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

are welcome to have part of this food, if you’d like.”
“What food?” asked Simon. He shook his head. “I didn’t see anything.”

Chapter 5

On their way home, Titus and his mother retraced their steps once again through the Lower City and further down the road by the leper colony. He smelled the pungent odor of decaying flesh even before they reached the first leper hunched on the side of the road. In the distance they saw two groups of people, a dozen lepers huddled on one side of their path and about a hundred non-lepers several arms’ lengths away, all assembled around something or someone.
Leah grabbed Titus’ tunic at the shoulder and pulled him forward. He quickened his pace, being careful not to drop the chunk of lamb in his arms.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. He wasn’t as tall as her yet and could not see through the throng ahead. His mother’s face lit up as if she had just been told a bit of joyous news.
“It’s Him!” she exclaimed.
“Who, Mother?”
“The Jewish teacher, the healer from Galilee, the one called Jesus. Come, let’s hear what he’s saying.”
Titus had heard of this miracle-worker but neither he nor his mother had actually seen him. Actually, few people had seen this man. His teachings had taken place further north in Galilee. Around Jerusalem, his followers only spoke of him in the church houses and select synagogues to avoid the wrath of the Romans and suspicious Jews. Titus knew, as did all Jews and Gentiles, the worst offense against Roman power was insurrection. This man, Jesus, was rumored to be king of the Jews.
The hundred peasants and lepers watched and listened as the Teacher spoke. Leah and Titus drew within twenty feet of him and the Teacher turned as if he heard someone call his name. He looked directly at Titus. His eyes were as dark as the pool where Titus drew water for his mother. Then, from the throng a leper begged a request.
“Heal me, Jesus. If it’s in your heart and you want to, you can heal me.”
The man called Jesus had long, narrow features and didn’t look much different than Titus’ father. They both had dark hair and full beards, like the majority of men in these parts. They both wore simple tunics and sandals on their feet. But this man wore something indefinable, something you could sense but could not see. He seemed to be cloaked in an air of supreme confidence. As Titus would soon learn, the self-assurance was also there in his words.
The leper fell to his knees and raised his hands in supplication. Titus knew everyone who lived eventually died, but these untouchables whose lips and faces were distorted by sores never had a real life. It was then that a strange occurrence transpired. Jesus placed his right hand on the forehead of the leper as the crowd gasped. How could anyone, especially a teacher of the word of God, touch anything so unclean?
“I do want to heal you. Your faith is self-evident in your request and it is to be rewarded. Be made clean,” said the Teacher.
Titus wasn’t sure if it was real or only his imagination but a circle of light beamed down on the leper for the span of a few heartbeats. The crowd looked up to the sky, as did Titus, trying to locate the source of the light. The endpoint of the light appeared to be beyond the thin clouds, high in the heavens. When the assembled people collectively lowered their gaze onto the leper, his sores and blisters were completely gone.
“Rise,” commanded Jesus, “and give praise and glory to God.”
The assemblage drew in breaths of disbelief when the leper stood upright. The once-diseased man was now cleansed, healthy and crying tears of joy.
“I must go now,” declared the Teacher. He looked at the leper and said, “Tell no one what has happened here, but show yourself to the priests and remember to make an offering in connection with your cleansing.”
“Master, can we come with you?” asked a follower.
“Where I am going, no man can come,” he answered. Jesus and a group of ten to twelve men then began walking in the direction of the East Gate of the Temple.
Titus and the assembled crowd stood in awe as the group of men marched away.
“Heal me!” yelled another leper. Then, the remaining lepers joined in chorus, their arms reaching out, “Heal me! Heal me!”
The Teacher and his followers did not turn back. In fact, it appeared Jesus and the departing entourage quickened their pace. Finally, Titus tugged on his mother’s tunic. She pushed back her head covering and he whispered into her ear as she bent down. “Where’s he going mother?”
“I’m not sure, son, but I think he’s talking about a place not on this earth.” She must have seen the puzzled look on Titus’ face because she quickly added, “I’ll try to explain it to you at home. Come, let’s go prepare the food your father gave you.”
Titus gazed at the still-afflicted lepers as they marveled at the healed one. Titus looked up at his mother. “Will he come back to heal the others, too?”
Leah shrugged as her eyes became moist.

Chapter 6

“So, how’s our messiah?” Dimas’ question dripped sarcasm.
Titus saw his father smile as Leah ignored him by taking the chunk of meat from Titus. She hurried past Dimas and entered their home, leaving Titus standing outside with his father.
“How about you, Titus? Did you see this teacher, the Nazarene prophet everyone’s talking about?”
A mild case of panic set in. Titus looked away as he felt his throat constrict. Dimas had never before asked him about his mother’s religious beliefs or about the man called Jesus. Before he could respond to his father’s question, Leah called from inside their home.
“Titus, come here son. I need your help.”
Dimas grinned. “Go. See what she wants. We’ll talk later.”
Titus felt the stress vanish as he turned to accompany his mother. There was no telling what his father and Gestas were up to. Once inside, he helped Leah cut the meat and start a fire to cook their food. When he sat on the floor to rest, fatigue overtook him and the next thing he knew it was dusk.
“Just in time, son,” said his mother. “The meat your father provided has turned out well.”
The smell of stewed lamb was in the air. Titus rose, stretched his muscles, then twisted his torso to loosen up. He stuck a finger in the cooking pot and licked the broth off his fingertip. “Umm, yes, it’s very tasty.”
“Titus, go tell the men I’ll have their food ready in a short while. They’re always wandering around. Maybe the world can rest untroubled for a while.”
Titus stepped out of their home and strolled to Dimas’ side. Gestas appeared to be taking a nap and Dimas sat cross-legged, staring into their small campfire.
Dimas spoke. “Gestas and I think you ought to join us tomorrow.”
Titus glanced at Gestas and then back at his father. Gestas smiled without opening his eyes. So he wasn’t asleep. Titus saw the grin on their faces. He wasn’t sure if they were teasing him or serious about including him in their evil deeds. He crossed his legs and squatted next to his father.
“Join you for what?”
Dimas scooted to Titus’ side and cradled an arm around his shoulders. “We’re going to rob the Jewish Temple tomorrow.”
“What! The temple?” asked Titus. “Everybody there knows me, well not everybody, but a lot of people know my face. Besides, it’s one of the well-guarded places in Jerusalem.”
“Yes, we’re aware of both those points. In fact, that’s why we want you involved. You, my son, are going to be the diversion that will allow us to enter the Temple in plain sight.”
“What do you mean in plain sight?”
Gestas opened his eyes and glanced at Titus. “Look here,” he said. He sat up, pulled a dagger from his waistband and leaned low to the ground. He drew a large rectangle in the dirt and then a smaller rectangle inside of it. “You see this here? It’s the East Gate. Here’s the east entrance to the Temple.”
Titus knew all this. In fact, he probably knew the temple grounds better than his father. His eyes brightened when he jabbed at one corner of the small rectangle. “This is the Temple Treasury, where the gold is kept. That’s where we aim to go, right there.”
“Your idea won’t work,” said Titus, “Besides, what kind of diversion did you have planned for me?”
The smile left Dimas’ face. “Since when did you become knowledgeable in these affairs?”
“If you mean knowledgeable in taking other people’s belongings, I have no experience. If you mean knowledgeable about the Temple grounds, I am very well acquainted with premises as well as the routine and method of the Jews’ practices. I know when they come and go. I know when they eat, sleep and pray.”
“I told you he’d be valuable to us,” said Gestas, grinning at Dimas.
Dimas rubbed his chin, looked down at the drawing, then glanced at their home as if to assure himself Leah was not listening. “Perhaps, you can tell us why our plan will not work.”
Titus stood, walked to Gestas and took the dagger from him. He went down on one knee as Dimas crossed his arms.
“You see this gate?” Titus pointed to the gate opposite the one Gestas had indicated. “That’s the one with less traffic, especially in the evening after supper. After the country people have left the city for the night that entrance to the Temple grounds has almost no foot traffic and sometimes no guard at all.”
“So, maybe sometime after sundown. Is that what you’re saying?” asked Dimas.
“Yes, but getting out will not be as easy as getting in,” cautioned Titus.
The lines on Gestas’ forehead furrowed. “Why?”
“Because you can be light-footed going in,” answered Titus, “but coming out you’ll have a heavy load. Too easily noticed by the grounds people, I