JUDAS HANGS HIMSELF.
The guilty deed fails not to win its wages,
The guiltless blood he sold cries from the ground;
Driven to madness by the worm that rages
And scourged by furies, Judas ranges round
Wildly, and finds no rest
From the fire in his breast,
Till swept away by bitterest despair
He flings away in reckless haste
The load of life he can no longer bear.
When Jesus was being mocked and ill-treated by the soldiers in the
guardroom of Caiaphas' palace, Judas wandered to and fro in despair.
"Now my fearful foreboding has become a terrible certainty. Caiaphas
has sentenced the Master to death, and the council has concurred in his
sentence. All is over. There is no hope, no way of escape. Had the
Master wished to save himself he would have made them feel his might a
second time in the garden. As he did not do it then, he will now do so
no more. What can I do for him, I, a miserable wretch who have
delivered him into their hands? They shall have the money back, that
blood money. They must give me my Master back again. I will go at
once and make the demand. But, oh, will he be saved by that? Oh,
vain, foolish hope. They will mock me, I know it. O cursed synagogue,
thou hast tempted me through thy messengers, thou hast hidden from me
thy bloody designs until thou hadst him in thy clutches. I will
torture thee with bitter reproaches, ye unjust judges. I will have
nothing to do with your devilish decision. I will have no share in the
blood of this innocent. Oh, what tortures, what pains of hell, tear my
inmost soul!" So saying he departed.
Now within the hall of the Sanhedrin were assembled the high priests,
the scribes and the leaders. Caiaphas and Annas arrayed in their
robes, sat in the high place of the council, and all the seats were
filled except those of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Caiaphas
spoke, saying, "I thought, fathers, that I could not wait till the
morning to send the enemy of the synagogue to death."
And Annas said, "I could not get a moment's rest for eagerness to hear
the sentence pronounced."
Then cried they all, "It is pronounced. He shall and must die."
Caiaphas said, "I did not wish to trouble all the members of the
Sanhedrin to come hither in the night time. But there was present the
necessary number of judges to pronounce as the law prescribes. All as
with one mouth declared the accused worthy of death, for all had heard
with their own ears how this man blasphemed God in the most terrible
way, and was impious enough to call himself the Son of God."
The priests and Pharisees who had previously been present answered,
"Yea, we bear witness to it. We have ourselves heard the impious
blasphemy from his lips."
"Then," said Caiaphas, "I will have the criminal brought before you
once more, so that you may be convinced of his being worthy of death.
Then may the whole council pronounce the just sentence."
As he was speaking, Judas, looking haggard and distracted, rushed into
the midst of the council, crying wildly, "Is it true? Have you
condemned my Master to death?"
Then said the rabbi unto him, "Why dost thou force thyself uncalled for
in this assembly? Be off. We will call thee if we have need of thee."
But Judas took no heed. "I must know it," he said. "Have you
condemned him?"
Then all in the council cried aloud, "He must die."
"Woe, woe!" said Judas. "I have sinned. I have betrayed innocent
blood. Oh, you blood-thirsty judges, to condemn the innocent blood."
"Peace, peace, Judas," cried the council.
"There will never, never more be peace for me," said Judas, bitterly,
"and none for you. The blood of the innocent cries aloud for
vengeance."
"What has driven you crazy? Speak, but speak with reverence--thou
standest before the Sanhedrin," said Caiaphas.
Then said Judas passionately: "You are determined to deliver him up to
death; him who is free from all guilt. You must not do it. I have a
protest to make against it. You have made me a traitor. Your accursed
pieces of silver!"
Annas interrupted him, saying, "Thou didst propose it thyself and close
the bargain."
Then said the priest unto him, "Recollect thyself, Judas, thou hast
received what thou didst desire; and if thou behavest thyself decently
thou canst still----"
Judas interrupted him. "I will have nothing more. I tear up your
shameful bargain. Let the innocent go."
"Be off, madman," said a rabbi angrily.
But Judas, taking no heed, knelt and stretched his hands toward
Caiaphas. "I demand the release of the innocent. My hands shall be
free from his blood."
"What," said the rabbi, "thou contemptible traitor, wilt thou dictate
to the Sanhedrin? Know this, thy Master must die, and thou hast
delivered him to death."
And all the priests and Pharisees cried aloud, "He must die."
And Judas, with staring eyes, as one demented, repeated, "Die? Then I
am a traitor. I have given him up to death!" He sank down like a man
crushed by a blow, and then springing up and breaking out into wild
passion, he shouted aloud: "May ten thousand devils from hell tear me
in pieces! Let them grind me to powder! Here, ye bloodhounds, take
your accursed blood money!" And with that he snatched the bag from his
girdle and flung it violently before the seat of the high priest.
"Why didst thou let thyself be made the tool for a transaction which
thou didst not weigh beforehand?" said Caiaphas.
"Yes," cried several, "it is your own business."
Then shouted Judas wildly, "May my soul be damned, my body burnt
asunder, and ye--"
"Silence and out from here," cried all the priests together.
"And you," shouted Judas, above them all, "you will sink with me into
the lowest hell!" He then rushed from the hall.
After a pause, during which the chief priests and rulers looked at each
other in silence, the money lay unnoticed on the floor. Caiaphas said,
"What a fearful man!"
"I had some foreboding of this," said Annas.
"It is his own fault," remarked a priest.
Then said Caiaphas, "Let him expiate that fault himself. He has
betrayed his friend, we pursue our enemy. I remain steadfast by my
determination, and if anyone here should be of another opinion, let him
stand up."
"No," cried they all with one voice, "what has been resolved upon, let
it be carried out."
Then said Caiaphas, "What shall we do with this money? It is blood
money; it can no longer be put into the treasury of God."
Annas said, "It might be used for some useful purpose under the
sanction of the high council."
All agreed to this, and a priest said, "A burying place for strangers
is much wanted. With this money a field may be purchased for that
purpose."
"Is there such a one in the market?" asked Caiaphas.
"Yes," said a priest, "a potter in the city has offered a piece of
ground for sale at just this price."
"Let Saras conclude the purchase," said Caiaphas. They then picked up
the money which had lain untouched on the floor.
"But now we will no longer delay to pronounce the capital sentence upon
the prisoner," continued Caiaphas.
Then said a rabbi, "I will have him brought in at once."
"I shall see," said Annas, "whether the scorn which he showed toward me
has not yet left him. A real satisfaction will it be to me to share in
the sentence. Let him die."
Jesus then was brought in a second time before Caiaphas. Selpha, as
before, preceded him, and Balbus and Malchus led him bound by the hands
with a cord.
"Stand there," said Selpha, "and show more respect to the council than
thou didst before." Then he added, "Venerable fathers, here we bring
the prisoner."
Then said Caiaphas, "Lead him into the middle."
Balbus, laying his hand on the shoulder of Jesus, thrust him forward
saying, "Step forward."
Then Caiaphas spake unto Jesus, saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, dost thou
stand by the words which thou hast pronounced this night before thy
judges?"
Annas added, "If thou be the Christ, tell us!"
Then Jesus answered and said, "If I tell you ye will not believe; if I
also ask you, ye will not answer me nor let me go. But hereafter shall
ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Almighty God." A
shudder ran through the Sanhedrin, and all cried excitedly, "Art thou
the Son of God?"
Jesus answered, "Ye say it and so I am."
Annas exclaimed, "It is enough; what need have we of any further
witnesses?"
The priests and Pharisees who had not attended the night council, said,
"We have now heard it out of his own mouth."
Then said Caiaphas, "Fathers of the people of Israel, it is now your
duty to come to a final decision as to the guilt and punishment of this
man."
Then cried they all, "He is guilty of blasphemy. He hath deserved
death."
Caiaphas said, "We will therefore lead him before the judgment seat of
Pilate."
And they all answered and said, "Yes, away with him. Let him die."
"Pilate," said Caiaphas, "must first be informed in order that he may
proclaim the sentence before the feast."
A rabbi said, "Could some one be sent from the council in order to give
him timely information?"
"Thou thyself," said Caiaphas, "together with Dariabbas and Rabinth
shalt go before. We will speedily come after."
When these three had departed Caiaphas said, "This day, then, will save
the religion of our fathers, and exalt the honor of the synagogue, so
that the echo of our fame shall reach our latest descendants."
All shouted, "Men will speak of us centuries hence!" and Caiaphas
resumed, "Lead him away; we follow."
Once more they cried, "Down with the Galilean!" and departed.
The three messengers sent by the Sanhedrin drew near to the house of
Pilate, and as they went they spoke among themselves. The rabbi said:
"At last we breathe more freely again; we have been insulted long
enough."
Dariabbas replied, "It was indeed high time; his following was becoming
very large."
"Now," said the rabbi, "there is nothing more to be feared from him.
The traders have in these days displayed the most creditable activity,
to have gained for us a crowd of determined people. You will see if it
comes to anything, they will effectively take the lead. The waverers
will concur with them, and the followers of the Nazarene will find it
well to be silent, and take themselves off."
Then said Rabinth, seeing they had approached the place of Pilate, "How
shall we bring our message to Pilate? We dare not enter the house of
the Gentile today, as in that case we should become unclean and could
not eat the Passover?"
"We will send a message through one of his own people," said the rabbi,
and going up the stairs to the balcony of Pilate's house, he knocked
gently at the door.
Standing and listening, he said, "Surely, there is some one there?
Yes, there is some one coming," and retired a little way down the
steps, so as to avoid any contact with the Gentile.
A servant of Pilate opened it and said, "Welcome, rabbi, will you not
come in?"
"The precepts of the law will not allow us so to do today," said the
rabbi.
The servant said, "Is that so? Can I carry your message?"
"The high priest sends us to bring a petition to the viceroy of Caesar
to ask if he will allow the council to appear before him and to bring
before him a malefactor for the confirmation of his sentence."
"I will deliver the message at once to my lord; wait here in the
meantime," said the servant, and went into Pilate.
The rabbi returning down the steps joined Dariabbas and Rabinth, who
stood below. "It is very sad," said Dariabbas, "that we must knock at
the door of a Gentile in order to get the behests of our holy law
executed."
"Take courage," said the rabbi, "when once this domestic enemy is
removed out of the way, who knows whether we might not soon free
ourselves from the foreign foe?"
Rabinth exclaimed, "Oh, may I live to see the day which will bring
freedom to the children of Israel!"
Pilate's servant returned and spoke unto them saying, "The governor
greets you. You are to inform the high priest that Pilate is ready to
receive the petition of the Sanhedrin."
"Accept our thanks for thy kindness," said the rabbi. "Now let us
hasten to report to the high priest the result of our errand." The
servant then returned and closed the door behind him.
The three messengers then returned. Rabinth remarked anxiously,
"Pilate will surely agree to the demand of the council."
"He must," said the rabbi, "how could he resist it when the Sanhedrin
and the whole people demand with one voice the death of this man?"
"And besides," said Dariabbas, "what does the governor care about the
life of a single Galilean? Were it merely to please the high priest,
who is of great importance to him, he would not hesitate to permit the
execution."
Now, Judas, being distracted by remorse, found himself, after wandering
to and fro, in the potter's field, purchased with the thirty pieces of
silver, in the midst of which stood a blasted tree. Then after wildly
looking around to see if anyone was near, he said: "Oh, where, where
can I go to hide my shame, to escape the torments of conscience? No
forest is dark enough! No rocky cavern deep enough! O, earth, open
and swallow me up! I can no longer exist. O, my dear Master! Him,
best of all men, have I sold, giving him up to ill treatment, to a most
painful death of torture. I, detestable betrayer--oh! where is there
another man on whom such guilt of blood doth rest? Alas! nevermore can
I appear before the face of the brethren. An outcast, hated and
abhorred everywhere--branded as a traitor by those who led me astray--I
wander about alone with this burning fire in my heart. There is still
one left. Oh! might I look on the Master's face once more, I would
cling to him as my only anchor. But he lies in prison, has perhaps
been already slain by the rage of his enemies, although by my guilt, by
my fault. I am the abhorred one who has brought him to prison and to
death. Woe to me, the scum of men! There is no hope for me, my crimes
can be expiated by no penance. For he is dead--and I, I am his
murderer! Thrice unhappy hour in which my mother gave me to the world!
Must I still drag on this life of agony and bear these tortures about
with me?--as one pest stricken, flee from men, and be despised and
shunned by all the world? No! I can bear it no longer! Not one step
further! Here, O life accursed, here will I end thee! On these
branches let the most disastrous fruit hang!" He untwined his girdle
and twined it about his neck. "Ha, ha! come, thou serpent, entwine my
neck and strangle the betrayer!"
As Judas spoke the last words he tied with convulsive and feverish
agony the long girdle around his neck, fastened it to the branch of the
tree, and swung himself off.