num_pages: 184
description: A giant sword hung in the sky over Bethlehem. Wielded by an unseen hand it plunged into a patch of earth in the center of the city. The earth shuddered and quaked as a fountain of blood rose where the blade pierced the soil. Quickly it became a raging torrent a crimson flood that crashed through the streets sweeping the inhabitants up into its crest.Safiya stood frozen on her doorstep. She felt a tug at her hand. Josu stood between her and Gershom trying to pull them toward safety. As the flood came at them she turned to run but too late. A powerful force pulled her off her feet and into its lethal embrace. All was blackness.When the sword of Herod maimed Safiya and slew her son Josu another son lay in her womb.Meet Malchus ben-Gershom chief servant of Caiaphas the high priest. Even his own wife doesnt know his secretthe secret he must hide from Herod at all costs. His anger with God makes him good at his job: getting rid of false messiahs.First assignment: capture Barabbas.When a new teacher surfaces Malchus is dispatched to neutralize this threat. Encounters with the Nazarene leave him puzzled. How could this Man so change his wife Alona?At last a disciple betrays Jesus' secret resting place and Malchus marches the Temple guard out for the arrest. But the sudden flash of a sword in the torchlight leaves him clutching his bloody head with one hand and preparing to murder a Galilean fisherman with the other. Then something happens that Malchus cannot explain.Now he is desperate to free the One he helped to capture.With a cast of 70 vibrant characters Noni Beth Gibbs offers us a new look at the Man on the middle crossthrough the eyes of His enemies.
language: English
title: Malchus: Touched by Jesus
publisher: Review & Herald Publishing