Part 35 (1/2)
”Open up!” whispered Cleopas impatiently. It seemed to take a long time for the man at the door to recognize them and open the door. Cleopas and his friend rushed up the stairs and burst into the upper room.
Everyone was there. In the instant before he spoke, Cleopas realized that something had changed since he had left in the morning. The men were not dejected; they were talking excitedly. But Cleopas did not stop to find out why.
”We have seen him! He is alive!” The disciples leaped to their feet.
James stared as though he had not understood. ”We saw him on the road to Emmaus!”
”You too!” exclaimed Peter.
”He ate with us in my home,” declared Cleopas. He turned to Peter in amazement. ”Did you say you have seen him?”
”I saw him this morning. After the women told us they had seen a vision at the tomb, John and I went to look for ourselves. They were right! The Master's body was gone. I came back here and then set out alone for Galilee. I had traveled about an hour when the Master appeared to me, standing in the road. He commanded me to return here.”
”When we first saw him, we did not know who he was,” said Cleopas. Then he told everything that had happened. At first many wondered if the story could be true, but as they listened, their joy and amazement grew.
When Cleopas finished, they stirred and sighed. Here was one at least who certainly believed Jesus was alive!
The air was heavy in the crowded room. An iron pan filled with burning charcoal stood near the wall. Several broiled fish, left over from supper, lay on the coals. Cleopas and his friend looked at them hungrily. Peter handed pieces to them. James rose from the rough wooden bench on which he sat and opened the shutters. Andrew poured oil from a large jar into the nearly empty lamps. The men breathed deeply of the cool air that swept through the window. The lamplight sprang up. Hope and wonder flickered through the disciples' minds, still dulled by the sorrow of the Master's violent death.
”If I could just see him myself!” murmured John.
Suddenly Jesus was there. He did not come in--he just appeared standing in the midst of them. John drew in his breath sharply. Was this a ghost?
Did the others see? The men shrank from the place where Jesus stood.
”Do not be afraid. It is I! Look at my hands and my feet. Do you not see the wounds of the cross?” The men stared. In the palms of his hands James could see the marks of nails. His voice was real too! The men did not trust their eyes. Several reached out timidly and touched the scars.
They moved like men in a dream.
”Have you any food?” asked Jesus. Peter took another piece of fish from the charcoal stove and handed it to Jesus. When the disciples saw their Master eat, their doubts vanished. They began to talk, trying to realize that the impossible had really happened; their Leader was really living!
”Master,” burst out James enthusiastically, ”are you going to drive out the Romans now and give the Kingdom back to us?” The others suddenly became quiet, listening for his answer.
”It is not for you to know when the Father in heaven will do that, James,” replied Jesus. ”In his own time he will destroy all evil. He has already come among you: all you must do is accept the power he gives you to obey his commands.”
”Master, what do you want us to do?” asked Peter. Hearing his brother's strong voice, Andrew could hardly believe that only that morning Peter had tried to leave Jerusalem because everything reminded him that he had denied his Lord.
Jesus looked around at the circle of his disciples and raised his hands over them. ”Just as the Father sent me into the world,” he said, ”I am sending you. May the Holy Spirit fill you with power. Go into every part of the world and tell all men that the Christ has suffered and risen from the dead to give them eternal life. Those who repent and believe this gospel shall be forgiven their sins. But if anyone does not believe your words, the anger of G.o.d hangs over him!”
As mysteriously as he had come, Jesus left the men. They remained silent. Each man saw in the face of the others a joy none could express.
At last Peter spoke: ”We must let everyone know that Jesus has risen from the dead!”
Day by day the disciples learned that Jesus was doing greater things among them than he had ever done before. Faith which had been uncertain was now sure. Every afternoon the disciples went to the Temple to pray and tell the story of Jesus' power. Some people were surprised, for they thought the work of Jesus would stop when he was crucified. But many believed the word of the disciples and became followers with them.
It was not long before the success of Peter and the others came to the attention of the high priest. One day, immediately after the hour of prayer, he called his councilors together. ”Did you see that fisherman who used to follow the Galilean we killed?” he demanded. ”He was standing boldly in the Temple declaring that his Rabbi is alive!” Purple veins stood out on the face and throat of the angry man. ”Have you ever heard such an insolent lie? They have invented the whole story from beginning to end!”
”The other men were with him,” added a councilor. ”They succeeded in getting the people very much stirred up.”
”It must be stopped! If we can silence them with threats--all right. If not....” He lapsed into silence. Then his anger boiled to the surface again. ”What man in his right mind could believe such a fairy tale? That upstart from Galilee--risen from the dead!”