Chapter One
For The Record
This is a book about the most dramatic day in the history of
the world, the day on which Jesus of Nazareth died. It opens
at 6 p.m. - the beginning of the Hebrew day - with Jesus and
ten of the apostles coming through the pass between the Mount
of Olives and the Mount of Offense en route to Jerusalem and
the Last Supper. It closes at 4 p.m. of the following
afternoon, when Jesus was taken down from the cross.
This book, more than any other with which I have been
associated, is the product of the intelligence of others. The
fundamental research was done a long time ago by four fine
journalists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The rest has been
added, in bits and pieces and slivers of knowledge from many
men whose names span the centuries in the indelible challenge
of the written word: Cyril of Jerusalem, Flavius Josephus,
Edersheim, Gamaliel, Danby, William, Ricciotti, Lagrange,
Kugelman, Hoenig, Benoit, Barber, Goodier, Prat. These and
more added to the sum of knowledge between these covers.
It is, I hope, a practical approach to the events of that day;
a journalistic historian's approach rather than that of a
theologian. Most of all, I wanted to see Jesus, the man,
during this time when he chose to suffer as a man. And I
wanted to see him move among his people, among the many who
loved him as the Son of God, and among the few in the temple
who despised him as a faker. Along the way, I wanted to see,
as close up as possible, the twelve whom Jesus selected to
carry his word to the world; the thousands of disciples who
followed him up and down the hill country; I wanted to
understand why Annas, the old man, and Caiphas, the younger
one, were desperate to kill the Galilean; if possible, I
wanted to probe the self-imposed limitations of Jesus when he
came here as man, and I wanted to understand his relationship
with God the Father and God the Holy Ghost.
Each chapter of the book is an hour, and there are three
background chapters: one is entitled "The Jewish World"; one
is called "Jesus" and traces his background and that of his
family; and one is called "The Roman World." Of these, the
most important is "The Jewish World" because, unless the
reader understands the land of Palestine two thousand years
ago and gets to see the people, he will not understand this
particular day. And it was precisely because so many of the
Jewish people believed in Jesus that the elders of thekit
impelled to plot against his life - or else, as the high
priests said: "He will lead the people astray."
This day bred love and bred rancor and both are still with us.
It changed the course of history. In time, it brought nations
to the surface, and then submerged them into everlasting
limbo. It affected races of people for weal or woe and it
affected the lives of billions of individuals. And yet, when
friends took Jesus down from the cross, it was not considered
by the world - even the world of Palestine - to be an event
of importance.
Many of the people of Jerusalem and of Galilee and in the
small villages around the land who believed that Jesus was the
Messiah were disappointed. To their way of thinking, Jesus
should have called legions of angels and struck down the
Romans and the high priests who executed his death. He should
have sat on a cloud flanked by his apostles and proclaimed a
new rule of the world. The fact that he did not - that he
chose to die to redeem the sins of man - was, to their minds,
a token of failure. Crucifixion was considered to be such a
shameful way to die that, for some time afterward, even his
apostles did not want to discuss it.
Of paramount concern to me was to try to orient the facts of
this day. My sole armament in this was, first, a lifelong
belief that Jesus is God and the second person of the Trinity;
second, an unquenchable curiosity to which I have become
enslaved; and third, a feeling that Jesus truly loved
everyone, and proved it.
In the research, I found split trails all along the road. At
these points, I felt free to take the one to the left, or the
one to the right. For example, was the Roman Procurator,
Pontius Pilate, at the Fortress Antonia on this particular day
or across town in Herod's palace? A small point, perhaps, but
there is evidence favoring both conclusions. In all cases, I
examined the evidence and selected what, to me, seemed to be
the logical trail.
Nothing in this book controverts the teachings of the Bible.
One who believes in the truth of the Gospels (as I have - and
do) must confess to a certain lack of objectivity. But I also
claim to be a journalist; I felt that my job was, first of
all, to proceed independently. While researching material for
this book, I made a trip to Jerusalem accompanied by my
twelve-year-old daughter, Gayle, to whom I am indebted for
endless conversation, innocent questions, and the rich warmth
of her feeling that all along the way she was taking care of
me.
In Jerusalem - the ancient walled city, not the beautiful new
one to the west - one can still walk the way of the cross,
kneel in Gethsemane,stand on top of the Mount of Olives and
visualize the Holy City as it was, touch the spot where the
cross stood, and 120 feet northwest walk into the holy
sepulcher. The writer can also meet archeologists of the
several faiths, and this one did. These dedicated men - Catholics,
Jews, Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists,
Lutherans - are all eager to help, and each one adds a brush
stroke to a portrait.
(Continues.)
