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Jesus swept his eyes over the river, the people, and in the distance the Dead Sea, the mountains of Arabia, the desert. He leaned over and saw his shadow undulating with the current toward the Dead Sea.
How nice it would be, he thought, to sit at the edge of the river and watch the water flow toward the sea with the trees, birds, clouds and at night the stars all reflected in it and flowing too; how nice if I could roll along also and not be devoured by this care for the world.
But he shook himself, banished the temptation, pulled himself away from the bridge and, descending with quick steps, disappeared behind the bleak rocks. The redbeard stood on the shore keeping constant watch over him. He saw him disappear and, fearing that he might escape, rolled up his sleeves and followed behind, overtaking him just as he was about to enter the endless sea of sand.
“Son of David, stop!” he called to him. “Why are you leaving me like this?”
Jesus turned. “Judas, my brother,” he said supplicatingly, “do not come farther. I must be alone.”
“I want to learn your secret!” said Judas, advancing.
“Don’t be in a hurry. You will learn it when the time comes. But I’ll tell you this much, Judas, my brother: be happy, everything is going well!”
“ ‘Everything is going well’ is not enough for me. A wolf’s hunger is not appeased with words. Maybe you don’t know that, but I do.”
“If you love me, be patient. Look at the trees. Are they in a hurry to ripen their fruit?”
“I’m not a tree, I’m a man,” the redbeard objected, coming closer. “I’m a man, and that means a thing which is in a hurry. I go by my own laws.”
“The law of God is the same, whether for trees or men, Judas.”
The redbeard ground his teeth. “And what is that law called?” he asked sarcastically.
“Time.”
Judas stood still and clenched his fist. He did not accept this law. Its pace was excessively slow, whereas he had not a moment to lose. The depths of his being held to another law, his own, opposite to that of Time.
“God lives for many years,” he shouted. “He is immortal; he can be patient therefore and wait. But I’m human, a thing, I tell you, that’s in a hurry. I don’t want to die before I see what I have now only in my mind-not only see it, but touch it with my hands!”
“You shall see it,” answered Jesus, waving his hand to calm him. “You shall see and touch it, Judas, my brother-have faith. Goodbye! God is waiting for me in the desert.”
“I’ll come along.”
“The desert is not big enough for two. Go back.”
***
Excerpted from The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis