A soldier came forward and pierced Jeshua's chest with his sword and said, I give you relief from your pain, son of God," and he left. I could not decide if this was an act of compassion or an act of hatred. I would never know. Jeshua moaned in agonizing pain while blood and a substance that looked like water poured forth from this wound. Another soldier, one I had not seen before, came forward. There was something about this one that seemed quite different. He was so tall and he emitted a glow that was mesmerizing. The crowd seemed to go almost into a trance as he came forth. He had a sponge upon a long stick and he said, Jeshua, you thirst, drink of this cool water and your thirst will be quenched and your pain will be gone."
Jeshua opened his eyes and looked at the shining one and nodded, as if he knew him, and sucked the moisture out of the sponge presented. The agony upon his face seemed to wane almost immediately. The shining one disappeared into the crowd, which was coming back to full fury and noise once again. The weepers were there now, near the front, and the taunters were beginning to leave, thinking that it would be morning before this blasphemer died. This day two other crosses were beside Jeshua and occupied by those who were also condemned for their deeds, much different deeds, however. I saw my love talking to one of those also crucified. I heard this man say that to be honored to accompany a man such as Jeshua in his final journey was his greatest joy. Your joy shall free you and you and I shall meet again one day at the throne of glory of my Father," Jeshua said to him and then he looked toward his mother and myself and said, farewell, my beloveds. John will keep you safe and I will always watch over you."
Then the clear evening sky suddenly produced rolling clouds that seemed to explode and move as a serpent to the place we now stood, with the master there upon that honorable tree, now transformed into a horrifying death chamber. The colors of the sky were red, dark blue and black and the light behind the clouds was dramatically alive as the skies filled completely, blocking out the setting sun. A great lightning bolt cracked through the sky and everyone reacted to this jolt, but we could not see where it struck. We could smell the sulfur and the resulting thunder shook the ground we occupied. Those still there, the weepers and the guards, thought that Tara was quaking and about to swallow them. I know that she was aware and angry and I would not have been surprised if we had all fallen into her hot lava chambers. The earth, you see, was shaken to her core and the heavens were cracking open as well. It was the effect of the sorrow of All That Is, whose great gift was rejected.
I looked toward my beloved to see how he faired this event and I knew that he had passed from this body and was not suffering anymore, for he hung limp now, his body empty. Mother Mary and I, and some of the others, lay in heaps of robes and bodies upon the ground and cried until there was no strength left in us. The guards notified the priests and the rulers and they came in the early hours of the morning because now they feared the dark. They knew of their sin. They brought down the cross in the early morning light and removed the nails from Jeshua's body. They laid him down in the laps of his mother and myself for a moment. It was a moment of kindness for our grief was so vast it must have affected these men who hours before were so insufferably cruel.
We held our beloved Jeshua and we rocked him like a baby, his body lifeless there between us. Then the followers came forward and asked if they might take him to a tomb donated by Lazarus, ever-faithful follower of the master. Mother Mary and I were so weak from grief that we handed the lifeless Jeshua over by just releasing our hold upon his beautiful physical body, so tortured and torn. There was a crown of thorns that someone had put upon his head and we did not notice it until that moment. His Mother gently took this thorny crown from her sons head, not even realizing that the thorns were piercing her very heart as she held him in death and rocked him in sorrow. Her robes were red with both his and her blood upon her breast where her heart had continued to beat through her pain. She fainted as she let him go. John picked her up in his arms and I believed I had followed him as he carried her back to our quarters with the elder woman. I was so far beyond coherence at that point that my memories are not clear. Many of the sisters followed also and assisted me and they were the ones to bathe and prepare us to rest, for we needed to regain some strength to survive. Mary's thorn wounds were many upon her mothers breast but none were deep enough to pierce her heart. Her heart could not have been wounded more, even if a thorn had found its depth.
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