Luke 24:13-52 – The Journey to Emmaus
PRIMO
Habeas Corpus
There’s a law term we hear, but few know what it means. It’s habeas
corpus: “you should have the body.” It’s a document issued by a
lawyer challenging the legality of holding a person. Grounds for a Writ
of Habeas Corpus might be established if a person’s imprisoned based on
illegally obtained evidence, denial of counsel or jury tampering.
In
order to serve the writ, the body must be traceable. One can’t be
released unless his whereabouts and history is known. Today I’d like to
serve a Writ of Habeas Corpus for the body of Jesus. I want to know the
whereabouts of his corpus from when he left the tomb onward. We’ll
look for evidence of his whereabouts based the Bible and history. We
might even find facts that might bear upon our own corpus in times
to come.
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From the Garden
Jesus’ corpus was habeased from a garden on Mount Olivette
by a crowd of thugs. They took the body with spirit intact to the High
Priest Emeritus then on to the palace of the High Priest, Caiaphas. Jesus
was interrogated by some lawyers at midnight and was assaulted by a temple
guard. The remainder of the morning, he was blindfolded and beaten about
the face. At daylight, the Council met together and tried him. Failing
to make the case with false witnesses, the authorities condemned him for
the capital crime of blasphemy without any witnesses or a
confession. They sentenced Jesus to death unlawfully.
To Herod
He
was taken under guard to the Praetorium of the Roman governor Pilate
(once Herod’s palace). The most
powerful regent in Palestine interrogated Jesus but had no case, and
turned him over to the ruler of his home province of Galilee, who happened
to be in town: King Herod Antipas. The King was pleased to see Jesus
because he thought him to be an occultist with great and useful powers.
Herod commanded miracles, but Jesus wouldn’t. So Herod’s men beat him
again. They put a huge robe on him to cover all the illegal abuse and
sent him back to the Praetorium.
To Pilate
Pilate interrogated him again, and again found no cause. To please the
local authorities, he had Jesus stripped and torn beyond recognition with
iron whips. After this, the sadistic Roman soldiers had him alone. They
plated his skull with thorns. The robe went back on to cover the
corporeal abuse. The soldiers repeatedly slapped his hooded face.
Pilate returned, had Jesus brought before his assembled enemies, and again
pronounced him innocent, finding no charge corpus habere – “to have
the body.” A good lawyer might’ve brought a Writ of Habeas Corpus and
freed Jesus. Roman justice would’ve complied – for the corpus was
about to become a corpse at the hands of the brutal guards.
However, his lawyer didn’t show, and his disciples, who were ignorant of
Latin law terms,
 cowered
behind the bushes, hoping not to be seen as a corporation.
Pilate, a brutal killer himself, was disturbed by the proceedings because
of his wife’s dream– she sent him a message while he was on the judgment
seat: “Have nothing to do with that just man;
I’ve been badly messed up all day because of
a dream about him.”
Pilate could produce the Writ of Habeas Corpus himself to let Jesus off on
his wife’s account, but the devil had one more trick. The Temple leaders
taunted their overlord, “Pilate, if you set him free you’e no friend of
Caesar’s; anyone who makes himself king is defying Caesar.”
Pilate’s friends in Rome had themselves recently been executed
(in 31 AD); the chief priests knew
it. Pilate was a friendless man. Now was the perfect time for a threat,
and the Jewish crowd caught on quickly. Pilate’s head was on the block
now. “We have no king but Caesar,” led the crowd of idolaters.
To Skull Place
Pilate washed his hands and went into hiding. A German Centurion and his
men took Jesus to the stake and the crowd followed the hobbled and
decimated Messiah out the Damascus Gate, to a point overlooking the city,
known then and recognized today as Skull Place. Soldiers impaled Jesus,
nailing him down, lifting him up, dropping man and pole into a depression
scratched into solid rock. Jesus quickly succumbed to the bleeding and
died of asphyxiation. A soldier speared him to make sure he was dead.
To the Tomb
In
the aftermath, the famous explorer Joseph of Arimathaea served a writ of
Habeas Corpus on Pilate. Pilate was so glad to end the matter that he
granted the corpus / corpse immediately. The dead Jesus
became Joseph’s possession, and with the Pharisee Nicodemus, the body was
retired to new hewn tomb. A shroud draped the body; a turban covered the
head. A hundred pounds of cool aloe leaves encased the body. The tomb
was shut and airless for over seventy-two hours by a round stone, guarded
by templars.
Jesus was as dead as could be. Great measures were taken to preserve the
body temporarily in case it might come back to life. But in one very
important way, Jesus wasn’t like other humans. His essence could never
die – it’s impossible to kill one born of spirit. The Son of
G-d didn’t die with the Son of Man.
The living spirit escaped through the tomb floor. His spirit went down,
down, down. Beneath Jerusalem’s foundations, there was a mammoth recess
in the rock and a burning ring of fire – the largest, deepest underground
chamber in earth’s entire
260,732,699,457 cubic miles of water, rocks, magma and empty spaces.
Imprisoned in the Earth
Peter tells us of ancient times when the offspring of fallen angels and
women were monstrous youths, hideous and cruel, big bodied, mere
cocoon-like shells for bloodthirsty demonic spirits. Noah’s flood was
sent by Yahweh to kill these things, but through the death of their
corporis, the foul ghosts inside was freed. By the time of the flood,
humanity was entirely infiltrated by the spawn of Satan; Yahweh saved only
eight souls. The prophet Enoch relates that two hundred million Nephilim,
freed from the limitations of flesh, were gathered by righteous angels and
imprisoned in caves of nether gloom deep inside the earth. Two hundred
million devilish, death loving, blood sucking devils are chained under
your feet, waiting to be set free to enslave you. They may now be
free. The world seems to be ravaged by evil.
Peter said
(2 Peter 2:4,5)
Yahweh didn’t spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into Hades
and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the
judgment; he didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a
herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood
upon the world of the ungodly….
John sees these wicked hoards escaping
in his visions! (Revelation
9:1-5 exc.) I saw a star fallen from
heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the bottomless pit; he opened
it and from there rose the smoke of a great furnace; the air was darkened
with the smoke. From the smoke came locusts, and they were given
the power of scorpions; allowed to torture for five months. In those days
men will seek death and will not find it. (By the way, five
prophetic months is equal to 150 years.)
John
says these Nephilim are as locusts. A scholar writes: “Numberless
swarms are carried by the wind from Arabia into Palestine, then, having
devastated that country, migrate to regions farther north ….” On the day
Jesus died, the devils in hell rejoiced. They had the writ of habeas
corpus – Jesus would soon be in Hades, and they would destroy him
forever. The only one who could keep imprisoned was now theirs!
They’d soon be free from their chains to complete the final solution
– the total annihilation of all creation.
Into the Smoking Pit
The
Son of G-d – no longer a mere man, but a life-giving spirit, transverses
the quantum roadblocks through the molten nether world. He locates that
enormous crater ten thousand miles beneath Gehenna, far below where the
Jebusites passed their children through the fire. In majesty, protected
from the flames by holiness, but carrying the burden of sin for the world
of men, Messiah transverses the gate into that dank, airless, burning
hell, where he senses the infernal slime of antediluvian vice, and feels
the pitiless horror of evil surround him as if to consume. He is in
Hell.
Instantly, the alarm sounds: the king of that smoking pit, Apollyon, the
destroyer, rises as big as the planet Pluto. “Who are you, that you dare
come into this abode, unless you be the one with the key to this loathsome
place; open the gate that we may be free to consume the earth, else you
too shall be congealed with the rest of the foul ooze in the cavern
thither and below. I command you! for I’m the king of this evil abode. I
AM Apollyon! The Devil!”
The
Son of Yahweh, experienced again the Power as before he was born a man,
thunders at this pestiferous midget with the voice of a trumpet, saying,
“Behold, you Apollyon! I am Yahweh Sabbaoth,
whom you crucified! I AM has sent me! Look upon the one you pierced, and
hear the words of the Master of Spirits, ‘THE EYES OF YAHWEH ARE UPON THE
RIGHTEOUS, HIS EARS ARE OPEN TO THEIR SUPPLICATION, BUT THE FACE OF YAHWEH
IS SET AGAINST EVIL-DOERS (1 Peter
3:12). I materialized here for the
purpose of undoing the Devil’s works
(1 John 3:8),
and that I shall do. Now, get thee behind me, Abaddon! for it is
written, ‘TO
YAHWEH THY GOD THOU SHALT DO HOMAGE, AND TO HIM ALONE SHALT THOU RENDER
WORSHIP.’”
With
these words, the sword his mouth cuts Abaddon / Apollyon a magnificent
new orifice, sending foul steams spewing forth as he bounced down, down
toward the boiling slime of spiritual excrement below.
What Now, St. Peter
St. Peter tells us plainly, “Chrestus
died once for all for sins, the innocent One for the guilty many,
in order to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh,
but made alive in the spirit, in which He also went and proclaimed
His Message to the spirits that were in prison, who in ancient times
had been disobedient, while God’s longsuffering was patiently waiting in
the days of Noah …” (1 Peter 3:18-20).
To the
horrific disappointment of the Devil and his hoards of scorpions, there,
in the center of the earth, the Angel of Yahweh preached his most damning
message to date – a far more blood-curdling oracle than any human prophet
of former generations. The fires below exploded with tremendous violence,
slime mixed with magma cascades angrily through the torpid air of the pit
– and above, on the surface of the land, there’s an earthquake centered in
on the Hinnom Valley. In Jerusalem at that moment,
the veil of the Sanctuary was torn from top to
bottom, the earth quaked, the rocks split, the tombs opened and the bodies
of many holy ones rose from the dead, and left the tombs, entered the city
and appeared to many. And the centurion and the others guarding Jesus
were terrified….” (Matthew 27:51-54
exc.).
SECUNDO
A Wounded Healer
Jesus the Nazarean awakes in dark agony. His hands, feet, face and chest
are all afire with pain. Every joint’s out of place. He remembers his
ordeal now as the dead body slowly returns to life, blood and fluids again
start to flow. O, the pain! He wrenches off the shroud with a whimper.
Unwrapping the turban, he lays it aside. “I AM the sign of Jonah” – yes,
he remembers everything.
It’s
a long, stressful ordeal for him to roll off the cold stone slab, to swim
through the spoiled vegetables piled on him, to roll off unto the bare
stone floor. Naked save for a loin cloth, he sees the light of day – for
the tombstone is split: and there in the changing room, a fresh linen robe
if folded – the priestly robe, fashioned after the manner of Melchizedek.
He dresses, painfully ties sandals on his deformed feet, and limps outside
into the cool. He Lives, sings the church, but barely. Yet he’s
not bleeding anymore; his burial wrappings and the aloes have staved his
blood and kept his wounds clean. He has not resuscitated; he’s arisen
from the dead, as he said he would.
Mary
“Miriam!” he says in a whisper. “Raboni,” she whimpers, reaching for
him. “Don’t touch me, Miriam. I ascended from Sheol, but I HAVEN’T YET
ASCENDED. PRAY FOR ME instead; I will recover. Then go tell my
disciples.” Miriam prays, “Our Father, who art in heaven ….” The Living
Soul is yet in critical condition. If he is touched, into pieces he may
fly.
Joseph
Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus were missed at the Feast. Joseph’s men
watched the tomb. They saw the guards abscond in terror, and a great
lightening bolt crack the stone. Like good Samaritans, they all convey
the gravely ill man out of the city, lodging him in a safe house west of
the city, in Emmaus. Nicodemus tells Joseph. “I can’t even recognize
him!” Joseph replies, “What counts is that he’s alive. no let’s go.”
James and Simeon Cleopas
Jesus’ two brothers, James the Just and Simeon surnamed Cleopas known as
the Zealot, are challenged by Jesus’ death. If he said he’d rise, then
he’ll rise! In the foolishness of youth, they make a vow to Yahweh. They
won’t eat until they see their brother alive. Fasting was nothing for
them. They were religious men. They fasted all the time. But Yahweh
would perform the miracle, or they’d die too.
Young, treacherous Saul, King Herod’s appointee to temple security, was
looking for these boys – they had to get out of town. James and Simeon
topped the summit of the mountain west of Jerusalem on foot. They’d walk
to Joppa and secure passage for Heliopolis, where they had relatives.
Late in the day, they approach Emmaus.
They
try to debrief as they walk. There’s a wretch on crutches ahead.
He hobbled out toward them; they’re horrified by his countenance – all
bruised, swollen, wrapped, beyond recognition. “Get out of here,” James
says. “I want to know what you boys are talking about.” the cripple
chirps weakly. The boys slow, and the cripple joins them. The going’s
sluggish, but the conversation’s fascinating. The cripple’s a scholar
and a believer. They stop at the Emmaus Holiday inn. James and
Simeon tell their strange companion, “We’re staying here, old fellow – you
stay with us. We’ll talk.” The “old fellow” says, “This is my place.
I’ve been walking a little, recovering from a serious illness. I know the
owner. Why don’t we eat bread?” But James said, “My brother and I are
fasting.” But Jesus said, “James Alphaeus Lebbaeus Justus! It’s me, your
other brother.” Jesus picks a flat loaf and breaks it before
them. Recognition comes. “You boys eat your bread now; you need
your strength. This brother needs his rest.” And Jesus disappears
into the back of the inn, leaving James the Just and Simeon Cleopas to
wonder and rejoice. “Did not our hearts
burn within us?”
Peter and John
The
crippled man’s carried into a hotel meeting room on Jerusalem’s south side
by his brothers, James and Simeon, and his benefactor, Joseph of
Arimathaea. Nicodemus and others are there, including Levi, Andrew,
Nathaniel, Zacchaeus, Philip, Salome and Joanna hiding in the corner.
James points them out. Jesus sneaks up behind them, and hoots, “Peace be
unto YOU!” These disciples are frightened, but their fear turns to joy.
Thomas
Again Jesus is with his brothers James and Simeon, and his sister Salome.
Jesus is no longer hooded. He wears the linens of a Melchizedek priest.
He’s at the Bethany apartment of Miriam, his mother, who’s seen him in a
dream. They approach Jesus’ other brother in the apartment. He’s Judah,
James’ twin, known as Thomas. “Peace, brother! Behold.” Jesus parts
his robe. “Put your hand in my side. Don’t be doubting, but believe.”
Judah the Thomas, surnamed Theuda, the brother of Jesus, cries, “My
master!”
Teaching
Ten
days later, Jesus is in the assembly room on Jerusalem’s southwest side,
dividing the prophecies of Zechariah, Daniel and Esdras. Now he’s on but
one crutch, his swelling’s down, his voice is clear. Zacchaeus marvels to
James what a fine recovery Jesus is making from death to life. James
replies, “Yes, it’s remarkable. He called on the elders of the assembly,
we anointed him with oil, and he is recovering.” Jesus calls forth James,
and the rest. “You too, Zacchaeus! I have a special plan for you.”
Jesus breathes on them the breath of life, and he gives them authority to
breath on others. To Zacchaeus he says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you
forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any,
they are retained” (John 20:22).
Eating
Early in the month of Sivan, Jesus is at Capernaum on the seashore. The
sea air is doing him great good. The Jews his body was stolen. The
professor said dogs had eaten him. So now he’s entirely free of
persecution. Jesus broiled sardines for the fishers’ breakfast. They
brought in a huge catch, 153 fish (3x3x17),
and the crew was tired from hauling them in. They rest now and eat.
Jesus takes Peter aside and points to the carp, flipping and flopping all
over the rocky shore. “Peter,” says Jesus, “do you like me more than
these?” Jesus points a broken finger to the carps.
Paul
In a
few short years, Jesus recovered. He’s survived crucifixion, but
others have done that. Jesus died; his heart stopped, his
brain stopped, his breathing stopped, his blood stopped. For three
days. The Risen Savior finds himself now in Syria with three of his
brothers – James the Just, Simeon Cleopas, Judah the Twin and his wife and
children, and Miriam, his mother. They’re all seeing Judah off at
Damascus; he’s leaving the family and heading for the Indies with the Good
News.
Ahead, there’s a caravan of armed guards and Pharisees. “¿What are they
doing in Syria?” James wonders. Then he recognizes the man in charge.
“Mother,” cries James, “We must leave RIGHT NOW. That’s Saul’s troop,
breathing murderous threats against our family.” Judah adds, “Don’t
forget how they beat James within an inch of HIS life last year! We’ve
got to go! Now!” But Jesus says, “Calm down, dear brothers. You just
let me handle this Saul.”
John and Mary
It’s
ten years later. Jesus, John and Miriam are in Ephesus. John moved
there with Jesus’ mother after the beheading of John’s brother, James, son
of Zebadiah. Jesus sees his mother safely to that famous city, then he
bids her and her John farewell. Jesus heads inland on foot.
Galatia
Months later, the Assembly at Galatia is celebrating Passover. These
people are Gentiles – formerly pagans – who converted to strict religion.
Saul, now Paul, taught them the story of Jesus rising from the dead. They
believed the story.
Now
there’s a stranger in the Sabbath service, a Jew. Paul warned them about
the danger of the Jews. When the priest ends his teaching and the
Passover Haggadah is being said, this Jew boldly approaches the
table, snatches the unleavened bread, tears it in half and holds it up.
There might have been a commotion, except that the Gentiles see the
Jew’s mangled hands in the lamplight.
Rome
Jesus is almost fifty, living in Rome with Aquila. There are two
assemblies in Rome – First Circumcised Assembly of Yahshua and First
Uncircumcised Church of Chrestus – the first of Jewish and the second of
Gentiles. Both assemblies believe the same things almost, but culture
divides them. Jesus means to bring the bodies together as one – just
as he and the Father are one. He calls a joint meeting.
Clement’s the pastor of the First Uncircumcised Church of Chrestus
and Aquila pastors the small First Circumcised Assembly of Yahshua
right in his house. Jesus teaches them all an old lesson, but
new to them:
“No one puts new wine into old bottles; for
the bottles burst, the wine runs out, and the both bottles and wine are
lost. No; they put new wine in new bottles – and both are preserved.”
The
Jewish Pharisees of Rome, and there are many, get wind of
this meeting, and set fire to the building while Jesus teaches. A riot of
fear breaks out among the people in the neighborhood. Soon the hubbub
gets to the Senate and Emperor Claudius expels all Jews, Christians and
Druids, including Priscilla, Aquila, Paul and Clement. “You
get out of town, or else!”
The
Roman historian Suetonius will write history still read today,
“(Claudius) expelled the Jews in Rome because
they, incited by Chrestus, they were constantly creating an
uproar.” (Suetonius,
Life of Claudius, ch.25.4.)
Chrestus the inciter is the Latin name “Christ.” The Risen
Jesus was again blamed for a riot sixteen years after he cleansed the
Jerusalem temple.
Peter
Jesus is sixty-five years old. On a return trip from the Indies, Jesus’
brother Judah was mistaken for an Egyptian bandit and executed. Two years
ago, Caiaphas’ son pushed Jesus’ brother James off the temple parapet.
His other brother, Simeon Cleopas, is now the leader
(mebakker) of the Jerusalem
Assembly of Yahshua. Miriam died some years ago at Ephesus in the house
of John, the apostle to seven churches in Asia. Peter, Aquila and Apollos
are back in Rome, hiding – trying to get out again. Paul’s in Spain on
his way to Britain. The disciples of Jesus are either dead or in Africa.
Chrestus, the Latin word for “Christ,” is incognito.
Nearly all Rome burned last year; plague filled the city. Thousands died,
and now Nero blames the Christians. His pregnant wife, Poppaea Sabina, is
the first Christian to die. Nero sets the example by kicking her to
death. The worst persecutions against any religious group had begun.
Christians tried to flee. Aquila’s assembly disbanded; Clement’s church
went into hiding.
Simeon Peter, Demetrius, Hiram and Sabinus were stealing southwestward
across Italy, hoping to make the port of Delos – where Spartacus had
camped a hundred forty years earlier. Luke, Rufus, Clement, Thecla and
thousands of other Christians were arrested and sentenced to death. No
writs of Habeas Corpus are forthcoming. Simeon Peter’s an old man, but
still the icon of the movement. The believers risk lives to send him out
of the city, along with some youthful guardians. Yet Peter lags behind as
the troop skirts a forest bend outside the city.
As
he considerd this terrible turn of fate, Peter prays: “Father, help us to
find our way to the brethren in Greece.” Then he trudged on to the sea
and Delos, and says to himself, “I go afishin’!” A ghost of a man with a
cane pops out of a gumbo tree and limps toward him. Peter sees a crippled
leper – hardly able to walk at all. “How’d he get out here?” Peter
wonders.
The
cripple stumbles up and stops Peter cold. “Simeon,” the man says.
“Quo Vadis? Where are you going?”
There’s
no mistaking the voice. “Master,” Peter cries, bending a knee. “Where
are you going, Master?” Jesus says, “Friend, I’m going into
Babylon to be crucified afresh.” Peter says, “No Master! I’ll die for
you.” Jesus takes three dried figs out of his bag. “Do you love me more
than these?” he says, and hands over the figs. Peter knows what’s
coming. “You know I love you.” Jesus’ last words to Peter are, “Feed my
lambs.” With a deep, disquieted sigh, Peter tries again to see Jesus’
face, but can’t. He turns himself back - toward Rome to feed the Master’s
sheep – and the emperor’s dogs.
TRIO
Yahshua is seventy years old. He’s in Jerusalem living with his brother
Simeon Cleopas, who met him on the Emmaus road after his resurrection
nearly forty years before. Jesus feels his body disintegrating. He was
healthy, then feeble, then leprous. Now he’s getting lighter and lighter:
matter is becoming energy. E=MC2. It’s a wonderful thing;
his body vanishes, his spirit angelizes. It’s important he be here now;
be strong for his brother’s family and the Assembly of Yahweh at
Jerusalem. Five legions of Roman soldiers surrounded Jerusalem two years
earlier. They’d see the Holy City leveled and burned. Inside the city,
conditions were horrific. Many had turned to cannibalism, and the Jews
were fighting each other for control of whatever meat was left.
Here
are quotes from the most ancient historians, including General Josephus,
who was there at the Jerusalem wall:
"Subsequently also an evident proof of this great mystery
is supplied in the fact, that every one who, believing in this Prophet who
had been foretold by Moses, is baptized in His name, shall be kept unhurt
from the destruction of war which impends over the unbelieving nation, and
the place itself; but that those who do not believe shall be made exiles
from their place and kingdom, that even against their will they may
understand and obey the will of God." (Clement, Recognitions
1:39:3)
"It then happened that Cestius was not
conscious either how the besieged despaired of success, nor how courageous
the people were for him; and so he recalled his soldiers from the place,
and by despairing of any expectation of taking it, without having received
any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any reason in the world."
(Josephus, Wars II, XIX, 6, 7, 75 AD.)
"For when the city was about to be captured and sacked by
the Romans, all the disciples were warned beforehand by an angel to remove
from the city, doomed as it was to utter destruction. On migrating from it
they settled at Pella, the town already indicated, across the Jordan. It
is said to belong to Decapolis " (Epiphanius, On Weights and Measures,
15)
"Now this sect of Nazarenes exists in
Beroea in Coele-Syria, and in Decapolis in the district of Pella, and in
Kochaba of Basanitis-- called Kohoraba in Hebrew. For thence it originated
after the migration from Jerusalem of all the disciples who resided at
Pella, Christ having instructed them to leave Jerusalem and retire from it
on account of the impending siege. It was owing to this counsel that they
went away, as I have said, to reside for a while at Pella" (Eusebius,
Haer 29:7).
Other Pella quotations
The Amnesty of Jerusalem
The
decree of the Roman General Titus was heralding through the city even now,
“Before we utterly destroy
your capital and everyone therein,
those of good faith, come out the Damascus Gate
and be free! By authority of Galba of Rome.”
Believers in Yahshua within the city numbered over five thousand. They
were ready for this; Jesus predicted it a generation before,
“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by
armies,” he warned, “ flee to
the mountains.”
This
was their chance, and, with Judah, Jesus’ nephew in charge of the exodus,
the multitude formed outside the Essene quarter and began making their way
northward through the wretched city toward the Damascus Gate.
Even
Jesus had been crucified, died, been a cripple, a leper, traveled to Asia
and Rome and back, and was seventy plus, he found his steps lighter and
lighter, his pain gone, in good spirits – as he moved with the
assembly founded in his name toward freedom. They pass by the Praetorium,
now full of the half-starved orphans and widows of the war. Jesus calls
to them as they pass, “Children – come unto me
– let no one hinder you. HO, EVERY one of you who’s thirsty, come
– we’re going to the waters; you who have no money, come and eat”
(Isaiah 55:1). Over three hundred
starving women and children come out of the huge edifice and follow; no
one stopped them.
The
entourage passes Gabbatha, where Jesus had been whipped, slapped and bled
out. Looking beyond the Western wall, Jesus sees his old enemy, the
hollow eyes of Golgotha the Skull. Up ahead is the final gate, and the
Assembly of Yahshua will find safety outside the walls. Yet before the
escape, one more serious challenge lies ahead. A huge band of armed
Essenes, Zealots and Sons of Perdition led by Phineas the Slasher, a
murderous warlord, guards this gate.
The Confrontation with
Phineas the Slasher
The
Zealots bar the road and gate ahead, and Phineas addresses Judah ben Judah
and his aging uncle, Simeon Cleopas, with the words – “Nobody
gets out! If you try, you die.
Go back where you came from, cowards.”
Simeon looks back at those he would’ve led to safety, especially the
doomed children. He speaks quietly to Judah, “Son,
we must go back. They mean what they say. They’ll kill us all.”
But Judah ben Judah was a brave young man. “No,
Uncle. We’ll fight them. We can overcome. We outnumber them many
times. Yahweh is on our side. Your brother is here.” But
Simeon replies, “No, Son. We’re not killers
like them. We’ll have to go back.”
The
Nazareans lose their nerve, and the crowd behind doesn’t know what’s
happening. Both Judah ben Judah and Simeon Cleopas are arguing as Phineas
the Slasher and his bodyguard approach with crescent swords drawn. At
this tense moment, Yahshua of Nazareth, lighter and stronger than
any other time in his life save his meeting with Apollyon, steps to the
fore. Moving in between his brother Simeon and his nephew Judah, Jesus
says loud enough to be heard for a mile, “This
song be sung in the land of Judah; ‘We
have a strong city; SALVATION will Yahweh appoint for walls and bulwarks.’
My brother Simeon, HE will keep thee in perfect peace, he whose mind is
stayed upon HIM: because he trusteth in HIM. My brother,”
Confide ye in Yahweh forever; for in Yah,
Yahweh, is the rock of ages. For he bringeth down them that dwell on
high; the lofty city, he layeth it low, he layeth it low to the ground, he
bringeth it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, the feet of
the afflicted, the steps of the poor. The way of the just is uprightness:
thou, you Upright one, dost make the path of the just even. Yea, in the
way of thy judgments, O Yah, have we waited for thee; the desire of our
soul is to thy name.
(Isaiah 26:1,3-8 Darby+)
Phineas the Slaher, startled by the resounding voice of this old man,
courageously moves forward to face him, and says to him, “Who
are you, Lord?” Jesus replies in the voice of a lion, “I
am Yahshua, whom you are persecuting
(Acts 9:5).
I am the first and the last, and the living
one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of
Death and Hades” (Revelation
1:17,18). “Now, open the gates, that
the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in”
(Isaiah 26:2).
Judah ben Judah leaps up and down, but Simeon Cleopas trembles in fear.
Jesus turns to his brother and whispers, “Brother,
‘Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.’” And
to Judah he says, “Judah, ‘say to those who
are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, fear not! Behold, your god will come
with vengeance, with the recompense of Yahweh. He will come and save you
(Isaiah 35:3,4)”‘”
Then
the Damascus Gates creek open a crack – whether by man or angel, nobody
knows. Phineas the Slasher hears the gates and cries to his army, “Kill
them all before the gate opens.” Then, as they dart forward,
Jesus cries with a loud voice, “Prepare ye
the road of Yahweh! Make his paths straight!” And when he says, “Make
his paths straight,” the attackers draw back and fall to the
ground, foaming at the mouth. Some fall from the battlements about the
gates; Some from the heights of the temple. Even Ananus, the high priest,
watching the spectacle from the same parapet he cast James off, foams and
falls. And Jesus, Simeon his brother, Judah ben Judah his nephew, their
families and the rest of the Jerusalem Nazareans pass out the opened
gate called Damascus – which translated means, “The Bloody
Cup.” The Jews who foam, they will never believe – but before month’s
end, they’ll die in their sins, hacked to death by Roman swords.
Outside the gates, at the Roman command post, General Titus Flavianus
awaits the Nazareans’ exodus from the city. With him are historian
Josephus, King Agrippa, the one who’d interviewed Paul seven years
earlier, and the princess, Bernice. In ten years, Agrippa would rule
Palestine, Josephus would record this day in a book, and General Titus
would rule the world from Rome.
Watching the scene with Titus stood his advisor, an old soldier named
Longinus.
Longinus and Titus
Longinus had served the Tenth Legion in Jerusalem ever since he’d been
captured in Germany fifty years previously. He’d made Centurion
quickly – and soon after, general. At the zenith of his career, Longinus
was a very influential man, a cult leader of sorts. See, Longinus had
been telling an amazing story for over forty years now – about how a Jew
he crucified, who arose to life and was still alive. This Jew, Yahshua of
Nazareth, was the son of Iove, the greatest god of the Greeks. By
believing the story, Longinus claimed that no one need ever die again.
For a time, his comrades thought Longinus mad from killing. But then,
Yahshua started appearing to some who’d heard Longinus’ story. Now
many foreigners believed Yahshua was alive and the followed Longinus,
their storyteller.
Longinus also told his ward, General Titus, the about the living dead
man. And though many of Titus’ men believed the tale, Titus wasn’t
superstitious, and wouldn’t believe unless he saw the man himself. In the
middle of the siege of Jerusalem, Longinus says to Titus, “Many
comrades have seen this man and they want to see him again. If you saw
him, Titus, you’d believe my story. Would you like to see him?”
“Of course,” replied Titus. “Where is he?” Longinus replied, “He’s in
there,” pointing to Jerusalem through the Damascus gate. “Let
him out, will you?”
And
that’s how the amnesty of Jerusalem came into being.
The
Nazareans are piling out through the Damascus gate, into the Roman custody
of Longinus’ cohort. There’s free food and water awaiting them: the old
soldier had seen to it. Finally, the last of the Nazareans are out. Then
Judah ben Judah comes out with a child at each hand. “Is that the man?”
asks Titus. “No, sir. He’s too young.”
Then
Simeon Cleopas, the leader of the Jerusalem Assembly of the Nazareans,
comes out with another man. Titus says to Longinus, “That’s Cleopas,
isn’t it?” Longinus replies, “Yes, good for you. I’ve known Cleopas for
years.” Titus asks, “Who’s the other man?” Longinus replies, “I’m not
sure, except he may be their Syrian secretary.” Finally one more man
comes out with a couple children; then the gates are closed by the men
inside, having recovered from their fits. “Is
that the man in whom I must believe to gain eternal life, Longinus?”
Longinus replies, “Ecce homo. Habeas
corpus.”
QUARTO
Josephus, formerly the commander of
Israeli troops in Galilee, lately translator and confident of his former
enemy Titus, historian to the Jews, thinks he knows this man who’s come
out of Jerusalem with Simeon.
. . . . . to be continued
Matthew
Matthew collected the oracles
(logion)
in the Hebrew language, and each interpreted them as best he could.
– Eusebius quoting Papias of Hieropolis (d. ca. 138 CE) in
Ecclesiastical History 3.39.14-16
Habeas corpus: "you
should have the body."
A Writ of Habeas
Corpus challenges the legality of holding a person in custody.
Corpus, corporis:
Latin for "body, bodies." Corporeal: having to do with the body; i.e.
corporeal punishment.
Corpus habere:
Latin, "to have (the) body"
Nephilim: Fallen
angels or the offspring of angels
Chrestus: Latin for
the Greek word Christ, meaning "Anointed One," and used in Latin as a
personal name.
Jesus was known as
"Chrestus" in the Latin language, as preserved by the historian
Suetonius.
Jesus' brothers:
James the Just, Simeon surnamed Cleopas (the Zealot), Judah the Twin
(Thomas or Theuda or Thaddeus).
Saul is St. Paul.
Heliopolis: a city
in central Egypt. "The City of the Sun".
Quo Vadis: Latin,
"Where are you going?"
Ecce Homo, Habeas
Corpus: Latin, "Look at the man. You have the body."
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