Thomas and Bethan dashed into the house.
'My goodness, is there a fire somewhere?' asked Grandpa in pretend alarm.
The children laughed. 'No, Grandpa, we've had such a lovely day with Uncle David - guess where he took us?'
Grandpa's eyes twinkled merrily at Grandma as he said 'You had better tell us, I'm sure we would never guess.'
'To Farmer John's in the next Village' they said together.
'And he invited us for tea' Thomas added.
'And he looks like a real farmer' said Bethan. 'He is even bigger than Uncle David and has a nice sunburnt face and a big smile!'
It had pleased Bethan to see that Farmer John looked as a Farmer should look!
Farmer John and Uncle David, who was the village Butcher, were good friends, and had enjoyed themselves as much as the children as they showed them all the animals on the farm.
'Which animal did you like best?' began Grandpa when they were all settled, and the children were eager to tell of their exciting day.
'I liked the horses' Thomas answered.
'I liked the lambs and the baby chickens' said Bethan. 'But do you know which ones Farmer John likes best?' she asked.
'Tell us' said Grandma.
'The Pigs!' they said together. 'He likes the pigs the best of all!' And they giggled.
Then Bethan looked thoughtfully at Grandpa 'I don't suppose you have a pig story, Grandpa. Have you?'
Grandpa thought for a moment. 'I can't remember one' he said. 'But I can tell you one which takes place in a Village, and I believe the sparrows were there. Let me see......'

What a noise there was in the stable. The sparrows were twittering to each other in high spirits.
'How can such little birds make such a big noise' Donkey asked himself as he looked at them all jostling and pushing each other on the rafters. They were so excited because tonight THEY were the storytellers - and what a story they had to tell!
Donkey was just about to ask them to quieten down when in walked Mr. Cat. He took one look at the packed rafters, frowned at the noise, and said firmly 'We'll have less of that noise, sparrows, thank-you!'
There was an immediate silence. Mr. Cat nodded briefly at them, and walked over to his favourite corner where he stretched out comfortably.
The other animals then began arriving one after the other until they were all there.
'I see Farmer Ben has a new colt, Donkey' said Mr. Dog. 'Will he be sharing your stable?'
'No' answered Donkey. 'I believe they are building him a new stable by the side of the farmhouse, but I hope to invite him over as soon as he has settled in.'
'Good' agreed Mr. Dog. 'We can never have too many friends, can we?'
Hedgehog could see the sparrows getting restless again, so, turning to Donkey, he said 'I think we should have our story now, don't you?'
Donkey nodded, and, looking up at the sparrows fidgetting on the rafters asked 'Who is going to start your story tonight?'
'I am' answered one of them. 'Shall I begin?'
'Please do' said Donkey.
'We were in Bethany at the time of our story' said sparrow, 'Visiting our friends. As you know, we regularly go there as we know many of the people who live in the village. One family was very well known to us, a brother and two sisters, Lazarus, Mary and Martha, lovely people'.
'They always remembered to put crumbs out for us' interrupted a little sparrow. 'Martha is a very good cook' and he gave a cheeky grin.
The older sparrow tutted, but Mr. Dog grinned back at the little sparrow as he said 'Perhaps I should give them a visit!' then barked with laughter. The whole stable joined in until the first sparrow asked 'Do you want to hear the rest of the story, or not?'
'Sorry' 'Sorry sparrow' 'Please do go on' was heard from all round the stable.
'Very well' said sparrow. 'Because it really is an amazing story'.
The other sparrows twittered their agreement.
'Jesus was often at their house' he paused importantly. 'We often saw him there as they were great friends.'
'Yes, we have seen Jesus many times. We have more than one story you know'.
Another interruption from one of the sparrows! The first sparrow, however, was very patient, so with only a little sigh he continued his story.
'One day, whilst we were flying above their house we saw many people crying, so we flew nearer to see what was the matter, and we heard that Lazarus had died, We felt very sad.'
'We knew Jesus would be sad, too, when He heard the news' a fourth sparrow added.
'Lazarus was put in the tomb' yet another sparrow took up the story. 'And we thought that was the end. But it wasn't' and all the sparrows started twittering again in excitement.
Donkey looked sideways at Mr. Cat who was just beginning to frown at them.
'I'm glad that isn't the end of your story, sparrows, Donkey said quickly. 'Do tell us what happened.'
'Jesus came' said the first sparrow happily. 'And Martha went out to meet Him. We followed and heard her say "If only you had been here my brother would not have died, but God can bring him back to life if only you ask Him.'
Jesus looked at Martha very tenderly and said 'Your brother will rise again, Martha'
'Yes, I know he will, one day' Martha answered Jesus.
'I am the one who raises the dead, and I also give eternal life' Jesus explained. "Do you believe this Martha? Do you believe I can work miracles?"
'Of course she did' chorused all the sparrows. 'She knew Jesus was God's Son.'
They all nodded wisely, then one after the other they said: 'Martha hurried back to her sister Mary.'
'We followed her'.
'Martha said "Jesus wants to see you, Mary".
'Then Mary went to see Jesus'.
'We followed her.'
Oh, the sparrows were so excited and happy! In fact the other animals were catching their excitement and happiness!
A ripple of laughter went round the stable again. They could see this was going to be a happy story, and they were longing to hear the end.
'Jesus asked Mary where Lazarus was buried' continued an older sparrow quietly, 'And we followed them to the tomb. Jesus asked them to roll the stone away, but Martha wrinkled her nose and said "Oh, Master, Lazarus has been dead four days".
'What did Jesus say to that?' enquired Mr. Cat.
'He looked at Martha and said "Didn't I tell you that you would see a wonderful miracle if you believed?"
'So they rolled the stone away' said one of the sparrows.
The animals waited breathlessly - What was going to happen?
'Jesus prayed' the soft voice of a tiny sparrow spoke. 'He wanted the people to know He was God's Son, then He shouted "Lazarus come out".
The sparrow stopped, looked at them all, his eyes wide with wonder, and then said in a gasp 'Lazarus came out. He walked out all dressed in his grave clothes.'
The tiny one was so amazed that an older sparrow had to carry on with their story.
'The people were amazed too' he said. 'Jesus had to tell them to unloose Lazarus as they were just standing there, staring!'
'Many of the people believed in Jesus after that' said another of the sparrows.
'I'm not surprised' commented hedgehog. 'No-one else can bring the dead back to life.'
'No, nor give them Eternal Life either, remember that' said Owl in his very wise way.
E.Aynsley. ©

John CH.11 Vs.1 to 44