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CHAPTER XV Peraea
Our journey had begun at Peter's home in the north.
Given our reception in Sychar, Jesus saw no necessity to continue through Samaria, so on this occasion we took the traditional route through Peraea and avoided the hostile Samaritan countryside. Peraea: a land of protection from the Samaritans, where Jews traveled to and from Galilee and Judea.
There is no more beautiful country in all Israel than Peraea. Gazing west the eye feasts upon a panorama of rolling sandstone hills. This same sandstone provides a base for the slopes of Moab and Gilead and may be found as far south as the river Jabbok.
A white, crumbly mixture of clays and remnants of shells cover the land. These form uncommon peaks above the Jordan valley. In the Spring and Summer, blossoms of flame are plentiful, these joined by the narcissus lacing soft breezes with exotic perfumes. Slopes shady with acacia groves, palm trees, shaggy oaks and in higher reaches, with pines. Streams fringed with towering bushes of pink, white and poisonous oleander. In the lower hills, the tamarisk, lotus and waving canebrakes.
Above this lies hard, impervious, limestone rising to better than 1,500 feet. above the sandstone base forming a porous bed for copious rivulets of water that burst out of the hills into perennial brooks. On the other side of these slopes the country is bare and arid. Water there is supplied by cisterns and deep wells. Plateau becomes desert. On one side, the hill slopes abound in streams, springs and fertility, on the other--wilderness.
Because this province was mainly gentile, Judas Maccabeus found it necessary to move to Judea, scattering handfuls of Jews to insure their safety. Later, under John Hyrcanus, son of Simon, brother to Judas Maccabeus, Jewish influence began to prevail. John was victorious against Antiochus VII and remained in power until his death 140 years ago. Under Hyrcanus, the country enjoyed its greatest political power.
Alexander Jannaeus then took the throne. A tyrant of the first order, Jannaeus headed the sect of the Sadduccees against the Pharisees until his death when his widow, Salome Alexandra, became queen. Of the opposite political and religious persuasion, she favored the Pharisees. She governed better than any of the males in the house of the Maccabees. After her death, a civil war erupted between her two sons that resulted in the taking of Jerusalem by the Roman general, Pompey. Since then, there have been perennial struggles between the Jews and Romans, but the land of Peraea as well as the whole of Israel has remained under Roman rule where it is today. This Peraea, this "land beyond Jordan," ranks along with Judea and Galilee as a full province of the land of Israel.
The northern fords and those opposite Jericho in the south afford traverse and converse with Galilee and Judea respectively, so that the pilgrims from any part might go to Jerusalem and return without setting foot on gentile soil. And, what was of equal importance, they could avoid peril of hurt or indignity which the Samaritans loved to inflict on Jews passing through Samaria as we have already seen.
Our having passed through a northern ford, Peraea was now the scene of much quiet and profitable rest for Jesus and, indeed, for all of us.
Others, many others, thirsty for his words, had joined us in our travels. We stopped at a cross road. One road led north and south (the one we were on) and the other led east and west. Nearby, stood a small inn reflected in a clear pool of water edged by palm trees, a copse of acacia in the background. An inviting rest for weary travelers; Jesus stopped here to lodge. After a few moments of shade and a cool drink he said, "Select seventy-two men from this crowd of followers. I have a special assignment for them." I was surprised that he would entrust this task to us; nevertheless, we drifted through the crowd looking for likely prospects. Soon we had gathered seventy-two men together and brought them to Jesus. He told this group, "My brothers, I wish you to go on a mission. It will not be easy. I'm sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take money or luggage or even an extra pair of sandals, and do not greet anyone on the road. When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will be welcomed. Stay in that house, accepting whatever food and drink they offer you, as this will be wages for your effort. Heal any of their household who is sick and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is yours now if you will accept it.' "But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 'The dust of this town we wipe off our sandals! Even so, the love of God is yours now if you will accept it.' If the town still rejects you, the ancient city of Sodom will be more acceptable in God's day than it will be for that town. He who listens to you listens to me. He who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." There were, surprisingly, no protests, no questions and none who declined. They had followed Jesus, believed his message and were ready to do whatever he asked. What was surprising about this was that Jesus had sent none of the twelve to go with them, to train them, to credential them. Yet they were being called upon to represent Jesus, and thus represent the Father. An awesome task for supposedly ordinary men. An awesome task, indeed.
We lodged at the inn for several days until the seventy-two returned. They were ecstatic and said to Jesus, "Lord, we have preached good news, we healed those with disease, even the demons submit to us in your name." He replied, "I am happy with you." He lifted his arms in welcome. "But I wish you to listen carefully." When the noise of celebrating faded, he spoke in a quiet voice, "I myself ejected Satan from heaven. He fell like lightning through the stars. His defeat was absolute and his end is certain." What manner of man could say such a thing? I thought to myself. Can there be any doubt of his true identity? "Now I have given you that same authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you." He paused. The awe and wonder of what he was saying overwhelmed his listeners. "However," he warned, "do not be satisfied that spirits submit to you, but rather that your names are written, recorded and sealed in the vault of heaven." It was clearly a moment of great pleasure for Jesus. These seventy-two men had followed his instructions and had been effective. He told them, "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one truly knows or understands me except the Father. No one truly knows the Father except me and those to whom I choose to reveal him. I have chosen to reveal him in you. The power you felt, the power you used was the power of my Father." We were all greatly encouraged by these words. Then Jesus extended his arms once again as if to embrace us all and said with great feeling, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." In the quiet that followed, you could have heard a falling feather touch the ground. "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. Blessed are the ears that hear what you hear. Prophets and kings have longed to see what you see but could not see it; they longed to hear what you hear but could not hear it."
A prominent lawyer, an expert in the law of Moses, came forward and spoke to Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus looked at him with that penetrating gaze with which he was so gifted, "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" How interesting! He was giving to this man his moment, his opportunity to impress us all with his legal mind. Generous, I thought. The lawyer was not slow in forthcoming. He answered confidently, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself." He answered as if it were a child's question. "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." He was not in the least put off by this man for all of his condescension. The lawyer pressed a finer point, "And who, then, is my neighbor?" He was inviting Jesus to an intellectual exchange of what, from a theological point of view, distinguished one as a "neighbor." The man had his own thoughts about this worked out, of course, through numerous erudite, legal study and discussions. One qualified as a "neighbor" if one owned so many cattle, or held certain political positions or perhaps had been taught at the feet of an eminent Rabbi. Jesus had something else in mind. "A man traveled from Jerusalem to Jericho," he said, "and fell into the hands of bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him for the pleasure of it and left him for dead. A leader of the synagogue happened to be traveling the same road. When he saw the man, he quickly crossed the road to the other side. So, too, a priest, when he came to the place and saw this unfortunate man, he passed him by, also ignoring him. "But a Samaritan, who as you know has misguided notions of the Law, came to where the man was. And when he saw him, his heart filled with compassion and concern. He went to him, cleaned and bandaged his wounds, pouring on first wine and then oil. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he stayed the night with him, taking care of him. The next day he gave money to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may incur.' "Which of these three do you think was neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of bandits?" The lawyer, lowering his eyes, said nothing. Unable to bear the silence, he replied, "The one who had mercy on him, I believe." Jesus told him, "So, my friend, would you do as well? "I can try, my Lord." Instead of testing the knowledge of Jesus, the lawyer had himself been tested.
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