King of Kings Page #2

wherever he goes.

His heart should be ripped from his body.

Your daughter, Herodias,

grows more like her mother day by day.

Do I not please you?

My step-daughter

pleases me very much, Salome.

Lucius, keep your eye on this man.

One day you'll have to arrest him.

- On what grounds?

- On my orders.

I'm bound only to take orders from

the Roman governor when he arrives.

Tell me, Lucius,

what manner of man is Pontius Pilate?

How should I treat him?

What is his weakness?

The same as any man: Vanity.

Call the others to return!

Legions, all stand!

Barabbas!

Barabbas!

Who are these men? Bandits?

- They call themselves patriots.

- A man named Barabbas leads them.

Have you captured him?

This land is full

of caves and hidden valleys.

It'd take half the legions of Rome

to ferret them out.

I want him in chains

before the end of the year.

Putting him in chains would be easy...

but putting our hands on him...

that's what's difficult!

I baptize you with water.

But one mightier than I shall come.

And he shall baptize you

with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Are you Elijah?

No, I am not.

Are you the Messiah?

No, I am not!

I am the voice of one

crying in the wilderness.

The Messiah is one

who will come after me.

You are welcome.

Peace be on this house.

What would you have of me?

I seek your son.

My son has gone into the desert.

Why did he come to the river?

For you to baptize him.

He is without sin.

How could I baptize him?

I preach in the wilderness...

but the Word must be brought

to Jerusalem.

Yet I know I am not the one to deliver it.

Only he can.

When his time comes...

he will be there.

You say that with sadness.

And joy!

And Jesus, baptized...

returned from Jordan,

and went into the wilderness.

And with the baptism,

the Holy Spirit came upon him...

and a voice said to Jesus:

"Thou art my beloved Son,

in thee I am well pleased. "

And Jesus knew the wilderness...

its day of heat...

its night of cold and solitude.

And stayed himself there

to commune with God...

and strengthen himself

for the times to come.

And ate nothing and hungered.

And brought his soul forth in the light...

to be seen of himself and known.

And was 40 days tempted of the devil.

Behold! I am here!

Come! I command you!

Come! Be tried and found wanting!

If you are the Son of God, command

these stones that they be turned to bread.

Man does not live by bread alone...

but by every word of God.

Behold!

I show you all the kingdoms of the world,

in a moment of time.

All this will I give you,

and the glory of them.

If you will worship me, all shall be yours.

Lo! Come to this high place.

If you are the Son of God,

cast yourself down from here.

For will not His angels save you

from falling and prevent your death?

Come to the high place.

Be gone!

I worship the Lord my God...

and only to Him do I do service.

Come!

Come, if you will...

but I shall not call upon

the Lord my God to stop you.

You shall not force me to put

the Lord my God to the proof.

And when the devil had ended

all his temptations, he departed away.

And Jesus came out of the wilderness,

and was seen by men.

There is your new rabbi.

He is the Lamb of God.

And Jesus called those of his choice.

And two of the chosen

were John and Andrew...

and they followed where he led.

And Jesus took himself down

by the Sea of Galilee.

And there did name his third apostle,

and summon him forth on land.

Simon! You have been chosen!

You are Simon.

You shall be called Peter, the rock...

upon which I will build.

What will you have me do, Rabbi?

I am just a fisherman.

Come with me...

and I will make you a fisher of men.

Attention.

I have just made a tour of the city.

I found no statues, no banners...

no emblems of Caesar anywhere.

Where are they?

The Jews have only one god.

Their law forbids

the presence of any image.

Where are the chests

I brought from Rome?

Open them.

A good likeness of Tiberius, is it not?

Surely they dare not object

to the Emperor's image.

These people can.

Their law is their religion.

Place them on the pillars of their Temple.

Behold! The sign of the pagan!

As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah...

so shall He send hosts

to destroy the idol-worshipers.

The day is coming when the sword

shall descend upon her legions.

Her mighty kings and princes

shall grow feeble.

Her stolen treasures made worthless.

Her cities shall crumble into dust.

We shall raise our voice...

and be heard.

Take down the plaques!

When He comes,

He will clear the threshing floor...

and gather the grain into His barns.

But the chaff...

He will burn with unquenchable fire.

The shepherds

who lead their flocks astray...

shall be cast out.

The high shall fall.

Make him stop.

And the fallen shall rise.

Draw the curtains.

The cry of the wicked shall fall upon...

It's a very strange voice. Who is that man?

Just another prophet.

An agitator.

Must he agitate beneath your

palace window? Send him away.

The harangue is directed against you...

for mounting graven images

on our Temple walls.

- The incidents in Caesarea were bad.

- The plaques stay.

Do something about this man.

He is harmless.

He gives the people

the type of entertainment they want.

It is not wise to molest him.

My husband is afraid of that madman.

He thinks he's a holy man.

A holy man who speaks words of treason.

Caiaphas! You are the High Priest

in that man's House of God.

Do you not punish such conduct?

Punishment does not dampen their ardor,

rather it increases their wrath.

We have found it wiser to ignore

the ravings of these false prophets...

than to persecute them.

In my opinion, this man seeks martyrdom.

I will put a stop to his voice tomorrow.

Tomorrow! You've been saying that

ever since he came from Jerusalem.

I have given my word.

The word of a king or a puppet?

And strip the clothes of the slaves,

and make them go naked.

Men groan...

and the souls of the oppressed...

Go away, you vile man!

Daughter of adultery...

there is but one that can save you.

Go seek Him out.

Kneel at His feet and ask forgiveness

for the sins of your mother.

That man is no prophet.

He wears the rags of a beggar.

- It is best to ignore him.

- Ignore him?

There is only one way

to deal with a beggar.

You! You, there! Speaker!

Step forward!

You have your alms. Now, be gone!

Bring the beggar in.

When Pompey's legions invaded our land,

they slew all the priests in the Temples.

Since then, we have received

our priesthood appointments from Rome.

The people have little love

for any man appointed by your emperor.

At night the thief goes out...

in darkness he digs under the house...

Stop! Hold your peace.

- Come with me.

- Take me...

but you cannot stop him

who comes after me.

We will worry about that when it happens.

Come, you foolish man.

Tell me, what is your occupation?

I do the bidding of the Lord, my God.

Judging from your appearance...

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