An easy way for God to find out where your heart is

Heinrich was reveling in the euphoria of the moment when he turned the corner onto Heuberstrasse street and saw a person that stopped him in his tracks. It was one of the troublemakers he had confronted when he rescued Rebekah. Based on the kid’s reaction, Heinrich could see that the young man recognized him too. As he was having a flashback of that incident, the boy yelled, “We meet again! Where’s the Jewess? You could get in trouble for helping a Jew!” He added derisively, “Heinrich.”

Heinrich wondered how the kid knew his name! Wittenberg was the kind of place where most people knew each other; yet Heinrich couldn’t quite place this guy. He returned the moniker, “And who are you?” It took him off guard, but he retorted, “None of your business!” Heinrich tried again, “Where are you from?” The boy hesitated then replied,“Zahna.” 

Zahna! Heinrich thought, ‘that’s on the way to Juterborg, and you’re the last person I want to meet!  He had fleeting visions of trouble; Heinrich had no time for this - he didn’t want to get into a fight, so he went to the left and hoped he wouldn’t be followed. As he did so, he heard a familiar sound, “Judensau! We know where you live!” This caused Heinrich to turn and address the boy from Zahna, “Jesus is a Jew - and it’s an easy way for God to find out where your heart is, by how you treat his family!’’ It was an outburst that surprised even Heinrich. The boy was perplexed, so he threw a barb, “Too bad Frederich doesn’t share your opinion.” By Frederick he meant Frederick the Wise, Prince of Saxony. The fate of Jews in Germany was different in every town and province. In some places they were tolerated, in others they were banished. But in most they were permitted until ignorance inflamed their passions and mob mentality took over. The acts of violence were testimonies to their hollow faith; though they called themselves Christians, it was obvious they had no idea what that really meant. Their hearts were not changed for the better; all they had was a religion that was fueled by a Satanic hatred of the Messiah’s people. And Heinrich was living in the middle of this religious and social hypocrisy. He was stewing all of this as he headed for the stable. Before he turned the corner, he paused to look behind to see if he was being followed. Seeing nothing, he went on.

to be continued...