Impossible Journey, A Tale of Times and Truth

CHAPTER 11: CHRIST AND CRISIS

Again, the cylinder lands in a clump of trees beside a road. 

Walt checks the indicator.
"Jerusalem: 33 A.D.?"
"That’s what it says."
"Ah!” sighs Walt, remembering. "The time of the prophet, Jesus."
"I thought we were through with hearing that name."
"I guess not. Maybe it's fate or something. Anyway, it’ll give us a chance to sharpen up our Hebrew."
"That’s right," observes Kerry, “they still do speak that language in this time, don’t they?"
“As well as Aramaic and Greek.”
"We won’t have to worry about looking out of place. We can just cover ourselves with the bed-sheets and towels and we’ll fit right in."
"You mean you plan to spend time looking around here too?"
"Well, we do have to get the water and alcohol don’t we?"
"The alcohol, maybe. I almost forgot about that. But by the sound of those falls, we won’t have to worry about the water,” observes Daniel referring to the faint sound of falling water in the distance.
"You’ve sure got good ears."
"Anyway, before we do anything let’s check the damage, shall we?" insists Daniel.
They find the damage to be quite extensive. Many tiles need to be replaced and the directional mechanism needs to be adjusted. Daniel volunteers. "Well, why don’t you two go have a look around and try to find some spirits. I’ll stay here and do what I can to fix the ship."
Walt and Kerry walk boldly out of the clump of trees and onto the road, clad in sheets, with towels around their heads. "I feel a little silly in this get-up. Do you really think we’ll fit in?"
"Well, it’s not perfect, but close enough. Nobody'll notice any difference, which they sure would if we’d kept those modern clothes on."
They walk along the dusty road, admiring the rolling hillside, dotted with quaint houses and huge, spreading trees. Suddenly, they notice, on one side, a crowd of people a short distance ahead.   Then, they suddenly start to  notice palm branches strewn along the road.   Then, they notice, on one side, a crowd of people a few yards ahead.  As they get closer, they can hear the sound of the crowd shouting, “Hosanna in the highest!” and “Hosanna to the son of David!” and “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the LORD.”

      "I wonder what that’s all about."

     "Well, let’s go and see!"

And so, our friends find themselves in the midst of a crowd, watching a man astride a donkey.  Suddenly, someone in the crowd cries out: “Teacher, tell tjem to ne quiet.”

The man on the donkey replies: “I tell you, if these keep quiet, even the stones will cry out."

"Could it be him?"
"Probably. One way to find out." Walt nudges' the man next to him in the crowd and asks, "Who is that man who’s speaking?"
"Why, Jesus of Nazareth. Everybody knows about him!"
"And those men there next to him--who are they?"
"Why, his disciples, of course. Where have you been?"

By now, the shouting has died down and Jesus begins to talk:  "I do not come to judge the world,” the man is saying, "but to save the world.” His words seem to have a kind of power.  As they listen, they are impressed by the love and power in his words.

"He’s quite a speaker."

"Sure is. But listen to what he’s saying now."
"I do not speak on my own,” Jesus was saying, "but the Father who sent me has commanded me what to say."
"Pretty impressive, eh?"
"Nah! Prophets always say things like that. Well, I guess we’d better get back and give Daniel a hand at fixing the ship."
"Yeah, we’ve seen enough. Let’s go."
************
Back at the ship, they try to share their enthusiasm with Daniel, who is tired from working on the ship and, thus, not very interested. "Did you find the alcohol?" he asks, expectantly.
"Oh, my goodness! We forgot all about it."
"What?! That fellow must be some kind of spell-binder! Well, it doesn’t really matter. We’ll still be here for a while, by the looks of it. I tried to adjust the directional mechanism, but there seems to be something broken. I’ll need your help, Kerry, to fix it. I also replaced several of the tiles, but not all of them. Walt, why don’t you keep working on the tiles, while Kerry and I try to fix the directional mechanism."
It is impossible for Walt to replace all the tiles before darkness sets in. "Have to finish this tomorrow."
"And guess what? We discovered a problem in the fuel system also. Looks like we’re going to be here for a while."
After supper, they try to contact home base, but the communication is so garbled that they cannot make out anything.