Jacob and the Persecution

Williamson/Jacob/Persecution

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Jacob and the Persecution.

By

Frazer Williamson.

Chapter One

At Jerusalem.

Jacob and his mother, Lilith, paused on their journey back to Bethany from the

markets of Jerusalem.

They were on the Mount of Olives where Jesus had been betrayed by Judas

Iscariot and had following His resurrection ascended to His Father in Heaven. They

looked back across the valley towards the walled city. Behind those stone walls stood

Herod’s magnificent Temple, the Antonia Fortress, and the Palace of Herod Antipas,

all dominating the rest of Jerusalem’s housing.

Again, people were gathering because of the Feast of the Harvest also known as

Pentecost because it came fifty days after Passover.


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“I can still see him, mother,” Jacob said. “Riding into the city through that gate

on a donkey.”

“And everybody shouting ‘Hosanna’. I remember it well,” Lilith said.

After that they both had other, darker, memories, of their Saviour being

scourged and crucified but these had been eclipsed when, after three days in the tomb

provided by Joseph of Arimathea God raised Jesus from the dead and He met with

His disciples before going back to His Father.

“I gave him a message for father,” Jacob said.

“Yes, Jacob, you told me so. More than once.” Lilith smiled for since coming of

age Jacob was no longer calling her ‘Moma’ or referring to his father as ‘Abba’, but

he did revert to childlike repetition.

“I was with John and the others when he went back to heaven. We were all

staring at the sky after he disappeared from view,” Jacob said. “Then two men

dressed in white robes were standing with us. We didn’t know where they’d come

from. They were angels.”

Lilith didn’t mind hearing it again.

“Tell me what they said, Jacob.”

They got the donkey started and moved on with their panniers towards Bethany.

“They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why look you at the sky? Jesus has gone to sit at

the right hand of His Father, but do not forget he will return to this world in the same

way as you have seen him go to heaven.’ And then they weren’t there any more.”

All the people who believed that Jesus was their Saviour and Lord at Bethany

and elsewhere took to watching the sky above the Mount of Olives day and night.


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Lilith voiced her thoughts, “Isn’t it wonderful, Jacob that we have seen God.”

Lilith remembered the first time she had seen Jesus. Jacob had brought him to

the house in which they lived at Capernaum. She lay sick in bed of an ailment that

baffled the doctors who had seen her.

“Have you brought the loaves and fish, Jacob?” she called, hearing him come

in. The curtain parted as Jacob came to her pallet bed. She saw someone behind him.

“Who is with you? How could you bring anybody here when I am not presentable?”

“This is Jesus,” Jacob said. “He has come to cure you. You should have seen

what he did with our loaves and fish.”

Lilith gave a low moan. “You didn’t give him our loaves and fish?”

“I did,” Jacob said.

“Foolish boy.”

“No Moma, he blessed them. and he fed about five thousand people with our

five loaves and two fish. I’ve brought him here to cure you.”

“No-one can cure me. The doctors said so.”

“Jesus can,” Jacob said. “He promised he would.”

“I suppose he can try,” Lilith said.

Jacob stood aside for Jesus.

“Will you cure me?” she asked him.

“Is it your hope that I will cure you?”

“It is.”

Jesus knelt beside her.

“I haven’t brushed the floor today,” she said.


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Jesus took both her hands in his.

“Get up now and be whole,” he said.

Lilith felt her lassitude and headaches that confined her to bed for days on end

draining away and a slow steady flow of strength come into her being so that she felt

invigorated.

“I would prepare something for you but we have no bread and no fish,” she said.

She took the basket from Jacob, expecting it to be light. When she removed the cloth

cover she found that there were five loaves and two fish freshly baked and freshly

caught.

From that day on she had joined with the group of women who followed Jesus.

Now as they approached Bethany she said to Jacob, “I wonder when the Gift

will arrive. The disciples are getting impatient.”

Jesus had told his disciples that they must stay in Jerusalem until he sent them

the Gift promised by God. In the meantime Simon Peter had called them together to

appoint another to take the place of Judas Iscariot.

“The Holy Spirit of God,” Peter said, “through the mouth of King David spoke

of Judas who betrayed our Lord. It is written in the book of Psalms ‘May his place be

deserted, let there be no-one to dwell in it. May another take his place’. He must be

replaced by someone who has been with us throughout our Lord’s ministry,

beginning from the time of his baptism by John until the time he was taken up to

heaven.”

Jacob had hoped that he might be chosen but only two men were eligible, Justus

and Matthias. The disciples and all who were present prayed that God would show


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them which of these two men should take the place of Judas Iscariot. The outcome

was decided by the casting of lots, and Matthias joined the eleven.

After that they remained waiting at Jerusalem and some began to grumble about

the amount of time it was taking the Gift to arrive.

“This grumbling must stop,” Simon Peter said. “The Gift will arrive in God’s

time not ours.”

“We must go to the Temple,” John said. John had been the only disciple who

had not fled when Jesus had been arrested and he was the only one to be with the

women at Skull Hill when Jesus was crucified between Jacob’s father and another

Zealot called ben Sula.

“Is it safe for us to go there?” asked James the son of Alphaeus.

“We must see for ourselves,” John said.

“The veil you mean?” Andrew said.

“Yes, it is said that it was rent asunder at the time Jesus gave His Spirit into His

Father’s hands.”

“Jacob could go and come back and tell us?” said Thomas.

“We should go ourselves,” John insisted. “The authorities know already that we

are in Jerusalem. There has been no move to arrest us.”

“Why take chances?” Thomas said.

“It would be better if we had the Gift,” said Judas, son of James. “Whatever it

is.”

“Jesus told us what it is,” John said. “After He washed our feet and Judas

Iscariot left to betray Him.”


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“And he predicted I would betray him,” Peter said. “How well he knew us.”

“What did he say it was, John?” Jacob asked.

“He told us that we were not to let our hearts be troubled. We believed in God

and we were also to believe in Him because He and His Father are One, so that we

have seen our Father in Heaven. He was answering you, Philip.”

“I remember,” said Philip. “He told me that anyone who has faith in Him will be

able to do what He did.”

“He was going to the Father,” Andrew said taking up the reminiscence, “and He

would do whatever we asked in His name so that He could glorify His Father.”

“If we loved Him,” Simon Peter said, “we’d keep His commandments, and to

do this He’d give us a Counsellor to be with us forever.”

“That is the Gift we are waiting on,” John said. “He called it the Holy Spirit, the

Spirit of Truth.”

“He also said He was preparing a place for us,” Philip said. “And when He had

it prepared He’d come for us, so that we would be with Him.”

And so they were waiting at Jerusalem for the Spirit of Truth.

Just before they reached Bethany, Jacob said to his mother, “I’ll be going with

them tomorrow when they go to the Temple.”

“You must be careful, Jacob,” Lilith said.

“They say that the High Priest has replaced the veil several times, but each time

it has been torn from top to bottom,” Jacob said.

“Tomorrow is the first day of the Harvest Feast,” Lilith said. “There will be

people there from all over the place. There is danger at such gatherings.”


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“Never fear, mother,” Jacob said.

Lilith sighed. Jacob would go, but there might well be trouble. The Governor,

Pontius Pilate had gone back to Caesarea. The Centurion, Octavian’s departure for

Rome with his Hundred had been delayed to augment the Roman force under the

command of the Tribune Cornelius at Jerusalem.


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Chapter Two.

Gamaliel and His Protégé.

The raised stone seat of the Rabban Gamaliel, built into the curve of the wall

was now unoccupied. Most of those who had listen to Gamaliel preach had departed

the arcade, and Gamaliel now stood in conversation with one who had for years been

his student and was now his protégé.

“It is good to see you again, Saul,” Gamaliel said. “How is your wife?”

“She is well, Master.”

“And your son?”

“He is frail and sickly, and I fear he will not survive.”

“I am sorry to hear that. We have two enemies; the first is our lack of certainty

and the last is death. There seems to be nothing we can do about the last, but our lack

of certainty comes from our wandering, or should I say, blundering about in the

darkness of our own being? That is why we need to choose a teacher who will help us

from the ways of doubt. But what of yourself? How is your eyesight?”

“It bothers me painfully from time to time like a thorn in the flesh. I think I am

almost blind in my left eye, and the squint I have in the other does not improve

things. Certainly not my looks.”

“You have a spiritual sight like no other student I have known.”

“My father chose you to be my teacher and he could not have made a better

choice. Without you I would have been a lost sheep.”


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“Such praise is a danger to me,” Gamaliel said. “You may not believe this but

the first enemy assails me at every opportunity. But without my lack of certainty I

would not be spurred to seek enlightenment. I have to keep reminding myself that

what I teach and what I know is not written, like the Law, in tablets of stone.”

“Surely you have no doubts that what you teach is the Law and the Law is the

truth. There can be no doubt about that.”

Saul was a rich young man from Tarsus and like all Hebrews of substance as

well as being a scholar and a lawyer, he also had a trade. He was a tentmaker, but

more than that he owned the business his father had bequeathed to him. The black

tents made in his factory from Cilician goats were the best and he supplied armies as

well as pilgrims.

Saul had learned the Hebrew text of the Sacred Law at the school attached to the

synagogue at Tarsus. He knew them in recitation and in writing so that long before

his father had presented him with his set of scrolls on vellum, Saul had a set copied

by his own hand.

“Saul,” Gamaliel said, “I do not doubt that the Law is important.”

“What then?” Saul’s impatience showed through “Did you not dissect the

Sacred texts for us as we sat at your feet?”

“With what results, Saul?”

“To my benefit and to the benefit of others.”

“I wonder,” Gamaliel said. “How is it of benefit to dissect a text until scores of

possible meanings are disclosed? I fear that what I do and what previous generations

of rabbis have done is obscure the original sense of God’s Law and in doing so create


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our own traditions in order to help us avoid the inconveniencies of what God wants us

to do.”

Saul was shocked. He’d never heard his beloved mentor talk like this.

“It is not right that the Law should become an intellectual exercise,” Gamaliel

said. “I remember many years ago a boy came here with his parents. He was twelve

years of age and he amazed us all with his knowledge of the scriptures and of the

Law. It was as if he had written them himself. For him the Law was no intellectual

exercise. For days he sat here in this court and cut away all the obscurities that had

been piled upon the Law, and the Law became something to be breathed as we lived.”

“A prodigy indeed,” Saul said. “What ever became of him?”

“Last Passover he came to Jerusalem and the Sadducees arrested him and tried

him for blasphemy and they coerced Pilate into crucifying him. He claimed to be the

Messiah, God’s Chosen One for Israel.”

“How could he be?” Saul said. “If he was hanged. What was his name?”

“Jesus. He came from Nazareth.”

“I knew of him when I was in Galilee. He was making trouble in the

synagogues.”

“He said that he had not come to destroy the Law, but that the Law through him

should be fulfilled. He gave his followers a new commandment. They were to love

God and their neighbour as themselves and they were to love their enemies, and be

kind to one another.”

“How could he have been the Messiah? King David wrote that God would make

the nations of the world our Messiah’s footstool. He will be a light unto all the


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peoples of the world. The Romans have slaughtered this Jesus like a sheep. Had he

been our Messiah he would have called down an army of angels.”

“Saul, remember what God wrote through the prophet Isaiah?”

This gave Saul pause for thought, as he remembered the text he had first written

in the synagogue at Tarsus. The Messiah would be led like a lamb to the slaughter

and for the sins of his people would he be stricken, and he would make his grave with

the wicked.

Gamaliel waited for Saul to say something. When he did not he changed the

subject.

“Caiaphas wished me to speak tomorrow at the opening of the Harvest Festival.

He has also asked, knowing you were in Jerusalem, that you would conduct some

classes during the Night of Learning.”

“Of course,” Saul said. “I should be glad to.”

“Then let us go and see him.”

The Night of Learning took place after the opening ceremony of the Harvest

Feast, in the Temple and in every synagogue throughout the land of Israel. People sat

from sunset to sunrise studying the scriptures.

Gamaliel and Saul passed along the outer precincts of the Temple. They crossed

the Court of the Gentiles and ascended the portico steps and passed through the door

of the Sanctuary.

The High Priest Caiaphas was there watching as forty priest-workers operating a

series of pulley’s raised a heavy curtain at a point dividing the Sanctuary from the

Holy of Holies.


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“What are they doing?” Saul asked.

“Replacing the veil.”

“Why?”

“It was sundered, torn from top to bottom.”

“How did that happen?”

“The official story is that the material had become rotten.”

“But you do not believe that?”

“It is said that at the moment that Jesus the Nazarene gave up the ghost, the veil

was rent.”

“Do you believe that?”

“If it is true, then God Himself rent the veil.”

“God would not do that,” Saul said.

Gamaliel said nothing.

The priest-workers had secured the new royal blue curtain, and those at the top

came down on the pulleys from the great height. Caiaphas watched them gather up all

their equipment and depart and then became aware of Gamaliel and Saul’s presence.

“This one will not be rent,” he said. “It is of the heaviest, strongest material and

it is good that it is in place for tomorrow’s opening ceremony.”

At that time the High Priest would stand before the curtain and address the

people.

“Come,” he said. “We need to discuss what needs to be said.”


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Chapter Three.

Lilith and Mary of Magdala.

The evening before the day of the opening ceremony of the Harvest Festival,

Mary of Magdala sought an opportunity to speak to Lilith, Jacob’s mother when no-

one else was about.


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“Lilith,” she said. “I hope you won’t think I’m interfering but I notice that the

Centurion Octavian has come seeking you out on more than one occasion.”

“He is a friend. Both to myself and to Jacob. When Eli was in prison he allowed

us to visit him every day.”

“He also had him nailed to a cross.”

“He did not wish to. He spoke for his release to Governor Pilate. There was

nothing more he could do. He was under orders.”

“He crucified Jesus.”

“And also ben Sula. Under orders.”

“Why make excuses for him?”

“I don’t think I am.”

“It sounds as though you are.”

“You don’t understand, Mary.”

“I understand more than you think. Can you not see that he is the instrument of

the High Priest and the Roman Governor?”

“He was an instrument of God. Think, Mary. You have seen our risen Master,

and in a way I’m glad it was Octavian who was in charge of those three crucifixions.

The Magdala was silent, then she said:

“You’re in love with him.”

Now Lilith was silent, then she said:

“He wants Jacob and I to go with him to Rome.”

“Does he intend to marry you?”

“He has said so.”


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“And what sort of a life would you have married to a Pagan who worships false

gods and idols? You’d be worse off than Judith who is married to the Tribune

Cornelius. Tell me you have not said you will go.”

“He awaits my answer.”

“If I were you I’d stay clear of him.”

“He is a friend, and is good to Jacob. You heard what he said at the foot of the

cross when Jesus gave his Spirit to His Father. He believed at that moment that Jesus

was the Son of God.”

“Does he still believe that?”

“I think he has a strong leaning towards that belief.”

“But you’re not sure?”

“I’m not sure, but he has spoken with Simon Peter and the other disciples and

he is searching for the truth. I think he is afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Of the wrath of God. He fears that if he has killed the Son of the one true God,

God will take a terrible vengeance and he is not sure he will be able to bear such

suffering.”

They should all suffer for what they did.”

“No. Jesus said with his last breath that they should be forgiven for they did not

know what they were doing.”

“You are in love with him.”

“I bear him a love as Jesus said we should bear a love for our neighbour and our

enemies.”


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“So you provide him with an excuse.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is it that you have told him that in carrying out Pilate’s orders he was an

instrument of God’s will, and that he was powerless to do otherwise.”

Lilith said nothing.

“Admit it, Lilith.”

“I spoke what I believed to be the truth. I also said that if he truly believed that

Jesus was God’s Son, his sins and transgressions against God were forgiven.”

“But still he has doubts?”

“His doubts come and go.”

“And you are waiting until they are completely washed away in a great flood of

belief?”

“I suppose so.”

“If that happened would you go with him to Rome?”

“I’m not sure. It would not be easy to live among Pagans. All our friends are

here.”

“At least you’ve given it some thought.”

“A lot of thought. Octavian is a good man. He would be kind to Jacob.”

“Handsome too.”

“You’ve noticed.”

“Of course I have.”

“I’ve noticed that you too, Mary, have many admirers.”


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“I wish it were not so. Men pursue me for my reputation. They believe me to be

proficient in the art of physical love. They think me still a priestess of Astarte. That

life I have turned from and I will not return to it.”

“You ran a house of ill repute.”

“I ran a house where Satan reigned and he and his devils possessed me. The

men who came to my house I despised and hated, and I did Satan’s work and brought

them low and damned their souls.

“I conceived children and killed them in my womb and I was diseased in body

and mind. Then one evening I heard voices outside my house raised in protest:

“‘You cannot go into such a house, Master.’ That was Simon Peter. ‘It’s a bad

house.’

“I heard another voice say, firmly, clearly, quietly, ‘Why do you think I’ve

come here, Simon?’

“‘I don’t know, Master, but it’s not a place you should be.’

“‘You would condemn these people, Simon?’

“‘They’re on their way to Sheol, Master.’

“‘I have not come to condemn them, but that through me they should be saved

and have a life with God.’

“The man came through the door of my house and through the silk curtains. He

was not a handsome man. I went forward to meet him.

“‘Welcome to my house of joy,’ I said. ‘I’m sure I can provide for your pleasure

and for the pleasure of your friends.’


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“‘I have not come to pleasure my body,’ he said. ‘I have come to cleanse your

soul of sin.’

“I could feel the Devil and demons within me become agitated, and I said in a

voice I did not recognize as my own, ‘Leave us alone, Jesus of Nazareth. We claim

this woman for ourselves.’

“You are wrong, Lucifer. This woman is loved by my Father in Heaven, and I

claim her for His glory. Therefore depart and leave her to the will and the power of

God.’

“‘She does not wish us to depart,’ I heard the voices say. ‘Ask her.’

“He spoke directly to me. “I can cleanse you of your devils and forgive you

your sins. Do you wish me to do that?”

“The demons within me set of a clamour remonstrating with me to retain the life

I was leading, but in an instant my mind became free of the clamour and the

confusion and I experienced myself as a child again in the hills where I was born and

I wished to be as innocent as I was then.

“I said, ‘Cleanse me and forgive my sins.’

The Devil did not leave me gently. Seven times I was left convulsing and only

after that was I able to breathe freely.

“‘Come,’ Jesus said. ‘Turn your back on this place.’ And that is what I did.”

“Have you never wished for a good man to be your husband,” Lilith said. “One

who would love you for who you are now and not for what you once were?”

“I’m content in my single state, Lilith. “I will be a good sister to all who love

Jesus.”


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“I wish I was like you, Mary, but I am drawn towards Octavian not as a sister.”

Chapter Four.

The Coming of the Gift.

On the day that the Feast of Pentecost began Jacob awoke with a feeling of

excitement and expectation.

It was as though he knew that something was going to happen on this day. There

was a feeling within him that he was unable to express or utter. It was as if a

preparation was going on.

He got up from his pallet all of a tremble, washed and dressed quickly. He went

outside where he found the disciples including the new man Matthias. They too

seemed to have the same sense of excitement. They talked together in hushed tones as

the women served them food to break their fast.


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Jacob’s mother thrust a bowl into his hands. “If you must go with them, Jacob, go

with a full stomach. Eat.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?” he asked her.

“I’ll stay here,” she said. “You just be careful.”

“We’ll take care of him,” said James the brother of Jesus who sat beside his

brother Jude. Both brothers had, when they saw Jesus scourged and crucified come to

believe that he was the promised Messiah, and they had joined with the other

believers at Bethany.

“Make sure you stay close to James and Jude,” Lilith said.

“I’ll be all right, mother,” Jacob was embarrassed at his mother’s concern.

Mary of Magdala came from one of the communal dwellings.

“Isn’t it still? I’ve never known it to be so still,” she said, looking up at the

cloudless sky.

Jerusalem shimmered in the airless haze of heat. Three crosses stood empty on

Skull Hill, a reminder of what any criminal or Zealot might expect if caught breaking

Roman law. It was where Jesus and Jacob’s father had died. It was a comfort to Jacob

to know that Jesus after hearing Eli bar Jonah rebuke ben Sula had taken his father to

heaven to be with Him. Jacob remembered Jesus’ words: “I tell you truly, Eli bar

Jonah, today you will be with me in the Kingdom of Heaven.

“That’s where my father is,” Jacob thought. “His soul is in heaven with our Lord

Jesus, and one day my father will have a resurrected body and we will all be together

again.”


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Jacob missed his father. Even before he died, Jacob had missed him because his

father had been more taken up with his work for the Zealots than with his work for

his family.

Whenever he spoke his thoughts aloud about seeing his father again, his mother

always said, “But only if we keep the faith, Jacob.”

“After all that has happened how can we not keep the faith?” he had said.

“The Devil will tempt us Jacob. We belong to Jesus, but the Devil will try to take

us away from Him.”

“Our faith is strong,” Jacob said. “I don’t see how he can do that.”

“He’ll try, Jacob. Always be on your guard.”

Jacob did not think it likely that he would lose his faith that Jesus was God’s only

Son and that if he believed in Him he would not go to Sheol but dwell forever in the

light with God.

“So very still,” Mary of Magdala said again.

Everyone who was going across the Kidron valley to Jerusalem was getting ready.

The disciples were donning prayer shawls when without warning the fringes stirred

and there was the sound like a strong wind that increased to gale force.

There was not telling where it came from, but although it straightened out Jacob’s

hair and plucked at his clothing, it did not take his breath away.

It went through each building of the commune bringing people out, then like

wildfire it consumed each person until they looked as if they were on fire and burning

without being consumed.


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“The Gift has arrived,” shouted Simon Peter. “It is like John the Baptizer said,

Our Lord Jesus is baptizing us with His Holy Spirit.”

Men and women, Lilith among them, set out for Jerusalem, and as they exultantly

ran through the tent city in the valley and through the gate into Jerusalem they

proclaimed God’s power through Jesus of Nazareth in many tongues, not their own.

Following them into the city were Parthians, Meads, Elaminites and farmers and

visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phygia, Pamphylia,

Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome, Crete and Arabia. Through the streets they went until

they came to the Temple, each hearing the word of the Spirit of Truth in his or her

own tongue.

The group from Bethany stopped in the Court of the Gentiles and people asked;

“Are not these people Galileans? How come they are able to speak our languages?”

“How are these ignorant Galileans so articulate?” others asked.

Some proclaimed them to be drunk on cheap wine.

Simon Peter stepped up onto a plinth and filled with the Spirit of Truth spoke out

boldly.

“My fellow Jews, and all of you who are visiting Jerusalem at this time of harvest,

listen carefully. You need to know the truth. We are not drunk as some of you think.

It’s nine in the morning. We have had no time to get drunk on wine. No, our Lord

Jesus has filled us with His Holy Spirit, so that we, men and women are able to

prophesy, to see visions, and to dream dreams of the Kingdom of God and to let you

know the truth.”

“And what is the truth?” a voice shouted.


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“The truth is that Jesus from Nazareth came from heaven and followed the

deliberate and well thought-out plan of God. He was born at Bethlehem and grew to

manhood because God saved him from Herod, and kept him safe in Egypt until he

was able to return to Nazareth after the death of Herod the Builder.

“This Jesus was announced and baptized by John the Baptizer who recognized

Him as the Messiah, baptizing Him and saying: ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes

away the sin of the world.’

“After the Baptizer was put in prison by Herod Antipas, Jesus began His mission

at Capernaum among the Pagans and apostate Jews of Zebulun and Napthali, and to

them was given a great light, but they like those who betrayed Him and sentenced

Him to death, and who had him crucified only fifty days ago, preferred to dwell in

darkness.

“Jesus died on that cross, but God, His Father, raised Him from death, doing for

Him what He did for our brother Lazarus here, whom many knew to be dead and was

raised by Jesus four days after he had been put in his tomb. At that time Jesus said

that He was the resurrection and the life.

“Our great King David lies in his tomb, but God the tomb of Jesus lies empty. We

are witnesses to His resurrection, and we saw Him ascend from the Mount of Olives

and we see Him now sitting at the right hand of God the Father.

“And now He has poured out upon us the Holy Spirit of God. You Jews should

understand that there is no longer room for doubt. God sent Jesus, His Messiah whom

you killed on the cross at Skull Hill.”

“If this is true,” called a voice. “What can we do?”


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“Repent,” Simon Peter said. “Change your lives. Turn to God and be baptized in

the name of Jesus, so that your sins are forgiven, then you too will receive the gift of

His Holy Spirit.”

The crowd fired questions at Simon Peter until he became hoarse and John had to

take over, and the other disciples moved among the crowd speaking to them of Jesus

the Messiah.

Jacob and Lilith found themselves speaking Greek to a tall man with a kindly face

who had, suspended from his right shoulder a physician’s box.

He told them his name was Luke.


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Chapter Five.

Luke the Physician.

The Greek listened carefully to what the boy and his mother had to say. He did

not take what they said at face value but asked questions that penetrated to the heart

of the matter.

“You tell me these things,” he said. “But how am I to believe them when I have

not seen a deaf man made to hear, or a blind man made to see, or a paralytic made to

take up his bed and walk, or that man Lazarus you pointed out to me, raised from the

dead. How am I to know that he really was dead and was not simply in a comatose

state?”

It was Jacob who replied, speaking fluent Greek.

“Sir,” he said. “My mother and I are from Galilee. We have lived at Capernaum

all of our lives, and we have never before spoken a single, solitary syllable of your


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language, nor have we ever understood a word of it, yet here we are, speaking and

understanding every word we say to one another. Is that not something?”

“You may have learned Greek at Sephoris,” Luke said.

“Only the rich can afford to send their sons to Sephoris for an education,” Lilith

said. “We are poor folk.”

“And with regard to the wonders performed by our Messiah, Jesus,” Jacob said.

“There are many witnesses. All you have to do is speak to Martha and Mary who will

tell you that before Jesus raised their brother Lazarus from the grave he’d been in his

tomb four days.”

“I am a man of science,” Luke said. “Everything you tell me about what your

Jesus has done goes against the laws of nature.” He paused for reflection then said, “I

suppose what he did could not be defined as miracles if his wonders did not go

against the laws of nature. You say that he has risen from being dead. I would need

proof of that.”

“You should talk with Thomas,” Lilith said. “He too wanted proof.”

“And did he get it?”

“He did. He touched the wounds in our Lord’s hands. Jesus told him that those

who believed without seeing had a greater blessing,” Jacob said. “Jesus has gone to

be with His Father in Heaven, and He has given us who believe in Hm His Holy

Spirit and eternal life.”

“Don’t you believe in eternal life, Sir?”


27

“It is something I have given much thought to,” Luke said. “I am a physician

and in this life I have seen much of the suffering of others both rich and poor. An

eternal life of suffering is not something I would wish upon the world.”

“It wouldn’t be like that, Sir,” Lilith said. “The world will be as it was before

the sinning of Adam and Eve and there will be no sorrow or suffering.”

“That is a pleasant thought. Comforting, but is it true?”

“Yes, Sir, it is true. Jesus has promised that it will be that way, and Jesus keeps

his promises.”

“I must make further enquiries,” Luke said.

“My father is in heaven with Jesus,” Jacob said, and he told Luke about his

father.

“I saw Jesus after his resurrection. I saw him ascend to heaven. He told me my

father was with him in heaven.”

“I do not doubt that you believe that to be so,” Luke said. “I will think about all

you have told me. Where do you live for I may want to talk to you again.”

Jacob told him where they lived, and his interest seemed to pick up again when

Jacob mentioned that at Bethany lived the mother of Jesus and her other two sons

James and Jude.

“I will definitely come to Bethany for I would like to speak with the mother of

your Jesus.”

With that he left them and mad his way from the Court of the Gentiles to his

lodgings. As he walked his thought turned to the visit he had made that morning to a

sick boy.


28

The house was in that part of Jerusalem where the well off had their mansions.

He had climbed more than a hundred steps cut from the rock upon which the city had

its foundations.

Out of breath he had been admitted by a maid who led him into a cool marbled

interior and then to a chamber where the boy lay. The boy’s mother was beside the

bed soothing his brow with cold cloths.

“I could not bring him to you,” she said. “He is too weak. You have a good

reputation doctor. I want you to save my son.”

It was not the done thing for a Greek or any other pagan to enter the house of a

religious Jewish family, and Luke knew that the woman must have been desperate to

have brought him here as a last resort after all the efforts of Jewish physicians had

failed. The house would have to be purified when he had gone.

The boy he examined was deformed and emaciated.

“He keeps nothing down,” his mother said. “Not even water.

“His pulse was weak and was weakening even more. His breathing had periods

when he stopped breathing altogether before starting again. His eyes were glazed and

sticky. The boy was near death.

“Do something,” the mother said.

“I’m sorry,” Luke said. “Your son is dying. The other doctors have told you

that.”

“I did not believe them. Save him. He must live.”

Luke knew it was impossible. His heart was moved by the woman’s distress. He

heard approaching footsteps and a man came into the room.


29

“Why is this Gentile in the house?” the man asked.

“To save our Baruch,” the mother said. “This is my husband, Saul.”

“Can you save this child, physician?”

“Your son is at the point of death,” Luke said.

“There is nothing to be done,” the man said. “The other doctors said the same

thing.”

“I can make his dying more comfortable,” Luke said.

“Then do so,” said the father. “Come, wife.”

“I want to be with my son when he dies.”

“Leave him to the physician.”

“Have you no heart? Can you not stay with him until he is dead?”

“There is nothing I can do. Furthermore there is nothing you can do.”

“I can hold his hand. If only….”

“If only, what?”

“I would have gone to Jesus from Nazareth if they had not crucified him. He

would have saved our son.”

Luke, watching closely the boy in the bed saw that he had now ceased to

breathe. He examined him again.

“Your son is dead. I’m sorry.”

The mother gave a cry and began to wail.

“Leave now, physician,” the father said. “There are preparations to be made.”

A servant saw Luke to the door.


30

Luke now turned into the street where he had his lodgings. Was it a coincidence

that he had heard the name of Jesus twice that day? Had the man really the power to

perform miracles of healing and resurrection? Had he been the Son of the Jewish

God?

Luke had much to think about and investigate.


31

Chapter Six.

Pontius Pilate at Caesarea.

The house of Saul of Tarsus was not the only troubled house. Pontius Pilate

after the Jewish Passover had retreated to his palace at Caesarea. He hoped that there

he would get a period of peace and rest from having to deal with the Jews and their

squabbles about their religious practices.

However, waiting for him on his return was disturbing news from Rome. A

friend wrote that Tiberius the Emperor was subjecting Rome to a reign of terror.

Sejanus had been executed and his family pursued and dragged out of hiding to be put

to death also. All of Sejanus’ adherents and followers were being tried for treason.


32

Pilate read the list of doomed defendants. Most lied and disclaimed their

friendship with Sejanus, to no effect. They, like the brave few who said they were

Sejanus’ friends were executed.

Pilate’s hand shook when he read that his name had been mentioned in the

Senate as one who had been close to Sejanus and had gained his position through

him.

He thought of the letter he had dispatched to Tiberius. It would be nearing its

destination by this time. In it he had given Caesar to believe that the taxes he had

gathered during the Jewish Passover would arrive shortly after the messenger. The

amount extracted was greater than usual due to his having increased overall taxation.

He assured Tiberius Caesar of his loyalty.

Unfortunately, the taxes would not arrive at the time stipulated in his letter. Due

to a number of circumstances and intelligence reports submitted by his chief

spymaster, Gaius Servius, the monies were still in Jerusalem.

He must write another letter stating that the taxes taken from the Passover and

the following Harvest Festival would be sent together. He would have to explain that

the delay was due to increased Zealot activity led by a man called bar Abbas. He had

already mentioned in his military report that he had released bar Abbas on the

demands of the Jewish populace at Passover and in his place he had executed a

Jewish rabbi who claimed to be King of the Jews and therefore a threat to Caesar.

Would Tiberius think that he was withholding the taxes and plotting against

him? It was a worrying thought for he could not be sure that the Emperor would think

just that.


33

When he tried to discuss his anxieties with his wife, Proculeia he found her

unsympathetic.

“What do you expect,” she said. “That’s the sort of world we live in. Nothing is

certain. You could be accused, tried and condemned to death at any moment on a

whim of the Emperor. Of course he could take it into his head to think you were

plotting against him. He wants s to get rid of anyone connected with Sejanus.”

“You, too, would suffer.”

“Perhaps deservedly so.”

“Now, don’t start that again.”

“You can’t say I didn’t warn you. You should have crucified bar Abbas not that

innocent man.”

“I did my best to free him. I washed my hands of his blood.”

“You allowed yourself to become the fool when you gave way to those horrible

priests.”

“And if I had not, they, and no doubt Antipas, would have written against me to

Tiberius.”

“They might do that anyway. You may still have to face Tiberius. There are

those here and in Rome who will not allow him to forget you.”

“Talking to you makes things worse.”

“You would do better to answer Thrasyllus’ letter and be honest in your reply.”

As well as the letter telling him of Rome’s reign of terror, there was also

another from Thrasyllus, Tiberius’ astrologer.


34

In it were the usual greetings hoping that Pilate was enjoying good health as

both he and the Princeps were. That let Pilate know that Tiberius would not die soon

of natural causes which was a hope he had.

Thrasyllus had confirmed for Caesar that Pilate was the right Procurator for

Judea.

“I would remind you,” he wrote, “of what you promised to do for me when you

left Rome to take up your post. You were to investigate and report back to me

concerning the star that hovered above Judea almost forty years ago.

“If you have consulted with the priests in Jerusalem and the astrologers why

then have I not received a report?”

With all the problems of state Pilate had quickly forgotten his promise to

Thrasyllus, but now here was Thrasyllus asking again about the star and about

another celestial event which had brought the star to his mind.

“The event,” he wrote, “occurred in the afternoon of the Friday following the

Calends of April. A great darkness moved across the horizon form the south east

Mediterranean, and the sky remained black for several hours.

“Can you shed any light on this period of darkness? Perhaps you would consult

local astrologers. I need an explanation because the phenomenon has made all

astrological calculations impossible.

“The Princeps is greatly concerned and like myself hopes to hear from you

soon.”


35

When Pilate thought about it he realized that Proculeia might be right. If he

helped the astrologer he would be helping Tiberius and in helping Tiberius he would

be helping himself.

“The darkness at the time you crucified that innocent man,” Proculeia said,

“penetrated the world as far as Rome.”

Would his wife never give him peace from her constant recriminations?

Pilate sent for the astrologers at Jerusalem but in the meantime he questioned

the one at Caesarea.

The astrologer was turbaned and wore a cloak decorated with stars and with

astrological symbols. His body was one that enjoyed an abundance of food.

“What can I do for the Governor of Judea?” he asked, his hands spreading apart

and with a bowing smile.

“What do you know of a star that about forty years ago appeared to come to rest

above Judea?” Pilate asked directly.

“That would have been in the time of Herod the Builder,” the man said. “It was

there and it attracted three astrologers who journeyed from the east. They told Herod

they had come to look upon the King of the Jews.

“Herod said that he was King of the Jews, but they told him they wanted to see

the King who had just been born. They consulted with Herod’s wise men who told

them that a Messiah would be born at Bethlehem.

“The three magi set out for Bethlehem with instructions from Herod that if they

found this King they were to return and give him his location, so that he too could go

and bow down before him.


36

“But that was the last Herod saw of the three magi, for they went home by

another route.”

“They found this King of the Jews?” Proculeia asked.

“It is said they did.”

“What happened to him?”

“Alas,” he must have died when Herod sent in his troops to slaughter every

child up to the age of two years at Bethlehem.”

“And if he had survived,” Proculeia said, “would he have been about the same

age as Jesus from Nazareth? You know of Him of course?”

“Who has not heard of Him?”

“Well, would he have been the same age?”

“If he had survived, yes.”

“I have heard he has risen from the dead,” Proculeia said.

“I too have heard that,” the astrologer said.

“His followers stole the body and hid it,” Pilate said.

“Do you know where Jesus was born?” Proculeia asked.

“He was born at the time when Caesar Augustus called for a census and his

parents came all the way from Galilee to Judea.”

“To Bethlehem in Judea?”

“Yes Lady.”

“Then the baby at Bethlehem did survive.”

Pilate shook his head as though to rid himself of the thought that the star and the

darkness at noon were connected.


37

“And what of this darkness that occurred at the time of the last Passover?” he

asked.

“It engulfed Judea,” the astrologer said. “You were there yourself and you felt

the earth tremble.”

“How do you explain it?”

“It is inexplicable”

“There must be opinions,” Pilate said. “An eclipse of the sun.”

“At that time, impossible. The moon and sun were not in the right positions.”

“What then?”

“It was as if at that time God had closed his eyes.”

Proculeia shivered. “In your opinion,” she said, “was Jesus from Nazareth the

Son of the Jewish God?”

“His disciples say so.” The astrologer would not be drawn on what he thought

himself.

When he had gone, Proculeia said, “Pontius, you must find out if He has really

risen from the dead.”

But Pilate’s mind was on what he would write to Thrasyllus that would keep

him right with Tiberius.


38

Chapter Seven.

Octavian and Servius.

It was not at all to the liking of the High Priest Caiaphas or to Annas his father-

in-law, but as Octavian remarked to Cornelius, the excitement generated by Simon

Peter and the other disciples of Jesus the teacher from Nazareth, was no threat to

Roman law and order. There was no rioting only a solemn rejoicing and the Roman

soldiers and auxiliaries in Jerusalem did not have difficult or dangerous duties.

All went well and with the taxes secured, Octavian received orders from

Caesarea to proceed to Herod’s Harbour to embark for Rome. His orders were

brought by the Spymaster Servius who had been recalled from Galilee.

“Centurion,” he said. “The Governor stresses, and you must understand, that

these revenues must be taken directly to Caesar at his villa on Capri. On no account

must they fall into the hands of the Zealots here or the hands of Caesar’s enemies.”

“Who are Caesar’s enemies?”


39

“Those who followed Sejanus, and escaped the wrath of Caesar. Your ship must

sail directly to Capri.”

“What intelligence have you concerning the Zealots. They would seem to be the

greater danger.”

“Large numbers have been withdrawn from Galilee in the north and from

Masada in the south. They are congregating in the hill and passes of Judea between

Jerusalem and Caesarea.”

“They intend to attack the treasury column as I take it along that road.”

“No doubt.

“It would help if I knew the point of their attack.”

“I am expecting one of my agents to provide me with that information. In fact

he is overdue.”

“Perhaps he is dead.”

“In that case we will not know when or where the Zealots will attack.”

“Attack they will. I will be on my guard. Am I to have reinforcements?”

“Only the men you are taking with you to Rome. However your friend

Cornelius will have patrols in the hills on your route from Jerusalem. There will also

be patrols from Caesarea. It is essential that you do not lose the tribute.”

Octavian waited for the Spymaster to go but he seemed to have something more

to say.

“What is it?” Octavian asked.

“You are, I believe familiar with the followers of the man from Nazareth whom

you crucified at the last Passover Feast of the Jews.”


40

“I know of them,” Octavian said, cautiously.

“From what I hear you would like to be more than familiar with the widow of

the Zealot you also crucified.”

Octavian did not like the man’s sly smile.

“Get to the point,” he said, shortly.

“I want to question the woman and her son.”

“Why?”

“They have information that Governor Pilate wishes to know.”

“They have severed their connections with the Zealots,” Octavian said.

“I would not question them about the Zealots.”

Octavian did not believe him.

“About what, then?”

“About the man from Nazareth.”

“Why is Pilate interested in him?”

“It has more to do with the Governor’s wife. She wishes to know if it is true that

Jesus has risen from the dead.”

“His followers say he has.”

“They may have stolen his body from the tomb and hidden it elsewhere.”

“I hear that is the official story put about by the Chief Priests.”

“I have been unable to find the men from the Temple Guard who were at the

tomb. Any idea where they might be?”

“None.”


41

“I’m told that the boy Jacob and his mother have seen and spoken to this Jesus

after he had supposedly risen. I’m sure you must realize that if this man is alive and

appearing to his followers then he is a grave threat to Rome. A greater threat that that

of the Zealots.”

“I realize that of course,” Octavian said. “But there is no need for you to

question the woman or her son. I can answer your questions.”

“I doubt that.”

“According to His followers Jesus rose from the dead on the third day as He

told them He would, and for some time he did appear to his disciples both at

Jerusalem and in Galilee.”

“You believe all that?”

“If I crucified the Son of the Jewish God,” Octavian said, “then it is no doubt

true that He should rise from the dead.”

“But you are not sure.”

“I would have liked to have seem Him for myself, but His disciples and those

who believe in Him are more than convinced.”

“Let us suppose for the sake of conjecture that He is alive. That might mean that

for some reason He did not die on the cross. After all His legs were not broken so He

did not suffocate like the others. He might have been drugged to make it look like He

was dead.”

“My Sergeant thrust a spear into Him to make sure He was dead.”


42

“Nevertheless,” Servius said. “Let us say for the moment that he was taken

down from the cross and revived to be seen by his followers. Where would he be

now? He must be hiding somewhere.”

“He is not hiding anywhere.”

“You don’t know that, Centurion.”

“Jacob told me that He ascended to heaven to be with His Father, in which case

He is no longer on this earth.”

“All very convenient.”

“It’s not a matter of convenience,” Octavian said.

“Of course it is. Why can’t you see what it is they’ve done? The spear wound

cannot have been fatal. He survived the cross, and sooner or later he will emerge from

hiding to lead a revolt against Rome.”

Octavian took time to consider the thoughts in his mind and to decide if they

should be spoken. Jacob had told him with such conviction about the way he had seen

Jesus ascend to be with His Father in Heaven, that there was no doubt in his mind that

the boy was telling the truth, and that he wanted him to believe that truth.

Octavian was at this moment on the verge of belief. To plunge into such a belief

would be tantamount to giving up everything his reason rejected. Rising from the

dead was not something a corpse did. A corpse rotted to become a skeleton. And yet

there was Lazarus. It was not in dispute that Lazarus had been four days in his tomb

when Jesus came to Bethany and raised him from the dead.

Lazarus had told him what Jesus had said of Himself that He was the

resurrection and the life, that whoever believed in him would have eternal life. If that


43

was so and Jesus was the Son of the Jewish God, He could rise from the dead and

ascend to be with His Father.

Jacob also told him about the angel and he was wondering if he should tell

Servius what the angel had said.

“Well, Centurion, what do you have to say?”

“Only this,” Octavian said. “I do not believe that Jesus is hiding anywhere. He

is not on this earth. I believe I crucified the Son of the Jewish God, and I could not do

otherwise. I believe He died and rose again from the dead and that He is now with His

Father in Heaven.”

And then he told Servius what the angel had said.

“He ascended from the Mount of Olives, and an angel told His followers that He

would come again from Heaven to the place from where He had ascended.”

Servius looked at Octavian with narrowed eyes.

“It would appear, Centurion, that your allegiance had departed from Rome.”

“I am loyal to my Emperor.”

“We shall see,” Servius said. “When you depart for Rome, I will accompany

you to Caesarea and two of my men will go with you from there to Capri. Now, be a

dutiful soldier of Rome and bring me the boy Jacob and his mother for questioning.”


44

Chapter Eight.

The Sanhedrin.

The religious leaders of the Jews were in session. The meeting house was

divided into two sides. At the head on a throne of olive wood sat Caiaphas, the High

Priest, and two steps below him on a smaller throne sat his father-in-law, Annas.

To their right sat the members of the Sanhedrin who were Sadducees and to

their left sat the Pharisees.

It was a noisy meeting and they had been arguing for the past hour since the

High Priest had brought up the issue of what should be done about the Galileans, the

followers of the blasphemer from Nazareth who had been crucified because He

claimed to be the Son of God.

The High Priest watched and listened attentively to the exchanges between the

two factions of the religious house. The meeting was becoming chaotic but he did not

think it had reached the stage when he would bring it to order.

It reached that stage when a Sadducee rushed across the floor of the house and

struck out at a Pharisee who shrank back in his seat with a yelp.

Caiaphas pounded the floor with his staff of office.

“Enough,” he shouted. His voice had all the authority of his standing.


45

With a final swipe at the Pharisee the Sadducee slunk back to his place.

“Is this any way to behave?” Caiaphas said. “I am appalled that this issue should

lead to such behaviour. Is this the way we solve our problems? By bickering among

ourselves? I think not. What we need is a rational assessment of the problem. In that

way we can come to a rational solution. Are we agreed?”

There was a chorus of consent from both sides of the house.

“I’m pleased to see you all in agreement. Annas will state the problem as we see

it.”

Annas stood and then walked down onto the floor to stand between the two

parties.

“We need to be united in this,” he began. “That there is a problem is beyond

dispute.”

Heads nodded on both sides.

“These disciples of the blasphemer,” Annas went on, “have persuaded ignorant

and gullible people to believe that the blasphemer rose from the dead and ascended to

Heaven from the top of the Mount of Olives.”

“And who is to say he did not?” cried out Joseph of Arimathea. “Not all of

those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus are ignorant and gullible people. If the

Almighty chose to raise Him from the dead as He chose to raise Lazarus, who are we

to go against God?”

“You gave him your tomb, Arimathea,” Annas said. “What more needs to be

said about where your loyalties lie?”


46

“Jesus spoke the truth when He stood before you,” Joseph said. “He is the truth

and His Spirit has come to state that truth.”

Caiaphas used his rod of office again to quell a renewed outbreak of hot dispute.

“Allow Annas to continue without interruption,” he shouted.

“The problem is this,” Annas said. “This cult of the Nazarene which has arisen

here in Jerusalem is growing in numbers not by the day but by the hour. It comprises

not only Jews, but Gentiles of all races. An expanding commune has grown up in

Bethany and is extending into the Kidron valley where the tent city is becoming

permanent.

“They hold every belonging and every coin in common, and those with property

sell it and their land to do so. Such was the case with young bar Naba the Levite who

sold his inheritance.

“There was some dissention among them because the Greek widows felt they

were not getting the same amounts of bread and money as the Jewish widows. We

had hoped that this would cause a break up but it was quickly settled by the Galileans

who appointed seven men to be responsible for the distribution of monies and food.

“You all know what happened when we hauled Simon Peter and John to appear

before us.”

“For healing a cripple in the name of Jesus of Nazareth,” interrupted Joseph of

Arimathea.

“Don’t interrupt again,” ordered Caiaphas.

“Allow me to speak,” Joseph said, and there was support from some of the other

Pharisees. The Sadducees howled for him to sit down and be quiet.


47

“Order! Order!” boomed Caiaphas. Then when there was quiet: “Have your say,

Arimathea.”

“Were Simon and John overawed by our presence as you hoped they would be?

Joseph asked. “No. Simon looked you in the eye and told you he had been the

instrument of the power of God through Jesus of Nazareth to heal the cripple.

“He told you that Jesus was the Saviour of Israel who rose from the dead on the

third day having rebuilt the Temple of His body that you had destroyed.

“That left you with two choices. Either, to destroy these men for daring to claim

that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah, or release them to continue with their preaching.

“You chose to argue with them to show them how foolish they were in their

ignorance and lack of education. And what happened? It didn’t work. Simon told you

they had received their command from God to spread the tidings of Israel’s Messiah.

“And when you asked through whom was the command of God given them,

Simon replied that Jesus Himself had given it after he was resurrected by God’s own

hand. That resurrection was the ‘Amen’ of the Almighty to Jesus dying on the cross

for our sins. That is what happened when you hauled Simon and John before us.

“You let them go telling them that they could preach and continue with their

good works but they were not to mention in public the name of Jesus.

“Simon told you they would obey God and not the bidding of any man. They

continue to mention his name.”

“We showed weakness in letting them go. Next time…”

“You feared the people,” Joseph said.

“Go on Annas,” Caiaphas said. “Now that Arimathea has had his say.”


48

“Their multitude of followers are meeting in houses and the Temple revenues

are diminishing. They say that Jesus is their Temple and they worship Him among

themselves. We must no longer show weakness. We must put an end to this cult.”

“May I be heard?” The question came from Gamaliel.

“You have always spoken wisely,” Caiaphas said.

“We should consider carefully,” Gamaliel said, “what we intend to do to these

men. You remember Theudas who appeared claiming to be a saviour. Where is he

now with those who adhered to him? Gone. Then there was Judas the Galilean who

led a revolt against Rome. Where is he now? Where are his followers? Scattered. I

would advise leaving these men alone. If their purpose and activity is merely human

it will fail. However, if it is from God you will not be able to stop these men. In

which case we will find ourselves fighting against God.”

What Gamaliel said swayed a majority of the Sanhedrin. The decision to leave

the followers of Jesus displeased the High Priest and most of the Sadducees who had

no belief in or time for those who thought resurrection and an afterlife possible.

“We most surely cannot allow them to go on,” Caiaphas said to Annas later.

“We must find a way of destroying them.”

“Thank the Pharisees for this. This harvest is of their sowing. It is their belief in

resurrection and an afterlife that is staying our hand,” Annas said.

“We must be on the lookout for an opportunity to strike,” Caiaphas said. “We

will deal with them as we dealt with the blasphemer.”


49

Chapter Nine.

A Great Fear.

Saul of Tarsus was with Gamaliel when a young man came to them.

“Forgive my interrupting,” he said. “Teacher, I would speak with you.”

“Your name?” Gamaliel asked.


50

“My name is ben Aris, David ben Aris. I am from Cyprus.”

“I had a disciple from there,” Gamaliel said. “Perhaps you know him. Joseph

bar Naba.”

“We have met,” ben Aris said. Gamaliel noted his impatience.

Gamaliel introduced Saul of Tarsus. “Now that you have interrupted us?”

“I have come from Cyprus because I have been dispossessed. I had been living

on my uncle’s estate there, managing it while they came to Jerusalem for the Harvest

Festival.

“One day, a man named Patroculus, a Greek, arrived with a lawyer. He showed

me a bill of sale and legal proof that the Greek was the new owner. My uncle it seems

had sold his estate without so much as a thought for my welfare. With what money I

was able to scrape together I came here to Jerusalem to see my uncle and to get some

explanation of his behaviour.”

“And when you found him what did he say?” Gamaliel asked.

“I didn’t find my uncle or his wife. There house and vineyard here at Jerusalem

had also been sold and their neighbours told me that they had joined some sort of

religious community.”

Saul and Gamaliel looked at one another each thinking the same thing, that this

young man’s uncle had sold all he possessed and put the money into the communal

pot of those who believed that Jesus from Nazareth was the Son of God, the Messiah

of Israel.


51

“It seems,” said ben Aris, that they have joined with a group who believes that a

crucified man rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. They live together,

sharing everything, at a place called Bethany.

“I went there asking about my uncle and his wife but no one would talk about

them. It was as much as I could ascertain that they were members of this religious

group. The mere mention of my uncle’s name seemed to put a great fear into

everyone I talked to.”

“What is your uncle’s name?” Gamaliel asked.

“He is called Ananias ben Aris and his wife is called Sapphira.”

“In what way do you think I can help you?”

“I have this feeling that something not very pleasant has happened to my uncle

and aunt. I want to find out where they are and what happened to them. I do not know

if they are alive or dead. I thought you might know someone who would be able to

find out for me.”

“You would have done better to go to the Temple police.”

“You have a reputation for possessing wisdom. Would you really have me go to

the Temple police?”

“No. Such an investigation requires subtlety and not force.”

“You will find someone for me?”

“You say you know Joseph bar Naba. You might benefit from speaking to him.

He has joined the believers of this resurrected Messiah.”

“I did not see him at Bethany.”


52

“He has been away,” Saul said. “He returns to Jerusalem tomorrow. I have an

appointment with him then.”

He did not go on to say that he and bar Naba were once friends and that he was

meeting with him to try and convince him to return to the truth of the Jewish Law laid

down by God through Moses, and to come out from among those at Bethany.

“Perhaps I could join you,” ben Aris said. Saul scowled, but the young man

continued, “Bar Naba might know what happened to my uncle and aunt.”

“It’s a possibility,” Gamaliel said.

Ben Aris turned to Saul. “Then, please, may I be with you when you meet with

bar Naba?”

“You wish this to be so?” Saul asked Gamaliel. Saul did not want ben Aris with

him when he saw bar Naba. The young man would be a distraction at a time when he

would need all his powers of persuasion to turn his former friend back to the Law and

the path of righteousness.

“Yes,” Gamaliel said.

“I see,” Saul said. “What bar Naba has to say about these two people may have

some bearing upon whether or not we are dealing with human endeavour.

“It will add to our knowledge.”

“As far as I am concerned,” Saul said, “this whole sorry mess is of human

endeavour. It is not God directed. “ Then turning to ben Aris he asked, “Do you

suspect foul play?”

“I would like to think not. Perhaps bar Naba will be able to say.”

“Then I will ask him tomorrow. There is no need for you to be present.”


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“I would like to be there and to ask him myself,” ben Aris said.

“Take him with you,” Gamaliel said. “Let him question Joseph. You can listen

to his answers and it will give you an indication of how his mind is working. Joseph

was also my student and is as astute as you are in his own way. You were friends but

now there is a rift in that friendship because he follows the teaching of the Nazarene.

I’d like to see that friendship mended. Either Joseph will come back to following the

Laws of Moses and the dictates of the Temple or you will become a follower of the

Nazarene.”

“Never!” cried Saul. “Never!”

“Come tomorrow at noon,” Gamaliel said to ben Aris. “Saul will take you to

talk with Joseph bar Naba.

The young man thanked Gamaliel and went off.

“Never, Saul?”

“Never!”

“And what if this beginning at Bethany is more than a cult? What if it is a God

directed movement?”

“It cannot be that.”

“With God it is possible.”

“God would not have His Messiah hang on a tree.”

“Why not if it served His purpose and glorified Him?”

“I don’t see that happening. Anyway I’m sure this is a cult and that it will come

and go. I only regret that such cults do so much harm to people. Bar Naba has


54

impoverished himself because of it. When he comes to his senses I shall make him

my partner.”

“Such fine tents you will both make. And what if he, too, says, ‘never’?”

“He will see the sense of my arguments.”

Chapter Ten.

A Plot against Pilate.


55

Servius looked at the beggar. His rags were professional and under his eyepatch

was a left eye as acute as his right. Pilate had used the man on a number of occasions

as messenger.

“Who gave you this?” Servius asked, indicating the small scroll on his desk.

“He did not tell me his name. Like you he was a Roman. He acts like you but I

think he is not from Judea.”

The beggar was right. The scroll told him who the man was and that he had

come from Syria. He was Spymaster to the Governor of Syria, Vitellius. His name

was Lycanus. He had never seen the man. He knew he had red hair.

“Describe him.”

“A tall man. Strong, I would say. He kept to the shadows and had his head

hooded. He knew of my connection to you. Told me to bring you the scroll.”

“You can go.”

The man remained.

“Did he not give you something?”

“Yes.”

“Well then, you can go.”

Servius read again the message he had received. He put on his cloak and went

out of the Antonia Fortress. Beneath his cloak he had a sword and dagger. He made

his way on foot to Mount Scopus and following the directions of the scroll he found

and cautiously approached a shepherd’s hut.


56

He made a circular reconnaissance for he did not want to fall into a trap which

might have been set by Zealots who had somehow learned the name of Vitellius’

spymaster.

He took his time doing this pausing to listen and to wait until clouds cleared

from in front of the moon so that he could see with greater clarity.

At last, satisfied that no men lay in wait he came silently to the door of the hut.

He gave the door a gentle push but even so its leather hinges complained.

Inside there was a light on the table. A man sat there in a black robe. The hood

was down and Servius saw red hair.

“Lycanus,” Servius said.

“The same, and you are Servius. We have never met but you seemed mindful of

a trap.

“It is best to be careful. Why are we meeting here?”

“Because I am not, and have never been here at this time in Judea.”

“I take it I am not at this meeting either.”

“True. Sit and help me with this wine.” Lycanus lifted a wine skin from the

floor and filled the two goblets that stood on the table. Servius sat down on the table

bench opposite him.

Lycanus lifted his goblet towards Servius.

“We two spymasters have business together.”

“Do we indeed?”

“Trust me, we do, and the business will be to both our benefits.”


57

The truth was that Servius did not trust Lycanus and he knew that Lycanus did

not trust him. Lycanus was as slippery as an eel. But then, so was he.

“What scheme have you hatched?” asked Servius.

“It is not of my hatching.”

“Whose then?”

“Lucius Vitellius sent me to you.”

“I serve the Governor of Judea.”

“Who was Sejanus’ man.”

“True Pilate owed his position to Sejanus but he has squared himself with the

Emperor.”

“That remains to be seen. Vitellius writes against Pilate to Tiberius and Tiberius

is not unheedful.”

“Pilate believes that Vitellius is his friend.”

“In that he is mistaken. Vitellius wishes the purge against all the followers of

Sejanus to be complete.”

“How does that advantage Vitellius?”

“Vitellius looks to the future. He has ambitions for his family. High ambitions.”

“How high?”

“The highest.”

Servius thought about this in silence. Disposing of all the followers of Sejanus

would provide a clear path to the purple if the Vitellius family was prepared to be

thoughtful in their scheming and patient.


58

“You must have thought that Pilate is finished,” Lycanus said. “No doubt you

have thought what will happen to you.”

“True enough.”

“Your friends in Rome will have written to you, and you to them.”

“Of course.”

“Believe me when I say that your loss would be a disservice to Rome because

you have the taint of Sejanus.”

“What are you offering me?”

“A way out. Join with Vitellius and he will protect you.”

“And what will be the price?”

“It’s not really a high price. You must see that Pilate is discredited in the

Emperor’s eyes. That shouldn’t be hard to do.”

“No doubt you have something in mind.”

“The Samaritans. A prophet has arisen among them who is claiming to be the

prophet Moses predicted. He is promising the people that he will perform a miracle

and wants them to assemble on Mount Gerizim.”

“I have had this man investigated,” Servius said. “He is a harmless crank.”

“But what if Pilate believes him to be a leader who will lead a revolt against

Rome? You have not told Pilate he is a harmless crank?”

“No. I didn’t think it necessary.”

“Good. Then Pilate should think of a Samaritan uprising and he will put it down

before it gets started. It must be done with a great loss of life. The Samaritans will

appeal to Vitellius who will inform the Emperor that in order to appease the


59

Samaritans he is sending Pilate to Rome to defend the charges brought against him,

the main one being that of jeopardizing the Pax Romana.”

“Do you think it will work?”

“I’m sure you will be persuasive enough to see that it does.”

“But will I not have to answer for the intelligence I give Pilate?”

“Put nothing in writing and have no witnesses when you talk to Pilate. You can

say that your advice to Pilate was to leave this prophet and the Samaritans alone.

Vitellius will take care of you.”

When Servius got up, Lycanus could see that he had changed masters. The two

spymasters gripped forearms.

“Another thing,” Lycanus said. “It would be best if the taxes Pilate is sending to

Tiberius never reached him.”

With that they parted.

During the night, Servius went to the treasury in the Antonia Fortress taking

with him a deaf mute. They removed the coin into bags and filled the chests that were

being sent to Tiberius at Capri with bricks packed tightly. The chests were resealed.

Servius killed the deaf mute. With these Galileans doing all sorts of miracles his

speech and hearing might have been restored. It was better not to take chances.


60

Chapter Eleven.

The Meeting with Bar Naba.


61

Saul of Tarsus and David ben Aris met with Joseph bar Naba at a tavern near to

the Israel Pool and the Sheep Gate through which Jesus had made his triumphant

entry into the Temple area.

“Let me stress again, young man,” Saul said. “You will not question bar Naba

until I say you can. Is that understood?”

They were standing just inside the door of the tavern. Saul, to his annoyance

saw that bar Naba was not alone. He was sitting at a table with the Greek doctor,

Luke, who had attended his son, and there was another young man there also. The

three were in animated conversation and only looked up when Saul stood next to their

table.

Immediately Joseph bar Naba stood. “Saul,” he said. “It is a pleasure to see you

again. Allow me to introduce my friends. Luke, a physician, and Jacob bar Eli who

has become his pupil.”

“I know the physician,” Saul said. “This is David ben Aris who has come with

me. He is from Cyprus.”

“I believe you knew my uncle Ananias in Cyprus,” ben Aris said. “It is about

him and my aunt that I wish to question you.”

“Not yet,” Saul cut in. “Joseph, the pleasure of seeing you would be that much

greater if you would cease straying like a lost sheep and return to the fold of the

Temple.”

Bar Naba smiled. “We are friends, Saul, and as far as I am concerned we will

remain so.”


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“How can that be if you persist in the folly of what you are now professing to

believe?”

“It may seem to be foolish to you, Saul, but to me my belief that Jesus from

Nazareth is the Saviour and true shepherd of Israel convinces me that I am in the true

fold of God’s flock. To have eternal life, Jesus is the Way and the Truth.”

“Why use the present tense when you speak of this criminal who was hung on a

tree. The man is dead. He is history.”

“Jesus is alive,” bar Naba said, patiently. “He is alive yesterday, today and

tomorrow.”

“You’re an educated man, Joseph, why speak such nonsense?”

“And you, Saul, my friend, with your sharp mind and your clear eyes that see

and understand so much, why are you so blind to such a great salvation?”

The tavern keeper came and placed a second flagon of wine on the table and

cups for Saul and ben Aris.

“You want to eat?” he asked.

“No, we do not want to eat,” Saul snapped giving the man an angry look with

his good eye.

The tavern keeper retreated muttering to himself.

“Saul,” bar Naba said. “The man asked a reasonable question. Is there any

reason why we should not eat?”

“I’m not hungry,” Saul said. “You’re not hungry, either, ben Aris.” He did not

wait for the young man to reply, but said, “Our salvation comes through obeying the

Law that the Almighty gave to Moses exclusively for the children of Israel.” He


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indicated Luke. “This man is a Gentile. Does he believe that he has our God’s

salvation? If he does he is deluded.”

“Luke can speak for himself,” bar Naba said.

“I have seen with my own eyes,” Luke said, “how men with no medical

knowledge or experience have cured festering wounds and leprosy in the name of

Jesus. And this boy from Galilee has told me of his Saviour in the best possible

classical Greek. I have spoken to the mother of Jesus and with His brothers and

sisters and with His disciples and I believe them when they tell me that your God

does not want the Jewish people to keep His salvation to themselves but to share it

with the rest of the world, Gentiles as well as Jews.”

“The rest of the world are pagans who worship graven images. Idolaters.” Saul

said.

“And are you, too, not an idolater with your Temple worship?” Luke asked.

“There are no idols in God’s Temple.”

“Have not your priests made the Temple an idol?”

“Absolute rubbish,” Saul said. “The Temple is God ordained. It is a place where

the Law of God is sacrosanct and where God accepts sacrifices.”

“You will remember, Saul,” bar Naba said. “That when Abraham came to

Mount Moriah to sacrifice his only Son Isaac, God stayed his hand and provided a

lamb for Abraham to sacrifice. Well, according to Isaiah, our Messiah was to be led

like a lamb to the slaughter. He was to be a suffering Messiah. Jesus is that Messiah

supplied by God. The only Son of God, who suffered when he was scourged and was


64

crucified. He rose on the third day, and I only wish I had been fortunate enough to see

Him before He ascended to be with His Father in Heaven.”

“But you did not,” Saul said. “Joseph, this is only something you wish to

believe. It is wishful thinking.”

“God’s Spirit within me convicts me that it is the truth. And Jacob saw Him

when he ascended.”

“Yes, sir,” Jacob said. “I saw Him on the Mount of Olives. I was there with His

disciples.” Jacob went on to tell Saul what he had seen and heard and of the angel

who had said he would return again to that same place. He also told about the time

Thomas would not believe it was Jesus returned from the dead and how it took the

evidence of his nail pierced wrists and ankles and the spear gash in his side to

convince him.

“A well rehearsed story,” Saul said.

“It is the truth, sir,” Jacob said.

“Speak to me in Greek, this classical Greek you are supposed to speak so well.”

“There is no need, sir,” Jacob said.

“It is because you cannot,” Saul said. “I am surprised at you, physician, for

conniving in this story.”

“There are many witnesses among the Greek-speaking Jews to the fact that

Jacob spoke to me in Greek.”

“Why can’t he do it now?”

“As he said, it isn’t necessary,” bar Naba said.

“Bar Naba,” Saul said. “You must come back to the true faith.”


65

“Saul, my friend,” bar Naba said, softly, “It is you who must come to the truth.”

In frustration, Saul turned to ben Aris. “Ask your questions,” he said.

David ben Aris cleared his throat and told bar Naba about his uncle and aunt

and his search for them.

“It would appear,” he said, “that they have become followers of this Jesus but

when I sought them in Bethany I could not find them. “Did you know them, and do

you know where they are?”

Bar Naba said, “Yes, your uncle and aunt came to believe that Jesus was the

Saviour of Israel after the Feast of Pentecost, and like myself, and many others they

sold all they had and came to live at Bethany sharing everything in common with

others. Now, I’m afraid they are dead.”

“Dead?” ben Aris was shocked. “What did they die of?”

“Luke will tell you. He examined them after they died.”

“They did not die from any particular disease. It is my opinion they died of

fright.”

“Why? If that is so, what frightened them?”

Bar Naba said, “They were not honest, but deceitful. When they brought the

money obtained from selling their properties they declared the amount they were

proffering to be the total amount they received, but it was not. They had kept some

back for themselves.”

“So? What was wrong with that?”

“It is said that they looked guilty after they had lied and they were asked if their

declaration had been the prompting of the Holy Spirit,” bar Naba said. “They said it


66

had been, but as soon as they did they were stricken to their knees. They had

committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and for that there is no forgiveness.

When they realized that they would never have eternal life with God they gave cries

of distress and dropped dead.”

“I can hardly believe it,” David ben Aris said. “Where are they buried?”

“In the Potter’s Field.”

Ben Aris was stunned.

“Were you there when this happened, bar Naba?”

“I was.”

“Were they murdered?”

“No. They died exactly as I have said. They were not murdered.”

A man rushed into the tavern and ran excitedly to bar Naba.

“They’ve got Stephen,” he cried.


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Chapter Twelve.

Octavian and Lilith.

Octavian stood beside Servius watching the revenue for Caesarea being loaded

onto a bullock cart. The passive animals, both black with white blazes on their

foreheads, stood chewing cut. Harness and cart creaked as each chest was loaded.

This form of transport would add considerable time to their journey from

Jerusalem and it would also increase the difficulty of defence.


68

“The ship will await your arrival,” Servius assured him.

An attack by Zealots was beyond doubt. Servius had told him that his

undercover agent had been discovered and his lifeless body had been dumped outside

the Antonia Fortress. There was no telling now when or where the attack would take

place.

“I will not, after all, be coming with you to Caesarea,” Servius said when the

last chest had been heaved onto the cart. “Nor will any of my agents be travelling

with you. You are a trustworthy soldier and you will do what has to be done to get

this tribute onto a boat for Caesar at Capri.”

Octavian wondered what it was that had caused the Spymaster to change his

mind. It was useless to ask, so he said nothing.

“Sergeant Rufus,” he called. “We are ready to move out.”

Rufus gave orders to the men who quickly formed up.

“Move out, Sergeant.” Octavian watched the men and the bullock cart move

through the gate of the Antonia.

“You did not bring me the boy or his mother,” Servius said to Octavian.

“No.” Octavian dug his heels into his horse’s flanks and followed his men.

Servius smiled to himself. It didn’t much matter about the boy or his mother. He

had sent word to Lycanus and tonight they would move the sacks of coin from the

treasury and accompany them to Vitellius who, when the time was ripe present the

tribute to the Emperor. Not all of it of course, he and Lycanus would each have a

percentage.


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The Zealots would know that the tax was on its way to Caesarea. The Centurion

would be attacked and with any luck not be able to prevent the revenue from being

taken. Bar Abbas who had become the Zealot leader in the field would not be pleased

to find chests filled with bricks.

Servius laughed and rubbed his hands together. He was well on his way to

becoming a rich man. He had always dreamed of a villa in Tuscany among the

Cyprus trees, and now he saw that dream coming true.

Octavian searched the crowds that moved out of the way of his troop of men.

He was hoping to catch sight of Lilith, and on the two occasions he thought he saw

her his heart leapt like a trout in a stream, but each time it turned out to be someone

else.

The previous day he had gone to Bethany expressly to see her. She had come

from the house reluctantly and they had to talk within sight and earshot of others.

“I’ve had my orders,” he told her. “I leave for Rome tomorrow.”

“You will be glad to go,” she said.

“I am not glad to go. My men will be glad to go; they need a rest from this

country.”

“Is it not the same for you?”

“If it were not for my duty I would stay here to be with you and Jacob. Why not

change your mind and come with me?”

“I do not want to go to Rome.”

“I have the most tender feelings for you, Lilith; feelings of love. Have you no

such feelings for me?”


70

She moved away from him, turning her back, so that he would not see the tears

that came to her eyes.

He moved to her, took her gently by the shoulders and turned her to him. She

kept her head down. With a forefinger he raised her chin. She tried not to look at him,

but he turned her head so that his eyes met hers.

“You do love me,” he said. “How can you deny it?”

“Eli and I were equally yoked,” she said. “We both believed and worshipped the

one true God, but you worship many gods, all of them false.”

“Is that why you will not be my wife?”

“You would be ashamed of me in Rome. I am a poor Jew who would not fit in

to your society. The women of Rome would be more to your taste. Jacob would be a

stranger there too.”

“We love each other,” Octavian declared. “There are no problems that cannot be

overcome. Let me tell you I have given up the gods of Rome. Yes, I agree with you

that they are only graven statues without any divine powers.

“I think I may have burned my boats, for I told a very dangerous man who can

do me much harm that Jesus whom I crucified was the Son of your Jewish God. I told

him that He had risen from the dead and that now He was with his Father in Heaven.”

“Why did you tell him that?”

“Because he wanted to question you and Jacob, and I did not want him to.”

“Not because you believe what you told this man?”

“I wish I was as sure as you are. Servius, that is the man…”

“I remember him from Galilee and how he tortured my Eli.”


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“He wants to question you because he does not believe that Jesus really died on

the cross. He thinks He is hiding somewhere and when He has fully recovered He will

appear and lead the Jews in rebellion against Rome. He wanted me to bring you and

Jacob to him, but I will not. You must be careful not to fall into his hands. That is

why I would like you to come with me. I can smuggle you and Jacob to Rome.”

“I would not be happy in Rome; nor would Jacob.”

“How is he? What is he doing?

“He has become a pupil to a physician, a Greek called Luke.

“He is to become a doctor. Is that what he wants?”

“It would seem so.”

“He will go travelling with this physician. You will be left alone.”

“I am among friends here. I shall not be lonely. There is much work to do

among the poor.”

“I beg you, Lilith, come with me. Why should we be parted?”

“I am more useful here. How could I serve Jesus in Rome? Oh, how I wish, for

the sake of your soul that you really were convicted that Jesus died and took upon

himself your sins and mine so that we could have eternal life with God.”

“With you at this moment I believe, but when I am alone I need help with my

unbelief. Come with me so that I can maintain that belief.”

“I’m sorry. I cannot be the means for maintaining your belief. You must be

convinced by the working of God’s Holy Spirit.”

“And how do I get that?”

“You must ask for it.”


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“And when I do, will you be mine?”

“No, but we will both belong to Jesus.”

“When I reach Rome I will resign my commission and I will come back to you

and we will become man and wife. What do you say to that?”

“Ask for God’s Holy Spirit first. If you receive it you will come back and that

will make me happy, but Rome with its distractions may make you forget me.”

“I shall never forget you. You are engraved upon my heart.”

Octavian did not see Lilith in the crowd. He caught up with Sergeant Rufus at

the head of the column.

“These oxen slow us down,” the Sergeant said.

“We must be vigilant, Rufus. An attack is a certainty.


73

Chapter Thirteen.

The Stoning of Stephen.

“Where have they taken him?” Bar Naba asked.

“To the house of the High Priest,” said the man who had brought news of

Stephen’s arrest.

Hurriedly the men left the inn and went to Caiaphas’ house.

Stephen was not bound but four of the Temple Guard contained him.

When Jacob arrived close on bar Naba’s heels, he along with Saul of Tarsus and

ben Aris had to push their way through a crowd before they could see Stephen.

Jacob had expected Stephen to look alarmed and frightened by what was

happening to him, but Stephen stood straight and calm.

Joseph of Arimathea was arguing with Caiaphas.

“This man is my steward. Why have you arrested him?”

“He is a blasphemer, and there are witnesses to prove it; Zadoc the Shammaite

and Samuel son of Eliezer,” said Caiaphas.


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Saul of Tarsus and ben Aris placed themselves along side the High Priest. Saul

was surprised and somewhat puzzled to see his Mentor Raban Gamaliel standing at

the shoulder of Arimathea.

“Should the accused not come before the Greater Sanhedrin in the Chamber of

Hewn Stones?” Gamaliel asked. “And should the members such as myself not have

time to investigate the charges brought against this man and to question the witnesses

to see if they are true or false? And should the accused not have time to prepare his

defence?”

Saul knew that Gamaliel’s words were in keeping with lawful procedures, but

he also understood Caiaphas’ need to nip the growing power of this cult in the bud.

Standing now with Jacob, Luke, and bar Naba were the nine other men chosen

to ensure the fair distribution of goods and food among the needy followers of the

risen Messiah.

One of them, Philip, asked: “What is happening?”

Raban Gamaliel has asked why Stephen is not to be tried in front of the Greater

Sanhedrin,” Jacob told him.

“The Lesser Sanhedrin is sufficient,” Caiaphas’ voice carried to the crowd

awating the answer to Gamaliel’s questions.

“I disagree,” Gamaliel said. “This man must have time to prepare his case, and

we must have time to discover the truth or falsehood of what he is alleged to have

said.”


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“There are many other witnesses,” Caiaphas said. “The prisoner spoke

blasphemy in the Synagogue of Freed Men. Let him here and now answer the charges

brought by these witnesses.”

“This is not the proper protocol,” said Joseph of Arimathea.

“Master,” said Stephen. “I do not mind speaking here and now.”

Jacob saw a cruel smile come to the lips of the High Priest and he realized that

Caiaphas wanted Stephen to speak and like Jesus condemn himself from his own

mouth.

Caiaphas called forth the two witnesses.

“Zadoc, what did this man say in the presence of many in your synagogue?”

“He declared that a dead man lives and that the blasphemer Jesus would do

away with the Law given to Moses.”

“Samuel, son of Eliezer, what else did he say?”

“That he would destroy God’s beautiful Temple and build another one in its

place.”

“Do you both swear that this is the truth?”

“We do,” said both men.

Caiaphas turned to Stephen.

“Is what these witnesses have said about you true?”

Those with Jacob held their breath. What would Stephen say?

Stephen raised his eyes heavenward.

“My help comes from the LORD,” he said. “Jesus, my Saviour give me your

words.”


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For minutes he stood in silence, then said:

“Brothers, fathers, listen to me.”

From then he took the listeners back to the beginning of things to when God

created the world, to the patriarch Abraham, and through the words that God gave to

Moses who led His people from their captivity in Egypt. He told of coming to the

Promised Land, and showed them how everything had been a preparation for the

coming of the Ancient of Days who was Jesus the Messiah.

“Get on with it. Answer the charges.” The crowd was becoming restless and

impatient.

But Caiaphas was patient. So far Stephen had said nothing to anger the crowd.

An angry crowd was what he hoped for. If this crowd could be turned into a mob

howling for blood, then so much the better.

When Stephen came to speak of Solomon and the building of the Temple things

changed.

“God, the Eternal,” Stephen declared, “does not dwell in temples built by men.

Has not the Prophet said: ‘The heavens are my abode and the earth is my footstool,

where is the house you could build for me, says the Almighty. Have not my hands

made all things?’”

“He speaks against the Temple,” shouted Saul of Tarsus.

“He quotes the Prophet,” said Gamaliel, but his voice was drowned out.

“Stone him!”

“Blasphemer!”

“Don’t listen to him!”


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“He speaks the truth,” Philip shouted but his voice too was drowned out.

Caiaphas had one of his guards blow his trumpet, and the crowd quieted down

Stephen regarded the High Priest.

“My words,” he said, “were those of the Prophet as well you know. But you like

many others are stiff-necked. Your heart and your ears are uncircumcised.”

To Saul the word ‘uncircumcised’ acted as a goad.

“We are Jews,” he stormed. “We have the mark of God’s Covenant. His anger

transferred to the crowd.

“You may well have,” Stephen said, raising his voice to be heard. “But you

circumcised have always rebelled against God and His Holy Spirit. As your

forefathers did so did you.”

“Are not your forefathers and mine the same?” shouted Saul.

“Which of the Prophets did our forefathers not persecute?” Stephen said. “And

they slew those who prophesied the coming of the Just One, whom you murdered,

Jesus from Nazareth, God’s only Son.”

This was as much as Saul and the crowd could take.

Caiaphas watched with satisfaction as the crowd became a mob.

Jacob was frightened for Stephen. He and the nine with Luke and bar Naba tried

to get to where Stephen was but the crowd seized him and carried him away.

“To the stoning place!” became the chant.

They were led by Saul of Tarsus. Jacob and the others followed through narrow

streets until they were outside the walls of the city.

Contorted faces and diabolical voices bayed for Stephen’s blood.


78

He was cast into the stoning pit.

Joseph of Arimathea was trying to turn the crowd away from murder.

“This is unlawful,” his voice cracked. “There has been no trial, and no sentence

has been issued, and we have not the power and authority to pass sentence of death.

Go home. This man has not had a proper trial.”

His entreaties were in vain.

In the pit Stephen raised his hands.

“Now I see the heavens open and I see the Son of Man standing at the right

hand of God.” His voice cut through and silenced the tumult, but only until Saul of

Tarsus spoke.

“Two witnesses have established his guilt. Let the hands of the witnesses be

first to cast stones against him. That is the law.”

Zadoc the Shammaite and Samuel son of Eliezer took off their mantles and

handed them to Saul.

They picked up large rocks and threw them at Stephen.

“Lord Jesus,” Stephen called. “Receive my soul, and forgive these men; forgive

them.”

The crowd now picked up rocks and threw them until Stephen’s body was

covered and he lay without movement.

Jacob turned a tear-stained face to Luke.

“Why?”


79


80

Chaapter Fourteen.

Bar Abbas and his Wife.

“Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas! Bar Abbas. Give us bar Abbas!”

Even in the hills through which passed the road from Jerusalem to Caesarea

Joshua bar Abbas could still hear the crowd chanting for his release.

He had stood in his chains waiting to be released, but Pilate did not want to

release him. Three times he asked the crowd to choose Jesus, the teacher from

Nazareth, in whom, he said, he had found no guilt deserving death. Pilate had wanted

to release the teacher, but the crowd howled for his blood.

Pilate called for a bowl of water and a towel, and he washed his hands, saying,

“I am innocent of this man’s blood.”

There were those in the crowd who shouted, “Let his blood be on us and on our

children.”

After that Pilate ordered the chains to be struck from the wrists and ankles of

bar Abbas.

The chanting and the words of Pilate and the crowd sung in his ears as loudly

now as the words had been that Friday in Jerusalem when the teacher from Nazareth

and his two comrades had been crucified.


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He had lived; lived to become a Zealot once again; to continue the fight to rid

the Promised Land, the true homeland of the Jewish people, from the heavy, irritating

yoke of Roman oppression.

Bar Abbas was from Galilee and he was not familiar with these hill, but he had

with him one of the leaders of the Jerusalem Zealots, Micah, who did. Micah had led

them to the place where they were now through a labyrinth of canyons. Here they

could remain in safety and not be surprised by the Roman patrols that combed the

hills.

They were awaiting the news that the taxes gathered in Jerusalem at the

Passover and Harvest Festivals, was on its way to Caesarea.

It would never get there. With that amount of money they could buy enough

arms to harry the Romans in the same way fleas harry a dog.

There was no use in meeting the Romans head-to-head. They were too well

disciplined. He had seen what had happened to Moses ben Levi when he had

attempted to rescue the Zealots being taken to Jerusalem for execution. The Romans

had defeated them on the level ground leading to the pass from Galilee to Samaria.

No it was better to fight the Romans another way. He had laid out his strategy

before Zechariah, Micah, and Nabab, the Zealot leaders at Jerusalem.

“Small bands of men who know the hills and how to fight in them,” he’d said

“Leave the Romans chasing will-o-the-wisps, while we seek and attach their most

vulnerable spots. Hit! Run! And then hit again!.


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“Our men must be divided up into small units. We must never concentrate all

our men in one place or face the Romans in a pitched battle. Our losses would be too

great.

“We must throw the Roman administration into confusion.”

“How do you intend to do that?” asked Nabab.

“We kill those who do the paperwork for the Romans and those who collect the

taxes, so that people become afraid to seek employment with the Romans. We must

target the Roman civilians within and without the administration as well as the

Roman soldiers who leave the taverns in a drunken state.

“The idea is to sow terror among the population who serve Rome.”

“There are many of our own people whose livelihood depends upon Rome. A

tithe of their money comes to our cause as well as to the Temple,” Zechariah said.

“Of course there are those who must work for the Romans,” bar Abbas told him.

“They must be well chosen and they must provide us with information as to where we

can cause the most havoc.”

Micah took it up. “We can fire the buildings they work in,” he said. “We can

destroy the crops on the Roman farms. We can raid their grain stores.”

“First and foremost we need money,” Nabab said. “Until we get our hands on

Pilate’s taxes I don’t want the kind of tactics bar Abbas is talking about to take place.

It will take a large body of men to take the taxes.”

“But afterwards?” bar Abbas asked.

“Afterwards? We shall see,” Nabab said. “Terrorizing the Roman administration

is not at all a bad idea.”


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Now Micah and bar Abbas were in a deep canyon with a thousand men.

“Rider coming in.” The message was relayed from a lookout on the canyon’s

rim.

It took some time before the rider was standing before them. It was Judith, the

wife of bar Abbas.

“The taxes have left Jerusalem. There are four boxes on a cart pulled by oxen. It

makes their travel slow.”

“So much the better for us,” bar Abbas said. “How many men?”

“A hundred with their Centurion. “

“None will survive,” said Micah. “Have you a message from Zachariah and

Nabab?”

“They say you are not to fail.”

“We will not fail.” Micah said. “I’ll leave you together.”

When he had gone, bar Abbas asked: “Why did they send you?”

“I volunteered to come.”

“To keep an eye on me. To make sure I didn’t mess things up.”

“You have been known to. Let’s face it, you’re the brawn, I’m the brains. Who

was it convinced the leaders to recommend to the High Priest that you should be the

one to live that Friday?”

“You, so you keep telling me.”

“Aye, me. I told them you were the brains behind the Galilean Zealots; that you

were a capable planner. I don’t want you to make a liar of me.”

“That would be too bad.”


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“It would be especially if you planned something that would get most of your

men killed. We need these men for the small group attacks.”

Bar Abbas hadn’t told the leaders in Jerusalem that the terror strategy had been

his wife’s and not his own. “Nabab thinks my plan a good one,” he said.

“Let us hope it is,” Judith said. “Now listen to be Joshua, things are happening

in Jerusalem that we might be able to turn to our advantage.”

“What things?”

“The followers of the man who died in your place are claiming that he rose from

the dead and was taken up to heaven where he sits at the right hand of God.”

“Is it true that he told the High Priest that he was the Messiah? God’s Son?”

“Why do you think they had Him crucified? Anyway, His followers now

number many thousands and have become a thorn in the side of the High Priest.

“Rose from the dead? How can he be alive?”

“Of course he’s not alive,” Judith said. “When he was alive he was also a thorn

in our side.”

“So what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that more people are joining His followers than are joining the

Zealot cause.”

“Why is that?”

“Can you offer your followers eternal life? That’s what they’re going for. A

death followed by a bodily resurrection and eternal life.”

“Will they help us against the Romans?”

“Did He when He was alive?”


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“I don’t see that it makes any difference,” bar Abbas said. “When we get the

taxes we’ll be able to buy recruits as well as weapons. They’ll come for the money.

Forget these fools.”

“There’s going to be trouble with them. The authorities will hound them and

perhaps we can benefit from that.”

“How?”

“We’ll arrange it so that they’re blamed for some of the things we’ll do.”

“Will that be possible? They don’t believe in stealing and killing.”

“Doesn’t matter. Just so long as it looks as if they did. We’ll then so dissension

among them, split them, and I’m sure some of them will join our fight for freedom.”

“I don’t think it’s right,” bar Abbas said. “I think it was wrong that the teacher

was crucified.”

“It was either him or you.”

“He wasn’t guilty. I was. The authorities fixed the case against him. He was

crucified, and now you want us to act like the authorities and fix our crimes on

innocent people. I don’t think we should do that.”

“If it helps the cause, we must,” Judith said. “We need people to join us. Now,

tell me about this plan of yours to seize the taxes.”

“After they leave Arimathea,” bar Abbas said, “the road winds up along the

precipice. At it’s narrowest point we will attack.”


86

Chapter Fifteen.


87

Stephen’s Body Retrieved.

When the last stone bounced from the pile that covered Stephen, Zadoc the

Shammaite and Samuel son of Eliezer came to Saul of Tarsus. He helped them into

their mantles.

“You have done well,” he told them. “God will reward your diligence. An end

must be put to all such blasphemy.”

Saul looked about him. Those who had, in frenzy, participated in the stoning of

Stephen gathered up their clothing and as if all energy had been drained from them,

went shuffling back into the city.

Saul saw that the number of people surrounding the stoning pit was increasing

rather than getting less. As one group departed another came to take their place.

These people stood silently around the rim of the pit. Many, if not all were

crying and the women were wailing. Among them stood bar Naba and the Greek

physician and the young man Jacob bar Eli. Then, to Saul’s surprise, he saw his

teacher the Raban Gamaliel pushing his way gently through the crowd.

These people, raising their eyes to heaven, began to pray:

“Almighty Father, who art in heaven. Holy be your name. Let your Kingdom

come and let it be on Earth as it is in heaven. In the name of your Son, Jesus, our

Messiah we ask like your servant Stephen that you forgive the men who so evilly

killed him.”


88

As far as Saul was concerned this was collective blasphemy, and he cried out

that it was so, and he pushed through the crowd until he was face-to-face with the

venerable Gamaliel.

“You should not be here, master,” he said, angrily. “How can you join in such

prayers with these people?”

Hearing his angry tone the people round about began to murmur against him.

“This is the man from Tarsus who led that mob to stone our brother Stephen,”

one man said.

“And I saw him hold the coats of the witnesses who cast the first stones,” said

another.

Saul was not to be intimidated.

“You should not be here, master,” he said to Gamaliel. “Let me take you away

from here.”

The word passed through the crowd that Simon Peter and the other disciples of

Jesus had arrived. Saul saw Simon Peter and John approaching them.

“Come away now,” he said, urgently. “These men are the lowest of the low.”

Gamaliel’s eyes met those of Saul.

“Have you forgotten all your learning?” he said. “You should bear in mind that

these people have not had your advantages either in riches or in learning. But they

have something you have yet to attain; love. You were once my pupil, but after what

you have done this day you are no longer a member of my school.”

“What have I done? I have done nothing against the Law of Moses. “God’s

commandment was fulfilled: the hands of the witnesses were the first against him.”


89

“Continue,” Gamaliel said.

“With what?”

“That is only half the verse. Have you conveniently forgotten the rest?

Continue.”

Saul’s memory failed him. His mind was so agitated that he could not remember

the rest of the scripture.

“I think I should tell you,” Gamaliel said. “Listen: ‘That those witnesses that

have borne false witness shall be punished with the punishment that would have been

visited on the accused.’”

“The witnesses did not bear false witness,” Saul said, hotly. “Anyway, you

heard the blasphemy that came from the man’s lips.”

“No matter,” Gamaliel said. “You know as well as I do that as long as no

sentence was issued by the Sanhedrin against Stephen, he was as innocent as a new

born child. A child was stoned to death here today by witnesses who are murderers.

The ire of those surrounding Saul rose.

“Stone him for what he did!”

“Throw him into the pit.”

These two voices became several.

Simon Peter stepped forward.

“Friends, brothers in Jesus,” he called in a voice that carried and stilled the

people. “Let us not forget who we are. We do not belong to ourselves or to our sinful

passions. Such passions will only lead us into sin and the hands of Satan. We belong

to Jesus, God’s Son, and it is His way we have to follow. When he walked with us not


90

so long ago did He not say that we should love our enemies and to do good to those

who harm us? Our Lord would not want us to stone this man to death. We must pray

for this man, pray that God’s Holy Spirit will one day convict him and make his heart

contrite for the harm he has done. This man deserves our pity because there is no love

in his heart. Lord Jesus, I commit this man into your hands.”

Simon Peter fell silent and the crowd began to pray, their hands held high to

heaven, committing Saul of Tarsus into the hands of Jesus their Messiah. The silence

that followed was broken by John.

“Brothers, we have come to bury the body of our saintly bother Stephen. Let us

now do that.”

Ladders were brought, and Jacob along with the others went down into the

stoning pit. They fell to work removing the stones covering Stephen’s body.

“Could it be,” Jacob thought, “that under this mound, Stephen could still be

alive?”

But when the last stone was removed, Luke examined the bloodstained body

and declared Stephen dead.

Jacob’s hopes died. Again he asked, “Why?” This time it was not to Luke but to

John.

“Jacob,” John said. “You know what Jesus told us; that people would hate us

because we love Him. That is why this sort of thing happens.”

“I heard him on the hill in Galilee,” Jacob said. “He said it would be a blessing

if we were persecuted. Is it a blessing to be killed the way Stephen was?”


91

“We must all live for the sake of what God tells us is right and good,” John said.

“And if we die, no matter how we die, or how much we suffer in dying we will be

blessed.”

“My father was crucified, but he has eternal life with God and Jesus. Just before

the first stones were thrown, Stephen cried out that he saw Jesus sitting at God’s right

hand.”

“He knew,” said John, “that Jesus was waiting for him, and he told the world

the truth before he died. Jesus was with God from the beginning. We live in a dark

world, Jacob, but Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness, but men like Saul of

Tarsus do not understand that light. Such men serve Satan.”

“I get frightened sometimes,” Jacob said. “Do you ever get frightened, John?”

“Sometimes I, too, get frightened, Jacob. When I do I ask the Comforter and the

Counsellor to tell me what to do, and the Spirit of God reminds me that Jesus is

always with me and will never drop me from his hand.”

That was something Jacob know from his talks with Jesus in Galilee, but needed

to be reminded of.

Stephen’s body was lifted tenderly and laid upon a litter. It was strapped so that

it would not slide off as it was brought up the ladder from the pit.

Jacob noticed that Saul of Tarsus was still standing where he had been when he

had spoken to Gamaliel.

Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea formed up behind the litter

which had been lifted to the shoulders of four of the disciples.

The women keened as the procession moved off in the direction of Bethany.


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Chapter Sixteen.

The Discovery at Arimathea.

The granite-grey eyes of Moses ben Levi watched the Romans pull into

Arimathea. He could see and sense the impatience of the Centurion whom he

recognized as the one who had beaten off his rescue attempt on the plain leading to

the pass into Samaria.


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The big Sergeant was there too, large as life and twice as ugly. They’d both

survived on the plain but after they left Arimathea they wouldn’t be so lucky. In the

ambush to come none of the Roman soldiers would escape with their lives.

The oxen plodded in pulling the cart with the chests of taxes extorted from the

Jewish people as tribute to Caesar. It was nearing dusk and the Romans would spend

the night at this little town northwest of Jerusalem.

Two of ben Levi’s men approached the now stationary column.

“You hirin’ help for the oxen and horses, Centurion?” one asked.

“Sorry, no help needed,” the Centurion said.

“Your men must be tired,” the other man said.

“Roman soldiers don’t tire,” the big Sergeant said, and laughed. “We’re not

hirin’. Now, get lost.”

One man shrugged and both turned away, moving slowly.

Soldiers unhitched the oxen and led them a short distance away. The Sergeant

called a Corporal and told him to find a stable and fodder for the oxen. The Corporal

and a detail of two went off with the oxen.

It was fortunate for ben Levi that he was within earshot of the Centurion and

Sergeant.

“We can’t go on like this,” the Centurion said. “What we need is something

other than oxen. They’re far too slow and I don’t want the men grumbling about the

slow pace.”

“They’re all eager to get back home as soon as possible. I have an idea, Sir.”

“Let’s hear it, Rufus.”


94

“Do away with the cart.”

“How do we carry the chests?”

“Mules or camels. Like the Jewish merchant’s caravans. Be a bit quicker. There

must be some here.”

“Look, Sergeant. Secure the tribute in a defendable house and post guards. I’ll

see what I can do about getting mules or camels.”

The Centurion mounted his horse.

The Sergeant looked around for a suitable house and decided upon the one

outside of which stood the cart with the tribute. He banged on the door and shortly

two very nervous people came out; a husband and wife.

The man kept rubbing his hands and bowing, asking how he could be of service.

“Who else lives here?” the Sergeant asked.

“Just the two of us, your honour.”

“You’ll have to get out. We’re taking it over.”

“They’re taking our home,” the woman wailed. “Don’t let them take our home.”

“I can’t stop them,” the man said.

“It’ll be your home again when this night is over and we leave in the morning.”

“But where will we go?” the woman asked.

“Perhaps to a good neighbour.”

“Our neighbours are not on good terms with us,” the wife said.

“And whose fault is that?” her husband said. “If you…”

“Look!” interrupted the Sergeant. “Get out! Go find someplace. Have you no

children?”


95

“Our son is in Gilead and our daughter is in Moab, the woman lamented. “Why

did they ever leave?”

“Because they couldn’t stand your constant harping on their imperfections,”

said the man.

“Enough.” The Sergeant had two soldiers lead the couple away.

When the Sergeant entered the house ben Levi moved to another vantage point

behind a low wall from where he could see the cart and the chests.

The Sergeant came from the house and issued a series of orders which brought a

squad of soldiers running.

They began to unload the chests. They were heavy. Four men to each carried on

stout boards.

Two chests had been taken into the house and a third sat on the back edge of the

cart.

The men on the cart were careless. As they pulled the fourth chest forward to be

unloaded, they heaved it against the third which tottered and fell.

The ground was hard stone where it hit and one of its sides split open. The

Sergeant swore and tongue-lashed the men for not being more careful.

One of the carriers called, “Sergeant! Look here.”

The Sergeant came, looked, knelt down, gave one of the men an order. The man

ran off.

Ben Levi could not see what they were looking at, but from the way they

glanced at each other he knew something was not right.


96

The dispatched soldier returned with a hammer and chisel. The Sergeant took

the tools and hammered and cut the side away from the chest.

The Sergeant swore again.

“Where’s the money?” one soldier asked.

“Bricks,” said another. “Nothing but bricks.”

The Centurion returned.

Dismounted.

The Sergeant stood away from the broken chest and spoke to the Centurion.

Who looked.

Saw.

Said: “Open another chest.”

“But the seals, Sir,” the Sergeant said.

“Never mind the seals. Open that other one.”

The fourth chest was opened.

“More bricks,” the Sergeant said.

“Bring one of the two out from inside?” the Centurion said.

“It was brought from the house.”

“Open it.”

It too was filled with bricks.

“Leave the other one sealed,” the Centurion said. “I’ve no doubt it too is full of

bricks.”


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“Centurion,” the Sergeant said. “Can you imagine what would have happened to

us if we’d delivered all these bricks to the Emperor?” He drew a finger across his

throat. “Who has done this to us?”

“Governor Pilate has to see these chests. Guard the seal of that last one with

your life otherwise he won’t believe that we haven’t stolen the tribute ourselves.”

“I tell you what,” the Sergeant said. “If the Zealots attack us for these chests it

might be better to let them have them.”

Ben Levi had seen and heard enough. In the gathering dusk he slipped away to

report to bar Abbas.


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Chapter Seventeen.

The Implacable Hunter.

Following the death and burial of Stephen, life at Bethany became settled and

orderly.

Another good man was appointed in place of Stephen to ensure that the Greek

widows and orphans were not neglected.


99

What had been a small village expanded towards the desert with permanent

housing taking the place of the tents.

Each day the disciples went into and around Jerusalem, and each day many

more people were added to the body of believers.

Not far from where Martha and Mary lived a piece of land was cleared and

already on solid rock stood the foundations for a synagogue. Its name was to be ‘The

Synagogue of the Nazarene’.

Luke took Jacob with him when he went to see Peter and John.

“As you know,” he said. “With the ever increasing numbers there is now a

greater percentage of people who have diverse diseases and who need medical

attention. Some God has healed through you disciples by the power of the Holy

Spirit, but many still require the attention of a mortal physician.”

“I know this,” Peter said. “What is it you are asking for?”

“I think you would agree that what we need here is a large building to house

those with sickness and disease.”

“Those who are well take the sick into their own houses,” Peter said.

“True, and that is good. But there are diseases which are contagious and which

can spread from person to person. People with such diseases need to be kept in one

place away from those who are not sick.”

“We can agree to that,” John said.

“Then if I design a building, can it be built straight away?” Luke asked.

“There is our synagogue to be built?” Peter said.


100

“Which is more important? Preventing the spread of disease or the gathering

together of the healthy?”

“The synagogue,” Peter said.

“The house for the sick,” John said.

“We will bring your request to the other disciples,” Peter said.

“May I ask a question?” Jacob said.

“You may, Jacob,” John said.

“Why is it you cannot heal everyone who asks you for healing? If you could do

that there would be no need for a place for the sick and dying.” He addressed Peter

who after much wrinkling of his brow handed the task of answering to John.

“That’s a tough question, Jacob,” John said. “All I can say is that God, through

His Holy Spirit heals whom he wishes to heal and does not heal those he so chooses.

“And so they are left to suffer?” Jacob said.

“All healing done by the Spirit is to God’s glory. Perhaps the same can be said

of suffering.”

“Doctor Luke eases suffering,” Jacob said. “Is that not to the glory of God?”

“Of course.”

“Then would it not be to the glory of God to have a place where the suffering of

the sick can be eased for those who cannot be cured by the laying on of hands and the

Holy Spirit?”

“We’re not saying that there should not be such a place,” Peter said.

“But you’d rather build another synagogue first,” said Jacob.

“We need a place where people can be instructed,” Peter said.


101

“Perhaps,” John said. “We should build the synagogue and the place for the sick

at the same time.”

“You know the price of building materials, John,” Peter said. “And because it is

for us the prices have risen. Our common fund would not run to the expense of both

buildings.”

“Could we let the synagogue become the hospital?” John asked.

They were interrupted by Andrew, Peter’s brother.

“There’s a young man who wishes to speak with you, brother.”

Peter, glad of the interruption asked Andrew to show the man in. When he saw

him Peter thought he looked familiar.

“I am Benjamin son of Noah,” he said. “Do you remember me? You were there

when I met your rabbi.”

Peter’s recollection cleared.

“Yes, yes. I remember you. You asked Jesus what you needed to do to gain

eternal life.”

“Your rabbi told me that I had to obey the commandments, that I was not to

murder anyone or commit adultery, steal, or give false witness. I was to honour my

father and mother and to love my neighbour as myself.

“I told Him I had kept all these commandments but he told me that if I really

wanted to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and have eternal life I was to sell all my

possessions and give all to the poor and follow Him.”

“You turned away, as I remember,” Peter said.

“I wanted to keep hold of my great wealth.”


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“After you’d gone, Jesus said to us that it was hard for a man as rich as yourself

to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

“’So what hope is there for any of us?’ I remember saying to Him. He said we

couldn’t do it by ourselves, that only God could do it for us. And that is what He did

when he was scourged and died on the cross over there on Skull Hill. Jesus is the Son

of God and is now with His Father in Heaven.”

“I’ve been told He rose from the dead.”

“That’s true enough,” Peter said.

“I wish I’d seen him. Anyway I’m here now. I’ve decided what I really want;

Eternal life.”

“Is your heart not still with your riches?”

“My riches are outside. I have brought the money I got for them here to be

distributed among the poor; especially those who are sick and dying.”

“You won’t regret this Benjamin bar Noah,” John said. “Believe in our Lord

Jesus and even though you have left your home and family for His sake, you will, like

us, receive a hundred times as much when He makes all things new and you have

eternal life.

*

In an office off one of the courts of the Temple the Raban Gamaliel dismissed

the pupil who had been acting as his scribe because of his failing eyesight.

“Send in Saul of Tarsus,” he instructed.

When Saul entered he saw that he had bathed and that the locks of his hair were

well groomed and oiled.


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“Master,” greeted Saul. “You sent for me. I am glad that you still regard me as

your disciple.”

“You have broken from my discipline,” Gamaliel said. “I am no longer your

teacher.”

Saul looked at the sealed scrolls, the epistles that were ready for dispatch to the

synagogues of the Jewish communities throughout the Roman Empire, keeping them

in touch with orthodox belief and right practice of the Law. At one time Saul had

acted as scribe as Gamaliel dictated his letters.

“I have summoned you to tell you that I disagree strongly with the course upon

which you have embarked.”

“I see it as my duty,” Saul said.

“You are putting together an organization to persecute people who uphold the

teaching of the Nazarene. Teachings which do not differ from the word that God has

given us through Moses, David’s Psalms, and the Prophets.”

“They believe and say he is the Son of God and that is blasphemy. I have the

High Priest’s blessing on what has to be done to stamp out that blasphemy. I will be

acting within the Law.”

“I beg you Saul, give up what you intend to do to these people. You are going to

get blood on your hands that you can never wash off.”

“And you, who were once my Master, how can you do nothing to defend the

faith and the Law God gave us?”

“I see no point in further argument. You seem implacable.”

“That is what I shall be,” Saul said. “An implacable hunter.”


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Chapter Eighteen.

Proculeia Hears of the Resurrection.

Herodias and Salome had come to Caesarea to luxuriate in the heated Roman baths

which were also said to be medicinal.

Herod Antipas had come to feast in friendship with Pilate. Each man thought it best

to make an unofficial peace treaty, but neither had any illusions about their cordiality

being genuine.

They were agreed that if they co-operated with each other their separate positions in

these uncertain times when the Emperor was highly suspicious would be maintained.


105

They discussed the latest news from Rome. The expected rise of Agrippina’s party

after the fall of Sejanus had not happened. Tiberius had not recalled his exiled

daughter-in-law.

Agrippina’s eldest son was dead and her hope was that her second son Drusus

would be freed from his prison in the depths of the Palatine Palace to become the heir

apparent.

However, Drusus, sealed his own fate by cursing Caesar; a fact that was reported by

his guards. He was starved to death in his cell and had tried to eat the straw of his

mattress for nourishment.

Agrippina was devastated by this death of her son, and chose to starve herself to

death on the island of Pandateria. She died on the same day that two years earlier

Sejanus had died due to her plotting.

This left Caligula, Agrippina’s youngest son, who had been christened ‘little boots’

by the troops of his father Germanicus when he had appeared in their ranks as a child

clad in a miniature uniform including a pair of little boots.

Tiberius had taken ‘Bootsie’ to Capri where he was sheltered from the scheming of

Sejanus and his mother. Caligula was shrewd enough to ape the moods and fancies of

Tiberius who married him to the daughter of a Senator and everyone had no doubt that

Caligula was next in line to rule Rome and the Empire.

“See here,” Pilate indicated a large handsomely worked silver urn of Phoenician

origin. “This is my present to Caligula. What do you think?”

“He is sure to appreciate the workmanship,” Antipas said. “No doubt he will know

the quality and the value of the silver. It is a fine gift.”


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“And how will you honour him?”

“I have already done so.”

“Indeed?”

“Six jet-black Arabian horses for his stable.”

“A most generous gift. No doubt a pretty penny.”

“Not even the cost of a sparrow. Their owner plotted against me and lies rotting in

prison. All that he owned is mine.”

“I see.”

Indeed, Pilate thought he did see. Antipas had probably seen the horses and had

tried to buy them. The owner had refused. After which he had been put in prison on a

trumped up charge and his property confiscated.

“The man had twelve horses,” Antipas said. “Six white, and six black. I’m keeping

the white.”

“More wine?”

“Thank you, Pontius. It is an excellent vintage. We will need all the favour we can

get from Tiberius and from Caligula. In the past we have both tried to discredit one

another in the eyes of the Emperor. Who knows what damage has been done or how

Tiberius’ mind will build incrementally a case against each of us. Our tittle-tattling

practices must cease and we must present each other to the Emperor as loyal, competent

subjects who have no other interests at heart but his own.”

“For myself that has always been the case. I know for a fact I have been lied about.”

“I assure you, all that is over. I have written a glowing report of your co-operation

in dealing with that rabble-rouser, Jesus from Nazareth who declared himself King of


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the Jews. I said nothing, of course, about the sign you had nailed up over his head that

he was King of the Jews. I said you were Caesar’s friend and had rid Rome of a threat

of insurrection.”

“They say he has risen from the dead.”

“My dear, Pontius, if that had been the case would he not now be showing himself

and gathering a great army of followers to claim Israel for himself?”

“My wife thinks it possible.”

“The rumour was started by fanciful women, the wife of my Chief Steward among

them.”

“His disciples believe it to be so.”

“They will be suppressed. Caiaphas assures me of that.”

“I am not pleased with Caiaphas. He exceeds his authority. He sentenced one of the

Nazarenes, Stephen, to death by stoning. The sentence of death resides in my

authority.”

“No sentence was passed. The matter got out of hand and an unruly mob stoned the

man.”

“Much to the delight of Caiaphas.”

“It was fortuitous.”

“How are these Nazarenes going to be suppressed?”

“He has found a fanatic. Saul of Tarsus who led the mob against Stephen. He is

zealous for the protection of the Jewish Law that God gave Moses. Caiaphas says he

will not tire until this cult has been broken and the followers dispersed.”

“There must be no more unauthorized deaths.


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“Caiaphas understands that.”

“Let us hope that Saul of Tarsus understands also. Now, let us dine.”

The ladies dined separately.

An opportunity had arisen for Proculeia to find out for herself about whether or not

Jesus had risen from the dead. Serving Herodias and Salome at table was Joanna, the

wife of Chuza Herod’s Chief Steward.

When Proculeia had steered the conversation around to the resurrection of Jesus,

Salome said:

“You had better ask Joanna. She was there when it happened.”

Proculeia was excited.

“Really? Oh, I’d like to hear what she has to say.”

“She talks of little else,” Salome said. “Joanna, tell the Governor’s wife your

foolish story.”

“It’s a true story, Lady,” Joanna said.

“Please tell me,”

“A few of us women,” Joanna said, “got it into our heads that because Jesus had

been buried in haste He hadn’t been buried properly.

“We went out early in the morning to Joseph’s tomb with spices to anoint the

body.”

“What day was this?”

“Sunday, at dawn. We had to wait until the end of the Sabbath.

“When we got to the tomb the stone was in place and the two guards were there,

and we hope to convince them to roll away the stone for us.


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“But as we got nearer, the earth shook and that great stone rolled away from the

entrance. From inside the tomb came this being in radiant white. The guards threw

down their spears and ran away.

“We were frightened but we stayed. We kept looking at this being.”

“An angel, she says,” said Salome.

“A messenger from God. We said we’d come to anoint the body of Jesus. The angel

asked us why we were looking for Him among the dead because He was no longer in

the tomb.

“We went to the entrance of the tomb and looked in. We saw His funeral wrappings

on the floor, and the white cloth that had covered His face. There was nothing or no-

one else in the tomb.

“When we looked for the angel he’d gone. We thought we’d better go and tell the

disciples. On our way back….”

Joanna paused.

“Please, Joanna, continue,” Proculeia said.

“This is something nobody believes.”

“But she’ll tell you anyway,” Salome said. “She’s told everyone else.”

“Well,” Joanna said. “On our way back we turned a corner and there was Jesus,

sitting at the side of the road as if He had been waiting for us.

“He got up and we fell down in adoration of Him. He told us to get up.

“’Thank you,” he said. ‘For being there when I died. Now, go and assemble my

disciples. Do you remember my last words?’

“’It is accomplished,’ we said.


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“’Do you understand what I meant?’

“When he saw that we were in some doubt he explained them to us and told us that

he had taken upon Himself the sin of the world and had paid the price so that we all can

live in harmony with God.”

Joanna finished, and for Proculeia what she had said had the ring of truth.


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Chapter Nineteen.

Jacob and Hanna.

Most people thought Hanna pretty.

Except Jacob.

Jacob thought Hanna, beautiful.

She had long lustrous red hair, and green eyes with long eyelashes, and she

always had a ready smile for everyone.

These were the first things Jacob noticed about Hanna when she sought out

Doctor Luke and asked if he would attend to her father.

In Galilee, her father had been a rich and important man; a landowner with

stewards and workers; he was also one of the leaders of the synagogue at Capernaum.

He had come to Jerusalem for the Harvest Festival and that was when he had first

heard that the teacher and healer from Nazareth had been crucified. The news had


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shocked and saddened him. He had been present when the disciples of Jesus received

the gift of the Holy Spirit and they told everyone about the resurrected Messiah who

had spoken with and instructed His disciples and then had ascended to His Father in

Heaven.

The Holy Spirit of God convinced Hanna’s father that this was the truth; a truth

that would be finally realized on earth when Jesus returned to make a new heaven and a

new earth.

Hanna’s father went back to Capernaum and sold his land and properties to his

brother who thought that what he was doing was foolishness. He brought the proceeds

of the sale to Bethany where he and Hanna and his complaining wife shared a house

with other believers whom Hanna’s mother thought to be beneath them.

Jacob, carrying Luke’s box of medicines and instruments followed Hanna to the

house where her father lay. Hanna kept looking back urging them to hurry because her

father was very sick.

They entered the house but the light coming through the one small window and

the open door was not enough for Luke to examine his patient so he asked for a lamp to

be lit.

“As if we had oil to waste,” grumbled Hanna’s mother.

“Mother!” Hanna said and quickly lit two oil-soaked wicks which she placed on

either side of the pallet on which her father lay.

“Good day, I am Luke. You sent for me.”

“You have the reputation of being a good doctor,” the patient said.

“I do what I can with the knowledge I have,” Luke said. “What is your name?”


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“Jairus,” the man said. “It was my daughter, Hanna who brought you.”

“Well, Jairus, permit me to examine you.”

“This is what he gets for selling all we had and leaving the comforts of home,” his

wife said, standing at the foot of the pallet with folded arms, her mouth a down-curled

curve.

Jairus’ eyes closed, his brows frowned, but he could not block his ears from

hearing her voice. There were times when she reminded him of a peacock in full

screech.

“You brought us to this,” she said. “I did not want to come here to live among

such riff-raff. You sold my beautiful home, dispossessed me; for what? If you die

what’s going to happen to me? What have I got left to live on? Tell me that.”

“Papa’s not going to die, mother,” Hanna said. “We’ll be all right here. If we look

after others they’ll look after us.”

“I had servants,” the wife and mother said to Luke.

“If you would all leave for the moment,” Luke said. “I need quietness to examine

my patient.

The patient’s wife went outside, grumbling.

“If you need anything, just call,” Hanna said.”

“You may stay, Jacob.”

Jacob watched as Luke examined Jairus and explained what he was doing.

“You must forgive my wife,” Jairus said. “I do not think she understands. Her life

is bound up in belongings.”

“Hush now,” Luke said. “I need to listen to your heart.”


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Luke took Jacob’s fingers and placed them over the pulse at Jairus’ wrist while he

himself listened directly to the patient’s heart his ear against his chest.

Jairus’ heartbeat was irregular and weak. Luke showed Jacob Jairus’ distended

abdomen.

“Fluid,” Luke said. “Now look at his ankles. Fluid there also. See now it pits

when you press it with your thumb. Jairus, I think you would find breathing more easily

if you were to sit upright. Help me, Jacob.”

Luke and Jacob helped prop Jairus into a sitting position as if he were in a chair.

After some minutes after the exertion of moving, Jairus declared himself to be more

comfortable and that he did find it easier to breathe.

“What’s the matter with me?”

“What work do you do here?” Luke asked.

“Labouring. I’ve been carrying bricks.”

“That must stop.”

“But I must do my part.”

“You must find something less strenuous to do. Your heart will fail otherwise.”

“I have a bad heart.”

“You have an enlarged heart. It’s a big muscle, and that muscle isn’t working

right. It needs rest. You have fluid around your waist. I can drain that away and then

you will feel so much better, but you must not go back to labouring or carrying bricks.”

Jacob attended Luke as he inserted a wide bore needle and slowly drained the

fluid away from Jairus’ abdomen into a basin. As he did so Jacob was instructed to


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tighten a three-tailed bandage around the patient’s waist. Finally, Jacob was able to take

the last of three large basinfuls of fluid out to be emptied.

“Is that the last?” Hanna asked him.

“Yes.”

“How is Papa?”

“He feels much better now.”

“He’s not going to die?”

“No, but Doctor Luke say he must not do any more hard work, as it will put a

strain on his heart.”

“The big fisherman, Peter, came, but he wasn’t able to cure Papa. Papa felt better

after he’d been, but the trouble was still there. He healed others in Jesus’ name. Why

not Papa?

“I don’t know,” Jacob said. “I’m sorry your father wasn’t healed.”

“Your mother was. She told me how you brought Jesus to see her and He healed

her. I knew Him too in Galilee. That’s why I can’t understand Mama. After what Jesus

did for us, she does nothing but scold. I wish she wouldn’t. I wish she’d take time and

remember what Jesus did for us.”

“What did He do?”

“He told us not to tell anyone.”

“Oh? Can’t you tell now that He’s gone to Heaven?”

“Papa says we’d better not.”

“If Jesus did it, then I’m sure it was a good thing He did.”


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“It was good, and I’m glad of it. I wish Mama wouldn’t forget how good it was.

She should be serving Him with a joyful heart.”

“Maybe someday you’ll tell me what it was.”

“Someday, maybe.” Hanna smiled at Jacob and again he thought her beautiful.


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Chapter Twenty.

Servius Primes Pilate.

“Where have you been?”

“Samaria, your Excellency.”

“It was my understanding, Servius that you were to accompany the taxes I am

sending to Caesar.”

“It was more urgent that I went to Samaria.”

“The taxes have yet to arrive.”

“That does not surprise me. That fool of a Centurion insisted upon using oxen as a

means of transport. Have any of my men reported a Zealot attack on the column?”

“I have had no such report.”

“An attack was expected.”

“Those taxes had better be safe.”

“Is the Centurion to be trusted?”

“I have found him trustworthy, and dutiful.”

“What concerns me is his relationship with these people who are causing trouble

in Jerusalem. Cornelius, your Tribune has taken to the Jewish religion and I wonder if

the Centurion has taken up belief with this new cult of the Nazarene. Their numbers


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have increased by thousands and that is always a dangerous thing. It only takes a word

or a gesture to spark a revolt.”

“Your men have been among them and they report that they are giving Rome no

cause for concern, but that the High Priest is foaming at the mouth because they are

worshiping Jesus whom the Jews had me crucify when I did not want to. They follow

His teaching and are supporting one another, and practice a commandment given by

Jesus to love their God and their neighbour as themselves, and it seems that they would

not do to others what they would not want done to themselves.”

“That’s all very well, but Zealots move among them and I have no doubt that

many listen to them. This will be more certain soon because Caiaphas has

commissioned a man called Saul from Tarsus to move against them.”

“Keep me informed of this man’s activities.”

“He is already being watched.”

“Why the urgency to go to Samaria?”

“A serious situation has arisen there, Pilate.”

“Surely not.”

Up until now Pilate had paid scant attention to Samaria which made up the

Northern part of his province. Samaria was a country of hills that was peopled by

mixed races, and half-breed Jews who were despised by the Jewish population of the

South.

“There have been rumblings from Samaria before, but this time it is different.”

“In what way?”

“A man called Simon Magus has arisen claiming that he is the Messiah.”


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Pilate groaned. Religious trouble among Jews and Samaritans was always more

volatile.

“The Samaritans,” Servius went on, “recognize only the five books of Moses as

being the true word of God. They have banned all the Hebrew prophets. They built a

Temple on Mount Gerizim which they claimed to be the one true Temple. They

damned the Temple in Jerusalem as being false.

“However, the Jews from the South destroyed the Gerizim Temple and it was

never rebuilt, but Mount Gerizim remains sacred to the Samaritans.

At the moment Gerizim has been taken over by Simon Magus, a priest who is also a

magician.

“He is a very clever practitioner and over a period of time has been advertising

himself as the long-awaited Messiah promised by Moses. He has the Samaritans eating

out of his hand, and they are flocking to him in thousands for he has promised as proof

of his claims to lead them to a place on Mount Gerizim where he will unearth the

sacred vessels from the Arc of the Covenant which Moses had hidden in a cave.

“He probably planted these vessels himself, but once the gullible see them

brought out of a cave they will hail him as the Messiah. There is talk of marching on

Jerusalem and destroying the Temple there, and then of building a new true Temple on

Gerizim which the Samaritans believe to be the centre of the site of the Garden of Eden

where everything began. They’re all excited about reinstating Paradise.”

“The whole thing is ridiculous,” Pilate said. When he had come to take up his

Governorship he had been well versed in Jewish history and religious practices even


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though he had violated these by installing the Imperial Eagles in the Temple which

cause a riot that only subsided when he removed the emblems.

“How?” he asked, “could Moses have hidden anything on Mount Gerizim when

he never set foot in the Promised Land?”

“Simon Magus is a magician and once he has his audience under his spell, not

even sober historical fact can stand in the way of a spectacular promise.”

“When is this all supposed to happen?”

“The Samaritans will assemble three days from now at a village called Tirathana

at the foot of Gerizim. What do you intend to do?”

“We can’t have Samaritans attacking Jerusalem.”

“I agree. The situation requires direct action.”

They were interrupted by a secretary who announced that the Centurion Octavian

wished an audience with the Governor.

Octavian was admitted into the presence of Pilate and Servius.

“It seems you have arrived at last. Tell me that the tribute has arrived safely and

can be shipped to Caesar.”

“I cannot tell you that, your Excellency.”

“Were you attacked by Zealots?” asked Servius. “Have they taken the taxes?”

“Governor, I would speak with you alone.”

“That will not be necessary, Centurion,” Servius said. “I need to hear your

report.”

“You and I alone, Governor.”

“I think not. Say what you have to say.”


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“Very well, Excellency. We did not bring the tribute because we never had the

tribute to bring.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If I may, Governor?” Without waiting for Pilate to answer Octavian walked to

the door, opened it, and had Sergeant Rufus and three troopers bring in one of the boxes

he had escorted from Jerusalem.

“Notice, Governor, that the seal on this box is intact.”

Pilate examined the seal.

“I see that.”

“With your permission we will open this box now.”

“No!” said Servius. “The seal must be kept unbroken.”

“Excellency,” Octavian said. “It is my belief that this box contains nothing but a

load of bricks.”

“Why do you say that?”

Octavian told him what had occurred at Arimathea.

“I doubt if this box is any different.”

“Open it,” Pilate said.

The box was opened and like the others it contained bricks.

“As I said, we did not bring the tribute because we never had the tribute to bring.”

“Excellency,” Servius said. “The Centurion must be placed under arrest until I can

fully investigate this matter. His men also. These men are going home. How much

better it would be if they went home with a share of the Emperor’s taxes.”


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“We did not steal the tribute,” Octavian said. “There was no tribute to steal. It was

gone before it was loaded onto that oxen cart which the Spymaster here foisted onto us.

“There can be only one explanation. The tribute was removed and the boxes filled

with bricks and sealed, then loaded. If I or any of my men had stolen the tribute along

the way how would we have been able to seal that box? We do not possess the Imperial

seal.”

“The Centurion need not be arrested. There are two seals. One, here, and one in

Jerusalem. Only you and I have access to them, Servius.”

Octavian looked at the two men. The thought struck him that they both might

have conspired to steal the tribute.

“Another thing,” Octavian said. “We were expecting an attack by the Zealots.

There was no attack, but I think that is easily explained. The whole of Arimathea knew

the boxes were filled with bricks. Any Zealot who was there would have known. They

might have thought the tribute had been sent by another route.”

“Perhaps,” Pilate said. “Servius, you had better find out what you can. We need to

have that tribute back. Go now.”

Servius departed.

“Your thoughts, Centurion.”

“I would like, Excellency to go home with the tribute.”

“I would like you to have it on board when you sail.”

“Let me pick my men and let me see if I can find the tribute and bring it to you.”

“If you could do that.” Octavian saw a ray of hope in Pilate’s eyes and felt sure

that Pilate had not been instrumental in stealing the tribute.


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“Very well,” Pilate said.

Chapter Twenty-One.

A Man of Little Charity.


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Saul, the man of Tarsus thought; there’s no relish in this conversation. He who

could reduce any opponent to silence with scriptures and logic was not having the

upper hand of this conversation.

He didn’t like it.

Not one little bit.

It galled him.

He stood stony-faced.

“And another thing,” his wife said. “You never loved me as a husband should.

You don’t love me now. I don’t think you even like me.”

“Our marriage was arranged,” Saul said. “You know that.”

“You could have chosen to love me. You could have taken an interest in me; in

the things I like to do. You know nothing about love.

“Oh, yes, you can talk with the tongues of men and of angels but you have no

charity towards anybody but yourself. What does that make you? You’re a brass gong

and a clashing cymbal.” She drew breath. “You’re a puffed up little man who has made

my life a misery all these years.”

“You want for nothing. You have houses and servants, fine clothes to wear, the

best of linen, and smooth platters to eat from.”

“Yes, I have all those things, but did I have your love when it came to my need

when our son died? Where was your sympathy for me then? Where was the support I

needed? As far as you were concerned I was able enough to take care of myself.”

“I did what David did when he grieved for the child Uriah’s wife bore him. Did I

not fast and lay praying on the earth all night while our child lived? And when he died I


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arose from the earth, washed and anointed myself, changed my clothes, and went to the

house of the LORD and worshipped. After that I got on with my life. You should have

done the same. What use is there in carrying the dead with you throughout life?”

“You’re harsh. Why have you no patience with me? Why do you not show

kindness towards me? Because of you I have no friends. People shun me because you

frighten them with your boastful arrogance. You’re rude to people who you think are

your intellectual inferiors. And you always insist on having your own way.

“When people disagree with you, you get irritable and resentful. People have

stopped talking to me because they say your were responsible for the death of that man

Stephen.”

“He was responsible for his own death. His blasphemy condemned him and he got

a just sentence according to the Law. I think you had better return to Tarsus. I have

work to do here and I have taken the vows not to cut my hair or consume alcohol or

have contact with dead bodies until it is finished.”

“Or to have contact with me.”

“It is best that you return to Tarsus.”

“Why don’t you just write me a bill of divorcement?”

“You would lose the advantage of being my wife.”

“There is little advantage in that. Our marriage is one of convenience that holds

two fortunes together. It’s a loveless marriage.”

“It is still more advantageous to you to remain my wife.”

“You are not a man who should have married. You have little idea of what a

normal family life is like or what it should be. You are still a child. You need to grow


126

and become a man. Then, perhaps, you will see things more clearly and be able to see

what others need to face life. Until then, you are nothing.”

“The servants will pack your things and I shall arrange your journey back to

Tarsus.”

“In that way I am suitably disposed of.”

It was a sad and tearful woman he left behind at his Jerusalem home. It was an

angry man who arrived for his interview with the High Priest.

“You have everything prepared,” he said, peremptorily to Caiaphas.

These Pharisees, Caiaphas thought. This is an angry one who seems to be

struggling with his emotions. This is what happens when you take to believing that

there is a life after death and that death is not final and permanent. A place in heaven

has to be earned by keeping each and every commandment and letter of the Law and of

pleasing God by doing such works that are considered good in His eyes. Sadducees

have no such problems. They cast off their sins on the Day of Atonement each year,

and if they died before the year is up, there is only the grave and no future life,

therefore no judgement. The Law of course is a good thing for keeping the people in

line, and judgement for any violations of the Law resides in the hands of the

Priesthood.

Caiaphas sat back in his chair, and regarded the crook-backed Saul.

“Yes,” he said. “I have your seal of office and your papers of commission.”

“Good,” Saul said. “Then I am ready to proceed.”


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“Before you do, it may interest you to know that I have received what can only be

described as a reprimand from Pilate.” Saul waited during the pause. “He is most

displeased that a death sentence was carried out.”

“It was a just decision according to our Law.”

“It would have been had our law been fulfilled with a proper trial and a proper

declaration of sentence. Your actions took that out of my hands.”

“It suited your purposes; just as my zeal to see God’s Law upheld will also serve

your purposes.”

“Nevertheless, Pilate does not want us to declare any more death sentences. That

is why I will only give you your badge of office and your commission on the

understanding that you will not be bringing people to me to be charged with an offence

warranting the death sentence.”

“You’re tying my hands.”

“The better to serve my purposes, and it would serve my purposes better if you

concentrate upon the ordinary people and leave the disciples of the Nazarene to me.”

“But, but… I have plans for them.”

“I’m sure you have but so also have I. I will deal with these Galileans. You will

not concern yourself with them. Antipas and I have the matter in hand. What is needed

from you is to spread fear and terror among their rank and file.”

“It is my intention to uphold the will of God according to His Law and to do so

with scriptural justice.”

Caiaphas smiled. “The result, I assure you, will be the same. Are we in

agreement?”


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“Very well, I will leave the Galileans alone. I will not seek death sentences even

though a blasphemy may warrant it. I disagree that I will be spreading fear and terror

throughout Jerusalem. These people will quickly come to see the error of their ways

and revert to the true faith.”

Caiaphas handed Saul his seal of office which he hung around his neck on a

lanyard. Saul took his papers of commission.

“I also require a number of official guards to accompany me,” Saul said. “Levites

in white aprons and high hats of office with Temple authority.”

“Granted,” Caiaphas said.

As he made his way from the High Priest’s office, Saul thought of King

Solomon’s words: “It is better to dwell in an attic than with a contentious woman in a

wide house.”


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Chapter Twenty-Two.

How Bar Abbas came to Bethany.

When Moses ben Levi told bar Abbas that the chests supposed to be filled with

coin contained only bricks, bar Abbas did not believe him.


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“All of Arimathea knows it,” ben Levi said. “And I saw it myself. Nothing but

bricks.”

Bar Abbas and ben Levi travelled fast through the night to Arimathea. They went

to the house of Hyman ben Phabi, a Zealot sympathizer who had always proved to be a

reliable informant.

“The Centurion is as puzzled about the bricks as we are,” ben Phabi said.

“But they still guard the chests.”

“There are four chests,” ben Phabi said. “One cracked open by accident, the

Centurion ordered two others opened, and the last he kept closed.”

“Then there must be coin in that one,” bar Abbas said.

“They don’t think so, I heard them say that the seal should be broken in the

presence of Pilate at Caesarea, They believe it will show they are telling the truth about

the others.

“You saw these bricks yourself?” bar Abbas asked yet again.

“As did many others. I think those chests were a decoy about which the Centurion

and his men knew nothing. The taxes have gone by another route.”

“To where? Still to Caesarea?”

Ben Phabi thought for a minute.

“More likely to Joppa. Knowing your men to be in the North the true chests with

the taxes will be travelling south to Joppa from where it can go by sea to Rome.”

Bar Abbas swore. It made sense.

“You’re sure about those bricks?” bar Abbas asked both men in turn.

They assured him that the boxes contained only bricks.


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Back at his camp amidst the labyrinth of canyons he marshalled his men and by

moonlight they set out on a cross-country forced march to Joppa.

By dawn they came down through a mountain pass to a crossroads not far from

Antipatris.

Bar Abbas halted his men and sent two to a farm to find out if they knew anything

about Roman movements and if a column had passed transporting chests towards

Joppa.

The rest of his men sprawled by the roadside and some closed their eyes in sleep.

It was while they were like this that they were attacked by a hail of arrows which

put paid to about a third of their number.

Bar Abbas yelled, “Take cover!” But there wasn’t much cover to be taken and his

men began to mill about in confusion.

They were being attacked by Romans. Bar Abbas could tell that from the arrows.

After another two volleys of whistling arrows there was a thundering of hoofbeats

and a company of cavalry came charging down upon them.

Bar Abbas tried to rally his men, but they were running in all directions.

“To me! Form a square! Spears in front!” It was a tactic he’d learned from the

Romans, but his men were not as well disciplined, and it was a poor defence that

formed. One that could not withstand the advance of the Roman infantry that followed

in the wake of the cavalry.

Bar Abbas fought bravely, killing his way out of the square that was breaking up.

Some of his men fled, flinging down their weapons. Others tried to surrender, but the

Romans were taking no prisoners.


132

In the heat of this battle bar Abbas reached a hiatus and had time to take in his

surroundings. To his right was a drainage ditch filled with water in which grew reeds

and lilies.

He glanced back and saw the slaughter of his men which the Romans were

decimating in that impersonal way.

Their commander had now arrived and bar Abbas recognized him as Cornelius,

the Tribune from Jerusalem. Was it just bad luck that he chanced upon them at this

time. If they’d stayed in their stronghold the Roman would never have been able to find

them.

What did it matter now? He had to save himself. He broke off a length of hollow

reed and with this in his mouth he submerged himself in the drainage ditch.

Later, much later, shivering with cold, he surveyed the scene of death and

desolation. The heat from the sun dried his clothes, and he made his way to Jerusalem.

He entered the city and slunk through the narrow alley-ways until he came to a

safe house where he was given a change of clothing and food and wine. He was told to

wait.

So he waited.

And it surprised then angered him that he was subjected to a court-martial held

before the Zelalot leaders of Jerusalem.

They listened without comment as he told them what had happened, and when he

had finished they began to question him.

“Did you see these brick-filled boxes with your own eyes?”

“No.”


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“Then how can you be sure they were filled with bricks?”

“Moses ben Levi, and Hyman ben Phabi saw them as well as others. I believed

them. “

“Who was it suggested that the taxes had been taken to Joppa and that the boxes

with the bricks were a decoy?”

“Hyman ben Phabi.”

“And is Hyman ben Phabi to be trusted?”

“He has always been a source of good information.”

“Oh, you have known him a long while?”

“Not long, but long enough.”

“Did he know you were going to Joppa?”

“Yes.”

“Moses ben Levi also knew. Are you in league with these men?”

“In league? No! Certainly not!”

“Tell us how you did it?”

“Did what?”

“How you stole the taxes and substituted bricks.”

“Me? Don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t do that. How could I have done?”

“You have a clever wife.”

“She has nothing to do with this.”

“How do you know?”

“I just know. She’s zealous for the cause.”


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“Moses ben Levi and Hyman ben Phabi were in Jerusalem before the tribute or

should we say the bricks started their journey.”

“It’s news to me.”

“Your wife was seen talking to them.”

“She talks to many Zealots and sympathizers.”

“She also talks to many thieves. No doubt she arranged the substitution of the

bricks.”

“You’re out of your mind.”

“Your wife, we would suggest thought up this whole scheme. Did she not go to

see you before the Romans reached Arimathea?”

“She did, but her visit had nothing to do with what you’re talking about.”

“We find that hard to believe. When she visited you she told you that the taxes

had been successfully stolen and that you were to lead your men to Joppa and that

either Moses ben Levi or Hyman ben Phabi would have alerted the Romans at

Antipatris and they’d be waiting for you at the crossroads to Joppa.”

“That has more holes in it than a sieve.”

“A better man died in your place. At least we knew where we stood with him.

You’re nothing but trouble. Now, tell us where the money is.”

“I don’t know where it is.”

Bar Abbas got up so suddenly, the others were frozen in their seats. He dived for

the door, hauled it open and stumbling out into the street he took flight. He heard the

sound of alarm and heard the pounding feet of men running after him.


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He had no intention of being caught and tortured, because he had nothing to tell

them about the missing taxes, but they wouldn’t believe that. The thought of torture

gave wings to his feet and he fled from the city across the Kidron Valley, past the

burning, glowing fires of the rubbish dump and on up the hill towards Bethany.

His pursuers were still with him, and he began to flag, his steps slowing. A group

of men were processing before him. He staggered into their midst and would have

fallen had it not been for the tallest of them who caught and steadied him.

“Save me,” bar Abbas gasped. “Save me from them.” He pointed to the advancing

pursuers.

The men stopped, turned, and placed bar Abbas in their midst. They confronted

the pursuers one of whom said, panting: “Give us that man. He is a thief and a traitor.”

“They want to torture and kill me,” bar Abbas said.

“You follow the Nazarene,” the man said. “Then you should know who that man

is. His name is bar Abbas. Your master died for him.”

“Our Master died for many others including yourselves. In the name of Jesus from

Nazareth, leave this man to us.”

For a moment it seemed the men would argue, but they turned and walked back

the way they had come.

“Come with us, bar Abbas,” the tall man said.

They brought him to Bethany.


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Chapter Twenty-Three.

The Interrogation of Servius.

Servius was sweating it out pleasurably in the steam room of the Roman baths;

relaxed because everything was progressing in a satisfactory manner.

He sat on heated marble and imagined how it would be when he returned to Rome

a rich man. He’d have a villa and a farm in Tuscany and a town house in Rome.

With his connections he’d buy into the running of the Coliseum, and it wasn’t

beyond the realms of possibility that with his accumulated knowledge of the

peccadilloes of the Roman nobility that he could marry a provident woman of the

Patrician class.

He closed his eyes, smacked his lips and with a sigh of utter satisfaction he leaned

back in his seat.

With startling suddenness his dreaming was rudely interrupted. His eyes popped

open. His heart gave a frightful leap as he was lifted bodily from where he sat and

found himself in the vice-like grip of the giant red-haired Sergeant Rufus.


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“What the…” he got out before he was twisted about and his words cut off by the

great forearm encircling his throat. The towel dropped from around his waist and he

was carried, naked, from the steam room. He lost consciousness as the hold on his

throat tightened.

Earlier, after they had departed from their audience with Pilate, Rufus said to his

Centurion:

“Octavian Longinus, when Pilate asked if you had any idea who took the taxes

you said you had. Was that true?”

“True enough. I’m reasonably sure I know who is behind this.”

“Who might that be?”

“He who slowed us down by giving us oxen to transport those bricks. He who

said he would accompany us and did not.”

“The Spymaster.”

“He probably was able to get to Pilate’s seal in Jerusalem and reseal the chests.

He needed time to dispose of the taxes and to get to Caesarea before we did which is

why he slowed us down with oxen. He no doubt hoped that we would be attacked by

Zealots and the chests taken.”

“So, why didn’t the Zealots attack us?”

“Because at Arimathea they too found out that they’d only have bricks for their

efforts.”

“We need to have a talk with the Spymaster, Centurion.”


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“There’s a couple of things we have to do first. We need to hand-pick some

trustworthy men. How many would you say?”

“To go with us to recover the Tribute? Seven would be a good number. Five and

our two selves.”

“You think seven will be sufficient?”

“If they’re made of the right stuff.”

“I leave the choice of men to you, Rufus. Now, let’s find somewhere we can have

a quiet talk with the Spymaster.”

The two walked to the magnificent harbour that offered safe shelter from the sea

and which had been designed by Herod the Builder. There were also warehouses close

to the docking areas where all manner of imports and exports could be off and on

loaded.

They found one recently emptied, and Octavian chose this. He had his hundred

men brought and they stowed away their equipment which would be returning with

them to Rome. Rufus chose seven, and brought them to a corner of the warehouse

where Octavian had them construct a square room of sandbags.

“It will cut out the sight of what we do,” he said, “and some of the sound.”

When the room was completed, he spoke to the five men of their mission. Three

he knew to be, like Rufus, survivors of Gladiatorial combat but who had needed an

institution to survive and had joined the Army that told them what to do and when to do

it. Such a life for them was simple and regulated. One was a Briton, one a Gaul, and the

third a German: Britanicus, Gaulus, and Germanicus.


139

The other two were thieves who had been offered their lives if they joined the

Army and served the Emperor. No-one knew their real names, and they were called

Romulus and Remus by their comrades because they looked alike as twins even though

they weren’t.

While Octavian briefed these men, Rufus went to bring Servius.

He returned with a naked Servius rolled in a rug. He brought him into the

sandbagged room and unrolled him.

Servius was now conscious. His eyes roved round the seven men and came to rest

on Octavian.

“Clothe me!” he demanded.

“You’ll stay as you are,” Octavian said.

“You exceed your authority, Centurion. You’ll regret having done this to me.

Release me at once if you know what’s good for you.”

“I’ll ask you some questions, Spymaster. It is you who will have regrets if you do

not answer them.”

“You have no right to question me.”

“My questions are these: Did you steal the taxes? and, Where are the taxes now?

Two simple questions. All you have to do is to answer them.”

“I’ll see you in Hades first,” Servius said.

“Answer, or I will leave you in the hands of these men. You should save yourself

the pain.”

“I will break you, Centurion. Depend upon it.”


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Octavian turned to Rufus. “See he answers my questions.”

Octavian left the room of sandbags, and walked past the rest of his men to the exit

of the warehouse. Before he reached it he heard the first muffled screech of pain. He

did not look back, and his men after some first startled curious glances decided it was

none of their business.

Octavian walked along the top of the harbour wall and stood looking at the blue-

green sea. He watched a galley tack in and ship its oars as its drumbeat ceased. The

slaves sat in their chains resting. Stevedores unloaded the galley before Romulus came

to bring Octavian saying that the prisoner was ready to talk.

He found Servius conscious and sobbing. His fingers, wrists and ankles had been

broken and his shoulders dislocated.

“He fainted a couple of times,” Rufus said. “But now he wants to talk.”

“Did you steal the taxes?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me how?”

Servius told him.

“Where are the taxes now?”

“Where you won’t be able to get them.”

Rufus thumped his shoulder. Servius screamed.

“Vitellius has them.”

“What has Vitellius to do with this?”

Servius told him of the plot against Pilate, one which would enhance Vitellius.

“Wrap him up,” Octavian said. “Pilate must hear of this.”


141

When they brought him to the Governor’s palace they were informed that Pilate

was no longer in residence but was proceeding to Mount Gerizim in Samaria with two

detachments of heavily armed infantry and a strong contingent of cavalry.

As it was only thirty miles distant from Caesarea Pilate should be half way there.


142

Chapter Twenty-Four.

The Soul of Bar Abbas.

The soul of bar Abbas was sick with sin. Of this he was not aware and thought

that some disease afflicted him.

“Boy,” he said to Jacob, “I have come to see the doctor.”

Jacob brought him to Luke.

Luke examined bar Abbas.

“I can find nothing wrong with your physical state,” Luke told him.

“Well, I feel sick.”

“You may feel sick, but you have not got a disease.”

“Some doctor you are,” bar Abbas said. “You only have to look at me to know

I’m a sick man.”

“What are you afraid of?” Luke asked.

“Afraid? Who says I’m afraid of anything? What are you talking about?”

“Something’s troubling you.”


143

“I have a disease that you can’t find. That’s what’s troubling me. So, give me

something for the nausea I feel.”

“I can do that,” Luke said. He went to his dispensing table where a number of

potions were already made up in large flasks. He selected one and poured some of its

white contents into a smaller phial which he stoppered and put into the hands of bar

Abbas.

“That will settle your stomach,” he said, “but the churning of your stomach will

probably return because you need to purge the thoughts that afflict your mind.”

“What can you give me for that?”

“There’s no potion for that,” Luke said. “You must either change your thoughts or

come to terms with them.”

Bar Abbas did not like what Luke told him. He took the phial and departed.

“So, Jacob,” Luke said. “Tell me what you observed.”

This was a question Luke often asked Jacob after he had watched the examination

of a patient. Jacob had learned to take his time before answering and to be precise and

concise.

“Some hair on his head has turned white, although he is still a young man. It is the

same with his beard.

“His sight and hearing are good and he speaks without slurring his words and his

tongue is moist.

“His skin is brown and weather-beaten, but it is free from scales, pustules,

pocking and white patches that would denote leprosy.


144

“He gave your hands a strong grip and the muscles of his arms and legs are hard

and well developed.

“When you tapped his elbows and knees with your small hammer he responded

rightly with jerking. When you scraped the soles of his feet his toes curled downwards

and not backwards.”

“All of which was normal,” Luke said. “Go on.”

“When you let me feel his pulse I thought it was faster than it should be. When

you pushed and probed his organs he did not experience pain.”

“You were right about his heart rate; it was faster than normal.”

“So there was no sign of disease, but why did you agree with him when he said he

was sick?”

“There’s a difference, Jacob, between a disease and sickness. Sickness can

accompany a disease, but it can also occur in the absence of disease. The danger is that

if sickness prevails for a long time in the absence of disease a disease will eventually

occur.”

“You thought he was afraid of something.”

“I still think so. He’s a marked man. Not everyone here is as kind to him as the

disciples. There are those who consider that Jesus should have been released and not

him.”

“But Jesus told his disciples that it was necessary for Him to die. So somebody

had to be released. I’m only sorry it wasn’t my Abba.”

“Do you hate bar Abbas because he is alive and your father is not?”

“I know it’s wrong of me but yes, sometimes I do.”


145

“And what do you do about it?”

“I talk to Mother and then we pray that Jesus will give us His love for bar Abbas.”

“And then you feel better?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a worrying time for bar Abbas. The Romans want him for being a Zealot,

and the Zealots want him because they think he betrayed them. Such thoughts occupy

his mind and cause his stomach to churn, and the churning makes him feel sick.”

“Will that medicine help him?”

“For a while,” Luke said.

When bar Abbas left Luke and Jacob he was ill pleased. What did that Greek

doctor know anyhow?

He would have liked a second opinion but he felt he could not leave the

comparative safety of Bethany to seek one among the doctors of Jerusalem. Here he

was under the protection of the disciples even though he knew there were some here

who would cast him out.

It was said that the disciples had the power to heal. He should have gone to them

instead of to the Greek doctor, but he had hesitated to do so because there was

something about their leader, the big fisherman that put him off approaching him.

Were there not other disciples? He thought of each in turn and then asked himself

why he had not thought of it before.

That was it. He would go and see Simon who had once been a Zealot.

He found him sitting beneath an olive tree. None of the other disciples were

around.


146

“I have been expecting you, Joshua,” said Simon the Zealot. “I am glad you have

come.”

“We once were comrades, Simon.”

“True, but we are no longer.”

“I am in need of healing. It is said you have the power to heal. I want you to heal

me.”

“What is it I am to heal you of?”

“I don’t know. Whatever it is that is making me sick.”

“Do you remember how under the stars in the hills of Galilee we used to be able

to speak freely to one another?”

“Those were good days.”

“I am still your friend, Joshua.”

“So speak freely and tell me what’s wrong with me, and then heal me.”

“I was like you. A Zealot who went in fear of his life, and my being was so

troubled that I could not sleep at night and had pains in my stomach all the time.”

“That’s it. That’s how I feel.”

“Satan plagued me 364 days of the year. The only day I thought I had was the

Day of Atonement, but I soon realized the futility of that. My soul was as black as ever

with my sin which my offering had failed to take away.

“Then I heard a voice in the wilderness, John the Baptizer saying I needed to

repent, to turn away from my sin, and to seek the Kingdom of Heaven.

“John pointed me in the direction of the Lamb of God that took away my sin and I

was no longer a zealot and the sin of my murders of both Jews and Romans was taken


147

upon Himself when He was crucified in place of you. He is in Heaven now and His

Holy Spirit dwells within me.

“Your healing, Joshua bar Abbas must come from Jesus of Nazareth who was the

Son of man and the Son of God, our Messiah. Go to Him, ask Him to take over your

life and to heal you.”

“How can I do that? I was only too glad that He died instead of me.”

“And so you should be. Because if he had not you and the rest of us would be

without God for ever.”

“All I have to do is to believe that He is God’s Messiah and He died for my sins?”

“Yes.”

“It’s too easy.”

“What do you want? Punishment?”

Bar Abbas was about to answer but both men saw a woman approach and their

conversation stopped.

The woman had a strong stride. She was not yet fifty years of age but her lined

face was serene. She carried a garment folded over her arms in front of her. When she

stopped the two men got up from where they had been sitting.

“Greetings, Simon,” she said.

“Greetings, Mary,” Simon said. “Joshua bar Abbas, this is the mother of our

Messiah.

“You must hate me,” bar Abbas said.

“No. I do not hate you. I have come to give you this.”

She held the garment out towards bar Abbas.


148

“What is it?” he asked.

“It is my Son’s robe. It will keep you warm in cold times.”

Chapter Twenty-Five.


149

Believers Under Fire.

The things done in Jerusalem and in the surrounding city of tabernacles put the

fear of Saul of Tarsus into those who believed that in Jesus God had become flesh and

had dwelt among them.

Saul recruited men to defend the Law of God as given to Moses. He saw neither

himself nor them as being the instruments of wickedness. His recruits came mainly

from the synagogue of the Freed Men. He gave rank to Samuel son of Eliezar and to

Zadoc the Shammaite, the two witnesses who had cast the first stones against Stephen.

The rest of his men were made up of the darkest elements of African and Asiatic

Jewish communities, and six of these constituted his body guard for it had been

suggested to him that his life might be in danger.

Accompanying him were six Levites from the Temple Guard, displaying on their

breasts their tablets of Temple authority. They wore high hats and white aprons below

which their knees were bare in Egyptian fashion and they carried whips and copper

tipped rods.

These men became feared throughout Jerusalem because they carried with them a

rack upon which men could be stretched and flogged.

Saul of Tarsus scythed through the Temple courts and the synagogues rooting out

the heresy concerning Jesus from Nazareth, and blasphemy against the laws of the

Temple.


150

They broke into the houses of believers dragging out the men and forcing the

women and children to watch as floggings took place.

Some believers at the first lash of the whip or the first stroke of the rod,

renounced their belief in Jesus as their risen Messiah, and were made to swear a solemn

oath to return to true worship at the Temple.

Other believers, calling upon the Holy Spirit of God, resisted and received the

forty strokes less one. These recalcitrants were hauled off to the Temple prison where

Saul, his eyes blazing with righteous zeal interrogated them through the hours of

darkness until some, exhausted, denied the Lordship of Jesus.

Word of what was happening spread quickly like a gorse fire in a dry summer and

it caused consternation in Bethany where the people found themselves leaderless

because Caiaphas had ordered the incarceration of the disciples.

The people at Bethany came together to debate what they should do. There was

much disorder at the meeting; anxiety was high and some sounded hysterical.

“Joseph Nickator is dead under Saul’s lash. It was too much for his heart.”

“He is not the only one.”

“Others are dying from their wounds as they rot in prison.”

“Jesus is our Saviour. How can they have denied Him?

“We cannot condemn them. Who knows how we would behave under the lash

when our backs are laid open?”

“But have we not the Holy Spirit of God to uphold us?”

“The Spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. The Spirit will heal them and they like

Simon Peter who also denied Him will be the stronger for it.”


151

“Even fatherless children. Saul threatens even fatherless children. He has them

put on the rack and orders the whips, and the mothers recant to save them. “

“And women who have no husbands and widows have their crowning glory shorn

from their heads.”

Standing beside his mother, Jacob said, “It is not safe for you to be here.”

“It’s not safe for any of us to be here,” Lilith said.

Turning to Luke, Jacob said, “What shall we do?”

Before Luke could answer bar Naba, his voice authoritive, took over and brought

order and calm to the meeting.

“Did not Jesus say, ‘My peace I give unto you?’ Then let us be still and pray for

the peace of our Lord Jesus and his instructions.”

People who had been restless and excited did not settle at once. Gradually the

tone and the number of voices diminished and they began to sit on the floor when all

the benches had been filled.

Simon the Leper, who had been healed by Jesus prayed in His name that God

would deliver them from Saul of Tarsus.

Lazarus who was visiting his sisters Mary and Martha said, “King David had this

to say, and we can say it because we know who our Lord is. He is Jesus, raised from the

dead. I know that I will have to die again, but He is alive for evermore. Listen:

“’The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my live – of whom shall I be afraid?

When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and foes

attack me they will stumble and fall.


152

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me,

even then I will be confident.

One thing I ask of the Lord, that is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the

Lord and gaze upon the beauty of the Lord for in the day of trouble he will keep me

safe in his dwelling, and he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle.

Hear my voice when I call, O Lord, be merciful to me and answer me. Do not reject me

or forsake me.’

”And He will not. Did not Jesus tell us that he would always be with us? If he is with us

who can be against us?”

Out of the ensuing silence a voice said, “Saul of Tarsus.”

Bar Naba, said, “I know Saul of Tarsus. We were friends and I am still his friend

although he does not think himself mine. I will go and reason with Saul of Tarsus.”

“A lot of good that will do,” said an angry voice. “Someone should kill Saul of

Tarsus.”

“Jesus said that we should return good for evil,” bar Naba said. “We must pray for

him and commit him into our Lord’s hands. Please, my friend, you must repent of your

angry violent thought of killing him.”

Under bar Naba’s gaze the man was abashed.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Forgive me Lord Jesus for being angry and full of fear.”

Bar Naba went to Jerusalem and made his way to the home of Saul of Tarsus. In

the courtyard he was stopped by two burly bodyguards.

“What do you want?”

“To speak with Saul of Tarsus. Tell Saul that Joseph bar Naba wishes to see him.”


153

“What for?”

“Just tell him.”

“Come back some other time.”

“He will not be pleased if you turn me away now. Tell him I am here.”

At a nod from the spokesman, the other bodyguard went inside. When he came

back he said, “You’re to go in.”

“Thank you,” bar Naba said and moved.

“Wait,” said the first bodyguard.

Bar Naba stopped.

“Hold your arms out.”

“I’m not armed.”

“Even so.” Without gentleness bar Naba was searched, but no weapon was found.

“Go on.”

“Thank you.”

Inside another bodyguard escorted him to Saul who greeted him coolly.

“It would appear friend Saul,” bar Naba said, “that you have added many

complications to your life.”

“Why are you here?”

“I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he came into the world to save

sinners and so I am here to deliver myself up to your whip and rod.”


154

Chapter Twenty-Six.

At Mount Gerizim.

The man who had told Octavian that the Governor of Judea was on his way to

Samaria was Probius, Pilate’s secretary.


155

What Pilate did not know was that Probius was in the pay of Servius and reported

to him the words and actions of the Governor.

It had been Probius who had obtained a second key to the counting house in

Jerusalem for the Spymaster.

Seeing Probius, Servius had hopes of escape. He feigned faintness, slumped in his

saddle, rallied slowly and asked Probius in a weak voice to bring him water.

“Thirty miles…” Octavian broke off his conversation with Sergeant Rufus to look

at Servius, and then permitted Probius to fetch water. “If we leave now we may get to

Pilate before it is too late.”

Probius came with a small water skin.

“I shall have to hold it to his lips,” he said.

“Do that,” Octavian said.

“Do we leave him behind?” Rufus asked, indicating Servius.

“Pilate needs to hear him confess.”

“He’ll slow us down.”

“Tie him across the saddle. That way we can run his horse.”

“Finish up there!” Rufus called to Probius.

“Probius stepped back.

“Thank you,” Servius said. His thanks was not so much for the water but for the

small knife Probius had slipped into his boot.

They left Caesarea by way of the temple built to the glory of the Emperor

Octavian who had defeated Mark Anthony, and to whom Herod the Builder had shifted

allegiance on the death of his former benefactor.


156

Herod had built Caesarea as a Roman city; a home from home for Romans with

baths, a gladiatorial amphitheatre, and a stadium for chariot races.

It was a forced ride that the seven tough soldiers made, with Servius died belly-

down across the pack horse. He soon became intimate with every bone of its spine,

especially over rough terrain.

When they arrived in Samaria and got to Mount Gerizim it was growing dark.

They had expected to find Pilate and his troops camped at the foot of the mountain, but

of them there was no sign.

Octavian found a guard posted who told them that the Governor was further up

the mountain but as they could not give him the password for the day he could not

allow them to go any further.

“Stand aside, soldier!” Octavian ordered.

“You cannot pass, Centurion. I must do my duty.”

“And I must do mine, password or no password. Sergeant!”

“You can’t…” The soldier’s protests were cut short as he was disarmed and taken

along with Octavian’s men to where Pilate was camped.

In the darkness Pilate had deployed his detachments in concealment on either side

of the winding path leading to the summit of Mount Gerizim.

Pilate was in a small tent comfortably asleep and was not at all pleased to be

awakened and told that a Centurion had come from Caesarea with vital intelligence. He

took time to dress before coming out.

In the gorse a horse whinnied to be answered by another, and then another. Pilate

when he came out sent word to the commander of cavalry to keep the horses quiet.


157

Octavian brought Servius forward. He walked painfully on feet of pins and

needles as his blood supply returned.

“What is it, Centurion?”

“Sir, I would have you listen to what this man has to say.”

“That is my Spymaster.”

“Who has been conspiring against you with Vitellius, the Governor of Syria.”

“You have proof of this?”

“He confessed to stealing the taxes from Jerusalem and has sent them to Vitellius

in league with Lycanus who is Spymaster for Vitellius.”

“You confessed to this?”

“To that and more,” Servius said. “They tortured me and that was what I told

them. It was the most ridiculous story I could think of. It is not the truth.”

“There is something else,” Octavian said. “Vitellius means to discredit you and

ingratiate himself with Caesar Tiberius when he hands over the taxes to him.”

“How can he discredit me?”

“He intends to use the Samaritans. You have been told that they plan a revolt by

this man. That story came from Vitellius through his Spymaster.”

“I have other sources of information. The Samaritans do plan a revolt. It starts

tomorrow on this mountain.”

“No doubt the men who told you are loyal to Servius. Vitellius expects you to

slaughter unarmed Samaritans after which he will inform Caesar that your diplomatic

judgement leaves a lot to be desired. There is a plot against you, ask this man?”


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“Governor,” Servius said. “Believe me, I speak only the truth. There is no plot

against you. I lied to these men when they tortured me. It was they who suggested to

me that there was a plot against you. I told them what they wanted to hear. Believe the

intelligence you have received. The Samaritans are arming and if you allow such an

insurrection to occur then you will be doing Rome a disservice.”

“Sir,” Octavian said. “Simon Magus is a crank. He sees himself as a Messiah.

Time will show him to be a fraud. Leave this mountain to him and his followers. Let

them have their religious meeting. Do not oppose it with violence.”

“If you allow this meeting to take place unopposed,” said Servius, “you will incur

the displeasure of the High Priest at Jerusalem and also of Herod Antipas. They do not

want the Samaritans building another temple on Mount Gerizim or a town that will

rival Jerusalem.”

Octavian could see that Octavian was pensive. What Servius said had struck

home. He knew that Pilate was at pains to cement an alliance between himself and the

kingly and priestly Jewish authorities of Jerusalem.

“Centurion,” he said. “Cut the bonds from my Spymaster’s hands. I believe you

mistaken in your zeal to recover the stolen taxes.”

“These men should be arrested,” Servius said.

“I think not,” Pilate said. “Centurion, you can think yourself lucky that I am

allowing you to continue with your quest to find the missing taxes.”

His wrists unbound, Servius held out his hands towards Pilate.

“These men should be punished. Look, I have no fingernails.”

Pilate turned and went into his tent.


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Next day a host of Samaritans surged out of the village of Tirathana and headed

for the lower slopes of Mount Gerizim. They believed that this was God’s holy

mountain and that when the great flood covered the earth, its peak had remained dry.

Octavian and his men had broken their fast and they delayed their departure,

waiting to see what would occur. Octavian hoped that Pilate after a night’s sleep would

see sense.

A trumpet blast got the attention of the advancing throng. Pilate stepped forth and

called to the Samaritans to lay their weapons aside. If they did they could hold their

pilgrimage on the mountain.

There were men in the crowd in the pay of Lycanus. One shouted, “We will not

leave ourselves defenceless. You will attack us if we throw down our arms.”

“Your arms are illegal,” Pilate informed them. “And what you have here is an

illegal army.”

“God bless our Messiah who will restore us and our rightful temple. To arms! To

arms!”

The host of Samaritans surged up the path, mostly unarmed, to be met from both

sides by Pilate’s superior forces of infantry and cavalry.

The agitators faded back through the ranks of Samaritans all the time urging the

men, women, and children upward and onward, until they themselves reached the back

of the crowd and turned and ran downhill, their work completed.

The fight was short lived and Octavian and his men watched as Pilate afterwards

beheaded those men he thought to be the ringleaders.

Of Simon Magus, the self-styled messiah there was no sign.


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“I have just watched a massacre,” Octavian thought.

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

Saul Confronted.

The two men looked at one another. Both had intense penetrating eyes. Bar

Naba’s were brown with dilated pupils. Saul’s were almost colourless with constricted

pupils.

Saul did not want to see Joseph bar Naba who had once been his graceful and

elegant friend who had dressed in the finest of linen and had worn diamond and gold on

his fingers. Now he was standing before him, his body wrapped in sackcloth. He had

lost weight and his face was pale and looked out from a black bushy beard. His hair had

not been oiled in an age.


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To bar Naba, Saul had the look of a man in fever. He stood moving his body

restlessly.

“And how is your wife, Saul?” he asked. “I would pay my respects.”

“I have sent her to Tarsus. She is on her way there now.”

“At such a time. Was it wise to send her away?”

“It is for the best.”

“Do you not need each other at this time, Saul? You have both lost a son. Should

you not be comforting one another?”

Saul’s eyes slid away from those of bar Naba.

“Would it not have been better, Saul to have your wife here instead of

surrounding yourself with these men you have chosen?”

“I have work to do here.”

“For whom?”

“For God. His Law must be upheld.”

“Are you sure the work you are doing is for God and not for Satan?”

“You dare to say that!”

“I dare to say it because you are dishonest in your performance of what you see as

your work.”

“Dishonest?”

“Yes, dishonest. You favour some at the expense of others. Why have I not been

arrested and flogged? I come to Jerusalem each day and proclaim Jesus as our crucified

and resurrected Messiah. Why are Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea not arrested?

They also believe in Jesus as the chosen One of God. And there are many other


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Pharisees who believe this. Why have you not put them on your rack and demand that

they recant.”

“I have no wish to harm former friends.”

“I am still your friend, Saul, and as a friend I say this to you: why is it that you

persecute only the wretched men, women, and children of the lowest class? Are your

ears deaf to their moans and lamentations? Is it because they are weak and defenceless

that you flog their bodies? Yet, when it comes to the rich and the mighty, and those

with influence you leave them alone. Are you not dishonest? Have you no similar

thoughts as these?”

And indeed Saul had. He kept pushing them to the back of his mind, but they

always seemed to come again to the fore.

“Who are you, Saul? The oppressor of the poor who protects the rich; God’s

avenger, holy in your zeal for the honour of His Law? What are you, Saul?”

“I think you should go.”

“Are you going to arrest me or not?”

“I am not.”

“Then stop arresting and flogging the poorest of my brothers.”

“I will not. It is the only way to bring them back to true worship.”

“I pray for you, Saul, that God may help you see the false promptings that have

led you to do what you are doing.”

“You are mistaken in your beliefs and sin against the Law, so your prayers will

not be heard.”


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“I will keep praying for you, Saul, as will those you persecute. You need to see

how far down this evil path you have travelled. You need to return to your Father in

Heaven and recognize that he sent his Son, Jesus to be the saving of your soul. You

have been misled by evil counsellors who have persuaded you that you are doing God’s

work. Don’t you realize that you are doing the work of Satan.”

“How dare you speak to me like that!” Saul came forward swiftly and struck bar

Naba on the cheek with his open hand.

Bar Naba recovered slowly from the blow and smiled sorrowfully at Saul.

“Jesus taught us that if someone strikes us on one cheek we are to offer the other.”

Bar Naba turned his other cheek to Saul.

Saul lifted his hand again. It trembled in mid air. His eyes blazed into those of bar

Naba. His hand checked, it dropped to his side and he stepped back lowering his eyes

from the sorrow and pity he saw in those of the other.

“I am sorry, Joseph,” he said.

“You are my brother, Saul. You will always be my brother.”

“Why did you turn the other cheek?”

“To give you the chance to do the right thing. You did it.”

“Get out of here,”

“We are all praying for you, Saul.”

After bar Naba had gone, Saul paced up and down wringing his hands.

He would not abandon his mission. He had authority from the High Priest. He was

protecting the sacred Law of God from those who blaspheme.


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What bar Naba said nagged at his mind, because there was truth in it. He was a

hypocrite. He did favour his friends. There were others he favoured who were not his

friends but they were rich and influential Pharisees.

The families of Joseph bar Naba, of Nicodemus, of Joseph of Arimathea, they all

believed in this risen Jesus from Nazareth. He knew he could not have such people

whipped.

Saul recognized the conflict in his heart. These men were sinners against the Law,

but they were also his friends. He had racked his brains for other ways to persuade them

that their belief was false. How could they even think that Jesus was the Son of God

who will one day come back to claim His own? He had yet to find a way of convincing

them.

Such superstitious nonsense could only be whipped from the minds of the lower

ignorant classes.

Saul continued with his persecution drawing nearer to Bethany. Saul still spared

those of his own class but the whipping of the poor and helpless became ever more

severe.

Saul was summoned by Caiaphas, the High Priest.

“Your purge, has been successful only to some degree. Some have recanted, but

large numbers of those Nazarenes have fled and are posing problems elsewhere.”

“In what way?”

They flee to all points; to Samaria, to Galilee, to Safed, to the Valley of Sharon,

and to the lowlands of Joppa; to Antioch and to Damascus. In every Jewish settlement

they make converts baptizing them in the name of this Jesus. Damascus is the largest of


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these communities and a congregation of this sect there grows bigger by the day while

our revenues diminish from the synagogues. You are to go to Damascus and put an end

to this sect once and for all.”

Saul was relieved. He knew none of the Jews at Damascus and there he would be

spared the conflict in his heart which so troubled him at Jerusalem.


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Chapter Twenty-Eight.

Jacob follows Hanna.

With Saul of Tarsus preparing to go to Damascus command of his men was given

to Zadoc the Shammaite who made Samuel son of Eliezar his right hand man.

“The restrictions put upon us by Saul no longer count,” he told Samuel. “The

people he shielded are no friends of ours.”

“But they know Caiaphas and there are others in the Sanhedrin who might

become angry with us if we touched them,” Samuel said. “I think it would be better to

let the High Priest know what we intend to do. Let him decide who we flog.”

“We’ll stick to Pharisees. Caiaphas is a Sadducee. He’ll shed no tears over the

likes of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who have always been thorns in his side.”

“Such men employ many people and there are members of our families among

them. It would not be good if because we flogged them they were thrown out of work.”


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“Won’t happen. They’ll recant and their businesses will run on as usual.”

“And what if they don’t? What if we whip them and they stop donating to the

Temple. I doubt if Caiaphas would like that.”

“Hmm.! Zadoc stroked his beard. “I’ll talk to the High Priest.”

“Why do we have to leave the Big Fisherman and the other disciples alone?”

“Don’t ask me. The High Priest was clear about that. We leave them alone.”

“Know what would be good?”

“What?”

“If we could lay our hands on Lazarus. He’s been a target for the High Priest

since he was raised from the dead.”

“Allegedly.”

“You don’t believe it?”

“I wasn’t there. I didn’t see it.”

“Anyway, Caiaphas wants him dead. So let’s get him for him. It can only do us

good.”

“He goes to Bethany to see his sisters. Saul has spared Bethany far too long. It’s

time it had a touch of the whip. If he’s not there, his sisters will tell us where he is.”

Bethany was almost deserted. The fear that Saul would descend upon the

commune had caused all the able-bodied to scatter to other villages and towns. Only

those who were in the hospital and were unable to move or be moved remained. Some

would die, others would recover but their recovery would take time.


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They were attended by Luke, and Jacob and by Jacob’s mother, Lilith, and by

Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary from Magdala and Martha and Mary the two sisters of

Lazarus. There was also John, the disciple into whose hands Jesus had put the welfare

of His mother. And there was also Hanna, about whom Jacob was worried. He thought

she should have gone with some others to safety.

“I have to stay, Jacob,” she said, when he had asked why she had not gone.

“It’s not safe for you here.”

“It’s as dangerous for you and the others who are staying.”

“There are enough here to tend to the sick.”

“Luke would not say no to another pair of hands.”

“I think you should go. You can still catch up with the others.”

“I’m staying.”

Hanna would not hear another word and Jacob had to live with the anxiety that

something bad might happen to Hanna if she stayed.

He thought it strange that he was more concerned about Hanna than he was about

his mother who was in as much danger. So, he spoke in like manner to his mother.

“I feel that this is where Jesus wants me to be, Jacob,” she said. “I can be of

service to him here.”

“But Saul will come.”

“If he does, then I will witness for Jesus before him.”

“Are you not afraid of what he might do to you?”

“Yes. I have fear. Have you not fear?”


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“I fear for you and Hanna. It would be easier if you were both not here and I knew

you would not fall into his clutches. If you were to go you could take Hanna with you.”

“You asked her to go?”

“She refused. I don’t know why she said she had to stay.”

“God knows, and I’m sure she had a good reason.”

“Convince her to go, mother.”

“I’ll speak to her.”

Lilith spoke to Hanna but Hanna stayed.

Jacob noticed that from time to time Hanna could not be found at the hospital or

in the precincts of Bethany. He decided to keep a close watch on her movements.

On the day that Zadoc the Shammaite and his men set out from Jerusalem

dragging their rack towards Bethany, Jacob followed Hanna as she went from her house

carrying two baskets; one filled with fruit and vegetables, the other with meat and fish.

She made her way down to the Kidron Valley and kept walking south until she

came to turnoff into a small canyon. She never once looked back and therefore did not

see Jacob following her. From time to time she put the baskets down and rested. During

these times Jacob hid himself in what cover he could find.

The canyon became narrower and higher on each side until it opened out into

another valley that Jacob was surprised to see. He did not know it existed.

Hanna began to ascend this valley to her right, and Jacob could see she was

approaching a series of caves in the side of the hill. The path she trod was a narrow one.

He saw her pass two caves and come to the third. She put the baskets down and

retreated to a distance of about fifty feet. Here she sat down. To Jacob it seemed she


170

was watching the baskets. He, too, sat a short distance from Hanna. He was not

concerned now if she turned and saw him.

He didn’t know how long it was before a figure, its head shrouded in a cowl and

its body heavily clad in a long robe, came from the cave and approached the baskets.

The figure stopped at the baskets and Jacob heard it say: “You are well, Hanna, my

child?”

“Yes mother, I am well. Why isn’t father with you?”

“Today he is weak and finds it painful to move.”

“Has he become worse since I was last here?”

“Unfortunately, that is so.”

“He needs a doctor.”

“No doctor would come here to this place.”

“There is one who might, at Bethany. His name is Luke. He is Greek.”

“A Greek would not come here.”

“He is a follower of Jesus, and there is a disciple called John who might come. I

have seen him do miracles of healing.”

“We have been stricken by God for our sins. Why should he cure us with a

miracle?”

“To show the glory of God, and of His Son, Jesus.”

“Thank you again for bringing us food, Hanna. I must go back now to your

father.”

“I will ask doctor Luke and the disciple John to come.”

“I do not think your father will last much longer.”


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“Do you both remember what I told you about Jesus?”

“I do, and your father has spoken of Him often.”

“Then believe in Him, that He is the gift of God and even if you die you will live

forever.”

“I am tired, child, and so is your father. This life holds nothing for us.”

Hanna’s mother picked up the two baskets.

“I am going, child, before I overfill your plate with sorrow.” She turned back

towards the cave.

Hanna stood there a long time before moving back the way she had come. She

saw Jacob and would have passed him without a word, but he said, “Hanna, what is this

place?”

“The Valley of the Lepers,” she said and burst into tears.


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Chapter Twenty-Nine.

The Man in the Tavern.

Octavian and his six men arrived at Damascus.

On the nights previous to their arrival, sitting around a campfire, they discussed

their options for finding the tribute that Servius had delivered into the hands of

Lycanus, spymaster for Vitellius.

“The sooner we locate the taxes and get them into our hands the sooner we can

get back to Caesarea and set sail for Rome,” Octavian said. “If we take too long we

may have to go overland to Rome as the stormy season will be starting soon and no

ships will be sailing.

“So what do we do?” Britanicus asked.

“I’m open to suggestions,” Octavian said. “How would you do it?”

Britanicus scratched his head and screwed his face into a mask of heavy

concentration.

“We have to find Lycanus,” he said. “We get him, and we do to him what we did

to Servius, and he tells us where the taxes are.”

“I reckon,” Germanicus said, “that the taxes are in Vitellius’ treasury. Servius said

he was going to show Pilate up by returning them to Caesar himself. The tribute is in

the treasury.”

“Probably,” Octavian said. “Yet, it might be kept somewhere else.”

“We get Lycanus, and we make sure,” Sergeant Rufus said.


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“How do we find him?” Octavian asked.

“Easy enough,” said Romulus.

“He’ll be known in the taverns where the soldiers drink,” Remus said.

“He may not be in Damascus,” Octavian said.

“The soldiers will know that,” Remus said.

“They might. It’s as good a way to start as any,” Octavian said.

Before entering Damascus they took robes from their saddle packs and put them

on over their uniforms.

Within the city they split up and because it was evening they sought out taverns

looking for off-duty soldiers.

Octavian had thought it best to have Romulus go with Germanicus and Remus

with Britanicus and Gallus who never talked very much. Octavian took Rufus with him.

Romulus and Germanicus had been into three taverns along the walls of the city.

They had come from the third and were proceeding along a passageway towards a

fourth when Romulus spoke quietly to Germanicus:

“We’re being followed.”

Germanicus did not break his stride or look round but now his ears picked up the

sound of stealthy footfalls. It was a straight passageway with no alcoves to step into and

wait. At the end of it was the tavern situated in what was a dead end. There were no

stairs here leading to the ramparts of the walls.

The only thing they could do was to enter the tavern.

This they did. They crossed the dirt floor and seated themselves at a table ill-lit

with a guttering candle.


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They watched the door.

A man came in, stood for a minute surveying each table in turn. His eyes found

Romulus and Germanicus.

He came towards them. He arrived at the same time as a boy who came to take

their order.

“What’ll it be?” the boy said.

“Wine,” Germanicus said.

“Wine for the three of us,” the man said.

The boy went off, back to the bar through the crowd of noisy and drunken

soldiers.

“I’ll join you men,” the man said.

“Why?” asked Germanicus.

“I can help you men.”

“What makes you think we need help?”

“You’re soldiers with cloaks over your uniforms. You go from tavern to tavern

asking questions about Polio Lycanus but you drink little. You want to know if Lycanus

is in Damascus, and when nobody tells you, you move on to another tavern.”

“You saying you know where Lycanus is?” Germanicus said.

“He’ll tell us he does and that he wants paid for the information,” Romulus said.

“Quite right, young man, and I don’t want paid in Roman Army Tokens. I want

gold or silver.”

“We have no gold or silver,” Romulus said.

“Too bad,” said the man, getting up. “It looks like we can’t do business.”


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Germanicus reached over the table and pulled the man back into his chair.

“Don’t go,” he said. “Tell us first of all who Lycanus is.”

“He’s in charge of the Intelligence Service for Vitellius the Governor of Syria.”

“That’s common knowledge,” Romulus said. “How do we know you have more

knowledge of him than that and you’re just seizing this opportunity to make a quick

profit for yourself at our expense.”

“That’s something you’ll have to decide,” the man said. “I assure you I know

where Lycanus is at this very moment.”

“That remains to be seen.”

The boy came back at last with the wine and three goblets. The man poured wine,

drank and said:

“What is your business with Lycanus?”

“He’ll know that when we meet with him.”

“You don’t know what Lycanus looks like. You wouldn’t know him if you saw

him.”

The man saw from Germanicus’ face that he was right.

“You need me. You must have at least one gold piece.”

“At least,” Romulus said.

“Good. Give that to me now, and I will only require nine more when I point out

Lycanus to you.”

Germanicus got to his feet.

“Come with us.”

“You haven’t touched your wine.”


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Romulus showed him a gold piece.

“Come,” he said.

Chapter Thirty.

Bar Abbas Intervenes.

Zadoc the Shammaite and Samuel son of Eliezar were on their way to Bethany

bringing with them the portable rack, ten soldiers of the Temple Guard and two who

wielded the rods and the whips.


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It pleased Zadoc and Samuel that they were now the feared men. They had high

hopes of capturing Lazarus at Bethany and bringing him to prison for the High Priest to

dispose of.

“Joseph bar Naba may be there as well,” Samuel said. “The man from Tarsus

protected him and he protects Lazarus.”

“Against us he will have no protection,” Zadoc said. “We have the legal right

from the High Priest to ensure that all those who blaspheme and say that Jesus from

Nazareth is the Son of God are returned to the fold of the true faith and the Law that the

Almighty gave to Moses.”

With that, Zadoc turned and urged the men with the rack to hurry on. He was

pleased to see how successful the rack, the rods, and the whips had been in causing the

tents of the converts to the Nazarene to be struck and the people to scatter far and wide.

When everyone else was in a panic because of Saul and were departing from

Bethany as fast as their legs would carry them, bar Abbas, wearing the robe given him

by Mary, the mother of Jesus, called the remaining men of the commune together.

His idea was to get an effective band of men together to defend those who were

staying at Bethany. He thought he would have no difficulty in doing this. However,

when he addressed them he encountered opposition. They were united in their desire to

get as far as possible from the clutches of Saul of Tarsus.

“It is best that everybody leaves this place,” one man said. The others mumbled

approval.


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“Not everyone can leave here,” bar Abbas said. “You know that. There are those

who are dying and those who need care as they recover from their sicknesses. There are

those who stay to look after them. The doctor, young Jacob, and the women. They need

our protection.”

What he said was greeted with a sullen silence.

“Would you deny them protection?” bar Abbas asked. He drew a line in the dust.

“Let any man who will offer the weak and needy his protection step across this line and

join me.”

There was a shuffling in the ranks and a moving back from the line rather than

towards it. Some of the men looked at each other. Most lowered their heads and looked

at the ground. None sought the eye of bar Abbas. None stepped forward to cross the

line.

“Is there not one of you who will join me?”

“What good would one be?” came from the back rank.

“You who believe that Jesus is God’s Son ask that?”

The men were uncomfortable.

“I am a sinful Zealot,” bar Abbas said. “But I know this, He died and I lived. His

mother gave me His robe. See, the bloodstains won’t wash out. The disciple, John, told

me that He died so that all who believed in Him, even if they died, would have eternal

life with God, and a new body when He comes again to make everything new here on

earth.

“Are we not His brothers? John says that we could have no greater love for our

brothers than to lay down our lives for them. Are you afraid of dying? Is that it? You


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will die perhaps, but you will not die. Don’t you love these sick and infirm people and

our brothers and sisters who look after them? I am willing to lay down my life for them,

and you.”

A man came pushing through the crowd from the rear of the assembly. He was a

small, puny man with thin arms and splayed feet. He had scant hair on a balding head.

He stepped across the line, and turned to face the rest of the men. His voice was

not strong but it carried in the silence.

“I have been shamed,” he said. “For what it is worth, I offer my help to Joshua bar

Abbas. I am reminded by God’s Holy Spirit that if I try to save my life I will lose it, but

if, for the sake of Jesus, God’s Son, I lose it, I shall live forever more and be part of His

Kingdom.

“I am afraid of the pain and the suffering I may have to go through if I am to be

killed, but if Jesus suffered, then, so can I.”

Bar Abbas laid a hand on his shoulder. “Good man,” he said. “I am glad to have

you with me. What is your name?”

“Haggai.”

“Son of?”

“Son of no father. I was a bastard, but John assures me that although the Law of

Moses said that no bastard could go to heaven, that was changed when Jesus died on

the cross and I became his brother with a Father in Heaven. For that I am willing to lay

down my life.”

In silence others came forward and crossed the line. In total forty men joined bar

Abbas. The rest departed.


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Mary of Magdala hurried to Luke in the hospital.

“They are coming,” she said. “But the man from Tarsus is not with them.”

“Let us continue to give our attention to those who need it,” Luke said. “When

they come I will speak with them. Pray for our safety in Jesus’ name.”

“Come out from in there,” called the voice of Zadoc the Shammaite. “Or I will

send my men in to weed you out.”

They came out into the sunshine. Mary the mother of Jesus, Martha and Mary the

sisters of Lazarus, Lilith the mother of Jacob, John the disciple, and Luke the physician.

“Is that all?”

“There remains only those who are bedridden and cannot be moved,” Luke said.

“Carry them out here on their litters,” Zadoc ordered.

“They are too weak to be moved. I am a doctor.”

“I know who you are. Are you a believer in the blasphemer, Jesus?”

“He is no blasphemer. He is the Son of God.”

“Put him on the rack,” Zadoc said.

“Where is Saul of Tarsus?” Luke asked. “I will speak with him.

“He is no longer in charge. He is on his way to Damascus to stamp out your kind

there. I am Zadoc.”

“I know who you are. You bore false witness against Stephen and you cast the

first stone. You, and that man who stands at your side.”

“Put him on the rack,”


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“You cannot do that,” John said.

“I know you, too. You are one of the twelve. For some reason the High Priest

does not want any of you to be touched.” Zadoc motioned towards Luke. “Put him on

the rack.”

“Our doctor is a Roman citizen,” John said. “That is why you cannot have him

flogged. Put him on the rack and you will end your days forgotten and rotting in the

Roman sulphur mines.”

“Leave him!” Zadoc’s frustration was evident. “Where are the sisters of

Lazarus?”

“What do you want with them?”

“Let them step forward.”

“In the name of Jesus, depart from here,” John said.

“In the name of Caiaphas I will not. Seize her and put her on the rack.” He

pointed to Mary the mother of Jesus.

“No,” John said. “Do you know who that is?”

“Is she one of the sisters of Lazarus?”

“No, she is the mother of the Son of God.”

“Blasphemy! Put her on the rack.”

The soldiers of the Temple Guard moved towards Mary. John and Luke

positioned themselves in front of her.

“Think again!”

Zadoc turned abruptly towards the voice. He now noticed that he and his men

were ringed by men armed with swords and staves and slings.


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“Disarm them!” bar Abbas ordered.

The men took the weapons from the Temple Guard.

Bar Abbas approached Zadoc.

“You seem fond of this rack,” he said, taking a rod and swishing it trough the air.

“Put him on the rack.”

Chapter Thirty-One.

Jesus and Lucifer.


183

Ever since he had been cast out of heaven with his band of rebel angels to become

the Prince of God’s created and now fallen world, it had been the practice of Lucifer to

go into and through the heavens and speak with the Father of Jesus.

Causing disobedience to God’s will in human beings had been a source of pride to

him following his expulsion from the Kingdom of Heaven.

“Through my efforts and my efforts alone,” he would tell his followers, “I have

turned a Paradise into a place of toil and tears and pain and suffering. Human

selfishness I have encouraged and this has made thieves and murderers of men and

women who worship false gods and who abuse their bodies.”

Nevertheless, Lucifer had to acknowledge that his campaign to take the Kingdom

of Heaven by force through the desecration of human beings had suffered a setback.

Lucifer had thought he had made it impossible for the King of Heaven to walk

again on Earth with his beloved human beings, but the King had sent his Son to be born

of a human mother and of the King’s Spirit and He had walked upon the earth and had

taken upon Himself the sin of human beings.

Jesus, who had resisted his tempting.

Jesus ,who had preached the Kingdom of Heaven and had triumphed over his

demons.

Jesus, the Saviour of human kind.

When he had seen the way that wind was blowing, Lucifer had stirred up the

religious authorities against him, and they, under his prompting had ensured that He

would be crucified and die the death of a common criminal.

Who in their right minds would believe the word of a common criminal?


184

It was a masterstroke to undermine the witness of Jesus to the will of His Father.

Lucifer behaved as if he was oblivious of the fact that God was everywhere, had

knowledge of everything, and was all powerful. He believed that the King of Heaven

was like himself, a being of power, but not of absolute power, a being who knew much

but not all, a being who was limited to the rule of the heavens and of the earth He had

created for his beloved human beings.

When Jesus rose from the dead after three days that indeed had been a blow.

But an even greater blow had happened on the Day of Penticost when God had

blessed the disciples with His Spirit of Truth, and those Lucifer had corrupted and

caused to sin, were able to return to God and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

A great blow, but Lucifer had not let the grass grow under his feet. He had looked

for and found an instrument to do his will; a strict, formal, fundamental Pharisee whose

honesty and integrity for the Law of Moses and for the rituals of the Temple he could

manipulate into what this man from Tarsus would consider to be righteousness.

And how well that had worked!

He was on his way now to boast before God of his achievement.

However, he found the stargate of the first heaven shut tight against his entry.

Formerly he had had no difficulty in passing through the various heavens until he

came to the throne room and stood before the One he meant one day to depose.

“That is as far as you go, Lucifer,” a voice said.

Lucifer did not heed the voice and again tried to enter the stargate.

“The heavens are closed to you, Lucifer,” said the voice.

“I have always had access,” Lucifer said. “Since before and after the time of Job.”


185

A figure, burning bright came through the stargate to stand with Lucifer.

“I have come to speak with your Father,” Lucifer said.

Jesus said, “Speak with me. My Father and I are One.”

“How can that be? I have always spoken with your Father.”

“No longer. You have been judged and this will be the last time you will speak

with us. Say what you have come to say even though we know what you have come to

say.”

“Why can’t I enter as I did before?”

“The gates of heaven are barred to you. You are beyond redemption.”

“You intend giving my place and those of my followers to human beings?”

“Those who believe in me will be here in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

“Then let me tell you there will not be many. Look at what I have already done.

Consider my servant Saul of Tarsus. Has he not scattered your sheep far and wide and

are they not recanting left, right, and centre? Your disciples, weak, uneducated men

who for the moment I permit to preach what they call your ‘Good News’, they will be

cast into prisons and scourged. There is none among them who is capable of retrieving

your scattered sheep.

“Who among them is like my servant Saul? Even now he is on his way to

Damascus to reap havoc among your followers there. He will return them to my fold.

They will do my will and not the will of your Father.” Lucifer’s voice rose and ended

on a note of triumph. “Now, permit me to enter and survey what will one day be my

Kingdom.”


186

“Your entry into Heaven has ended. Know this, that in the beginning I was with

God, and I was God. Through me all things were made and nothing was made that I did

not make. The light of my life I gave to all things. I said let there be light and there was

light. You Lucifer once had that light, but you quenched it and preferred to live in

darkness, so that you do not understand me and you think of me as you think of

yourself.

“There are those in the world who are mine and who will always be mine. I have

authority over all men and those who are mine have received eternal life. I pray for

them, and no-one, or nothing can take them away from me. They belong to us, and their

faith is protected by us.

“You will stir up hatred against them while they are still in the world but though

they suffer they will be protected. They are not of your Principality which in the end

will be destroyed. They are sanctified by the Spirit of Truth. I am their Truth; I am their

way; I am their light and their life. In the end they will be where I am and they will see

my glory and the glory of their Father in Heaven. In the meantime they are in the world,

and I will be in them, and they in me.”

But Lucifer had not the ears to hear what Jesus was saying. “Someday,” he said,

“with those who are mine I will storm this citadel and then I will be King of Heaven.”

“There will be an end to your evil, Lucifer. We have revealed that end to those

who love us. The spirit of evil that is within you prevents you from realizing your

ending.”

“I am immortal.”

“Until we decide otherwise.”


187

“Consider my servant, Saul.”

“I will consider him,” Jesus said.

Chapter Thirty-Two.

Lycanus.

The man followed Romulus and Germanicus and he was now sure that there were

more of these men trying to find Lycanus.

It would suit the small man with the splayed feet to know who these men were,

who their leader was and who they were working for.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“To a tavern called the ‘Retreat’,” Germanicus said.

“I know of a short cut from here,” the man said.


188

Romulus permitted him to lead them through a maze of streets and although

Germanicus became disorientated, Romulus took the measure and the directions of the

ways they twisted and turned.

“Should you be leading us astray or into a trap you will live to regret it,” Romulus

said.

“We are almost there,” the man said.

Sure enough upon turning a corner they saw ahead of them a tavern. This is the

only retreat you Romans know. Now tell me, why are we here?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” growled Germanicus.

*

It was past the time for their appointed meeting. Remus, Gallus and Britanicus

had arrived, telling Octavian of their lack of success in finding Vitellius’ Spymaster.

Octavian and Rufus had had no better luck except that the consensus of opinion

was that Lycanus was in Damascus, but had not been at the Army barracks for days.

That was not unusual as he went out into the city and the countryside to meet his

network of spies. This information had been given to Octavian by a Centurion who was

now drinking at the bar.

“Think they got lost?” asked Gallus.

“No,” Remus answered quickly. “Romulus wouldn’t get lost.”

“Then what’s keeping them?” Britanicus asked.

“They’ll get here,” Rufus said.

Octavian had chosen the ‘Retreat’ as a rendezvous because even in Jerusalem it

was well known to the soldiers of Rome.


189

“Maybe their luck was better than ours,” he said. “Let’s be patient.”

“I just don’t like this not-drinking, drinking,” Gallus said.

“I’m with you there,” Britanicus said.

Octavian said nothing. His men grumbled but he knew they would keep their

heads.

Each time the door was pushed open his eyes surveyed those coming in. The door

opened again and he saw Germanicus come in, pushing in front of him a small man.

Romulus brought up the rear.

Germanicus steered the little man towards their table. Germanicus did not address

Octavian by name or rank.

“Man says he knows where Lycanus is.”

“Let him be seated, and seat yourselves.”

They sat.

Seven, the little man counted. Were there more? He eyed Octavian. Definitely the

leader.

“You are Roman soldiers who hide your uniforms. Your legs and feet give you

away.”

“You say you know where Lycanus is?”

“I do, but the Spymaster is a powerful man and I have no wish to cross him by

giving information to his enemies.”

“We are not his enemies,” Octavian said. “We have information we know that he

would be pleased to have.”

“I can help you. I can take that information to him.”


190

“I will give it only to Lycanus. “Take us to him and you will be amply rewarded.

No doubt Lycanus will give you something as well.”

The little man spread his hands.

“It’s so difficult, you see.”

“I take it you’re one of his spies.”

The little man just shrugged. “I’m not sure I should lead you to Lycanus. I’m not

sure I can trust you. I was shown a gold piece with the promise of nine more. So far

I’ve got nothing.”

Octavian fished out a gold piece and pushed it across the table.

“Take us to Lycanus and you’ll get the other nine.”

The little man secreted the coin in his robe. He got up from the table. The others

made to rise but he stopped them with a gesture.

“Stay, I’ll be back. I have seen someone who might be helpful.”

He made his way to a man sitting at a table in the darkest corner of the room.

Octavian got up. Remus got up with him and they both made their way to the

back of the inn. The little man smiled at him as he passed halting his conversation with

the man whose face was shrouded in darkness.

Octavian and Remus went to the place where they could relieve their bladders.

*

“Have you got that?” the little man said.

His dark companion nodded.

“Thirty men seems a lot to take seven.”


191

“I want to take no chances with these men. Three of them look as if they had been

in the areana. Thirty it is, and I will lead them to a place where in fighting they will be

disadvantaged. I’ve told you where that is, now go.”

The man got up and went out. The little man went back to where the others sat.

They told him to sit down.

*

In the latrine Octavian found the Centurion he’d spoken to earlier. He was

swaying a bit, slightly overcome with the wine he had drunk. He had trouble focusing

his eyes but he finally saw and recognized Octavian.

“Hah!” he exclaimed. “I see you have found him.”

“Found him? What do you mean?”

“I saw him come in,” the Centurion said.

“Is he still here?” Octavian asked.

“You’ve been talking to him for the past half hour. He came in with the other big

one and sat at your table.”

“That’s Lycanus?”

“He hasn’t got a twin brother.”


192

Chapter Thirty-Three.

A Starry Night at Caesarea.

He found himself unable to sleep.

He should have been able to sleep.

He got up from the comfort of his bed, dressed, and made his way to the pinnacle

of his palace.

He surveyed the night sky.

“Well, Pontius,” he spoke softly to himself. “There they all are. All the immortals

up there among the stars in the vault of the sky.

“They’ve all gone to heaven. There’s Cassiopeia, Andromeda’s mother whose

boasting almost cost the life of her daughter had not Perseus rescued her. There he is up

there too.

“And look, Castor and Pollux, the twins, guardians of all seamen. And mighty

Hercules, the litter of his conquests over lions and dragons lying scattered about him.


193

“That river of milk, spilled from the breasts of Venus when Cupid had been

dragged away.

“All immortal, up there in heaven living immortal lives.

“But, is that so? And was it so that the dead Emperor Augustus was now an

immortal god who would go on forever? After his death it was said that his soul had

been taken up to heaven by an eagle that had flown from his funeral pyre. The soul of

Augustus had become a long-tailed comet blazing across the heavens for seven days

before Tiberius had given it its place among the constellations.

“What is truth? Could such a thing happen to any man? The Stoic philosophers

held that each man was a god already because does not a god live, feel, remember,

forsee, rule, and moves those over which he is set?

“Am I not a Governor? Do I not rule over Judea?”

Pilate gave a short laugh.

“Practical and public divinity is far from me. I am not of the right social class, the

right group of families. All those are superior to the group and to the families to which I

belong.

“Nevertheless, strength of character – do I have that? – achievements in the field

– have I not brought water to Jerusalem? Have I not nipped a Samaritan uprising in the

bud? – magisterial authority – have not my judgements been advantageous to Rome? –

favour in high places – once, but now lost with the fall of Sejanus.

Here I am relying on seven men to bring me the stolen tribute so that I will not

incur the wrath of Tiberius. I doubt any of these things could connect me to the

immortals and ensure my place in heaven.”


194

Pilate stopped talking to himself. He shook his head as if trying to order a

collection of jumbled thoughts. He resumed his quiet speech.

“Strength of character; had I shown strength of character I would not have

permitted the Jews to manipulate me into giving the death sentence for Jesus from

Nazareth.

“His words come back to me.

“’No-one,’ he said, ‘has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from

heaven, the Son of Man. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that

whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Eternal Life.

“Proculea has become convinced that Jesus is the Son of God and having done his

work here on earth he has gone back to heaven to be with His Father.

“She also thinks that because she believes this she will not perish after she dies

but will have an immortal life in heaven with the One she calls Saviour and Lord.

“What is truth? It is a question I keep asking.

“Is this my way to immortality? Or, is it as I have been told from my childhood

that the gods of Rome will provide violent times and raging wars for a man to prove

himself, using his intellectual and physical strength, his virtue, his piety and his

faithfulness to the gods and to Rome?

“In this way can I ascend towards heaven and immdortality?

“Come, Pontius, you have made far too many mistakes. You have not done well

in Judea. Yet, no-one says I have brought disaster upon the Empire. It is not likely that

the populous of Rome will applaud me or give me a triumph along the Appian Way. It

is unlikely I will ever feel the laurel wreath upon my forehead.


195

“Being made a Consul is out of the question, and I will never be called the father

of my country. I am of the wrong family, the wrong class, and have no likely

opportunity to become one of the immortals.

“Jesus impressed me. I have to say that. It’s not that he got up the noses of those

religious Jews. It seems to me right that what he calls eternal life should be offered to

all men, even the lowest of the low as well as to those of us who fall somewhere

between the highest and the lowest.

“Sadducees do not believe as the Pharisees and the Essenes that human beings

have a soul.

“What do I believe? I think I do have a soul. I also think that it might be immortal

and journey on when my body dies. The Epicurean philosophers think this is nonsense,

but the Stoics believe that the soul returns to heaven like a spark flying from a dying

fire.

“Proculea has had a man named Nicholas a follower of Jesus instructing her in

what he calls the Way. Maybe I should have paid more attention to what she recounted

to me, for at times like this I feel the need of opinions that will guide me towards the

truth.”

Pilate stood silently for a long time after that looking at the stars. He was cold

when he returned to his bedchamber. He fell asleep under furs and overslept and was

late in resuming his official duties.

His secretary announced that waiting for him was a messenger from Syria called

Marcellus. Pilate had the man shown in.


196

Marcellus came forward and handed Pilate a missive from Vitellius the Governor

of Syria. Pilate broke the seal and as he read his hand began to shake.

‘A greeting to Pontius Pilatus, praefectus Judaeae from Lucius Vitellius proconsul

Suriae.

‘The Samaritan Council has accused you formally of needlessly massacring their

countrymen at Mount Gerizim in your province. Under sworn testimony they have told

me that the gathering at Tirathana intended no sedition or rebellion against Rome.

They gathered there as refugees from your violence. Each member of the Council has

reaffirmed his allegiance to our Emperor.

‘By the authority invested in me by his Imperial Majesty Tiberius Caesar

Augustus as his special commissioner for Eastern affairs I herewith suspend you from

your duties as Governor of Judea with immediate effect.

‘You will return to Rome as soon as possible in order to present to the Emperor

your account of what happened at Mount Gerizim and to defend yourself the charges

brought against you by the Samaritan Council. A Samaritan delegation will serve as

your accusers at your arraignment in Rome.

‘I have appointed my associate Marcellus, who bears to you this letter as acting

prefect of Judea during your absence. Kindly familiarize him with the functions of your

office.

‘I will arrive in Judea in December to review affairs in your province. You need

not delay your return to Rome and I see no necessity to appoint a guard to assist that

return.


197

‘I bid you farewell.’

Pilate stared at the unblinking and pitiless eyes of Marcellus.

Chapter Thirty-Four.


198

Octavian and Lycanus.

The little man returned to the table. He noticed that three of the group were

missing. He’d seen the leader and one of the two smaller men go past him to the back

of the inn. The third man with the red hair who wasn’t there now hadn’t gone that way.

He couldn’t see him anywhere in the inn.

“Where are the others?” he asked.

“They’ll be back,” Germanicus said.

“We have to go soon. The man I spoke to over there says Lycanus is on the

move.”

“We wait,” said Gaulus.

“Don’t blame me if we miss him.” The little man shrugged as if the time lost was

nothing to him.

Octavian and Remus came back. The little man stood expecting to go, but they sat

and told him to be seated.

“We should go,” he said

“We’ll go when I say we’ll go,” Octavian said. “Now tell me your name.”

“My name I would rather keep to myself.”

“Indeed. So where is Lycanus?”

“I told your men he is on the move. If you want to catch up with him we should

go now.”

“Where is Rufus?” Octavian asked.


199

“He went out through the front door,” Britainicus said.

“After the man No-Name was talking to,” Romulus said.

The little man gave no indication that he was alarmed at hearing this.

“That man,” he said, “will not lead you to Lycanus.”

Rufus came back into the inn.

“We can go now,” Octavian said.

“About time,” said the little man.

Octavian allowed him to lead the way, following close behind him. This allowed

Remus to tell t he others that the little man was Lycanus.

They gathered outside the inn.

“Which way?” Octavian said.

“This way,” the little man said and would have started off had he not been

detained by Octavian, saying, “No, this way. Bring him!”

The little man was lifted off his feet by Britainicus, and carried off after Octavian.

Passing down the narrow street they passed an inert form lying in the gutter, face

up, with his eyes and his mouth wide open.

“He talked before he died,” Rufus said. “We were to be ambushed at a place

called ‘Crooked Corner’.”

The brought the little man to a place where they had stabled their horses. There

was no sign of the ostler or of anyone else. They lit a couple of lanterns.

“We come to you, Lycanus, with a message from a friend of yours, and this is

how you treat us,” Octavian said.

“You are mistaken. I am not Lycanus.”


200

“A pity, but I shall treat you as if you were and tell you things intended only for

the ears of Lycanus. After that we will leave you as dead as your agent back there in the

gutter.”

“What friend?”

“Servius, the Judean Spymaster. He is partner to Lycanus in the matter of the

taxes purloined from Jerusalem. Now the message we have for Lycanus from Servius is

that Servius wants you to give us his percentage of the taxes to bring back to him.”

“How much did he say that percentage was?”

Octavian had no idea what the percentage was, but rather than try to guess the

exact figure he gave a higher one.

“Twenty-five,” he said.

“Whatever your name is, you are an opportunist. You want some for yourself. Ten

percent was the figure.

“We needed something extra for our trouble,” Octavian said. “Well, Lycanus?”

“Why does he want his cut now?”

“He’s in trouble with Pilate. Pilate suspects that it was he who engineered the

taking of the tribute. He wants to flee with his cut. He talked of Greece.”

“Go back and tell him to wait. It is Pilate who is in trouble. Tell Servius he has

only to wait and his percentage will be his.”

“We haven’t come all this way to go back without it.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to.”

“Where is the tribute?”

“Where you can’t get at it.”


201

“But you can.”

His silence told Octavian this was true.

“Servius needs only to wait.”

“Servius can go hang,” Octavian said. “Listen, Lycanus, have you never thought

that you would like to have that treasure for yourself?”

Again Lycanus was silent.

“Of course you have,” went on Octavian. “But you reckoned that it was to much

for one man to take away. Now, there are seven of us and you would make eight.

Would it be possible for eight determined men, strong of mind and body to remove that

treasure from wherever it is stored?”

“It’s in the treasury and well guarded,” Lycanus said. In the flickering lantern-

light a variety ofg emotions flitted across the features of Lycanus, greed being the most

dominant.

“Would I only get an eighth part?” he asked.

Octavian looked at the others before answering. “From what I hear the tribute is

great and we would not be adverse to sharing at fifty percent to you and fifty percent to

ourselves.”

Lycanus took but a moment to make up his mind.

“It will not be easy but in idle moments I have worked out how to get into the

treasury and extract what is there without anyone being the wiser.”

“You mean you would take more than the tribute?”

“As much as can be carried. And you, I take it will not be returning to Judea and

Servius?”


202

“That might not be the best thing,” Octavian said. “From now on, we stay

together. We will go to where you live and hear of this plan of yours. If you try to trick

us we will release the breath from your body.”

Chapter Thirty-Five.

Love your Enemies.

Tied on his own rack, Zadoc the Shammaite continued to scream and to call out

that he should be spared the rod.


203

Bar Abbas advanced towards him swishing the supple rod left and right through

the air. Zadoc could see him coming and cried out for mercy.

The advance of bar Abbas was halted by Mary the mother of Jesus who came

between him and Zadoc.

“You must not do this, Joshua.”

“Why not,” bar Abbas said. “He needs to feel the suffering he’s been dealing out

to others.”

“Please, throw down the rod and let these men go.”

Zadoc had stopped screaming. Samuel son of Eliezar his hands tied behind his

back like the soldiers of the Temple Guard stood, hardly believing that this woman did

not want them to be scourged.

“Let them go?” bar Abbas said. “What will they do if I let them go? They will go

back to flogging and imprisoning and killing those who follow the way of your Son.”

“And after you flog them, what will you do?” Mary asked. “Will they not come

back to persecute us with increased hatred?”

“It will take time for them to recover. If I do it right they may not be able to come

back at all.”

“You wear the robe of my Son. He would not want you to do this to them.”

“They consider us enemies. We must consider them enemies and the only way to

rid ourselves of enemies is to kill them.”

“We are abused by such men, but the Father of my Son commands us not to kill

them, and my Son says that we must return good for evil. We are to love our enemies

and to pray for them even though they put the lash to our backs.”


204

John, the disciple came to stand with Mary.

“Mary is right, Joshua,” he said. “We must not harm our soul’s relationship with

God by doing to them what they do to us. Have your men release Zadoc from that rack

and cut the bonds of the others.”

“You can’t have forgotten that Zadoc and Samuel bore false witness against

Stephen and cast the first stones.”

“I have not forgotten. We pray for these men.”

“Little good has your prayers done. What they need is the whip and the rod.”

From the crowd starding there bar Abbas picked out Luke the Physician.

“What do you think?” he asked him.

“I cannot agree with you killing or flogging these men. If you kill them you will

be sending their souls to an everlasting Hades without God, and if you flog them you

will harden their souls against the love of Jesus.”

“Is not Hell where these evil men should be?” bar Abbas said.

“No,” John said. “Our Lord and Saviour Jesus did not want anyone to perish but

that all should have an eternity with Him.”

Bar Abbas was torn between what a Zealot fighter would do to an enemy and

what was being asked of him by these leaders of the way of Jesus. He was not

convinced that letting these men to go without retribution for what they had done was

the best thing. He felt they deserved to be flogged and he felt he would enjoy flogging

them.

That was the thing that was troubling him. Nagging at his mind was the question

of whether or not it was right to take pleasure in inflicting pain upon the bodies of


205

others. Zadoc he knew took pleasure in it and he knew that Zadoc was wrong in his

enjoyment. If it was wrong for Zadoc it was wrong for him.

Could he tell himself that he would not enjoy flogging these men? That it was

necessary to teach them a lesson they would not forget? Since he had been at Bethany

he had listened to those who had walked with Jesus speak of his teaching.

They said an eye for an eye was no longer valid. Instead evil people were not to

be resisted, and if he was struck on one cheek he was to turn the other. Bar Abbas could

not think of himself as doing that.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Don’t do to anyone

what you wouldn’t want done to yourself. All that teaching was hard for bar Abbas to

digest, but something within him told him that even though he would suffer in the

execution of the commands his would be preserved.

He stood in front of Mary and the others, undecided.

*

Jacob and Hanna were coming back from the valley of the Lepers.

“Do you think Luke will come to attend my father?” Hanna asked.

“I’m sure he will come. We will both ask him.to.”

“And what about John?”

“John will also come. I can understand why of all the disciples Jesus loved John

the best. John will cure your mother and father.”

“It is God who will cure them, Jacob. I just hope He will.”


206

Jacob sent a silent prayer heavenwards: Father in Heaven, let it be in your will

and to your glory that in Jesus’ name, John and Luke will heal Hanna’s mother and

father of leprosy.

“Thank you,” Hanna said.

“For what?”

“For what you just prayed.”

“How did you know?

“I don’t know. But you did.”

“I did.”

They began the ascent along the path leading to Bethany.

*

Bar Abbas threw down the rod. He cut the cords that held Zadoc to the rack and

then the bonds of the others.

“Go,” he told them.

“You are a fool,” Zadoc said. “You are all fools.”

Zadoc would have taken the rack but bar Abbas stopped him and as Zadoc and his

men retreated down the hill they heard the destruction of the rack.

“We were lucky to get out of that,” Samuel son of Eliezar said.

“Luck had nothing to do with it. It was because we were in the right.”

“You were screaming for mercy,” Samuel said.

Zadoc gave Samuel a venomous look and followed the mules.

*

“Mules coming,” Jacob said. “Stand to the side.”


207

Hanna and Jacob stood while the mules passed followed by the soldiers of the

Temple Guard and then Zadoc the Shammaite and Samuel son of Eliezar.

“You boy,” Zadoc said stopping at where they stood. “Have I not seen you before

in the company of the disciples of the blasphemer Jesus?”

“Jesus is no blasphemer,” Jacob said.

“He claimed to be the Son of God.”

“Jesus is the Son of God,” Jacob said.

“Bring them,” Zadoc ordered.

“Let the girl go,” Jacob said.

“Only if she says she is not a follower of the blasphemer.”

“I follow Jesus,” Hanna said. “The Son of God.”


208

Chapter Thirty-Six.

The Taking of the Tribute.

“Vitellius will be expecting me.”

It was morning in the house of Lycanus. Octavian looked at the Spymaster and

shook his head.

“You’ll stay where we can see you.”

“He will be expecting me. Today Vitellius starts for Jerusalem.”


209

“I don’t think he will delay because of your absence.” Octavian was not sure that

Lycanus was telling the truth. “Why is he going to Jerusalem?”

Lycanus made up his mind that this Roman was not going to let him go. He

recognized in Octavian a mind that could accommodate itself to distrust. Would he

recognize the truth?

“The Pro-Consul has replaced Pilate. He has replaced him with Marcellus who is

now acting as Governor of Judea.”

“Why?”

“For what he did to the Samaritans.”

“At Mount Gerizim?”

“You know about that?”

Octavian nodded.

“Pilate has been sent to Rome to answer to Caesar the allegations of the

Samaritans that he massacred defenceless people.”

Octavian said nothing to this. Normally the lives of a few Samaritans would have

been of little import, but Octavian knew that this incident had been intrigued and

manipulated for political purposes. Vitellius would look good in the Emperor’s eyes

when he presented himself with the Jerusalem tribute which he would no doubt claim to

have rescued from Pilate.

“What does Vitellius intend to do in Jerusalem, now that he has satisfied the

Samaritans?”

“I’m sure Vitellius has something in mind.”

“If you know, tell me.” Even a lie can be revealing, Octavian thought.


210

“Vitellius has not yet told me.”

“I’m sure you discussed it with him.”

“We were to do that this morning.”

“Well then, he’ll just have to rely on his own counsel.”

“It would be better if you let me meet with him. I’ll be able to tell you more when

I get back.”

Octavian laughed.

“Better you stay with us,” he said. “Now, let’s talk about taking the tribute.”

Lycanus sighed. He had already been working on how to take the tribute for

himself. The problem was he needed help, but there was nobody he could trust. He

needed the help of strong men. Strong men were not easily disposed of afterwards.

Lycanus was not a man who liked to share his worldly wealth with others.

Sharing the riches in the treasure vault in Vitellius’ palace was not something he

wanted to do. He wanted it all for himself.

However, with these men his plan could become a reality, and with the right kind

of poison strong men could be eliminated.

Octavian called Romulus and Remus and sent them out into Damascus to check

that Vitellius would be leaving the city that morning. After that with Gallus,

Britannicus and Rufus they sat with Lycanus.

“The treasure is in the vault of the palace,” Lycanus said. “There are guards on

the door and I do not have access to the key or the authority to order the door opened.”

“Where is the key kept?”

“On the person of the Treasurer.”


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“Who is?”

“Ben Shami, a Syrian. He lives in the palace.”

“You have access to him?”

“Of course.”

“You take us to him and we get the key.”

“There are two guards outside the door, but there are eight others along the

corridor leading to the door. It would not be possible to overpower them without raising

the alarm.”

“You’ve thought about this. How did you intend to get in?”

“Getting in is not the problem. The problem is getting the treasure out.”

“How do you get in?”

“From above. There is a tower room the floor of which is above the ceiling of the

vault. No-one goes there. I’ve started taking up part of the floor and I’m almost through

to the vault.”

“If you’ve been hammering why haven’t the guards heard you?”

“The walls are very thick and so is the door. I was afraid they would hear but

when no-one came I went on with it. I muffled the hammer in thick cloth.”

“So you’re almost through. Why did you stop?”

“I need to get everything out in one scoop. For that I need help and a means of

transport. The transport I can arrange but I need trustworthy men both inside to move

the treasure, and outside the walls to receive it and to load it onto a caravan of camels.

The treasure can be lowered from the tower but getting it up from the vault requires the

efforts of strong men. Men just like yourselves.”


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Romulus and Remus returned.

“He was telling the truth,” Remus said. “Vitellius has left the city.”

“It’s no secret he’s going to Jerusalem,” Romulus said.

“You can get us into the tower?” Octavian asked Lycanus.

“Just wear your uniforms.”

They left the Spymaster’s house and he took them to the Governor’s palace. He

walked them confidently past the guards and when they were inside, along a maze of

corridors until they came to one that was less used than the others and then to a door in

need of oil that screeched when opened.

Octavian observed that footsteps had disturbed the dust and dirt of this room

which was being used as a forgotten storeroom.

In the centre of this room was a cavity about a metre and a half in circumference

and around this was the debris of the floor that had been chiselled out.

It seemed, thought Octavian, that Lycanus was serious about stealing the treasure.

“Let’s go back to your house,” he said. “There are things we need to plan.”

Three nights later they were ready. Romulus and Remus were standing by to, at a

given signal to bring a string of twelve camels to the wall beneath the tower in which

the others including Lycanus were about to break through into the vault.

There was a chance that the falling ceiling would be feared by the guards, but it

would take the guards time to find the Treasurer to open the door, and Germanicus had

made sure that on that night the Treasurer would not be found. He was tied up in the

corner of the tower room not knowing who had rendered him unconscious. There was a


213

bag over his head and a gag in his mouth so that if he came round, he would not be able

to see anything or shout.

Britanicus made the breakthrough and when the noise and the dust had subsided

there was silence. At the door of the tower Germanicus listened then told him that there

had been no movement or outcry from the guards.

Octavian lowered a rope ladder and Gallus went down first followed by Octavian

then Lycanus. Britannicus and Germanicus stayed up and lowered baskets down.

“Which is the Jerusalem tribute?” Octavian asked Lycanus, and when this was

pointed out it was loaded into baskets and hauled up.

All together there were twenty-four baskets hauled up and then lowered down to

Romulus and Remus. These baskets were put on the camels.

There was treasure remaining after all the baskets had been filled.

“We should have brought more baskets,” Lycanus said

“Time to go,” Octavian said.

“We didn’t have enough baskets”

“I said let’s go.”

Gallus put Lycanus on the rope ladder.

“Climb,” he said, and followed him up.

Octavian pulled up the rope ladder after him, and they went out through the

window of the tower down to where the caravan was waiting.

The caravan started off. Lycanus felt in his pouch the vial of poison he had

brought from his own house.

Soon, he thought. But not yet.


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Chapter Thirtyl-Seven.

News of Jacob and Hanna.

Two brothers, Ezra and Micah saw what had happened to Hanna and Jacob.

While Ezra hurried on to Bethany, Micah keeping a safe distance and out of sight as

much as possible followed Zadoc and his men.

Crossing the Kidron Valley it became easier for Micah to remain unnoticed

because more and more people were coming and going to and from the walled city.

Micah knew that these men usually accompanied Saul of Tarsus, but the word

was that Saul had departed for Damascus to persecute the brothers and sisters who

believed in Jesus there. To fall into the hands of these men was not a good thing. The

persecution in Jerusalem was continuing.

As they passed into the city Micah closed up and in the crush of human and

animal bodies going each way he was able to catch the eye of Jacob who walked


215

between two temple guards with his hands bound behind him. Hanna was likewise

bound. Both were his friends and his brother and sister in the Lord Jesus. Now he

caught Hanna’s eye.

Neither Hanna nor Jacob gave any indication that they had recognized him.

Micah saw Jacob look for Ezra and reckoned that when he did not see his usually

inseparable twin he would know that Ezra had gone to Bethany to give news of their

capture. There was no way he could run in between the guards and cut the bonds of his

friends. Had there been one instead of two he would have tried.

Micah fell back and followed them to the Temple area where he saw them taken

down a flight of stone stairs to an underground area. It was no great secret that this was

the prison where the High Priest kept those who broke the Jewish Law and where

during this time of terror Saul interrogated the believers in the Son of God.

There was nothing more Micah could do except get this information to those at

Bethany. The prospect of what was going to happen to Jacob and Hanna make him

shiver.

Ezra arrived at Bethany in a breathless state. He was glad to see that bar Abbas

and the men he had armed were there. They gathered around him and waited until he

got his breath back.

They were joined by some of the women including Lilith, Jacob’s mother. They

were curious to know what had brought Ezra running to Bethany in such a state.

“We were in the olive grove,” he told them, Micah and I, and when we saw those

men of Saul’s coming down the road we hid in the old trees and they did not see us.


216

“Then we saw Jacob and Hanna coming up the road towards them. They stood

aside to let them pass, but they stopped them and began to ask them questions. They

asked them if they were followers of Jesus and if they believed that Jesus was the Son

of God.

“They wanted them to say that Jesus was a blasphemer but they didn’t do that.

They said that they followed Jesus and that he was in truth the Son of God. That was

when they seized them and tied their hands behind their backs and took them with

them.”

Hearing what Ezra said, Lilith gave a cry and fear of what would happen to Jacob

welled in her being.

“Micah is following them to find out where they take them,” Ezra said. “When he

knows he’ll come here and tell us.” Ezra looked to bar Abbas for guidance. “What can

be done?” he asked.

“This would not have happened if I had been let have my way,” bar Abbas said.

“They would not have been able to take anybody.”

John pushed through from the back of the crowd.

“Mary was right to stop you,” he said. “Your way would have done more harm

than good.”

“Look at what good has come from letting them go,” bar Abbas said.

“The good has yet to be seen,” John said. “I will go and speak to Caiaphas.”

“Oh, he’s sure to listen to you. I don’t think,” said bar Abbas.

“As God wills,” John said.

“The ears of Caiaphas are full of the Devil’s wax,” bar Abbas said.


217

“Nevertheless, I shall go and speak with him,” John said.

“And tell him to let the others go as well, and to stop persecuting us,” said

someone in the gathering.

Lilith withdrew, wondering what she could do not only for Jacob but also for

Hanna. As her emotions settled she began to think of whom she could approach. She

needed someone in authority who could over-rule the High Priest.

If only the wife of the Roman Governor was in Jerusalem instead of in Caesarea.

It was said that Proculeia had come to put her faith and trust in Jesus and was

sympathetic to His followers.

Caesarea was such a distance away, and by the time she got there and any action

was taken, something bad might have happened to Hanna and Jacob. She needed more

immediate help.

There was the Tribune, Cornelius. He would have the authority vested in him by

Pilate to do something for Hanna and Jacob. He had married Judith who was Jewish.

She had children. One mother would understand another’s love and anxiety for her

child. They lived in the next valley, not far from here.

She went and prepared herself for travelling. She was about to start when Micah

came with the news that Jacob and Hanna had been taken to the Temple prison. A moan

went up from the crowd who heard this.

Bar Abbas was all for making a raid upon the prison with the men he had and

freeing, not only Jacob and Hanna but also the other brethren chained there.

“That will not do,” John said.


218

“The reprisals against us will be too great,” said bar Naba who was in agreement

with John. John and I will go and see the High Priest. Please do nothing that will bring

even greater violence down upon us.”

“We will set out now,” John said.

Lilith had already set out, and within the hour she was on the approaches to the

home of the Roman Tribune, Cornelius.

At a crossroads she met with another traveller. They recognized each other

immediately.

“Lilith,” he said.

“Jude,” she said, “what are you doing here.”

“I am on my way to Bethany to join with my mother.” He was covered in dust as

though he had come a great distance.

“And what of James?”

“He should be leaving Nazareth about now. I left him there to conclude the selling

of our carpenter’s shop. I have brought some of the money with me for the brethren at

Bethany. James will bring the rest.”

“We have become scattered,” Lilith said.

“We will gather again. But, what are you doing here?”

Lilith told him what had happened to Jacob and Hanna and she had come to ask

help from Judith, the wife of Cornelius.

“Let me accompany you in this,” Jude said.


219

When they came to the Tribune’s dwelling they were informed by a servant who

was in charge of loading furniture onto carts that the Tribune and his wife were in

Caesarea in preparation to their departure for Rome.


220

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

Lepers!

Jacob had been in prison before. He had not liked it then and he did not like it

now. In Capernaum, the previous time, his father had been with him, and he had been

able to escape through the bars of his cage because Octavian, the Centurion had sent a

red-bearded giant to bend apart the bars of the animal cage that was their prison.

But now he was in no animal cage. He had been separated from Hanna and

thrown into the hollowed out rocks below the Temple that constituted a maze around

which only the keepers of the keys could find their way in and out. The cells were

caves with solid iron doors with eye slits for the keepers and these were shrouded from

the outside. The doors were barred and locked and the cells were of many different

sizes. All were in darkness and only when the keepers came to take from or to throw

into a cell a prisoner was there light to be seen in that corner of the labyrinth.


221

Jacob, in his descent from the light of day into darkness walked single file

between two jailers. He was noting in his mind the direction they were taking by

counting how many steps he took and the order of the right and left turns.

He concentrated very hard on this and when he at last came to the cave into which

he was cast he began to rehearse the number of steps and turns committing them to

memory.

The door clashed shut and the bolts were shot and the key grated in the lock and

the light from the torches receded from under the door and darkness and silence closed

in.

Jacob got the impression that his cell was small and after standing for some time

more committing to memory the way he had been brought he began to feel his way

around the walls which in places were running with water.

“Lord Jesus,” he prayed aloud. “You know I am here, and you know I need help.

Help me, please, Lord.”

“There’s no use praying,” said a voice in the darkness.

Jacob was startled. For a moment he thought it was the voice of an angel. He

knew it wasn’t the voice of Jesus, because he knew his voice having spoken with him

many times in Galilee and that time just before he went to His Father in Heaven.

“I don’t know how long I’ve been here,” the voice went on. “I, too, have called

upon Jesus to deliver me from this awful place but I have not been delivered.”

Jacob was sure now it was no angel that spoke. He made his way along the wall

towards the voice. His feet came to an obstacle.

“That’s me,” the voice said.


222

“Who are you?”

“They’ve forgotten I’m here.”

“What’s your name?”

“Adam. I think. I’ve been in this darkness so long I’m not sure.”

“Who is your father?”

“I am the shame of my father.”

“Why?”

“Because, I follow the way of Jesus.”

“So, also, do I.”

“Are you the shame of your father.”

“No. My father is in heaven with Jesus. He was crucified beside him.”

“You too will be forgotten and rot here. They will carry us both out in canvas

bags.”

“You’re too despairing.”

“Sewn up in canvas bags. I should have cried out to the jailers when they brought

you in.”

“Why did you not?”

“I was ready to, believe me. I can’t stand much more of this. I’ll do anything to

get out of this darkness and isolation.”

“Yet, you did not call out to the guards.”

“I did not.”

“Why not?”


223

“I don’t know. I wanted to. Like you I prayed for help. I think that if I recant and

say what they want me to say about Jesus, then, my father will welcome me back with

open arms. I will no longer be a shame to him.”

Jacob was now sitting on the floor beside Adam.

“Did you know Jesus, Adam? Did you ever see Him or hear him speak?

“I did not know Him before they crucified Him. I never heard Him speak and I

was not one of those who saw and heard and ate with Him after he came from the

grave. I just believed what His disciples said about Him, that He was the Son of God

who came to take sin away from each of us.”

“I knew him,” Jacob said. “He walked with me and He talked with me, and He

explained the scriptures to me and he took my father to heaven with him. He spoke to

me before He went to his own Father in Heaven. I saw him ascend from the top of the

Mount of Olives. I saw him do that. An angel told us that one day he would come again

to that place.”

“Perhaps if I had known him like that, what’s your name?”

“Jacob.”

“If I’d known him like that, Jacob, perhaps I would not be thinking of recanting.”

“I was told, by John, one of His disciples, that when Jesus first appeared to them,

Thomas, another disciple would not believe it was Him until he saw and felt for himself

the marks left by the copper nails. Only then did Thomas believe that Jesus had risen

from the grave and had overcome sin and death.

“Jesus said to Thomas then that those who had not seen Him, but nevertheless

believed in Him were more blessed than those who had touched or seen Him.”


224

There was silence in the darkness, and Jacob was given the understanding that

there should be. A thought passed through his mind that he need say nothing. He began

again to think of his underground journey to this cell and to exercise his mind by

reversing the number of steps to each left and right turn.

He also thought of Hanna and hoped and prayed that Jesus was looking after her

and that nothing bad had befallen her.

At this moment of his thinking of her, Hanna was being interrogated by one of the

Temple priests, Enoch ben Levi.

“You live at Bethany?”

“Yes,” replied Hanna.

“A place of sedition against our Temple Laws. You were on your way there when

you were taken?”

“Yes.”

“There were two of you. A boy was with you. What was his name?”

“Jacob.”

“Who is his father?”

“His father is dead.”

“His mother, is she alive?”

“Yes,”

“Is she at Bethany or is she still a true believer?”

“She is a true believer and she lives at Bethany.

“What is her name?”


225

“What does it matter? We are here because we follow the way of the Son of God,

Jesus. You want us to recant and say that Jesus is not who He is. We won’t do that.”

“Where were you coming from?”

Hanna did not answer. The black robed priest thought that wherever it was there

would be found another den of sedition. He was not a kind man. He took Hanna’s right

wrist and bent it inwards until she cried out in pain.

“Answer!” he demanded, harshly.

“From the Valley of the Lepers,” Hanna said.

The priest dropped Hanna’s wrist as if it were a hot coal and stepped back from

her. He examined her face closely for signs of leprosy. His eyes moved to her hands.

There were no deformities or loss of fingers. She did not look like a leper.

“What were you doing there?”

“Mother and father are lepers.”

“You have touched them?”

“I have bandaged their hands.”

“And the boy, has he touched them?”

“No.”

The priest did not believe her. If the boy had been to the Valley of the Lepers he

must have at some time been in contact with lepers, and if not those with visible leprosy

then with this girl.

He had Zadoc the Sammaite and Samuel son of Elizar brought to him.

“Why have you brought me two lepers?” And he berated them in words unfitting

to a priest.


226

“Take this girl, and the boy who was with her to the Valley of the Lepers and

make sure they stay there. Oh, and stay there yourselves.

“But we do not have leprosy,” Zadoc said.

“No, indeed,” said Samuel.

“Guards,” ordered the priest. “Make sure these two men do not return from the

Valley of the Lepers.”

The guards kept their distance as they waited for Jacob to be brought.

The jailer not only brought Jacob, but also Adam.

“There should only be one,” a guard said.

“The priest says to take them both,” the jailer said. “They clasped arms on

leaving.”


227

Chapter Thirty-Nine.

Drink!

The Temple Guards accompanying Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus rode

on diminutive asses, so that in some cases their feet almost touched the ground.

Jehu, their commander rode a camel, and although Saul had a camel to ride he

was walking. Around his neck suspended by a blood-red thread was his badge of

authority from Ciaphas, the High Priest.

This authority gave him the legal right to arrest, bind, and deliver any Jew, male

or female who failed to fulfil or who actively opposed the Law of Moses. Those

arrested should be persuaded to repent of their sin against the Law, and those who

stubbornly refused should be brought to trial for blasphemy.

From Jerusalem, Saul and his party had proceeded to Tiberius from where they

had taken a ferry across the Sea of Galilee to land at Gadera, the entrance to the land of

the heathen.

They pressed on at some pace and reached Caesarea Philippi where they stayed

the night at an inn. Saul sternly forbade the men with him to become drunken. He

wanted them in a sober state for the next day’s journey.


228

Saul was a man who gained knowledge by listening and observing. The

conversations he heard in the inn made his blood boil. The talk was excited, and it

concerned the followers of the Nazarene who had passed on their way to Damascus.

They spoke of their Saviour, Jesus, who had been crucified and who had

overcome death by rising from the grave because he was the Son of God. God had sent

Him to take upon Himself the sins of all men who lived in the world because God loved

all the human beings He had created in the world and he did not want the Devil, who

had plastered every one of them with a thick layer of sin to have them for his own. By

dying on the cross Jesus had removed that sin and it was now possible for all who

believed in Him as Messiah to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Through all this Saul held his tongue, but inwardly he was seething. Seething

about the blasphemy, and about the fact that those wrong-headed people were inviting

Greeks and half-civilized Arabs and other heathens into the Holy realm that God had

given only to the Jews.

The ways and behaviours of such people filled him with horror. How could it be

said that their sinning could be forgiven and that they would be blameless before God

if they believed in Jesus from Nazareth and hailed him as their Lord and Saviour?

To open the Kingdom of Heaven to such people was more than Saul could

stomach. These subversives should be stamped out and as he sat there in the inn at

Caesarea Philippi he swore a silent oath that he, for God and Israel, would be the one

who would quench this fire and reduce it to a heap of cold white ash.


229

Next morning they continued their way through Gaulanitis and by evening they

had come wearied by their journey through the hot lowlands to a way station near

Mount Hermon. Here they would stay overnight.

Saul saw that they would be sharing the inn with pagans and that getting properly

prepared Jewish fare might not be easy.

Judging from the twelve camels already in the compound the station might be full

and their might be no accommodation for them. As they put their animals into the

compound two men stepped from the shadows. Romans, Saul observed, strong military

men who kept their hands on their short swords.

“Who are you and where have you come from?” the one with the red beard asked.

“We are messengers commissioned by Caiaphas, the High Priest of Jerusalem.

We have come from there and we are on our way to Damascus,” Saul answered. “We

intend staying here tonight and travelling on tomorrow.”

“Have you weapons?”

“Of course,” Saul said. “Are not these hills and roads rife with bandits?”

“You will be safe here tonight,” said the red-haired one. “But you must give up

your weapons. They will be returned to you in the morning before your departure.”

“We give our weapons to no-one, Roman,” said Jehu, and on his signal all six of

his men drew their swords.

The two Romans looked at each other and laughed. To Saul’s ears their laughter

was not all that pleasant.

“Throw down your swords,” said the red-haired one.

Jehu and his men made no move to do so.


230

“These are your men,” the red-bearded giant said to Saul. “Tell them to give up

their weapons or you will be going in the morning to Damascus by yourself.”

Both Romans drew their swords and assumed a fighting crouch.

“You have fought in the arena,” Saul said.

“Before Caesar, and well enough to be granted our freedom. We have slaughtered

greater odds than this. Your men are puny.”

Saul turned to Jehu.

“Do you want to contest with these men? If not, give up your weapons.”

Jehu did not like it. He did not like losing face by giving up his sword, but when

he looked at these two men he realized that he would be the first to die. Saying nothing,

he threw down his sword. His men were only too glad to do likewise. Saul unbuckled

his belt and relinquished his sword.

“Pass us by one at a time,” said the red-haired man.

They were searched for other weapons and relieved of daggers, after which they

were allowed to enter the way station.

It was a rough dwelling, built of rough-hewn logs and roofed with grass sods.

Saul was surprised that there were only six other travellers inside as well as the landlord

and his wife.

The men of the Temple Guard ordered wine and Saul did not stop them. They had

lost face and if they thought wine would improve their mood then so be it. They’d have

sore heads in the morning. Even so he’d have them out by dawn. He approached the

landlord and haggled for food that would be fit for a good Jew to eat. He saw to the

preparation of it himself. Then he sat with his men to eat.


231

All but one of the men at another long table were Roman soldiers. There was a

Centurion whom he seemed to recognize. He’d probably seen him at Jerusalem. The

flagon of wine at their table had become empty, and the one who was not a Roman got

to his feet, reached for it, and announced that he’d get another.

He went to the bar and had the landlord fill the flagon. The landlord held the

flagon in one hand and held out the other for payment. The man paid from a purse and

was given the flagon. The landlord went to join his wife in the kitchen.

The man put the flagon of wine on the bar top and took a vial from his purse,

then, glancing backwards towards the Romans he emptied the contents of the vial into

the flagon, gave it a shake, let it sit, gave it another shake, then took it back to the table.

Saul saw all this, and he also saw the man fill each of the Roman’s goblets. He

noticed that the man did not fill his own. The Romans did not seem to remark this.

Saul stood up and went quickly to the other table. His men wondered what he was

going to do. The Romans lifted their goblets.

“Wait!” Saul said in a commanding voice. “Do not drink.”

One of the Romans said, “What business is it of yours if we drink or don’t drink.”

“Let the man who poured your wine drink first,” Saul said.

The man lifted his goblet.

“Not from your own,” Saul said. “From the Centurion’s.”

“Why should I?”

“Why should you not?”

“Mind your own business,” the man said.

“Pass him your goblet, Centurion,” Saul said.


232

“Why?”

“I think it will save your life if he drinks first.”

The Centurion pushed his goblet towards the man.

“Drink!”

The man sprang up and ran to the door and then out into the night.

Chapter Forty.

Vitellius at Jerusalem.


233

Vitellius entered Jerusalem with a flourish of trumpets. From the pinnacle of the

Temple he was watched by the High Priest Caiaphas and his father-in-law, Annas.

It was now no secret that Pilate had been suspended as Governor of Judea and had

been replaced by Marcellus who had arrived five days prior to the arrival of Vitellius.

Caiaphas had asked for an audience with Marcellus but had been refused; refused

in a manner that afforded him no explanation for the refusal. Instead, Marcellus had

been in conclave with Herod Antipas who was trying to enlist Roman help for his

continuing struggle with King Aretas.

Caiaphas turned a worried face to Annas. “It would have been better if Pilate had

not been dismissed,” he said.

“The Samaritans have done what we threatened to do many times,” Annas said.

“They reported him to Caesar as an incompetent Governor.”

“With us, the threat of doing so was sufficient to keep him in line for our

purposes,” Caiaphas said. “Now those damned Samaritans have put the cat among the

pigeons.”

“You shall of course ask for an audience with Vitellius.”

“Of course.”

“You will have to be careful. Marcellus has been investigating our handling of the

Nazarenes. He received complaints from some of the Sanhedrin’s Pharisees that we

have been in violation of Roman law by causing the deaths of some of these people.

The death of Stephen was mentioned in particular.”

“I will be careful when I see Vitellius. The blame for Stephen’s death will reside

with Saul of Tarsus.”


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They went down from the pinnacle of the Temple from where they often stood

looking out over all the world they controlled.

It was late afternoon when Vitellius and Marcellus made their way to the palace

of Herod Antipas where they drank wine before partaking of a sumptuous meal.

Antipas was particularly pleased at the course of events that had led to the

dismissal of Pilate. He had written in secret to Tiberius in Rome listing Pilate’s follies

and mismanagement of Judea. Now with Pilate who had stubbornly refused to help him

in his war with Aretas, his former father-in-law, no longer a stumbling-block, he felt

that he could convince Vitellius to assist him.

“I hope your journey my lord Governor from Damascus was uneventful.”

“As you say, Antipas, uneventful.”

“I’m sure the Samaritans gave you a grand welcome and safe passage through

their land. You saw Mount Gerizim where the massacre took place?”

“I saw it, and heard again what the Samaritans had to say.”

“A most fortunate massacre,” Antipas said. “For both of us.”

“For myself I will not deny it, but for you, perhaps, it is not so fortunate.”

The little wave of anxiety Antipas felt he kept from his facial expression.

“You don’t say.”

“Your letters to the Emperor concerning Pilate, and your petitions for help with

your war with Aretas have not gone unnoticed.”

“I did not mean them to go unnoticed.”

“Herod Agrippa is in Rome. He has the ear of the Emperor and your

correspondence has come to his attention.”


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“I knew my brother-in-law was in Rome,” Antipas said cautiously. He knew

Agrippa to be a man who did not wish him well. “Has he asked Caesar on my behalf to

aid me against Aretas?”

“Let us finish our meal,” Vitellius smiled with no warmth in his eyes. “I

congratulate you upon its excellence. In the meantime will you send for the High Priest

Caiaphas. Have him brought here and let us keep him waiting.”

There was little talk during the rest of the meal. More wine was brought but

Vitellius and Marcellus did not accept further libations. Antipas, on the other hand

emptied and refilled his gold goblet. He was impatient to know what Vitellius had left

unsaid.

“You mentioned Agrippa,” he prompted.

“Indeed I did.”

“Go on,” said Antipas.

Vitellius stretched.

“It would appear that Agrippa is not without his spies here in Jerusalem and in

your palace.”

“It is something we Herodians have had to live with for ages. Of what relevance is

it?”

“How full is your armoury?”

“I am at war with Aretas.”

“So it is full?”

“It needs to be.”

“Full enough to equip 70,000 troops?”


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“Where did you get that figure?”

“That is the number with which Agrippa has alarmed the ears of the Emperor.”

Antipas uttered a profanity.

“Is it true?”

Antipas did not answer.

“Your war with Aretas is to end. I have sent emissaries to arrange a meeting with

him while you are to proceed to Rome to explain to the Emperor that the weapons in

your armoury are not to be used against Rome.”

“Of course they’re not to be used against Rome. I am Rome’s friend. Have I not

proved myself faithful to Caesar?

“In that case you have nothing to fear when you find yourself in his presence.”

“Do I have to go?”

“You will either go of your own free will, or I will have you escorted there as a

prisoner.”

“Agrippa accuses me of sedition?”

“He does.”

“What does he hope to gain?”

“I think you can work that out for yourself.”

“Of course,” Antipas said.

“And now, Marcellus, let us keep the High Priest waiting no longer.”

Marcellus went out and came back with Caiaphas.

“Tetrarch, Governor,” Caiaphas said bowing low.


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“I will not keep you long, priest,” Vitellius said. “There are things I have come to

Jerusalem to do. Things that need to be put right. Firstly: I am restoring to the keeping

of the Temple the vestments of the High Priest.”

Caiaphas’ eyes opened wide and his heart gave a leap of joy.

“It was a grave mistake to take them from priestly keeping in the first place,”

Vitellius said.

“Thank you, my lord, thank you so much.”

Secondly: You are to be removed from office as High Priest and you will be taken

to Rome where you will be tried before Caesar along with Pontius Pilate.”

“My term of office has not yet been completed,” stammered Caiaphas.

“Your term of office has been terminated as of now. I shall see your Sanhedrin

about the appointment of your successor.”

“You can’t do this.”

“It is done.” Thirdly: The disruption and dissention among your people that has

arisen because of your persecution of those who follow the teaching of a dead rabbi will

cease. All prisoners in your Temple prison who are Nazarenes will be set free. You will

now consider yourself under arrest and will accompany Acting Governor Marcellus to

the Antonia where you will be put in a cell to await transportation to Rome.

Stunned, Caiaphas was led out by Marcellus.


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Chapter Forty-One.

Simon Peter Reflects.

Simon Peter shook his head as if trying to rid himself of something unpleasant.

He was walking back from Caesarea to the house where he was staying at Joppa. As he

walked he talked aloud to his Lord in heaven.

“I am not the one,” he said, and kept saying it over and over again. “I am not the

one.”


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Had he not done well in Samaria? he asked. That time when Philip sent for John

and himself. Had they not been successful in converting the Jews and half-Jews of

Samaria? Was that not good work?

And what about the way he had handled Simon Magus, that practitioner of the art

of magic. When John and he had prayed fervently for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of

Truth and Life to come upon those Samaritans who truly believed in you as Lord and

Saviour, Simon the magician who had not received the power of God’s Holy Spirit

offered money to possess it.

“You heard what I said, Lord. You put the words into my mouth. ‘To hell with

you and your money,’ I said, ‘You can have no part in this matter for your heart is not

honest before God.”

He had gone on to tell the man to repent of his wickedness and to pray earnestly

to the Lord that if possible the evil intention of his heart might be forgiven. He told the

man he was consumed with bitterness and jealousy and bound tightly by his own

selfishness.

It was good that the man had answered, asking John and he to pray for him so that

he might not come under the judgement of God.

“I did pray for him, Lord, but perhaps not as often as I should have. Well, it’s one

thing to save the Samaritans from a Hell without God, but did you have to do to me

what you did to me after that?”

He’d been at Joppa staying with Simon the tanner who had removed there from

Jerusalem to avoid the purging of Saul of Tarsus. Simon’s house had a flat roof and


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about mid-day Simon Peter had gone up onto it to pray. In the midst of his praying he

fell asleep feeling hungry.

It was while he slept that God gave him the vision. He saw the heavens opening

and Jesus lowering a great net towards him. In this net were all manner of animals,

reptiles, and birds. Jesus said to him: “Arise, Peter, kill and eat.”

He looked at the animals horrified.

“None of these animals are kosher, Lord. They are all unclean. I have never

before eaten any such animals and I will not eat any of them now.”

“My Father,” Jesus said, “declares these animals fit to be eaten. You must not call

what God has cleaned common or unclean. Arise, kill and eat.”

Still Simon Peter argued against touching the animals. Then, for a third time Jesus

told him to get up, kill and eat, after which He hauled in the net and the heavens closed.

Simon Peter awoke. He shuddered, hoping it had been a bad dream and as far as

he was concerned that was the end of it.

“Except that it wasn’t, Lord,” he said, gazing out on the wintry sea where a sharp

wind was whipping up white horses. “You had been at work elsewhere.”

“Hey, Peter,” called Simon the tanner. “Two men are here looking for you. You’d

better come. They won’t go without seeing you.”

He had gone down to find the men waiting at the bottom of the outside steps

leading to the roof.

“You are Simon called Peter?” one asked.

“I am.”

“You are to come with us.”


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“And why should I?”

“We are servants of the Tribune Cornelius. He is a good living and God fearing

man who has done much righteous work for the Jewish people. He has been visited by

an angel who told him to send for you to come to his house at Caesarea.”

Simon Peter thought to himself that Cornelius was a Gentile and how could he go

to his house, but no sooner had he thought this than the meaning of the net full of

animals became clear to him. Still, he did not go right away.

“I will be there tomorrow,” he told the men, and next day, accompanied by some

brothers from Joppa he arrived at the home of Cornelius at Caesarea.

He understood what his Lord wanted him to do and he did it. He went into that

house and found that Jesus had prepared the hearts of all there for what he had to say.

He told them about Jesus and about the Kingdom of Heaven. He told them that he

had been shown that no man, Jew or Gentile, was unclean and that God the Father had

sent Jesus into the world to make clean all men from all nations because His love is

monumental.

He could see that God did not discriminate between people and that in every

nation the men and women who reverence Jesus and do what is right will be able to

approach God without a stain of sin because Jesus took their sin upon himself and

overcame death by rising from the dead after crucifixion.

“I have been your instrument for saying this Tribune and all his family and

servants, but Lord, I, if I understand you rightly am not the one to bring the good news

of God’s salvation to the Gentiles.


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“You know me, Lord, I have no education that would allow me to understand the

thinking of Greeks and Romans. I really do think you should find someone more

suitable. Oh, I know you can put the right words in my mouth, but would it not be

better to put them into the mouth of someone who had the necessary understanding?

“With Cornelius it was less difficult because he is married to Judith who taught

him about our Jewish Law and faith. But what of others who have no idea of how God

has blessed all nations through Abraham and his descendants. It will take a better man

than me to bring the message successfully to them.

“Truth be known, Lord. I do not want to be assigned to this mission. I fear that

what I have done by going into the house of Cornelius will not go unnoticed and there

will be those who will not be at all pleased and will cause trouble.

“You’ll have to calm me for you know me to be a man of hasty temper. I find it

difficult to deal with my own dissenting people. I would be useless in dealing with

dissenting Gentiles.

“I have to admit, that when I was telling them the message and giving them the

Word of God, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. That was a great thing to see. You

baptizing them with your Holy Spirit.”


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Chapter Forty-Two.

Getaway.

When Lycanus bolted from the inn and into the night he was angry, but still he

had his wits about him. He knew he had to avoid being taken by Rufus and Germanicus

who had stayed in the compound guarding the animals and the treasure.

He moved swiftly and silently, darting from one area of darkness to another. He

was able to gain a start on the Romans who had poured out of the inn in pursuit of him.

As he ran he cursed that interfering Jew who hadn’t minded his own business.

Had he done so the problem of the Romans would have been solved for they would

have retired to their beds feeling drowsy and later they would have died in their sleep.

The poisoned wine he would have taken to the two in the animal compound.

Around the way station was a palisade and he came to where the gate had been

closed for the night. He heard the Centurion’s voice:

“Get to the gate!”

In one side of the large gate there was a small door secured by a bar on the inside.

The bolt was shot but no chain or lock secured it. He withdrew the bolt and heaved


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open the creaking door, and was out through it heading for the brush as fast as his legs

would carry him.

He heard them coming after him. He was getting breathless and wondered how

much longer he could keep ahead of them.

He desperately needed a place to hide; a place to catch his breath and to think

what he was going to do next. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw them gaining

on him. His hands and feet pumping he pushed himself to go faster.

A cloud obscured the moon and he was helped by the darkness. He dodged to the

right and found himself in a gully which, as he stumbled along its length got deeper

until the sides became steeper and water had eroded the sides leaving holes.

He chose the smallest of the holes he could see; one which fortunately had a bush

growing from and concealing the entrance. Being very careful not to disturb this bush

and not to get scraped and torn on its long sharp thorns, he insinuated his way behind it

and wedged himself into the cavity where he had to lie curled up like a baby in the

womb.

He heard someone coming; footsteps disturbing stones. He put his arms round his

legs and pulled up his knees and made himself as small as possible. He closed his eyes

and forced his breathing to become quiet.

Whichever Roman it was searching the other holes one by one. The sound of him

became nearer and nearer. Lycanus hardly dared breathe.

A voice called out: “Remus, see anything?”

The answer came from just outside the hiding place of Lycanus.

“Nothing. You sure he came this way?”


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The other voice came nearer.

“You look in all these holes?”

“All except this one.”

The two were now standing inches away from where Lycanus was.

“Kind of small.”

“And the bush hasn’t been disturbed. Let’s look further up.”

The footsteps moved away then after a time returned.

“Maybe the others had more luck.”

After that Lycanus was left on his own. His limbs were cramped but he thought it

best not to move out of his hide. The sweat he had generated had grown cold and he

began to shiver as the night temperature fell. With all the exertion the food he had eaten

at the in had been used up and he began to feel cold and took to shivering more and

more.

At last he came from his cave-like hide and suffered pins and needles until the

blood in his legs and arms began to circulate once more.

He didn’t know where the Romans were. They could still be looking for him. He

hoped they had given up and had gone back to the way station.

Very carefully he retraced his steps. The moon was once again in a cloudless sky

but it would be hours yet before dawn.

Back at the way station the searchers reported to Octavian that they had failed to

find Lycanus.

Saul of Tarsus and his men had retired to their beds and were sleeping soundly.

Octavian had thanked Saul for his observation and timely intervention.


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“You saved our lives,” he said.

“Your face is familiar, Centurion,” Saul said.

“We met at Capernaum. You wanted to sell your tents.”

“Ah, yes. Now I remember.”

“That was before I was transferred to Jerusalem.”

“And what did you do in Jerusalem?”

“I crucified the Son of God.” It struck Octavian that what he said amounted to

belief.

He watched Saul’s face change from polite listening to anger.

“His name was Jesus,” Octavian said.

“God does not have a son,” Saul said. “It is blasphemy to say that He has.”

“Had you been there that day you, too, would have said as I did that he was truly

the Son of God. Your God shut his eyes that day. There was darkness at noon.”

“You are a superstitious pagan,” Saul said.

“Well, this superstitious pagan thanks you for saving his life.”

Saul had gone to his chamber after that.

Now, Octavian said to his returned men, “We will leave before first light

tomorrow. The sooner we get to Caesarea the better.”

“What about Lycanus?”

“By himself, what can he do?”

Lycanus walked throughout the night to keep himself warm and he was grateful

when the first rays of the rising sun penetrated and warmed his bones. The sun was at


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his back as he walked. He knew that the Romans would be setting out now on their

journey westwards. If only there was another caravan he could join with.

It was a long way yet to Caesarea and if he could get to Tyre or Sidon he could

recruit men who would help him regain the treasure that was rightfully his. He just

needed to keep ahead of the Romans. Let them bring the treasure and then when the

time was ripe he would relieve them of it.

His walking had brought him to another way station where morning departure

activity was almost complete. He saw a man saddle a horse then go back into the inn.

Lycanus wasted no time. He walked swiftly and quite confidently to where it was

hitched, undid the reins, mounted and was away before the owner came from the inn to

discover it had been stolen.

Later that day Lycanus was riding along quite happily when from over the hill

came a group of horsemen. They galloped towards him, reined in and surrounded him.

Lycanus looked at them and did not like what he saw. He knew deserters from the

Roman army when he saw them.


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Chapter Forty-Three.

Night Patrol.

Bar Abbas placed a defensive ring of men around Bethany.

There were those who said that this was not necessary and that the Lord Jesus

would protect them, but bar Abbas did so anyway maintaining that he and his men were

part of the Lord’s protection.

He provided his men with a password, then took a handful of picked men with

him on night patrol.

He made his way to a house where he knew the owner to be sympathetic to the

followers of the crucified and risen Jesus, even though this man, Aram ben Nebo

remained faithful to Temple worship.

Aram formerly from Galilee and a good friend of bar Abbas’ father had grown old

and had become disillusioned in the Zealot cause. He had been wounded a number of

times and a serious wound to his hip had left him with a permanent limp.

Bar Abbas left his men in the dark shadows of the night and went into Arams

house. Aram was a man who lived alone and untidily.

“I hope you are well, old friend?” bar Abbas said.


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“I get stiffer and colder as time goes on, Joshua.” Aram lit a single candle and

placed it between them. The candle guttered as the wind rose outside and caused a

draught within.

The two men remained silent then Aram said. “This idea of yours of freeing the

Nazarenes from the Temple prison…”

“You think it foolhardy? I know, you said so before.”

“And now I say it is not necessary.”

“Not necessary? Why not?”

“Ah, you have not heard.”

“Tell me.”

Vitellius has come to Jerusalem. He has done wonders. He has restored into the

keeping of the Temple the vestments of the High Priest. Not only that, he has removed

Caiaphas from office. Caiaphas is in prison and is to be transported to Rome. Herod

Antipas has also been ordered to Rome. And one more thing, Vitellius has ordered the

release of all the Nazarenes in the Temple prison.”

“You are sure of all this?”

Aram smiled. “My sources of information are good.”

Surely, thought bar Abbas, this was the Son of God looking after His own.

Bar Abbas was relieved, for he had racked his brain to find a way of breaching the

defences of the Temple prison to free those inside.

“Thank you, Aram, I am grateful for the information and you will find bread and

wine and meat from Bethany for your table for as long as you live. I will see to that for


250

I know it is not easy for you to make ends meet. Why not come and live with us at

Bethany?”

“I am tempted to take you up on your invitation, but I do not believe as you

believe.”

“Come anyway. You would be welcome, and I have need of a wise friend. You

will enjoy the company.”

“There are His disciples there. They say they perform miracles.”

“Come and see for yourself.”

Both men got to their feet, they embraced, and bar Abbas left hoping that Aram

would come to Bethany.

He and his men continued their patrol. The wind that had risen earlier had died

down and the night had become still and the last heat of the day was departing. The

loop they travelled took them towards the entrance to the Valley of the Lepers.

It was near there they heard voices in the darkness coming towards them. They

waited to see who it was and in the moonlight they saw a group of figures. Two of these

appeared to be guards with long spears and it was they who were doing the talking.

They were guarding, although it looked like they were herding five others. Bar

Abbas recognized Zadoc the Samaite and Samuel son of Elizear and Jacob and Hanna

from Bethany. He did not know who the fifth boy was.

“We’ll soon be there,” one guard said. “What do you think?”

“I think we don’t go anywhere near that accursed place,” said the other.

“You’re right, but we were supposed to take them in there.”


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“We take them in there we might as well not come out again. You know what

people think about people who have been anywhere near that place. Look out!”

Zadoc and Samuel had made a break to get away, but the guards were quick

enough to trip them up with their spears and to bring them back into line.

While they were doing this Jacob and the other boy took Hanna by the hands and

they melted into the shadows.

Bar Abbas motioned to his men to cover their escape and Jacob and Hanna were

unaware that between them and their guards was a wall of men. When bar Abbas saw

they were safe he sent a man whom they knew to speak to them and to remain with

them.

Then he and the rest of his men closed in on the Temple guards and Zadoc and

Samuel. He had the guards disarmed.

“You should be careful, one of the guards said as Zadoc and Samuel were pushed

roughly forward. “Those men have been in contact with lepers.”

“What lepers?”

“The ones we brought with us,” said the other guard. “The ones we were taking to

the Valley of the Lepers. We never touched them.”

“We made sure of that,” said the first guard. “So you can let us go.”

It suddenly struck this guard that they could tell the Temple authorities that their

prisoners had been taken out of their hands, not that their own hands had ever touched

the prisoners.

Bar Abbas had Hanna and Jacob and the other boy brought to him. He questioned

them closely and learned what had happened at the prison and how Hanna had the


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presence of mind to implant the idea that they could be on their way to becoming

lepers. They had been released to be taken to the Valley of the Lepers.

When Zadoc and Samuel heard this they shouted with joy, “We haven’t touched

lepers.”

“Who’s going to believe you,” said the first guard.

“You can tell them.”

“You two can go,” said bar Abbas to the guards.

“Can we have our spears?”

“Go!”

They went.

“What about us?” asked Zadoc.

“You will come with me,” bar Abbas said.

“To where?”

“To Bethany.”


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Chapter Forty-Four.

Forgiveness.

Lilith worried her way back to Bethany imagining the worst to be happening to

Jacob.

She had thought of going to Caesarea to seek the help of Cornelius through Judith

but she decided not to and to accompany Jude back to Bethany.

Her constant voicing of her anxieties seemed to vex Jude and at one time coming

to a milestone he sat her down upon it and said:

“You’re not to be anxious.”

“That’s easy for you to say. It’s my Jacob who’s maybe being tortured.”

“Trust my brother, Jesus. Take your anxieties to Him in prayer.”

“My mind has no peace. How can I pray when my mind has no peace.”

“You have no peace because you do not ask God for peace in the name of Jesus.”

“Ask him for me.”

“Ask him for yourself. I am no mediator between Him and you.”


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Lilith came off the milestone and fell to her knees. She raised her hands to the sky

and cried out:

“Lord Jesus, give me assurance that my Jacob is alive and well and that he has not

been tortured. Send me someone to tell me that and I will have peace, and send me

someone who will be able to help me get him out of that awful prison. Have mercy and

compassion on me a widowed woman with just one son.”

A cart drawn by an ox was coming towards them from the direction of Jerusalem.

Lilith went on praying oblivious of this, and when the cart came to where Jude was

standing it stopped and the driver, a woman sat looking at Lilith.

“What’s the matter with her?”

“She is praying to God in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the safety of her son

who is in the Temple prison.”

“He won’t be there now,” said the woman. “All the prisoners have been freed by

order of the Governor of Syria, Vitellius.”

“Is that true?”

“My husband was in that prison and now he lies in the back of this cart. If

Vitellius had come earlier I wouldn’t be taking him home to die.”

“Let me see,” Jude said. He moved towards the cart and looked over its sides.

Lilith joined him.

The man who lay there had a skin as dry as parchment and his face was white,

peaked, and drawn into an expression of pain.

“He’s been starved and tortured,” the woman said. “You can see that for

yourselves, but throughout it all he never renounced his faith in Jesus.”


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The woman looking back from the driving seat – a plank across the two sides of

the cart – asked pointedly, “Are you one of his disciples?”

“Yes,” Jude said.

“They say you can do miracles. If so, heal my Ephriam. I do not want him to die.”

Lilith was moved by the woman’s words and like Jude felt compassion for the

couple. Jude, his eyes blurred with tears got into the cart and laid hands upon Ephriam

and in the name of Jesus asked God to restore him.

It did not happen at once. It took time, but they stayed with Ephriam until late in

the afternoon when health and vigour slowly returned and he no longer felt pain.

They gave thanks to God for His mercy and compassion and praised the way God

had shown His glory.

When they parted Ephriam sat with his wife on the driving seat and he guided the

ox to their home.

And now Lilith was eager to hurry on towards Bethany for she was convinced that

Jacob would be there when they arrived.

“I have noticed, mostly in retrospect, that when Jesus felt compassion towards

others a miracle usually followed. Believe me, Lilith, prayers prayed with compassion

for others are always answered.

Lilith’s heart understood that.

At Bethany there was great rejoicing at the return of those who had been

imprisoned, but there was also some unrest when bar Abbas arrived with Zadoc and

Samuel.


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“These are the men who helped capture and torture us,” some said. “What are we

to do with them?”

There were those who wished violence upon them. However, John and Jude, were

consulted. Luke and bar Naba were also there and now Lilith stood with Jacob, Hanna,

and Adam.

“What will we do with these two men?”

“Let’s do to them what they did to us,” said a voice from the crowd. There were

some who assented to this.

John held up his hand and gradually there was silence.

“I think,” he said, “that we should begin by praying the prayer that our Lord Jesus

taught us to pray. ‘Our Father in Heaven, holy be your name, your kingdom come, your

will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us

our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, and lead us not into temptation, but

deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever,

Amen.’”

After he had finished praying John let the silence prevail before speaking again.

“This is the prayer Jesus taught us. You ask what are we to do with these men.

This prayer tells us what we must do, for there are dreadful consequences if we do not

do it.”

“What does it tell us to do about these men?” someone called.

John said, “When Jesus gave us this prayer for the first time we found it difficult

to accept that we had to forgive those who cause us hurt and pain. It is no easier for us

than for you, but let me tell you what Jesus said. He said, ‘If you forgive men when


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they sin against you your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but, if you do not

forgive men who sin against you, your Heavenly Father will not forgive you.’

“Now, I think that makes it abundantly clear what we should do with Zadoc and

Samuel.”

“You mean just let them go?”

“John means that we should forgive them,” Jude said.

“But does that mean letting them go without punishment?” someone persisted.

“Perhaps,” John said. “All of us were sinners before we accepted that God sent

His only Son to die for each and every one of us. We repented of our sins and believed.

Let us not deny Zadoc and Samuel the chance to repent of their sins and also believe

that Jesus died for them.”

A man stepped forward and came to the front and faced the crowd.

“These men,” he said, “helped Saul of Tarsus put me in prison where I suffered

torture yet held firm to my faith in Jesus. I cannot forget the pain of that torture. It is not

something I will ever forget, but I am going to forgive these men and I am going to

choose not to remember their sins against me.”

“Good man, Benjamin,” John said. “God does not forget our sins against Him but

because of Jesus he chooses not to remember them. Let us not spoil our service to him

by being unforgiving.”

The crowd dispersed, some grumbling.

Zadoc and Samuel were left standing alone. Jude cut away the cords at their

wrists.

“Does that mean we’re free to go?” asked Zadoc.


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“You may go,” John said. “but why not stay and listen to me while I tell you of

the Saviour who died so that you could live forever with God?”

Chapter Fortyy-Five.


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Lycanus and the Deserters.

The faces looking at Lycanus were hostile.

If I do not take the initiative, he thought, they’ll kill me for the horse.

These men were deserters from the Roman Legions of Syria and Judea. They had

come together as renegades and outlaws.

“It is fortunate I have found you men,” he said. “I seek Marcus Gaius Frascati.”

Lycanus knew that Frascati was a leader of deserters in Syria. In fact he had been

trying to lead Frascati into a trap for months without success.

“We know you, Spymaster,” one of them said. “You’d like nothing better than to

hang Marcus by the neck.”

“At one time, perhaps,” said Lycanus, “but not now.”

The deserters closed in on him making his horse skittish. He reined it tightly.

“And why might that be?”

“That is something I will tell to only Marcus Gaius himself.”

“What makes you think he is with us?”

“It is my hope that he is.”

“Truss him.”

Lycanus was taken roughly and trussed belly-down across his horse’s back, and

they led him off at a fast trot the way they had come.

Every bump and hollow in the rough ground as it ascended into the rocky country

and wound behind canyons to descend into barren valleys was an agony to Lycanus.


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There were times when he thought his stomach was on fire and times when the

ground was so uneven that the cords holding him cut into him taking his breath.

This agony continued for some time and just when it was becoming unbearable

and Lycanus thought he might lose consciousness it came to an end with the horse

shivering to a halt.

They did not take him from the horse right away but left him there for quite some

time.

Which gave Lycanus the opportunity to think how he would handle the situation.

He would have to consider two different approaches: one, if he came face-to-face with

Frascati, and a different one if this was not Frascati’s group.

A man came and cut the cords binding him. He fell to the ground. He was dragged

to his feet and taken to a stone building. He was thrown down in front of it.

Lycanus decided to pick himself up and to stand straight. Sooner or later someone

would come out and stand in front of him and he did not want to be crawling on the

ground before whoever it was.

He half expected to be knocked down again, but that did not happen. He stood

there swaying gently.

A man came out. He wore the short broad sword and the leather jacket.

“Well, Spymaster, what do you want with me?”

“Are you saying you are Marcus Gaius Frascati?”

“I am.”

“I know you are not. I have seen Frascati and you are not he.”

“I lead these men. What you have to say to Frascati you can say to me.”


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“I think not.”

“Then tell me this, Spymaster, why did you say that you no longer want to hang

Frascati?”

“Because I am no longer Spymaster to Vitellius. I am on the run from his

justice.”

“Vitellius has gone to Jerusalem.”

“I am aware of that. On his return he will discover that I have deserted him.”

“Why did you desert him?”

“What is your name?” said Lycanus. “If I cannot find Frascati you and your men

would do well to avail yourselves of my generosity.”

“I have heard that you are a man of subtle ways, and that you deal in lies. So how

do I know that you speak the truth?”

“You do not. But let me tell you, it is not a little thing I have done. I and a group

of seven Roman soldiers robbed Vitellius’ treasure house at Damascus and it took

twelve camels to carry it away. You have to admit that is no little thing.”

“So, where are these twelve camels now?”

“At this time? I reckon they will be on the road that will take them to Caesarea.

They spent last night at a way station.”

“Why are you not with them?

“You might say I was lucky. I heard them plotting to kill me, to poison me and to

keep the treasure for themselves. I got away in the early hours of the morning.”

“To look for Frascati?” It was obvious the man doubted this.

“I need men to help me retake the treasure. You did not tell me your name.”


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“Twelve camels, and they will be on the road that leads to the coast?”

“They will want to get to a ship as soon as possible.”

“I intend to find out if you are telling the truth.”

“I will ride with you.”

“You’ll stay here. How can I miss a caravan of twelve camels led by seven

Roman soldiers? Are they deserters.”

“They may well be now, but they came to Damascus on Pilate’s orders.”

“To do what.”

“To take back to Pilate the taxes that were taken from Jerusalem. It suited my

purpose to use them to rob the treasury.”

The man who had no intention of letting Lycanus know his name gave him a long

hard look before saying:

“In any case, you’ll stay here.”

He detailed three men to take Lycanus into the house.

“He’d better be here when I get back,” he told them.

“How about some food?” Lycanus said.

“Give him something to eat. Two hauled Lycanus into the house and the third

went to get him food.

Lycanus was tossed on the floor, and the two men went to sit outside to watch the

leader and the others ride off.

Left alone, Lycanus took to thinking again.


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What else could he do? His mind grappled with his predicament. He had to tell

them about the treasure. He was sure that if the man with no name got his hands on it

he was not going to share it with him. He’d get rid of him. No doubt about it.

The third guard brought him some food.

“I thank you for this, but are you not going to bring me some wine?”

“Be thankful for what you’re getting.”

“For pity’s sake.”

Another guard called from outside:

“What’s holding you up? The dice are getting cold.”

“He wants wine.”

“Give him some, and get back here.”

Wine was brought to Lycanus.

He did not drink any of it. He had in a concealed belt another phial of the poison

he had tried to use on Octavian and his six men. He poured half of this into the jug of

wine.

He ate what had been given to him, then, after a time he called the guard.

“I don’t feel so well,” he said. “I think if I were to take this wine, I’d be sick. It

was being tied like that to the horse that did it.”

The guard laughed. He took away the food dish and the jug of wine.

“The wine won’t go to waste,” he said. He joined his comrades outside the door.

It was their intention before nightfall to tie up Lycanus so they could have a sound

sleep.

But first, the wine that was too good to waste.


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Chapter Forty-Six.

The Parting of the Ways.


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It was most unfortunate, thought Octavian, that Lycanus had got away from them.

Nevertheless he went to sleep that night and in his sleep he had a dream.

Next morning he called his men together.

“During the time you slept,” he asked them, “did any of you dream?”

“I never dream,” said Germanicus.

“That’s because it takes imagination to dream,” Romulus said.

Germanicus let the words pass.

“I dream,” said Gaulus. “But last night I had no dreams.”

“I can imagine what you would dream, Gaulus,” Remus said.

“I dream about a home and a family in Gaul in peaceful times. I hope to go back

to Gaul.”

“What about you, Britannicus?” Octavian asked.

“If I dreamed last night, I cannot recall it.”

Octavian looked at Rufus who shook his head.

“Why do you ask?” he said.

“Because in a dream I was given a warning, and I was wondering if any of you

had been warned in the same way.”

“Warning about what, Centurion?” Rufus asked.

“About what we took from the treasury of Vitellius.”

Octavian sought the eyes of his men one after the other. He was thinking of how

they would react to the orders he was about to give them.

“We are soldiers under authority,” he said. “I to Pilate, and you to me.”

“We understand that,” Rufus said. The others nodded in agreement.


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“It is a fact that we have redeemed more than the tribute taken from Jerusalem,”

Octavian went on. “So, when we leave here we will leave with only the amount of

tribute taken from Jerusalem.”

“But why should we not take it all?” asked Remus.

“Because in my dream I was warned that taking it all would endanger our lives.”

“Our lives have been endangered before,” said Germanicus.

“What would happen to the rest if we only took the Jerusalem tribute?” asked

Gaulus.

“We will leave it here,” Octavian said. “Surely you were not thinking that any of

us should share out what is left after giving Pilate that which was collected in

Jerusalem?”

“It had crossed my mind,” said Gaulus. “I had thought I could go home to Gaul

and buy a farm.”

“And no doubt your own, Centurion,” Germanicus said.

“I’ll admit it did,” Octavian said. “But since this dream I think it best to resist the

temptation to take more than what is due to Pilate.”

“I say we should take the lot back with us,” Romulus said. “Give Pilate what is

his and divide the rest among ourselves.”

“Then let me ask you this question,” Octavian said. “Will you or will you not

obey my orders?”

“Which are?” asked Remus.

“To take only the Jerusalem tribute, and to proceed to Ramoth Gilead and from

there to make our way to Megiddo and then on to Caesarea.”


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“But that is not the route we agreed. Surely we should take the direct route to

Tyre and then south to Caesarea,” said Gaulus.

“In my dream I was warned not to take that route. It was made quite clear to me

that anybody taking that route would not survive,” said Octavian. “Will you obey my

orders or not?”

“What happens if we do not?” asked Gaulus.

“Then we must come to an agreement,” Octavian said.

“What sort of agreement?”

“First of all let’s see how many of you are with me.”

Octavian drew a line in the dust and stepped to one side of it.

“Those with me step across that line.”

He waited while his men looked at one another.

There was no movement until Rufus joined Octavian.

“I trust you, Centurion,” he said. “We have fought together many times. I’ll trust

in your dream.”

They waited.

Until Britannicus joined them.

The three waited.

None of the others crossed the line. Gaulus, Germanicus, Romulus and Remus

stood where they were defiantly.

“There you have it, Centurion,” Gaulus said. “We are four to your three. What

agreement were you talking about?”


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“Simply this, I seek no dispute between us. Rufus, Britannicus, and myself will

take the Jerusalem tribute back to Pilate. You are free to take the rest for yourselves. In

fact earlier this morning I requisitioned three mules, so you can have all twelve camels.

Is that agreeable?”

“The four conferred. They reckoned it was the only thing the Centurion could do.

They felt fortunate at having the twelve camels and the bulk of the treasure.

“Agreed,” said Gaulus.

“I want to thank you men for your past comradeship,” Octavian said, “but now we

must part and go our separate ways.

The four loaded their twelve camels and set out on the direct route to Tyre.

Octavian, Britannicus and Rufus loaded the three mules and with long hooded

robes disguising their Roman uniforms they took the road to Ramoth Gilead.

The leader of the deserters was named Atticus.

“This is where you came upon the Spymaster?” he said.

“Right here,” said one of his men.

“They’ll come that way,” Atticus said, “if the Spymaster wasn’t lying.”

“If they haven’t already passed.”

Atticus dispatched two men down the road to see if a caravan of twelve camels

was on its way, and another two men in the opposite direction to see if the caravan had

passed warning them not to let themselves be seen.


269

The first two scouts returned with the news that a group of Roman soldiers and

twelve camels was on its way and would be here before long. There were however only

four Romans instead of the seven mentioned by the Spymaster.

The discrepancy did not seem to worry Atticus. He laid his ambush. He had forty

men and he deployed them well. Seven or four it did not matter. They would be cut

down by his archers, and finished off by his men on horseback. He and others would

secure the camels. And then he would see if there really was treasure.

Romulus and Germanicus were in the vanguard with Gaulus and Remus bringing

up the rear.

“So, you think I have no imagination,” Germanicus said to Romulus.

“Maybe you do dream,” Romulus said. “Maybe you just can’t remember.”

“Pity the others aren’t with us,” Germanicus said.

“This way we get a bigger share,” Romulus said.

Gaulus said to Remus, “You think there’s anything to the Centurion’s dream?

“How would I know? I’m no soothsayer.”

“He said we’d not survive if we took this way. He’s really going out of his way

because of that dream. What if he’s right?”

“We’re having a quiet journey. It’s a calm day,” Remus said.

Those were his last words. A flight of arrows tore into his flesh. He staggered,

tore at them, and crashed to the ground hitting against the camel’s legs. The beast shied

and ran off.

Another hail of arrows ended Gaulus’ dream of a farm in Gaul and although he

got his sword unsheathed and cut down the first two men on horseback he was


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overcome by greater numbers and at last lay face down in the dust of the road. His last

thought was – the Centurion was right.

Romulus and Germanicus had been attacked at the same time as Gaulus and

Remus. They put up the best fight they could but they too were overwhelmed by

numbers and lay lifeless in the dust.

Chapter Forty-Seven.


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Mission to the Lepers.

Hanna was excited. John and Luke had agreed to come to the Valley of the Lepers

where her father and mother were languishing.

“I’m so happy, Jacob,” she said. “I’m sure John will be able to take away their

leprosy and make them whole again.”

Jacob was not so sure that Hanna’s parents would be healed. Nevertheless, he hid

his doubts and tried to match her optimism. He knew there were times when it was the

will of God not to heal, even though the disciples prayed in the name of Jesus. There

were many ways in which God expressed His glory and sometimes this was through a

continuance of illness and suffering.

“You will come with us, Jacob,” Hanna said.

“Of course, I would like to see another miracle.” He was thinking of the time

when Jesus had increased his loaves and fish to feed a multitude of people.

When John and Luke were ready, Jacob carried Luke’s box of medicines. As the

four left Bethany Zadoc came running after them calling out to John. They stopped

allowing him to approach.

“The word is that you’re going to the Valley of the Lepers to cure this girl’s

parents,” Zadoc said.

“We go to do God’s will,” John said. “To be there when he shows his compassion

and glory.”

“I want to come with you.”

“Why?”


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“You have convinced me by what you said about Jesus, that he is the Son of God,

and if he cures these people I want to see it.”

“And what of your friend, Samuel?” asked Luke.

“He went back to Jerusalem. He was not convinced. He did not hear what you

said. He now considers me one of the blasphemers.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Luke said.

“So am I,” said Zadoc. “We are both sinners but my heart truly repents the false

witness I bore against Stephen and I shudder now to think I cast the first stone. Samuel

has no remorse for such deeds. May I come with you?”

“Do you not fear being near lepers?”

“I am one of you now. I’m frightened, but if God protects you he will protect

me.”

“Then come,” John said.

In an hour they were at the entrance of the Valley of the Lepers. They walked

along the valley floor until they came to the place where there were caves on both sides.

Luke and John had never been here before and it was not what they expected to

see. They did not expect to see such order and organization.

Not all of those with leprosy lived in the caves. Quite a number of houses had

been built and the valley at this point resembled a village. At the centre of these

habitations was a well and women were drawing water, and others were cooking at

outdoor fires.

When they saw the approach of the five people from Bethany they withdrew to

their houses or caves and in no time at all the village square was deserted.


273

“I will take you to Momma and Papa,” Hanna said.

She led them to one of the caves.

It took some time for Jacob’s eyes to become accustomed to the gloom of the

cave and his skin to its coldness.

At first he thought there was no-one there until he stumbled over someone’s legs

and heard a weak protest of pain.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized and told himself to be more careful. He felt bad about

the hurt he had caused.

“Momma, it’s Hanna. I’ve brought Doctor Luke and the disciple John to see

Papa.”

“You’re father is beyond help,” said a voice from the darkness.

“Surely he is not dead,” Hanna’s voice caught in her throat.

“It will not be long before he is,” her mother said.

“Take me to him,” said John.

“None of you should be here,” said Hanna’s mother. “It’s not good for you to

come among us. We are unclean. You should know better Hanna. You have put your

friends in danger.”

“They must see Papa, Momma,” Hanna said.

“Please,” John said. “Take me to him.”

“There is nothing you can do.”

“There is much that God might do,” John said.

“Momma, please, take John to Papa.”


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“This is the cave in which people die,” said Hanna’s mother. “But if that’s what

you want I’ll take you to him.”

John went forward and was lost in the darkness at the back of the cave. The others

waited where they were.

Hanna wondered what was happening. In her heart she expected to see her father,

fully cured, come walking out of the dark towards her followed by her mother, also,

fully cured.

“Luke! Zadoc!” John’s voice called. “Come here.”

Luke and Zadoc went into the darkness. Hanna and Jacob could hear movement.

Hanna’s hand searched for and found Jacob’s. They stood together like this and Jacob

prayed that all would be well for Hanna.

Then Luke and Zadoc emerged from the gloom carrying a litter on which was

Hanna’s father.

“Papa!” cried Hanna, rushing to his side. His face was covered in bandages for the

leprosy had eaten away his nose and distorted his mouth and eyes.

He was so weak he could not respond, and when Hanna took his hand she found

he had lost fingers. Silently she began to weep.

Luke and Zadoc carried the litter from the darkness of the cave and into the light.

They were followed by John and Hanna’s mother. Jacob came out last.

They brought the litter to the flat ground at the well and laid it down. Hanna

stepped back as John came forward and knelt down. Luke knelt opposite him about to

make the usual examination of a doctor with a patient.


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“Wait!” said John. He looked at Hanna’s mother. “Do you want to be made

whole?

“I want him to be made whole,” she said indicating her husband.

“I asked about you,” John said.

“Why should I wish to be cured if he is not.”

“You have a daughter.”

“And she told me you work miracles.”

“It is God who works miracles,” John said. “Let us see if it is His will to work one

here. Kneel down beside Doctor Luke, and you, Hanna, beside me opposite your

mother. Zadoc, kneel beside Hanna’s mother, and Jacob beside Hanna.”

No-one hesitated except Zadoc and he only for a moment.

“Now,” said John, “let us all place our hands on Hanna’s father.

When this was done, the disciple whom Jesus loved prayed for the restoration of

Hanna’s father and mother in the name of Jesus.

Hanna felt a tingling in her fingers like a wave rippling from one hand to the other

and passing on and returning. Jacob felt the same thing as did the others and the hairs

on Zadoc’s neck stood on end.

Hanna’s mother felt her whole body change. She felt a glow come to her face and

it was as if her eyes brightened and colours became more vivid. She looked at her

husband and saw his whole being convulse. The bandages on his face unravelled and

fell away and he had a nose and mouth and eyes that were no longer distorted. It’s

happening to me too, thought Hanna’s mother.

People who had come from the caves and the houses saw what was happening.


276

Hanna helped her mother take off her bandages. Luke did the same for her father.

“Oh, Lord Jesus,” moaned Zadoc. “What have I been doing to you? I’m a worm.”

He began to cry loudly and his tears would not stop.

“Help us! Help us!” the other lepers cried out to John and Luke. “Make us whole,

too.”

They surged forward until there was a danger that Hanna and Jacob would be

crushed under foot.

John held them back with a voice of authority.

“There must be order. Out of chaos comes order. We will work among you, but it

will take time. You must grant us that time. We will do all we can for you in the name

of Jesus.”

“Who’s Jesus?” shouted a voice.

“Let me tell you,” John said. “In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with

God, and Jesus was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Jesus all things

were made, without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Jesus is life and that

life is the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, but darkness understands it

not.”


277

Chapter Forty-Eight.

Into the Heavens.


278

Something very strange was happening to Saul of Tarsus.

Before dawn that morning he had rooted out those accompanying him to continue

their journey to Damascus.

The men were all in a foul mood with sore heads having had too much wine the

night before.

They groaned and grumbled but Saul drove them to their preparations.

Before they left the way station, the Centurion came to Saul.

“I just want to thank you,” he said. “My men and I owe our lives to your powers

of observation. Perhaps we shall meet again.”

“Perhaps,” Saul said. “You need to be careful with whom you choose to travel.”

“May you reach Damascus in safety,” the Centurion said.

After that, Saul led his disgruntled men through the gates and along to road to

Damascus. He drove his heels into the donkey’s flanks and rode along as fast as the

beast would go, thinking that it would do his men good to run for a while.

By noon his tired men were trying to decide among themselves who would ask

him to come to a halt and have food and a little wine. It fell to Ephriam, the Captain of

the Guards. He came along side Saul.

“Sir, is it not time we stopped for something to eat?”

Saul, now walking and leading his donkey continued to stride forward.

“In a while,” he said.

“But,” said Ephriam, “this is a good place. Look, there is running water coming

down from the hill.”

Saul brought the donkey to a halt.


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“Perhaps you are right. Water will be better for you than wine. I would have you

sober, so if any man gets drunk, I will have you thrown into prison and replaced. The

work we have to do in Damascus has to be done in a sober state of mind. Do you

understand me?”

Ephriam nodded and went back to his men. They made camp, and brought water.

The men sat as a group separated from Saul.

Saul saw that they had no intention of bringing water to him, so he moved to

where there was a cascade of water. He sat there by himself eating bread and cheese.

Which was when something very strange began to happen.

Saul did not like what was happening to him. He had never liked anything that he

could not explain or which caused him to lose control over himself.

He had this awful feeling that he was being deprived of his will and that

something was gaining dominance over him. He struggled against this. He struggled

with all the might of his intellect, and at one time thought he had won through against

it.

But whatever it was came at him again with renewed force and quite suddenly he

was caught up.

Ascending.

Until he was far from his men. Far from the hillside and the cascade of water.

He was leaving a beautiful blue planet. Leaving the earth that God had created.

He tested that his mind was still with him. It told him that this was the first

heaven.


280

No sooner had he thought this than he passed through a stargate into a second, and

in his mind he found no words to describe the sights and sounds he saw and heard

there. Everything was greater and more beautiful than anything he had experienced on

earth.

That which compelled and propelled him, lessened its force until he was able to

stand, and while standing he wondered what he was expected to do. He knew he was

not meant to go back, but was he to go forward? To where? He stood undecided.

Then a group of people came towards him.

At first he could not distinguish their features but soon it came as a shock to

realize that he knew who they were. He had never seen them in the flesh but he knew

Moses, Isaiah, and John the Baptizer.

“I am Moses, Saul of Tarsus.”

“I have kept your laws.”

“They are not my laws. They are God’s laws given through me.”

“I have kept them.”

“Really?”

Saul went silent.

“I am Isaiah, Saul of Tarsus.”

“I have read what you have written.”

“I wrote God’s word but you did not believe our report.”

“I believed it,” Saul said. “but I still await the child who is to be born and the son

who is to be given to govern us.”

“Go on, finish saying what God had me write.”


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Saul thought about it and remained silent.

“You are a man of integrity,” Isaiah said. “Is it that you, like many of your

Pharisees and Sadducees, do not wish to have this King reign over you? You know the

words, can you in all truth say them?”

“I know the words.”

“I am John, the Baptizer, Saul of Tarsus. “You fight against the words of God.

You do not really want God’s anointed to rule your life.”

Saul thought of the words: ‘And he shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty

God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, and of the increase of His Government and

peace there will be no end, and over his Kingdom he will reign on David’s throne,

establishing and upholding justice and righteousness from that time and forever more.

The zeal of the LORD ALMIGHTY will accomplish this.’

Oh, yes, thought Saul, I know the scriptures, but what would I have to give up to

bend my knee to such a king?

He did not say the words aloud. Instead he looked at the Baptizer.

“Antipas had you beheaded.”

“As you see, I lost nothing.”

“You spoke against his sin with his brother’s wife.”

“It fell to my lot. Had it been yours, would you have done the same?”

“About that, perhaps. I would not have said what you did about the man from

Nazareth.

“His name is Jesus, and what Isaiah wrote about him is true. Jesus grew up like a

tender shoot and like a root out of the dry ground. He wasn’t handsome or attractive


282

and his appearance did not attract people to Him. You must admit that He was despised

and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was not esteemed. Look

how He was treated by you Pharisees, yet He bore our grief and carried our sorrow.

Was He not considered stricken, smitten of God and afflicted? He was pierced for our

sins and flogged for our iniquities, but by His wounds we are healed. You Saul, like all

of us have gone astray and turned to thinking that your way is the right way, but the

Almighty has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. Before those who sheared him he

was dumb like a sheep, a lamb led to the slaughter. He was cut off from the land of the

living, but he bore the sins of us all.

“That is why, Saul of Tarsus, I call him The Lamb of God, because he took away

the sins of the world.

“Let me take you to the resurrected Messiah.”


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Chapter Forty-Nine.

Lycanus meets Vitellius.

Lycanus grew less patient as time passed. He had been listening to the dice-

playing guards outside his prison and wondering when the poison he had put in the

wine would take effect.

Through a crack in the wooden door he noticed that the heads of two of the

deserters had drooped. He heard the third one say: “Hey! What’s up with you two?”


284

and saw him get up unsteadily take a few tottering steps, and push the shoulder of one

of his comrades.

The man toppled sideways, in slow motion, and lay inert on the ground. Clutching

the table on which they had been throwing dice, the third staggered towards the other

man, but before he got to him he collapsed across the table. The table upended and the

last guard went back over the bench he’d been sitting on.

Lycanus waited no longer. He hauled open the creaking door, went out quickly

and examined the men. They were dead. He searched for and found a horse, saddled it,

mounted and rode off.

The tracks of the deserters were not difficult to follow. He wanted to establish

visual contact with them, and see if they had been able to overcome and eliminate the

Centurion and his men.

After that he wasn’t sure what he might do. It all depended.

If the deserters were successful in taking the Damascus treasure they would

probably come back to their camp. If not, and they had been driven off by the seven,

which was highly unlikely, he needed to know that and to follow the treasure and in

some way or other regain it for himself.

He moved off the beaten track, not wanting to meet No-Name and his cut throats.

An hour later he saw a cloud of dust in the distance and moving towards him. He

reckoned it would be passing where he was in about a quarter of an hour.

He hid himself and waited, and soon he could see that the dust cloud was caused

by No-Name and his forty thieves. Lycanus held the nostrils of his horse to keep it

quiet and counted ten of the twelve camels he had purchased in Damascus.


285

Two missing, he thought. Perhaps killed in the fight which must have taken place.

The ten camels were well loaded with treasure.

The deserters were going back to their stronghold.

What should he do?

He waited until they had passed and the dust was distant, then he went in the

direction from which they had come.

Circling vultures heralded death at the place where the bandits had attacked.

Lycanus approached cautiously for this was the caravan road between Caesarea and

Damascus frequented by bandits and sometimes patrolled by a contingent of Roman

soldiers.

However the ambush ground and the road leading to and from it was deserted,

and Lycanus examined the bodies of Romulus, Remus, Gaulus, and Germanicus and

when he left them the vultures went back to picking their flesh.

The four dead men did not disturb Lycanus one little bit. His heart was hardened

to the fate of others and his mind was concerned with how he would fare in the world,

and with the whereabouts of the other three, the Centurion, the Sergeant and the one

called Britannicus.

He searched for their bodies but failed to find them or the carcases of the two

camels.

His horse was getting restive in the midst of so much vulture activity, so he

hoisted himself back in the saddle and moved in the direction of Caesarea.

He rode slowly giving himself time to think. His habit when confronted with a

problem was to ask himself questions.


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- Two camels and three men not accounted for – why?

- Had they been with the other ten camels?

- Why was there no evidence of them at the scene of the fight?

- If they weren’t with them where were they?

- Why did those ten camels seem overloaded?

- Four men came this way and met their deaths – Did the three go another

way?

- With the other two camels? Possible.

- What was on the other two camels?

Lycanus reined his horse to a halt, sat there, then startled the animal by bursting

into loud laughter.

That Centurion, he thought. That honourable Centurion. The seven had split. He

was sure of that. But the Centurion would do his duty, and take the Jerusalem tribute

back to Pilate. The four could have the rest.

The more he thought of it, the more sure Lycanus became that Octavian was

heading for Caesarea by a different route. But which route would he take?

Lycanus consulted the map of the land he had in his head discarding routes he

thought unlikely until he hit on the one he himself would have taken had he been the

Centurion, the one leading through Ramoth- Gilead.

Another cloud of dust was approaching him. He pulled aside and secreted himself.

When the travellers came within recognition distance he saw it was Vitellius, the

Governor of Syria and a century of soldiers.


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Lycanus, his mind quickened, rode down to join Vitellius, who, without surprise

said: “What are you doing here?”

“I was hoping to meet you, Sir. Had I to go back to Damascus it would be too

late.”

“What are you talking about?”

“While you were in Jerusalem your treasury was robbed. Everything was taken.”

“Impossible!”

“A fact. The raid was well organized by a group of Roman deserters. They carried

away ten camel loads of treasure but I followed them, and I know where they are now.

Not far from here. There are forty of them in their hideout. Unfortunately, they killed

some of the men who were with me. You’ll find their bodies along the road there. If we

hurry we can regain the treasure.”

Lycanus watched Vitellius’ face.

“How did they get into the treasury?” Vitellius asked.

“I can tell you that later,” Lycanus said. “There is no time to lose.”

“Very well, show the way.”

Lycanus leading the Governor and his men arrived at the hill overlooking the

stronghold of the deserters.

The bandits were still unloading the ten camels.

Vitellius called his officers and gave them orders saying, “These men are

deserters and thieves, spare none. Be careful not to kill the camels.”

The soldiers were deployed in silence.


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When the attack began, Lycanus took his horse and slipped away to make tracks

towards Caesarea where he thought to await the arrival of the Centurion and the tribute

from Jerusalem. He still had hopes of taking a fortune for himself.

Chapter Fifty.

Waiting for Lazarus.

Even with the removal of Caiaphas as High Priest and the appointment of another

named Jonathan, the persecutions of the followers of Jesus continued but in a more

clandestine way.

Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, still had to remain in hiding for there

were those, mainly among the Sadducees who denied the resurrection from the dead

who wanted to bring to an end his witness of the power and the glory of God.

There was a bounty on Lazarus, and one of those hunting this bounty was a man

called Dathan.


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Dathan had had little success in locating Lazarus because he could find no

Nazarene brother who would inform as to his whereabouts.

Dathan was a rough man with a seared conscience that had been scarred by a

number of murders on the highways of Judea where he robbed unwary travellers.

He had scoured the caves of the valleys surrounding Jerusalem, but had seen

neither hide nor hair of Lazarus. He decided that the best thing he could do was to wait

and watch the outgoings and the incomings to and from Bethany.

Working alone as he always did for he hated to share any gain with anyone, as

well as distrusting everyone, he wasn’t sure that he had not missed Lazarus because

sleep often overcame him.

When such times arose he would disguise himself and go into Bethany as one of

those delivering supplies. Each time he came from Bethany he was reasonably sure that

Lazarus wasn’t there.

There were times when he thought of striking his tent, but he reminded himself

that he was a patient man and in the end he was sure his patience would pay off.

He knew what Lazarus looked like. He had seen him a number of times after his

resurrection. The man would come to see his sisters, or they, one or other would go to

him.

He waited.

At Bethany Mary was saying to Martha: “Mary, the mother of Jesus has decided

to go back to Nazareth.”

“I know,” Martha said. “But I do not understand why. Her sons have sold the

business. James is here and Jude is in Samaria.”


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“Her daughters are at Nazareth, and she intends to live among the brethren there.”

“We shall miss her, but if our Lord wants her at Nazareth who are we to deny

that?”

Mary smiled at her sister.

“You have changed, Martha. I like the way you have changed. You are no longer

a complainer that others don’t work as hard as you do.”

And now Martha smiled at Mary.

“You, too, have changed, you help out more often and do your share of the work.”

“When Jesus was with us I felt I should give Him all my attention.”

“I should have done that, instead of huffing in the scullery.”

“I’m worried about Lazarus,” Mary said.

“He’s been on my mind as well.”

“It’s not safe for him here. It might be best if he too went to Galilee.”

“Who else is going with Mary?”

“She wanted to make the journey alone, but Lilith, Jacob’s mother, said she’d go

with her.”

“Will Jacob be going?”

“Jacob is staying with Doctor Luke. That young man will become a good

physician, Levi, who now calls himself Matthew is also going, as is bar Abbas and

some of his men.”

“Should we go?”

“We’ve lived here all our lives. And we now have work here.

“But if Lazarus goes, we’ll miss him.”


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“I’d rather miss him and know that he’s safe.”

“Will he agree to go?”

“I hope so.”

They agreed that Mary should go to bar Abbas and explain what they wanted him

to do.”

“I’ll see,” bar Abbas said. “It might not be a good idea to bring him to Bethany.”

“We need to get him to safety.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Dathan saw bar Abbas leave Bethany. This wasn’t unusual. He’d seen bar Abbas

come and go. He knew that the Zealots wanted bar Abbas dead, but they had not put a

price on his head. When they did, Dathan would know where to find him.

He continued to wait hoping that the sisters would come from Bethany and lead

him to Lazarus.

Bar Abbas gave a low whistle and waited in the silence that followed. In moments

there was an answering whistle and Lazarus emerged from the tomb he had occupied

while dead for four days.

He and bar Abbas went back into the tomb. Being with Lazarus in his tomb

always made bar Abbas shiver. By candlelight they sat and talked.

“I’ve come from your sisters. They are well.”

“Glad to hear it.” Lazarus sounded as if he could not have cared less.

“They want you to go to the safety of Galilee.”

“I wonder if I would be safe anywhere.”


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“I’m going too. We’re taking Mary, the mother of Jesus to Nazareth, and Mary

and Martha want you to come with us.”

“But it is here that I must witness to the power and the glory of God.”

“How effective has your witness been of late?

“In truth, it has not been very effective. I stay more and more in the darkness of

this tomb and I must admit that I have become afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Of being killed.”

“But you have been dead.”

“I am not afraid of being dead.”

“What’s it like, being dead?”

“I found it to be sleep without dreaming. I fear the pain of being killed.”

“You’ve been in the dark too long.”

“Perhaps.”

“Any of us can be killed at any time. You were not afraid when you walked in the

light.”

“Sometimes I have this awful thought.”

Bar Abbas waited.

“Jesus, whom I loved and who loved me, brought me back into the land of the

living. Sometimes I wish he had not glorified God in that way. May God forgive me

thinking like that.”

“This darkness has depressed you. You must get out and stand tall in the

sunlight.”


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“I can’t.”

“Yes you can. Look at the pain and suffering Jesus went through for us. Can our

pain be any worse than that?”

“I’m a sinful man.”

“You’re full of self pity. Call upon His strength. Your sins are forgiven. It’s all

right to have fear, but with His courage we must go forward into the light.”

After a long silence, Lazarus said, “You’re right. I must be afraid and still go

forth.”

“Think of what an effective witness you will be in Galilee. People must see you as

the living truth of their eventual resurrection when they put their faith and trust in

Jesus.”

“And you, bar Abbas, you too, will be an effective witness in Galilee. The man in

whose place Jesus died. Yes, I will come with you to Galilee. Do we start now for

Bethany?”

“I’m told that Jesus said that we had to be as wise as serpents and as pure as

doves, so I think it would be best for you to avoid coming to Bethany.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“The day after tomorrow we will set out for Arimathea. You should travel ahead

of us and meet us there. Go to the house of Joseph and wait until we come. From there

we will go to Galilee and take Mary the mother of Jesus to Nazareth.

Dathan saw bar Abbas come back alone. Neither sister had left Bethany that day.

Dathan was a patient man; he would wait.


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Chapter Fifty-One.

Lilith Surprised.

Lilith loved Jacob. She did not want to be parted from him.

Nearing Arimathea she asked herself why it was she was making this journey

back to Capernaum and not staying at Bethany where she would be near Jacob.

Of course the day of their parting would have to come, but now it was here she

considered it too soon. Why had she not stayed at Bethany?

When she heard that the mother of Jesus was going back to Nazareth and that the

sisters of Lazarus were going also along with others including Matthew the disciple

who had once been a tax officer, she felt in her heart that it would be the right thing to

return to Capernaum.

She spoke of it to Jacob expecting that he would go with her, but she was greatly

disappointed when he said:


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“Mama, for you I think it a good thing that you go back to Capernaum, but as for

me, I cannot go with you.”

She felt a heaviness of heart and a growing anxiety.

“It will be safer for you in Capernaum, Jacob,” she said.

“The persecution has eased,” he said. “Now that Caiaphas is no longer High

Priest.

“But you know that harm is still being done to us.”

“Mama, you know that I want to become a physician, and for that I must continue

to work with Luke. People do not bother us now that they know we work among the

lepers.”

Among the believers it was remarked upon as miraculous that none who had laid

hands upon those with leprosy had been smitten with the dreaded disease. Nevertheless,

Lilith thought a tossed spear or an arrow could end her son’s life. Evil people had no

need to touch him to kill him. She kept these thoughts to herself.

And although he had not said it, Lilith knew there was another reason for Jacob

wanting to stay at Bethany.

So she went to Hanna.

“Hanna,” she said. “Would you consider coming to Galilee with all those who are

going with Mary, the mother of Jesus.

She liked Hanna. She had watched the girl’s resoluteness and admired the skills

she had for caring and creating order in the houses of the Bethany community. She was

also strong, comely, and respectful of others and of herself. When she believed


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someone to be in error, she said so with a kindness that returned the mistaken one to a

more Godly path.

Lilith knew that Jacob was fond of Hanna; perhaps more than fond. She felt that

his affection for her was one of love. If Hanna would come with them to Galilee she

was sure that Jacob would come too.

“Why do you ask me that, mother of Jacob?”

Lilith had expected an answer not another question.

“Is Jacob going with you to Galilee?” Hanna asked.

Lilith realized Hanna was more astute than she thought.

“He wants to stay with Doctor Luke to become a physician.”

“You think Jacob is fond of me.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I know he is. Are you fond of him?”

“I love him.”

“I believe he loves you too.”

“And you think that if I came with you to Galilee, Jacob would come too.”

“I’m sure of it.”

Hanna took her time before saying:

“I’m sorry, but my mother and father are here at Bethany so I shall be staying.”

“They have been declared clean. They could come with us.”

“They believe our Lord Jesus wishes them to remain here and work with their

friends who have leprosy. I believe He wants me to do that as well. That is one reason I

cannot leave here.”

“Is there more than one?”


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“There is another. I believe Jesus is guiding Jacob to become a physician, and he

could have no better teacher than Luke.”

Hanna had given her a forthright answer and from the girl’s expression there was

no use asking that she change her mind.

“Would you marry him?” Lilith asked.

Hanna gave this consideration.

“I know Jacob to be dependable. I know I could rely on him in tough times. Yes I

would marry him and help him in what God has laid out for him to do.

Lilith was pleased with this answer. Later she talked with Jacob, who when she

asked him to sit down was apprehensive that she was going to ask again that he go with

her to Galilee.

“Jacob, tell me truly. Do you love Hanna?”

Jacob blushed, then nodded.

“I didn’t hear what you said, Jacob.”

“I.. I..,” stammered Jacob, then firmly, “Yes, I love Hanna.”

“I have spoken to Hanna.”

“And you asked her to go to Capernaum with you.” There was accusation in his

voice.

“Is she going? Because, if she is, I am still staying here with Luke.

“She would not go. She believes God wants you to be a physician, and she is

staying to be near her parents, and to help those with leprosy.”

Lilith saw relief on Jacob’s face. She took her son’s hands in her own.


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“I’m going to talk with Hanna’s father and mother. To see if we can arrange a

marriage.”

“But will Hanna want to marry me?”

“She does. No doubt about it.”

Before leaving Bethany Lilith and Hanna’s parents consented to the betrothal of

their children.

Lilith went with the other women to the estate of Joseph who had prepared for

their coming.

To the delight of Mary and Martha, Lazarus had arrived the previous day and was

relaxing in the olive grove. The brother and sisters had a joyful reunion.

Joseph of Arimathea’s house was large and Lilith waited in the vestibule to be

escorted by a servant to her room.

She felt alone. Sometimes even in the company of others she felt alone without

Eli, and now without Jacob.

She heard someone approach his footfalls sounding on the mosaic floor. She

looked up.

A shock ran through her being. She blinked, hardly believing her eyes, and she

saw that his surprise was as great as her own.

“Lilith!” he exclaimed. “I did not expect to see you here.”

“Is it really you, Octavian?”

At that moment Joseph entered.

“I see you have met my other guest, the Centurion Octavian, who is on his way to

where you have come from, Bethany.”


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“And now I need no longer go there,” said Octavian smiling upon Lilith. “It is a

joy to my heart to find you here.”

Lilith’s heart beat faster, and she trembled.


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Chapter Fifty-Two.

On the Way to the Resurrected Messiah.

Saul of Tarsus hesitated. He knew that what was happening to him could not be

anything other than a reality. He had been talking to three living people, Moses, Isaiah,

and John the Baptizer.

The three appeared to be at the peak of their physical and mental and spiritual

powers. Nevertheless, he wanted to touch them to see if they had the reality he thought

they had.

“Will I see you again?” he asked of Moses and Isaiah.

“It is possible,” said Moses.

“Then let me say farewell,” Saul said, and stepped forward and clasped the arm of

Moses.

Moses smiled. “Satisfied?”

Isaiah took him by the arm and led him to where the Baptizer was standing.


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“Go with John,” he said. “We are flesh and blood as much as you are. We are

alive and we serve the Almighty, His Son, and His Holy Spirit. Our Lord has permitted

you to see us as we were on earth, but when the Day of the Lord comes, we will have

bodies that will be incorruptible.”

He looked at John waiting to take him to the resurrected Messiah. A great fear

overcame him and the awfulness of the prospect filled his heart with dread.

“Come!” commanded John.

Saul felt himself take a halting step, then another, and as John moved ahead of

him, another and another, until his heart calmed, and his walking became less laboured

and his stride more firm.

As they left Moses and Isaiah behind the scenery changed and Saul followed John

through a desert landscape.

“This is Sinai,” Saul said.

“Through which Moses led our people. Perhaps one day you will have a season in

such a desert.”

“Why?”

John did not answer. Instead he pointed and said, “Behold!”

And there was the Tabernacle, that God had designed for the Children of Israel to

build in which to house the Arc of the Covenant.

Then it was gone. In its place stood Solomon’s Temple, and Saul watched as it

was destroyed.


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Then it too was gone to be replaced by the glory that was Herod’s Temple which

was familiar to Saul’s own religious practices when he had studied and worshipped

there.

“I leave you here,” the Baptizer said. “Another will take you further.”

The Temple of Herod the Builder remained.

Saul was now alone, and his mind began to work and he asked himself why he

had been shown the Tabernacle and the Temples. There had to be a reason.

The Tabernacle was no longer in existence. No-one really knew what had

happened to it. Solomon’s Temple was no more, and the whereabouts of the Arc of the

Covenant was a great mystery.

But Herod’s Temple stood in all its magnificence; a strong and solid edifice,

indestructible.

And yet, his mind produced for him the consternation he had seen on the faces of

the priests when the veil that divided off the Holy of Holies where God dwelt was rent

from top to bottom on the day when the blasphemous Nazarene died.

From top to bottom! It was impossible for any man or group of men to rent that

veil from top to bottom. Only God could have done that.

Someone was coming towards him, from out of the shade of the Temple. As the

man approached Saul instinctively looked about him for somewhere to hide, but the

desert and the rocks had gone and there was no place.

His trembling returned and he felt weak. The man stopped in front of him, then,

turning, moved to his side.

“I will take you the rest of the way. Our Lord awaits you.”


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“You must hate me,” Saul said.

“Why should I hate you? You have given me nothing but gain. I am a forgiven

sinner, and I have forgiven you. We are glad you are here?”

“We?”

“All of us who died because of your persecution.”

And with this said, Saul found himself surrounded by a cloud of witnesses to

God’s glory.

Each man and woman came forward and embraced Saul, saying, “We are with

our Lord. To die has been our gain.”

When the last person had said this, Saul said:

“Stephen, am I to be punished here?” Saul remembered holding the coats of those

who had stoned Stephen.

“Did we not smile upon you? None here wish to return evil with evil. We only

wish you good.”

“You are heaping hot coals upon my head,” cried Saul. “I have been responsible

for the torture and death of so many people.” He had not realized just how many, and it

pained him greatly that he was a murderer.

“When you speak with our Lord you will be given a choice,” Stephen said. “But

now, tell me, what do you think of that Temple?”

Saul again turned his eyes to Herod’s Temple.

“It is surely a marvel; a wonder; it is so permanent; it will last a thousand years.”


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Stephen said, “When His disciples brought Jesus’ attention to the glory of its

buildings, he told them: ‘Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone

of it shall be left on another; every stone will be thrown down.”

“But it has yet to be finished,” Saul said. “I do not believe it.” The feeling of

permanence prevailed in his mind. “Why should it be thrown down?”

“Because it is no longer necessary.”

“I do not understand.”

“I think you do, Saul. Even you must recognize that what goes on in the Temple is

not honouring to God. Have you not heard what Jesus said to your scribes and

Pharisees? ‘That as it was written in the scriptures, these people honour me with their

lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, and their teachings are

rules taught by men.’ Temple worship has forsaken the commands of God, and is

upholding the traditions of men. The Temple will be destroyed.”

“But what will replace it?”

“It has already been replaced.”

“I am not so blind that I do not know that there is corruption among the

priesthood and that there is dissent between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. But there

will still have to be a High Priest,” Saul said.

There will be no Temple other than the body of each repentant believer in God’s

Son, and God’s Holy Spirit will dwell in their hearts. And there will be no High Priest

other than our Lord Jesus.”

Saul was stunned by this declaration from Stephen. Herod’s Temple came apart

stone-by-stone.


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“How can all this be?” Saul asked.

“Come, now it is time for you to meet our Lord Jesus.”

They climbed into a mountain, and came to a place in which, like Moses, Saul

saw a burning bush that was not consumed. He knew to take off his sandals for the

place where he stood was Holy ground.


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Chapter Fifty-Three.

Lilith and Octavian.

Octavian had been prepared to go all the way to Jerusalem and then on to Bethany

to find Lilith. To find her here was more than marvellous. As he looked at her he

wondered if the flush in her cheeks came from a delight in seeing him, or from

embarrassment.

For a moment his joy changed to awkwardness. He had thought he had more time

to prepare and rehearse what he would say to her when he found her. Coming upon her

so suddenly had left him momentarily at a loss.

He smiled at her.

“I did not expect to find you here,” he said.

“Nor I you,” Lilith said. “Such a surprise.”

“I hope it is a pleasant surprise.”

Lilith put her hand to her throat as if it to force words past some constriction.

“Yes,” she said. She cleared her throat. “Why? How?” I thought by this time you

would be in Rome.”


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“It’s a story that will keep. You must be tired after your journey.” Octavian saw

that a servant was coming to show Lilith to her chamber. “We will speak later.”

“I am curious,” Lilith said, “It is good to see you here.” She followed the servant.

Lilith realized that Octavian had never been far from her thoughts. He was a

handsome and attractive man. She knew he had feelings for her, but he was a Roman

whose gods she did not believe in. Although she was strongly attracted to him she

could not envision a life with him because in the end she could not marry anyone who

did not love Jesus first and herself second, someone who would understand that her

love for a husband would not be paramount but secondary. Even her love for Jacob did

not come before her love and obedience to Jesus.

Joseph’s servants had prepared well. She washed off the dust of the journey, then

lay down to rest. But her thoughts would not permit her to rest.

He will tempt me again to come with him to Rome, she thought. Then she prayed

not to be led into temptation but to be delivered from evil.

“Lord Jesus,” she said aloud, “I need your strength and your will to resist. From

what I have heard of Rome it is a cruel and pagan place where little is righteous.”

But is he here because of me? she thought. I presume too much. I have had very

little happiness in life, but I must not be yoked unevenly with him, for he would pull

one way and I another.

And what would Eli say? Octavian crucified him. It’s such a sorry state of affairs.

The best thing I can do is to return to Capernaum and serve others in the name of Jesus.

Such was her state of agitation that she got up and took a long time dressing and

walked the room until the servant called her to the meal.


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The dining room was large and the table long. Joseph sat at the head and opposite

at the foot sat his wife. The men sat to Joseph’s right, and the women to the right of his

wife.

Lazarus, bar Abbas, and Octavian sat with Joseph’s three sons. The two Marys

and Martha sat with Joseph’s two unmarried daughters, one of whom, through

misfortune had become a widow. Joseph’s sons remained unmarried and at home

working on his estate. When Joseph hinted that they should be married they told him

that if God’s will was to be done on earth as in heaven, and in heaven there was no

giving or taking in marriage they were bringing that much of heaven to earth. After

mentioning being fruitful and multiplying Joseph always dropped the subject.

“Isn’t it amazing,” he now said, “and a glory to God to see two former enemies

sitting side by side at this table.” Joseph was referring to bar Abbas and Octavian. “A

Jew and a Gentile,” he went on. “But it really warms my heart to see that they are

united together in Jesus our Saviour.”

Lilith’s eyes sought Octavians. He smiled at her.

“It’s true,” he said. “I hunted bar Abbas and he was caught, but the Son of God

died in his place, and I was the one in charge of His crucifixion. I realized at the

moment he gave up His ghost that He was the Son of God, but later I was assailed by

doubts, until, gradually, through a series of violent events and a dream, I realized that

Jesus was the Son of God and He had died for my sins.”

“Yes,” said bar Abbas, “but do you believe he rose from the dead?”

“With all my heart, I believe it. But I have a lot to learn about the way, the truth

and the life.”


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“So you are a believer?”

“I am?

“Have you been baptized?”

“No. But I wish to be.”

“Matthew is travelling with us,” said Mary the mother of Jesus. “I’m sure he will

baptize you.”

“I will ask him,” Octavian said.

“And when will you be going to Rome?” Lilith asked. Her voice was small.

“I am not going to Rome,” Octavian answered. “I intend to stay in Palestine.”

At the conclusion of the meal, Octavian sought Lilith and they both walked in

Joseph’s garden.

“I was coming to find you,” he told her. “You once told me that you could not

marry anyone who was not a believer in Jesus. You might still not want to marry me,

and although that would make me sad, I rejoice that I am a true follower of Jesus.

“I am so glad for you,” Lilith said.

“What of Jacob, your son?”

Lilith told him of Jacob, of Hanna, of his learning to be a physician, and his work

with the lepers.”

“He will be a great physician,” Octavian said. “And he is to be married. Will not

that make you lonely?”

“I will be with other believers. I will have brothers and sisters in Jesus.

“Will you have me as a husband in Jesus?”


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Even though she had been expecting this, his question took her breath away. She

coughed and cleared her throat. Her face and neck became flushed.

“I need time to pray about this,” she said.

“Is it because I executed your husband?”

“It isn’t that. I need time to pray that it would be the right thing to do. If we were

married, I would have to put Jesus before you. And I hope you realize that I could not

come before Jesus in your life. That is why I need to pray about this.”

“Then I, too, will have to pray. I hope you will not mind if I go to Capernaum and

live near to where you are.”

“I will not mind.”

The night before they left for Galilee, it was Octavian who had the restless night.

He was sure that Lilith looked upon him with affection. Having been baptized on the

previous day, he was left in no doubt that no matter what he did, or who he loved,

nothing was to come before his duty and service to Jesus.

Thinking things over he had no doubt that God had directed him towards Ramoth

Gilead with Rufus and Britannicus. While they had been resting there news filtered

through that a caravan had been attacked leaving dead four Roman soldiers, and that the

Governor of Syria had attacked and killled the bandits a group of deserters whose

leader was named Atticus.

“They should have stepped over the line with us,” Britannicus said

“Can’t be undone,” Rufus said. “Your dream was a true warning.”

Into the inn where they were staying came someone Octavian knew.

“Cornelius!”


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“Octavian!”

The two came together in greeting. Cornelius told them how he had come to

Ramoth Gilead.

“Pilate grew concerned and sent us out to search for the Jerusalem tribute.”

“Not for us?”

“Pilate delayed his return to Rome for so long now that the sea lanes are closed

due to the winter storms and he will have to go by land. He wants to take the tribute

with him. You have it?”

“We have it.”

“Thought you might. I had this distinct feeling that you would come back this

way. I don’t know why. What happened to the others?”

Octavian told him what had happened and what he thought he knew.

“Too bad,” Cornelius said. “Well, it seems Pilate will take his tribute back to

Rome. We can start for Caesarea tomorrow.”

“I want you as Tribune to write me an order to stay in Palestine,” Octavian said.

“Why?”

“I have become a believer in Jesus the Nazarene.”

“God be praised,” Cornelius. “You shall have your order. I shall be going to

Rome with Pilate. He needs a good character reference when he appears before

Tiberius.”

When they parted next morning, Octavian embraced Cornelius.

“May Jesus protect you,” he said.

Octavian journeyed to and settled at Capernaum to be near Lilith.


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Chapter Fifty-Four.

Why Are you Persecuting Me.

The bush burned and remained unconsumed.

Saul from on his knees lifted his head and saw the man from Nazareth step from

the brilliance of the flames. He had last seen this man in Galilee when he had been

concluding his deal with the Romans for his tents.

“And still you have not learned to love,” the man said. “Get up! You are

mistaken. The ground on which you stand is not Holy, so put on your sandals.

Saul got to his feet and slipped them into his sandals. He stood trembling.

“You know who I am. You may speak freely.”

“Jesus from Nazareth.” Saul found his fear had vanished.

“Why are you persecuting me?”

“I was not aware that I was persecuting you. My concern is to bring those, who in

delusion, believed you to be God’s Anointed back to the true worship of God.”

“You persecute me in as much as you have persecuted and caused torture and

death to the least of my followers. That is how you are persecuting me.”

“The Almighty has brought me here. I would speak with Him.”

“Approach the bush.”

Saul felt confident. This Jesus accused him of torture and murder, but before God

he felt he could justify himself, for as an upright and observing Pharisee he had kept all

the laws and all his actions had been to further the cause of the Almighty and Israel.


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Saul took three confident steps before he was hurled back with such force that he

fell to the ground.

“Approach the bush and my Father,” Jesus said.

Saul picked himself up and looked towards the bush. Nothing seemed to bar his

way.

This time he approached more warily, still with the confidence that before God,

and talking to Him as Abraham had done, he would justify himself.

Again, after taking three steps he was hurled away from the bush with even

greater force. Lying on the ground he heard Jesus say:


He got to his feet, slowly, steadied himself, saw that the way to the bush was clear

and made a run for it.

He felt the full violence of the force that picked him up and flung him away. He

lay gasping on the ground.

Jesus allowed him to regain his breathing. His racing heart slowed to normal

beating.

“You see,” Jesus said. “You are not acceptable to my Father. He will not permit

you to come unto his presence because of your sinful state. I tell you truly, you are not

righteous.”

“That cannot be,” stammered Saul. “I have worked hard to be righteous and

acceptable and to have eternal life with the Almighty.

“Why boast to me what you have done,” Jesus said. “I and my Father know all of

your deeds, none of which can gain you eternal life.”


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“I have given good service to God. I have earned my salvation.”

“Realize this: eternal life is the gift of God. It is given freely and you cannot do

anything to earn it. I came into the world to save sinners such as you and to take upon

myself the sins of the world. Why? Because God is love, and he does not wish anyone

to live apart from him. All may come to him, Jews and Gentiles.”

“But we are His chosen people.”

“Yes, chosen to be a blessing to all the peoples of the world, but what did you do?

You blessed yourselves and became self serving.

“You knew of my coming through the prophets and the scriptures, yet your

Jewish tree became barren and produced no fruit.

“Those who speak of me as the Son of God have a spiritual knowledge that you

do not possess. You want to speak with my Father, you are, because my Father and I

are one and those who believe in me have our Holy Spirit.

“I became the Word of God in the flesh of mankind, and through my life, death,

and resurrection I became the one and only way to God my Father. I am His truth and

His light. A gift of God, lest any man should boast of earning his salvation.”

“Has God abandoned us Jews?”

“By no means. The Jewish tree has only been pruned. Some of its branches have

been cut off and branches from other trees shall be grafted on. But with a faith in me,

the Jewish branches will be grafted in again.”

“That breaks the Covenant God made with Abraham.”

“Simply a necessary revision. Look about you, Saul. Look at where you stand.”


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Saul found himself standing on a mountain ridge. Before him hung a ladder, a

way to the rest of heaven. Turning about he saw what appeared to be a lake of fire. This

prospect and the bubbling movement within it made him feel dizzy.

“Should you continue to torture and murder my people and go on serving Satan as

you have been doing that is what is reserved for you. Or, you can stop doing evil,

repent of the evil you have done, believe that I bore your sins on the Roman cross, and

become my slave.”

Saul understood these words as a terrible challenge. Pressing for prominence in

his mind was an awareness of the enormity of the evil he had done and the pain and

death he had caused.

“I have been praying for you, Saul of Tarsus,” Jesus said. “I have been praying

that our Holy Spirit will allow you to see your sinful state.”

Saul tried to resist, but it was a battle he continued to lose. He became

overwhelmed with a deep remorse and a great depression.

He began to cry, sorely. His tears burned his cheeks. He was a man who always

wanted to do what was right and good in order to be accepted of God and men.

To be told he was a servant of Satan was more than he could bear. The lake of fire

has been prepared as an ending for Satan and for those who followed him. Saul did not

want to go there.

He was greatly distressed and he cried out in agony, and threw himself down

before Jesus.

“There is a great weight on my heart,” he cried. “I am abject. I regret deeply the

violence I have done to you. I have sinned before God and You. Forgive me. I do not


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want to do this any more. I renounce Satan and all his works, and I come as a slave to

you, and I will serve you, my hope and my faith.”

After which he was racked with sobbing.

Jesus put a hand on his shoulder. “Your sins are forgiven. Arise.” He helped Saul

to his feet. “Take off your sandals.”

Saul did so.


Saul was not plucked up and hurled back. He stopped near the bush, from which a

voice spoke.

“I welcome you, Saul of Tarsus, now that you have accepted the Gift of my Son

who has taken upon himself your sin. You are saved to eternal life with us, through

faith alone.

“However, you must learn to love, for in love you are lacking. Your wife whom

you sent back to Tarsus cries each night because of your lack of love. You must go to

her and put things right, for even though you have faith that could move mountains,

without love you are nothing.

“You must learn to be long suffering and to be kind and not to put yourself first.

And you will have to lose your puffed up attitude. Don’t seek things for yourself.

Control your temper and don’t be so easily provoked. Behave in a seemly way and

rejoice in truth. Learn to bear all things and endure all things.

“Think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. Be

virtuous. Now step back. My Son has a commission for you.”

“Thank you LORD.” Saul stepped back and Jesus said:


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“This will take time, Saul. You will get to know my Gospel, and when you do you

will take it to the Gentiles.”

“To the Gentiles? Me?”

“Are you objecting?”

“No, Lord,” Saul said. “It won’t be easy.”

“They persecuted me, believe me, they will persecute you. I will be with you and

I will be praying for you. You will be in the world but my Father will protect you as he

protects all those He has given me through our Spirit. You will be one with God as I am

one with God. You will be protected from Satan and sanctified by our Truth. Make our

Name known to the Gentiles. Now you must return to the Damascus road.”

Saul seemed reluctant to go.

“What is it?” Jesus asked, knowing what it was.

“My eyesight,” Saul said. “I fear it will desert me soon. It has always been a thorn

in my flesh. Restore my eyes to clear sight.”

Jesus refused, and Saul asked again, and then for a third time.

“Truly,” Jesus said. “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Saul descended and came to where he had been on the Damascus road. He heard

voices, and opened his eyes, but his eyes saw nothing. He cried out.

“What’s the matter with him?” Ephriam, the Captain of the Temple Guard said.

“Looks like he can’t see,” said one of the men.

“What will we do?”

The Spirit within Saul said, “Fear not, you will remain blind for three days. In this

time let your mind dwell on what you have seen and heard.”


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Jesus, the Messiah is in me, and I am in Him, Saul thought

“Take me to Damascus,” he said.

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Jacob and the Persecution

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