| TEN APOSTLES |
| So far five women, Alphaeus and his friend, and Peter had seen Jesus alive again. That's eight people. But still John was the only one among the rest of Jesus apostles who believed he had come back to life. Did anyone ever get mad at you for telling them something that was too good to believe, like they won a thousand dollars when they really hadn't? They would get mad at you for fooling them like that, wouldn't they? The other apostles got mad for the same reason. They were convinced Jesus was still dead. They wanted to be left alone to sit and pace and cry, sit and pace and cry. And they continued to hide behind locked doors. By that afternoon, with so many people going in and out, they decided they had better move to another house. One by one they slipped out the gate and made their way in different directions. But they all finally ended up at the house of still another Mary, Mark's mother. Thomas was gone at the time. He had decided to buy some food for them, and find out if anyone was looking for them to arrest them. So the ten apostles gathered with their friends in Mary's house. Now they were back to sitting, pacing and crying, sitting, pacing and crying. Finally it was dinner time. They were too sad to eat. But out of politeness they sat down to their meal of fish. Many just stared at their food, but some tried to eat. Suddenly someone new was standing by their table. "Good evening, everyone!" he said with a big smile. When Andrew saw him, he jumped off his seat and knocked over his drink. When Philip saw him, he jumped up and pushed his seat into the man next to him. When Thaddeus saw him, he dropped the bread he was holding and just stared. When Simon saw him, he grabbed his seat and held it over his head ready to throw it. When James saw him, he had just taken a drink and spit it in a jet spray across the table. When Matthew saw him, he pushed his own seat out from under him. When James Junior saw him, he got the nerve to speak. "Who are you? You're a ghost! Get away! You're not Jesus! You're a ghost!" But it really was Jesus. Jesus said, "Ghosts don't eat. Give me some fish. I'm starved." So they did, and Jesus ate it all up. Then they knew it was Jesus come back to life. Everyone was so happy. |