by Johnny Cash
He moved furiously toward the entrance of the Temple. Now he was firmly resolved! He would destroy the congregations of the Nazarene. He solemnly believed it to be God’s work, and he had a deep personal interest in the task. He had always strived to please God. Still, he always felt that he hadn’t done enough, that he fell short of fulfilling God’s wishes in his tribute to him. He never found perfect peace in any accomplishment. He was never satisfied that his personal work for God was all he could do. Now here was his chance to recompense, to really please God in this splendid service to his people. This thought gave edge and energy to his zeal. God’s plan for man was revealed at Sinai, he thought. For centuries the Torah has stood in its richness and glory, holding a promise of the Just One, the Anointed One, who will descend from heaven in glorious splendor. These promises will stand against all the false prophets and fake messiahs who try to force themselves upon the people. Jesus of Nazareth must not be preached any further. Men like Stephen, who are trying to connect him to God as a son, as a deity in a triune godhead, must be silenced. The Nazarene, thought Saul, is not any new truth that God has tacked on to Sinai as an afterthought.
Jonathan ben Annas was of average height and medium build. He wore his clothing proudly and had the bearing of a king as he strode about his chambers. He wore a heavy gold chain around his neck, a gold seal ring on his left hand, and a large ruby ring on his right. He was a strikingly handsome man with auburn hair and a deep, ruddy complexion. He had great bearing, yet at times he appeared rather aloof because his face was hard to read. He greeted everyone with the same placid expression, perhaps as a shield against the endless stream of visitors. He never let down his guard by showing his emotions, yet he wasn’t prepared for a private visit from the zealous Saul of Tarsus.
He was dictating letters to a scribe, who wrote slowly and carefully on the parchment with a stylus. A guard stood just inside the door as Saul burst in, his face red and perspiring. The high priest raised his hand to stop Saul as he continued speaking to the scribe, determined to finish what he was writing before he lost his train of thought. No one entered unannounced into his private chamber; the guard was embarrassed that Saul had entered without his knowledge and confused as to whether he should allow him to stay. Saul, however, ignored him and stood waiting for the high priest to recognize him. Finally, having finished writing the letter, the scribe gathered his scrolls and rose to leave.
“Ask him to stay,” Saul said to the high priest. “I require his service if you will grant my request.” Saul realized he was intruding, but in his mind nothing could be more important, no task could be more vital to the sanctity of this Temple than the one he was about to embark upon. Jonathan was angry and didn’t try to hide it this time. He stood with his face inches from Saul’s.
“It is late in the day, Saul,” said Jonathan ben Annas, anticipating that whatever it was Saul wanted could wait until tomorrow. “This day has seen enough trouble to stress the virtue of any good man. Tomorrow, Saul, tomorrow. Tomorrow’s evils should be confronted tomorrow.”
Saul, however, would not be turned away. “The Nazarene apostle Stephen is dead, Father. His friends are now mourning over his remains. Word of his execution will be on the lips of all of them soon, and they will scatter. I request a letter of official sanction of the Sanhedrin to find them wherever they are and bring them to justice.”
The high priest studied Saul carefully before he spoke. “You would personally go about the task of destroying the community of the Nazarenes?”
“Yes,” Saul answered quickly. “God wills that the heirs of his Covenant shall not suffer this degradation in our midst.”
Jonothan fingered the lengths of chain in his necklace and held his temper. “The business of the Nazarene is behind us,” he said softly. “God wills?” he asked louder, and again louder. “God wills? After years of our striving to deal with these people, the solution is suddenly revealed to you? You are blessed with the knowledge of God’s will?”
“The Law of God is my motivator, Father,” Saul retorted. “As the psalmist said, ‘I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy Law is within my heart,’” Saul continued.“The wrath of God is stirred up within me, Father Jonathan. There is no greater lover of the Law, nor one who has tried harder to be a better keeper of the Law than I: therefore, through the love and knowledge of the Law within me, I am called to do this work which I know to be his divine will.”
Jonothan was raging. “You are called? You are called? Did you hear his voice, or did he appear to you personally? In a burning bush? How are you called?” he screamed.
Saul didn’t answer. He only held his head higher, prouder. “I am called,” he said.
The high priest was astounded. He stared, unbelieving, at the young warrior before him. To know the will of God, he thought to himself. How many lives for so many centuries have fervently sought the will of God in their actions? Saul, the Benjaminite, has just pronounced that he knows the divine will! He shook his head, rejecting what he had heard. He returned to his chair. He took a long time responding. He is dangerous, thought Jonathan.
“Your zeal will consume you like a burning fire, Saul,” said the high priest calmly. “Fanatics are always at the fringes of society, no matter what the fanatacism is—and most always they go over the deep end into the abyss.”
“Father Jonathan,” said Saul sharply, “had it not been for fanatics like Elija the prophet and Ezra the scribe, there would be no Israel. I pray that I might be compared with such fanatics after I have fallen into the abyss.”
“Saul,” said the high priest finally,“do you not agree with Master Gamaliel that if the Nazarenes are heretics and practicing outside the will of God, as you say, then they will die out trying to exist side by side with the worshipers of the one true God? Why should a man of the Law such as yourself embark on a mission of violence and destruction?”
“God wills it,” Saul said simply.
This man will cause me much trouble, thought Jonathan.
“Many people will die, Saul. They are of your own race, your own blood, for the most part. They aren’t all Greeks or pagans. They are of the twelve tribes: your own kinsmen.”
Saul paused before answering. “He who has separated himself from the Covenant is cut off from the vine of Israel. I shall glean the vineyard.”
The high priest heaved a deep sigh, realizing that further conversation with this man was useless. He would go after the Nazarenes with or without the sanction of the Sanhedrin. Better that the Temple exercise some kind of authoritative control over his actions along with its sanction; at least a letter would get Saul out of the city. Still, he must be watched and stopped in some manner should he prove to be an embarrassment or a danger.
“Have the scribe write the letter. Then I will study it and sign on behalf of the chief priests, should I judge it to be a safe and proper thing to do,” said Jonathan ben Annas.
Saul turned to the scribe, who unrolled a new parchment.
FROM THE CHAMBER OF THE HIGH PRIEST
TO THE SYNAGOGUES OF JEWS IN JUDEA,
SAMARIA, PHOENICIA, SYRIA,
AND ALL SCATTERED ABROAD.
This letter serves to introduce the bearer, one Saul, son of Benjamin, a Pharisee, and an exalted member of the Sanhedrin at the Temple of the Most High in this Holy City, Jerusalem.
This same Saul is hereby commissioned by this tribunal to examine the doctrine expounded in any synagogue or other place of assembly, and should he discover heretical teaching and practices of the sect called “The Nazarenes” or “The People of The Way,” he shall arrest and bring to trial exponents of Jesus of Nazareth, the same being deceased, having been crucified by the Romans under Pontius Pilate.
These apostles are commonly known to preach, teach, and proselytize the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, claiming his resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven, where, they say, he sits on the right hand of the Most High. These and other such defiling precepts are contrar
y to the Law of Moses and the Order of this Holy Temple.
Saul, son of Benjamin, should be afforded such license as is necessary to properly halt the growth and spread of the sect of the Nazarenes.
Jonathan ben Annas
High Priest
The scribe melted wax and poured a few drops on the parchment and laid it before the high priest, who pressed his ring into the wax and handed it to Saul. At that moment Nicodemus entered the chamber.
Saul bristled. The odor of his own perspiration mingled with that of lemon oil and cedar from the rich chamber. Feeling suddenly as if he were being followed, then caught in the act of something unquestionable, he said, “Do not fear,Master Nicodemus. The Temple sanctions the work I am about to do. A few days here, then I will no longer be a bother to you.”
Saul had reached the door when Nicodemus said,“Remember the words of Zechariah, Saul. Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother.”
Saul smiled wryly and said as he was leaving, “I know who my true brothers are, Master. They are in no danger.”
“Saul,” commanded the high priest, “those you arrest you will bring to this council of elders to exact judgment.”
“Am I not of this council?” Saul shouted back. “My witnesses, the Hebronites, will prove me.” Jonathan watched in anger as Saul turned on his heel and left.
When he was gone,Nicodemus turned to Jonathan. “What is he going to do?”
“I pray that he will soon leave this city,” said Jonathan. “Until then we will watch him.”
“And then?” asked Nicodemus.
“And then he will still be watched,” said Jonathan.
“But the man is obsessed, Jonathan,” said Nicodemus.
“Enough of this man this day!” shouted Jonathan. “I’m going home to my family.”
Jonathan felt a certain relief at the thought of Saul’s impending departure. After all, he had asked for no money from the Temple treasury. This was a personal endeavor he was embarking upon. Thanks to the careful wording of the letter, the Temple was still protected. The man would be solely responsible for his actions.
Saul crossed the wide-open pavement of the court of the Gentiles. Though it was late afternoon, the Temple complex was still crowded and noisy. There were thousands of people in this gigantic open area. He passed the many money changers’ stalls. Only coins minted in Judea by Jews were accepted for donation into the Temple coffers. Roman coins and coins from all other provinces had to be exchanged for locally minted Jewish currency. The money standard for Temple donation was the bronze half shekel. Even silver shekels were traded for these lesser coins. The money traders took whatever profit they could get in these exchanges. Haggling was going on at every booth. People were shouting at each other, hotly arguing the exchange of their coins. The operators of the stalls were among the wealthiest men in the city.
Saul walked past them in disgust, going through a maze of dealers in birds and animals. There were pigeons, brown doves, and snow-white doves, which were more expensive. There were rams, ewes, lambs, and all kinds of goats— a great menagerie. The very poor usually bought two pigeons or possibly two doves for a sacrificial offering. Those who could afford it bought a snow-white lamb without blemish to be killed on the altar. Then again, the purchase depended on which holy day a certain sacrifice was required or upon a person’s individual duty for a particular offering.
As he walked, he uttered the thirteen divine attributes, asking God’s mercy on the transgressions of Israel. “The Lord, unchanging, almighty, merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and in truth, remembering loving-kindness for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sins, and giving pardon to the penitent.” Then he said, fully aloud, “Praised be the name of the Most High.”
Saul finally made his way through the commercial madness, out of the Temple compound, and on toward the quarter where he lived.
“When the Messiah comes,” he said to himself, “he will purge God’s Temple of these lovers of money. The prophet Malachi said that he shall come to this Temple and sit as a refiner, purifying his people, purging them as gold and silver that they may offer to the Lord an acceptable offering. Purge and purify me now, O Lord. Sanctify me and steel me for the work that I must do.”
He passed beneath the giant water-clock, or Clepshydra, as the Greeks had called it, whose one hand pointed to the eleventh hour. “It is the eleventh hour for the Nazarenes,” he thought. “Their time is short.”
The clock arose above the walls of the Temple and could be seen from almost anywhere in the city. Its water supply was by gravity flow from Solomon’s pools. The mechanics of the clock were simple but very accurate. A gold chain hung from a cogwheel that turned the hand. The chain was attached to a giant copper bulb floating in the lavoratory that comprised the lower half of the tower. A valve was precisely adjusted to allow exactly the right amount of water to run from the lavoratory. As the water slowly went down, it lowered the copper bulb, which pulled the chain, which turned the clock’s hand.
Every seventh day, on the evening following the Sabbath, the tank was refilled and the valve adjusted if necessary. To the faithful such as Saul, the clock was a familiar sight. The large bronze bell in the clock tower rang every three hours, audibly marking time and calling for prayers.
TWO
THE FAST
Sarah set before her brother Saul the second course of the evening meal. He finished his goblet of Carmel wine, broke off a piece of the round, flat bread on his plate, and dipped it into the chickpea and grain mush mixture. He offered it to his four-year-old nephew, Jacob ben Levi, who sat comfortably on his lap. The child ate with relish.
Jacob was a lively, intelligent boy. He loved his uncle Saul, and Saul dearly loved him. He has many of his mother’s better features, thought Saul, and fortunately so. Thanks be to the Most High that he shows little similarity to his father, Levi ben Lamech.
Sarah served a bowl for Levi and refilled the wine goblets. “Eat, Saul,” she said, sitting across from him. “Jacob can feed himself. It’s you who need nourishment.”
“Yes,Mother,” Saul said to his sister, smiling, but he continued to feed his nephew.
Levi sat silently eating. He said very little during meals, which was very well with Saul. Levi was a lawyer, a civil lawyer, and Saul had little in common with him. No one in his family had ever had such an occupation; it was a dishonorable one in Saul’s eyes. Levi was a deliberator, a referee in public suits in which sons of Israel were pitted against each other. Such civil squabbles brought disgrace upon the participants, Saul thought, and diminished Jews in the eyes of non-Jews.
“I’m waiting for the next course,” said Saul. “Do I smell roast goose?”
Smiling, his sister arose to go to the oven.
Levi put down his empty goblet for the third time and opened up the subject that had taken much wine to get around to discussing.“So today the Sanhedrin judged the apostle of the Nazarene Carpenter, the Greek called Stephen. Is this true, Saul?”
“It’s true,” Saul answered, not looking up from his food.
Levi, a big man, was perspiring heavily, although the evening was cool on the rooftop where they ate. The lighted Temple heights were framed around Levi’s head from where Saul sat. In the candlelight his fat jowls were red and flushed. A perpetual leering grin made his face even wider, and his lips were wet with the wine. Strands of his twisted black hair stuck to his forehead.
Saul felt his own face flush with anger at the conversation Levi had launched into.
“I trust that the scribes are keeping count of the cost and time spent in determining judgment on the countless numbers of followers of that sect,” said Levi ben Lamech.
Sarah returned with the steaming platter just in time. Saul could feel his anger growing—the subject of the Nazarenes always put him on edge—but he ignored Levi’s statement. He would not argue with his brother-in-law in the presence of
his sister and the child.
Sarah sensed the tension, however, and looking first at Levi, then at Saul, she said, “You will eat now, Saul. It isn’t every day that I cook a goose.” She moved Jacob to a chair of his own and served the meat. Sarah was a vibrant, slim woman, by nature a cheerful person, with large, friendly eyes. The top of her garment bore delicate embroidery, and her thick, dark hair was tastefully arranged on the back of her head.
Saul ate a few bites without speaking, but he could contain himself no longer. He had to respond to Levi ben Lamech’s remark. “Time and money have no limit compared to the priority of preserving the unity of our religion,” he said.
Levi ben Lamech ignored Saul’s sharp tone. He leaned back in his chair, feeling quite expansive. “Seven years have passed since the execution of the Carpenter,” he said. “His followers continue to multiply. With another trial of just one of his apostles, isn’t the Sanhedrin spitting against the wind?”
Saul didn’t answer. He turned his attention to his food.
Levi ben Lamech continued. “I witnessed the recording of the death of the Nazarene in the records of the people. ‘Death by execution. Crucifixion. Jeshua ben Joseph, carpenter of Nazareth.’”
Saul turned to Levi and, holding his temper, said, “It should have said ‘crucifixion by Romans.’”
“Are we not Roman citizens?” Levi ben Lamech asked Saul. “And why does the issue of the fact that he was crucified bother you so?”
“Levi,” Saul said calmly, “I am a guest in your home, and I am honored to sit at your table, but I must say . . .” He paused, thinking to carefully choose his words. “Yes, we are Roman citizens by birthright, but first and last we are Jews. Crucifixion is foreign and pagan to me. The very thought of suspending a human body from a crossbeam to die in agony is archaic, yet the Nazarene deserved death, and he is dead. So that is that.”