Noah, the Jewish Fly Chapter 7

  "Master," I asked, "Will you free your people from the grasp of the Romans?"
  "Noah, I am the Shepherd of God.  I have come first to gather the lost sheep of Israel.  I know each one by name and they know my voice.  But the Seed will not always fall on good ground.  Some will fall by the wayside, some on stony places, others among thorns.  As for the Romans: Nations rise and fall but the Kingdom of God is forever."
   Within myself I nodded in agreement with all Jesus said but I was so content my mind had shifted into neutral.  Sheep? Seeds?  Of course.  I get it.  But the importance of what he said floated right over my head and not into my heart.
  When Jesus spoke, his words had the sound of the dawn for He is the "Sun of Righteousness who shall arise with healing in His wings." His words were as new as the next instant and older than the Universe.  Even so, many would be unable to hear them over the cacophony of every day concerns and the search for pleasure.  Or simply find them easy to ignore.
  Resting in the palm of His hand I basked in a sense of peace and security I had never known before. I tried to snuggle deeper into a line of His palm and rubbed against something unexpected: a callous.  What? ---A callous?  This was not the soft hand of pampered royalty but of a working man.  He did not get such hardened skin without experiencing drenching sweat and hard labor from the first light of day until he laid aside his tools at sunset. From the first I could tell by looking at Him that Jesus was of peasant stock but until I felt that callous it had not sunk into my tiny brain that Jesus actually had to work like a commoner. 
  After all, He is the Messiah.  He should have been spared the aching muscles and bone tiredness of manual labor which was the lot of commoners, shouldn't He?  Shouldn't he have had something finer than the coarse fabric of His clothes and the simple meals that were not always available and the bottom-of the-barrel wine that was within one short step of being vinegar? In the Great Scheme of Things what difference would it have made if His path been made smoother? It seemed to me he deserved much better treatment and if I had been in charge that's what He would've had.  But I had to learn that 'the wisdom of God is foolishness to men.'
  Jesus voice roused me from my thoughts.  "You have to move, Noah. I will have enough trouble with people believing my message without them wondering why I'm carrying a fly in my hand."
  "But Master,"  I protested. "It's so cozy here."
  Jesus appeared thoughtful for a few moments and then spoke: "So like human reasoning: Find a comfortable place in spiritual life and stay there.  Avoid criticism and embarrassment by living and expressing faith in Me only within the bounds of what is socially acceptable.  Build a wall around that comfortable place to keep out anything, including the Holy Spirit, that might urge or cause change.  The scribes and the Pharisees have not only built such walls for themselves but for others whom God has made them responsible.  Will they welcome the Words of Life?  Some will but most will not and then they will compound their sin by shielding their disciples from the Gift of God by denying me as the Christ.  I tell you, 'Whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.' 
  Come, Noah.  Climb into my beard.  Burrow in and you will go wherever I go and be the first to hear me speak."

Noah the Jewish Fly, Chapter 6

  As I winged my way back into the Upper Room a more complete picture of Jesus was starting to come together in my mind.  One big piece was missing but I felt the total picture was almost in my grasp. The hours that I and Al bar Levi had spent poring over the prophecies of Isaiah concerning the Messiah had borne fruit in abundance in my consciousness and spirit.
  Bar Levi used the rabbi's usual teaching method of  answering a question with a question.  I confess I found it exasperating at times but also it made me think more deeply than I might have otherwise.  He didn't leave me foundering when I had exhausted all my mental and spiritual resources.  Instead, he would carefully, almost imperceptibly, nudge me in the right direction.  Still, still, I had a few concerns that lingered until Jesus had me return to bar Levi.
  As bar Levi and I studied the scriptures I wondered: Was Isaiah's description of the Suffering Servant intended to be a  portrayal of Messiah?  If so, it didn't line up at all with the traditional view of Messiah in the mold of David; a Warrior-King who would rid Israel of all its oppressors, rebuild the Temple and restore the nation to its former glory. For a while the two options bounced around in my head like pinballs.(*)  Even though the latter view was certainly the most appealing I ultimately realized that its appeal was to the flesh; not the spirit.  It was much later that I understood how accurate Isaiah's vision and prophecy proved to be.  Also later, my eyes were opened to the realization that Jesus WAS before the earth was formed and in Genesis, God had set in motion His plan of salvation.
  At the feast of the Passover, Jesus said the bread and wine represented his body and his blood which would be 'shed for many.'  Who are 'the many?'  Are they the righteous?  Back to Isaiah; "And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."  The 'many' are all of us; everybody; no exceptions both now and in the future. The way I understood it, Jesus was going to allow himself to be sacrificed for the sins of everyone in  the whole world. The logical question that follows is this: How can the death of one man, no matter how devoted to God; no matter how willing; how can that sacrifice possibly be sufficient to erase all sin in another person's life?
  That question was burning in my mind when I flew into the Upper Room where Jesus was sitting alone.  He extended his hand and I lined up on it for my landing approach.  The instant I touched down on his palm I heard a Voice in my spirit; a majestic, quiet Voice, yet as forceful and awesome as stars colliding or mountains crumbling.  I was so startled by the sound and substance of the message the Voice delivered, my landing gear collapsed.  I did three forward rolls and ended on my back inside the sleeve of Jesus' robe.
  "That was quite an entrance, Brother Noah," Jesus said.
  I crawled out of his sleeve and onto Jesus' hand. "Master, I know who you are,"  I said, head bowed and with all the reverence within me.
  "Really?  Who am I?"
  "You are the Christ; the Son of the Living God."
  "You're blessed, Noah.  You didn't pick this up on the street and you didn't reason it out.  No mortal revealed it to you.  It came to you directly from my Father who is in heaven.  Simon bar Jonah has already been been blessed the same way.  One day there will be thousands of thousands who will have made the same confession."

(*) Editor's note:  Pinballs were not invented for another 1900 years.  Please forgive error by elderly author.