By Maritza Brunt
“Caleb, hurry up!”
Ten-year-old Caleb looked across the marketplace to where his older sister Hannah stood with a basket on her hips. Oops. He’d been caught daydreaming again. Hiking his basket of fish higher, he hurried to catch up to Hannah.
“Sorry, Hannah,” Caleb said sheepishly.
Hannah shook her head.
“That’s the third time today I’ve had to snap you out of your daydream. What’s going on, Caleb? This isn’t about that teacher again, is it?”
“It is about the teacher, actually,” Caleb started, before his sister stopped him.
“Enough!” she hissed. “You know what Father has said.”
Caleb did know. Their father had warned them not to go near Jesus, the man who had been preaching and teaching through Galilee and Judea. But Caleb was curious. Some of their fellow villagers were convinced that this teacher, Jesus, was the Messiah they’d been promised. Others were angry with him, accusing him of coming to disturb their peaceful fishing village. To keep the peace as a prominent merchant, Father had chosen not to take any sides, and remain neutral. He’d simply told Hannah and Caleb not to get involved.
But Caleb was curious. The stories he’d heard of this teacher didn’t sound like someone who was mean or destructive.
“Caleb!” Hannah called again, frustrated this time.
Caleb shook his head, snapping himself out of yet another daydream. If only I could just see this Jesus, he thought, maybe then I’d be better at following Father’s instructions.
Hannah and Caleb wove their way around the hordes of people in the marketplace until they reached their family’s fish stall. Setting down their baskets, Hannah gave Caleb a big-sister look.
“I need to go and get the last basket. Will you be okay here by yourself for a few minutes?”
Before Caleb could answer, the siblings heard a commotion at the edge of the marketplace, toward the row of houses that lined the square.
“What’s going on?” Caleb asked Hannah, who had stood on tiptoes to try and see.
“I don’t know,” Hannah answered. “Let’s just stay…”
But Caleb was already ducking under the stall and heading toward the racket. Sighing, Hannah had no choice but to follow.
Picking their way through people, Hannah and Caleb came to a stop outside one of the houses, where a group of young men were stretching their arms and wiping sweat off their brows. When one of them turned to smile at the siblings, he stepped away from the circle, and Hannah gasped. There was another young man laying on a sleeping mat right outside the door!
Caleb stepped right up to the man who had turned around.
“What’s happening?” He asked the man.
“Caleb!” Hannah scolded, hurrying up next to her brother. “It’s not polite to just ask someone things without introducing yourself!”
Caleb shot Hannah a glare. She could be such a pain sometimes.
“Fine,” he sighed. “I’m Caleb, I’m ten, this is Hannah, she’s twelve. What’s happening?”
Hannah shook her head, but the young man didn’t seem to notice.
“I’m Levi,” he told them, “and these are my friends. We heard that Jesus is teaching inside this house, so we thought we’d bring our friend Asher to see Jesus. You see, Asher is paralysed—that means he can’t walk. But we heard Jesus is a healer as well as a teacher, so we brought Asher to him.”
Caleb looked around Levi to where Asher was laying on the mat. He felt a ripple of excitement pass through him—maybe he would finally get to see this Jesus, and even see if he could heal someone!
“Well?” Caleb asked Levi. “Why don’t you just take him in, then?”
Levi glanced back at his friends, who were standing just outside the doorway, having an animated conversation amongst themselves.
“We can’t get in,” he said sheepishly. “When we decided to bring Asher, we didn’t think there’d be as many people as there are inside. There’s no way we can get through the crowd.”
Caleb thought for a moment. Then he spotted a ladder up against the side of the house, and an excellent idea popped into his head.
“Wait here!” he exclaimed, beginning to scurry away. “I’ll be right back!”
“Caleb!” Hannah called after him, but Caleb pretended not to hear. Grabbing the ladder, he carefully leaned it on the wall, and started to climb. He could hear Levi calling out, and Hannah shrieking at him to be careful, but he blocked them out and concentrated on his task. Soon enough, his hand grasped the top of the house, and he pulled himself up and over, onto the roof.
Picking his way carefully across the roof, Caleb stopped where he thought the middle of the house would be. Kneeling down, he began to pull at the tiles of the roof, trying to lift them off. Dirt caked under his fingernails as he dug, and the midday sun was hot against his back. His arm was getting really sore, but he forced himself to keep going, knowing Asher was down below, just waiting for his chance to see…
POP!
A tile lifted up and Caleb was so surprised it took him a moment to register his thoughts. It worked! He thought to himself gleefully, as he pulled the rest of the tile off the roof. Once the tile had been taken off, through the small square, he could see into the house.
Walking quickly but carefully back to the edge of the roof, Caleb waved his arms to get Levi and Hannah’s attention.
“Bring Asher up here!” He called down. “You can lower him through the roof!”
Levi didn’t waste any time. He gathered the rest of his friends, and between all of them, were able to get Asher and his mat up the ladder and onto the roof. Making quick work of the tiles, Levi and his friends pulled another off, then another, and another, until finally there was quite a large hole in the roof.
“I hope the owner doesn’t blame you for this,” grumbled Hannah, and Caleb jumped. He hadn’t even seen her come up onto the roof.
“Look!” Caleb whispered to Hannah. “There are so many Pharisees and religious teachers inside.”
Hannah shrank back from the opening in the roof. “Make sure they don’t see you,” she told Caleb. “They’ll tell Father exactly where we’ve been.”
Standing back, Hannah and Caleb watched as Levi and his friends finished tying a rope around Asher’s body and the mat. Then they carefully lowered him into the house, and jumped in after him.
Lying on their bellies and peeking over the edge of the hole, Caleb and Hannah watched as Levi knelt in front of a man who had his back to them. Then the man turned, and Caleb felt a zing go through him. “That’s Jesus!” He whispered to Hannah, who nodded in awe. She must have felt it too.
Jesus looked at Levi and his friends kneeling next to Asher for what seemed like ages. Then he spoke.
“You have great faith,” he told them.
Turning to Asher, he smiled.
“Young man,” he said. “Your sins are forgiven.”
A quiet hum spread through the crowd, and Jesus turned back to the religious teachers.
“I know you’re whispering about me,” he said.
Hannah and Caleb looked at each other, surprised. They hadn’t even heard any of the Pharisees speak, but Jesus seemed to know exactly what they were thinking.
“You are all thinking that only God can forgive sins,” said Jesus. “But I’ve told you before—I AM God. I can forgive sins, I can teach, and I can heal. And I’ll show you.”
Jesus turned back to Asher, who was still laying on his mat, and knelt down beside him.
“Get up, Asher,” said Jesus.
Caleb’s heart nearly stopped. How did Jesus know Asher’s name?
But Asher didn’t seem surprised. He just looked up at Jesus, smiled, and then—he stood up. The crowd gasped. Caleb could see tears streaming down Levi’s cheeks as Asher bent over, picked up his mat, and started toward the door. The crowd parted as Asher, followed by his friends, disappeared into the warm day.
Caleb pushed away from the edge and rolled over onto his back, looking up at the blue sky. Next to him, Hannah sat cross legged, looking as dazed as he felt.
“He’s real,” Hannah said to her brother. “I can’t believe it.”
Caleb looked at his sister, then sat up.
“Come on,” he said. “We have to tell everyone about what we’ve seen.”
PICTURE CREDIT – Free Bible Images
