Judas arrives at night to the house that Caiaphas has in the country. But there is a moon, a moon that acts as an accomplice to the murderer
illuminating the way. He must be quite sure that he finds there, in that house outside the walls, those he is looking for,
because, otherwise, I think he would have tried to enter the city and go to the Temple. However, he climbs safely among the
olive trees on the little hill. He feels safer this time than last time, because now it is night, and the shadows and the hour
protect him from any possible surprise. The country roads are already deserted, having been traveled all day by the
crowds of pilgrims going to Jerusalem for the Passover. Even the poor lepers are in their grottoes and sleep
their unhappy dreams, forgotten for some hour of their fate.
Judas is already in front of the door of the house, beaming with moonlight. He knocks. Three knocks, one knock, three knocks,
two knocks.... He knows a thousand wonders even the conventional signal! And it must be a really safe signal, because the
door opens without the doorman looking through the little window in the door.
Judas quickly enters, and, to the servant doorkeeper who greets him with deference, he asks:
-Is the assembly assembled?
-Yes, Judas of Kerioth. I could say that it is complete.
-Take me to them. I have important things to talk about. Quickly!
The man bolts the door and precedes Judas down the half-darkened corridor. He stops before a heavy
door and knocks. The murmur of voices ceases in the closed room and is replaced by the rattling of the lock and the creaking of the door,
which, as it opens, projects a cone of vivid light into the dark hallway.
-You? Come in! - says the one who opened the door (I don't know who it is). And Judas enters the room while the one who opened the door
locks it again.
There is a reaction of astonishment, or, at least, of confusion, when Judas enters. But they greet him in chorus:
- Peace to you, Judas of Simon.
-Peace to you, members of the holy Sanhedrin,“ greets Judas
, ”Come closer. What do you want? - they ask him.
-To tell you something... To tell you about the Christ. It is no longer possible to continue like this. I can no longer be of help to you, if you do not decide to take extreme decisions
. This man is already suspicious.
-Have you let yourself be discovered, fool? - they interrupt him.
-No. You fools, you who, in your foolish haste, have taken the wrong steps; you knew well that I would have been of service to you
! You did not trust me.
-You have a faint memory, Judas of Simon! Do you not remember how you left us the last time? Who could have thought that you were faithful to us, proclaiming in that way that you could not betray him? - says Elijah, ironic, more than ever serpentine.
And do you think it is easy to deceive a friend, the only one who truly loves me, the Innocent One? Do you think it is
easy to commit a crime?
Judas is already troubled.
They try to calm him down. They use flattery. And they seduce him, or, at least, they try to seduce him, making him observe that his
is not a crime, “but -they say- a holy work for the Homeland, which avoids reprisals from the dominators, who already give
signs of intolerance by those continuous agitations and divisions of parties and people in a Roman province; and for
Humanity, if -they tell him- he is truly convinced of the divine nature of the Messiah and of his spiritual mission”.
-If what He says is true - far be it from us to believe it - are you not the collaborator of the Redemption? Your name will be
associated with His for all the centuries to come, and the Fatherland will count you among its men of honor, and will honor you with the highest
offices. You have a seat prepared for you among us. You shall ascend, Judas. We will not forget what you did for the good of the Holy Temple, of the Holy Priesthood, for the defense of the Most Holy Law, for the good of the whole nation! Only help us, and
then - we swear it to you, I swear it to you in the name of my mighty father and of Caiaphas, who wears the ephod - you will be the greatest man
of Israel. More than the tetrarchs, more than my own father, already relieved as Pontiff. As a king you will be served, as
a prophet you will be heard.
. And if then Jesus of Nazareth was nothing but a false Messiah -although, in reality, he could not be
condemned to death, because his actions are not those of a bandit but those of a madman-, we remind you of the inspired words
of Caiaphas pontiff -you know that he who wears the ephod and the rational speaks by divine inspiration and prophesies the good and what
is to be done for the good-, Caiaphas, remember, Caiaphas said: "It is expedient that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish
". Those were words of prophecy.
-Indeed they were. The Most High spoke through the mouth of the High Priest. Let him be obeyed! - they say in chorus - no doubt with
theatricality and as automatons that must make those certain gestures - those dastardly puppets of the members of the great
council of the Sanhedrin.
Judas is suggestible, seduced... but still a small root of good sense, if not of goodness, remains in him, and he
holds him back from uttering the fatal words.
Surrounding him with deference, with simulated affection, they urge him on:
-Do you not believe us? Look: we are the heads of the twenty-four priestly families, the Elders of the people, the scribes, the
highest Pharisees of Israel, the wise rabbis, the magistrates of the Temple. The choicest of Israel are here, around
you, and we are ready to acclaim you, and, with one voice, we say to you, "Do this, that it is holy."
-Where are Joseph and Nicodemus? Where is Eleazar the friend of Joseph? Where is John of Gahas?
I do not see them.
-Gamaliel, doing a strong penance; John, with his wife, who is pregnant and is sick tonight; Eleazar... we do not know why he did not come, but anyone can feel sick suddenly, don't you think? As for Joseph and Nicodemus,
we have not warned them of this secret session, for love of you, out of care for your honor.... So that, in the unfortunate case that the
thing should fail, your name would not be referred to the Master.... We guard your name. We love thee, Judas, new
Maccabees savior of the Fatherland. (Whose deeds are narrated in: 1 Maccabees 3-9; 2 Maccabees 8-15)
-Maccabees fought the good fight. I... commit treason.
-Observe not the particulars of the act, but the justice of the end. Speak thou, Zadok, thou golden scribe. From thy mouth flow
most precious words. If Gamaliel is learned, thou art wise, for on thy lips is the wisdom of God. Speak thou to him who
still hesitates.
That evil bug of Sadoq approaches, and with him the decrepit Canaaniah: a skeletonized and dying fox next to a cunning
strong and fierce jackal.
-Listen, man of God! - begins Sadoq pompously taking an inspired and rhetorical pose: the right arm,
Ciceronianly, stretched forward; the left one occupied in holding all that pregnancy of folds that constitutes his
scribe's garment. And then he lifts his left arm also, letting his monument of garments unravel and
disarrange itself
And so, face and arms raised towards the ceiling of the room, he says in a powerful voice:
-I tell you, I tell you before the Most High Presence of God!
Maran-Atha! (expression that means “So be it”; it can also correspond to an Aramaic invocation to the Lord as
in Corinthians 16, 22) - they all chorus, bowing as if a supreme breath folded them, to straighten up then with the arms gathered on the chest
.
I tell you: It is written in the pages of our history and of our destiny! It is written in the signs and in the
figures handed down through the centuries! It is written in the rite that has known no interruption since that fatal night for the Egyptians
! It is written in the figure of Isaac! It is written in the figure of Abel. And... what is written, let it be fulfilled.
-Maranatha! - say the others in chorus, a low and mournful chorus, suggestive, with the gestures of before,
their faces whimsically illuminated by the light of the two lamps lit at the ends of the room, some lamps of pale purplish mica
emanating a ghostly light. And truly this gathering of men, almost all dressed
in white, with the pale wheat colorations of their race, now even paler and wheatier by the diffused light, seems
really a gathering of spectres.
-The word of God has come down to the lips of the prophets to signify this decree. He must die! It is written!
-It is written! Maranatha!
-He must die, his fate is sealed!
-He must die, his fate is sealed!
-He must die. Maranatha!
-His fatal destiny is described even in its smallest details. And the fate will not be broken!
-Maranatha!
Even the symbolic price to be paid to the one who becomes God's instrument for the fulfillment
of the promise is established.
-It is established! Maranatha!
-As a Redeemer or as a false prophet, He must die!
-He must die. Maran-Athá!
-The hour is come! Yeohveh wills it! I hear his voice! That voice cries out: "Let this be done!
-The Most High has spoken! Fulfill it! Fulfill it! -Maran-Athá!
May Heaven strengthen you as it strengthened Yael and Judith, who as women knew how to be heroines; as it strengthened
Jephthah, who as a father knew how to sacrifice his daughter to the Fatherland; as it strengthened David against Goliath. And fulfill the gesture that will make
eternal to Israel in the memory of the peoples!
-May Heaven strengthen you, Maranatha!
-Come out the victor!
-Come forth victorious! Maranatha!
The hoarse senile voice of Cananiah rises:
-He who hesitates before the sacred order is condemned to dishonor and death!
-He is condemned. Maranatha!
If thou wilt not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt not carry out His commandment and what He commands thee by our mouth,
.
-All curses! Maranatha!
-May the Lord punish you with all the Mosaic curses, and disintegrate you among the nations.
-May the Lord punish you and disintegrate you! Maranatha!
A deathly silence follows this evocative scene... Everything is suspended in a terrifying immobility.
And at last the voice of Judas is heard to rise, and almost, as transformed as it is, it is difficult for me to recognize it:
-Yes. I will do it. I must do it. And I will do it. Already the last part of the Mosaic curses is my part and I must get out of them
because I have already delayed too long. I am going mad and I have no respite or rest; my heart is fearful;
my gaze, lost; my soul, consumed with sorrow. Fearing to be discovered in my double game and fulminated by Him -I do not
know, I do not know to what extent He knows my thoughts-, I see my life hanging by a thread, and morning, noon and night I invoke that
end this moment for the terror that frightens my heart. Oh, hasten this moment,
! Deliver me from these anxieties of mine! Let it all be accomplished. At once! Now! And I be released! Come on!
The voice of Judas, as he spoke, became stronger and stronger. The gesture, previously automatic and
insecure, as of a sleepwalker, has become free, voluntary. It rises to its full height, satanically beautiful, and cries out:
-Let go the bonds of insane terror! Free I am from the terrifying subjection, Christ, I no longer fear you and I surrender you to your enemies
! Come on!
A cry of a victorious demon. And truly he walks arrogantly towards the door.
But he is stopped:
-Calm down! Answer us: Where is Jesus of Nazareth?
-In the house of Lazarus. In Bethany.
-We cannot enter that house which has faithful servants. It is the house of a favorite of Rome. We would look for
sure complications.
-At dawn we will come to the city. Set the guard on the road to Bethphage, create a tumult and seize him.
-How do you know he's coming that way? He could take the other...
-No. He has told his followers that he will enter the city by that road, through the gate of Ephraim, and that they should be
waiting for him at En Rogel. If you capture him first...
-We can't. We should enter the city with him among the guard, and all the roads leading to the gates and
all the streets of the city are crowded from dawn to night. There would be tumult, and that must not happen.
-He will go up to the Temple. Call him for questioning in a room. Call him in the name of the High Priest. He will go because he has
more respect for you than for his life. Once he is alone with you... you will not lack the means to take him to a safe place
and condemn him at the proper time.
-There would be turmoil. You should have realized that the crowd is fanatical for Him. And not only the
people, but also the great ones and those who are the hopes of Israel. Gamaliel loses his disciples. So did Jonathan ben Uziel.
And others among us. All, seduced by Him, leave us. Even the Gentiles venerate Him, or fear Him - which is already
veneration - and are ready to rise up against us if we mistreat Him. Among other things, some bandits, whom
we paid to be false disciples and stir up disputes, have been arrested and have spoken out. They expect clemency for the denunciation. And
the Praetor is aware.... Everyone follows him while we do not conclude anything. No. We must act with subtlety,
so that the mobs don't notice.
-Yes. That's the way to act! Annas also gives this warning. He says "Let it not happen during the feast, and let no tumult be created
among the fanatical people". This he has ordered, and he has also given dispositions so that he may be treated with respect in the Temple and
in other places and that he may not be disturbed and so that he may be taken to an enclosure.
-And then what do you want to do? I was already well decided for tonight, but you hesitate? - says Judas.
-Look: you should take us to him at a time when he is alone. You know his ways. You have written to us that you, of
all, are the closest to Him. Therefore, you will know what He wants to do. We will always be ready. When you judge
the time and place propitious, you come and we will go.
-And so it is. What will be my retribution?
Judas speaks coldly, as if it were a commercial deal.
-What the prophets say, to be faithful to the inspired word: thirty pieces of money? (Zechariah 11, 12-13)
-Thirty coins to kill a man, and that Man? The price of a common lamb in these
feast days?! You are crazy! It is not that I am in need of money. I have good reserves. So don't think that you
convince me out of lust for money. But it is too little to pay for my pain of betraying the One who has always loved me.
-But we have already told you that you will receive glory and honor from us! What you expected from Him and have not received.
We will medicate your disappointment. But the price is fixed by the prophets! It is a formality! It is a symbol, nothing more. The
rest will come later...
-And the money when?
-The moment you tell us: “Come”. Not before. Nobody pays before they get their hands on the goods. Doesn't
seem fair to you?
-It's fair. But at least triple the amount...
-No. So it is said by the prophets. So shall it be done. Oh, we shall obey the prophets! We will not omit or
one iota of what they have written about Him. Heh! Heh! Heh! We are faithful to the inspired word! Heh! Heh! Heh! - laughs that
nauseating skeleton that is Cananias.
And many chorus him with mournful laughter, low, insincere, real demons who do not know but to laugh
mockingly. Because the smile is proper to the serene and loving heart; the mocking laughter, of the troubled and saturated hearts
of malignity.
-All is said and done. You may leave. We'll wait until dawn to return to the city by different roads. Farewell. Peace
be with you, lost sheep returning to Abraham's flock. Peace to you! Peace to you! And the acknowledgment of all Israel!
Count on us! May God be with you, as He has been with all His most
faithful servants! May all blessings descend upon you!
They accompany him, with hugs and demonstrations of love, to the door... they watch him as he walks away down the corridor
half-darkened... they hear the rattling of irons from the bolts of the gate that opens and then closes.
They return to the room with great contentment.
Only two or three voices are raised. They are those of the less demoniacs:
-And now, what shall we do about Simon Judas? We know well that we cannot give him what we have promised him, apart from those poor thirty coins!... What will he say when he sees himself betrayed? Won't we have done a greater damage
? Won't he tell the people what we have done? We know that he is a man of unsteady thinking
- How naïve and foolish you are, having these thoughts and creating these anxieties for yourselves! It is already determined what
we will do with Judas. It has been determined since last time, don't you remember? And we do not change our thinking. When
all is finished with the Christ, Judas will die. It is said.
-But what if he spoke first?
-To whom? To the disciples and to the people, so that they may stone him? He will not speak. The horror of his deed gags him....
-But he might regret it in the future, have regrets, even lose his mind.... Because his remorse, if he
were to awaken, would drive him mad; it cannot be otherwise....
-He will not have time. We will take the appropriate measures first. Each thing in its own time. First the Nazarene and then the
who betrayed him," says Elijah slowly, terribly.
-Yes. And be careful! Not a word to the absent ones. They have already known too much of our thoughts. I do not trust Joseph, nor
Nicodemus. And little of the others.
-Doubt Gamaliel?
-Gamaliel has been separated from us for many months now. Without an express pontifical order, he will not attend our
meetings. He says he is writing his work with the help of his son. But I refer to Eleazar and John.
-They have never opposed us! - answers at once an Elder whom I have seen before with Joseph of Arimathea,
but whose name I do not remember.
-No. It is that they have opposed us too little. He! He! He! He! And we will have to watch them! Many serpents have nested in the
Sanhedrin, I believe ... Heh! Heh! Heh! But they'll be un-nestled... Heh! Heh! Heh! - says Canaanias as he slouches and trembles,
leaning on his cane, to find a comfortable place on one of the wide, low seats covered with thick rugs, which are
along the walls of the room, and, satisfied, he lies down and soon falls asleep: his mouth open, disfigured by his bad old age.
They watch him. And Doras, son of Doras, says:
-He is pleased to see this day. My father dreamed of it; but he did not have it. I will carry in my heart his spirit, so that he may be
present on the day of vengeance against the Nazarene and receive his joy.....
Remember that we will have to take turns. A nourished shift. To be constantly in the Temple.
-We will be.
-We will have to order that, at any hour, Judas of Simon be brought before the High Priest.
-We will do it.
-And now let us prepare our hearts for the final task.
-It's ready! -It's ready!
-With cunning.
-With cunning.
-With finesse.
-With finesse.
-To still all suspicions.
-To cajole all hearts.
-Whatever he says or whatever he does, no reaction. We'll avenge everything at once.
-That's how we'll do it. And it will be a merciless revenge.
-Complete!
-Terrible!
And they sit looking for rest in expectation of the dawn.