Miracle at Golgotha - Augustus (best short books to read TXT) 📗

wax seal of the rabbi at the bottom of the note and nodded.
“Very well, come with me,” ordered the soldier. Titus wanted to remain at his spot to listen to the rest of the interrogation but he knew it would not be possible. “Do you know that man in there?” asked the soldier as they walked down a dark corridor.
“I have seen him preaching in the countryside, but I don’t know him personally,” answered Titus. “What will they do to him?”
“My guess is, they’ll crucify him. That’s what they usually do to people like that.” The soldier stopped at the door to a small storage room.
When Titus walked in, he saw a lot of soldiers’ equipment, including swords, shields, spears, whips, body armor and helmets. In one corner of the room were Jewish-looking garments like he’d seen the holy priests wear. “Is that them?”
“Yeah, that’s all we collected down at the leper colony.” The soldier grinned. “You might want to share that bit of information with your Rabbi Moshe, I’ve heard how picky those Jews are about cleanliness and purification.”
“You are certainly right about that,” said Titus. He stacked the few garments as neatly as he could and with the soldier as his escort, he exited the palace. Simon waited for him outside.
“That’s it? That’s all the garments?” asked Simon.
“I’m afraid so,” said Titus. “We’ve lost the rest of them and I think I’m about to lose a father as well.”
Simon stopped in his tracks and stared at Titus completely bewildered.

Chapter 15

When Titus and Simon arrived back at the Temple, a guard was waiting for them. “The Rabbi awaits you. Come with me,” he said. He escorted them down to the same meeting room in the lower chamber where the rabbi had previously met with his workers. The rabbi’s eyes seemed to shine brighter when he saw the garments.
“I take it there were no more items recovered?”
Titus hung his head and muttered, “I’m sorry Rabbi.” He set the robes on a small table against one of the walls.
Titus’ mother came to him and hugged him. She cupped his face in her hands, then kissed his forehead. “We’re very proud you, son.” She then must have noticed the swollenness of his eyes. “Titus what’s wrong. You’ve been crying.”
Titus looked around at his fellow temple workers and at Rabbi Moshe. He glanced at Simon. What he was about to say would be news to his best friend as well. Everyone froze and waited for his answer. “It’s father and the men. They’ve been captured by the Romans.”
“Oh my!” she gasped. “How do you know this? Did you see him?”
“No, I didn’t see him but I heard Pontius Pilate say they had captured three thieves who were trying to incite a riot.” He shot a glance at the garments. “And that the Romans had recovered these holy vestments.”
The rabbi stood quietly as Leah comforted her son. He looked at Simon. “Did you hear the same thing Titus did?”
Simon’s face took on a crimson shade. “No, Rabbi, I was not allowed into the palace. They forced us to show them whether we were circumcised or not. And as you know, Sir, I am.”
A sudden realization settled in Titus’ mind. He had always thought that because he was the eldest of the two, Simon had been assigned to carry wood through the Nicanor Gate to the altars in the Hall of Priests and further into the Sanctuary. Now he knew that Simon had been selected because he had become a Jew in word and in deed.
“Yes, of course,” said the rabbi, stroking his beard as if in deep thought. “Titus, did you see or hear what was to become of the Galilean teacher?”
“I only heard parts of what was going on, Rabbi, as I was further into the building.”
“Further than what, son?”
“The balcony, Sir. As I was making small talk with the Roman soldier about what would happen to Jesus, I saw from the corner of my eye that Pilate jumped up and walked onto a balcony. It overlooked the courtyard where Simon and the accusers waited. I couldn’t really hear what Pilate was saying.”
The group turned its attention to Simon. His mother took one of his hands in hers and rubbed it softly to reassure him, no doubt, that he could speak freely and without fear. He answered their unasked question.
“Yes, I heard it all, said Simon. “Pilate addressed the crowd with Jesus kneeling to his side. He asked whether the crowd wanted the King of the Jews released or a criminal named Barabbas. I didn’t choose either one, but the crowd chanted Barabbas, Barabbas, Barabbas.”
Simon began to weep. He turned to his mother and said, “I don’t understand, mother. People said Barabbas is a known murderer.”
Simon’s mother wiped his tears with the end of her shawl.
Titus saw his mother’s concerned look and images of the dead legionnaire years ago in Galilee came rushing back. His father was a murderer too. With the torture practiced by the Romans, Titus was sure his father had confessed to his evil deeds.
“What happened next?” asked Rabbi Moshe.
Simon took a deep breath. “At that point, Pilate asked the crowd what he should do with the Galilean prisoner.”
“And?”
“And the crowd yelled, crucify him. And that’s about the time Titus came back outside with the garments in his arms.”
Just then, the same temple guard that had escorted Titus and Simon to this meeting place walked into the room. “Rabbi, we have received information that the Galilean Teacher is to be crucified within the hour. He’s been led out of the western gate of the city by Roman guards.”
“Oh, dear God!” said one of the workers.
The rabbi raised his right hand in the air as if to calm the fears of the men and women before him. “Do not become frightened. The force and might of the Romans cannot affect us and moreover, we cannot control what they do.”
Leah took a half step toward the rabbi and bowed slightly. “Rabbi Moshe, I am deeply ashamed to admit this but I have reason to believe my husband, Dimas, may be one of the men apprehended by the Romans. I would ask your leave, only to confirm my suspicions.”
“What makes you think he is one of the captured prisoners?” asked the rabbi raising an eyebrow.
“I know of the man called Barabbas. He is one of three who runs in the same circles as my husband.”
The rabbi did not answer immediately but when he did, his voice was soft and sympathetic. “Of course, you may leave but please, take Titus with you. He has proven he can think on his feet, if the need arises.”

Chapter 16

Immediately upon exiting the Temple grounds’ western gate, Titus and Leah ran into throngs of people in the street that led to Golgotha, the place of skulls. Titus took his mother by the hand and together, they snaked through the crowd until they reached the edge of the street.
Leah gasped and Titus flinched when they saw Jesus stumbling along the street with a wooden beam on his back that extended over his right shoulder. He was flanked by Roman soldiers who repeatedly struck him with a whip to keep him moving along. The flogging left deep cuts and wounds on every part of the man’s body. Someone had fashioned a crown of thorns and shoved it down upon the Teacher’s head, piercing the skin of his skull and forehead. Streams of fresh blood trickled down his face. Amazingly, the man did not cry out in pain, though his anguish was plain to see.
It was clear. Pilate had condemned the Galilean teacher to death by the cruelest method imaginable, by crucifixion. Titus knew Roman authorities enjoyed using the Jewish festivals to publicize their might and control over their subjects and crucifixion was on of their favorite methods. In fact, to mock the man, Titus noticed a sign nailed at one end of the beam that read INRI, Jesus, the Nazorean King of the Jews.
Titus searched for the male disciples that had been with the Galilean when he healed the leper but in the throngs of people, they were nowhere to be found. It made him wonder whether they had lost faith in the Galilean. For Titus, the Teacher had committed no crime. He did recall one time when Jesus had caused a stir, but the Teacher had spoken and acted only symbolically against the Temple, saying it would be replaced as part of Israel’s restoration.
Leah shrieked when Jesus fell onto the cobblestones with the heavy beam pounding him as it landed squarely on his spine. Titus tried not to stare but he could not look away. A force which Titus did not recognize pulled his vision in the direction of the condemned Jew.
One of the Roman soldiers whipped the fallen man several times but the wounded King of the Jews was too weak. He could barely stand on his own. A centurion who appeared to be charge strode toward Titus. For a moment, Titus thought the Roman might have recognized him from his visit to Pilate’s palace. Titus felt his heart hammer hard.
“You, come here,” ordered the guard.
Titus was about to step into the street in obeyance of the Roman’s order. However, as the Roman came closer, it became clear to Titus that the soldier was talking to a muscular, dark-skinned man standing behind Titus. The man was obviously a foreigner as he was wearing a short tunic that reached only above his knees and a strange off-white cape. The criss-cross lacing of his sandals extended almost up to his knees. The turbin on his head left no doubt in Titus mind that this stranger was from another land.
The Roman soldier displayed his whip prominently as if preparing to use it. “I said come here!”
The foreigner complied and stepped out of the crowd and into the street. When the Roman’s whip cracked in the air, the foreigner cringed, then gave a slight nod. He untied his cape and handed it to Titus before he approached the bloodied prisoner. Judging from the stranger’s silence, Titus surmised that the man spoke no local dialect, but no words were necessary. The Galilean Teacher was