After Jesus healed the mother of Eden, we went to Jerusalem. Before arriving, we stopped in Bethany at Lazarus' house. During the early morning, Jesus went away to pray, and I accompanied him.
When the sun rose, it was very hot, and we returned to the city.
A woman was brought to the city gate. As we were about to pass, we stood in silence, observing what would happen. A man told her story, and the judge condemned her to stoning. When the man was about to throw the first stone, Jesus appeared. And he wrote with charcoal: "God shows mercy to the thousandth generation." The men looked at each other, and one of them asked:
"What is mercy?"
"Misere is to have compassion, and cordis is heart. Compassion is being able to put yourself in the other person's place and understand what they have been going through. Mercy is, starting from compassion and with your heart, judging the other and forgiving them. To show mercy is to forgive infinitely."
"Master, and our laws?"
"No law can be greater than the law of God." Then the judge said:
"He is right. I didn't even hear the woman. Please tell us what happened?"
"Two weeks ago I married a stonemason. Last week a stone rolled down and…" She began to cry.
"Woman, are you a widow?"
"Yes. He had no family around here." Pause to cry. "My father wouldn't let me stay at home. So I hid with the tax collector's animals." She cries a little more. "I drank some of the goat's milk so I wouldn't die." Lazarus arrived and said:
"We must welcome widows, orphans, and foreigners."
"Lazarus!"
"Yes!"
"Could you take this woman into your home along with her sisters until we can contact her husband's family?"
"I can."
"Woman, who was your husband?"
"Malachi, the Benjamite."
"I will ask for his genealogy and send a messenger. Now, if you will excuse me, I want to speak with the Master alone." Everyone leaves, except me.
"Master, I have not acted according to what I have learned over time. I am not just and wise like Solomon, but you are. What should I do?"
"A sincere prayer before each judgment." The judge thanked Jesus. Years later he saw the resurrection of Lazarus. And months later he was considered the wisest man in Bethany. Then a neighbor of Lazarus told him that Jesus had been condemned by the Sanhedrin:
"If you had to judge him, what would you do?"
"First I would pray to know what God's will is. I knew him and I am certain that he is the Messiah. But what is God's will?"
"I don't know."
"To save us from sin. If to save us God needs to sacrifice his son, that is what will happen. It may seem unjust, but God can resurrect him. Just as at the last second He prevented Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. If a sacrifice is not needed, God will send an angel to free your son from prison." Days later they came to tell him that Jesus had risen.
Lazarus' Epigraph
The widow and her children stayed at my house for the duration of the festival. Her husband's relatives had gone to Jerusalem and after the festival they took her to Benjamin.
Theophilus moved the story forward a bit to talk about the judge. From that episode until the resurrection of Jesus, three years passed. During that period, Jesus and his disciples often passed by my house. Some of these are recounted by the evangelists. In the next chapter, Theophilus will tell about Holy Week.
