NOT A LONG TIME AGO
4:00 pm — YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
THE CENTURION HIMSELF, immensely grateful for what the crucified one had done for him, joined another legionary and Yeshua's two friends lifted the shroud from the cold ground of the scaffold, carrying his remains. Behind, the other soldiers, with drawn swords ready for any clash against the Hebrews.
No sooner had they descended from the rocky mass of Golgotha than the young son of Zebedee and the women came to meet them. Yousef reassured the centurion, who, seeing the small group approaching, put himself on guard. Almost on his knees, the apostle begged the legionary, who was grasping one end of the shroud, to give him his place.
Longinus answered his soldier's questioning gaze with an affirmative nod and Yohanan replaced him in the translation of the body.
No one crucified could be buried in a Jewish cemetery, as the Law established. Yousef and Nicodemus knew this and, even before they visited Pilatus, they had planned to bury Yeshua in one of Armathajim's properties. But the end of that tragic Friday was fast approaching. The trumpets of the Temple would soon herald dusk and, with it, the entrance of Shabbat and the solemn feast of Passover. It was necessary to go fast. And the former members of the Sanhedrim, who held the shroud with their feet, quickened their pace.
Behind, at four or five meters, followed us Myriam of Magdala, Myriam, the wife of Cleopas, Martha, another of the sisters of the mother of Yeshua, and Rebecca of Sepphoris. The legionaries, in turn, had split, covering the corpse's flanks.
Contemplating that silent and elusive funeral procession, Yehudhah Ish Qerioth could not repress a saddened feeling of loneliness. Abandoned by most of his friends and faithful adepts, outraged almost after his descent by that mob of fanatics, now the Rabbi, on his way to the sepulcher, could not even receive a funeral with the least dignity and repose, and all that was his fault that he did not I imagined that it would all come to that end. Even the poorest and most miserable of Jews, according to the Law, was entitled at least to a funeral with two flute musicians and a mourner. For the Nazarene there were no tears left.
The hearts of the women and their three friends had dried up. As for the accompaniment, everything was at the hurried pace of the escort and those who carried the corpse, dragging thistles and thistles. Yousef de Armathajim and Nicodemus guided the translation, flanking the northern wall of Yerushaláyim and following the same route as the Via Dolorosa.
They crossed the road to Samaria and fifteen minutes after leaving the scaffold, sweaty and fingers aching from the weight of their bodies, the party stopped in front of a garden. They were to the north of Golgotha and relatively close to the Antonia Tower, approximately one hundred or one hundred and fifty meters.
It was natural that the wealthy landowners of Yerushaláyim did not place their farms and plantations or pleasure gardens near that cliff where thieves and criminals were brought to justice. That, on the other hand, seemed to be a peaceful and beautiful place.
One of the women, Myriam de Magdala, stepped forward and released the rope that, like a noose, held a four-foot-high wooden door to an impeccably whitewashed picket fence. The hedge, similar in height to the entrance gate, was lost, to the right and to the left, among the tangle of an infinity of fruit trees. As it rotated, the hinged hardware of the hinges screamed like a wounded animal. The group rushed to the interior of the estate. They walked about fifty paces, always in a leafy plantation of selected small trees, until they reached a fork in the narrow path that began precisely at the threshold of the garden door.
After a short pause to catch their breath, Yousef and Nicodemus gave directions to the soldiers and we took a path to the right. The one on the left led to a small house situated a hundred meters away, which, judging by the column of squiggly smoke escaping through the chimney, must have been inhabited. Two small dogs ran from between the trees, jumping and barking happily at Yousef de Armathajim's legs. But the elder, with an authoritative cry, sent them away.
***
THE BURIAL OF YESHUA
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
Twenty yards from the fork in front of them appeared a gentle rise of land. It was a limestone formation that would not protrude more than five feet above ground level. They stopped, and Yousef de Armathajim announced to the officer:
— You can deposit Yeshua's body on the ground.
The soldiers nodded and did exactly as they were told.
Two steps from where the Nazarene's corpse lay, the clayey ground surrounding a rocky wedge had been removed. Yousef, owner of the site, had built some rustic stairs, which led down to a narrow gallery just two meters wide. As they descended the five steps, they found themselves in a corridor in front of a facade, perfectly carved from the live rock. In the center was a tiny square door, three feet on a side.
Yousef begged their forgiveness and ran away towards the little house.
While the soldiers took advantage of the stop to sit and rest, Yohanan crouched down and tried to look inside the crypt. A round stone, much like a millstone, three feet in diameter, rested to the left of the entrance mouth of the tomb. Right at the foot of the facade, a gutter about eight centimeters deep and about a foot along the entire width had been dug. The stone, weighing more than five hundred kilos, and as roughly polished as the façade, was placed in such a way that, to cover the narrow opening that served as a door, it was sufficient to roll it down the gutter, to which it was attached. it fit perfectly.
As he ran his hand over that round mole, he imagined the enormous effort that the workers must have had to transport it to the back of the gallery and, naturally, what each closing and opening of the tomb would require. But when he put his head inside the crypt, the darkness was such that he could not make out the depth or the height of the walls or any other detail.
Yousef returned accompanied by an elderly man who wore a wide straw hat on his head and carried a voluminous and heavy amphora. Yousef carried two short-handled torches and a small bundle.
The owner of the garden knelt in front of the burial chamber and, with extreme care, extended his left hand, placing one of the torches inside the crypt. Then he handed the second beam to his servant and gardener, who, hieratic and dumb as a statue, would not move from the gallery. Yousef, still in that uncomfortable position, dragged himself into the cave. The red flicker of the torch inside the tomb disappeared seconds later. And the old man, poking his head through the opening, asked for the second torch. His assistant hurried to hand it over, doing the same with the bundle.
When Yousef considered that everything was ready, he left the tomb, saying to Nicodemus:
— Get the Rabbi 's body down.
The soldiers did as they were ordered, placing the corpse on the paved red earth of the gallery, orienting it so that its head faced the narrow door. Yousef of Armathajim then returned to the interior, followed by the centurion Longinus.
Once inside, they both began pulling at the shroud, being helped from outside by three more legionaries. When the body was finally placed in the tomb, Nicodemus handed Yousef the pair of sacks, which he still had slung over his shoulder, and the amphora. This last part of the laborious translation satisfied, he also bowed and, on his knees, lost himself in the dim light of the tomb, followed by Yohanan.
When Yohanan got up, the four men were struggling to lift the corpse to a kind of bench two feet high, also carved into the rock and open in the right wall (taking as a reference the opening at the entrance). He hastened to join his efforts with theirs, collaborating in the final lifting of the Nazarene's body.
Yeshua's remains finally rested on a bed of stone. The tomb had been excavated expressly for the Galilean's large body. Yousef hurried to discover the corpse, while Nicodemus opened the cloth bag, extracting, first of all, two completely white feathers, which, at first glance, could be from some kind of domestic bird. In the flickering light of the torches, placed by Yousef in each corner of the altar or rock stand, the bloodied, dirty and smelly body of the majestic Rabbi appeared again before everyone.
The crusts of excrement had ended up drying on the skin of her thighs and legs, giving off an unbearable stench. Although only two hours had elapsed since the moment of his death, the feet, with their bluish nails, presented a post-mortem contraction with predominance of the extensor of the fingers. The rigidity of his body was advancing without remedy. The head, drooping to the right side, kept the mouth open, presenting a livid tone and a pronounced purplish of the lips.
The chest, completely relaxed, was covered by a mixture of dirt and dried blood, with a myriad of clots that did not obey the law of gravity and that appeared over the entire rib cage. Yohanan watched with amazement at the Rabbi's condition, especially the sinking of the epigastrium and, with it, the folds of the abdomen, especially in its lower half. But what attracted his attention the most was his right hand.
The back and the cubital edge were hidden by a large smear of clotted blood and the four long fingers, with marked cyanosis and slightly larger dimensions than those on the left, which retained the aforementioned claw-like block. That hyper-extension of the four long fingers of the right hand could only be caused by some of the terrible injuries, in the corresponding extensor muscles, derived from the extraction of the nail and the second perforation of the carpus.
The left knee was still bent and both elbows were rigid, keeping the arms in flexion. When Yohanan saw how Nicodemus was inserting the small feathers into Yeshua's nostrils, I understood his intentions, if the supposedly deceased kept a minimum of life, the rubbing of the feathers irritated the mucous membranes, thus stimulating breathing, but the Galilean lying in front of them did not showed no reaction.
Once the process was completed, Yousef appeared again at the entrance of the tomb, soon returning.
— We have to move fast — he said in a low voice — Saturday won't be long!
Opening the amphora, he poured some of the water onto a piece of sponge, grayish and scented by hundreds of tiny holes.
Nicodemus stood at the feet of Yeshua's body lifting the lower left extremity as far as possible. Yousef of Armathajim took off his cloak and, rolling up his tunic, began to scrub and clean the back of his thigh and leg. He then repeated the washing of the right leg, concluding with a series of deficient rubbings on Yeshua's buttocks, testicles and anus.
— Better leave it at that — Nicodemus said, growing increasingly nervous as the end of Friday approached.
Yousef of Armathajim threw the sponge to the ground and began to untie the bags of roots, while his companion searched the bottom of the bag. One of the bags contained between fifteen and twenty kilos of a granulated powder, yellow-gold, very aromatic, and just opening it, a delicious fragrance spread throughout the crypt.
Longinus was grateful for that sudden change in the heavy atmosphere of the tomb. In the second bag, there was a potbellied copper jug, perfectly sealed with a cloth plug, which was opened. Yousef turned to Nicodemus, scolding him for his slowness. Finally, between the hairy hands of the former Sanhedrim member, scraps of cloth appeared. They were narrow, frayed strips that, due to the irregularity of the threads, were torn by hand and hastily from some old cloth.
Nicodemus selected one of those blindfolds, barely three feet long, and, pulling at both ends, stretched—and stabilized—it a couple of palms above the sack that held the golden dust.
Without wasting a moment, Yousef de Armathajim reached into the bag with his left hand, bringing up a handful of the powder, and let it fall through the underside of his fist, covering the surface of the cloth more than generously. The old man's trembling pulse caused much of the açaíba to fall into the sack or spill onto the rough floor of the burial chamber.
Yousef got up and, approaching Yeshua's feet, tried to bring them together, lifting them so that his companion could pass the piece of cloth, impregnated with acibara, around the ankles. Next, Nicodemus blew on the aloe and its particular aroma became more intense and penetrating. He tied the blindfold on his toes and, returning to the bag, repeated the operation with a second strip.
At this point, before tying the Galilean's hands, Yousef took the precaution of placing them reverently and modestly on the corpse's pubis. Left over right. Both that one and this one had a rosette of clotted blood on the upper part of the wrist. The triangular shape of the wound, with its black, stripped edges, made Longinus shudder, knowing he was to blame for the wound and the wound was to blame for his sight healing.
Once tied, as indicated by Jewish Law, Yeshua's friends bowed again to the bags. Nicodemus removed the contents of the jug while Yousef filled both hands with a considerable amount of açaíba. On the left palm of the first appeared a pasty, gum-resinous substance, which glistened in the torchlight like a thousand reddish tears. It was myrrh.
Its strong smell, much less pleasant than that of aloe, was then mixed with that of the granulated powder, suffocating everyone in the closed room. Nicodemus placed himself in front of the upper half of the corpse, while old Yousef did the same next to the lower limbs of Yeshua de Natsrat.
Yousef of Armathajim stood for a few seconds with his hands tightly clasped, trapping the golden dust. When he opened them, the açaíba had turned into a soft, almost plastic mass. At the same time, both took the masses of myrrh and aloes, smearing and closing the natural gaps and orifices of the body. Nicodemus took care of the nostrils, the ears, and the large wounds on the sides. Yousef from the deep tears in his knees, nails in his hands and feet and from the network of small holes caused by the shoes of the soldiers, coincidentally, the same ones who had defended him after his death.
The haste of those men was evident. If they had acted less quickly, it was very likely that the tamponade would only have been done last. A proof came when Yousef remembered that the rectum was missing. But Yeshua's lower limbs were tied and it took Nicodemus' help who, muttering, raised Galileo's legs again, allowing the old man to plug his anus.
In carrying out this maneuver, much of the golden dust deposited on the band that held the feet together slipped, falling onto the linen shroud.
When he had finished, Yousef, unnerved by the arrival of twilight, went back to the small door. But, in his haste, he tripped over the amphora and it didn't take long for him to fall on his face.
Once the position of the sun was verified, he returned to the stone bench, muttering something under his breath. Then Nicodemus, calmer than Yousef, had untied a long pomegranate-colored handkerchief from his right arm, which those people usually used to wipe away their sweat. He twisted it deftly, with it encircling Yeshua's head. The handkerchief tightly tied on top of the head lifted the lower jaw, thus closing Yeshua's mouth.
Everything was consummated in that frantic, provisional burial.
Before leaving the crypt, while Nicodemus collected and took out the various instruments, Yousef reached into his bag and, at random, took out two small bronze coins, about sixteen millimeters in diameter each. In keeping with an old custom, Yousef of Armathajim placed them on the Nazarene's eyelids. But the great inflammation of the left eye made the leptom slip. Even though Yeshua's head had been supported by the ears with myrrh supports, the tremendous deformation of the malar region kept the eye buried, making it difficult to place the coin on the eyelid, almost unrecognizable. But Yousef persisted, striking a precarious balance of the coin over the bruises.
The torches, with their flicker, put a glint of life on the leptones' shiny surfaces.
Yousef tried to calm Yohanan by reminding him of the words David Zebedee had just spoken about the resurrection. But Yohanan looked at him uncomprehendingly. That expression that the Rabbi would rise on the third day was beyond his child's understanding.
***
MYRIAM OF MAGDALA BEFORE THE APOSTLES
YERUSHALAYIM, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30
Myriam after leaving her mother, accompanied by Yeshua's mother, who went towards Elazar's house, joined the disciples at the house of Elias Marcos, father of Yohanan Marcos, where they had celebrated the supper the day before and remembered the words of Yeshua:
Salvador said:
— All species, all formations, all creatures are united, they depend on each other, and will separate again at their own origin. For the essence of matter will only separate again into its own essence. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Cephas said to him:
— Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this too: what is the sin of the world?
Yeshua said:
— There is no sin; it is you who create them, when you do things of the same kind as adultery, which is called 'sin'. That is why God the Father came among you, to the essence of each species, to lead it to its origin.
Then he said:
— That's why you get sick and die... Let him who understands my words put them into practice. Matter produced an unparalleled passion, which originated from something contrary to the Divine Nature, from there, the whole body becomes unbalanced. That is why I say to you: have courage, and if you are discouraged, seek strength from the different manifestations of nature. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. When the Son of God spoke thus, he greeted them all, saying: — Peace be with you. Receive my peace. Take care that no one leads you out of the way, saying, 'This way' or 'That way', for the Son of Man is within you. Follow him. Whoever seeks him will find him. Proceed now, then, preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. Set no other rules than those I have shown you, and do not institute as a lawgiver, or you will be hemmed in by them.
After saying all this, he left.
But they were deeply saddened. And they said:
— How are we going to preach to the Gentiles the Gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of Man? If they didn't look for him, will they spare us?
MYRIAM OF MAGDALA ARRIVED, and Elijah received her with clear joy and greeted everyone and said to his brothers:
— Do not grieve or suffer or hesitate, for his grace will be entirely with you and will protect you. Rather, let us praise his greatness, for he prepared us and made us men.
After Myriam had said this, they gave their hearts to God and began to talk about the Savior's words.
Cephas said to Myriam:
— Sister, we know the Savior loved you more than any other woman. Tell us the Savior's words, the ones you remember, the ones that only you know and we don't even hear.
Myriam Madalena responded by saying:
— I will make clear to you what is hidden.
And she began to speak these words:
— I — she said — I had a vision of the Lord, and I told Him, 'Master, you appeared to me today in a vision.
He replied and told me:
— Blessed are you that you didn't weaken at the sight of me — For where the mind is, there is treasure.
I told you:
— Master, does he who has a vision see with the soul or with the spirit?
Yeshua replied:
— He sees neither with the soul nor with the spirit, but with the conscience, which is between the two — that is how he has vision.
And desire said to the soul:
— I didn't see you go down, but now I see you go up — Why do you speak a lie, since you belong to me?
The soul replied:
— I saw you. You didn't see me, you didn't recognize me. You used me as an accessory and you didn't recognize me.
After saying this, the soul left, exulting in joy.
— Again he reached the third power, called ignorance. The potency, inquired the soul saying:
— Where are you going? You are trapped in evil. You are imprisoned, do not judge!
And the soul said:
— Why did you judge me even though I didn't? — I was trapped; however, I did not. I was not recognized that the All is falling apart, both earthly and heavenly things.
When the soul conquered the third power, it ascended and saw the fourth power, which assumed seven forms. The first form, darkness, the second, desire; the third, ignorance; the fourth is the commotion of death; the fifth is the realm of the flesh; the sixth is the vain wisdom of the flesh; the seventh, wrathful wisdom. These are the seven powers of wrath. They asked the soul:
— Where do you come from, man-eaters, or where are you going, conqueror of space?
The soul responded by saying:
— What held me down was eliminated and what held me back was defeated, and my desire was consumed and ignorance died. In one world I was freed from another world; in a type I was freed from a heavenly type, and also from the shackles of forgetfulness, which are transitory. Henceforth, I will reach in silence the end of the propitious time, of the eternal kingdom.
After saying this, Myriam of Magdala was silent, for up to now the Savior had spoken to her.
But Andrew answered and said to the brothers:
— Say what you have to say about what she said. I, for one, do not believe the Savior said this. For these teachings carry strange ideas. Cephas responded and talked about the same things.
He inquired of them about the Savior:
— Did he really converse privately with a woman and not openly with us? — Should we change our minds and listen to her? Did he prefer you to us?
Then Myriam of Magdala wept and said to Cephas:
— Cephas, my brother, what are you thinking? Do you think I made this all up in a bad heart or that I'm lying about the Savior?
Levi replied to Cephas:
— Cephas, you were always exalted. Now I see you competing with a woman as an opponent. But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you to reject her? Certainly the Savior knows her well. Hence he loved her more than us. It is rather a matter of embarrassing ourselves and assuming the perfect man and separating ourselves, as He hath commanded us, and preaching the Gospel, making no rule or law, other than that which the Savior has bequeathed to us.