_______by Idongesit Imuk
A peep into Nazareth…
She stared at the boy. He had grown rapidly. She looked intensely at him. He was buried in his books. There was something un-usual about him, she always had that in mind.
The circumstance of his birth was too mysterious. She allowed herself drift into memory lane…
That day…
Will she ever forget that day? She was out in the field. It was the time of harvest. She had sat down at the foot of a tree when she saw him. His countenance was so bright and blinding. She alone saw him. He had delivered Yahweh’s word.
“Mary!” she had whispered, hugging herself after he had left.”The messiah will come by me? May your will be done Yahweh”, she had said then rejoined her mother in the field. It had been a long day, she could still remember.
Back to the boy bent over the book, he was as mysterious as was the circumstance that surrounded his birth.
“Yeshua”, she called. He looked up; she noticed how sharp his eyes were. This boy, truly is not mortal. No mortal’s eyes could be that sharp, as if they were seeing through a body. “The food looseth its warmth.”
He paused, looked at her then smiled. I will eat mother, but after doing my father’s business.” The word,”father” jolted Mary because she was one of the two people who knew he had no biological father, the other being Joseph,her husband, or perhaps he Yeshua also knew he had no biological father, she had never mentioned it to him, not even once.
“…thou shalt be overshadowed by the Holy Ghost…”, the words of the angel echoed in her head. It had slowly become her lifelong obssession, something she had come to live with. With these words, he dropped the books and left.
“Where goest thou?” She called after him.
“The temple.”
She watched him leave, He had grown so fast.
Looking round and seeing no one around, she called on Simeon, his immediate younger brother; her second born and Joseph’s first son.
He came out and as he helped her gather sprewn wood, he couldn’t help but notice her loose-fitted raiment, she had been worried over something the past month.
He didn’t know what it was but he had overheard her discuss it with Salome, her best friend few days earlier. It was about some prophecy, a prophecy about Yeshua, his elder brother!
It was getting dark when Salome came knocking, Mary answered.
“Hearest thou what Yeshua thy son doeth?”
“Nay, I do not.”
“Come then, follow me.”
There he was, standing in the midst of the pharisees, the doctors, lawyers and theologians.
“Verily verily I say unto you…” “Nay, but yeah…”, his voice echoing across the temple, into the evening sky.
“Yeshua…”, Mary whispered, trembling.
Those pharisees were not people to be associated with. Yeshua had better be careful with his words, she thought.
She made to move towards him but Salome held her back.
“Nay Mary, fetch Joseph first.” She nodded, hugging herself.
As they moved away together, she turned back to look at him… His locks, falling over his face. His face, the picture of peace. His voice, filled with power and authority. He was just twelve.
The Manifestation 