“You were correct, sir,” he began. “I did notice the fire near Golgotha and the torches moving back and forth. I even went down to tell my mother, but the women were finally asleep. Then I went to tell John, but he, too, was fast asleep in a chair next to Peter, from whom strange sounds could be heard. Alone I came back out here, sat down and watched. After perhaps two hours or so my eyes grew heavy and I unrolled my blankets, ready for sleep, when suddenly our house began to shake, back and forth. I jumped to my feet but the vibration ceased almost as soon as it began and I gave it no more thought, because the earth had shook many times since the Lord had been crucified and my mother had told me it was God expressing his anger for what had been done to his Son. Then I glanced toward Golgotha and saw, to my amazement, four torches moving away from the fire swiftly, as if those who were carrying them were running, and I watched as the lights came south, in this direction, on the road outside the city. Soon they were blocked from my view by the wall, but their glow lit up the sky as the torches came closer and closer until four men, in the uniforms of Temple guards, rushed through the city gate and passed directly below me on the pavement.”

“Were there people in the street?”

“A few. Standing across the street from here was a man with his animal, and I heard him shout out, ‘Are you fleeing from someone or in pursuit?’ and one of the guards, without stopping, cried out again and again, ‘He has departed from his grave, he has departed from his grave!’ and they raced swiftly up the hill until I saw them enter the courtyard of the high priest.”

“What did you think when you heard their words?”

“I was filled with great joy, for I knew of whom they were speaking. Remember, I had heard Jesus say, ‘After I am risen …’ and now I had just heard those men, whose light I had followed all the way from Golgotha, announce that he was gone from his tomb. In my excitement I raced down the stairs and out the gate and north toward Golgotha, not even stopping long enough to put on my sandals.”

“What were you wearing?”

“Wearing? Oh … my nightshirt. I had undressed and was ready for sleep when the shaking of the earth startled me.”

“And what color is your nightshirt?”

“Color? It is white.”

“Did you meet anyone on the road north?”

“None that I can remember, and if I had I probably would not have seen them. My mind and my heart, as well as my eyes and feet, were all pointed toward the place where they had laid our Lord. Finally I reached the garden. The huge fire I had seen from this terrace was still burning, and beyond it I could see the tomb. I managed to remove one of the smaller logs that was aflame, and carrying it as a torch I approached the grave, not realizing until I was quite close that the stone had been rolled aside.”