Read A.D. 33 for Free Online

us. But blind, yes. Excellent!”
    Saba clapped once, straightened, and tossed Talya a date from his pocket.
    “And how sweet is this gift of earth, for which we are eternally grateful.”
    Talya stuffed the date in his mouth, then clapped as well. “How sweet it is!”
    Saba chuckled. “But not nearly as wonderful as Talya, who has opened the eyes of his heart so he may see more than the realm of earth.”
    A lump gathered in my throat.
    Saba had become a new man in the two years since we’d left Petra to gather the oppressed in Arabia. While I tended my place as mother to all, Saba often retreated to the sands to quiet his mind in prayer and contemplation. In this way he exchanged his own understanding of the world for a deep intimacy with the Father. This was his process of repentance, the way of attaining metanoia , which is a changed mind—a mind transformed and made greater.
    He was obsessed with the path to truly know the Father and his realm. This, Saba believed, is what Yeshua meant when he spoke of entering the eternal realm of heaven.
    He often called this path the forgotten Way of Yeshua, because that Way into the realm, so opposite the ways of the world, was difficult to keep in mind, even for those who had once seen.
    Saba paced, hands on his hips, gazing at the horizon, wearing a track in the sand.
    “As I have often said, to follow in the Way is to find salvation from the storms that rise to crush us. So this demands a question. How?”
    “How?”
    “Yes, how does one now walk in the eternal kingdom of heaven, which sets us free from anxiety?”
    “By believing in Yeshua,” my son said.
    “Yes. But what does this mean? Tell me.”
    Talya absently mirrored Saba’s pacing, though with far shorter strides. The sight of them together in this way melted my heart.
    “To believe in is to trust,” Talya said most seriously. “To have faith.”
    “To have faith in ,” Saba said, accentuating in with a raised finger.
    “Yes, to believe in ,” Talya returned, finger also raised.
    Saba flattened his hand, palm down, and swept it to one side. “Not merely to believe about . Even the demons believe that Yeshua is the Son of the Father, for surely they have ears.” He spat to one side.
    “To believe only about Yeshua is nothing,” Talya said, spitting.
    “A small first step in the right direction, perhaps,” Saba said.
    “But this is not the Way.”
    “To believe in Yeshua gives one the power to find peace in the storms of this life. This is the work of the Father, to believe in the one he has sent. This is eternal life, to know the Father. This is what Yeshua taught. Now tell me, how does one know if or when they are believing in Yeshua as opposed to just about Yeshua?”
    “We know we are believing in him when we are in peace, without worry or grievance.”
    “Yes, peace. If you have a grievance against any threat, such as a storm or an illness or a brother or even an enemy, it is only because we are putting our faith in the power of the storm, rather than in Yeshua and the realm of the Father.”
    “But putting our faith in Yeshua makes us the greatest of all warriors, able to move mountains and calm the storm,” Talya said.
    “Indeed.”
    Saba stopped his pacing and tossed another date to Talya, who deftly caught it and threw it into his mouth.
    “And how sweet it is.”
    “How sweet it is.”
    I almost walked out then, so strong was my longing to sweep Talya from his feet and embrace him. But Saba spoke.
    “So then—and now we are almost finished—if this kingdom is our only obsession, like a treasure in a field or a pearl of great price, and if faith is the path into such a place of great beauty and power, what is the means to this path? How will you find such a narrow path called faith?”
    He was explaining it all in terms a child could understand, and I was filled yet again with wonder, though I already knew the answer to Saba’s question.
    “By seeing with new