Man of God (9 page)

The meeting began, and parents watched with
pride as their children recited the verses they had chosen. Alysia,
too, was proud of them as they stood still, their arms at their
sides, and spoke clearly, as she had taught them.

“
Fear not, for I am with you; be not
dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help
you; I will uphold you with the right hand of my
righteousness.”

“
But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement
of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed.”

“
Create in me a clean heart, o God, and
renew a right spirit within me…a broken and contrite heart, O God,
you will not despise.”

The boy who had appeared sullen about being
required to recite took his place, said very quickly, “
In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth
”, and sat down
with an air of having made a great accomplishment. His parents
looked somewhat abashed.

Alysia deliberated swiftly, and feeling
confident the child could answer, said, “Thank you, Quintinius.
Because the rest of that passage is so long, perhaps you could
simply tell us the things God created.”

Quintinius wrinkled his face resentfully but
managed to state the order of creation.

“And what did God say about those things he
created?”

The boy shrugged. “
It was very
good
.”

Alysia smiled, Quintinius looked pleased with
himself, and his parents relaxed. The twins stepped forward and
recited their verses together…an entire psalm of David.

Rachel had waited until last.

“
When my father and my mother forsake me,
then the Lord will take me up. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead
me in a plain path, because of my enemies. Deliver me not over unto
the will of my enemies; for false witnesses are risen up against
me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted, unless I had
believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he will strengthen your
heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Alysia’s breath stopped, and she glanced at
Paulus, who raised his eyebrows slightly. But Rachel seemed
unperturbed and sat down again, smiling at her mother. Paulus stood
and began speaking, but Alysia’s mind raced. Why had Rachel chosen
those particular verses?…She and Paulus had agreed not to tell her
about the emperor’s renewed search for them, though they had
reminded her to be careful when she went out, and not to answer
questions from strangers. Had she heard something…was she
afraid?

Her attention was drawn suddenly to the woman
who had accompanied Camillus and Lucia. She had straightened and
turned as stiff as a statue, her veiled head lifted and her gaze
completely fixed on Paulus. Alysia grew uneasy—who was she? Why
didn’t she uncover her face? She’d thought at first it was modesty,
or perhaps because the woman was not yet a believer and didn’t want
to be identified as such. Only her eyes were visible, and they were
in shadow.

Paulus, too, seemed uneasy, not like himself,
and his glance flicked several times toward the woman. He made an
effort to concentrate on his audience.

“What your children have done tonight is very
important. We would all benefit from memorizing the Scriptures, not
only to learn about God, not only to see for ourselves how the
prophecies about Jesus have been fulfilled—but as protection. We
are engaged in spiritual warfare, against enemies we sometimes
can’t even see, and the word of God is a powerful weapon.”

“Where should we begin?” asked an older man.
“I don’t remember things very well, but I can at least read
it.”

“Quintinius had a good idea,” Paulus
answered, with a nod at the surprised-looking boy. “At the
beginning. Genesis, the first book of Moses. Almost every event is
a symbol or prophecy of Jesus Christ.”

“How can we know these things?” Horatius
asked. “How can we recognize them when we read them?”

“By asking God to open your mind and your
heart, and to reveal them to you. Your real teacher is the Spirit
of God…not me or anyone else. Always compare what anyone tells you
to the Scriptures.”

“Are you saying,” the veiled woman said,
“that
you
could be a false teacher?”

Her voice was low, and slightly breathless,
yet there was something familiar about it. Alysia’s uneasiness
grew, and Paulus had a strange look on his face.

“I’m saying there are many false teachers,
and we must always be on guard against them. God’s word is what we
depend upon for the truth.”

Others were trying not to stare at the woman.
Something dark seemed to have come into the room, something
inimical.

“Could you tell us,” the woman asked, “what
God says about divorce?”

Paulus had always been adept at hiding his
feelings, but knowing him as she did, Alysia saw that he realized
something that was a shock to him, and it greatly alarmed her.
Who was this woman?

Her husband answered slowly; it seemed that
he was somehow able to see into the shadowed eyes. “Jesus had some
things to say about divorce, and marriage. I’ve already shared them
here, and I doubt that you’re really interested.”

“But is there any just cause,” the woman
persisted, “for divorce?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Paulus said,
“Rachel, the children would probably rather play games than listen
to this…would you take them to your room?”

People glanced furtively at each other as
Rachel obediently led the children to her large bedroom. Camillus
and Lucia seemed stricken, looking with dismay at their guest. A
terrible suspicion had come into Alysia’s mind…but how was it
possible? She sat as if frozen, staring at the woman, trying to
judge her shape and size through the light cloak and head covering.
Her eyes fell for a moment on Simon, and his face, too, showed both
puzzlement and a kind of fascination.

The silence, after the children left the
room, was deafening. Alysia tore her gaze away from the stranger.
Paulus looked sick; she wondered why he didn’t ask everyone to
leave. But that would accomplish nothing. The woman had come here
for a purpose, and she would fulfill it.

Paulus exchanged a long look with Alysia, and
it seemed to hold great regret, and sorrow, and not a little anger.
Then he said, “The only just cause Jesus mentioned for divorce
was—unfaithfulness.”

“But I wasn’t unfaithful to you,
Antonius
. You could not divorce me, and yet here you are,
living with this other woman.”

The stranger pushed back her veil.

* * *

Alysia’s mind reeled; a wave of nausea rushed
over her. Someone near put their hand on hers.

Megara was alive!

But she was dead, by her own hand, years
ago…this was some cruel and unforgivable joke! True, Megara’s
“suicide” had happened here in Rome while both Alysia and Paulus
were in Palestine, but Paulus had a letter from Megara’s father
telling him of it; Paulus had made inquiries, there had been a
funeral. She had been presumed dead for years!

The gathering of believers looked with horror
from Megara to Alysia to Paulus. Alysia could only think that
everything was ruined; these friends of theirs would see them as
liars, adulterers—why should anything they said be true? Megara had
gotten her revenge in a way even she could never have imagined!

At last Paulus seemed to find his voice.
“There was no need to divorce you, Megara, because we believed you
were dead.”

Megara looked around at their listeners. “I
am his wife. We were married in our youth. This woman was a slave
in his mother’s house. How old is that child of yours? She had to
have been born
before
my so-called death!”

Alysia closed her eyes for a moment. There
was nothing to do now but confess everything. That was what Paulus’
look had meant…he had realized, in that instant, who this woman was
and what she was going to do.

Paulus looked at Megara, without the rancor
he once would have held, but he was still struggling to control his
anger. “Have you anything else to say, before I answer your
accusations?”

The woman gave a little shrug. “No.”

His eyes turned to his audience…people who
had trusted him, had believed him. Megara had irrevocably damaged
something precious, with malice and full awareness of what she was
doing. Utter rage pounded through Alysia’s veins, something she
hadn’t felt in years, and she put her hand over her mouth before it
could fly open and say things that would only add to the direness
of the present situation.

Paulus looked down for a moment, as if
praying for words, for composure, and then he raised his head. His
voice was even and clear. “First I would have you know that Alysia
and I have not lied to you about anything. There are certain things
we have not told, for what we believed were good reasons. When we
first began speaking to each of you, we let you know that there was
nothing special about us, that we were sinners just like everyone
else. And we have made mistakes.”

Alysia dared to glance around, and saw that
everyone’s attention was riveted on Paulus. Every expression was
almost the same…pained, and seeking reassurance.

“Megara and I did not have a happy marriage,
and after a while didn’t live together as man and wife. In those
days, before my salvation, before meeting Alysia, I was unfaithful
a number of times. It’s true that I purchased Alysia as a slave and
placed her in my mother’s house. I fell in love with her, and she
with me. I arranged for her to leave Rome. She went to Palestine,
and a year later my—occupation—sent me there as well. She believed
we could never be together and married another man. In the next two
or three years, we rarely saw each other.”

Again he wasn’t telling everything…but how
could he? Alysia sensed it was bothering him. She almost wished he
would
tell it all, so there were no more secrets, nothing
held from these souls they had led to believe in the Nazarene.

Paulus went on, finding his way slowly over
dangerous ground. “Alysia’s husband died. And then I received a
letter from Megara’s father telling me that she had committed
suicide. I had letters from various other people and all of them
obviously believed her dead—no one had any inkling she was still
alive. I would be very interested in hearing why she faked her own
death, and how she got away with it.” He glanced curiously at his
former wife, who merely looked scornful.

“Alysia was, by this time, already a follower
of Jesus. A year or so later I became one also, and we were
married—in the city of Capernaum, by the Sea of Galilee.”

Simon got to his feet and went to stand
beside Paulus. “All of this is true,” he said, putting his hand on
Paulus’ shoulder. “I was there. I know beyond any doubt that they
both believed Megara was dead before they married.”

His words were met with an acute but somehow
welcoming silence, and then Megara spoke again. “What, then, of the
child?” She looked at the faces around her. “I was in Palestine
with my husband, and he sent me away. But I know for a fact that
that child was conceived before I left!”

“I have already said we made mistakes!”
Paulus answered sharply, on the verge of losing his temper. “It was
a sin we both repented of. Our daughter is dear to us, and I would
hope that none of you will repeat any of this before your own
children, so that she must hear of it from anyone but us.”

After a pause, Camillus said, “There is no
need for you to tell Rachel any of this. I know that I will never
speak of it, and I don’t think anyone else will, either. We’ve all
done something as bad or worse! I, for one, will not sit in
judgment of you, nor have I lost confidence in either of you. You,”
he added, glaring at Megara, “are a very evil woman.”

“So you would judge
me
,” she replied
calmly, “but not them.”

“You came here with evil intentions,” Paulus
said, “but God loves you, and his son died for you as surely as he
did for everyone else, Megara.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and
I don’t want to know! What I
would
like you to tell me, and
everyone else, is whose husband you are!”

CHAPTER VII

Paulus’ answer came swift and straight as a
missile from an archer’s bow, and Megara flinched as if struck. “I
will tell you very plainly, and everyone else, that Alysia is my
wife. You may not realize it, Megara, but when I sent you away,
that
was
a divorce. That is all that is required by Roman
law. Although I didn’t consider it a divorce at that time, and left
it up to you. I didn’t know then if Alysia and I would ever be able
to marry. And obviously it was no longer necessary when I heard you
were dead. If you wish, I will write out a declaration dissolving
the marriage. But as I said, it isn’t necessary. Alysia is my legal
wife.”

“I for one have heard enough.” Aquila stepped
forward to stand beside Simon and Paulus. “This is an unfortunate
situation, but I believe our friends have not meant to deceive us.
What they have done in the past is their own private matter, and as
he said, we are all sinful and in need of salvation. We will make
mistakes, even after we become believers!”

There was a murmur of agreement throughout
the room. Aquila’s wife went unhesitatingly to Alysia and embraced
her, her eyes full of tears. She was followed by Lucia, and all the
women—except Megara.

“Thank you Camillus, and Simon, and Aquila,”
Paulus said soberly. “Indeed, I thank God for all of you. But there
is something else I must say.”

Everyone stopped moving, and looked at him
again. “There are things that haven’t been told…the whole story is
more complicated than what you have heard. We haven’t told it—to
protect the innocent. All I can say is that Alysia and I have had
good and sufficient reasons for doing those things that others
might condemn us for. We are truly seeking to do God’s will.”