The Eyewitness Gospel

By Michael Phillips

The acclaimed Christian novelist and devotional author brings the Bible to life with this engaging fictionalized account of the Gospel and its writing.

A small and insignificant village a few miles south of Jerusalem has been chosen by the heavens for the event that will change history. No one has an inkling of what is to come save the young woman chosen out of obscurity—like the village—to play a central role in the grand, unfolding drama.

In Eyewitness Gospel, Michael Phillips applies his storytelling craft to a vivid retelling of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, as well as the tireless works of his apostles as they spread the good news.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9780795350764

Michael Phillips

Professor Mike Phillips has a BSc in Civil Engineering, an MSc in Environmental Management and a PhD in Coastal Processes and Geomorphology, which he has used in an interdisciplinary way to assess current challenges of living and working on the coast. He is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation, Enterprise and Commercialisation) at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and also leads their Coastal and Marine Research Group. Professor Phillips' research expertise includes coastal processes, morphological change and adaptation to climate change and sea level rise, and this has informed his engagement in the policy arena. He has given many key note speeches, presented at many major international conferences and evaluated various international and national coastal research projects. Consultancy contracts include beach monitoring for the development of the Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay, assessing beach processes and evolution at Fairbourne (one of the case studies in this book), beach replenishment issues, and techniques to monitor underwater sediment movement to inform beach management. Funded interdisciplinary research projects have included adaptation strategies in response to climate change and underwater sensor networks. He has published >100 academic articles and in 2010 organised a session on Coastal Tourism and Climate Change at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in his role as a member of the Climate, Oceans and Security Working Group of the UNEP Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands. He has successfully supervised many PhD students, and as well as research students in his own University, advises PhD students for overseas universities. These currently include the University of KwaZuluNatal, Durban, University of Technology, Mauritius and University of Aveiro, Portugal. Professor Phillips has been a Trustee/Director of the US Coastal Education and Research Foundation (CERF) since 2011 and he is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Coastal Research. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Victoria, British Columbia and Visiting Professor at the University Centre of the Westfjords. He was an expert advisor for the Portuguese FCT Adaptaria (coastal adaptation to climate change) and Smartparks (planning marine conservation areas) projects and his contributions to coastal and ocean policies included: the Rio +20 World Summit, Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands; UNESCO; EU Maritime Spatial Planning; and Welsh Government Policy on Marine Aggregate Dredging. Past contributions to research agendas include the German Cluster of Excellence in Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM) and the Portuguese Department of Science and Technology.

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The Eyewitness

Gospel

Michael Phillips

The Eyewitness Gospel

Copyright © 2017 by Michael Phillips

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Unless otherwise specified, Scripture references to begin each chapter are from the Revised Standard Version (RSV.) Passages adapted into the text are in the author’s paraphrase loosely combining the RSV, NAS, and NIV translations.

Electronic edition published 2017 by RosettaBooks

ISBN (Kindle): 978-0-7953-5076-4

www.RosettaBooks.com

A fictional companion to the three volumes of The Eyewitness New Testament and to the two volumes The Commands of Jesus and The Commands of the Apostles.

Contents

1.    Caesar’s Decree, the Mediterranean Sea, 6 B.C.

2.    The Star, Bethlehem of Judea, 6-5 B.C.

3.    The Boy, Jerusalem, A.D. 6-7

4.    Cousins, Nazareth of Galilee, A.D. 11

5.    Into the Desert, the Judean Desert, A.D. 17

6.    The Essence, the Judean Desert, A.D. 17

7.    A Mother’s Divine Ache on the outskirts of Nazareth, A.D. 25

8.    Voice in the Wilderness, the River Jordan, A.D. 27

9.    The Call, Bethsaida of Galilee, A.D. 27

10.   Outcast and Brother, Capernaum of Galilee, A.D. 27-28

11.   The Gathering, Capernaum, A.D. 27-28

12.   The Message, near Capernaum, A.D. 27-28

13.   Tax Collectors and Sinners, Capernaum, A.D. 28

14.   Who is this Man, on the road to Caesarea-Philippi, A.D. 29-30

15.   New Assignment, the coast of Caesarea, A.D. 30

16.   Witness to Love, Jerusalem, A.D. 30

17.   Witness to Sacrifice, Jerusalem, A.D. 30

18.   Witness to Salvation, Jerusalem, A.D. 30

19.   Witness to Life, Jerusalem, A.D. 30

20.   Eyewitness to Resurrection, Jerusalem, A.D. 30

21.   Winds of Power, Jerusalem, A.D. 30

22.   Deliverance of a Pharisee, outside Damascus, A.D. 33

23.   Bonds of Leadership, Jerusalem, A.D. 33

24.   A Brother’s Prayer, Jerusalem, A.D. 45

25.   A New Love to Change the World, Ephesus, A.D. 55

26.   The Joy of Christ, Rome, A.D. 61

27.   The Biography of God’s Son, Corinth, A.D. 63

28.   Preservation of the Life, Rome, A.D. 68

29.   Tax Collector and Second Witness, Capernaum, A.D. 74

30.   Physician and Third Witness, the Mediterranean, A.D. 77

31.   A Beloved Disciple Defines God’s Nature, Ephesus, A.D.95

32.   God Becomes Man!, Ephesus, A.D. 96

1. Caesar’s Decree

The Mediterranean Sea,

approximately 748 AUC (6 B. C.)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city.

Luke 2:1-3

There had always been Judea. Lately had come Rome.

The two stood in symbolic contrast and deep-set enmity. At this apex of history, their destinies now converged in unseen climax. At opposite poles of earthly power, Judea’s past spoke of God, Rome’s present spoke of man.

Judea proclaimed divine origins. Rome announced the heights man might attain by making himself god.

Though Rome would scoff at the absurdity of dividing its glory, these were the two most important nations on earth. Such was an honor Caesar would not fain share with either nation or king. He would alone rule the world.

Judea, however, would soon give the world another Claimant to that throne.

Though they disdained one another, in truth the peoples of their distinct cultures were not so very different. The lives of both were ruled by law. A common pageantry set apart the grandeur of Rome and the ritual of Judea. Roman pageantry consisted in the worship of human glory, whose shrine was Rome itself. Both cultures based on law, Jewish pageantry followed the ancient custom of the Law of Moses, sacrificing to YHWH in his temple in Jerusalem.

Likewise a common arrogance fueled both Roman vanity and Jewish superiority. The former considered themselves gods—mighty, indomitable, invincible, with the inherent right to vanquish and rule the world. The latter considered themselves a superior people because God had singled them out, chosen them above all the races of mankind.

Disparate as were their two outlooks, therefore, at the core both Jew and Roman were alike in this: Each looked the other in the eye and said, You shall never master me. Mine will be the victor nation in the end.

Tension between Jew and Roman was inevitable. Where conceits clash, the conflict is to the death.

A priest of Judah wearing a robe of expensive Corinthian wool stood on the forward deck of a Roman vessel as she sliced through the translucent waters of the Great Sea called Mediterranean. Below him the timbers of the ship creaked with the gentle rocking motion of the swell. It was generally a calm day, however, and only occasionally did a fine mist spray up to where he stood.

He breathed deeply of the warm tangy sea air with a satisfaction he had not felt in many years.

He cast a glance behind him from whence they had set sail with the tide several hours earlier. The hills of Cyprus remained but faintly still visible on the distant horizon off the stern. In another thirty minutes, his boyhood home would be but a memory.

His wife Mary was fearful of the change. She had never been off the island. But Clopas bar Jonah was no native Cypriot. He had been born in Palestine, though he did not remember it. Hearing his father speak of it, all his life he had longed to return and again make Israel, perhaps Jerusalem itself, his home.

It was not always easy for a Levite to make such a change. Levite Jonah had come to Cyprus from Judea never to return. His father never told Clopas of the circumstances for the change, though he thought it had to do with the uprising of the Galilean prophet years earlier whom many had proclaimed as the Messiah. In what way his father never divulged, but he had somehow been involved. The move to Cyprus was as much a flight to protect his family as a change of prospect for his priestly service. Whatever his reasons, in Cyprus Jonah had remained, a wealthy man, respected by all who knew him, but nevertheless an outcast by his own choice from the epicenter of Israel’s spiritual life.

The father was gone now. Whatever danger had driven him from the mainland no longer existed and did not concern Clopas. The age of wild-eyed prophets and mountaintop messiahs was past. Even Galilee, that breeding ground of fishermen, fanatics, and itinerant preachers, seemed to have come to its senses in this new age of Rome’s civil though iron-handed dominion over its most outlying and some said most unruly province.

Clopas had long dreamed of serving, not on some distant volcanic rock in the middle of the ocean with peasants, pagans, scorpions, and goats as the only flock the small synagogue could hope to attract, but in the Temple at the very heart of their Hebrew faith—in Jerusalem itself!

Now he and Mary were at last on their way. Mary would get over her sorrow at leaving her family. Women always did. They followed their husbands. She would adapt to her new home.

The decree had gone out a year before, in the year 747 AUC by the Roman calendar, measured since the founding of the great imperial city (ab urbe condita), and probably reached Cyprus even before news of it spread throughout Palestine. He had begun making his plans immediately.

Caesar’s census was therefore not the only reason Clopas bar Jonah was returning to the city of his birth to be counted and taxed by Caesar Augustus. As a Levite, he had no ancestral home, no chosen portion allotted to the tribe of Levi, third born son of Jacob, or Israel, son of Isaac, son of Abraham. So he would return to the city of his birth. Unlike most of the masses of Israelite pilgrims making the required trek, however, he planned to remain in Judea after the census was over. He had ample means for his family and servants. They had sold most of their possessions and all their sheep and cattle. They would purchase whatever they required on their arrival. He had already made arrangements to rent his cousin Simon’s house. A recent widower, it was more than Simon needed for himself. He could use the money and could easily enough sleep at his inn next door. He spent most of his time there anyway.

And so it was arranged. In less than two months he and Mary would be in their new home a mere six miles from the Temple. His wife would have her servants and be as comfortable as he could make her. Adjacent to his cousin’s inn, the house came with ample stables for cattle and donkeys, goats, sheep, chickens, whatever their needs required.

What happened next, thought Clopas, he could not say. He might serve for a time in the local synagogue. But in the political hierarchy of Israel’s priesthood and the many sects contained within its Sanhedrin and ruling classes, money was a powerful incentive that aided advancement and managed to lubricate the wheels of opportunity. He would be loath to use the word bribery. Yet he had little doubt he could get to where he wanted to go in due course.

A gust of wind brought a sudden stench up from the bowels of the ship where those who could not afford private quarters were forced to cram together like animals. They had only set sail hours before. But those fortunate enough to get inside the lower deck had had to do so days early to insure a tiny spot on the floor. Already the place stunk to heaven with the unwashed sweat of humanity pervaded by the putrid odor of their waste. Despite openings through the ship’s walls to shove the accumulated refuse into the sea, the process was none too effective. Nor did the dozens of children cramped below aid in sweetening the smell of humanity in travel.

In Israel and her provinces, as in all lands, there were those who had money and those who did not—the rich and the poor. Nothing could be done about it. Were he this day to give away all he possessed, and all the gold and silver that secretly lay in the chest of his sleeping compartment . . . Clopas might give it all to the decrepit people in the deck below him, and what would the harvest be? Nothing would change. They would still be poor and he and Mary would be poor with them. As worthy an idea as it might be, helping the poor on a grand scale was a futile illusion. Nothing could be done. It was part of life.

Not that he didn’t give to beggars in the street. Actually, he gave more than most in his position, though he did so when no one was looking lest he be mobbed. If he could help those who crossed his path, he would. But he couldn’t help them all, nor jeopardize his responsibility to his own wife and family. Beggars were everywhere and the plight of the poor was a serious one. It was a constant ethical quandary for a thoughtful and compassionate man of means, especially a Levite.

Perhaps they needed a Messiah after all.

Yet what could even a Messiah do?

Liberate them from Rome . . . how would that relieve their poverty?

Ease their poverty . . . how would that eliminate their sin?

Give them food and drink and homes to live in . . . how would that give sight to the blind?

Take from the rich and give to the poor and force all men into an imposed equality . . . how would that make them love one another?

How could even a Messiah appeal to everyone? Was any message suitable for all—rich and poor, weak and powerful . . . men and women, even Jew and Roman?

Clopas shook his head that such a notion had even entered his brain. What could ever bring Jew and Roman together in a single thought?

What would enable Israel to survive its present bondage and perhaps gain its freedom once again? Or was freedom too lofty a dream even for God’s people? Could such a thing as freedom ever exist in Caesar’s world?

He certainly made no claim to know. Perhaps prophets and messiahs would continue to come and go. Israel was a nation whose history was strewn with holy men and rascals in equal measure. For every king who did right in the eyes of the Lord, as their Holy Scriptures said, there were ten who did evil and roused the wrath of the prophets of antiquity.

These, however, were new times. The oppression of Rome and the presence again of a glorious Temple in Jerusalem required a new vision for Israel’s destiny in the world. Perhaps what was needed was not a messiah but a teacher, a rabbi with uncommon wisdom to speak a new vision of what Israel truly was, and might become.

Many had arisen through the years who claimed to speak for God, bolstered by force of personality, powerful of build and speech, articulate and wise, lauded by the masses who followed such leaders with blind devotion. Such a one had been Israel’s own David. He had made their nation one of the mightiest in all the world. David had indeed given Israel a vision of its destiny.

But who could follow in his footsteps? Not even his own son Solomon. None through the years. Judas Maccabees had not been prophet enough or messiah enough to rekindle David’s glory. Nor was the Galilean revolutionary whose cause had driven his father from the mainland. He had been a mere firebrand with a band of warriors doomed to annihilation under Rome’s mighty thumb.

A new Israel would never emerge behind such as these, thought Clopas. Whatever form any future uprising took, its legions could be no mere warriors nor its weapons mere swords.

Rome could only be conquered from within—by ideas, and by men willing to lay down their lives for those ideas. If Moses was the Messiah for his time, and David the Messiah for his, who would rise up as a Rabbi-Messiah for this time?

Herod . . . the thought was laughable.

The great Hillel or Shammai . . . some unknown teacher whose name had not yet arisen on the horizon? Some were touting Hillel’s grandson Gamaliel as a future rabbi who would in time become greater than his grandfather.

It was not only Rome that could not be conquered from without. Neither could mankind’s sin be vanquished except from within. And who would point the way to that conquest and ultimate victory?

If ideas represented the hope of Israel’s future, who would bring those ideas to the people? Among the priesthood and scribes and Pharisees and zealots and Sadducees, there were no new ideas, only old ones—stales dogmas and impossible rituals and dead traditions.

Whence would come the new?

He heard Mary approaching behind him. She slipped her hand through his arm and followed his gaze across the rippling blue waters.

You see, Mary, said Clopas, as much pain as I know you feel for what is behind us, look to what lies ahead.

It is unknown. Clopas, she replied. It frightens me.

Israel is the land of opportunity, rejoined her husband, repeating again his portion of the conversation they had had many times. We have a place to go, provision to set up a household and sustain ourselves with everything we will need. In time we will buy a home of our own, perhaps in Jerusalem.

We had all that in Cyprus, Clopas. My mother is not young. Having a child at her age took its toll. Her strength is still not what it was. I fear I may never see her again, or my baby brother. He is but five. He will not even remember me.

As soon as young Joseph is of age, we will bring him to Israel for a visit. I promise—and your parents, too, if they can make the journey. They shall see the Temple for themselves. If not, we will visit them.

I still do not understand why we had to leave.

"I am sorry, my dear Mary. I would do anything not to cause you pain. My heart is grieved that my decision has been so hard for you. Times come in a man’s life, however, when he must follow his heart and convictions. My vision for life had grown cold. I am a Levite, Mary, from the tribe set apart to act as Israel’s priests. To do so is my duty. But it is a duty I cannot fulfill, to my satisfaction, in Cyprus. Some men could be satisfied there, but I am not one of them. Perhaps that is my own weakness. Perhaps I am too ambitious. If it is a sin to want more, then may God forgive me. I do want more, Mary, and I do not think he will strike me down for it. All God’s great men of old were ambitious. They made their wishes known. Their prayers were full of lofty requests to God. My wish is to serve as a priest in Jerusalem, perhaps on the Sanhedrin itself one day. It is a request I have made known to the Almighty."

And I believe you shall, Clopas, said Mary. I believe in you. Israel needs you. But you must not deprive me my occasional sadness for leaving my family.

I am sorry, Mary. I regret that you must suffer in the wake of my ambition. But I believe a destiny awaits us and our family that we cannot yet see, a destiny that will meet us in Israel.

We have no family, Clopas, said Mary, glancing away.

Perhaps that is part of our destiny, rejoined her husband. "I believe we shall yet have a family. I believe it with all my heart. I know you long for a child. We can rejoice that your time is not yet. Such arduous travel must be dreadful for a woman with child, born or unborn. You are one of the fortunate ones. We must be patient."

"I will try. With you to take care of me, I will fear for nothing. You are my messiah."

Don’t talk so, Mary. It is heresy to make light of God’s Anointed.

I don’t make light of it. But until I see him face to face, I would rather put my trust in you.

The Cyprus Crown continued ahead of favorable winds and light seas. Two days later she approached the harbor of Caesarea, with the white buildings of the city spread out glistening behind it.

Clopas bar Jonah stood at the front of the ship gazing upon the sight with an indescribable joy welling up within his breast to set eyes for the first time in his memory on the mainland of Judea, the homeland of his birth.

He drew in several long satisfying draughts of the sea air. Thank you, God of our Fathers, he whispered, for bringing me here at last. May my faithfulness prove equal to your blessings to us.

An hour after landing, the filthy dregs of men, women, and children were finally allowed to begin staggering out of the lower portions of the vessel, breathing deeply of clean air for the first time in a week. Once ashore, they set out on their separate directions on the long dry trek on bare feet to the various inland towns and villages of Galilee, Samaria, Decapolis, Perea, and Judea which the twelve tribes of Israel had once populated. Now only the remnant of Judah was left, along with the few from the other tribes who had not been altogether lost in the Babylonian dispersion.

With envy the poor new arrivals from Cyprus watched, and a few grumbled, as Clopas and Mary and their wealthy ship’s companions sought inns in the city and awaited caravans that would more safely assist with transport to their destinations without fear of assault and robbery along the way.

He is a Levite, said one of the men in objection to the complaint of his fellows. God gave them no land. They were meant to prosper by the fruit of our labor. Why should we begrudge them their place in God’s order? They are Israel’s priests.

And so poor and wealthy alike scattered to the far ends of the land of promise where in time they would be counted by Caesar’s officials and tax collectors according to Caesar’s decree.

2. The Star

Bethlehem of Judea,

approximately 748-749 AUC (6-5 B.C.)

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Luke 2:4-7

It was a small and insignificant village a few miles south of Jerusalem chosen by the heavens for the event that would change history.

No one had an inkling what was coming save her who had been chosen, like the village, out of obscurity to play a central role in the unfolding drama. The young mother-to-be was already learning to treasure much in her heart unseen by any other human being. Even her faithful and worthy man, whose royal lineage was the reason this village was their destination from far north in the hill country of Galilee, did not understand . . . could not understand all that beat silently in her breast.

But in his mysterious wisdom, God often chooses the lowly, the unseen, the seemingly insignificant to anoint with power to carry out his purposes. On the nearby hills where a chilly dusk was descending—where shepherds huddled around fires as they watched their flocks and observed strange stars appearing in the early night sky—a shepherd boy had been sought by the prophet Samuel a thousand years before to be raised up as king of this nomadic people. He too, like the young expectant mother, had been a strange choice over him thought to be more fitting in the eyes of men. Truly it is the meek, lowly, and unpretentious of heart who are greatest in God’s kingdom.

And thus the poor, humble, and obedient young woman, of no account in the world’s eyes, heavy with child and borne on the back of a donkey, approached the ancient village of David in the strangely illuminated dusk, amid a hopeless crowd of pilgrims like herself. She felt no elation at bearing salvation’s child. She felt only the fearful forebodings of a woman’s travail in her womb. She was weary and had nearly forgotten the angel’s message from a year before. She was only hoping Joseph could find her a bed of straw to lie on . . . and soon.

Mary and Clopas of Cyprus and their three servants had been settled for some months in the house next to the inn of Clopas’s cousin. But the throngs besieging the village had suddenly disrupted their lives, along with everyone else’s in the village. Men and women from all over the empire were pouring into the ancestral home of those descended from the great king David. More were arriving every day. Simon’s was Bethlehem’s only inn and it was full to overflowing. Every private home had been opened to weary travelers besides.

Clopas’s cousin came to him for a third time at day’s end. Can you take one or two more? he asked.

But, Simon, we already have three families with us, protested Clopas, glancing about his cousin’s home where several youngsters whom he did not even know were running about. You are the innkeeper, not me.

I have no place to put more, sighed Simon. I have them sleeping on the floor ten to a room. But I must get them inside, especially the women. Some say snow is expected, though the shepherds do not seem worried. They remain out in the fields as always.

The air is chilly, nodded Clopas. I have felt it all day. But the sky is clear and unaccountably bright. Everyone is talking about the stars. Some say it portends a great event.

The only event I could hope for, laughed Simon, would be the death of Caesar and an end to this census. Not that it is doing my business any harm. But whatever profit I may gain, Rome will take in taxes. And the stars are not my immediate worry. At the moment I am besieged for space!

We will try to squeeze in a few more, said Clopas.

The few more proved to be two more large families. As the night advanced, slowly the hubbub quieted, children settled down and the families who were their guests huddled together on the floor in one or another of the rooms of the house. Sounds of sleep gradually invaded the house that Mary and Clopas of Cyprus now called home.

The night had grown late when Simon came again. Surely you are not bringing us more? whispered Clopas wearily at sight of his cousin. Now that quiet had returned beneath the roof, he did not want to set the household stirring all over again.

That is not why I have come, my cousin, replied Simon softly. Another unexpected crisis has arisen, a minor one. A man and woman came to me an hour ago. I put them out in the stables.

The stables? Has it come to that?

I fear so. I had no place else. It is dry, at least their corner will be. I gave them fresh straw away from the animals. But—

He hesitated.

What is it? asked Clopas.

"The woman is young . . . very young. Scarcely more than a girl. She is with child, Clopas . . . and well advanced. I fear the journey may have taxed her severely. Her time may be near. She appears weak. I am afraid for her. Perhaps Mary—"

Mary was already awake and had been listening to the subdued conversation. I will go to her, Simon, she said. Where is she?

I will take you, said Simon, obviously relieved. He was not eager for someone to die either in his inn or his stables. More than that, he was concerned for the girl who had come so far. He had never had a daughter, but in his heart beat the love of universal fatherhood. At first sight of the young mother-to-be his heart had gone out in compassion to her. "It will be a comfort for