Jubal slipped out of the crowd.  This was the proof they needed.  This would be the end of the Rabbi Gamaliel and of Benjamin.  He grit his teeth.

I am not the betrayer.  They have betrayed us.  They have shamed us.

He made his way to the palace of the High Priest where he was to meet with Akbar again.  Benjamin had not seen him.  He had made sure of that.  Benjamin had been a friend but no longer.  They had talked of the war just that morning and Benjamin had seemed normal.  But Akbar was right, he had changed and for the worse.

They needed to be dealt with immediately before they spread their poison even more.  How could the Almighty God bless their battle against Rome if there was sin in the camp?  It must be removed.

There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.  Another ancient truth about to be fulfilled.

*****

Click here to read more……..

The Temptations of the Cross by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright ©2012 by vanKregten Publishers. All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net    info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in original manuscript.

The old sleep lightly, as Benjamin obviously had forgotten, and for the last few minutes Gamaliel had been awake, though with his eyes closed and his breathing deep, listening to the teaching of his grandson.

He began to stir as if he had just awakened and all the eyes of the people turned to him, even Benjamin who had stopped in mid-sentence.

“Carry on, my son,” Gamaliel said, “I am fascinated with your story about Peter the fisherman and his teaching in the Temple.”

The look on Benjamin’s face was worth it.  So few real pleasures are left in life but that was one to treasure.

But he saw alarm on many faces in the crowd.  They didn’t know if he was angry or not.  Benjamin had used his presence as a cover for his own teaching, authenticating it by having him near, even if he was asleep.  As Benjamin stumbled to give a mixture of apology and explanation, Gamaliel waved him to silence.

“Did you know,” he said, “that Peter spoke right over there on those steps with the Temple full of people from all parts of the world?  The colors and pageantry of so many cultures and languages were especially high that year.  It seemed that the whole world had come to Yerushalayim.  It has never been quite the same since.  I was there.  That was more than thirty years ago.  A lifetime.”

Benjamin was wise enough to let his grandfather carry on with the story.   The crowd shifted and murmured for a while but settled down as Gamaliel began to speak.

Gamaliel was not a total fool and he spoke about that day without teaching, without commentary.  He merely told the story.  What harm could come of that?  No one would be able to accuse him of heresy.  He was too old to change his ways, anyway.

It was a weak argument.  There was danger even to be associated with a follower of the Christ, especially a teacher of the heresy, as Benjamin so clearly was.  This would be no exception.

Perhaps it was his old age that made him heedless of the danger, or perhaps it was this new hunger for some truth he could cling to while his world fell apart around him.  Gamaliel didn’t know.  His heart was sick and that was all.  And yes, there were the people, he couldn’t forget them.  They, too, needed answers.

“And now,” Gamaliel said, as he ended his story, “it is time to rest.  You must all go now and leave this old man to make his way back home.  I may arrive just in time to come back for the evening sacrifice.”

The people smiled at his humor for he would shuffle very slowly with many stops before he would reach his home.  This daily routine in the Temple was a true pilgrimage for the old man and the people loved him for it.

*****

Click here to read more…….

The Temptations of the Cross by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers. All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net    info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in original manuscript.

Shalamar watched as Benjamin sat quietly beside his grandfather, Gamaliel, smiling and nodding to the other Rabbis who hurried about their business in the Temple.

He watched the people start to gather with a rustling of robes and murmured greetings as they sat at the feet of the great Rabbi.

These were the common people, men and women alike, even children.  They sat in subdued silence, huddled together and leaning forward as Benjamin began to speak in whispers of the Rabbi Yeshua and the miracles he had performed and the salvation that he brought to all people.

For weeks already, Benjamin had been teaching the people every morning while Gamaliel slept.  When the Rabbi began to stir and open his eyes, he would see the people around him with eyes full of love and understanding for his old age, waiting for him to speak.  Gamaliel would compose himself, clearing his throat and shifting his robe into a more comfortable position and then begin to teach them until it was time for noon prayers.

The people loved his simple and heartfelt teachings, although not all ears were friendly.

Benjamin would have a simple meal ready for them of flat loaves of unleavened bread and cheese and a small flask of wine to quench their thirst and later they would pray once again and then return to their home.  It was a routine that they were both comfortable with.

Until today.

*****

Click here to read more……

The Temptations of the Cross by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers. All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net    info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in original manuscript.

“They’re using your name.”

“Are you sure?”

“Saul is claiming that he has your permission.  They have already arrested him.  He will be put to death if you do not return immediately.  You could be there by nightfall.”

Gamaliel paused to think.  Beth-lehem was only a few hours away from Yerushalayim if he could get a ride in one of the carts that were constantly going to the market in the city.  But could he do anything now?  He doubted it.  It was too late.  The damage was done.

“Why did you come to tell me this?”

Onkelos just looked at him.  He was a Greek, a proselyte who wanted to study the Law.  He was a gentle and good man.

“I am sorry.  Thank you, my friend.  Rest tonight and we will go in the morning to see what can be done.”

Onkelos looked at him a moment longer, unwilling to say what both of them were thinking.  Tomorrow may be too late.

*****

Click here to read more…….

The Temptations of the Cross by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers. All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net    info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in original manuscript.

Every morning Gamaliel and Benjamin went to the Temple to pray for the peace of Yerushalayim as the morning sun scattered the last vestiges of night to the far corners of the earth.

The celebration of the Passover had come upon them again and the bustle and noise of the preparations filled the city streets and the Temple courtyards.

But with the familiar sounds came the eerie sensation that this Passover would be his last.

It came upon him while he prayed, the prayer shawl over his head and his strong baritone voice lifted in the singsong sounds of early morning prayers.  It would be his last.  He would not see another.  He groped for the solid reality of the Temple wall to steady himself.

He looked upon his beloved city with tear-filled eyes that blurred the harsh corners of reality.  His heart seemed to encompass the entire city of brick and stone, cattle and people and all that it represented down through the ages.  Yerushalayim, with her great walls of stone tarnished and rubbed smooth with the brush of passing civilizations;  her towers and ramparts ablaze with the purple hues of the morning sun;  her streets and Temple courtyards busy with the sacred work of her people and priests.  Yerushalayim, the beloved city.  The city of God.

Oh God, where are you now when we need you most?  Why have you abandoned your people?

Gamaliel felt a kinship here upon the TempleMount with David and Solomon and the prophets of old.  He felt the glory and the failure of his people, the blessing and the curse of being the chosen of God and not able to bear it.

Armies would come to lay siege to her walls once again.  It had happened many times before.  The land of Isra´el was a crossroads for the great civilizations and they came to conquer and be conquered, for what they took from his land also changed them.  The Jewish people were found throughout the Roman Empire, faithful to their God and their ways – a beacon of light in a dark world, the chosen people, guardians of the Torah and the Temple worship.  But not for long.

A soft groan escaped from deep within him, the sound of it echoing faintly from the rock around him.  Onkelos had told him what the Romans planned.  It was madness, madness, but no one could stop it now but God himself.  Gamaliel no longer believed that he would.

Yerushalayim would be destroyed.

He faced it finally.  He formed the words with his lips but still he could not say them aloud.  He tried to believe that it would not happen, that Adonai Elohim would not allow it, that the Temple would be safe, the city would be spared.  But his body did not believe him and his knees threatened to give way.  He began to slump backwards, no longer caring, but Benjamin was there immediately with an arm around his skeletal shoulders, holding him erect until he finished his prayers.

“Oh, Yerushalayim,” Gamaliel cried out, “most holy of cities, would that peace be your inheritance and hope your message to the nations.  Oh, Daughters of Yerushalayim weep and cry out in sorrow for your destiny is come upon you.”

His words became prophecy as a strange conviction took hold of him.

“Yes, your destiny is come upon you.  You will survive, O Isra´el, but you will be changed, never to be the same again.”   Benjamin eased him into a sitting position on a nearby stone bench.

We seem to know a great deal about pain and suffering.  From slavery in Egypt to oppression in their own land, Isra´el played the role of victim to perfection.   But this was more.  Now, on the eve of the destruction of Isra´el, he wanted nothing more than the simplicity of clear answers and a straight path.

Gamaliel shook his head slowly from side to side as if to shake off a heavy burden.  He would celebrate this Passover like he had all the others – in his home surrounded by his family and telling the ancient story.  Someone else would have to take the burden for the beloved city upon their shoulders.  His pilgrimage was almost done.  There was little more he could do for his people.

Gamaliel sat exhausted and pensive on the hard stone bench with his back to the wall of the Temple, thinking and brooding over his beloved city until, finally, he drifted off to sleep in the warm sunshine like men of great age do the world over.

*****

Click here to read more…….

The Temptations of the Cross by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers. All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net    info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in original manuscript.