Veronica: Eyewitness to the Ministry of Jesus

by Jacelyn Eckman

"Veronica, Eyewitness to the Ministry of Jesus" is the 2nd book in the trilogy, written from the author's recovered memories as Veronica, cousin of Jesus the Nazarene. "Eyewitness" picks up where "The Lost Years" left off, with the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. This book parallels the four Gospels of the New Testament, but is a story told from the viewpoint of one of the key women in his life. From the beginning Jesus said that the women were crucial to the success of his mission. Thus there are two tales herein, Jesus' own and that of the women. While Jesus was traveling about in his younger years, studying with the Masters of his time in India, Tibet, Persia and Egypt, the women were undergoing similar esoteric studies and training. During the years of his public ministry, the women were often called upon to stand with him and even stand in for him when there was need for healing or mediation. These were troubled times. The Romans were an occupying force, and becoming evermore paranoid and brutal in their treatment of the Jewish people. This exacerbated the competition and historical conflicts among the different Jewish factions, which often aligned against the Essenes -- the group from which Jesus and his family came. As time went on, he and his followers increasingly found themselves pawns in their quarrels. There is little evidence of the women apostles, but there was a large circle who studied with and remained loyal to Jesus to the end. Four women were at the heart of this Veronica and her closest friend, Miriam (Magdalene), Veronica's mother Salome, and Jesus' mother Mary. (The two older women were sisters.) In this book we see the world through their eyes, becoming intimate with their everyday lives, their struggles, passions, fears and dreams. We learn about their esoteric practices, ceremonies and rituals. And through them, we see into the heart of the man Jesus who is at once a deeply private person with his own challenges, and a universal soul sent to shine a light on the path we all must walk. The lessons he tried to teach then are universal and eternal, as important to us in this age as they were 2,000 years ago. These lessons were based in what we might call the Law of One. According to this law we are one people, having come from a single Source which he sometimes referred to as our Father, a Source to which we will ultimately return at the end of days. The divine Mother is that which embraces us in the world. In this we are equally beloved and eternally cherished, deserving of all good. When we reflect this in the world through our thoughts, words, and actions, treating each other as our brother and sister, we bring heaven to earth. He also taught -- and insisted -- that there was nothing he did that we could not also do. His actual teachings were tailored to his listeners; this book speaks to both the inner and outer teachings.Though the Christian religion grew out of the teachings of this man, it is a story much greater than that of a single religion. Jesus was a Jew who lived according to Jewish law, but he also incorporated teachings and practices from the Egyptian and Persian mystery schools, and from Hinduism, Buddhism and the ancient Bon traditions, as well as Greek philosophy. And so it is the story of the confluence of all the peoples in the known world of his time, the story of political and cultural clashes, and personal tragedies and triumphs. It is the story of the women and the men, who were challenged in some ways beyond anything we know today. And, as we will see at story's end, they are called to go out into the world in small groups, to bring the teachings of their beloved teacher and friend to others, that they might not be forgotten. These journeys will be the subject of the the third book in the series.

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2010