Cornelius, the centurion of Caesarea, is dying. He selects his nephew Caleb to replace him, and Caleb and his new wife move in with them to begin an apprenticeship within the ranks of the Roman military. Caleb is immediately exposed to the worst parts of Roman military administration, and his life becomes a practical exercise of working, coming home to his family and celebrating weekly Shabbat. His wife can see that the demands of the job are altering him, and Cornelius spends the last of his days pouring all of his experience into the young man.

Upon his death, he gives his surviving fifty years of journals and diaries, several of them coded for specific family members. As they all separately read who their Patriarch is, they experience paradigm shifts in their worldview and that of their leader. These journals were meant to educate his loved ones, and they include some of the most shameful acts from his own life.

Caleb wrestles to understand the perverse demands of being a leader within the Roman Empire as well as a follower of Christ. The scroll with Eliza's name on it shatters her view of her uncle, who is recorded in the Book of Acts, and she struggles to sort out why he gave his most evil acts to read and understand. Caleb's wife, Yael, must learn how to care for a husband who is often overwhelmed by the demands is his job and the requirement to betray his faith. Eliza takes his journal entries as a demand to remain courageous and embrace her calling as a newly ordained Rabbi as she prepares to begin calling her first disciples.