Chapter 1
Jerusalem was quite crowded as was usually the case around the time of passover. Me and my mother and brother had arrived early but my father still wouldn't be there for another day or so. My mother would frequently ask me and my brother questions to see how much we remembered from our times before. As I said it was crowded that day, but I've known it to be worse. My mother pointed towards the temple and asked my younger brother "do you remember what that is called, my son?" My brother (Josiah by name) smiled with recollection "of course I remember, that is the temple." Our mother nodded at his answer. "And do you recall what takes place in the temple?" Josiah nodded and said "it is where we go to offer sacrifices to God and to worship him." My mother smiled sweetly at him, "very good, Josiah." Suddenly all around us people began to run toward the city entrance. They abandoned carts, cattle, one little boy even abandoned the little ball he'd been playing with. They scurried so quickly that I and my mother and brother were nearly knocked down by the stampede. "I'm scared, eema" Josiah said as he stood closer to our mother. "It's alright, darling, I'm sure all will be fine." I was to curious to be scared. Where were all these people going and why in such haste? I reached out and grabbed the first person I could reach, which happened to be a young boy about my age. "Excuse me, but where is everyone going?" I asked him. He spoke very little hebrew, I could tell, for he struggled with the words, but I understood him enough to make out his explanation. I turned to my mother to tell her what I had found out. "It seems a great teacher is riding into town, a man called Jesus of Nazareth." Josiah's little eyes lit up like coals on fire. "Jesus of Nazareth! I have heard of him! Oh please, eema, may I go see him?" By this time I had relesed the stranger and he raced to catch up with the crowd of people who were now flocking to the city gate. My mother's eyes darted from me to Josiah and she hesitantly nodded. Without another word Josiah joined in the crowd and ran toward the gate. I stood there motionless, not sure what to make of it all. "Josiah is easily fooled..." Mother said slowly. Her young looking eyes seemed to hold a look of worry and her gaze drifted over to me. "You best go with him, my son, Josiah may be easy to deceive but you are not. I have heard stories of this man, how he claims to be the messiah, I do not want Josiah falling for such lies."
I nodded as I slowly made my way into the crowd. I too had heard of Jesus, though I knew very little, except that he supposedly performed miracles. The crowd was so large that I was pressed upon by strangers and I had to squeeze past many people from all different regions. I had never been to fond of people and having to be in such close proximity to complete strangers was something that I did not enjoy. The gate was in sight and once I had reached it the crowd parted (somewhat) at least enough for me to not have to touch anyone. Then I saw Him. Jesus 'the miracle worker' sitting erect on a donkey. He had a piercing gaze which showed the man had great passion and yet his eyes also held a look of a great love. A look which seemed to be for everyone in the crowd, as if he knew each of them individually and loved them earnestly. Then I spotted my brother just across from me, his little face erupted in excitement. He was unlike me in that way, he loved people and became enthused whenever he was part of a crowd. I did not understand though why Josiah especially seemed thrilled to see Jesus. He'd only heard of the man three- maybe four times, at the most. Yet he was standing there fully enraptured by the man's presence. I rubbed at my forehead in an attempt to wipe away the sweat which had begun to drop down from my hair. It was so hot, too hot, for my liking. A man in front of me (who vastly resembled my uncle) suddenly stepped to close to me, far too close and I was squished between he and whoever it was that was behind me. I wriggled and squirmed to free myself but that only resulted in me falling on my face. I groaned as I crawled away from the man and unknowingly crawled closer to the center of the crowd, where a pathway had been made for Jesus. Many people had laid down their cloaks and others had torn off palm branches and laid them down as a pathway. People had begun to shout "hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" I finally found a spot that seemed to hold enough room for me, so I slowly stood back to my feet. I could see clearer now, the man on the donkey (Jesus) was not alone, he had twelve men following behind him and a few women as well. Just when I thought things were looking up I was rudely pushed by someone who wanted to get closer to Jesus and as a result I ended up falling on my backside this time. The sun shined brightly in my eyes as I laid there and I futily tried to shield my brown eyes from the harsh sun's rays. But then a shadow stepped in front of me and shielded me from the sun. "Need some help, lad?" The man asked in a kind, soft voice. "Yes, please." I said somewhat in embarrassment. I never liked having to ask people for help. The man bent down and offered me his right hand I grasped it with my right hand and then he hoisted me up, with surprising strength. "I just got in Jerusalem and I've already fallen twice" I said as I tried to ease the tension that came by talking to someone new. The man smiled at me warmly and I could see the crease lines by his eyes as if he wanted to laugh but knew I wouldn't appreciate it if he did. "We all have our moments, I myself have fallen many times." I smiled as I actually studied my rescuer for the first time. He was tall, probably six foot and he had dark curls which hung over his ears and midway down his forehead, he had a beard but it wasn't big or bushy, it was neatly trimmed and well taken care of, his clothes were also quite nice and I assumed the man to be rich. "So did you come to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem?" The stranger asked me. "Actually no, I didn't even know he was coming, I'm only here for the Passover. I've never even heard this Jesus; all I know is that he supposedly performs miracles." I explained. The stranger nodded thoughtfully. "You'll have to hear him teach, believe me, lad, this man speaks unlike anyone I have ever heard." You need to focus on Josiah, not waste time talking to a stranger who was kind enough to save you from your own clumsiness. The thought was annoying but it was a truthful one, I had only come this far to keep an eye on Josiah and I'd already failed at that. "I'm sorry but I must find brother." I said hurriedly as I began to move past the stranger. "Thankyou, again though...um" I bit my lip in embarrassment, I hadn't even asked the man's name. He didn't seem upset with my forgetfulness though he merely smiled as he properly introduced himself "my name is Judas and what might your name be?" I smiled back at him "my name's Daniel." The man smiled at me and in that moment he reminded me a great deal of my father. "It is a pleasure to meet you then, Daniel." With a wave of farewell I made my way over to Josiah. "Come on, Josiah, let's go back to mother." Josiah's little brown eyes looked up at me with awe and wonder. "He talked to me, Daniel! He talked to me!" I shook my head in confusion. "Who talked to you?" The little seven year old practically bounced up and down as he said "Jesus, Jesus talked to me!" I sighed as I was already dreading what mother would say to that.
