Jesus is an Indentured Servant
“Job!”…“Job!”…someone was calling for Job. Why Job, what did it mean? Did it mean anything? Why did he hear the name Job everywhere he went? {3}
At the marketplace in Nazareth, a woman called out “Job”, while a man shouted, “Yes, I am calling you.” The woman was closer and her words partially over spoke the others. Jesus heard, “Job, I am calling you.” Jesus was ready for anything; he scanned the area looking for anything unusual. Then he thought of Mary.
Jogging home, he tried not to recall of the story of Job and his family, and he wished that the name were more common, it might explain why he kept hearing it. But few people were named Job, and he had encountered this entire population in the last week.
Mary did not ask why Jesus was worried, or out of breath, or preoccupied most of the times he stepped through the door. That evening the reasons began to be revealed.
The rabbi was at the door step to tell of the death of Hazorus, uncle and partner of Jesus. He had died of fever in Tyre, five days ago. The funeral was over of course, but Jesus would have to make a trip to recover his share of the business, and to pay his respects.
The court summons probably crossed paths with Jesus — it going to Nazareth, and he going to Tyre. When Jesus arrived at the home of Hazorus, his agent explained to Jesus that the business assets were being claimed by the creditors, that the personal assets of Hazorus and Jesus were both attached to the business and were likewise being claimed.
It was impossible to find a lawyer who would take the case without being paid in advance; they all thought that Jesus was at risk of a decision that would take all this assets, leaving the lawyer without payment. Jesus had to sell his horse to pay for a lawyer.
The decision regarding claims and assets was to be made in a Phoenician court, since it had been agreed to by Hazorus that Phoenician business law would be the basis for the contracts. The court required a new assessment of the assets, which were reported at half their reasonable value. Hazorus knew the system, and his Phoenician agents would have prevented this fraud, but all Jesus could get out of them now was delay and double talk. Jesus’ lawyer was also doubly paid, he accepted a bribe to under represent his client.
Jesus wished he had never made the partnership. He could not help but go over it all again in his head, trying to see what had gone wrong, or what wrong he might be guilty of to bring on such a disaster. Hazorus was an honest and pious Jew, a shrewd businessman, and competent in every discipline. He could buy the cloak from a man’s back and sell it back to him the same day, and had actually done this.
Hazorus had been a trader, he would purchase only what he could subdivide several times for resale — wheat, timber, cloth, papyrus. Several ships unloading a single commodity in Tyre or Caesarea might flood the market, this is when Hazorus would purchase.
Two years ago, Hazorus had acquired 223 large trees north of Tyre, included were many beautiful cedars of Lebanon. Because he was willing to purchase the trees alone without the land, he obtained a great value. Jesus was to form, lead, and work in the carpentry shop that harvested and used the lumber from these trees. He was to work for a reduced wage up front, but would share one fifth of the profits from the shop for the length of his work.
Hazorus was impressed with the plan Jesus had devised, the wood shop was to be on site where the trees were harvested. Jesus had advised that this provision be in the contract of purchase. It made work easier, and eliminated the expense of leasing a work shop. As each tree was harvested, it would be cut into a length determined by a number of factors: best use of the tree, demand for any given type of wood piece, tools, workers, and transportation available. The premium lengths, long and straight were sold for ships masts or extra long roofing joists. The elbows where branch joined to trunk were also valuable in ship construction. The smaller pieces would be sold by piece or auction to caravan owners who would take them to the cities, which had long ago depleted their surrounding forests. Mary and Zerah would remain in Nazareth, and Jesus would make his home in the shop.
Everything had gone right, the work was stimulating, hard and invigorating; he hired and directed assistants and daily labor from the marketplace. He went to the docks to take orders for ship repair parts, and quickly became a competent, efficient, and respected maritime engineer. The methods of sealing hull planks, inserting iron as reinforcements and joiners, and coating these to prevent rust were also acquired and in some instances improved upon by Jesus.
Jesus considered his busy work day an expansion of his prayer life; every task was executed in the image of God — justly, fully, competently — never with cynicism or negligence. Jesus had always worked in this manner, this was not a new method but it was new beauty, new holiness and one he created with his hands, mind, and spirit. Jesus had given a full third part of his profit to orphans and widows, much of it through the Essene house in Tyre, but now all these memories were as bitter as they were sweet.
Before the calamity, Jesus could see where it was all going. It confirmed his belief that he was called to be Messiah in Israel. Success would provide the means and influence for the peaceful assumption of rule from the Romans. Faith and virtue would restore Israel to moral and material glory and the Messiah king would lead the people into all of this. The foreigners would not be hunted or expelled, but would join the kingdom as sons and daughters of Israel. The God of Israel allowed Rome to rule in Israel because he meant to make them Jews!
His call to become Messiah was not his imagination, he had heard it from Joseph, from Mary, from Mary’s sister. Others had said as much...in pieces, and it was up to him to assemble the pieces.
The court’s decision was rendered in favor of the creditors, all assets of the business and its owners were to be forfeited to the creditors. Jesus lost everything in the Phoenician disaster — home, business, future prospects, social standing…joy, confidence, direction. It was all he could do to go to synagogue and make some dry prayer.
The days following the disaster were dismal, their home was seized by agent tax collectors with a hired Roman guard, and Mary went to stay with her sister Elizabeth in Bethany. Even after all of this a substantial amount of debt remained. The only thing he had to sell was his self...there were buyers.{4} It was a calculated risk, but if he did not do it, it might be done for him with an even worse outcome. Galley slaves were put there by the courts.
To be a slave in a galley was one of the very few situations that was worse than a debt sentence in prison. The debtor was not expected to pay off his burden of course — his family was. To motivate relatives to pay, the life of a debtor prisoner was made even worse than the other prisoners.
Depending on the prison and its overseer, a debtor prisoner might be given a year to live before death by serial beatings and starvation. It was simple math, the civil overseer was paying for food from his budget, and it was pointless to do so if no one would redeem the prisoner. The cell could be better used for a paying prisoner.
If an unredeemed debtor prisoner was strong enough he might be sold as a galley slave or a mineral miner. One was chained to an oar, living in undrinkable bilge salt water, mold, and rats; the other was chained to a mountain, which he hacked into rubble. Jews did not imprison those in debt, but Jesus was bound to Phoenician Law. Debt sentences were part of business law, and the Romans were usually content to let localities administer such law.
He had to act quickly, not to save his house — that was gone. He had twenty-eight days to pay or face debtor’s prison, a mineral mine, or a galley. Jesus actually had a preference in the matter. Tekoa the Idumean took on indentured servants. Tekoa was a relative of Herod, and Jesus could apply in Capernaum; any official or tax collector could act as agent, interview Jesus and report the results for decision.
The interview went well Jesus thought; he was summoned to Caesarea for final appraisal and hire. There Jesus accepted the offer of Tekoa to pay off his debt owed, in exchange for five years labor. He was put to work tending camels in Caesarea and working the local trade routes.
Jesus disliked the job at once. It was a matter of the corruption, anger, violence, irreverence, and lax morals of nearly everyone he worked with. He had seen it all, but always at a distance or from the insular position of a business agent for Hazorus. Now he was one of the slave workers himself. That evening he was banded as property.
Jesus had his choice of banding, or rather the circumstances of its application. If he was willing to pay he could purchase opium or wine to make it a bit less painful, but where does a slave get money? Some of the senior indentured servants had devised schemes, which earned them some money, and everyone had heard the stories of this or that slave becoming rich himself, purchasing freedom, citizenship or virtually anything else. But at this moment Jesus was penniless, and he had no desire to consume pain killing agents, some of which killed their patient.
A copper finger ring was selected and test fitted to ensure it was just undersized. The ring was then heated to expand and held by pliers over a bucket of water. The theory was that the greased finger of the slave would be quickly pushed through the ring and then directly into the water; the water would cool and shrink the band around the finger, while minimizing contact with the red hot copper. It worked, and Jesus was a banded man; the copper ring bore the mark of his owner. Under penalty of death, a property band could only be removed by the owner or his designee. Permanent slaves were not banded, but branded.
Jesus worked the caravan station along the coast road, a mile south of Caesarea. The station workers slept in the open just outside the corral gates, in cold weather or cold rain a blanket was given. The tenders were responsible for guarding the camels against theft, and any restitution for lost camels was made by whipping, or a lien placed against their release date, in the case of indentured servants.
Jesus watched as the first camel was contracepted. He did not want to see a second, but did ask later what it was all about — pushing stones into female camels. No one could give a detailed reason other than it prevented pregnancy, which would sap the strength of the expectant mother along the route.{5} Caravan camels were not allowed to breed; they were on the trail except for recuperation periods, which lasted no more than a month. The herders told Jesus that the prostitutes in Caesarea used this same method.
The camel herders had it a bit better than the station workers, they slept in the open also, but their clothing and food was better and most of them seemed to have at least a bit of money, even the slaves. It was a matter of the caravan master delivering the contracted load; anything extra was his to keep, and some of it did trickle down. Skimming, bribery and dealing on the side was standard practice for any worker with authority in any measure. Among the camel tenders at Caesarea station, the overseer Thalis skimmed the worker’s provisions, not the load.
The work started at dawn or before. Camels and donkeys were fed and watered, animal waste collected for sale as fertilizer, packing equipment was repaired and oiled. Under performing animals had to be evaluated for treatment and recovery, or sale and slaughter. Incoming caravans might be unloaded or the loads transferred in whole or part to new beasts. More often, the loading and unloading occurred at the docks of Caesarea harbor, a mile north. Provisions for the outgoing caravans were loaded, the caravans carried grain to feed the pack animals as good grazing along the trails was rare. Sheep or goats were taken in tow as meat on the hoof to feed the caravan herders. The caravan master might have his own pack animal to carry a tent or personally owned items for trade. As a new man, Jesus worked feeding the animals and cleaning the corrals. If these tasks were completed, he was assigned any other task at the will or whim of the overseer.
Caravans were even formed to support the caravans. Jesus made trips to the nearby docks to purchase grain for caravan feed. Grain was more economically transported by ship than by camel and this was the method that wheat from the Nile delta took, but inland transit was by camel. Pulling grain carts would have been more efficient, but the wooden wheels and axles of a cart just could not endure extended travel on the trails or even the paved roads, and carts were used mostly within a village. The grain trade was all a matter of a signed contract. If a camel caravan could deliver it cheaper than local farmers, then the caravan got the contract.
Much of the trade along the routes had Alexandria as a destination or an origin. Egypt was a net exporter of grain, linen, and papyrus. Israel was a major trade partner with Egypt and supplied much of its wine, figs, oil, olives, wool and raisins. Caravans originating in the East carried specialty cloth, silks, spices, glass, semi-precious stones and refined minerals. Wood was more economically carried by merchant ship, and many Egyptian ships delivering wheat to ports on the Italian peninsula made the return voyage loaded with cut hardwood lumber.
The question of who owned a caravan was often a difficult one to answer. It was complex because each component might be owned by a different party. The pack animals themselves had different brands on their hides and some were leased. The cargo was often not owned by the owner of the pack animals, and a large caravan might be formed of several smaller ones. Virtually all caravans traveling the coast road purchased upkeep services at the Caesarea caravan station.
Caesarea station was considered a customs post, and as such it was operated by the governor of Judaea or his agent. The governor Pilate leased out the operating rights and sub leases might even be sold by the new operator. The customs tax included feed and corral services. This guaranteed business for the station, it was pointless to provide one’s own feed, as the caravan master paid for station services whether they were used or not.
Cargo, animals, and workers would be bought and sold as needed per contract. The business seemed fairly stable, with some future cargo always being contracted and hired for, but Jesus also saw workers being traded away just like the cargo and the animals. With so much movement it was easy to skim wages, cargo, feed; or to declare an animal sick and sell him cheap for a kickback later. The stolen profit usually ended up purchasing prostitutes, opium, khat, wine or was lost in gambling.
With such pleasures as one’s diversion, little effort was given to decent living or the life of the spirit. Respect up or down the ladder was nonexistent, fear was the motivator. Cursing, cheating, kicking, shoving, stealing were the means of life. Few had a goal other than a night’s wine or sleep to escape their misery for a few hours. Once a month, the overseer gave each worker a flask of wine, and the evening off from corral duty. In a Jewish community indentured servants were given one day in seven to rest, but Caesarea station was not in the Jewish section. Jesus fought temptation to bitterness and despair; he could not understand what he had done wrong to be abandoned by God.
Thalis was hard on everyone in his charge, Jesus especially seemed to be on the receiving end of his abuse. Jesus’ work merited little complaint, and his attitude even less, but Thalis found fault whenever he was of a mind to find it. Thalis seemed to want to break the spirit of Jesus, or perhaps somehow raise his own status by domineering such a worthy person as Jesus. Whatever the reason, Thalis would often use his camel stick to supply punishment as required by the many infractions he found.
Eighteen months in, Jesus was gaining a bit of seniority and value. He knew the docks, the vessels, the cargo, the deck hands, the prices of commodities; he spoke and wrote Greek and understood the mathematics of commerce and credit. He was able to advise on favorable contracts for grain caravans originating from the docks. This earned him better treatment but unknown to him also delayed his release.
At the end of these eighteen months he was given a letter. It was from Zechariah, father of his cousin John. Mary was living with Elizabeth, and they were trying to raise money to purchase his release. The letter also asked if he had received the previous two letters or any of the food parcels. The letter was given to him by the overseer Thalis...but what was the point in inquiring into the missing food parcels. Jesus kept silent.
Jesus started herding local caravans. Wheat was usually the cargo and it was a much improved situation. The caravans operated using freemen, foreign slaves, and indentured servants. Half spoke Aramaic, most of the others spoke Greek, but few other than Jesus spoke both. Additionally Jesus knew the cultures and roads of Galilee and Judaea; he was scrupulously honest and hardworking, all of which increased his value on the market. Any relatives trying to redeem him would have to pay more than his initial sale price.
The next three years had Jesus herding camels and asses on the roads to Damascus some sixty miles north of Galilee, and along the coast road and inland. Jesus noticed his disposition was changing. He was stripped of everything, but did not claim any lingering rights to these. Neither did he claim any future rights from God. He wanted to rebuild his life as one founded upon the spirit of God, not the trinkets of success, wealth or status. There was plenty of time to mediate on such thoughts as he walked the cargo camels inland week after week.
His work with Hazorus, and the unfolding business plan had been stimulating — setting up lumbering operations for the big cedars, and the comradeship among the carpenters had been fulfilling. He made mental scenarios by extending all these events to different conclusions. What would his situation be now, if the business had not failed and if the judge in the debtor court had not been bribed? What ultimate difference did business success or failure mean? For that matter, what was the meaning of good health or poor, a life fulfilled by family and friends, or one of abuse as a slave. There was a difference of course, but the difference was confined to this brief life only.
All he had was his soul, all else was gone. But that was all he needed, and it was all that mattered in the final tally. He committed himself to perfection, starting now and with no consideration to the accidents of life. Such a commitment had its motivation as much in the moment as in eternity. Jesus needed a goal, he could not drift. No one could.
The other slaves who had nothing found their purpose in self destruction by wine, prostitution, theft, and plotting the death of their abusers. Some had attained their goals; they had years of drinking behind them, scores of prostitutes, some had even obtained their revenge in blood. But none had peace, and none had happiness beyond one evening every other week. What of the caravan masters and owners? A few were men of faith; most spent their days trying to obtain more gold, which they would leave at the end of this brief life. Come what may, the meaning of Jesus would be his soul, and not just by the Law of Moses, but by heroic faith and virtue in the face of those who had none and tried to extinguish it in others.
Jesus continued as philosopher of the trails. He was increasingly happy to have no concerns other than his soul. This never lasted long, he owned tasks that had to be completed; there were camels to drive, masters to please, and cargo to account for. At either end of a journey there was ample trial to perfect his virtue, and on the road he gave it structure of thought.
Was it possible to be a slave to virtue...not vice but virtue? Yes, he himself had been. He knew he had been, because he was crushed when they had been taken from him. Jesus concluded that there were masters of virtue and slaves of virtue. The slave of virtue required it compulsively for his happiness, just as the morning drinkers in the pubs. How many times had he seen people crushed when the good parts of their life suffered.
Jesus no longer saw his trials as curses but as blessings. His actions became increasingly perfect in the Father. He cringed when he felt himself straying from the Father — small things, but not really. A glance to satisfy self interest was a step away from the Father. A moment of delay in answering some caravan duty was a moment of wallowing in self, instead of life in the will of Father.
The master of virtue was never without virtue — he made it, and in every circumstance. He carried it with him in his soul, he perfected it and shared it by his actions. This virtue, generated from the trials of life was real...no less real than the vices that put humanity in its current predicament.
This was not news, he had heard this at synagogue, and the Greeks had extrapolated this idea into a Stoic philosophy of virtue. It was so popular that every Greek and Roman carved away a piece of it for his own purposes.
But now...the Father had taken everything he owned....No, the Father had taken everything that owned him. The Father wanted to free him, by making him a caravan slave...the Father desired union with him, and was clearing away the obstacles to union. The Father wished this union so that He might regain the rule of Israel...now through his Messiah king...Jesus. This day was pivotal, the plan had been revealed.
From Jerusalem he hauled hides from the sacrifices of the temple. The hides, olive oil, and wine were loaded on the grain ships for the return trip to Alexandria. His camels made fifteen miles or more each day, fully loaded.
His inbound cargo was Egyptian wheat, which had a somewhat limited market in Judaea, it was considered unclean by interpretation of the Law of Moses and could not be used in the temple. Temple wheat had to come from a Jewish farm, on Jewish land, carried by a Jewish caravan. Imported wheat was eaten by the non-Jewish population and by Jews willing to be looked down upon by the priests and Pharisees for eating unclean food.
Jesus began to see friends and family at his destinations, he saw his mother. He was usually in charge of smaller caravans having only a few herders, and all agreed to push hard to have a bit more time on the other end. News was always welcome except the worse sort, but death within an extended family was routine. The resurrection was now regular teaching in the faith, and it gave meaning to the patient suffering required in this life. His cousin John had become a novice in the Essene house east of Jerusalem near the Asphaltitus Sea. That was years ago, two years after his mitzvah, and only occasional news was heard of him.
Whatever else, Rome had made the roads of empire free of bandits to a degree rarely had. Trade had increased due to this, and the Roman emphasis on road building. Outside the empire to the east however, highway robbers still made their living in dealing death. Jesus would have firsthand knowledge of this.
Several large cargoes had been contracted for, and the less profitable local route to Jerusalem was stripped of herders. Jesus was assigned to one of these large, long distance caravans. The caravan was seven days east of Damascus and in scrub land. Jesus was leading a column of ten camels toward the rear. It was near sunset and the caravan master shouted instructions for a slight course change, they were to intercept three riders coming toward them from the east.
The master would greet the riders and ask about conditions ahead on the trail. It was remotely possible that the riders were traders seeking to sell to the caravan, but not this far out. The better outcome was that the riders needed supplies from the caravan, in which case the caravan master would sell at a premium and replace it upon arrival with cheaper purchases.
The course adjustment was made; it was more of a burden for the caravan, but they were the seekers of information from the smaller group. The riders were moving slowly and one of the group stopped and dismounted his camel to examine it. As the caravan came within ear shot, the rider remounted his camel and drew a sword waving it as he shouted orders. Jesus saw a cloud of dust, then several…men were appearing. They had been hidden in holes under blankets with dirt and brush covering. The three riders had drawn them into a circle ambush and the rider who had dismounted was a delay, bringing the caravan into the concealed circle of ambushers. Ambushes occurred from surrounding hills, not in the open! But now bandits equal in number to the caravan herders were attacking and no defense was ready.
The three mounted riders attacked the lead column and the flank columns, hacking at the leading camels legs to bring a column to a stop. The caravan stopped moving as several tethered camels assumed a kneeling position, unable to stand. The caravan now sought to compress itself for a more efficient defense, but immobile camels had to be untethered now while under assault. Three of the attackers flung hot oil on groups of men, some of the men knew the significance of this attack and ran and stripped. The attackers then unmasked smoldering torches and waved them into flame. Two oil soaked defenders were torched as they advanced to defend the camels.
The most immune beings were the camels themselves, they were objects of value to both the contesting parties. The flame attack was especially effective in that it gave the bandits uncontested time to cut free the camels and drive them off the trail. The caravan crew could not leave the larger group to recover the single lost camels; these strays were rounded up by the attackers, not later but as the attack was underway — each camel carrying a load of valuable cargo. The defenders could not chase the bandits without leaving the rest of the caravan herd.
The attackers were proceeding methodically; regrouping, concentrating and making quick attacks, inflicting but not taking casualties; they were in control of the battle and the movement of the caravan. The caravan was now split into two sections, the smaller group containing tethered teams of four and six animals, the caravan herders including Jesus had cut free these animals from those crippled, and moved to any area unoccupied by bandits. They were in effect drifting away from the main body. The larger section was now ahead on the trail, still under attack and out of sight in the darkness, torches and the screaming of men and animals were the only elements perceptible. Jesus was driving the rear group west, not east toward the main body.
The remnant caravan consisted of Jesus, one other herder and ten camels. They debated whether to cripple two camels and leave them as prizes to delay any bandits who were tracking them. After an hour however, they were well west, and off the trail. It was unlikely they would be detected. Jesus now had the luxury of thinking about the horrible happenings. An hour ago he had seen men brutally murdered by men who loved money more than God, virtue, the lives of others, or even their own lives. He wondered if someone had given information about the caravan’s cargo and route in exchange for a bribe. Jesus said silently to himself, “If I get out of this alive, I am not going back to the life of a dog.” The dog’s life was one of pack rule of muscle and aggression, posturing, ignorance, animal satisfaction, fighting, noise, and a short life, poorly lived.
Jesus and Enos tethered the ten camels together and made best possible speed west, with little sleep for the men or beasts. The two herders and ten loaded camels entered Damascus from the east five days after the attack. They watered and fed the camels and exchanged six pieces of silver jewelry for it. They pressed on to Capernaum in Galilee, then to Caesarea where the camel train had originated. The raid had been a disaster, with sixty eight camels lost, and only two men out of fourteen reporting.
The contracts had to be made good on. The caravan owners would take an enormous loss. Jesus guessed that some of the slaves would be sold to raise money and reduce operating expenses. Jesus had just six months left in his contract of indenture. His owner offered him for sale, but no buyers could be found because of his little time remaining in servitude. Jesus was released from servitude in consideration for his actions in defending and returning what remained of the caravan.
Jesus was given a writ of satisfaction and he chose to have it filed in Jerusalem. Jesus would carry his legal writ to Jerusalem for filing himself, and avoid the courier fee. He had business there any way.
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