The Legacy
Page 36
Mistress Claudia covered her mouth with her hands as the tears welled up again. “And then he let Lucius’s friend sentence him to death because he wouldn’t offer a little incense to the emperor because his god said he couldn’t worship any others. He chose his god over everything. And I lost him because of that.”
Tears trickled down her cheeks. “I lost him, and I couldn’t bear it. I wanted to kill the ones who took him from me. I wanted all the Christians to die before they talked anyone else into believing their lies. And then I met Philip, and somehow it didn’t hurt so much. He was so wonderful, and I fell in love with him.”
She swept the tears away. “And when I heard him teaching about Jesus...I know it must be partly his fault Father died, but I love him so much that it doesn’t matter anymore. I thought he loved me that much, too. If I could forgive him for that, he should be able to do anything for me.”
Her chest jerked, and she swallowed hard before her next words. “But today... When I told him no man would give up someone they really love for a god...he said my father did. How could he say that to me? How could he choose Jesus over me and then throw it in my face that Father chose him, too?”
The mistress wiped the tears from her cheeks, and a deeper sadness filled her eyes. “The really horrible thing is it’s true. Father was everything to me. He knew how much I loved and needed him.”
She sat down next to Miriam. “How could he choose to leave me all alone and die for Jesus when he didn’t have to? All he had to do was offer a sacrifice to Caesar. He didn’t have to mean it. That wasn’t asking too much, was it? I shouldn’t have had to lose him yet. It was too soon.”
Miriam pushed some hair back from the mistress’s face. “I lost someone I loved too soon, mistress. Mother was everything to me. She tried so hard to care for me and protect me, especially after I was crippled. It broke her heart to watch Mistress Xanthe hit me all the time when she couldn’t do anything to stop it.” Miriam bit her lip as the tears of the past threatened to flow again. “I lost her when I was ten.”
“Sickness? That’s different. She didn’t choose to leave you.”
“Sold because Mistress Xanthe hated her. No, she didn’t choose to go, and she didn’t want to leave me behind. She had to go where her new master took her, and he made her leave me.”
Miriam blinked hard to stop the tears that started to build again. “She had to obey. Your father had to obey his master, too. He had to leave you behind, but he would want you to follow him there someday.”
“Follow him where? He’s dead and gone, and I’ll never see him again.” The tears pooled in Mistress Claudia’s eyes once more. “I’d give anything to be with him one more time. All this talk about obeying his master...I know Christians call Jesus master and are supposed to die for him if they have to. Lucius counted on that to get Father killed. But Father was no slave. He didn’t have to obey anyone. For him to believe dying for Jesus was the right thing to do...it makes no sense to me, but maybe he knew something I just can’t see. Why would anyone as wise as Father give up everything and everyone they love and choose to die before they’d deny their god?”
Miriam took a deep breath and held it before letting it out slowly. Is this it, God? The moment I’ve prayed for? Peaceful excitement surged through her. Now was the time.
“I can tell you why, mistress. I would choose to give up everything and die before I’d deny my real master, too.”
The mistress’s brow furrowed. “You’d die for Titus?”
“Yes, but that’s not what I meant.” Miriam paused, took a deep breath, and plunged ahead. “I’d die for Jesus.”
Mistress Claudia’s eyes saucered. “You’re a Christian, too? Oh, Miriam. You mustn’t ever let Titus hear you say that. He hates Lucius for betraying our father to the authorities, but he hates the Christian who told him about Jesus at least as much. He’d kill both of them if he had the chance to avenge our father’s death.”
She pressed her palm against her cheek. “I’m afraid Philip and his father had something to do with it. Titus must never know that. He hates all Christians now. He’s said he’d gladly kill them if he was serving in Bithynia. He’d even be happy to hunt them down. I don’t know what he’ll do to you if he finds out. I couldn’t bear to have him hurt you.”
“I heard him, mistress, but he’s promised he’ll never hurt me. I’m sure he wouldn’t even if he knew I’m a Christian. I don’t plan to say anything, but if he ever asks, I would never deny my Lord. My last master and his family died rather than deny Him. I would have gladly done the same if I’d been a free woman.”
Tears began to trickle down Miriam’s cheeks as the memories swirled within her, and she looked down at the floor. “I loved Master Alexander and his family. He treated me like a father would. To have to stand there and watch the executioner behead him...” She flicked the tears from her cheeks. “And then the mistress and their children and all the free servants.” Again, she flicked away tears. “I watched all but one of the people I’d ever loved die that day. I asked God to let them kill me, too. I was ready to be with my Lord Jesus. I knew He’d paid for my sins, and I couldn’t bear the thought of being left behind.”
She raised her head to look at Mistress Claudia and smiled through her tears. “But God didn’t want me to die that day. He left me here...for you.”
Claudia took Miriam’s hand and held it between both of hers before she raised it to hold it against her cheek. “I’m so glad you didn’t die. I needed you so much when I came to Titus. I still do.”
She lowered their hands to her chest, but she still kept Miriam’s hand wrapped in her own. “I remember that night when you told me how Father died. You said you’d watched Christians die―joyful, without fear. I was sure he died that way, too, and it ended my nightmares.”
“That’s how it was. I pray that I’ll die that way if I ever have to.”
Claudia pressed her palms against her cheeks. “Maybe I’ve been thinking about this all wrong. Father was so happy after he became a Christian. He was so eager to tell me about it, and I didn’t let him. I saw how disappointed he was when I didn’t, but I never dreamed it meant so much to him that he’d let them kill him for it. Then when they did, I felt so...alone, and I wanted to die, too.
“Philip changed that. He was always so cheerful, and he made me feel good just being with him. I didn’t feel alone anymore. But now I may have lost Philip, too, and everything is so...hopeless again.” A teardrop tried to escape from the corner of her eye, but she flicked it away. “And I don’t want to live like that. I want to stop hurting, to be happy again, like Father and Philip. And I think their happiness came from loving Jesus.”
“Yes, mistress. But it’s more joy than happiness. Joy no matter what, joy even when you’re sad or suffering, even when you’re about to die. Even more than that, you’ll never be alone again.”
“Father told me he met God, that God was right there with him.”
“That’s how it is, mistress, and that’s why you’ll never be alone.”
“Oh, Miriam! I don’t want to be sad and alone anymore. I want to know what Father knew, what Philip knows. Maybe then I’ll understand why they chose Jesus over me. And if I do, maybe...well, maybe I should choose him, too.”
Miriam’s eyes lit up. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for so long how much Jesus loves you and why you should follow Him. He’s done everything for me, and I want you to have the joy I have.”
“Tell me now.”
Miriam wrapped her second hand around Claudia’s. “I didn’t always follow Him, so let me tell you first how I came to.
“My father and mother were Jews, and they worshiped the God of Israel, the only true God, like your father did. They were separated just before I was born―sold to different masters when their owner died. Mother was a wonderful cook, and my first master bought her for that. She was very pretty, and after I was born, he decided he wanted her service at night,
too.
“His wife hated Mother. The master wouldn’t let her strike out at Mother, so she decided to take her anger out on me. She hit me whenever I got too close to her because she knew hurting me would hurt Mother, too. Mother couldn’t do anything to stop the mistress, but she taught me to stay out of range and how to move as she struck so it would hurt less.”
A shy smile brightened her face. “Master Titus hated it when I did that if he was unhappy when I first came here. I know now that he would never hit me, so I don’t do that anymore. He’s always kind to me.”
The smile faded. “When I was five, Mistress Xanthe’s son was driving the chariot, but he couldn’t control the horses. He ran over me. That’s when my ankle got crushed. The mistress said I should just be killed since it would never heal right and I’d be a cripple, but Mother begged the master to let her train me as a cook. I wouldn’t need two good legs for that. He still liked her, so he kept me.”
Claudia bit her lip. “That’s terrible! To be so afraid of your mistress all the time. For her to want to kill you.”
Miriam looked down at the floor. “The mistress hated me even more after that. Mother didn’t tell me until I was a little older. Maybe she hoped the master would lose interest in her and the mistress would target his new favorite instead. When I was seven, I started serving in the house. Mistress Xanthe hit me whenever I was near her as long as the master wasn’t watching. He protected me a little because of Mother.”
“But he sold her when you were ten?”
Miriam nodded. “The master bought a younger slave who was prettier. Mother was well known as a great cook, so he sold her for a high price. But Mistress Xanthe had enough hate for both his new favorite and Mother. The last thing she told Mother as her new master was taking her away was that I would pay for what her husband had done.”
Tears pooled in Claudia’s eyes. “Oh, Miriam! How did you ever bear it?”
“Mother taught me about how my people, the Jews, were in bondage in Egypt for four hundred years, but God sent Moses as the deliverer. She taught me to ask God to help me bear my bondage until my deliverer came.”
“Did God help you bear it?”
“He did even better. He brought a deliverer.” Miriam closed her eyes for a moment. “I can still see Master Alexander like he was that day. When I was almost eleven, he came to see my master about something, but he had to wait with Mistress Xanthe until the master got home. I was serving the mistress, and she kept hitting me each time I brought her something. I think the way Master Alexander looked at her when she did that made her uncomfortable. She told him I was lazy and slow. She said she would sell me if she could get two hundred denarii, but a cripple like me wouldn’t be worth even one hundred.
“I was standing by the door waiting for her next command, waiting for her to hit me again. Master Alexander came over and lifted my chin so I was looking into his eyes. I can still see them. There was such tenderness in them. It was like looking into Mother’s eyes again. Then he turned to my mistress and told her he would give her 250 denarii for me. She couldn’t say no to so much.
“After he finished with my master, he took me home with him. God had answered all my prayers, and my deliverer had come. But Master Alexander did more than deliver me from my cruel mistress. He led me to Messiah, who could deliver me from all my sins.”
Miriam’s face glowed as her smile broadened. “My life was so good with Master Alexander. Mother taught me special ways to use herbs and spices, and I learned even more in the master’s kitchen. I learned to play the flute and lyre. But the most wonderful thing I learned was who Messiah was. My people were waiting for Messiah to free them from Rome, and Mother taught me all she knew about Him so I would know Him when He appeared.
“But Messiah wasn’t coming to free us from Rome. He came to free us from our sins. I learned that God Himself had come as Jesus and freed me from paying for my own sins if I only believed in Him. Master Alexander and his whole household followed Jesus. That’s why he looked at me with love like Mother had. It’s why he rescued me. I loved serving the master’s family. Everything I did let me show how much I loved them.”
“That’s exactly how you serve me. Like you love me.”
“I do love you, mistress. That’s why I want you to love Jesus, too. That’s why Master Philip wants you to love Jesus like he does. Then you’ll know the joy and peace of being right with God, not kept apart from Him by your sin. Master Philip wants you to share his life not just on earth, but forever in heaven.”
Miriam leaned closer to the mistress. “Jesus promised that everyone who believes in Him would never die. We leave this life behind for an even better one with God in heaven. Jesus’s blood covered our sins, so we don’t have to be perfect on our own to go there.”
“Is that why Father was so willing to die?”
“Yes. And when they killed him, he didn’t really die. He just passed over into eternal life with Jesus.”
Claudia massaged the back of her neck. “Father used to worry about how his sins could be paid for so he could approach God. Then he told me Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, that God himself made the payment. I couldn’t see why payment was needed because I didn’t realize no one is perfect enough for God. I was so naive; Father had protected me too well. Now I’ve seen evil in what Lucius did. I’ve seen it in myself the way I’ve hated and wanted to kill. I never used to think I needed anything to pay for my sins because I wasn’t a sinner, but now I know I am.”
“Then come follow Jesus, mistress. Just tell Him your sins and that you want to be forgiven and follow Him.”
“But how do I do that?”
“Just talk to Him, like you’re talking to me.”
Claudia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Jesus, I want peace within myself and peace with God that my sins have been preventing. I didn’t used to think I had any, but now I know better. I’ve hated people for what they’ve done and for things I thought they’d done when they hadn’t. I’ve hated so much I wanted to kill them. I’ve wanted revenge on Lucius for what he did. I’ve wanted revenge on Your followers who told Father about You. I’ve thought I was a good person and that was all I needed to be. Now I know that’s not enough. Please forgive me. I want to follow You like Father, Philip, and Miriam.”
Joy bubbled up inside Miriam as she watched Mistress Claudia begin to pray. Miriam’s countless prayers asking God to claim her mistress’s heart were answered before her eyes. A radiant smile told her the moment the Spirit of God filled her beloved mistress. When Mistress finally opened her eyes, sadness had been replaced by a sparkle even brighter than any Philip had caused.
“Oh, Miriam! It’s wonderful! Father told me God was real, and I just met Him. I feel Him here with me.”
“Yes, mistress, and you’ll never be alone again.”
Claudia threw her arms around Miriam and hugged her. Miriam’s heart sang as she returned the embrace. They were no longer just mistress and slave or even friends. They were sisters in Christ, and they would be forever.
Chapter 61: Something Different About Her
As Titus rode by the kitchen window, someone was singing. Miriam sang almost all the time when she was working by herself, but something sounded different. Then the voice he recognized joined in.
His spine straightened. The music was lovely, but that wasn’t what surprised him. Claudia singing? He’d never heard her sing in Rome.
The corner of his mouth lifted. Miriam had turned his sister into a singer. Was there any limit to the ways she could find to lift his sister’s spirits?
Nestor came to take the stallion as Titus dismounted.
Titus tipped his head toward the kitchen. “Pretty music. It’s a good way to start my evening.”
Nestor grinned. “Yes, master. I’ve been enjoying it all afternoon.”
When Titus walked into the kitchen, the duet stopped.
“Titus! Welcome home.” Claudia danced over a
nd threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek before twirling away.
“Looks like you’ve had a good day.”
“The best.” Her glittering smile spoke the truth of it.
He had no idea what had made her so happy, but whatever it was, he was glad.
Miriam looked up from the stew simmering on the fire. “Welcome home, master. I hope you’ll like dinner tonight. I’ve made something different, and I hope it meets with your approval.”
She leaned toward the pot and stirred the stew with a long-handled spoon.
Master Titus walked over and stood behind her. “I’m not willing to wait for a taste.”
He rested his palm on her elbow, then slid it slowly down her arm to take the spoon. His touch made her tingle, and his closeness made her heart beat faster. He scooped some broth into the spoon and raised it to his lips. After blowing on it, he took a tiny sip. A huge smile spread across his face.
“Best cook in the city. Philip would love to have you in his kitchen, but he couldn’t offer me enough to buy you. But he eats here almost as often as he eats at home when he’s in town, so I guess he doesn’t need to spend the money to enjoy your special sauces.”
He threw a teasing look at Claudia. “Claudia thinks he comes to see her, but maybe he just wants more of your cooking.”
Heat spread from Miriam’s cheeks to her ears. The master grinned as he handed the spoon back to her. “Excellent, and I bet you have some pastry that’s even better waiting for me.”
As he headed into the courtyard, he looked back over his shoulder. “You’re definitely not for sale.”