When the Sun Rose

She believed.

I step over a blanket lying on the floor as I make my way through the people. Making my way around the room, I arrive at Jesus who is walking over to an elderly lady. The woman's eyes immediately light up when she sees Him. He gently grasps her hand. A turban is wrapped around her head with little white strands of hair poking out. Her long blue tunic is similar to most of the others in this community, but this woman's is torn and ripped at the bottom. A light cloth is laid over her legs.

"You can help me," the woman tells Jesus. "You are the One. You're the One we've been waiting for." Her pale lips barely move with every word she speaks.

Jesus says, "Rise." Without any second thought, the lady carefully removes the cloth over her legs. I hold her other hand, and she wobbles to a stand. Her feeble body can barely hold herself up. She takes a deep breath of relief. Her hands are shaking, and she looks at Jesus. "Thank you." Her grip tightens, and a tear falls down her cheek. An older man, who I have established as her husband, stands up next to her. She releases her hands from our grip, and the couple hugs. I look at Jesus. He smiles and says, "She believed."

I sit beside the couple, and we continue in a conversation about their lives. Then I walk over to some sick little children that are patiently waiting on Jesus to come and heal them.  All the followers are spread throughout the crowd: Peter, James, John, Andrew, Nathanael, James the Younger, Judas, Jude, Levi, Philip, Simon, and Thomas. Along with the apostles, some others follow with Jesus: Me (Mary Magdalene), Joanna, Susanna, and others. The children around me begin chanting, "Hosanna, to the Son of David."

The chief elders and priests at the Temple all stand in a small corner of the room. The lame, sick, and blind are all away from them. They have a sour look on their faces as they survey the room. One of the elders whispers into a scribe's ear and they both nod in agreement.

"Jesus." the chief elder calls, "Do you hear what these people are saying?" All the leaders of the Temple look at Jesus concerned, like this was an issue. Jesus walks over to them and says, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?" The elder takes a deep breath and walks toward the door. The others follow him. 

Jesus finishes up healing some others in the room that came to him, and then starts rounding up the disciples. We all get our belongings, and head out of the Temple. The sky glows a light blue mixed with a light purple, and the moon is barely peeking out from behind a soft cloud. We step over rocks and branches with our leather sandals. As we arrive upon Bethany, Jesus shows us our places to stay. I am with Susanna and Joanna tonight. We have all gotten quite close in our small quarters. We have also grown quite fond of Peter's wife. We always love when she accompanies Peter on trips.

A lovely couple has allowed the three of us women to stay with them for at least tonight.  All of us sit in the high upper room of the multi-family house. The room is quite bare. There is nothing more than a small table in one corner and a dark short stool beside the door. The home is actually a nice size house: a two story, four room home.

"Today was such a beautiful day. I spoke with a young boy that said it was the best day of his life," Susanna says as she returns from getting the jug of water from the corner table. She sets it on the stool, and gently blows on the lamp to release the remaining light in the room. I pull at my floor mat until I am comfortable. This mat has been all over with me. It is very easy to roll up and tie together. Most of us have our own mats, so wherever we are, we have something to cover the ground. I lay my heavy cloak over my body to keep warm.

"It was beautiful. Seeing all of those young children praise Jesus for His miracles just warmed my heart," Joanna answers. Even though I can't see Joanna in the dark, I know she has a huge grin on her face. Her husband, Chuza, is a very high official working for the King. I really respect her because she could have lived a very wealthy life, but instead she lives traveling and supporting Jesus's ministry. 

"Goodnight Mary and Joanna," Susanna says as I roll over and fall asleep.