Excerpts from . . . The Baptist! Mary's Place Childhood The Sermon Tempest Walk on Water At the Beach Juliana Wednesday, 14 Nisan

Joseph bar Sabbas, also called Justus, was just a young man when he saw John baptize the Lord Jesus. From that moment on, he followed his new Master. Through the next several years he saw every miracle, heard every word, witnessed every healing. He, along with his friend Matthias, camped by a blazing fire at night with Jesus and the apostles, ate with them, laughed with them, fished with them. Justus was every bit as qualified to be an apostle as the ones actually chosen.

But when it came time to choose the man to supplant Judas Iscariot, it was Matthias, not Justus, who was chosen. At the time, like Naomi, Jeremiah, David and others, he could not help but feel rejected by God. He did not understand why. He had followed Jesus with all his heart. But the lot had not fallen to him. It had selected his friend instead.

He was confused. Hurt. He didn't understand. He had been with Jesus since his baptism with John. He had spent nights under the stars with him and the disciples. He had been with them on the Sea of Galilee and on the grassy slopes of the mountain. He had heard the sermons, seen the multitudes fed from a few loaves and fishes, seen the dead raised and countless people healed of disease. He had been there that awful day when he saw his Lord suspended between heaven and earth, blood oozing from his wounds. He had seen the empty tomb and the resurrected Christ with the others in the upper room. Finally on the mountain he watched his savior, Lord and friend ascend into the clouds back from whence he came. Yet as it might have done with others, this did not adversely affect Justus for long. He poured his life into the service of the resurrected Christ. Now in these his twilight years, like the four Gospel writers before him, Justus, the "rejected" disciple, sat down and taking instrument in hand began to scratch words on papyrii . . .

So today, Paul Morris has filled in some blanks. Since he was not actually there to witness the life and events that surrounded Jesus, he chose Justus, the “rejected” apostle, through whom to channel his imagination.

Recently, Paul completed a work of fiction entitled The Carpenter, (now available online and on CD), more than seven years in the writing. From that work he has selected vignettes for dramatic reading presentations which he calls, The Carpenter Chronicles.

The vignettes begin with the birth of Jesus and follow his childhood and ministry through the early years of Galilee and Judea to finally his crucifixion and resurrection. Each presentation is shaped to the needs of the venue, 30 minutes, 60 minutes or 90 minutes long -- including intermission.