It was a welcome respite to remain in Bethsaida for a few days, and Peter even found time to help aging Jona with his nets and to see to the stepping of a new mast. The other had been put to considerable strain in the storms of not so long ago, and Jona had pointed out a split in the base, in the bilge against the keel.

It was not an easy operation to rig block and tackle and pull the old mast out and then to lower the new one in and secure it, but Peter enjoyed the hard, sweaty labor and enjoyed being around the familiar sights of home.

In the evenings he fascinated Beth and the children with tales of their recent trips and Jesus' miracles. The children wanted to know over and over again about the time when Peter tried to walk on the water, and, eyes wide and mouths open, asked him how it felt when he first took a few steps.

The next morning Peter laughed so hard he had to sit down after he watched his son step down from the jetty, pause for a long time, stare out at the water and then step into the lake straight over his head! The boy had come up thrashing around, grasped the jetty, and, hauling himself out again, sat dejectedly contemplating the spreading pool of water around him and his sodden clothes.

But the brief respite was soon over, for Jesus told Peter that same day He wanted to go into some of the villages around Caesarea Philippi.

Beth was used to their comings and goings now, and went about the business of helping the two Marys ready their clothing and pack with quiet efficiency.

They covered almost twenty miles in the first day and nearly as many the next. They took the river route north of Bethsaida along the Jordan, passing opposite Chorazin, and finally turned up the valley that led to the foothills of the Iturean Mountains. This was part of the Tetrarchy of Philip, and the countryside was spectacular with the snowclad heights of Hermon in the distance.

A conversation had developed about some of the fantastic stories people were spreading about Jesus, about who they thought He was, and He no doubt overheard.

As they doubled back and forth along the steep hillside, gaining elevation, they paused for a time for a rest, and Jesus asked several of them, "And whom do they say I, the Son of Man, really am?"

"Well," said Simon the Canaanite, "some of them claim You're Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah or one of the other prophets. "

Several others added names they had heard, and the men were chuckling over the absurdities of some of them when Jesus said, "And who do you say that I am?"

Several looked down, or at each other, and they all hesitated.

But not Peter. He looked right at Jesus and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"

Jesus, pleased with Peter's answer, said, "Blessed are you, Simon the son of Jona, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my Father, who is in heaven. And I will tell you this. You are Petros" (using the Greek language, meaning a small stone, or a pebble) "but upon this Petra," He said, gesturing first to Himself, and then to all the others, I will build my Ekklezia!"

Peter knew why Jesus had used the different word, Petra, for a large rock. He had heard the readers in the synagogue in Bethsaida often enough referring to the Messiah that was to come as the ROCK and had heard tales of the Stone upon which Jacob had laid his head when he had visions of heaven. He had heard of references in David's Psalms too about a rock that would be like a craggy cliff, a secure bastion or hiding place for God's people.

It was thrilling to Peter to be included as a part of the foundation of the new government, and more than just a part—an important part, one of the original twelve who had been right at Jesus' side continually.

Peter liked the sound of the name Jesus had given him: Petros, or a stone. Now, hearing Jesus use for the first time a similar name for Himself, Petra, or a craggy rock, Peter was touched at the similarity.

Jesus was continuing, speaking to all, "And the gates of the grave will not prevail against it, and I will give to you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever you shall bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven!"

Peter was exhilarated at His words.

The Master was pleased at Peter's answer and was making one of His most profound declarations about their coming government, about His rule which was to begin. Peter would obviously have a major part in it, right there beside Jesus in some large capacity. They all would!

Peter took the statement about "the gates of the grave" to be a near guarantee of immunity against death! Jesus had the very power over the grave. "The gates of the grave will never prevail against it . . ." Jesus had said.

Hadn't Peter witnessed Jesus raise Jairus' twelve-year-old daughter with his own eyes? Hadn't Peter seen dozens upon dozens of miraculous healings. And hadn't he himself been gratefully pleased and surprised when he had called upon Jesus' name in some sick persons' behalf and seen them immediately healed?

Jesus must mean that He and the disciples would be given supernatural protection; that their plans would succeed where so many others had failed, that this coming revolution would sweep throughout Trachonitis, Galilee, Judea, Decapolis, the Tetrarchy of Philip and far, far beyond!

Now He was warning them again, "It's good that you know who I am, that I am the very Christ, but keep it to yourselves. Most especially don't argue with others about Me; don't try to convince anyone I am the Christ; My time is not yet come

Peter shook his head in the affirmative. So it wouldn't be now; and that probably meant the time would not be ripe again until the coming spring when tens of thousands would be in Jerusalem for the Passover. It was obvious they would lack support if anything happened now.

But wait. What was this?

Jesus was saying, "I am going to have to suffer many terrible things: indignities and tortures . . . The ones behind it will be the chief priests and the Pharisees—I will be delivered into their hands to be killed. But, after the third day, I will rise from the dead . . ."

Peter's ears scarcely heard the statements about "rising from the dead" for his shock at hearing of an impending arrest, cruel tortures and death.

Leaping to his feet, Peter seized Jesus by both shoulders and, overcome with outrage and emotion, said, "Never, Lord! I won't let them take You! Don't say such things! I'll protect You. Nothing like that will ever happen to You!"

Jesus stood looking at Peter, and, seeing the rest of the disciples' startled looks, rebuked him, saying, "Get thee behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, and you savor not the things of God, but the things of men."

Peter was near tears with shock and shame.

Jesus said to the others, "Come over here and listen!" When they had gathered around more closely, He said, "If any man will come after Me, then he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me!

"For whoever would seek to save his physical life will lose it. And whoever would lose his life for My sake and the sake of the gospel shall save it.

" What profit is it to a man even if he gain rulership over the whole world and yet forfeit his eternal life? What will a man give in exchange for his life, not only his life now but his life forever?"

Jesus said, looking at Peter again, "And I will tell you this! Whoever it is that is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man shall also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of the Father and with His holy angels!

"Truly I tell you," He continued. "There are some here of you who are standing by who will in no wise taste of death until they actually see the Kingdom of God with power, and the Son of Man coming in the full regalia of His kingdom!"

Some six to eight days later, Jesus took Peter, James and John and walked for two days until they came to the heights of Hermon. Here their eyes could see a limitless vista in all directions.

It was here that one of the most striking events of Peter's life took place. It was here he understood Jesus' words about seeing the kingdom in advance.

While Peter, James and John were dozing, they seemed to overhear voices and looked around to see a bright light shining and discovered men talking. As they listened, they heard a discussion of Jesus' impending death and events which would transpire in Jerusalem.

A bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud which said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; My chosen; listen to Him!" After the booming voice came out of the cloud, the disciples got on their knees, with their hands and faces to the ground, shaking with fright.

They had to shield their eyes from Jesus for it appeared His garment was shining with an iridescent hue. He was speaking to two other persons whom He called by name!

He said "Moses" and "Elijah"! They too were wearing garments which appeared to be shimmering and dazzling white, and even the very skin of Jesus was altered so that it appeared translucent.

Jesus came to the three disciples and, touching them on the shoulder, said: "Come on, get up, and don't be afraid any more."

They reluctantly got up, looking around in fear, and saw only Jesus standing there alone.

Now Peter began to understand what Jesus had meant when He had said earlier that there "be some of you standing here who shall in no wise taste of death until you see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom!" They had seen a vision of that kingdom, seen Jesus as if He were no longer just human, but divine!

It was while they were winding their way along the narrow mountain trails on their return that they stopped for a rest and Jesus told them, "Be sure you don't tell anyone at all about this vision until after I have risen from the dead! "

They all nodded assent, but as they were talking during the remaining days they continually began to comment about just what Jesus could mean "rising from the dead. "

Peter felt the trip and the vision were aimed especially at him; he still felt like he was in disfavor because of his emotional outburst a few days earlier when he had grabbed Jesus and sounded like he thought he was captain of the guard or something. Nevertheless, Peter was deeply affected by the scene.

When they rejoined the disciples, it was to find a large crowd gathered about with some of the scribes questioning them, attempting to trap them in their words.

When the multitude saw Jesus and His three disciples returning, they ran to meet Him. Jesus asked, "What questions are you bringing to them?"

One of the crowd said, "Master, I brought unto You my son who has a dumb spirit; he is a lunatic and suffers epilepsy, suffering grievously, because whenever the demon grabs him it dashes him to the ground, throws him often into the fire or the water, and he froths at the mouth and grinds his teeth, and he looks like he may be dying!

"I told all of this to Your disciples, begging them to cast it out, but they were not able!"

Jesus, looking incredulously at the disciples, said, "Oh, faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long shall I bear with you and endure your faithlessness? Bring him here to Me!"

Then they brought the man, and when the demon saw Jesus he immediately threw the man to the ground, where he wallowed in an agony, grinding his teeth, chewing his tongue and foaming at the mouth.

Jesus asked the father, "How long has he been like this? When did this thing come upon him?"

And the father said, "From the time he was a little baby. And often the demon would cast him into the fire so he would be burned, or into the waters to destroy him by drowning! But if You can do anything please have compassion upon us and help us!''

Jesus said, "If you can—listen! All things are possible to him that believes!"

The father cried out in anguish and said, "Lord, I believe. Help me with my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that a large crowd was collecting, running to see what was happening with the man wallowing on the ground, He rebuked the unclean spirit in a firm voice, " You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you to come out of him and enter no more into him!"

With a loud shriek and a last spasm, the young man's muscles quieted and he became as if dead. The crowd began to murmur that perhaps the boy was in fact dead, but Jesus, stooping, took him by the hand and raised him up.

The boy gained his feet and looked around. His parents spoke to him and found he was in a normal mind!

Some of the crowd began to once again accuse that He "casts out demons by the prince of demons, Beelzebub," but Jesus and His disciples went back into His house at Capernaum.

When they were alone, the disciples asked Him privately, "Why could not we cast it out?" He said, "Because of your little faith!

"This kind does not come out but by prayer and fasting! If you would pray and fast, then everything will be possible to you!

"I tell you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed-one of the tiniest of seeds, which eventually becomes one of the largest of herbs—you will be able to say unto a mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder place,' and it will obey you, because nothing will be impossible to you! "

Peter couldn't help being a little smug about the rebuke given to the others.

As they dispersed the crowd, and took their leave of the tearful, voluble family who embraced Jesus and stammered out their thanks, Peter turned to Andrew and said, "When the cat's away the mice will play."

" What do you mean?" Andrew whispered back.

"I mean, they must have been whiling away the time and not paying attention to their duty," Peter confided. "Did me good to see someone else get a public chewing out for a change," he said, a little unfairly.

"But they tried to cast out that demon. . . "

"Yes, tried, but failed!" Peter cut in. "If they had been really fired up the way they were on the evangelistic trip, they would have succeeded."

" Well . . . yes, I suppose so," Andrew agreed. "But, remember, Jesus said something about 'this kind' of demon. Maybe it was a more tenacious spirit, one that had more power, or something."

"But they were powerless," Peter said, unwilling to miss savoring a moment of smugness. "It's only when they have Jesus' constant example before them—watching Him refuse meals, seeing how He is missing from the bedroll in the mornings and finding Him coming back with His forehead red from knuckling it during prayer—that they pay attention to their duty and do likewise. It's no wonder Jesus chose just me, James and John—oh, sorry, brother, I didn't mean

"It's all right, Peter," his brother said. "I think you're right. When Jesus isn't continually after us, teaching us, correcting us and setting His example before us, I know we let down."

To mollify him, Peter patronized, "Well, I probably couldn't have cast him out either," but privately he wondered. He liked to think the demon would have obeyed him, just as others had. But Peter hadn't really been fasting much, and hadn't prayed as much as he should. Hadn't he and the others fallen asleep back there on the mountain when Jesus was praying so long and hard, and then had been transfigured before them?

He decided to let the matter drop. He had probably hurt Andrew's feelings a little, and felt like a fool for acting superior.

They continued to the house in Capernaum without further talk, and the next morning Peter was just finishing his call of nature in the privy in the rear when he heard Joanna calling him from the kitchen.

A few moments later he intercepted her just before she climbed to the sleeping quarters, still calling his name.

"What is it?"

"Oh, Simon—I mean Peter," she said. "There are three officials at the door who claim they are tax collectors. I can't find Jesus, so I told them you were here . . . "

"I'll go see," he said, and turned toward the entry.

He stepped outside to confront an angular, tall official, a Sadducee, by his dress, who wore a leathern hat with its official emblem of the temple upon it.

"Does your Master pay the drachma?" the tall one demanded imperiously.

His two cohorts looked up at Peter, one with writing materials and a large collection bag at his side with its many pockets and bulges. They were smiling, faintly, as if they expected Peter to say Jesus would refuse to pay the temple tax that they heard would be collected throughout the provinces.

A small crowd was beginning to gather, for the collectors had stopped at other homes in the street and many knew Jesus' house would be visited. Just as Peter said, "Yes," he felt a presence behind him and, turning, saw it was Jesus and some of the others.

Jesus had apparently let Himself in the back, probably returning from another solitary trip to the mountain, and now He was here.

"What do you think, Simon?" Jesus asked, shouldering to the front and speaking loudly enough for the growing crowd to hear. " . . . The kings of the world—from whom do they exact their taxes and tribute? From their own family, their sons, or from strangers?"

Peter thought only a moment before answering, "Why, from strangers!"

"Therefore, the sons must be free!" Jesus said loudly. "But, lest we give them an occasion against us, go out into the lake, cast a hook and take up the first fish you catch . . . "

Peter thought he must be hearing things. What?

"Look in his mouth," Jesus continued, impossibly, "and there you will find a shekel. That you can take and give it to them for both you and Me, a half-shekel from each of us! "

" A fish? Go to the lake and fish? " Peter blurted out.

But Jesus insisted, and so, wondering what strange sign Jesus had in mind, Peter grabbed up his fisherman's boots and set out.

Was there some hidden meaning Jesus intended? Was this like a warning from Jonah, a veiled reference to how he was vomited up out of the great fish to carry God's warning to Nineveh? Was it a bizarre method of showing contempt for the heavy tax burdens imposed upon the people by likening it to something a fish would throw up?

"No, Jesus wouldn't do that," Peter mused. Probably, He's only showing them that as citizens of our own country we should be paying taxes to no one."

Peter poled away from shore, engrossed in his thoughts. Then, fixing cut bait to a weighted hand line, cast it past the bow and let it settle. Soon the line began moving away from the boat. Peter took up the slack until he could feel faint motion throbbing up the line and, with a powerful motion, set the hook. He pulled the struggling fish in. Excitedly he disengaged the hook from the two pound fish and, seizing it by the lower jaw, opened its mouth and looked in. Incredible! There, almost swallowed, but with its edge protruding from the fish's throat, was a shiny coin! Of course, Peter knew he had caught fish on shiny objects before, knew they would grab at such objects allowed to wobble through the water, so he reasoned some unfortunate soul had dropped the coin from a dock, or from a boat, and the fish had struck at it as it danced toward the bottom. That was logical enough, but how could Jesus have known all that? And how could I have caught this exact fish?"

Peter was amazed all over again. Surely Jesus had the very powers of God Himself; could see, and know, every thing.

Peter returned to the house in Capernaum, displayed the coin to Jesus and then paid it into the tax collectors' hands. It was a curious event and one that would be retold often.

Jesus said He wanted to travel again to reach even more of the towns and cities of this whole Galilee, and so they left Capernaum and began traversing the countryside.

They moved at a fairly steady clip, stopping here and there in small towns where Jesus would preach to the people and heal their sick. The coneys were scurrying about, Peter saw, carrying seeds they gathered in cheek pouches for winter storage. The mornings were growing crisp with the hint of autumn, and the late summer showers came more frequently, with several days of thick overcast moving slowly along, the mists obscuring the taller mountain peaks and drifting through the evergreens along the ridges.

It seemed Jesus was on a schedule only He knew, driven to go to the smallest hamlet and even to reach scattered farmers and shepherds who were moving their flocks down from the summer ranges and heading them toward the sheepfolds and lower grazing grounds.

Camping along a tiny rivulet one evening, Peter took John with Him, dug into his pack and obtained a small net he used for seining fish. The mesh was only about a half inch wide, and he carried yards of it.

Gleaning his purpose, John began savoring the evening's meal.

"Noticed a flight a while ago," Peter said, beginning to climb.

"I know what you mean," John agreed, following behind him.

They neared the top of a low ridge, and Peter surveyed the terrain. Satisfied, he began descending to a notch in the ridge above a small pool formed in the rocks, where he saw the flutter of white wings now and then.

They arrived at the tree-studded notch, and Peter unraveled the net, handing the other end to John, who climbed to the opposite side. They strung it just below the brow of the ridge, between two short pinions, and anchored it at the bottom with stones tied with short lengths of string.

Then they moved back into the trees and sat down to wait.

The little doves of the country used fly ways to water in the evenings, their darting, erratic wingbeats making them appear like little gray-white leaves fluttering in a wind. They would speed up the valley on the other side, rising to the ridge from the grain fields below, and, cutting the top of the ridge with only feet to spare, zoom down the notch to land at the pond for water. Peter had spotted some of the early arrivals and wanted a good catch for supper.

They hadn't long to wait. The first small flock tumbled like chaff before the wind into the net. Some flew over it, and not a few, flapping their wings madly, managed to extricate themselves. But many were stuck fast, plunging their necks into the small mesh, the feathers then fanning out and blocking their attempts to pull themselves free.

Several times John and Peter would run to the net, disengage each bird, quickly pull its head off, hold the wildly flapping body toward the ground for proper bleeding and stuff it into their sacks.

By full dusk they took down the net and returned to camp.

It was a delicious meal they enjoyed that night, with breast of turtle dove broiled over an open fire.

The next morning they hit the trail toward a smallish village which could be seen below them, sending two of the disciples ahead to find lodgings, for Jesus wanted to sleep indoors tonight and spend the day teaching in the village.

When they reached the main trail from the mountain pathways they had followed, it was to encounter the two runners coming back with the news that there was not a single room to be had in the town.

About that time a youngish fellow came along the main road and loudly called to Peter, "Where is this Jesus of Nazareth I've been hearing about?"

He was impeccably dressed in clean, rather expensive clothing, carrying writer's materials and a leather packet slung over his shoulders.

Peter paused and allowed the man to catch up.

He shook hands and looked him over. A scribe, by the look of him, with soft hands and precise speech.

Peter thought he ought to introduce him to Jesus; there was no way the scribe could find which one He was in this crowd with so many dressed exactly alike and Jesus' regular features so indistinguishable from so many others’, and, besides, Peter was impressed that a scribe would be sincerely seeking Jesus out. Usually they were in cahoots with the simpering Pharisees, and were a haughty, disdainful lot, managing to falsify records, misread documents and even alter inheritances and wills. Most people didn't trust them; they had heard too many stories about how the illiterate folk would be ripped off by the scribes who would read various official looking documents to them posted in the public squares and marketplaces that would invariably cost the poor more money.

But when Peter pointed out Jesus the scribe ran directly to Him and said, "Master! I'm here to follow you wherever You go!"

Jesus looked at him, seeing the immaculate dress, the writer's equipment and the soft hands. Obviously the man was not accustomed to leaving his comfortable quarters very often. He was a scribe who worked indoors out of the sun and who slept in a comfortable bed every night.

Jesus had heard the word. They would probably be camping out again tonight.

He said, "Foxes have dens, and the birds of the heaven have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. "

Several others had arrived and one said, "Lord, I'll follow you, but let me go back home first and see to the burying of my father and then I'll catch up later."

Jesus said, "Let the dead bury their dead, but you go and publish abroad the news about the Kingdom of God! "

Another piped up and said, "I'll follow you too, Lord, but let me first run back home and say good-bye to everybody in the house."

Jesus looked steadily at him and said, "No man,"

Autumn leaves were a maze of earthy colors by the time they wound their way along the main caravan trail from the north back down to Bethsaida and Capernaum. The Feast of Trumpets was past, and it was nearing Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Peter was disgusted with Jesus' brothers, for no matter how many times he would tell them over and over again of the marvelous miracles he had seen with his own eyes, they wouldn't believe him.

Joses was particularly vehement.

"Why, then," he would argue, "doesn't He do these miracles right out in the open where everyone can see them, if He can really do miracles, like you claim?"

James, Simon and Juda agreed, as did their sisters.

They were in Capernaum again, and this time the family had come to visit. Mary was sad to see the young men becoming so abrasive with Jesus. The argument took place at a family dinner with Jesus, Joses, Juda, the girls and James and John, Zebedee's sons, and Peter and Andrew present.

James was saying, "Why don't You leave Galilee, Jesus, and go down to Jerusalem when the city will be teeming with thousands so all Your followers and the crowds can see Your works You are doing? It doesn't make any sense to do these things Peter claims You do in secret. No one who is claiming to be a king would do anything in secret, but would seek to become as famous as he could, to do everything openly.

'So, if You really can do all these things Peter claims," he finished, "why don't You really manifest Yourself to the world?"

Jesus just smiled kindly at His brothers and family and said, "Because My time has not yet come."

He decided to add a gentle rebuke to His words and said, "Your time is now; you're always ready to leap in and do whatever comes to mind, and for you that would appear right, because you are of this world and the world will not hate you . It can't hate you because you are a part of it. But Me it hates because I say to the world that its works are evil! You go ahead," He continued with a smile to gentle His words, and a kindly look to His mother, who was listening intently. "You all go ahead to the Feast in Jerusalem, but I'm not going up there yet" (they always spoke of Jerusalem as "up," even though it was to the south of them, because of its lofty place atop the mountains) "because My time is not yet fulfilled."

The dinner came to a peaceful enough end, and it was very clear to the family He intended doing just as He said.

The brothers muttered about it, and to them it was proof Jesus was not really who He said He was. Hadn't they practically called Him a fraud? Hadn't they offered Him the opportunity to go to Jerusalem as a family and begin producing these miracles in front of thousands?

To them Jesus' demurrer was proof enough that He was embarrassed, that He doubted if anything striking would happen.

The next morning the others packed up and left, taking several asses and two camels, for they intended being away from home more than two weeks.

Jesus and His disciples remained behind.

Two days later Jesus sent several of the men as messengers ahead to act as pathfinders for them, to arrange lodgings in some of the towns in Samaria (the other Jews would be giving Samaria wide berth for they had nothing to do with them, and Jesus, by going through the region, intended traveling incognito, thus arriving at the Feast of Tabernacles unannounced). The messengers were to explain to the innkeepers that it would only be for one night at each place, and perhaps not the entire night at that.

They left, and when they had crossed the border and were approaching the first Samaritan village, their messengers met them with bad news.

"Master, I'm sorry, but when they found out You intend going up to Jerusalem to the Feast they became angry, knowing we are Jews and resenting the religion, and refused us any place to stay!"

Peter saw red.

This was ridiculous! They had covered over forty miles in barely a day and a half, and everyone was dusty, thirsty, hungry and half done in. Peter was of the firm conviction that this trip to Jerusalem, after such a long absence, would be the final time for the coup. There would be thousands there from all over the empire, from Crete, Cappadocia, Corinth and Rome.

They had seen several caravans bearing Jews from Syria and Asia headed down the coast route, and Peter knew most of the people Jesus had healed—the two big groups of four and five thousand He had fed, and many others—why, there would be at least twenty thousand people they had reached personally who would be there.

Elijah, standing on the top of his hill with the emissaries of wicked King Ahab burnt to cinders, flashed to mind.

He blurted out, "Lord, do You want us to bid fire to come down from heaven and consume those miserable Samaritans?"

Jesus turned and said, "You don't know what spirit you are of! The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save men's lives!

"We'll simply keep going. There are more villages ahead, and we can find a place to stay later."

Peter was embarrassed. He had allowed himself to get carried away with the more military aspects of their campaign. He so fervently wanted Jesus to show force that he had forgotten Jesus' attitude toward human suffering.

To Peter the Samaritan area would probably be one of the very first to be cleaned up. Deportation would be necessary, probably, to chase those heathen people away from their sacred "mountain" and put some good solid Jewish colonies in their place. He got indignant to think a stinking little Samaritan town (which should rejoice to even think that any self-respecting Jew would deign to remain overnight) would have the gall to send a party of this size away when it would mean such a financial boon.

But he simply shut his mouth, got back on the bony back of the big, swaybacked ass he was riding, and kept plodding along with the others.

The creature peeled back its lips, exposing long, yellowed teeth, and proceeded to peal out a wheezing hee-haw that echoed back from the sides of the rocky defile they were traversing. Peter's hand strayed to the hilt of his short sword, thinking to lay the flat of the blade alongside the offending beast's head, when Jesus turned around, looked first at Peter and then at the ass, and put His head back and laughed out loud! Peter colored, and then removed his hand and began roaring with laughter.

He got the message—and Jesus knew it.

The remainder of the trip was completed without incident worthy of John's or Matthew's notes; they went through Samaria, and thence by little-traveled trails, avoiding the crowds pouring into Judea, and went toward the city of Jerusalem.

They found an elderly land owner within an hour's easy ride of Jerusalem and, arranging provender and rudimentary lodgings, remained with him out of sight of the crowds for a few days.

Finally, in the middle of the Feast, Jesus decided to go straight into Jerusalem and show Himself openly in the temple.

Peter had reconnoitered the Feast several times, taking different disciples with him now and then. Judas seemed particularly anxious to spend a good deal of time in the city, haranguing the merchants and talking to friends he had known in the shops.

They received all the latest gossip.

The crowds were abuzz with talk about Jesus of Nazareth. One could hear snatches of conversation in the public places and in the temple. The Pharisees were continually asking, "Where is He?", wanting to find Him so they could trap Him into some alleged infraction and put Him in prison, and the crowds were speaking guardedly. Most said, "He's a good man! " but afraid to express it too openly because they feared the Jewish leadership.

Peter told Jesus all the latest and warned Him that the Jews wanted to have Him arrested. Peter was growing impatient again, quizzical about Jesus' plans. Was He going to wait until the Last Great Day and display Himself openly, performing some great and fabulous miracle, rally the crowds and proclaim Himself king? Peter hoped so with a growing impatience!

They had missed many an opportunity, and there could be no better time, surely, than now. Visitors were here from as far away as Rome, Jews from every part of Asia, from Cappadocia, Bithynia, Crete, Arabia, Africa, Egypt, Syria, Babylon—everywhere.

The Feast was always an exciting time, lacking the somber character of the Passover. It was a time of rejoicing, camping out in little "booths" or tiny "tabernacles" made of makeshift materials. Why, many of the people in the city moved up to the rooftops—the kids especially excited—and made temporary shelters out of palm fronds, boards, cloth, hides and other materials, sleeping out and eating atop their houses.

Those wealthy enough to have large courtyards moved into the court, and the surrounding countryside was colorful with the thousands of temporary dwellings that seemed to fill every space. Sanitation was always a problem, as was obtaining adequate water. Many a servant or wife grew angrily impatient at having to wait two hours or more at the well nearest them for water, and every creek site was taken up long since, with those downstream always complaining when some thoughtless character let his camel or ass stomp around in the water, sending clouds of mud downstream, befouling it for everyone else.

Peter was glad they were on the outskirts away from most of the hubbub and staying with an old friend of one of the disciples (Peter thought it was Thaddeus' father-in-law), who was blessed with a good spring behind the house and made a pittance from selling water.

They were camped in the ravine back of the house near the well, away from the road, enjoying the leisure, when Jesus told Peter to follow Him; He was going into the temple.

James, John and several others followed along, and it wasn't long before they were elbowing their way through the throngs that had gathered in Solomon's porch in the main temple area.

Jesus was recognized by the keeper of the scrolls, and several of the more moderate of the Pharisees, and it was a fairly simple matter for Him to be asked to take the chair for a teaching session.

As He began to teach, the crowd in His area began to swell, many excitedly running to fetch their friends and relatives.

"How can this character know anything, how can He be a scholar or know letters when it's obvious He never attended one of the major accredited schools?" some asked.

"What is He doing there?" said one plaintively, and another said, "Yeah, just who does He think He is?"

But Jesus raised His voice, hearing the murmuring, and said, "My teaching is not Mine; it's not My own invention, but His that sent Me! If any man is willing to accomplish His will, he will know about this teaching—whether it is from God or not—or whether I am just saying it out of My own conjecture. Anyone who speaks from his own personal authority is only seeking to aggrandize himself. But he that seeks to glorify Him that sent Him, that person is true and no unrighteousness will be found in him. Didn't Moses give you the law, and yet none of you is really obeying the law? Why are you seeking to kill Me?"

A roar went up from the crowd, and a leading Pharisee shouted out, "You must be demon possessed! Who seeks to kill You?"

"I accomplished one work and you are amazed! Yet Moses gave you circumcision—not that Moses invented it, but it came from the fathers—and so you circumcise a man child even if it is on the Sabbath day. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so you are careful not to break the law of Moses, are you right to be angry with Me because I made a man completely whole on the Sabbath? You need to judge righteous judgment, and not judge according to appearance!"

"Isn't that the One they're trying to kill?" asked an anonymous voice from the crowd.

"It sure is, and yet here He is speaking openly in the temple and no one is laying a hand on Him," said another. "Yeah. Do you suppose it's because the rulers really know this One is the Christ and that's why they're afraid?"

"No. Remember, when Christ comes we're not supposed to know where He'll come from, but everybody knows where this Man comes from," said another.

"You both know Me," cried Jesus aloud, "and you know where I come from, that I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, and you don't know Him! I know Him because I came from Him, and He sent Me!"

At this a growling cadre of the officers, gathering around members of the Sanhedrin, began arguing about whether to take Him right then and there. Peter was growing concerned. The crowd was clearly on Jesus' side, and many were saying, "This must indeed be the Christ!" It seemed the enthusiasm of the crowd dampened the plans of the officers sufficiently so that they hesitated and did not arrest Him.

John was saying to Peter, "Don't worry about Him being arrested today, Peter. It's not His time for that." While Peter was still wondering about what John meant by "not His time," Jesus spoke aloud, quieting the crowd again. "I am only going to be with you for a little while, and then I will go to Him that sent Me. You will look for Me, and you will not find Me, and where I go you cannot come! "

The Jews began asking, "Where is it He plans going where we can't find Him? Will He go to the scattered ones among the Greeks or go teach Greeks? What is this saying, 'You will look for Me, but you can't find Me'?"

The teaching sessions were tumultuous during the final days of the Feast. Peter was increasingly anxious about Jesus' safety, and just as concerned over this seeming exercise in futility: spending time and effort and not accomplishing much (for He performed no special miracles whatsoever during these days) except creating additional controversy among the people and the leaders, and yet running daily risk of being arrested or assassinated by some fool zealot who might try to earn the reward Peter was told the Jews had privately offered.

Peter was glad when it was finally the Last Great Day of the Feast. Perhaps this was the moment; it was certainly the final opportunity for this year.

If Jesus intended doing anything in a large public gathering, there would be no opportunity until early spring, at the next Passover. All these thousands would be long since scattered over the whole empire and would have grown forgetful of events during the Feast by then.

But Jesus began speaking out in what Peter thought was a plain appeal to follow Him!

He was saying, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believes on Me, as the Scriptures have said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water!" John told Peter Jesus was speaking this "of the Spirit," however, and both John and Peter were puzzled about the exact meaning, thinking it had to do with some yet unaccomplished sign or miracle.

Again, Jesus' teachings in the temple caused great public debate and gossip, many believing He was the Messiah and others vehemently arguing that He couldn't be, for "how could the Messiah, the Christ, come out of Galilee?"

That night Thomas and Bartholomew had good news in camp.

They had overheard a spirited argument between Nicodemus, a very highly respected member of the Sanhedrin and a leading Pharisee (the same Nicodemus who had come to Jesus at night that time because he didn't want to be recognized, fearing retaliation from his fellows), who had quieted some of the mob.

They had been cursing the crowds, saying, " Who are these rabble, anyway?. They are an illiterate mob of know-nothings; they don't know anything about the law. We are the ones in authority; we know the law!"

Nicodemus had said, "True, but does our law judge a man except it first hear from himself personally and know exactly what he does?"

"What are you, Nicodemus?" shrieked a pear-shaped little Pharisee, his bald pate glistening with sweat.

Are you some illiterate Galilean too? You go back and search the written Word and see if there is any prophecy about a prophet arising in Galilee!"

The little man shook his heavy jowls, waving stubby fingers in the air, punctuating his anger with jerky gestures toward Nicodemus. Nicodemus sighed, looked over at Thomas and Bart, without remembering them, and, signaling to his household servants who accompanied him, reiterated his parting warning and left the temple.

It was good news.

Even though Jesus obviously had not intended to seize the opportunity of this Feast for a major move, His appearance in the middle of the temple on the Last Great Day and His daily confrontations with the Pharisees and publicans had gained further notoriety, and thousands of Jews and proselytes were gossiping their heads off in every camp, tent and house and along every creek and in every marketplace, and on the tops of every home for miles.

"Jesus of Nazareth," and "He's a godsend," and "He's a good man," and "He's a fake," and "He's another Theudas or Barabbas," and "He'll get His come uppance, and "He healed my daughter" would be heard.

The officers of the temple charged with arresting Him could only complain to their leaders, "We have never in all our lives heard a Man speak so engagingly, so powerfully and convincingly. We could do nothing! The crowd would have turned on us and we could have been in danger!"

This was much to the disgust of their murder leaders.

There was one major political development Jesus' appearance in the temple and His blatant challenges to both the priestly caste (the Sadducees) in charge of the building and its rituals, and the Sanhedrin (the Pharisees) had caused. Finally He had succeeded, without intending it, in uniting the two quarreling groups. Willing to abandon their internecine squabbles in order to face a common enemy, they were willingly plotting together, planning His murder!