Friday, 16th of Abib First
watch of the night
3790
First Day of Counting the Omer
Bethany
Choosing the rural quiet of Lazarus farm at sunset, with the start of a new day, the women and their
families gathered to quietly mourn that which had been lost they wouldn’t be mocked by the crowds waiting behind the
closed city gates. They held their grieving mother in their arms. As the power of the Sabbath
closed around the grieving house as Martha sobbed in her brother’s arms.
Lazarus and Little Mary did their best to comfort her, but she just lay in Leah arms, her head in the tender woman’s
lap and wept till she slept of exhaustion.
“ Naara
and Claudia weren’t at the house, but I’m sure they’ll meet us here when Shabbos has ended.
“
Leah whispered to Lazarus when he walked back into the room, to check on his sister. He nodded, too numb to know what
to say.
“ You could shout, and she wouldn’t hear you. Do you want me to send someone to
carry her to own bed? “
“
Where would I go, Cousin? What would I do? Can I pretend away the Master’s
cruel death? No. Thank you, I feel like I’m doing something
good here. But thank you for asking. “
Lazarus sat down
abruptly, tears leaping to his eyes.
“ Don’t
stop talking about Him, please. It helps to hear the good things He did. Tell me more, about the night you found him?
Please! It helps! “
The small boned
woman hesitated, then looking down she stroked the raven black hair of her sleeping friend while she gathered her thoughts.
Slowly the minutes eased with the renewed ability to draw a breath into his lungs without a struggle as she retold a story
about Martha and Jesus as adolescents that he’d missed because he’d been gone for that week with his father and
uncle. He smiled, repositioning himself on the bare floor as he guarded his older sister and listened with half a mind to
the hesitant story that he could fill it with something other than the terrible last memory of looking back into the new tomb
while the large, heavy stone was rolled in place and some of the Roman soldiers, who were already on their knees, playing
a dice game since they knew they were in for a long and boring night, were laughing too loudly. It had echoed inside the stone
tomb as the last light turned the rounded mummy on the stone bench a brilliant crimson and then black.
“ What are you thinking, adonai? “
He heard Leah ask, and he realized he’d been silent too long, having lost the train of thought in her narrative.
“ That I should have been there sooner! That Joseph and Nicodemus were strangers!
However kind, and I’m family! I should have been there! “
She leaned forward and placed her hand on his arm. It was shockingly cold and small.
“
You’re here now. What’s here is more important, His mother needs you
now. “
“
He needed me then! “
“
No, he didn’t. It was something He had to do alone. “
Lazarus
pulled away resentfully and stood to his feet.
“ You’re
just a woman, what do you know? “
He strode from
the room.
“ What do you know, that we don’t? “
Martha asked quietly, her eyes open and red rimmed from her tears. She sat up unwillingly, watching the younger woman’s
face in a mixture of awe and repugnance.
“ I’ve
talked with the men. They trust me, in a strange way, more than they do...their mothers or sisters, I guess. But they told
me He spoke of His coming death on three different occasions on the way here! “
“ But He’s dead! He died and all our hopes are gone!
You talk about ‘today’, ‘now’! That’s the truth today! That’s the unchanging fact
‘now’. He’s laying there in that tomb just like my brother was, but there’s no one to call Him out
like He did Lazarus! “
With the same repugnance
shown by her brother, she thrust herself away from the young woman, whom she hadn’t been able to forgive for shaming
them like that!
“ Then He’ll walk out. “
She whispered under her breath. She refused to believe that it could end here! Somehow! Someway! GOD would make it
right! She knew that to the depths of her being. It simply couldn’t end here! The sun rose this morning!
Because she had no logic to prove her point, Leah simply sat where they left
her, staring down at her hands and trying not to cry.
‘What if she was wrong? ‘
*
Sunday, 18th of Abib
Fourth watch of the night 3790
The garden tomb
As
night gave way to true dawn there was no warning as the ground began to
heave and roll beneath their feet. A deep groan from the bedrock beneath them seemed
to push past them; adding its weight to the pressure holding them to the ground. One
of the men who had stepped aside to relieve himself was thrown against the rocks, dazed and sickened, as a warmth spread down
his leg he couldn’t control as light reflected from the very nature of the rock against his back! He watched gap-mouth
as the Angel of the LORD came from out of heaven at will and stood at the mouth of the sealed tomb. And there was none to
dare to challenge or deny Him!
His appearance was like a thousand suns all shining at the same instant, and even his raiment shone like living glass
as he rolled away the stone and they watched, as dead men, too stunned and dazed with incredulousness and stark terror
at the sudden reality of the supernatural they had scorned in the natural arrogance of the mortal for the unknown immortal.
Until it was revealed!
Then he sat upon the stone as easily as a child
might leap to a great height and they lay where they fell, shaking with terror. Every foul oath they’d ever said carelessly,
every hidden sin and knowledge weighed against their chests like the Egyptian god waiting to consume the hearts of the wicked
before they could escape to the better Life beyond! No rationalization came to shield them, no cloth to
ease the strain of brightness against their eyes! They called for death but It couldn’t answer. All they could do was
to watch and to wait for whatever fate was warranted by this powerful and mighty Being!
Through all of Friday, which was the
call to the ordinary Sabbath they observed all her life, and then what seemed to be an extra day on Saturday,
the motion around her caused her to wake and eat what was pressed into her hand but all she longed for was sleep, sleep and
escape. Escape to dreams where she was a little girl of six winters again, running to Joseph in his shop, and twenty-year
old Jesus was standing ankle deep in freshly sliced wood chips laughing sweetly, alive and well.
Sunday morning she rose while it was still dark, as if an internal alarm had wakened her, hearing her
mother finishing her morning prayers. She wanted to join the other Mary’s, the Magdalene, her mother, and the mother
of James the Lesser, Joses and Salome, to complete the task that only they could do. As she nibbled at the
sliced melon and crusty bread Mary insisted she had to eat before they left, she watched the chill darkness outside the oil
lamp’s reach and tried to plan what she’d do this afternoon. It hurt too much to grieve Jesus’ death the
way she did her father. It hadn’t brought Joseph back! And she knew she’d grieve this enormous gap in her life
for as long as there was breath in her body!
Today
was just the start of many days that would begin and end with the ache of his loss! She could only cling to the vague hope
Joseph gave him while he was still living. That someday ...they would all meet again, before the judgment seat of the
Almighty, where the good would come back to life in an eternal existence with Him in Spirit, Someday! Perhaps in
her own life time? Why did Jesus have to be the Suffering Messiah? When would the other Messiah arrive? Who would he be? Her
head began to ache from lack of food and the depth of her concentration over answers she couldn’t possibly find in herself,
going over the often contradictory texts she’d been poring
over, mistaking Jesus for the coming king.
‘Ishmael
and Joses were right!‘ She thought sorrowfully. ‘ It takes years
of under-standing and reading what wise men have spent their life to study and know!
Why did I think I could understand?‘
Mary lead the way own the road made more clear by the growing dawn. Their focus was today, not tomorrow
nor next week. As they walked a few paces away from
the house toward the brilliant circle approaching the mountain’s outer edge a massive earthquake shook
the ground! The mountain rock beneath their feet convulsed with great violence, throwing them to the ground and holding them
for what seemed like an eternity. Trees swayed and the farm buildings creaked like rocks striking rocks by an expert’s
slingshot! The scream of frightened animals tore through the shadows and birds fled the ground explosively as soon as the
rumblings and the sense of pressure from the heart of the earth lessened. The sky was momentarily darkened over the prone
couple as every bird capable of flight, and even a swarm of hunting bats swept into the sky in fear of the mountain’s
imminent collapse as if suddenly flung into the air as if by giant, invisible hands!
As
soon as the earth’s severe movement ceased, the animals on the farm began
to make noises as loud and inarticulate as the shocked humans. Nimrod was just beyond
Ahava’s reach as he sprang to his feet, raised his muzzle in the air and began to howl in great, wrenching sobs! When
the warrior’s hand touched her, as if blind, Ahava forgot herself immediately in the blinding flash of light that stripped
the shadows from the man’s pained face. By the time she gathered her wits sufficiently she looked up at the birds circling
in the air, and sought the source of the strange, momentary brilliance but once again the earth and the sky resumed their
daily passage.
“ I
can’t find Michael! Have you seen my son? “
Deborah screamed, staggering to the doorway with a bloody cut over her right eye. “ Zaavan
is dead! Where’s my son? How can I live is Michael is dead too? “
‘ Jesus is dead‘ Ahava screamed at her inwardly.
She turned to Machba`nel
in
helpless rage, but the man’s sorrowful eyes filled with compassion and she hesitated to speak her words of anger aloud.
“ Some people only have room for their own flesh and blood in their hearts. Forgive
her for only being human. Please, on your love for me? “
She
laid her head against his chest tentatively, as she accepted the weight he was
placing on her uncertain shoulders. In this one thing, at least, she wouldn’t
be alone.
“ Go. Help her look, Dear Heart. We’ll talk later. “
He said with a strange tenderness that started her heart to pound so loudly she was sure he could hear it too as
he pressed so near! Inside the house the stocky toddler came
out of hiding and ran to his mother as soon as he saw her. There was a strong odor of Spikenard on the air
where a costly vial had been shaken to the stone floor and shattered. Gathering it up as best she could on clean linen strips
that would be used to rewrap the Lord’s body now that they were free to complete the hasty preparations, Martha tried
to shut her mind to the odors she knew they’d face when the stone was rolled away.
Judith
and Salome` tried their best to make Mary wait behind, but it was like taking to a piece of carved stone. There was a need
in her heart to complete this final task, no matter how odious. He was her first-born. A child more uniquely her own than
any of the others, and even Deborah found peace at last in her mother’s preference.
“ Wherever you go, I’m going, Ima! “
Rebecka demanded resolutely, and James nodded, putting his face down until he touched each of their cheeks. Though
her mother didn’t say anything aloud, Ahava and Machba`nel could see how much comfort
it gave her to begin to piece together her shattered family.
“ Princess? May I come with you? “
The man who insisted on being called ‘Isaac’ shouted, out of breath as he was chased by the
speckled dog who danced and barked loudly as he ran to catch up with them. She was grateful to hand him the basket of spices
and aromatic herbs, for as fragrant as they were, they were becoming heavier with every step.
“ Of course. “ She agreed,
wondering why he had fallen back on such
formality?
“ I just remembered the soldiers.
You might need protection from them. “
Ahava
was shocked that she was capable of fresh anger.
“ What
harm could we present to them? “
He seized her roughly
and pulled her into his arms.
“ I don’t know! I don’t know! I just had the strangest feeling that I must
accompany you. If we die, we die together. “
He allowed her effort to pull back, still within his embrace. “ If we live, it is again,
to be with one another and teach others what He taught us so His sacrifice won’t have been in vain. Everything else
can wait! “
“ Do
you know the meaning of the words you just used? “ She mocked and
he winced, remembering them
as his own.
“ Yes.
“ He said quietly. Then suddenly his eyes lit up. “
I saw your brother Simon! He asked me to give you a message for your mother. “
“ When? “ She demanded
incredulously, searching out his face.
“ Just
now, they were leaving the city. He said the woman with him was.... “
“ Elisheba, his wife, I know. “
She interrupted impatiently.
As the older women disappeared from
sight around the next wall, he stood under the warm of the new sun, studying her expressive face and memorizing every line
of it.
“ Was a woman he called ‘Jael’, and her two sons. He said that he’s
seeking
his own son and wondered
if I had seen them? “
“ My
brother Joses is looking for them! “ She demanded excitedly, pulling away
from him and seizing his hand in a silent pleas to catch up with the older women.
It was difficult to walk and talk at the same time, since he was still winded, but
he did the best he could.
“ She knows, that’s why she’s leaving with your other brother and his family.
They’re going to make a new life for themselves in Antioch where she can pass as a widow, and as Simon put it, he’ll
leave it up to your mother to tell Joses that, or not. “
“
Some of your brother-in-law’s friends have warned that Caiaphas is ready to put Lazarus to death, again.
“ He smiled at his own bitter irony, so I may have to ask you to leave your family and
come with me. “
“ Let’s
hurry and catch up with the others! “
Ahava said quickly,
afraid to even think that far ahead yet.
“ Beloved?
“ He urged softly. “ I’m
asking you to marry me when our grieving is over, Child. “
“
That might take a lifetime! “
He
pulled her to a stop but this time she didn’t resist as he set down the weighted basket and drew her into his protective
embrace.
“ The
only life I have now is the one your brother restored to me. My betrothal to Miriam ended with my death. Apulio regrets not
taking more time to raise his own sons, he wants to help her to raise hers. I can think of no finer way to spend the rest
of this new existence than to wait for you to learn to love me, as much as I love you. “
“ I can think of one better. “
Though she had meant it as a tease, his eyes immediately filled with such regret and doubt that she had to hold tightly
to his scarred and sinewy arms to keep him from pulling away from her.
“
We could spend it married, having babies, and sharing what He gave us!
Isn’t that better; or are you so Greek that you prefer the drama of unrequited love, Machba`nel ben Abishalom?
“
“ I’m going to talk to your tutor about what he’s teaching you!
“
He warned in mock sternness, then his eyes softened in their mock sternness as she stood on tiptoe and put her arms
around his neck.
“ You are my only tutor from this day forward, adonai. “
She said tenderly.
“ Call me Yitzhak, if you must. Isaac, if you will. That life, that name ended with
the man that died. “ As he lowered his head to accept her eager lips,
she tasted the salt of his tears.
Titan nickered in joyous greeting
as his new rider touched a spur and turned him in the waiting man’s direction.
“
I understand you left your horse behind as well... “
Xavier
said in a proud, cold voice, dismounting as the golden stallion nuzzled his master’s hand, breathing in his rich scents
in hungry excitement.
“ He’s a war horse, sir. I have no use for a warhorse in the life I’m about
to
lead. “
Xavier nodded, leaving the well-trained horse to stand where he was. Tears filled his own eyes as the scarred warrior
reached out to embrace him wordlessly and Ahava stepped beside the alert stallion to give them more time alone. It was the
older man who took a step away, relieved to have the younger man follow.
“
I’m on my way to the boat. I’m a hero they say. “ The
mockery and contempt in his voice was startling.
“ Isn’t
that what you’ve always wanted? “
“
It’s what Shelomith and David want. I want only to breathe air that doesn’t
have sand in it and pee water that doesn’t have to be
screened! “
They both laughed, simply to complete
the sense of unity.
The old man pulled off the heavy metal helmet and laid it against the fresh surgeon’s scar on his knee.
“ What are you going to do, Abba? “
Xavier winced at the sound of the word. He’d been heavily doped to endure the pain but he seemed to remember
a nightmare image of having thrust his hand into his son’s bowels and blood. Obviously that hadn’t happened, he
was standing here talking and laughing with him now, but it seemed so real! He couldn’t get the terrifying image out
of his mind.
“ If I survive the journey, you mean? “ He
drew in a deep breath and looked skyward at the clouds so near the mountain top that the birds had to fly under them to have
room to even spread their wings. “ I’ll die as a Roman. The Rome she was before the senseless
violence of a single man changed weaker minds to his mindset. The Republic David’s father died trying to reconstruct...I....I
thought to take your sister with us, to comfort Shemi’s concern over you? She needs someone stronger and older to protect
and guide her. If I had your permission? “
“ My permission and my gratitude. Now that the Master’s dead, I fear for
her, even though she has such good friends in Naara and her husband. But she’s the one
you’ll have to convince. She’s her mother’s daughter in that, as
we both know. “
Xavier smiled in genuine mirth, standing
on his ‘good’ leg as long as he could
bear it. There was no way he could span the growing gulf between them. They both believed in Jesus, each in
their own way, but he was done, while he sensed his son had only begun to shape the battles he wanted to commit his life too.
He felt himself growing older with each cubit the approaching white clouds took from the distance left between him and his
enforced return to Tiberius then Rome.
“ This isn’t the way I planned it, but we must be realists if nothing else?
“
“ Abba, forgive me, but consider the time and place... “
He stopped, unable
to go
on. This was the man, the soldier, the superior officer to whom he’d given a life’s respect and honor. It was
more painful than anything he’d tried to say, or do, but his concern for the dying old man drove him past his fear of
rebuke and the loss of Xavier’s love at this late time in their lives.
“
By what about the Messiah? “ He tried to force out the words
but they clung to the back of his teeth and the roof of his mouth! Only the old man’s look of patience drove him to
the edge of the precipice. “ If you give you your identification with the
Jewish nation...now...The Messiah? “
He couldn’t
complete the sentence. His mouth filled with the bitter salt of his tears of regret. He would have died willingly to remove
the look of pain from the old warrior’s face! He drew in a ragged breath in several stages, wanting to reach out and
touch the man’s arm as he looked away, lost to a world where he could never go, but
he feared Xavier would pull back in repugnance from him and he would carry that look
of reproach and denial to his grave no matter how the old man softened his face in the moment after, rather than leave a bad
last impression. He never knew how much this father’s love meant to him until this instant, and yet, that was the very
force that impelled
him forward, against
his own will.
“ That was a younger man, not I. A man attempting to hold to a youth that no longer
wanted him; a means to ease the unrest rest my bones would lie in once my body moldered. I weary of attempting to wear another
man’s cloak because I want to hide the nakedness of my shame in my Judaism. I wasn’t born to the promises He brought
to the nation of Israel. But I could search the world for the remainder of my life and find no finer example of a man of GOD
than the man I stepped aside and allowed to be crucified yesterday, Machba`nel He forgave His bitterest
enemies as he died an unjust death, I can’t forgive myself, or my friends, as I live a life of my own choosing.
“
An automatic desire to excuse
away his part in the terrible tragedy rose with the bitter gall of defeat and Machba`nel fell silent.
“ I’ve put away the clothes and put away the man your son was, my lord.
I’m asking the new people who come into my life to call me Isaac, as my father named me at my birth as a son of the
Covenant. I would be honored for you to call me that as well. But call me anything, as long as I know I am still in your heart
as you are in mine! “
His mouth filled with his tears and
he couldn’t speak.
The old man reached out a scarred hand and placed it behind the weeping man’s neck, under his hair, gently inkling
the stiff neck and raised head until their foreheads touched.
“
I claim you anew as my son, and I shall die in Rome as your father, without shaming you. If I have none to speak too
but the soldiers who hold me till my death, I will speak to them of the Life we saw lived, for the Word promised and He promised
that after the Jew, He would draw all men to Him. His death shall not be a sacrifice in vain,
I will speak to those that you can not, because they, like
me, are Gentiles. “
Machba`nel’s arms swept the
fragile body into his earnest embrace as he laid his head on the dying man’s shoulder and wept, but this time for joy.
“ I could ask no finer deathbed blessing, Abba, then what you’ve just given me.
I’ll try to be worthy of Him, and you! : “
“
I have to go to your mother and David now....Isaac. “
At
the long silence Xavier turned and found him looking to the beautiful young woman standing beside the restless war horse.
“ It’s time to go! “ He said
sharply over the sudden lump in his throat. Reaching out to press his feelings into the younger man’s body and heart.
“ I look forward to bringing our first born to play on your knee, Abba.
“.
Xavier shook his head to force the tears backwards where they wouldn’t fall
and betray him.
“ It
will be another three or four years till she is old enough to bear your flesh. That’s time I don’t have, son.
We’ve never lied to each other before, let’s not start now. “
He
said it firmly, in control of himself once more. The sound of their back slapping as they broke the embrace said what they
could not. “ I wouldn’t want you
for an enemy! “
“ Nor I you, Abba. “ The middle-aged
man answered meekly, giving the last gift he had to give.
“
Yes, well then. That’s decided, and you know how your mother hates to be kept waiting. Princess, it was so good
to see you, please accept my condolences on
your
recent loss, and my deepest hopes for your future well being as my son’s wife. “
He seized up the reins and vaulted to the stallion’s back feeling the sharp betrayal of pain where the cancer
was eating him from the inside out, but he gave no sign of it to either of the startled young people. Slipping his feet into
the stirrups he touched a heel to the trained stallion’s flank and left them in the thunder of hooves and the startling
clarity of the silver trumpets announcing the morning’s sacrifice at the Temple to the God of the Jews.
He smiled to himself despite the jarring pain shot upwards past his bowels to close around his oversized heart muscles.
Caiaphas was fit to be tied because an unseen hand had ripped the inner veil inside the massive stone structure through all
the layers of hide and cloth, and it had to be replaced entirely, it couldn’t just be sewn up by a man’s hand
no matter how talented. It seemed somehow fitting in a way he couldn’t explain. His laughter caused the stallion’s
ears to flick backwards, but hearing no command
Titan continued to pound his way toward the line of people and animals emerging from the high gates like busy
black ants.
As he rode, he replayed the tender scene that had just happened, memorizing each word and smell and thought for the
long nights alone in a Roman dungeon that lay ahead of him as surely as the cold grip of death on his bones and sinew now.
The glimpses he’d had of the Master’s face in sunshine as He taught in the Temple, the time he’d passed
Him on the road and looked back to see that He’d stopped and was watching him as His disciples pushed past, busily talking
and arguing among themselves. the lightening bold of that instant breaking new strength and hope to the dying man.
“ You said, ‘ I am the GOD that heals you.’ You
said, ‘ I know the future I
have for you, one of a future and a hope. ‘ Guard me and guide
me, Holy One, even if I’m not of Abraham’s blood, for I now I am convinced that He died for me too!
“
Something warm touched his head, it felt as if moisture were dripping down his hair and cheeks into his beard, but
when he brushed his hand against the wetness, it
came away dry and the Illusion only grew stronger. A jolt of lightening struck him from the top of his head
to the soles of his feet. There was no flash, he heard nothing but a
chill shook him with such violence that he had difficulty controlling the restive stallion. No
matter how hard he tried to send the horse forward, Titan whirled and reared, spinning in circles until he tore the reins
loose, galloping down the steep slop toward the sheep’s well, and then up, headed toward the mountain slope whose caves
took on the appearance of eye sockets as the sun began to rise, burnishing the dome and marble
slabs of the Temple on Mount Moria, like a second sun.
As
the women entered the slopes along the edge of the valley of Gehenna, the smoke and the smells were pushed
aside by a light breeze. No new refuse had ben added yet and the coals of yesterday’s fires were banked enough to allow
the fragrances of the spring grasses and wild flowers to briefly override the faint burnt smell on the air. As
he started to speak, a songbird awoke and challenged the quiet passage of the grieving women.
“ I have to say goodbye to my mother and I have to make sure my sister is safe As soon
as we get to get, then... “
“
No, you don’t have to wait for us. We’re only women, we’ll be no threat to soldiers. You go! Please!
Then I’ll see you later this afternoon? “
He
couldn’t explain the terrible sadness that overwhelmed him, as if he’d never see her again and he longed to kiss
her, but this close to the path used by so many of the priests,, he couldn’t risk damaging her more than he already
had. As he broke into a ground eating lope he was wondering if he should try her husband’s house first, or their mothers?
Perhaps she’d had enough wisdom finally beaten into her to go with them!
Although
it had still be dark when the women started from Bethany the sun was clear and already warm with the fickleness of spring
weather and they spoke quietly among themselves, since none of them was strong enough to roll away the stone Caiaphas demanded
Pilate seal!
But when they reached the newly hewn space in the bedrock the stone was rolled away and the soldiers were gone! Their
three days fire as cold as death? A gentle breeze blew the smoldering remains of the garbage heap over
them, mimicking the smell of smoke they should have found No wonder that old man stalled them for so long in the valley! To
give the rest of his troops time to steal away her brother’s body from the grave? Fear turned to rage, and rage to resolve!
Pilate wouldn’t go unpunished.
When the women saw that the soldiers were gone and the stone had been rolled back to air out the somber inner chamber
they shared Machba`nel’s first thought, that
the body of their LORD had been taken away. And the soldier standing at their side was
as shocked and silent as they, waiting under the leaf’s
shadows for their return to verify what his distorted senses had tried to tell him from the entrance of the tomb.
His hand trembled as it leaned against the massive weight in its carved track,
but the images of two men seated within the tomb refused to go away. He didn’t
speak
to them nor they to him, but he
ached too. This was the first proof of the truths taught
him so sternly by Lady Tyra, the proof of what Hilkiah the carpenter claimed to have seen as a boy of thirteen
while he watched his father’s sheep with his older brothers. If they were angels, if they were eternal, surely they
had been there for that glorious announcement, but how dare him to question them though his heart flooded with a surety that
if they existed, then the One who created them existed, whom Jesus claimed in such
intimate solicitude as “Abba’! How could he speak to an angelic being without heaping contempt
on his own fleshly estate?
A quiet joy spread through him as he raised himself
to his fullest height and
looked
in again at the inner room aglow with heavenly light. It was empty, just like
Jesus promised. He didn’t believe simply because he’d seen it and yet
what a joyful confirmation to the words that were already planted in him!
“ ‘
Before Rome, I was. Long after she ceases, I am.’ “
But there was a greater mystery that held Mary silent, transfixed, as the Magdalene held tightly to her shoulder, as
much to stay upright as to offer her support. They were both trembling violently. Mary the mother of James and Salome` sank
to
her knees at the mouth of the
hewn rock’s entrance, gasping and crying uncontrollably.
As a boy, Jesus
had been as messy as any other lad His age. The grave clothes lying on the bench in the center of the honeycombed chamber
were hardened into a rounded, man’s shape with resins and spices as stiff as a beetle’s carapace, as expected.
But the full-length sheet on which the seeping corpse had been laid, which was then pulled over the crown of his head and
stretched to his stiffened toes, now lay folded neatly to one side of the bench! The other two Mary’s
stood there, gasping for breath, clinging to one another, senseless with shock and awe. Rebecka, a pace behind them and ahead
of Zebedee’s wife by increments screamed at the soft repeated motion that proved to be a man’s hand coaxing them
nearer for comfort and support. She fainted, for the first and last time in her life, too overwhelmed by emotions beyond her
control.
It galvanized Ahava into action. Angelic voices reached the ears of the startled women, as
the girl fled. No further humiliation was due her dead brother, much less this final, unspeakable desecration! She knew
what she had to do! Maybe Yahweh Elohim wouldn’t stand up for Himself or His Son, but she would! If
an infinite and merciful GOD wouldn’t demand immediate punishment, she knew someone who could! Slipping out from her
mother’s startled grasp, she fled, sobbing and broken hearted at this final desecration.
As her sandaled feet slapped stone in the haste of her tear stained departure, Nimrod stood, bowed in half by first
taking a giant leap to follow his mistress in her unexpected change of direction and then being held in place by the beauty
of the man who stood beside the Magdalene without speaking. There was a strange and heady perfume to the air and voices filled
with such joy that even his tiny beast’s heart heard
the song that filled creation with its joy and he lingered, his whip like tail beginning to beat
from side to side. There had been so much sadness and confusion that the very air
in his nostrils had been clogged with it, but molecule by molecule the air around
them was being altered to a glorious purpose he could accept without the need for reason. It was, and his heart took joy in
it.
But his mistress was almost out of sight and as great as his longing was to
linger here in the perfection of praise, his heart clung to his tall cub and she needed
him. Barking once in sheerest joy, he sprinted after her and redoubled his efforts no matter how badly it burned his lungs
with exertion until he’d caught up with her, crumbled on the side of the path and crying as if her heart would break!
Pushing to be as close to her as he could, no matter how angrily she pushed him away, Nimrod sought to comfort her
with loving licks and tiny nips on her clothing and hair. It hurt him so badly to be unable to do anything to stop her pain.
Then without warning, her arms reached out and held him tightly until it was difficult to breath. His tongue lolled wetly
as he stood at peace, feeling the strength of their love slowly dry her tears. It was all he had to give, but he gave it freely.
“ Fear not! “
The first of two angelic being’s voice said with such love and hope that it opened the door to their wits and
began to drive away the superstitious awe
of
the unexplainable. There was strength and peace in his voice though he and his companion seemed made of light rather than
flesh.
“ I know that you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He’s not here!
For He’s risen, just as He said He would. See the place where He was lying. Now, go and tell His disciples that He has
risen from the dead. And let them know that He has gone before them to Galilee. There you will see Him! “
“ See him? “ Mary asked, with a mother’s
hunger. Hope struggled with the
weight of her recent loss, and hope won. If nothing else she’d found that GOD could be trusted to the
smallest detail and His word never failed.
The angelic Being shared
in her courage and joy. He was incapable of envy but
as he and his companion felt the surge of GOD’S love returned to Him in greater measure than any of the
first creation could know independently, they were joined to the greater chorus of praise forever in the background, forever
extant.
“ Behold, I have told you. “ He agreed,
as GOD’S messenger. Turning to the other, awestruck women he said kindly, “ Why
seek ye the living among the dead? Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee? That the Son of man
must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified,
and on the third day
rise again?
Behold for yourselves, He is not here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said! Go and tell the good news to comfort the
others who loved Him too. “
And the first of the women departed out of the tomb quickly with great joy, clutching the expensive but unnecessary
unguents against the power of death, and ran to tell His disciples the wonderful new. Only the Magdalene lingered in
the air as yet untainted by anything but the faint, dry, smell of consumed matter and smoky residue from the garbage pits
in the nearby valley of Gehenna that had burned themselves out unattended over the unusual three-day Sabbath. Something of
the odor of the abandoned spice jars mixed with the sweet new fragrance of the wild blossoms on the steep sheer face of the
rock embankment as she waited for Beloved’s return. But as the moments increased, so did her doubts and her fears; but
nothing in this world or the next could have compelled her to retrace her steps to the new cave cut within the ancient mountain!
When she saw a man walking purposefully amidst the trees and shrugs at this
way of the chilled,
empty chamber. She
saw the burnt out campfire, a partially obscured gaming design which the soldiers had chiseled into the hard pack sand and
fine rock grit to pass the time and keep awake during their watch on the dead, and the tears rose up in great hurting waves
that sold away her anger along with her hope, leaving only a bitter resignation in its place.
Looking inside, she became aware of the two angels seated on the raised stone slab, one at the head of the polished
stone, the other at the foot of the darkened shape
left from Thursday’s terrible ordeal, but she trusted her senses in neither case. They
were, because she was. But all she could do was to stand there
as mindless as a great ox before its nemesis, weeping for the overwhelming loss consuming her to heart and soul.
“ Woman. Why do you weep? “
The gardener asked, in a tenderness she fought against, for she was unworthy of such comfort.
“ Adonai. Sir! “
She stammered in confusion, blinded by her tears and sense of loss. “ Please
sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away! “
She had no idea what he would demand in return, but she was ready to pay any cost. Then Jesus said to her,
“ Mary? “
She stood transfixed for several heartbeats, looking at the unlined, bearded face
she knew before the terrible trauma, the savage beating discolored and deformed the
mass so it didn’t even appear the face of a man! This was the firm, blooded vigor of health, not the gray-as-ash corpse
that lolled against her arm! Both realties locked in a struggle within her shocked mind. Then the weight
of His voice calling her to joy galvanized her actions.
“ Rabboni!
“ She cried in love and joyful acceptance of the Impossible.
“ Woman loose me! “ He had to warn at the joyful strength of her
impulsive embrace. The familiar intimacy of close companions etched on his face as she pulled back to be certain that the
face swimming with tears was truly the One she expected to
be joined to that tender voice. “ I haven’t
yet ascended to My Father! “
“ I don’t want to rush your departure, Master. Oh Majesty, is it really you?
“
His loving tone suggested she might hasten that event precipitously! But it also told her there would time before He
left them again, and she nodded, allowing her arms to slide down to his chest of their own weight, then she laid her cheek
against the cloth she’d dampened as she felt the arms of the One she loved slip around her and hold her close in tender
protection until she could find a measure of strength on her own.
She
gulped several times before she could speak, then she remembered. Ahava!
“
Beloved fled out of here! She doesn’t know, LORD! “
As dear as it was to have Him near, she felt a fresh anxiety for Mary’s youngest child who still thought Him
in the land of the cruelly dead!
*
*
Evi the Jebusite ate a leisurely breakfast, at peace with himself and the world. It was the first day of a very busy
week for him. There were four additional trunks to be washed clean of dirt and age and he had to assume they were likewise
part of the buried treasure left off from the profound amount gathered for the building of the Temple by Solomon’s hands,
since his father David’s hand were blood stained, or the time when much of the treasure of the city had been buried
to avoid being carried over by
conquering
armies. Much like the Jews had been under their revered “David”?
It was only a portion of the goods deeded to him by a grateful king, and since he was sure his spies would return with
the news of Bithynia bat Adbeel’s whereabouts, she couldn’t hide indefinitely, he would take over her house, several
of her establishments,
to be the
titan-sized “hero” when he returned them to her, for a sizable portion of the money he was sure he’d make
in Zaavan’s place. It was too early in the season for the delightful crunch of half formed birds in the will eggs gathered
and cook exactly to his delicate standards, but the crunch of the freshly baked loaf was enough, since ‘leaven’
was tantamount to ‘sin’ and forbidden by their disgusting religion. Twice enjoyable.
Like that young boy he’d stolen out from under Rueben’s nose!
As soon as Bithynia returned, he’d have him properly trained so he’d be useless to his younger lover, and
perhaps rob him of some of his growing superiority!
Evi
the physician made no attempt to hide his annoyance of having his breakfast disturbed, though he was intrigued by the description
and possible identity of his young visitor. No women visited this house, It was his private sanctuary and
reserved only for willing males; preferably young and still idealistic. With his own peculiar interests.
Even the slaves and the servants were trusted and tested sodomites.
But this girl intrigued him beyond his ability to fathom, except perhaps in her genuine innocence and nobility, which called
to him from a youth so long remembered he scarce could remember the details, much less the faces and words locked within him.
His spices kept him well informed to the group’s movements after the death of their leader. It was fitting revenge
for their slaughter of the Innocents, his own people, men, women, and even babes in arms, who died under their rebel leader
David the conqueror and his bloody sword! Claiming direction from a powerful and vengeful god for not worshipping Him, apart
from mere mortal beings, living on this good earth! Whether this man Jesus was the son of that god, he neither knew nor cared.
His people had been kings and queens before David’s bloody vengeance, and every life that he took now was in
payment for those earlier deaths and the glory stripped from him while his grandfather’s grandfather was still seed
in the man’s sac of a far better race than these ignoble grunts! Because of his skill and knowledge
in poisons that killed before they could be detected, he lived safer and more fully than any king with a mere crowd of
gold resting uneasily on his head; save for the loneliness
that such absolute power engendered.
This girl coming out of hiding was a telling surprise. Pilate was still privately questioning the strange rumors of
death and then life-after-death of the Centurion’s
own son, since they came from unimpeachable sources and the old man was being sent to a trial in
Rome a younger and more fit man could hardly be expected to survive! He thought with malicious glee, knowing how bitterly
and often the old warrior rebuked him for his ‘unmanly weakness for boy’s hinder parts “. None had seen
the Tribune or another of the more common soldiers who had won the lot for the dead man’s inner garment had been seen
in their usual haunts in the taverns or the brothels with their companions, and there was strong word that he had murdered
them both because his own sympathies with this wicked and involved religion was well known, even to the point of his giving
up his Roman status to take a Jewish name!
That was more disgusting that treating
a street urchin or a slave boy to a life of ease and the potential for wealth is he had half a mind to make something of himself!
The hope for additional gain brightened his sour mood and he motioned for her to be brought into his private rooms.
If he expected a smile or the breathiness of a flustered maiden he was immediately put to rights on such flattering notions.
“ I need to kill someone. And you’re the only person I know I trust enough, to
help me. “ She said without courtesy or preamble.
It took him a moment to weigh all the ramifications of her blunt statement, but he never doubted her intent.
“ If I am to kill someone, I need a little more information then that Child. Sit down,
please! And I thought this was going to be a boring week! “
He scolded himself in genuine delight.
“ I’m
going to be the one to do the killing, there’s no need for you to be harmed! “
She emphasized without smiling, but she accepted his invitation to sit at the lavishly appointed table, that was heavily
laden with food from distant lands. “ I only need your advice and... unique assistance...to
acquire the substances I need! “
“
Forgive me, I really do need a moment to take all this in. Do you mind if I call in Rueben ? It
will save repeating it all later. He won’t believe a word of it, if I say it! “
Evi fairly cackled, feeling a rise of sexual tension his swollen legs and claves hadn’t allowed.
“ Yes, I do mind! This is between you and me! “
She stood up, as if to leave.
“ No!
No, princess! Between you and me, just as you say! “ He said anxiously.
He looked over the napkin he used to delicately dap at the corners of his mouth to buy time, as she looked around from
corner to corner in amazement at the art and tapestries he’d managed to collect. The thought of a major Roman player
dying of an untraceable poison he provided moved him as no mere flesh had done. Even before he was deed a major portion
of the staggering amount of wealth Zaavan managed to acquire in only three years, he was already wealthier
than Herod’s sons, and had fewer enemies he had to fear!
These Roman dogs
were wonderfully efficient and cold in their means of death but to be presented with this delightful little puzzle was almost
as sweet as imagining her screams under torture that he himself would suggest. He ran his filed thumb nail against his sensitive
lips, tantalizing himself into an erection under the table. He’d grown so bored with mere death, and after so many chests
of gold coins, how could their chill weight move one as well as the puzzle she offered.
‘Was it the centurion who raped her? Or his father? Both? Pilate! Yes, Pilate!‘
Vaguely disappointed at how easy it had been to guess. The next question would be how? Would it be
more delightful to allow the current regime to be overthrown and thrown into chaos by not guessing how killed
the supreme Roman commander? Or would it be more profitable to stay her hand at the last possible moment,
and win himself the gratitude of a man beyond his reach any other way? He jerked forward in surprise as
he pictured a grateful Pilate in bed with him, confessing a forbidden love he’d never thought to know with another man!
“ Are you ill, my lord? “ She
demanded in innocence and he realized he couldn’t stand up without betraying his private thoughts. Making his face look
appropriately grave. he assured her it was at the awesome thought of what she had brought
to him.
But at her look of disgust, he quickly changed the direction of his thoughts.
Two
of that insufferable woman’s offspring dead and mutilated at their hands, and no clear link back to
him?
“ Eat something, Child, as I think what we can use that is the most effective. This
fantasy of yours amuses me. “
“
Then you’ll do it? “
“
Yes, of course. You have my word. But why hurry? Does your mother or brothers know what you’re
doing? “
“ They
would hardly have allowed me to come if they knew! “
“
I’m not accustomed to such honesty, be gentle with me Ahava bat Joses,
begin at the beginning! This I must hear fully to comprehend what
it is you ask me to
do. “
Though she winced at the eagerness in his voice and mistrusted the way his eyes narrowed in delight as if he were looking
past her skin to the bones and sinew within, there was little she could do now but obey his curious words.
She was halfway through her story, with only slight pauses and sharp questions
to show he was truly listening to her, though his head lolled back and his fingers
twisted between them selves like overstuffed intestines waiting to be dropped into boiling water to bubble. They were interrupted
by a frightened man rushing into the room, throwing himself to his master’s feet under the table, his words obscured
by the frantic kisses he gave them, saying that a brute of Roman fiend had just broken into the house and threatened to beat
him within an inch of his life unless he lead him to where the princess was being held captive! It took so long for the terrified
man to answer than Machba`nel reached the door of the room, smelled the stifling fear and the hot stink of urine with which
the frightened man had wet himself, only to see the gross creature exuding over both sides of a broad, carved chair and her,
sitting at the far end of the table from the revolting excess of food, her eyes as wide as one of the plates under the staggering
superfluity of partially consumed food.
“ Beloved! “ He called, reaching
out his hand to her.
He could see she was restrained only by the shock of her emotions at his larger-than-life show at the door, and was
torn apart on the inside at the guilty wrestling of emotions on her face; but he forgave her as quickly even as he sensed
her willing participation in coming to this vile house.
“
Beloved? Heart of my hearts, please! Come with me! There’s
someone waiting to see you! “
“
No! “ She protested against hope, her eyes almost leaving their
sockets before the screech emerged from her puckered mouth, scaring the obese man across
the table from her for the first time.
He
tried to kick his feet free to run, but the slender man clung to them all the more, at the thought of being
pushed out into the enraged warrior’s sight; but the girl
fled past them both, running to the crying man’s arms as he filled the doorway.
“ No! “ She repeated in
awe, seeing the joy on Machba`nel’s face.
His heart seemed to stop
and time ceased as he held her trembling body in his arms and saw the untainted innocence remaining behind her anger and need
for revenge.
“ He’s alive! Death couldn’t keep Him!
Come, Love, come! To life! Leave death here! “
He couldn’t seem to draw a breath as he waited for her answer from the confused
mix of emotions that swept her face. Looking up at him she looked
more a child than a woman, but there was no question of the strength of will and character residing within
the trembling body as she pressed herself as closely to him
as their clothing would allow. They became one flesh in that moment, even as he wrapped one arm tighter around her, holding
her upright and the other arm back on the wood sill to hold himself upright.
“
Bethany? “ She question in eager softness as their enemy grinned,
with his back turned to them.
“ No, here in Jerusalem! “ Machba`nel
answered in joyous explosion, finding his breath and his heartbeat in the same instant.
When it was evening and the doors were shut and barred in fear, Jesus stood among them. Thomas hadn’t been able to join them before
the gates were sealed for the night, and they all feared to move in the empty streets, lest they stand out and be recognized
as strangers from the Providences. But the men were frightened, thinking it was a ghost.
“ Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?
See My hands and feet, that it is I Myself. Touch me, and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones as you
see that I have! “
And
He held out his hands and feet, but they still couldn’t believe it for joy and they were marveling between themselves.
“
Have you anything to here to eat? “
And they gave Him a broiled fish, and He took it and ate in before them. Seeing this, the disciples rejoiced when they
saw the LORD. .
-
Sheba forgot her age as she followed up the inner staircase, playfully chasing after
a loose thread on her mistress’ cloak, as the soldier led her mistress to the public upper room. Taking two stairs for
every one that Ahava’s legs could reach after their long run, he raced into the crowded room, and looked around disappointed,
as if it were empty. The room was occupied with the shadows and clothing of nearly forty people, cloaks, sleeping mats, individual
clothing, even two mismatched shoes, lying on their side. There Ahava saw her mother, seated on a sturdy tan stool,
and three of her four brothers and their wives. It remained so unreal despite the smiles and air of expectancy that even when
James looked up and spoke, it seemed to be coming from inside her head. Then her mother reached out her arms and Deborah
raised her head from Mary’s lap, making room for her younger sister.
Nimrod started barking excitedly from the bottom of the staircase, causing Sheba to hiss and arch her back. A male child cried,
she took one step. And she could go no further! Looking around the silent room with awe, and seeing no one
but her family, her mother and young John, three of her brothers, their wives and children in tears, she ran to her mother
and threw herself at Mary’s withered chest.
“ Have I missed
Him? “ She wailed in fresh sorrow.
Rebecka helped
Salome’ to her feet, then offered her arms to the stricken teen, to allow Mary to lean on James’ arm so she could
stand and stretch her legs. The Magdalene offered her a mother’s arms but Ahava couldn’t accept, striking her
knotted fists against her thighs in shame and rage. While she’d wasted precious hours in that vile establishment, He’d
come and gone!
There were no words which could console her in her pain.
“
They’ve gone to Galilee to meet Him, as He asked for them to do. The angels told us! Don’t cry, Little One!
“ Deborah urged.
The people’s familiar faces became a blur through the tears stinging her eyes but her mother’s face was near,
gentle and serene with peace. She nodded, to assure her youngest that what was said was true! Then she looked up as the group
broke apart to allow the man who loved her to claim her within the strength and the comfort of his arms.
“ I swear, Good Mother, we’re going to marry, as soon as she’s ready? I give
you my solemn oath, I’ll never harm her! “
Mary raised her hand quickly and managed a light laugh, her joy reestablishing itself as quickly as did her thoughts on how
to help the others in the nearly empty room.
“ ..You know He taught us never to swear, but to say
“yes, yes”. or “ no, no. “
She reminded
him as tenderly as if he were one of her sons. She tried to hide the ache of standing so long, lest anyone give too much of
their attention to her. Sheba jumped into Abigail’s lap the moment she set her daughter down. There was noise and confusion
at the door, then the heavily cloaked form of the centurion who’d presided over the Master’s execution was pushed
roughly up the stairs. Xavier looked around in fresh pain, the absence of physical liability seeming more a curse than a blessing
at this moment. He’d done nothing to deserve the freedom he’d woke too this morning!
“ Perhaps I should go! “
At Mary’s
glance upward, he crumbled to his knees beside the sweeping woman with her head in her mother’s lap.
“ I’ve done nothing to deserve your look of kindness in my direction, Good Woman. I don’t
even know what I wakened to find myself healed....I....I stood by while they crucified your Son! “
Apulio, carrying the tiny boy in his arms and Miriam his mother came hesitantly
toward the sound of the familiar voice, bring fresh tears
to Xavier’s eyes as he saw them and opened his arms to all three of the,
“ GOD looks down on the heart, and smiles in His mercy. Stay as long as you wish, adonai. All who
love the Holy One above are welcome here. “ Mary urged gently and he winched at the love and humility in
her tone.
He looked away quickly, but pressed his free hand on the outside of hers.
“ It’d be different if he were alive! If I could beg his forgiveness... but now? “
His
grief refused to allow him to complete the sentence.
“
Then why are you here? “ Hosea ben Dan asked gruffly, yanking back the heavy cloak
in a quick search for concealed weapons. “ To arrest us? “
“ Hardly. “ The old man sighed as his courage and his attempt
to believe failed him. He sank to the stone floor beside the woman’s middle-aged daughter and he just let go. He heard
Giovanni’s voice behind him, questioning till he saw he was physically unharmed, but neither of them belonged to their
old capacity and there hadn’t been time yet to shape what this new call might be, except that he had to answer it. Because
of Who it came it arose from, rather than any certainty of where it would lead.
Ahava looked away quickly, lest they think she was spying on them. And as she did she chanced to notice Nimrod staring keenly
at an empty pace. She glanced over her shoulder, ready to kill the spider or insect that held his attention so absorbedly.
There was nothing there, it was as empty as her heart! She took a step toward him, but the dog seemed not to notice her approach,
instead his tail began to wag with increasing violence. A part of her feared madness on his part with so many toddlers and
young children near, and she called his name again, this time more softly. He stood to his feet and looked intently in her
direction than his two front legs began to beat out a tattoo of excited nail clicks, as if he was watching a beloved figure
draw nearer.
She looked again, straining to discern what he was looking at?
Then the air molecules shifted and coalesced into a familiar shape and a warm hand reached out and took hers.
“ Jesus! Master! “
She cried out
in joy as the others turned to look and the familiar arms closed around her in joy and promise.
“ Oh, Beloved! “ Her sister rebuked, reaching down to pick up her son.
“ You’re such a dreamer! “
Hilkiah and Judith looked up, ready to mediate between the two sisters, and stopped short, prompting thirteen-year old Ahava
to turn back and look again toward the speckled dog that began to bark lightly; his whip like tail wagging his hindquarters
from side to side. Their mother Mary seized two-and-a-half year old Michael Yisrael to keep him from falling as Deborah leaped
to her feet with a scream of joy.
Jesus bent and kissed His youngest half-sister as
she reached Him, ecstatically calling His name at the top of her lungs though he was only inches as He hastened to her; then
quickly opened His free arm to Joseph’s firstborn, as Deborah rushed to His side in joy but disbelief. Looking up longingly
at the face she’d always taken for granted in Nazareth.
“ Oh Jesus!
Seeing you die like that and knowing that I was at fault! I died a little inside! “ She clung to him
as if she feared he’d disappear in a puff of smoke and be forever beyond her ability to reach!
“ Hush your tears, Woman. “ He urged gently, holding her near until her cries subsided and she
could risk pulled back within His arms enough to look up at his face. “ It’s painful yes, but it’s a part
of the healing process. And Dear Heart, and I want nothing more than you to be well and whole. Alive, well and whole for eternity.
Where I am, there you may be also. “
Ahava sighed
happily, too full of convictions and images for words. But she loosed one hand long enough to ben and pat Nimrod for reassurance
and to open her arms to Sheba’s quiet meow of request. Linked together by love, His arm came to rest on her shoulder
as her small black cat Sheba looked up at His face in unblinking love, purring their shared contentment. They walked
toward Deborah, whose extended arms, empty of her youngest son by Mary’s willing sacrificial love, reached out hungrily
for the One she treasured above all else.
“ I told you
I would never leave you, Dear heart. “
Deborah collapsed into His arms
moaning with a fierce joy that caused her young son to turn and look at his grandmother’s face for understanding.
“ Why is Ima crying, Savta? “
Mary took a deep
breath and risked looking at the small boy without hindering the depth of her love for him in her eyes or in her manner.
“ She cries tears of joy, little one. She cries in delight because it’s too much to contain it all inside.
“
Michael Yisreal’s mouth became a small ‘oh’ and he looked back, his small fist knotting tightly in her hair
as she shifted her position, willing to bear the extra burden of his weight for her love of him in her Son. She had
to trust how much he understood, for even she was learning anew each day as wonders unfolded she could never have dreamed
lay in store for her awestruck eyes.
Xavier held his arm around his wife as their adult son
approached, drawn by the smile of serenity on Shelomith’s face. He reached out his hand to Isaac, his face aglow as
they watched, surrounded by love and acceptance.
“ Shemi has agreed
to come with me to Rome, son. Since I’m to have a ‘trial’ before my execution, I may yet have an opportunity
to speak to Tiberius Caesar? Oh son! Who would have ever thought we’d share the joy of commitment of service to the
Risen Christ? “
Isaac stooped and laid his cheek against the bony
protuberance of the man’s shoulder, a sigh escaping him that spoke in even greater detail than he had words. Smiling
tenderly, the aged warrior reached up with his free hand to pat the man’s cheek.
“ Abba? I learned who to worship at Ima’s knee, but I learned how to worship
at your side. “ He whispered at last, unashamed of the tears that streaked down the
scars on his face to dampened the edges of his beard.
-
Jesus therefore
spoke to them again as He prepared to leave.
“
Shalom, Peace be with you. As the Father sent Me, I also end you. “
And
when He had said this he breathed on them, and said to them, “ Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they have been previously forgiven;
if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. “
And sharing a personal goodbye with each, He left them in the same manner that He arrived. And only Thomas, also
called Didymus wasn’t among them. As they stood there, one family united and restored among the many, Ahava
walked over to them, her beloved cat Sheba asleep against her chest, nestling herself inside the tender embrace of the man
her mother and eldest brother had chosen to be her husband. Followed by Nimrod, who flung himself to her feet, his tongue
lolling out from his exertions playing with the children. Her toes suddenly warm beneath his speckled fur. For now, they were
children enough and cherished enough until it was the appropriate time for her to marry and begin a family of her own as her
mother Mary and father Joseph had done. Feeling the weight of his chin on the top of her hair, she turned her face upwards
for a kiss of promise and new hope, in the Upper Room, in Jerusalem. Already a little in love with a man called Isaac.
-
* * * *
-
Sunday, 1st of Ethanim
Second watch of the day
110
AD
City of Antioch
-
“ Oh, Savta! “ Havala
exclaimed. Laying the pen down and massaging the area between her thumb and finger to ease some of the
strain of writing for three days. “ What a wonderful story!
“
“ What’s
that? It sounds like....it is! Why are the shofars being sounded so
urgently at this time of day? Weren’t they sounded for the holiday this morning at dawn? I thought
I heard them, Havala. Loud voices! Crying! Child, what is it? Please! Go and see and
then return, as quickly as your dear little feet will carry you. “
“ It’s only cousin Michael’s son, Sophereth, Savta! He’s very
dirty and out of breath. Dod Simon and Abba are talking to him, he’s sitting down now. Oh! They’ve closed the
door. Now I can’t tell. “
“ Perhaps he brings more news of bloodshed against the Brethren? They
have stopped and been turned away! Oh they must have! I was so worried for nothing. Come Child, sit near me. I don’t
want to be alone. “
“
You don’t have to be afraid, Savta. You’re not alone. “
“ I was afraid. It’s been so long a time without Him, Child, Much longer
than even your father has been alive. But I’m not afraid any more. I promise. Is Isaac asleep? I
don’t hear him. “
“
No. Abba had something for him to do. He makes too much noise when he gets bored Savta, and Paul is afraid...I mean...Abba
is afraid he’ll disturb you. “
“ I’ll be sleeping soon enough, Little One. I like to hear the sounds of you children
playing. What a beautiful voice you have. I wish I could see you better. “
“ Bashemath says my eyes are too close together and my brows are too thick, that
I’ll have to marry a butcher because my lashes are so long that I look like an ox! I’ll never be beautiful, Savta!
“ Though it hurt to raise her arm, she reached over in the direction of the child’s
sighs, hearing the sound of running feet that passed them by without even stopping and a quickening of her heart beat over
the pressure in her chest warned her that something out of the ordinary had happened.
“ I wish I could see what your eyes saw, Savta. “
The young girl’s lack of comprehension about what was happening behind the closed door was strangely reassuring
to the old woman. She’d spent so much time in the company of her long dead beloved that they were as near to her as
the flesh of her youngest son’s youngest girl; perhaps more so, for inwardly she could see them as clearly as if they
were gathering together in front of her now.
“ That was such a wonderful story, Savta!
“
The young girl’s voice
repeated, from over her head, strained slightly as if she were lifting her arms over her head and stretching them. Probably
yawning a small yawn as she sought to get feeling back into her cramped fingers after writing for so long. A bird scratched
in the midst of loose gravel somewhere near by and the air filled with a strange and sweet perfume.
“
There’s so many other things I want to know! Did Joses and Jael ever get back together again,
or did he learn to love Abigail? Did Simon find Elisheba and their son Or did Caleb grow up with the zealots?
...Savta? I’ll wait, you must be very tired.....Would you like a sip of your tea? It
should be cooler now....Savta? Grandmother1 Oh, Abba! Abba? “
“ Is Ima awake? We have to pack! Fast! Ask
me no questions Child, just hurry! Do as I say while I prepare Ima for the arduous journey. “
“ She was awake a minute ago. She has a pain, I’ll go get her some goat’s
milk and wine. “
“
Don’t trouble yourself, Children. She’s gone from us. “
“ Paul, no! “
“ Oh Havala! You must be strong for me1 This is no life that I
have given you. Would the Prince of peace come even now to protect and shield us in His great love! I cannot,
and Ima...Ima! Come back to me! “
“ Abba, no! Abba, don’t cry! She’s only gone to be with
grandfather at last. Look at her smile! I can tell! “
She didn’t see her older sister until she spoke, griping the edge of the doorsill to try and keep her feet.
“ Oh, Beloved! You’re such a dreamer!
“
End Chapter 28
THE END
