Jesus Gets Tired

Jesus sits with his morning tea and bread and thinks about his day.

It will be a long one. Peter has scheduled a talk with the Pharisees after morning prayer and then another free lunch lecture before a wedding, where Jesus will be asked to bless the wine.

Then there are the unexpected encounters, the lepers in the street, the distraught parents with sick children.

Then there are the promoters... Aye. They want to send criers ahead to the next town, to draw bigger crowds. They want to write down versions of the parables and make copies so the stories can spread. Jesus sees greed in their advice, a way to turn his message into silver. They want to meet again after the wedding. 

He looks at his plate and remembers the words about the rich men and their attachments and how difficult it is for them to understand what he means by a kingdom and what it takes to get there. They roll their eyes when he tells them about feeding the hungry and being your sister's keeper.

They will be the ones, of course, who get the power. Jesus rolls His eyes and rubs his temples.

All of it adds up.

People don't seem to understand that working miracles, or even composing parables, takes a lot out of a guy, even one who happens to be the Messiah.

Sometimes Jesus would like to just chuck it all and go for an extended hiatus on the shore of the Dead Sea. The water there is very clear, and the night life has a lot to offer.

Most of the fun people gather there to enjoy food, wine, and the tight fitting tunics women wear while strolling on the shore are very pleasing to him.  He sees divinity in the grace and curve of their hips, the firmness of their buttocks.

It's amazing to Jesus that some of the fitter young men actually let waves carry them from from the deep water up to the beach. A few even ride on primitive wooden boards that they fashioned just for that purpose.

Jesus sips at his tea and chews the dry, stale bread. He knows it is good for him. He will need the nourishment to transform water to wine, ordinariness to miracle.

He wonders how he got here, how he went from simple carpenter to Teacher.

It just happened, he says to himself, was part of his genetic destiny.

And he said yes to it.

But there are those times, when he wonders what it would be like to be one of the men or women who seem so happy, a bit shallow in their attachment to comfort, but enjoying life nonetheless. They have something he will never have, a bliss born of privilege and getting everything they want.

Life comes so easy, it seems, to other men, the "lucky" ones. They are happy just taking care of themselves and their families -- their lovers.

If only he could close his eyes, he thinks, and forget, then he could rest.