The Assignment

It was Sunday. The sun had set and the 11 men were gathered around a table, speaking in agitated tones. For days the town had been in an uproar and they were afraid. Only a few days before, their leader had been arrested and killed. Another of their number had committed suicide. They were an unusual lot – hard-muscled fishermen mostly. But one was suspected of having belonged to a terrorist group seeking to throw off foreign rule. Yet another had openly collaborated with the occupying powers. Since their leader – a carpenter – had been slain, they had become cautious, locking doors carefully, going out in twos, depending on women friends and relatives for news. Earlier this day those women had come to them with a strange tale that increased their apprehension. Suddenly, no one knew how – the man who had personally chosen each of them, the man whose execution had stripped them of their courage, appeared in their midst. He greeted them as he always had, ‘Shalom’ – Peace. And He said to them: ‘As the Father sent Me, I also send you.....’