PERRY SACHS STOOD in the inner chamber of the room he and Jack had uncovered two weeks before.
A bank of work lights shone down from metal stands and
lit the underground area. Crowded into the space with him were Jack, Anne, Gleason, Brent, Dr. Curtis, Sergeant Montulli, Claire, and Joseph. Also present were the owners, Hector Trujillo—in a wheelchair—and his wife, Rose. Joseph stood, as he always did, with his head resting on Claire’s shoulder.
The crowded chamber was still off-limits to the rest of the world, but it had been made safer. Modern shoring kept the ground outside from crashing in; a new semi-permanent bridge had been built to replace the makeshift one they’d made before.
“Thank you all for coming,” Perry said. “I wanted to thank you each for your great contribution. I also wanted to make sure everyone had the latest word on things. Dr. Curtis has some information for us.”
Curtis cleared his throat. “As we guessed, the archaeological community is still very skeptical about our preliminary findings. It’s only been two weeks, but we have received Carbon-14 data that puts the uncovered remains to the first century. Specialists in Roman history have verified that the shields, swords, and other items we found associated with the soldiers are genuine. There remains a great deal of testing to be done, but for now we can rule out a hoax. Of course we already knew that.”
“Will the scientific community ever come around?” Jack asked.
Curtis shrugged. “Some will. The evidence is strong, but we must remember we’re asking them to believe the impossible. Having Romans in the New World upsets everything. However, there is enough evidence to suggest that other ancient people made it to our shores. The Vikings on the east and oriental influence in the west indicate that others had crossed the oceans; whether they came intentionally or not is another matter. Things like the Los Lunas inscription in New Mexico may or may not be hoaxes.”
“Los Lunas?” Anne said.
“The Ten Commandments written in ancient Hebrew,” Curtis explained. “Found a few decades ago in New Mexico.”
“Ancient Hebrew in North America,” Gleason said. “Is it real?”
“That’s debatable on several counts. We simply don’t know. It used to be easy for me to dismiss such things. For example, a sculpted terra cotta Roman head was found in Mexico. Some date it to about 200 a.d. In 1963 a construction worker found a small hoard of Roman coins near the Ohio River. A similar thing happened in Kentucky. Did the coins come from Romans, or were they part of someone’s collection that was lost decades before? Who knows? But we have much more here.”
“But how did they get here?” Montulli asked. “We’re a long way from the Roman Empire.”
“That leads us to the second manuscript,” Perry said. “After we sorted things out with the Seattle police—a grueling task, I might add, but with Sergeant Montulli’s help as well as the distinguished mayor’s, we recovered those items that didn’t interest Rutherford Straight. We were able to take custody of Pilate’s seal and the two earthenware jars. The face napkin remains missing. The police continue to look for it. Dr. Curtis opened the jars.”
“Under controlled conditions, I might add,” Curtis said. “One jar held the residue of spices. It appears that when these people took the artifacts from Christ’s tomb after His resurrection, they took everything, including the spices used to treat Jesus’ body. The other jar contained a manuscript.”
“The manuscript was in the jar?” Claire asked.
“That’s right,” Curtis replied. “Just like the Dead Sea Scrolls that were found in 1947. The jar provided a great deal of protection. Still, the document is delicate and takes expert care just to open it. Move too fast or in the wrong environment, and it will crumble to dust. I’ve brought in the best manuscript experts I can find. We’ve succeeded in opening it. Age has damaged it greatly, but I was able to get snippets of information. It was written in Aramaic, the language of first-century Jews. We think Mary wrote it. It’s a brief account of some of her experiences.”
Curtis took a deep breath and stated: “The short version is this. As you know, Roman guards were posted at the grave of Christ. The Gospel of Matthew tells the story in chapter 28. It says that some of the guards returned to the city to report what they had seen and what they had seen had frightened them to the point of unconsciousness. ‘They became as dead men’ is the way the scripture puts it. I’ve always wondered why the Bible says that some of the guards returned to the city and reported to the Jewish elders. Why just some? Why not all? What happened to those who didn’t go back to report?”
“I always assumed that, of the twelve or so guards who would have been present, only a couple would be needed to make a report,” Perry said.
“That’s a reasonable interpretation,” Curtis said. “But the manuscript tells a different story. After the ‘some’ went back to report, Mary—who came to the tomb twice—saw the risen Christ. It appears that the remaining guards witnessed that encounter. You can imagine the shock to the Roman mind. After Mary encountered Jesus, she ran to tell the disciples what had happened. We find that information in the Gospel of John.
“The manuscript is unclear at this point, mostly because of damage,” Curtis continued, “but a few of the guards took it upon themselves to clear out the tomb. You have to remember that you’re not dealing with religious Jews or disciples of Jesus. Instead we have men brought up in a polytheistic world. Their religious training taught them that there were many gods. I imagine they believed that Jesus was one such god. Therefore, anything associated with Him would be valuable, even holy.”
“So they took the linens and other things, but how did they get here and how did Mary hook up with them?”
“That’s one of the many parts that is unclear,” Curtis said. “It appears they had some reason to fear reprisal from their superiors, maybe for failing to guard the tomb or maybe because they removed the artifacts.
“In any case, they fled Palestine on a Roman cargo ship. Romans had a variety of ships that plied the waters of the Great Sea, what we call the Mediterranean Sea. The manuscript has sections of text that have faded over the years, so we’re left to guess about many things. The manuscript experts think that with time they can restore portions of the lost text. Maybe we’ll have more information then. We can hope.
“Anyway, I sent photos of the scroll to experts in ancient Semitic languages. They’ve found references to the boat and to the crewmen, who numbered twenty. How the guards booked passage is unknown, but since we found them buried in their armor they may have used their military influence to get on board. Maybe one of them was related to the captain. We just don’t know. The linguist found references to what we now call China. There’s ample evidence to say that the Roman Empire had some trade connection with China.”
“That would explain how they got to the Pacific,” Perry said, “but sailing around Africa had to be tough.”
“Agreed,” Curtis said. “It’s not a trip that any one of us would want to make. From there they continued east. There’s a passage that mentions a storm. It wouldn’t be the first time that a cargo ship was blown out to sea. Currents and wind drove the boat east. As I said, there’s evidence that Chinese explorers made the west coast of America; these men, soldiers and the boat’s crew, apparently did the same, unintentionally.”
“And Mary Magdalene was with them,” Anne said.
“Probably,” Curtis said. “That has yet to be demonstrated. All we have is a woman’s skeleton in what remains of simple clothing and the etched letters inside her coffin.”
“That seems pretty conclusive, Doc,” Jack interjected.
“Agreed, but that’s not proof, at least not in scientific terms.”
“Why this?” Gleason asked, motioning to the chamber.
Perry spoke first. “It’s their way of paying homage. They built two chambers: an anteroom and a sepulcher. Some ancient Jewish tombs have been found that are similar in design. Here they used rocks they could find and timber from the surrounding trees to, at least in a symbolic way, return what they took. Mary must have had a powerful influence on them.”
“Let me add to that,” Curtis said. “I’ve had the wood coffins analyzed and learned that they were made of the same kind of wood as ancient ships. They brought some of the wood from their vessel with them. That would explain how they came to have flat wood like planks. I imagine that their tools were limited to whatever was on the ship.”
“Now there’s another puzzle,” Gleason said. “Why here in these low-lying mountains? We’re more than seventy miles from the coast as the crow flies.”
“More like eighty miles,” Curtis said. “And you’re right. A journey on foot would be much longer, still not beyond reason. Migratory people have been known to travel much further. Time wouldn’t be a factor. If it took them a year to make the journey, so what? Maybe the area reminded them of home.
“I suspect as we continue to excavate the surrounding area that we’ll find other signs of habitation and other graves. Five soldiers and a woman didn’t sail here by themselves. And whoever buried them did so with respect and honor. The soldiers were buried in military gear. Whoever they were, they still felt a sense of pride in who they had been. Somewhere between here and wherever they stepped ashore is evidence of their existence. I’m ready to devote my life to finding it.”
“There are a lot of unanswered questions, Doc,” Jack complained.
“There always are,” Curtis said. “And for every question you can raise, I can raise five more. I don’t have all the answers.”
“The real shame is that the linen chrysalis was lost,” Anne said softly. “What a loss for all mankind.”
“That was my first thought,” Perry said. “I’m not so sure now. I was devastated as I watched it dissolve right in front of me. It was the greatest treasure ever found, and I let it slip through my fingers. I felt that I let slip the greatest proof of Christianity the world would ever know.”
“But you think differently now?” Anne asked.
“Yes. I’ve had time to think and pray about it. Most people read their Bibles without knowing that we do not have a single original manuscript,” Perry explained. “That’s not to say the Bible is a fabrication or filled with errors. It’s not. There are thousands of ancient manuscripts, many of them extremely old. Is that right, Doc?”
Curtis replied, “It is.”
“I think there’s a reason for that. I don’t think God wants us to have objects that can be turned into idols. Humankind has a tendency to worship things instead of God. In Numbers 21 is the story of the brass serpent. Moses was leading the children of Israel through a difficult area. They became bitter and accused God of mistreating them. Judgment came in the form of snakes. People were bitten and died. They pleaded for relief and God gave it, but not as you would expect.”
“He told Moses to make a brass serpent,” Jack said. “If people looked at it after being bitten, they would be healed.”
“Exactly,” Perry said. “It seems an odd solution. Why not just send the snakes away? Well, it has to do with faith and trust and looking to God’s provision. Fourteen hundred years later, Jesus would use it as an example of His work on the cross. However, it was what happened in between those events that’s provocative.
“The Bible records that seven hundred years after Moses made the serpent, King Hezekiah had it destroyed. Why would he destroy such an important object? Because his people had made an icon of worship out of it. They were burning incense to it as they did to other false gods.”
“So you’re saying that if the chrysalis had remained intact, then it would’ve become a cultic icon?” Gleason asked.
“Well, that’s what I think.” Perry said. “God may have done us a favor.”
“Do you think people will ever come to believe all of this?” Brent asked. “After all, we do have the videotapes I made.”
Perry smiled. “Those who are willing to believe will; those who don’t want to believe won’t. There has always been plenty of evidence for Christ and His work; still people ignore it.”
“I can’t speak for the world,” Brent said, “but it has changed me.”
“That goes for all of us,” Anne said. “But I do have another question, Perry. From what you told me, Joseph predicted the woman who came to his house and abducted him and Claire, and that he knew you would be outside the door where Rutherford Straight was holding them hostage. How did he know what was going to happen before it did?”
Perry looked at Joseph and smiled. Joseph didn’t respond. “I don’t know, Anne. I don’t know how he knew those things or could so accurately reproduce the work site and the other things he drew. His mind works in a way we can’t understand. Perhaps he sees more than we can. Perhaps like Daniel and other Old Testament prophets, he communicates with God better than we are able.”
“He’s never done it before,” Claire added. “And now he seems back to normal. The pictures he draws are like those he did before all this happened.”
“It’s a mystery,” Jack said. “But I’m glad he was on our side.”
“Ironic, isn’t it?” Perry mused. “By the world’s standards, Joseph is severely handicapped. The truth is, we may be the handicapped ones. Since I first met him, I’ve wondered what he sees that we can’t.”
“We will never know,” Claire said.
“Not in this life,” Perry added.
“So the work goes on?” Brent asked.
Perry nodded. “Dr. Curtis will be leading the excavation here. He tells me there will be years of work. The Trujillos have generously donated this whole area for as long as it takes.”
“You have taken good care of us,” Hector said from his wheelchair. “We are happy to help our Lord.”
Perry laid a hand on the ill man’s shoulder. “One thing remains. I can think of no better church in which to pray.”
There was a corporate “Amen.”
After Perry led them in prayer, a second, belated “Amen” rang out across the room. Everyone turned to the one who said it.
“Amen,” Joseph Henri repeated. “Amen.”