BETHANY!”
He then stormed out of the courtyard, leaving his disciples confused and disappointed.
Young Miriam of Magdala in particular was smitten.
“But I wanted so much to pray at the temple today. What shall we do now, Nava?”
“Follow Yeshua, I suppose. We will have ample opportunity to visit the temple again in the days to come.”
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Leaving Jerusalem via the Essenians’ Gate, Yeshua and his followers walked east-southeast for two kilometers, to arrive at a village built along a wide central street.
Going to a large, two-storey house, Yeshua and his brother Yaaqov were greeted effusively by two elder women, attracting a whispered question from Miriam to Nancy.
“Who are those two women, Nava?”
“Two sisters named Martha and Miriam who are distant relatives of Yeshua. I met them before. They live here with their brother, Eleazar.”
“What is Yeshua going to do? There are way too many of us to fit into that house. Besides, trying to feed the lot of us would quickly ruin about anybody.”
“Well, I guess that Yeshua and his closest male disciples will stay in the house, while the others will have to camp in huts. I do have a small tent. You are welcomed to share it with me if you want.”
“Nava, you are a real friend. I accept. Uh, what about food? I have some money but it won’t last that long.”
“I will do like I always did, Miriam: I will sing and play music to earn money, which I will use to buy food. I could also dance to accompany my music.”
“Isn’t that the way of sinners, Nava? Yeshua admonished me often enough for dancing in front of strangers in the past.”
“Not if I am clothed modestly and perform for honorable families. Besides, who would covet an old hag like me?”
Miriam looked critically at her tall friend. Despite the pockets under Nava’s eyes, her wrinkles and her gray hair, she still moved with the agility and speed of a young woman.
Miriam had also seen Nava naked at the baths: her body was still that of a young, very fit woman, with breasts still firm and shapely.
“Many young women would envy your body, Nava. How old are you supposed to be?”
“I am 52.”
Miriam laughed loudly at that.
“Nava, you will never convince me of that. For one thing, those big breasts of yours are still round and firm, instead of being flat like those of other old women. Don’t deny it: I have seen you at the baths. What is your secret for staying young like this?”
Nancy thought furiously for an answer. Young Miriam was no fool, far from it, and there was only so much she could do to alter her body in order to appear older.
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“God must have graced me, Miriam. Come, let’s pitch our tent before the best spots are taken.”
The next two days went by quickly for Nava and Miriam, with Nava having no trouble finding customers for her performances amongst the numerous Jewish pilgrims filling Jerusalem for the incoming feast of Sukkoth. Many of those pilgrims were from outside Palestine and quite a few were very wealthy and ready to pay for entertainment.
One such rich pilgrim was a wine merchant from Cyprus named Yosef who happened to have met Yeshua seven years earlier. Miriam was delighted to learn about this and ended up talking at length with Yosef while Nava kept playing and singing. Both women returned late that day to Bethany, to find Yeshua and his closest male disciples apparently plotting some action in Jerusalem in the coming days. When she tried to inquire about what they were planning, the male disciples told Miriam that it was no woman’s business. Fuming, Miriam returned to Nava’s tent to rant and rave about the men’s stupid superiority complex over women. Nava grinned while listening to her complaints.
“Miriam, I have been clashing with men over that subject all of my life. What I have learned from that is that men will never learn to appreciate us for our true value.
So, just let them go and stumble around while we pick up the pieces behind them. This said, how would you like to go pray at the temple in two days, on Sukkoth? Yaakov, son of Halphayah, is willing to escort us and vouch for us at the temple’s entrance.”
“That would be marvelous. Thanks, Nava!”
“The pleasure is mine, Miriam.” Replied Nancy. What she did not tell her was that there was a very specific reason for her to want to be in the temple that day. Her mission was now approaching its climax.
10:47 (Jerusalem Time)
Thursday, September 18, 31 C.E.
(15th of Tishri, Sukkoth day, year 3791 of the Hebrew calendar)
Outer courtyard, Great Temple of Jerusalem
Immediately after having given his offering to the priests at the sacrificial altar and having performed a few prayers, Yaakov, a young man with gentle manners, excused himself with Nava and Miriam and left the inner courtyard. Miriam was a bit 431
intrigued by his haste but followed Nancy out of the women’s courtyard of the temple.
They then walked slowly around the outer courtyard, staying near the Holy of Holies and watching the pilgrims come and go. Miriam got suddenly excited when she spotted Yeshua, surrounded by male disciples, as he was making his way towards the area occupied by the vendors in the temple. She would have gone after him if Nancy had not firmly held her arm, attracting a protest from Miriam.
“What are you doing, Nava? Let me go! Yeshua is over there.”
“I know, Miriam, but you don’t want to be close to his group right now. Just watch from a distance.”
Confused and still a bit upset at Nava, Miriam nonetheless stayed with her and watched Yeshua and his group as they mingled with the vendors. Then, on a shout from Yeshua, his male disciples and over a hundred other men attacked the vendors, knocking down their tables, thrashing their boots and creating a stampede amongst the animals on sale.
Some vendors tried to resist but were quickly overwhelmed and chased away. The temple’s police, completely taken by surprise, was too slow to react and Yeshua and his followers were all out of the temple before they could be caught. Miriam, her eyes sparkling with pride for her husband, was now all excited.
“Did you see what Yeshua did, Nava? He taught a lesson to those arrogant temple priests who would turn the sacred temple into a vulgar market.”
Nancy’s hand then came firmly on her mouth.
“Quiet, Miriam! Do you want the temple’s police to arrest us for complicity?
Yeshua may effectively have humiliated the High Priest and his greedy associates but he also just made himself a mortal enemy. Look over there, at that window.”
Miriam looked at the window pointed at discreetly by Nancy and saw a man dressed in a rich robe and wearing a huge turban standing at the window, apparently angry.
“Caiaphas, the High Priest. What do we do now?”
“We get the hell out of here before the police starts asking questions.”
As they were making their way towards the exit, they saw four Levite priests drag away the body of an obviously dead vendor. Miriam watched them for a moment, horror on her face.
“Yeshua could not have killed that man.”
“No, and neither any of his true disciples. It was the work of one of the thugs who have been following him while hoping for a chance to create mayhem. The High 432
Priest can now pin murder on top of the accusations of sedition, vandalism and profanation to be put on Yeshua’s shoulders. Come, let’s go back to Bethany.”
Arriving an hour later at the house of Martha and Miriam, they found a jubilant Yeshua and his disciples celebrating their actions at the temple. Miriam of Magdala went straight to Yeshua and embraced him tightly while looking up in his eyes.
“Yeshua, what you did was magnificent but it was also dangerous. The High Priest will do everything now to get rid of you. You should not stay here.”
Smiling gently to her, Yeshua grabbed her shoulders and made her step back.
“Do not worry, Miriam: the people of Jerusalem are with me on this. Caiaphas’
decision to put vendors in the temple’s courtyard is despised by nearly everybody, including the Sanhedrin.”
“Maybe, but he is very jealous of his powers and privileges. He will not forget you.”
“We will see, Miriam. For the moment, let’s rejoice at our success.”
Only half convinced, Miriam returned to Nancy, who had been watching from a distance.
“I fear that you are right, Nava. Caiaphas has a number of ways to get rid of Yeshua, including enlisting the help of the Romans. What should we do now?”
“Wait and hope that cooler heads will prevail. Stay with Yeshua while I help poor Martha feed all these people.”
It took only a few days for the initial euphoria to evaporate and to be replaced by the grim acknowledgement that Jerusalem was now too dangerous for Yeshua and his nearest disciples to go into the city. Apart of the temple’s police, bands of young Levite thugs roamed the streets, ready to grab and stone Yeshua if he dared show up. Some of those thugs also went outside the city, looking actively for Yeshua and his disciples.
Some of the disciples, intimidated and scared, left to return to Galilee, while others made themselves discreet and moved away from Bethany. Not Miriam of Magdala, though, who was as faithful to Yeshua as ever. She spent more and more nights alone with him, comforting him and keeping him company in this time of need. On his part, while outwardly still confident, Yeshua realized how vulnerable he was now while staying near Jerusalem. His practice of holy feasts with his disciples continued but became a somber, more discreet affair. The one thing he indulged into was to go occasionally to the nearby Mount of Olives, where the priests of the Sanhedrin and pilgrims hostile to 433
Caiaphas’ policies gathered at a place called ‘the Chanute’ to debate the actions of the High Priest and what to do about them. There, Yeshua delighted into entering the debate, arguing points of religious law and reveling in controversy. Those debates invariably attracted crowds of listeners, along with the attention of the agents of the High Priest.
On the urgings of many, including Miriam of Magdala, Yeshua started traveling around instead of staying all the time in Bethany, where he was becoming an easy target for his enemies. He used those travels to preach to Judeans living in small villages, practicing his custom of holy feasts and healing the sick. The months went by and winter set in as he roamed the hills around Jerusalem, spreading his gospel and still participating from time to time in the debates at the Chanute, on the Mount of Olives. In the meantime, Miriam of Magdala stayed with Nancy in Bethany, helping to run the house of the two sisters and of their brother Eleazar. With most of the disciples now dispersed, Miriam and Nancy had been given a room on the upper floor of the big house, where they could spend the winter more comfortably than in Nancy’s small tent. Nancy, occasionally accompanied by Miriam, still went out nearly daily to Jerusalem to sing and play for wealthy residents while Miriam discreetly preached Yeshua’s teachings to the women of Jerusalem. The money earned by Nava in turn helped support the still heavy expenses incurred by Martha and Miriam in running their household. In this, Nancy was careful not to become too notorious: the last thing she wanted was to be mentioned by name in some of the future gospels. She knew that she would be helped in this by the tendency of Yeshua’s male disciples to dismiss the women around him as mere followers and to refuse to acknowledge them as true disciples. If anything, the closeness of Miriam of Magdala to Yeshua and the intimate times they spent together, while normal for a married couple, grated on many of the male disciples and also helped deflect the spotlight away from Nancy, who was too happy to let things go as they were.
The sudden death of Eleazar, the elderly brother of Martha and Miriam of Bethany, shook a number of events into motion. Yeshua was away at the time, something that embittered Martha and Miriam to no small degree as they grieved for their brother. Nancy, having witnessed the illness and quick death of Eleazar and realizing how important historically that event would be, became even more discreet.
From what she knew of Yeshua by now, she doubted that he had the power of 434
resurrecting Eleazar, as the Bible would claim later. Having secretly checked Eleazar’s body, she also knew that he was truly dead and not merely in a death-like coma. Unless Nancy had totally misjudged Yeshua, that left only a divine or supernatural intervention as a way to resurrect the old man.
Yeshua showed up in Bethany four days after Eleazar’s death, as numerous mourners were still in the small village, gathered near the cave that contained the body of the old man. Nancy watched carefully as Yeshua was told of his friend’s death and wept in grief before going to the tomb. Martha and Miriam, after initially refusing to greet back Yeshua out of grief and bitterness, met him in front of the cave and exchanged hugs with him. Yeshua, still crying, then ordered a group of men to roll away the stone that covered the entrance of the cave. They did so after some hesitation and over the objections of Martha. Once the cave was opened, Yeshua shouted out loud.
“ELEAZAR, COME ON OUTSIDE!”
At first, nothing happened. Then noises came from inside the tomb, noises of someone or something moving. Gasps followed by a deathly silence greeted the appearance of Eleazar, wrapped in his white burial sheet. The old man staggered out of the cave and into the sunlight, his face pale, stopping finally a few paces in front of Yeshua. Nancy, having recorded the whole thing via the micro-cameras hidden in her headband, held her breath: this had all the makings of a true miracle. As far as she knew, only The One could accomplish this. She slowly walked away, stunned, as Martha and Miriam ran to their brother and hugged and kissed him.
Yeshua left Bethany again the next day, conscious that his spectacular miracle would without doubt attract the attraction of the authorities on to Bethany. Miriam of Magdala, as shaken as anyone by Eleazar’s resurrection, did however spend the night with Yeshua before he left. She was in tears after his departure in the early morning and went to Nancy for comfort.
“Nava, I have a bad feeling about all this. I fear that Yeshua has doomed himself by doing this resurrection. Some people are starting to call him a messiah and that is bound to provoke further the High Priest and maybe the Romans too.”
“You are too right about that, Miriam. However, there is little we can do now but let things run. You will have to be brave.”
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Miriam then started crying again, consoled as best she could by an equally emotional Nancy.
“I don’t want to be brave. I just want Yeshua to be safe.”
“I…I want that too but he is now in the hands of God, Miriam.”
Three weeks later, young Miriam came to Nancy hesitantly and led her to an isolated corner of the house before speaking in a low voice.
“Nava, I need your advice on something.”
“Sure, anything you want. What is it?”
“I…I think that I’m pregnant. I am normally very regular and my periods were due over a week ago. They never came.”
Nancy’s mind went into high gear: Miriam had been seeing only one man since her marriage. The baby she was going to bear could kick a furious religious storm in the future if its existence came to light. She gently held Miriam by the shoulders and spoke softly in a near whisper.
“Miriam, you must not tell anyone about this: it could make you and your coming child targets of Yeshua’s enemies. The Romans would not hesitate at killing you if it meant snuffing out any possible focus for the followers of what they see as a troublemaker. Please, promise me.”
“I promise.” Said Miriam in a subdued voice. “What will I do if… if something happens to Yeshua?”
Nancy then hugged Miriam and kissed her on the head.
“Then I will protect you and take care of you. You have my solemn word on this.”
Weeks later, in late February of 32 C.E., they saw a number of Yeshua’s followers and disciples starting to leave, many looking angry. Intrigued and worried, Miriam finally went to one disciple who was getting ready to leave Martha’s house and confronted him.
“Yudah, what is going on? Why are you and others leaving like this?”
The man’s violent reaction surprised and scared her. Turning quickly to face her, he nearly shouted in her face while jabbing a finger hard in her chest.
“Because Yeshua is committing a sacrilege, that’s why! Since he’s your husband, why don’t you go to him and try to straighten him out?”
“Yeshua, committing sacrilege? But he would never do that.”
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“Oh yeah? He offers bread and wine at meals while calling them his flesh and blood and you don’t call that a sacrilege?”
Miriam was stunned speechless for a moment. In the Hebrew religion, blood was the most sacred substance on Earth. The idea of drinking blood or eating human flesh would be totally abhorrent to any Jew.
“But…it must have been a figure of speech. Yeshua would never ask anyone to drink real blood.”
“Then go put some sense in him. I am not going to be associated with this new, sacrilegious rite of his.”
Yudah then shouldered his bag and stormed out of the house, leaving Miriam hurt and confused. She knew that Yeshua simply could not ask people to drink blood and must have spoken another of his parables, which were often hard to understand fully. She however also knew enough to realize that this latest turn of event would turn many against Yeshua and would provide the perfect pretext to the High Priest to push the Sanhedrin into approving the arrest of her husband. Miriam also realized that the High Priest would most likely make his move before the feast of Passover. She had to find Yeshua and talk to him.
19:16 (Jerusalem Time)
Wednesday, March 3, 32 C.E.
(3rd of Adar II, year 3791 of the Hebrew calendar)
House of Shimon, Bethany
Yeshua had stopped with a few of his disciples at the house of a man he had earlier cured from leprosies and was conducting one of his ritual feasts. The house of Shimon was only a few minutes away by foot from Martha’s house but he did not dare go to it, as spies of the High Priest could be watching it. They were in the middle of the meal when a young woman entered the house and went directly to Yeshua. He and his disciples fell quiet, as they knew very well the woman: it was Miriam of Magdala, tears in her eyes and a small alabaster jar in her hands. Without a word, she first kissed Yeshua on the forehead, then smashed the alabaster jar and poured its content, an expensive perfumed ointment, on his head and massaged it into his hair. This alarmed quite a few disciples, who got on their feet.
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“She is designating you as the messiah by anointing you, Master. She is going to attract bad attention to you.”
“She wasted a fortune in perfumed ointment at the same time. That money could have been better used to take care of the poor.”
Yeshua raised a hand to silence his disciples, then caressed Miriam’s lips.
“Leave her! Why are you making problems for her? She has done a fine deed with me. Because you always have the poor with yourselves, and whenever you want, you can always do them good, but me you do not always have. She acted with what she had; she undertook to myrrh my body for burial. Amen I say to you, wherever the message is announced in the whole World, what she did will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
Yeshua then spoke softly to Miriam, who was now kneeling in front of him.
“I understand your distress, my sweet Miriam. I may be soon gone but I want you to have something to help remember me.”
Taking off the gold chain and Star of David pennant he was wearing around his neck, he then put it around her neck and kissed her forehead, whispering to her at the same time.
“May this gift from Nava bring protection to you and the small life growing inside you. I will never forget you, Miriam.”
Miriam touched the chain around her neck and, crying silently, got up and left the house.
17:21 (Jerusalem time)
Sunday, April 4, 32 C.E.
(6th of Nissan, year 3791 of the Hebrew calendar)
Martha’s house, Bethany
Nancy and Miriam of Magdala were helping Martha and Miriam washing pots and utensils when Eleazar came in the kitchen, excited.
“Martha, Miriam, your cousin Miriam of Nazareth is here.”
The two sisters rushed out of the kitchen to greet their cousin, who was waiting in the lounge. Nancy and Miriam of Magdala followed them discreetly, staying a few paces behind while the three women and Eleazar exchanged hugs. It was Miriam of Nazareth who actually came to Nancy after noticing her tall silhouette.
“Nava, is that you?”
“It is, Miriam. It is good to see you, old friend.”
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“And it is good to see you too, Nava. My god, it has been many months since we last met.”
“Two years, actually.” Said Nancy. Miriam was now close to 46 and she looked her age, but she was still seemingly healthy. “I suppose that you came to see Yeshua?”
“Yes, I did. Where could I find him?”
“He is in Jerusalem, waiting for Passover at a friend’s house.”
“Could you lead me to him, my friend, please? I am afraid that his fame could attract danger to him.”
“You may be right, Miriam, and I will lead you to him, but in the morning. You need to rest after your long trip from Nazareth.”
“Nava is right, Miriam. Stay in our house and have supper with us.” Said Eleazar. After a short hesitation, Miriam agreed to stay until tomorrow, bringing joy to her cousins. She was offered a place on a comfortable cushion and served a cup of wine by Eleazar, while Martha hurried back in the kitchen with Nancy to prepare supper.
Yeshua’s mother then smiled gently at Miriam of Magdala, who was still standing timidly a few paces away.
“I have missed you as well, young Miriam. Come sit besides me, so that we could talk.”
The young Miriam sat near the old Miriam, unsure what to do or say. She decided however against telling about her pregnancy, as Nava had urged.
“What would you like to talk about, Miriam?”
“You could tell me how your life with Yeshua is going. Does he still loves you as much as before?’’
“Yes,” said quietly young Miriam, “He still loves me a lot. I just fear that his preaching may get him killed soon. I wish that I could drag him away from Jerusalem, but he would never agree to that.”
“He certainly can be hard-headed when he wants to.” Agreed glumly old Miriam.
“Tell me about his life lately.”
They talked together for nearly an hour, until supper was served. The conversation then became more general, with Martha, Miriam, Eleazar and Nava now participating. They ate, drank and spoke until late in the evening, when they broke up to go to sleep.
Nancy and Miriam of Nazareth left early in the morning for Jerusalem, accompanied by Miriam of Magdala, who had pestered Nancy into coming along.
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Eleazar had at first insisted in escorting them, finding inappropriate that three women would travel alone, even on such a short journey. Nancy’s answer had been to swing and twist her heavy walking staff in a short fighting demonstration that had left the old man speechless.
“Eleazar, I was raised as a warrior and fought many battles. I killed over a hundred armed men in combat before I gave up war as a way of life. I may be old but I still can defend myself. Thank you for your concern, though.”
Miriam of Magdala was still quietly chuckling when they departed Bethany.
“Nava, you are really something, you know. I still don’t believe that you are 52
years old, though.”
“It is all a question of good nutrition and careful exercising, my young friend. I still spend an hour a day practicing and working out.”
“But I never saw you do those exercises!”
“That’s because I go out in the wilderness to do them. You think that male disciples like Shimon ‘The Rock’ or his brother Andreas would approve if they would have seen me exercise?”
“Definitely
not!”
The trio arrived forty minutes later at the Sion’s Gate of Jerusalem, guarded by armed auxiliaries of the Roman Army. Those auxiliaries were a ragtag mixture of Jews, Syrians, Persians and Greeks that, while still well trained, were more lightly armed than the standard Roman legionary. An elderly Roman centurion was actually supervising the changing of the guards at the gate when Nancy and the two Miriam showed up, mixed in a sparse crowd of merchants and pilgrims. Nancy suddenly threw the hood of her cape further over her head and turned her head after having looked at the centurion.
Miriam of Magdala saw that and whispered to her as they were approaching the soldiers.
“What is it, Nava?”
“That centurion: I met him years ago and this is not a good time for him to recognize me. Just keep walking normally and don’t speak.”
Unfortunately for Nancy, her unusual height gave her away. The old centurion, glancing at the passing crowd, noticed the female silhouette sticking out by a full head over everybody else and stared at it, disbelief in his eyes.