Mary of Nazareth (30 page)

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 […]
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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?

After these words, the disciples chased us from the house.

John came to me with a sad face and said, Do not be offended. We understand the words of your son, Yeshua, but we do not yet understand him. He is right, though: Yahweh alone decides on the time of men.

Before night, the news arrived. The streets of Jerusalem were red with blood. The horsemen of Pilate the governor charged, with their spears pointed. At night, we learned that Barabbas had killed a priest of the Temple. I was told, He is a prisoner. He has been taken to Pilate's jail. I turned angrily to John and said, Has this not opened my son's mouth?

Above Bethany, the night sky was red with the fires burning in Jerusalem. Mariamne, the sister of my heart, wept and said, It is the blood of the people rising to heaven. As the gates of heaven were still closed, it covered heaven with our grief.

An old man joined us. He could hardly walk, and was brought in a cart. He spoke to me and said, I am Nicodemus, the Pharisee of the Sanhedrin, who came to Nazareth, to the house of Yossef the carpenter, more than twenty years ago, at the request of your father, Joachim.

I recognized him in spite of his age. He said, I am here because of you, Miriam of Nazareth. I am here because of your son, Yeshua. Take me to him. What I have to tell him is as important as his life.

John the disciple took him to Yeshua.

Nicodemus said to Yeshua, I am from the Sanhedrin, but my heart tells me that you are he who can teach us about the will of the Almighty. I prayed for God to enlighten me, and I saw your face. That is why I am here, and I say to you, Tonight, you must do something to show everyone who you are. Yeshua answered, What do you want of me? And Nicomedus said, A sign. The sign you announced. Go to the people who are destroying the Temple and raise it again in three days. And Yeshua said, How do you know that the hour has come? You know nothing, not even if you are in the hands of my Father! But Nicodemus insisted, You must give this sign, or the Romans will seize you at dawn. Caiaphas and his father-in-law, Annas, have condemned you on behalf of the Sanhedrin. They want you dead for what you did today. The people have revolted against them. At this hour of the night, they are tamed and Barabbas is in prison. Act in the hands of Yahweh or their blood will have been spilled for nothing. I say to you, the people of Jerusalem are waiting for a sign.

My son said nothing. We waited for him to give an answer to Nicodemus. Finally, he said, All of you want to hurry up time. It is all right for an impatient mother who has forgotten her place. But you, Pharisee, do you not know who decides? Your impatience is making you a slave of the world. Yet I say to you, In the world, you will have nothing but distress.

Nicodemus was disconcerted by what he heard. Even the disciples had been hoping for different words. I said to Mariamne, My son condemns me in public. Have I committed a sin? Have I committed an irreparable sin? May she remember, for it was the first time I had thought about it.

Nicodemus left as he had came. All night, Jerusalem held its breath. Thousands waited for a sign from my son.

None came. The gates of heaven were still closed.

At dawn, a Roman cohort, its tribune, and the Temple guard came to Bethany. Yeshua went with them like a lamb going to the slaughter. They led him to Caiaphas, who handed him over to Pilate the Roman. In the streets of Jerusalem, anger grew. This time, against Yeshua. We heard people say, Where has he led us? He announces that he will rebuild the Temple in three days, but he is not even capable of pushing Caiaphas from his seat! Our blood is on the streets, and for what purpose?

Claudia the Roman, who had been following Mariamne's teaching ever since Cana, came running to me in tears and said, Pilate is my husband. He is not a bad man. I shall go and ask him for clemency for your son, Yeshua. He must not die, he must not go on the cross. I answered her, Do not forget Barabbas. He is in […]
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[…] crowd. Him! Him! He fought for us. The other one […] sentence of Pilate owed to the vicious influence of Annas over […]

[…] knees before me and said, What shame to have been chosen by the people in place of your son! What good is this to me? This life they have given back to me, what shall I do with it? I would have preferred to die.

It was the first time I had seen tears in Barabbas's eyes. His white head was heavy in my hands, his tears wet my palms. I raised him up. I was torn apart by his words. I embraced him and said, I am happy that you are alive, Barabbas. I am happy that the people chose you for Pilate's clemency. I do not want to lose you as well as my son. You know as I do that our lives […]

[…] not to agree for him to be harmed. I, Claudia, had a terrifying dream last night. The fire of heaven flowed over us after his torture. Everyone assured you, Yeshua of Nazareth is a good man. If the crowd chose Barabbas, that does not mean that Yeshua's death will not give rise to a new rebellion. And my husband answered me and said, You speak thus of this Nazarene because you have become his disciple. I, Pilate, governor of Judea, listen to what the high priest Caiaphas tells me. He knows what is good and what is bad among the Jews.

At these words, everyone sighed. The disciples protested and moaned. Claudia the Roman continued, The truth is that Pilate, my husband, is afraid of Caesar. If he shows himself to be magnanimous, in Rome they will say that he is a weak, useless governor.

After these words, we knew that there would be no pardon. Everyone went away in tears and sadness. Mariamne, the sister of my heart, asked me, Why do your eyes remain dry? Everyone is weeping except you.

May she remember my answer. I said to her, Tears are for weeping only when everything is over. For my son, Yeshua, nothing is over. And I may well be the reason for his torments of today. My heart tells me, Lacerate your face and ask the Lord to forgive you. Your son is going to die because of you. Yeshua told you, My time has not yet come, but you carried on regardless. At Cana, I forced him to give us a sign. I forced him to reveal the face of the Almighty in himself. The water of Cana became the wine of Yahweh. I had the pride of impatience. That is the sword that now pierces my soul and makes me see my sin.

And I said to Mariamne, There is no hour of the day or the night in which I do not beg the Lord God to punish me for having wanted to hurry up time. I wanted deliverance here and now. I am like the people, I want light, the love of men, and I can no longer bear the fact that heaven is closed. But what will the death of Yeshua bring? His word has not yet changed the face of the world. The Romans are still in Jerusalem. Vice is in the Temple, it reigns over the throne of Israel. Nothing is yet accomplished. And yet did I not give birth to this Yeshua so that the light of the days to come and the liberation of the people of Israel should arrive?

May Mariamne remember, these were the words I spoke. I said, I shall do what a mother must do to prevent her son from dying on the cross. Did I not prevent Herod from letting my father, Joachim, die there? I shall do it again. God may punish me. Pilate may punish me. I committed a sin, and I am ready to be punished. Let them crucify me in my son's place. Let them nail my hands and feet.

And Mariamne answered and said, That will never be. You cannot replace Yeshua in his torment. Women have no rights here, not even the right to die on the cross.

I knew she was right. I went to Joseph of Arimathea and said, Who can come to my aid? This time, I do not want to ask anything of Barabbas. The disciples of Yeshua are pointing the finger at him. He is hiding his shame at being freed instead of my son. He suffers so much that he is losing his reason, and I can no longer rely on him. And Joseph answered me and said, I will come to your aid. I will be the one to save your son. God will decide. If it is the will of the Almighty that your son die on the cross, then Yeshua will die. If the decision belongs only to Pilate, then Yeshua will live.

We gathered together in a very small number. Joseph of Arimathea assigned roles to those who could be useful without betraying us: Nicodemus the Pharisee from the Sanhedrin, Claudia the Roman, the Essene disciples who had come from Beth Zabdai at her request […]
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[…] raised, as Claudia the Roman had announced. To the left of his cross, the man being crucified was Gestas of Jericho. A panel said that he was a murderer. To the right, the man was older than many. His name was Dismas, and he was from Galilee. Below him, his family wept and cried that he was not a thief, but a tavern keeper who did nothing but good to those around him.