YOUSEF DE ARMATHAJIM
AFTER THE DISAPPEARANCE of Yeshua's body, Yosef is arrested, abandoned by friends and family, and his possessions divided between his family and the Sanhedrim . After 13 years incarcerated, the new Judaean procurator Tiberius Alexander , knowing of his background and his reputation as a great merchant, reviews his case and frees him, becomes his partner and sponsors his return to the export business. Yosef then makes a new fortune, but applies his earnings differently: sponsoring the activities of new Christians and taking advantage of travel to work as a missionary. He died on one of his trips, due to old age, probably of a heart attack.
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ANTIPAS HERODS
THE SON OF HERODES MAGNUS, had ended up falling victim to the ambition and domination of his lover, Herodias. After the death of Emperor Tiberius in the year 37, another member of the numerous Herodian family, Herodias' brother, was released from the Roman prison by the new Caesar, Caligula. In the face of the despair of Antipas and his mistress, Herod Agrippa was appointed king of all Israel.
Antipas allowed himself to be influenced by Herodias and hurried to Rome, ready to claim the title of king for himself. But Caligula, who, at that time — year 39. Was in the midst of a military campaign in Gaul, not only did not comply with the wishes of the tetrarch of Galilee, but, to the disorientation of the old fox, took away his title, banishing him. Herodes Antipas and his wife Herodíade, were forced to make a pilgrimage through Spain, where they settled down and died.
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PILATUS
THREE YEARS LATER, in AD 36, a messiah known only as — the Samaritan— gathered a group of followers atop Mount Gerizim, where he claimed he would reveal — sacred vessels— hidden there by Moshe. Pilatus responded with a detachment of Roman soldiers who climbed Gerizim and cut to pieces the Samaritan's faithful crowd.
It was this final act of rampant violence on Mount Gerizim that ended Pilatus' tenure as procurator in Yerushaláyim.
Summoned to Rome to explain his actions to Emperor Tiberius, Pilatus never returned to Judea. He was exiled to Gaul in AD 36 Considering their close working relationship, it may be no accident that Yousef bar Kaiafa was sacked as high priest in the same year.
Without Pilatus and Kaiafa, there was no longer any hope of quelling the revolutionary passions of the Jews. By mid-century, all of Palestine was filled with messianic energy.
A few years after the death of Christ. Numerous Samaritans rallied around a would-be messiah, who promised them to discover the sacred vessels buried by Moshe in one of the mounds of Samaria. Pilatus learned of this popular demonstration on Mount Garizim and, surrounding the Samaritans with his troops, charged them, causing great slaughter. Samaritans and Jews then addressed Vitellius, supreme procurator of the province of Syria, accusing Pilatus of the horrible murder of thousands of Samaritans.
Vitellius had no authority to judge the procurator of Israel and sent him to Rome to appear before the emperor. But during the journey, Tiberius died. Taking over the Caligula empire. The latter, upon learning the facts, banished Pilatus and his family to Gaul, where he died by committing suicide.
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ELAZAR, MYRIAM AND MARTHA
Elazar remained in his Bethany home, the focus of great interest to many sincere believers and to countless curious individuals, until the week of Yeshua's crucifixion, when he received notice that the Sanhedrim had decreed his death. The leaders of the Jews were determined to put an end to any further dissemination of the teachings of Yeshua, and they were not mistaken in thinking that it would be useless to put Yeshua to death and allow Elazar, who represented the very height of his work of wonders, to live and live witness the fact that Yeshua had raised him from the dead. Their bitter persecutions, Elazar had already suffered.
And so Elazar hurriedly took leave of his sisters in Bethany, fleeing to Jericho. Crossing the Jordan, he allowed himself no long rest until he had reached Philadelphia. Elazar knew Abner very well; and there he felt safe from the murderous intrigues of the wicked Sanhedrim.
Soon after that, Martha and Myriam sold their land in Bethany and joined their brother in Perea. In the meantime, Elazar had become the church treasurer in Philadelphia. He became a strong support for Abner in the strife with Paul and the church at Yerushaláyim; he finally died, aged 67, of the same illness that had already taken him when he was a younger man in Bethany.
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YESHUA BEN YOUSEF
YERUSHALAYIM, SUNDAY, APRIL 9, AD 30
ON THE THIRD DAY, the stone that sealed the tomb had rolled away and the angel asked those women:
— Why do you seek among the dead the one who lives?