Narratives of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus of Nazareth: Book Three

© 2013 Del Mueller. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 1/7/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4772-6117-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-6226-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012915129

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The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Dedicated to

my best friend and spouse of 60 years,

Dorleen,

and our family,

Christine, Paul, Lois, Susan,

Joy, Pamela, Mark

Acknowledgements

A project of this magnitude requires the care and attention beyond that of the author. To help bring this book to fruition I owe a special thanks to Dr. R. Allan Zimmer, Professor emeritus, Concordia University Chicago, for his detailed editing of the manuscript. I am also indebted to Rev. Dr. Kenneth Heinitz and Dr. Merle Radke, Professors emeriti, Concordia University Chicago and Rev. Thomas Johnson. All have offered helpful suggestions to the manuscript. I am also blessed to have the participation of my wife, Dorleen, and friends, Jewel Laabs and Laura Latzke. Their careful examination of what I had written was invaluable.

Special thanks to Jeffery W. Hamilton, pastor of La Vista Church of Christ, La Vista, Nebraska, for his invaluable help securing many of the intext graphics used in this series.

Permission granted by the La Vista Church of Christ, La Vista, Nebraska for inclusion of the following graphics:

Jesus drives out the temple merchants

Jesus washes the feet of the disciples

Notes for the Reader

The four Biblical authorities on whom these narratives are based are the Gospel writers: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John. Each contributed a unique perspective to the events associated with the passion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord.

While Matthew and John wrote of their personal contacts with Jesus, the same may not be said for Luke. Since it is generally agreed that Luke never met Jesus while he was on earth, it may be assumed that all of Luke’s Gospel writings were the consequence of conversations with those who had personally witnessed life with Jesus.

Mark, as a young man, probably did have some personal contact with Jesus, since his mother, Mary, offered her home to the disciples following the Resurrection. It may be assumed that much of the detail in Mark’s Gospel was not based on personal experience, but rather gained through conversations and inquiries with his spiritual father, Peter, and with others who walked with Jesus during that three year ministry. However, much of the passion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ can reasonably be regarded as part of Mark’s personal experience.

The story you are about to read may be considered an historical novel. I wrote about the events just prior to Palm Sunday, and on through Holy Week, Resurrection Sunday, and the Post Resurrection days as I imagined the various characters in the Biblical story might have described them. There is no certainty that my imaginations are correct; thus -- a novel. The narratives are presented as first-person accounts of the events related to Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection through his ascension, told by the various persons who witnessed them.

I have attempted to posture the reader as the one who is listening to the teller; the person who lived the event. I have therefore entitled each narrative as: Then The Teller Said, and provided a graphic and a brief biography of that person.

I tried to tell the Biblical stories accurately, attempting to assure that nothing in the narratives conflicted directly with what is recorded in Holy Scriptures. However, to make a story line flow it became necessary to provide anecdotal information when no detail was offered in the Scriptures. Where this happened, I invented actions, relationships, and dialogue that to me seemed a reasonable possibility.

Assigning identities to the various persons who told their stories proved to be an unresolved challenge. There is no certainty about some relationships. I chose to assign the identity of the women who witnessed Christ’s passion and resurrection as follows: Mary, the mother of James the Less and Joseph, as the wife of Cleopas, one of the two men on the way to Emmaus; Salome as the mother of James and John, wife of Zebedee, and the sister of Mary, Jesus’ mother. Thus James and John are cousins of Jesus. I also chose to identify Cleopas as brother to Jesus’ step-father, Joseph. [See Appendix A] There is no way to prove these relationships are correct. For some interpretations, acceptable supporting tradition can be found; for others, minimal traditional support. The reader will decide the legitimacy of the choices.

Sequencing events was sometimes difficult where no indisputable chronological order was found. One example: There are three Scriptural narratives that could be entitled, Jesus is Anointed at Bethany. In their Gospels, Matthew and Mark locate the reporting of this event after Palm Sunday, suggesting it took place on Tuesday or Wednesday of Holy Week. John clearly states that the event happened prior to Palm Sunday. I chose to sequence the anointing using John’s calendar.

While there is no convincing evidence in Scripture that it is true, I chose to have Simon the Leper be the one healed leper of the ten healed lepers who returned to give thanks to Jesus. Such an assumption provided logic for Simon inviting Jesus to dinner.

A Bar Mitzvah kind of event is mentioned once in the narratives. While there is no direct reference to it in Scripture, I assumed a similar rite of passage, which I labeled Day of Dedication, was practiced in Jesus’ day.

Another concern related to housing in Jerusalem. Where did the supporters of Jesus stay while visiting Jerusalem? Tradition tells us that Jesus’ mother was born in Jerusalem; very probably while her parents, Joachim and Anne, were still living with Anne’s parents. In the narratives, Joachim and Anne, after having moved from Jerusalem to Nazareth for a major part of their married life, returned to Jerusalem to support Anne’s parents in their old age. Prior to Anne’s parents’ death, Joachim purchased the Jerusalem home. Since I posit that Joachim and Anne had two daughters and no sons, I conclude that in their later years they sold their property to Mother Mary’s brother-in-law, Zebedee.

Lazarus and Simon the Leper owned property in Bethany and Mark’s mother, Mary, had a large house in Jerusalem. A fourth lodging possibility was to again use the Upper Room of the Passover, a space I assigned as belonging to Nicodemus.

These five locations served as temporary homes for the disciples and other friends.

The narratives attempt to integrate the various events of the passion as told by the four writers, each writing from a different perspective, into a single, logical, reasonable sequence of events.

It may be assumed that some anecdotal narrative is poorly chosen and some imagined actions are not sufficiently supported by known facts. What is certain and faith building is not the peripheral information I have added, but rather the teaching of Scripture alone.

My purpose for this book is to help the reader gain a comprehensive overview of the activities related to our Lord’s final days on earth, providing a probable story line that flows from event to event.

My hope is that these narratives will provide some additional degree of reality to the events surrounding the passion of Jesus of Nazareth, and thus make these happenings more understandable and acceptable as truth.

I ask the reader to pardon any errors and weak assumptions, and thus enjoy my version of the episodes related to the passion, resurrection, and ascension of the Christ.

The Good News Bible and Good News for Modern Man were used as a guiding source when quoting or paraphrasing.

Discussion questions are found at the end of the book. These will hopefully encourage thoughtful inquiry regarding each narrative. Since I acknowledge that many, perhaps all of the narratives could embody a more reliable interpretation of the Scriptural events, I have added a last question to each narrative which states: If you had written this narrative, how would the content of the story differ?

Hopefully, readers’ understandings will lead toward more scripturally credible versions of particular narratives. The author welcomes readers’ feedback.

Delbert Mueller

delmueller@att.net

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Notes for the Reader

Then Blind Bartimaeus Said

Then Philip Said

Then Simon the Zealot Said

Then Andrew Said

Then Peter Said

Then Isaac the Caterer Said

Then James of Zebedee Said

Then John Said

Then Peter Said

Then Caiaphas Said

Then Pilate Said

Then Adrian the Commander Said

Then Judas Iscariot Said

Then Mary of Cleopas Said

Then Peter Said

Then Lazarus Said

Then Salome Said

Then Peter Said

Then Mary Magdalene Said

Then Nathaniel Said

Then Cleopas Said

Then Mark Said

Then Thomas Said

Then Peter Said

Then Matthew Said

Then James the Just Said

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B – MAP OF ISRAEL DURING MINISTRY OF JESUS

APPENDIX C – MAP OF JERUSALEM DURING EARTHLY MINISTRY OF JESUS

APPENDIX D - HEROD’S TEMPLE MOUNT

APPENDIX E – HEROD’S TEMPLE

Discussion Questions

RRATOR   TOPIC   PAGE

Bartemaeus   Bartemaeus, Zachaeus, Simon/Mary Anoints Jesus

Then Blind Bartimaeus Said

I am Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. I was blind; I begged for a living. My friend, Joshua was also blind. He and I often sat together when we begged; it’s nice to have company.

That’s what we were doing when we heard the commotion -- the clatter -- the voices! – Excited voices – happy voices – rejoicing voices! They were coming toward us. Above the chatter and yelling we heard the call, Jesus of Nazareth! Jesus is leaving town!

Our usual begging station was just inside the south end of the old town of Jericho, where the road to Jerusalem begins. When we heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming our way we began to yell -- as loudly as we could, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us! . . . Have mercy! . . . Jesus, have mercy!

As the crowd approached, they warned us to be quiet. But I couldn’t be quiet; I couldn’t let this opportunity pass; I might never have this chance again. So I yelled even louder, Son of David, have mercy on me!

Then it happened; they said he was calling for us. I threw off my cloak and, as fast as I dared, stumbled toward him; my friend also, until we stood directly before him. Then I heard him say:

What do you want me to do for you?

Wonder of wonders! I pleaded, Teacher, I want to receive my sight! My friend pleaded, Lord, let our eyes be opened!

The Master touched Joshua’s eyes and declared:

Go; your faith has made you well.

Then Jesus touched my eyes and said:

Then see! Your faith has made you well.

Then – like magic – immediately!

I could see! I saw the Teacher . . . faces . . . bodies . . . legs . . . arms … buildings . . . the road; I could see . . . everything! And wonder of wonders, my friend could also see! We joined the Teacher’s entourage and followed him.

After walking a short distance, the strangest thing happened!

There was this little man – standing astride two overhanging branches in a tree. I could actually see him! Imagine me, a short time ago, blind, now looking up at a middle aged male precariously balancing himself high in a sycamore tree! What a wonder! -- He looked