Five Who Knew Him: Minor Characters in the Gospels and Their Stories

Who were these so called “minor Bible characters”? They appear on the pages of Scripture, play their part and then are gone, never to be heard from again. Where did they come from? What happened to them after they met Jesus Christ?With these short stories, I have tried to give each character a back story, entirely from my imagination. My theme is that no one with an open heart can meet Jesus Christ and not be changed. When He walked on the earth, He healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, healed lepers, drove out demons and raised the dead. What an amazing and exciting time it must have been to be alive in Israel in the first century.We are familiar with the Roman centurion who showed great faith, but what was his worldview and how did he come to have faith in Christ? Who was the demoniac who roamed the tombs in Gadara? How did he come to that condition? Did Jesus tell His disciples to get into a boat and cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee for no purpose? I believe He was on a rescue mission, to save one tortured and lost soul. Why did a mighty storm rage on the Sea of Galilee, frightening the disciples and nearly swamping their boat as Jesus slept peacefully on a cushion in the stern? Did the legion of demons see Him coming and did they try to prevent His arrival?How did Zacchaeus, the chief of tax gatherers in Jericho come to faith in Jesus? It does not seem likely that when Zacchaeus saw Jesus as he sat in the sycamore tree that he did not know something about Him. How did Zacchaeus know that he should make restitution for all the tax money he had stolen from his fellow Jews? He must have known something about Jesus.The Thief on the Cross is another example of someone who must have known a something about Jesus before he was hung on a cross beside Him to die. How else could he have made his marvelous profession of faith? I have tried to give him a back story too. Some will note that the name used in the story, Dismas, is not a Jewish name. Neither is Gestas, the unbelieving thief. They are not nam