Homecoming

The Sermon on the Mount convicts the listeners in different ways. Matthew realizes he’ll have to try reconciling with his family, Andrew feels ashamed of yelling at Mary Magdalene when he let anxiety get away from him, Simon turns thoughtful at the urging to love one’s enemies, and Zebedee realizes he is prioritizing earthly treasures at the cost of heavenly gain. Even Gaius appears unsettled, while Atticus seems intrigued.

Greatly moved, Judas quits his apprenticeship and asks Jesus if he can join the ministry, wanting to be part of something so revolutionary. Jesus grants his request, solemnly telling him he will be doing hard things. He calls everyone forward to introduce Judas and thank them for their hard work, before sending them home with His blessing.

Joanna, the wife of Herod Antipas’s steward, has been sent from Machaerus by John the Baptizer, having been moved by the Nazarite’s preaching. Equally convicted by Jesus’s sermon, she sends him John’s love and offers to help finance the ministry, even granting Andrew’s request to bring him to see his old rabbi in prison. Though Ramah thinks her presumptuous, the others are grateful when she gives them a shawl made from priceless Shahtoosh to sell.

Big James is surprised and bit jealous to see John bonding with Thomas, and feels left out of the loop when he learns his brother and parents invited him to stay at their house while the group’s in Capernaum. Simon’s hope of time alone with Eden becomes frustrated when she lets Nathanael and Simon Z. stay in their home, having nowhere else to go, and severely curtailing privacy. Eventually the other two men learn how to keep quiet and in their own room when the couple want to be alone.

Mary lets Ramah and Tamar stay with her, though her apartment proves rather small for three adults. An emotional Matthew drops by for guidance, saying he has no place to stay and hinting that he will be speaking with his estranged parents soon. Mary and Ramah assure him that he’s handling things well and doing the right thing, lifting his spirits as he plans to camp outside the city for the night.

Also moved by the sermon, Yussif has been compelled to write notes about it, as well as Jesus’s miracles and other teachings. While going to request more ink from the synagogue administrator, he learns the previous one transferred and is replaced by a man named Jairus, who has learned discretion when it comes to temple politics and controversial matters. He offers the use of his cellar for sensitive documents, hinting it will be a safe hiding place. Yussif accepts the offer, hinting that Jairus is welcome to read his notes about Jesus.

Meanwhile, Judas puts his affairs in order and visits his married older sister Devorah to let her know his plans. She worries about his safety, reminding him that popular preachers and their followers often face arrest or death, and he is the only family she has left after their parents died. He remains steadfast, insisting Jesus may be the Messiah and eventually free them from Rome. He leaves her with the deed to his house as well as their late mother’s potted mint, and she bids him a tearful goodbye.

"There was Something in There Just for You"

At Machaerus, Andrew is appalled at the conditions John the Baptizer faces in the dungeons, but the other man remains in good spirits, excited about Joanna’s report of Jesus’s sermon. He assures a tearful Andrew not to worry about him, as far more important things are happening and Jesus is his Rabbi now, knowing there was something in His sermon Andrew needed to hear.

When he gets home, Andrew apologizes to Mary, saying she doesn’t deserve the anger and blame he showed her when Jesus was detained. Touched, she forgives him, admitting nobody has ever apologized to her for anything before.

Matthew finally reaches his parents’ house, nearly losing courage before Alpheus answers the door and warmly greets him as “Son”.

Two by Two

Several hundred pilgrims who came for the sermon camp right outside Capernaum’s gates in hopes of seeing Jesus again. Atticus and Gaius watch on, the former knowing Quintus will be furious at this development. The latter still appears unsettled by what he heard in the sermon. That night Simon Z. and Nathanael walk through the new shantytown , and Simon Z. worries about the attention this will draw from Rome towards Jesus. They are secretly watched from a distance by a member of his former order.

After an awkward start to the visit with his parents, Matthew cuts right to the chase and acknowledges the selfishness of his actions, hurting not only their people but his family, causing them to be publicly scorned. While expressing a desire to make full restitution, Alpheus assures him he has done enough by leaving his career and joining Jesus, apologizing for disowning Matthew.

When Matthew tearfully asks what changed, they tell him they listened to the sermon also, and express excitement that he is acting as the Messiah’s scribe, with Elisheva telling Matthew he’s different from everyone because God set him aside for a grand purpose. Alpheus returns the key to Matthew’s old mansion, despite his son insisting he will never live in it again, and offers to let him stay with them whenever he’s back in town.

Quintus is just now informed by Gaius and Atticus of the sermon and the pilgrim camp. While he initially plans to have the pilgrims forced out, Atticus suggests he instead redraw the city borders to encompass the camp so he can tax its residents. He takes this suggestion, but is uneasy when Atticus hints that he will be telling Governor Pontius Pilate about the Praetor’s actions.

Thomas announces to Big James, John, and their parents his intentions of asking Ramah’s father for her hand, though there is some difficulty in this as Jewish marriages are arranged between the couple’s families, and Thomas has neither father nor older brother to speak with Kafni on his behalf. Zebedee, meanwhile, has rented an olive press and discovered himself to have a talent for making delicious oil, which can be used for cooking as well as priestly rituals.

Matthew gives his house to the ministry and lets the women stay in it rather than Mary’s tiny apartment. Slight tension arises when they start running low on money for food yet Tamar refuses to sell any of her jewelry for sentimental reasons, and also makes a remark about Mary’s sordid past. They playfully tease Ramah about Thomas's obvious affections, asking if she would like to marry him. Though hemming and hawing with reminders of Jewish engagement customs, she admits to returning his feelings. When she and Mary try to ask Tamar about her own people’s marriage customs, she suddenly gets tight-lipped.

While visiting the well at night, Simon Z. realizes he’s being followed and escapes to a rooftop, where he’s cornered by Atticus. The Roman makes it clear he has no hostile intentions, though reveals he’d been watching him for some time. He admits a longing to understand exactly what Jesus is, and warns him that members from his order have tracked him here with the intent to kill Simon Z. for desertion.

While Simon and Eden are enjoying a rare moment alone, she admits to struggling with loneliness and feeling lost during his long absence, but was able to cope by remembering Jesus acknowledging her role in everything. Believing the group will be staying in Capernaum for a while, they agree it is time to start trying in earnest for children.

Jesus calls a meeting at Simon and Eden’s house, announcing that He’s sending the men out as His twelve apostles to minister two-by-two in order to better spread the ministry, temporarily granting them authority to cast out demons and perform miracles, bidding them to only take the clothes on their backs, relying on God to provide through the hospitality of others. Matthew declines Philip’s nominating him to handle the ministry’s finances again, instead nominating Judas, who accepts.

Jesus assigns pairs and where they should go: Both James’s to Sharon, John and Thomas to Joppa, Andrew and Philip to Naveh, Simon and Judas to Caesarea Philippi, Nathanael and Thaddeus to Perea, and (to everyone’s chagrin) Matthew and Simon Z. to Jericho. Matthew panics at being teamed with a former Zealot, who is only now learning he used to be a tax collector. Jesus reminds Simon Z that none of them are what they once were, he and Matthew most of all. Eden is clearly stricken at being separated from Simon yet again, but won’t let him ask Jesus for a shorter assignment.

As the meeting breaks up, Thomas asks Jesus if he has His blessing to marry Ramah. Jesus reminds him that Joppa is a short distance from Kafni’s home, making it clear He'd assigned him there for that very purpose. Thomas tells Ramah about the mission, and she confesses to knowing his intentions for matrimony, stating she will go ahead of him in hopes of softening her father to the idea.

Little James admits to Jesus that he’s troubled at the thought of healing others while he himself is crippled, asking Jesus why He lets his infirmity remain. Jesus tells him that many will have the testimony of His miraculously healing them, but James is one of the few who have the strength to praise God despite knowing hardship, finding His strength in their weakness. Rather than the burden he sees himself to be, Jesus promises Little James he will do many incredible things in his lifetime, and will find complete healing in eternity.

That evening the Apostles meet in front of Matthew’s old house, and Simon Z. Promises to the other Simon Matthew will be safe with him. Despite their fear, they remind each other Jesus believes them ready. They all recite the third Psalm together, which was created by David while fleeing from his rebellious son Absalom who tried to steal his kingdom.

Physician, Heal Yourself

A flashback shows Jesus and Lazarus playing together as toddlers ,and Joseph happily greeting his family on returning home from work.

In the present, Jesus returns to Nazareth for Rosh Hashanah. When He asks where his brothers James and Jude are, Mother Mary awkwardly replies they decided to spend it in Sepphoris (clearly to avoid Him). He updates her on how the ministry and His disciples are faring, confirming her guess that Thomas and Ramah hope to marry soon. He then tells her He needs the box given to Him containing a donkey’s bit and bridle, to which she acts uneasy but says it’s in His old room.

During the following day’s festivities, Jesus and Mother Mary greet Dinah and Rafi, who have been telling everyone about His wine miracle. They also reunite with Lazarus and his sisters, visiting from Bethany. The siblings have heard about Jesus’s miracles, and that some believe He’s the Messiah, and Lazarus suggests they discuss this in detail later.

The others ask if he’s claiming to be more than a mere Rabbi and request He perform the signs and wonders they’ve heard about, but He states that a prophet is never accepted in his hometown, as it’s often easier to accept incredible or hard things from strangers rather than someone a person knows well, and finds underwhelming.

The Rabbi and congregation start getting angry when He continues saying that they need to be released from spiritual debt despite being the descendants of Abraham, as one can only be saved if they know themselves to be captive. As example he cites the widow of Sidon Elijah helped rather than the thousands of Israelite widows during a famine, and Elisha healing the Syrian general Naaman of leprosy rather than the thousands of lepers in Israel, because both gentiles recognized their need and obeyed.

When asked if He is claiming to be the Messiah, Jesus confirms that He is. Only His mother and the Bethany siblings believe Him, while the others, including Rafi and Dinah, are appalled. Rabbi Benjamin tries to get Jesus to recant His claim, but He will not, and is declared a false prophet, a crime punishable by death. Lazarus keeps trying to diffuse the situation, but Jesus asks him to take care of His mother before He is taken away to the outskirts of town.

The mob brings Him to the top of a cliff with the intention of throwing Him over, but Jesus states that He is not dying “today”, and walks away through the crowd, who only watch in stunned silence.

He visits Joseph’s tomb, knowing He will never see it again, and remembers when Joseph taught Him the passage in Isaiah He read and gave Him the donkey’s bit and bridle that had been passed down through the family since the Exodus, as a symbol of God leading His people to freedom. Lazarus and Mother Mary find Him there, with the latter bringing the bridle. They agree that Jesus can never return to Nazareth and Mary should stay with the Bethany siblings for a while. When Lazarus asks about the bit and bridle, Jesus tells him he’ll know what it’s for soon enough.

Clean, Part 1

The apostles fulfill their mission, shocked and amazed to see themselves perform miraculous healings, deliverance from demons, and knowing what words to say when preaching. They are mostly successful, except for Andrew and Philip who get thrown out of Naveh after angering gentiles and Hellenized Jews alike.

When they return after several weeks, Capernaum’s cistern is broken and sewage mixes with the water supply. Quintus’s way of fixing the matter is inefficient, so Yussif offers to use family connections in Jerusalem to get supplies and having the locals repair it themselves. In the meantime, everyone must journey to a well far out of town, as the lake’s water is unsuitable for most tasks.

Simon surprises Eden at home. Though happy to see him, she’s also strangely reserved, and is hurt when he immediately plans to nap and have the boys over for dinner the following day without consulting her, not offering to help with anything nor aware she clearly wants to talk with him about something. She meets a pilgrim named Veronica who’s working as a laundress and shows Eden to a hidden spring closer to town.

Eden learns the other woman has an incurable illness that’s made her bleed for 12 years, leading to estrangement from her own family due to continuous impurity, yet still holds hope for a cure. Eden hints that she herself has been going through a hard time lately, and shows none of her earlier enthusiasm when the ministry or the sermon is brought up.

In Matthew’s old mansion, tension between Mary Magdalen and Tamar has been growing, with the latter acting somewhat pushy, critical, and still refusing to sell her ancestral jewelry for needed funds. Zebedee drops by to have them taste the latest batch of olive oil, which proves to be expertly strained but bitter. Tamar figures out that the problem is in the olives he used, then gets the idea to use their funds to start an olive oil business that could finance the ministry, though Mary is rather dubious about this.

After reading through Yussif’s notes and old prophecies, Jairus is coming to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and worries with Yussif on how their religious leaders will react to Him. When his daughter Nili suddenly gets seriously ill from the polluted water, he beings to wonder if God is punishing him for these thoughts.

While gathered at Simon and Eden’s house, the Twelve (Except for Thomas,, who 's gone to meet Ramah's Family) describe their journeys and debate exactly what it all meant, some of them disturbed at gaining such power without understanding. While Simon senses Eden is upset about something, she denies anything is wrong, leaving him distracted. Andrew also senses something amiss with the couple, but they both brush off his concerns.

In Jerusalem, Rabbi Shammai proposes to the Sanhedrin a new decree exacting stricter measures against false prophets and anyone invoking a messianic title. Shmuel is pleased to note most members approve, only to learn it still isn’t enough to have Jesus detained yet, to his frustration. When Veronica returns laundry to a customer, he spies blood running down her leg and makes a scene about her impurity, causing her to break down into tears.

Simon finally asks Eden if he did something to upset her, to which she angrily replies it is something he hasn’t done, and gets strangely terse when he brings up the subject of her menstrual cycle. Jesus and a few other disciples suddenly drop by, trying to hide from a group of frantic pilgrims who then mob the house. Fed up, Simon storms off and ends up at the synagogue.

He runs into Gaius, who is surprised to see him walking around without Jesus nearby. Simon asks why the Romans haven’t fixed the cistern yet, and Gaius says Quintus doesn’t want to pay for it. Both men form a surprising rapport over their shared frustration over the matter, and Simon lets slip he is a little frustrated with his Rabbi and having trouble at home. The two agree to start repairs on the cistern themselves when the supplies Yussif ordered come in tomorrow.

That evening at Jairus’s house, his wife Michal checks on Nili, and suddenly screams for her husband.

Clean, Part 2

A flashback reveals Eden had a miscarriage two weeks prior that nearly took her life, with only Dasha and the doctor aware she was ever pregnant.

In the present, the same doctor examines Nili after she’s taken a turn for the worse and sadly informs her parents she doesn’t have long to live. While Jairus struggles to accept this, he begs that the necessary funeral arrangements be halted while she’s still alive and hurries to the synagogue.

Before heading out to work on the cistern, Simon tries Gaius’s advice and apologizes to Eden for “Whatever it is”, but the vagueness of his apology doesn’t placate her. Both her anger and fear of Simon’s pain have kept her from telling him about the baby yet.

Zebedee tells his sons that he’s sold his fishing boat and will now devote his time to the oil business along with the women. When asked if it was because they’ve been gone so much, he assures them that he only fished to provide for the family until they found their calling, and now that they are doing something new, so can he.

While returning from the well out of town, Nathanael and Thaddeus happen upon a trail of blood, and follow it to Veronica at her campsite. They offer to help her, with Nathanael suggesting Jesus can heal her. At first frightened of facing another charlatan healer, she realizes He is the Rabbi she’s been looking for, and having heard about Him from a former paralytic, stating just touching His garment will be enough to heal her.

Judas accompanies Zebedee and the women to buy an olive grove, but the trees prove to be sickly. They find the former caretaker’s son, who says his father has been too ill to care for it lately. Judas negotiates for the young man to teach Zebedee how to care for the trees in return for a small amount of the first profits.

While at work, Simon tells Gaius that his advice didn’t work, to which Gaius says he needs to know what it is he’s apologizing for first. He tells Simon that he and his wife are raising the son of a deceased maidservant along with their own child, and seems rather sensitive on the subject.

At Simon and Eden’s house, Jesus and some of the disciples discuss fasting, as He has never required it of His followers, unlike other rabbis. He tells the parables of the Bridegroom and Wineskins, telling them new ways of life will not fit into old frameworks and they have no need to mourn while He is still with them, hinting that He will be taken away. Sensing Eden’s pain, Jesus tries to make her feel appreciated and included in the conversation, to which she’s only partly receptive.

Jairus tells Yussif about the situation at home and begs to be taken to Jesus. The best Yussif can do is take him to Andrew’s house, where they meet Judas. Though initially wary, he’s moved by Jairus’s pleas to point them towards Simon’s house. Jairus tells Jesus he knows Who he is and that he can heal his dying daughter, and Jesus is moved by his faith despite never having met Him. He agrees to go, and everyone heads out while Eden appears triggered by seeing Him rush to save someone else’s child.

While Simon and Gaius are discussing their respective cultures and religions, they notice a commotion beginning in the street. John and Big James alert Simon that Jesus is about to perform another healing and they join the others as a thick crowd of pilgrims forms and hinders the progress to Jairus’s house. Simon Z. is startled to recognize a member of his former order in the crowd, but the Zealot disappears in the confusion.

Thaddeus and Nathanael come along with Veronica and try to catch their Rabbi’s attention, but are unable to and apologetically tell her to try tomorrow. In desperation at being so close, Veronica works through the crowd despite her impurity and manages to briefly grasp the tzitzit hanging from Jesus’s tunic. He suddenly halts as power goes out from Him and asks to know who touched Him, to which Simon incredulously points out the crowds pressing around Him.

Veronica confesses to the act, apologizing for not asking first but tearfully confirming she’s been healed. Touched, Jesus tells her He’s been blessed by her faith, and that it was what healed her rather than His garment, calling her “Daughter”. Before continuing with Simon and the Sons of Thunder, He asks the women and other apostles to stay with Veronica to make sure nobody troubles her.

Flutes and professional mourners greet Jesus and the other men when they arrive, with another rabbi sadly informing Jairus Nili passed while he was gone. Jesus states that she is only asleep and it is not too late, and asks the rabbi and mourners to leave, despite their protests. While a distraught Michal yells at Jairus for leaving, Jesus approaches Nili’s body and bids her to rise, and both parents watch in shocked joy as she is immediately restored to perfect health. While the family thanks Jesus, He asks them along with Simon, John, and Big James to tell nobody what happened yet to protect the family.

Veronica burns the menstrual rags and joyfully immerses in the Sea of Galilee, finally clean again. Jesus and the apostles greet her as they also immerse themselves after the other rabbi heard they touched Veronica or else Jesus after He touched her. She apologizes for the scene she caused, which Jesus calls a welcome interruption. As the men end up cavorting in the water, Tamar and Mary ask Veronica how she endured those twelve years, which she says is a long story. Eden watches everyone from a distance, struggling to feel happy for everyone despite her own pain.

Intensity in Tent City

Pontius Pilate and Atticus discuss Quintus, lamenting the Praetor's excessive use of force, but admitting its effectiveness in collecting money. Pilate wants to appease both the Romans and the Jews. Simon Z is confronted by the zealots, who chide him for claiming Jesus as the Messaih while the Romans still hold power. However, the zealots are impressed after witnessing Jesus's miracles, and realize Simon Z has not been faithless after all. Two disciples of John the Baptizer ask Jesus if he is the true Messiah, but Jesus simply tells them to report to John what they have seen. Later, Jesus cures Shula's blindness and Barnaby's leg. Leander, a man who witnessed Andrew and Phillip preaching in the Decapolis, comes to Capernaum to report the unrest they caused and to implore them to return and restore peace. Mary Magdalene and Tamar reconcile when Tamar explains that her jewelry is all she has left of her slaughtered family. The women discover how to fertilize Zebedee's olive grove to produce higher quality fruit. Eden reveals her miscarriage to Simon, who is broken hearted at the loss of a pregnancy he didn't even know about.

Ears To Hear

During Purim, Simon is distraught over Eden's miscarriage, and wanders into the Roman Quarter of the city. Gaius brings him to his home where they encounter his servant's sick son, later revealed to be fathered by Gaius. Matthew explains the significance of the Tzitzit that Mary Magdalene found at his house: a dying man's last thing of value given to pay for his children's tax debt – but kept by Matthew as a reminder of his sins against his own people. Matthew learns of the tassels' religious significance and ties them to his robe. Andrew and Phillip explain how the people they preached to misinterpreted the Parable of the Great Banquet, and the group decides to travel to the Decapolis. Jesus asks John to remain behind to bring Simon when he returns. Several groups confront Jesus as they reach their destination, many upset about his teaching. Eventually, Simon confides in John about Eden, and questions why Jesus didn't intervene in his case.

Sustenance

Confronted by fractious groups at Decapolis, Jesus performs a healing and gets the multitude to settle and listen. Jesus teaches the multitude into the night, and the next day feeds them all from a few loaves and fishes. Eden confesses to Salome and Mary about her miscarriage, and Salome takes her to Yussif for rabbinical aid. Yussif comforts her with a Psalm. Having been alerted to Jesus's presence, Shmuel and his comrades arrive from Jerusalem and attempt to gather witnesses against Jesus. Simon acquires a boat for their return to Capernaum, Jesus tells them to go while he takes some private time. Shmuel comes face to face with Jesus, who invites him along to pray. That night, the Twelve are caught by a storm in the sea. With the boat nearly foundering, Jesus approaches through the storm. The Twelve initially take it for a ghost, but Simon reveals it is Jesus. Simon walks out on the water, wavers and sinks, but is pulled up by Jesus. Jesus tells Simon to keep his eyes on Jesus, and comforts him as Simon finally grieves the loss of his unborn while Jesus commands the storm cease.