"A Night to Remember"
(Chapter 1)
by: la-hija-de-Dios
Disclaimer: I don't own The A-Team, nor do I own the crazy Cpt. Murdock, or his invisible dog, Billy; the aptly-named Sgt. B.A., or his gold jewelry; the Jazz-addicted Col. Hannibal, or his cigars; the scamming Lt. Face, or his lock pick; the head-strong Amy, or her typewriter. I also don't own the Bible. I mean, I have one at home, but I didn't write it. This is not meant to take the place of the Bible. The idea just popped into my mind. I didn't make up any characters. All the dialogue that sounds Old English is from the Bible. All the rest of the dialogue belongs to me. All quotes are taken from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. Please enjoy.
~\•/~
It all began on a perfectly normal night. The A-Team had settled for the night in a old, three-room cabin in the woods. One room was a bathroom, one was a bedroom, which Amy inhabited, and the remaining room, which was both the kitchen and the living room, was housing the other four members. The only important factor in this was that it was the night before Easter Sunday.
B.A. was propped up on the one plush chair in their room, half-asleep. Hannibal had crashed on the chocolate-brown couch and slept on his back, while Face was dead to world on the royal-blue couch, sleeping on his right side. Murdock was rocking sleepily on the tan rocking chair, patting his invisible dog, Billy.
"B.A.?" Murdock muttered groggily. It was so quiet that B.A. wasn't sure the pilot had spoken.
B.A. whispered, "What, fool?"
Murdock grinned and quietly responded, "Good night, you big, angry mud-sucker."
The "big, angry mud-sucker" in question growled deeply, but let it go. "G'night, sucker." And with that, they both fell asleep.
~\•/~
Hannibal was walking beside a building, when he heard a commotion. Curiosity getting the better of him, he hurried over to the sound. When he got there, he noticed that there was a man warming himself be the fire. A woman came to him and said, rather loudly, he might add, "Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee." There was no questioning tone to her voice. It was merely a statement.
The man denied all knowledge. "I know not what thou sayest." As soon as he said that, there was the sound of a rooster crowing. His face paling, he turned and speed-walked away.
Another young woman went to him, sauing, "This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth."
With an oath came the denial from the man's lips, "I do not know the man."
Soon, a plethora of people came to him from the sidelines. As of one accord, they argued, "Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee."
Somehow, in one of the many strange, yet hilarious conversations, the A-Team had in B.A.'s van, the word "bewrayeth" came up, courtesy of Murdock, as usual, so Hannibal knew the word to be an old English word meaning something like "betrays."
Again, the man, Peter was his name, denied it, saying, "I know not the man." This time, however, he swore and cursed. Once again, that same cock crew, the sound permeating the jumble of noise. Looking up, he saw a Man staring down at him with sadness from a window of the house they were beside. Peter ran away, weeping as he did so.
Hannibal, purely out of curiosity, decided to enter the building where that Man had stared out at the other man. He did so and stood there in the room, unnoticed by all but the Man whom he had seen in the window, Who stared at him with loving eyes. The room was occupied by the scribes, elders, chief priests, the whole council, the aforementioned Man (bound in rope) who had looked at Peter, and a man gaudily dressed in robes.
The man with gaudy clothes asked the bound Man, "Art thou the King of the Jews?"
The Man answered, "Thou sayest it."
The next thing Hannibal heard was the chief priests accusing Him of many things, none of which seemed to make any sense, let alone be true.
The weird thing was the Man bound in ropes looked harmless enough, but despite His humiliation, he had something about Him that commanded respect. He didn't say a word to defend Himself! Even Hannibal, the man who just walked in in the middle of the conversation and had no idea what what was happening could tell this Man was innocent.
Again, the most expensively dressed man spoke, addressing the bound One.
"Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee."
But no answer came out of the questioned Man, a fact which made the man questioning Him "marvel," as it would be written in the Bible.
Every year at the Passover feast, Pontius Pilate, the gaudily-dressed governor, would release a prisoner to the public. He would let the people choose who he would release. An idea popped into his head. He, like Hannibal, could see the Man was innocent, so he thought he could convince them to release Him. When faced with letting a terrible criminal, a murderer maybe, go or this Man Who claims to be the Son of God they'll surely let the Man go. Pilate racked his brain, thinking of the worst criminal, then a name came to mind. Barabbus! Yes! Barabbus had revolted against the government and even killed a man in the process! They'll definitely let Him go instead of Barabbus!
The crowd cried out for the annual releasing of a prisoner, so the governor had Barabbus brought out.
"Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?"
The chief priests had been envious of the Man, so they "moved the people," as it would be written in God's Holy Word. Whether it was by spreading out in the crowd and yelling, so people heard it all around them and thought that since everyone wanted it, it had to be the right choice, or by going around the crowd, telling them to ask for Barabbus's release, or by other means. However it happened, the people were moved and said they wanted Barabbus to be released.
"What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?"
Again they cried out, "Crucify him."
Pilate's response was "Why, what evil hath he done?"
"And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him." as it would be written in the Word of God.
The Word of God says, that the governor, "willing to content the people," let the murderer go and, after having the condemned Man whipped, sent Him away to be crucified.
~\•/~
The last thing Amy knew, she was on a bed. Now she was in a hall. The name of that hall was Praetorium, but she didn't know that. She saw a whole band of soldiers, who, by their choice of garb, appeared to be Roman, huddled around something. She looked closer, ever careful to avoid being seen by them. Finally, one of the soldiers moved a bit, creating a gap in between him and the man beside him. What Amy saw made her sick. It used a massive amount of self-control to refrain from gasping. There, standing in the middle was a Man, His back turned to her, allowing her to see the blood oozing from the multiple fresh, criss-crossed gashes on it. He had been whipped, of that she was certain. Then He turned to her, looking at her with such love that she could only smile broadly at Him, overwhelmed. Her breath caught in her throat.
One soldier pulled out a purple garment, laughing. The other soldiers, knowing his plan, concurred. They, as a whole, put it on Him. After that they grabbed a crown made of thorns at least an inch to two inches thick and shoved it on His head, pushing it into His skull. They came to Him, saluted Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They took a reed and hit Him over the head, then spat on Him. Each bowed his knee and mocked worship toward Him. Then, their cruelty all most done, they reached for the purple garment.
Amy's eyes widened in horror as she realized what they planned on doing. They were going to let the cloth cleave to His stripes, then probably yank it off, opening the wounds again. The fabric was probably dirty, so there was a high probability that the stripes would get infected, if He even lived that long.
Just as she suspected, they yanked it off, re-opening the deep furrows in his back. The pain was likely increased ten-fold, but not a sound came out of His mouth. Then, as if all that wasn't cruel enough, they took His old, ripped, and dirty clothes and put them on Him. After that, they led Him to where He was to be crucified.
Amy, with an odd mixture of curiosity, horror, and repulsion, couldn't help but follow, as though her legs were being controlled by someone else.
~\•/~
B.A. had emerged from an alleyway into a road. Having absolutely no idea where he was or why he was here, he decided to try to blend in with the crowd that was puttering aimlessly about the area. Not that that would be easy, given his outlandish outfit. He still figured he could pick up on where he was without cracking any heads, because, for all he knew, this was an elaborate scheme by Colonel Decker. That, and B.A. didn't actually want to kill anyone. So there he was, walking down the streets innocently, when amidst all the hubbub, there proceeded a line of Roman soldiers and one bleeding Man. The Man had been beaten badly, spit upon, whipped, and had his beard plucked out. There had even been a crown of thorns bigger than B.A. had ever seen before on His head, which had been pushed down a lot. After all this, the soldiers had put a purple robe on him, let the wounds cleave to them, and then yanked it off, ripping them open again. He was in unimaginable pain. The people created a path for them in the busy night street. The group went along slowly, for the Man was carrying his own cross.
"You, there!" a centurion shouted. "Dark-skinned one!"
B.A. looked up. Him?! What had he done?!
"No, not you. You!" The Roman pointed toward another black man, who stepped forward. "What is your name?"
"Simon, sir. . . of Cyrene," the tall man replied.
"Simon of Cyrene, you will carry this Man's cross."
Simon nodded and picked up the cross without comment. He carried it up the hill called Golgotha. The Man stumbled up the hill. When they got there, the centurions gave him a drink made of vinegar "mingled with gall" as it would be written in the Bible. He tasted it, then refused it, for it would take away the pain. They put Him on the cross and crucified Him, nailing His hands on the large beams. He groaned in pain. The Romans cast lots, gambling over His clothes.
B.A. looked up to the top of the cross and saw a parchment with these words written on it: "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." His eyes grew wide as he realized just what he was witnessing. He was watching the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. And B.A. Baracus, the brawn of the A-Team, the one on whose bad side you wouldn't want to get, started crying and trembled with fear for those who rejected the Lord, sadness that Jesus had to die, love for his Savior, peace that the Son of God would rise again, and wonder that Jesus, the Son of God, would willingly die for him! He had even refused something to ease the pain! He loved B.A.! As a young man of eleven years, B.A. had accepted Christ as his Savior, and now he was witnessing his Lord die for him!
B.A. looked from one side of the cross to the other. There, hanging on either side of Him, were two thieves.
"Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." Those were the mocking words of those that passed by Him.
The elders, chief priests, and scribes also decided to join in. "He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God."
Then one of the thieves railed on him, too, saying, "If thou be Christ, save thyself and us."
The other, looking stricken with those words, turned to face him and rebuked him. "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss." That thief looked to Jesus with repentant eyes, and pleaded, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."
Jesus looked upon that man lovingly and responded with "Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."
~\•/~
All Murdock could see was darkness, then he realized that his eyes were shut. So he opened them, then stood there, confused. He knew he had opened his eyes, so why was it still dark? He heard the sound of panting, so he figured that it was Billy. Extending his hands, he groped around, feeling for his dog. Finally, he felt the fur and sighed, burying his fingers in his pet's fur. After a little bit, his eyes adjusted to the dark and he could see. He gasped, for in front of him were three crosses and a multitude of people crowding around them. He closed the gap between himself and the middle cross. He heard the conversation, short though it may be, between his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and one of the thieves. Out of reverence and respect for Him, Murdock took off his baseball cap, holding it in his hands. He stared at Jesus, wonder in his eyes that He would die for a sinner, much less a crazy sinner. Then Jesus looked at him, and the love radiating in his eyes made Murdock bow to his knees right them and there. His Lord loved him! Him, a wicked, desperate sinner! The perfect, sinless Lamb of God, the only begotten Son of God died for him! He knew that if he had been the only sinner in the world, that Jesus would've still died for him. The same goes for everybody, he thought with a joyful, loving smile. Murdock finally lifted his head and looked at Jesus. I could look at Him forever! the pilot thought. In fact, he did.
Three hours later, "Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which the Word of God would say.
Murdock, having somehow picked up Hebrew somewhere, knew he was saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" That was how it would be translated in the Bible.
Murdock stood there weeping, though he knew Jesus would rise again. He heard some people nearby say, "This man calleth for Elias." And one of them left to find a sponge. That found, he squeezed it, let it soak up vinegar, put it on a reed, and held it up high for Jesus to drink.
The remainder of the people said, "Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him."
A loud cry pierced the air.
~\•/~
Face found himself wandering around a big building. There weren't many people around, for it was late. He looked around him and saw the temple of the Lord. Having grown up with nuns in his orphanage, he knew some of the Bible, and this seemed to be like what he had heard. There was a big curtain blocking the view of what he assumed was the Holy of Holies. It was magnificent! Suddenly, he heard a Voice cry out, then say, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit:" and, before Face's very eyes, the veil was ripped in the middle into two pieces from the top to the bottom, proving that no man had done it. Face gasped, then wheeled and ran in the direction of the cry. He found there the Son of Man dead on the cross, one suffocating thief on either side of Him.
Even as Face watched, a centurion walked up to the first thief and broke his legs, then made his way to Jesus. But, seeing Him all ready dead, he just ran a spear through Jesus' side. Blood and water came out, testifying to the fact that Jesus hadn't died of suffocation, but of a broken heart. Face saw that Roman glorify God and praise Him saying, "Truly this man was the Son of God."
A thought occurred to Face, and he again ran, but this time for the cemetery, for he vaguely remembered reading about something happening there. Upon reaching his destination, he gasped. By God's miracle, many of the dead Christians there had risen! They were talking, walking, and giving thanks to God. Face fainted dead away.
~\•/~
All the people watching His death, "smote their breasts," as the Word says, as did all His acquaintances. Amy, along with three women who had followed the Lord from Galilee, watched the death of the Son of God. A tear rolled down her cheek.
~\•/~
Murdock meandered, not really having a set destination in mind. He somehow found himself in a cemetery. He saw a two men carrying the body of Jesus. There was a napkin on the His face, and His body was wrapped in clean linen cloth. Murdock hurried over to them and asked who they were and what they were doing.
"I am Joseph of Arimathaea," one said.
"And I am Nicodemus," said the other. "We are here to bury Jesus."
Murdock's eyes grew as big as saucers. This is the tomb in which He was placed! Murdock had, at the age of five, asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins, come into his heart, and save him. And, because the Lord was faithful, Murdock knew he had been saved, and could never lose his salvation! No one is strong enough to defeat God! But, to his chagrin, he hasn't been able to go to church much since he had been admitted to the VA. He hadn't even remembered to bring his Bible to his room there! He made a mental note (one written with those cool, four-colored crayons on a neon-red sticky note in the shape of a "M") to ask Face to bring it next time he came to break him out of the loony bin.
"Yes," the one called Joseph replied. "He has just been crucified."
"And we are about to put him in Joseph's sepulchre."
". . . I was there." Murdock stated quietly. He knew it sounded morbid and gross, but he knew what would happen, so he was in awe of this moment. "May I watch, please?"
The men gave him a strange look, but nodded. They set Him down in the sepulchre, stepped out, and rolled a large stone over the opening. Murdock noticed two women in the background, watching as well.
He knew what would happen next! When the men and ladies left, he stayed behind, hoping to see the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He lay against a tree and waited.
~\•/~