Philip Pullman: The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

He flung them this way and that, and took a whip and drove the animals out, shouting, ‘This should be a house of prayer, but look at it now! It’s a den of robbers! Take your money and your buying and selling elsewhere, and leave this place to God and his people!’

The temple guards came running to try and restore order, but the people were too excited to listen to them, and some were scrambling to gather up the coins that were rolling all over the floor before the money-changers could save them. In the confusion the officials missed Jesus, and failed to arrest him.

Of course, the priests and officials of the temple were aware of all this, and they gathered at the house of the high priest Caiaphas to discuss how to respond.

‘We shall have to put him out of action one way or another,’ said one.

‘Arrest him? Kill him? Exile him somewhere?’

‘But he’s so popular. If we move against him, the people won’t stand for it.’

‘The people are fickle. They can be moved this way and that.’

‘Well, we’re not succeeding in moving them. They’re entirely for Jesus.’

‘That can change in a moment, with the right provocation… ’

‘I still don’t see what he’s done wrong.’

‘What? Provoking a riot in the temple? Rousing the people to an unhealthy state of excitement? If you don’t see it, the Romans certainly will.’

‘I don’t understand what he wants. If we offered him a high position here, would he accept that and keep quiet?’

‘He preaches the coming of the Kingdom of God. I don’t think he could be bought off with a salary and a comfortable office.’

‘He’s a man of great integrity – say what else you like, you must grant him that.’

‘Have you seen that slogan they’re scrawling everywhere – King Jesus?’

‘There’s something in that. If we could persuade the Romans that he’s a threat to their order… ’

‘Is he a Zealot, do you think? Is that what motivates him?’

‘They’re bound to be aware of him. We really must move before they do.’

‘We can’t do anything during the festival.’

‘We need an agent in his camp. If we could find out what he was planning next… ’

‘Impossible. His followers are fanatics – they’d never give him away.’

‘It can’t go on. We’ll have to do something soon. He’s had the initiative for too long.’

Caiaphas let everyone speak and listened to everything, and his mind was troubled.

Christ was staying at an inn at the edge of the city. That evening he ate with his informant, who told him about the incident in the temple. Christ had already heard rumours about what had happened, and he was eager to get the facts clear, so he made notes on his tablet as they ate.

‘Jesus seems more and more angry,’ he said. ‘Do you know why that is? Has he spoken about it to any of you?’

‘No, but Peter is sure Jesus is in danger, and he’s worried that the master will be arrested before the Kingdom comes. What would happen then, with Jesus in prison? Would all the gates be opened, and all the bars flung down? That’s the most likely thing. But Peter’s anxious, no doubt about it.’

‘Is Jesus anxious too, do you think?’

‘He hasn’t said so. But everyone’s jumpy. We don’t know what the Romans will do, for one thing. And the crowds – they’re all for Jesus now, but there’s an edge to it. You can tell. They’re over-excited. They want the Kingdom right away, and if… ’

The man hesitated.

‘If what?’ said Christ. ‘If the Kingdom doesn’t come, is that what you were going to say?’

‘Of course not. There’s no doubt about the Kingdom. But a business like the temple this morning… There are times when I wish we were back in Galilee.’

‘How are the other disciples taking it?’

‘Nervous, jumpy, like I say. If the master wasn’t so angry right now we’d all be calmer. It’s as if he’s spoiling for a fight.’

‘But he’s said that if someone hits us, we should turn the other cheek.’

‘He also said he’d come not to bring peace, but a sword.’

‘When did he say that?’

‘That was in Capernaum, not long after Matthew joined us. Jesus was telling us what to do when we went out to preach. He said, “Don’t think I’ve come to bring peace to the earth. I haven’t come to bring peace, but a sword. I’ve come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and your enemies will be members of your own household.”’

Christ wrote it down just as the apostle told him.

‘That sounds exactly like the sort of thing he’d come out with,’ he said. ‘Did he say anything else?’

‘He said, “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” There’s some of us thinking of those words again now.’

The man said goodbye, and hastened back to his companions. Christ went to his room to transcribe the words on to a scroll, and then he knelt down, intending to pray for strength to withstand the test that was to come.

But he hadn’t been praying for long before there came a knock on the door. Knowing who it was, he got up and let the angel in.

The angel greeted him with a kiss.

‘I’m ready, sir,’ said Christ. ‘Is it tonight?’

‘We have a little time to talk first. Sit, and take some wine.’

Christ poured some wine for himself, and for the angel, too, knowing that angels had eaten and drunk with Abraham and Sarah.

‘Sir, since I am not going to be here for long,’ said Christ, ‘will you answer a question I’ve put to you more than once, and tell me who you are and where you come from?’

‘I thought we had come to trust each other, you and I?’

‘I have given my life into your hands. All I ask is a little knowledge in return.’

‘This is not the first occasion on which your faith has failed.’

‘If you know about the other occasion, sir, you will know how much I lamented it. I would give anything to live that night again. But haven’t I done faithfully everything you’ve asked of me? Haven’t I written a true record of my brother’s life and words? And now, haven’t I assented to the role you told me of last time we spoke? I am ready to play the part of Isaac. I’m ready to give my life for the Kingdom, and atone for the time when my faith was needed, and when it failed. Sir, let me plead with you: I beg you, tell me more. Otherwise I shall go out of my life in darkness.’

‘I told you that this task would be difficult. The part of Isaac is easy; it’s the part of Abraham that is hard. You are not to die. You are to give Jesus to the authorities. He is the one who will die.’

Christ was astounded.

‘Betray my brother? When I love him as I do?

I could never do that! Sir, that’s too hard! I beg you, don’t ask this of me!’

In his distraction, Christ got up and beat his hands together and struck his head. Then he fell to the floor and clasped the angel’s knees.

‘Let me die in his place, I beg you!’ he cried. ‘We look similar – no one will know – he can continue his work! What am I doing except keeping a record? Anyone could do that! My informant is a good and honest man – he could write it – he would be well placed to continue the history I’ve begun – you don’t need me to live! All my life I have been trying to serve my brother, and now, when I thought I could do him the greatest service of all by dying in his place, are you going to rob me of it by making me betray him instead? Don’t bring me to this! I can’t do it, I can’t; let it pass me by!’