The Apostle and the Tribune
by
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Paul was startled as a figure suddenly appeared from
behind the trunk of a large palm tree in the darkness.
“Hello,” the figure said in a soft, breathy, female
voice.
Peering into the dark, he was able to distinguish
the silhouette of a woman in the moonlight reflected from the surface of the
sea at her back. He knew immediately that she was a prostitute. In his heart,
he knew that he’d left the camp of his traveling companions in hopes of meeting
just such a woman. Experience gathered from years of travel had taught him that
such women frequented the periphery of roadside inns. His party had made camp
on the grounds of this particular inn on its way from Ceasarea, the port of his
arrival in Palestine, to their destination, Jerusalem, the capital of Judea,
one more day’s walk away.
“Hello,” he replied contritely, a wash of guilt
sweeping through him..
Paul, as he was called now but born Saul of Tarsus,
was one of the most widely known evangelists of the Gospel, the good news of
Jesus the Christ, a spiritual movement that was becoming known simply as
“Christians.”
The woman approached slowly, her hips swaying
provocatively. She had a scarf draped over her head, and a cloak of thin,
silk-like material billowed seductively about her body. In the darkness, he
could not determine her features, but her trim figure and light gait told him
that she was very young. She came to a stop less than an arm’s length away. His
nostrils filled with the sweet, exotic scent of her perfume.
A warm breeze wafting in from the Great Sea just
beyond the grove of palm trees in which they stood rustled the branches above
them, mixing with the raucous laughter and the sound of beating drums that
filtered from the nearby inn.
“Two silver coins and I’ll do whatever you like,”
the woman said in a soft, sultry voice as she pushed back her head covering to
reveal the face of an attractive young woman of no more than twenty years of
age.
“I do not seek what you sell,” Paul said, though he
knew his voice betrayed his sincerity.
“Come now, why else would you be out here?” the
woman said, closing the distance between them until their bodies touched. “I
saw you leave your friends and walk this way.” Before he could react, she took
one of his hands and placed it on her hip.
He knew that the proper thing to do would be to
immediately push her away, but he did not move. The texture of her garment and
the warm softness of her flesh beneath it caused his heartbeat and breathing to
accelerate.
“Just two silver coins and I’ll do whatever you
want. It’s dark, nobody can see us; no one will ever know.”
Paul felt his body surge in response to her
closeness. She felt it, too, and pressed closer, pulling his other hand onto
the softness of her buttocks and peering up at him with eyes that reflected the
twinkling stars overhead.
Her scent and touch intoxicated him.
Guilt and lust now collided within him like waves
crashing against a rocky shore. Drawing on all the resolve he could muster, he
removed his hands from her buttocks, placed them on her small, soft shoulders,
and gently pushed her away. “God would
know.”
The woman tilted her head back laughed derisively.
Then looking up at him with her eyelids half closed said. “Oh come on now. He
knew what you wanted when you came out here, didn’t he? That didn’t stop you
did it?”
“You know God? You are a Jew?”
“What does it matter? I am a woman, and you came
seeking a woman.”
“This life that you lead is an offense to God, a
sin. If you are a Jew you know that!”
The woman laughed softly...they were so close that he
felt it as well as heard it.
“It is God who creates this need that you feel,
isn’t it? He also has provided the rite of atonement, hasn’t he? Satisfy
yourself now and make such an act at Temple when you reach Jerusalem, and all
will be forgiven.” She said with a mocking smile.
Paul felt himself beginning to perspire, his heart
racing even faster as he stood with his hands still on her small shoulders.
“Will you allow me to share with you the Good News
of Jesus of Nazareth?”
“For two silver coins,” she said mockingly, “you can
do anything you like.”
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About the Book
The story takes place in the mid first century, specifically 58 through 59 A.D., in Judea, modern day Israel. It is a land occupied by the Roman army. Rome has ruled there for almost a hundred years, however the culture of the land is predominantly Greek, having been ruled by the descendants of Alexander the Great for nearly four hundred yeaers before being conquered by Rome. The Greco-Roman society of the time was not immoral it was amoral, totally without any moral underpinnings at all. Religion was a hollow formality engaged in privately by the elite of society to celebrate their elevated status. Their temples were essentially private clubs for members only. Behavior viewed in modern times by peoples who claim some basis of religious orientation in which a value is placed on the right to life and some medium of individual dignity was totally absent in these times. Nevertheless the Roman government was ironically religiously tolerant. So long as order was preserved and taxes were paid to Rome, subject people were permitted to practice what ever from of religion they chose.
This story takes place about twenty-five years after the crucifixion of Jesus. No bible existed. The books of what we now call the “Old Testament” existed but other than the first five, called the Torah by Jews, were varied and plentiful and not given any particular order or hierarchy. The new followers of Jesus had no documentation of their religious views at all. The books of the “New Testament” would not appear for several years. The Bible as we know it would not be standardized for another three hundred years.
There are three main characters in this story, a man called Paul, who thinks but is not entirely sure he has been appointed by God to preach the message of Jesus Christ to all those who will listen, a Roman officer named Lysias, who is going through a “mid-life crises” brought on by his mandatory retired from the Roman Legion after twenty-five years of service, and a woman named Atrusha, a slave of the Roman officer.
Paul, of this story is the man credited with being the author of fourteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. He was originally a Pharisee who claimed to have heard the voice of Jesus commanding him to take up his teachings and become a voice for him to all, regardless of nationality or ethnic origin. He did so, traveling through modern day Turkey, The Balkans and Greece. This story takes place as he is returning to Jerusalem after eight years of missionary work.
About the Author
The author is a retired salesman who has taken to
writing as a second career. His first
work “Seven Out,” appears on the internet as an e-book. While a committed Christian he is not
affiliated with any denomination. Mr.
Fitch has a B.A. in History and a natural love for that discipline and has been
a hobbyist painter in oils for more than thirty years.