“I am now no longer in the world, but am returning to you; but they are in the world and therefore I ask you, father, to keep your knowledge within them. I am not asking that you take them out of the world, but that you save them from evil. I ask you to confirm them in your truth. Your knowledge is truth.
“My father! I desire for them to be the same as I am, for them to understand in the same way that I do, that true life began before the creation of the world. That they will all be one, as you, father, are within me and I within you, and that they will be within us as one. I am within them, and you are within me, so that we all can be united as one and so that people understand that they were not born of themselves, but that you sent them into the world lovingly, just as you sent me.
“Righteous father! The world did not come to know you on its own, but I came to know you, and they came to know you through me. And I explained to them what you are. You are what causes the same love to appear within them as the love you gave me. You gave them life, so, accordingly, you loved them. I taught them that they must remember this and love you, so that the love you gave them will return from them to you.”
Chapter Twelve THE SPIRIT’S VICTORY OVER THE FLESH
And therefore, there can be no evil for the man within the father’s will, who lives a life in common with others and not his own individual life. The death of the flesh is unification with the father.
FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY.
When Jesus finishes his speech to his students, he stands and instead of fleeing or defending himself, goes to meet Judas, who is leading the soldiers to apprehend him. Jesus approaches him and asks him why he had come. But Judas does not answer and the group of soldiers surrounds Jesus. Peter rushes to defend his teacher and begins to fight with a knife; Jesus stops Peter and says that whoever fights with a knife would himself perish from the knife, and commands him to surrender the knife. He gives himself up to those that had come to take him. All of the students scatter and Jesus remained alone.
The chief of the soldiers commands that Jesus be bound and brought to Caiaphus, the current bishop and the one who had come up with the argument that had justified the killing of Jesus. Jesus, feeling himself to be within the will of the father, does not resist, and does not fear as they lead him away. But Peter, who had just promised Jesus that he would not deny him, and that he would die for him, when he sees that Jesus is going to be executed, is scared that he would be executed as well, and disavows any connection to Jesus and leaves. Only afterwards, when the cock crows, does Peter understand everything that Jesus had told him. He understands that there are two temptations of the flesh: fear and violence, and that Jesus had been struggling with them when he prayed in the garden and invited the students to pray with him. He understands that he has now fallen into both of these temptations: he had wanted to defend the truth with violence, and he had not withstood the fear of suffering in the flesh by denying his teacher.
Caiaphus begins to interrogate Jesus, to see what his teaching consisted of. But Jesus knows that Caiaphus is not interested in the meaning of his teaching but is simply looking to accuse him, and so does not answer, but says, “If you want to know my teaching, speak with those that listened to it and understood it.” Jesus is beaten for this. Witnesses are brought in to demonstrate that Jesus had boasted about destroying the Jewish faith.
The bishop commands, “Tell me, are you the Christ, the son of God?” Jesus says, “Yes, I am a man, the son of God, and now, when you torment me, you will see that a man can be equal with God.” The bishop is overjoyed with these words because they proved Jesus’s guilt. The judges condemn him to death. And all of the people throw themselves at Jesus and beat him, spitting in his face and swearing at him. He is silent.
The Jews did not have the authority to condemn people to death, so they bring Jesus to the Roman leader Pilate, for him to sentence Jesus to death. Pilate asks them why they want to kill Jesus. They say, “Because he is an evil man.” Pilate says, “If he is an evil man, then judge him according to your law.” They say, “We want you to execute him because he is guilty before the Roman Caesar: he is an insurgent, he plants mutiny among the people, he forbids them to pay taxes to Caesar, calling himself the Jewish king.” Pilate calls Jesus to him and says, “What does this mean that you are the Jewish king?” Jesus says, “Do you want to know exactly what my kingdom means? Or are you asking me only for the sake of appearances?” Pilate says, “I am not a Jew and it is all the same to me whether you call yourself the Jewish king or not; I am asking you what kind of man you are and for what reason they are saying that you are a king?” Jesus says, “It is true that I call myself a king, but my kingdom is not an earthly kingdom, it is a heavenly one. Earthly kings kill each other, make battles and command troops, but you see: they have bound me and beaten me, but I am not opposing them. I am a king of heaven, I am all-powerful in spirit. Everyone who lives according to truth is free and is therefore a king. I live and teach only in order to reveal the truth to people that they are free in spirit.” Pilate says, “You teach truth, but no one knows what truth is. Everyone has their own truth.” Having said that he turned and walked away from Jesus, back to the Jews.
Pilate says, “I have not found anything criminal in this man. Why execute him?” The bishops say, “We must execute him because he is inciting the people to rebellion.” Then Pilate interrogates Jesus in front of the bishops; but Jesus, seeing that this interrogation was only for the sake of form, does not answer. Then Pilate says, “I cannot condemn him by myself; take him to Herod.”
At Herod’s court, Jesus likewise says nothing and does not answer the accusations of the bishops, and Herod, taking Jesus to be a fool, commands them to dress him in red clothing for comic effect and send him back to Pilate. Pilate is sorry for Jesus. He tries to convince the bishops to forgive Jesus in consideration of the holiday at least, but the bishops would not relent and they all, with the people behind them, cry for Jesus to be crucified on a cross. They say, “He is guilty of calling himself the son of God.” Pilate calls Jesus to him again and asks him, “What does it mean that you call yourself the son of God? Who are you?” Jesus does not answer. Then Pilate says, “How is it that you do not answer me when I have the power to either execute or free you?” Jesus responds, “You do not have any power over me. Power comes only from above.” And Pilate, for the third time, tries to convince the Jews to release Jesus, but they say to him, “If you do not execute this man, whom we have shown to be an insurgent against Caesar, then you yourself are no friend to Caesar, you are an enemy.” And hearing these words, Pilate capitulates and commands that Jesus be executed. Jesus is undressed, cut open and again dressed in ridiculous clothing; they beat him, laugh, and swear at him. Then they give him a cross to carry and command him to go to the place of execution and there they crucify him on a cross.
As Jesus hangs on the cross, all of the people curse him. He answers these curses by saying, “Father! Do not condemn them: they do not know what they are doing.” And then, when he is close to death, he says, “My father! I offer my soul to your power.” And bowing his head, he releases his spirit.
And after that Jesus said, “Now stand up and let us go, the one who betrays me is already approaching.”
As soon as he said this, Judas, one of the twelve students, suddenly appeared and with him, a large group of people with clubs and knives.