The Chronicle of Christ: The Origin

The Chronicle of

CHRIST

The Origin

A Novel

By

Anthony Onugba

Copyright © 2011 Anthony Onugba.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-2994-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-2995-0 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-2996-7 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011918971

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Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/04/2011

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

This book is dedicated to all of creation, to the greater Glory of God and Honour of Mother Mary.

Although this book bears some resemblance to the Holy Bible, it is by no means meant to replace the Holy book. This is just a novel and should be regarded as such.

Chapter 1

Zachariah

A very cold and windy morning it was in the hill country of Judea. A man walked briskly towards his destination with a walking stick as his companion. The stars ruled over the sky at that time as the sun had not risen yet while the moon was absent. The presence of the stars, blinking at almost every second, made the sky a beautiful sight to behold. Only those who cared to look saw the magnificence of the sky which was painted with stars. But for this man, he fell into the category of those who didn’t bother to look. It was the least of his worries at that time as he made his way through the darkness without a torch towards a destination which was familiar to him. He was going to the temple. He had served in this same temple for many years now and knew his way there even with his eyes closed. This was probably one of the reasons why he didn’t bother taking a torch.

As he approached the temple, he stopped for a while and took his time with the support of his stick to climb the stairs. The stick, which has been his companion for some years now, was older than he was. It had been passed on from one generation to another until it got to him. He had hoped that he too would pass it on to his son, who would keep it until his grey days and then use it just like his father and others before him had done. The only problem was that he had no one to pass it on to as he had no child of his own. He had tried so hard in the past by offering sacrifices to God, embarking on several days of fasting and spending hours in prayer but to no avail. This was one of the various thoughts that ran through his mind at that time. In fact, this was the one that had built a house in his mind in the last two decades. This was why he had no time to look at the sky or notice the absence of the moon. He had other things to contend with.

When he had climbed up the stairs of the temple, he made his way towards the sacristy where the meeting was scheduled to hold. He kept wondering why the meeting was scheduled so early in the morning. He pondered on this as he drew closer to the sacristy. He began to hear voices which got louder as he approached and as he opened the door, the voices immediately vanished. Everywhere became silent as some pairs of eyes stared at him. The room was lit with two torches of fire which made it fairly visible to see the faces of those present. He entered quietly and closed the door behind him.

There were six men there all dressed in priestly robes. One of them, the high priest, walked up to the man with arms outstretched. He placed his arms on his shoulders and said cheerfully, Welcome, Zachariah, we have been waiting for you.

I am sorry for the delay in getting here, Your Holiness, Zachariah said, I had to finish my prayers and was only informed of this meeting last night.

The high priest nodded in agreement but remained silent as the five other priests now fixed their gaze on him, waiting for him to state the reason why they were all gathered there so early in the morning.

Zachariah, the high priest continued, you are the reason we are all here.

I am listening, he replied.

Well, you see, the high priest continued, we are all men of the Most High God and we follow the laws as handed over to us by Moses and the prophets of old. We are all holy in this service. We are holy in the sight of God and men. God has bestowed upon us everything that we ask for and has denied us nothing. He then turned to face the other priests. Is it the truth I speak?

It is, they echoed.

Zachariah sighed.

But for you my friend, he said, as he circled Zachariah, we have every reason to doubt your holiness as you are still in need. He then stopped behind him and said, You are in need of an offspring.

Zachariah lowered his head. His face lost all expression. The only expression he had on his face a while ago, which was that of curiosity, had vanished. He now knew why the meeting was called and the rationale behind it.

He raised his head and said, A child is a gift from the Lord God Almighty. He decides when to give and when to take. I do not challenge Him for leaving me childless all these years. He then paused for a moment and said, God knows best.

Dudel, who was Zechariah’s closest friend among the priests, motioned to speak. The high priest gave him a nod. He began to speak, trying his best to avoid Zachariah’s eyes. We all know that ‘God knows best’ but we have to consider the people we are leading. We have to consider the flock under our care or else we will be punished by the Most High God who knows best.

That is correct! The high priest interjected, we must take proper care of the flock under our care. We are answerable to God Almighty should any of the flock get lost. We must appear commendable by God to the people. All our prayers must be seen to be answered by God Himself or we will be looked at as sinful and faithless priests who cannot even get the God we serve to grant us all we ask for.

Zachariah raised his voice a little, I belong to the priestly order of Abijah and never was it known that they were faithless! He then paused for a while, and speaking in a lower tone he said, I admit I am a sinner but then, aren’t we all? I admit I sometimes lose faith but, I still believe that God can give me a child even in my old age as he did in the life of Abraham and his wife Sarah.

God gave Abraham a son because He wanted to maintain the covenant He had with him with his son, Isaac, Gilad said. He stood by the right-hand side of Dudel followed by the high priest and the three other priests, Aviv, Evron and Lieber. They had all formed a semi circle around Zachariah as though he was on trial.

Remember, Abraham had a child with Sarah’s maid, Hagar and he was named Ishmael. Your wife Elizabeth is surrounded by beautiful maids. Why don’t you sleep with one of them or two if you like, so that you can rid yourself and our priesthood of this shame that you have put upon our shoulders? Lieber asked.

I am so disappointed in you, Lieber! Zachariah exclaimed. How can you suggest that I do such a thing? It is unholy in the sight of God! I can’t do it!

God will understand, Aviv said, in a low tone.

Yes, God will surely understand, Evron echoed.

Zachariah was stunned. He turned to the high priest. You don’t agree to this, do you?

We must always do the will of God. It is our calling and we must heed to this call.

But this is not the will of God! Zachariah screamed.

The high priest grinned.

Do you believe that the voice of the people is the voice of God? He asked.

Yes, I do believe. Zachariah replied.

Do you also believe that the voice of the priests and prophets in the days of old till now is also the voice of God?

Yes, I believe.

Then be rest assured that God has spoken through us, the high priest said, we are all holy priests. You must pick one of your maids for your pleasure. Do it secretly, if you must, but the people must know that God answers us and, the outcome of your action with the maid will be proof of this. You are to hide your wife and the maid from the eyes of the public and only reveal them when the maid has given birth to a child for you. Then you will tell the people that God has worked a miracle in your house and has given you a child in your old age. This would make the people respect you as they respect Abraham and it will be a proof that God listens.

Zachariah shook his head.

I can never do such a thing. It is sin in the sight of God. I will be punished by Him if I do. My wife and I belong to the same priestly order. We believe in God and fear Him. I am sorry but I can never do such a thing.

The high priest placed his right hand on Zachariah’s left shoulder and said calmly, You don’t have to make this difficult. God gives children but, we sometimes must help Him to do His will. I have been in situations which I acted contrary to what you would call ‘doing right’ and, the results were clearly in my favour. I am fulfilled in this life.

What about the next life? Zachariah asked, slowly removing the hand of the high priest from his shoulder, what about in the presence of the God we serve?

The high priest pointed at Zachariah. "We have spoken!