JESUS
Have We Got A Story For You!

The development of Christianity as told from
the viewpoints of several players in the drama.

By Bob Moore
moore.bob@gmail.com
Copyright 2003

Contents:

INTRODUCTION

1.  MARY (the mother of Jesus) -- 8 CE:
2. JUDAS OF GALILEE (not Judas Iscariot) – 7 CE:
3. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA – 8 CE:
4. SAUL OF TARSUS – 16 CE:
5. NICODEMUS – 28 CE:
6. ANDREW (a disciple of John the Baptist first, then of Jesus) – 27 CE:
7. SIMON PETER – 28 CE:
8. BABA BEN BU’A (leader of Shammai school of Pharisees) – 29 CE:
9. JUDAS ISCARIOT – 29 CE:
10. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, His second account – 29 CE:
11. SIMON PETER, His second account – 29 CE:
12. MARY, Her second account -- 29 CE:
13. JUDAS ISCARIOT, His second account – 29 CE:
14. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, His third account – 30 CE:
15. JOHN MARK – 30 CE:
16. JUDAS ISCARIOT, His third account – 30 CE:
17. JOHN MARK, His second account:
18. JAMES THE BROTHER OF JESUS – 30 CE:
19. THOMAS THE BELOVED DISCIPLE – 30 CE:
20. SAUL OF TARSUS, His second account – 32 CE:
21. ANDREW, His second account – 33 CE:
22. SAUL, His third account – 33 CE:
23. SIMON PETER, His third account – 36 CE:
24. SAUL, His fourth account – 40 CE:
25. BARNABAS (formerly known as Joseph of Arimathea), 40-46 CE:
26. SAUL, His fifth account, April 46-September 51 CE:
27 JAMES, The Brother of the Lord, His second account – October 51 CE:
28. SIMON PETER, His fourth account – winter of 51 - spring of 52 CE:
29. NICODEMUS, His second account – 53 CE:
30. SAUL, His sixth account – Spring of 52 CE – Fall of 56 CE:
31. DEMAS, A disciple of Paul, June 60 - May 65 CE:
32. SAUL, His last account, September 67 CE:
33. DEMAS, His second account, Spring 71 CE:
NOTES

INTRODUCTION:

      And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
     He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."  (Acts 1:6-8)

Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.  (Acts 3:19-21)

This is the story of how Christianity emerged out of the hopes for restoration found in Judaism of the first century. It is told from the viewpoints of participants in the molding process of early Christianity. Each of these had ideas of what it would mean for the people of Israel to be restored to an earlier more favorable national condition. When Judah fell into Babylonian captivity in 586 BC, the prophets began proclaiming promises from God concerning a restoration. What did this mean? Did it mean a return to self-rule? Would it be non political? Did it mean the restoration of literally all things that had fallen into corruption, as they believed it had with the fall into sin of Adam and Eve? Did certain timetables of prophets like Daniel indicate that the restoration and a Restoring person, the Messiah, were immanent? Would attempts to create a new society that recovered the "glorious golden days of the past", require violence with man being used as God’s instrument? And finally, what did people postulate when their precise expectations were not realized?

The tale is told in a roughly chronological order by twelve historical characters whose views sometimes interact. Each speaker takes his or her turn on stage, serving as narrator for events in which they were involved. I have taken what these people might have said if they had chosen to write or dictate periodic entries into something like a diary or journal. They would allude to other contemporary people and events; they would express themselves in much the same way as they have in literature from their own time that features them. The story is cast back and forth from one historical figure to another, showing how each perceived things and how their lives intersected.

The historical evidence available on each of the speakers is taken as a launching point from which I simulate how, if they were reminiscing aloud, they would describe their experiences. I use sources such as the historian, Josephus – their contemporary – who describes some of the background to the setting for this story. The letters of Paul comprise a substantial first person source. But, to fill out the various accounts, I found it necessary to employ critical methods that suggest ways of getting behind the other brief histories available. Doing this enabled me to make a more complete picture of the various forces of influence in Judaism of the first century.  Rewriting the story of Jesus while tying up all the loose ends, will be censured by the devout for its desecration of orthodox truths.  But, among the devout there will be those like me who have sensed a need for reviewing the sources from which fourth century Christianity emerged.

These sources and the reasons for the particular views expressed are noted for each chapter in the endnotes.  Many of the endnotes are essential to a good understanding of the narrative.  In the online version, the highlighted words link to these notes and the "back" icon may be used to return to the text.

In historical works, it can often be shown that official accounts (ie. myths) vary from what actually happened in the past.  To demythologize something is to suggest what actual events might lie behind the official accounts.  To the extent that I consider certain Gospel miracles, for instance, to be "not credible", to that extent I am here demythologizing.

Historical-critical methods give greater weight to first hand accounts than to second hand (or later) accounts. For example, St. Paul’s reminiscence of his conversion in Galatians is given greater weight than Luke’s later account in Acts (when the accounts vary). The historical-critical method also allows historical evidence to take precedence over an apriori theological position. An example of this might be illustrated by references in The Book of Mormon to Hebrews who supposedly came to the Americas long before Columbus did. Although they did not bring horses with them, the Mormon account speaks of horses already being in the Americas. Historical and paleontological studies show that horses did not exist in the new world at that time. For a Mormon to give heavier weight to his theological position concerning the truth of The Book of Mormon also requires him to come up with a harmonization that leans heavily on special pleading (his argument becomes, "the evidence merely has not yet been discovered"). To avoid implausible harmonizations, I let my historical figures speak in a way that harmonizes mainstream Christian positions where possible, but I let them avoid it when such positions seem certainly at odds with history. One such place is the census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. Luke places this at the birth of Jesus, which was about 5 BCE. Other historical sources place the event at around 6 CE. Harmonizers have to strain to do their work with incidents like this or with one like the variance between Paul’s account of the Nabataean plot to kill him in Damascus versus Luke’s account of it as being Jews who were plotting.

Traditionally, stories about Bible times tend to be either incredibly orthodox (e.g. Walter Wangerin Jr.'s Jesus: a Novel), or, oppositely, ready to "throw out the baby with the bathwater".  I mediate between these by recognizing that the official Gospel accounts (and the extra canonical ones, of which I take account here), were not inerrant, nor were they created out of whole-cloth .  The Gospels that we have today evolved out of actual circumstances that I have tried to conceive, given the available evidence and the wealth of historical criticism that we now have.

In the multiple viewpoints presented I have endeavored to stay true to each person’s likely perceptions of reality. When I amplify the historical record, which I do with much speculation, I do so in a way that allows the cogent and plausible flow of historical events. I believe that such fact based creativity enhances our understanding of what actually took place and gives us the proper graphic setting for the drama that we know of as the formation of Christianity.

1.  MARY (the mother of Jesus) – 8 CE

I have told no one of this, but my husband, Joseph’s dying words to me were, "Mother, do you not know that you are the mother of as great a family as ever lived upon the earth… they are raised up to do the Lord’s work—they are a seed bed for a larger spiritual family. Thankyou, Mother, thankyou."

All I could do was cry. Even in the intense labor of his dying pains, Joseph was full of thankfulness to me. And, what have I really done other than what any mother would do in caring for her husband and children? It was like receiving an expensive gift that should have been for someone else. It should have been the gift of life to Joseph himself. He was the father of this "great family". Poor Joseph; so weak then, but so strong in his life, always standing up against the pressure others brought on us, to see things that happened to us as cursed. His passing seemed so unjust. Why at this time, with me pregnant with our seventh child and with Joseph, otherwise, so young and full of life? He walked uprightly. His life had become as pure as gold before our God. He was a man of frequent visions and of dreams, which showed God’s working in our lives. From time to time I am still deeply grieved about the severity of God in it all, but as I see the likeness of Joseph in our children, I do speak out to his spirit to encourage him, if that is possible.

"Joseph, my sweet darling, I do see Jesus and James and even the little ones, as taking up your staff to shepherd your family—our family and other families—to walk in the way our people should go."

Believe it or not, when we were first betrothed, Joseph was not the least bit enthusiastic about attending the synagogue. I was, but he wasn’t. "The Rabbis are all corrupt", he would say, "they have no vision, no inspiring message!" I thought this was just his excuse to avoid the burdens of obtaining a pure life before God. It was, after all, a primary teaching in the synagogue. But, Joseph was a good man and all I could do was pray earnestly and be faithful about my own piety. How would we have children, I thought, and not be examples of piety?

After months of frustration, a new thought began to take root: How do I get Joseph’s attention? Maybe if I were not so careful about my own life—a little less pious; more carefree—maybe then Joseph would take heed? I once thought that this was my big mistake. No, it was not the right thing for me to do, but, even so, I see now that God worked in it anyway. Because of the way I was acting, I was forced to go where I did not really want to go. God used it to bring Joseph closer to my concerns and, strangely, it brought me closer to the visions Joseph had of a restoration of the kingdom of God in the Land.

In all these things, Joseph taught me that forgiveness is God’s greatest desire. He made me to know that my child’s life was willed by God, not an accident and not cursed. He said, "The power of the Spirit of God is in the birth of Jesus. He is a gift to our family and a child of God."

Just this month, the children and I joined with my brothers’ families to observe Passover in Jerusalem. It was the children’s first time there. How lifting of my spirit it was to see their awestruck faces. Caravanning together with kinfolk and friends is so very comforting and healing. The children could run and play with the older cousins and everyone enjoyed the safety and the holiday. It somewhat took my mind off my grief.

The trip, however, was a reminder to me of how quickly my children are growing up. Being now twelve years old, Jesus is consciously taking the role of his father for the family. I laugh when I think about how just last month, a friend of the family came up to our house after we had gotten to sleep. He was outside knocking and saying, "Mary, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has come to me from a long journey, and I have nothing to set before him."

Jesus spoke up and answered, "Do not bother me; the door is already bolted and the children are with me in bed and I cannot get up and give you anything!" I stifled a laugh and our friend kept knocking. Jesus finally got up and gave him as much as he needed. My son is a little Joseph, indeed!

In Jerusalem, Jesus was constantly asking me and everyone else, why such a grand temple with so much priestly organization could not right now become the restored kingdom of Israel. He was pursuing Joseph’s dreams in this and I encouraged him in his desires. "My son," I said, "you truly have your father’s vision." It was only later –on our trip back home—that we finally noticed that Jesus had not stayed joined with his cousins in Jonathan’s family. Of course, I began screaming, running everywhere looking for him. I insisted that I go back to Jerusalem with Jonathan to look for him while the others waited at the Jordan. I can’t believe we went so far on our way home with no one noticing him missing. It cut my heart to think that I might have lost Joseph and now, dear Jesus.

We immediately found him. He was confidently seated with a discussion group in the temple, looking just like an adult. He was glad to see us, but not as overjoyed as I thought he should have been. I said, "Son, why didn’t you stay with your group? Your father would not let this have happened. What would your father have said? I could not bear to loose you both!"

Jesus so calmly reasoned with me, "Mother, am I not attending to my father’s calling? The things that he planned to do, I must take up. I am only doing what I see my father doing." I forgave him so quickly and we were soon laughing so hard. I can tell this is going to be a long-lived story in our family, and with no one, really, to blame.

2. JUDAS OF GALILEE [not Judas Iscariot] – 7 CE:

I was born in Gamala the same year that Rome gave that old fox, Herod, the crown of Judea [40 BCE]. By the time I was 14, King Herod was given control of our land as well. Gamala is situated about seven miles north of Lake Gennesareth in territory now controlled by one of the little foxes, Herod Philip. Although the Songster may have meant it for love, we all thought of Herod’s sons as the little foxes who were spoiling the vineyard planted by the Holy One of Israel. They do this by grinding us down with taxes, all the while calling themselves, "Benefactors".

They were saying, "We make it possible to build up the cities and armies of your land." The truth is these armies protect their tax gathering abilities and the rest of the money builds their palaces and buys luxuries beyond what you can imagine.

Now, this tax gathering is not so bad for the kingship of a free people but in time we have lost our freedom. I remember as a boy seeing two collectors publicly smiting my friend’s father because he had paid only nine out of ten minas that were due. I felt the blows as if I were being beaten. I swore then that I would someday do something to help our people against our masters. With every new tax my rage grew. There were head taxes, land taxes, salt taxes, crown taxes, one-third of the grain tax, one-half the fruit and nut tree tax, road tolls and on and on. But it was hard to know what was lawful, as from our own tetrarch, and what was enslavement due to Rome’s patronage of Herod Phillip and Herod Antipas. All that confusion began to change when Caesar replaced Judea’s ethnarch, Archelaus, with the Roman, procurator, Coponius.

With the death of the old fox [4 BCE], we lost the king’s title. Our rulers were "one quarter" rulers as "tetrarchs". Archelaus of Judea, could not even merit that title but was only called an ethnarch – an overseer. He had a manifest inability to govern, but instead of replacing him by another member of Jewish nobility they subjected the Judeans to direct administration. Foreign rule and captivity are now openly displayed. First it was Egypt, next Babylon, and now Rome is our slave master.

Last year, to make things worse, the emperor decreed a tax census to be carried out in all of our Land. We all were under the supervision of Rome’s legate in Syria. Augustus had named Publius Sulpicius Quirinius as governor of Syria, and he put him in charge of the census. This meant the registration of everyone and of everything we owned for the purpose of imposing more taxes on us.

Everyone has been denouncing this among his friends. Even the Pharisee, Zaddik, has taken to expositing the Prophets on their message of restoration for Israel. Our synagogue meetings have become my meat and drink. Zaddik’s denunciations of the new taxes have set my soul on fire. "Zaddik" or "Sadduc" is a nickname meaning "the Righteous One". His talk of a liberated people helped to bind him and me together. Like Gideon of old, I began to think that God was raising me up to break the jaws of the wicked.

The Holy One of Israel had made absolute promises to His people that He would once again restore them to be a free people in the land of Israel. It was on the lips of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, not to mention the lesser prophets. The Lord of Hosts was calling me to slaughter the Roman slave masters as He had called Gideon to slay the Midianites and as He called my namesake, Judas Maccabee, to rebel against Antiochus Epiphanies. I began to convince Sadduc that we could raise a band of men that could strike fear into our slave masters. "Their foot shall slide in due time," I told Sadduc, "then the Lord of Hosts shall lead us toward His promised restoration."

My sons are now almost all grown men. They too felt that we ought to make war with the enemy.

"The war cry heard from these Golan heights," they said, " will be heard in all of Galilee and Judea."

To do the work that our God was calling me to do, I needed men. With my older boys and Zaddik, I visited several synagogue meetings in various towns in Gamala and Galilee. Many who heard us were not convinced that now was the time to assert our freedom.

"The righteous will eventually prevail over the wicked;" they argued, "all in God’s time."

"The Lord God is a man of war," I countered, "The Lord is His name. He is mighty and terrible." Quoting more scripture I admonished: "Thy right hand is become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, has dashed in pieces the enemy."

"We are his right hand now, " I reasoned, "I put on righteousness and it clothed me. I break the jaws of the wicked and pluck the spoil out of his teeth." "Can’t you hear the thundering voice of the Holy One of Israel?" The faint rumble we heard just then was taken by all as a sign of God's assent.

In Capernaham I enlisted a man, Amon, to help train this company of men we were raising. As a young man he had fought with Theudas who, along with about 400 men had tried to do some of the very things we were now being called to do. Amon had some good ideas on how to go about terrorizing the authorities without suffering the loss of a leader and a dispersal that put out the fires of this earlier campaign for freedom.

Besides Amon, many young men were joining our party. Having Zaddik along seemed to lend a great deal of legitimacy to our cause. The Pharisees were usually highly respected among the people for their righteous lives and my sons were also good recruiters.

We began having planning meetings and training sessions. We stressed that we wanted only those who were prepared to die in this righteous cause. God had put me in this world, like Esther, perhaps, "for a time such as this" and we wanted only those who felt the same way. I vowed that we had good reason to believe God would stand with us. "The murmuring against Rome is everywhere in the Land. When we strike, the bees will swarm! If our insurrection can hold for a few months," I said, "the whole land from Gamala to Jerusalem will be unified. God has raised me up to deliver the slaves from Egypt. The people of God should be a free people – subject to none but God! Without these taxes and Roman domination, we can prosper and build our own things."

In our planning we decided to begin our "strike" on the chief tax collectors in each place of our tax districts. Quirinius awards the contracts on the basis of bidding and then these chiefs farm out their subordinate collectors to do the actual work. Without official collectors, Quirinius would not be able to proceed and if we kept up the terror it would make it harder for him to find replacements.

Picking off the prominent enforcers of the new tax laws worked very well in the beginning. We did our jobs at night, hacking these conspirators to death in their homes. The trouble is that Quirinius’ centurions knew how to get our names and torture our families. But in our grief and anger we have found that we are even more zealous to avenge ourselves on the wicked.

Another problem is that each man of us seems to be deciding who among the people are the "wicked". There are hundreds of us now, but all are not mere revolutionaries but some among us are bandits and this I fear is the result of Amon’s emphasis on widespread terrorism as necessary to bring the whole of the Land into engagement with Quirinius and eventually Rome.

The bandits among us are plundering, burning and injuring or even killing many of our own good Galileans. Zaddik has convinced me that this will not serve to bring Judea to arms with us. I suggested that if some of our men could set fire in the temple at Jerusalem that it would sound a call to the hesitant. "Who but the Romans would be blamed for that," I told Zaddik.

Apparently some of our number attempted just what we had been discussing. They were caught and crucified on the Jericho road.

My life here in Galilee is now like David’s of old. Our dwelling is with the serpent and wild beasts of the rocks and wilderness. Those looking for us are becoming a greater and greater force. Daily, it seems, there are hundreds being crucified after being betrayed by tortured acquaintances, and some of those supposedly being betrayed are not even of us.

At night we can see fires in villages lighting up the Heavens with a flickering glare. I see that as a sign of God’s wrath being poured out on those not having the zeal of the Lord as we do. It may be that I should suffer death, but I’m sure that God will raise up others to take my place until our Land is avenged and free at last. It is all in the workings of our Great God and King.

3. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA – 8 CE:

From Arimathea, the 22 day of the month Nissan, in the second year of our new procurator, Coponius, in the twelfth year of my life: I have never been so cheerful, so full of hope as I am now over the question of my future vocation. I just returned from my first visit as a young man to the city of our great God and King. Jerusalem was not Caesarea, but going right into the temple was more than our over-night guests have ever been able to conjure for me.

Travels with Papa and Mother, these last ten years have been mostly in the other direction; from Arimathea to Caesarea and from there to visit my grandparents in Salamis on the island of Cyprus. It was there I was born in my Papa’s parent’s house, the year before Herod the Great finally died. They say I was speaking complete sentences with a Cypriot accent before we moved back to Arimathea when I was two.

Grandmother was attending my mother during her pregnancy while Papa, my uncle, and Grandpa, attended to the details of our family’s travel-agent business. For fifteen years, Papa and Mother have been living in Arimathea where the family business has established an inn. This serves as a secure stay-over place for pilgrims arriving in Caesarea and headed for the festivals in Jerusalem. For years before our establishment in Arimathea, Grandpa and his father before him negotiated contracts with shipping people to accept passengers arriving in Cyprus and headed for Joppa. Since King Herod’s marvelous works on the harbor of Caesarea a few years back, more pilgrims are taking the Caesarea to Arimathea to Jerusalem ascent rather than the formerly popular, Joppa to Jerusalem ascent. Just after their marriage, Mother and Papa expanded the family business by moving to Arimathea where the family bought and renovated a large house to form this inn.

What made it even more profitable was the fact that Papa’s brother, Aaron and his wife, Mary (with Grandpa’s help) were able to purchase a large house in Jerusalem itself. This was of special interest to Aaron because our family is Levite and he had envisioned priesthood possibilities. I am proud to say that he has been on the roster of divisions for thirteen years now and has even twice obtained the lot for special services.

Our business affords discounts at our inns for those purchasing a voyage from Cyprus to Caesarea. This practice has resulted in making our family richer and more influential which also occasions my interest in a possible apprenticeship to one of the more notable teachers of the law in Jerusalem. Uncle Aaron is enthusiastic and Papa seems to be supporting my interest for now; "After all", I’m sure he thinks, "He won’t be able to start until he’s 20 years old, and by then, eight year old, Mnason, can help with the business.

Between now and then I will continue my home education with the help of my tutor, Phasaelus, who teaches using our family’s copies of the Scripture, "The Greek Poets Anthology", and "The Rhetoric Student’s Guide". Even though Phasaelus has not seen my work, I have already skipped ahead in the "Guide" to some of the third stage exercises in oratory: "The Writing of Speeches".

Since my twelfth-year visit to the temple this last Passover, almost every line I write is weighted by questions regarding the restoration of Israel. Has the promise of the prophets been fulfilled? Would it not require the restoration of an independent kingship in Judea for restoration to really be accomplished?

Papa says I should not be so concerned about such things. He says God will bring it about in His own time and that when men try to accomplish their own designs in God’s name, it causes more harm than good: "What became of the Maccabean revolt? What became of last year’s rebellion in Galilee under Judas of Gamala and Sadduc? Wars broke out," he said, "rebellions, famine, innocent lives taken, even fire in the temple!"

Uncle Aaron says, however, that God’s own time is getting close. Uncle and Papa allowed me to go with them to some teaching groups in the temple where talk was heard regarding what the prophets meant about restoration. In one group I even heard a boy like myself sitting in the midst of several prominent teachers, both listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and answers.

Before his parents found and took him away, he had made a good case for Daniel’s prophecies as pointing toward our time. The teachers of the law bristled, though, when the boy suggested that Daniel’s reference to "the abominations of desolation" might be committed by God’s own people rather than by aliens. He also offered that the "70 weeks" would come to pass soon. Afterwards I heard Uncle Aaron explaining to Papa that he didn’t think there would be a 70 weeks fulfillment without there being a Messiah first. "After all," he said, "for the Messiah to be cut off or excommunicated you have to have him present, besides, if he were cut off, then where would be your restoration king?"

Papa said he thought the Essenes might have the right idea about restoration: "I think they say, ‘The kingdom is among you,’ and are thereby saying, ‘it is already restored.’"

"But," reminded Uncle Aaron, "the Essenes rebel against the temple by offering their sacrifices elsewhere."

"I know," Papa reasoned, "and their choice of an unmarried life won’t perpetuate their kingdom beyond one generation." We all got a good laugh out of that.

Back at Uncle’s house we had to fill Aunt Mary in on everything we heard concerning restoration talk. She couldn’t hear enough, but Papa and Uncle warned that the ruling parties in the temple considered such talk as seditious and dangerous to what they called the beneficial situation we have at present with Caesar.

"I would love to have a child," Aunt Mary murmured, "who could grow up and be as intelligent as Joseph or Mnason here, or the boy they saw in the temple." Uncle Aaron, as he has done before, reminded her of the happy circumstance of old priest Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth. About 13 years ago, just when Uncle Aaron started regular priestly duties, he had heard about Zechariahs’ suffering a stroke during the burning of incense and then recovering his voice afterwards when the Lord looked with favor on his wife’s long barrenness.

"I’m confident before the Lord," I said, "that He will hear our prayers for preserving your family honor with a child. After all, you and Uncle Aaron are not old."

Uncle went on to tell us he heard that Zechariahs thinks his son, John, is leaning towards becoming an Essene. "Not the community dweller kind, but rather the ‘Dacae’ kind [hermits], as the Qumranees would say. The boy is devout!"

"I think I would also like to call our boy John," Aunt Mary offered.

"I’m thinking ‘Mark’," countered Uncle Aaron. We all laughed and enjoyed the rest of that pleasantly warm afternoon in dry Jerusalem and Papa and I returned to Arimathea the next day.

4. SAUL OF TARSUS – 16 CE:

Reflecting on my first year as a page and student under Gamaliel here in Jerusalem, I am impressed by how it all got started seven long years ago. It was then that the Temple defilement by the Samaritans [9 CE] had left me horror-struck. I was only 14 years old and had just made a pilgrimage from Tarsus to Jerusalem with my parents and older sister. That Passover was my first visit to the temple. What an uproar! As was then customary, the priests had opened the Temple gates just after midnight. Although the pollution of the temple would remain for seven days, the people were still allowed to bring gifts to the Temple. By the time our family arrived at the Temple after sunrise, the dead bodies that certain Samaritans had thrown about the place had been removed. There were no bloodstains. People said they were bodies taken from recent graves.

I could not understand why anyone would want to make the Temple unclean. I knew the Samaritans held Mount Gerizam to be their holy place, but did not imagine that their belief would manifest itself so strongly against our holy place. I thought they must be jealous of the splendor of our house of prayer for it seemed glorious to me that day. Father said he thought they defiled it because Augustus had replaced King Herod’s son, Archelaus, with a Roman governor, Coponius. Father said, "The Samaritans were hoping that Archelaus would continue the new construction that his father, Herod the Great had started in Samaria. Since Coponius is indifferent towards the Samaritan religion, they are attempting to besmear the glory of Herod’s work here in Jerusalem just to get even."

It was that very day I resolved to devote myself to the purity of the Law and Temple. I decided that I would train myself to be a champion for the protection of what belongs to us: the glory, the covenants, the Temple service, and the promises. Father assured me that, should I continue doing well in my studies at home, he would try to see if my training could continue in Jerusalem when I was of age. He had contacts with officers of the high priest Annas regarding contracts for the sale of linen priestly garments that our household procured from merchants in Tarsus. I told Father that I would like to become a scribe and learn from one of the elders in the Sanhedrin.

Thanks be to God, that is what I have been doing now this last year. My studies now are so much more challenging, interesting and relevant to our Hebrew heritage than they were growing up in Tarsus.

In Tarsus I used the Greek name, Paul, because it sounded something like my Hebrew name Saul and because of my help among our family’s commercial contacts with Greeks in our linen trade. Here in Jerusalem I use the name, "Saul", to identify with our tribe’s greatest man, Saul, a Benjamite. Perhaps some day I will be able to again heighten the respect of his name.

When I was young my mother used to say that, being left-handed, I was a true heir of those 700 left-handed Benjamites who could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. Our family prided themselves on being of the tribe of Benjamin. Father said that maybe my being left-handed was a sign that I would indeed become a scribe. He reasoned that when writing in Aramaic or Hebrew, the left-handed scribes were provided a better view of the lines they were writing from right to left and that their writings were less prone to having fingers smudge the fresh ink. That was one of our family jokes, but that is the very thing I do now for income as a copyist for the House of Annas in the Temple. My joke was that, somewhat like the left-handed Benjamite, Ehud, I would help to save our nation from bondage using a scribe’s pen rather than a sword.

I began my secondary studies in Tarsus at age 14. This took place under Stoic teachers at the gymnasium situated on the banks of the Cydnus River. There we trained our bodies by athletic rules to give us a healthy state. We were trained in moving with elegance and grace. Academically we covered the Greek poets, geometry, music, and every kind of philosophy. My fellow students there did not have the same ambitions that I had and appeared to me – for the most part – to be frivolous.

Father was soon able to transfer me to one of the schools of rhetoric in Tarsus. There I developed my oratorical skills. The first stage in this was the boring theory of discourse; the second, the studies of speeches of the great masters of rhetoric. That was some what better, but the final stage; the writing of practice speeches, was the most engaging.

During this time, my ambition to go to Jerusalem burned in my soul. The fire grew hotter when it happened that one of Father’s young trading partners, Demetrius, sought to be married to my sister, Michal. Michal was eighteen when the wedding took place. I was seventeen. Demetrius and Father often talked of setting up an office in Jerusalem itself to make our interests there more secure. After two years in Tarsus, the new couple and their new daughter, Junia, made the move and I was able to join them a year later at age 20. How providential! I then had a place to live here.

This first year has been fascinating to me. With little trouble at all, I was able to become a page for Gamaliel, a member of the Sanhedrin. As grandson of Hillel, he had recently become an elder and the main successor to his grandfather, the leader of the moderate section of the Pharisees.

The group of other young men that I am with makes my life here like heaven on earth. All those practices that I grew up with in the synagogue are part of my everyday life here. Our concern with ritual purity of food is simplified as we eat together and as we trust and respect each other’s standards. It’s not like it was in the world of Tarsus. Our common studies and discussions are so stimulating.

We argue good-naturedly about everything. Nicodemus, who comes from Alexandria, propounds Philo. Jonathan from here in Jerusalem insists that the kingdom of heaven will come upon us when enough of the people of the Land ascribe to Pharisaic standards. Joseph from Arimathea and I have constant discussions over whether Philo’s "free will" or the Essene’s strict view of determinism should inform the Pharisee view of God’s control of all things. It is obvious to me that in spite of all the wrangling, my commission must be to make plain to our people, the purity expounded in the oral law of the Mishnah. I believe that in this I am advancing in Judaism beyond many of my fellow students.

We as a nation have lost political control and it is only as we regain control of our religious life that we will be entrusted again with self-rule. The Lord said by Moses, "You shall be holy to me, because I, the LORD, am holy; and I have separated you from the peoples to belong to me." Thus purity consists in specific actions that His people perform and He in turn will reciprocate for good or for evil. Rabbi Gamaliel was recently asked, "How many Torahs were given to Israel?" "Two," he said, "One in writing and one orally." So, I see it that those of us being trained here will propagate the traditional oral expansion to the Law.

What more could a young man want? I must confide: Gamaliel’s daughter would make a good answer to that question. We shall see.

5. NICODEMUS – 28 CE:

This week I received a lifetime appointment, with the imposition of hands, to the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem. This has been my goal since coming to Jerusalem from Alexandria thirteen years ago. At that time I was only twenty-two years old and enthused with ideas from the schools in Alexandria. I believe such ideas, along with my father’s position in the judicial assembly for the Jewish quarter of Alexandria, served to benefit my position before the nominating committee here. I’m sure also that much weight in my appointment was due to recognition of my scholarship as a scribe whose ambition has been to become a teacher of the Law for our people.

With many of the members of the Great Sanhedrin getting quite old, it has not been uncommon for there to be a need to fill vacancies two or even three times per year, and my appointment as a Pharisee fills a Pharisee vacancy. The seventy-one members of this group, including the presiding high priest, Caiaphas, are styled as "the ancients", but this does not mean that we are all old. The title is in memory of the seventy "ancients" forming the assembly set up by Moses. Our elders remind us, nevertheless, that we represent maturity and respectability to the people. Members sit in a semi circular fashion to better see one another as we deliberate a decision. We stand up to speak and on matters of law and criminal affairs, we younger members traditionally give our opinions first. In final voting, however, the senior and principal members go first while two clerks who face us on the right and left, take down our votes. A majority of one suffices for an acquittal whereas a majority of two is necessary for a condemnation. This is true whether our assembly is a minimum of one third present or whether it is a full, plenary session.

My work as a scribe will not change much with my new duties. I still have the same goals of teaching our people how they should strive to be a holy people. In fact, righteous living and issues of purification seem to be becoming more of a concern for the common man. I think this is partly due to the proliferation of students being trained by Gamaliel. We young men began calling him "our master" and it was many of them who last year took the initiative in protesting the actions of the new procurator, Pontius Pilate.

It appears that Pilate’s intentions were to compromise our traditional stand on matters of the Law. Under the previous four procurators, our resistance to the use of engraven images was honored, just as it had been under King Herod. Those governors had their armies enter Jerusalem accompanied by flags carrying no pictures of men on them. But, the night before Pilate moved his army from Caesarea to winter quarters here, he had banners bearing Caesar’s likeness secretly erected throughout the city.

As soon as they were discovered, many of my companions aroused crowds of sympathizers to go with them to Caesarea to demand that Pilate remove them. For five days our people requested that they might speak to Pilate himself. On the sixth day, without our knowledge, he had his soldiers concealed here and there about the area where his judgment seat was placed. He responded to our petition to remove the images with the argnt that doing so would be an affront to Caesar and would tend to bring dishonor upon him. At this, our young men began to shout that in the past Caesar had always honored our Jewish laws concerning our founding prohibition against engraven images.

Pilate responded, "Caesar cannot make special cases for every province." The men roared with disapproval. Pilate’s response at this point was to signal his men by raising his scepter horizontally up to his neck just under the chin. Immediately the soldiers encircled the group with swords drawn. No one moved.

"I have said what I have said," came Pilate’s clear voice, "Desist from disturbing me and go to your homes or each one of you here shall be decapitated!"

First one, then immediately all of them threw themselves upon the ground baring their necks saying, "We are willing to die before we would abandon our most sacred divine laws." That uncomfortable moment lasted much too long, but Pilate finally demurred, "Perhaps Caesar has been honoring the courage and piety of his Judean subjects by permitting the traditional ban on the ensigns for them. If there are no more clamoring riots from the Judean citizens, I think that we can have the new banners replaced with the traditional ones for Jerusalem…But…!", he shouted out and then went on speaking much more about their need to recognize the role of Caesar as their benefactor and then dismissed the crowds. Our men were careful to express their thankfulness before Pilate, but upon returning here, were exuberant about the results of their stand for righteousness.

Although we Pharisees are not ones to speculate on end-time scenarios, I have always enjoyed talking with my peers about issues that I think will affect the future of our people. I don’t consider it apocalyptic to have the belief that God intends His people to be His servants for bringing the nations of the world to the light found in Judaism. The prophet Ezekiel says, "The nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel since My sanctuary will be in their midst forever." Zechariah adds, "Many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day and will become my people." This is why I have felt it my commission to reach out to aliens and people whose doctrines are different than ours. I believe it is possible to show them where the noblest parts of their beliefs actually line up with the principles laid out by Moses in our Law.

It was back in Alexandria where I first received this impulse to proselytize. Many of the young men in our synagogue were stimulated by the writings of Philo who lives there. He uses the thoughts of Plato to show how our religion is amenable to rational philosophy and, in fact, is a revelation previous to the works of Aristotle or Plato. From such reasoning we can show interested people of the nations that the Jews are the race that sees God rightly. There is a connection between the Law of Moses and the laws of nature.

Some of my companions think I should be more focused on the holiness of our own people. Saul of Tarsus says for instance, "Nico, you need to let God handle the proselytes – our job is hard enough just getting our own people to be keepers of the Law." He says, " ‘I, God, will shake all nations," quoting Haggai, ‘and the tribute of all nations will come in to this latter house of mine and its glory shall be greater than that of the former.’ He brought you here from Alexandria and me from Tarsus didn’t He? And so, the knowledge that we bring with us is our tribute."

I insist that God, nevertheless, uses human instruments to accomplish His plans and that "the nations" indicates non-Jews. So, we obviously have a difference of emphasis. As iron sharpens iron we continue to sharpen our callings.

An exasperating group to face are the Essenes. They claim that a true restoration from exile, over six centuries ago, has not been accomplished. Of course, we Pharisees, for the most part, believe that the return of our rights to rebuild the temple under the Persians constituted our Jewish restoration. The Essenes plead that our people have been in a continual state of distress since the exile and that restoration is an end-time promise that should soon be fulfilled.

"Nothing of the restoration promises have come to pass," they loudly proclaim, "the Temple itself is defiled by its own administrators." I try to tell them that the language of the prophets is not always meant to have a literalistic interpretation or precise description of events. They argue, "Then what figurative sense is there to Ezekiel’s words: ‘My servant David will be prince among them?’"

My retort is that there is more of the restoration to come: "Yes, a descendant of King David will eventually be granted our people as God’s anointed leader, but the Torah is the savior for us individually, not this Messiah of judgment as you suppose."

The Essenes believe that one who is the same as Daniel’s "The Son of Man" is coming to conduct the last judgment on evil. Their revered and unnamed "Teacher of Righteousness" was executed around the time of Ptolemy’s takeover [65 BC] and they have been proclaiming that he was raised to heaven whence his return is surely overdue as their awaited Messiah. Because they look for an agent from heaven to overcome evil for them I appeal to the teachings of Philo on the Logos. This gets their attention.

Philo sometimes likened the Logos to an independently existing reality from God. He said, "The Father has given the Word as His eldest and chief messenger; an intercessor." The Essenes give ear to this, but then I tell them, "Other times Philo represents the Logos as an aspect of the divine such as liquid water. It is an aspect of water to be like ice or even vapor. In such a way the Logos is the face of God turned toward reality." They would rather hear Philo’s definition that equates the Logos as "being neither unmade like God nor made like you, but midway between the extremes; God’s instrument in creation and administration of the cosmos." My argument is that each of us may become a man after God’s own heart – like David was – by means of the Logos as Philo defined it. When Philo was once questioned about his attendance at the theaters, concerts, clubs and convivial gatherings in Alexandria, he replied, "I would have fallen into the temptations of pleasure had I not taken Logos with me. It is like convincing reason at my side." I try to convince these fervent Essenes that the wisdom found in the Torah is thus sufficient for our individual salvation.

Even though they take purity issues to the extreme, there is an element in their teachings that holds true. I just hope that the radicals among them don’t lead to the endangerment of the Temple. I can detect the spread of a teaching regarding the tabernacle of God as being less like our present Temple under the powerful house of Annus and more like the ancient tent of meeting. I see their point: "The tabernacle was no permanent dwelling," they say, "it was a tent in which God appears, but in which He does not dwell. It is the place of meeting where the encounter between man and God takes place." This was how things were before King Solomon, but such talk now only fuels speculation that the Temple may again be abandoned. How can that be true if God’s words to Ezekiel are true? "I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God and they shall be My people."

6. ANDREW [a disciple of John the Baptist first, then of Jesus] – 27 CE:

Judas and I are convinced that we are now pursuing the Anointed One of Israel. If, as we think, he is the Messiah, there cannot be many days left before the great day of the Lord. This may be difficult to believe, but we have seen several signs that lead us to this conclusion and we believe it is the culmination of our search to be prepared for the end-of-times judgment.

Two years ago I met Judas, the son of Simon. He and his father were here from Scythopolis, the glory of the Jezreel valley. They had been looking for work in one of Philip’s building projects in our city of Bethsaida. Philip was spending our taxes to change the image of our city. He even changed the name to "Julias" to honor Augustus’ wife, Livia, who nicknamed herself "Julia". We resisted the name change.

At that time, the fishing season was slack and Judas and I met in the same employment waiting-line. Maybe we could recapture our taxes. Our interests were common and our friendship flowered immediately. Judas told me much about the sensational preacher who was then prophesying near his hometown. Since we were both old enough now to go off on our own, we decided to see what the excitement was in Aenon near Salim on the Jordan.

We were both struck by the power of his speaking. Clearly the end of days and the new creation is fast approaching and this man, John, is a prophet of these things. He has the force of Elijah of the Scriptures. He even wears the leather belt as Elijah and the traditional hairy robe described by Zechariah. The days of the prophets are back!

John sees himself as the fig that comes on the tree before the leaves of summer -- the harbinger of the coming day of judgment. We learned from him that we might be cured of the sin that infects us and makes us susceptible to being cut off with those who will perish in the coming day. This is the basis of his teaching: Repent and be washed of these sins in the river Jordan. It is God’s kind provision now to His people for their salvation, just as it was for Adam and Eve when, according to the legend, they were cleansed of their sin by washing in the river for forty days. John says that to be once baptized now shows that we submit ourselves to the coming baptism in the Holy Spirit when the Anointed One comes to bring final purification and restoration.

I laugh now when I think how within a few months at the colony at Aenon, we became as thin reeds shaken in the wind. John himself is a beekeeper and taught us the skills in finding wild bees nests, but the other food that our group obtained was sparse and less reliable than food maintained in the regular Essene communities. We were skin and bones!

We found that when living with John’s disciples, we had many things in common with the Essenes. Although neither John nor any of his disciples at the colony are married, some who have been sent out to other areas to preach have become married. The practice is not spoken against as it is among the regular Essene groups. Like the Essenes we also flee the cities to live in villages or wilderness areas where the social life is more pure. We also see ourselves as "sons of light" called to insights in purity and more noble living. As children of the light we arise to pray at dawn facing the rising sun with healing in its wings. We continue this practice of the Essenes because the prophet, Malachi, links the blessing with the return of Elijah. This gives us many advantages over those who dwell in darkness. For example, the ordinary Essenes are mostly composed of older men in their forties and fifties, many of whom are beyond the age of being able to read the Writings they hold so dear. They have, however, a copper mask that they make with needle holes for the eyes. Even the oldest among them, in good daylight, is able to adjust the holes before his eyes and read from the Law and Writings. Many other healing methods and healing plants are discovered by them.

Both the Essenes and we, ourselves, survive with few goods and with no personal property or anything that procures wealth. Some among us, though, are shepherds. We are simple, frugal, and have a common purse with a steward appointed to administer it. In fact, Judas is interested in becoming a steward if he can prove himself trustworthy. What belongs to one belongs to all. On his own discretion the steward may help those worthy of help or any of us may offer food to the needy, but we do not help members of our own families without the direction of our leaders. We practice fasting, we do not change our garments or sandals until they are completely worn out, we do not swear oaths for our ordinary speech should have integrity and be even stronger than an oath. We are not to keep secrets from the group for what is concealed will be revealed. But to outsiders, we can trust God to reveal what the children of light know – if they have ears to hear. Generally our differences with the Essenes have to do with their greater severity in Sabbath day restrictions and marriage, and the greater time required in apprenticeship before becoming a member.

John the Baptist, himself, is an astonishing man. We believe he is the fulfillment of God’s promise through Isaiah; "I will send my messenger to prepare the way for the coming of the glory of the Lord." So we see him as the "Elijah messenger" of Malachi.

Some scholars from Jerusalem came to us recounting Isaiah’s description of the Messiah as one who eats "curds and honey". They were thinking that perhaps John had been giving a sign of actually being the Messiah by his honey eating. John, however, is more at home with eating locusts. He eats them dipped in honey. Not bad when you’re hungry. He has taught us that besides being a way to live off the land, frugally, it is also a sign of God’s promises to consume the enemies of His people.

He explained to us, "Most often the Scriptures portray the locusts as consumers, not consumables. True, we are permitted to eat them along with grasshoppers and crickets as clean animals, but generally they appear, not as food, but as eaters."

Egypt was visited with a plague of locusts, which consumed every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees. Also, our enemy nations are compared to locusts. The main similarity between our enemies and locusts is the vast numbers of each. Jeremiah said that Israel would be filled with locusts that would cry in triumph over us. I can’t help but be reminded of the multitudes of Romans that dominate us at this time. The prophet, Joel, compares the different ranks of locusts as an invading army. Other prophets compare the swarming locust to guardsmen, and the marshals to grasshoppers that rush onto the spoils. What John does is to give a sign that things will soon be made right for us. Our enemies will be done away with. John has taught us that it will not be done by our own strength. In fact he has given considerate counsel to both tax gatherers and Roman soldiers, thereby incorporating them into our own nation at least to the extent that they have ears to hear and turn from their ways. In a way, we are eating them into the kingdom of God.

Jeremiah promised that the Egyptians, though numerous as locusts, would someday be no more. If it is true that Egyptians are now no more in the Land, then it is also a possibility for our other enemies.

Recently Judas asked John when he thought the Coming One would arrive. He said, "When I am given a special word from the Lord regarding things to come, they usually come to pass in a few days." He further explained, "I have been made to know that I will soon witness the Spirit coming upon a man and staying with him in a peaceful way, not in a passing frenzy as it was with King Saul. This will be a sign to me of who the Anointed One is."

We soon learned that one among the many we were baptizing fit this mark for John. "It was," he said, "a man of composure and intelligence. He speaks of God as his father. I will show him to you." Our ears were tingling. Judas and I glanced at each other knowing that we would be within sight of John from then on so that we might be the first to learn who it was that the ages have been looking for. It seemed also that John was favoring us among his many disciples. I don’t know why – we are so young compared to the others – maybe it was our zeal.

"What is the name of the Anointed One?" we asked John.

"His name is ‘Stricken.’"

"What does this mean?"

John answered, "As it is written, ‘Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.’"

"But Master, it is well known that God’s Servant, His elect, Israel, is the One He has smitten and afflicted; and that was justly due. How can this apply to the Messiah?"

John did not answer. We took it that he thought some of the Essenes’ teachings on atonement would find fulfillment in the work of the Messiah. It’s true, we as well as the Essenes eschewed animal sacrifices and ignored our own involvement in the Temple worship, but it seemed far-fetched that John would make the Messiah out to be one who would take the wrath of God in place of animal sacrifice. Did we not teach that God requires mercy over sacrifice?

The next day as John was looking out over the people he got up and very slowly and quietly announced to us: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the Land."

Expected as this moment was, it was still very unexpected. There was our Messiah, identified; a Galilean like us. John and he exchanged greetings and an embrace that gave evidence of previous contact and a possible commissioning in the same work that we were doing to obtain forgiveness for our people. He had the ordinary Hebrew name, Jesus. He didn’t look like what we imagined the Messiah would look like. He was alone, young – perhaps thirty. His raven black hair was not very long, reaching about halfway to his shoulders – not combed. He had a short, not very dense beard. His eyes were cheerful as he looked at us with a smile on his face and clean, straight teeth.

When we asked John about him he said that Jesus would be involved with our work also and that we could be his helpers if we found it mutually agreeable. When we began following Jesus he readily invited us to join him at his campsite.

After what I thought was a suitable time I ventured to ask Jesus if he was the Messiah. He answered, "A tree is known by its fruit and Wisdom is vindicated by her children. I tell you the truth, you will know me as son of man." He repeated the words, "Bar Adam," as we say in the Hebrew. We puzzled over this between ourselves: "Did this mean he identifies with "The Son of Man" of Daniel or was he merely saying that he was a representative of the human race as we all are?" After getting to know him better, we finally decided it was neither usage. We saw that he spoke of himself as the son of man when he was making strong statements directly about himself and wished to refrain from immodest first-person emphasis.

Each day we baptized penitent pilgrims while Jesus pronounced their forgiveness. At times he even offered forgiveness before we would baptize them. It seemed he was claiming the right to forgive them rather than offering a connection to God’s forgiveness through baptism, as we were accustomed to doing with John.

Jesus told us that he needed to spend time alone and that he would be enduring suffering. He told us to go to our homes and that he would get back with us in Galilee after a few weeks. We thought that perhaps he was following the forty-day period that Adam and Eve endured in the river for their forgiveness. We knew that John believed the Messiah must suffer. Maybe this was the suffering.

We are now both here in Bethsaida. We stopped first at Judas’ home in Scythopolis but did not stay long because I was eager to tell our news to my brother, Simon. I thought it would be good news for him to know that Jesus did not consider marriage a hindrance for discipleship with him. Being married had been a block to Simon in staying with us when he came to be baptized and to visit us at the colony. With Jesus there seemed to be a welcome freedom from some of the burdensome rules on fasting and purification that was a main part of our life with John. But the sense of our connection with, the Father, as he put it, was strong, plus we have finally begun to put on weight. We are anxious to see him again.

7. SIMON PETER – 28 CE:

For several months now my spirit has been rejoicing. The things that are happening are almost unbelievable. At first, I’ll admit, I was skeptical of Judas and Andrew’s news. Andrew believes everything he hears from John the Baptizer and if John said this one, Jesus, was the coming One of Israel, then for him it had to be true – even if Jesus himself did not confirm it. Naturally I took my brother’s excitement with a little more soberness, even after meeting Jesus.

The poor man showed up, skin and bones, right where Andrew and I were mending our nets. I figured this man took John’s asceticism much more strictly than even my brother. I asked about his situation and he said that God, his father had been making him more ready for his calling by teaching him obedience through the things, which he had recently endured. I presumed he had been fasting for quite some time – maybe forty days if it included the whole time since Andrew and Judas parted with him.

Since Jesus was also Andrew’s friend, I was thinking that it was my place to invite him to the house where we were all staying at my father-in-law’s. I apparently had been showing the mood I was in and Jesus, showing great discernment, asked me what was bothering me.

"What have I done to you?" was what he said.

"Nothing!" I quickly responded.

"Then what’s wrong with you?"

I fumbled for a bit and then explained that I had been quite concerned about my mother-in-law. She was suffering from a fever arising from a pain in her lower right abdomen. Her belly was as hard as a board. From hearing other people’s experiences I felt it would not be unusual for her to die from this condition.

Jesus said, "Simon, why don’t you let me see her?" I brightened a little and asked, "Do you know how to work cures?" I had heard from Andrew and Judas that John’s disciples knew some of the potions and healing arts of the Essenes.

"I must do what I see my Father doing," Jesus answered. When we took him up to the house, he held her hand and prayed. She was very subdued and went into a deep sleep. Hours later she woke up as if nothing had happened.

"You healed her," I shouted, "You healed her!"

She got up and fixed a large dinner flashing a broad smile of gratefulness. My wife’s folks insisted that Jesus stay there with us. From this house Jesus began discipling Andrew, Judas, and me along with our business partner’s sons, James and John.

He often speaks in our synagogue, works exorcisms, and always teaches about the coming age as though it is right at the door. I believe him. We are always asking him what the coming age will be like. Every comparison he makes is like a joke. I don’t mean that the things of God are a joke, but he turns everything around and you have to laugh – but it’s so true! The thing that makes you laugh about a joke is its unexpected outcome and this is exactly what Jesus is doing to all our expectations. He turns them around. We are almost giddy with rejoicing.

"The coming kingdom of God is already arriving," he says. "The first shall be last and the last shall be first. The nobles will be humbled and the humble lifted up. God is doing mighty deeds with his arm and is scattering those who are proud in the thoughts of their heart. He will be bringing down rulers from their thrones."

"What plant is the kingdom of God like?" he asks. I was thinking, "like the cedars of Lebanon!"

"Like a mustard seed," he says. Our wrinkled brows soon give way to wrinkles around our laughing eyes as he explains how the small kingdom grows exceptionally large.

"That’s what is happening now – with us," he explains. "Many standing here will see it come in its full power. The kingdom of God belongs to the poor. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied, but woe to you who are rich now."

Whatever we presume about the kingdom, it seems Jesus turns it upside down. He that would save his life shall lose it – he that loses it for the sake of spreading the news of the kingdom, shall find life. He that serves is greatest, and so on. We all decided to give up fishing and let him teach us how to fish for men with this joyous news.

Jesus says that in the age to come, the twelve tribes of Israel will be restored. To that end, I think, he’s having some fun with nicknames. Talk about the unexpected: Along with Simon (nick-named, the Zealot) we recently added Matthew the son of Alphaeus to our group. Another "joke"! He’s been the tax collector about whom we’ve had murderous thoughts. On top of that he gets nicknamed Levi as though, because of his ancestry, he will represent that tribe in the new kingdom.

James and John are "the Sons of Thunder" because of their judgmental temperament. Judas is Judas of Issachar since his city of Scythopolis (formerly Beth-shan) was the chief city of the tribe of Issachar. Recently we just shortened it to Judas Iscariot. I myself am nicknamed Peter because he expects me to be like a rock. The others laughed when they heard that, but we believe these things await us. We see changes coming already. Jesus has shown us that some will taste, now, of the first fruits of the kingdom by being healed from sicknesses and by having demons cast out by his authority. It is pure excitement being with this group.

Since the time is short, Jesus has separated twelve of us to go with him on a preaching tour away from Capernaum. So much is happening – so many are already tasting of the new things to come; not only through healings but also through his teachings that are bringing us freedom rather than the hard rules of the Pharisees. I have not said it, but I believe such a man could eventually become the chosen king from God.

8. BABA BEN BU’A [Leader of Shammai school of Pharisees] – 29 CE:

As a principal in the house of Shammai I had always considered it important to encourage our national interests wherever they are being manifested. That’s why our sympathies were with the tax revolt under the guidance of Judas of Galilee and Zadok who was also a Shammaite. But, and here is where I have had to moderate my position, not all zealots are true Zealots. We must use discernment as a people. We cannot be seen as supporting just any revolutionary – for instance, the current rage over Jesus of Galilee.

For our part, as the new majority school in the Pharisee party, we sent out capable men, Rabbis, to investigate the surge of popularity noted concerning this man. At first we thought that some of the scattered remnants of the Judas/Zadok revolt were re-forming as Jesus’ disciples, but we soon had serious questions that needed answers. Not wanting to lose the unheard of support we had been gaining from the school of Hillel, I suggested we work together for once to weed out charlatans in the Land. There are, indeed, occasions where Shammaites, too, can be more lenient!

First, though, a little of my background: My father, Bu’a, was one of the original members of the house of Shammai alongside of the scholar, Shammai, himself, who is now 79 years old. Shammai was elected to take the place of Menahem, the old Essene vise president of the Sanhedrin. Since that time, the Pharisee party has consisted of our conservative school, the house of Shammai, and the liberal school represented by the house of Hillel. Hillel’s son Simon and now Simon’s son Gamaliel have all been noted for their leniency with regard to the keeping of the Law. Therein lies our difference. We have such a high regard for the Law that, for example, even an egg laid on the Sabbath may not be eaten since the hen did work on the Sabbath to lay it. They tout the kindness, gentleness, and moderation of the Hillelites as opposed to Shammai’s quick-tempered sternness in following the Law. But, they overlook that Shammai’s arguments with the Hillelites are for the sake of Heaven. Our sole purpose is for determining the truth.

To carry on that tradition I have launched our investigation of Jesus of Capernaham, or more correctly, as we have learned, Jesus of Nazareth. We have found that he is basically a delirious dreamer when it comes to patriotism. He preaches that in the coming overthrow by the kingdom of God, those that are now hungry will be fed, but in the same breath he speaks of doing good for our enemy. He also has many hard words to say about the Shammaites as did his mentor, John the Baptizer.

Like Hanina ben Dosa, Jesus seems to be a man of extraordinary devotion and miraculous healing talents. The Hillelites seem to be soft towards such people. Gamaliel, for instance, dispatched two of his pupils for Hanina’s intercession on the occasion of his son, Simon’s, sickness. The boy was suffering from a mortal fever when the men were sent to the Galilean’s home in Arab; about ten miles north of Nazareth. We were told that Hanina retired to an upper room and prayed with his head characteristically down between his knees. He came back down to the men with these words: "Go home, for the fever has departed him." Gamaliel’s men asked, "Are you a prophet?" He modestly replied, "I am no prophet, nor am I a prophet’s son, but this is how I am favored. If my prayer comes easily and is fluent in my mouth, I know that the sick one is favored; if not, I know that the disease is fatal."

Since they were skeptical, Gamaliel’s disciples wrote down the day and hour and reported back to their master.

"That was the hour the fever left him and he asked us for water to drink," was Gamaliel’s response to their news.

We were happy for Gamaliel, but suspicious of the trust this engenders in those who happen to benefit in some way. Mortals often see what they want to see and do not see what really is. The practice of putting their own ideas upon other people and of finally considering this as reality frequently leads to great mistakes. We keep finding unsophisticated provincials who express an informal familiarity with God and confidence in the efficacy of their own words and when there happens to be a coincident good with their word we see people cling onto that and give them authority not derived from established channels. They are, for example, already calling Jesus a prophet and he does not deny it as Hanina had the wisdom to do.

I realize that Gamaliel is properly cautious, but, even so, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly men forget unsuccessful experiments to achieve an end, but latch onto any coincidental occasion of supposed cause and effect if there are favorable effects to be had. I suppose Hanina could actually sense in the air this particular healing taking place, but I cannot know for sure; God’s will be done. At any rate, we had to learn first hand what is right and what is wrong about the drawing power of this exceptional worker of cures, Jesus.

First of all we learned that, as in "The Prayer of Nabonidas", Jesus equates the pardoning of sins with healing. In our reckoning, such healings – especially when they include the expulsion of devils – are probably wrought by the devils themselves who cooperate with the healer to give credence to the possibility that men might forgive sins. The counter argument, of course, is that such a conflated house would not stand. Our counter to that is, "We shall see!"

Secondly, we have learned that Galileans expect a prophet to be like Elijah or Elisha of old. So, even though we hear glowing reports of miracles being done, we also hear other reports that lead us to think Jesus, like others of his kind, has put the burden of his success on the one to be cured.

Last Passover, for example, right here in Jerusalem at the Pool of Bethesda, it is reported that a cure was done on the Sabbath for a lame man. Discounting the fact that this transgresses the Sabbath (there are six other days to do non life-threatening work), the man was counseled: "You have become well; do not sin anymore so that nothing worse happens to you." What chance, I say, did this man have of being really cured?! Who does not sin – especially a commoner?

It is not only a sinless life that insures continued relief, it is also an initially sufficient faith on the part of those being healed that makes the cure even possible. A mental gymnastic is necessary; if not from the sick one, then from the disciple who offers help to the sick one. "The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up," they say. It is reported that Jesus has said, "Whoever does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him." And often times Jesus links a person’s healing to their own responsibility for having faith. He chides his disciples for their little faith and has been heard to turn around the plea, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us," into, "If you can! All things are possible to him who believes!"

As a way of emphasizing an individual’s responsibility for continuing their faith for a healing, Jesus warns that whatever the affliction is that is brought about by an unclean spirit, this affliction may reoccur after an initial healing. He recounts: "When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of the man becomes worse than the first."

The rabbis that we have sent to learn about the Galilean have made this statement:

"We make the following statement after serious thought and consideration. We have been in attendance at times when Jesus was working cures, but have yet to meet one person, man or woman, who has had the power of God performed on them as Elijah or Elisha were able to do. If five hundred people are touched by this Jesus and ten of them can be found a few days later still claiming a cure, it seems sufficient to fuel the continuance of this man’s work in spite of the fact that there are no indisputable works done like those of the prophets of old."

As I interviewed the returned Rabbis I found evidence convincing of the statement they issued above. Speaking with one of them, Dositai of Kefa Yetma, I asked, "Did many claim to be healed?"

"Ah, yes," he answered, "there were those who claimed to be healed, and there were those people that thought they saw healings, or thought they saw miracles. But when you got close you saw that some of those things that were supposed to be miracles were not miracles at all. From a distance you would think that something had really happened, but having gotten really close to the workings, I discovered that a lot of those supposed healings were not really miracles after all."

"What did Jesus say to individuals as he worked his cures?", I asked.

"He had a great variety of ways of speaking to them or touching them; even the unclean, but often he would say something like this: ‘Do you believe? Our Father knows what you have need of. Go your way and you will be healed.’ He often worked by proclaiming a healing and all would rejoice. He would frequently add something like this, ‘Go your way, your faith makes you well.’ Or, ‘Don’t loose your faith in God. Just keep your faith and trust and you’re healed.’ Some people might ask something like, ‘Am I not as I was?’ He might respond with something like, ‘Go show yourself to the priest and do not doubt but believe.’ Some, I think, did come back to give thanks for an actual healing that they experienced on their way. In the meantime the people would not worry about appearances."

"So," I said, "there were many that he proclaimed healed?"

"Yes, yes. Practically every one as I recall. Often he would say, ‘Don’t let your faith fail.’ I feel that this is exactly what did happen with many, though."

I was curious, "Did the fact that how things appeared differed from how things were proclaimed, not cause the confidence to fail?"

"It is my impression that as the initial popularity in a miracle working place waned, that Jesus and his disciples moved to another locality where actual results were not fully known."

I also asked, "Did you not see any actual healings?"

"Those healed were mostly healed of diseases not readily or visibly verifiable. But, yes, I think some real healings took place and some devils were chased away and people returned to peaceable ness. But however many claims I heard, I never saw anything like missing limbs restored or even missing digits or noses -- from leprosy -- brought back. Neither were harelips, cleft palates nor the restoration of simple persons or mongoloids. Nevertheless, he spoke with brilliance and great authority, which came close to convincing me that an indirect route to achieving the kingdom of God, might be found."

However I might question that last statement, the fact that this man leads sons of Israel away from traditional holiness in keeping of the Law is grounds enough to disregard his message concerning the kingdom of God. And, I will so advise the council.

9. JUDAS ISCARIOT – 29 CE:

John the Baptizer began our training for the kingdom of heaven, but it is this man, Jesus, who is bringing out the exciting things for us. I must give him credit for seeing beyond what John was teaching us.

"Now I show you a new way," he said, "from the days of John the Baptizer until now, the kingdom of heaven suffered violence, and men of violence try to take it by force. But, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God and the gentle for they shall inherit the Land."

Obviously forceful methods don’t work. The bands of men under Judas of Gamala are no more – only the pain they left behind in the many killings that took place – even some of my own relatives – and all in the name of the kingdom of heaven.

"Every scholar who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven," says Jesus, "is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

Under our new teacher we are seeing both the old treasure and the new treasure. Under John it was the old treasures of Moses and the Prophets that were brought to the light again. When John said, "Do violence to no man," he was bringing before our faces what Moses taught: "Love your neighbor as yourself." And from Isaiah and the Essenes he brought out how we should work less for the food that perishes and more for the food which endures for the life to come.

We all agree that our new teacher is a master scholar. The treasures he uncovers for us have not been seen before. He has shown us the actual food we are working for and what "loving your neighbor" demands. Jesus actually teaches us to do beneficial things for even our enemies. At first this was difficult to believe, but I think we are now beginning to see that it can transform our oppressors even more than violence can.

He makes no claim to be the Messiah as John the Baptizer was predicting to us, but I believe our new teacher has the council for taking the Land for the kingdom of heaven. Would not such a person be the Anointed of God? He is also wise to bring out more of what is old in his treasure. I speak of the Essene teachings against the personal accumulation of possessions.

Because Andrew and I had prior training under John, I felt that one of us would be most qualified for the office of steward of our group. Andrew also thought this was the case and recommended that I be appointed as such. We were both, after all, Jesus’ first disciples. Under John we became especially experienced in seeing how they managed the money that we all had in common. It is a great responsibility and I am honored to be recognized as worthy of the steward’s office in the new community.

Growing up I used to be anxious about where the next meal was coming from, how we would get the clothes we needed and how we would pay the landlord. Under John the Baptizer I learned how to tighten my belt and live on less, but under our new teacher we are learning that we can trust God to make abundant, or at least normal, provisions for us.

"You cannot serve God and mammon," our teacher says, "For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat or drink or wear. Will our Father not do much more for you than he has done in providing food for the birds of the heaven or in providing bright show for the flowers of the field?"

And then he chides us with, "O men of little faith, all these things the pagans seek, but believers abandon their care of these things to look for the establishment of the new kingdom of heaven." When the new kingdom fills the Land our teacher says those now well fed will go hungry while those who have hungered will be filled. The poor of this present age will have plenty then. The old form of this world is passing away and a reversal is in the works. To be on the winning side of this great change we need to rid ourselves now of the things that this present age holds dear.

Our teacher illustrates this with many parables. In one he says the Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, or like a merchant finding one pearl of great value. They go and sell all that they have and buy it. That is why he tells the multitudes following him, "No one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." I, myself, did this beginning with John the Baptizer.

There is an expectation within our new community that what John did in the countryside can now be done in the cities as well. New converts are encouraged to give their surpluses to the common good. Our teacher is not strict on this, however. One woman disciple recently came with perfume worth at least three hundred denarii but instead of selling it for the common fund, she anointed our teacher with the whole thing! I thought this was a little extravagant. Jesus was often directing me to give some of the common fund to one or another poor one but what we had in the fund was not always abundant. Nevertheless, I grant that the woman’s act does express her gratitude for what she has found in our new community. Most of the time we are well supplied with food and drink and several prominent women have even taken it on themselves to support the core group from their own means.

By selling our possessions we can avoid what one rich fool did not avoid: In the parable about this, our teacher said, "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This will I do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry." But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself and is not rich toward God." Jesus continued, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat and so forth, but seek the Father’s kingdom here and these things will come to you. Your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in the kingdom of heaven."

Just yesterday a property owner inquiring about his assurance of a place in the kingdom of heaven asked Jesus if his keeping of the Law was enough to secure that place. Our teacher felt a love for him but insisted that for the man to assure himself of treasure in the heavenly kingdom, he would also need to sell all he possessed so that it might go to the poor, and that he would need to follow us. The man was anguished about his decision and in the end decided against the advice. Jesus told us that it was next to impossible for rich land owners and the like to walk in this way. Peter, looking for assurance for himself, then said, "Look, we have left our own homes and followed you." Jesus’ answer gave us all great hope that we would see reimbursement for our extreme abandonment. He said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much in the present community as it enters into the new age of the kingdom."

Because of this hope our spirits are high. When we are gathered for prayer the place is filled with lusty song, warm garlic breath, and brotherly love. The teachings fire our imaginations but in all the glow I sometimes find myself wondering about a few things. How can this abundance continue when it depends on those who produce wealth? When the whole Land comes to accept the new way, how will the Father continue to supply the things we have need of?

Once I tried to voice my concerns to our teacher. I told him, "I like this new way of abundance but John taught his disciples to fast whereas we always have plenty to eat and drink. How can this continue?" He was slow in his answer: "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?"

"Of course not!" I said.

"No, as long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast. But…"

And there he ended his thought and added another:

"My followers must not lay up for themselves treasures in the Land, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven above, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

It is with those words that I thought I detected a new thought in his teaching. Our affections can be tied up in this present age or they can be wrapped up in the age to come. If we continue to invest in the age to come we will not be disappointed. This will take faith on our part. When we see the kingdom of heaven coming in power, as he promised most of us would, perhaps our Father will bring forth from heaven a new way to supply our needs. Maybe it will be the Garden of Eden restored.

Since that discussion I think I have been able to discern our teacher’s thoughts much better. Maybe I am like my forefathers from the tribe of Issachar, who were noted for being able to discern the times.  As I ponder these things I am impressed that we might soon be able to take our master’s teachings to Jerusalem.  I think there are people in leadership positions there that would be interested in our teacher’s peaceful approach to the kingdom.

10. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, His second account – 29 CE:

Nicodemus had told me that it helps to be a property owner: "It shows that you have a vested interest in the City," he said. That may be true, but I think his voice from within the Sanhedrin was the determining factor in my recent appointment to its membership.

Since my brother, Mnason is in charge of my family’s inn and since John Mark will probably inherit his father Aaron’s place, I looked to invest in other property. Uncle Aaron and Aunt Mary have relied heavily on me to keep their inn business profitable. The large house affords me my own apartment, as well as having servants’ quarters, guest quarters, a large common upper room, and living quarters for Aaron’s own family.

Last year I purchased my own house in the city and a tract of land across the Kidron on Olivet, but it was not done for political reasons. My wife and two young children will soon need more than our two rooms allow. Moreover, it appears that Uncle Aaron may not be with us much longer. That prompted me to purchase the property on Olivet. It included a vineyard, some olive trees, and a vegetable garden. It carries the name, "Gethsemane". Our extended household benefits in every way. The servants are able to supply us and our guests with some of our own produce, and after some encouragement from me, our long time servant, Jonah, has found new skills with his role as official gardener. Besides doing gardening, he serves to watch the place during festival times when hundreds of families are camping at night on the outskirts of the city, and is finally putting his old skills to use in hewing out a family sepulcher in the soft limestone that we have on this property. Jonah became our servant to help pay off debts that he incurred after Coponius got rid of the many stone cutters that Herod had employed for his Temple Mount renovations.

At 19 years old, John Mark has been a Godsend all around. Were it not for his unlikely birth in his Mother’s 34^th year, Aaron, Mary and I would not have been able to keep the business going. Especially since Aaron’s failing health keeps him from contributing much to running things. John Mark will someday be a good manager. He knows, like Joseph of old, what it is to do the work of the each servant. Supplying water and such other menial things will work into him a compassion that will later help him run the household well.

John Mark’s help these last few years has also freed me to pursue the studies that helped me qualify for the Sanhedrin membership. The majority of the Council is not interested in all the existing notions regarding the kingdom of God, but my work tends to adhere to a conservative line and it is this fact, I think, that lent credibility to my work – even among those of the school of Shammai.

So much has been written in Scripture regarding the coming full-rule of God over his people that it has been a long-time desire of mine to search it all out. I have not been very explicit on the matter in my writings, but it is my opinion that the Spirit of God has been preparing his people for the advent of his kingdom in our day. One sign of it, I believe, was John the Baptist.

John did not align himself with the Zealots, but his preaching style was enough of a threat to the rulers of the Land that they killed him as though he were. The king knew too well that the people could become unstable under such preaching. I think John was rightfully instigating a distrust of their position, but, regretfully, he is now gone. Perhaps the Lord will raise up another prophet that can take our nation a little closer to being governed by Himself again.

In this regard, my good friend Nicodemus had a remarkable interview with the Galilean religious teacher and exorcist, Jesus. Despite the official depreciation of Jesus by the Council, there are several besides Nicodemus that believe this man has something valuable to offer our people. It appears, from what Nicodemus has related to me, that Jesus emphasizes personal piety as the necessary groundwork for the Kingdom of God and this is exactly what we Pharisees are interested in. In principle, the Sadducees would welcome the same thing.

But, from what I hear, it is Jesus’ attempts to reform aspects of our tradition that sets so many of our party in opposition to him. It is my opinion that this may be just what we need. The elders complain that Jesus receives and eats with sinners; that he and his disciples, in opposition to our tradition, eat with unwashed, defiled hands.

I’ve always considered such things abhorrent too, but Jesus’ response to these objections seems to make God-honoring sense. Concerning fellowship with sinners he says, "It is the sick that need a physician." And he sees himself as the healer of those sinners. Concerning traditions regarding our ritual purity he boldly proclaims, "You honor the traditions of men while sidestepping the commandments received directly from the Lord." Then he gives some embarrassing examples of this practice among us.

These arguments seem legitimate, but there is one thing I’m not so sure about. Jesus regularly and purposefully uses the Sabbath day to do exorcist work when there are six other days to do such things. It does seem to me that he may be going a little too far with this. It is as though he accredits to men the right to be exempt from God’s standards concerning Sabbath regulations.

I couldn’t get enough to satisfy me from Nicodemus. Perhaps at next year’s Passover, I’ll get a chance to hear some of Jesus’ teaching first hand and be better able to understand his message. In my opinion Jesus may be another sign or even another prophet who will be used to bring in the Kingdom of God.

11. SIMON PETER, His second account – 29 AD:

Our teacher is filling us with a hunger for faith. Many times he pricks us with, "O you men of little faith." He reminds us that it is the Father’s will to give the Land to Israel alone, forever.

He says, "The ultimate sin for the people of God has been their doubt. Were it not for the faith of Joshua and Caleb, the people would never have gotten into the Land."

I believe our teacher sees himself as his namesake, Joshua of old. Perhaps he is looking for one of us to be a Caleb with him and for all of us to be full of faith as we represent the twelve tribes before our Father. We must not be like the ten unbelieving representatives who were the cause of our people not taking the Land when they first came out of bondage in Egypt.

"It is the will of our Father in heaven that the whole Land be restored to a new kingdom for his people who are again now captives. When you pray," he says, "declare to your Father in heaven, ‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in the Land as it is in heaven.’"

With the announcement of the kingdom in mind, we did a tour of the Galilean villages above the Sea of Galilee in the region of Caesarea Philippi. Our faith is beginning to grow. We see crowds of people, many of whom experience healings from our teacher. People with unclean spirits also seem to recognize his authority over them. Because of this, all who have diseases keep pressing upon us to touch him. He feels compassion on their distressed and downcast conditions.

Referring to the prophets he says, "The son of man has been appointed a shepherd over these sheep as David who attended the flocks was also appointed."

It gives us all a quickening to see these things happening as we work to announce the new kingdom. Without the excitement I would become tired much sooner each day. I fear that our teacher would also become exhausted unless we are vigilant to monitor the people. Sometimes it is hard for us to even eat a meal.

On our way from Bethsaida up to Caesarea Philippi our teacher questioned us saying, "Who do people say that I am?"

We immediately began reporting the various things we were hearing. James and John said, "You are being compared to Moses who appointed twelve tribal representatives to spy out the promised Land." Someone else - I think Judas - offered, "They speculate that our teacher is, in many ways, like the Son of David whom the teachers of the law say will be the coming Messiah."

Most of us agreed, however, that the foremost saying is that he is like the miracle working Elijah of old, or even Elisha who was greater than his master in the same way that our teacher surpasses his forerunner, John the Baptizer.

Amid the discussion Jesus interrupted, "But who do you say that I am?" We looked at each other for a bit and then I ventured, "You are the coming Messiah."

"You must not say this thing," came his astonishing reply, "the people will reject this judgment. They would soon have a different opinion about our mission since I am not like their view of the Messiah."

Because our teacher is one to close but not bolt the door, we made arguments against this prohibition but he rejected these sharply. Later Judas volunteered, "I think our teacher knows what is in man and knows that he cannot commit himself to their presumptions about the Messiah." I think Judas may be right. The Pharisees say that the Messiah must be a descendant of David and we have not heard our teacher speak of his ancestry.

This ban on heralding our teacher as the Messiah disheartened all of us for a time, but James and John and I were soon able to assure the rest of the twelve designated leaders of our community that the time was coming when it could be revealed about our master being the Messiah. Since we were not far from Mt. Hermon, the master took the three of us up there with him to pray. It was ecstatic. The clouds of heaven were about us. It was very cool; our breathing was fast. We had visions and fervent prayer concerning the directions we should go in proclaiming the kingdom.

It was then that it was decided we would go to Jesus’ own hometown area of Cana and Nazareth. For one thing, our teacher had been invited to attend the wedding of his last sister there. After that his mother, Mary, would be free to relocate with her sons if she so chose. Even if his brothers did not join the community, there would be better chances of employment and care for Mary if they moved to Capernaum where public works projects were flourishing.

After the wedding we were invited to speak that Sabbath in Nazareth. The lesson impressed people but afterwards the day seemed to lack any of the glory we were acquainted with.

People who were formerly familiar with our teacher would say to us, "We have heard of your powers and your healings in Capernaum, but, how strange, here you don’t show us anything of your abilities."

Overhearing this, Jesus responded, "No prophet is accepted in his own country."

"Ah, yes, of course," they said, "here where we could witness your abilities through our own eyes, suddenly things don’t work out any longer. Is it not true that the Anointed One will benefit the whole Land and not only some fishermen down there in Capernaum?"

This stirred my blood so much that I was ready to smite someone. Our master’s spirit was quick with a reply:

"There were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, but which of them from his home country was healed?"

"Only Naaman the foreigner," they were obliged to reply.

To keep the peace we quickly left the synagogue after that.

"What little faith, what little faith," is all that our master would say.

His mother and brothers returned with us to Capernaum eager to see what our good news was actually accomplishing there. They should not have been disappointed. The crowds upon our return were greater than ever; some were there from beyond Galilee. But, even so, his family seemed embarrassed by some of the occasions where people lacked faith or when the impressively dressed scholars from Jerusalem began suggesting that Jesus worked by being possessed by a ruling demon.

At one point, word came to us as we were in a large teaching session, "Your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you." We found later that even though they had prepared a meal for us, they were also trying to restrain Jesus himself.

Before actually attending to his family he asked his hearers, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" He then began to move about looking closely into the eyes of some of us – even some of our women. "Look,’ he said, "my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

I’m afraid, that, even though this tightened the bonds of our community, it brought a new distance between his brothers, James, Joseph, Jude and Simon and us.

"You seek followers," James goaded, "Why don’t you make your miracles known in Jerusalem and see what they think of your work there?" However it was offered, we twelve believe this sounds reasonable. Surely the remarkable things being done here in Galilee would open the way for a following there in Jerusalem. The prominent rulers of our people there might find faith in what our master is doing.

As of yet, our master has decided against going. If we go to any of our annual festivals, though, we will be going there soon enough. The restoration of the kingdom might begin in earnest.

12. MARY, Her second account – 29 AD:

I am living again with all my sons close-by: Jesus, James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. Since the wedding of my youngest, Deborah, my sons have convinced me that I no longer have reason to stay in Nazareth. "The tetrarch, Philip," they reasoned, "is creating all kinds of work due to his projects in Bethsaida and neighboring towns. James and Judas can also take advantage of the construction work available there." It’s true, I’m better cared for here in Capernaum, but I’m often greatly homesick and grieved for the relatives, friends, familiar quiet places, and the good times that I’ve had to leave in Nazareth. Joseph and Simon are quick to point out that most of the time I had been subsisting on goat’s milk and onions.

Jesus, Joseph and Simon already lived in Capernaum. Jesus lives here, of course, as the teacher he has aspired to be, but, is sometimes here and sometimes teaching in other towns. Joseph and Simon, for several years, have been business partners in a carpentry trade here. They had been sending back money for us to get by on and were the ones who gave Deborah the dowry money that sweetened the interest between her and a prominent young man from Cana.

I hope that someday—maybe when the new kingdom arrives—I will be able to return to be near Deborah and her children. It’s not as friendly here. Faces rushing everywhere; nobody recognizes you. Where is the caring that I’m used to? Even Jesus seems at a distance. The crowds don’t bother him. He seems to thrive on them, treating everyone as a friend. It’s almost a dishonor to us when I see him treating his disciples like family. It’s embarrassing sometimes.

I remember, I was never so rattled as when he just barely made it for Deborah’s wedding in Cana. I didn’t know if he would even show up, but I had heard he was staying with four fisherman friends in the Capernaum area, and we sent word through Joseph and Simon, for Jesus to come and bring his friends.

When he arrived, grinning from ear to ear, he had about 25 people with him. "Didn’t he realize," I thought, "that neither I nor the groom’s family would have sufficient for all these extras? The groom’s family would not know that I had not planned for so many!"

"So this is your eldest?" they all eagerly made aquaintance. Some of the Jesus’ disciples related that those present represented only a small, intimate part of his following. "You have a well respected son," my friends observed to me.

So, as the banquet progressed I went to him—after all, he is the head of the family—and I says to him, "They’ll soon have no more wine." Six of the traditional seven, ceremonial jars of wine had already been emptied.

"Well," he says, "so what! The time of unlimited blessings has not yet been restored…but, it is coming, I tell you, it is coming. Many here will see it."

I was pretty agitated and felt like he was abandoning me to shame. I called the servants and, in my son’s hearing, told them to do whatever he directed them to do. Whatever he did saved the day: As I understand it, the servants took the remaining wine and added it to the six jars in which they had put water. The master of the banquet made much ado about the provisions and the wine now as being the best he had ever had. Everyone was so thoughtful and kind and really quite tipsy by that time anyway. It just worked out really well and Jesus and his companions were a great blessing to Deborah and her new husband. I took it all as a parable of the way there would be an abundance of wine in the restored kingdom of God, and I think everyone else did too.

I think it is really best that we’re here in Capernaum. I, along with some of the other women in his company, do what we can to assist with provisions when my sons group is traveling. The ideas for the new kingdom need a populated place to take root. People in our Nazareth just aren’t as interested in my son’s message. They think he is too radical, They don’t consider that he’s not like the Zealots who have caused the Romans to respond with horrible raids in our small town. Maybe some day they will think differently.

Meanwhile, I’m excited about a new teaching that we are bringing out now: My son says the new kingdom is already begun. We are the first-fruits of it and it will not stop growing until we possess the whole Land. I have the faith, along with Jesus, that we will see the old kingdom on Mt. Zion, taken up and cast into the sea.

13. JUDAS ISCARIOT, His second account – 29 AD:

I think it was the Pharisees who argued with Jesus that eventually made him change his mind about going up to Jerusalem. They kept asking him to perform a sign from heaven that would be an objective, indisputable miracle to show that he was sent from God to teach and do the things that we were doing. Not only that, word came through these same Pharisees that Herod wanted to see our master perform. With a loud sigh our teacher eventually said,

"Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."

We left them then, but he promised us, "We journey today and tomorrow, casting out demons and performing cures, and on the third day the son of man will finish his course." Then he added, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, what prophet have you ever heard?

So then, we were on pilgrimage to the Feast of Booths after all.

Inside the Temple walls there is the great columned hall. They call it The Royal Portico; it is so huge and high. Four rows of pillars, higher than trees, divide into three long aisles. Each pillar so thick that three of us standing, grinning with our arms outstretched, could just encircle it. How could such heavy stones have been lifted into place? The tops of the pillars were carved with rows of leaves and the ceiling with leaves and flowers. You can tell which people are there for the first time. They just stand with their heads tilted up and their mouths open. It was in this splendid portico, where the moneychangers’ tables stood, and the traders had stalls and cages to sell cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifice.

That afternoon we were invited to eat at Simon’s house in the separated part of Bethany. Simon was aware that our master would associate with the unclean and even though Simon was wealthy, he had a visible case of leprosy. After dinner we went out to set up booths in which to spend the night. As we worked on these and also late into the night we talked much about the Temple.

The current high priest, Joseph Caiaphas, was Annas’ son-in-law. Control of the temple was still in the "House of Annas". His house had powerful opportunities for shaping and controlling the people of the Land. The new high priest, against Pharisaic objections, had transferred the selling of animals from the markets outside to inside the temple court, an innovation that guarantees a House of Annas monopoly on animals offered for sacrifice.

Not only that, but the high priest has decreed that everyone’s payment of the Temple tax should be made in coins of the purest silver. Only the silver coins of the city of Tyre are acceptable. Many of the moneychangers and traders charge very high prices, taking shameless advantage of those coming from the countryside and foreign lands. The traders have to pay the leading priests for a license to have their stalls in the Royal Portico.

We did some computation. The Tyrean shekel is worth about four denarii so we calculated that the annual income of the Temple, given the annual attendance they boast of, must be over the wages of two million days of work. A large part of this amount, we agreed, must go to the personal income for Annas and his friends. They call themselves "the spiritual leaders of Israel." Such irony fuels our indignation.

Our teacher tells us that if the temple leadership continues to stretch forth its hand to rob the poor and profane the sanctuary, that God will abandon His Temple leaving not one stone upon another. Such talk concerning the Temple reminded me of the Baptizer’s views. We then questioned, "How can there be a new kingdom without a Temple?"

"A place of meeting with the Father – even if it is alone in your inner room – is all that is needed for a temple," replied our teacher.

The next day we entered the Temple again with our master. He stayed quiet for awhile, observing the noise, the animals bellowing, people shouting, clients haggling with dealers, humble people with frightened looks, a tumult. Suddenly our master went into quick action overturning the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves. We were stunned. After the first sounds of upset, it became all silence. We began to melt into the crowds.

"It is written, he hollered, "My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!"

Everybody knew he was right. While merchants began to scramble our master began to teach a parable about a vineyard that everyone knew was likened to the Temple. The vineyard owner was like the Lord and the vine-growers like the unruly house of Annas. The vineyard was eventually turned over to others. The Temple guards knew the number of our sympathizers was greater than their own forces and so they held off interfering with us.

As we were standing there in the temple, a man, Nicodemus, quietly asked me if our master claimed to be the Messiah. I didn’t know what to say. I knew the Pharisee view of the Messiah required a descendant of David. He assured me that he was one of a small group in the Council that believes our master might have something valuable to contribute toward a spiritual awakening in the Land. He said that he had spoken briefly with our teacher during last year’s Passover. My heart burned to tell him that we saw our master as indeed the Messiah, but, as far as I knew, we were still under the ban of bringing him forth as such.

I fumbled, "Yes, yes, a spiritual awakening… in the cities… not just the countryside like it was with John the Baptizer." Nicodemus cautioned me, "They will be seeking opportunity to seize your master for this disturbance. They believe he is leading the multitude astray. It behooves you to plan better circumstances and a different time for bringing him forth."

How did he know what I was thinking? I promised to do what I could and before I knew it he was gone.

Afterwards, several of us had stories about the authorities wanting to get rid of us. Some had heard it said that our master leads the faithful astray. A "Maddiah", as such, is next to being a blasphemer, and a blasphemer is worthy of being stoned.

When I told about Nicodemus I noticed that our master looked at me long and hard. I think he may be intending to entrust us with the announcement that he is the Messiah, but that he wants to have "better circumstances" as Nicodemus put it.

"Winter is upon us," he said to all, "Let us therefore, go beyond the Jordan where John was first baptizing. It is warmer there and what John has sown must be harvested."

The winter gave many of us opportunity to attend to families that we had left behind, but we were all gathered back to the lower Jordan as the figs were coming on the trees in the Spring.

When Passover was approaching Jesus said to us,

"Let us go to Judea again."

Nervously we said to him,

"Teacher, the authorities there were just seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?"

"We are children of the light," he said, reminiscent of John, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? During the day we have the support of the multitude and the son of man may teach and do works of faith. At night we retreat to where it is safe."

Thomas, therefore, said to all of us,

"Let us also go that we may die with him."

We all, hoping the best, decided for the pilgrimage.

Thomas’ pronouncement changed everything. It gave us the resolve of zealots without being zealots. It made us think on teachings about a resurrection that awaits the righteous. It gave Thomas the place of Caleb of old, who alone with Joshua, had faith that the promised Land would be taken. It endeared Thomas to the master. Because he was now the beloved disciple, the rest of us, unfortunately began to show jealousy. We were returning to Jerusalem in faith. Perhaps the kingdom would come in power this time. Who would have first place among us.

On the way, as Jesus was walking on ahead of us and conversing with Thomas, we began to argue who was greatest among the master’s twelve. Someone noted with a little laughter, that Thomas had become like a twin with Jesus. Soon we began to focus on our own merits. I argued that Andrew and I were the teacher’s first disciples and that I, myself, first enjoined Andrew to go with me to John the Baptizer where we met Jesus. Simon argued that he was named the foundation stone, "Cephas", and this assured his place at the top. James and John insisted that they had the most converts upon their return from our intern mission. Of course we left Thomas out of these discussions even though he seemed to be the most attuned to Jesus’ intentions.

How shamed we were when our master asked us what we were discussing. Calling us to himself he said,

"You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great ones make them feel their authority. Not so shall it be among you. On the contrary, whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever among you would be first shall become slave of all, and justly, for even the son of man came not to be served, but to give himself as bread to eat."

It struck us all dumb. Had this not been the very thing our master taught us when we ate at Simon’s house in Bethany? There Jesus had noticed how everyone began choosing the best places.

He said, "When you are invited to a feast, do not recline in the best place, lest a guest more distinguished than yourself has been invited, and your host come to you and say, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then with mortification you proceed to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when your host arrives he may say to you, ‘My friend, come up higher.’ Then you will be honored before the other guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted."

It now sank in.  This is the way it is with our master.  He has taken the lowest place.  He often refers to himself in the third person as “the son of man”.  He will not promote himself as the Messiah.  It is up to another to do this for him.  Someone will have to say to him, “You must go up higher.”  Perhaps one of us can be used to bring him the honor that is due him.  Perhaps it should be me myself.  Am I not a descendent of the sons of Issachar?  Was it not the sons of Issachar, in King David’s time, who discerned the time that David should be brought forth as the shepherd of both Judea and all of Israel?  Perhaps I am chosen to be the one who discerns the time of bringing our master forth as the Messiah and shepherd of the new kingdom.

At present it is my ambition to seek out Nicodemus or others like him in the Council to whom I can address this issue. Surely among the scriptural scholars of the Sanhedrin, there are those whose notion of the Messiah corresponds to that of our master – a servant and a reformer who will bring many into the new kingdom, peacefully.

14. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, His third account – 30 CE:

What a furor there has been in this year’s Council meetings for the time of Preparation for the Passover – all because of the popularity of Jesus of Galilee. We all sense that the house of Annas is being intimidated by this man’s teachings and, of course, the welfare of the Temple is seen to be at stake. The chief priests have said as much as to give license to anyone who would rid us of his life.

"If we let him go on like this," Said Caiaphas, "everyone will become his follower, then we will have the Romans to contend with as they suppress the resulting tumult."

Most were in agreement, but blessings upon Nicodemus for contending:

"Our Law does not condemn the accused, does it, before hearing his defense and finding out what he is doing?"

Their sidestepping, mocking response, spoken in a northern drawl, smote my heart too:

"Young man, are you a Galilean too?" "Go into the matter," they continued, "See for yourself: prophets do not arise in Galilee. Neither is he the Messiah, for it is written that the Messiah must be descended from David and come from Bethlehem."

I resolved then and there that if the Council would not inquire of the man himself, that I would try to do so. It was not difficult to make some arrangement for getting better acquainted with Jesus’ group. He came early each day to the Temple, sitting to teach the multitude. In the late afternoon they would disperse somewhere to the countryside. I was able to communicate to the teacher that if they were interested in a secure place to observe the Passover, they could use our large upper room. All they would have to do is meet and accompany John Mark early on the Day of Preparation, meeting him at the pool of Bethesda. I assured them that the place would be available for their use free of charge.

In his teachings, the Galilean used many crowd-pleasing parables. One teaching, though, was very direct and cleared the way for regarding him as the Messiah. Perhaps he had heard the mood among the Council. He responded,

"How can the scholars maintain that the Messiah is the Son of David? David himself, moved by the Spirit of God, declared:

‘The Lord said to my Lord, take your seat at my right hand until I have made your enemies your footstool.’"

"David himself calls him Lord; in what way then can he be his son?"

At this the attentive lecture hall chortled approvingly. Some were actually saying, "What is to keep this man from being viewed as the Messiah?" Now more than ever, the crowds were fastened onto his words and the ruling priests were anxious to rein him in.

"You see," they said, "we can do nothing; the world has gone after him."

His daily taunts to provoke Pharisaic reform sometimes stung but at the same time had a cleansing effect on those of us who would hear:

"Calamity upon you Scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites!" he said, "For you tithe mint and anise and cumin, and neglect the weightier matters of the Law – justice and mercy and good faith; these latter you ought to have done. You blind guides who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! On a Sabbath you would rescue your farm animal out of a pit but prohibit a work to relieve the oppression of your fellow man on that day. Was not the Sabbath made for man, not man for the Sabbath?"

On and on he went, "Woe to you Scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! You like to walk about in ornamental robes…," I confess this is true, "…and like to be greeted respectfully in the market squares with, ‘O Rabbi’. You like to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at dinner-parties. These are the men who devour the property of widows and for show offer long prayers. The more severe will be their sentence."

"Woe to you Scholars and Pharisees, for you bind heavy burdens for purification and lay them on men’s shoulders but you will not lift a finger to help. Woe to you, for you shut the door to the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces and do not enter yourselves. You prevent those who are about to come in from entering. My yolk, however, is easy and my burden is light. Have you not read what the prophet Ezekiel says concerning the Lord’s shepherd?"

Since the leading Scholars and Pharisees began bellowing protests at this point, Jesus decided to leave. They began, however, a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, lying in wait to catch him in a miss statement. He, however, would not respond but retreated into the crowds.

Jesus’ reference to Ezekiel’s "shepherd" re-ignited my thoughts on a matter that I had gone over in my dissertation. Well did the prophet’s voice fit in with Jesus’ "woes". But something new also seized my attention.

Ezekiel begins, "My shepherd will give the flock rest, will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong, destroy. I will feed them with judgment. For you being discontent to drink the clear water, foul the rest with your feet. My sheep must graze on what your feet have trampled and drink what your feet have fouled."

"Very well, says the Lord God, I myself shall judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. Since you have jostled with flank and shoulder and butted all the ailing sheep with your horns, until you have scattered them outside, I shall come and save my sheep and stop them from being victimized. I shall judge between sheep and sheep. I shall raise up…," and here is where the new thought came to me, "…I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and put him in charge of them to pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd. I, the Lord, shall be their God, and my servant David will be ruler among them. I, the Lord, have spoken. I shall make a covenant of peace with them."

The word, "peace", brought my mind to Jacob’s prophecy to his son, Judah. As was spoken by Jacob, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

Had not some of the old Scholars been right to associate "Shiloh" with the "Prince of Peace" and the Messiah? Jesus, whatever his origins, is like a son of David in that he is being taken from shepherding the flock of our people to be made Messianic ruler. He is more of a shepherd to the people than we Pharisees have been and more of a peacemaker for those estranged from God. As such he eminently qualifies as the Lord’s Messiah.

I now have a sense that the kingdom of God may soon appear. I think that I may convince Nicodemus of this and perhaps even some of the other members of the Council. Meanwhile, I am hopeful that Jesus and his disciples will take advantage of my offer of a place to have their Passover.

15. JOHN MARK – 30 CE:

I ran home naked. One of the high priest’s officers tried grabbing me but, scared as a chicken, I slipped out of the linen bed sheet I had around me and ran like crazy. Since returning to the inn I haven’t slept at all. Before daylight I must tell Joseph all that has happened.

Cousin, Joseph, was always interested in strange movements and strange people like John the Baptist, but having Jesus the Galilean at our place was most unusual. Joseph usually reserves the upper room for some group; maybe even his own guests from among his Pharisee comrades. This Passover he denied himself that luxury to allow this new Galilean group to use our place. He says he thinks this Jesus may be the Lord’s anointed for our Land and that he and his disciples need a safe place to have their Passover since the Temple administration is so opposed to him at present.

Although Joseph paid for their room for the whole night, these Galileans did not bed down here but chose to sleep out doors in our orchard on the Mount of Olives. It was well after midnight when they left – Joseph and his family had already gone to his house and as soon as all were gone, I went to bed without even putting out the lights.

I hadn’t been asleep more than an hour or two when a banging on our door awakened me. I wrapped the linen sheet around me and went to answer. It was one of Jesus’ disciples accompanied by some officers with lanterns, torches, and weapons. I told him that everyone had left.

"We should have come more quickly." Apparently knowing their haunts he said, "Now we’ll have to go to Olivet to find him." With that they left.

After a few minutes I began to realize that Jesus and his disciples might be in some danger. I immediately went the short way, directly down across the Ravine of the Cedars and up to our orchard.

I was too late to do anything. The officers, with the one disciple, had come up to the sleeping mounds of men, holding a torch in each face. The one disciple suddenly embraced one who was standing, exclaiming,

"Master, the chief priests want to see us."

"Ah, Judas," he returned, "do you cause me to be brought forth like this with the use of weapons?"

Some of the disciples started to scuffle with the officers who had begun to bind Jesus’ hands with rope. Other officers with swords hurried up to where the commotion was; the resistance broke and Jesus’ men fled in different directions. If it were not for the whiteness of my linen sheet they would not have seen me. My heart is still racing.

Earlier that evening, after our family Seder with my parents and Joseph’s family, I had made myself available to Jesus and his disciples. I lingered on the stairs to the upper room in case there were any needs for water or heated food or anything. Actually, I was interested in what I might overhear from the men themselves.

What moved me the most was the tender considerations they had for each other. Apparently enforcing this thought, their master taught them to prefer one another by himself going from one to another, washing their feet. Afterwards there was some rejoicing when they shared the common loaf and cup.

The master solemnly stated, "I shall not drink again of this cup until we drink it in the new kingdom of God." There was some subdued cheering and looking at one another with pats on the back. When he said this, I knew Joseph was right: Their plans must be to inaugurate the Messianic kingdom while they are here in Jerusalem.

The mood quickly changed though, I could hear them speaking of the Passover lamb whose blood was used as a sign to avoid the death angel. They spoke of the great Day of Atonement and how the calendar had changed in captivity, of food from heaven, and of Jeremiah’s new covenant with God’s law within our hearts.

The master then warned them that he knew one or more of them were going ahead of the Lord regarding the time of his being brought forth as the Messiah. He said,

"Woe to that man that goes ahead of the Lord, lest the son of man be delivered up to the hand of our enemies."

After a period of eating and praying the master spoke to one, "What you do, do quickly" and this one who passed me in the stairs on his way outside, was this same Judas who returning later, did not appear to be in control of the plans he may have had.

The group seemed more nervous now – not much laughter – lots of prayers. After a long time they finally decided to leave. After singing a hymn, they began leaving. The master was saying to them as they left,

"Remember if they try to silence me, it is written, when they strike the shepherd, the sheep will be scattered. In that case he that is close to me shall remain with you and we shall meet in Galilee."

Then they were gone in the blackness.

16. JUDAS ISCARIOT, His third account – 30 CE:

What I thought was my lasting hope in the kingdom of God is lost and all because of my own actions. When I am still, my eyes run down with streams of water; nothing consoles me. Where is the great God of all the heavens? Things cannot just end. My friends have become my enemies. I cannot go out – my chain has been made heavy. When I cry out and call for help, the Lord shuts out my prayer. "What can be done to save," I ask, "I am ready for anything. I’ll make any sacrifice. Just tell me what to do." But the Lord has broken my teeth with gravel; he has fed me on ashes. I have been rejected from peace.

I had thought, "Surely the appointed time is at hand." Our master had said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me." And, he said, "One of you will bring me forth." That night he vowed not to sup the fruit of the vine again with us until the kingdom was fully come, and then to me – with a very serious and knowing look – had said, "What you do, do quickly."

I was the only one of his disciples who became known to the high priest. I was in a position to bring him forth so that questions could be answered – so that they would see how appropriate it would be for our master to have their approval as the kingdom of God began to take shape. They were very responsive and even offered to contribute toward our expenses here. They wanted to meet with our master at the earliest possible convenience.

From the beginning, though, they proceeded with a heavy hand. When I admitted that we had a few weapons for protection’s sake against rogues, they claimed their own armaments might deter a knee jerk response from my fellow disciples.

I thought our group might still be in the upper room where I left them, even though it had taken considerably longer than I expected to arrange the actual interview. When we did meet up with the disciples, they were sleeping and actually did make a first response with knives but then scattered and fled as they saw the number of the high priest’s armed officers.

Alas, the sweetness of Wisdom’s kiss but its bitter aftertaste. My desires had burned brightly, but it is as though they burned to ashes. I thought I had seen visions, but it is as though I saw dust.

First we went to Annas’ house, but were soon escorted next door to his son-in-law, Caiaphas’ house. I thought our master missed a good opportunity to answer Annas’ basic questions about who Jesus was reaching and what his teachings were.

Jesus had responded, "I have spoken to all the world openly. I always taught in a synagogue and in the Temple, places where all the Jews are wont to assemble, and in secret I have spoken nothing. Why do you question me? Ask those who heard what I have said." That immediately took the strength out of me, and to make matters much worse, they gave him blows for his response and Jesus glared at me.

When we got to Caiaphas’ house they held Jesus there and the officers began to treat him roughly. I ascertained that Caiaphas was probably waiting for a quorum of the Sanhedrin to arrive. I then feared they were looking for a judgment against our teacher. While waiting I noticed Simon Peter outside the gate and spoke to the gatekeeper to let him in also. If anyone could get the master to be more responsive, it would be Simon. He would not, however, leave the courtyard and come up to the main hall where they had taken Jesus.

Much to my anguish, Caiaphas was intent on getting rid of our master. I could see that from the beginning they had deserted our original agreements and were looking for evidence that our teacher was leading the faithful astray. I realized, as I was denying it to myself; there might be enough evidence to bring a capital conviction if they were set on it and were willing to resume their former power of making such convictions. I was powerless to do anything and Jesus, though able to answer the false testimonies, was saying nothing. What an abhorrent high priest we had – lizard eyes Caiaphas never looked at me when speaking to me. If ever there were a true high priest that would have been our master. This other man was a beast.

"So, You say that you are Israel’s Messiah," Caiaphas questioned our master.

"You say that," Jesus responded.

Caiaphas went on, "The Messiah, you know, is to be the son of David and king of the Land?"

"And truthfully," Jesus quickly replied, alluding to the prophet Daniel, "You, yourself, will see one like the son of man, seated on the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven to establish his kingdom!"

Caiaphas mused, "King of the Land then…." At this point he conferred with his chief priests.

I overheard them say, "If the charge of being a Maddiah is questionable, then we have that he has as much as admitted his aspiration to use his following to promote himself as king. That is something that Pilate should be able to deal with decisively!"

Still hoping against these false rulers I thought that perhaps before Pilate our master might be able to reveal his peaceful intentions for promoting the spiritual rule of our God among us. It is healthy spirituality, after all, that makes us fit for a change in human rulers and Pilate would not be keen on that point. Maybe it was even our master’s intention to by-pass the high priest by the way he was not interacting with them.

Simon must have abandoned hopes for Jesus’ acquittal for he was already gone when at the break of day they took Jesus to Pilate. I felt the humiliation myself when they spit in our master’s face and when they mocked him, blindfolded, saying, "You Christ, prophecy who that was who just struck you." My own stomach was hurting and I was nauseous as they taunted our Lord while he was still in their hands.

The ruling elders then brought their charges before Pilate who was up early for The Feast Day security measures.

"We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and claiming that he is the Messiah who is to be king."

Pilate called to our master; "You are the king of the Jews then? You!"

"It is all of you who say it," he mustered.

The chief priests then began piling on accusations. Among their many charges they claimed, "He said we would see him seated at the right hand of Power, and the people are believing him."

"Do you make no answer?" Pilate said, "See how many accusations they are making." Our master made no further reply. Then for the first time I thought he might be spared a Roman death:

"Take him yourselves and try him by your own law, he is not a threat."

"If this man were not a rebel, we would not have handed him over," they loudly huffed, "He stirs up the people, teaching throughout the whole Land. If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend; everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar."

A mob was forming; no one with whom the governor could negotiate. Pilate, anxious to placate the crowd, all too quickly pronounced that our master should be scourged then and crucified.

They ruined his countenance as a thief would destroy a house he was plundering – they broke him down like a wall. I too am ruined. There is no rest for me. The house of Annas feeds on wickedness – I went to the Temple where they had gone and I told them in front of the multitude,

"I brought an innocent man to you – look what you have done – you brood of snakes; you workers of iniquity; you money mongers!"

"Look, they even supported us," I shouted to the people and flung the money at the priests. They took no notice and went about their business. Certainly God would have vengeance upon them. I left, not knowing where to go and crying bitterly.

I saw the execution contingent beginning to get things ready and heard some of our women come up wailing.

"Let it be done to me as they wish," the master intervened, "I’m worth inconceivably more to crucify than for any other purpose." He assured them that the house of the high priest would not stand and that they could not crucify his soul, that God would raise the righteous and that he went joyfully to the cross in behalf of all the people who had no freedom. It seemed that he was wanting to hasten some final conflict for he warned those following that others would do as he had done, saying, "If they do these things in the green wood, what will happen in the dry kindling?"

As they were bringing out two others to be crucified, our master looked up to heaven and began quoting Isaiah: "The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not disobedient, nor did I turn back. I gave my back to those who strike me, and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover my face from insult and spitting. This is why the Lord God comes to my help. This is why insult has not touched me. I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near; who will bring a case against me? Let us stand up to each other. Who has a case against me? Let him approach me. Look, the Lord God comes to my help. Who dares condemn me? Look, they will fall apart like moth-eaten clothes. You others that fear the Lord; that obey the voice of his servant: trust in the name of the Lord and rely on our God. But look, these dress the tips of fire-arrows. Let them walk by the light of this their fire, for this is what they will get from me: they will lie down in torment!"

Thinking God might intervene for him, I found a place within view of the crucifixion site. Nothing at all happened. He died relatively quick and one of the owners of the upper room provided his own tomb for our master.

I sit here completely worn out – there is no rest for me, the cause of all this. Should I save my life and return to Scythopolis, my home? The master had said, "Whoever would save his life shall loose it and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." How can I do this now? My thoughts return to the discussion we had had last evening concerning the Great Day of Atonement as recorded in Moses. The master had said that concealed in this day was the possibility of so atoning for the sins of our people, that their sins would never again cause God to exile his own.

I reflect how Caiaphas had treated my master, and me as the high priest on the Day of Atonement was to treat the two goats. One was sacrificed for the sins of the people; for their acts of rebellion, and the other, like me, was the scapegoat who was sent away to the desert bearing away all the guilt.

I have a vision, though, of Jesus being the true high priest on the true Day of Atonement. There he lies in the tomb, which is actually like the Tent of Meeting where Aaron the high priest met with God concerning the uncleanness of the Israelites. There our Lord lies now, clothed in the consecrated linens that the high priest should put on. Linen drawers on his body, a linen tunic, a linen waistband around his waist, and a linen turban on his head – the sacred vestments put on after being washed and made ready for his work on the Day of Atonement. And did our Pharisee friends not wash our Lord before he put on the linen and entered the tomb!

But, I continue to think, after the expiation is made, the high priest should have the linen vestments taken off and left in the sanctuary. He should then be washed again and have his regular vestments put on as he comes outside.

These things I recall to my mind. As, well I remember the Lord’s saying, "Today and tomorrow I will work, and on the third day I will accomplish my goal." Oh how I ache to hear that voice again. A huge thought forms in my mind: "The house of Annas will yet be overpowered by our Lord. That Sadducee – as Caiaphas is – will then believe in the resurrection of the righteous!" Someone needs to see that our master’s goal is accomplished – that he leaves the linen vestments in the tomb and comes out.

Surely such an act would be dry enough wood to start a fire. Can I do this thing?

17. JOHN MARK, His second account:

It was almost mid morning when they crucified the man along with two others. They were sharing out his clothing among the soldiers when we got there – it was grisly and I was very afraid and stayed at a distance. People said he refused to take the wine mixed with myrrh. Many coming in for the Festival had to pass the place on the road. Mothers held their hands on the eyes of their children and husbands sternly hurried their family’s past but many took a quick, horrified glimpse of those being tortured. It put the people of Jerusalem in a chastened mood for the normally giddy festival. Joseph tried to comfort the man’s mother. He offered her and her friends free lodging whenever they needed it.

Cousin Joseph had the highest regard for the Galilean teacher and I too had begun to see the strength of his teachings from the little I had heard the night before. When Joseph heard from me about the arrest of Jesus by men from the high priest, he could not believe it. Joseph presumed that he would be summoned to the Council if there were to be a hearing on the matter, but he learned that he and others had been excluded from a quorum of members that had been gathered at daybreak – mostly Sadducees. Their action emboldened him to approach Pilate’s office directly concerning his desire to care for the body of Jesus. Joseph recruited Nicodemus to help him embalm and put Jesus in our own family tomb. I was concerned that Joseph might thus injure his standing with the Council, but he was insistent.

I asked Joseph if God had forsaken the man. Some were expecting a miracle to save him from death but before dying, people understood him to croak out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

"Don’t you remember the Psalm," Joseph said with his arm around me, "My God, my God?"

I did remember, but it seemed so out of context that King David’s troubles would be spoken of here.

"Yes, yes," I said hesitantly.

"Think about it," said Joseph, "This man is like a son of David and so is like the Messiah who – it’s sometimes said – would be killed in the last battle for the new kingdom."

This was confusing to me since I thought the Psalm was about final deliverance in the face of certain death.

He went on with tearful eyes groping for hope, "Perhaps the Lord will raise him up even as Elisha raised the only begotten son of the Shunammite. Before he was raised, his mother went up and laid him on the bed. Remember? Since we have the means and have our family tomb up on Olivet, I had to do likewise with this son of God. You see?"

I saw his point, but the Shunammite’s son hadn’t gone through what this man suffered.

The Sabbath day was wretched. Jesus’ mother and a couple of her friends stayed in one of our guest rooms. Cries of mourning came from that area of our house all day.

Jonah, one of our servants, came to me with some concerns. He had recently completed the construction on the first part of our family tomb into which Joseph had laid this Jesus.

"It will be at least a year, "he said, "before the body is decayed enough to put his bones in an ossuary box, and, heaven forbid, your family may have need of the ledge area before then. I suggest that before the smell is excessive, you and I move the body from the ledge into the ‘kokh’ recess. This would leave the ledge free and I could also hew another kokh next year."

I was sympathetic to his concerns but also saw this as an opportunity to check on Joseph’s superstitions concerning the possibility of the dead man being raised to life.

"I would like to go tomorrow before dawn," I offered.

"Of course; if you wish," he said, surprised at my quick response.

"This was a holy man," I continued, "Let us go wearing some linen clothing; I will supply them for you." Jonah seemed to appreciate this plan very much.

Next morning when Jonah and I rolled the stone away from the entrance to the tomb, it was especially dark inside. The top of the Mount of Olives was between us and the gathering morning light in the east. We entered, stepping down into the standing pit, which was before the ledge. We could barely make out the form of his grave linens on the ledge.

Poor Jonah sunk his fingers into my arm as I cried out and fell to my knees. I had just put my hands on the linens and realized they contained no body!

"Master, master; O Lord, O Lord," I began entreating, "We are your servants, we are your servants; we come here to serve you!"

Then it was quiet. We were both frozen and getting use to the slowly increasing light. No one was there! We finally determined that no one was even in the kokh niche that went back the length of a man and was a cubit high and a cubit wide – the place we had intended to put the body.

I whispered to Jonah, "It’s true. This was predicted by the scholars," meaning Joseph, of course. And then, remembering the master’s words from the Passover night, I said,

"God has raised this man to life and has sent him back to Galilee – I heard him say this, himself!"

Just then women’s voices could be heard outside. Then there was silence. Soon one woman looked in and gave a muted scream. I said,

"There is no need to be terrified. You are looking for Jesus the Galilean who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him! Tell his disciples that he is going ahead of them into Galilee. That is where they will see him just as he told them."

It was heady to be the first to give such a message. I was God’s messenger! The women left running and very frightened. Jonah suggested we look around our property and adjacent areas to see if there were any other signs of what had happened.

We came back to the tomb and were sitting inside discussing these things when a woman, perhaps one who had been there not an hour ago, looked in on us. She stepped away some distance to mourn and I told Jonah,

"I am going to Joseph’s house; you stay in the area and keep a watch. Joseph must know about these things; I say it is not a day for mourning!"

As it stands now, the news is quickly circulating. Our house has become a major rendezvous place for the various disciples of Jesus. Some are making plans for a return to Galilee; others are claiming they have seen appearances of their master here in Jerusalem. If it were not for the business, I would go to Galilee with them. I am convinced the teacher will be seen there. The kingdom of God must be appearing soon in power, just as Joseph has been telling me.

18. JAMES THE BROTHER OF JESUS – 30 CE:

I must admit I was a little wounded by my mother’s remarks. After returning to Capernaum from Passover in Jerusalem where my brother, Jesus, was murdered, Mother insisted on staying at the house of Thomas. She said, "When my son was dying he gave command that I should stay in Thomas’ household. Thomas now believes, you know. They are calling him the twin since he is the most like-minded to my son, Jesus."

Returning the hurt I said, "If Jesus really thought he was coming back from the dead, he would not have said that." Then, failing to soften the remark, I said, "If he was planning on a resurrection, wouldn’t he have said, ‘When I come back I will discuss with James the situation about your care?’"

Alas, the tongue is a fire. Like an uncontrolled little flame it can burn down a great forest. We argued. She asked,

"Why don’t you believe it, James? Many have seen and spoken with him, not just Mary Magdalene. He has appeared to Simon and just the other night in a meeting together for prayer, many of his close disciples claimed that he appeared to them."

I returned, "Then some doubted the appearance?" She hesitated and I added, "Has he appeared to you?"

I could see that this was hurting Mother. She sincerely believed the reports, but I knew that she had been under strong influences since joining a group of women who had ministered to him throughout Galilee.

Feeling badly for Mother, I decided that I should try to seriously consider the claim of his resurrection. "No one," I reasoned, "could account for his missing body."

I promised, "Mother, I will truly fast and wait on the Lord regarding this matter. If this is from God then I believe He will help me to resolve the matter one way or another, then I will let you know where I stand. Please forgive me for speaking ill to you. I know that you have a good heart and I know you are in good hands with Thomas’ family."

Thankfully I can now say regarding my faith, that I am no longer wind driven and tossed like a surge of the sea. After several days of fasting, I found myself transported, fully awake – it seems – to Jerusalem. I was lying on a mat in the upper room where Jesus last had Passover. Jesus’ disciples were also asleep here and there on mats around the room. Then Jesus himself came forward and silently indicated that I should follow him into the preparation room. He seated me in a chair and began to wash my feet. Suddenly he told me, "Your sins are forgiven."

Ungratefully I asked, "Are you returning for all to behold you?"

"James, James," he said with a little sigh, "very soon every eye will see the son of man, even those who pierced him, but first you must return here with all my disciples – the kingdom will begin in Jerusalem. You will see it beginning as you wait in prayer and as you are united as one."

With that he went back out into the main room and I found myself alone in my own room in Capernaum. There was no doubt; I will never forget how real his face was and how burning his eyes were. He is my elder brother, but he is much more. He is my Lord and my Master. He not only is Lord and Master to all who believe him, but he is also their elder brother in the family of God. I should have recognized this sooner. I was embarrassed for not being more thankful to Him for his grace to me.

A flood of words, however, is never without fault. I must go now and meet with these disciples and see what can be accomplished.

19. THOMAS THE BELOVED DISCIPLE – 30 CE:

My heart has been knit together with the Lord’s brother, James. In coming to believe, he also has been shown the secret things of our master. With this knowledge, James has quickened us again as the people of God. The oracle he received from our risen Lord was in so many ways like my own:

"The Lord says, ‘You must love one another,’" James revealed, "’as I have loved you, that you may all be one as I and the Father are one. Then you will be like I am and you will be convincing in your witness to the new kingdom life.’"

This is what I had been telling the others when we first returned to Galilee, but – as is fitting – the mouth of two witnesses has established the doctrine among us. That is how we were moved to take our families and establish ourselves back here in Jerusalem. We were all anticipating that something great would soon occur in the city of our God. We now believe we are to get the city ready for the return of the Christ who is Jesus, himself.

Much stands in our way here with the recalcitrance of the chief priests, but much more brotherly love has been expressed among all of us and this has given us great hope. Many have gone to their brother or sister in this new kingdom family and have asked for forgiveness for one thing or another. Such openness – even over small things – has made us exceedingly joyful and strong and full of the Lord’s glory. Although some were at first reluctant, Andrew insisted that we go through Sythopolis on our return here to see if we could also bring Judas back to the fold of our great Shepherd. His family, alas, had not heard from him so there is some hope that he may still be found here in Jerusalem.

Looking out for each other has been our constant endeavor. I exhorted all of us that observing such humility before one another is to know our master, and to know him is to know the Living Father. I then brought to their remembrance how that our Lord revealed to me that knowing him was the way to the Father. "This is our truth," I said, "and this is our life and our way to the kingdom – Jesus, himself." Recognizing that our Lord truly favored me with many of his deeper thoughts, the others that were close to him often look to me to remember faithfully our Lord’s teachings.

The Lord’s brother, James, has also been able to unite his flesh and blood brothers with our gathering. In my opinion, he usually served as their spokesman and I think this tends to show that he has the type of humble spirit that we now look for in a servant leader. Upon our arrival here we joined with some believers in the City and numbered about 120 people. That was before the Spirit began to embolden us to witness in the Temple – then there were multitudes that became believers and were baptized.

Joseph of Arimathea invited each of us to join "The Synagogue of the Restoration" of which he was a member. Now, however, we have established another – "The Synagogue of the Way", having more Hebrews and less Grecian Jews than had The Synagogue of the Restoration. We meet in private homes and sometimes even in the Temple itself.

The loyalty engendered by the oracles presented by James and me, and the promise that our teacher would soon return, have served to enthuse everyone. Our prayers and love for our master have been so fervent that it has sparked a fire among us, which is spreading to the whole city. The living reality of our teacher’s presence here brings forth praises among us to the extent that we speak them loudly with newly formed words that are given to us as we pray. Even the servants and women among us are prophesying and becoming like boldly trained orators. Joseph has shown us that these things were forespoken by the prophet Joel who also predicted the overturn of our temple authorities even as the sun is eclipsed and the moon bloodied. "A similar thing happened to Joseph of old," he reminded us, "when the sun, moon, and stars bowed down to him." We are surely living in the last days.

Joseph of Arimathea has made many enemies in the Sanhedrin because of his witness to believing that the resurrection is God’s vindication of our master against their false judgment of him. He no longer attends the Council meetings and has agreed to our advice concerning the use of his name among us. One or two out of every ten Israelite men is a Joseph; so to distinguish him we had been referring to him as Joseph of Arimathea. This needlessly put this good man’s name forward too much among the people. To lessen the danger that might come to him from violent actions stemming from the Sanhedrin, we have nicknamed him "Barnabas" for he is truly a son of encouragement.

In view of the soon return and coming new kingdom, for example, Barnabas led the way for many in selling his property on the Mount of Olives and submitting the proceeds for those in need. "My tomb is empty," he rallied, "It will not be needed before the return takes place." Energized by this, many have chosen to sell properties to make purses for themselves that will be full when the kingdom comes. "Properties will be redistributed anyway under the coming judgment," James advises us, "Do not be storing up fire against yourselves in these last days."

Despite our call to unity, there continues to exist certain strains in our oneness brought about by our differing views on matters of purity. Peter – yes, forgiven for his denial – yet continues to be lax. "Our Lord did not require us to eat with washed hands," he reasons. "But you must agree," I respond, "that we are to be holy as our Father is holy." None can gainsay that, but the divergent emphasis has led me to associate more with the Synagogue of the Way and Peter to rise in prominence in the Synagogue of the Restoration. Those in Peter’s Synagogue, the sons of Zebedee among them, tend to be more of an irritant to the chief priests. James, the Lord’s brother, on the other hand, tends to vouch for what he sees as his brother’s view of keeping the Law, which I believe confirms the majority opinion among us.

Did the Lord not honor my intentions to observe ritual purity when I went to the tomb with Peter? When we verified the women’s report about it being empty, I believed them and I also believed that our Lord came from God and went back to God as he had taught that he would do. To me, Jesus was the new Moses, whose body the Father took as he did with the old Moses. I did not think at that time that our Master had come back alive in the flesh, but because I had defiled myself by being in a tomb where a corpse had been, I stayed away from the others for the required seven days of purification so that I would not contaminate them. Later that day when Peter and a couple of others told me of having seen the risen Lord, I told them that I had been the only male disciple at the cross and personally saw the soldiers thrust a spear into his side. The others on their crosses were still lifting themselves up to breathe when the soldiers came to speed their deaths by breaking their legs, but our master had already breathed his last and dangled unsupported. They didn’t break his legs, but they jabbed their spear into his torso. There was no need for them to mutilate the corpse of our dear teacher this way, causing extensive uncleanness, but they did it anyway.

"Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and thrust my finger into the print of the nails," I told them, "and especially – concerning what I alone have witnessed – thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe that our teacher has returned alive." This I said, and this the Lord honored on the eight day when I was again clean. As we prayed I saw the evidence as plainly as one stands before another. I declared, "You are my Lord and my God," and there was no rebuke, but, on the contrary, there was a commission to me to be a prime witness so that others too might believe.

20. SAUL OF TARSUS, His second account – 32 CE:

Some time after the political instabilities under Pontius Pilate began, I had ceased from the drive to cultivate a righteous transformation of the people of the Land and I had drawn into myself because of an unbearable personal loss: my wife and two small children had perished in the collapse of our house.

I was away to Damascus on an errand for the House of Annas, selling authorized copies of the Torah, the Writings, and such; when a small earthquake in Judea brought the upper rooms down upon our dwelling in Jerusalem. House beams pounded down into their innocent bodies as they lay sleeping. The loss in this grievous accident began to drive me mad. Even now I rarely speak of it. I felt cold and dead inside – everything had become weariness to me. I couldn’t carry on; I couldn’t understand. My life went on like this month after month. As a Pharisee I believed God had a hand in all that happens and thus I was tempted to blame Him. Finally, at some point, I determined that my anger could not be directed against God and I began to be convinced that my old efforts should have a new focus: "Perhaps," I thought, "it should be directed against the threat that a recent new sect had been bringing against the purity of the Law. Their existence flouts God’s will. Not enough of the other Pharisees perceived the danger. The Sadducee party did, however, and they did well to make an example of one, Stephen who blasphemed against the Law and the Temple, saying that his Champion would destroy them both. Stephen twisted the Prophets words saying, "The Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands."

I saw that the danger spills over from purity matters and disregard of the Law into national endangerment. The survival of our people is at stake. I realized that my temptation to become a broken man was brought about by Satan. When I accepted this new focus I believed it was God’s way of giving me new zeal again against dangers that lay ahead for our righteous cause.

In a short time I had the support of the Sadducee party and began going into homes and terrorizing those most active in spreading the novel doctrine. I was aware that "The People of the Way" as they called themselves, were moved by one, Jesus, whom they claim was brought back to life after his crucifixion. Being preoccupied that year with The Preparations, I vaguely remember the Sanhedrin quelling some disturbances right around Passover time by recommending the crucifixion of three insurrectionists that I supposed were fomenting riots like those we’ve seen in recent years. I thought well of the Sanhedrin’s deliberations and their role in administering the Temple affairs. This revolutionary had died a fitting death; all that remained was that his supporters should return to the fold of authentic Judaism.

Since most of the followers of this man claimed that he was The Anointed One, we were able to prosecute them by tests of blasphemy. Many a time I was able to adjure them by an oath of denial: "Can you say that the Messiah has not yet come?" If they refused such an oath it was in our power to recommend excommunication. Other than that, we made it completely miserable for those of them who were especially intent on spreading this subversive sect. I even recommended prison for some on charges of property confiscation scams. I believe that due to my personal devotion to this project, we began to see the dispersal of this novel uprising. God was working all my circumstances for His good.

21. ANDREW, His second account – 33 CE:

I knew he would take the consequences of betraying our master very seriously, but I find it hard to believe that Judas would take his own life. Most of the others, though, are convinced that his death was self-inflicted. Word has gotten back that a badly decayed man was found in a ravine toward the southern wilderness. They say he had fish bone toggles in his lacing, which probably does make him a Galilean and Judas had taken to using them. I worry about how it will stand with Judas in the Day of Judgment.

I cannot help but reason, however, that if it were not for Judas’ role in bringing the Master forth as the Messiah, how else would it have ben accomplished? Certainly the actions of the Father in bringing our Lord back to life is the maximum that can be done to show that he is the Christ. If our leaders will not accept this they would, of a truth, never have accepted our Lord’s rightful office if he had remained alive. I conclude that Judas was divinely appointed to do what was done and that he will obtain mercy in the judgment. To some extent, Thomas seems to agree with me on this.

Finding what surely must have been the body of Judas was cause for many months of grieving for me. That was last year. This year we have all been faced with further unjustified grief. We just finished loud lamentations over our beloved deacon, Stephen, who witnessed with his life before the Sanhedrin. During his testimony before them he began gazing upward and was heard to declare that he could see our risen Lord standing at the right hand of God. We believers at first thought that this was a sign to us that our Lord was preparing to return, but Stephen’s martyrdom only seemed to occasion a hunt for other so called blasphemers which the ruling elders think will purge the Land of those who they believe are threatening the authority of the Temple. Truly, we people of the Way do believe that judgment will fall on the Temple and those administering it unless they repent. The Sanhedrin is trying to have us declared outcast from the Synagogue, especially those in the Synagogue of the Restoration, itself. As a result of the persecutions we have seen many believers remove themselves to places beyond our own Land.

This has caused some perplexity among us since we all have been looking for the return of our Lord here in Jerusalem. We understand the Psalmist to have prophesied that our Lord would return to us from the Father when things were right in Jerusalem. David said, "The Lord said to my Lord, ‘take your seat at my right hand until I have made your enemies your footstool.’" Because of this scripture we are distraught about how those who oppose us in the city can be brought under subjection to our master if many of us are actually being driven away. Some of us have concluded that the Lord stood to welcome Stephen rather than to indicate an imminent return. Others like James bar Zebedee are insisting that what Stephen saw is the sign of the Son of Man in heaven that must appear sometime before the Lord comes with judging power and great glory.

One of our prophets, Agabus, being instructed by the Spirit, prophesied that the Lord would first have us witness beyond Jerusalem, even into Samaria. This has given us a sense that many from beyond our city will hear those coming to them and that the Lord will draw upon people in many parts to see his kingdom plan accomplished. "The kingdom is like a mustard seed which grows into a huge tree which houses birds from everywhere," Agabus reminded us.

I suppose the present dispersion is necessary, but things are not the same as they were in the carefree days we had in the beginning. Our love feasts were a time of such joy. We had visions of the people of the Way of Jesus becoming so numerous that our Lord would be swept into the office of king just by his arrival and showing himself to all. We were borne along – and still are – by the Lord’s presence among us in a way not seen by the unbeliever. In the beginning we asked Thomas, "How is it that the Lord promised to show himself to us and not to all?" Thomas answered, "The Lord has shown me how that is accomplished. ‘Anyone who loves me,’ the Lord says, ‘will keep my word and my Father will love him and we shall come to him and make a home in him.’"

It is true, he has given his Spirit to us and in the breaking of he bread we see him revealed. In the breaking many things are seen; some things that cause us even laughter. Just as a child’s first joke is for a parent to purposefully hide and cause anxiety only to suddenly appear and cause laughter, so is the broken loaf given to us to reveal what has been done in the breaking of our Lord’s body. Our sorrow is turned to joy and the bread when eaten is turned to give us life. It is a figure of how we should receive life by the words our Lord spoke. Thomas reminds us of the Lord’s saying: "Whoever drinks my words will not taste death,"

The disciple whom the Lord especially loved is also loved by all of us. Thomas is our comforter just as the Holy Spirit works through him. He is our closest link to the master. In a figure of speaking, the master has already returned in and through Thomas. Did the Lord not say, "The one whom I love will remain for you." Surely our Master will return before Thomas ever passes away.

Before the dispersion, my brother, Peter, had become a leading spokesman for us to the unbelievers. He used to speak in the Portico of Solomon in the Temple. That tradition began on the Feast of Pentecost. Visitors were there from all nations.

"Men of Israel," he would speak up, "we witness for Jesus the man accredited to you by God through mighty works and wonders which God did by him among you. Pilate decided to let him go but you disowned the holy and righteous One and asked as a favor the release of a robber. But this One who was going before us to give us life and freedom, him you put to death! However, this Jesus whom you crucified, God has raised to life and he has made him both Lord and Christ. He has appeared to us – his grave is empty and none can say otherwise. For a short time the heavens must receive him while we witness of these things to you, but he will soon return for the restoration of all things. He is already at the door. Save yourselves from the judgment coming upon this perverse generation. Repent and be baptized for cleansing." With many such words he would preach, and some were also being healed, as it was when the Lord was among us.

The stir that these things caused aroused bitter indignation among the high priest and his followers who had warned us against preaching about Jesus. Annas and Caiaphas arrested us and sought for evidence to stone us but Gamaliel, as we have heard, intervened with some wisdom. "These men," he said, "are trying to make us responsible for the blood of their Champion since we took him to Pilate where – of course – he was rightly judged. The multitudes would see our present actions as also adding these men’s blood to our hands. That would only foment more problems for us. Let us abstain from a capital conviction for this reason. Remember other revolutionaries like Theudas or Judas of Galilee were killed in due course and not at our hands. These disciples of Jesus are not violent but they too will be annihilated somehow if their actions are not of God’s doing." We escaped with a flogging. I think that may have achieved as much sympathy for our cause as our deaths would have.

Thanks to Gamaliel, many strong orators have arisen among us having developed a defense of our message from the Scriptures. Especially galling to the chief priests is our application of the "Why do the nations" Psalm. It states, "The rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Anointed One." We follow this with, "The Anointed One will be the stone cast aside by you builders, and it has become the head stone of the corner." Then we explain how David spoke of the resurrection when he said that he – meaning the Anointed One – would not be left in Hades, nor have his flesh see corruption."

Being prompted by the Spirit and with many other such scriptures, we are able to stand up against the debates of even those who are like the scribes in their learning. Stephen, it appears, was just the last straw for them.

How will the Lord vindicate him? How will the Lord accomplish the restoration of the kingdom to Israel? Our rulers, it seems, are ensconced in the fabric of things as permanently as the huge buff stones are made secure in the Temple walls. These are the things that are perplexing us now as we, his few original disciples, hide here and there in Jerusalem.

22. SAUL OF TARSUS, His third account – 33 CE:

In the midst of my prosecution of the many members of the new sect I received word that my sister’s daughter had become a disciple of these people of the Way. My fifteen-year-old niece, Junia, had a strong mind and was brought up under the strictest of Pharisaical rules. But she was now devoted to this new group – what had happened? Was it because of the young man, Andronicus, whom she had recently taken an interest in? Why had she accepted the abnormal with delight! In due time, I thought, I would perhaps have a chance to reason with her. Our families attended the same synagogue.

In the mean time my trips to Damascus in the employ of the House of Annas continued. They naturally entrusted me with letters to the synagogues in the areas through which I would pass, warning them of the danger of converts to the new sect. In fact, many of those we were prosecuting in Jerusalem had moved to other cities including Damascus. What more authorization did I need to challenge them again and to warn the congregations there of the disease among us.

On the long dry stretch from Caesarea Philippi to Damascus our normally verbose group fell into a long period of silence as we walked along. I began thinking of Junia – how could I approach her situation? Then I began wondering what my daughter, Merab, would be like now if she hadn’t died. I fell into a trance. I felt like I was taking in breath but releasing none. My eyes were open, but it was as if I could not make things out. Was I seeing the Sun? Was I seeing reflections? Needless to say, I stumbled and fell. I heard my name being called and then, "Why are you persecuting me?"

"Who are you?" I managed.

"Jesus, whom you’re persecuting," came the answer.

My mind reeled: "I’m not persecuting…I’m prosecuting…many people; not one…person."

"Who are you?"

"I am Jesus."

"Lord…" I whispered, "What should I do?"

"Proceed to where you are going in Damascus," came the words, "there you will find out."

Although I was thoroughly dazed, with the help of my traveling friends I was able to continue our travel. All of us were in a perplexed silence. My mind was racing from one thought to another. I was exasperated and much confused. I kept coming back to one thought: "I had been laid hold of by a living person – Jesus!" He was alive then – this one whose attitude toward the law was so different than mine. His attitude must be correct then. The concern of us Pharisees had been to change our people through more exact instruction in the written and oral law? I had learned something of the teachings of Jesus since my work to hunt down his disciples had begun. By his actions precisely on God’s day, the Sabbath, Jesus had been criticizing our Jewish halakha. Was he emphasizing that God’s love in healing power could be expressed at each and every moment? Not just when permitted by law? Surely by being made alive, God has vindicated him. He must then be the Messiah, empowered to speak God’s will. The Law as he alone interprets it must be the sole and final authority. If the rumored resurrection were actually true – as I must now testify … they truly did not find his body – then I can no longer consider all these teachings of his as blasphemous pretensions of a madman and his dupes. They are utter truth. What the Law lays down as necessary for salvation has no further claim. And if God can be gracious to one such as I, who was making my best efforts to thwart His plan of salvation as revealed in Jesus, then could this grace not also be made accessible to those whom the Law excludes? The Gentiles?

Here my whole life turned once more, as the opening of a new scroll. I am being called to bring grace to the Nations even as God was pleased to reveal His Son to me. Can this be true? Perhaps God will further grace me with a sign in Damascus.

23. SIMON PETER, His third account – 36 CE:

At first we apostles thought things were getting out of hand. I say, "apostles" for that is how we have designated ourselves if we were among those once numbered among the twelve that our Lord wanted to be tribal representatives. Choosing from those who have been witnesses of our Lord from the beginning, we have added to our number to make up for those who have left us.

As I say, when believers began dispersing to other cities due to the persecution, which began at the martyrdom of Stephen, we thought our Good News was getting out of hand. Whole families were moving out of Jerusalem to cities far off. Even some of the seven appointed deacons were leaving. This put our Grecian widows back into insecure positions again. The reason we had appointed the seven deacons was to insure that we apostles could continue our preaching while they looked after administrative issues. In the distribution of alms to the widows, the Grecian proselyte widows cried out that they were being overlooked. Previously, these widows – mostly associated with my Synagogue of the Restoration – were murmuring against what they felt was an unfair advantage the Hebrew widows had in the Synagogue of the Way.

To get on with what I was saying, men were taking our witness of the Good News everywhere; Samaria not excluded. Nicolas, the proselyte from Antioch, returned to his city and another leading deacon, Philip, went to Samaria. There are Jews in Antioch and other Gentiles there may become proselytes like Nicolas, but there are not true Jews in Samaria and I had never heard of Samaritan proselytes. Even those few we encountered while with the Master were not apt to become proselytes.

We now realize that the dispersal to Samaria is the will of the Lord. It started with the new understanding that our Lord, himself, is the temple of God. As Thomas has rightly pointed out: "In Jesus," he said, "the glory of God is revealed to us. He tabernacled among us and in him we meet the Father as formerly could be done only in the tent of meeting or in the Temple."

"If that is the truth," as Philip put it, "the need for new believers to have their Temple in Jerusalem is not absolute. The old stumbling block for Samaritans regarding their rejection of Jerusalem is completely removed with the Lord’s Good News. Though he paid for it, Stephen was right in saying, ‘the Temple may be removed.’"

However, even when we heard of the response in Samaria to Philip’s witness, we were doubtful. Barnabas, as we now call Joseph of Arimathea, helped us to overcome our hesitancy by opening the scripture to us from Ezekiel. He taught that Ezekiel’s prophecy regarding the two sticks was being fulfilled in our day. Barnabas said, "True, the Samaritans have intermarried with non Jews but, they are yet circumcised and they yet possess the land of Ephraim. For this reason when Ezekiel says that the stick named "Judah" and the stick named "Ephraim" are joined as one in his hand, he is prophesying of our time when one like David will rule over both as one nation."

On hearing this, the other apostles decided that John and I should also go down to see if, by the laying on of our hands, the Samaritans might also have the gift from the Holy Spirit poured out on them as we in Jerusalem have experienced. On arriving we instructed them in the prophecies in which we had learned that they were appointed to oneness with us and they heard our testimony of how we were graced in our speaking boldly with new tongues. We explained how that by faith they might also be given speech from the Holy Spirit. "If you will utter your praises uninhibited," we said, "and exult before the Lord, he will pour his Spirit out on you also." And with that we laid our hands on them – speaking ourselves in tongues – and they too received the same gift. What a confirmation to the prophetic teaching this was for us!

From that time I have been emboldened to consider the prospects of taking our witness further a field to the Diaspora. Philip again has led the way by his witness in the South to a prominent Ethiopian proselyte who now is a believer in the Way. We apostles are therefore considering whether we should appoint regions for each of us where we would be responsible to carry our witness. There is some division over whether we should do this, but my sense is that this Good News is ordained to go beyond the confines of Jerusalem, not only by converts who have been visitors to the City, but also by authorized witnesses of our Master’s whole life.

24. SAUL, His fourth account – 40 CE:

Out of the corner of my eye, the man’s bouncy gate, as he walked up, reminded me of someone who walked that way when they had good news to tell. I looked up to see one grinning from ear to ear. It took me a moment to know in what context he should be, but I quickly realized that this one was my old friend, Joseph of Arimathea. The world is truly a small place – he was always associated with Jerusalem for me.

Barnabas as they now call him was standing in front of me at the Tarsus Academy of Rhetoric where I had been working as a tutor in oratory. It had been three years since I had last seen him in Jerusalem and thirty years since I had first met him as students together under Gamaliel.

"Joseph, how can it be that you are here in Tarsus, and with such a face," I said.

"You won’t believe what’s happening in the Land," came his reply, "They are adopting your ideas!"

"What do you mean?"

"We are preaching the word of God directly to the God-fearing Greeks – even Peter is evangelizing God-fearers in the Land. Many of us are placing a new emphasis on a confession of faith through baptism as confirming that one’s covenant circumcision is a circumcision of the heart." His words tumbled out, "They also sent me to Antioch to help stabilize the church there."

This was certainly a change. "What brought about these things," I asked.

"That’s a long story involving, I think, your stay with Cephas and his eventual absorption of matters you put before him."

"But what about you being in Antioch?"

"That’s an even longer story involving clashes of the Pagan citizens of Antioch with the Jews there. It involved the Jewish response to emperor Gaius’ proposal to make the Jerusalem Temple a Roman shrine."

"Yes, the whole Diaspora has been anxious about Gaius’ resolution, but how did it affect your going to Antioch?"

"I am there with my family; I will tell you all of it, but first, would you consider working with me there?"

I almost immediately agreed. It seemed the fulfillment of a mandate I had been burdened with for too long now. There were many pent up desires that now seemed to be suddenly freed. Had I not – like Jeremiah – been called from my mother’s womb to be a prophet to the nations? And had I not been called, even as Isaiah, to become a light to the Gentiles. I had heard it on the road to Damascus and I was hearing it again through Joseph. My conversion was the working out of a plan devised by God much earlier. Just as it had taken 38 years from my birth until I would see the risen Lord of glory, so it had taken another six years for circumstances to be made ready for my calling to begin in earnest.

In my naiveté I had tried going immediately to the Gentiles from my baptism in Damascus. I had given little thought to the political situation when I initially set out to evangelize in Arabia six years ago. I first tried to answer my calling by going to the towns of the Nabataeans who controlled all of Arabia south of Damascus to Petra; or, "Fetra," as these who have no sound for the letter "P" pronounced it.

The political tensions between them and our governors had been building for three years at that time. They viewed my gospel as merely another variety of the various factions of Judaism that exist and saw my work as an attempt to infiltrate, divide, and weaken them. I had been far too cloistered in the halls of the scribes to realize that their king, Aretas, had been expecting possible sanctions from the new Caesar, Tiberius. Caesar needed only to give orders for action to the governor of Syria who had four legions at his disposal. Aretas had broken the peace three years earlier by making pretensions of a border dispute with Galilee’s ruler, Herod Antipas.

It’s a long story, but way back when Herod the Great’s father, Antipater, for political reasons, married a Nabataean woman, our ties were close. Then, for further political reasons, Herod the Great was forced to war with his mother’s people. To calm the tensions, Augustus suggested that the grandson, Herod Antipas of Galilee, marry the daughter of the present Nabataean king, Aretas IV. Things seemed much better until Herod tired of his Nabataean wife and insulted Aretas by divorcing her to marry his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias. John the Baptizer, of course, made much of that but it did nothing to appease Aretas who finally routed Herod in the war, which began the year before our Lord was crucified. Because of Herod’s complaint to Rome over this, Aretas was on edge as I have explained. Things were also compounded for Aretas because he had rashly presumed his right to succeed the rule of Obodas before him. Unfortunately, Rome never did uphold the rights of our people in this matter, and, in fact, the Empire seems to be headed toward more of the anti-Hebrew stance that was typical of Mordicai’s time.

As I say, my naïve foray into this arena created many bitter enemies for me among the Nabataeans. Not only that, I was alone and unaccompanied by a second witness which would have been the right thing to do. This situation forced me back to Damascus, penniless.

There I got little financial support from the people of the Way, not because they were unwilling, but because we were still a very small minority in the synagogues. When the synagogues invited me to speak – I was recognized in Damascus as well trained – I proclaimed Jesus as the Christ and returning Son of God. As a result, our numbers slowly began to grow along with the animosity of the unconvinced Israelites.

It was at this time I began to realize that I would be unable to preach the good news without some means of financial support. I could no longer count on income from the House of Ananus since they had been underwriting my work to discredit the people of the Way. Neither could I count on alms from those supportive of the scribes nor help from my family. Counting all things but loss for the sake of Christ, I resolved to pursue what earlier I had held as slavish and demeaning. I decided I should learn a common trade in which I could support myself wherever the Lord should send me.

In my youth I had had contact with many tent makers who also used the linens, which our family business brokered. These people – though having small incomes – were able to travel lightly having need only of the moon shaped knife, the awl, some needles and waxed thread. The demand for them was everywhere – in the cities or on the road. They had contact with all levels of people, meeting their needs for linen awnings for the theaters, canvas market stalls, land tents, boat-deck tents, sails, wagon roofs or just the ability to fix sandals, gaiters, belts, gourds, or whatever. For the next year I worked with one such brother in Damascus to learn the trade.

Some time after I began using these skills on my own, the Nabataeans assumed control of Damascus and Aretas made Syllaeus the ethnarch of the city. This man had been especially embittered against me for my influence among his men while I was in Arabia. Many of the other Nabataeans, after listening to him were filled with rage against me, and – as my friends thought – had begun waiting near the city gates conspiring to kidnap and kill me. For that reason they let me down in a basket at night through an opening in the city wall. Six days later I was in Jerusalem for the first time since my baptism.

You should have seen some of the looks I got there! No one would give me the slightest amount of direction for finding any of the leaders of the Way there. In fact, when they inquired about who I was, they seemed to give me misleading information. I hadn’t realized what an anathema my name had become among them before the time of my enlightenment. I had come to get acquainted with Cephas whom they called Peter. As a so-called pillar of the group, I wanted to find out how he would view my calling as being directed to the Gentiles.

Because I was aware of Joseph’s old haunts, I was able to finally corner him and witness the genuineness of the Lord’s appearance to me. Because of my hurried departure, I had no letters from the brethren in Damascus, but by accounting for little details here and there and by exhibiting the joy of our mutual hope in the Lord’s return, I won full acceptance of Barnabas – as I shall refer to him.

Barnabas was able to convince the apostles that I too was a fully baptized believer and he opened the door for me to stay with Cephas for two full weeks. What enlightenment! Here was the prime eyewitness of the whole time that our Master went in and out among the Apostles.

We firmly agreed that Jesus was the truth concerning the Christ. And, regarding my experience, Cephas granted that it was similar to the various appearances reported among themselves. But, he had some reservations about the way I claimed my calling to the Gentiles. In his opinion, the prophet Isaiah was "set as a light to the Gentiles in the uttermost parts of the earth" by having been written down in the Septuagint and thus the Scriptures themselves were drawing God-fearers and proselytes to Jerusalem.

"It is preeminently necessary to proclaim the word of God to Israelites," he said, "Only if we cannot find further faith in the Land – the Lord having not yet returned – and only if they altogether push away the Word and thus judge themselves unworthy of eternal life, should we consider turning to the Gentiles."

I was acutely disappointed, but he had not utterly closed the door to the vision that had been so burned into my soul. I was soon impressed that there were first things to be done regarding evangelizing our kinsmen according to the flesh among the Israelites, and that since I had been gifted by my background in the art of polemics, I should engage our fellow Israelites. With that in mind, and with the initial support of the Apostles, I began the work with zeal among the Grecian Jews in the City.

Because of my renown as having been formerly in league with such groups, I became the target of murderous intentions. The brothers, for my own sake, removed me to Caesarea and finally – through prophetic utterances – suggested that they should be responsible for the people of the Land and that I should evangelize among the Diaspora, beginning with my own hometown. Tarsus, therefore, is where I have been until now.

On our way to Antioch, Barnabas explained more to me of the complexity of the situation there.

"First of all," he said, "there has been a great loosening of the gospel in the Land since we sent you off three years ago. Churches have been planted in Antioch, Joppa, Capernaum, and elsewhere." This began to stir my heart even more. He went on, "Peter, himself, has even begun to eat with the unclean – such as tanners – and with uncircumcised God-fearers as though they were already proselytes. Our Lord has honored his actions by pouring out the gift of the Holy Spirit upon them as he did upon us in the beginning."

"Secondly," he continued, "your presence in Antioch as a former persecutor might help to stabilize the persecuted church there."

He went on to explain how the ruler of Syria had been arresting certain enthusiasts among the people of the Way and slanderously labeling them "Christians", implying that they were promoting liberation from Rome with the coming of a new ruler called the Christ. This had happened last year, the third year of Emperor, Gaius. Gaius had proposed the desecration of our Jerusalem Temple by erecting, in the Holy of Holies, a giant statue of himself as Jupiter. He madly wants to turn the Temple into an imperial shrine. Although Petronius – the Syrian legate having the order from Gaius – was able to stall the implementation, Jewish extremists seized the proposition as a pretext for demonstrations against Rome. The Gentile Antiochenes rose against them killing many until Petronius stopped the violence. At that time, most of the original founding leaders of the church left for other cities because blame for the disruption was being wrongly focused on so-called "Christian instigators".

Because Antioch was now a matter of great concern to the Apostles, they decided to send Barnabas who had ties with the Cypriate founders of the church.

I could see that God was now using me at the right time, even though for a season I had been tempted to be doubtful about my calling. In Antioch there will be an interesting mix of both Jew and Gentile. I cannot overemphasize how eager I now have become.

25. BARNABAS (formerly known as Joseph of Arimathea), 40-46 CE:

It is said that next to Alexandria and Rome itself, Antioch on the Orontes River is the third largest city of the empire. I would say that it is half again as large as Jerusalem. Everything going between Corinth and the East passes through here and everything coming up or down the coast goes through our western harbor at Selecia Pieria.

The grid plan of Antioch’s streets makes it an easy place to become familiar with. Its main street is truly astonishing! Herod the Great had it’s 31 foot width paved with marble for two miles and the 32 foot wide covered sidewalks on both sides go along the entire two mile length. Kosher food shops can be accessed right along with all the other markets along this street. The large Jewish community here has clearly defined rights as are publicly displayed on the bronze tablets posted at the head of the Jewish sector. Another significant portion of the citizens here are God-fearers who are sympathetic to our Jewish customs.

In Jerusalem we all felt that the congregation of The Way that had been established here by Cypriot and Cyrenean founders, should not be allowed to be snuffed out by the circumstances surrounding the attempted pogrom against the Jews. It was also prophesied among us at Jerusalem that the delay of our Lord’s return is for the very purpose of enabling us to reach the Diaspora with our witness of the Gospel. So, after we heard from Antioch that its main founder, Rufus of Cyrene, was forced to abandon the work here for fear of his life, I – with my Cyprian connections – was commissioned by the rest of the apostles to come here to stabilize things.

When I arrived I found that Rufus’ cousin, Lucius, had remained here, but that a recent believer, Persis, had had his property burned down amidst the governor’s zeal to place blame for the riots. A prominent man among the first God-fearing converts here, Persis had been hosting the gathering of all the believers using his extra large courtyard. With Persis now moved to Rome and Rufus to Cyprus, we saw the church to be in great need of stability.

Thanks be to God, and with the willing co-working of Saul of Tarsus, a new stability and growth is now being accomplished here in Antioch. We have grown sufficiently to be able to sponsor our own missions to the Diaspora and we have also been able to return the love shown us from Jerusalem by taking a relief collection up to them.

We overcame our initial difficulties in Antioch by establishing house-gatherings. From the beginning we were unwelcome in the recognized public meeting places that were afforded the synagogues, and with no large place – like what Persis had – to accommodate everyone, we found great success in the house meetings. Such an arrangement has the advantage of offering new believers a choice. Those from among the Jews could join a Jewish house-church and those from among the God-fearing Gentiles could join a Greek house-church.

The disadvantage, however, is the difficulty the whole church has in coming together for table-fellowship. Doing so is important for establishing our obligations to love one another; breaking bread only in the house-churches would not be sufficient. The difficulty, moreover, is two-fold: Lacking any members who might own a mansion, we either meet outdoors or in the crowded spaces of the few among us who are moderately wealthy.

Secondly, our gathering together forces us to eat together – both Jews and those Gentiles who have not become full proselytes. A great outpouring of love has enabled us to bridge this difficulty. There is no barrier for us having full fellowship with the Greeks as long as what we eat and drink together is kosher. Our Gentile believers surmount the legal situation regarding the command in Jubilees, "Separate yourselves from the nations, and eat not with them," when they accept the kosher food we offer them. When we dine in their houses, we trust them to offer Jewish food and drink. This is a significant and loving concession from them since such food is more expensive than that from the Gentile markets. We return their love in the trust we show concerning the food they offer us. Such trust is not routine with we Jews who have been raised with the teaching that Gentiles would pollute our food and drink given the slightest chance. For that reason, some at first brought their own food to the combined fellowship. Now, however, we are growing in unity and in favor with God and with the leaders of the city.

When Saul and I took the offering from Antioch to Jerusalem, we of course took along the news of Gentiles being accepted among us as Jews – in a sense – as they make their transition into implementing their new knowledge of our Law. Twisted reports of this made their way to the chief priests. They in turn raised an alarm regarding the rapid growth of Gentiles among the people of The Way whom they began referring to as "Christians", even as had been done in Antioch. They did this to prejudice the new king, Agrippa, against us as instigators of a zealot liberation movement.

Agrippa’s ascension to kingship over Judea had come to be seen among the Jews as a kind of restoration fulfillment. "After all," they were saying, "it has been 33 years since Judea last had a client king and now Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, has obtained the rule of all that his grandfather once ruled." Until the clear sign provided by his death just this year, Agrippa’s rule was beginning to be a little discomforting to us. We People of The Way, of course, look for Jesus himself to become the King and Restorer of all things.

Agrippa, while he was alive, was an opportunist. Just as he had done in Rome where he gave calculated support to Claudius who – in becoming the emperor – favored him with the kingship, so, here in Judea, he is seeking to please the Jews. He does this by making it appear that he is zealous for the Law. His ambitions led him to capture James bar Zebedee and behead him. Beheading rather than stoning or a Roman crucifixion shows that they wanted James’ activity to be viewed as a political rather than a religious or criminal offence – if one can make such distinctions. We believers think that Agrippa may have also been pretending political allegiance to Rome by executing supposed zealots while at the same time he was fortifying the walls of Jerusalem in preparation for some possible future defense against Rome. It was only last year that the Emperor became alarmed and had Agrippa leave off the building of those walls.

Before his death, James had become the leading elder in the Synagogue of The Restoration where I had been when I lived in Jerusalem. Having wrought what they believed to be a purification of the people by James’ death, the chief priests were being further appeased by Agrippa who also sought to execute Simon Peter whom he had arrested. Thanks to the many believers and sympathizers among the people, someone was able to arrange his escape from captivity before Agrippa could act as he did with James. Some even suppose an angel from heaven accomplished the release.

Simon has gone into hiding, being protected by the community of believers, while Saul and I, eager to not also become targets, returned here to Antioch bringing along my cousin, John Mark to work with us. We decided that for a time we should discontinue the meetings that John Mark had been hosting in our large inn. Too often the pillars of the church in Jerusalem could be found there and we did not want to encourage another capture by Agrippa until his ambitions cooled down.

We have only just returned from a big circle of a mission into Cyprus, Pamphylia, and Pisidia. It all began during one of our times for worship. Arising from the prophecy from one of the congregation came the words, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Saul had been rather outspoken about the view concerning the need to take the gospel to all places of the Diaspora before our Lord would return. We saw that the Holy Spirit was verifying this need for us. After fasting and praying, the elders laid hands on us and released us with a few funds to witness in other cities. We would, of course, come back to Antioch where my wife and children would stay, but neither Saul nor my other assistant, Mark, had the same motivation to return since they were unmarried. In fact, Mark took opportunity to use our relatives’ chartering service to return from Cyprus to Jerusalem.

I had wanted to go to Cyprus to bring the witness to the relatives of Mark and myself. They attended synagogues in Salamis of Cyprus and we were able to establish congregations in both Salamis and Paphos. With spring arriving, Saul was anxious that we consider sailing to some areas west of his hometown, Tarsus. For several reasons Mark was hesitant to join us. For one thing, he considered it his obligation to find out how well the church in Jerusalem was caring for his mother, Mary. Ordinarily this duty would have fallen on him, but the elders – along with Mary herself – had insisted that they would care for her while he ministered in Antioch. Secondly, Mark had long been desirous of recording the memoirs of the apostles but had been dissuaded by them in view of their anticipation of an almost immediate return of our Lord. With that view finally changing, Mark had lately been encouraged to return to Jerusalem to see if Peter, John, or Andrew might be persuaded to help him begin such a work.

In Pamphylia and farther north in Pisidia, Saul and I were both victorious in starting new congregations and were confronted as well by "threatened" synagogue leaders who were quick to contradict our Gospel and swift to rally an opposition party to our mission. It was after several occasions like this in Pisidia that Saul began to convince me we should appeal directly to people – God-fearer or not – in the public places of the city. He convinced me that Cephas had been in basic agreement with him on this should the Jews utterly reject our witness. I was at first timid, but Saul – ever the outspoken orator – showed me ways to win a hearing. He began to use his Romanized name, Paul, and would cast about for opportunity to provoke faith for healing. One time a lame man was encouraged to have faith to walk. This provoked a great interest in our message.

Saul was even bold for us not to mention circumcision and to eat with the Gentiles as Gentiles ourselves, but I dissuaded him. It bothered my conscious. Would we not be making ourselves one with sinners? I said, "To remain a Gentile is to remain a sinner." Saul, however, reasoned, "when Gentiles set their belief on our Lord as the Christ, they are then – to use Thomas’ terminology – ‘in Christ’ in the same way that we Jews were ‘in Christ’ when we too believed." He further argued, "If Gentiles are still sinners ‘in Christ’ then so are we Jews when ‘in Christ’, especially since the law never makes one utterly sinless."

I countered, "That makes some sense but your argument would remove the necessity of the Law in its role to guide us into holiness."

"On the contrary," he continued, "our Lord showed us that the one essential command of the Law is to love ones neighbor; even James preaches this. Thus, instead of being just another interpreter of the Law and subordinating himself to it, our Lord showed that the Law is actually defined by his life. The faithful love of Jesus for his disciples made him willing to die for them, releasing them to live."

"And you say that Gentiles are free from being sinners without being committed to our community," I questioned.

"The death of our Lord was in vain unless it makes possible an atonement for anyone who believes, just as these Gentiles are doing," he returned, and then concluded, "I believe the gospel is that these Gentile believers are fully fellow members of our covenant community even without being ritually observant, as long as they observe the love of Christ. In doing this they keep the whole Law and are not counted as sinners."

This was like the opening of a new scroll for me. Many new thoughts followed on the heels of this reasoning. "Would we Jews no longer be sinning if we did not keep portions of the law but nevertheless practiced the love of our Lord for those in our community?" I needed other teachers with whom to debate these ideas. I could hardly wait to get back to Antioch to see how the elders there would view this. It is true, we might be able to bring many more souls to the Way in Antioch, but at what expense?

After wintering in Side on the coast and learning the tent-making trade from Saul, we went back through all the cities we had been to and strengthened the souls of the disciples in each place, encouraging them to hold to the faith. The next fall we returned to Antioch with glowing reports of how God had opened a door of faith directly to the Gentiles.

26. SAUL of Tarsus, His fifth account, April 46-September 51 CE:

My swift voyage back here to Antioch from Ephesus was made possible by the brisk western winds of autumn. I can’t help but believe that they were like the Spirit of God blowing us along back home so that we could be here in time to help Barnabas. He had been in no little debate with some newly arrived brethren from Judea concerning their opinion that we at Antioch should insist on circumcision for those Greeks among us who are holding back. Barnabas’ main rebuttal had been that our new converts were demonstrating a circumcision of the heart, of which the prophet Jeremiah had spoken when he said, "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart you men of Judea and inhabitants of Jerusalem."

They responded, "Jeremiah spoke of a further cutting off of evil out of our hearts; the very thing we have done in submitting to the baptism of John and Jesus, but we all," they said, "have first of all been circumcised in the flesh."

Barnabas had been on the verge of giving in to these men when we arrived. He had argued that the Lord – according to Jeremiah – would punish all those who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised but that nothing is likewise said of those who are uncircumcised yet circumcised. They, however, had seemed to be winning with the observation that all the nations as well as those of uncircumcised hearts were considered equals by the prophet.

"And," they added, "our Lord taught us that whoever breaks one of the least commandments, and teaches others to break them, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven."

It was at this point that I had arrived in Antioch. My report before the whole church was made with Barnabas’ briefings in my mind. I began with how it came about that my companion, Silvanus, had remained in Corinth and then went on to relate the multiple accounts of the many remarkable conversions on our mission. This went on for several hours; the church was transfixed and often interrupted with declarations of praise to God. As I brought things to a conclusion I was careful to state that we laid no requirements for the new believers other than baptism.

"The same grace that is evident upon us Jewish believers," I said, "is also upon the believing pagans. God is showing us that the same conditions of complete observance necessary in the past from us Jews, is not required of the nations. We see the believing Gentiles receiving the same Spirit as is given to us. It is necessary," I told them with great conviction, "that Gentiles should be called into the place of those Jews who will not believe in Jesus and the Messiah. The purpose is to fill up the number promised to Abraham by preaching the blessed Kingdom of God in the whole world. ‘In Abraham,’ as Ben Sira expounded it,’ shall all the nations be blessed.’"

During the ensuing prayers a prophecy was given such that several of us should go up to Jerusalem where the Spirit of Christ among all of us together would give a final determination regarding the matters of circumcision and other traditional observations of the Law. Barnabas is trying to encourage me. I am nervous that the Judean apostles and elders might judge my work as unacceptable. I can’t bear to think that I should be judged as having run in vain all throughout Galatia, Macedonia, and Corinth.

"Look," Barnabas advanced, "we can take Titus with us. He is full of the Spirit and very fruitful, being indistinguishable from us believing Jews except that he has not been circumcised. Bless his soul; this has given me a degree of confidence along with the conviction that I have rightly received my gospel by a direct revelation of Jesus Christ. I had once been a strict observer of the Law, but now I have found something better. Before I always found that the righteousness I obtained by obedience to the Law was always falling short of the mark in one way or another. But, thank God, the righteousness he now gives is completely sufficient. He considers both me and the Gentiles as righteous when we believe his true and faithful son, Jesus. Jesus adheres to the Law for us. When we are "in him" – as Thomas puts it – we are accounted with his faithfulness. I think this is the gospel that will be able to prevail at the council meeting.

As I await our trip tomorrow to Jerusalem I can’t help but think of the many things that have transpired since I was last in Antioch. We left five and one half years ago with a desire to reproduce in other cities what we have here in Antioch. Barnabas and I had begun to see that this is what the Lord has in mind for the Gentiles. In the assembly of believing brothers and sisters is a new family. It is even more sincere than that love accomplished among us Pharisees. In fact, I think it is a fulfillment of the original vision of the Pharisees. The mutual love we have in Christ is irresistible. It fills the loss I suffered in loosing my family. It likewise fills and soothes the distress that Gentiles experience when they make a break with their ancestral religions. Such a parting of ways often removes the new believer from family, friends, and associates. What can they turn to in the face of the new criticism they encounter? The new family of God replaces the old and binds us together, and a new spirit fills us.

Sometimes when our work was exhausting we would feel a gnawing sense of loss in what we had left here in Antioch, but I would soon realize that our dear converts might be facing the same thing regarding their former place. My preaching rebounded through such thinking because I realized that God was in the process of creating a new family of security and joy in each place we ministered.

When we left Antioch I had said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in every city in which we have proclaimed the word of the Lord. Let us see how they fare." Barnabas wanted to wait for Mark to go with us and said, "Before too long Mark may be coming from Jerusalem – perhaps with Cephas – and, will probably want to go with us when we go to Cyprus."

Being a little irritated I said, "We need someone who will also go on with us into Pamphylia and Cilicia and it seems to me that if Cephas is here, Mark may be even further inclined to come back to be around him instead of continuing with us."

We finally agreed that Barnabas should take Mark, when he arrived, and visit the Cypriot congregations and that I should take Silvanus and visit those churches that Barnabas and I had founded in Pamphylia and Cilicia.

Silvanus proved to be a hard worker sharing the same vision as mine for the Gentiles. From the spring of that year until autumn we went westward through Tarsus, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia spending about three weeks in each place. I had helped to establish these churches but they were, in principle, the workmanship of Barnabas. I became increasingly eager therefore to found some new congregations of our own. To assist us toward that end, we found a young man, Timothy, at Lystra who was well spoken of and eager to work with us in our calling. I regret now that we have done so, but at the time we suggested that Timothy proceed with circumcision – more to appease the Jewish segment of the congregation than anything else. Fortunately, in the new churches that we later established, the matter of his circumcision did not surface.

We were in Antioch of Pisidia as autumn approached and were faced with wintering in the areas we had just been through or with crossing the western mountains and following the Maeander River to the area of Ephesus on the west coast.

Silvanus, Timothy and I were all interested in heading for Ephesus but were advised to reconsider this plan. That time of year there is a problem entering Asia going directly west due to the sudden reduction of size and number of caravans leaving Pisidia. As autumn moves into winter, it gets much colder and rainy and fewer people decide to travel making the few who do attempt it more vulnerable to bandits. We decided to go to Asia anyway, and, to avoid the high country, we decided to head north toward Bithynia and Mysia, traveling through river valleys.

In the beginning of this trip I contracted a fever that slowed us down considerably. We decided to head for a commercial center in Pessinus Galatia, which was east of our planned route. Through conversation there we found some generous enough to give us hospitality for the winter. By the following spring I had sufficiently recovered from my ailments to begin a new work in Pessinus and by the following winter we had congregations in other towns in northern Galatia as well.

I may have had some trouble with my natural eyesight at that time, but through it the Lord gave me a spiritual vision of how the gospel might be propagated: If the Lord’s apostles would establish communities in larger population centers, the gospel would go forth from these through the work of the new converts. We saw pilgrims in Pessinus coming in from everywhere to visit the shrine of Cybele. The Lord gave me a vision of these same people returning to the vast hinterland carrying the gospel with them.

Adding to this vision I saw in the night a man of Macedonia entreating us saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us!" So, after two winters in Galatia, we headed for Troas whence we crossed to Neapolis and came up late that summer to Philippi, a prominent city in the province of Macedonia.

We were amused to find there at the base of the acropolis hill upon which Philippi was built, wooden sanctuaries housing the Roman deities, Diana and Silvanus. Because of the coincidence we began calling our fellow minister by his nickname, "Silas" instead of "Silvanus". We began our communication of the gospel with God-fearers who met at a place of prayer near these sanctuaries. Jewish travelers on the Via Egnatia would take this well maintained Roman road from the eastern shore of Macedonia, through Philippi, and all the way to the western shore at Dyrracium. From there they would sail to Rome. If it were a Sabbath when they passed through Philippi they would assemble at the place of prayer by the river there. Among those who would gather were God-fearers among the Gentiles of Philippi who respected our Jewish teachings. Among these, a woman, Lydia was the first to attend to our gospel and become believing. It was with her family that we stayed from that early autumn until mid summer of the following year.

I had not imagined that women would be so useful in the propagation of the gospel, but in reaching out to her friends, Lydia won the conversion of two other women, Euodia and Syntyche. These labored side by side with me in witnessing to the Faith and each headed a house church in addition to Lydia’s.

If the gospel of Christ is as I believed it to be, then I had to modify my own views on things such as the place of women taking the lead in caring for the community of believers. To give rules to the community regarding fixed roles and regulations would be to invite the Law to rob them of the liberty won for us in Christ. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek; neither male nor female. I have learned to set only general directions, therefore, and not too many specific obligations for the people. What we show the new churches is what Christ has done in love for us and how this has given us an example for us to act accordingly. They are to work out their own salvation by setting themselves apart from their former devotion to their own well being and by looking instead to a life, which seeks the well being of one’s new family in Christ.

This is the will of God for his chosen ones; simply that they be set apart in love and cleanness – not in uncleanness as they once were in their unbelief. To make a list of rituals – as being the will of God – would be to impose a binding list of precepts that would recreate the Law of Moses for them. I know from my own experiences as a teacher of the Law that this would happen. The Law can be like a beast that is never satisfied because we can never feed it enough. Thanks be to God, our Lord has brought us beyond the old Law to the new law of liberty.

Our stay in Philippi was cut short by the ill will of the magistrates whose actions against us came to a head when one of their number lost some of his and his wife’s livelihood due to the conversion of their slave girl who had brought them much money through her spirit of divination.

She used to follow us and cry out again and again, "These men are servants of the most high God, who proclaims to you the way of salvation." I’m sure she was repeating what she had heard of the Jewish beliefs so, we at first tried being kind to her but she persisted in this practice for many days. It was an embarrassment and Silvanus and Timothy were looking to me regarding what to do. Finally, worn out by her pompous proclamations, I turned and charged her in my loudest voice, "I adjure you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her, you demon. Your ways are not The Way of salvation!"

The demon left her and we ministered the love of Christ to her. After many days, her owners realized that the girl was no longer willing to continue her fortune telling. It finally prompted them to have Silvanus and me dragged before their meeting in the market place on the day that the Roman praetors were come for hearings. They announced, "These men are Jews, who are making a great disturbance in our city. They are teaching customs which it is not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or practice."

The crowd roared against us so much that, without hearing our defense, the praetors had us stripped and flogged. Those stripes seemed more painful than the attempted stoning I had undergone on my first mission with Barnabas. At that time I had happened to fall unconscious. Somehow, though, with even our feet now in stocks in the inner jail, we managed to have a joy well up within us. Silvanus began to sing a hymn of love to our God and I quickly joined him. Our songs and prayers confounded the jailer and two other prisoners who were being held there awaiting some judgment.

That night there was an earthquake. I feared the collapse of the building but it stood in spite of the fact that the gate to the inner room was pulled loose from the wall. The Lord was showing me again that he could cause an earthquake for salvation as well as for destruction. As my fears subsided I realized that the jailer was speaking to himself in an extremely exasperated fashion.

"Do yourself no harm," I shouted, "we are all here!" In a quavering voice he charged his wife to bring a light.

"Your God has performed this," he cried as he fell before us, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

"Believe on the Lord Jesus," we answered, "and you will be saved, you and all your household." He wanted to hear our entire message and knelt for some time gladly listening. Soon he took us into his own apartment and was baptized there and we ourselves had a kind of baptism as the jailer and his wife joyfully washed our wounds and set food before us. We all were taken by the ironies that had transpired that night.

In the morning the jailer came telling us that the praetors had sent lectors with an order to let us go. I was quick to respond, "They have flogged us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Roman citizens; and have thrown us into prison. Are they now going to get rid of us secretly? No, indeed! Let them come here, themselves, and take us out." To respond otherwise would be to admit wrongdoing in my opinion, and we had never done anything wrong. The future of the new community of believers depended on this response.

The lectors reported these words to the praetors, who were justly frightened when they heard that we were Romans. So they came and tried to conciliate us, taking us out of prison and begging us to leave town and promising that nothing should happen to those believers among them. We assured them that we would attempt no appeals regarding their actions and that we would soon be going on towards Rome itself.

Later at a meeting of the whole church, we announced that even though the magistrates treated us shamefully, we thought it best to remove ourselves for a while from the possibility of being a target of lingering spite from those not satisfied by the outcome of events. We therefore proceeded westward, three long days journey to Thessalonica.

There as in Philippi, the people were almost exclusively Gentile and mainly poor working trades-people. We too had to work hard, but were helped some by subsidies form the Philippians who were not really that much better off than the Thessalonians. This, however, enabled us to give much needed time to witnessing and to the teaching of new converts.

Observing the change in family after family that comes to learn Christ has continued to lift us up in spirit. It makes our joy full to see bitterness melt from faces as people are taught by God to follow the way of Christ. They become as children again; open to new possibilities. And we become to them as real brothers or even as mothers or fathers who are raising their children up in tenderness.

Our witness was especially attractive to the people of Thessalonica. It seemed to give back to the working classes, a former covenant that the new Roman elites under Augustus had usurped.

It happened that the people once had a god who promoted for them a sense of security and freedom. This god’s name was Cabirus. Their legend said that as a young man, Cabirus was murdered by his brothers, but that a covenant was made whereby he would come back to aid the powerless in the city of Thessalonica. His symbol was a hammer and his blessings were on the accomplishments of manual labor. But of late, the common man assumed that Cabirus had become more responsive to the gifts of the wealthy when they saw that the ruling elite took up this god into their official cult. Without a benefactor the regular artisans and workers were downcast.

Silas, Timothy and I had only to preach the historic details of Jesus Christ to them and we could see the hope like the light of dawn, coming back into their faces. Here was a young man, Jesus, who was killed by his kindred, but who – in actual fact – was raised from the dead and has the power to help those hearing our witness. We showed them how this Jesus would transform their situation and bring his followers into a new kingdom.

For nine months the church there kept growing. The municipal authorities, however, began to perceive us and the new converts as subversive and threatening to their society. Jesus Christ was not under their control as Cabirus had been. Under Jesus’ inspiration, they thought, a dissatisfied people might feel the stirrings of unease and be rallied toward revolutionary action. No amount of conversation with them could persuade them that the rule of Christ was first of all a spiritual rule – which it is at present – and second, I could not persuade them that his believers were not dissatisfied with how things were under God’s present spiritual rule.

I tried explaining, "You may have heard that we teach the coming wrath of God upon unbelievers. This does not mean that it is to come through us Christians; we do not rely on insurrection or weapons at all. What we are waiting for," I tried to tell them, "involves no struggle from the followers of Jesus. The prophets in fact tell us that our king, Jesus, will speak peace to the nations." Of course the prophets were foreseeing the peace of personal reconciliation with God for Gentile believers, but I did not explain it that way to them at the time. They refused to believe my arguments, saying, "You are proclaiming another king, Jesus, which breaks the edicts of Caesar."

That night we found they were getting together a mob to assault us. The brethren, therefore, immediately sent us away westward with Aristarchus to the city of Pella. From Pella we had intended to proceed west along the Via Egnatia with a view to reaching Rome, but because troublemakers from Thessalonica also suspected this move, Aristarchus persuaded us to avoid being killed by heading south to Berea.

In Berea we found sympathizers in the house of a Jew, Pyrrhus, but word of our presence there somehow got back to Thessalonica. With this concern in mind Pyrrhus suggested that I – being the principle subject of the mob’s antagonism – should go with his sons, Sopater and Lucius, down to Dion on the coast and sail from there to Athens and thus I would be out of the Macedonian jurisdiction and in the province of Achaia.

When we got to Athens I sent Sopater and Lucius back with words for Silvanus and Timothy: "I’m sure you have the same concern for the welfare of the Thessalonians as I have. If so," I instructed, "see if Timothy – the least likely to be endangered – will go back there to check on the church, but let Silvanus first join me outside the province of Macedonia.

The next two months proved to be some of the most unsettling of my life. First I had to await Silvanus and then Timothy’s report on whether the Thessalonians had survived the persecution with their faith intact. Being preoccupied with the thought that Timothy’s return would reveal our failure in Thessalonica, I found it hard to give our witness in Athens the wholeheartedness that sound proclamation of the word demands.

When Timothy finally made his way to Athens it was a joyous wonder to find that the power of my gospel had still been at work among the Thessalonians. I immediately sent an encouraging letter back with Timothy and Demas, who had accompanied him on the long 640-mile journey. In it I declared that the wrath of God had already come upon their persecutors and that we rejoiced to know they would be our crown of exultation in the presence of the Lord Jesus at his coming.

As we parted I told Timothy, "When you return to me, look for word of my whereabouts at the tentmaker shops in Corinth. With the Olympian games a regular biannual feature, there is sure to be a thriving industry for those supplying the visitors and the merchants." It was at one such shop that the most surprising thing took place. While conversing with the Jewish proprietors there I found that they too were Christians – husband and wife, Aquilla and Prisca. In my normal style I had engaged them in talk of good news for those of us awaiting the Messiah. We were both stunned to learn of our mutual life in the Lord. They explained how that nine years earlier their particular synagogue in Rome – one of about 100 synagogues there – had fallen under suspicion as being disruptive of the peace. The turmoil within it had come about when its non-believing Jews had begun casting out believing Jews who were bringing believing God-fearers into the synagogue. When the issue came before Claudius Caesar, he forced all the Jews of that synagogue to leave Rome.

"Then there is left in Rome a group of believing Gentiles?" I queried.

"Yes," they said, "And since then a few other believing Jews have joined them."

"What have you two been able to do here?" I asked.

"We have joined a synagogue here in Corinth, but have not openly proclaimed our faith. We have the joyous memory of Jesus, but lack the support of others here."

They were as overjoyed to have discovered me as I was amazed to find them. They only had a rudimentary knowledge of the faith and now they had found not only an authorized emissary of the gospel, but one who had founded several churches. Priscilla – as we call her in endearment and because it sounds good when pronounced with her husband’s name – and Aquilla, have become two of the most committed members of our apostolic team. On our way back here to Antioch I left them in Ephesus to prepare the way for our return to that city.

Prisca and Aquilla’s little shop is only one of the many businesses that line the streets of the Peribolos of Apollo market square. The front is 10 feet wide and the depth is 13 feet. In a back corner are a few brick steps to a wooden ladder that reaches the loft, which has a shuttered window above the shop entrance, looking out into the square. Prisca and Aquilla had their home in the loft while allowing me to sleep below in the tool-strewn workbenches and rolls of leather and canvas. Silvanus stayed with a sympathetic member of the synagogue.

To begin with I worked with them fulltime. This was perfect for initial contacts, particularly with women. While I worked on a cloak, a sandal, or belt, I had the opportunity for conversation and that could quickly become instruction in the gospel and further encounters were easily justified by the need for new pieces or other repairs.

Work would have to stop if I addressed a group and an assembly inevitably attracted the attention of passers-by. Early on I began to ask the Lord to send us people whose conversion would provide us with a good-sized house-church having spacious rooms and a good sized atrium. This kind of privacy is needed for worship times and intimate discussions. Precisely those kinds of people were soon sent our way in the form of Crispus, Gaius, and to a lesser extent, the household of Stephanas who was one of the first I baptized in all of Achaia.

When Timothy returned from Thessalonica, he and Silvanus took my place with Aquilla and Prisca while I devoted myself more completely to the word and stayed with and continued my trade at a slower pace with a certain God-fearer, Titus Justice, whose house was next to the synagogue.

A year and a half we spent in Corinth and saw the Lord build a church from all classes of society – from the slave to the civil magistrate. Even the proconsul of Achaia, Gallio – though by no means a believer – dismissed the united charges of the synagogues against our work. We believe the Lord had shown Gallio that our work constituted no civil offence.

Having prolonged our appointment by Antioch beyond what might be reasonable, we decided that I should come back here to give a report of what God had been doing. Silvanus and Timothy kept Prisca and Aquilla’s shop functioning while the later two went with me to Ephesus.

Thanks be to God I arrived in Antioch at a fitting time. Surely the Lord will go before us to Jerusalem. If he can give understanding to the pagan, Gallio, he most certainly will give excellent counsel to his children who call on him day and night.

27. JAMES, The Brother of the Lord, His second account – October 51 CE:

What a heavy load an arbiter must carry! The brethren looked to me for leadership with various parties competing for my endorsement. These issues concerning the Law are very complex and vexing and many things had to be considered.

It was a meeting called for by brethren coming up from Antioch – some had been there since the first persecution here in Jerusalem and some had arrived there from us more recently – each party had a case to present. Simon, John, and I were looked upon as representing the final determination of the matter, with everyone’s general consent, of course. The debate went on for more than one meeting; often heated and with words carelessly used to judge one another’s motives. I kept appealing to the brothers that in our lack of decisive wisdom, we should recess and ask of God who gives to all men generously without reproach. I believe the Lord has now answered our petition and that our determination in the matter is God’s will, but I still wonder how it will work out in the mixed congregations if the Lord continues to delay his return.

When our sessions first began, Saul, one of the main delegates, asked that we apostles and elders hear a summary of his case before we considered possible contending arguments. This we did. I was impressed to hear of the signs and wonders God had been working among the Gentiles through him and Barnabas and their other companions. I was disturbed, though, as Saul began to glory in his plans to return to Ephesus to spend a year there and harvest such and such for the congregation of the Lord, and then to do the same in other cities.

I interjected, "When the kingdom is fully established, then – the prophets tell us – will the majority of the nations be brought into it, and," I cautioned him, "We do not know what will happen on the morrow; our life is like a flower that quickly fades." He quickly agreed that he was only boasting in the Lord to the extent that, "If the Lord wills it, we shall live to go here or there and do this or that." Saul went on to explain, however, that he expected the Lord might further delay his appearing for the purpose of having his witnesses take the gospel to the nations rather than bringing the nations into Judaism.

This struck me as a little audacious and I responded, "His coming can’t be long off. We have many here in the city of our God who neglect their comfort to seek first the coming kingdom of God. The Lord taught us that those who love him will be heirs with him when he restores the kingdom to Israel. And, it is especially to those who are poor according to the world, who are chosen to be lifted up in its coming." I went on, "The Lord will not leave his humble ones long in their poverty and so we are right to glory now in our soon coming high position. His coming cannot be long."

"Do not loose hope," I told them all, "Think of the patients of the farmer: he sows his grain and waits for the autumn rains and then the spring rains. You too must be patient; do not loose heart because the Lord’s coming will be soon. It is those who are rich among us who are called to glory in their humiliation. If they hold to their riches, they will be like those who withhold the pay of the laborers who have mowed in their fields. The injustice will cry out against them before the Lord of Sabaoth. When the possessions that believers hold onto – for security’s sake – are finally released for the benefit of those ministering in the word and in prayers and fastings, then – I believe – shall the restoration of all things appear. In my opinion, without such self abasement the rich cannot but fall away from the faith."

Saul seemed to take these words to heart, pledging that remembering the poor in Jerusalem was the very thing to which he was committed.

In the sessions following Saul and Barnabas’ presentation, there began to be much finger pointing and judging of one another’s motives. I cautioned, "Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who slanders a brother or judges his brother speaks against the Law and judges the Law, but if you judge the law you are putting yourself above it. Be careful about making complaints against one another, brothers, so as not to be brought into judgment yourselves. Look, the Judge, Himself, is already to be seen waiting at the gates. His appearing is nigh. Let us fulfill, therefore, the Law of our King: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"

Here is what Saul’s accusers were saying: "When Saul first came to us," meaning to me and Peter, of course, "we in grace wiped out of our minds your record as a persecutor – we instructed you in the first principles of the gospel as it was given to us and we authorized you to preach it to others and especially to the Gentiles. But when you left Jerusalem for Cilicia and elsewhere, you began to adapt the gospel to make it more palatable to Gentiles. We practice circumcision and observe the law and the customs. We have done this for generation upon generation and now, in our time, the Messiah has come, confirming for eternity God’s blessed Law spoken through Moses. But you have struck out on a direction of your own, omitting circumcision and other ancient observances from our gospel and thus you betray our ancestral heritage. Those uncircumcised of the nations cannot even join us in our commanded feasts at the Temple. They would not be welcomed because of their uncircumcision. This Lawless kind of gospel has no authority but your own – you certainly did not receive it from our apostles."

God bless our dear brother, Saul, who was – for the most part – doing his best to hold his tongue through many similar hard arguments. He is a man of uncommon intellect and I had to agree with him on many points, the first being that it was God’s own doing – Simon being a witness – that the gospel should be preached even to the Gentiles. And, that the bestowal of the Holy Spirit upon them, even while uncircumcised, was confirmation that they were being saved. As to whether this makes the Law irrelevant, I have yet to be convinced.

I also had to agree with him that the thrust of our Master’s teaching was that he himself had been sent by his heavenly Father to unfold the Law of the King for us. I know that this one conviction of my own brother, our Lord, was repeatedly addressed by him and was part of the cause for so many turning against him. "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath," he said once, and I, James, say, "Do we not all believe he has been vindicated by being raised from the dead?"

Other matters that Saul tried to raise in support of his practices were less clear to me and I thought that if he continues to propagate them it might leave his converts not knowing what is expected of them. What is pureness before our God and Father if it is not a matter of things we do such as looking after orphans and widows in their affliction and keeping ourselves uncontaminated by the world? How shall we be saved – I wondered within – without having the Law to make clear what is right and wrong? This "Loving your neighbor as yourself" may be a law of liberty but it is, nevertheless, the Law. And, how can that one look at the Law tell us how to love? If one takes what belongs to another, for example, is it love to merely say, "Forgive me"? Is it love to give back only what is stolen, or is it love to give back with one fifth added as is instructed in the Law?

I knew in my heart the right answers to such questions, but certain consequences of these answers had never surfaced until now and those outcomes might be the very things that Saul had been practicing among the Gentiles. Perhaps this is what happens when the Law of liberty goes beyond the written Law. Jesus illustrated "going beyond" many times. I remember he would say, "You have heard it said that the Law lays down that you should do such and such, but I say to you, go beyond that and do what is such and such more."

"Should I forgive seven times," Simon once said.

"Seventy times seven," was the answer.

In this respect, the liberty involved in the law to love ones neighbor as oneself is able to transcend the other commands. Against such freedom there is no law. I was beginning to think Saul had been hearing the gospel correctly. The desire to not be a transgressor of the Law, however, made me extra precautious with Saul’s case. In so many words he had been saying,

"Faith is absolutely all that is needed for salvation – obedience to the Law in its many details is not wrong, but it is unnecessary. It is unnecessary because the faith of Jesus Christ teaches us that the sum of the Law is, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"

I persisted a little longer and began to preach to the brethren: "The God-fearers believe that God is one. They have a kind of faith; they do well. But, the demons also believe and shudder. Therefore, you who are teaching the new believers must recognize that faith without works is useless. Let not many become teachers, knowing that such shall be judged by a severer standard.

"What use is it my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, find warmth and food for yourselves,’ but at the same time you do not give the necessaries of the body, what good is that to them? In just the same way faith, if it has not deeds, is by itself a lifeless thing.

"For example, was not Abraham our ancestor justified by deeds, in that he offered up Isaac, his son, upon the altar? You see how faith was cooperating with deeds, and faith was made perfect by deeds. And the Scripture was fulfilled which said, ‘And Abraham believed God, and this was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.’ You see, then, that it is by his deeds a man is justified, and not simply by faith."

Looking for a way to respond to me, Saul said, "You and I agree that works of mercy demonstrate that a man’s faith is rightly placed, but performing circumcision is not that kind of work and circumcision was not taken into account when God first considered Abraham righteous for believing. He was circumcised afterward."

After the longest silence with everyone’s gaze fixed on me, I finally spoke: "Yes, mercy triumphs over these matters." Then an insight came to me – I believe – as wisdom coming down from the Father of lights: Perhaps the Lord in his mercy was making the importance of signs and seals different for different people.

I said to them all, "Brethren, listen to me. Our brothers are telling us how God is now being gracious to the Gentiles by taking out from among them a special people. Now it is clear to me that this is in harmony with the words of the prophets: It is written, ‘After these things I will return and I will rebuild the tent of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it so that the rest of humanity and all of the nations once called mine, may seek after me, says the Lord who has been making this known from long ago.’"

"David’s tent, you see, was a movable tent where the Lord would meet with his spokesmen. Our immovable Temple here in Jerusalem has replaced it, and so, David’s tent of meeting has fallen. It is clear to me that the Lord has returned in our Messiah to rebuild this place of meeting in a way that the uncircumcised may meet in purity with our God. Look here at our delegate, Titus. He is uncircumcised but is he not a spokesman for the gospel? Has he not been made righteous by meeting our God?"

"In my judgment, therefore…," I began, looking around and catching the alarmed looks of the conservatives among us. "My judgment is against troubling those who turn to God from among the Gentiles."

"How will it look," came the response, "if the world sees us as endorsing uncleanness for the Jews? Moses from the earliest times has had his preachers in every town where he is read aloud, Sabbath after Sabbath, in the synagogues."

"Brethren," I answered, "because the world looks upon these Gentiles that have been circumcised as having become Jews, let us write our concerns that Gentile believers abstain from certain grievous pollutions, but let us also permit those that have not done so to continue as uncircumcised. Letting there be a distinction between Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians will eventually work to strengthen the privileges we Jews have been losing in recent times."

"We don’t believe the world should distinguish followers of Moses from followers of Christ," they persisted.

I answered, "Our Christ went beyond Moses in many ways as you know. There is a place for making some distinctions. Most of these new Gentile believers have no real attachment to our Judaism, but what our nation needs at this time is for our people to stand together. Having our freedoms helps us to preach the gospel of Christ. You, yourselves know how insecure it has become for our nation. Just this year, for example, Camanus refused to arrest the Samaritans who slaughtered the Galileans who were in route to the Feast. This kind of thing has been going on and getting worse. Remember the year before our Lord was crucified, how that the Nabataeans attacked and routed the troops of Herod Antipas and how they were not censured?

I noted several items that showed our nation to be in a precarious position: Nine years after the Nabataean incident, was when Caesar Gaius permitted the violent persecution of our Jewish people in Alexandria, as you know. Many were massacred and our synagogues were burned. Then just eleven years ago, Gaius ordered the transformation of our Temple into a Roman shrine for himself with a statue of Jupiter to be placed in it. We suffered an anxious six months while the Syrian legate worked to persuade Gaius to abandon his design. Gentiles rioted against the Jews in Antioch, who were demonstrating there against Gaius’ design. As you remember, Gaius was planning to go back on his word when he was assassinated. Claudius, who replaced Gaius, failed to distinguish Gentile believers from Jewish believers and expelled all Jews in the Roman synagogue that was refusing membership to Gentile Christians there. He thus gave clear notice that all Jews are on probation everywhere in the empire.

I listed several other recent incidents that were tending to weaken our national position and concluded, "What shall we write to the churches?"

After more discussion, a short list was adopted and the following letter was sent back to Antioch with men chosen to accompany the delegates from there:

The apostles and the older brothers send greeting to Antioch. We have heard that some of your number who went out from us have troubled you with words and upset your souls, without having received any such instruction from us; we have unanimously decided to select certain men, and to send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul; men who have risked their very lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we have sent Judas and Silas to tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that you abstain from food that has been sacrificed to idols, and from tasting blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication. Keep yourselves clear from these things and it will be well with you. Farewell."

In my concern over how our decision might affect the Jewish brethren in the Diaspora, I also composed a letter to the twelve tribes scattered abroad and had copies sent to Antioch, Damascus, and Alexandria. I think that people left the final meeting with an understanding that Jews should continue being the keepers of the Law that they have been and that Gentiles had the liberty to remain uncircumcised while yet being recognized as chosen together with us.

Come quickly Lord Jesus.

28. SIMON PETER, His fourth account – winter of 51 - spring of 52 CE:

In Antioch I had to make a decision that, I’m afraid, alienated me from our brother Paul. I have tried to justify my actions for him but he doesn’t seem to understand. He insists that no matter what concessions the Gentile converts might be prepared to make to the Jewish customs, that because of the nature of the Law, many more would eventually be demanded. In great agony of mind I had decided to identify with those who needed me the most – the Jewish Christians. The other apostles and elders look to me as primarily equipped for the apostleship to the Jews, whereas Paul was proclaimed as appointed to the Gentiles. I was concerned that had I not been supportive of the waning Jewish portion of the church there, they would become disheartened about their struggle to keep a clear conscience. In order to help them preserve our Jewish heritage – which is so tightly knit together with kosher eating – I felt I had to join with and be supportive of their endeavors.

I was surprised by Paul’s reaction but I said, "Are we not free to observe what is kosher if we so choose? We are at the same time respecting the liberties of our Gentile brethren."

Admittedly things led up to this decision slowly. When I first came back to Antioch with my family and Mark, we had just been on a circuit to strengthen churches between Jerusalem and here. James had given us a letter of encouragement to be read at each of these places.

At the time I read the letter to the whole church at Antioch, I had no difficulty eating regularly in the Gentile house-churches there. I continued doing this for a while but gradually drew back and stopped the practice when I saw that some of the Jewish converts were having difficulty with it. I know it is permissible to eat whatever a Gentile house-church may prepare, whether it happens to be kosher or not, but with so many new Gentile converts coming into our midst, some of those brethren more recently come down from Judea have pointed out to their fellow Jews here, that all the new Gentile hosts may not be sufficiently concerned about whether the meals they prepare in their houses are kosher. Barnabas could see my point as well and has joined with us explaining to me that knowledge puffs up, while love builds up. He certainly deserves the name, "Barnabas". Whether we are Gentile Christians or Jewish Christians, the one essential is – as Paul himself has promoted – having faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

As soon as the weather was good enough to permit safe traveling, Paul was eager to leave with Titus in order to visit the churches that he had established in Galatia. His plans were to then join Priscilla and Aquilla, whom he had left in Ephesus. May God continue to grace his powerful witness to the Gentiles.

Paul has convinced me that before our Lord’s appearance, the gospel must first be preached to many of the nations. I believe the Lord had thus sent his angels – like Paul and Thomas and others – to gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven. "Should the Lord permit it," Paul says, "I will take the gospel even to Spain." He promised before leaving, though, "The Lord willing, we will first return to Jerusalem with a collection from all the churches we have established."

Things are much more at ease since he left. Some of the brethren have suggested that we follow Paul’s circuit with a visit from someone here to check on possible Jewish interests in those congregations. I told them that there were not many Jews in his churches except for the one at Corinth, and that we would possibly send someone there sometime. Knowing of Paul’s plans for Ephesus, I have determined to send Mark next spring to learn of the condition of the Jews there.

Meanwhile, Mark has been pressing me to let him write down a complete memoir of my time with the Lord before his crucifixion. He also has reminded me that Thomas’ disciples are even now recording his recollection of sayings. He says that my recollection, too, would be valuable in that the various sayings of our Lord – that we apostles relate from time to time – could be more easily memorized and that new converts could more readily witness the good news themselves. Up until now, I have been discouraging him from doing this, but with the various recent prophecies coming forth regarding the Lord’s intentions of first gathering a number of chosen ones from among the nations before he returns, I am thinking about it afresh.

Mark has pointed out how the Roman Gentiles understand the idea of a divine savior who liberates and has suggested that we compose an account of our Lord’s ministry that shows how he is the one who comes quickly to liberate people. "The Romans give the title to a worldly man," he says, "but our Lord is not just a man, but a son of God and a saving man as well!" Since his mother’s death, Mark seems more eager to join Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles.

Twenty-two years have passed since our Lord’s return to the Father and it has become more difficult to keep the new generation vigilant about the living hope we have of the Lord’s soon appearance. We have taught that the hardships we suffer are a test of our faith in the revelation to come in these last days, but a memoir, such as Mark proposes, would help the new generation to brace up their minds. It would help them to fix their hope firmly in the grace that is coming to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. With God’s help I may begin working with Mark on his suggestion.

29. NICODEMUS, His second account – 53 CE:

Our teacher, Thomas the twin, did pass away. That is, his body went back to dust. He himself does not see death, but lives on in the spirit with our Lord the Christ.

Fittingly his passing also put to rest certain sayings among some of the brethren in our school of Thomas. Those whose sympathies were with the teachings of James, the brother of Jesus, were expecting that Jesus would return in bodily form and that this would occur before his apostle, Thomas, departed his body. When Thomas actually died, they faced a crisis. These disciples had mistakenly assumed that the sayings of our Lord regarding one being given to remain with us, referred to Thomas. A good portion of us, however, were of the opinion that our Lord spoke concerning the Holy Spirit when he said, "I will not leave you as orphans, but will give you another like me to stand beside you when I return to the Living Father. This one will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."

These mistaken brothers are now claiming that the correct form of the saying included: "If I want this one to abide with you, he shall remain with you." And, they add, "…remain with you until I come."

"So," they claim, "Jesus did not ordain that Thomas would not die, but only if Jesus wanted him to remain, he would remain." Most of these men now, however – I am happy to say – are persuaded that our Lord had spoken concerning the Holy Spirit when he spoke of the one he would leave with us.

For the past twenty-three years I have been a disciple of Thomas. At first I thought as James did regarding the bodily return, but I soon came to the position of some of the others in the school of Thomas who saw the goal of our Lord as teaching us how to know the Living Father. In this way it is believers themselves who are raised to eternal life.

About ten years ago, several scribes and I worked to produce Thomas’ memoirs in the form of all the sayings that he could recall. From this activity of ours has arisen two views concerning the interpretation of these sayings. I have aligned myself with that group who sees the fulfillment of Christ’s work as already complete among us. The other group still expects the kingdom to come in its fullness only after our Lord makes a bodily appearance again to physically reign after the fashion of this world.

Several of the sayings, however, tend to support our group’s interpretation. Prominent among these is the saying given in response to the question of the Pharisees: "When comes the kingdom of God?" Jesus answered them, "Not with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you."

Another saying teaches us to discount the bodily appearance when it says, "It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

And, "Whoever keeps these word of mine will not see death." "I am the true light that is over all things. While you have the light, believe in the light in order that you may become sons of light." Our Lord also said, "There will be days when you will seek me and you will not find me, but to him who keeps my word, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will disclose myself to him." When the apostles asked, "How will you disclose yourself to us?" He answered, "The Father and I will come and make our abode with those who love me.

There are many other sayings that support our position, but these are enough to show that from the fullness of Christ, the word of God, we have already sufficiently received grace upon grace so that whoever trusts in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

In support of their position, those expecting more of a physical kingdom to appear have been putting together some of Thomas’ stories regarding the acts of Jesus. Many of these are very helpful, but some, in my opinion, have been more of an invention to bring out what they believe to be the underlying significance of some of Jesus’ parables. In one instance – I think to give credence to a continued expectation of a bodily appearance of Jesus – they have expanded our Lord’s parable of Lazarus. In the expansion, Lazarus does indeed return from the dead in bodily form, but – as in the parable – the chief priests refuse to be persuaded by Lazarus’ appearance. I can only foresee such things as working to the detriment of the kingdom that is present among us.

Since the death of Thomas last year, the factions of his school have become more divided. In the interest of promoting the grace and truth realized through Jesus Christ, I have left the school along with others who also have gone out to evangelize. Some have gone into Syria and eastward. I chose to return here to my home in Alexandria, partly to evangelize and partly to get away from a city that is quickly failing. Jerusalem is becoming a city occupied by too many beggars and too few pilgrims willing to keep giving them alms. If it continues like this for very long there will be more and more disorder.

Here in Alexandria there has been a great deal of disorder under the distress of the pogroms approved of by Caesar Gaius, but things are looking much better under their new governor. I believe there is soil here for news about the revelations of our Christ to take root. Much of that readiness, I believe, is due to the prior cultivation of the people with the influence of our dear Philo. People are ready to hear what I have to say, and with invitations to speak at many synagogues, I look forward to sharing the knowledge and love of the Father that I have gained by knowing our Christ.

30. SAUL, His sixth account – Spring of 52 CE – Fall of 56 CE:

Someone in every community that I have helped to birth causes me grief. Someone or some group has always been a voice of dissent. If it’s not the idlers at Thessalonica, it’s the women, Euodia and Syntyche, at odds in Philippi. If it’s not those in Galatia paralyzed by the Judaizers, then it’s "the high and might, spirit people" at Corinth; if not the mystics at Colossae, it’s the resentful at Ephesus. Alas, all these are given to me as a thorn in the flesh to buffet me about to keep me from exalting myself and to show that the weakness of Christ nevertheless overpowers the world.

Although consoled by the Lord concerning this constant irritation, I am still uneasy about what awaits me in Jerusalem. In fact, I am a captive of the Spirit in regard to my return there to bring the collection for the saints in Judea. I don’t know how even the obedient to the faith there will accept it from us, let alone how the unbelieving Jews will treat me if they learn that I have returned to the city. I have tried to discount the rumors I have heard that my name is on a death-list circulating in Judea among men that have not forgotten my former alliance with them. They now look upon me as an apostate who preaches against the Law. They are motivated by major differences with me and I –by comparison – remember how murderous I felt and how zealous I used to be against the early believers who differed only mildly with Judaism.

Believing this trip back might result in my never being able to return, I decided to make a farewell trip back from Corinth through Macedonia and Troas. I know traveling by land is much more dangerous to the safe keeping of our enormous collection than a direct sea voyage to Caesarea would be, but it may be my last time to see these beloved people – my family.

Utter secrecy is necessary about the gold we carry sewn into our garments in such a way as the gold pieces will not chink together. We converted the collection into the smallest volume possible, the gold Daric and spread it out among the eight members of our traveling party, each carrying our personal funds for the journey in the usual money belt or little bag suspended from a cord around our necks. I think we shall arrive safely with this out pouring of love but I don’t know what will become of me there. Hopefully It will be like coals of fire on the heads of those Judaizers; returning good for evil on those who were so responsible for the corruption of the church at Antioch.

No sooner had I left Antioch four and one half years ago, than Judaizing intruders from that church had followed my circuit of the Galatian churches trying to discredit my authority and my gospel, just as they had tried to do at the Jerusalem conference. It was not until spring five months later that emissaries from Galatia were able to come through to me in Ephesus with news of what the intruders were doing to these churches. The Galatians were giving up their freedoms and – being uncertain about some things – were beginning to fasten their hopes on the Law as guaranteeing their assurance of salvation. I had so much going on at Ephesus that it was necessary to send their emissaries back with a very personal letter from me. Otherwise, it would have been a long time before I could have gone myself.

When I had earlier come through Galatia, I had not imagined that Judaizers would also come to see them; therefore, I had not said anything to these churches regarding the circumcision conflict we faced in Jerusalem. Since I hoped to see the Galatians well disposed to contributing to the collection for the poor in Jerusalem, I had stressed the unity of the Way of Christ and of the love shared among its various communities. Regretfully, in my letter, I had to disclose the fact that there were troublemakers among the Jewish Christians who wanted to boast about a good showing in the flesh from the Galatians.

As I say, that following spring and summer and the whole next year were the most involved of my life, despite the fact that I was imprisoned for three months starting in mid July. So much was happening I don’t know where to begin.

When we first arrived in Ephesus in late August – just five months after leaving Antioch – I wanted to get things started on the right foot. Priscilla and Aquila had been there about a year and had identified a group in the synagogue who were believers in the sense that they had been converted to repentance while inquiring at the ministries of John and Jesus when they both were baptizing. Before my arrival, Priscilla and Aquila had learned that what these knew of our Lord was not complete, so they began to teach them more accurately the things concerning Jesus and about the hope of his coming. One among them from Alexandria, Apollos, was well gifted in oratory. It was not long before he began speaking in the synagogue with eloquence and learning for he had combined what he had heard from Christian preachers in Alexandria with his knowledge of scripture and his gift for inspirational enthusiasm. When I arrived, Apollos had already responded to an invitation from visitors from the Corinthian church and had gone there with letters of endorsement from Priscilla and Aquilla. At the time they didn’t realize that Apollos’ short experience in the word of our Lord, would lead to misunderstandings at Corinth. From what I have since learned, Apollos inadvertently drew intellectuals to himself as he put together things I had taught there with explanations using Philo’s methods and from others he had heard in Alexandria.

After the church in Ephesus began to grow, we immediately began training suitable men to take the gospel out to surrounding cities in all of Asia. This was a fulfillment of a vision I had had years earlier regarding the delegation of authority – out of a central large city – to evangelize the whole world. Some of those from the original group of Ephesian believers seemed a little resentful that I would be so bold about how things should proceed. They felt that the gospel should continue being preached as it had been before I came with my vision. When the Praetorian Guard later imprisoned me, it seemed to me that this resentful group felt a little pleasure at my bonds and continued to preach Christ out of envy and contentiousness. In any case, the gospel was not at all hindered.

My hope for release was fed by my awareness that those in the Praetorium with whom I had come in contact, were convinced that I was neither a revolutionary nor a criminal. I thought that it would not be long before word of my innocence would rise to those responsible for the disposition of my case. It was not that I couldn’t have been executed. Often the arbitrary use of an official’s authority can only be restrained by fear of reprisal from friends of the accused. Being an outsider lacking any high-level support in Ephesus, I was at the mercy of the proconsul.

I had been arrested in mid July, as I said, for investigation of charges of being subversive. It was idol-maker craftsmen that brought the charges. I had been offering public lectures in the hall of Tyrannus and with many of their clients turning away from idols; the craftsmen were intent on convincing the new proconsul of Asia that we should be examined. Because the proconsul only took office on the first day of July, I think he wanted to appear decisive and energetic when they warned him of our supposed danger to their city. Thanks be to God, the testimony of several of our new friends there influenced the proconsul to dismiss the charges when I was finally arraigned, allowing me to stay in the city.

While awaiting a determination in prison, however, I became a man of many letters. It actually started just before my arrest: I sent a quick note of thanks back to the Philippians who through Epaphroditus had sent money for my support. After I was put in prison, the Philippians had gotten news of Epaphroditus’ severe sickness. When, with Luke’s tender help – a physician and a believer – he did recover and I sent a second letter back with him. In that letter I strove to admonish Euodia and Syntyche to be more tenderhearted towards one another. From what their messenger had told me, the Philippians were having some difficulties with competitive attitudes from each of these women and their house churches. For the sake of the whole church there it was necessary that I remind them all not to act out of a spirit of rivalry or vain ambition, but in humility to count others better than themselves.

A third letter to the Philippians was in order to warn them concerning – what appeared to be – Judaizers, who had come to them after having caused all the problems with the Galatians. And, in that letter I promised to send Timothy to them to check on the Judaizers first hand. I would have gone myself but of course I was still in prison. I knew that the Judaizers might also claim that the collection money for the poor in Judea was being used for my own needs. I didn’t have to justify the previous gifts of financial assistance from them to me when I was in Thessalonica, but now that at Galatia and Ephesus I was preaching the collection for the poor in Jerusalem, any money that I personally used might be subject to such charges from the Judaizers. I therefore told the Philippians, "I am amply supplied with what you sent by Epaphroditus." Later when I sent Timothy there he instructed them, "On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store up, as he may prosper, so that contributions need not be made when Paul comes. When he arrives, he will arrange to have your gift taken with us to Jerusalem by those whom you accredit by letter."

While in prison I had further necessity to write to the Colossian church and to one of their members, Philemon. I also wrote the first of five letters I have written to the Corinthians. Thankfully I was afforded the use of a good secretary from among the brethren at Ephesus. Since I had the time I also composed a good-sized tract for the Ephesian church to circulate among all the churches we had been founding in Asia.

I had to write the Colossians because the founder of that church, Epaphras, was put in prison with me when he came to ask my guidance on some issues the church was facing. Thinking that he might be a collaborator with me, the authorities also arrested him, making his return and the remedy impossible except by letter. Epaphras was one of the first apostles I commissioned to go out of Ephesus to the widely scattered cities of Asia. His home was in Colossea but he had established churches also in Laodicea and Hierapolis. This area had a Jewish community with its roots in Zoroastrianism and mysticism. The tradition was that Antiochus III, in his reign, had settled about 2000 Jewish Babylonians in Colossae and the Jews present there now evidently have compromised our Jewish teachings with some of the mystical notions of Zoroaster. I at once recognized from Epaphras’ report that the emotions of mystic piety were carrying his church away.

Epaphras explained that one of his prominent converts, Archippus, was now encouraging church members to join him in singing and contemplation meetings outside of the regular gatherings.

"Those joining with Archippus," Epaphras explained, "have gone to singing and meditating in a large cave. They have composed some beautiful hymns that echo wonderfully in the cave. When the soloist haltingly and plaintively descends from the high note, the group enters a pensive, melancholy mood."

"They think," Epaphras continued, "that by restricting themselves on certain foods and drink and by reflecting on the great mysteries of creation and immortality, that they will rise – level by level – to a saving understanding of things."

I had already written a letter for the slave, Onesimus, to take back and be reconciled with his owners, Philemon and Appia, but found that with Epaphras’ arrival, I would need to send Onesimus back with faithful Tychicus also, along with this further letter to the Colossians. My plan was to win the mystics back by showing them that their hymns and spiritual songs were basically good but that what our Lord had accomplished in his mediation was to take the mystery out of the mysterious. He has now revealed everything plainly. The whole fullness of deity dwells in Christ in a bodily fashion – it is not a matter of spirits or angels or other intangible powers or dominions that we have to set our minds on. Christ and Jesus are one and the mystery revealed is that the Father’s reconciliation plan is accomplished through the blood of the cross and through the nails and a fleshly body. It is thus he has accomplished our peace and it is by similar concrete ways, through mutual forgiveness and love – which bonds in perfect harmony – that the Colossians might be knit together again in peace.

That first short letter I wrote to the Corinthians while still in prison also had to do with the right manner of being knit together in love. Apollos had returned from a year’s stay in Corinth and advised me that some in the church were tolerating immoral brothers and sisters with the same love as they would show towards the righteous. I wrote that they should not associate with such.

Later, after being freed from prison, I thought to have Chloe’s people obtain news about the effects of my letter. Chloe, a wealthy businesswoman in the church at Ephesus, frequently sent some of her employees to Corinth where they could select – for her textile business – dyes not available in Asia.

I was stunned to hear back from them that there was an incestuous marriage tolerated among the Corinthians as well as drunkenness at the Lord’s Supper, a mixing of things male and female, and divisions in the church. Hoping that perhaps Chloe’s people were exaggerating somewhat, I decided – since he had not left yet for Philippi – that I would send Timothy to personally investigate things in Corinth. That was in late spring of our second year out from Antioch.

While he was on his way, we received a delegation from Corinth: Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus. They brought with them a letter from the whole church requesting my opinion on several issues there. Before the Feast of Pentecost I was able to return a lengthy reply to their deeply troubling situation. My chief concern was with the group among them that I term, "the spirit people."

My approach was to mock this group – an approach that I would have done differently had I to do it over again. They too quickly became my enemies and found cause for siding with those opposed to my gospel. Nevertheless, it is the approach I took to respond.

I took their most cherished terms: "liberty", "wisdom’, "spiritual", "heavenly", and others, and played a kind of game with them showing how their spirit exhibited the spirit of the world; how their wisdom is the wisdom of this age; and how their maturity is childishness. Like children they were in effect saying to one another, "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Paul."

From talking to Apollos I sensed that they had taken some of his illustrations too far. He had learned in Corinth how I had taught the Law of liberty and from Philo had learned to contrast the superior "heavenly man" to the "earthly man", a body lover. I knew that the Alexandrian philosophers taught that death was a liberator from the weight and defilement of the body: "The body is a plotter against the soul; the body is a corpse, a dead thing and only those that attain to the spiritual realms are really wise," they had said. "Only the wise man is free," I have heard from Philo.

Taking this and running with it, the "spirit filled" Corinthians had concluded that to be free is to be able to live absolutely as one wishes. They were saying, "All things are lawful unto me." With such worldly wisdom – which is only a truth in part – they had begun to practice immoralities that were harmful to one another. The "spirit people" thought that their possession of the Spirit made them wise and mature; made them strong instead of weak; made them distinguished instead of lacking honor. In short, they saw themselves as "the heavenly man" already disposed of the "earthly man." They gloried in their ability to enter into a frenzy of speaking in mysterious, unintelligible words.

After mocking them for a bit I proceeded to show how together they should be working in the world as the body of Christ. Only as they are together in love can they demonstrate to the world the power of God’s grace to transform lives. Individually they are only detached members of this body. "For one Christian to sue another," I told them, "is like bringing a case against oneself – you are both members of one body. If an arm could successfully sue a leg, both would lose. Without love I am nothing. To love and to be loved is what makes us believers following the faithfulness of our Lord. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."

I used this new sense of the expression, "body of Christ", to suggest they examine their attitudes of being divided groups when they partake of the Lord’s Supper. "So let one take of the Lord’s Supper," I admonished, "if he sees and acts in a manner showing that he believes the body to be undivided.

In short, the kingdom of heaven does not consist in talk but in power. It does not consist in cleverness of speech but in the power of God’s grace that transforms us from what we once were. Apollos’ speaking style may have had an attraction in itself, but the power behind one’s message is of ultimate importance.

I believe it was the cleverness of speech that had led some Corinthians to promote the irrelevance of their body and it was such thinking that led others to say, "There is no resurrection from the dead." They had come to think that the resurrection was purely a spiritual event. As clearly as I could, I reminded them of the witnesses to the Lord’s bodily resurrection. Whatever tone Apollos may have picked up from some in Alexandria, the church cannot go there in its teachings. Just because I have said among the churches, "You have been raised with Christ," or "You who were dead, God has made alive together with him," this does not imply that our future resurrection will be a hidden spiritual thing only. Our new life now may be hidden in Christ with God, but our hope is that we shall also be given a new kind of body when the Lord appears. Our present body may die as a natural, animal-like body, but, like a seed planted, it brings forth a non seed-like thing – a spiritual body! We can only hope this if it is also true that Jesus himself was raised from the dead in a spiritual body form, even as the apostles and elders and I, myself, have witnessed.

Finally, having attended to all their questions and having addressed many similar problems, I urged them to be imitators of me as I was of Christ and dispatched the letter to them with the returning delegation. I then planned to go by land through Macedonia to visit my churches there and come at last to spend the winter in Corinth. Truly one must say, "As the Lord wills," regarding plans that he makes. When Timothy returned from Corinth I realized from his report that I had to change my plans and go directly and speedily by boat, straight to Corinth. A spokesman from the Judaizers at Antioch was making serious attacks on me personally and the Corinthian "spirit people" were showing no loyalty to me in the matter. They should have preferred me above all others – I was their father in the faith!

On the way there I was in great agony of mind. I knew from Timothy’s report that the man involved had come from Antioch, and from the Corinthian delegation I knew that there were representatives of Cephas there also. At least one of these men had apparently already been through Galatia and from there had been to Philippi and Thessalonica before arriving in Corinth. They obviously thought that the churches I had founded the previous time I went out from Antioch, were founded in that church’s name. I had alerted the Philippians to the danger of them making their way there. I could not go to both places at once to check on damages that might have come from these men, so I chose to send Timothy to Macedonia while I went on to Corinth. We both could have followed the trail of the Judaizers together but this would have put us in a weak position by the time we finally got to Corinth.

Since our bonds with Philippi and Thessalonica were strong, I decided that Timothy and Erastus would do well enough in going there while I went to Corinth where divided groups may have been; some for me and some against me. I was right in thinking that the letter I had just sent may even have embarrassed the "spirit people" enough to make them lean toward a favorable reception of the Judaizers. My heart was also anxious about how Timothy might be received as well. Day by day my stomach was ill at ease as I imagined one thing or another that awaited both Timothy and myself. If the Judaizers had triumphed at Corinth, they would have completed their circuit of all my churches and how long would it then be before Ephesus, at the center – where I also had opponents – would be joined in the error. My whole mission, as seeing Jew and Gentile believers as one in the world, would be at disastrous risk.

When I got there I found much of what I had feared. The Judaizers, for some time, had become a part of their assembly. Later, just as they had done in Jerusalem, they began to suggest that I was a dishonest representative of the church that had sent me out. What disturbed me more was the failure of many at Corinth to come to my defense. They knew from my previous teachings that their own appointees, not someone from Antioch or Jerusalem, freely ruled their congregation. But they had let this man continue with his accusations against me as if it was purely my problem and not theirs. When I exposed the man’s slander and asked that he be dealt with, they at first seemed surprised that they should reject the intruder without learning more of the basis of his actions. And, as I had expected, it was the "spirit people" who were more likely to be the ones who were slow to follow my suggestions.

I didn’t stay long. I was trusting that they could work things out on their own and I reasoned that the temptation to seriously listen to the options that the Judaizers had for them, was not the same as it was for the insecure Galatians. It was mid June by then and concern about the welfare of the Macedonians and Timothy was further reason to leave things for the present and to head by land – three weeks away – to join them.

The Macedonians had not at all been influenced by the Judaizers who had soon left them to go to Corinth. In fact, the collection for the poor of Jerusalem was well underway and the people were entirely supportive of the gospel of liberty. To give the Corinthians still more time to work things out I came on back to Ephesus in early August, going through Troas on my way.

In order to let the Corinthians know how I felt about the things that had happened in my unplanned visit, I wrote them a letter exposing my distress and anguish of heart when I had been with them. I had to show myself as being like a father who would painfully correct his children but, at the same time, assure them of his tender love. I did not know how they would take it and whether I had said the right things or not. Titus delivered it for me, straightway. This I felt was an advantage since he had been with me at the circumcision question in Jerusalem and had not been required to be circumcised. Titus was well aware of the dangers of submitting to the Judaizers and could testify to the agreements made between the apostles and us there.

I had instructed Titus to return through Macedonia and Troas because certain groups in Ephesus were vigorously opposing my return there, making my continued stay extremely dangerous. I explained to Titus that while he was gone, I would plan on going with some from Ephesus to start a church in Troas, and if the Lord should prosper such a venture, I would be there to receive his news from Corinth.

We made a good beginning for the church at Troas, but in consideration of it being late September, with the sailing season coming to a close and getting no peace of mind in failing to see Titus, I bade those at Troas good-bye and went on closer, to Macedonia. Even after reaching there my flesh had no rest, but I was troubled on every hand. Day after day with no news; disputes without; fears within. But the God who comforts the downhearted comforted me at last by the coming of Titus.

What a relief! The news was mostly good. The Corinthians had had a change of heart about their association with the slanderous Judaizer and had cut him off from the Lord’s Supper. Even though the closing in of winter made it necessary to wait for spring before replying, I resolved that I would encourage them to take the offender back into fellowship. He had almost no support on his own there and taking him back might also appease those who had been most influenced by him. I had time to work out a reply in the most edifying language possible that would let them know of my confidence in them, while at the same time acknowledging the difficulties that remained. Their efforts were praiseworthy and since I would also be reintroducing the subject of the Jerusalem collection, I thought praise would be of further help in that regard.

I wrote them: "Even if I caused you pain by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it when I saw that my letter had caused you pain, even for a time. But now I am glad, not because you were pained, but because your pain led you to repentance. For your pain came from God, and so you took no harm from me. For the pain which is from God works repentance leading to salvation, a repentance never to be regretted. But the world’s pain works death. Note the results of this pain which God permitted; what earnestness it has called forth in you, what explanations, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what fervor, what punishment of wrong. In every way you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So then, even if I did write to you, it was not for the sake of the wrongdoer, or of him who had been wronged, but to make clear to yourselves in the sight of God your earnest care for me. This is what comforts me."

The fact remained, however, that the Judaizers and the spirit-people faction were knit together in their admiration of Moses. The Judaizers, because he was the great Law giver and the spirit-people, because Philo regularly presents him as "the perfect wise man." Philo teaches that Moses withdrew himself from the body and thereby entered into the mysteries of God, which, in consequence, he was able to reveal and teach. This is exactly what the spirit-people aspired to do and thus the Judaizers preached Philo’s doctrine that the Law of Moses was in harmony with the laws of the cosmos. They further encouraged the spirit-people to reach for the same heights as Moses by accepting the demands of the Law.

"To enhance their appeal," Titus explained, "the Judaizers often referred to their credentials as having been with Peter and James and as having had visions, revelations, and miracles." Titus also let me know that these men tried to use my frequent changes of plans to imply that my leadership should be questioned as untrustworthy. Disaffected elements in the church were also continuing to snipe at me from time to time: "Why would he receive support from Philippi," for instance, "and refuse to take money from members of our church in Corinth?"

In answer I had to craft a letter that gave reason why "the Moses doctrines" would be a faulty support to lean on when compared with the strength of the Spirit of freedom and life. I wanted to put a divide between the Judaizers and the spirit people.

Since Philo speaks of corrupt men as needing to hide themselves, veiling their lawless iniquity from sight so that no one may behold them, I seized upon it, especially since he further enjoins the upright to have a confident openness, going day by day through the middle of the market-place where they will meet with the most numerous crowds, displaying their contrasting manner of life in the pure sun.

As they all know, when Moses had finished speaking with the Israelites, he put a veil on his face. By comparison I drew their attention to how Titus and I acted with confident boldness, and not like Moses who veiled himself. I am what I am; I have nothing to cover. The glory on Moses’ face was great, but fading. The veil prevented the Israelites from knowing it was fading. "Even in this day," I assured them, "the Jewish scholars cannot see the new glory of the ministry of the Spirit. Nay, their minds are even made dull at the public reading of the old covenant. The same veil remains unlifted because it is not revealed to them that in Christ the veil is taken away. Yes, to this very day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts, but when their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is stripped away."

In this teaching on the covenant I began to play upon their understanding of the new covenant as taught them by the Judaizers from Ezekiel. They used Ezekiel’s term, "new covenant" to refer to the way they envisioned the Law as being engrafted on peoples’ hearts in the last day. But I began to use the term "old covenant" in contrast. From there I attached "old" to the figure of Moses – not explicitly the Law – and thereby implied that it would be inferior to commit to Moses and the spiritual darkness that we see in the unbelieving Jews today. I compared how the Corinthian were my letter. They were written on my heart, known and read by all. "All can see," I elaborated, "that you are a letter of Christ transcribed by me, written not with ink, or engraved upon stone, but upon human hearts by the Spirit of the living God.

Having associated the Law with intellectual blindness – the quality the spirit people most despised – I then showed how our gospel was more nearly like the "Spirit" evoked by Philo’s "heavenly man" and like his virtue of "freedom"; freedom from the lifeless law inscribed in cold hard stone.

That winter I thought I was crafting a persuasive letter when I introduced the expression "old" as it pertained to Moses when he was compared to the "new" of the Spirit of Christ. But the Spirit smote my heart regarding this that I would rely only on my cleverness. He showed me that I should not spend my life in craftiness nor adulterate the word of God, but set forth the truth openly, revealing to the Corinthians the power of bringing into being by willfully dying.

My whole apostleship was drawn up before me that winter. I was shown that the Lord was leading me, bound as one of his captives in a triumph procession – being exposed for all to see and gloat over before finally coming to the place of execution. Not that it was exactly like that, though, for I went willingly and knowingly as did our Lord when he foresaw and gave consent regarding his death. He became poor for our sake when he planned that his life might be given for the sake of his own.

In every place I go, death shadows my step. On every hand I am hard pressed, yet not hemmed in; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. Wherever I go, I am always carrying about in my body the dying of Jesus, in order that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in this body of mine. Just as Jesus’ dying showed us of the Father, so my dying shows them Jesus. They who live, then, are able to see that they might live no longer for themselves. I am carrying in my own body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our bodies. For while we witnesses live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.

The spirit-people preferred to fix their gaze upon the Lord as being like the glorious emperor, conducting the triumph parade, rather than see that God had inverted things, making the glorious one, our Lord, at the finale of the parade. He underwent death as a criminal, being made sin, even though he knew no sin. His whole existence was a dying, but, in doing so, he brought into being a new creation and a new glory: we his living people.

God has shown me that I am called to be like our savior in his weakness and in his power. I hold this glory of Christ in an earthen vessel, in order that the surpassing greatness of the power may be from God and not from myself. Combining all my thoughts on these matters and on the continuing needs at Corinth, I composed a letter, which in the spring, Titus took back there with him.

Meanwhile, that summer, Timothy and I and some others traveled on west of Thessalonica about ten days along the Via Egnatia to establish a work in Illyricum where Christ had not yet been named. Things were going well along about mid summer when a letter came from Titus in Corinth regarding the effects of my letter. I was incensed to learn that despite the fact that the spirit people no longer held Moses as their ideal, some of the Jewish believers in the church – probably under the influence of the alienated Judaizers – were yet critical of me and my authority, and were a threat to the collection we hoped to leave with next spring. These people were becoming more vicious about my visit as being unimpressive and about my preaching as supposedly uninspired. They riled me enough that I spoke as a fool. I could not just leave the half-begun work at Illyricum to go to Corinth, so I sent back a heated letter, promising to come before winter. In it I was forced to compare myself with their pretentious critics. I had to do – as a fool – a ridiculous imitation of the self-display of the Judaizers by emphasizing what normally one would not display and by treating as unimportant, the gospel, which should be the crown of one’s correspondence. I hoped that this would deflate those who were trying to puff themselves up at my expense. Speaking in the third person of my experiences with visions and revelations, I exposed to the Corinthians that such experiences did not make me the person I was among them anymore than it made my critics people who should be listened to. I hoped they would see that it is the giving of myself, which is foundational for their respect of my calling to them.

When we finally came again to Corinth late that fall, I do believe I could see the healthful effects of what I had written. Timothy and I were received with warmth and the collection for the poor was well underway.

Since I plan to go to Spain after going first to Jerusalem with the collection, and then to Rome, I thought it would be well to have Priscilla and Aquila go to Rome and have a report of things there sent back to me. They would prepare the ground for me, testifying of my character among the churches and a letter to follow in late spring, I thought, might be a suitable introduction for my vision of Rome’s support for my Spanish mission. All last winter I worked on it. It became a kind of tract, as was my writing to the churches of Asia when I was imprisoned at Ephesus.

In this letter to the Romans I realized that as one of the faithful remnant of Israel, I had an obligation to proclaim salvation to my own countrymen as well as to the nations. Isaiah had prophesied that all Israel would be saved: "From Zion will come the Redeemer, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob, and this will be my covenant with them, when I take away their sins." From this promise I surmise that their restoration from darkness may only be accomplished by the appearance of Christ to all of them. Their commitment to the Law – as they understand it – is as strong as mine was, and for me to see that Christ was the goal of the Law took the initiative of Jesus appearing to me on a day, twenty-three years ago today. Maranatha!

31. DEMAS, A disciple of Paul, June 60 - May 65 CE:

How stunned we all were when our beloved brothers, Paul, Aristarchus, and Luke showed themselves at our Lord’s Day meeting that evening in June. It had been almost five years since our brothers Aristarchus and Secundus had left Thessalonica with Paul and five others to take the collection to Jerusalem. The last we had heard of them was four years ago when Secundus returned announcing that the Romans had imprisoned Paul at Caesarea.

Paul and the brothers were now telling us they had just arrived from eight months of work with the churches he had previously established in Illyricum. They labored there until satisfied that the people were solidly established.

"But how can it be that you were there to the west of us," we asked.

"So much has happened since we were at Caesarea;" they explained, "we have been in shipwreck; Paul has been in prison in Rome – and out again; and the gospel has gone to the ends of the earth!" The three of them in May and June of the previous year had tried to establish churches in Spain but could not find many who were conversant in Greek and their Latin was not fluent enough to convey the gospel with much success. Thinking that other believers from Rome might come at another time, they decided to return to us, not coming back through Rome but going south of it on the Apian Way and crossing to the Via Egnatia at Dyrracium.

We were further astonished to find that until that spring, before their trip to Spain, Paul had been under house arrest for two years in Rome. His case had languished for lack of prosecutors from Judea, but when it was finally heard, Paul said,

"No one in the church at Rome was there to support my testimony, but I was delivered out of the Lion’s mouth nonetheless, for the Lord stood with me when I made my defense, so that through me the proclamation to the nations at the ends of the earth might be fully accomplished."

We were jubilant! It was upon hearing this that I decided I would once again accompany these brethren in the work of evangelism.

After four month’s time with us in Thessalonica, I took Aristarchus’ place and went with Paul’s party to Philippi where the church, having heard the news was eagerly awaiting us. There we spent the winter and left next spring for Troas, taking Erastus with us. The brothers in Troas – like ourselves – had been of the mind that they would never see Paul’s face again, but couriers going through there to Ephesus had preceded us with the good news about Paul. Troas provided abundant opportunity for us to do the work of evangelists, but the athletic drive of Paul at sixty-five years of age shames our own efforts. He despises the slower paced dignity that other elders consider they have earned – how beautiful are his calloused feet!

In midsummer Paul decided to go south to Ephesus. With the heat being so intense, we left much of our luggage at Troas – I left my cloak there and Paul, too, left his and his books.

Timothy, Prisca and Aquila, Onesiphorus, and a few others were truly glad to see us in Ephesus, but the lack of enthusiasm was evident among the others. Timothy had been trying to follow Paul’s example at Corinth and had been spending most of his time working at Chloe’s textile shop and taking nothing in offerings from the church. In one of his first sermons, Paul adjured the church to honor with wages, those – who besides ruling among them – also have the task of preaching and teaching. "For the Scriptures say," Paul went on, "’You must not muzzle an ox when he is treading out the grain,’ and the Lord also has said, ‘The worker is worth his wages.’"

Sensing the lack of recognition for Timothy’s authority in Ephesus and with a desire to deal more directly himself with some doctrinal aberrations among them, Paul got the church to sponsor Timothy on a removal to Laodicea involving a circuit of all the churches of the Lycos valley to strengthen them and – confidentially – to warn them of possible false doctrines coming out of Ephesus. I do believe that Timothy had also been somewhat deceived by the false doctrines and had let is calling lapse.

I confess I was not a little bewildered by the war of words that grew out of our stay in Ephesus. At one point, Alexander, the coppersmith, infuriated at Paul for not accepting the point of view expounded by their leading spokesman, grabbed Paul’s tunic close to the neck and gave him some blows to the head. People intervened to help, but the situation was far from remedied.

The quarrels brought to my mind things that we wrestled with in Thessalonica twelve years ago. At that time Paul and Timothy had left us because the persecution we began experiencing was life threatening for them. In the first letter he sent back to express relief that our persecution had subsided, he spoke of our church as being like a victor’s crown for him in the presence of the Lord Jesus, and he spoke of the Lord’s presence as if his appearing had already taken place. The church sent me back with Aristarchus, to Paul in Corinth, at which point Paul wrote us another letter to try to answer our questions. But, his answers didn’t quite clear things for us. He had said,

"We should know that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night." We, too, at Thessalonica, had arguments. Some were saying it is evident that the Lord had arrived secretly and with power, and they pointed to the present lack of persecution as evidence of Christ’s presence among us. They argued,

"Paul said, ‘comes,’ not, ‘will come.’" With a second trip to Corinth, I brought back a third letter that eventually settled things for us.

The quarrels we were having in Ephesus, however, were much more unsettling. Two primary spokesmen, Hymenaeus and Philetus, were upsetting the faith of some with teachings that supposed the resurrection to have taken place. They had even won the approval of our former Asian coworkers, Phygelus and Hermogenes and of many others in the church who were in Christ before Paul’s first arrival in Ephesus.

The thrust of their argument was that Paul himself had supported their teachings in the tract he had written from prison to be read in all the churches of Asia. In it he proclaimed,

"We were dead by reason of our transgressions, but were made alive together with Christ and raised up with him and were seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

"When we meet for worship," they explained, "we are in a spiritual gathering together with all the elect, both dead and alive, Jew and Gentile, into one spiritual kingdom. And," they went on, "in a copy we have of your letter to the Colossian church, you proclaimed that ‘all of us have been buried with Christ in baptism and also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead.’ For you have said, ‘The Lord made us alive together with him.’"

Paul’s response was to ask the question, "When we say, ‘The wages of sin is death,’ is this death physical or spiritual?"

"Physical," some murmured; others were saying, "Spiritual;" and a few said, "both."

"It cannot be physical," Paul continued, "because all die a physical death whether righteous or sinner. The cost of sin is spiritual death, for which Christ paid the price for all those who are his. All of you who have faith in our Lord are therefore raised up with him out of a spiritual death. Formerly you were insensible to the new life in Christ."

"Yes," they interrupted, "this is the resurrection we too speak of."

"Nay, but you deny that there is a further hope that we shall be raised in a body, as was our Lord. For Adam – until he died spiritually in sin – was not subject to the imperfection of decay. But, after such a death, even his children only gradually succumbed – more and more – to this decay of the body. But, we have been made subjected in hope because the creature will one day be set free from this thralldom by the redemption of our bodies.

"You are speaking two opposed things, for we have heard that you have said – and we hear it from others – that the body to be raised is not our own flesh and blood body – for that cannot inherit the kingdom of God – but a spiritual body. This spiritual body we now have and will continue to have when we pass away from this life to be gathered into the kingdom of God in the heavenlies. We have inherited that kingdom. The final enemy – spiritual death – has been defeated and all enemies raised up against Christ and his people have been conquered. The battle is over!"

"Not so," Paul continued – he is not used to having his words turned against him as they were trying to do. "Not so, there remains an enemy to be conquered before the resurrection of the body can take place."

"What more must be overcome?" they asked.

"The kingdom of God," Paul said, "has been with his covenant people – the Jews, but it remains to be seen whether the majority will come to the love of the truth so as to be saved. If they persist in unbelief, the kingdom cannot be of them, and their covenant breaking will be judged. The resurrection or the transformation of our bodies cannot take place until either the Jews repent or are judged for not doing so. Otherwise, not everything has been accomplished; God’s authority in the matter of the kingdom has not yet fully overcome the man of sin."

They argued with Paul, "We know that God’s chosen ones – both Jew and Gentile – have already taken possession of the kingdom, so why should there be a further delay for a supposed future resurrection? It is already accomplished as you yourself have taught us. Did the Lord not teach that the restoration of the kingdom of God would occur for his contemporaries?"

"He did," Paul answered, "and it will yet occur for his generation – that’s why we know it is very close to taking place."

The argument went back and forth like this but it gave rise to speculations and fruitless discussions from which Paul sought to disengage. In a later gathering of those who were more agreeable to Paul’s teaching, he explained that he was sick about controversial questions and disputes about words, and that he was delivering Hymenaeus and Alexander over to Satan so that they may be taught not to blaspheme. "As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses," he said, "so also these men withstood the truth."

Paul went on to say: "I charge the founders, Aquila and Prisca to represent the gospel as I have taught it here at Ephesus. I, myself, am cause for instability here and must leave. The Lord’s servant must not quarrel but must be kind to all men, a skilful teacher and patient of wrong. He must be gentle when instructing opponents; for possibly God may give them a change of mind for the recognition of the truth, and they may come to their senses again, and escape the snare of the devil, as they are restored to life by God to do his will."

"I will take our party, along with Trophimus, and cross directly to Corinth by way of Miletus. From Corinth I hope to establish a new base for missionary work and I will send back to you – if he is willing – one of your own, Tychicus, to be a strong support for Aquila and Prisca."

"Before I leave," he continued, "be sure that you know the gospel I have received and preached: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to the apostles and others – singly and in groups – and was last of all seen by me. His bodily resurrection is only the first fruits of our own resurrection to follow at his appearing. That will be when the end comes."

"It comes after he has abolished all false rule and authority. If, after time for repentance, the authorities over Israel are proven false, then they too will by judged and the last enemy, physical death, will also be judged when the resurrection takes place."

"The elders in Judea have said that the Lord has revealed to them that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. From Corinth, my plan is to send others out to fulfill this testimony."

After many prayers and tears we left for Corinth. On the way, Trophimus became sick. Although he was so eager to work with us, we left him with some brethren at Miletus until he should gain strength to return to Ephesus or join us later at Corinth.

At Corinth we received a heartening reception where Paul and the brethren that had been with him were able to relate how the gospel was reaching the ends of the world. During the two and one half years we were there, Paul commissioned parties to go out to parts of Achaia, to Sicily, and Crete, and to other peoples to whom the gospel had not yet been taken. During our stay in Corinth I went, for example, with some going to Nicopolis and Paul went with Titus and Crescens to Crete.

Early on, Paul commissioned Apollos and one of his companions from Alexandria, Zenas, to go to Ephesus to see how things were proceeding there. Paul judged that the people at Ephesus might be more forthcoming with these men than with members of our own missions party.

When they returned they submitted that the church was prospering and had new people of some reputation from Judea who had joined the church. "These new members," they said, "well represent the resurrection gospel as proclaimed by both James the Lord’s brother and we ourselves. Because of their experiences with Hymenaeus the church first tested them to find out if they were true apostles."

Apollos and Zenas also brought back with them some transcriptions of a copy they had seen of some writings by Mark. Mark had begun to put together some information on what exactly took place in Jerusalem on the week leading up to our Lord’s crucifixion. They say he is now adding to this material, further testimony on how the gospel first came to be. In it, he says, he will give support for the beginning of the gospel in the ministry of Jesus even before the Lord had come to Jerusalem.

Together, Zenas and Apollos sought Paul’s opinion on their aspiration of also putting together an account of the beginnings of the gospel for the purpose of reaching the unbelieving among the Jews. Paul was at first reluctant that they should attempt this, but they convinced him that with Zenas’ scribal work in Alexandria, he had become friends with a certain pious Jew there who happened to be very conversant with some of the chief priests in Judea. Their plan was to seek out people who knew the original witnesses of things concerning the gospel and then construct from these reports, an account of the progression of the gospel from the earliest times up until now. Their vision was that Zenas could present this written account to his friend in Alexandria who could then present it to the priests in Jerusalem. Doing this, they thought, might better open the door for the gospel and turn their hearts to the Lord. Paul then agreed to support their effort as long as it would include plain witness to actual appearances of the Lord after his resurrection.

Just now most of Paul’s workers are together in Corinth again, it being thirty-five years since our Lord’s death. News from the church in Rome is grievous. As we were already aware, ten months ago, last July, a great fire raged in their huge city. Since the time of the fire, however, the rumor had been circulated that Nero – wanting to do new city planning – was behind the source of the fire despite concerns he has shown for the homeless and despite his propitiation of every god who might have been disrespected.

The awful news we are now hearing is that Nero is fabricating scapegoats to suppress the rumor. The brethren in Rome have become these scapegoats and are being crucified or dressed in wild animal skins and torn to pieces by dogs, or made into torches to be ignited after dark for a spectacle in Nero’s gardens or in the circuses.

Our prayers went up immediately and loudly for them as we bemoaned this new wickedness against the believers. Seeing the force that this made on the Corinthians, Paul had no difficulty in estimating the consequences for the brethren in Rome, who by chance may have escaped Nero’s net. The confidence of the remaining Christians there must have been shaken to the core.

"If they are to survive," Paul said, "others must come to their aid somehow. Let us fast and pray to see if I should go and if some of you should go with me." We were fearful and very earnest in our prayers as was Paul in his sermons:

"The love of Christ constrains us," he quoted from his own letter to the Corinthians, "because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised."

"What can we do there in Rome," I asked Paul.

"In order to enthuse the brethren there with courage and hope, we will have to display our witness clearly and publicly, showing that Christians are not subversive but that they are an asset to the government. We cannot just go secretly from one clandestine meeting place to another like men who are in collusion."

After much examination of our hearts, most of us in Paul’s party of evangelists have chosen to go with him. Erastus – and some of the new recruits from Corinth here – has chosen to remain, but Luke, Titus, Crescens and I have decided we would risk the visit for the sake of the church there. Tonight, after much further prayer, we are set to leave with God’s blessings in the morning.

32. SAUL, His last account, September 67 CE:

It has been almost a year since our dear brother Cephas was buried; may he soon rise to see the appearance of our Lord! It was on October 13^th, thirty-six and one half years from the time our Lord was also crucified and buried. Just before leaving for Nicopolis in Achaia, Nero had our dear brother Cephas – who is also called Peter – hung on a stake until he died. Nero had learned that Cephas was considered one of the originators of what they called, "the Christian sect." Since he planned to be away from Italy for a period of time, Nero wanted the Romans to be left with this death as a reminder to his citizens of the supposed guilt of Christians and as a stigma upon the believers.

As I think on his life I am brought to tears. In being faithful to his calling to be an apostle to the Jewish believers, he had come to Rome even as I had – to encourage the brethren, of whom many here are Jewish. Cephas had not been in chains for long – as I have been – but neither had his civil status been as well off as mine is as a Roman citizen. His departure is only one among so many other departures of people from me. Demas has deserted me for love of the present age and is gone to Thessalonica; Crescens is gone to Gaul, Titus to Dalmatia; and Onesiphorus, back to Ephesus.

Some things comfort me, though: For one thing, the Lord’s appearing is surely very close. For another, Luke is here and Timothy has come, answering my letter to him sent back with Onesiphorus. They are a comfort to me and even to the church here that is so fearful of associating with me. I also now have my cloak for warmth this winter and my books and parchments, which Timothy retrieved for me from Troas on his way here.

Another comfort of sorts is the news we have just heard that Nero – in Achaia – has been informed of a large revolt in Judea and has commissioned Vespasian, his most experienced general here in Rome, to quash the Jews. There is no hope that they will be able to withstand the forces of Rome and all the legions that may be brought to bear against them. This has a bittersweet taste for me. It appears that all of Israel that will be saved have been accounted for. Either the coming conflict will cause them to now turn to our Lord or it will leave them locked in their prison of disobedience and subject to final judgment. In either case, it means that Christ Jesus is about to judge the living and the dead by his soon appearing and his kingdom.

We do not know the day or the hour, however, of our Lord’s appearing. We must continue, therefore, to suffer hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. A soldier in active service endures many things so that he may please his commander. Even if my defense is met with the same ruthlessness that has befallen others, we are now planning how Luke and Timothy – if not with me – can yet continue the work of strengthening the saints and evangelizing the people.

I asked Timothy to bring Mark with him from Colossea so that he too could help in the ministry, but Mark declined, asking that he might continue his work in Asia of making ready his writings of the memoirs of the first apostles. He sent to me, with Timothy, a copy of what he has so far completed. I think Mark may have been a little fearful of being associated here with a written account of our Lord being acclaimed the divine savior of the world. It seems this is exactly what Mark seeks to portray in his writings and it is opposed to Mark Antony’s famous remark that the Roman emperor was, "to save where anyone needs to be saved." I wonder if Mark is trying to redeem his name from association with Mark Antony? A similar remark – "Divine Savior" – is also engraved with Caesar’s head on the Roman coin. These things cause me to think of Cephas who I first heard testifying, "There is no other name given to men whereby they can be saved," and he certainly intended any "other" names to include Nero.

In the copy we have, I’m concerned that – in spite of showing our Lord as an example of a faithful workman for his elect – Mark falls short of declaring the witness of those who saw our risen savior. Timothy believes that some influence from the Ephesians has come to Colossae and has inhibited Mark from completing the written gospel with accounts of a physical body appearance.

Timothy, however, encourages me about the affairs at Ephesus. He rejoices, "They now teach the gospel of the resurrection as we do! The church has obtained a copy of the corrected memoirs of Thomas as written by the majority from the school of Thomas." Timothy explains how a few out of the school of Thomas had become absorbed with the supposed secret teachings of Jesus, which promote the gospel of the resurrection as Hymenaeus used to advocate. "But Tychicus," he says, "obtained the consent of the church to send two of our congregation back to Judea to get a valid copy like that being quoted by these two: John, an elder of prominence and Gaius. Both are members who not long ago came to Ephesus from Judea."

It gives me cause for great contentment to know that my work there in Ephesus continues to grow in the truth. I have been in these chains for a year and nine months now. It is much worse than my house arrest the first time I came to Rome from Caesarea. However, my days have been filled with the satisfying acknowledgment that my life has been well spent. I am 71 years old and each day of my life has been a bearing in my body the dying of Jesus. I for my part am a libation already being poured in sacrifice, and the time of my unmooring is at hand. I have fought in the glorious contest; I have run the race; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the garland of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that Day, and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.

33. DEMAS, His second account – 71 CE:

It’s been a year since the Lord’s judgment has run its course in Jerusalem and the agreement here in Ephesus, on how to judge what has happened, is not a little scattered. The predominant message is that the Spirit is showing us that it is not his will to have only a testimony given to the Gentiles, but to have also a full ingathering of them before the Lord appears to inaugurate his kingdom.

The preaching, therefore, has been after this manner: "As Moses has said, ‘the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever.’ Therefore, it is not for us to know the times or the occasions which the Father has fixed by his own authority, but we must also acknowledge that the Lord does not loiter over his promises as some men esteem loitering, but he is longsuffering toward us, not purposing that any should perish but that all should pass on to repentance." And: "The end of all things is yet close at hand. Be sober, watch and pray, and continue to have fervent love for one another."

The pressure to formulate new mission projects, however, is met with less zeal than it use to have since the greatest advocate of such endeavors – our beloved Paul – has gone on ahead of us to join the presence of our Lord. Somehow I thought that our brother Paul would once again be delivered from the sword as he had been delivered from so many things before. It was in Thessalonica that we first heard of his departure. Timothy was making haste through Macedonia back to Asia with the details while Luke did the same in Achaia. Nero, from his station in Achaia, had sent command to Rome for Vespasian to prepare to meet the great Jewish revolt. Before leaving for the march to the Land of Israel, Vespasian was commanded to have a short trial conducted wherein the Jewish prisoner, Paul, would be condemned and beheaded. It was part of Nero’s new plans for hostility toward the Jews. The execution happened on the twelfth day of October, a year – missing but one day – from the day I left Rome, which was also the day Peter was killed on a stake. We all at first thought that surely Timothy must be wrong. We had been hoping against hope. Further circumstances that we heard, however, brought back our hope. Certainly with the restoration of all things so close at hand, we would once again see Paul.

I found that I was surprised to see Timothy unharmed. He and Luke fled ahead of the Roman cohorts, which were preparing for their lengthy march. When Timothy saw that I was grieved as though losing a father, and perceived that we had been working vigorously among the flock at Thessalonica, it melted the constraint he had had towards me when he first passed through on his way to Paul in Rome. With Paul’s case looking so unfavorable, Timothy could also see that our teacher’s gaze was fixed on the age to come. I believe Paul faulted me for thinking the present age needed living shepherds also. He would often say, "Be faithful until death and the Lord will give you the crown of life."

Breaking from his overbearing presence, however, gave me the new latitude to consider marriage. Not that Paul would ever disallow marriage, but he would often ask us to consider the benefit of remaining single as we were. With freedom in Christ being central to our gospel, he would say, "I would not put a restraint upon you but I would promote what is seemly and what will secure undistracted devotion to the Lord, for the time has been shortened and the form of this world is soon passing away and anyone who is unmarried would be more concerned about the things of the Lord than one with a wife. Our calling is urgent; consider not seeking a wife in the same way I have done." He was ever mindful of our liberties but it certainly was easier for me to see such liberties – especially with regard to marriage – after having been parted from him. Paul, I reasoned, had already tasted of marriage and he may have failed to understand the sweet appeal for it that I experienced.

Timothy had not been gone long on his way to Ephesus when Vespasian’s men came through Thessalonica on the Via Ignatia, recruiting soldiers and requisitioning supplies in each city they passed through. Tribunals were formed to examine any newly arrived Jews in each city for the purpose of discovering any information concerning the revolt or any dangerous or suspect plans that such persons might possess. They deported one Jewish believer from our community for exile. He was not in any way a danger to the Romans, but he did not suppress his witness to Christ and this had given the tribunal suspicions.

After about a week, concern grew among us that churches in cities along the route of what would be a winter march, would be well served with advanced warnings from us if possible. It was for this reason that my wife and I were commissioned to visit the churches from Troas to Ephesus. We were amazed to see the speed with which Vespasian had already gone ahead of us, dealing with each city. At Miletus they had stationed themselves long enough to receive supplies and soldiers from Ephesus and long enough to also deport John the elder from the assembly of the churches there. John was Jewish and had arrived from Jerusalem over three years ago, but because he gave such a bold testimony concerning the word of God and Jesus, they removed him to Patmos island where he was commanded to stay under penalty of death.

We were not in Ephesus long before my wife became pregnant so we decided that I should work there and find a place suitable for a family. Incidents of persecution increased for the church, due mainly to the predominant view among the populace that we believers are a proselytizing function of one of the Jewish sects and due to the general feeling that Rome was at war with the Jews. We soon learned that Vespasian had already sent his son, Titus, to Alexandria from whence he was able to join the fifth and tenth legions of Egypt with his father’s fifteenth legion of Syria, which Vespasian was able to enlarge with units from Rome and with new recruits obtained in passage.

During the war we sent two men to Patmos to minister to John. They returned with a lengthy writing from him, filled with many detailed signs and parables used in the manner of the old prophets. Those at Ephesus said that they were accustomed to hearing this man of learning teach using numerous passages from the Prophets and Writings to illustrate his message. The writing was a prophecy to be sent to all the churches on John’s circuit of the churches of Asia. His prophecy included a vision he had had of our Lord and a further promise of his coming and of his judgment, both of which must, as he said, soon take place. He said that all the tribes of the Land – those who pierced him – would see Christ coming with the clouds of judgment and would lament the reality of his appearing.

It greatly encouraged us to remain steadfast, realizing that the vision showed judgment coming upon the disobedient in Israel as well as on the Roman beast, Nero. And, not long after receiving it we did hear of Nero’s suicide. The fulfillment of the judgment on Nero caused several to reexamine their hesitance to accept the revelation. Some had been reluctant to accept the genuineness of the prophecy based on the "few things I have against you" that John proclaimed the Lord had pointed out to him. John’s Jewish culture had made it significantly revolting to him that some in the churches would practice and teach that eating foods, which had been sacrificed to idols, was not immoral. They had been making it lawful in the sense that the Corinthians had said, "All things are lawful," but had failed to judge that not all things are profitable. For Paul had warned them,

"Let no one always seek his own good, but rather his neighbor’s good. Eat anything that is for sale in the markets, asking no questions for conscience sake; for the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s. If one who is not a believer invites you to his house, and you wish to go, eat everything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience sake. But if they tell you, ‘This food has been offered in sacrifice,’ do not eat it, for the sake of him who told you, and for conscience sake – his conscience, not your own."

Since the Lord held it against us at Ephesus that we had waned in our zealousness, John’s writing revived us for a time and we were encouraged that we would share the rule over the entire earth with our Lord’s soon smashing to pieces, the potter’s vessel. We all knew that this illustration now included disobedient Israel. We also looked for the resurrection of Paul and Antipas of Pergamum and others who had been killed recently, for as John prophesied, "Those beheaded for the testimony of Jesus – having not worshiped the beast – will soon come to life with those that are his, to reign for one thousand years with our Lord."

Like Vespasian’s coming through on his way to Judea, so would our Lord be coming as the representative of the king of his empire. John encouraged us saying, "I saw heaven opened, and lo! A white horse; and he who sat upon him was named ‘Faithful and True’; and in righteousness does he judge and wage war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he has a name written, which none knows but himself. He is clothed in vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called, ‘The Word of God’. And the armies of heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And there issues from his lips a sharp sword with which to smite the nations. He shall shepherd them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the passion of the anger of Almighty God. And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords.’"

After about a year and one half, the church at Ephesus began to receive refugees from Antioch – of those who could afford the costs to journey. For it happened that after Galilee, Samaria, Jericho and the coast of the Land had all been vanquished by Vespasian, that all he had remaining to do was conquer Jerusalem. But Vespasian halted his plans for doing this when he learned of the civil wars back home in Rome and discovered that Nero, rather than be taken by revolutionaries, had committed suicide. During this lull in the prosecution of the war, many Christians from Jerusalem were able to escape as refugees to various places, but mostly to Antioch. Many others of the disobedient among the Jews also escaped to Antioch making both the Jewish quarters there and the church there quite overburdened. It also gave the Gentile administrators of the city a desire to see all the Jews expelled from their city. Thanks be to God they were prevented from doing this even after the war was won. Titus refused their request and even refused to annul the Jewish rights engraved upon the bronze plates, which were posted in Antioch. But, not knowing of this outcome beforehand, not a few in the church at Antioch left from there to go to other cities, Ephesus being one of those favored.

It may have been a burden to the church here but it had beneficial effects as well. In addition to Mark’s account – which had been expanded – and, in addition to the written gospel that John brought to Ephesus, others from Antioch who had originally been in Judea, brought copies of an account that had expanded further on the details in Mark’s work. The availability of these writings encouraged new preaching and teaching among us and gave us hope that the things that had happened in the Jewish war were foreseen as events that had to be fulfilled before the Lord returned.

The writings were also used by Zenas of Corinth who had attempted to send an account of the things accomplished among us, to the Jewish priests, using a well-respected man of his acquaintance in Alexandria. Before completing the account up to our time, however, the Jewish revolt hindered the possibility that the priests would see it. In Ephesus, however, Zenas was encouraged to polish it off for a witness to any interested group, whether priest or not. Some of the speeches of Paul, which had been written therein, had been filled in with Apollos’ hand since he was gifted in oratory and was more acquainted with Paul’s manner of expression than was Zenas.

As the war continued we heard horrifying accounts of the civil wars within the city of Jerusalem itself and of how some of the warring factions would kill even those attempting to leave Jerusalem. The gross corruption of the seditious in Jerusalem prompted those at Antioch to begin praying for the quick defeat of the disobedient there.

"Whoever says to this mountain," they rehearsed a saying of the Lord, "’be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him." The churches fought in prayer as the war progressed and so it was that her prayers were finally granted, that Mount Zion was ruined and its citizens who were not killed by the sword or by famine, were scattered among the sea of Gentile nations.

Before the eventual collapse of the city, its victims realized their possible defeat as being the work of the son of man – our Lord. Some of those that Titus allowed to desert the city gave accounts of how the watchmen on the city towers tried to ridicule the sayings of our Lord in which he had proclaimed that he would be seen as the son of man who would be seated at the right hand of Power and would come to them in judgment upon the clouds of heaven. The believers explained, however, that the derision of the watchmen was confounded in its very fulfillment, for they had been crying out the warning, "The Son is coming," to alert the citizens to stones which the Roman catapults were casting into the city. The blow these stones gave could not be withstood by either those who were first struck, nor by those who were beyond them for a great space. Accordingly the watchmen that sat upon the towers gave the populace this loud notice – "The Son is coming" – when the engine was let go, so that those who were in the way could look up to the heavens to see what direction the white stones were making. Because of the shouted warning and because the white stones were readily visible, the catapulters began having less effect. It worked well again when the Romans blackened the stones to prevent them from being easily seen. Thus, the coming of the son became invisible to them.

This was a second sign of the Son of man in the heavens. The first sign appeared to many inhabitants of the city about the time of the feast of Pentecost, just before the beginning of the war. At that time, right before the sun setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds and surrounding the city. Priests also, who were ministering in the temple, said they felt a quaking and a great noise and the sound of a great multitude saying, "Let us remove from this place."

Each sign was taken to portend that the Son of man, our Lord, would appear to take command of his kingdom on earth after his instruments – the armies of Rome – had finished his judgment on the disobedient in Jerusalem.

Since the end of the war we have received another letter from John followed shortly by his return to us himself. In his ministry among us we can see the harmony of our dear brother Paul’s constant exhortation to love. The reality of the truth of their teachings have swallowed up the doubts that at first consumed us regarding the failure of the Lord’s appearing following Titus’ triumph.

At that time my questions had been: "Are we still living in the present age or are we now living in what once was called, ‘the age to come;’ or is ‘the age to come’ yet awaiting us?" Most of us believe the age to come will not fully arrive until our Lord is manifested and we actually see him as he is. But, at the same time, it is taught that everyone holding this hope in him will be purifying himself, even as our Lord is pure. Therefore, we are constantly encouraging one another to be fervent in our love – for this is the newly emphasized great command of our Lord and in it is our eternal life. As John says,

"If what you have heard from the beginning abides in you, you will ever abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise which he has promised to us, even life eternal."

And, as our brother Paul would say, "Only love will endure; all else shall pass away. But when the perfect comes, then the imperfect will be done away. When I was a child I spoke like a child, felt like a child, thought like a child. Now that I am become a man, I have done with childish things. For now we see as in a mirror, and are baffled, but then face-to-face. Now I know in fragments, but then shall I understand even as I also have been understood. Faith, Hope, Love endure – these three; but the greatest of these is Love."

"We love because he first loved us," John says. Love begets love just as a lodestone will magnetize a needle placed by it for a period of time. It becomes charged with the same attractive force in the mere presence of the original force. Like our Lord, our love in turn draws all manner of men to ourselves. The gospel is not merely joy, or merely rest from our enemies or safety, but it is eternal life also.

"This is life eternal," our Lord promised, "that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus whom you have sent." Love is eternal. It is what God is. Love is life. Love never fails and life never fails, so long as there is love. Life is a thing we are now living, not something that we will get when our Lord appears, or after we die, in the resurrection.

We shall have a poor chance of getting life after we die unless we are living in truth now. No worse fate can befall a man in this world than to live and grow old alone, unloving, and unloved. To be lost is to live without the rebirth of the Spirit, loveless and unloved. And to be saved is to love; and the one that dwells in love dwells already in God. For God is love.

NOTES

PREFCE 

What actually happened in the past- Mormonism gives a good example of this, since the recent exposure of old church records gives considerable variations to the present day "official accounts".  Official reasons for the U.S. civil war, or reasons for the atomic bombing of Japan, also, for example, vary from more critical reasons.  The same is true of "the-weapons-of-mass-destruction" reason for the U.S./Iraq war.  All these "official reasons" are myths, and myths may contain a substantial degree of the actual truth of things while being substantially off base.

1. MARY (the mother of Jesus)   

forced- John 8:41 may be the vestige of a slur against Jesus' origin.  Jesus' contenders may be suggesting that--unlike him--they are legitimate offspring.     

my son-  Luke’s account here (11:4-8) may betray this anecdote as coming from Jesus’ own experience.  There is no mention of a wife, and the children are in bed with the speaker.

Your father- Reference (Luke 2:48) to Jesus’ father as also looking for Jesus, may have arisen from Luke’s assumption that Joseph was still alive at the time, but references to Mary as the spokesperson in this event, may betray the fact that Joseph was already gone.  (c.f. John 5:19)

Mother-  In this first chapter and in the other chapter on Mary, I have used, as a model, Mormonism's Lucy Smith, the mother of the founder, Joseph Smith.  A recent critical work of Lucy's biography, shows the sociology behind the thinking of a modern day restoration movement.  It's almost uncanny how Lucy could be to her husband, Joseph and son, Joseph Jr., like Mary might be to her husband and son.  Mormonism's interconnectedness of family and friends also parallels early Christianity's similar connections (i.e. James, John the Baptist, others).   Dreams, discontent with the establishment, martyrdom--all these have parallels for both women.   This Foreword to the work on Lucy Smith gives a good sketch of what can be found in the the critical work.

2. JUDAS OF GALILEE

Not Judas Iscariot- Acts 5:37, Joseph, Wars of the Jews, Book 2, Ch.8

Little foxes- Song of Solomon 2:15 See also Jesus' reference to one of the Herods as a fox (Luke 13:31-32).

benefactors- Jesus so satirized them (Luke 22:25).

Zadduc / Sadduc (and the actions of these Zealots)- From Josephus

"The Lord God is a man of war," I countered- I use the rhetoric style of the U.S. Civil War fanatic, John Brown, and I rely on quotes of his as contained in an account of the causes of the U.S. Civil War called, The Approaching Fury, 1997, by Stephen B. Oates, (New York: Harper Collins Publisher). I follow in this present work, Oates’ method of putting historical accounts into first-person settings and I am indebted to him for much of what appears in this book.

Theudas- Acts 5:36, Josephus

set fire in the Temple- Josephus, Wars, Ch. 2

God will raise up others- Josephus’ Wars of the Jews tells of Judas’ son’s involvement in the Jewish rebellion against Rome later in 66 CE. Book 2, Ch 17ff

3. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA

Joseph of Arimathea- At first sight, this character may seem a little drab, but because I am postulating that this Joseph is the one who gets renamed Barnabas (Acts 4:36), it puts him in the spotlight for much of the activity associated with the development of the church.  I suggest that the early disciples publicly disguised Joseph of Arimathea’ s identity because of his status as both a believer and a member of the Sanhedrin, which officially ruled against Jesus.

     Barnabas’ family includes a cousin, John/Mark (Acts 12:12), whose mother (another Mary) owned the large house with an upper-room, which may have been the scene of the Last Supper and also the rondevoux house for post resurrection gatherings.  Luke does not even disclose the fact that Barnabas and John/Mark are cousins, but that credible fact emerges from Paul (Col. 4:10).

Eight year old, Mnason- I aim to establish a possible (if not entirely plausible) identity with this Mnason and him of Acts 21:16. Luke’s source in Acts appears particularly reliable because of the unnecessary details.

The Greek Poets Anthology and the Rhetoric Student’s Guide- interpolated from reference to Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome (1997), Paul A Critical Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press), Chapter 2, Growing Up in Tarsus. In all that follows, I make heavy reliance on Murphy-O’Connor’s study of the Apostle Paul.

Boy heard discussing things in the Temple- Mary, in Chapter 1, may have given testimony that provided the source for this anecdote, but, whether or not the childhood narratives in the gospels are historical, an occasion such as that illustrated here would justify its use to the Gospel writers.

Essenes- Wars, Chapter 8

Zechariah and Elizabeth- Possibly legendary but quite helpful in Luke’s Gospel which, some think, was written to reach the Jewish priests (more on this below).

4. SAUL OF TARSUS

Temple defilement- Wars, Chapter 8

Linen priestly garments- Murphy-O’Connor, Chapter 2, flax provided raw material for the linen industry of Tarsus

Ehud- Judges 3:21

I began my secondary studies- Murphy-O’Connor, Chapter 2 on the educational background typical for one like Saul

My sister, Michal- King Saul of the Old Testament had a daughter, Michal. This would be a fitting name for a female sibling of one named Saul. Saul’s unnamed sister is conveniently mentioned in Acts 23:16

Junia- I allude to Junia (somewhat fancifully) as identified later by Paul as one of his relations who had been converted before he had (Romans 16:7).

Nicodemus- I am identifying this man with him of John 3:1, 7:50, 19:39.Essene’s strict view of determinism- In the Essene’s Qumran we find double predestination in (among other places) 1 QS 3:15-17, "…before (beings) were, He established all their design. And when they are, they fulfill their task according to their statutes, in accordance with His glorious design, changing nothing within it..." And, 1QH 15:12-22, "…Thou hast ordained [the way of every man] before creating him...".

Gamaliel’s daughter-

5. NICODEMUS

Nicodemus- he was associated with Joseph of Arimathea and Luke considers him a member of the Sanhedrin (John 19:38,39; Luke23:50,51).

A teacher of the Law- John 3:10

Sanhedrin details-

Pilate’s actions- Josephus

6. ANDREW

I met Judas, the son of Simon- John 1:35ff mentions two disciples of John. Andrew is named but the other is not. I think there is sufficient reason for John not naming him here (as was the case in John 18:15). The author does not want to give his name that much recognition since he became the notorious betrayer of Jesus. At this place, only, I deviate from James H. Charlesworth’s thesis in his The Beloved Disciple. (Charlesworth’s idea on Andrew’s companion is tenable, but the same reasons for keeping a disciple anonymous in John 18:15 also apply here. See Charlesworth below).

Thin reeds- Luke7:25

Practices of the Essenes- Jesus keeps some of the Essene teachings like dispossession of excess personal property, and the avoidance of swearing

Pinhole focusing technique and copper mask – My scenario is highly fanciful but it is hard to imagine that the Essenes, living in their dark tents, would fail to make the same discovery I made at the age of ten while playing outdoors inside a discarded large appliance box. I was astonished to see that an upside down scene of the world outside my box was projected on the cardboard inside, opposite a small hole in the cardboard. Playing with light brought me many more discoveries besides finding that a pinhole in front of the eyes could enable focusing on any object whatever the distance from my eyes.

Malachi- 4:2,5

"I will send my messenger to prepare the way…"

One who eats curds and honey

Locusts as consumers and consumables – I am indebted to Peter J. Leithart’s article, "Locusts and Honey" from the Biblical Horizons newsletter at www.biblicalhorizons.com

Passing frenzy like King Saul- 1 Samuel 19:23,24; 10:9-11

Essenes’ teaching on atonement (some things were taken from Geza Vermes’ Jesus the Jew)

Ordinary Hebrew name, Jesus- See second note for chapter 19 below.

Straight teeth- Charismatic personalities tend to have mass appeal, if not solely from looks, then certainly from winsome ways as was the case with Abraham Lincoln. The humor of Jesus (as well as of Lincoln) found in his sayings, provoke images of at least an eye twinkle if not outright smiling.

The forty-day period that Adam and Eve endured in the river – Louis Ginsberg’s massive seven-volume set, The Legends of the Jews (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America—1968) is evidence of the Jewish predilection for creative interpolation of Biblical accounts and of their ability to novelize on Biblical themes. Jesus’ forty day fast may also have been motivated by the account of Moses’ forty days without food as he went to receive the ten commandments. The New Testament Epistle of Jude contains examples of the New Testament’s use of extra biblical legends.

7. SIMON PETER

Teaching him obedience- Hebrews 5:8 "Although he was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered."

Peter’s mother-in-law- I acknowledge dependence here on some imaginative writings by one identifying himself as H.R. from Cuenca, Ecuador. His writings can be found at http://www.thedivinetruth.com/2002/20020208_Judas_HR.htm

In the synoptics, this is the only instance of a miracle for the benefit of those personally attached to Jesus. John cites the water-into-wine as well.

"I must do what I see my Father doing" John 5:19

8. BABA BEN BU’A

Leader of the Shammai school of Pharisees – Reliance on www.JewishEncyclopedia.com/; "Great Leaders of Our People" at www.ou.org; and "The Jewish Virtual Library" at www.us-israel.org. Baba ben Bu’a, Zadok (associate of Judas of Galilee?), and Dositai of Kefa Yetma – cited below – are the only historically named members of the Shammai School; excepting Shammai himself. The Jewish Encyclopedia lists a bibliography and notes that only these three are mentioned by name: Baba ben Bu’a in Be’a 20a, Dositai of Kefa Yetma in ‘Orlah ii.5, and Zadok in Tosef., ‘Eduy.ii.2. These are mentioned simply because, though Shammaites, they sometimes upheld the views of the Hillelites.

Hanina ben Dosa – Information on Hanina taken from Vermes, Geza (1981), Jesus the Jew (Fortress Press: Philadelphia).

The tradition on Gamaliel’s appeal to Hanina – Vermes (1981).

The cure at the pool of Bethesda – John 5:14

does not doubt- Mark11:23

If you can- Mark 9:21-23

return- Luke 11:24-26

The Prayer of Nabonidas – "To forgive sins" was synonymous with "to heal" as Geza Vermes (1981)says the "Prayer of Nabonidas" proclaims (a Qumran document), Vermes (1981).

The Shammai school’s view of miracle working – Fanciful, but grounded in sociological expectations: Like the conservative Christian ceasationists of our time, this conservative school of the Pharisees probably viewed the glorious miracle days of yore as having ceased except for perhaps a few extraordinary cases like that concerning Hanina ben Dosa and Hillel. Today’s ceasationists appear to have formed their theology to account for the fact that today’s Christians do not perform miracles like the Jesus of the Gospels. In Jesus’ time, the Shammaites were conservative in the best sense of trying to preserve the tried and true and in the sense of remaining skeptical of innovations like those Jesus was proposing. The Shammaites were much more the enemies of Jesus’ agenda than were the Hillelites. The Sadducees would probably be like today’s demythologizers and simply dismiss miracle claims whereas the conservative Shammaites, like today’s orthodox ceasationists, would look for reasons why reports about Jesus should be viewed differently than cases of miracles in the distant past.

9. JUDAS ISCARIOT

Not fasting with the bridegroom present – I am suggesting here that the remainder of Mark’s saying (2:19-22) may not have materialized until after the bridegroom was actually taken away from the disciples. I think that at some point in Jesus’ ministry, he realized he was called upon to be a martyr, but because of the disciples’ complete unawareness of it, I think Jesus’ full awareness of his mission as a martyr came very late.

10. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA 2.

reference to Ezekiel- (Ezekiel 34)

My brother, Mnason- Acts 21:16

11. SIMON PETER 2.

We have not heard our teacher speak of his ancestry – The Gospel writers speak of it, though, and they thought it necessary to make an affirmative answer to the charge of the Pharisees that Jesus was not a son of David. According to some traditions, Jesus’ brother James was involved in priestly duties when he was elder in the church at Jerusalem. If true, this would conceivably make Jesus’ family Levite. Shanks & Witherington III (2003) suggest, from the Babylonian Talmud (San.81b), that a priest who defiles the Temple in some way may be taken out and clubbed. They suggest that this is the plausible tradition of James being clubbed; that it comes from the notion that he was a priestly figure ministering in some way in the Temple. Hegesippus (quoted in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl.2.23.4-18 and probably relying on Josephus) says, "He [James] alone was permitted to enter the Holy Place, for his garments were not of wool but of linen. He used to enter the Sanctuary alone, and was often found on his knees beseeching forgiveness for the people, so that his knees grew hard like a camel’s from his continually bending them in worship of God and [intercession]." As I try to illustrate below, Jesus need not have been directly descended from David to be considered a son of David.

Thy will be done in the Land- The use of Greek word, "ghey" sometimes referrs to the whole inhabited earth, but more often to the whole land of Israel.

"You must not say this thing" (regarding identity of Messiah)- Mark stops short of the expansions of this account in the other two Gospels, which mention an exception.

The Messiah must be a descendant of David- Although an actual ancestral connection need not be made with David and Jesus (as I will show below), the Gospel writers felt obliged to do so. Perhaps it was done to answer the uncontested charges of the chief priests and scribes that Jesus was not a son of David.

in Jerusalem- John 7:3-5

12. MARY 2                

I took it as a parable: An anecdote like this account could have given rise to a parable that was expressed as water being changed into wine (John 2:1-11). Had Jesus actually created 130 gallons of fine wine, it wouldn’t have been just his disciples that believed in him.

Mt. Zion- (Mark 11:23) Had Jesus been referencing Mt. Zion by, "this mountain", the imagery would be that of dispersing the political establishment of the capital, into the non-Jewish world, or chaos--which the sea often represents in Hebrew literature.

13. JUDAS ISCARIOT 2

"No sign shall be given to this generation"- Mark does not include the exception (as Jonah was three days and nights inside the fish…), whereas Matthew and Luke think it is important. This may indicate that Jesus may not have been aware (at this stage) of his martyrdom as being absolutely necessary.

The separated part of Bethany- Some have the opinion that there was outside Jerusalem, a leper colony. "Simon the leper" is an example of one engaged with Jesus who was not cured.  A Gospel writer would not want to make too much of such "bad news" cases (Mark 14:3).

The beloved disciple- James H. Charlesworth in his The Beloved Disciple: Whose Witness Validates the Gospel of John? 1995, (Trinity Press International), develops the thesis that "the beloved disciple" mentioned directly five times by John, is not John the son of Zebedee, but Thomas. In this present work I accept Charlesworth’s thesis and bring out the details of it in the witness of several of the characters in these monologues. Later, below, I intend to give an outline of the most important elements that support this thesis.

sons of Issachar- Any man of Issachar, in the time of Jesus, would have been proud of the heritage noted in 1Chron. 12:23,32.

14.JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA 3

                his son- Mark 12:35-37  At this present, proto-Christian point in time, Jesus' statements would have merely countered his opponents' claims that the Messiah had to be a descendant of David.  From a later, Christian point of view, Jesus would be claiming that he is a son of David in the sense that he is both the Messiah (David's divine, pre-existing Lord) and also a human descendant of David.  No one would have thought this at the earlier time, notwithstanding the Gospel of John's later theology of pre-existence.

                Jacob's prophecy- Genesis 49:10

                eminently qualified- Jesus nor any of his followers attempt to answer the charge that the Christ must be the son of David, or born in Bethlehem (John 7:41-43 ; 7:27).

15. JOHN MARK

I ran home naked- Mark 14:51 I take as the author making a reference to himself (the young man).

He that is close to me- I have Jesus here refering to Thomas, "the Twin" ("Didymus" in Greek), but later apologists make the saying apply to the Holy Spirit, or even to both Thomas and to any other to whom the Holy Spirit had been given.  c.f. Charlesworth

16. JUDAS ISCARIOT 3

I was the only one of his disciples who became known to the high priest- John 18:15. c.f. Charlesworth (1995).

I brought an innocent man to you…Look, they even supported us- If Matthew’s account is historical, it betrays something about the betrayer that the other Gospels don’t. It shows Judas’ deep concern over Jesus’ innocence and the outcome of his actions toward Jesus. Mark conceivably shows some concern by quoting Judas as instructing those going to apprehend Jesus that they should lead him away "safely." Luke does not mention the actions of the high priests toward Judas after they had Jesus in their custody, but this may be a result of this Gospel being intended as an apologetic to the Jewish priesthood.

Matthew has a tendency to abbreviate his accounts, as, for example, the

account of Jairus’ daughter in Matthew 9:18;  Matthew shortens things by leaving

out the announcement of the daughter’s death. Another is the collapse of the

cursing of the fig tree and its withering into one event (Matt 21:19). These

incidents give reason for suspecting that Matthew’s account of Judas returning

the betrayal money followed by his suicide, could likewise be a contraction of

events that historically may have been more spread out in time.

See to it that Christ comes out of the tomb… Can I do this thing? - Regarding the resurrection of Jesus, it is:

Psychologically impossible for the apostles, who survived the crucifixion three days, to have stolen the body of Jesus and then have recovered from their total disarray to lead the fast growing church in the face of death-threatening opposition.

It is impossible for his followers not to have lovingly attended to the disposition of his body. It would not have been possible for it to have been merely cast in a ditch and to have been eaten by animals.

1. There is the example of John the Baptist’s disciples with his body. Some friends of Jesus (it is quite easy to assume the validity of the Gospels here) attended Jesus even at the cross.

2. The principle of not polluting the Land would require the Pharisee party, at least, to require a burial.

3. The ruling parties were unable to disprove the resurrection claims by accounting for a body in any way. Joseph of Arimathea, one of their number, had disposed of the corpse in his own tomb. Since he could not account for the missing body to their satisfaction, he or others were probably accused of having stolen it.

It is utterly untenable that any theory concerning a natural recovery from near death could account for the missing body, since the same psychological prohibitions as in A, above, would also apply.

It is only possible that one of three things would account for the missing body:

A. Judas stole and disposed of the corpse whence God resurrected Jesus while Judas commits suicide before learning of it.

B.  Judas steals and hides the body (which never rises) and then commits suicide (or goes missing, or dies). All these situations leave the other disciples without a psychological impairment regarding being truthful witnesses to the missing body and also enables them to be truthful witnesses to their own personal resurrection appearance experiences. If such scenarios seem to be out of the realm of plausibility then we must conclude that "C" (below) gives the correct accounting:

C. God the Father resurrected his Son, Jesus as is depicted generally in the Gospels.

The Gospel of John (as I have interpreted it – John 18:16-18) shows Judas as desirous of having Peter present as their Messiah is being questioned (c.f. Charlesworth). The Gospel of Matthew further depicts Judas as grieving and as having the motive for doing the things I have suggested here whether or not he actually acted on such motives.

17. JOHN MARK 2

"There is no need to be terrified…" I was God’s messenger!" – Here again, the "young man" of Mark 14:51 shows up and I again take it to be a self-reference of the author. His announcement to the women make him a messenger and in a sense, an angel (although not the heavenly-type angel as depicted later in Matthew 28:2-7).

You stay in the area- Such a scenario, with John Mark leaving the gardener alone at the tomb, provides fodder for "the appearance to Mary" story.

18. JAMES THE BROTHER OF JESUS

Then some doubted the appearance? – Matthew 28:16,17 flatly states that some of the eleven apostles doubted the resurrection appearance.

I will truly fast and wait on the Lord regarding this matter. - From Shanks & Witherington III (2003) p. 184: The no longer existent, The Gospel of the Hebrews (dating to the second century, not the NT letter to the Hebrews) is cited by Jerome (De vir inl. 2). In his citation, Jerome says that James had sworn that he would not eat bread from the hour in which he had drunk the cup of the Lord until he should see him risen from among them that sleep. Shortly after this the Lord said: "Bring a table and bread!" And immediately it is added: He took the bread, blessed it and broke it and gave it to James the Just and said to him: "My brother, eat your bread, for the Son of Man is risen from among them that sleep." In this tradition, in opposition to the NT canon texts, James was present at the Last Supper. Even if (as the NT implies) he were not present then, the tradition may have preserved the fact that James indeed fasted until he was made a believer by his brother.

I found myself transported…- I have taken as a description of Jesus’ appearance to James, a modern day appearance testimony. Reynolds Price, a prolific novelist who is also James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. According to his testimony in Time magazine’s December 6, 1999 issue, Price experienced what I would call a vision, but what he has called something else. Here are his words:

As any believer might point out, there is the chance that Jesus was right. Perhaps he was what he claimed to be—the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel. Since his Resurrection, he has become—in the minds of billions—a transnational Messiah who continues to care for individual humans and to save them from internal and external evil.

I am one who believes himself a direct recipient of such care. Fifteen years ago, as I was about to undergo five weeks of withering radiation for a 10 inch long cancer inside my spinal cord, I found myself—an outlaw Christian who had, and has, no active tie with a church—transported, thoroughly awake, to another entirely credible time and place. I was lying on the shore of the Lake of Galilee with Jesus’ disciples asleep around me.

Then Jesus came forward and silently indicated that I should follow him into the lake. Waist deep in the water, I felt him pour handfuls down the long fresh scar on my back—the relic of unsuccessful surgery a month before. Jesus suddenly told me, "Your sins are forgiven." Appalled by my dire physical outlook, I thought ungratefully, "That’s the last thing I need"; so I asked him, "Am I also cured?" He said, "That too." Then, as though I’d forced his hand, he turned and climbed ashore with me well behind him.

Despite succeeding years of more successful but unavoidably devastating surgeries, permanent paralysis of my legs and a nonstop assault of spinal pain, I’ve experienced no similar encounter. That fact tends to validate, for me, an objective core to the experience. If I manufactured one visionary self-consolation, why wouldn’t I have repeated that solace in ensuing years of even worse trouble? In any case, to the surprise of my doctors, I’ve survived without apparent return of the cancer, and my life is more rewarding and productive than before that washing in Galilee. My lifelong sense that Jesus of Nazareth stood in a unique and redeeming relation to the Creator of this universe at least has intensified, though I have felt no right to claim intimacy with him. As for so many others, he has never seemed less than mysterious, and my experience of his overwhelming but oddly business like healing and the memory of the unstinting mercy in his grave face and eyes are indelible.

This account appears to me to be as objective as Paul’s Damascus road experience or John’s Isle of Patmos experience. Is this testimony, then, another so-called resolution of a psychological "Christ complex" (the human mind is uncanny) or was it really Jesus Himself? 

19. THOMAS THE BELOVED DISCIPLE

Why is Thomas "the beloved" and not John? – James H. Charlesworth answers it well in his book, The Beloved Disciple: Whose Witness validates the Gospel of John? (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International), 1995.

One or two out of every ten Israelite men is a Joseph – From Shanks & Witherington III (2003) p. 56 on a study by Rachel Hachlili, "Names and Nicknames of Jews in Second Temple Times," Eretz-israel 17 (Israel Exploration Society, 1984) from which they arrived at a table of "Most Popular Names Among Jewish Males of the Second Temple Period" (c. first century BCE – first century CE):

Simon 21%

Joseph 14%

Judah 10%

Yohanan 10%

Eliezer 10%

Jesus 9%

Jonathan 6%

Matthew 5%

Hanina 3%

Yo-ezer 3%

Ishmael 2.2%

Menachem 2%

Jacob/James 2%

Hanan 2%

Levi 0.2%

Isaac 0.2%

Gamaliel 0.2%

Hillel 0.2%

20. SAUL OF TARSUS 2

21. ANDREW 2

22. SAUL 3

33 CE – Dates here and below are – for the most part – those of Jerome Murphy-O’Connor.

Junia and Andronicus- Romans 16:7

23. SIMON PETER 3

Added to our number to make up for those who have left us.- there are variant names of the twelve in the various Gospels.  One could speculate here on adding for the loss of unbelieving apostles.  

24. SAUL 4

25. BARNABAS

Rufus- Romans 16:13

Persis- Romans 16:12 "Persis the beloved who has worked hard in the Lord" may indicate some such occurrence in his life as I have depicted.

26. SAUL 5

27. JAMES 2

28. SIMON PETER 4

29. NICODEMUS 2

Lazarus returned from the dead- The miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus is stupendous. John 12:18 says this miracle is the very reason why the multitudes met Jesus for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. If historical, it is a wonder that none of our other Gospels (or NT writings) allude to this astonishing event. Since the Gospels of "Matthew" and "Luke" do not include this miracle, I think it attests to their weighty reliance on Mark for almost all of their miracle accounts. Mark, of course, does not have the Lazarus miracle. This is possibly because he has a bias against declaring Jesus’ resurrection to be the certain physical resurrection that the Church later declared it to be. For Mark to chronicle the Lazarus miracle would be close to declaring his own theology on the resurrection of Jesus and we see that Mark seems to have avoided this (Lazarus--were he not merely a parabolic figure--after all, did finally die). Mark is careful, for example, to let Jesus explain that Jairus’ daughter was merely asleep and not dead. It may be, that concerning the declaration of his resurrection theology, that Mark believed the "ending" of the gospel was immanent with the actual return of a physical Christ to occur any day in the life of his generation. That would make any theological resurrection-declaration a moot point.

James Merrill Hamilton Jr. spells out a possible harmonization of John's Lazarus story with the synoptic gospels.  This may be a solution to the problem, but it requires that Peter (traditionally Mark's mentor) was not present for the miracle (a possibility for which there is some evidence--see link above), and that Peter refuses to vouch for something that the other disciples witnessed but he did not.  It also requires that Matthew and Luke are being silent about this greatest of all miracles for the sake of Lazarus' safety (were he still alive at the writing of these gospels).

Had Mark known of this miracle from Peter or others, it may have been – if one looks for a naturally explained version – a much less enhanced version (c.f. Luke's, "Lazarus and the rich man", where it is said that men would not believe even if Lazarus came back from the dead--Luke. 16: 27-31.)  When the Gospels were published in their final form, many if not all of the apostles were probably dead and not available for certification of them. Non apostles still living at the publication times may not have been able to testify against any one miracle account since only apostles were certified to have been with Jesus continually (Acts 1:21). The most that anyone could question regarding an inaccurate miracle testimony would have been: "I was not present at that one.". And so, Mark and the other Gospel writers, perhaps without intending to deceive, recorded the testimonies they had available to themselves and left out some testimonies at their discretion (Luke, for example, leaves out the miracle of Jesus walking on water – which seems to have been upgraded from "walking on [in?] the sea" in Mark to "walking on water" in Matthew).

I am tempted to say that the portion of the Thomas-school that I represent as those whom Nicodemus parted from, had theological motives that urged them to enhance accounts such as this Lazarus miracle for the purpose of adding weight to the physical resurrection side of the physical/spiritual debate that, I presume, the Church was in (1 Corinthians 15:12; 2 Timothy 2:18; Matthew 28:17; Luke 24:36-43; Acts 26:19).

30. SAUL 6

Notions of Zoroaster…mystic piety- Roman syncretistic tendencies allowed them to combine their deity worship with Zoroasterism. This enabled them to come up with the Mithrian religion of which Paul would have been quite familiar with in Tarsus. Of the little evidence we have of their methods, one of their practices (as seen in their artwork) seems to have been the use of caves in which to worship.

That first short letter I wrote to the Corinthians- I follow Murphy-O’Connor’s distinction of five letters that Paul refers to have written to the Corinthians.  Some letters are part of 1 or 2 and some are lost, according to O'Connor.

31. DEMAS

Not coming back through Rome- There are reasons for this which I will have to explain.

Sponsor Timothy on a removal to Laodicea- Certain things in 2 Timothy give reason for this statement.

Zenas and Apollos’ aspiration to compose an account of the gospel for Jewish priests – The Epistle of Paul to Titus preserves (3:12-13) that Zenas and Apollos probably delivered Paul’s epistle to Titus. Even though much of this letter concerns qualifications and duties of church rulers (if such a list existed in Paul’s time, Titus surely would have already been aware of it – the same applies to 1 Timothy), I think there may be at least a kernel of reminiscence of an actual letter to Titus. Titus 3:13 states: "Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them." Paul could have meant for them to be helped on their return trip to Corinth (or to wherever Paul was). Or, with Crete being a common stopover on trips to Egypt, he may have meant for help to come to them as they proceeded to Alexandria.

I am proposing that someone like Zenas was the author of Luke. It was

apparently a mere guess of one or more of the church Fathers that gave Paul’s

companion, Luke, the position as author of Luke. They apparently mistook accounts of Paul’s Ephesian imprisonment as having been accounts of his Roman imprisonment. The fact that Luke does not have "we" passages concerning any of Paul’s activities in Ephesus betrays the fact that it was not the actual Luke (whom Paul claims was with him there) who was the author of Luke (he may have been one of the author’s sources). Although many others – named in the New Testament and not named – could have been candidates for being the author of Luke, I decided that the "lawyer" role of Zenas made him as good a candidate as any. And, a trip to Alexandria works well with a conceivable delivery of an initial first part of an eventual Luke/Acts account of the gospel.

32. SAUL, His last account

Delivering Hymenaeus and Alexander over to Satan- The authority of 1 Timothy and Titus came to be after 2 Timothy came to public light, according to O'Connor and others.  It is thought that 1 Timothy may have been constructed from some authentic Paul along with other material.

The Lord’s servant must not quarrel… - Timothy does not hear this until he gets the letter we call 2 Timothy.

33 DEMAS 2

John the elder was removed to Patmos – I accept an early date (before 70CE) for Revelation based on Kenneth Gentry’s book, Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation (use sidebar on this site and enter the book's title), Tyler Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, (1989), available free at http://freebooks.entrewave.com/freebooks/sidefrm2.htm . In this work - the full text of Gentry's doctoral dissertation from Whitefield Theological Seminary - the important question of Revelation's date of composition is engaged. Characteristic of the work is a careful exegesis of critical passages, a diligent survey of the scholarly literature on Revelation, and a meticulous search through the writing of early church fathers and Jewish and Roman historians.
The evidence may be garnered from Revelation's self-witness and from church tradition that John wrote Revelation prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred in August, A.D. 70, rather than in A.D. 95-96, as many scholars believe. Gentry convincingly argues for a date around A.D. 65 or 66, after the outbreak of the Neronic persecution and before the death of Nero Caesar.

The written gospel that John brought to Ephesus – In these various chapters I have shown the reasons why The Gospel of John, as we know it today, was originally an untitled work regarding the memoirs of Thomas. Loosely following Charlesworth’s thesis that it is Thomas whose witness validates The Gospel of John, I have demonstrated that within the school of Thomas there were two factions. In their split, the portion of the school that became more identified with Thomas’ name also became more identified with Gnosticism, which, in its fuller expression, came to be seen as heretical by the western church. I have suggested that for Ephesians to identify this "Gospel" with one named John, let them also keep the Gospel at arms length from Gnosticism and in closer association with the name of the apostle, John.

Waned in our zealousness- John the elder may have been alluding to Timothy’s previous lack of zeal under pressure from some in the church at Ephesus. Perhaps the whole church had been affected by his actions.

A lodestone will magnetize a needle- I am depending on Henry Drummond’s essay, "The Greatest Thing in the World"(1880), for this and what follows.