Mary Magdalene (2018) Movie Script
1
(WOMAN BREATHING HEAVILY)
MARY:
And she asked him,
"What Will it be like?"
"The kingdom?"
And he said,
"It is like a seed,"
"a single grain of mustard seed,"
"which a woman took
and sowed in her garden."
"And it grew,"
"and it grew."
"And the birds of the air
made nests in its branches."
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(BIRD SCREECHING)
(SHEEP BLEATING)
AARON: Maw!
Mary!
(GROANING)
RACHEL:
Mary.
Mary! You have to tell her.
She can't cut it out.
There's no time for this.
You can't cut her.
She needs to push.
There's no point pushing.
The baby can't get through.
You have to find a way.
I can try and stretch her, but she
needs to stay completely still.
Oh, no.
Shh.
No, no!
MARY:
Leah. No!
Leah.
No!
No! (CRYING) Look at me.
Leah, look at me.
Look at me. Look at me.
You need to lie still.
- She's going to hurt me.
- Yes.
Yes, she is, but only for a
moment so your baby can come.
You can take it for a moment.
I know you can.
(GROANING)
Look at me. Look at me.
Look at me. Look at me.
(BOTH BREATHE DEEPLY)
I'll be here with you.
I won't let you go.
I'm here.
(sesame)
Can you lie still?
- Yes.
- Yes.
Rachel, come.
(LEAH CRIES OUT)
Take her shoulders.
(LEAH PANTING)
MIDWIFE:
Hold her strong.
Keep her leg down. Look at me.
Look at me. Look at me.
You're okay.
(LEAH BREATHING HEAVILY)
MIDWIFE:
Keep her still.
(GRUNTING)
MIDWIFE:
Again.
(GROANS, INHALES SHARPLY)
(LEAH GROANING)
(BABY CRYING)
(SIGHS IN RELIEF)
GIRL:
Can I hold the baby?
Brother, what a beautiful boy.
ELISHA:
Beautiful.
JOSEPH:
Congratulations, Aaron.
AARON:
Thank you, Joseph.
How is she?
Mary got her through.
The midwife says
she's a natural.
(BABY COOING)
DANIEL:
Aren't you all?
RACHEL:
You should all be proud of your sister.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(BOTH GIGGLE)
(ALL GREETING IN HEBREW)
(PRAYING IN HEBREW)
(SINGING PRAYER IN HEBREW)
(WHISPERING PRAYER
IN HEBREW)
(COMMUNITY LEADER
CONTINUES PRAYING)
(MEN SINGING IN HEBREW)
(ALL CONTINUE SINGING)
(ELISHA SINGING IN HEBREW)
"I lift up my eyes
to the mountains."
"From where
will my help come?"
Ephraim will come
and dine with us tomorrow.
You know him.
I knew his wife.
He's a good man.
His children need a mother.
- He's asked for you, Mary.
- You need me.
It would please God
for you to be a mother.
It would please me.
Is Joseph going to hear
that man speak again?
He's been every day this week.
Must be nice to have
so much time on your hands.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
(BABY CRYING)
(CHILDREN CHATTERING)
RACHEL:
You're going to be beautiful.
SARAH; Girls.
(CHILDREN CHATTERING)
ELISHA:
It's a good space. It's warm and...
Our house is yours, Ephraim.
Enough for the family.
SARAH:
Here. Put them here.
Yes, that's great.
(INAUDIBLE)
ELISHA: It's good to welcome
you here at last, Ephraim.
EPHRAIM:
You have a beautiful family, Elisha.
RACHEL:
Children, come and meet Ephraim. Come on.
GIRL:
Hello, Ephraim.
JOSEPH:
This healer is different.
I don't know. In the things
he does, the things he says.
AARON:
What did he talk about?
A new world.
A just world, free of tyranny.
A holy kingdom.
I saw him heal a man
by the beacon.
SARAH: The one who's always
in the market, shouting.
Some people have said they tried
to cast the demon out of him.
Who is he, then, a prophet?
He was with the Baptist.
Where? At the Jordan?
SARAH:
John the Baptist was a true prophet.
You've always said that.
That's why Herod killed him.
That's enough now.
Why shouldn't we talk about it?
Because we don't live in
a good age for baptists,
or prophets,
or gossip, for that matter.
You need to make
many sons, Ephraim.
ELISHA:
May the angels shine down on both of you.
RACHEL: Maybe we could all
travel together for Passover.
EPHRAIM:
I try to visit Jerusalem whenever I can.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(MEN LAUGHING)
RACHEL:
Mary?
Where are you?
Mary!
- SARAH: Mary!
- GIRL: Mary!
(MARY PRAYING INDISTINCTLY)
Mary?
Mary?
(CONTINUES PRAYING)
Mary?
Tell me how to help you.
Go and get her father
and Daniel!
Mary?
(CONTINUES PRAYING)
Mary, tell me
how to help you. Mary.
Mary!
(MEN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
(DOG BARKING)
MAN:
Shame!
(PANTING)
DANIEL:
You brought shame on our family.
What did you think
you were doing?
I needed to pray.
To decide.
"Decide"?
Listen.
You pray at the service
with the other women.
You pray at home
with your family.
But you don't just run into the
night like some wandering lunatic.
I can't marry Ephraim.
I'm not made for that life.
Then what on Earth
are you made for?
You want me to bind your
breasts and shave your head
so you can become a man?
Then you can pray
whenever you want.
You stain our mother's memory.
This time, you will marry.
You've indulged her
for too long, Father.
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
(GASPING BREATHS)
DANIEL:
Mary.
Mary.
- Get up.
- MARY: What is it?
Father's waiting.
We need to show you something.
RACHEL:
Daniel.
Daniel!
What's happening?
Go back to sleep.
RACHEL:
Where are you taking her?
Daniel!
GIRL:
Mother?
Shh. It's all right.
Everything will be fine, Mary.
(MEN PRAYING INDISTINCTLY)
Don't be afraid, Mary.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
What are you doing?
There's something
unnatural inside you.
Father?
(EXORCIST SPEAKING HEBREW)
Leave her, and flee outside.
Father?
Be silent, be silent, be silent.
This is not your place.
Come out, Demon, come out, Demon.
Stay still! Stay still!
Come out and depart from here.
No!
Leave her, and flee outside.
Be silent, be silent, silence yourself.
Daniel!
(DANIEL GRUNTING)
DANIEL:
Leave her alone!
- MARY: Father!
- DANIEL: Leave her!
(GRUNTS)
(WATER SPLASHING)
(MARY GASPING)
Leave her...
ELISHA:
Stop! Stop!
(PANTING)
Mary.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
(SIGHS)
Father.
Please.
Let me bring the healer.
Yes.
(DOOR OPENS)
ELISHA:
She won't talk to me.
I don't know who she is anymore.
JESUS:
I'll see her alone.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Your family says
you grapple with the demon.
If there's a demon in me,
it's always been there.
I wish there was a demon.
JESUS:
Why?
What is it you fear in yourself?
My thoughts.
My longings, my unhappiness.
I fear that I shame my family.
I do shame them.
I'm not as I'm supposed to be.
What is it you long for?
I'm not sure.
To know God.
And yet you've felt
God's presence.
Sometimes, in the stillness,
I think I feel it.
It's always been there.
All it needs is your faith.
There are no demons here.
Rest now.
Rest in the light.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(GOATS BLEATING)
Elisha is going to see
Ephraim today.
He thinks the match
is still possible.
ANDREW:
Join us!
- JOHN: Come join us!
- ANDREW: Come, brother!
- Mary.
- ANDREW: Join us!
Mary!
Mary!
JESUS:
Each of you stand at the threshold.
Do you fear that you will
never reach the kingdom?
MAN 1: Whose kingdom?
Herod's kingdom?
MAN 2:
He keeps company with sinners.
You know as well as I do there
is only one true kingdom.
And that is God's.
(VILLAGERS CHATTERING)
And God's kingdom
is taking root.
So we must prepare.
You must wash away the stains
of your corruption
and be born anew.
Like children.
I have been hidden for too long.
And now you hide.
Each one of you.
Behind the semblance
of your faith,
you recite your songs
and present your sacrifices
as if your hearts and spirits,
your service to God, were what?
And afterwards, you go back to your
lives and do what pleases you,
what suits you,
what makes the days upon this
Earth pass easily for you.
Like dreamers.
But wake up, Magdala.
Open your eyes.
Look at the people
in Galilee and Judaea suffering,
crying out for help,
for mercy, for justice!
Look at the crosses
on the hills of Jerusalem.
MAN 3:
Blame the Romans!
JOSEPH: Our holy city held
hostage to Roman jackals.
MAN 4:
Jerusalem is lost to us!
MAN 5:
Who will deliver us?
(VILLAGERS CLAMORING)
Can your faith be held hostage?
(CLAMORING STOPS)
Listen.
In the silence.
Is there something
calling?
Do you have the courage
to follow what you hear?
Will you align yourselves
to the will of God
until every act of love,
every thought of care, and every
breath is taken in union'?
That is faith.
And that faith
will have you feed the
suffering to ease their pain.
And it is that faith,
your faith,
which will lead you
to God's kingdom.
(VILLAGERS MURMURING)
Come. Come, Magdala.
Come to the water.
- ANDREW: Come, brother!
- JAMES: Be born anew!
ANDREW:
Join us!
I baptize you with water
for your repentance.
Into the light of God,
born anew.
By being what we are, may we
become even what he is himself.
- MATTHEW: Come. Join us!
- PETER: Come, brother.
MATTHEW:
Praise God!
- JAMES: Be born anew.
- MATTHEW: Join us.
ANDREW:
Come. Jesus is here.
The kingdom is coming.
PETER: I baptize you into repentance.
Into the light of God, born anew.
- ANDREW: Join us!
- PETER: May we become even what he is himself.
- MATTHEW: Praise God!
- ANDREW: Come, brother!
I baptize you into repentance.
Into the light of God, born anew.
We have given nothing.
(VILLAGERS CHATTERING)
- MAN 1: Look
- MAN 2: She can see!
MAN 3:
Praise God!
MAN 4:
The great prophet is among us!
(VILLAGERS CHATTERING
EXCITEDLY)
MAN 5:
He is the Baptist!
MAN 6:
The Baptist raised from the dead!
MAN 7:
God is working through him!
- JUDAS: Please be patient.
- PHILIP: Don't push.
Please, don't push.
JUDAS:
Be patient.
Stay back.
JOHN:
Please be calm. Please be calm.
- Please wait.
- JUDAS: Please, don't push.
Move back!
JOHN:
Please, be patient!
Don't push, please.
(VILLAGERS CLAMORING)
The devil's prophet!
The devil's work!
- The devil's prophet!
- PETER: Rejoice!
For the kingdom of God
is coming!
There are too many!
Rejoice!
Come, brothers. Be born anew!
Don't push.
ANDREW:
Stay calm.
JUDAS:
Peter!
Peter!
- PHILIP: Don't push me. Don't push.
- ANDREW: Stop pushing.
Rabbi. Come back to us.
Come back.
- PHILIP: Be patient.
- JOHN: Don't push!
PETER:
Come away, woman. Come away.
JOHN:
Calm down. Be patient. Don't push.
Please, please, be patient.
PETER:
Andrew, Andrew, hold them!
ANDREW:
Stop pushing.
MAN:
He is the devil's prophet!
(CLAMORING CONTINUES)
(BABY GURGLING)
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
(PANTING)
The rabbi is leaving today.
All those men with him, Mary.
You'll be lost.
I'm lost here.
We are your family.
No man will touch you.
Daniel won't take you back in.
Never.
Please.
I can't.
Daniel!
Daniel!
ELISHA:
Mary!
Mary!
ANDREW:
What troubles you, sister?
What have you said to her?
What have you promised her?
I'm her father.
She belongs with me.
We've asked nothing
from your daughter.
Peter.
Would you separate
a daughter from her father?
Is that God's way?
Daughters from fathers,
sons from mothers.
What will you do with her?
JUDAS:
She will follow him.
Just as we do.
- Come away, Mary.
- JOHN: That's far enough, brother.
- I said, come away!
- Hold on.
- JOHN: Stay back!
- ELISHA: Daniel!
JOHN:
Stay back.
What's she doing?
- Mary!
- JOSEPH: Daniel, don't!
- Daniel!
- DANIEL: Mary!
- Mary, come back!
- JOSEPH: Stop!
- DANIEL: No!
- JOHN: Calm down! Calm down!
- Don't do that.
- JOSEPH: Stop.
How is this God's will?
Huh?
No man can decide that!
No man!
JOHN:
Stay calm, please.
I baptize you with water
to cleanse you.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
I baptize you with light
and with fire.
I baptize you to be born anew,
awake, and ready
for the day to come.
(EXHALES)
She will divide our community.
We should welcome her.
Why shouldn't she follow him?
People will judge us.
Don't look.
It's easier that way.
(WHISPERS)
He's talking to the angels.
PETER:
We will rest here tonight.
Peter's little boy used to sit
at the rabbi's feet and sing.
The sweetest thing.
Hmm.
I think it broke Peter's heart
to leave him.
Do you have children?
One. A girl. Esther.
And where is she now?
In the ground.
There was a drought
in the hills where we lived.
There was hardly any grain.
But Herod still sent his
agents to take their due.
When I refused,
a Roman officer came,
and I had to give
my entire crop.
My wife was pregnant.
She didn't have the strength
to fight the hunger.
I'm sorry.
The kingdom is coming, Mary.
Soon. I can wait.
I can be patient for that.
When the dead, the beloved dead,
will rise up and walk
amongst us whole and well.
It's been promised, Mary.
In the kingdom,
I will see my family again.
PHILIP: What happened with
that crowd was dangerous.
JOHN:
He put himself in danger.
We can't risk that kind of riot.
The angels
were working with him.
You could see.
God was with him.
It's the miracles.
What? You question them?
Of course I don't
question them, Judas.
JOHN: Look, we want the
people to rally, to rise up.
Slowly. Slowly,
we spread the word.
We strengthen
in numbers and then...
When we are sure
of the support...
Jerusalem.
Passover
That is where it begins.
I've never heard our rabbi
talk about this plan of yours.
He shouldn't have to
talk about it.
Because he doesn't
need to, Peter.
All he needs to do is say the word,
lift his hand, and the seas will part.
The Roman palaces will crumble.
And the heavens will rain down
blood on the oppressors.
PETER:
Look, we will draw up a strategy, huh?
An agreed strategy.
But just one word of sedition
to the Romans, Peter...
How many men have cried
the coming of the kingdom
and found their fate
lay on the execution block?
Or the cross, if someone
were to shout, "Messiah"?
By then the kingdom of David
will have truly begun.
I didn't know
we were to be soldiers.
No, sister.
We are just a group of men.
Unarmed.
ANDREW: And how many Roman
guards in Jerusalem alone...
The prophet spoke of peace,
a "Prince of Peace."
Perhaps those who have
not been with us long
should keep their counsel, eh?
Everyone should be
free to speak here.
JOHN:
It's not our place to judge.
PETER:
But we will be judged.
(FLY BUZZING)
When you were younger,
did you ever think,
if you looked away
from something,
that it may just disappear?
(CHUCKLES)
I'll miss the lake.
My brothers and I used to see how
long we could hold our breath
under the water in the lake,
how deep into the weeds
we could swim.
I loved it down there.
It was like I didn't need my body.
I didn't need the earth.
And then I would rise up
into the air, into the light.
Is that what it feels like
to be one with God?
No one has ever asked me
how it feels.
Are they arguing?
They sounded like soldiers.
- Do you want to be a soldier?
- No.
Although I'm not sure
what matters to a woman
is of much account here.
Why do you say that?
The women in Magdala,
they were too afraid.
They were too afraid
to be baptized with the men.
And they can't follow you.
Forgive me.
(MEN SNORING)
(THOMAS PRAYING IN HEBREW)
(ALL PRAYING IN HEBREW)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
The synagogue is
on the other side of town.
This is not a place for men.
(WOMEN MURMURING)
Well, unless he intends to
wash his robes,
- I think he means to teach here.
- WOMAN 1: Jesus.
WOMAN 2:
It's Jesus.
Because of her?
Mary.
He's waiting. Look.
What shall I teach?
Are we so different from men you
must teach us different things?
We are women.
Our lives are not our own.
Your spirit's your own.
And you alone answer for that.
And your spirit
is precious to God,
as precious as
that of your husband
or your father.
Then who should we obey?
If God commands one thing,
but our husbands, our fathers,
tell us another?
You must follow God.
So are we to defy them
and leave our lives behind?
Yes.
Though they judge you,
persecute you,
you must forgive them.
Forgive them?
A year ago, a woman from Sana...
Many of us knew her here.
She was young.
Her husband found her
with another man,
and he and his brothers,
they dragged her to the river,
and they raped her.
And after they were done,
they drowned her.
In the court, before they were
sentenced, one of them repented,
"God forgive me."
But I'm not God, Father.
How does it feel to carry
that hate in your heart?
Does it lessen
as the months go by?
It seeps into your days,
your nights,
until it consumes everything
you once were.
Those men,
they too were filled with hate.
You are strong, sister.
But you must forgive.
There is no other way
to enter the kingdom of God.
Will you join us?
Will you be born anew?
(WOMEN SINGING IN HEBREW)
I baptize you with water.
I baptize you with light
and with fire
to be born anew, awake,
and ready for the day to come.
I baptize you with water.
I baptize you with light
and with fire
to be born anew, awake,
and ready for the day to come.
Judas, wake up!
- What?
- James, the rabbi's leaving.
JUDAS:
What's wrong?
- Move.
- PETER: Come on, hurry.
- JAMES: Mary, what's happening?
- ANDREW: Where is he?
(WATER TRICKLING)
(WOMEN WEEPING)
(WEEPING CONTINUES)
(WOMEN WAILING)
You're the healer.
I prayed for you to come,
but it's too late.
(WHISPERING PRAYER
IN OTHER LANGUAGE)
(BREATHING DEEPLY)
(ALL GASP)
(JESUS BREATHING SHAKILY)
(GROANS)
(WOMEN GASPING)
Now I know that
you are the Son of God.
And the people will
shout it from the rooftops.
Lazarus.
Peter, we need to get back to
the mountains, and quickly.
PETER:
No, this is what we've been waiting for.
(WOMEN CRYING WITH JOY)
MARY:
Rabbi?
I saw it so clearly.
And now it's slipping away.
What is?
(JESUS CRYING)
This life.
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
I can feel the blood
running through your veins.
I can see light in your eyes.
You're here now.
I'm here.
Be here with me.
But the path,
it goes into darkness.
And I Will walk it With you.
Jerusalem.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
ANDREW:
Come to Jerusalem. Join us.
Spread the word.
Come with us to Jerusalem.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
You've given this gift
of your faith.
And your faith lights up
the whole world.
So I will give you
a gift of prayer.
It is the prayer of the Baptist.
It is the prayer of the humble
and the meek
and the poor in spirit
and those who hunger
to know God's true kingdom,
the kingdom which will be
yours in the days to come.
Mary.
Go to them while they pray.
Bless them.
Be my hands.
MARY:
May the Lord be with you.
Lord,
hallowed be Your name.
Peace be with you.
JESUS:
Your kingdom come.
Give us today
the bread of tomorrow.
May the Lord be with you.
Peace be upon you.
And forgive us our debts.
(WHISPERING PRAYER)
For we forgive everyone
who is indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the test.
(WHISPERS)
May peace be upon you.
Amen.
(ALL SPEAKING HEBREW)
Messiah.
Messiah.
(ALL CHANTING)
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
ls it beginning?
Send everyone
out to preach, heal.
Spread the message
as if I were with you, Peter.
Take Mary with you alone.
Be my apostles.
Yes.
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
Did he say what he saw?
I think it was a vision
of what's to come.
The kingdom.
We need to gather more people.
Jerusalem.
Passover
That is where he'll begin it.
How?
I haven't questioned him.
I think he's afraid to go.
(SCOFFS)
He's afraid of what
God might ask of him next.
Our rabbi fears nothing.
I'm glad for his humility.
Are you?
There are a few hundred
people in the village.
I'll find somewhere to teach
while you gather them together.
Romans.
We must be careful.
MARY:
They've destroyed everything.
Where are the people?
(FLIES BUZZING)
(WOMAN MOANING WEAKLY)
PETER:
Everyone that could has fled.
Please, God, deliver us.
- Where are you going?
- They need water.
Mary, we can't stay here.
Mary!
These people
are beyond our help.
There's nothing we can do.
We need to move to other towns.
Mary!
We need to baptize
those who are able to join us.
He himself has...
He himself has told us!
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(WOMAN CRYING)
(CHILD WHIMPERING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Mary, we must go.
It's her time.
Take the child.
(WOMAN GROANING)
Come, child. Come, come.
Come. Peace, peace, child.
(SHUSHING)
(CONTINUES GROANING)
Look at me.
Look at me.
You are seen and heard
in every act of care.
You answer to God
with every act of love.
(WHISPERING PRAYER
IN OTHER LANGUAGE)
(EXHALES HEAVILY)
(SNIFFLES) Stay, child. Stay!
(HORSE NEIGHING)
PETER:
My son was
hiding my tools in the sand.
And suddenly,
he was there.
Jesus of Nazareth.
He called my name.
That's all.
And it was like everything
that I had in my life,
they were like
those pictures painted on glass.
And he became the only
real thing in the world.
But what you did
in the village...
Mercy.
That was mercy.
Who is that?
His mother.
(CHUCKLES)
He sent for you?
Why?
Does a son need a reason
to ask for his mother?
I used to call
for my mother in the night.
She died when
I was just a little girl.
I would wake up
just before dawn,
and I would forget
that she was gone,
and I couldn't understand
why she wasn't there.
But he has you.
(SIGHS)
He used to run to me
so often when he was little,
always getting things wrong,
crying all night because
his friends said he had
the devil in him.
I loved him, you see, but he
was never completely mine.
God must have asked
so much of you.
What about what God
has asked of you?
To leave your home,
your family.
And you love my son, don't you?
Then you must
prepare yourself, like me.
For what?
To lose him.
(PEOPLE SHOUTING IN DISTANCE)
PETER:
Rabbi.
When they see your work,
they will rise.
Lead us, Rabbi.
Lead Jerusalem to God's kingdom.
- MATTHEW: Join us!
- ANDREW: The great prophet is amongst us!
Spread the word. Join us!
Jesus is here!
Join us!
Jesus of Nazareth
is amongst you!
Join us!
- Welcome!
- Good to see you.
We have spread the word.
Will he speak today?
We have somewhere
away from Roman eyes.
MAN 1:
Jesus of Nazareth is here!
Make way!
Jesus has come.
He has come. He has come!
- MAN 2: Come with us!
- MARTHA: Jesus will lead us!
MAN 3:
Follow us!
- JUDAS: Jesus of Nazareth is here!
- MAN 4: Jesus is here!
MAN 5:
Jesus will lead us!
MAN 6:
Rejoice!
JUDAS:
The temple.
He's going
straight to the temple!
ANDREW:
Tell everyone. Tell the people.
PETER:
Rabbi.
To the temple. Join us!
JUDAS:
Mary.
He will bring in the kingdom
from the temple itself.
JUDAS:
The beloved dead will rise!
PHILIP:
Come with us!
ANDREW:
It's beginning. Wait for his sign!
MAN 7:
Rejoice!
PETER:
Jesus of Nazareth is here!
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(CHATTERING CONTINUES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(MEN PRAYING
IN OTHER LANGUAGE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PETER:
Jesus of Nazareth is here!
Sent to you by God!
(PEOPLE SINGING IN
OTHER LANGUAGE)
PETER:
Sent to you by God!
The Lord's miracle
and wonders
and signs sent to you!
Jesus of Nazareth is here!
These are the words of God.
My dear ones.
I'm coming to you.
PETER:
He said, "I will baptize you with water",
"but He will baptize you
with spirit."
(SINGING AND PRAYING CONTINUE)
Follow Jesus of Nazareth.
I would say, every word that
Jesus says is the word of God.
Words of God.
(GOATS BLEATING)
(COINS CLINKING)
(BLEATING)
(FOLLOWERS CHANTING IN HEBREW)
It is time! It is time!
Esther!
Sarah!
You'll be coming soon!
It is time! It is time!
You are a priest of this place?
Isn't it written
that "my house shall be a house
of prayer for all nations"?
As you see.
This is a marketplace.
A place to buy God's forgiveness
with a dove or a lamb.
The people need to make their
sacrifices, as they've always done,
as God demands of us.
And does God demand that this
is how the people should show
their true repentance?
A flick of your knife
on the altar?
A psalm to recite
on their way out?
Have their hearts been altered
when they leave this place?
Are they willing to change their
lives, to give up everything,
and follow God?
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
(COINS CLATTERING)
MAN:
He's mad. He's crazy!
God's kingdom is not to be
bought and sold!
It is time! It is time!
- MAN 1: He's destroying the temple!
- Man 2: Grab him!
MATTHEW:
Rabbi!
- MAN 3: He's mad!
- MAN 4: Don't do it!
Not one stone.
Not one stone of this place will be
left which will not be torn down!
You can't hurt him now!
Nothing you can do
can touch him!
PETER:
Move!
(CROWD CLAMORING)
PETER:
Get him out!
ANDREW:
Get back. Get him out! Get him out.
MAN:
God will judge you! He will judge you all!
- PETER: Get him out!
- ANDREW: Stand back!
PETER:
Hurry! Hurry!
What's he doing?
Rabbi!
MAN:
You will bring ruin to us all!
Do it!
Rabbi! Begin it!
Begin it now!
Rabbi! You must begin it!
(BOTH PANTING)
It was the perfect time.
It was the perfect time.
Why didn't he begin it?
Why didn't he begin it?
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
MAN:
Brother, come. You are safe.
Come. Welcome.
Welcome, my brother.
(SIGHS) We will keep
Passover here tonight.
What about tomorrow, brother?
Tomorrow, we try again.
- Did he say...
- No.
For now, we leave him to rest.
Later, he wishes us
to go to the hills with him
to be with God.
JOHN: Peter, we should act
while the feeling is high.
ANDREW:
But they will be hunting us now.
JOHN:
He needs to act soon. He's stalling.
(WHISPERS) I think there will be
another miracle, some kind of sign.
JAMES:
So many rose up in support.
MATTHEW:
The kingdom will come.
I have seen you heal the sick,
(CHUCKLES) raise the dead.
One word from you, and I know God
would turn this world upside down.
Just as the prophets
told us he would.
The poor,
the suffering,
the dead,
the beloved dead
will rise,
and you will be crowned king.
Say the word.
We have given you everything.
Our lives.
Our hope.
Perhaps we have misunderstood.
Perhaps the kingdom is not...
No!
Our faith is what
makes the miracles.
Our belief.
Tell her.
Tell her she's wrong.
Tell her she's wrong.
Judas.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
When the Baptist anointed me,
there was no holy oil,
no ceremony.
And it was like this.
Open your eyes to the light.
It has begun.
Don't stop it now.
Don't let them stop it.
I'll be with you.
I won't leave.
Mary.
You are my witness.
Everything is prepared.
JESUS:
Give thanks to the Lord,
for herein lies good.
A love that endures forever.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
Let Israel declare...
His steadfast love is eternal.
Let the house of Aaron declare...
His steadfast love is eternal.
Let those who fear the Lord declare...
His steadfast love is eternal.
(BREAD CRACKING)
(BREAD CRACKING)
What is it, Rabbi?
I'm only sad because
I must leave you all.
PETER:
Where are you going?
To God.
He's foreseen something.
We need to take him
away from here.
Back to Cana, maybe.
By force, if need be.
Matthew is right.
He's foreseen something.
Whatever happens now
is what God has asked of him.
We have to honor his decision.
Even if he dies?
Has any of this happened
as you expected it to?
If we don't understand, it's because
it's beyond our understanding.
PHILIP:
So let him what?
Abandon us? Die?
We have to trust him, Philip.
He's gone to pray.
We should do the same.
This is wrong.
This is wrong.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
- APOSTLES: Rabbi!
- PETER: Run!
- Rabbi, run!
- ANDREW: Rabbi, run!
Run!
(HORSE GALLOPING)
ROMAN SOLDIER:
Jesus of Nazareth!
- PETER: Run!
- MARY: No!
He was delaying.
He was afraid.
Now he has to act
to save himself.
No more waiting, Mary.
He will begin it today.
The righteous will rise again.
What did you do?
They will have sentenced him.
(PANTING)
(CROWD CLAMORING)
WOMAN:
Save him!
Rabbi!
Rabbi!
MAN:
Please! He is the Savior!
ROMAN SOLDIER: Get back!
MAN: Lord! Savior!
(CLAMORING CONTINUES)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(CRYING)
(PANTING)
(WOMEN CRYING)
(HAMMERING)
(INHALES SHARPLY)
(WOMEN WAILING)
(CRYING)
(SHIVERING)
(HORSES NEIGHING)
(CONTINUES SHIVERING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(WOMEN WEEPING)
(CRYING)
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
Where will you go?
To my family.
(CHILDREN CHATTERING)
JESUS:
Mary.
(DOOR OPENING)
- (WHISPERS) Mary.
- Matthew.
(DOOR CLOSES)
You were with him?
To the end.
Peter, as the sun rose,
I saw him.
He was there, and he was...
All his pain was gone from him.
A dream.
It wasn't a dream.
He was there.
Mary, he is gone from us.
He is dead.
He's not gone.
Even death cannot hold him.
This whole time, we've been looking
for a change in the world,
but it's not what we thought.
The kingdom is here, now.
We failed.
There is no kingdom.
What, the people would rise,
that he would be crowned king,
did he ever say this to you?
JAMES:
Mary.
You saw him? Truly?
But then, the kingdom,
how can that be right?
Because it's not something
we can see with our eyes.
It's here within us.
All we have to do is let go of
our anguish and our resentment,
and we become like children,
just as he said.
What do you mean?
The kingdom, it can't be
built through conflict.
Not by opposition,
not by destruction.
It grows with us, with every
act of love and care,
with our forgiveness.
We have the power
to lift the people,
just as he did, and then we
will be free, just as he is.
This is what he meant?
And we've been walking
this path to revolution,
as if the kingdom would be
born in flames and blood.
PETER:
Mary.
Why would he come to you alone?
Why does that matter?
Because you say the
kingdom is here. Now.
And just outside that door,
there is no new world.
No end of oppression.
No justice for the poor,
for the suffering.
How does it feel to carry that
anger around in your heart?
Does it lessen
as the days go by?
We have the power
to relieve their suffering.
It is up to us.
I believe you, Mary.
I believe that you saw him,
that he came to you,
and it was a sign
that he will return,
and he will bring the kingdom,
the true kingdom.
The new world.
The world will only change
as we change.
It's not right that you come here now
to tell us he has chosen you before us,
that he has brought you
some special message.
He gathered us
for what was inside.
We were all precious to him.
We were all his apostles.
Every man in this room
is his rock,
his church
upon which he will build
his glorious new world
with one purpose
and one message.
Your message.
Not his.
(SIGHS)
You have weakened us, Mary.
You weakened him.
All I can do is hope that
you've heard what I have said.
Pray that you see me as I am.
I value each one of you
as he did.
You are all my brothers,
and I thank you.
But I will not stay
and be silent.
I will be heard.
You do not lose heart.
Even now.
Didn't you ask,
"What will it be like?"
"The kingdom?"
(BOTH LAUGH)
MARY:
It is like a seed.
A single grain of mustard seed,
which a woman took
and sowed in her garden.
And it grew,
and it grew.
And the birds of the air
made nests in its branches.
(WOMAN SINGING IN HEBREW)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(WOMAN BREATHING HEAVILY)
MARY:
And she asked him,
"What Will it be like?"
"The kingdom?"
And he said,
"It is like a seed,"
"a single grain of mustard seed,"
"which a woman took
and sowed in her garden."
"And it grew,"
"and it grew."
"And the birds of the air
made nests in its branches."
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(BIRD SCREECHING)
(SHEEP BLEATING)
AARON: Maw!
Mary!
(GROANING)
RACHEL:
Mary.
Mary! You have to tell her.
She can't cut it out.
There's no time for this.
You can't cut her.
She needs to push.
There's no point pushing.
The baby can't get through.
You have to find a way.
I can try and stretch her, but she
needs to stay completely still.
Oh, no.
Shh.
No, no!
MARY:
Leah. No!
Leah.
No!
No! (CRYING) Look at me.
Leah, look at me.
Look at me. Look at me.
You need to lie still.
- She's going to hurt me.
- Yes.
Yes, she is, but only for a
moment so your baby can come.
You can take it for a moment.
I know you can.
(GROANING)
Look at me. Look at me.
Look at me. Look at me.
(BOTH BREATHE DEEPLY)
I'll be here with you.
I won't let you go.
I'm here.
(sesame)
Can you lie still?
- Yes.
- Yes.
Rachel, come.
(LEAH CRIES OUT)
Take her shoulders.
(LEAH PANTING)
MIDWIFE:
Hold her strong.
Keep her leg down. Look at me.
Look at me. Look at me.
You're okay.
(LEAH BREATHING HEAVILY)
MIDWIFE:
Keep her still.
(GRUNTING)
MIDWIFE:
Again.
(GROANS, INHALES SHARPLY)
(LEAH GROANING)
(BABY CRYING)
(SIGHS IN RELIEF)
GIRL:
Can I hold the baby?
Brother, what a beautiful boy.
ELISHA:
Beautiful.
JOSEPH:
Congratulations, Aaron.
AARON:
Thank you, Joseph.
How is she?
Mary got her through.
The midwife says
she's a natural.
(BABY COOING)
DANIEL:
Aren't you all?
RACHEL:
You should all be proud of your sister.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(BOTH GIGGLE)
(ALL GREETING IN HEBREW)
(PRAYING IN HEBREW)
(SINGING PRAYER IN HEBREW)
(WHISPERING PRAYER
IN HEBREW)
(COMMUNITY LEADER
CONTINUES PRAYING)
(MEN SINGING IN HEBREW)
(ALL CONTINUE SINGING)
(ELISHA SINGING IN HEBREW)
"I lift up my eyes
to the mountains."
"From where
will my help come?"
Ephraim will come
and dine with us tomorrow.
You know him.
I knew his wife.
He's a good man.
His children need a mother.
- He's asked for you, Mary.
- You need me.
It would please God
for you to be a mother.
It would please me.
Is Joseph going to hear
that man speak again?
He's been every day this week.
Must be nice to have
so much time on your hands.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
(BABY CRYING)
(CHILDREN CHATTERING)
RACHEL:
You're going to be beautiful.
SARAH; Girls.
(CHILDREN CHATTERING)
ELISHA:
It's a good space. It's warm and...
Our house is yours, Ephraim.
Enough for the family.
SARAH:
Here. Put them here.
Yes, that's great.
(INAUDIBLE)
ELISHA: It's good to welcome
you here at last, Ephraim.
EPHRAIM:
You have a beautiful family, Elisha.
RACHEL:
Children, come and meet Ephraim. Come on.
GIRL:
Hello, Ephraim.
JOSEPH:
This healer is different.
I don't know. In the things
he does, the things he says.
AARON:
What did he talk about?
A new world.
A just world, free of tyranny.
A holy kingdom.
I saw him heal a man
by the beacon.
SARAH: The one who's always
in the market, shouting.
Some people have said they tried
to cast the demon out of him.
Who is he, then, a prophet?
He was with the Baptist.
Where? At the Jordan?
SARAH:
John the Baptist was a true prophet.
You've always said that.
That's why Herod killed him.
That's enough now.
Why shouldn't we talk about it?
Because we don't live in
a good age for baptists,
or prophets,
or gossip, for that matter.
You need to make
many sons, Ephraim.
ELISHA:
May the angels shine down on both of you.
RACHEL: Maybe we could all
travel together for Passover.
EPHRAIM:
I try to visit Jerusalem whenever I can.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(MEN LAUGHING)
RACHEL:
Mary?
Where are you?
Mary!
- SARAH: Mary!
- GIRL: Mary!
(MARY PRAYING INDISTINCTLY)
Mary?
Mary?
(CONTINUES PRAYING)
Mary?
Tell me how to help you.
Go and get her father
and Daniel!
Mary?
(CONTINUES PRAYING)
Mary, tell me
how to help you. Mary.
Mary!
(MEN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
(DOG BARKING)
MAN:
Shame!
(PANTING)
DANIEL:
You brought shame on our family.
What did you think
you were doing?
I needed to pray.
To decide.
"Decide"?
Listen.
You pray at the service
with the other women.
You pray at home
with your family.
But you don't just run into the
night like some wandering lunatic.
I can't marry Ephraim.
I'm not made for that life.
Then what on Earth
are you made for?
You want me to bind your
breasts and shave your head
so you can become a man?
Then you can pray
whenever you want.
You stain our mother's memory.
This time, you will marry.
You've indulged her
for too long, Father.
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
(GASPING BREATHS)
DANIEL:
Mary.
Mary.
- Get up.
- MARY: What is it?
Father's waiting.
We need to show you something.
RACHEL:
Daniel.
Daniel!
What's happening?
Go back to sleep.
RACHEL:
Where are you taking her?
Daniel!
GIRL:
Mother?
Shh. It's all right.
Everything will be fine, Mary.
(MEN PRAYING INDISTINCTLY)
Don't be afraid, Mary.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
What are you doing?
There's something
unnatural inside you.
Father?
(EXORCIST SPEAKING HEBREW)
Leave her, and flee outside.
Father?
Be silent, be silent, be silent.
This is not your place.
Come out, Demon, come out, Demon.
Stay still! Stay still!
Come out and depart from here.
No!
Leave her, and flee outside.
Be silent, be silent, silence yourself.
Daniel!
(DANIEL GRUNTING)
DANIEL:
Leave her alone!
- MARY: Father!
- DANIEL: Leave her!
(GRUNTS)
(WATER SPLASHING)
(MARY GASPING)
Leave her...
ELISHA:
Stop! Stop!
(PANTING)
Mary.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
(SIGHS)
Father.
Please.
Let me bring the healer.
Yes.
(DOOR OPENS)
ELISHA:
She won't talk to me.
I don't know who she is anymore.
JESUS:
I'll see her alone.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Your family says
you grapple with the demon.
If there's a demon in me,
it's always been there.
I wish there was a demon.
JESUS:
Why?
What is it you fear in yourself?
My thoughts.
My longings, my unhappiness.
I fear that I shame my family.
I do shame them.
I'm not as I'm supposed to be.
What is it you long for?
I'm not sure.
To know God.
And yet you've felt
God's presence.
Sometimes, in the stillness,
I think I feel it.
It's always been there.
All it needs is your faith.
There are no demons here.
Rest now.
Rest in the light.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(GOATS BLEATING)
Elisha is going to see
Ephraim today.
He thinks the match
is still possible.
ANDREW:
Join us!
- JOHN: Come join us!
- ANDREW: Come, brother!
- Mary.
- ANDREW: Join us!
Mary!
Mary!
JESUS:
Each of you stand at the threshold.
Do you fear that you will
never reach the kingdom?
MAN 1: Whose kingdom?
Herod's kingdom?
MAN 2:
He keeps company with sinners.
You know as well as I do there
is only one true kingdom.
And that is God's.
(VILLAGERS CHATTERING)
And God's kingdom
is taking root.
So we must prepare.
You must wash away the stains
of your corruption
and be born anew.
Like children.
I have been hidden for too long.
And now you hide.
Each one of you.
Behind the semblance
of your faith,
you recite your songs
and present your sacrifices
as if your hearts and spirits,
your service to God, were what?
And afterwards, you go back to your
lives and do what pleases you,
what suits you,
what makes the days upon this
Earth pass easily for you.
Like dreamers.
But wake up, Magdala.
Open your eyes.
Look at the people
in Galilee and Judaea suffering,
crying out for help,
for mercy, for justice!
Look at the crosses
on the hills of Jerusalem.
MAN 3:
Blame the Romans!
JOSEPH: Our holy city held
hostage to Roman jackals.
MAN 4:
Jerusalem is lost to us!
MAN 5:
Who will deliver us?
(VILLAGERS CLAMORING)
Can your faith be held hostage?
(CLAMORING STOPS)
Listen.
In the silence.
Is there something
calling?
Do you have the courage
to follow what you hear?
Will you align yourselves
to the will of God
until every act of love,
every thought of care, and every
breath is taken in union'?
That is faith.
And that faith
will have you feed the
suffering to ease their pain.
And it is that faith,
your faith,
which will lead you
to God's kingdom.
(VILLAGERS MURMURING)
Come. Come, Magdala.
Come to the water.
- ANDREW: Come, brother!
- JAMES: Be born anew!
ANDREW:
Join us!
I baptize you with water
for your repentance.
Into the light of God,
born anew.
By being what we are, may we
become even what he is himself.
- MATTHEW: Come. Join us!
- PETER: Come, brother.
MATTHEW:
Praise God!
- JAMES: Be born anew.
- MATTHEW: Join us.
ANDREW:
Come. Jesus is here.
The kingdom is coming.
PETER: I baptize you into repentance.
Into the light of God, born anew.
- ANDREW: Join us!
- PETER: May we become even what he is himself.
- MATTHEW: Praise God!
- ANDREW: Come, brother!
I baptize you into repentance.
Into the light of God, born anew.
We have given nothing.
(VILLAGERS CHATTERING)
- MAN 1: Look
- MAN 2: She can see!
MAN 3:
Praise God!
MAN 4:
The great prophet is among us!
(VILLAGERS CHATTERING
EXCITEDLY)
MAN 5:
He is the Baptist!
MAN 6:
The Baptist raised from the dead!
MAN 7:
God is working through him!
- JUDAS: Please be patient.
- PHILIP: Don't push.
Please, don't push.
JUDAS:
Be patient.
Stay back.
JOHN:
Please be calm. Please be calm.
- Please wait.
- JUDAS: Please, don't push.
Move back!
JOHN:
Please, be patient!
Don't push, please.
(VILLAGERS CLAMORING)
The devil's prophet!
The devil's work!
- The devil's prophet!
- PETER: Rejoice!
For the kingdom of God
is coming!
There are too many!
Rejoice!
Come, brothers. Be born anew!
Don't push.
ANDREW:
Stay calm.
JUDAS:
Peter!
Peter!
- PHILIP: Don't push me. Don't push.
- ANDREW: Stop pushing.
Rabbi. Come back to us.
Come back.
- PHILIP: Be patient.
- JOHN: Don't push!
PETER:
Come away, woman. Come away.
JOHN:
Calm down. Be patient. Don't push.
Please, please, be patient.
PETER:
Andrew, Andrew, hold them!
ANDREW:
Stop pushing.
MAN:
He is the devil's prophet!
(CLAMORING CONTINUES)
(BABY GURGLING)
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
(PANTING)
The rabbi is leaving today.
All those men with him, Mary.
You'll be lost.
I'm lost here.
We are your family.
No man will touch you.
Daniel won't take you back in.
Never.
Please.
I can't.
Daniel!
Daniel!
ELISHA:
Mary!
Mary!
ANDREW:
What troubles you, sister?
What have you said to her?
What have you promised her?
I'm her father.
She belongs with me.
We've asked nothing
from your daughter.
Peter.
Would you separate
a daughter from her father?
Is that God's way?
Daughters from fathers,
sons from mothers.
What will you do with her?
JUDAS:
She will follow him.
Just as we do.
- Come away, Mary.
- JOHN: That's far enough, brother.
- I said, come away!
- Hold on.
- JOHN: Stay back!
- ELISHA: Daniel!
JOHN:
Stay back.
What's she doing?
- Mary!
- JOSEPH: Daniel, don't!
- Daniel!
- DANIEL: Mary!
- Mary, come back!
- JOSEPH: Stop!
- DANIEL: No!
- JOHN: Calm down! Calm down!
- Don't do that.
- JOSEPH: Stop.
How is this God's will?
Huh?
No man can decide that!
No man!
JOHN:
Stay calm, please.
I baptize you with water
to cleanse you.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
I baptize you with light
and with fire.
I baptize you to be born anew,
awake, and ready
for the day to come.
(EXHALES)
She will divide our community.
We should welcome her.
Why shouldn't she follow him?
People will judge us.
Don't look.
It's easier that way.
(WHISPERS)
He's talking to the angels.
PETER:
We will rest here tonight.
Peter's little boy used to sit
at the rabbi's feet and sing.
The sweetest thing.
Hmm.
I think it broke Peter's heart
to leave him.
Do you have children?
One. A girl. Esther.
And where is she now?
In the ground.
There was a drought
in the hills where we lived.
There was hardly any grain.
But Herod still sent his
agents to take their due.
When I refused,
a Roman officer came,
and I had to give
my entire crop.
My wife was pregnant.
She didn't have the strength
to fight the hunger.
I'm sorry.
The kingdom is coming, Mary.
Soon. I can wait.
I can be patient for that.
When the dead, the beloved dead,
will rise up and walk
amongst us whole and well.
It's been promised, Mary.
In the kingdom,
I will see my family again.
PHILIP: What happened with
that crowd was dangerous.
JOHN:
He put himself in danger.
We can't risk that kind of riot.
The angels
were working with him.
You could see.
God was with him.
It's the miracles.
What? You question them?
Of course I don't
question them, Judas.
JOHN: Look, we want the
people to rally, to rise up.
Slowly. Slowly,
we spread the word.
We strengthen
in numbers and then...
When we are sure
of the support...
Jerusalem.
Passover
That is where it begins.
I've never heard our rabbi
talk about this plan of yours.
He shouldn't have to
talk about it.
Because he doesn't
need to, Peter.
All he needs to do is say the word,
lift his hand, and the seas will part.
The Roman palaces will crumble.
And the heavens will rain down
blood on the oppressors.
PETER:
Look, we will draw up a strategy, huh?
An agreed strategy.
But just one word of sedition
to the Romans, Peter...
How many men have cried
the coming of the kingdom
and found their fate
lay on the execution block?
Or the cross, if someone
were to shout, "Messiah"?
By then the kingdom of David
will have truly begun.
I didn't know
we were to be soldiers.
No, sister.
We are just a group of men.
Unarmed.
ANDREW: And how many Roman
guards in Jerusalem alone...
The prophet spoke of peace,
a "Prince of Peace."
Perhaps those who have
not been with us long
should keep their counsel, eh?
Everyone should be
free to speak here.
JOHN:
It's not our place to judge.
PETER:
But we will be judged.
(FLY BUZZING)
When you were younger,
did you ever think,
if you looked away
from something,
that it may just disappear?
(CHUCKLES)
I'll miss the lake.
My brothers and I used to see how
long we could hold our breath
under the water in the lake,
how deep into the weeds
we could swim.
I loved it down there.
It was like I didn't need my body.
I didn't need the earth.
And then I would rise up
into the air, into the light.
Is that what it feels like
to be one with God?
No one has ever asked me
how it feels.
Are they arguing?
They sounded like soldiers.
- Do you want to be a soldier?
- No.
Although I'm not sure
what matters to a woman
is of much account here.
Why do you say that?
The women in Magdala,
they were too afraid.
They were too afraid
to be baptized with the men.
And they can't follow you.
Forgive me.
(MEN SNORING)
(THOMAS PRAYING IN HEBREW)
(ALL PRAYING IN HEBREW)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
The synagogue is
on the other side of town.
This is not a place for men.
(WOMEN MURMURING)
Well, unless he intends to
wash his robes,
- I think he means to teach here.
- WOMAN 1: Jesus.
WOMAN 2:
It's Jesus.
Because of her?
Mary.
He's waiting. Look.
What shall I teach?
Are we so different from men you
must teach us different things?
We are women.
Our lives are not our own.
Your spirit's your own.
And you alone answer for that.
And your spirit
is precious to God,
as precious as
that of your husband
or your father.
Then who should we obey?
If God commands one thing,
but our husbands, our fathers,
tell us another?
You must follow God.
So are we to defy them
and leave our lives behind?
Yes.
Though they judge you,
persecute you,
you must forgive them.
Forgive them?
A year ago, a woman from Sana...
Many of us knew her here.
She was young.
Her husband found her
with another man,
and he and his brothers,
they dragged her to the river,
and they raped her.
And after they were done,
they drowned her.
In the court, before they were
sentenced, one of them repented,
"God forgive me."
But I'm not God, Father.
How does it feel to carry
that hate in your heart?
Does it lessen
as the months go by?
It seeps into your days,
your nights,
until it consumes everything
you once were.
Those men,
they too were filled with hate.
You are strong, sister.
But you must forgive.
There is no other way
to enter the kingdom of God.
Will you join us?
Will you be born anew?
(WOMEN SINGING IN HEBREW)
I baptize you with water.
I baptize you with light
and with fire
to be born anew, awake,
and ready for the day to come.
I baptize you with water.
I baptize you with light
and with fire
to be born anew, awake,
and ready for the day to come.
Judas, wake up!
- What?
- James, the rabbi's leaving.
JUDAS:
What's wrong?
- Move.
- PETER: Come on, hurry.
- JAMES: Mary, what's happening?
- ANDREW: Where is he?
(WATER TRICKLING)
(WOMEN WEEPING)
(WEEPING CONTINUES)
(WOMEN WAILING)
You're the healer.
I prayed for you to come,
but it's too late.
(WHISPERING PRAYER
IN OTHER LANGUAGE)
(BREATHING DEEPLY)
(ALL GASP)
(JESUS BREATHING SHAKILY)
(GROANS)
(WOMEN GASPING)
Now I know that
you are the Son of God.
And the people will
shout it from the rooftops.
Lazarus.
Peter, we need to get back to
the mountains, and quickly.
PETER:
No, this is what we've been waiting for.
(WOMEN CRYING WITH JOY)
MARY:
Rabbi?
I saw it so clearly.
And now it's slipping away.
What is?
(JESUS CRYING)
This life.
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
I can feel the blood
running through your veins.
I can see light in your eyes.
You're here now.
I'm here.
Be here with me.
But the path,
it goes into darkness.
And I Will walk it With you.
Jerusalem.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
ANDREW:
Come to Jerusalem. Join us.
Spread the word.
Come with us to Jerusalem.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
You've given this gift
of your faith.
And your faith lights up
the whole world.
So I will give you
a gift of prayer.
It is the prayer of the Baptist.
It is the prayer of the humble
and the meek
and the poor in spirit
and those who hunger
to know God's true kingdom,
the kingdom which will be
yours in the days to come.
Mary.
Go to them while they pray.
Bless them.
Be my hands.
MARY:
May the Lord be with you.
Lord,
hallowed be Your name.
Peace be with you.
JESUS:
Your kingdom come.
Give us today
the bread of tomorrow.
May the Lord be with you.
Peace be upon you.
And forgive us our debts.
(WHISPERING PRAYER)
For we forgive everyone
who is indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the test.
(WHISPERS)
May peace be upon you.
Amen.
(ALL SPEAKING HEBREW)
Messiah.
Messiah.
(ALL CHANTING)
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
ls it beginning?
Send everyone
out to preach, heal.
Spread the message
as if I were with you, Peter.
Take Mary with you alone.
Be my apostles.
Yes.
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
Did he say what he saw?
I think it was a vision
of what's to come.
The kingdom.
We need to gather more people.
Jerusalem.
Passover
That is where he'll begin it.
How?
I haven't questioned him.
I think he's afraid to go.
(SCOFFS)
He's afraid of what
God might ask of him next.
Our rabbi fears nothing.
I'm glad for his humility.
Are you?
There are a few hundred
people in the village.
I'll find somewhere to teach
while you gather them together.
Romans.
We must be careful.
MARY:
They've destroyed everything.
Where are the people?
(FLIES BUZZING)
(WOMAN MOANING WEAKLY)
PETER:
Everyone that could has fled.
Please, God, deliver us.
- Where are you going?
- They need water.
Mary, we can't stay here.
Mary!
These people
are beyond our help.
There's nothing we can do.
We need to move to other towns.
Mary!
We need to baptize
those who are able to join us.
He himself has...
He himself has told us!
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(WOMAN CRYING)
(CHILD WHIMPERING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Mary, we must go.
It's her time.
Take the child.
(WOMAN GROANING)
Come, child. Come, come.
Come. Peace, peace, child.
(SHUSHING)
(CONTINUES GROANING)
Look at me.
Look at me.
You are seen and heard
in every act of care.
You answer to God
with every act of love.
(WHISPERING PRAYER
IN OTHER LANGUAGE)
(EXHALES HEAVILY)
(SNIFFLES) Stay, child. Stay!
(HORSE NEIGHING)
PETER:
My son was
hiding my tools in the sand.
And suddenly,
he was there.
Jesus of Nazareth.
He called my name.
That's all.
And it was like everything
that I had in my life,
they were like
those pictures painted on glass.
And he became the only
real thing in the world.
But what you did
in the village...
Mercy.
That was mercy.
Who is that?
His mother.
(CHUCKLES)
He sent for you?
Why?
Does a son need a reason
to ask for his mother?
I used to call
for my mother in the night.
She died when
I was just a little girl.
I would wake up
just before dawn,
and I would forget
that she was gone,
and I couldn't understand
why she wasn't there.
But he has you.
(SIGHS)
He used to run to me
so often when he was little,
always getting things wrong,
crying all night because
his friends said he had
the devil in him.
I loved him, you see, but he
was never completely mine.
God must have asked
so much of you.
What about what God
has asked of you?
To leave your home,
your family.
And you love my son, don't you?
Then you must
prepare yourself, like me.
For what?
To lose him.
(PEOPLE SHOUTING IN DISTANCE)
PETER:
Rabbi.
When they see your work,
they will rise.
Lead us, Rabbi.
Lead Jerusalem to God's kingdom.
- MATTHEW: Join us!
- ANDREW: The great prophet is amongst us!
Spread the word. Join us!
Jesus is here!
Join us!
Jesus of Nazareth
is amongst you!
Join us!
- Welcome!
- Good to see you.
We have spread the word.
Will he speak today?
We have somewhere
away from Roman eyes.
MAN 1:
Jesus of Nazareth is here!
Make way!
Jesus has come.
He has come. He has come!
- MAN 2: Come with us!
- MARTHA: Jesus will lead us!
MAN 3:
Follow us!
- JUDAS: Jesus of Nazareth is here!
- MAN 4: Jesus is here!
MAN 5:
Jesus will lead us!
MAN 6:
Rejoice!
JUDAS:
The temple.
He's going
straight to the temple!
ANDREW:
Tell everyone. Tell the people.
PETER:
Rabbi.
To the temple. Join us!
JUDAS:
Mary.
He will bring in the kingdom
from the temple itself.
JUDAS:
The beloved dead will rise!
PHILIP:
Come with us!
ANDREW:
It's beginning. Wait for his sign!
MAN 7:
Rejoice!
PETER:
Jesus of Nazareth is here!
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(CHATTERING CONTINUES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(MEN PRAYING
IN OTHER LANGUAGE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PETER:
Jesus of Nazareth is here!
Sent to you by God!
(PEOPLE SINGING IN
OTHER LANGUAGE)
PETER:
Sent to you by God!
The Lord's miracle
and wonders
and signs sent to you!
Jesus of Nazareth is here!
These are the words of God.
My dear ones.
I'm coming to you.
PETER:
He said, "I will baptize you with water",
"but He will baptize you
with spirit."
(SINGING AND PRAYING CONTINUE)
Follow Jesus of Nazareth.
I would say, every word that
Jesus says is the word of God.
Words of God.
(GOATS BLEATING)
(COINS CLINKING)
(BLEATING)
(FOLLOWERS CHANTING IN HEBREW)
It is time! It is time!
Esther!
Sarah!
You'll be coming soon!
It is time! It is time!
You are a priest of this place?
Isn't it written
that "my house shall be a house
of prayer for all nations"?
As you see.
This is a marketplace.
A place to buy God's forgiveness
with a dove or a lamb.
The people need to make their
sacrifices, as they've always done,
as God demands of us.
And does God demand that this
is how the people should show
their true repentance?
A flick of your knife
on the altar?
A psalm to recite
on their way out?
Have their hearts been altered
when they leave this place?
Are they willing to change their
lives, to give up everything,
and follow God?
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
(COINS CLATTERING)
MAN:
He's mad. He's crazy!
God's kingdom is not to be
bought and sold!
It is time! It is time!
- MAN 1: He's destroying the temple!
- Man 2: Grab him!
MATTHEW:
Rabbi!
- MAN 3: He's mad!
- MAN 4: Don't do it!
Not one stone.
Not one stone of this place will be
left which will not be torn down!
You can't hurt him now!
Nothing you can do
can touch him!
PETER:
Move!
(CROWD CLAMORING)
PETER:
Get him out!
ANDREW:
Get back. Get him out! Get him out.
MAN:
God will judge you! He will judge you all!
- PETER: Get him out!
- ANDREW: Stand back!
PETER:
Hurry! Hurry!
What's he doing?
Rabbi!
MAN:
You will bring ruin to us all!
Do it!
Rabbi! Begin it!
Begin it now!
Rabbi! You must begin it!
(BOTH PANTING)
It was the perfect time.
It was the perfect time.
Why didn't he begin it?
Why didn't he begin it?
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
MAN:
Brother, come. You are safe.
Come. Welcome.
Welcome, my brother.
(SIGHS) We will keep
Passover here tonight.
What about tomorrow, brother?
Tomorrow, we try again.
- Did he say...
- No.
For now, we leave him to rest.
Later, he wishes us
to go to the hills with him
to be with God.
JOHN: Peter, we should act
while the feeling is high.
ANDREW:
But they will be hunting us now.
JOHN:
He needs to act soon. He's stalling.
(WHISPERS) I think there will be
another miracle, some kind of sign.
JAMES:
So many rose up in support.
MATTHEW:
The kingdom will come.
I have seen you heal the sick,
(CHUCKLES) raise the dead.
One word from you, and I know God
would turn this world upside down.
Just as the prophets
told us he would.
The poor,
the suffering,
the dead,
the beloved dead
will rise,
and you will be crowned king.
Say the word.
We have given you everything.
Our lives.
Our hope.
Perhaps we have misunderstood.
Perhaps the kingdom is not...
No!
Our faith is what
makes the miracles.
Our belief.
Tell her.
Tell her she's wrong.
Tell her she's wrong.
Judas.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
When the Baptist anointed me,
there was no holy oil,
no ceremony.
And it was like this.
Open your eyes to the light.
It has begun.
Don't stop it now.
Don't let them stop it.
I'll be with you.
I won't leave.
Mary.
You are my witness.
Everything is prepared.
JESUS:
Give thanks to the Lord,
for herein lies good.
A love that endures forever.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
Let Israel declare...
His steadfast love is eternal.
Let the house of Aaron declare...
His steadfast love is eternal.
Let those who fear the Lord declare...
His steadfast love is eternal.
(BREAD CRACKING)
(BREAD CRACKING)
What is it, Rabbi?
I'm only sad because
I must leave you all.
PETER:
Where are you going?
To God.
He's foreseen something.
We need to take him
away from here.
Back to Cana, maybe.
By force, if need be.
Matthew is right.
He's foreseen something.
Whatever happens now
is what God has asked of him.
We have to honor his decision.
Even if he dies?
Has any of this happened
as you expected it to?
If we don't understand, it's because
it's beyond our understanding.
PHILIP:
So let him what?
Abandon us? Die?
We have to trust him, Philip.
He's gone to pray.
We should do the same.
This is wrong.
This is wrong.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
- APOSTLES: Rabbi!
- PETER: Run!
- Rabbi, run!
- ANDREW: Rabbi, run!
Run!
(HORSE GALLOPING)
ROMAN SOLDIER:
Jesus of Nazareth!
- PETER: Run!
- MARY: No!
He was delaying.
He was afraid.
Now he has to act
to save himself.
No more waiting, Mary.
He will begin it today.
The righteous will rise again.
What did you do?
They will have sentenced him.
(PANTING)
(CROWD CLAMORING)
WOMAN:
Save him!
Rabbi!
Rabbi!
MAN:
Please! He is the Savior!
ROMAN SOLDIER: Get back!
MAN: Lord! Savior!
(CLAMORING CONTINUES)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(CRYING)
(PANTING)
(WOMEN CRYING)
(HAMMERING)
(INHALES SHARPLY)
(WOMEN WAILING)
(CRYING)
(SHIVERING)
(HORSES NEIGHING)
(CONTINUES SHIVERING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(WOMEN WEEPING)
(CRYING)
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
Where will you go?
To my family.
(CHILDREN CHATTERING)
JESUS:
Mary.
(DOOR OPENING)
- (WHISPERS) Mary.
- Matthew.
(DOOR CLOSES)
You were with him?
To the end.
Peter, as the sun rose,
I saw him.
He was there, and he was...
All his pain was gone from him.
A dream.
It wasn't a dream.
He was there.
Mary, he is gone from us.
He is dead.
He's not gone.
Even death cannot hold him.
This whole time, we've been looking
for a change in the world,
but it's not what we thought.
The kingdom is here, now.
We failed.
There is no kingdom.
What, the people would rise,
that he would be crowned king,
did he ever say this to you?
JAMES:
Mary.
You saw him? Truly?
But then, the kingdom,
how can that be right?
Because it's not something
we can see with our eyes.
It's here within us.
All we have to do is let go of
our anguish and our resentment,
and we become like children,
just as he said.
What do you mean?
The kingdom, it can't be
built through conflict.
Not by opposition,
not by destruction.
It grows with us, with every
act of love and care,
with our forgiveness.
We have the power
to lift the people,
just as he did, and then we
will be free, just as he is.
This is what he meant?
And we've been walking
this path to revolution,
as if the kingdom would be
born in flames and blood.
PETER:
Mary.
Why would he come to you alone?
Why does that matter?
Because you say the
kingdom is here. Now.
And just outside that door,
there is no new world.
No end of oppression.
No justice for the poor,
for the suffering.
How does it feel to carry that
anger around in your heart?
Does it lessen
as the days go by?
We have the power
to relieve their suffering.
It is up to us.
I believe you, Mary.
I believe that you saw him,
that he came to you,
and it was a sign
that he will return,
and he will bring the kingdom,
the true kingdom.
The new world.
The world will only change
as we change.
It's not right that you come here now
to tell us he has chosen you before us,
that he has brought you
some special message.
He gathered us
for what was inside.
We were all precious to him.
We were all his apostles.
Every man in this room
is his rock,
his church
upon which he will build
his glorious new world
with one purpose
and one message.
Your message.
Not his.
(SIGHS)
You have weakened us, Mary.
You weakened him.
All I can do is hope that
you've heard what I have said.
Pray that you see me as I am.
I value each one of you
as he did.
You are all my brothers,
and I thank you.
But I will not stay
and be silent.
I will be heard.
You do not lose heart.
Even now.
Didn't you ask,
"What will it be like?"
"The kingdom?"
(BOTH LAUGH)
MARY:
It is like a seed.
A single grain of mustard seed,
which a woman took
and sowed in her garden.
And it grew,
and it grew.
And the birds of the air
made nests in its branches.
(WOMAN SINGING IN HEBREW)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)