chapter 16

“Jesus Christ, king of the Jews and Gentiles, wake up. It’s time to get crucified.”

Two Roman officers pushed open the door to my cell. Charus and Ekstein.

“Bloody ass dung. Is it already morning.”

“Jesus, come on, get up, the crowd is waiting and I have made a brilliant discovery.”

“We don’t need to use nails.”

“Yes, we have to use nails, they are sitting now in alcohol and they are beautifully made.”

“You can have them when I’m done with them.”

“I will take them and the cross to Rome.”

“What’s your discovery.”

I bent down to pat the prison cat that had slept the night at my feet.

“Thanks for you support, Buddie.”

She purred.

“I was sitting outside the temple early this morning, getting used to this silly costume, watching little boys play a game. They had brought bread for the pigeons and stood back under a tree and threw stones at the pigeons.

“And it struck me.

“Just wing it.

“They were playing a game. Throwing stones at pigeons.”

“Charus, I’m about to be sentenced.”

“The crowd is having fun chanting your name, just listen, it is the most amazing thing. I see how life works.”

“Explain.”

“The boys were practicing hunting skills. No longer needed. Instinctive hunting skills. They didn’t stop to calculate their chances of hitting a pigeon, they just winged it. They picked up stones and threw them with such accuracy that I could see our forefathers before the time of weapons. We picked up stones. Many of us. The stronger of us, bigger stones, maybe even sharpened.

“And we threw them at any animal that came close to us or we came close to. I’ve seen children in small villages in Africa. Jesus, they were the same boys in different skin.”

“That sounds all very clever. But does it mean anything.”

“We are evolving, my friend. Like you so often said. We have just begun. I can see it. I know it. One day people will find us tedious.”

“That’s a good thing, is it.”

“That’s the most beautiful thing to know.”

“So if you’re right, some kid is going to be more clever than you. Another more brilliant than Arbard.”

“And half a dozen will think like you. And better. More. Children will have your knowledge and wisdom. They will think and do things we can’t imagine.”

“I love you, Charus.”

“You ready.”

“As I’ll every be.”

Ekstein told the trumpet players to play Pilate’s intro march. Pilate came in looking mildly amused. And a little hung over.

“So, what do we have today.”

“This man claims to be Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews and he is here to bomb the temple. He claims to be the Son of God.”

“Son of a Lord, but never mind.”

Pilate turned to me and tried not to show his smile.

“So you are Jesus Christ, the king of the Jews.”

“It’s me.”

The priests listed off 603 incidences of public blasphemy and 467 in the synagogue blasphemes.

“What’s blasphemy again. Do we have a law for that.”

“It’s rather vague, My Lord. He hasn’t really broken any Roman laws. We could whip the priests for taking up our time with this but there is the crowd to consider. It would be easier to appease them than to have the half of them crucified.”

“Is that the same crowd that cheered the King of the Jews just yesterday.”

“Most of them are employees of the synagogue.”

“We’ll have to tear that place down one day soon. This Judaism is a rather tedious basket of gibberish.”

“Crucify him. Crucify him. Crucify him.”

I looked at Pilate and nodded. I had told him over and over it was necessary to stick to the script. That it was the surest way to a new Roman religion.

“Well, it’s your show today. You want to have him whipped and hung on a cross. I can do that. My soldiers will be happy to nailed him to a cross if it will make you priests happy.”

So the bugger had me whipped like any other criminal. Whipped on stage so everyone could see and know the penalty for blasphemy against a religion of an invaded land. A paradoxical hoax.

“Flogging sheep dung.”

“Take up your cross and go. King of the Jews.”

So I did.


chapter 17

From the time they drove the nails into me till the eclipse felt like an eternity. The pain of the first nail going through my hand chilled my whole body. It felt like I had been ripped into life from the other side and my hand didn’t want to pull through. Then it burnt like hell when it finally did until the next nail tour through my other hand. Then the pain found a strange blissful balance just about the time they drove a nail through my feet.

I let out a scream that made everyone jump.

Then I opened my eyes and seemed to see for the first time. I saw only angels. Even the priests who wanted to see me die, who thought their wish had finally come true.

“I forgive you.”

I said it to everyone. It was my show. I had agreed to it when I was a child. Some people are made to catch fish some to grow wheat. I was made to expose a paradox by becoming a paradox that eventually would implode and crumble.

I held that thought an eternity. Until finally the moon was approaching the sun. Karl smiled up at me and held Ming’s medicine to my nose.

I took a deep breath and someone yelled wait.

They told me to come down from the cross. The priests were taunting me. I smiled. Thirty years, three years, three hours. We had almost reached the bridge. One day the Jews and Gentiles would be one.

The moon covered the sun and small explosions went off all around Jerusalem. It felt like an earthquake.

I screamed in Chinese, Greek, Hebrew and Latin.

“Get me down off this bloody cross.”

About seven people of the 60 people who had stayed till the end might have understood what I said. It was the last of what I said. Whatever the stuff was that Ming had made up, it worked. I felt Charus poke me in the ribs with the end of his sword.

“He’s dead.”

It seemed like another eternity until they ran to Pilate to get permission to take my body. Much to the priest’s dismay, permission was granted. It had been granted by Rome years ago. Every other cross held their captives to be eaten by hungry dogs and birds. But not the king of the Jews before a Jewish holiday in a Roman occupied land. No one noticed details.

The nails didn’t hurt half as much coming out. Thank Flog. I was very far away at the time.

By the time I came to, we were in Fau’s apartment. I was still very groggy but could recognize the faces around me in the light of the oil lamp. My think team from Rome.

“We did it, Man.”

“Am I still in heaven.”

Ming kissed me.

“Heaven is yours. Jesus, you were great. I’m certain that one day they will talk of you in my land.”

“It could have been a better crowd.”

Charus put his hand on my shoulder and rubbed a little.

“It is enough that the priests were there to mock you. They are the ones who need to know your power over them. They will beg for the right to help write the new Roman religion. They will not see that they are the fools for a thousand years.”

“And you left the wrappings with my blood on them in the tomb for the priests to inspect.”

“They will deny it. But yes, everything is in place and the tomb is sealed. You won’t be missed until the stone is pushed away.”

I listened as best I could to my excited team that waited with me the next two days in Fau’s small apartment. But I didn’t care. The story was out of my hands.

My mother went to the tomb two days later with Helene and Joanna as they were asked to do. She didn’t believe we would pull off the show and that the Roman authorities would let it happen.

“Helene, they have taken the body.”

“He promised me he would not die on the cross.”

“He is one of those reincarnationists, Helene. He thinks death is a bridge.”

Helene finally turned around to see me standing in the door of the tomb. With the light behind me she didn’t recognize me.

“It’s me. There is a party in Galilee and they are waiting for us. So can we leave this place and go catch some fish. I haven’t had fresh fish since this bloody escapade started.”

Mom had to have a little cry and a few of our friends saw us on the road to Galilee and were amazed to see me walking. Even if I had to have Joanna and Helene to hold onto.

And after a few days on Lake Galilee, swimming and resting and letting time and love heal me, we moved to the Toscana to raise goats and chicken and our children. And I helped John in his stain glass window business and opened up a little antique furniture shop.

And when my hands were again strong enough, Judas came to work with me making furniture.


mary helene magdalene chapters 01 - 03