Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Present - Repents - Serpent (07/17/25)
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TITLE: Any Fish Among the Snakes? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Bonnie Bowden
07/23/25 -
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Jesus tackled the topic of duty and accountability, a subject keenly understood by the Roman soldiers and the Jewish people under their rule. "If anyone forces you to go one mile," he stated, referring to the Roman practice of compelling Jewish civilians to carry a soldier's gear for a mile, "go with them two miles". Titus, who had often imposed this very encumbrance, felt bewildered at Jesus' words. This was not the expected response of a bitter public. This was a command to defy expectations, to go beyond the mandatory requirement. The thought of willingly going a second mile, even for their oppressors, struck him as a theatrical flourish, like a lion tamer expecting a predator to politely offer a paw.
Titus, remembering a recent incident where a local had been punished for a minor violation that seemed harsh, felt a tinge of unease. He’d seen the 'gifts' of Rome – the roads, the laws, the aqueducts – but he'd also seen the consequences of noncompliance, which often felt like a snake's bite. This Jesus, this “ringmaster,” presented a new way of life that turned the world’s wisdom upside down, and in that unsettling reversal, there was an undeniable, even intriguing appeal.
One centurion, Titus, nudged his cohort, Gaius. “He’s quite the orator, isn’t he?” he said, a smirk playing on his lips.” He controls the crowd without a need for intimidation or threats, but with a sense of belonging offered to all. This Jesus, he thought, was like a skilled ringmaster, not with the clash of gladiators in the arena or the thundering chariot races, but with words that flowed like a tranquil river, revealing hidden truths about the human heart and his Heavenly Father. He wasn’t performing for the crowd, yet he held them spellbound. He was offering something intangible, yet immensely desirable: a gift of understanding, challenging the customary wisdom of the day.
“A good Father,” Jesus said, his voice carrying clearly across the multitude, “knows how to give good gifts to his children. "Is there anyone among you who," Jesus said, "if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will you give him a snake?".
Gaius, a burly centurion with a scar etched across his brow, had always felt a distant echo of his own father's disconnection reflected in the world's harsh realities. He'd been raised by a cold, commanding father who managed every aspect of his son's life with almost detached precision. Rarely offering genuine affection or support. He’d given Gaius the "snakes" of expectation and remote distance, while Gaius yearned for the "fish" of love and validation.
Gaius couldn't shake the feeling that this "ringmaster" was offering something far more profound than mere entertainment. He was offering a different kind of liberty – an internal freedom that resonated even within his cynical heart. Titus, too, found himself wrestling with Jesus’ words. The world he knew was built on the first mile, on dominance and power. But Jesus spoke of a second mile, an act of intentional generosity that could appease an enemy and reveal a deeper truth. Perhaps, he mused, the true strength lay not in carrying the soldier’s pack by compulsion, but in offering to carry it again, freely. Perhaps, in a world full of snakes, there was still a chance for fish.
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If you can accept a faint smudge of pink (rather than glaring red) ink, you have introduced Titus to us twice. Apart from that minor misdemeanor - an excellent story.
So well done, excellent entry. God Bless~