56.2 Three wayfarers are standing on the road, in the middle of the bend. They look up and down, to the south, where Jerusalem is and to the north, where Samaria lies. They look anxiously between the trees to see whether anyone is arriving as expected. They are Thomas, Judas Thaddeus and the healed leper. They are speaking.
«Can you see anything?»
«No, I can’t.»
«Neither can I.»
«And yet this is the place.»
«Are you sure?»
«I’m sure, Simon. One of the six said to me, when the Master was going away amid the acclamations of the crowd, after the miraculous healing of a crippled beggar, who was healed at the Fish Gate: “We are now going out of Jerusalem. Wait for us five miles between Jericho and Doco, at the bend of the river, along the road in the woodland”. This one. He also said: “We will be there in three days’ time at dawn”. This is the third day, and we have been here before dawn.»
«Will He come? Perhaps we should have followed Him from Jerusalem.»
«You were not yet allowed to mix with the crowds, Simon.»
«If my cousin told you to come here, He will certainly come here. He always keeps His promise. All we can do is wait.»
56.3 «Have you always been with Him?»
«Yes, always. Since He came back to Nazareth He was my good companion. We were always together. We are about the same age, I am a little older. And I was the favourite of His father, who was my father’s brother. Also His Mother was very fond of me. I grew up more with Her than with my own mother.»
«She was fond… Is She no longer as fond of you, now?»
«Oh! Yes, She is. But we have parted a little since He became a prophet. My relatives are not happy about it.»
«Which relatives?»
«My father and the two older brothers. The other one is undecided… My father is very old and I did not have the courage to hurt him. But now… Now, no longer so. Now I am going where my heart and my mind tell me. I am going to Jesus. I don’t think I am offending the Law by doing so. In any case… if what I want to do was not right, Jesus would tell me. I will do what He says. Is it right for a father to prevent a son from doing good? If I feel that my salvation is there, why prevent me from reaching it? Why, at times, are our fathers our enemies?»
Simon sighs as if he were overwhelmed by sad memories, he lowers his head, but does not speak.
Thomas instead replies: «I have already overcome the obstacle. My father listened to me and he understood me. He blessed me saying: “Go. May this Passover be for you the liberation from the slavery of waiting. You are lucky because you can believe. I will wait. But if it is really Him, and you will find out following Him, then come and say to your old father: ‘Come, Israel has the Expected One’”.»
«You are luckier than I am. And we always lived beside Him!… And we, in the family, do not believe!… We say, that is: they say: “He has gone mad”!»
56.4 «There, there is a group of people» shouts Simon. «It’s Him, it’s Him! I recognise His fair head! Oh! Come! Let us run!»
They start walking fast southwards. When they reach the centre of the bend, the trees cover the remainder of the road, so that the two groups face each other unexpectedly. Jesus seems to be coming up from the river, because He is among the trees on the bank.
«Master!»
«Jesus!»
«My Lord!»
The three cries of the disciple, the cousin and the cured leper are full of joy and veneration.
«Peace to you!» There is the beautiful, unmistakable, full, resonant, calm, expressive, clear, virile, sweet, incisive voice!