by Paulo Barata
Year 52
Home once again, I still had the case of Joseph’s funeral to settle and fulfill the dispositions of his legacy, but for this, I had to wait for further information from Saul, who arrived in Caesarea with a few of his Nazarene brothers. I was not too pleased to receive them, and I demonstrated it. For me, more than anything else, they were the reason for my failed marriage and for Ruth’s conversion to that heretical sect of theirs.
“Ahasver, I received your letter where you mentioned your intention to inter our brother Joseph in his tomb in Jerusalem.”
“Yes, Saul. As you know I’ve been waiting for an answer from you for almost a year now.”
“I understand, but I only recently received your letter. We were away in a mission to evangelize the people of Asia and Greece. We have just come from Ephesus.”
“What is that, evangelize?” I hadn’t heard such a term before, how creative were these Nazarenes !
“An ancient Greek word that we use to describe our missions of spreading the words of the Christ to the Gentiles.”
“You mean, preaching?”
"Yes, one can call it that too.”
Always learning…
“So, when can I start with the preparations for the interment of Joseph in Jerusalem?”
“Ahasver, I must admit that I have not yet had the opportunity to discuss this issue with my brethren in Jerusalem. But as I mentioned before, I think it will be difficult to do as you wish.”
“Saul, it is not my wish. It is Joseph’s. It is the right thing, and the most commendable thing to do for him. I do not want him buried in some sepulcher in Tyre. I’m sure you agree with me on this.”
“Ahasver, his body is an empty vessel now that his soul is with our Christ.”
“I do not wish to enter into a theological discussion with you right now,” wondering if he knew the word, “there wasn’t much I could do for him when he was alive. He was a father to me, and the least a devoted son can do is to fulfill his last wishes and forever remember him in my prayers.”
Saul was obviously divided in regards to this issue, and I did not want to bring up the bequest unless it was absolutely essential to carry out my plan. But Saul hadn’t forgotten.
“Ahasver, we also have to deal with the testament and Joseph’s dispositions. You have the monies that are due to us and you know that it is illegal to retain them.”
“You are partly right on that, but it won’t be the law who will stop me from doing what I believe to be morally just.”
“Ahasver, you will challenge the law and Joseph's will because of this?”
“I’ll challenge the whole lot of you, if necessary. May I remind you that I am the executor of Joseph’s will and it is within my purview how and when to distribute the values to your congregations?”
“Yes, we are aware of that, of course.”
“Well then, let me ask you, who represents these congregations? How and to whom do I deliver the amount that was left by Joseph to Caesarea? Who is the legal head of your group in Tiberias? There’s another thing. I wonder if the Romans, not to mention the Judaean councils, recognize your groupings as legal entities?”
“Ahasver, we do not have a formal hierarchy in our congregations. Our leaders are acclaimed and chosen by the brothers. The leadership is something natural and divine, it happens through the will of the Spirit.”
“I’m sorry, but that doesn’t answer my question at all. How do I know who is the right person? Just by asking around? Will I have to search for such a one in all of these cities? Do you know? Is there someone who knows?”
“I believe it would be easier for all, if you handed the whole inheritance to James in Jerusalem. That way you wouldn’t have to trouble yourself and the money would be distributed by ourselves to everyone.”
“To do that I would have to trust this James, whom I have never met. And there’s something else too, Joseph asked me to do this personally.”
“I understand, Ahasver. I only suggested it because it would be simpler and easier course for you too.”
In conclusion, nothing was agreed at that point, and some days later Saul departed for Jerusalem, assuring me that he wouldn’t take long in returning with a mutually acceptable solution.
I also knew that he visited Ruth. She came to see me, asking me to be more lenient with the question of Joseph’s burial.
“Ahasver, no one is against the burial of Joseph in Jerusalem.”
“Yes, they just don’t want it to be in that tomb that is now sacred to you.”
“Ahasver!”
“Yes?”
“Think like this… would you think it just to bury anyone in King David’s tomb?”
“Actually, I think there are a few buried there, family, as far as I know.”
“There you have it. No one would place a stranger in there.”
Holy patience ! "Woman aren’t you people always speaking of Yeshua as a brother?”
“Yes?" now eyeing me suspiciously.
“Now then.. Joseph is part of the family too. Actually, you are all brothers, you can all be buried there. And do tell me, is that tomb empty or not?”
"Ahasver, you are mocking my faith" and without further, she stood up and left.
And there were some who called me intolerant !
Notwithstanding the position of the Nazarenes, I had made up my mind to start immediately with the transportation of Joseph’s body. I could not bear the thought of him abandoned in some hole in the middle of nowhere. I owed him that and much more. If the Nazarenes continued to resist for much longer, I would bury him in some other sepulcher in Jerusalem.
I also knew that moving a corpse would be a complicated business, and I wondered if there was a need for some special disposition or permission from the Romans or from the Temple authorities. I decided to write to Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, and ask for his advice.
He promptly answered, sending me a message brought by a young priest, named Isaiah, who informed me that he had been chosen to accompany and help me with the transport. Simeon recommended that the best way to do this was by sea. Not only would it be faster, but I would also avoid the legal issues when crossing territories under different laws and entangled bureaucracies.
In the end, I sent Alexander, the young priest, and some servants to Tyre, on a small ship that I chartered for this purpose. And on the night of their leaving, I was relieved and slept the sleep of the appeased.
Within a few days, Saul was back from Jerusalem, and this time he came alone. He brought with him the brotherhood’s approval for the usage of Joseph’s tomb — which at the time I thought it highly presumptions, as they had never had any right to it. He seemed pleased with the decision and was now concerned with the question of the endowment and its distribution.
The difficulty I had encountered in Arimathea to find the right Nazarene, was not a fortuitous omen for my mission. It wasn’t difficult to find Nazarenes, but I would always remain in doubt if the one found would be the rightful receiver.
Saul was now waiting patiently for my decision, but I was still unsure of what to do. I decided to be clear with him on this, explaining my dilemma and asking for a few more days to make up my mind. In the end, the issue was one of trust, and unsatisfied with my conclusion, I opted to take the task into my own hands.
It seemed to me that Joseph, although affiliated with them for many years, did not trust the Nazarenes in this issue. Naturally, the simpler and easier solution would have been to give them all the money and let them distribute it among themselves, but I was determined to fulfill the last wishes of my dearest friend and mentor.
It was now clear to me what I had to do. I would go to Jerusalem with the corpse and provide for a proper burial, and in that same trip I would give them the money that Joseph had left to the congregation there. I would then travel on my own to the other cities and distribute the remainder of the bequest.
I believe that Saul was already expecting such a decision. He
didn’t show much surprise or discord when I told him. So we agreed to meet again in Jerusalem for the entombment of Joseph.
When they returned from Tyre, Alexander and Isaiah with Joseph’s corpse, I had almost everything ready to leave. I had even hired a small group of former city guards who were used to escort caravans and travelers.
Much against Alexander’s will, I did not want him to come with me on this journey. The company that I had gathered was large enough, and more would only draw unwanted attention from bandits and assailants that still roamed the more deserted roads of the province. Also, I wanted him to continue with his apprenticeship under his father, already interrupted with his trip to Tyre.
Isaiah, the priest sent by Simeon, accompanied me to Jerusalem, where I dismissed him. I didn’t want him to participate in the burial, as I suspected that the Nazarenes would want to be present when the time came for the burial.
On the day after my arrival, I went to look for Joseph’s tomb, together with some masons and servants. I had to see if there was any work to be done on it, and also provide for the materials and the necessary preparations for its definitive closure.
It wasn’t difficult to find it, although it had been more than twenty years since I had last been in that area, and I found around the site a small almost silent crowd. What at the time had been a pedestrian path, was now a large clearing, and on the slope of that small hill numerous paintings and phrases were sketched and carved on the rocks.
The tomb itself was without a door, and appeared to be empty of people. Some of the more devout were kneeling by the entrance and timidly looking into its interior, faintly illuminated by the fluttering light of what appeared to be oil lamps and candles.
Both I and my companions were surprised with the unexpected multitude and the eerie silence that enveloped that all area.
I had never expected that the tomb would attract so much attention, and perplexed, I began to realize of the impossibility of my task. I could see no way around it, as all those devotees would never allow the tomb to be used by its rightful owner. I could see now why the Nazarenes had so quickly agreed to my demands. I had been deceived.
Disappointed, I even tried unsuccessfully to find the other tomb, and in the end I returned home.
Without an alternative, I began to search for another tomb, and with the help of Isaac we were fortunate to find one available. and finally fulfill the very last wish of the man who had been almost a father to me. It was not the place that he would have wanted, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances. Outraged as I was, only Isaac and I were present at that final moment. I didn’t want any Nazarene or any other priest to attend to it. I wanted him to be left alone and to rest forever in peace.
After that, I returned to the tomb that had been used by Yeshua and told one of the Nazarenes there to tell Saul that I was in the city, and I would be waiting for him to call on me.
This time Saul came with two of his brothers. Simeon, whom I had met many years before, and another who looked as if he had just arrived from a very long and arduous journey, not only because of the decrepitude of his attire, but also of the squalidness of his body and an overall appearance of exhaustion. His name was James, a brother of Yeshua and the leader of the Nazarenes — apparently he was really a blood brother of the prophet, but as far as I could recall, he didn’t look much like his more distinguished relative.
Saul and Simeon greeted me with the familiarity of two long acquainted friends, and James, holding both my hands, mumbled the customary courtesies of someone who had just been introduced.
I asked them in, and we all sat in the atrium. As we laid there, I noticed how Simeon kept on looking fixedly at me, and at last he confessed his admiration with the way I looked, something unexpected from someone with whom I had little familiarity. Now turning his attention to James, he explained that we had met before in that same house, and that I had seen their messiah on his very last day among them, and even exchanged a few words with their liberator.
Apparently this was old news to James, but feigning some interest he enquired.
“May we know what was said by the Messiah?" in a tone of voice as thin as his body.
“Master James,” I replied lying with due deference, “it has been too long, we were amidst the crowd, too much turmoil. I regret that I cannot recall anymore what was said, but it was the briefest of exchanges, I assure you.”
“But I do know. Joseph retold the incident a few years ago” exclaimed Saul.
“And what was it?" insisted a more curious Simeon.
“For some time, both Joseph and I were intrigued with the meaning of those words. But the last we were all together in Caesarea, Joseph came up with the possibility that Ahasver had been blessed with a miracle.”
Suddenly, they all stared at me. I returned a gaze of deep disdain to Saul, but he went on.
“Yes… " looking both at James and Simeon, “Ahasver is the living proof of the divinity and power of our Messiah Yeshua. To him was granted the grace of longevity and continued youth. That is what Yeshua told you that day, wasn’t it, Ahasver?”
“A miracle… ?!” muttered James, visibly distressed.
Simeon just gaped. Saul maintained his gaze, studying me.
I kept my pose, and since none reacted, I said. “Saul, that must be the greatest piece of trifle that I have ever heard, and let me tell you that I have had some experience…”
Still the silence continued, so I added. “And incongruent ! Everyone knows that I don’t believe in your messiah and even less in miracles.”
It was absurd. Truly.
“Maybe it is, Ahasver,” continued Saul, “time will tell… well, no… time will reveal it!”
Of all of them, Saul was the more serene one. The others continued stunned and speechless with this revelation. It was Simeon, apparently regaining his wits, that asked Saul.
“Are you saying that Ahasver is not growing old at all?”
“Isn’t it obvious, Simeon? You met him even before I did. And tell us, has he changed? Has his appearance changed since then? How many years ago was it?”
“It was in the year of His resurrection.”
“Twenty years! In twenty years the man hasn’t changed at all. Is that normal…?”
“It is remarkable, I grant you that,” answered James, “but it can happen, Saul. We all mature at a different pace.”
But Saul was relentless.
“Brother, the normal thing is a for a man to show his age. We have all grown old, some more than others,” obviously referring to James, “you have had to carry a very heavy burden in all these years since our Messiah left us. But this man…”
I had had enough. I was now been dissected as if I wasn’t even there.
“Gentlemen!” I abruptly interrupted Saul, “I am beginning to resent this whole conversation. It is absurd and ridiculous. We all know how much you enjoy extolling the miraculous powers of your messiah, but I will not have it. I won’t have my name mixed with your credulous claims. You already have enough miracles as it is.”
Clearly Saul wanted to answer me, but James intervened.
“I apologize, Master Ahasver, you are absolutely right, and our purpose here today is to deal with Joseph’s bequest. Please forgive us if we have trespassed on your hospitality.”
Dismissing the incident, I went on.
“As I’m sure that Saul mentioned to you, my initial intention was to inter Joseph in his tomb, but, unfortunately, your followers have taken it over, and by the way they behave, I soon realized that it wasn’t possible to do it. so I had to find another location where he is now at rest.
“You shouldn’t have done it with consulting us" scolded Saul.
Since I didn’t even look at him or remark on his commentary, he continued. "And where is this sepulcher?”
“Not far from the other" I answered dismissively.
“We would like to know the location, Master Ahasver" said James.
“That I won’t tell you" I answered peremptorily.
“What… ?" gasped Saul, “Why not?”
Once again ignoring him, I continued.
"Shall we go on?” I enquired of them.
“Please” said James resignedly.
“Now,” I hurriedly continued wanting to quickly conclude that long conversation, “I have with me the full amount granted to Jerusalem. I can have it delivered to you, or you can send someone to collect it here at the house. And, by the way, I have also included the amount due to the congregation of Bethany.
It was there agreed that in the next few days someone would come by the house.
“The other matter at hand is in regard to the distribution of the remainder of the bequest to the other cities, namely Caesarea, Tiberias, Jericho and Jaffa. As I mentioned to Saul, I will personally deliver these values as per Joseph’s wish. I will need from you the name of the person in each of these cities to whom I should give the money to.”
Simeon took on himself the task of drawing this list, and there we ended our meeting.
At the end, as they were leaving, I pulled Saul apart.
"Saul, I would very much appreciate if I didn’t hear anymore about this so called miracle. Are we agreed?”
“Ahasver rest assured it will be as you wish. Actually and to be quite frank, I think I exaggerated.”
“I believe so too” I answered more relieved, but he went on.
“Maybe it was not a blessing" and in that angry, vague and flat tone he joined the others.
It was to be our last conversation.
As soon as I had in my hands the list of Nazarenes drawn up by Simeon, I left Jerusalem with the guards I had hired in Caesarea and a few servants, and headed for Jericho, a short trip of about a day. In Jericho, a very old city and partially ruined, I had no difficulty in finding Thadeus, a most devoted young man who insisted in converting me once he knew that I was not one of his brothers. Unsuccessful with his endeavor, he still tried his luck with some of my accompanying staff.
From Jericho, where we stayed for just one night, we took a northwards route, following the course of the river Jordan, through decrepit and inhospitable roads. Meandering through valleys and hillocks, we passed small towns and hamlets, where it was quite evident the damages caused by the drought of the previous year — emaciated youths, squalid animals, yellowed fields of soil and weed, flocks of one or two skeletal animals and houses rapidly dissolving into the beige earth. An all too obvious squalor, vividly contrasting with the exuberance of nature of that placid river, indifferent to human vicissitudes.
Not finding any dwellings on our way, we made camp by the river margin, lulled by the soft murmurs of passing waters and the shrieking crickets. In that night, under a dome of stars nailed in ethereal clouds of milky clarity, I pondered on the words of Saul.
It was too absurd to take his story seriously. But there was an inescapable fact, my own self! As much as I wanted to ignore reality, the bizarre stared at me when I saw myself mirrored in some polished surface or even in the liquid reflection of a cup.
Could it really be happening? But just the doubt was too implausible to contemplate.
It was known that prophets and other holy men had lived for hundreds of years. It was written. It was undeniable, but all that belonged to former eras, and always in accordance with some plan of the Lord. Nothing to do with me. Or could I be part of some divine design? Something that I would have to do in the future? It was ludicrous. It was absurd. How I used and abused that adjective that night.
Harassed by heavy rains that came at us from all directions, we continued the next day our journey towards Tiberias, and by the middle of the afternoon, with the sun now reflecting on its placid waters, we came to that sea of Galilee and soon passed under the city gates on our way to the local emporium.
Tiberias was a city that I knew reasonably well, and once more under Roman rule, it had grown prosperous after several years of drought and a deathly famine that had scorched the countryside. Mostly because of its location, it was now a bustling trading town, offering articles from various regions, especially from Damascus, and this wealth was visible in the people, the housing and in the large markets where a wide variety of goods and merchandise were available. Relatively new and built under the patronage of the Herodians, it reminded me of my Caesarea, but without the salty and fresh breeze from the sea. On the contrary, it was oppressively hot.
The emporium was located close to the fishermen’s port, a discrete brick building where we stored grains from the south and wines from the north. Adjacent was the house of my overseer, Ammon, an old friend and a former employee of Joseph that I had retained, and where we would be lodging.
As expected, our initial talks were about Joseph. Ammon wanted to know more about his death, although I had previously informed him by letter of what had happened. I couldn’t add much more to satisfy his morbid curiosity, so I just told him about the burial and of his bequest.
“Ammon, were you aware that Joseph had joined a new sect?”
“The Messianics? Yes, I knew. He told me all about it the last time I saw him in Jerusalem. They were here also, not too long ago.”
“Here in the emporium? What did they want?”
“To convert me to their faith" he said grinning.
“With no success?" I jested.
“I’m too old to think of new gods, or rather, divine messiahs… honestly, I didn’t even understand what they preach.”
“Well, Joseph left some money for them…”
“Why didn’t you let me know. I could have handled it here, there was no need for you to come all this way. You do know that the roads are not too safe these days.”
“Yes, I guess I could have asked you, but I opted to do it myself. Joseph asked me to.”
“I understand,” he said, “if you want, Ahasver, I can send a boy to bring them here. They are always around, preaching, arguing…”
“I have a name. Philip.”
“I don’t think I know him. But tomorrow I will make some enquiries. We’ll find him, they have a house by the shore.”
“They have a temple here in the city?”
“So they call it. Not sure if it’s a real temple. But they gather there.”
“The Kohanim leave them in peace then.”
“Well, after the death of Agrippa they started to claim that it was a divine punishment because the King had ordered the execution of some of their brethren.”
“Yes, I heard about that too.”
“But when a few of them were stoned, they left the city for a while.”
“Some were killed?”
“No, no. A few rocks were thrown at them, that’s all. But they soon returned, anyway. Usually people ignore them, and they only bother those who are foolish enough to pay them any attention. Just like the Essenes that used to come into the city.”
“They are gone, the Essenes?”
“We haven’t seen them for some time. After that rebellion of Theudas and the incidents with the Samaritans, it seems they have gone south towards the Dead Sea.”
“I never met an Essene.”
“Just sad blasphemers, Ahasver. They didn’t finish them off yet because they are too insignificant to bother. They live in these impoverished communities, and most end up as mendicants and beggars. I remember, during the time the city was under construction, of finding many of them laying about the streets, too weak to stand. Many died in those days…”
“And the drought of the last years? Was it very difficult here?”
“Yes, very. Most of the villages around here were abandoned, and most of those people came into the city until the Romans intervened. They started to close the city gates, and many were expelled. It was horrible. A lot of robberies too. They even tried here, but with no success I can tell you. Is it a lot of money, Ahasver?”
“What?”
“The money left to them by Joseph.”
“About three thousand s
hekels.”
“It is a lot! I wonder what they will do with all that money…”
“How do they live now? They work for a living?” I asked.
“I don’t really know, Ahasver, but I think so, at least some of them, but just as the Essenes, they also divide everything amongst themselves.”
“So their followers don’t contribute with some stipend?”
“I couldn’t say. They are very poor, that is known.”
“Let’s hope that all this money won’t corrupt them.”
“Unlikely, in the end it always does.”
Since I did not wish to prolong my stay in the city, having yet to go south to Jaffa, I asked Ammon to find this Philip urgently, and on the following afternoon, one of the servants arrived with two Nazarenes.
Philip greeted us suspiciously, not knowing the reason for his calling, but soon calmed himself when I mentioned Joseph and that his name had been given to me by Simeon of Jerusalem.
“Master Ahasver, I met brother Joseph once — may the Lord, and the Messiah retain him in everlasting peace — in Jerusalem.”
“Some time ago then.”
“Yes it was. I was one of the first to be baptized, about the same time that he was too. I was once a scribe at the Temple, and then Cephas and James asked me to write about the life and of the messages of the Messiah, so that His word could be spread to all the tribes of the world.”
“After that you came to Tiberias?” I enquired disinterested.
“Yes, indeed. I came to found the congregation and continue with the missionary work in the region, originally undertaken by the Messiah himself.”
I wondered if this was the author of the manuscript that Joseph had sent me. I actually thought of telling him that his work was now at one of the most celebrated libraries in the world, but I desisted. Such news would undoubtedly convert a few more, and would even be proclaimed as a miracle. So I just mentioned the purpose of my visit to Tiberias.
“A miracle!” he soon announced “A true miracle by the grace of the Lord.”
“Joseph, you mean.”
“Through the intercession of the Lord, Master Ahasver” he patiently explained.
“The will of Joseph and some effort on my part” I added morosely.
“All in accordance with the Lord’s will. Even your presence here, Master Ahasver, is by the design and under the protection of the Messiah.”
Ammon, who was with us, smiled benignantly and looked at me with the condescendence of someone who had quickly grasped how much it bothered me such pietistic eruptions.
“Well, whatever,” I capitulated, “I do hope you will use it wisely.”
“It will all be done according to the divine will and purpose of the Lord.”
Fulfilled my mission, I quickly dispatched him before he tried to convince me that my conversion was also within the will and design of his messiah. Later that afternoon I went to temple, desirous of some good sense and rationality.
Before I left the city, I visited some of the newer buildings in the acropolis, but I didn’t find much activity nor any festival or lecture announced. After all, it wasn’t a very cultural city, and the Roman and Greek populations were a minority and rarely seen. And I left on the following day.
This time our path took us south towards mount Tabor and the city of Nazareth, where apparently the prophet Yeshua had been born, or had lived there for some time. Actually, little was known of his origins, and I was even surprised that Joseph had not bequeathed anything to that town.
Nazareth was a poorly poor city, set amongst hillocks and where everyone seemed to be a Messianic, given their colorless attire and shabby appearance. Here the drought had ravaged the countryside, and the large valley that could be seen from the town, looked more like a desert, with some erratic patches of greenery disclosing a late harvest. Certainly, as they would say, all in accordance with the will and design of the messiah too.
In the next day, after a night lodged at a farm close to Meggido, we came to the Via Maris, now only a few hours from Caesarea, and gazing at the immensity of that luxuriant valley, the infinite blue of the sea and that horizon filled with puffs of erratic cottony clouds, I decided to go home, leaving the trip to Jaffa for a later date.
I was tired.
Every return home, after a longish absence, was always for me a blessing, a true gift. To see familiar faces, to feel the smells and the sounds of each day, to hear the same news and listen to repeated gossip. It was there that I belonged, my place in this world.
But I had not forgotten my duties, and now in Caesarea I would hand over the legacy of Joseph to the local Nazarenes, and for this the ideal solution was to employ Ruth to find Zacheus, the man indicated by Simeon.
Our reunion, much similar to other recent ones, was quite stoic and reserved, as with each time we met the more apart we grew.
After enquiring about my travels and the habitual trivialities, Ruth agreed to send for Zacheus, and she also mentioned Saul, who had called on her before he left Caesarea.
“He told me all about your conversation in Jerusalem.”
I was not surprised. I assumed she was referring to the question of my miraculous gift.
“Saul not only has a most vivid and fertile imagination, but also believes he has the right to disturb others with his reveries.”
“Ahasver, look at you!”
“Ruth… and don’t I? Do you really believe this nonsense that I was blessed with a miracle from a messiah in whom I have no faith whatever? You know, it’s not even absurd now, it’s infantile!”
“Ahasver, I have been thinking, you know.”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember how we used to live? How it was? Your work, our daily struggles, all the help and assistance from your father, the loans from your brother…”
“Of course I do. Every day I give thanks for the generosity and the friendship of Joseph. Why? Did you really believe that I had forgotten? You think that I don’t know how much we owe to that man? What do you think this trip was all about?”
“I know you do, Ahasver, you have always done everything you could for him. I know it, and he knew it too. I’m not doubting that at all, but listen… do you recall when it all began?”
“Yes, of course. I don’t suffer from memory lapses.”
“Then you do recall that it all began at the same time that the Messiah came to Jerusalem…”
“More or less, and…?”
“You went with Joseph to the tomb, you witnessed His resurrection…”
“No! I’ve never said that. Don’t you start and make up things that never were there.”
“I’m simply saying that all happened at the same time. In a few days, you went from a small shopkeeper to a very wealthy tradesman.”
“Not a few days and not so wealthy at the beginning. I think that you are the one with memory issues. So, what do you conclude? That all this was by the divine intervention of your messiah too? Another miracle? Is that your thought or Saul’s?”
“No, it’s what I think.”
“Well, frankly, you should think more on it, a lot more.”
“So you believe that all that happened was just coincidence?”
“It’s either that or believe in miracles" I pointed out sharply.
“I do believe…”
“Ruth…”
“I believe!" now more emphatic, staring at me with those olive eyes where I had seen myself reflected so many times.
“Ruth, I’ve told you once, and I’ll repeat it again. I cannot command your feelings and beliefs, as idiotic as they are to me. I accepted your conversion, and it was difficult, believe me. I knew then that I had lost you, not to another man, but to a dead man and his creed.”
“Ahasver, you expelled me from my home.”
“Yes, I did. Imagine if we were living together still. I’ve been here for a few minutes, and we’re already arguing once more. Do you call that living? I took the right option, I’ve
no doubts whatsoever.”
“Maybe you are right,” she admitted meekly, “and don’t think I am ungrateful…”
“I simply did what I could do, you didn’t give me any other option.”
“You did more, you gave me freedom to follow my faith, and I’ll never forget it. That is why I worry about you. I worry when you leave on your journeys, when I know that you are all alone in that house.”
“You know perfectly well that I’m not alone, there are at least ten people in the house" I said it smiling, trying to soothe the conversation.
“You know what I mean. And I know that you are discreet.”
What was this now?
“You do know what I mean, Ahasver?”
“Yes" Greek goddesses, I imagined.
“Well, never mind that. You probably think that it’s all my fault anyway. I do know that men have needs, especially young and robust men like you.”
“We are back to our initial talk about my age?”
“We are back to reality, Ahasver. It’s in you.”
It was a vicious circle. Impossible to fight such convictions. For her, reality was doubly true, visible in me and confirmed by her credulity in a miracle that had brought fortune and youth to me. Or was it two miracles now?
“Ahasver, you have been truly blessed…”
Under that blessing I quickly departed, too irritated to fight irrationality.
I returned home cursing against Saul, Ruth, and even myself for realizing how important I still considered her opinions, and firmly determined to end once and for all my ties with the Nazarenes. I couldn’t imagine ever again having anything to do with them, once I finished with Joseph’s bequest, and I shouted for Alexander, demanding that he once more went out and searched for Zacheus.
But it was useless. He wasn’t in the city, and I didn’t want to give the money to some other Nazarene. Without an option, I looked for a ship to take me to Jaffa. I didn’t want to go by road.
This time I took Alexander with me, just the two of us, without servants and guards. I expected the trip to be quick and uneventful.
But it didn’t quite well happen that way.
A storm hit us on our journey, and the ship ran aground on the sandbank of a small rivulet, a deserted area with no signs of human presence. After a careful inspection, no apparent damage was done to the hull, and all we could do was to wait for the rising tide. It was an adventure, and we had been lucky too. A few more leagues southwards we could see the cliffs and rocky bluffs that spread towards Jaffa. It turned out to be a miracle too, so claimed some of the sailors, obviously Nazarenes.
“Alexander,” I remarked as we sat on that warm sand with our feet dangling on the water, “it’s like a tide…”
“Where, Ahasver?" he questioned me brusquely.
Smiling, I calmed him down.
“No, Alexander, I haven’t seen a tide rolling in. I’m saying that these Messianics are beginning to be like a tide.”
“Why? That’s a strange remark.”
“Have you ever seen a tide?”
“Yes, every day there are tides.”
“But have you ever seen it coming?”
“Yes I have, I mean, one sees it, little by little, the sea rising…”
“Exactly, stealthily it comes in…”
“Yes, of course, not wavy-like,” he confirmed, “it’s almost unnoticeable.”
“Well, there you have it, just like the Messianics. Little by little they come, they grow, they invade…”
“I understand, Ahasver, but tides also recede.”
“Yes, it’s true. But if they are strong they leave chaos, and ruins behind.”
“Well, let us then hope that the Messianics are a weak tide, don’t we?" he remarked amused with that demonstration of his wit.
By nightfall, the tide finally came in and gradually we managed to push the ship once again into deeper waters. From there onwards, with the help of the oars and the weak current of the stream, we finally placed the ship at a sufficient distance to turn it southward and raise the main sail. And by early morning we were before the port of Jaffa where we quickly disembarked on a lateral quay, at that time still empty of workers. Our immediate destination was the emporium, close to the central market where we glimpsed the early merchants setting up their wares for the day’s business.
Too tired for anything else, after that restless night, we slumbered until the early afternoon when I asked Hevel, the local overseer, to send someone to find a Nazarene by the name of Timon.
After waiting for two days, Hevel brought us the information that the Nazarene had been killed on the day before our arrival by a violent mob in an alley close to one of the Judaean temples. According to his informer, this Timon had already been warned several times not to spread his heretical ideas in that area, but ignoring the warning, the local Zealots had lynched him and had thrown the body into the ocean.
“But,” I asked, “are you sure this is the same Timon? It is a common name.”
“Yes, Master Ahasver. When they attacked him, he was with another brother and that one managed to escape. He confirmed to a friend of mine that the victim was Timon.”
“Do you know who is this other Messianic, the one who escaped?”
“Yes, I do know the brother.”
Something strange there. Hevel kept mentioning brothers, not Messianics or Nazarenes.
“Hevel, are you a Messianic?”
“No, no” he blurted emphatically.
“You don’t need to hide, you know. I’m not a Zealot and no one here has forgotten that our dearest Joseph was a Messianic.”
“You can talk freely, Hevel” encouraged Alexander.
“Very well,” he replied dully, “I admit that I am, Master Ahasver. But I only converted because I witnessed a miracle, until then I had never believed in them. A true miracle, I assure you.“
“Another miracle? What kind of miracle was this?” I asked.
“A cure, Master Ahasver. A real miracle, I assure you.”
“Tell us about it, Hevel” asked Alexander.
“Yes, Hevel, do tell us all about it. Alexander loves to hear about miracles” I said winking to Alexander.
“Well, some time ago I received a letter from Antioch from Master Joseph. At the time, the emporium still belonged to him.”
“Yes, go on.”
“In this letter, Master Joseph asked me to give two hundred shekels to a man here in the city.”
“To this Timon?” I asked.
“No, Master Ahasver, to Ephraim. That was his name.”
“But you never mentioned this before, Hevel. Wasn’t I in charge at the time?”
“No, Master Ahasver, I didn’t. Master Joseph asked me not to mention it to anyone.”
“And how did you manage to take such a sum without my knowledge? As far as I know, your accounts were always correct.”
“Master Joseph always kept some reserve money here at the emporium. For an emergency or to pay off a Publican, that sort of thing. That was the money I used.”
“I didn’t know that. Where is this reserve? Is there still some money left?”
“No, Master Ahasver. The reserve was always kept at two hundred shekels.”
“I hope you are telling me the truth, Hevel.”
“Of course, Master Ahasver, it is the absolute truth.”
I had my doubts, but what could I do? It was not all that different from what I had done in Jerusalem. But then I was in charge!
“All right, and what happened after you gave the money to this Ephraim?”
“Master Ahasver, Ephraim was a most learned man, he had once been a priest of the temple.”
“Yes, but the miracle?" asked Alexander restless with the round-about story.
“We all knew Ephraim. He had been one of our most devoted priests, and when he converted, many followed him.”
“Well, not so devoted then…” I muttered.
“Devoted to the Lord, not to the tem
ple, as he used to explain. As I was saying, Ephraim used to preach almost every day, in a small square near the public baths, and there was always a large crowd listening to him. After I handed him the money he started to distribute it to some of that people.”
“He was giving away the money you had given him?”
“Yes, Master Ahasver, he would give a coin or two to some of the poorer folk.”
“And then?”
“Well, when this became known even more people came to hear him.”
“I can imagine. Did you used to go and hear him at that time?”
“Once or twice, but there was always too many people and I often desisted.”
“And the miracle, Hevel?" insisted Alexander.
“The miracle happened on a day when there weren’t so many people there. Ephraim had run out of money by then. But there were still quite a number of listeners. Among the crowd there was a women holding a small child on her lap, we could see that she was very sick, very pale and thin, either sleeping or unconscious. The woman approached Ephraim and started to speak with him. Obviously I couldn’t hear what they were saying, and then the woman lowered the child and laid her on the floor. Ephraim picked the child’s arm, placed his other hand on her face, and closing his eyes he intoned a prayer, asking the Messiah to cure her ailment.”
“And then?”
“The crowd went almost silent, and after he finished his prayer, Ephraim asked the woman to lift the child.”
“The child was cured?" asked Alexander.
“The child wasn’t moving. But when the mother bent down to lift her, she suddenly rose by herself to the amazement and wonder of us all, especially the mother who immediately began to shout that it was a miracle.”
“This was the miracle?" I asked.
“Yes, Master Ahasver, undoubtedly. This child had not stirred for years, she was crippled in body and mind. She almost couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, and suddenly, after that prayer she stood up by herself!”
“And this is what led to your conversion.”
“But of course, Master Ahasver! It was a miracle, I witnessed it there, right before my eyes. We had all heard the Messianics speak of miracles, but this I saw.”
“Hevel have you forgotten what is written in our scriptures?”
“What do you mean, Master Ahasver?”
“You all seem to have forgotten of what Moses witnessed in Egypt. The miracles that were performed, not by the devoted or under any divine inspiration of the Lord, but by priests of those animal cults of theirs.”
“But, Master Ahasver, this miracle was quite different. It was done in the name of the Lord. Ephraim invoked the Lord and the Messiah.”
“And then, Hevel?” asked Alexander, eyeing me ferociously for disrupting the narrative, “What happened afterwards?”
“Well, the little girl stood up, the mother kneeled before Ephraim and asked for both to be baptized. It was at that very moment when I felt the Holy Spirit in me. That’s how it happened, Master Ahasver. It was very clear that through Ephraim the Lord’s will had been done there in that day.”
“This Ephraim, what happened to him?”
“He left the city shortly afterwards, and I don’t know where he is now” he lamented.
“Why?" asked Alexander.
“Because from then onwards every sick person in the city came to him for a cure, right Hevel?”
“Yes, Master Ahasver. But the worst were the Zealots. They started to spread rumors that he was a blasphemer and a sorcerer, and should be condemned. For his own protection, we convinced him to leave the city.”
“But did he do any more miracles? Did he cure more people?” I still asked.
“I don’t know, Master Ahasver.”
“I don’t understand it. If your messiah gave him this gift, why didn’t he use it to heal others?”
“Master Ahasver, in the next few days a lot of people showed up, really a large crowd. But I don’t think they were true believers, they were just interested in being cured.”
“But the miracle was done to a child who was not one of your devotees. Didn’t you say that the mother asked to be baptized? Surely they weren’t Messianics then.”
“In their hearts they were, Master Ahasver.”
“I see” and I still wasted my time with logical arguments!
“A miracle. I would like to see a miracle, wouldn’t you, Ahasver?” asked Alexander duly impressed with the tale.
Well, according to Saul he was looking at one.
“Of course I would, Alexander. Maybe one day we will. After all, since Yeshua appeared there have been quite a lot of miracles all around us.”
“A new era, Master Ahasver, a new era brought by the Messiah.”
For him too.
I fired him a day later. Not because he was a Nazarene, but because he had initially lied and he had hidden from me that story about the reserve money. I couldn’t afford to have an overseer with such flaws.
All that was left now was the endowment for Caesarea, and I would then be finished with the Nazarenes, excepting the situation with Ruth, but that was another issue altogether.
THE POLITICIAN