Draft88


 * 1) Four miles south of Lake  Kinneret where the Yarmouk River merged with  the Jordan a new preacher  was seen.  He spoke of the bleak  recent history of the Jews and of a  better future. Yohanan brought a new thing, a ritual cleansing of sins that  bypassed the mediation of priests.
 * 2) The priests and the  Sadducees and  the  tetrarch  Antipas  himself believed  this Yohanan  was  seeding the  whole  region with  people  who would be anxious for the coming of a new theocratic ruler, one who  would reorder the laws to favor the destitute and upset the established ways.
 * 3) A crowd often gathered on  the riverbank by mid-morning. Some  were present  to hear him speak  for  the first time. Others have returned  to seek the cleansing of body and  soul that  he offered. A young man  named Yeshua  was  one of the  latter,  as were his brothers Shimon and Yosy.
 * 4) Yohanan said,  'Six  centuries ago the king of Babylon burned  down our temple, ended the line of  David on the throne, and exiled the people far to the east. Five centuries  ago the king of Persia defeated  Babylon and allowed many of our exiled  people to return from captivity.
 * 5) 'Four centuries  ago  Nehemiah restored the temple, but he used the income it gathered to pay tribute to the Persians. Three centuries ago  a Macedonian king conquered the  whole world, and his generals divided  the world  among themselves,  ruling  as kings after his death.
 * 6) 'Two centuries ago the  Greeks and Jews who adopted their ways dedicated  the temple of God to one  of their  own gods. The prophet  Daniel called  a remnant to  stand  against this evil and so they did. Antiochus and the Greek faction was  defeated.  We were independent at last!
 * 7) 'For a time we paid tribute  to no   one  except  our   own   wicked priests, But a century ago our independence  came to an end.  When  the Roman general named Pompey completed his  conquest of Syria  he  elevated John Hyrcanus over King  Aristobulus and named him ethnarch of the Jews.
 * 8) 'But Pompey was our real  king.  And after Hyrcanus, the son of Aristobulus became ethnarch, the one who was named Antigonus. But he was murdered  by the foreigner, Herod,  and the  Romans named this  Idumean  our king.  Herod made the second  temple the wonderment of our people.
 * 9) 'But the cost of building  out the  temple drove landowners to  become  tenant  farmers,  and   tenant farmers to become day laborers,  and day laborers to become bandits.  The dwelling of God became a net capturing the wealth of the people to  deliver it to the hated Romans.
 * 10) 'What do we hear God telling us through all these events? After victory  in  a violent revolt  we  only managed to claw back a hundred years of  independence  before  losing  it again.  God is telling us that  only he  himself can bring a lasting  end to the evil of foreign domination.
 * 11) 'Within the lifetime of many of you  listening today God will  overthrow the Romans with violence,  but he  will not dwell in the temple  to be served by the wicked priests. God himself will be our temple. It  only remains for you to ask yourself, are you ready for his direct rule?
 * 12) 'Your sin is a broken  chariot wheel that mars the road with  every turn. It's not enough to sacrifice a lamb and patch the holes in the road that trail out behind your sin.  You know  the law. You must  repair  the wheel itself and become pure  before God. Who among you is ready?'
 * 13) Yohanan had four disciples  who acted in the role of screeners. They would  listen to the people  confess their  sins and judge  whether  they were ready to advance to the  waters of the Jordan to be baptized of  Yohanan.  Little  Yosy drew  Yudah  of Kerioth for his screener.
 * 14) Yosy told him the  small  misdeeds  of a boy, not  yet  fourteen, leading up to the big one, and  Yosy was  brought  to tears. For  it  was Yosef Jr. who fetched for his father a rotten pole on the job in  Sepphoris  that gave way under his  weight and caused him to fall to his death.
 * 15) Yosy  had warned  his  beloved father the materials they were given to  set up the scaffolding  were  no good, but Yosef merely recounted the story in the Law of when the Israelite  slaves complained there was  no straw for their bricks Pharaoh  compelled them to fetch it themselves.
 * 16) Then Yosy was brought  to  the river's edge by Yudah to be baptized by  Yohanan. His brother Shimon  was confessing   to  Barthulumawus   the slightly more nefarious  venialities of a slightly older boy. He spoke of his  uncle Hilfai marrying his  widowed mother under the Levirate law.
 * 17) For  it was Shimon  who  first began to call Hilfai by the nickname 'Clopas',  which means  replacement, and  the  name had taken  hold,  and even the neighbors began to use  it, but  it  pained his  saintly  mother whenever she heard it, and of course it greatly dishonored Hilfai.
 * 18) So Barthulumawus was intreated, and he brought Shimon to the water's edge to be purified by Yohanan.  And his  older brother Yeshua  was  conversing  with  two Jews  with  Greek names,  Andreia and  Philippos,  who would  one day be known to  many  as St. Andrew and St. Philip.
 * 19) Yeshua told them,  'My  father set up and tore down scaffolding for stonecutters  in  Sepphoris,  and  I helped him, but often I would grieve him  with rebukes. Our work kept  us alive  for now but the city we  were building  for the Romans would  kill all of our people in the end.
 * 20) And so great was this new city, this  blot on our land,  that  trees could no longer be felled at hand to make  new  lumber to hold  fast  the stones, or new poles to lash together  for scaffolding. We  used  again what we had at hand, but these  grew corrupt with insects and weather.'
 * 21) So the work grew dangerous.  It took the life of my father. My uncle married my mother under the  Kinsman Redeemer law. He was a sofer, and he was apprenticing his son Yakob to be a scribe in turn. We had to be  very quiet  around  Yakob  as  he  slowly copied out the Torah.
 * 22) Hilfai told me the  rabbi  who had ordered the scroll was paying  a daily wage to bring bread to his own family,  but  there  would  not   be enough for the newly doubled  family until Yakob had completed the Torah.  He said we needed to find work,  and in this he was blameless.
 * 23) But Hilfai and my mother and my sister Salome all wanted us to  take up  scaffolding again so soon  after my  father was laid in his  tomb.  I refused.  In anger told them it  was just  a slow way to commit  suicide.  So I left, and my brothers also  refused them, so they came with me.
 * 24) I did not honor my mother  and father,  nor did I honor he who  became  my father under  the  Levirite law, as almighty God commanded Moshe we must do, and so I piled sin  upon sin,  and  I have no  answer  before God, and now I will lay my hand upon my mouth with my fault laid bare.'
 * 25) Then Philippos and Andreia were satisfied that Yeshua was truly contrite. They brought him to the  edge of  the river to be baptized by  Yohanan. With a warm smile of welcome, Yohanan  gently  waded  with  Yeshua twenty  feet  to the middle  of  the small river to dunk him in.
 * 26) But a deep green glow  suffused the river, and Yohanan lost  Yeshua.  It  was entirely beyond his  experience.  Then  Yohanan  panicked,  and started splashing around in the  water  looking for the man. The  river was wide but it was only waist deep, yet Yeshua was nowhere to be found.
 * 27) Travel the equator of Heaven to a  point halfway between  Salem  and Rumbek  and turn north. Then  travel over the Ice to a point halfway  between  the equator and pole and  you will  arrive  at a  massive  volcano named  Mount Anshar which has  grown layer by layer for a million years.
 * 28) Ice two miles deep moved at  an imperceptible pace, trying to  erode Anshar into a zone of craggy uplands should it ever go dormant. It flowed around the obstacle and merged again many  miles to the  south,  exposing the only bare rock in Heaven outside of the equatorial belt.
 * 29) When the angelic incarnation of Keter  arrived  at this  small  land using  the  coordinates  Lilith  had given hym some twelve hundred  years prior, hy saw that the ice was somewhat closer than hy remembered,  and the mountain was silent. Perhaps the hot spot under Anshar had cooled.
 * 30) Michael's  house  across   the stony flat looked different than  hy remembered, and no wonder, when  Mt.  Anshar  was in eruption it no  doubt threw   flaming   projectiles   many miles.  And hy had once burned  down the house himself in anger after the conception of Binah.
 * 31) With a scowl on hyz face at the pervasive smell of sulphur hy strode past  boiling mud pots and ponds  of scalding  water. The  ground  itself was as warm as hyz body. The  house, hy  knew,  relied on  these  thermal features  to maintain a  comfortable temperature within its walls.
 * 32) Hy walked the quarter-mile  to the house and let hymself inside. It was  not locked, and why  should  it be?   The  inhabitants   of   Heaven thought  the  northern Ice  went  on without end. No traveler ever  stumbled onto the land of Anshar for all the time Heaven has been populated.
 * 33) The  house was  not  empty.  A short human stood in the main living space,  brown  of skin,  with  black hair  cropped short and long  unruly facial  hair that marked him as  one the   descendants  of  Abraham   who called themselves the Yehudim.  They abstained from trimming their beard.
 * 34) When Yeshua greeted Belial with a  simple hello, Belial  said,  'You know  who I am, yet you do  not  address  me as Lord. The B'nei  Elohim have  grown less courteous of  late.  Where  is the seraph  Chokhmah  mentioned would be waiting here?' Yeshua declared himself to be a seraph.
 * 35) Belial told Yeshua a human seraph  was a contradiction  in  terms.  'Yet  I  am not Chokhmah.  Have  you forgotten  his warning  that  taking bodies serially is fraught with peril?'  'Binah, then. Welcome  to  the world  of  meat.' Yeshua  said  this meat went by the name of Yeshua.
 * 36) Belial replied that  Chokhmah's fears  about serial possession  were groundless.  Yeshua asked,  'Do  you deny  each possession  dilutes  your original  persona by half?  Chokhmah dared this union only with  Michael.  I'll  not merge with another  worlddweller after my death as Yeshua.'
 * 37) Belial derided Yeshua for  persisting in Chokhmah's delusion  that the  mind  of  world-dwelling   apes could  ever contaminate the mind  of stars.  'Something  you  just  said: Welcome to the world of meat. In the joining  with Yeshua I, as  a  star, knew the meat as though born to it.'
 * 38) The blank look on Belial's face told  Yeshua hy was too far gone  to understand the point. Hy was a  composite being with the possessed  angel Belial at half-strength and  the multitude of previous seraphim forming  the other half.  Classic  Keter was lost somewhere in that crowd.
 * 39) Michael had made Yeshua  understood this in an intellectual sense, but  it never really  resonated  before.  They would, of  a  necessity, win the great game and strike a path free to El Elyon, but it would never taste  sweet  to obtain  a  complete victory over two doddering old yeng.
 * 40) Yeshua let the matter drop.  He said, 'Speaking of meat. I hope  you brought some with you, Belial,  otherwise the seven days you must tarry here will seem overlong.' Belial was amazed and asked how long Yeshua had been there. 'Forty days in  Anshar.' 'You've not eaten in forty days?'
 * 41) Yeshua  said it had  been  ten days without food. 'There has been a house in Anshar from nearly the  beginning. Obviously it has been maintained. So ask Chokhmah to send ministering  B'nei  Elohim  with   some food.' Yeshua quoted scripture  that man shall not put God to the test.
 * 42) 'In your case, Yeshua, the Lord God  is  also your  parent.  Doesn't Chokhmah  love you? Why  would  your parent  leave  you  in  this  lonely place  while you run out of food  to eat?'  Yeshua said Chokhmah  thought Belial would wish to meet a new seraph before being sent to Earth.
 * 43) Belial asked,'Why are you  sent to Earth. Yeshua said it was to  alter  things more to his  liking,  in the  same way Michael  once  ordered Heaven to hyz liking in the days  of the dragon.' 'A hungry man can never fairly  begin a great  toil.  Please accept food from your other parent.'
 * 44) Yeshua  bid hym  to  keep  hyz food,  as he had the  greater  need.  Yeshua was to leave Anshar  somewhat before hy did. 'As you wish.' Belial looked  around at the walls. 'I  remember  there  used to be a  map  of Heaven  here. Did it perish  in  the blaze?' 'There is a map upstairs.'
 * 45) 'Come,  I  would  show  you  a thing.'  Yeshua followed  Belial  to the railed deck that formed a  ceiling over the kitchen and the comfort room. There a talented artisan, perhaps B'nei Elohim, had carved a representation of Heaven into the  wall and coated it with varnish.
 * 46) Belial showed Yeshua the gently twisting band of Adan in an  instant of  time, from the River Kelang  and the city of Dartarus in the east, to Ganelon  and Mount Adan in the  center, to Surat and Salem and the Aramel  Sea in the west.  'Behold,  all these lands are mine, solely.'
 * 47) 'I  don't even know  what  you mean  when you say those  lands  are yours,' said Yeshua. 'You're a  sentient star with an angel for a  living avatar. Do you mean the Adanites immediately  obey the whims of  that avatar? Forgive me, father, but that seems to me a small achievement.'
 * 48) 'Nevertheless, Yeshua,  attend most carefully. This is an  opportunity  to  forge our  own  covenant.' Belial  walked left along  the  wall frieze to stop where Rumbek was  depicted. 'Behold Magodon, of old  the land of House Larund, which  belongs to Daat, solely.'
 * 49) 'I would dispute your  use  of the  word 'solely, objected  Yeshua.  'The War in Heaven never really ended  with  the fall of  your  dragon, would you not agree? Certainly  Rumbek and Peshast remain at peace, but Elketz  has been picked over  for  a thousand years and Belen is a ruin.'
 * 50) 'Again, Yeshua, hear me out.  I will   make  all  this  worth   your while.'  Belial  walked to  the  far left edge of the map. 'This is  Rammon.  I never gave it  to  Chokhmah, but  he rules by default.  The  Gold Beards  followed  Michael  from  the beginning and I cannot assail them.'
 * 51) 'You  are beginning to  see  a glimmer, Belial. To say you have  an empire in a purely legal sense means little  in real terms.' Belial  said hy  hoped  Yeshua saw where  hy  was leading.  Hy  walked to  the  right, where  Thalury appeared on the  map, with Sastrom, Haaretz, and Vaska.
 * 52) 'Heaven is divided  into  four great  houses, four empires, if  you will,  and now there are four  seraphim to reign over them. Give to  me the  same  deference  you  give   to Chokhmah,  nothing  more,  and   the holdings of Family Bellon are  yours to rule as you see fit.'
 * 53) 'Belial, why should I be  content  to rule the fourth part  of  a mere  ribbon  on  a  largely  frozen world with little more than half the area of the Earth? Heaven is  merely the  first interstellar colony of  a home  world that is far  more  rich.  I'm not sent to rule, but to teach.'
 * 54) Belial  asked  what  he  would teach. 'To live peacefully with  one other to begin,' said Yeshua.  'Later,  perhaps,  to  reach  the  stars without  our aid and set up  Heavens of  their own. But you already  know that,  and have spent six  centuries seeking the Tablet of the Covenant.'
 * 55) 'The Menkalese have  protected their  prize well,' Belial  allowed, 'but  it is inevitable I will  seize the  relic. Human kingdoms  are  not immortal. I will simply gnaw away at the Roshites until I prevail.'   Yeshua said the tablet would only gain a little longer life for him.
 * 56) Belial required more  explanation. 'The tablet is the only object the humans have which can survive  a a sun's fire, but that is merely the fastest  way for them to put me  and Chokhmah into contact with El Elyon.  Blocking  that option will only  buy you a century or two of more life.
 * 57) 'What does not enter into  your considerations, Belial, is that when humans fill the new worlds they find they will also fill space with their electromagnetic  chatter.  Stars  in contact  with  El  Elyon  will  come calling with their avatars, and your harem scheme will be exposed.'
 * 58) 'You know nothing of these matters. Notwithstanding what  Chokhmah has told you of them, as my daughter you  owe  to me the same  honor  you give your mother by the long  custom of  the elohim.' Yeshua insisted  he owed Belial nothing as every  moment of isolation compounded his crime.
 * 59) Belial said, 'You know that  by our  ancient  covenant  Chokhmah  is permitted to listen to the 'chatter' of  El Elyon, but never to speak  to them. I, however, will grant to  you full  access  to El Elyon,  to  both listen and speak, if you agree to be silent about certain things.'
 * 60) 'Allow me to make a  counteroffer,  father.  Abrogate  the   First Covenant.  Grant  both  myself   and Chokhmah access to El Elyon  immediately, and we will present the  discovery  of the Students to the  City of Stars with no mention of the many centuries Chokhmah was held silent.'
 * 61) Belial shook hyz head. 'It  is well  you took this  opportunity  to converse  with  me, Binah,  but  you have been a disappointment from  the instant  you began to  exist.'  'The offer  I  made to you just  now  was sincere. But I would have been  surprised to hear your acceptance.
 * 62) 'I  must admit  the  offer  is tempting,' Belial said. 'That is  my traditional  role and you've  turned the  tables  quite neatly.  But  announcing  the Students,  even  under the  terms you offer, will  bring  a level of scrutiny from El Elyon that I will never be prepared to accept.'
 * 63) 'What  I will  do  instead  is press  one advantage I do have.  You fear  serial  lives? You  will  only exist  in union with this  one  from those  sunny farms and  hills  along Hayam Hagadol? Very well! I can  add a  complication to your plan to  become a teacher to your students.'
 * 64) Belial reached into his  tunic and withdrew a long devilish  blade, almost a short sword. Hy said, 'Once Israel got into an all-night  tussle with Yakob and had to surrender  hyz name  to be released. You know  that story. You look underfed to me,  yet I'll not repeat the mistake.'
 * 65) 'Oh, Belial, it will take  much more  than  a blade  to  finish  me.  Plasma from a star's belly might  do it.'  Belial said he wanted  to  put that to the test.  'Self-replicating veterinary  nano, Belial,  something Chokhmah heard chatter about. I'm to be a healer as well as a teacher.'
 * 66) Belial moved forward with  the blade,  to test if this nano  healed missing  flesh. Yeshua  cried,  'God shall  give his angels  charge  over you. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest your foot strike against a stone!' He bent backwards over the wooden rail of the upper level.
 * 67) A  ball of water  a  meter  in diameter appeared, floating in  midair. The water overflowed the sphere and the excess poured straight  down to  the floor. It was Binah's  business  to make sure the  ball  intercepted  Yeshua as he fell with  arms and legs tucked in close.
 * 68) Belial screamed wih  rage  because hy knew what was coming and hy could  only  watch it  come.  Yeshua cannonballed into the sphere of  water,  which then snapped out of  existence with a loud pop and a splash that  left the water ankle  deep  on the ground floor of the house.
 * 69) Left alone Belial's first  impulse  was to burn Chokhmah's  house to the foundation once more. But  hy remembered  the week it  would  take Daat  to stockpile  sufficient  dark light to establish a fold-door so hy could  depart, and how  cold  Anshar could get. The fire would wait.
 * 70) Yeshua did not emerge from  the river  named Jordan for longer  than any man could hold his breath by his own will, but he did rise again,  to the  relief of his  brothers  Shimon and Yosy, as well as Yohanan and his disciples, who had scoured the river thinking he was drowning.
 * 71) Yohanan peered closely to  assure  himself it really  was  Yeshua and  not someone else who had  dived into  the water looking for him.  He said,  'God is gracious!  I  thought you  had been swept  away!'  Yohanan wondered why the man did not seem to be distressed and gasping for air.
 * 72) And Yeshua said to him,  'Peace be  with you, teacher. I  am  well.' But no further explanation was  given,  which annoyed Yohanan.  He  let Yeshua  return with his brothers  to the crowd of hangers-on who  watched from the bank of the Jordan. No  one else came forward to be baptized.
 * 73)  It  entered  into   Yohanan's thoughts how this Yeshua might  have made  pretense of drowning to  drive away  the supplicants. He set  Yudah of  Kerioth to watch Yeshua and  his brothers  to see what more  mischief they might do, and perhaps, when the crowds thinned, bid them to depart.
 * 74) Standing apart from the  crowd and the river was a man who was said to have an unclean spirit, who  continually cried out in a tongue  that others  knew  not. When  Yeshua  saw this man he was filled with  compassion  and drew near to him. The  man said, 'Have you come to destroy us?'
 * 75) Briefly Yeshua was horrified to imagine the inner state of this man, that he would speak so. Yet the  man had sufficient hope to seek out  the baptism of Yohanan and the self-control  to stand where he did.  Yeshua knew the brain was an organ like any other, subject to ailments.
 * 76) But fear born of ignorance  led people  to believe the  man's  irrational shouts were the mark of  possession  by devils. Yeshua  saw  how these things presented an opportunity.  He said, 'Hold your peace,  and come  out of him!' Then  he  touched the man's bare skin with his hands.
 * 77) The effect was so swift it surprised  even Yeshua. The fellow  had sought baptism as a cure, but now at the touch of Yeshua he was no longer driven  to make  unfiltered  shouts.  Yosy  and Shimon were  shocked.  Onlookers  said, 'He commands  unclean spirits and they obey!'
 * 78) The cured man fell to his knees before  Yeshua,  but he was  bid  to rise again, and he was led to Yudah, who  had  been sent  by  Yohanan  to watch over the three sons of  Yosef.  Yeshua said to him, 'If you know you have sinned tell them to this disciple of Yohanan, and be baptized.'
 * 79) Then Shimon and  Yosy  pressed near to ask their brother how he was now able to cast out devils.  Yeshua said, 'Only God has the power to  do that, and anyone so gifted by God as he  chooses.  If you pledge  not  to reveal it, I will tell you the words I heard under the water.'
 * 80) Yeshua's brothers assured  him they would remain silent so he  said to  them, 'I saw a light when I  was under  the water. It was  down,  not up.  Not just sunlight,  you  understand. I heard a voice say, 'You are my   beloved  son  and  I  am   well pleased. Today I have begotten you.
 * 81) Shimon seemed to leap backwards a step from instinct, fearful of the words that poured from the mouth  of his  brother.  'It is well  we  have undertaken  to be silent, Yeshi.  If Hilfai heard you say that that  he'd hand  you over to the Pharisees  for the forty stripes less one.'
 * 82) But Yosef Jr. embraced his  older brother on the principle that he had  always loved and  trusted  him, and  besides, he had just  seen  him cure  a  demoniac with a  touch.  'I will  need your help, both of  you,' Yeshua said. 'The harvest is bountiful, but the laborers are few.'
 * 83) Like the man cured by  Yeshua, some  of the crowd suffered  afflictions they believed were  punishment for  sin. But all Yohanan could  do, after his disciples determined  they were contrite, was baptize them  and give  assurance they were  forgiven.  He could not make them well.
 * 84) But now when these  unfortunate people came out of the Jordan  River Yeshua  laid his hands on  them  and they were indeed healed just as they hoped. Word spread. Soon Yohanan had people  taking numbers to be  dunked and when he passed the plate  around it overflowed with shekels.
 * 85) Now all that region was  ruled by Antipatros, the son of Herod, who had ambitions to be king of all  Judea,  but it seemed good to the  emperor Augustus to call him tetrarch.  Nevertheless  Rome was pleased  with his  administration of  Galilee  and also Perea across the Jordan River.
 * 86) Jewish landowners and  Levites who  prospered by dipping  into  the river of taxes that flowed from  the peasants  to  Rome all  favored  the rule  of  Herod Antipas, as  he  was called. As the fame of Yohanan  grew some came out to see his baptism and the healings by his new disciple.
 * 87) When Yohanan saw the  Herodians he  called them the get  of  vipers, and  asked who warned them  to  flee from  the wrath of God' One of  them said in reply, 'Certainly the blameless under the law do nothing worthy of  repentance.  To what  end  would such as we come under condemnation?'
 * 88) Yohanan replied, 'It does  not make  a  man good if he  merely  refrains from doing evil. Even now the axe is made sharp. Every tree  which does not bear good fruit shall  fall victim  to the tree feller.  Let  he with two coats give to he with none, and he that has food do likewise.'
 * 89) 'Save your admonitions for  the foreign soldiers and the gentiles of Galilee,' said the Herodian. 'We are the  children of the Covenant.'  Yohanan picked up two stones as though to  cast  missiles and said  God  is able of these stones to raise up the descendants he promised Abraham.
 * 90) The Herodians antagonizing  Yohanan  advanced as though  to  seize him, but they saw his disciples came to  defend him, stout  fellows  all, and  some of the crowd who had  come to hear his preaching began to  grow angry  and pick up stones  of  their own. So they withdrew for a time.
 * 91) The crowds who came to the baptism of Yohanan waxed greatly  after word  of  Yeshua's  healings  spread through Galilee. Yohanan's  disciple Andreia spoke to his brother Shimon, a  boatman who caught fish  on  Lake Kinneret  to be dried and  preserved by salt in the city of Magdala.
 * 92) Shimon listened to the  things Andreia  told him of Yeshua's  healings,  and how the crowds coming  to the  banks of the Jordan  grew  ever larger.  For a time Shimon left  his boat  in  the hands of the  men  who worked under him that he might  join his brother and become a disciple.
 * 93) Yohanan walked with his retinue of  eight disciples to  the  capital city of Tiberias newly built on Lake Kinneret, where he preached directly from  the Code of Moshe: 'If  a  man marries  his brother's wife  he  has dishonored his brother with  impurity. They shall be childless.'
 * 94) And  Herod Antipas  knew  this Yohanan was deliberately  antagonizing him, since he had married  Herodias,  the wife of his brother  Philip, after she had divorced her husband. There was no provision in Jewish  law for a woman to  initiate  a divorce. She had invoked Roman law.
 * 95) Then Herod Antipas sent  forth lackeys  from  among the  Jews,  the same  who had come to the river  two weeks  before to  confront  Yohanan.  Armed with clubs, they were  ordered to seize Yohanan and mistreat any of his  disciples who would attempt  to thwart the arrest of their master.
 * 96) Shimon, the brother of Andreia, moved to stand close to Yohanan,  as he  was a large and  formidable  man and  zealous to prove himself  as  a new disciple, but he was waved  off.  Yohanan had made his point. The ones who  claimed to be  blameless  under the law supported an adulterer.
 * 97) Yohanan's four original  disciples  thought God would strike  down the  men  who took  him  captive  as well. They said nothing, and watched until Yohanan disappeared from view.  Philippos  turned to Yeshua to  ask, 'Will  you  heal the  Teacher  after Antipas has chastised him?'
 * 98) Yeshua said, 'Of all the prophets sent to the children of  Israel, none is greater than Yohanan, and if you are willing to accept it, he  is Elijah who was to come again. But of a  truth  I say to  you,  Philippos, that  you shall not see your  master again until the second life.'
 * 99) Something about Yeshua's  words conveyed a deep sincerity that immediately  convinced  the   disciples.  Barthulumaus sobbed, Yudah pulled at his hair. Andreia said to his brother,  'What  do  you  think,  Shimon?  Shall we return to the nets and take up fishing again to buy our way?'
 * 100) Yeshua said to Andreia and  his brother, 'Stay close to me,  rather, and I will make you fishers of men.' He turned toward the other  discipes of  Yohanan,  and his  own  brothers Shimon and Yosy. 'Your teacher  baptized you with water but I will baptize you with the spirit of God.'
 * 101) Shimon and Yosy  were  already willing  to  follow,  but  Yohanan's disciples  remained near the  palace until sunset as Philippos held on to the hope that his master would  simply be beaten and releaased. But  it grew  dark, and he asked  of  Yeshua dolefully, 'Where shall we go now?'
 * 102) 'I have silver,'  Yeshua  told him.  'We  will dine  and  lodge  in Tiberias  tonight,  and when  it  is light  we  will  go  south.'  Indeed Yeshua always seemed to have silver, though not even Shimon and Yosy knew where he obtained it, nor even where he kept it about his person.
 * 103) Yeshua  knew  all  the  people around him, the very culture of  the Roman world, was obsessed with scarcity.  On a planet of  inexhaustible riches  humans beings  faced  bitter lack  everywhere  they  turned,  and they imagined God himself could dole out blessings only to a limited few.
 * 104) The broken trust between people over needless scarcity was made manifest when Yeshua led his  disciples through rocky fields and over fences of  stones rather than  walking  the roads. When Yudah asked why,  Yeshua replied,  'Eight men on a road  with no women look like bandits.'
 * 105) Though Yeshua went  cross-country  there did not lack the lame  to be made to walk, and the dumb to  be made  to speak, and the blind to  be made to see. His fame reached  Nazareth,  the  village of  his  family, before he reached there in two  days just as the Shabbat commenced.
 * 106) In  Nazareth  Yeshua  realized that  even  his beloved  mother  was immersed in the outlook of scarcity.  She  said,  'Yosy told me  you  have changed, somehow. That you can  heal with a touch. How could this come to be?'  Yeshua insisted that she  give all glory to the God of Israel.
 * 107) 'I have heard there is a spring in  Emmaeus  with  warm  water  that comes out of the ground. Many people come  there to be healed,  and  they pay  money.'  Yeshua told  her  they paid  money to tolltakers,  but  God made the spring so what right do the toll takers have to take this money?
 * 108) 'Mother has a point,' said  Salome,  who was Yeshua's sister,  but older by seven years. She had  experienced  several  miscarriages   and stillborn children. and she was married to a man named Zvad'yah. Half a generation  removed from her  brothers, who saw her more as an aunt.
 * 109) Salome said, 'Shimon  told  me you're wandering around the countryside  healing the sick for  whatever they  can scrape up to give  you.  I think you would be better served  to remain  here with your  family.  But Yeshua said she would only become  a toll taker herself.
 * 110) Yeshua drew near to her with  a closed fist. When he opened it, silver  coins fell into her lap  to  be caught by her robe, the plain  disks issued  by  Herod  Antipas  with  no images stamped thereon, so as not to offend Jews. There was far more money than could have fit in his fist.
 * 111) He said, 'Take no thought,  beloved sister, for your life, nor for what  you  shall eat, nor  what  you shall  wear.  Life is so  much  more than food or raiment. Our God  knows you have need of those things.  Seek first his kingdom, and nothing shall hinder you from receiving them.'
 * 112) 'The kingdom of God?' asked Hifai.  'And what do you imagine  that makes you? His prince?' Yeshua  said nothing  in reply  immediately.  Instead he went over to a shelf  where Hilfai  kept  his  scrolls  of   the prophets in clay pots and found  the one containing the words of Isaiah.
 * 113) Yeshua unspooled to a  certain place and recited, 'On that day  the deaf  shall  hear  the  words  of  a scroll, and out of darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The  desperate  ones  shall again find  joy  in HaShem, the poorest shall rejoice in the Holy Redeemer of Israel.'
 * 114) Yeshua gathered up the  scroll and  put it back in its  place.  His next  words dropped into  a  silence that had followed. 'I tell you  this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing  this night.' And there  was heard  from Hilfai a gutteral  moan, as he held his fist near his ear.
 * 115) 'They tell me you can now  heal the  sick, Yeshua, but can you  heal yourself? You suffer the same  mindsickness  of this Yohanan  you  call your  master. It makes you  say  the scriptures speak of yourself. It  is a  plague.  Many have  suffered  the same, and they came to no good end.'
 * 116) Shimon  nearly  called  Hilfai 'Clopas'  again,  or  'Replacement', but  his  mother was there,  and  he remembered being baptized after vowing never again to do just that.  So he  said,  'You  haven't  seen  what Yeshi  can do!' But perhaps he  had.  Salome was still picking up coins.
 * 117) 'I  have no wish to  see  what Yeshua  can do, if he leads you  and all who follow him to be beaten with rods, or thrown into prison, or even stoned  to  death!  How  would  your mother  bear the news of it?'  Yakob begged  his father to say  no  more, and turned to face Yeshua.
 * 118) 'This kingdom of God that  you speak of now confuses me,' said  Yakob  to his step-brother in a  voice as  calm  and measured as  he  could make  it.  'Tell me, Yeshua,  is  it really  better than the rule of  the Gentiles if it divides your own family this way in the very beginning?'
 * 119) Yeshua replied, 'How do you not discern  this time? The  kingdom  of God, like any birth, comes with agony.  From now on a father  shall  be divided against his son, and a mother  against  her  daughter,  and   a brother  against his  sister,  until the rule of God is made manifest!'
 * 120) Yakob said to him, 'It is Shabbat.  We will make room here and  in the  house of Zvad'yah for  all  who are  traveling with you. But on  the morning of the first day of the week you  should go, as you  have  said.' Yeshua  said they are justified  who called him Yakob the Righteous.
 * 121) Yeshua spoke true when he  said families  would  be  divided.  Yakob would not join Yeshua, but his  twin brother Yudah did. And the followers of   Yeshua  called  him  Teom,   or 'Twin',  to  distinguish  him   from Yonanan's Yudah who came from a town in southern Judea called Kerioth.
 * 122) And the young sister of  Yakob of  Yudah,  who  was  called  Little Miriam now that she had a step-mother  named Miriam also, mourned  that her brother was to leave. Yet he was not alone. The sons of Z'vad'yah and Salome, Yakob and Yohanan, chose  to become disciples of Yeshua.
 * 123) Yohanan was two years  younger than Yosy, so he was the youngest of all those who became Yeshua's disciples,  and he lived the longest.  To avoid  confusion with  the  baptizer and with his stepbrother Yeshua surnamed his cousins Yohanan and  Yakob Boanerges, or 'Sons of Thunder'.
 * 124) Yeshua healed a 'leper' and ordered  him  to make a  gift  to  the priest in the temple of God  according  to the Mosaic Law, but  he  was saddened by the case because the man only  had psoriasis. He was not  infectious,  yet the priests have  required him to live in solitude.
 * 125) Yeshua  told  the  crowd  that gathered,  'A man had two  sons.  He told one, 'Go and work in the  vineyard  today.' At first his  son  refused, but thought better of it  and went.  The  man  said  the  same  to another  son, who replied,  'I  will go, sir' but in fact he did not.
 * 126) 'Which was the  faithful  son?  Because  your Father in heaven  said the  children of Israel are to be  a light  to the Gentiles. But  do  you make  the rule of God  present  with your participation? No! You pay  lip service,  and wait for God to  overthrow your occupiers with violence!'
 * 127) A man named Mattiyahu  was  so moved  by what Yeshua said  that  he drew  near  and  said,  'Teacher,  I would  that you and  your  disciples recline at table in my house, for  I hope to hear more.' Yeshua accepted, but Barthulumawus objected that  the man was a tax collecting sinner.
 * 128) 'Yeshua  said in  reply,  'The taxes ultimately flow to Rome,  Barthulumawus, and you fail to see  how they deflect the anger of those  who pay   the  taxes  by  directing   it against  our brothers who gather  it for them. Howbeit, I am not  calling the righteous to repentance.'
 * 129) As they dined in the house  of Mattiyahu he asked wghat signs would presage  when God began to  directly rule the nations of the Earth? Yeshua  said, 'Men will not say  of  the Kingdom of God, 'Here it comes!'  or 'Look  over there!' as it  will  already exist among you.
 * 130) But do not think the Kingdom of God  changes the law. Every  precept of  Moshe shall stand for the  duration  of Earth itself. But  God  expects more than performing the written  obligations. He sees into  your heart.  Your interior  righteousness must exceed that of the scribes.'
 * 131) Hearing all these things,  Matthiyahu  begged to be numbered  with Yeshua's disciples. He replied, 'You must abandon your work as a publican to follow me.' Mattiyahu immediately agreed and the objection of  Barthulumawus over dining with a tax  collector was answered quite neatly.
 * 132) Then Yeshua led his  disciples to  Lake  Kinneret  that   Mattiyahu might be baptized, and he asked Barthulumawus to do the honors.  Yeshua watched  Yohanan's  former  disciple intently  but Barthulumawus  thought it  to be unnecessary. He  knew  the meaning of the ritual cleansing.
 * 133) And  when Mattiyahu  was  come again out of the waters of the  lake he was fully accepted by Barthulumawus and all of the disciples as  one of  their own. Then was seen in  the eleventh hour the boat owned by Shimon the brother of Andreia  bringing to shore the day's catch of fish.
 * 134) With Yeshua and his  disciples laboring  in the final hour  of  the day, the fish was packed onto wagons to be driven to the city for salting and  packing. Yeshua knew that  much of  the  fish would never  get  that far, but would be lost to toll  takers on the road and in the city.
 * 135) Through the evening they  went north  across Lake Kinneret in  what would  become  a  potent  symbol  of Yeshua's  followers in centuries  to come, the 'Barque of Peter'.  Seated at the rudder, Shimon sailed to  his home in Capernaum on a gentle  wind, guided by lights he knew so well.
 * 136) And Shimon's  wife  Concordia, hearing  that  he drew near  to  the house,  went out to greet  him,  but she  was  less happy than  he  would have liked. She said, 'My mother has been stricken with a fever for three days.'  Then Shimon went in  to  see Perpetua, and Yeshua went with him.
 * 137) They saw Perpetual lying  sick with  fever,  and  Yeshua  took  her hand. Within a few moments she  rose from  the bed and her thoughts  grew clear. Having laid in bed for  three days she was keen to move about,  so with Concordia she prepared a supper for Yeshua and his disciples.
 * 138) Overnight the word of  Yeshua's deed spread throughout Capernaum. By first  light  the  entire  town,  it seemed, was gathered outside of  the house  of Shimon. And four men  with paralysis  were  borne  toward   the house on litters, but could not  enter by reason of the crowd.
 * 139) The men with palsy were  lifted by  ropes to the roof  of  adjoining houses  and  taken directly  to  the house  of Shimon. A section  of  the roof overhead was removed as  Yeshua looked  up in  amused  satisfaction, permitting  the stricken men  to  be lowered to the floor within.
 * 140) There also appeared above  the hole  in the roof the faces  of  men Yeshua  recognized  from   Tiberias, some of the same partisans who  took Yohanan  into custody on the  orders of Herod Antipater. And Yeshua  said to  them, 'Hail to you, O  blameless ones. What have you come to see?'
 * 141) One of them said, 'We know  Yohanan  blasphemed  God  by   telling those  he bapitized their sins  were forgiven.  We would see if his  successor  persists in this  blasphemy.  Only  God can forgive the sins of  a man  if he confesses them and  makes sacrifice according to the Law.'
 * 142) Yeshua gestured at the four men lying  on  cots before him,  all  of them  mute and none of them able  to make  any movements beyond  involuntary  trembling.  'Do  you   imagine these  unfortunate men have come  to this state through their own  sins?' The Herodian insisted he knew it.
 * 143) Yeshua said, 'I tell  you  God has  already  forgiven  these  men.' The Herodian replied it was impossible. They have made no confession of their sins and no temple  sacrifice.  Yeshua said, 'But their kinsmen have made intercession with God. Have you ever seen such hope and trust?'
 * 144)  The  Herodian  shouted   down through  the hole made  in  Shimon's roof by the kinsmen of the afflicted ones  that the one who sins  is  the one who shall die. Yeshua said, 'Ah, the prophet Yehezkel. Hear the words of the prophet Hosea in reply:  'For I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'
 * 145) Then Yeshua touched each of the men  with  palsy in turn,  and  soon their tremors ceased, and they  were able  to  rise from  the  canvas  of their  own power, and the  faces  of the Herodians watching overhead were seen  no  more. But  there  remained many sick of Capernaum to be healed.
 * 146) As he made them  whole  Yeshua recalled his words to Belial in  Anshar, how he was to be a teacher and a  healer.  What was  he  to  teach?  Would  people be willing  to  accept how  the healing was done?  Everyone in  this culture imagined  invisible spirits were everywhere they turned.
 * 147) Yeshua made an end of his deeds in  Capernaum and moved  south  with all of his disciples along the shore of  Lake  Kinneret, but  the  crowds followed, coming from every  quarter of  Galilee.  Yeshua said  to  them, 'How  fortunate  are the  poor.  The kingdom of God will belong to you.
 * 148) 'In the Kingdom of God the hungry will be sated, the weeping  will laugh,  peasants  will  inherit  the land,  and all those who  have  been reviled will receive recompense, for so  did the priests and scribes  and elders of the House of Yakob  revile the prophets who came before you.'
 * 149) Yeshua  tried to  control  the growth  of his fame by ordering  the people he cured to tell no one,  but they  rarely obeyed. When he  healed the  male lover of a  centurion  who was  paralyzed Philippos  protested, reminding Yeshua of the  humiliation of Jews under the Roman boot.
 * 150) Yeshua said, 'To make the Kingdom of God present in this age, Philippos, love even the ones you think of as your enemies. Why would you be praised for loving only your friends and  kinsmen?  Even the  Romans  who dominate the lands once given to the House of Israel do as much.'
 * 151) When Yeshua came to the city of Magdala on the lake a Gentile  woman came  before  Yeshua and  knelt  low with  her head bowed. The  disciples saw  that she was fair of  hair  and skin,  like those who came from  the mountains in the north of Italy, and she spoke in a strange tongue.
 * 152) She  said, 'The  B'nei  Elohim greet you, Lord. By your leave, will Vulgar Latin be sufficiently obscure that  we may speak openly?' He  said it  would be enough, so long as  she avoided  Hebraisms such as 'sons  of God' as already his brothers thought her to be afflicted with devils.
 * 153) And  indeed, Shimon  and  Yosy never  knew their brother  to  speak anything  but  Aramaic,  the  Syrian tongue,  or read Hebrew from  scripture. They thought his words to  the woman were commands to a demon.  She rose to her feet, and they  marveled how she was arrayed like a princess.
 * 154) She  said, 'Yohanan  has  been executed,  Lord.  It  was  a   clean death.  Antipas  actually  respected him.  He  liked to hear him  preach, he  just needed him off the  street.  But Herodias could never forgive him and maneuvered to have him beheaded.  The details are rather sordid.'
 * 155) Yeshua inquired about the quality  of her spoken Greek  and  Shyla said  it  was serviceable.   So  she could  communicate with his  followers.   'Travel with me for a  while.  I may have further need of your talent of fading from human sight. I'll call you Miriam of Magdala.'
 * 156) 'As  you command,  Lord,'  she replied in Koine Greek. 'Please  accept   the   hospitality   of    our field...ah,  rather, of my house  in this  city.' Yeshua agreed.  He  and his disciples followed Miriam  home, with  his  enemies not  far  behind.  Yeshua even invited these to eat.
 * 157) But the Herodians declined, and hated  how  he  and  his   disciples cheerfully dined at the B'nei Elohim field station, breaking down  barriers  between human beings  and  God, and  barriers between  human  beings themselves.  Their  livelihood  consisted of being paid interlocutors.
 * 158) Taking no thought of the digestion  of those who dined, they  said to Yeshua, 'How is it you call yourself a disciple of Yohanan, yet  are found in the home of a loose  woman, one  not even of the holy people  of God, eating and drinking with a  man known to be a tax-collector?'
 * 159) Yeshua turned to Mattiyahu  and asked of him, in a perfect parody of confusion, 'Levi, please help me, do you  see  anyone known to be  a  tax collector  here?' 'Not at all,  Master,' he replied. 'I see only  fulltime  students who would learn  from you the will of the God of Israel.'
 * 160) Yeshua addressed the Herodians, 'Yohanan was an ascetic and you said he  had  a devil. I share  food  and drink with my followers and you say, 'Behold,  a friend of  sinners,  one who  gets drunk with  harlots.'  The worst  part is you assume an  unmarried woman must be a prostitute.'
 * 161) One of the Herodians  suggested when  he  cast  out  devils  he  was  really  doing  it by  the  power  of Beelzebub   himself.  Yeshua   said, 'That fever dream makes no sense  at all. If Beelzebub gives me the power to destroy his kingdom, his  kingdom is, in fact, being destroyed.'
 * 162) The Herodian made one final  go at Yeshua, demanding a sign that  he had authority to baptize to  forgive sins.  Yeshua  said,  'God  forgives sinners the moment they wish to make amends.  The  water  itself  is  the sign. You seek a sign only to plug a hole in your belief.'
 * 163) The Herodians murmured  amongst themselves  and departed, but  Yeshua's cousins accepted the terms  defined  by them. Yakob said,  'Yeshi, which  of us shall have greater  authority in the age to come?'  Yeshua called  a  son of one of  the  B'nei Elohim in the station to draw near.
 * 164) He said, 'The teacher  is  not greater than his students, Yakob. If he  teaches well, a teacher and  all his students will be on a level. And if you do not conform to the will of God with the same unreserved acceptance  as this child, you  shall  not recline at the Banquet of God.'
 * 165) Yeshua said, 'Who is the  truly content  man,  the one  who  desires everything  and  cannot  obtain  all that  he grasps for, or the one  who wants only what he finds possible to obtain? The one who seeks the  whole world, or the one who is happy  with one small and peaceful household?'
 * 166) Yeshua's fame reached so  many towns  in Galilee that when  Antipas received word of it he feared Yohanan the baptizer had been raised from the  dead.  Others said  Yeshua  was Elijah  returned  from  heaven.  All agreed he was a major prophet on the order of Isaiah or Jeremiah.
 * 167) For a year Yeshua and his  followers wandered through Lower  Galilee and Samaria on the west side  of the  Jordan river, and also  visited Edom  and  Perea on the  east  side.  Antipas  ruled all of  these  lands, and  the religious  authorities  who favored him ever shadowed Yeshua.
 * 168) Yeshua  healed a  man  with  a withered  hand one Shabbat, and  the Herodians  said that was a day  when no work should be done. Yeshua could hardly  believe his ears.  He  said, 'If  your  lamb falls in a  hole  on Shabbat, will you not fetch it  out?  This man is worth more than a lamb.'
 * 169) As Yeshua roamed Perea  making the sick whole, crowds began to grow again  as  they did in  Galilee.  He said  to them, 'What is the  kingdom of  God  like, and to what  shall  I compare it? It is like a single seed of  mustard  which a  man  took  and threw into his garden.
 * 170) 'The forgotten seed grew  into the largest shrub in the man's  garden, and the birds of heaven came to nest in its branches. The Kingdom of God  can  be compared  to  a  single pinch  of leaven which a woman  took and hid in three measures of  flour, until it leavened the whole lump.
 * 171) 'Many will seek the Kingdom  of God,  but few will enter.  When  the householder has locked the door  and you  begin to knock, saying,  'Lord, open for us,' he will answer, 'I  do not  know  you.' And you  will  say, 'Recall  we ate and drank with  you, and you taught in our streets.'
 * 172) 'And he will answer, 'Why  call me  Lord when you never did  what  I told you to do? I tell you that many shall  come  from east and  west  to recline  at the Banquet of  God  but you  will be thrown outside  of  the heavenly gate, and there people will weep and gnash their teeth!'
 * 173) Miriam  came to  Yeshua  after being  away for a time and told  him he  should to take his  ministry  to another level. Nothing ever  becomes of antagonizing the Herodian faction in the north, and the people come to him  with a mind only to be  healed, not to embrace God's Kingdom.
 * 174) So Yeshua moved south. He  and his  disciples  began  to  dwell  in Bethany  at the house of  Shimon,  a leper who had been cleansed. And the people  near  Jerusalem  saw  Yeshua heal  and  heard him teach  for  the first time, as prior to this he  remained solely in the north country.
 * 175) For his first visit to the temple  Yeshua intended to preach  from Jeremiah  concerning how the  temple had  become a den of thieves. Not  a place where thievery took place, but where thieves went to avoid the consequences of their theft. He was unprepared for the real situation.
 * 176) Without sensing the irony,  the Yehudim,  alone among all the  children  of  Israel, made  a  mandatory pilgrimage once a year to  Jerusalem to offer sacrifice in what began  as a  harvest  festival, but  became  a celebration of freedom from slavery, all while remaining slaves of Rome.
 * 177) As this 'celebration' of liberty  was  required  by  the  Code  of Moshe, but very few of the people of Judea  were  actually  involved   in raising  the animals  specified  for slaughter,  the situation  was  ripe for abuse. The presence of  soldiers even spoke of Roman graft.
 * 178) Yeshua grew angered to see  the outer  court was a  teeming  marketplace. Animals acceptable for sacrifice were sold at a huge markup, and Roman coins were changed, again  for a  steep fee, into  special  'temple money'  conveniently  acceptable  to the priests for the temple tax.
 * 179) Yeshua produced one of the silver  disks that had been  minted  by Antipas,  with no image  whatsoever, but the moneychangers said even that was not acceptable. So Yeshua  found some rope and began to prepare it as a whip, while telling his  disciples to prepare to be bouncers.
 * 180) Yeshua then ripped through  the Court  of the Gentiles with  genuine wrath, flipping tables. He  shouted, 'The  house of my Father is a  place for worship and prayer, but you have turned  it  into a place to  turn  a profit!'  None of his disciples  had ever seen him that way before.
 * 181) Yudah of Kerioth could  squint his  eyes  and the  Yeshua  who  was whipping people in the temple courtyard  before him almost looked  like the  one he thought he signed up  to follow, the one foreseen by  Yohanan to  come after him who would  settle all Jewish accounts with the Romans.
 * 182) Sadducees come down to confront this rabble-rouser, Yeshua, the  one whom the Herodians had described  in their  epistles, as now he  was  attacking their own livelihood. A portion of the profits made in the temple  were kicked upstairs  to  them.  They took up stones to strike him.
 * 183) 'Destroy this temple,' he said, 'and  in three days I  will  rebuild it!' By this he was speaking of  the 'temple'   of  his  body,  but   the priests chose to misunderstand  him.  Still,  they could not  kill  Yeshua for fear of the crowd and the disciples who closed around their master.
 * 184) But Yeshua wasn't done  playing with his food. He said, 'Behold  the land  owning priests who  crave  approval  from the Romans, and  to  be seen  in purple robes, to have  loud salutations in the marketplace,  and a  place  of honor  at  the  feasts.  Truly, they have their reward!'
 * 185) The Sadducess departed to avoid further humiliation and Yeshua stood down, much to the disappointment  of Yudah  of  Kerioth.  The   Sadducees racked their brains trying to  think of  a way to put the man  to  death, but they could think of nothing  until they were approached by Yudah.
 * 186) For a year and more Yudah  had believed  the words of  the  prophet Malachi  were being fulfilled  which said,  'But  for you who  revere  my name, the sun of righteousness  will rise  with healing in its rays.'  He could  not deny the sick were  being made well at the touch of Yeshua.
 * 187) But Yudah knew Malachi had also gone  on  to write, 'Then  you  will trample on the wicked, and they will be  ashes  under the soles  of  your feet on the day when I act, says the God  of Israel,' but over  the  last year  Yeshua made not the  slightest move to make that come to pass.
 * 188) So  Yudah felt very  much  the same  as the scribes  and  Sadducees and Herodians who had run up against Yeshua, which is to say he  realized he had been played for a fool. Yeshua would never allow himself to  become  the focal point of  a  violent revolt against their Roman masters.
 * 189) Yudah also knew the enemies  of Yeshua could do little to harm  him.  Yeshua's  observance of the Code  of Moshe was impeccable, as that of any rabbi must always be. But for twenty brass sestertii he revealed a  thing that  would  get Yeshua  in  trouble with the Roman occupation.
 * 190) Few outside of Yeshua's  inner circle  knew he sought out  and  recruited a tax collector,  Mattiyahu, and  convinced  him to  abandon  his post. Yudah said subornation of  tax officials  was a crime  under  Roman law, and if a Jew committed the  offense it was a capital one to boot.
 * 191) The  priests paid  the  twenty sestercii and kicked in ten more  to use Yudah's name as a source. It was worth  much more to them to be  able to say the conspiracy against Yeshua began  within his own  circle.  That way Yeshua himself would be discredited, not merely his movement.
 * 192) With the eleven remaining  disciples  Yeshua inaugurated a  ritual where his followers gathered together  to drink wine in memory  of  his soon-to-be  shed blood, break  bread in  memory of his soon-to-be  broken body, and renew their commitment  to make the rule of God present.
 * 193) This meal, later to be  called the Last Supper, was the Banquet  of God.  In every nation on  Earth,  in every  age, this shared  meal  would become  the central devotion of  the people  who put Yeshua's words  into action and offered the adoration due to elohim to his father Chokhmah.
 * 194) After the meal Yeshua walked in a  grove of olive trees with  Miriam and  Mattiyahu.  Out  there  in  the night  he knew Yudah must be  making contact with the other disciples  to learn where he was, and he knew  the events  he had set in motion at  the temple were rushing to a climax.
 * 195) But as the night wore on  Mattiyahu  found it difficult  to  stay awake  with Yeshua and  Miriam,  and set himself against an olive tree to sleep.   After that a second  Miriam appeared.  She saw the sleeping Mattiyahu  and  she  saw  herself,  and said, 'Help me to understand, Lord.'
 * 196) He told her that he brought her back to a moment before he sent her, in case he needed to change  course, and  asked what she saw.  She  said, 'Before dawn, Lord, you are  brought before Annas, but of course he is no longer  high priest since  he's  too sadistic even for the Rome.
 * 197) 'He  asks  about   Mattiyahu's choice to suddenly abandon his position  as tax collector, only  to  be met  with a stony silence, and  each failure  to  answer merits  a  blow, until the faces of both you and your disciple  are a mass of  bruises.  I could hardly stand to watch it.
 * 198) When day broke you were  taken to  the  house of the  high  priest, Yosef bar Caiaphas, where some  members of the Sanhedrin gather to  put together   something  resembling   a trial.  But when Caiaphas sees  Mattiyahu's beaten face he realizes his proposed case was equally battered.
 * 199) He says, 'We were to say  this Yeshua talked a Jew out of  collecting  the taxes due the Romans.  What do  you imagine the  Roman  governor will  do when he sees this  publican has  the marks of a beating  and  he learns  that him we have done a  bit more than talk him out of his job?'
 * 200) One of the men who was present at the arrest in the gad-smane tells Nasi it was the Ab Bet Din, the  father of his wife, who delivered  the blows.  'Wisdom  has  long  departed from Annas,' says Caiaphas. He draws near to Mattiyahu. 'You may go,  but you must say nothing of this.'
 * 201) You have spoken truly,'  Mattiyahu says as his bonds are loosed, 'as  I will be too busy writing  all these  things into a codex to  speak anything.'  Caiaphas said the  forty stripes  less  one lay just  on  the other  side of that book. 'Then  let my back become a second witness.
 * 202) When Miriam finished her report Yeshua said, 'I will try a different way.  Instead of allowing  Mattiyahu to be arrested with me I'll send him to  warn  my other  followers.   And I'll send you upstream a little ways again to find out how it plays out.' A clear bubble whisked Miriam away.
 * 203) To the other  Miriam  standing nearby  he said, 'You should  invoke your talent before I rouse  Mattiyahu.'  She bowed and immediately faded from sight. He roused the  former publican  who had left his post  and asked, 'Will you obey me, Mattiyahu, if I give commandment?'
 * 204) He vowed that he  would,  unto his  very death. 'Then the time  has come.  I  will soon  fall  into  the hands of the temple authorities.  Go and warn my brothers to stay off the city streets lest you be captured as well.'   But Mattiyahu  insisted  he would stay at Yeshua's side.
 * 205) Yeshua's  rebuke  was   sharp.  'Mattiyahu!  Is this what form  your obedience   takes?   Time  is   very short.  Do as I have bid  you.'  And reluctantly, his disciple moved away into the night. Even as he  departed shouts  began  to be  heard  in  the grove of olive trees of Gad-smane.
 * 206) One  of  the  running  figures skidded  to  a halt when  he  caught sight  of  Yeshua  standing   there, seemingly  alone,  his  face   dimly visible  in  the light  of  shifting torches.  He pointed at him,  'Seize that  man!' And a voice in the  dark asked about the other disciples.
 * 207) 'What of them?' shrugged Yudah, drawing  near  to the ones  he  fingered.  'Let them run free.'  Yeshua thought he recognized the voice  but didn't imagine it could truly be his own disciple, Yudah of Kerioth,  one of the Twelve, until he saw his face in the flickering light.
 * 208) Yudah  reached out a  hand  to grab a fistful of Yeshua's beard,  a deadly insult that would have  triggered  at least a hot fistfight  had Yeshua been any other man.  With his master  held this way  Yudah  kissed him  full on the lips. He said,  'Do you know why I did it, Rabbi?'
 * 209) Yeshua said he could not  know another's thoughts but he guessed it was  because he broke  with  Yohanan and Yudah never did. Yudah shook his head.  'I believed you were the  one to  come, who was seen  by  Yohanan, but  all  you are  is  a  persuasive magician with a few simple tricks.'
 * 210) Yeshua  said, 'My  purpose  in this  world is not what you  imagine it  to be, Yudah, so  my  persuasion failed. Yet you have made my  errand possible.  I would thank you but  as you  have  heard me  say  before  to those  who love  perishable  things: you already have your reward.'
 * 211) Yudah saw that Yeshua had sabotaged even the small joy he had  expected to glean from this night.  He drew back and said, 'Truly it is  my hope  that God will now be you.  But somehow  I  do not think  he  will.' Then he watched the band of  strongmen take him away.
 * 212) Yeshua was grateful that  none of  his  disciples would  share  the rest of his ordeal on this  timeline but it complicated things. Now Caiaphas  must bring new charges to  get him  to his execution by  the  Roman governor  and not even Yeshua  could see a way to that goal.
 * 213) Caiaphas put his first question to  Yeshua. 'It is said  you  seized control of the baptizer's cult  when he was put to death. Is that  true?' Yeshua said the followers of Yohanan looked   to   him   after   he   was arrested.'  'What  does  Moshe  prescribe for the forgiveness of sins?'
 * 214) Yeshua  answered,  'He   shall bring forth his trespass offering, a ram  without  blemish  out  of   the flock,  and  the priest  shall  make atonement  for him before God.  Then his    transgression    shall     be forgiven.' Then Caiaphas asked  what was written  about water immersion.
 * 215) Yeshua said the prophet  Hosea spoke truth when he quoted God  saying he desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God  more than  burnt  offerings.  'Yes,   but these transgressors who come to  you seeking redemption in water, do  you accept them all, or turn some away?'
 * 216) 'Some are not baptized,  true,' replied Yeshua. 'God alone forgives, but only the truly penitent.'  Caiaphas asked how many shekels it  cost to frame the remorse of the penitent as  true. Yeshua said, 'Perhaps  you ascribe  the  contents of  your  own heart to my intentions.'
 * 217) 'And  perhaps  you   blaspheme God,' Caiaphas raged, 'by arrogating to  yourself, a mere man, the  power to declare sins remitted! But let us turn to what happened at the  temple last week. Why did you say you would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days?'
 * 218) Yeshua said, 'My words have not been reported truly. A group of  men picked  up  stones to strike  me.  I said  to them, 'Destroy this  temple and  in  three days I  will  rebuild it.'  The  meaning,  of  course,  is clear. By temple I was merely speaking of my own body.'
 * 219) Caiaphas  wondered  about  the allusion.  'The temple is the  house of  God. Do you claim your  body  is likewise  the house of  God?  Speak!  Abjure in the name of the living God that you are divine!' Yeshua replied that  in  just three days  he  would stand at the right hand of God.
 * 220) 'The charge is proven!' one  of them exclaimed. What need have we of witnesses asked another, rhetorically. But one party pooper named Yosef of the town of Ramathaim-Zophim  reminded them how Empire recently took away  the  tribunal's  authority  in most capital cases.
 * 221) Caiaphas knew he was right. The only  authority  the  Sanhedrin  retained to carry out the death penalty  was  in the case  of  a  Gentile trespassing  in the temple.  But  he brightened when he saw it was a  way around  their law forbidding  execution on the same day as conviction.
 * 222) 'We will take this false prophet before Pontius Pilate,' said  he, 'and say the rabble looks to him  to restore  the  line of David  to  the throne  in Jerusalem.' Yeshua  shook his head at the amazing irony. Yudah had  betrayed him precisely for  not fulfilling that expectation.
 * 223) Pilate was procurator of Judea.  He  ruled under Vitellius,  who  was the  legate of Syria, and had  absolutely  no respect for Jewish  religious   sensibilities  so   bringing Yeshua before him on charges of  being a false prophet or a  blasphemer would be a waste of his time.
 * 224) Yeshua had planned  to  commit suicide by Roman by suborning a  tax agent,  Mattiyahu,  but  the  oafish incompetence of Annas nullified  all his preparations when he roughed  up his  disciple. Pontius Pilate  would demand to see the tax agent and he'd see the marks of the beating.
 * 225) So Yeshua worked  a  blasphemy narrative  to motivate Caiaphas,  in turn,  to work a  messiah  narrative before Pilate. The compounded  irony was that when Yeshua, in union  with the eloah Binah, claimed to be on  a level  with  the  God  worshiped  by Caiaphas, he wasn't lying at all.
 * 226) Despite what Yeshua's followers would  one day re-imagine a  messiah (or  meshiach) to be, to the  people who coined the term it very specifically  refered to a future scion  of David's  line who would  drive  Gentiles out the Holy Land and  restore the united kingdom to full glory.
 * 227) If the people proclaimed a  Jew as messiah, and that Jew did nothing to deny it, Imperial Rome had  every reason to suspect sedition, and  her usual  response was state  terrorism in the form of a public crucifixion.  Concerning  this  Yeshua  that  fate suited Caiaphas to a tee.
 * 228) But Pilate operated on his  own schedule.  He wasn't a morning  person.  It would be hours before  even the high priest could have  audience with  him.  In the  meantime  Yeshua was  locked in a holding  cell,  and his  guards were soon  disturbed  to find the man talking to himself.
 * 229) He  was, in  fact,  conversing mind-to-mind  with Shyla, the  B'nei Elohim he dubbed Miriam of  Magdala, as she gave her report after returning  from  a jaunt a few  days  into the future. Part of this entailed  a fly-on-a-wall  perspective  she  was uniquely qualified to have.
 * 230) They periodically entered  his cell  to ensure nothing  was  amiss, and they could see Yeshua was alone, which  indeed he was.  But  when  he mumbled to Shyla he gave the appearance  of  a demoniac,  and  Caiaphas fretted  that Pilate would see  this and laugh his case out of court.
 * 231) Shyla called upon her  enhanced memory as one of the B'nei Elohim to relate the upcoming trial to Yeshua.  She said Caiphas would introduce him to  Pilate  as the man who  led  the rabble  of the baptizer in  Galilee.  She quoted Caiaphas in the Greek  he used to speak to Pilate.
 * 232) ''Antipater has no  doubt  has spoken of him to you. His  followers believe him to be one to restore the line of David to the throne. In  recent days his followers set him upon an  ass  and the foal of  that  ass, acting  out the words of one of  our prophets about a future king.'
 * 233) 'Pilate addresses you directly.  'Is  it true, what the  High  Priest has  accused?' You merely shrug  and stay silent, which infuriates Pilate at  first,  then intrigues  him.  He says, 'You must know what I can have done to you, yet you reply to me  in this disrespectful manner?'
 * 234) 'You raise your eyes  to  peer into those of Pilate and say,  without a trace of fear, that he has  no power over you but that which is ordained by God. 'We shall see,'  says Pilate, but he seems more interested in  the venom your  simple  presence invokes in the high priest.
 * 235) 'He turns to him and says, 'And you,  Caiaphas, what would you  have done with this man?' The high priest replies,  'You have eyes  and  ears, Pilate,  do  you  not  discern   the faithfulness  of  the  Jews  of  the city? Listen to them crying out  for an enemy of the Emperor to die.'
 * 236) ''Forget the crowd,' says  Pilate.  Choose  your  Yeshua.  Either this prisoner you have brought  here shall  be crucified or the  murderer Yeshua  bar  Abbas.'  But   Caiaphas says, 'Yeshua bar Abbas is suffering on a cross as we speak.' Pilate  replies, 'That can be remedied.'
 * 237) 'Caiaphas knows he is caught in a  trap. Yeshua bar Abbas is a  convicted assassin of Roman  officials.  One bad move and he could be deposed as high priest. Pilate says, 'I made my own inquiries into this man  long before  you brought him  before  me, but of course you must have known.
 * 238) ''This man was a  disciple  of the baptizer called Yohanan, and  he assumed leadership of the baptizer's disciples  after Herod put him  into prison, that much is true. Such Herod communicated to me when this  one traveled  south into to Judea and  I made certain inquiries about him.
 * 239) ''Herod beheaded Yohanan,  but do  you wonder why he  never  killed this  Galilean also? The  answer  is simple. He never spoke a single word against  Herod. He is a doctor,  and by  every account a very  good  one.  The crowds follow him seeking to  be cured, not to watch a fiery prophet.
 * 240) ''And I was not content to take Herod's word for it,' Pilate continues,  turning  to  face  you  as  he speaks.  'I  sent an agent  to  find this  fellow. You may remember  him, Galilean. He was a Jew but he really answered to me. He asked about  your views on paying taxes to Rome.'
 * 241) 'You give Pilate a nod of  your head, but say nothing. Pilate  turns then  back  to  Caiaphas  and  says, 'Yeshua here said, 'Show me the coin used  to pay the tax' and  my  agent produced  one. Yeshua  said,  'Whose likeness is stamped on the coin' and my agent said Tiberias.
 * 242) ''Finally Yeshua  says,  'Then give to Caesar what belongs to  Caesar, but give to God what belongs to God.' So my agent returned to me and made  his  report, and  I  put  this traveling healer out of my mind  until you brought him before me today, Caiaphas, and said he must die.
 * 243) ''Now when he rode the  donkeys, that  was stupid. I can't have  more of that, so he shall be flogged, but is  it worthy of death? I  leave  it entirely  up  to you,  Caiaphas.  So choose. Shall I continue to  crucify a revolutionary, this Bar Abbas,  or shall I crucify your king?'
 * 244) ''Release to us Yeshua bar  Abbas,'  says  Caiaphas. 'We  have  no king  but Tiberius  Caesar.'  Pilate fairly beams with pleasure. 'See how much better it is, priest, when  all can clearly see your professed fealty  to Rome is but a lie? I  despise nothing more than hidden motives.'
 * 245) 'Caiaphas says, 'You speak  of hidden  motives.  Today  this  false prophet  foretold he would stand  in the  presence of God in three  days.  It  is  clear to me now he  was  attempting to deter his own execution.  Now  I fear that when he  is  killed his followers will spread lies.
 * 246) ''Rumor will spread through the city that Yeshua has risen from  the dead, just as he said. Afterwards we will never be rid of the zealots his disciples will draw to  themselves.' Pilate  says  he will  simply  leave your  body  on the cross  until  the crows pick your bones clean.'
 * 247) Caiaphas says, ''General,  you must not let that come to be. I  invoked the Law to pronounce death  on Yeshua  but the same Law  also  says the sun must never set on one who we have  caused  to be  put  to  death.  About your own executions we can say nothing.  This is different.'
 * 248) Then Pilate grows  visibly  annoyed at the complications  Caiaphas keeps  piles  on. He says,  'I  will order my centurion to make an end of the  man  before dusk and  bury  him nigh to the place where he was  crucified.  Will  that  satisfy   Yosef Caiaphas and his God's law?'
 * 249) 'He replies, ''I do not question the  discipline of your troops,  but it  is known how following  a  Roman crucifixion  the  bodies  are  often buried  in hastily-dug  graves  with only a light covering of gravel over them.  During  the night  dogs  will root his body out and feast on it.'
 * 250) ''What of it?'  barks  Pilate.  'It would be, in the end, no different than if birds consumed his body, except  the burial will comply  with the  letter of your Code of  Moshe.' Caiaphas objects that he will  never be  able to disprove you are  risen, as your followers will surely claim.
 * 251) 'The member of the council from Ramath-aim-Zophim, who spoke before, chooses   to   speak   once    more.  'Listen,' says he. 'I have a freshly hewn crypt which I caused to be made for myself and my wife when our time is  at hand. Lay the body of  Yeshua within for the span of three days.
 * 252) 'There  it will be  safe  from beasts.'   But Caiaphas  argues  the crypt  will keep you from being  devoured  by  dogs, sure  enought  but what would stop your followers  from stealing your body? Any stone  could be removed by your followers if they had sufficient numbers, he says.
 * 253) 'What of it? demands Pilate. He says their king will still be  dead, whether  his  body rested  in  their hands  or in a tomb. Caiaphas  says, 'You  do  not anticipate  what  will happen.  His men will bury the  body in another place and three days  after claim they saw him alive.'
 * 254) 'Pilate  thinks  on  Caiaphas' words  for a moment and  reluctantly comes  around to his point of  view.  'Make any reasonable request of  me, priest, but consider carefully. When you  depart I will receive  no  more audience  concerning that  man,  and entertain the matter never again.'
 * 255) 'He says, 'Pilate, order  your soldiers  to watch his tomb with  us for  three  nights, that we  may  be certain  his followers do not  overpower  us and  steal his body.'  Pilate  is delighted, as it marks  the end  of  the growing pile  of  tasks Caiaphas is laying upon him.
 * 256) 'He says, 'Let it come to  be!' And  he gives orders to a  centurion named Longinius concerning the  crucifixion, and to another  named Petronius  concerning the watch on  the tomb.  Then you are led away  and  I follow  unseen to ensure  all  transpires as they said it would be.'
 * 257) Yeshua said to Shyla, 'You have served me well. This outcome is  almost  perfect. I will be  killed  in such a way that there is no question I did die, yet I will not be left on a cross as a macabre reminder of the power  of Rome.  Nor will I be  left in the crypt of this councilman.
 * 258) 'The  Sanhedrin will  have  no body in a limed pit to say, look, he is there, neither could they say  my body  was stolen. And when I  appear to my followers after my death,  and prove to them I'm not merely an  apparition, it will bring them joy and determination like nothing else.
 * 259) 'Yet I need you to remain  with them  for a time, Shyla.   They  are all hiding. Only you can bring  them news  that  I was  crucified  rather than  just beheaded in prison.  Only you  can show them the empty  sepulchre where I was laid.  Only you can rehearse my words in their hearing.'
 * 260) Shyla told him it would be  as he  said, yet she did not  envy  the ordeal  he was yet to endure.'  'Oh, that?' he said, with a tone of carefree  dismissal. 'When have  any  of the B'nei Elohim, let alone a seraph among  them, suffered the  pains  of any torment ever devised?'