The rumors hadn’t meant anything to him. Gossip seemed to be the only thing people could agree on and consequently was worth nothing. Just smoke and dust. Nothing substantial to grab on to. Nothing that he really needed. Men who drew this kind of attention from the masses came along every once in awhile, stirring up the rabble and satiating the thirst of the rumormongers. Some of them had been men of some merit to be sure, but were not quite so. Regardless they were fools and charlatans all of them. There did seem to be something different about this one. Rather than just the excited peddlers of new, eyewitnesses related their tales of the new prophet with an uncharacteristic sense of reverence and genuine awe. People that spread the word about the prophet were not excited about telling something, but telling of an exciting new something.
Still he would have disdained this growing exuberance if it had not been for the name. “Eli, you must come with us,” one of his friends had begged, “This man is simply amazing. The things he does seem impossible, yet he does them. You must see him yourself. This Jesus is a true prophet ... ”
The eager young man prattled on, but Eli was transfixed. That name awoke in him something that he had not felt for a very long time. In a moment, he was whisked away from his home and felt the prickle of hay and dust on his knee as he knelt in a tiny barn before a woman and her child. Eli’s friend tugged at his shoulder and Eli found himself being easily dragged along, a man who had for years never gone where he did not decide himself to go.
Eli followed the tugging arm on his shoulder, where he was going he did not know, nor care, He was a man on the verge of remembering something vitally important, a feeling, and would not be roused by anything else. Before long, he and his guide reached the local synagogue, the surprisingly crowded synagogue. The crowd was so great that many of the more timid were forced to stand outside. Led by the vice grip of his friend, Eli waded through the knot of people and pushed as far forward as he could. Following the gaze of the onlookers, Eli’s eyes fell on the prophet Jesus standing amidst the crowd in the middle of an impassioned speech. He was simply clad, without extravagant colors or jewelry, and his motions matched his attire, simple and understated. It was his voice that made its impression on everyone gathered. The sound of his voice did not seem to be an outside force, but an emanating vibration that generated within the listener, rising and spreading from the center of the body all the way to the fingertips and beyond. Even if the words could not be understood, its impact was undeniably felt. Eli stood mesmerized, unable to comprehend the words. He saw the man, Jesus, wielding the whole of the synagogue like a sword, thrusting it deep into the hearts of everyone present. For a moment, Eli could picture the whole world in the prophet’s hands, molding and shaping it how he saw fit or, if it would not be molded, breaking it over his knee into a thousand fragments. Perhaps this man really can change something, Eli hoped.
In the forefront of the crowd, a man knelt on the ground before Jesus. A middle-aged man of meager means, he was known to many of those assembled including Eli. Jacob was his name. Eli only paid attention to him because Jacob was in the middle of doing something he had never seen him do. He was kneeling with his head bowed and his hands clasped in front of him as if in fervent prayer. He was showing his hand! Gnarled and mangled, Jacob’s right hand drew almost as much attention as Jesus did. It had been crushed beyond recognition years before and Jacob was always careful to keep it stowed away from view. If he lifted his hands to praise, he lifted only his left. If he greeted someone, it was with an awkward wave. If there was anything that he would need to carry with two hands, he would instead drag it behind him with his one good hand. Yet, here he was displaying his sorrow before this whole congregation. Tears trickled from his closed eyelids and his lips repeated a single mantra, “Please Jesus…Please Jesus…Please Jesus.”
Eli began to scan the crowd to see if they were equally awestruck by Jacob’s display. His eyes finally came to rest on the only other set of people that were speaking in the entirety of the building. The Pharisees occupied one of the corners, holding their heads close together in quiet conference. Occasionally one of their number would look up, first at Jesus and then at Jacob, before returning his head to the circle. If Eli did not feel such an abiding loathing for these men, he would have laughed at their comical appearance, a bunch of gaudily-dressed fools having a private meeting in the middle of a multitude. No one disgusted Eli more than these religious elite. For all their religious holiness and righteousness, the only thing that was truly valuable to them was stagnation. Every “good deed” or “holy act” was merely an excuse to maintain their arrogant equilibrium, their status quo. They would merrily burn an innocent man at the stake to keep their sacred law.
With this thought, it occurred to Eli what their impromptu meeting was about. They wanted to see if Jesus would heal Jacob. Healing on the Sabbath would be a clear violation of their interpretation of the Law. Jesus could not dare to heal the man or he would be deemed a heretic and a pagan. Eli inwardly cringed, Nothing will ever change. No one can do anything about that. With a terrible ache in his chest, Eli turned again to listen to Jesus. But he was not speaking. He was casting his melancholy eyes across the crowd. All thought that he was done speaking. When his eyes fell on the contingent of Pharisees, a cloud passed over his brow. Turning to Jacob, he spoke soothingly but loudly enough to be heard by all, “Rise to your feet.” Jacob instantly obeyed. Facing the crowd and allowing his eyes to fix on the Pharisees, he raised both hands and thundered, “I will ask you one thing.” Even the Pharisees stopped whispering, thinking that Jesus was addressing them. Everyone in the crowd waited eagerly for his question, anticipating something momentous. “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil, to save life, or to destroy?” Everyone in the place blanched at once. What a question was that? Jesus patiently waited, passing his blazing eyes across the room, pausing at every person who would meet his gaze before moving on. The roving eyes meet Eli’s. Any hint of an answer to the question posed vanished tranquilly from his mind and he once again felt himself being transported through time. He was back on his knees in the barn before that woman and child. And there it was, those eyes of the prophet’s matched perfectly with the eyes of that woman.
Eli dimly heard Jesus’ voice again, “Stretch out your hand.” Both he and Jacob did as commanded. With outstretched hands, Eli implored, “Is this the Christ?” The woman looked at him sorrowfully.
Eli stirred from his vision at the cry of Jacob. The cripple was gazing dumbfounded at his good hand. Then he lifted up his other hand…his left hand. Everyone understood at the same moment. He had two good hands! An instantaneous murmur rippled through the crowd. The Pharisees turned back into their circle only this time in angry whispers and pointed gestures. But it didn’t matter. Eli had finally found what he had always searched for. Not only had Jesus changed the life of Jacob, but he challenged the law. Things could change after all. It would be like his previous vision; Jesus would either shape the world or snap it to pieces. Either way, there would be change. Eli smiled a satisfied smile before looking at Jesus again.
The prophet still remained in the same place and he was staring placidly at Eli. Those eyes one again reminded him of the mother in the barn, but this time he remembered something she had said, something that had meant a lot time him at the time. “Not only will he change the world,” she had said, “but he will change lives and show people what it means to change.”
So that was it, Eli realized. He’s not here to change governments or law. He’s here to change us, individually, and to show us that we can change. We may be hopelessly lost, but with the true guide, we can find our way into a new world. The tears came to him as they had so many long years ago in a little barn. Jesus nodded with a compassionate and comprehending smile and walked away.
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