The Journey of the Messiah

By Linda Pye and Joseph Pye

This is the third novel based around the character of D.C.I Steven Price by Joseph and Linda Pye. It is the fourth book to be published in eighteen months by the couple who only met in 2008. Joseph has had the stories in his head for a long while and has even written them in the past although never got them published. Linda writes the female parts and edits the books and they work together well as a team. The first three books are now in the local library and are being well received by customers as they are often out on loan. The accompanying photo was taken in Queensland, Australia, where the couple spent five weeks visiting family, having a 'mock up' wedding so that Joseph's sister Marilyn could be there as she couldn't make the real one later in the year, her husband Derek, is a marriage celebrant over there. We made many good friends during out time over there and miss them all lots as we do our family and friends that we don't see so often

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Jan 26, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456860387

Linda Pye

Joseph and Linda have now written five books and this is the last in the series entitled “The Steven Price Mysteries”. They have just started on the next novel concerning Steven Price but this time with a new partner and location. This last book has been a while coming as they have had a busy two years running a pub in Cornwall and then moving into a new home, also in Cornwall. Joseph is the originator of the stories and the main writer and Linda portrays the female side of the characters. Joseph has had the ideas in his head for many years after listening to tales from his grand father who was a detective back in the era around the second world war and just afterwards. His brother-in-law was also a detective, before immigrating to Australia in the 1970’s.

Book preview

Chapter 1

This the story of a young Jewish boy, growing up in the traditional Jewish fashion, in a country with all the troubles that went with it. This included the influx of Roman soldier’s that had invaded the area and were trying to impose the orders of the Caesar of the time. However they were content to allow the people to go about their normal business and their form of worship within reason.

The area was still a barbaric country full of unrest that the Roman’s were trying to quell with little impact. They were up against a worthy adversary in the rebels that plagued the once beautiful country. Also in the mix were a barbaric race that killed in the name of their god, Allah, with the excuse that if you believed in him you’d die for him. If you didn’t die for him then you didn’t believe in him, and they believed they had the true God and not the God of the Jewish faith.

The name of the young boy was Jesus.

It is taught in the Bible of his coming into the world, via Mary, and it is written that an angel came to Mary, and told her she would have a boy child, and that she should name him Jesus. The angel also appeared to Joseph to tell him that it was alright to stay with Mary because she was pregnant with God’s child.

One might ask the formidable question, why Jesus? why not, John, Mark, or so on, why Jesus? it is obvious it had to be a name unlike any other name if it was to be remembered for all time, because unknown to Mary and Joseph his name would be legend. If it were any other more normal name it would be soon forgotten in the dusts of time. But Jesus was an unusual name, a name that would indicate greatness of time worthy of the son of God.

In the beginning, the boy was too young to understand his own importance, it would’ve been too much for a child, let alone, any adult to comprehend. The question asked at the time would’ve been, when will it be so?

This story is about a young 12 year old Jewish boy with coffee coloured skin and shoulder length curly black hair, in his white robes he was like any other boy in his neighbourhood. Only a few people other than Mary and Joseph knew the truth of his identity, which was good for the boy. This allowed him to live a normal life far from his true identity, free of any taunts from his friends.

Jesus was now at an age where he had to learn the ways of his people. This sometimes baffled him and led him to ask unusual questions of the Rabbi’s who consulted the scriptures to try and answer his question fairly, but Jesus was still puzzled. Surrounded by so many different religions he was curious as to why his faith was the right faith. ‘Why not Allah, or what about the romans who worshipped many gods. Why couldn’t they be right, in fact what or who is this being we call God? if he is so powerful why can’t we see him?’ But the commandments given to Moses were to be strictly obeyed by everybody. That is everybody that was Jewish, it would appear nobody else upheld those laws or believed them. In some cases they lived a perfect life without those laws and they would come to be destroyed in many ways. Anyone who challenged those laws were persecuted by those in high office of the synagogue, because the Sanhedrin were the law.

When Jesus was born he wouldn’t have been aware of his true identity, although his birth was well documented, and had an adverse response from all walks of life. The Jewish faith didn’t believe it to be true, they believed no-one could be a God. They did believe a Messiah was coming, one who would destroy the Romans. So if it were said that Jesus was the son of God, he would be a god too, and therefore a false statement by anybody claiming to be the son of God. This meant that even Mary and Joseph had to refrain from referring to Jesus as the son of God. Mary didn’t want her son to grow up with that stigma and hoped he would grow up to be like his earthly father or just be a very good Rabbi, as it seemed he was getting more and more into his faith than his friends.

Jesus was constantly told by his mother that he was somebody special, a gift from the angel’s, he laughed and replied, Aren’t all children gifts from god, he would go on, So why am I so special? Mary thought, if he is the son of god then surely he would know why he was special, and she wondered why the angel’s had gone so quiet, or had she dreamt it all. Her son was in fact no different from any other child that ran and played in the streets or in the surrounding fields’.

He spent his time learning the scriptures, and on many occasions he would read from the scriptures to the congregations delight, but he was disturbed by the words he read and the feelings he felt for the people he was preaching to. He was confused by his true feelings that plagued his young mind, thinking to himself these are written words of long ago, by men who died long before him. They are not his words, words that he thought of, although he was still so young to truly come to terms with his own thoughts, so he just kept on reading the scriptures hoping that one day he would understand their message.

Out of the limelight of the synagogue, and the sound of the Rabbi’s words droning in his ears, he pondered through his own thoughts in respect of his beliefs, albeit different from his upbringing. Sitting on the banks of the sea, he would question his own ideals about certain things. At the same time he cast a stone into the waters of the calm sea and watched the ripples spread out like a miniature tsunami.

He would go down to the sea and stare out into the void, and just pretend he was out there preaching to the world. He would turn to the sword, albeit a wooden one, he would pretend to slay many Roman soldiers, and he was the leader of a vast army, but the words of the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ kept coming back to him.

He would still wield his wooden sword with friends and sometimes with the odd Roman soldier that passed. In fact he found to his surprise, that some of the Roman soldiers were quite civilized and felt they shouldn’t be there. But they were there because of orders from their superiors.

He would play endlessly with his relative John, playing, fighting, talking at great length about the future and why they were here now. John would later become known as ‘John the Baptist’ and the person who would tell the people of the coming of the messiah. That is when he would become him. but at the age of 12 he wasn’t ready to take on his father’s word, what ever that was. It would be believed that John the Baptist was the Messiah. How wrong they were.

Jesus was 12 when he had been playing with his relative John and ended up sitting under a palm tree on the sands on the sea of Galilee, when casting a stone into the calm sea he was approached by a Rabbi who knew him and ask what was wrong.

Why are you sitting here my son? He went on as he sat beside Jesus in the shade of that welcoming tree that sheltered them from the heat of the noon day sun. What is troubling you? He enquired considerately.

I’m finding it hard to come to terms with the scriptures. Jesus returned.

In what way my son?

I know it is easy to speak the words of the scriptures, but they do not reflect my own feelings, he went on, I am finding the words are out of date with life as it is today, they do not tell of the Roman’s or the thoughts of the children.

That is because you are still so young to come to terms with the scriptures. we all went through what you are going through when we were your age, it is all part of growing up, you are no different from us.

Mother says I am special . . . But I can’t see it . . . What makes me so special?. He commented as he tossed yet another stone into the calm waters.

The ripples from that stone are like the words you read from the scriptures, they like your words reach out and touch everybody that hears your voice and that is special. Who knows, maybe one day everybody will hear your words.

When? he snapped as he found his feet.

Son . . . You are not going to be 12 for ever . . . One day you will be a man and you could be a great Rabbi because the people already love to hear your voice when you read from the scriptures.. He went on. Understanding them that is the hardest part. There are many Rabbi’s who do not understand them, but believe in them to be the laws of God, and we can not go against the laws of God as laid down . . .

I know. He interrupted, Moses brought them down from the mountain on stone tablets saying they were from God.

Well there you go. Sighed the Rabbi. Those stones carried the words of God.

Why doesn’t God come to us now? Why only back then when it is hard to prove that he did? That is the question.

Read the scriptures the answers are there. Laughed the Rabbi.

Read the scriptures! Read the sciptures! That is always the easy way out of answering the question, retorted Jesus. What about all those other faiths out there. Where did they come from? is their God different from our God? If so then why is it they say there is only one god, or is their god our god but in their chosen name?

There is only one God the others are demi gods and false gods. Replied the Rabbi informatively, finding his feet, clutching both hands as if in pray.

How do you know? It is those words that puzzle me, if there is only one God, then where do demi gods come into it, or false gods and if they are invisible how the hell do we know they exist? How do we know it all exists? . . .  I know! . . . read the scriptures!

The Rabbi just smiled at Jesus’s line of questioning, and left Jesus to ponder his thoughts.

Alone again Jesus found his wooden sword that he wielded in anger using the trunk of the tree as his would be enemy, if there was one. Was it his relative John he was killing or the Roman soldiers. Still, the trunk of that tree was a worthy opponent as it didn’t hit back, like his cousin would have or the Roman soldier he had befriended.

It was then that he felt something strange had occurred. Turning he found he had been joined by a stange ghost like woman, with long flowing white hair and a long white robe that touched the floor. Jesus was struck dumb for a moment by her sudden presence, everything seemed different to what it was prior to her appearance.

She appeared to move with a gliding action. Jesus felt he could reach out and put his hand right through her very presence, but refrained out of fear, yet he feared nothing, he felt relaxed as if he’d encountered ghostly shaped women every day.

I have been searching for you for a very long time, she expressed softly. My name is Nahomi, she explained in a soft comforting voice, I am your guardian angel. She went on as she moved gracefully around him, Why are you so angry with that tree?

Who . . . Who are you? and where did you come from?

I come from the home of your father . . . your spiritual father that is, she went on to explain, not Joseph as he is your earthly father.

What are you talking about? . . . My spiritual father? he spoke inquisitively. Joseph is my true father just as Mary is my true mother . . . aren’t they?

You are right they are your earthly parents but you are special.

Yeh! . . . Yeh!. So I am constantly told by my mother,he went on, Why am I so special, what is so special about me? he said angrily, What makes you think I want to be special?

Jesus looked about him and noticed an elderly man reading something he held in his hands while sitting on a rock some short distance from him, who seemed totally unaware of his presence.

Everything seemed still, even the sea went silent, it was as though he had been transformed from where he once was and taken to some strange new place. Yet nothing had changed, the sea, sky and sand was still there, in fact the tree he had been hitting stood rigid where it was. Jesus thought he’d died and gone to heaven.

So why were you hitting that tree with so much anger? she again asked inquisitively.

You saw me?

Yes! I saw you, so why?

I want to kill all the Roman soldiers, he said angrily as he again wielded his sword at that defenceless tree, I want to be the leader of an army, he went on, and destroy the Roman empire.

Why are you so angry with people you don’t know, she enquired as she slowly moved around him, I see you play with some of those so called Roman soldiers as if they too were you friends.

They are my friends.

But they are the same Roman soldiers you are trying to kill.

They are different.

How?

They just are . . . They are against what their superiors are asking of them and they wish they could go home to their own land.

Why only them? Why not all of them? They are not the only ones to want to go home surely . . . How do you know that this is your land, you forefathers came to this land many years ago from a war torn land where they too were being persecuted she smiled pertly, no . . . surely all lands belong to God for he created it?

Well if he created it, then why isn’t he here to get rid of the Romans and those other faiths.

What makes you believe your faith is the true faith?

Are you saying the scriptures are wrong, if so then why am I reading them?

I didn’t say the scriptures were wrong, merely their interpretation of their meaning is wrong, it would be for you to decide which is the right interpretation of those words, she went on, the trouble is you ask so many difficult questions for some-one so young.

Well I am some-one special as I am constantly told . . . He said arragantly, I just want to know . . . WHY AM I SO SPECIAL?. He yelled for all the world to hear but nobody took any notice, not even the elderly man reading on the rock.

Your true journey in life begins today, she began with a more serious tone in her voice, she gently touched his right shoulder. His response was to fall to his knees, with the angel perched over him, I will leave you with a dream that will go on through your life . . . your job will be to solve the mystery of the dream and when you have solved it you will know who you are and why you are here, she went on, You will undertake tests to help you.

I don’t understand . . . you talk in riddles, he went on, Will I find the answers in the scriptures as I’m constantly told by my superiors?

Solve the dream and don’t ever forget me. She said sadly as she lifted her hand from his shoulder a tear ran down her cheek and as she bent down and kissed his forehead the tear dropped onto his fresh cheek. Returning to her upright stance she smiled saying Don’t forget me. and with a final gentle farewell smile she slowly vanished before his eyes and those familiar sounds of normality returned.

Jesus touched the teardrop left by Nahomi on his cheek and took it onto his finger and felt its wetness on his warm lips and tasted its sweetness and knew it had all been real.

He then turned to the old man and asked did you see her? The old man looked at him and said Who? Jesus then replied, The beautiful woman in the white robe?

No said the old man I saw no-one except for you, fighting with the sword in your hand.

Chapter 2

Jesus’s experience with the angel had left a strange affect on him, for the first time in his young life he sensed fear, the fear of the future, as he tossed the wooden sword he had in his hand to the sand beneath that tree.

But something made him pick it up again, and he found himself staring at its shape, with the blade and the small strip of wood that divided the handle from the blade, it meant something special. It was like a cross that the Roman’s used to punish those who opposed them, it also resembled something that was supernatural. He thrust it into the sand, and left it like some discarded ornament, for all to admire

He told John about his latest experience with the angel Nahomi, no matter how stange it appeared and John became overwhelmed by it. It had a different effect on him from that day.

The scriptures had prophesied the coming of a Messiah and after listening to Jesus tell of his time with the angel, John advised Jesus to keep quiet about his encounter with Nahomi as the Rabbi’s would condone it to be an imaginary dream from a boy.

But he had a stange feeling that Jesus was the so called Messiah that was so preached about in the scriptures, but he couldn’t be sure. But that story left its mark on him too, which would be more important in the future, when they had both grown up. If he was to preach of the coming Messiah he couldn’t be wrong, as it was written in the scriptures foretold through out time. His only hope would be that Jesus was the true Messiah as he believed, and would Jesus accept his status or reject it, only time would tell.

Jesus told John about the dream and how he had to solve its mystery to learn who he was and why he was there. John begged Jesus to tell him the dream in an hope that he may be able to solve it too.

Jesus now feared going to sleep, fearing that the dream may be horrible, but he knew it was something he couldn’t avoid knowing he would eventually fall asleep and the dream would come. But what and in which form would it be and what effect if any was about to materialize. He was suprised to learn the dream didn’t happen as he had believed and he told John who sighed at the prospect of it being a mistake.

It was a few days later, when on a cool evening out of tiredness he drifted into a deep sleep, and the dream began. At first it frightened him but it recurred each night as foretold by Nahomi, the scene was always the same the story never differed. It was having a strange effect on his studying, and his mother became concerned, he told her about the dream he was having and how it worried him.

She took him to see a philosopher she knew who she believed may have been able to help him and hopefully rid him of the dream that was worrying him. The philosopher told her not to worry and that it was something that is going to happen in the future, and only he would know what it was and when it has happening.

John kept pestering Jesus to tell him if he had encountered the dream, eventually Jesus told him yes, but he wasn’t sure of how to tell the story of the dream, as he was yet unsure of the full facts relating to the dream, but reassured John that as soon as the dream was totally in his mind in every detail he would tell him. Besides he was still coming to terms with his own mind, he didn’t want the world to know for fear of being persecuted for his words and thoughts. Instead he turned again to the scriptures and in the temple when asked what he was doing, he would simply say I’m in my father’s house.

One day in the temple he asked the Rabbi’s In the scriptures it mentions about the coming of a Messiah.

What about it?

Well that’s it . . . what about it . . . how would you know if the Messiah had come? he questioned curiously.

I’m sure the world would know . . . why do you ask?

Just curious that’s all, he sighed. What would be expected of a Messiah?

That is a very difficult question to answer, I’m sure if he was the real Messiah he would show us everything in heaven and teach us the truth.

Would God be Jewish or some other faith?

God is faith we are his children.

What about the Romans and the other faiths.

When he comes all faiths would become one, because we are all his creation and all evil would be destroyed.

So what you are saying is; the Messiah wouldn’t be like any known man?

You ask so many strange questions for a boy of 12.

Jesus played quietly beside the banks of the sea and often found himself sittiing silently under that palm tree where it all began he hoped Nahomi would return and talk to him but at that time she refrained, instead he would be joined by his relative John who became attatched to Jesus.

The wooden sword had been taken some time before, probably by some other boy who wanted to be a warrior like Jesus wanted to be, and deep down inside he still had those feelings of hatred for those who oppress his people.

He sat quietly on the rock that the old man sat on that eventful day and he was joined by John who sat on the sand in front of him.

What is wrong Jesus? . . . You look so forlorn, as if the troubles of the world were on your shoulders. John asked.

Maybe it is . . . Maybe . . . I don’t know I just wish I could be somewhere else right now . . . like on the other side of that sea . . . maybe the world is bigger than all of us and we are merely a grain of sand on the beach . . . A Messiah would have to be greater than the world.

The Messiah would be God. remarked John accordingly.

It is written that God created Man in his image so it would only be right that he would create a God in his image . . . wouldn’t it?

Are you saying that the Messiah would be God replied a disgruntled John

They say he would be the son of God.

Right . . . so why would he come? . . . surely if we are obeying the scriptures we are using his laws and therefore he would be unwanted.

It is believed he is coming to free the people of the evil in the world.

That would be one magic trick I would love to be around to see.

This dream you are supposed to be having, inquired John, Can you tell me what it is?

Yes . . . but it has no meaning yet.

Tell me Jesus and I will see if I can work it out.

A philosopher friend said it is something that is going to happen in the future and I shouldn’t let it worry me.

So . . . come on spit it out lets see if it can be worked out.

If a philosopher can’t work it out how are we going to work it out? . . . besides its suppose to be the future, which as you know hasn’t yet happened.

If that is so then the dream is telling you that the future as been foretold to you in a dream or a vision, a future that as already been thought out and your gift is an insight into that future what ever you make it.

Maybe you are right . . . I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to tell you the dream.

Go ahead I’m all ears.

The Dream

It is a funny dream, it doesn’t make sense, it feels like a different world, nothing like this place, I guess it might even be heaven, Jesus expressed wearily, he felt on edge to talk to John about the dream out of fear of being ridiculed.

He was feeling different anyway and feared telling anybody what he felt inside and the experiences with Nahomi, what he feared was everybody turning on him calling him a wierdo and pushing him away. It was the fear of rejection, even by his relative John, although he knew he was very close to him.

So what is in the dream that is strange . . . you know you’ve got me really inquisitive now . . . so come on tell me the dream, I must know it might be important, who knows, am I in it? John asked politely.

Jesus smiled. "I don’t know, do I have a serious problem about trying to solve it but can I solve it if it hasn’t happened yet . . . that is what I