Sylvia Melvin

Eternal Surrender Sylvia Melvin

Little did Marcus Cassio, an arrogant, Roman soldier in 33 B. C., expect his life to turn inside out because of a drunken brawl. That fiasco ended up exiling him to Judea, a conquered province in the Roman Empire, the last place on earth he wanted to be. He enters Jerusalem at a time when an itinerant prophet, called Jesus, has angered the Jewish Sanhedrin to the point of accusing the man of heresy. Marcus is charged by Pilate to investigate the claims and report back to him. While doing so, he meets and is attracted to a Jewish maiden, who despises the Romans. Anna carries the burden of losing her father to them and forgiveness does not come easily. With a mother who lives in a leper colony, Anna struggles to survive by weaving for Pilate's wife, Claudia. Equipped to fight physical battles, Marcus struggles with an inner spiritual turmoil. How can the Jews worship only one God? The honesty, courage, and faithfulness Marcus sees in Anna develop into a love that transforms his arrogance and she begins to understand that not all Roman soldiers are alike. It takes the courage and love of a Jewish maiden, along with the resurrection of Jesus to convince him that a power exists he could never have imagined.