10-The Zealot

The spirit of Saul of Tarsus was aflame with jealousy for the Lord. Neither his teacher’s wise words nor his own conscience made any difference. Once they broke into his own flock and destroyed his best friend Barnabas, his jealousy for the Lord was made hotter by his personal jealousy.

The expectation of Messiah was everything for Saul, and he couldn’t, under any circumstances, stay indifferent toward anyone who dared to call themselves Messiah’s congregation. Since he couldn’t be one of them, the only alternative was to destroy them. The larger their influence, the greater his rage. And even if he didn’t want to hear it, the news of their victories was everywhere. He couldn’t escape it.


The workshop of Eliezer, the goat’s hair weaver, lay in the deepest part of the Kidron valley where there were many trades such as canning and pottery. In spring and autumn when water poured down from the city into the valleys, Eliezer’s courtyard would be flooded. But on this day, as Paul sat at his loom in the middle of the hot summer, the earth was parched and withered. The people in the valley moved among dense clouds of dust. The men in the workshop sat under the scant protection of camel hair and piles of goatskins. At the loom, they worked the hair into tents.

As they worked, Saul listened to his fellow workers talk about the decision of Rabban Gamaliel at the trial of the disciples. Some of them were satisfied with the decision, while others agreed with Paul.

“They say the redeemer’s already come,” cried out Samuel, a hairy man known as a zealot. He was a giant of a man, whose face, almost hidden by a vast beard, showed the many scars left by swords and spears in the many revolts in which he’d played a part. In fact, he was sure to be in the middle of any Temple disturbance, and the city authorities always kept an eye on him.

“A man who went like a lamb to the slaughter, and let them hang him on a cross; he the deliverer of righteousness? If he were really Messiah, he’d show us what he could do, and deliver us from Rome.

“As for my sins, leave that to me and my Creator!”

“I’m glad someone’s come who can forgive my sins,” said Nathaniel, a young weaver with an evil reputation. “I need it.”

Nathaniel attracted many women of the valley, particularly widows. He took one after another, leaving them to look after themselves, while he spent his days in the taverns. Whenever a complaint was made, which happened often, he was handed over to the authorities and scourged. Eventually, he was condemned to work for Eliezer and his wages turned over to the court to pay for a release for a widow he’d married and divorced. There was even a rumor once that he’d been with a married woman, for which the penalty, if caught, was death.

Having heard of the forgiveness of sins, this Nathaniel turned to the women working at the other end of the court grinding sand, extracting oil from seeds, or kneading dough, and called out, “Did you hear that, women? I can sin as much as my heart desires. A redeemer has come, who forgives sins.”

“May your mouth be filled with dust for such mockery,” said one of the men, whose chest hair was so thick, it looked like a second beard. This was Joseph, the porter, who carried the completed tents from the workshop to the storehouse. “I was a slave, and the one you mocked redeemed me.”

“Was he so rich, he could redeem you?”

“Oh yes, very rich. Not in gold, but in God’s wisdom. The ropes of sin were tighter on my body than these ropes of my labor. But he set me free with his words, and made me a free son of Israel.”

“I heard him preach,” said a little man who was almost concealed in the mound of goat’s hair he was carding. “It was like pearls of wisdom. He comforted all the heavily burdened and the oppressed.”

“His disciples testified before the Sanhedrin that he is Messiah, and that God raised him up to his right hand.”

“That’s blasphemy.”

“Yes, and the Sanhedrin sentenced them to the lash for it.”

“I heard tell they took the punishment with joy and thanked God they were allowed to suffer and be humiliated for his name.”

“I think there must be something to it if men believe in him that strongly.”

“It’s not blasphemy,” cried Zadok of the house of Shammai, speaking for the first time. “It’s idolatry to say that a man is the helper of God. Since when does God need a helper?”

Saul knew Zadok and had waited to hear what he had to say. Zadok was long and lean, as if kneaded and drawn out like a baker draws out his dough. He looked like a serpent waiting to strike, all head with a slender backbone and a fiery red beard. Silent by nature, he would listen to discussions a long time before throwing in a word, but his word was always brief and pointed.
As a disciple of the house of Shammai, he exemplified the severe religious discipline of his teachers. He was so scrupulous about ritual purity that he lived in isolation. If not for the Sabbath, he would never eat cooked food, for no vessel was ever pure enough, no meat kosher enough, and no bread of which he could be certain that the proper Temple tribute had been paid out of the grain. He mostly nourished himself with roots and vegetables, and his wasted body showed the effects. He did follow a trade, but most of his time was spent in the study house where he lived and where he listened to the fiery harangues of that school’s disciples everyday.

“Rabban Gamaliel was present at the last trial,” said someone in defense of the disciples. “He heard what they had to say, and his decision was to set them free. It was only the priests who sentenced them to the lash.”

“There are many today who trample God’s garden in desecration, and no one forbids it,” answered Zadok. “Woe to Israel!”

“What desecration?” asked one.

“I’ll tell you what desecration,” said Paul swiftly. “Go to the synagogue of the Libertines, where a man by the name of Stephen preaches. You’ll hear him say things that’ll make your ears tingle.”

The clatter of looms stopped, and several men stared at Saul, who continued to work.

“Yes, come with me this Sabbath, and you’ll hear things about the Holy One of Israel you’ve never heard before. And right here in the Holy City. Maybe the great ones are silent, but must the little ones be silent too? Our sages say that every Jew is responsible for every other Jew. We are all responsible.”

Another said, “The sages also say that where there is no man, be a man.”

“Strength and triumph shall come to the Jews from an unexpected place,” quoted Zadok the zealot.

“All right Saul,” said Eliezer. Take us with you to the synagogue this Sabbath. Let’s hear what the man has to say.”

“I’ll go too,” said Zadok.

“Count me a third,” cried Nathaniel. “Maybe I can have a hand in a good deed, and my sins can be forgiven.”


That night, when Saul returned to the study house of his rabbi, the words rang in his mind, “Strength and triumph shall come to the Jews.” Three men had promised to come with him to the synagogue. And there would be others. Surely there would be others.

* * * * *

On the Sabbath, a large congregation assembled to hear Stephen, not just Libertines, but also Cyreneans and Alexandrians. Most of them were there to hear him preach on the return of Messiah, but some enemies were there as well, not so much to listen as to dispute.

Saul and two of the men who’d promised to attend, Zadok and Eliezer, were among them.

The synagogue was filled to overflowing. Stephen stood on the pulpit, draped in his prayer shawl. His fiery red beard shone in the afternoon sunlight. His arms were lifted to heaven, and he spoke with a passion his listeners had never seen before.

Joseph Barnabas stood close to him like a servant or bodyguard.

Now Barnabas was one of those men who always need someone to look up to, a guide, or a teacher. That had been Saul before, and in truth he still secretly honored Saul. But when Saul left him, he found a new master in Stephen. In one sense the preacher was closer to him because of his belief in Messiah, but in another sense he was remote because Stephen didn’t have the same iron hard personality that Saul had. But he followed the preacher to every synagogue where he delivered his messages.

Saul observed his one time friend from a corner, seeing those hungry eyes filled with childlike wonder and unbounded devotion, eyes that were once turned toward him. Saul experienced a pang of bitterness. He knew that such feelings were unworthy of one with his pure zeal for the faith and he tried to suppress it. But it was no use. His longing for his friend was too strong.
The voice of the preacher rang out, becoming deeper and more impassioned as he quoted verses from the prophets proving that the tortured and slain Jesus was the true Messiah. Messiah took on the sufferings, not because he didn’t have the power to save himself, but in order to take the sins of the world on himself so that the world might be purified and prepared for his return.
The multitude was entranced.

Then Zadok spoke up, his voice harsh, “Children of Abraham, how long will you stand by and let alien feet trample the garden of the Lord?”

The spell having been broken, some fists were raised.

“Blasphemy!”
“Drag him to the Sanhedrin!”

Before the budding tumult could get out of hand, Saul pushed his way to the front and gestured to the crowd, shouting at the top of his voice for silence. Gradually, the place quieted down.
“I would ask the preacher a question,” he said as he turned toward Stephen. “Your rabbi said that he would destroy the House of God in three days, and build another. Do you too believe this?”

“What is the House of God?” answered Stephen. “Is our God a god of wood and stone to be destroyed when his house is destroyed? What boundaries can confine our God?”

It seemed the words had some effect, for the audience again became silent and attentive. But Saul spoke again.

“That’s not an answer. The people have a right to know. Did he or did he not say that he could destroy the House of God in three days, and build another in its place. Isn’t that why the Sanhedrin sentenced him to death?”

“If my lord said it, then it is holy truth, for he has the power,” answered Stephen firmly.

“You’ve all heard him then,” cried Saul. “You are witnesses that here in this place and at this time, the preacher said that God’s holy Temple will be destroyed.”

“We are witnesses!”

“Zadok! Samuel! Come. We’ve learned what we came for.”

“Drag him to the Sanhedrin!”

“Not on the Sabbath. The Sanhedrin has long arms. They’ll find him.”

With that, Saul, Zadok, and Eliezer left the synagogue.