Man of Miracles

Miracle Man

James stepped of the badly weathered ship after what seemed like an eternity at sea. A man was approaching him at a distance and had a disturbing appearance. Upon closer inspection this man was not just a man anymore. James clearly recognized that this man was overtaken by something which explained why he was bruised, bleeding from self-inflicted injuries, and his wrists and ankles rubbed almost down to the bone from the shackles. James asked the man for his name and he replied with “We are Legion.” As a divine figure, James did not stand for such grief because man has no chance at combatting demons. He said unto the legion, “Leave this man at once, or I will banish you myself.” The legion stalled James and began pestering him with riddles and threatened to destroy the man's being. James quickly grabbed him by his arm and cast out the legion by just looking into his eyes. As he did so, the evil spirits erupted from the man and flew into the ocean where the once calm water became choppy and began to emit a low fog. The weather also changed drastically, and large waves crashed into the docks for a few moments until James looked back and said, "Be still" and the waves and fog quickly began to disappear. James ensured the man was in good health by touching his wounds and watching them as they vanished from his body. He removed the shackles by grabbing them and they withered away into dust. He smiled at the man and asked that he remember what the power of God did for him that day. A nearby group of fishermen saw what happened and were stunned with awe. James asked the men, "Would you follow me so that I may spread the gospel and help it be made known to all people and yourselves?" The men agreed.

James continued his journey and amassed a large following throughout his long adventure. Of that following there were the fisherman who he considered his most trusted allies. The men spread his teachings of the gospel and did everything James asked, regardless of what the outcome might have been. They had faith in whatever he said.

Upon entering a prosperous city in the middle of The Great Desert, holy men of the city were aware of his arrival. The Great Desert was treacherous in its vastness, but also one of the most beautiful sites of the time. Dunes appeared like mountains on the horizon and the desert was filled with countless white grains of sand. They were not fond of the miracles James and his following had been enacting. James then became aware that one of his most trusted associates would come to betray him. He accepted that even though these men were trustworthy, none had the divine will that he possessed. His divinity was gifted from God and he was truly the only one to know God and communicate with him directly. He decided that he would flee the city and go north with the men he trusted the most. They escaped the great city and left the beautiful oasis behind to ensure his safety. At this point in James’ journey, he had become weak and did not want to live a life on the run.

When they arrived north, they settled on a mountaintop which had a natural path all the way to its peak. His settlement was surrounded by the steep exterior of the mountain. Within the exterior of the mountain was a naturally occurring plateau which allowed for the establishment of the settlement. There they would reside and those who needed blessings would come to him. Those who opposed him were never able to capture him because of the strategic location James and his followers had established on a mountain peak. Each time there was an attempt, a divine interference would occur causing blizzards, avalanches, and anything else to keep those that sought to do harm out of the area. James spent the rest of his days writing about his journeys and recorded his teachings to be passed down.

Author’s Note: I decided to go in a different direction than what I had proposed in my notes. I wrote about how Jesus heals a man possessed by spirits and then continues to journey on into Jerusalem. The man was possessed by a legion (about 3,000-6,000 men in the Roman army) but obviously in this case it was a multitude of demons tormenting the man's body. Jesus and his disciples are constantly being harassed by the Pharisees and high priests because they do not believe him to be divine. Ultimately, one of Jesus’ followers betrays him and sells him out to local authorities. He is then captured brutally beaten over time and then crucified on the cross. I decided to take a turn away from that part of the story and just focus on the first part of his journey. I wrote them escaping the betrayer and local authorities because I did not want my story to go in that direction. In the original story, Judas brings soldiers to Jesus directly and he is arrested. He is then beaten and tortured to the brink of death until he is ultimately crucified upon a cross. Instead, I liked the idea of a lighter ending and wrote in the escape because it sounded like a realistic occurrence for the time period. The time period being implied here was when Jesus walked the earth thousands of years ago. James was never killed or crucified in my story unlike how Jesus was in the original story. I stayed in line with the original plot with the man possessed by spirits and keeping the Judas and hostile priests/authorities. Other than that, I kept getting different ideas as I was writing and decided to run with those.

Source: King James Bible; Gospel of Mark