Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 31

TuesdayWe all slept that night in the top(prenominal) room of Josephs house. In the morning Joshua went downstairs. He was gone for a bit, then came back up the stairs.They wont let me leave, he say.They?The apostles. My own apostles wont let me leave. He went back to the stairway. Youre interfering with the go away of God he shouted down. He turned back to me. Did you tell them non to let me leave?Me? Yep.You bumt do that.I sent Nathaniel to Simons to fetch Maggie. He returned alone. Maggie wouldnt talk to him, hardly Martha did. Temple s octogenarianiers had been there, Josh.So?What do you mean, so? They were there to arrest you.Let them.Joshua, you dont defy to sacrifice yourself to prove this point. Ive been signifying about it all night. You can negotiate.With the Lord?Abraham did it. Remember? everywhere the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He starts out get under ones skinting the Lord to agree to spare the cities if he can find fifty righteous men, but by the re mnant, he talks God down to ten. You can try something like that.Thats not completely the point, Biff. Here he came over to me, but I found I couldnt look him in the eye, so I went to one of the large arched windows that looked down on the street. Im afraid of this of whats going to happen. I can think of a dozen things Id rather do this week than be sacrificed, but I know that it has to happen. When I told the priests that I would tear the Temple down in tether days, I meant that all the corruption, all the pretense, all the ritual of the Temple that keeps men from knowing God would be destroyed. And on the third day, when I cut back, everything go away be new, and the kingdom of God leave be everywhere. Im coming back, Biff.Yeah, I know, you say that.Well, conceptualise in me.Youre not good at resurrections, Josh. Remember the old woman in Japhia? The soldier in Sepphoris, what did he last? Three minutes?But look at Maggies brother Simon. Hes been back from the dead for mon ths now.Yeah, and he smells funny.He does not. nary(prenominal) really, when you get close to him he smells spoi lead.How would you know? You wont get close to him because he used to be a leper.Thaddeus mentioned it the other day. He said, Biff, I believe this Simon Lazarus fellow has spoilight-emitting diode.Really? Then lets go ask Thaddeus.He might not remember.Joshua went down the step to a low-ceilinged room with a photomosaic floor and small windows cut high in the walls. Joshuas mother and brother James had joined the apostles. They all sat there against the walls, their faces turned to Joshua like flowers to the sun, delay for him to say something that would give them hope.Im going to wash your feet, he said. To Joseph of Arimathea, he said, I impoverishment a basin of water and a sponge. The tall aristocrat bow down and went off to find a servant.What a pleasant surp revoke, Mary said.James the brother rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.Im going out, I said. I looked at asshole, as if to say, Dont let him out of your sight. He understood perfectly and nodded.Come back for the seder, Joshua said. I have some things I have to teach you in the critical time I have left wing. at that place was no one home at Simons house. I knocked on the door for a long time, then in conclusion let myself in. There was no evidence of a morning meal, but the mikveh had been used, so I guessed that they had each bathed and then gone to the Temple. I walked the streets of Jerusalem, trying to think of some solution, but everything I had learned seemed useless. As evening fell I make my way back to Josephs house, taking the long route so I didnt have to pass the castle of the high priest.Joshua was endureing inside, sitting on the steps to the upper room, when I came in. Peter and Andrew sat on every side of him, obviously there to ensure that he didnt accidentally skip down to the high priest and turn himself in for blasphemy.Where have you been? Joshua said. I ne ed to wash your feet.Do you have all idea how unstated it is to find a ham in Jerusalem during Passover week? I said. I persuasion it would be nice, you know, some ham on matzo with a little bitter herb.He washed us all, Peter said. Of course we had to hold baronet down, but even hes clean.And as I washed them, they will go out and wash others, by showing them forgiveness.Oh, I get it, I said. Its a parable. Cute. Lets go eat.We all lay around the big table, with Joshua at the head. Joshuas mother had prepared a traditional Passover supper, with the exception of the lamb. To begin the seder, Nathaniel, who was the youngest, had to ask a question. wherefore is this night different from every other night of the year?Barts feet are clean? said Thomas.Joseph of Arimathea is picking up the tab? said Philip.Nathaniel laughed and shook his head. No. Its because other nights we eat starting line and matzo, but tonight we only eat matzo. Jeez. He grinned, probably feeling smart for the first time in his life.And why do we only eat the matzo on this night? asked Nathaniel.Skip ahead, Nate, I said. Were all Jews here. Summarize. Unleavened bread because there was no time for it to rise with Pharaohs soldiers on our tail, bitter herbs for the bitterness of slavery, God delivered us into the Promised Land, it was swell, lets eat.Amen, said everyone.That was pathetic, said Peter.Yeah, was it? I said angrily. Well, we sit here with the Son of God, waiting for someone to come and beat back him away and hide him, and none of us is going to do a damn thing about it, including God, so forgive me if Im not egest all over myself about having been delivered out of the gifts of the Egyptians about a million years ago.Youre forgiven, said Joshua. Then he stood up. What I am, is in you all. The worshipful Spark, the Holy Ghost, it unites you all. It is the God that is in you all. Do you understand that?Of course God is part of you, James the brother said, hes your father.No, in all of you. Watch, take this bread. He took a matzo and broke it into pieces. He gave a piece to everyone in the room and took a piece himself. Then he ate it. Now, the bread is part of me, the bread is me. Now all of you eat it.Everybody looked at him.EAT IT He screamed.So we ate it. Now it is part of you, I am part of you. You all divide the same part of God. Lets try again. Hand me that wine.And so it went like that, for a couple of hours, and I think that by the time the wine was gone, the apostles actually grasped what Joshua was reflection to them. Then the begging started, as each of us pleaded for Joshua to give up the notion that he had to die to save the rest of us.Before this is finished, he said, you will all have to deny me.No we wont, said Peter.You will deny me three times, Peter. I not only expect this, I command it. If they take you when they take me, then there is no one to take the good news to the people. Now, Judas, my friend, come here.Judas went to Joshu a, who whispered in his ear, then sent him back to his bulge out at the table. One of you will betray me this very night, said Joshua. Wont you, Judas?What? Judas looked around at us, but when he saw no one coming to his defense, he bolted down the steps. Peter started after him, but Joshua caught the fisherman by the hair and yanked him back off of his feet.Let him go.But the high priests palace isnt a furlong away, said Joseph of Arimathea. If he goes there right away.Joshua held his hand up for silence. Biff, go directly to Simons house and wait. Alone you can sneak by the palace without being seen. Tell Maggie and the others to wait for us. The rest of us will go through the city and through the Ben Hinnon valley so we dont have to pass the priests palace. Well meet you in Bethany.I looked at Peter and Andrew. You wont let him turn himself in?Of course not.I was off into the night, wondering even as I ran whether Joshua had changed his mind and was going to escape from Bethany into the Judean desert. I should have known right then that Id been had. You think you can trust a guy, then he turns around and lies to you.Simon answered the door and let me in. He held his leaf to his lips, signalling me to be quiet. Maggie and Martha are in the back. Theyre angry with you. All of you. Now theyll be angry with me for letting you in.Sorry, I said.He shrugged. What can they do? Its my house.I went directly through the front room into a second room that opened off to bedchambers, the mikveh, and the courtyard where food was prepared. I heard voices coming from one of the bedchambers. When I walked in, Maggie looked up from braiding Marthas hair.So, youve come to tell me that its done, she said. Tears welled up in her eyes and I felt as if I would break down with her if she started weep now.No, I said. He and the others are on their way here. Through Ben Hinnon, so it will be a few hours. But I have a plan. I pulled the ying-yang amulet that Joy had given me out o f my tunic and vibrated it before them.Your plan is to bribe Joshua with ugly jewelry? asked Martha.I pointed to the tiny stoppers on all side of the amulet. No, my plan is to poison him.I explained how the poison worked to Mary and Martha and then we waited, counting the time in our imaginations, observation in our minds eyes as the apostles made their way through Jerusalem, out the Essene gate, into the steep valley of Ben Hinnon, where thousands of tombs had been carved into the rock, and where once a river had run, but now was only sage and cypress and thistles clinging to the crevices in the limestone. After several hours we went outside to wait in the street, then when the moon started down and the night made way into early morning, we saw a hit figure coming from the west, not the south as we had expected. As he got closer I could tell from heavy shoulders and the moon shining on his bald-headed pate that it was John.They took him, he said. At Gethsemane. Annas and Caipha is came themselves, with Temple guards, and they took him.Maggie ran into my arms and buried her face in my chest. I reached out and pulled Martha close as well.What was he doing at Gethsemane? I said. You were supposed to be coming here through Ben Hinnon.He only told you that.That bastard lied to me. So they arrested everyone?No, the others are hiding not far from here. Peter tried to fight the guards, but Joshua stopped him. Joshua negotiated with the priests to let us go. Joseph came too, he helped talk them into letting the rest of us go.Joseph? Joseph betrayed him?I dont know, said John. Judas was the one that led them to Gethsemane. He pointed Joshua out to the guards. Joseph came later, when they were about to arrest the rest of us.Where did they take him?To the palace of the high priest. Thats all I know, Biff. I promise.He sat down hard in the middle of the street and began to weep. Martha went to him and cradled his head to her breast.Maggie looked up at me. He knew you w ould fight. Thats why he sent you here.The plan doesnt change, I said. We just have to get him back so we can poison him.John looked up from Marthas embrace. Did you change sides when I wasnt here?WednesdayAt first light Maggie and I were pounding on Josephs door. A servant let us in. When Joseph came out from his bedchamber I had to hold Maggie back to keep her from attacking him.You betrayed himI did not, said Joseph.John said you were with the priests, I said.I was. I followed them up to keep them from killing Joshua for trying to escape, or in self-defense, right there at Gethsemane.What do you mean, in self-defense?They fate him dead, Maggie, Joseph said. They want him dead, but they dont have the permission to execute him, dont you understand that? If I hadnt been there they could have murdered him and said that hed attacked them first. The Romans are the only ones who have the authority to have someone killed.Herod had John the Baptist killed, I said. There were no Romans i nvolved in that.Jakan and his thugs stone people all of the time, Maggie said. Without Roman approval.Think, you two. This is Passover week. The city is crawling with Romans watching for rebellious Jews. The entire Sixth Legion is here, plus all of Pilates personal guard from Caesarea. Normally thered only be a handful. The high priests, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisee council, even Herod will think twice before they do anything outside the letter of Roman law. Dont panic. There hasnt even been a trial in the Sanhedrin yet.When will there be a trial?This afternoon, probably. They have to bring everyone in. The prosecution is gathering witnesses against Joshua.What about witnesses for him? I asked.Thats not how it works, said Joseph. Ill speak for him, and so will my friend Nicodemus, but other than that Joshua will have to defend himself.Swell, Maggie said.Who is prosecuting him?I thought youd know, Joseph said, cringing slightly. The one who started the Sanhedrin plots against Joshua t he other two times, Jakan bar Iban.Maggie whirled around and glared at me. You should have killed him.Me? You had cardinal years to push the guy down the steps or something.Theres still time, she said.That wont help Joshua now, said Joseph. Just hope that the Romans wont hear his case.You sound as if hes already convicted, I said.Ill do my best. Joseph didnt sound very confident.Get us in to see him.And let them arrest the two of you? I dont think so. You stay here. You can have the upper rooms to yourselves. Ill come back or send word as soon as anything happens.Joseph hugged Maggie and kissed her on the top of the head, then left the room to get dressed.Do you trust him? Maggie said.He warned Joshua before when they wanted to kill him.I dont trust him.Maggie and I waited all day in the upper room, jumping to our feet every time we heard footsteps going by in the street, until we were exhausted and shaking from worry. I asked one of Josephs servant girls to go down to the palace o f the high priest to see what was going on. She returned a short time later to report that the trial was still going on.Maggie and I made a nest of the cushions under the wide arched window in the front, so we could hear the slightest noise coming from the street, but as night started to fall, the footsteps became fewer and far between, the distant singing from the Temple faded, and we settled into each others arms, a single lump of low, agonizing grief. Sometime after dark we made love together for the first time since the night before Joshua and I left for the Orient. All those years had passed, and yet it seemed familiar. That first time, so long ago, making love was a desperate way to share the grief we felt because we were each about to lose someone we loved. This time we were losing the same person. This time, we slept afterward.Joseph of Arimathea didnt come home.ThursdayIt was Simon and Andrew who stormed up the steps to wake us Thursday morning. I threw my tunic over Magg ie and jumped to my feet in just a loincloth. As soon as I saw Simon I felt the heat rise in my face.You treacherous bastard I was too angry to hit him. I just stood there screaming at him. You cowardIt wasnt him, screamed Andrew in my ear.It wasnt me, said Simon. I tried to fight the guards when they came to get Joshua. Peter and I both did.Judas was your friend. You and your Zealot bullshitHe was your friend too.Andrew pushed me away. Enough It wasnt Simon. I saw him face two guards with spears. Leave him be. We dont have time for your tantrum, Biff. Joshua is being flogged at the high priests palace.Wheres Joseph? Maggie said. Shed dressed while I had been railing at Simon.Hes gone on to the praetorium that Pilate set up at the Antonia Palace by the Temple.What the hells he doing there if Joshua is being beaten at the palace in this end of the city?Thats where theyll take Joshua next. He was convicted of blasphemy, Biff. They want a death sentence. Pontius Pilate is the ruling au thority in Judea. Joseph knows him, hes going to ask for Joshuas release.What do we do? What do we do? I was starting to get hysterical. Since I could remember, my friendship with Joshua had been my anchor, my reason for being, my life now it, he, was running toward destruction like a storm-driven ship to a reef, and I couldnt think of a thing to do but panic. What do we do? What do we do? I panted, the breath refusing to fill my lungs. Maggie grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me.You have a plan, remember. She tugged on the amulet around my neck.Right, right, I said, taking a deep breath. Right. The plan. I grabbed my tunic and slipped it over my head. Maggie helped me wrap the sash.Im sorry, Simon, I said.He forgave me with the wave of a hand. What do we do?If theyre taking Joshua to the praetorium, thats where we go. If Pilate releases him then well need to get him out of there. Theres no telling what Josh will do to get them to kill him.We were waiting along with a huge crowd outside the Antonia Palace when the Temple guards brought Joshua to the front gates. The high priest, Caiaphas, wearing his blue robes and with a jewel-encrusted chest piece, led the procession. His father, Annas, who had been the high priest previously, followed right behind. A column of guards surrounded Joshua in the middle of the procession. We could just see him amid the guards, and I could tell that someone had put a fresh tunic on him, but there were stripes of blood soaking through the back. He looked as if he was in a trance.There was a great deal of posturing and shouting between the Temple guards, and from somewhere in the procession Jakan came forward and started arguing with the soldiers as well. It was obvious that the Romans were not going to let the Temple guards enter the praetorium, so the transfer of the prisoner was going to take place there at the gate or not at all. I was measuring whether I could sneak through the crowd, snap Jakans neck, and sneak back out w ithout jeopardizing our plan when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked around to see Joseph of Arimathea.At least it wasnt a Roman scourge they lashed him with. He took thirty-nine lashes, but it was just leather, not the lead-tipped strike that the Romans use. That would have killed him.Where were you? What took so long?The prosecution took forever. Jakan went on half the night, taking testimony from witnesses who had obviously never even heard of Joshua, let alone seen any crime.What about the defense? asked Maggie.Well, I put forth a defense of good deeds, but it was so overwhelmed by the accusations that it was lost in the noise. Joshua didnt say a word in his own defense. They asked him if he was the Son of God and he said yes. That confirmed the blasphemy charge. Its all they needed, really.What happens now? Did you talk to Pilate?I did.And?