“That will be no problem for you, Matthias. Since Nicodemus is also involved with that part of my life, you can ask both of us, together, about our earlier experiences with Jesus. For now, why don’t we concentrate on the final hours here?”

I agreed, but I still wanted to backtrack a little. “Joseph, you knew that Jesus had been arrested because you and Shem had answered John’s plea to go to the aid of the fallen Peter, in the courtyard of Caiaphas, correct?”

“Yes, but I did not know that Caiaphas intended to try him that night, in direct violation of our laws. I assumed there would be a trial after our Passover days had passed, and as a member of the Sanhedrin I had no reason to believe I would not sit in judgment with the others, as always.”

“Then you had no idea, on the following morning, that Jesus had been brought before Pilate after being tried by the Sanhedrin?”

“No. Soon after sunrise I was at my warehouse, in the market area, supervising the annual taking of inventory. I knew nothing of the morning’s events until Nicodemus and his son found me and told me that both the Sanhedrin and Pilate had condemned Jesus to death and that he had been nailed to a cross on Golgotha and was already dead. I remember sitting on a bale of wool, at first, and sobbing like a little chad. Then Nicodemus said that the legionaries, if they followed their custom, would probably toss the body of Jesus in the common grave with the other criminals who had been crucified, and his words revived me. ‘Never, never, never!’ I shouted, so loudly that those in my employ came running to my aid, fearing I was being set upon. I instructed the overseer of my warehouse to select our finest linen and all the spices necessary to prepare a body for burial according to our laws. Nicodemus and his son were to take them to Golgotha while Shem drove me swiftly to the fortress, where I requested an immediate audience with Pilate and received it. The procurator was surprised to hear that Jesus had died so quickly, but he refused to release the body to me, as I had requested, until he had sent Cornelius to the hill to verify that Jesus was truly dead. As soon as Cornelius returned, Pilate gave me a written order which I took immediately to Golgotha, arriving soon after Nicodemus and Gorion.”

“Did they know that you were planning to bury the body in the nearby tomb you had prepared for yourself?”