Biblical Retellings Series : Biblical Fiction by C.A. Gray ➱ Series Promotional Tour with Giveaway

  

 

All Things Are Possible

Biblical Retellings Book 5

by C.A. Gray

Genre: Biblical Fiction

Stories of the miraculous abound in the Bible: the parting of the Red Sea. David and Goliath. Daniel and the Lion’s Den. Nebuchadnezzar’s Fiery Furnace. Jonah and the Whale. Many of us learned of them on felt boards in Sunday School class, and might know them so well that we have subconsciously relegated them to the realm of myth and fairy tale. But have you ever considered what it might have been like to live through those incredible stories—without knowing how they end?

These stories and more are brought to life in All Things Are Possible, told through the eyes of the main character. As with the other books in the Biblical Retellings series, the fictionalized retelling is followed by an afterword explaining why I made the decisions I did in the story, and finally the scriptures themselves. Protagonists include prophets, prisoners, warriors, and kings, ranging from the budding nation of Israel to the glorious New Jerusalem, as seen by John the Apostle in the book of Revelation. What unites these tales is the common thread of the supernatural, depicting God’s goodness and mighty power exercised on behalf of those who trusted in Him.

That same power is still available to us today. Jesus promised that with God, all things are possible (Mark 11:27)—and He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

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Blood Covenant Fulfilled

Biblical Retellings Book 4

God is a covenant making, covenant keeping God. From the dawn of prehistory, God’s dealings with mankind can be understood through the lens of covenant: a binding agreement of unending loyalty and faithfulness. His early covenants with mankind were one-sided, requiring very little from men in return. All of that changed with the birth of the nation of Israel, and her deliverance from slavery in Egypt through Moses.

The Mosaic covenant, also known throughout the Bible as “the law,” encompassed the rest of the Old Testament books through the death and resurrection of Jesus. With the perspective of hindsight, we know now that God neither expected nor intended for Israel to keep the law perfectly. Instead, He wanted them to recognize that their best human attempts would inevitably fail. What they needed was a savior who could do it for them (Romans 7:13-25): one perfect kinsman of Adam, who could redeem all mankind from the predicament of the fall, and restore God’s family to Him. This was always the goal, from the very beginning.

This second volume of the Blood Covenant duology picks up with Moses, God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt and His institution of the law. Israel’s early interactions with God can only be understood in the context of this covenant, set against the backdrop of a heavenly war. It carries through to Jesus’ initiation of the New Covenant of His blood, and finally to the prophecy of His return through the eyes of John. Each chapter begins with a fictionalized retelling, followed by an afterword discussion of commentaries and why I made the choices I did in the stories. Finally, they include the original scriptures. Blood Covenant Fulfilled is the story of how God united both His justice and His mercy in one staggering sacrifice that changed the world for all time.

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Blood Covenant Origins

Biblical Retellings Book 3

One of the most common arguments against Christianity is that the God of the Old Testament seemed so drastically different than the God of the New Testament. In the Old, many claim He seemed cruel and capricious, while in the New, He suddenly became a God of love and tolerance. Yet Jesus said, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9), and the writer of Hebrews tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). If God hasn’t changed, how do we explain the apparent difference? The answer lies in a long-forgotten word: covenant.

Covenants play little to no role in our world today, but in ancient times they were all-important. Treaties between individuals, tribes, and kingdoms took the form of blood covenants. These were much stronger than our modern concept of a contract, which can be broken by finding clever legal loopholes or sometimes simply by a decision not to honor one’s word. By contrast, covenants were bonds broken only by death, and at times extending to the progeny of the two making the original agreement. Ancient covenants entailed unending loyalty and faithfulness, and often included the union of all assets, liabilities, and responsibilities between the parties. Most cultures had such a concept. They got the idea from God, who keeps His covenants to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9). But in order to make such treaties with mankind, God had to find a willing human participant.

This collection of biblical retellings explores the covenants between God and Adam, Noah, and Abraham, and how these covenants (or the lack of them) affected His dealings with mankind at various times. Each chapter begins with a fictionalized retelling, followed by an afterword discussion of commentaries and why I made the choices I did in the stories. Finally, they include the original scriptures. God’s ultimate goal was always love and grace for all mankind, and yet He had to balance this with justice, as well as with honoring His own original word. Blood Covenant Origins is the story of how He began the process that ultimately led to the cross.

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Daughters of Zion

Biblical Retellings Book 2

Have you ever wondered what it was like for Eve to be the first woman, created as an adult but with the mind of a child? What must it have been like for Deborah to be the only female judge in Israel’s history? Ever considered how Esther felt about being chosen as queen in the ungodly kingdom of Persia—particularly when she’d have to share her husband with a harem? What must Mary and Martha have thought when their brother Lazarus had died, and it looked to them like Jesus was not coming? 

This collection of retellings from the perspectives of women in scripture explores these stories and more, including a few stories from female perspectives that also appear in Messiah: Biblical Retellings. While all of these women lived in various patriarchal cultures, and some of the most prominent women were even Gentiles, scripture shows that God cherished them all. As the Apostle Paul writes, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28)—and this was true for believing women under the old covenant as well, whose faith was counted to them as righteousness.

These are tales of miracles and victory: from brokenness, bitterness and envy to shalom: peace and wholeness, with nothing missing and nothing broken. For some, this meant a transition from barrenness to motherhood; for others, from widowhood to love and belonging. Still others went from bereavement to receiving their dead restored to life again. They included judges and queens, and also prostitutes and despised foreigners. God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11, Acts 10:25): what He does for one, He will do for all who believe in His promises.

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Messiah

Biblical Retellings Book 1

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be one of the five thousand when Jesus multiplied the fish and the loaves? Or one of his disciples when he walked on water? Or to have seen Lazarus come out of the tomb? Ever wonder what Mary thought when Gabriel told her she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, or what the fallout was like in her personal life? Ever considered how those two disciples felt on the road to Emmaus, when they found that the man with whom they had been talking was in fact their risen Lord?

This collection of retellings from the gospels is designed to bring each of these stories and more to life in your imagination. They stick to the facts wherever the facts are known, from either the scriptures themselves or from extra-biblical commentaries. But they also add in back story when necessary, reimagining the sights, the sounds, the colors, and the emotions for the person most involved. Each retelling ends with an afterword discussion, summarizing the reasons for the choices made in the story, followed by the scriptures themselves.

Together, I hope these retellings help to paint a portrait of the Messiah.

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Jesus Curses the Fig Tree (Jesus’ perspective)

The energy of the crowd was palpable, the dull roar of their excited chatter at a fever’s

pitch. Jesus had stopped them between Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. His

throat was thick with emotion as he instructed Matthew and Bartholomew, “Go into the village

opposite you,” here he pointed to Bethphage, “and as soon as you have entered it you will find a

donkey and a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose them and bring them. And if anyone says

to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will

send them here.”

The two disciples nodded and hastened to obey. Jesus waited for them now, standing

aloof from the rest of his disciples, and from the crowd.

How many of them knew that he was doing this in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9? he

wondered. He had told his disciples over and over again that he was going to his death, but he

knew they didn’t understand what he meant. They thought it was a euphemism for something

else. Particularly now, when he was surrounded by adoring worshippers, all bubbling over with

excitement that their king was about to enter Jerusalem.

This was the culmination of his earthly ministry. The earth had been waiting for this

moment, for the King of Kings to enter the Holy City in glory, since the fall of man in the

Garden. There was almost a “charge” in the air, of the spirit converging upon the physical; the

people could do nothing but worship. Yet these same people would turn on him and cry out for

his blood in less than a week.

He felt so very alone.

Thank you, Father, he prayed silently, that You never leave me or forsake me.

Normally people crowded Jesus everywhere he went, but something about His troubled

expression today must have put them off. Many instead clustered around the

exuberant Bartimaeus, whom Jesus had healed of blindness just a few hours earlier. He and his

formerly blind friend had since cast off their beggar’s cloaks and joined his entourage. Of the

two, Bartimaeus was by far the more gregarious, and he entertained the crowds. He seemed a

born performer.

Matthew and Bartholomew returned, leading the colt and the donkey to Jesus by the

reins. The people saw this, and immediately understood that they were about to head into the city

now. They also understood the significance of the donkey: kings rode donkeys to signify a

peaceful entry. Horses were for war. They got busy, excitedly throwing their cloaks over the

animals’ backs for Jesus to sit upon. Some of the people threw their cloaks in the road, an ancient

Jewish practice for welcoming a conquering king. Others cried out, “Palm branches too!” This

was a reference to a wider cultural practice of the same, and it met with great enthusiasm. The

crowd scurried about, retrieving fallen palm branches and snapping or sawing off those that they

could reach from nearby palm trees.

Jesus meanwhile mounted the colt. It meekly accepted his weight, despite the fact that it

was unbroken. Matthew and Bartholomew raised their eyebrows and exchanged a look at this,

impressed, but said nothing. Beside the colt which Jesus rode, John led the donkey by the reins

like a groomsman. As his most empathic disciple, Jesus suspected that John sensed his mood and

lingered nearby for emotional support. He felt a rush of affection for his friend.

As Jesus began the journey, the people spread the branches they had collected on the

ground before the colt along with their cloaks, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who

comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the

name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

From oldest to youngest, they all picked up this refrain as Jesus began his last ride into

Jerusalem. The people danced and sang, and once he’d passed over cloaks and palms, they

picked them up again and ran forward, laying them on the road before him. Jesus’ chest

constricted with conflicting emotions. The people who worshipped him now did so genuinely;

and yet, their hearts were the stony ground of his parable. They were those who would

immediately receive the word with gladness, but when tribulation or persecution arose, they

would stumble and scatter. It would come all too soon.

The commotion of Jesus’ entourage drew a crowd of onlookers from Bethany as they

descended the Mount of Olives, whispering among themselves. Jesus knew what they were

saying. Many asked who he was that drew such a response. Others, the scribes and

Pharisees who joined the onlookers, murmured amongst themselves against him. Finally, one of

them cried out, “Teacher, do you hear what these are saying? Rebuke your disciples!”

Jesus looked at the one who had shouted and replied in as steady a tone as he could

manage, “Yes, I hear. I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones themselves would cry

out.”

The Pharisee who heard him turned to his fellows with furious grumbling. Jesus turned

away, and from his position on the slope of the Mount of Olives, he saw Jerusalem spread

out before him in the distance. The tears that he had kept at bay until then sprang unbidden to his

eyes, and spilled over his cheeks. Most of the people did not notice, but John did, and placed his

free hand on Jesus’ shoulder in comfort. Jesus cast him a quick, sad smile, and then looked back

at the city.

Excerpt from Joseph Goes from the Prison to the Palace: 

As Judah spoke, my heart swelled as if it might burst out of my chest, until at last I could stand it no more. I turned to my steward and all the curious attending servants, and shouted, “Leave! Clear out—everyone leave!” 

They scurried to do as I asked, and even Asenath gave me a significant look before she too left the room. My brothers looked stunned and terrified; Judah still groveled at my feet. 

“I am Joseph!” I burst out at last, dropping to my knees where Judah lay. “Your brother, Joseph! Is my father really still alive?”

I didn’t know what I expected at this pronouncement, but my words were met with utter silence. No one so much as moved. I remained on my knees, and said, “Come closer to me, please.” It took a moment for them to obey, but at last they shuffled forward. I presented my face for their inspection, insisting, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt. Hurry back to my father! Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: I’m master of all of Egypt. Come as fast as you can and join me here. I’ll give you a place to live in Goshen where you’ll be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and anything else you can think of. I’ll take care of you there completely. There are still five more years of famine ahead; I’ll make sure all your needs are taken care of, you and everyone connected with you—you won’t want for a thing.’” 

I could tell they were beginning to believe, and pressed them, “Look at me. You can see for yourselves, and my brother Benjamin can see for himself, that it’s me, my own mouth, telling you all this. Tell my father all about the high position I hold in Egypt, tell him everything you’ve seen here.”

Benjamin’s eyes lit up at last with a look of recognition. 

“Joseph?” he whispered, and for a flash, I saw the little boy of nine I remembered from all those years ago. He reached out a tentative hand toward my face, and that was all the incentive I needed. I reached out and embraced him, and he me, our tears intermingling as they flowed down both our cheeks. I held Benjamin this way a long time, but then I embraced all of my other brothers as well. 

C.A. Gray is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor (NMD), with a primary care practice in Tucson, Arizona. She has always been captivated by the power of a good story, fictional or otherwise, which is probably why she loves holistic medicine: a patient’s physical health is invariably intertwined with his or her life story, and she believes that the one can only be understood in context with the other. For freebies, giveaways, and new release info, sign up for her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/F3rof.

Her favorite fictional tales have always been epic battles of good versus evil, with a strong tendency towards parable. An idealist herself, she has always been convinced that these stories have something deeply true to tell us about the human condition, and that is why we love them so much… or at least that’s why she does.

She still wants to be everything when she grows up. She moonlights as a college chemistry teacher (she has a degree in biochemistry, with minors in Spanish and Creative Writing), does theater when she gets the chance, sings, plays piano, was once a personal trainer and in coffee shop management. She is blessed with exceptionally supportive family and friends, and thanks God for them every single day.

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