"so superhuman, of man to attain God... has always been a deep inscrutable mystery to me." "My principle anguish and source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh... and my soul is the arena where these two armies have clashed and met."" "NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS" "From the book "The Last Temptation Of Christ"" "This film is not based upon the Gospels but upon this fictional exploration of the eternal spiritual conflict." "THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST" "The feeling begins." "Very tender, very loving." "Then the pain starts." "Claws slip underneath the skin and tear their way up just before they reach my eyes, they dig in." "And I remember." "First I fasted for three months." "I even whipped myself before I went to sleep." "At first it worked." "Then the pain came back." "And the voices." "They call me by name." "Jesus." "Who is it?" "Who are you?" "Why are you following me?" "Are you ready?" "No more crosses." "We're ready." "Where is your mind?" "Do you hear what I'm saying?" "The Messiah won't come that way." "What do you mean by that?" "Who told you?" "You're a disgrace!" "Romans can't find anyone to make crosses, except for you !" "You do it!" "You're worse than them !" "You're a Jew killing Jews." "You're a coward!" "How will you ever pay for your sins?" "With my life, Judas." "I don't have anything else." "Don't turn away." "Look at me." "With your life." "What do you mean?" "Please, Judas." "I don't know." "Are you still taking the cross?" "Yes, I am." "No, you're not." "I won't let you !" "I won't let you." "Please, I beg you, don't get in the way." "What way?" "What's happened to you?" "I'm struggling." "With who?" "I don't know." "I'm struggling." "I struggle." "You collaborate." "Traitor!" "You are the people of Israel." "Your children are watching." "You are the people of God." "He is judging us." "He is watching you." "There he is." "Kill him !" "Don't touch him." "Get away from him !" "Don't you defend him." "He's my son." "God is with us." "He's judging us." "Fight!" "God help us!" "God give us strength!" "Come." "Come with me." ""This man, naked before you now, is condemned for sedition..." "SEDITIO" ""He rallied the people to revolution." ""He promised that a Messiah would come from among the people..." ""...to rise up and destroy Rome."" "Rome is nothing." ""Murder..." ""...betrayal..." ""..." "looting and so on, and so therefore, he is condemned to die." ""Rome condemns him." ""And all the gods of Rome condemn him."" "God is our shield." "He is our heart." "He is our heart." "He is our shield." "He is our shield." "He will not abandon you." "He will not abandon you." "God!" "God loves me, I know he loves me." "I want him to stop." "I can't take the pain." "The voices and the pain." "I want him to hate me." "I fight him." "I make crosses so he'll hate me." "I want him to find somebody else." "I want to crucify every one of his messiahs." "You're sure it's God?" "You're sure it's not the devil?" "I'm not sure." "I'm not sure of anything." "If it's the devil, the devil can be cast out." "But what if it's God?" "You can't cast out God, can you?" "Who's that?" "Who's following me?" "Is that you?" "Magdalene." "Magdalene." "Thank you, Lord for bringing me where I did not want to go." "He must be one of God's angels." "He came down to show me the way." "Who's out there?" "Who is it?" "What are you doing here?" "I want you to forgive me." "I've done too many bad things." "I'm going to the desert, and I need you to forgive me before I go, please." "I see." "You sit out there all day with the others and then come in here with your head down, saying, "Forgive me."" ""Forgive me."" "It's not that easy." "Just because you need forgiveness, don't ask me to do it." "I'm sorry" "Get out!" "Go away!" "Look, Mary look at this." "God can change this." "God can save your soul." "He already broke my heart, he took you away from me." "And I hate both of you." "Hate me, blame me." "It's all my fault, but not God's." "Don't say that about God." "Who made me feel this way about God?" "I know, that's why I'm here." "It's why I want you to forgive me." "I'll pay my debt." "I know there are some things I've done, and to you." "Pay or go away." "Don't you remember?" "No, I don't remember." "Why should I?" "Nothing's changed." "Say the truth." "If you want to save my soul this is where you'll find it." "You know that." "You're the same as all the others, only you can't admit it." "You're pitiful." "I hate you." "Here's my body." "Save it." "Save it." "ls that the way you show you're a man?" "Turn away, don't look at me." "You never had the courage to be a man." "Don't look at me!" "If you weren't hanging on to your mother, you were hanging on to me." "Now you're hanging on to God going to the desert to hide because you're scared." "Go." "Whenever I see you, my heart breaks." "I do remember when we were children." "Never have I felt so much tenderness toward anyone as I felt toward you then." "All I ever wanted was you." "Nothing else." "What do you think I wanted?" "Please." "Stay." "ls it so bad sharing a prostitute's room?" "I won't touch you." "You'll still be a virgin for the desert." "Mary, I'm sorry." "I can't stay." "Welcome." "This way." "Do you always pray this late at night?" "It's a funeral." "The master of the monastery died." "Shall I pray with you?" "Sleep." "You must be tired." "I know who you are." "That was the man who brought me here last night." "Last night?" "He was dead last night." "The master's soul has gone to heaven." "His body's work is completed." "It walked under the sun and the moon over sand and stone sinned, felt pain yearned for heaven." "We commend his remains to our God." "Flesh the master no longer needs you." "Melt away." "First came the wings, then the angel." "His spirit actually appeared to you." "He treated you like a royal visitor." "He recognized you for something." "He couldn't have recognized me for anything." "I only came here to serve God." "That's all." "That's all God wants from me." "I'm sure of it." "Think of how you're blessed." "God actually makes himself known to you." "I don't know what God wants from me." "All my life I've wanted to hear God's voice." "I've dedicated my life to him." "Sometimes I think I feel him, but I'm never really sure." "But you always know." "God took you by the hand and brought you here." "You think it's a blessing to know what God wants?" "I'll tell you what he wants." "He wants to push me over!" "Can't he see what's inside of me?" "All my sins." "We all sin." "Not my sins." "I'm a liar." "A hypocrite." "I'm afraid of everything." "I don't tell the truth." "I don't have the courage." "When I see a woman, I blush and look away." "I want her, but I don't take her, for God, and that makes me proud." "Then my pride ruins Magdalene." "I don't steal, I don't fight I don't kill." "Not because I don't want to, but because I'm afraid." "I want to rebel against you, against everything against God, but I'm afraid." "You want to know who my mother and father are?" "You want to know who my God is?" "Fear." "You look inside me and that's all you'll find." "But the more devils we have inside of us, the more of a chance we have to repent." "Lucifer is inside me." "He says to me, "You're not the son of King David." ""You're not a man, you're the Son of man." ""And more, the Son of God." "And more than that, God."" "Do you want to ask me anything else?" "Everything is from God." "Everything has two meanings." "Jesus, my sweet Jesus." "I forgive you." "Leave me!" "They've gone." "You have to leave, too." "No, I have to stay." "No." "You've been purified." "God has just blessed you." "The snakes came from inside you." "Now you have to leave, too." "You have to go back and speak to people and share your heart." "Speak to who?" "To anyone who will listen." "And say what?" "Just open your mouth." "Do you love mankind?" "I see men and I feel sorry for them, that's all." "That's enough." "I've got orders to kill you." "Go ahead." "Tonight I was purified." "I can't fight with God anymore." "Here's my neck." "Cut it, I'm ready." "What are you?" "What kind of a man are you?" "What you want, I want." "That's why he brought us together, it's God's plan." "I come to kill you and you help me, that's God's plan?" "You'd better make me understand it, too." "I'll tell you as much as I know." "The fainting spells, the voices, the visions." "Power." "Magic." "ls there some secret?" "Tell me your secret." "Pity." "Pity for who?" "Yourself?" "Pity for men." "Our enemies are men." "I feel pity for everything." "Donkeys..." "...grass, sparrows." "And ants?" "You feel pity for them, too?" "Yes." "Everything's a part of God." "When I see an ant, when I look at his shiny black eye you know what I see?" "I see the face of God." "You're not afraid of dying?" "Why should I be?" "Death isn't a door that closes, it opens." "It opens and you go through it." "If I don't kill you, what happens?" "I'll speak to people." "What are you going to say?" "I'll just open my mouth and God will do the talking." "Maybe God didn't send you here to kill me." "Maybe he sent you here to follow me." "Just so there's no mistake." "I'll go with you until I understand." "But if you stray this much from the path, I'll kill you." "It's Magdalene." "She deserves it." "Get out of there." "Get out of the way!" "This is not your business." "Do you want to get hurt?" "Did you hear what he said, idiot?" "Move!" "No." "I don't want this." "Listen to him." "He doesn't want this." "Well, we want it." "Why?" "We don't have to tell you why!" "I've had enough." "We live in a whorehouse." "She's a Jew." "She works on the Sabbath." "She goes with Romans on the Sabbath." "She broke Moses' law." "She dies." "Who has never sinned?" "Who?" "Which one of you people has never sinned?" "Whoever that is, come up here!" "And throw these!" "I have nothing to hide." "Good." "Take this." "It's bigger." "Be careful, Zebedee." "There is a God." "He's seen you cheat your workers." "He's seen you with that widow, what's her name?" "Judith." "Judith." "Aren't you afraid God will paralyze you if you lift that stone?" "That your arm will wither?" "That you'll lose all strength?" "God has so many miracles." "What if I say the wrong thing?" "What if I say the right thing?" "Come closer." "Come closer!" "We're all a family." "Come closer, so you can hear." "I have something to tell you." "Who is he?" "It's Jesus from Nazareth." "Nothing good can come out of Nazareth, even the Scriptures say so." "I'm sorry, but the easiest way to make myself clear is to tell you a story." "A farmer was planting in his field." "Some seed fell on the ground and the birds ate it." "Some seed fell on rocks and dried up." "But some seed...." "Some seed fell on rich soil and grew into enough wheat to feed a whole nation." "Can you hear me?" "We can hear you fine." "I'm the farmer." "The farmer is me." "And 2 and 2 makes 4." "Another lunatic!" "Rabbi tell me, if you're the farmer and we're the stones, what's the seed?" "What's the seed?" "Love." "Love one another." "That's easy to say, maybe that's good advice, but for some other world." "These people are starving." "First you feed them, then you talk!" "I used to think God was angry, too, but not anymore!" "He used to jump on me like a wild bird and dig his claws into my head." "But then one morning, he came to me." "He blew over me like a cool breeze and said, "Stand up."" "And here I am." "And you will go to hell." "These are children's stories." "How can they help us?" "What are you hungry for?" "What are you thirsty for?" "For justice!" "And bread!" "Bread, too." "You're thirsty for justice, for people to treat you fairly for people to treat you with respect." "What I'm telling you is whoever's hungry for justice, they are the ones who'll be blessed." "They'll be filled with bread." "They'll never be hungry again." "They'lI have the real value, the value of love." "To love, share and comfort." "They'lI have the courage to do the good." "And you." "You're mourning." "Mourners will be blessed." "You'lI have God to comfort you." "You won't need men to do it." "And the meek." "They're the ones who'll be blessed." "And the suffering, they'll be blessed, too." "And the peacemakers and the merciful and the sick, and the poor, and the outcasts you'll all be blessed because heaven is yours!" "And believe me believe me, those who are laughing now will be crying later." "Those whose stomachs are filled now will be hungry later." "And the rich will be poor forever!" "Kill them !" "I didn't say death!" "I said love!" "I said love!" "Enough." "Come." "No, Father, I'm staying." "We have to work." "I need you !" "Come." "I'm sorry, Father, I'm staying, too." "Not the two of you." "Come on!" "Let me come with you, I can help." "Stay here." "You'll know when." "Tell people about me." "James." "Andrew." "Move over, John." "Move over, James." "I was just comfortable." "Peter wants to lay down." "Peter, there's no more room." "I'm cold." "I want to be by the fire." "Go over by Philip." "We're all cold." "Shut up." "Rabbi, can I talk to you?" "I'm not like these other men." "I mean, they're good enough, they're good men." "But they're weak." "One's worse than the other." "Where'd you find them?" "Look at me." "If I love somebody, I would die for them." "If I hate somebody, I'd kill them." "I could even kill somebody I loved if they did the wrong thing." "Did you hear me?" "Do you understand what I said?" "Yes, I understand." "The other day you said, if a man hit you, you'd turn the other cheek." "I didn't like that." "Only an angel could do that, or a dog." "I'm sorry but I'm neither." "I'm a free man." "I don't turn my cheek to anyone." "We both want the same thing." "We do?" "Do you want freedom for Israel?" "No." "I want freedom for the soul." "No." "That's what I can't accept." "That's not the same thing!" "First you free the body, then the spirit!" "The Romans come first." "You don't build a house from the roof down but from the foundation up." "The foundation is the soul." "The foundation is the body." "That's where you must begin." "If you don't change the spirit first, change what's inside then you'll only replace the Romans with someone else, and nothing changes." "Even if you're victorious, you'll still be filled with the poison." "You've got to break the chain of evil." "How do you change then?" "With love." "Who's there?" "It's me, Andrew." "ls everything...." "It's all right." "Go back to sleep." "Judas and I are talking." "There's an example." "You know, the Zealots ordered me to kill you." "Why did you change your mind?" "I decided to wait." "For what?" "I thought maybe you were the One." "To unite us." "I didn't want to destroy that." "How do we know?" "How could I be the Messiah?" "When those people were torturing Magdalene, I wanted to kill them." "And then I opened my mouth and out comes the word "love." Why?" "I don't understand." "I can't look to the others for answers, all they do is follow you." "We'll go to Judea and see John the Baptist." "Every day he tells hundreds of people the Messiah is coming." "He'll know." "He'll know." "I'm afraid." "Stay with me." "Behold!" "I will raise up evil against you out of your own house and I will take your wives, before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun." "You may listen and listen again but you will never understand." "You may look, but you will never know." "These people's wits are dulled." "Their ears are deafened and their eyes blinded so they cannot see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears so that they may turn and be healed." "The Lord of Hosts says: "On this day..."" "He sounds like the Messiah." "No." ""..." "I will crush the horns of the new moon and I will spill darkness over the world." ""I will reverse your laughter, turn it into tears...."" "Go in front." "Let him see you." ""Listen, it is the thunder of many peoples...."" "Even from behind, I knew I had seen him before." "Where?" "Was it a dream?" "Yes, it was." "But in the dream, he was dressed in white." ""You will have the smell of decay..." ""...and branding, instead of beauty." "Your men shall fall by the sword..." ""...and your women shall sit on the ground, stripped bare."" "Who are you?" "Do you recognize me?" "Who are you?" "Do you know the Prophets?" "What does Isaiah say?" "He says, "Prepare the way of the Lord."" "Are you telling me that's you?" "I don't know." "Tell me." "Why are you here?" "To be baptized." "No, I don't dare." "If you're the Master, then you have to baptize me." "Baptize me." "Love." "What does it mean?" "Love is sweet as honey." "But it's also blood." "Love is action." "You want a new crop, you burn the earth." "But isn't love enough?" "No!" "Look at the world." "Look around you." "Plague, war, corruption false prophets, false idols, worship of gold." "Nothing is of value." "The tree is rotten." "You have to take the axe and cut it down." "If I was a woodcutter, I'd cut." "If I was a fire, I'd burn." "But I'm a heart and I love and that's all I can do." "I'm a heart, also." "But I can't love what's unjust." "What I can't love, I attack." "God demands it." "Anger?" "Yes, God demands anger." "Anger?" "But we're all brothers." "You think love is God's only way?" "Go to the Dead Sea, look in the bottom." "You'lI see two whores, Sodom and Gomorrah." "That's God's way." "On the day of the Lord blood will flow from wood." "The stones of the houses will come alive and kill their owners." "That day is here." "He gave me the axe." "Now I give it to you." "That's not the answer." "Then what is the answer?" "I don't know." "Well, if you won't listen to me, who will you listen to?" "God." "The God of Israel is the God of the desert." "If you want to speak to him, then you'lI have to go to the desert." "I'll go to ldumaea." "Thank you, Baptist." "Be careful." "God isn't alone out there." "I feel sorry for you." "You were lonely." "You cried." "So I came." "I didn't call for you." "Who are you?" "Your spirit." "My spirit?" "You're afraid of being alone." "You're just like Adam." "He called me and I took one of his ribs and made it into a woman." "You're here to trick me." "Trick you?" "To love and care for a woman, to have a family, is this a trick?" "Why are you trying to save the world?" "Aren't your own sins enough for you?" "What arrogance to think you can save the world." "The world doesn't have to be saved." "Save yourself." "Find love." "I have love." "Look in my eyes." "Look at my breasts." "Do you recognize them?" "Just nod your head and we'll be in my bed together." "Jesus." "After ten days the hunger went away." "Welcome, Jesus." "Congratulations." "You're past the small temptations of a woman and a family." "We're both bigger than that." "Who are you?" "You don't recognize me?" "I'm you, I'm your heart." "Your heart is so greedy." "It pretends to be humble but it really wants to conquer the world." "I never wanted a kingdom on earth." "The kingdom of heaven is enough." "You're a liar." "When you were making crosses for the Romans your head was exploding with dreams ofpower." "Power over everyone." "You said it was God, but you really wanted power." "Now you can have what you want." "Any country you want." "All of them." "You could even have Rome." "Liar." "Step into my circle so I can pull your tongue out." "Archangel, move back." "Move back, you're blinding me." "Jesus." "I'm the one you've been waiting for." "Remember when you were a little boy you cried.." ""Make me a god, God." ""God." ""God, make me a god. "" "But I was just a child then." "You are God." "The Baptist knew it." "Now it's time you admit it." "You are his son." "The only Son of God." "Join me." "Together we'll rule the living and the dead." "You'll give life and you'll take life." "You'll sit in judgement, and I'll sit next to you." "Imagine how strong we'd be together." "Satan?" "We'lI see each other again." "Don't be afraid." "You are the One." "My work is done." "Now I can die." "The Lord wants me to tell you to stand up." "His day is here." "Take this axe." "Take this message to everyone." "Please." "What do you want?" "I'm a foreigner." "From Galilee." "I'm tired." "You don't know how good this tastes." "Some more wine, please." "Mary Martha I want to say that you're both blessed." "I came here, you didn't know me." "You took me in, fed me, restored me and God came down and went into my heart." "Go on." "No." "I've talked too much already." "Silence is better." "No, it's not." "Do you have a wife?" "No." "How can you live like that in the desert?" "Tell me the truth." "Don't you miss all this?" "Having a home, a real life." "I admit it." "I'd like it, but I'll never have it." "Listen, if you really want God, don't spend your time in the desert." "He's not there, he's right here." "Read your Scriptures." "God does not want you to fast and pray." "He wants you to make children." "Mary, you're making him uncomfortable." "He's a guest." "He knows what I'm talking about." "Come and help me." "It's not right to tease these men." "I wasn't teasing." "Remember the Baptist?" "It's nothing to tease about." "You didn't know?" "They say the king was drunk and cut off the Baptist's head to satisfy him." "Now they say they're going to kill everyone who was baptized." "No one forced you to be baptized." "You were baptized, too." "You begged for it." "So be quiet." "I can just imagine in Galilee right now." "The sea." "They say the fishing's so good you just touch the nets and the fish jump in." "Don't talk about fish." "It reminds me of my sheep." "I don't know what's happened to them." "Maybe we should wait for him in Galilee." "No, we promised the Master we would wait here." "That was over a month ago." "Thousands of people are waiting to see and to hear him and he's gone." "The whole movement." "We look like fools." "Nathaniel's right." "He makes sense." "Let's return to Galilee." "If we go back to Galilee, like Peter says" "Brothers!" "I don't understand you." "Think of the last words the Baptist said." "He said, "Jesus of Nazareth, leave the desert." "I am finished." ""You return to mankind."" "How do we know he really said that?" "Everybody says he did." "But how do we know?" "Even if he didn't, the words are important." "Why?" "Because people believe them." "And what if our Master's...." "What if he's the One?" "What "One"?" "The One." "What do you mean?" "The Messiah?" "We don't know the Baptist said that." "Nobody knows." "He's not like Elijah." "He's saying that the world of God is here now." "He just meant, "Continue my work." ""Continue to do the work I've been doing."" "Right here Elijah ascended to heaven." "Doesn't that mean something to you?" "We're waiting here." "We're waiting here." "I don't think we should go back to Galilee." "I think we should wait here." "That's what I love about you, Peter." "You're as steady and as solid as a rock." "Nobody can change your mind." "What good are you?" "Master." "Rabbi." "John heard your footsteps in his heart in a way, and we were preparing to welcome you." "Were you baptized?" "Yes." "John baptized with water and they killed him." "Now I baptize with fire." "ls that what the Baptist told you?" "I have an invitation for you." "ls there a celebration?" "No." "I'm not inviting you to a celebration." "I'm inviting you to a war." "This is my heart." "Take it." "God is inside of us." "The devil is outside us, in the world all around us." "We'll pick up an axe and cut the devil's throat." "We'll fight him wherever he is." "In the sick in the rich even in the temple." "I'll lead you." "If you have sheep give them away." "If you have a family leave them." "I believed in love." "Now I believe in this!" "Who's with me?" "Adonai." "Today and tomorrow I cast out devils and work cures." "On the third day I shall be perfected." "Out!" "Satan, leave!" "Satan, out!" "Leave him !" "Moses, Elijah, Isaiah touch my mouth touch my lips." "Go to the temple." "Let the high priests see you." "Look!" "He was blind and Jesus healed him." "Look." "He was blind and Jesus healed him." "Look." "You don't belong at a wedding." "We're here to celebrate purity." "I'm sorry, but these people are my guests." "Let me explain something to you." "What do you think heaven's like?" "It's like a wedding." "God's the bridegroom and man's spirit's the bride." "The wedding takes place in heaven and everyone's invited." "God's world is big enough for everyone." "Nazarene, that's against the law." "Then the law's against my heart." "Don't touch me." "You are now sacred to me through this ring." ""You are now sacred to me, through this ring."" "According to the law of Moses and Israel." ""According to the law of Moses and Israel."" "My cousins are very upset." "They only brought enough wine for 3 days." "Now another day's gone past and it's gone." "What's in those?" "Water." "No." "It's wine." "No, it's water." "I put it there myself." "It's wine." "It's water." "Go over there and make sure." "Do it." "You're right." "It is wine." "Brothers!" "My old friends!" "Listen to me." "It's me the Prophets preached about." "God talked to me in the desert." "He gave me a secret and told me to bring it to you." "Didn't you hear me coming?" "I ran here to Nazareth, where I grew up, to bring you the news." "The world of God is here now." "You work miracles." "Make a miracle for us." "Make us believe in you." "Otherwise go away." "The Messiah doesn't need miracles." "He is the miracle." "Now he's here." "Are you ready for me?" "I'm here to tear down everything around you." "You know what I'll replace it with?" "Something new." "God." "The world of God." "So take your bread and give it to the poor." "What difference does it make what you own?" "You have gold and silver." "It's going to rot." "That rot is going to eat away your hearts." "All of you !" "There will be a flood and a fire." "Everything will be destroyed." "But there will be a new ark riding on that fire!" "And I hold the keys and I open the door." "And I decide who goes in and who doesn't." "You're my brothers from Nazareth and you're the first I invite on the ark." "Don't wait." "Don't waste your life." "Come with me." "You're the son of Mary, right?" "Who are you to tell us about God?" "He made better crosses than speeches." "Go get someone from his family to take him away." "He's insane." "What are you laughing at?" "Everything you have will burn." "Soon!" "Get out now!" "Come with me to Jerusalem !" "See?" "This is what happens when a man doesn't get married." "The semen backs up into his brain." "Go home!" "You're a demon." "You're possessed." "You're a lunatic!" "This is my home!" "You should be ashamed." "Kill him !" "He's going to burn us." "Don't touch him !" "If I could touch every stone if I could breathe on every branch, they'd get up and follow me!" "So what's wrong with you?" "Come with me to Jerusalem !" "Jerusalem is falling!" "I feel it." "I know it." "You see these people?" "They're poor." "They're blind." "They're crippled." "They're going to be our army." "We're going to need better men than this." "God will give them to me." "We're going to build a new Jerusalem." "Son." "Come back with me." "Please." "Who are you?" "Your mother." "I don't have a mother." "I don't have any family." "I have a Father, in heaven." "Don't say that to me." "Who are you?" "I mean, really." "Who are you?" "Why are you crying?" "Didn't you see them?" "What?" "When he spoke to you, there were thousands of blue wings behind him." "I swear to you, Mary, there were armies of angels." "There were?" "Thousands." "I'd be happier if there weren't." "When was he buried?" "Three days ago." "Roll away the stone." "Lazarus." "Lazarus." "In the name of the Prophets in the name of Jeremiah and my Father in the name of the most holy God I call you here." "I call you here!" "Lazarus." "Lazarus." "Adonai." "God, help me." "We came here to pray." "Look at this." "The money-changers?" "It's for the temple tax, for the feast." "I know." "I know." "How's the exchange today?" "Fair." "At this stall it's always fair." "Making a good profit?" "Fair." "This is my Father's house!" "It is a place of worship not a market!" "Nazarene, what are you doing?" "What are you doing?" "God doesn't need a palace." "He doesn't need cypress trees or dead animals!" "He doesn't need shekels!" "You expect people to pay the tax with Roman coins." "They have images of false gods on them !" "You want pagan gods in the temple?" "All foreign coins have to be exchanged for shekels." "That is the law." "I'm throwing away the law." "I have a new law and a new hope." "What?" "Has God changed his mind about the old law?" "No." "He just thinks our hearts are ready to hold more, that's all." "How can you presume" "How can I presume?" "I'm the end of the old law and the beginning of the new one." "Watch what you're saying." "Maybe we should go." "When I say, "I," Rabbi I'm saying "God."" "That's blasphemy." "Didn't they tell you?" "I'm the saint of blasphemy." "Don't make any mistakes." "I didn't come here to bring peace." "I came to bring a sword." "Talking like that will get you killed." "Me killed?" "Listen to me." "This temple will be destroyed in three days." "Torn down to the ground!" "There won't be one stone left to build with!" "You think God belongs only to you?" "He doesn't." "God's an immortal spirit who belongs to everybody to the whole world!" "You think you're special?" "God is not an Israelite!" "Magician, heal me." "Cure us." "Make us rich." "Heal me!" "Do a miracle." "You want me to enter the world of God crippled like this?" "Don't touch me!" "You're filled with hate!" "Get away!" "God won't help you." "You cure us, or you won't leave this city alive." "You don't make demands on God!" "Judas!" "What are you doing with this magician?" "You had orders to kill him and you haven't done it." "Now he acts like a prophet and you follow him." "Did you hear what he said back there, Saul?" "Yes, I heard him." "We took an oath against Rome." "I don't see anything against Rome here." "All I see are Jews against Jews." "Then you're not listening." "Lazarus." "How do you feel?" "I like the light." "What was it like?" "Which is better, death or life?" "I was a little surprised." "There wasn't that much difference." "Give me your hand." "I'm not surprised." "How could they let Lazarus live?" "He was proof of your greatest miracle." "Now there's no more proof." "That's what the Zealots want." "Their revolution, not yours." "You want to go back to them?" "No." "You're the one I follow." "You are the strongest, aren't you?" "Of all my friends you're the strongest." "Judas, my brother I've something to tell you." "I have a terrible secret from God." "You know why I came to Jerusalem?" "Yes." "This is where the revolution is going to begin." "Last night Isaiah came to me." "He had a prophecy." "I saw it written." "It said.." ""He has borne our faults..." ""...he was wounded for our transgressions..." ""...yet he opened not his mouth." ""Despised and rejected by all..." ""...he went forward without resisting, like a lamb led to the slaughter. "" "I don't understand." "Judas, I am the lamb." "I'm the one who's going to die." "Die?" "You mean you're not the Messiah?" "I am." "That can't be." "If you're the Messiah, why do you have to die?" "Listen." "At first, I didn't understand" "No, you, listen!" "Every day you have a different plan!" "First it's love, then it's the axe, and now you have to die." "What good could that do?" "I can't help it." "God only talks to me a little at a time." "He tells me as much as I need to know." "We need you alive!" "Now I finally understand." "All my life I've been followed by voices by footsteps by shadows." "And do you know what the shadow is?" "The cross." "I have to die on the cross and I have to die willingly." "We have to go back to the temple." "After you die on the cross, what happens then?" "I come back to judge the living and the dead." "I don't believe you." "You have to." "I'm worried he's going to change his mind again." "No, he won't." "This time we're not going to the temple to pray." "He said he'll destroy the temple in three days, and he'll do it." "And what if he doesn't?" "What then?" "What if he doesn't?" "You won't have to worry because we'll all be dead." "We're setting up a new government, building a new Jerusalem." "We can ask for anything we want." "First, I'd like more sheep." "You know, my other sheep, I don't even know where they are now." "This time I want a large herd, and I'll get other shepherds to care for them." "I would just like to be able to worship in the temple." "I mean really worship, without Roman banners and soldiers." "That's what I'd like." "Of course." "But what else?" "I'll do anything the Master asks, anything but get crucified." "You're a coward, Thomas." "Yes, I am." "You know why?" "Have you ever seen anyone on a cross after two days?" "You know what they look like?" "They don't even have eyes." "The crows come and suck out your eyes." "And after that, you know what?" "Dogs come and rip your feet off." "Don't talk that way." "I've made my decision." "You make yours." "And if you can't, then get out now before we get to Jerusalem." "I'm ready." "I have my knife." "Master, I've been talking with the others and listening and...." "Some of them wanted me to ask you:" "Will there be angels there to meet us?" "Or anyone besides who's here?" "Master." "King of the Jews!" "King of the Jews!" "King of the Jews!" "Jesus!" "Lord, I hope this is what you want." "Let me die here." "Please let it happen fast while I have the strength." "I am here to set fire to the world." "In the desert, the Baptist warned us, God is coming." "Well, I'm telling you it's too late." "He's already here." "I'm here." "I'm going to baptize everybody with fire!" "He's leading us!" "Follow him !" "They're all with you, waiting for your signal." "Give it!" "Now!" "Do it now!" "Please!" "I'm waiting, too." "Give me an axe, not the cross." "Let me die like this." "Give the sign now or we're finished." "They'll kill us" "We came to fight, not to die!" "Master, we knew it would be like this." "This is the way." "Do it." "Judas, help me!" "Stay with me." "Don't leave me." "I wish there was another way." "I'm sorry, but there isn't." "I have to die on the cross." "I won't let you die." "You have no choice, neither do I." "Remember, we're bringing God and man together." "They'll never be together unless I die." "I'm the sacrifice." "Without you, there can be no redemption." "Forget everything else." "Understand that." "No, I can't." "Get somebody stronger." "You promised me." "Remember, you once told me that if I moved one step from revolution, you'd kill me." "Remember?" "Yes." "I've strayed, haven't I?" "Yes." "Then you must keep your promise." "You have to kill me." "If that's what God wants, let God do it." "I won't." "He will do it through you." "The temple guards will be looking for me where there aren't any crowds." "We'll go to Gethsemane." "You'll make sure that they find me there." "I am going to die." "But after three days I'll come back, in victory." "You can't leave me." "You have to give me strength." "If you were me, could you betray your master?" "No." "That's why God gave me the easier job to be crucified." "What about the others?" "I'll tell them tonight." "Listen to me." "Take this bread." "Share it together." "This bread is my body." "Now drink this wine." "Pass the cup." "This wine is my blood." "Do this to remember me." "We're not finished." "Let him go." "All of you I want to tell you something." "Wait for me here." "Father in heaven." "Father on earth." "The world that you've created, that we can see, is beautiful." "But the world you've created, that we can't see, is beautiful, too." "I don't know." "I'm sorry, Father." "I don't know which is more beautiful." "This is my body, too." "Together we're going to die." "Please, Father." "I've been with you for so long." "I never asked you to choose me." "I always did as you said." "You made many miracles for others." "You opened the Red Sea for Moses." "You saved Noah." "You took Elijah to heaven in a fiery chariot and now you're asking me to be crucified." "Can I ask you one last time?" "ls there any other way?" "You're offering me a cup, but I don't want to drink what's in it." "Please, take it away." "Please, stop." "Please, Father." "Father." "Please." "ls this your answer?" "All right." "Just please give me the strength." "Couldn't you stay awake with me for just an hour?" "I'm sorry." "It doesn't matter." "It's too late." "Welcome, Rabbi." "No." "You live by this, you die by it." "Take me with you." "I'm ready." "So, you are the King of the Jews?" ""King" is your word." "Well, you are Jesus of Nazareth, aren't you?" "Yes, I am." "That's what they're saying you are." "The King, the Messiah." "It's also said that you do miracles." "ls this good magic or bad magic?" "Could we have some kind of a demonstration?" "I mean, can you do a trick for me, now?" "No, I'm not a trained animal." "I'm not a magician." "That's disappointing." "This means that you're just another Jewish politician." "Do you want to know something?" "You're more dangerous than the Zealots." "Do you know that?" "Say something." "You had better say something." "All right." "Tell me what you tell people on the streets." "Yes?" "Yes." "The prophet daniel had a vision:" "A tall statue that had a gold head and silver shoulders." "The stomach was bronze, the legs were iron, the feet were clay." "A stone was thrown." "The clay feet broke and the statue collapsed." "You see, God threw the stone." "The stone is me." "And Rome" "And Rome is the statue, yes." "So your kingdom, or your world, will replace Rome." "Where is it?" "My kingdom?" "It's not here." "Not on earth." "It wouldn't be, would it?" "It's one thing to want to change the way that people live but you want to change how they think, how they feel." "All I'm saying is that change will happen with love, not with killing." "Either way, it's dangerous." "It's against Rome." "It's against the way the world is." "And killing or loving, it's all the same." "It simply doesn't matter how you want to change things." "We don't want them changed." "You do understand what has to happen?" "We have a space for you up on Golgotha." "Three thousand skulls there by now." "Probably more." "Guard." "I do wish you people would go out and count them some time." "Maybe you'd learn a lesson." "Probably not." "I know you." "I saw you with him." "You must be mistaken. lt wasn't me." "It must have been someone else." "No, I'm right." "He is one of his followers." "He doesn't know what he's talking about." "He is one of his followers." "It's him !" "Get him !" "Mother?" "Magdalene?" "Where are you?" "Mother, I'm sorry for being a bad son." "Father, stay with me." "Don't leave me." "Father, forgive them." "Father!" "Why have you forsaken me?" "Who are you?" "I'm the angel who guards you." "Your Father is the God of mercy, not punishment." "He saw you and said, "Aren't you his guardian angel?" ""Well, go down and save him." "He's suffered enough."" "Remember when he told Abraham to sacrifice his son?" "Abraham was just about to kill the boy with his knife when God stopped him." "So, if he saved Abraham's son, don't you think he'd want to save his own?" "He's tested you and he's happy with you." "He doesn't want your blood." "He said, "Let him die in a dream." "But let him live his life."" "All the pain." "That was real." "Yes, but there won't be any more." "You've done enough." "I don't have to be sacrificed?" "No, you don't." "I'm not the Messiah?" "No, you're not." "What about the others?" "Don't look back there." "God gave you life." "Look ahead." "Where are the disciples?" "They became frightened and ran away." "ls this the world of God?" "The one I spoke about?" "No, this is earth." "Why has it changed so much?" "It hasn't changed." "You have." "Now you can see its real beauty." "Harmony between earth and the heart, that's the world of God." "Maybe you'll find this hard to believe but sometimes we angels look down on men and envy you." "Really envy you." "What's that?" "A wedding ceremony." "Who's getting married?" "You are." "What's wrong?" "Why are you crying?" "I'm thanking God for bringing you here." "We could have a child." "We could have a child." "Where are you going?" "Who are you going to kill?" "Are you going to kill God?" "Didn't you hear me, Jesus?" "There is nothing you can do." "God's killed her." "God's killed her." "God took her away when she was happy." "Now she's immortal." "She won't see her love die or body decay." "I was there the whole time he was killing her and saw what happened." "But it wasn't right." "It wasn't right for God to take her." "You didn't complain when God let you live." "You can't complain now because he let her die." "Trust God's way." "Listen." "There's only one woman in the world." "One woman with many faces." "This one falls, the next one rises." "Mary Magdalene died but Mary, Lazarus's sister she lives." "She's Magdalene with a different face." "She's carrying your greatest joy inside her." "Your son." "Come with me." "This is the way the Savior comes." "Gradually, from embrace to embrace." "From son to son." "This is the road." "I understand." "Mary." "Look." "Rabbi, I just want to see if it's really you." "He's real, like us." "Don't you see?" "Come in." "Come here." "Master, I want to tell you one thing." "I'm sorry about Magdalene." "I won't ever leave you alone again." "I'll always protect you." "I don't want you to take the wrong road and get lost again." "Come inside." "I'll cook for you and your friend." "Are you satisfied with me?" "Do you have any complaints?" "None." "I'm ashamed when I think of it." "Of what?" "Of all the mistakes I've made." "Of all the wrong ways I looked for God." "Where's Mary?" "She won't be back till this evening." "Come inside." "It's too hot out here." "Come inside." "There's only one woman in the world." "Go inside." "We don't have to get involved." "Come on, stay out of it." "Here, watch your brother." "Remember to thank God for the food and leave some for me." "I'll be back soon." "Aren't you going to eat?" "I want to hear what he says." "You don't have to go there." "I lied, I stole, I cheated I gambled, I whored, I drank and persecuted, tortured and murdered." "Yes, murdered!" "I killed anyone who broke the law of Moses." "And I loved it, I enjoyed it, I relished it, I reveled in it." "Because I thought I was doing God's will." "I thought I was doing God's will." "And the high priest of Jerusalem sent me to Damascus to scourge that city." "And on the road to Damascus, just outside the city, in the middle of the day I was struck by a white light that blinded me!" "Yes." "And I heard a voice say:" ""Saul, why are you persecuting me?" ""Why are you against me?"" ""Who are you?" I said." "And the voice said:" ""Jesus."" "And he made me see." "I was led helpless like a child, into a city that I was sent to scourge." "And God sent me Ananias instead and he put his hands on me and I opened my eyes and I was baptized and became Paul." "And now I bring the good news to you." "It's about Jesus of Nazareth." "He was not the son of Mary." "He was the Son of God." "His mother was a virgin." "And the angel Gabriel came down and put God's seed in her womb." "That's how he was born." "And he was punished for our sins." "Then he was tortured and crucified." "But three days later he rose up from the dead and went up to heaven." "Death was conquered!" "Amen." "Do you understand what that means?" "He conquered death." "All of our sins were forgiven and now the world of God is open to every one of us." "To everybody!" "Did you ever see this Jesus of Nazareth after he came back from the dead?" "I mean, with your own eyes?" "No, but I saw a light that blinded me and I heard his voice." "You're a liar." "His disciples saw him." "They were hiding in an attic, the doors locked, and he appeared to them." "Liar." "He's a liar!" "Wait a minute." "Wait a minute, I want to talk to you." "I was never crucified." "I never came back from the dead." "I'm a man." "Quiet!" "Why are you telling these lies?" "What are you talking about?" "I'm the son of Mary and Joseph." "I'm the one who preached in Galilee." "I had followers, we marched on Jerusalem." "Pilate condemned me and God saved me." "No, he didn't." "Who are you talking about?" "Don't try to tell me what happened, because I know." "I live like a man now." "I work, eat, have children." "I enjoy my life." "For the first time, I'm enjoying it." "Do you understand me?" "So don't go around telling lies about me, or I'll tell everybody the truth!" "Wait just a minute." "What's the matter with you?" "Look around you." "Look at all these people." "Look at their faces." "Do you see how unhappy they are?" "Do you see how they're suffering?" "Their only hope is the resurrected Jesus." "I don't care whether you're Jesus or not." "The resurrected Jesus will save the world and that's what matters." "Those are lies." "You can't save the world by lying." "I created the truth out of what people needed and what they believed." "If I have to crucify you to save the world, then I'll crucify you." "I won't let you." "I'll tell everyone the truth." "Go ahead." "Go on." "Tell them now." "Who's going to believe you?" "You started all this, now you can't stop it." "All those people who believe me will kill you." "No." "That wouldn't happen." "How do you know?" "You see, you don't know how much people need God." "You don't know how happy he can make them." "Happy to do anything." "He can make them happy to die and they'll die." "All for the sake of Christ." "Jesus Christ." "Jesus of Nazareth." "The Son of God." "The Messiah." "Not you." "Not for your sake." "You know, I'm glad I met you." "Because now I can forget all about you." "My Jesus is much more important and much more powerful." "Thank you." "It's a good thing I met you." "Don't ever leave me." "I'm happy here." "I remember when Mary and I planted these vines." "You know, this will all pass." "Why?" "Are you leaving me?" "We have to move on." "You've grown old." "You've done well." "We've both done well." "Get inside." "Get inside, fast!" "Jerusalem is on fire!" "It's burning!" "The Romans are killing everyone." "Move out of the way." "We were sent here." "God told us you would show yourself to us." "He said you were dying." "Peter?" "ls that you?" "I can't tell." "What happened to you?" "I got old." "You got old." "This one I know." "No matter how old you get, I know you, Nathaniel." "You were the best shepherd because you had no sheep." "Rabbi." "I missed you." "And you?" "They cut you." "Your face." "Who are you?" "John." "The Romans tortured me, cut my face." "I tried to tell them all about you." "Then I saw Jerusalem burn." "I even saw the Ark of the Covenant stolen from the temple." "They destroyed the temple, just like you said." "The Ark?" "There's someone else outside." "Be careful." "He's still angry." "Judas." "Judas, come in." "Didn't you hear me?" "I missed you so much." "He hears you." "He just won't say anything." "He's been fighting in Jerusalem." "Look at his hands." "There's still blood on them." "Judas, the Master is speaking to you." "Answer him." "Traitor!" "Your place was on the cross." "That's where God put you." "When death got too close, you got scared and you ran away and you hid yourself in the life of some man." "We did what we were supposed to do!" "You didn't!" "You're a coward!" "Don't you have any respect?" "For him?" "You don't understand." "Understand?" "You broke my heart." "Sometimes I curse the day I ever met you." "We held the world in our hands." "Remember what you told me?" "You took me in your arms." "Do you remember?" "And you begged me, "Betray me, betray me." ""I have to be crucified." ""I have to be resurrected so I can save the world." ""I am the lamb," you said." ""Death is the door." ""Judas, my brother, don't be afraid." "Help me go through the door."" "And I loved you so much." "I went and betrayed you." "And you you...." "What are you doing here?" "What business do you have here with women, with children?" "What's good for man isn't good for God." "Why weren't you crucified?" "Look at his wounds, Judas." "They're bleeding." "You're hurting him." "That's enough." "He was going to be the New Covenant." "Now there's no more Israel." "No, you don't understand." "The guardian angel." "God sent a guardian angel to save me." "What angel?" "Look at her." "Satan." "I told you we would meet again." "If you die this way, you die like a man." "You turned against God, your Father." "There's no sacrifice." "There's no salvation." "There's nothing you can do." "You lived this life." "It's over now." "You just finish it and die." "Die like a man." "Father." "Will you listen to me?" "Are you still there?" "Will you listen to a selfish, unfaithful son?" "I fought you when you called." "I resisted." "I thought I knew more." "I didn't want to be your son." "Can you forgive me?" "I didn't fight hard enough." "Father give me your hand." "I want to bring salvation!" "Father, take me back!" "Make a feast!" "Welcome me home!" "I want to be your son!" "I want to pay the price!" "I want to be crucified and rise again!" "I want to be the Messiah!" "It is accomplished!" "It is accomplished."