Of Such Is the Kingdom Parts I and II—Christ and the Roman Empire

Suddenly everyone’s attention, including that of Timotheus, was focused on the river, where a strange person had come asking to be baptized by john, but john didn’t want to baptize him. Edging his way toward the front of the crowd, Timotheus could hear the stranger tell john to go ahead and do it, “to fulfill all righteousness.”

After john baptized the stranger, a strange thing happened. It seemed strangely as if a dove stopped and hovered over the head of the stranger. Then, suddenly, there was a voice speaking from out of nowhere. It was a strong and penetrating voice, stronger than john’s, and it said: “this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”

They left, having done quite well again. “It’s wonderful!” observed Lucas, as they ate their newly purchased meat and potatoes. “Two very good days in a row. We’ll eat well, but we’d better put some by for the bad times which may be comin’.”

“Maybe there won’t be any more bad times.”

“What’d’ you mean?”

“Didn’t you see what happened out there, Lucas?”

“Nope. I don’t pay attention to anything but what I’m doin’. That’d be a good motto for you t’ follow too. All I know is we got a good take again t’day.”

“So you didn’t see when that stranger came t’ be baptized by john and a dove hovered over him?”

“Nope,” answered Lucas disinterestedly.

“And you didn’t hear that voice from heaven?”

“What voice? The only voice I remember is John’s.”

“No. There was a stronger more piercing voice, which seemed to come from nowhere. It said ‘this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.’”

“You must be imagining things.”

“No, I heard others in the crowd discussing it afterwards. Your problem is that you’re half deaf as well as half blind.”

“O.k., so there was a voice. It could have been a trick of some kind.”

“I don’t think so. And before the stranger was baptized, john didn’t want to baptize him at first, but the stranger told him to do it, ‘to fulfill all righteousness.’”

“So what?”

“Don’t you wonder what all this means? This stranger could be the promised messiah, you know.”

“Oh, and that’s why you said that maybe there won’t be any more bad times?”

“Yes! Don’t you see? If he’s the messiah, then he will deliver us from both our spiritual and our worldly bondage.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“From my mother.”

“Those are nothing but idle tales to put false hope into the hearts of naïve folk like you. The only deliverance is that which we make fer ourselves.”

Having finished their supper and cleaned up around their campsite as best they could, they got ready for bed.

“Now,” said Lucas, “If we have another day tomorrow, like these past two, we’ll really be sittin’ pretty.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Whata y’ mean y’ guess so?”

“Oh, nothin’. Goodnight, Lucas.”

“Yeah, let’s get some sleep. Goodnight, Timotheus.”

But Timotheus didn’t go to sleep right away. His mind was still on the stranger who was baptized. Could he really be the promised messiah? If so, he could probably provide Timotheus with what he had been searching for all his life. Or was this all, as Lucas proclaimed, a simple act of trickery?