When Jesus carried Jonathan. Saturday, 19th Week in ordinary time- Matthew 19: 13-15

The chatter about this new rabbi, Jesus, had reached an excited pitch in the town of Thamna, and Sapphira rushed in to tell Bernice what everyone was talking about. Bernice was unconcerned; her priority, as she rocked her crying baby, was to get him to quieten down. ‘If only’, she thought to herself, ‘she could get the new Rabbi in town to calm this baby who would not stop bawling’.

Three weeks of sleepless nights had made her a wreck. Sapphira would have done well to carry her baby for a while, instead she kept chattering away about Jesus; the excitement in Sapphira’s already shrill voice only made the baby cry more.

But Sapphira was not the only one excited about Jesus. News had trickled out of Capernaum; a girl, the daughter of Jarius the synagogue ruler, had been raised to life by Jesus. Sapphira‘s mouth never exhausted and even more now. All that Bernice heard was, ‘Jesus did this and Jesus did that’. All Bernice wished for was if Jesus could just get this baby to stop bawling; she needed the rest.

Thamna’s market place was abuzz too. The talk that hit the market square was dominated by the distinct compassionate character of this Rabbi, Jesus. He spoke with authority they said, unlike their own religious leaders and many had begun to regard Him as the Messiah.

The Pharisees were not too pleased with the developments; rumour had it that they were plotting a way to get rid of Him. That accounted for the hushed tones, in the market square for no one wanted to offend the rabbis. The escalating price of olives, which dominated yesterday’s news, was overshadowed by the story of the child from whom a demoniac had been cast off. Could this really be the Messiah?