http://gospeltranslations.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Pilate%27s_Wife%2C_Part_1 2026-04-18T22:25:12Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.16alpha http://gospeltranslations.org/w/index.php?title=Pilate%27s_Wife,_Part_1&diff=14509&oldid=prev 2008-10-13T14:33:08Z

<p>New page: {{info}}The wife of Pontius Pilate hid&lt;br&gt;Her trembling hands and did&lt;br&gt;What she had done a dozen times&lt;br&gt;Before. Her husband&#39;s deadly crimes&lt;br&gt;Against the Jews had made her face&lt;br&gt;Wel...</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{info}}The wife of Pontius Pilate hid&lt;br&gt;Her trembling hands and did&lt;br&gt;What she had done a dozen times&lt;br&gt;Before. Her husband's deadly crimes&lt;br&gt;Against the Jews had made her face&lt;br&gt;Well known and hated every place&lt;br&gt;Where she might go in Palestine.&lt;br&gt;And so she wore a veil. The fine&lt;br&gt;Apparel of the court she laid&lt;br&gt;Aside and wore the common grade&lt;br&gt;Of clothing women wore who worked&lt;br&gt;In shops. And there, unseen, she lurked&lt;br&gt;Around the edges of the crowd,&lt;br&gt;And put her hands beneath the shroud&lt;br&gt;That lay across her face and fell&lt;br&gt;In simple folds. No one could tell&lt;br&gt;She trembled there, or that behind&lt;br&gt;The veil stood Claudia, the kind&lt;br&gt;And gentle wife of Pilate, bold&lt;br&gt;And daring, if she might behold,&lt;br&gt;Perhaps, the Teacher of the Jews&lt;br&gt;Once more, and hear from him some news&lt;br&gt;To still her fearful heart.<br /> <br /> This time,&lt;br&gt;Because of Pilate's gruesome crime,&lt;br&gt;There was a tension in the air,&lt;br&gt;And people wondered if and where&lt;br&gt;The Lord would speak his mind about&lt;br&gt;It. Claudia had gone without&lt;br&gt;Her royal meals three days, and kept&lt;br&gt;A secret vigil as she wept&lt;br&gt;Herself to sleep each night since she&lt;br&gt;Had heard of the atrocity.&lt;br&gt;As much now as she feared to hear&lt;br&gt;What he might say, she lingered near&lt;br&gt;Enough to listen if he spoke. <br /> <br /> At last, one voice dared speak, and broke&lt;br&gt;The angry silence of the crowd:&lt;br&gt;&quot;Good Teacher, some of us have vowed&lt;br&gt;Revenge on Pilate, and we do&lt;br&gt;Believe it is with justice too.&lt;br&gt;My brother and his wife three days&lt;br&gt;Ago were slaughtered by the craze&lt;br&gt;Of Pilate's bloody power. And they&lt;br&gt;Were not the only ones. Like clay,&lt;br&gt;He trampled them beneath a horde&lt;br&gt;Of soldiers, slit their throats, and poured&lt;br&gt;Their blood in mockery upon&lt;br&gt;The altar of our God. We don&lt;br&gt;Therefore ourselves with robes of truth&lt;br&gt;And righteousness, and pledge our youth&lt;br&gt;And zeal to overthrow this pawn&lt;br&gt;Of Rome and sweep away, like dawn&lt;br&gt;The dark of night, his house. Tell us,&lt;br&gt;Should we now fear Tiberius,&lt;br&gt;And all the wrath of Rome? What do&lt;br&gt;You make of men who make a brew&lt;br&gt;Of sheep and human blood and pour&lt;br&gt;It out to God like holy gore?&lt;br&gt;Or do you think, Good Master, that&lt;br&gt;These Galileans' sin was at&lt;br&gt;The root of their demise and brought&lt;br&gt;All this from God that Pilate wrought?&quot; <br /> <br /> She stood like stone, and listened to&lt;br&gt;Her own death sentence there, and knew&lt;br&gt;That he was right - that Pilate killed&lt;br&gt;The Galilean flock and spilled&lt;br&gt;Their blood for nothing but his own&lt;br&gt;Disgust for Jewish flesh and bone.&lt;br&gt;But Claudia was stunned to hear&lt;br&gt;The man ask Jesus if the mere&lt;br&gt;Sin of his family had brought&lt;br&gt;All this from God - as if the thought&lt;br&gt;That God could possibly ordain&lt;br&gt;Such things was thinkable - the pain,&lt;br&gt;The grief, the wickedness! And so&lt;br&gt;She waited for the Lord to show&lt;br&gt;The truth that surely God cannot&lt;br&gt;Be found behind a wicked plot,&lt;br&gt;As if the sin of Pilate could&lt;br&gt;Be punishment from God or would&lt;br&gt;Be more than Pilate's own design.&lt;br&gt;She watched to see the Lord assign&lt;br&gt;A proper guilt, and say, &quot;Go fight&lt;br&gt;The man, for your revenge is right.&quot;<br /> <br /> The silence lengthened as the Lord&lt;br&gt;Looked out upon the crowd, and t'ward&lt;br&gt;The place where Claudia stood by.&lt;br&gt;For one brief instant, eye to eye,&lt;br&gt;They met, at least it seemed to her&lt;br&gt;That he could see as if there were&lt;br&gt;No veil at all. And then he said,&lt;br&gt;&quot;Do you think these who now lay dead,&lt;br&gt;Worse sinners, since they suffered so,&lt;br&gt;And died this way? I tell you, no.&lt;br&gt;But you, unless you will repent,&lt;br&gt;Must suffer to the same extent.&quot; <br /> <br /> These words struck Pilate's wife with such&lt;br&gt;A moral force, she lost all touch&lt;br&gt;With crowd and time and Christ. She felt&lt;br&gt;As if a world, where Jesus dwelt,&lt;br&gt;Had opened, shocking, to her eyes,&lt;br&gt;And God till now was in disguise,&lt;br&gt;And sin was small and self was great,&lt;br&gt;And justice was a balanced hate. <br /> <br /> But now, there lodged this arrow in&lt;br&gt;Her soul from Jesus' bow: &quot;Begin,&quot;&lt;br&gt;He seemed to say, &quot;with this: The lot&lt;br&gt;At which to be amazed is not&lt;br&gt;That some have died in pain and shed&lt;br&gt;Their blood, but that you are not dead.&lt;br&gt;Let wonder fill you daily that&lt;br&gt;The judgment has not lingered at&lt;br&gt;Your door. You take another breath,&lt;br&gt;A gift you don't deserve, and death&lt;br&gt;Delays its final blow. At this,&lt;br&gt;Now marvel, Claudia, and kiss&lt;br&gt;The mercy of each passing hour&lt;br&gt;While you escape his raging power.&lt;br&gt;All sin is serious, not small,&lt;br&gt;And, yes, the Lord God governs all.&quot; <br /> <br /> How much time passed she didn't know.&lt;br&gt;The sun had set; a golden glow&lt;br&gt;Made all the rocks burn orange on&lt;br&gt;The western side. The crowd was gone.&lt;br&gt;She sat in peace, though all her world&lt;br&gt;Had been thrown down, and kindly hurled&lt;br&gt;Into the sea by Jesus' word&lt;br&gt;Of truth. Then, suddenly, she heard&lt;br&gt;A motion, turned, and saw the Lord.&lt;br&gt;His face was peaceful now. The sword&lt;br&gt;That shattered all before was gone.&lt;br&gt;Then Jesus spoke: &quot;You are no pawn&lt;br&gt;Of Rome, whatever Pilate is,&lt;br&gt;Good Claudia. Though you be his&lt;br&gt;By marriage, here today by grace&lt;br&gt;You have become my own. My face&lt;br&gt;You will not see again until&lt;br&gt;The night before I die. He will&lt;br&gt;Once more, make Jewish blood to flow&lt;br&gt;And then no more. He does not know&lt;br&gt;The greatness of God's work, and this&lt;br&gt;Through all his sin and cowardice.&lt;br&gt;But you, be strong. Your holy dreams&lt;br&gt;Are not in vain. And though it seems&lt;br&gt;You will have lost your husband and&lt;br&gt;Your Lord, trust in the unseen hand&lt;br&gt;Of God. I now declare by oath,&lt;br&gt;And blood, that you will have them both. <br /> <br /> Come, children, take your fire, and light&lt;br&gt;This advent candle one. For bright&lt;br&gt;And blazing is our hope and deep&lt;br&gt;Desire that all the world would leap&lt;br&gt;To know the truth that Christ destroys&lt;br&gt;False worlds that he might fill with joys.&lt;br&gt;To know the truth that massacres <br /> <br /> Might be forgiv'n and one who errs&lt;br&gt;A thousand times may find at last&lt;br&gt;That all his horrid sins are cast&lt;br&gt;Into the deep, and Christ, by grace,<br /> <br /> Has made his massacre a place&lt;br&gt;Of life where even those who scorned&lt;br&gt;His face, may be with life adorned.</div>

Greetje