A5- PART U

PART U: Sentence
PART U: SENTENCE
Pilate is manoeuvred into condemning Jesus to death: but publicly
disowns responsibility.
The time soon came when Pilate strode outside
and faced the priests who’d wanted to condemn
Jesus the Christ as common criminal.
The Lord remained indoors, under guard,
while Pilate made it clear he’d found no fault –
and nor indeed had Herod Antipas –
in the strange man they seemed to hate so much.
‘I’ll therefore have him whipped and set him free.’
The outrage that he faced from priests and scribes
surprised the Procurator – till it dawned
on him that envy was the motive that
was driving them to yell out in disgust
their wish to have him forthwith crucified.
He would appeal to others in the crowd –
those who had more to gain and less to lose.
For most, the Nazarene was not a threat.
He undermined the power and influence
of Caiaphas and Annas and the rest:
that was the reason for their hate of him.
Thus, hoping to appeal to those who stood
and waited for the judgement he’d pronounce,
who had no axe to grind, Pilate announced:
‘I have two men on trial. Which of them
would you prefer I should release? Jesus,
or the man Barabbas? Whom shall I free?
‘Barabbas’ was the shout. ‘Let him go free!’
‘And Jesus? What of him?’ ‘Crucify him!’
This, perhaps, well-motivated auction,
– for that is what it had turned out to be –
was quite unjustified. Effectively,
it classed the man whom he had wished to free
as ‘Criminal’ and not as ‘Innocent.’
In the same breath he could be spoken of
as someone who had murdered and rebelled
against the Roman rule. This was unjust.
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
What’s more, the plan came instantly to grief.
The High Priest’s party had made sure that folk,
despite the early hour, had been induced,
cajoled, prevailed upon, and organised
in such a way that Pilate would believe
the orchestrated baying of the crowd
must represent the feelings of the Jews
in general not only that of priests.
When Pilate still seemed likely to reject
the calls for Jesus to be crucified
he faced the likelihood that there would be
a riot – and besides that, something else –
a subtler threat. There might be a complaint
made to the Emperor himself, no less.
A group of Hebrew notables might make
the trip to Rome to tell Tiberius –
to tell him what? – a priestly voice yelled out
above the noise – ‘Jesus proclaimed himself
a king! If you release this man, you are
siding with enemies of Caesar. One
who dubs himself a monarch is a threat
to Rome’. “Maiestas populi Romani.”
That was a principle of Roman rule –
the preservation of the dignity
and superiority of Romans
everywhere. Since Tiberius was ‘The State’
he could take the insult personally.
The Governor, indeed, had much to fear.
This would not be the first complaint. A list
of briberies, of wanton injuries,
of tantrums, theft, injustice and much else
had reached the ears in Rome: this priestly straw
might break the camel’s back. Pilate took stock.
The longer he delayed the more the crowd
displayed the likelihood there’d be a riot.
‘Fetch me a bowl,’ he ordered hurriedly,
‘with water and a towel.’ When this was done
in full view of the crowd, he washed his hands
and from his Judgement Seat he solemnly
disowned responsibility for what
he was about to do. ‘I’m not to blame
for shedding this man’s blood’, he said. ‘You are!’
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PART U: Sentence
‘The guilt shall fall on us and on our race
upon our children and their children too!’
was the reply. Thus Jesus was condemned.
We are not told of Pilate’s wife’s response.
Her husband had caved in. Jesus must die.
He spoke the customary formula –
‘Ibis in crucem’ which, translated meant,
‘you will ascend the cross.’ And from then on
normal procedures were in place… not quite.
That was not all. Pilate devised a way
of sneering at the Jews whose cleverness
had out-manoeuvred him. Jesus had been
condemned, because, they said, he claimed to be
a king. He’d demonstrate the kind of king
that they deserved – as trash, as conquered race,
as underlings who would forever be
inferior, beneath the Roman rule.
The soldiery could be relied upon.
They would devise some way to make his point.
The crucifixion ritual began.
A scourging was the normal overture
preliminary to the death ordained.
Many were killed before they reached the cross.
Whips re-enforced with metal or with bone
could lacerate the entrails of a man
and lay them bare. The lash was merciless.
Then add to this the blows and buffetings
that Jesus had already undergone
and you may glimpse (if glimpse you dare) the man
the soldiers dressed in blooded scarlet robes
the man to whom they gave a walking stick
a cane-like reed, pressed into his right hand
as if this symbol of fragility
were carried like a sceptre to proclaim
he was in fact a man of royal power.
And finally to cap this cruel charade,
someone had woven from a wayside shrub
a crown. The plant had sharply vicious thorns,
which, keen as razors, cut into his brow
and scraped his scalp as it was rammed askew –
to add more weight to his indignities.
The game was not yet over. Hastily
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
the men of Pontius Pilate’s personal guard –
all ranks of that prestigious corps – turned out
to bawl and whoop and cheer and make a noise
as if the victim were an emperor.
They shouted loud hurrahs! Hail! King of Jews!’
And when they’d cheered and bowed and bent the knee
they spat at him, and took his sceptre-stick
to batter him upon his thorn-crowned head.
At last they all grew tired of the game,
stripped Jesus of his finery and dressed
him once more in the clothes that he had worn.
They put the beam to which he would be nailed
into his helpless hands and pointed him
the way to Golgotha. Try as he might
he could not carry it. He was too weak
and fell beneath its weight. No one would help.
No one would suffer the indignity.
The feast of Passover, when work was banned
was hours away. The soldiers could use force
to press-gang someone to pick up the plank
without incurring too much local fuss.
It was a stranger whom they seized upon.
His name was Simon. He could not refuse.
He was a Libyan, a Greek or Jew
from Cyrenaica, as it was known
till recent history – Cyrene then.
The crowds who always followed in the wake
of Jesus followed him that day. Women
bewailed his sufferings and the bitter end
that now confronted him. The Lord turned round
and begged them not to weep for him, but for
themselves. The future held for them alarms
beyond description and beyond belief.
The place for crucifixion was well marked.
Posts that were firmly fixed already stood.
The transom Simon carried was put down.
The hands of Jesus, or his wrists, were nailed
to either end as he lay on the floor.
The cross piece then was fastened to the post.
and to the post the soldiers nailed his feet.
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PART U: Sentence
Not even this was disrespect enough.
for kings appear with regal counsellors
Two were provided, one on either side –
…robbers? …rebels? …part of the daily crop
of those condemned to face this cruel death.
The road to Golgotha was very short
a matter of just several hundred yards.
The word denotes in Hebrew, ‘The Skull’s Place’
It lay within the sight of city walls.
and gained the name because a nearby hill
was shaped in such a way as to suggest
a human skull: not because skulls were left.
Once they were dead, the crucified were moved.
Accounts do differ, but we shall assume
that at midday, the Nazarene began
the sharp, fierce agony towards his death.
Yet, he was heard to say, fighting for breath,
‘Forgive them, Father. They are unaware
of what it is they do. Forgive them all.’
As was the Jewish custom of the time
he had been offered myrrh stirred into wine
as a narcotic that would dumb the pain,
but this he had refused. Meanwhile, the squad
who served that day as executioners
were taking their pannicularia.
The Emperor Hadrian had confirmed the right
of soldiers to take all the clothes of one
whom they’d been ordered they must crucify
and share them. On this day they hit a snag.
Between the four, most of his clothes could be
divided without argument or fuss,
but his undergarment was expensive
and woven, like a High Priest’s, without seam.
They had to have recourse to casting lots.
With sticks of various lengths? Or dice? Who knows?
The women who had come from Galilee
and followed him so faithfully so long
were weeping at a distance. Only four
of them and just one man came close to him.
They were his mother Mary, at his feet:
her sister: and the wife of Cleopas,
another Mary: plus the Magdalene –
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
the Mary from Magdala by the Lake.
And John was there who was to write this down.
To him the Lord entrusted the sole care
of his beloved mother in her grief
and in her loneliness. ‘Here is your son,’
he said to her: to John he said, ‘Here is
your mother, John.’ And willingly from then
he took her home with him and treated her
with honour, with concern and with respect.
Above each cross there was a titulus:
a note to justify the victim’s fate.
Above the cross of Jesus could be read
a scroll in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek.
‘Jesus the Nazarene, the King of Jews.’
It was a studied insult, Pilate’s work.
The Jews raised angry voices to protest.
‘You should have written “This man falsely claimed
that he was King of Jews” for otherwise
it might be understood he represents
as criminal, the best of all our race.’
‘Well, take it as you wish. It’s written now.’
was Pilate’s answer. He had scored a point.
The place was overlooked by passers-by.
Derisive catcalls came from those who passed…
…things like, ‘If you’re the Son of God, come down.
If you’d rebuild the Temple in three days
what could be easier?’ ‘ You called yourself
the Son of God. Well, all we want is proof!’
One of the two men crucified with him
joined in the chorus of complaint and cried,
‘If you’re the Christ then save yourself and us.’
But his companion would have none of this.
‘We are condemned for wrongs that we have done.
This man is guiltless. Lord remember me
the moment that you find you are a king.’
‘Today, you’ll be with me in Paradise,’
was Jesus’s reply. About this time
the light began to fail – the cause perhaps
a dark and sand-filled desert wind known now
as ‘Khamsin’ which could change the day to night.
It caused the earth to shake and buildings swayed.
A major earthquake seemed to be on hand.
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PART U: Sentence
Rocks cracked: graves opened, and the Temple veil –
the valance at the threshold of the room
known as the Holy Place – was split from top
to bottom. It was early afternoon.
For those upon the cross the pain grew worse.
A phrase in Aramaic rent the air
‘Eli, eli, lamma sabachtani’
Jesus was praying in his mother tongue
a psalm of David which begins, ‘My God,
My God, why have you left me on my own?’
Someone who knew no Aramaic thought
he called upon Elijah and proposed
they wait, in case the prophet should appear
to rescue him, but no help came. He called
again. ‘I’m very thirsty’ he exclaimed..
A soldier fixed a vinegar-soaked sponge
on to his javelin’s point and passed it up
until it reached the sufferer’s mouth and lips.
It was the ninth hour – almost three o’clock –
impenetrably dark when Jesus said,
‘It is all over now. It has been done.’
and calling out, ‘Father, into your hands
my spirit I entrust’ he breathed his last.
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
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