by Marek Halter
I knew John the Baptist, son of Zechariah and Elisheba, when he was still in his mother’s womb. And Mariamne, the sister of my heart, also knew him, may she remember. According to the will of God, children came to us, first to Elisheba, and then to me. For both of us, it happened in Nazareth, in Galilee.
When he became a man, John went out on the roads. Wherever he went, he took the word and baptized those who came to him. That is why he was called the Baptist.
His reputation grew.
From Jerusalem, the priests of the Sanhedrin and the Levites came to him and asked him, Who are you?
He answered humbly and said, I am not the one you are waiting for. I come before. I am not he who opens the gates of heaven. I am the word before the word, crying in the desert.
That happened in Bethany near the Jordan.
For ten years, John the Baptist’s fame grew.
For ten years, my son, Yeshua, studied and listened. He heard the word of John and approved of it. When he himself spoke, his word was heard only by a small number.
For ten years, the gates of heaven remained closed and did not open to him whom Israel awaited.
One day, John the Baptist said to me, Let your son come to be baptized. And I replied, You know better than anyone who he is. Why do you want to baptize him? When you put men and women in the water, it is to purify them. Of what do you want to purify my son, Yeshua?
My answer did not please him. And John the Baptist said to whoever would listen to him, We would like to hear Yeshua, the son of Miriam of Nazareth, but we do not hear him. We would like to see if he is as miraculous as his birth and can open the gates of heaven. But we do not see him. He speaks, but all that comes out are the words of man, not the breath of Yahweh.
Thus spoke John the Baptist. Let Mariamne, the sister of my heart, testify to that, for she was present. It happened in Magdala.
From that day, my son Yeshua was at Capernaum, on the shores of the Lake of Gennesaret. He no longer saw John the Baptist. The fame of the word of John the Baptist continued to grow. It even reached Antipas, who took fright and said, The man they call the Baptist pours out words against me. He wants the end of my house. Everyone listens to him, in Galilee and beyond. He has more influence than the Zealots, the Essenes, and the thieves.
Antipas made up his mind to have John the Baptist arrested. Sharing the vice of his family, which had run in his blood since his father, Herod, Antipas offered the head of John the Baptist to his wife, Herodias, who was also his niece and his sister-in-law.
On the eve of the day when they were due to bury John, son of Zechariah and Elisheba, Joseph of Arimathea, the holiest of men and the most loyal of my friends, came to me and said, We must go to the tomb of John the Baptist. Your friend Mariamne is with your son, Yeshua, in Capernaum. They are too far and cannot come back in time for the burial. It is for you to be at the grave of him whom Antipas killed because he was afraid of him.
This happened in Magdala.
I answered Joseph of Arimathea and said, I did not like it when John the Baptist spoke against my son, Yeshua. But you are right: We must hold hands before the grave where Antipas wishes to bury the word of the Almighty beneath his vice.
At night, by boat, we went from Magdala to Tiberias.
In the morning, not many of us assembled before the open grave. Barabbas the thief was there. Since the first day he had loved me, just as I loved him. The Almighty had never wanted us to be separated by tribulations. Let my sister Mariamne testify, she who saw us as both friends and enemies.
Barabbas complained that we were few. He said, Yesterday, they ran to John the Baptist to wash themselves of their sins. Today, when we have to stand before his grave, watched by Antipas’s mercenaries, they are nowhere to be seen.
He was wrong. When the earth covered the headless body of John the Baptist, thousand and thousands arrived to mourn him. The roads of Tiberias were full of people. No one could move. Everyone wanted to put a white stone on the grave and sing the greatness of the Almighty. It lasted until evening. By the end of the day, the grave of John the Baptist was a white mound that could be seen from afar.
Joseph of Arimathea and Barabbas took me aside for fear that I might suffocate in the multitude. Joseph of Arimathea said, The word of John the Baptist is gone. The people who are here today are lost again, like children in the dark. They thought they had found the one who would open the gates of heaven to them. They do not yet know that the one they must follow now is in Capernaum. They do not know it and again they doubt.
Barabbas agreed and said, Antipas kills, he cuts the head of the Baptist, and the anger of God is nowhere to be seen. And Barabbas turned to me and said, Joseph is right. How can we believe that your son is he who was announced by John if he does not give a sign? They will not rally behind Yeshua only by listening to him.
Hearing these words, I became angry and said, I am like them. My son was born thirty years ago, and for thirty years I have been waiting. I was a girl in the flower of her youth, now I am a woman who looks at the darkness of her time. Patience has an end. John the Baptist mocked Yeshua and me. Zechariah and Elisheba said to me before they died, We thought your son was like ours, but he is not. I listened to them and was humiliated. I was ashamed. I said, What is happening? Does God not know what he wants? Did God make me mother of Yeshua in vain? When will he give the sign, through the hand of my son, to open the gates of heaven? When will he give the sign that brings down Antipas and frees Israel? Is that not what we are living for? And have we not lived long enough in purity to deserve it?
From Joseph of Arimathea and Barabbas I hid nothing. I said to them, Today, I have no more patience. Seeing these thousands at the grave of John the Baptist does not comfort me. It is not a grave we should be celebrating, it is the light of life. That is why Yeshua was born.
My anger did not subside before I returned to Magdala. Joseph of Arimathea did not try to assuage it. He was like me, and even further on in years. His days were numbered, his patience had worn thinner than his tunic.
Two days passed, and Mariamne, the sister of my heart, returned from Capernaum. May she remember. She announced with great joy, I have wonderful news. Yeshua preached at Capernaum. Those who heard him said, Here is John the Baptist reborn. The rumor of his word reached the ears of a Roman centurion. He came to hear him, and everyone feared his presence. But Yeshua said to him, I know that your daughter is between life and death. Tomorrow, she will be on her feet. The centurion ran home. The next day, he returned and bowed down before Yeshua and said, My name is Longinus, and I must recognize before you that you spoke the truth. My daughter is on her feet.
And Mariamne also announced, Next week, there will be a big wedding at Cana, in Galilee. The bridegroom’s father is rich and respected. He heard Yeshua and invited him.
Then Joseph of Arimathea looked at me. I knew he was thinking the same as me. I said, Let us go to Cana too. It is […]*1
[…] named Claudia, wife of Pilate, governor of Judea. She said to me, I heard your son speak at Capernaum and I am here. I am a daughter of Rome, and my birth places me above the people, but please do not think that this makes me blind and deaf. I know what Antipas is doing in this country. I also know what his father did.
To the sister of my heart, Claudia the Roman said, I admire the wise teaching that you give in Magdala. They say you are the one who exalts the word of Yeshua among women. And Mariamne answered and said, Come to Magdala to be with me. There will be a place for you there, even though you are a daughter of Rome.
This is what happened at the wedding feast at Cana. Yeshua said to the bride and bridegroom, Let no one light a lamp and then bury it in a hole. The joy of marriage makes of the body a light that chases away all darkness. The flesh of the bride and groom is radiant and reveals how much my father loves the life that is in you.
A disciple of my son came to me, a small man, with thin cheeks and a direct look. His name was John in the language of Rome. His greetin
g surprised me, since the disciples of Yeshua do not like to show themselves to me. But he was friendly to me and said, At last, you have come to hear the word of your son. It is a long time since I last saw you with him. And I answered, How could I follow him when he chases me away? He keeps saying that he has no family, not even a mother. And John shook his head and said, No! Do not be offended. It is not a word against you but against those who doubt him. That will soon change.
The day was hot in Cana. Everyone drank for pleasure and to quench their thirst. The end of the wedding feast was approaching. There were many people. Some had come from Samaria, from Bethsaida. Geouel, who did not like me when I was in their house with Ruth, blessed be she, was present among the others. He came to me with respect and said, The time when I was against you has long gone. I was young and ignorant. Today, I know who you are.
When the sun began to set, Barabbas said to me, You brought us here, but nothing has changed. Your son speaks, and the others are thirsty from listening to him.
At that moment, Joseph of Arimathea came to me and said, There will soon be no more wine. The feast will be spoiled.
I understood what he meant. I stood up, with fear in my heart. It could be seen on my face. May my sister Mariamne remember. I went to my son and said, They have no more wine. You must do what is expected of you. It is time.
John the disciple was close to me. Yeshua looked me up and down as if I was a stranger and said, Woman, do not meddle in what I must do or not do. My hour has not yet come.
Then I, his mother, said, You are wrong, Yeshua. The sign is in your hands. You cannot hold back any longer. We are all waiting.
He again looked me up and down. He was not like a son looking at his mother. He turned to the bride and bridegroom, to John his disciple, to Joseph of Arimathea and Barabbas, and also to Mariamne, may she remember. He was silent. Then I asked the people serving at the wedding to approach, and said to them, Yeshua will speak to you. Whatever he orders you to do, do it.
Everyone looked at me in surprise, without understanding. There was silence at the wedding feast. Yeshua finally commanded the servants and said, Go to the jars intended for the purification and fill them. They said, We have only water to fill them, Rabbi, and this is a wedding day. He replied, Do as I say and fill the jars with water.
Once the jars were full, Yeshua ordered, Dip a cup in it and take it to the bridegroom’s father. They did so, and the bridegroom’s father exclaimed, This is wine! From the water has come wine, the best I have ever drunk.
Everyone wanted to see and to drink. They were given cups and they exclaimed, This is the wine of the Almighty! He is blessing our wedding! He is making Yeshua his son and his word!
Mariamne, the sister of my heart, was in tears. She went to Yeshua and kissed his hands, and he embraced her. She came to my arms and laughed through her tears, may she remember. Joseph of Arimathea embraced me and said, This is the first sign, God Almighty. Are you at last opening the gates of heaven?
John the disciple came to me and said, You are his mother, no one can doubt that.
All the wedding guests came to Yeshua and knelt before him and drank the wine. Claudia the Roman, the wife of Pilate, was in the front row, as humble before the Lord as a Jewess.
As for myself, I thought and I trembled. I prayed and said, It has happened. May the Almighty forgive me, I had no more patience, and I hurried up time. I pushed the word into the mouth of my son. But, Lord Everlasting, is it not for this that he was born: for the love of men to be revealed and to speak? God of Heaven, protect him. Follow him. Stretch your hand over him. Your breath.
Barabbas said to me, You were right, he may be our king. This time, I must believe it, or else I can no longer believe the evidence of my own eyes! From now on, Yeshua must take to the roads and give more signs like this one. The whole people of Israel will come to him.
That is what he did. For more than a year, the signs were plentiful. First in Galilee, then in Judea. Among the people, they were beginning to say, Here is Yeshua the Nazarene, he gives signs, he is in the hands of God. That was why one day he came to Jerusalem.
Thanks to the intercession of John, the disciples did not prevent me from following him. With me came Joseph of Arimathea, Barabbas, and Mariamne of Magdala, may she remember. In Jerusalem, we were joined by Yakov, known as James in the language of Rome, the son of Joseph, who was my husband at the time of the birth of Yeshua. He went to Yeshua and kissed him, and Yeshua said, Stay with me, you are my brother and I love you. It does not matter that we have neither the same mother nor the same father, we are brothers and sons of the Same Father.
Passover came.
You all know the story of what happened at Passover. How Yeshua took us to the Temple and there found the crowd that had come to purify itself. How the courtyard of the Temple was filled with those who transformed the sanctuary into a place of trade. The money changers had their tables there. The merchants of oxen and […]*2 night, Barabbas held out the whip of rope and knots, and Yeshua took it. He cracked the whip before him. He drove the oxen out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep. The cages of doves broke on the ground, and the birds flew away. The coins of the money changers rolled on the flagstones. Yeshua overturned the tables, and chased everyone out of the courtyard.
This all happened before the eyes of those who had come to purify themselves, and they looked at each other and said, This is Yeshua of Nazareth. He has been all over Galilee, Samaria, and Judea giving signs through his word. He transformed water into wine at a wedding feast. Those who could not walk he made to walk. Nobody gives signs like this if the Lord is not with him. Now he is rising up against the corruptions of the Sanhedrin. Blessed be he!
This happened while he was emptying the courtyard of the Temple. To those who protest, Yeshua replied, Take this away! Never show yourself any more in my father’s house as in a house of trade.
The priests of the Sanhedrin arrived, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and cried, Who do you think you are to behave like this? And Yeshua replied, Do you not know, you who teach Israel?
Caiaphas, the high priest who had his power from the will of the Romans and his father-in-law, Annas, was drawn by the noise of the crowd. He feared what he saw. He stood up before Yeshua and said, Prove by a sign that Yahweh is with you. Prove to us that he has given you the right to oppose our decisions!
Yeshua replied, Tear down this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days.
May Mariamne, the sister of my heart, remember, those were his words. The words the crowd heard. The words the corrupt priests heard. For when Yeshua spoke, they all fell silent. They looked at the walls of the Temple and trembled. Their eyes were ready to see the sanctuary collapse by the will of the Almighty.
Nothing happened. Caiaphas mocked and said, Herod took forty-six years to build this temple, and you would raise it again in three days? You lie. Yeshua said, Lying is at the root of your thoughts. How could this temple be the sanctuary of God, since it is Herod who built it and your rotten hands that maintain it?
The crowd made a great noise. In the tumult, there was the threat of rebellion. Cries were heard announcing, The Messiah is in the courtyard of the Temple. He is confronting Caiaphas and the priests who are in the pay of the Romans.
Barabbas came to my side and said, The city is seething with anger. The streets are full. The people are arriving from everywhere for Passover. This is the moment we have been waiting for for so long, you and I. A sign from your son, and we will overturn the Sanhedrin. We will run to the Roman garrison and take it. Hurry.
Before doing anything, I took counsel with Joseph of Arimathea and Mariamne, may she remember. Both answered and said, This depends on Yeshua. To which I said, Barabbas is right. Never has there been a better moment to free the people of Jerusalem from the Roman yoke.
To my son, Yeshua, I said, Give the crowd a sign so that it will follow you. It will not wait. It is seething to follow you against the Sanhedrin and the Romans. Do
not hesitate any longer.
Yeshua looked at me as he looked at me at Cana. His mouth remained closed. His eyes said to me, Who is this woman who thinks she can ask me to obey as a son should obey his mother?
This was the moment that Caiaphas chose to stir up his guard of mercenaries. He cried that the Nazarene was a usurper, a false prophet, a false Messiah. He pointed a finger at us, at the disciples, at me, at Joseph of Arimathea and Mariamne, and said, Those are they who want to destroy the Temple. Those are the ungodly! The mercenaries lowered their spears and drew their swords. Barabbas made the crowd surround us in order to save our lives.
May Mariamne remember. Everything that happened later, we were side by side to live it.
Yeshua and his disciples were welcomed in the house of a man named Shimon, on the Bethany road, less than an hour’s walk from Jerusalem. I, his mother, Mariamne, and Joseph of Arimathea were placed in the neighboring house. Barabbas said to me, I am going back to Jerusalem. The people are too febrile for me to remain with my arms folded. It is no longer possible to hold them back. My place is there, at the head of those who want to fight. Let your son make up his mind. He has thrown a stone; it is for him to know whom it will strike.
I kissed him with all the love in my heart. I knew he might die in this combat, if Yeshua did not make up his mind.
Mariamne was at my side, and we tried to convince Yeshua. We said, You spoke before the people and said that the Temple could be destroyed and you would rebuild it in three days. The people will destroy it to put you to the test. They want to see the power of God act through your words. They want a pure sanctuary. They want you before them. They want to see the man you are. The people of Israel can wait no longer. They want the heavens to open.
Yeshua did not look at us. He said to his disciples, Why are they in a hurry? Moses wandered a long time in the desert and did not even reach Canaan. Nevertheless, he performed wonders under the palm of Yahweh. And now the stiff-necked people have demands?