Peter
While this was happening inside the high priest’s house, the courtyard was crowded with people clustering around the brazier for warmth, and talking with anxious excitement about the arrest of Jesus, and what was likely to happen next. Peter was there among them, and at one point a servant girl looked at him and said, ‘You were with that Jesus, weren’t you? I saw you with him yesterday.’
‘No,’ said Peter. ‘He’s nothing to do with me.’
A little later someone else said to his companions, ‘This man was one of Jesus’s followers. He was in the temple with him when he upset the money-changers’ tables.’
‘Not me,’ said Peter. ‘You must be mistaken.’
And just before dawn a third person, hearing Peter make some remark, said, ‘You’re one of them, aren’t you? I can tell by your accent. You’re a Galilean, like him.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said Peter.
Just then a cock crew. Until that moment the world had seemed to be holding its breath, as if time itself were suspended during the hours of darkness; but soon the daylight would come, and with it the full desolation would break in. Peter felt that, and he went outside and wept bitterly.
Jesus and Pilate
After Christ had betrayed his brother to the soldiers, he went by himself to pray. He hoped that the angel would come back to him, because he felt he had to talk about what he’d done and what might happen next; and he badly wanted to explain about the money.
He prayed, but he couldn’t sleep, so at first light he went to the high priest’s house, where he heard about the Galilean who had denied being one of Jesus’s followers, and who had wept at the cock-crow. Even in the middle of his tension and distress, Christ made a note of that.
But he was restless and agitated still, and joined the crowd that had gathered to see what the verdict on Jesus would be.
Presently a rumour began to spread: they were taking Jesus to the Roman governor. And soon afterwards the doors of the high priest’s house opened, and a troop of temple guards came out, bringing Jesus with them, his hands bound behind him. The guards had to protect him from the people, who only a few days ago had welcomed him with cheers and shouts of joy; now they were yelling at him, shaking their fists, and spitting.
Christ followed as they made their way to the governor’s palace. The governor at the time was Pontius Pilate, a brutal man much given to handing out cruel punishments. There was another prisoner awaiting sentence, a political terrorist and murderer called Barabbas, and it was almost certain that he was going to be crucified.
Christ remembered the ram caught in the thicket.
When the guards reached the governor’s palace, they dragged Jesus inside and flung him down at Pilate’s feet. Caiaphas had come to press the charges against Jesus, and Pilate listened while he spoke.
‘You will have seen, sir, the daubings on the walls – “King Jesus”. This is the man responsible. He has caused chaos in the temple, he has excited the mob, and we are conscious of the danger of civil disorder, so-’
‘You hear that?’ said Pilate to Jesus. ‘I’ve seen those filthy daubings. So that was you, was it? You claim to be the king of the Jews?’
‘You say that,’ said Jesus.
‘Did he speak to you in this insolent way?’ Pilate asked Caiaphas.
‘Constantly, sir.’
Pilate told the guards to set Jesus on his feet.
‘I’ll ask you again,’ he said, ‘and I expect some politeness this time. Do you claim to be the king of the Jews?’
Jesus said nothing.
Pilate knocked him down, and said, ‘You hear all these charges they lay against you? You think we’re going to put up with this kind of thing? You think we’re stupid, to allow agitators to go around causing trouble and urging the people to riot, or worse? We’re responsible for keeping the peace here, if you hadn’t noticed. And I will not put up with political disturbance from any direction. I’ll stamp that out at once, make no mistake. Well? What have you got to say, King Jesus?’
Again Jesus said nothing, so Pilate told the guards to beat him. By this time they could hear the shouts of the crowd outside, and both the priests and the Romans feared a riot.
‘What are they shouting about?’ demanded Pilate. ‘Do they want this man released?’
Now there was a custom that at the time of Passover, one prisoner of the people’s choice would be given his freedom; and some of the priests, in order to agitate the crowd and make sure Jesus didn’t escape with his life, had gone among the people urging them to plead for the life of Barabbas.
One of Pilate’s officers said, ‘Not this man, sir. They want you to free Barabbas.’
‘That murderer? Why?’
‘He is popular, sir. You would please them greatly by letting him go.’
Pilate went out on to his balcony and spoke to the crowd.
‘You want Barabbas?’ he said.
They all cried, ‘Yes! Barabbas!’
‘Very well, he can go free. Now clear the courtyard. Go about your business.
He came back into the room, and said, ‘That means there’s a spare cross. You hear that, Jesus?’
‘Sir,’ said Caiaphas, ‘if it would be possible to consider, for example, a sentence of exile-’
‘Take him away and crucify him,’ said Pilate. ‘Put a sign on the cross saying who he claims to be – the king of the Jews. That’ll teach you people to think about rebellion and rioting.’
‘Sir, could the sign read “He says he is king of the Jews?” Just in case, you know-’
‘I’ve said what I’ve said. Don’t push your luck, Caiaphas.’
‘No, of course not, sir. Thank you, sir.’
‘Take him away then. Flog him first, and then nail him up.’
The Crucifixion
Christ, among the crowd, had wanted to shout ‘No!’ when Pilate asked if they wanted Barabbas freed, but he hadn’t dared; and he felt his failure to do so like yet another blow at his heart. There was not much time now. He searched up and down among the people, looking for the angel, but saw him nowhere, and finally, on seeing a stir by the gates of the governor’s mansion, followed the crowd to see the Roman guards take Jesus to the place of execution.
He didn’t see any of the disciples among the crowd, but there were some women there whom he recognised. One of them was the wife of Zebedee, the mother of James and John, another was the woman from Magdala, of whom Jesus was particularly fond, and the third, to his great surprise, was his own mother. He hung back; he wanted nothing less, at that moment, than for her to see him. He watched from a little way off as they went with the crowd through the city to the place called Golgotha, where criminals were usually crucified.
Two men were already hanging on crosses there, having been convicted of theft. The Roman soldiers knew their business; it was not long before Jesus was hanging in place beside them. Christ remained with the crowd until it began to thin, which it did before very long: once the victim was nailed to the cross there was not much to see until the soldiers broke his legs to hasten his death, which might not happen for many hours.
The disciples had vanished altogether. Christ went in search of the man who was his informant, in order to find out what they intended to do next, but he found that the man had left the house where he was staying, and the host had no idea where he had gone. Of course, there was no sign of the angel, the stranger, and Christ couldn’t
