THE STORY OF
LAILA
“Laila!”
“Coming, Zaydee,” replied Laila. (Zaydee is the Jewish word for Grandmother.)
“I need you to go back to the market and see if you can still find some good radishes. I know that your Abba loves radishes and I forgot to get them.
“And while you are there, see if Mr. Raul has more pomegranates. He was out this morning but said his son would pick more later today. I hope he’s not sold out again.”
“Is there anything else, Zaydee? Everything smells so good in here. You are cooking a feast for Abba and Mr. Jesus! How many people will be coming for Sabbath dinner?”
“I don’t know, Laila, but run to the market quickly and we’ll talk later.”
“Yes, Zaydee, but I will need coins to purchase things.”
“Forgetful, forgetful. I can’t seem to remember my own head! Here’s the coins. Now hurry.”
“Laila, can we go with you?” called her two little brothers.
“Not this time, I’ve got to hurry or the market will be closed. I’ll try to take you next time.” Her little brothers loved going to the market with her, but didn’t get to go often now that they were in Hebrew school. “Be good while I’m gone and don’t bother Zaydee.”
“We won’t,” they replied together.
Laila wondered whether they were saying they wouldn’t be good, or that they wouldn’t bother Zaydee — but she had to hurry, so she let it go.
Laila was thrilled to be out of the house and pretending to be the woman in charge. She was 11 years old and would probably be married and have her own home in a couple of years, but she liked to dream that that day had already come. With the shopping basket over her arm, she hurried to the market and quickly found the radishes, but Mr. Raul had already packed up and gone home. There would be no pomegranates today. She decided to purchase some dates and hoped that Zaydee would not be too disappointed.
Zaydee was pleased with the radishes, and thanked Laila for buying the dates. At least they would have some fruit to share with the guests. Laila was putting away the shopping basket when Zaydee called again, “Laila!”
“Yes, Zaydee. What do you need?”
“Laila, I just put the butter out for the bread. I forgot to churn more this morning. There’s not enough butter! Would you have time to churn more before sundown?”
“I think so, but we would need fresh cream. The morning milk is spoiled by now.”
“Run over to Mr. Jacobson’s and see if he has any. They milk their goats twice a day so he should have some that’s fresh. I’m so sorry I’m so forgetful.”
“Zaydee, it’s no problem. Just let me get my jar, and I still have enough coins.” Laila grabbed the milk jar and quickly ran out the kitchen door and across the pasture to Mr. Jacobson’s house.
It was perfect timing because he was just finishing milking his goats and had fresh cream to pour into her jar. She thanked him, paid him the coins, and walked carefully back home so she wouldn’t spill a drop.
When she got home, Zaydee was busy slicing the radishes and all seemed to be under control.
Laila quickly poured the cream from the goat’s milk into the butter churn. Churning was hard work. She had to push the paddle up and down, and up and down, and up and down, until the milk thickened like whipped cream. She was out of breath and her hair kept falling into her face as she pumped. But finally, she felt the cream begin to thicken.
She decided to take a quick break and stepped outside to cool off her face. Then she had to finish the butter. She would need to continue to churn it until it became firm — which would take another 10 minutes of churning. But it was not close to sunset yet, so she knew she still had time before the Sabbath. When the butter was firm, she took it out and put it into the butter molds so that it would look pretty for their guests.
Then she could breathe.
She had just sat down when she heard, “Laila, come help me get the cucumbers sliced and I think we will be all done.”
“Coming, Zaydee. Have you already sliced the onions?”
“Yes, I did them earlier — that’s what made me remember the radishes. What would I do without you, Laila?”
“What would we do without you, Zaydee? You have helped so much since you moved in with us.” Laila quickly sliced the cucumbers and set them on the table. Now, they would just wait until Abba and Mr. Jesus and the others arrived. Then the house would once more be filled with laughter and fun.
Laila sat down again and remembered that morning a few months ago, when her Abba had told her that things were going to change. She had been so scared.
Her two little brothers were at Hebrew school and her older brother, Laban, was at work. Abba asked her and Zaydee to join him and Mother in the living room. He said that he had been listening to Jesus, and Jesus had called him to be one of his disciples, to follow him and learn from him. And Abba had said yes.
He told them about the miracle catch of fish, and how he was convinced that Jesus really was the Messiah sent from God. Now, he wouldn’t be living a fisherman’s life and leaving each night at sunset and returning each morning to spend his day with them. He would be gone for weeks at a time and would only see them when Jesus was teaching in Capernaum.
He promised that when Hebrew school was on break, the whole family could come and travel with him if they wanted to. They had a lot of questions, but Laila could tell that Abba was very happy. This would be a great opportunity for Abba because Mr. Jesus was apparently a very important man.
Then last night, Abba had stopped by the house to warn Mother that he had invited Jesus and all the disciples to eat the Sabbath meal with them the following night. He didn’t know how long they would be in Capernaum, but he hoped he could spend a few days with them.
Mother was grateful for the warning because it allowed her, and Zaydee, and Laila, time to get enough food prepared for the group of disciples. Abba had already ordered fish from Uncle Zebedee, and he promised to be home early enough to cook it before the Sabbath started. Laila glanced out the door and realized he had better hurry! Since no one ever knew whether there would be 20 or 120 disciples traveling with Mr. Jesus, it was hard to know how many to prepare for.
Mother had baked bread all day today and was lying down resting while Zaydee and Laila finished the preparations. Laila went over in her head all the things that they had ready to serve. Mother had prepared the bread, and she and Zaydee had prepared the fish sauce, and the plates of vegetables, and the dates, and finally the butter.
“Laila!”
“Coming Zaydee. What did we forget?”
“I was just thinking that I had some grape jelly put aside. It would be nice to serve with the bread and butter. But I can’t find it.”
“Scoot back and let me look, Zaydee,” said Laila. “I don’t see it. Didn’t we move that out to the storeroom? I’ll run out there and check.” She grabbed a lamp and went outside to the storeroom. Sure enough, there were several jars of grape jelly. She grabbed one, since that’s all she could carry with the lamp in her hand. She called for her brothers to come to help, but they didn’t respond. Maybe one jar would be enough. But where are the boys? They should be in the courtyard.
Just as she entered the house, Abba burst into the kitchen with his gigantic smile and hug for her. He kissed Zaydee gently on the cheek and then headed to the bedroom to find Mother. Thankfully, the boys had only moved to the front yard to wait for Abba. Laila took them with her to the storeroom to get more jelly. It looked like there would be a huge crowd tonight.
Soon the house was filled with people. The men were busy frying fish in the back courtyard, and everyone was helping to move the food outside. What fun it was to have Abba home. His boisterous laughter could be heard over everything else.
“Laila.” Laila thought she heard a faint call from the house. She left the group and found Zaydee sitting alone in the kitchen. “Laila, I’m so tired. Could you help me get to my blanket? I feel too tired to walk. I’m afraid I’ll fall.”
“Of course, Zaydee. You’ve overdone. You’ve been on your feet all day and I should have helped you more. Here, take my arm.”
Laila was worried because Zaydee usually had more energy than both Laila and her mother put together. And Zaydee loved being with Mr. Jesus. It seemed strange that she was choosing to rest instead.
“Did you eat something, Zaydee?”
“No, I just want to sleep.”
So, Laila helped her to bed and offered to bring her a plate of food. When Zaydee refused, Laila promised to check on her to make sure she didn’t need anything after she had rested a while. But when Laila went back to check on Zaydee, she was sleeping soundly. So, she left her and went back to the party that was in full swing in the courtyard.
Some of the followers of Mr. Jesus spent the night in the courtyard, while others went to Mr. Jesus’ house and slept there. Some had relatives that they stayed with, and others still owned homes in Capernaum.
On Saturday morning, Abba and Mother were surprised to not find Zaydee in the kitchen setting out breakfast for the family. When Mother went to check, she found Zaydee still asleep, but something didn’t look right.
Mother saw that Zaydee’s face was flushed and she had thrown off her covers. She had a high fever and was mumbling about something that her husband had done. Since her husband had died many years earlier, Mother was rightly concerned.
“Laila!” called Mother. “Run to the well and bring me a jar of water and some cloths. Zaydee has a fever and we must get it down. All I know to do is to put cool wet cloths on her. And tell Abba I won’t be able to go to synagogue with him. He’ll have to leave the boys here since I’ll need you to bring me water, and the boys can’t go to synagogue unsupervised.”
Abba and Mother whispered at the door and agreed that he would go on to synagogue for worship but would check on them afterward.
So instead of going to synagogue to hear Mr. Jesus teach, Laila found herself carrying jars of water to her mother who was taking care of Zaydee. And Laila was in charge of two very energetic little brothers.
She kept them busy cleaning up the courtyard even though it was the Sabbath. She told them it wasn’t work — it was a game to see who could get their side the cleanest. It worked.
Each time she checked on Mother and took her fresh water, Zaydee looked worse. Laila was old enough to know that high fevers often led to death and she could tell that Mother was afraid. She gave her a hug and then returned to keep an eye on the boys.
About mid-afternoon Abba and Mr. Jesus returned from synagogue. Abba took over entertaining the boys, and Laila went with Mr. Jesus to Zaydee’s room. Mother was crying and Zaydee looked awful. Mr. Jesus simply touched her hand and commanded the fever to leave. That was it. Zaydee opened her eyes, the natural color returned to her face, and the fever was gone.
Before Mother and Laila could speak, Zaydee was out of bed and asking Mr. Jesus if he was hungry. They all headed to the kitchen and Zaydee was pulling out the leftovers for anyone who needed a snack before dinner. It was as if the fever had never happened.
Here’s what the Bible says happened:
When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.1
Laila and Mother hugged, and Laila asked her mother if it was okay if she slipped away for just a few minutes. She wanted to walk along the beach and think. Her mother assured her it was okay but reminded her not to be gone too long or she would miss out on time with Abba and Mr. Jesus.
Laila walked down to the beach, and since it was the Sabbath, it was mostly deserted. No fishermen were at work, and other than a few others who wanted to be alone, she could walk in peace. Who is this man that Abba follows? Abba said he was the Messiah. How did he just command the fever to leave? Who can do that? If he were really the Messiah, wouldn’t he be somber and serious all the time like the priests and Pharisees? Mr. Jesus is more like Abba — always laughing and joking and teasing. He is a fun man to be around and so very, very kind. I have never met anyone like him.
She realized that the sun was getting lower in the sky, and they would need to eat dinner before the sun set because usually Mr. Jesus was ready to travel once the Sabbath had ended. She knew she would be needed to help serve the food, even though they would do no cooking on the Sabbath.
When she arrived home, she found that several of the other disciples were already helping Mother and Zaydee set out the leftovers. Zaydee was peppering Mr. Jesus with all kinds of questions about God and Heaven and he seemed to be delighted to answer her questions.
How does he know the answers? Laila wondered.
At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 2
They were bringing sick people to Mr. Jesus, and right there in Laila’s own backyard Mr. Jesus began to heal them. One by one, he touched men and women who had leprosy — a disease that destroyed the skin and nerves and was very contagious. Laila realized that she had never seen anyone touch a leper. That was unheard of. But Mr. Jesus did. And he made the blind to see, and the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak, and he made crippled legs strong, and crippled arms straight. And he ordered the demons to leave people alone and they became sane and whole. It took Laila’s breath away.
“What are you thinking, my precious daughter?” Abba asked as he put his arm around Laila.
She turned her eyes to meet his and he saw the tears in her eyes. “I believe he must be God himself. No one can do what he does.”
Peter squeezed his daughter and his heart felt that it would burst. First his wife had believed, then her mother, and now his daughter. How he prayed that his three sons would soon decide to follow Jesus.
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