The Penn of Denn

The soldiers dragged Jesus down the steps and across the street and laid the cross beam prepared for Barabbas across his shoulders. Weak from the lack of sleep and loss of blood, Jesus only took a few steps when the beam fell to the ground. I tried pushing through the crowd, but the Romans had…

Two of the soldiers took Jesus by the arms and pushed him down on the cross that had been prepared. His body arched as the torn flesh of his back scraped against the rough wood. The men didn't say anything as they tied his arms and legs to hold him in place. They were just…

  It was dark by the time I found my way back to the house. Most of the others were already there. It seemed as if we all had the same idea. Mark and his mother had left blankets for us in the upper room, and even though the others wanted to talk about what…

When the laughter stopped, I told my story. All of it. How I followed from a distance, how I denied Jesus three times, and then how I watched as the Romans killed him and didn’t do anything to stop them.  John interrupted, “I heard that Simon carried his cross. I just assumed that it was…

I woke up to Mary Magdalene yelling my name. What was she doing here? This was where the men were sleeping. She had no business being here, let alone waking me up. And besides, it was still dark outside.“Peter, Peter, wake up. He’s alive!”“Alive? Who?”“Jesus, he’s alive. He wanted me to tell you.”“Who? What? Mary,…

It was agreed that Jesus’ mother and aunt would return to Nazareth to break the news to his siblings. Abigail insisted that Mark accompany them so they weren’t traveling alone. It took the rest of us the best part of three days to get from Jerusalem to Galilee. We arrived late the evening of the…

  I‘m right here.” And just like that, there he was. I don’t know how. There was only one door in, and it was still closed and locked, but Jesus was standing in front of us. “Sorry, I’m late. I wanted to stop in Nazareth first and let my family know. It was weird. He…

We started down the empty beach, away from the others. As we walked, I realized this was the first time we’d been alone since the events of Passover, and I didn’t know what to say. How do you even begin to apologize for doing what I did? I had been thinking about this day for…

  I‘m good at some things. My father said that I was good at mending twine. Esther said I was good at giving foot rubs, and I can grow a dandy beard. What I wasn’t good at was waiting. It wasn’t that I couldn’t wait. I just couldn’t wait for long. It had been a…