Ignatius sat at the desk, slicing the fruit and cheese, eating some and handing pieces to the other two. Polycarp sat on John’s bed. The old man, as was his custom, paced as he spoke, sometimes with a chunk of food tucked in his cheek.
“Often Jesus would ask one or more of us to stay with Him for an evening when He had to be out after dark. More than once He hinted that the night would come when He would be taken from us, but we did not want to hear that and told ourselves—at least James and I did—that He was speaking symbolically, trying to tell us something about the coming kingdom that we did not understand. Of course, it eventually became clear that what we did not understand was the simple truth of what He was saying. And as you know, the night did come when He was arrested and led away away before our eyes.
“But one late afternoon after He had spent a few hours telling us of the Father, we enjoyed a hot meal, cooked by Peter.” John smiled at the memory. “He could cook on an open fire as well as any man I ever knew, but I suspect the Lord frequently chose him just to give him something to do to keep him quiet. Curious? Peter had more questions than the rest of us combined.
“Jesus had a way of moving about during a meal, getting a bit of time with each of us. Sometimes He merely asked how we were, whether we were understanding His teaching, that kind of thing. I cannot speak for the others, but He always made me feel cherished. When He was speaking with me I felt as if I were the only person in the world to Him.
“He had spent a few moments with Thomas, and then Nathanael, before I saw Him whispering to my brother. I didn’t mean to stare, but I noticed James shake his head and shrug, then nod toward me. I looked away, but soon Jesus joined me and asked that I walk with Him.
“I hate to admit this, gentlemen, but I was filled with pride whenever He did that. You would have thought that our spending that much time with a Man we knew was the Son of God would cure us of jealousies, but anytime Jesus spoke privately with one of us, the others wondered what was going on and why someone had been singled out. As I moved away from the group with Him, I knew all eyes were on us.
“He said, ‘John, I have been asked to meet in secret after dark with a member of the Sanhedrin, and I need someone to accompany Me.’
“‘Well!’ I said. ‘I would be honored. But the Sanhedrin?’
“‘Verily,’ He said, ‘I must tell you I asked others first, as I prefer an older man. But they are otherwise occupied, and—’
“I know. James has promised our father that he will—”
“‘And so I must ask if you are available to serve Me in this way.’
“‘Certainly, Lord.’
“‘My wish is that it not be obvious I have brought anyone along. You will stay out of sight, within earshot, and come to my aid only if I call for you.’
“‘I understand. You do not suspect this man, do you?’
“‘On the contrary, beloved…’
“I know I have told you this, Polycarp, but it was not at all uncommon for Him to call me that. And forgive me if still more than a half century later I fight this pervasive conceit, but I do not recall His calling another of the twelve the same. Sometimes He addressed crowds as ‘beloved,’ but I was the only individual….
“Anyway, He assured me He believed this member of the Sanhedrin was a sincere seeker after the things of God.”
Ignatius stopped in mid-bite. “Who was this?”
“Nicodemus.”
Polycarp perked up. “Wasn’t he the Pharisee who spoke up for the Lord before his colleagues?”
“And privately helped bury Him?” Ignatius added.
“The same.”
John noticed that the eating had stopped, the rest of the food remained on the plate, and Ignatius, apparently unaware the knife was still in his hand, appeared rapt. “So Nicodemus had a private meeting with Jesus…”
“Yes, and I was close by and heard every word.”
“Tell us!”
“Trade places with me, Ignatius,” Polycarp said. “Do you not agree I should get this down?”
“I do indeed. John, are you willing? Or should it wait until the morrow when your strength has been renewed?”
“Let me cover it this night. It is all coming back to me. Nicodemus proved an elderly man, dressed formally in his religious garb, and sporting a long, pure-white beard. He was articulate and thoughtful, respectful in his conversation. He said, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’
“Jesus said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’
“Nicodemus said, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’
“Jesus said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’
“Nicodemus said, ‘How can these things be?’
“You see, gentlemen, though Nicodemus was a sincerely religious man and devout in his own way, he didn’t understand that Jesus was talking about entering the spiritual kingdom. Christ had come to make it possible for people to enter into this kingdom by putting their faith in Him. You can plainly see what He was saying: that just as we must be born physically into this world, it is essential that we be born spiritually to get into God’s spiritual kingdom. In turn we are then guaranteed entrance someday into the physical kingdom God is preparing for those who love and receive Him by faith.
“Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.’”
“Excuse me, teacher,” Ignatius said, clearly moved, “but Jesus was speaking of Himself, was He not?”
“Of course, but at that time I had no idea what He meant about being lifted up, though I understood that men were required to believe in Him to inherit eternal life. And what He said next tells His entire story in merely a few words, and I have quoted it to thousands in the years hence. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“‘He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.’”
John moved near Polycarp and steadied himself against the desk. Ignatius immediately rose. “Here, sir. Take to your bed. That had better be enough for one day.”
IT TOOK JOHN longer than usual to fall asleep that night, his memories having transported him so far into the past.
TEN
Immediately after breakfast the next morning, Wednesday, Polycarp told John, “I am beginning to see how you are shaping this manuscript.”
“How I am shaping it? I am trying to stay out of the way of the Spirit, son.”
&n
bsp; “Yes, but it is clear that, as you have said, your purpose in this account is different from that of those who came before you, in light of the heresies of the day.”
“True.”
“I was intrigued as I read over what you had dictated last night, where Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one but the Son of Man has ascended into heaven. That counters the claims of Cerinthus and his ilk, that they have some sort of supernatural knowledge that could come from only God and the angels.”
“I included it because I remembered it, Polycarp. But you may be right that the Lord reminded me of it for this purpose.”
“It reminds me, teacher, of the Proverb you are so fond of, the one that has become my favorite.”
John nodded and smiled.
“Surely I am more stupid than any man,
And do not have the understanding of a man.
I neither learned wisdom
Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.
Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name,
If you know?
Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”
“Cerinthus had best beware,” Polycarp said. “What a waste of intellect he has become.”
“And yet people flock to him,” John said. “So we must press on. Now, I had intimate knowledge of this next event, because I had been a disciple of the baptizer. When we came into the region where he was still preaching and baptizing, James and I spoke with him and with old friends who still traveled with him. They told us of some ruckus caused by religious Jews seeking the baptizer’s opinion on whether Jesus had apparently now rendered their purification rituals unnecessary.”
“Why did they think that?”
“That was never clear, but even the baptizer’s disciples wondered if viewing Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, meant they were departing from their faith, falling away from Judaism. And they had to wonder if this revealed a disagreement with John’s own teaching, that a person was baptized for the remission of sins.
“Jesus was saying that outward cleansing—such as the purification rites of the Jews—does not makes a person clean. As He told Nicodemus, purity comes from being born of the Spirit from above. The dispute, at its core, was really whether this Man from Galilee had any standing that gave Him the right to even question, let alone overturn, a Jewish ritual. The baptizer himself answered that clearly, stating that heaven has ordained the Son of God. Let’s get this into the scroll.
“After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
“Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!’
“John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ,” but, “I have been sent before Him.” He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.’
“Do you see the danger of what we encountered there, Polycarp?”
The young man finished and looked up. “No, I am afraid I don’t.”
“Word was getting around about Jesus and what He was supposedly doing. The last thing He needed was for the Pharisees to take notice of Him, because, as He continually told us, His time had not yet come. And anyway, it was not He who was baptizing. In truth, we were doing that work at His behest. And, you know, by now there were many more than twelve of us, as the winnowing process had not yet begun. But let me continue, as I have another story that has never before been published.
“Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that He made and baptized more disciples than John, so we left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.”
“That could not have been good,” Polycarp said. “Didn’t the Jews try to avoid Samaria?”
“Oh, Polycarp, that is a vast understatement. We Jews considered the Samaritans such enemies of our religion and way of life that we used the very term ‘Samaritan’ for anything or anyone we found morally contemptible. Samaritans were not even allowed inside our temples. Keep that in mind as I recount this incident.
“So Jesus came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. It was about the sixth hour, and Jesus, being wearied from the journey, sat down by the well and sent us to find food.
“Upon our return He told us that a woman of Samaria had come to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’
“The woman said, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
“Jesus answered, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’
“The woman said, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?’
“Jesus said, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.’”
Polycarp held up a hand as he finished writing. “What a beautiful image!”
“No one has ever spoken like the Master, son. But the woman did not understand. She said, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’
“Jesus said, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ When she responded that she had no husband, Jesus told her, ‘You have well said, “I have no husband,” for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.’”
“She must have been astonished!” Polycarp said.
“No doubt. The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’
“Jesus said, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’
“The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things.’
“Jesus said, ‘I who speak to yo
u am He.’”
Polycarp finished and set down his quill, sitting back and staring at John. “That alone makes Cerinthus a liar!”
“Along with any who say Jesus never claimed to be the Christ. At this point we returned from buying bread and marveled that He was talking with a woman, let alone a Samaritan. She then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ Then they went out of the city and came to Him.”
“You heard her say these things, master?”
“No, no. Jesus told us. And I do not question the One who knows men’s names, as He did Peter’s, and can see them under trees, as He did Nathanael. Anyway, while she was gone, I said, ‘Rabbi, eat.’
“But He said, ‘I have food to eat of which you do not know.’
“I looked at the others. We murmured, ‘Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?’
“As we shook our heads, Jesus said, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, “There are still four months and then comes the harvest”? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.’”
“Did you know whereof He spoke, teacher?”
“Not fully at that time, no. But of course it is clear to me now and, I pray, to any who read or hear this. I have seen this truth borne out in the decades since. Followers of the Christ feel compelled to draw others into His kingdom, and yet few do all the work themselves. Some plant the seed of salvation, telling someone of the gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life through the work Christ accomplished on the cross. Someone else may till that soil by explaining the Scriptures or living an exemplary life before that person. And finally yet someone else may harvest the crop by leading that one to become a believer.
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