"Open up!" whispered Cleopas impatiently. It seemed to take a long time for the man at the door to recognize them and open the door. Cleopas and his friend rushed up the stairs and burst into the upper room.
Everyone was there. In the instant before he spoke, Cleopas realized that something had changed since he had left in the morning. The men were not dejected; they were talking excitedly. But Cleopas did not stop to find out why.
"We have seen him! He is alive!" The disciples leaped to their feet.
James stared as though he had not understood. "We saw him on the road to Emmaus!"
"You too!" exclaimed Peter.
"He ate with us in my home," declared Cleopas. He turned to Peter in amazement. "Did you say you have seen him?"
"I saw him this morning. After the women told us they had seen a vision at the tomb, John and I went to look for ourselves. They were right! The Master"s body was gone. I came back here and then set out alone for Galilee. I had traveled about an hour when the Master appeared to me, standing in the road. He commanded me to return here."
"When we first saw him, we did not know who he was," said Cleopas. Then he told everything that had happened. At first many wondered if the story could be true, but as they listened, their joy and amazement grew.
When Cleopas finished, they stirred and sighed. Here was one at least who certainly believed Jesus was alive!
The air was heavy in the crowded room. An iron pan filled with burning charcoal stood near the wall. Several broiled fish, left over from supper, lay on the coals. Cleopas and his friend looked at them hungrily. Peter handed pieces to them. James rose from the rough wooden bench on which he sat and opened the shutters. Andrew poured oil from a large jar into the nearly empty lamps. The men breathed deeply of the cool air that swept through the window. The lamplight sprang up. Hope and wonder flickered through the disciples" minds, still dulled by the sorrow of the Master"s violent death.
"If I could just see him myself!" murmured John.
Suddenly Jesus was there. He did not come in--he just appeared standing in the midst of them. John drew in his breath sharply. Was this a ghost?
Did the others see? The men shrank from the place where Jesus stood.
"Do not be afraid. It is I! Look at my hands and my feet. Do you not see the wounds of the cross?" The men stared. In the palms of his hands James could see the marks of nails. His voice was real too! The men did not trust their eyes. Several reached out timidly and touched the scars.
They moved like men in a dream.
"Have you any food?" asked Jesus. Peter took another piece of fish from the charcoal stove and handed it to Jesus. When the disciples saw their Master eat, their doubts vanished. They began to talk, trying to realize that the impossible had really happened; their Leader was really living!
"Master," burst out James enthusiastically, "are you going to drive out the Romans now and give the Kingdom back to us?" The others suddenly became quiet, listening for his answer.
"It is not for you to know when the Father in heaven will do that, James," replied Jesus. "In his own time he will destroy all evil. He has already come among you: all you must do is accept the power he gives you to obey his commands."
"Master, what do you want us to do?" asked Peter. Hearing his brother"s strong voice, Andrew could hardly believe that only that morning Peter had tried to leave Jerusalem because everything reminded him that he had denied his Lord.
Jesus looked around at the circle of his disciples and raised his hands over them. "Just as the Father sent me into the world," he said, "I am sending you. May the Holy Spirit fill you with power. Go into every part of the world and tell all men that the Christ has suffered and risen from the dead to give them eternal life. Those who repent and believe this gospel shall be forgiven their sins. But if anyone does not believe your words, the anger of G.o.d hangs over him!"
As mysteriously as he had come, Jesus left the men. They remained silent. Each man saw in the face of the others a joy none could express.
At last Peter spoke: "We must let everyone know that Jesus has risen from the dead!"
Day by day the disciples learned that Jesus was doing greater things among them than he had ever done before. Faith which had been uncertain was now sure. Every afternoon the disciples went to the Temple to pray and tell the story of Jesus" power. Some people were surprised, for they thought the work of Jesus would stop when he was crucified. But many believed the word of the disciples and became followers with them.
It was not long before the success of Peter and the others came to the attention of the high priest. One day, immediately after the hour of prayer, he called his councilors together. "Did you see that fisherman who used to follow the Galilean we killed?" he demanded. "He was standing boldly in the Temple declaring that his Rabbi is alive!" Purple veins stood out on the face and throat of the angry man. "Have you ever heard such an insolent lie? They have invented the whole story from beginning to end!"
"The other men were with him," added a councilor. "They succeeded in getting the people very much stirred up."
"It must be stopped! If we can silence them with threats--all right. If not...." He lapsed into silence. Then his anger boiled to the surface again. "What man in his right mind could believe such a fairy tale? That upstart from Galilee--risen from the dead!"
A young priest sighed and spoke. "What can we do? Those men seem to believe very sincerely that it happened."
The high priest was instantly suspicious. "You sound as though you agreed with them," he observed bitingly. "I"ll tell you what we must do!
Keep a sharp watch on them. The minute they make trouble--arrest them!
We can do whatever we want then."
Just before the hour of prayer the following afternoon, Peter and John entered the Temple with the worshipers who were streaming from the city.
To the two disciples it seemed a long time since Jesus had been there, but nothing was changed. The row of slender columns which enclosed the inner court was majestic in the afternoon sunlight. Words of Moses, carved in the stone of the Beautiful Gate, invited every Jew to enter for prayer. There were no money-changers there. Since Jesus had driven them out, neither they nor the sellers of animals had tried to come back.
Two men carrying a cripple on a litter pa.s.sed Peter and John. The disciples had seen him before, begging money from all who walked by. His helpers placed him near the Beautiful Gate as Peter and John climbed up the steps toward him. The beggar looked at them, smiled, and held out his hand. "Will you give a little money to a lame man?" he asked.
Peter and John stopped in front of the man. He was a miserable sight--dirty, ragged, and thin from hunger. His bony legs were paralyzed and useless.
"Look at us!" commanded Peter. The beggar looked at them expectantly.
"We do not have any money," said Peter, "but we will give you what we do have! By the power of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, stand up and walk!"
Peter stooped and pulled the man to his feet.
People had turned at the sound of Peter"s voice. The beggar was standing alone! The man looked at his feet; then, utterly amazed, took a cautious step. The trumpet sounded from the roof of the Temple, calling the people to prayer, but none paid any attention; they rushed toward the beggar to see what had happened. Swiftly Peter led the man toward the outer part of the Temple courtyard. The people crowded after Peter.
At the trumpet signal the high priest left the council chamber and entered the rear gate of the inner court. How strange! The Temple was deserted! Two other priests came into the court. "What has happened?"
they asked, baffled. "Where are the people?"
Through the columns, the high priest saw people running. "Look!" he exclaimed. He turned and waved to several burly guards in the uniform of the high priest"s palace. "We need you here!" They followed the priests toward the sound of the crowd.
People were pushing forward to catch a glimpse of the beggar clinging to the two disciples. Peter raised his hands and cried out so all could hear: "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as though we had healed this man by our own strength? We did not do it at all!" Astonished at his words, the people became very quiet. Peter saw the high priest, but his voice did not waver.
"My friends, this man was not healed by any power of ours. He was healed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, G.o.d"s Chosen Servant. The G.o.d of Israel sent him to tell you the gospel of life, but you refused to listen to him. You handed him over to Pilate to be killed! Even when the governor wanted to release him, you demanded that this holy and just One from G.o.d should be crucified!" The high priest turned and spoke to the guards, but Peter did not hesitate a moment.
"We declare to you that G.o.d raised Jesus from the dead--we have seen him ourselves! His power healed this man! I know that you killed the Lord of Life without realizing what you were doing. But the Prophets knew this would happen to the Christ; they said he would suffer! G.o.d has chosen this way of saving you!" There was a disturbance at the edge of the crowd. Guards were thrusting the people roughly aside in their haste to get to him. "Repent now!" cried Peter boldly. "Ask G.o.d to forgive you for the terrible thing you have done, in order that your sin may be blotted out. G.o.d sent Jesus to be your Saviour!"
The guards burst through the crowd and seized Peter. Quickly his wrists were tied with rope. A cry of protest rose. Two men stepped in front of the guards as they shoved Peter toward the gate of the Roman fort next to the Temple, but they were quickly beaten off by curses and the threat of the clubs.
"What must we do?" cried a man in the crowd, cut to the heart by Peter"s words.
In spite of the guards Peter bravely called out: "Repent and give your whole life to G.o.d! Believe in the name of Jesus Christ, the Saviour!"
"Silence!" The chief guard struck Peter with his club. When they came to the priests, the guards stopped. The high priest and the fisherman from Galilee stood face to face. Peter"s clothes were torn, and his hands were bound behind him. The anger of the high priest had turned to scornful triumph. For a moment he stood sneering at Peter; then he stepped toward him and slapped him heavily across the face. "You liar!
You will find out that you can"t blaspheme the Law of G.o.d!"
Peter"s face showed red marks. His eyes shone with a strange joy, and he smiled. His voice was fearless, its sound filled the whole Temple. "I shall never stop telling what I have seen with my own eyes! I shall obey G.o.d, and not man!" Pain shot through his shoulder as a guard struck him a heavy blow and shoved him roughly toward the fortress gate. Without looking back, Peter walked courageously into the Roman prison.