Jerusalem, Passover, 33 AD
The Father continued, “As Joseph had predicted, the high priests of Israel led Jesus to the estate of Pontius Pilate. By this point in time, Joseph was gone. He had left an hour before, to go prepare for his end of the final plans to save his brother Jesus.”
“The high priests came to Pilate to beg for the execution of Jesus. After a lengthy interview between Pilate and Jesus, the Roman procurator consented to the high priests’ desires. And therefore condemned Jesus to be flogged, and then executed by crucifixion.”
“So Jesus was taken to the courtyard, and flogged 39 times by the Roman soldiers. Beaten half to death by a cat of nine tails type of whip. A most brutal kind of torture. Designed to produce a maximum amount of pain on its intended target.”
The Father looked up at the images onscreen the massive viewer. It showed his son cruelly beaten, as two different soldiers took turns mutilating the back of Jesus with their whips. It was a terrible thing to see for the Father of all things. His own son being tortured by those whom Jesus was trying to save. By the time the Romans were through with him, Jesus was a mass of flesh, bones, and blood. The Father of all things turned his head away at the sight of his beloved son laying in a pool of blood. It had taken him a long time to remove this most gruesome image from his memory, and now here it was, face to face with the Almighty. An emotion that needed to be buried, had once again risen within the Father of all things. The wound had been reopened.
The Father pressed onward, though hesitantly, “Once they nearly beat my son half to death, they affixed a beam across his back, for him to carry to a designated area to be crucified.”
The Ancient of Days paused at this bitter memory. Taking a few moments to regain himself, he continued, “Now there was by now many Jews who were watching the whole proceedings. Hundreds of them to witness the brutal beating of Jesus. And despite what the gospels say, many of them were in mourning. For Jesus had a very large following in Jerusalem. Many thought him to be the chosen Messiah who was to come and liberate his people. And now their hopes and dreams were being smashed by the Roman whip. It was a sorrowful sight for the faithful of Israel.
“There were many tears in Jerusalem on that fateful day.”
The Father paused for effect, and continued, “Now three of the gospels state that Jesus was taken to a place called ‘Golgotha.’ The place of the skull. This is incorrect. One of the gospels states that Jesus was taken to a ‘garden.’ This is the true version. Jesus was being led to the place where he was praying at the night before, Gethsemane. Almost to the exact spot where Jesus was arrested at the previous night.”
“The only Jews who were allowed to follow the procession was his closest family members. For Pilate had forbade anyone else to follow along in these proceedings. There was a very good reason for this, as you shall soon find out.”
“The others who wished to follow the procession of Jesus to his place of execution were met by Pilate’s legionnaires. He wasn’t about to take the chance of anyone catching on to Joseph and his plots. So only five were allowed to follow him. Joseph, Mary Magdalene, Mary Magdalene’s sister Martha, Jesus’ mother Mary, and Lazarus. The rest of his closest followers were scattered all over the city of Jerusalem, fearful for their very own lives. For they thought that they were next in line to be executed, once Jesus’ turn was over.
“About two thirds of the way to Gethsemane, Jesus passed out from exhaustion.”
The Father let out a long, drawn out sigh and whispered, “I’m surprised he made it that far.”
He composed himself and continued, “Now this is the part where Joseph intervened in the plot, and had a substitute carry the beam the rest of the way to the garden. The scriptures call this man Simon the tanner, or Simon of Cyrene.
“Truth be told, Joseph had prepared this man for this mission. Simon knew what his role was to be in this plot. He had listened to his cousin Joseph, and agreed to play the part of Jesus in the crucifixion. It didn’t take much convincing, for Simon knew that by this act, he would inherit for himself, the Kingdom of Heaven.”
A collective gasp escaped the audience. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. All this time they thought that Jesus was the man crucified on the cross at Calvary. For two thousand years the heavenly host believed that Jesus of Nazareth was he that was hung upon the cross. Now they were hearing a different message. A unique message that they would rather disregard. But this message came from the Father of all things. So they had to take notice of it. Yet this teaching was beginning to become hard on the ears of the heavenly host. Their entire understanding of earth history for the last two thousand years had just changed in the blink of an eye.
The Father looked at his captive audience, knowing what was on their minds, and spoke, “When Jesus passed out, the Roman guards ushered in Simon, and removed Jesus, as Pontius Pilate had instructed them. Six Roman soldiers then escorted Jesus to the agreed to place, set up by Joseph of Arimathea. The other six soldiers then escorted Simon to Gethsemane. Where he would be crucified.”
“Now I’m sure many of you are wondering how in the world they could have pulled off this switch, planned beforehand by Pilate and Joseph? I’ll tell you. The switch happened two thirds of the way to Gethsemane. Which was a ways off from the courtyard where Jesus was flogged in front of a large audience. This audience, which was in the hundreds, were not allowed to follow the procession of Jesus and the Roman soldiers on the way to Gethsemane.
“Therefore, the audience that had witnessed the flogging of Jesus couldn’t see the switch that had occurred. And by the time Simon had arrived at Gethsemane, he was over a mile away from the people. Only the closest family members saw the switch from Jesus to Simon. And there were all in the know, thanks to Joseph, who had informed them of this plot beforehand.
“Being a cousin, and a family member of Jesus, Simon had the same color hair and build as Jesus had. Therefore the people had no idea who was really on the cross. From a far distance, Simon easily passed for Jesus of Nazareth.”
The viewer appeared and shown side by side images of Jesus and Simon.
“As you can tell from the viewer, there is a lot of similarity between these two souls. They both even had the same scar on the face. This was done by design.” The father winked at his two archangels as he said these words. Both of them had also been in on the Father’s plot to save the life of Jesus. The scar on the face of Simon had been manufactured by them.
“Simon even had scars on his back from the Roman whip. For they, as instructed, had been beating him every step of the way to Gethsemane.”
“Once on the cross, Simon was given some medicine to dull the pain. After six hours, he was given some poison so that he could pass on from that world to this one. The gospels say that this poison was vinegar. Once again they are incorrect. He was given poison so that he wouldn’t have to endure at least two days of excruciating pain while on the cross.”
“They had to make it believable. They couldn’t kill Simon right away, so unfortunately they allowed him to suffer from 9 AM to 3 PM that fateful Friday. For six hours Simon hung on the cross in agony. A substitute for the son of man.”
The Father continued on, “Now I’m sure many of you are wondering how in the world Joseph was able to convince Simon to take the place of Jesus on the cross? How was he able to convince a man to sacrifice himself for another?”
“The reason is because I sent my servant Gabriel to do a bit of intervention. Once Pilate and Joseph had made their agreement, I sent the archangel Gabriel to Simon for a visit. I had a specific message to give to Simon, and I wanted to make sure that he received it. So I sent Gabriel.
“Gabriel informed Simon that the Lord had need of his services. And then explained to Simon what those needs were. Which is to save the life of Jesus, by sacrificing himself. Simon was very easy to convince, and happily agreed. For as Jesus himself had said, ‘greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for another.”
The Father knew what the host was thinking, and decided to speak up about it, “Now many of you are currently wondering if I had violated Simon’s freewill or not. Because I asked in him to give up his life for another. That I had sent him in the world to die for selfish reasons.”
“The truth is far from that. I will tell you why.”
“All his life Simon had wanted to serve me. As a believer in the God of Abraham, he had prayed earnestly, asking that I use him as an instrument for my services. Begging to serve me, and my heavenly host. Night after night, Simon had wanted to be used as my tool to a greater salvation. His was a sacrificial spirit. So when Gabriel appeared to him, his prayers were answered. He thanked me, and gladly accepted his assignment. The faith in Simon being so strong.”
“Simon saw the beauty in it all. And gladly accepted his lot in life. Which was to save the life of the son of man. In Simon’s mind, he thought there was no greater honor than this.”
“As angels, I know each and every one of you understand the sacrificial spirit of Simon of Cyrene. Or Simon the tanner, as he has been called.”
The angelic host bowed as one. Sacrificing themselves for others had been the lot of each of them in their collective spiritual lives. They understood the reasoning of Simon, and thanked his gift of sacrifice. Yet this news was still very raw to the angelic host. It was taking them a while to absorb all of this newfound knowledge.
The Father continued onward, “Therefore after Simon perished on the cross, Joseph and a few of his servants removed Simon from it, and placed him into his family tomb at Gethsemane. That infamous tomb that people say that Jesus arose from. But never did.”
The angelic host thought in unison, Jesus never rose from the dead? If not him, then whom? If not then, then when? The heavenly host was utterly confused, and begged for understanding from their Father. All these revelations were a bit much for the angelic host to receive. One bombshell after another, lobbied from the Father of all things.
The Father noticed their questions, and smiling to himself, he continued, “Now, I’m sure that many of you are asking what happened to Jesus. Where did the Roman guards take him? Once they made the switch from him to Simon. The truth is that they took him to the estate of Joseph of Arimathea. Once there, Joseph had two doctors assigned to care for him. Dressing his many wounds, and allowing Jesus to recover from his horrific morning of being whipped by two demons, disguised as Roman soldiers. The doctors, being paid quite well by Joseph, swore themselves to secrecy.”
“Jesus would remain there in hiding for the next forty days. With the exception of an occasional appearance to his chosen closest followers. Once the forty days of waiting were over, he bade his goodbyes to his family, and left for the east.”
“Part of the agreement to spare the life of Jesus was that he would have to disappear. Never to be seen near Jerusalem again. Because of the embarrassment that it would cause Pontius Pilate if Jesus were ever seen again in Judea. For the people thought the son of man to be crucified on that fateful Friday.
“Pilate had informed Joseph when they were busy scheming that if Pilate ever saw Jesus alive in the flesh, he would have Jesus entire family put to death. This threat included all family members, including Joseph himself. Not only Jesus’ immediate family, but second and third generation members as well.”
The Father of all things looked out over his expansive audience and said, “That would be hundreds of family members. Therefore this threat was taken very seriously. Jesus would have to forever disappear from Judea.”
“Also, Jesus was to have no contact with any of his friends or family members. If Pontius Pilate was to find one shred of evidence which proved that Jesus had made contact, he would have them all crucified. He stated all these stipulations to Joseph, before they made their agreement.”
The Father looked out at the massive numbers of the host and said, “Does everyone understand the agreement?” he asked. The angelic host all nodded as one. They understood what Jesus would be going through. A life of isolation from anyone he had ever cared for in Israel. No contact with his wife, children, brothers, sisters, or anyone else he had traveled with the last three years.
The Father waited until he was sure each angel had grasped the situation, and continued, “While Jesus was secretly recovering from his many wounds at Joseph’s estate, Joseph had four of his servants remove Simon from his tomb, and then place him at a secret location. On the Mount of Olives, where Simon the tanner secretly remains to this very day.”
The Father smiled, and then looking at his shocked audience, he continued speaking, “So to summarize what truly happened during those fateful days.”
“Number one, the high priests plot to kill Jesus.
“Number two, Judas betrays Jesus, and tells the high priests of Jesus’ location.
“Number three, Jesus begs me to spare his life. I agree, and a plan is hatched.
“Number four, I inform Joseph of my plan to spare the life of Jesus. Joseph approaches Pontius Pilate with a bribe to spare Jesus.
“Number five, Pilate accepts the offer, and a plan is hatched between these two men.
“Number six, Jesus is flogged in front of the masses, so that it appears to be that Jesus will be the man to be crucified.
“Number seven, two thirds of the way to Gethsemane, Simon is substituted for Jesus to be crucified.
“Number eight, Jesus is removed to the estate of Joseph.
“Number nine, Simon is crucified, and then removed to Joseph’s family tomb.
“Number ten, the next day, Simon is then removed from the tomb and buried at a secret location on the Mount of Olives.
“Number eleven, after forty days of healing at the estate of Joseph, Jesus then leaves Israel for the east. To the region of Kashmir.”
“Now let us find out what happens next.”