The Man Named Ephraim

Once upon a time there was an itinerant merchant who went to Jerusalem. It was the time of the Second Temple. Tiberius was emperor and Pontius Pilate the prelate of Judea. The events that occur in Ephraim find no home in the synoptics, Mathew, Mark and Luke. Which version contains the truth is a matter of stance. As a child I was puzzled that the Father would choose such a harsh fate for his only Son, for I could not imagine my own parent being so uncaring. Perhaps this story is fashioned from that young and simple view. I hope readers will remember the role of time and chance, and the rarity of choice.
Observations of religion:
1. Historians modify facts to sustain their narrative.
2. Men tailor the past to suit the institutions which wear it.
3. Events occur in time but the records of those events are constructed to design.
4. The past offers us an illusion, as solid as a cloud. It is there we build castles where none but ghosts can thrive