Sarah was staring in amazement. Donald and the waitress were sitting next to the very uncomfortable Mr. Tubbs, his placard in two pieces on the floor. The five "experts" still sat on their raised stage.
"We have a couple of surprise guests, folks!" beamed Miss Roc. "A surprise to me, that's for sure. Let me introduce them. They are Donald Uffizi, a computer programmer, and Dahlia Sinkey, a waitress at Kratzin's Restaurant, just a few blocks from here. Welcome to our show." Applause, but not enthusiastic.
"Today we've been asking, 'Who is Jesus?' and according to Dahlia, the answer is easier than we thought. Jesus is sitting right here." Some boos. "Is that correct, Dahlia?"
"Yes."
"Are you Jesus?" Miss Roc asked of Donald.
"I don't know," he said.
"Answer her," thought Sarah. "Tell her. I want to know."
"But you might be?" asked Miss Roc.
"Look at my hands," said Dahlia. She held them up and a camera closed in on them. Each had a hole in the center of the palm, clear through to the other side. The audience gasped. Then she placed the hands on Donald's shoulder and bowed her head as if in prayer. When she displayed her hands again, they were perfect and whole.
"They're the wounds of Christ," said Dahlia, "and only Christ can heal them." A variety of noises came from the audience: gasps, moans, some applause and some shouting.
"Did you heal her wounds?" asked Miss Roc, who was extremely impressed by this trick.
"Her own faith healed her," said Donald.
"My faith in Him," said Dahlia. "He is Christ come again."
Sarah could sense confusion and hesitation in the room as people tried to understand what they just saw, but Miss Roc didn't miss a beat.
"Reverend Tidings, is this man Jesus?"
"No ... why, he couldn't be..."
"Bishop?"
"Well, I only just met him." Everyone (except Dahlia) laughed. They needed the release of tension. Sarah herself laughed a little more intensely than was called for.
Meanwhile, Reverend Tidings collected himself and spoke, "When Jesus comes again, He will know He is Jesus. We will all know He is Jesus. Jesus is coming in glory!" Applause from his section.
"Jesus will come like a thief in the night," said Dahlia.
"Jesus warned us of false prophets who will use tricks of the Devil, and they will quote the Bible out of context! The reference to a thief in the night is from First Thessalonians, and refers to the 'day of the Lord,' not Jesus himself! It only means that we will not know when He is coming."
"Paul's letter is referring to Christ's own words," retorted Dahlia. "He says in Matthew 24, starting in verse 43, 'if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.' Clearly Jesus is referring to Himself as a thief in the night."
"But but again," said Reverend Tidings, flustered, "this is only about the time of his arrival."
"How dare you say what Christ's words are only about. I say to you that as a thief in the night, Jesus has entered our world without us knowing about it."
Now the Reverend spoke angrily, "Revelation clearly states that Jesus will come crowned in glory!"
"Revelations states no such thing." Somehow, Dahlia had every word of the Bible in her head all at once, the Revised Standard Version. "Here is what Jesus Himself says, also in Matthew 24, starting on verse 29, 'Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.'"
"Exactly!" shouted Reverend Tidings.
"I say to you that day has not yet come, but that Christ is already here. Nowhere does it state clearly that Christ's first appearance will be recognized by everyone. In that same chapter, Jesus says He will come like lightning, that fills the sky from one end to the other. And here He is, on television, whose signals fill the sky with electromagnetic energy. But do you see Him? 'If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.' I see His crown of glory right now. All I ask is for you to open your eyes. Look at Him right now." One of the cameras did a close-up on Donald's face. "Clear your heart of vanity. Drop the expectations that you built up trying to figure out the world, forget that decision you made, that your half-baked explanations are the Word of God, and start looking again. Stop pretending that you know anything, anything at all, and open your eyes so that you can learn something. That's all you have to do, and you will see His crown, which is not built of gold or jewels, but of the Holy Spirit."
Everyone in the room was looking at Donald, and if Donald had had a mirror he would have looked at himself.
Sarah was flabbergasted at the eloquence of this waitress. What the Hell was going on? She thought of all the other people who were bleeding on Donald. Could it be that she was falling in love with Jesus Christ? That couldn't be good.
The camera, meanwhile, looked at Donald's face with no expectations, and revealed a startling purity in his features. His eyes seemed to be looking not at this world, but another. Everyone who saw this face on television or the front page of the Post, headline "DO YOU SEE JESUS?", couldn't help but notice this. Seeds were being cast far and wide.
Object: Jesus