 | Judas Iscariot |  |
SCENE III.
The Garden of Gethsemane.Enter Nicodemus and Claudia.
Clau.
This also have I heard.
Nico.
A divine man:
It is past all doubt. The lame, the blind, the sick,
Touch but his garment's hem, and they are healed.
Even the dead rise.
Clau.
And now Lazarus,
Who was entombed four days! The Spirit of God
Must surely dwell with Jesus.
Nico.
Old and young—
All he receiveth. Women in crowds, and children
Follow him. Little children in his arms
He foldeth up, and blesseth them.
Clau.
Canst thou bring me
Where I may see him?
Nico.
I will watch a time
For this; and speedily, since there is doubt
How long he tarry with us.
Clau.
Thou dost speak
Like one who sorroweth. If he depart
Out of Jerusalem, he will return
After his journey?
Nico.
He will not return.
(Exeunt.)
Enter Peter, John, James, and Judas.
Peter.
If his word move all hearts, where'er he goeth,
As doth the sun who looketh on the waves,
Call'st thou the light too slow? The divine word
Are they not quick to reach large multitudes,
Daily?
Judas.
But since our days are but a span,
Or we may suffer death by martyrdom,
For us it seemeth slow.
John.
No time is slow,
While love goes with it; wherefore our Lord's good time
Let us abide in full faith.
James.
What are we,
That we should question him?
Judas.
But while his power
Could silence their revilings and their taunts,
Set aside all their doctrines and harsh laws,
Wither their soldiers' hands—cast down their walls,
And in the place a mighty Temple erect
To the True Spirit—even to his Father, God—
Behold, instead, he wandereth by the way,
Even as an outcast, and the wicked sit
In the high places, as of old.
Peter.
Nay, Judas;
Not as of old, with all the future theirs—
For so it seemed—but as things doomed to die,
Since the bright star of Bethlehem arose.
John.
Their nights are numbered. Jesus can breathe one breath—
And all who now sit crowned shall fade in air,
While from the misty silence, to the sweetness
Of psaltery, dulcimer, and angel quire,
His own great Kingdom burneth into view!
Judas.
I say this to myself most constantly!
I know this—this I strongly feel.
John.
But when
He shall thus breathe his triumph, no man knoweth,—
Or it may be that first we must taste death;
Of the wrong-doers and the blind.
Judas.
My heart
Rebels against this suffering—seeing no end.
James.
When Jesus rules on earth, all pains will end.
John.
Lord, I am thine at all times, and my love
Being equal to my hope, I wait in peace.
Peter.
Shall we not meanwhile suffer cheerfully
All evils that may come?
Judas.
What need of evils?
Have we not known enough of these already;
And why should Jesus suffer them? My blood
Leaps up against it.
Peter.
Thou shouldst rather kneel
To Jesus, praying him to grant unto thee
The blessing of his patience.
John.
And the joy,
Serene and glorified, which comes to those
Who well believing in his future kingdom,
On earth—are not unmindful of the grave.
[Exeunt Peter, John, and James.
Judas.
They are deaf. Why not his kingdom now on earth?
The grave can better wait than we.
[He pauses.]
The air grows dark.— [Pauses.]
Time trembles in my heart.
I have besought them warily, and I find
My thought must be my act without their aid,
Or counsel.— [Pauses.]
Yonder dusky foliage moves!
There is no wind. I see the gleam of spears!
[Judas makes a sign, and Exit.
Enter two Centurions with armed Soldiers.
1st Cen.
He signalled us that we should follow him.
2nd Cen.
But not too closely.
Saw you not that bird
Of evil omen in the gloomy grove?
A Sol.
Master, this is a bad work.
1st Cen.
Follow now.
(Exeunt.)
Enter Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate.
Caia.
Thou being a just man, and also of great wisdom,
wilt surely consider the acts which he hath committed
how worthy they are of punishment at thy
hands?
Pilate.
I cannot rightly know what he hath done till I
have heard his accusers set it forth, and all those
that come to bear witness against him.
Caia.
Of these there will be great numbers; but the
manifold sins of which he is accused, and the blasphemies
he hath spoken, are they not already
known to thee?
Pilate.
I have not heard him blaspheme, nor must I
judge any of his sins beforehand, nor in private.
Caia.
Surely thou wilt condemn this man; or how shall
we be safe from others like unto him, and from
them that follow him!
Pilate.
They will all be exposed to the same law, therefore
take thou no fear of them.
Caia.
In all things, O Pilate, doth he interfere with the
priests, so that they feel it sorely, and must cry
aloud against it; and thou, being a pious man fearing
the gods of thy country, wilt assuredly condemn
those who make a mockery and scorn of the priests
of any holy faith, and its ceremonies, and traditions.
Pilate.
What hath he done against the Jewish priests?
Caia.
He hath taught the people that all men are brothers,
and should be equal; that no man should be master
and rabbi; and that he is greatest who serveth
most. What is this but evil speaking and false
doctrine, and lying and slandering? For do we
not very well know, O Pilate, that the people are
not the brothers of those who sit in high places,
nor have they any equality except among their
upon the earth, and high priests, and governors of
great dignity, and many slaves?—Why answerest
thou not a word? Besides these false doctrines
which he teacheth everywhere openly, he hath
wrought pretended miracles, or if not pretended he
hath had the aid of demons therein; and he hath
moreover gone about healing the sick. Lepers,
of each of the four kinds,—demoniacs, men and
women sick of fevers, and agues, hath he healed;
the blind, the lame, and others suffering palsy and
tephelim, and diseases of the reins, or suffering
grievously in the liver and spleen—not by anointing
with oil according to our sacred use, prescribed by
ancient traditions for all these diseases, but by
prayer and the laying on of hands! Of a surety
thou wilt visit all these acts with their just reward?
Pilate.
I will see justice done upon him.
[Sounds of tumult in a distant part of the garden.
Caia.
What is it?
Pilate.
The sentence must await the forms of law.
Caia.
The tumult that we hear, knowest thou what it
means?
Pilate.
I know not.
(Exit Pilate.)
Caia.
Yet shalt thou condemn him, unless he work a
miracle to save himself.
(Tumult increases.)
The
demons that minister unto him are of great strength.
Enter Scribe and Two Pharisees followed by James.
James.
Will ye return to your houses to feast and make
merry while this evil is committed? Will no man
turn aside to set free the Son of God?
Scribe.
Ha-ha! doth he need aid, and dost thou ask it
of us?
1st Phar.
What we do is righteousness, but he hath done
and spoken abominations.
Caia.
If he be the Son of God, let him set himself free.
Tumult near at hand.
They bear him to the house of Annas. If he
be as this man sayeth, let him command the house
of Annas that it fall down upon the heads of all
within, while he cometh out whole.
[Exit Caiaphas.
James.
O, Scribes and Pharisees, boasters and teachers of
virtuous things, how full of venom are your hearts!
Your words are as the hissing of serpents.
Scribe.
He hath taught thee that thou shouldst speak
slanderously after his own fashion.
2nd Phar.
But the tongue of the slanderer shall be
silenced. A coal of fire shall be put into his
mouth.
(Noise of many voices. A crowd passeth over between the trees at the back, with torches and with spears.
James.
They bear Him away!
Scribe.
As for thee, return to thy boat which rotteth on
the banks of the Galilean sea, and to thy nets which
are full of holes.
1st Phar.
See here!
Enter Judas.
Scribe.
This fellow had a stiff neck, and yet a pliant ear,
so that while he seemed to scorn my words he followed
after a wise direction.
1st Phar.
(To Judas.)
Thou shewest the true spirit of
thy master's preaching, having betrayed him to
the death of the slave, yea of the vilest thief.
2nd Phar.
I have seen the flying-serpent of the wilderness,
how he moved upon his belly through the
grass; how he darted through the air upon his
prey.
Scribe.
I stood upon an asp, and he turned and stung
the Son of God with a venomous tooth.
[Exeunt Scribe and Pharisees.
James.
Thou standest as a tree that the wind rendeth not,
but thou art surely rotted at the core because thou
hast done this thing.
M. Magd.
(To Judas.)
Can the shades of night hide
thee; can the thick trees cover thee up, so that our
curses reach thee not?
S. of Laz.
When the moon rises, whither wilt thou flee;
when the stars come out, what cavern shall be deep
enough for thee?
M. Magd.
Art thou indeed a man because of thy form;
can a beast of the field put on garments, and sit at
meat, and have speech, and salute with a kiss?
James.
Dost thou see this woman, the Mother of our
Lord; dost thou look upon her?
J. of Ar.
He turneth his head aside. He cannot endure
her face—
James.
Though her eyes gaze not on him, and her tongue
uttereth no word.
M. Magd.
(To Judas)
O that the lightning would run
shivering down upon thee!—that the black clouds
would open a deluge over thee!
J. of Ar.
Let us leave Judas to himself, for there can be
nothing more miserable on earth. Even Pity hides
her head, and is afraid. And such is his reward.
[Exeunt all except Judas.
Judas.
Wherefore be miserable? Why should I feel
Thus heavy and cast down? Reproachful words
Were certain—natural—and they will change
To praises and hosannas, when my deed
Shall justify itself, and the Messiah,
Compelled his power and terrors to reveal,
Shall burn to stubble all their armed hosts,
And sit enthroned. Then shall his followers, clad
In gorgeous raiment—seated in golden chairs,
The necks of enemies beneath their feet—
In ecstacy unspeakable, behold
Above the temple of Jerusalem
Aught else unseen; and while his chosen priests
Shall with exalted trumpets pierce the sky,
And Scribes and Pharisees, scorched with inward flames
Sink into heaps of ashes, will the name
Of Judas echo from an Angel's voice,
Crying, ‘Behold, the one ordained of heaven
To urge the great work of redemption on,
Commencing with Christ's kingdom upon earth!’
| Judas Iscariot | |