This is the third letter that I have now written concerning the man Jesus Christ. You may ask why I call him Christ. This is what others call him; “the anointed one” and I truly now believe he is a man sent by God. I think he must be the greatest prophet that we have had come down to earth; a true servant and man of God. I was finally convinced of this after the latest event I witnessed

As soon as I saw Jesus feed those five thousand people with the tiny bit of bread and fish he had I knew that he was not an ordinary man. I tried again to find him but I would show up to places late and miss his presence or I would go to places where he never showed.  He is an incredibly humble and private man who does not make a big deal of appearing in places and cares not for much attention. I decided to try a different approach. I knew that this man had healed many, and done many miracles so I went and asked the locals who the most afflicted people in the lands in Israel were. I figured that Jesus would certainly try and find these people and help them in some way. So as I asked and was told stories of blind men, widowed women and others, I came across the story of a man who lived in the region of the Gerasene who was possessed by evil spirits. I was told that he lived in the tombs and that despite being chained many times, he had broken them with ease as the demons inside him, gave him incredible strength. I travelled to this land in hopes that Jesus would also come and help this man. I knew it was an incredible risk as it was possible that Jesus would never come, however I had to take a risk in order to see him once again and so I waited by the shores of the lake at Garasene to see if he would come in a boat. Days passed and I would go home empty handed and disappointed. Still I prayed to God that He would send his servant this way. He did. On one of the days I saw a boat come up in the distance. As it came closer I saw that it was indeed Jesus Christ and his followers. I hid behind a tomb and looked on to see what Jesus would do. When the possesed man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted out at him, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me. Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” There had been a large herd of them near a hillside; I had seen them many times on my trips to the area. Jesus then gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. I then saw the entire herd, about 2000 of them run off a cliff and fall to the sea below! Another miracle! The man was completely cleaned of the evil demons inside him. I have now seen enough. I am going to dedicate my life to follow this man, he is not the type of person that I can simply let pass me by. I want to know him.

John 6

Hello, I am here once again writing because a truly miraculous event has occurred at the hands of the Lord.
After my decision to become a believer and follower of Jesus, uprooting my family from our hometown in order to support Jesus and His mission, I have heard and seen many great things. Not only have I experienced miracles first hand, but I have also been able to hear Him speak meaningful parables, and preach the Gospel to all peoples. Since I have been following Jesus, He has already healed many sick, crippled, and poor people everywhere. Everywhere He goes He amazes crowds and turns belief into disbelief. Today was an extraordinary case though, because Jesus fed five thousand people! Yes, five thousand! While I am not completely sure how He was able to do this, it only validates the fact that this man is the Son of God, as He so claims to be. Now, let me back track to the beginning of this story, and how my day started...

We had crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias and as Jesus arrived a great crowd of people followed him. This vast amount of people crowded around Him because they had seen seen the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Many of the onlookers were extremely curious, and it was an intriguing sight for me to see. After this great crowd had surrounded Him, I watched Jesus and His disciples go up to the mountainside and sit down. I followed after them and as Jesus was sitting down he looked up and spoke to Philip. I heard Him say, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” I was confused as to why He would ask this. Later, I overheard discussion over this and we learned that Jesus asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. After Jesus had asked this, Philip answered him by saying, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted and he did the same with the fish.

When the people saw that Jesus was able to produce food for five thousand people they were amazed and knew He was the Prophet and Son of Man!

Mark 5

So I’ve had this girlfriend for the past six months. She is twelve (two years younger than me). She’s the daughter of a synagogue-leader named Jairus, who lives near a lake. One day, my girlfriend became very sick, to the point where she was on her deathbed. I was devastated, confused, heartbroken, and angry at God when I heard the news that my girlfriend was about to die. But I remembered that Jesus could cure people. I’d even seen it! So I told Jairus to ask Jesus to cure her, and he went out to search for him. I followed from a distance so I could see Jesus’ response without being seen. Jairus was pleading earnestly with him, falling at his feet. Jairus was saying, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus agreed and went with him. I leapt for joy. My girl was going to be healed BY JESUS!

But on the way back to the house we passed a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. It was gross to look at her, and the poor lady had apparently suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors, spending all she had but only getting worse. I could not really think about her pain while we were walking past though. I did not even stop to pray for her at the moment because my thoughts were on my dying girlfriend. But the woman, who had apparently heard about Jesus, came up and touched the edge of his cloak. Apparently she was thinking, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Sure enough, her bleeding immediately stopped.

Jesus turned around and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” In my head, I was screaming, “That lady! But she’s FINE now. Let’s keep moving.” I couldn’t hear exactly what was going on after that, but Jesus was talking with his disciples and to the crowd, and the lady who had been bleeding fell at his feet in faith. But while Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Jairus and I both broke down crying. But Jesus just turned to him – they still hadn’t seen me – and said, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.”

So Jesus and a few of his disciples headed back to the house with Jairus, and me closely following. There were mourners outside the house, and Jesus said the most bizarre thing: “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” Everyone laughed between sobs. Jesus took her by the hand and said, “Little girl, get up!” And she did. It was a miracle! I had witnessed yet another miracle of Jesus – actually two today – and one was with someone I KNEW!! This guy is somethin’ else….

Crispus, Jimmy, June 3

Mark 5

Jesus has returned to Capernaum again! After He fed the 5000, Jesus got into a boat with His disciples and crossed the lake. Along with all the other people, I had to take a day to walk around it to catch up. When I caught up with Him, He was walking through the streets of Capernaum, with people crowding around Him. Jairus, the local synagogue leader, all of a sudden appeared before Jesus and kneeled before Him. I listened, curious as to what Jairus would say.

As it seems, Jairus’ daughter had become ill while I was following Jesus, and was near death. Jairus had heard of Jesus, and wanted Jesus to heal his daughter. Right as Jairus asked, Jesus agreed to go with him, and they both started walking toward Jairus’ home. The crowd followed, when all of a sudden, Jesus paused. He looked around and asked, “Who touched my robe?” The people were puzzled, as they were all pressing around Jesus. Then a woman with a bleeding problem, whom I had seen before, stepped forward. She had been healed! The crowd was amazed. This woman had been sick for ages, and we had all watched as she paid crackpot doctors to give her treatments, but she still became worse. Now, just by reaching to touch Jesus’ garment as He walked by, Jesus had healed her! Jesus turned to the woman. She was afraid, but Jesus comforted her, saying, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”

Another of Jairus’ servants showed up just then. He said to Jairus, “Your daughter has died.” Jairus’ face sank, but Jesus told him not to be afraid, but to have faith. Then Jesus told the rest of us to wait, took three of His disciples with Jairus, and went to Jairus’ home. The crowd, with me in it, waited with anticipation. We guessed what Jesus would do. Some said Jesus would comfort the family, but I knew what Jesus would do. About half an hour later, Jesus returned. Then we heard laughter and shouts of joy as the girl walked down the street after Jesus, between her parents!

I thought about what I had seen of Jesus. He healed in response to faith, not status, gender, race, or heritage. He healed the peasant, the cripple, the sick woman, and the daughter of the synagogue ruler. What had prompted the healings? Jesus had said their faith was why they were healed.

Mark 5

After feeding the 5,000 people Jesus ended up going to the country of Gerasenes. Traveling on a boat, we entered the shoreline. As soon as he got off the boat, a madman approached him. His clothes were torn and his hands were scratched and full of scars. There were broken shackles and chains on his ankles and hands as he waved them around. He fell before Jesus and asked what he was doing there. Jesus then demanded the spirits to come out of the man. But the man fell before him and begged him to send them into the swine before judgment and called themselves legion (which means “many”).
The swine suddenly became wild and threw themselves into the sea and drowned themselves. Amazed, I later learned the history behind the man. He roamed the tombs and was constantly tormented by the demons. He would bruise himself and hurt himself with stones. The people would try to chain him to the tombs but he would always break them and his wildness couldn’t be untamed. Later they found him clothed and sane, and the people of Gerasenes were confused and in awe at the same time.
But the happiness was short-lived once the people living their heard about the pigs. The herdsman went into the city to tell others what had happened and soon they were begging Jesus to leave. How could they see this demon-possessed man, now transformed into a normal human being, and not want Jesus to stay? To me, this was ridiculous. Losing a couple pigs to demons seemed a much better option that letting the demons torture one of their own. These people had no idea what they were dealing with and in confusion wanted to push this man away. It was sad really, he probably could’ve done so many miracles there if they had wanted him to stay.
But instead Jesus went away quietly, no snide remarks or retorts. He just listened to the people and left. That was it. How could a man not show anger to a city he had helped? How could he just walk away quietly and let them forget his presence? If I were a man with such great powers, I wouldn’t want to leave- I’d want to prove myself to them. But Jesus didn’t do this. This was interesting to me because I wanted to find the source of his humbleness. With that, I followed him on to his next adventure.

Marcus Valerius- Mark 5

Today, I went to Tiberius to work out some shipping details for the supplies my men need. It was my day off and so I leisurely made my way to the city. On my way, I noticed a small boat leaving Capernaum towards the town of Gerasenes. In the boat was Jesus and around ten men, all of whom I’d seen following him throughout the city on a daily basis. The stories about Jesus and his miracles had spread like wildfire and everyone was talking about him. Nobody could decide who he was exactly and how he healed people. Some said he was a prophet, like Moses and Elijah. Some said he was possessed by demons. A rare few thought he was the Messiah, the Son of God come to save Israel from Roman oppression. As for myself, I have yet to decide. While I don’t think salvation from Roman ‘oppression’ is necessary, there might be some truth to this Son of God thing. There is something about Him…

Anyways, I finished my business in Tiberius and decided to walk through Gerasenes to see if Jesus was there. Sure enough, I came across him and his disciples as they were getting out of their boat. I watched from a distance as a man, obviously out of his senses (as he was shaking violently), ran towards Jesus and immediately fell at his feet. He was yelling something about the Son of the Most High God and tormenting him. I was quite puzzled, so I moved forward in order to hear him more clearly. Jesus said to the man, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” Then I realized who this man was. I’d heard of a crazy man in this region, one who was demon possessed. He lived among the tombs and was strong enough to break chains and shackles apart! He spent his days crying and bruising himself with stones. Jesus asked him what his name was, and he told him it was Legion and then proceeded to beg Jesus not to sent him out of the area. As he was talking, a large herd of pigs meandered onto a nearby hillside. The voices of the spirits in Legion, asked Jesus if he would send them into the pigs. He allowed them to and all of the pigs suddenly ran into the lake and drowned. After the pigs drowned, the men of the town became quite afraid of Jesus. They saw the man who had been possessed now clothed and acting normally, and they begin to plead Jesus to leave them.

                I was in complete awe. I was ready to follow this man. I had seen his power, his humility and his love. There was no one like him. I know his disciples left everything they had and owned to follow him. I plan to do the same. My job as a Roman centurion is nothing compared to following what I believe in this Jesus guy’s teachings. I am determined to learn all I can from him, and in order to do this, am resigning from my duties in Capernaum for the Roman army and the honorable Herod Antipas. I hope my commander will not be angry with me.

A Man and His Donkey Part 3

Up and down, up and down. Oh God. Leaning over the side I threw up again. Both my donkey and the man rowing the boat smiled in their minds in mockery of my weakness. How could I tell? Their egos gave off a sickly smell. Wait – Forcing my head over the side again, I puked out my guts into the sea, which being green in color did not help my sea sickness one bit. A shudder and a sudden lurch made it quite clear that we had landed. On shaky legs I followed my donkey who suddenly stopped as I bumped into it I looked up just in time to see a rather large amount of pigs attempt to fly off the cliff above and swan dive into the sea about ten feet to the right of the boat we had just disembarked from. “At least we know that we are somewhere near that mad preacher”, I told my donkey. Crowds would come perhaps the next day and money could be made. That thought kept me smiling as I walked up the trail and toward the nearby villages. I feel like I keep on falling behind the mad preacher and so perhaps I will sell the bread here and try to close the gap. It seems wherever this guy goes, people find him.

I and my donkey entered the town near where the pigs took flight and noticed that every single person seem to be all talking about what that mad preacher fellow did. Apparently there was a guy who was possessed by demons and the mad preacher took them out of him and put them in the pigs which I say jump off the cliff. Things keep on getting more interesting around that mad preacher every day. This whole business about him being the Son of God is making me, a rather skeptical guy, think pretty hard about what I have learned from the books of Moses. There goes the mad preacher again and I’m still rather far behind of the fellow. I found the nearest market and sold my bread there. With a decent chunk of money, I hurried my donkey who behaved much to my surprise and delight and tried to catch up with the mad preacher. On the subject of my donkey, I do believe it behaves better when I have money on me, the greedy thing.