The Last Temptation of Christ

  “That is how it must be, John, my brother. He has the greater need for love.”

  Andrew followed the new teacher, and day by day the world changed for him, grew sweeter. Not the world: his heart! Eating and laughter were no longer sins, the earth became firm underfoot, the sky leaned over it like a father and the day of the Lord was not a day of wrath and conflagration, not the end of the world—it was harvest, vintage, weddings, dancing: the perpetual renewal of the earth’s virginity. Every daybreak was a renascence; each morning God renewed his promise to hold the world in his sacred palm.

  As the days went by, Andrew grew calm. He made friends with laughter and food; his pale cheeks reddened. In the evening or at noontime when he stretched out under a tree to eat, or when they were feted in some house by friends, and Jesus, as was his habit, blessed and divided the bread, Andrew’s entrails took this bread and immediately transubstantiated it into love and laughter. He still sighed now and then, however, when he remembered his family and friends.

  “What will become of Jonah and Zebedee?” he asked one day, his eyes lost in the distance. The two old men seemed to him at the ends of the earth. “And what about Jacob and Peter? Where are they; in what surroundings are they now suffering?”

  “We shall find them all,” Jesus answered with a smile, “and each one of them will find us. Do not be sad, Andrew. The Father’s courtyards are wide; there is room for all.”

  One evening Jesus entered Bethsaida. The children took olive branches and palm leaves and ran out to greet him. Doors opened; housewives emerged. Abandoning the housework, they ran behind him to hear the good word. Sons lifted paralyzed parents to their shoulders; grandchildren led blind grandfathers by the hand. Men with bulging muscles dragged along those who were possessed with devils and ran behind him so that he might place his hand on the heads of these maniacs and cure them.

  It chanced that this was the day when Thomas the peddler made his rounds of the village. Staggering under his load of spools of thread, combs, women’s wonder-working cosmetics, bronze bracelets and silver earrings, he was tooting his horn and hawking his wares when Jesus saw him. A sudden puff of wind: he was no longer Thomas the cross-eyed merchant. In his hand he held a carpenter’s level. He was surrounded by swarms of people, in some faraway country. Laborers were hauling stones and cement, masons were building a large temple, an imposing edifice with marble columns, and Thomas the master builder ran here and there with his level, checking their work. ... Jesus blinked, Thomas blinked in return—and suddenly he found himself before him once again, loaded down as before with his wares. His sly crossed eyes danced roguishly.

  Jesus placed his hand on the peddler’s head. “Thomas, come with me. I shall load you with other wares: the spices and ornaments of the soul. Your rounds will then take you to the ends of the earth, and you will hawk your new wares and portion them out to men.”

  “I’d rather sell these first,” said the shrewd merchant, chuckling, “and then ... well, let’s wait and see what happens.” He swelled his shrill voice and began on the spot to hawk his combs, threads and wonder-working cosmetics.

  An old village notable, very rich, cruel and dishonest, stood in his doorway, his hands against the jambs, and stared with curiosity at the approaching multitude. The mass of children, running in front and waving their palm leaves and olive branches in the air, knocked on the doors and shouted, “He’s coming, he’s coming, the son of David is coming!” They were followed by a man dressed in white, with hair which spilled down onto his shoulders. Tranquil and smiling, he extended his hands to the left and the right as though blessing the houses. The men and women who ran behind him vied to see who would touch him and acquire strength and sanctity. Farther behind came the blind and the paralyzed, and new doors continued to open and new crowds to appear.

  The old notable felt uneasy. “Now who is this?” he asked, grasping the door jambs securely lest the mob rush inside and plunder his wealth.

  Someone stopped and answered him. “It’s the new prophet, Ananias. This man in white who you see before you holds life in one hand, death in the other, and portions them out just as he pleases. A word to the wise, Ananias: flatter him, treat him well.”

  When old Ananias heard this, he became terrified. He had many troubles weighing on his soul, and at night he often woke up with a start to find himself struck dumb with fear. In his nightmares he seemed to be roasting, plunged up to the neck in the flames of hell. Perhaps this man could save him. Everything in the world is sorcery, he reflected, and this man is a sorcerer. So, let’s set the table for him, let’s invest a little money to feed him, and perhaps he’ll perform a miracle.

  Having made the decision, he stepped out into the middle of the road and placed his palm over his heart. “Son of David,” he said, “I am old Ananias, a sinner, and you are a saint. When I learned that you deigned to set foot in our village, I had tables set so that you could dine. Come in, please, if you’ll be so kind. As we all know, it’s for us sinners that saints come into the world, and my home is thirsting for sanctity.”

  Jesus stopped. “What you say pleases me, Ananias. I’m glad to meet you!”

  He entered the rich village house. The slaves arranged the tables in the courtyard and brought pillows. Jesus reclined, and on either side of him reclined John, Andrew, Judas and also sly Thomas, who pretended to be a disciple in order to eat. The old proprietor enthroned himself opposite them, searching in his mind for a subtle way in which to direct the conversation to the subject of dreams and get the exorcist to exorcise his nightmares. The food was brought, and also two pitchers of wine. The people stood outside and watched them eat and talk about God, the weather and the vineyards. When they had finished their food and drink the slaves brought kettles and basins. The guests washed their hands and prepared to rise. At this point old Ananias’s endurance gave out. I went to the expense of giving him a meal, he said to himself. He ate and drank—he and his suite. Now it is only right that he should pay.

  “Teacher, I have nightmares,” he said. “I learned that you are considered to be a great exorcist. I did all that I could for you; now, let Your Holiness do something for me: take pity on me and exorcise my dreams. They say that you speak and exorcise with parables. Tell me a parable, therefore. I shall understand its hidden meaning and be cured. Everything in the world is sorcery, isn’t it? Well, then, perform your sorcery.”

  Jesus smiled and looked into the old man’s eyes. This was not the first time he had seen the rapacious jaws, the fat napes and quick-moving eyes of the glutted. They made him shudder. These people ate, drank and laughed, thought the whole world belonged to them; they stole, danced, whored—and had not the slightest idea that they were burning in the fires of hell. It was only at rare times, in sleep, that they opened their eyes and saw. ... Jesus looked at the old glutton, looked at his flesh, his eyes, his fear—and once more, the truth inside him became a tale.

  “Open your ears, Ananias,” he said, “and open your heart, for I shall speak.”

  “I have opened my ears and I have opened my heart. I am listening, praised be God.”

  “Once, Ananias, there was a rich man who was unjust and dishonest. He ate and drank, dressed himself in silks and purple, and never gave as much as a green leaf to his neighbor Lazarus, who was hungry and cold. Lazarus crawled under the tables to gather up the crumbs and lick the bones, but the slaves threw him out. He sat on the threshold, and the dogs came and licked his wounds. Then came the appointed day and both of them died. One went to the eternal fire, the other to the bosom of Abraham. One day the rich man lifted his eyes and saw his neighbor Lazarus laughing and rejoicing in Abraham’s bosom. ‘Father Abraham, Father Abraham,’ he cried, ‘send Lazarus down; let him moisten the tip of his finger in order to cool my mouth—I am roasting!’ But Abraham answered him: ‘Think back to the days when you ate and drank and enjoyed the fat of the land while he was hungry and cold. Did you ever give him as much as a green leaf? Now it is his turn
to enjoy himself, and yours to burn forever and ever.’ ”

  Jesus sighed and was quiet. Old Ananias stood with opened mouth, waiting to hear more. His lips had become dry, his throat parched. He looked at Jesus, imploring him with his eyes.

  “Is that all?” he asked, his voice trembling. “Is that all; is there nothing more?”

  “Served him right!” Judas said with a laugh. “Whoever overeats and overdrinks on earth will vomit everything up in Hades.”

  But Zebedee’s younger son leaned over to Jesus’ chest. “Rabbi,” he said softly, “your words have not unburdened my heart. How many times have you instructed us to forgive our enemies! You must love your enemy, you told us, and if he wrongs you seven and seventy-seven times, you must do good to him seven and seventy-seven times. This, you said, is the only way hatred can be discharged from the world. But now ... Is God unable to forgive?”

  “God is just,” interrupted the redbeard, throwing a sarcastic glance at old Ananias.

  “God is perfect goodness,” John objected.

  “Does this mean there is no hope?” stammered the old proprietor. “Is the parable finished?”

  Thomas got up, took a stride toward the street door, and stopped. “No, milord, it’s not finished,” he scoffed. “There’s more.”

  “Speak, my child, and you shall have my blessing.”

  “The rich man’s name is Ananias!” said Thomas. He grabbed his bundle of wares and was suddenly outside in the middle of the street, where he stood and guffawed with the neighbors.

  The blood rose to the old notable’s large head, and his eyes grew dim, like the setting sun.

  Jesus put out his hand and stroked his beloved companion’s curly hair. “John,” he said, “all have ears, and heard; all have minds, and judged. God is just, they said, and they were unable to go beyond. But you have a heart as well, and you said, Yes, God is just, but this is not enough. He is also perfect goodness. The parable cannot stand as it is; it must have a different ending.”

  “Pardon me, Rabbi,” said the youth, “but that was exactly what my heart felt. Man forgives, I said to myself. Is it possible then that God does not? No, it is impossible. The parable is a great blasphemy and cannot stand as it is. It must have a different ending.

  “It does have a different ending, John beloved,” said Jesus, smiling. “Listen, Ananias, and you will be reassured; listen, you who are in the yard, and you, neighbors, who laugh in the street. God is not only just, he is good; and he is not only good, he is also the Father. When Lazarus heard Abraham’s words he sighed and addressed God in his mind: ‘God, how can anyone be happy in Paradise when he knows that there is a man—a soul—roasting for all eternity? Refresh him, Lord, that I may be refreshed. Deliver him, Lord, that I may be delivered. Otherwise I too shall begin to feel the flames.’ God heard his thought and was glad. ‘Lazarus, beloved,’ he said, ‘go down; take the thirster by the hand. My fountains are inexhaustible. Bring him here so that he may drink and refresh himself, and you refresh yourself with him.’ ... ‘For all eternity?’ asked Lazarus. ‘Yes, for all eternity,’ God replied.”

  Jesus got up without a further word. Night had overwhelmed the earth. The people dispersed; men and women returned to their wretched huts, whispering to one another. Their hearts had been filled. Can the word give nourishment? they asked themselves. Yes, it can—when it is the good word!

  Jesus held out his hand to take leave of the old proprietor, but Ananias fell at his feet.

  “Rabbi,” he murmured, “forgive me!” and he burst into tears.

  That same night, under the olive trees where they had lain down to sleep, Judas went and found the son of Mary. He could not calm himself. He had to see him and speak to him so that they could lay their cards down on the table and make everything perfectly clear. When, at the house of that criminal Ananias, he had rejoiced at the rich man’s punishment in hell and clapped his hands and shouted, “Served him right!” Jesus had looked at him out of the corner of his eye for a long time, secretly, as though scolding him, and this glance still tortured him. It was imperative, therefore, that they clear up their accounts. Judas did not like half-baked words or secret glances.

  “Welcome,” said Jesus. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Son of Mary, I don’t fit in with the others,” the redbeard started straight off. “I don’t have the virginity and goodness of John, your darling, and I’m not a scatter-brained daydreamer like Andrew, who changes his mind with every breeze that blows. I am a wild, uncompromising beast. I was born out of wedlock and my mother threw me into the wilderness, where I suckled on the milk of the wolf. I became rough, rigid and honest. Whoever I love—I’m dirt under his feet; whoever I hate—I kill.”

  As he spoke, his voice grew hoarse. His eyes threw sparks into the darkness. Jesus placed his hand on the terrible head in order to calm it. But the redbeard shook off this hand of peace.

  Weighing his words one by one, he continued: “I am even able to kill someone I love, if I see him slip away from the true path.”

  “Which is the true path, Judas, my brother?”

  “The deliverance of Israel.”

  Jesus closed his eyes and did not reply. The two flames which were being slung at him out of the darkness burned him, as did Judas’s words. What was Israel? Why only Israel? Weren’t we all brothers?

  The redbeard waited for an answer, but the son of Mary did not speak. Judas grasped him by the arm and shook him as though trying to wake him up. “Do you understand?” he asked. “Did you hear what I said?”

  “Yes, I understand,” Jesus answered, opening his eyes.

  “I’ve spoken to you without beating about the bush because I want you to know who I am and what I desire, so that you can give me an answer. Do you wish me to come with you or don’t you? I want to know.”

  “I want you to come, Judas, my brother.”

  “And you’ll let me speak my mind freely; you’ll let me object, say ‘no’ when you say ‘yes’? Because—I’ll tell you so there will be no doubt in your mind—everyone else may listen to you with gaping mouth, but not me! I’m no slave; I’m a free man. That’s the way things are, and you’d better make the best of it.”

  “But freedom, Judas, is exactly what I want too.”

  The redbeard gave a start. Grasping Jesus’ shoulder, he shouted with fiery breath, “You want to free Israel from the Romans?”

  “To free the soul from sin.”

  Judas snatched his hand away from Jesus’ shoulder in a frenzy and banged his fist against the trunk of the olive tree. “This is where our ways part,” he growled, facing Jesus and looking at him with hatred. “First the body must be freed from the Romans, and later the soul from sin. That is the road. Can you take it? A house isn’t built from the roof down; it’s built from the foundation up.”

  “The foundation is the soul, Judas.”

  “The foundation is the body—that’s where you’ve got to begin. Watch out, son of Mary. I’ve said it once and I say it again: watch out, take the road I tell you. Why do you think I go along with you? Well, you’d better learn: it’s to show you your way.”

  Andrew was under the neighboring olive tree. He heard talk in his sleep and awoke. Listening intently, he made out the rabbi’s voice and one other, raucous and full of anger. He quivered like a startled deer. Could people have come during the night to annoy the rabbi? Andrew knew that wherever the teacher went he left behind him many women and young men, and whole flocks of the poor, who loved him; but also many notables, many of the rich and old, who hated him and wanted his downfall. Could these criminals have sent some hooligan to harm him? He crept forward in the darkness on all fours, toward the voices. But the redbeard heard the creeping and rose to his knees.

  “Who’s there?” he called.

  Andrew recognized the voice. “Judas, it’s me, Andrew,” he answered.

  “Go back to bed, son of Jonah. We’ve got private business.”

  “Go to sle
ep, Andrew, my child,” Jesus said also.

  Judas lowered his voice now. Jesus felt the redbeard’s heavy breath on his face.

  “You’ll remember that I disclosed to you in the desert that the brotherhood commissioned me to kill you. But at the very last minute I changed my mind, put the knife back into its sheath and ran away from the monastery at dawn, like a thief.”

  “Why did you change your mind, Judas, my brother? I was ready.”

  “I wanted to wait.”

  “To wait for what?”

  Judas was silent for a moment. Then, suddenly: “To see if you were the One awaited by Israel.”

  Jesus shuddered. He leaned against the trunk of the olive tree, his whole body trembling.

  “I don’t want to rush into this and kill the Saviour; no, I don’t want that!” Judas cried out, wiping his brow, which had suddenly become drenched with sweat. “Do you understand?” he screamed, as though someone were strangling him. “Do you understand: I don’t want that!”

  He took a deep breath. “He might not even know it himself, I said. Best be patient and let him live awhile, let him live so that we can see what he says and does; and if he isn’t the One we’re waiting for, there’s always plenty of time to get rid of him. ... That’s what I said to myself, that’s why I let you live.”