Scamp and his friends were tired, very tired. They had been travelling for days and days and were even beginning to get snappy with each other.
‘Move up Scamp’ said Jamie. ‘You are taking far too much room.’
‘No, I’m not’ growled Scamp. ‘Move your paws from my head, they are nearly in my ears!’
Dougy sat up. ‘No more arguing’ he said sternly. ‘We are all tired. Joshua is too, but he says we will soon be there so have a little more patience with each other.’
Tiny gave a great big sigh. ‘I wish we were there now’ he said. ‘Otherwise I might just bite you both for arguing so much.’
Well, that did it! They all threw back their heads and laughed and laughed and laughed. Tiny was the gentlest of dogs, small and fluffy and always kind to everyone. No-one could ever imagine him being unkind to anyone, and as for biting his friends! Well, the very idea of it was so funny that they couldn’t stop laughing. Tiny was laughing too, he knew he would never hurt his friends, and he was so pleased that his funny joke had made them forget their weariness and snappiness.
‘You all seem to be in a happy mood’ said Joshua as he turned round to look at them. ‘Only another ten minutes now, and we will be there. It will be worth the long journey, I promise you.’
And it WAS as they found out the next day.
So Bobby walked on until at last they came to Joshua’s brother’s house just outside the great walls of the City of Jerusalem.
‘Oh, you do look tired’ said Jacob as he helped his brother down. ‘Come along in and have a cool drink to refresh yourself.’ And he led the way indoors at the same time as he told his sons to look after Bobby and his four friends.
How good it was to climb down from the cart and have a long drink of water. As the drops dripped off their faces they smiled at each other.
‘Here at last’ said Dougy as he looked around the small barn.
‘Yes, it looks very comfortable too’ observed Tiny appreciatively. The fresh hay had a lovely smell, and they knew they would be very happy there for the next few days.
‘When can we explore?’ Scamp asked the others, all his feelings of tiredness gone!
‘Shall we go now?’ suggested Jamie who was never far behind Scamp.
‘No!’ said Dougy firmly. ‘Not tonight, we must rest first then in the morning we can go into the City.’ The others agreed. Not only was Dougy the eldest, but he was also the wisest so they generally did as he suggested.
As usual, Scamp was up first in the morning. He had a drink then looked out of the barn door into the cool clear morning. ‘Great!’ he said. ‘The very day to go exploring. Up everyone, up, up’ he barked. ‘Time to go exploring.’
‘What!!’ said Jamie. ‘Before breakfast?’
Dougy and Tiny opened sleepy eyes, then yawned. Scamp nudged them - ‘Lazy boys, get up, it’s a beautiful morning and you’re wasting time lying there.’
Slowly Dougy and Tiny got to their feet. They were used to Scamp and his endless “good ideas” so they walked to the barn door and sniffed the air. It WAS a lovely morning they agreed, and a feeling of excitement came over them as if somehow they knew something wonderful was about to happen.
They they saw Joshua coming with their breakfast.
‘Going exploring today?’ he asked as he laid the food in front of them. No-one answered. They were far too interested in eating, but their wagging tails told him that this is what they intended doing and were very excited at the thought of their adventure.
As soon as breakfast was over, they were off! Down the road they trotted towards the gate set in the high wall which surrounded the City. No-one took any notice of them as it was almost time to celebrate the Passover and many people were arriving.
The four friends had a wonderful time. They peeped through the door of the Temple Courtyard, and saw the big fortress and Herod’s Palace. They were so glad they had come.
‘I’m tired’ said Tiny eventually. ‘We’ve walked for hours, can’t we rest now?’
‘And I’m hungry’ added Scamp.
‘If we walk down the road we can rest in the garden by the theatre’ Dougy suggested.
‘Perhaps we can get a drink there too’ said Jamie.
So, rather wearily, the four friends trudged down the road. When they reached the garden they found a number of people were already there. They were looking weary too.
‘I think they all must have been sight-seeing’ observed Jamie as they wandered around. Then a young boy saw them - “Hello” he said. ‘You look tired, are you hungry?’ They wagged their tails, they liked the sound of this! The little boy then went to where his parents were resting and out of their picnic basket he brought enough food for them all to eat. They were so pleased, and barked to show their appreciation. Afterwards they lay on the grass to rest.
It was then they heard the noise, and such a noise.
‘What is happening?’ asked the little boy.
‘I don’t know, perhaps we should go and see’ his Daddy answered as the noise grew louder.
The four friends jumped up and ran out into the street, they didn’t want to miss anything either!
And there, in the distance, they saw a large crowd of people. Some were cutting branches from the trees and throwing them into the road in front of someone on a Donkey. Others were putting their coats on the ground.
Scamp. Jamie, Dougy and Tiny looked at each other - whatever could be happening?
They walked nearer and heard the crowd shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise God."
‘That could only be Jesus they are talking about’ said Dougy.
‘Come on, let’s find out’ said Scamp and he ran ahead.
As they all reached the crowd they found it difficult to push their way through, but if it really was Jesus, then they were determined to see Him. Gradually they squeezed through until they were right beside the Donkey. They looked up, and Jesus looked down. He smiled lovingly at them. “I’m so glad to see you” He said - rather sadly Dougy thought.
‘We will walk beside you’ said Scamp. ‘Isn’t it wonderful how much people love you?’
Jesus looked at Scamp and smiled, but again there was sadness in His eyes.
“Take care of Tiny” Jesus said to Dougy. “He is rather small for this crowd.”
‘I will Master’ Dougy assured Him.
So they walked beside Jesus, two at either side of the Donkey as if to protect Him.
They could hear people asking “Who is this?” Whilst others answered “It’s Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth, up in Galilee.”
‘Is that all you can say?’ barked Scamp rather angrily. ‘Jesus is the Son of God - don’t you know that?’ He felt very annoyed, but Jesus bent down and stroked him. “It’s all right, Scamp, my friends know who I am, and they will tell others.”
The four friends continued to walk beside Jesus feeling so proud of Him, but a feeling of sadness and fear began to creep over Dougy. He looked at the others - yes! they were beginning to feel this way too.
Dougy looked up at Jesus and whined.
‘Lord’ he choked, scarcely able to get the words out. ‘Lord, you are going to die, aren’t you?’
“Yes” Jesus answered. “I must die that others might live.”
DIE!! That was the only word Scamp needed to hear.
‘No, Jesus’ he barked. ‘There are four of us, we can fight for you. We shan’t let you die.’
Even Tiny, for once, looked fierce.
But Jesus said “My dear, faithful friends, it is necessary. Don’t be upset because I shall see you again.”
They couldn’t understand this. How could they ever see their beloved Jesus again when He was going to die?
‘We must trust our Master’ said Dougy.
They nodded, but their hearts were very sad as they walked along, and tears ran down their faces as Jesus left them to go into the Temple.
Sadly they turned away and began to make their way back to Jacob’s house. All that could be heard were Tiny’s sobs, and the patter of their feet.
As they entered the barn Dougy said firmly ‘If Jesus says we shall see Him again, then we shall see Him again.’
‘Yes’ agreed Scamp ‘Jesus keeps His promises, we know He does, don’t we?’ and he looked round at the others.
Tiny dried his tears, Jamie shook himself as if to get rid of his unhappiness, and they smiled again.
‘If Jesus says we will see Him again’ Scamp repeated ‘Then let’s look forward to that’ and when they saw Joshua coming towards them they ran happily up to him because they believed Jesus, and knew that what He had said would really happen.
Elizabeth Aynsley ©

LUKE 19 vs. 28 - 40.

Ch.4