NO GREATER LOVE-A Miracle Maker Adventure

40 days and 40 nights

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The desert portion of this chapter will be Jesus' POV.

As I was sleeping, my brooch shone again, and this time I was in another area of Israel. I looked around and saw a much younger version of Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus. My eyes widened as I realized that I was in Bethlehem, in a cave where Jesus had been born. They were being approached by people with fancy clothes.

I recognized them as the Magi, the very people that gave the Holy Family gifts, and then went home another way because there was an evil king named Herod that wanted to kill Jesus when He was a baby. An Angel named Gabriel had warned Joseph about Herod and told him to escape with Mary and Jesus in tow into Egypt.

"Gold is for a King, the riches of His glory." One Mage said and laid his gift at Mary's feet.

"Frankincense is for prayer, a fragrant offering to God," another one said, and laid his gift down.

"Myrrh is for sorrow and the day of death--a doorway into life." the last one said.

I saw Mary wonder about these gifts before my brooch shone again...

And I was back in Nazareth where the first rays of light were beginning to shine through the windows. I yawned quietly, and stretched, woke up to see Mother Mary with those same gifts, still pondering about them, just as Jesus was beginning to stir from sleep.

I sat up and wordlessly went outside and practiced my spells for a good fifteen minutes before coming back in. I would usually practice for half an hour to an hour, but we were short on time.

Aunt Joanne and my other siblings and cousins were already up and about, gathering their things as Jesus woke up. I started to gather my things, and thanked Mother Mary for dinner. Before long, after hugging Mother Mary goodbye, we were on our way, with Jesus leading us to the Jordan River. Aunt Joanne put my long hair up in a bun when it got warmer out.

Every half hour, we would make sure we had enough water. I had to conjure some water about halfway there since we had run out.

"Are we there yet?" Ruby asked.

"Not yet, Rubes." I said.

"We're almost there," Jesus said gently.

"You see the Jordan River? It's straight ahead." Joanne added encouragingly.

"I'd say we're about more than three quarters of the way there. We're 95% of the way there. It's been at least nearly nine hours since we left Nazareth, Ruby." Adrienne said. "The Jordan River is southeast from Jesus and Mary's house."

"I'm not that good at where to go." Ruby confessed.

"That's why Jesus is here, so we do know where to go." I said gently.

"Oop! Better watch out--there are groups of horses coming." Joanne cautioned.

I watched as the group of horses sped past us, and atop them, priests, and Sadducees and the Pharisees. The way they looked back at Jesus gave me the chills.

Finally, we came to the Jordan River where an unkempt, olive skinned and thin man wearing camel hair, pointed at Jesus, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

"John the Baptist?!" I gasped.

Of course, I remembered reading that Mother Mary's cousin, Elizabeth, gave birth to John the Baptist when she was much older. Mary had visited her when she became pregnant with Jesus, and when Mary greeted Elizabeth, the child in Elizabeth's womb leapt for joy.

"Yep, that's him, all right." Joanne said, just as Ruby, Adrienne and my other siblings all jumped into the river to cool themselves and join Mei's group. I stayed where I was at while John came up to Jesus, and fell down before Him.