The officers find Martha so enchanting they offer us the use of a room in a small guest house where we can keep our things. I note - with some blushing - that there’s only one bed. Once our things are stowed, I tell Martha to get her Jewish cloak because we need to walk about in the city. We conceal our faces with the hoods, and climb to the temple. Several hours ago, I again missed seeing Jesus turn over the tables of the money changers, but He should be in there right now teaching the people. If we hurry, we can see Him healing my voice. After all the darkness she’s seen, I want Martha to witness this.
“Are we here to hear Jesus teach?” she asks once we’ve entered the temple and I’ve found a spot where we can watch.
“Just watch. Look, there I am getting closer to Jesus.”
“The two assassins are right behind you; let’s go.”
I take her hand and hold her back.
“Not this time. Just watch.”
When I get to the front, Jesus is turned away from me as He heals a blind woman. I remember how it felt to be so close to Him. I wanted to reach out and touch Him like the woman who had faith she would be healed, if only she could touch His garment.
Jesus turns and faces me. I chuckle when I see the surprised look I had on my face.
“This is just one of many gifts you’ve been given,” Jesus says, then looks up into the crowd, directly at Martha and me. “Return to your people and use your gifts.”
He’s saying it to the ‘present’ me as much as He is the ‘past’ me.
We watch as He touches my neck, and I say: “I will use my gifts for You Lord,” in a clear, perfect voice.
Jesus then looks at the two assassins.
“Go now in peace. Your faith has made you well.”
We watch as I leave the crowd, with the assassins following me.
“Would now be a good time to save you?” Martha asks.
“Keep watching.”
We watch as I stop, not knowing then that they were sent to kill me. As they reach me, their eyes are scanning everywhere, but they walk right past, like they no longer recognize me.
“That’s weird. It’s like they couldn’t see you anymore.”
“Jesus said: ‘Go in peace.’ He meant it.”
“Can we stay and listen to Jesus teach?” Martha asks. “Will you tell me every word?”
“We’ll need to be careful. I followed Jesus and listened to Him teach all week, so we’ll risk being seen.”
“Do you remember seeing us?”
“No.”
“Then I guess we’re going to be successful.”
I consider starting a discussion of time paradoxes, but think better of it.
We listen to Jesus teach, and to the whispers of the Pharisees in the corners of the room. They’re trying to convince anyone who’ll listen that Jesus is a fraud. We leave before they start clearing the temple. I don’t want the Pharisee I encountered last time to see me twice.
As we leave, we’re spotted by Yared, the man whose wrist Martha broke when he tried to steal swords from the caravan.
“Hello, Petrus and Martha.”
He bear-hugs us both.
“Petrus, you carry many cloaks. I saw you in the temple without Martha, so I did not speak with you, just as you instructed.”
“That’s good, Yared. Have you listened to Jesus teach, as I asked?”
“Yes. Look at my wrist. It’s healed as if it was never broken. I’m going to Bethel now to bring my brother to hear Jesus too.”
When he’s gone, Martha and I sit in a quiet spot in the shade of the temple.
“Thank you for bringing me here today,” Martha says. “Seeing you healed and becoming a Christian was such a beautiful thing.”
“I thought you’d like it. It’s a nice counter to seeing all the ugly things inside of me.”
“Do you ever think about your last name?” she asks, unexpectedly changing the subject.
“Not really.”
“Paulson. Son of Paul.”
She practically sings it.
“Paul wrote over half of the New Testament, but who remembers what he was before he gave his heart to Jesus? He was a monster. As a hunter of Christians, he makes you look like a rank amateur.”
“So?”
“So, God has a history of finding the people who most need to be found and using them to spread His Word. After all, who has a greater voice of praise for God than someone who’s been forgiven much?”
“After all I did, I don’t feel forgiven.”
Martha snorts a laugh.
“Do you really think God has to wait for you to feel forgiven before it becomes a reality?” she asks. “You’re forgiven for this, and a multitude of other sins, no matter how you choose to feel about it.”
****
We spend the next three days just like I did the first time: listening to Jesus teach whenever we can, just to drink in His presence. We see both my past self and the assassins often. They stalk the edges of the crowd along with the Pharisees, looking for opportunities. Each time my past self leaves the protection of the crowd, Martha and I follow. Twice we cause minor delays for the assassins, which allow my former self to slip away, but generally I didn’t need much help because the assassins aren’t trying very hard.
“Does it seem like they’re waiting for a specific time?” I ask.
“We’re not even married yet and we’re already thinking the same thoughts. But what time?”
“Well, they know the location of the arena cave, and roughly when I sent each note to the future. Wouldn’t it be easiest to just wait at the cave? I’d be all alone.”
“When do you go back to the cave next?”
“Saturday morning. That’s when you and I are going to thump the assassins and give back the staff. It was the last time I saw them or us.”
“Is that the trip to the cave when you sent the note with the hidden message?”
“Yes, it is.”
“It took a day before anyone noticed, but that hidden message spurred Four into worldwide action. What if their plan is to kill you on the way to the cave and send a different note? They have plenty of writing samples to generate a forgery.”
“I just remembered something,” I say. “When you and I ambushed the assassins in Bethany, I saw you take their knives and money and a couple of leather bundles, but also a piece of paper which we read. I bet it was a forged note.”
“What were the bundles?”
“I couldn’t tell. I guess we’ll find out on Saturday.”
****
We get back to our small room in what Martha has taken to calling “Roman Town,” after the way big cities in the United States are often still separated into different ethnic areas. She’s become a regular customer in the ladies’ bath, and the attendants are happy to see her because I’ve been giving them bronze and silver coins for treating her so well. When Martha leaves, I grab my coin purse and head to the Roman headquarters, where I hope to find Antonius.
The young Roman guard at the door smiles when he sees me. I’ve been coming daily and the entire staff seems to know what’s happening. There’s something about his smile that tells me this is the day I’ve been waiting for.
“Does Antonius have a moment for me?”
“He said if you showed up, to have you enter immediately.”
I give him a broad smile and clap him on the shoulder the way Romans seem to do when they’re happy.
Despite the permission, I give a light knock and enter the “office” respectfully. Antonius is a military man and deserves the deference to his authority. I find him at a desk of sorts, writing a message. Who would’ve thought that even two thousand years ago, officers would spend so much of their time doing paperwork?
“Antonius?”
He raises his hand to command me to wait while he finishes the message and places a wax seal upon it. When he’s done, a grin crosses his face.
“I have them.”
He waves me to his desk.
From a pocket in his tunic, he brings out a small leather pouch and hands it to me. I dump the contents into my hand. There are two plain gold wedding bands, but also something new to this world; the jeweler has set a single large, square diamond from Jocie’s cross onto a ring for me. The setting is crude and heavy compared to modern techniques using laser welders, but it’s beautiful none-the-less.
“These are perfect,” I say.
“Explain the diamond ring again.”
“It’s called an engagement ring. Where Martha comes from, this ring can be used to signify the promise to marry.”
“The Gaul’s have strange customs. Why not just take her as your wife and be done?”
“You can do it that way, but the ring will make her happy. I’m going to present it to her tonight.”
“I’m not sure who it’ll make happier - her or you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man so in love.”
“There’s a special spot where I want to present it to her. It’s a pretty garden outside the city. If we stay too late, is there a way to get back inside after the city gates are closed?”
Antonius shakes his head and sits back down, where he writes and seals a note we can give to the guard at the gate.
“Now, what do I owe the jeweler - and you - for your help?”
I take out my coin purse.
“Since you provided the gold and the jewel, the jeweler asks one silver coin for his labor. To me, you owe only a promise to have a happy life together and to have many fine Roman children.”
“Here is the coin for the jeweler, and here are two gold coins to buy food and wine for your staff. I want them to share my joy with a feast!”
****
When I get back to the room, Martha’s waiting for me. She’s wearing her toga with her midriff showing, and the bath attendants have put her hair up in a twist like I see many of the Roman women wearing. She looks perfect. Rather than lust, I’m thinking about how I’m going to ask her to marry me later.
“What’s going on?” she asks. “That’s a sillier grin than wearing a toga usually earns.”
“I’ve never seen your hair up like that. You look so Roman. I’d like to go for a walk. Will you join me?”
I grab our cloaks and extend my arm.
Although it’s getting late, I convince her to leave the city walls and we walk across the small valley to Gethsemane. The place just has an air of being special and safe.
“Isn’t this place perfect?” I ask.
“It is, but I don’t want to sleep here again. Shouldn’t we get back to the city?”
“We will soon, but I wanted to come to the perfect place to ask the perfect woman to marry me. I know I’ve already asked once, but I have something to make it official.”
I bring the engagement ring from my pocket. There’s just enough of the setting sun filtering through the trees that she can see the sparkling diamond.
“Diamond engagement rings aren’t going to be invented for centuries,” I say. “This one is technically the first in history. So, may I slip it onto your finger?”
She holds out her hand and as I slip it on, she leaps into my arms and just says: “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.”
I stop her for just a moment by kissing her, but she breaks the kiss to return to saying “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,” and even tries to keep on saying it as I kiss her a second time.
“Shall I take that as a ‘yes’?”
“Seventy times seven yeses. So, do you plan to make your bride-to-be sleep in the dirt again?”
“It’s okay. I know the hall monitor and he gave me a pass to stay out after curfew.”
Martha looks over my shoulder in our embrace.
“Cephas. I think the hall monitor sent someone to look for us.”
I turn and look across the small valley. There are many men with torches heading this way.
“Did Antonius arrange for an engagement party?” she asks.
I turn to Martha with a look of horror on my face.
“I was so happy when the ring came and I made plans to come here that I forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
“It’s Thursday night. That’s not a party looking for us. That’s the temple guard coming to the garden to arrest Jesus.”
****
We move quietly through the gardens until we see a torch marking where Jesus and the disciples must be waiting. Judas knows where to go to find Jesus, but we should beat him there by several minutes. We come upon the camp, but from our hiding spot in the shadows all we can see at first is the disciples sleeping. Then a little way off, we hear Jesus say: “If this cup cannot be taken away until I drink it, Your will be done.”
He stands up and walks to the apostles.
“Still sleeping? Still resting? Look, the time has come. I, the Son of Man am betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let’s be going. See, my betrayer is here!”
The apostles are awake, but still groggy with sleep as Judas and the mob arrive.
Judas walks straight to Jesus and kisses Him on the cheek.
Jesus responds by saying: “Judas, how can you betray me, the Son of Man, with a kiss?”
We watch as the temple guards, supported by the mob, surround Jesus even though He makes no move to escape.
Simon Peter draws a sword and tries to free Jesus from their grip by slashing at one of the guards, clipping his ear clean off.
“Put away your sword,” Jesus commands him, followed by: “those who use the sword will be killed by the sword.”
We watch as Jesus reaches out and touches the man’s ear, and heals him.
“Am I a dangerous criminal that you have come armed with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day.”
Jesus is turning as He addresses the crowd to make eye contact with many individuals. When He reaches the end of the arc, His eyes lock with mine.
“But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”
He’s speaking to me, with a smile. Martha gasps next to me. She doesn’t understand Aramaic, but she knows Jesus just spoke to me personally.
The apostles and others who had followed Jesus here are overcome with fear. It spreads among them like a contagion until they all start to skitter into the woods like rabbits. The overwhelming emotions of dread and doom reach us in our hiding place. Martha turns to run, but I hold her hand and we cower together. Then I turn to run, and she holds me back. The temple guards are laughing, like it’s a new sport.
I see Yared, dressed in only a linen nightshirt, cowering like a frightened animal. The mob tries to grab him and they tear off his nightshirt, forcing him to run away into the woods naked, amid much laughter from the crowd.
The last to run is Simon Peter. His face is so twisted with torment, that as he tries to stand firm in the face of the terror, he no longer looks like himself. He looks like he’s half man and half beast. When the terror wins out, he runs straight at Martha and me. He can’t see us in the dark and I trip him. He tumbles a few meters and I leap on him and clamp my hand down over his mouth. He struggles fiercely, his eyes full of terror, and only begins to calm when Martha joins me and soothes him with her voice.
By the time he’s himself again, the mob has moved away.
“I’m Cephas and this is Martha, my betrothed. Rest a moment.”
“What shall I do? They’ve arrested Him.”
“We know. We saw everything.”
“Where are the others?”
“Scattered.”
“Thank you, Cephas and Martha. I must go to Him.”
“We know.”
But you’re going to have a rough night, between now and when the rooster crows.