Marcus: The Centurion's Journey to Faith - Episode #12

Journal Entry - Monday, October 26, 26 A.D

(THIS EPISODE IS FREE-THIS EPISODE IS FREE)

Journal Entry - Marcus Aelius Vitalis
Date: Monday, October 26, 26 A.D. (Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Agrippa, 778 Ab urbe condita)

I met with Jonah today, and this time, he wasn’t delivering secondhand rumors. He had been there. He saw it all unfold, and the way he spoke… I could tell it had shaken him to his core.

When he arrived, he looked pale, more nervous than usual. I motioned for him to sit, and it took him a moment to collect his thoughts. When he finally began speaking, I could see the intensity in his eyes, the weight of what he had witnessed pressing on him.

“Centurion, I was there,” Jonah said, his voice low and urgent. “At the Jordan. The crowds have been gathering there for days to see John the Baptist. He’s been preaching, baptizing—like always. But today… today, everything changed.”

I leaned forward, trying to maintain my calm despite the surge of anticipation rising in me. “What happened?”

Jonah took a deep breath, his hands shaking slightly as he clasped them together. “There were so many people—more than usual. John was in the water, baptizing one after another, and the crowd was thick, pressing in to hear him speak. It was like every word he said had them hooked, like he was talking about something bigger than just repentance.”

He paused, his brow furrowing as he tried to find the words to describe what he had seen. “And then… He showed up.”

“Who?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

“Jesus,” Jonah replied, his voice barely above a whisper. “Jesus of Nazareth. No one knew He was coming. He just walked out of the crowd, calm, like He belonged there. People started whispering His name, like they couldn’t believe it was really Him.”

I could see the awe in Jonah’s eyes, the same awe I’d seen in men who’d witnessed miracles. This wasn’t just idle gossip. Jonah had seen something that had changed him.

“What did He do?” I pressed, my voice tight with urgency.

Jonah swallowed hard, his gaze fixed on the floor as he relived the moment in his mind. “He walked straight into the river, right up to John. It was like everything around them went quiet, like the whole crowd was holding its breath. John looked shocked—like he didn’t expect Jesus to come to him. But Jesus… He just stood there, waiting. Then He asked John to baptize Him.”

“And John did it?” I asked, struggling to picture the scene in my mind.

Jonah nodded quickly. “At first, it looked like John wasn’t sure what to do, like he didn’t think he was worthy. He even said, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?’ But Jesus insisted. So, John baptized Him, just like he does with everyone else.”

I watched Jonah closely, sensing that this was only the beginning of the story. “What happened after that?”

Jonah’s hands trembled as he continued. “When Jesus came up out of the water, the sky—it opened up. I swear, Centurion, I’ve never seen anything like it. A light came down, brighter than the sun, but it didn’t hurt to look at it. It was just… there. And then, we all heard it. A voice. It wasn’t like any voice I’ve ever heard, like it came from the heavens themselves. It said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with Him, I am well pleased.’”

A chill ran down my spine as Jonah spoke. I’d heard of prophets and holy men before, of people claiming divine authority, but this—this was different. This was something tangible, something that couldn’t be easily explained away.

“And then?” I asked, leaning forward, almost afraid to hear the next part.

Jonah shook his head, still in disbelief. “Then… Jesus just walked away. He didn’t stay to talk to the crowd, didn’t perform any miracles. He just left. I tried to follow Him, but He disappeared into the wilderness. No one knows where He went.”

I sat back in my chair, letting his words sink in. Jesus had revealed Himself in front of the people, in front of John the Baptist no less, and I had missed it. All the signs, all the rumors, had been pointing to this moment, and I had been locked in meetings with Varro, discussing mundane matters of governance. While I was going through the motions of maintaining order, the people had witnessed what they believed to be a divine proclamation.

And now Jesus was gone, vanished into the wilderness without a trace.

“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” I asked, my frustration bubbling to the surface.

Jonah looked down, his face pale. “It all happened so fast, Centurion. No one knew He was coming. I tried to get here as quickly as I could, but by the time I heard the story from others and saw it with my own eyes, He was already gone.”

I ran a hand through my hair, fighting to control my temper. It wasn’t Jonah’s fault, and I knew that. But the fact that I had been so close to witnessing something so important—and had missed it—gnawed at me.

“Alright,” I said finally, my voice steadier than I felt. “You did well to come to me with this. But I need more information. I need to know where Jesus is now, what His next move will be. The people believe He’s the Messiah, and that belief could turn dangerous if we don’t get ahead of it.”

Jonah nodded, his expression serious. “I’ll keep listening, Centurion. I’ll find out what I can.”

I dismissed him after that, watching as he slipped back into the streets, just another face in the crowded city. As useful as Jonah was, I couldn’t rely on him alone. The people believed that something divine had happened at the Jordan, and belief like that could spread like wildfire. If Jesus was truly the Messiah they had been waiting for, then it was only a matter of time before the unrest in Judea reached a boiling point.

And where was Jesus now? Hiding in the wilderness? Preparing for something bigger? The questions swirled in my mind, and for the first time in a long while, I didn’t have any answers.

One thing was certain—I wouldn’t miss the next moment. I couldn’t afford to. Not with everything at stake.

—Marcus