A.D. The Bible Continues (2015) s01e01 Episode Script

Truth? What is truth? Many here have seen you employ demons to heal and call it the work of God! Many heard you say you would destroy the temple and in three days build another.
Some testified here before the Sanhedrin that you said this.
How do you respond? Are you going to refuse to answer? Are you or are you not the Messiah? I am.
And soon you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of God.
How dare you speak his name?! The charge is blasphemy.
He deserves to die! Judas! You.
You're one of his men! No.
I-I'm not.
This man is one of the Nazarene's men! I-I don't know him.
You're mistaken! This man walks with this "son of God"! I do not! I don't know him! I've never seen him before! Take him away.
Governor.
The Nazarene's popularity has strengthened the zealots' resolve to rise against us.
His trial could trigger rebellion.
The word of one Jew against the might of Rome? I don't think so, Marius.
don't! Release him! Let him go! Are you the king of the Jews? My kingdom is not of this world.
So you are a king, then? You say that I am.
I was born and came into this world to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of the truth listens to me.
Truth? What is truth? I find no basis for a charge against him.
Crucify him! Take him And crucify him.
Crucify him! Out of the way! Nail them in.
Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah! See how they come in their hundreds of thousands to keep themselves in God's favor.
It is undeniable that the temple is a great focal point for their celebrations, father.
However, they thrive in their daily lives due to the leadership of the high priest.
You have protected our sacrificial rites admirably against the Nazarene's desire to sweep them away.
My one regret is that you involved the governor.
It was necessary to call upon the full force of Roman law.
The Nazarene's crucifixion sends a message to all who might challenge what we labor so hard to uphold.
You did the right thing.
That is open to question.
Day by day, more and more people were being seduced by the Nazarene's simplistic homilies.
He had to be exposed.
And so brutally executed? My husband took a decision any high priest would have taken.
Though my methods may have differed during my time in office, I would have pursued the same objective.
It was the needless death of a harmless soul.
"Harmless"? He threatened everything we represent and these people believe in.
The life of one man is as nothing, Joseph, for the sake of God's nation.
Caiaphas -- ah, enough.
We shall see you at supper.
Joseph and his lofty morals.
Floating above the daily grime of public affairs.
Well, words come cheap.
Without actions to test them, his opinions are fruitless.
Share this feast.
We're hungry.
Is it correct the Nazarene alleged he would rise from death? One of his many outrageous claims and crude manipulations of prophecy.
Then ensure he dies swiftly before he has the chance to perform a final deception.
Before the first star, Caiaphas.
Before the very sight of the rogue is allowed to pollute our celebrations.
To you Lord, I call.
You are my rock.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me, for if you remain silent, I shall be like those who go down to the pit.
Hear my cry for mercy.
I call for your help as I lift my hands to your most holy place.
My God? My God? Why have you forsaken me? Two items, Governor.
A request to expedite the death of the Nazarene from high priest Caiaphas and a petition to repossess the Nazarene's body upon death.
Who requests the body? A Jewish elder troubled by the Sanhedrin's persecution of the Nazarene.
His name? Joseph of Arimathea.
Grant each request.
Keeping them at each other's throats prevents them from wrapping their fingers around ours.
And have Cornelius put the Nazarene out of his misery.
Are you enjoying the spectacle? Spectacle? Is that how you regard the crucifixion of the Nazarene? Any man who claims to be king in a Roman province is committing treason and must suffer the consequences.
He does not behave as a king in my dreams.
The running of the province can hardly be determined by the dreams of the Governor's wife.
The gods find us in our sleep.
Their message was clear.
The Nazarene is a good man.
Humble.
Pure of heart.
The man was a danger to the status quo.
Our Garrison in Judea is not large, Claudia.
You'll live to regret your hand in his death.
I took advice.
I weighed it up.
I acted accordingly.
Advice from men who feared his popularity would eclipse their own.
He claimed to be their Messiah.
It was intolerable.
At worst, he's mad! Is that reason enough -- Claudia.
It's tiresome enough having every Jewish priest on my back.
I don't expect my own wife to join them, and, yes, even if he were mad, we should nail him up to destroy the messenger and to warn the people against his message! Killing him won't be the end of him.
It usually is, my darling.
I-it isFinished.
Save yourselves! Come with me! Out of my way! This way! Aah! Aah! This is his mother.
So? Spare her this.
You can see he's dead.
I'll be the judge of that.
There's no need for this.
Please.
The order is to make sure.
Identify yourself.
I have permission to take possession of the Nazarene's body.
On whose authority? The Governor's.
If you will allow, I would like to offer my own tomb as your son's final place of rest.
He'll be at peace there.
I've done the most terrible thing For which there can be no forgiveness.
I've betrayed innocent blood! Aah! She's exhausted.
She's waiting.
Does she really believe it, or is it what her grief wills her to believe? I think she truly believes he will rise from death.
Do you? And I'll tell you the rest of the story tomorrow night.
Good night.
Come, off to bed.
Good night.
Good night.
Drink something.
In my lifetime, I could never have imagined such an assault on the house of God.
My heart breaks.
We can restore it.
It was not of your making.
Miraculous that no one was killed.
Ah.
We thought you weren't coming.
Apologies.
Come in.
Come in.
We were waylaid.
Why? I was laying a poor soul to rest.
A relative? The crucified Nazarene.
I beg your pardon? He deserved greater respect in death than he'd ever been afforded in life.
Because his followers named him rabbi, Joseph, doesn't mean he was one.
The Nazarene gave succor to those would take up arms against Rome.
Which would have been a disaster, prompting Rome to unleash reinforcements that would turn the Mediterranean red with Jewish blood.
I don't agree he posed the threat you believe.
Which is why you will never become the high priest.
The Jewish people have survived the tyranny of many empires with pragmatism and compromise.
With careful helmsmanship, it will outlast the Roman occupation.
Not by asking Rome to crucify Jews, it won't.
May I ask where the Nazarene was buried? In my tomb.
"And he made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich.
" You are familiar with Isaiah's prophecy? I wasn't compelled by prophecy, but decency.
I find this hard to believe.
At the very hour we sought to extinguish this dangerous flame, you take it upon yourself to re-ignite it! I had no intention other than to bring this sordid episode to a dignified conclusion.
But to the weak of mind, you create the appearance of fulfilling Isaiah! Do you not understand the issue here? What precisely was his crime? To preach that we should treat each other as we ourselves would wish to be treated? He was killed for the repeated blasphemy of claiming to be the Messiah.
And if he was? Then he is no more.
Rome holds Judea loose in its hand only as long as the Sanhedrin is able to manage its people.
In addition to peace and love, the Nazarene preached insurrection against all authority.
I disagree.
Such arrogance! But you will see, Joseph.
You have my word, in or out of your tomb, the Nazarene's doctrine will decompose with his corpse.
Peter! What happened to you? I was recognized.
I managed to get away.
Mmm.
Aah! The others are here? No.
Mary is convinced the authorities will be hunting us down.
You should leave immediately.
Without them? No.
Where were you, Peter? Is he dead? I laid him to rest myself.
Then it's over.
Jesus foretold that Judas would betray him to the Sanhedrin.
And he did.
He also foretold that you would deny him.
Tell us you didn't.
I can't lie.
There was a trial.
The mob was baying for his blood, and I was recognized.
What difference does any of this now make if he's dead? The last three years of our lives for nothing.
His mother believes he will rise.
I would give this arm to believe the same! I never had you for a coward.
Never.
Back! Back up! Send him away.
Drusus.
Governor.
The high priest of the temple.
Can't it wait until after I've eaten? No, I'm afraid it can't.
This is a matter of some urgency.
"Urgent" appears to be your default state of mind, Caiaphas.
We live in turbulent times, Governor.
I have a request.
Another one? Please tell me it doesn't concern the Nazarene.
I'm certainly grateful for the decisive manner in which you've acted on our behalf so far.
"So far"? You seek more from me on this.
I'm afraid so.
You wanted him crucified, I had him crucified.
What more is necessary? What is it about this nobody that so disturbs you? As you know, his corpse has been placed in the tomb of an elder.
What do you mean, "as you know"? Is this true? A petition was made.
You must have known the friction it would cause.
It never crossed my mind.
In keeping with his practice, the Nazarene distorted ancient prophecies relating to the rise of our Messiah and spread rumor that he would rise from his own death after three days.
Roman crucifixion really doesn't allow for that, Caiaphas.
Nevertheless, by allowing his body to be entombed and not consumed by wild beasts, you've granted an opportunity to his followers to enact the appearance of resurrection.
And as we know, in Jerusalem, the appearance of a thing is often as potent as the thing itself.
You believe they will raid the tomb after three days? It'd be the simplest way to manipulate events.
Then ensure it isn't removed.
Post temple guards outside.
I fear my men would pose no deterrent to a band of fanatics.
You want me to waste Roman soldiers guarding a Jewish hole? And place a Roman seal across the tomb.
Its unlawful breaking carries the death penalty.
You ask too much.
Had you not granted permission to entomb him, this situation would not have arisen.
Where he lies, he currently remains a threat both to the Sanhedrin and to Rome.
One man? You underestimate the might of your Roman overlords.
But if it will finally bring an end to this, I will post a small guard outside the tomb.
I cannot thank you enough.
At last, something we can agree upon.
Why didn't you tell me? I don't have to account for my decisions to you or anyone else.
don't look now, Matthew, but I think we may have been spotted.
Do you want to go back? If we do, we confirm their suspicions.
Just keep moving forward.
Hey! You! Run! Shout out and you're dead, understood? This way! Keep looking! Why were you running from the Romans? You have one chance to speak the truth before we leave your corpses here.
We're disciples of Jesus of Nazareth.
Go on.
We fled the city after he was captured.
Then why come back to where there are more Roman soldiers than anywhere else in Judea? To find our brothers.
Well, he bled like a man.
Remove it.
But break it up.
I recognize this man.
Boaz.
You know this zealot? We played together in Galilee as children.
An age away, Peter.
The times reshape us all.
They do.
You are disciples of the Nazarene? We are.
Your leader had a great following on the streets.
The authorities colluded and murdered him.
Join us and become a real force to be reckoned with.
Fighting the Romans? Whatever it takes to drive them off our land.
Live by the sword, and you die by the sword.
Better that than like a dog on a leash.
Your master preached love.
I shall die preaching freedom.
Join us! We are fishermen, not fighters.
They won't stop with him.
You do know that? Once the Romans realize your message remains a threat, they will root you out.
And when they've killed each of you, they will snuff out his ideas one by one until it will be as if you never existed.
Join us.
I cannot.
What are we waiting for? The means by which I intend to put an end to your incessant mewling about this Jesus.
Am I not entitled to an opinion? You are.
But obsession is not opinion, Claudia, and unhealthy obsession requires radical treatment, which I believe is arriving now.
Cornelius, I have a certain matter only you can clear up.
If I can, of course.
I need to know one thing from you.
When he was placed inside his tomb, are you certain the Nazarene was dead? Sir, when I'm instructed to do a job, I do it.
I was instructed to ensure the death of the Nazarene on the cross, and that's what I did.
He expired before you? Better than that.
He expired because of me.
And you performed the proofs of death? I instructed Longinus to insert his spear hard between the Nazarene's ribs.
And he was dead? Before and after the spear.
So, to anyone who might entertain the notion that he might not be dead, that the Nazarene might actually somehow have remained alive after all of what you've just described, you would say what? I would say they were either mad or a fool.
Thank you, Cornelius.
You may go.
Enough of your dreams and nonsense, Claudia.
The Nazarene was only ever flesh and blood.
And we have butchered the former and spilled the latter all over the city.
But if you should dream of him again, be sure he proves his true identity by his real incarnation.
Not as a handsome prophet with charisma, but as a rotting pile of meat on the floor.
I'm just questioning whether leaving Jerusalem at this moment in time is the right course of action.
How can saving our lives not be the right course of action?! There's no guarantee we'll make it to the city wall.
But there's no guarantee they're actually coming after us.
The high priest walks hand-in-hand with Pilate! They killed our leader.
How do we continue to pose a threat to their authority?! on a remote hillside just to hear him preach -- that was him, not us.
Have you forgotten his prophecy already? Have you forgotten, Peter? On the third day, he promises to rise from death.
You need to rest.
Have they forgotten so quickly? Can they not wait? Can you not wait?! She watched him being tortured and killed, moment by moment.
He's dead.
But we are not.
Our flesh and blood waits up north in Galilee for our return.
Our duty now is to our families.
Three days.
I owe him that much.
Our faith in him has to be worth three days.
And if he fails to rise on the third? Then we leave like men.
Not cowards.
You think he's coming back.
I know he is.
How are you so sure? He raised others from death.
This is what was prophesied.
And he promised.
Then why not himself? High priest.
Ah.
I want you to post temple guards at Arimathea's tomb.
It must remain sealed.
They speak to no one, they let no one pass, and they report only to me.
Iscariot's been found.
The betrayer? Well, will he lead us to the others? He lies dead in the Potter's field.
He hanged himself.
What is it about this Jesus that drives them to such madness? What does it matter? Without his body, they can't pretend he's risen from death.
You were with him at the end? Only John.
The Romans turned his death into an atrocious spectacle.
They flayed him until his back split open.
It was as if they wanted to cut him down one piece at a time until he could barely move.
They forced him to his feet and drove thorns into his head.
They made him Drag his cross to Golgotha, where they nailed him to it and raised him up for all to see.
It doesn't matter that you weren't there.
He understood our weakness.
He loved us for it.
Died for it.
None of this matters now.
You heard the zealot.
We need to leave before they find us.
Before it's our turn to look down from Golgotha.
You need to rest.
It's been a stressful period.
You've done exceptionally well to steer the community to calmer waters.
With your support, as ever.
You've used Pilate to great effect to protect us.
Come to bed.
I won't be long.
The charge is blasphemy.
He deserves to die! Truth? What is truth? I don't know him! You're mistaken! I've never seen him before! The Roman seal has been broken.
The tomb is now opened and the Nazarene is gone.
What do you mean "gone"?