The Unnamed Touched by the Galilean

Struggling humans that Scripture only identifies by what happened to them come alive with names and personalities as their lives unfold. A huge, crazed brute; a beautiful woman of the street; a deaf-mute; a leper; and others are social outcasts drawn together by awesome, transforming experiences they share. Each has been touched by the Galilean. Then some are assaulted, and finally one of their number is killed. This brings the local centurion to champion their cause as suspicion grows that the assaults are part of a conspiracy to destroy their fellowship, The Followers of the Way of the Galilean. We walk the hills with them, step into their courtyards, overhear deeply personal love, and cringe under confrontations of lies. Expansive experiences of nature and humanity’s realities thrust us into Capernaum of Galilee. It is a kaleidoscope of sights and sounds: Aramaic chatter of fishermen, housewives, and shopkeepers in the marketplace; the rattle of soldiers’ armor; and angry confrontations of exposed suspects compete with echoes of donkey hooves and the shrill laughter of children. The enticing aroma of baking barley bread in courtyard ovens mingles with the smell of sweet breezes off Lake Gennesaret. At the center of this substance of first-century Galilee, a mystery unfolds. Is there possibly a conspiracy behind the assaults and assassins, and can faith hold out?