Fifth Gospel (38 page)

He did not know. And so he walked away and tried to think no more on it.

‡

‘Reason and faith…polarities that are ever at war, one with the other,’ I said with a sigh, massaging my cramped hand.

‘
Mind and heart,
pairé
.’

‘Yes, yes…I know
…the middle way.’

‘You see,
if Pilate could only have seen beyond that life, his gaze would have fallen on an old man in Rome many centuries from that time – an old pontiff called Nicholas.’

‘Nicholas
?’ I sat up full of attention, ‘Which Nicholas? Not the Pope in the ninth century? Tell me, does Pontius Pilate become Nicholas I?’

‘Yes,
pairé…
imagine him sitting before a great fire holding an ancient codex, asking himself if he will throw it into the flames.’

‘What was this codex?’

‘
The Isidoric Decretals
. They were forgeries, which gave a pope power over unruly and immoral kings. He wanted to marry faith with reason once again. He was a good pope, the last pope who was inspired by the Holy Spirit.’

My mind was searching through the annals of knowledge in my head. ‘I remember…after
his death, there was a great council of the church in Constantinople. It used the power of these Isidoric Decretals to make it an anathema to say that a man was possessed of body, soul, and spirit! It was the cause of the schism between the Greeks and the Romans…Oh Lea! A Roman Procurator becomes a Roman Pope! His name was Pontius, and it becomes,
Pontifex Maximus
…Pontiff…Pope!’

‘Yes,
pairé
…he was still a bridge…Ponti.’

‘So
he
is responsible for us being upon this mountain then, responsible for the arguments between our church and the Romans concerning the Holy Spirit!’

‘I
n many ways you are united with Pilate through that one deed which began it all, long before, in Jerusalem.’

‘
Me?’ I said, shocked, my heart drained of blood. Now came the question that had lived silent and wary in my heart, ‘What do you mean, Lea? What deed? Who have I been in past lives and what shall I become?’

The light of the stars w
as in her eyes, she looked queenly then and full of knowledge. ‘That is why I am here…patience,
pairé
, soon you will come to know the world, and in the world you will recognise yourself.

SHOW AND TELL

W
hen
Pilate’s man arrived with the message that Jesus was on his way to his palace, Herod was flattered but not surprised. The night before he had been informed of the judgement by the hasty gathering of the Sanhedrin and this morning from his rooms built on the north side of the forum he could hear the commotion at the Gabbatha and had sent his own men to see to it.

Now he was full with anticipation as he sat upon his large dais set at the end of the great hal
l, anxious for it all to begin.

Gathered around him were those members of his court who were calle
d to observe the spectacle and Herodias his wife, wearing an incongruous white robe that made her countenance grey-grim.

Since the death of John the Baptist she had fallen into strange ways, shutting herself up in her rooms with the man’s decaying head and that sword of hers
. She had hoped to extract from them something to her gain but her disappointments had reverberated through the halls and courts of Machareus for weeks, foaming over the walls and catapulting onto the expanses of the Dead Sea. In truth, her screams and strange bouts of laughter had been enough to make even the ghosts of the old Hasmoneans shiver!

The poor woman ha
s lost her magic!

Yes! This was his lot! To have his ugly wife lose what had been her only talent in itself was bad enough, but why must it
come at a time when he was beset by so many concerns?

No
, nothing had gone well for him since the death of John the Baptist! For one thing, Salome had been thrown into despondency and kept herself shut up in her rooms and for another war threatened to break out at any time with King Aretas, his former father-in-law. On top of everything else that ominous shadow with its flapping wings kept him awake night after night, threatening to tear away his soul and to take it to hell.

So disturbed had he been by these night terrors that he
had finally succumbed to his doctor’s ministrations. They had given him a malodorous concoction to drink made from mushrooms and other heinous substances – a potion which brought him oblivion in the night, yes, but made him dull-headed in the day. To counter this they gave him stimulating herbs to chew, which made his muscles twitch and his eyes bulge and caused him to jump at the slightest noise. Soon he found himself afflicted with every degree of symptom known to mankind: itches, pustules, lack of feeling in his feet, pains in his muscles, headaches, sore teeth, bad breath, colic and poor digestion. His nerves were ruined, his mind was ravaged, his temper frayed.  He was certain that John the Baptist had added a further curse to cause his ailment, and he had but one hope.

Jesus of Nazareth.

Months ago he had sent his soldiers to Judea to look for the man but the fools had returned empty handed every time. Frustration and anger had filled his days and nights until now. Herod could hardly believe his luck. He was still in a good mood to think on it when the dreadful-thin Ananias and the short fat Caiaphas entered his hall.

These men were opposite characters
that had long ago found a common purpose and had made a marriage of their priesthood. Like mismatched twins they came into his presence without waiting to be announced, which annoyed him. Behind them came their prisoner in chains, dragged by a horde of brutal temple guards, which delighted him.

A second glance made him take a gasp of
surprise for the condition of the man that was brought before him.

Without waiting for Herod to speak
, the tiresome priests began their accusations, which he hardly heard, for he was already on his feet making a close examination of Jesus.

‘In the name of God!’ he exclaimed
. These words inspired a chorus of giggles from his audience and loud audible gasps from the priests. ‘What have your animals done to him?’

He walked around Jesus with a hand to his face, for the sme
ll of blood was decidedly high.

‘The animal is bruised and battered!’ he told them
. ‘Look at him! His eyes are near shut, his head is covered in mud and spittle and garbage, his nose is broken and he is full of cuts and bloodied all over! All of this before breakfast!’

Hoots of
laughter echoed in the hall.

Ananias, looking as if he had not slept all his life, moved an indolent eye over Hero
d and said, ‘He is a blasphemer, he desecrates the Sabbath and causes unrest in the people, he– ’

Herod raised a
cautionary hand. ‘Did I tell you to speak, old man?’

Ananias
was caught with his mouth open.

‘He calls you a fox!’ Caiaphas slipped
in.

‘Really? A fox?’ Herod turned around to his adoring audience, ‘Better a fox than a dog
like my father!’ He gave them a splendid smile.

In the midst of this splendour
Caiaphas was a black hole. ‘He has defiled Temple secrets! Who knows what else he’ll do? Moreover he says that he wishes to take away your kingdom! For this alone you must condemn him!’

Herod arched one plucked eyebrow very high
. ‘Must I?
Must
I? Well, well, what would I do without your counsel? But my dear priests, if Pontius Pilate did not feel compelled to find cause in him…why should I?’

Ananias came towards him
, breathing his malodorous breath into the space between them, ‘The governor is not a Jew and does not know our laws!’

Herod shrugged his shoulders and said pointedly, ‘Some say that I am not a Jew…’ he let it hang in the air like that
, and then made a laugh of it. ‘And as far as our laws go…well…’ he looked at Herodias, ‘they did not help us did they, my dear, when we wanted to marry?’

Herodias stared hatred and loathing from under that low brow at the priests but the rest of her was stock-still, like a dog that has lost its bite.

‘You should not have married a woman who is your sister-in-law and also your niece!’ Ananias spat out his reason. ‘The finger of God will find you as it found your father before you!’

Herod paled.

‘Snake!’ Herodias hissed.

‘She is wicked, my niece,’ Herod said to cover up his anxiety
and looked at his people. ‘Perhaps I shall have her reverse the miracle of Moses and turn these snakes into sticks!’

All broke out in
to required chuckles.

Herodias did not laugh.

Caiaphas, from behind his father-in-law, said, ‘What did you expect us to do? Flaunting your depravities in the open. Now you are facing a war with Aretas – all for that harlot!’

‘Tell them to shut up!’ his wife’s voice cut through the air like broken glass.

‘Yes, shut up!’ Herod reiterated without passion, ‘Both of you – get out!’ he clapped his hands, ‘We wish to interview the man alone.’

The two priests were shocked to the roots of their long greying beards,
but they stood their ground and did not make a move.

‘Out! Out!’ Herod shooed them like chickens, ‘Are you deaf as well as stupid?’

More chuckles and hoots, and they were gone with their sour looks.

Herod let his eye fall on Jesus.

He considered the man and a sudden and inexplicable terror came over him. He was glad he was not alone with him. Perhaps, he considered, this was John the Baptist, come again to curse him further?

He held his breath and controlled his fear and brought calmness to bear
upon his soul. ‘I have long desired to speak with you, Jesus…’ he said, mincing his words. ‘I have wished to ask you of your doings for I have heard much of your wisdom and this Kingdom of Heaven of which you teach…I would like you to tell me about it.’

He waited but there was no response.

‘They say you can perform miracles…that you can turn stones to bread, or perhaps it is that you turn bread to flesh? I have heard that you like to divulge priestly secrets to the multitudes. Will you not divulge something now to us? We have heard, for instance, that you can raise the dead and cause the blind to see. How comes this talent to you? Will you not show us one of your tricks? Come! Perform a miracle to amuse us. Can you cure nightmares? Can you take away the stains of the blood, the madness of souls? Can you take the ache from bones? No? Perhaps you need a greater challenge to impress us…we give you permission to destroy the armies of Aretas!’

Jesus did not look up but stood
, leaning and silent, with blood dripping from his wounds.

Herod put his sandal to the blood to rub it into the stone tile and it smudged and made a red mess, which vexed him. He sensed restlessness in the air, by now he must seem a fool. He proposed to himself alternatives
.

‘I have long wondered if your powers come from
the spirit of John the Baptist. They say he lives inside you, is this true?’ He encircled Jesus. ‘Like two peas in a pod? And while we are on the matter, I will tell you that it was not my wish to kill the baptiser. We had many conversations together and I was beginning to feel a certain…friendship growing between us. It was, well, it was an unfortunate oath, which I could not undo, you see, and before I knew it, his head was on a platter! I am sorely unhappy for it and I wish there were a way for him to know that I meant him no harm…perhaps you can speak with him on my behalf? If you can raise the dead surely you can speak with them? Tell me, how is it for them, do they suffer much? Is there such a place as hell? Is it as they say, separated from heaven by a hand’s breath? Is it full of burning coals and sparks of fire to punish the wicked? Tell us…can you wipe away the sins of men? Can you take away the shadows of wrongdoing that like a bird’s wing flaps over the wicked?’

He paused
, sensing their nearness. This sensing filled him with vexation. ‘For the love of God!’ he shouted, stamping a bloody sandal. ‘Why don’t you answer? I have the power to release you from these chains, and this humiliation! I can ensure your freedom if you tell me something marvellous, if you show me some…some small miracle! If you do, I will keep the priests from tearing out your throat like blooded dogs!’

But the man was obdurate, as pale as a statue beneath the butchering.

‘Make him speak, Herod!’ his wife shouted, and his court broke out in agreement.

Crossly, Herod gathered his soul in, for he wanted to splutter and spit out his wrath but instead
he took another tack, ‘Kings from the East visited my father, looking for a child…’ he narrowed his eyes and came very near Jesus, ‘they called him a king! Is it true that you are this child who escaped from my father’s clutches? If so, how did you manage it? Did you make yourself disappear? Come…do you think yourself the King of Israel?’

Not a word escaped the wounded man.

Herod, full of frustration, lashed out, ‘Answer me!!!!’

A curdled silence fell in the great hall as Herod walked away from Jesus to sit upon his cushions. He wanted to rip out the man’s tongue for his insolent silence
, but outwardly he made light of it before it was too late.

‘He is a fool!’ he said, making a
merry laugh.

‘Then he is a fool that has made a fool of you!’ Herodias said, quite taken with her own wit, ‘I think him smarter than John the Baptist!’

‘No!’ Herod said to her, ‘Even I can see it…he is nothing like that great man!’ He looked at the feeble figure, standing in chains. ‘He is not a king or a Messiah! The people may have sung Hosannas when you rode into the city on an ass,’ he said to him, ‘but now they call for your blood, if I let you go, they will surely get it!’

Jesus of Nazareth looked at him a moment and Herod grew hopeful. The moment was long and in that stare lived a form of heavenly wrath
, which took away Herod’s breath and planted in him a feeling he had never before experienced.

He sat up. His face grew warm.

Shame!

He did not like this new-felt sensation and broke the stare. The burning feeling died down. It was plain now
, that he could not coax the man to converse on level terms. Feeling querulous, with his brain pulsing against his skull for this quiet ridicule, he called for the priests. He told them, with no small satisfaction, that he could not condemn a man whom Pontius Pilate had pronounced innocent for the sake of good relations with an old enemy – Pilate. Besides, the man Jesus did not seem guilty of anything, he was simply mad.

‘He is as mad as they come!’
He said.

Herodias and his entire court found this touchingly funny and they laughed and laughed
until they near burst.

Herod watched the priests leave and ordered
their Levites to return Jesus to Pilate, urging them to have some merriment with him along the way.

‘Amuse yourselves! Pay homage to the king of Israel.’

‘Here…’ said Herodias flinging her robe across the room. ‘Use this as a symbol of his purity, that all may see it and laugh as we have laughed!’

The
Levites placed the white robe over the man’s shoulders and they did laugh all of them, except Herod, who did not feel merry at all, for he heard the flapping and saw those shadows come again to drive him mad.