Fire and Sword (9 page)

“Ananias! Welcome!”

Several of Kara’s angels watched as Ananias greeted Peter in the courtyard. Servius had done well. Kara beamed with pride. Even Lucifer was in attendance to watch the result of the venom they had introduced. Perhaps now they could get the war back on a more manageable footing.

“Finally, we get action on this,” said Lucifer.

He assumed a lecturing tone as he spoke to the angels crowded around him. They were on a rooftop above the area where the gifts were distributed to those in need. Holy angels also drew near at the appearance of Lucifer at such a place. Before long, many angels—both holy and unholy—filled the air around the building.

“We certainly have attracted attention to ourselves,” sneered Lucifer. “I suppose word has gotten around that Ananias is about to bring a bit of corruption to the Church. Reminds me of Eden!”

They laughed.

“Yes, and recall the result of Eden,” came the voice of Crispin, who arrived with several of his students. “A death sentence for you and your kind!”

“I’m not dead yet, teacher,” said Lucifer. “Nor are any of my kind. But your precious group down there will soon be dead of its own accord.”

“Really,” posed Crispin. “How so?”

“Because I know humans,” Lucifer continued. “Corruption begets corruption. And then it consumes even itself. Mark my words, Crispin. This silly group of Christ followers will soon disperse. Especially once the rot sets in.”

“You are certainly the authority on rot,” agreed Crispin.

His students snickered.

Suddenly from below every angel sensed a holy intrusion—a visitation by the very Spirit of God. Lucifer and his angels backed off, and the holy angels bowed low. Complete silence overcame them all as Peter, sensing the voice of the Spirit, turned to Ananias. His countenance became one of anger toward the man who was still holding the sum of money he had brought with him.

“What is it, Peter?” asked Ananias nervously.

“Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?”

Kara glanced at Lucifer upon the word
Satan
. Nobody else dared look his way. Lucifer merely looked on and continued listening.

Ananias began to protest, but Peter continued speaking as the Spirit of God gave him instruction in his heart.

“My friend, didn’t the money belong to you before it was sold? You could have done whatever you wanted with it. You could have kept all of it if you wanted. But what is this? What made you think of doing such a thing? Rather than simply keeping what was in your heart to keep, you instead lied to God Himself!”

“But…but…” was all Ananias could manage before he dropped dead at Peter’s feet. The people around Peter gasped. Some men ran to help Ananias, but he was quite dead. Even the angels were astonished at the completeness of God’s judgment.

Peter was teary-eyed as he looked at the crumpled body at his feet.

“Take him,” he said to some young men. “Prepare him and bury him.”

The men picked up the body of Ananias and carried him away. Silently the people looked at Peter, who had fallen to his knees in prayer. They did the same.

Lucifer was livid. Why must the Spirit of God interfere with the freedom of men? Didn’t the Most High create men to choose their actions? Kara remained silent. Some of his angels discreetly vanished. Soon only Kara and Lucifer remained. The holy angels continued in worship of the Most High, as they had been doing since the Spirit’s arrival. Finally Crispin addressed Lucifer: “As you said, Lucifer, corruption begets corruption, and then it consumes even itself.”

As he spoke, Sapphira came in, completely ignorant of what had happened to her husband earlier. She wondered why everyone stared at her so strangely. Peter spoke with her, and she, like her husband, presented false testimony regarding the amount of money that they had received for the property.

“Why are you crying?” she asked Peter. “What is the matter?”

Peter pointed to the young men who were returning.

“These men just buried your husband because he lied to God,” he said.

Sapphira turned to see the sweaty, dirty men. She looked back at Peter with pleading eyes.

“And now they shall bury you,” he continued. “Because you agreed with your husband in this dirty crime.”

Sapphira gasped once, and fell dead.

A few ladies screamed at the sight. Several men grabbed their children and took them away. Peter called on the people.

“The Lord is a God of mercy,” he said. “But He will not tolerate sin forever. Repent then and fall to your knees. And if there is anything in your heart that is dark, remove it.”

He watched as the men picked up Sapphira. Several coins clinked to the ground from the little bag she was carrying.

“Lest you end up as these two.”

Everyone watched silently as the young men carried Sapphira out to bury her next to her husband. Lucifer turned to Crispin, who looked at the leader of the fallen angels and vanished. His students did likewise.

“Corruption still begets corruption,” Lucifer said, turning to Kara. “And if corruption cannot be introduced from within, it is always readily available from without. I suggest we have coddled these people long enough.”

“Meaning?” asked Kara.

“Your ignorance is always astounding to me, Kara,” said Lucifer, as they walked away from the courtyard. “When fighting a battle waged for the hearts of men there has always been one group of humans we could count on to side with us.”

“The priesthood,” Kara said.

“Exactly,” Lucifer responded. “Those arrogant fools who believe they serve the Most High by serving their own traditions. They are as opposed to this crowd as we are.” He laughed. “Maybe even more so! It’s time we took the battle back—or at least hand it back over to the high priest.” He looked intently at the Temple complex in the distance…. “It’s time they move from pleading with these people to persecuting them!”

Paul’s Cell, Rome, A.D. 67

“It wasn’t long after this incident that the persecutions began,” Luke continued. “As I remember it, a great fear of God seized the Church.” He laughed. “Even people with clean hearts before God were repenting!”

Paul laughed.

“But you must understand that the fear of God was very real,” Luke continued. “After all, they had just witnessed the deaths of two of their leading companions.”

Paul nodded his head.

“The fear of God cleanses His Church,” he said. “And its members individually.”

The two men sat in silence for a moment. Only the night sounds of a prison complex could be heard. Footsteps from above, an occasional voice, and the faint sound of life outside the prison that drifted in from time to time: a horse, a cart, a muffled conversation. Paul looked up at the hole in his ceiling that was used to drop his food and scant communications. He winked at Luke and called up.

“Camius, my friend, the Lord bless you!”

“I told you, I want no part of your God!” came the grouchy reply.

The men laughed.

“At least Camius is honest,” said Paul. “But I pray for him to know the grace of our Lord before I am taken from here…”

“What was it like for you in those days?” Luke asked. “I mean, we have talked about your life before. But during the early days as the Church was gathering and growing, what was it like for you?”

Paul sat back, and took a piece of the bread Luke had brought along. He nibbled on it as he thought. He then looked at Luke.

“To tell you the truth I thought I was doing well,” he said finally. “I was a young, passionate, rising priest who zealously believed in the traditions of my fathers. I was sure that God had called me to become one of the greatest of Pharisees and a teacher of the law. So when these people continued in this Christ business even after He had been put to death, I was both astonished and enraged!” He smiled at Luke. “I was also blind.”

Luke jotted down a few notes as Paul spoke.

“But what could you say?” Luke asked. “After the incident with Ananias and Sapphira, the Lord used Peter and John and some of the others in miraculous ways near Solomon’s Colonnade. The Church met there—although nobody else ventured near the place for fear of the priests.”

Paul shook his head. “The ignorance of pride! That was when the priests had Peter and John arrested.”

“Yes,” said Luke. “Caiaphas was enraged that the men he had admonished not to speak should continue to do so—and so convincingly what with the miracles being performed. It was as if Satan himself had compelled him to begin persecuting the Church…”

Jerusalem, A.D. 33

Kara looked upon the council with great satisfaction. Lucifer was right. Here was where the battle must be waged. And here he could do something that would forever make Lucifer indebted to him. He intended to fan the flames of these men’s feeble minds until they ignited in typical human rage.

“It’s an absolute abomination!” Caiaphas roared from his seat at the council table. He turned to Zichri and pointed an accusing finger. “Did I not instruct you to shut these men up? Did we not order them to stop preaching this Jesus? These men wish to have His blood on our hands, and the people are just stupid enough to believe them.”

Nobody spoke. The council meeting in the high priest’s home was once more dealing with the problem of Peter and John. Their recent preaching at the Colonnade was becoming a legend in the city. And the priests were feeling the pressure.

“I have heard that people lie in the street hoping that the shadow of one of these men might pass over and heal them!”
came the voice of Kara slipping into the mind of Caiaphas.
“The power of God is with them…”

“This is outrageous! The people worship the mere shadows of these men! They won’t even look at a priest. But they crave the
shadows
of the disciples of Jesus!”

“The people will lose confidence in the priesthood…”

Caiaphas stood and poured himself some wine.

“Listen to me, my friends,” he began. “When Jesus was here He robbed the people of their senses. They took Him as a king for a time until we had Him executed for the criminal and fraud that He was. If we do nothing, the same people will follow His disciples. And we shall lose our place!”

“My lord, High Priest,” offered Zichri. “It is my understanding that they are at the Colonnade at the same hour every day. Perhaps it is time we took them into custody once more…”

“What?!” demanded Alexander. “And risk the wrath of the people?”

The council broke out in bitter argument as some wanted to take drastic action and haul them in immediately, while others wanted to take a more discreet pathway. Caiaphas sat and listened to the noisy deliberation. Kara stepped over near him.

“If you do nothing, you shall lose everything…”

Caiaphas looked around him and stood, holding his hands up to stop the noise. The room became silent.

“I agree that it is risky to take these men into custody,” he began, looking at Alexander. “But if we allow this to continue much longer we shall no longer have the authority to do so.”

Zichri looked at Alexander and smirked.

“You, Zichri, shall take these men under arrest of Temple guards.” He smiled. “I hear that these
Christ followers
pride themselves on their hospitality. Let’s return the favor and show them what their future hosts have in store for them if they should not relent in this blasphemous pursuit. A night’s stay should do it! Then we’ll speak to them in the morning!”

They all agreed. Zichri bowed and left the room.