Johann Quisumbing

An Adventure Story of Yeshua bar Yosef by JQuisumbing

Yeshua noticed that the hillside was not as yellow as it was lately. He was retracing his steps on a shepherd’s track that he used to get to an isolated spot on a knoll near the farmstead where he was staying. Growing next to the track were bushes about knee high. Much farther off were more of the same but taller, some about fifteen feet tall. He knew them to be the mustard bush but because the days are getting cooler, the plants have lost most of the tiny yellow flowers and the leaves turning brown. He stooped down and picked up a handful of grayish needle shaped husks, most of which were dried and split open. Practically most of the lengthy pods were empty of seeds, except for one. Yeshua broke it open and emptied about a dozen seeds on his palm. Most of them were black and obviously dead. But there was one that was still golden brown. 

With his finger, he gingerly maneuvered the one onto his fingertip. He peered at it; scrutinizing it closely. He was transfixed with wonder at how tiny it really was and said to it, “And you will grow into…” glancing up at the tallest of the bushes, “…into one of them!” 

Yeshua hadn’t thought much about the mustard bush before, but then if there is one word that he would use to describe these plants especially those that grow wild it would be resilient. This miniscule of a seed, even without the benefit of being planted, would practically sprout and grow in any environment. What a beautiful analogy this would make as a parable lesson. He continued down the hill humming. Just as he was getting close to the farmstead, he heard from a distant him being hailed. It was Philippos and trailing just behind him was another man about the same age. But this young man, just like Philippos, made an impression on him, though this was the first time he laid eyes on him.

Yeshua’s sight blurred for just a moment. He knew it was another waking vision coming his way. As usual he was standing in an environs bathed in twilight. Everything was blurred except a lone fig tree amongst other fig trees. There, kneeling under the tree, was the young man. A name floated up into his mind… Nethanel. Yeshua took a few steps closer to see what this young man was about. By his outer garments, the off-white wool tallit² draped on his shoulder, the kippah³ on his head and a small tefillin⁴ on his forehead, he recognized him as a proselyte more likely to one of several Pharisees in Sepphoris⁵ which had a prominent order in the northern province. His own brother had aspirations for the same order. However, this young man has reservations. He had witnessed too much of his rabbis not practicing what they teach. He had become disillusioned and frequently came out to this grove, always under this one tree, hoping for the promised messiah to come and show the true way. His persistence, Yeshua knew, was inspired from the messianic writings of the Prophet Micah. He was so inspired that he wrote that passage on a small parchment and placed it in his box-shaped phylactery.⁴        

“Rabbi…” Philippos enthusiastically presented his friend who was looking skeptical. “This is…”

“Nethanel of Cana.” Yeshua completed. “Here indeed is a true son of Israel, in whom there is no deceit.”

The young man was perplexed and asked, “How do you know me?”

“Before Philoppos called on you,” Yeshua said, looking at him eye to eye, “I saw you under your fig tree… fearing not what may come, for the Lord of Host had spoken.”⁶

“Rabbi, you must be the Son of Adonai!” he said, trembling with eyes wide open. 

“Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree, Nethanel?”, he asked. “You will see greater things than this. I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of Heaven going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.

“The Son of Man?” asked Philippos.

“Of course! In the writings of Ezekiel and Daniel,” said Nethanel. “The Son of Man is to reunite fallen tribes of Israel to Judah. To be of one nation again. This makes you the rightful King of Israel and not only that, but to all nations.”⁷

Yeshua chuckled, “Not too bad for one hailing from Nazareth. Eh?”

Nethanel’s face turned sheepish as Philippos laughed out loud. 

“Lord? What is the plan?” 

“Come! Let us collect the others. We have a wedding to attend.”

Footnotes: [1] Micah 4:4; [2] Tallit – prayer shawl; [3] A Kippah – a brimless cap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish males to fulfill tradition that the head be covered; [4] Tefillin (phylactery) – small black leather box with leather straps containing a strip of parchment inscribed with a verse from the Torah; [5] Sepphoris – capital city of Galilee; [6] Micah 4:4; [7] Ezekiel 37:16,17; Daniel 7:13,14

The meeting of Nathanael (Nethanel) is based on John 1:45-51

Character names: Adonai [God]; Yeshua [Jesus]; Yohanen [John]; Iacob [James]; Shimon ben Yonah [Simon son of Jonah]; Andraus [Andrew]; Mariam [Mary]; Nethanel of Cana [Nathanael aka Bartholomew]; Philippos of Bethsaida

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