“Write whatever the angel dictates,” Jesus said. “It is too late for me to…” But he left his sentence unfinished.

Meanwhile, the disciples formed a circle around Judas in the yard and asked him to tell them what Pilate wanted with the rabbi. But Judas, without even turning to look at them, broke away and stood at the street door. He detested the sight and sound of them; he could speak only with the rabbi now. A terrible secret joined the two of them and separated them from the rest… Judas looked at the night which had devoured the world, and at the first stars above him, small icon lamps which were just beginning to glow.

“God of Israel,” he murmured within himself, “help me, or I’ll go out of my mind.”

Magdalene felt uneasy, and went and stood next to him. He started to leave, but she seized the edge off his tunic.

“Judas, you can reveal the secret to me without fear. You know me.

“What secret? Pilate wanted him in order to tell him to be careful. Caiaphas-”

“Not that, the other.”

“What other? You’re burning up again, Magdalene. Your eyes are lighted coals.” He laughed halfheartedly. “Cry, cry. Your tears will put them out.”

But Magdalene bit into her kerchief and tore it with her teeth. ‘Why should he have chosen you,” she murmured, “you, Judas Iscariot?”

The redbeard became angry now. He squeezed his hand around Magdalene’s arm. “Who, Mary of Magdala, did you wish him to choose-windmill Peter, or that idiot John… or could it be that you wanted to be chosen yourself-you, a woman? I am a piece of flint from the desert: I stand up against wear. That’s why he chose me!”

Magdalene’s eyes filled with tears. “You are right,” she murmured. “I’m a woman, a creature maimed and wounded…” She went inside and huddled into a ball next to the fire.

Martha had set the table for supper. The disciples came in from the yard and knelt. Lazarus had drunk the chicken broth. It turned to blood inside him, and he no longer stared at the floor. Little by little with the air, light and nourishment, his fissured body was becoming caulked and strengthened.

The inner door opened and the old rabbi appeared, pale and airy, like a ghost. He leaned heavily on his crosier because his knees refused to support him any more. When he saw Jesus he signaled that he wanted to speak to him. Jesus rose, took hold of the old man, seated him, and then sat down himself next to Lazarus.

“Father,” he said, “I also want to speak to you.”

“I have a complaint against you today, my child,” said the old rabbi, looking at him with stern tenderness. “I say it openly in front of everyone. Let all-men and women-hear us; and Lazarus, who rose from the grave and must know many secrets. Let everyone hear us and judge.”

“What can men know?” Jesus replied. “An angel-ask Matthew-flies inside this house and listens. Let him judge. What is your grievance, Father?”

“Why do you wish to abolish the sacred Law? Until now you respected it, just as it is right that a son should respect his old father. But today in front of the Temple, you hoisted your own banner. How far is this rebellion in your heart going to lead?”

“To love, Father; to the feet of God. There it will find support and repose.”

“Can’t you reach that far with the sacred Law? Don’t you know what our holy Scriptures say? The Law was written nine hundred and fourteen generations before God built the world. But it wasn’t written upon parchment, because at that time no animals existed to give up their hides; nor on wood, for there were no trees; nor upon stone: there still were no stones. It was written in black flames upon white fire on the left arm of the Lord. It was in accordance with this sacred Law, I want you to know, that God created the world.”

“No, no!” Jesus cried, unable to control himself any longer. “No!”

The old rabbi tenderly took his hand. “Why do you shout like that, my child?”

Jesus felt ashamed, and blushed. The reins had escaped his hands and he could no longer manage his soul. It was as though he were covered with wounds from head to toe. No matter where you touched him, no matter how lightly, he always screamed with pain.

He had screamed this time too, and then become calm. He took the old rabbi’s hand, and lowered his voice. “The holy Scriptures, Father, are the pages of my heart. I have torn up all the other pages.”

But as he spoke he changed his mind. “Not I… not I, but God, who sent me.”

The old rabbi, sitting as he was next to Jesus, so close that their knees touched, felt an unbearable fiery force spurt out of Jesus’ body; and as a strong wind suddenly blew through the opened window and extinguished the lamp, the rabbi saw in the darkness, all splendor like a column of fire, the son of Mary standing erect in the center of the room. He looked to the right and left in case Moses and Elijah should again be present but saw neither of them. Jesus was alone in his splendor, and his head reached the cane-lathed ceiling and set it aglow. Just as the old rabbi was about to scream, Jesus stretched out his arms. He had become a cross now and was being licked by the flames.

Martha got up and re-lighted the lamp. Everything immediately returned to order. Jesus was still sitting with bowed head, thinking. The rabbi glanced around: no one else had seen anything in the darkness. The others had all placed themselves around the table and were tranquilly arranging themselves for dinner. God holds me in his hands and plays, thought the rabbi. Truth has seven levels. He brings me up and down from level to level, and I grow dizzy…

Jesus was not hungry, and did not sit down to eat. Nor did the old rabbi. The two of them remained next to Lazarus, who had closed his eyes and seemed to have fallen asleep. But he was not sleeping; he was thinking. What was this dream he had had? Had he died, he wondered, had he been laid under the earth, and had he then suddenly heard a terrible voice: “Lazarus, come out!” and had he jumped up in his shroud and awakened to find himself wrapped in the very shroud he had seen in his dream? Or perhaps it was not a dream. Could he really have descended to Hades?

“Why did you bring him out of the tomb, my child?”

“I didn’t want to,” Jesus answered softly, “I didn’t want to, Father. When I saw him lift up the tombstone I became terrified. I wanted to run away but was too ashamed. I stayed there and trembled.”

“I can endure everything,” said the rabbi, “everything, except the stench of a rotting body. I’ve seen one other horrible body. It decomposed while it still lived, ate, talked and sighed. King Herod, a great soul condemned to hell. He killed beautiful Mariana, the woman he loved; killed his friends, his generals, his sons. He conquered kingdoms, built towers, palaces, cities and the holy Temple of Jerusalem, richer even than Solomon’s ancient Temple. He inscribed his name deeply on the stones in bronze and in gold: he thirsted for immortality. Then suddenly at the height of his glory God’s finger touched him on the neck, and all at once he began to rot. He was always hungry. He ate ceaselessly but was never filled. His intestines were one lingering, putrid wound; he was so hungry, the jackals heard his bellowing in the night and trembled. His belly, feet and armpits began to swell. Worms emerged from his testicles-they were the first to rot. The stench was so great that no human being could come close to him. His slaves fainted. He was carried to the warm springs at Callirhoe near the Jordan, and he became worse. They plunged him in warm oil, and he became worse. At that time I had a reputation for curing and exorcizing diseases. The king was told this, and he called for me. They had him then at Jericho, in the gardens, and his stench reached from Jerusalem to the Jordan. The first time I approached him I fainted. I made salves and anointed him. Secretly I lowered my head and vomited. Is this a king? I asked myself. Is this what man is: filth and stench? And where is the soul to put things in order?”