Flash

The Lamb and the Lion

"So -- Grandma Meira was right!" Ari said to himself. "He has curly black hair just like me."

Jesus was sitting under a tree, like any other man would sit under a tree, not looking particularly holy. He had taken off his outer robe, and was sitting in his loin cloth and a worn Roman tunic, his back braced against the tree trunk, his legs comfortably splayed, his eyes half-closed, enjoying the breeze that brought the cool freshness of the lake along with the stink of cooking fires, sweat, and animal dung from the village of Bethsaida.

Ari shook his head. No, this couldn't be Jesus. Where was the supporting cast? Where were the apostles, the women, the adoring crowd with its sick and lame and demonized?

"Peace be with you," the man who couldn't be Jesus called in Old Testament Hebrew, the achingly familiar words Ari had learned at schul. His voice was like any other voice, and yet there was a musical undertone that embraced Ari and drew him gently closer.

"Do you know who I am?" Ari asked carefully in the Aramaic he had studied for six years in preparation for this moment.

"More importantly -- do you know who you are?" the man countered in the same language.

Ari decided to ignore the question. He was here for facts, not philosophy. "Are you Yeshua ben Yusef of Nazareth?"

The brown eyes twinkled. "That depends on whether I owe you money," he said in perfect American English.

Ari's heart sank. "Well, I guess I have my answer," he said, half angrily, half triumphantly. "I always knew this time travel thing was bogus." He turned away.

"Hey -- where are you running off to?" the man called after him. "Let's talk. That's what you came for, isn't it?"

Ari's feet seemed glued to the ground. After a long, embarrassing moment of trying to lift them, he marched back and stood over the man, his hands on his hips.

"You can't be real! Do you realize you're speaking a language that won't be invented for centuries?"

"So are you." The same twinkle.

"Yes -- but I'm from the future."

"Me too. Or more precisely, from anywhen and everywhen. Don't you read that Bible your grandmother gave you?"

"You're a hologram," Ari insisted. "You have to be."

"What's more unbelievable -- someone who speaks an unknown language, or someone who claims to have travelled from the future?"

"I don't believe I'm having this conversation," Ari groaned. "This is insane."

The man patted the ground. "Take a load off your feet."

Ari shrugged and sat down. "I'm not calling you Lord or any of that stuff," he warned.

"You can call me Josh if that makes you more comfortable."

"Can I touch you?" Ari asked.

"Certainly."

Tentatively, Ari reached out, expecting his hand to go through the image. His fingers brushed the rough cloth of the tunic.

"Wow!" The technician in Ari was impressed. "Just like the real thing."

He checked the skin, the hair. Everything was flawless. "I don't suppose you can tell me how this is done," he said. "Is this a drug trip, or VR -- or did somebody come up with solid hologram technology?"