THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS CHAPTER TWENTY SIX- Page 2

THE SUN WAS setting as the contingent neared Caesarea Philippi. On the outskirts of town they pitched their camp in a grove of trees. Saul once again addressed the men. He thanked them for riding strenuously all day.

To the amazement of the veteran guards who were quite weary from the ride, Saul, the young Pharisee, showed no signs of fatigue. Zeal for his mission carried him with the energy of two men.
"For those who may not know," said Saul, "you are at Caesarea-Philippi. Caesar Augustus gave this area to Herod the Great, and Herod, always wanting to flatter the emperor, called the city after him. And to give a little glory to his own son Philip at the same time, he called it Caesarea-Philippi."
"I always thought the name distinguished this city nicely from the many other Caesareas around the empire," Farnas offered.

Saul nodded. "When Greece ruled the area, this city was known as Paneas. Do you know why?"

"It was named after the god Pan," answered Farnas.

"Very good. I trust you all will rest well tonight. Don't let the god Pan cast a spell of fear on you. After all, Pan is the god of panic."

The guards laughed heartily at Saul's play on words.

In a serious tone, Saul added, "I do trust you will rest well. We should be in Damascus by noon tomorrow and will have a full schedule ahead of us for several days."

The horses were attended to, and most of the guard had settled down for the night. As the stars began to appear, Gideoni and Farnas remained outside of their tent near a small fire. Above them the white snows of Mount Hermon glowed against the sky. Inside the tent, Saul lay fully clothed on his cot, watching them and straining to hear their conversation. If he found any evidence for insurrection, he would deal with it severely.

"In my reading of scripture, I recall that Jeremiah called Hazor a place of dragons," said Farnas, "I wonder what he would call this place named after Pan?"

"You seem well acquainted with the gods of Greece."

"I am too familiar," remarked Farnas with a sigh. "That is part of the reason I am here. I have hoped to find some fulfillment in serving the One true God through the Temple Guard. But this assignment is not the kind I had in mind."

Gideoni nodded and looked up at the stars. From the slopes of Mount Hermon a long tremulous wail arose in the night. "I love the howl of the Syrian wolf."

"Raises the hair on my neck. Shall we take a walk?"

"Sounds good. It seems too nice an evening to go back into the tent and listen to the snoring."
Together the guards rose and left the camp. They made their way to the Roman bridge below the grove, pausing to look down into the river that roared down from Mount Hermon. It was one of the sources of the Jordan. Looking up through a tangled screen of brush and trees, they saw on the face of the cliff the entrance to the cave known as Panion.

"I find it interesting," said Farnas, "that Pan is supposed to inhabit such caves. Considering he is supposed to be so fond of women, the Greeks might at least have described him a little more attractively, instead of giving him a crooked nose, pointed ears, horns and tail, and the lower anatomy of a goat. Do you know about the pan flute?"

"You'll hear one in every village."

"But the story of its origin is that Pan pursued Syrinx the nymph for his pleasure. She fled in terror and appealed to the gods for help. In answer to her plea, the gods changed her into a pond of reeds. So Pan took one of the reeds, and blew into it, and that was the origin of the pan pipe."
"So where does the panic come from? How can this goat-man create so much fear?"

"I have a theory about that. Perhaps the myth of Pan is based on the fallen angels of Genesis."

"Like the ones who took women as wives?"

"Right. Has it ever occurred to you, Gideoni, that Pan's reputation for appearing suddenly and filling people with terror or panic may be related to the fact that he is reputedly the son of Hermes, who escorts souls to Hades? Hermes' task is not only to bring messages from the gods to men, but with his staff entwined with two serpents he has the task of guiding souls at the time of death to Hades. There, Pluto receives them, and with his three-headed dog, makes certain they never escape. That kind of myth could inspire a lot of fear."

In the distance another wolf wailed at the sky.

Gideoni shivered and chuckled. "Let's change the subject."

Saul remained unable to sleep. He got up and followed Gideoni and Farnas. Out of concern for his mission, he decided that when he found them he would forbid them from spending more time together during this assignment.

He walked as far as the bridge across the tributary to the Jordan. Far up on the slope of the mountain, there flickered a few torchlights from villas built by the owners of hillside vineyards. He had been told that wolves and Syrian bears were so common on the slopes of the mountain that night patrols were required to keep them from consuming the succulent harvest. Just then, through the night chill came the mournful sound of a wolf.

From the bridge, Saul looked farther down the river, and in the evening light, saw the entrance to a sawmill. The sight of it took him back to Tarsus. Here in Caesarea the oak, pine and poplar trees that grew on the mountains were hewn into lumber and taken to markets as far away as Damascus. Saul thought how interesting it was that the three peaks of Mount Hermon were all exactly the same height, the highest peaks in Syria. And, as though some master architect had designed them with precision, they were exactly the same distance apart.

A sudden sense of loneliness crept over Saul. He shivered from the breeze that blew down from the snow-capped mountain. Maybe, Saul thought with a forced smile, Pan is near and about to show up.
As he turned back toward camp, he heard the muffled voices of Gideoni and Farnas, returning from their stroll. Rather than hurry back ahead of them, Saul decided to step into a concealed place by the road and let them pass.

After they crossed the bridge, however, they lingered at the western end of it in deep discussion. Something in the night atmosphere caused their voices to carry clearly to Saul.

"Speaking of Hermes," Gideoni said, "do you believe our Hell and his Hades are one and the same?"

"All I know about Hell or Hades, is what the prophets say. Moses spoke of Hell somewhere in Deuteronomy, I believe, but I do not recall his words, exactly. I remember that Isaiah and Ezekiel both spoke of Hell. It seems to be the abode of the devil, or devils. Among certain pagan tribes there was a common practice of child sacrifice that seems to be inspired of devils. Moses said when parents, especially mothers, are willing to place the babes in the fire at the altar of the idol, this is not natural or human. Moses said they sacrifice to devils, so I suppose devils and Hell are real."

"Maybe we should change the subject again," chuckled Gideoni said. "Yesterday, you recall we camped at Hazor. Saul said the prophet Jeremiah called it a 'dwelling place of dragons.' Dragons is another way of speaking of devils."

"You know what has always bothered me about our history?"

"What's that?"

"When our own leaders turned to worshipping these pagan gods they seemed to know no limits. King Rehoboam trained pagan priests, the scriptures say, priests who sacrificed to devils, Even King Ahaz sacrificed his own son, burning him in the fire of the idol. When I read such things it makes it hard for me to trust in our leaders today. What makes them different from leaders of the past?"

"Or, what makes you so different from them?"

"I would never sacrifice my child. If I had one."

"You are a young man. When you have ridden as long as I have and have seen as much, you will not trust yourself either. The Psalm says there is none righteous, and I must say, I heartily agree. None. Especially not me."

For some moments neither man spoke, the silence broken only by the rushing waters in the canyon below, and the rustling leaves in the trees overhead. In the clear night air, they could hear the repeated howls of what seemed to be a pack of wolves on the mountain side.

Interested and surprised by the philosophical tone of their conversation, Saul decided that he would not forbid their talking just yet. It surprised him to hear soldiers delving into such realms of thought. Most of the guards he had known were obsessed with women, dice and wine. Still, he would mark the two of them as dangerous in their thoughts. He would be sure they were not included on future missions. In the meantime, he would continue to monitor their conversation.

Farnas spoke again. "I have seen more of life than you might guess, my friend. I think there seems to be an evil power that drives men to destruction. I believe the prophets, but even if I did not, my experience would tell me there must be a place of eternal punishment called Hell or Hades. There is too little justice in this life."

"Well said, my young and wise friend."

"But the plain truth is, I believe the prophets, and their words. They not only declared there is a Hell, but spoke of the abode of the faithful too, not in the lower regions, but in the Heavens above. That is something I seek. When Elisha the prophet was allowed to see his master Elijah leave this world, he did not descend into some Roman or Greek or pagan cavern like the Panion. He was borne upward by the messengers of God.

"Do you believe that actually happened?"

"Why not? The realm of God seems fantastic compared to life here. When Daniel was visited by One from the celestial world he described him, saying, 'his body was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire.' I find it interesting that the scripture says there were men with Daniel at the time who did not see the one Daniel saw. Though they did not see, they sensed the awful presence and fled in terror and hid themselves. Daniel said that he became too weak to stand, and lay face downward on the ground until the divine One touched him, strengthened him, and spoke to him. If Moses, and the elders, and Ezekiel were allowed supernaturally to look into the heavens, and if divine messengers came, as mentioned by Daniel, then I do believe in Heaven and Hell, and Hell is much likes Hades, if you ask me. They could well be the same thing."

Gideoni sighed and leaned back against the bridge abutment. "I told you earlier that I am a soldier who has seen things."

"Yes, things that cannot be explained. What did you mean?"

"Well, not everyone with the guard knows this, and I will ask you to keep my secret, but I have been very interested in this Jesus and his disciples. I followed them, so to speak, kept myself up on the stories that swirled around them. One story, that I just couldn't believe until---well, I'll get to that---was that several of the disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus on a mountain top."
"And if it were true, Gideoni, then at least this Jesus confirmed what we have been saying about life beyond the grave. I mean if Moses and Elijah were really there."

"Exactly. Well, it was my duty to accompany the scribes sent by the priests to record the words of Jesus during some of his teaching. And I must tell you, it is what he said about his power to overcome death and give eternal life that the High Priest and the Council resented most. They opposed it and called it blasphemy."

"Do you recall his words?" Farnas asked.

"Some of them very well. They were hard words, but powerful. Jesus said, 'All power in heaven and in earth is given unto me.' All power, not some power. This means that if he is right, he also had power over death. He said that God gave him that power, that he should give eternal life to as many as were given him, and that eternal life was in knowing the true God and Jesus whom the Father had sent. I'll tell you, no one has ever spoken like he did. His words were impossible for anyone but God. I would have called him mad, but he demonstrated his words with actions. When his good friend Lazarus died in Bethany, just before he was crucified, Jesus waited three days to show up. Still, in that condition, he called him out of the grave and he came out totally whole. His body had been embalmed and wrapped for death. They had to unwrap him. Now I saw this. I cannot explain it. Most of all, I cannot explain it away. It happened, and that's not all."

"I have heard that after he was crucified he rose again," Farnas said. "Did you see him?"
"I did."

From his hiding place, Saul gasped. Now he understood what was so wrong with this Temple Guard. He had not only seen the Lazarus miracle, he was one of the "angel" story tellers from the tomb! He must control this man before his poison spread among the other men. Meanwhile, he would continue listening to learn the full extent of his deception.

"I was among those sent by the High Priest to guard Jesus' tomb," Gideoni said. "Our official job was to see that the disciples did not come and steal the body away, then claim he had risen. It seemed a reasonable caution to me, but none of us had any real fear of facing his disciples after what had happened at his arrest."

"What happened?"

"We took him in the Garden of Gethsemane, you know? Well, one of his men got real upset and struck off Captain Malchus' ear. We could have overpowered the lot of them quite easily, killed them all, and we might have, but Jesus picked up the ear and healed it right there before our eyes."
"How could you go through with the arrest?"

Gideoni looked sternly at his young companion. "The same way you would have. We were soldiers under orders. But, as I was saying, when Jesus healed that ear, all the disciples lost their courage and ran. I think they thought that Jesus would lead a revolt and a war as soon as the big disciple drew blood. But no, he just went on healing--even healing one of the guards who had come to arrest him. At any rate, none of us felt the disciples would be any kind of real threat after that. So, after darkness had settled down at the tomb, it became very quiet and monotonous just standing there. All the ususal jokes had been exchanged. Personally I felt a sadness to know that Jesus was dead and buried. It was like, oh, it was as if Israel had been hearing a heavenly song for all the years he was among us, you know? Its hard to explain if you were not there. Hopes were high. God was near, you know? And now, suddenly, the voice had been silenced."

Gideoni wiped at his eye and turned away from his young hearer. "I am not a feeling man," he said, "but I felt alone. And I felt sad in that silence." He cleared his throat loudly. "Like Pilate, I had found no fault in the man, you see? What we had done was unjust. I had seen only good from Jesus. He seemed too good. Too good for this life. But how our religious leaders could decide to oppose one so innocent and guileless is just more evidence that there is none righteous in this life, not one. What else can explain it?"

He shifted his position, leaning against the bridge and continued. "So, in my private sadness there at the tomb, I kept thinking of Lazarus. Couldn't get him out of my mind. And I kept wondering if we had seen and heard the last of this extraordinary teacher, Jesus. Eventually, I found myself dozing off to sleep, and I cannot tell the exact hour, but it was before dawn when I gave a start. The ground had begun trembling beneath me. Then the shaking grew more violent until everything was rocking to and fro all around us. Someone shouted, 'Earthquake! Earthquake!'

"We were all awake now, with our weapons in hand, and it is a wonder one of us did not strike the other one down by mistake. Perhaps we would have, except--how can I properly describe it? There came a dazzling light, like a shooting star out of the night. It literally blinded us and knocked us to the ground. We were all dazed and stunned at what was happening. And even as we fell, we heard the sound of the great stone that sealed the entrance of that tomb being rolled back. Whoever was doing this had the strength of several men. Through the fingers of my hands, I finally dared take a look toward the light, and I saw One standing there--"

Gideoni's voice faltered with the memory. It was several moments before he could continue. "His face was dazzling, I tell you, like lightning. I did not have the courage to look more. Terror set into my bones. Not panic like the panic of Pan, Farnas, this was sheer holy terror. I can feel it again as I talk of it. It was the deep terror of God and it happened to all of us. Not a soldier there could stand. We all fainted dead away. When I finally came to and had courage to look again, I saw that all of the other guards were in the same position as I was, prostrate on the ground."

Gideoni became silent and thoughtful again. At last he turned to his companion and spoke again. "Farnas, these we are sent to bring from Damascus in chains are the followers of this one whom they say--no, who did rise from the grave. I wish I had not come."

With that final comment the two guards quietly made their way back to their tents. Saul remained alone in his secluded place near the bridge, stunned by what he had just heard.