“Word soon came that he was going from village to village, preaching the word of John and calling for repentance by all in preparation for the coming Kingdom of Heaven. Most of the villagers, as well as my brothers, gossiped that the time he had spent in the desert sun, after John had baptized him, must have affected his mind. For more than two months not a single message came from him, and our concern for his safety, with Herod’s spies everywhere, grew each day. Then one afternoon he returned to the village, and on the following day, our Sabbath, he accompanied us to the synagogue. I shall never forget that morning.”

That famous day of confrontation when Jesus shocked the congregation, the village, and his family. “Please tell me,” I urged.

“The service of worship went on as usual during the first part. We were led in prayer by the minister, we recited the Shema, and the benedictions were spoken. After the raising of hands and the singing of certain eulogies, the minister approached the ark and withdrew a roll of Law. This was the moment for the words of our prophets to be read to us by one selected from the people. The minister looked around for a brief moment, stepped down among us, and handed the scroll to Jesus. There was some grumbling and even a few shouts from those who looked with great disfavor on Jesus’ being so honored after having abandoned his mother and family. I was sitting next to him, and I remember feeling a sudden premonition of danger. Apparently my mother also felt it, for I caught sight of her, in the women’s section, shaking her head at me as if to give me a sign. I knew not what to do.”

James inhaled deeply before continuing.

“Jesus clutched the scroll to his breast and closed his eyes. Then he walked deliberately to the front of the ark. Carefully he unrolled the scroll and read words from his favorite, Isaiah: ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives … to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God.’ ”

Those special words! Biblical scholars had argued and discussed the possibility of their actual use on that Sabbath morning for centuries. I had to find out. “Let me interrupt you for a moment, James. Were there a great number of scrolls from which your minister could have selected that which was to be read?”

“There are many scrolls; however, the minister has no choice. Our sacred texts are divided into more than one hundred and seventy segments, one to be read on each Sabbath, always in sequence until all are read, after which they are repeated. Three years and more are required to complete a single cycle.”