“Behold, a miracle! A miracle from God!” Saul shouted. He then signaled to the band of boys lingering nearby. Fanning into the crowd, they lifted pouches and collected coins from those who had witnessed the great act.

Peter turned again to the crowd, “Know now all of you that I am the Light and the King of Kings. He who believes in me shall find eternal reward in heaven and on earth!”

Worked into a frenzy, and seeking a miracle of their own, those in need pressed up against Peter. Shouting in anger, Saul and his minions held them back. While the people were distracted, two men threw a cloak over the risen figure and spirited him away.

“Did you not hear our Master’s words?!” Saul cried with indignation. “How dare you crowd so close when he is tired from his great works? Go back to where you came from and tell every soul what you have seen!”

When the crowd would not disperse, Saul and Peter quickly disappeared into the young woman’s dwelling.

While they waited inside for the crowd to dissipate, the young woman brought her guests a tray of meager offerings—crusts of bread and shriveled olives. Ignoring the food, Saul handed her a small leather pouch.

“As agreed,” he said.

The young woman nodded. “I would have preferred the miracle,” she scoffed. Keeping her eyes fixed on Saul, she hurled the pouch to her brothers, for she had more than one, and said, “I hope it is enough to pay for the shame we have brought our brother’s memory.” Saying this, she returned to the fire.

While the guests sipped tea, the young woman’s remaining brothers huddled in a corner of the dwelling. While one removed strips of burial wrapping from his arms, the others overturned the pouch. They gasped in amazement at the gold coins that fell clinking to the floor. The amount, they said, was more than their brother Lazarus had been worth while living!

The next day, the great lumbering walls of Jerusalem came into view as Peter and his followers moved onward. Saul lifted a hand against the sun and gazed across the city. His mouth watered at the riches he knew awaited them.

Rumors of the healer’s deeds had spread like wildfire across dry land. Many were wooed by word of Jesus’s miracles and his promises of salvation. Soon Jerusalem’s hapless pilgrims rushed out of the walls to meet him. The forlorn and weary carpeted his path with coins and palm fronds and even the cloaks off their backs.

Peter gazed down with delight at the show of adoration.

As Saul led the green-eyed Peter toward the city, the crowd boiled in ecstasy, shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Father!” and “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Lord!”