78.1 I am under the impression that the steepest part, that is the most tangled part of Judaean mountains, is between Hebron and Jutah. But I may be mistaken, and this valley may be wider, opening onto wider horizons, with isolated mountains emerging here and there, not forming any real chain. It may be a valley between two chains of mountains. I do not know. It is the first time I see it, and I am puzzled. The fields are not very large, but they are well cultivated with various cereals: mainly barley and rye. There are also some nice vineyards in the sunny parts. Higher up, I can see some lovely forests of pine-trees and fir-trees and other trees typical of woody places. A reasonably good road leads into a small village.
«This is the suburb of Kerioth. Please come to my country house. My mother is waiting for You there. We will go to Kerioth afterwards» says Judas who is beside himself with excitement.
I omitted to mention that only Judas, Simon and John are now with Jesus. The shepherds are not here. Perhaps they remained in the pastures of Hebron or they have gone back towards Bethlehem.
«As you wish, Judas, but we could have even stopped here to meet your mother.»
«Oh! No! It is only a farm house. My mother comes here at harvest time. But she lives in Kerioth. And do You not want my town people to see You? Do You not want to take Your light to them?»
«I certainly do, Judas. But you already are aware that I do not mind the humbleness of the place that gives Me hospitality.»
«But today You are my guest… and Judas knows how to be hospitable.»
They walk for a few more yards among houses spread about the country, while men and women look out, called by children. It is obvious that their curiosity has been awakened. Judas must have sent word warning them.
«Here is my poor house. Forgive its poverty.»
But, after all, the house is not a hovel: it consists of a large and well kept ground floor only, in the middle of a thick flowering orchard. A small private clean road leads from the main road to the house.
«May I go ahead of You, Master?»
«Yes, go.»
Judas goes.
«Master, Judas has done things in great style» says Simon. «I rather suspected he would. But now I am certain. Master, You keep saying, and quite rightly, spirit… But he… he does not see things that way. He will never understand You… or perhaps only very late» he adds not to grieve Jesus.
Jesus sighs and is silent.
78.2
Judas comes out with a woman who is about fifty years old. She is rather tall, but not so tall as her son, who has her same dark eyes and curly hair. But her eyes are kind and rather sad, whereas those of Judas are imperious and shrewd.
«I greet You, King of Israel» she says prostrating herself in a real salutation of a subject. «Allow Your servant to give You hospitality.»
«Peace to you, woman. And may God be with you and your creature.»
«Oh! yes! With my creature.» It sounds more like a sigh than a reply.
«Stand up, mother. I have a Mother, too, and I cannot allow you to kiss My feet. I kiss you, woman, in My Mother’s name. She is a sister of yours… in love and in the painful destiny of the mother of those who are marked.»
«What do You mean, Messiah?» asks Judas somewhat worried.
But Jesus does not reply. He is embracing the woman, whom He has kindly raised up from the ground and is now kissing her cheeks. And, holding her hand, He walks toward the house.
They go into a cool room, which is shaded by light striped curtains. Cold drinks and fresh fruit are already laid out. But first of all Judas’ mother calls a maidservant who brings in water and the landlady would like to take off Jesus’ sandals and wash His dusty feet. But Jesus objects. «No, mother. A mother is too holy a person, particularly when she is honest and good, as you are, to be allowed to take an the attitude of a slave…»
The mother looks at Judas… an unusual look. She then goes away. Jesus has refreshed Himself. When He is about to put on His sandals, the woman comes back with a new pair. «Here, Messiah. I think I have done the right thing… as Judas wanted… He said to me: “A little longer than mine, but the same width”.»
«But why, Judas?»
«Will You not let me offer You a gift? Are You not my King and my God?»
«Yes, Judas. But you must not give so much trouble to your mother. You know what I am like…»
«I know. You are holy. But You must appear as a holy King. That is how one imposes oneself. In the world, where nine tenths of the folk are foolish people, we must impose ourselves with our appearance. Trust me.»
Jesus has fastened the red leather open straps of the new sandals, which reach up to His ankles. They are much nicer than His plain sandals of a workman, and they resemble Judas’ sandals, which are like shoes with open parts showing of his feet.
«Also the tunic, my King. I prepared it for Judas… But he makes a present of it to You. It’s a linen one: cool and new. Allow a mother to put it on You… as if You were her son.»
Jesus looks at Judas once again… but does not speak. He unties the lace of His tunic round His neck, and lets His wide tunic fall onto the floor and thus is left with only His short under-tunic. The woman puts the lovely new garment on Him. She offers Him a belt, which is richly embroidered braid, from which a cord hangs down, decorated with very thick tassels. Jesus must feel comfortable in the cool clean clothes, but He does not seem very happy. In the meantime the others have cleaned themselves.
«Come, Master. They come from my poor orchard. And this is honeyed water, prepared by my mother. Perhaps, Simon, you would prefer this white wine. Have some. It is the wine of my vineyard. And what about you, John? Will you have the same as the Master?» Judas is overjoyed at pouring the drinks into beautiful silver cups, thus showing his wealth.
His mother is not very talkative. She looks… looks… at Judas, and even more at Jesus, and when Jesus, before eating, offers her the nicest fruit (possibly very big apricots, they are yellow red fruits, certainly not apples) and He says to her: «First of all to mother, always», her eyes well with tears.
«Mother, is the rest ready?» asks Judas.
«Yes, son. I think I have done everything well. But I was brought up here and I have always lived here and I do not know… I do not know the habits of kings.»
«Which habits, woman? Which kings? What have you done, Judas?»
«Are You not the promised King of Israel? It is time that the world should salute You as such, and that must happen for the first time here, in my town, in my house. I revere You as such. For my sake, and for the respect due to Your names of Messiah, Christ, King, which the Prophets gave You by Yahweh’s command, do not give me the lie.»
78.3
«Woman, friends, please. I must speak to Judas. I have precise instructions to give him.»
The mother and the disciples withdraw.
«Judas: what have you done? Have you understood so little of Me so far? Why lower Me to the extent of making Me only a mighty man of the world, and what is more: a man intriguing to become mighty? And do you not understand that that is an offence, even an obstacle to My mission? Yes. Do not deny it. It is an obstacle. Israel is subjected to Rome. You know what happened when they raised against Rome someone who seemed a mob-leader and aroused the suspicion of creating an insurrection. Only a few days ago you heard how pitiless they were against a Child because they were afraid He might be a king according to the world. And yet you!…
Oh! Judas! What do you expect from the sovereignty of the flesh? What do you expect? I gave you time to think and decide. I spoke to you very clearly from the very first time. I also sent you away because I knew… because I know, I read and see what is in you. Why do you want to follow Me, if you do not want to be as I want you? Go away, Judas. Do not harm yourself and do not harm Me… Go away. It is better for you. You are not a suitable worker for this task. It is by far too much above you. In you there is pride, there is greed and all its three branches, there is arrogance… even your mother must be afraid of you… you are inclined to falsehood… No, My follower must not be like that. Judas, I do not hate you, I do not curse you. I only say to you, and I am saying it with the grief of one who knows he cannot change the person he loves, I only say to you: go your way, make your way in the world, since that is what you want, but do not stay with Me.
My life!… My royal palace! How small and mean they are! Do you know where I will be a King? When I will be proclaimed King? When I will be raised up, upon an ill-famed piece of wood and My own blood will be purple, and My crown will be a wreath of thorns and My insignia a mocking poster and the curses of all the people, of My people, will be the trumpets, the tambourines, the organs, the citherns saluting the proclamation of the King. And do you know by whose deed all this will happen? By the deed of one who did not understand Me. One who will have understood nothing. One, whose heart was a hollow piece of bronze, that pride, sensuality and avarice had filled with their humours, which will generate coils of snakes that will be used to chain Me and… and to curse him. The others are not so well aware of My destiny. Please do not tell them. Let us keep this to ourselves. In any case it is a reproach… and you will keep quiet to avoid saying: “I was reproached”… Is that clear, Judas?»
78.4
Judas has blushed so much, that he looks purple. He is standing before Jesus, mortified, his head lowered… He kneels down and he cries with his head on Jesus’ knees: «I love you, Master, Don’t reject me. Yes, I am proud and foolish, but don’t send me away. No. Master. I will never do it again. You are right. It was thoughtless of me. But there is some love in my mistake. I wanted to honour You… and I wanted the others to honour You as well… because I love You. You said so three days ago: “When you make a mistake without malice, out of ignorance, it is not an error, but an incorrect judgement: like the error of children, and I am here to make adults of you”. Here I am, here against Your knees… You said You would be a father to me… and I am here against Your knees as if they were my father’s, and I ask You to forgive me, and to make an “adult” of me, a holy adult… Don’t send me away, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus… Not everything is wicked in me. You know: I left everything for you and I have come. You are much more than the honours and victories I got serving other people. You are indeed the love of poor unhappy Judas who would like to give You nothing but joy, and is instead the cause of pain for You…»
«That is all right, Judas. I forgive you once again…» Jesus looks tired… «I forgive you, hoping… hoping that in future you will understand Me.»
«Yes, Master. But, now, do not give me the lie, otherwise I will be laughed at. Everybody in Kerioth knows that I was coming with David’s Descendant, the King of Israel… and the town has made preparations to welcome You… I thought I was doing a good thing… showing You what one must do to be respected and obeyed… and I also wanted to show John and Simon, and through them, all the others who love You but treat You as their equal… My mother too would be mocked at, as the mother of a mad liar. For her sake, my Lord,… And I swear that I…»
«Do not swear to Me. Swear to yourself, if you can, that You will not commit such a sin again. For the sake of your mother and your fellow citizens I will not shame you by going away without stopping here. Stand up.»
«What will You tell the others?»
«The truth…»
«No, don’t.»
«The truth: that I gave you instructions for today. It is always possible to tell the truth in a charitable way. Let us go. Call your mother and the others.»
Jesus is rather severe. He smiles again only when Judas comes back with his mother and the disciples. The woman gazes at Jesus, but she gains confidence when she sees His kind disposition. I get the impression she is in great distress.
«Shall we go to Kerioth? I have rested and I wish to thank you, mother, for all your kindness. May Heaven reward you and grant rest and peace to your late husband for all your charity to Me.»
The woman tries to kiss His hand, but Jesus caresses her head and thus prevents her from doing so.
«The wagon is ready, Master. Come.»
Outside, in fact, an ox cart is just arriving. It is a comfortable cart, on which they have placed cushions as seats and a red tent as a cover.
«Get on, Master.»
«Your mother, first.»
The woman gets on and then Jesus and the others.
«Sit here, Master. (Judas no longer calls Him king).
Jesus sits in front, and Judas sits beside Him. The woman and the disciples are behind. The man driving the cart goads the oxen walking beside them.
78.5
It is a short journey, about four hundred metres, probably a little more. The first houses of Kerioth are now visible and it looks like a decent little town. A little boy on the sunny road is watching and he immediately dashes away. When the cart reaches the first houses, the important people and the people welcome Him; the houses are decorated with draperies and branches. The people shout with joy and bow down deeply. Jesus, from the height of His shaking throne, can but greet them and bless them.
The cart moves on and after crossing a square it turns into a street, where it stops before a house the door of which is already wide open. Two or three women are standing at the door. They stop and get off.
«My house is Yours, Master.»
«Peace to it, Judas. Peace and holiness.»
They go in. Beyond the hall there is a large room with low divans and inlaid furniture. The important people of the place and other people go in with Jesus. There is a lot of bowing and curiosity: a showy joyfulness.
An impressive elderly man delivers a speech: «It is a great honour for the land of Kerioth to receive You, my Lord. A great fortune! A happy day! It is a great fortune to have You and to see that a son of Kerioth is Your friend and assistant. May he be blessed because he met You before everyone else! And may You be blessed ten times ten because you have revealed Yourself: You are the One Who has been expected for generations and generations.
Speak, my Lord and King. Our hearts are anxious to hear Your word, just as the land parched by a fiery summer awaits the first soft showers in September.»
«Thank you, whoever you are. Thank you. And thanks to these citizens whose hearts have honoured the Word of the Father, and the Father Whose Word I am. Because You must understand that thanks and honour are due not to the Son of man, Who is speaking to you, but to the Most High Lord, for this time of peace during which He re-establishes the broken paternity with the sons of man. Let us praise the true Lord, the God of Abraham Who had mercy on and loved His people and granted them the promised Redeemer. Glory and praise not to Jesus, the servant of the Eternal Will, but to the loving Will.»
«Your words are the words of a holy man: I am the chief of the synagogue. Today it is not a Sabbath. But come to my house, to explain the Law, since You are anointed with Wisdom, rather than with royal oil.»
«I will come.»
«Perhaps my Lord is tired…»
«No, Judas, I am never tired of speaking of God and I am never anxious to disappoint the hearts of men.»
«Come, then» the synagogue chief insists. «The whole of Kerioth is out there waiting for You.»
«Let us go.»
They go out. Jesus is between Judas and the head of the synagogue, around them there are the important people and the crowds. Jesus passes through them blessing.