THE GOSPEL OF TRAVIS - Chapter Thirteen

THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
A few days later, Travis’s lawyer came to visit him at the side of the Lord, for Travis had been sued for nonpayment of funds for the prototype of Jesus’s sculpture. A misunderstanding had taken place, for Travis believed in his heart that his sculptor was working on speculation, whereas the sculptor had a signed work order from Travis promising to pay him a hefty sum for his labor.

In time, Travis had agreed to pay the sculptor not more than half of what was promised, as was Travis’s way, for in his estimation the work was shoddy. However, for all of his shrewd business calculations and his manipulations, he had not accounted for how violently angry the sculptor might become.

“I’d avoid Tiberias for a little while if I were you,” mentioned the lawyer, “For Enoch was threatening to use his mallet and chisels to carve your face into that of a mole-rat. He was very well drunk when he said this, but still I would not push him. The drunker he becomes, the more violent he seems to be.”

Before settling down to business, the two had occasion to listen to the Lord Jesus preaching among the shepherds. The lawyer scoffed, for he was not too impressed by the lessons taught by the Lord, and so decided to test him.

“Rabbi,” he began, “Of all the laws that we are to follow, what is the greatest law?”

Travis said, “I know this one, but you’re not going to like it. It ends with having to give up all of your possessions.”

Jesus quieted Travis with a gesture, then answered the lawyer, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.

“The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

“The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Relieved not to hear anything about profit sharing for once, Travis turned to the lawyer and said, “See? The rabbi is very wise. Now let us go sit apart to discuss the lawsuit.”

But the lawyer, who couldn’t help himself but to argue law, said to Jesus, “And who exactly is meant to be my neighbor? What counts as a neighbor? If it is my kin, then that is one matter. But where does this familiarity end?”

“Obviously,” replied Travis, “not everybody can be a neighbor. He’s talking about people who own property near you, I’m sure.”

“Can you be sure?” asked the lawyer. “What do you mean by neighbor? Let us go to the source. I prefer to hear it from you, teacher.”

THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN
Jesus replied with a story. “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.”

“Ah! A parable. These are fun, like a guessing game. You’ll like this,” noted Travis to the lawyer. “Though the road to Jericho is notorious for danger. Serves him right for taking that route. Lots of robbers and lowlifes that way.”

“Let him tell the story,” said the lesser of the Jameses. “Hush.”

Jesus continued, “The robbers stripped and beat the man and went away leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the road, but when he saw him, he passed by. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion. He poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them, then took him to an inn and cared for him.

“Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim.”

But though the question had been asked of the lawyer, Travis piped up, “Well not the Samaritan, obviously.”

The Apostles gave him the most incredulous looks.

“Come on. The Samaritan? Be serious. The dirty, treacherous Samaritan? No. Absolutely not. They are heathens all. They’re not even supposed to be in Judaea anyway. What was he doing on this road? The Samaritan was probably robbing and beating someone else! Had someone checked the pockets of the Samaritan? Merely looking at a Samaritan is suspicion enough to frisk him. The answer cannot be the Samaritan. It just can’t be. It can’t.”

Jesus repeated the question to the lawyer. “Which of these three was neighbor to the victim?”

The lawyer answered, “the one who treated him with mercy.”

Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

THE PASSION PREDICTED
All the rest of that day, as Jesus and his Apostles and also Travis travelled, Travis continued to mutter to himself. “When does it end?”

His protestations began to wear on the others, for they were not used to anyone challenging the Lord. Thomas even considered taking his cousin aside yet again, but so far his interventions had yet to bear any helpful fruit whatsoever. And besides, Travis seemed so out of sorts that Thomas had not the heart to submit him to another possible confrontation.

As they came to rest at a watering hole, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Behold, one day soon we are going to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests, and they will condemn him to death.” He spoke at length on how they would suffer greatly, how he himself would be killed and on the third day would be raised.

To this, Travis rolled his eyes. “Oh please, God forbid!” he said. “No such thing shall ever happen to you.”

At that, Jesus turned to him and snapped, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

THE FRUIT OF THE TREES
Jesus then turned to the rest of the Apostles and said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them.

“Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.”

As Jesus spoke, his eyes turned to Travis. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fires. So by their fruits you will know them.”

For a moment, they were all quiet as Jesus took a sip of water from a ladle. Then he continued, “A good person brings forth good out of a store of goodness. An evil person brings forth evil out of a store of evil. I tell you, on the day of judgement people will render an account for every careless word they speak.

“By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

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