Conversations on the way to the Cross 7: The Precaution

The chief priests approach Pilate

"But the man's dead, dammit! What possible trouble can he cause now?"

"Undoubtedly he is dead, sir. Your judgement was most... satisfactory. But we are concerned..."

"He's dead, he's buried, and that's not enough? What do you want from me?"

"Well you see, Mr Governor, this impostor had the bad manners to predict that he would come back to life, three days after he was killed. Which, naturally enough, is impossible - "

"Although there were those rumours about that man Lazarus... "

"Nothing but superstition, Nicodemus! As I say, the thing is impossible. But I wouldn't put it past some of his friends to decide that it would be a nice publicity stunt. All it takes is for the body to disappear, a few rumours to start..."

"...and we go from dead charismatic rabbi to immortal Messiah. Not a good idea, I'm sure you'll agree, Mr Governor."

"You'll be wanting a guard for the tomb, then."

"Precisely, sir. Just for a few days, you understand, until the danger has passed."

"And his friends? Are they likely to mount an attack?"

"They are under observation, but their leader's death seems to have knocked the spirit out of them. I think the presence of an armed guard will provide sufficient deterrence."

"Right then. See to it that the miracle-worker stays in his tomb. You know what to do.

"And I don't want to hear one more word about Jesus of Nazareth!"

Matthew 27:62-66

Other Conversations from the Cross
1: The Donkey
2: The Commotion
3: The Authority
4: The Anointing
5: The Betrayal
6: The Burial

8: The Resurrection

Comments

Mr White Watson of Bakewell

Once upon a time, back in 1795 or so, lived a man who was always asking questions. The kind of questions like, "Why is glass transparent?" or "Why do fruit trees grow better in that place than in this place?" or "What does the earth look like underneath the surface?" This last question was one that he was particularly interested in, and he went so far as to work out what the rock layers looked like where he lived, and draw little pictures of them. Now he was a marble sculptor by trade (as well as fossil hunter, mineral seller, and a few other things) so he thought it would be even better to make his little pictures in stone. That way he could represent the layers using the actual rocks they were composed of. Over the course of his lifetime he made almost 100 of these tablets, as he called them. Then he died. And no one else was quite as interested in all those rocks and minerals as he was. His collection was sold off, bit by bit, and the table...

Erewash Valley Trail: Ilkeston

You could spend a lot of time following old canals and railways in the Erewash Valley. This walk included parts of the Erewash Canal, the Nottingham Canal, the Nutbrook Canal, and the Stanton branch line, and I could have continued further along any one of those, if I'd had the time. I started in Kirk Hallam, which is mostly a post-war housing estate with a distinctive outline on the map: the main road to Ilkeston through the middle, and a loop road encircling the village. It looks like the London Underground logo. I parked at the lake at the top of the loop. There was a sculpture commemorating the nearby Stanton Ironworks - the ground remembers the roar of the blast read the inscription around the base - and the remains of a lock on the Nutbrook Canal. Heading towards Ilkeston, I crossed a former golf course, now a nature reserve called Pewit Coronation Meadows, passed a large sports centre, and was soon in the town centre. There was a general impression of red-brickiness, with l...

Austin part 2

Well, I wrote about Bats, Bluebonnets and Breakfast Tacos in a previous post, but that only seemed to cover about half of what we actually did in Austin (were we really there only for a weekend?). And we had several more great photos that Graham has been bugging me to post on my blog, so prepare yourselves for an extravaganza of colour, light and image! Austin is known as a great place for live music, which presumably explains the psychadelic guitars left lying around the streets. Here's Graham with a couple of his dream instruments. We visited the Texas State Capitol, built on a grand scale from tons of pink granite and limestone. The state capit o l, you understand, is located in the state capit a l. Don't get confused. Americans definitely tend towards the domes-and-pillars school of architecture for their governmental buildings. I had a feeling this was true, so did a quick search for corroborating evidence and discovered this great site by a ph...

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog