Yehuda left the room, allowing the women to pray their morning prayers and dress. Then Miriam let Yehuda and several of the other men back into the room.
Halphai took his wife into his arms and held her for a long time. So did Yehuda with Shoshonah.
Miriam, for just a moment, felt more alone than she had ever felt in her whole life. She felt more lonely than she had when her parents had left her to serve in the Temple; more lonely than she had when she was told that her parents had died; more lonely than when Zechariah had told her that she was to leave the service of the Temple and was to marry; more lonely than when Yosef had died.
Then she pulled herself together. Her son had said these people would need her strength. His people would need someone to rally around, at least until the Holy Spirit came upon them. She wondered if they would feel the same kind of joy and overwhelming love she had felt so long ago. But for now, these people needed her.
She cleared her throat. “We need to find out what is happening.”
Halphai said, “They took Yehoshua to the home of Annas. I suspect it is not long until they take him before Yosef bar Kayafa, and then to Pontius Pilatus.”
She nodded tightly. “They will seek his life.”
Miriamne sobbed uncontrollably.
The wife of Herod’s steward said, “Herod is in the city for the feast. I may be able to get Herod to intervene and save Yehoshua. After all, the Master is one of Herod’s citizens.”
“Herod and Pilate hate one another,” Yehuda said. “I can’t believe Herod asking for Yehoshua would do anything except make Pilate more adamant about keeping him, if Yehoshua goes to Pilate to begin with, that is.”
Halphai spoke in a tight voice, “After Simon Cephas cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest, Yehoshua healed the man and commanded that the swords be put away. Then he turned to us and said, ‘Shall I not drink of the cup My Father has given to Me?’ I think we can safely say Yehoshua is prepared to follow this through until the end.”
“What do you think the story he told you about His being the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep; what do you think that was about?” Miriam asked.
Andreas looked at her, sharply. Yet, he said nothing. Neither did anyone else.
Miriam shook her head. “What do you think Yoni meant when he called my son, ‘the Lamb of God’? What is the function of a lamb without blemish at the Pesach? He is offering himself once and for all, for the sin of the world.”
They all looked at one another.
Halphai sighed heavily. “How can you bear this?”
Miriam drew a deep breath. “Simeon, the old prophet who used to practically live in the Temple, told me after Yehoshua’s pidyon ha-ben that a sword would pierce my heart. That sword is one of sorrow. I bear this, because I must. He will bear more than I. He will be the lamb slain, not like the scapegoat or Pesach lamb which is a yearly sacrifice, but once and for all.”
Everyone looked at her as though she were mad.