SIX BIBLE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED...but maybe could have

Seeing Jacob standing boldly in front of Jesus, the crowd became silent with anticipation of what would happen. Although he sensed the crowd was intently looking at him, Jacob was focused only on the rabbi who was now bending down on one knee to be closer to him. It looked like a gesture of prayer. Then Jacob spoke. The words sprung from his heart, but he did not know why he said what he said. “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” Jacob knew this was the core question of his life. He did not know why he blurted it out. He just stood there transfixed and waiting before this enigmatic man for an answer. The answer came, but not as Jacob had expected. “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only one who is good.” Then there was silence as if to give Jacob time to consider his response. Jacob reflected deeply on the rabbi’s pronouncement, and with it he felt a profound connection with this man who had aimed the question and comment directly and solely at Jacob. Jacob gave no academic answer but prayed the Shema with the man. Then the rabbi stood up only to sit down on the edge of the outcropping to be even closer to Jacob. There was nothing between the two of them. Their eyes met and Jacob found himself enthralled by the charisma of the rabbi. Then came the answer Jacob was waiting for with the force of one whose authority is primary and whose gentleness of spirit was overflowing. “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Jacob followed this answer with the question, “Which ones?” spoken loud enough for the crowd to hear. At this the man on the rock stood up and addressed Jacob and the rest of the crowd with, “’You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Jacob was taken aback by the brilliance of this response. First love God, then love your neighbor. It was as if both mandates were two sides of the same commandment. What the rabbi had done in this short dialogue with Jacob was to summarize the moral essence of everything Jacob’s years of studying the Torah had taught him. He was taken up in the moment, and without thinking exclaimed, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” The crowd hung on the words of the answer that was forthcoming, for they all wanted to be sure of the path to God’s kingdom. And it came like thunder, although in words couched in love and concern. The man facing Jacob once again knelt on one knee and said to Jacob in words loud enough for the whole crowd to hear, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.” Then reaching out his hand toward Jacob, the rabbi invited Jacob to “Come, follow me.” Jacob was stunned. He felt panic surge throughout his body which became rigid and immobile, and his face became pale and forlorn. Was this man asking him to give up his wealth and his aristocratic lifestyle to be poor and wandering like Him? The rabbi’s words had been so profound, and He had prompted Jacob to share what he had with those poorer than he, but there was a lot more where that came from, and was he to give that away too? He could not do that. That was too much to ask! Jacob kept looking at the rabbi and the rabbi stared directly into his eyes, and Jacob knew by that look that the rabbi was calling him to a new way of life and perhaps a future life of profound promise. But Jacob simply could not accept the invitation. He was simply not ready to leave everything and follow that rabbi no matter how amazing His teaching and His personality were. It would mean not only giving up his vast wealth and comfortable style of life, but it would mean leaving his family and friends. He thought quickly that maybe Benjamin might join him in following the rabbi, but then he had to face the fact that Benjamin was skeptical of Jesus’s identity and mission to begin with. Jacob would have to prefer the rabbi and his mission above everything else. So Jacob turned and walked away. He felt he had come so close to maybe finding answers to his questions about the Torah and about his way in life, but to leave it all behind was simply too much to ask. He could share his wealth; he could not give it up. As Jacob dejectedly turned to leave, he felt the entire crowd focusing on him as if he had declined an extraordinary invitation not offered to everyone. The assembled people did not seem to judge him as if he had done something wrong, for he had stood before them as a good and faithful Jew according to their law and tradition. They seemed to feel sad for him because he was on the brink of what they had come to see as a new, wonderful way of life, and he had turned away from it. Jacob had preferred material wealth and comfort to blessedness. As Jacob kept walking toward the back of the crowd, the man on the outcropping said nothing, was just attentive to him and followed him with His eyes as if at each moment hoping he would turn around and accept His invitation. But Jacob kept walking, and when he came to where Benjamin was sitting, he signaled to his friend to pick up his gear and follow him away from the scene.