Telling the Beads Bead 10 - Episode 3 Bread and Wine

B10 - E3 Bread and Wine

Thursday morning found the apostles wondering where they were to celebrate the Passover meal that evening, but Jesus had it all in hand. He sent Peter and John into the city to look for a man carrying a water jar. They were to follow him and ask the owner of the house he entered to show them the upper room which their Master had requested. This they did and found the room set up and ready. Together with a group of supporters, they made the preparations for the meal.

When evening arrived, they walked back to the house together and went upstairs to the room. Jesus was fully aware that Judas had already made up his mind to betray him so was naturally saddened at the outset of the meal. Before the food arrived, to their surprise, he stood up, took off his cloak and wrapped a towel around his waist. He poured water into a bowl and proceeded to go around the table, stooping down before each of the twelve apostles to wash their dusty feet.

This was menial work, usually carried out by the least important servant in a home. When it came to Peter's turn, he wasn't happy to have his master do such a thing but Jesus told him that he needed to allow him to do so and continued until he had completed his chosen task. When he returned to his seat, he explained what he had done and why. “You call me your Lord and Master, don’t you, and that is right because that is what I am, so I am setting you an example. If I have washed your feet, you should do the same for each other.”

At one point during the meal, Jesus took a large piece of bread in his hands. He blessed it and broke it into pieces which he passed around to each of them, saying, “This is my body which I am giving to you. Take it and eat it.” Then, taking a cup of wine in his hands, he blessed it and passed it to them saying, “This is my blood which will be offered up for you. Take it and share it, and do this yourselves in memory of me when I am no longer with you.” 

They were to understand in time that, in this way, Jesus was fulfilling the words he had spoken on one occasion when he was preaching to a large crowd. He had said to them all, “Unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you will not have my life in you.” Understandably, at the time, this had mystified his followers and shocked and horrified a great number of his listeners, many of whom turned away from him. 

His closest friends hadn't understood either but could never have left him because they believed in him completely. He had become the cornerstone of their lives. Over time, they came to see that at this Passover meal, Jesus had used the simple foods of their everyday lives, not the lamb or the vegetables or the expensive spices, but the foods which ordinary human hands had made from the seeds and fruits of their fields, to become “bread for their strength and wine for their joy;” his life within them.

An atmosphere of peace and joy filled the room as everyone present received the precious gift of himself. Sadly, this was to be deeply disturbed soon afterwards when passing the bread around again, he said to them, “This very night, one of you is going to betray me.” They began to question among themselves as to who this could possibly be. John, who was the youngest member of the apostles and held a very special place in Jesus' heart, was sitting next to him, leaning against his shoulder, so Peter signalled to him to ask Jesus whom he meant.

Jesus said to John, “It is the one who shares this piece of bread with me.” Dipping it into the cup of wine, he passed it to Judas and said, “Go and do what you have planned quickly.” As Judas left the room, the others thought he was going to buy more provisions or give some money to the poor because he was the treasurer of their common fund. By this time it was dark outside, matching the darkness in the soul of Judas.

Jesus knew and explained to them that he was going away and that they would be unable to follow him, causing Peter to say, “Lord, where are you going and why can’t I follow you? You know I would give my life for you!” With sorrow in his heart, Jesus replied, “Will you really lay down your life for me, Peter? I’m telling you now that before the cock has crowed tomorrow morning, you will have denied that you know me three times!”

Jesus spent the remainder of the evening talking to them from the depth of his heart.” My children,” he told them,” I will only be with you now for a little while more. I am going to my Father to prepare a place for you all.” Over and over again, he emphasised that they were to follow in his ways by loving one another as he had loved them. “I won't leave you as orphans,”  he continued; “I will send you a helper who will comfort, console and counsel you in the truth throughout the rest of your lives.”

“Above all, I am giving you my peace,” he said; “It will always be with you.” Using the image of himself as the vine, he urged them, as the branches of the vine, to stay close to him always and to remember that he had called them his friends and not his servants. “You will be hated and persecuted by enemies as I have been,” he warned them, “but don’t be afraid because, in the end, your sorrow will turn to joy. You will have trouble in this world but take courage because I have overcome the world.” 

In his final prayer, Jesus gave thanks to his Father in heaven for all that he had been given and, most especially, for the gift of these, his dearest and closest friends, who had stood by him always, acknowledging that not one of them had been lost except the one who had “chosen to be lost,” sadly referring to Judas. He prayed for them all before saying that it was time for them to go so they left the house, singing psalms of thanksgiving as they went on their way.

Telling the Beads Bead 10 - Episode 2 The Last Weeks

B10 - E2 The Last Weeks

Jesus had been preaching throughout the country for three years, accompanied by his faithful followers who had been riding on the crest of his wave and couldn’t comprehend that this wave was about to break on the harsh shores of treachery and death. Yet, despite the teaching and guidance he had given to the twelve apostles in particular, they could still squabble about such things as who was to be the most important amongst them. 

James and John, egged on by their mother, who had actually had the temerity to ask Jesus if her sons could sit in the highest places in his Kingdom, naturally made the others angry, but Jesus used the opportunity to teach them that whoever wanted to be the greatest amongst them should learn to be a servant to them all. As he said, “I haven't come to be served by you. I have come to serve you by giving you my life.” 

Anyone else might have been completely exasperated by them all, but Jesus had patience with them and loved them as they were. He always knew how to guide and teach them in the best possible way. He began talking to them and the people about ‘staying awake,'' about always being prepared for what might come at any moment. His last and, possibly, one of his most powerful stories concerned the ‘end of time’. 

Jesus often spoke of himself as the ‘Son of Man’, an expression which was to emphasise his humanity, alongside his divinity. “The Son of Man,” he said, “will come in glory at the end of time to be seated on a throne, in front of which, all the nations on earth will be gathered together and, as their king, he will separate the people in the same way a shepherd would divide his flock, into two groups, placing the sheep on his right-hand side and the goats on his left.

”The king,” he continued, “will say to the group on his right, “Come with me into the kingdom which has been prepared for you since the beginning of time, because when I was hungry, you fed me; you gave me a drink when I was thirsty and helped me in every way when I was in need.” The people he had chosen said to him, “When did we see you hungry, Lord, and feed you and help you in all these ways?” The king replied to them, “Whenever you did this to the least of my little ones, you did it to me.”

To the group on his left, however, he said, “Go away from me, all of you. You are not worthy to come into my kingdom, because when I was hungry, you didn’t feed me; you didn’t give me a drink when I was thirsty or help me in any way when I was in need!” The people asked him when it was that they had neglected to help him in all these ways, and the king replied to them, “Every time you refused to help anyone in need, you were choosing not to help me."

Jesus was telling them that the most important thing in their lives was to show their love of God by expressing it in their love for others, by caring for them and showing it in their actions. This love and care was something that he had often received from a family in Bethany, a small village near Jerusalem. He had become great friends with two sisters named Martha and Mary and their younger brother, Lazarus, and he and his companions had enjoyed many a happy meal in their home.

On one particular visit, Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to him intently, totally engrossed in the wonder of his words, while Martha was bustling about with all the preparations. Not being one to keep her feelings to herself, she asked Jesus to tell Mary to come and help, but Jesus gently chided her. “Martha, Martha,’’ he said, ‘’you fret and worry about so many things, but at this moment, only one thing is necessary and Mary has chosen best. Come and sit here with us and let everything else take its course.”

Sometime later, a tragedy occurred in the family. Lazarus fell seriously ill. A message was sent to Jesus, but by the time he and his friends arrived to see them, Lazarus had died and been buried for four days. Martha heard he was nearing the village and went out to meet him, saying, ‘’Jesus, if you had been here, our brother wouldn’t have died, but I know God will grant whatever you ask of him.’’

Martha went back to tell Mary privately that Jesus was asking to see her. She went out quickly, followed by the friends who had gathered in their house. When he saw their tears and the depth of their grief, he wept with them. They went together to the tomb and Jesus asked for the stone covering the grave to be rolled away, even though Martha told him there was already a terrible stench from the grave.

After praying aloud to his Father in heaven, Jesus called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out," which, to everyone’s utter astonishment, he did, his feet, hands and face still covered by linen cloths which Jesus told his loved ones to unbind so that he could go free.

Martha and her family were very well known in the area so the illness and death of Lazarus had drawn many of their friends from Jerusalem to come to comfort the sisters. Those who were there and witnessed the miracle came to believe in Jesus and to hold him in great awe, which alarmed his enemies even more. This really was the final straw for them so they began to look for ways to bring his power and influence over the people to an end by actually plotting to have him put to death. 

Despite knowing full well what awaited him in Jerusalem, Jesus went ahead with his plans to celebrate the Passover meal there and he and his friends set off for the city on the Sunday before the Feast. As they neared their destination, Jesus sent two of his followers into a village on the Mount of Olives, telling them where they would find a donkey with her colt which no one had ridden before, and they were to bring them to him. If they were questioned, he told them to say that Jesus needed them and that they would be returned.

They brought them to him and threw their cloaks on the back of the colt so that Jesus could sit more comfortably. When the word began to spread that he was on his way, people gathered on the route, some of them spreading their cloaks on the ground while others collected branches of palms and laid them on the streets as he rode through. All the people around him and walking along with him shouted out praises to him as the Messiah, even though, in typical fashion, he had chosen to ride into the city on a humble donkey.

Throughout the week, Jesus continued to preach his message openly in the temple despite the conspiracies that were afoot to capture him. By Wednesday, Judas, whose belief in Jesus had been wavering for a while, decided to play into the hands of the religious leaders by offering to lead them to his Master when an opportunity arose. Money had always been his downfall and he knew they would pay him well. In the event, they offered him thirty pieces of silver and the fate of Jesus was sealed.

Telling the Beads Bead 10 - Episode 1 Tricks and Tales and Turning the Tables

Bead Ten   The Gift of Himself

B10 - E1 Tricks and Tales and Turning the Tables

Jesus frequently countered loaded questions with a question of his own. One of the teachers of the Jewish law tried to test him by asking, “Master, what should I do to earn everlasting life in the world to come.” In reply, Jesus asked him what the law of Moses taught. The simple answer the lawyer already knew was that he should love God above all things and love and care for his neighbour in the same way that he looked after and cared about himself. He then tried to justify his question by asking, “Well, who is my neighbour?”

In answer, as he often did, Jesus told a story. “A man was travelling along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho,” he began, “when, on a particularly lonely stretch, he was set upon by some thieves who beat him up and robbed him, leaving him seriously injured, nearly dead in fact, by the side of the road. Not long afterwards, a priest, then, a little while later, a deacon, happened to be travelling along the same road. As they passed by, both of them saw the man but crossed over to the other side of the road and left him lying there.

“The next person to come along was a Samaritan. Unlike the other men, his heart was moved with compassion when he spotted the man. Running across to him, he bathed his wounds in wine to cleanse them, and then in soothing oil. He bandaged them up before lifting him gently onto his own horse to find the nearest inn where he could continue to take care of him. He had to leave the following morning but gave the innkeeper money to look after the man, promising to pay any extra costs on his return.

“Which of these three men was a true neighbour to the injured man,” Jesus said to his questioner who had no alternative other than to mutter grudgingly, “The man who took care of him.” “Then, you must do the same,” Jesus replied. The religious leaders were infuriated by the ability of Jesus to turn the tables on them when they tried to trick him with false questions. 

On another occasion, they attempted to put him in a dilemma by asking if it was right to pay taxes to the Romans, a very sore point indeed with the people. In reply, Jesus calmly asked them for a coin, and, slowly turning it over in his hand, questioned them in return. “Whose head is it on this coin?” “Caesar’s,” they said. “Well then”, replied Jesus, “Render to Caesar, what is Caesar’s and to God, what is God’s!”

A more serious incident occurred while Jesus was visiting Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Early in the morning, as he was preaching in the temple, a group of their religious leaders dragged a woman before him, declaring that she had been caught in the act of adultery They made her stand in front of the people as they challenged Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “according to the law of Moses, this woman should be stoned to death for her actions! What do you say we should do?”

His answer, one way or another, was meant, of course, to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the people. To their surprise, he ignored their question and bent down and started writing with his finger in the sand which scattered the floors and surfaces of their hot and dusty land. They continued to question him, demanding an answer. Finally, he stood up slowly, looked around at them and said, “ Let anyone among you who has done no wrong of any kind be the first to cast a stone.”

Then he calmly continued writing in the sand. They began to glance down to see what he was actually writing. Each one of them began to make out certain words - names, events which pricked their individual consciences. Slowly, one by one, they all turned and began to slink away, starting with the elders then followed by the people, many, if not most of whom had been ready to jump on the bandwagon of righteous indignation. The crowd gradually disappeared, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. 

Jesus looked around, then said to her, “Where are they now? Is there no one here ready to condemn you?” “No one, sir,” she answered. “Then neither do I condemn you. Go in peace but let this help you to break free from everything that is wrong in your life.” As she walked away, her head held high, she knew that she would make those changes. She would be the person she was born to be and would never forget and always feel the deepest love and gratitude to the man who had set her free and whose words would live with her forever.

Telling the Beads Bead 9 - Episode 3 The Turning of the Tide

B9 - E3 The Turning of the Tide

On many occasions, Jesus would be moved by compassion for the crowds who came to listen to him and say to his companions, as he gazed around at the people that they were like sheep without a shepherd and that he longed to be their shepherd, to bring them comfort and healing, to tell them to come to him and he would give them rest and help them to carry their burdens, bringing light into the darkness of their lives.

He wanted to show them that God’s kingdom was not an earthly kingdom of might and majesty but one where everyone was equally valued and loved. Even a Roman centurion who came to ask for healing for a much-loved servant was rewarded by his request being granted. He felt unworthy to invite Jesus to his house, trusting implicitly that the healer he had heard so much about had only to say the word and his servant would be healed. Jesus was to say that he hadn’t found such faith amongst his own people!

Sadly, his cousin, John, was still languishing in prison but was able to send some of his own, still faithful followers to ask Jesus if he really was the Messiah. Jesus sent the messengers back to tell him that there were blind people who could now see, deaf people who could hear and lame people who could now walk, to reassure him, knowing that John would recognise these as signs that the cousin he had baptised in the Jordan truly was the Messiah.

Shortly afterwards, the news came that John had been put to death and Jesus was deeply saddened. He took consolation in the knowledge that John would have been able to face his death knowing that his life’s work had not been in vain. Jesus was to ask his apostles a similar question. “Who do people say I am?” “Some people say you are Elijah the prophet or John the Baptist, come back to life,” they told him, but when Jesus persisted and asked, “But who do you say I am?” Peter jumped in with this avowal. “You are the Messiah, the Son of God!”

But despite all the miracles that his closest followers had witnessed, such as the calming of a terrifying storm on the Sea of Galilee one night when they were on a boat and frightened that they were about to sink, or when he brought back to life the twelve-year-old daughter of a man named Jairus and, on another occasion, an unknown young man, the only son of his widowed mother, they were not able to grasp or to understand who Jesus really was, nor what his fate was to be.

He began to teach his disciples quite openly that he was going to suffer and die and even spoke of “rising again” but they were either unable or unwilling to take these words in, not wanting to face the prospect. Peter took him aside and protested that this just couldn’t be true but Jesus reacted very strongly to his lack of faith and trust. He explained to them that they would also be persecuted and would have to bear all the trials that would come from following in his footsteps.

 

Realising that the time was approaching when he would have to face this hatred, and knowing he needed to prepare himself, he travelled with his followers to Caesaria in the north of Galilee. One morning, taking Peter, James and John with him, he walked the ten miles or so to Mount Hermon. These three members of the apostles had already been singled out by Jesus as the inner core of the apostles who would eventually lead and guide its direction after his death.

After a steep climb, his friends were worn out and fell asleep at the place where Jesus decided to stop and pray. They woke up to behold an amazing sight. Jesus stood before them, his face shining like the sun and his appearance completely changed. His clothes had become dazzling white, whiter than any bleach in this world could produce.

He was in deep conversation with two figures whom they recognised, from the images of their religion, as Moses, the great leader of the Jewish people who had given them the Law and Commandments of God, and Elijah, the first and greatest of all the prophets of Israel. They were talking about the coming suffering and death that Jesus would experience in Jerusalem, strengthening him to see this as the path through which he would become the Saviour of the world.

As they watched, a cloud surrounded the vision and they heard a voice from heaven say, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him;” echoing the words that Jesus had heard by the river Jordan when he was baptised by John. The cloud gradually disappeared and Jesus was standing there alone. His three companions were overwhelmed and fearful but Jesus reassured them and told them not to be afraid.

Peter’s immediate reaction was to offer to build three shrines, one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, there on the mountain but a mountainside was no place to remain. It was the right place to come to be alone with God but they had to descend to face all that was to come, to be with the people, to lead them and to be followed, wherever that might take them. Jesus told them to say nothing about this experience until he had ‘risen from the dead’ so they kept it to themselves but discussed with each other what 'rising from the dead' could mean. 

Jesus himself was now prepared for all that was to come. He knew that the voice of his Father coming from heaven and the presence of God’s Spirit in Moses and Elijah who represented the the Law and Prophets of Israel would sustain him throughout his trials. In years to come, the vision of their Master in all his glory would remain with his closest friends and remind them of the power and ultimate victory of God.

Telling the Beads Bead 9 - Episode 2 Lost and Found

B9 - E2 Lost and Found

Despite or perhaps, because of the wonder of his words and actions and the fact that he drew crowds wherever he went who loved him for his compassion and wisdom, the seeds of jealousy and hatred were being sown in the hearts and minds of those who felt their power disturbed and threatened by him. Jesus was fully aware of the tide of hatred which was building up and that he was making enemies who were watching and waiting for any excuse to trip him up and remove his influence.

Aware of them he was; frightened of them, he was not. He lost no opportunity to criticise the religious leaders for their hypocrisy and the many ways in which they betrayed their position and responsibilities, to the detriment of the people, only concerned for their own importance. Never one to mince his words, he called them “Whited sepulchres,” showy on the outside but full of death inside; hardly likely to improve their opinion of him. In fact, they began seriously, to look for ways to have him put to death  

The courage of Jesus was especially notable in the face of the obvious antagonism of the faith leaders who were frequently disgruntled to observe the many people of ill repute who gathered around Jesus all the time, whereas his paramount concern was to find, rescue and bring people to freedom and safety. This was wonderfully illustrated by the stories he told to counter the ill will of his detractors, stories which his genuine listeners would have relished and delighted in,

He told them about the shepherd who, on realising that one of his hundred sheep was missing, left the ninety-nine in safety to search high and low until he found the foolish one who had strayed, bringing it back on his shoulders and calling all his friends and neighbours to share in the joy of his discovery. In a similar vein, he told the story of a woman who had mislaid some of the money she’d been saving and spent hours and hours scouring the house until she found it.

Just like the shepherd, she called her friends and neighbours in to rejoice with her, knowing that they would share her relief. “These stories,” Jesus told the people, “show that God will leave no stone unturned until he finds and rescues all who are lost. There will be great joy in heaven,’’ he said, ''when even one person is rescued from a bad way of life and turned away from it to live in purity of heart.”

A powerful story which would have resonated with families throughout the land concerned a father who had two sons. The younger son wanted to set off into the world so he asked his father if he could have his share of the inheritance that would come to him from his father’s estate. The father agreed to divide his wealth between both sons and the lad set off to find a place to settle where he could live the good life, as he thought.

However, within a very short space of time, he had squandered all his money on loose living and foolishness and ended up with nothing. He found himself a menial job on a pig farm and was so hungry at one point that he even longed to eat the pig food but no one gave him anything. This was the final straw which brought him to his senses.“Even my father’s servants have enough food to eat,” he said to himself. 

He made the decision to return home and throw himself on his father’s mercy by asking for a job as one of the servants because he knew he was unworthy to be treated as his son. His father, of course, had never stopped loving him and had spent many an hour looking out along the road which led to the estate to watch for him. As soon as he spied the bedraggled figure in the distance, he ran out to meet him and clasped him in his arms.

Although his son protested his utter unworthiness, the father, realising that he was truly sorry, wanted nothing more than to rejoice in his son’s return. He set plans in motion straight away for a huge celebration but when his older son returned from a day’s work on the estate and heard the commotion, on finding out the cause, he was furious and refused to join in. When his father was told, he immediately went out to plead with him to come in.

His son poured out his grievances and resentment about his wastrel brother being celebrated after all his misdeeds. “Look at me,” he said. “I’ve worked hard all these years for you and always done the right thing and yet I’ve never had so much as a party to celebrate with my friends.” His father said to him, “My son, you are always with me and all that I have is already yours but it’s right that we should celebrate because your brother was as good as dead and has come back to life. He was lost but now he is found.”

Jesus didn’t explain what happened after that but all his true followers would have picked up the central message of the love, mercy and forgiveness of their Father in heaven which was readily available to everyone who returned to God. These stories helped the people to understand this message but would have increased the jealousy and hatred of his enemies and fostered their ever-increasing desire to get rid of him!

Telling the Beads Bead 9 - Episode 1 The Mission

 Over the next three years, Jesus, accompanied and supported by his friends and followers, travelled the length and the breadth of the country, from Galilee to Judea, preaching and teaching; bringing healing and comfort to very many people but also, admonishing them at times, like his cousin, John, but in his own unique way, gentle but firm when appropriate, or commanding, fearless and authoritative where he deemed it necessary,

Alongside his preaching to the crowds, Jesus took every opportunity to instruct his chosen twelve, whom he called his ‘apostles,’ knowing that one day, the future of his mission would be in their hands when he was no longer with them in person. So this disparate group of men, four fishermen, one tax collector and seven others of unknown background and education were to be his constant companions. Who were they then, these men? 

There was Peter, strong as a rock, but impulsive, jumping in where angels fear to tread, and his brother, Andrew, plus the brothers, James and John, nicknamed by Jesus, the ‘sons of thunder,’ strong-minded and hot-headed. Thomas, whose name means ‘the twin’, was always a ‘seeing is believing’ type of person, and James and his half-brother, Matthew, had been estranged and had hardly spoken to each other for years.

Simon, known as ‘the zealot’, had been involved in a group which was trying to overthrow the Roman occupation - and then there was Judas, who became the treasurer of the group, but was known to help himself from the funds occasionally and, even despite three years of extreme closeness to Jesus, would eventually betray the man who had shown him nothing but love. Jude was also known as Thaddeus but, apart from that, nothing else is known about him or any of these men.

They were to witness the highs and lows, the ups and downs of life on the road, at times, accompanied by adulation, and at others, by doors being shut in their faces when Jesus sent them out in pairs to visit the towns and villages and practise their own preaching and healing, sometimes with success, sometimes with failure. Jesus, of course, took rejection in his stride, telling his followers to walk away from any place which didn’t welcome them and to shake the dust off their feet as they left. 

When people welcomed them with open arms, they were to stay there and accept whatever hospitality was offered to them and spread the message of repentance, hope and joy that he had shared with them. Jesus taught them and everyone who came to hear him not to worry and fret about so many little things but to put their trust in God who would always love and help them, come what may.

Jesus, himself, made friends wherever he went. He treated everyone with respect, men and women, young and old, from the richest to the poorest, whatever their nationality; always taking great delight in the children, who loved to run up to him so that he could pick them up and laugh and play with them. When his followers tried to stop them, Jesus would say, “Let the children come to me,” and tell them that they should become like children themselves, close to God, trusting and innocent.

He made one more attempt to visit and reach out to the people of Nazareth but was met with disbelief and even hostility from some. “Why aren’t you performing miracles here for us, your own people, as you have in Capernaum?” they said tauntingly. Able only to help very few people, he left, taking his mother with him to settle her by the lakeside with her relations, where she would be supported by the many friends he had made amongst the women of Galilee.

A strange incident occurred shortly afterwards. Jesus was preaching to a large crowd one day when his mother arrived with some of their relatives. People in the crowd called out to tell him, fully expecting that he would go to greet his family and spend some time with them. On the contrary, Jesus said to them, “You are my family, you are my mother, my sisters and my brothers.” and continued with his stories and teachings.

It was of the utmost importance to Jesus that people should recognise that whoever needed him, whoever came to hear and learn from him was a member of his family and of equal value to his earthly family. He also knew, of course, that his mother would completely understand this. There was to be no preferential treatment for anyone. This was an important lesson for everyone but especially for the twelve apostles and all his closest followers, his disciples.

When they came to ask him how they should pray, he taught them to speak to God simply, as his and their loving Father in heaven, to honour and respect God’s name and to seek and follow his will in their lives. They were to ask God to provide for their everyday needs and to forgive their wrongful ways and deeds as they forgave others who wronged them; to help them to avoid the temptations of life and to set them free from everything that was evil. 

He taught them that the only way to find fulfilment and happiness in this life was to love and honour God above all things. They were to love and care about other people in the same way that they wished to be loved and cared for themselves, and not to judge others if they didn’t wish to be judged themselves, but rather, always to show mercy so as to be treated mercifully in return. He even taught them that they should love their enemies, a hard lesson indeed!

Telling the Beads Bead 8 - Episode 4 Preaching, Teaching and Healing

B8 - E4 Preaching, Teaching and Healing

As Jesus continued to travel around Galilee, the news of his preaching spread everywhere. In each town he came to, he was invited to speak in the synagogues and people flocked to hear him, deeply impressed with the authority of his teaching which was so unlike that of their usual teachers and drew people to him. They went away full of praise for everything he said and did. 

He had a lovely way of teaching them, using words and stories that people could relate to, speaking of God’s Kingdom in everyday, understandable language, with images from the countryside of his boyhood. He talked about seeds being sown in the ground and growing into great trees beneath which there was room for everyone to find shelter. He spoke of the lilies of the field and the birds in the air, all precious and beloved by God. 

Alongside his preaching and teaching, the ability of Jesus to heal sickness and suffering became ever more apparent. On a visit to Peter’s house, where he and Andrew lived with their father, Jonah, they were met with the news that Peter’s mother-in-law was seriously ill in bed with a high fever. Peter had been married but, sadly, his wife had died and her mother had come to live with them in the family home, happy to care for them as they were for her. 

Jesus went to see her straight away and as he took hold of her hand, the fever left her instantly. He helped her up and she was delighted to be able to welcome them all and offer them her usual hospitality. The news spread like wildfire and people began to come in even greater numbers to find Jesus wherever he was speaking, looking for guidance and healing.

On one particular day, the house in Capernaum in which he was preaching had become so full that four men actually opened up the roof to lower their paralysed friend down on a stretcher to the room below. Jesus was able to cure not only his troubled soul but also his paralysis to the astonishment and delight of his friends and most of the people. The religious leaders present were, of course, less than impressed, always looking to criticise and find fault with whatever he did.

He was able to heal and bring peace of mind to the many people who were deeply disturbed by mental illnesses of all kinds. The dreaded disease of leprosy was also rife at that time and Jesus was unafraid to touch and cure those afflicted by it who came to him for healing. Yet he would ask each person he cured to tell no one, not wanting people to come to him as ‘the miracle worker’ but to come to listen, to learn and to find God’s will for their own lives.

Within a very short space of time, the crowds grew so large that he found himself preaching beyond the towns, sometimes on a hillside, sometimes in vast open spaces and, even once, from a boat by the lake. He would rise early in the morning, leaving the companions who travelled everywhere with him, to go alone to pray for the strength he needed for his mission, always staying united to his Father in heaven.

At this time in their history, the Roman occupation of Israel was a constant thorn in the flesh of the Jewish people but, scorned and despised even more than the Romans, were the members of their own people who collaborated with the foreign rulers. Amongst these, the lowest of the low were, by far, the tax collectors, who not only worked for the Romans but were often known to cheat and exploit their own people to fill their own pockets.

One such, named Matthew, had brought disgrace and dishonour on his family and had been disowned by them all. Matthew’s half-brother, James, was one of the close group of friends of Jesus. He had often spoken about his brother and the shame he had brought upon their father, Alphaeus, and the whole family. One day, Jesus and his followers happened to pass by the stall where Matthew was working. Approaching him and looking directly into his eyes, Jesus said, “Matthew, I want you to leave what you are doing and come and follow me.” 

Matthew stood up from his table and, leaving everything behind, invited all of them there and then to come to his house for a great celebration. Through his dealings as a tax collector, he had become immensely rich and had all the trappings of wealth but people of good repute would have nothing to do with him and his kind. The only people who consorted with him were those who enjoyed sharing the benefits of his ill-gotten gains.

When they arrived, the place was crowded with his friends and this brought severe criticism from the religious leaders who were following every move of Jesus, already looking for reasons to discredit him. “How come your leader is prepared to eat and drink with all these disreputable people?” they challenged his followers!

These were, of course, the very people whom Jesus had come to find and he was quick to retort to his critics, “It’s not healthy people who need a doctor but the sick!” Matthew was to become one of the twelve men whom Jesus chose from amongst his regular followers, to be his right-hand men.

In the Jewish faith, twelve was a highly significant number, representing, as it did, the twelve tribes of Israel who were descended from the sons of Jacob. Alongside his original companions, namely, Peter and his brother, Andrew, the brothers, James and John, and Philip and Nathaniel, also known as Bartholemew, the twelve included both sons of Alphaeus, Matthew and James, and four other men, Thomas, Jude, Simon and Judas. These twelve men were to be by his side for the whole of his ministry.