The Last Disciple: Crisis in Jerusalem by Kurt Brouwer

Author:Kurt Brouwer [Brouwer, Kurt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kurt Brouwer
Published: 2022-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Summer 63 AD, Capernaum

After traversing mountains and rivers, dusty trails, and sleepy villages, John and Emmaus tramped wearily down rutted, hard-packed dirt-and-gravel streets in the village of Capernaum. Up ahead, John spotted the door of the house he had lived in for years with his family.

John approached the familiar courtyard door for the first time in many years, almost expecting his mother, Salome, or his brother James to come out and greet him.

Instead, when he called out at the entrance, a young girl poked her head out the doorway, took one look at the bedraggled men, then darted out of sight.

In a few moments a rather matronly, but still young-looking, woman came out. She looked through the doorway at John, narrowed her eyes, and looked again. Then she stepped outside, dusting flour off her hands. She waited, without moving, watching John and Emmaus.

As she looked at him, John stopped and said nothing. For a moment or two, he stared at her, mute, as though he saw a vision. In fact, the sight of her took him back many years. The last time he’d seen her she had been quite young. Now she was a rather mature woman—a mother, no doubt.

“Anna. Would that be you?” he asked, finally breaking the awkward tension of their stand-off. “What a blessed sight you are. And you so grown up.”

Her face lit up. “Uncle, is it you? I’m afraid I did not recognize you at first. Come in, come in. I must get you water to drink…and to bathe. You’re rather dusty and disheveled from the journey.”

The last remark, delivered with a wry smile and a twitch of her nose, caught up with him after a moment. “I must be rather ripe after my long journey, eh?”

“Not at all, Uncle.” With that, she dispatched her daughter to the well with a large jar. She turned back and waited to see what her uncle would do.

He smiled at her and held out his arms. “Ripe or not, come my child. You would gladden my heart this day with a proper greeting.”

Anna leaned forward, placed her arms around him and gave him a slight squeeze. Then she leaned back and smiled, looking directly in his eyes. “Uncle. I’m afraid I’ve been so surprised by your sudden arrival that I have lost my manners. Who would this young man be?”

“Why Anna, this young man’s name would be Joseph bar Symeon, except it is not.” John chuckled at the cleverness of his own joke. “We call him Emmaus, after his hometown.”

Emmaus waved at Anna, and she smiled in return. “My daughter Sephora should be back soon with water. But do come in.” She ushered them into the courtyard and sat them down. Soon Sephora brought the water jar, then just as quickly ran off to bring olives, bread, and oil while her mother mixed the water and wine.

Sephora stood next to John and asked, “If you are my mama’s uncle, does that mean you’re mine also?”

“I believe it does, little one.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.