An Empty Grave

Eva and her grandmother began to place down the clay plates around the small, wooden table prepared for two. The sunlight streamed in through the thin scraps of cloth that shielded the window. 

“Eva dear,” her grandmother said to her as she sat down at the table,”Where were you yesterday? You did not tell me that you were going to anyone’s house”

Eva went pale and didn’t look at her grandmother as she said,”Nowhere special, just climbing trees near the river.”

“You are not to go there anymore. You might fall in and drown. You cannot swim.”

“I’m good at climbing trees, I won’t fall in, Savah. There are many children who climb trees near the river.”

“I do not care. You are to only climb the trees that are near this house. Did you not hear about that little boy who fell in yesterday?”

Eva looked at her grandmother, angry tears forming in her eyes,”Didn’t you ever have a place for only you to go? Away from everything?”

“Of course. My bedroom.” Her grandmother said with a wink.

Eva let out a frustrated sigh as her grandmother folded her hands and began to bless the food. 

The food prepared was nothing special; a couple of slices of bread with a small pot of stew, along with some lentils for a bit of a side dish. Two cups sat on each side filled with water from their well.

After saying grace, it had become a dreary, awkward silence.. Then, Eva got up with her plate and put it in the small pot that they used as a sink to clean their dishes.

“I will be in my room.” Eva said, walking through a curtain which led to her room.

Eva flopped on her bed and sighed. She looked outside with an earnest sense of loss in her spirit. Climbing trees was her getaway, a place where she could be herself. A place where she could imagine that she could do anything.

“It’s not fair,” she began to say under her breath,”Why? Why can’t I do what I’ve always wanted to do? Why is Savah so worried about me falling into the water?”

Eva rose from the bed and pulled out a necklace from underneath her blanket. She put it on carefully and took a small piece of polished obsidian from her small bedside table to examine it on herself. It was an Egyptian necklace that had not belonged to her before their move to Nazareth. She knew that it was wrong to keep it, but she just couldn't help loving the way it sparkled against her tanned skin, or how the colour matched her frizzy, unbrushed hair. Eva quickly put away the necklace, as she heard her Savah's footsteps just outside her room. If someone found out that she had it, they would try to take it away. It was her only true keepsake from her original homeland, Egypt. Nothing was gonna make her give it up.

The next morning, after she had eaten a light breakfast, Eva hurried outside, her mind fixed on that light running river that always reminded her of the trees that she so loved to climb and the smell of the moss and the feeling of knowing that, when she got home, her Savah would have prepared a meal . A reminder of the night before flashed through her mind and her pace slowed as she remembered her grandmother’s words. 

You cannot swim.

Eva began to regret being so rude to her grandmother. After all, her only daughter had drowned in that very river. The guilt didn’t pass as she made her way down the grassy hilltop. The wind smelled like fresh rainfall, and the flowers gave a sweet smell to the air that reminded her of honey.

After her father had passed from illness, Eva and her mother spent so much time together that, when she passed, Eva could not sleep and could not eat for days. Finally, after her grandmother arrived from Capernaum, Eva had someone to love again. 

The morning that her mother had drowned, it was a cold day, nearly winter, and the lakes were frozen over. For some reason, her mother decided to take Eva climbing trees. Maybe she didn’t want to wait until spring to climb. Perhaps she wanted to revisit memories of climbing as a child. 

Eva was not very good at climbing at the time, so her mother made sure that she went behind her daughter as they climbed higher to ensure that, if she did fall, she would land safely.

“Do you wanna climb trees today? It’s a bit cold, but it should be fine!”

“Um.. okay!” Eva was a bit scared of climbing, but knew that she might be able to overcome the fear if she really tried.

However, when they were about halfway up, a branch began to crack. Eva looked down and saw that the one beneath her was about to give.

“Mom!” she screamed.

Her mother looked terrified as the branch began to crumble beneath her daughter’s feet. Luckily, her mother was just behind her and grabbed her as she tumbled down onto the river’s frozen surface. Her mother broke through and sank down into the icy water. Eva rolled across the ice safely, but had landed wrong and broken her leg.

Eva’s leg had healed fully thanks to her grandmother who had cared for her, singing her to sleep each night like her mother had. She had also managed to get some herbs to numb the pain of Eva’s broken leg, which worked for the most part.

Eva shook off the daunting memory and began to head toward the group of trees again. It was near Nazareth, just about half a mile down a hill, into a group of trees, and then into a clearing. 

She took a couple of steps toward the oaks but then stopped short. At the river was a boy kneeling down, washing his face. She quickly ducked behind a tree and examined him to see if it would be safe to go near him. He wore his hair slightly long and his clothes looked quite worn. His sandals looked homemade and not nearly as nice as hers.

The boy looked up for a second, then turned to see Eva standing there behind the thin tree. A sweet smile came to his face and yelled to her,”Shalom!”

Eva felt like she could trust Him somehow.”Sha-shalom..” she said shyly. 

“Do you come here often?” the Boy asked,”I was taking my morning stroll and came across this beautiful clearing. “

Eva nodded.”Yes.. It is a..nice clearing.”

The Boy smiled again and got up to shake her hand.”What is your name?” He asked.

Eva saw His hand out and decided to shake it. She shook it gently and finally smiled back. His hands were tough for His age, full of blisters and small cuts.”Eva,” she replied,”What about you?”

“My name is Jesus. It is nice to meet someone else who enjoys climbing trees like I do.”

“Hmm..what an odd name. I’ve never heard of it. What does it mean?” Eva never gave a second thought about how He could know about how she loved climbing trees.

“It means,’God with us.’” He replied.

“Wow, your parents must think very highly of You.” she said.

“I suppose you can say that, haha.” He chuckled.

Eva chuckled. She touched the necklace underneath her dress.”I’m going to climb now. Would you like to climb with me?”

Jesus nodded,”Yes, I would love to.”

The two hurried to a group of trees closer to the river and began to climb up. As Eva climbed, she began to get a strange sensation over her. Her feet tingled as she climbed. She was not scared of heights at all, but for some reason she felt a strange fear creep over her, telling her to get down. 

“Uh..I don’t want to climb right now.” she told Him as she hopped down ,”I think I’m going to go home now.”

Jesus looked at her from a branch higher up. He began to climb down to her ”Alright, I suppose it is a good thing that you went down when you did, that branch looked dead. It could have broken.”

“Really?” Eva said, going pale with the terrible realization that she could have met the same fate as her mother.”I have to go now.”

“Alright. I will see you later.” He said as He jumped down from the last bit of the tree.

They waved goodbye as Eva ran back as fast as her legs could carry her back home.Soon, she was back at the old house where her grandmother would be tending to the garden. When her grandmother saw her nearing the house, she ran up to her. 

“What have you been doing? I told you not to go there yesterday! What is wrong with you?”

Eva began to cry,”I..don’t know. Mama...is gone”

Her grandmother’s glare became soft and she embraced her granddaughter in a hug.

“I am not going near there anymore.” Eva said as best as she could through.”I can’t.”

“Good. You might have gotten hurt.”

Eva didn’t say anything as her and her grandmother made their way inside to sit down. When they got inside, she told her grandmother everything, about how she met the boy named Jesus, about how she climbed and got scared even though she was in no way scared of heights. After her grandmother was done scolding her for disobeying, she explained that it was Yahweh Who had saved her and that the boy had been sent to protect her.

After that incident, Eva only climbed trees that were around her yard. For years she planted trees in hopes that, one day, someone else would have the joy of climbing them just as she did when she was younger, only safer and not near a river. Since her home was just outside the town, the trees did not disturb any neighbors, since they didn’t really have any.

Years passed, but Eva had not forgotten about the Boy. He still dwelt in her memory, and she knew that He would for a long, long time.

She still held onto the necklace. She hadn’t told a soul about how she had stolen it just before leaving Egypt. However, when her grandmother was on her deathbed, she told her everything about the necklace. Her grandmother was not exactly happy, but not exactly sad either.

“You have to give it back one day,” she had said,”you must tell God you are sorry. He will forgive you.”

Eva nodded as her tears spilled onto her grandmother’s cheeks. Before Eva could say another word, the labored breathing was gone and her grandmother closed her eyes.

Two years later, when Eva had a child that was only a few months old, she decided to move to Jerusalem, where her husband’s family lived. The trip was long and dreary, but Eva decided it was worth it when she saw all of her nieces and nephews, as well as her sisters-in-law and brothers.

One day, Eva was walking down the street to buy some veggies for dinner when she saw a huge crowd gathered near the town’s crucifixion site. Many were mourning and weeping, others were making fun of the people hanging on the crosses. Eva tried not to look, but when she was almost out of the crowd, she heard someone say,

“If you claim to be the Messiah, why don’t You get Yourself off the cross?”

It was only then that Eva looked at the crosses. There were three men hanging there, bleeding, flesh hanging off of them. They’re bodies were bruised and stripes covered them from head to toe. Eva could not imagine how much pain they must have been in.

“The Messiah?” Eva asked herself, dropping her basket on the ground, tears causing her vision to blur.

She had heard talk about a miracle worker. Many were healed from lifelong illnesses and ailments, and all had been healed completely. When Eva heard about this, she could hardly believe it, but kept thinking about it. She finally decided that the Man must be the Messiah. If He wasn’t, He would not have the authority of God.

“Excuse me,”Eva asked one of the women standing in front.”But who is that man in the middle?” Eva could not even see His face clearly since it was so bruised and beaten.

The woman looked at her skeptically with beady eyes, then answered,”That is Jesus of Nazareth. To think I thought that He was really the Messiah. He was obviously a fake, that’s for sure.”

Eva felt nauseous. She made her way out of the crowd and landed on her knees where it was clear. Her hands were shaking and she was sobbing uncontrollably. 

“How could this happen?” She said,” He was our Messiah, and I had met Him, but now..He’s..”

All of a sudden, the sky darkened. The sun was blocked out and Eva could hardly see anything. She staggered up and tried to feel her way through to where she had dropped her basket. Everyone was screaming and crying, not knowing what was going on.

Eva could do nothing but wait.

After what felt like forever, the bright sunlight began to show through the clouds and a huge cry of relief came over the crowd. Eva, who had been curled up on the ground, since she couldn’t see anything or get back home, stumbled up, trying to recall what had happened. She had fallen asleep after crying for a long time, but now just felt numb. 

“I wonder what hour of day it is?” she asked herself,”I have to get home quickly, Levi will be worried.”

All of a sudden, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, which seemed to thunder in Eva’s ears. “Father, I commend My Spirit into Your hands.”

Then, His head limped down, and He no longer made an effort to breathe, for He had passed. Eva heard a gasping cry from one of the women near the cross, a man wrapping his arms around her, trying desperately to comfort her.

“My Son! My Son! Don’t go!” she cried, over and over. Eva turned away and quickly ran as fast as she could back to the house. The tears kept going. She kept having to stop to catch her breath, she just couldn’t stop shaking. 

Finally, she made it home, her clothes soaked with sweat and tears, out of breath and nearly collapsing into her husband’s arms. A crying child could be heard inside, hungry and desperately wanting her mother’s arms.

“You have returned! Are you okay? Eva? Do you need some water?"

Eva nodded as she wobbled into the house.

After having a drink of water and being wrapped in a blanket and holding her child, Eva recalled the terrible sight that had encarved itself into her memory. After she had told Him everything that she had seen and heard, her husband tried to comfort her. He put his hand on hers and looked her in the eyes,”I’m sorry, I should have gone instead. Did you say that they had written,’THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS’ there?”

Eva nodded.

“This Man..I have heard of Him. He supposedly healed one of my brothers from upper Galilee..I thought..that he had lied when I got the letter he had sent.”

Eva looked at him with an appalled expression, then took her hand back and got up with her infant,”How could you say that? Do you know what that man has been through? He is not one to make up a crazy story like that!’

He stood up quickly and banged his fist on the table,”I know that!” 

Eva stood still, quivering as the baby began to cry again.”I’m sorry.” she said quietly, then turned to leave.

“Wait!” he grabbed her shoulder but she shrugged him off.

“That Man,” she began,”Was our Messiah.”

Levi stood there as she left the room.

Several days later, as Eva was shopping in the market, for some reason, something tugged on her spirit to go back to Golgotha, where Jesus had been crucified.

So she went.

When Eva saw a place near the hill where a tomb was, and asked someone who was buried there. When they replied Jesus of Nazareth, she ran there, but upon her arrival saw only linen wrappings.

“Maybe..this is the wrong tomb.”

She turned to leave but was greeted by a man puffing and sweating as he neared the tomb. She was surprised as he ran in and picked up the cloth that had been so thoughtfully folded. Then, he turned to her and said,”Have you seen a man named Jesus of Nazareth anywhere? He has a beard and..well. These are His..He’s gone.” Then he quickly turned and walked past her while saying under his breath that the women must have been right. 

He then turned around and told her,”Jesus Christ had risen!”

Eva walked up to the linen cloth and felt a sense of peace come over her. She picked up the cloth and examined it. 

“An empty grave.”

She looked up at the sky and remembered the day. However, instead of grief, joy overflowed in her heart. 

He was alive, and an empty grave was proof of that.