Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre

Dave Arnold: Last time on Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's presentation of The Luke Reports: A Time of Madness.

Guest (Male): You are a doctor, yes?

Luke: Yes, I am.

Guest (Male): There's someone who's been hurt behind the inn. Where is he? We are the Sicarii.

Guest (Male): You're thieves, barbarians, and assassins.

Guest (Male): How else are we to fight the Romans except with extreme actions?

Luke: My cause is a different one. The cause of Jesus.

Guest (Male): Correct. I, on the other hand, was a follower of John, the one they called the Baptist.

John the Baptist: Repent! Turn from your sins and be baptized.

Guest (Male): Suddenly we began to think, to hope that he was the Messiah, the one who'd come to free us from the Romans.

John the Baptist: Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am.

Guest (Male): I was one of the ones who chased after Jesus after the baptism. And I thought, "Here is a true man of God."

Jesus: He has sent me to proclaim that the time of the Lord's favor has come.

Guest (Male): He made himself out to be the Messiah.

Guest (Male): And you didn't believe it?

Guest (Male): Of course not. Are you mad? He was a mere carpenter from Nazareth.

Guest (Male): I see. I will send you to someone else who can tell you about John and Jesus. You must go to the residence of Gessius Florus.

Luke: You must be joking.

Guest (Male): Simply go to the servants' entrance and ask for Eunice. She'll be able to tell you more.

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Guest (Male): We have to go back to the basics. We have to go to the game plan that God gives people for tough cultural moments like this one.

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Guest (Male): You there! Stop where you are.

Luke: Oh, good. I was hoping someone would help me.

Guest (Male): What?

Luke: I'm trying to find the servant's entrance. I'm looking for a woman called Eunice.

Guest (Male): What's your business?

Luke: I mean only to speak with her about some personal matters. Is that possible?

Guest (Male): Anything's possible if you have the resources.

Luke: Resources?

Guest (Male): Yes. I see. Will this do? It'll do. Though I have to wonder why a man of obvious wealth wants to enter the governor's mansion through the servants' entrance.

Luke: Well, as I said, it's personal.

Guest (Male): Yes, and personal will cost you more.

Luke: Really? And what will it cost you if the governor learns that you accept bribes to allow people into his home?

Guest (Male): Do you threaten me? I could haul you off to the dungeons and keep all of your money. What do you think of that?

Luke: And what do you think of these parchments? My credentials from the Roman Senate.

Guest (Male): The Senate? Are you a senator?

Luke: I'm on a mission for a Roman senator, which is not your business. So please show me to the servant's entrance.

Guest (Male): Take your money back.

Luke: What?

Guest (Male): You should have said who you were in the beginning. Come with me.

Luke: Where are we going?

Guest (Male): To Gessius Florus.

Luke: But I don't want to see the governor.

Guest (Male): Maybe not, but I'm sure he'll want to see you.

Luke: Look, soldier, you don't understand. I am not here for the governor. In fact, I'd rather he didn't know I was here.

Guest (Male): And I'm telling you, he'll have my head if he finds out you're here and you don't see him. Now, you can come along peacefully or just ahead of my sword. It's up to you.

Luke: Well, by all means, lead on.

Gessius Florus: So, Luke, you are a doctor from Rome.

Luke: Yes, Governor.

Gessius Florus: But what am I to make of this? Rome hasn't notified me of any official visitors.

Luke: It isn't as official as you may think, Governor.

Gessius Florus: No? These parchments indicate you're to have full cooperation from the authorities. It even has the seal of the Senate. That sounds official to me.

Luke: Well, perhaps if I explain.

Gessius Florus: Is Rome displeased with me? Are they unhappy with how I'm handling the situation in Palestine?

Luke: Governor, please, my purpose here has nothing to do with you or your leadership.

Gessius Florus: Oh, yes, so you say, but I know how these things work. You claim it has nothing to do with me and the next thing I know, I'm in disfavor with the emperor because of a report you've written.

Luke: If you're afraid I've come to spy on you, I can assure you on my word that I haven't.

Gessius Florus: Rome doesn't know what it's like to deal with these people day in and day out. The stubborn and ungrateful and belligerent and, oh, where do I begin? You must go to extremes to survive here.

Luke: Well, I am sympathetic, Governor, but let me say again that I am not here—

Gessius Florus: You must stay!

Luke: I beg your pardon?

Gessius Florus: You must stay as my guest. You've come all the way from Rome. I would be remiss to send you on your way without showing you the best that I have to offer.

Luke: Well, it isn't necessary, Governor.

Gessius Florus: Nonsense. I'm having a supper feast later tonight with many guests, people you will want to speak with. They'll help you to understand what I'm up against. Linus!

Luke: Governor, please.

Guest (Male): Yes, my Lord?

Gessius Florus: Take our guest to a room where he may bathe, rest, and prepare himself for this evening.

Luke: But Governor, I must insist.

Gessius Florus: Insist on nothing, my friend, or you may fall out of favor with me. You wouldn't want that to happen, now would you? Jerusalem is a treacherous place and bad things can happen, even to envoys from Rome. Do you understand me?

Luke: I believe I do.

Gessius Florus: Then enjoy my hospitality while you can, good doctor.

Luke: Thank you, Governor.

Guest (Female): Yes? Sir? I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.

Luke: No, it's quite all right. I was expecting the other servant, Linus.

Eunice: He was needed in the kitchen. He told me to prepare your bath, and it is ready for you in the next room.

Luke: Thank you, dear lady. Oh, I wonder, though, if you can help me.

Eunice: Sir?

Luke: Is there a servant here named Eunice?

Eunice: There is.

Luke: I would like to speak with her.

Eunice: Humbly, sir, may I ask what you need from her?

Luke: Well, my name is Luke. I'm a physician sent from Rome to write an account of the life of Jesus. I was told she could help me.

Eunice: Who would have told you such a thing?

Luke: Tell her Hezekiah sent me.

Eunice: Hezekiah? Have you seen him?

Luke: Yes.

Eunice: How is he? Is he healthy?

Luke: Well, yes, I'd say so. Why? What is your interest in him?

Eunice: Didn't he tell you?

Luke: No.

Eunice: No, of course he wouldn't. He's still ashamed of me.

Luke: Ashamed of you? Why?

Eunice: For following the one he rejected and for living and working for those whom he despises.

Luke: I see. Then...

Eunice: I am Eunice.

Luke: Well, it's good to make your acquaintance. But I don't understand. Why should Hezekiah care what you do?

Eunice: Because I am his mother.

Luke: You are Hezekiah's mother?

Eunice: Obviously he wouldn't admit to it, but I am.

Luke: Why would he deny you?

Eunice: I've already told you: for embracing what he hates.

Luke: Please tell me what you mean.

Eunice: Hezekiah's father was Melkai, a good man who was a guard for the household of Herod Antipas. I was a slave who had been brought to serve in that same household. Later I was freed, whereupon Melkai and I were married. Hezekiah was our firstborn son.

He was a fiery boy, zealous in his nature. Even from an early age, he rejected all that men like Antipas stood for. They were cowards and compromisers, despicable to him. After my husband died, Hezekiah turned his passion into rebellion.

He rejected all who would serve Rome. I suppose he thought I was the worst offender. He thought I'd given myself to the Roman way just as Antipas had, but I hadn't. I knew what beasts they were.

Luke: You mean the family of Herod Antipas?

Eunice: Every single one of them. They claimed their Jewish heritage when it profited them to do so, but did they live it? No. They were scoundrels, liars, murderers, and adulterers. Antipas was first married to the daughter of a Nabatean king, you know.

Luke: Oh.

Eunice: But then he fell in love with Herodias.

Luke: Yes, Herodias was his brother's wife.

Eunice: And his half-brother's daughter. Yet they still married. Pious Jews were incensed. But it was John the Baptist who spoke out against it. Antipas was very upset. He was certain that John was going to rally the people together to revolt against him, so he had John arrested.

I suppose the arrival of Jesus made matters even worse.

Luke: Why? Were you a follower of John and Jesus?

Eunice: John first, and then Jesus after that baptism, which is why my son denies me.

Luke: Were you there for the baptism of Jesus?

Eunice: Yes, and a wonder it was.

Luke: Hezekiah told me about the bird that descended upon Jesus and the sound of thunder.

Eunice: Thunder? Is that what he called it? He deludes himself. That wasn't thunder.

Luke: What was it?

Eunice: It was the voice of God.

Luke: You heard God speak?

Eunice: I don't know how else to describe it to you.

Luke: Oh, please try.

Eunice: The sound might have been thunder, except that it was a cloudless, clear day. But within that sound, we heard a voice. We heard words.

Luke: Do you remember the words?

Eunice: How could I forget? The words were, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Luke: A voice from heaven said this about Jesus?

Eunice: Yes, I was there. I heard it. And so did everyone else, even my stubborn son Hezekiah, who denies his mother. It changed my life. So, of course, I had to follow Jesus after that, and I have done so every day since.

Luke: I must ask you, though. You served Antipas and others who are as far from the teachings of Jesus as the east is from the west. Why have you stayed? You're a free woman. You could have left.

Eunice: How could I? Didn't Jesus himself tell us to go where his message is not known? Wasn't it his example? Don't you remember the story of the one called Levi?

Luke: Tell me.

Eunice: Levi was a tax collector, a position that made him hated by all of us. As you know, tax collectors regularly demand more from us than the Romans expect, and then they pocket the difference. Oh, they're an awful bunch. But that didn't matter to Jesus. He walked right up to Levi at his collecting booth and said, "Come, be my disciple."

Not only did Levi get up and follow Jesus, but he invited Jesus to a banquet in his house to be the guest of honor. Well, you can imagine the talk, the scandal.

Luke: A scandal to whom?

Eunice: To every pious person in the district, I suppose. We all knew the tax collectors by name and looked down our noses at them. So when Levi had invited all of his friends, other tax collectors, and those we would normally consider rabble, there was much to say.

I remember watching as Jesus and his disciples walked toward Levi's house. A group of rabbis were nearby.

Guest (Male): It's more than I can bear. Jesus, why do you eat and drink with sinners and heathen?

Jesus: It's not the healthy who have need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I have come not to call to repentance those who already think they're righteous, but to call those who know they are not.

Look, which one of you, if you had a hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn't leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go search for the one until you found it? Then, when you found it, wouldn't you put it on your shoulders and rejoice? Of course you would.

You'd go home and call together your friends and neighbors and ask them to celebrate with you because you had found the sheep you'd lost. And so it will be in heaven. There will be more joy over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Or I'll give you another example. What woman who has ten silver coins and loses one wouldn't light a lamp, sweep the house, and look everywhere until she finds it? You can be sure that when she has found it, she'll gather her friends and neighbors together and say, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin I'd lost." So I say to you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Eunice: That shut them up quickly enough. And there were other moments like that too. I remember the time a Roman officer approached Jesus.

Luke: A Roman came to Jesus?

Eunice: Well, the officer himself didn't come. He didn't think it would be appropriate. So he asked some respected Jewish leaders of the area to come on his behalf.

Guest (Male): Teacher, we beg a favor from you.

Jesus: What do you want?

Guest (Male): There is a Roman officer who has a slave he loves very much. The slave is sick, near to death, and he asked us to come to you.

Jesus: What would you like me to do?

Guest (Male): Anything. Please. He is a good man, this Roman. He loves our people and even built a synagogue for us. He deserves your help.

Jesus: Take me to him.

Dave Arnold: ChatGPT and AI can offer you ideas and attempt to give you answers, but it can't listen with compassion, pray with you, or guide you with wisdom shaped by faith. When life feels overwhelming, real human connection matters.

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Guest (Male): One thing is certain: the world needs Jesus. People all around us need God's truth and light, and we've been called to share it with them. So be encouraged to do just that by listening to my podcast, Refocus with Jim Daly. I'll talk with inspiring guests about many challenges in the culture today and how to share your faith when others disagree with you. Check out the podcast at refocuswithjimdaly.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Eunice: Jesus went with them to the house of the Roman, but just before they arrived, servants and friends of the Roman officer stopped Jesus.

Guest (Male): Lord, my master has sent us to tell you not to trouble yourself by coming to his home. He sends this message instead: "I am not worthy of the honor of having you under my roof. I'm not even worthy to come and meet you. Simply say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.

For you see, I am a man under the authority of my superiors, and I have soldiers who are under my authority. And I know I need only say to one 'Go,' and he goes, and to another 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave 'Do this,' and the slave does it. So it is with you."

Jesus: Do you hear this? I tell you I haven't seen faith like this anywhere in Israel. My son, return to your master.

Guest (Male): With what message?

Jesus: Just go.

Eunice: When the servants and friends returned to the house of the Roman officer, the beloved slave was completely healed. Completely.

Luke: That's remarkable.

Eunice: These things made strong impressions on me. Jesus reached out to people none of the rest of us would have gone near, and they came to him even in unlikely places.

Luke: You're thinking of a specific moment.

Eunice: Yes, one of the Pharisees, a man named Simon, asked Jesus to come for supper. Funny thing about the Pharisees, you never knew if they wanted to talk to Jesus because they wanted to know him better or if they were trying to trap him. Anyway, Jesus went to Simon's house and sat down at the table. Suddenly a woman from the city, a known prostitute, arrived.

No one knew what to say. They were so shocked that she'd had the audacity to set foot in the place. She walked straight to Jesus carrying a jar of ointment.

Guest (Female): Master!

Eunice: She knelt next to him, her tears falling onto his feet. She began to wipe his feet off, drying them with her hair. And then she anointed them with the oil in the jar. Simon the Pharisee said to someone close to him:

Simon (Pharisee): Just as I suspected. If Jesus really were a prophet, he would have known what kind of woman this is. He would have stayed away from her.

Jesus: Simon, I have something to say to you.

Simon (Pharisee): Of course, Rabbi. Please speak.

Jesus: A certain moneylender had lent money to two people. One he'd given 500 days' worth of pay, the other 50 days' worth of pay. But neither of them could pay him. Instead of demanding his money, he forgave them their debts. Now, here is my question: Which of these two men will love the moneylender more?

Simon (Pharisee): I suppose the one who'd been forgiven the larger debt.

Jesus: Good answer. Now look at this woman kneeling here. Do you see what she has done? When I came in, you didn't offer me water to wash my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn't greet me with a kiss, but she hasn't stopped kissing my feet.

You didn't anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which I know are many, have been forgiven. And so she shows me great love. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little. My child, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.

Guest (Male): Who does this man think he is, forgiving sins?

Eunice: The guests at the table were furious, let me tell you. Oh, they were beside themselves. But they didn't understand Jesus. Well, none of us really did, I suppose.

I realized later how much he reached out to those who didn't seem to belong, those who had lost their way. I've taken it to heart. If by being a servant in the houses of the heathen I might share his love and his truth, then that's what I'll do. Because that's what he did. It's what he preached. Are you going to the feast tonight?

Luke: Yes, I am.

Eunice: Oh, stay away if you can.

Luke: Well, the governor is insisting that I be there.

Eunice: Feign illness, or better yet, leave. Sneak out.

Luke: Why?

Eunice: I cannot say, but I like you, doctor from Rome, and I don't want you to get hurt.

Luke: It would help if you would explain.

Eunice: No, I can't say anymore. I must return to my duties. Your bath is in the next room.

Luke: All right, Eunice. Thank you. Who's there? Linus?

Guest (Male): What is the meaning of this?

Guest (Male): I want to give you a taste of what'll happen to you if you don't keep your mouth shut and stay out of the way.

Luke: I'm no threat to you! What are you doing here?

Guest (Male): None of your business. Hezekiah and your men are going to do something at the feast tonight.

Luke: What? An attack? Surely you wouldn't try a full-out attack against the palace. You'd never win. Unless you're sneaking in to assassinate someone. Who? Florus? Hezekiah trusts you for some reason, but I don't. Remember, I'll be nearby. One wrong move and I swear I'll cut your throat.

Luke: Well, thanks for the warning. Now, may I finish my bath in peace?

Guest (Male): No. I've been sent with a message for you.

Luke: Besides the one you've just delivered?

Guest (Male): This is official. The right honorable governor Gessius Florus wants to see you in his chamber right away.

Luke: Oh, no. Well, may I dress first?

Gessius Florus: Ah, Doctor, thank you for coming.

Luke: You wanted to see me, Governor?

Gessius Florus: Yes, I had a few extra moments and wanted to chat with you, man to man as it were.

Luke: About what, Governor?

Gessius Florus: I wanted to inform you of how things are here.

Luke: If you're still concerned that I'm writing a report—

Gessius Florus: No, no, no, let's put that aside for the moment, shall we? I want to talk business. You see, there is a lot of money to be made in this land if one knows how to go about it.

Luke: Oh?

Gessius Florus: One may strike deals with just about anyone and everyone in the marketplace, in the courts of law, in the temple. It's astounding what one may earn.

Luke: Especially the governor.

Gessius Florus: Yes, most especially the governor. There's no part of this society that I don't touch, no part at all.

Luke: Well, with respect, Governor, there must be some areas beyond your reach.

Gessius Florus: You must be thinking of the various rebel factions who claim to want me dead. Oh, no, they're in my pocket as well. Or should I say that I have my hands in their pocket? You see, there's money to be made everywhere.

Luke: Are you telling me the Zealots are no threat to you?

Gessius Florus: Of course they're not. They're so busy fighting amongst each other that they have little time to direct their energies to me. And even when they occasionally do, I'm well-informed. Take, for example, my feast tonight. I happen to know that one of the groups is going to attempt an assassination.

Luke: Really?

Gessius Florus: Yes. I even know the details. They have a man who will signal the rebels with a torch from the window of our Great Hall where we'll be feasting. It's ridiculous. But we're ready for it. And we'll slaughter the culprits.

Luke: Slaughter them?

Gessius Florus: I mean it literally, Doctor. I will slaughter them.

Dave Arnold: Next time on Focus on the Family Radio Theatre, The Luke Reports continue.

Gessius Florus: Florus knows what you intend to do tonight.

Guest (Male): Intend to do? Whatever do you mean?

Guest (Male): I warned you to leave. Why don't you go now?

Luke: To go now would put me at odds with the governor.

Jesus: Return to John and tell him what you see and hear for yourselves.

Gessius Florus: Maintaining peace in this region says nothing to the emperor. But to squash an uprising, to crush a rebellion, it speaks volumes.

Dave Arnold: The Luke Reports: A Time of Madness is a production of Focus on the Family. For Focus on the Family Radio Theatre, I'm Dave Arnold. Thanks for listening.