“Jesus had returned directly to Nazareth after his time in the wilderness?”

“No. He found himself one day, after being alone so long, walking along the banks of the Jordan again until he came upon John. Ashamed because of his appearance, he remained on the outskirts of the crowd and listened, but even from that great distance John saw him, pointed in his direction, and shouted, ‘Behold, there is the lamb of God! Look, this is he who takes away the sin of the world!’ Upon hearing those words, Jesus said he turned and ran until he fell from exhaustion, and the next thing he could remember was arriving at the door of our mother’s house, in Nazareth.”

I stood. Looking down on him, I tried to choose my words very carefully. “James, do you know whether your brother attached any special significance to John’s acclaiming him as the lamb of God, recalling Isaiah’s prophecy and how he felt regarding the lamb that was sacrificed and skewered on a cross of wood at his first Passover?”

He answered immediately, as if the same idea had often entered his mind. “I do not know. In retrospect, it is easier to see and understand things which, when they take place, provide no inkling of their hidden meanings.”

“When his health returned, did Jesus once again resume his trade?”

“Only for a short while—until news came that John had been arrested by Herod and was a prisoner in the castle at Machaerus. Soon afterward my mother came to my house in tears and begged that I return with her to reason with Jesus, who had not eaten or lifted a hammer or saw since he had been told of John’s capture. I found him sitting on his cot, his head bowed. I called his name several times but received no response. Then I seized him by both shoulders and shook him gently, and when he looked up at me I could see he was weeping. He leaned forward and embraced me around my waist, and I could feel his body trembling against mine. Then he rose, kissed me on both cheeks, and said, ‘James, tend to our mother and sisters. I must go. I must continue that which John has begun.’ ”

“He used the word ‘must’ again?”

“He did. Then he kissed my mother and sisters and departed from us before we could convince him to stay. He took nothing with him—only the clothes on his back.”

“Do you know where he went?”