The Stranger of Galilee

Chapter 18 - PART 3

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He was alone, but Claudia durst not approach him. Not only was she tired, and he looked tired, but every time he lifted his head her heart broke. So he did not love her, after all. There he sat, at the far end of the camp, his elbows resting on his knees in thought, totally unbothered for her. Yes she had pushed him away, but was he really so content to stay there?
               You must stop thinking of him, Claudia told herself for the millionth time. You are so close to Jesus now! Pray, sing, think on the scriptures. Focus on things that are pure, and lovely, and virtuous - not on things of the flesh. Feed the spirit, not the flesh. Feed the spirit, not the flesh. Feed the spirit, not the flesh...
               But Claudia had grown too impatient to sit and do those things. She had to see Jesus, now, before she lost her mind!

Miraculously, her chance to came when she sat with a group of new converts for the evening meal. They spoke of Jesus, and how a few of his disciples had passed through Cana a day or two ago, heading for Mount Carmel. It was perhaps twenty miles from their camp. They had perceived them to be wanderers at the time, as sheep with no shepherd, only now the Hebrews realised that they had been looking for Jesus too!
               Claudia listened to every word they spoke, her ears burning and eyes unblinking.
'I believe his disciples were going to meet him at the mountain.' one young man said, leaning forward over his bowl as though he was telling his audience a scary story. Claudia smiled to herself.
The mountain.

So after dinner had been enjoyed (everyone was glad to see Martha back on her feet beside the cooking pot, however quiet and quivery she yet appeared), and the ever-growing family had settled to sleep, Claudia hitched her donkey once more, mounted his back, and started for 'the mountain'.
               The Roman had no idea how long it would take for her to reach it, nor how far her donkey could take her without a rest, but she knew she had to see the Lord face to face. She also knew that once she had, her life would change completely!
               And lastly, she knew one more thing while she set off on that solitary, starlit journey: that she was never going to return to her fellowship in the wilderness. No, never.
               She was never going to return to her friend Lucius, nor Martha, nor little Rebekah or even wise old Joshua. For if she did, her flesh would grow ten feet tall and lead her into more lust, envy and bitterness! Staying away from those people she had come to adore so deeply, was the only way she felt she could truly focus her spirit on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please, God, give me strength.

Ten miles Claudia walked, though her throbbing foot could have persuaded her it was a thousand. The sun had risen almost an hour ago, and her donkey had given out some time in the night before that. Her stomach was growling, and she was becoming feverish with dehydration, but the mountain was so close now, and she would stop for nothing.
               There was a town waking up around the governor's wife as she trudged on. She did not know the name of it, and every face was alien to her, but the sight of smiles in daylight soothed her slightly. In the night every shadow, every passer-by, every dark path, had made her incredibly anxious. After all, if a man of honour could treat the lovely Martha so awfully, what would stop someone from doing the same to her? What could penniless, injured, fatigued Claudia do to fend them off?
               And there was, of course, always the danger that someone would glimpse her face beneath its hood and march her straight to the nearest soldier of Rome. Then she would face charges for treason, blasphemy of the gods, perhaps unfaithfulness to her husband as well, and be hung on a cross of her own!
               Her journey that night had been one entirely reliant on her Divine Protector, and while that meant she felt vulnerable, naked and startled by every sudden noise, it also meant she arrived safely.