“We Called Him Yeshua,”by CJ Penn
Now available on Amazon.
“If he weren’t so human,” Anna groaned, “if he wasn’t so full of love and humility, I wouldn’t love him so much.”
You may know him as the Son of God, by his Greek name, Jesus Christ. Anna knew him as a person, by his Hebrew name, Yeshua.
We Called Him Yeshua is a journey, following Anna, Neri, and others, who all find something special in the love and compassion of the wandering prophet, though what they find may not be what they expect. For Anna, the farther she follows Yeshua and the closer she gets to him, the stronger her love grows. Yet for other reasons, so grows her fear.
All the characters in this story had a big advantage over us. Where we may know about Jesus, they really knew him, by the warmth of his hand on their shoulder, by the thrill of his healing touch freeing them of an illness, and by the kindness in his voice. To get an idea, take a peek at a special moment between Yeshua and Neri …
“Neri,” Yeshua said, “I may be the Son of God, but I’m also the son of man … fully human.”
“God and human, all at the same time?” Neri asked. “I thought it was some kind of metaphor.”
“It’s no metaphor. Just try to accept it as truth.”
“Okay. I guess. But, do you ever feel more like one, than the other?”
“Oh sure. Like tonight. I love moments like this, when to all of them,” Yeshua waived his arm out to the dancing crowd, “I can be just another person. When people treat me as God, they distance themselves from me—out of fear or awe. But tonight, I’m just another man celebrating a wedding, having fun, dancing, playing … being human.”
He took a bite of bread and glanced around.
“Listen Neri, being human provides an intimacy that’s hard to find when people only see my divinity. And it’s intimacy I long for. My strongest desire is not to be above anyone, but to be with everyone, in close communion. Like most people, I have a strong desire to be loved.”
He took a slow sip of wine. “Neri, it’s hard for people to fall in love with a God. But it’s easy for them to fall in love with a person.”
What do you think it would be like to know Jesus as Neri did? To walk with him, as his disciples did? To talk with him, as his friends did? You can. And maybe that journey begins right here.
Escape the world around you. Fly back to the time when Jesus walked the roads of ancient Israel. Walk with him. Follow him. Listen to him. And through the other characters in this story, FEEL him—his love, compassion, and understanding. They called him Yeshua. Maybe you can come to call him friend.
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