Again, the cylinder lands in a clump of trees beside a road.
Walt checks the indicator.
"Jerusalem: 33 A.D.?"
"That’s what it says."
"Ah!” sighs Walt, remembering. "The time of the prophet, Jesus."
"I thought we were through with hearing that name."
"I guess not. Maybe it's fate or something. Anyway, it’ll give us a chance to sharpen up our Hebrew."
"That’s right," observes Kerry, “they still do speak that language in this time, don’t they?"
“As well as Aramaic and Greek.”
"We won’t have to worry about looking out of place. We can just cover ourselves with the bed-sheets and towels and we’ll fit right in."
"You mean you plan to spend time looking around here too?"
"Well, we do have to get the water and alcohol don’t we?"
"The alcohol, maybe. I almost forgot about that. But by the sound of those falls, we won’t have to worry about the water,” observes Daniel referring to the faint sound of falling water in the distance.
"You’ve sure got good ears."
"Anyway, before we do anything let’s check the damage, shall we?" insists Daniel.
They find the damage to be quite extensive. Many tiles need to be replaced and the directional mechanism needs to be adjusted. Daniel volunteers. "Well, why don’t you two go have a look around and try to find some spirits. I’ll stay here and do what I can to fix the ship."
Walt and Kerry walk boldly out of the clump of trees and onto the road, clad in sheets, with towels around their heads. "I feel a little silly in this get-up. Do you really think we’ll fit in?"
"Well, it’s not perfect, but close enough. Nobody'll notice any difference, which they sure would if we’d kept those modern clothes on."
They walk along the dusty road, admiring the rolling hillside, dotted with quaint houses and huge, spreading trees. Suddenly, they notice, on one side, a crowd of people a short distance ahead.
"I wonder what that’s all about."
"Well, let’s go and see!"
And so our friends find themselves in the midst of a crowd, listening to a man talking. "I do not come to judge the world,” the man is saying, "but to save the world.” His words seem to have a kind of power.
"Could it be him?"
"Probably. One way to find out." Walt nudges the man next to him in the crowd and asks, "Who is that man who’s speaking?"
"Why, Jesus of Nazareth. Everybody knows about him!"
"And those men there next to him--who are they?"
"Why, his disciples, of course. Where have you been?"
As they listen, they are impressed by the love and power in his words. "He’s quite a speaker."
"Sure is. But listen to what he’s saying now."
"I do not speak on my own,” Jesus was saying, "but the Father who sent me has commanded me what to say."
"Pretty impressive, eh?"
"Nah! Prophets always say things like that. Well, I guess we’d better get back and give Daniel a hand at fixing the ship."
"Yeah, we’ve seen enough. Let’s go."
************
Back at the ship, they try to share their enthusiasm with Daniel, who is tired from working on the ship and, thus, not very interested. "Did you find the alcohol?" he asks, expectantly.
"Oh, my goodness! We forgot all about it."
"What?! That fellow must be some kind of spell-binder! Well, it doesn’t really matter. We’ll still be here for a while, by the looks of it. I tried to adjust the directional mechanism, but there seems to be something broken. I’ll need your help, Kerry, to fix it. I also replaced several of the tiles, but not all of them. Walt, why don’t you keep working on the tiles, while Kerry and I try to fix the directional mechanism."
It is impossible for Walt to replace all the tiles before darkness sets in. "Have to finish this tomorrow."
"And guess what? We discovered a problem in the fuel system also. Looks like we’re going to be here for a while."
After supper, they try to contact home base, but the communication is so garbled that they cannot make out anything.
************
The next day finds our friends working hard to fix the trouble. Walt helps for a while on the interior trouble and then goes outside to finish replacing the tiles. Suddenly, he hears the sound of many voices coming from the street. He enters the ship to tell the others: "Hey, guys, it seems like there’s some excitement out there. Why don’t we take a break and go have a look."
"We have been working pretty hard at this,” agrees Kerry.
"What? Are you guys going to leave me again?"
"Well, you could come along. This work will wait."
"Ah, I guess I might as well. No use being the only one of us who hasn’t seen 33 A.D."
************
They can barely see, at the front of the crowd, a man bound and being led along by the mob. As they push their way through the crowd to get a better view, Walt asks someone, "Who are they taking?"
"Why Jesus of Nazareth. Don’t you know?"
"But he seemed to be so popular the other day."
"That was then. He’s been arrest on the charge of blasphemy, and we’re taking him to Caiaphas for trial."
"Wow!" whispers Walt to Daniel, “We certainly did come at a historic moment!"
"Yeah, I guess so. Something like seeing the shooting of old Abe Lincoln--Now, there’s an event I wish I could have witnessed."
************
They follow the crowd to the judgment hall of the high priest. Outside, in the courtyard, there is a man, who looks very much like one of the disciples they had seen gathered around Jesus earlier. The man is warming himself by one of the small fires which dot the courtyard. A servant girl comes up to him and asks: "Aren’t you one of his followers? I’m sure I’ve seen you with him."
The man replies with an oath "I tell you, I don’t know the man!" His words are emphasized by the crowing of the cock.
Inside, they witness the mockery of a trial. They hear the many false witnesses testify against Jesus. They hear the high priest ask Jesus whether he is the Son of God, and they listen to his calm and powerful reply "You shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven." They see the high priest rend his clothes and declare that Jesus has blasphemed and is worthy of death. And they watch as the people begin to spit on him and slap him in the face. They watch as he takes it all in silence.
"So this is the Jesus everyone has been talking about?!"
"Yeah, isn’t it great? Just like seeing one of those Biblical movies on TV."
"Only, this is the real thing! Look at the blood coming to his cheeks from the hits."
“And, he just stands there and takes it.”
"Well, I’ve had enough of this! Let’s go! We can get a head start on the crowd."
Once outside, they again notice the man warming himself by the fire. Kerry nudges one of the bystanders. "Say, isn’t he one of Jesus' disciples?"
"Sure, he is! Why, his speech even gives him away!" The bystander then turns and confronts the man. "Yes, you! You’re one of ‘em for sure! Even your speech says so!"
At this, the man begins to cruse and swear, saying, "I tell You, I do not know the man!" And the cock crows.
************
They return to the ship to retire for the night, but Walt and Kerry can’t help talking about the day’s events.
"Really interesting eh? I mean the way he just stood there and took all that punishment."
"According to history, this was only the beginning of his suffering."
"Say, how about that guy in the courtyard? I’m sure he’s one of the disciples we saw yesterday, but he sure didn’t want to admit it."
"Maybe he didn’t feel his master was worth defending."
"Hey, guys!" interrupts Daniel. "Are we going to stay up all night talking about this, or are we going to get some sleep so that tomorrow we can fix this ship and get out of here?"
"You mean we’re going to miss the crucifixion?"
"Why not? Haven’t we seen enough suffering today?"
"But, It’s one of history's great events, and since we’re here, we might as well see it. . We’ve seen this much of this time. Why not see the big event?"
"You have a point, there, Walt. And, after all, how bad can it be? We can go and watch for a few minutes, anyway, and if it’s too bad we can leave.”
“Well, all right. And no matter how it is, immediately afterward we come right back here and get to work--O.K.?"
************
And so, the next day finds our friends on the road to Calvary.
"There--that’s him up there in front of the crowd."
"Wow! That cross he’s carrying must really be heavy!"
They see when he stumbles and falls under the weight of the Cross. Kerry, touched, starts to offer to carry the cross for him, but another man, also black, steps in front of Kerry and takes the cross upon his shoulders. "Simon of Cyrene," says Walt, remembering his Bible history.
With the help of a little pushing, our friends manage to maintain a place fairly near the front of the crowd--near enough to see everything. They witness the cruel pounding of the nails into the hands and feet, and hear the pain-filled but compassionate words: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." They see the cross lifted and placed into the ground with a thud. Their ears are filled with the jeering taunts of the crowd, as they watch the bloody mangled frame hang suspended between earth and heaven.
“It's really terrible, the way they executed people in this time, isn't it?"
"Sure is! I don't know about you, but I've had enough! Why don't we go and finish repairing the ship?"
But just as they are turning to leave, the sun turns black and they witness the darkness which envelopes the world at mid-day. "Might as well stay, it’s too dark to go."
They sit huddled together, waiting for the darkness to pass. In the darkness, they hear him cry out in desperation, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
In time, the darkness passes, and they hear him cry out in his misery: "I thirst!" They sit still spellbound, as the solder puts a sponge of sour wine on a stick and lifts it to the parched lips. As they again rise to leave, they hear his strained but decisive word "It is finished.” They turn and watch him breathe his last, and see the solder quickly pierce his side, causing blood and water to flow out.
"What a pity such a good man had to die! I mean, especially in that way, and so young."
************
Back at the ship, they talk while they work:
"Well, we witnessed the death of an important historical figure."
"He was a great prophet and teacher. His teachings left quite an impact on society."
"Do you know, I read somewhere that his followers actually claimed he rose from the dead."
"They probably stole his body in order to make their story more believable by pointing people to his empty tomb."
************
The problem with the fuel system takes longer to fix than they anticipate, and, before they realize it, two days have passed. Again, Walt is outside, checking the tiles, when he hears voices. Two men and a woman are talking:
"Are you sure it was him--I mean you were nervous and--"
"I know the Master when I see him. And it wasn’t only his appearance but also his voice and expression when he said to me 'Mary!' Who else could have known my name? And who else could have spoken it with such feeling and insight? It was as if he was looking right into my very soul."
By now, Walt has managed to peer out through the trees. He notices that one of the men is the same one who had denied Jesus earlier in the courtyard. It is he whom the other man addresses: "Well Peter, why don’t we go to the tomb and see for ourselves?"
Walt reports this conversation to the other two, who are working hard inside the capsule. "Didn’t seem to me like the words of people hatching a plot to deceive. It really seemed as if those men didn’t know what to believe. And the woman sounded so sincere--as if she’d really seen him."
"Probably, they were rehearsing their lines for the big deception. Now, let’s get on with the work, shall we?!"
************
Fortunately, while they are working, Kerry remembers about the alcohol. "Hey, guys! We’ve been forgetting that we still have to look for the alcohol."
"Yeah, we’ve been so wrapped up in what’s happening out there, plus trying to fix this stupid ship--"
Walt volunteers. "Why don’t I go and try to find some, while you two keep on working?"
"Well O.K.," agrees Daniel "but try not to get sidetracked by anything eh?"
"Say, do you think they have anything stronger than wine in this time?" ponders Kerry.
"Seems like I remember the Prophets mentioning strong drink," answers Daniel.
Kerry disconnects the microphone again and hands it to Walt. "Better carry this under your tunic in case. We never know."
"Be careful, Walt."
************
Walt walks out onto the dusty road and asks the first passerby he sees where he might buy a container of spirits. The man smiles and points to a small side-road with a sign reading: "Emmaus".
"Just a short walk down that road."
Walt thanks the man and starts walking down the narrow road, which is shaded with trees on either side. He notices that a short distance ahead of him, there are two men, walking and talking as they walk. He can barely make out the conversation, but he realizes that they seem to be talking about Jesus and his recent death. He tries to get closer in order to hear better without being detected. But, suddenly, a third man appears, as if by magic, and joins the two in their conversation. Perhaps he came from out of the trees. Perhaps he had taken a shortcut. But it was amazing how he emerged so close to the other two. This third man is dressed all in white and his face seems to have a strange glow about it. As far as Walt can hear, the conversation continues along the same line, with the third man adding bits of information from different parts of the Tanakh concerning the Messiah. Walt edges closer and stretches his neck in order to get a better look at the men. He manages to get enough of a glimpse of the third man to notice that he looks remarkably like the man Jesus, who was crucified on Friday. It couldn’t be, thinks Walt to himself, and yet the resemblance is really striking.
He soon finds the store, buys an animal-skin container of liquor, and carries it back to the ship, where he relates his experience to the others.
"Ah, come on! Next, you’ll be telling us that you saw someone walking on water or through walls or something! Jesus is dead! We saw him die, and that’s that!"
"Alright, maybe it was just another person who looked like him. I guess there are a lot of people who look like each other, even back in this time, but it sure was a close resemblance."
************
While Walt was gone, Kerry has obtained the water from the small stream which Daniel heard earlier, flowing softly over rocks and twigs down a nearby hillside. Finally, everything is ready for take-off.
"O.K. Let’s get out of here shall we!?!"
They measure out the strange smelling liquor, mix the fuel and set the coordinates. Once again, they are air-bound. The capsule Hoovers in mid-air for a few seconds, and, once again, they are traveling in time. But, once again, they are traveling in the wrong direction.
"Hey! What’s happening? We’re moving forward, again."
"Uh-oh! Probably when we fixed the directional mechanism, it changed the temporal, as well as the locational direction."
"Well can’t we try to stop it?"
"Fortunately, this time, I believe we can reverse the temporal direction in-flight, but there’s no telling how far back we’ll go."
"Anyway, it’s worth a try."
"Where are we now?"
"60 A.D. and moving forward."
Kerry goes to the controls and pushes a lever in the directional mechanism. The capsule spins around and the indicator shows that they are once more moving backward in time. However, the capsule, still spinning, suddenly comes to a stop and comes crashing down to the ground.
"What happened?"
"Where are we?"
Kerry checks the indicator. "Oh no!"
"What’s wrong?"
"We’re back in 33 AD, about a month or two later than where we were."
"Oh my goodness! Is this fate or what?”
************
"Looks like we’ve landed in back of a building this time. I hope nobody finds us here--they’d really be startled."
"Say, what's that sound?--seems to be a crowd of people, shouting something."
"Yes," muses Kerry, in unbelief, "and it sounds like Arabic. Open the window!"
Walt opens the window and stands listening in amazement. "Arabic? That’s not Arabic! It’s German!"
"Are you joking?” disagrees Kerry. “I should be able to recognize my native language. They’re praising God in Arabic."
"In German!"
"What seems to be the trouble?" asks Daniel who has been examining the meters and levers in an attempt to determine the cause of their quick landing.
"Come here and listen!" urges Walt. “They’re saying praises to God in perfect German, only Kerry insists it’s Arabic. Come listen and settle this for us."
Daniel goes to the window and listens only to stand back in awe. “It’s not Arabic, and it’s not German. It’s perfect Yiddish. Why, I haven’t heard Yiddish spoken like that since I was a boy."
"What is going on here?"
"I don’t know, but why don’t we go and have a look?"
"Yeah, I guess the mission can wait a little longer. I’m curious as hell about this. You don’t remember reading anything about something like this, do you?"
"My study of Biblical history ended with the death of Jesus," replies Walt. “They told us nothing really important happened after that. His followers claimed he was alive and formed a church, and that was all."
"Well, maybe they were wrong. We’ve obviously landed a few months after his death and there seems to be something big going on. Let’s go and find out what it is."
************
"Wow! Look at all the people! And they’re just standing there, listening."
"Say, that big guy doing the talking--isn't that the one we saw in the courtyard of the high priest?--the one who swore up and down he didn’t know the prophet, Jesus?"
"That’s him alright! But he sure seems different now. Listen to how boldly he speaks. And listen to what he’s saying!"
"Why, he’s telling everybody that God raised up Jesus from the dead, and that Jesus is now at the right hand of God in heaven, and that from there, he is sending this miracle."
"What’s that he called it?--the Holy Spirit?"
Walt nudges Daniel. "So, maybe he is alive! Maybe, it really was him I saw on the road to Emmaus!"
"Shhh! Listen! What’s he saying now?"
"He’s saying that Jesus is both Lord and Messiah. And just look at his face! Now he seems not to be afraid of anything."
"And now, look what’s happening! The people are responding. They’re asking what they should do."
"He's telling them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus."
"Just look at all the people moving toward him." From where they stand, they can get a close glimpse of the people as they walk forward to register their decisions.
"Say, some of them are the same ones who wanted to crucify Jesus, aren’t they?"
"Seems like it. And now they are repenting and asking forgiveness. Do you think their lives will be changed by this experience?"
"Peter’s life has certainly changed."
"Say, do you think that if we walked up there like all those people are doing, we might get a chance to talk to him?"
"Maybe, but--"
"Well, come on, let’s go!"
And so, our friends find themselves face to face with the Apostle, Peter. Strangely enough to them, however, the Apostle seems to want to talk only to Daniel. They soon get used to the situation, however, and relay all conversation through Daniel.
"Weren’t you the man who denied that you even knew Jesus?"
"I’m sorry to say, I was, but now, thank God, I’m not. I’m a changed man since today. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit, just as He promised. He told us to wait until we receive power from on high, and that’s what has happened here today. Now everything is going to be different. Just look at all these people coming to repent of their sins and accept Jesus." He looks Daniel squarely in the eye. "Do you want to repent and accept Jesus?"
Kerry nudges Daniel. "Ask him about our plan."
"Uh--ah, But have you ever thought about what would happen if sin itself could be eliminated--if it would be possible to prevent the first sin and thus keep sin from entering our world?"
Peter shakes his head and looks even more sternly into Daniel’s eyes. "This could never be, my friend--never ever!"
Daniel squirms. "But why not?"
"There has to be sin in the world. If Adam hadn’t sinned, someone else after him would have. You see, we have to have the ability to sin in order to be free moral agents. If we couldn’t sin, neither could we love God with our whole hearts. And, if there were no sin in the world, Jesus would not have had to come and to give his life."
"You mean that when he died on that cross, he was dying for the sins of the world?"
"For the sins of anyone who would believe in Him."
"But everyone won’t believe in him; and even if they would, believing in Jesus doesn’t make you perfect, does it?"
"No, but when we believe on Him, He gives us a new nature. We still have the old sin nature that wants to sin, but the new nature that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, gives us enables us to overcome the sin nature and live holy lives. He gives us both the motivation and the power."
"So, the only way to change the world--"
"--is to, first of all, receive Jesus into your own life, and then to tell others about him with the help of the Holy Spirit Even though everyone won’t believe, there will be enough people who will to make a difference. Jesus called us the salt of the earth. As salt holds back corruption in food, so, we hold back the corruption in the earth. He also called us the light of the world. We are to shine for Him in the darkness of this world. So, you see another illustration of why there must be sin in the world. If there were no darkness, there would be no need of the light, but in the darkness, the light shines all the brighter."
Daniel looks at his two friends. "Perhaps we have been wrong, guys."
"Yeah," agrees Walt, "Perhaps he’s right. The answer to the problem of evil in the world just might be this Jesus. We had this message available in our own time, but we purposely overlooked it."
They walk back to the ship lost for a while in silent thought.
************
"Well, what do you think?"
"Why didn’t anyone tell us this before?"
"It sure makes a lot of sense."
"I wasn’t going to tell you, but I prayed to repent of my sins and receive Jesus into my life."
"Well, I did too. When he was speaking, I felt something pulling inside of me so strongly that I couldn't resist it. I suddenly saw the blackness of my own heart against the background of Jesus' love, and knew I had to do something about it."
"The same thing happened to me. It must be what he called the Holy Spirit."
"I feel really good--really peaceful for the first time in my life."
"Me too!"
"My goodness! We’re all Christians now! How about that?"
"It seems as if our whole journey was pointing toward this, doesn’t it?"
"Yeah, it does, when you think about it. Isn’t it great?”
"It sure is! But what are we going to do? What are we going to tell home base? We can’t continue the mission now."
"We don’t have to. We have a different mission now--to tell people about Jesus."
"I can hardly wait to get back and get started, although, on the other hand, I must admit it seems a bit scary."
"But, as Peter told us, we’ll have the Holy Spirit with us to help us."
"That’s a really comforting thought."
"Don't you think we should get baptized like Peter said?"
"I think we can wait till we get back to our own time for that."
"How fortunate we were to have actually seen His death. It means more to me now than when I was actually watching it."
"Of course, because now we know it’s meaning and purpose."
"We know that He did it for us--for our sins."
”You know, I never thought of myself as much of a sinner, until when Peter was talking. Then, I suddenly realized the sinfulness of many things I'd overlooked before."
"Me too. And I guess the whole idea of us trying to eliminate sin from the world was actually a sin in itself, although we didn’t realize it; because we were trying to play God."
"Say, what do you think home base is going to say about all this? Mark and John--they won't understand. None of them will."
"Not a bit--unless the Lord performs a real miracle. We'll just have to tell them and see what happens. Anyway, we can't contact them from here. We’re too far away, remember? We'll have to go forward at least as far as Camelot and try to call from there."
"Well, we can't do anything until we fix the damage caused by that crash landing. Come on! Let's get busy, shall we?"
************
Again, Walt is fixing the tiles when he hears voices. Recognizing one of them to be Peter's he runs to say "Hello" and "Goodbye" to the apostle.
"Well, if you can come," invites Peter, we are having a believer's meeting tonight at the home of Mark, down the street."
Walt convinces the other two and our friends find themselves in the midst of a meeting of early Christians and feeling quite at home. Although the songs are unknown to them and the structure of the meeting new, they can feel the presence of the same Holy Spirit who brought them to the Savior. And when the communion is given, they feel as if they are experiencing the crucifixion scene over again. Not entirely understanding this, they ask Peter after the service about the communion.
"This is the memorial our Lord left us of His death burial and resurrection. Through this means, his crucifixion is made real to us no matter how far in time we get from it."
"Ah!" says Kerry, in excitement, "It's like a time machine in reverse!"
"Like a what?" asks the puzzled apostle.
"I mean, by means of this memorial, as you call it, the event of the crucifixion, which took place at one point in time, can be made real to peoples of all times. Is that the idea?"
"Yes, it's made real, but only to believers. Faith is the prerequisite. Jesus Christ must first of all be received by an act of repentance and faith. Only then will this memorial have meaning and significance."
************
"Well, guys, ready to go?"
"I guess so; although I never thought I'd be so sorry to leave another time as I am to leave this time."
"I feel the same way. You know, we could just stay here and help Peter and the others."
"It would really be nice. They all seem so friendly, and you can really feel the power of the Holy Spirit here."
"But it seems to me, I’ve read somewhere that the early church went through a lot of persecution for their faith. Are we ready to face that?"
"I always believed that it was better to die for something than to live for nothing."
Daniel raises his hand. "But, fellows! Doesn’t it seem that we could be the most useful to God by communicating our newfound faith to those of our own time?"
"Now that you mention it, that does seem like the best idea."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Everybody ready? Let’s set those controls on forward and head toward home, shall we?"
"O.K., Camelot, here we come!”