20.12.09 - Unsuspecting Witness

Eli couldn’t quite explain what had caused him to keep coming back. And yet he had kept coming back. Here he was again, standing in a crowd, listening to men talking about Jesus.

A few weeks ago he had stood in another crowd – a very different crowd in very different circumstances. His mind surveyed the various previous occasions. Most involved crowds and he had always just been one of the crowd – anonymous. How many times had he had contact with Jesus? Five. He remembered each one clearly.

He remembered the first occasion as if it was yesterday, yet it had been 33 years ago and he had been but an eleven year old boy. The images came flooding back into his mind as they had many times over the years. He remembered the absolute terror when the night sky and the paddocks had lit up brilliantly. He was just a lad but even his father and the other men had been petrified. Rough, tough men shook and whimpered and tried to hide. Shepherds didn’t feel well equipped to handle the supernatural.

Then angels appeared. Clearly Judgement Day had arrived and they weren’t ready for it. In fact, they were far from ready. Shepherds were among the least devout of Jews. They were rough and tough and were known for their dishonesty and godless lifestyle. They had given little thought to God – weren’t at all ready to meet Him – hadn’t tidied up their act – thought they’d do that some other time and hadn’t done it.

Eli had felt very proud being asked to accompany the men and look after the sheep. He admired their roughness and toughness; was thrilled by their manliness and their bravado. He wanted to be one of them.

As he reflected now, there seemed to be a great irony in the fact that these “men’s men” had behaved like a pack of women, crying and screaming. Actually, he thought, maybe women wouldn’t have done that. Maybe women might have been less terrified when God appeared. His heroes of virility had behaved worse than a pack of women.

Then one angel had spoken, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” They had expected judgement. The message was exactly the opposite: good news of great joy. They had thought they were being targeted for their godlessness. And yet they were, apparently, being chosen for a privilege – to be among the first to see the Messiah.

Shepherds were not regular synagogue-goers. Others would leave them for dead in term of knowledge of the scriptures, but they knew enough to know that God had promised a Messiah who would be Israel’s Saviour. They knew enough to know that the Messiah would reign from His thrown eternally. They knew enough to expect a great conquering warrior.

Yet they were being told that they would find the Messiah as a new-born wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And it was so. There He was, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. That night they had spent a long time in silence, just staring. They were awestruck. The father and mother had said a few things but not much. There was just a great sense of being in the presence of God – and of it not being scary – although there was an overwhelming sense of majesty and silence seemed to be the right response.

After some time, one-by-one they had moved outside – and still remained silent. Then the mood slowly morphed to joy – overflowing and exhilarating joy. They couldn’t contain themselves. They had rushed through the streets of Bethlehem dancing and singing and crying with joy. That wasn’t altogether shepherd-like either! Eli smiled as he considered how thin had been the rough, tough facade. One little encounter with God and these men were clearly very different from what he had seen previously.

None of them had continued as shepherds. Somehow they couldn’t go back to that. Some had found Rabbis to teach them more of the scriptures. One or two had taken on more noble trades. Some had become sort-of mystics who always talked about that experience.

Eli’s father had sent him to live with an uncle so as to learn a new trade. Uncle Josiah bought cloth from travelling merchants and sold it in his little shop. It meant that Eli could often listen in on conversations. But for many years there was no news of the Messiah. It was strange really. The Messiah was to rule the whole world and yet, if that baby had really been the Messiah, he had disappeared. Thirty years passed. There was always the question in Eli’s mind. He had not been able to shake off the memory of that night and yet there was nothing more. He began to doubt if it had happened at all or had he just dreamt it. No, all of the shepherds had experienced it. So why had he heard nothing?

Then one day there were rumours about a baptism. John the Baptist had been preaching and baptising in the desert for some time but, apparently, one day a man had come to be baptised and John had refused; had said that this man should baptise him; had said he was not worthy to even tie this man’s sandals.

Eli’s interest was immediately aroused. It might not be the same person, of course, but then again it might be. By this time Uncle Josiah had died and the business had been left to Eli. He would lose income but that didn’t matter. He had to close the shop and try to find this man. He doubted he would recognise him from having seen Him as a baby but he was still driven by curiosity.

The name was the same. The parents had said his name was to be Jesus. And now people talked about a Jesus of Nazareth. The name was right but there were thousands of Jesuses. The location wasn’t right but who knows what had happened to that family. It could be.

It was a fruitless search. He went to the Jordan river. Plenty of people were talking about what had happened but, it seemed, Jesus had gone off into the wilderness.

Eli returned and re-opened his shop. All this time passing and the man seeming to want to hide. Could this really be the Messiah?

Over the next three years though, merchants and travellers frequently had stories about this Jesus. Eli did have a couple of opportunities to see Him. One time, he had again closed the shop and gone with throngs of others to a mountainside where Jesus had taught them. Eli kept looking at Him wondering if this was the same person. How could he know for sure? It seemed highly likely. The baby was to be the Messiah and this man was a sensation.

The teaching was like nothing Eli had heard before, and he had heard quite a lot. Since that night at Bethlehem he had gone to the synagogue regularly and had gone out of his way to listen to the rabbis. He had been hungry for more understanding. But this teaching was different. In fact, it contradicted some of what he had heard before. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also... You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your Father in heaven.’

How could Jesus speak against the ancient teachings? And yet it seemed as if He had the authority to do so and that He spoke of a higher law that other teachers knew nothing of. The crowd left amazed – shaking their heads in wonder. Eli wanted to go up to Him and say that he had visited Him soon after his birth. He actually wondered if Jesus would remember him. You wouldn’t expect a baby to remember, but he wondered if this baby might.

Hmmm, it all seemed a bit weird. Maybe Jesus would think he was stupid; just name dropping. Or what would Jesus say to him. After all the teaching, the last thing Jesus had said to the crowd was, “Now go and do it. Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock.” Eli was fascinated by the teaching but he wasn’t sure about doing it. Turn the other cheek? Love his enemies? Store up treasure in heaven? He actually quite liked the more than comfortable income the shop produced. Treasure on earth sounded good. Seek first God’s kingdom? He suspected that if he actually spoke to Jesus he would feel an even greater obligation to do what he had heard. It was safer to maintain a little more distance. He would be a fascinated observer, but only an observer.

Some people were following Jesus – literally following Him, travelling around from town to town with Him. Twelve had been selected for special training. One time, two of his followers had come to Eli’s town and had healed the sick, raised the dead and cast out demons and then said, “The Kingdom of God is near.”

Again, it raised huge questions for Eli. This was staggering stuff. He had never seen anything like it. His life had been punctuated by incredible events that were beyond explanation. It was amazing that Jesus did these things. It was even more amazing that He could empower His followers to do them. If Eli became a follower maybe he too could heal the sick and raise the dead.

At the same time, he saw that not all of the townsfolk welcomed them. Some called them charlatans and accused them of being demon possessed. Some tried to drive them out of town. It would be great healing the sick and having everyone honour you, Eli thought, but he wasn’t so keen on having people hate him.

There were many reports of miracles. Actually, he did have one other opportunity to witness one himself. Once again he was an anonymous person in a crowd when he saw with his own eyes that whole crowd fed with just two fish and five loaves. Again he went back to his shop blown away and yet not sure. There were reports of Jesus walking on water and all sorts of things. Part of Eli wanted to say to everyone, “You know, I visited Him as a baby” but part of him was not sure what reaction he would get. Some loved Jesus. Some hated Him.

And in the end, those who hated Him won. It had not been by design that Eli had been in Jerusalem seven weeks earlier. He had gone up for the Passover not knowing that Jesus would be there or what would unfold. Was God putting him in all of these situations? Did God have some sort of plan that Eli should have been there at the beginning and there at the end?

Anonymous in the crowd, Eli had watched Jesus get nailed to the cross and had seen the cross elevated so that Jesus hung on those nails through His flesh. Some in the crowd mocked and cheered. Eli didn’t. He couldn’t. The angels had said He was the Messiah. At times, all the signs were that He was. Now it was clear that He wasn’t. Now he hung defeated. There was not even the slightest hint of majesty. And, if he wasn’t now, Eli supposed he never had been. It was all a very confusing deception.

Eli’s mind flicked back to the present. Jesus’ followers were preaching in many different languages. Eli had seen, or heard about, numerous miracles in the last three years but what Jesus’ followers were saying now trumped them all. They claimed Jesus had risen from the dead and that they had met Him. They boldly identified themselves with Jesus and accused the crowd of having killed the Messiah. They were either mad and likely to lose their own lives, or it was true.

All of these years, Eli had been part of the crowd – entertained, challenged, awestruck, but unwilling to make a decision. Always returning to his shop, intrigued, challenged even that God had, it seemed, chosen him to see these things, but never standing up and identifying with Jesus. Here he was again, just one of the crowd. And being accused of having killed the Messiah.

“Brothers, what must we do to be saved?” someone called out. The Jesus-follower called Peter replied, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Be baptised in the name of this One called Jesus? Eli remembered that the parents had said, “His name is to be Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.”

Eli stepped forward. “I need to be baptised in His name,” he said, and 3000 others followed.