THE GOSPEL OF TRAVIS - Chapter Nine

ANOTHER HEALING MINISTRY
In the days and weeks that followed and as the word of Jesus’s trials with the Pharisees spread, the fame of his ministry grew and many more came before the Lord to have their ailments remedied. For truly, care for the health of the people in Judaea was scarce in those days and what money there was available often went to the aggrandizement of the powerful, as well as the palaces of their mistresses.

This setup was great for the commemorative plaster sculpture business, as Travis could well attest, but maybe less so for the health and wellbeing of the general population.

The need for assistance was great among the poor, as it always seems to be, so Jesus and his Apostles travelled widely and gave help whenever they could.

And wherever the Apostles travelled, like a shadow Travis conveniently travelled too.

A LEPER
As Jesus and his disciples descended from the mountains, Travis found a fig tree upon which grew several plump figs. Seeing no property owner nearby who might be upset at the pilfering of the tree, he helped himself to a few of the fruits, the ones which to his eye looked most juicy. As the Apostles reached the bottom of the mountain, he prepared to eat of the figs to help restore his strength and spirits.

However, just as he was about to pop a delicious morsel into his mouth, a leper suddenly stumbled out from beneath the nearby brush. Travis startled and squealed, crushing the figs between his fingers in dismay.

“Watch out, my Lord!” shouted Travis. “A leper is coming after you! Dodge that you might not catch his foul disease!”

And yet Jesus was not shaken and instead put his hands upon the poor man. And the leper praised him, saying, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

Travis scoffed at the sick man’s presumptuousness from behind Thomas, whom he was using as a human shield.

“Please don’t scoff in my ear,” said Thomas, “for your phlegm makes a most unpleasing sound. And stop wiping your hands all over me. You have soiled my garments with your fig juice.”

Then Jesus reached out a hand and touched the leper, saying, “Be made clean.” And in that instant, the leper was cleansed of all disease.

Travis witnessed the power and the kindness of the Lord and felt a strange feeling in that moment: shame. For he had been fearful when the Lord had been fearless.

A MOTHER-IN-LAW
Later, they came to the house of Simon, who was still also going by Peter while he tried out this other name for a little while longer. Inside, Peter’s mother-in-law laid in bed stricken with a fever.

“Surely,” said Travis, “we must stay away, for a fever for one could soon mean fever for us all. And besides, who likes their mother-in-law? I can hardly tolerate my real mother, although that’s mostly her fault and she would admit the same to you if you asked her.”

But while Travis voiced his concerns, Jesus entered the dwelling and touched the feverous woman’s hand.

In that instant the fever left the woman, who immediately rose from the bed and began waiting on the Lord.

“It’s a shame you never got along with her,” said Thomas to Travis. “We always had a soft spot for your mother. It is a hard thing, raising a child on your own. Especially such a child.”

But Travis paid him no mind, for he had witnessed again the power and kindness of the Lord, and was struck dumb by the fact that Jesus’s love could extend all the way to in-laws.

A PARALYTIC
Finally, after healing many more of the maimed and infirmed, and after driving a couple of demons into a herd of pigs that immediately ran into the sea to drown (a long story), Jesus and his Apostles boarded a boat to sail for Capernaum. But before Travis could join them, Simon the Zealot stopped him at the dock.

“There is room only for the twelve and for Jesus, as well as the boat captain.”

“What do you mean?” countered Travis. “I see just room enough right there towards the aft. Besides, cannot Jesus walk? It is only water and I have heard it told that he has no problem crossing on foot.”

At that the others groaned their disapproval, for Travis had always wanted to see Jesus walk upon the water and constantly looked for ways to trick the Lord into performing the miracle for him. Disappointed once again and faced with no alternative, Travis decided it best to charter his own boat.

When they had all arrived in Capernaum, with Travis bringing up the rear, the people there heard of the Lord’s arrival and came down to the docks to meet him. With them they brought forth a paralytic man lying on a stretcher.

“Surely,” said Travis, “this man is too far gone. Look how nasty he is! His illness has taken over the whole of his body. Even the rabbi must know this is not worth his time.”

Thomas shook his head. “How many times must the Lord prove himself to us? Can you not trust your own eyes?”

“I’ll bet you a denarius he does not heal him,” replied Travis with a sly grin.

“Please, you know I’m not the betting type,” remarked Thomas before quieting his cousin and pointing towards the Lord.

For indeed, Jesus then looked upon the paralysed man said to him, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”

Travis knew he had guessed right, for the Lord had only forgiven his sins and not cured him. He elbowed Thomas in the ribs. “There, you see? You can owe me. I shall start a ledger.”

Nearby, a single Pharisee who was on his break and thus away from the rest of his brethren witnessed Jesus’s act. He shouted, “This man blasphemes,” then looked around in surprise, for he was so used to speaking in unison with his fellow Pharisees that it felt strange, if liberating, to speak on his own.

Jesus turned to the scribe and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and Walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” he turned to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

And lo, the paralytic did precisely that, even picking up his stretcher despite the fact that he no longer needed it. Mostly, he didn’t want to litter.

“A lucky break for you that I do not bet,” noted Thomas. “Though perhaps it might do your soul well to donate one of your many denarii to charity.”

But his kinsman was silent, for once again Travis had witnessed the power of the Lord. And he was most impressed.

THE PRIVILEGES OF DISCIPLESHIP
Later, when the townsfolk had gone into their homes and once the Pharisee had skulked off to rejoin his herd, Jesus turned to his Apostles and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see,” at which point his gaze once more caught Travis sitting behind the Apostles.

“Yes, I know. That’s still Travis,” said Thomas, resigned. “He’s... he just follows us around now I guess.”

Jesus continued, “I say to you, many prophets and kings desire to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

And in that moment, Travis felt pride. He had sold many a sculpture of many a famous and powerful man. But of all the great and powerful and renown men whom Travis had turned into merchandise, none had experienced what he was experiencing.

CURING A DEMONIAC
Not long after came the sabbath, and since they had resolved to stay in Capernaum to rest for a few days, Jesus decided to enter the synagogue there to teach. The townsfolk were excited to hear the wisdom of the man who had so recently healed their brother. However, as the Lamb of God began his instruction, a bearded wild man at the back of the room began to heckle the Lord with all manner of horrendously inappropriate words.

Travis, who had decided to sneak out of the synagogue to purchase something to eat from a nearby vendor, paused at the door. He was surprised but also amused to hear the man making such lewd and inappropriate comments. Even though this lunatic had insulted the man he called rabbi, Travis nonetheless had a soft spot for fart humor or jokes of a scatological nature, and had a particular affinity for references to buttocks and unflattering remarks about one’s mother.

But suddenly, as Jesus sternly rebuked the man, the unclean spirit inside of the heckler cried out “Oh what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you, Holy One of God!”

Jesus raised a hand and called out, “Quiet! Come out of him!” At this command, the heckler collapsed to the floor and, with a loud cry, the unclean spirit left the man’s body.

Travis was astounded. But, as his growling stomach reminded him, he remained hungry. And with the entertainments evidently over, he turned away from the synagogue in the hopes of finding a reasonably priced dried fish vendor that he had spotted earlier on the walk up from the docks, for he knew he could probably get a good deal by complaining that the fish smelled a bit old and thereby not worth the full price.

But as he turned the corner heading down towards the seaside, he saw standing in the middle of the path a demon - none other than that which had possessed the heckler.

As soon as his eye beheld the creature Travis froze mid step, as though if he could only remain absolutely still then the demon might not see him.

“Travis of Tiberias,” called out the most vile fiend. “I see you standing there. Surely you don’t think keeping still will hide you from me?”

“I did not know if it was perhaps the same rules as bears.”

“I am no bear. I am Beelzebul, the prince of demons and lord of the flies. I call to you. Come with me.”

Travis peered over his shoulder to see if there might be anyone to help him standing nearby. Finding nobody close, Travis demurred, “Oh. Uh. Now? I’d love to come with you. Honestly. But. I need to eat, you know. I’m not much of a conversationalist on an empty stomach. Another time perhaps?”

“Come, mortal, and I shall feed you,” replied the demon.

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