Fiction

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When I was a young boy of eleven years old my family and I lived in Nazareth. There was a boy who lived three houses away from us that I had befriended. His name was Jesus. We became the best of friends. We could talk to each other about anything. We would talk about nature, the things that have influenced us, and our favorite stories. Since our families were Jewish most of our stories we shared with one another came from Jewish history.
One time during our conversation he asked me what my favorite story was. I told him that my favorite story was the parting of the Red Sea. I continued by telling him that I was impressed by the awesomeness of a sea parting to allow a nation of people to cross over it. And what was even more spectacular was that they walked across on dry land. To me this story was the most impressive story I have heard. I loved to hear about this story over and over again.
After I told him about my story I asked him what his favorite story was. He told me his favorite story was when Moses lifted up a serpent on a pole in the wilderness. Since I seemed to be more drawn to the spectacular, I asked him why this story was his favorite. It seemed to me that there were more stories that were more sensational than this one. He told me it was his favorite story because when the people were bitten by the snakes, they could receive healing when they looked at the serpent on the pole. It was okay for this to be his favorite story but I was hoping to hear about one with more drama in it. Over the years there were more subjects that we shared but this one story stood out in my mind. This story about a serpent on a pole seemed to be boring to me.
I remember another occasion we were discussing one of the ugliest and most gruesome sights we had ever seen. I agreed with him about the scene he shared with me. It was putting people on a cross to hang there until they died. This was called the crucifixion. The Romans used it for criminals. It was not a pretty sight to look at. Something about watching some of those people on the cross, suffering, seemed inhumane. Both of us said that our flesh was repulsed just at the thought of dying on a cross.
There were several times that when we were together we would read the Psalms. I enjoyed this book with Him because He seemed to have a way to make the scripture come alive. He had such wonderful insight to the scriptures. One time I remember the portion of scripture that He read did not seem to make sense to me no matter how many times He read it. It must have meant something to Him because I remember that He read that portion of scripture several times. This portion of scripture was, “I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my body too shall rest and hope. For You will not leave my soul in the place of the dead, neither will You suffer Your Holy One to see the dissolution of the grave”.
When I was in my mid-twenty’s I moved away from Nazareth. I tried to stay in contact with Jesus because I did not want to risk losing his friendship. I had moved closer to Jerusalem to have a better chance at learning a trade. The trade I was learning required me to travel. So I thought I might have the opportunity to see Jesus sometime. Years later I had learned that he also traveled from place to place. This improved my chances of getting to see him. There has been a few times that I have had the privilege to listen to Jesus preach. I enjoyed listening to Him preach because He taught with authority. Every time I had the opportunity to hear Jesus speak I was reminded of the reason why I had chosen Him as my friend.
I was happy to learn that Jesus and I were going to be in Jerusalem at the same time. I was looking forward to getting the opportunity to hear Him preach. When I arrived at Jerusalem, I was deeply saddened to hear that He had been arrested. What had He done? Why did they arrest Him? My mind was bombarded with questions. Why if they had only known Him the way I knew Him they would know that He has only the good of the people in His heart.
The next day I was appalled at the sight I saw. He was hanging on a cross. He was so bloody and battered that I barely recognized Him. If His mother had not have been there I probably would not have known it was Him. How could this have happened to Him? My mind went back to when we were talking about crucifixions. Both of us had said that crucifixions had repulsed our flesh. I can only imagine how He must have felt when He realized He was going to be crucified on a cross. I was devastated when I saw Him hanging on that cross. Who could have been so cruel to Him?
When I saw them take Him off the cross and lay His body in a tomb my heart sank. I tried to find some of His followers to ask them what had happened but I could find no one. For the next few days I had a hard time keeping my mind on my work. I felt as though I had lost a relative. I will always remember Him and the wonderful times we had shared.
After about a week I had heard a rumor that Jesus had risen from the grave. I felt a glimmer of life come back into my soul. Could this rumor be true? Would I have the opportunity to see Him face to face again? I could sense excitement rising up within me. I began to look for His followers again. This time I was able to find them. They told me that they had seen Him. They also told me some of the things that He had shared with them. They told me that He had told them that the scriptures had prophesied the event of His death. It was as though my heart was burning within me as they talked with me.
Then Peter shared with me about the time when Jesus had asked him who He was. Peter answered Him and said that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. This thought that Peter had shared with me rang true in my heart. Now I was beginning to understand why I enjoyed being with Jesus as we were children growing up together. I immediately accepted Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Savior. When I did I felt the way I did when I was in His presence as a child.
I was told that a group of believers was going to wait at a certain place in Jerusalem to receive a promise from our Heavenly Father. So I chose to wait with this group in an upper room. I felt such anticipation in my heart. It was wonderful being with this group. We were all in unity. There was no strife in our group. This was a welcome sight when I take into consideration the many places I had been because of my trade. I had seen bickering and fighting amongst people.
Then one day, as it was time for our Feast of Pentecost, we were all filled with the Holy Ghost. People were speaking in tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Some people thought we were drunk so Peter stood up to preach a sermon. I enjoyed listening to his sermon. That day I had witnessed the salvation of several people. I also had learned a lot from Peter’s sermon. He told how the scriptures had prophesied about Jesus.
A few days after Peter’s sermon I was reflecting on the words that Jesus and I had shared with one another when we were neighbors. I began remembering about our favorite stories we had shared with one another. Peter told me once, that one time when Jesus was teaching, He said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life”. As I pondered these statements I thought that if Jesus had said this when He was alive, He must have known that He was going to die on a cross.
It must have been really scary knowing ahead of time how you were going to die. I had only heard Him teach a few times after I had moved from Nazareth. During those times He seemed very confident. I don’t know how confident I would have been if I knew I was going to die on a cross. I probably would have withdrawn from the public’s view in despair. Others had told me how He taught with such authority and confidence. I also pondered these thoughts and remembered the portion of scripture that Jesus had read to me several times as we were growing up together. Peter had made reference to this portion of scripture during his sermon. Jesus must have totally trusted what God said in that portion of scripture. This portion of scripture had said that God would not let His Holy One see the destruction of the body after death. O, how I long to have that same unshakeable trust and confidence in God.
I am positive that going to the upper room was a turning point in my life. I am looking forward to having this power from on high in my life. With my eyes focused on the example that Jesus set for me I will learn to walk worthy of being His disciple.

(Scripture references: Psalm 16:8-11; John 3:14&15; Acts chapter 2)

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