It
had dawned and night had fallen during that first day of the week. The
residents of Jerusalem were in deep slumber after that boisterous night
of farewell: through the four gates of the city of David, the caravans
carrying thousands of pilgrims had made their exit. The feasts of the
Passover were over. Everything was back to normalcy. Everyone was going
back to his house. Everyone, except us…
Peter: I’ve seen him! You’ve got to believe me!!
Magdalene: So have I! I’ve seen him, just as I am seeing all of
you now!
Philip: I dare you, swear you’ve seen him!
Magdalene: I swear I saw Jesus! I’ve seen him alive and kicking!…
You don’t believe me, do you?
James: No, Magdalene, of course not…
Hiding in the basement of Mark’s house, whose doors were locked, we
were seated on the floor around an old oil lamp and still discussing
the same stuff…
Magdalene: I swear by my mother, my grandmother and my great grandmother!
Philip: Go on ascending, till you end up swearing by Adam and
Eve. But nobody buys your story, do you hear me?
Nathanael: A woman’s oath doesn’t hold water, and much less yours,
because you still have milk teeth. Let’s see, how old are you, Mary
dear of Magdala?
Magdalene: As a matter of fact, I don’t remember, but I’m more than
fifteen and less than twenty.
Philip: Ha! So, a snotty-nose like you wants to convince me that
a dead man has risen again?
Magdalene: So Mam Mary is snotty-nosed too, is that it, Philip?
Mary, come over here a minute!
James: Leave her alone, Magdalene. Mary is the mother… and mothers
who weep see a lot of visions. This is always the case, you know….
Magdalene: All I know is that Peter hasn’t given birth to anyone…
and yet he saw him!
Peter: I’m already a sly, old fox, do you hear me, red head?
When you were still on all fours, I was already hurling stones at the
dogs in Bethsaida! I’m telling you that Jesus is alive! I saw him!
Mark: And we did too! This quacky here and I even ate with
him in Emmaus!
Philip: In Emmaus!… Isn’t it in Emmaus where the dead spirits
go up and down the boiling waters of the fountain?
Mark: Fine, fine, if you refuse to believe. I’m laughing at
all of you, men without faith!
Philip: Same here, for you are a gang of demented ones!
Nathanael: I’ve never seen anything so funny… Do you know what’s
been going around the city, huh? That we were the ones who stole Jesus’
body.
James: Tell me, who said that?
Nathanael: The leaders. Those of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus came to
tell me about it.
Philip: Well, I say they themselves have stolen it, that we may
fall into the trap and get caught.
Magdalene: Nobody stole no one because Jesus is alive!
James: Shut up, Magdalene, and stop yelling!
Thomas: Well, well… y…y…you continue with your fighting… I…I…I’m
leaving.
Thomas, who was listening in one corner of the basement, stood up and
shook his robe...
Thomas: I…I…I’m leaving.
Philip: Where the hell are you going, stutterer?
Thomas: To M…M…Ma…Matthias’ h…h…house.
James: What’s wrong with Matthias?
Thomas: N..n..nothing. He c..c..came to celebrate the P..p..passover
and now he’s going back to Jericho. I’m g…g…going with him.
Nathanael: Very well. I guess this is what everyone has to do, to
get out of this damned, crazy city once and for all.
Philip: Most of the pilgrims are already gone. Why don’t we pack
up all our things and start for the road to Galilee early morning, tomorrow,
huh?
Magdalene: No, I’m not leaving Jerusalem!
Peter: Neither am I, until everything is clear to me!
Thomas: I d…d…don’t care anymore… I’m g…g…going to Matthias’
house.
Peter: Wait a minute, Thomas. Don’t go. Don’t you understand?
Jesus is alive!
Thomas: Y…y…you’re all stupid!… Goodbye!
Thomas headed for the street, turned to the corner where the tanners
were, and ran down the street toward Siloam where his old friend, Matthias
was staying, near the pool…
Matthias: Oh, Thomas, it’s you! I was already wondering where you
had been, my friend!
Thomas: Where else should I be? Since that Friday, we have been
hiding in a basement, l..l..like s..s…scared m…m…mice.
Matthias: I can just imagine... Damn, with so much hope, and then
everything’s gone down like a house of sand…. Oh…! My grandma used to
say that he who is born potbellied has no use for a sash. This
is what happens to poor people like us, Thomas. We are
worth nothing.
Thomas: That’s right, Matthias. We can’t believe in anything,
nor dream of anything.
Matthias: John the Baptist came clamoring for justice, and zas!
he was beheaded! Then came Jesus proclaiming changes, and you saw what
happened.
Thomas: Why do things turn out bad, for us, the p…p..oor, Matthias?
Matthias: Perhaps we’re unlucky, buddy.
Thomas: Yeah, for h…h…having bad mothers like them.
Matthias: This country is hopeless. Things are going from bad to
worse… Anyway, what’s the use regretting, when everything’s come to
an end?… Tell me, Thomas, how’s the Nazarene’s mother? And his friends?
Thomas: I’ve just been there.
Matthias: C’mon, tell me about them.
Thomas: Worse too…. Some of them have snapped.
Matthias: Of course, I understand… They’ve suffered a lot. It’s
always like this at first… Later, things will take their natural course…
Thomas: All I want to do is go back to m…m…my h…h…house… When
are you leaving, Matthias?
Matthias: Tomorrow, at the first hour. We can travel together,
if you want.
Thomas: S..sure, I’m g..g..going with you… and tra…la…la… the
story of the Kingdom of God is over. So, I’m g…g…getting my things now,
say g…g…goodbye to my friend, and I’ll be r….r…right back…
Matthias: Don’t talk too much, so you can get back soon... I’ll
be waiting for you!
Thomas went back to Mark’s house… He was sad, his head bowed down and
his hands inside his pockets. He bent to pick up a stone and furiously
hurled it against the wall…
Thomas: D…d…damn it, everything’s come to an end. Everything’s
o…o…over…!
He continued walking through the dark, solitary streets of Jerusalem…
The sky, dark and brilliant, laden with countless stars, was descending…
Thomas entered the barrio of Zion and turned to the street of tanners…
Thomas: B..b..but what’s happening h…h…ere? It’s almost m…m…midnight…
In spite of the hour, no one slept in Mark’s house. The noise coming
from the basement could be heard in the street…. When Thomas opened
the door, he found all of us laughing, leaping and screaming with joy…
James: Thomas!! At last you’re here!
Nathanael: Did you see him, Thomas, did you see him?
Thomas: Yeah.
Philip: So did we! Everyone has seen him!
Thomas: B…b…but how? M…M…atthias has not left his house.
Magdalene: What Matthias are you talking about? It’s Jesus!…He’s
been here with us!
Peter: Why did you leave, Thomas? Had you stayed, you would
have seen him too!
Thomas: B…b…ut, how is it p…p…possible? All of you are now singing
the same song?!
James: Thomas, sit down and listen to me. You’ve heard me before,
haven’t you? You know I’m a stubborn man, with a very closed mind. I
didn’t believe a word of Magdalene, nor Peter, not even Mary… but now,
I’ve seen him! Everyone here has seen him, Thomas! Jesus is alive!
Thomas: I knew it! My uncle used to tell me how contagious madness
could be.
Philip: No, Thomas, this is something else. The greatest thing
that ever happened in this world! God has given us eyes to be witnesses
to it!
Thomas: You must’ve seen a g…g…ghost…
Magdalene: Oh yeah? I didn’t know that ghosts nowadays were
dark and bearded! Ha!
James: No,
Thomas, it was he. It was Jesus! He was right there where you are. He
came, he greeted all of us and we became breathless. Then he began to
laugh when he saw us scared to death…
Thomas: I repeat, it was a g…g…ghost.
Magdalene: He’s no ghost, my goodness, ghosts don’t eat and this
one gobbled a fish tail and some honey we had reserved for you… Look,
look at the bowl where we had kept your dinner…! Jesus has eaten everything!
He drank wine and my, how he blew his nose! So ghosts do these, huh?
Thomas: Jesus is d…d…dead. How can he be a…a…alive when I saw
him dead?
Philip: Exactly. How can he be dead when we have seen him alive?
Thomas: You must’ve seen his s…s…spirit. They say the souls of
the d…d…dead linger seven times before they rest in p…p…peace…
Magdalene: No, he was Jesus in flesh and bones! The same Jesus he
was, laughing the same way, doing the same things, but a happier one…
what more… what else…. I dunno how to tell you… but he was the same
Moreno!
Thomas: Well, I don’t b…b…believe it.
James: Listen, Thomas: when you left, we were fighting, remember?
We were arguing whether to go back to Galilee or to stay in Jerusalem.
Suddenly, Jesus came in. And he said: “You have to go out to the world
to announce the triumph of God”…
Nathanael: And he looked at each one of us and said: “I’m counting
on all of you! You have to continue fighting for justice, even if it
will cost your lives, like what happened to me… But don’t be afraid.
Death does not have the last word. It’s the word of God that is final.
Peter: Do you understand, Thomas, do you understand what happened?
Jesus was the first to recover from it all! And we shall all follow
him!
James: Jesus trusted in the Lord and now God is trusting in
us.
Philip: The Kingdom of God cannot be stopped by anyone, not even
the rulers, nor the armies, nor the devil, no one, not even death!
Thomas: That sounds very b…b…beautiful… too b…b…beautiful to
be true…
Peter: But Thomas…
Thomas: No. I don’t believe such stuff. These are stories… stories
and visions… Just like the thirsty cameleers in the desert, seeing water
where there is none… No, I don’t believe it, damn!… The only truth I
know is that we a…a…are sad… We have lost the best friend we ever h…h…had…
and with him went our hopes too… Everything is finished, everything…
Peter: No, Thomas, listen to me well: Last Friday, in Golgotha,
it seemed like heaven had caved in on us forever. But God kept this
surprise for us… The first to be surprised was Jesus himself, when God
raised him from the dead, can you imagine that…! Those bandits thought
they had won. But God knew it all along and stretched his hand to Jesus…
Why don’t you believe, Thomas?
Thomas: Because I don’t. And in order for me to believe… I must
first feel the wounds in his hands with my own… No, please, stop deceiving
me, for I don’t want to have any illusions… No, I may have a c…c…crooked
tongue, b…b…but I still have a l…l…lucid mind…. Tomorrow, I’m l…l…leaving
with Matthias…
But after a few hours…
Thomas: Matthias! Matthias!… Open the door!
Matthias: Hey, what’s the matter, Thomas… what’s up…?
Thomas went inside his friend’s house like a whirlwind…
Thomas: Matthias! It’s true that Jesus is alive, much more alive
than the two of us! I said I wouldn’t believe if I didn’t see, but it
was true. We were all in the basement, with the doors closed, and I
said no, I didn’t believe, they said yes, they did believe and so forth
and so on, when Jesus came and sat with us, just like a member of the
group, as usual. Then he looked at me and oh, he tickled me in one arm
and then in the other, telling me: “I’m no ghost, Thomas, and don’t
be so stubborn!” Jesus was in front of me, just like the two of us now
and said: “C’mon, give me your hand, Thomas!” I almost dropped
dead saying: “Moreno, you are the Messiah!” Then he said: “I was like
you, too, Thomas. For a while I thought God had abandoned me. But no.
I entrusted my fate to his hands and as you can see, He did not fail
me. Do the same, Thomas. Have faith, even if you don’t see nor understand.
Now, run, run and tell everyone that it’s not all over yet, that this
is just the beginning....” That’s why I came to tell you, Matthias,
I had to tell you!!!!
Thomas’ stuttering tongue straightened up as he told his friend what
he had seen and heard. Matthias believed and began to announce what
happened to the whole barrio of Siloam, until the news spread everywhere...
We, too, are announcing it to you, sharing our joy, knowing that Jesus,
from Nazareth is alive forever!!!