When Jesus Wept - By Bodie Page 0,8

asked.

“I hope for it,” I replied. “But I also pray we are not deluded by our hope.”

Pilgrims, inspired by John’s words, began to sing the old song my namesake, the shepherd David, had sung as he tended the flocks. The words, meant for the ears of the Messiah, must have irritated the soldiers and the hypocrites. They set a watch and lay down with drawn swords in fear we would rise up in rebellion.

Beneath the encircling bonds of their watchfires, we eagerly waited for dawn and the coming of our Messiah.

A deep baritone voice started the song, and we all joined in as one great choir:

“Why do the nations rage

and the people plot a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together

against the LORD and against his Anointed One.”5

I imagined myself among the ancient Hebrews as they left Egypt and camped in the wilderness. What song had my forefathers sung as they set their faces toward freedom and their masters pursued them from behind? How the cavalry of Pharaoh must have mocked the Jews!

“They say, ‘Let us break their bands asunder

and cast their cords of control from us.’

He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.

He speaks to them in his deep anger and troubles them

in his displeasure and deep fury, saying,

‘Yet I have anointed my King

firmly on my Holy hill of Zion.’

I will declare the decree of the Lord:

he said to me, ‘You are my Son;

this day I declare I have begotten you!

Ask of me, and I will give you the nations

as your inheritance, and the uttermost parts

of the earth as your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron;

you shall dash them in pieces like potters ware.’ ”6

Judah and I sang out with all our strength.

I imagined that the Temple spies and soldiers on the crests of the hill were frightened by the warning in the lyrics just as we who chanted were made still more bold.

“Now, therefore, O you kings,

act wisely; be instructed and warned,

O you rulers of the earth!

Serve the Lord with reverent awe

and worshipful fear!

Rejoice and be in high spirits with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry

and you perish in the way,

for soon shall his wrath be kindled.

Oh blessed are all those who seek refuge

and put their trust in him.”7

As our song resounded against the rocky slopes, I thought I heard the voices of many angels joining in.

I slept with the melody ringing in my ears.

Chapter 4

If I imagined the psalm would serve as warning to bring the religious imposters to their knees, I was mistaken. By the time morning dawned, the number of mockers and soldiers in the camp of the Pharisees had doubled. And still more were marching toward the Jordan in hopes of killing the Lion before he could roar.

Even before we knew who Messiah was, our world was divided by John the Baptizer’s announcement that the Son was now among us.

We had awakened just before sunrise as bakers and fruit sellers moved among us with heaping baskets. Word that John had said the Messiah was present and about to be revealed had reached the tiny villages and farms in the surrounding countryside. Weavers had abandoned looms, and elder shepherds had left flocks to the hirelings to come.

With these newcomers, the presence of skeptics and armed soldiers had increased. Like locusts threatening my vineyards when the leaves were still new, the scoffers attempted to devour joy and expectation of what was to come.

We washed and hurried through the morning prayers as the spaces beside the riverbank began to fill. I purchased bread, cheese, dates, and nuts, and drank deeply from the sweet wine we had brought from home.

Judah wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I told you this was quite a circus.”

I gestured across the river toward a troop of uniformed Herodian foot soldiers who had arrived while we slept. They remained on the east side of the Jordan River, in the Perean territory belonging to their master, Herod Antipas.

We knew they would not cross over into the west where John the Baptizer stayed. The west was governed by Rome, which, so far at least, tolerated John’s preaching. The troops of Antipas could only wait like hungry jackals in hopes that the Baptizer would foolishly cross the watery border.

But John the Baptizer was no fool.

Judah nudged me hard as yet another disguised gang of armed watchers arrived on the west bank. “If there’s going to be violence, neither side