Early dawn found them on their way, having arisen well before daylight, packed fresh clothing, loaded the animals and said their good-byes to Mary, Mary Magdalene and the other women.

Several of the women had worked many hours to make sure their clothing was in order, and Peter knew Mary Magdalene had stoked a fire in their largest cooking oven, hanging Jesus' soft inner cloak of the finest wool in the room to dry. The good woman knew enough to keep the garment well away from the fire, hanging it up over wooden pegs so as to spread it out, but not let the fabric dry too quickly.

They had wanted to escape notice as much as they could, and so, at the expense of several hours' sleep, they had packed up and left before most of the city was awake.

Their route took them almost straight north for some hours, following the course of the creek that drained into the Sea of Galilee, and then they turned upstream toward the northwest and followed the narrow valley of a tributary to its source, crested a rugged ridge of lower mountains with the snowcapped peak of Hermon visible off to their right, and saw the blue Mediterranean through the haze in the distance.

They used a little-traveled trail away from the main roads, Jesus preferring the solitude.

Whenever they traveled like this, Peter could relax and devote his mind solely to the efforts of their progress.

Their animals were nondescript, their clothing plain, and their appearance like that of any other group of travelers. Peter knew it was only rarely that Jesus was recognized, and then only if someone had been in direct conversation with Him (or confrontation, more likely) in the past.

Up here, descending a narrow defile along a creek that led to the sea, they were departing Galilee and entering the Syro-Phoenician coast. Peter passionately hoped the Lord wouldn't mind spending a few days along the beaches, with fishing villages nearby, or even in Tyre (which the Arabs pronounced "Tsur"), where Peter would be able to chat with the tradesmen, hear of the latest gossip from passing coasters who carried trade goods from the Grecian islands to Syria, and down the Palestinian coast to Egypt and Africa. There would always be a few of the strange-looking Dhows from the Nile anchored in Tyre, and some galleys from Rome, too, likely. Here, among these gentile people, they would be completely anonymous.

Peter didn't like the gentiles much; he had a natural aversion to them that was probably built into him from the dozens of sessions in the synagogues when he was a boy. Ancient Israel had mixed itself among the gentiles, Peter was taught, and God's judgments followed. Had they utterly exterminated the pagan tribes like the Hivites, Jebusites, Perizzites, Philistines (they were entering ancient Philistia even now) and others, they would have been spared the centuries-long conflicts that came.

That night they camped along a vineyard wall, paying the owner for use of his stable and for fodder. Tomorrow they would reach the sea.

The next two or three days were marvelous for Peter. They traveled little, and Jesus seemed content to allow them plenty of leisure time. Several times they waded out into the surf, and the few that knew how to swim enjoyed diving through the breakers and racing one another back and forth.

Peter was glad Jesus had allowed them this time for relaxation. Jesus came swimming alongside, the clear water, blue sky and foaming breakers dazzlingly brilliant in the bright sun, and suggested a race to Peter. It had been all Peter could do to stay even with Him, but it had been neck and neck until they tired and then Jesus, laughing with the joy of flailing away at the waves, turned toward shore and He and Peter ran splashing through the shallower surf to lie in the sun and let the beads of moisture slowly dry on their skin, feeling the stickiness that came with the tiny rings of whitish salt that remained where each droplet dried. Peter saw that Jesus had fallen asleep, and wondered if his own beard were crusted with sand and salty brine like Jesus' was.

Later they all washed themselves free of the saltwater in a creek that came tumbling along through the rocks to form brackish pools in the dunes. It was a memorable night, for two of them had tried their luck with hand lines while wading in the surf, and they had caught five large fish, bluish-gray in color, that could be seen chasing small fish through the shallows. Peter had seen the type before at a fishmonger's shed down in Joppa, and they proved delicious eating. They scooped out a hollow in the sand near the creek, lined it with rocks, and then, after cleaning the fish, lined their bodies with herbs, wrapped them in large grape leaves wet from the creek, and covered them over with a layer of clean sand. They started a fire over the top of the fish, and, after it had burnt down to glowing coals, scraped the ashes away, took out the fish from their thick wrappings to find them thoroughly baked. The flesh fell easily away from the bones and had a succulent moist and tender flavor. The fish, together with dried fruit, fresh berries and a dessert of grapes followed by a sip of wine from the wineskins, made a memorable meal.

Peter had enjoyed that day and evening meal immensely. It was fun to lean back and enjoy some songs together that evening, listening to the occasional stamping of their animals' feet, the distant sound of the surf, and talking into the late hours over a dwindling camp fire.

Peter wondered if Jesus' shoulders and back were as warm as his own. Peter knew he had been accustomed to the sun, but it had been many months now since he had labored on his boat for days on end, stripped to the waist, or even entirely naked, and he noted how Jesus' back and shoulders didn't appear even as accustomed to the sun's rays as Peter's own.

They packed up and moved further north along the coast the next day and found lodgings in a small village. It was here their delightful vacation came to an abrupt end.

A woman, one of the dark Canaanitish people who lived in the Phoenician shore, sidled up to Simon the Canaanite and began questioning him when she grew curious about the group of men with their packs and animals, and without any women or children along. She knew where they came from just by looking at the striping on their robes.

It turned out she had heard many of the stories about this "Jesus of Nazareth" and His miracles from some Syrian traders who had been present in some of the large Galilean cities who had seen some of Jesus' miracles.

She had been there yesterday, and now here she was again! Pestering Simon and the others, she asked, "Which one is Jesus? Who is He? Where is this 'Jesus of Nazareth I've got a daughter terribly afflicted by a demon. Could He come and heal her?"

On this occasion Peter saw what was happening: The woman had approached Simon, Judas, Matthew and two of the others as they were inspecting some fruits in a shop, and Peter urged Jesus, James and John to move on ahead in the hopes the woman wouldn't spot Jesus and cause some public disturbance.

The last thing Peter wanted right now was another riotous crowd scene. He was still shaken from their loss of so many disciples; still concerned about the attitudes of disappointment in some, and hoped they could extend their stay along this pleasant coast for at least a few more days.

Repeatedly some of them had tried to send the woman away.

Peter thought he'd better inform the Lord about it, and so brought up the statement Jesus had made about not going into gentile areas, and that He was sent only to the "lost sheep of the House of Israel."

Peter said, "Let's send her away, Lord, because she is whining along after us continually, and is beginning to cause a good deal of public notice!"

Jesus agreed, "That's right, I wasn't sent but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel," He said.

But the woman had apparently caught some of the men’s glances too many times, for here she came straight toward them. She looked at Jesus, fell down on her knees and grabbed Him by the ankles, sobbing out, "Lord, help me! Help me!"

Jesus looked down at her but decided not to respond, and said nothing.

The woman continued pleading, persisting in hanging on to Jesus' feet even though He made as if to leave. Peter was about to seize her by the shoulders and lift her up when Jesus warned him with a glance and said to the woman, "It is not fit to take the children's meat and cast it to the dogs; the children must first be filled!"

She answered, "Yes, Lord, that's true, but still the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the children's table! "

Surprised by this humble attitude, Jesus quickly answered the woman, "Lady, you have great faith. It will be done unto you exactly as you wish!"

He told the woman to go away to her home, that her daughter would be healed.

Sure enough, the woman went back to her house and found her daughter stretched out upon the bed, just as normal as ever, with the demon gone!

Peter had pled with Jesus to leave at once, to head back to their camp of the other night and avoid any noisy mobs, but Jesus said no and seemed content to wait for the woman's return.

Surely nothing could be gained by remaining here any further. Of what use could these gentiles be, Peter wondered? Even if Jesus managed to impress them by the thousands with His signs and wonders, would they be of any real use when the revolution occurred?

They would never be accepted in Jerusalem—the Jews would reject them outright—and if Jesus wanted to impress the Syrians, then the place to do it was Damascus, or some of the larger cities, not here in the villages of the seacoast.

But Peter's arguments fell on deaf ears and, sure enough, here came an excited crowd, with the woman in the van, excitedly rolling her eyes, gesticulating, crying out aloud and pointing to Jesus and the others, saying, "There they are—there He is—didn't I tell you? That's the famous Healer, the Jesus from Nazareth, the One they say is the Messiah!"

Peter knew the vacation was over.

Though it took a time to disengage themselves from the curious townsfolk, they finally managed to gain the main road again and so headed back down toward Tyre, passing through its narrow streets and crowded warehouse area, stopped briefly in Sidon and continued back toward Galilee.

Surely they hadn't come this arduous distance just for the sake of this single event? Peter wondered. They discussed it among themselves on the trip back to Galilee, which was accomplished much more rapidly than their journey here.

They went further south, along the coast, before turning eastward to cross the hills, so arriving in the mountains near Galilee not far from the place where Jesus had delivered His Sermon on the Mount.

Though he was still mystified by many of Jesus' seeming moods, or some of the things He said, he was learning how Jesus never went out of His way to fit the mold of other people, acting as they expected Him to act, saying things the way they wanted them said, satisfying their vanity and pride by being exactly the kind of "Messiah" they expected!

Peter knew there were those who would have been outraged when Jesus first ignored, and then turned down, the Canaanitish woman's tearful requests; they would have surely stumbled at His strong statement about it not being fitting that the children's meat should be "cast to the dogs." Some wanted Jesus to go about emptying graveyards, exhausting Himself by running about the countryside on a fast horse, healing every single sick person within hundreds of miles.

Some were positive Jesus wanted nothing so badly as to spend time with them in their own homes, and to listen to their problems and their personal ideas and philosophies. Peter was learning more and more about human nature, and about vanity, and ego.

He was even learning a little about his own, hopefully.

No, Jesus just didn't fit the mold.

He never yet tried to make a show of a miracle, Peter knew, unless it was a completely private show to the disciples themselves, like that dumbfounding time of walking on water, or privately raising Jairus' daughter from the dead!

If it hadn't been for those powerful miracles, Peter knew several of the twelve would have gone away when the whole group of others left, just because they were angry when Jesus wouldn't start the revolution then, and had said what He did about His body being "bread from heaven" and that they had to eat of His flesh, and (Peter winced a little) "drink His blood."

Whatever He meant by this, Peter knew He would make it clear in time.

Meanwhile, Peter could ponder whether this seeming aloofness of Jesus wasn't hurting the cause.

Even though He might have not gone out of His way here and there to rush off and perform some special miracle for someone, Peter knew Jesus could always be depended upon to show great compassion when families were especially grieved with terrible personal problems, sickness, deformities, or the like.

The next morning a family brought to Him their son, who was both deaf and dumb.

They besought Jesus to lay His hands upon him. But, seeing the bewildered look in the boy's face, that he did not understand the excitement of his parents and the crowd, Jesus decided to take him aside privately. When they reached a place where the two of them could be alone, Jesus, knowing He needed to signal to the deaf lad what He was about to do, looked meaningfully into his eyes, put His fingers deeply into the boy's ears, signaling that He was going to open them. Then, nodding to the boy he should do likewise, Jesus turned to one side and spat, touching the tip of his tongue.

The boy nodded he understood, and so, looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed deeply, and, placing His fingers once more in the boy's ears, said, "Ephphatha! Be opened! "

Instantly the boy's ears were opened, and the boy, turning to the side, spat out an object which had become dislodged in his mouth (tissue that had prevented his tongue from moving as freely as it should), and the boy was able to speak!

Peter knew Jesus had instructed the boy and his parents, as He returned him to them, that they should tell no one about it.

The young lad was eagerly and vociferously thanking Jesus, shaking His hand, babbling out his deepest gratitude with his startled ears hearing the sound of his own voice, forming the words with difficulty, but tearfully thanking Jesus over and over again! The sounds he made were like strange monotones, poorly formed, and loud, remarkably loud.

Peter was moved to hear Jesus help the boy by teaching him his first few words, and how to form the sounds.

Jesus spoke to the boy, slowly forming the words by exaggerating the motions of lip and tongue, and helping the boy understand how to form the same sounds. He pointed upward, and spoke God's name and said, "Your Father which is in heaven has made you hear."

The parents were overwhelmed with tearful gratitude, and they showed it effusively. Again Peter heard Jesus tell them to be thankful toward God, and as a family, but not to noise this event abroad. He told them to rejoice quietly, and to enjoy teaching their son to use his new powers of hearing and speech, offering any gifts they were of a mind to, but to avoid spreading word of the miracle, and keeping Jesus' identity private.

Peter wondered if they were even listening very carefully, what with repeatedly hugging and embracing their son, pointing to themselves, and having him say "father" and "mother," and learning to pronounce his own name. At each successful sound they would all laugh and cry anew, and the hugging and embracing would start all over again.

Nevertheless, the more He would tell people not to spread word of His compassionate miracles abroad, the more they published it.

As a result, great crowds once again began following after Jesus in this area of the Decapolis to which they had arrived, bringing their lame, blind, dumb, maimed and deformed, as well as many others of various diseases and afflictions.

Jesus, having great compassion on them, healed them all. The crowd that had assembled out here in the countryside were amazed when they saw people who were well known in their own communities as dumb, and who could not talk, now speaking sensibly; when they saw those who had been maimed in terrible accidents made whole; when they saw the formerly crippled actually walking; when they saw the town blind people seeing and praising God because of their newfound eyesight, they lifted up their voices in prayer and thanksgiving and glorified the God of Israel!

After three days of this, Jesus said, "I have compassion on this huge crowd because they have been here now for three long days and most of them have not had a bite to eat in that time. I can't send them away fasting, for many of them simply will not make it all the way back to their homes; they have come from so far."

Peter was to wish he had bitten his tongue, later, for having said, "How can we possibly be able to feed all of these people here in this place out in the country?"

He asked, "How many loaves have you?" And someone answered, "Seven." Then, ascertaining they also had a few small fish with them, He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground and took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks and began to break as He had once before in an area not too distant from this place. He handed the food to His disciples, who passed it out among the thousands of people.

Was He going crazy? Peter wondered. He couldn't believe his own eyes! They would no sooner reach into the basket and bring out a smoked fish and hand it to an eager pair of hands than it appeared there were more fish in the basket than when they began!

With the memory of that other time not so very long ago, and not far from here, Peter wondered whether a similar event would be repeated. Would this vast crowd of several thousand try to hoist the Lord on their shoulders and forcibly carry Him away to Jerusalem and make Him king?

The hands were reaching, grasping, eagerly seizing each morsel of smoked fish the disciples would dig out of that basket. Peter wondered whether some in the crowd, seeing the size of the basket and the throngs of hundreds reaching out for food, wouldn't begin to wonder when the basket was not empty long before it reached them.

Strange how one could never become accustomed to miracles! Each marvelous wonder Jesus accomplished left Peter as amazed and incredulous as before. He could never quite grow nonchalant about some strange phenomenon like this, and, since the miraculous appearance of seemingly limitless food in the bottom of a basket had happened once before, Peter was particularly curious.

He wanted to see somehow with his own eyes the fish materializing out of thin air. But the faster he would try to empty the basket the more fish seemed to remain. Once he decided to try to turn the basket over and empty it completely. All he succeeded in doing was spilling about two dozen fish all over the laps of people seated in their group—to angry cries of dismay!

"Hold it—don't spill it all over the ground. You're wasting precious food!" they complained.

Peter turned the basket aright, and to his amazement it was as full as before!

His scalp prickled and gooseflesh arose along his spine. He was witnessing another of the fabulous miracles Jesus could work, right before his very startled eyes!

Peter found himself wondering whether Jesus was creating new food right out of thin air or whether the existing food was dividing in some way. It almost hurt his head to think about it, but he couldn't deny what his own eyes told him.

He changes water into wine, Peter thought, raises the dead, heals leprosy, deafness and blindness; He walks on the water and calms even the winds and waves. And now, for the second time, He is producing food where there was none! Truly He is the very Son of God! Only the creative powers of the universe could do this. Only the same power that had brought the whole world and all that is upon it into being could do what Peter had witnessed Jesus doing!

Jesus was seated, teaching the crowd, which had quieted with the business of devouring their impromptu snack of smoked fish and bread. The food caused an almost unbearable thirst, and several were going back and forth to the stream that coursed its way over the rocks, forming several small pools as it dropped toward the lake.

This crowd proved far less excitable than the other, and Jesus was telling of some great sign He would give.

What was this?

Peter listened to Jesus speaking about the "Son of Man shall be in the heart of the earth" just like Jonah was exactly three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. He seemed to be precisely specific about the time period. Peter heard Him say it very carefully, and watched Matthew copy it down.

But why?

Where was this place that He called "the heart of the earth" ?

Would He go back into the wilderness, hiding out for several days, and then emerge as King?

Peter knew the time of Jonah's near torture in the belly of the great fish was viewed as a punishment from God of sorts, the final sign from the Creator that Jonah was expected to preach to Nineveh as God had commanded. Did Jesus need to undergo yet some further test?

Those who were arguing with Jesus were mumbling among themselves about this strange "sign" He said He would leave.

No doubt the fact that some of the Pharisees were present here contributed to the comparative solemnity of this group, as opposed to the other group a time back which had wanted to seize Jesus bodily and propel Him to Jerusalem.

But in due time the episode was over, and Jesus signaled to Peter that it was time to go back and retrieve the boat from the watcher and leave the area.

They gradually took their leave, with dozens crowding close to thank the disciples for the food, or to try to hear Jesus' words more carefully. Andrew went on ahead to prepare the boat for an immediate departure. They would be a little crowded this time, for they had brought only the one boat across with them.

The trail narrowed to a deep defile leading along the creek bed, making it necessary to either jump across or use the steppingstones that were here and there. They had to cross the creek several times on their descent to the narrow plain of the coast. The steepness of the trail and the narrowness of the path shook off all but the hardiest of those in the crowd who seemed determined to follow, and Peter could see several distant figures standing on the brink, waving, as Jesus and the others clambered over the coaming into the boat.

Peter took the tiller, and, as they poled free of the shore, Andrew and Simon the Canaanite, with help from James and Thaddeus, unfurled the sail.

Soon they were lying over to a mild breeze and clipping along at a good four knots or so, and Peter could begin to appreciate the strange events of these past hours in retrospect. He had been so busy passing out food he had taken none himself. Now he chided himself for it for he had intended to taste of the food to see if there was any difference in the new food Jesus had created and other fare they had carried with them.

The thought of food made his stomach rumble, and Peter called out to John about it. A quick survey discovered they had but one measly loaf of bread between them!

They were sadly talking about it and contemplating several more hours without food when Jesus said, "Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees! "

Peter and the disciples began to reason among themselves, saying, "He must be commenting about the fact that we have no bread." But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, "Oh, you of little faith, why is it you reason among yourselves that we have no bread?" (In Jesus' thoughts it was utterly incongruous for His disciples to worry about the fact that this tiny group of twelve had no bread when only hours before they had, for the second time, passed out tons of it to a crowd of many thousands, taking up sufficient baskets full of leftovers that would have adequately provided for their current journey!) He said, "Don't you remember the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?

"How is it you don't understand that I wasn't talking to you about bread?" I was saying, 'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.' "

He even asked the disciples, "When I broke those five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets did you take up?" They answered, "Twelve!"

"And when I broke the seven loaves among the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?"

And they answered, "Seven." And He said, "How is it you still do not understand?"

They finally got the point. He was urging them to beware of the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees!

Peter got it. His mother had explained to him as a boy why they left that lump of dough outside, covered with a fine cloth to keep the insects away, or left it on a fine spring morning on a shelf in the open window of the cooking area.

She said when the air got to it after a couple of days the bread would rise when cooked. But if she ground the meal and cooked it immediately it was always flat. Peter had listened to the rabbi explain about the "bread of haste" their forefathers had eaten on that "night to be much remembered" when they had been thrust out of Egypt. There hadn't been time, then, to let their dough sit so the leaven could work through it.

No one had ever seen leaven, but they knew how it worked. Something in the air caused the dough to swell gradually, and when it was baked it filled with tiny air bubbles, making the bread lighter, softer and easier to eat. The women would save out a portion of their leavened dough and mix it in with the fresh mixed batch, for they had learned centuries ago that this hastened the process, and the new batch didn't even have to sit outside or in the window all night.

Peter mused over Jesus' example. The leaven was insidious, secretive, hidden and invisible. Yet it completely changed the character of the dough. Further, it caused the baked bread to become "puffed up," and the analogy to Pharisaical pomposity and self-righteousness was obvious.

The one thing Jesus seemed to detest more than any other was hypocrisy.

Pretense, deception, posturing and public poses of goodness to conceal a murderous spirit of hatred frequently caused Him to speak with indignation and anger—a biting edge to His words that cracked like a wagonmaster's whip and that made even the disciples sit up and take notice, and they were accustomed to His speech.

The "leaven" of the Pharisees must mean the self-righteous hypocrisy of the group—their personal pomposity and vanity and their careful attention to legalistic trivia without any genuine feelings of empathy, love and consideration for their fellows.

Finally they arrived at Bethsaida, and they had no sooner come back to Peter's hometown when a group of friends brought a blind man before Jesus, beseeching Him to touch him and heal him. Jesus looked at the man, seeing the deformed eyes, the dull, whitish orbs, covered with a film of dust—hopelessly opaque—and blind.

Jesus was filled with compassion for the man. But, because He knew very few would understand what He was about to do, He decided to lead the blind man by the hand, out of the village of Bethsaida, and attempted to find a private place alone, telling the others not to follow. He took the man by the elbow and began to guide him over steps and other obstacles and up a steep path until they found a place away from the crowds. Finally Jesus indicated the man was to stop by pressure on the man's arm, and, turning to him, Jesus deliberately told him what He was about to do. Since there was no water or other fluid around, Jesus took saliva from His mouth, gently applied it to the man's sightless, dust-filled eyes, and asked the man, "Do you see anything yet?"

The man looked, and, seeing some people walking at a distance, said, "Yes, I believe I see men, but it almost looks like they are trees walking!"

For the second time Jesus applied saliva, reached up and touched the man's eyes gently, and this time the man's eyesight was fully restored!

The man began to babble his profuse thanks, praising Jesus and thanking God. Jesus said, "Go on back now to your own home, and be careful not to return even through Bethsaida, which we have just left. I don't want anyone else to know about this just yet." The man, overcome with emotion, grasped Jesus' hand and arm, looking directly into His eyes with his newfound eyesight, and thanked Him emotionally, with tears, assuring Him he would do as He had said.