HE KNEW EVERYTHING
06:00h – YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 07, A.D. 30
CEPHAS, FROM the crowing of the cock, the apostle ceased to be the same.
It is certain that those denials would forever weigh on his soul. There, a good part of the shy, rude and vain Shim-on died. His spirit had been dealt the hardest of blows and his soul was in shambles.
He only had one way out at that point.
THE EARTH ROAD from Galilee was again congested with Passover pilgrims eager to cross the walls of Yerushaláyim and complete their journey. The day was sunny, as usual at this time of year. Travelers passed date palm plantations and the ancient winter palaces of Herod the Great in the lush oasis of Jericho. Small farming villages sprang up next, where orchards, vineyards and olive trees grew alongside irrigated vegetable and vegetable crops. Many of the pilgrims stopped at this point for the mikvah ritual, purifying themselves for the last three miles of their journey.
The purification process was essential for them to celebrate Passover properly. He created a physical and emotional state that prepared the believer to welcome the holiness of God, hence the need to arrive in Yerushaláyim a week before the holy day.
Men bathed in the mikvah and stopped having sex with their wives until after Passover because they believed that the act of ejaculation made their bodies unclean. Likewise, menstruating women could not bathe in the mikvah and would also be prohibited from entering the Temple premises. Touching a reptile also made the body unclean, and anyone who came into contact with a corpse, even if only its shadow ever touched it, was immediately considered unclean and unable to celebrate Passover. This also applies to anyone who killed someone.
So, even before the pilgrims arrived in Yerushaláyim, they were already mentally preparing for the week to come. They kept the need for the mikvah in mind and avoided any intimate contact that might arouse sexual desires. Anticipating the smell of roasted lamb that would waft through the city of Yerushaláyim as the Passover feasts were cooked in the ovens, pilgrims worriedly counted their money, not knowing how they would pay not only for the food but also for the inevitable taxes they would be subject to. subjects in the city.
Despite having sore feet and legs after walking miles and miles of hostile terrain, the pilgrims felt transformed by the magnetism of Yerushaláyim. They no longer thought of their farms that were left behind, or of the barley that would have to be harvested as soon as they arrived on their journey, but of holiness and purity. Soon they would climb the hill known as the Mount of Olives, and as they looked down, they would see Yerushaláyim in all its glory. The Temple would gleam white and gold in the sunlight, and the imposing walls of the Temple Mount would astonish them as ever.
The splendor of Time reminded them that they had arrived at the center of Jewish life. It had been nearly 50 years since the Temple had been renovated and expanded, and the first modern Passover celebrated in its courtyards. But even for those old enough to have been there that day, this Passover promised to be the most memorable in history. And her arrival in Yerushaláyim would be unlike any before or after her.
"We are going up to Yerushaláyim," Yeshua says to his disciples as they prepare to leave, "and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the Rabbis of the law. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles to mock him, scourge him, and crucify him. On the third day he will rise!
If these words troubled the disciples, they did not let it show. For their journey had already taken several months, not mere days, as for most pilgrims. After the Feast of Tabernacles six months earlier, Yeshua and the disciples did not return to Galilee. Instead, they began a tortuous journey.
His first stop, the village of Ephraim, was just twenty-four kilometers from Yerushaláyim. From there they traveled as a group northwards, away from Yerushaláyim, to the borders of Samaria and Galilee. And then, when Passover came, they turned and marched south, following the Jordan River and joining the long caravan of pilgrims on their way to the Holy City.
The disciples were now trying to position themselves as best they could on their way to Yerushaláyim.
Tiago and Yohanan asked Nazareno if they could be his main advisors in the new regime, making the following request:
— Let us, in your glory, sit, one on your right and the other on your left.
Upon hearing this, the other 10 were furious. They had been following Yeshua as a tight-knit group for over two years, abandoning their jobs, their wives, and anything remotely resembling the life they had before. All the disciples looked forward to reaping the fruits of the glory that would come after the Messiah overthrew the Roman government.
Cephas was so sure that Yeshua would lead a military offensive that he bought a sword without anyone knowing and kept it between his clothes, he just didn't imagine that other disciples would do the same.
But Yeshua had no plans to wage war or form a new government. Instead of scolding Tiago and Yohanan, he calmly dodged the request. So he called the disciples to him, imploring them to focus on serving one another instead of getting into disputes over position and status.
— For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Once again, he was predicting his death.
The disciples, however, were so focused on the glorious moment when Yeshua would reveal himself as the Christ that they ignored the fact that he was clearly telling them that he would soon die and the Romans would not be overthrown. There would be no new government. But the disciples' insistence on ignoring this was understandable.
Yeshua usually spoke in the form of parables, and the frenzy around the Nazarene Rabbi was now phenomenal. The worship dedicated to Yeshua made any mention of death inconceivable.
The tight crowd of pilgrims treated him like royalty, listening to his every word and welcoming him with enthusiasm and reverence. In the village of Jericho, two blind men referred to him as "Lord, Son of David," a nickname that could only be attributed to Christ. When Yeshua did not rebuke these blind men, the disciples were encouraged.
Yerushaláyim is just a 40-minute walk from the village of Bethany, where they stop for the night. They stay at the home of Elazar and her sisters, Myriam and Martha, preferring not to risk traveling after sunset and early Saturday. This would be the group's home base during the week of Passover, and Yeshua and his disciples planned to return there almost every night with the promise of a hot meal and rest.
Saturday was the holiest day of the week. The Jews call it Shabbat, it was the obligatory day of rest in the Jewish religion, in honor of God's rest after the creation of the Universe.
Yeshua and the apostles used this time to relax, preparing for the week ahead.
***
IENTACULUM
YERUSHALÁYIM, FRIDAY, 07 DE APRIL DE 30 d.C
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF YERUSHALAYIM, at Fortress Antonia, the dozen men who made up Rome's death squads gather to eat the entaculum, the most substantial meal of the day. They probably couldn't make it back to the barracks for the prandium, the midday light meal, so they consume a generous helping of porridge served with cheese and honey to fill their bellies even more and provide additional energy for the hard work that awaits them. . Bread, weak beer, and red wine were scattered across the long communal table.
Bar Abbas and his cronies, already sentenced to death, were being held not far away, in the stone dungeons of the fortress. Soon they would be led into the courtyard for the scourging, or verberatio, as the Romans called it. Low posts are permanently there for this purpose. On top of each was a metal ring. Each convict would be led there with their hands tied. The executioners would strip them and force them to kneel, then raise their hands above their heads and tie them to the ring. His wrists would also be chained there. This held the body in place, preventing the convict from squirming or trying to somehow dodge the whip's blows.
Even before the first lash cracked against a man's back, it was common for the victim to tense every muscle in his body and grit his teeth in preparation for the terrible pain about to be inflicted. The secret of the executioner's art lay not in the force with which he would lash a man, but in the effort he applied as he pulled back the strips spattered with bits of metal and bone after each blow. That was what did the worst damage to the flesh.
To demonstrate superiority, the professional assassins who were now quietly enjoying their breakfast, tried to grip the wooden handle of their whips a little more firmly than their companions and applied a little more force to their lashes. If they did their job exceptionally well, they might even be able to expose their victims' internal organs.
Onlookers were shocked to see even the innermost veins and arteries of the victims torn apart, to the point where both their viscera and muscles were exposed before their eyes. But as terrible as it was, the flogging was just the beginning of the agony. For the verberatio was a mere prelude to the crucifixion. The soldiers finished their porridge and rose from the table.
It was time to go to work.
***
THE UNJUST JUDGMENT OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, A.D. 30
YOHANAN WHEN CROSSING the front door of Ananus' mansion, he was surprised to see Yohanan Marcos, this time covered by a cloak.
How did he get there?
Following the Roman escort, Yohanan and Cephas.
The entourage entered the deserted streets of Yerushaláyim at the moment when the trumpets of the Temple began to awaken the population.
Cephas surreptitiously asked one of the Romans who were very grumpy about having to leave at that hour:
— Do you know where we're headed?
— The priests sent by Kaiafa announced to that rat's father-in-law that the Sanhedrim's court was meeting," he replied, "I'm afraid we'll find out soon enough.
Cephas nodded.
The squad hurriedly pulled the Rabbi and Yohanan followed him faithfully, Cephas couldn't even get close, he just stared at him in the distance.
Shortly before six in the morning, the squad leading Yeshua stopped in front of a large rustic house, situated a short distance from the great rectangle of the Temple. Specifically, near the south-west corner, in a small garden area, perfectly isolated from that sector of the Lower City by the Wilson and Robinson arches, to the north and south, and by the southern wall and the Temple wall, to the east and west, respectively.
Early bird swallows flew playfully between the eaves of the second floor of that large house, more than fifty meters long and thirty-four meters deep. The chirping of the black emigrants and the dull, rhythmic noise of the wheat mill rising from all the houses of Yerushaláyim, were the last pleasant sounds we heard before entering that den.
During this new displacement of Yeshua, the possibility that they were going to the traditional headquarters of the Sanhedrim within the Sanctuary made Yohanan tremble. If so, neither the legionnaire nor he could enter. A few months before the beginning of the year 30, the priestly castes had decongested the famous hall of carved stones, located in one of the south-western corners of the Atrium of the Priests, transferring the place of meeting of the Sanhedrim to this building of large gray stones and only thinned.
The court that Kaiafa had planned was not very orthodox, and although the Israeli Supreme Council continued to meet, sometimes in the Sanctuary, at this point the high priest and his co-religionists had preferred to settle the matter in the new headquarters, which was much more discreet than the chamber of hewn stones. The Levites passed through a narrow, dark corridor, opening into the narrow central courtyard of the bouleyterion or headquarters of the Sanhedrim.
From there, and without wasting time, they entered a square room, very spacious and with a high ceiling, located in the westernmost wing of the building. The little light that came in through the cracks forced the oil lanterns to be kept lit. As Yohanan had feared, as soon as they stepped onto the court where the trial against the Rabbi was to take place, one of the high priest's servants crossed his path, demanding that he identify himself. There were seconds of great tension.
As a mere escort he had no reason to attend the assembly. Before those Hebrews, his presence was not justified. When he already thought that everything was lost, the legionnaire, who was still at his side, solved the difficulty with a very timely answer:
— High! This man comes with me and accompanies the accused as a precept of Roman law. As I represent the Roman procurator, my orders are laws for you.
That was decisive, and without further explanation, they headed towards the center of the chamber.
A little more than half of the room, about ten meters on a side, was occupied by a wooden bench, in a semicircular or half-moon shape. This common seat, without arms and equipped with high backs, exquisitely worked, was placed on a platform about forty centimeters high, so that its occupants could dominate the room.
In front of these seats, closing the semicircle, Yohanan observed three rows of benches, also made of wood, but on the pavement slab and therefore at a much lower level.
When they entered, the crescent-shaped bench was occupied by a total of twenty-three priests. Six more had settled into the first of three rows of seats. The other two rows were still empty. That half-dozen Sadducees and Pharisees who sat outside the semicircle had done so because that place was that of the so-called lesser Sanhedrim, formed solely and exclusively by twenty-three members.
Kaiafa gathered thirty supporters and, consequently, not all of them were able to participate in the official court. Seated at the edge of the dais, one at each end of the semicircle, were two court scribes. They wore their traditional white linen tunics, carrying wooden boxes in their sashes from which they began to take out writing utensils, reed quills, two small flasks that acted as inkwells and several rolls of leather.
Those two scribes were the only legal and correct thing about the mock judgment. One was in charge of collecting the allegations in favor of the acquittal of the detainee or detainees, and the second wrote the proposals for condemnation.
Yeshua, always in the company of the legionary who controlled the rope that tied his wrists, was forced to place himself right next to the platform, facing the judges and with his back to the three rows of benches. Yohanan, in the company of other Levites and Sanhedrim servants, stationed himself behind the rows of seats to the Rabbi's left. At the back of the room, through a door located behind us and which remained ajar, where there was a group of Hebrews. But from their attire, they did not appear to be priests or members of the Sanhedrim.
The official composition of the Sanhedrim, a higher institution, or greater Sanhedrim, consisting of seventy-two members, and a minor Sanhedrim, consisting of twenty-three members. Both courts had jurisdiction in criminal cases, and the two most prominent members of the great Sanhedrim were the nasi, or president, the ab bet din, father of the court, purely honorary titles.
The three rows of pews of the lesser Sanhedrim, were intended for the disciples of the sages, that day in particular accompanied a prominent young man named Chaul (Saul) from the city of Tarsus, disciple of Gamaliel.
To the right and left of Ananus's son-in-law sat twenty-two more members of the Sanhedrim, most of them draped in broad, multicolored robes.
Yohanan was visualizing the most poisonous and intriguing: Sermes, Dothaim Levi, Gamaliel, Jairus, Nephtali and a certain Alexander, most of them Sadducees.
On the faces of those individuals, nearly all of whom were in their sixties, there was distinct bewilderment. Yeshua's majestic and serene demeanor made a deep impression on them.
As soon as Yeshua was placed in front of them, they did not stop murmuring. But Kaiafa seemed to be in a hurry, and at his orders some of the guards invited the group of Jews waiting in the adjoining room to approach the council.
First, surprised, then indignant, Yohanan saw those witnesses begin to make statements against the teachings and person of the Rabbi. Their attacks, as exalted as they were disorderly, were fundamentally focused on the numerous violations of the Sabbath and of the Mosaic laws, which according to them, Yeshua and his group of ragged Galileans had committed.
The perjurers, with all the evidence bought by the Sanhedrim, constantly contradicted themselves, turning the session into a clear farce.
The parade of false witnesses became so pitiful that some of the judges, embarrassed, bowed their heads or fidgeted, nervously and violently, in their seats.
Yeshua, raised his face, remaining impassive, standing out from the accusers not only by his stature but by his majestic bearing. That serene countenance, without the slightest hint of pride or vanity, further exasperated Kaiafa and his accomplices, who did not understand how a man could maintain such serenity when everything was heading towards a death sentence.
— This sabbath desecrator – declared one of the witnesses violently, - is a repeat offender, since he is said to have been admonished by the priests on several occasions." Therefore, he is liable to extermination.
Those who profaned the Sabbath with premeditation and recidivistly were to be put to death by stoning.
Another of the false witnesses took the floor, and pointing to the Galileo reminded the room of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.
— According to our laws," he said, "this man is a magician who deceived the people with his actions. Aquiba says in the name of Yehosua: If two gather cucumbers using magic, one of the gatherers is not guilty, but the other is. He who performs the act is guilty and he who only deceives the eye is not guilty. There were many of us who were able to see how this envoy of the Prince of Demons carried out the act and the disciples supported him...
A murmur of approval lingered among the judges.
But Yeshua remained silent.
— According to Leviticus – argued another Hebrew, "the defendant acquired impurity through contact with dead bodies. And, as if that wasn't fault enough, he dared to violate the sacred belief in the resurrection of the dead, bringing Elazar out of the grave...
Some of the Sadducees, whose philosophy outrightly refused the resurrection of the dead, shook their heads in denial, smiling broadly. Kaiafa, who belonged to this caste, overlooked the impertinence of the Sadducees. It was not the best time to get into polemics with the Pharisees, who had frowned in clear distaste for the ironic and silent demonstrations on the other side of the courtroom.
The momentary tension between the judges was dissipated when the witness shifted the accusation to the new magical fact of Yeshua having raised Elazar from the tomb in a time less than the touch of the sofar.
The accusation, like most of them, was so childish and flawed of basis that the high priest, increasingly agitated, urged the next witnesses to go on. But later claims were even less brilliant. Some Jews, following his words with great ostentation of gestures, reminded the court of yet another of Yeshua's crimes:
— Do not eat the obligatory paschal lamb...
That information had been given by Yehudhah.
Yehudhah Ish Queryoth, who had arrived at the Sanhedrim building long before the accused, stood behind the group of witnesses, although at no point did he testify. The rules of these people forbade a traitor to address the Council publicly.
The Mosaic law effectively established that all Israelites were required to eat ram or goat on the Passover feast.
One of the last accusers even turned that parade of incongruities and nonsense around completely. Alluding to other Jewish law, he went so far as to accuse the Nazarene of thwarted murder. His weak and ridiculous argument was based on another rule, which decreed the guilt of anyone who struck his neighbor with a stone in such a way as to kill him. The witness taught then exposed the incident involving an adulteress, saved from the stoning of the people when Yeshua, addressing the crowd, invited the one who was free from sin to cast the first stone. For the twisted Hebrew, the gesture constituted a crime, as it incited murder.
The grotesque scene softened a little when, suddenly, the twenty-three judges and the rest of the Sanhedrim rose to their feet. There was a heavy silence in the room and one of the Sadducees, the one who was seated to Kaiafa's right, left his seat to give it to a short, stooped individual who had just entered the room.
— Ananus? – Yohanan muttered to himself.
As sagan, or chairman of the house of elders, he held the place at the right of the incumbent high priest that year. Immediately, the other judges sat down again, and Kaiafa, with a nonchalant wave of his chubby hands, motioned the witnesses to proceed. In spite of his more than probable cerebral sclerosis, Ananus still had the eyes of a nocturnal prey, large and penetrating. He barely sat down, then they roamed the room, landing on Yeshua's.
The tremor in the old man's hands increased.
Yeshua held his gaze and Ananus, uncertain, tried to hide his wrinkled hands under the purple robe that covered him. Then, turning his attention to the inquisitor on duty, he seemed to forget about the accused.
— This man — began to proclaim the witness — said that he would destroy the Temple and that in three days he would build another, but without the help of the hand of man.
The archontes, or heads of the Temple, had at last found a sufficiently solid damning motive. Of course, it was not what Yeshua had said, neither this witness nor the following one, who confirmed his statements, made any allusion to the decisive gesture of the accused when, while pronouncing those prophetic words, he pointed his body with a finger.
That was the only testimony on which two individuals were able to agree. Even before the testimonies were finished, the clamor of the archiereis or chief priests was general, disturbing the order of the room with exaggerated signs of displeasure and disbelief.
Kaiafa raised her arms asking for calm while a cynical smile formed on her face. And the silence was restored little by little. At that moment, Ananus made a sign to his son-in-law. He bowed and the former high priest said something in his ear. When finished, both had their eyes fixed on Yeshua, who remained unperturbed. None of the allegations had changed his mood.
— You don't answer any of the charges? – Kaiafa suddenly shouted at him, his voice squeaky and unpleasant.
The judges, witnesses, Levites and other spectators waited for the accused's answer.
It was useless.
Yeshua, with his eyes fixed on Kaiafa, did not open his mouth. That silence on the part of the accused, combined with his extreme dignity, made Kaiafa blush. The eyelids began to open and close rhythmically, in a nervous tic. The hatred of that Hebrew for Yeshua of Natsrat reached its extreme point at that moment, in addition to the teachings and miracles of Christ, what truly fueled the revenge of the high priest was the domain that Yeshua constantly made gala.
If Yeshua had humbled himself or adopted a conciliatory attitude, perhaps that appearance of judgment would not have had such painful consequences for the accused. When everything seemed to indicate that Kaiafa was about to explode, Ananus stood up. He took out a scroll of parchment from inside his right sleeve and, as he unrolled it, announced to the court that Yeshua's threat to destroy the Temple was more than enough reason to consider the following charges.
In a quick, hesitant voice, almost holding the document to his eyes, he read the charges that had obviously been established even before the Sanhedrim session.
— The accused dangerously misleads the people of the people and besides, he teaches them, he is a fanatical revolutionary who advises violence against the Holy Temple and, in addition, can destroy it, teaching and practicing magic and astrology. The fact that he promised to build a new sanctuary in three days and without hands is conclusive.
Yohanan, dumbfounded, gave himself to see something that was clear as light: the wording of such accusations had to have been made in agreement with the false witnesses. But the council's indignities had barely begun.
Ananus rerolled the parchment and waited, standing, for the defendant's answer. However, Yeshua did not move a single muscle. The old man, visibly annoyed, let himself fall and a heavy and menacing silence once again filled the chamber.
In a fit of rage, Kaiafa left his seat and, putting himself in front of the accused, summoned him with his finger, shouting at him:
— In the name of the living God, blessed be He, I command you to tell me if you are the deliverer, the Son of God...
This time, Yeshua, looking at the low and angry high priest, let his powerful voice be heard:
— I am... And very soon I will be with the Father. Soon the Son of Man will be invested with power and reign again over the heavenly armies.
Yeshua's words rang through the room like a club blow.
Kaiafa took two steps back, his mouth open and quivering, his eyes bloodshot, as were his face and neck. Without ceasing to look at Yeshua, he took hold of the five bands that girded his chest and, with a tug, pulled the clasps that held them at the back. The high priest's holy ornaments tumbled to the floor, with an almost imperceptible crackle of ivory needles as they landed on the flagstone. Kaiafa, beside herself, exclaimed in a voice broken by anger, at the same time that an involuntary rain of saliva droplets jumped from her mouth:
— What need do we have of witnesses? – Have you heard this man's blasphemy... What do you think and how do we deal with this rapist?
The thirty Sadducees, Pharisees, and scribes rose to their feet as one man, shouting in chorus:
— Deserves death... Crucifixion! Crucifixion!
The rapid palpitation of the arteries in Kaiafa's neck clearly showed that his system was suffering a major adrenaline rush. In the same furious way that she had ripped off part of her clothes, she turned to face Yeshua, giving a violent slap on Yeshua's left cheek. The seals on the high priest's left hand wounded his cheekbone and two very fine threads of blood ran down to his beard. But the accused did not let out a single lament. He lowered his eyes and would not look up again until the Temple guard had led him to the room where he had seen the witnesses gathered.
Ananus' son-in-law returned to his seat, while the chorus of judges continued to roar:
— Death! Death!
Yohanan grabbed the cloak and bit it, trying to quell the fury he felt, in a crisis of helplessness and despair. But no one, not even the legionary, lifted a finger in Yeshua's defense.
The father-in-law of the high priest, who was the only one who remained seated and silent, said:
— Calm down, gentlemen, very calm at this time.
When the last of the Sanhedrists obeyed Ananus' order, he addressed the troubled council, suggesting that new charges be obtained, particularly charges that might compromise the Nazarene before Roman authority.
With a far more subtle intelligence than those assembled, the old former high priest gave them to understand that these allegations might not satisfy Pilatus.
But the priests, Kaiafa at the head, were firmly opposed, and for a long time the heads of the Temple, scribes and Pharisees argued heatedly, interrupting each other. From that bitter discussion, the archiereis, as Kaiafa had shown, did not want to delay the process for two fundamental reasons: first, because it was the day of preparation for Passover and, according to the Law, all work had to finish before noon. Second, because the general fear was that the procurator would leave Yerushaláyim and return to his base in Caesarea.
This last reason weighed much more than the first. If Pilatus left the Holy City, the Sanhedrim's maneuvers would be barren. Ananus could not control the situation and the judges, imitating the high priest, rose, leaving the room. But first, one after another, they passed before Yeshua, spitting in His face.
When Yeshua passed by Yohanan's side, on his way to the place where one of the most savage and injurious affronts of that journey was to take place, the young disciple turned away, impressed by the disgusting spitting that almost hid the face and beard of his docile Rabbi.
Yohanan suffered a bout of severe vomiting, eventually vomiting in one of the corners of the room. Thus, in the midst of great confusion, the first part of that trial was concluded.
***
MOTHER'S PAIN
6:15 am – YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, A.D. 30
SHORTLY AFTER DAWN, David had found him near the camp, aimless and full of sadness. In those moments, not even David Zebedee, the emissary or disciples knew the real reason for the immense anguish of the fiery Shim-on Cephas. The truth is that David ordered one of the couriers to accompany him to Nicodemus' house in Yerushaláyim, the meeting place for his brother Andrew and the other three apostles.
The emissary accompanying Yousef from Armathajim also reported that, shortly after Cephas' departure, one of the Rabbi's fleshly brothers, Yehudhah, arrived in the garden. He had gone ahead of the rest of the family and learned there about Yeshua's tragic imprisonment.
At the request of David Zebedee, he hurried back along the path that crosses the Mount of Olives, joining Myriam, the Rabbi's mother, and the rest of the family.
— Madam.
— David – Myriam said, still sleepy – did something happen?
Myriam still hadn't realized that all the disciples had dissipated, which was only natural for her son to send them on some specific missions.
— I need you to go to Martha and Myriam's house in Bethany.
— Is there anything I should know, David? – Did something happen to my son?
— Madam... I...
Myriam caught him by the sleeve of his robe, and her voice was a mixture of distress and authority.
— Tell me, David.
— Unfortunately I don't know the details, we just need to keep you and the Rabbi's brothers safe.
— You know very well that my safety is my son, what will a widow woman do without her son?
— I understand, ma'am, but...
Then David told him everything that had happened.
David's orders were that the Rabbi's family stay at Martha and Myriam's house in Bethany. And so it was. This meant that Myriam, the mother of Yeshua ben Yousef, was in the vicinity of Yerushaláyim... and that, of course, she must have been warned of what would very soon happen to the Son.
***
THE MOTHER OF YESHUA, MYRIAM
THERE WAS A VERY RICH MAN, Joaquim, who made his offerings in double quantity, saying:
— What remains I offer for the whole village, and the due in the expiation of my sins will go to the Lord to win him good graces.
The great feast of the Lord arrived, at which the children of Israel must offer their gifts, and Reuben stood before Jehoiachin, saying to him:
— It is not lawful for you to offer your gifts until you have produced a seed in Israel.
Jehoiachin was so mortified that he went to the archives of Israel with the intention of consulting the genealogical census and verifying if, perhaps, he was the only one who had no posterity in his village. And examining the scrolls, he found that all the righteous had begotten descendants. He remembered, for example, how the patriarch Abraham, in his last years of life, gave Isaac as a son to the patriarch Abraham.
Joachim was very tormented, and he did not look for his wife and withdrew into the desert. There he pitched his tent and fasted for forty days and forty nights, saying to himself:
— I will not go from here to my house, not even to eat or drink, until the Lord my God visit me; may my prayers serve me with food and drink.
And Anna, his wife, lamented and groaned painfully, saying:
— I will mourn my widowhood and my sterility.
But the great feast of the Lord came, and Judith, his servant, said to him:
— How long are you going to humiliate your soul? The biggest party has arrived and it is not lawful for you to be sad. Take this headscarf which was given to me by the weaver's mistress, since I cannot gird myself with it, because I am of a servile condition and it bears the royal seal.
And Anna said:
— Get away from me, for I have not done such a thing, and besides, the Lord has humiliated me too much for me to use him; unless some evildoer has given it to you, and you have come to make me an accomplice in sin.
She replied Judith:
— What reason do I have to curse you, if the Lord has already cursed you for not bearing you fruit in Israel?
And Hannah, though deeply sad, took off her mourning robes, girded herself with her headdress, put on her wedding clothes, and went down, at the ninth hour, to the garden to walk. There she saw a laurel tree, and she sat down in its shade and prayed to the Lord, saying:
— The God of our fathers! – Hear me and bless me as you blessed Sarah's womb, giving her Isaac as her son.
And having lifted up her eyes to heaven, she saw a nest of birds on the laurel tree, and again she lamented, saying:
— Woe is me! Why was I born and at what time was I conceived? I came into the world to be like a cursed land among the children of Israel; these heaped insults on me and drove me out of the temple of God. Woe is me! Who do I resemble? No to the birds of the air, for they are fruitful in your presence, Lord. Woe is me! Who do I look like? No to the beasts of the earth, for even these brute beasts are prolific in your eyes, Lord. Woe is me! Who can I compare myself to? Not even these waters, for even they are fertile before you, Lord. Woe is me To whom do I equate myself? Not even to this earth, because it too is fruitful, bearing its fruits at the proper time, and I bless you, Lord.
And behold, an angel of God appeared to him, saying to him:
— Ana, Anna, the Lord has heard your prayers: you will conceive and give birth and your offspring will be spoken of throughout the world.
Ana replied:
— Long live the Lord my God, that if I have any fruit of blessing, whether boy or girl, I will take it as an offering to the Lord, and it will be at your service all the days of your life.
Then came two messengers with this message for her:
— Jehoiachin, your husband, is back with his flocks, because an angel of God came down to him and said to him: ' Jehoiachin, Jehoiachin, the Lord has heard your prayers; so come back, that your wife Anna will conceive in her womb.'
And when Jehoiachin had gone out, she commanded her shepherds to bring her ten sheep without blemish:
— And these, he said, shall be for the Lord; and twelve heifers of milk: And these, said he, shall be for the priests and for the Sanhedrim; and a hundred goats for the whole village.
And when Joaquim arrived with his flocks, Ana was at the door and, seeing him arrive, she ran and threw herself on her neck saying:
— Now I see that God has blessed me abundantly, for, being a widow, I am no longer a widow, and, being barren, I will conceive in my womb.
And Joaquim rested that first day in his house.
The next day, as he went to offer his gifts to the Lord, he said to himself:
— I will know if God will be kind to me if I get to see the priest's ephod. And, as he offered the sacrifice, he looked at the priest's ephod, as he approached the altar of God, and, finding no sin in his conscience , said: Now I see that the Lord has seen fit to forgive all my sins.
And Jehoiachin came down justified from the temple and went home.
And Hannah's time was fulfilled, and in the ninth month she gave birth. And she asked the midwife:
— Who did I give birth to?
And the midwife replied:
- A girl.
Then Anna exclaimed:
"My soul has been exalted.
And she reclined the little girl in the crib. At the end of the time prescribed by the law, Ana purified herself, gave her breast to the girl and named her Myriam.
Day by day the girl grew stronger. When she was six months old, her mother left her alone on the floor, to see if she could stand up, and she, after walking seven steps, returned to her mother's lap. She lifted it up, saying:
— Save the Lord! You shall not walk on this ground any more, until I bring you to the temple of the Lord.
And she made him an oratory in her house, and did not allow any vulgar or unclean thing to pass through her hands. She also called some Hebrew maidens, all virgins, to entertain her.
When the girl was one year old, Jehoiachin gave a great feast, to which he invited the priests, the scribes, the Sanhedrim, and all the people of Israel. And he presented the girl to the priests, who blessed her with these words:
— O God of our fathers, bless this girl and give her a glorious and eternal name for all generations.
To which all the people replied:
"So be it, so be it. Amen.
Jehoiachin also presented her to the princes and priests, and they blessed her thus:
— O God Most High, set your eyes on this girl and bestow on her a perfect blessing, the kind that excludes later ones.
Her mother took her to the oratory in her house and breastfed her. She then composed a hymn to the Lord God, saying:
— I will sing a song to the Lord my God, because you have visited me, you have removed the reproach of my enemies from me, and you have given me holy fruit, which is unique and manifold in his eyes. Who will give Ruben's children the news that Ana is breastfeeding? Hear, hear, O Twelve Tribes of Israel: 'Anna is nursing'.
And having left the girl to rest in the chamber where the oratory was, she went out and began to serve the guests. These, when supper was over, went out rejoicing and praising the God of Israel.
Meanwhile, the months went by for the girl. And when she was two years old, Joaquim said to Ana:
Let us take her to the temple of the Lord to fulfill the promise we made, so that the Lord does not claim her and our offering becomes unacceptable in her eyes.
Ana replied:
'But let's wait until she's three years old, so the girl doesn't miss us.'
And Joaquin replied:
— We will wait.
When he reached the age of three, Joaquim said:
— Call the Hebrew maidens who have no blemish, and that they take, two by two, a lighted lamp to accompany her so that the girl does not look back and her heart is captivated by something outside the temple of God.
And so they did as they went up to the temple of the Lord. And there the priest received her, who, after kissing her, blessed her and exclaimed:
— The Lord has magnified your name before all generations, for at the end of time he will manifest his redemption in you to the children of Israel.
Then he made her sit on the third step of the altar. The Lord showered graces on the girl, and she danced, captivating all the house of Israel.
Then her parents left, full of admiration, praising the Lord God because the girl had not looked back. And Myriam remained in the temple like a little dove, receiving food from the hands of an angel.
But when he was twelve years old, the priests came together to deliberate, saying:
— Behold, Myriam has served twelve years in the temple of the Lord. What shall we do so that it does not stain the sanctuary?
And they said to the high priest:
— You who have the altar in your charge, go in and pray for her, and whatever the Lord tells you, that's what we'll do."
And the high priest, girding himself with the robe of the twelve bells, entered the "holiest of holies" and prayed for her. But behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, saying to him:
— Zacharias, Zacharias, go out and gather all the widows in the village. Let each one come with a staff, and the one on which the Lord makes a singular sign, this one will be his wife.
The heralds went out throughout the whole region of Judea, and when the trumpet of the Lord sounded, they all came.
Yousef, laying aside his pole, joined them, and when they were all together, each took his staff and set out in search of the high priest. He took all his sticks, entered the temple, and prayed. When his prayers were over, he took up the sticks again and handed them over, but none of them showed any sign. However, when Yousef caught the last one, behold, a dove began to fly over his head.
Then the priest said:
— You were lucky enough to receive the Virgin of the Lord into your custody.
Yousef replied:
— I have children and I am old, while she is a girl; she would not like to be mocked by the children of Israel.
Then the priest returned:
— Fear the Lord your God, and remember what He has done with Datan, Abiron, and Kore; of how the earth opened and they were buried for their rebellion. And fear now you too, Yousef, lest the same happen to your house.
And he, filled with fear, took her under his protection. Then he said to him:
— I took you from the temple; I leave you now in my house and I go on with my constructions. I'll be back soon. The Lord will keep you.
The priests then got together and agreed to make a veil for the temple of the Lord. And the priest said:
— Call some spotless maidens from the tribe of David.
The ministers departed, and after they had searched, they found seven virgins. Then the priest remembered Myriam, that young girl who, being of Davidic stock, was immaculate in the eyes of God, and the emissaries went to get her.
After they had brought them into the temple, the priest said:
— Let's see which one will embroider gold, asbestos, linen, silk, zircon, scarlet and true purple.
And the scarlet and the true purple fell to Myriam, who, taking them, went home. At that time, Zechariah was mute, being replaced by Samuel until he was able to speak again. Myriam took the scarlet in her hands and began to weave it.
One day Myriam took a pitcher and went to fill it with water. But behold, she heard a voice saying to her:
— God save you, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women.
She looked around, to the right, to the left, to see where that voice was coming from. And trembling, she returned home, left the amphora, took the purple one, sat down on the divan, and began to weave it.
But immediately an angel of the Lord appeared before her saying:
— Fear not, Myriam, for thou hast found favor with the Almighty Lord, and thou shalt conceive at his word.
But she, on hearing him, was perplexed and said to herself:
— Shall I conceive by virtue of the living God, and shall I give birth like other women?
To which the angel replied:
— It will not be so, Myriam, for the Lord's virtue will overshadow you; then the holy fruit that shall be born of you will be called the Son of the Most High. You will call him Yeshua, for he will save his people from their iniquities.
Then said Myriam:
— Here is the handmaid of the Lord in her presence; let this happen to me according to his word.
And when her work was done with the purple and scarlet, she took him to the priest. He blessed her saying:
— Myriam, the Lord has exalted your name and you will be blessed among all generations of the earth.
Full of joy, Myriam went to her relative Isabel's house. He called to her from the door and on hearing her Isabel dropped the scarlet, ran to the door, opened it and, seeing Myriam, praised her saying:
— What have I done to make the mother of my Lord come to my house? Know that the fruit that I carry in my womb started to jump inside me, as if to bless you.
But Myriam had forgotten the mysteries which the angel Gabriel had communicated, and she raised her eyes to heaven and said:
— Who am I, Lord, that all generations should bless me?
And he spent three months at Isabel's house. And day by day her belly increased, and in fear she set out for home and hid herself from the children of Israel. When these things happened, she was sixteen years old.
When Myriam reached the sixth month of pregnancy, Yousef returned from his constructions and, when he entered the house, he realized that she was pregnant. Then she wounded her own face, threw herself on the ground on a blanket and wept bitterly, saying:
— How shall I present myself now before my Lord? And what prayer shall I now say for this maiden, since I received her a virgin from the temple of the Lord, and did not know how to keep her? Did the history of Adam repeat itself with me? Just as at the moment he was glorifying God, the serpent came and, finding Eve alone, deceived her, so did I.
And getting up, Yousef called Myriam and said to her:
"Favourite as you were of God, how could you do that?" Have you forgotten the Lord your God? How could you vilify your soul, you who were brought up in the holy of holies and received food from the hands of an angel?
And she wept bitterly saying:
— I am pure and I don't know any male.
"Where, then, does it come from," replied Yousef, what do you carry in your bosom?
To which Myriam replied:
— By the Lord, my God, I swear I don't know how it happened.
Yousef, then, filled with fear and withdrew from Myriam's presence and began to think about what he would do with her. He said to himself:
— If I hide my error, I go against the law of the Lord; if I denounce her to the people of Israel, I fear that what happened to her is due to an intervention of the angels, and that I will deliver an innocent woman to death. How should I proceed then? I will send her away secretly.
And on that night fell. But behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying:
— Do not fear for this maiden, for what she carries in her bowels is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you will name him Yeshua, because he will save his people from their sins.
And when you awoke, Yousef arose and glorified the God of Israel for having bestowed upon him such a grace, and continued to guard Myriam.
But on this occasion he came to the house of Yousef Ananus, the scribe, who said to him:
— Why didn't you attend our meeting?
Yousef replied:
— I was tired of the walk and I decided to rest this first day.
But as he turned, Ananus became aware of Myriam's pregnancy.
So he ran to the priest saying:
— This Yousef, for whom you answer, has committed a serious fault.
— What do you mean by that? – Asked the priest. To which Ananus replied, - For he violated that virgin who received from the temple of God, with fraud of her marriage and without manifesting it to the people of Israel.
Said the priest:
— And are you sure it was Yousef who did such a thing?
Ananus replied:
Send a commission and you'll make sure the maiden is really pregnant.
The emissaries went out and found her just as Ananus had said, and so they took her together with Yousef before the court.
And the priest began by saying:
— Myriam, how did you do such a thing? – What caused you to vilify your soul and forget the Lord your God? You who were brought up in the holy of holies, who received food from the hands of an angel, who listened to hymns and who danced in the presence of God? How did you do that?
And she began to weep bitterly, saying:
— I swear by the Lord my God that I am pure in his presence and that I have not known a man.
Then the priest addressed Yousef saying:
— Why did you do that?
Yousef replied:
I swear by the Lord my God that I am pure from her.
The priest added:
— Don't swear falsely, tell the truth. You used marriage deceitfully and did not make it known to the people of Israel, and you did not bow your head under the mighty hand of God, by whom his seed had been blessed.
Yousef was silent.
— Give back, then – continued the priest, the virgin you received from the temple of the Lord.
Yousef's eyes filled with tears. But he added the priest:
— I will make you drink the water of the proof of the Lord and it will show you, before your own eyes, your sins.
And taking the water, he made Yousef drink it, and then sent him to the mountain; but he came back safe and sound. He did the same to Myriam, also sending her to the mountain; but she came back safe and sound. And the whole city was filled with wonder to see that there was no sin in them.
And the priest replied:
— Since the Lord has not declared your sin, neither will I condemn you.
So he fired them. And taking Myriam, Yousef returned home full of joy and praising the God of Israel.
AND AN ORDER CAME FROM THE Emperor Augustus to take a census of all the inhabitants of Bethlehem in Judea.
And Yousef said:
— I can count my children, but what shall I do with this maiden? How will I include it in the census? Like my wife? I am ashamed. How my daughter? But all the children of Israel already know that it is not! This is the day of the Lord, let it be done.
And, sealing his ass, he made Myriam sit on it, while one of her sons went ahead, pulling the animal by the halter. Yousef accompanied them. When they were three miles away from Bethlehem, Yousef turned to Myriam and saw that she was sad; and he said to himself:
— It must be the pregnancy that's bothering you.
But when he turned again, he found her smiling, and said:
— Myriam, what happens, since sometimes I see you smiling and other times sad?
And she said to him:
— And that two peoples appear before my eyes; one that weeps and grieves and another that rejoices and rejoices.
And when he reached the halfway point, Myriam said to Yousef:
— Bring me down, because the fruit of my bowels struggles to come to light.
And he helped her to dismount her truss, saying to her:
"Where could I take you to protect your modesty, since we're out in the open?"
And finding a stable, he brought her in, and having left her children with her, he went to fetch a Hebrew midwife in the region of Bethlehem.
And then a woman coming down from the mountain said:
— Where are you going?
To which she replied:
— I've been looking for a Hebrew midwife.
She replied:
— But are you from Israel?
And she replied:
— Yea.
— And who is it – she added – the one giving birth in the stable?
— She's my wife – Yousef told him.
To which she replied:
— So, isn't she your wife?
And I replied:
— And Myriam, who was brought up in the temple of the Lord, and though she had been given to me as a woman, she is not, since she conceived by virtue of the Holy Spirit.
And the midwife asked him:
— This is true?
Yousef replied:
— Come and see.
Then the midwife set out with him.
When they arrived at the stable, they stopped, and behold, it was shadowed by a bright cloud. And he exclaimed the midwife:
— My soul was magnified, because my eyes saw incredible things, because salvation was born for Israel.
Suddenly, the cloud began to leave the grotto, and inside shone a light so great that our eyes could not resist. This, for a moment, began to diminish so much that I could see the boy who was taking the breast of his mother, Myriam.
The midwife then gave a cry saying:
— This day is great for me, as I have been able to see with my own eyes a new miracle.
And as the midwife came out of the cave, Salome met him.
"Salome, Salome," he exclaimed, "I have to tell you a wonder never seen before, and that is that a virgin gave birth; which, as you know, human nature does not allow.
— But Salome replied:
— By the Lord, my God, I will not believe such a thing, unless I can touch it with my fingers and examine its nature.
And when the midwife had come in, he said to Myriam:
— Prepare yourself, because there is a great quarrel between us concerning you.
So Salome put her finger into her nature, but suddenly she cried out, saying:
— Woe is me, it is my wickedness and my unbelief that are to blame! For tempting the living God, my charred hand detaches itself from my body.
And he bowed his knees before the Lord, saying:
— Oh God of our fathers! Remember me for I am a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, do not make me an example to the children of Israel; but return me healed to the poor, for you know, O Lord, that I healed in your name, receiving my wages from you.
And an angel appeared from heaven, saying to him:
— Salome, Salome, God has heard you. Bring your hand close to the child, take him, and there will be joy and pleasure for you.
And Salome approached and took him, saying,
— I will adore you because you were born to be the great King of Israel.
Then, suddenly, she felt healed and left the grotto in peace. Then he heard a voice saying:
— Salomé, Salomé, do not count the wonders you saw until the boy was in Yerushaláyim.
And Yousef was ready to go to Judea. At that time a great riot broke out in Bethlehem, for wise men came saying:
— Where is the newborn King of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the East and come to worship him?"
Then the Magi came to the Child and His Mother, Myriam, and took offerings from their chests: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But, warned by an angel not to enter Judea, they returned to their lands by another way.
WHEN news of the slaughter of the children reached MYRIAM, he was filled with fear, and, wrapping his son in diapers, placed him in a manger.
And when Isabel learned that they were also looking for her son Yohanan, she took him and took him to a mountain and began to see where to hide him; but there was no good place for it. And, between sobs, she exclaimed aloud:
— O Mountain of God, receive in your bosom the mother with her child.
And in that instant she opened the mountain her bowels to receive them. A great light accompanied them, for an angel of God was with them to guard them. But Herod continued his search for Yohanan, and he sent his emissaries to Zechariah to tell him:
— Where did you hide your son?
But he replied this way:
— I am engaged in the service of God and I am always in the temple. I don't know where my son is.
The emissaries informed Herod all that had happened, and he was very angry, saying to himself:
— It must be your son who will reign in Israel.
And he sent another message saying to him:
— Tell us the truth about where your son is, otherwise you know very well that your blood is under my hands."
But Zechariah replied:
— I will be a martyr for the Lord if you dare to shed my blood, because my soul will be gathered by the Lord when an innocent life is taken in the vestibule of the sanctuary.
And at dawn, Zechariah was murdered, without the children of Israel being aware of this crime.
And the priests came together at the time of greeting; but Zechariah did not go out to meet them, as usual, to bless them. And they waited for him to greet him in prayer and to glorify the Most High. Before his delay, they began to be afraid; and, taking courage, one of them entered and saw coagulated blood beside the altar and heard a voice saying:
— Zechariah has been killed and his blood will not be cleansed until the avenger arrives.
And when he heard the voice, he was filled with fear and went out to inform the priests. These, taking courage, entered and witnessed what had happened. Then the friezes of the temple creaked and they tore their garments from top to bottom. But they found no body, only a pool of congealed blood; and, filled with fear, they went out to inform all the people that Zechariah had been murdered. And the news spread throughout all the tribes of Israel, who wept for him and mourned for three days and three nights.
When that time was over, the priests met to deliberate on who they would put in their place. The lot fell to Shim-on, for, by the Holy Spirit, he had been assured that he would not see death until it was given him to behold the Incarnate Messiah.
***
THE BEGINNING OF PAIN
06:30h – YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 07, A.D. 30
THAT PAUSE in the judgment of Yeshua ben Yousef was going to be a grotesque new caricature of what should have happened in an objective judgment. The Hebrew rules were very strict when it came to blood causes.
By mutual agreement, Kaiafa and his supporters withdrew from the courtroom, reducing the mandatory twenty-four hours of reflection and fasting before the final sentence to a mere thirty minutes. Half an hour has reached one of the highest levels of savagery that a group that considers itself civilized can reach.
Young Yohanan could not be present for that horrible half hour. While the judges deliberated in the building's central garden. Yohanan, very impressed by that repulsive dishonor of his Rabbi's person, went out, trying to breathe fresh air and recover physically and emotionally. But a few minutes later, he entered the room where the Levites had taken Yeshua.
Yohanan found himself immediately in a tiny cubicle, completely empty, with no furniture and no ventilation whatsoever. Two of the Sanhedrim's servants held torches that, along with three small oil lamps hanging from the brick walls, illuminated the rectangle with a ghostly reddish light.
The accused stood in the center of the damp, stinking cubicle while the Temple guards and servants settled, leaning against the walls or sitting on the hard floor.
Kaiafa's hitmen had been ordered to escort the defendant and wait for the process to resume. But when a few more minutes had passed, one of the Levites who had accompanied the Council appeared at the door, beckoning to one of those bearing torches. After a short whisper, the newcomer disappeared, and the one with the torch took a few steps towards his companion, giving him the order that the guard had undoubtedly just brought.
The servants and Levites formed a circle, talking in low voices and constantly glancing at the prisoner.
Something's up... - Yohanan thought.
In those critical moments, Yeshua lifted his face again, looking with his eyes for something that only he seemed to see. Finally, he stopped at Yohanan, who was still very close to the door, and without saying a word, he nodded to him, ordering him to leave. That sign was peremptory. But the disciple hesitated, replying with a negative. The Rabbi, for the second and last time, turned his head to the right, pointing towards the door.
In the Rabbi's eyes there was such a strength and certainty that, in the end, Yohanan ended up giving in, leaving the place. In those eyes, half-closed as a result of the spitting, already dry, there was a mixture of infinite sadness and resignation. Then Yeshua lowered his head again, deep in his thoughts.
That tense calm did not take long to break.
The group of hired assassins surrounded him. Those who had torches placed themselves on either side of Yeshua and, without warning, the servant who had received the mysterious order took off his cloak and threw it to one end of the chamber. Then, placing himself four fingers from the Rabbi's chest, he raised his eyes and began to question him:
— Say, Prince of Beelzebub... what are your accomplices called?
But Yeshua did not even look up.
At that moment, it was understood what the order that the Sanhedrim's guards and servants had just received would consist. Ananus had asked him that very question. It was more than likely that the Council of Sadducees, Scribes, and Pharisees, who had departed at the trial, had decreed that Yeshua's guards try to take advantage of those minutes to interrogate and mistreat the imposter.
— We know, Yehudhah – added the footman, with a smile that made me fear the worst, - also Shim-on the Zealot and that Yohanan Zebedee, but who are the others...?" Responds!
The Nazarene didn't even blink. His face, turned to the gray slabs of pavement, was absent.
— Then you refuse to answer.
And the servant turned his back on him, taking a brief step forward. Suddenly he turned, slapping him with his left. The blow was as hard as it was unexpected. And Yeshua's whole body trembled. The remains of sputum on the Rabbi's right cheek remained clinging to the palm of the deputy's hand, who, with a grimace of disgust, shook his fingers again and again, trying to get rid of the filth.
Finally, he brought his hand close to the Nazarene's robe, rubbing it on the cloth. As the legionary tried to put a stop to the sudden and savage attack, one of the Temple guards put a hand on his shoulder and, pulling him away from the Nazarene, handed him a small leather bag, muttering not to intervene.
The bribe made the soldier deaf and mute, who from that moment did not leave one of the corners of the room.
From that moment on, a hail of punches and slaps began to fall on Yeshua's body. Every now and then, between blows and blows, one of the Levites would interrogate him again...
— Answer... How many are you?... What are your adepts called?... Who took charge?...
Yeshua, with his lips torn by the blows, did not give in.
Some of the punches hit his eyes, causing a slow but alarming swelling. Even in the midst of that savagery of iniquity, an almost divine serenity and physical endurance of the Nazarene. Many of the blows, delivered coldly to such delicate and vulnerable points as eyes, lips, ears, kidneys and stomach, would have knocked an ordinary man to the ground. However, the Nazarene, even if he vacillated on several occasions, did not let out a single lament, always keeping his balance. Yeshua's complete silence increased the fury of the Levites, who redoubled their aggression.
Sweaty, panting and dragged by the paroxysm, the lunatics, not satisfied with the violent punishment they were inflicting, went to look for a pitcher of water, submitting Yeshua to one of the most agonizing tortures that a human being can invent.
One of the assassins placed himself on the Nazarene's back, pulling his hair violently. Then his robust body leaned back. A second guard forced Yeshua's mouth open while a third, who held the pitcher, began to pour water into the Nazarene's mouth. The liquid gushed in for many interminable seconds, until, finally, the Rabbi had a dry, severe coughing fit, which put an end to the torture. Unbeknownst to them, those human beasts had relieved the prisoner's battered system.
Because of the hours of anguish in Gethsemane, Yeshua had begun to undergo a serious and decisive process of dehydration, the servant who was holding the clay vessel moved aside and, while the Levite continued to pull the defendant's hair, another henchman raised his left leg, kicking the defenseless prisoner's lower belly.
It was one of the few times that a groan was heard from Yeshua's mouth. The pain was so excruciating that, despite being bent backwards, Galileo's torso and head straightened with a reflex movement, at the same time his knees gave way.
Yeshua fell, his face hitting the slabs.
— Stupid! – The legionary intervened, coming to the aid of the prisoner. Do they want to end him? The guard who had been pulling his hair dropped the lock that had been left in his fingers and, snatching the pitcher from his colleague, poured the contents on the back of the Nazarene's neck.
Because his wrists were still bound behind his back, servants and Levites, helped by the Roman sentry, had to lift him up. When they could see his face, a shiver ran through them, Yeshua had turned extremely pale and his left eyebrow had been torn, possibly as a result of the collision with the slab. The nose, despite some bruising, didn't look badly injured from the fall.
Yeshua was still conscious at the moment of the collision with the pavement, being able, perhaps, to dampen the violent tie by turning his head. The blood, however, had begun to flow profusely, soon covering the left part of his face. Instinctively, the Nazarene began to take a deep breath. Little by little he composed himself, although his face bore no resemblance to that majestic and serene countenance he wore when he entered the Sanhedrim's headquarters. Blood had begun to drip from his beard, staining his cloak and part of his tunic.
Kaiafa's followers, a little more appeased, isolated themselves in one of the corners of the court, initiating another exchange of impressions. And in a little while the one who had untangled himself from his robe lifted it from the floor, throwing it on the Rabbi's head. Seeing him with his head covered, another Levite approached Yeshua, shouting at him between loud laughter.
— Make prophecies, deliverer... Tell us, who hit you?
Wielding a club about four centimeters in diameter in his left hand, he vibrated a dry club in the face of the silent prisoner, who recoiled a few steps as a result of the blow. Before he could lose his balance, another servant grabbed him from behind, preventing him from falling.
The laughter spread quickly and, one after another, all the men participated in that cruel game. The slaps and sticks continued for the last ten minutes, and with each blow the attacker asked the same cynical question:
— Make a prophecy... Who hit you?... Make a prophecy, bastard!