Jesus was looking from one to the other of the crowd who were coming closer. He said, "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say every conceivable kind of evil against you falsely on account of Me. When that happens, then rejoice and be really glad and happy, because your ultimate reward carefully stored up for you in heaven above will be great beyond your wildest hopes and dreams. You are no different, because they persecuted God's prophets long before you in the same way.

"You are the salt of the earth…"

Exactly, mused Peter. But the proud Jewish race was being systematically exploited by the combined force of the Roman emperor and those hated symbols of his far flung dominions: Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea; Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee; Herod's own brother, Philip, who sat on the tetrarchy of Ituraea; and Trachonitis and Lysanias, who was tetrarch of Abilene, north and east of the reach of Peter's gaze. "Salt," indeed. The combined produce of the whole region trickled into the holds of the Phoenician traders and Roman ships to flow into the emperor's coffers in Rome. Judea was being systematically plundered, not only of salt but of everything else.

Jesus continued His strong, authoritative message, His voice rising now with ringing clarity, shocking, angering, stunning His audience with statements such as had never been heard before.

"Love your enemies! " He cried. "Do good to them that hate you! " Murmurs would ripple through the crowd now and then. Peter heard, "This is astonishing teaching. He sounds so sure, so positive, not like our scribes!"

Jesus' voice rose above the growing breeze, His hair stirring and His clothing rustling as He gestured, saying, "Not everyone who says to Me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven!" His eyes snapping, He mimicked those who would come to Him in protest: "On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?' "

Matthew's hand fairly flew over his note slate now, and Luke was busy, hunched over, head bowed, writing. Peter saw Judas winking at Simon, the swarthy disciple from Canaan, and noticed Thomas sitting by with a puzzled frown creasing his not unpleasant, homely face.

Dropping the simpering tone, Jesus flashed, "And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you evildoers! '"

Jesus was nearing the end of this powerful discourse now, for the words were spaced, somber, and conveyed a strong warning.

Jesus said, "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock. The rain came, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and buffeted that house, but it didn't fall because it was founded on a rock. But every man who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rains fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted that house, and it fell and great was the fall of it."

A hush fell over the crowd of about three hundred. Then a growing crescendo of voices rose, with small groups gathering here and there and a number rushing to surround Jesus to ask questions.

Peter worked his way closer to Jesus, knowing many in the crowd were skeptical and hostile. Peter didn't understand the inner compulsion that made him assume the role of self-appointed protector and bodyguard, but somehow he couldn't resist the impulse.

Sometimes Jesus seemed so vulnerable. Not soft, just vulnerable and exposed.

Would some cowardly fanatic walk up to Jesus and call Him out on this statement about "turning the other cheek"? Peter supposed it likely.

Jesus might just do it, Peter thought to himself. If someone walked up and delivered a ringing blow to the side of the Lord's head, He would probably just stand there and turn the other cheek! But, by the time He did it, Peter reasoned; the man who dared lift a finger against Jesus of Nazareth would be prostrate on the ground with a lump the size of pomegranate decorating his ear!

But nothing happened except a few tiresome ones who seemed contentious and wanted to argue kept trying to interrupt Jesus and demand answers for their questions.

In due time Jesus beckoned to the disciples and, followed by the growing crowd, began descending the mountain along the trail toward Capernaum, visible in the distance.

As always, Peter tried to keep the crowds orderly, sometimes shouldering closely to Jesus, his big fisherman's hands placed firmly on an arm here and a shoulder there, guiding, steering people when they seemed about ready to mob one another in their eagerness to hear.

That night, when the crowds had finally been sent away and it was time to rest, Peter had time to spend a quiet hour with James and John.

"That was an astounding message Jesus gave us today," Simon Peter began.

James and John both nodded agreement.

"But what do you think about turning the other cheek, and loving your enemies, and doing good to people who hate you?" he continued. "Do you think it will work?"

"I doubt that the Lord meant for it to 'work,' " John said quietly.

"Well, then…"

"if by 'work' you mean turning the other cheek makes the other fellow quit hitting you, that is," John amended.

"But if he doesn't back off and quit hitting," Peter reasoned, hands held open as if in appeal, "are you supposed to stand there and let him half kill you and do nothing?"

"That's what the Messiah said," James put in.

"I know what He said, and I'm not arguing with it or disagreeing," Peter protested. "But what if some Roman soldier were raping your wife, James? Would you be required to just stand and watch?"

"I doubt very much that such could ever happen to one of His disciples," James replied. "In the first place, I believe God would protect us, that the Lord Himself could perform some sign or miracle and prevent such a thing from happening."

"Yes, but what if nothing like that happened?" Peter insisted.

"Maybe you'd better take it up with Jesus tomorrow," John replied, yawning and stretching. "Besides, He wasn't talking so much about the here and now, as He was laying out rules for His coming kingdom. Didn't you hear how He said the meek would inherit the whole earth, that the way into the Kingdom of God was a narrow, rocky, difficult trail, and only the few would find it?"

Still puzzling, Peter sat by himself, lounging against the traveling packs before the still glowing embers in the hearth, and thought.

Jesus talked of His coming kingdom—spoke of putting an end to crime and violence, of the kind of government that would bring peace and establish principles of personal dignity, human rights and fairness for all men.

The authority in His voice was unmistakable, Peter thought.

The way He could hold a crowd spellbound, hanging on every word . . . Though plain of visage and commonplace in dress and appearance, He was anything but common when He spoke.

Peter marveled at Him.

Folding his calloused hands over his belly, now comfortably filled with this night's fare of kid stew and a sip of Judean wine, Simon mused over the events of these past incredible weeks.

He remembered how Andrew had come running up to him in Bethsaida hard at work on the nets and said, "Simon! Simon! We've found the Messiah! Come and see! "

"You've found who?" Simon had laughed. "Andrew, have you been at the wineskins so early?" Chuckling, he had turned again to his work only to find Andrew fairly hopping up and down with anxiety and saying again and again he had found the Messiah, begging Simon to come and see.

"Hold it! Hold it! Slow down a bit and tell me what you're talking about," Simon had said, bemused by the excitement his older brother was displaying.

"Why, Jesus. You know, Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter, the builder from up in Nazareth . . ."

"Couldn't be," Peter said with some doubt. "The readers and scribes claim the Messiah will have to come from Bethel or some place around Jerusalem or those parts. There's no way a local man from up here could be the Messiah!"

Andrew hurried along a winding trail that took them toward the hills to the west and after a few miles' laborious climbing came to a shakemaker's hut among the thickly wooded cedar slopes.

As they walked the glistening waters of Galilee were visible now and then through the trees, and the shade helped, for it was hot and humid and Simon perspired freely from his exertions.

Andrew stooped under the low eaves of a sheltered gatepost, traversed a littered yard redolent with the smell of freshly split cedar lengths, where adzes, mauls, wedges and hammers could be seen lying about amid finished shakes and trimmed boards.

Andrew entered a small bunkhouse and Simon followed.

Simon's eyes adjusted to the dim light as Andrew said, "Greetings again, Master. This is my brother."

Simon turned to see a rather ordinary man rise. He was broad of shoulder, not very tall, perhaps an inch or so shorter than Peter's five foot ten (which was slightly above average for the time), with neat beard, wide-set, open eyes of the most striking blue, generous mouth and work roughened hands. He wore a plain, homespun garment of the finest wool with the broad stripe that said He was of the tribe of Judah. He had apparently just finished His morning meal and had been gathering up His traveling implements, preparing to tuck them into His leathern girdlelike belt that lay on the bench beside Him.

The friendly, assured eyes looked directly into Peter's as He grasped Peter's hand and said, "I know who you are. You're Simon, Jona's son. But you're going to be called Peter [He used the Aramaic name Cephas, meaning a stone or rock] from now on! "

Peter mused back on that striking occurrence. What a talk they had had!

Surely this was the Messiah! Peter remembered how following that lengthy meeting Jesus had gone back with them to Bethsaida, and when He saw Philip Jesus had said, "You're Philip, aren't you? Philip, I want you to come and follow Me!"

Peter knew Jesus had prayed all night one night over who His top twelve men ought to be. He had known some of the men rather well, certainly knew their families, their background, their basic character. Judas, now . . . well, some wondered about him. He was darkly handsome with close set, obsidian eyes, a little too quick to laugh and talk, too garrulous, and in Peter's view, a little too given to private haggling when it came to striking deals here and there in the marketplaces.

But Jesus had chosen him so he must be all right. Of course, there was a rumor out that Judas had had some sort of a mental problem when he was younger. It was said that he had a "biting demon" as a boy and had been involved in some dishonest scrapes, but that a well-to-do family and a leading Jewish lawyer, his mentor and teacher, had intervened in his behalf and had gotten him off. That was his business, of course, and Peter couldn't set much stock in the tale that Judas had run across Jesus down in southern Judea when Jesus was much younger, probably only about fourteen, at one of the family Passover trips, and had bitten Jesus on the cheek. Weird and likely untrue.

The twelve were certainly representative of every conceivable talent, background, point of view, personality and character. A doctor, a fisherman, a traveling salesman type, a publican, men of the land, of the mountains and of the sea. There was not a dishonest, four-flusher among them except maybe Judas.

That had been quite a time when Jesus had looked straight at him and said, "I know you . . . " Peter remembered. He said it twice, actually. First up there where He had lodged following His baptism, and later right down there in the lake not too far from shore. He and Andrew had gone out to try their luck one early morning with their cast nets. They hadn't done so well, either. The autumn winds made the water rough. Jesus had walked out on a little jetty, cupped His hands and, hailing them in a strong, clear voice, had said, "Come on along after Me, you two, and I'll make you fishers of men!"

They had been expecting it. Then had followed the scene with Beth, and they had picked up their meager traveling packs and left. Now they were right back here in home territory after having been all over the whole Galilean region, with huge crowds gathering everywhere. Why, some had come from clear down in Jerusalem and further south and from over in the ten towns called "Decapolis" and from beyond the Jordan river.

It had been hard on Jona, left with the business and only a few hired servants. It was also hard on old Zebedee, James' and John's father, to continue their fisheries' partnership with only the hired help. James and John, Peter remembered, had been sitting there, their nets stretched from mast to bow spit and cascading down the rocky breakwater working cross-legged on the mending. Jesus had spoken to them previously, of course, but now it was time to go, and, dropping their work where they were, they kissed old Zebedee on his leathery cheek and acknowledged his admonition to remember what he'd always taught them. He showed mixed grief and joy knowing they were off to follow the great Messiah and that perhaps triumph or tragedy awaited. Then, resolutely, he had called the two servants, taken up the mending right where James and John had left it, and continued working the rest of the afternoon, brushing angrily at his eyes now and then and blinking fiercely as though he had trouble seeing.

Three days later there had been a large marriage feast at Cana in Galilee, and, because she was a close personal friend of the family, Mary was helping serve. Jesus and His disciples had also been invited. Peter hadn't wanted to go, but Jesus said there was a time for everything and many important people would be there. So Peter reluctantly but obediently went along.

After the feasting and drinking had been going on for some time, the wine proved to be inadequate for the very large crowd present.

Knowing that the wine was now exhausted and feeling some responsibility, Mary had come to Jesus and informed Him of the dilemma. "They are totally out of wine," Peter heard her say.

Jesus knew His mother expected Him to perform some special miracle to make up the short supply and so in a mildly chiding tone said, "Woman, whatever am I going to do with you? Don't you know that the time for Me to reveal who I am is not yet here?" Obviously Mary thought the occasion important and there were sufficient family considerations that she prevailed upon Jesus in spite of His gentle reminder, and He found her impossible to refuse.

Turning to some one of the nearby servants, she had said, "No matter what He tells you to do, see that you do it."

Peter well remembered that day! Mary had been so positive, so sure. Now Peter wouldn't be surprised at anything the Lord did.

He had long since come to understand why Mary was so sure of herself. Her long talks with John and a few chats with Peter had shown she had never forgotten the vividly remembered events of Jesus' birth.

Though Peter doubted that Jesus had used His amazing powers very much, he knew there must have been at least a few times when close members of the family had been spared severe personal injury or perhaps even healed of some sickness or wound that had occurred through work or play.

Anyway, Mary knew. She wasn't hoping or guessing. She just knew Jesus had the power to do something miraculous about the wine, and she had told those servants in a positive way.

Even though Jesus warned Mary the event might bring undue notoriety, He was nevertheless willing to perform the miracle knowing the wagging tongues of the servants and others attending the marriage feast might well carry the tale far and wide, bringing exclamations of doubt and disbelief wherever it was told.

It had been quite a party, a traditional wedding feast with hundreds of people milling about and Jesus' family there. After they had taken their leave, the whole crowd—all the disciples along with Mary, James, Joses, Simon, Jude and the girls—had gathered their animals, cinched up their packs and traveled back down the switchback trails to Capernaum.

They weren't to stay long, however, because spring was becoming more obvious every day, the hills riotous with wild flowers and the days becoming noticeably longer and warmer. Passover wasn't very far away, and Jesus talked about their coming trip to Jerusalem.

Peter thought something really important was likely to happen down there. It would be only too logical for Jesus to use the most important spiritual occasion of the year, when tens of thousands of Jews from all over the whole Mediterranean world would be present. Why, some of the pilgrims came from clear up in Cappadocia, far above the city of Antioch in Syria, or even from Bithynia and Pontus on the shores of the sea they were calling "Pontus Euxinus" south of Dacia and bordered by Thracia and Bithynia. They came from all over the world, it seemed, and, if there was ever opportunity for Jesus to spread His doctrines of reform and this great new kingdom, it would be during the Passover. No wonder the Romans always added special strength to their garrisons and insisted on stringent regulations concerning search of caravans for caches of arms or propaganda materials.

Pity. The Passover should be a deeply religious occasion. It was blasphemous, Peter thought, that the devout among the Jews couldn't even purify themselves, offer their sacrifices and proclaim their vows without having to see surly Libyans, Thracians, Gaelics or Hispanic mercenaries of the Roman legions, usually degenerate, unwashed, heavily armed and illiterate, looking on, making obviously bawdy and contemptuous comments about the Jews in their strange tongues.

But no matter. They were certainly used to it by now. Peter thought it might be possible for the high priest to perform his required rituals before ranks of thousands of threatening Romans with leveled spears! And to think some of those Pharisees could still boast they had never been anything but "free" and were never in "slavery to any man"!

Well, it was time for the trip and Peter was looking forward to it.

Probably He, James and John would have some special assignments to fulfill, maybe recruiting among some of the pilgrims from far-flung parts of the empire.

At long last Peter went to sleep, his dreams tumbled and chaotic, with Jesus' powerful voice stabbing his conscience again and again, "Love your enemies!" making him toss and turn.

The next morning they saddled up their pack animals, repacked their meager personal belongings and after a hurried breakfast took a little-used trail to the south.

The trip to Jerusalem consumed only four days. They pushed themselves and their animals fairly hard, keeping their pauses for food and rest to a minimum, for they deliberately avoided the crowded trails with the long camel trains of the more wealthy and kept to the rougher country, using the back trails.

Simon Peter stayed close to Jesus on this bright, fresh morning, listening to Him talk and nodding in agreement when He said they would go to the temple first thing after an early breakfast.

They camped among the old olive trees on the Mount of Olives, about a Sabbath day's journey from the temple, across the bubbling little brook they called "Kidron." It was a dry camp and they had filled their water jugs in Kidron and spread out their extra garments to dry after washing them in the stream.

Breakfast over and the chores done, they strode down the pathway to the brook, stepped across the stones placed there for the purpose and labored up the steep hill to the city gate.

A growing mutter of noise could be heard from the teeming streets. The cries of merchants, blatting of sheep and goats, the guttural, belching sound of the camels and the excited chatter of pilgrims meeting old friends all contrived to paint a confused, multicolored, teeming tapestry of life swirling among the ancient streets and walls.

A few people here and there called out to one or other of the disciples who recognized a friend now and then from Galilee or one of the other provinces. Judas smiled and winked at some of the merchants and shopkeepers sitting or standing over their wares. Luke was checking his writing materials carried in the skin bag slung over his left shoulder, and Matt paused briefly to purchase some parchment and then ran, panting, to catch up with Jesus's swift, sure stride.

Gaining the broad Court of the Gentiles, Jesus kept maneuvering through the throngs until He entered the temple itself.

They found themselves in the midst of a riotous cacophony of blatting sheep, lowing bullocks, bleating goats, and the high-pitched, professional whine of the money changers. Jesus stopped, grasped Peter's forearm in His powerful grip, and, fairly trembling with anger, beckoned to Peter to hand Him some halter cordage Peter had brought.

With growing pride and apprehension, Peter watched as Jesus swiftly tied lengths together, forming tight, compact little knots at the end of each one, until He had a fairly lethal-looking scourge of tough hemp in His powerful hands. Jesus then strode up to the first table and unceremoniously dumped it over on the floor! A florid-faced, balding, barrel-chested little ogre, sitting there like some gloating spider with his carefully arranged trays of the coins of at least a dozen nations, gawked, sputtered, and then screeched in fright as the heavy table, striking his knees, propelled him over backward to sprawl in an awkward tangle of filthy robes, cascading coins, scrolls and ledgers onto the dusty floor!

Except for the sounds some of the animals made and the soft cooing of the doves in their cages, the great room fell silent as dozens of worshipers, change makers and the sellers of sacrificial creatures turned to stare in disbelief.

Jesus hadn't even paused.

He had already dumped three more tables over and was driving a growing herd of young bullocks, lambs and kids before Him, the hand-made cat-o'-nine-tails whistling down on a slow-moving rump here and there.

The next two tables he overturned had been hastily swept of their coin trays and ledgers, and their owners stood clutching their belongings to their middles, watching with mixed outrage and fear at this shocking violence—and right in the temple of God!

Peter helped, as did several of the others, to clear the last of the animals from the big room, sending them bawling and protesting into the early chill of the morning along with a number of their owners and a few perplexed purchasers who saw their money disappear into a chaotic pile on the dirty floor, and then saw their recently acquired sacrifices disappear into a herd of tossing rumps and heads.

Meanwhile, Jesus loudly shouted in a voice that fairly rang with anger, "Take these things out of here! Don't make my Father's house a house of merchandise! " He was outraged that the temple should be filled with animals, money-changing tables, offal, and the assorted accoutrements of the merchants.

It was a chaotic, turbid scene.

The officials gathered then, and Peter wondered if Jesus would strike one of them. He doubted it, yet he half-expectantly hoped the Lord meant this to be the magic moment of revolution.

"Now, see here!" demanded their leader. "Just by what authority do You think to do all this? What kind of credentials or signs will You show us to prove You have any authority?" several chimed in and a few muttered threats were heard.

Peter knew Jesus never played the petty little games of pretense by skirting around the main issues with useless words. Jesus read their desire to kill Him so He said, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."

What did He mean?

The spokesman for the crowd snickered in derisive amusement. "The temple was a full forty-six years building and You claim You could raise it up in only three days?" His sardonic, patronizing tone indicated to the crowd he wanted to believe he was dealing with some madman.

He couldn't quite bring it off.

Jesus repeated His statement twice and, turning, left the temple with the disciples.

The act of throwing the money changers and their wares out of the temple caused a major stir among the pilgrims in the city. The people were gossiping about it in the shops and markets for days and not a single disciple of Jesus failed to hear His name constantly repeated.

During one quick trip for a simple purchase of food, Peter and John were hurrying along the crowded shops toward the dung gate and overheard a pompous Pharisee attended by his little scribe and two other admirers saying He ". . . said He would actually destroy the temple. That is a treasonous, anti-Jewish statement!" The little scribe nodded agreement and an exclamation of outrage came from three others standing by.

John grabbed Peter's arm, and the two paused as if to look at some footwear displayed in the next booth.

" But it would take a veritable army of men with all the machinery of demolition to even begin such a task . . . " protested a huge, wheezing merchant, spreading his sweating, fat palms upward and peering at the Pharisee from behind partially hooded eyes.

"It doesn't matter whether he would actually try it," protested the Pharisee. "The fact that He boasted He would destroy the temple makes Him a dangerous revolutionary, a man who would sell out to the Romans, who betrays the traditions of our fathers and the Scriptures themselves!"

"But, but," stammered a swarthy proselyte standing near, "they claim He also said He would build it up again in only three days!"

"A ridiculous claim!" trumpeted the Pharisee. Why, the temple was many, many years a-building, and this imposter claims such powers?"

John joggled Peter's arm again and they moved on.

"They're deliberately making a case against Him," John said, looking worriedly about.

"Yes, they are," Peter admitted. "But He said nothing of the kind. I don't know exactly what He meant yet, and I hope to ask Him soon, but it was something about them, the Pharisees, plotting to destroy the temple and the Lord raising it up again."

"And He said in only three days!"

"I know," Peter agreed. But, with the very miracle power of God to back Him up, He could do it!"

"Do you think He was predicting the destruction of the temple in a war?"

"I don't know," Peter admitted. "Perhaps."

"Well, if that were to happen, and Jesus and all of us pitched in to restore it again, it would win the favor of the whole nation!"

"That's true enough," Peter cast over his shoulder, hurrying along the steep pathway toward Kidron. "If we become the protectors and builders of the temple, well, it would legitimize Christ's claim to the throne of David as nothing else could do—would mark the whole beginning of a new age, a new empire!"

"Maybe that's what He plans," John wondered.

"I hope to find out soon," Peter affirmed again and turned his attention to their climb, now that Kidron's gurgling waters were behind them.

That night, when they finished supper and were sharing several songs together, Jesus' strong voice blending with those of James, Andrew, and John, and Peter's gruff monotone bravely keeping pace, one of the disciples who was watching the trail below came running up and said a wealthy official wanted to see Jesus.

"Who is he?" Jesus wondered.

"He is called Nicodemus and he is an important man, a ruler among the people," said the disciple, panting from running ahead.

Jesus indicated he should return and bring the man, and Peter hastily pitched in to clear away a place for the man to be seated among their packs and bedding.

More torches were lit, and Andrew fetched a wineskin to offer their guest.

After the introductions were over, Nicodemus gratefully sat down and, after looking nervously about him, began talking.

He went on for some little time saying, "Rabbi, we know You must be a teacher from God for no man could do the signs and miracles You do except God be with Him . . . " and then began asking about Jesus' strange messages about His kingdom. He wanted to know about His daily teaching sessions in the temple, about the overthrowing of the money changers' tables and the claims that Jesus said He would destroy the temple.

Jesus answered all his questions one by one and Nicodemus nodded, eyes widening in puzzlement and wonder.

Finally, he asked a question about the kingdom of which Jesus spoke so often.

Then Peter picked up his ears.

He heard Jesus say something so strange it puzzled all of them. Jesus said, "Truly, truly I am telling you, except a man be born anew from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God!"

Wondering if He was joking, Nicodemus shook his head, looked puzzled and said, "But, Teacher, how can this be? How can any man enter his mother's womb and be born?"

Jesus went on, "Truly, truly I am telling you, except a man be born [there was that same word again!] of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God!

"That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit!"

A spirit, Peter thought, why, He seems to be saying a man can actually become a spirit instead of a man . . .

"Don't marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew," Jesus said, perceiving the puzzlement on the faces of those present and Nicodemus' bewildered look. "The wind blows wherever it will and you can hear the voice of the wind, but you don't know where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit, " He said earnestly.

Shaking his head slowly as if to clear his thoughts, Nicodemus asked, "How can such things be?"

"Are you a teacher, a rabbi, in Israel and yet you don't understand these things? Truly, truly I am telling you, we speak that we do know, and bear witness of that we have seen, and you receive not our witness. If I told you about earthly things and you don't believe those, then how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

"And no man has ascended into heaven but He that descended out of heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in Him may have eternal life!"

Think of that! Peter was both inspired and puzzled. He knew Jesus spoke in awe-inspiring tones of His coming kingdom, its grandeur, its greatness, and his reeling brain could only conceive of this "eternal life" in the vaguest possible way. Of course, Peter knew a little of the religious teachings of his people, knew some passages from the scrolls, and Jona had seen that his children memorized some of the important prophecies and psalms. But Peter had never thought of himself as "religious," and the promise of "eternal life" seemed very, very far away.

Likely, Jesus meant whoever believed in Him would have a part in a great kingdom that would last forever and forever. He knew Mary had said the angel claimed Jesus would inherit the very kingdom of David, and of "his throne there shall be no end . . ."

But Jesus continued, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life!"

Peter noted the amazed, puzzled and hopeful look on Nicodemus' face. He had believed, had wanted to believe, but was almost afraid to believe that this was, indeed, Messiah! He was hanging on every word.

"For God sent not the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He that believes on Him is not condemned, but he that does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God . . . and this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil!

"For everyone that does evil hates the light and won't come to the light lest his works should be exposed. But he that accomplishes the truth comes to the light that his works can be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God. "

After Nicodemus left, Peter and John lay awake for a long time, puzzling over Jesus' strange words.

This Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread in the environs of Jerusalem proved heady wine indeed. Jesus had the whole area on its ear with rumors, gossip and speculation.

He would spend hours answering questions and teaching in the temple, continually emphasizing to those in custodial chores to keep it clean and polished. Miracles were performed, many were healed of diseases, even leprosy, and the streets were abuzz with talk.

Following John the Baptist's example, Jesus instructed His disciples in how to baptize people unto repentance, how to talk to them about the forgiveness of sins, the symbolic burial of the old self and washing away of the past in Jordan's waters, to rise as if in resurrected newness of life and to live a clean and different life.

Those who humbly came to Jesus and asked for baptism were gathered in groups, and hardly a day passed but that several of the disciples would start the trek to one of the pools with a new group wanting to be baptized.

The rumor mills were alive and it was inevitable that the disciples should hear of the evil plotting of the Pharisees.

Hearing of it over dinner one night, Jesus gave instructions to return to Galilee. Their time in Jerusalem was over.

The next morning they packed up and left, wanting to be well on their way before first light.

Though arduous and forcing them to go without sleep, the trip was largely uneventful, save for Peter's consternation on the second morning to discover Jesus' bedroll empty and thinking He had been kidnapped. It was with great relief Peter discovered Jesus had arisen well before the others (it was remarkable how little sleep He seemed to require) and had gone away to pray.

Samaria divided the Tetrarchy of Herod Antipas at the waist, occupying the lands embracing the mountains to the south of Galilee and north of Jerusalem. Mount Ebal was near its center and the trail forked toward the Decapolis, the Sea of Galilee, and westerly toward the Mediterranean, Caesarea and Strato's famous tower.

Most of the Jewish pilgrims studiously avoided Samaria, holding the Samaritans in contempt as a filthy, ignorant, superstitious race of pariahs, not fit for common society.

In Jewish parlance, calling someone a "Samaritan" was tantamount to calling him demon-possessed, a wildly insane person.

Jesus ignored such racist feelings and took the direct routes, journeying freely through Samaria with His disciples as if He hadn't a care in the world. On their return trip to Jerusalem, having hurried for three days, they finally came to the fork in the main road through Samaria, at Sychar, where it was said the parcel of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph so long ago remained, and where Joseph's famous well was located. Mount Ebal loomed faintly majestic in the distance.

It had been a long, hard trek that day. They were quite tired, and Jesus and the whole group lounged around the bordering stones of the well for a time when someone suggested that they let the Lord rest and go on into town and drum up something to eat.

After they had left to go into town, a woman from the village sauntered up to the well and at the sixth hour began to draw water to fill the two pots she had fetched on her yoke.

Jesus asked, "Will you draw Me some water too, please?"

The Samaritan woman was astonished. Jews were known to treat Samaritans like animals and beneath contempt. She asked, "How is it that You, a Jew, would ask a drink of a Samaritan woman? The Jews have no dealings whatsoever with Samaritans."

"If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink of water, you would have asked Me and I would have given you living water," Jesus said.

The woman placed the water jars on the ledge and began to lower one into the well. She laughed, "Sir, You have nothing with which to draw the water out and this is a very deep well, then where will You draw such 'living water'? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself together with his sons and cattle?"

"Everyone who drinks of this water will only grow thirsty again after a time," Jesus replied, "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life!"

She said sarcastically, "Sir, then please give me this water You're talking about so I'll never thirst again, and then I won't have to come all the way out of town to draw water from this well."

"Go call your husband and come back here," Jesus said.

"But I have no husband," she said, wondering why Jesus would interject talk of a husband when the two of

them were out here alone.

"You're telling the truth there," said Jesus, "because you've already had five husbands, and the one with whom you're presently living is not your husband—you're certainly speaking truly enough."

The woman was astonished.

"Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet, a Jew, probably from Jerusalem.

"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain," she changed the subject, "and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."

"Woman, believe me," Jesus retorted, "the hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you worship the Father. You worship that which you know nothing about, but we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and even now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such does the Father seek to be His worshipers. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth!"

The woman said, "I know that Messiah is to come, who is called the Christ, and when He is come He will declare unto us all things." This she said tentatively, peering intently at this strong young stranger. Jesus looked at her and said, "I that am talking with you am He."

Peter and the disciples came back and saw that He was speaking with the woman, yet none of them bothered her by saying, "What are you doing?" or "Who are you looking for?" or asking Jesus, "Why are You speaking to her?"

The woman left her water pots and went quickly back into the city and told some of the men there, "Come and see a Man who told me everything that I ever did. Do you think this would be the Christ, the Messiah?"

Some of the citizens came out of the town and came toward Jesus. In the meanwhile Peter and the disciples had been begging Him to eat, knowing that He was very tired from the lengthy trip and had taken nothing for some time.

This scene at the well turned into another of these impromptu sermons. The townsfolk clustered about and the leaders asked many questions of Jesus. Peter hung back, a look of pain on his face. He didn't like having to journey through Samaria anyway, but why was Jesus wasting time on talking to them?

Wouldn't this kind of thing hurt His cause if it got out? Wouldn't loyal Jews be antagonized when they learned the Messiah had been freely socializing with a motley crowd of Samaritans from Sychar, and that the whole thing had begun by a lengthy conversation with a class A prostitute? Besides, Peter knew you couldn't trust any Samaritan. Why, they were as, slippery as water on a moss rock, they'd as soon cut your throat as took at you, they'd slay their own grandmother for her purse—the way Peter had heard it. He couldn't see the logic behind staying here any further, but what was this?

Jesus had gotten up and beckoned to the others! He was turning toward the town! The leaders had been so absorbed in His teachings, it seemed many of them began to believe Jesus really was the Messiah and had been begging Him to remain longer. Peter knew Jesus could never turn down such earnestness, such hungry sincerity; He never had yet. So off up the path they went, and they remained there for two days.

Jesus seemed to really enjoy these two days; He was able to teach freely and directly. Peter knew He had avoided making any direct statements to the Jewish leaders in the temple that He was the true Messiah. He hadn't wanted to precipitate the revolution too soon, apparently and had continually warned Peter and the others to "tell no man who I, the Son of Man, am. " But here, in the midst of this childlike crowd of swarthy Samaritans, Jesus seemed to relax and enjoy speaking openly, telling them plainly,

"I am the Messiah who is to come!"

Following the two days at Sychar, Jesus and the disciples went on to Galilee.