Cleomus barges into my cell, shocking me back to the present with his harshness. "Malchus, you said you were a cobbler so you can fix my sandals. The strap broke-here, fix it."

"Sure Cleomus," I respond, "but I need the small tool bag that’s with my property. They took it from me when I arrived here."

"Just a minute," Cleomus grunts, and goes off to fetch my tools.

While he is gone, I pray about the situation and what I should do. Like Jesus did, I pray along the lines of a favorite Psalm: "My ear you have pierced. I am yours. Here I am 0 my God. I have come to do your will. What would you have me do in this?"

I hear a quiet response deep inside, "Give him your sandals."

The immediate internal responses are, "No way." "He wouldn’t accept them." "That’s stupid." "He’ll think you’re trying to buy him." I am learning to ignore these alien intrusions into my being. Prison was helping me sort out who was planting thoughts in my mind.

I smile and say, "Thank you Lord."

I was excited with the prospects of taking Bethany on another trip. Caiaphas wanted a first hand account of the happenings at the Jordan river, and I was to be his eyes and ears. All of Judea was buzzing about this so called prophet, John the baptizer. He was the main topic of conversation wherever people gathered. At the wells, when the women drew water, at the marketplace, at the shops and industries, and of course at the meetings of the Sanhedrin, this John was discussed.

This time Bethany and I took the children. Huge crowds were making the day long trip to the Jordan and there was a carnival like atmosphere all along the way. There were vendors along the roadside selling raisin cakes, and figs, and various fruits and breads. My son, Jehoiada, and I spent some great times together. I carried him on my shoulders some of the time and we would wander slightly off the paths to explore. At his age everything fascinated him.

He saw a leaf that had changed color and shrieked for joy. "Oh Abba, Abba look." He clutched the leaf in his tiny hand as if he had discovered a great treasure. Next it was a stick and then a stone with unusual markings. Soon I would have to carry these things spilling from his tiny hands, and add it to the growing bag of "treasure."

"Jehoiada, let’s leave some of these beautiful things for others to discover too," I suggested.

"No! This is mine. I want to keep it," he defiantly answered.

How much this little boy was like me shocked me, and so did how much I was like him, in hoarding my treasure stash. Oh well, such is the way of all men, and I liked my growing stash of treasure. I had a good time with my son, and promised myself to spend more time with Jehoiada. Like the well meaning promise to get away with Bethany, this too was subordinated to the will of Caiaphas and my growing responsibilities.

Because of the children, we didn’t push ourselves to get to the Jordan in one day. We also wanted to enjoy our little holiday. About mid-afternoon, we saw a large cluster of booths and cooking stations where you could rent a shelter for the night and buy a nice meal. Our people are known to be enterprising. Whenever an opportunity to help each other, and make some money in the process arises, this characteristic is evident.

We stopped and picked a nice shelter at the back, nearest the wilderness. The cluster of booths was near the descent into the Jordan Valley, but because of the oppressive heat in the valley, even at night, and the abundance of wild animals there, the preferred resting place was right here. There were several hundred booths, plus space for those who slept in the open, or carried their own coverings.

We paid for water and the use of the bathing booths, and I had the experience of taking Jehoiada with me into the men’s area and giving him his cleansing. Other people were there, pouring water over each other’s heads. This frightened Jehoiada. He did not want that water poured over him and began to fuss. I started to get angry, and then thought better of it. He was only a small boy on the biggest adventure of his young life. So after soaping him up I started a water fight.

I put my hand in the water and flecked a few drops at him. He looked amazed as if to say, "What’s happening?" I smiled mischievously and did it again. I grinned and did it once more. He wasn’t sure whether to scream and cry, or get his hands in the water and get me. He made a little movement and I flinched as if I were afraid of him flicking water at me. That was the cue he needed, and his little hands scooped up as much water as they could hold and he threw it at me. I yowled and moaned and threw more on him, being careful not to get it in his eyes.

Soon water erupted all around us as we frantically splashed and threw it on one another. When our water supply was gone, we were laughing and enjoying ourselves and were also squeaky clean. Jehoiada was now a seasoned bather, and I had had a great time. Some of our bath neighbors enjoyed our fun, but others were upset with us. I didn’t care what they thought.

At supper, Jehoiada didn’t eat much. "I told you not to buy him all those honey cakes and then those raisin cakes," Bethany scolded. "His stomach can’t handle that many sweets, and now he won’t get his nourishment." I smiled and winked at Jehoiada, just ignoring Bethany’s remarks.

The children were fast asleep soon after dusk. Groups of travelers were talking, but Bethany and I didn’t want to wander off to visit with others lest the children wake up alone and be afraid. It had not yet cooled down so we lay half in and half out of the booth, with our upper bodies out in the night air. We lay close together on our backs looking up into the incredible display of stars.

"It’s majestic, isn’t it?" I was not asking as much as just commenting.

"What?" Bethany asked.

"The stars, the beauty and the grandeur of it. It makes me feel small and insignificant."

"It makes me feel good and cozy," Bethany responded, "to think that the God who made all of this has chosen us to be his own special possession." Bethany moved her head to rest on my arm and went on. "I wonder why he chose us over others?"

I responded quickly, "You can go crazy trying to answer that question. God just chose us. He has his own reasons, but we are most fortunate. We have the Temple, the High Priest, the law of Moses and the tradition of the elders."

"What’s it like, Malchus, being so close to the High Priest? Is he different in a way you can see, or is he just like others," Bethany asked?

I laughed, feeling warm and good about my high position with Caiaphas, and said, "He is just a man like any of us, but his office gives him a power and mystique that makes him different. When he speaks, to me it’s almost the same as if God speaks. I know he is not God, but he is the closest to God. He is the chief representative of God on earth."

Bethany made a "mmmhmmm" sound and put her head on my arm.

We went on talking for hours. Sometimes we discussed big important things, and some of the time we just chatted. We had not talked like this for a long time, and we promised each other we would do it more often. I had no idea it would be more than three years before we would feel this close again.

* * *

Awaking to the smells of baking bread and the sound of hungry children, we dressed quickly. While Bethany nursed Sarah, Jehoiada and I went to buy some of that great smelling bread. We bought enough for the journey and the time at the Jordan. We ate several pieces by the time we got back to the booth. Bread is never better than when it is still warm.

Back on the road I began to slip away from my role as husband and father, and became more the servant of the High Priest. I was here to investigate John the baptizer and his effect on the people. The focus of my thinking centered more and more on the people, and I tried to sense what they were feeling. I noticed that the travelers going to the Jordan were happy and expectant, while the ones returning were somber and serious. The heat was stifling, but more than that, a heaviness and sense of foreboding began to settle on me, as we came to the place John was baptizing and preaching.

The reports that "everyone was going out there" were not exaggerated. Making our way through the milling crowds was difficult. Hundreds and hundreds sat on the sloping bank of the Jordan where they could see and hear. Others moved about like a sea of people. The river was narrow at this point, only twenty or thirty cubits wide. The opposite shore was a rocky cliff.

John, the one they called "the baptist," perched on a rock on the other side of the river, was eating. It looked to me like he was eating locusts. He had what appeared to be a pile of them and a container of honey. He would dip the insects in the honey and chew them up. I was disgusted watching him eat.

John, reminding me of a bear I had seen a few years before-big and hairy and loud-was wearing a garment of camel’s hair and a leather sash around the middle. I had never seen anyone wear such an outfit. His hair and beard were uncut and blew in the breeze. He seemed oblivious to what he was eating, where he was and what he was doing.

I was anxious to investigate, and told Bethany to watch the children. She looked at me and scowled, but said she understood. She realized I was determined.

Wandering through the crowd, I mentally noted some of the people present. I identified dignitaries from all over Judea and Galilee from their visits to Caiaphas. I just moved casually about, pretending not to recognize anyone. Right at the water’s edge was a group of Scribes and Pharisees that I knew too well to ignore. As I greeted them, the crowd’s attention turned to John.

He shook himself as if waking from a nap, washed the honey and locust parts from his beard and hands in the river, and turned to face directly into our group. I’m certain he growled before he roared his message "You bunch of snakes. Who warned you to flee from the wrath of God to come upon you? Repent because the Kingdom of heaven is near."

I was enraged. Who does he think he is? He is deluded. He acts as if he was Elijah, and not answerable to the God-given leaders. We have the Temple and the High Priest from the line of Aaron and Levi. He is the one who needs to repent-he is blaspheming the authority of God.

John continued talking about the one who was coming, who supposedly was here now, and who would touch us with the fire of God. People from the crowd called out questions to him. His answers were the same as his message. change! Turn away from sin! Repent! Then he ordered the people to be baptized by him, to wash away their sins he said, and to prepare for the coming kingdom.

Who does he think he is, telling us such things? But even more incredible was the fact that hundreds of people responded to him and began wading into the river. I noticed in the crowd old Nicodemus, one of the Sanhedrin. Another, Joseph of Arimathea, even went into the water for baptism. I felt these men were traitors to our religious system, and I decided to go and tell Caiaphas at once.

I found Bethany and the children where I had left them. They had been joined by another family who were neighbors back home. I didn’t know them well, but Bethany and the wife were close. I almost ignored our neighbors and said,"Bethany, we must return immediately, and we must hurry."

Bethany protested that the children couldn’t make it in a rushed trip. Our neighbor suggested that Bethany and the children stay with them another day and he would watch over both families. I quickly agreed. Giving Bethany some money, and saying a quick good-bye, I was back on the road in only a few minutes.

Caiaphas was as upset as I had been when he heard my report. "Malchus," he said, "I want you to follow very carefully what’s happening with this man John. He is dangerous and we are at a distinct disadvantage in dealing with him, because of the fickle crowds. God willing, this will all come to nothing, but I want to know everything!"

I accepted Caiaphas’ charge with determination and pride. It was a sacred trust to defend and preserve the tradition of the elders. I looked forward to the assignment and began plotting immediately howl might get rid of this John. The way he flies off and condemns people should make it easy. Surely he’ll go too far and I’ll trap him like a bird in a net, as I thought, I smashed my fist into my palm.

When Bethany and the children returned, they were tired from the journey and the children were cranky. I was glad to see them and my joy spilled over in thanks to God. Soon after the evening meal, the children were bedded down, the lamps were lit, and we had our chance to talk. My peace was shattered quickly.

"Oh Malchus," she began, "if only you could have stayed another day. It was awesome. I can hardly describe it. John’s words were like a hammer breaking the hardness in my heart."

"Come on, Bethany, you have one of the most tender hearts I’ve ever seen. He didn’t break any hardness, he just trapped you with his words."

"No, Malchus!" she insisted. "He helped me turn to the Messiah." My mouth fell open. She continued, "The very next day, Jesus of Nazareth came back from the wilderness. John had baptized him six weeks ago. When he came to the place John was baptizing, John stopped speaking and pointed at him. ‘Look! The lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.’"

"What!" I exclaimed.

"Yes," she continued. "John said God had told him that the one he saw the Spirit descend upon is the Messiah. After he baptized Jesus, John saw the Spirit descend and remain on him, and he even heard the voice of God say, ‘This is my beloved Son.’ Some of John’s followers went to talk to Jesus, but we had to leave. Oh, Malchus, it’s so exciting. God is setting up his kingdom now."

Angry at myself for taking her to the Jordan, and angry at her for letting John dupe her, I responded slowly and forcefully, "Bethany, you’re acting like a fool. You had a nice experience and a pleasant trip. The hope and future of Israel is in the institutions God has established and favored. The High Priest, The Sanhedrin, The Temple. If this is the Messiah, these God-ordained leaders will tell us about it. If they don’t, I don’t want you preaching at me about some Nazarene. Do you understand?"

There was silence. Bethany stared at the floor.

"Bethany," I demanded, "do you understand?"