CHAPTER SIXTEEN: CROSSING BORDERS

Across the Kinneret lake was the region of Gerasa, and Jesus had concluded that it was time to get out of Galilee for a while. What clinched this plan in his mind was that after staying only two days in Kefer-Nahum, word came that John had been beheaded in brutal fashion by Herod. Jesus had taken a day apart up in the hills to pray, and when he returned to his disciples he had told them to pack up, as they were crossing the lake as a sort of trial run to see what would happen if they left the Holy Land.

All being well, thereafter they would try a longer trip outside the Holy Land, heading to points west and north for a while, at least until things calmed down a bit. Jesus would go across to Gerasa by boat, then coming back across the lake, leaving the boats in Kefer-Nahum where they belonged. After a brief amount of time, they would head north up towards Tyre, and then west to Banyas, now called Caesarea Philippi. In short, Jesus would leave Herod Antipas’ territory and enter the territory of Herod Philip, who was less interested in prophets and messianic figures. It would give Jesus some time to talk to his disciples in more detail.

As they were crossing the sea that morning, James asked “Master, explain to us one of your parables, the one about the sower.”

Jesus, sitting in the back of the boat on a cushion replied: “Very well, but let me tell the tale once more to refresh it in your minds. A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, “He who has two good ears to hear, let him hear.”

“Thank you master for refreshing our memories about this but what exactly does the parable mean?” asked James, “And why this difference between the way you talk with us in private and the way you address the Galilean crowds, which seems almost always to involve such parables?”

“Excellent questions. First of all the secret of the kingdom of G-d has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, as G-d said to Isaiah
” ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'”

Then Jesus asked them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable since this one is one of the simplest and clearest ones? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop–thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

John, James’ brother, spoke up then saying “So what you are telling us is that there will be notable failures and successes when we spread the good news about G-d’s saving activity coming through your ministry, and that we should not be surprised with such a mixed reaction. And you are telling us that some who become disciples will not necessarily stay disciples forever, they will wilt when the heat is on, or there is pressure or persecutions.”

“Exactly”, replied Jesus, “and isn’t this a commentary on what we have already seen, as well as what we will continue to see?” The conversation could have been pressed further, but the two boats with Jesus and the disciples in them were pulling up to the shore where the Gerasene region was.

Jesus had hardly gotten himself out of the boat when a man came running down the hill to Jesus. This man came from the tombs high up on the hill to meet him. In fact, this man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain, for he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

Having seen Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High G-d? Swear to G-d that you won’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him as soon as he fell before his feet, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And the unclean spirits, speaking through the man begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.

When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man–and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

With a sigh, and with sadness, Jesus reluctantly decided that this trip across the sea was already at a premature end. As Jesus was getting back into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him however, but instead told him, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

“If this is the way it is going to be from now on, pretty soon, the Son of Man will have nowhere to lay his head in peace,” said Jesus, mainly to himself. The news spread right round the lake that Jesus the exorcist was doing his work both in the clean and the unclean lands, with dramatic effect.

When Jesus and the disciples returned to Kefer-Nahum, the disciples began to realize some of the repercussions of Jesus healing and exorcising demons wherever there was need. Within only a few short days, after people had absorbed all that Jesus was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and even from around Tyre and Sidon. Both Jews and non-Jews of various sorts sought him out. And the growing presence of non-Jews disturbed some of the Jewish leaders in the area, who were especially troubled by the exorcisms. Jesus entered a house in Kefer-Nahum, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.

When Jesus’ own family heard about all the exorcisms and healings and the growing crowds of all sorts of people, they went to Kefer-Nahum to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” James was especially worried that things were happening far too quickly and attracting far too much attention, and that Jesus was not in control of the situation. But before they arrived, some teachers of the law had come down from Jerusalem to Kefer-Nahum saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

Visiting with them in the house of Simon’s mother-in-law, Jesus called them on their inflammatory remarks and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. Amen I say to you, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and those standing in the doorway told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. This question dumbfounded those with him, and even the disciples had no reply. Then Jesus looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother. You may tell my mother and brothers that I am well and in my right mind. They can go back home without me now.”

Naturally enough, this reply both shocked the brothers of Jesus, and disappointed them and Miryam as well. Jesus was not going to co-operate with them, not going to be quiet or go home quietly. It was this response of rejection that perhaps most hardened the heart of James and the other brothers of Jesus who refused to become his disciples. Like the story of Joseph with his many-colored coat and his brothers, Jesus found himself at odds with and alienated from his own family the longer the ministry lasted, and the more dramatic the results became.

After Jesus’ family had reluctantly turned around and headed back home again, Jesus in his most serious and solemn manner said to those seated with him, “Whoever acknowledges me before human beings, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before human beings, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
” ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law –
³⁶a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.'” These words Jesus quoted from the prophet Micah, and to them he added

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Even the disciples found this very hard to swallow, and one of them instinctly replied–“This is a hard saying, master, who can accept it!” But Jesus did not reply to the rhetorical question. Instead he stood up, grabbed his traveling bag, and quietly left the house.

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of G-d. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of unclean spirits and diseases: Miryam (from Migdal) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. The presence of the women made various of the male disciples uncomfortable not least because most of them were married, and none of these women were even their relatives. Jewish men were not normally supposed to speak, much less travel with women they did not know, perhaps especially not with women like Miryam of Migdal who was widely known to have been demon possessed in the past.

It was Miryam who had recruited several other women to be followers of Jesus, the most famous of whom was Joanna, the wife of Herod’s estate manager. Joanna was a well-to-do woman, she was even literate, and Miryam had undertaken to enlist these women not merely to learn from Jesus but to support his ministry, out of their own means, whether meager or great. Needless to say this traveling band created no little stir in Galilee for it involved such a diverse group of persons–the formerly demon possessed, fishermen, former Zealots, a tax collector or two, Judeans, Galileans, the pious, the ordinary, men and women. If this was the guest list for the coming messianic banquet, it would surprise many who was included and who left out.

One of the villages Jesus deliberately stopped in as he moved from place to place in Galilee was Qana, site of the family wedding months before. Jesus had wanted to go and have further conversation with the basilikos, the royal official, especially since he knew the Herods, and Jesus was contemplating visiting another Herod’s territory. When he got to the man’s house in Qana however the house was in an uproar. Something was terribly wrong–the royal official’s son lay sick at Kefer-Nahum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in town and was knocking on his very door, he went to him and begged him to come to Kefer-Nahum and heal his son, who was close to death.

“Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official pleaded with Jesus saying, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus replied succinctly, “You may go to him. Your son will live.”
The man took Jesus at his word and a few hours later after sorting some important matters out, he departed, even though it was late in the day to be starting a journey and he traveled through the night. While he was still on the way there, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed in Jesus. This sign happened only a few days before the festival of Tabernacles was to be celebrated in Jerusalem. As Jesus left Qana with his disciples, he discovered that his brothers had been told he was near by and they came to speak with him on the road.

James with Joses, who were obviously beginning a journey somewhere as they had their traveling bags with them, came up to Jesus, and James said directly to him: “Leave Galilee and go to Judea so that your disciples in Judea may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret, or simply tours Galilee. Since you are doing all these signs and wonders, show yourself to the world.”

Jesus looked intently at his brother. He knew that his brothers did not believe in him, in the sense that they did not see him as the messiah, though they knew he could perform miracles. So Jesus paused to reflect on what James’ motive could be for saying this. Did he want to have Jesus off the scene in Galilee so his family could get back to normal? Were they wanting to shun him because he had not agreed to come home with them some weeks before? Was he genuinely wanting for Jesus to have more visibility, wanting him to be more well known? There were several possible reasons James might have said this.

Finally Jesus said to his brothers: “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world does not hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” Having said this, he stayed in Galilee with his cousins who lived in Qana overnight, for it was already evening, and Jesus did not eat that evening but went out under the stars and devoted himself to prayer and reflection. But the very next morning after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

As they left Qana, Simon asked, “so where shall we go now?”

“We are going to Judea to the Festival but this time we will not go the usual pilgrim’s road along the Jordan. We will go directly south from here.

“But that way leads through Samaria!” objected Simon the Zealot.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, and precisely for that reason it will bring us less attention. And after the Festival we will come back the same way, and go visit Jacob’s well,” replied Jesus.

“Jacob’s well is near Sychar, which is also in Samaria!” replied Simon.

“So it is Simon, so it is,” said Jesus with a smile.