Bible. New Testament -- History of Biblical events -- Fiction; Biographical fiction; Jesus Christ -- Fiction
One day as Jesus was passing on his rounds a man ran out of his house
and besought him to help him to stop some boys who were playing drums
and fifes and psalteries, saying to him: I know not who thou art, but my
wife's mother is dying of fever, and the boys jeer at me and show no
mercy. Let us take stones and cast them at them. But Jesus answered: no
stone is required; and turning to the boys he said: boys, all this woman
asks of you is to be allowed to die in quiet, and you may ask the same
thing some day, and that day may not be long delayed. Whereupon the boys
were ashamed, and Jesus followed Peter into his house and took his
wife's mother's hand and lifted her up a little and placed her head upon
the pillow and bade her sleep, which she did, and seeing that he had
such power Peter asked him to remain in the house till his mother-in-law
opened her eyes, which he did, and he has been there ever since. Now
here we are at the pathway through which Jesus comes and goes every day
on his mission of healing and preaching the love of God. Your father,
Sir, is much opposed to Jesus, who he says has persuaded Peter away from
his fishing and James and John and many others, but no doubt your father
told you these things last night.
CHAP. XIII.
Yonder is Capernaum--or it would have been more in our speech had I
said, why, brother, yonder is Capernaum. But habit's like a fly,
brother, it won't leave us alone, it comes back however often and
angrily we may drive it away.
Joseph made no reply, hoping by silence to quiet Philip's tongue which
returned to the attack, he was fain to admit, not altogether unlike a
fly. He tried not to hear him, for the sight of the town at the head of
the lake awakened recollections of himself and his nurse walking
valiantly, their strength holding out till they reached Capernaum, but
after eating at the inn they were too weary to return to Magdala on foot
and Peter had had to take them back in his boat. Peter's boat was his
adventure in those days, and strangely distinct the day rose up in his
mind that he and Peter had gone forth firm in the resolution that they
would ascend the Jordan as far as the waters of Merom. They succeeded in
dragging the boat over the shallows, but there was much wind on the
distant lake. Peter thought it would not be well to venture out upon it,
and Andrew thought so too. He was now going to see those two brothers
again after a long absence and was not certain whether he was glad or
sorry. It seemed to him that the lake, its towns and villages, were too
inseparably part of himself for him to wish to see them with the
physical eyes, and that it would be wiser to keep this part of Galilee,
the upper reaches of the lake at least, for his meditations; yet he did
not think he would like to return to Magdala without seeing Capernaum.
Perhaps because Jesus was there. That Jesus should have pitched upon
Capernaum as a centre revived his interest in it, and there was a
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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