High Stakes

by Erin McCarthy

  While the crowd was mocking him on the cross and several priests had gone to Pilate to insist that Jesus’ legs be broken, Roman soldiers were casting lots for Christ’s clothing. This verifies what I said earlier about Christ being wealthy, for he had a robe that was of the finest cloth with no seams. This is not the clothing of a poor man, but a man of means who wore expensive garments. You certainly wouldn’t compete with raggedy, worn clothes. It also fulfilled another prophecy concerning the Christ. Indeed, many prophecies concerning the Christ were fulfilled that day: being executed with the wicked (thieves); the casting of lots over his garments; no bones being broken during his execution; and the piercing of his body.

  Pontius Pilate had what they call runners, who were either soldiers or people whom he could trust who were incognito, to report back to him and tell him the status of Jesus. As the third hour of his crucifixion approached, a runner reported to Pilate that Jesus seemed to be failing. Pilate had one of his physicians make up a concoction that would be very much like a sleeping potion, except it induced a light coma, and sent it back to the site of crucifixion. When Christ asked for water because he thirsted, a sponge was filled with this elixir and given to Jesus. In a very short period of time, Jesus fell into a light coma state and appeared for all practical purposes dead. All of this had been planned, and Christ accepted the elixir gratefully and hoped it would work. The centurion in charge had been told by Pilate to pronounce Jesus dead when he passed out and to lightly pierce his side to prove it. Because he was in a coma, Christ’s body did not react to the piercing and he was pronounced dead. Joseph of Arimathaea then, according to the plan, immediately took the body of Jesus from the cross and, with Mary Magdalene and Nicodemus, placed him in linen cloth and put him in Joseph’s tomb to be out of sight of prying eyes. The Jews were going to bury him, but it was prearranged with Pilate that they would use the tomb of Joseph to hide him and bring him back to consciousness. Why this is significant is because it was in a hewed-out cave of rock and had a type of stone bed and a rock that would seal the tomb. How convenient that he wasn’t buried underground, where he would have died of suffocation.

  Call it divine intervention or atmospheric conditions, but the sky did turn dark and torrents of rain began to fall shortly after Christ was put on the cross. I’m sure God made this happen not only to drive the few onlookers away, but to keep witnesses from seeing that Jesus was in a coma state and still breathing. When they took him to the tomb it was still just before sundown, as it was against Jewish law to bury someone at night. Pilate had sent his best physicians and they, with Mary Magdalene, worked on him to revive him and dress and treat his wounds. He rested for a time and was given food and drink. Pilate then sent word that the Sanhedrin was planning to send soldiers to guard the tomb and to move him to a safer place. They then moved Christ to recover, leaving a closed tomb and the linen he was wrapped in when he was taken down from the cross.

  The four gospels relate to us what Jesus said when he was on the cross in extreme suffering and agony. Only Matthew (Matthew 27:46) and Mark (Mark 15:34) have Jesus saying, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” According to both of these gospels it is the only utterance he made from the cross except for a loud cry at his supposed death. Although the gospels of Luke and John don’t mention the above saying at all, they do recount that Christ had some conversations with other people. In Luke we have Jesus speaking to his Father in heaven twice. Luke 23:34 has Christ saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” and Luke 23:46 has Jesus saying, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:43 also has Jesus replying to one of the thieves who asks Jesus to remember him, “Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.”

  The Gospel of John also has Christ saying several things on the cross. In John 19:28 we have Christ saying in his agony, “I thirst,” and someone gave him wine in a sponge and fulfilled another prophecy. We also read in John 19:30 that Jesus says, “It is consummated [finished]” before he loses consciousness and supposedly dies. The Gospel of John also relates an interesting intercourse between Jesus and his mother, Mary, and an unknown disciple while he is on the cross. In John 19:25–27 we read, Now there werestanding by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold thy son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, thy mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. Now, most Biblical scholars believe that this unknown disciple was John the Beloved, but I contend that the disciple that Christ was referring to was Mary Magdalene. To me it is the only thing that makes any sense.

  First of all, the Bible relates in all the four gospels that the disciples ran away and went into hiding. Secondly, John specifically relates that only three people were there and if there was a fourth (the supposed disciple), why not name him along with Mary, Mary of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene? Thirdly, Gnostics have always believed that Mary Magdalene was his first and most beloved disciple (…the disciple standing by, whom he loved…). According to John he speaks to his mother and then he speaks to Mary Magdalene (his beloved disciple) and tells her…“Behold thy mother.” Mary, being married to Jesus, was a daughter-in-law to Mary and, as I’ve already related, had been considered a daughter by Mary since Magdalene was a child. It makes perfect sense that he would tell Magdalene to behold her mother, and it also makes perfect sense that Magdalene would care for Mary after Christ’s supposed death. It is so logically obvious that this is the correct interpretation, but Biblical scholars would then have to admit that Mary Magdalene was closer to Christ than most think and was even married to him. This would be my interpretation if I was strictly adhering to the Bible as a source, but, thank God, I have a spirit guide who has the knowledge of the Other Side to draw upon.

  Francine says that when Christ said, “Behold thy son,” while on the cross, he was addressing his Mother in Heaven…the Mother God. She says he actually said, “Mother in heaven, behold thy son!” which was edited by the early Church to “Woman, behold thy son,” to give reference to Mary instead of a Mother God deity. Jesus believed in both sides of God, the Feminine Principal as well as the male side of God or Father. Francine says Jesus was aware of this long before he went to India, where they honor both (as many religions around the world do), because the Mother God as well as the Father God spoke to Jesus as a child growing up. That’s why Jesus would travel with women and made Mary Magdalene his first disciple. He, unlike the Romans and especially the Sanhedrin, tried to elevate women to a status of more equality with men. The Romans, like the Greeks, had goddesses, so this wouldn’t have been blasphemous to them. You must remember that the early Church removed entire books and edited the Bible heavily to omit any references to a Mother God or feminine principal, because you can’t have a patriarchal religion if you have equality with women.

  You would think that the four gospels would be consistent about what Christ said on the cross; after all, this was a very important event, in that Christ was supposedly dying. It would be his supposed “deathbed” experience and the last words he would utter in life. Yet here we have the four gospels, all saying different things except for Matthew and Mark. Why? There are other inconsistencies in the portrayal of Christ’s crucifixion. John’s is the only gospel that mentions that Christ’s mother Mary was at the crucifixion. Luke is very vague about who was there but does mention Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary mother of James the Less (Mary Cleophas). Mark mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less (Mary Cleophas) and Salome (not the Salome who danced for Herod). Matthew says Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleophas and the mother of the sons of Zebedee were there. The only consistent witnesses mentioned in all four gospels are Mary Magdalene and Mary Cleophas (generally thought to be the Virgin Mary’s sister-in-law or niece). Francine says that Mary Magdalene, Christ’s mother Mary and Mary Cleophas we
re present at the crucifixion the entire time and that other women such as Joanna and Salome also came for a time.

  While the three Marys tried to comfort themselves as well as Jesus, the disciples were nowhere to be found. They made up for it later, after Jesus had gone, but they certainly were not anywhere to be found while he was being crucified. Even Peter fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus by denying him three times before the cock crowed. They went to a place in Jerusalem that had an upper room where they often met and hid there, hoping no one would look for them.

  Theologians have puzzled over the fact that, as spiritual and God-like as Jesus was supposed to be, he called out in his despondency and agony, “Father, why has thou forsaken me?” This is understandable because even the divinity in Jesus still resided in a human form that was suffering. Francine says one of the reasons he said it was because he had been conversing with God regularly, and then, all of a sudden, at the crucifixion God became silent. When she said that, it reminded me of Joan of Arc, who had her voices go silent at her time of crisis and execution. Evidently this was a small lapse in Christ due to his suffering and his mental state of despondency in which he really thought he was going to die. God, of course, knew he wasn’t going to die at that time and evidently felt he didn’t have to comment, as Christ’s Chart was taking its course and had to be experienced.

  CHAPTER 7

  The Resurrection—A Plan for Christ’s Survival

  ACCORDING TO FRANCINE, one of the first things Jesus experienced upon awakening, besides an exuberant kiss and exclamation of joy from Mary Magdalene, was a profound sense of relief and unadulterated happiness that he was still alive. Relief in the sense that he knew he had fulfilled his mission and happiness in knowing that he had survived an ordeal in which he was supposed to die. Francine also says that God spoke with Jesus shortly after awakening and told him that He was well pleased with how Jesus had handled everything.

  As I stated earlier, after the treatment and dressing of his wounds by Pilate’s physicians, who then left, Francine says Jesus ate and drank and rested with only Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathaea in attendance. Early in the morning of the Sabbath, they got word from Pilate to find another place of hiding, as the Sanhedrin was sending soldiers to guard the tomb. Magdalene helped an unsteady Jesus dress in clothes that disguised him, while Joseph went to get a litter and several others to help. Shortly thereafter they left the tomb and rolled the sealing stone back into place and carried Jesus away to a safe place for recovery.

  What most people don’t realize is that the resurrection of the Messiah is supposedly foretold by Jewish prophecies in the Old Testament—namely, Psalms 15:8–11; Psalms 21:19–22; and Isaiah 53:8–11. I will quote them out of the most recognized Catholic version of the Bible—Douay-Rheims:

  Psalms 15:8–11—I set the Lord always in my sight: for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved.

  Therefore my heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath rejoiced: moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope.

  Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; nor wilt thou give thy holy one to see corruption.

  Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance; at thy right hand are delights even to the end.

  Psalms 21:19–22—They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.

  But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defense.

  Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.

  Save me from the lion’s mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.

  Isaiah 53:8–11—He was taken away from distress, and from judgment: who shall declare his generation? Because he is cut off out of the land of the living: for the wickedness of my people have I struck him.

  And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death: because he hath done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth.

  And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity: if he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand.

  Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled: by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear their inequities.

  Now, if you have a Bible handy, you might want to read these prophecies and the wording might be a little different if you have a different version of the Bible. I expect that you will come away from that experience just as I did…confused because of the blatant obscurity. How anyone can figure that these are prophecies of the resurrection is beyond me. I have always put forth that there is an afterlife, a place where we go that has no evil or negativity, which I call the Other Side. Therefore, all of us are resurrected (except for Dark entities) when we die.

  All four gospels mention the resurrection, and again we run into inconsistencies in their various versions. Matthew 28:2 says an angel rolled back the sealing stone of the tomb while Mark (16:4), Luke (24:2) and John (20:1) have Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb and finding the sealing stone already rolled away. There are more inconsistencies: John has only Mary Magdalene at the tomb; Luke has Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and other women at the tomb; Mark has Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome at the tomb; and Matthew has Mary Magdalene and the “other Mary” at the tomb. The only consistency here is that Mary Magdalene was at the tomb.

  We find more inconsistency in the different versions of the resurrection, and in some ways they point more to his being alive (literally) than resurrected. Matthew has the angel rolling back the stone and sitting on it while making the guards of the tomb like “dead men.” He then has the angel telling the women that Jesus is not in the tomb and to go tell Christ’s disciples and that they will all see him in Galilee. Matthew then has the women seeing Jesus immediately after, before even reaching the disciples, rather than seeing him in Galilee. After they see him, Jesus tells them to go tell his disciples that he will see them in Galilee.

  Mark has Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleophas (mother of James) and Salome finding the stone rolled back from the tomb and a young man in a white robe (angel?) sitting in the empty tomb. The young man tells them that Jesus is not there, has risen, and to go tell Christ’s disciples that Jesus will meet them in Galilee. Mark then has Christ first appearing to Mary Magdalene, and Mary then going to the disciples and bringing word that Christ is alive. To quote Mark 16:10–11—She went and brought word to those who had been with him, as they were mourning and weeping. And they, hearing that he wasaliveand had been seen by her, did not believe it.

  We then have Luke relate how the women (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary Cleophas and others) found the stone rolled back from the tomb and how two men in “dazzling raiment” appeared and told them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?” They continue to say he is risen and not there at the tomb. The women then go tell the disciples.

  John has only Mary Magdalene present and seeing the opened tomb. Mary then runs and tells Peter and another disciple (presumably John the Beloved) that the tomb has been opened and that Christ’s body is gone. Peter and John check out the empty tomb and then go home. Mary Magdalene stays and sees two angels in white sitting in the tomb and they say to her, “Woman, why art thou weeping?” Mary replies, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” The Gospel of John then has Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene, who at first doesn’t recognize him because she thinks he is the gardener. Was Jesus in some sort of disguise?

  Here we have the inconsistencies of which women were there; how many angels, if any, were there; whether all or only two disciples even came to the tomb; whether the stone was rolled back or already open; and whether Mary Magdalene saw Christ and when. Once again, you would think that such an important event as the resurrection would be more consistently described.

  The one consistency that seems to prevail in all four gospels is th
e fact that the disciples were wimps. All four gospels mention that some or all of the disciples did not believe that Christ was alive and had risen. Just before Christ makes his disciples into apostles Matthew 28:17 mentions: And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some doubted. In Mark we have Jesus appearing to two disciples who did not believe and then, just before Jesus makes them apostles, Mark 16:14 says, At length he appeared to the Eleven as they were at table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and hardness of heart, in that they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen.

  Luke and John give longer renditions but still put forth the fact that Christ’s disciples were unbelieving and frightened. Both of these gospels also relate stories that give us more insight into the fact that Jesus was alive and still kicking. In Luke we have Jesus appearing to the Eleven saying, “Peace to you! It is I, do not be afraid” (Luke 24:36). Luke then says that the disciples were startled and panic-stricken and thought they were seeing a spirit. Jesus then says in Luke 24:38–39, “Why are you disturbed, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and feet, that it is I myself. Feel me and see;for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” Luke then further relates in Luke 24:41–43, But as they still disbelieved and marveled for joy, he said, “Have you anything here to eat?” And they offered him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb. And when he had eaten in their presence, he took what remained and gave it to them. John also gives us the story of a doubting Thomas who states to his fellow disciples that he would not believe Christ was alive until he put his finger in his wounds. In John 20:26–29 we read, And after eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, thedoors being closed, and stood in their midst, and said, “Peace be to you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Bring here thy finger, and see my hands; and bring here thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.”