“Tell me, Peter, was the situation with the authorities becoming so intolerable for Jesus that he had to take you far north into a strange, gentile city where the people had little love for the Jews and no one knew who you were?”

I held my breath when he dipped his head. After all, he wasn’t under any obligation to me. He could just as well stand up, say goodbye to us, and leave. But from all I had read, this rugged apostle had never avoided confrontations of any sort after the crucifixion, and I was gambling that he wouldn’t run now. He didn’t. Pointing to the purple stripe on my tunic, he said, “I’ll tell you, Matthias, but I am certain you will not comprehend the consequences behind the story.”

“Try me.”

“Jesus was speaking to a crowd in Magdala, on the shores of Galilee, when the Pharisees and Sadducees interrupted him, as they had done so often, and demanded that he show them a sign, direct from heaven, to attest to his words and deeds. They accused him of many things: that he preached a kingdom to come far different from what they had been taught to expect by our prophets, that he mocked our customs and traditions, that he violated the Law without shame, and that he spoke with authority that was not his. ‘A sign from heaven,’ they demanded, ‘show us a sign so that we will know you are not a false prophet.’ ”

“What did Jesus do?”

“He remained calm and waited until they grew weary of their own voices. Then he answered his tormentors by saying, ‘When it is evening, you say, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, you say, it will be foul today: for the sky is red and threatening. Oh, you hypocrites, you can read the face of the sky, but you cannot read the signs of the times. This wicked and adulterous generation wants a sign, and there shall be no sign given other than the sign of the prophet Jonah.’ ”

“The sign of Jonah?”

“More than six hundred years ago Jonah warned the people of Nineveh to repent their sinful ways swiftly, for soon they would be facing judgment. His words were ignored and the city was eventually destroyed.”

“What happened after Jesus chastised the Pharisees and Sadducees?”

“He left them standing in the crowd and brought us to the waterfront, where we boarded a small boat and sailed north to Bethsaida. On that journey he warned us to be on our guard and never allow the doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees to leaven our beliefs. When we landed at Bethsaida we traveled farther north on land, for a day, until we arrived in the hills near Caesarea Philippi. There, far from the crowds and his tormentors, Jesus was able to teach us for many days in peace and tranquility.”

“And then something happened?”