CHAPTER 63
The Acts of the Wrongly Guided Apostle
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Now at this time the Etruscans were besieging Jerusalem and all Judea was in uproar.
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Mary’s fame had spread until even a tent-maker from Tarsus knew Her name. This Saul was a Jew and also an Etruscan citizen. His countrymen’s eagerness to join the revolt amused him. Why, he asked, do the Jews always wait for prophets? Can prophecy enrich a man? If this prophetess is true, her prophesy will come to pass; if she is false, it will not. Since most prophets come to grief, it is better to have nothing to do with them. Thus meditating, Saul rode to Damascus with his wares.
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He was worried about encountering bandits in the desert, but he considered the market worth the risk. Perhaps the road to Damascus was bad, perhaps the horse, perhaps the rider, perhaps all three – Saul fell and was injured. His horse ran away, taking Saul’s purse and waterskin with it. Saul lay there roundly cursing his fortune until some riders came along: it was a tax collector and his servant, and a centurion with a pair of soldiers.
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Saul begged the tax collector’s help, saying, Brother, I am a fellow citizen. The Etruscan laughed at him, saying, Jew, what have I to do with thee? Saul wished to curse him, but stayed his tongue – the tax collector’s servant had a rude look. The centurion rebuffed Saul also, saying, Jew, the Emperor is far from here.
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The party rode on laughing, but the tax collector’s servant tarried to give Saul water. He said unto him, Brother, despair not. Trust in the Lord and He shall deliver thee.
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Weeping, Saul thanked the servant and asked his name, That I might remember thee in my prayers. As the servant rode away, Paul wiped his tears, drank deep and pondered. He knew the servant’s name, but knew not how.
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As the sun grew higher, Saul’s water grew lower. It was gone by the time another rider approached, a merchant from Jerusalem. Saul cried aloud, Help me, for are we not Jews and brothers? The Jerusalemite said, If I tarry I will miss the market and if I miss the market I will go hungry. Surely thou wouldst not wish thy brother to go hungry? And so saying he passed on.
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Presently another Jerusalemite, a priest, came along. When Saul begged for water, the priest refused, saying, Away thou sinner! The Lord God sees all. He would not permit a good man to fall as low as thou hast fallen.
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Saul wept.
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He watched the Jinn turning in the distance, and cursed Jerusalem and its citizens and priests. Presently Saul bethought he saw a babe drifting across the sand on the wind, with swaddling bandages flowing behind. And he heard a voice that said Saul, Saul, Why dost thou doubt Me?
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Now, Saul spoke Greek as well as Etruscan and could therefore reason. This vision was obviously a fever brought on by the heat. He buried his dry lips under his robe and only when the sun was low did he lift his head.
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He saw a rider coming from Damascus. As the rider drew closer, Saul saw that it was the tax collector’s servant.
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The servant was alone. He dismounted. He did not speak, neither did he seem to see Saul. He quickly lit a fire and baked bread, and as he did so, Saul studied him. His loincloth was torn and marked with blood. When the bread was baked, the servant looked at Saul and said, Forgive my ignorance. I am no philosopher. How can a Jew be a Jew and a citizen of the Etruscan Empire? Surely no man can serve two masters?
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Though the question was politely asked, Saul was sore afraid, for he knew the custom of the desert: that the servant had not offered bread because he was considering killing him.
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Saul summoned all his eloquence, and said unto him, My friend, just as all men are born stained by Adam’s sin, so I was born a citizen of that Idolatrous Empire. My father was a usurer who in accordance with the Law lent only to Etruscan soldiers. They are, thou must know, filth who think nothing of cheating a Jew. My father believed that Etruscan Law was like our Law, fair and blind. He purchased citizenship so that he might prosecute defaulters in Etruscan courts; a vain hope. It is well said that the sins of the father are visited on the children. My people think me a traitor and the Etruscans think me a fool; thou sawest how thy companions mocked me.
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They will not trouble thee again, said the servant.
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Now Saul remembered where he had heard the servant’s name: this Barabbas was one of the notorious disciples of Mary the Galilean. So Saul informed Barabbas of his vision, gilding it and claiming that the babe said, Arise Saul, and persecute those who persecute me!
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Barabbas was much impressed, saying, You must be he that my Mistress sent me to find. She said I would find an eloquent man on this road who would help spread the Word. Rarely have I heard a man who could lie so skilfully.
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Then Barabbas gave Saul water to drink and bread to eat, and went to sleep with his hand on his dagger.