(AN: Here begins the tale of everyone's favorite Pharisee, and what ho! It will even be the ninth chapter of this story, as it was the ninth chapter of the book of Acts! [-yay!].)
(As there are two believers named Philip in the NT, and almost four named James, there are also three people named Ananias as well. I refer to them as 'the rich man' [the one who lied], 'good old Ananias', [the one featured in this story] and Rabbi Ananias [for one who shall appear later].)
Saul
34 AD
In the basement of the Temple, beneath the council chambers of the Pharisees, a woman was being tortured. Two guards stood on either side of her, with hands upon her head, holding her face down into a bucket of water. Observing this ordeal was the young Pharisee Saul. After a sufficient time had passed, Saul clicked his fingers at the guards. They brought the woman up, gasping for air.
"Now, Miriam," he said to her. "I am not going ask you again. Where are the Twelve?"
"Why are you torturing me?" she sobbed.
"Wrong answer!" he shouted. He looked at one of the guards, who struck her across the face with his hand so hard that an ugly blackish-blue bruise appeared above her left eye-brow.
"Do you think your husband is going to save you?" he asked. "Cleopah, isn't it? He's not here, he's left you to the wolves. He doesn't care about you, and neither does your heretic messiah!"
"That's not true!" Miriam returned.
"See reason, woman!" Saul returned, putting on a face of earnest piety. "This man violated HaShem's sacred Torah! He only received the due punishment for blasphemers! You're only hurting yourself by keeping faith in your dead false prophet."
"He healed the sick," Miriam replied. "He taught the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. He told us to love our neighbors as ourselves: to turn the other cheek."
"And what good is that going to do you, huh?" Saul asked, slapping her across the right cheek. "We'll just slap the other one, and you'll only be in twice as much pain!" He punctuated his own beloved blasphemies with a fist across her left cheek. He lowered his face into her level, his beard like a sword held just below her throat.
"Why do you hate us so much?" she asked.
"We are doing the commandment of HaShem," he returned. "And you are on a sure path to damnation." He then turned to the guards. "Strip her, then beat her with the flails. Use the cat-o-nine-tails, those hurt the worst."
"Whoever believes," Miriam said. "That Joshua is the Son of God, even though they die, yet they shall live!"
"Empty, blasphemous words, you stupid b*tch!" Saul returned. "May as well curse the name of Joshua, your arch-heretic: He won't save you. There will be no going to the bosom of Abraham for you, daughter of Belial. You are going to die down here, and HaShem will spit on your soul for your lies against Him."
"I speak of what I have seen," she continued. "For I am a witness of the good news of Joshua, and have done you no harm."
"Get it over with already!" Saul said to the guards, as he left the corridor. "She's giving me a headache!"
"Stephen never harmed anyone," Miriam continued, speaking to Saul as he left, even as the guards prepared to scourge her. "He was a witness to the truth. Why did you kill him?"
"Make her scream, gentlemen!" Saul announced one last time to the guards. "These cultists think they honor their false messiah by not crying out under torture." He walked towards the steps, but did not leave just yet. He heard the sound of the flail lashing against skin, but all he got was a restrained groan of pain from Miriam: no loud cries of agony. He grimaced, trying to wrap his educated mind on how they could shut off the pains of the body for someone who, obviously, was a blasphemous rebel?
He shook his head, then ascended the steps and walked down the corridor into the council room of the Pharisees.
"How goes it down there?" Annas asked.
"Praise be to HaShem!" Saul cried out joyfully, hands raised to the ceiling. "His noble work is being accomplished! Eight today, with one finally cursing the name of their blasphemer just as he was being stoned to death!"
"What about the one you took down just now?" Annas asked.
"That's the good part," Saul said. "I haven't decided." He then turned to the others gathered here. "How shall this one die, esteemed fathers of the Sanhedrin? Shall we stone her, run her through with our swords, or send her up to the Romans for crucifixion?"
"I have it!" Caiaphas stated. "After she's been well-scourged, we put her up in a basket on the highest roof-top, and let the wasps be her end!"
"Splendid idea!" Saul announced with a smile on his face. "All in favor of the High Priest Caiaphas' solution raise your right hand!" He sycophantically rose his, with many others replying in like manner, or some just out of pure blood-lust. "Very well, gentlemen! Thank you very much for your participation in tonight's execution! Praise HaShem, all around!"
"Saul," Caiaphas interjected, approaching him. "I am very proud of your accomplishments. Indeed, you are a man after my own heart, a true son of Israel: see how valiantly you uphold the Torah against blasphemers!"
"All for the greater glory of HaShem, of course!" Saul replied, a winning smile across his face.
"Of course, of course," Caiaphas replied. "There have been reports that some of these cultists of the Way have fled north."
"What?" Saul asked. "We can't have those blasphemers poisoning the faithful abroad! Give me leave to go north to bring them back in chains before this court and do unto them as they deserve!"
"Done and done!" Caiaphas exclaimed, presenting Saul with several letters signed by the High Priest. Saul read them aloud.
The High Priest Caiaphas Bar-Annas, to the synagogues of the sons of Israel in Damascus. That the heretical and blasphemous cult of the Way be rooted out from among the people of Israel, it is therefore the prerogative of every rabbi and kohen of the synagogues in Damascus to seek out any calling upon the name of Joshua of Nazareth - may his name be cursed seventy-times sevenfold greater than that of Hamaan - whether man or woman, and bring them before Saul of Tarsus, Chief Inquisitor of the Temple in Jerusalem. All to the greater glory of HaShem.
"I like it!" Saul said. "It's brilliant!" He then leaned in close to Caiaphas and spoke to his secretly.
"I have another idea, one that might help our progress," he whispered. "Have spies come to these cult gatherings and listen to their so-called 'gospels'. Then put them down in paper and alter them, so that what is being told is the truth about their false prophet."
"Namely?" Caiaphas asked.
"That He didn't rise from the dead," Saul added. "That seems to be the main point in their dogma. If He didn't, He's just another man and their whole cult is in vain."
"Brilliant!" Caiaphas hissed. "I should have thought of that myself! Go at once to Damascus with these letters, and we'll set that plan into motion on your return."
"HaShem be with you all!" Saul exclaimed to all those there, hands raised in a V-shape of blessing.
"May HaShem grant that you bring back many blasphemers!" Annas said. "We'll punish the lot of them, and cleanse this scourge from the heart of Israel."
Many days passed since Saul was given this order. Riding atop a donkey, with three of the Temple guards with him, Saul was making his way down the road to Damascus. For him, he could not get there fast enough.
"The will of HaShem," he told the guards, for about the hundredth time. "Must see no delay. We must be swift in our judgment, or else the canker of blasphemy will take root and destroy us all."
"Are you sure, rabbi?" one of the guardas asked.
"I'm the one who knows the Torah," Saul replied haughtily. "I have studied Talmud and Midrash all of my life." He scoffed. "From an early age, I knew HaShem did not want me to waste my talents mending tents, like my father before me. No, it was the study of the Torah that I was destined to take up. And take it up I have!"
"Doesn't it concern you," another asked. "That so many people have died, and yet their cult hasn't ended?"
"Maybe Rabbi Gamaliel was right," the third stated. "Maybe, by opposing them, we are opposing HaShem."
"Do not besmirch the noble name of Gamaliel," Saul retorted. "By accusations of affirming the lies of these blaspheming cultists! We have waited long enough as it is, with these followers of The Way. I daresay, for all that the people love him and for all of his good council and reason, Gamaliel was wrong. Look back on blessed memory, my friends. Idolatry was allowed to take a foot-hold in the hearts of the people of Israel. Yes, the patriarchs of blessed memory, peace be upon them, believed in HaShem and never doubted Him once, but they tolerated idolatry, perhaps with the same reason that Gamaliel had: if it is not powerful, it will come to nothing! No, it must be cut out from among us before it has the chance to take root."
"But you're talking about women as well," the first asked. "What about their children?"
"They can become orphans for all I care," Saul replied. "If their fathers and mothers are cultists of The Way. Maybe, just to be sure their cult isn't contagious, we should take the children as well. Perhaps we can persuade the parents to see reason after torturing their young ones for a while."
Even as he was speaking and laughing in the merriment of his wicked thoughts, a light shone directly in front of him. It was not the sun, for that was high above and not in the northern sky. The suddenly grew brighter and brighter, until suddenly Saul felt himself thrown from his horse, as if struck by the power of this light. It was so bright that he could not even raise himself up from where he fell, on the gravel road on the flat of his back: so bright, in fact, that he could see nothing else apart from the light.
"Saul," a voice intreated. "Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
In his mind's eye, he saw the face of Miriam, the wife of Cleopah, as he struck and spat upon it. She did not reply, she was not even angry or spiteful: her face was a vision of perfect peace. He then saw another face, shining like the light that was now upon him, filled with peace even while it was being bludgeoned to death by stones.
"It's hard to kick against the urges of the heart, is it not?" the voice asked again.
"My LORD," he asked at last. "Who are you?"
"I AM Joshua," the voice returned. "The same One you are persecuting. Rise up and go into Damascus: there you will be told what you must do next."
Suddenly the light faded, and all was blackness.
"Did you hear that?" a voice suddenly cried out, it was one of the guards. "There was a voice speaking, but nobody else was here."
"Look!" the second guard stated. "The rabbi's fallen off his ass! Somebody help him up."
"Rabbi!" the third guard's voice, sounding near at hand, said to Saul. "Stand up."
"Huh?" Saul queried wearily. "What?"
"Hear, take my hand." the guard replied.
"Hand?" Saul asked. "Where is it?"
"It's right here, can't you see it?"
"What's that on his eyes?"
Suddenly Saul cried out in horror. "I can't see! I can't see! Oh, the curse of HaShem has fallen on me! He has taken my sight!"
"What should we do?" another guard asked.
"We have our mission. We should carry it out."
"It's a curse from HaShem! We can't show our faces in the synagogues with him in this state!"
"Take me to Damascus," Saul cried out. "For the love of HaShem, take me there!"
Three days later, Matthew and Thomas welcomed John from Jerusalem. He made it known to them that it did not feel right, remaining there while he had his duty to protect Joshua's mother. Lucas and Nicholas had not yet left the city, for the Chief Inquisitor himself was rumored to be in the city, with a warrant for the arrest of those followers of the Cult of the Way.
"Why are we waiting?" Nicholas asked. "We should be half-way to Antioch by now!"
"I feel the Ruach HaKodesh might have something for us to yet do here," Lucas stated.
"What, get ourselves captured and hauled back to Jerusalem in chains?" Nicholas retorted.
"If the Chief Inquisitor had a warrant for our arrests," Matthew stated. "He would have issued it out three days ago, when he first arrived here. Something's keeping him waiting, but what and why?"
Lucas sighed, then turned to Miriam. "Tomorrow, we leave for Antioch. If you would like, John can take you back to Nazareth."
Miriam shook her head. "I want to see what becomes of this gospel."
Lucas nodded, then turned to make sure he had his things in order. Matthew, meanwhile, made his way toward Miriam.
"Excuse me," he said. "I was listening last night, as you told the story of Joshua to Lucas. It was at the Dedication ceremony, and the old man said that Joshua was destined to be the rise and fall of many in Israel. Was that ever fulfilled?"
She sat down and nodded. "After the Dedication, we returned to Bethlehem. By then we had rented a room; it was better than being in a stable. Then one night, a group of noblemen, claiming that they were from the East, came before us. They gave the child gifts: gold, frankenscence and myrrh. It was quite something, that the Son of HaShem would be a light even to the Gentiles."
"So it was foretold of Him!" Matthew returned.
"If He could make kings of the east bow down before Him when He was yet a child," Barnabas stated. "Couldn't He do something about this Chief Inquisitor?"
All eyes and ears turned to the sound of crashing pottery. They looked and saw their host, with eyes looking up to the ceiling. His lips muttered but no words came forth. Lucas, the physician, fearing something had come over him, approached him and waved his hand before his eyes. It was then he discovered that old Ananias was not breathing. He held out one hand, gesturing out into apparent nothingness. Lucas tried to move his hand, but it would not budge.
"But he's the Chief Inquisitor!" Ananias muttered. "He's done us nothing but harm. He's here with a warrant for our arrests!"
His voice fell silent. The others looked on and marveled, unable to move him or contact him.
"Incredible!" John and Matthew said at the same time.
Suddenly, old Ananias stirred and waved his hands before his eyes, saying something about it being very dark in the house.
"Excuse me," old Ananias said to them. "I have to go."
"Where?" Barnabas asked.
"To the house of Judah on the Straight Street of the city!" he returned, hurrying off to get his cloak.
"But that's..." Lucas exclaimed. "That's where the Rabbi Chief Inquisitor is staying!"
"I know!" old Ananias stated.
"You're going to your death!" Thomas exclaimed.
"Wait, you're in no condition to be traveling!" Lucas interfered. "You were just now in a trance."
"I was?"
"Yes! You didn't breathe or move, and you were muttering something."
"I was?" old Ananias repeated. His face then bore an expression of the discovery of some great secret. "It was HaShem!"
"But why would he tell you," John queried. "To go to the Chief Inquisitor?"
"I don't know," old Ananias returned. "It-It makes no sense! The voice said it was that of our LORD Joshua. He told me that Saul is to be the chosen instrument to proclaim His glorious name to the Gentiles."
"But I thought the good news was for us!" Thomas stated.
"Still," old Ananias replied. "The LORD has spoken, and I must obey."
Barnabas made a sound of some kind of annoyance, then picked up his own cloak, saying: "Then I'm coming with you."
It was still the dead of night when Barnabas and old Ananias made their way from his house to the Straight Street. As a native, Ananias knew these streets like the back of his hand and could navigate them, even at night. It was necessary that they go by night, for they were still in danger. The Cult of the Way was considered heretical; the very person they were visiting was, perhaps their greatest enemy: it was as if HaShem had asked the zealots to go to Rome and meet with Caesar on a mission of peace. Precaution had to be made, so they came at night, as soon as the vision had come to old Ananias.
They found the door and Ananias knocked upon it. Several minutes later, the master of the house, Judah, appeared with a candle in his hand.
"Do you know what time it is?" he yawned. "Come back tomorrow."
"Your pardon, good sir," old Ananias interjected. "I must see Raf Sha'ul."
Judah rubbed his eyes, making certain that he was not dreaming, and looked at the two gentlemen at his doorstep.
"Are either one of you," Judah asked. "Called Ananias?"
"I am Ananias," the old man replied.
Judah's exterior changed almost immediately once he heard the old man's name. "Come in, sir!" He opened the door wider and allowed Ananias and Barnabas to enter into the house.
"Where is he?" Barnabas asked.
"In the upper room," Judah said. "He arrived here three days ago, blind as a bat. Since then, he's had nothing to eat or drink. He spends all of his time in the upper room, praying."
"Lead the way," Ananias told Judah. They followed the light of the lamp as it bobbed up and down on its path up the stairs, creaking underfoot. At the top landing, Judah pushed open the door, creaking open on its old hinges. He placed the lamp on a high place, so that the guests could look upon the room and upon its sole inhabitant.
The Pharisee sat in a corner, his prayer shawl over his head and his face turned southward, towards Jerusalem. They could not as yet see his face, and nor could they hear him speak, for his prayers were now uttered directly from his heart to HaShem. Ananias held out his hand to forbear Barnabas, then walked toward Saul.
"Rabbi Saul," Ananias greeted. "Can you hear me?"
There was silence for a moment, after which Saul's hands reached up and removed the shawl from off his bald head.
"Yes." he said. Slowly he turned around, and Ananias took a step back, with Barnabas gasping and Judah hiding his face. What they saw was something completely unnatural, as if Saul had been born without eyes, without even the holes in his face for the eyes. A sheet of unhealthy-looking flesh, that glistened in the lamp-light like the scales of a fish, sat where his eyes should have been.
"Who are you?" Saul asked. "Are you...Ananias?"
"How do you know my name?" he replied.
"In a dream," Saul replied. "I saw an old man coming to this place, who would restore my sight. At least, I think it was a dream. It might be a vision, I don't know. I have not seen sun or light in three days."
"How did this happen?" Ananias asked.
Saul related to them his event on the road to Damascus, word for word, and left nothing out. Judah said nothing, Ananias merely listened: Barnabas was shocked to hear that this had happened.
"Brother," Ananias said at last. "Joshua, the LORD, the very One who appeared to you, has sent me to you that you may see again...and be filled with..." He paused, marveling that Joshua would do this, to him of all people.
"With what?" Saul asked.
"The Ruach HaKodesh." Ananias replied in a hushed tone. Barnabas gasped at this revelation. Slowly, he reached up and placed his hand over the cold, clammy growth upon Saul's face.
"Receive thy sight!" Ananias whispered.
Once old Ananias' gnarled hands removed from over Saul's face, they saw that the scales were gone. In it's place were two eyes that looked as healthy as those of any other person. For a moment, Saul's face lit up with joy as he saw light again for the first time in three days. For a moment he laughed, but his laughter was suddenly silenced. He looked at his hand in astonishment, then ran both of his hands over his back, with both hands coming at last to rest upon his neck.
"What's wrong?" Ananias asked. "Can you not see?"
"I do see," Saul said, his voice grave and solemn. "And I have seen a vision. Just now." He sighed, closing his eyes and muttering a soft, quiet prayer.
"What did you see?" Ananias asked.
"Pain," Saul muttered. "Suffering, such great suffering. I saw that..." He looked Ananias in the face.
"That I must suffer for He who healed me."
There was a moment of silence, as they all pondered what this might mean. Then, at last, Saul got himself to his feet, wearily at first.
"I want to be baptized, right now." he said.
(AN: Did you like? I had fun making it [and as you can see, I will definitely go back and fix what I spoke of concerning Joanna].)
(Here is something else, though. In this story, at least, the infamous "thorn" of his second letter to Corinth [12:7] is the knowledge that he must suffer great things for the word of God and the faith of Christ [Acts 9:16 says that God would show him what he must suffer]. As I'm sure many can attest to in real life, the fear of what is to come is greater than when it is already there: and the knowledge that you must suffer greatly would be a constant 'thorn' to you. Just my thoughts on the matter.)