Alan W. Harris's Blog, page 2

Ever Wondered What Heaven or Hell Would Be Like?

Greetings to all my friends, fans and supporters!
I am excited to post that the audio version of my newest book, The Other Side of the Veil: a Fictional Journey of the Afterlife is now available on Audible.
This is a Christian fiction story written primarily for adults. It is an exciting story that explores the beauty of Paradise, the horrors of Ghenna, and the amazing love that God has for both the saved and the lost. And now you can listen to this fascinating story in this new audio format. If I’ve stirred your interest then the next step is to go check it out here:
“God has given us good writers to bring us His stories! Let’s let them change our hearts
May God cover each of you with His richest blessings today,
Alan W. Harris

48 – A Broken Rock

(Inspired by John21:15-25)

The day had been long—and wonderful! Rock, Andrew, big James, young John, Thomas the Twin, Philip, and Nathaniel had gone out on Rock and Andrew’s boat and fished all night. By daybreak they were exhausted and frustrated because they had caught no fish…not any! But then Jesus showed up. He had told the disciples to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and they would find fish. As soon as they threw in the nets, one hundred and fifty-three large fish swam right in. It was amazing! They beached the boat where Jesus had been waiting for them with breakfast. The time with the Lord was delightful for all of them—except Rock. He and Jesus had a long talk as they all walked on the shore, and Rock hadn’t been the same since.
After Jesus had left them, they walked back to the boat, loaded the fish, stowed the nets, and sailed home. It was afternoon when they arrived, and everyone was excited to hear about the appearance of Jesus.
It had taken all of them to transfer the fish from the boat into Zebedee’s largest cart, but then off he and his servants went to the market to sell the magnificent catch.
The sun was now setting, and everyone was inside the house celebrating. Young John looked around the courtyard and didn’t see Rock. Walking to the gate and looking out at the lake, the disciple spotted his missing friend sitting in his boat and watching the orange sunset.
“Rock, are you okay?”
“Oh, hey, John,” Rock returned as he looked down and realized John had walked up beside the boat. “I guess I’m alright, but after my talk with the Lord, I don’t think I will ever look at things the way I used to.”
“I’ve been wondering what He said to you,” John asked, “but you and Jesus were ahead of us as we walked along the shore, and I couldn’t hear His words.”
“I had been dreading that conversation with Him since the resurrection,” Rock began. “I failed Him so miserably at the trial at Caiaphas’s house…three times I denied Him. You know! You were there!
“When He came up to me and wanted to talk, I knew it was time. Do you know what He called me, John? He didn’t call me Rock like He used to. He said to me, ‘Simon, son of John of Bethany, do you love Me more than these?’”
“Wow!” John said. “I don’t remember Jesus being that formal with any of us! What did He mean, ‘do you love Me more than these?’”
“He was asking me if I loved Him more than all of you do,” Peter shot back unashamedly.
“What did you say?”
“A few weeks ago…no, a few days ago, I would have said, ‘Absolutely, I do.’ You know how cocky and boastful I am. I declared my undying loyalty to Him that night in the upper room. I said that, even if all of you others ran away, I never would. But He saw through all that and told me that I was going to fail Him three times within a few hours…AND I DID! So now when He asked me if I loved Him, I couldn’t say it. I didn’t trust myself. I didn’t think He could ever trust me again either. All I could say to Him was, ‘Lord, you know that I really, really like You.’ It hurt me, John, not to tell Him that I loved Him. I think it hurt Him too, but I couldn’t lie to Him or to myself again.”
“What did He say?”
“He brushed it off,” Rock answered. “He acted like that was good enough for Him. He told me to take care of His lambs.”
“His lambs?”
“Yeah, you know, people who are new believers in Him…new followers.
“Do you know what that means, John? He still accepts me! He still trusts me! I felt so good and so encouraged after He said that. This huge grin spread across my face…but then He asked me again, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’”
“Rock,” John broke in, “the Master has obviously forgiven you. He has even given you a specific and very important work to do for Him. Surely you can see that Jesus is worthy of your love.”
“YES, JOHN, YES!” Rock exclaimed with emotion as he raked his fingers through his hair. “Jesus is more than worthy of my love, but I am not worthy of HIS! After my failures, I doubted that I was capable of loving Him—not like all of you do, and I couldn’t say it!”
“What DID you say?” John asked.
“I said, ‘Yes, Lord, You know how much I like You.’”
“You again only said that you LIKED Him?”
“That was the only word that I could trust to be true.”
John snorted. “I would have walked off and left you right then if you had said that to me twice.”
“I KNOW!” Rock returned in obvious anguish. “But it was all I could say and still be truthful. His response was the same. He acted satisfied and told me to shepherd His sheep. I felt so relieved when He said that, even though I refused to tell Him that I loved Him. At least He would let me serve Him.”
“I was walking only a little ways behind you two, and I had no idea you were having that conversation,” John said.
“That wasn’t the end of it,” Rock said softly, hanging his head. “He faced me a third time and said, ‘Simon, son of John, do you like Me?”
John was stunned and turned to look into the face of his friend. He saw tears streaming down the face of the tough fisherman.
“On that terrible night I had denied Him three times, John,” Rock said through his tears, “and now He was giving me three chances to confess my love for Him, but I couldn’t do it! Twice I had failed to give Him what He most wanted from me.”
“So He came down to your level so that you wouldn’t fail again,” John said with a smile.
Rock nodded his head in agreement as he sobbed. “It broke my heart, John, that I couldn’t give Him what He wanted and that He had to come down to me. But I said to Him, ‘Lord, You know everything! You know that I really, really like you.’”
“What did He do?” John asked.
“He smiled at me, put His hand on my shoulder, and said, ‘Take care of my lambs.’”
“So is that all He said?” John wanted to know.
Rock stared at the fading sunset for a few minutes before he answered. “No. There’s more. He said that I have always been independent, taking care of myself and doing what I want, but that when I get old, I will stretch out my hands, and others with gird me and take me where I don’t want to go.”
“WHAT?” John asked in confusion.
“I’m pretty sure He meant that I’m going to be crucified as an old man.”
“I think we all know that crucifixion is a very real possibility for each of us,” John answered.
“Apparently it’s more than a possibility for me,” Rock answered. “After He said it, I looked at Him. His eyes seemed to soften, and He added, ‘Follow Me,’—like that’s the only thing that really matters.”
“Is there more?” John asked.
“There is one other thing,” Rock sighed. “I guess I’ve always been a little jealous of the closeness that you have had with Jesus, and so after Jesus told me what was waiting for me, I wanted some assurance that I wasn’t the only one who had to face hard things. So when I saw you following us, I asked Jesus what would happen to you.”
“What did He say?” John asked nervously.
“He said, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return at the end of time, what is that to you? You follow Me!’
“So, John, do you think that means you’re not going to die?”
“No, I don’t,” John answered confidently. “I think it means that Jesus was telling you that, if you live a life following Him, there’s no room for being concerned about what He’s going to do with other believers. And that’s good advice for all of us who believe in the Master. We should just follow Him.”
John pulled on his friend’s arm and said, “Come on, Rock. Let’s go join the celebration. This has been a good day! We’ve been with Jesus, and thanks to Him, we had a great day fishing!”
As the two friends walked back to the house, Rock asked his young companion, “Jesus made it clear that He has work for us to do, so we can’t go back to fishing. Do you have any guess as to what we’ll be doing? Following Jesus can mean a lot of different things. ”
“Well,” John said thoughtfully. “I don’t know about you, but I think I’ll take Thomas’s suggestion and start putting together a book about all that Jesus said and did.”
“That’s going to be quite a job,” Rock laughed. “The biggest book in the world couldn’t hold everything the Lord said and did.”
“I’ll definitely be praying about it, but if it’s something He wants me to do,” John said with a smile, “I expect Jesus will show me the parts He wants me to put in it.”

The End
By Alan W. Harris

EXCITING NEWS!!!

I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE AUDIO VERSION OF THE MAKER’S MEDICINE GIRL IN NOW AVAILABLE ON AUDIBLE!
All of the obstacles have been overcome and at long last the audio version of the second book in the Flintlock Sagas series is now available at Audible.com.
This is a historical Christian fiction story about an orphan girl who was captured by Indians in the late 1700s. Bitter and heartbroken Ember Warren thinks that God has abandoned her but she will discover that is far from the truth. Surrounded by hardship and difficulty, Jesus makes Himself and His will known to Ember in a most remarkable way.
Learn more about The Maker’s Medicine Girl and how to get the new audio version of the book HERE.
Blessings to All,
Alan W. Harris

47 – So Much More than Fish

(Inspired by John 20:30-21:14)
“What are we even doing here?” asked an impatient Thomas to the eleven disciples and a few others scattered around the courtyard of Rock’s house in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee.
“The Master told the women that He would show Himself to us here in Galilee,” Andrew answered. “Rock’s place is the only house we know of that will hold all of us. So…here we all are…waiting.”
“This waiting is getting old,” Thomas shot back.
“Then do something productive!” Simon snapped.
“Like what?”
“Write a book,” Matthew shot back.
“What?” Thomas asked incredulously.
“Yeah, write a book,” Matthew repeated. “Who on this earth knows more about the Master than us? Just think about it, Twin. With all that Jesus said and did, you’ll never run out of material to write about. People all over the world are going to want to know about Him. You should write a book!”
“I’m not the writing type,” Thomas returned. “I agree that a book should be written, but someone other than me is going to have to write it. You or young John should write the book about Jesus.”
“I agree with Twin,” Rock said, standing up. “I need to do something, and I’m going to do what I know. The evening is coming on. I’m going fishing.” Rock looked questioningly at his brother Andrew and the two sons of Zebedee. With a shrug of resignation, the three men rose to go with Rock.
“Could you use some help?” Philip asked as the men walked toward the gate.
“Sure,” Rock called back over his shoulder. “The more, the merrier.”
“Come with us, Nathaniel,” Philip suggested to his friend beside him.
“Well,” Nathaniel of Cana returned, “it sure beats sitting here doing nothing.”
“Hey, wait!” Thomas called after them. “I’m the one who started this. I want to come.”
As the sun dropped closer to the horizon, the seven disciples walked the short distance to the shore of the lake where Rock and Andrew’s fishing boat was moored. After lifting the anchor stone into the craft, they all put their shoulders to the keel and sides of the boat, shoving it out into the water. Once they were all on board, Rock took the tiller and directed the others to take an oar and row.
A light breeze was in Rock’s face as he steered the small craft out to his favorite fishing spot. Once there, Rock stopped the rowers and spent the next several minutes lighting an oil lamp with some coals from a small bowl that he had brought with them. When the lamp was burning brightly, he placed it inside a metal box with openings so the light could shine down on the water. He hung it on a pole on the back of the boat so that the light would draw the fish to their nets.
Without a word being said, Andrew and the two sons of Zebedee immediately jumped to putting out the nets. Rock assisted the others in rowing the boat forward to position the nets. It took some time to accomplish, but it took even more time and much more effort to haul the nets back on board. Everyone keenly felt the frustration of doing all that exhausting work and winding up catching nothing.
Rock ordered everyone to man the oars and propel the boat to his next favorite spot. On and on the process repeated itself until the worn out fishermen saw the sun starting to peek over the horizon, illuminating the boat and revealing that they had not caught a single fish with all their efforts.
“Children!” a faint voice called from the distance.
Looking to the shore a hundred yards away, they saw a man waving to them.
“Children,” the voice called again, “do you have any fish?”
Most of the men in the boat were too tired and frustrated to answer, but young John stood beside the mast and called back. “No! We’ve caught nothing!”
They all thought that would be the end of the fellow’s interest, but then the voice called back, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find a catch!”
As soon as the words reached them, Rock was quickly beside John, and together they stared hard at the man on the shore. They had both felt the little hairs on the back of their necks stand on end when they heard the familiar words.
“Drop the nets!” Rock ordered. “Drop them off the right side—NOW!”
Responding to the urgency in Rock’s voice, everyone jumped to their feet, grabbed the nets, and began tossing them over the right side. Only two-thirds of the large net was in the water when a powerful pull hit the small boat. The sudden lurch caused Philip and Thomas to lose their balance and tumble to the deck.
“What is THAT?” James yelled from where he had grabbed the mast to keep from falling.
“IT’S FISH!” Andrew yelled back as he looked over the side at the boiling water. “Lot’s of ‘em! An’ they’re HUGE! There’s no way we’ll be able to lift the net into the boat without tearing it!”
On hearing this, Rock and John turned and stared at the distant figure on the shore. Young John leaned close to the big fisherman and said, “It’s the Lord!”
Rock nodded his agreement. Snatching up the tunic that he had removed for work, Rock dove off the boat and churned the water with powerful strokes toward the shore.
On hearing the splash, everyone turned. John pointed toward the figure on the shore and said again, “It’s the Lord.”
“Man the oars!” Andrew called. “We’ll drag the net to the shore.”
When they arrived, they found Jesus and Rock beside a charcoal fire. Fish were already grilling on it, and few loaves of bread were warming on a rock close by. “Bring some of your catch,” Jesus called loudly as they arrived, “and we’ll have a feast.”
Immediately Rock ran to the boat as it grounded on the beach and grabbed the full net. Pulling the loose ends over his broad shoulders, Rock dragged the heavy load to the shore and opened it.
“Whoa!” John said with an excited laugh as he finished counting the fish. “Our families are going to love this…one hundred and fifty-three big ones! Just wait till Father gets these to market!
“So, Lord,” John called, “did You know the fish were there, or did You command them to swim into our net?”
Jesus looked at his young friend and just smiled. “All of you, come and eat breakfast with Me,” the risen Lord said loudly.
As they sat around the fire, Jesus served each of them pieces of fish on bread. As the Lord handed them their food, they couldn’t keep from touching Jesus. In response, the Lord smiled at them and grabbed their hand or arm to reassure them that He was really alive and with them.
“Do you know what all this means?” Jesus asked as they ate. “Because I live, you will live also. Remember what I taught you about the vine and the branches? I am in you, and you are in Me. Whatever is Mine is now yours, and whatever the Father gives Me, I give to you. This new life of Mine is the life that My Father and your Father sent Me to give you. As you look at Me, you see the revelation of what My Father has always wanted you to have. It’s a life that lasts forever. Death could not hold Me, and it won’t be able to hold you either.”

By Alan W.Harris

46 – Christ’s Greater Blessing

(Inspired by John 20:19-29)
What a day! The sorrow and grief all of the followers of Jesus felt at His death was compounded when Mary of Magdala came running into the upper room early Sunday morning, yelling that someone had taken Jesus’s body from the tomb.
The Magdalene loved the Lord. Nobody would question that. She had been absolutely devoted to the Teacher since He had cast seven demons out of her. Maybe it was living with demons for so long, or maybe it was just Mary, but there had always been something a little strange about her that caused most of the disciples to question her perspective on things. When she came running in announcing that Jesus’s body was missing, Rock and young John immediately went to check out her story. After they returned, the two of them confirmed to the others that the Lord’s corpse was not in the tomb and that the guards were gone.
What’s more, the mother of the Lord also came in later saying that she had seen angels at the grave telling her that her Son was risen from the dead! But the disciples were reluctant to put any faith in what she said. It wasn’t that they didn’t love and respect Mary, but as distraught as the poor woman had been at watching her Son tortured and murdered in front of her eyes, they each knew that the crucifixion had deeply affected her.
Everyone hoped that all the craziness would calm down, but then Mary of Magdala, who had returned to the tomb, rushed into the upper room a second time claiming that she had actually seen Jesus alive! Unfortunately for Mary, it was hard for the disciples to take her seriously. They were all more worried about the high priests and the Romans than the irrational claims of disturbed women.
With the tomb open and the body of Jesus missing, those hiding in the upper room were afraid that everybody was going to think that the Nazarene’s followers had stolen the body. Caiaphas said as much when he had the Romans seal and guard the tomb. The terrified disciples spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what was going on and how they could slip out of Jerusalem without getting arrested.
Remembering that the soldiers had come for Jesus by night, the door to the upper room was bolted shut that evening. They were in the process of deciding who would act as guards when Jesus Himself stepped through the closed door and stood before them, smiling.
Immediately terror gripped all of them, so Jesus said, “Peace…I bring peace to you.”
Looking around at His wide-eyed disciples, Jesus spoke again. “My friends, you are confused, distressed, and afraid, but you shouldn’t be. Look! It’s really Me!” As He said this, Jesus held out His hands and showed them the nail holes in His wrists. He also pulled back His robe and revealed the large gash in His side where the spear pierced Him.
Jesus walked around the room and let each of them touch Him and examine the wounds. The response was the same for all of them. As soon as they saw the marks of His death, felt the warmth of His skin, and saw the radiant smile on His very alive face, they each fell to their knees and exclaimed, “LORD!”
“You see?” Jesus said with a smile. “I really have come to bring you peace.”
“What is happening, Lord?” an amazed young John asked what they all wanted to know.
“Just like the Father in heaven sent Me to you,” Jesus explained, “so now, I’m sending you to others, but you’re going to need help. I’m giving you a gift to assist you in this work. Receive My Spirit in you.” After saying this, the Lord blew His breath over all of them. Immediately they each felt a sense of power, courage, and awareness that was new to them. There was also this feeling of peace; a peace that none of them could accurately describe.
“The Holy Spirit in you is going to show you the Father’s will,” Jesus explained. “My Spirit will help you understand the work that the Father is doing around you at those times when He wants you to join Him in His work. He will even show you the work that He is doing in people’s hearts. When the Father has forgiven someone of their sins, He will show you, and when someone is still living in their sin, He will reveal that to you as well. Because you have seen that I was dead but now I am alive again, the Father and I are sending you out in My name to do eternally significant things. From now on, each of you will be serving the Father and doing His will. I won’t need to tell you what to do. The Father will be telling you Himself through His Spirit in you.”

Almost an hour after Jesus had left the disciples, they heard a faint knock at the door. Simon, the former assassin, pressed his eye against a crack to look out and whispered, “Who’s there?”
“It’s me, Thomas,” the voice returned.
The missing disciple was quickly allowed in with the loaves of bread he had gone to purchase. He was immediately surrounded by everyone in the room and was bombarded with excited testimonies of the appearance of the Lord to all of them.
“HOLD IT!” the Twin snapped. “THIS IS NOT FUNNY! With the Master’s body gone, this whole city is in confusion! Some in the market are saying that the guards at the tomb are telling people that WE took Jesus’s corpse!
“Listen,” Thomas continued, “I know I’m gullible. You guys have been pulling jokes on me for three years, but I’m not buying it this time. So just stop!”
“It’s the truth, Twin,” Andrew returned seriously. “Jesus came to us just about an hour ago.”
“He’s alive, Thomas!” big James added. “He even showed us the prints of the nails in His wrists and the lance wound in His side.”
“He can’t be alive!” Thomas shot back. “I was there! I SAW HIM DIE!”
“We all did,” Matthew returned confidently. “We all also saw Him alive just a few minutes ago.”
“JUST STOP IT, ALL OF YOU!” Thomas barked angrily. “I don’t believe any of what you’re saying! If He’s alive, He’ll have to show me! Before I believe anything like that, I will have to see Him MYSELF, put MY fingers in the nail holes, and I’ll have to stick MY hand into the wound in His side…MY OWN HAND IN THAT HORRIBLE WOUND! DO YOU HEAR ME? Until that happens, just stop all this talk! It’s not helping us figure out how to stay alive!”
Eight days later, when all of the disciples, including Thomas, were together in the upper room, Jesus appeared in their midst. As before, He passed effortlessly through the bolted door.
“TEACHER!” they all cheered excitedly…well, all but Thomas. He was standing in the back of the group with his eyes wide and his mouth even wider.
“Peace be with you all!” Jesus said cheerfully as he greeted His dearest friends once again. Looking over all of their excited faces, the eyes of the Lord rested on Thomas. The risen Lord moved toward His disciple who had refused to believe. The others stepped aside to allow the Lord to reach their friend that they had been so concerned for.
“Thomas,” Jesus said looking into the Twin’s eyes, “You’ve doubted long enough. It’s really Me! I was dead, but now I’m alive. Here, put your fingers in the nail holes in My wrists and place your hand in the wound in My side. Don’t be an unbeliever, Thomas. I want you to not only believe what I’m saying to you and what you’re seeing—I want you to believe in Who I Am!”
As he touched the wounds of the risen Lord, Thomas’s resistance melted away, and he began to cry tears of joy. He dropped to his knees at the feet of his Eternal King and cried out, “YOU ARE MY LORD! YOU ARE MY GOD!”
“I came for you, Thomas,” Jesus said with a smile. “Your fears and your doubts put a barrier in the way of faith in Me. I wanted you to see with your own eyes so that you would believe in Me and know that I Am the Son of God Who has come to take away the sins of the world.”
“I do believe, Lord!” the Twin said through his tears. “I believe!”
“I am glad of that,” Jesus returned, “and you will be blessed in believing. But the greatest blessing will be reserved for those who did not see Me and still believed.”

By Alan W. Harris

45 – Making All Things New

(Inspired by Matthew 28: 1-10; Luke 24: 1-9; and John 20: 1-18)
Mary of Magdala was awakened by a hand lightly touching her shoulder. Looking up, she saw the Lord’s mother bending over her. The faint light seeping around the shuttered windows told her that it was very early. She was relieved to be awake. Mary’s dreams had been stressful and sad since Jesus’s death. She supposed those horrible images of the crucifixion would never leave her. Rising quietly so as not to disturb the many others sleeping in the large, upper room, she threw on her shawl and followed Mary of Nazareth out the door.
“Do you have the bags of spices Nicodemus gave you?” the Magdalene asked as they stood at the bottom of the steps. In answer to her question, Mary opened the folds of her robe and revealed the packages of myrrh that they planned to use to anoint the body of Jesus.
“Thank you for coming with me, Mary,” the mother of Jesus said as tears flowed down the familiar paths of her face. “I couldn’t do this by myself.”
The Magdalene gave no verbal answer but threw her arms around the grieving mother. The eastern sky was glowing an orange-red as the two women walked arm in arm toward the garden tomb. They had to exit the city to reach their sad destination. Approaching the gate, they were suddenly staggered by a violent earthquake. Clinging to each other in terror, they waited for the shaking to stop. When it finally did, the women hurried out of the city.
To reach the garden where Jesus was buried, they had to approach that horrible place where the dearest and most wonderful man in the world had been murdered. Both women averted their eyes from the spot.
When they finally arrived at the entrance to the garden, the women heard terrified yells and rapid footfalls. Just then four Roman soldiers, minus their weapons and some of their armor, came stumbling out of the garden in terror. As the first one hesitated in order to get his direction, the other three slammed into him, causing all four to crash to the ground. Cursing and yelling, the soldiers clawed over each other to escape back to the city.
Confused at the chaos they had just witnessed, the two women entered the garden and hurried to the tomb. When they arrived, the women gasped. They were shocked to discover that the huge stone blocking the opening of the tomb had been rolled away, and a being as white as lightning was sitting on it. As soon as both Marys saw the angel, they fell on their faces in terror.
“Don’t be afraid,” said the angel in a deep, resonating voice. The joy in his tone caused the women to look up. “I know that you are looking for Jesus Who was crucified. He is not here! He has risen, just as He said!”
After saying these words, the angel dropped lightly off the stone and pointed to the entrance to the tomb. “Come!” he said with a big grin. “See the place where He was lying!”
Stepping over dropped spears and a couple of Roman helmets, the women entered the sepulcher. Again they were shocked to discover another person in a brilliant white robe sitting on the right side of the slab of rock where the body of Jesus had been. The first angel followed them in and sat on the left end of the slab.
Jesus’s mother saw the linen strips that had been wrapped around her Son’s body still lying on the slab, deflated, though they were still in the shape of His body. It was like Jesus had come up out of them and left them all behind.
At this point Mary noticed that the Magdalene was shaking. When the mother of Jesus looked at her companion, she could tell that she was overwhelmed, and she hugged the younger woman close.
“Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” the glowing figure on the right said to them. “Jesus is not here! He has risen! Don’t you remember what He said to you in Galilee? He said that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of wicked men to be crucified and to rise on the third day. Now go quickly and tell his disciples that He is risen from the dead and is going before you to Galilee. That is where you will see Him. And be sure to tell Rock.”
As the two amazed women exited the garden, the mother of Jesus turned to her companion and said, “Mary, you’re younger than me. You must run back to our friends and tell Peter and the others what has happened!”
The Magdalene just stared blankly at her with a confused and distant look.
“MARY!” Jesus’s mother tried again as she grabbed the younger woman by the shoulders. “I need you to run to the others and tell them that the tomb is empty! Do you understand?”
Focusing her eyes on the face of the pleading woman, Mary of Magdala nodded her head and quickly ran back to the upper room. When she burst through the door, the first people she saw were Rock and young John. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” the still shaken and confused woman cried, “an’…an’ we don’t know where they’ve laid Him!”
The two men looked at each other with shocked expressions and dashed out the door and descended the steps. They ran side by side down the streets of Jerusalem, heading for the gate nearest the garden tomb. As they raced, young John outpaced his companion and reached the garden first. Approaching the tomb, John saw the rolled back stone and the debris left behind by the soldiers, but no one else was there. The little hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he reached the dark opening, and he hesitated, stooping to look in.
He heard heavy footfalls behind him as the red-faced Rock ran up. The impetuous disciple rushed past his more timid friend and into the tomb. Following Rock inside, John was amazed at what they saw. The wrappings were lying there in the same position as when they covered the body of the Lord, but they had collapsed. The face covering was lying where Jesus’s head had been. It was still rolled up like it was wrapped around Jesus’s head and face, but the body of the Lord had simply disappeared, leaving them behind.
The two stood there for some time, trying to make sense of it all. Eventually they left to return to their friends and report what they had seen. As they were leaving the garden, they passed Mary of Magdala returning. She was sobbing and seemed to be oblivious to the two men as they passed her.
When Mary reached the tomb again, she stood outside weeping, consumed with a sense of deep loss and not knowing what to do. Suddenly a light seemed to be coming out of the tomb, and she stooped to look in. Once again the two angels were there and were sitting on the burial slab. They turned to look at her, and one said, “Madame, why are you crying so?”
“Because someone has taken my Lord,” she sobbed, “and I don’t know where they laid Him!”
Just then Mary was startled by a man’s voice right behind her. “Why are you crying, Madame? Who are you looking for?”
A little intimidated by the presence of this stranger, she kept her head down as she addressed him. “Are you the gardener here?” she asked. “Are you the one who has carried the Lord’s body away? Just tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take care of Him.”
“Mary!” the voice exclaimed.
On hearing her name, the distraught woman looked up and saw the smiling face of Jesus looking at her. With a gasp she cried, “TEACHER!” and fell on her face, clinging to the feet of the risen Lord.
“It’s okay, Mary,” Jesus said with a laugh. “It’s okay! I told you this would happen! Why didn’t you believe Me?”
All the shocked woman could do was to cry, “Oh, Teacher! Oh, Teacher! Oh, Teacher!” over and over again as she held on even tighter to His feet and legs.
“Stop holding me, Mary,” Jesus said gently as He stroked her head. “I’ve got to go to My Father. But I want you to go to My followers and tell them that you’ve seen Me and that I’m going to My Father. But He is your Father too. I’m going to My God and your God. For all of you who follow Me, everything will be different now. I have made all things new!”
“Please let me stay with You, Lord!” Mary pleaded.
“You will see Me again,” Jesus answered with a smile. “But go now to My brethren. They need to know what you’ve seen and heard.”
For the second time that amazing morning, Mary found herself running from the garden to the upper room. When she stepped into the large room, it was a buzz with animated discussions on what the discoveries at the tomb might mean. When she walked in, everyone turned to face her. They could tell by the radiate glow on her face and the fire in her eyes that she had news.
“I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!” she announced with joy.

By Alan W. Harris

44 – Time to Take a Stand

(Inspired by John 19: 31-42)
Once Jesus had died on the cross, His mother and young John, His best friend, couldn’t leave. It was like they were nailed to the spot. They stood there for quite some time, staring at the abused body of the Lord, unable to mentally process what had been done to the Son of God and Savior of the world.
“Orders from the procurator!” a Roman soldier, who had just marched up to the execution detail, shouted.
“What are they?” growled the guard in charge.
“The Jews’ Sabbath day is supposed to start in a couple of hours,” the soldier reported. “At the request of the chief priests, the procurator orders that the legs of the prisoners be broken to allow them to die quickly. He wants them all three dead and off the crosses before the trumpets from the temple signal the start of the Sabbath day.”
Growling their annoyance at having more to do, the guards shoved a piece of a beam behind the legs of one of the thieves, then cruelly smashed the man’s legs with a large hammer. Between the pain of the injury and the loss of the ability to raise himself to relax his stretched chest muscles so he could breath, death came quickly.
In this way both thieves were quickly dispatched. When the Roman started to place the piece of wood behind Jesus’s legs, Mary cried out, “Oh, please, no!”
“There is no need to break His legs, sir,” John called to the guard. “He’s already dead.”
On hearing this, the guard stepped back and studied the body hanging above him. “Oh, is he now?” the Roman asked sarcastically as he dropped the beam and hammer and snatched a spear from a nearby guard. Quickly he thrust the sharp weapon deeply into the side of the Messiah and on up into His chest cavity, piercing His heart, as Mary gasped.
When he withdrew the spear, clotted blood and a stream of serum poured out of the large wound. “I guess you’re right,” the guard cruelly chuckled. “The blood’s already separated.”
Mary sobbed in John’s arms for several minutes. When she could cry no more, she looked into the young man’s eyes and said, “I want to bury Him, John.”
“Yes, of course,” John answered, “but I don’t know how we will do that here in Jerusalem.”
“Please excuse me for inserting myself into your troubles, but my friend and I would be honored to help you with all that.” The words were spoken by a robed Pharisee with many marks of distinction on his clothing. “I am Nicodemus of Jerusalem. My friend Joseph of Arimathea and I have been secretly following the Teacher from Nazareth for some time. Joseph has gone to get permission from the Roman governor for us to take possession of your Son’s body. Some of my servants will be here soon with all we will need to prepare Jesus’s body for burial, if you will allow us.”
In response Mary, with a nod of her head, simply said, “Thank you.”
“You said you were secret followers of my Master?” John asked curiously.
“Joseph and I are members of the Sanhedrin,” Nicodemus answered bluntly. “We were afraid that our positions would be harmed if we let it be known that we agreed with and supported the Nazarene. To be honest, we didn’t really understand that Jesus was the true Messiah and, as John the baptizer said, ‘the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world’—until now.”
“Do you truly believe that?” John asked.
“With certainty,” the older scholar returned confidently. “The fact that the soldiers broke the legs of the thieves but not the Lord’s is a fulfilment of prophecy by David in the psalms, ‘He keeps all His bones, not one of them is broken.’ Stabbing Him with the spear is the fulfilment of another. The prophet Zechariah said, ‘they will look on Me Whom they have pierced.’ There has been prophecy after prophecy fulfilled this day,” Nicodemus concluded. “So in answer to your question, I am completely convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and His death today on this cross has paid for the sins of the world.”
“You don’t sound like a secret disciple,” John returned.
“The Lord changed everything today! If He did that for me,” Nicodemus announced, pointing up at the crucified Messiah, “then I must stand for Him! Joseph and I have decided that we will hide no longer!”
Within a few minutes Joseph came rushing up with a written order from Pilate that he gave to the leader of the Roman guard. In response to this, the nail holding the feet was drawn out, the crossbeam was lifted from its place, and the body of the Lord was lowered to the ground. As soon as the nails in His wrists were removed, Nicodemus and Joseph lifted the Savior’s body and carried it towards a nearby garden.
“Where are you taking Him?” Mary asked with concern.
“It is almost the Sabbath,” Nicodemus answered urgently, “so we must do this as quickly as possible.”
“But where…” Mary started to ask again.
“I own a new tomb in this garden,” Joseph called back. “Because it’s close by, we will bury Him there. Follow us.”
“You told me your name was John, right?” Nicodemus asked, addressing the young disciple.
“Yes, John son of Zebedee.”
“John, I want you to see where we are going and then come back out and watch for my servants. They will be here in a moment with some donkeys loaded with packages of aloes and myrrh as well as everything else we will need. Bring them to us quickly! We have no time to lose.”
The two men carried the body of Jesus into the garden until they came to a ledge of solid rock into which had been carved a burial cave. Placing the dead Lord into the arms of His grieving mother as she sat on the ground, Nicodemus quickly pulled off his own beautiful robe and spread it out beside them. Then he and Joseph took Jesus and laid Him reverently on the robe. They had no sooner done this than John arrived with the servants.
Skins of water were quickly fetched from the donkeys, and the body of Jesus was washed according to the Jewish custom. After this, wide rolls of linen wrappings were unloaded along with the spices. As the servants lifted the body, Nicodemus and Joseph applied the myrrh and aloes liberally onto the linen and, starting with the neck, wrapped the body of the dead Lord.
They were just finishing when they were stunned by the sudden arrival of Caiaphas and several of the leading members of the Sanhedrin. With them was a detail of Roman guards.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Nicodemus snapped angrily. “Haven’t you done enough to this Man?”
“I knew you two would eventually show your true colors,” Caiaphas sneered at Joseph and Nicodemus. “Always picking the wrong side.”
“What do you want?” Nicodemus asked again.
“While this charlatan was alive, he claimed that, if he was killed, he would rise from the dead in three days. We have a guard detail from the governor to be sure people like you don’t steal the body and fraudulently claim the faker’s prophecy came true. All of this ends here!
“Take the face covering off the dead man so we can be sure it’s the false teacher,” Caiaphas demanded.
One of the soldiers started to extend the tip of his spear towards the dead Man’s face, but he was stopped by the Arimathean, who untied the face cloth and lifted it.
Caiaphas leaned down to get a good look at the features of the corpse. As he recognized his hated enemy, the chief priest began to giggle gleefully. Standing back up, he gave the order for the soldiers to place the body in the tomb.
“We’ll do it!” Nicodemus said firmly. Then he and Joseph lifted their Lord’s body and placed it reverently into Joseph’s tomb. Mary and John followed them in to say their final goodbyes.
“Hurry up!” the high priest barked. “It’s almost the Sabbath!”
As soon as the followers of Jesus exited the tomb, the soldiers rolled the heavy stone over the opening. They then pulled out a large rod of red wax. One of the soldiers had been carrying a bundle of torches on his shoulder and a lighted one in his hand. They melted the wax in the flame. As a guard stretched a short piece of rope from the stone to the rock wall, the melted wax was smeared heavily on both ends to hold the rope in place. At this point the guard in charge pulled out a large seal with Caesar’s image engraved on it. This was stamped into both blobs of wax to let everyone know that, if they broke this seal to open the tomb, they would die a horrible death.
“According to the governor’s orders,” Caiaphas said to the guards, “you soldiers are to stand guard at this tomb for the next three days. My servants will bring you food and water, but you are not to let anyone come near that tomb, or I’ll have your lives! Do you understand me?”
In response, none of the Romans answered, but the one in charge stared into the high priest’s eyes and then spit on the ground.
“You are despicable!” Nicodemus shot back in anger when he saw what the chief priest had done.
“And you two fools have ruined your careers,” Caiaphas chuckled. “I will make sure that you are both run out of the Sanhedrin!”
Joseph just laughed at these words. “Do you even think that Nicodemus and I would want to be a part of group of cowardly men who murdered the Lord’s Messiah?”
“Excuse me, sir,” Nicodemus asked one of the Roman guards respectfully, “but may I ask if you and your men are here to protect the high priest?”
“No,” the guard shot back, glaring at Caiaphas. “We are here only to guard the tomb. We could care less what happens to him.”
With a grim smile Nicodemus turned to face the cowardly chief priest. The scholar doubled his fists and strode purposefully toward Caiaphas.
“No!” the chief priest screamed. “You wouldn’t dare!”
When he saw that Nicodemus wasn’t stopping, Caiaphas quickly grabbed the skirts of his robe and ran away as quickly as he could.

By Alan W. Harris

43 – The Lamb of God Revealed

(Inspired by John 19:17-30)
After Pilate had given the order to crucify Jesus, two other condemned criminals who were thieves were brought out to join Him. A large wooden beam was placed across the shoulders of each, and their arms were tied to it. When the heavy, rough wood was dropped on Jesus’s severely lacerated back, intense pain shot through his body.
As all of this was taking place, Pilate had gone back into the Roman headquarters and called a scribe. “Take a piece of parchment,” the governor ordered, “and write on it in large letters, ‘JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.’ I want everyone to be able to read it, so write it in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, or whatever it is the Jews speak.”
“They speak Jewish Aramaic, Excellency,” the sleepy scribe returned humbly.
“Well, write it in that!” Pilate snapped.
“The King of the Jews?” the captain who was standing near the governor questioned.
Pilate was still seething at having been forced by the Jews to condemn an innocent man when he turned to face the Roman officer. “The teacher is the only righteous person in this whole circus!” the governor barked. “That snake Caiaphas and his nest of serpents forced my hand to condemn someone they were jealous of. Did you hear them? They were going to report me to Caesar if I didn’t because the Nazarene says he’s a king.”
“Well?” the captained asked, not seeing the governor’s point.
“Listen, when I interrogated him, Jesus said his kingdom isn’t on the earth,” Pilate explained. “He says it’s in heaven, of all things. You can’t kill a man simply because he’s delusional! They want him dead because they hate him, and they made me do their dirty work. So I’m giving the teacher his title.”
“But ‘The King of the Jews’?” the captain questioned again. “You know Caiaphas is gonna’ be furious!”
“Exactly!” Pilate gloated. “This sign is going to declare to the world that the great king, who all the Jews have been waiting centuries for, was murdered by Caiaphas and his bunch.
“Oh, he’ll come storming in here pitching one of his royal fits,” Pilate continued with a laugh, “demanding that I change the sign to say the teacher SAID that he was the king of the Jews.”
“So what will you do?” the captain asked.
“What will I do? Nothing! I’ve done all they’ve asked. They’ve got nothing to say to Caesar now. I will look Caiaphas in his snaky little eyes and say, ‘I have written what I have written.’ And he can do nothing about it. At least I will get the last jab in!”
“Here is your sign, Excellency,” the scribe said, bringing the governor the parchment.
Handing the paper to the captain, Pilate said, “After you crucify him, nail it over his head.”

The door of Nicodemus’s house in the upper city was suddenly assaulted with incessant, violent pounding. When a servant opened it, a distraught Joseph of Arimathea rushed in, shouting for his friend. In a few moments he saw the older scholar hastening anxiously down the steps from his bedroom, tying on his robe. “Why are you so upset?”
Joseph quickly explained what was happening to the Teacher.
“If this was done by the Sanhedrin, why weren’t we called?” Nicodemus demanded.
“Because they knew we wouldn’t agree to it!” Joseph returned. “The only reason I know about it is because one of my servants went out early to get some bread for breakfast this morning and heard the talk in the market. Apparently the Teacher is being led out to be killed right now!”
The two friends rushed out the door and hurried to the place of execution. They gasped in shock when they arrived and saw the Roman soldiers preparing to crucify the Man they had hoped to be Israel’s Messiah.
Scaffolding had been erected just outside the city at Golgatha, or the Place of the Skull, to accommodate the victims of Rome’s harsh justice. Before the horrible process started, the condemned were offered a cup of wine to dull the pain. But the cruel Romans had even made this act of compassion a part of the torture. They had mixed bitter gall with the wine. The two thieves gagged repeatedly as they choked down the vile drink. When it was offered to Jesus, He tasted it but refused to drink any more.
The three prisoners were then stripped of their clothes and laid on top of the beams they had carried. Before the spikes were driven into the wrists, the victim’s arms were painfully stretched until the joints dislocated. Only then were they affixed to the beam with the nails. Ropes were used to lift the beam and the prisoner up onto the scaffolding. When the beam was firmly attached, the prisoner’s legs were bent, and his feet were nailed to the vertical post.
Joseph tore his clothes and began weeping, but Nicodemus just stared at all that was being done to the Teacher. Suddenly a look of amazement came across his face. “Joseph!” he said excitedly as he grabbed his friend’s arm, “do you remember when I went to talk to the Teacher?”
“Yes,” he answered, gaining control. “It was at night close to three years ago.”
“Do you remember what He said to me?”
“It’s been so long, Nicodemus,” Joseph answered, still distressed. “It was something about being born a second time, I think.”
“No, the other thing!” Nicodemus answered. “He said that just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. See, Joseph, He’s being lifted up…just like He said!”
“But why?” Joseph cried.
“OH, JOSEPH!” the older scholar gasped as a new and unique thought rushed into his mind. “I SEE IT! I UNDERSTAND WHAT HE WAS SAYING! THIS IS…AMAZING!
“What?” his friend asked eagerly. “What is it?”
“The Teacher said,” Nicodemus began, “that He would be lifted up so that whoever believed in Him may have eternal life! He’s giving us eternal life, Joseph! Right now! He said that God loves the world so much that He gave His Son for that purpose. And do you remember what John the Baptizer used to say about the Teacher? Whenever he would see Jesus, John would say, ‘Behold the lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world.’”
“What are you saying?” Joseph asked in confusion.
“What day is it, Joseph?” Nicodemus asked excitedly. “It’s Passover! It started at six last evening, and it won’t be over until six this evening. It’s still Passover, and hanging on that cross is God’s Passover lamb. He IS the Messiah, Joseph! Jesus is God’s perfect sacrifice for all of us! As terrible as it all is, this is happening as God planned it to happen.”
“How can you say that?” Joseph asked with a look of shock.
“Look at the Roman guards,” Nicodemus returned excitedly. “They tore Jesus’s clothes into four parts so they could each have a rag, but they are casting lots for his nice robe!”
“So?”
“That was prophesied!” Nicodemus returned excitedly. “David wrote in the Psalms, ‘They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.’”
“Yes,” Joseph said with growing interest. “Yes, I remember that verse, but I never knew what it meant!”
“There are many other prophecies,” the older scholar continued. “Do you remember what Isaiah said about the suffering servant of God?”

As this conversation was taking place, the dying Jesus looked down and saw His grieving mother, her sister, young John, and Mary of Magdala standing in the front of the crowd. Painfully pushing Himself up on the nail in his feet, Jesus took the tension off his chest muscles so He could breath. “Woman, there is your son,” Jesus said through clenched teeth, nodding toward John.
Looking at John, Jesus said, “Son, she is now your mother.”
With tears streaming down his face, the young disciple nodded his acceptance of the responsibility Jesus had given him and stepped beside Mary, putting his arm around her shoulder. Mary buried her head into John’s chest and sobbed.
A few moments later Nicodemus again urgently grabbed Joseph’s shoulder. “LOOK! DO YOU SEE?”
“What?” Joseph asked now with keen interest.
“Jesus just asked for a drink.”
“You know how the Romans treat the condemned, Nicodemus,” Joseph shot back. “They only give them vinegar to add to the torture.”
The soldiers soaked a sponge in the sour wine, stuck it on a stick, and held it up for Jesus to suck on.
“Another prophecy fulfilled!” Nicodemus said with fire in his eyes. “David wrote in the Psalms, ‘They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.’ He wrote that almost a thousand years ago.”
“Jesus didn’t drink the wine mixed with gall,” Joseph said.
“But He tasted it!” the older scholar explained. “You see, my friend, Jesus is God’s lamb, God’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of the people.”
“Perfect sacrifice?”
“Yes!” Nicodemus returned. “’God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life!’ ETERNAL LIFE, Joseph! There will never be a need for another sacrifice after this one because this one lasts for eternity!”
“He will surely not forgive every sin,” Joseph said, struggling with the concept.
“Yes, Joseph, EVERY SIN!” Nicodemus answered excitedly. “That’s why He tasted the wine mixed with gall but wouldn’t drink it. If there were sins that Jesus was not willing to forgive, He would have drunk all the wine to dull some of the pain. But because He wanted to be the sacrifice for ALL of our sins, He sipped the drink to get the bitter gall taste as part of the punishment for sin, but He wouldn’t drink the wine to lessen any of His suffering. Don’t you see? This is God’s amazing work! He sent His Son, His Holy Son, for the expressed purpose of dying for all of our sins so that those who believe in the Son of God can have eternal life!”
“Yes,” Joseph nodded, looking in awe at the dying Lamb of God. “I do see.”
From the cross they heard Jesus cry out, “IT…IS…FINSIHED!”
On hearing these words of victory, as Jesus willingly gave up His life, both of the new believers bowed their heads in worship and thanksgiving.

By Alan W. Harris

42 – Satan Is Allowed His Way

(Inspired by John 19: 1-16)
Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, stood before the chanting crowd and literally felt sick to his stomach. He knew that the chief priests had arrested Jesus the Nazarene out of pure jealousy. Their hatred of the teacher was so great that they were doing everything they could to force Pilate to kill him, but Pilate knew the Nazarene was innocent. The governor felt sure that he could appeal to the common people, who were supposed to like Jesus, and he would be able to release the teacher. That’s why he offered them a choice of releasing Jesus or Barabbas, a murderer and thief. To hear the people responding to the pressure of the chief priest by crying for the release of Barabbas over a guiltless man disgusted him.
The gloating smile on the face of Caiaphas, the chief priest, was almost more than the Roman governor could stand. He would try one last thing to release Jesus. He would force them to feel sorry for the Nazarene teacher. Spinning on his heal, Pilate gave the signal for the murderer to be set free, and then he walked up to Jesus.
“I’m sorry for what’s about to happen to you,” Pilate said just loud enough for Jesus to hear, “but I’m trying to save your life.”
Turning to the captain of the guard detail, the governor ordered, “Scourge him! And, Captain, do a thorough job!”
First the prisoner was stripped and beaten with rods. Only when his back was raw and tender did they bring out the flagellums. The Roman flagellum or scourge was a heavy device. Nine braided lashes extended from the end of a wooden handle. Woven into the braids were sharp pieces of metal and glass. Leave it to the Romans to create the perfect device for punishment. The scourge was intentionally designed to shred the victim’s back. Many condemned Roman prisoners were killed by the scourging and never made it to the cross.
As he was ordered, the captain made sure that Jesus’s scourging was thorough.
“I heard that this fellow is supposed to be the king of the Jews,” one of the Romans laughed as those in charge of the scourging were untying Jesus from the post.
“He don’t look much like a king,” one of the other guards answered.
“Well, we’re gonna fix that,” the first soldier laughed again and stepped in front of tortured prisoner. “Help me, guys,” he said as he lifted up a crown woven of long, sharp thorns. Carefully balancing the hideous circlet on the teacher’s head, two other guards used rods to shove the crown further onto Jesus’s head, forcing the long thorns deep into his brow. Just then another guard produced a purple robe and threw it roughly onto the Lord’s mutilated back.
“Hail, King of the Jews!” one of the guards standing in front of Jesus called out as he struck his own chest with his fist in a mock salute. He then backhanded Jesus across the face. As two soldiers supported the weak prisoner, others took turns saluting the Son of God with hard blows to the face.
When Pilate received word that his soldiers were through with the Nazarene, he ordered that Jesus be brought to him. Even the governor was shocked at the appearance of the Jewish teacher when his soldiers arrived with Him. “I’m bringing him back out to you,” Pilate declared loudly, “to let you all know that, even after all of this, I find no guilt in him.”
As the severely beaten prisoner was forced near to the chief priests and the crowd, the people drew back in shocked disgust. Many averted their eyes.
“LOOK AT THE MAN!” Pilate demanded fiercely. “Hasn’t he been through enough?”
“NO!” shouted Caiaphas viciously. “CRUCIFY HIM!”
The shout was quickly taken up by the Jewish leaders around the chief priests and then by the crowd as well.
The Roman governor was familiar with cruelty and injustice, but this was more hypocritical and vicious than anything he had seen. “I SAY HE’S INNOCENT!” Pilate yelled back in disgust. “DON’T MAKE ME A PART OF THIS MAN’S MURDER! IF YOU WANT HIM CRUCIFIED, THEN DO IT YOURSELVES!”
Caiaphas’ fury was almost uncontrollable. “We have a law,” the chief priest snarled venomously through clenched teeth, “and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself out to be the Son of God!”
In shock Pilate turned to stare at the prisoner. The son of a god? the governor questioned in his heart. Is that possible? What if he is a god’s son…and I had him beaten…LIKE THIS!
“Bring him!” the governor demanded and stormed back into the judgment hall.
When he and the guards were again alone with Jesus, Pilate confronted Him. “Is that what you meant when you said you weren’t from this world?”
When Jesus made no answer, Pilate shouted, “They say you claim to be some kind of a god. WHERE ARE YOU FROM?”
Again Jesus made no response.
“Now you won’t speak to me!” Pilate exclaimed, losing his patience. “I am the one who has authority to release you or have you crucified!”
Jesus lifted his blood-covered face and looked at the governor. “You would not have any authority over Me,” the Lord said with bold confidence, “except that in this instance it has been given to you from heaven.”
“From heaven?” Pilate gasped under his breath.
“You will bear your responsibility in all this,” Jesus continued looking into the governor’s eyes, “but he who delivered Me up to you has committed the greater sin.”
Pilate wanted a way out of this so badly. The fact that his wife had a terrible dream about this Nazarene and had begged him not to condemn this innocent man only made it worse. Determined to put a stop to it, the Roman leader stormed out of the barracks once again and declared to the Jews that he was releasing Jesus.
He had expected Caiaphas to start screaming and pitching one of his famous fits, but instead the chief priest gave the procurator a sly and devious look and said, “Anyone who makes himself out to be a king is an enemy of Caesar. If you release this man, YOU are no friend of Caesar, and I will make sure he knows.”
When he heard this, Pilate rocked back on his heels, sighed deeply, and dropped his head in defeat.
Caiaphas beamed with fiendish delight at seeing the governor’s response. He had won!
Anger, disgust, defeat, hatred, and fear…if you could combine all of those into one horrible emotion, that would be what Pilate experienced as he slowly made his way to Gabbatha, or The Pavement, which is what they called the judgment seat near the barracks’ steps. What a terrible day! Pilate thought to himself. There is much more evil to come, and it’s only six in the morning!
“BRING THE PRISONER TO ME FOR JUDGMENT!” he barked angrily to a centurion attending him.
As Jesus was dragged to The Pavement, the Roman governor shouted, “LOOK, ALL OF YOU! HERE COMES YOUR KING!”
“AWAY WITH HIM! AWAY WITH HIM!” many of the Jewish leaders shouted.
“CRUCIFY HIM! NAIL HIM TO A CROSS!” the worked-up crowd screamed.
“SHALL I CRUCIFY YOUR KING?” the governor sneered back tauntingly.
“We have no king but Caesar!” Caiaphas declared.
“Oh yeah,” Pilate scoffed sarcastically, “you are so loyal to Caesar.”
“Just do it!” the chief priest snarled, not bothering to conceal his hatred.
“What are your orders for the prisoner, Excellency?” the centurion enquired.
With a look of both anger and frustration, the governor finally commanded, “Crucify him!”

By Alan W. Harris

41 – Truth’s Witness

(Inspired by John 18: 28-40)
Things were going Caiaphas’s way, and he was quite pleased about it. He and his cronies had arrested Jesus, the controversial teacher from Nazareth, and had managed to finagle a death sentence for Him. Now only one step remained to complete their plan to kill Jesus, and that was to convince Pilate, the Roman governor, to carry out the sentence.
When the detail of Roman soldiers sent to assist the high priest’s guards with the arrest arrived at the military barracks, they marched straight in with the prisoner. All of the Jewish leaders stopped at the gate.
This took place so early in the morning that the servants had to wake Pilate up. He was still hurriedly tugging on his robe when he rushed into the large hall where the soldiers waited with Jesus.
The governor took a moment to study the prisoner. “So this is the fellow the chief priests have been so upset over,” Pilate finally said, scanning the prisoner up and down. “He’s not much to look at. Where are the accusers?”
Standing at attention, the soldier in charge of the troop reported, “They’re outside, your excellency. They wouldn’t come in…something about it being a holy day and not wanting to be made unclean…by us.”
“Yes, of course, it’s their Passover,” Pilate snapped irritably. “Well, then I suppose I’ll have to go to them.”
Pilate finished straightening his robe and stamped purposefully out to confront the religious leaders. When he arrived, he completely dispensed with any pleasantries. “Alright, let’s get on with it. What are your charges against this man?”
“Charges?” Caiaphas snapped. “What difference does it make? We tried him. He’s guilty, so we brought him to you! That’s what your law says we have to do!”
Pilate never liked Caiaphas, and he especially didn’t want to have to deal with his insults this early in the morning.
“This is obviously a Jewish law thing, so why pull me into it?” the governor returned, trying to control his anger. “Just handle it yourselves. Judge him by your own laws.” As Pilate said this, he started to walk away, but Caiaphas stopped him.
“We would handle it, but you won’t let Jews put anyone to death.”
Pilate suddenly stopped and turned to face the chief priest. “Death?” Pilate questioned curiously. “You want to kill this man? Why?”
This question caught the Jews off guard, and they struggled for an answer that would justify condemning Jesus. Finally Caiaphas said, “He said he was a king.”
Pilate knew he was being set up, but he and Caiaphas had done this dance several times before, and Pilate knew he had to play it out. Spinning on his heel, he marched back into the barracks.
The governor sat in his judgment hall and commanded that Jesus to be brought in. Once the prisoner stood before him, Pilate decided to try intimidation first. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he demanded harshly.
Jesus lifted His head until He was looking straight into the eyes of the Roman magistrate. “Are you asking this for yourself, or because others have said this about Me?”
Pilate was stunned at the man’s boldness. “AM I A JEW?” he snapped back. “WHY SHOULD I EVEN CARE?
“Look, you’re the one on trial here,” Pilate began again. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. They want me to have you put to death, so what have you done?”
“My kingdom is real, but it is not something produced by this world. It comes from another place…a higher place.”
“You’re telling me that your kingdom is not a kingdom of the world?” Pilate questioned with a confused look.
“It is clear that My kingdom does not come from this world,” Jesus answered, “because if it was a worldly kingdom, My followers would be fighting the Jews and Romans right now to free Me. If My kingdom were a worldly kingdom, everyone who follows Me would fight anyone who tries to keep it from taking its place in the world. That’s not happening because all who have listened to Me know that My kingdom is not of this world.”
“But you are a king, right?” the governor asked again.
“You are right,” Jesus returned. “I am a king.”
“So if you’re not a king of this world,” the Roman questioned, “then why are you even here? What is this all about?”
“Let me tell you why I have come into the world,” the Teacher explained. “I have come as a witness.”
“A witness? A witness of what?”
“I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth,” Jesus announced confidently. “Everyone fails at finding the best and highest life because they don’t know the truth, and when the truth does come to them, they can’t even recognize it. That’s why I was born…to do whatever is necessary to be the witness to the truth that everyone needs. Some won’t accept My witness. But everyone who longs for and is searching for the truth will listen to Me.”
“Truth!” Pilate scoffed. “You would never make it in the politics of THIS world, King of the Jews! To get where I am, I had to abandon truth years ago. Truth will get you killed! What is truth? It is nothing to me!”
After making this declaration, Pilate left Jesus under guard and, signaling for the captain of the guard to come with him, walked out to confront the Jews.
“What do you think about all this, Excellency?” the captain asked as they walked.
“That Jewish teacher is kind of a strange duck, but he’s not guilty of anything deserving death,” the governor spoke his thoughts. “Apparently he’s popular enough with the people that the chief priests are jealous and want to use me to get rid of him, but I think I’ve figured out a way to save this guy.”
“The rabbi is just another Jew,” the captain growled back. “Why are you interested in saving him?”
“Well, for one thing, he’s innocent,” Pilate said offhandedly. “But to me, it’s not so much the teacher as it is turning the tables on that snake Caiaphas. Now, I want you to have the prisoner Jesus Barabbas brought out to me!”
“Barabbas!” the captain exclaimed. “That man is dangerous, Excellency! He’s an absolute animal!”
“I know,” Pilate chuckled. “Use as many guards as you need to control him, but bring him out to me. I want Caiaphas and the rest of the people to get a good look at him.”
As the captain hurried to fulfil his orders, the Roman governor signaled to the guards in the hall to bring the Nazarene to him as well. Marching out to those waiting on him, the Roman didn’t stop until he stood insultingly close to the Jewish delegation. Irritated by the gentile’s nearness, the chief priests hurriedly stepped back closer to the crowd of Jewish people, who were gathering quickly to see what was happening.
“I find no guilt in this man,” Pilate declared authoritatively.
“WHAT?” Caiaphas and the others stammered their dismay.
Before they could protest, Pilate played his hand. Speaking loudly so that all of the gathering crowd could hear, he said, “You have a custom that I release a prisoner for you at the Passover.”
Looking back over his shoulder, the governor was pleased to see Jesus being pushed out to join them. Turning the other way, Pilate saw a larger contingent of guards with spears leveled at the chained murderer and thief Barabbas. The comparison between the two men was startling and couldn’t have pleased Pilate more. The Nazarene stood quietly and submissively. Barabbas, on the other hand, yanked on the chains, fought with the guards, and cursed incessantly.
When the smiling Roman governor turned toward the chief priests, he saw Caiaphas urgently conferring with his cronies. He’s figured it out, Pilate said to himself, still smiling, but it’s too late!
Just then several of the Jewish elders with Caiaphas turned and raced through the crowd. Now it was the high priest who had the smug smile on his face.
“So who shall I release to you,” Pilate called loudly, “Jesus called the King of the Jews or Jesus Barabbas?”
“NOT THIS MAN,” Caiaphas shouted pointing to the Nazarene, “BUT BARABBAS!”
This cry was quickly taken up by the other Jewish leaders standing with the chief priest. Pilate had expected that, but what he didn’t expect was to hear the many voices in the crowd joining in the cry for the murderer’s release.

By Alan W. Harris