THE SILENCE OF NICODEMUS DAUGHTER
Oruaro Egboje@egbojeoruaro412594
14 days ago
In the land of Jerusalem lived a very prominent and well know man called Nicodemus. He was a part of the sanhendrin and was well versed with the Jewish laws. Nicodemus was one strict follower of the Jewish law who ensured that the people obeyed the Jewish laws that were passed to them. One day Nicodemus was passing by the temple when he saw a large crowd gathered at one place, curiosity got the best of him and he asked one of the people nearby "what is the meaning of this, why this crowd ?" He asked. The man answered "Jesus the messiah is teaching in his usual parables", "Jesus, I don't think I've heard of that name before"
"Wow, how can a man of your caliber not know of Jesus" the man asked for he noticed the way Nicodemus was richly dressed like one of the teachers of the Jews. Nicodemus grew more curious and decided to lean in a little to know what this said Jesus was saying. Because the crowd was too much he had difficulty hearing a word and he didn't want anyone to notice that him a teacher of the Jews was trying to listen in on what Jesus was saying so he quietly left.
Behind the horse stall was a teeny tiny girl dressed in pretty garments, she used a cloth to cover her face so only her eyes were visible, her name was miraim and she was Nicodemus daughter. She was in her early teens and had developed a new habit of following his father or actually sneaking after him to hear some teachings of the Jews. She just like her father was very curious one who wanted to know and always asked questions. As soon as her father passed her quickly not wanting the people to recognize him her daughter quickly ran off to where the crowd had gathered. "I wonder what would make such mighty number of people gather in one place like this" . And with that curious mind she pushed her way to the front till she could hear the voice speaking.
"I am the way the truth and life, no one can come to the father except through me" Jesus said. The words of Jesus struck her and Miriam continued listening growing more attached to what Jesus was saying. By evening when Jesus was done and was going out to do his usual alone time prayer Miriam have heard a lot of things and have gathered a lot of questions to ask but she dared not meet Jesus herself for fear of her father hearing about. She quietly watched as Jesus stepped away from the crowd and entered the boat of peter, she stood there and watched till the boat became so small in sight before she finally slipped away from the crowd and went back home. Miriam's heart was troubled and anxious to seek answers after what she had hear Jesus say, for days she was restless and always sneaker out hoping to see that same crowd again so that she could hear Jesus speak but nothing happened for some days because Jesus happened to be teaching in another part of the town during those days so Miriam kept these worries within her.
On one of the Sabbath day Miriam already dressed up preparing to go to the temple for worship saw his the door to his father's study open, she attempted to close the door properly when her eyes saw an open piece of scroll with the writings "I am the way the truth and life....." Those were the exact same words she had heard the man Jesus say that day. Wait does it means that her father also know of Jesus, as strict and adherent as her father was to the Jewish laws he still scribbled down the words of Jesus, could this mean that her father has also been has his hearts captured by the words of Jesus and have been secretly following him ?. During the worship time in the temple Miriam was restless, a part of her wished to go up to where her father sat with other teachers of the law to question him about what she had seen but she also knew that would only spell trouble for her and her father. She only managed to keep herself calm so her father won't suspect her uneasiness. Luckily for her few days later she heard that Jesus was in town and was teaching close to the market. Miraim quickly dressed up and sneaker out of the house again to hear the words of Jesus, on getting there, the crowd was massive but she managed to weaved her way to the front as usual, soon Miriam started becoming fond of Jesus teachings and always craved to hear it more and more, she had a lot of questions but kept them within her heart hoping for a day she could boldly come up to Jesus to ask.
One night at about the third hour when everyone was asleep Miriam heard a sound, at first it sounded faint but she knew she heard right, it was the creaking sound of the door opening. Who could be going out by this time of the night or could it be a thief!. She quietly got up and opened her window a bit to watch who was either going out or coming in. She saw it, that robes with the one and only signatory sign at the bottom which only the teachers of the law got to wear. She got a glimpse of the face before the person quickly used a clothe to cover himself up. Miraim quickly got up too picking a cloth too. She followed her father from a distance so he wouldn't notice he was being followed. She looked ahead and saw a man in dressed in white clothing coming out from the temple, she watched as her father quickly rushed to meet up with this man, she too quietly followed behind and overheard as his father called out to him
"Raboni raboni'
The person turned and miraim saw that it was Jesus. So her suspicions were true after all that his father was secretly following too. She drew closer to hear what they were saying
"Raboni I have a question that has been bothering me for days"
"What could be bothering you teacher of the law"
"You said no one can come to the father unless through you, how can one do that"
"Good question, for you to see the father you have to be born again before you can be able to come to him through me" Jesus said
"How can one be born again, do I have to go back to my mother womb to be reborn out" Nicodemus asked already looking confused
"When I said born again I didn't mean the physical birth for I was talking about the spiritual birth"
"So how then can I be born again"
"Obey the instructions of God "
"I have done all that for I too am a teacher of the law so I know all the instructions that God passed to his servant Moses and I have strictly adhered to it all my life" Nicodemus answered proudly
"Then if you have done all that, sell all that you have and give to the poor" Jesus said
"Wh......at" Nicodemus stuttered after hearing the lat statement from Jesus. He slowly turned and walked away for the first cock has crowed and he couldn't let anyone see him talking with Jesus. Miriam who had been listening all through was likewise confused by what she had heard and knowing fully well that she could not ask her father she mustered up the courage and went after Jesus calling him by the name which she had heard her father call him. "Raboni" she called. Jesus turned and said to her " you are as curious as your father but will you be willing to obey like your father if you eventually get the answers to all the questions troubling you ?"
"Sir is it true that my father must sell all his pocession and give to the poor for him to be born again ? Then that would only make us be poor too, surely our father in heaven would not want that"
Jesus saw beyond her concern and just smiled and said to her "of course not, your father in heaven will never allow you live in lack and want but surely I tell you this that just as it impossible for the carmel to go through the eye of the needle that is how it is with the rich entering the kingdom of God."
"So are you saying the rich won't see the kingdom of God" Miriam asked fearfully
"No my daughter, all I am saying is that it would be hard for most rich people to see the kingdom of God because they have grown so fond of their earthly possession and have forgotten the commandments of God to love our neighbors just as ourselves. Just as God has given you the privilege to be rich it is also right and good that we help others too, that is the greatest commandment of God our father, Love. So therefore my child I'm not saying you must go poor while helping others, I'm saying you should be generous and help others too for by doing that you would have been obeying all the laws of God which is built on love ". Jesus said.
Just then the second cock crowed signifying it was almost morning so Miriam quickly left after bidding Jesus bye. A man quietly came out of the shadows, he has seen and heard all what Miriam and Jesus was saying. He smiled deviously knowing fully well that he had now caught her red handheld. Saul Miriam's elder brother has been suspecting Miriam ever since she started sneaking out almost everyday and today was the day he finally caught her. He too hurriedly left so that he could get home before the third cock crowed so that they won't notice his absence. Saul kept all that he had seen within himself hoping for a day he would get back at Jesus for turning his sister against their Jewish laws. The next day he quickly went to the leader of the pharisees and whispered to him the things Jesus has said, as he told the man he was greatly enraged "haven't this man done enough already! Why is he still confusion the people moreso even people in our circle" just about the time Judas came in and said "I know the man you seek and I can take you to him"
"And who are you ?" Saul asked for his dressing was not that of the way the people in their town dressed.
"I'm not sure he's one of us, what if he's just a thief trying to scam us" Saul whispered again to the leader of the teachers of the law.
"Well we can only know by asking him" he told Saul.
"So who do you say you are ?" He asked Judas
"My name is Judas Iscariot and I'm one of the people following Jesus. I know you seek him to kill and I can give you help if you want."
"Why should we believe you"
"Because I share the same desire with you, to have him killed but you have to give me something in return for betraying him"
Both Saul and the leader of the teachers looked at each other and smiled, finally they have caught the man causing problems for them in a very easy way at that.
"How do you plan on helping us"
"I'll take you there myself and the first man I kiss is the one you should arrest " Judas said. Saul threw a small bag at him which he quickly catched
"That's thirty pieces of silver coins there, no one must hear about this" he said
"You can trust me on that" and with that Judas left quickly covering his face so that he would not be recognized.
"So when do we plan to get this man" Saul asked rather impatiently
"Keep calm, we'll get him this night for the more we delay the more we're at danger of losing more of our people to his silly teachings " the leader said
"Then we must prepare quickly " Saul said.
So Saul and the leader of the teachers went round gathering people to their side after telling them of their plans and before evening they have gathered a mighty army who were ready to take Jesus.
" Send for the man called Judas Iscariot " the leader said to one of the guards who quickly rushed to find Judas. When everything was ready they all set out to the mountain where Jesus mostly went to quietly to pray, lead by the crowd was Judas, Saul and the leader of the teachers. Meanwhile Nicodemus has already heard of what was they were planning and was looking to ways to kick against it but he could not get anyone to his side because they all hated Jesus and he didn't want them to suspect him of following Jesus so he quickly gave up the fight but he was greatly troubled all day. Miraim watched from behind as her father paced around, she knew something was definitely wrong but could not place where. She quietly sneaked out to see if anything looked unusual. While going she saw a huge crowd moving towards the mountain, she knew that was where Jesus always went to after teaching but the problem is the crowd didn't look like a crowd of listeners but a crowd of people going to war. She quickly followed behind them to see what was going on and it was from afar that she saw the people arresting Jesus. Miraim screamed and wanted to run there to do something, anything to stop them but she felt a strong hand pulling her back and covering her mouth. It was her father Nicodemus, he had seen her sneaking out and had followed her. He too was sad on what he saw but there was nothing he could do if not he too would be in danger. He held Miriam tightly consoling her for he understood her pain, he too had grown fond of Jesus teachings and knowing that he was innocent yet accused of a wrong he never committed hurt him but what hurt him more was the fact that he could do not nothing about it but only watch. They successfully arrested Jesus and took him to prison, Nicodemus on the other hand heard that his son Saul was part of those who arrested Jesus, when he heard this he was greatly furious and quarrelled with him over the issue but Saul threatened to tell the council of elders about miriam who secretly met with Jesus, that alone kept Nicodemus quiet for he loved Miriam so dearly and didn't want any harm to come to her. Miriam on the other hand kept disturbing her father to do about it. "Father you know he's innocent, why are you keeping mute while the accuse him a crime he never committed" Miriam said weeping. Nicodemus could not answer Miriam's request but always kept silent weeping silently whenever she met him pleading to help Jesus. Miriam kept on going to the council where Jesus was questioned, she watched from afar and wept silently for she had no power to help him even though she truly wanted to. She kept on following even when Jesus was carrying the cross and each of these moments broke her down. Countless times her brother Saul caught her and told the guards to drag her back home but she never gave up. She still follower Jesus case up and always watched from afar when ever he was being questioned. It got to a time where Nicodemus her father had to lock her up so she wouldn't go out again looking for Jesus to avoid the people from suspecting their family. She was locked in there for days, she refused to eat nor drink anything while weeping profusely. On one morning she overheard the maids talking about how Jesus along with two other thieves were going to the crusified that day. She pleaded with them to help her escape to give her one more chance to see Jesus. Her pleas touched the hearts of the maids and they helped her escaped disgusiing her by dressing her up in one of the maids dresses. By the time Miriam got to golgotha it was already too late, she saw Jesus already nailed to the cross, weak and tired from all the running and going days without eating she fell to ground weeping silently and wishing she had the power to save Jesus from those pains, as she wept she raised her face up and just about that time it felt as though Jesus eyes were on her, telling her to weep no more, she felt an inner peace within when those eyes looked at her and she didn't even feel any pain as her brother Saul caught her in the gathering of the people and dragged her up forcefully handing her to the guards to take her home. As the carriage was moving Miriam kept thinking about the look Jesus gave her, it definitely calmed every Strom in her heart and every worry and pain she felt, she knew without doubt that she has found the right part to take, she smiled all through the journey home for she had found inner peace, she felt born again. After Jesus death, she started writing down all what she had learnt while listening to his teachings, she wrote about what Jesus told her about being born again and every night she sneaker out of the house to meet up with her fellow young girls telling them about the teachings of Jesus. She had found a way to reach out to them and before time she has gotten the hearts of almost every young girl in Jerusalem to Jesus. When Saul found out it was already too late because Miriam has more people supporting her and she wasn't scared of anything or anyone again. Her father too saw to it that Saul did not cause any harm to Miriam. And so Miriam kept on teaching the words of Jesus to her fellow mates, telling them the gospel and Christ, soon more girls join her and they helped in spreading the word to other girls like them, although they still liver in fear of getting caught by the Jewish teachers so they could not do it openly but these girls found inner peace knowing a man called Jesus has come to die for sins. Miriam kept on doin what she was doing and at time in the middle of her teaching she felt like Jesus was watching her which gave her more courage to continue and not even her father or brother could stop her from doing God's work for she had kept quiet when they crusified him but she wasn't going to be silent again.
Written by Egboje Oruaro. Do not copy!!!
This work is purely fictional and inspired by the story of Nicodemus in the bible (John 3:1-21)
