John's Story (8 page)

U
naware until he opened his eyes that Ignatius had left and quietly pulled the door shut behind him, John silently rose and moved to the other end of the room. Polycarp slipped into the chair and took quill in hand, dipping it into the ink until the liquid was drawn into the stem. John was aware of Polycarp’s eyes, showing his readiness, but John was also determined not to utter one word he was not entirely convinced was from the mouth of God Himself.

John steepled his index fingers and pressed them against his lips as he slowly walked to the window and back, thinking, open to the leading of the Spirit, listening for that still, small voice. And as John painstakingly began to softly speak, Polycarp applied the ink to the page.

According to John

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Polycarp looked up, trembling. “Master, it is as if I am in the presence of the Almighty. You are speaking with His authority.”

“I too feel it, son.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

John sat on the bed, folding his arms and hanging his head as if exhausted. Finally he whispered, “I need tell of the baptizer. Bear with me as I ponder this, Polycarp.” He sat another moment, then lifted his head. “All right,” he said. “Thank you, Lord.

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through Him might believe.”

“Pardon me, rabbi,” Polycarp said. “Just so I understand. ‘That all through
John
might believe’?”

The old man nodded.

“He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

“Give me a moment, master,” Polycarp said. “This is overwhelming. I have never heard anything like it.”

“Nor have I. Tell me when you are ready.”

“Ready.”

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

“John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, “He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.”’

“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

“You know, Polycarp, I was a disciple of the baptizer before I met Jesus.”

“So you heard him say these things yourself?”

John nodded. “I recall well when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’

“He told them boldly and forthrightly, ‘I am not the Christ.’

“And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’

“He said, ‘I am not.’

“‘Are you the Prophet?’ they wanted to know.

“And he answered, ‘No.’

“Polycarp, they were most frustrated. They said, ‘Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?’

“He said: ‘I am “
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
” as the prophet Isaiah said.’”

“Pardon me, rabbi,” Polycarp said, “but who were these who questioned him?”

“They had been sent from the Pharisees. And they asked him, ‘Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’

“The baptizer answered, ‘I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.’”

“Where was this, sir?” Polycarp said.

“In Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. Now listen, because this next marks the first time I saw the Lord.”

“What must that have been like?”

“You cannot imagine. The next day the baptizer saw a man coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, “After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.” I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.’

“Now, Polycarp, James and I stood there, mouths agape. The baptizer had been preaching about the Messiah in our presence for so long that we had begun to wonder if we would ever see Him. And suddenly there He was. I was well aware of the Scriptures that foretold that He would have ‘no form nor comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him,’ so I was not surprised that He was not handsome. But as for me, I confess I was surprised at how plain He at first appeared. I am speaking now only of his features, the cut of his face. He merely looked like one of us, but James and I both agreed later that there was something about his bearing, his carriage. Perhaps it was because John the Baptist immediately identified Him, I don’t know. But there seemed such a peace and serenity about this Man, it was as if I imagined all the knowledge of the universe resided in Him.

“The baptizer had said that God Himself, the one who had sent him to baptize with water, had told him, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And Polycarp, that is what I saw, the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and remaining on that Man. Even the baptizer admitted that he did not know this Man—surprising when you realize that they were cousins—but the Spirit descending on Him made it plain to all of us who He was. John said, ‘I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.’

“This remains with me as if it were yesterday. When John baptized Him and He rose up out of that water, the heavens opened and a voice said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ You can imagine, then, why it so infuriated me when Cerinthus represented as fact that Jesus was not the Son of God.”

Polycarp nodded.

“The next day, I was standing with my friend Andrew—another of John’s disciples—as Jesus approached again. John said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God!’”

“This is Peter’s brother, Andrew?”

John nodded. “Polycarp, I was so drawn to Jesus that I could barely tear my eyes away. I looked to the baptizer—for permission, I suppose. We were his disciples, after all. And I noticed that Andrew was doing the same, merely looking to John for the freedom to follow Jesus. The baptizer smiled knowingly and nodded, and we moved quickly to fall in step with the Lord.

“Jesus turned, and seeing us following, said, ‘What do you seek?’”

John laughed and shook his head. “Polycarp, I didn’t know what to say. And Andrew was clearly at a loss. I said, ‘Rabbi, where are You staying?’”

Polycarp dropped his quill and roared. “You asked Him that?”

“I didn’t know what else to say.”

“And how did He answer?”

John nodded to Polycarp to signal him to keep writing.

“He said, ‘Come and see.’ We went and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day.

“Then Andrew ran to find his brother and said, ‘Peter, we have found the Messiah.’ And he brought Peter to Jesus.

“As soon as Jesus saw Peter, He said, ‘You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas,’ which, as you know, means ‘stone.’”

“Jesus knew who he was?”

John nodded. “He was God, son. He knew everything.”

“And how were the others called?”

“The next day we followed Jesus to Galilee, and He found Philip and said, ‘Follow Me.’ Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’

“Nathanael was skeptical. He said, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’”

“He actually
said
that?” Polycarp said.

John smiled. “This would be the wrong place to be making up stories, would it not? Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’

“When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, He said, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!’”

“He knew Nathanael too?”

“I told you, Polycarp. He knew all. Nathanael was as astounded as you are. He said, ‘How do You know me?’

“And Jesus said, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’”

“You never told me this before, master,” Polycarp said. “If Jesus had said something like that to me, I would have known without question that—”

“You’re getting ahead of me.”

“Sorry.”

“Nathanael immediately said, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’

“Jesus said, ‘Because I said to you, “I saw you under the fig tree,” do you believe? You will see greater things than these. Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’”

F
ollowing a brief rest, John and Polycarp decided to get some air and exercise and venture out onto the stone streets of Ephesus. John was growing concerned about pressure in his chest and a dull ache behind his breastbone, but he chose not to mention this to his young friend.

“John the Baptizer must have been a fascinating man,” Polycarp said. “What drew you to him?”

“Well, he was a man of nature, not unlike my brother and me. But he was not a fisherman—he spent his time in the wilderness, eating off the land.”

“Locusts and honey.”

John smiled. “Matthew writes of the baptizer as I remember him, wandering the hills of Judea wearing a covering made from the skin of a camel, hair and all. He also wore a thick leather belt. Not a city man.”

“Yet he became known. How did people find him out there?”

“Frankly, Polycarp, the man was a curiosity. He would venture close to the highways and byways, and whenever a crowd, or even a small group, passed, he would begin to preach. I daresay that early on most considered him a madman, ranting and raving in the wilds.”

“But you did not see him that way.”

“At first we did. In fact, James and I were on our way to deliver some fish and had to move out of the road as an entourage passed coming from the other way. It was obviously some dignitary, his curtained carriage surrounded by servants and slaves and animals. They were kicking up quite the dust storm.

“Well, just before they reached us, James nudged me and nodded in the direction of the strange man on the hillside, crouching by a rock and watching the road. In James’s eyes I read mischief. He probably thought the man a lunatic and considered making sport of him.

“But when that caravan drew near us, the man began to shout and gesture. ‘Beware!’ he cried, ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’

“James raised his eyebrows and looked at me, on the verge of laughter. He whispered, ‘Oh, it is, is it?’ And as if the man had heard James, he shouted, ‘Yes, it is!’

“James froze and stared as the man ventured down from the hillside and commanded the caravan to stop. The dignitary, I still know not who he was, demanded to know what was the holdup. Well, the man we eventually came to know as John the Baptizer took command. He stood at the side of the road proclaiming the imminent coming of the promised one, the Deliverer of Israel. And when the official commanded his people to move again, the baptizer roared, ‘You ignore the signs at your peril, for surely the day is coming when you will fall on your knees before the King!’

“The master swept back the veil of his traveling chamber and glared out at John, demanding, ‘Are you a bandit? If you are, show your weapon so I may instruct my guards to kill you.’

“John fired back, ‘You threaten the anointed one of God, the forerunner of the Messiah? You are a snake, a viper, a fornicator, a liar!’

“‘Kill him!’ the diplomat yelled, but as his men drew their swords, John rushed forward, clearly unarmed.

“‘Beware, for I come to you under the authority of the Most High God. You shall bring no harm to me. Examine yourself, O representative of Rome, and woe to you if you are found wanting at that great and terrible day!’

“That must have scared even the official, because the caravan soon rumbled from sight. I was young, about the age you are now, and this wild man frightened me. I urged James that we should be about our business, but he was plainly curious. ‘You are anointed of God?’ he said.

“‘Call me John,’ the baptizer said.

“‘That is my name too,’ I managed.

“‘And you are brothers,’ he said, ‘fishermen, on your way to market.’

“Polycarp, I was taken aback. I said, ‘Surely you must be of God to know that.’ And with that the crazy man threw his head back and laughed loud and long.

“He said, ‘It takes no otherworldly ability to divine this! You look alike, you smell of fish, you are carrying salted fish containers, and you are headed toward town in the middle of the day.’

“I felt foolish, but I could not be angry, as he said this with such good humor. James had lost his mischief, and while the man looked all the more uncivilized the closer we got to him—uncut hair and unshaved beard—the more we sensed something in his eyes and in his voice. While he had rasped and growled while chastising the public official, his natural tone of voice was low and soothing. He was so earnest. He told James and me that he would be glad to tell us of the coming Messiah. We had heard of this for years in our synagogue school, and I confess that we did not believe him at first. But it didn’t take long being around him to know that he was no madman.

“Word spread throughout the region that he was preaching in the wilderness and baptizing people, and they began to come from all over.

“We spent many days with John, learning from him and witnessing his bold approach to announcing the coming of the Lord.

“When my brother James left the baptizer, he urged John to be careful about so brazenly calling down government and religious leaders. ‘You could get yourself killed.’

“‘That is why I am here,’ John told us. But we had no idea what he meant.”

“I suppose we had best start heading back,” Polycarp said, but as they turned around John became aware of a commotion on Curetes Street.

“Not again,” the old man said. “Cerinthus.”

“Ignore him,” Polycarp said. “Your best effort against him is what we are doing at the house.”

“I cannot pull myself away,” John said, and he moved to stand at the back of the crowd, heart pounding and chest tightening even more. As soon as John positioned himself, Cerinthus noticed him.

“Is it not John, the last of Jesus’ disciples? Are you beginning to see the light, old man? Seeing the wisdom of youth, of a fresh perspective? Would that you would become a disciple of mine.”

John wanted to shout, “Never!” as rage overtook him again. The crowd was growing and would soon be larger than the one that had gathered outside the stadium. All these people being led astray! John had spent his life teaching of salvation by grace through faith, and in a matter of a few months this blasphemer could ruin everything. People
wanted
to play a part in their own salvation by weighing their good deeds against their bad, somehow earning heaven. But John knew that was futile. As Paul had said, “There is none righteous, no not one.”

John allowed Polycarp to pull him away before he said anything, but it took the entire walk back to the house church before his pulse returned to normal and he stopped panting.

As they reached his chamber, John motioned Polycarp to the desk. “Not that I needed it,” he said, “but God has provided even more impetus to carry on. Let’s begin immediately.”

“What comes next?” Polycarp said. “How long were you with Jesus before you witnessed a miracle?”

“Only a few days. He had been invited, we all had, to the wedding of a friend of Jesus’ best friend, Lazarus. You should have seen those two together. They could talk seriously, of course. Often they would get away to pray together. But the good humor too! How they laughed. They would wrestle, tease each other, and they even tricked each other just for fun.”

“Jesus did this too?”

“Of course! Oh, He was a serious Man, yes. A Man of sorrows, the Scriptures say, and acquainted with grief. But he was also able to find joy and laughter. Lazarus was with us the night we sat around a fire on the shore in Galilee and Jesus slapped at something on His neck, then slowly pulled His hand away and toward the light of the flames to reveal that He had crushed a biting insect.

“No one thought anything of it until He studied the tiny creature in his palm, then carefully rolled it over with His thumb. As He sat there, seeming amused at our reactions, He held out his palm for all to see that the bug had been restored to life. It soon flew away.”

“You must put that in your account.”

“Only if the Spirit leads. Later, before James and I retired, we talked long into the night about what we had seen. Finally my brother concluded, ‘It only makes sense, John. If He is who the baptizer said He is, and if He is who He said He is, He created the world and everything in it. That gives Him power over life and death.’”

“And so then He began healing people all over the area?”

“Not yet. He often said His time had not yet come. We never knew what to make of that. He even said that to His mother at the wedding when she asked Him to act. That shocked me. It sounded disrespectful at first, but she plainly did not take it that way. It was almost as if she hadn’t heard it. Perhaps she understood Him at some deeper level.”

“We must get all this down, teacher,” Polycarp said, quill in hand.

“Not all of it. Just the important things. Let readers glean from it what they will. The wedding at Cana was on our third day there. Jesus and all His disciples were invited. Mary, Jesus’ mother, came and whispered to Him—in my hearing, as I sat on one side of Him and Lazarus on the other—‘They have no wine.’

“Now, I thought it strange that she would tell Him that, and apparently so did Jesus. He said, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’

“But Mary, without another word, said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’

“There were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the waterpots with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, ‘Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.’

“When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said, ‘Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!’

“Polycarp, if any of us had had any doubts about who Jesus was, they were gone. He had manifested His glory, and we all believed in Him.”

“I can only imagine,” Polycarp said quietly. “Who could not have believed after that? Seeing it must have seemed like a dream to you.”

“It did, and yet it was so real. And do not forget, we did not only tell this tale and some of us write it, but we also were among those who tasted the wine. Do you have an inkling what such must have tasted like? I have not had its like since. It was as if the grapes had been plucked plump, directly from vines in the sun, and pressed just before pouring, and yet the nectar hit our tongues as if it had been aged not only to the perfect season, but also to the perfect day, yea the perfect hour. You know, Polycarp, that the Greeks believe wine is the life-giving drink of the gods. Well, in this case, it is no myth. Little wonder that Jesus would later use the cup to represent His life-giving blood.

“I hope without my being overly didactic I am making clear the point of all this. Do you see the import of Jesus’ actions here, and why I include this?”

“Tell me.”

“This was clearly a miracle, but it did not save a life, did not still a storm. It merely saved a host from embarrassment. On the other hand, it did so much more. It established Jesus as divine. He was a miracle worker and showed Himself as the very source of life. That’s why I conclude that it was the beginning of signs.

“After this He, His mother, His brothers, and we disciples went down to Capernaum, and we stayed in Peter’s home. But we were soon on our way. Passover was at hand, and Jesus told us it had been His custom since childhood to spend it in Jerusalem. I daresay, Polycarp, while this was early in our time with Him, it quickly became one of the most momentous. To be frank, we wondered if He could be pushed to anger. He was a man’s man, don’t get me wrong. He had the muscle and sinew and skin of a man who had worked all His life with His hands. But He was so soft-spoken, so kind, we talked among ourselves about whether He would be a good mate should trouble ever break out. He appeared strong and agile enough, but that is not what struck you when you looked at Him.”

“What struck you?”

“His eyes. As I’ve said, He was not a particularly handsome man, but there was something in his countenance, in his eyes, that seemed able to bore into your soul, your heart, your mind. He asked each of us about ourselves frequently, but we never once had the impression He was asking questions to which He did not already know the answers. And whenever any of us embellished our own backgrounds, not lying—certainly not that, but, you know, shading a story to make ourselves look more godly or devout—a look of amusement came over Him and we were forced, without a word from Him, to correct our account right then.

“But nothing seemed to bother Him. When things went wrong, as they often did with that many men traveling here and there, He never seemed to trouble Himself over His own comfort. But, I mean, He was the man! The leader. We were His followers. And yet He worried more about us and our comfort.

“Well, I must say, whatever image we had formed of Him changed soon after we arrived in Jerusalem. Being fishermen, James and I preferred solitude to the bustling crowds at the feast, but they seemed to invigorate the Lord. His eyes lit up and He was reminded of stories of Passovers past, especially the now famous one when He was twelve and His parents lost track of him shortly after their departure. He was pointing out the broad streets where He and his brothers had run and played, and as we neared the great temple He appeared deep in thought before telling us of how He had found it so fascinating to talk with the elders. In truth, of course, He had taught them and astounded them.

“But as we reached the outer courts His demeanor changed. His face flushed, His jaw was set. There were no more stories as His eyes flashed this way and that, taking in all the commerce being conducted in the stalls where men were selling oxen and sheep and doves. The money changers were doing a brisk business.

“As we watched, transfixed, Jesus made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple, with their sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned their tables.