Free The Testimonium by Lewis Ben Smith Page A

he had let his career dominate his passions, and tried to look the other way when he found himself staring at a woman and thinking inappropriate thoughts. But how could he ignore this vision of feminine beauty when he was going to be working with her for the next few weeks?
    Suddenly he realized that Dr. Sforza was standing there with her hand out while he was staring at her. “I’m terribly sorry,” he said, holding out his hand. “Dr. Josh Parker, at your service.”
    Isabella looked at the handsome young American and realized he was blushing deeply beneath his tan. Under other circumstances, she might have been somewhat offended, but there was something so sincere about his awkwardness that she found herself somewhat charmed by it. “Just call me Isabella,” she said. “I understand that you have a strong background in first-century Latin and koine Greek?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Josh replied. “I love reading history in its original language when I can. What have we found so far?”
    We? Isabella wondered if he was trying to take credit for the work already done, or simply trying to think of himself as a member of the team. His manner seemed earnest and sincere enough, but she decided to keep an eye on him nonetheless. “So far we have one papyrus document,” she said. “It is written on a single sheet and was left lying flat on the tabletop. The weight of the dust and sediment that built on top of it over the years has fused it to the lacquered finish that was on the table, so I don’t know that we will be able to separate it. But, at the same time, the lacquer has also preserved it so that the writing is still quite legible. Dr. MacDonald is working to stabilize it as we speak. You and he should get along quite well—your specialties overlap.”
    Guioccini interrupted. “Isabella, I am heading back to the mainland. Keep me informed and good luck!” he shouted as he climbed into the chopper. Parker grabbed his bag and followed Sforza down the steps of the Villa Jovis to the mobile lab.

    By the time of the most recent Passover, this Jesus of Nazareth had acquired a huge following, and the stories about him were becoming fanciful to the extreme. They said, just before Passover, that he had actually brought a man back to life who had been dead for FOUR days! It was after this story began circulating in the city that the Jewish leadership decided that Jesus must die. His followers now numbered in the thousands, and they feared an armed revolution. When he came to the city for the Passover feast, their plans for his demise were already cemented into place—even though he refused the offering of a crown that the enthusiastic mob made when he entered the city.
    You may be wondering why I did not step in at this point. While I do have several informants who are seated on the Jewish Sanhedrin, during this time, the high priest and his cronies only met with a select few that did not include my agents. This small group bought off one of Jesus’ disciples (that man has subsequently disappeared; rumors abound that he hung himself after the events that followed) and sent a large mob, accompanied by the Temple guard (and a single cohort of Legionaries whose centurion wisely saw the commotion and followed along to see what was going on and keep the peace if necessary). They proceeded to a quiet garden outside the city walls where the Nazarene was known to meet with his disciples. Jesus was arrested without any major incident—apparently he was with only a small group of followers, and only one of them even tried to defend him. Jesus was then interrogated before both the former High Priest, that evil old serpent named Annas, and the current holder of that office, Caiaphas. Finally, in the third hour past midnight, the enormous mob showed up, with a bloodied and battered Jesus, at the Praetorium, angrily demanding that I sentence him to death.

CHAPTER FIVE
    Dr. MacDonald studied the ancient tabletop and the papyrus