‘Why do you sacrifice the beasts?’ Jesus was saying to them, as sharp as a nail.
An old man dressed in the garment of a scribe answered with paternal irritation, ‘It is God’s command, for the sins of the people.’
‘But David tells us it is a sin itself to bring before God’s face burnt offerings,’ Jesus returned. ‘Isaiah tells the same. The last lawful sacrifice was for the sake of the people of Israel, when a ram was killed in place of Abraham’s son, Isaac!’
The scribe laughed, and looked down with condescension, ‘Child! Do you presume to know more than the wise men and the priests of the Temple of Israel?’
Jesus looked at him. ‘Wisdom does not live only in the souls of priests and a Temple is not always made from marble and gold.’
A young rabbi asked the boy, ‘Tell us, child, what is the greatest commandment in the law?’
Jesus turned to him and said, ‘There are two: love the Lord with all your heart; and love your neighbour as you love yourself. On these two commandments hangs every law.’
A man in the crowds said, ‘He is smarter than you, Gamaliel!’
There was a round of laughter.
Mary did not look to see Gamaliel for her eyes were guided to another man, the high priest Ananias. He stood some way from the others, dressed in resplendent fine linen over which he wore the breastplate studded with gold and gemstones. His eyes met hers and what they reflected did not come from a heart dwelling in goodness. In that gaze she saw an old serpent coil itself, green and oily and smooth and it spoke to her thus:
Heavenly Eve! You may have escaped me in Paradise, but your heavenly child shall suffer all the tortures an earthly man can bear, and you shall not be there to comfort him!
The force of this communication pierced her heart and she made a shout, ‘Jesus!’ and she broke through the crowds to go to him and to take him by the hand, ‘We have worried three days for you and looked for you, come with us now…let us go home!’
But in her son’s eyes she saw the fire of a powerful spirit, wise in years. These were not the soft-spoken eyes of her son.
‘It is time for me to be in my father’s house, mother, and to be about my Father’s business.’
And it was so.
‡
‘But how do the two families become one, Lea? There have been great disputes over whether Jesus had brothers or not. Some have said yes, while others have argued that the brothers mentioned in the bible were only his cousins.’
‘Well, pairé, it is like this: Mary did not recover from her illness and died soon after their return from Jerusalem, but not before she whispered her dying wish into her husband’s ears: that he take Mariam into his house, to be a mother for their child and a good wife in his bed. And that is why, after an appropriate time passed, Joseph the Carpenter married Mariam and the two families became one. The brothers mentioned in the bible are actually only step-brothers, while James, the young son of Cleophas, the one who goes on to become a disciple, was a cousin. You see how natural it is?’
I saw it and I did not know what to say. I wrote instead.
11
THE RABBI
Gamaliel was so impressed with Jesus of Nazareth that he asked the child’s father to permit the boy to stay in Jerusalem and to come, from time to time, for instruction in his Academy.
But the boy had only been with him for some days when his mother died suddenly and he had to return home. In truth two Passovers would pass before he could come again to Jerusalem and by then he had grown into a young man of fifteen springs, tall for his age and upright of bones, with fair hair and eyes shining intelligently from out of that heart-shaped face.
Gamaliel was the son of Simon and the grandson of the famous Rabbi Hillel. Like his father and grandfather before him he was a Pharisee – a doctor of the law – and although he was not yet thirty springs he had been marked for greatness. He liked to indulge his imagination by classifying his many pupils in the same way that fishermen classified their fish, and it had worked well for him, that is, until Jesus came to him for instruction. For Jesus defied categorisation.
Yes, Jesus was well educated and could apply his knowledge to answer the most puzzling questions with eloquent perspicacity, but he did not wish to answer questions, his desire was always to ask them! Never before had Gamaliel found a pupil with knowledge and understanding who had no wish to proclaim it!
Jesus always came in autumn and remained with Gamaliel throughout the winter, learning the deeper truths and laws of the tradition of Israel. But as soon as spring announced itself, he would leave again for his home in Nazareth to help his father with his Carpentry. He came and went, and the short months they spent together grew precious to Gamaliel.