by Brian Godawa
Demas nodded. “And his followers. About a hundred of them. They look like fishermen, farmers and the like. Harmless.”
“They must be returning from Tyre to Galilee.”
“Well then,” said Demas, “so are we.”
The brothers decided to pretend to keep their camp and appear to be surprised by the arrival of the company. They would play their day laborer identities and ask to travel with them back to Galilee.
When the traveling group appeared on the near stretch of the road, Gestas unexpectedly ran out to meet them. He called out, “Fellow Jews! Greetings! We have been traveling from Capernaum in search of Jesus bar Joseph, the one they call Messiah. Do you know where we can find him?”
The disciples appeared on edge. A couple of them stood protectively in front of a bearded man.
Demas’ stomach dropped. What was he doing? This was not the plan. Demas was not good at improvising like his brother was. He felt sick.
The group had stopped. One of them, which Gestas suspected was Peter, spoke out, “Why do you seek him?”
Gestas pointed back to Demas and said, “My brother and I had heard stories of miracles, healings, and exorcisms.”
Oh great, thought Demas. He is not going to pretend at all? What in the world is he doing?
Gestas kept talking as Demas walked toward him. “I think he could be Messiah, but my brother here has his doubts.”
Now, Demas looked at him with true shock. “Brother!”
Suddenly, the shielded man stepped out from the group of travelers. He wore a traveling robe, a clean, trimmed beard and haircut, and penetrating eyes. Gestas actually felt a peace come over him just from looking at the man. It was strange.
The man smiled and said, “Welcome, Demas and Gestas. There is plenty of room for both of you. Even with your doubts.”
Demas whispered, “How did he know our names?”
Gestas shrugged.
The man spoke, “I am Jesus whom you seek. We are on our way to Caesarea Philippi. You are welcome to join us. We will camp here with you for the night.”
“Thank you, Jesus!” Gestas blurted out. They returned to their fire as the traveling company unpacked and settled down.
Demas whispered to him, “Why in Hades did you do that?”
Gestas said, “I figured it would be easier if we just play a version of ourselves. Especially since you cannot act very well.”
“Why don’t you just tell them that we are also looking for Simon, to consider killing him along with Jesus?”
“Hush, brother. It will be much easier for us to be more direct. I actually am quite fascinated by this rabbi. And you can continue to play your own ornery self, so what is there to complain about?”
Gestas smiled. Demas frowned back. They sat down in the lengthening shadows to finish eating their meal.
Demas whispered again, “How did he know our names?”
“How would I know?”
Jesus called out again, “Gestas, Demas! Please join us with your meal.”
The brothers ate by the fire with Jesus’ followers, and discovered which one was Simon when they were introduced to the main disciples. The best that Demas could determine was that there seemed to be three who were especially close to Jesus; Peter, James, and John. Then there were about ten others who were the next closest to them. The rest were more distant from the inner circle but followers nonetheless. Demas was amazed to see that six of them were women. It was not a usual thing in this patriarchal culture for women to be traveling disciples. He wondered if they were priestesses of Asherah or some other goddess.
Gestas asked the group if there were any who could explain to him and his skeptical brother more clearly the Scriptures and their references to Messiah. It was a clever ploy to get close to Simon, seemingly by chance. They had known of Simon’s scribal background from Qumran through Barabbas. So it was no surprise that their plan worked perfectly. Simon volunteered to help them.
They finished up their food and drink as some prepared for sleep. Gestas said to Simon, “Where do you come from?”
“Originally, Qumran,” answered Simon. “I was an Essene. We were sure we were the true remnant of Israel in a land of hypocrites and frauds. We were waiting for the End of Days. But I rejected their ways and joined a band of Zealots in the desert.”
Barabbas, thought Demas.
“We wanted to do something about the Roman occupation of our land, instead of just talking and fighting amongst ourselves as to who was the true Jew or not.”
“How did you end up here?” asked Demas.
“Well, we had heard about Jesus. His signs and wonders. About John the Baptizer and his proclamation of Jesus as Messiah. But we wanted to know if he would be an ally of ours or an enemy. So I was sent to find out.”
Gestas could not believe how truthful Simon was being with them. Why would anyone be so honest? Why would he feel he had nothing to hide?
“What did you conclude?” asked Gestas.
“Jesus is Messiah,” said Simon.
“Will you return to the Zealots?” asked Demas. “Or are they your enemy?”
Simon turned somber and said, “I will let you decide that for yourself.”
The brothers would not get the easy answer they wanted. Demas said, “If he is Messiah, then why does he lead no armies?”
Simon spoke in a lower tone as if sharing a secret. “If you had seen what I have seen, you would understand.”
“What did you see?” said Demas.
“I cannot say. But I can tell you that if you go with us to Caesarea Philippi, you will see for yourself.”
“What is there?” asked Gestas.
“You shall see,” whispered Simon.
The brothers had heard of the place. But they had always thought it was a legend. Was it really what the rumors and tales said it was?
Seven travelers in cloaks arrived at the rear fire, sixty feet away. They caught everyone’s attention. Jesus met the seven apart from the group of disciples, as if he were familiar with them. Demas knew disguised warriors when he saw them. They must be bodyguards of some kind. This would make their task of killing Jesus a near impossible one. He still wasn’t sure if it was even worth killing this Simon either. What kind of competition could this peaceful rabbi be to Barabbas, anyway?
Gestas was thinking along the same lines as his brother. He felt there was something they were not seeing. Maybe it would be helpful for them to wait and see what happened at Caesarea Philippi before deciding to risk their lives with their task of assassination.
Gestas said, “May I ask you a personal question, Simon?”
Simon nodded eagerly.
“Do you think that maybe all this talk of ‘turning the other cheek,’ and ‘loving your enemies’ may be a necessary smoke screen to allow Messiah to gather enough forces and release a secret cache of arms?”
Simon looked perplexed. “You may be right, Gestas. I have thought much about his storytelling. He teaches using parables to obscure their meaning from those who are against him. He told us so himself. And if you consider them closely, you find they all have violent ends as judgment in the age of Messiah. For instance, his parable of the weeds describes the true sons of the kingdom separated from the wicked false sons who are intended for the flames of purging; the parable of the dragnet has fishermen separating fish, the righteous from the evil, who are thrown into a furnace of fire. He told a parable of virgins awaiting the bridegroom, and another wedding story only to end in tragedy as certain invitees are rejected and judged; a parable about separating sheep and goats leads to eternal life for sheep and eternal destruction for the goats. I could go on, but you see my concern. He does seem to indicate that the end of this age and the inauguration of the age of Messiah results in as much destruction as it does redemption and atonement. And the separation unto judgment is led in all of the parables by his angels.”
Gestas watched the seven strangers as he said to Simon, “Do you think he will lead an
army of Yahweh’s heavenly host against Rome?”
Demas stared at his brother with surprise.
Simon responded, “It is possible, from what I have seen.”
Gestas said, “What have you seen?”
“I told you. I cannot explain.” Simon looked up and saw Jesus with his stranger guardians waving him over to them. “I will be right back.”
As he walked over to Jesus and the seven, he realized that the angels had all regathered sometime after the tsunami incident.
After Simon left, Demas whispered to Gestas, “Are you play-acting or are you starting to believe this fanaticism?”
They watched Simon talking with Jesus and the seven guardians. The strangers glanced back at them from afar.
“Do not be so pig-headed, Demas. Consider this, if this Jesus is more powerful than Barabbas, whose side would you want to be on if war does break out?”
Demas would not say. “All the same, I say we kill Simon in his sleep and slip back to Galilee. We can tell Barabbas the truth. The rabbi is unapproachable, protected by disguised warriors.”
Chapter 14
A fat, burly Jew and his young helper walked their mounts up the trail a few miles outside of Scythopolis in the hill country. It was the middle of the night. They led a small train of four pack animals carrying a large amount of supplies. The burly one turned back for a view of the city from his vantage point. He looked out upon the rich, fertile Jordan valley to the east with the River flowing south. To the west over the ridge was the more barren Esdralon Valley. He had to catch his breath before they could continue to their destination quite a bit further up the ridge: a series of hidden caves where their comrades were encamped.
His heart nearly stopped when three Roman legionaries stepped out of the bush. He turned to call for his helper to leave, but he ran into three other legionaries right behind him, swords at the throat of the young man. He froze in fear.
A centurion walked up to the burly one, the obvious leader, and asked him, “And where might you two be going in such a hurry, Zealots?”
The centurion was Longinus.
• • • • •
Four Zealot lookouts planted around the mountain ridge surveyed the land around them. It was the last watch of the night as the sun rose over the Jordan valley to the east. They had spotted a century of a hundred legionaries marching south along the foothills beneath them. This was a common occurrence, as Rome rotated forces between Jerusalem and the Decapolis regularly through this very route.
Roman scouts ambushed all the lookouts and slit their throats. This gave the century of soldiers about an hour to make their way up the mountain pass, before they might be discovered by the Zealots.
There were more of the outlaws sleeping in the caves than there were legionaries ascending upon them, one hundred and fifty or so. Though the Romans were not able to completely surprise the Zealots, they surrounded the Jews, so that none could escape and were forced to fight.
The Zealots had awakened with barely enough time to suit up with arms. They had been well-trained by Barabbas and managed to kill a dozen legionaries. But they were not the superior trained and synchronized armed forces of Longinus. The Zealots eventually succumbed to the Romans with a third of their men dead.
Not all the Zealot warriors were there. A small band of fifty, led by their leader Barabbas, had gone on a mission known only to the band for security reasons. A delegated messenger escaped during the fighting to warn the sortie operation not to return.
All this, Longinus had pulled from a handful of the captured Zealots whose backs he had ripped open to the bone with a scourge.
These Jews are amazing fanatics, thought Longinus as he oversaw the crucifixion of the rest of the hundred surviving Zealots. Their dedication is quite admirable. He kept hearing them recite the slogan, “No king but God,” a direct affront to Caesar’s imperial lordship.
The victims were stripped naked and lined up along the path to the mountain hideout as a warning to those who might consider using these caves as another den of thieves. It took the entire day just to cut down trees, create the crosses in “X” and “T” shapes, dig their holes for elevation, and then hang all hundred of the rebels onto their posts. With hands outstretched on the crossbeams, wrists were nailed to the posts with long thin spikes into the wood. To save on nails some were tied tightly with rope. Feet were nailed through the heels or ankles on each side of the vertical post. Again, to save on nails, many had their feet overlapped with bent knees and nailed with one nail through both feet.
Longinus became lost in thought to the rhythmic pounding of hammers on nails, followed by the screams of pain and cries for mercy that filled the mountainside. All this for the promise of a deliverer.
Some of the Zealot soldiers had even claimed to believe Barabbas was the Messiah. What was it with these Jews? They have been slaves most of their history, and finally, they are delivered by a benevolent god, Caesar, and given special privileges to maintain their petty rules and rituals. What more do they want?
The crucified outlaws, once hanged naked on their crosses, were elevated under the hot sun. It would not be the nailing of their wrists and heels that would kill them, or even the dehydration in the boiling hot sun. Rather, it would be the weight of their own weakened bodies that would put pressure on the lungs and suffocate them. Longinus did not have much time. He had an outlaw Zealot leader to hunt down. In order to speed up the suffocation process, soldiers broke the legs of the victims with bone-crunching clubs. The weakened cries from already half-dead lungs followed those assaults. Crucifixion was a cruel punishment used to inspire terror in insurrectionists and dissuade rebellion against Caesar, the god-man.
As an officer in the army, Longinus participated in the imperial cult of Caesar. The great general, Julius Caesar had been divinized after his death through the act of apotheosis, the posthumous declaration of divinity by the state. The divine Julius had been validated by his successor, Augustus, who cited a bright comet in the sky seen by many during the funeral games.
Though Tiberius was the current emperor, it was the previous one, Augustus, who was the first real savior to Rome and to Longinus. Augustus’ mother had claimed his father was the god Apollo who copulated with her in the form of a wise snake. Into a world of turmoil and disarray, Augustus had brought Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome. His title was printed on coins, “Emperor Caesar Augustus, Son of God, Savior.”
Longinus walked curiously along the path, looking up at the bleeding, sweating, groaning forms of the Zealots baking in the sun and dying their slow deaths. He mused, What a waste of lives, pursuing the impossible against all odds. For millennia, the Jews had been looking for their king, who would bring order from disorder, put an end to war, and restore all things. Did not Caesar perform these feats? These followers of the Nazarene that the Baptizer spoke of claimed the “Good News” of a new age with the birth of their savior, god manifest, who would be the hope of all the world. But was not Caesar all of these things and more? Though the Jews often appealed to ancient prophecies, it seemed to Longinus that they had simply taken all the language about the Roman god-man, Caesar, and applied it to their Messiah as a gesture of defiance.
Longinus had memorized one of the proclamations from the Provincial Assembly of Asia that sounded quite similar to the Jews’ own scriptures:
The most divine Caesar, we should consider equal to the Beginning of all things: for when everything was falling into disorder and tending toward dissolution, he restored it once more and gave to the whole world a new aura; Caesar, the beginning of life and vitality. Augustus, whom Providence filled with strength for the welfare of men, and who being sent to us and our descendants as Savior, has put an end to war and has set all things in order; and, having become god manifest, Caesar has fulfilled all the hopes of earlier times in surpassing all the benefactors who preceded him, and whereas, finally, the birthday of the god Augustus has been for the whole world the beginning of the Gospel of Goo
d News concerning him, therefore let a new era begin from his birth.
Why did these Jews not consider Caesar as the fulfillment of their own prophecies? What did this promised Messiah offer these poor dying fools that Caesar could not? Elysium? A happy heaven in their martyrdom? He was certainly no worthy opponent of Caesar, if these were his warriors.
Longinus remembered how years earlier, his ruthless troublemaking prefect, Pontius Pilate, had brought the ensigns of Caesar into the holy city of Jerusalem. The Jews were so intolerant of Caesar’s image, that their protest made it to the ears of Tiberius. But when Pilate arranged to have them all surrounded and killed by a legion, he was stopped in his tracks. Instead of rioting or defending themselves, the Jews had all, to a man, bowed low in the dirt and offered their necks for martyrdom. Pilate knew it would not benefit him politically to engage in such wanton slaughter of peaceful citizenry, so he took the ensign standards out of the city. But Pilate was never one to be outmaneuvered, so he continued looking for opportunities to aggravate these “desert rats,” as he called them. Longinus’ assignment was important to providing Pilate with advance knowledge of any plans for revolution.
Still, the tragic absurdity of it all made Longinus wonder if he was missing something. He decided to spare one of the Zealots who was a scribe, in order to learn more about their holy books and therein, their intended strategy. Despite all the social unrest, he did not think the Jews were anywhere near the organized or armed capabilities of true effectual revolution. Was there a piece to this puzzle that was eluding him? He would need to find this Barabbas and the two circus brothers. He would torture it out of them. But where were they?
It came to him that if there was any merit to these claims of Barabbas considering himself to be the Messiah, then a certain predictability would follow. Historically, whenever these Jews congregated with grievances, there was trouble. Their yearly Passover feast was approaching soon. It commemorated their exodus from slavery in Egypt, a perceived analogy of their submission to Rome. With the increasing unrest, it would seem a perfect time to rise up in revolt.
