To the Death Read Free

unkempt and wildly curling hair and beard. Brown eyes fixed unblinkingly on Ananus. For a moment there was no response, no movement other than that caused by the breeze which stirred the tangle of coarse, uncut white hair fluttering round his shoulders. James was fully aware of the trap that had just been set for him, as indeed were many in the crowd. A Jew from Armenia, a Pharisee with neither love nor respect for the High Priest said to his brother who had made the pilgrimage with him, “Ananus looks as though he is sucking on a lemon with his arse. This should be interesting”.
    This sally brought as many appreciative chuckles as it did frowns of censure from the brothers’ immediate neighbours. James replied in a level voice, without inflection or special emphasis. “Why do you ask me again about Jesus the son of man? Have I not said on many occasions, that Jesus was the door of the sheepfold, the way to the Father?”
    Like a rippling sea every head swung towards the Corinthian. What reply would the High Priest make?
    With a gesture that embraced the whole assembly, Ananus replied, “Is not the law, given by God for His chosen people, the Way?”
    This was the Law of Moses. The law God had uttered from the inferno of creation. For the sake of which, Jews believed the very world had been created. The law which Jesus himself had said he came not to destroy but to fulfil.
    The fanatical descendants of that venerable race, stood with the ghosts of the prophets from their ancient past, waiting for James the Just to reply.
    Before he answered, James turned from side to side as though to ensure that every tower, dome and pinnacle of the Holy City was bearing witness. “He who was the Christ, taught the law which God gave to his prophet Abraham - That there is one God for all the nations of the earth, Gentile and Jew. That the Way to God is love. To do unto others as you would be done by. For by this hangs the whole of the law”.
    The crowd gasped for this was the heart of it. Judaism taught that the one God excluded all except his chosen people.
    If what James had just said was true, the covenant given to Moses was broken. The covenant of Abraham proclaimed all men were brothers, under one God.
    The High Priest let out a wild shriek and tore his robe, the stitching of which had, in anticipation of this moment, been weakened. In a spray of spittle, one word was hurled across the court. “Blasphemer!”
    A great howl rose; a thousand throats producing a hideous animal sound . Ish –Maveth - A man of death. All the deadly poison of the religious fanatic was in that sound.
    This was the signal to Eleazar and the four priests. They scrambled on to the tower and rushed James, who offered no resistance. They hurled him into the court, the crowd scattering as his body landed with a sickening thud on the stone paving. Unbelievably he wasn’t killed outright.
    A circle formed around the sprawled body. One leg was twisted unnaturally beneath the torso. An arm had been shattered at the elbow. Blood dripped from chin to breast. The eyes were unfocused, eyelids fluttering wildly. With a deep groan James the Just used his one good arm to pull himself into a kneeling position.
    â€œStone him”.
    The command came from the leader of the priests whom Ananus, with earlier orders, had sent to this part of the court. They had also shown a sense of anticipation in bringing with them a plentiful supply of fist sized rocks. The first of these struck the injured James full in the face and knocked out an eye. The ensuing fusillade smashed into his ribs, broke his other arm, tore a large piece of scalp from his head and snapped off most of his front teeth.
    The crowd roared their self-righteous anger. Those nearest the front sought missiles of their own. In a brief interlude lasting no more than a few seconds the dying man, swaying on his knees, raised his bowed and bleeding head. In a voice which was