Scarlet Robe Creations

My name is Flavius.   I am a subordinate assigned to the procurator overseeing this forsaken piece of dry earth.   It is difficult to see it any other way.   I should not complain.   I am fortunate to have this position.   Our military strength here is solid.   They have suppressed every uprising, making an example of those who seek to defy the empire.   Still, there are better places to serve. I woke just before the sun began to creep over the horizon.   I open the shutters and gazed out into the courtyard as the sun began to push the night back toward Hades.   The Jews speak of the world of darkness, calling it Gehenna.   I wonder if there is such a place, and if so, are we destined to embrace it, their view along with our own. What have we done?   I have pondered this thought during my waking hours, and in the dark void of night I found very little sleep.   These Jews and their monotheistic god are a strange lot.   ...

A stone is pushed away. A tomb carved in ancient rock is empty except for the linen cloth of burial. An open cavern. A borrowed cave where salvation was laid, torn flesh and broken bread. A stone is pushed away. A void of yesterday, conquered, when the empty world of death gave way to life. copyright 2026 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author https://www.goodreads.com

Jesus in Herod's Court - Duccio di Buoninsegna Perform a miracle for me. Herod in his gaiety, pleased to be in the audience of one submissive, one who does not defend himself. What foolish questions can a puppet king ask? Are you what the uneducated claim? Are you the cousin of the one whose head was severed at Salome's request? Perform a miracle for me. Perhaps the display could prove their claim. But silence is clung to in exchange. Maybe you don't understand the power standing before you, asking questions quite simple. Are you the fantasy the scrolls speak of? Perform a miracle for me. A pauper, not a king. Touch my eyes with spittle and mud that I might see. Place your finger in my ear that I might hear. Call me out from the tomb that I might live. Perform a miracle for me, Lord, when the time is right, not for the glory of a dancing fool, but for the glory of my God. copyright 2026 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author https://www...

Jesus Bearing the Cross - James Tissot Lord, you did this for me, a cross, a crown of thorns, whipped in a courtyard. Lord, you did this for those I love, my family, friends, those who fill my prayers. Lord, you did this for my neighbor, the one who says good morning, if we pass on the street. Lord, you did this for my enemies, the one who strikes me, the one who slanders, the one who condemns me for believing in you. copyright 2026 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author https://www.goodreads.com

Thorns and thistles, a curse upon the soil, laboring for sustenance. Thorns and thistles, the consequence of a relationship, broken, between the creator and the created. Thorns and thistles, futility of rejection, a hinderance to the life promised. Thorns and thistles, He takes the curse upon His flesh. We are ransomed. Thorns and thistles, a sign of mercy, a helmet of mockery, love bleeds on a cross for our sins. copyright 2026 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author https://www.goodreads.com

  One moment, He is the one longed for, by those whose lives are lived in need of blessing. He is the one who the learned dispise, the one who has come to change what they've manipulated. One moment, He is the one the crowds anoint. He is the one they clamor to, the one who has defended them against authority's stain, the one who told the harlot she was of value in the kingdom. One moment, He is the one challenged for telling a cripple to dance and giving vision to he who could not see, while pointing out the blindness of those who claim to have sight. One moment, He is received as a king, exulted as the one long promised, the one who will crush the serpent's head and cause the high priest to rend his garment. copyright 2026 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author https://www.goodreads.com

The Procession in the Streets of Jerusalem - James Tissot We celebrated him, one moment, palms rising above our heads, a song of David on our lips. We are the simple, those who mourned for Lazarus, and witnessed the miracle. We celebrated him, the rider on a donkey, the one sent to save, the one the priests would refute. For now we dance, irritating the pious and the unjust. But this moment of pauper victory will be short in time. There is a final stand to be made, by those who answer prophecy unwittingly, those who seek comfort in political ties, those who have fashioned a cross and forged the nails of salvation. We celebrated him, and for a brief moment there was sheer joy. Hosanna, my king and my anointed. Hosanna, my savior and my God. copyright 2026 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author https://www.goodreads.com

Christ's Entry Into Jerusalem - Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin "Who is he?" Sara cried as she followed her father through the crowd. Since she was barely seven years old, her father held tightly to her hand.  Her older brother Caleb had moved ahead.  Her question went unanswered. "Is this to do with Passover?" she asked, confused by the apparent celebration. She felt her responsibilities were back home, with her mother.  The festival was near.  There would be many pilgrims coming to the city and flocking to the temple. She knew all the stories about her people being led out of Egypt.  She knew about the manna, the quail, the bitter water, and the golden calf.  Her mother would recite, from memory, words she had heard read from the scrolls.  She knew the blood of a lamb was important for the festival at hand, so was the wooden frame around their door.  Her father slowed.  The crowd ahead was shouting, chanting words about kings and the anointed....

"Prosperity knits a man to the world" -  C S Lewis - Screwtape Letters Wealth, success, and worldliness, even the priest on the altar blurs the reflection. It is difficult for one to slip through the needle's eye when endowed by the world's blessing. The kingdom will be full of paupers, simpletons, and rouges. For it is easier for those without to sever the ties of a world, broken, and normalizing its indulgences. Fix yourself to God's word. Hold fast to His truth when the world's ideology is flawed. Listen to those who speak from pulpits with a single agenda. copyright 2026 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author https://www.goodreads.com “Paupers, simpletons and rogues” from the song “Surely God Is With Us” by Rich Mullins