John wrote, "In Him was life, and that life was the light of man" (1: 4). When darkness fell on the land during the crucifixion, even the Son of God had to cry out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt.27: 46). "If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness?" (Mt.6: 23). Regarding the people that rejected Jesus, Paul recalled Deuteronomy 29: 4 and Isaiah 29: 10. "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so they could not see and ears so they could not hear, to this day" (Ro.11: 8). A similar darkness has fallen upon us.

I was fourteen when we became refugees for the second time. We ended up in the heart of Germany where arable land was scares. People with two or three sheep entrusted them to a shepherd. He had a wagon, light wooden fences to shelter the sheep at night and one or two dogs. Some shepherds had their dogs bark only at the sheep. Others had their dogs nip at them and hurt them.

I was a widow and lived in Nain. It was a pleasant and delightful hamlet. It was located on a small hill and compared with the blessed Mount Hermon - the Mountain of the Gods. There was something mysterious and secret about that huge mountain. Especially it's early dew contained magical powers of growth. Our small mountain was equally blessed with dew that watered our vegetation and fruit trees. We also had groves of olives and fig trees watered by a spring. While my husband was alive, we had it good. But when he was taken from us in his prime, things changed drastically. My husband owed no property. And without collateral, no man would marry me. But as long as my son was healthy and able, we did manage to meet all our needs. One unexpected day, death took my son and left me in shock. What had I done wrong to be punished so harshly? For this was the way people believed.

It was the Sabbath and I had an urge to go to the House of Prayer. I had a condition that did not let me stand up straight. It was believed that God was punishing me for my sins and therefore I was not welcome in the Synagogue. Of course, I could not lay my finger on what I had done to deserve being punished; but since everyone regarded me as being duly chastised, I carried my lot patiently and willingly. On this particular Sabbath, I was not expected to be there, nor did I anticipate that I would become the cause of a disturbance over our precious Sabbath. Now that I look back on the incident, I feel strongly that the Lord did love me and that it was His Spirit that drew me to the Synagogue on that particular Sabbath. It was to be my day to prove to the people with perverted views that in God's eyes I, too, was a daughter of His chosen people and not some notorious sinner. He wanted me to meet His Son Jesus who would alter my life. In His eyes, I was worth more than an ox or a donkey that could be rescued on a Sabbath.

Thirty-eight long years I lay near the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem and no one would help me. There were five covered shelters and they were all filled with sick and handicapped like me. It was believed that an angel stirred the water in the pool and who ever managed to enter first was healed. There were many under these five roofs, but I was there the longest. I was an invalid that resulted from an error on my part. I was laid up because of my sins, but I would not admit it. I was bitter and blamed others for my misfortune. Perhaps that was why no one helped me. One Sabbath day a Stranger asked me somewhat of a puzzling question, "Do you want to be healed?" At first I wanted to answer back with another question like, "Who in this place does not?" Instead I complained, "Sir, I have no one who will help me. By the time I get up and start crawling toward the pool someone else has already been healed.'' To my surprise, the Stranger ordered me to, "Get up! Take my stretcher and walk."

We have seen many attempts to make us belief that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have much in common. Just how much commonality is there between the three Religions?" Jesus raised this question, "Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but every bad tree bears bad fruit" (Mt.7: 16-17).

Simon, the Great, had gained fame with his magic. When he could not do what Peter did through the Spirit of God, Simon attempted to buy into the power of God's Spirit. Peter rebuked Simon severely and said, "Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money" (Ac.8: 20). Simon realized his error and repented for trying to buy his way into God's favor.

I lived near the village of Bethsaida. It was founded by a fisherman and named for his home; namely, the house of the fisher. It was located on the Northeast corner of the lake of Galilee. It was that part of Galilee east of the Jordan River located in Greek territory. It was a mixed population of Gentiles and Jews that lived off the fishing industry. Jesus had come to Bethsaida many times, but found little acceptance. He had blessed them with healing and mighty works, but they refused to repent of their sins. They were a stubborn people and not much inclined to change. Jesus told them once that if He had done what He did for them in Sidon and Tyre, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. For that reason the Gentile towns would fare better on judgment day than Capernaum and Bethsaida. That forward warning hardened the inhabitants of "Fisher's Town" even more. Jesus, at that time, was spending more time in these two places than anywhere else in all of Galilee and Judea. He had even chosen three followers that came from Bethsaida: Simon Peter, Andrew brother to Peter and Philip.

It is true. I had four friends. If it had not been for their faith in Jesus, I would have died as a paralytic and in sin. Yes, a paralyzed man can sin. He cannot sin physically because his muscular system no longer functions; but he can mentally store up hatred, retribution and even vengeance. My mind was very sick and preoccupied with sinful ways to get even with the world. Had I recovered from my infirmity without first curing my mind, I would have inflicted harmful pain on my own friends. Instead of appreciating what they were doing for me, I developed the idea that they may have been the cause of my problem. It seemed to me that they felt obligated for what caused my paralysis. I had completely dismissed from my mind that it was my mistake. I had reached a point in my miserable existence where I no longer was able to believe. Fortunately, my four faithful friends believed that Jesus could cure me and to Him they carried me on my stretcher. When we could not get inside the home where He was teaching and healing, my friends took me up on the roof, made a hole and let me down right in front of Jesus. There I was stretched out in front of the man that was turning our town upside down and out.

I do not know exactly where to begin and how it all happened that my lunch was more important than I was. I was called the, "lad or hi boy." I was not exactly a boy. I was old enough to venture out on my own. I loved the outdoors. I liked hunting and fishing. That is how I got to know Andrew. He too loved fishing and wander off from time to time. He was a friendly chap. He did not mind talking to boys and show them some of the tricks he had learned when he was a boy. There were times, I wished he were my father. Lately, he and his cousin John were excited about two men John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. One day, Jesus asked Andrew to join His circle of twelve. He did, but still remained friends with me. He still found time to be with me and explain things. Now more than ever, he wanted me to know about Jesus and encouraged me to follow the crowds because they had no problem finding Jesus. And when the people found Jesus, I found Andrew. Only, I did not leave home without my lunch. My mother put five buns and two fish into my bag so I would not go hungry.