The Madonna and the Political Prisoner, Chapter 15/1

Chapter 15 AD 24

This is the first time I’ve ever been on a boat. Forty five years and the only time I’ve been in water was when I lay in the stream at the stranger’s request when I was thirteen years old. I’m rather nervous about this, it seems such a little boat and the lake is so large. We’re out in the middle of the water now, the shore seems so far away. At least the water is calm, reflecting the blue of the cloudless sky. Joshua had told me not to worry when he saw how fearful I was when he helped me into the boat. He said that he and his friends used the fishing boats of Simon Peter and John frequently as it was the best way of moving swiftly round the villages on the lake shoreline.

“You’ll be fine today,” he says. “Sometimes when the wind gets up it can seem a little choppy and it might make you feel queasy. One night we got caught by a sudden storm that we didn’t see coming and even these hardy fishermen were scared that we were going to sink, but the storm suddenly abated and we made the shore safely. But it’s bright and very calm today – look, there’s hardly a breath of wind. That means our journey will be a bit slow but you can lie back and rest. Keep your shawl over your head and shoulders though. The sun’s strong and can burn you quickly out here. The fishermen are used to it, you can see how tanned they are, but your skin will burn.”

Anna’s really excited. She’s kneeling at the front bending over the side of the boat trailing her hands in the water. I’m worried that she might fall in but Joshua tells me that she was quite safe – she is chattering to the burly Simon Peter, whose boat this is, and Joshua says he’ll make sure she comes to no harm. Joshua spends a lot of the journey talking to him and his brother Andrew, for they are apparently going to spend some time in Magdala and other villages in the area while Joshua is back home with us. His followers have been told to split up and go to all the towns and villages around the lake telling everyone about the coming ‘Kingdom of God’, the same message that Joshua had told us in the synagogue in Nazareth and that he’d instructed them about, so they could answer questions from the crowds as well as speak with confidence. I can tell that Simon Peter is keen to get on with it and is finding the slow progress of our boat frustrating. I’m not so sure about his brother. He seems a little overawed by what he’s been told to do and I think is only too happy to let Simon take the lead.

Around noon, it is so still that the sails go completely slack and we are almost stationary. Simon shouts that we’ll need to get out the oars and row. My Simon and Judas and Salome’s husband Andrew immediately get up and offer to help, and Simon again shouts and James, and my two cousins James and Jude break off the whispered conversation they are having at the back of the boat. And, reluctantly, I think, take an oar each.

“Anyone of you ever rowed before?” calls Simon and all of them shake their heads. “In that case I think just a couple of you need to help – Andrew and I are used to it and will take most of the brunt of it. If too many of you have not rowed before we’ll get in a damned muddle and finish up going round in bloody circles. If Judas here and Andrew” – he looks at Salome’s husband who is taller than the others – “take a turn now, others can take over when they need a rest.”

Joshua picks up an oar. “Simon, brother, I’ll take your place. I’m more used to it than you. I’ve taken my turn from time to time, although the fishermen usually protest when I do.”

“Quite right too, Master,” shouts Simon Peter. “There’s never been any need for you to row when all the fishermen are much more used to it. You stick to what you’re good at and we’ll do what we do best.”

“You see, Mother,” he says, “they don’t think I’m any good at it. But I’m strong enough – all of us who’ve worked in the carpentry shop have muscles enough though these brutes here don’t think so. Anyway,” he says turning to his younger brother, “I’m more used to it than you. I’ll join Salome’s husband and between us I’m sure we can give some support to the captain and his brother there and keep the boat heading in the right direction.”

They row for a good hour before a slight breeze begins to stir us coming across the lake from the Perean shore. I see the sails begin to fill out and the men let their oars hover for a moment to check the boat continues to move forwards. Satisfied they stow the oars and lounge against the side of the boat while Simon Peter adjusts the sails to take full advantage of what wind there is. My two sisters have actually fallen asleep. Anna is still alert taking it all in, pointing to distant villages and asking her father to identify them which he is trying to do, though occasionally he asks one of the fishermen. Then Joshua joins them and takes over as he knows the geography of the lake in as much detail as the fishing folk do. He points out a shoal of fish he can see for the water is so clear and Anna watches them fascinated as they move in one direction parallel to the boat then suddenly veer off in unison as if someone had issued a military command.

Magdala is a large town and I can see distinct houses and other buildings now as we get closer. It’s a bit hazy, the town shimmers in the heat and the whiteness of a larger building stands out – Joshua says it’s the largest synagogue in the town. He comes over and sits beside me.

“Mother, when we make harbour, I’ll lead you all to the little house of my friend Mary who was born in this town though she lived for a while in Jerusalem where I met her several years ago. I was able to do something for her then and she came back to live in her home town. She’s been so grateful, that she always opens up her home to me and my followers when we are in this neighbourhood. Her house is too small to take all of us, but I’m sure she’ll house you and the other women. The men have tents and I’ll join them.”

“How did you get to know her? What did you do that makes her so grateful to you?”

“It doesn’t matter, Mother. She had certain problems. Some things are best kept confidential. She’s changed her life completely and I’m sure you’ll like her and will find her a good friend.”

We are now entering the harbour. Joshua is helping Simon Peter and Andrew thread their way through the myriad other vessels, some with nets down, others anchored and a few already moored at the dockside. All other conversation ceases and all the men are now alert, watching the activity with interest. We are apparently going to tie up here, leaving the boat for Simon Peter and his brother when they’ve finished their mission in the area. Joshua has told them to sail back to Capernaum afterwards and he’s promised to join them there to get their report on how they’d fared.

James has said absolutely nothing to me since Joshua joined us on the journey home. I don’t know what he is thinking. He seems deliberately to have had as little to do with his elder brother as possible and has confined his conversation to James and Jude and occasionally to Andrew. He’s said nothing to any of us women. I know Ben has found the lake crossing much easier on his bad leg than the tramp around the lake edge though he did ride one of the donkeys when his leg pained him too much. We left both beasts in Capernaum on our return there and Joshua gave them to the charge of a couple of his other followers who were going to bring them to Magdala and leave them for the continuation of our journey before they branched off inland towards Kana and villages further north.

Simon Peter and Andrew secure the boat and make sure their fishing equipment is stowed away, sheeted and roped. We walk past the hubbub of movement on the dockside – men unloading fish, even at this hour, others selling them by the quayside, merchants bartering, officials checking the catches, apparently to assess the taxes for the Romans. The smell of the fish is overpowering and I’m glad when we move into the town away from the lake, though this town has an unpleasant odour in the heat. I can see the problem. There are open ditches where sewage is dribbling. In our village such refuse and mess is removed outside the village. People here, at least in the poorer areas, do not seem so fussy. Then, as we get further from the lakeside, the air seems purer and the streets are wider and clean and we pass the large synagogue we could see from the boat. There is an open square and a number of impressive colonnaded buildings around it, and we branch off it down a narrower street and walk for a further twenty minutes or so until I think we must be reaching the edge of the town.

“Nearly there,” I hear Joshua tell Anna who has been walking with him all the way. I’ve been with Salome and Rebecca and for the first time since we saw Joshua in the flesh working with the crowds, we are able, without interruption, to share our views of all we’ve seen. They’re believers, both of them. Of course, they’ve been privy to all my secrets since we were children. They shared in the excitement of my pregnancy, though they didn’t realise all the ramifications it raised at the time. They tell me they don’t talk about Joshua too openly for their husbands are sceptics and neither has wanted to stir up controversy within the family. But with me, they are open and quiz me about everything that Joshua is doing. I wish I could tell them more because most of the spectacular things he says and does only reach me by hearsay. We are interrupted though, because we’ve arrived at Mary’s house. She’s seen us coming and is waiting at her threshold. As soon as we are near she rushes forward and greets Joshua, then stops and looks at all of us.

She is a striking woman. I suppose she must be in her late twenties. She is quite tall, taller than me anyway, and my eyes are drawn to her unusual auburn hair which is flowing untrammelled by her loosely fastened and beautifully embroidered shawl. At first I think her eyes look sad, but when she smiles they lighten and twinkle as if in mischief. I give her a smile and she responds immediately.

“You must be the Master’s mother. It’s a privilege and pleasure to know you. Come in, you must be weary from your journey. Come in, all of you and at least share a drink and bite of food. I was expecting some of you for the Master sent word on ahead through a couple of his followers who passed through here yesterday.”

Then she apologises for the inadequacy of her house to provide full hospitality. She needn’t of course, for she is not wealthy and her home is spotlessly clean. After she has served us with bread and some grapes she moves to sit next to Joshua and immediately asks him how his latest stay in Capernaum and Bethsaida has gone. They are in animated conversation for some time, although I can’t pick up everything they are saying for my sisters are talking too, then Anna joins us full of questions about the town for she’s not been anywhere so big before. I sense some unspoken tension in the crowded room. Joshua’s two followers are talking with James and Benjamin and I catch an occasional word which suggests to me that they resent this Mary monopolising Joshua so much and are saying that he’s too soft with her and lets her talk when she should be active in more womanly pursuits.

I’m quick at picking such implicit criticism up, for I’ve had more than my share of muted comment in the past suggesting I was entering into domains that were the preserves of the men. I begin to feel that she must be a woman after my own heart. Perhaps, I suddenly think, seeing how intimate the conversation between her and Joshua is, perhaps he will get married after all this time. Perhaps this woman is the companion and wife he needs. But, of course, I keep my views to myself. After all, I’ve only just met the woman and first impressions can be misleading.

After our meal the men move out and set up the tents on grazing land opposite causing the goats nibbling at the dusty grass to budge a little and find new fodder, meagre though it is. Joshua had been still in conversation, but Simon Peter interrupts him, a bit rudely in my opinion, and indicates it’s time to leave the confines of the house. But they go and I ask Mary if she wants any help.

“Goodness me, no, Mariam – may I call you that? I can sort out the house when you’ve moved on. There’s no need for you to do anything, that’s not a priority. Let’s sit and chat. I’d like to get to know you all. The Master has said so much about you all to me.”

“Of course you can call me that, but most just call me Mari for short. And why do you call my son ‘Master’? He doesn’t employ you in any way, does he?”

“No, he doesn’t although I’d do anything he asked me to for nothing. Being near him is its own reward.”

“Why, what has he done that makes you such an admirer?”

“Let’s just say that he met me when I was at my lowest ebb and helped me see my problems for what they were and gave me the confidence that I could overcome them. I truly owe my life to him, that is what I believe and I don’t care who knows it.”

“Are you a follower of his?”

It’s Anna who suddenly asks this question, one perhaps that had been hovering on our lips and Anna with the brashness of youth had come out with.

“Yes, Anna, I believe I am, although I’m not sure his male followers agree with me on this. They call themselves his ‘disciples’ and they don’t count me among their number, because rabbis’ disciples are always male. But the Master doesn’t treat me any differently from them. And it’s not just me. He is happy to talk to Simon Peter’s wife and the wives and children of his other disciples on the same level. When he talks to the crowds he lets everyone come and ask questions or just thank him. Sometimes the disciples get quite irritated. They say they’re trying to protect him but I really think they want him to themselves and he doesn’t like being confined to a small group but opens himself to everyone.”

“We have the same problem in our family. Some of my sons resent him treating us no better than everyone else. They think because we’re family he should give us priority.”

“What’s more he takes the questions and comments of women and children seriously. That’s more than the priests ever do in the synagogue. Last time I was in Capernaum he was talking to children and telling them stories and a couple of the disciples tried to shoo them away, but Yeshua took no notice. Then more children arrived, encouraged by their mothers and the disciples went to remonstrate, and Yeshua stopped them. He was very indignant, I’ve never heard him so cross before. Then he told them that unless they trusted God like these children trusted him, they’d never understand what he was about. The disciples were quite upset at being told off so publicly. Yeshua made them wait a long time before he stopped talking to the children. He told me that he wished children never lost their trust and their idealism. We all have to be like children, he says. Be childlike. Sometimes the disciples think he’s talking nonsense or in riddles and he has to explain what he means as if they were children. ‘I think the children understand me better’ he said to me on one occasion!”

“Do the disciples let you join in with them or do they try to exclude you?”

I sense that Mary is not as accepted as she’d like to be.

“They don’t tell me to go away, but I can tell that they don’t take me seriously. They tolerate me, I suppose, but if I try to express an opinion, they quickly make it plain that my views are worthless. But they wait until Yeshua is out of earshot because they know he would listen to me. They’re not all the same, of course. I quite like John, he’s one of the fishermen, but he’s younger and easier to talk to. I think the Master finds him more open than some of the others to his new ideas.”

“What do you make of Simon Peter and his brother? My family wonders why my son chose such people as his closest companions when he was educated in rabbinical schools.”

“Simon’s alright. He’s a bit of a loudmouth but his heart is in the right place. At least you know what he thinks. If he doesn’t like something, he comes out with it. We have arguments, but he doesn’t bear any grudges. I know he comes from a village and community which just sees a woman’s place is looking after the home and children and he’s had difficulty in changing his views, but he tries to understand the Master’s point of view and if Yeshua tells him to do something, he obeys. He’s very loyal. I trust him more than one or two of his other friends who say little to your face but I know resent my presence and that of the other women and complain behind our backs. There’s a man called Matthew who used to be a notorious corrupt tax collector for the Romans. I know he’s changed, but he reckons he knows all about politics and the business world and makes it plain that he doesn’t expect me to understand. And then there’s a guy called Judas, he’s the group’s treasurer, I find him a bit devious. I never know quite what he’s thinking. Sometimes I think he just worries about the costs incurred of feeding all us women followers and it’s no more than that. He’s happy enough when one of us entertains the group at our expense. Then at other times he fancies himself as the thinker in the group – he reckons he’s more educated than any of them except the Master himself. He thinks it strange and undignified that I can read and write as well as he can. You can too, can’t you? The Master told me that sometime. He’s very proud of you.”

“Yes, I was lucky. One of the rabbis in the Nazareth synagogue said he saw my potential and educated me with his own daughter. I used to pass on what I’d learned to my sisters. And I know my brother Benjamin has taught Anna here to read and write and take an interest in more than an ordinary housewife needs to know. She’s getting married soon. I hope her new husband will not stifle her interests.”