ALIVE: Chapter 177, Injustice

From the throne room, a glistening seraphim glided gently down to earth on a mission, to whisper into the nous of Basil, who was sitting peacefully beside his sunny window in deep contemplation, alert for Wisdom from God to convey to his flock.   

Basil had woken up an hour earlier with the sensation that the world was brand new. It felt as if a heavy fog had lifted and he was eager to grab the the revelation before becoming anesthetized to it, as typically happens with revelations. The thrill of the contrast between old and new, and between ignorance and knowledge soon fades.

Basil quickly wrote out what he heard: “And when He had come and had FULFILLED all that was needed for us, in the same night in which was betrayed, or rather, in which He gave Himself up for the life of the world, He took bread in His holy, pure and blameless hands, and when He had given thanks and blessed, and hallowed, He broke it and gave it to his disciples and apostles saying: Take, eat this is My Body which for you is broken, unto the remission of sins. Likewise after the supper (He gave) the cup, saying, “Drink of it all of you, this is My Blood of the new covenant, which for you and for many is shed, for the remission of sins.”

“Wait!” he thought after writing that, “Did the Lord really fulfill all that was needed for us….. hours BEFORE before the crucifixion?!

Did our Lord and Savior give us His living body and blood voluntarily while He still could? Yes. I’m confused. Think Basil, think. NO. Listen Basil, listen! The Life is in the blood. He gave His flesh, His living heart beating blood. He couldn’t give it later. He gave Himself while He was a living human. YES! and no. But how did He do that before the crucifixion?”

Basil quieted his bewildered mind for a moment in order to listen.

“For God, time is not linear,” he patiently said to himself. “Time exists as in a prism to radiate out, past, present, future. Time is an amalgam. Isaac willingly become the sacrificial lamb in obedience to his father Abraham. In God’s eyes Abraham and Isaac actually completed the sacrifice outside of time; God read their hearts and their conviction to obey.

When the Lord Jesus Christ gave His Body and Blood to His disciples that evening, He had already been crucified in God’s Mind. He had already committed Himself to the crucifixion.”

“Yes!” thought Basil, “It is true! It was all over, the arrest, the crucifixion, the gates of Hades opening to release its captives, the resurrection. It was fulfilled on that night when He was also betrayed and was convicted! At the table when He gave His Body and Blood as food for remission of sins, His mission was fulfilled.”

At that thought Basil lowered his head on the desk, enveloped it in his arms, and wept. So many times that happened as he wrote his liturgy, but none as much as that moment. He didn’t see the seraphim dictating to him, but he knew that those words were beyond his imagination. They were true and powerful. No greater gift could a man receive. He had to stop writing. He couldn’t cover the revelation with another word. Not one more word. Those words, the concept they revealed, were sacred and needed to be set aside. Nothing could follow. But gratitude. But love.

“What can a human being do in response to the sacrifice of Jesus, except to emulate Christ as much as possible by service to humankind.” The seraphim smiled while ascending.

Basil stood up. Bent over and kissed the words he wrote. Then Basil turned around and went outside to enjoy the sunshine beaming warmth onto his lifted face.

……

Peter ran back to catch up with Jesus and soon heard the gang stomping their way to Jerusalem, like an army of demons on a mission. He ran towards the sound, being careful not to be seen. Peter spotted Jesus tied up like a lamb to slaughter flanked by men with swords marching beside Him. He stopped to look closely while catching his breath. He could hardly believe his eyes. How could His Lord who walked on water be tied up by hypocritical  hoodlums?

When they had all passed Peter who was hiding, he followed them far enough behind not to be noticed.

Meanwhile, the history of humankind, that for eons had been was moving in lockstep with the sun, took a major turn in its trajectory. Not since Noah’s flood, or the sacrifice of Isaac, or the parting of the Red Sea had human history pivoted so dramatically.

The judgement seat of man was about to be experienced by God whose condescension was about to hit rock bottom. Adding lies to their hypocrisy, hatred to their jealousy, violence to their mocking, left nothing more to for God to experience. With their freedom, these men as too many others, have thoroughly corrupted His image and likeness. Oh Adam, be in awe of His tolerance, emulate it and live.

From the site of His arrest, the police and soldiers accompanied by the priests, elders, and scribes who were lucky enough to be chosen for this important mission took Jesus hand-bound to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.   

It was late at night and Annas was home wishing to be able to go to sleep, but His son-in-law had told him earlier that they were sending a group out to find and arrest Jesus, and as was sometimes the case, they might confuse Annas’s house with Caiaphas’s, so he should be alert for late night visitors. There was no guarantee, but their informant seemed somewhat reliable. Annas had almost given up waiting and was ready for sleep when he heard heavy footsteps approaching followed by the anticipated knock on his door.

Annas’s servant opened the door and at the nod of Annas admitted the elders, priests and scribes, and Jesus flanked by two guards.

“Come in, come in.” welcomed Annas as if the midnight visit was ordinary. “So this is the Jesus, I’ve heard so much about!” Anna’s’ eyes fell in arrogance onto Jesus’s tied up hands, and then looked up at his eyes. Tell me Jesus, what have you been teaching your disciples that has gotten You into this predicament?”

Jesus replied matter-of-factly, “I have spoken openly to the world; I teach in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask Me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.”

Hearing the disrespect, the guard to His right took it upon himself to defend Annas and struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest’s father?”

Jesus recoiling at the smack that left a sore red handprint on His face answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, tell me exactly what I said that was wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why did you hit me?” The policeman shrugged not knowing how to answer.

Annas walked over to his door, opened it himself and told a soldier to go next door to Caiaphas‘s house to alert him. The soldier nodded and ran off, while the rest stood guard. Then he turned to Jesus and said, “Son, I’m afraid you are in big trouble. You have been venturing into dangerous territory for too long, and you will have to pay. May God be with you.” And then to the others in the room, he said, “Take him to Caiaphas, I need my sleep.”

The room emptied quickly with the victorious priests and scribes in the lead followed by Jesus and His guards.

Annas went to bed, but before he fell asleep he thought about what was happening. That man Jesus was so unusual, even in the state He was in. Then Anna’s remembered the day his son-in-law told him about his prophesy that it was better that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. Caiaphas said Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for the nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one (instead of twelve scattered tribes). So THAT was when Caiaphas and they all plotted to take His life! “But what would God do to them who kill Him? Would they be punished eternally, or forgiven?” thought Caiaphas falling into a deep sleep without an answer.

….

Caiaphas was ready. In fact, he was perturbed that they took Jesus to his father-in-law’s house to begin with. His congregation had gathered a handful of people who were prepared to be false witnesses against Jesus. Night court.

As the large room filled up, Jesus and his strongest guards were told to stand directly in front of the high priest’s elevated throne so he could sit while those addressing him stood.

Caiaphas looked around the room and asked, “Who wishes to present testimony against this man?”

One by one, three men came forward and gave their prepared testimonies, however, their testimonies conflicted. Noting this, Caiaphas raised his eyes in frustration and exclaimed, “Which is it!”

In an attempt to save the day, after all the trouble they had gone through to get Jesus to that point, they couldn’t fail to convict Him, two other men came forward after the three retreated in shame. The tallest one spoke up first saying, “That man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.” The other man nodded strongly and said, “I heard it myself. He threatened the temple, and claimed to be able to rebuild it in three days!”

Caiaphas stood up, towering over Jesus and the rest; and looking down at Jesus said, “What do You have to say for Yourself. That was a strong accusation!”

Jesus said nothing.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” He repeated louder.

Jesus didn’t reply.

Caiaphas said, “I put you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

Jesus continued to be non-responsive.

Wanting to get this over with, in frustration Caiaphas shouted, “By the living God, tell us now whether you are the Messiah! Are you the Son of God?!”

Finally, Jesus spoke up and simply said, “You said it.’ Then, quoting psalm 110, and Daniel 7:13, He added, “You will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Hearing that, Caiaphas grabbed his outer tunic and with a jerk of the arm, tore it off his shoulder while shouting “Blasphemy! What more do we need to hear?” Then, turning to the other priests for approval, he added. “What do you say?”

One chief priest shouted, “What more testimony do we need? We heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”

Several others chimed in unison, “He deserves death.” Everyone down to the last servant nodded, condemning Jesus to death.

The small nocturnal crowd, drunk with victory, became a violent mob. Man after man took out all his frustrations and pent up anger, more appropriately directed to their captors, the Romans, and spat in His face. Two particularly aggressive young men started pummeling Jesus with their fists as if He was a punching bag;  another struck Him with the palm of his hand and then roared, “Who struck you? Prophecy to us messiah!”

Before Jesus could shield his head with his tied together arms, a man held Him down while another blindfolded Him.

This gang violence went on for over an hour|. Ravenous with hatred and sense of victory, no one wanted to go home and sleep.

Eventually, the morning sun dawned in the east as if this was just another day.