Xena found herself in an unfamiliar town and from the looks of it, an unfamiliar land. It was a small but crowded place, and the very air seemed to be crackling with some sort of tension. She followed some noisier than usual sounds, hoping it would help explain why she was here.
She felt more curiosity than shock though as she moved through the streets. She couldn't help but think that the gods were involved in this, one in particular came to mind, and she was looking for signs of Ares to back up her theory.
The sounds came from a large cluster of people gathered around a Roman official, and she joined the crowd to find out what had everyone so stirred up.
"You brought me this Man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion," said the Roman. "I have examined Him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against Him. Neither has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; as you can see, He has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish Him and then release Him."
The people's anger seemed to radiate in the air in response, clearly feeling a deep hatred for the Man the official referred to, but the Roman continued speaking.
"You have the custom that at Passover I should release to you one prisoner. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?"
The official then received a note that seemed to disturb him, while the crowd became more and more rowdy, and she could see religious-looking leaders moving through the crowd, working to incite the anger against the accused and make them act as one.
"Release to us Barabbas!" the crowd began to shout, apparently persuaded by these men.
"Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" the official asked as if he hadn't heard them and the crowd hadn't reasoned through the choice before them.
"Not Him, but Barabbas!" the crowd continued to cry.
By the look on the Roman's face, Barabbas' crimes must have been great, as he had clearly expected this Jesus to be chosen. "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" he asked.
"Crucify Him!" the crowd replied with venomous enthusiasm.
"Why, what evil has He done? I have found no crime deserving death; I will therefore chastise Him and release Him," he said.
"Crucify Him!" they shouted even louder, as if they didn't even hear a word the Roman said. They were obviously not even able to come up with a small crime the Man had done or they would have shouted it.
The Roman ordered the Man to be scourged; likely thinking it would rouse compassion in the people since he had been sympathetic to Him thus far.
"If he thinks that will be enough, Pilate is sadly mistaken," grumbled a man a couple of heads away.
"The only way to deal with the blasphemer is to crucify Him," the man next to him agreed.
The soldiers led Jesus away, and she waited, hoping like Pilate it would be enough, but if the crowd's opinion was anything like those 2 men, it wouldn't be, in which case, she fully intended on helping him. She was already planning an escape in her head.
"Behold, I bring Him out to you that you may know that I find no crime in Him," Pilate told them, interrupting her thoughts. They had brought back the Man, who it appeared had been beaten within an inch of His life, making her wish she had intervened beforehand; they also had Him dressed in a short, sleeveless, purple robe, a crown of thorns that was causing blood to trickle down His face, and there was a reed in His right hand for a scepter. "Here is the Man!"
Xena could tell by the tone that Pilate spoke that the mocking dress and the wounds were meant to invoke sympathy, but the cries from the crowd were simply "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"
"Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no crime in Him," Pilate answered, sounding frustrated.
"We have a law; and by that law, He ought to die because He has made Himself the Son of God," was the answer he was given in return.
Pilate showed fear then, worried that this man was a god, although Xena didn't see how He could be with the wounds that marred His body unless He had lost His power somehow or was only a demigod. Pilate spoke privately with the Man away from the people, obviously hoping to root out His identity.
When Pilate returned, he seemed even more determined to release the Man.
"If you release this Man, you are not Caesar's friend; everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar," were the shouts Pilate received and they seemed to convince Pilate that it was better to condemn an innocent man than to go against the emperor. Her fingers were poised near her weapons, but she waited for the final outcome.
Pilate brought the Man out again before the crowd and said, "Here is your King!"
"Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!"
"Shall I crucify your King?" he asked, his voice sounding a trifle desperate.
"We have no king but Caesar," some of the religious leaders shouted in response.
Pilate took water and washed his hands in front of the people saying, "I am innocent of this Man's blood. It is your responsibility!"
"His blood is on us and on our children!"
Jesus was handed over to the soldiers, and Xena wasn't about to sit back anymore and let an innocent man die to satisfy the bloodlust of the crowd. She wanted to stop this madness, and she would.
Her hands were on her weapons when Ares appeared behind her, resting his hands over hers. "To try and put a stop to this would be to align yourself with Dahak."
She looked back at him incredulously. "You're the one who would align yourself with that evil, but I should have recognized his hand in this. I suppose you're in league with him?"
"I only align myself with the winning side; you should know that by now, and in this instance, Dahak will not be the victor."
"Are you saying this Jesus will be? Look at what they're doing to Him."
"It must be done for the greater good. Watch and see."
"I'm not going to just observe this crime; I am going to do something about it." She made a move for her weapons again and found she couldn't lift them, as if some higher power was preventing her. All she could do was watch helplessly.
The purple robe that He had worn had been exchanged again for His normal clothing. They had also given Him a cross to carry to the place of execution, no small feat for someone who had been beaten and lashed the way He had, and not only that, but it seemed He suffered spiritually as if the weight of the world was somehow on His shoulders.
She followed him, and she was hardly the only one; Ares followed and a large crowd of people. He fell down 3 separate times, struggling with the weight. The road they were on went uphill, and she didn't see how He could manage. The soldiers didn't see it either, as they pulled a compassionate-looking man from the crowd and forced him to carry the cross instead. This man was not the only compassionate one though; many of the women there cried.
"Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me," Jesus said, "but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the women who never had children.' Then, they will begin to say to the mountains: fall on us, — and to the hills: cover us."
She was surprised He had the strength left to prophesy, but compassion for the people radiated from Him even in His own misery, and she wondered again at the point of all this. Why, with all the men in the world, would they go after this one?
Jesus was offered a drink when they reached the place He was to be crucified. The wine contained substances that would lessen the suffering, the Romans' one act of mercy in crucifixion, but He turned it down. She felt surprise and respect for Him.
When He was on the cross, the soldiers took His clothing and began to divide it among themselves. They cast lots to see who would get it.
"I suppose I can't even stop this disgrace?" she asked bitterly.
"This act too must be fulfilled," Ares answered cryptically. "It was foretold a long time ago."
His cross had a title on it, easily readable to her, as one of the three languages it was written in was Greek. It read 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.'
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," said Jesus.
She didn't know who He spoke to, and she didn't know how He could have such compassion on the people that were doing this to Him, knowing from experience that crucifixion had the be the most painful form of death, and they didn't use ropes to hang Him onto the wood but had driven nails into His hands and feet, and the crown of lengthy thorns still rested on His head to declare His supposed kingship. She still hated Julius Caesar and all those associated with her crucifixions; she couldn't imagine forgiving them, and the crime against Him was far worse because she knew He was innocent, an innocence that she had lacked at that point in her life.
"Aha! You, Who would destroy the Temple and build it in three days, save Yourself and come down from the cross," a person in the crowd called out.
Would they ever stop this mocking, she wondered silently. "These people should be slaughtered," she said out loud in anger.
"Really?" Ares said, sounding amused and intrigued. "Or is He doing this for them? To save them from a fate worse than earthly death."
She looked over at the war god. "What do you mean by that?"
"Just that He reminds me of Eli, and those types love playing martyr for their cause, to draw people to themselves even after death. This is clearly what He wants; He wouldn't want you to slaughter them."
"But why? What will His death really accomplish?"
He shrugged. "I don't know the whole story yet, just bits and pieces. I do know that an epic battle is about to take place between Him and Dahak, a battle that's been a part of an ongoing war, a war that began all wars and will one day end all wars, which I know means the beginning of my end or my career anyway, but I can't help but watch. Morbid fascination on my part." A smile tugged at his lips when he saw her shock. "Don't look so worried, Xena, I still have a few years left on this old earth before that happens. Plenty of time left for you to wage war."
She brought her eyes upward in annoyance and saw the sun was high in the sky, indicating it to be about the noon hour, but suddenly the sun darkened. At first, she thought it must be an eclipse of some sort, but the darkness stayed and a chill began to creep into her. Ares must have been right, and who was this Man that He could put out the sun's light; it was as if the sun's very Creator was suffering. This was no mere mortal pinned to a cross, although she was already beginning to figure that out.
He wasn't the only one being crucified. There were 2 thieves, one on His left and one on His right.
"If you are the Christ, save Yourself and us!" the thief on the left shouted, joining in the crowd's mockery.
"Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? We are indeed justly condemned; so we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." Now addressing Jesus, the thief on the right said, "Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom."
"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise," Jesus said to him.
Xena wondered at His words and His actions. He seemed to command the sun in a way that Apollo couldn't, to be able to allow entrance into a better world than even the Elysian Fields from the way He had spoke the word Paradise, giving Him more power than Hades. Was He greater than all the gods she had ever met? Again she wondered who He was.
At His feet, there were a handful of women and a man, who must have been close to Him from their expressions. One woman in particular looked grieved, and she knew it could only be His mother.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, behold your son," referring to the man in the small group. To the man, he said, "Behold your mother."
Xena was touched. He was caring for this woman by passing her care to another when most would have only been thinking of themselves and their pain, and she could see this man would obey. That was one thing to be glad about.
3 hours passed. It seemed an eternity.
At last Jesus spoke again and called out, "Eloi , Eloi, why have You forsaken Me?"
She heard voices in the crowd, who never seemed to cease their mocking, saying things like "Behold, He is calling Elijah." and "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him."
"I thirst," He said.
One of the soldiers ran with a sponge and soaked it in vinegar; using a stick, he raised it to His dry lips.
"It is finished. Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit," He said and with that He was gone, as if these men were incapable of taking His life and He gave it willingly.
She looked toward the city and saw that a pinnacle of light came from the temple that was easy to see in such pitch blackness, indicating a change of some sort, and then the light returned to the Earth.
The very earth shook, and she saw rocks split. Then she saw something more shocking as tombs opened and bodies walked out. She noticed that none of them looked evil or like mere puppets; they seemed to have a clear purpose as they walked to Jerusalem.
"Surely this was the Son of God," the centurion said with the same awe that Xena felt at these signs.
The crowd finally showed a little fear and seemed to realize that this day might not have been their finest, as they ran for their homes beating their breasts.
Although Romans preferred the crucified not to have their legs broken, so the suffering was longer; they broke the legs of the thieves to ensure their death was faster. They did it out of sensitivity for the Jews, who didn't want people hanging during their religious holiday, according to the soldiers as they spoke among themselves.
She scoffed at this show of religion. Their god was concerned about suffering during His holiday, but He didn't care about it any other day? If He was anything like the Son, and she had the sense that He was in every way, she believed that the Father Jesus spoke of would and did care, and the people were at the moment striving in vain to be pleasing to Him in this manner.
Since Jesus had already given up His spirit, the soldiers didn't have to break His legs, but they pierced His side with a spear, and blood and water came out, proving He was dead without a doubt.
Evening had long been here. Ares had left sometime before then, whether it was because he had lost interest in the so-called battle or it had picked up in the underworld, she didn't know, nor did she care. She was still transfixed by the death and unable to tear her eyes away from Jesus of Nazareth.
A wealthy-looking man had come with a shroud, and another man who looked to be some sort of Jewish leader brought some oil. They brought Him down from the cross and wrapped Him with the shroud and spices.
She followed as they took His body to the tomb, a tomb that was carved out from a cave and which seemed to belong to the wealthy man, who was assisting in the burial. They rolled the stone into place, and the group left.
Xena worked on getting a fire started, as she intended to watch over the tomb because she felt deeply that it was important. The fire put out warmth, but it couldn't warm her insides, and she did feel cold from all she had witnessed.
She didn't get any sleep that night, as her mind was still reeling, trying to make sense from it all, and Saturday came.
She felt a heavy cloak of despair even though she hadn't really known Him, and it showed no sign of leaving; the sun rising couldn't dispel it.
She was joined by Romans. She watched as they sealed up His tomb and posted guards. She stared hard at the guarded tomb. They seemed afraid that someone would try to steal the body, but why would anyone do that, and why would they care if they did?
She knew Ares had materialized behind her while she watched the posting of the guards and was glad he was there for once because she wanted answers to her questions.
"Where have you been?" she demanded.
"Down to Hades. There are some interesting things happening there. People are being released to their final destinations."
She turned around to face him. "Do you mean the Elysian Fields, the Amazonian Place of the Dead, all the various afterlives, none of those places are the final resting place for souls?"
"Hardly. It was only temporary, a holding cell until this event, when true judgment could begin."
Again she was stunned. This Jesus was definitely different from all the gods she had so far encountered if His death was bringing all this about, but there was still so much she didn't understand. "Why are they guarding a dead man?"
"He claimed that He would rise from the dead in 3 days. They're afraid His disciples will take the body and say He rose when He didn't."
"I don't get it though. If He was a god, and obviously He was, why is He dead in the first place?"
"More gods are created and die than you'll ever know, but I'll admit He is not like us. He's more than a god of an idea or an object. No other god or mortal is like Him."
"Are you admitting you're not the most powerful god out there?" she said with a smirk, but then her attention returned to the subject at hand. "Did He not have the power to save Himself?"
"He had the power. He holds all power even my own."
"Then why didn't He use it?"
"Because He holds a love for mortals that makes Aphrodite look shallow."
"Like that's hard to do," she said, but she was contemplating his words even as she bantered with him. "So are you ready to relinquish your power to Him then? Why aren't you trying to stop Him?"
"I don't know if I'm ready, but I have the sense to know when I'm licked, as I told you yesterday."
He left again on that note. She could tell she wasn't going to get the full truth from Ares, so she decided to set out to talk to Pilate. She wanted the full picture more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.
There was feasting going on in Jerusalem. She easily found the palace and though it looked as if it wasn't used on a regular basis, it was logical that it would be the place a Roman governor would want to stay. Not knowing if the Roman soldiers or servants would let her in, but knowing it was unlikely, she snuck her way into the palace.
As she moved through the palace halls undisturbed, she caught sight of a woman, who by the way she was dressed and by the two female servants who attended her, she realized it must have been Pilate's wife. One servant fanned her mistress and the other seemed to be trying to tempt her to take food and drink, but the woman only stared forlornly out the window as if she hoped to see something out there that wasn't there.
Xena decided to see what this woman knew about it. Sometimes wives knew everything their husbands did or more. She entered through the unguarded doorway with no other ceremony than the direct question. "Are you the wife of Pilate?"
Surprised the woman turned to her. "I am she, Claudia, wife of Pontius Pilate." She eyed her warrior's dress curiously, but she didn't say anything except, "What do you seek?"
"I wish to speak about Jesus of Nazareth."
Claudia looked to her servants. "Leave us." When the servants left, she asked, "What is it you wish to speak about?"
"Anything you can tell me about Him. You are familiar with His case?"
"Indeed. I sent a message to my husband yesterday, telling him not to have anything do with that righteous Man. I had a dream because of Him." The expression on her face said that the dream still haunted her.
Xena knew as well as anybody what a deep meaning a dream could have, but still she was skeptical. "Tell me about the dream."
She visibly shivered. "It was terrible, more nightmare than dream. I've not been able stop thinking about it. I've lost my appetite, my ability to sleep restfully. They crucified Him anyway you know."
She nodded. "I was there."
"How horrid," Claudia said, rubbing her arms in an attempt to return warmth to her body because the topic obviously chilled her as much as it did Xena. "I have a feeling that His blood is still on my husband's hands; that His blood is on my hands and on all our hands and it can't be washed away with mere water."
"Why is that?"
She gave a small smile that held no humor only sadness. "I don't know, but He wasn't like us; I know that. I assume you have heard of all the miracles He performed, unexplainable unless He wasn't of this world. I also know He was completely innocent. I wish I knew more, more about Him and more about removing the guilt I bear and that my husband bears, but I don't."
"Well, I intend on finding out just those things," said a resolute Xena.
"I hope you find the answer." Beyond the cool words, Xena saw the same hunger that she felt. She hoped both their hunger was satisfied because she had a feeling that who He was and what to do with that knowledge would answer the question to end all questions.
Sure that Pilate wouldn't have anymore to add, she spent the rest of the day questioning the citizens and finding little more out than what she had already discovered. It seemed the men closet to Him were in hiding or at least celebrating the Passover.
She went back to her campsite and again sleep eluded her. Guards were still at the post fully alert.
Day was just below the horizon when there was another earthquake, and she knew it was again related to Him.
It only took a few moments to prove that she was right because there descended from the sky an obvious messenger of sorts unlike any she had ever seen, as if he came from a place much higher than Mt. Olympus. His appearance was like lightening and his clothing was whiter than white. This messenger rolled the sealed stone back like it was nothing and then sat down on it.
The soldiers passed out and even Xena felt her knees buckle as hardened as she was for the messenger was a fearsome sight. She didn't see Jesus come out. She was hesitant to draw a sword on the being that guarded it, not knowing whether he was good or bad, so she waited to see what he would do.
When the soldiers revived, they ran, not a normal thing for Roman soldiers to do because deserting meant death; they were clearly still afraid even though he had done no harm yet. She wondered what the purpose of this being was because Jesus had still not emerged.
Dawn was coming, but it was still more dark than light when a group of women came to the tomb carrying myrrh to anoint the body.
A woman she recognized as being at the crucifixion led the group. They didn't notice the absence of guards because they didn't know guards had been placed there in the first place.
"Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb?" she heard them ask among themselves before the tomb was in their sight.
The woman who had led the group was the first to reach it. When she saw the tomb was empty, she hurried away, not waiting for the other women to catch up.
The other women arrived and noticed the messenger that sat on top of the stone.
"Fear not," the messenger said, "for I know that you seek Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen as He said when He was with you. Come; see the place where the Lord lay. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead."
The women entered the tomb and saw that it truly was empty. Xena had more confirmation that this Man had been a god for He had left the tomb without disturbing the stone. He was more than just one of the many gods because even the gods could die under the right circumstances and could not return themselves to life.
"Be not afraid," the messenger said, speaking again. "You seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified. He is risen; He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him. Go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, as He told you."
Another messenger joined the first. The women were afraid, and they bowed to ground.
The messengers said, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise?"
The women seemed to remember what the messengers spoke of and ran to share the news.
The first woman came back with 2 men, who wanted to confirm her story and find out what happened. One man ran ahead of the other to verify the emptiness of the tomb. After seeing it, the men left again seemingly heartened by the trip.
The woman stayed behind and began to cry.
Xena couldn't blame her. She had seen it all and still she doubted the messengers and the signs. She had been at the tomb virtually the entire time and for the time that she wasn't, she was certain that the guards had never left, and she knew without a doubt that the seal had not been broken until the being moved it. But if He hadn't risen, then what other explanation could there possibly be?
The woman peered into the tomb and saw the two messengers.
"Woman, why are you weeping?" they asked.
"Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him," she answered.
When she turned around, there was another there, and Xena fell to her knees, recognizing that it was indeed the Man she had seen crucified. It was far from the first time she had seen someone come back from the dead, nor the first time for the people in this land, according to all the rumors she had heard about the miracles He had performed, but it was the first time she had seen someone risen fully under their own power.
"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" He asked the tearful woman, who in her grief did not recognize Him.
"Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away."
"Mary!" He said, calling her by name.
Recognition filled her face, as she said joyfully, "Teacher!"
"Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them: I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God."
Mary hurried away, eager to share the good news.
Alone now, His eyes connected with hers.
Up until now, it had been almost like she was only observing despite the stark reality of it all and the occasional interaction, but He saw her. He saw her and knew her and loved her.
"I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
It suddenly clicked with her. The light that had emanated from the Israelites' ark bringing death unless you could face it and its message was not some mystical, dark force; it was the Truth, this Jesus, that you had to face and come to know and love, or perish without it, but He wanted them to choose to follow Him, to stand in His light and love to feel His peace.
sss
Xena bolted up with a gasp, her heart still full from all she had witnessed.
It woke Gabrielle up, and she turned over to look at her through the slits of her tired eyes. "A bad dream?"
"No," she said as she studied the familiar Greek surroundings, trying to sort out reality from fantasy. "A really good dream, I think."
Gabrielle sat up, interested in the words. "Oh, really?
"I can't explain it, but I know that what I dreamed was a vision of the future."
"After the incident with the crosses, I believe you. Tell me it wasn't about crosses again."
"It was." When Gabrielle's eyes widened, she was quick to reassure her, "Not of our crucifixions, but the crucifixion of a god, the god."
"The god?" confused by her words.
"Do you remember how we talked about the strange possibility of there being only one god?"
"Yeah," Gabrielle said, unsure of where the conversation was heading.
"There is only one god that matters, only one god that humanity will have to answer to."
"Who?" she asked nervously, evidently picturing Dahak or Ares or a god like them.
"A god that loves mankind more than you can imagine, the true god of love, but one who's not just of love but is love. He's a god that's willing to become one of us and sacrifice His earthly life just to save us, so that we can enter His kingdom, Paradise, and I have a hunch that it will make the Elysian Fields look like the pits of Tartarus, especially because He will be there."
If Gabrielle had doubts before about this god's character, they were put to rest because she had never heard a more passionate response to anything related to the gods from the woman before her. "How can we enter this kingdom, especially if your vision hasn't happened yet?"
Her eyes clouded for a moment, but an answer came from somewhere outside herself, most likely from the same source as the vision. "We won't be able to enter His kingdom until the vision comes to pass, but because we're receptive to the idea and Him, we'll have a place when the time comes."
Gabrielle seemed satisfied with that answer but also still sleepy. "You'll have to tell me all about your dream in the morning," she said, laying back down on her blankets.
"The god of the universe dying for an ex-warlord, a murderess," she said quietly in amazement and excitement as she lay back down herself.
It gave her peace to know that her redemption would be accomplished one day even if it was years after her death. She had always known she could never do enough to redeem herself, clinging to the goodness in Gabrielle had been her way of trying to find it outside of herself, but that hadn't been enough to save her either. She had no intention of stopping the good she was able to accomplish; she knew He wouldn't want her to, but He was going to pay the price for her, for everyone who would take this free gift from Him, and she slept deeply and serenely in a way that had eluded her for many years.
The End
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed."
Isaiah 53:5