רוחא

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

(John 16:12-15)

 

The twins were still watching the spectacle unfolding outside their window, though all the others had now joined the crowd listening to Peter, whose long address appeared to be winding down.

“Repent!” he thundered. “Repent, and be baptised—every one of you—in the name of Jesus the Messiah. Then your sins will be forgiven, and the Holy Spirit will be given to you.”

Anina turned to look again at her brother. He seemed to have finally recovered completely from his shock.

Long sermons can have a calming effect, she thought.

Not that Peter’s preaching was boring, exactly. His words obviously had struck a chord with those who remained in the street. Some were on their knees. Others were openly weeping. But to Anina it all seemed somehow … strangely anticlimactic.

“Welcome this good news!” Peter shouted. “The promise of God is for everyone.”

She smiled. He’s catching wind in his sails again.

For a while longer they stood quietly, listening to Peter’s exhortations.

“Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Repent, and be baptised!”

Then Thomas spoke.

“Do you recall our last Seder with the Teacher, and what he said afterward?”

In her mind, she could still see and hear him. After Judas had left to carry out his grim mission, Jesus had launched into a lengthy discourse. Lengthy. But far more interesting than what she’d been hearing from the window.

“He said a lot of things. I remember you asked him about the way to wherever he was going.”

“Yes. And then he said that he himself was the way. But after that he told us about the ‘Spirit of truth’ who was going to come later.”

“Right. The Spirit which would guide us into all the truth. And give us a testimony.”

“Do you think that’s what has happened here? What’s still happening now?”

For a moment, Anina stared at Peter’s continuing extravaganza.

“Perhaps. But …”

She grew silent.

“Ahot, what are you thinking?”

“If the Spirit has guided us into all the truth, why do I feel so bewildered?”

Thomas nodded slowly.

“I feel the same way,” he said. “Like I understand less now than I did before.”

She wrapped her arm around his waist and rested her head upon his shoulder.

“Look how many people are responding,” he said.

I wonder how long their faith will last, she thought.

 

The Roaring

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
        and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
    and signs on the earth below,
        blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood,
        before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

(Acts 2:1-21)

 

Dumbfounded, she collapsed against the wall. What just happened?

Wind. Fire. Commotion. Apocalyptic reference.

She had been caught up in it, also. Whatever it was.

And who had let all those people in?

Now it was over. Apparently.

As the throng dissipated, Thomas came and stood beside her. He looked too shocked to say anything.

“Thomas? Thomas!”

Her twin just stared at her, slack-jawed, his tongue now seemingly frozen.

She gripped his arm.

“Ahoya, say something, please.”

She did not usually address him as “brother.” The word broke through his trance. He shook his head.

“Anina, did you see?”

“Did I see? Thomas, what is wrong with you? I saw. I heard. I was right here.”

The last of the intruders had returned to the street, where Peter was addressing the crowd now gathered outside.

Grandstanding as usual, she said to herself.

“You Israelites!” he shouted at them. “Listen to what I say …”

“That was … that was amazing,” Thomas said.

She turned to face him.

“Amazing?”

An insufficient description, surely. But she could not think of a better one.

“At least that.”

“It was as if everyone understood us perfectly,” Thomas said. “And our message was exactly the same.”

Through the window, she contemplated the assembled multitude. There must be three thousand at least, she thought.

Our message was exactly the same.

“You’re right, Thomas. We were in complete agreement about everything.”

Anina wondered how long that would last.

 

 

 

 

 

 עָקֵב֒

Then Jesus took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!’ Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this. (Luke 22:19-23)

Anina sat, observing Simon Peter as he continued washing the disciples’ feet. Thomas took his place beside her.

“How did you decide Simon should be the one to wash everyone’s feet?” she asked.

Thomas shrugged.

“He’s Peter.”

She recalled that evening when Jesus had washed their feet. It shocked everyone, not least because he had interrupted their supper by doing it. And then he put his robe back on and continued as if it had been the most natural thing in the world.

Saying, “You also ought to wash one another’s feet,” Jesus had broken the bread and blessed the cup, all while uttering those cryptic words about his body being “given” for them. And about a “new covenant” written in his blood.

What did he mean by all that? She wondered.

Then the mood in that upper room had turned very dark, she remembered. Jesus quoted King David: “Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.”

“I tell you the truth,” he had said. “One of you will betray me.”

“Thomas, do you remember when the Teacher gave Judas the bread?”

After John had asked him to identify the betrayer, Jesus indicated Judas by handing him a piece of the loaf.

“Yes,” said Thomas. “And then he told him to ‘Go do what you’re going to do, quickly.’ Like he wanted him to get it over with.”

Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Thomas had liked him, even though he was kind of a rascal. He was always very practical, Thomas thought. He saw things just as they were. Much like Thomas himself.

Also, Judas was a funny guy. Or at least the tried to be.

“We could sell these fish for one million denarii each,” Judas had said once. “Then we only have to sell one!”

It was an old joke. But Thomas had laughed at it anyway.

“Do you think he had a choice?” Anina asked.

“A choice?”

“Yes. Do you think Judas had a choice? The Teacher said all of it was bound to happen. That it was ‘determined’. Like it couldn’t be avoided, no matter what.”

Thomas was silent for a moment. Immediately after Judas had left the room, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.”

Thomas turned his head to look into his sister’s questioning eyes.

“Poor Judas,” he said. “He even tried to give the money back.”

בְּרָכָה

Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.’

(John 14:23-27)

 

Kneeling at her feet, Peter filled the basin and began to wash them.

His coarse fisherman’s hands were curiously soothing.

There’s something different about him, she thought.

Then, applying the towel, he looked up.

“May the Lord bless you, Ahot.”

Peter, now, was calling her “sister”?

Anina smiled.

ענינא

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.’

(John 13:3-15)

 

She watched as the men argued about how to carry out the Lord’s instructions. Who should be washed first? Who should do the washing? Were they supposed to have a complete bath beforehand?

True, ordinary people usually washed their own feet. Even if they did not bother with any kind of bathing, regularly.

She wrinkled her nose.

But they had surely seen this done many times before, she thought to herself.

Feet which had trod the grimy roads of Judea—filthy with dust and waste and animal droppings—such feet had to be washed. It was a dirty job, and inconvenient. But necessary.

She remembered that evening when they ate their last supper together. How Jesus rose from the table and removed his outer robe to keep it clean. She had carefully folded it for him, then set it aside.

He wrapped the towel around his waist. Like a slave would do before kneeling at the feet of his master. Or as a woman might do for her husband.

The scene was indelible in her mind: their Lord and teacher, stripped to the waist, on his knees washing his disciples’ feet.

Stunned. Silent. Shamed. Confused. All they could do was accept his humble service. Until he came to Peter, of course.

She shook her head at the memory. Simon Peter. He always felt he had to take charge.

Rising, she crossed the room and picked up the towel.

“Here, let me do this for you,” she said.

The men turned to her with shocked expressions.

Scandalized, Peter spoke forcefully.

“Woman, you cannot wash our feet!”

“Why on earth not, Simon?”

“Because … because we are men!”

And we’re not supposed to touch each other, even though the Teacher had made no distinction, she thought. She could still feel Jesus’ gentle hands caressing her tired feet.

Casting the towel aside, she left the house, closing the door firmly behind her.

As she sat on the ground beside the entrance, she felt her eyes welling up. Whether from sorrow or umbrage, she was unsure.

The door swung open, then closed again. Thomas came and sat beside her.

“Ahot …” he began.

“Why must you always call me ‘sister’? I have a name, you know.”

Thomas smiled.

“Anina,” he said. “My beloved Anina.”

She smiled back.

“I call you ‘sister’ out of respect. After all, you are older than me.”

She scowled.

“By a few minutes!”

She teasingly punched his shoulder.

“I love you, too, Thomas.”

“Come back inside.”

She shook her head.

“No, really. Come back inside.”

He took her hand, lifted her to her feet, and led her through the doorway.

There stood Peter, a towel around his waist.

“Anina,” he said. “Please, let me wash your feet first.”

 

 

 

Do You Love Me?

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’

(John 21:15-17)

 

All that remained now were a few scraps of fish. She looked around, scanning the beach and hillsides. No sign of Jesus.

They had barely finished breakfast when he had his strange conversation with Peter. Then, in an instant, he was gone.

How does he do that? She wondered. Perhaps better than any of the men, she knew he was not a ghost.

Thomas came and sat beside her.

“So, Ahot. Quite a morning,” he said.

“I’m almost getting used to it,” she said. “What do you suppose he meant by all that talk about feeding sheep?”

Thomas shrugged. “Maybe he thinks Peter is a terrible fisherman.”

“It made me think about that winter, at the Festival of Lights,” she said. “He spoke of sheep then, too.”

“Did he? I don’t remember.”

“He said his sheep would hear his voice and follow him. He said no one could steal his sheep away from him. Then he said they would never die.”

“Hmm. Yes. I do remember that.”

“And then he said that he and God were the same.”

“Right. ‘I and the Father are one.’ That was strange.”

She was silent for a moment, her eyes fixed upon the horizon.

“What do you think that means?” she asked. “Was he trying to say that he’s God?”

Thomas pursed his lips. Then he stood up, brushing sand from his legs.

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out, in time,” he said, hurrying to join the other men.

Or at least you’ll pretend you have, she thought.

Her gaze returned to the placid lake.

“No one will snatch me out of your hand, Jesus. No one. Ever.”

Come and have breakfast

 

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

(John 21:1-14)

 

More fish to throw on the fire?

She frowned.

She knew they were going to surprise Thomas and the others with this breakfast. That’s why she had visited the market early. But now she was weary of her labours over the hot grill.

Oh well. The men would be hungry.

But so was she.

She watched the fishers dressing themselves. At least Peter had put some clothes on first.

She decided the men themselves could roast the supplementary fish.

Smiling, she sat down to eat.

 

 

 

 

אָחוֹת

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

(John 20:19-29)

 

A week had passed since that extraordinary evening when the travellers arrived from Emmaus. Afterward, she had run out looking for Thomas. Unsuccessful in her search, she had returned to find the door once again bolted firmly shut.

“Go home, woman!”

But where was home, now?

In daylight hours, she often lingered near the house, lost in her thoughts. Watching. Waiting. For what, exactly, she was unsure.

Suddenly, a sound drew her out of contemplation. Looking up, she saw …

She saw Thomas!

Unsteady on his feet? A little, perhaps. But not so you’d notice, unless you knew him well.

Obviously, he was making his way back. For the first time? She couldn’t be sure.

She stepped into his path.

“Thomas.”

He did not look surprised to see her.

“Thomas Didymus, what happened to you? I was worried.”

Silence. But in his eyes, she saw … what? Weariness? Or wariness?

She wanted to embrace him, but knew she should not.

“Thomas, you weren’t in the room with us last week.”

A faint smile crossed his face.

“I heard they couldn’t get rid of you.”

“So you’ve spoken to the others. They told you, obviously.”

The smile faded.

“Yes. They told me. I suppose you believe it, too.”

“I saw it. I saw him! We all did.”

He sighed. Weariness.

“Ahot,” he said (which means “sister”). “You should go home.”

“Thomas, please, I …”

But he brushed past her and went up to the house.

They let him in.

“What will happen now?” she wondered.

The Travellers

TEXT: Luke 24:13-43

 

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:28-35)

 

It was evening. Having declined numerous invitations to depart from the house, she was still present. Now the commotion had quieted somewhat, and finally she could draw near with her questions.

“Peter! Simon Peter!”

The fisherman turned toward her, looking apprehensive.

“They’re saying you saw him, alive and well. But you’ve been within my sight almost the whole day. When did this happen? Did he meet you at the tomb? Did John see him, too?”

“Well … that’s not exactly …” Peter began, only to be interrupted. At the door, another commotion.

“Peter! It’s Cleopas. Let us in!”

Cleopas? He and his companion had left them, hours ago, on their way to Emmaus. Why had they returned?

“Peter! Peter! Simon Peter! Open the door!”

Peter unbolted the door, then stumbled backwards as the two disciples burst in. Then the story tumbled out, as they described their encounter.

“He walked with us almost the whole way, but somehow we didn’t recognize him.”

“I can’t believe we didn’t know it was Jesus.”

“But when he broke the bread, we knew.”

“Yes. But then he was gone!”

From her position beside the crowd of men, she could see someone enter through the still-open door. A stranger?

No. A familiar face. Then a familiar voice.

“Peace be with you.”

The Resurrection of Jesus

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women returned to the tomb, bringing the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find Jesus’ body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12)

 

“Peter, let us in! We’re here. We’re all here.”

Silence.

“We’re all here. We’ll break the door down.”

Finally. The bolt is withdrawn. For a moment, the threshold is clear.

The women rush inside to deliver their message. The men look upon them with pity.

“Thomas, I’m not crazy,” she said.

“Dear woman, you’re in shock. You’re full of grief. You all are.”

“I know what I saw. What we all saw. What we all heard.”

Suddenly alarmed, Peter sprang to his feet and hurried out the door. John followed him.

She would have pursued them, but found gentle arms restraining her.

“It’s all right,” Thomas said. “Let them go.”