Mysterious Ways: The Life That He Lived

By John Lindeck

When we read the stories about Jesus in the Bible, we hear about what Jesus did to help the people he met. He befriended them, he taught them, he healed them and he saved them from embarrassment. They are wonderful stories but what about the people themselves? Where were they coming from? What did they do with the rest of their lives? For example, what happened to the woman caught in adultery who, in the biblical account, we leave sitting alone with no money, no home, no family and no friends. Did Jesus really leave her in this position, which would have been a sort of living death?
Looking at what Jesus did from the perspective of the people he met gives a different idea of what it was like to meet him. It showed more clearly his love and care for those he met and the way in which he shared the poverty of the people he met. More often than not, it was a life-changing experience.
The stories are mostly told in the first-person so that the characters can say what they really felt. The stories have been used in the author’s own church for bible study and as dramatic readings. They have been used in schools and colleges as study material. They have also been used just as good reading material.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Dec 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781528990011

John Lindeck

John Lindeck, a chartered accountant, worked throughout his career as a manager in multi-national companies. He has been married for over sixty years and has three children and four grandchildren. His hobbies include studying history, reading and following current events, crosswords and Sudoku, watching sports, swimming, travel (going to see places is very different from being there on business) and visiting historical sites and galleries. Behind all this activity, there has been a steadily growing faith in Jesus Christ as his saviour and lord. There have been many problems at work and at home but God has always been there.

Book preview

Life

About the Author

John Lindeck, a chartered accountant, worked throughout his career as a manager in multi-national companies. He has been married for over sixty years and has three children and four grandchildren. His hobbies include studying history, reading and following current events, crosswords and Sudoku, watching sports, swimming, travel (going to see places is very different from being there on business) and visiting historical sites and galleries. Behind all this activity, there has been a steadily growing faith in Jesus Christ as his saviour and lord. There have been many problems at work and at home but God has always been there.

Dedication

To Diane and our children, Jeremy, Judy and Jackie, for their patience and their constant encouragement, my love and thanks. Diane, in particular, has put up with me shutting myself away for long periods and with my bad temper when I couldn’t get things as I wanted them.

Copyright Information ©

Copyright © John Lindeck (2020)

The right of John Lindeck to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The story, experiences, and words are author’s alone.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528990004 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528990011 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2020)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgement

Many people have assisted me by reading and commenting on this book or parts of it. Among those who come to mind are Barbara Bateman, Angela and Ian Beer, Penny Brookman, David Gegg, John Jackson, David James, John Mash, Nansi Parker, David Price, David Streater, John Taylor, Mike Vockins, John Woodger and Rob Hemmings from the Malvern Writers’ Circle. Valerie Houghton and Christine Bainton read the whole script to pick up the inconsistencies, spelling and grammatical errors which I had perpetrated. I am most grateful to them all.

Introduction

Christianity is about change. People encounter Jesus and their lives and personalities are altered, sometimes temporarily, sometimes forever. In the four gospels, we read about several individuals who met Jesus. Most came to hear the stories Jesus told and see the wonderful things he could do. Some have their physical or mental needs met. For a very few it was, literally, a matter of life or death. None would ever forget Jesus or his teaching.

In our church today, because we cannot actually see Jesus, our concentration is sometimes on the person who meets him. This book is an attempt to see what happened to some of the men and women Jesus met when he was on earth. Some had happy futures, others not. Some are major characters and some are bit players. In a way, the latter are more fun because there is greater scope for imagination.

What we read about these meetings is a snapshot of a moment. In many cases, we have no idea what happened before and we are left to guess what happened after. The writers of the gospels never met most of the characters about whom they wrote except on the occasions when these people saw Jesus. In this book I have attempted to show what led them to meet the Saviour and what difference it made. The gospel writers select and set down what they have been told because it helps to create the picture they want. They did not need to describe the feelings of those they were writing about. They do not need to describe the feelings of those involved.

I have used the first person in telling the stories in this book as this allows the characters to express their own thoughts and motivations and, in my view, helps to make the stories more understandable. What I found astonishing was that these people were all true to themselves. Each one had a strong and valid reason for behaving in the way they did. I found this greatly reassuring.

These stories are told as illustrations of Jesus’s ministry and explain what the disciples (and us) learn about him from the events described. The effect on the person with whom He was interacting is largely ignored. The Woman caught in Adultery is a good example. The last we read of her is when Jesus told her to change her way of life. Would she have been left alive but homeless, without money or clothes or any means of support, looking forward to a fate almost worse than being stoned? I don’t think so. Jesus was and still is extremely protective of the welfare of anyone he meets.

In the mid-twentieth century when I was young, the church’s emphasis was on conversion. Once people had been converted, they were all right; their eternal future was assured. As a result of not nurturing these new converts, many of them gave up their faith. Today, thankfully, there is more focus on the continuing spiritual journey of the convert and how a person can be helped. Perhaps we have now gone too far in looking at the changes in people’s lives rather than the cause of the change.

Throughout this book I want readers to understand what it was like to know Jesus, to be a member of his family or to meet him as he travelled around, mainly in Galilee. Several things quickly become clear from these studies.

Mary was a woman like the rest of us. She had feelings and regrets. She felt the same pain and the same joy. If she was not like us, the idea of Jesus as a normal human goes out of the window and the whole basis of the gospel (he became man and dwelt among us) is changed.

Jesus was human. He got hurt, he grew tired, he was let down, he laughed and he loved and was loved. We have no idea what happened in the fifteen or so years when Jesus lived as a grown-up in his local community in Nazareth. Did he have girlfriends? Did he take a leading role in the synagogue? We don’t know the answer to these or many other questions, but if he didn’t go through the same joys and problems as the rest of us, he wasn’t fully human and the whole gospel is meaningless. It is only because he was like us yet without blemish that his sacrifice was acceptable. He chose to live as a pauper and die as a criminal.

It was not easy to keep Jesus safe until the appointed time of his death. From his conception, through his early childhood and then during his ministry as an itinerant teacher/healer, his life was under constant threat and God had to take special measures to protect him.

A new perspective on the gospel emerges. Things which might otherwise be missed are thrown into a high profile. Maybe this will help readers to see and understand the story more clearly. What is obvious is that the people alive in New Testament times were not that different from us in their reaction to what was happening around them. You will certainly recognise likenesses to people you know today in many of them.

The extent of Jesus’s care for the people he met was extraordinary. If he saw a need, Jesus’s instinct was to meet it, often without any obvious request from the person he was helping. He saw what needed to be done and he did it. He spent his time with the ordinary people and he would do anything he possibly could to make their lives easier. No-one was turned away. We tend to imagine Jesus in monochrome – one dimensional. We see him as an icon, not a flesh and blood figure but he was vibrant and fun to be with. He loved to laugh and was often reduced to tears. Do you think that as he watched the boy at Nain struggling to get out of his coffin, Jesus kept a straight face? Did he not share the joy of the friends of the paralysed boy who they had lowered through the roof? I love the times when, as with the ‘crookback woman’, he helped because of his overflowing love and without being asked. He saw a desperate need and he took pity. Why does the modern church spend so much time considering what it should do and debating matters of principle rather than getting alongside people as Jesus taught?

I have doubts about the traditional version of the Christmas story. Joseph was returning to the village where his family lived and were highly respected as the descendants of the royal family of David. If there really was no room with any of his relatives in the village, Mary could have gone on to her cousin, Elizabeth who lived nearby. There is certainly no mention of an innkeeper or an inn in the gospels – only that Jesus was laid in a manger. A small and insignificant farming village of, possibly, 500 people, would have no need for a residential hotel. The idea of a Premier Inn or Travel Lodge in the middle of Bethlehem High Street seems odd. In his book ‘Jesus through Middle Eastern eyes’, the author Kenneth Bailey suggests that the word used for ‘cave’ or ‘inn’ could also be used for ‘guestroom’ in a house. For the purposes of this book, I have kept to the traditional story despite my doubts. Bailey also wonders if Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem a few days before the birth rather than on the same day. Whatever else, it would have been against Jewish culture for a girl having her first child to be left to get on with it on her own.

One of the problems with a book like this is that it cannot give enough emphasis to Jesus’s teaching. I do not believe that, as a speaker, he was anything like the ‘Jesus meek and mild’ we are traditionally taught about. If he was, he would certainly not have been able to influence his audiences in the way he did. I imagine him as being a fiery, enthusiastic speaker who used his deep voice to great effect. He would have waved his arms and used gestures all the time. -nothing like the standard twenty-first century preacher. His teaching was not pie in the sky. He recognised only too well that our basic needs for food and shelter must be met before we can consider our immortal souls. He spoke in language people understood about subjects with which they were familiar such as leprosy and women screaming in childbirth. We know he used illustrations (parables) to great effect, although the impact of many of them has been reduced because we learn the answers at the same time as the stories. He was to the point and didn’t mince his words (for example calling the Pharisees ‘whited sepulchres’). There was always a practical application to what he said and he didn’t avoid controversy, as when he praised the woman for giving her mite. He sought the company of outcasts from society like prostitutes and tax collectors, teaching them as well as eating with them.

The rules used in writing this book were simple. Whatever is included in the Bible about a person must be accepted as fact. All the references are included in the section at the end named ‘Sources’. I did not allow myself to alter or omit what a character did or said because it did not fit in with what I imagined. These facts have been used as a series of pegs on which to hang fictional storylines. All ‘direct speech’ quotations are based on the NIV. They have been paraphrased into modern English but every effort has been made to ensure that the meaning has not been changed.

Where the same story is told in more than one gospel, there are often substantial differences in the accounts. For example, the versions of the story of the centurion in Galilee in Matthew and Luke vary widely. In such cases, one account has been chosen as the primary source. Sometimes the use of extracts from the different versions allows a fuller account of a story. I wonder how the writers became aware of the stories they told, particularly Luke who was not himself present.

These stories tell only a little of Jesus’s life. Much of his time was spent praying and thinking about what he was doing. The number of times we read that Jesus took himself off on his own is considerable. It is not just our public actions that count. Nor, in this type of book, is it possible to include many of the parables which form such a large part of Jesus’s teachings.

These are my imaginings gathered as I have tried to understand Jesus. I hope they are not yours. You should have your own ideas and thoughts about what Jesus was like.

Enjoy your read!

Birth

Mary

Mary went to live with John the Apostle (as Jesus had directed when he was on the Cross). It was in Jerusalem some years after the death and resurrection of Jesus that Luke met Mary to gather information for his gospel. John was also there. Mary by then was an old lady but still in full possession of her faculties. She was small and slight with grey hair and the softest brown eyes you will ever see. Luke was fortunate to meet Mary and John before they fled to Ephesus. This resulted from the increasing persecution of the Christians in Jerusalem following the execution of James, John’s brother, by Herod.

Luke: Thank you for agreeing to see me. If you don’t mind, I would like to go right through your life starting from the beginning. Otherwise, we are going to get muddled and leave something important out. Is that all right?

Mary: I hate talking about myself but if we must. I just hope my memory is up to it.

Luke: So, where were you born?

Mary: I was born in Nazareth. Abba was a carpenter. I had no brothers and only one sister, Salome. I know how disappointed my parents were not to have a son. From an early age, I loved to help Ema but my happiest times were when Abba came in from the shop after work. He was never too tired to play and talk with us. We had a lot of fun together. One thing I remember was that he and Ema used to pray with me at bedtime. It was a habit I never lost.

Luke: When did you first meet Joseph?

Mary: Abba usually took on an apprentice who helped with the simpler jobs. In return, Abba taught him his trade. All the apprentices were pleasant enough but Joseph stood out. He first came when I was nine and he was thirteen. He was kind to all of us. With me, he was firm and gentle and never lost his temper. He became very much a member of the family but I never realised he was particularly interested in me. He had a lovely and funny mouth and twinkling eyes and was the most attractive man I ever saw. He treated me as an equal. Even at my age, I knew how unusual that was. It was a great surprise that, when I was thirteen, he asked Abba if we could become betrothed. Abba talked to me to see if this was what I wanted and, after thinking about it, I said yes. I realise now how rare it is for a girl to be given any say in choosing who she was going to wed. It was agreed that we could be married when I was fifteen. So that was my life settled: I would be a carpenter’s wife and I could imagine nothing better. Joseph and I became betrothed. The arrangement was legally binding but, until the wedding, I would live at home.

Luke: Did anything unusual happen in the next year?

Mary: Yes, as you very well know. One day, soon after my fourteenth birthday, I went to the room which I shared with Salome to be alone and dream about the future. It was evening and I was lying on my mattress. Suddenly there was another presence in the room – a kind presence. I could see the figure of someone dressed in white, so bright that it hurt to look at him. I heard a voice speaking to me.

Greetings, Most Favoured One! The Lord is with you.

Me! The most favoured one. I was just a young girl, no one special. Who was this and why did he want to speak to me? I wasn’t frightened but I was mystified. Was I dreaming? The voice spoke again.

Do not be afraid, Mary. God is pleased with you and has a special job for you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and you must give him the name Jesus. He will be very important and will be called ‘The Son of the Most High’. He will succeed to the throne of his ancestor David and he will reign over Israel forever; his kingdom will never end.

It wasn’t the why or the when which I thought about but the how. I knew that I would do as I was asked. All I could think to say was But I am still a virgin. How can I have a child? He went on:

The Holy Spirit will come to you and the power of the Most High will protect you. Your baby will be holy and will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your cousin Elizabeth is going to have a child although she is too old and everyone thinks she is barren. She is already six months pregnant. Nothing is impossible with God.

If this was true, how could I not believe? I was stunned but managed to say, I am the Lord’s servant. I will do whatever you ask me. And then I was alone in the room. The angel didn’t go through the door but just disappeared. I wondered if I had been dreaming but knew deep down that this was real.

I didn’t doubt that my life had changed forever. My main worry was what Joseph would think. This could be the end of our relationship and was the last thing I wanted. Strangely, the one thing that comforted me was the news about Elizabeth. This at least was something I could hold on to. I wasn’t sure about calling the boy Jesus (the same as Joshua and meaning ‘The Lord saves’). It was not a name I would have chosen. It made me think of wars and fighting. There was nothing like that in our family. Would my son be a great soldier? I hoped not. I imagined Jesus as another Solomon, sitting on his throne handing out wisdom and judgment. I began to realise how honoured I was. Why had I been chosen to be the ema of God’s son? What would he be like? Could I enjoy being with him like a normal child? Would he be fun or serious and holy the whole time? Why had I been so honoured?

As you can imagine, I didn’t sleep much that night. I was old enough to know the consequences of falling pregnant before marriage. I would have to leave Nazareth. If I stayed, I might be stoned for committing adultery. I didn’t really fear this as God would not want his unborn son killed before birth, but I had no idea where I would live. My overwhelming feeling was astonishment. There was nothing special about me and there were many who would be able to provide a better home. To be the ema of God’s son was a terrifying responsibility. For the boy to depend on me for survival was very frightening. I was totally inexperienced and raising children is a risky business. What if he had an accident or was ill? I knew that I had to put my trust in God.

Next morning, I managed to get Ema by herself and told her what had happened. At first, she said I had been dreaming but, in the end, I persuaded her that I was serious. Ema insisted I told my abba. He thought it was just a young girl’s fantasy but he saw that I was really agitated. We discussed what had taken place and he suggested that since Elizabeth had been mentioned. I should pay her a visit. I knew my cousin from our yearly trips to the Temple. She was about fifty and I had had little to do with her. She was not a person I would have chosen to visit although she was very kind. The thought of her having a child at her age was quite funny. She lived in Judea in the hill country about five miles from Jerusalem in a beautiful house. Nothing was ever out of place. At least, by going to see her, I could confirm that one part of the story was true. I would not say anything to Joseph until I came back. In any event, a period away from home seemed sensible. My trip was arranged and two days later, I set off.

Luke: What happened when you got to Elizabeth’s?

Mary: When I arrived, it was as if she was expecting me. I took one look at her and saw that she was indeed pregnant. This was as much of a miracle to me as the fact I was. I told her that an angel had visited me and that I too was expecting although I was still a virgin. She hugged and kissed me and jumped up and down like a teenager but, as we were still embracing, she screamed with pain. I was frightened and asked her what had happened and she said her baby had nearly jumped out of her.

I found myself praising God at the top of my voice:

I will always praise and glorify my mighty Lord.

How glad I am that he is my Saviour.

He chose to honour me, a poor country girl:

From now on, people will always call me blessed.

He, the All-Powerful One, has chosen me – Holy is his name.

He has been merciful to those who worship him in each generation.

He has done wonderful things for them but has humbled the proud and haughty.

He has filled the hungry with good things and has sent the rich empty away.

How greatly he has helped his people Israel –

He has kept the promises he made to Abraham and our forefathers.

Elizabeth and I went inside. She made me very welcome. I found she was lonely and couldn’t stop her talking. Her husband Zechariah was there but he was unable to speak. A few months earlier, he had been honoured by being chosen to