“I am aware of every recorded alleged appearance of Jesus after his burial, but to ask any of his closest followers to describe some vision they personally had, or thought they had, as a natural sequence to the empty tomb, is contrary to every bit of common sense and logic that I have applied to my work for twenty years. As you have seen and heard, I have concentrated only on facts, facts that could be corroborated, and that’s all the Christ Commission would be doing, if they were really here.”

He stared at me until I began to feel uncomfortable as he muttered half to himself, again and again, “Facts … facts … facts.” Then he stood, arched his old back several times to accompanying groans, and asked, “Will you grant an old man his whim?”

What could I say? “Certainly.”

“Remain there,” he said, extending his open palm toward me. Then he went out the door and was gone for perhaps five minutes, returning with a puzzled-looking John at his side. After they both were seated opposite me, Joseph placed his hand on the apostle’s shoulder and said, “Son, my friend Matthias has need for a little more information that he neglected to obtain from you before. I believe you told us that when you brought the news to the others, in Bethany, none of them believed your story that Jesus had risen from the dead. Instead, they ridiculed you and you returned here, alone, with heavy heart.”

“That is true, but later in the day, toward sundown, all of them came to this house to pay their respects to the Lord’s mother and they were shocked to hear, from her lips, the same news I had brought them—that Jesus was not dead. But none of them believed that the Lord’s prophecy had come true, and they said they were returning to their homes in Galilee that very night. Hearing this, the Lord’s mother would not let them begin their journey until they were fed, and so food was brought up here for them and all the outside doors in the house were bolted shut, as well as the gate in the courtyard.”

“Why were they locked?” I asked.

“Thomas and Nathaniel had heard, in the streets, that already we were being accused by the authorities of removing the body of Jesus from his tomb, and there was great anxiety that soon we would all be arrested.”