The Twin
by
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On the surface this book is a dramatic retelling of Gospel stories in chronological order, but beneath the surface it is an inquiry into meaning: principally what Jesus meant in the context of His times. It starts with an argument between new recruit Thomas and two other disciples, Phillip and Nathanael, who were chosen earlier. Thomas tries to explain the distinction between miracle and divine providence while making the point that an out-of-hand belief in reports of miracles is not crucial to a belief in the Christ.
“He said, ‘Follow me,’ and you followed him. Right? No hesitation. Because, though he spoke softly, you picked up an arresting quality in his voice? He sounded like the Christ you always imagined?”
They conceded that what he said was true.
Weeks later Levi Matthew is called by Jesus, and he it is who proves to be Thomas’s ideological bedfellow. Most versed in the Scripture of Jesus’ company, he too picks up on the Master’s sometimes special uses of familiar terms and His gravitation toward society’s rogues rather than its luminaries. He too is pleasantly befuddled by Jesus’ message.
Two other later recruits soon come into the picture: Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Simon, member of an insurgent movement and very likely a participant in political murders, sees the long-promised Kingdom of God on the horizon and is ecstatic to be a part of it. Judas, the sole Judean in Jesus’ ranks, thinking be might be the Kingdom’s exchequer, is equally enthusiastic. As time goes on, however, Simon leans more and more in Thomas and Matthew’s direction. He too yearns to know exactly where Jesus is taking them.
Typical of the conversations between Thomas and Matthew is this one about the meaning of Jesus’ “born again” comment to the Pharisee Nicodemus:
“Could it be more than a metaphor, Levi?” Thomas wants to know.
“How so?”
“I’m not suggesting he meant it literally, just that actual birth might possibly have been part of the equation—that is, if it were somehow germane to what the Pharisee wanted to know. Hear what I’m saying?”
“You lost me when you gave up on a perfectly good metaphor.”
“What are two questions that in one form or another Pharisees always get around to ask of him”
“First they want to know if he thinks he’s the Christ.”
“Exactly! And, if he doesn’t deny it, the next very next question is how a person gets through the gate into his kingdom. Has that not been your observation too?
“Every time I’d say.”
“Yes, they want to know what gets them into the camp. In their own minds they’re the leading candidates. You can almost see the wheels turning in their minds.”
“They already think they’re in.”
“Yes. By token of being of the lineage of Abraham, they think they’re automatically included in whatever kingdom of the righteous that comes along. They’d like Jesus to confirm that status.”
“I think you’re probably right.”
“Assuming that to be the case, Levi, could it be that he was effectively saying, “Whoa, not so fast. Being of the seed of Abraham is no longer the key to the kingdom. Bloodline is no longer going to get you there. The chosen of my kingdom from now on will be defined by something other than birth. You have to be born in some other way”
Thus their dialogues go. Sometimes the two seem to understand the special meaning behind Jesus’ words; at other times they don’t, relegating them for the time being to mysteries. As time goes on they realize that Jesus’ kingdom is neither imminent nor political and that eternal life has more to do with quality than durability. Thomas is often bewildered--and with Jesus’ crucifixion is totally devastated.
On the surface this book is a dramatic retelling of Gospel stories in chronological order, but beneath the surface it is an inquiry into meaning: principally what Jesus meant in the context of His times. It starts with an argument between new recruit Thomas and two other disciples, Phillip and Nathanael, who were chosen earlier. Thomas tries to explain the distinction between miracle and divine providence while making the point that an out-of-hand belief in reports of miracles is not crucial to a belief in the Christ.
“He said, ‘Follow me,’ and you followed him. Right? No hesitation. Because, though he spoke softly, you picked up an arresting quality in his voice? He sounded like the Christ you always imagined?”
They conceded that what he said was true.
Weeks later Levi Matthew is called by Jesus, and he it is who proves to be Thomas’s ideological bedfellow. Most versed in the Scripture of Jesus’ company, he too picks up on the Master’s sometimes special uses of familiar terms and His gravitation toward society’s rogues rather than its luminaries. He too is pleasantly befuddled by Jesus’ message.
Two other later recruits soon come into the picture: Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Simon, member of an insurgent movement and very likely a participant in political murders, sees the long-promised Kingdom of God on the horizon and is ecstatic to be a part of it. Judas, the sole Judean in Jesus’ ranks, thinking be might be the Kingdom’s exchequer, is equally enthusiastic. As time goes on, however, Simon leans more and more in Thomas and Matthew’s direction. He too yearns to know exactly where Jesus is taking them.
Typical of the conversations between Thomas and Matthew is this one about the meaning of Jesus’ “born again” comment to the Pharisee Nicodemus:
“Could it be more than a metaphor, Levi?” Thomas wants to know.
“How so?”
“I’m not suggesting he meant it literally, just that actual birth might possibly have been part of the equation—that is, if it were somehow germane to what the Pharisee wanted to know. Hear what I’m saying?”
“You lost me when you gave up on a perfectly good metaphor.”
“What are two questions that in one form or another Pharisees always get around to ask of him”
“First they want to know if he thinks he’s the Christ.”
“Exactly! And, if he doesn’t deny it, the next very next question is how a person gets through the gate into his kingdom. Has that not been your observation too?
“Every time I’d say.”
“Yes, they want to know what gets them into the camp. In their own minds they’re the leading candidates. You can almost see the wheels turning in their minds.”
“They already think they’re in.”
“Yes. By token of being of the lineage of Abraham, they think they’re automatically included in whatever kingdom of the righteous that comes along. They’d like Jesus to confirm that status.”
“I think you’re probably right.”
“Assuming that to be the case, Levi, could it be that he was effectively saying, “Whoa, not so fast. Being of the seed of Abraham is no longer the key to the kingdom. Bloodline is no longer going to get you there. The chosen of my kingdom from now on will be defined by something other than birth. You have to be born in some other way”
Thus their dialogues go. Sometimes the two seem to understand the special meaning behind Jesus’ words; at other times they don’t, relegating them for the time being to mysteries. As time goes on they realize that Jesus’ kingdom is neither imminent nor political and that eternal life has more to do with quality than durability. Thomas is often bewildered--and with Jesus’ crucifixion is totally devastated.
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About the Book
Thomas is not so much the doubter he is traditionally labeled as being as he is a thinker. He needs to make sense of things. He’s the kid in the classroom that always has his hand raised and lies awake at night trying to resolve things that don’t quite fit preconceived patterns. He’s the man that always has his eye cocked and frowns more than he laughs.
When Jesus asks Thomas who He reminds him of, he answers, “No one. You’re like nobody I ever met.”
But he continues to keep stride with his eleven fellow disciples as they wander behind Jesus all over the region once reigned over by David and Solomon, some of them often fantasizing about the upcoming kingdom of David’s latter-day successor. And, with his close friend Matthew, Thomas keeps on asking the questions others might wish to ask but are reluctant to blurt out.
The man simply wants to get to the heart of the matter, though huge and painful surprises await him when he finally does.
About the Author
Donald Richardson, with degrees in both theology and classical rhetoric, has published roughly two hundred short stories and articles in Christian periodicals and has had four books in print.
Great Zeus and All His Children
Eyewitnesses
Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis Adapted for the Modern Stage (verse translation with Scott Richardson)
Stories of the Greeks and Romans