The woman who refused to flinch in the face of danger
The woman put down the scroll she was reading and stood as I entered. “Aemilia, welcome, please sit.”
Rhoda, Mary’s servant, placed a silver tray with a jug of wine and two cups on a small table and, with a nod, left the room.
“You have spoken to Rhoda, I hear,” I nodded, and she continued, “She’s a good person and a hard worker. I know she’s not far away if I hear laughter in the house.”
I watched Mary as she poured a cup of wine. She is said to be over sixty years old, and her long grey hair hung over her shoulders in waves.
She handed me the wine, and I thanked her. “Rhoda told me how she refused to open the door to Simon Peter when he escaped from prison.”
Mary’s face around her grey eyes wrinkled when she smiled. “A good story that she has talked about for over twenty years.”
“Yes, it is a good story and one my readers will enjoy reading about. As I’m sure your interview will be.”
Mary sighed. “I wasn’t sure at first whether to speak to you. It is not that I don’t like meeting people, but I don’t think I have much to add.”
“That’s not true. You are Mary of Jerusalem, and your name is known among the Christians as a courageous and faithful disciple of Jesus.”
“Well, I prefer to just get on with things and not blow a trumpet.”
“Then please let me blow one for you!”
I wondered at first whether I had gone too far, but after a few seconds, her face creased into a smile. “Where shall we start, then?”
“I heard that you met Jesus. Is that correct?”
“Yes, I only met him once, and it was memorable.” She stood and walked to the window overlooking the cramped houses of Jerusalem. “My brother Barnabas was one of his disciples and had begun to follow him around Judea. This displeased the family, who all said that he was in dereliction of his duty to the family business. We import and export cloth around the empire and he was supposed to work here in Jerusalem, but he ran away to the desert to follow a disreputable rabbi. Our eldest brother was very angry, especially when my eldest son joined him. I told my son that his father would not be happy if he was still alive.”
“Is this your son, John Mark?”
She smiled to hear his name. “John Mark is my eldest child. He’s in Rome now with Simon Peter and Paul.”
“Yes, I met him in Rome. He is such a fine young man.”
“He is a writer, too. Did you know he is writing Peter’s memories of his travels with Jesus, and his teachings? Soon there will not be many of us left alive who walked and talked with Jesus, so it is very important that these are recorded correctly.
“I heard Jesus was in Bethany and I went to confront him about taking respectable young men away from their families and responsibilities, and I was not going to let him talk me around. I can be a forceful woman when I put my mind to it.” Of this, I had no doubt. “My servant asked where Jesus stayed and he knocked at a gate, which was opened by a pleasant young woman, who welcomed us inside her home. I later found out that this was Martha and it was her house.
“My son jumped up in shock when he saw me and poked his uncle Barnabas in the ribs. At least they had the sense to look guilty that I had found them both out. Before I could speak to them, Martha took my hand and led me to Jesus. I’m not sure what we spoke about but I was there a long time and got the feeling that Jesus thought he was there just for me, and he made a huge impression.
“Barnabas and John Mark came home with me and we spoke long into the night, and we only blew out the lamps at dawn. It was not long after this that Jesus was crucified and we heard reports that he came alive from the dead. I considered this was nonsense and I would not believe it unless I saw it with my own eyes.” She laughed and came to sit opposite me. “I’m sure you can guess what happened next. Yes, I did see him alive, and he spoke to me again.”
I leaned forward. “What did he say?”
“This time I remembered everything. He said I would be a believer and help many others to believe in him, and that my home would be an important place for people to come and meet. Since that day, I’ve dedicated my life to Jesus and tried to live out my faith, both within and outside my home.”
“I understand that your home became a centre of the new faith. A place where believers could meet in safety.”
“That’s correct Aemilia. My home is open to everyone, both those who believe in Jesus and those who do not. It is a place of safety, except the area we live in has not always been safe for us.”
I tried to remember my journey to the house in one of the prosperous areas of Jerusalem. Many large and impressive homes of the rich and Jerusalem elite lay alongside Mary’s home. Then I realised what the problem was.
“Ahh, you mean those who live nearby might not be amenable to many believers coming and going?”
“Exactly! The house of the High Priest is down the street, and I’ve wondered several times whether we are being watched. Herod Agrippa had spies everywhere, and it was he who had James and Peter arrested.”
“That must have been a hard time for you.”
Mary’s face frowned at the memory of that terrible time. “After they were both arrested, we thought they would be released with a caution not to preach about Jesus like the last time. But when Agrippa had James beheaded, we realised perhaps, for the first time, the dangerous position we were in. Everyone gathered in the larger homes, including in Bethany, and we were in fervent prayer for God to save Peter’s life.
“It had been dark for several hours when Rhoda came running in to tell us that Peter was at the gate. Poor girl, we thought she was quite mad, but she was insistent and I went to the gate to check. It was true. Peter had miraculously escaped and even though it was dangerous, he came here to tell us. Then he slipped away to safety, before dawn.”
“Things would have been very different if Peter had been killed.”
“Agrippa and the authorities wanted to crush us and thought killing our leaders was the easiest way to do it. But Aemilia, this is important and write it down. We were thankful to God for saving Peter’s life and we mourned James, but it would’ve made no difference. The church would have continued to grow as it had and nothing would have stopped it.
“We lost my dear brother, Barnabas, a few years ago, stoned to death in Cyprus for telling people about Jesus. I fear that further persecution is going to happen soon, and it is likely many of us will face the same question of whether to stay true to our faith and face persecution and even death or to give up on Jesus. Let us be like Barnabas and James and not flinch in the face of danger. I know what I will do, but what about you?”
You can read about Mary of Jerusalem and Rhoda in the New Testament book, Acts of the Apostles chapter 12. After James is beheaded, Peter escapes prison and heads for Mary’s house before disappearing.
Aemilia’s interview with Rhoda, Mary’s servant, can be found in my eBook, The Aemilia Metella Interviews. It is available for free to those who sign up for my mailing list.
Image by martins2018 from Pixabay
I got the feeling that Jesus thought he was there just for me
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay
Agrippa and the authorities wanted to crush us and thought killing our leaders was the easiest way to do it
My home is open to everyone
Let us be like Barnabas and James and not flinch in the face of danger
Naples National Archaeological Museum, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Susan Sutherland is the author of the Leaving Bethany Trilogy. To buy Leaving Bethany, Return to Caesarea and Advance from Antioch please go to the buy page.
If you like Susan’s blogs sign up for the mailing list and receive a free copy of The Aemilia Metella Interviews.
Leaving Bethany 