A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker

Author:Ted Dekker
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Center Street
Published: 2014-10-27T16:00:00+00:00

AND YET no wonder greeted us when we finally set to shore and stepped out of the boat onto a dock in need of repair. Instead a fisherman who, upon learning from the boisterous Elias that his passengers had come from Tiberias to see the rabbi Yeshua, inquired about his cousin who lived there. Elias knew of the man and an immediate friendship was thus consummated. The fisherman quickly directed us to the house of Levi ben Alphaeus, who was also known as Matthew. Also, he told us, Levi was a tax collector and as such should not be trusted, although many said he had become more friendly of late.

No wonder greeted us as we followed Judah to the tax collector’s house on the outskirts of that quaint village. Only the lingering scent of dead fish.

None as we waited on the street for Judah, who entered the house. Only a donkey and several children, but these were shooed away by women who recognized us as foreigners and stayed clear. The sun sank and the cold set in.

And when Judah did emerge, though his eyes were full of anticipation, he offered us little encouragement.

“They say he’s gone to the hills,” he said.

“To the hills?” Phasa demanded.

“To rest and pray. Don’t you see? He’s here!”

“He rests in the hills?” Phasa said. “It’s far too dark for us to go to the hills!”

“He will return.” Judah’s excitement refreshed me. “Come, I have persuaded them to allow you to wait in the courtyard.” He motioned us toward the gate that led to the homes’ common area. “Come. Come.”

“Wait how long?” Phasa asked. “Did we travel so far to wait in a courtyard?”

Judah turned back and spoke sternly. “You must be patient, Phasa! We are not in the palace. If you announce yourself as Phasaelis, wife of Herod, I am sure they will give you immediate entrance.”

“Never,” Saba said.

“No,” Judah said, having made his point. “So, then, today you are only a common woman and a foreigner. They now entertain a Pharisee from Judea who would surely object to your presence in the room. But they assure me the wait will not be long.” He headed through the gate.

“And you?” I asked, following quickly.

“I must speak to them, you understand.” His mind was already back in the house.

“How many?” Saba asked.

“There is Peter and his brother, Andrew. They share news with a Pharisee who has come from Judea in secret. Something is in the wind, I tell you. I must return. Wait here. You will be comfortable. Saba will see to you. Watch over them, Saba.”

And then he was gone, leaving us in a cold courtyard without a fire. I had expected signs of women and children, for Levi was a tax collector and children were a sign of wealth among the Jews, Phasa had told me. They might have been tucked away in one of the other houses.

“This isn’t what I expected,” Phasa said, crossing to a dead fire pit on the far side. “Not in the least.

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