We now continue with the Jesus story begun on the previous posting. Check there. Who's to say this isn't the original one and the Biblical one is the alteration.
On
Monday November 20th (we are assuming) Jesus observed the animals
and the birds in captivity in the temple and makes a whip of stems and goes and
drives the cattle and the sheep out of the temple and many are egging him on to
go do it. They are Nazarites who came
along with him to Jerusalem. The temple
police arrest Jesus and seven of his disciples, don’t ask me which ones, and
fiveofthem escape and are never heard from again. Judas is among those who ran away from the
conflict. When asked by onlookers
whether Judas was one of his disciples, Judas denies being a disciple now but
pretty much disowns him saying that Jesus is a menace to society. Jesus and the seven disciples are put in a
holding dungeon few people know about and their hands and feet were put in
irons. Meanwhile all of the people, many
of then Nazarites are preparing to riot and the cries of “Save Now” can be
heard. In this case it’s the saving of
the animals. Jesus said “God’s house is
meant to be a temple of prayer but you have turned it into a slaughter
house”. Jesus also said “As a sign of
my authority to do this I say “Tear down this temple made with hands and in
three days I will build up a temple not made with hands”. Jesus continued to be pressed about his
authority to act and Jesus then asks them a question about John the Baptist and
where did he get his authority”. The
council is unable to answer the question for reasons given in the Gospels. Jesus says “Neither will I tell you by what
authority I do these things”. Later on
they haul Jesus out of the dungeon upon Judas saying he’s claiming to be God
now. Jesus is asked if he is a mortal
man like any other man. “With like
passions”. Jesus tells them he gets
tired and hungry just like any other man.
He needs sustenance. He also
needs to be in prayer often, for he tells them that without the aid of the
Father, he can do nothing”. They throw
him back in the dungeon with the others and they grill him what he talked about
and Jesus says “Everything is cool”.
Meanwhile
Judas is watching the rioters with alarm.
They don’t have enough men to arrest them all. In the midst of this chose three men dressed
all in black come in and enter the prison complex. The guards are scurrying around wondering if
they are needed elsewhere. The three men
unlock the dungeon and unlock the irons and Jesus and the seven disciples are
free. They are told, “Remember, none oft
this ever happened if anybody asks you.
Occasionally in the corridors people would see Jesus and his disciples
being led out by the three angels of God or whoever and they would be stared at
and be told “You didn’t see this. You
won’t remember this”. They were told to
go to John Mark’s parents. They had a
courtyard with a wrought iron gate and Jesus says Hi to Rhoda, the servant. He sees a twelve year old boy hanging around
and a disciple asks his name and he says “I am John, who is called Mark”. And Jesus said “You will be instrumental in
the spreading of the gospel in the coming years”. They are escorted to a large upper room. There they have a lot of maps to map out an
escape route. They are told that they
will be headed to Egypt. There Jesus
said “There is much to learn from the people in Egypt. They leave on foot without benefit of horses
or donkeys. While they are at John
Mark’s house is when Jesus says “Up till now you haven’t had need of purse or
sword. But we no longer have access to
the money Jesus kept for us. Jesus says
“He that lacks a sword must sell his coat and buy one, if you have to”. Jesus disciples say “But Lord, winter is
coming and it will be betting cold out”.
They are told that Egypt headed south is a safer destination than
staying in Palestine, headed north or west, because Roman troops would soon be
looking for them. The disciples then
ruminate among themselves.
Somehow
Mary Magdolane finds Judas and she complains to him “Jesus left without taking
me with him”. Judas says “There is a
lot of danger on the road with highwaymen and rapists”. But Judas also tried to let it be known that
he thinks Jesus has taken leave of his senses and needs to be rounded up and
found for his own good. Judas contacts
Roman soldiers that he knows. He knows
some who are good temple Jews, though in secret. He enlists them to form a posse to bring
Jesus and his disciples back. But he’s
having trouble getting volunteers he heeds.
There is a lot of talk but little action. A whole day goes by and finally he’s
comfortable that he’s found a mounted group that can catch up with Jesus and
his disciples. He knows the road Jesus
will be traveling because Saturday night at Bethany he saw road maps that Jesus
never bothered to share with his disciples that night or any other. He shows the maps to the Roman troops. Of course they can’t just go off duty unless
they falsify some records and hope they aren’t discovered or else they
themselves would be brought up on charges.
They take off southward. The
terrain is rough but it is rougher for Jesus and his men not being
mounted. This is now Tuesday and Tuesday
night at nearly midnight they catch up to Jesus and his disciples at an
encampment. Jesus had set up a system
where a few disciples would stand guard while the rest of them could get some
sleep. Jesus had a saying “Are there are
not twelve hours in a day. Move while
you have the light. The night is coming
and is indeed here when no man can work”.
They approach with their lanterns and torches, for there was no
moonlight. Peter is the first to rouse
and cuts off the ear of one of the troop’s personal servants. This is the only healing Jesus is on record
as doing, putting back the ear. Jesus asks them “Whom do you seek” and they
say “Jesus the Nazarite”. Jesus said “I
am he”. He adds, “If you are seeking me
then let the others go”. They think
about it a while and think it would be a pretty good idea. After all, what can the headless body do by
itself? They are slow in escorting
Jesus back to Jerusalem. I would imagine
they chained him to a trooper so they could get sleep at night. They arrive back in Jerusalem about mid day
Thursday. They put Jesus in a holding
cell. Meanwhile as anticipated both
Judas aand the troops are in trouble and Judas isn’t much help in saying “We
did it for the Kingdom of Heaven”. He
said “We hope to bring about a paradise that is ruled by the temple
priests”.
Meanwhile
the people of Jerusalem were wondering what had happened to their Messiah. Many did not know he was back. Others said he was already dead. They conducted a trial for Judas and he was
given the death penalty for what Pilate believed to be an attempted military
coup. The other troops were still in
prison. At the time they didn’t know
when his execution date would be. Jesus
wasn’t tried until Friday morning. He had an audience before Pilate. Jesus played the “Daddy” card. He reminded Pilate that his father was Roman
and also stated that he had never said anything against the Roman government or
of even the vaguest attempt to overthrow the Roman government. He said for nearly three years he and his disciples never carried weapons but
they only had done so now for self
defense reasons in case they encountered any highway men on the road. Pilate decided to convict Jesus anyhow
because his story sounded a little fishy.
But then one of Jesus’ fans reminded Pilate that last Passover Pilate did
not free the usual one suspect that he customarily does and now would be a good
time to even the score and grant a
belated favor. When Judas heard what
was in store he thought he should be freed on his merits but that Jesus didn’t
deserve a get out of jail card. His
reasoning was Jesus was still dangerous to the people. I think you know the rest of the story. Pilate decides to give the people a
choice. It was maybe nine thirty in the
morning and a crowd had already assembled though Pilate knew that most of those
people would be biased toward Jesus.
When he asked the people who they wanted free they said Jesus the
Nazarite. Like I say the whole “of
Nazareth” thing is a mistranslation.
When Jesus was free he immediately found a good donkey and set out down
that same Egyptian road, though this time he was secure in that he was a free
man under Roman law, as though he had done nothing wrong. Meanwhile Judas was taken out and crucified. He said of the women who had gathered “Women
weep not for me but for yourselves. For
in the end times you will be saying to the mountains “fall on us” to hide us
from the wrath to come. Judas had still
absorbed some of the apocraliptic imigry of the day. He said “IF such injustices are done now,
worst things will be done in the last day.
Judas was nailed between two thieves.
Then
there was a partial eclipse of the sun
for three hours from noon to three.
This explains the “darkness on the face of the land” line. Naturally Judas took it as a sign. People weren’t that schooled in how solar
eclipses work. Shortly after three Judas said “I am thirsty”
and was given gall mixed with cheap wine.
Judas drank it and went into a swoon.
People believed he was dead.
Joseph of Arethmea was a secret follower of the sort of government Judas
wanted involving a rule by the priests over the whole land. It is unconfirmed how Joseph got Pilate to
agree to give him the body. The argument
he put forth was that the sabbath was coming and it would be unlawful to have
bodies hanging on the cross over the sabbath.
When the forces came to take the body down, which was still alive, one
of the convicts said, “Save us, too” and uttered a bunch of other explititives
featuring the word “bloody” a lot. The
other convict, whose name was Demas,
said “Do you not fear God. This
man did nothing wrong”. Meanwhile Jesus
continued on his trek to Egypt.
Eventually he met up with Peter and John at the designated place they
had discussed at John Mark’s house.
Jesus says “There are only two of you?” and Peter and John explained how
the others grew restless and didn’t want to continue with the journey
anymore. Jesus then said to Peter and
John “Behold many are called; few are chosen”.
Meanwhile Saturday was the sabbath.
I think you know the rest of the story.
Mary Magdolane and the two other women had never seen the grave, the
tomb. Early Sunday morning they went out
to look at it, expecting to find a sealed grave and no expectation that they
would find that the stone had not yet been rolled into place. Joseph had treated the body with spices and
wrappings and just left the grave open, so that the night air would revive
Judas. When Mary and the others came in
to look at what was in the grave they were greeted with “Who’s there” and were
startled to find Judas there still lying in his wrappings. He said he had been an innocent ritual
sacrifice and that he alone had overcome death.
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