Epilogue

For the Curious

The time has come to separate out what in this novel comes solely from my fevered brain and what is based on what we know from the Bible and other sources (such as, for instance, the Shroud of Turin, which the evidence seems to indicate was the shroud Jesus was wrapped in at his burial).

As to characters, Ezra is completely fictional, as is Judith, Mary of Magdala's servant, Thomas's parents, and Zebediah, who is merely mentioned in this novel (though he is a prominent character in the Mary novel). Samuel is totally fictional, with the exception of a Biblical basis, so to speak, in that John's Gospel calls Thomas "the twin." David is the son of the Widow of Nain, but everything else about him is fictional. The soldier guarding Matthew, is fictional; I made him the one who later crucified Jesus. He figures heavily in the Matthew novel. Many of the other characters, such as Chusa's Joanna, are simply names in the Bible, but some have incidents connected with them, such as Nicodemus, who appears in John's Gospel.

Now then, as to what happened, everything in the first eight chapters is fictional, except the fact that Jesus called Philip before Nathanael, which is in John. In Chapter 9, the mention by the fishermen of their call refers to what is in Mark, Luke, and Matthew; John's description of meeting Jesus at John the Bather's bath is from John. Judas Iscariot's being a priest is fictional. The conversation in Chapter 10 is fictional, with a few references to factual things, as is Chapter 11. In Chapter 12, the marriage and the miracle of the wine in Cana is from John--but of course, the fact that Thomas's cup was water is fictional. The long conversation with Jesus's mother, which goes to the end of Chapter 15, is based on the beginning of Luke's and Matthew's Gospels, and inferences such as that which gave the Catholic Church the doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception. The notion that Jesus, if accepted as King, would restore the state the world would have been in had Adam not sinned is a theory of mine, based on the "subtext" of what Jesus says mainly in the latter part of John's Gospel.

In Chapter 16, the episode of the expulsion of the animals from the Temple is from John. The other three evangelists put this at the end of Jesus's ministry, but I think this is because they put all the Judean events there. I think John's version is more likely the factually correct one. I had Jesus use Gethsemani right from the beginning, though we hear of it only at the end in the Gospels. The episode at Sychar is also from John.

In Chapter 17, the episode in the synagogue at Nazareth is from Luke, though there is nothing in Luke that indicates that Matthew was there, let alone that he was the subject of the parable (also from Luke in another place) about the tax-collector and the Pharisee. The call of Matthew is in all the "Synoptics" (Mark, Luke, and Matthew), though in all but Matthew's Gospel, the man is called "Levi."

In Chapter 18, the man lowered through the roof is in all the Synoptics, and in Chapter 19, the raising of the son of the Widow of Nain is from Luke. In Chapter 20, the fact that Matthew "Levi" gave a dinner is in the Synoptics, though the episode of the dog is fictional. The curing of the centurion's slave is from John, and the Sermon on the Mount is from Luke and Matthew.

In Chapter 21, the sending of the Emissaries (the Apostles) is in the Synoptics, and the rich young man is in all three Synoptics also, as is the declaration of the Rock (Peter). In Chapter 22, the curing of the man at Bethesda is from John. The visit to Bethany with Martha and not Mary is fictional, though the "story" Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus is from Luke.

In Chapter 23, what Thomas missed on Mount Tabor was the Transfiguration, which is in the Synoptics, but the three were told not to reveal it until after the Resurrection. The second announcement of the Passion is in all the Synoptics also. The woman with seven devils (which I conflated with Mary Magdalene, the sinful woman at Simon the Pharisee's house, and Mary of Bethany) is from Luke. That episode continues through Chapter 25, where the story of the Prodigal Son is from Luke, and the discussion on who will take what office in the Kingdom is in all three Synoptics, as is the episode of the daughter of Jairus in Chapter 26 and the woman with a hemorrhage (the "fact" that she is the mother of Mary's servant Judith is, of course, fiction). Judas's giving Thomas wine instead of water is also fiction, as is the rest of the chapter. In general, discussions of the students about the events are fictions, intended to bring out the characters of the various persons, as well as to offer my own feeble views of what it is all about.

In Chapter 28, what Judas is reported to have done with Mary and John (and David) is fiction, as is Judas's devising a rational explanation of Jesus. The feeding of the five thousand is in all four Gospels (I followed John's version), but the episode afterwards about the Bread of Life is from John. In Chapter 29, I combined the attempt of Jesus's relatives to see him (in the Synoptics) with John's account of how they tried to persuade him to go to Judea. I made James live in Alexandria, partly because the Letter of James sounds as if it was written from someone there, and that James did not seem to know Jesus from his public life. The Zacchaeus episode is from Luke, and what Jesus did in Jerusalem is from John, with the exception of the story of the vineyard and the tenants, which is in the Synoptics.

In Chapter 30, the incident of the coin of tribute is in the Synoptics, while that of the woman taken in adultery is from John, as is the rest of the chapter, except for Thomas's reaction, of course. In Chapter 31, the man born blind is from John, as is the good shepherd speech. Of course, the encounter between Thomas and Judas is fiction. The visit to Bethany is from Luke.

In Chapter 32, the "fact" that Thomas's father succumbed to drink is fiction (though, interestingly, it surprised me when it occurred to me, but I found it rang true. I had no idea how he was going to react, and just watched it happen.)

In Chapter 33, the episode of the Feast of Dedication is from John, as is the resurrection of Lazarus. In Chapter 34, John reports that Jesus went to Peraea, and he also reports that he went to dinner at Lazarus's house, where Mary performed the anointing of his feet, thought I gave fictional motivation for it; Lazarus's reaction is also fiction.

In Chapter 35, the Palm Sunday episode is in all four Gospels, but the reaction of Jesus when Philip announces the Greeks is only in John. The notion that Jesus deliberately ate the Passover a day early is based on the discrepancy between the Synoptics, who clearly imply that the Last Supper was the Passover meal, and John, who makes it very clear that the Passover was to begin on Friday evening. What Judas did in betraying Jesus is in the Synoptics, but I followed John in the Last Supper, except that I put in the consecrating of the bread and wine, which John leaves out, but the three Synoptics (and Paul) report.

What happened in the garden of Gethsemani was in all four Gospels, and I picked and chose, adding fictional elements with David (who in the Matthew novel was the young man Mark reports as running away naked). Jesus's saying "I AM" and the reaction is from John, and his putting the slave's ear back on is from Luke.

In Chapter 37, what Ezra reports is the version from Matthew's Gospel of what happened to Judas (Luke in Acts has a different one), and the little Thomas saw of the trial before Pilate and the crucifixion itself is mainly from John, though John does not report the darkness that the Synoptics assert.

The discussion on Holy Saturday and what happened to Thomas afterwards is fiction, until the very end, which is almost word for word from John.

It seems that the historical Thomas did do missionary work in India, and was martyred there. There are all kinds of legends and traditions about just about all the Apostles, and it is rather difficult to weed out from them what actually happened and what is mere story. So I will not try.