Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world

Christian Meditations – A Chris Hansen Column

February 12, 2008

You met Chris, now you can read more of his work:

Courage Of The Ancient Ones

*****Part 2.

                    by

                     Chris Hansen

Author of:

“Secret of the Psalms,”

Amazingly accurate prophecies about Jesus written centuries in advance.

“Revelation Revisited,”

John is under arrest by the Roman empire.  While he is in exile, he gets the surprise of his life!  The glorified Jesus shows up!  John’s story is redramatized for today’s audience who may not be familiar with the Bible.

“Grandfather’s Journal.”

A touching illustrated book for children and adults.  A young boy who is terrified of death and bored with church reads his grandfather’s last journal entries.  The boy discovers the sweet hope that the resurrection of Jesus provides.  The boy learns to “Smile on the inside too.”

www.xlibris.com and local bookstores and 1-888-795-4274

This series of short stories looks back at some very courageous Christians.  These Christians were far more than mere footnotes in church history.  They were real people with incredible courage in the face of unspeakable brutality!  This kind of courage needs to be remembered and emulated.  This kind of brutality, though unspeakable, needs to be spoken.  They were and still are our brothers and our sisters in Christ.  They are a great cloud of witnesses who surround us and encourage us to finish our race.  May their great courage be ours too.  May God help us to be heroes too.  The world still needs heroes like them.  These stories are based on historical records left to us by Eusebius.  Where appropriate a certain amount of imagination is used.  Even so, the basic facts are definitely nonfiction!

Part 2.

In part 1 of this series of short stories from church history, James had a flood of memories about his peculiar brother Jesus, going through his mind.  James knows that his end is approaching.  That is where we now find ourselves.  

More memories about Jesus went through his mind.  Well, it had finally happened!  The Pharisees wanted Jesus dead because of his constant criticism.  Pilate was willing to let him die because he wanted to avoid trouble with his superior, Tiberius.  Oh how Pilate struggled within himself!  If he crucified Jesus, he would be crucifying an innocent man!  Tiberius would not be pleased with that!  On the other hand, if he did not crucify Jesus, a riot would start.  (Matthew 27:11-26.)  Tiberius would most assuredly not be pleased with that either!  What course would be least unpleasant?  Finally Pilate relented.  “Crucify him!” he had said.  Jesus was savagely beaten before his crucifixion.  His body was a mangled mess!  As angry as James was with his brother, this at least was too much for him to bear!  True, Jesus had brought this on himself, but not this!  No!  Not this!

Jesus writhed and gasped for breath on the cross!  One hour!  Two Hours!  Three hours!  How long would this torture go on!  (Mark 15:25, 33.)  Jesus had cried out, “My God!  My God!  Why have you forsaken me?”(Mark 15:34.)  At last! James thought.  Jesus is acting human for once!  Now he comes to his senses, but too late!  Then, just before his death, Jesus did one last thing to insult James and his brothers!  Could he not die without creating controversy?  No!  That was not Jesus!  Jesus turned his eyes on his grieving mother and said, “Behold your son!”  What did he mean?  Then Jesus made his meaning clear when he looked at John-a disciple!  Not James or the other brothers, not one of his own relatives, but John!  Then he said, “Behold your mother!”  That did it!  Jesus was turning his mother over to the care of strangers-not his own family! (John 19:25-27.)  How could Jesus do this?  Finally, this life of constant controversy was over!  Jesus was dead!  Somehow, James knew it would never be over!  People would still whisper about that child not born of Joseph!  Just who was his father?  Everyone knew that Mary had been pregnant before she and Joseph came together!  Some great wickedness had spawned Jesus, James was sure!  (John 8:37-58 & Matthew 1:16-25.) 

James desperately hoped it was over!  But it wasn’t!  The Pharisees began to mutter again.  They went to Pilate and said, “Now Pilate, this Jesus causes trouble even from his tomb!  He told his followers that he would rise from death on the third day!  You know what will happen!  His followers will come and steal him away!  Then they will tell the people that Jesus has risen!  Then this final deception by Jesus will be worse than all the others!  Rumors of his resurrection will go on forever!  Pilate!  You must do something!”  Pilate sneered back, “Why must I do something!  You are the ones who wanted him killed!  You have a temple guard don’t you?  Well then, guard his dead body!” “But sir,” they protested, “If anything should happen, then you will be blamed if some of your own soldiers are not there!”  Pilate relented, “Fine!  Take whatever guard you can!  Make the tomb as secure as you can!  Put a Roman seal on it so that no one will dare disturb his burial site!”  (Matthew 27:62-66.)  That should have been the end of it!

Then, James and the others heard even more disturbing rumors.  Guards reported that a blinding light had overcome them!  When the guards had recovered their senses, the body of Jesus was gone!  (Matthew 28:2-4 & 11-15.)  Then, as if that were not enough, hysterical women had reported that they had seen angels!  (Luke 24:10-11 & 22-24.)  James thought cynically, well, you know how women are!  You can’t trust anything they say!  Then, things grew worse!  Even his own followers began to claim that he had risen!  Not just women-but men began to proclaim this pernicious doctrine!  Worst of all, those who desperately tried to suppress this resurrection story discovered just how hard it would be!  The followers of this Jesus, men in particular, insisted on this story even to the point of persecution!  By this time, however, James would do the very last thing he would ever expect-yes he too would be one of those who insisted on this unbelievable story!  James and the other men would risk persecution and their lives as well proclaiming what they knew they saw!  (Acts 5:17-42.)    How could such a thing be explained?  Even Peter, to the utter consternation of the opponents of Jesus, swore that he too had seen Jesus alive!  Peter denied that he even knew Jesus not once but three times!  (Luke 22:54-62.)  Was he trying to make up for his denial?  He was filled with such courage now!  Why?  Had Peter gone mad?  Or did he really see Jesus alive!  How could such a thing be?  Hundreds of people too, claimed that they had seen him when they were all gathered together in one place.  (1 Corinthians 15:6.)  Could they have all been seeing things?  Did they see some evil spirit masquerading as Jesus?  (Luke 24:36-39.)  In those early days, James didn’t know what to think of this madness-that is until he too “went mad!”

Then one day, the incredible happened!  James was alone.  Then, right before his own eyes, he saw his brother!  (1 Corinthians 15:7.)  It couldn’t be, yet it was true!  Jesus had made sure to let James actually touch him!  Yes, Jesus was solid enough!  Jesus even spoke to him!  James could barely remember what they talked about.  All he could remember was his incredible astonishment.  All he remembered saying was, “My brother!  How could I have been so wrong for so long?”  Jesus had been so kind to him then!  James remembered seeing the nail scars.  Yes it was really Jesus.  Even so, Jesus looked different too.  Jesus had definitely changed, and yet he was the same too.  (Mark 16:9-14 & John 20:24-31.)  That was the beginning of an unbelievable forty days.  Jesus spent wonderful times with his followers, and yes, James was now one of them!  (Acts 1:1-14.)  Jesus taught them all about God’s kingdom.  Jesus had even appeared to Saul who had been one of the most hostile critics of the way.  Saul intended to kill, punish, and imprison as many followers of this pernicious way as he could.  Even Saul couldn’t stop this Messiah! (Acts 9:1-31.)  Peter, right in Jerusalem had rebuked them all for allowing their own Messiah to be crucified!  Instead of killing Peter, three thousand people became followers!  (Acts 2:1-41.)  Many of the priests too had changed their minds after all this.  (Acts 6:7.)  James was considering all this as he now stood among hostile Jewish elders.  He knew that his life would soon come to its end.  He knew that he would soon die for this Jesus whom he had once hated.  What did he care?  Jesus had risen from death!  James knew he would rise with his new master!  (John 14:19.)  Jesus had said once, “Do not fear the ones who can kill the body.  After that, they can do nothing further to you.  Instead, fear the one who has the power to cast you into hell!  Yes, I tell you, fear Him!”  (Luke 12:4-5.)  He was exhorting his followers to follow him even to death!  That had seemed to James to be pure madness then!  Now, it made so much sense!

The elders were trying to reason with James.  James had an absolutely pure reputation.  He was known as “The righteous one.”  In fact, he spent so much time kneeling in prayer that he was called “Camel knees!”  The elders were sure they could reason with someone like James.  They wanted James to use his influence to persuade the people to come back to the faith of their fathers.  Yes, the people had indeed gone astray after this Jesus, but even now, the elders reasoned, James could still persuade the people to repent and return to the God of Moses.  James knew, of course, that this would be impossible!  The people could never separate Jesus and Moses, now that Jesus had overcome death!  Even Moses had not done such a thing!  James braced himself for what must surely come.  He knew that the elders would not-could not listen to him.  He also knew that he would not-could not abandon his faith.  At long last, James understood his brother who once said, “My hour has come.  What shall I say?  “Father, save me from this hour!”  No!  It was for this hour I was born!”  (John 12:27.)   James knew that his own hour had come too.  James had spent a lifetime hating his brother.  Now, at last, in his death, James could give Jesus what Jesus so richly deserved!