dared not. Because his eyes were not only not mad, but filled with a clarity I had never seen. They were too lucid--the eyes of someone who had seen more than eyes should see. And now they were looking at me.
74
For an instant, I felt laid utterly bare.
I fell back, suddenly desperate for the cover of others, for the very crowd I had fought to break free from just a moment ago.
"The time is coming. I tell you today, one more powerful than I will come," he said, and I realized he was no longer shouting, but speaking directly to me.
His voice dropped. "One whose sandal I am not fit to carry."
There was a moment, strange and uncanny, in which I thought he took my measure as much as I took his. But then he turned to the shore and cried,
"Come! Today I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with fire!"
They came, surging into the water, and I allowed their number to swallow me, grateful to escape the brunt of that gaze.
All around me I heard the whispers of those praying like a swarm of locusts, confessing wrongdoing. Beside me a man murmured that he had stolen from his neighbor, and another that he had broken the Sabbath.
And then they began to immerse, lowering themselves into the chilly water, more people on the banks shedding outer garments and some of them stripping down even to their loincloths, some of the women going farther off to a bend in the river.
Feeling foolish, I turned and sloshed through the water, desperate to escape, staggering up onto the bank. I was looking around for Simon and Levi when a young man came alongside me and shed his tunic.
"Will you immerse? Come, we'll go together."
I shook my head.
"It's living water--it's the living water of the Lord, for the forgiveness of sins!"
he said.
75
"Forgiveness of sins?" Simon had found me and stepped forward.
"Nonsense. This Baptizer is no priest and this is not the Temple."
"The Temple is impure and in need of cleansing!" the man replied. "You as well, my friend. Immerse and tell everyone that Elijah has returned."
"Leave us," Simon said. "And be careful you don't blaspheme. The Temple is the dwelling place of the Lord!" The man gave Simon a parting look, and then moved on, undaunted.
Simon took my arm and tried to draw me away. "They are overzealous.
These radical teachers!"
But I stood rooted, watching the young man as he waded into the shallows toward one of the Baptizer's disciples. They seemed to speak, and then to pray. And then he was sinking beneath the surface at the hands of the other man.
I watched until he burst from the water, his hair and beard like a shroud about his head. The look on his face was sublime.
Next to me Simon muttered, "Mark me: This will become a dangerous place."
Were it not too late, Simon would have insisted we go back to Jerusalem that same day. But it had been nearly seven hours' walk coming here, and we couldn't leave now until daybreak. I was secretly glad, wanting to unravel the mystery of this man, of the strange clarity of his eyes.
That night, Levi and I gathered as close as we could to the fire where the Baptizer, whose name we learned was John, was sitting with some others.
Even at this hour, the crowd was so thick around him that we couldn't hear what he was saying, and I felt a strange surge of envy for his disciples sitting within that innermost circle.
76
"Did you notice," Levi murmured, "that he is wearing a camel shirt?"
"Yes," I said, understanding his meaning: so had Elijah.
"What is he saying?" I said to the group in front of us.
One of the men said, "There's a tax collector up there, asking what he should do. John is telling him not to collect more than required."
Next to us, someone snorted. It was common knowledge that those who owned the collection franchises collected as much as they possibly could, keeping anything above the amount owed Rome for themselves.
"There's a tax collector up there?" Levi said with a frown. "Why would he allow a tax collector to
74
For an instant, I felt laid utterly bare.
I fell back, suddenly desperate for the cover of others, for the very crowd I had fought to break free from just a moment ago.
"The time is coming. I tell you today, one more powerful than I will come," he said, and I realized he was no longer shouting, but speaking directly to me.
His voice dropped. "One whose sandal I am not fit to carry."
There was a moment, strange and uncanny, in which I thought he took my measure as much as I took his. But then he turned to the shore and cried,
"Come! Today I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with fire!"
They came, surging into the water, and I allowed their number to swallow me, grateful to escape the brunt of that gaze.
All around me I heard the whispers of those praying like a swarm of locusts, confessing wrongdoing. Beside me a man murmured that he had stolen from his neighbor, and another that he had broken the Sabbath.
And then they began to immerse, lowering themselves into the chilly water, more people on the banks shedding outer garments and some of them stripping down even to their loincloths, some of the women going farther off to a bend in the river.
Feeling foolish, I turned and sloshed through the water, desperate to escape, staggering up onto the bank. I was looking around for Simon and Levi when a young man came alongside me and shed his tunic.
"Will you immerse? Come, we'll go together."
I shook my head.
"It's living water--it's the living water of the Lord, for the forgiveness of sins!"
he said.
75
"Forgiveness of sins?" Simon had found me and stepped forward.
"Nonsense. This Baptizer is no priest and this is not the Temple."
"The Temple is impure and in need of cleansing!" the man replied. "You as well, my friend. Immerse and tell everyone that Elijah has returned."
"Leave us," Simon said. "And be careful you don't blaspheme. The Temple is the dwelling place of the Lord!" The man gave Simon a parting look, and then moved on, undaunted.
Simon took my arm and tried to draw me away. "They are overzealous.
These radical teachers!"
But I stood rooted, watching the young man as he waded into the shallows toward one of the Baptizer's disciples. They seemed to speak, and then to pray. And then he was sinking beneath the surface at the hands of the other man.
I watched until he burst from the water, his hair and beard like a shroud about his head. The look on his face was sublime.
Next to me Simon muttered, "Mark me: This will become a dangerous place."
Were it not too late, Simon would have insisted we go back to Jerusalem that same day. But it had been nearly seven hours' walk coming here, and we couldn't leave now until daybreak. I was secretly glad, wanting to unravel the mystery of this man, of the strange clarity of his eyes.
That night, Levi and I gathered as close as we could to the fire where the Baptizer, whose name we learned was John, was sitting with some others.
Even at this hour, the crowd was so thick around him that we couldn't hear what he was saying, and I felt a strange surge of envy for his disciples sitting within that innermost circle.
76
"Did you notice," Levi murmured, "that he is wearing a camel shirt?"
"Yes," I said, understanding his meaning: so had Elijah.
"What is he saying?" I said to the group in front of us.
One of the men said, "There's a tax collector up there, asking what he should do. John is telling him not to collect more than required."
Next to us, someone snorted. It was common knowledge that those who owned the collection franchises collected as much as they possibly could, keeping anything above the amount owed Rome for themselves.
"There's a tax collector up there?" Levi said with a frown. "Why would he allow a tax collector to
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