“Okay, if Jesus had actually told his disciples that he would die and then rise from the dead, why did they all flee when he was arrested in the garden and why were they so astonished when Mary Magdalene brought them news of the empty tomb? If Jesus knew that his mission on earth was to suffer and die for the people, how is it that he asked God, from the cross, why he had been forsaken? When Jesus entered Jerusalem on that Sunday before his death, were there really great multitudes to greet him and, if so, why did the Roman authorities allow such a potentially dangerous exhibition to take place? Same question for the Temple, when he threw over the tables of the money-changers. Could he have possibly done such a thing and walked away free and then returned, the next day, without being arrested by the police? More?”

Joseph nodded.

“If John the Baptist recognized Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God,’ why did John’s followers continue their separate way long after Jesus was supposed to have risen from the dead? What really happened at that tomb on Sunday morning? Did an angel actually talk to Mary Magdalene and, if not, how did that story take hold? At Caesarea Philippi, was it Peter who finally sold Jesus on the idea that he was the Messiah, and why did the followers of Jesus decrease in number as time went on? Why didn’t he perform more miracles in cosmopolitan Jerusalem, where they would have done him the most good? What did Jesus mean by ‘the Kingdom of God’? If the multitude truly believed that Jesus was their Messiah, how could they possibly have allowed him to be crucified when they had demonstrated their willingness to die for lesser causes in the past? Had enough?”

He shook his head.

“What would make a man who had been so close to Jesus, for so long, finally turn on him and betray him? Did the disciples really promote the hoax of the resurrection in order to maintain their status and support from the people? Was he dead, when he was taken from the cross, or just in a coma?”

The old man started at that last question but remained silent.