Killing Jesus (2015) Movie Script
1
False king,
God has no mercy on you.
He shall fester you with boils...
spawned by your many sins.
A child born in Israel...
will be a far greater king
than you.
He is born to destroy you...
and those of your seed.
God's wrath...
has come upon you.
Did you see him?
Did you see Isaiah?
Did you see him?
Did you see him?
Fa... Father...
Father, it's me, Antipas.
Antipas.
Wake the priests
of the Sanhedrin.
Very well, Father.
Now.
I will see them now.
Does Your Majesty value truth?
For there is harsh truth
in your dream.
I will hear it.
To step beyond these walls...
is to know King Herod
is despised.
The zealots denounce you
as a puppet,
enthroned by
the Roman emperor...
against the will
of the Jewish people.
Zealots cannot enter
my father's dreams.
Unless endowed by sorcery.
Sorcery?
You did not see Isaiah.
You saw a specter,
a figment.
- Figment.
- The creation of a sorcerer's skill.
But through prayer,
it can be vanquished.
You are a warrior king.
Your voice can make a vapor
of phantoms.
Yes.
- A vapor.
- Come to the temple.
Through prayer, your strength
will grow ever greater.
Make way for the high priest!
Well done.
To vanquish phantoms, he prays.
Whatever his faults, the bond between
the throne and temple serves order.
And order serves the
preservation of our people.
Please, sir. Allow me.
Please, sir.
Greetings.
Greetings.
Greetings, sir.
Greetings to you.
Father,
the nobles who are served by these men...
offer you gifts from
the land of the Hind.
What do they say
of their masters?
That they are
from beyond Parthia.
Wanting what of me?
They ask that you hear from their
own lips for their purpose.
Arrange entertainments.
Majesty,
an alignment of the stars
has drawn us here.
These stars...
They foretell a great event.
A child, born in your kingdom,
is the God of Israel's chosen.
The Messiah.
The Messiah?
A king of the Davidic line
to restore the glory of Israel,
as in the prophecy of Isaiah.
Isaiah.
Go!
Of all the infants born
in my kingdom,
how will you find
this one child...
destined to be the Messiah?
Knowledge that the day
and time of his birth...
match the position of the stars.
And the child
will give us a sign.
What a blessing. Yes.
Find this child.
Send me news
that I may come and...
venerate him.
I welcome your holy mission.
Majesty.
Joseph?
What is it?
This attention,
adulation of our boy.
We must leave.
Leave?
Why?
Herod.
No king allows a rival
to his throne.
But our home.
Enough.
I know what I feel.
You're leaving?
There's danger here.
- Where will you go?
- Wherever Herod is not.
Elizabeth, pack our things.
We will go as well.
Go on.
Our purpose was visiting your cousin,
and now we have none.
On this day,
give no thought to what you do.
By King Herod's order,
the male babies, all of them!
You seven this way,
the rest with me.
In there.
You two, there.
- Is it a boy?
- It's a girl!
Show me.
Please!
No.
- Where are your children?
- No! No!
No. Please. I beg you.
Don't kill my son!
Who's there?
Antipas?
My heart.
Help me.
Antipas, Antipas.
Anti... Antipas.
Antipas.
You find comfort here,
where your father once ruled.
Comfort.
Better said lament.
I too.
I married to be queen.
Tell me, Antipas,
tetrarch of fair Galilee,
am I a fool for wanting more?
If so, we are both fools.
Promise...
I will someday find you here...
not lamenting,
but ruling Jews... all Jews...
as your father ruled.
All powerful,
not a puppet of the Romans.
I will not rest until I'm
on this throne as king.
With you by my side.
Greetings.
The wheel of my cart
has broken on my way home.
I'm a trader from Jerusalem.
Please, can you help me?
Jerusalem?
Shalom.
Shalom.
Some years back,
I heard of old Herod's death.
Did his rule pass
to one of his sons?
No, no son of Herod rules now.
Rome sends governors to rule.
And there's order.
The Romans value that.
What has become
of the sons of Herod?
They remain as tetrarchs. Each has
limited rule over a piece of the kingdom.
How is life for the Jews?
One gets heavily taxed,
but one gets by.
Here in this land
of dog-headed gods,
I made great efforts
teaching my son our scripture,
dreaming he might become a man
in the land given us by God.
Perhaps it is time
to return, hmm?
So this is the holy city
of the Jews?
Why don't they hail
their new governor?
I don't come seeking their love,
Claudia, only respect.
How do I dress when we are
taken to see the Jewish God?
No one sees him.
They believe he's everywhere.
Everywhere?
But cannot be seen?
How do they know he exists?
Maybe he doesn't.
Come on, children.
Ah, he's here. Jesus.
Our cousin Elizabeth has not seen
you since you were a baby in arms.
I've heard so much about you.
I'd given up hope,
but a trader spoke of a Joseph of
Nazareth who'd returned from afar.
I felt at once
it was your Joseph.
He brought us six years
before he died.
Then blessed be God.
He left you a life that's good.
Is John a priest in the temple,
like Zechariah?
My son, the Baptist, is not beloved
of the temple, nor they of him.
John found God
in the wilderness.
Like Isaiah.
Hmm.
Talk prophets with Jesus,
and he'll recite them
till our meat grows cold.
You're blessed
with such a child.
Jesus too.
He's learned in scripture.
Hmm. Argues with the scribes
and Pharisees in the synagogue.
Then you and John
would find kinship.
I must first find him.
You should.
This attack on me... it was beyond insult,
beyond threat!
Hold it to their noses.
Let them know
what I have suffered.
Put your nose to the stench
that is your people,
who hurled filth at me!
But for the brave legionnaires
who surrounded my litter,
protecting me,
I should have died
under the hail of stones.
That my wife is attacked
in your streets.
Governor...
I should level this holy city...
and cake the ruins with blood.
Governor, though some
oppose your rule...
And who are they?
You, who claim authority, do you know that?
If not, what value
are you to Rome?
Governor, my temple guards
have learned...
that the attack upon your noble
wife was led by a zealot...
Samuel of Peraea.
And why is he not
here in chains,
tortured, begging that death
relieve his agony?
Why?
He and his followers have fled
to the wilds of Galilee.
Your place of rule.
I'll offer rewards.
He'll be betrayed.
Easily found.
Found and killed.
Along with all of his followers.
Killed by you.
By me?
Do I sense hesitation?
Do I tell the emperor our enemies
find sanctum in your realm?
No.
I'll find him, kill him.
Hacked to shreds.
All of them.
Governor, we share
your fully justified fury.
The enemies of order,
the enemies of us all.
Then prove it.
The bodies of those who disrespected
my wife and my office here...
that I may see them, and soon.
Who were those people?
They're zealots.
Rather than submit,
they cut their own throats.
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord is our God.
May the Lord bless you
and guide you.
May the Lord make his face
shed light upon you...
and be gracious unto you.
With these waters,
cleanse your soul.
- Hosanna! Hosanna!
- Hosanna!
May the Lord bless you
and give you grace.
Let these waters clean away,
wash away her sins.
Hosanna! Hosanna!
- Hosanna!
- May the Lord shine light upon her.
A new dawn is here.
Come. Do not be afraid.
Your new birth awaits.
Come to me.
May our God shine bright
upon your eyes.
Let this water
cleanse your soul.
Are you ready, my son?
Hosanna! Hosanna!
Hosanna!
Welcome.
You are ready for a new dawn.
Jesus.
Listen, everyone. Here is the Lamb of God
who will shine a light on all of you!
Here is the one who will wash
away sin from the world.
Jesus! Jesus!
Cousin.
How could you know me?
How could I not?
My cousin Jesus, it is you.
All this time, I've known of the prophecy,
and now it's come true.
Come.
Hosanna!
People!
The new light is here!
How are you so certain that
what you believe of me is true?
Cousin, in the desert I found
communion with our Lord.
And the voices, they came.
The voices told you I was coming?
Yes.
But I'm only to open the way.
God speaking of me?
Yes.
Cousin, until this day,
while I'm a man
of strong belief,
I've worked a trade...
a carpenter.
Nothing more.
What is prophesied
cannot be denied.
The cup will be raised
to your lips, Jesus.
Baptize me.
And I, too, will go
into the desert...
and listen for the voice of God.
Yes.
I will baptize you.
Though it is you who should baptize me.
You're right.
Come.
Let the Lord shine
his light upon you.
The new dawn, the new light...
is with you, my cousin.
Come. Come.
That boat...
it was my father's.
Maybe his father's before him.
It was made with iron nails.
Nails have value.
Capped with trunnels.
I can chisel them out.
We share.
Half and half.
I must ready my nets.
Fishing nails is easier than netting fish.
For months now,
the hole is near empty.
Do you ask God's blessing?
I know about you,
Jesus of Nazareth.
My brother Andrew
follows the Baptist.
He told how he greeted you.
- Yes, I remember him.
- So like the bug eater, do you preach?
Or just pray
like the rest of us?
Take me with you.
Who refuses a hand on the net?
Shall we pray?
Thank the Lord.
This...
This from a single cast.
I've fished years,
and nothing, nothing like this.
We prayed.
Yes, but...
I'm a simple man,
a sinner,
never, never expecting this.
Follow me, Simon.
I'll make you a fisher of men.
John. John and James are sons of Zebedee.
You must see this.
Is this not a wonder?
A wonder brought to us by Jesus,
the carpenter from Nazareth.
This is nothing... only a sign.
And there will be many.
Follow me.
Look into your hearts,
and you will know
that God wills it.
I denounce all those
that shame this land.
Antipas, the tetrarch,
who in rampant incest
beds his brother's wife...
while suppressing the righteous.
Be gone!
And these...
spies from
the council of Sanhedrin.
Hypocrites.
Hypocrites one and all.
From the grandeur in which they live,
they berate the poor...
Lies! Lies!
Calling you unclean for the food you eat.
They shame you
but with a purpose.
"People, come to the temple,"
they say.
"Come. Buy a lamb,
a white dove,
a bullock for sacrifice.
Redeem your sins only with
the death of an animal...
bought from the farms
of our high priests."
They have made of God's house
a marketplace.
I say to these spies,
tell your generation
of vipers to beware.
Look heavenward. Flee the wrath
that will come from the Lord.
Spies!
Vipers!
Flee from here.
The day of judgment is here.
Arise, people!
Rise up, people. Rise!
Hey!
Arrest the Baptist, a lunatic?
The wilderness crawls with them.
Can you allow more discord
in your domain?
Why me?
He attacks you, the temple.
Along with you
and your wife, Majesty,
with vile accusations of incest.
I must consider the peasants...
who hail him as the coming
of the prophet Elijah.
Your father served Rome
by the strength of his rule,
and thus they made him king.
The Romans trusted him to prevent
invasion from the Parthians.
And to keep order
among the Jews.
For which he was hated.
Some hated David and Solomon.
Some hated Moses.
What's your point?
My point...
achieving a peaceful end
of Roman rule.
The restoration
of a Jewish king,
who gives Romans
the order they demand.
And would Pilate support that which
costs him his place as governor?
Of course.
It works to his favor.
Gaining for Rome a vassal Jewish
kingdom that keeps order,
that keeps Parthia at bay without
the cost of military occupation?
Pontius Pilate would return
to Rome in triumph.
A strong hand
with dangerous fanatics...
would be a step
toward that goal,
leaving you king of the Jews.
Shalom.
You know, it is written...
if your enemy brings you harm...
Tell me, friend,
if your enemy brings you harm,
what is written?
An eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth.
Yes. An eye for an eye,
a tooth for a tooth.
But now I say
that if God is love,
then loving is serving God.
And that means
you must love your enemy.
- You preach weakness.
- No, no, strength.
The strength that if one strikes your cheek,
you turn and you let him strike the other.
If he takes your cloak,
you give him your tunic.
Can you do this?
What you ask of us.
I will try... try with each
breath on each and every day.
Feeling that by our effort
will reveal to God...
what is in our hearts.
Knowing that God is love,
and in a kingdom of God,
we will love our enemies.
He's crazy.
You can't love enemies.
Love and forgive them,
that we can be forgiven.
And judge not
so that you not be judged.
The kingdom of God
is within you.
Another of these madmen.
Each of you.
Those who look within
themselves will find it.
They walk away.
He is blessed with something.
I've seen it.
A bountiful catch,
maybe nothing more.
Rabbi?
Rabbi, please help me.
I'm cursed.
Why do you say this?
My son is possessed by demons.
Take me to him.
The demons rest,
but they will awaken.
What's his name?
David.
David, can you hear me?
I'm speaking to you, David.
Not to what evil possesses you,
but to you.
I speak to you, David.
Hear me, David.
Hear me, David.
That's it. Shh. Shh.
Be still.
Be still.
Is he going to see the child?
What's he going to do?
Get back.
Get back, please!
What is he doing?
What is he doing?
He's casting them out.
Demons!
Be still.
David.
David.
Oh, no.
Please, everyone just step back.
Hear me.
The child is dead.
Water.
David.
My son.
I'm thirsty.
Yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Praise be to Jesus!
Praise be to Jesus!
Praise the Lamb of God.
The Baptist, as promised.
Mother, he's the one
who slanders our house?
Salome, this is
not for your eyes.
Take him away.
Let him rot and his
prophecy rot with him.
Tell me, Rabbi.
In Jerusalem, will you denounce the
Romans and those in league with them?
I'm not a zealot.
I come only to bring word
of God's love...
and to say that
all must be born again.
Born a second time?
One can't reenter
the womb, Rabbi.
Or is that one of the wonders
that supposedly you have wrought?
Are you a scribe or a Pharisee?
Are your words not for all?
Yes, for all.
I'm here to speak of a light
coming into the world.
And those who live
by the truth...
can enter this light,
knowing it... it can
be plainly seen,
that whatever they do from
then on is done through God.
Have you understood?
I have.
Rabbi!
John. Is it John?
The tetrarch arrested him,
and they've taken him to the
fortress called Machaerus.
It's in the desert
across the Jordan.
There's no hope for rescue.
How do I now speak of love,
forgiveness?
How?
I am trapped by the feelings of a man
who longs to attack this injustice.
Now I know my father's anger
at how we fail him.
Now I feel I am not
to bring peace, but a sword.
What magnificent buildings.
Who is not awed by this?
Look upon them.
Burn them into your memory,
for I say that not one stone
will remain upon the other.
All will be thrown down.
All! All of what you see.
It is written in the book
of the prophet, Malachi.
"Before the great and dreadful
day of the Lord comes,
I will send you
the prophet Elijah."
Now I say that Elijah
did come...
calling us to redemption
in waters of the Jordan.
For the Lord offers forgiveness
of sin to all with a true heart.
He speaks of John the Baptist.
I was redeemed in the water of
Jordan by John the Baptist.
Yes. Jesus speaks
of John the Baptist,
who has been imprisoned
by his enemies.
Yes. Like Elijah, John came.
But they did not know him
and did to him as they wished.
Free him!
Free him!
Free him!
Free him!
Those of the council of the Sanhedrin
are a generation of vipers.
- Vipers! Yes!
- Vipers.
Vipers!
- I say destroy this temple!
- Yes!
And in three days,
I will raise it up again.
Destroy this marketplace
that shames our Lord.
Destroy it!
Destroy it!
- Hosanna!
- Hosanna!
Hosanna! Hosanna!
I share your anger, Rabbi.
Let me follow you.
What is your name?
Judas Iscariot.
Bless you, Judas.
Jesus challenges us,
but I did not hear blasphemy.
And when he called for the destruction of
this temple, calling it a marketplace,
what is that if not blasphemy?
Many devout Jews criticize the commerce,
the money lending.
Standing there, he derides...
this...
beauty, this grandeur with threats,
derides a place where, for me,
each stone is sacrosanct.
A place where every day
700 of our priests...
perform rituals
for the truly devout,
for whom this
is the house of God.
To be protected
with our lives, our blood.
I heard the Nazarene's words,
and I heard blasphemy.
Joshua. Can we see him? Yes.
Can we see the Baptist?
Shh. Get back.
- Can we see him?
- Impossible.
He'll be taken and killed.
Pass on your words
and bring his response.
Joshua.
They've come.
Thomas and Andrew
with news of Jesus.
Then God has blessed me.
They say Jesus
now travels the land...
preaching as you have preached.
God offers his son,
and Jesus takes up the cup.
And you will be
reunited with him?
No.
His will be a lone path.
I will be martyred here,
in this place.
No sadness.
Praise God for the son
he offers in Jesus.
Pray.
Pray, Joshua.
Praise God.
Praise the Lord.
My son.
Mother.
It is said that you've
lured fishermen from Galilee...
from honest work
to follow as you preach.
Preach what they say
is contrary.
Not contrary to the word of God.
Who knows?
My life is about this...
putting bread on the table.
Oh, we don't live
by bread alone.
What James means...
It's said you healed
the sick as if by...
She won't say the word,
but I'll say it.
"Sorcery."
I comfort the sick.
When they're cured,
it's by the hand of God.
Bear in mind,
what you go about saying and doing...
impacts us as well.
Mother. James.
All who I call family,
how I love you...
and will always love you.
You cannot understand
the path I've taken.
But the call of God
comes before all else.
And for you, I'm just Jesus.
Not the most skilled
at carpentry.
And sadly, no prophet
is accepted among his own.
I can only hope
that maybe someday...
Who knows?
The betrothed,
are they not glorious to behold?
Salome was raised with
the laws of the covenant.
What joy to know
my son's chosen...
is from a house
beholden to our laws.
We of my house
live by the word of God.
As do we.
Among us are followers
of a prophet.
A prophet?
Who spoke like Elijah...
and washed away sin
in the waters of the Jordan.
And offended
the order of things.
As many are offended
by his imprisonment.
As Salome's bride-price,
I ask for his freedom.
We offer herds,
our finest wines, oils
to enrich your house.
Riches do not equal
a prophet's life.
His arrest was favored by the Roman
governor and the temple priests.
Do they, in Jerusalem,
dictate what is done here?
They who would tax
the air we breathe.
What you ask for
is beyond reason.
The Baptist cannot be released.
Isaac.
Isaac!
Come!
We shall have no place
in this house.
You saw her shame.
Until now I've seen the Baptist
as a threat to myself...
and to our future rule.
Now I must suffer
my daughter's disgrace?
There will be other suitors.
Hmm?
Kill him.
Claim he choked on a fish bone.
If I ruled, I'd kill him
and all who follow him.
I know that voice.
My father.
And how I wish you were he.
How am I to eat?
Pay up. Pay!
Hey, that man.
And you... come on.
Come on.
All right, take...
Tell him I want to dine in his home.
He'll refuse.
A tax collector
has no place with God.
He'll not refuse.
My master wishes to dine
at your house this evening.
Me? Why?
Ask him.
My answer would give offense.
Why him?
Why him?
God has no love for those who tax us.
I'm not worthy
to offer you my table.
Who admits his fault
and seeks forgiveness...
will find redemption.
Look into your hearts,
and you will know this.
I'm hungry.
Invite me to your home.
Where... Where did
you get this... this spice?
You are young and supple.
You are as men desire.
None come seeking my hand.
Go on.
We must be careful.
The Baptist has followers
even here.
He is a curse upon us.
At fault is
my husband's weakness.
Unless our weakness
is failing to use his weakness.
When I'm made ready for sleep,
your husband lingers
outside my room.
While he once pledged
to care for you as his own.
That's the beauty you've become.
I'll address this with him.
No.
His lust is repulsive,
but perhaps useful.
Oh.
She's a leper!
Rabbi!
Rabbi, bless me, Rabbi, please!
I was here before you!
John, draw them water.
They're lepers.
Water.
- Drink. Drink.
- No, no, no. Don't drink this.
Bring them some water.
- Judas.
- Let me look at you.
- What is your name?
- I'm called Mary.
My mother's name.
Come. Sit, please.
- What is your son's name?
- His name is Judah.
Judah. How old is Judah?
Who's she?
Twelve.
May I touch you, gently?
You are without fear, Mary?
I don't fear disease of
the skin or the flesh.
Only disease of the spirit.
Hmm.
Something you've known.
I'm from Magdala.
Do you know Magdala?
A barracks town
for Roman troops.
Where Jewish daughters
are enslaved...
to pay the tax debts
of their families.
You would see an end
to such suffering.
I'm told it's your purpose.
Oh, be certain it is,
Mary from Magdala.
Then my purpose
must be serving you.
Thank you.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst.
Is it the Nazarene who speaks?
Yes.
And those who should be tending my
fields are here bewitched by him.
Blessed are those persecuted...
for their righteousness,
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
Your father knows your needs.
Knows them before you ask.
So this then
is how you should pray.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
for yours is the kingdom,
the power...
and the glory...
forever.
Amen.
Amen!
Governor,
I saw huge crowds of them enraptured...
as he spoke his platitudes in the
crude accent of some Galilean peasant.
They wept, were overcome,
believing he's the Messiah come
to bring God's wrath upon Rome.
And what is more,
we've learned he's a cousin of the Baptist.
We're being menaced
by a family of lunatics.
There's real danger here.
If he could rally zealots to free the Baptist,
there could be an uprising in Galilee.
What's his name, this man?
Jesus of Nazareth.
His cousin the Baptist should
be killed without delay.
That undercuts any thoughts
of freeing him...
and also makes this Jesus aware of
the fate that could well await him.
Leave.
Finally.
Meaning?
Pilate's blessing.
Kill the Baptist.
Killing him is a
convenience for the Roman,
not for me.
I'm already vilified for
imprisoning the Baptist.
Kill him,
and all of Galilee turns against me.
Pontius Pilate's praise of you
to Caesar could make you king.
What I see is Pilate praising
what serves Pilate.
If he wants the Baptist dead, let him drag
him to Jerusalem and nail him to a cross.
So you are set on doing nothing.
Mm-hmm.
Salome told me you asked her to dance
at the feast for your birthday tonight.
Did she also tell you
that she refused?
She's not a performer
from the marketplace.
You must offer her something.
Meaning... she is
her mother's daughter.
We like our rewards.
And what would hers be for
entertaining my guests?
Suppose I tell her
that whatever she asks for...
you will not refuse.
She must dance
to my satisfaction.
Be certain she will.
You remember your promise.
Salome, tell him.
Show Caesar you're a man.
And show us too.
Salome!
Rabbi!
Thomas and Andrew, welcome.
They've murdered him.
Cut his head off.
Beheaded?
You are with us now.
You... come. Eat with us.
As John has said,
the cup has come to my lips.
I fear its bitterness, Father.
Give me the strength
to welcome it.
Who am I?
What am I?
How do people call
the son of man?
Tell me. Tell me.
For me, you are
a giver of courage...
to act as I never imagined.
Reaching out for the sick,
the unclean...
without fear.
But, Judas, how am I called?
I've heard you called
the coming of Elijah.
A prophet.
What else is said?
Many will believe you're the
Baptist risen from the dead.
There was no greater prophet
than John.
But... But you... you who see me eat,
sleep, wash,
know my every gesture, my moods,
who do you say I am?
You're the anointed one.
Son of the living God.
Bless you, Simon, son of Jonah.
No other has said this.
I think it was revealed to you
by my heavenly father.
It is simply what I believe.
From now on,
I'll call you Peter.
Peter?
In Greek,
Peter means "rock."
And on this rock,
I'll build my church...
and give you the keys
to the kingdom of heaven.
I must be alone now.
- You believe he's...
- The Messiah.
Take great care saying that.
What harm will come
to God's chosen?
Before this council of the
Sanhedrin proceeds to judgment,
I should tell you
we have been warned...
that the Nazarene Jesus
has come to Jerusalem.
It is proposed
that we forbid him...
to enter our holy house of God.
No! No!
No. No.
We may dispute his words,
but we cannot deny a devout
Jew entry to the temple.
I... I have heard Jesus speak,
and he is to be welcomed,
not shunned.
Allow him.
- Allow him in.
- Allow him!
So, the Nazarene enters
this very room.
Where his name is spoken,
dissension follows.
- Allow him!
- He must be allowed entry.
He is a Jew, like us.
But I'll not push
to forbid him entry.
I only recall Jeremiah's
warning of false prophets.
They fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions
from their own minds,
not from the mouth of the Lord!
When Jesus says the meek
shall inherit the earth,
there's nothing meek about him,
nor those that follow him.
He's right.
But it's true they seek
to inherit the earth.
Allow him!
Allow him in!
It's the law.
- We have lost.
- Let the Nazarene come.
With luck,
he may condemn himself.
Bring the woman.
We are now to hear and judge
the case of a woman...
who has defiled the sacred
covenants of marriage...
and thus brought shame
upon her husband's house.
Stone her!
Show no mercy!
Stone her to death!
Take her to the pit!
Harlot!
What shall we do?
Have the guards take him away?
We're enacting a law.
I want you to provoke him.
We stand here ready
to enact the law of Moses.
An adulteress condemned by the high
court of the temple is to be stoned.
A punishment
called for by Moses.
Do you deny the law
revealed on Mount Sinai?
She has sinned and been judged.
Do you oppose
the law of the Torah?
Is his silence a defense
of her fornications?
Her harlotry?
I know you, Jesus of Nazareth.
You have opinions on everything.
What's his opinion on this?
Any among you
who is without sin,
let him be the first
to cast a stone at her.
Any among you
who is without sin?
God has set forth the law,
not him.
The law must be carried out.
Kill her.
Here, kill her.
You kill her.
I cannot.
Then neither can I.
I have begged for forgiveness.
Go and sin no more.
We are the law.
We will see you accused,
judged and punished for this.
To maintain the order
that your office demands,
we must have obedience
to our laws.
Now, this man,
this false claimant to religious stature,
has thwarted the legal
execution of an adulteress.
You have a court.
Try him. Stone him.
Yes, that would, of course,
be my first thought,
but with shame I must say
that even among us,
even among the Sanhedrin
are those he has corrupted.
My laws are Roman.
His crime is not sedition.
Is it not? He rails
against Roman taxes.
If I were to crucify every Jew
who rails against our taxes,
I would have to level the
cedars of Lebanon for wood.
His crime must be an attack
against our emperor, our rule.
He attacks those
who support your rule.
Does that not inspire concern?
Concern, but nothing
that validates action.
Make a case for sedition,
with evidence.
Learn where he speaks
and with whom.
Prove that he is
a threat to Roman rule...
and I will have him crucified.
Each day I hear the
servants speaking of him.
What is the message
of this Jesus?
Oh, many things.
Nothing that concerns us.
What?
It'll bore the slaves.
The curse of being a
slave is boredom in all we do.
Not all we do.
Enough!
What does he preach?
That God wants the meek
to inherit the earth,
the poor to be rich,
the weak to be strong.
Platitudes of popular appeal.
None of it to be believed?
Well, it flies
in the face of history.
Caesarea is named
after a conqueror.
To the south of us is Alexandria,
also named for a conqueror.
If there really is one single,
all-powerful God,
as Jesus and these Jews claim,
he clearly favors
the strong over the weak.
Things are as the gods intend.
The meek, such as
this lovely creature,
will never inherit the earth.
Ha!
This man, Jesus,
he has drawn many to cast away
their wealth to follow him.
He lures sane men
from their wealth?
He speaks of a time,
soon coming,
when rich men will be poor,
powerful men cast down...
and... the temple itself
destroyed by God's wrath.
The priests are right.
This Nazarene is a menace.
Search among your ranks, Chuza.
Find those
who are most trustworthy.
All information about this
Nazarene is of value to me.
Matthew!
Far from the old days when
squeezing taxes from peasants...
was like wringing water
from stones.
How astonished I was to hear...
that you'd given up all your
wealth to follow the Nazarene.
Who is he?
A tax collector who feels
as Matthew once did,
regretting what he must do.
And you would be?
Judas Iscariot.
I'm Asher.
And your caution
is well-advised.
The Nazarene's fame
breeds envy, even hatred.
But I, for one, admire
the choice that you've made.
Change your ways and follow us.
How I wish.
How I wish,
but the burden of hungry mouths.
And the burden of a fine horse?
Yes.
I admit weakness.
Isn't that one step
towards redemption?
It is said that the rabbi goes
to Jerusalem for Passover.
It's his intention.
I know of a dwelling there.
I have well-placed friends.
A place has been offered.
Is the dwelling within the city?
I may seek you out, Matthew.
A morning's walk from the gate.
Home of a landowner...
Lazarus.
Godspeed your journey!
I have urgent news for the
tetrarch's steward. Open the gates.
Asher.
Send word to the tetrarch.
I have news of the Nazarene.
And be ready to open
your coffers, Chuza.
What I bring is of great value.
Jesus is staying
outside the city...
at the house of
a landowner named Lazarus.
He can't be arrested there.
Too many people.
We must know his movements
when he comes to Jerusalem.
We need somewhere quiet.
I'll put a watch on the house.
Have you seen anyone leave?
Wait here as long as it takes.
Outside the
wall dressed as pilgrims,
spies are watching us.
To report on our drunkenness,
hey, Lazarus?
My debauchery.
That I consort with sinners and
tax collectors, right, Matthew?
Former sinner and tax collector.
And I know the labels put on me.
- We will put them on trial?
- Put whom on trial?
- Them.
- Those who are against us.
When you're king,
James and I wish to sit by your
throne as sentence is passed on them.
See you condemn them
to eternal flames.
That's how you imagine
the kingdom of God?
Me on a throne?
Well, do I wear a gold crown?
I would think a crown
of the purest gold.
Oh, like some earthly king?
Do I preside over lackeys
and ring kissers?
I mean, you travel with me.
Your ears are open to every word,
but you hear nothing.
Nothing.
Have you so failed
to understand,
being who I am, what I must do?
Whoever would be a master
must first be a slave.
Who wants to be served
must first serve.
I am here to give my life
as a ransom for the many.
In the kingdom of God,
there are no thrones,
no crowns, no rule of nations.
My reward for earthly
service will be suffering.
Understand that.
Suffering.
To bring the message
of God's love,
I am the resurrection
and the life.
And those who believe in me,
even though they die, will live.
If you are praying, I'll leave.
I came here to pray...
pray to control my anger
and my frustration.
But then I heard my father's
voice in that song...
in the sweetness of that song.
Your anger is gone.
Do you know the prophets... what they
say awaits the one God that's sent?
There was little talk of prophets
in the barracks of Magdala.
Well, you know my words.
Yes.
And that's enough.
Yeah.
Then I'll leave you to pray.
Mary.
The cup from which I must drink,
how very bitter it is.
Go, Mary of Magdala.
What is this?
This beast is little more than a yearling.
He told us
to find a donkey colt.
Prophecy of Zechariah.
He enters Jerusalem
on that for Passover?
The Messiah will arrive at the
holy city astride a donkey colt.
Now he acts out a prophecy.
Why should he not?
What more is there in the
prophecy of the Messiah's coming?
Say it. We will share
however it goes.
The Messiah
will be falsely accused.
He'll be beaten, spat upon.
He'll be killed,
and all those who love him will look on,
unable to stop the agony.
And those who follow him?
I see.
Hosanna!
Hosanna!
Hosanna
Hosanna!
I'm told of a great rabbi who
was asked to recite the Torah...
while standing on one leg.
He said, "Do not unto others as you
would not have them do unto you."
This is the true wisdom
of the Torah.
The rest is all commentary.
Go and learn it.
Do you share his belief?
I do.
Say simply,
"Love your neighbor as you love yourself."
But I put one commandment
even before this.
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God is one.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
your mind and your strength.
Saying this,
you are close to the kingdom of God.
Rabbi.
While some oppose you,
the wisdom of your words is not lost on us.
Rabbi, what say you of taxes?
Should Jews pay taxes
to this man in Rome?
What do you say, Rabbi?
Give him an answer, Rabbi!
Let me see the coin.
Who is this?
You know.
That's Caesar Tiberius.
What do you think?
Should Jews pay taxes to Caesar?
Give to Caesar
that which is Caesar's...
and give unto God
that which is God's.
Leave in peace!
Lamb of God!
Their Lamb of God
will be our lamb of sacrifice.
That you still read
by the light of a flame.
I envy you
your sharpness of vision.
The characters are blurred.
And though I know the
entire scriptures by heart,
I find it
curiously comforting...
to actually hold them
in my hand.
It is almost your time...
to start your duties
in the temple...
and you have not slept.
I have... failed you.
I've failed the temple.
When Passover ends,
the Nazarene,
he will leave,
conceal himself
in the hide of the land.
Then he will return,
with ever greater numbers
in his following,
all believing
that he is the Messiah,
all willing
to be part of a rebellion...
that brings him to the throne.
But I remember...
I remember as a child...
seeing...
bodies, hundreds of...
dead Jews...
killed by the Romans.
The revolts
of Judas the Galilean.
Also hailed as the Messiah.
Do you understand my fear?
The horror that this man
could bring to our people.
Have you confronted him?
To no avail.
He seeks confrontation then
turns our words against us.
He mocks us in our own temple.
God's word is quite clear.
Any false prophet...
who incites rebellion against God's
authority shall be put to death.
You...
are the most respected
voice of that law.
Will you take
his judgment upon yourself?
Find a way to put him before me.
My sister,
you must join us for dinner.
May I come in?
They were paying to be baptized.
They were...
This is Joanna.
She brings perfumed oils...
and asks to anoint your hair.
Bless you, Joanna.
You come with
a hidden purpose, Joanna.
I'm the wife of Chuza,
ch-chief steward of the tetrarch.
They speak of killing you,
the tetrarch,
those of the temple.
And you came to warn me, why?
My cousin was to be stoned.
She lives because of you.
Don't go to Jerusalem.
I must.
This is a house of prayer!
This is my livelihood!
Get Malchus!
Not a den of thieves!
Down with the money lenders!
Down with the money lenders!
Behold the king of the Jews!
Turn out the guard.
Oh, no!
No, no, no, no!
We follow Jesus,
king of the Jews!
We follow Jesus,
king of the Jews!
My house will be called
a house of prayer!
You have made it
a den of thieves.
You'll die for this!
We follow Jesus,
king of the Jews!
We follow Jesus,
king of the Jews!
Nazarene!
Order them to stop
this blasphemous praise!
Stop? If they stop, the stones
themselves would cry out!
- Guards, arrest him!
- Arrest that man!
Enough!
- Guards, hold your place!
- Guards, hold the line! Hold the line!
What I came to do...
is done.
Our impotence
in dealing with this man...
will bring about
the disdain of the Romans.
He invalidates our authority both
in the temple and in Jerusalem.
If he leaves and returns
a triumphant leader,
Pilate may decide to deal
with him instead of us.
Let's judge him here, in this room,
and stone him to death.
How?
The mob makes
his arrest impossible.
He's surrounded by hundreds
who venerate him.
I have seen a weakness.
Hmm?
Tell us.
Betrayal, by one of his own.
Impossible.
They worship him.
Perhaps not all.
Judas Iscariot.
The tax collector.
Wasn't sure you'd remember me,
going as you go,
seeing many faces.
But few horses like this.
Yes, to be admired he is.
You should have a fine horse.
Be finely mounted as befit
those who serve a king.
You were at the temple.
In truth, no.
I long for the rewards
of heaven,
but I take the coin
and let the credit go...
and ignore the promises
of kingdoms yet to come.
And facing what you face,
hearing the sighs of the dying
on the hill of Golgotha.
Were I in your place,
my every breath
would tighten with fear.
A horse such as this costs what?
A stallion of his blood who could
be had for 15 pieces of silver.
But I also know a man who would
offer you 30 pieces of silver.
In return for what?
Willingness to choose life
over death.
Where would this man be found?
I need to speak with Malchus.
Asher sent me.
I haven't much time.
When and where
can we find him alone?
The others are always
at his side.
The 12.
Or better said, 12 minus one.
Tonight, we will eat the
Passover meal here in Jerusalem.
Where?
I don't yet know.
A room.
It was decided without me.
So far I hear nothing
worth 30 pieces of silver.
I'll leave that meal
and come here.
Doing this, you save your life.
Yes.
That must be why I do this.
Everywhere there is talk of you.
An inn gave us food and lodging
and would accept no payment.
My son is hailed for
bringing a message from God.
And those of Nazareth.
Believing you to be the Messiah?
Yes.
Some do.
And you?
So great will be my pride...
when I hear you
speak at the temple.
I'll not speak there again.
But on the road,
many were coming to hear you.
Well, that's over now.
I've come all this way.
You'll deny me that?
I mean, the decision isn't mine.
I can't speak of it with you.
But...
Mother,
I have so longed for you.
The pain of absence
has been terrible.
But now it's too late.
Too late?
What do you mean?
James, take her to Nazareth.
Have you lost your
mind saying this?
I beg you, spare her
from what must come.
Where are you going?
Jesus.
Come. Let us go.
You wash our feet, why?
Call me Lord
and place me above you.
I wash your feet to show that no
master is greater than his servant.
And no messenger is greater
than the one who sends him.
Come and eat what God has
blessed on this Passover night.
This is a meal fit for
a king... our feast.
Start carving, Matthew.
Yes. Yes.
Brothers, let us talk of what
is written and what prophets have said.
It's in the scripture.
He who shares my bread
has lifted his heel against me.
I tell you now
before it happens,
so when it does happen,
you know that I'm he.
- No one questions that.
- Many will.
And one will betray me.
How can you say this? I have been loyal.
We've all been loyal.
He's testing us again.
Brothers, I'll be with you
only a little longer.
Take what I've said...
that in me you'll have peace in
a world of anger and despair.
Take courage, for I have
overcome the world.
- But where I now go, you cannot follow.
- I'll follow.
I'd lay down my life,
go to prison, to death.
Peter, this very night
before the cock has crowed,
you'll deny three times
that you know me.
I tell you now.
Where is Judas?
The garden of Gethsemane.
They will go there to pray.
It's dark in that garden.
How will my men know
which is him?
I will greet him with a kiss.
Later.
Oh, my darling.
Not another dream
of the Baptist.
I gain the sleep,
the rest I so desperately need,
and then I waken,
there that thing is beside me.
No. No, it is gone.
These are dreams.
One of the servants told me it
wasn't found. It wasn't buried.
The head!
No.
It was eaten by jackals
in the desert.
His follower brings this horror.
Jesus takes revenge.
Tell her that the sorcery of
the Nazarene will have an end.
You tell me he will die too.
Father, take this cup from me.
This bitter cup.
If it's not possible that
this cup be taken away,
your will be done.
So I'm betrayed with a kiss.
- Take me. Let them go.
- You don't give orders to me!
Leave him! Grab the madman!
Bind his hands!
Save yourselves.
For me. You must live!
Go!
Go.
I'm going to Jerusalem.
No, my brother. They'll find you.
They'll kill you.
I'm going.
- It's cold and the hour is late.
- And the matter urgent.
The matter being?
We've been told the temple guards
have arrested Jesus of Nazareth.
An issue of your faith.
An issue of law.
Law beyond my providence.
Both our laws
and yours violated.
He's been taken
to the house of Caiaphas,
not to the temple
and the chamber of hewn stone.
His trial will be unjust.
Sometimes things
are done for expediency.
Cicero, writing
about your Roman law,
claims where there is immorality,
there can be no expediency.
- This is immoral.
- Send troops. Free him.
Roman troops to the home of a high priest?
Are you insane?
Governor,
I ask as a devout Jew,
do not allow this man
to be murdered.
If he is stoned,
it's beyond my purview.
They want him crucified.
A punishment
only I can pronounce.
Will you?
It's late and I am cold.
You are accused
of acts of sorcery,
spreading lies,
corrupting others.
I spoke openly
in synagogues, a temple...
places where Jews came
to hear of God.
They came to hear of God.
The words you gave them
came from Satan.
Why not ask those
who have heard me?
They know what I said.
This is the way you answer
the high priest?
I command you!
Let us through! Let us through!
Please!
Make way!
Open this!
You truly claim you are the
son of the Blessed One?
I am.
You have heard blasphemy
from his lips.
These words and more.
His claim...
he's a prophet.
Blindfold him.
Give us a prophecy,
O prophet Jesus.
Who struck that blow?
Prophets are all-seeing.
Stop!
Stop this disgrace.
You dare to interfere!
Annas, we are shamed
by what we see.
If this... this cabal
is to be called a trial,
then I demand
that we are included.
You are but two.
This blasphemer will be
judged by a majority.
What's happening?
Jesus is a criminal,
posing as the Messiah.
Not a man who walks on the waters,
who feeds the multitudes.
You saw these wonders?
Ask yourselves... would priests
lay hands upon him...
if he were truly the Messiah?
People are fooled by sorcery.
You... I've seen you
with him before.
No, no,
I don't know this Nazarene.
It's too dangerous here.
We should go. No.
Come on, Simon.
She says you are a follower.
She's wrong.
- Deny it under oath.
- I deny him. Now, enough.
The vote is against you.
- Make way!
- Make way!
Move aside!
He is the Messiah!
Punish him! He's a liar!
These goats,
where do you take them?
To the temple.
For sacrifice?
He leads them to death.
He's their betrayer.
Yeah.
I want that rope.
Just the rope.
I'll pay.
Here.
Unless I lead him,
the herd will scatter.
Scatter and be saved.
I need the rope.
Here.
Buy more goats, 10 times these.
Ten times 10.
Or a horse.
Yes. Now you imagine it,
owning a horse.
I know the feeling.
Governor,
you'll not open the gate?
We've brought
a criminal for judgment.
Take him and judge him
under your law.
- Free him!
- Free him! Free him!
- Free him! Free him!
- No! Punish him!
- No! Punish him!
- He will hear the charge! Silence, I say!
He should be executed for speaking
against the rule of Caesar,
claiming he is king of the Jews.
Are you king of the Jews?
My kingdom is not of this world.
I hear no support
for your charges.
His cryptic speech
is but a ploy.
He is a criminal.
We have witnesses.
He began his crimes in Galilee.
Galilee?
Then take him
to the tetrarch of Galilee.
He should judge this man.
Take him to the tetrarch!
There he is again.
He is one of them.
I don't know that man.
You're mistaken.
You're lying.
All is as he said.
Where is God's army of angels?
What do you hear?
Caiaphas is bringing him here.
Hearing Jesus
comes from Galilee,
Pilate wants
his blood on my hands.
He wants my name to curse
the lips of every Jew.
Sillaeus, leave us.
Go!
I will deal no more
with holy men.
I'm a stone wall, Herodias.
I'll not argue.
Jesus threatens priests,
but other than a mob
hailing him king of the Jews,
he is no threat to you.
His death need not be
upon our house.
I cannot simply hide.
Face him.
Let the mob see...
who is truly fit
to be king of the Jews.
We shall release you!
Blessing for the prophet!
Release him!
Release him!
I'm told you work miracles.
Do something.
Anything wondrous.
Make bread fall
from the heavens.
Feed us a morning meal.
My preference
is lentils and barley.
Do something!
A miracle could save you.
It is said that Simon
the Magus could fly.
Hmm?
But can Jesus the Nazarene fly?
Release him.
Let him be borne aloft.
Oh. Oh, look. Look.
There he... There he goes.
No. I'm wrong.
A bird. Not Jesus.
He makes no wonders
but is hailed as king.
Let him be adorned as a king.
- Come. Come.
- Make him a king!
The purple robe of royal office.
No king shall go forth
without a staff!
Bring a staff!
Look at the king with his staff!
Crown! Give him a crown!
- Crown! Crown!
- Bring him a crown!
Patience.
Patience.
Nothing has been forgotten.
Behold the king.
He's the real king!
I give you a royal threat
to Caesar Tiberius.
Bring him back to the Romans
to be judged for sedition.
You cannot dismiss us.
He expects you to deal with this.
Bring him back to Pilate.
I'm done with him.
Why must you cater to these priests,
the tetrarch?
Without them I cannot
easily govern these people.
Kill him, and you'll bear
the wrath of his following.
I must do something.
I cannot simply set him loose.
Guards! Halt!
Scourge him.
What's happening?
Let me through.
Master.
His cry.
My baby boy.
Oh, my baby boy.
No. No.
You mustn't.
Hold her. Hold her.
Make the guard stop! No!
Please!
Scourging is punishment enough.
He may not survive.
Many don't.
End this threat to order.
End it.
Let the death of this one man
prevent the deaths of many.
Crucify him!
Crucify him!
No!
Crucify him!
Crucify him!
Crucify him! Crucify him!
Crucify him!
Crucify him!
Crucify him! Crucify him!
Jesus, king of the Jews!
Jesus, king of the Jews!
Betrayed.
Humiliated.
And soon agony
beyond what you can imagine.
Is this the glory of God
you bragged of?
Glory...
as I expected.
No! The temple
is God's glory.
God's glory is love.
To know love...
is to know God.
Get him up!
Escort!
Then love me, sweet Jesus.
I do love you.
I will hear rage from your lips,
hear it as you hang
nailed to the wood!
You will vomit forth
a... a hatred...
that will put a lie
to your words!
Why are you afraid?
Die, false prophet!
Punish the blasphemer!
Here is a false prophet!
Take him to Golgotha!
A false king!
Mock him for his lies!
Come!
Take joy at his suffering!
O great king!
Kill him!
Great prophet!
Mock him!
Go on! Come!
Move!
Come on!
Move!
Honor the king of the Jews!
- Get up, false prophet!
- Get up!
False king!
Liar! Liar!
Take him to Golgotha!
Take him! Take him!
Take him!
Take him!
Take him to Golgotha!
Liar! Liar!
Liar!
Liar!
Forgive them.
They know not what they do.
He spoke.
He cursed you.
No. He asked his God
to forgive us.
Of all his followers,
only you.
Of all of them, only you.
Peter claims he can see
no more of his pain.
The others fear for their lives.
Wh... Wh...
Why have you forsaken me?
If his father has forsaken him,
we are all forsaken.
It is finished.
He said it's finished.
My son.
I am Nicodemus,
and this is Joseph of Arimathea.
We offer a shroud,
and we have a tomb for Jesus.
I thought this
would end as you said it would end.
It is ended.
All I ask is for assurance of that.
- Certainty that...
- What, that he will not reappear?
Of course not.
All I ask...
Enough.
Do not tell me
that priest delays our journey.
We'll be on the road
to Caesarea as planned.
- What brought him here?
- Fear.
The man is dead.
What more could he want?
He wants the tomb
guarded by Roman soldiers.
He, of all people,
worries the Nazarene
will return from the dead?
He claims concern that the followers
of Jesus will take the body...
in order to make it appear
that he has risen.
Which do you believe?
I believe that guarding that tomb is
a waste of Roman soldiers' efforts.
Let's begin our journey.
Yes. I am Simon...
and called by you Peter,
the rock of your faith,
and I will be
your fisher of men.
He has come...
come back to us!
Yes.
According to early Christian tradition,
Simon took the mission
of Jesus to Rome,
where he formalized
the nascent Christian Church.
The Romans
sentenced him to death.
It is claimed he asked
to be crucified upside down...
so that his death would not
be the equal of Jesus.
The Romans granted his wish.
Early writings speak of James...
preaching of Jesus
in the Jerusalem temple.
It said he was stoned to death,
supposedly for challenging
the temple's high priests.
The fates of other disciples are
consigned to legend and apocryphal texts.
Andrew was crucified in Greece.
Thomas was speared to death
in India.
Simon sawed in half in Persia.
Matthew murdered in Ethiopia.
According to tradition,
John was not martyred...
but spent time
in exile on Ptmos...
and lived to 90.
Scholars debate the authorship
of the Gospel of John,
held by some to be an eyewitness
account of the life of Jesus.
Antipas continued pressing Rome
to be named king...
until his efforts offended
the new emperor, Caligula.
Antipas and Herodias
were exiled to Gaul,
where they died in obscurity.
Pontius Pilate
was recalled to Rome,
while Joseph Caiaphas,
without his Roman ally,
lost his position
within the temple.
Whereas the story of Jesus,
a humble carpenter of Nazareth,
gave birth to one of the
world's foremost religions.
Today there are more than two
billion Christians worldwide.
False king,
God has no mercy on you.
He shall fester you with boils...
spawned by your many sins.
A child born in Israel...
will be a far greater king
than you.
He is born to destroy you...
and those of your seed.
God's wrath...
has come upon you.
Did you see him?
Did you see Isaiah?
Did you see him?
Did you see him?
Fa... Father...
Father, it's me, Antipas.
Antipas.
Wake the priests
of the Sanhedrin.
Very well, Father.
Now.
I will see them now.
Does Your Majesty value truth?
For there is harsh truth
in your dream.
I will hear it.
To step beyond these walls...
is to know King Herod
is despised.
The zealots denounce you
as a puppet,
enthroned by
the Roman emperor...
against the will
of the Jewish people.
Zealots cannot enter
my father's dreams.
Unless endowed by sorcery.
Sorcery?
You did not see Isaiah.
You saw a specter,
a figment.
- Figment.
- The creation of a sorcerer's skill.
But through prayer,
it can be vanquished.
You are a warrior king.
Your voice can make a vapor
of phantoms.
Yes.
- A vapor.
- Come to the temple.
Through prayer, your strength
will grow ever greater.
Make way for the high priest!
Well done.
To vanquish phantoms, he prays.
Whatever his faults, the bond between
the throne and temple serves order.
And order serves the
preservation of our people.
Please, sir. Allow me.
Please, sir.
Greetings.
Greetings.
Greetings, sir.
Greetings to you.
Father,
the nobles who are served by these men...
offer you gifts from
the land of the Hind.
What do they say
of their masters?
That they are
from beyond Parthia.
Wanting what of me?
They ask that you hear from their
own lips for their purpose.
Arrange entertainments.
Majesty,
an alignment of the stars
has drawn us here.
These stars...
They foretell a great event.
A child, born in your kingdom,
is the God of Israel's chosen.
The Messiah.
The Messiah?
A king of the Davidic line
to restore the glory of Israel,
as in the prophecy of Isaiah.
Isaiah.
Go!
Of all the infants born
in my kingdom,
how will you find
this one child...
destined to be the Messiah?
Knowledge that the day
and time of his birth...
match the position of the stars.
And the child
will give us a sign.
What a blessing. Yes.
Find this child.
Send me news
that I may come and...
venerate him.
I welcome your holy mission.
Majesty.
Joseph?
What is it?
This attention,
adulation of our boy.
We must leave.
Leave?
Why?
Herod.
No king allows a rival
to his throne.
But our home.
Enough.
I know what I feel.
You're leaving?
There's danger here.
- Where will you go?
- Wherever Herod is not.
Elizabeth, pack our things.
We will go as well.
Go on.
Our purpose was visiting your cousin,
and now we have none.
On this day,
give no thought to what you do.
By King Herod's order,
the male babies, all of them!
You seven this way,
the rest with me.
In there.
You two, there.
- Is it a boy?
- It's a girl!
Show me.
Please!
No.
- Where are your children?
- No! No!
No. Please. I beg you.
Don't kill my son!
Who's there?
Antipas?
My heart.
Help me.
Antipas, Antipas.
Anti... Antipas.
Antipas.
You find comfort here,
where your father once ruled.
Comfort.
Better said lament.
I too.
I married to be queen.
Tell me, Antipas,
tetrarch of fair Galilee,
am I a fool for wanting more?
If so, we are both fools.
Promise...
I will someday find you here...
not lamenting,
but ruling Jews... all Jews...
as your father ruled.
All powerful,
not a puppet of the Romans.
I will not rest until I'm
on this throne as king.
With you by my side.
Greetings.
The wheel of my cart
has broken on my way home.
I'm a trader from Jerusalem.
Please, can you help me?
Jerusalem?
Shalom.
Shalom.
Some years back,
I heard of old Herod's death.
Did his rule pass
to one of his sons?
No, no son of Herod rules now.
Rome sends governors to rule.
And there's order.
The Romans value that.
What has become
of the sons of Herod?
They remain as tetrarchs. Each has
limited rule over a piece of the kingdom.
How is life for the Jews?
One gets heavily taxed,
but one gets by.
Here in this land
of dog-headed gods,
I made great efforts
teaching my son our scripture,
dreaming he might become a man
in the land given us by God.
Perhaps it is time
to return, hmm?
So this is the holy city
of the Jews?
Why don't they hail
their new governor?
I don't come seeking their love,
Claudia, only respect.
How do I dress when we are
taken to see the Jewish God?
No one sees him.
They believe he's everywhere.
Everywhere?
But cannot be seen?
How do they know he exists?
Maybe he doesn't.
Come on, children.
Ah, he's here. Jesus.
Our cousin Elizabeth has not seen
you since you were a baby in arms.
I've heard so much about you.
I'd given up hope,
but a trader spoke of a Joseph of
Nazareth who'd returned from afar.
I felt at once
it was your Joseph.
He brought us six years
before he died.
Then blessed be God.
He left you a life that's good.
Is John a priest in the temple,
like Zechariah?
My son, the Baptist, is not beloved
of the temple, nor they of him.
John found God
in the wilderness.
Like Isaiah.
Hmm.
Talk prophets with Jesus,
and he'll recite them
till our meat grows cold.
You're blessed
with such a child.
Jesus too.
He's learned in scripture.
Hmm. Argues with the scribes
and Pharisees in the synagogue.
Then you and John
would find kinship.
I must first find him.
You should.
This attack on me... it was beyond insult,
beyond threat!
Hold it to their noses.
Let them know
what I have suffered.
Put your nose to the stench
that is your people,
who hurled filth at me!
But for the brave legionnaires
who surrounded my litter,
protecting me,
I should have died
under the hail of stones.
That my wife is attacked
in your streets.
Governor...
I should level this holy city...
and cake the ruins with blood.
Governor, though some
oppose your rule...
And who are they?
You, who claim authority, do you know that?
If not, what value
are you to Rome?
Governor, my temple guards
have learned...
that the attack upon your noble
wife was led by a zealot...
Samuel of Peraea.
And why is he not
here in chains,
tortured, begging that death
relieve his agony?
Why?
He and his followers have fled
to the wilds of Galilee.
Your place of rule.
I'll offer rewards.
He'll be betrayed.
Easily found.
Found and killed.
Along with all of his followers.
Killed by you.
By me?
Do I sense hesitation?
Do I tell the emperor our enemies
find sanctum in your realm?
No.
I'll find him, kill him.
Hacked to shreds.
All of them.
Governor, we share
your fully justified fury.
The enemies of order,
the enemies of us all.
Then prove it.
The bodies of those who disrespected
my wife and my office here...
that I may see them, and soon.
Who were those people?
They're zealots.
Rather than submit,
they cut their own throats.
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord is our God.
May the Lord bless you
and guide you.
May the Lord make his face
shed light upon you...
and be gracious unto you.
With these waters,
cleanse your soul.
- Hosanna! Hosanna!
- Hosanna!
May the Lord bless you
and give you grace.
Let these waters clean away,
wash away her sins.
Hosanna! Hosanna!
- Hosanna!
- May the Lord shine light upon her.
A new dawn is here.
Come. Do not be afraid.
Your new birth awaits.
Come to me.
May our God shine bright
upon your eyes.
Let this water
cleanse your soul.
Are you ready, my son?
Hosanna! Hosanna!
Hosanna!
Welcome.
You are ready for a new dawn.
Jesus.
Listen, everyone. Here is the Lamb of God
who will shine a light on all of you!
Here is the one who will wash
away sin from the world.
Jesus! Jesus!
Cousin.
How could you know me?
How could I not?
My cousin Jesus, it is you.
All this time, I've known of the prophecy,
and now it's come true.
Come.
Hosanna!
People!
The new light is here!
How are you so certain that
what you believe of me is true?
Cousin, in the desert I found
communion with our Lord.
And the voices, they came.
The voices told you I was coming?
Yes.
But I'm only to open the way.
God speaking of me?
Yes.
Cousin, until this day,
while I'm a man
of strong belief,
I've worked a trade...
a carpenter.
Nothing more.
What is prophesied
cannot be denied.
The cup will be raised
to your lips, Jesus.
Baptize me.
And I, too, will go
into the desert...
and listen for the voice of God.
Yes.
I will baptize you.
Though it is you who should baptize me.
You're right.
Come.
Let the Lord shine
his light upon you.
The new dawn, the new light...
is with you, my cousin.
Come. Come.
That boat...
it was my father's.
Maybe his father's before him.
It was made with iron nails.
Nails have value.
Capped with trunnels.
I can chisel them out.
We share.
Half and half.
I must ready my nets.
Fishing nails is easier than netting fish.
For months now,
the hole is near empty.
Do you ask God's blessing?
I know about you,
Jesus of Nazareth.
My brother Andrew
follows the Baptist.
He told how he greeted you.
- Yes, I remember him.
- So like the bug eater, do you preach?
Or just pray
like the rest of us?
Take me with you.
Who refuses a hand on the net?
Shall we pray?
Thank the Lord.
This...
This from a single cast.
I've fished years,
and nothing, nothing like this.
We prayed.
Yes, but...
I'm a simple man,
a sinner,
never, never expecting this.
Follow me, Simon.
I'll make you a fisher of men.
John. John and James are sons of Zebedee.
You must see this.
Is this not a wonder?
A wonder brought to us by Jesus,
the carpenter from Nazareth.
This is nothing... only a sign.
And there will be many.
Follow me.
Look into your hearts,
and you will know
that God wills it.
I denounce all those
that shame this land.
Antipas, the tetrarch,
who in rampant incest
beds his brother's wife...
while suppressing the righteous.
Be gone!
And these...
spies from
the council of Sanhedrin.
Hypocrites.
Hypocrites one and all.
From the grandeur in which they live,
they berate the poor...
Lies! Lies!
Calling you unclean for the food you eat.
They shame you
but with a purpose.
"People, come to the temple,"
they say.
"Come. Buy a lamb,
a white dove,
a bullock for sacrifice.
Redeem your sins only with
the death of an animal...
bought from the farms
of our high priests."
They have made of God's house
a marketplace.
I say to these spies,
tell your generation
of vipers to beware.
Look heavenward. Flee the wrath
that will come from the Lord.
Spies!
Vipers!
Flee from here.
The day of judgment is here.
Arise, people!
Rise up, people. Rise!
Hey!
Arrest the Baptist, a lunatic?
The wilderness crawls with them.
Can you allow more discord
in your domain?
Why me?
He attacks you, the temple.
Along with you
and your wife, Majesty,
with vile accusations of incest.
I must consider the peasants...
who hail him as the coming
of the prophet Elijah.
Your father served Rome
by the strength of his rule,
and thus they made him king.
The Romans trusted him to prevent
invasion from the Parthians.
And to keep order
among the Jews.
For which he was hated.
Some hated David and Solomon.
Some hated Moses.
What's your point?
My point...
achieving a peaceful end
of Roman rule.
The restoration
of a Jewish king,
who gives Romans
the order they demand.
And would Pilate support that which
costs him his place as governor?
Of course.
It works to his favor.
Gaining for Rome a vassal Jewish
kingdom that keeps order,
that keeps Parthia at bay without
the cost of military occupation?
Pontius Pilate would return
to Rome in triumph.
A strong hand
with dangerous fanatics...
would be a step
toward that goal,
leaving you king of the Jews.
Shalom.
You know, it is written...
if your enemy brings you harm...
Tell me, friend,
if your enemy brings you harm,
what is written?
An eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth.
Yes. An eye for an eye,
a tooth for a tooth.
But now I say
that if God is love,
then loving is serving God.
And that means
you must love your enemy.
- You preach weakness.
- No, no, strength.
The strength that if one strikes your cheek,
you turn and you let him strike the other.
If he takes your cloak,
you give him your tunic.
Can you do this?
What you ask of us.
I will try... try with each
breath on each and every day.
Feeling that by our effort
will reveal to God...
what is in our hearts.
Knowing that God is love,
and in a kingdom of God,
we will love our enemies.
He's crazy.
You can't love enemies.
Love and forgive them,
that we can be forgiven.
And judge not
so that you not be judged.
The kingdom of God
is within you.
Another of these madmen.
Each of you.
Those who look within
themselves will find it.
They walk away.
He is blessed with something.
I've seen it.
A bountiful catch,
maybe nothing more.
Rabbi?
Rabbi, please help me.
I'm cursed.
Why do you say this?
My son is possessed by demons.
Take me to him.
The demons rest,
but they will awaken.
What's his name?
David.
David, can you hear me?
I'm speaking to you, David.
Not to what evil possesses you,
but to you.
I speak to you, David.
Hear me, David.
Hear me, David.
That's it. Shh. Shh.
Be still.
Be still.
Is he going to see the child?
What's he going to do?
Get back.
Get back, please!
What is he doing?
What is he doing?
He's casting them out.
Demons!
Be still.
David.
David.
Oh, no.
Please, everyone just step back.
Hear me.
The child is dead.
Water.
David.
My son.
I'm thirsty.
Yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Praise be to Jesus!
Praise be to Jesus!
Praise the Lamb of God.
The Baptist, as promised.
Mother, he's the one
who slanders our house?
Salome, this is
not for your eyes.
Take him away.
Let him rot and his
prophecy rot with him.
Tell me, Rabbi.
In Jerusalem, will you denounce the
Romans and those in league with them?
I'm not a zealot.
I come only to bring word
of God's love...
and to say that
all must be born again.
Born a second time?
One can't reenter
the womb, Rabbi.
Or is that one of the wonders
that supposedly you have wrought?
Are you a scribe or a Pharisee?
Are your words not for all?
Yes, for all.
I'm here to speak of a light
coming into the world.
And those who live
by the truth...
can enter this light,
knowing it... it can
be plainly seen,
that whatever they do from
then on is done through God.
Have you understood?
I have.
Rabbi!
John. Is it John?
The tetrarch arrested him,
and they've taken him to the
fortress called Machaerus.
It's in the desert
across the Jordan.
There's no hope for rescue.
How do I now speak of love,
forgiveness?
How?
I am trapped by the feelings of a man
who longs to attack this injustice.
Now I know my father's anger
at how we fail him.
Now I feel I am not
to bring peace, but a sword.
What magnificent buildings.
Who is not awed by this?
Look upon them.
Burn them into your memory,
for I say that not one stone
will remain upon the other.
All will be thrown down.
All! All of what you see.
It is written in the book
of the prophet, Malachi.
"Before the great and dreadful
day of the Lord comes,
I will send you
the prophet Elijah."
Now I say that Elijah
did come...
calling us to redemption
in waters of the Jordan.
For the Lord offers forgiveness
of sin to all with a true heart.
He speaks of John the Baptist.
I was redeemed in the water of
Jordan by John the Baptist.
Yes. Jesus speaks
of John the Baptist,
who has been imprisoned
by his enemies.
Yes. Like Elijah, John came.
But they did not know him
and did to him as they wished.
Free him!
Free him!
Free him!
Free him!
Those of the council of the Sanhedrin
are a generation of vipers.
- Vipers! Yes!
- Vipers.
Vipers!
- I say destroy this temple!
- Yes!
And in three days,
I will raise it up again.
Destroy this marketplace
that shames our Lord.
Destroy it!
Destroy it!
- Hosanna!
- Hosanna!
Hosanna! Hosanna!
I share your anger, Rabbi.
Let me follow you.
What is your name?
Judas Iscariot.
Bless you, Judas.
Jesus challenges us,
but I did not hear blasphemy.
And when he called for the destruction of
this temple, calling it a marketplace,
what is that if not blasphemy?
Many devout Jews criticize the commerce,
the money lending.
Standing there, he derides...
this...
beauty, this grandeur with threats,
derides a place where, for me,
each stone is sacrosanct.
A place where every day
700 of our priests...
perform rituals
for the truly devout,
for whom this
is the house of God.
To be protected
with our lives, our blood.
I heard the Nazarene's words,
and I heard blasphemy.
Joshua. Can we see him? Yes.
Can we see the Baptist?
Shh. Get back.
- Can we see him?
- Impossible.
He'll be taken and killed.
Pass on your words
and bring his response.
Joshua.
They've come.
Thomas and Andrew
with news of Jesus.
Then God has blessed me.
They say Jesus
now travels the land...
preaching as you have preached.
God offers his son,
and Jesus takes up the cup.
And you will be
reunited with him?
No.
His will be a lone path.
I will be martyred here,
in this place.
No sadness.
Praise God for the son
he offers in Jesus.
Pray.
Pray, Joshua.
Praise God.
Praise the Lord.
My son.
Mother.
It is said that you've
lured fishermen from Galilee...
from honest work
to follow as you preach.
Preach what they say
is contrary.
Not contrary to the word of God.
Who knows?
My life is about this...
putting bread on the table.
Oh, we don't live
by bread alone.
What James means...
It's said you healed
the sick as if by...
She won't say the word,
but I'll say it.
"Sorcery."
I comfort the sick.
When they're cured,
it's by the hand of God.
Bear in mind,
what you go about saying and doing...
impacts us as well.
Mother. James.
All who I call family,
how I love you...
and will always love you.
You cannot understand
the path I've taken.
But the call of God
comes before all else.
And for you, I'm just Jesus.
Not the most skilled
at carpentry.
And sadly, no prophet
is accepted among his own.
I can only hope
that maybe someday...
Who knows?
The betrothed,
are they not glorious to behold?
Salome was raised with
the laws of the covenant.
What joy to know
my son's chosen...
is from a house
beholden to our laws.
We of my house
live by the word of God.
As do we.
Among us are followers
of a prophet.
A prophet?
Who spoke like Elijah...
and washed away sin
in the waters of the Jordan.
And offended
the order of things.
As many are offended
by his imprisonment.
As Salome's bride-price,
I ask for his freedom.
We offer herds,
our finest wines, oils
to enrich your house.
Riches do not equal
a prophet's life.
His arrest was favored by the Roman
governor and the temple priests.
Do they, in Jerusalem,
dictate what is done here?
They who would tax
the air we breathe.
What you ask for
is beyond reason.
The Baptist cannot be released.
Isaac.
Isaac!
Come!
We shall have no place
in this house.
You saw her shame.
Until now I've seen the Baptist
as a threat to myself...
and to our future rule.
Now I must suffer
my daughter's disgrace?
There will be other suitors.
Hmm?
Kill him.
Claim he choked on a fish bone.
If I ruled, I'd kill him
and all who follow him.
I know that voice.
My father.
And how I wish you were he.
How am I to eat?
Pay up. Pay!
Hey, that man.
And you... come on.
Come on.
All right, take...
Tell him I want to dine in his home.
He'll refuse.
A tax collector
has no place with God.
He'll not refuse.
My master wishes to dine
at your house this evening.
Me? Why?
Ask him.
My answer would give offense.
Why him?
Why him?
God has no love for those who tax us.
I'm not worthy
to offer you my table.
Who admits his fault
and seeks forgiveness...
will find redemption.
Look into your hearts,
and you will know this.
I'm hungry.
Invite me to your home.
Where... Where did
you get this... this spice?
You are young and supple.
You are as men desire.
None come seeking my hand.
Go on.
We must be careful.
The Baptist has followers
even here.
He is a curse upon us.
At fault is
my husband's weakness.
Unless our weakness
is failing to use his weakness.
When I'm made ready for sleep,
your husband lingers
outside my room.
While he once pledged
to care for you as his own.
That's the beauty you've become.
I'll address this with him.
No.
His lust is repulsive,
but perhaps useful.
Oh.
She's a leper!
Rabbi!
Rabbi, bless me, Rabbi, please!
I was here before you!
John, draw them water.
They're lepers.
Water.
- Drink. Drink.
- No, no, no. Don't drink this.
Bring them some water.
- Judas.
- Let me look at you.
- What is your name?
- I'm called Mary.
My mother's name.
Come. Sit, please.
- What is your son's name?
- His name is Judah.
Judah. How old is Judah?
Who's she?
Twelve.
May I touch you, gently?
You are without fear, Mary?
I don't fear disease of
the skin or the flesh.
Only disease of the spirit.
Hmm.
Something you've known.
I'm from Magdala.
Do you know Magdala?
A barracks town
for Roman troops.
Where Jewish daughters
are enslaved...
to pay the tax debts
of their families.
You would see an end
to such suffering.
I'm told it's your purpose.
Oh, be certain it is,
Mary from Magdala.
Then my purpose
must be serving you.
Thank you.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst.
Is it the Nazarene who speaks?
Yes.
And those who should be tending my
fields are here bewitched by him.
Blessed are those persecuted...
for their righteousness,
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
Your father knows your needs.
Knows them before you ask.
So this then
is how you should pray.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
for yours is the kingdom,
the power...
and the glory...
forever.
Amen.
Amen!
Governor,
I saw huge crowds of them enraptured...
as he spoke his platitudes in the
crude accent of some Galilean peasant.
They wept, were overcome,
believing he's the Messiah come
to bring God's wrath upon Rome.
And what is more,
we've learned he's a cousin of the Baptist.
We're being menaced
by a family of lunatics.
There's real danger here.
If he could rally zealots to free the Baptist,
there could be an uprising in Galilee.
What's his name, this man?
Jesus of Nazareth.
His cousin the Baptist should
be killed without delay.
That undercuts any thoughts
of freeing him...
and also makes this Jesus aware of
the fate that could well await him.
Leave.
Finally.
Meaning?
Pilate's blessing.
Kill the Baptist.
Killing him is a
convenience for the Roman,
not for me.
I'm already vilified for
imprisoning the Baptist.
Kill him,
and all of Galilee turns against me.
Pontius Pilate's praise of you
to Caesar could make you king.
What I see is Pilate praising
what serves Pilate.
If he wants the Baptist dead, let him drag
him to Jerusalem and nail him to a cross.
So you are set on doing nothing.
Mm-hmm.
Salome told me you asked her to dance
at the feast for your birthday tonight.
Did she also tell you
that she refused?
She's not a performer
from the marketplace.
You must offer her something.
Meaning... she is
her mother's daughter.
We like our rewards.
And what would hers be for
entertaining my guests?
Suppose I tell her
that whatever she asks for...
you will not refuse.
She must dance
to my satisfaction.
Be certain she will.
You remember your promise.
Salome, tell him.
Show Caesar you're a man.
And show us too.
Salome!
Rabbi!
Thomas and Andrew, welcome.
They've murdered him.
Cut his head off.
Beheaded?
You are with us now.
You... come. Eat with us.
As John has said,
the cup has come to my lips.
I fear its bitterness, Father.
Give me the strength
to welcome it.
Who am I?
What am I?
How do people call
the son of man?
Tell me. Tell me.
For me, you are
a giver of courage...
to act as I never imagined.
Reaching out for the sick,
the unclean...
without fear.
But, Judas, how am I called?
I've heard you called
the coming of Elijah.
A prophet.
What else is said?
Many will believe you're the
Baptist risen from the dead.
There was no greater prophet
than John.
But... But you... you who see me eat,
sleep, wash,
know my every gesture, my moods,
who do you say I am?
You're the anointed one.
Son of the living God.
Bless you, Simon, son of Jonah.
No other has said this.
I think it was revealed to you
by my heavenly father.
It is simply what I believe.
From now on,
I'll call you Peter.
Peter?
In Greek,
Peter means "rock."
And on this rock,
I'll build my church...
and give you the keys
to the kingdom of heaven.
I must be alone now.
- You believe he's...
- The Messiah.
Take great care saying that.
What harm will come
to God's chosen?
Before this council of the
Sanhedrin proceeds to judgment,
I should tell you
we have been warned...
that the Nazarene Jesus
has come to Jerusalem.
It is proposed
that we forbid him...
to enter our holy house of God.
No! No!
No. No.
We may dispute his words,
but we cannot deny a devout
Jew entry to the temple.
I... I have heard Jesus speak,
and he is to be welcomed,
not shunned.
Allow him.
- Allow him in.
- Allow him!
So, the Nazarene enters
this very room.
Where his name is spoken,
dissension follows.
- Allow him!
- He must be allowed entry.
He is a Jew, like us.
But I'll not push
to forbid him entry.
I only recall Jeremiah's
warning of false prophets.
They fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions
from their own minds,
not from the mouth of the Lord!
When Jesus says the meek
shall inherit the earth,
there's nothing meek about him,
nor those that follow him.
He's right.
But it's true they seek
to inherit the earth.
Allow him!
Allow him in!
It's the law.
- We have lost.
- Let the Nazarene come.
With luck,
he may condemn himself.
Bring the woman.
We are now to hear and judge
the case of a woman...
who has defiled the sacred
covenants of marriage...
and thus brought shame
upon her husband's house.
Stone her!
Show no mercy!
Stone her to death!
Take her to the pit!
Harlot!
What shall we do?
Have the guards take him away?
We're enacting a law.
I want you to provoke him.
We stand here ready
to enact the law of Moses.
An adulteress condemned by the high
court of the temple is to be stoned.
A punishment
called for by Moses.
Do you deny the law
revealed on Mount Sinai?
She has sinned and been judged.
Do you oppose
the law of the Torah?
Is his silence a defense
of her fornications?
Her harlotry?
I know you, Jesus of Nazareth.
You have opinions on everything.
What's his opinion on this?
Any among you
who is without sin,
let him be the first
to cast a stone at her.
Any among you
who is without sin?
God has set forth the law,
not him.
The law must be carried out.
Kill her.
Here, kill her.
You kill her.
I cannot.
Then neither can I.
I have begged for forgiveness.
Go and sin no more.
We are the law.
We will see you accused,
judged and punished for this.
To maintain the order
that your office demands,
we must have obedience
to our laws.
Now, this man,
this false claimant to religious stature,
has thwarted the legal
execution of an adulteress.
You have a court.
Try him. Stone him.
Yes, that would, of course,
be my first thought,
but with shame I must say
that even among us,
even among the Sanhedrin
are those he has corrupted.
My laws are Roman.
His crime is not sedition.
Is it not? He rails
against Roman taxes.
If I were to crucify every Jew
who rails against our taxes,
I would have to level the
cedars of Lebanon for wood.
His crime must be an attack
against our emperor, our rule.
He attacks those
who support your rule.
Does that not inspire concern?
Concern, but nothing
that validates action.
Make a case for sedition,
with evidence.
Learn where he speaks
and with whom.
Prove that he is
a threat to Roman rule...
and I will have him crucified.
Each day I hear the
servants speaking of him.
What is the message
of this Jesus?
Oh, many things.
Nothing that concerns us.
What?
It'll bore the slaves.
The curse of being a
slave is boredom in all we do.
Not all we do.
Enough!
What does he preach?
That God wants the meek
to inherit the earth,
the poor to be rich,
the weak to be strong.
Platitudes of popular appeal.
None of it to be believed?
Well, it flies
in the face of history.
Caesarea is named
after a conqueror.
To the south of us is Alexandria,
also named for a conqueror.
If there really is one single,
all-powerful God,
as Jesus and these Jews claim,
he clearly favors
the strong over the weak.
Things are as the gods intend.
The meek, such as
this lovely creature,
will never inherit the earth.
Ha!
This man, Jesus,
he has drawn many to cast away
their wealth to follow him.
He lures sane men
from their wealth?
He speaks of a time,
soon coming,
when rich men will be poor,
powerful men cast down...
and... the temple itself
destroyed by God's wrath.
The priests are right.
This Nazarene is a menace.
Search among your ranks, Chuza.
Find those
who are most trustworthy.
All information about this
Nazarene is of value to me.
Matthew!
Far from the old days when
squeezing taxes from peasants...
was like wringing water
from stones.
How astonished I was to hear...
that you'd given up all your
wealth to follow the Nazarene.
Who is he?
A tax collector who feels
as Matthew once did,
regretting what he must do.
And you would be?
Judas Iscariot.
I'm Asher.
And your caution
is well-advised.
The Nazarene's fame
breeds envy, even hatred.
But I, for one, admire
the choice that you've made.
Change your ways and follow us.
How I wish.
How I wish,
but the burden of hungry mouths.
And the burden of a fine horse?
Yes.
I admit weakness.
Isn't that one step
towards redemption?
It is said that the rabbi goes
to Jerusalem for Passover.
It's his intention.
I know of a dwelling there.
I have well-placed friends.
A place has been offered.
Is the dwelling within the city?
I may seek you out, Matthew.
A morning's walk from the gate.
Home of a landowner...
Lazarus.
Godspeed your journey!
I have urgent news for the
tetrarch's steward. Open the gates.
Asher.
Send word to the tetrarch.
I have news of the Nazarene.
And be ready to open
your coffers, Chuza.
What I bring is of great value.
Jesus is staying
outside the city...
at the house of
a landowner named Lazarus.
He can't be arrested there.
Too many people.
We must know his movements
when he comes to Jerusalem.
We need somewhere quiet.
I'll put a watch on the house.
Have you seen anyone leave?
Wait here as long as it takes.
Outside the
wall dressed as pilgrims,
spies are watching us.
To report on our drunkenness,
hey, Lazarus?
My debauchery.
That I consort with sinners and
tax collectors, right, Matthew?
Former sinner and tax collector.
And I know the labels put on me.
- We will put them on trial?
- Put whom on trial?
- Them.
- Those who are against us.
When you're king,
James and I wish to sit by your
throne as sentence is passed on them.
See you condemn them
to eternal flames.
That's how you imagine
the kingdom of God?
Me on a throne?
Well, do I wear a gold crown?
I would think a crown
of the purest gold.
Oh, like some earthly king?
Do I preside over lackeys
and ring kissers?
I mean, you travel with me.
Your ears are open to every word,
but you hear nothing.
Nothing.
Have you so failed
to understand,
being who I am, what I must do?
Whoever would be a master
must first be a slave.
Who wants to be served
must first serve.
I am here to give my life
as a ransom for the many.
In the kingdom of God,
there are no thrones,
no crowns, no rule of nations.
My reward for earthly
service will be suffering.
Understand that.
Suffering.
To bring the message
of God's love,
I am the resurrection
and the life.
And those who believe in me,
even though they die, will live.
If you are praying, I'll leave.
I came here to pray...
pray to control my anger
and my frustration.
But then I heard my father's
voice in that song...
in the sweetness of that song.
Your anger is gone.
Do you know the prophets... what they
say awaits the one God that's sent?
There was little talk of prophets
in the barracks of Magdala.
Well, you know my words.
Yes.
And that's enough.
Yeah.
Then I'll leave you to pray.
Mary.
The cup from which I must drink,
how very bitter it is.
Go, Mary of Magdala.
What is this?
This beast is little more than a yearling.
He told us
to find a donkey colt.
Prophecy of Zechariah.
He enters Jerusalem
on that for Passover?
The Messiah will arrive at the
holy city astride a donkey colt.
Now he acts out a prophecy.
Why should he not?
What more is there in the
prophecy of the Messiah's coming?
Say it. We will share
however it goes.
The Messiah
will be falsely accused.
He'll be beaten, spat upon.
He'll be killed,
and all those who love him will look on,
unable to stop the agony.
And those who follow him?
I see.
Hosanna!
Hosanna!
Hosanna
Hosanna!
I'm told of a great rabbi who
was asked to recite the Torah...
while standing on one leg.
He said, "Do not unto others as you
would not have them do unto you."
This is the true wisdom
of the Torah.
The rest is all commentary.
Go and learn it.
Do you share his belief?
I do.
Say simply,
"Love your neighbor as you love yourself."
But I put one commandment
even before this.
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God is one.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
your mind and your strength.
Saying this,
you are close to the kingdom of God.
Rabbi.
While some oppose you,
the wisdom of your words is not lost on us.
Rabbi, what say you of taxes?
Should Jews pay taxes
to this man in Rome?
What do you say, Rabbi?
Give him an answer, Rabbi!
Let me see the coin.
Who is this?
You know.
That's Caesar Tiberius.
What do you think?
Should Jews pay taxes to Caesar?
Give to Caesar
that which is Caesar's...
and give unto God
that which is God's.
Leave in peace!
Lamb of God!
Their Lamb of God
will be our lamb of sacrifice.
That you still read
by the light of a flame.
I envy you
your sharpness of vision.
The characters are blurred.
And though I know the
entire scriptures by heart,
I find it
curiously comforting...
to actually hold them
in my hand.
It is almost your time...
to start your duties
in the temple...
and you have not slept.
I have... failed you.
I've failed the temple.
When Passover ends,
the Nazarene,
he will leave,
conceal himself
in the hide of the land.
Then he will return,
with ever greater numbers
in his following,
all believing
that he is the Messiah,
all willing
to be part of a rebellion...
that brings him to the throne.
But I remember...
I remember as a child...
seeing...
bodies, hundreds of...
dead Jews...
killed by the Romans.
The revolts
of Judas the Galilean.
Also hailed as the Messiah.
Do you understand my fear?
The horror that this man
could bring to our people.
Have you confronted him?
To no avail.
He seeks confrontation then
turns our words against us.
He mocks us in our own temple.
God's word is quite clear.
Any false prophet...
who incites rebellion against God's
authority shall be put to death.
You...
are the most respected
voice of that law.
Will you take
his judgment upon yourself?
Find a way to put him before me.
My sister,
you must join us for dinner.
May I come in?
They were paying to be baptized.
They were...
This is Joanna.
She brings perfumed oils...
and asks to anoint your hair.
Bless you, Joanna.
You come with
a hidden purpose, Joanna.
I'm the wife of Chuza,
ch-chief steward of the tetrarch.
They speak of killing you,
the tetrarch,
those of the temple.
And you came to warn me, why?
My cousin was to be stoned.
She lives because of you.
Don't go to Jerusalem.
I must.
This is a house of prayer!
This is my livelihood!
Get Malchus!
Not a den of thieves!
Down with the money lenders!
Down with the money lenders!
Behold the king of the Jews!
Turn out the guard.
Oh, no!
No, no, no, no!
We follow Jesus,
king of the Jews!
We follow Jesus,
king of the Jews!
My house will be called
a house of prayer!
You have made it
a den of thieves.
You'll die for this!
We follow Jesus,
king of the Jews!
We follow Jesus,
king of the Jews!
Nazarene!
Order them to stop
this blasphemous praise!
Stop? If they stop, the stones
themselves would cry out!
- Guards, arrest him!
- Arrest that man!
Enough!
- Guards, hold your place!
- Guards, hold the line! Hold the line!
What I came to do...
is done.
Our impotence
in dealing with this man...
will bring about
the disdain of the Romans.
He invalidates our authority both
in the temple and in Jerusalem.
If he leaves and returns
a triumphant leader,
Pilate may decide to deal
with him instead of us.
Let's judge him here, in this room,
and stone him to death.
How?
The mob makes
his arrest impossible.
He's surrounded by hundreds
who venerate him.
I have seen a weakness.
Hmm?
Tell us.
Betrayal, by one of his own.
Impossible.
They worship him.
Perhaps not all.
Judas Iscariot.
The tax collector.
Wasn't sure you'd remember me,
going as you go,
seeing many faces.
But few horses like this.
Yes, to be admired he is.
You should have a fine horse.
Be finely mounted as befit
those who serve a king.
You were at the temple.
In truth, no.
I long for the rewards
of heaven,
but I take the coin
and let the credit go...
and ignore the promises
of kingdoms yet to come.
And facing what you face,
hearing the sighs of the dying
on the hill of Golgotha.
Were I in your place,
my every breath
would tighten with fear.
A horse such as this costs what?
A stallion of his blood who could
be had for 15 pieces of silver.
But I also know a man who would
offer you 30 pieces of silver.
In return for what?
Willingness to choose life
over death.
Where would this man be found?
I need to speak with Malchus.
Asher sent me.
I haven't much time.
When and where
can we find him alone?
The others are always
at his side.
The 12.
Or better said, 12 minus one.
Tonight, we will eat the
Passover meal here in Jerusalem.
Where?
I don't yet know.
A room.
It was decided without me.
So far I hear nothing
worth 30 pieces of silver.
I'll leave that meal
and come here.
Doing this, you save your life.
Yes.
That must be why I do this.
Everywhere there is talk of you.
An inn gave us food and lodging
and would accept no payment.
My son is hailed for
bringing a message from God.
And those of Nazareth.
Believing you to be the Messiah?
Yes.
Some do.
And you?
So great will be my pride...
when I hear you
speak at the temple.
I'll not speak there again.
But on the road,
many were coming to hear you.
Well, that's over now.
I've come all this way.
You'll deny me that?
I mean, the decision isn't mine.
I can't speak of it with you.
But...
Mother,
I have so longed for you.
The pain of absence
has been terrible.
But now it's too late.
Too late?
What do you mean?
James, take her to Nazareth.
Have you lost your
mind saying this?
I beg you, spare her
from what must come.
Where are you going?
Jesus.
Come. Let us go.
You wash our feet, why?
Call me Lord
and place me above you.
I wash your feet to show that no
master is greater than his servant.
And no messenger is greater
than the one who sends him.
Come and eat what God has
blessed on this Passover night.
This is a meal fit for
a king... our feast.
Start carving, Matthew.
Yes. Yes.
Brothers, let us talk of what
is written and what prophets have said.
It's in the scripture.
He who shares my bread
has lifted his heel against me.
I tell you now
before it happens,
so when it does happen,
you know that I'm he.
- No one questions that.
- Many will.
And one will betray me.
How can you say this? I have been loyal.
We've all been loyal.
He's testing us again.
Brothers, I'll be with you
only a little longer.
Take what I've said...
that in me you'll have peace in
a world of anger and despair.
Take courage, for I have
overcome the world.
- But where I now go, you cannot follow.
- I'll follow.
I'd lay down my life,
go to prison, to death.
Peter, this very night
before the cock has crowed,
you'll deny three times
that you know me.
I tell you now.
Where is Judas?
The garden of Gethsemane.
They will go there to pray.
It's dark in that garden.
How will my men know
which is him?
I will greet him with a kiss.
Later.
Oh, my darling.
Not another dream
of the Baptist.
I gain the sleep,
the rest I so desperately need,
and then I waken,
there that thing is beside me.
No. No, it is gone.
These are dreams.
One of the servants told me it
wasn't found. It wasn't buried.
The head!
No.
It was eaten by jackals
in the desert.
His follower brings this horror.
Jesus takes revenge.
Tell her that the sorcery of
the Nazarene will have an end.
You tell me he will die too.
Father, take this cup from me.
This bitter cup.
If it's not possible that
this cup be taken away,
your will be done.
So I'm betrayed with a kiss.
- Take me. Let them go.
- You don't give orders to me!
Leave him! Grab the madman!
Bind his hands!
Save yourselves.
For me. You must live!
Go!
Go.
I'm going to Jerusalem.
No, my brother. They'll find you.
They'll kill you.
I'm going.
- It's cold and the hour is late.
- And the matter urgent.
The matter being?
We've been told the temple guards
have arrested Jesus of Nazareth.
An issue of your faith.
An issue of law.
Law beyond my providence.
Both our laws
and yours violated.
He's been taken
to the house of Caiaphas,
not to the temple
and the chamber of hewn stone.
His trial will be unjust.
Sometimes things
are done for expediency.
Cicero, writing
about your Roman law,
claims where there is immorality,
there can be no expediency.
- This is immoral.
- Send troops. Free him.
Roman troops to the home of a high priest?
Are you insane?
Governor,
I ask as a devout Jew,
do not allow this man
to be murdered.
If he is stoned,
it's beyond my purview.
They want him crucified.
A punishment
only I can pronounce.
Will you?
It's late and I am cold.
You are accused
of acts of sorcery,
spreading lies,
corrupting others.
I spoke openly
in synagogues, a temple...
places where Jews came
to hear of God.
They came to hear of God.
The words you gave them
came from Satan.
Why not ask those
who have heard me?
They know what I said.
This is the way you answer
the high priest?
I command you!
Let us through! Let us through!
Please!
Make way!
Open this!
You truly claim you are the
son of the Blessed One?
I am.
You have heard blasphemy
from his lips.
These words and more.
His claim...
he's a prophet.
Blindfold him.
Give us a prophecy,
O prophet Jesus.
Who struck that blow?
Prophets are all-seeing.
Stop!
Stop this disgrace.
You dare to interfere!
Annas, we are shamed
by what we see.
If this... this cabal
is to be called a trial,
then I demand
that we are included.
You are but two.
This blasphemer will be
judged by a majority.
What's happening?
Jesus is a criminal,
posing as the Messiah.
Not a man who walks on the waters,
who feeds the multitudes.
You saw these wonders?
Ask yourselves... would priests
lay hands upon him...
if he were truly the Messiah?
People are fooled by sorcery.
You... I've seen you
with him before.
No, no,
I don't know this Nazarene.
It's too dangerous here.
We should go. No.
Come on, Simon.
She says you are a follower.
She's wrong.
- Deny it under oath.
- I deny him. Now, enough.
The vote is against you.
- Make way!
- Make way!
Move aside!
He is the Messiah!
Punish him! He's a liar!
These goats,
where do you take them?
To the temple.
For sacrifice?
He leads them to death.
He's their betrayer.
Yeah.
I want that rope.
Just the rope.
I'll pay.
Here.
Unless I lead him,
the herd will scatter.
Scatter and be saved.
I need the rope.
Here.
Buy more goats, 10 times these.
Ten times 10.
Or a horse.
Yes. Now you imagine it,
owning a horse.
I know the feeling.
Governor,
you'll not open the gate?
We've brought
a criminal for judgment.
Take him and judge him
under your law.
- Free him!
- Free him! Free him!
- Free him! Free him!
- No! Punish him!
- No! Punish him!
- He will hear the charge! Silence, I say!
He should be executed for speaking
against the rule of Caesar,
claiming he is king of the Jews.
Are you king of the Jews?
My kingdom is not of this world.
I hear no support
for your charges.
His cryptic speech
is but a ploy.
He is a criminal.
We have witnesses.
He began his crimes in Galilee.
Galilee?
Then take him
to the tetrarch of Galilee.
He should judge this man.
Take him to the tetrarch!
There he is again.
He is one of them.
I don't know that man.
You're mistaken.
You're lying.
All is as he said.
Where is God's army of angels?
What do you hear?
Caiaphas is bringing him here.
Hearing Jesus
comes from Galilee,
Pilate wants
his blood on my hands.
He wants my name to curse
the lips of every Jew.
Sillaeus, leave us.
Go!
I will deal no more
with holy men.
I'm a stone wall, Herodias.
I'll not argue.
Jesus threatens priests,
but other than a mob
hailing him king of the Jews,
he is no threat to you.
His death need not be
upon our house.
I cannot simply hide.
Face him.
Let the mob see...
who is truly fit
to be king of the Jews.
We shall release you!
Blessing for the prophet!
Release him!
Release him!
I'm told you work miracles.
Do something.
Anything wondrous.
Make bread fall
from the heavens.
Feed us a morning meal.
My preference
is lentils and barley.
Do something!
A miracle could save you.
It is said that Simon
the Magus could fly.
Hmm?
But can Jesus the Nazarene fly?
Release him.
Let him be borne aloft.
Oh. Oh, look. Look.
There he... There he goes.
No. I'm wrong.
A bird. Not Jesus.
He makes no wonders
but is hailed as king.
Let him be adorned as a king.
- Come. Come.
- Make him a king!
The purple robe of royal office.
No king shall go forth
without a staff!
Bring a staff!
Look at the king with his staff!
Crown! Give him a crown!
- Crown! Crown!
- Bring him a crown!
Patience.
Patience.
Nothing has been forgotten.
Behold the king.
He's the real king!
I give you a royal threat
to Caesar Tiberius.
Bring him back to the Romans
to be judged for sedition.
You cannot dismiss us.
He expects you to deal with this.
Bring him back to Pilate.
I'm done with him.
Why must you cater to these priests,
the tetrarch?
Without them I cannot
easily govern these people.
Kill him, and you'll bear
the wrath of his following.
I must do something.
I cannot simply set him loose.
Guards! Halt!
Scourge him.
What's happening?
Let me through.
Master.
His cry.
My baby boy.
Oh, my baby boy.
No. No.
You mustn't.
Hold her. Hold her.
Make the guard stop! No!
Please!
Scourging is punishment enough.
He may not survive.
Many don't.
End this threat to order.
End it.
Let the death of this one man
prevent the deaths of many.
Crucify him!
Crucify him!
No!
Crucify him!
Crucify him!
Crucify him! Crucify him!
Crucify him!
Crucify him!
Crucify him! Crucify him!
Jesus, king of the Jews!
Jesus, king of the Jews!
Betrayed.
Humiliated.
And soon agony
beyond what you can imagine.
Is this the glory of God
you bragged of?
Glory...
as I expected.
No! The temple
is God's glory.
God's glory is love.
To know love...
is to know God.
Get him up!
Escort!
Then love me, sweet Jesus.
I do love you.
I will hear rage from your lips,
hear it as you hang
nailed to the wood!
You will vomit forth
a... a hatred...
that will put a lie
to your words!
Why are you afraid?
Die, false prophet!
Punish the blasphemer!
Here is a false prophet!
Take him to Golgotha!
A false king!
Mock him for his lies!
Come!
Take joy at his suffering!
O great king!
Kill him!
Great prophet!
Mock him!
Go on! Come!
Move!
Come on!
Move!
Honor the king of the Jews!
- Get up, false prophet!
- Get up!
False king!
Liar! Liar!
Take him to Golgotha!
Take him! Take him!
Take him!
Take him!
Take him to Golgotha!
Liar! Liar!
Liar!
Liar!
Forgive them.
They know not what they do.
He spoke.
He cursed you.
No. He asked his God
to forgive us.
Of all his followers,
only you.
Of all of them, only you.
Peter claims he can see
no more of his pain.
The others fear for their lives.
Wh... Wh...
Why have you forsaken me?
If his father has forsaken him,
we are all forsaken.
It is finished.
He said it's finished.
My son.
I am Nicodemus,
and this is Joseph of Arimathea.
We offer a shroud,
and we have a tomb for Jesus.
I thought this
would end as you said it would end.
It is ended.
All I ask is for assurance of that.
- Certainty that...
- What, that he will not reappear?
Of course not.
All I ask...
Enough.
Do not tell me
that priest delays our journey.
We'll be on the road
to Caesarea as planned.
- What brought him here?
- Fear.
The man is dead.
What more could he want?
He wants the tomb
guarded by Roman soldiers.
He, of all people,
worries the Nazarene
will return from the dead?
He claims concern that the followers
of Jesus will take the body...
in order to make it appear
that he has risen.
Which do you believe?
I believe that guarding that tomb is
a waste of Roman soldiers' efforts.
Let's begin our journey.
Yes. I am Simon...
and called by you Peter,
the rock of your faith,
and I will be
your fisher of men.
He has come...
come back to us!
Yes.
According to early Christian tradition,
Simon took the mission
of Jesus to Rome,
where he formalized
the nascent Christian Church.
The Romans
sentenced him to death.
It is claimed he asked
to be crucified upside down...
so that his death would not
be the equal of Jesus.
The Romans granted his wish.
Early writings speak of James...
preaching of Jesus
in the Jerusalem temple.
It said he was stoned to death,
supposedly for challenging
the temple's high priests.
The fates of other disciples are
consigned to legend and apocryphal texts.
Andrew was crucified in Greece.
Thomas was speared to death
in India.
Simon sawed in half in Persia.
Matthew murdered in Ethiopia.
According to tradition,
John was not martyred...
but spent time
in exile on Ptmos...
and lived to 90.
Scholars debate the authorship
of the Gospel of John,
held by some to be an eyewitness
account of the life of Jesus.
Antipas continued pressing Rome
to be named king...
until his efforts offended
the new emperor, Caligula.
Antipas and Herodias
were exiled to Gaul,
where they died in obscurity.
Pontius Pilate
was recalled to Rome,
while Joseph Caiaphas,
without his Roman ally,
lost his position
within the temple.
Whereas the story of Jesus,
a humble carpenter of Nazareth,
gave birth to one of the
world's foremost religions.
Today there are more than two
billion Christians worldwide.