Read Online The Gospel of the Twin by Ron Cooper - Free Book Online Page A

to Jesus. “Maybe he has a plan. At least he’s saying something that’s getting attention. What have we to lose? Besides, we are no longer at home here.”
    â€œWhere are we at home, Brother?” he asked. “If we go seeking a home, we’ll return in failure. And what about Leah?”
    I was surprised. So often Jesus was oblivious to things happening right in front of him. “I don’t know” was all I could reply.
    â€œAre you going to tell her you are leaving?”
    â€œNo. I’m not even sure if she would care.”
    Our mother was hurt and afraid when I told her of our plans. “John has lived with the Pure Ones, and I hear disturbing things about them,” she said. “They live in caves in the wilderness and talk in spirit language. They wear no clothes. They eat raw meat.” Mother had talked herself into a fright and was clapping her hands together around her head as if swatting gnats. “Besides, the Romans won’t stand for any gathering of what may appear to be an army. They’ll come after the Pure Ones and John’s people as well.”
    â€œDon’t fret, Mother,” I said. “The Pure Ones live under a shroud of secrecy, and people always form rumors about what they don’t understand. They’re just a group of men who’ve gone into seclusion because they think the Temple became polluted by the Hasmons after the Syrians were driven out. You know the story of that revolt. I hear that in Judea they celebrate it and call it the Festival of Dedication. The Pure Ones saw it differently and built a commune by the Dead Sea. They are strange men, I hear, but mostly scribes who study incessantly, which is what John does if he truly does live with them. But more importantly, we surely are not safe here. Jesus already has enemies among the elders. Mother, I cannot be certain what we hope to find, but we seek only peace, and I am sure John does also.”
    â€œLeaving?” My younger brother Joses was standing in the doorway. I had not been aware of him and didn’t know how much he had heard.
    â€œYes,” I said. “For a while. Not long.”
    â€œCan I go?”
    â€œNo.” Of my younger siblings, Joses seemed the one who most looked up to Jesus and me. I’m not sure why I refused him so curtly. At twenty-one or twenty-two, he was no longer a child, but I still felt protective of him. “Mother needs you here.”
    He didn’t argue with me, so I turned back to Mother. “If danger arises there, we’ll be careful, and I promise we’ll return home.”
    â€œYou may,” she said, “but what of Jesus? He fears nothing. He would not know to dodge the falling sword.” She began to weep.
    I put my arms around her. “I shall protect him, Mother.” What could I say to her? She believed she would never see us again. If Jesus were harmed, the only comfort she would have was knowing that I’d die trying to protect him.
    Verse Two
    Jesus, Judas, and I set out to find John. First, we went to the Lake of Kinneret, and the village of Magdala, where Judas visited Mary, whom he had not seen in months. When she heard what we aimed to do, she decided to go with us. Her family was angry. “You will be an unmarried woman traveling with men,” they said. “You will bring us shame.”
    â€œThen I shall marry,” said Mary.
    Verse Three
    We found several cults in the harsh land near the Jordan. One group called themselves the Watchers, awaiting what they called the last days. They refused to have children and did not bathe. They slept during the day and sang hymns at night.
    Another group followed a man named Nahor. He rode about on a mule and said that he would lead his people to Rome as Joshua of the scriptures had led our ancestors against Jericho to reclaim our homeland, a seven-hilled city that would flatten like a slain seven-headed beast.
    Others had come