The Gospel of the Twin Read Online Free PDF Page A

could be quarried and transported. To add to my awe, the pure, spring sunlight reflected off the white stone that was at once painfully bright and undeniably beckoning. Great numbers of people gathered agape, filled with awe and humility beside a structure unmatched in size and splendor. Some fell to their faces and wept; others turned their heads and hands skyward and babbled in ululating tongues. Jesus took my hand and gave it a slight squeeze. He nodded, as if to indicate his resolve about a grave mission.
    I could see the tops of massive buildings beyond the towering walls, and I was eager to get inside the complex. We took our places in the lines, then ascended the south stairs through the double gates up to the Temple Mount. The stairs rose on a gentle slope, led through the wall, and emerged just before a long building with tall marble pillars before a deep stoa. People moved about the portico, pitching from table to table and bickering with the currency changers. Only Temple currency was allowed for the purchase of doves and lambs to be sacrificed, and travelers haggled with the many vendors over exchange rates and prices of the animals for sale. “Not enough!” some vendors shouted, while would-be buyers yelled, “Too much!”
    â€œLet us hurry, Joseph,” Mother said. “I fear the children may be swept away by the crowd.” She bent and drew a sign in the thin layer of dust on the floor, and quickly brushed it over with one sandal, then the other.
    James and Jesus began to argue.
    â€œThis place is flooded with Gentiles,” said James. “How can we perform our ceremonies when they are on every corner? They defile the city.”
    â€œHow can a city be defiled by foreigners, Brother,” asked Jesus, “unless its own people welcome the defilement?”
    James’ eyes widened and his lips peeled back to show his clenched teeth. He looked like an angry dog about to bite. He had decided that Jerusalem was the true Israel, and I suppose he considered himself a specially adopted son.
    â€œYou sound like a Pharisee,” James said, batting Jesus’ ear.
    Joseph returned before James could strike me just for being nearby. “Enough,” Joseph said. “Have you forgotten where you are? This is not the place for your squabbles. We must go to the Sanctuary now.”
    James and Jesus walked ahead, still bickering. The closer we got to the tallest building, the louder the throng around us buzzed, like flies on a dog’s carcass. The people shifted among the booths, waving their hands and shaking their heads, much as I had seen fish buyers do by the water when we visited Bethsaida. I could not quite understand how the transactions worked, but Joseph pushed ahead to a table and appeared to know what he was doing.
    â€œThis is not what I expected,” I said to Jesus. “I thought this would be joyous or maybe solemn, not all this bickering and shoving and buying and selling.”
    â€œWhy would you expect anything else?” Jesus asked. “You don’t think these people are here for God, do you?”
    â€œThen why are they here?”
    â€œTo escape God. They know this is the last place He would be.”
    I did not then understand what Jesus meant, and I am not sure that he himself did, but those words scratched my heart like an iron nail across a clay tile. The rest of the day, I walked softly and squinted into corners, peered through windows and, like a man who believes a thief lurks in his house, searched the holy place for a glimpse of God.
    Joseph disappeared behind the booths and soon emerged carrying a bag. We bunched together and crossed the huge courtyard. I was amazed at the buildings and columns all polished and glistening in the bright Judean sun. Joseph gave us no time to wait for this feeling of awe to pass but pointed in the direction of the Women’s Court and told Mother to take the girls there. He then took my brothers