bribed.”
“By a traveling teacher who depended on the generosity of those who listened to His teachings? Where would He and His immediate followers get enough money? And why would the soldiers risk their lives for a bribe of any amount? Crucifixions are public events—and this one more so. If you were one of the attending soldiers, would you risk anyone reporting that He hadn’t died on the cross?”
Zabad continued after sipping water from a clay cup. “That’s why if there is any doubt, the soldiers break the legs of the victim on the cross. Once the body weight cannot be supported, suffocation comes within minutes. Read the eyewitness accounts. The soldiers saw that Jesus was dead and didn’t bother to break His legs. They pierced His side with a spear. Water and blood gushed out. Would a man still alive survive this? Would a man alive—?”
Caleb waved a hand. “I am prepared to agree that He was dead when taken from the cross.”
“This is an important point. I want to make certain that you won’t argue that He revived in the tomb.”
Helius interrupted. “I will. Despite what you say, soldiers are not beyond taking bribes. A man with His following most certainly would have had supporters willing to pull together money to save His life. A man on the cross could easily pretend to be dead and act in complicity with the soldiers. While the witnesses say that blood and water poured from His side, a man can survive a substantial blood loss, and, as you pointed out, the legs were not broken to make certain suffocation had taken place. If the wound in His side was bound quickly enough . . .”
“Let’s consider for a moment that—unlikely as this might be—Jesus did survive His time on the cross and that His followers somehow managed to solicit enough money in the few hours they had on that Friday morning, and out of the dozens of people they would have had to approach, not a single person has revealed the secret of the bribe.”
Helius stared at Zabad. “Yes, let’s consider it.”
Zabad nodded. “This man’s body was beaten and whipped and shredded after an illegal trial that kept Him awake all through the night, then hung from a cross on spikes and violated by a spear. You are suggesting that if He had somehow survived, that a man this broken and torn, single-handedly rolled away the massive stone that sealed His tomb?”
“Friends, perhaps,” Helius said. He had not meant to get involved but could not help himself.
“Again, read the accounts. All His friends had fled, and would be committed to His deity only after His resurrection. Why would unarmed peasants face the well-trained soldiers guarding the tomb? And if they did, how would they manage to defeat them? And even if that had happened, how could they have kept this secret? Those same arguments can be used against those who claim Jesus was dead but His body was stolen from the tomb. No, all evidence and logic point out that He went in there a dead man and that some force beyond our understanding gave Him the life and power to leave that tomb without help.”
Caleb smiled. “As you have emphasized, we should read the accounts. I’ve studied them closely. The first witnesses to the supposed empty tomb were women. Surely you realize the significance of that?”
“Because a woman’s testimony is regarded to have such little value in our Jewish courts of law that if a man is seen committing a crime and there are only women to witness it, he cannot be convicted?”
“Exactly.”
“That only speaks more fully of the truth of the accounts. Any person with intelligence determined to fabricate a story would not choose to include women as witnesses.”
Caleb had no reply.
Helius was beginning to think the debate would turn out too disastrously to be of any use to Nero.
“Tell me,” Zabad said to Caleb, “as a Jew and a rabbi, you have most certainly heard of James, the brother of Jesus, who lived in Jerusalem and was stoned to
“By a traveling teacher who depended on the generosity of those who listened to His teachings? Where would He and His immediate followers get enough money? And why would the soldiers risk their lives for a bribe of any amount? Crucifixions are public events—and this one more so. If you were one of the attending soldiers, would you risk anyone reporting that He hadn’t died on the cross?”
Zabad continued after sipping water from a clay cup. “That’s why if there is any doubt, the soldiers break the legs of the victim on the cross. Once the body weight cannot be supported, suffocation comes within minutes. Read the eyewitness accounts. The soldiers saw that Jesus was dead and didn’t bother to break His legs. They pierced His side with a spear. Water and blood gushed out. Would a man still alive survive this? Would a man alive—?”
Caleb waved a hand. “I am prepared to agree that He was dead when taken from the cross.”
“This is an important point. I want to make certain that you won’t argue that He revived in the tomb.”
Helius interrupted. “I will. Despite what you say, soldiers are not beyond taking bribes. A man with His following most certainly would have had supporters willing to pull together money to save His life. A man on the cross could easily pretend to be dead and act in complicity with the soldiers. While the witnesses say that blood and water poured from His side, a man can survive a substantial blood loss, and, as you pointed out, the legs were not broken to make certain suffocation had taken place. If the wound in His side was bound quickly enough . . .”
“Let’s consider for a moment that—unlikely as this might be—Jesus did survive His time on the cross and that His followers somehow managed to solicit enough money in the few hours they had on that Friday morning, and out of the dozens of people they would have had to approach, not a single person has revealed the secret of the bribe.”
Helius stared at Zabad. “Yes, let’s consider it.”
Zabad nodded. “This man’s body was beaten and whipped and shredded after an illegal trial that kept Him awake all through the night, then hung from a cross on spikes and violated by a spear. You are suggesting that if He had somehow survived, that a man this broken and torn, single-handedly rolled away the massive stone that sealed His tomb?”
“Friends, perhaps,” Helius said. He had not meant to get involved but could not help himself.
“Again, read the accounts. All His friends had fled, and would be committed to His deity only after His resurrection. Why would unarmed peasants face the well-trained soldiers guarding the tomb? And if they did, how would they manage to defeat them? And even if that had happened, how could they have kept this secret? Those same arguments can be used against those who claim Jesus was dead but His body was stolen from the tomb. No, all evidence and logic point out that He went in there a dead man and that some force beyond our understanding gave Him the life and power to leave that tomb without help.”
Caleb smiled. “As you have emphasized, we should read the accounts. I’ve studied them closely. The first witnesses to the supposed empty tomb were women. Surely you realize the significance of that?”
“Because a woman’s testimony is regarded to have such little value in our Jewish courts of law that if a man is seen committing a crime and there are only women to witness it, he cannot be convicted?”
“Exactly.”
“That only speaks more fully of the truth of the accounts. Any person with intelligence determined to fabricate a story would not choose to include women as witnesses.”
Caleb had no reply.
Helius was beginning to think the debate would turn out too disastrously to be of any use to Nero.
“Tell me,” Zabad said to Caleb, “as a Jew and a rabbi, you have most certainly heard of James, the brother of Jesus, who lived in Jerusalem and was stoned to
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