By Matthew Ologun

The Setting

What news would the tabloids favour more than the sensational stories surrounding the personality of the bearded man of Nazareth, who became so popular and notorious to some at the same time? The gossip-topic on every lip is that of the one who claims to be the Son of God. His name became an innuendo in every argument; such that without his name, an agenda of any gathering and meeting is considered faulty. The Pharisees, elders of the people and the chief priests would have memorized the veredictum presented to Pontius Pilate. I am only trying here to consider in my thoughts the hypothetical activity of time travel into the past; setting myself in the first ever eight days of Easter (within which we are now), to see what the Jerusalem of the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus was. The stories permeating Jerusalem would have been many, funny, scary, and BIG.

The Octave

This is the eight-day period, that begins on Easter Sunday and ends with the Second Sunday of Easter. I would rather describe the Octave in relation to its major enterprise. For me, it is the eight days of intense stories. The readings of the Octave keep pointing to these stories. As long as they are stories of the same man, with numerous stories that led to his death; we can only begin to imagine the enormity of the stories about his resurrection. The real issue here is: would all the stories pass as truth? We all know the answer, not all passed; because even the Gospel reading of Easter Monday, year B (Matthew 28:8-15) tells us the story among the Jews to this day.

The story

It is one story and no other. It is either the story or not. The story is that Jesus was crucified like a criminal because of his works and sayings, due to the ‘tragedy of incomprehension’ and not because he committed any evil or did any harm. This same story continues – this same Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his death. THIS IS THE STORY.  However, many would never want the true story about any issue. Many are also afraid of sharing the true story since it may cost them their lives. I find no other scene to talk about this in corroboration other than the story of Mark 6:17-29:

The birthday

The prison, at the palace in outlying Machaerus by now has become his home, a lively home indeed that removed fear and pity of friends of his being put to death. Only one masked person longed for his blood: Herod’s “Angel”, Herodias. The rising and setting of the sun each day borne new hatred that poisoned all her thoughts, punctured her heart, disjointed her digestion and even inflamed her cheeks, a horrifying sight, causing nightmares for innocent sights.

It was this same Night, when the convincingly “NO” of John irritated the fat and pursy little Herod Antipas that different sizes of bigwigs of Galilee came for sup at the birthday celebration of the king. The Night was hot, moist and still. The banquet hall was lit with penetrating torches and glittering teeth. Thick smell of liquors and rums filled the air. The sight of the tables intimidated even the lowest rank of bigwigs.

The seductive dance

The feast attained its Omega Point when the king’s attendants parted the damask curtains to reveal the mincing king’s stepdaughter, the principal performer of the evening. She was the daughter of Herodias, this Salome, and the daughter also of Philip, Herod’s brother. At such age, the damsel was already fully blown for the exact seductive mission – full bosomed and shapely, shocking young eyes full of inviting hints, moist fingers with oils pressed from rare petals, attar in her hair, in short a nymphet.

A different case from what Jesus said of a faithless generation (Matthew 11:17), because as soon as the players of harps, the strokers and beaters of the drums began, Salome began to dance. What a calculated steps, the lifting and weaving of her thin, infantile and tiny arms, the charmelionic turning of her tinted eye stressed the bloody veins.

The promise

At the halt of her movements, a clash of the Titans ran through all, letting loose a hell of noise, clashing of hands and stamping of feet. The panting and scared Salome would have run off at the sight of uproar caused by such incendiary success, but was glued to the guests by a hoarse voice “ASK ME WHATEVER YOU WANT, SALOME, AND I WILL GIVE IT TO YOU.”

Standing there, looking like a robot, yet to be plunged into action, she kept silent. The numbness in her showed a nuanced image. Seeing a confused being, Herod in an oath intensified: “ASK ANYTHING, EVEN HALF OF MY KINGDOM, I WILL GIVE YOU.” Waking up from her slumber, knowing that Herod’s words were not mere chicanery, she fled as quickly as her legs could carry her to her mother with her chignon dangling anxiety.

His head

Far from a chin-wag, “Mother, Mother”, “what shall I ask for?” nothing could be more desired from the obdurate queen than what causes her flatulence. Thus, the answer was not debatable for the vengeful soul – “The Baptizer! The mystery man! The desert preacher, who has condemned her new marriage! The Locust-chewing and honey-sipping giant, who would not yield to the natural passions of a man! Yes, “John the Baptist” Herodias commanded. “Ask for his head!”

The sight of a paled, perplexed and languorous Salome in the banquet hall chuckled the king – promptly however, he said “What will it be?”

“John the Baptist’s head in a dish.”

The “irreversible” promise

This unexpected blow saw the body organs of God’s creature working in their fullest capacities – the heart pumping blood, the hormones speeding up, the sensory organs are all on deck – what a catalyst. His lust for Salome has turned to loss for him; his vow must now be paid in blood. The sight of Herod now made a good cinema show for the Romans in the hall, watching to see if he would change his own oath made in royal words. The head went off, with its untidy hair into a deep dish of gold.

The end

TRUTH: Among the Laws of Though in logic, the law of Contradiction stands out in every day use: “something cannot be both true and false at the same time.” E.g. you cannot say this is a boy and at the same time say the same boy is a girl. This would amount to contradiction. Truth has three characteristics that mark it out from any other thing. Truth is ONE, IMMUTABLE (unchangeable) AND ETERNAL. When something is not true, it is FALSE. John said the truth to Herod and Herodias.

This was the week of stories then in Jerusalem. The fact with us now is that we have our entire lives to tell the one true story over and over again. The stories we tell will either make us true witnesses or a false witnesses. Our story may not alone be enough in some circumstances; our actions may be needed to tell the story. Bear in mind that the story may cost you your life. This is a period of story telling, not just any story, but THE STORY.

Father Ologun is the Rector of Oke Maria Pilgrimage Centre,Oka-Akoko.