Titus Comrade of the Cross

The first book in the "Comrades of the Cross" series, the novel is set in first-century Palestine during the ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. It weaves fictional characters into the Gospel narrative, following a young man who discovers his true identity only as his life nears its end.

Seventeen years before the main story, mourning fills the Jerusalem household of Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest. His three-year-old son David has disappeared, along with the child's nurse, Prisca, who is believed to have fled with a Greek man named Dumachus. Despite an exhaustive search, no trace of the boy is found. Caiaphas's wife, Anna, grows silent and sorrowful, while Caiaphas becomes gloomy and harsh.

The setting shifts to Capernaum, a city on the Sea of Galilee. Titus, a young fisherman of about 19 and nominally the son of Dumachus, cares tenderly for Stephen, a boy with severe physical disabilities he considers his brother. Prisca, the boys' mother, brings news that a man named Jesus of Nazareth has been performing miraculous healings. Stephen asks whether the healer could cure him, but Titus dismisses the stories. Dumachus and his gang of robbers arrive, boasting of a recent murder. Lying awake, Prisca remembers how a blow from Dumachus left Stephen permanently disabled.

The next morning, a neighbor baby called Gogo, Stephen's chief companion, falls from a broken rooftop parapet and lies dying. Desperate, Stephen drags himself through the streets searching for the healer. In the marketplace, Jesus appears before him. Stephen begs him to save the baby, and Jesus lays his hand on Stephen's head: "According to thy faith, be it unto thee. Go in peace" (32). Stephen springs up completely healed and runs home to find Gogo also restored.

Jesus calls his first disciples: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John abandon their nets after a miraculous catch of fish. He teaches in the synagogue, casts out a demon, and heals a great multitude at Simon Peter's house, including a man who lost his sight, brought to him by Stephen and Prisca.

In Jerusalem, Caiaphas convenes Jewish leaders to discuss the threat Jesus poses. Annas, the former high priest and Caiaphas's father-in-law, insists the Messiah must be a mighty king, not a Nazarene carpenter. The council appoints spies to gather evidence against Jesus. Anna reads a letter from her sister Sara, wife of Jairus, the ruler of the Capernaum synagogue, urging her to seek Jesus out.

When Titus returns from a forced expedition with Dumachus's gang, he confesses to Stephen that he was compelled to participate in robbery and killing. Stephen urges him to break free. Together they witness Jesus heal a leper. Later, they help carry a paralyzed man to Jesus. Finding the house too crowded, Titus devises a plan to lower the man through the roof. Jesus forgives the man's sins and commands him to walk.

Stephen arranges for Titus to work as a gardener for Jairus, keeping him safe from Dumachus. Titus befriends Jairus's 12-year-old daughter Ruth, who adores Jesus and observes that Titus looks Jewish, not Greek, and resembles her uncle Caiaphas. When the household travels to Jerusalem, Sara recounts to Anna the Sermon on the Mount, including the Beatitudes (a series of blessings beginning with "Blessed are"), the Lord's Prayer, and the command to love one's enemies. Anna is deeply moved but constrained by her husband's hostility.

After returning to Capernaum, Ruth falls gravely ill and dies while Jesus is away. When Jesus returns, Jairus begs for help. Jesus takes Ruth's hand and commands her to arise. She opens her eyes and says she has been dreaming of him.

Dumachus witnesses Jesus feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes. Hoping to exploit Jesus's power for revolt and plunder, Dumachus incites the crowd to crown Jesus king, but Jesus withdraws to pray, rejecting earthly kingship. In Capernaum, Stephen publicly defends Jesus against a hostile rabbi. Dumachus recognizes Stephen, now healed, and seizes him, demanding Titus's whereabouts. When Stephen refuses, Dumachus beats him savagely. Titus stuns Dumachus with a stone, frees Stephen, and gives him money to flee with Prisca.

Stephen and Prisca travel to Nazareth, where Prisca collapses from exhaustion. A kind woman takes them in, and when Stephen tells her about Jesus, she reveals, "He is my son. And this is his home" (141). The woman is Mary, the mother of Jesus. As Prisca lies dying, she confesses how she stole the child David from Caiaphas's household at Dumachus's command, producing an embroidered tunic and silver chain that prove the boy's identity. Prisca finds peace before she dies, and Mary instructs Stephen to find Titus and reveal the truth.

Benoni, Jairus's chief steward, entrusts Titus with money to deliver to a vineyard. Titus falls asleep at a spring and wakes captured by Dumachus's band. From a bandit named Joca, Titus learns that Prisca once called him David, confirming he is a stolen Jewish child. Dumachus forces Titus to Jerusalem, where the band joins a failed insurrection led by the zealot Barabbas. Roman soldiers crush the uprising, and Titus is wounded and imprisoned.

Brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, Titus is sentenced to crucifixion alongside Dumachus. In his dungeon, Titus dreams of Jesus touching his brow, saying, "Thou, too, art mine!" (169). He wakes at peace.

In Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, plots Jesus's death. Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus's 12 disciples, declares his hatred of Jesus and offers to betray him for 30 pieces of silver. After the Last Supper, Jesus is arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, tried before Caiaphas, and condemned. Peter denies knowing Jesus three times. Pilate finds no fault in Jesus but, pressured by the mob, condemns him to crucifixion.

On the day of execution, Titus and Dumachus bear their crosses alongside Jesus to Golgotha, the hill of crucifixion. Stephen, who has been trying to reach Caiaphas with proof of Titus's identity, is caught in the crowd. The three are nailed to crosses. Dumachus curses Jesus, but Titus rebukes him, acknowledges his own guilt, and pleads, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (236). Jesus responds with joy, promising Titus they will be together in paradise that day. Darkness covers the land. Jesus declares his work finished and dies.

Before dying, Dumachus confesses to Malchus, Caiaphas's servant, that the young man on the other cross is David, the high priest's stolen son. Malchus tells Caiaphas, who reacts with violent denial. Joseph of Arimathea, a sympathetic council member, buries Jesus in his own new tomb; Malchus arranges burial for Titus nearby. John, one of Jesus's disciples, takes Stephen under his care.

On the third day, women find Jesus's tomb empty. Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus's followers, encounters the risen Jesus, who calls her by name. Jesus appears repeatedly to the disciples, and by the Sea of Galilee he asks Peter three times whether Peter loves him, restoring him from his three denials.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, sends Stephen to reveal the truth to Anna. Stephen tells the grieving mother that her son David died beside Jesus with the promise of paradise, and that Jesus has risen. Anna asks to be taken to Mary, and the two mothers weep together. Anna embraces Stephen as a son. The narrative notes that Stephen's life, though full of purpose, was not long, alluding to his future martyrdom as the biblical Stephen. The novel closes with the risen Jesus commissioning his disciples to be witnesses to all nations and ascending into heaven.