Three More Bible Stories That Never Happened…But Maybe Could Have

By Robert Bailor

This book is a sequel to my previous book, SIX BIBLE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED…but maybe could have. It takes additional minor characters of the New Testament—a pagan woman, two blind men, the father of the apostles Matthew and James, and others--and presents fictional stories about them woven into the actual Biblical narrative. Justa, a pagan woman, is presented with a back story of true faith, genuine love, debilitating tragedy and miraculous healing. She is introduced as a house slave who longs to be respected and loved. Her story follows her as she learns resilience from Mary and Joseph, how to love and be loved from her beloved husband Danel, and her true worth from Jesus. Micah and Asher’s story begins with them as thieves partnering with Eli, an unrepentant ne’er-do-well. Then, through the concern of the apostle Nathaniel, they are lifted up from blindness to sight, both physically and spiritually. The story of Alphaeus is about a man who is obstinate regarding his Jewish beliefs and traditions, even if his stubbornness means being estranged from his sons, Matthew and James, and creating heartache for his wife, Rebecca. Alphaeus’ adamant stand leads him to join Saul in persecuting the first Christians until he and Saul are ironically called to be ambassadors for Christ.

These stories engage and inspire, for they not only speak to questions of faith in the context of the start of Christianity, but they also touch on challenges regarding faith and the meaning of life facing contemporary believers and unbelievers alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665559270

Robert Bailor

ROBERT (BOB) BAILOR is a Philosophy Professor with a particular interest in meaning of life issues. He is also a retired Licensed Mental Health Therapist and Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. Bob has published two non-fiction books in philosophy (Passion, Longing and God and A Month of Wonders), one non-fiction book in addiction counseling (Chemical Addiction & Family Members) and a fictionalized self-help book on aging (Getting Older). His first three novels are a trilogy about one person’s spiritual journey from agnostic to genuine believer (Through Fire to Faith, Through Horror to Hope, and Through Loss to Love). Bob’s fourth novel (Murder in the Time of COVID) is a murder mystery set in the time of the COVID pandemic demonstrating the courage, intelligence and integrity of law enforcement personnel. AND THREE MORE BIBLE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED...but maybe could have is the last in a trilogy of fictional bible stories meant for believers and nonbelievers alike. Bob’s books are available at his website: robert bailor.com and at authorhouse.com. Bob has also published numerous articles in philosophy and counseling, and he has presented talks at various professional conferences on teaching philosophy, spirituality, and advancing professional counseling skills. Bob lives in Westerville, OH with his wife, Mary Rose. They have three grown children and four grandchildren.

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© 2022 Robert Bailor. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  06/22/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5928-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5927-0 (e)

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

All scripture references in quotations are from the NEW AMERICAN BIBLE, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1991.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Preface

Justa

Micah, Asher and Eli

Alphaeus

Acknowledgements

Work Cited

Other Books by Robert W. Bailor

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all those who would like to engage

The New Testament in a way that stirs the imagination and

Nurtures understanding. These three stories, like the six that

Preceded them, are fables meant to bring alive the truths contained

in the Holy Scripture. They are offered

for enjoyment and inspiration.

Preface

I n my previous BIBLE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED , I offered six stories about minor characters in the New Testament that sprung from my imagination but were intertwined with people and events found in Holy Scripture. Each story was meant to present a fresh perspective on the Scripture narrative and to inspire a deeper appreciation of its truth.

In this second book of BIBLE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED, I have presented three more fanciful narratives based on the New Testament. Their storylines are woven into the fabric of the New Testament so that the events, words and characters that populate the Scripture might come more alive for whoever connects with these stories.

These stories are not fairy tales. They are artistic fables rooted in Scripture and meant to shed new light on the richness and depth of the inspired word. As mini novels they rouse the reader to new interest in a life of faith and hope and love. From the fresh perspective of these stories, familiar Scripture verses are recharged as they are encountered in creative contexts. Their meaning, which remains the same as ever, arises with fresh nuances.

Join me now in these new adventures, all meant to foster a greater devotion to Jesus, the Christ, the Son of Man and the Son of God.

Justa

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For when the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature observe the prescriptions of the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the demands of the law are written in their hearts… (Rom 2: 14-15)

And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Lk 2: 4-7)

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after their marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. (Lk 3: 36-38)

From that place he went off to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs. She replied and said to him, Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps. Then he said to her, For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter. When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. (Mk 7: 24-30)

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple area for the three o’clock hour of prayer. And a man crippled from birth was carried and placed at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate every day to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, Look at us. He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. Peter said, "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk. Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong. (Acts 3: 1-7)

I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island of Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus. (Rv 1: 9)

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I t had been a hot, grueling journey ever since the caravan departed from Damascus. The camels and horses were restless and needed water. Their masters and riders craved refreshment and rest. So they all decided to stop at a shady spot on a hillside just outside of the village of Nazareth. They had enough provisions until they reached their destination but were certain they could procure some fresh bread and milk from the villagers who would be glad to earn some extra money from the Romans. The travelers very well could have stopped in nearby Sepphoris, but then they would have had to contend with Herod Antipas since he had his palace there. They would be delayed because of political formalities and would have been required to offer gifts which would have depleted their store of valuables.

The caravan was charged with distributing goods and money to the various Roman troops stationed at the posts along their route from Damascus to Jerusalem. Quirinius, the governor of Syria, was ordered by Tiberius Caesar to provide these supplies because his region was much better off financially than the regions watched over by the Roman army in Israel. The soldiers needed extra supplies and money because they were enrolling the population in a census ordered by Caesar. Quirinius grumbled quietly about sharing his wealth, but he did not dare disobey a direct commission from the emperor.

Among the travelers was a young Syrophoenician woman of around twenty-years-old who was laboring in forced servitude in the household of Quirinius. Her name was Justa. As a handmaid she cleaned, did laundry, shopped for household supplies and often acted as a nursemaid to Quirinius’ grandchildren and the youngsters of Quirinius’ frequent guests. Justa enjoyed these ventures, but she detested the way Quirinius would offer her to his guests for their personal pleasure. She understood that, since she was a slave, her life was in the hands of her master, yet she believed herself more than a piece of property and a sex toy. Justa hoped that somehow she could use her talents as a handmaid to lighten the loads of others and that she could escape the degrading role she had to play with Quirinius’ guests.

Justa had been ordered to accompany the caravan because of her household skills and because some of the ranking Roman officials traveling with the caravan were friends of Quirinius. Wanting to avoid the lustful gazes of both these friends and the Roman soldiers assigned to protect the caravan, Justa began to walk away from the caravan when it stopped to rest and refresh. However, she had not gone very far when the caravan master summoned her and ordered her to go into the nearby village of Nazareth to procure some fresh bread and milk. She was glad for this assignment because it gave her an excuse to be absent for some time, and she would be free to carry out her task in her own way.

Justa walked about a mile and came upon the village which was nothing like Damascus. Its dusty pathways and simple homes spoke of a poor and humble way of life. But when she entered the village, she became aware that the residents were rich in the way they lived together as one big family. With this recognition, a twinge of sadness came over Justa, for she could not recall ever being part of a family. She had been sold to Quirinius when she was a young child because her father owed him a debt that he could not repay otherwise. She had been raised in the household of Quirinius before he took his current assignment in Syria and had moved with him to his present quarters when he relocated. Justa could not remember having a mother or a father, only nursemaids, teachers and lechers.

Justa was not Jewish, but because she often traveled with Quirinius into Israel, she learned some Aramaic in addition to her native Greek and Latin. She felt at home conversing in the language of the common people of Israel, especially with those whose intentions were honorable.

When she entered the village, she approached a grey-haired lady who was carrying a basket of clothes. Justa asked how she might secure the provisions she was after. She made clear she could pay well for them. The woman directed her to the village rabbi whom she said could arrange for the bread and goats’ milk she was looking for.

As Justa was walking over to the rabbi’s house, she noticed a man helping a girl a bit younger than she was onto the back of a donkey and then stepping away to lead the animal from the village. To Justa’s surprise, the girl was pregnant, in fact soon to give birth. She hurried over to the couple.

Can I be of help? Justa asked.

God bless you for asking, responded the woman. If you could just help me get better seated on this beast. I do not want to lose my balance and topple over with the precious cargo I am carrying. She gave Justa a broad smile at this remark, and Justa smiled back.

As Justa helped the woman shift her position, the woman said, We are on our way to Bethlehem because my husband’s ancestors are from there, and we are required to enroll in Caesar’s census where his family is from.

Then when Justa had made the woman as comfortable as possible, the woman looked at Justa with grateful and kind eyes and said, Thank you for your thoughtfulness. You are a stranger, yet you were kind enough to help me. May the Lord our God shine His face upon you.

Standing in front of the donkey, the man witnessed what Justa had done. So he gazed at Justa and bowed his head toward her in a gesture of respect and gratitude. Justa bowed back in response and entreated, Wait, if you would, for just a moment. And she ran straight to the rabbi’s house. A moment later she emerged with a jug of milk and two loaves of barley bread. She handed them to the young man saying, I hope this will help get you through your journey. I wish you well.

The couple gratefully took the provisions, and the man loaded them on the donkey. As he led the animal away from the village, the young woman turned to look at Justa and waved to her while wearing a wide smile.

Justa’s heart was touched. Although it was clear that the woman was still very uncomfortable, she had managed to give Justa a gentle look and wave. Such gestures were so different from what Justa was accustomed to in the household of Quirinius. She could not help but tear up.

Justa watched as the two slowly moved along the dusty path to Bethlehem and wistfully wondered if she would ever be a wife and mother herself. But then she remembered why she had come into Nazareth in the first place. Justa returned to the rabbi’s house, and with his help secured as much bread and milk, even some cheese, as she could carry. She reimbursed him very well.

When Justa returned to the caravan, she noticed that several of the Roman legionaries were looking at her through wine-soaked eyes. She hated that, so she made sure to ignore their lecherous stares and their unflattering catcalls. Justa gave her supplies to the caravan master and quickly walked away to escape the lascivious looks of the soldiers and to recall fondly her encounter with the young couple in the village.

After the master of the caravan had distributed some of the fresh supplies and secured what was left to the pack animals, everyone rose and resumed their positions in the caravan. Once again they trudged toward Jerusalem.

When the caravan arrived in Jerusalem, the soldiers joined the garrison there and the servants unloaded the supplies. With the work completed, Justa joined the other servants at an inn nearby the Fortress of Antonia. She was glad that the journey was over, but she did not look forward to returning to Damascus where she felt unloved, unworthy and unappreciated. Yet, it was not long before her fate took a turn that would mean a momentous change to her life.

It was the evening of the second day when all the soldiers who had been travelling with the caravan burst into the room at the inn where the female servants were staying, drunk and seeking to be pleasured. The handmaids screamed but quieted when the caravan master entered the room and commanded the women to make themselves ready to entertain their Roman guests.

Justa was revolted by this turn of events. The encounter in Nazareth had created a sense of self-worth in her that she had never felt before. She was accustomed to giving in to the desires of men as commanded to, but now she felt a sense of shame at the thought of doing so with these drunken and self-indulgent Romans. She could no longer do what she had been taught to do. She was more than a toy for the scum of Rome. So while the other women did as they were told to do, Justa slipped out the back door of the inn and dashed as fast as she could to anywhere as long as it was somewhere other than that den of depravity.

Running as fast as she could, Justa believed she could escape what she had thought was her fate from childhood. The moment seemed to be a golden opportunity to change her life, as long as she could outrun the soldiers. She knew she was just another slave conquest to them. It did not matter who she was. So maybe they would not miss her if there were enough women there to satisfy their lust.

But her heart sank as she heard behind her the unmistakable sound of thick Roman sandals pounding the cobblestone street. She dared to look around, and she saw one of the soldiers who had leered at her at the Nazareth rest stop closing in on her. She was struck by fear that she would lose her only chance to start a new life. But how could she be worthy of a new life if she did not have the courage and the strength to fight for it?

With these thoughts in mind, Justa looked around for something she could use to fight off the soldier with. As if ready for her, a wooden pole was lying on the table of a merchant’s stall. As the Roman was almost upon her, she grabbed the pole and lunged at the soldier. He was completely surprised that his prey would be attacking him, but before he could figure out what to do to defend himself, Justa thrust the pole with all her strength at his manhood. The soldier screamed in pain but was aware enough of the situation to reach for his sword. Seeing this, Justa thrust her pole down on his head and kept hitting him with all her pent-up rage until he lay lifeless with an ever widening pool of blood oozing out of his mouth and his head and with chunks of skull and brain laying nearby.

She was taken aback by the sight. It nauseated her. How could she have done such a thing? She realized she had committed a capital crime and would be liable to crucifixion for it, so she had no time to feel guilt or fear. She dropped the bloody pole and ran as fast as she could to find a way out of Jerusalem.

Justa spied a caravan that was heading out of the city. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, Justa picked up a wicker basket that was discarded on the street and acted as if she were part of the caravan. No one seemed to notice her because she kept moving in and out of the stream of camels, ducking behind the beasts when she saw someone from the caravan coming toward her.

At last the caravan came to the Eastern gate of Jerusalem and passed through it going toward the Kidron valley. Justa did not wait to find out where the caravan was headed, but throwing down the basket she was carrying, she dashed off with no knowledge of where she was or where she was going.

Wandering and totally lost, Justa sat below a shade tree and tried to rest. And just as she was about to fall asleep, she was gently shaken awake by a woman about