understand it because I'm not me. "Ben, you go ahead. I'll catch up," Father says. Without thinking, I know my name is Ben. I start to walk down the hillside.

I don't try to start walking. I just do. It's not like I'm in charge of my body, or in charge of Ben's body I guess I should say. Ben is still in charge, I'm just able to feel what it's like to BE him. It is a beautiful day. The sun is just rising and I can look up the side of the hill to see the olive trees and grapes, and down where it's more flat is the wheat field next to the lentils. I look down the hill into the doorway of Kalil's house to see if anyone is up yet. I don't see anyone around their house, but others are up and about. My father is back in the house saying something. He isn't talking to me, but I get the feeling I'm forgetting something. I stop walking, close my eyes, and say

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might."

Now one thing you notice when you are inside someone else's mind is that some words or sayings make a person feel a certain way. When I am Ben, God seems real and scary. God is bigger than the whole world, and scarier than any kind of monster you can think of. But when I'm saying those words, I feel like God was on my side, and I feel comforted. But all those feelings are just vague feelings coming from the back of my mind. Mostly, I'm thinking about going to pick grapes.

Father catches up to me and walks past me. "Come" he says. Father is different from my real Dad. He is shorter, stronger, and he talks less. Actually, I'm different too. I think I'm stronger too. But it's hard to tell because I'm still tired. We walk past our olive trees, then by Kalil's family's grape vines, then by Old Judah's lentil plants. I know what each of the plants looks like, even though the real me doesn't even know that lentils come in pods like peas do. Finally, we get to our grape vines which are close to Natan's grape vines.

We pass some people on the way, and we wave and shout 'Good morning' or something like that to everyone. I know everyone that we see. Some people, like Kalil, I can tell I really like, and some people I don't know too well. The grapes are just the right size for picking. They look almost the same as yesterday, but somehow Father knows that today is the best harvest day. Before we start picking, Father motions for me to sit on a rock right next to the vines. "Ben, you know the laws about the harvest. We don't pick grapes on the vines at the edge of the field. These are reserved for the poor and travelers. Let's give thanks to the Lord for this wonderful harvest. First let us pick the first fruits to give to the priests." Then he adds, "And Ben, after we pick those 5 bags, you can eat a few grapes yourself." I can't believe that Father is letting me eat some of the grapes. But maybe he knows it will be a good year and that we won't go hungry. I start picking grapes. Then

FLASH.

I was back in Dr. Strauss' study. It was the same as before except now I was not standing by the lounge chair, I was sitting on the floor facing the bookshelf on the other side of the room. There was a pile of books on top of my legs. The sandals somehow slipped off my feet and were under the pile.

"What's happening in there, Arthur?" Mom yelled from the kitchen.

Rhino came running in and started licking my face. I quick went over and put the sandals back on the shelf. I started to run back to the book pile, but Rhino kept jumping up on me slowing me down. Even after I got back on the shelves, Rhino pushed his nose under my arm as I started putting the books away. The adults came in the doorway when there was still a pretty big pile of books on the floor.

"Come on Arthur, you know better than to treat books like that," my Dad said when he saw me from the doorway of the study.

"Sorry, I,... uh." I couldn't think of anything to say to explain it. I still didn't know how the books got on the floor myself.

"It looks like Arthur, really wants to learn about archaeology," Mom said. "He can't pull the books off the shelf quick enough."

"Maybe you should start with some more elementary texts. Sticking to English for now is probably best." Dr. Strauss said smiling. I looked at the book in my hand and the letters weren't even English ones. "I'll tell you what, Arthur, if it's O.K. with your parents I will teach you about archaeology and ancient Palestine. You can come over on Tuesdays after school."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Mom said.

"Well, I needed someone to walk Rhino on days when I have to stay late at work. Maybe we can do an exchange - archaeology and history lessons for dog walking. Does that sound fair?"

"It sounds great," I said.

"Fine with us if it's good with you," Mom said.

"Great. I tell you what. You walk Rhino after school every day, and I will come home early on Tuesdays and we can have the lesson once a week. How about we start tomorrow?" Dr. Strauss said as he handed me the keys to his house. "Remember to take a plastic bag with you to pick up his poops after he does his business." Rhino started wagging his tail and we all laughed.

## Chapter 3 Arthur: Assembly in Village

In school the next day, I was standing by the cafeteria door trying to decide if I should tell Rosa about the sandal trip. Steve came up to me, "Hey, King Arthur, want to play soccer with us." I was surprised Steve even knew my name. So I ended up playing soccer with the sixth graders, and I didn't have to decide about telling Rosa.

Ever since Rosa and I were in kindergarten we had been best friends. We did almost everything together. We even did things like go shopping at the beginning of every school year to get backpacks and lunch boxes that matched. We talked about everything important that happened to either of us. That was why it was weird that I didn't talk to Rosa right away about the sandal trip. It's not that I wasn't sure she would believe me. I think she would have. But I never told Rosa that day. Maybe I was afraid she would have told Dr. Strauss if she saw him around the neighborhood, because Rosa tends to just blurt out anything.

After school I went over to Dr. Strauss' house to get Rhino. I should have been excited to take him for a walk, since it was almost like having my own dog, which I always wanted. But all the time I was walking Rhino, I was thinking about those sandals. The only time I stopped thinking about those sandals was when Rhino stopped to poop. I had to close my eyes while I stuck my hand in the bag and picked it up. It was still warm, but thankfully it all came in one glob and was easy to get into the garbage.

I went back in the house and made sure that Rhino had water in his dish. Since it was a Thursday I wasn't supposed to meet with Dr. Strauss for the lesson. I was curious though, and I couldn't stop myself from looking into the study to see if the sandals were still there. Before I knew it, I was sitting in the comfortable chair with my feet in the magic sandals, trying to quiet my mind. Closing my eyes helped. Now that I was here by myself with my eyes closed, I thought that I should have practiced mind quieting because my mind was going in all directions. First I was thinking about if I should tell Rosa about this stuff, even though she is not a particularly good secret keeper, she was still my best friend. Then I started thinking about Ben and his father and how they had no faucet to get their water from, no car to go places, no T.V. to watch. I wondered if they rode horses around. I know I didn't see any horses the time I was Ben, but that didn't mean they didn't have them put away somewhere. Then I heard breathing. Was Dr. Strauss home? I thought he was staying later at work except Tuesdays. Or did he say Thursdays? Was he right now staring at me knowing that I was a sneak? I listened harder. There was definitely someone in the room with me. I could have opened my eyes right then, but I didn't know what I would say, so I just kept them shut. Finally after I could feel the sweat collecting in my eyebrows, I opened my eyes and said "Sorry Dr. Strauss, I ..." It was Rhino's breathing. Jeesh! "Rhino, why don't you go into the other room, I have to quiet my mind," I told him.

It was probably better I couldn't go sandaling right now, I would probably knock over another bunch of books. I sat down and I took a deep breath and tried one more time.

FLASH

I'm in a crowd. But it's a crowd of people I know. I don't think the whole village is here but it seems like it. Most of us are sitting in a semicircle, but some adults are standing at the back. The leader of the assembly is reading from the Law, which is on a scroll. Most people are listening, but I'm not. I make sure to pretend like I'm listening, but really I'm thinking about Yohan's goat. There was a fight yesterday because Yohan's goat got out again from their house and it ate quite a bit from Ofra's wheat field. Then when Ofra started to grab it to take it home, the goat bit her. Ofra wanted to have the goat killed, but Yohan needed the milk from the goat. He offered Ofra some milk from the goat, but Ofra was too mad to accept. I'm pretty sure they will both talk at assembly today to make their case. I'm right. The leader finishes the reading and asks Yohan to come up.

"Now Yohan, I hear you are having a hard time keeping your goat out of trouble," he says. Old Judah stands up, "Yes, I saw him escape from Yohan's house yesterday when his boy went to the field."

"Judah," says the leader, "why did you not catch the goat then? We would all be saved from this problem. Is it not written, 'You shall not see your bother's ox or his sheep go astray, and withhold your help from them; you shall take them back to your brother. And if he is not near to you, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him.' Judah, do you remember how the Law continues from there? Don't you remember that this Law applies to 'any lost thing of your brother's'... even goats."

Judah glares at the leader. He looks like he's about to say something, but the leader speaks again before he gets a chance. "Now Yohan, listen to this from the Law of Moses 'When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be clear. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner shall be put to death.' "

The leader looks at Yohan again. "I don't hear from people in the village that your goat bites people a lot. Has he ever bitten anyone before?"

Yohan answers slowly, "Well, he has bitten me once before."

I start to giggle, but stop when I realize that no one else is. Although some of the adults are smiling now.

The leader looks over at Ofra. "Come, Ofra, let us see your arm."

Ofra comes up, and unwraps her arm, and shows the leader where she has been bitten. You can still see the bite marks, but it looks like it won't keep her from using the arm. "Ofra," says the leader,"certainly, a bite such as this does not require for the goat to be killed. The milk the goat provides to Yohan will stop flowing. Are you asking us to kill this goat?"

Ofra just looks at Yohan. She is still a little mad, we can all tell. She won't answer the leader.

The leader speaks again, "Surely, Yohan will share some of his goat's milk with his neighbor."

Yohan responds, "Yes, I will gladly give you half of my goat's milk until your arm heals." We all look at Ofra. No one says anything for a while. Then my mother whispers into my father's ear.

My father stands up, "I have one more saying from the Law of Moses that might help." As he says this my mother is staring at Ofra, shaking her head yes and smiling. My father continues, "It is a law we all know well, 'You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "

Father sits down.

We all look at Ofra. She nods her head to Mother. The leader speaks, 'It is settled then, Yohan will share his goat's milk with Ofra until her arm heals. Are there other matters that need to be addressed today?'

Old Judah stands up and starts talking -- like it seems he does every meeting -- about how we need a new rolling stone for the village olive press. Other adults join the discussion. I stop listening and start daydreaming about what I would do if Yohan's goat tried to bite me. How I would move my arm so fast that it wouldn't be able to get a grip. Then I imagine that even though the goat misses my arm, he catches my cloak, starts eating it, and before I know it he has eaten all of my clothes, and I'm standing there naked.

Then I really know it's a dream because I imagine that Aaron the brother of Moses comes and takes Yohan's goat. He has Yohan's goat and another one in front of the Tent of the Lord. Moses and all the Israelites are in front of him, and I'm there without my clothes. Aaron draws lots and selects the other goat to die. He kills him. Then Aaron sets his hands upon Yohan's goat and pronounces all the sins of the people, and sends Yohan's goat out into the desert. I can see the sins buzzing around the goat like flies as he starts walking into the wilderness. In this weird dream we are all watching the goat go into the desert and no one pays any attention to little naked me. Then Father nudges me. I'm back at assembly with my clothes on and people are starting to get up and go back home. I guess they decided something about the olive press. I get up and start following Father when

FLASH

I'm sitting on the floor right by the doorway to the office. I feel my head and there is a big bump there. I must've run right into the doorway. At least I didn't knock over anything. I quick look around and things look in place.

That night at dinner, Mom and Dad asked about the walk with Rhino. No one noticed the bump on my head. I guess it felt worse than it looked.

## Chapter 4 Arthur: Sepphoris Revolt

The next day at school I decided that I needed someone to help me with the sandaling, or I was liable to break my arm or some important thing in Dr. Strauss' house. Of course I thought of Rosa. I waited until we met at our favorite place during recess.

"Rosa, did you know I went to walk Rhino yesterday. After the walk I..."

"You are so lucky Arthur. I mean, Wow! Dr. Strauss just lets you take Rhino for a walk. I bet Rhino just loved it and he licked you all over the face. Did you take him to the dog park?"

"Yeah, it was kind of fun. But after I got back..."

Rosa interrupted me again, "I bet it was hard to hold him by the leash, huh? Did like a squirrel run in front of you both and then Rhino charged at the squirrel. That's how he got his name you know. Dr. Strauss told me one day that his name is Rhino because he charges at animals like a Rhino. Oh, look at that bump on your head, did Rhino pull you down while you were walking him?" That would have been a good time to tell Rosa everything. But she was so excited about Rhino, that I just didn't tell her that day. In fact, I never did break the news to her myself. I told myself I wouldn't try on the sandals unless someone was there to keep me from running into walls. But the next time I brought Rhino home after a walk, I peeked just to see if the sandals were there, and before I knew it I was sitting in that chair trying to quiet my mind, when

FLASH

I'm outside again. I'm Ben again. I'm with a group of boys, and there is the teacher talking to us. He is about my grandfather's age. We sit close to him so we can hear. The other men sit off to the side and they are discussing something else. The old man looks at each of us one at a time. We know it is going to be a good story when he does that first.

He starts, "Now about the time that Yaakov was born, there was trouble. There was trouble because Herod died. Not the Herod that rules now, but his father. Now Herod the father, they called him Herod the Great. Hmph. More like he called himself Herod the Great. Herod, the father, was the ruler of all of Judea, all of Samaria, and all of Galilee, and more land besides that. Like I said he called himself Great, but he was mean and greedy. He loved being King of the Jews. He didn't love it because he could help us Jews, but he loved it so he could get as much from us as he could. He built himself big palaces and he even made the great Temple in Jerusalem bigger. But Herod was not a true King of the Jews, because a true King of Jews would rule to please only God. Herod ruled to please himself, and to please the Romans. Herod was so mean, he had some of his own sons killed so they wouldn't kill him first in order to become king. But this story is not about Herod, it is about what happened when he died. Now, there was a man called Judah, son of Hezekiah, who hated that the Romans ruled over us and hated that Herod ruled over us. Judah refused to pay taxes and he and his band lived by stealing from the rich land owners. When Herod died, Judah thought this was the chance to be free of the Romans and all the Jews like Herod who had helped the Romans. Judah gathered a group of brave men. And in this group was Kalil's grandfather, Eldad."

We all look at Kalil. Even the teacher stops for a second to look at Kalil. I have never heard the story about how Kalil's grandfather died, and I was pretty sure none of us have. I guess the teacher thinks we are old enough to know now. He continues, "Judah and Eldad and the rest attacked Sepphoris and got all the weapons that Herod and the Romans had stored there. How many of you kids have been to Sepphoris?"

No one answers.

"I thought so. Who needs the big cities anyway? All they are good for is giving the rich land owners a place to spend our money." He stops and looks at us all again. We all know what that look means. We are never to talk to anyone outside the village about this. He continues,"Then Judah and his men took the weapons back into the country around Sepphoris. Around here. It was a great time. We thought that finally God had seen what Herod was doing to us, and God was finally putting the right people in power. Some people thought Judah was the new Messiah, the one like David who would free us from the people that ruled over us, just like David freed our ancestors from the Philistines. It was not to be. The Roman army was too big. There were 5 Roman soldiers for every one of our men. The time wasn't right. Judah and Eldad and the other brave men fought hard for us, but they couldn't defeat the Romans, because they have an enormous army. The Romans came and killed Judah and his men, including Eldad. I don't know how Eldad died. But I will tell you that it would take more than one Roman soldier to bring him down. To punish the people in Sepphoris and the villages that supported Judah, the Romans came and destroyed Sepphoris and killed many people and sold many others as slaves. Even people who did not help in the fighting were killed. Do you think the Romans cared who helped and who didn't? I knew many fine people that were taken away as slaves then: Zetan, Razi, Gavriela..."

The teacher stops talking and looks back across the valley towards Sepphoris. We wait.

"No one in Japha has seen them again. That's why we still pay taxes to Herod's son, Herod Antipas. And Herod Antipas is almost as greedy as his father, but that is another story. Boys, one day a true Messiah will come and free us from these evil rulers. This Messiah will then be a true and just man, and be a true King of the Jews. When that time comes you boys must be ready to fight for Israel. Now go."

We all get up and start to walk away. I turn to Kalil and

FLASH

My legs were moving like I was walking but my feet were not touching the ground. Someone was behind me with their arms around my chest holding me off the floor. I just sort of freaked out and started squirming to get down but whoever was holding me was too strong. Before I knew it I was facing Dr. Strauss. I didn't know what to say so I just looked down at the floor. I looked up and Dr. Strauss was staring like he was trying to read my mind. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes without saying anything for a long time. Finally, he quietly said, "Talk to me."

"I'm sorry Dr. Strauss, I just thought if I just..."

"STOP!" Dr. Strauss' voice was firm. "Tell me about it, before you forget. No apologies. Just tell everything you remember."

So I told. And Dr. Strauss started relaxing. He started asking questions. I talked and talked some more. Dr. Strauss guessed about the night when my parents were there. I told him about that. I told him about the time when I was alone with Rhino. It felt so good not to be hiding it anymore, and to have someone to talk to about it. The more I talked, the more it seemed like Dr. Strauss was not angry at me but was really glad I was there.

Finally, Dr. Strauss heard enough. "Listen, there has to be some rules. No sandal trips when I'm not here. You can get hurt. Also, no telling anyone. I'm not really supposed to have the sandals outside the museum, and if anyone found out I might be looking for a new job. Got it."

"Yes."

Then Dr. Strauss broke into a big grin. "How was that for a history lesson?" And he winked. "Now go home. Go ahead and tell your parents. They already know about the sandals, and they won't believe about the magic anyway."

I turned to go as Dr. Strauss was already pulling books off the shelf. He was talking to himself a bit. "Sepphoris. Of course Nazareth is close, but where was Japha? How many towns were called Japha anyway? Let's see which map is best? Oh, that one is in the office. I gotta have a map in one of these books..." He walked over to a book and started flipping fast through the pages. Then he put that book down and reached for another one. In about 3 minutes there was a pile of about 7 books opened up to different pages on his desk.

He looked up. "You're still here. You really ought to go home. Should I walk you to the door?"

"No, that's O.K." I said as I let myself out.

"We'll have our first real lesson next Tuesday, O.K.?"

"O.K." I said.

Dr. Strauss was right, my parents didn't believe me about the sandals. They just brought up the time when I was four and I pretended to be a dog for a whole Saturday. "You always did have a great imagination, son," my Mom said.

## Chapter 5 Arthur: Blessed are the Poor

I thought it would be hard to keep my promise not to tell, but it wasn't. Rosa's family was gone that weekend. And on Monday, all the usual stuff was going on at recess. As usual Rosa and I watched Mike Hooper and wondered if Steve would make him cry or not. When Rosa and I had some time to talk she brought up a million different things to talk about; I guess she forgot about the sandals. Why not? They were just sandals to her.

The next Tuesday Dr. Strauss came home from work early, picked me up from my house, and we both went and got Rhino. The three of us went for a walk to the dog park. When we got to the park, Dr. Strauss took Rhino off the leash, and he went bounding after a squirrel.

Dr. Strauss looked at me. "Arthur, I need to make a confession. I left the sandals out on purpose. I thought you would try them on. I thought that if you were alone and didn't think anyone was watching you, you would be able to take a trip easier. Now I think it's time I told you all I know."

"Oh, now you tell me," I said. Right after I said it I was sorry.

"You may be right to complain, but if I told you, I would never be sure that you weren't just imagining something similar to what happened to me. It's called blinding."

"What's called blinding?" I asked.

"Let me try to explain again. Masking is a technique scientists use when experimenting. Suppose that I have a new medicine that I think will cure headaches, but it also might make you have to pee. If I tell you that ahead of time, you may imagine that you have to pee immediately after you take the medicine. So I may blind you to that fact. In other words, not tell you everything I know about the medicine. Actually, maybe they don't blind people like that anymore. I'm not sure. Anyway, in the sandal experiment I have deliberately not told you anything about what happens when I take a sandal trip, because I didn't want that to change how you experienced it. But now that I'm sure you are really experiencing something and not just imagining, I can unblind you, or tell you more. And the reason I can unblind you now, is that I know you are not just making things up. I found the story about Judah son of Hezekiah in an ancient history book. You had so many of the details right, I know you either had to read it right from the history book, or you were really experiencing it."

"How do you know I didn't read it from the history book?" I asked.

"Well did you?" Dr. Strauss asked.

"No." I replied.

"Besides, the copy of The Jewish War that I have in my study is in Greek, and I don't think you can read Greek. Can you?"

"Nope," I replied. I waited. "So you are going to tell me about your trips now?" I asked.

Dr. Strauss picked up a stick and threw it for Rhino to chase. He sat down as Rhino ran way down the hill. He started talking, "The person I become when I take a sandal trip is about my age. And the thing that's odd about my trips with him is that he is always in a crowd listening to this one teacher teach. And from everything I could check, the teacher could have been Jesus. Before you took the sandal trip, I was wondering if this was a real thing or if I was just imagining all of the sayings of Jesus that I had heard from Church?"

I interrupted. "What I don't understand is how you can become an adult, when the sandals would obviously not fit an adult. Doesn't the saying go 'you become the one who wore us'?"

"I have a theory about that, Arthur." said Dr. Strauss. "I think the person I become took his adult pair of sandals and cut them up into a children's pair. Maybe there was a hole in the adult size sandals and instead of fixing the hole, he just made them into sandals for his kid. Maybe by holding the sandals tightly in my hand I can become that adult."

"Oh, so maybe, you are my father, I mean Ben's father, when you are taking a sandal trip," I said.

"That's a possibility." said Dr. Strauss.

"Tell more," I said.

"O.K. Let me see. Like I said, I'm usually in a crowd listening to this one teacher. I think I'm richer than most of the people in the crowd. I usually don't feel hungry while the teacher is talking. I have nicer clothes, and I always wear my bag under my right arm with my left hand holding tight onto the bag. What I have in my bag must be valuable. Most of the other people don't hold onto their bags as tightly."

"What does the teacher teach?" I asked.

"Like I said," Dr. Strauss responded, "it's so much like what your average Christian would think that Jesus would teach, that I was not sure I was just making it up."

"Like what?" I asked.

"O.K., here is one, 'Congratulations to you beggars, God's Empire belongs to you. Congratulations, to you who are hungry! You will have a feast. Congratulations to you who weep now! You will laugh.' "

I asked, "Were all the people he was talking to poor?"

"Well, many of them were very poor and hungry, yes. But some were quite comfortable, like Gad, the person I become when I do a sandal trip."

Dr. Strauss continued, "Last night, I was using the sandals to be Gad. Gad was in a crowd of about 50 or 60 people, many who had holes in their cloaks and were very dirty. The crowd was quiet and pushed close around the teacher. In a loud voice the teacher began,

Don't fret from morning to evening and from evening to morning about your food, what you are going to eat, or about your clothing and what you are going to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they don't sow nor reap nor gather in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they are? And which of you by being worried can add one bit to the length of his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin; yet even Solomon in all his glory was not decked out like one of them. If God dresses up the grass in the field which today are alive and tomorrow are thrown into the oven, won't God clothe you better than that? So, don't worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' for everyone seeks those things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead seek God's kingdom, and all these things shall be yours as well.

Or at least that's how I remember it. Which is almost exactly like a speech Jesus gives in the Bible, so you can see how I'm almost positive that this teacher is Jesus."

I was glad to be unblinded. Now, it felt like Dr. Strauss and me were working on figuring the sandal puzzle out together. We knew some things about the sandals, but we still didn't know some very important things, we just had theories.

The first theory was that Gad, Dr. Strauss' sandal person, was following Jesus around and hearing Jesus teach to people. The second theory was that Gad got a hole in his sandals at some point and instead of throwing them out, he made them into a pair for his kid. They were two good theories. The only problem was that only one theory was right, the other was absolutely wrong.

## Chapter 6 Arthur: John the Baptist

When we got back from the dog park, Dr. Strauss let me try on the sandals. I was definitely getting better at it. Within minutes of putting them on...

FLASH

I'm walking fast, trying to catch up with Father. The land is dry, there are just a few scraggly bushes, but it's mostly rocks. Ahead, down a slope, we can see lots of plants. "Where are we going?" I ask Father. "There is a man, Yohanan, people are calling a prophet. He preaches down at the Jordan river. I want to see him." As we walk, we see other people. These are people I don't know. We must be far from our village. It feels strange to see so many people that I don't know. We come around a bend and see a crowd. We push in so we can hear. I have never seen a prophet before. From what I had heard read from the scroll about the prophets, I thought he would be better dressed; I thought all prophets wear nice clothes like Gad, the man who collects crop payments for the landowner back in Sepphoris. But this man, Yohanan, is dressed in camel skins, and his beard is ragged. He looks a little like a wild man.

"You bunch of snakes," Yohanan is shouting to the whole crowd from where he's standing from the middle of the river, "you think that because you are Jews, and because Abraham is your ancestor, that God will let you live through his anger. God's anger will come down upon anyone that is not living according to his Law. It does not matter who his father or his father's father is. Listen to the law. Who among you has sinned against God. Come forward and be washed clean. But don't come without a pure heart first. God won't purify you unless you first purify your heart. Remember what the prophet Micah said. Unless you first are pure and good, the festivals and the sacrifices in the Temple do not please God. 'With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on High? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you: only to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?' You see people, God wants your goodness most of all."

I see some people come forward. They wade out to where Yohanan is, and he dunks them under the water. This is a new kind of cleansing for me. I know the water is living water. But how much will it purify? And why is Yohanan dunking the people, instead of the people going into the water on their own? After those people finish, Yohanan softens his tone. "Go now. If you have two coats, share with those who have none. If you have food, share that also. If you are a toll collector, or a manager of property, take what is fair only and don't take more from people than you need." Yohanan continues preaching. We stay and watch for a long time. Father doesn't go down to get dunked by Yohanan, but he listens closely. On the way back to the camp I ask, "Do you think he is a prophet, Father?"

"Yes, son, he knows, like all prophets know, that God loves the poor, the widows, and the children. I can hear God speak through him."

"Why don't you go get purified by dunking, Father?" I ask.

"That is not the way it is done. I will wash myself in the river and later in the baths by the Temple to purify myself, and offer a sacrifice at the Temple. Maybe if we couldn't afford the sacrifice at the Temple, I would have to accept Yohanan's dunking. But for now, this year at least, we can still go to the Temple and be in the presence of the Lord there." He leads me to another part of the river and he starts to go into the water. I go in after him.

FLASH

This time Dr. Strauss was holding me in the air. He was sweating like crazy. "I don't think I can hold you any longer, Arthur" he said as he sat down.

"I jumped in and caught you just before you hit the wall. You were moving." Dr. Strauss winked and laughed, then he held his back. "Maybe I need someone stronger to help with these sandal trips."

After I told Dr. Strauss about my trip, he was frowning. "Arthur, this helps us understand what time you are going back to. The name Yohanan is usually translated John, and the Yohanan you saw must be John the Baptist, who died while Jesus was just starting to preach. And when I'm Gad, I follow around a man who I thought was Jesus. Since Jesus preached mostly after John that means..."

Dr. Strauss stopped talking and slowly waved at the window. There was Rosa. She was on the front porch, peeking into the study window. A couple of seconds later I met Rosa at Dr. Strauss' front door, and she burst into questions. "Arthur, what were you doing? Why was Len holding you up like that? And what's this about Jesus and John the Baptist?"

I looked behind me, and Dr. Strauss was watching. "Should I tell?" I asked.

"I guess you better," he said. "Come, let's have lunch." So that's how Rosa first heard about the sandals.

## Chapter 7 Rosa: Wicked Tenants and the Unjust Manager

I figured something was up with Arthur, but I didn't know it was so cool. After they told me all about the sandals and stuff, I wanted to try. I begged. I used my special please voice. And finally Dr. Strauss said it would be O.K. if it was O.K. with my Mom and Dad. So I quick ran home and asked my Mom. "Mom, can I go over to Dr. Strauss' house? Arthur is over there and we are trying on these really old sandals, 'cause Dr. Strauss works at the museum, and there are these magic sandals, see, that we found out about on our field trip and..."

"Vamos, let's go talk to him" she said. It turns out she had heard from Arthur's mom about his history lessons with Dr. Strauss BUT SHE HAD NOT TOLD ME. Was I the last one to learn about everything? Len said it was fine if I stayed. Mom said great and did Len mind if she went to the grocery store while we talked history. Even though it seemed like I would get to try on the sandals that day Len decided we should wait a few days until I tried them on. But something cool did happen, because Len decided that he wanted to 'take a sandal trip' with us watching so that we could see what he looked like while doing it.

You know, to see if he started walking into walls and stuff. He told us just to get out of the way if he started to walk around, and not try to stop him from hitting things. We went into the basement, where Dr. Strauss had prepared a special room with no furniture. Len sat in the middle of the room. Gosh, that room looked WAY different from our basement room. Anyways, Len sat down in the middle of the room. He asked Arthur and me to be quiet. Well, let me tell you, being quiet is not a problem, but being quiet for AN HOUR is a bit of a problem. Len just sat there with his eyes closed, breathing real slow like. Anyways, I was there starting to wish my Mom would call and say I had to come home. That's how boring it started to get. When all of a sudden, Len started moving his hands in a certain way. Like he was holding a bag, and holding it tight, but he was really just holding those sandals. You know the plastic covered ones.

Then he opened his eyes and started looking around. It was SOOOO WEIRD. His eyes were opened and he was looking around, but he would stop and stare at a certain spot on the wall, just like all the other spots on the wall. There are no posters in this room, you know, just plain walls. Anyways, he would stare hard at a certain place on the wall, but then he would move his head and look real hard at another place in the wall. In between those two very interesting pieces of wall, he would move his head so that he had to see us, but he was not really seeing us. SPOOKY! And then his face started to look scared-like. Not scared, like, pretend scared, or scared like you see on a cartoon. But real-life scared. He started to get little pieces of sweat coming out of his forehead. Seeing someone else scared started making me scared. Arthur noticed too, but we couldn't just reach down and take the sandals off Len's feet, 'cause of course he was holding them in his hand. After a while, Len started to look less scared, but he was still looking around, being spooky still. That went on for a while, then puff! He was himself again. These sandal trips were weird.

"Wow, that was the first time I was scared on a sandal trip," Len says.

"We could tell," Arthur said.

Then Len starts right up telling us the whole story.

"Now just as with most all my other sandal trips so far, I'm in a crowd listening to the teacher speak. This time, he started to tell some stories that seemed different. I was there at the edge of the crowd, holding tight onto my money bag, like I always did. Then the teacher started to tell this one story, and some of the crowd started staring at me. The teacher said, 'Let me tell you a story. A man planted a vineyard. He put a hedge around it, dug a pit for making the grapes into wine, and he put a watchtower on his land. Then he hired some tenants to tend to the grapes, and went away to a far-off land. When it was time for the grapes to be harvested, he sent a servant to collect his share of the grapes. The tenants took that servant and beat him and sent him away without any grapes or wine or anything.'

"At this point, I looked around at people in the crowd. I felt sure some were looking at me and wondering what it would be like to beat me and send me away without my money that I collected. One man in particular, who was not one of the usual crowd that followed the teacher around, noticed I was clutching my money bag tightly, looked at me, smiled, made a fist with one hand and started rubbing it with the other hand. I had heard enough from the teacher to know he wouldn't like it if his story caused people to beat me, but could he stop this man? I didn't know. The teacher continued, 'After the servant got back and told his master what had happened, the owner of the vineyard sent a second servant. The tenants also beat him and sent him away with nothing. The owner said, "I will send my son, surely they will honor him. " But the tenants took the son and killed him, thinking that by doing this surely they would get to keep the vineyard.'

"That guy who made a fist before, he gave a little cheer that you could hardly hear. But imagine that, cheering for the death of someone who was just trying to collect what was rightfully his. The teacher continued, 'Now what do you think that owner did? He gathered up lots of men, came and killed the tenants and gave the land to someone else. Let those who have ears hear.'

The crowd was silent, even the guy who made the fist. I knew, the teacher knew, and that man with the fist knew that it wouldn't work to just kill someone who came to collect the rent. I was sure glad he ended the story that way. But why did the teacher tell us that story I wondered? He usually didn't defend the rich. But maybe the vineyard stood for the Land of Israel. I know Isaiah the prophet sometimes talked about Israel as a vineyard, and the tenants must be the High priests, and the servants were the prophets. Maybe that's what he was talking about. He sure speaks in riddles. The teacher continued, 'What's God's kingly rule all about? In God's kingly rule people stop worrying about their own needs and love their neighbor. Even love their enemy. Let me tell you of another manager who worked for a rich man. Now people told the rich man that the manager was not doing a good job. The rich man called the manager to him and said, "I hear you are not keeping good track of my land and property. I'm going to check on you, then I will fire you." The manager knew that without his job he would be in big trouble, because everyone hated him. They hated him because he was always taking so much of their harvest away. The manager didn't know what he would do, since if he didn't work for the rich man no one would help him. So the manager went to another man who owed the rich man 500 gallons of olive oil. "Here's what I will do, " he said to the man, "give me that ticket, and I will make it so you only owe 250 gallons of olive oil." Then the manager went to another man, "How much do you owe my master? " The second man replied, "1000 bushels of wheat." The manager took his ticket and said, "Here, make it only 800". When the master found out, he praised the manager for acting shrewdly.

"As I listened to the teacher, I started to think what it would be like to do that. To have less money but not have people hate me whenever I walk into town. Maybe they would even let me eat with them. Of course I don't think my master would praise me for that. But everyone else would like me. Maybe that would be O.K."

Then Len stopped talking. I couldn't believe how cool this was. To be able to hear this teacher preaching, was like, way cool. And me and Arthur knew of course that it was Jesus, I think. Anyways, it wasn't until the next Tuesday that I got to try the sandals.

## Chapter 8 Rosa: Skin Disease

The next Tuesday as I left the house, Mom waved and said, "Have fun. Learn a lot." Just like Arthur's parents, my mom really didn't understand about the sandals until after the big trouble. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Actually, I was also halfway thinking that there was no such thing as magic sandals, until it really happened to me. Arthur and Dr. Strauss had left me alone. They had watched me for a long, long time but I couldn't concentrate when they were watching me.

"It's not really concentrating you need Rosa," Arthur had said. " 'Cause you just need to think about nothing."

Yea, right, I thought. Like anyone could really do that. Think about nothing. Anyways, I asked to try it without them looking right at me, and they both thought it was a good idea. After a half hour alone, I was about ready to give up when...

whoosh

I'm outside. It is in the middle of the day. Weird. Even weirder all my clothes are different. Even weirder I am not me. Let me just stop saying how weird it was. But believe me, WEIRD! Anyways, this girl next to me is talking to me. You would think that since Arthur and Len prepared me, I would be ready. But some things you just can't get ready for. And BEING someone else is one of those things. There is only one way to tell this and it is to tell it like I am really that girl. That's what it feels like. It feels like I'm outside because there is no roof, but there are walls all around me. Other women are over in one part of the area pounding the wheat. I'm over here with one other girl and we are mending some clothes. I'm walking over to get some more material for a cloak I'm working on. I come back and the other girl, Leah, starts talking right away. From the way she talks, and the way I feel when she talks, I know we know each other pretty well.

Leah says, "Rachel, what do you think your Papa did? Did he eat a pig? Or maybe he snuck down to the Lake and stole someone else's catch when they weren't looking? Or maybe he didn't give a tithe to the priests from your garden. Or maybe he..."

"Why don't you shut up." I butt in. "My papa is a good man, who fears the Lord."

"If he is so good, how come he always has that skin disease, smarty?" Leah answers.

"He doesn't always have it," I say. "Just sometimes." But that was really not an answer. I'm asking myself the same thing, how come it seems like he always has that skin disease? Papa seems like such a good person. But Leah's right, surely he must have done something to deserve that. It's getting to be really hard on our family. A few months ago, he was pronounced pure by the priest. Papa did the proper sacrifices to ensure his purity. Then just the other day, he noticed the rash on his arm again. He almost wanted to hide it and wear a long coat over his arm, but then decided it wouldn't be right. He needed to go out of the town to the skin disease camp again. He knew he had to, but he was really tired of this. Mom was sad for him too.

To make it worse this time we all know that we don't have a way to get the birds and lambs to do the proper sacrifice if it clears up. So the rash could go away, but Papa would be unclean until we could get enough fish to pay for the sacrifice. That could take a while.

"I'm sorry I brought it up." says Leah. Me and Leah may fight but we never stay mad at each other long. We chat as we work. Usually we help with cooking while Papa repairs the net. But now Mama is bringing over some nets that need mending. She just plops them down in front of us, like we know what to do. But really Papa usually repairs the nets. Only he does not do that while he has the skin disease. He doesn't want anyone to say his fish were impure. Although fish were one of the purest things to eat I figure, since you don't have to tithe fish catchings. Yeah, you pay the toll collector to fish, but that's not the same as a tithe dictated from God. The fish come directly from the Lake which of course comes from God. So since there is no tithing, there is no untithed fish. So they have to be pure I figure. Plus since fish come directly from the Living Water of the Lake, seems to me that it would be pure for sure. Papa thinks that is right. But he says some people get weird about skin diseases and it's best not to take any chances.

We sit and work without talking for a while. I get up to get some more of the rope we use for the nets when...

whoosh

Len was holding me up, and Arthur was in front of me with the sandals in his hands. "How do you feel?" Len goes.

"I'm fine. Let me tell you, that was weird. But I'm fine. Really." Then I start telling them both about my trip. That Dr. Strauss kept interrupting me and asking questions. Whoa, he is an intense guy when it comes to these sandal trips. The thing that surprised him the most was that I was a girl when I was on a sandal trip. What else was I going to be, a man?

## Chapter 9 Arthur: The Temple

Now, unlike Rosa's family, my family is not a church going family. So I didn't really know what the whole church thing was about. I never really thought to ask anyone before. But after this I started asking Rosa about it. From what she told me, it's not too weird, you sing and stand and sit and kneel and listen. The priest talks about a story in the bible. There was something about the body and blood of Jesus that sounded strange that I didn't understand. Rosa had explained how everyone except the little kids lined up and each got a piece of the body and usually they did not drink the blood. I was starting to get a little freaked out until Rosa told me the body was bread and the blood was wine. I said something like, "Oh, so you just eat some bread and drink some wine." But that really got Rosa mad, because she said, "No Arthur, it's NOT JUST eating bread and drinking wine. You are so stupid sometimes. I don't want to talk about it anymore." She changed the subject, but was in a bad mood for the rest of afternoon until she had to go home for dinner.

I kind of thought Rosa's religious ceremonies were strange, but once I took my next sandal trip and learned about Ben's ceremonies, then Rosa's ceremonies seemed so normal. This trip was in the basement, with Rosa and Dr. Strauss watching.

FLASH

My heart is beating so fast, but I'm not out of breath. What is happening to my body? I'm in a big crowd, and we are in a big city. Before us is the Temple, a huge building, bigger than our whole village. The Temple stands like a polished mountain, sturdy and strong and glorious. Some of the stones that it's made of are bigger than our whole house. How did they get those big stones on top of each other? How did they even get all these stones here? People are coming and going so fast. I'm with Father and we have the goat with us that we bought this morning. Other people with animals are here. We are all trying to get close to the gate. I get knocked against Father, but he catches me and stands me up again. The guard yells something about not pushing to all of us. I can smell the burning flesh of the cattle and goats and doves already. Finally we get to the gate and one of the priests comes out to check our goat. He makes sure that it's healthy and has no marks on it. He says it will do. We leave it there and walk around to meet back up with the people from our village. We walk for a half an hour through this bustling city and I can still turn around and see the smoke rising from the Temple. After we meet with the men from our village, we all walk around to the other entrance to the Temple. I wonder what it will be like to watch the sacrifices, to see all those animals being killed by the priests and their blood running down like a river from the inner court. Finally we stop at the bathing pools. I look up and see the steps leading up to the Temple. There are people all around, some going up the steps, some selling things. There are guards standing by the Temple. The Temple seems like a huge treasure chest with little ant people scurrying around it and through it. It almost seems as if the Temple is God himself, not his house. It is time for the final purification, when we wash our feet. I start to step out of my sandals.

FLASH

"Shoot!" I said as I stomped my bare feet kicking the sandals a bit.

"Careful with those sandals" Dr. Strauss said.

"Sorry, but I was about to go into the Temple, but we had to wash first and then I took off the sandals."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. We won't be able to see inside the Temple." Dr. Strauss said. "People went barefoot in the Temple. But maybe it's better. It was really a gruesome site for someone who's never seen the slaughtering of large animals before. Come sit over here and tell me everything."

I told him about everything I saw and even about the smells from the sacrifices. After I finished, I asked about something that didn't really make sense to me. "How can people believe that God wants them to kill goats for him? That's really dumb."

Dr. Strauss looked the maddest I ever saw him. "Hey! Don't you ever say someone's religion is dumb. I don't want to hear talk like that again. Do you understand?"

"Yes." I replied. Sometimes I don't understand adults. I didn't feel like asking any of my other questions then. Even Rosa was quiet then. We all just sat there not saying anything.

Finally Dr. Strauss spoke, "Listen kids, religions are strange things, and they are hard to understand. Arthur, try to remember what it felt like when you were Ben in front of the Temple."

I thought for a minute. "It did feel like something important was happening. I didn't know what, but I had the feeling that inside the Temple something magical was happening. Not magic like a trick or something, but real magic. No, magic is not the right word. Let me think. Mysterious. Wondrous."

"Holy" Rosa said.

"I guess," I responded.

Dr. Strauss looked at us, I could tell he was going to give a big speech. "Listen, that's why I got so mad. Because for them something holy was happening. And kids, let me tell you, when something holy is happening you should pay attention. But be careful. Not all the people that talk about God, really know God.

You have to look at not just what people say but what they do. The ones that treat people nicely, those are the ones that really know God. Oh, but Arthur, your parents don't talk about God. Let me see... For you, just think of God as the holy mystery of what life is all about. And have some respect for the different ways people try to understand the holy mystery. O.K.?"

"O.K." I said.

We were quiet for a while. "And if you don't respect the holy mystery," he said with a smile, "I'll keep yelling at you until you do."

"Yeah, sure, yelling will bring respect." I responded with a smile.

"How about ice cream?"

Rosa spoke up quickly, "Ice cream is very respectful, I hear."

## Chapter 10 Arthur: Living Water

The next week when I took another sandal trip, I found out even more strange stuff, or maybe I should say interesting stuff, about Ben's religion. Good thing Dr. Strauss was there to explain the trip to Rosa and me.

FLASH

I'm inside our house. I'm hungry, really hungry. I guess I should say Ben is hungry, because when I'm Arthur, I just never get this hungry. But the strange thing is, Ben does not seem too bothered by it. It's like my stomach is screaming out that it's hungry, but my mind, really Ben's mind, figures this is just another day, and knows that talking about it won't help.

Anyway, I'm talking to Mother. "Where's Father?" I know we won't eat until Father comes home.

"I don't know," said Mother, "maybe he is helping someone press their olives. It is that time of year." Usually, I'm out helping Father, and not with Mother while the cooking is happening. Mother doesn't cook every day because it's really hard to find enough wood to do that. Today she's boiling chick peas.

"Come over here, Ben" Mother says, "I want to tell you about the water."

"Mother," I say, "I know all about living water and how water can pass uncleanliness."

"You think you know, but you need to understand better." Mother continues, "I know your father told you all about the basics of cleanliness. I know you know we do not eat pigs, rabbits, camels, eagles, vultures, crows, and all the unclean animals. I know you know that even clean foods can become unclean if we didn't pay the proper tribute to the priests when we harvest."

I interrupt, "Mother, Father always tells me about saving the first fruits of our harvest for the priests. He tells me every time we start a harvest."

Mother looks at me. "You are growing up, I know. You think you know all about this. But water is more complicated. You see this stone jar here. The water in it is drawn water, it came from the well. Since the water is in a stone jar, it cannot get contaminated by an impure person touching the jar. Now, the water in this jar is not living water, because we changed the course of the water from God's path for the water. God's path for water starts with rain from the sky, it goes into the ground or into the streams or into the underground streams that feed the wells, and finally from the streams the water goes to the seas.

All the water on God's path is living water. And living water, as you know, can clean. God's natural path for the water does not include getting pulled up from a well. But it is not bad to change the path of the water. Of course we need to do that so we can use the water in our cooking and to live. But when we get water from the well it is no longer living water and can't clean us."

I ask, "But Mother, how does the water get into the village tank? I know that must be living water, because when we bathe in that water, we come out clean. But hasn't that water in that tank been stopped from its natural path."

Mother answers, "That water fills up directly from the rains. There also is another tank that feeds into that tank. When living water is needed, we let some water flow naturally from the upper tank into the lower tank. The water from the upper tank becomes living water again as it moves from the upper to the lower tank, and that living water makes the lower tank water living water too. Binyamin, look at your feet. Do you need to be wearing your sandals inside?"

"Sorry, Mother," I start taking my sandals off...

FLASH

I was back with Dr. Strauss and Rosa. They were looking at me.

"Did you take a trip?" Rosa said.

"Yeah. It was short because Ben just took his sandals off, but it was nice because I got to be alone with his mother."

I told them about what Ben's mom had said. Then I asked Dr. Strauss, "It felt like they were talking about being clean, but I got confused because the water from the well was clean enough to drink but it couldn't clean them. Why's that?"

"I can see why you are confused." Dr. Strauss answered. "But the word that you hear as clean, does not mean clean like we mean clean. It means pure. It has to do with their religion. When they go to the Temple, they need to go in a state of purity."

Rosa spoke up, "I thought the temple was far away, and they only went to the Temple for festivals. But it sounds like from the way Arthur describes it, that they were worried about purity just about all the time."

Dr. Strauss answered, "Yes, it does seem that they were aware of purity most of the time. Some scholars think that there was a big movement by the Pharisees to increase the purity of the people. The Pharisees started saying that you should eat as many meals as possible in the same level of purity as the priests must be in when they do sacrifices in the temple. The Pharisees said you should wash your hands before every meal - not to get germs off, people didn't really know about germs then- but to purify yourself. Also archaeologists in Galilee have found many of the ritual tanks that Ben and his Mom talked about. So there must have been a lot of ritual bathing around that time. All-in-all, there was a lot of interest in purity around that time. Remember, the common people like Ben and his family didn't have control over much, but they could control how pure they kept themselves. Sometimes it just feels good to have control over something in your life, especially when so much is out of your control. Remember they lived in a land controlled by Romans and upper-class Jews who cooperated with the Romans."

"Gosh," I said, "Life sure was complicated back then."

## Chapter 11 Rosa: The Art Teacher

So like all this time that Arthur is having this fun taking sandal trips, I'm wondering when it will be my turn again. Oh, by the way, I wasn't that mad at Arthur about being dumb about the bread and wine at Church, but it's hard to explain stuff about your religion.

I still can't explain what communion is like. And even Mom and Dad talk about it different. But I think we all feel something like Jesus inside us when we do it.

Anyways, while Arthur gets to keep going on these sandal trips and keeps talking about the holy mystery of life with Len, I'm thinking about a real mystery, like how come one pair of sandals takes me, Arthur, and Len back to three different people. I'm wondering, who is Rachel's Dad, and is he the same as Gad. Then I come up with a brilliant idea, why not get an artist to draw some pictures of the people? You know, like I saw once on a T.V. show. The person tells the artist what the guy looks like then the artist draws. I will tell him what Rachel's Dad looks like, then Len can tell him how to draw a picture of Gad, then Arthur can even tell what Ben's Dad looks like. I tell this idea to Arthur and he thinks it's O.K., but says "Except Dr. Strauss won't be able to tell us what Gad looks like because I'm sure they didn't have many mirrors back then."

"Right smarty pants," I say. But still it's a good idea for Ben's dad and Rachel's dad.

So we decide to surprise Dr. Strauss with the good idea. We went to see Ms. Buttress, the art teacher at recess, to see if she could do that for us. We don't exactly tell her why we need it.

"Ms. Buttress, you are a real good artist aren't you?" I ask.

"Well, I'm a good art teacher, and I would love to be a great artist, but there is more to art than just being able to draw." she responds.

"But if I told you how someone looks, you could draw them, like on the police shows" I say.

Then I put on my best please, pretty please voice and I beg and I act real nice. I even tell Ms. Buttress that if she tries to draw we will cook her a special cake. I was trying all my tricks, but it wasn't working. Then Arthur who hardly ever talks to teachers just says, "Please Ms. Buttress." And she agrees to try it really quick-like. First Arthur goes and describes Ben's Dad. It turns out that it's really hard to describe someone after you say the color of their skin and eyes, whether they have a beard or not and whether their hair is curly or long or short. Arthur did a pretty good job, but was stuck about how to describe the nose, eyes and all that.

Finally Ms. Buttress goes, "Well, is his nose like this or this" and she draws two noses. "Or this" a third nose.

They keep working until the end of the recess. "There, that will have to do," she says "You need to go back to your class. By the way, apple pie is O.K. too." I look at the picture, and I think it's a great picture.

Arthur looks at it and says, "Thanks Ms. Buttress." But when we are alone he goes, "Well, it looks like a person alright, and it kind of looks like Ben's Dad. In the same sort of way that my Dad looks like your Dad."

"Oh," I said, "I guess we need a new artist."

"Yeah." Arthur says.

## Chapter 12 Arthur: Prodigal Son

Dr. Strauss called over to our house right before dinner one night. Karen and I were playing cards. He asked if I could come over because he had some exciting news. Mom instead invited him to dinner so he could tell the whole family. So Dr. Strauss came to dinner. As we all sat down for dinner, Dr. Strauss looked at the white slabs with brown sauce in the middle of the table and whispered to me as Mom and Dad were getting the drinks and veggies from the kitchen, "What is that?" After I told him, he made a big deal about how he didn't know there were so many things you could do with tofu, and it looked great. He smiled at Mom, and winked at me. Then he told us "I heard the Prodigal son story today while taking a sandal trip."

"Oh, is that so," Mom said. "I don't know who has the better imagination, you or Arthur. Please do tell, we need a good dinner story."

Dr. Strauss began, "Once there was a rich man who had two sons. Now in those days the tradition was that when the Father died he split his farm and other things up so that the oldest son got two thirds of it and all the younger sons got one third of it."

"That's not fair." Karen interrupted.

"You're right. It was not fair but that was the tradition. You know what was worse? If you were a daughter, do you know how much of the farm you got when the Father died?"

"Nothing," I guessed.

Len smiled. "You are either good at fractions, or you are getting to know your Late Second Temple Jewish history. Now, where was I?" he said.

"The Father died" said Karen.

"No, no. Here is the thing, the tradition was that the farm got split up when the father died, but this father had not died yet. Only his younger son came to him and said, 'Father, let me have my share of the estate now'. Now, the Father loved his son, and even though he might have been making a mistake, he gave him money enough to buy a third of his farm. The younger son took the money and went traveling. He made friends by buying them food and drink. He had a great time. He didn't have to work. He didn't worry about anything...until."

"Until what" said Karen. She always liked to interrupt during stories.

"Until, the money ran out. Not only that, there was a famine in the country where the younger son had traveled to. So people in that country didn't have enough to eat. The younger brother was in trouble. He hired himself out to a farmer in that country. The farmer was raising pigs. Now pigs are not eaten by the Jews, and..."'

"We don't eat meat," said Karen, the interrupter.

"I know," said Dr. Strauss. "Anyway, Jews ate meat but just not pork. Pigs were impure to eat. That was one of the ways you could tell the Jews apart from the non-Jews in those times. The younger son fed the pigs with carob pods, which were a kind of plant that in those days people didn't really eat unless they were very poor or hungry. And the younger son would have loved to eat some of the carob pods, but he knew that he would get beaten if anyone found out about it. Then the son had an idea. 'Even the servants on my Father's farm eat better than I am eating' he thought, 'I will go home and maybe my Father will let me be a servant on his farm'. So the younger son made the long journey home, and when he was still a long way away from his Father's farm, his Father saw him and started running to him. The Father was old and wasn't used to running, but he couldn't help himself. He hugged his son and cried tears of joy. The son says to his dad, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and you. I'm not longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your servants.'

"The Father kept hugging his son and turned to one of his servants and said 'Go get the finest robe, get a ring for his hand, and sandals for his feet. Get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry, because this is my son. He was dead and now he is alive. He was lost and now he is found.' And they started a big party.

"Now the eldest son, who had stayed home working on the farm all the time the younger son was gone, happened to be in the field at the time. He heard the party, found out what it was about, and refused to go in. The Father came out to ask him to come in. The son said, 'Father, all these years I have worked for you, and not once did I disobey you.' "

"Sounds like a good son to me," said my Dad.

"Oh, he was. He was not just saying that. He did work hard for his Dad. And the thing was the Father never gave him a party with even a baby goat to eat. He told his Father that. And standing outside the house as the party was going on for the younger son, the Father said to the older son, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But it is right that we party now, because your brother was dead, now he is alive, he was lost, and now he is found.'

That's the end of the prodigal son story. The Father is like God, and we are like the sons."

"Even girls are like the sons?" asked Karen.

"Oh, yes, little Missy, even girls." said Dad. "Now go upstairs you two, brush your teeth and get ready for baths, books and bed."

"Can we wait until Dr. Strauss leaves?" I asked.

"Nope, kiddo. Tomorrow is a school day, and you wouldn't want to sleep late and be late for school, would you?" said Dad.

"But we're always late anyway." I said.

"Hey, no telling family secrets." Mom said as Dad started shooing us up the stairs.

I went back and gave Mom my usual hug before bed, and since he was sitting right next to her, I gave Dr. Strauss a hug too.

## Chapter 13 Rosa: Rachel Meets Jesus

I was afraid I was going to forget how Rachel's Father looked unless I found a good artist soon. I was desperate. Then, LIGHT BULB! I got an idea. What if I called the police and told them that someone tried to break into our house and I saw them and we needed a police sketch artist to draw that person? Then I slyly give a description of Rachel's Dad. O.K., so that idea requires a slight teeny weeny lie. I tell Arthur and he nixes it right away. "We can't do that Rosa, come on."

"Well, maybe we can get Dr. Strauss to hire a police sketch artist." I say.

"I don't know," says Arthur. But I can't help myself. I start looking in the phone book for the number of the museum. I dial right away.

"I would like to speak to Dr. Strauss, please." All the time Arthur is making faces at me like - you can't just call Dr. Strauss. Anyways, after a while Dr. Strauss answers. I explain my idea and guess what? He loves it. He says he will look into it and try to schedule an artist to come by sometime soon.

So a few days later at our "history lesson", me and Arthur and Len were in the basement. Arthur and Len didn't like to let me have a turn with the sandals because I always took so long to 'go back'. I maybe took a long time, but not as long as Dr. Strauss. Anyways, I sat there and waited. There were lots of thoughts in my mind. I was wondering how hard it is to find a good cheap police sketch artist. Then I try to clear my mind again. If you wear us, and you let us, you can be the one who wore us. Maybe if we just called and asked the police nicely. Maybe if I had Arthur ask and say please. No wait. Stop thinking. If you wear us, and you let us, you can be the one who wore us. If you wear us, and you let us, you can be the one who wore us. If you wear us, and eat lettuce, you can be tyrannosaurus... Jeesh! I gotta stop goofing around. Deep breath. Deep breath...

whoosh

I'm in a crowd. Mama is with me. I feel tired and a little hungry. Then the crowd over to my left starts moving toward someone. He's walking this way. I knew it is the teacher before he sees me by the way people push to get close to him. Then he looks at me. He looks at me like he is glad to see me, like I'm a friend of his even though we haven't met. I feel really good inside, for about a second. I don't know how he does it, but I feel like he thinks I'm special or something. Then my good feeling goes away when he looks right at Leah with the same kind of glad-to-see-you look. So I'm not really a special person to him. I'm just like everyone else. Then I start wondering, but I like Leah, why should I feel bad about him liking Leah? People start making a place for the teacher to speak. Then he starts talking. When other teachers would speak at an assembly on the Sabbath, they would always talk about the Law of Moses, but this teacher is different. He starts talking, "You all know about Caesar's kingdom, but let me tell you about God's Kingly Rule. God's kingdom is like a mustard seed; It's the smallest of seeds, but if it falls on prepared soil, it grows into a big plant, and becomes shelter for the birds."

I start thinking about mustard plants and stop listening to the teacher. My mind keeps remembering Papa and me trying to pull up mustard plants. They sure grow well. We have more than enough in our garden. If we don't watch out they will take over our whole garden. We will never be able to grow grapes or barley or anything that we need if we don't pull some mustard. God's kingdom is like that old weed? Why wasn't God's kingdom like a big cedar tree? Cedar trees are big and majestic, everyone can see them from far off. Cedar trees gave shade to all the people and animals. But a mustard plant? It sure did get into all parts of the garden that's for sure. So God's kingdom gets into everything? I start paying attention again. The teacher is saying, "Let me tell you another story about the kingdom of God."

A man interrupts, "You talk in riddles. First the Kingdom of God is like a seed, then it's like yeast. Tell me how this kingdom helps me. When will it come? When will the old Kingdom be destroyed so that we aren't ruled by the Romans or the friends of the Romans? Tell me when there'll be a kingdom which won't take away almost all my crops in taxes so that I barely have enough to feed my family. Tell me when is this Kingdom coming?"

The teacher answers, "It won't come by watching it. You can't say, 'Look here it is' or 'Look over there, it's there'. No, the Kingdom of God is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it."

The man asks, "If it's here, how is this Kingdom helping me and my family eat?"

"Don't worry about what to eat. Come let's break for a lunch."

I look over to Mama. What have we brought to eat? We have only a small piece of bread to share between the two of us. What's worse, how can we eat among all these people. There is the tax collector over there. There is Naftala over there. Good Jews do not eat with these types of people. We need to go away from the crowd to eat.

But the teacher starts a blessing right away. "Father, we give thanks for the food you have given us. We offer it to you. Please accept it as our sacrifice to you."

Then the teacher holds up a loaf of bread, and passes it to the tax collector. I have a terrible feeling. It's like a what-are-we-going-to-do-now feeling. Something about eating in the same place with the tax collector makes me uncomfortable. Then the tax collector takes the bread. And people start sharing their food. Someone hands me some fish.

This was a real treat, but should I take it? I look at Mama. She hands some of our bread to the man next to her. He smiles at me. I never thought I would see Mama smiling and eating with a tax collector at the same time. But something about the way the teacher talks about the kingdom of God makes it alright to share food with anyone. The uncomfortable feeling leaves me and I start eating. This is a better meal than I thought we would have today.

I'm happy. But I still didn't know exactly what the teacher means about the Kingdom of God.

whoosh

## Chapter 14 Arthur: Laborers in the Vineyard

On Wednesday, Dr. Strauss came over to our house again for dinner. He was excited about another story he heard. The story was about how these workers were waiting for work, and the owner of a really big vineyard came up and hired some of them very early in the morning. He agreed to pay them one silver coin, which was about what people made back then for a day's work, but still not much. Then later on, the vineyard owner came back and found some more people looking for work. "Go in my vineyards and work and I will pay you what is fair" he said. This happened a couple more times. When it was time to get paid, it turned out that the owner paid everyone the same thing, one silver coin. If you worked the whole day you got one silver coin, if you worked only the last hour before dinner, you still got one silver coin.

"That's not fair," said Karen.

"Yeah, that's a dumb story," I said. "I don't think the Kingdom of God is a very fair Kingdom."

"You're right about that," said Dr. Strauss, then laughed.

Now I didn't think Mom was paying too much attention to that story, because she kept getting up and clearing the dishes away during the end of it. But the next week both Karen and I found out she was listening.

It was a Wednesday morning, and unlike the usual school day we were actually on schedule.

Mom said about 3 times, "You know kids, I think we are going to be on time today."

Mom and Karen and I all were sitting around the kitchen table eating our cereal. On Wednesdays Dad leaves for work early, and Mom goes to work after dropping us kids off at school. Mom was reading the newspaper and Karen was looking at the back of her cereal box as she ate. We had plenty of time. Even though I was the only one dressed, we would make it on time because I was usually the slowest in the family to get dressed.

Right then, Karen looked up from her cereal, looked out in the back yard, and saw that some sort of animal had gotten into the newspapers in the recycling bin and spread them all over the back yard. We all knew that if we left for school and work without picking up the newspapers first, then when we got home the papers would be all over the neighborhood. I was the only one dressed so Mom said, "Arthur, would you please pick up those newspapers while we get dressed. If you can do it fast we'll still make it to school on time, and I'll get you a treat after school."

So Mom and Karen ran upstairs to get dressed and I went outside to get the newspapers. A wind started up. The newspapers started moving about the yard. I scrambled around picking up the papers. I put some in the recycling bin and put a rock on them so they wouldn't blow away, and then I went and got another armful. I thought, "How could only one bin of newspapers cover the whole yard?" I was working fast, and I almost got it all done before Karen got dressed. But Karen is a fast dresser and she burst out the back door, looked around and saw one last piece of newspaper that had blown way over to the corner of the yard. She ran and got it while I ran in and got our lunches.

Then Karen, Mom and I, jumped in the car and drove to school. We made it on time. Phew!

That night after we picked up Dad from the Metro we stopped at the ice cream shop. Mom went in while everyone else stayed in the car. Mom came back to Karen's side of the car first, and handed her a vanilla ice cream cone. I saw her ice cream and thought, "Wow, if Karen gets a cone for just picking up one piece of newspaper, imagine what my treat will be." I started imagining an ice cream sundae with vanilla and mint chocolate chip ice cream together, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry on top. Mom came to my side and handed me a regular old vanilla ice cream cone.

"Mom", I said, "how come Karen has the same as me, I did way more work."

Mom answered, "Arthur, you have a nice treat. You love vanilla ice cream cones. Are you mad because you don't like your cone, or are you jealous because Karen has the same one?"

I knew I was just jealous, but Karen's having a treat like mine still made me mad. As she was driving away, Mom looked at me in the mirror and smiled as she said to my Dad,

"The Kingdom of God ain't fair, is it George."

"Nope," said Dad. "But Mom sure does love her kids."

## Chapter 15 Arthur: Ben Meets Disciples

The next Tuesday afternoon that we met, Rosa was a little mopey because it was my turn to take a trip. But when Dr. Strauss answered the door he had this excited look. "I finally got the police sketch artist scheduled to come over. He will be here in about an hour. Great idea Rosa!"

Then Rosa got in a better mood. I got the sandals on and started clearing my mind. I kept thinking about how I should have felt happy for Rosa, but I kind of wished I had thought of the sketch artist first. Then I looked at how happy Rosa was and I couldn't help but be happy too. But this was not helping me clear my mind. Deep breaths. Then...

FLASH

I'm outside standing under an olive tree with Father. Around us are the houses or cave-houses of all the people of the village. From here we can look around and see our grapes and neighbors' grapes growing. It's cool outside. I'm about to go back inside to get some more clothes, when I see my father staring down the side of the hill. Two people are coming. Right away I can tell we don't have to worry about them. They don't have nice clothes like the tax collectors usually wear, and they don't have swords like Roman soldiers or the outlaws who sometimes attacked. In fact, what is really strange about them is that they have almost nothing except the clothes they are wearing. We know they are not from our village, and we know they are not from any other village real close by or we would have recognized them. If they're traveling so far, why don't they have some food with them? Or at least a bag with money to buy food? As they get closer we can see they have none of that.

Father and I just wait until they reach the center of town. Since these strangers have nothing with them, they must be friends or relatives of someone in the village, otherwise how can they expect to get any food or a place to stay? As they come closer, we can see it is a man and a woman.

"Welcome to Japha," says Father, "where are you traveling from?"

"We come from Capernaum," says the man.

"Who did you come to see?"

The woman responds, "We are traveling around in all of Galilee, telling of the new kingdom of God."

"O.K., but who do you know in Japha" my father says.

"We don't know anyone, but come bearing a message from our teacher, Yeshua, who comes from Nazareth. We have come to tell of the new Way", says the man.

"Nazareth is close, but I'm not sure I remember Yeshua. Is that Miriam's son Yeshua?" my father says.

"Yes, Yeshua was a follower of Yohanan the Baptist when he was alive," says the man. "Now he teaches about the new Way."

"We don't have much to share," my father says, "and the person in the village with enough to share, will not. Does Yeshua's new way involve finding Manna with the morning dew to feed all who are hungry."

The woman laughs. "No it doesn't. But we can help with healing." Then she adds, "Who is that over by the well?"

I look over by the well and don't see anyone but old Ruth. She doesn't really talk to anyone anymore. I'm surprised that the visiting woman said anything.

Most people who visit our village are smart enough to figure out that Ruth is not someone who talks back to you if you speak to her. I don't know how they know it. They just know by looking at her. She doesn't wash. She doesn't brush her hair. She hardly gets up to go to the bathroom. It's obvious that there is no need to talk to her. When you look at her she doesn't really look back, unless you stare for a long time. Then she might start talking with words, but her sentences wouldn't make sense. When I was little I was afraid of her, but now I know that she won't hurt anyone. Everyone knows you shouldn't bother with Ruth, even people who've never been to our village. How could this visiting woman be so dumb? She walks right up to Ruth like she is a regular person. My father just watches.

"Hello, we have come visiting from Capernaum." says the visiting woman, "My name is Carma".

Of course Ruth does not answer. She just stares at Carma.

"It looks like you need a bath. Get up, come with me." says Carma.

Ruth does not get up. Then Ruth starts talking, "No,no,no. Cows take baths. Woman will hurt Ruth. Stranger makes the best wheat. Cows hate wheat." Ruth spoke really fast. I think those were the words but since they didn't make any sense, I'm not sure I heard her right.

Carma looks over at the visiting man and my father. "Do you have a bath with living water where we can wash up?" she says to my father.

"There is a small stream, down at the bottom of the hill over there," says my father. Carma turns to Ruth. "See, there is a place we can go." She looks at Ruth. She takes her hand and lifts her up. Surely Carma is not strong enough to lift up Ruth by herself, but somehow Ruth gets up, and together they start down the hill.

My father turns to the visiting man and says, "My son and I must work in the fields, if you want, you may pick through the trampled barley for some food."

"Thank you, that would be nice." says the man.

I can tell, my father isn't too happy about the visitors. Since we don't know this Yeshua, we don't have to feed them and show them too much hospitality. But since he was a follower of Yohanan the Baptist, I think my father is more willing to help. Father often quotes the Law of Moses about strangers, 'The stranger who lives in your land shall be to you as the native among you, you must love him as yourself, for you were once strangers in land of Egypt'. So he tries to be kind, even when he is not happy about it.

Both my father and I know these are Galileans and Jews because they speak our language with the same accent, and when Father speaks about Manna they knew exactly what he is talking about. Even though they are Galileans, we watch them carefully.

My father does not like too much talk about new things. To him most new things are bad. "New taxes to build new cities, do not help us at all in Japha," he would say. "We need to get back to the old ways, where taxes go to the Levites only, and the Levites are true to their duties to Israel and God, and do the proper sacrifices to God. That's what we need. Then God will treat us well. We don't need these Herodites messing up the sacrifices at the Temple, or any New Way."

Well, Father is in a bad mood. We start working. The visiting man whose name is Josiah is cheerful. He keeps asking my father questions about what it's like to live here. My father loosens up a bit and starts telling about his worries about having enough to pay the Temple tax and all the other taxes. My father tells Josiah about how last year he almost had to borrow money from Namir, who now owns almost a quarter of the village. My father is afraid that he will lose his land also, and won't be able to pay his tribute to the priests, which will mean that our whole family will be impure.

Josiah listens for a long time. Then he starts talking about the Kingdom of God. It's very different from the way any of the priests speak about the Law. When Josiah speaks, it's different. He speaks about God as if He is his personal friend, not this big enormous thing to be afraid of. "My teacher says that the Kingdom of God it like this seed here. It is so small, yet when it dies and is buried in the ground it grows to become new life again. That is what we all must do, die to our own wants, and come to new life through God." We talk as we work. At first Josiah seems to talk in riddles all the time. But after a while you can tell he really means what he says.

FLASH

Back in the basement again. Dr. Strauss can't decide if he should quiz me about what happened, or let me alone so that I can best keep the images of the people in my mind until the artist gets there. But he can't help himself and starts asking all these questions. When I tell that Josiah and Carma are followers of a teacher, Yeshua from Nazareth, then Len starts jumping up and down. "Ahaaaaah, this is great. Isn't this great kids?" Rosa and I look at him. Sometimes Dr. Strauss can be weird. Finally Rosa says kind of calmly, "But isn't it exciting every time?"

"Yes, but. Oh... I forgot to tell you that the Greek way to say the name Yeshua is Jesus."

"Oh yeah. I remember." said Rosa. I looked at her with a look meaning, When did you ever know Greek?

She said, "That's what they called Jesus when I saw him as Rachel."

Just then the doorbell rings. The sketch artist comes in the door, and we all hold our questions. This guy is way better than Ms. Buttress. He even brings a laptop that helps him do the picture. He and I go in a room alone for quite a while. I tell him how Josiah looks first, then Carma, then Ben's Mom, and finally Ben's Dad. Even though Ben's Dad is most important, I feel like there was no way I would forget how he looks, but I was worried I would forget Josiah or Carma. And believe it or not they really looked like the right people. Before Len looked at the finished pictures, he went in with the artist and did some sketches. Rosa was last.

We studied all the pictures. First thing we all noticed was that the Yeshua that was Gad's teacher matched the one that was Rachel's teacher. Now we were positive it was Jesus. It was really cool to see a picture of Jesus, even for me who has never been to church. But there were no other matches. No one that Ben saw matched someone who Gad or Rachel saw. We were closer to solving the mystery of Jesus, but we still couldn't figure out why one pair of children's sandals takes us back to these three different people.

## Chapter 16 Rosa: Hole in a Roof

When it was my turn for a trip again I was going to be sure to memorize every face I saw. It was going to be harder for me than for Arthur, because he had the artist there right after he finished. I would have to remember it to tell the artist later. If only we could take cameras with us. I was thinking so hard about the artist and remembering when I started that trip, but by the time I got to the end of the trip, I was so happy I forgot all about the sketch artist.

whoosh

The first thing I notice is that I'm more tired than any other time I'm Rachel. Also, Papa is there. He doesn't have any skin disease as far as I can tell, but he looks skinny and sickly. Leah is there again, but it feels different than the last time I was here because Papa is over there in the corner. He is far enough away so he can't hear us if we talk really softly. But we feel weird talking about him with him there.

Of course, Leah can't help herself. "So he still hasn't walked."

"No," I say.

At this moment I just hated Papa. Why can't he be like the other father's and not always have all these things wrong with him. He hasn't walked in weeks. He scratched his arm and one of the Pharisees said he should go to the skin disease camp outside of town just to be safe. But before Papa could get his things together to go there, he suddenly wasn't able to move his legs. Some friends carried him back to our house and laid him in the corner in the shade, and he hasn't walked since. He never did go to the skin disease camp. Most of the neighbors know that the marks on his arm are just a scratch and don't think he needs to go out of the village to the camp again, especially Leah's dad. Leah is nice about it, but it's still a pain. No one knows why this happened. Papa must have another secret life where he does all these bad things to deserve all this. But I don't know when he has time to lead his secret life. This is a big mystery.

Suddenly, here comes Leah's dad with some other men. They go over and talk for a long time with Papa. Leah and I are real quiet and try to listen.

"He is teaching at the assembly today over at Pele's house," one of the men says. "If you can get close to him and ask him for healing, he will heal you, I know it."

Papa answers, "Yes, Aimee took Rachel and saw him speak outside of town one time. She said he is truly a prophet, and his words even change people to live more generously. I believe it after I saw what she brought home. If I could have gone with them then, maybe I wouldn't be in the state I am in now. But how will I get to Pele's household?"

Leah's dad answers, "We brought this stretcher." He shows my Dad two long poles with some fishing net tied between them. "Come, if you lie on this we can all carry you there. Will you let us?"

Papa nods his head, and they put him on the stretcher. "Can we come, Dad?" Leah asked.

Leah's dad says, "Fine, and grab his sandals, because he will be walking home." He was smiling at Papa.

We grab Papa's sandals, and follow the four men carrying Papa out the door. On the way to Pele's there are many turns. There are houses on both sides of the alley, and all kinds of poop and junk on the ground so you have to watch where you are walking. But even though it kind of smells real bad, I'm not thinking about it too much right now. I'm just thinking about keeping up with the men. Pele's house is not too far from ours. The only problem is that it seems like the whole village is at his house to hear the teacher. At the front door, people are standing around listening. There is no way one more person can get into that house, and certainly four men carrying a fifth man won't fit in. The men carrying Papa stop. Then Leah's dad hands his end of the stretcher pole to the guy next to him and runs off. A while later he comes back with a ladder and some more rope. We all go around to the back of Pele's house and put the ladder against the wall.

"Rachel, go up and see if you can see where Yeshua is." Leah's dad tells me.

I climb up the ladder, get up on the roof, and walk to the edge. Leah's dad is smart, we're almost right above where Yeshua is teaching. He's teaching just inside the house and some people are listening inside and others are listening in the courtyard. If we could get inside the house, surely Yeshua will see Papa and help him. I go back to the other edge of the roof facing the alley and call down to the others and tell them where Yeshua is. Leah's dad puts Papa on his back and climbs up with the others pushing from below. I'm not sure if the roof would hold an adult, let alone all 5 of the men, but apparently that's not the plan. The roof, like most of the roofs in our town, is made of straw. Leah's dad knows how much it will hold because he helped build many of the roofs in town. Then to my surprise, Leah's dad starts ripping up pieces of the roof. He's actually making a hole in the roof. Yeshua stops teaching, and looks at Leah's dad.

"My friend is paralyzed. He needs help." Leah's dad says.

Then he takes the rope, puts it around Dad's chest and under both arms, and with the help of some of the other men starts to lower Papa into the house. It seems like the whole village is here but if you close your eyes you can't tell.

That's how quiet it is. I see how embarrassing this is for Papa. Practically the whole village is silently looking at his useless legs dangling down. I'm sure everyone is thinking that whatever Papa did to deserve this must have been bad. Papa can hardly look at Yeshua.

Yeshua reaches up and holds Papa's now skinny legs. He helps the men lower my papa softly onto the ground. Yeshua looks in Papa's eyes, and he says to him in a loud firm voice for everyone to hear, "Your sins are forgiven."

Papa smiles. My father seems like he is peaceful for the first time in a long time. Right then I see that Papa must have been wondering himself about what he had done to deserve all these skin diseases, and now the paralysis. Maybe not just me and Leah, and the people in the village had wondered what Papa had done to deserve this, but maybe Papa himself had wondered what he did.

Then the Pharisee who often came to our village speaks up. This is the guy who was always showing us the proper way to wash our hands before eating to ensure purity. He is the one that makes sure we all know about how the tithes work in the temple. He often teaches right here in Pele's house as well. But today, he's the listener. It doesn't seem like he likes it. He stands up and says, "How can this man forgive sins? No one can forgive but God alone."

Yeshua looks right at the Pharisee. Then he turns to the doorway and the crowd. "Tell me, which is easier to say, 'your sins are forgiven,' or 'stand up and walk'?" Yeshua waits. There is no answer. He turns to Papa. "Stand up" he says to my father. And right there Papa just gets right up, a little bit wobbly, but he gets up on his own without help from anyone else. I almost cheer. Leah's dad hugs me. People in the crowd start talking among themselves.

whoosh

I was back in the Arthur's basement hugging Arthur. Len had the sandals in his hand. We went through the usual, "Are you alright?" and "Tell us everything." This time I didn't mind all the questions 'cause I just wanted to tell the story right away so as I wouldn't forget the feeling. It was like coming out of a movie theater right after a great movie with a happy ending. I just wanted it to go on and on and not stop.

## Chapter 17 Arthur: Ben Meets Jesus

I don't know why, since I'm not a church goer or anything, but I was really jealous that Rosa and Len got to see Jesus and I did not. Luckily, my jealousy didn't have to last long. The next week Ben and I met Jesus.

FLASH

I'm standing and waiting. I'm outside of our house. Inside are so many voices, both men and women. I can't quite hear, besides I keep thinking about what happened this afternoon.

Yeshua, the teacher of Josiah and Carma came to our town today. It was not a good day for him to come because Jesse the Pharisee was also visiting from Jerusalem. Jesse had been once before to our town. Yeshua and Jesse were so different in their appearance. Jesse dressed in the fine clothes of someone from the city; Yeshua's clothes were just like my dad's and most of the people in the village. At first everything went well. Jesse insisted that he go first, and he taught the same as the last time he was in town. He taught about purity and holiness, about becoming pure for every meal, using stone vessels to store water to prevent contamination of impurities, and washing before eating. He was teaching that if all the Jews would watch ourselves and become as pure as the priests right before Temple sacrifices, then surely God would be with us again and favor us as much as he had when our ancestors were freed from Egypt. We all knew that meant that God would free us from the Romans, but Jesse did not say it specifically, 'cause you never knew who would be listening in a crowd. Jesse said purity was an ideal to strive for, and we did not necessarily have to achieve purity for every meal. Some things were easy to do like washing and some things were important to do, like maintaining proper tithes to the priests and Levites. He went on with details about the proper tithes for everything. Finally, after he had taught for a long time it was Yeshua's turn.

Now, I could understand Jesse perfectly, but Yeshua was hard. Yeshua said, "This farmer went out to plant seeds. While he was planting, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where there wasn't much soil, and it came up right away because the soil had no depth. When the sun came up it was scorched, and because it had no roots it withered. Still another seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up choking them. Other seed fell on good earth and started producing fruit: growing up and increasing and yielding thirty, sixty and one hundred times as much. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen."

I was listening alright, but I sure wasn't understanding.

He continued, "God's kingly rule is like yeast which a woman took and concealed in fifty pounds of flour until it was all risen."

Still I didn't know what Yeshua was talking about. Apparently neither did Jesse. Or maybe Jesse was just mad that someone was teaching something so different from what he had taught, and even it seemed, teaching different from the Law of Moses. Jesse stepped up. "Good teacher," he said. "Do tell us about the Law. What is the greatest commandment?"

Yeshua looked at Jesse.

He answered, "The greatest commandment is this: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind' And the second is like it 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Jesse sat down. I couldn't tell if he was pleased that Yeshua answered from the Law, or mad that he couldn't attack Yeshua for not teaching from the Law.

Then Yeshua started teaching using stories again. "Two men went to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee and one a toll collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself prayed like this, 'God, I thank you that I am not like everyone else, thieving and unjust, and especially not like that toll collector there. I fast twice a week, and I give tithes of everything I get.' But the toll collector stood off by himself and didn't even dare to look up. He prayed, 'God, have mercy on me, sinner that I am.' Let me tell you, the toll collector was the one who went home forgiven. 'Cause those who promote themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be promoted."

Yeshua kept on teaching and Jesse seemed to get madder and madder. Jesse got up again. "Tell us how is the proper way to purify for meals." It was almost like he knew Yeshua wouldn't agree with what he had said earlier and wanted a fight.

Yeshua responded, "Listen to me, all of you and try to understand. It's not what goes into you from the outside that can make you unclean; but it's what comes out of you that makes you unclean." Jesse turned away in disgust. Yeshua didn't say anything else. He didn't act like he was trying to make Jesse mad, just like he was trying to explain something to people who didn't understand. But I didn't quite get what Yeshua was saying. He couldn't have been saying poop is unclean, could he? Did he mean it's O.K. to eat anything, even pigs? Why couldn't he explain more? And all that stuff about the Kingdom of God, what does he mean by the Kingdom of God anyway? Maybe my father was just as confused and wanted to hear more from Yeshua, because my father invited Yeshua to eat at our house. Yeshua said that would be great as long as he could also invite some others. My father said fine, because what else was he going to say.

Now here I am outside our house listening. It turns out that Yeshua invited Ruth because Josiah and Carma told him about her. That made my father a little uncomfortable. Then he invited Gad, the steward who works for Namir, who has been buying up all the farms in town. Father was not happy about that either. To top it off Yeshua invited Jesse, the visiting Pharisee, but thankfully Jesse declined after he found out who else would be there. At first the meal was awkward, and quiet, but Yeshua got everyone talking, and from what I hear now it seems like everyone is good friends, even though if Yeshua was not there they would never ever be eating together. I start to daydream as I watch the sun set.

Then Yeshua steps across the doorway. I'm waiting right there. "Please teacher, can you tell me about the Kingdom of God; I still don't understand."

Yeshua smiles and looks down at me. "It's simple, don't try and think like an adult. Just look around you. God's Kingdom is all around you. "

He smiles. I look at him with a look that I hope will say, 'I still don't understand'. I don't want to say it again out loud. He just sits down and looks out over the village. I sit and look with him. Where is the Kingdom? Is it the village? The olive trees? Everything? I look at him again. He seems so sure of himself, happy, and just nice. Jesse is sure of himself too, but he doesn't seem to have the same contentedness. I want to see God's Kingdom like Yeshua. If I was older I could maybe follow him like some of the others, and I could get to be like him. But I'm too little for that. Then Yeshua turns to me. He taps his finger against my breastbone and says, "Also, the Kingdom of God is within you."

He walks away. I'm still confused.

FLASH

Back in the basement, Dr. Strauss couldn't really explain much either. He said, "Some things are just very hard to explain with words. But I can tell you that usually when Christians hear the saying 'What comes out of you makes you unclean', they think of your actions coming out of you. They think Jesus was saying that to be pure you need to intend to do good things. When you do mean things, that can make you impure. But all those sayings about the Kingdom of God, I just can't explain very well. People have written whole books trying to explain that one phrase, and I'm not so sure if explanations help."

Then I remembered the police sketches of Jesus. I asked to see them and they matched with the Yeshua I saw, just like I knew they would. It wasn't until I was going to bed that night that I remembered that the name of the steward invited to dinner was Gad, the same name as Dr. Strauss' sandal person. I had forgotten to tell Dr. Strauss that. Too bad there was no sketch of Dr. Strauss' Gad for me to compare with.

## Chapter 18 Len: The Good Samaritan

Dear Arthur and Rosa,

This conference is going too long. I tried some sandling tonight after a full day of listening to lectures, and it was worth it. I hit another jackpot. The Good Samaritan! Can you believe it? Somehow it's more meaningful than ever for me. When Gad heard it, he imagined the places and the people more vividly than I had been able to when I had heard this story before. (I heard it many times before.) For example, when Jesus said, 'There was a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho.' Instantly, Gad imagined in his mind a rocky trail leading down a mountainside, with hardly any plants and no people, and he imagined looking ahead down the trail at a cave and wondering if there were bandits hiding there. It was all much more real. Now in the gospel of Luke this story comes right after Jesus and a lawyer are discussing the most important laws. The lawyer says the you should love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells the lawyer that is a good answer. Then the lawyer asks, "But who is my neighbor?" Then Jesus tells this tale.

There was a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. In between the cities he was attacked by robbers who beat him, took his money, stripped him, and left him half-dead on the side of the road. Now along comes a priest. (Remember priests had to worry about keeping pure, and the strongest form of impurity was to touch a dead person. In fact, even if only his shadow fell over a dead person, a priest would become impure.) This priest saw the body on the side of the road. He didn't know if he was alive or dead. He didn't know if the beaten man was rich or poor, because all his clothes had been stripped off him. But the priest thought he had better not risk any impurities by getting too close. He passed on the other side of the road, and continued on to Jerusalem. Then came a Levite, these people help at the Temple also, but are not as important as the priests. Same worries, same reaction. He also passes the body on the other side of the road. Both the priest and the Levite have followed the Law of Moses. They thought what they did was perfectly in accordance with the Law. Now along comes a Samaritan. (Jews from Galilee thought that the Samaritans were not fully Jewish and were impure. I wish you all could have felt the feeling Gad had about Samaritans, kind of like they were dogs not people.) Anyway, along comes a Samaritan. He sees the body on the side of the road. He checks him out and finds that he is alive. The Samaritan, takes some cloth and wraps up the cuts on the wounded man. The Samaritan brings his animal over and puts the hurt man onto it and takes him into the city and leaves him at an inn. There he pays the innkeeper to let the hurt man stay there until he is well.

In Luke the story ends with the question, "Of these three who acted like a neighbor?" The lawyer answers, "The one who showed him compassion." Jesus says, "Go and do the same yourself." I put away the sandals after that and went for a walk around the hotel. Up came a man asking for money for food. I must have been inspired because I stopped, which is not what I usually do. I spoke with him and I ended up taking him to a Chinese restaurant. We had a good dinner. He told me of how he used to be in the army, and how he used to build houses. We never got to talking about why he was asking for money for food now. I never asked. He wanted to keep talking, but I said I had to go. I didn't really have to go, but we were getting these mean looks from the other people in the restaurant, because the man really smelled. I bet these were the same kind of looks Jesus must have gotten for eating with 'tax collectors and sinners.'

I got ready to leave. He asked if he could come up and take a shower in my hotel room. He really did need a shower. But I'm no Jesus. I'm not even a good Samaritan. I was too afraid that if I let him have a shower, he wouldn't leave and would ask to spend the night in the hotel. So I didn't let him take that shower. It seems like the messages of Jesus that are easiest to understand are hardest to follow. Got to go to bed now. I'm looking forward to seeing you all soon,

Dr. Strauss (Len)

## Chapter 19 Arthur: Gad Transforms

Dr. Strauss was away for a couple of weeks for a conference. He took the sandals with him, so Rosa and me weren't tempted to try them on when we let Rhino in after his walk. The first Tuesday after the conference Dr. Strauss had a really serious face when he met us at his door. He led us to the living room. "Kids, I think I figured out how Rachel got the sandals, and I figured out how Gad was connected to the sandals."

"Why do you look so serious then?" I asked.

"Well, I haven't been able to take a sandal trip in a couple of days, and I don't think I will ever be able to again. Let me tell you about my last sandal trip.

"All of the trips that I have taken have been through Gad who seemed to be pretty well off, at least for that part of the world at that time. And Gad appeared to be following Yeshua around to hear him preach around Galilee. The last time I was Gad, it was in a small village.

"Yeshua is saying the usual things. Most of this I have heard before. I am further back in the crowd today. I have to work hard to hear, but I can hear. Yeshua is saying 'I tell you, you should give to those that beg from you. And you should love your enemies. Anybody can love only those who will love him back. But what about those that treat you bad. You are truly living in God's kingdom if you can love your enemy. What if someone strikes you? I tell you if someone strikes you on the right cheek, just turn and offer him your other cheek. If someone comes to take your shirt, give him your coat along with it.' Yeshua keeps on teaching, but I can't concentrate anymore. I'm crying. I didn't know what I am crying about, I'm just crying and I can't stop. I put my head in my hands. Good thing I'm in the back of the crowd. People don't pay too much attention to me. I'm not used to crying, but there's nothing I can do. Then I notice that there is a little girl next to me. Her mother is here without any man - clearly not an upright woman. What am I doing with a crowd like this? And why do I feel I need to be in the back of the crowd? Somehow when I'm listening to Yeshua, I feel unclean, even though I should feel cleaner than these people. It's just that with all Yeshua's talk about the rich not being able to enter into the Kingdom of God, I feel dirty, especially when I think about when I have to take over families' farms for my master.

I see the woman's little daughter holding onto her cloak. The child looks so hungry and her feet are bare. I stop gripping onto my bag so tight. That feels good, so I relax my grip more. I feel relief, but not just in my hand and arm, I feel relief all over my body. Then I know what to do. I reach into my bag, pull out the silver coins I have there and stretch my hand out towards the woman. She smiles and takes the coins. Part of me wants to pull away. What am I doing touching a woman like this, out here in a crowd without a man with her? What kind of woman is she? I tighten the grip on my bag which I'm still holding with my left hand. What am I doing? A minute ago I was feeling a freedom and relief that I hadn't felt since I was a kid. And now I'm tightening myself up again. What should I do? Surely, God wants me to stay as pure as I can. But something doesn't feel right. I look down at the girl. No, more important than the Purity Law is the Law to love my neighbor. Inside I feel I know what God wants me to do. I reach into my bag. All that is left is that pair of children's sandals. I give them to the girl."

"Oh!", said Rosa and me at the same time.

"You were holding the sandals all the time, that's how you became Gad," Rosa blurted out.

"And the girl you gave them to was probably Rachel." I said.

"Yes. We should check it by having the sketch artist draw the woman I saw, and Rachel's mother. I will call and schedule another appointment." said Dr. Strauss.

"But wait." Rosa said. "If that was really Rachel that just got the sandals, how come I have been able to do the sandal trips as Rachel all this time?"

"Rosa," I said, "Rachel didn't just get the sandals, she got them about two thousand years ago. We just found out about it."

Rosa said, "Oh right. Duh. So every time I went on a sandal trip, I went back to a time after all the times that Len - I mean Dr. Strauss - went back."

"Right," said Dr. Strauss. "And I think Arthur goes back the furthest in time, because he saw John the Baptist when he was still alive. So unless there is someone else who has the sandals in between, then Ben gives the sandals to Gad."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you something." I said. "I did meet someone named Gad in my last sandal trip."

"And you didn't tell me," Dr. Strauss said, trying to act mad, except he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

Rosa knew, "Don't worry Arthur, he's not mad."

"No, you're right, how could I be? This is great. Can't you feel the joy of discovery kids? But I'm also happy because I was able to feel that great relief that Gad felt. I don't know if you can imagine how bad Gad felt about himself. His job was to do something that he didn't really believe was a good thing to do. He was making his money from poor farmers. And then, he had all those bad feelings about his money go away, by giving his money away. It was such a relief."

We were all quiet for a long time. Finally Rosa said, "I still don't understand why this means that you will never be able to use the sandals again. Sure, Gad gave the sandals away, but like Arthur said, that was about two thousand years ago. Why can't you just go back to before that time?"

"I think I know" I said. "It is because the sandal trips are in the right order. For me, the trip where Josiah and Carma come to town and cured Ruth happened before the trip when Yeshua came to town and Ruth was already cured."

"That's right," said Rosa. "And remember the three of us that can go back are about the age of the people we are going back to. Maybe we have to go back to about the age of our sandal person. As we get older, our sandal person gets older too, and we can't go back to when they were younger."

"That's my current theory," said Len. "And if that theory is true. That was my last sandal trip."

## Chapter 20 Rosa: Palm Sunday

All this time at school, me and Arthur were, like, better friends than we ever were before. Secrets can do that. Also, it seems like we were two of the three people in the world who knew what it was like to be someone else. Arthur and me started a game at recess, where we tried to feel what it was like to be other kids in the playground. Of course it didn't work like when you had the magic sandals on, but somehow having done it with the sandals, it was easier to imagine it without any magic sandals. We picked Mike Hooper one day. I don't know why. He was walking around being his usual self, not really talking to anyone, playing with his dumb yo-yo, and trying to avoid Steve. Lisa came up and asked if she could try the yo-yo, but Mike just shook his head no and turned away. It was easy to think how Lisa felt, but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't imagine what it was like to be Mike Hooper. Arthur said it was hard for him too. Some people are just too different from us I guess. The next Tuesday, I was much faster at becoming Rachel.

whoosh

I'm walking with Papa, Mama, and some other people from Capernaum. But there are also people from other villages. Up ahead is Jerusalem. We're coming for the Passover celebration, but this year Yeshua is with us. He's been teaching each night of the journey here, although some nights he goes away by himself to pray. Yeshua is in the front of our group with the other disciples. A man and woman leading a donkey from the city see Yeshua and wave. They bring the donkey to Yeshua. Leah's Mom who is always quoting from the prophets says, "So, he will be riding into town on a donkey. Ah, just as Zechariah the prophet has said, 'Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey.' He is truly a humble king. And he 'shall command peace to the nations'."

"Look," Leah says, pointing toward the gates of the city. Other followers of Yeshua are there and are cheering and waving palm branches.

I'm so happy to be coming for a festival in Jerusalem again. I haven't been in several years. And this year it's different because we are coming with Yeshua and his other followers. It's great to see that there are so many others who know of Yeshua and are cheering for him. Some are even calling him the Anointed One.

"This might not be good." Papa says. He has a worried look on his face.

"How can this not be good?" Leah's dad says. "Surely, you of all people know that Yeshua is a prophet and can help our people. He will speak to the scribes at the Temple. He will show them that the Temple is for God and God is for the poor and the widows and the children. Remember how he always says, 'Blessed are you, poor.' Even Levi the toll collector has seen that his new way will bring in God's kingly rule. Perhaps even the priests and the Levites will listen to Yeshua. Surely God is with Yeshua, and God will protect him from the Romans and the Temple guards."

"Just like God protected Yohanan the Baptist." Papa answers. "Think. Yeshua knows that the Romans and the priests won't like all these crowds. He knows what happened to Yohanan. Yet he comes anyway. These may be the last days of his teaching. Think of the guards at the Temple. Do you think the guards are just there to kill foreigners who go into the courtyard? No, they were trained in Rome. They won't hesitate to carry out orders from Herod or Rome. If Yeshua teaches in Jerusalem like he has been teaching in Galilee, he may follow the fate of Yohanan and the other prophets. Yet he comes. He is a true prophet, who fears no man, but only God. And if we are with Yeshua, what will happen to us?"

"Stop being so negative," Leah's dad says. "God will protect us. Don't worry. Remember what Yeshua always says, 'you can't add one cubit to your life by worrying?' Come, let us enjoy the festival. Look, surely the Romans can't stop God's Kingly Rule. And why should the Romans worry. Look at him. Does that look like a general leading an army, someone about to take over the city by force, or does it look like a king 'humble and riding on a colt' ?"

We start toward the city behind Yeshua and the others. After a bit we join the shouting of praises about Yeshua. It seems safe since there are so many people here for the festival, and we see very few Roman soldiers around.

"Look," Leah points, "vultures, why are they circling outside the city walls?"

Papa looks serious, "Those vultures are circling above the 'Place of the Skull'." And he turns Leah and me so we cannot look where the vultures are landing. We keep walking to the gates of the city, shouting and cheering. Even Papa starts cheering.

whoosh

Back in the basement. Right away Len started asking questions. I told the story as best I could, but the questions kept coming. Finally, Arthur said, "Rosa, do you need a break? Maybe I could do a trip right now." I was so glad he said that, because those questions had just kept coming and coming.

## Chapter 21 Arthur: Going into Debt

Since Dr. Strauss hadn't been able to do sandal trips himself anymore, he asked more questions when either Rosa or I did a trip. Rosa hated all the questions. I didn't really mind, until after that next one.

FLASH

I'm standing close to my father. "Gad," Father is saying, "you don't waste any time coming. Do you?"

Gad is an older man about Dr. Strauss' age. He is a man who looks like he could be kind, but has forgotten how. "I'm here only to help you," he says to my father. "The rains have not been good this year. Everyone in the village has been having trouble paying their taxes. I hear you might need a loan from my Master."

"Yes," my father says slowly. I remember all Father has said lately about loans from Gad's Master who lives in Sepphoris. "We'll never take out a loan," my father had said. In fact, the last few nights at dinner that's all my parents have spoken about. As my mother brought him his dinner, my father had started complaining that it was too much food. And let me tell you, it was not too much food. My father was just trying in any way he could think of to save some extra for the taxes.

Mother told Father to eat. "You need to eat, we will worry about the taxes later" she had said. Father ate one or two bites, then gave some to me and my brothers and sisters. He got up grumpily and went out to the field again.

Now today, here he is talking with Gad to do what he had said he would never do. He paid his taxes, but now he needs a loan to make it until the olives ripen. Gad speaks again, "This is just a loan, you can pay back when the olives ripen."

"And if there are not enough olives for my household, Herod, the Temple, and your Master?" my father asks.

Gad responds, "Then the land will of course become my Master's. But look at Zetan, he has been able to continue working on his family land even when my Master owns it. This may not be the worst thing. You must think of your family."

"Alright" my father says. "Come then," says Gad, "we'll write up how much the loan will be, and it will be settled."

They both walk off towards the house where the scribe is staying. Both Father and Gad are staring at the ground as they walk away. By the way they walk, I can tell that neither my father nor Gad is happy about the deal, but we need food to eat, and our neighbors are in a similar situation. We can't get help from them.

FLASH

Back in the basement I told and retold my experience. Dr. Strauss kept asking so many questions that finally Rosa and I said we had to go home.

## Chapter 22 Rosa: Morning of the Crucifixion

Arthur, Len and I all knew what would probably happen the next time I tried on the sandals. But even knowing how it's going to end up, doesn't always make you totally ready.

whoosh

I'm sitting near our tent outside of the city. The sun is just coming up. Leah's dad, Leah, her Mom, and my parents and some others are here. I know everyone. Leah's dad is talking, "You should have seen him, he was masterful, simply wonderful. Some scribe or Pharisee came up to Yeshua as he was teaching and asked him in a scribey voice, you all know how they talk, 'Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us then, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not.' " We all start laughing at Leah's dad's scribe voice. He continues, "Now I could tell by the way he said it, that this guy knew he had Yeshua trapped. If Yeshua said no, then he would be arrested; if he said yes, that is supporting Rome. No prophet who was a true prophet would support Rome. So, listen to what Yeshua does. 'Give me a denarius and let me see it.' Yeshua says. You should have seen that scribe search around for a denarius. He finally gets it and gives it to Yeshua, already the scribe knows he has lost, 'cause everyone knows Caesar's image is on the denarius. The scribe knows he is practically breaking the second commandment just holding the coin. Yeshua takes the coin, and asks, 'Whose head is this, and whose title?' As if we all didn't know. But it was fun to hear the scribe say 'Caesar's'. Then Yeshua says, 'Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and give to God the things that are God's.' Now every true Jew knows that all is God's. But how can the Romans arrest him for that? He is a prophet I tell you."

Then Jethro speaks up, "If you think he was close to getting arrested then, what about what he did in the Temple the other day? There was the usual crowd around the money changer and pigeon sellers. Yeshua was first teaching there. I couldn't quite hear what he was saying, there was such a crowd. Then Yeshua just turned over a table of one of the money changers. People stared at him for a minute, and Yeshua said in a loud voice, 'It is written, "My house shall be a house of prayer"; but you have made it a den of bandits.' And then Yeshua walked away into the crowd."

We look at Jethro. Then Leah's dad says, "I bet none of those bandits in the inner courtyard of the Temple even heard of the incident, they were too busy preparing a feast from our sacrifices. At least one prophet is saying the truth about the Temple."

"We've always had prophets to say the truth about the Temple" says Jethro. "Remember Amos: 'I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring your best offerings, I will not look upon them. Take away the noise of your songs. I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing steam.'

"Yes," says Papa. "Let's hope that Yeshua's fate is different from the other prophets."

My papa comes over to me. He signals me to come with him and we walk to the edge of our group. I walk reluctantly, because just yesterday Papa was yelling at me for not helping enough. I was really hurt because I do as much as any kid my age.

"Rachel, I'm preparing to go the Temple for the festival. I'm purifying myself in the usual way. But I have been listening to Yeshua. You know he says 'Nothing that goes into someone from outside can make that person unclean; it's the things that come out of someone that make that person unclean.' I have been thinking about this. Also Yeshua says not to offer your sacrifice at the Temple if a friend has a problem with you. He says to first make up with your friend then you can offer your gift to the Lord. I want to purify my heart, Rachel. And I wanted to apologize for what I said to you the other day, when I said you were lazy and not helping enough."

Right then all my feelings of hurt go away. "It's O.K." I say.

Papa continues, "You see I have been worried about Yeshua. It is one thing to teach in Galilee, but quite something else to teach here in Jerusalem. I'm afraid what the Temple leaders and the Romans may do. We must pray that God will look over Yeshua and those of us who follow him."

One of the women disciples runs up to our group. The skin around her eyes is red and there are still tear streaks down her cheeks. She knows Leah's dad, and goes right to him.

"Haven't you all heard?"

We stop talking and wait."They took Yeshua last night. He is at the Place of the Skulls."

"No!" screams one woman. Others cry out with sounds halfway between crying and screaming. I looked over at Papa. He is looking in the distance in the sky above the Place of the Skull; his eyes are following one circling vulture. "Come, we must pack up and go home," my papa says as he starts to gather up things. Others just watch him for a second. Everyone is too stunned to move. "They won't come after us too, will they?" someone says. No one answers. Then we all start moving fast, taking our tent down, and piling our things onto the donkey we all shared. As we walk away from Jerusalem, I look back to watch the vulture flying over the Place of the Skull. I kept turning to look back, but I have to keep blinking the tears out of my eyes so I can see.

whoosh

I was back in the basement room, but the tears didn't stop. I didn't talk to anyone about the trip, I just sat there and cried. I told Arthur and Len I wanted to go home and just left.

## Chapter 23 Arthur: If Your Coat is Taken, Give Your Shirt Too

Dr. Strauss and I both guessed what happened when Rosa took her trip, and we found out later we guessed right. But we both wished Rosa would have just answered a few questions.

Dr. Strauss had to try real hard not to push Rosa with lots of questions and let her go. It must have been hard for him to know he could never do the sandal trips again. I would soon know what that felt like, because although I didn't know it then, my last sandal trip was that afternoon.

FLASH

Angry. I'm feeling it through my whole body. I can't stand still I'm so angry. I walk around and around in front of our house. Other people are nearby but I don't pay any attention. My mind is on one thing. Our land is no longer our own. Gad has just come. He has just finished speaking with my father. I walk down to our olive trees, but are they ours anymore? How can they not be ours? My father's father had planted these trees. My father had tended them. They had produced olives for our family since before I was born. How can they not be ours? What does Gad's Master have to do with these olives? The whole thing makes no sense.

I keep walking. I want to go through each part of our land. Yes, our land. And see that it is still the same. But each plot I look at, the lentils, the wheat field - each of them looks slightly different to me now. Why am I letting Gad and his people tell me whose land it is? God knows whose land it really is. Then I see him.

Gad is on his way out of town. He has done his master's work. I start running after him. What will I do when I reach him? I'm just a kid. There is really nothing to do. But still I keep running. I wonder what I will do. Then I remember Yeshua and Josiah and Carma. What would they have told me to do? 'Don't worry about what you will eat and what you will wear.' How can I not worry? What kind of advice is that? 'God's Kingdom is spread out before you, but you can't see it. God's Kingdom is within you, but you can't feel it.' I stop and turn back to our land, or what was our land. I'm breathing hard from running. I look back at the hills by our village.

I think of the prayer Yeshua told us- how we can speak to God like our father. Papa. I say it and think of God. A God that doesn't feel scary? God as my Papa? My Father's Papa? My Mother's Papa. Even Gad's Papa. Papa. Papa. Papa. The third time I really see. God is Our Papa in heaven. The feeling comes with the words.

The sun IS shining on the evil and the good and God loves us all. Papa, holy is your name. Let YOUR Kingdom come. Give us the bread we need for the day. Forgive our debts as much as we have forgiven those indebted to us. And please don't lead us to test after test.

I see the wheat field but not each grain. I remember planting the field with my father. Little tiny seeds put into dirt. Now the wheat becomes for me the miracle that it is, a tiny seed put in the dirt, grows with rain and sun to become a large plant that anyone can eat. The abundance of the wheat and silliness of Gad and his Master trying to 'own' that. Anger leaves through the soles of my feet. I turn and run again toward Gad. 'If someone hits you on the right cheek, offer your other. If someone takes your coat, give him your shirt as well. Love those who love you back, what's the big deal about that? No, you must love even your enemies.' What if someone takes your land, and you have almost nothing to give as well? What can I give Gad? Will he understand, or will he just take it. If I give him my sandals, will he just think this will seal the deal like Boaz's deal to buy Ruth. But I will know it's a gift for a silly man who is missing the beauty and the abundance of God's Kingdom. Maybe it will snap him out of his sleepwalking life.

"Sir," I say. The words of respect are there, but there is no respect behind them. "I need to speak with you."

Then I start to step out of my sandals.

FLASH

Len was holding me up. The sandals were on the floor below my feet. It took a while for all Ben's feelings to stop. Then I got real sad because I knew that I would never be Ben again. I was also sad because I bet Ben never found out that Gad really did change, and it was partly because of him.

## Chapter 24 Rosa: Trouble

Oh boy, I don't know how things went so wrong so quickly. On Friday, three days after I was sandaling at Jesus' crucifixion, I went over to Arthur's after school to go walk Rhino. On Wednesday, Arthur had told me about his trip after I had left, and I told him about my trip. Arthur was real sad because it looked like there were no more trips for him. Then I found out that Arthur knew where the sandals were kept, and I wanted to take a trip right away. Because, you know, I had to quick get there for the resurrection, which everyone knows happened three days after the crucifixion. But Arthur said, "Rosa, just because it's three days in our time, doesn't mean it's three days in Rachel's time. Besides, Dr. Strauss is gone for another conference, and even though he left them at home this time, you can't try them on until he gets back."

Arthur was just mad because he couldn't do any more sandal trips. He was trying to make it so I couldn't either. And it seemed like Dr. Strauss was doing the same thing, by going off to a conference and not even telling me. Anyways, so I beg Arthur to let me try on the sandals. He says no way, we need Dr. Strauss to be there. "Like, why?" I ask. But I know Arthur too well. He won't change his mind. Sometimes I get so mad at him. So this is where the trouble started. O.K., it was me who started the trouble. Arthur showed me where the sandals were, and started to go get Rhino some water. In a second, I quickly put them in my backpack and zipped it up and followed him. Later when we went back to get our backpacks, Arthur made sure I left the study first, but it was too late they were already in my backpack. When I got home I thought, "This is not right, I can't take them." I decided I would take them back the next Monday. Besides, Dr. Strauss wouldn't be back until the next Friday.

On Monday at school I confessed to Arthur that I took them. "I'll put them back, I promise." I said.

"Well, are they at least someplace safe?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, they are right in my backpack here," I said as I opened up my backpack to show him. They were not there!

After school we looked for hours at my house and didn't find them. We had a few more days before Dr. Strauss was supposed to get home. If we didn't find them, what would we tell him?

## Chapter 25 Rosa: Rachel Hears of Resurrection

The next day I saw Arthur right when he got to school. He looked at me. I shrugged, and he knew I didn't find them. He looked really mad at me. Sometimes I wish I didn't do such dumb things, but I can't help myself.

When it was time to go to recess, I was getting my coat from my backpack when I see Arthur jumping up and down by his locker. He runs over to me with his backpack. "Rosa, look." There were the sandals at the bottom of his backpack! I must have put them in Arthur's backpack by mistake, and they got covered up with his coat or something. We both started dancing around. Ms. Miller told us to calm down or we wouldn't get to go to recess. Of course Arthur calmed down right away. I tried to calm down. I told my feet to stop dancing, but they just wouldn't listen. So I ended up staying in for recess. I had to sit in the library. But that's O.K. because I was able to sneak Arthur's backpack with me. The librarian told me to sit and read - no running around - just read. So I sat there. But then my uncontrollable feet started wiggling out of my shoes. I guess I had no control over my hands either because they reached down and got the sandals out of Arthur's bag. Well, I guess I wasn't trying too hard to control anything; I just had to try on the sandals right then and there. All this time I was smiling at the librarian, and pretending to scratch my leg. She smiled back. Then I slyly put the sandals on the floor, put my feet in and started quieting my mind. It took a while then...

whoosh

I'm out in the wilderness. I can see the Lake, and I can see Capernaum down by the Lake, but they are both far away. It will take me hours to get back home. I'm afraid. What was I thinking coming out here by myself? Who knows who will find me and what they will do to me?

I left this morning. I told mama and papa I was going to help Leah with some work. But I didn't. I just started walking away from town. Ever since Yeshua died, our whole family has been different. Mama is quiet, and Papa's mood is like when he was paralyzed. After we got back into Capernaum, we all started doing our regular routine jobs again, but none of us was able to be happy doing them. Then the other day Mary from Magdala came into Capernaum to meet with Yeshua's followers in the village. Mary was one of Yeshua's closest disciples. She had the wildest story. She said that after Yeshua died he came back.

Papa says, "What do you mean, came back?"

"He is alive again. He has risen from the dead." Mary says. Of course who would believe that? But the way she said it, there was true happiness in her eyes when she said it. It was almost as if she was talking like Yeshua himself. She had the look in her eyes like she could talk with God himself. There was a light of God shining from within her and shining out onto all of us. If it wasn't for the way she was so totally contented when she met us, none of us would have believed her. But was it true? Could we believe this story?

I was so confused. That was yesterday. Today I'm here away from everyone, remembering Yeshua. I'm wondering if I can see God like Mary, like Yeshua did. What do I need to do? So I did this stupid thing of coming out here alone. Yeshua always said, when you pray, let no one know you are praying. "Papa, holy is your name. Come into me and let me know you. I beg you. I need you." Then I just thought of God with no words - just waiting out here to hear from God. Then the feeling started to come. It was like the feeling that I get when Mama holds me in her arms and rocks me back and forth. It was not like really feeling arms around me. It was like arms hugging me inside my chest. No one is here, but I feel less alone than I ever have in my life. I should be afraid, but I'm not. I smile even though there is no one here to see me smile. I can't help myself. Then I laugh at the thought of me smiling to myself. Hearing myself laugh at nothing makes me laugh even more. If anyone saw me they would have thought I was possessed by a demon. That super happy feeling leaves, but I still feel good. I start the long walk home.

whoosh

I was on a stretcher in the hallway. What's going on? There are people all around.

"Wait, she's acting different now." someone goes.

"What's your name?" someone else asked.

"Rosa."

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday." Then I remembered. "Wait. My sandals, who has my sandals?"

The rescue worker said, "Don't worry about that, we will get them for you. Just lie down, now. You'll be fine."

At the entrance to the hospital, my Mom met the ambulance.

"Mija, estas bien?" she said. She always talks Spanish when she is upset.

"I'm fine Mom." I say.

"Are you her mother?" the ambulance worker asks. My Mom nodded.

"Ma'am she seems fine. We'll just take her to the hospital to check her out. Don't worry. It was some type of seizure where she wasn't conscious of what was around her. But we'll do some tests and see what we can find out. You can ride in the back of the ambulance with her."

As I got carried into the hospital, I figured I really blew it this time, but I didn't find out how bad I blew it until the next day.

## Chapter 26 Arthur: The Big Trouble

While I was at recess, I heard the ambulance drive up. That had never happened before so all the kids were trying to get close to watch. I couldn't see, but one of the kids said they saw Rosa getting rolled away on a stretcher. I didn't know what happened until I got back to our room and noticed that my backpack was gone. I asked to go to the library to get my backpack, but Ms. Miller was so upset about Rosa, she wouldn't let me go. After school I asked the librarian but she said she gave the sandals to the rescue workers. I found out later that the rescue workers read the property label on the sandals and called the Smithsonian Institution about the sandals.

Rosa stayed in the hospital overnight for tests. I told Mom and Dad that I thought what happened was that Rosa just did a sandal trip. They finally understood how special the sandals were, after it was too late. The next day Dr. Strauss called Mom while I was at school and asked for his key to his house back. I wanted to call and say I was sorry, but my Mom said that Dr. Strauss told her that he didn't want to talk to us kids right now. Mom said she understood.

Of course the hospital couldn't find anything wrong with Rosa. A couple of days later, we met at my house after school. "Rosa, why don't you think? You can't do a sandal trip at school. What did you think would happen?" Rosa started crying, so I stopped yelling. We just played in my room quietly for a while. "Well, I guess I will call and say I'm sorry," Rosa said.

"Mom said he doesn't want to talk to us." I told her.

"Well, I have to try," she said.

She found the number for the museum, and called it. "May I speak to Dr. Strauss?"

She listened for a second, said "O.K., thanks," and hung up.

"The lady said he doesn't work there anymore," Rosa said.

We decided we should just walk next door and find him at home. But knowing what you should do and doing it, are two different things. We both decided that maybe in a couple of days, he wouldn't be as mad.

A couple of days later, when we worked up the courage to go over to Dr. Strauss' house, we found that he wasn't home. What was worse, we couldn't hear Rhino barking when we knocked. Where did he go? We asked my Mom and Dad and Rosa's Mom and Dad, but no one knew. You would think we would be in big trouble with our parents for getting Dr. Strauss fired, but I guess they could tell we were sorry, 'cause they didn't punish us any. Maybe if they did, we would have felt better, but they didn't.

## Chapter 27 Arthur: Cheeks, Letters, and Stones

It turns out that we didn't hear from Dr. Strauss for 5 months. Rosa and I continued on with fifth grade. After a while we started acting like regular kids again. But every once in a while I would remember something that happened when I was sandaling and I would get all sad or happy, or I would get a wondrous feeling about the holy mystery of it all. I especially remember the way that Ben walked right up to Gad and gave him his sandals. When I was Ben, I felt the way he was first afraid, then he wasn't. I wondered if I would ever be able to stand up to one of my enemies and do something like that to make them change. It seemed like a strange wondering because, well, I didn't have any enemies. Then I thought of Steve. Steve was definitely not my enemy. He always spoke to me in the hall, saying things like "Hey, quiet Arthur, what's happening?" But I thought of Steve anyway because of the way he treated Mike Hooper. Steve was particularly mean the other day. He started walking behind Mike Hooper with his shoulders hunched over like Mike Hooper walks. Then when Mike tried to ignore him, Steve tripped him, and he fell down. The other kids started laughing. It didn't seem funny to me. I decided next time Steve bothered Mike Hooper I would do something. If Ben could stand up to an adult that took away his farm, then I could surely stand up to a sixth grader.

Anyway, the next day at recess, just like most days, Steve started teasing Mike Hooper. I decided to do something, but I didn't know what to do. Should I just talk to Mike Hooper and tell him to stop acting so weird? Maybe that was the best way. Then I remembered one day when Dr. Strauss was talking at dinner about the 'turn the other cheek' saying. Dr. Strauss had said, "You see when someone is picking on you. They expect you to either fight them, or run away. In fact, that's everyone's natural reaction when someone who is bigger than you is attacking you. Scientists call it the fight-or-flight reaction. Jesus' message is to do neither. He says there is a third way. You don't need to fight back, and you don't need to run away. You can stand up to the person and show them that you are not afraid, and won't fight back. 'Turn the other cheek.' I do believe is my favorite saying. It is a classic example of the third way." Anyway, I spent so much time thinking about what to do, I never did anything before the end of recess.

I was nervous about talking to Rosa about this. It was not like Mike Hooper wasn't weird, he was. I never talked to Rosa about something like this before. It turns out she was thinking something needed to be done also.

"Ever since that day when we tried to be Mike Hooper, I have been thinking we should do something." Rosa said.

So we came up with a plan. It was a very simple plan. We would start talking to everyone about it, and ask them why they thought it was funny for Steve to make fun of Mike. The plan was we would talk to people before the next time Steve started teasing Mike. But two days later, when we had only spoken with a few people, and Steve saw Mike walking out at recess, looking down at the ground like he always did. Steve shouted out "Hey, Mike did you lose something?" I stepped in before I knew what I was going to say. "Um. Why don't you leave him alone, Steve?" I said.

"Oh, look at this. Quiet Arthur speaks. Are you Pooper's friend, Arthur?" I was there between Steve and Mike. I looked over at Rosa.

"No, just please leave him alone." I said. My voice came out very high for some reason. Maybe 'cause I was nervous.

Steve laughed. He made a small squeaky voice, "Please leave him alone," he said, and then laughed again. Other kids started crowding around us.

"It's just not funny Steve." I said.

"Well, how come everyone laughs then?" Steve asked.

"Rosa, do you think it is funny?" I asked Rosa.

Rosa was quiet. She tilted her head to one side and waited for a minute. Now if anyone else did that, you would think, I bet they are thinking really hard about this question. But when Rosa did it, it just seemed like she was pretending to think, because she almost never waited before she responded to a question.

"Not really," she said finally.

Steve laughed. "Of course your girlfriend will agree with you Arthur. But everyone else thinks it's funny."

I hate when people call Rosa my girlfriend, but I didn't know what to say.

Steve looked around, "How 'bout you, Davie? Do you think it is funny?"

Shoot, I thought. Davie was one of the ones that laughed the loudest, and one of the ones we had not talked to yet.

Davie looked around and shrugged his shoulders.

There was quiet for a second. Then Anthony spoke, "It's not really funny, that's just the way Mike walks."

"Whatever," said Steve, and walked away. Mike Hooper smiled at me and then went back to looking at his feet.

After that day Steve tried to make fun of Mike Hooper a couple more times, but the other kids didn't laugh as much and he just stopped. Steve wasn't very nice to me after that, but I still felt good about what I did. And Rosa thought it was real cool that we stood up for Mike.

I wanted to tell Dr. Strauss about that day, so I got Mom to show me how to send an email to him even though we didn't know if his address still worked. I thought Dr. Strauss would love that story more than anyone. It was kind of a turn-the-other-cheek/third-way kind of story, except it wasn't quite the same because Mike Hooper was the one getting picked on and there was no cheek turning. Maybe I just was looking for any excuse to write Dr. Strauss. At the end of the note, I added that I was really sorry for making him lose his job. Maybe that was the really reason I felt like I really had to write him.

About a month later, a package came to my house. It was addressed to both Rosa and me, so I called Rosa to come over. I asked Mom if Rosa and me could take it to my room to open it, and she said fine.

"What do you think it is?" Rosa asks me when we are alone.

"Well, maybe he is sending a stink bomb in the mail to get out his anger." I said.

"No, Len won't do dumb stuff like that. Go ahead, open it." Rosa says.

Inside was a pair of adult size plastic sandals, the kind that you buy at the beach for a few dollars. There was a note.

Dearest Arthur and Rosa,

Arthur, thank you for your email. The museum forwarded it to my new account. Your playground bully story was very inspiring. You two are quite a team.

I'm writing back to you both to thank you for all the time we had together. I know I was very intense about the sandals. I'm sorry I skipped out of town without talking to you. I was mad. I felt like I was losing the most important part of me, my life as an archaeologist. I was a little like Gad, who couldn't let go of his money. I couldn't let go of the idea of myself as the learned, insightful, hardworking archaeologist. It seemed like that was the only part of me that mattered. It was what made me feel important. But then after I have been away from that work a while I see that there is more to life than all that. The whole world is spread out with God's Kingdom and I was worried about stupid things, like if other people would think I was smart, or if I would get credit for finding a great discovery about Jesus.

I'm afraid I didn't pay enough attention to you both when we had our time together. All the time I was so excited about the sandals, I wasn't thinking about what it must have been like for you. I'm so old I forgot what it was like to be a kid. So, I'm sorry that I blamed you when I lost my job. It was partly your fault, but I forgive you, because now I have gotten to see how some of the things that I thought were so important were not. I will leave you with one story about Jesus that we never did hear while sandaling. I've known this story for almost all my life, but when I needed to act right according to it, I didn't. I'm sorry. I hope that you will forgive me, and please know that I forgive you. I will be back in Washington in a few weeks. I'll call and ask your parents if I can stop by.

Here's the story (John 8:2-11, scholar's version, but I changed it a little):

Early in the morning Jesus showed up again in the temple area and everyone gathered around him. He sat down and began to teach them. The scholars and Pharisees bring him a woman who was caught doing a bad thing. They make her stand there in front of everybody, and they address him, "Teacher, because of what this woman did, the Law Moses commanded us to throw stones at her until she dies. What do you say?" (They said this to trap him, so they would have something to accuse him of.) Jesus stooped down and began drawing on the ground with his finger. When they insisted on an answer, he stood up and replied, "Whoever is sinless in this crowd should go ahead and throw the first stone at her." Once again he squatted down and continued writing on the ground. His audience began to drift away, one by one- the elders were the first to go - until Jesus was the only one left, with the woman there in front of him.

Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where is everybody? Hasn't anyone condemned you?"

She replied, "No one, sir."

"I don't condemn you either," Jesus said. "You're free to go, but from now on no more sinning."

I know my not accepting your apologies about losing my job probably hurt you as much as throwing a stone. And I am certainly not sinless. I should have known how hard it would be to avoid the temptation to take the sandals when you were dropping Rhino off at the house. Sorry for putting you in that situation. I probably should be sorry for getting you involved at all, but I'm not. We learned too much and had too much fun.

P.S. Don't forget to tell your parents I will call. Arthur, ask your Mom if she has any new recipes to try out on me. I haven't had tofu in too long.

P.S.S. So you can really feel how much I care about you both and your whole families, try on these sandals and see how I feel.

I put down the note. Rosa was smiling. Me too.

###

## Acknowledgements

Many people helped by reading early drafts of this book and gave comments, which made it a much better book. I especially thank my Aunt Pat, brother Joe, sister Kath, David Hilficker, Chris Roberts, Ruth Ann Stone. I beg forgiveness if I left out others. Of course everyone's interpretation of Jesus' message is slightly different, and I'm sure each of them would have told some parts differently. Thanks to Idania Alvarado for the cover art, and my son Paul for helping to get it into the correct format. I thank my wife Sally for her patience with this project, and more importantly her patience and our shared love throughout our life together. Most of all to my first audience, Paul and Sara. It has been a joy to watch you both grow into the beautiful people you are today. May you always feel the light of God within you and within everyone.

## Notes from the Author

I hope you enjoyed this gospel tale. Here are some details about the history of that time. There is no need to read them if you are not interested. The books I talk about in these notes were written for adults, and really, to be honest, these notes are mostly for adults too.

Because this "gospel tale" does not follow closely any of the four gospel accounts of Jesus' life in the Bible, I thought it would be helpful to have notes on the chapters with a Biblical or historical basis. I will give references to Biblical passages where they exist, and discuss the reason for presenting the non-biblical stories.

When I first thought of doing a gospel story for kids taking into account current historical Jesus scholarly research, I thought I would present the current scholarly consensus. Unfortunately, there is no consensus. Powell (1998) gives an account of some of the main voices in the debate. My portrayal of Jesus and his message derives predominately from the works of Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and Richard Horsley. I will mention one accessible historical Jesus introduction by each of the three.

Borg (1994) writes from the perspective of a Christian who has struggled with his beliefs about Jesus and, refreshingly, does not shy away from talking about the spiritual experiences of Jesus. Horsley and Silberman (1997) emphasize the political and social reality of Jesus' time, including a discussion of the early Christian church. Crossan and Reed (2001) interpret ancient texts and archaeological data using their respective expertises to portray Jesus and his times and to show some of the methodologies used to understand the subject. (This last book also has some very nice illustrations.)

The sayings of Jesus used in this book are not one specific translation and are often adaptations of translations from different gospels. I have used mostly the Scholar's version (Miller, 1994) for the gospel readings and either the Revised Standard Version or Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation for the readings from the Old Testament.

Notes on Chapter 2

The prayer Ben prays is from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. The following verses in Deuteronomy are: 'Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.' (Duet 6:6-7)

The prayer is known as the Shema and was thought to be recited twice a day by many Jews in Jesus' day (Sanders, 1993, p. 35). It is recited by many Jews daily even today.

See Reed (2000) for descriptions of Galilean villages. For example, (p. 85) discusses how family plots were over a wide area, interspersed among other plots.

An important point to note is that there was no such thing as a separation between the church and the state in ancient Israel (see for example, Myers, 1988, p. 46, or Horsley, 1987, p. 152). However, the enforcement of some of the laws was mostly through societal pressure. The first five books of the Bible are known as the Torah, translated sometimes as "the Law" or sometimes as "Instruction". The Torah is also called the Law of Moses, since Moses is said to have written it (see Luke 24:44).

For the law about harvesting see Leviticus 19:9-10, and for the laws about the first fruits going to the priests (The Levites) see Deuteronomy 18:1-5. See the notes for Chapter 3 for more discussion of the Law in Galilee.

Notes on Chapter 3

Synagogue is Hebrew for "assembly", these were the biweekly meetings to instruct about the Law and discuss village matters. Now synagogue means the building where people meet. For a discussion about this see Horsley (1996, pp. 147-153). It is likely that women were allowed to attend these assemblies (see Sawicki, 2000, p. 98). I could not find information about whether women were permitted to speak at assembly. I do not have the women speak at the assembly, since it may have been an insult to have a man be directly instructed by a woman.

I invented the story of Yohan's goat biting Ofra to show in a vivid way how the Torah may have been used in a small village to settle disputes. In other words. I did it to show how the Torah may have acted as an actual set of Laws. The passage about your brother's ox going astray is Deuteronomy 22:1-3, about an ox that gores is Exodus 22:28-29, and about loving your neighbor is Leviticus 19:18. Ben's daydream mirrors Lev 16:1-22, in which the institution of the scapegoat is described. (See Notes on Chapter 9 for further discussion of sacrifices.)

Notes on Chapter 4

I have included the violent story of the revolt of Judah son of Hezekiah because it must have had a strong effect on the life of Jesus' home village of Nazareth, which was located only about 4 miles from Sepphoris. This incident is described in The Jewish War by Flavius Josephus (book 2 verses 56 and 68). (This ancient work was written around 76-79 c.e., see for example the translation by Whiston, republished in 1999).

Josephus was a Jew born in Jerusalem around 37 c.e. and came from an upper class family. He was a general of sorts during of the Jewish revolt in Galilee around 67 c.e., but surrendered to the Romans and ended up writing books about the history of the Jews for both a Roman and Jewish audience. He is the most important non-biblical source for history of the Jews around time of Jesus. For background on Josephus see Crossan (1991, Chapter 5) or Meier (1991, Chapter 3). For discussion of bandits like Judah see Crossan (1991, chapter 9). For discussion of the revolt of Judah and the ramifications see Horsley (1996, pp. 111-112).

Notes on Chapter 5

Usually the saying "Congratulations to you poor" is translated "blessed are you poor" or "happy are you poor". I have Dr. Strauss use "congratulations" following the Scholars Version (see Miller, 1994, p. 448). I have only included the three of these beatitudes (Luke 6:20-21, Matthew 6:20-21, see also the Gospel of Thomas, 54, and 69:2), because for these three there is quite a wide agreement among scholars that these are the authentic words of Jesus (see Funk, Hoover, et al. 1993).

The Gospel of Thomas is an ancient collection of some sayings of Jesus and is not part of the Bible (for translations see for example, Miller, 1994, or Funk, Hoover, et al. 1993).

For the saying against anxieties, see Matthew 6:25-33, Luke 12:22-31, or Thomas 36.

Notes on Chapter 6

One of the few facts that almost every historical Jesus scholar can agree on is that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. For John's speech I have paraphrased from Matthew 3:7-9 and Luke 3:7-8. I have added John preaching from Micah 6:6-8 because this seems like the kind of passage John may have quoted. This quote explicitly (perhaps more so than John himself would have done) portrays John's preachings and baptisms as a threat to the Temple's predominance in Judean life at the time. This view of John is argued in Herzog (2000, p. 236). For a discussion of the term 'living water' see notes for Chapter 10.

Notes on Chapter 7

The parable of the wicked tenants is told in Matthew 21:33-41, Mark 12:1-9, Luke 20:9-15, Thomas 65. In all four sources the parable is followed by something like,

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures (Psalm 118: 22-23): 'The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes' ". (Mt 21:42)

I have combined the saying love your enemies (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, 6:35, also some other ancient sources), with the parable of the unjust manager (Luke 16:1-8). My interpretation is similar to Yoder (1994, pp. 67-8).

Notes on Chapter 8

The Greek word translated as leprosy in many Bibles can refer to many different skin diseases (see for example, Kazen, 2002, p. 98). For rules on purification of people who had previously had skin diseases see Leviticus 14:1-32.

See the Notes on Chapter 16 for a general discussion of healings by Jesus.

For a discussion of fishing and the taxes and tolls associated with it see Hanson and Oakman (1998, pp. 106-110). For a discussion of the term 'living water' see notes for Chapter 10.

Notes on Chapter 9

Chilton (2000, pp. 23-32) gives a nice fictionalized description of the Temple in action in Jesus' time. Crossan and Reed (2001, pp. 193-201) describe Herod's Temple as well. Both books have nice drawings of the Temple.

To Americans today the Temple is strange because most of us do not think of God in connection with actual sacrificing of animals, but for the ancient Jews and most ancient people animal sacrifice was the normal way that you approached worship. Gil Bailie's book Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads (1995) discusses the theories of Rene Girard that explain why so many ancient societies developed sacrificial systems for worship. The book is told from a Christian perspective so there is discussion about the sacrifices in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), as well as interpretation of Jesus' death as sacrifice.

Notes on Chapter 10

For Laws on what food are allowed see Leviticus 11:1-47. For a discussion of untithed food and purity see Borg, (1994, pp. 64-65). For a discussion of water purity see Sawicki, (2000, pp. 23-25). For discussion of the ritual tanks called miqwaoth or miqveh see Crossan and Reed (2001, pp. 168-172). On the Pharisees, see Borg (1998, pp. 73-75).

Notes on Chapter 12

The prodigal son story is from Luke 15:11-32. My exposition on this story uses notes from Mitchell (1991, pp. 223-229) and Scott (2001, Chapter 8).

Notes on Chapter 13

The parable of the mustard seed is found in Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19, and Thomas 20. My interpretation follows Crossan (1991, pp. 276-279). I added the person in the crowd voicing some of the common concerns of everyday folks. Jesus' response that the Kingdom will not come by watching it is from Luke 17:21 and Thomas 113.

There are many stories of feedings of crowds from the gospels (Matthew 14:13-21, 15:32-39, Mark 6:30-44, 8:1-10, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-13). My feeding story incorporates both a sharing experience (this interpretation goes back to at least H.E.G. Paulus who died in 1851, see Theissen and Merz, 1998, p. 286), and a transformative experience about purity (see Bailie, 1995, pp. 213-215).

Notes on Chapter 14

The parable of the laborers in the vineyard is from Matthew 20:1-15.

Notes on Chapter 15

A description of Jesus sending out disciples in found in (Sending the 12: Matthew 10:1-14, Mark 6:7 13, Luke 9:1-5; sending the 70: Luke 10:1-16). Crossan (1991, pp. 332-335) argues that disciples were often sent out two by two, a man with a woman. The way the disciples are sent out is an important point. From Crossan (1991, p. 341): "The missionaries do not carry a bag because they do not beg for alms or food or clothing or anything else. They share a miracle and a Kingdom, and they receive in return a table and a house. Here, I think, is the heart of the original Jesus movement, a shared egalitarianism of spiritual and material resources."

For the story of Manna see Exodus 16:13-36; it is a food given to the followers of Moses as they were wondering in the dessert. The quote of the stranger who lives in your land is from Leviticus 19:33-34.

For a more general discussion on healings see the notes on Chapter 16.

The saying about dying to our own wants comes from sayings such as "Remember, by trying to save your own life, you're going to lose it, but by losing your life for the sake of the good news, you're going to save it." (Mark 8:35). See also Matthew 10:39, 16:25, Luke 9:24, 17:33, John 12:25. For more references and a discussion see Borg (1987, pp. 112-114).

Notes on Chapter 16

I have been influenced by Crossan's (1998, pp. 293-304) description of Jesus' healings. Crossan, drawing on the work of medical anthropologists and others, talks about the social aspects of some diseases, in particular, the social stigma that has been (and may continue to be) associated with people who have AIDS. I have emphasized this aspect of Jesus' healings in my retelling of the healing of the paralytic man (Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26). For a nice analysis of that gospel story that emphasizes why the Pharisees could have been so threatened by this healing, see the section 'Healing as a Challenge to the Temple' in Herzog (2000, pp. 124-132). For a more mystical discussion about healings see Mitchell (1991), especially the commentary on the healing stories and Appendix 2.

Notes on Chapter 17

For a detailed description of the Pharisees and their message see Meier (2001, Chapter 28). In general, the Pharisees were teaching a more legalistic view of Judaism. See Mark 7:1-23, Matthew 15:1-2, 23:23-26, Luke 11:42. It is important to know that many of the beliefs of the Pharisees helped shape modern Rabbinic Judaism (see Neusner, 2002). For a history of Christians and antisemitism, including the terrible complicity of many Christians in Nazi Germany see Carroll (2001).

The parable of the sower is found in Matthew 13:3-8, Mark 4:3-8, Luke 8:5-8, and Thomas 9. The parable of the treasure hidden in the field is from Matthew 13:44, and Thomas 109. The parable of the yeast (leaven) is from Matthew 13:33, Luke 13:20-21, and Thomas 96:1. The exchange about the greatest commandment is from Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-31, and Luke 10:25-28. The story about the Pharisee and toll collector in the Temple is from Luke 18:9-14. The saying about what comes out of a person making him impure is Mark 7:14-15, Matthew 15:10-11, Thomas 14:4. The Kingdom of God should be received like a child (Matthew 18:3, Mark 10:15, Luke 18:17). For the saying that the kingdom of God is "within" you see Luke 17:21 and commentary by Mitchell about the translation of the Greek entos which is often translated "among" (1991, p. 146).

Notes on Chapter 18

The Good Samaritan is found only in Luke 10:30-35, the interpretation about purity and the priest and Levite is discussed in Borg (1998, pp. 117-119, or 1994, pp. 54-55). See also Scott (2001, Chapter 7). Note that in Mark (12:28-34) and Matthew (22:34-40), Jesus has a similar debate with scholars about the most important commandment, but there it is Jesus who gives the answer combining loving God (Deuteronomy, 6:5) and loving neighbor (Leviticus 19:18).

Notes on Chapter 19

Jesus' teaching on loving your enemies is a paraphrase from Matthew 5:38-47, Luke 6:29-35. The "turn the other cheek" saying is from Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:29, and is also mentioned in an ancient writing of the early Christian church called the Didache. This saying was voted the most likely one to be an authentic saying of Jesus by the scholars of the Jesus Seminar (Funk, Hoover, et al., 1993).

About the difficulty of the rich entering the Kingdom of God see Matthew 19:23-24, Mark 10:23-25, Luke 18:24-25.

Notes on Chapter 20

Jesus riding in on a colt/donkey can be interpreted as a "planned political demonstration, an appeal to Jerusalem to follow the path of peace." (Borg, 1987, p. 174). It was a very dangerous demonstration (Crossan and Reed, 2001, pp. 219-220).

The talk about the guards keeping foreigners out of the courtyard of the temple is based two archaeological discoveries from the temple - two stones with part or all of the following Greek words chiseled in them: "No foreigner is to enter within the balustrade and enclosure around the Temple area. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his death which will follow." (Crossan and Reed, 2001, p. 197).

Notes on Chapter 21

This chapter gives a historical fiction account of the process of land being taken over by rich land owners. See Horsley and Hanson (1985,pp. 52-63) for a description of the problems facing peasants in Galilee.

Notes on Chapter 22

The exchange about paying taxes to Caesar comes Matthew 22:15-22, Mark 12:13-17, Luke 20:20-26, and Gospel of Thomas 100. My account follows the interpretation of Herzog (2000, pp. 224-232), who describes in detail how he believes Jesus' responses to his questioners "left them powerless to arrest him while permitting him to speak the 'hidden transcript' of resistance in a way that could be understood by the crowd." (p. 232).

The incident at the Temple is described in Mark 11:15-19, Matthew 21:12-13, Luke 19:45-48, John 2:13-17. Fredriksen (1999, pp. 231-232) points out that the incident would have been very hard to be seen by very many people, because of the crowds in the Temple. Herzog (2000, pp. 132-143) reviews many interpretations of the Temple incident. Most scholars agree that the Temple provided a very comfortable life for the priestly class, and Jesus' followers continued to support the Temple after his death.

The saying from Amos is 5:21-24. The saying about nothing that goes into someone can make him or her unclean comes from Mark 7:15, Matthew 15:11, and Gospel of Thomas 14:3. The saying about leaving your gift at the altar and make up with your friend is from Matthew 5:23-24.

Crucifixion was a torturous form of execution used by the Romans especially used for revolutionaries and other enemies of the state. The vulture to represent the crucifixion is not just a literary device. Part of the horribleness of crucifixion is that often the victims are not allowed a proper burial and the bodies may have become food for carrion. (See Crossan, 1998, pp. 541-543). As with most historical issues about Jesus, there is no consensus about what happened to Jesus' body immediately after he died. For example Brown (1994) gives history related to the canonical gospel accounts, while Crossan (1996,1998) talks about the passion accounts in terms of lament stories made up to help explain the meaning of his death. In my account I have not taken a stance either way by leaving many of the details out.

Notes on Chapter 23

Ben repeats some sayings with sources given in other chapters. The saying about God's Kingdom is a modification of Luke 17:20-21 and Thomas 3 and 113. The saying about the sun shining on everyone is similar to Matthew 5:45. The Lord's Prayer is Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4, Jesus probably used "Abba" the Aramaic term for Father, for which I use Papa. For the reference to Ruth and Boaz see Ruth 4:7.

Notes on Chapter 25

Mary Magdalene plays a prominent role in the resurrection stories in all the canonical gospels; see Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:11-18. Also Mary Magdalene is prominent in the non-canonical Gospel of Peter 12:50-54, 13:55-57 (see for example, Miller, 1994). See Crossan (1996) for a discussion of the gospel of Peter.

References

Bailie, Gil. 1995. Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads. New York: Crossroad.

Borg, Marcus J. 1987. Jesus, A New Vision: Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship. San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row, Publishers.

Borg, Marcus J. 1994. Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith. HarperSanFrancisco.

Borg, Marcus J. 1998 (first edition, 1984). Conflict, Holiness, and Politics in the Teachings of Jesus. Harrisburg,PA: Trinity Press International.

Brown, Raymond E. 1994. The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave. A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels, 2 volumes with continuous pagination. Anchor Bible Reference Library. New York: Doubleday.

Carroll, James. 2001. Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chilton, Bruce. 2000.Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography. New York: Doubleday.

Crossan, John Dominic (designer and editor). 1986. Sayings Parallels: A Workbook for the Jesus Tradition. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.

Crossan, John Dominic. 1991. The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant.

New York: HarperSanFrancisco.

Crossan, John Dominic. 1996. Who Killed Jesus: Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus. New York: HarperSanFrancisco.

Crossan, John Dominic. 1998. The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus. New York: HarperSanFrancisco.

Crossan, John Dominic, and Reed, Jonathan L. 2001. Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts. HarperSanFrancisco.

Fredriksen, Paula. 1999. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. New York: Vintage Books.

Funk, Robert W., Hoover, Roy, W., and the Jesus Seminar. 1993. The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco.

Hanson, K.C. and Oakman, Douglas E. 1998. Palestine in the Time of Jesus: Social Structures and Social Conflicts. Minneapolis, Fortress Press.

Herzog, William R. II. 2000. Jesus, Justice, and the Reign of God. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Horsley, Richard A. and Hanson, John S. 1985. Bandits Prophets and Messiahs: Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus. Harrisburg,PA: Trinity Press International.

Horsley, Richard A. 1987. Jesus and the Spiral of Violence: Popular Jewish Resistance in Roman Palestine. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Horsley, Richard A. 1996. Archaeology, History and Society in Galilee: The Social Context of Jesus and the Rabbis. Harrisburg,PA: Trinity Press International.

Horsley, Richard A. and Silberman, Neil A. 1997. The Message and The Kingdom: How Jesus and Paul Ignited a Revolution and Transformed the Ancient World.

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