THE EARTHQUAKE
3:00 pm — YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
— HE DIED...
The centurion uttered that last word with a certain pity. As if the vanquished's disappearance had meant anything to him, but surely that last act of his as a Roman warrior would lead to a new life of devotion to what he was about to experience.
Suspended from the nails of the wrists, the belly appeared very swollen. The chest was tucked in and the pectoral muscles, which had not stopped swaying and convulsing, lay stiff, passed out. Among the branches and thorns of the crown, a violet circle around the deformed nose could be seen, increasingly accentuated. The temples, half-hidden by the hair, were sunken and the right ear, barely visible, had retracted.
The skin, just above the beard, wrinkled and the eyeball became darker, as if covered with a kind of viscous web. From the nail wounds, especially the one on the right foot, blood was still oozing, although the color was much more pink.
Just at that moment, the relaxation of the sphincters was registered, which added to the gloomy aspect of Yeshua the fetid smell of almost liquid and yellowish excrement, which ran down the inner sides of his legs.
Little by little and without haste, that new dawn was greeted with vivid signs of joy and amazement by the legionaries and the small group of women and Sadducees who continued by the cliff waiting for the end of that sad story. The same happened in the city. Its inhabitants considered this release from the Sun as a sign of good omen.
The centurion turned to the cross, from which Yeshua was hanging, struck the breastplate that protected his chest with his right fist and, supporting this attitude of greeting, sentenced:
— Surely he was a man of integrity! — It must really have been the Son of God who so condemned him.
The soldiers, restless, asked the optio and the officer for instructions, but neither Marcellus nor Longinus knew what to do in the face of all this. Quite simply, as a security measure, they reinforced the guard. Those men, acting like that, had an intuition of something. And they were not mistaken, for when the shadows disappeared, the sunlight illuminated the crucified, revealing all the horror of the bloodless bodies, grotesquely contorted and covered in sand.
The zealots remained unconscious, and so they did, luckily for them, until the three new legionaries arrived.
The Galilean's skin, despite the thick film of dust that had adhered to the wounds, hair, clots and bloodstains, would soon begin to stand out with the typical marble hue of corpses. The smell of feces made standing by the cross unbearable, and the soldiers who were not on guard withdrew to the edge of the scaffold. The situation became a little better when, as soon as the sun rose again, the wind began to blow from the east again, although weaker than in the previous hours.
There was a natural sense of apprehension and alarm among the women and in Yohanan and Yeshua's brother. The Rabbi 's absolute immobility was beginning to unsettle them. Yousef's mood was so weak that he turned away, not wanting to meet the eyes of the young son of Zebedee. Then, as Yousef looked to the west of the city, he noticed a curious stirring among the flocks of birds that usually nest on the city walls. Despite the wind, they had taken off, dispersing in total disarray. However, almost at the same time, a confused barrier made him turn his head towards the wall, and what he saw astonished him.
Through the Gate of Ephraim began a herd of dogs, barking complainingly, Yousef knew that there were dogs in Yerushaláyim, for in his hundreds of Sanhedrim meetings he saw them scattered through the streets of the city, but he never thought that there were so many. They looked nervous, very excited, and most of all, scared. As if something or someone had suddenly put them to flight.
But what or who would be doing this to the poor animals?
Longinus and Yousef looked at each other without understanding, equally alarmed.
What was happening in Yerushaláyim?
The dogs crossed the path in front of the cliff, towards the north and northwest fields. Some, panting, and sniffing the ground incessantly, climbed the heights of Golgotha, but were quickly driven back by the legionaries.
Animals, and also man, although to a lesser extent, have the capacity to inhale the gases that often precede the triggering of an earthquake. When the first disturbances occur inside the Earth, gases are expelled through narrow cracks in the ground and animals can inhale them. These immediately secrete a much higher volume of serotonin in their brains than normal and the hormones trigger the individual's excitability mechanisms. In the case of the dogs, they had fled, retreating from the dangerous building areas of Yerushaláyim.
It was shortly afterward that they felt the first small quake, which further added to the confusion in the place.
One of the legionaries, by order of the optio, had taken hold of the vessel wrapped in rope mesh with both hands and was preparing to pour some of the water into the flames of the fire, and he did so, but just as he was pouring the liquid into the fire., the first shudder of the ground unbalanced and the jet of water fell in the face of a companion who was sitting very close to the fire. The legionary fell on top of the rock, and so did the pitcher, which broke into pieces.
The sway of the ground immediately caused the soldiers who were seated to stand up and, stunned, they didn't even have time to look at each other.
The first seismic wave lasted only a few seconds, the horizontal displacement of the strata, in a back-and-forth fashion, brought enough force to knock down several soldiers. In Yousef's case, what bothered him the most in those initial seconds was the distressing nausea he began to feel. It was as if an invisible force was stirring his brain.
When they felt the shudder, the women began to scream, victims of the same panic that invaded everyone, but suddenly, just as it had arrived, it disappeared.
Longinus and the subordinate, pale as Yeshua's skin, waited a few seconds to make any decision. Their eyes were fixed on the upper ends of the crosses. But the stipes, when the shaking stopped, had become as still as before the earthquake.
And the officer, with very good judgment, addressed his men, shouting to them:
— Down! Let's all go down!
The patrol, including the sentries, immediately obeyed, rushing towards the access crevice to Golgotha.
In the headlong flight from the gallows, some of the soldiers forgot their shields and helmets. As the officer prepared to walk down the path, he stopped and, turning on his heels, went to the fire, stomping it out. At that moment, a muffled and distant roar began to rise from the east. Almost immediately there was the second and more powerful earthquake, causing the entire cliff to shudder and sway, making them feel violently out of place, falling onto the vibrating surface of Calvary one on top of the other.
On the ground, powerless to get up, Yousef saw how the centurion had fallen too and how the crosses accused the second reply with a sort of rapid rattling that made the bodies of the Jews tremble. One of the stipes behind the crucified men, the one that was slightly bent over, swayed like a reed shaken by the wind, and finally toppled over.
The panic and the suffocating nausea were such that despite the need, they didn't know or couldn't scream or say a word at that moment. Lying down, some on their stomachs and others on their backs and clinging to the irregularities of the rock, they were only able to formulate a thought together:
Survive!
The successive convulsions of the ground hurt them incessantly, even throwing them into the air several centimeters from the ground, bumping them against each other, sometimes it was the ground that hurt them and at other times the parts of the armor.
The loose rocks of the cliff bounced like balls, moved horizontally like projectiles and crashed violently against the bases of the crosses and the bodies of the officer and his subordinates. Submerged in an uncontrollable and irrational dread, those seconds had no time or measure. They were simply eternal for those who tried them.
The thunder that seemed to rise from every square inch of the ground and the violent agitation of nature had, however, a relatively short duration, just over forty seconds, but to these men those few seconds felt like centuries.
At the end of that time, everything calmed down again. And a dead silence fell over the cliff and its surroundings.
When Marcellus managed to get up he had to lean on his pilum. Now it was her stomach that was turning over, with an agonizing urge to vomit. A cold sweat filled his body at almost the same time, much of that malaise was a consequence of the fear he'd felt.
Longinus remained on his knees for a few moments, his gaze fixed on the rock floor, as if waiting for a third shock. But, to everyone's satisfaction, it wouldn't happen again.
Seeing that the new shock would not come, the officer stood up, waving his arm at the Romans who would follow him. They blindly obeyed the leader. A few seconds later, the centurion and the group were running, through the rift of Calvary, out into the open field and joining the platoon in a place they thought safe.
Most of the women were lying on the ground, moaning and screaming that ended up making my hair stand on end. Yohanan and Yehudhah ben Yousef, brother of Yeshua, were as terrified as the others, including Yehudhah Ish Qeryoth who was with the Sadeceans, they did not know whether to run to the meadow or return to the city, but little by little, as the The earthquake faded in memory, tempers began to recover and common sense prevailed.
At least on the side of the Roman officers and young Yohanan ben Zebedee. The tragic reality of the crucified, forgotten during the quakes, soon appeared in the eyes of Yeshua's friends and family, especially Myriam de Magdala.
***
THE VEIL TORN IN TWO
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
TEN MINUTES AFTER the earthquake, Longinus and the soldiers returned to the top of Golgotha, resuming the guard of the crucified. Minutes before, young Yohanan had approached the centurion, questioning him about the fate of his Rabbi.
Seeing him shake his head negatively and lower his eyes, the apostle understood that there was nothing more to be done for him, but in his heart there were no tears and he simply asked the women to leave that place.
In the midst of an outburst of pain, most of the group, who firmly believed that Yeshua would work a miracle and be saved, as he had done with almost all of them. They obeyed the son of Zebedee, retiring in the company of Yehudhah ben Yousef to the house of Elias Marcos, headquarters of the closest of Yeshua since the definitive dispersion of David Zebedee and his couriers, before the arrival of the Levites from the Temple.
But Yousef tried not to anticipate the events, his responsibility was to ensure that Yeshua's body was intact after his death, as he had trusted him, it would be resurrected on the third day, but there was a problem within all that, the rule for crucified people was no having a dignified burial, let alone being buried, were thrown anywhere for the wild beasts of the field to feast on.
Yohanan continued in the shadow of Golgotha, in the company of five Hebrew women who refused to return to Yerushaláyim. As he climbed again to the top of the cliff, he noticed the Sadducees and saw the figure of Yehudhah, knowing that all that was his fault, looked with disgust and spat on the ground indicating how he felt about him.
Panic had them paralyzed. Once the hated alleged imposter was killed, they would withdraw, but Yohanan was wrong.
As Yehudhah ben Yousef and the women departed along the dusty path, Longinus and Marcellus, who with several men were checking the damage and stability of the crosses, were startled again. The Gate of Ephraim had begun to spew out a river of maddened, screaming people who, it seemed, were fleeing the city.
Faced with the terrible possibility of a new tremor, thousands of citizens and pilgrims, whom the two quakes had surprised in Yerushaláyim, decided to immediately abandon the alleys of the Holy City, in search of open ground. Hundreds of men, women and children, many carrying heavy packages and pulling horses and herding herds, began hurriedly and uninterruptedly in front of Calvary, towards the hills near Gareb.
The soldiers interrupted their inspection, reinforcing the peripheral guard of the cliff, but those discouraged faces didn't even notice Yeshua and the zealots. His real problem was to escape, to escape as quickly as possible from the city walls.
The earthquakes had caused much more fear than material wreckage. The buildings, almost all of one or two floors and of light materials, had withstood the blows. There were some small landslides, but fortunately, the injuries were not many or serious, in fact, the injuries were almost entirely made by the mob and not by the natural event.
One of the most striking facts that was confirmed after the quake was the rupture of one of the two great veils placed in front of the Debir, the most holy place, of the Hekal, or holy place, which preceded the first. Meeting both inside the Sanctuary.
All the news transmitted by the Hebrews in a low voice and with a high load of superstition, made reference to the first and most important place of the Hebrew people, a place that once closed the passage, housed the cubic block of nine meters on a side, considered the abode of God, and where stood the two cherubim, fifteen feet high, beautifully carved in olive wood and covered with gold, also called the Ark of the Covenant, which had been missing since the Babylonian invasion, hidden by the prophet Jeremiah.
When the patrol was convinced that the crowd was just trying to get to safety and that they weren't even stopping to pass the judges, the officer and his soldiers resumed their inspection of the scaffold, trying to take stock of the possible damage caused by the earthquake.
Yousef joined them, focusing his attention on the crucified. The stipes had withstood the convulsions of the rocks well, except for the one facing west, behind the damned. The legionaries signed it again. As they finished what he had been responsible for picking up the pieces from the water pitcher, he noticed something and caught Longinus' attention.
A few steps from the crosses, to the south, the cliff was open. It was a not very wide crevice, about eight inches and eight feet deep. However, none of the soldiers could guarantee if that crack was there before the earthquake or if, on the contrary, it had just opened. Neither the centurion nor the other Romans attached much importance to it. And each went back to his work.
On Yousef's side, he couldn't guarantee that the rift at the top of Golgotha was a consequence of the mysterious quake. What is certain, yes, is that the small crevice did not follow the direction of the natural stratification of the headland. On the contrary, it cut across the surface of the rock transversely.
***
AGAINST-ORDER OF PILATUS
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
THE OUTPUT OF HEBREWS from the city began to decrease considerably. Calm was restored and those people, encamped on the outskirts of Yerushaláyim, began to wander, indecisive, and chasing each other with questions.
The gradual return of the birds to the walls of the Temple and of the city, as well as the dogs, which before were excited and now showed an enviable restlessness, contributed decisively to calm their spirits. Many welcomed this mass return of doves and swallows to Yerushaláyim with excitement and gained courage to cross the Gate of Ephraim again.
The centurion, Marcellus, his men, and Yousef himself breathed a sigh of relief, too, when suddenly a handful of those gray-blue doves came to a stop in their flight, landing on the cross beams of the crosses. How sad and significant that image looked!
Three peaceful birds rested on the patibulum of Yeshua de Natsrat, flying again a few seconds later. The astonished crowd's return to Yerushaláyim was much smoother.
At this point, coming to a stop in front of the scaffold, watching in silence or questioning the Sadducees, they took the opportunity to announce to the four winds that the Galilean had died and that almost certainly, the person responsible for that earthquake was Yeshua, an ally of Beelzebub. Most did not pay much attention to this nonsense, but some, carried away by the vehemence of the priests, returned to insult Yeshua, increasing the number of curious people who continued on the edge of the great rock.
The attention of the officer and legionaries was suddenly diverted by the arrival at the scaffold of three soldiers from Fortress Antonia. After greeting Longinus, they explained to him the reason for his presence on the rock:
— We have express orders from the prosecutor to give the convicts the coup de grace and take their bodies to the open mass grave in the valley of Gehenna, south of the city.
The officer questioned the legionaries as to why Pilatus had made such a hasty decision. As they explained, shortly before the earthquake, a group of men from the Sanhedrim had visited the procurator again, exposing to him what they called the desire of the people of Yerushaláyim, that is, that the bodies of the executed be unmounted before sunset, as the Law commanded, that this was the day of Preparation.
Pilatus, whose mood was greatly impressed by the darkness, acceded, giving proper orders to Janus to send some men.
Longinus did not hide his strangeness, if the messengers, instead of being legionaries, had been Jews of the Sanhedrim, he probably would not have accepted, deep down, Jewish customs did not care for him. On the one hand, the change of plans annoyed him deeply, barely two and a half hours had passed since the work of lifting and jamming the zealots had begun, and the no less laborious and unpleasant task of unblocking them and transporting them to the common grave of criminals.
On the other hand, the counter-order also had a certain appeal. If the operations were carried out quickly, they would not spend that night out in the open, exposed to new storms or the rigor of surveillance, what they had experienced in those few hours had given them enough emotions to last a lifetime. And so, ready to end the case, the officer and Marcellus ordered the descent of the Zealots and the Galilean.
Longinus warned the newcomers that Yeshua had died. The three legionaries, who came armed with sticks, took up positions. Two in front of Dimas and the third to the right of the second guerrilla, also, like his companions, barely half a meter from the lower extremities of the Gesta. A fourth legionnaire, sword in hand, completed the picture, standing in front of the older zealot's left leg.
There was no signal.
***
THE DEATH OF DIMAS AND GESTA
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
THE FOUR ROMANS braced their sandals firmly on the hard crust of the rock and, brandishing their clubs and sword, struck four blows, tremendous and dry, on the legs of the unfortunate. The crack of the splintered fools across the lower third was followed by a series of short, violent convulsions. The zealots had been awakened by grief. The legs became inflamed and the bodies, without even having the arduous support of the nails of the feet, slumped a few centimeters, while the unfortunates, between screams, opened their mouths desperately, in the full and irreversible process of asphyxia.
Gesta had caught the worst part. The soldier's sword had cut his leg. In a matter of seconds the traumatic shock and a possible embolism accelerated death by asphyxiation, in a few minutes both were no longer alive.
***
LONGINUS' MIRACLE CURE
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
The centurion signaled to those of the soldiers in charge of ending the condemned who did not do the same procedure with the crucified one in the center, certainly if that man was really the Son of God, even more so after everything they had witnessed, he deserved all the respect, despite all they had done, deserved the prize of doubt.
Longinus placed himself under the corpse of Yeshua, examining it carefully, most of the Romans were making an effort to prepare for the descent of the justices, trying to get rid of any responsibility, the Roman took a pilum and, without think twice, he jabbed Yeshua's right flank, burying the spear six to eight inches, but the Nazarene's body, as expected, had no reaction.
The centurion, convinced of the prisoner's death, tried to remove the weapon. However, the arrowhead of the pilum brushed or caught the fabrics, resisting. At the second attempt, the flank gave way and the bloodied iron was free.
A little blood came out of the wound, about four and a half centimeters long, and then a small amount of a serous liquid that splashed on Longinus' face, which, as if by magic, the vision began to become clear again.
— Is everything all right, Commander?
Longinus, seeing the soldier's face perfectly, smiled, looked at the Nazarene's body and nodded in gratitude for the gift he had received, even though he didn't deserve it.
— I order you not to do anything to this man's body, he deserves to have a different fate from the other two.
The men did not understand the order.
When the darkness and the strong wind had passed, the flies and insects fell on the bodies of the crucified, turning the wounds into black and throbbing crowns. With great experience in this type of execution, the executioner in charge of the interlocks suggested to the officer that the operation of the descent be initiated by the condemned man who had died the longest. Longinus agreed. He, too, knew that the cadaverous stiffness would soon begin, making transport to Gehenna difficult. It was simply amazing.
In those moments none of Yeshua's disciples or friends even came to ask for the Rabbi 's body. The centurion's idea, as the procurator had implied, was to remove the bodies from the crosses and transport them to the mass grave. Yohanan, who was closely following the soldiers' movements, had not left the scaffold. For a few minutes, he answered one of David Zebedee's couriers, informing him of the Rabbi 's death, and once the messenger had gone, he remained at the head, visibly demoralized.
As the Roman officer stationed himself under the cross of Yeshua, watching the preparations for the descent, he noticed again the large wound in his side and the blood that had begun to form thick clumps on the fringe of the lower lip of the wound and he felt unlike anything he had ever felt before had meaning in life, he had already been in front of two divine figures, Augustus and Tiberius, but none of them even came close to the figure of that man in front of him.
***
DESCENT OF THE CROSS
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
RABBI 'S RIGHT FOOT, while another soldier leaned the ladder behind the stipe, preparing again the long rope they had used in the lifting.
With studied precision, the legionary gripped the base of the nail in both hands, making it swing up and down. Wisely, the person responsible for the jam had left his head about four inches above the skin. This way, I had enough space to handle it. A few seconds later, with a strong tug, the metal tip was out of the wood and the lower end of the Galilean relaxed completely, swaying slightly in the void.
The soldier then grabbed the heel with his left hand, pulling out the nail with his right. As he dug it out of the instep, blood spurted up again, forming a huge reddish rose around the wound. Before standing in front of the left foot, the executioner made sure that his companion, at the top of the stairs, had tied the rope to the patibulum. He waited until he had finished the central loop, then repeated the extraction of the second nail. Here, too, there was no problem.
Yeshua's body hung, inert, dripping blood from the tips of his feet. The big fingers were visibly separated from the others, very forced towards the central axis of the corpse. Much of the blood volume accumulated in the legs, which had been relatively stagnant by the nails themselves, when the hemostatic effect disappeared, it began to flow, converting that part of the rock into an extensive pond into which the legionaries slipped several times.
With their feet free, two more soldiers clung to either side of the tree and a third and fourth legionnaires, jumping onto their shoulders, prepared to repeat the operation of lifting the cross-timber. Suspended from operations, Yousef did not notice that the tiny representation of the Sanhedrim had been augmented by another group of priests who had just arrived at the base of Golgotha. Those priests were getting ready to star in another regrettable event.
In unison, the soldiers stationed under each of the ends of the patibulum and the one holding the rope at the top of the ladder forced themselves to lift the wood until the sharp end of the stipe was outside the central hole in the wood. At that moment, the soldier on the stairs gave a shout, warning those who controlled the rope below and behind the cross that they might loosen up. And so they did.
Yeshua and the tree went down slowly, inch by inch. A few centimeters before the feet touched the rock, so that the corpse reached the ground completely horizontal.
As he backed away, Longinus bumped into the elder Yousef of Armathajim, who was accompanied by another small Jew. Yousef was glad to see him. He sketched a sad smile and introduced his companion, Nicodemus, as a member of the Sanhedrim Council and the so-called lay nobility of Yerushaláyim.
***
THE MAN WHO WAS BORN AGAIN OLD
THERE WAS A MAN AMONG the Pharisees named Nicodemus, chief among the Jews. This one went to Yeshua by night and said to him:
— Rabbi, we know that you are Rabbi coming from God; for no one can do these miracles that you do if God is not with him.
Yeshua answered him:
— Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus asked him:
— How can a man be born when he is old? — Can he enter again into his mother's womb and be born?
Yeshua replied:
— Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to you: It is necessary for you to be born again. The wind blows where it wills, and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes: so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
— How can that be? — Nicodemus asked him.
Yeshua answered him:
— You are Rabbi in Israel, and you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe me, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven except he who descended from heaven, namely, the Son of man. As Moshe lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For so God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Whoever believes in him is not judged; he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The judgment is this, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light; for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be questioned; but he that doeth good cometh to the light, that his works, which have been wrought in God, may be made manifest.
After this Yeshua went with his disciples to the land of Judea: there he stayed with them and baptized. Yohanan was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and the people went and were baptized. For Yohanan had not yet been thrown into prison. Now an argument arose between Yohanan's disciples and a Jew about purification. They went to Yohanan and said to him:
— Rabbi, he that was with you beyond Jordan, of whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing, and all are coming to him.
Yohanan replied:
— A man cannot receive anything unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said: I am not the Christ, but I am sent before him. The one who has the wife is the husband; but the bridegroom's friend, who is present and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. For this joy of mine is complete. He needs to increase and I need to decrease. What comes from above is above all; what is of the earth, is of the earth and speaks of the earth. What comes from heaven is above all; what he has seen and heard, it testifies; and no one receives his testimony. The one who received his testimony, he certified that God is true. For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God; because he does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has placed everything in his hands. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but whoever disobeys the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
***
THE DIFFERENT ORDER FROM PILATUS TO YESHUA
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
The two men, with a courage that was never properly appreciated due to the profession of Yousef's friend, brought an order signed by Pontius Pilatus himself, authorizing the translation of the Nazarene's corpse to a private tomb.
Yousef, knowing the sad fate always reserved for the just, whose bodies were usually devoured by the rats and wild animals in the Gehenna ditch, had hastened in advance to ask one of the Sanhedrim's few trusted men who likewise had business with him. Pilatus, Nicodemus, visiting the procurator, begging him for custody of the body of Yeshua.
This type of petition was not uncommon, many of the family members and friends of those executed had the custom of resorting to the highest Roman authority and, in exchange for money or offerings, they achieved their purposes. Nicodemus took a large sum to the Praetorium, but when Pilatus learned of his old friend's intentions, he refused the money, immediately signing the authorization. Pilatus felt he owed a debt to that man who had cured his son's life and could do absolutely nothing to pay off the debt, which for him was priceless.
It was bad for Nicodemus to arrive at the scaffold shortly after his fanatical companions in the Sanhedrim. The centurion unrolled the papyrus and, after carefully reading the text, agreed, giving his authorization, also feeling that he owed the Nazarene a debt. But the unexpected presence of the dismissed members of the Jewish Council of Justice at the crosses immediately mobilized the Sadducees. The priests saw clearly how Yousef and Nicodemus were handing the scroll to the official and suspected that the Galilean's disciples were trying to get hold of the corpse. However, the executioner had managed to free Yeshua's left wrist. And just as he was about to do the same with the last harpsichord, a sudden scream stopped him.
The patrol and everyone then saw how some of the judges, red with rage, rushed to the top of Golgotha, demanding the right to dispose of the bodies of the three justices.
Longinus signaled to his men and the fifteen legionaries, with Marcellus in the front rank, covered the eastern rim of the cliff, cutting off the furious priests. These, when they reached the end of the crevice that gave access to the headland, stopped suddenly, stupefied by the reflections of the menacing swords. But, far from retreating, they faced the escort, demanding Yeshua's body. Some of the onlookers who had joined the judges, urged and encouraged by them, also shouted, insulting the Romans and hurling stones.
The mutineers, enraged, began to advance towards Calvary. But the centurion, drawing his sword, stood at the head of the legionaries and gave the order to attack. In close formation, the Romans began to advance with a firm, resolute step towards the Jews who had climbed to the cliff. Their tense faces, expressing barely contained anger, seemed to be ready for anything.
The priests, realizing the danger, turned around, running away. One or two, in their haste, rolled along the path, being trampled mercilessly by the patrol which, in a line, ran towards the furious Hebrews. The attack did not take long to take effect. When the populace saw the soldiers with swords aloft, ready to slaughter them if need be, they retreated, scattering in all directions.
Once order was restored, the platoon returned to the top of the rock, forming a new and more numerous security belt around the crosses.
Yohanan and the women, who had been forced to run, fleeing from the furious load, watched from afar as the executioner completed his work of freeing Yeshua.
The remaining priests and Jews who had rebelled disappeared across the fields and into the city. Only a few, far away, and scattered, dared to spy on the movements of the guards, but at no time did they have the courage to approach within a hundred meters of the scaffold. In spite of the forced isolation of Calvary, Longinus, seeking to act always with a modicum of justice, came to the edge of the headland and, raising his voice, read Pilatus' command.
The enraged judges did not even listen to the official. Then, advancing to Yousef of Armathajim, he solemnly communicated to him:
— This body belongs to you. Do what you deem necessary. My soldiers will help you so that no one opposes your wish.
The old man, still pale with fright, thanked Longinus for words and, in the company of Nicodemus, went to the place where Yeshua's corpse was. The patibulum had been removed, and so had the thorny helmet, which the executioner had hurled over the small cliff to the west.
Neither Yousef, his friend, nor the soldiers paid the slightest attention to the crown of thorns that was lost in the weeds of the rough terrain.
As the soldiers began the second descent, Yousef knelt by Yeshua's martyred head and, after gazing at him in silence, extended his hand, lowering the Rabbi 's right eyelid. After twenty or thirty seconds he withdrew his fingers, but Galileo's eye opened again. Yousef placed his hand over his eyelid again, and remained there for nearly two minutes. At that moment, a lone tear ran down the face of the Nazarene's friend.
Yeshua's left leg was bent, possibly from the forced and constant position on the cross. The fingers, clawed, and with the thumbs turned toward the center of the palms, had become much bluer. Once Yeshua's eye had been closed, Nicodemus placed on the ground a pair of small bags that, joined by a string, hung from his left shoulder and from which he had not been separated during all that time. With Yousef's help, he unfolded a white sheet that he had tucked under his arm across the dry area of the rock.
Yousef de Armathajim had bought those six cloth sticks from a merchant in the nearby town of Palmira, to the north, the cloth was a linen cloth, about four meters long by a little more than a meter wide.
Yousef of Armathajim saw the position of the Sun and urged Nicodemus to have the aYehudhahse carry the corpse to the spread sheet. The old man placed himself at the Rabbi 's head and friend, in turn, at his feet. Both bowed at the same time. Yousef slipped his hands under the Galilean's shoulders, holding him under the armpits. Nicodemus did the same, grabbing him by the ankles. They exchanged a glance and, when they thought they were ready, tried to lift the heavy body, but only Armathajim managed to lift it a few inches. They tried a second time, but it was just as useless.
Yousef had no choice but to ask the officer for help. Longinus, understanding the delicate situation of the Hebrews, suspended the release of Dimas, who was left hanging from the patibulum. One of the legionaries, younger and more robust than Yousef, took charge of the upper part of him, put his arms under his armpits, lifted the corpse's torso. At the same time, another soldier bent Yeshua's knees to the maximum, hugging both legs at the height of the curves.
The Galilean's lifeless body then formed a V and, with the help of two more soldiers who placed their hands on his kidneys and back, they were able to lift him up and take him to the sheet. The body was deposited about eight inches from the edge of the shroud closest to the crosses, with the head almost at the center of the sheet.
Nicodemus tried to lower his left knee, but although it brought it down a measly inch, the bruises, torn joints, and stiffness in his leg made it impossible to bring it down fully. Yousef of Armathajim put an end to his companion's efforts, covering the corpse with the two wide yards of linen that had been left free.
The officer, who was following the maneuver attentively, immediately understood that the difficulties of that willful pair of priests would not end there. Confused, Nicodemus and Yousef, realizing that the transport of Yeshua required the collaboration of at least four men, turned imploringly to Longinus. And he, smiling, handed over to his place—lieutenant, the task of descending the zealots, then telling four of his beefier men to accompany him and the owners of the corpse to the chosen tomb.
Nicodemo and Yousef begged the officer to allow them to help transport the makeshift coffin. And so it was.
***
REPENTANCE DOES NOT CHANGE THE RESULT OF BETRAYAL
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
WHEN THE TRAITOR saw the legionaries descend the lifeless body of Yeshua, it was then that everything flashed through his mind, his intention had never been to take the Rabbi 's life, but to open his eyes to the true calling of the Messiah.
Free the people of Israel from slavery...
His head covered with his cloak, he walked away from the scaffold. So Yehudhah went directly to the Temple.
The shadow that followed him couldn't see his face, because it was always after him, but seeing his great strides and the shoves with which he pushed his way through the Sanctuary's churchyard, he was clearly furious.
Your attitude saved my life, now it's time for me to save your soul...
Yehudhah walked towards the doors of the Hall of the Council of Justice, but when he tried to open it, the porter stood in front of him, it was the same one that two nights ago had guided him to the presence of Kaiafa. Yehudhah, with a curse, punched him in the face, knocking him down and leaving him as if he were dead.
The reaction was in agreement with the violence that, at certain moments, explodes the great timid and cowards. And Ish Qeryoth was certainly one of them. He opened the great door of the room with the hewn stones and, uncovering himself, entered the Courthouse.
The shadow that followed him didn't dare cross the threshold of the door, he knew better than anyone that a shadow shouldn't be seen by anyone.
If someone had laid a hand on him, they would have whipped him for sure.
Kaiafa and some of the Sadducees, scribes and Pharisees were sitting on their wooden benches talking and celebrating their crushing victory over the Nazarene and the Zealots.
When Yehudhah Ish Qeryoth advanced to the steps, the judges fell silent. There was clear surprise on their faces, they weren't expecting the traitor, even more regretful.
And Yehudhah, panting and in a desperate tone said to them:
— I have sinned by betraying innocent blood, you have offered me money for this service, the price of a slave, and with that you have insulted me.
The priests, astonished, seemed not to believe what they were hearing.
And Yehudhah concluded thus:
— I regret my act. Here you have your money.
Then he took a bag from his sash and showed it to the Council.
Finally, he exclaimed in an imperious voice:
— I want to free myself of this guilt!
Laughter soon filled the great room. Those men, smacking the seats, mocked and mocked him cruelly. One of those who occupied a place near Yehudhah rose, gently took the bag at Kaiafa's feet and approaching him, placed the bag in his hand and invited him with his hand to leave. But first he said aloud:
— Your Rabbi was condemned by the Romans, not by us. As for your guilt, how does that concern us? Take care of it yourself and go away! We have more important things to attend to at the moment than dealing with a petty zealot of no value to us.
Yehudhah Ish Qeryoth turned and, head bowed, walked away from the Court, as the laughter and insults began again.
When he passed the shadow, he didn't recognize him, his face filled with fear, which added to the excitement of what he was about to do. She carried her purse in her left hand and her eyes on the floor.
With big strides, he headed towards the Women's Lobby, entering the box room. With great calm he took a handful of coins and threw them like a ball, throwing the remaining shekels against the tiles. When he saw that he had run out of coins, he threw the bag to the pavement, stomping it furiously. Then, violently pushing his way through the astonished men who were there, he went out towards the Court of the Gentiles.
Yehudhah accepted the sale, but he did not know that his betrayal would end the Nazarene's justice. Given the behavior of Yehudhah Ish Qeryoth in the Sanhedrim room and later in the Treasury room, that Yehudhah never thought that the Rabbi would be put to death. He had handed him over to the dignitaries of the priestly castes, convinced that they would confine themselves to guarding him, interrogating him, and, at best, imprisoning and banishing him. His cold vengeance against the Galilean and his movement would have seen sufficiently satisfied with the shameful capture and possible dispersion of the disciples. However, events took a different course.
His obsession with Yehudhah was public recognition and the promised and dreamed honors which, unfortunately for him, never came, just as they had not come to his father.
The traitor's intimate struggle in those hours was so acute that he did not have the courage to judge him or to judge his tragic and final decision, because, unlike Yohanan, all the other disciples also, even if indirectly, had betrayed the Nazarene, the Rabbi he was all alone on the cross.
Yehudhah went down through the Lower Quarter. First, the shadow thought it was heading for Yohanan Marcos' house or Bethany. I went in a great hurry. Didn't greet anyone. He left the city through the Fountain Gate and turned right, toward the Hinnon Gorge. He started to climb between the cliffs and when he reached one of the highest and sharpest rocks he took off his cloak and belt.
He was so scared and trembling with fear that he didn't even see the figure of his former disaffected Bar Abbas behind him.
Yehudhah, who was on the edge of the precipice, did not notice the arrival of his former disaffected who took the belt and passed it around his neck, and threw it back.
— Do you think it's going to be that easy to get out of this miserable life?
Yehudhah tried to free himself without success as Bar Abbas tied one end of his belt to the branch of a fig tree and pulled it up in the air. Bar Abbas stood admiring Yehudhah's thin body struggling as he tied the end, the worst was yet to come.
— Tell me what it's like to betray your clan by following the Nazarene and now betray the Nazarene thinking he could be our great leader...
Bar Abbas took a knife from under his tunic and ripped Yehudhah's belly open and pulled his guts out, it wasn't long before his body lay lifeless while Bar Abbas still had to settle accounts with one more person.
When, by coincidence, David Zebedee, one of Yousef's emissaries, passed by the place, he saw that poor Yehudhah's body was swinging in the air, turning on itself like a zevivon, his arms were parallel to his body, his eyes wide open, almost out of his sockets. David's knees were trembling and his throat was dry, as if he had swallowed a spoonful of sand, but as he was about to climb the tree and break the branch, the knot came loose and Yehudhah fell over the precipice, crashing against him. the stones.
It was all so fast that he couldn't do anything at all, he stayed up there, like a pole, contemplating Yehudhah's motionless body. Then, not even with the strength to cry, he returned to the city, and when he tried to return to Golgotha. So great was his terror at seeing all that that he returned to Porta da Fonte, fleeing to the camp.