The trip back was joyous. If anyone had doubts now, they kept silent. For good reason. Their doubts were baseless. You and the others more than saw him and had a mystical experience. It was just like before, exactly like before, with only the slightest difference. A very important slight difference. He had won. You all had won, and now it was your task to wait for the next word.
It is not clear what Jesus is now. He’s alive, so he’s not a ghost or a spirit, at least not like any you have heard about. The visitors to Abraham come to your mind again. Angels and yet like real men. Jesus is more than an appearance, and yet, he can come and go as he liked, without regard to the usual rules. No one knows where he went or how, no one asked. This is odd now, away from him, but there is nothing in you which wanted to delve into those questions when you were with him. The utter peace and contentment in the moment, sharing a laugh, discussing Scriptures and events does not leave room for the questions which bother you only when you are distant from him.
Thomas told you he intended to ask. He didn’t, obviously, for the same reasons in your heart.
“It wasn’t in me to question,” he said as everyone was packing. “The doubt disappeared. Everything seemed so just right when we were together, I didn’t want to interrupt with a silly question. It all makes sense, doesn’t it? I don’t know why, but it really does.”
“I think we are learning why,” John said, “That’s what this is all about, the seeing and waiting. He’s teaching us still. It’s all in the Scriptures. It has to all be in our hearts as well. This, all this, is too much to take in with a single moment. We’re not left to wrestle with the meaning. He’s telling us, we’re in the middle of one of his parables.”
The conversation continued, continues even now that the journey back to Jerusalem has ended and you all are again gathered in Nicodemus’ house.
Jesus had joined you for a half day on the walk back. He was jolly and smiling, greeting those who he hadn’t yet seen, telling stories to ease the time, sharing more from the Scriptures. Not really teaching, it was more casual than that. Someone, Andrew you think, asked about some passages in Isaiah. You had never heard that interpretation, and yet it seemed so perfect, so absolutely right. And the evidence was the man giving the evidence. It was too much to handle, and so wonderful to experience.
Some of the people had to work during the day. They came back discouraged, mocked they said, by others. The evenings are spent in prayer, in studying the Scriptures Jesus had pointed out, learning these. Eating together becomes the best moments, sharing food with people you likely would never had talked with, even stood with. There are city leaders, priests, and matrons eating with former prostitutes and tax collectors, unified by 
everyone’s shared story with Jesus.
Each person tells how they met Jesus. The disciples share their earliest experiences with the ministry, telling you stories which you hadn’t heard, which seemed so clearly to point to the reality of Jesus, and yet, no one knew then. They laugh at themselves now.
John and James share stories of Jesus when he was younger. They are his cousins, and know him more than anyone else. James has more to say, being the older brother, only a couple of years younger than Jesus. From what you could tell, Jesus seemed normal, maybe more kind and much more insightful than others, but just like anyone else.
On this night James was laughing at a memory of the temple, enjoying the memory.
“I told him,” he says, “I told him his parents were going to be angry. He smiled at me, the teachers, all dead now, shooed me away. They wanted to hear this boy speak. ‘Where did he come from,’ they asked. I can see it now, they kept asking more questions, and he was quoting obscure passages as answers, like he was there when they were written. It was great, but I had to go, I couldn’t get in trouble, not again.
“I joined the group going back, but didn’t get a chance to see his parents, well, I avoided them. Jesus seemed so happy. They found me, yes they found me, and I was in trouble. Three days we had walked, and they had to walk back. I didn’t tell them everything, I just told them he wasn’t with us, of course they knew I knew more. A week later, they all got back home, and…”
“And I did everything my parents asked after that,” Jesus says, finishing the sentence, standing at the doorway.
“They made sure of it,” James replies.
“They sure did,” Jesus says, laughing.
Someone pulls up an extra chair, one of the women goes into the kitchen to grab a plate. No one is astounded, these appearances are regular, if not frequent. He comes when he comes, and each time is filled with the same joy and peace.
He eats and drinks, like it was of no real account. It seems that way to you, all the while you realize people will be talking about this evening for the rest of time. It’s an honor, and yet so natural, so calm.
At the end of the meal, when the plates are being cleared, John asks, “Lord, what are we supposed to do now? Are we to go on eating and drinking?”
Everyone is shocked at his daring, and just as curious about the answer.
Jesus turns and looks at John, his smile fades, he stares at him for a moment.
“Wait,” he says.“That’s all I ask of you. You are doing exactly what is right. Wouldn’t I tell you otherwise?”
John nods in agreement, but his intent look shows he wants more. He doesn’t need to ask.
“Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you all what he promised. I’ve told you this before. John baptized with water, but in a few days you all will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Baptized with the Holy Spirit? What does that mean? The Spirit of God himself is going to come down and anoint everyone?
This seems to confuse everyone. No one knows how to respond. Jesus doesn’t add more.
He stands, takes some remaining plates into the kitchen, and doesn’t come back.
The rest of the evening is spent in prayer, asking for wisdom, asking for patience, asking for some sort of explanation. At each point you think it is settled and figured out, the whole situation gets more confusing. There is no doubt in your mind, however, you are not leaving Jerusalem until you understand.
It is very late, or rather very early in the morning, by the time you wander to bed and fall asleep, your mind filled with fanciful thoughts of what the coming of the Spirit means.
My dear Jesus, it is a comfort and delight to know that we wait for you. The burden is not on me, for your Spirit anoints and guides. Shower down the peace and power of the Holy Spirit in my life, fill me with a fire for you, lift me up to the heights and carry me along. You are the source of all, the one who seeks us out more than we seek you. Help me be patient in waiting and active in doing, according to your command. What you promise does come to pass, has come to pass, and will come to pass.