“Tell me more what you heard the Man say,” Myrah coaxed her husband. Jamal always seemed pleased when she asked him what things he heard at the Temple.
But one time, Jamal replied to Myrah in an odd sort of sad way. He said, “Some of the Pharisees mock Him. Others are clearly there to see Him do a miracle. Others are there to hear what He has to say.” He drew in a deep breath. “I must admit, I don’t always understand, but I like to listen to Him speak.”
Myrah listened as Jamal continued, “This Man is no ordinary preacher who teaches in the Temple. Sometimes He teaches on a hillside or from a boat on the beach.”
The very next day, Jamal burst through the door of their small house. “The Preacher Man is in a deserted place just outside of Capernaum!” He exclaimed. “Let’s take our sons and go!”
A multitude of people streamed to where the Preacher was said to be healing the sick and speaking of the Kingdom of God. “We must hurry,” Jamal urged.
Myrah grabbed some barley loaves and a couple of fish, put them in her basket, and rushed out the door. Jamal, Myrah and their two young boys sat on the outer fringe of the massive crowd. “Can we move closer?” Myrah asked. “I can’t see Him.”
The young family picked their way through the crowd and squeezed among their neighbors. Suddenly Myrah grabbed Jamal’s forearm. “That’s Him!” she gasped. “The One who healed Zadie from her hemorrhage for twelve years! O, I can’t believe it!” She turned to a woman sitting next to her. “I was with my friend when He healed her! She had bleeding for twelve years and doctors couldn’t heal her. But this Man…” In her exuberance, Myrah jumped to her feet, turned to her neighbor and said. “This Man healed her! He called her Daughter and that her faith made her well and to go in peace. I heard Him. It’s Him!” She plopped down again, breathless.
Jamal, laughing, put his arm around her shoulders. “This is the One I tell you about. His name is Jesus. And Zadie was made well because her faith was in Jesus, who heals.”
Myrah clutched their youngest son on her lap and turned her eyes to the Man she now knew was Jesus. She recalled Jamal’s words that he had often heard the Teacher say so many times, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Could this be the coming Messiah, she wondered?
It was late in the day when she heard men next to Jesus say to Him to send the crowd back to town to get something to eat, but Jesus told them to feed them. Myrah grabbed her basket of meager lunch and gave it to their other son. “Quick! Go give this to that man.”
The man gave the lunch to Jesus. Jesus turned and smiled at her son. He took the bread and fish, looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. When all the people had eaten, Myrah watched the men gather up twelve baskets of leftovers. “How many people are here,” she asked Jamal. He scanned the multitude. “I’d say 5000 men.”
She was stunned.
Jamal leaned close to Myrah, “You have eyes to see, my love, but do you have ears to hear?”
Myrah nodded. “Yes, I have ears to hear.” Truly this is the Savior who is to come into the world, she realized.