I was up early the next morning, determined to get to Yeshua as soon as possible. Zundel was the worst he'd ever been. It was now or never for him.

Ema gave me some food for me later on, which was dried fish and bread, and I filled a skin with water. I planned to give the dried fish to Zundel after Yeshua healed him.

There was no way to bring Zundel to Yeshua but to carry him. Our one donkey was needed by Abba, and besides, my little boy mind had a hard time figuring out a way for it to carry Zundel.

I wrapped Zundel up in his blanket. "I'm sorry, I know this hurts, but we're going to go see a Man. He'll make you all better," I promised him in a whisper as I lifted him up and he whimpered in pain.

"Be careful Benaiah. Don't talk to strangers too much. And don't be rude. Be careful in the crowds, you don't want to fall and get stepped on. And be back before the sun sets, I don't want your Abba to have to come looking for you."

Shifting Zundel's weight in my arms, I nodded. "Yes, Ema." The pup was noticeably lighter than the last time I'd carried him.

She hesitated. "Child... I know you want Zundel healed but... Please, don't get your hopes too high."

"Yes, Ema. Goodbye."

She leaned down and planted a kiss on my head. "Be safe." She mussed up my hair and turned back to her cooking.

I scrunched up my face, as I couldn't pat my hair back down with Zundel in my arms. But I was too excited to stop and fix it.

Finding where Yeshua was wasn't hard. There were many people on their way to Him. It seemed to me like everyone that went to Jerusalem for Passover were going to see Him as well!

I saw Pharisees from multiple towns, many fishermen, farmers, and of course, the injured, sick, and maimed who were hoping to be healed. The air was filled with hopeful expectations, tense curiosity, and scorn for the Man called Yeshua.

Zundel whimpered a couple of times as I stumbled over rocks. "Sorry, sorry," I murmured to him. But otherwise, he was quiet, despite all the new sights, smells, and sounds around him.

My little boy arms could only carry Zundel for so long. Eventually, they would burn so bad I had to set him down. While we rested, I tried to get him to drink or eat, but he only flapped his tail.

It was during one of these stops that a man spoke to me. "What're you doing with that dog?" He asked me with a jut of his chin towards Zundel. He had a pointy beard.

I didn't like the disdain he had in his voice for Zundel. "I'm taking him to Yeshua. He healed my neighbor's twisted leg, so He can heal Zundel's leg."

I shrank back as he laughed. "He won't be interested in a mutt! Look!" He swung his hand out towards the crowds passing us. "He's the Messiah, and He's gonna deliver us from the Romans! What'll the Messiah care about a little 'ol mutt?" He laughed again and walked off, swinging the rusty sword at his side.

I bit my lip and looked down at Zundel. I despised the man's tone of arrogance. But what if he was right?

I looked upward at the sun and sighed. I could turn back. After all, what would the Messiah of Israel have to gain from healing a mutt? By healing all these people, He was gaining an army that would be loyal to Him forever. But healing a dog? What could He gain from that when He could just as easily be healing a man who would raise a sword for Him?

Well, maybe Zundel couldn't do anything for Him. But maybe, He'd heal Zundel if I told Him that I'd be His disciple forever and ever if He'd just make my dog whole again.

With this thought in mind, I slipped my hands under Zundel and lifted him up again.

The crowd was so thick that I couldn't wiggle into it with Zundel in my arms. No one parted for a wounded dog and little boy who couldn't even see where he was going in such a thick crowd. Several roughly shoved me aside when I tried.

Yeshua was on the beach of the Sea of Galilee. I worked my way around the outside of the crowd until I was as close as I could get to the Teacher without wading into it.

A little scrubby tree provided shade for Zundel and I. After sitting down under it and hungrily eating my bread, I decided I would sit here and wait until the people thinned enough so I could bring Zundel to Yeshua.

Lack of entertainment for my eyes was not a problem. The longer I sat, the more I became convinced that Yeshua was, at the very least, a prophet of old. Lame men, like Naomi, pressed into the Rabbi and came out dancing. A woman with a hand who's fingers hand been curled from birth and unusable stretched it out to grasp others with joy. I even saw a blind man led by a friend come back exclaiming at the brilliance of the sky.

The sun went farther and farther down in the sky. I started squirming with worry. Before too long, I would have to head back home. And Zundel wouldn't be healed.

Finally I pushed myself up. Despite the fact that many had left, still more had come, and the people were as thick as before.

I knelt down and stroked Zundel's soft ears. The pup's breathing was labored, and the smell coming off his leg was strong. I knew, deep down, that we couldn't come back tomorrow. It had to be today for Zundel.

I nervously glanced at the crowd and shivered. But my mind called up memories of all the fun Zundel and I had, and could have, if Yeshua would heal him. "I'll be back. Don't worry."

With that, I squared my small shoulders and faced the crowd.

As I wove through the crowd, shoving through gaps and holding my breath against the smell of sweat, Yeshua's voice became clearer. The people became quiet as they listened.

I discerned two voices. One was loud and brazen. The other was quieter, but full of authority and confidence.

I shoved between two sweaty men, who grunted but paid me no mind. And suddenly, I saw Him.

I'd expected His voice to be the big, loud one, which was how I'd envisioned prophets spoke. But no, that voice belonged to a Sadducee who was challenging Him.

Yeshua was sitting on a rock as He listened to the Sadducee. He didn't look like I'd expected. I thought He'd have a sword, and rich clothes, and maybe his disciples as well.

But what I saw looked more like an average Jewish Galilean citizen. Like my own father.

The Sadducee finished his blustering, which I hadn't heard as I took in Yeshua. He replied calmly, without even raising His voice, but with an authority that resonated deep within me.

The Sadducee, apparently having no reply, threw up his hands and stomped away, loudly complaining about 'that Rabbi.' Another man, a Pharisee, stepped forward.

But before he could pose his challenge, I called out. "Yeshua!"

Everyone's eyes turned to look at me, silently saying, "Who dares to interrupt?" which caused me to shrink back. But when Yeshua turned to gaze at me, He didn't seem annoyed that I'd butted in.

"Yes?" He waved at me to come forward.

I shuffled forward, my eyes on the ground, until I . "Rabbi, my name is Benaniah..." I hesitated, fumbling for words.

"Go on," He encouraged.

I swallowed hard and lifted my chin. "Please, Sir, could you come heal my dog?"

I heard more than a few chuckles come from the disciples, the Pharisee, and the multitude. They lashed at my confidence like a whip and I cringed.

But Yeshua didn't laugh.

"Where is your dog?"

I pointed in the direction of the tree, which I could barely see over the heads of the people. "Over there, under that tree. I had to leave him there. All these people wouldn't let me through with him."

"Come now boy," said the Pharisee. "You interrupt our discussion for a dog? Go back to your him and wait your turn."

I directed my answer to Yeshua. "I wouldn't have interrupted if I could help it, but if I waited much longer, I'd have to go back home." Tears welled in my eyes, tears of desperation. "And Zundel, Zundel will die if you don't... I know You don't have time for a dog, but if You'll heal him, I'll be your disciple forever and ever, if You'll just heal Zundel."

I looked down at my bare feet. More laughs had come at my pledge of servitude to Yeshua.

"Take me to him."

I looked up in a surge of hope. Yeshua had His hand held out for me to take, and He was smiling.

The Pharisee protested as I took His hand, and the multitude murmured. "Sir, I have a question to ask you!"

Yeshua silenced him with a look. "This boy has come and asked me something out of the goodness and compassion of his heart. You have come merely to inflate your pride, to look down on others." He looked down at me. "The answer to you is this: have chesed, mercy, on the lowest and you will receive chesed."

The Pharisee was quiet.

The crowd parted for Yeshua and I as I led Him to Zundel.

Despite his pain and weakness, the pup looked up when Yeshua came near. He whimpered a greeting and thumped his tail twice.

I knelt down beside him. "Zundel, Zundel, see? I brought Him. He'll make you all better."

I unwrapped the dog so Yeshua could see his injury. "His leg was crushed by falling wood," I explained.

He nodded and kneeled beside Zundel. "Hello," He murmured as He reached one hand to rub Zundel's ears. The other he placed on Zundel's hip. "Tell me, why do you love Zundel so much?" His question was not ridiculing.

"Because he is always fun. He makes everyone laugh. And he listens to me when no one else will. And he's always ready to play. He licks me all the time and it feels good. He helps me bring in the goats sometimes." I rattled off all that I loved about Zundel, Yeshua smiling all the while as he stroked Zundel.

And under His touch, something was happening. The preoccupied look of inward pain faded. His breathing came easier, and the putrid smell of infected flesh faded.

As Yeshua took His hand away, Zundel sat up, his eyes bright and clear. The wounded limb was now completely whole.

"Zundel, oh Zundel!" I cried with joy.

The pup leaped off the blanket and into my arms. I laughed as he licked my face.

Yeshua was smiling, and the once dismissive crowd was as well. "Thank you, Rabbi, thank you!" Tears ran down my face, but they were tears of joy.

Yeshua nodded, and then grabbed my shoulders to look into my eyes. "It is because of your faith in Me, and your chesed to him that he is well, Benaiah. Don't forget these to use and give these two things to the people in your life."

I nodded solemnly. "Yes, Rabbi. I will fulfill my vow, I'm your servant forever. What do you want from me?"

"Only that you remember these two things, faith in me, and chesed, when you go back home. For Israel's Messiah has not come to conquer Rome, but to win men's hearts to these things."

I nodded again, although at the time, I didn't completely understand what He meant.

But despite that, these things I remembered. I firmly believed that Yeshua was Israel's Messiah from that day forward, and strove to act according to these things, to fulfill the vow I had pledged at first.

But after that, when I became a follower of the Way along with my family, I tried to keep them for a different reason.

Because Yeshua had saved not just my dog from death, but me as well. Because Yeshua had kept the covenant, the vow, made by Hashem all those years ago to the people of Israel. A covenant that He would have chesed on all who chose to have faith in Him.

Because He was Israel's Messiah.