The dream of Claudia
The tragic fate
It was a full moon night and the moons beams were
emitting magical waves of love and romance. Pontius Pilate was on the ship with
his wife Claudia. He was admiring the beauty of his wife and was certainly
unaware of the soon coming fate he was about to face. He looked into the eyes
of his wife and with deep emotions he called out, “Claudia, the matchless
beauty of this world!” Claudia replied, “Sweet heart it’s enough….. I am not as
beautiful as you praise me.” Pontius Pilate replied, “Oh you do not know it my
dear, as it is said, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, you have
enchanted me with this great beauty of yours. How beautiful you are my
darling!
Your sparkling eyes, sharp little nose,
That bouncing hair over your shoulders flows,
Your curved lips in front of those well set teeth,
Speaks words of honey that tastes so sweet
Your glowing face and charming looks,
Is far beyond any beauty described in books.
You are a dove among ravens,
A perfect creation sent from the heavens……..
Claudia replied, “I am surprised sweet heart. I thought I
am married to a brave roman king, who is feared by all, a man of virtue and a
man of valour….. But only today I came to know that I am married to a poet, an
admirer of beauty and a man of romance”
Pontius Pilate replied, “Whatever you may say, I have to
tell the truth…… your beauty has captured me and you have bound me with chains
of love. I am the luckiest person in this world Claudia. I do not speak of your
outward beauty alone but you inner beauty is even more awesome. My honey do you
know why I love you so much……..
To have you in my life means more than all earthly riches
I can
That’s why I value you more than you will ever know
Softly you wake my sleeping dreams; gently you emit a
soothing beam
Sweet in your entry into my life, as a friend,
philosopher, mother and wife
You are a comfort to my troubled heart of knowing
someone’s there
Your tender heart and gently touch that warmly says ‘I
care…….’
You are not a brief candle giving out light in darkness
alone
You are the dawn of my tomorrow and the dusk of my every
sorrow
You are everything to me Claudia…… you are everything for
me dear…….
Claudia could not control herself and exclaimed, “Enough,
enough…… I know you my sweet heart, how much you love me…… though it is said
words are not good expressers of our thoughts, still your words of love has
made me fall for you…… I love you so much my beloved.” Suddenly the romantic
scene was interrupted by the roaring sea waves. They felt something strange in
this roar. Immediately Claudia stood up and took leave from her husband and
took a note of the sea. She breathed the sea breeze and then looked up at the
moon in the sky. She then nodded her head in acceptance of something that she
understood from these strange scenes of nature.
Pontius Pilate asked, “Honey! What is it, what is the
secret revealed to you by the moon? I don’t understand anything.” Claudia
answered in great haste, “Lord, a great danger is approaching us, call the ship
captain immediately.” Pilate was worried and asked her to let him know the
details before calling the captain. Claudia said, “Lord there is a change in
the light of the moon, also the sea waves seem to be different, the salt in the
sea breeze has also increased.” “Oh I am surprised that my wife knows astronomy
too…. Do you really know this?” said Pilate. Claudia humbly replied, “Lord, all
our Greek woman of the royal family as well as men, will equip themselves with
the knowledge of all the subjects of this world. Fighting with weapons like the
sword and spear, politics, astrology, astronomy, medicine, even black magic,
psychology and any other subject which is essential for our life will be taught
to us from our childhood days. This is the reason Caesar Agustus married his
daughter to my brother Tiberius. Now my brother is the general of the south
roman army. Immediately Pilate replied, “Oh in this case I am very lucky…… so
the next Caesar is your brother right?” “Do not jump into quick conclusion my
Lord. In every kingdom, including the Roman Empire, the king is chosen as per
the person’s fate only. I would like to remind you an incident. Though Julius
Caesar had given the verdict that his son Agustus Caesar is the rightful heir
to the throne, still Agustus Caesar was not able to sit in the throne
immediately after Julius Caesar was killed in a plot. In the same way, even my
brother would have to face great oppositions in capturing the throne
immediately, due to the plots of people around and the changes in government”
replied Claudia.
“Ok, now tell me are we in immediate danger?” asked
Pilate. Claudia replied, “No my Lord, there is no immediate danger, let
us wait till morning”. The next morning, the ship captain greeted them with the
words, “We will reach shore in two days my Lord.” At this statement, Pilate
looked at his wife and with a smile he said, “Did you hear what the captain
said Claudia, what happened to your astronomy dear?” Claudia waited. After an
hour, the ship captain came in great haste and requested permission to see
Pilate. He was permitted and he informed Pilate, “Lord, I need to discuss some
important information with you immediately.” “What is it that is so urgent
captain?” asked Pilate. The captain replied, “My Lord, there are strange signs in
the sky, the water level in the sea is unusual. We will not be able to reach
land in two days. See the seagulls are returning back and many of them are
falling dead all of a sudden. Still there are no traces of any disease in their
bodies. According to us this is an ill omen, the strong winds have changed the
weather condition. This will further hinder our journey. I have not seen such a
strange weather in all my forty years of experience in sea travel.” Pilate now
looked at his wife in great admiration and exclaimed; “Now I believe that your
education has paid off. Your calculation of the weather has come true. But the
moment you said that a great danger is approaching us, I expected that the
Palestine army is approaching us for an attack. But our spies have given me a
sure report that the Palestine army does not have such a capable naval force.”
Claudia replied, “My Lord, we are travelling all the way to Palestine, to set
up and safe guard the roman empire. The people who are opposing Caesar are not
in Palestine, but they are Caesars own people. But we can settle this off
easily since the ruler over there is Herod Antipas who is a doll in our hands.
In this case who is the enemy you fear of my Lord?” Pilate replied, “Claudia I
accept the truth in your statement. I have promised Agustus Caesar one thing
before I left for Palestine. It is a sort of a secret and we shall discuss it
later. Let us look at the present danger we are in”. Claudia replied, “My Lord,
you were not able to see the enemy in the sea. You did not notice the sea
bubbling up. Were you able to notice it? But those small bubbles that are seen
on the sea waves indicate that an earthquake has occurred at the sea bed far
below. The Palestine king is of this kind only, you will not be able to see his
enmity openly, but you will come to know once we reach Palestine.
The moment
you informed me that we are leaving to Palestine, I offered sacrifice to my
Gods, worshiped them and asked them to reveal our future. But none of the Gods
from those in Greece up to Rome opened their mouth. Even my deity Jupiter, has
fallen down and remains broken for the past twenty five years. All these years,
up to this time, our God Jupiter has become dumb and refuses to speak. Still I
did not give up. I went up to the Egyptian gods to know the future and
contacted the soothsayers and mediums. But they replied that even all their
gods Amun, Anubis, Hapi and the rest of them, right from Alexandria to Azwan,
along the Nile River, have become dumb in the past twenty five years. So I am
not sure whether we are going to meet the King of Kings or the Israelite Gods.
But let me tell you that I have so much of confidence that no one in this world
could defeat or kill you. Even your horoscope says so and that is why my
brother got me married to you.”
Pilate counter argued at this statement of her
and said, “I think this is over confidence that you have on me my sweet heart.
This is dangerous too. I don’t even know the number of people who have shed
their blood, lost their lives as a victim of my official plots and tactful
moves. Now answer me my dear, do you still feel that I have no enemies?”
At this point Claudia spoke up with hesitation, “Sweet heart, I hope you will
not get angry if I tell the truth, will you?” “No, not at all, in fact I want
you to speak the truth only. You should be apart from all traces of doubt. Not
only because you are a queen, but that I trust you a lot. Speak up my dear, who
is my enemy?” asked Pilate. “Once again I beg you to be calm on hearing this.
According to your horoscope you are the enemy for yourself.” Pilate could not
believe it. “What did you say Claudia? Am I my own enemy? It sounds strange. I
am sure you are not kidding me? Is it?” asked Pilate. Claudia once again gave
the same reply.
As they were talking, the winds became strong.
Immediately Claudia asked Pilate to get inside the cabin. She called the
captain of the ship. She gave a few quick orders to the captain. She asked him
to let go of the ships independently and take care not to sail closely with
each other so that they will not be damaged by the raging storm. She also
informed the captain to inform the sailors not to control the anchor if the
storm is out of control and if anyone should survive they should come and
gather in Caesarea. The captain was astonished at these commands of this queen
and wondered how she had such gamut of knowledge of handling a storm. On the
other hand Pilate was surprised to see the serene nature of Claudia in handling
the situation so well. He was proud of the capability of his wife.
26 AD, Caesarea 
“Pontius Pilate, the official representative of the Roman
King of Judea” was the name plate which adorned the palace gate of Pilate.
[This name plate is still available]. Here are a few details of the army of
Pilate. Cautius was in charge of 10 soldiers, the CBI division head was
Abinathar who was in charge of 100 soldiers, Yavanica was from Greece but she
got the citizenship of Rome, and was the dear friend of Claudia and her body guard.
Gracia was the lady spy and was the head of the women section in the palace.
Things were fine for a few days after Pontius Pilate was appointed as the
representative of the Roman King. But if a government has no problems either
the king should be a fool or the people should be fools.
An old proverb says, “A calm sea will not bring forth the
best sailors.” Also another proverb says, “Success is not measured by the
position one attains in life but by the number of obstacles he has crossed to
attain that position” Hence problems shape you into the best person you ought
to be. As Jesus said, “In the world you will have trouble and suffering. But
take courage – I have conquered the world.” A person who is brave enough to
face the trials in his life will gain success and those who fear to face the
challenges of life will get into even worse problems. Now Pontius Pilate
was no exception for these troubles and sufferings. He had to face one after
another. He had problems arising from caste, society, religion, culture etc.,
but nothing could stop him from fulfilling his promise to Agustus Caesar that
he would establish the Roman power in that city. He was not discouraged by
these problems but handled them with great knowledge and wisdom. He was indeed
ready to pay any price to fulfill his promise. With the strong support of his
wife Claudia he was fearless of any problem for he knew the extraordinary
knowledge and capability of his wife. One night Pilate was talking with Claudia
and told her, “Claudia, we are going on an official trip to Galilee and then to
Caesarea Philippi. In Caesarea Philippi there is a place called as Paneas and
the goddess of the place is very powerful. We shall go there and know about our
future.” Claudia was excited as she thought she was going on a vacation.
Nazareth
The word Nazareth emerged from the Arabian name Nasira.
This place is called as the beautiful rose was just a small village during the
times of Jesus lived on this earth. This place had no importance. This village
was not even mentioned in the map of Palestine. There is a famous saying which
is also mentioned in the bible, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?
Nathanael asked. – John 1:46”. The only importance this place gained was after
the holy family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) lived in a small house there on a
small hill. When Jesus was at the age of 27 his foster father Joseph was eighty
seven years old and was on his death bed. His eye sight dimmed and he was not
able to speak and was bed ridden. Jesus and Mary were beside his bed. They had
some bread, fruits, honey and milk next to his bed and whenever Joseph was
hungry they provided him. Joseph called Jesus and Jesus hugged him with
compassion. Mother Mary had her husband on her lap. 
At that time Joseph placed
his hands on Jesus head and was able to feel something. Jesus understood that
Joseph felt the crown which Jesus was about to be crowned with, in the future.
Jesus said, “No father, you will not be able to bear it, I will not give you
any more suffering by allowing you to see those terrific sights, you will not
wait any longer and undergo any more sufferings, please forget all that you see
in your vision.” So saying Joseph, Mary and Jesus shed tears and then the great
and holy Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus died and gifted death.
Very few of his relatives came for the burial ceremony. The scripture
says that God the Father buried Moses who was called as the friend of God and
no human even knew about it. But Joseph was buried by Jesus who is the second
in the Holy Trinity which proves that truly Joseph was a saint above all
saints. All his relatives came later to take part in the grief. [History states
that the later Christians brought the body of Joseph from his grave and buried
it secretly in his birthplace in
Bethelhem. As per the vision of Catherine Emrick, the body of Joseph is
still in the grave without any decay and will be brought out when God has
predetermined.
At that time Joseph placed
his hands on Jesus head and was able to feel something. Jesus understood that
Joseph felt the crown which Jesus was about to be crowned with, in the future.
Jesus said, “No father, you will not be able to bear it, I will not give you
any more suffering by allowing you to see those terrific sights, you will not
wait any longer and undergo any more sufferings, please forget all that you see
in your vision.” So saying Joseph, Mary and Jesus shed tears and then the great
and holy Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus died and gifted death.
Very few of his relatives came for the burial ceremony. The scripture
says that God the Father buried Moses who was called as the friend of God and
no human even knew about it. But Joseph was buried by Jesus who is the second
in the Holy Trinity which proves that truly Joseph was a saint above all
saints. All his relatives came later to take part in the grief. [History states
that the later Christians brought the body of Joseph from his grave and buried
it secretly in his birthplace in
Bethelhem. As per the vision of Catherine Emrick, the body of Joseph is
still in the grave without any decay and will be brought out when God has
predetermined.
The sea of Galilee or lake Galilee
This is a fresh water sea. This sea is called by various
names. It is called a Tiberius sea and also called as Lake Gennesaret. The Sea
of Galilee which is a fresh water sea and the Dead Sea which is a salt water
sea (even fishes could not survive in this sea) are located in Palestine (which
is now called as Israel). Though God created the earth and all that is in it,
He chose this Lake Galilee and loved to live along it. The waters from Mount
Hebron which is located in the south part of Syria which in turn in located in
the northern part of Galilee, supplies the fresh waters for this lake Galilee.
Hence this place was a good tourist place and a good spot for fishing. Hence
the place was always crowded with people and this place earned the highest tax
income for the Roman government. When Pontius Pilate came to this region, Levi
(or he was also called as Mathew) was the tax collector at Lake Galilee.
Pontius Pilate heart was now filled with greed on seeing this huge amount of
money and called Mathew and asked him to double the tax rate. Pilate had to impose
such rules since, the funds required for the maintenance of this small city of
Palestine was not enough and also Agustus Caesar had stopped funding Palestine
and had asked Pilate to generate the income from the local sources. On hearing
this command of Pilate Mathew spoke up saying, “My Lord, people are already
overburdened with the existing tax rates. If you are to increase it further,
they will be pushed to an even worse situation. Have pity on them. Also since
we are tax collectors, we earn the direct hatred of people, we have no respect
in society. Hence to set right this situation, I request you to actually bring
down the tax rates.” Pilate replied, “Mathew I do not require any of your
advice. I am not bothered whether you are respected or not. I need money
to run the day to day affairs of this place. I have to set right every
deficiency. There is no change in my command. If you are not interested to work
here anymore, you are free to resign the job. The decision is yours now.”
Mathew was helpless and continued his work by charging a double portion of the
tax. It did not take a long time for Pilate to face the consequence of this
increase in tax. The poor people of the society and low level business men
could not bear this increase in tax. Riots broke out in many parts of the city
under the name of “organization of no tax” and “group of opposes”. But Pilate
crushed these riots and those involved in it with his hard hand. Amidst this
situation he went on his journey to the temple of the goddess of Paneas with
his wife Claudia.
This temple of Paneas is located on a hill which is
situated on the north eastern part of Caesarea Philippi. The governor of the
place was Herod Philip. In order to show his loyalty to the Roman government,
he changed the name of this place as Caesarea Philippi. One of the rivers which
flow from mount Hebron travels about 15 miles under the earth and then is named
as Paneas. This flows through the temple cave and then flows out as river
Paneas. This place is a good tourist spot with rich natural wealth which
attracts the tourist even today. This place is surrounded by small springs and
hill temples which welcomes tourist throughout the year from ancient days.
[it
is said that in the later days, Jesus Christ made Peter to stand at the
entrance of this cave and said, “And I say unto thee, that thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.And I will give
unto thee, the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shall bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven.” Once, Jesus was on his way to heal the daughter of
Jairus. A great multitude of people were surrounded Jesus. As they were walking
along, a woman with an issue of blood for 12 years touched the garment of
Jesus. As soon as she touched the garment, power was released from the garment
and she was healed. Jesus who felt that power was released from him asked
aloud, “who touched me?” The disciples replied, “Master a great crowd is around
you and how do we know, who touched you?” Knowing that Jesus had identified
her, the lady got up and owned that she was the person who touched the garment
of Jesus and narrated how she was healed. She was a rich lady who belonged to
the city of Paneas. Her name was Enuie. She was a widow. She had a sister by
name Leiya. Leiya was a pious lady. When she knew that her sister was healed of
the issue of blood, she was filled with joy and said, “Lord, the womb which bore
you and the breast that fed you are blessed.” But Jesus replied, “Blessed are
those who hear the word of God and live accordingly” This lady Eniue did great
acts of charity as a sign of thanks giving. Later the apostles of Jesus built a
church in this place of Paneas with the help of Enuie. This church stands as a
memorial of this great lady Eniue.] Since this mountain and the river were
considered holy, no one was allowed to have bath of walk on this river even to
this day.
[it
is said that in the later days, Jesus Christ made Peter to stand at the
entrance of this cave and said, “And I say unto thee, that thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.And I will give
unto thee, the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shall bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven.” Once, Jesus was on his way to heal the daughter of
Jairus. A great multitude of people were surrounded Jesus. As they were walking
along, a woman with an issue of blood for 12 years touched the garment of
Jesus. As soon as she touched the garment, power was released from the garment
and she was healed. Jesus who felt that power was released from him asked
aloud, “who touched me?” The disciples replied, “Master a great crowd is around
you and how do we know, who touched you?” Knowing that Jesus had identified
her, the lady got up and owned that she was the person who touched the garment
of Jesus and narrated how she was healed. She was a rich lady who belonged to
the city of Paneas. Her name was Enuie. She was a widow. She had a sister by
name Leiya. Leiya was a pious lady. When she knew that her sister was healed of
the issue of blood, she was filled with joy and said, “Lord, the womb which bore
you and the breast that fed you are blessed.” But Jesus replied, “Blessed are
those who hear the word of God and live accordingly” This lady Eniue did great
acts of charity as a sign of thanks giving. Later the apostles of Jesus built a
church in this place of Paneas with the help of Enuie. This church stands as a
memorial of this great lady Eniue.] Since this mountain and the river were
considered holy, no one was allowed to have bath of walk on this river even to
this day.
The method of offering sacrifice to the goddess of this
temple was an interesting fact. If any one wishes to unveil their future, then
they will have to offer a human as a sacrifice. The human selected for offering
need not be killed on the spot, but instead, the person who is to be sacrificed
will be thrown into the whirling water once the worship starts. No one will
know what will happen to the person who is thrown into the water. But if the
blood of the person offered as sacrifice is seen in the spot where he is
thrown, then it is a sign that the goddess had denied the sacrifice. Pontius
Pilate and Claudia, who knew this system, offered a human sacrifice in this
temple. For this purpose of sacrifice, he had already brought few men who were
subject to death sentence by the government. One after the other, people were
offered as sacrifice, but the goddess observed silence. Claudia was deeply
worried at this and feared that Pilate will have to face even greater dangers
in the days to come. With this fear in mind she returned to Caesarea.
One day Pilate called his official general Abinathar.
“Abinathar, do you have any special news in the city?” asked Pilate. Abinathar
replied, “My Lord, there are lots of news about interesting miracles taking
place in the city.” “Oh! I see. List them down one by one. Let me listen to it”
said Pilate. “My Lord, the miracles and the sermon given by a Jewish Rabi, in
Galilee cannot be just described in words. He has a great multitude of people
crowded around Him. I guess he has great magical powers. Even the demons flee
at just a word uttered by Him. The lame are walking, the blind receive their
sight, dumb speak and the deaf hear. He even heals leprosy. There is no such
disease that he could not heal and people are healed just by his touch. I have
never seen such a great person ever in my life” replied Abinathar. Pilate was
quiet surprised and asked Abinathat whether he has seen the Jewish Rabi and
what was his name. Abinathar replied, “Yes my Lord. His name is Jesus. He was
born in Bethlehem, brought up in Nazareth of Galilee, and at present he is
living in Capernaum, in the house of Levi, the tax collector. At this point, I
would also like to bring to your notice that Levi the tax collector was
impressed by the teachings of this Rabi and has resigned his job. He has become
the disciple of Jesus. Now he is called as Mathew. Not only Levi, but many of
the people who hear his teachings are becoming his followers and there is no
barrier whether the person is an educated man or an illiterate, or whether he
is rich or poor. This has shaken the hearts of the high priest and the scribes
with fear. The Pharisees and the saudceeses are having a tough time in
finding fault or to stand against the teachings of Jesus.”
As they had this interesting conversation, Claudia peeped
in. Pilate noticed it and said, “We are having an official discussion, is
anything the matter?”. Claudia replied, “My Lord, I am not interested in
interfering in your official issues. I happened to come along this side, since
I heard the name of a Jewish Rabi, I just peeped in.” Pilate replied, “Oh I am
sorry Claudia. I know you would be much interested in knowing about this
information about the Jewish gods and this Jewish Rabi, Jesus. Come and sit
down and join our conversation.” He commanded Abinathar to continue the details
about Jesus. Abinathar said, “My Lord, though I have heard about the numerous
miracles Jesus had done, I am quite impressed with the miracle I saw with my
own eyes. The Pharisees brought a man who had one of his hands crippled, to
Jesus. Just a meager part of the hand hung from his right hand shoulder.
His looks were wired and people called out that he was a sinner. But the man
was in deep sorrow and sat there shedding tears. Jesus walked up to him
and asked him, “What can I do for you?” The crippled man replied, “If you could
heal this crippled hand of mine just like the other hand……..” The next moment
Jesus caught hold of his crippled hand and pulled it slowly and immediately the
crippled hand grew up to the same size of the other hand. I just couldn’t
believe my eyes. Jesus did this instantly and what more; the man absolutely had
no pain in the process. The new hand exactly resembled his other normal hand.
All the spectators stood dumb folded unable to digest this miracle. As far as
my knowledge is concerned, I have seen the plants and trees grow a few inches
in a day. But the crippled hand of a man to grow to the length of the other
hand, in just a few seconds and that too without any pain, has bound me in
great amazement about the powers of Jesus.
Water……… Water
As soon as Claudia heard this miracle, new rays of hope
brightened her face. If I get a chance to take my son Philo, whose legs are
crippled, to this Jewish Rabi, then I am sure he could heal my son. So Claudia
wanted to discuss this with her husband. At that moment a soldier entered and
passed on some information to Abinathar. Pilate asked the detail of the
information and Abinathar replied, “My Lord, water scarcity is becoming worse
day by day in Jerusalem. The situation is favorable for the people to enter
into a chaos. Even king Herod has a major role in this issue. So I request you
to take careful note of the issue and it would be better if we leave to
Jerusalem” Pilate immediately gave orders to make arrangements to leave to
Jerusalem and meet Herod Antipas. He also ordered that the arrangements should
be made secretly and quickly. He further planned to speak to Herod and resolve
the water scarcity issue through him. This situation made Claudia hesitate to
ask permission from her husband to meet Jesus.
Pilate turned to Claudia and asked her, “Claudia what is
your opinion in this?” Claudia replied, “I am not sure about what you are
asking of”. Pilate replied, “Strange that you are not aware of the
problem I am speaking about. Just now we heard about the water scarcity
problem, and do you know the reason behind it? Whether you know or not, I
have clearly figured out the peoblem.” Claudia replied, “Lord, I request you to
explain the same to me so that I can understand.” Pilate said, “My dear
Claudia, this Herod Antipas is a well know notorious person. He wanted to marry
the wife of his brother Herod Philip, Abigail since Herod Philip divorced her.
Herod Antipas had to face a lot of oppositions in marrying this lady. John the
Baptist, a righteous person who lived in Judea, Jesus the Jewish Rabbi and
other priest opposed this marriage. This was because this Abigail is related as
sister to Herod Antipas. In order to suppress the agitation, Herod Antipas
imprisoned John the Baptist and his disciples. This has lead to the situation
of chaos in the city. So to divert the attention of the people from this issue,
Herod Antipas has kindled the water scarcity issue. So I have decided to bring
a solution to his problem through this same Herod Antipas. I hope you have
understood the situation now.” “But how are you going to execute this plan?”
asked Claudia. He told his plan as a secret in her ears and she too felt the
plan to be good. But things did not go as they planned!!!!!
32 BC
Pilate was in his palace in Caesarea. Herod was a special
guest for the day. After the welcome formalities were over the official
discussion about water scarcity in Jerusalem started. Herod spoke up saying,
“My Lord, I have a good plan to settle the water scarcity problem prevailing in
Jerusalem. We can bring water through large pipes from Gibeon which is located
in the western part of Jerusalem. Since Gibeon is high above and Jerusalem is
in the lower place, we can easily bring water through this plan. But the only
concern is the expense, but if the Roman governor could help then it will be a
good solution.” Pilate face hardened at this statement of Herod and he said,
“Why should I worry about the expenses. The plan is for your people and hence
the expense should also be yours. I don’t have a penny with me. Don’t even
dream that the Roman government will spend for this plan of yours. Even I am
eager to help execute this plan, I will have the satisfaction that I will be
remembered in history that I have done something good for the people of
Jerusalem during my reign. So I would suggest that you give me the estimation
and I will help you find out the ways to complete the task.” Herod had come
prepared for this and he immediately gave the blue print and cost estimation
list to Pilate. So the date for the next discussion was fixed and the place was
decided to be the governor’s palace in Jerusalem.
Fort Anthoni.
A fort was built as a memorial of Mark Antony, the friend
of Agustus Caesar which was later called by the name Fort Anthoni. Within the walls of this fort, the innocent
children were killed by Herod after the birth of Jesus. These children were
killed and buried inside this fort. Not even a single child’s body was given to
its parents. As it was foretold by prophet Jeremiah, “A voice is heard in
Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing
to be comforted, because they are no more.” This was the exact status of those
mothers who lost their babies. Herod did this breath taking act by using a
plot. It was announced that all those who have baby boys of the age group below
two years were to bring their children to the fort where they will be given
gifts. Not knowing the danger that awaited, the mothers dressed up their sweet
babies and took them to the fort. The parents were made to stand out of the
fort and the children were taken inside and mercilessly killed. Either they
were stabbed or their neck was cut off. One of the mothers suspicious of the
delay peeped in with much difficulty and fell down with a loud wail at the
sight. Immediately the news spread and every one jumped into rebellion, but it
was put off easily. In order to avoid suspicion, they killed one of the boy
children of Herod himself. Herod never pitied the death of his son rather said,
“It was the child’s fate to have been born as a male, and if he could have been
born as a pig he would have survived.” He said this to justify his act because
he knew that the Jews were forbidden to eat pigs. But the truth is that, Herod
feared that this boy would grow and kill him. He was a suspicious man and he
even killed his wife and his two sons.
It was thirty two years since this horrible incident had
taken place. Pontius Piled stayed in a palace close by this fort. Any Roman governor
who visits Jerusalem used to stay in this palace. Pilate had summoned the
scribes, high priest and makers of law as well as Herod Antipas to discuss
about the water scarcity problem. The discussion started. Pilate said, “This
water scarcity problem is indeed a pain in the neck right now. But the methods
of solution seem to be good. Now the only problem is insufficient funds. At
present the Roman government is running out of funds. Hence I would suggest
that you use the funds from the church treasury.”
The High priest Caiaphas was stood speechless at this
statement of Pilate. He grudged the king in his heart but controlled his
emotions. He then spoke saying, “My Lord, the governor of Rome, it is a known
fact that the church funds should be used for church activities since it
belongs to God and the government funds should be used for such government
activities. Moreover we are forbidden to use the government money for church
activities. I would also give you the reason for the same. Since the government
changes frequently, the image used in the coins also changes and we consider
the same to be idol worship. Hence we have separate coins for church expenses.
So we will never give away this money to the government.” This roused the anger
of Pontius Pilate since his words were denied. Still he continued stating,
“Caiaphas, I know you and I also know how the church activities are managed,
also I know the fraudulent activities going on under your leadership. I even
know all that false play you did to attain this post of high priest. I came to
know of all these details from the former governor Valerian. So keep that in
mind and if you want to safeguard your post, then you better learn to give
respect to me and my words.” At this statement Caiaphas did not dare to speak
any more. Pilate continued and said, “Caiaphas, what did you say? You mentioned
that the government will keep changing, is it. Then let me warn you, better
change that thought of yours. Roman government will never change and we will
rule you and your people forever. Agustus Caesar has sent me here to establish
the roman government in this place. I will not leave this place without
fulfilling this command of Agustus Caesar and I have promised him that I will
complete the task given to me. I am ready to pay any price for this. So I will
not leave this place up to the time you and your people accept and proclaim
that, Caesar is our king, we want Caesar’s rule only and we do not have any
other king for us.” Herod Antipas who was silently observing the proud speech
of Pilate and the pitiable state of Caiaphas spoke up to calm the situation
controlling his bubbling emotions. He knew that if he opposes Pilate, it is
equal to opposing Caesar. So with great self-control he said, “My Lord and
King, I request you to calm yourself. The high priest just gave his statement.
But if you insist I will get the funds from the church treasury. But I have one
request; you should acknowledge it as a government loan so that we can settle
back this loan in the set time. So I once again request you to leave this funds
issue and water scarcity issue in my hands, I will settle both as soon as
possible. Kindly give me the power and acknowledgement to proceed further.”
This was exactly what Pontius Pilate expected. So Pilate immediately gave the
necessary powers to Herod, handed over the task to him and left to Galilee with
his wife. But the crocked mind of Herod did not plan as Pilate thought. He now
planned to solve the water scarcity problem and at the same time he wanted to
take revenge on Pilate. Keeping this in mind he called the chief architect and
engineer and gave secret orders to them.
The pool of Bethesda
The pool of Bethesda has a record of various historical
incidents. In the Old Testament, during the time of Nehemiah, the holy fire of
God and the vessel of the Temple were hidden in this Pool. It was after this
incident the pond had the power to heal the sick. During the reign of the great
king Solomon, the a large wooden plank used in the temple was no longer in use
and hence the king used it as a bridge between Jerusalem and Kidron. The queen
of Ethiopia, Sheeba who was greatly impressed by the Wisdom of Solomon came to
Jerusalem to see him. She had to travel through this bridge. The moment she
placed her foot on the bridge she had a vision. She saw Jesus taking up his
cross made of wood and die on it. So since she thought that this wood is going
to be used to crucify God when he comes down to earth as man, she fell down in
respect before the wood. Solomon too understood this and he ordered this wooden
plank to be cast into the Bethesda pool and erase it from history. But later,
the Romans found out this wooden plank, the wood on which the fire of God was
lit, and also the vessels used in the temple, while they were cleaning the
pool. They gave it as church belongings. Once again this wooden plank was used
as a bridge between Kidron and Jerusalem.
Coming back to our story, large pipes were laid from this
Bethesda pool up to Gibeon [the great waters of Gibeon] which is located on the
north western part of Jerusalem. In order to support these huge pipes many
pillars were built in many places. Since the water flowed from a higher place,
it was easy to bring water from Gibeon to the pool of Bethesda. The pipes as
well as a huge water tank were built and the date for the opening ceremony was
also fixed. It was decided that the opening ceremony was to he presided over by
Pontius Pilate and invitation were distributed. That day turned out to be an
unforgettable day in history. The date of opening ceremony was fixed on Herod
Antipas birthday. Hence he gave excuse that he was unable to attend the
ceremony. He also insisted that the ceremony should not be postponed. Pilate
also agreed to this.
The birthday of King Herod
The birthday of King Herod was grandly celebrated at his
fort in Macharius.. Herod was seated along with his ministers in his court. His
face had unusual expressions of joy and victory. Songs were sung in praise of
King Herod, which was followed by the dance program of small children. This was
followed by the dance of young men and women. Though they started it decently,
later it turned out to be disgusting. Very soon everyone there including the
king started to drink and became drunk. At that time, the elder daughter of Abigail,
Salome danced in front of Herod. Herod lost control of his senses in her
dance. At this situation he promised to give her anything she asked for
even if it was half his kingdom. Since Salome was a young girl, she sought the
advice of her mother. Abigail who waited for such an opportunity, told Salome
to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Salome obeyed her mother and asked for
the same. At this, Herod was deeply troubled. Yet in order to fulfill his
promise, he ordered John the Baptist to be beheaded and the head to be given to
Salome. The order was executed.
At the same time Pilate cut the ribbon and opened the
water tank in Jerusalem. People applauded and expressed their happiness. But
very soon their joy turned into sorrow. The hue tank could not bear the water
capacity and broke into pieces. Approximately ninety people were dead including
the spectators and the roman soldiers who were standing at the bottom of the
tank. Many were wounded. But those involved in the process of building this
tank were not hurt. They stayed at Siloam at the top of mount Gibeon according
to prior instructions. Pilate ordered these men to be brought and enquired
them. He was shocked at their statement. They told Pilate that they had built
the tank with a week foundation as per the instructions of Herod, so that this
incident will create a black mark in the history of Pilate. Pilate was furious
at this and Herod and Pilate became enemies. In order to express his anger,
Pilate commanded the tax rate to be increased three times the original amount.
Entire Jerusalem was shattered and the people started to protest. A group was
formed under the leadership of Judas who was the son of Ezekia of Calos. As a
result of the chaos, many of the roman soldiers were wounded and were dead. The
army base and the treasury were looted by Judas. Pilate’s anger crossed limits.
He wanted to teach these Jews a lesson. Pilate was once informed that this
Judas and his friends have come to the temple of Jerusalem. He ordered his
soldiers to enter the temple in disguise but with weapons as ordinary men. They
attacked Judas and his men and Pilate fulfilled his vengeance on them. Judas
and twenty five of his men were killed. Also innocent people who were present
in the temple were also killed. This attack lasted for one hour. All the roman
soldiers who were involved in this attack hid themselves in Anthoni fort under
the protection of Pilate. Pilate somehow settled this riot also.
At the time of the incident of water tank accident, Jesus
was in the house of Lazarus, in Bethany. When Jesus heard of this accident, he
rushed to the spot. Knowing that all those who were wounded were poor people of
the society, he was moved with compassion and healed many of them and raised a
few dead people. On account of this miracle, Jesus became even more famous
throughout Jerusalem. Pontius Pilate came to know of this miracle. His wife
Claudia, once again desired to meet Jesus. But this time too, due to internal
riots, she was not able to see Jesus. Pilate returned to his palace in
Caesarea. After this water tank incident, Jesus started to mention Herald as a
cunning fox in his conversations. This was intimated to Herod by his spies.
This created a great hatred in the heart of Herod on Jesus. He was waiting for
a right opportunity, since Jesus had won the favour of the public.
At the same time, Pilate collected as much information as
possible about Jesus from Abinathar. Abinathar gave the following answer for
all the different questions put forth by Pilate. He said, “My Lord, this Jesus
was not accepted in his home town Nazareth, and hence he came down and settled
in Galilee with his mother in the house of Levi, whom he treated as his
brother. Since he had great acceptance among the people of Galilee, he is also
called as Jesus of Galilee. This Jesus is the only son of his parents no
siblings. His cousin brothers live here along with him in the same city. All these men were the disciples of John the Baptist
and after his death are now the disciples of Jesus. The teachings of Jesus have
never been against our Roman Government. I have commanded our spies to take a
close note of all the teachings of Jesus and I personally listen to every word
of his. Once, the people who belonged to the “non tax payers committee” asked
Jesus, whether it was right to pay tax to the Roman government. For this Jesus
gave an apt reply. Jesus said, “Give that which belongs to Caesar to Caesar and
give that which belongs to God to God.” He said this by showing a coin which
belonged to Caesar.
Once the famous thief Barabas, met Jesus in the desert of
Jericho and asked his support for chasing out the Roman government. For this
Jesus replied, “Look Barabas, you are a thief and I am a minister of God. My
thoughts are not your thoughts. My kingdom is not of this world, but it belongs
to heaven. So I tell you, leave your old sinful ways and return to your home.
Be a good citizen to this country and a good person to your family.” But the
there are a group of people who are having a tough time with Jesus. They are
the scribes and priests who are not able to accept his teachings. Though we do
not belong to their religion, still we are able to accept the teachings of
Jesus. But these scribes and priests, though they know that what is taught by
Jesus is truth, are not able to accept it. I also know the reason for the same.
They are not able to accept the fact that Jesus, a son of a carpenter, is
speaking out the truth and corrects them of their actions. They are also
jealous of the great knowledge and wisdom which Jesus has.” Pilate who was
patiently listening to all these praises of Jesus said, “all that you said so
far is fine. But since this Jesus tries to get into politics, according to my
opinion, after a point of time, people themselves will reject him. This is the
fate of every politician. So I am not so much bothered about him. Still I
suggest you to have an eye on him and his disciples.”
Claudia was in the palace garden and called for her
friend, Yavanica. Claudia said, “Yavanica, have you seen this Jesus? I have
heard that he does great miracles.” Yavanica replied, “Yes your highness, I
have seen him and I have seen his mother also. His mother is such a calm
natured woman, with perfect beauty of God’s creation. She is a respectable
person with a holy countenance. As a part of my duty, as in charge of women
section, I have been with those women, who are the followers of Jesus. Through
this I came to know about few ladies in the group. One of them is Mary
Magdalene. She is a very beautiful woman but full of pride. She is tall and has
a slim body structure, that which will attract any one towards her. Also she is
rich and has a huge palace in Magdalene. Her mother is a Jew and her father is
an Egyptian.
These couple had fifteen children of which only five of them are
alive. Lazarus is the elder brother and was also a rich person. He had an
individual palace. He had many other palaces in other parts of the country
also. He was a man of respect and a very calm personality. The second was
Maria, who was also a beautiful lady. She was born many years after Lazarus.
She remains unmarried since she had no interest in worldly pleasure. Her
relatives tried to change her heart with the help of Jesus, but Jesus stated
that she was absolutely perfect and nothing was wrong with her.She hardly spoke
even to her brother and sisters but loved them a lot. The next was Martha and
Mary Magdalene was younger than all. She was very different from the rest of
the people in her house. She was also very beautiful compared to her sisters, and
was beauty cautious always. She was an atheist. After her mother’s death, her
step mother spoilt her with wrong counsel. Many princes and rich men came
asking the hand of Mary Magdalene in marriage. But she refused to get married.
Martha, her sister took pity on her and took her to Jesus who was preaching in
Gadara (this place is in Jordan).
The teachings of Jesus changed the heart of
Mary Magdalene. All this did not happen in one day. Jesus drove out many evil
spirits out of Mary Magdalene. These spirits left her body in the form of dark,
black smoke and all those who saw this were terrified.” At this point Claudia
interrupted and said, “All these details are quiet surprising. Even I know that
the torment of evil spirits is worse than anything. Continue the information.
Let them be about this Jewish Rabi.” Yavanica replied, “Yes my highness, I have
seen the breathtaking activities of evil spirits. At this point I am reminded
of an incident that happened in Gadara city. Once, Jesus and his disciples and
arrived on the other side of Lake Galilee, in the territory of Gadara. Even the
disciples feared to go there because of the two men who were demon possessed.
Gergesa was a small hill town in the city of Decapolis
[Deca means ten; Polis means city]. The main occupation of the place was
rearing of pigs and preparing alcohol. The juice from a special kind of herb,
which grows in this part of the region, was used in the preparation of alcohol
which was believed to give added drunken feel. When Jesus stepped on the
shore, two men from the tombs came running towards Jesus and fell down at his
feet. They were possessed with demons. They lived in tombs and were naked.
These men fell down at Jesus’ feet and cried out “Jesus, Son of the Mist High
God! What do you want with us?” many times these men were chained, but still
the demons within them would make them break the chains and drive them out into
the desert. Jesus asked, “What is your name?” The demon within the men
answered, “Legion”.
[According to the roman army term, Legion means a group of
6000 soldiers. Here the demons states its name as Legion, which means 6000 evil
spirits were inside these men] The demons further begged Jesus not to send them
into the abyss, instead asked his permission to enter into a heard of pigs
which were grazing nearby. Jesus accepted their request. [An interesting fact
about demons or evils spirits is that, their first choice of possession is
human being, their second choice is animals and their third choice is inanimate
objects which attract attention of people.] Within a few seconds after Jesus
gave permission, that terrific incident happened. The demons with these men
drove them madly and they rushed around the place so fiercely, toppling down
huge barrels of alcohol very easily. All the people who saw this were terrified
and ran to save their lives. A huge nasty noise was heard as the demons left
the men and entered into the herd of swine. The swine, which was now possessed
with these demons, started to attack each other so fiercely, that it seemed a
bloody sight. If anyone happened to be caught amidst this heard of swine would
be surely torn to pieces. Then the herd of swine fell down from the cliff and
was drowned. The two men, who were free from the demons, became the disciples
of Jesus.” Yavanica finished the story. [In remembrance of this incident, there
is a church in this place called as “the church of swine”] 
After a few minutes of silence, Claudia once again spoke,
“Yavanica, tell me more about Jesus. Does he heal the crippled?” Yavanica
replied, “Yes my highness. I will tell you of an interesting incident where
Jesus healed a crippled woman. In a place called Adorath, there is a Jewish
synagogue. This synagogue was under the control of a Pharisee who was Jew. He
was crippled below his hip and thus many uses to tease his about his infirmity.
A lady, who belonged to the same city, had the same infirmity as that of this
Pharisee. She was crippled for about eighteen years. She was bent and crawled
on her hands. Once Jesus visited this synagogue and started to preach. The
sermon was about Naaman who was healed from leprosy. After the sermon was over,
Jesus looked at this woman who was in the woman’s section. He had compassion on
her and touched her on her hip and she was healed immediately. Immediately she
praised God for the healing she received.
Every one gathered was happy but the
synagogue priest started scolding Jesus out of his temper. The priest said,
“Today is Sabbath day and don’t you know that we should not do any work on this
day? There are six days in which we should work, cant you heal on anyone of
those days? Why do you choose the Sabbath?” He started to accuse Jesus for
healing on a Sabbath day which was against the law. For this Jesus replied,
“What kind of a man are you? You Hypocrites! Any one of you would untie his ox
or his donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath.
Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept bound up for
eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?” The priest and
other Pharisees were ashamed at his answer but the other innocent people
rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did. But if the Pharisee, who
was the priest, could have asked Jesus to heal him, he too would have been
healed on the same day…….. Pride is more dominant than humbleness in some
people.”
Claudia was greatly impressed at these miracles of Jesus.
She wished that she could meet Jesus along with her son Philo, who was crippled
from birth, and ask him to heal him so that he will be healed the very moment.
But her son was not with her and she too was unable to meet Jesus. She was even
ready to fall and plead at the feet of Jesus. Her heart was overwhelmed with
sorrow and it was expressed in the tears she shed. Pilate who entered the
garden saw the tears in Claudia’s eyes and was startled a little. He asked her
for the reason and she replied, “My Lord, have you forgotten about our son
Philo, who is paralyzed below his hip since birth? If only I could take our son
to Jesus, the Jewish Rabi, and his one word would heal our son Philo. I beg you
to permit me to meet Jesus. Please.” Moved with deep emotion Pilate replied,
“Claudia, my sweet heart! Did you think I forgot all about our son Philo?
No. I too have heard a lot about this Jewish Rabi. But I would like to
tell you one thing that this Rabbi states that he has come only for the Jews
and hence will do miracles only for them. We are people of high rank and that
is the only thing which prevents me from allowing you to go and meet him. This
incident will help you understand better of what I actually mean to say.
Yavanica are you aware of the incident that happened in the case of a lady
named Laaies of Nain? Do tell my dear wife of her story.”
Laaies of Nain
Nain is a small town situated near Nazareth. [Jesus
raised a twelve year old body named Marshal (who was dead) who was the only son
of a widow. The incident which we are going to see next happened prior to this
miracle of raising the dead boy alive.) Laaies was a very rich lady of Nain.
She had two young beautiful girls by name Saabia and Athalia. Though these two
young ladies were very beautiful, still they were possessed with demons. Many
people would not be aware of the actual status of young women being possessed
with demons. Laaies had hired capable maid servants to take care of these two
young women. These women were usually quiet, but once the demon within them
starts to manifest itself, the calm atmosphere will turn to be a stormy sea.
They will start attacking each other very rashly and make themselves naked. The
whole house will be filled with blood. The situation was becoming worse day by
day and this fierce attack continued frequently. Now I hope the readers will be
able to understand the pitiable state of the mother. One day Laaies heard of
Jesus and his miracles. She travelled all the way to Capernaum to plead with
Jesus to deliver her daughters of this demon possession. But Jesus never took
notice of her. She did not give up and followed Jesus for many days.
Once, Jesus came to a place called Mirsa which was nine
hours travel from Nain by walk. The people of the place gathered to meet Jesus,
told Him their troubles and asked him suggestions and pray for their
deliverance. The main business of this place was tanning of leather. Since the
Pharisees and Sadducees were the land owners, they hired Samaritans for work at
cheap cost. Thus the Pharisees and Sadducees became richer and richer and the
Samaritan laborers became poorer and poorer. The nature of work, done by the Samaritans,
resulted in spreading of many diseases among the Samaritans. These were the
issues they discussed with Jesus and asked Him to pray for them. At this
situation Jesus told them the parable of talents. Jesus said, “The man who had
five talents, earned five more with his intelligence. The man who was given two
talents earned two more. But the person, who was given one talent, hid the same
in the ground and did not earn anything. So according to this parable, you are
the people who belong to the category of the person who had one talent. Look
out for better opportunities and make use of your labor.” These words of Jesus
gave new courage in the hearts of the Samaritans, and they left the job and
went out seeking for better opportunities. The people who were affected by this
were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. So they were very angry and hated Jesus.
Judas of Iscariot was greatly impressed by this parable and became the disciple
of Jesus.
Coming back to our story, the mother of those two demons
possessed girls was traveling with Jesus from the city of Mirsa. The ladies who
were traveling along with her, advised her to go forward and speak to Jesus,
state her petition and beg his mercy to deliver her daughters. Laiees replied,
“No, I won’t ask Jesus to have pity on my daughters. Rather I would request Him
to have pity on me.” Now the disciples, who noticed her for the past few days,
told Jesus, “Lord, this lady is traveling along with us for many days. Kindly
ask her about her problem and give her remedy or we can ask her to leave us
since she is following us for many days.” Jesus called Laaies and asked her to
state her petition. Now Laaies stated her pitiable condition of having two
demon possessed young daughters at home and all the torture they are undergoing
because of the demons. She requested him to deliver them of the demons. Jesus
replied, “Lady, your sins are the cause for this state of your daughters. Do
you agree?” Laaies caught hold of Jesus feat, and with tears in her eyes said,
“Yes Lord, I do agree. Both my daughters are born of illegal relationship. But
I love them a lot and I live for them only. I beg your mercy to deliver them
from this condition. Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!” For this Jesus
replied, “I am sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (that is for the
Jews only). It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to
the dogs.” At this statement, Laaies, (though a Canaanite woman and not a Jew)
said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs ear the scraps that fall from the table
of their masters. You can call me by whatever name you want, but I humbly
request you to have pity on me.” So saying she humbled herself at Jesus feet.
Jesus was amazed at her faith and said, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it
be done for you as you wish. I have not seen this measure of faith even among
my own people, the Jews. Go in peace. Your faith has got you what you had asked
for. Your daughters are healed right at this moment.” Laaies was a bit confused
at the statement of Jesus because few minutes ago He called her as a dog and
now he shows great respect for her. She was not able to understand him, but she
went home with the confidence that her daughters were healed as Jesus said. As
she went near to her home, she was welcomed by her daughters, who were healed
and they hugged each other and thanked the Lord.” So saying Yavanica completed
her story.
At this point, Pilate interrupted and said, “Jesus called
Laaies, who was a non-Jew, as a dog, but later granted her wish, and still I am
not pleased with this. If you go and meet him, he might treat you also in the
same way. Being of high rank, I can’t allow you to be treated like this in
public. So I can’t grant you permission to meet Jesus. Let us not discuss about
meeting him anymore.”So saying Pilate left the place. Claudia was speechless
and did not know what to do further. She lost all her confidence that her
paralyzed son Philo would be healed.
33 BC
As a wise king once said, “Everything has a season, a
time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a
time to be happy, a time to mourn; a time to keep silence, and a time to
speak.” Here the time came for Jesus to keep silence, to be patient and to
endure suffering for our sake. In order to hand over Jesus to death, the priest
had already bribed and won Judas (one of the twelve disciples of Jesus) on
their side. Judas agreed to betray Jesus for the price of thirty silver coins.
According to the Jewish custom, to buy a person as a slave, you have to pay
thirty pieces of silver. Jesus was insulted by being bought for thirty pieces
of silver thereby he was made equal as a slave. In acceptance of the deal,
Judas and the messenger of the high priest tore the edge of their garments.
This is a sign that the promise should be protected hence forth. Hence the
messenger called his servant Malcus and said, “Malcus have a close watch on
this betrayer Judas. Take care to check that he does not run away once he has
got the money. For it is easy to identify an enemy, for he will be against us,
but it is very difficult to identify a betrayer since he will be one among us.
This Judas was with Jesus, and now he has betrayed him. That is why we can
forgive and trust our enemies, but never trust a betrayer nor forgive him. So understand
the need of the hour and act wise. Also make arrangements for a tree to make a
cross.”
In this way, Jesus was betrayed by his own disciple Judas
Iscariot, and was brought before Pontius Pilate for trial and to be crucified.
Jesus was 33 years and 3 months of age at the time of trial. The Roman
Governor, Pontius Pilate sat in his throne, immersed in deep thought as to who
the criminal would be and what was the hurry for the high priest to arrange for
a trial so early in the morning, by eight o’ clock. A criminal was brought by
opposes with loud shouts, insults and he had was hurt too when he was brought
before Pontius Pilate. Annas, Caiaphas and all the other elders of law
accompanied the group which brought the criminal before Pilate. When Pilate came
to know that the criminal was none other than the great man of God, the prophet
hailed by all the people, Jesus, his facial expression changed. He could not
believe his eyes. He could not believe that the person who was brought for
trial on that day was the same Jesus whom his wife and he longed to meet.
Pilate felt bad to see that Jesus was brutally attacked by the soldiers even
before trial. With this thought in mind he looked up at the high priest and
said, “Have you decided to beat him up to death even before I could give my
judgment. Is it? Can you state the severity of the crime he had committed for
you all to beat him up so badly?” The High priest ordered their servants to
make Jesus stand in front of Pilate. Jesus was dragged up through the marble
floored stairway and was made to stand before Pilate. The high priest and the
other priest stood outside the court campus. They did not enter the court
campus because, Pilate was not a Jew and he was an idol worshiper, hence the
Jews considered it to be unclean even to stand in the place where he was.
Moreover since the Passover festival was nearing they did not want to make
themselves unclean and hence they stood outside the court campus.
At this statement of Caiaphas an old man of God said,
“Rightly said Caiaphas, you have made the right statement. The person who ought
to come into the court has come since he is the only person who is right to
come. Knowing that he would come into this court, the place was washed by the
blood of many innocent babies thirty three years ago. My children are a part of
it. So he is the right person to enter and all of you do not have any right to
enter this holy place.” He said this loudly thus proving the innocence of
Jesus. Caiaphas became hot with anger and asked who the old man was. His
servants replied, “He is Sothak, who is the cousin of Sirach who is a member of
our council. Sirach is the husband of Sarobis (who was later called as
Veronica)” Caiaphas replied, “Let me finish off with this Nazarene first and
then I will see to the rest of them” Caiaphas looked at Pilate and said,
“Respected sir, if this man if blameless, we would not have brought him before
you for trial.” Pilate replied, “in this case you can judge him according to
your own law and why should you bring him here to me?” Caiaphas replied,
“according to our law, we do not have the right to kill anyone. Only you have
the right to judge a person to death.” At this point, the enemies of Jesus, the
Jews, lost their patience and said to themselves, “why is Pilate so hesitant to
give the death sentence and is wasting our time? Should we not hurry ourselves
to celebrate the Passover festival and enjoy the sacrifice? He is testing our
patience.”But they did not know that Jesus was the Passover lamb who was to be sacrificed
for their sins. Since they anticipated that Pilate would not easily accept
their request, the priests had already prepared three accusations on Jesus.
They had also prepared witness for each of the accusation.
Pilate ordered them to state their accusation one by one.
“Respected governor, this Jesus is a criminal. He has mesmerized a lot of the
illiterate people by his words and they just listen to all that he says. He has
formed a secret committee, who will never pay tax to us as well as the Roman
Government. By this he has set the base for the rise of an opposition party in
the city. Suddenly he will disappear and suddenly he will appear. Through these
magical tricks, he has made the literate as well as the illiterate people to do
all that he commands. We are sad to say that even few of our priest have become
his disciples. This condition will slowly lead to chaos in politics as well as
in religious beliefs as well as the public welfare of the society as a whole.
Also in one of his sermons he said that whoever does not drink his blood and
eat his flesh will not enter into heaven. This statement is completely
unacceptable.” In order to prove the truth in what they said, they produced 9
witnesses who acknowledged that all that was told by the priest was true.
Immediately Pilate roared with laughter and said, “Oh I
pity you my dear priest. You are not capable of executing your thoughts. I know
your thoughts and I am not ready to believe your accusation that he works
against the government. I know Jesus’s statement that give Caesar what
rightfully belongs to him and give to God what rightfully belongs to God. So
the justifications and witness to prove that he has acted against the
government rules is unacceptable. Also he has told that his kingdom is not of
this world. This information is given to me by out secret, trustworthy spies
and hence I will not accept that accusation also. Just because he healed on a
Sabbath day there by acting against the church law is also unacceptable. Since
you state that he said all those who do not eat my flesh and drink my blood
will not enter heaven as an accusation, I cannot consider it as a crime since
to believe it or not is left to the individual decision and belief. Anyway I do
not understand the meaning of it. But I am able to understand one thing
clearly, it is you who are much interested to eat his flesh and drink his
blood…… so as Jesus said, you will surely reach heaven. Am I right?”
The high priest did not give up and continued to say,
“Lord, this man Jesus came into Jerusalem with great multitude of people and
loud shouts of praise and entered the temple of Jerusalem. People shouted
‘Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna to the son
of David, Hosanna to our savior, Hosanna to our Messiah.” He had instructed his
people to say so.” Pilate was not moved by these accusations either. Now the
High priest had their last option of the third accusation and the stated it
saying, “Lord, please listen to this third accusation against him. This Jesus
openly declared that he is the king of Jews.” At this statement Pilate started
to think in line with the priests. Though Pontius Pilate has strong faith in
his religion, he was superstitious too. In his school days he has studied that
many holy men of God are moving around this earth and believed that one of them
could be Jesus. According to this Jewish belief, a king will be born from among
the Jews and he will pave the way to save the world and Pilate also believed
it. Agustus Caesar had a vision where he saw a baby in the sky. Pilate now
recollected this vision and thought the baby could be Jesus. If so, is this the
baby that the three kings from the east came to see with gifts? This means is
Jesus the holy child? Is Jesus the promised child? Such question raced across
the mind of Pilate within a few seconds.
Pilate now looked close at the face of Jesus. He was
surprised that Jesus’s face did not have any beauty of a royal background.
Wounds and blood had disfigured the face of Jesus. Pilate said to himself,
“surely he must be the son of an ordinary carpenter, his looks itself shows
that he can never be of a royal background. But the accusations charged on him
are so strong. It would be better to take Jesus aside and enquire him in
person.” As these thoughts raced across his mind, Pilate took Jesus aside to
his room and started his enquiry. Pilate asked, “I know that you are a
Jewish Rabi, but I am surprised at the crime charged against you which could
even lead to a death sentence. Are you the king of the Jews?” At this question
a rare glow was seen in Jesus’s face and Pilate could not understand what was
happening. Jesus replied, “Are you asking this on your own? Or do you ask this
because the others say so?” At his answer, Pilate wondered whether a criminal
could talk to him with so much of guts. He said, “I would like to remind you
that I am not a Jew. It is your people and your high priest who want me to
judge you to be crucified on the cross and have brought you to me. Now answer
me, what is the crime you have committed, that these people want to have you
crucified? Speak up now.” Jesus gave a calm reply saying, “My kingdom is not of
this world. If it was of this world, my people would not have handed me over to
you or to these high priests.” “So you mean to say that you are the king of the
Jews, am I right?” asked Pilate in a hard voice. “You, yourself have now said
that I am the king of the Jews. I was born and brought up for this. I came to
this world to bear witness for the truth. Anyone who listens to truth will also
listen to my voice” replied Jesus. This answer of Jesus confused Pilate a
little. Still he came to a conclusion in the case. He said to himself, “Jesus
is charged of official betrayal crime, but he has not done anything against
Caesar. His holy countenance itself proves the he is blameless. His answers are
very plain and frank. Whatever it could be, I do not find any justification for
him to be crucified.”
Once he came to this conclusion, he called out from his
balcony and answered the men standing down, “I have not found him guilty of
anything.” At this statement, the high priest and his men shouted out false
charges against Jesus and got into a fight. Pilate turned to Jesus and
asked him, “Now did you listen to all the charges these people down are saying
against you? What is your answer for all these charges? Answer me now.” But
Jesus did not give any reply and stood there in perfect silence. Surprised and
irritated a little, Pilate once again asked Jesus, “Can’t you hear what I say? What
are you answering for all these charges against you? Won’t you speak to me?”
once again Jesus never gave any reply. Once again Pilate made up his mind and
looked up at the crowd and said, “I do not find any fault with this man.” At
this statement the chaos was once again aroused. The priests shouted out
saying, “how is it possible for you to judge him blameless? Is it not wrong to
make the people to turn against the government as well as our religion? Is it
not wrong to pull people to his side with false preaching? Is it not wrong to
make people lose their senses and go behind him? Those who are affected by his
teachings live not only in Judea but many of them are in Galilee too. All these
troubles occurred because of this man Jesus. In spite of these many charges,
you still judge him as blameless….. This is not fair. We do not accept this
judgment” At this point Pilate noted the words that Jesus was native of
Galilee. He thought for a while and said, “Is this person a native of Galilee?”
For this the priest replied, “Yes he belongs to Galilee. His parents lived in
Nazareth. At present he lives in Capernaum.” Pilate replied, “If he is a native
of Galilee, then he comes under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas. Right now he
is in Jerusalem and you can take this Jesus to him to be judged. Even now I say
I have found no fault in this person.” Somehow Pilate wanted to get out of this
righteous man’s case and hence forth it is in the hands of Herod. At that time
a soldier handed over a piece of paper to Pilate and said that his wife has
asked him to give it to Pilate. Pilate read the contents of the paper and it
was written, “Please do not interfere in the case of this Jewish Rabi. I had an
unpleasant dream about him yesterday night.”
The crowd was highly displeased with the statement of
Pilate and murmured, “What a fool this Pilate should be. In spite of all our
valid accusations against Jesus, he has judged him as innocent. The worse thing
is that he has asked us to seek the judgment of Herod too…… how long will it
take to hear the judgment of Herod…… these people are testing our patience.”
They showed all their anger on Jesus and they hurt him badly as they dragged
him to Herod’s palace.
Pilate and his wife Claudia
“Oh Claudia, my sweet heart, I had taken the right
decision in the case of this Jewish Rabbi. I even know that he is innocent and
blameless. I also know that it is pure jealousy and hatred that these Jewish
priest have on Jesus, which makes them to charge such false accusations on
Jesus and hand him over to be crucified. Somehow I was determined to
deliver him and only then I knew that he was a native of Galilee and hence I
have sent him to be enquired by Herod. I have also sent a requisition letter
stating my views about this Jesus and in that letter I had mentioned that I
have not found him guilty. You wait and see, Herod too will give the same
judgment and Jesus will soon be delivered. By the way, according to your
letter, you had asked me no to involve in the case of Jesus and you had also
mentioned that you had a terrible dream about him…… tell me your dream my
dear…… what bothered you so much…. Speak up Claudia.” Claudia gave a deep sigh
and then looked into the eyes of her beloved husband and started to tell her
dream. Leaning on her husband’s chest she said, “
I dreamt a dream so rare and hiding it from you would be
unfair,
Listen to it with your mind and heart, for the future
events revealed here are far beyond our thought.
The heavens above me opened wide, and an angel came out
and stood beside
A holy virgin of honor and virtue, stood before the angel
speechless like a statue,
Hail Holy mother, gracious in the Lord’s sight, was the
tiding given by the angel with great delight
The virgin shook with fear, but the angel told her ‘be of
good cheer’
The Lord wants your womb, to be born as a human, the Holy
Spirit will do it which will be more than you can imagine,
Let it be done unto me as the Lord pleases, was the
humble reply of the virgin without any excuses
By the glorious power of the Holy Spirit, she got
conceived in less than a minute.
Behold I heard these words of the Israelite Gods,
God the Father called her as his daughter, and God the
Son called her as his mother,
God the Holy Spirit called her as his wife, for the child
she bore will give all mankind eternal life.
The voice of the trumpet proclaimed to the world, rejoice
for a savior is born, as it was foretold.
Thousands of angels filled the sky above, singing praises
to the child and expressing their love
Hosanna! Hosanna! In the highest, blessed is he, who
comes in the name of the Lord,
Hosanna to the King of Kings, victory will follow all the
days of our God………
The great God was born as man, in Ephrata of Bethlehem
according to Gods plan,
There came three kings far from the east and as a sign of
worship, they fell down at his feet.
They said………….
‘Praise be to God, Praise be to the God of Israel,
happiness throughout the earth shall prevail,
Accept this humble gift of ours, for we have come here
after travelling for long long hours’
All the first born male belong to the Lord, was the law
given to the Jews by their Holy God
Abiding by the law the parents took the boy, and offered
him in church with hearts filled with joy
Behold the testimony of Simeon flowing from his mouth,”
‘He is the savior of this world’ about which I have no doubt
Blessed be my eyes for it has seen the savior, and I will
rest in peace as his true believer”
Innocent blood was shed at the king’s command; the babies
below the age of two were in great demand
Because the holy family fled obeying Gods warning, that
day was to Jerusalem a day of mourning,
The moment the feet of Jesus came very near, I saw the
Egyptian gods flee away with fear
Since the false gods fled away, the true God made his
way, into the city of Egypt with no delay
The desert turned into grassland, miracles worked out at
the touch of his hand
‘Come back to Israel’ spoke a voice from heaven; go to
the city from where you were once driven
So that you shall be called as a Nasserite and a
Galilean, fulfilling the prophecy already spoken
I heard a voice shout from the wilderness, Behold the
lamb that takes away the sins of the earth,
Who will accept death on the cross, and redeem us through
his blood of matchless worth,
This is the wish of God and no one can change the same,
for a price must be paid to lift us out of shame,
The shame of suffering, sin and death, has to be overcome
by the shedding of innocent blood.
‘This is the command of God, who are you to stop it?’,
was the question put forth to me, and I could not believe it……………”
As Claudia expressed this dream of hers, Pilate stood
wonder struck and unable to speak anything. Though he did not understand the
answers given by Jesus, his way of answering, the meaning of the explanations
given at the time of enquiry, it seemed to Pilate that he was able to
understand everything now after listening to the dream of his wife Claudia.
Looking at his wife, who was weeping beside him, and in order to calm her he
said, “Honey, do not fear, I am here for you. I know that Jesus is a blameless
man. I have made this clear before the public. I promise in the name of all our
Gods, that I will never be the cause of his death. I will surely release him.
Please trust me and calm yourself.” Claudia spoke with tears in her eyes, “No
my dear, whatever you say will not calm my troubled heart. I don’t know what to
do. My heart is heavily burdened.” Pilate, not knowing what to do told Claudia,
“So you do not believe even after my promise to you. In this case, take my
signet ring and keep it for yourself. This will be a witness for the promise I
have made to you. Are you convinced now?”
Jesus and Herod
Herod received the letter from Pontius Pilate and read
the contents which stated, “This Jewish Rabbi, whom I have sent to you is
blameless according to my conclusion of the enquiry I had with him. Since he
belongs to Galilee, which is under your area of control, I have sent him to you
for you to further enquire and give judgment in this case – Pontius Pilate”
this letter brought great joy to Herod Antipas. This was a nice opportunity for
him to rebuild the friendship with Pilate, which was strained by the water tank
accident and the number of riots that broke out following the incident over the
past one year. They never spoke to each other and Herod Antipas eagerly waited
for an opportunity to rebuild the friendship and now Jesus came to bridge the
gap.
Though Jesus was a citizen of his territory, and he had heard a lot about
him, his powerful teachings and mindboggling miracles, still Herod had not seen
Jesus and this opportunity to meet him gave great joy to Herod. Herod waited
eagerly in his royal palace in Jerusalem (which was at a distance from Pilate’s
palace) to see Jesus and at this point he was reminded of the words of John the
Baptist about Jesus. The roman soldiers brought Jesus handcuffed and pushed him
in front of Herod. Even the hard heart of Herod pitied the condition of Jesus.
He asked Jesus to come before him and ordered a basin of water to be brought so
that Jesus could wash his blood stained face. Since Herod was convinced with
the letter of Pilate that he found no fault with Jesus, Herod tried to give a
fair treatment to Jesus. Since Jesus looked tired and worn out, Herod offered a
cup of wine and Jesus did not accept the same.
This was a great insult for
Herod and aroused his anger. The high priest, Caiaphas who waited for this
opportunity started to speak, “My Lord, the great king Herod, you are treating
an imposter like an honorable guest in the royal palace. But he is out rightly
insulting you. He even refused the wine you offered him. This proves his
arrogance before the King.” These words of Caiaphas added fuel to the burning
anger of Herod. Still Herod controlled his anger and started his enquiry with
Jesus. Herod asked, “Look Jesus, I know you are the world famous saint and the
most powerful Rabbi. I even know that all your teachings are just and truth. No
one has ever done the signs, wonders and miracles done by you. So I ask you to
speak the truth to me. Now answer my questions.
Who are you? Where do you come from? Are you the king of
the Jews? Are you the promised person about whom the prophets prophesized
hundred years ago? Are you the messiah about whom John the Baptist shared his
testimony? Did the three kings from the east come to see you? It is told that
the gifts they brought were those that are offered to a king? How did they
escape from my father? While all the children below the age of two were killed,
how did you alone escape? Who warned earlier about my father’s command to
kill the babies? It is said that you and your parents escaped to Egypt, then
how did you manage to come back to my territory and live without my knowledge?
How did you release the prisoners whom I had imprisoned in the fort of Trisa?
Who helped them to settle their debts? When and from where did they receive
funds? What is the magic you use to make the blind to see, the deaf to hear,
the lame to walk and even raise the dead? From where did you receive so much
power?” In this manner Herod showered his questions on Jesus, but Jesus did not
answer a single question and stood in perfect silence. Jesus did not even look
up at Jesus.
Once again Herod spoke to Jesus saying, “Won’t you speak to me and
answer my questions? Don’t you know that I have every right to set you free? I
may be a hard man, with an unworthy character, and for this I even killed John
the Baptist. I do agree my fault. But there is something special in you that
make me sympathize with you. It’s ok, now speak up and answer my questions.”
Using this opportunity the opponents of Jesus said, “how will he speak my Lord,
he was so daring enough to call you as a cunning fox in front of the public. He
has never respected you as a king and it is strange that you sympathize with
him. He is not worthy of it my Lord. You are not aware his secret plan of
establishing his kingdom and destroy yours. Beware of him my Lord. Don’t be
flattered by his appearance. All that glitters is not gold. We would like to
bring to your notice that even last week, Jesus, along with his men,
hailed him as king and shouted out praises stating, ‘Long Live Jesus! Long live
the son of David! Long live the king of Jews! Hosanna to the king who is
blessed by the Lord’ and made a grand entry into Jerusalem. Since we were alert
we destroyed his plans and had him arrested. But we are surprised to see that
you too have fallen for him who has set danger to your very post as a king.”
These words had a deep impact in the heart of Herod and now he spoke with great
anger. Still he tried to control himself since he has a secret disease and
wanted Jesus to heal him of it. So he came close to Jesus and said, “Jesus, I
have a secret to share with you. I have a secret disease which causes scales
all over my body. If you could heal me, I will release you immediately. I will
do all that you need beyond your expectation. Please do a miracle for me and
heal me.” But Jesus did not give any response or reply for this humble request
of Herod.
Herod’s anger crossed its limits and he changed his way of approach.
In a harsh tone he said, “You Jesus, speak to me man, are you a dumb person?
Don’t you know how to speak? You spoke for many hours in the street corners and
now what has happened to you? Are you scared to speak in front of such a great
king like me? Come on, open your mouth and speak…….” But as he spoke these
things, a kind of fear griped his heart. Since Jesus was closely related to
John the Baptist and that everyone knew that he was the cause of John the
Baptist’s death, he feared that Jesus might curse him. Also since Pilate had
judged him innocent, if Herod is to sentence Jesus to death, it will be in
contradiction to Pilate’s judgment which would worsen their relationship.
Keeping these things in mind, Herod gave his judgment as, “I agree with the
judgment of Pilate.” He wrote his judgment in a letter and sent it to Pilate
along with Jesus.
Before send away Jesus he said, “Jesus, I wanted to do good
to you, but you insulted me. Very soon you will reap the bitter fruit of
insulting me. Go with these priests and they will surely crucify you. Even they
have got the cross ready. Guards! Take this fool out of my sight and hand him
over to Pilate.” Caiaphas and the priest could not tolerate this and walked
away with Jesus to Pilate, saying to them-selves, “we thought Pilate to be a
fool, but Herod is an insolent fool. He could have easily judged Jesus to death
on the cross. The anger which is bubbling with us would just burn these
two fools, but what to do, they are the deciding authority. We have to be
patient and bear with them to get what we want.”
Once again Jesus was brought before Pilate. Pilate was
quiet unhappy to know that Herod had sent Jesus back to him to be judged. Still
Pilate was pleased with the judgment of Herod, since he had accepted the
decision of Pilate. So the flower of friendship once again bloomed between
these two kings. This letter resolved the enmity that lasted between them for
the past one and a half years. in order to satisfy the priests and opponents of
Jesus, Pilate ordered Jesus to be scourged by being tied to a stone pillar.
Jesus was scourged, so brutally, that there was no spot in his body which was
left un pierced by the whipping rod. He endured this with patience and did not
speak or curse any one for this act of theirs. As the final touch to this
brutal act, they made a crown out of thorns and kept it on Jesus’ head and it
was fixed to his head but hitting it with wooden rods. “Eche homo – which
means, here is the man”.
Even Pilate could not bear to see Jesus beaten up so
badly and his whole body stained with blood. He expressed his sympathy by
saying “Eche homo” in Latin, which means there was no traces of any human being
by the way Jesus was beaten up. As a Jewish custom, one of the prisoners was
set free as a Passover gift to the people. Pilate tried to use this opportunity
to release Jesus and asked the crowd, “who m shall I release for you? Jesus the
king of the Jews or the notorious thief Barabas?” as it was planned already,
the priest and their men shouted saying, “release Barabas for us, release
Barabas for us…..” Pilate who did not expect this answer asked the crowd, “what
shall I do to Jesus, the king of the Jews?” The crowd shouted even more loudly,
“Crucify him, crucify him……”
Pilate furthered asked them, “Should I crucify
your king?” The crowd replied, “Jesus is not our king….. Caesar is our only
king…. We don’t want any other king other than Caesar…..” Pilate was did not
give up and said, “But you were the same crowd which said that ‘Jesus is our
king and we will never accept Caesar as our king’. Now how do you accept Caesar
as your king? I don’t understand this oscillating mindset of yours…….” The
crowd replied, “on this day we accept Caesar as out king whole heartedly”
Pilate could was helpless now and said once again, “Give me your final
decision. What should I do with Jesus, the king of the Jews?” The crowd raised
their voice even more loudly and shouted saying, “Crucify Jesus. Caesar is our
only king. If you still try to release Jesus, then you are not a friend of
Caesar. You will no longer be in the post of the governor of Rome.” Pilate was
now chained by these words and could not risk his position. So he ordered a
vessel of water to be brought and washed off his hands stating, “I am innocent
in the judgment of Jesus.” The priest and the crowd replied, “Let the curse of
this man’s blood rest on us and our generation. You just command him to be
crucified.” Pilate said, “I came to this place to keep up the promise I made to
Caesar, that I will establish the Roman Empire in this place. If this could be
fulfilled by the death of Jesus, then I order Jesus to be crucified.” A copy of
this judgment was sent to the Roman Emperor. The contents of the judgment
letter read as, “Jesus is blameless. He has not committed any crime for him to
be crucified on the cross. Still in order to maintain law and order in the
country, and to establish our Roman empire, according to the compulsion of his
own people, I have commanded Jesus to be crucified.”
This is injustice.
Though the judgment of Pilate gave great joy to the
priest and the opponents of Jesus, the general public was unhappy about this
and called it injustice. They expressed their disappointment about the final
verdict. They cursed Pilate. But their voice was suppressed by the voice of the
opponents. Still one of the passer by who could not bear this judgment saw a
green stone (very rare one) and wrote down the pain of his heart. “This is an
unfair judgment! Claudia come and interfere in this. Change the judgment.”(Judex
injustus……. Claudia Procles). It is said that this stone still remains in the
place where Jesus was sentence to be crucified. But very few know the meaning
or story of this stone. According to the sentence of Pilate, Jesus was
crucified on the cross. Claudia was filled with sorrow at the death of Jesus
and all that had happened. Claudia returned the signet ring which Pilate gave
to her as a sign of promise that he would never be the cause of the death of
Jesus. Pilate bowed down in shame. Claudia slowly spoke to him, “I request you
to listen to the remaining part of my dream….. Please……
Just like how I saw the heaven open and the angel come
down……. I also saw the earth open ……
Out of their grave came the spirits of men, and the
righteous souls ascended to heaven
The earth looked like a storm hit sea coast, the next
moment I saw you being thrown down from your respectable post
A crowd stood there cursing you from their hearts, you
ran for your life and hid among the rocks
Fate chased you faster wherever you went, it made you mad
and caused you to lament,
You fell down from the hill and deep into the valley, the
horror of that sight still churns up my belly….
I fell down with a cry and heart filled with fear, into
the hands of my son who ran to wipe my tear….
The first part of my dream has come to pass without a
single flaw in it. This makes me fear more that the second part too might come
to pass for sure. What shall I do now….. I will call out to Jesus himself and
ask him to forgive your fault………” So saying she cried bitterly and Pilate stood
still not knowing what to do.
The dream came true
Jesus had died on the cross and at that moment, great
darkness surrounded the earth. A rash stormy wind with its scaring loud scream
blew all over the place. Mother Nature expressed her voice against the plot of
the cunning betrayers. Thunder too joined in and cracked from the sky with loud
noise. The animals and birds rushed to and fro not knowing what was happening.
With a loud noise, mount Calvary split up from the place where Jesus was
crucified to the depths of the earth. The blood that poured out of the body of
Jesus, reached the skull which was buried down at the feet of the cross. (There
is historical evidence to prove that Adam’s skull was buried below the cross of
Jesus. Once, prophet Eliasus was praying in this mountain when he saw a
skeleton inside a stone box. When he touched the skull an angel appeared to him
and said, “This is the skull of Adam and do not touch it” After this incident
the place got its name as place of the skull) Another surprising incident
happened, all the righteous people who died from the time of Adam to the time
of Jesus came out of their graves and were found in the streets of Jerusalem.
The point to be noted is that they were found in their same dress which they
wore at the time of their death and their feet did not touch the ground as they
walked. John the Baptist stood in front of Herod and laughed at him. Wrapped in
fear at this sight, Herod ran for his life in the streets of Jerusalem and
later returned to his palace and hid himself. Similarly the holy priest like,
Simeon and Zacharias appeared (Herod killed this Zacharias in the premises of
the temple. He appointed his two sons in the place of Zacharias who enjoyed the
wealth of the church.) The temple veil was torn into two pieces and this caused
fear in the hearts of the high priest Annas and Caiaphas. Within a short span
of time everything returned to normal. The spirits which came out of the grave
returned to their graves. Abinathar who stood and watched all these incidents
witnessed and said, “Truly Jesus is the son of God”
37 BC
Three years after the death of Jesus Christ, Pilate
changed completely. He became a monarch which led to outbreak of great
rebellion all over Judea. This spread to Samaria and Galilee. Herod too was in
deep trouble. His father in law took revenge on Herod, since he divorced his
wife and took Abigail in her place. He caused the outbreak of war against Herod
based on an issue between Narbada and Herod. Herod lost in the battle. Using
this opportunity, Herod’s relative, Herod Agrippa accused him of committing
official betrayal against the Roman Government, to the Emperor Caligula. Hence
Herod lost his post and power. Herod was banished to France (which was then
known as Gal). No details are available of his death after the banishment. The
fate of Abigail and her daughter was fulfilled in the snow covered mountainous
region where they were enjoying in boar riding. Salome’s hair got caught in one
of the snowy rocks, but they could not stop the boat. Hence her head got cut
and she met a tragic death. Abigail cried out that John the Baptist has taken
revenge on her. Since Pontius Pilate became worse and harsh in handling the
Samaritans he was called back to Rome and he lost post. He too was banished to
France. Those who were affected by him, tried to kill him. He lost all his
wealth and stood as an orphan in the streets. Filled with shame and insult he
ran to the top of a mountain and fell down and died. Claudia wished to live
with her son and so she returned to Rome. As she stepped out of the ship, her
son Philo came and received her. He was no longer paralyzed and Claudia was
surprised to see him well. When she asked him of this miracle, Philo said,
“Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi healed me by extending his hand to me and lifted me up.
I was healed that very moment.” Claudia became a Christian in the later days
and served Christ.
Claudia’s dream came true.
Please Note: As I read this story, the palms of my hands were filled
with the fragrance of roses. I could feel the presence of the Lord and it was a
pleasant experience. Praise be to God. Amen.
