Children of Light

I recently came across an old beaten and well worn manuscript. Its content is one of great interest to me and I believe that others might find it of sincere importance. As far as I can tell, it comes from a person writing down their account of the holy week in which Jesus was crucified. True or not, this exceptional story is one worth sharing.

Christ Preaching; Rembrandt

Rumors were being spread about Jesus visiting the home of the man he claimed to have raised from the dead. There, Lazareth’s sisters were attending to Jesus and his disciples, and apparently Lazareth was with them. Once everyone heard this, especially Caiphas and his priests, everyone ran to go see if it were true. I stayed behind, for it did not interest me see if rumors that didn’t concern me were true. There were too many people suffering, and my duty to them was more important than seeing a dead man walk. 

Afterward, the mood regarding Jesus’ presence changed. The crowds began to speak ill of the ‘magical rabbi’s teachings.’ Most of the high priests began discussing ways in which Jesus could be arrested, but only until the religious festival was over—which seemed pretty reasonable to me.

At the festival activities the next day, Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples were teaching by the temple. I was on my way into the city market for medicinal herbs that soothe bodily sufferings, when I ran into them speaking to gentiles. 

I pushed my way to the front, but still to the side, of the crowd. I arrived at the moment of Jesus saying ‘Whoever serves me must then follow me, and whoever serves me the Father will honor.’ There was some grumbling among the crowd after he said this, and he simply smiled. I smiled too, because I knew that he was challenging us to in turn serve G-d; unfortunately he saw my smile and spoke directly to me. ‘Who then do you serve my son?’ I felt myself turn red as the entire crowd became silent and waited for my answer. ‘G-d’s people.’ I responded. ‘And thus you serve our Father.’ He said.

A greek then spoke up and asked, ‘If you are the son of your god, will you die?’ Jesus was still smiling, but as he responded the smile changed ‘No-one is saved from death, and even my Father will not save the Son of Humanity from this act. But it is not a darkness in which we are to live; for death is life, and to live you must die, and to die you must live. Therefore, as you live, do not dwell in the darkness of death; but rather live in the light. Live in your life for you are children of light.’

We didn’t know how to respond to such a beautiful statement. A true teaching; a real teaching. 

Jesus said that he was finished for the day and turned to one of his disciples and whispered something. As the crowd began to disperse, the disciple he whispered to came up to me. ‘Hello brother, my name is Andrew. Jesus and I want you to come to a gathering on the day after tomorrow.’ ‘Me? Why me?’ I responded surprised. ‘I am unsure. I am simply a follower and obey.’ He turned and walked back to his group. My eyes watched him walk up to Jesus. They both looked at me, but only Jesus smiled. We held one another’s gaze for a couple seconds until he was interrupted by a different disciple. He began talking to her, turned, and walked away.