M atthew sat quietly, the quietness and calm of the late hour finding its way down his arm and into the words. His scratching arrested by an interlude of staring into the night. He remembered. Thoughts of Jesus in those days came vivid and strong. He was, as it were, reconstructing the history of the Lord as best he could from memory. Many discussions with John had helped. He had lost touch with John. Peter, too. James. All the others. Gone. What had happened to them? He could not wonder. These were terrible times. And the newcomer, Paul. He wondered about Paul. They had all wondered about Paul, young, brash and arrogant. He sat amused — uncomfortably so — at the thought that this forceful young man could assert himself so profoundly after only one encounter with the Lord — and a mere vision, yet! Then his thought drifted back to John’s verbal account of what happened after the incident at Nazareth. They had come to Capharnaum, the ancient land of Naphtali. What were the words the ancient prophet had said?

“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles — the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Just exactly why Isaiah singled out the northern shores and western hills of Galilee as “living in darkness” and “living in the shadow of death,” Matthew was uncertain. He thought of its ancient history and that the area was after all named for the sixth and tenth sons of Jacob. It is perhaps no more in darkness than the rest of the world, he mused absently. Although if my Lord were the “Great Light, . .” The question was never answered for Matthew. He was well past his three-score years now. All he had left was his writing. Dipping his quill once again, he wrote . . .

From that time on Jesus began to preach about repentance, “Your hearts must be changed,” he said, “for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

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