The Hand of Christ (36 page)

Michael Sr. stared at the book like a six-year-old that just woke up and raced to the Christmas tree seeing his very first dirt bike underneath it. He reached to touch it, but quickly withdrew his hand before doing so.

“
Michael, go over to my book case, the second drawer from the bottom. Open it; get me the cotton gloves that are in it.”

Obediently, Michael did what he was told while his father hovered over the top of the book.

Handing the gloves to his father, the elder man donned them; he wanted to protect the ancient book from the invisible oils and dirt particles that were on every person’s hands.

“
Dad, that thing has been through a battle, four flights, and has been next to my skin for the last nine hours. I don’t think touching it will do any more harm than already has been done.”

His Dad looked at him like he had just committed the ultimate sin, and glared, “No reason to make it worse.”

Michael watched his father open the book slowly. He turned the pages with excruciating care. Each turn of each page caused the man’s entire disposition to shift; he looked as if he had just found the Holy Grail.

“
Michael, do you know what this is?”

“
The Hand of Christ?”

“
Yes, the Hand of Christ, but it is more. If this is real, it is definitive proof that Jesus did not die on the cross.”

“
What do you mean if it is real?”

“
Son, this book is not two-thousand years old.”

“
It’s not?”

“
No, absolutely not; it is old but not that old. The type of paper and craftsmanship used in this book wasn’t around until the 12
^th
century AD. However,” he carefully turned back the book’s pages until the first two were open before both men. “These pages here, they are certainly much older than the rest of the book.”

“
How can you be so certain?”

“
The paper used for the first two pages of the book is actually a thin sheet of different vellum than the rest; I am surprised that it hasn’t succumbed to time. In order for it to have lasted this long it needed to have been kept in an environment with a relative humidity around thirty percent, plus or minus a few percentage points. Underground usually works the best. Do you see how the first two pages are slightly opaque and the others are not?”

Michael peered at the pages, “Yes, I can see that, almost as if they are translucent. What does that mean?”

“
This is calf vellum,” he flipped the page carefully over showing its backside. “These grain patterns you see on the back are further proof; these can only come from un-split calfskin. If you look at the rest of the page in the book, you can see that they do not have these patterns or the translucent appearance. Most likely, the other pages were processed with a newer technique using sheepskin – relatively speaking of course.”

Look closer, Michael,” Michael leaned in to get a better look of the two pages. “Tell me what you see, son.”

Michael was bent over and staring intensely at the first two pages of the book, on one of them was the Hand of Christ in a faded red ink. Underneath he could see Hebrew letters spelling the name “Yeshua,” which was scribed boldly. The vellum was rather thin and looked frail, immediately shaming Michael for the way he treated the artifact, “What am I looking for, Dad?”

His father loved this moment and was trying to enjoy every second of it. When Michael was growing up, he had dreamed that one day he and his son would work together, side by side, and just as they are now. They would have studied artifacts, written books and taught the world of the historical significance and relevance of their research. It was his dream, but not Michael’s.

He tried his best to enjoy it while it lasted.

“
Look closely, Michael, don’t look at what’s on the pages but look at the pages.”

Michael squinted, trying to force the answer, then it hit him, “They are one page!”

“
Right!” His father nearly jumped with excitement. “The two pages are one. The vellum was folded in half and stitched down the middle of the crease. This page was added to the book, what do think that means?” Michael’s father already knew the answer.

“
Well, it would mean that this page is not part of original book.” Michael stopped, instantly knowing his mistake, “No, that’s not right. It’s the other way around; the book is not part of the original page.”

Michael knew his father was keeping something from him, “Dad, what do you know?” The man was smiling broadly.

“
Son, let’s take a seat.” His father pulled out a cheap and wobbly faded wood chair for his son, he sat in another, which was just as frail and had multiple layers of multi-colored chipping paint. The two chairs didn’t match, but each was as equally old as the other: typical eccentric-college-professor furniture.

Michael stared intently at his father; it was the same way he looked at him when he was a kid. On every Sunday, the entire family would sit together for dinner; Michael would inhale his food while his father enjoyed his slowly. He was an impatient child on Sundays. Once dinner was finished, his father would push away his plate, ask for desert, and turn to tell him a story in dramatic fashion about some fantastic element of history.

Michael could never wait patiently, and always begged his father to hurry. After serving desert, his mother would just sit and smile. It was the only time he remembered seeing his mother smile around her husband. When his father spoke, Michael would stare wide-eyed at him just as he is now, soaking up every word and projecting himself to that place in time his father spoke of.

Sitting at the small table, the book between them, his father was feeling the same nostalgia.

“
History tells us that in the early parts of the first century AD, a young Jewish aristocrat sought his rightful place on the throne of Israel. The man, Jesus of Nazareth, was born of the tribe of Judah and, as a Jewish man whose family held a high place in society, he was required to marry.”

“
Wait a second, Dad; I thought he was a carpenter and poor.”

“
This is a common mistake that has never been corrected. It’s easier to love a poor man than a rich one. Besides, the many translations of the Bible over the centuries have led to ambiguous, antiquated words and phrases being misinterpreted. Hell, one of the main fights between church Bishops that led to the Council of Nicaea was to determine if the words “born” and “begotten” mean the same thing or not! In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was called the son of a “tekton.” This is a Greek word meaning builder and not carpenter. The correct word in Greek for carpenter is “maragkos.” I don’t think the Gospel of Mark would have made such an obvious error. There is a tremendous difference in class between a builder and a carpenter just like there is today.”

“
How does Mary Magdalene fit into this, how do you know that they were married?”

“
I don’t,” responded his father. “There’s a good chance he didn’t even exist, Michael. But for the sake of this discussion, let’s assume otherwise. In the first century, it was as important then as it is today in many cultures to marry within the same level of class, He needed a wealthy bride and married Mary Magdalene of the tribe of Benjamin. You have to understand that an unmarried Jew traveling around the kingdom preaching would have contradicted the divine commandment to “be fruitful and multiply.” Mary was constantly with him; there is no dispute there whatsoever. In the Gospel of Philip, she was called His “koinonos,” which is Greek for companion or lover.

“
Dad, if the two were married; how does this translate to Jesus being a king and their bloodline having rights to the throne?”

“
The marriage between Mary and Jesus bound the Davidic line, the ruling line with rights to the throne of Israel.”

“
If Jesus married Magdalene why would the Church not teach this?”

“
Michael, your question is critical and relates to the Crucifixion. I will get to the answer soon.”

Michael just stared at his father wanting for more.

Michael Sr. continued, “As you know, as the rest of the world knows, Jesus preached of mankind’s salvation by the Heavenly Father for their sins, he preached of moral living. The Empire usually didn’t pay much attention to its many religions or the preaching of men. So long as the citizens of Rome remained civil and obedient they cared little about its people’s beliefs.”

“
But where did the Crucifixion come into play? Why do billions believe that Jesus was crucified if it didn’t really happen, why didn’t Rome care?”

“
Still a bit impatient I see; one question at a time, my boy. I guess I had better get a move on with my story. The tale leading to the Crucifixion has been told countless times over the centuries. What we are taught today is that Jesus entered Herod’s Temple during Passover and was so enraged at what he saw, money changers that extorted a profit from the exchange of currencies and livestock running around, that he made a whip of chords, drove out the cattle, released caged birds and threw over the tables. Damn near created a riot you would think. The Prefect didn’t care about Jesus, his preaching, or his followers, this wasn’t the problem.”

Like nearly everyone in the world, Michael knew the problem, “He was arrested for sedition.”

“
That’s right. It was Jesus’ blatant attempts at usurping the Prefect’s authority that could not be tolerated. Rome didn’t take it lightly when her laws were ignored. Jesus’ outburst was seen as a seditious act and was to be punished by Roman law. It’s a simple matter really: Jesus broke the law. In Rome, there was only one punishment for the crime of sedition.”

Michael knew what that punishment was, “Death.”

“
That’s right, son, he was sentenced to die. It would be the standard message, an example to the rest of the citizen’s to obey the laws of Rome or suffer the consequence. It had nothing to do with his preaching or his religion. As I said, Rome didn’t care about one man’s religion and certainly cared little about Jesus. All Rome wanted was that you were acting in a lawful and civil manner and that you paid your taxes.”

“
It’s always about money isn’t it?”

His father smiles, “That and power, son, men will do anything to get them both, which, to answer your first question, is precisely why the marriage between Jesus and Magdalene was not taught. If Jesus would have died, whether on the cross or from old age, the right to inherit his power and wealth would have automatically passed to Magdalene, his wife.”

“
But the Church couldn’t allow it.”

“
Right son, there was absolutely no way the Church would allow this. She had to be removed from the picture and Jesus had to appear to have died and unmarried.”

Michael jumped in, “That would sever any connection between the Davidic line and the Roman Church.” Michael’s father didn’t mind the interruption, his son was right.

The two men both sat back, the thought of Jesus not dying reminded him of Yousef. As only a father could know, he saw the pain written on his son’s face.

“
What is it, Michael, what is causing you so much trouble right now?”

“
I lost someone close to me Dad, in Syria. He was the one who gave me this book; he told me that Yeshua didn’t die on the cross.”

Michael’s father could sense that he couldn’t speak of his loss, “I am sorry, son. I wish that there was something that I could do.”

“
Finish your story, Dad, tell me how the Crucifixion is related to all of this. Where does this book fit into it?”

“
Pontius Pilate, the Prefect of Judea, had issued the sentence of death on Jesus; to this end I believe history is reasonably accurate. Where history has been manipulated is after Pilate’s condemnation of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea knew of Jesus’ right to rule from the throne, he craved the return of the king and was a secret disciple of Jesus. He struck a deal with Pilate, it was Passover and Joseph knew that a killing wouldn’t sit well with the citizens during the holiday. Traditionally, someone is spared during Passover, and Joseph convinced Pilate to let Jesus live so long as he left Rome and never returned. A crucifixion was the last thing that would be tolerated during the holiday, and Pilate risked a greater uprising if he had allowed it to happen.”

“
So Pilate agreed. There must have been other prisoners that he could have freed?”

“
Yes. But there is a lot of conjecture as to why the Prefect would agree to free Jesus and no other. Joseph was a fairly rich man, and most of us believe that he simply paid off the Prefect.”

“
As simple as that, Dad?”

“
Yes, son, as simple as that. Money buys a lot of things. You have to remember that in the first century Jesus was no different than one of those annoying evangelical preachers you see on late night TV preaching to a stadium full of people: a handful of loud followers and the butt of jokes to everyone else. He wasn’t taken seriously. Christianity wasn’t even a religion at the time but was an offshoot of Judaism; it was a Jewish sect! Hell, it wasn’t even the official religion of Rome for another three-hundred years!”

“
Then what, how do we get to present day?”

“
It’s a rather long story, intertwined with centuries of power struggles, the absorption of numerous Pagan religions and the passing of their traditions as Christian; deceit, torture, treachery, and the growth of the monotheism that we have today.”