The Brotherhood Of The Holy Shroud by Julia Navarro Read Free Book Online Page B

Abgar asked Josar to speak of Jesus, to continue the teachings of the Nazarene. He and the queen and all their subjects, he pledged, would take the religion of Jesus, and he ordered that the temples to the old gods be pulled down and that Josar preach to him and his people and make them followers of the Christ.
    "What shall we do with the shroud, Josar?" Abgar asked his friend one day.
    "My king, you must find a safe place for it. Jesus sent it to you that it might heal you, and we must preserve it from all harm. Many of your subjects have asked me to let them touch the cloth, and I tell you, it has worked yet further miracles."
    "I shall have a temple built, Josar."
    "Yes, my lord."
    Each day, as the sun rose in the east, Josar rose and began to write. His intention was to leave a written testament of the wonders done by Jesus, both those he had witnessed and those recounted to him by the companions of the master while he had lived in Jerusalem. That done, Josar would go to the palace and speak with Abgar, the queen, and many others of what he had learned of the teachings of the Nazarene.
    He would see the wonder in their faces when he preached that one should not hate one's neighbors or wish one's enemies ill. Jesus had taught his followers to turn the other cheek.
    Josar was supported in his desire to plant the seed of the teachings of Jesus not just by the king but also by the queen. And in a short time, Edessa was a Christian city, and Josar sent epistles to some of the companions of Jesus, those who, like him, took the good news to other towns and peoples.
    When Josar had completed his history of the Nazarene, Abgar ordered his scribes to make copies, so that men might never forget the life and teachings of the extraordinary Jew who, even after his death, had healed a king.

7
    AS HE PARKED HIS CAR OUTSIDE THE JAIL, Marco thought he was probably wasting his time. Two years earlier, he hadn't been able to get anything out of the tongueless man, or "the mute," as he always called him. He'd brought in a doctor, a specialist, who examined the man and assured Marco that his hearing was perfect, that there was no physical reason he couldn't hear. Yet the mute had remained so tightly locked within himself that it was hard to know whether he could really hear or, if he could, whether he had any understanding of what was being said to him. It was more than likely that the same thing would happen now, but Marco felt compelled to see him nevertheless.
    The warden was not in, but he'd left orders that Marco was to be allowed to do whatever he asked. What he asked was to be left alone with the prisoner.
    "No problem," said the head jailer. "He's a real quiet guy. He never makes any trouble-in fact, he's kind of mystical, you know? He'd rather be in the chapel than out in the yard with the others. He hasn't got much time left on his sentence; they let him off easy, three years. So another year and he's on the street. If he'd had a lawyer he could've asked for early out on good behavior, but he didn't. No lawyer, no visitors, nothing…"
    "Does he understand when people talk to him?"
    "Huh! Now,
that's
a mystery! Sometimes you think so, sometimes not. Depends."
    "That clears that up."
    "It's that the guy's strange, you know? I mean, I'd never take him for a thief; he sure doesn't act like one. He spends all his time looking straight ahead or sitting in the chapel."
    "Does he ever read or write? He's never put in a request for books, a newspaper, anything?"
    "No, never. He never watches television-he's not even interested in the World Cup. He's never gotten mail, and he doesn't write to anybody."
    When the mute entered the interview room where Marco was waiting for him, his eyes showed no surprise-just indifference. He remained standing near the door, his eyes lowered slightly, his posture expectant but unfearing.
    Marco gestured for him to sit down, but the man remained on his feet.
    "I don't know whether you understand me or not, but