The Master: A Life of Jesus by John Charles Pollock

Author:John Charles Pollock
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: General, Religion, Biblical Studies, Biography & Autobiography, Christian Biography, Fiction, Religious
ISBN: 9781564762412
Publisher: David C Cook
Published: 1984-01-02T06:00:00+00:00

A MAN BORN BLIND

At the head of the road, hidden from Jerusalem by the flank of the Mount of Olives, lay the village of Bethany. When Jesus and his disciples stopped to rest after their climb, the Master was invited by one of the principal residents, a woman named Martha, to be her guest. He no longer had a large crowd at his heels because many of the Galileans had hurried ahead to the city for the start of the Feast of Tabernacles, the national thanksgiving for the harvests, held annually before the autumn rains.

Led by Martha and her sister, Mary, Jesus walked to their substantial home, with the Twelve following a litde behind. Like all Jewish householders in the Jerusalem district who had the space, Martha and Mary had set up a tabernacle or booth of palm fronds adjacent to their home for the week of the festival, according to ancient custom. The booth opened to the garden. Martha showed Jesus to a couch in the booth and hurried off to supervise the preparation of the meal. Mary was about to follow when she noticed the Twelve gather round as if expecting Jesus to continue his teaching. She waited, and he began. Mary came close and the others made way for her, and she sat on the ground at his feet listening intendy. She lost all sense of time. Suddenly Martha busded out of the house and into the booth, interrupting Jesus. “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

Jesus looked up at Martha, her brow knotted and her face flushed from her efforts, her sleeves were rolled up to the elbows. Then he looked down at Mary, absorbed and at peace. He turned back to Martha. His smile and the way he spoke took the sting out of his rebuke: “Martha, Martha, you are fretting and fussing about so many things, but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part, and it shall not be taken away from her.”

Martha smiled at Jesus, smiled at Mary, and went back inside the house without bustie. Evidendy, she finished preparations less elaborately, for she soon brought out the meal to the booth, all grumbles forgotten. The sisters both served happily. Their brother, Lazarus, had arrived from Jerusalem, and from his first meeting with Jesus a warm friendship began.

Jesus did not remain overnight. He preferred to conform to the custom of pilgrims to the festival, from all over Palestine and countries far and near, and stay in one of the numerous temporary booths of palm fronds on the Mount of Olives. Next day he did not go into the city. As he had said in Galilee when his unbelieving half brothers taunted him to attend the feast in a flourish of self-advertisement, his time had not yet come.

John went to find out what people were saying. As he passed through the great walls and up into the magnificence of the Temple courts, he saw the smoke of sacrifices ascending from the altar.

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