Jerusalem
56. The Fall Festival57. Martha and Mary
58. Praying
59. Wealth
60. The Seventh Day
61. Judgment
62. Hanukkah
63. Perea
64. Guests
65. Discipleship
66. Happiness
67. Here
68. Ten Lepers
69. God’s Kingdon
70. Infants
71. Life
72. Precedence
73. Jericho
74. Lazarus
At the Spring Festival, he had infuriated Jews in Jerusalem by claiming to be God’s son. Many in the city vowed to kill him if he returned. Yet as the Fall Festival approaches, his relatives in Galilee advise him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where the whole world can see the great things you’re doing. No one can stay away from Jerusalem if he wants to make himself known.” Even now his relatives, though wishing him well, don’t believe in him. He says to them, “My time isn’t yet, but your time is always. The world doesn’t hate you, but it hates me because I tell it its works are evil. Go to the festival: I’ll go when my time comes.” So he remains in Galilee. But after his relatives depart, he and the twelve also set out for Jerusalem. On their way they come to a Samaritan village. He sends messengers to arrange for resting, but when the villagers learn he’s going to Jerusalem they refuse him their welcome.
JAMES and JOHN. Master, do you want us to call down fire from heaven and burn them up?
But he scolds the brothers. Before they reach the next village, a Samaritan from the previous village overtakes them.
THE SAMARITAN. Master, I’m with you, but let me settle matters at home.
JESUS. No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for God’s kingdom.
He enters Jerusalem secretly. People are watching for him, since he’s a figure of controversy. Some are saying, “He’s a good man”; others, “Not at all—he’s deceiving the people.” Still others hope he’s the Messiah but are afraid to say what they think. Halfway through the festival, he goes to the Temple and speaks to the crowds.
BYSTANDERS. How can a man who hasn’t studied know what he’s talking about?
JESUS. What I tell you isn’t mine, but his who sent me. Try to do his will and you’ll know if what I teach comes from me or from God. Whoever speaks for himself must look after his own reputation. Whoever delivers a message can rely on the person who sent him. If the sender is true the messenger is trustworthy. Didn’t Moses give you the Law? If you object to the Law, why try to kill me?
BYSTANDERS. That’s ridiculous—who said anything about killing you?
JESUS. I do good on the Sabbath and you find it shocking. Moses was following his fathers when he gave you circumcision. You’re permitted to circumcise a man on the Sabbath, yet you’re angry with me when on the Sabbath I make a man perfectly whole. I ask you not to judge by what seems to be the case but by what is the case.
They now know who he is.
A JEW. He’s talking openly, yet nobody’s denouncing him. Have they decided he really is the Messiah? But we know the man and where he comes from. When the Messiah appears, no one will know where he comes from.
JESUS. You say you know me and know where I come from, yet I didn’t come on my behalf but because he who sent me is true: It’s he you don’t know.
Some of the Pharisees and chief priests have brought with them Temple guards to arrest him. They want to seize him right there, but the crowd protects him.
THE CROWD. If the Messiah ever comes, will he do anything this man hasn’t?
JESUS. For a short time I’ll be with you; then I’ll return to him who sent me. You’ll look for me and won’t find me.
PEOPLE IN THE CROWD. Where will he go that we can’t find him? Will he appeal to Jews throughout the Empire? Is he going over to the Greeks? Why does he say we’ll look for him and won’t find him?
The last and greatest day of the festival. He again talks to the people.
JESUS. If anyone thirsts, come to me and drink. Everyone who believes in me will have flowing in him rivers of living water.
SOME JEWS. He is the Prophet! He is the Messiah!
OTHERS. Will the Messiah come from Galilee? Doesn’t scripture say that he’ll come from David’s family and be born in David’s city?
THE CHIEF PRIESTS to the guards. Why don’t you arrest him?
GUARDS. Nobody talks like him.
CHIEF PRIESTS. Are you people also fools? Has anyone who has the right to know ever spoken up for him? You people who know nothing are a curse.
NICODEMUS, a Pharisee. Does our Law judge anyone before it hears him and knows what he’s done?
OTHER PHARISEES. Are you from Galilee too? However you twist scripture, no prophet will come out of Galilee.
The crowd disperses. After spending the night on the Mount of Olives, Jesus returns to the Temple. It’s the Sabbath. A crowd gathers around him; he sits down and speaks with them. A group of Pharisees and scribes brings him a woman guilty of adultery and holds her in front of him.
SCRIBES. Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. Moses in the Law says that such persons must be stoned to death. What do you say?
Ignoring them, he bends down and writes on the ground with his finger. When they continue to insist that he answer them, he stands up.
JESUS. Whoever of you is without sin: let him throw the first stone.
He bends down and again writes on the ground. Beginning with the eldest, the woman’s accusers go away one by one until she is alone before him. He looks at her and stands up.
JESUS. Where are the judges? Is no one here to condemn you?
THE WOMAN. No one, Lord.
JESUS. I don’t condemn you either: go and don’t sin again.
He goes to the Temple treasury.
JESUS. I am the world’s light. Who follows me won’t walk in the dark but will have the light of life.
A PHARISEE. You’re talking about yourself: what you say has no authority.
JESUS. Even when I speak of myself, you can believe what I say. I, at least, know where I come from and where I am going, but you have no notion of my origin or my destiny. You have authority over men. I have authority over no one. Yet what authority I possess is true authority because I am not alone. I am with my Father who sent me. The Law says, “At the mouth of two witnesses the matter shall be established.” I am one that testifies to me, and my Father who sent me testifies to me.
ANOTHER PHARISEE. Where is your father?
JESUS. You don’t know me and don’t know my Father. If you knew me you’d know my Father. I am going away. You will look for me and die in your sins. Where I am going you cannot follow.
THE CROWD. Will he kill himself? Where can we go that we can’t follow?
JESUS. You are from below, I am from above. You are of the world, I am not. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. I say again: If you do not believe that I am that I am, you will die in your sins.
A THIRD PHARISEE. Who are you?
JESUS. I am that I am, as always. I could say many things that would condemn you, but I speak to the world those things which I have heard from him who sent me. I come to tell you they are true. When you have lifted up the son of Adam, you will know that I am that I am and that I do nothing of myself: that as my Father taught me, so I teach you. He that sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone, for the things I do please him. If you hold to what I say, you are my disciples. You’ll know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
PHARISEES. We are descendants of Abraham and have never been anyone’s slaves. How can you say you’ll make us free?
JESUS. I say to you: whoever sins is the slave of sin. A slave has no standing in a house. The son has. If the son makes you free, then you really are free. I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you want to kill me because what I say has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with my Father. Your acts show who your father is.
PHARISEES. Abraham is our father.
JESUS. If you were Abraham’s children you would do Abraham’s works. Why, then, do you want to kill me, who has told you the truth he has heard from God? Is that Abraham’s example? You are doing your father’s work.
PHARISEES. We are not born of fornication. We have one Father, God himself.
JESUS. If God were your Father you would love me, because I come from and am sent by God. I willingly came because he sent me. You cannot grasp my message, because you will not hear what I am saying. Your father is the devil and you do the will of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and hated truth because he had no truth in him. When he speaks he speaks in you, because he is a liar and the father of lies. Who of you can convict me of sin? If I tell you the truth, why don’t you believe me? It’s because I tell you the truth that you don’t believe me. Whoever is of God hears God’s words: because you are not of God, you do not hear.
PHARISEES. Didn’t we tell you that you are a blasphemer and a madman?
JESUS. I am not mad. I honor the Father. You dishonor me. I don’t seek my glory. One who does seek it will judge you. What I say is. I say to you: If anyone keeps my word, he will not die.
PHARISEES. Now we know you’re crazy. Abraham’s dead, so are the prophets, and you tell us anybody who believes you won’t die. Who do you think you are?
JESUS. If I honor myself the honor is nothing. It is my Father—of whom you say, he is your God—who honors me. But you do not know him. I do: if I said I did not I’d be a liar like you. But I know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad.
PHARISEES. You aren’t fifty years old, and you tell us about Abraham!
JESUS. What I say is. I say to you: before Abraham was, I am.
They pick up stones, but the crowd protects him. He walks out of the Temple. On the street he meets a man who was born blind.
THE APOSTLES. Teacher, who sinned, he or his parents, that he should be blind all his life?
JESUS. He is not blind because of anyone’s sins, but because God’s work will shine in him.
Making some mud with spit, he rubs it on the man’s eyes.
JESUS. Wash your eyes in the Siloam Pool.
He goes to the pool, washes his eyes, and looks up seeing. Some priests see him walking about.
PRIESTS. Didn’t this man sit and beg?
SOME IN THE CROWD. He did.
OTHERS. Looks like him.
THE MAN HIMSELF. I’m the one.
PRIESTS. How is it you’re able to see?
THE MAN. Someone named Jesus put mud on my eyes and told me to go to the Siloam Pool and wash. I went, washed, and saw.
PRIESTS. Where is this Jesus?
THE MAN. I don’t know.
PRIESTS. This man you’re talking about isn’t from God: he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.
BYSTANDERS. How can a sinner work miracles?
PEOPLE to the man who was born blind. What’s your opinion?
THE MAN. He’s a prophet.
The priests go to the man’s parents.
PRIESTS. If your son was born blind, how has he come to see?
HIS PARENTS. He’s our son and he was born blind. How he came to see or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He’s old enough: let him speak for himself.
They go back to him.
PRIESTS. Give God the praise: we know this man is a sinner.
THE MAN. Whether he’s a sinner or not I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind—now I see.
PRIESTS. What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?
THE MAN. I’ve already told you and you didn’t believe me. Why do you want me to repeat it? Are you going to do what he does?
PRIESTS. You’re this magician’s accomplice. We are disciples of Moses. We know God spoke to Moses. Your man comes out of nowhere.
THE MAN. Remarkable: a man from nowhere opens eyes. You know as well as I that God doesn’t listen to sinners. God only listens to the man who worships him and does his will. It’s unheard of for someone to be born blind and have his eyes opened. If he were a sinner, he could do nothing.
PRIESTS. You were born in sin and you’re telling us what to think?
They turn and walk away. He sees Jesus.
JESUS. Do you believe in God’s son?
THE MAN. Show him to me and I’ll believe.
JESUS. You see him: he’s talking with you.
THE MAN. Lord, I believe.
JESUS. My coming is a judgment on the world. The blind will see and the seeing will be blind.
Some Pharisees overhear this.
PHARISEES. What you’re saying is: we’re blind to you.
JESUS. If you were blind you would have no sin; but since you say, “We see,” your guilt remains. What I say is. I say to you: Anyone who does not go in the sheepfold through the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief or a robber. The shepherd goes in through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his sheep by name and leads them out. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but will run from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. What I say is. I say to you: I am the sheep gate. All who don’t come through me are thieves and robbers. The sheep will not hear them. I am the gate. Whoever enters though me will be saved, will go in and go out, and find pasture. I am the shepherd: the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I come to give my sheep life. The hireling sees the wolf coming, forsakes the sheep, and runs away—and the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. The hireling runs away because he’s hired. The sheep are not his, and he doesn’t love them. I am the shepherd. The Father knows me and I know the Father. In the same way, I know my sheep and my sheep know me. I give my life for my sheep. I have other sheep, that are not of this fold. I must bring them in also. They will hear my voice, and they will come to me, and there will be one shepherd and one sheep herd. My Father loves me, because I give my life to receive it again. No one takes it from me. I give it willingly. I give my life and receive it back. It is my Father’s wish.
He remains in Judea and teaches in the villages near Jerusalem. One day he walks to Bethany, where the sisters Martha and Mary welcome him to their home. Martha serves, while Mary sits at this feet.
MARTHA. Master, do you think it’s right that my sister should leave it to me to do all the serving? Please ask her to help me.
JESUS. Martha. Martha. You are conscientious and worry over many things. One thing only was needed: Mary gave it, and it won’t be taken from her.
He’s praying. A follower comes to him.
FOLLOWER. Master, teach us to pray as John taught his followers.
JESUS. Whenever two of you agree here on earth to ask anything, my Father in heaven will give it to you; and when two or three of you come together because of me, I am there with you. Suppose you had a friend and you went to him in the middle of the night and said, “Friend, lend me some food; someone I know who is traveling has come to my house, and I’ve nothing to feed him.” Suppose your friend said, “Don’t bother me—I’ve locked the door and my children are in bed; I can’t give you what you want.” Yet I say to you, even if he won’t get up and give you food because he’s your friend, he will give you everything you need if you keep insisting.
A man asks a favor.
THE MAN. Master, talk to my brother: tell him to give him my share of our inheritance.
JESUS. Friend, who made me a judge between you and him? If he wrongs you, tell him about it between yourselves. If he listens you’ve won him over. If he doesn’t, bring one or two others and establish the truth. If he doesn’t listen, inform the community. If he won’t listen to the community—then he’s a stranger to you. But why be rich, since you won’t find life in what you own? A man once reaped a tremendous harvest—much more than he could store. “How could I do better,” he thought, “than pull the old granaries down and put up larger ones? I’ll store all the grain and also my possessions. I’ve enough for many years: I’ll lie back, eat, drink—really enjoy life.” But God said, “Fool, tonight your life will be taken from you—who will now enjoy what you have provided?”
He sees a woman who’s bent double. She has been sick eighteen years. He calls her to him and puts his hands on her.
JESUS. Woman, stand free of your illness.
She straightens up and praises God. A synagogue leader observing this becomes angry and shouts at the crowd.
THE SYNAGOGUE LEADER. There are six days in the week when a man can work. Come and get cured on those days and let the Sabbath alone.
JESUS. You pretender, doesn’t everyone untie his ox on the Sabbath to give it water? May not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, be untied on the Sabbath?
People tell him of Galileans whose blood Pilate had spilled on their sacrifices.
JESUS. Do you think they died because because they were worse sinners than other Galileans? I say they were not, and unless you reverse yourselves you also shall die. Consider the eighteen who were crushed when the Siloam Tower fell. Do you think they died because they were worse sinners than the other Jews of Jerusalem? I say there were not. Unless you reverse yourselves you also shall die. A fig tree grew in a vineyard. The owner came looking for fruit and, finding none, said to the gardener, “Look at this. Three years I’ve come here expecting fruit and have found not a fig. Cut it down—why waste the space?” But the gardener said, “Lord, please give it another year. I shall dig around it and give it manure. If it bears fruit, good; if it does not, then I will cut it down.”
Jesus walks into the Temple at Soloman’s Porch. A crowd gathers.
A JEW. How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, say so.
JESUS. I told you and you don’t believe. What I do for my Father tells you who I am and you don’t believe. As I said, you aren’t my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them. They follow me and I give them life always. They will not die and no one will take them from me. My Father who gave them to me is more powerful than all, and no one will take them from him. I and the Father are one.
Again they pick up stones.
JESUS. I’ve shown you many good things from the Father. For which of them do you stone me?
JEWS. Not for any good you’ve done, but for blasphemy: a man, you make yourself out to be God.
JESUS. Isn’t it sung in the psalms, “I have said, You are gods”? You can’t deny scripture. If they to whom God’s word was sent are called gods, can you say to him whom the Father anointed and sent to the world, “You blaspheme,” because he says, “I am God’s son”? If I don’t do the Father’s work, then don’t believe me. If I do, then even if you don’t believe me, believe the work. Then you shall know that the Father is in me and I in him.
They try to seize him, but he walks away.
He and the apostles leave Judea and cross the Jordan River to Perea, where John first baptized. Large crowds come to him, and he cures their sick.
A JEW. Lord, will only a few be saved?
JESUS. The way to get in is through the narrow door.
A PHARISEE. Leave Perea—or Herod will kill you.
JESUS. Tell that fox: Today and tomorrow I’ll expel demons and cure the sick, and on the third day I’ll be glorified. I’ll go my way today and tomorrow: and on the third day I’ll go up to Jerusalem; for a prophet can’t die away from Jerusalem.
A leading Pharisee gives a large dinner party, to which he invites Jesus and the apostles. Seeing the guests eagerly seeking the best places, Jesus speaks to the twelve.
JESUS. Don’t sit in the best seats when you’re asked to a banquet. Someone worthier than you may have been invited—your host may say to you, “Give this person his seat”—and you will have the shame of trying to find a place far away. No: when asked to a banquet, go and sit in the worst seat, that your host may say to you, “Friend, come closer.” Then your fellow guests will be delighted to sit and eat with you.
He turns to his host.
JESUS. When you give a party or a feast, don’t just invite your friends, you relatives, and your rich neighbors. They will repay you by inviting you to their parties and feasts. Beg the poor, the sick, the cripples, the blind to come. You’ll be fortunate because they can’t repay you. When the just rise from the dead, then you’ll be repaid.
A DINNER GUEST. Blessed is he who will eat bread in God’s kingdom.
JESUS. A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests. When the meal was prepared he sent his servant to tell the guests, “Come, everything is ready.” But every one of the guests excused himself. The first said, “I’ve just bought some property and must inspect it; please say I can’t attend.” Another said, “I’ve just bought five yoke of oxen and must look at them; please say I can’t attend.” And another said, “I’ve just gotten married—I can’t come.” When the servent returned and reported to his lord, the master became angry and said, “Quick, go into the streets and alleys of the town and bring here the poor, the sick, the cripples, and the blind.” The servant did this. He returned to his master and said, “Lord, we did what you asked, and there is still room.” The master said, “Go out into the roads and the fields and force those you find to come in, until my house is full. But not one of them I invited first shall taste my banquet.”
A crowd is following him.
JESUS. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his mother and father, his wife and children, his sisters and brothers, and yes, his own life, he cannot be my disciple. If any of you intended to build a tower, wouldn’t he first sit down and count the cost to see whether he can afford to finish it? Otherwise, he might lay the foundation and not be able to go on. People will look and laugh; they’ll say: “He started, but couldn’t finish.” What king going to make war against another king doesn’t sit down and consider whether his ten thousand soldiers can defeat his enemy’s twenty thousand? If they can’t he sends a message and sues for peace while the other army is a great way off. So: who even among you does not forsake everything can’t be my disciple.
Turncoats and criminals come to hear him.
SCRIBES and PHARISEES. The man delights in traitors and eats with them.
JESUS. What shepherd having a hundred sheep and losing one doesn’t leave the ninety-nine and go in the wilderness to find the one that is lost? And when he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and is filled with happiness. He runs home, calls his friends and neighbors together, and says, “Let’s celebrate—I’ve found my sheep that was lost.” I say to you there is more happiness in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine persons who need no repentance. What woman having ten pieces of silver and losing one doesn’t light a candle and sweep the house and look searchingly until she finds it? And when she finds it, she jumps up, calls her friends and neighbors together and says, “Let’s celebrate, I’ve found my silver piece that was lost.” I say to you there is among God’s angels more happiness over one sinner who repents. A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, give me now my share of the inheritance.” So the man divided his property. A few days later the son brought together what he had received and moved to a foreign country, where he used up his wealth in riotous living. After he lost everything a great famine came over the land, and he began to starve. He attached himself to a citizen of the country, who sent him to a farm to feed pigs. And he would willingly have filled his stomach with the middlings the pigs ate, his ration was so meager. Then he came to his senses and said, “My father’s many servants have more than enough food and I’m dying of hunger. I shall leave this place and go to my father and say, ’Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Take me as one of your hired servants.’” So he left the place and went to his father. While he was still in the distance, his father saw him and loved him. He ran to his son, held his shoulders, and kissed him. The son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you and don’t deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to the servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put rings on his fingers and shoes on his feet; bring out the fatted calf and kill it. Let us enjoy ourselves and eat. My son was dead and now is alive. He was lost, and now he’s found.” And they began to enjoy themselves. The elder son was in the fields. As he came near the house he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. The servant said, “Your brother has returned. Your father has killed the fatted calf, the boy has come home safe and sound.” Then the elder brother grew angry and would not go in. His father came out to plead with him, but he answered, “Look, for many years I’ve worked for you and have never once disobeyed your orders, yet you have never given me a single goat for me to enjoy with my friends. Now this boy comes who spent your money on whores, and for him you kill the fatted calf.” The father said, “Son, you are with me always. Everything I have is yours. It is right that we should be happy and enjoy ourselves. Your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost, and now he’s found.”
He’s walking with his followers.
JESUS. A rich man had a steward who was accused of misusing the property. He called him in and said, “What’s this I hear about you? Hand in your records: you’re no longer my steward.” The steward walked away saying to himself, “What shall I do, now that my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I can’t dig. I’m ashamed to beg. I must see to it that even when I’m no longer steward I shall be taken into people’s houses.” The steward called on the rich man’s debtors. He said to the first, “How much do you owe my master?” And when the answer came, “A hundred measures of oil,” he said, “Take your bill, sit down, and quickly write in fifty.” He asked another, “How much do you owe?” When the answer came, “A hundred measures of wheat,” he said, “Take your bill and write eighty.” The master heard of this, and commended the unjust steward for his cunning. The children of the world know better than the children of light how to deal with the world. I say to you: use the things of this world to make friends, so that when you fall out of the world they will receive you in their eternal homes. Whoever can be trusted with little things can be trusted with great. Whoever cheats in little things cheats in great. If you can’t be trusted with wealth that rots, who will trust you with true wealth? If you can’t be trusted with what is lent you, who will give you anything to own? A rich man and a begger lived in the same neighborhood. The rich man dressed in purple and in linen and ate sumptuously every day. The beggar, whose name was Lazarus and who was full of sores, lay at the rich man’s door. For he hoped to feed himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table; and besides, the dogs came and licked his sores. The beggar died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died. He was buried and from hell he lifted his eyes in torment. Far off he saw Abraham with Lazarus in his arms. He cried, “Father Abraham, pity me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.” Abraham said, “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus received evil from you. Now he is comforted and you are in torment. Moreover, there is a great gulf between us and you. They who would pass from here to you cannot, nor can they pass to us, who come from you.” The man who had died rich said, “If that is true, father, I pray you send him to my father’s house. I have five brothers, and he will warn them, and they won’t come to this place of torment.” Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets to listen to.” The man said, “No, Father Abraham, if someone came to them from the dead, they will repent.” Abraham said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, they will not listen, if a man rose from the dead.”
PETER. Lord—increase our faith.
JESUS. If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you. If you had a servant plowing a field or feeding cattle, would you say when he comes in, “Please, sit down and eat”? Should a master reward his servant for obeying him? When you have done all the things commanded you, you will say, “I am a useless servant: I have done only my duty.”
Near a village on the border between Perea and Samaria. Ten lepers stand at a distance and salute them.
THE LEPERS. Jesus, Master, help us!
JESUS. Go: show yourselves to the priests.
Going, they’re made clean. One of them, a Samaritan, turns back, falls at Jesus’ feet, and shouts praises to God.
JESUS. Weren’t ten made clean? Where are the other nine? Must a man be a foreigner to turn and give God glory? Stand up: your faith makes you whole.
They encounter some Pharisees.
PHARISEES. Where should we look for God’s kingdom?
JESUS. God’s kingdom won’t come from looking for it. Don’t hope that someone will say, “Look here” or “Look there,” for—look—God’s kingdom is in you.
THE APOSTLES. Lord, when will we see it?
JESUS. In a certain town there was a judge who feared neither God nor man. A widow in the town came to him and said, “Give me justice against my enemy.” At first the judge did nothing; but when the woman came back again and again he said to himself, “Will there be no end to this trouble? I know I’ll get nothing out of this quarrel, but I had better do something about it in her favor—at least I’ll get rid of a wearisome woman.” So the unjust judge. Can you doubt that God defends his elect, who cry to him day and night? I tell you, while they’re waiting he has already given them everything they need.
THE TWELVE. We shall never stop praying.
JESUS. Two men entered the Temple to pray: a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee walked to the front, looked up, and prayed, “God, thank you for making me different from other men—robbers, cheaters, adulterers—and from that tax collector. I fast twice a week. A tenth of what’s mine I give to you.” The tax collector remained in the back, did not look up to God, but beat his chest and said, “God, pity me, a sinner.” The tax collector and not the Pharisee returned blessed to his home.
ANOTHER PHARISEE. Are there any grounds for which a man may divorce his wife?
JESUS. Haven’t you read, “In the beginning he who created man created him male and female,” and “therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and they shall be one flesh”—no longer two but one flesh? Therefore what God joins together no man may separate.
THE PHARISEE. Why, then, did Moses allow us to divorce a wife after giving her a notice of separation?
JESUS. It is because of your recalcitrance that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives. It was not so in the beginning. I say to you that anyone who divorces a faithful wife forces her into adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery himself.
THE APOSTLES. If that’s how it is, it’s better not to marry.
JESUS. Not everyone will agree with your conclusion, but some will find it given them. Some are born eunuchs, some are made eunuchs by men, and some make themselves eunuchs for the sake of God’s kingdom. Whoever can accept this let him do so.
Some people bring him infants for him to touch. The Apostles reprimand them.
JESUS. Let the children come to me: God’s kingdom is made of them.
A young man runs up and kneels before him.
THE YOUNG MAN. Good teacher, what must I do to always have life?
JESUS. Why say good? One is good, who is God. If you want life keep the commandments.
THE YOUNG MAN. Which?
JESUS. “You shall not kill,” “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “Honor your father and mother,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
THE YOUNG MAN. I have kept these since childhood.
Jesus puts his hands on the the young man’s shoulders.
JESUS. If you wish to be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor for treasure in heaven. Then walk with me.
The young man turns away sorrowing, for he owns much.
JESUS. A rich man will find it hard to get in the Father’s kingdom: it is easier for a camel to get through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to get in my Father’s kingdom.
The apostles stare at Jesus.
JESUS. Children, how hard it will be for the rich to get in the Father’s kingdom!
THE APOSTLES. Then who can be saved?
JESUS. With men it can’t be. With God all can be.
PETER. We’ve given up everything to walk with you. What will we get for it?
JESUS. What I say to you is: In the next age, when Adam’s son sits on his throne of power, you who have walked with me will sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Whoever gives up for me his home and possessions, his brothers and sisters, his father and mother, and his children, will in this life have hundreds of possessions, homes, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and children, and in the next life will live forever.
A PHARISEE. We’ve served God our entire lives!
JESUS. The Father’s kingdom is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed with the workers on the day’s wage and sent them into the vineyard. He went out at mid-morning and found others standing idly in the marketplace. He said, “Go into the vineyard: I’ll give you what is right.” At noon and in the afternoon he hired more workers. Then near the end of the working day he went out and found others still idle. He asked, “Why stand here all day doing nothing?” They said, “Nobody hired us.” He said, “Go into the vineyard and I’ll give you what is right.” Evening came. The landowner said to his foreman, “Call the workers in and pay everyone his wage.” When the workers who were hired last came up they received the day’s wage. The workers who were hired first expected more but they also received the day’s wage. As they took it they complained to the landowner, “The last were here an hour and you treat them equally with us who have done the bulk of the work through the heat of the day.” But the landowner said to their leader, “Friend, I didn’t cheat you. Didn’t you and I agree on the day’s wage? Take your pay and go. I give to these last the same as I give you. May I not do what I want with my own estate? Are you resentful because I am generous?”
They cross the Jordan to the Jerusalem side of the river. Again he tells his apostles: We are going up to Jerusalem; Adam’s son will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes; they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him, scourge him, and put him to death; on the third day he will rise.
Zebedee’s wife, the mother of James and John, asks to see him.
JESUS. Tell me what you want.
ZEBEDEE’S WIFE. Let my two sons sit next to you in your kingdom—one at your right hand, the other at your left.
JESUS to James and John. You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you willing to drink the cup I shall drink and be baptized with the baptism I shall be baptized with?
JAMES and JOHN. We are.
JESUS. You will drink my cup and be baptized with my baptism, but to be at my right and my left is not mine to give: it is for them my Father has prepared it for.
The other apostles hear what is being said and are angry with the two brothers. Jesus calls the twelve together.
JESUS. With the Gentiles the bosses give the orders and get the honors: it mustn’t be so with you.
Outside the city, they’re met by a large crowd. Two blind men sitting along the road, hearing that Jesus is passing by, yell, “Lord, son of David, help us!” Some in the crowd try to quiet them but again they yell, “Lord, son of David, help us!” Jesus stops and asks them to come to him. The same people who were trying to quiet them now say, “Be happy—he’s calling you.” They jump up and throw their cloaks off.
JESUS. What do you want me to do for you?
BARTIMEUS, one of the blind men. Teacher, let us see.
Jesus touches their eyes.
JESUS. Your faith makes you whole: go your way.
They see and follow him into the city. Zaccheus, the chief tax official of the city and a rich man, wants to see who he is. Being very short, he can’t peer over the crowd, so he runs ahead and climbs a sycamore, hoping to have a good look at Jesus going by. Jesus reaches the tree, looks up, and sees the tax official.
JESUS. Zaccheus, jump down quick: today I’m your guest.
Zaccheus jumps down and greets Jesus. Some people in the crowd are muttering, “He’s staying with a traitor.”
ZACCHEUS. Sir, I give half my property to the poor, and if I overtax anyone I repay him four times the amount.
JESUS. Today freedom comes to your house.
JESUS to the crowd. This man, too, is Abraham’s son. Adam’s son has come to look for and save those who are lost.
In Bethany, Martha and Mary’s brother Lazarus is sick. The sisters send word to Jesus: “Lord, one whom you love is sick.”
JESUS to the twelve. The sickness won’t end in death.
They remain where they are two days. Then:
JESUS. Let’s go and see Lazarus.
THE TWELVE. Lord, a little while ago they tried to stone you—you want to go back?
JESUS. Doesn’t the day have twelve hours? If someone walks in the light he won’t fall, because he’ll see the world in light. But if he goes by night he will fall, because he will have no light in him. Our friend Lazarus is asleep: I must wake him.
THE TWELVE. Lord, if he’s asleep he’ll get better.
JESUS. Lazarus is dead. For your sakes I’m glad I wasn’t there—so you’ll believe. Now let’s go to him.
THOMAS to the others. Let’s go and die with him.
By the time they reach Bethany, Lazarus has been buried four days. Martha and Mary are in the house with friends who have come to comfort them. Many are from Jerusalem, two miles away. Martha, hearing that Jesus is nearing the village, goes to meet him.
MARTHA. Lord, if you had come sooner, my brother wouldn’t be dead. Even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.
JESUS. Your brother will live again.
MARTHA. I know he’ll live again at the Resurrection on the last day.
JESUS. I am the Resurrection and life: who believes in me and dies will live, and who lives in me will never die. Do you believe?
MARTHA. Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, God’s son who has entered the world.
Martha goes home and whispers to Mary, “Our Master’s here—he’s asking for you.” Mary gets up quickly and the sisters leave the house; their friends follow, thinking, “They’re going to weep at the grave.” Mary goes to Jesus and falls at his feet.
MARY. Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.
JESUS. Where have you laid him?
MARY. Lord, come and see.
They go to the cave where Lazarus is buried. Jesus is crying. Some of the mourners are saying: “See how much he loved him.” Others: “The man made the blind see, but could he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
JESUS. Push the stone away.
MARTHA. Lord, he’s been dead four days: by now he’s stinking.
JESUS. Didn’t I say to you that if you believe you’ll see God’s glory?
The stone is removed. Jesus looks at the sky.
JESUS. Father, I thank you for hearing me. And though I know that you hear me always, yet I say it now, that those who stand here with me will believe that you sent me.
He looks into the tomb.
JESUS. Lazarus, come out.
Lazarus who was dead comes out. He’s still wrapped in his graveclothes and his face is covered.
JESUS. Untie him and let him see us.
Many now vow their support of Jesus; others go off to tell the Pharisees what happened.