LITERATURE

1. Example Answer Perspective 1

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In the early morning, the sun shone weakly in a pale fresh sky. I shivered as I hurried outside; it was always chilly this early in the day. I left the small inn I had been staying in in Capernaum, and went out on the streets. I wasn’t alone. A few days ago the streets here were empty, when the only people who got up before dawn was the occasional shop keeper, and perhaps a stray cat. Now a large crowd over spilled into the roads, filled with excited people, energised people. Old, old men with bushy eyebrows and wise eyes leapt and bounded along with the crowd; women with colourful dresses laughed and chattered, none tired by the early start; a few children capered along, weaving between people and waving at onlookers; then there me, smiling at listening like many others; and in the centre, with his disciples and encircled by an interested, excited, engaged crowd, was Jesus. We were all following him, staying with him and watching the wonders he was doing. Today he was going to Nain - I didn’t know why, but I was sure something miraculous would happen if I followed. 

The walk to Nain was long. It was a days worth. Along the dusty road we went, waving at the people who looked out of their windows to see what the clamour was. It was much hotter, and the sun had risen to look like an enormous, overripe melon. We still talked and walked, though with less dancing. Occasionally people would follow us for a while, or else call out “What are you doing? What is going on?”

And we would reply: “We are with someone who performs miracles and has great wisdom. They call him the Messiah, sent from God.”

 It was evening when we arrived in Nain, tired, hot and dusty. Stars were sprinkled in a faded dark blue sky, twinkling above the city gate. It stood proud and knowledgeable, watching over the city. 

I found a little inn, which was opposite the gate, and stayed there for the night. 

Next morning, I was awoken by a clamour outside. Hurrying, I went to the window. A crowd swelled the streets outside the magnificent city gate. It was not the crowd from last night, although I saw some of the people I had walked with yesterday surveying the new crowd with pity. It was clear why - a man had died, his body resting on a cushion, wrapped in cloths, and carried in an open coffin by four men. A woman walked beside the coffin, silent with grief. Women and men, girls and boys stood close together in support, clasping their hands, and pulling handkerchiefs to their tear-stricken faces. 

Suddenly, like a light in the dark, Jesus appeared. His disciples were with Him, but they walked behind Him, waiting at the side of the crowd as Jesus weaved his way through. Although the crowd was tightly packed, Jesus managed to get to the coffin, where the woman was standing. She had been staring at the floor, unable to move, but looked up as Jesus approached. Jesus said something to the woman, but it was too difficult to hear. 

 I left the inn, and ran to the crowd. Getting as close as I could, I watched Jesus turn to the dead man, lying peacefully on his bed of cushions.

 Jesus said to the man “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 

And I gasped at what happened next, for the man who was dead, sat up bed slowly, and started to talk. He was alive! There were gasps from the crowd, and people stared wide-eyed, shocked, at the miraculous thing they were seeing. The man was talking quietly, and it seemed only Jesus could hear him. Then Jesus presented the man to the woman, who must have been his mother. She began to cry, but her joy was clear. I was also joyous, though I did not know the man. Jesus had performed another wonder, something so great and powerful, and I was here to see it. In the crowd, people began to glorify God, and we were all, I think, scared too, by the power of it all. This was something we could never do, or see. This was truly a miracle.