Hey, Cuz – I’ve got to talk to somebody. I’m sure you’ve heard about what’s going on over here, but I need to put it all in order – to think it through AND to document it, just in case… So thanks for listening!

Where to start? Well, truth be told, we ALL figured something was up! It had been over 400 years and not a word had been heard from the enemy in all that time. All was well – until the STAR showed up! That same night there was a minor disturbance, but nothing much, really. Nothing at all like you’d expect – NOTHING! I swear… WE DIDN’T KNOW!

Our sources in the area didn’t even know what was going on, until they got word from the Eastern Division about the pilgrimage. It was a whole eighteen months later that they showed up at the palace, so we never connected the dots – until we found out that they were looking for HIM!

At first, no one believed it. Oh, there were always rumors, but no one ever thought much about them. Nothing could ever be substantiated, anyway. It was probably just another imposter; lots of those came and went… Now, don’t get me wrong, we had fun with them, sport for a dull moment – but they were nothing serious, no real threat. So, maybe we were a bit off guard. Even The Boss was fooled, though he won’t admit it! Anyway… NOTHING has been the same since!

It was when those Kings got to the palace that the news broke. HE was here. If we knew then what we know now, it would have been a different story – but we didn’t. Not that there weren’t some high points, mind you… We got to do that old Egyptian thing again, kill all the babies, but the one we really wanted escaped – and to Egypt, no less!

Honestly, we didn’t know! We thought we’d taken care of things. Hey – all was well. I mean, nothing out of the ordinary after that – not a peep for nearly 30 years! What were we to think? What would you have thought? Nobody should blame us, but they do! We thought we got him – until that day at the Jordan…

What’s-his-name was doing his thing at the river, and people were coming from all over. We knew something was up, but not what. And then it happened: HE WASN’T DEAD! There HE was – in living color, all grown up, coming up out of the water! Up HE comes out of the water – and the enemy announces to EVERYBODY just who he is! Oh…was that ever EMBARASSING! And let me tell you, The Boss was furious! He definitely wanted to do us in for messing up like that – and probably would have if the situation wasn’t critical. HE was here – and the fight was on!

It was toe-to-toe in the desert, and we almost got him! The Boss, himself took over the assault. It was close – really close, but no dice. It was neck’n’neck into the ninth, but we lost him in the bell lap … lost him BAD! That guy was something else! I’ve never seen anyone like him before. Of course, The Boss was mortified, but none of us dared to say a word about it. I mean, if you valued your life, you just didn’t mention the whole episode… Know what I mean?

Well, from that point on, it went from bad to worse. Life was miserable for about three years. This guy did the most horrible things you can imagine. I mean, he messed things up – big time! We had everything in order, and he came in and created chaos! People were rebelling, throwing off sin, sickness – and even death – like they were nothing! Can you imagine?!

Everything was in total disarray. Everywhere he went, things like that happened. Territory we had occupied for years – evicted – just like that! Once he sent us into a herd of pigs and made us the laughingstock of creation. Oh, that was too much to bear… This guy was totally unscrupulous. His tactics were, well, let me just say that none of us would behave that way… and no one could touch him!

So, that’s why The Boss came down on me – hard – and that’s why I did what I did. I didn’t mean it to go that way, honest! I swear, if I had known, I never would have done it. Please, believe me – and if I don’t survive this thing, tell my story…

You see, we actually had no other choice. Really, it was awful. I’ll never forget it… Even his followers became a problem. HE was bad enough, but then those other creatures started in on us! Well, THAT WAS IT! What did you expect us to do? Just sit there and take it?? It wasn’t my fault; we had to do it. Something had to be done – and I was the one under the gun. So, I found a way…

It all started when our men in the Sanhedrin seemed to be as angry as we were. I simply took advantage of their good sense and encouraged them, that’s all. That’s why everyone is blaming me now – but they were congratulating me then. Let’s not forget that!

Now, I know this may not sound altogether respectful, but even hose greater and wiser thought it was a good idea – but you didn’t hear that from me!. Of course, they didn’t think I could pull it off, but they thought the idea was good. So, I did it; I did pull it off! It was amazing! I expected promotions, parades, medals – accolades – but no, no siree! Nothing of the sort happened…

It’s not fair! My forces worked night and day. We even got one of his own in on the deal – now that has to be worth something, right? We even got Barabbas freed in the process! Did we get any credit for that? NO! The men in the Sanhedrin were very co-operative and so were the Romans, even though that part nearly failed. It was close, but we did it: THEY CRUCIFIED HIM!

Some victory, though… That’s when all the trouble really started! What does he do? What does this guy do?? He comes downstairs, just like everybody else, right? WRONG!!! He comes downstairs and goes straight to The Boss, gets right in his face, grabs his keys – and then leaves a few days later – with half the prisoners!

Next, he shows up on the earth and parades around for everyone to LOOK AT! Does he hide? NO! Does he only appear to his stupid followers? NO! He goes out in PUBLIC and shows himself to CROWDS of people – over 500 at once! CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW WE FELT?!  I’m sure this did not go over big with The Boss, but he must still be in shock or something… He hasn’t done a thing about it!

And what happens next? As if the guy hasn’t done enough, he really messes things up, now! He puts strange ideas in people’s heads, and then turns around an leaves planet earth – just flat out leaves! How ridiculous. After all of that, the guy just LEAVES! Well – good riddance; that’s all I have to say!

So, here we are, trying to get back to normal. We’ve got things under control, for now anyway. That should make The Boss happy, whenever he comes to. We’ve spun it, done the usual cover up stuff – started rumors about somebody stealing the body; maybe he didn’t really die – you know the drill. Of course, the Romans are mad, but that’s okay. They do wonderful work when they are angry! The leftovers are no trouble. They’re scared to death, held up in an attic.

But I don’t know, Cuz… I’ve got a weird feeling! Maybe I’m just paranoid – waiting for the other shoe to drop? Yeah…I don’t know… It feels like something AWFUL is about to happen – like the quiet before the storm…