The Redeemer (31 page)
”Why did you come here?” Peter asked as he hurried us inside then looked quickly up and down the street before slamming the door. “Someone might have followed you.”
The women were giddy with excitement.
“You’ll be glad we came once we tell you,” Mary Magdalene teased.
“Then you better tell us quickly, because I’m not feeling glad right now.”
The women shared a knowing look, then Joanna burst out. “He’s gone.”
“Who’s gone?” Peter demanded. “Gone where?”
“Jesus—not there.” The other Mary tried to make a complete sentence, but she was still gasping for air.
I couldn’t help myself. I had to help her get it out.
“Jesus rose from the dead!” I shouted, but no one heard me.
The disciples pressed in around the women as Peter and James tried to calm them.
“What are you talking about?” James took Joanna by the shoulders. “Be sure of yourself.”
“They’re only women.” Thomas dismissed them with a flick of his hand and turned away. “They exaggerate.”
“He is risen!” Mary Magdalene answered firmly. “Isn’t that what He told you He would do?”
“Risen? From the grave?” Thaddeus placed his hands over his heart as if he were having an attack.
John spoke up. “It’s impossible. He was dead. I was there.”
“I tell you…”
“Mary, think about what you’re saying,” Peter interrupted. “How do you know this?”
“We went to the tomb to anoint Him. He wasn’t there.”
“Then someone stole His body,” Matthew said.
“No, no,” the other Mary insisted. “The Romans posted two guards so no one could enter the tomb.”
“So why did they let you in?” James rubbed his forehead as if the confusion were giving him a headache.
“They were going to turn us away, but the angel slew them.” Joanna slashed her arm through the air as if it were a sword.
“Angel?” Thomas turned back to face the women. “This is getting worse with every word. Are you listening to them? They’re delirious.”
“Jesus is risen!” She stomped her foot.
“People do not rise from the dead,” Thomas said loudly.
“We saw Him!” The women and I shouted together.
“Then you saw His ghost,” Thomas said.
“No, not a ghost. It was Jesus,” Joanna insisted.
“I won’t believe it unless I see Him myself and stick my finger in the nail hole.” Thomas wagged his index finger in her face, which I’m pretty sure she was about to bite off when Mary Magdalene stepped in.
“You’ll get your chance. He told us to tell you He would meet you. Peter would know where.”
“Do you know what she’s talking about?” James asked Peter.
Peter didn’t answer. He grabbed his cloak and pulled the hood over his head and ran for the door.
“They can only be one place. Come with me.”
Everyone scrambled out the door, leaving the women and me to bring up the rear. We ran after Peter through the narrow streets beyond the temple grounds until we arrived at the Mount of Olives, the very place where Jesus had been taken prisoner three days earlier. No one was there.
“I don’t see anybody,” Matthew said. “It might be a trick.”
“Let’s wait and see what happens,” John replied.
I was getting nervous. It wasn’t like Jesus to be late for an appointment. Maybe we were in the wrong place. I was about to suggest we go back when suddenly Jesus was standing before us.
The disciples were terrified. That’s when I realized that, in spite of how He’d try to prepare them, seeing Jesus in the flesh was about the last thing they thought they would encounter. Not one of then could move.
“Why are you so afraid?” I whispered in Peter’s ear. “If you’re worried how He feels about your denying Him, I’m pretty sure He’s forgiven you.” I turned and looked at the other wide eyes and gaping mouths. “Then again, when none of you bothered to show up for the crucifixion except for John and me—I suppose He could be peeved about that.”
Jesus crossed His arms and looked at them, waiting for a response. I waved, but nobody else moved a muscle. Finally He smiled at them and spoke.
“Don’t you know Me, guys?”
“It can’t be You, Lord,” Thomas barely whispered.
Look at My hands.” He stretched them out for everyone to see. “Put your finger into the wound, Thomas. That’s what you said you wanted to do, isn’t it?”
Thomas flushed bright red but made no moves to take Jesus up on His offer, so I jumped ahead and stuck my finger in just to be sure.
Then one by one, all of them cautiously reached out to touch Him.
“We can’t believe it’s You, Lord,” John said.
“Don’t you remember this is what I told you would happen?” Jesus chided them gently. “Everything that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.”
“We just never thought it would end like this,” Matthew said.
“End? This isn’t the end.” Jesus smiled again. “This is only the beginning. It is written that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day so that repentance for the forgiveness of sins could be preached in My name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are now witnesses of these things.”
“Does that mean You’re going to usher in the kingdom now?” James asked.
“No,” Jesus answered. “You are.”
“Us?” several asked in one voice?
“Them?” I was finding it hard to imagine myself.
“But You’re going to stay with us, aren’t You?” Peter asked.
“I’ve finished the work My Father gave Me. You guys will have to take it from here.”
“But we’re not equipped,” Matthew protested.
“We’re not ready,” James said.
“We’re not reliable,” Peter added.
“What do you mean ‘take it from here?’ What do You expect of us?” Thomas, the ever practical one, asked.
“Go into the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in My name and of the Father and the Holy Spirit.”
No response. They stared at Him as if He’d just told them to do the most impossible thing. Which, actually, He had.
“I don’t know about this, Jesus,” I said as I stood next to Him to survey the dumbstruck disciples. “I don’t think they’re ready to solo.”
“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus said to them. “You won’t be alone. I’m going away, but I will send you the one My Father has promised. The Holy Spirit will stay with you forever. He will help you.”
“But where do we start?” Peter asked. “How do we begin?”
“Stay in Jerusalem until He comes and you are baptized with the fire John the Baptist spoke of.”
Jesus took a deep breath, and, as if releasing a blessing, He breathed on them. It seemed to me that His eyes softened as He spoke His last words.
Suddenly Michael and Gabriel were by His side. We watched spellbound as He ascended and was taken up into heaven, but Michael and Gabriel remained. All at once I realized He was leaving without me.
“Wait!” I cried out after Him. “What about me?”
Jesus was gone. The disciples were left with me, but I didn’t care about them. I had to go with Jesus.
“Jesus, wait. What about me? I’m supposed to go with You.”
The disciples and the women were walking away. Soon I would be alone—again.
I flapped my wings as hard as I could. I had to catch up with Jesus. Then Michael held his hand up and stopped me. My wings drooped low, as did my whole countenance.
“You cannot go,” he said firmly.
I fell to my knees and sobbed.
“Do not be dismayed,” Gabriel said as he took my claw hand and lifted me to my feet. “He who sent His Son to reconcile all of creation to Himself has had mercy on you.”
“Me?” I whimpered.
I could feel my eyes brimming with tears.
I know I cringed when they each laid a hand upon my head, but soon it felt as if warm oil was cascading down my body. A soft breeze began to whirl about me, and suddenly I was off the ground. My body was turning in gentle circles. I began to see beautiful colors and heard familiar voices. It was as if I looked across time and saw people on a distant shore waving at me. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Deborah, David—I recognized them all. They smiled and waved, and Deborah blew me a kiss.
I was warm and light and wondered if I might be dying. The images began to fade as I settled back down to the ground. Something was different, but I didn’t know what. Michael and Gabriel were beaming at me. Michael waved his hand, and a crystal-like portal opened beside him.
“Come,” he said. “Come and see.”
“Oh, hello. Who are you?” I asked as I looked at the beautiful angel inside the portal.
I didn’t realize I was looking into a mirror.
It wasn’t until I waved my hand and fluttered my wings and the angel did the same that I understood what had happened. I was me again. Gone were the hooves and claws and scales. I spun around quickly to see—my tail was gone. My clothes were white, and my wings were like gossamer and plumes of white.
“What does this mean?” I asked.
“The Lord knows your name,” Michael said. “He has heard your prayers. With His blood He has redeemed you from Satan’s bondage, just as He has all of humanity, and reconciled you, as He has all things in creation.”
“Am I coming with you?”
“No. Remember, you asked Him to allow you to serve Him on the earth. He has granted your request.”
Then Gabriel set a large, golden treasure chest down in front of me.
“Take this,” he said and handed me a key.
I opened the chest and was shocked to find layers of neatly rolled and tied scrolls.
“My diary! How did you get it?”
I reached for one of the scrolls, but Michael stopped me.
“Not yet,” he said. “These are your words, just as you wrote them. But they must remain hidden until a time in the future. Then you will be given your assignment.”
“But when? How will I know when?”
“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the return of the Son of Man. Guard the scrolls, and in time we will appear to you again. Until then, continue to watch.”
“I don’t understand. My assignment has always been the Jews, but now Jesus has come. Should I continue to watch them?”
“No,” Michael said. “I myself will now watch over Israel.”
“Then who?” I asked.
“Watch the Nephilim.”
Then they were gone.
S
AMANTHA GENTLY ROLLED
up the last scroll and tied a black silk ribbon around it to keep it secure as she laid it inside the box with the others.
The translation is complete. Time to move to the next stage.
As she reached for the box’s lid and prepared to latch it back in place, she noticed an envelope taped to the inside.
“What’s this?” she muttered out loud.
Pulling the tape back and releasing the envelope she saw her name handwritten across the front, followed by a message: “Please do not open until the translation is complete.”
“Wonk,” she smiled to herself. “A thank-you note?” She settled back in her chair and opened the sealed envelope, amused and curious that he would include a personal note.
Dear Dr. Yale,
If you haven’t figured it out, I myself am the unknown angel who wrote the scrolls. Don’t wonder how such things are possible; just know that they are. I may never see you again, and I want you to know how I became Wonk Eman and why I sought you out. When Michael and Gabriel left and told me to guard the scrolls until a time in the future, I hid them where I knew Og, the Nephilim king who survived the flood by hiding in Noah’s ark, would never think to look—in the abandoned ark itself. For centuries I carried out my charge to watch the activity of the Nephilim on the earth. Then at last, just as they promised, one day Michael and Gabriel came back.
I was in Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives. I kept going back to the place of my redemption to remind myself of the promise to me. When I saw them approaching I was beside myself with joy.
“Gabriel! Michael! I’ve been waiting for you—watching, just as you instructed me. I’ve kept notes—got them in an e-file. I’ve always kept up with technology. I know everything about the Nephilim: where they are, what they’ve planned. I’ve missed nothing.”
“The Lord knew He could count on you,” Gabriel said.
“Yes, sir. I’ve done my job, and now I’m ready to go back to heaven.”
When I saw them exchange looks with one another, I knew I wasn’t going to like whatever it meant.
“Jesus has another request of you.”
“Jesus wants
me
to do
Him
a favor?” I was ecstatic. “Absolutely. Anything.”
“He said to remind you that He wouldn’t ask you to do something He was unwilling to do Himself.”
“That’s just like Jesus, always setting the standard. Look how far He was willing to go to save the humans.”
They exchanged another look.
My ecstasy was slowly morphing to nervousness.
“What does He want me to do?” I know my voice trembled a bit.
They looked at one another again before Michael spoke.
“Stay on the earth and take on human form.”
“What?” I sat down hard on a rock in disbelief. “But why? Thousands of years of my life have already been wasted from when I was a demon—through no real fault of my own, I must add.”
