 | Jesus of Nazareth |  |
Scene I.
—Room in Mary's house. Mary and Jesus conversing.Mary.
My heart grows lighter. When, two months ago,
We met, all hope had vanished, but thy face
Brought back sweet hope and dreams of days gone by.
Jerusalem was changed; with thee within it
The sinful city fair and holier grew,
For through the eyes of man a God can shine
Filling the rocky wilderness of life
With everlasting sunlight—thou art God,
For God is love and goodness, and thou art
The spirit of love and goodness.
Jesus.
I and God
Are one, for through my voice the Father speaks,
Sending good news to mortals. Man and God,
At war through all the ages, now at last
May meet in holiest peace; what prophets spake
In me the Son of Man shall be fulfilled,
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My brows with earthly fame,—but not for fame
Left I the eternal heavens; I came to seek
The poor, the lost, the sad, the wandering sheep,
The dark of soul, the guilty—bidding all
Believe that in the Father's watchful heart
Dwells love for each and all, and boundless pity.
Thee have I saved; and women in time to come
Saved by the sons of men shall bear thy name,
The name of Magdalene, and so shalt thou
Redeem the coming ages: all the world
May be redeemed through love, and I through love
Will surely save it.
Mary.
But the world is dark,
Full of all evil, horror, murderous crime.
Man's world is crimson with the blood of man,
And woman is man's slave—as I have been—
Man's slave, and yet man's tempter.
Jesus.
Have thou faith
In me and in the Father. Unto God
A thousand years are but a moment's space:
The God who made the worlds can save the worlds:
God made the sinner,—but he also made
The heart that loves the sinner, even mine.
My heart is as God's heart, and God's is mine:
Yea, through our hearts, the Father's and my own,
Flows love that shall redeem the very vilest
And lift the lowest to a throne on high,
Pure in the starlit heavens. Believest thou?
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Lord, I believe that thou art sent to save
The world.
Jesus.
The world will in the end be saved,
And by my death,—but ages yet will pass,
Ages of strife and anguish, ere the end.
I came not to bring peace: I came to send
Upon the earth a sword, and to reveal
The secrets of all hearts; I came to found
A Church whose warrior-sons shall spread the news
Of God's eternal kingdom far and wide,
Till in the end this earth whereon we stand,
This blood-stained earth, shall be a fitting place
For God to dwell in: then will I return
And reign thereon with thousands of the saints,
And evil's form shall vanish.
Mary.
Lord, when thou
Returnest thus with thousands of the saints,
Let me be with thee; leave me not alone
Within the starlit heavens, when earth is thus
Made starlike by thy presence,
Jesus.
Nay, I speak
Of unknown ages dim within the far
Unfathomed future, but thy dreams are all
Dreams of to-day. Yet rest thou well content:
No lamb of all my flock but shall be safe
Through all eternity, and all my lambs
My hand shall lead for ever.
Mary.
I believe.
| Jesus of Nazareth | |