Squatting down, Atretes removed one of the three roasted rabbits from the spit and put it on a wooden plate. He spooned bean, lentil, and corn mush beside it. “Sit over here,” he said to Rizpah and, when she obeyed, he handed it to her. He brushed her cheek lightly and then served himself. When she bowed her head to pray, Atretes watched her and waited until she finished.
Atretes was as ravenous for food as he had been for Rizpah all afternoon. He ate quickly, tossing bones into the fire. He finished the rabbit before Rizpah was half finished with hers.
“You can have the other one on the spit, Atretes,” Theophilus told him, amused. He had never seen Atretes so hungry. “I’ve already eaten.”
Atretes raised his brow at Rizpah. She nodded. “There’s plenty here for me and Caleb when he awakens.”
“I’ll hunt tomorrow,” Atretes told Theophilus as he slid the last roasted rabbit from the branch spit. “There are plenty of deer.”
Theophilus laughed despite his resolve not to do so. It would seem married life demanded added nourishment, but he curbed the temptation to remark on it. Atretes might appreciate manly humor, but Rizpah would be even more embarrassed. He leaned back, making himself comfortable against his pack. “I thought you were in a hurry to find your people.”
“We wait,” Atretes said decisively and flung a leg bone into the fire. “We stay here until you tell me everything you know about Jesus Christ.”
Theophilus could not have been more pleased by Atretes’ demand, but he was a soldier and bent to the practical. “What about the Mattiaci?”
“We’re on high ground,” Atretes said, not the least concerned.
“They attacked once. They could attack again.”
“They attack an enemy in a low clearing like the one we were in today. You wounded two. I killed four. They won’t come looking for us.” He tossed the last of the bones into the fire. “The Mattiaci are cowards.”
Atretes dismissed further discussion of tribal disputes with a return to his earlier demand. “Tell me about Jesus. Hadassah told me of his crucifixion and resurrection. I thought he was weak. Now, I know better. He is the true God, but I have questions. You say God sent Jesus. Yet you say Jesus is God. Explain.”
“Jesus is God, Atretes. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who dwells within you now, all are one.”
“How is that possible?”
“Some things are too wonderful for man to understand,” Theophilus said, spreading his hands and wishing Atretes had asked an easier question. “I’m a simple soldier for Christ and as clear an understanding as I have is that there is God the Father, awesome and unreachable because sin came into the world. And there is Jesus Christ, God the Son, sent to atone for sin and remove the veil from the Holy of Holies so we can go before the Almighty and have an intimate relationship with him as Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden.”
He saw a frown flicker across Atretes’ face, but plunged ahead. “The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us when we believe in Christ and are redeemed. It is through the Spirit that God reveals mysteries to us, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”
“And I have this spirit living inside me now?”
“The moment you accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit came to dwell within you.”
“Then I’m possessed by this spirit.”
“‘Possessed’ is not a word I’d use to describe it. The Holy Spirit abides in you at your invitation and acts as your helper.”
“I didn’t invite it in.”
“Do you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?”
“Yes. I believe he is the Living God.”
“And you accept that he is your Savior and Lord?”
“He is my God. I have sworn it.”
“Then know that Jesus has also given you the Holy Spirit. He told his disciples after his resurrection and before his ascension to the Father that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. He said they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. You’re a partaker of the promise because you believe.”
When Atretes asked who the disciples were, Theophilus told him.
“Perhaps they were more than men also,” Atretes said.
“They were ordinary men. Several were fishermen, one a tax collector, another an insurrectionist like you. There was nothing special about any of them except that Jesus chose them to be his followers. God chooses the ordinary and makes them extraordinary.” Theophilus saw Atretes’ confusion and felt insufficient for the task of answering and discussing spiritual questions. The German’s troubled frown was clear indication he was baffling rather than enlightening him.