Daniel bar Jamin Quotes

“You mustn’t be afraid of him. He is our brother Daniel come home. When he milks you, you must be good and stand still. See how big and strong he is. He will take care of us and keep us safe.”

″‘No one is free,’ said Daniel. ‘So long as the land is cursed by the Romans.‘”

″‘All this--’ she exclaimed, the sweep of her arm including the deepening blue of the sky, the shining lake in the distance, the snow-covered mountain far to the north. ‘So much! You must look at it all, Daniel, not just at the unhappy things.‘”

“The red mist of anger cleared suddenly from Daniel’s mind. He looked at the man who had been his leader. He saw the coarsened face with its tangle of dirty beard. He saw the hard mouth, the calculating little eyes. He saw a man he had never really looked at before.”

″‘I don’t understand,’ he said again, ‘You tell people about the kingdom. Are we not to fight for it?’ ‘The kingdom is only bought at a great price,’ Jesus said. ‘There was one who came just yesterday and wanted to follow me. He was very rich, and when I asked him to give up his wealth, he went away.’

″‘Haven’t you ever wondered,’ he attempted, ‘what good it is for them to be healed, those people that Jesus cures? They’re happy at first. But what happens to them after that? What does the blind man think, when he has wanted for years to see, and then looks at his wife in rags and his children covered in sores?”

″‘Daniel,’ he said. ‘I would have you follow me.’ ‘Master!....I will fight for you to the end!.’ ‘My loyal friend,’ he said, ‘I would ask something much harder than that. Would you love for me to the end?’

″‘Riches are not keeping you from the kingdom,’ he said. ‘You must give up your hate.‘”

″‘I am glad you have come,’ Jesus said. Daniel could say nothing at all. For a moment he was afraid. Only when the man turned away and his eyes no longer held his own, could he breathe freely again.”

″‘That lame man you saw - is he grateful now? Is it worth it to get on his feet and spend the rest of his life dragging burdens like a mule?‘”