Jesus the Leader

0 Narrator: It is 2009 now. Jesus is passing a busy street. JESUS (V.O.): Two thousand years ago people didn‟t have radio, TV, or internet, as you know. So, I was able to have a quieter time. But today, it was quite a different story, when I came back to live in Schenectady. Narrator: It is in a TV Station at SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK. You can see people are getting ready for their nightly news. Every people are now zoomed into newswoman and man… JOE: Today we have heard that Jesus lay down some rule for his campaign: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” One of his students was saying that it explains the life of Jesus. Tim has been following the news. Hi, Tim. TIM: Hello Joe. Yes, his students were saying that that this theme is going to dominate his movement. We have here a local resident who remembered the story Jesus told yesterday concerning this. You were telling…. A LOCAL RESIDENT: Yes. Yesterday, a pastor came to Jesus and said: "Doc, how can we be saved?" Jesus said, "What is your opinion?" The pastor said, "We got to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind; and love our neighbor as ourselves." Jesus answered, "That sounds nice. Why don‟t you do just that? You will be fine.” Then, the pastor asked, "But ... er ... but ... just who is my neighbor?" Then, Jesus told a story. "A man was going home, and some gangsters held him up. They not only rob him but also beat him up and drove off in his car, leaving him unconscious. "Then a Muslim man traveling that way came, and what he saw moved him to tears. He stopped and bound up his wounds, drew some water to wipe away the 1 blood and then laid him on the back seat. He drove on and took him to the hospital and said to the nurse, 'Take good care of him. Here‟s the twenty I got, but you all keep account of what he owes, and if he can't pay it, I'll settle up with you when I make a pay-day.' "Now if you had been the man held up by the gangsters, would you hope to have this Muslim man, as your neighbor?" The pastor said, "Why, of course, the terroris - I mean, er ... well, er ... yes." Jesus said, "You are right. Live accordingly. You will be fine.” Narrator: It is now in NBC Station. NEWS WOMAN #1: Good morning, Sarah. Jesus has been making things happened in these days, isn‟t he? SARAH: O boy! We have a very interesting story. It is sort of upside down story. We have a local Deli owner. Thank you for coming. You have a story to tell us. DELI OWNER: When Jesus entered our town, there was a very rich man who doesn‟t have a good reputation. He was trying to get a glimpse of Jesus to see what he looked like, but he couldn't do it because he was a short man. So he ran on ahead and climbed up a tree so he could spot him. When Jesus got to the place, he looked up and said, "Zeke Gears, come down, because I got to stay at your house today." Mr. Gears slid down right away and gladly took him home. During the meal, Mr. Gears got up and said, "Look, half of what I own, sir, I'm giving to the poor, and if I have . . . er . . . cheated anyone . . . er . . . anyone, that is. I'll pay back four times the amount." Jesus said, "Today new life has arrived at this house! I came to search out and rescue anybody who gets off the track." SARAH: That is it, folks. (Puzzled looking) 2 NEWSWOMAN: I thought Jesus was a normal Christian. NEWSMAN: O boy! We have just received some news here. George was able to have an interview with one of the disciples of Jesus. George? GEORGE: Yep. We were able to talk with Peter for awhile. The full coverage will be at tonight‟s nightline at 9. But I would like to show a clip from the interview. He is going to share with us a story that Jesus told. PETER: Jesus likes to tell story when he wants to warn about something… Many of us didn‟t really understand well at first. But Jesus told this story a while ago. He said: "When Jesus assumes his authority, all the nations will be assembled before him, and he will sort them out. Then this Leader will say to those on his right, „Come, you pride of my Father, share the joy that was set up for you since creation. When I was hungry, you shared your food. When I was thirsty, you shared your water. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, ragged and you clothed me, sick and you nursed me. When I was in jail, you stood by me.‟ Then the people will answer, „Sir, what are you talking about?‟ Then, Jesus will reply, „When you did it to one of these humble people, you did it to me…‟ GEORGE: It is interesting… We will see you tonight at 9… Narrator: It is now in PBS Station. Bill Moyers and Jesus are talking with each other. BIIL MOYERS: You become a phenomenon. Every night we hear something about you and what you did and what you said. Comedians are having fun with various reporters who didn‟t know what to ask of you. This interview with you, I am sure, will be seen many times in youtube. What do you make of all this, Jesus? What is really going on? Why are people so attracted by you? Jesus: It is difficult to tell. Let me try. But I came into the world to shines my light more clearly. In other words, I 3 became a man and moved in with people. People got one favor after another from my overflowing abundant grace. Moreover, I gave them my love and compassion. Since no one has ever actually seen my Father, I have come to made him known. I am happy that some people were able to see it. They also saw me as the only Son of the Father who is full of compassion and love… Narrator: It is now in FOX NEWS. After showing the interview, the two anchors are looking at each other. NEWSMAN: Did you understand what Jesus was saying? NEWSWOMAN: O boy! He is claming to be somebody. But I think he sounds nice guy. Now we will have a break here. While we are away….. 1 Narrator: Jesus is walking on a street. Jesus (V.O.): Let me tell you something. Maybe you can understand me. I become very famous all over the world. I am well known and yet not really… People ask me who I am … even though I reveal myself before their eyes... I remember when I was creating the time. At the time, I was in fellowship with God as the time begins … The universe is made one by one through me. Everything comes to exist because of me. God and I are one. I came into the world that I made. I came into the people I had made because I loved them. … In me there is life. The life is the light of humanity… From the very me, a light comes out. It becomes brighter and brighter. I am the light. Right before I was about to enter the world, my Father sent a man before me. His name was John the Baptist. John came to be a witness to my light, so that people might believe in me… I was entering the world to enlighten every human being. And to those who let me enter their hearts, I give them the authority to be the children of God: the children who are born right from God… 4 John talked about me this way at his favorite river. JOHN: …This is who I meant when I said, “The one coming behind me has gotten ahead of me, because he existed, way before I was.” I told you again and again. I am not the Christ. I am not an Elijah. No, I am not the Prophet. But I am what Isaiah the prophet said, a voice crying in the wild, saying “Straighten out the way of the Lord.” For this very reason, I am initiating water baptism… Although you do not recognize the man, the one who is to come after me is right here among you. Yes, he comes after me, but boy, I am not even fit to shine his shoes. Narrator: When John sees Jesus coming to him, John says. JOHN: Y‟all look! Here‟s the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world! That‟s the one I was talking about when I said, „There is a man yet to come who is greater than I because he existed even before I was born. Even I was not sure of him, but the reason I came baptizing was that I might show him to the nation, as the one who reveals who God is. I saw the Spirit, come down like a dove from the sky, and stay on him. As I said, I was not sure about him, but he who sent me to dip you in water told me, „The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and staying will be the one who baptizes you in Holy Spirit.‟ Well, I saw it! And I‟m telling you that this is the Son of God." Jesus (V.O.): The following day John was standing with two of his students, and when he saw me walking around. JOHN: Viola! Here comes God‟s Lamb! Jesus (V.O.): Hearing this, the two students started following me. When I noticed them following, I turned around. 5 Jesus: What‟s up? (with a smile) ANDY and JOHN: Doc, where are you staying? Jesus: Come and see! JESUS (V.O.): So they saw where I was staying. They stay with me until about four o‟clock. Andy, the brother of Simon Rock, was one of the two who followed me. The first thing he did was to tell his own brother, "We have found the Leader.” When he introduced him to me, I immediately said, "You are Simon Johnson. Why don‟t we call you Rock? (Light smile) A day later, I ran across Phil, who was from the hometown of the Johnson brothers, and said to him, "Join me." Then, Phil looked up Nat and told him. PHIL: We have found the One the Bible talks about! His name is Jesus and he‟s from New York! NAT: New York? Could anybody worth his salt come from there? PHIL: Come and have a look, man. Narrator: (Nat is approaching Jesus.) Jesus: Look! There is a true spiritual man! I see a pure spirituality in him. NAT: Where did you hear about me? Jesus: I saw you, before Phil talked with you under the Christmas tree. NAT: Reverend, you are the Son of God; you are the nation‟s Leader, the King of the Universe! Jesus: Wow. Are you convinced merely because I told you that I saw you under 6 the Christmas tree? You‟ll see a whole lot more. In fact, I want to tell y‟all that you‟ll see the heaven opened and the good angels climbing up and down, up and down, on the human being! 2 JESUS (V.O.): On Tuesday there was a wedding celebration where my mother went. My students and I were invited as well. Well, the wine started running low, and my mother told me, THE MOHTER: That‟s all the wine they‟ve got. Jesus: What do you want from me, ma‟am? … I‟m not just quite ready… MOTHER: (MOTHER turned to the workers.) Do what he tells you, alright? JESUS (V.O.): Now there were huge water jars. It must have been for some kind of ceremonial washing. Jesus: (To the workers) Fill them up with water. (They filled them up to the top.) Now why don‟t you give some to the emcee? (When the emcee tasted the water-become-wine, he called the groom.) THE EMCEE: For next time… (chuckle) I, I, I mean… put on the good wine first, and then bring out the cheap wine. You know want I mean… This is really good wine, you know…. JESUS (V.O.): It wows my students. They love it. They seem to like when I show up. Later, we all went down to Albany and stayed there a short while. Then, I went to New York City. I was attending a church where I found people politicking, and others trying to keep their positions more than anything else. They were angry at each other. It got me angry too. They seldom talk about my father and his character. So I began clearing out these crowds. 7 JESUS (V.O.): (Jesus shouts) Get out of here! Haven‟t you read that my Father‟s house is to be a prayer house? THE PEOPLE: (Challenging Jesus) What? Who are you? Prove that you have the right to act in this way. Jesus: Pull down this church, and in three days I will raise it up. THE PEOPLE: It took forty-six years to build this church, and you are going to raise it in three days? JESUS (V.O.): But the church I was talking about was my body. I hoped that when I am raised from the dead, they would recall what I had said here, and put their faith in me. While I was in New York City, many people saw the miracles I did. Then they entrusted their lives to me. On the other hand, I didn‟t need to entrust myself to any of them, simply because I knew everyone inside out. They were like an open book to me. Nobody needs to tell me anything. I just know them more than they know themselves. 3 Jesus: After dark, one evening, a theologian came to me. NICODEMUS: Hi, Doc! You are really a great teacher straight from God. Your miracles show that God is with you! Jesus: Thanks. But I need to tell you that if you really want to know me more, you got born again from above. NICODEMUS: I beg you a pardon? Born again? I am born and all grown up. I can‟t return to my mother‟s womb to be born again? 8 Jesus: What I mean is that you got to be born by the Spirit! I mean think about it. Only the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life, right? So, that is why I said: You got to be born from above. The Spirit blows wherever it wants. You may sense the Spirit but can‟t tell where the Spirit comes from or where the Spirit is going. If you born from above, then you will know what is like to follow the Spirit. NICODEMUS: …So, you mean… eh…. How can this be? Jesus: You can grasp these things. Listen. I assure you that we are doing just that. We speak what we experience. Accept our evidence and our lives. It is really that simple. I know this thing because I came right out of the spiritual realm. You got to understand this first before you receive a whole lot more. You will learn of real heavenly knowledge. I want you to be in touch with this spiritual wisdom. It is because you are going to believe when I am put on a pole, in order that all who trust me might have spiritual life. God really loves the world. So God gave me, his one and only Son, that whoever trusts me might have spiritual life. God did send his Son into the world that through him the world might be rescued. Only when you live by the Spirit, you can live up to the name of the only Son of God. Figuratively speaking, the Light came into the world. (A pause) Those whose ways are true are delighted and run to the Light. In this way, they come out into the Light, so that it might be clear that his or her ways are really rooted in God. JESUS (V.O.): Next day, my students and I were doing some baptizing. There was a lot of water. People were coming to me and getting dipped. 9 Then a certain MAN came to John and told him. A CERTAIN MAN: Pastor, you remember that fellow who was with you, and who you praised all the time? Guess what! Now he‟s dipping and everybody is joining up with him! JOHN: …We receive what is given from above. I told you, “I am not the Christ, but I was sent ahead of him.” It is like this. Let‟s say it is a wedding. Who is the bridegroom here? He is the one with the bride. I am his friend stand with the groom and share his joy. That‟s why I‟m so happy. His movement must grow, because he comes from above. He is everything. This spiritual man is above all. I have told you what I have seen and heard. Take my words seriously… And become an evidence yourself that God is true. JESUS (V.O.): John was sent from God to bear God‟s message. God fully equips him with the Spirit… The Father loves me and has put me in charge of everything. When you live in me, you have spiritual life. When you obey me, you catch an abundant life. God‟s pleasure will be with you. 4 Jesus (V.O.): The word spread that I was making and baptizing more converts than John. However, I wasn‟t doing any baptizing, but my students were. Anyway, when I found out about this, I pulled out of there. On the way out I wanted to go through a very secluded village. It was a small village. There was a well called "Jake‟s well." I was pretty tired from traveling. It was about noon. Thankfully, my energetic students had all gone to buy some food. So, I sat near the well. Sitting there, a local woman came to draw some water. I said to her. 10 Jesus: Could you give me a drink? THE WOMAN: How come a Christian looking man like you is asking for a drink from a Muslim woman like me? Jesus: If you knew who it is asking you for a drink, you would ask him and he would give you living water. THE WOMAN: You silly, this well is deep. You don‟t have anything to draw the water. Jesus: When you drink this water you get thirsty again. When you drink the water give you, you‟ll never again get thirsty. In fact, the water I give you becomes an inner-flowing spring, bubbling over with spiritual life. THE WOMAN: Really? Gimme that water, so I won‟t get thirsty, and so I won‟t have to come back here! Jesus: Okay, you go call your husband. THE WOMAN: (avoiding eye contacts) I ain‟t got a husband. Jesus: You are right! You have had five men, and the one you‟re living with now isn‟t your husband. You are absolutely right! THE WOMAN: Eh, wow, I can tell that you‟re a prophet… right? Well, you know, my people have always said that the best place to worship God is in this mosque over there, but you folks insist in your church. What is up with that? Jesus: Listen here, ma‟am, the time is coming. Yes, the time is coming; it‟s here already, when the worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him. God is spirit! So, when they worship God they must do it in spirit and truth. THE WOMAN: Oh! I realize that the God promised that the Leader is coming. 11 When he comes, he‟ll explain everything! Jesus: I, the person talking with you, am he! JESUS (V.O.): Along about this time, my students returned. So the lady left for town, and said to the people there, "Come and meet a fellow who told me everything I ever did. Do you suppose he might be the Leader?" They were surprised. THE STUDENTS: Come on, Doc, let‟s eat. Jesus: I have some food to eat that you don‟t know about. THE STUDENTS: (start asking one another) Common now, who brought him something to eat? Jesus: My food is doing the will of my Father. You have a saying that the harvest is four months away, don‟t you? Well, listen: Open your eyes and look at those fields. Right now they are at the peak of harvesting. Already the Harvester is hired and he is gathering spiritual crops. The saying is true that the Planter is one and the Harvester is another. Be glad and jump to work, because you are sent to harvest a crop that you haven‟t planted. Now reap the benefit of it, so that the Planter and the Harvester may rejoice together. JESUS (V.O.): Many local people trusted me simply because the woman said, "he told me everything I ever did." When they gathered about me, they started asking me to spend a while with them. I did so, for two days. A large group of people put their faith in me. Then, they told the woman, "Our faith is no longer based on your story alone, because we ourselves have heard him. He is truly the world‟s deliverer." It was one of those days that everything goes well. Having been rejuvenated by this incident, I went to Albany. The people welcomed me. They had heard and seen for themselves all that I had done. Well, 12 I returned to where I had made the water into wine. There was this government bigwig who had a sick son in Canada. Having heard about me, he urged me to come with him and heal his boy. Jesus: You need to have faith even if you don‟t see signs or miracles. The Bigwig: Please, pastor, come before my boy dies! Jesus: Okay, you may go now; your boy is well. JESUS (V.O.): He acted on my words, and went. As he was returning, some friends met him and said, "Your son is well!‟ He then asked them what time his boy got better. They said, "About one o‟clock afternoon, the fever went away." The father recognized it as the exact time that I had told him, "Your boy is well." So he put his faith in me, as well as his whole family. When my students heard about it and they were delighted. 5 JESUS (V.O.): Today I felt like visiting a hospital. So, I entered the emergency room. There were many sick people. I noticed a man who has been sick for thirty-eight years. As our eyes met together, I asked him. Jesus: Would you like to get well? THE MAN: Mister, I don‟t seem to get any help from here. I have seen many people with my disease got cured. But, why not me! Jesus: Get up, pick up your stuff, and start walking! Right then the man was well. He picked up his stuff and started walking! But, on his way, the hospital staffs stop the healed man. One of the hospital staff: It isn‟t right for you to be moving your stuffs. THE MAN: Well, the same guy who made me well told me to pick up my stuffs 13 and start walking. One of the hospital staff: Who is the doctor who made you well? JESUS (V.O.): The healed guy really didn‟t know who it was. But later on, I found him and said to him. Jesus: Look, you‟re well; don‟t let your life get messed up or something worse might happen to you. JESUS (V.O.): The man left, and told the hospital staffs that it was Jesus who had healed him. They came right to me and tried to forbid me from healing on their facility. I told them, Jesus: How can I stop working when my Father is working right on? The Son only does what he sees his Father doing. When his Father does something, the Son does the same thing. The Father likes the Son and shares with him everything. JESUS (V.O.): Now this hospital was run by the religious organization called “Sabbath keepers.” The leaders of this group understand that I call God my own father, thus making myself equal with God. When they realize it they even try to kill me. So I have to explain to them. Jesus: You will be even more surprised because my father will cause even greater signs. In fact, the Father lifts up the dead and gives them newness of life, so will the Son, too, give newness of life to people of his choice. Now the Father has referred every decision to the Son, so that all will respect the Son. You know what, when you respect the Son, you respect the Father who appointed him. If you listen to my message and put your faith in the Father who appointed me, then you have spiritual life, which is the true life. I‟m telling you, the time is coming, it‟s here already, when the lifeless will tune 14 in to the voice of God‟s Son and, having heard him, will come alive. As the Father is a life-giver, so is the Son. My Father also gave the Son, the right to set up a standard. Don‟t be surprised, because the day is coming when the graveyards will hear his voice and will move on out. Those who have done good will rise and experience the celebration of new life. If I am only a witness, my testimony may not hold water. But John was also my witness. Remember, you sent messengers to John the Baptist who gave you the honest truth about me. John was turned on as a guiding light and you were even willing to rejoice and dance in his light for a little while. I have even greater evidence. They are my teaching and my miracles. Also, the program that I followed is evidence that the Father sent me. The same Father who sent me is a witness. You have never heard his voice, or seen his face, or had his word to take root in you. I know that because you‟re putting no trust in the one whom the Father appointed. You do study the Bible, expecting to find spiritual life in it, and all the while it provides a lot of evidence about me. So, follow my lead, you will find life. Here I come flying my Father‟s flag, so that you would accept me. You can become a true people of faith when you accept these evidences which are from the One God. 6 JESUS (V.O.): A large crowd followed me, because they saw the tremendous things I was doing for the sick. In this time, I went to the central park and sat down with my students. Well, we all looked up and saw that a lot of people were coming to me. Jesus: Phil, how will we buy enough food to feed all these people? PHIL: I think…. it will take about five hundred dollars‟ worth? 15 JESUS (V.O.): Then, ANDY who was Rock‟s brother said: ANDY: There‟s a kid here who has five buns and two hot dogs. (little embarrassed and laughs) Jesus: Please tell the people to sit. JESUS (V.O.): There was a lot of grass at this spot. So the people, over five thousand, sat down. I took the buns, said grace, and served the people. I did the same with the hot dogs, and everybody took as many as they wanted. When they finished eating, I told my students: Jesus: Why don‟t you gather up the leftovers? JESUS (V.O.): They collected twelve big basketsful of leftovers. Seeing me do such a thing, the people were like: Person #1: This must be the man of God that we‟ve been waiting for. He is the man is going to fix the world! Person #2: Don‟t you realize? We got draft him as our presidential candidate. JESUS (V.O.): So, I checked out of there and went away for prayer. My students went down to the river, got in a boat, and headed back first. It had already gotten dark. A strong wind was blowing. When they were three or four miles out, they saw me walking on the water. As I kept coming closer, they were terrified. Jesus: Hey, it‟s me! You have nothing to worry about. JESUS (V.O.): Well, they did agree to take me on board, and that quick the boat was at the land they were heading toward. Next morning the crowd who stayed on the other side of the sea started searching for me. They knew that I had not left with my students. So they search everywhere. When they realized that I wasn‟t there, they went to look for me on the other side. When they found me 16 they said: PERSON #1: Pastor, how did you get here? Jesus: I want to tell you something. You need to read my signs right. What do my signs tell you? If you understand you will work for the food that produces true eternal life. Read my signs right and work for the food that nourishes your spiritual life, which I can give you? The Father God authorized me to do this. PERSON #2: Yeah? We want that. How can we get it? Jesus: Then, believe in the one whom the Father sent. PERSON #3: Well, we need some more evidences. What are you providing that we can examine? What will you give us to trust you? What are you offering? Jesus: See, my Father gives you the real bread from above. It is the bread of God who comes down from on high and gives the true life. PERSON #1: Mister, give us this bread. Jesus: I am the bread of life! The person who takes my way will be always full and satisfied. And the one who bases his life on mine will have always enough. If you really know this, you will leap for joy. I‟ll take all that the Father gives me. I will honor anyone who takes my way. I have come down from on high to carry out the desire of the one who sent me. And what is the desire? That I should give people newness of life. It is my Father‟s desire that everyone who really looks at the Son and takes the leap with him should have spiritual life, and I myself will make them new. That is why I said I myself am the bread that came down from above. (The people got into a big hassle with one another.) 17 PERSON #4: (talking to people) Why, isn‟t this old Joe‟s boy? Don‟t we ourselves know his mama and daddy? How come he now claims that “I have come down from on high?” Jesus: You can only come with me if the Father, who sent me, attracts you to me, so that I would make you new. The Bible says, „All will be God-taught.‟ Anyone who listens and learns from the Father follows my way. Only the One who is from the Father have actually seen God. If you have a faith in my words, you have spiritual life. I am the bread of life! If you eat this bread you will live forever. I am indeed the life bread that came down from above. If you eat, you‟ll be alive even in the new age to come. Now the bread that I give for this life is my own flesh. PERSON #4: (The people got into a big hassle with one another.) How can he give us his flesh to eat? Jesus: I am really serious, spiritually. If you eat the flesh and drink the blood, you‟ll have inner life. He who feasts on my flesh and drinks my blood has spiritual life, and I‟ll make him new. My flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. He who feasts on my flesh and drinks my blood lives on in me and I in him. Even as the living Father sent me, so does the Father sustain me. And I will sustain those who feast on me. This is the food that descended from above. He who feasts on this food will be alive forever… MANY STUDENTS: This lesson is hard to swallow. Who can take it? Jesus: Does it puzzle you, too? You need to see the son of man ascending to his former position? Listen, it is the spirit that makes a human alive. It is spirit and life that I‟ve been talking to you about. (Pause) Yeah, I know, my Father has to motivate you to follow my way. JESUS (V.O.): At this point a lot of my students called it quits and dropped out. So I said to the twelve Jesus: Are you leaving, too? 18 ROCK: Pardon me? To whom shall we turn? You have the words of spiritual life. Besides, we have confidence that you are God‟s special One! 7 Jesus: By this time, the Sabbath keepers were really against me. People would not want to express freely about me, because they were afraid of the Sabbath keepers. But people were still curios about me, not knowing what to think or how to think about me. GUY #1: Where is that guy? GUY #2: Who? Jesus? I don‟t know. GUY #1: What do you think about him, anyway? GUY #2: I think he‟s great. GUY #3: Naw, he‟s an agitator. JESUS (V.O.): But still when I give a speech. People were really amazed by me. Guy #3: How can this guy be so educated without having a college degree? Jesus: I am not a self-educated man; my instruction came from the One who sent me. If you truly want to do God‟s will, you will be convinced as to whether this instruction is from God or not. I truly seek the credit of my sender. Look, you‟ve been given the Bible, haven‟t you? It says, “Thou shall not kill.” So then, why are you trying to kill me? THE CROWD #2: You‟re crazy. Who‟s trying to kill you? JESUS (V.O.): Just because I did some work on the Sunday some of you are really upset. All right, now listen. The Bible tells you to baptize. So, you baptize people on the Sunday, the Sabbath day. My Father told me to heal. So, I heal people on the Sunday. There is nothing wrong with that, right? 19 THE CROWD #3: (talking among themselves) Isn‟t this the fellow they‟re trying to get rid of? Well, what do you know, he is preaching in public! Do you think the Sabbath keepers believe that this is our Leader? But we heard that nobody will know where the Leader comes from. We do know where this man is from! Jesus: Okay, you know me and where I‟m from. Yet you don‟t know the True One who sent me. I do know the One from who I am and who sent me. Jesus (V.O.): Even though there were hassle and bustle, a considerable number did come over to my side. THE CROWD #1: Suppose our great Leader should arise, would he be able to do more than what this man is doing? Jesus: I‟ll be with you a little while longer, and then I‟m going to my Father who sent me. You‟ll look for me but won‟t find me, because I‟ll be where you can‟t come. THE CROWD #3: (speak to one another) Where do you think he‟ll be going that we can‟t find him? Does he plan to go to North Korea or something? What did he mean that we cannot find him? Narrator: Now Jesus has moved to another location and preaching. Jesus: (Shouting) If you are thirsty, come to me and drink. From your very heart, my life will overflow. Drink from these floods of life-giving water. JESUS (V.O.): I was referring to the Spirit whom those who live my life were to receive. They haven‟t received the Spirit because I still hadn‟t brought things to a climax. PERSON #1: (talking among themselves) There‟s no doubt about it; this is the Man of God. 20 PERSON #2: Yeah! PERSON #3: He is the heaven-sent Leader. PERSON #2: Yeah! PERSON #3: I don‟t think he is qualified as the heaven-sent Leader. PERSON #2: Yeah? JESUS (V.O.): So the crowd was split over me. Some of them even wanted to kill me, but nobody put their hands on me. 8 Jesus: I have a habit of praying in solitude, usually, at early next morning. Then I return and begin teaching. It was like just another normal day, then, some religious group brought a lady caught with someone she wasn‟t married to. They stood her up front and said to me, THE GROUP: Professor, this woman was caught in the act of extramarital relationship. Now our Bible specifically condemns such an act. What do you say about it? JESUS (V.O.): I looked down and wrote with my finger on the floor. And when they kept on asking me, I glanced up and said, JESUS : Okay, if anyone of you is without sin, why don‟t you come forward? JESUS (V.O.): I looked down again and kept writing something. They got the point and, beginning with the elders, they left me alone. Then I was left with the lady standing in front of me. I looked up. 21 Jesus: Where did they all go, ma‟am? Didn‟t anybody condemn you? THE WOMAN: No, sir. JESUS : Well, I don‟t condemn you. Go along now, and live a pure life. Narrator: Jesus is preaching at a church. JESUS : I am the light of the world. He who lets me lead him will have life‟s light. THE PEOPLE : Now you‟re blowing your own horn. What you‟re saying just isn‟t so. Jesus: All right, even if I am blowing my own horn, I‟m telling the truth, because I know where I came from and where I‟m going. You measure by human standards; I don‟t measure anybody. But even if I should measure a man, I would do so honestly, because I would do it with the One who sent me. Even in your Bible it says that the evidence of two witnesses is reliable. Now, I‟m testifying in my own behalf, and my Father who sent me is also testifying for me. Hah! THE PEOPLE : Where is your father? Jesus: You don‟t understand me, and you don‟t understand my Father. If you had understood me, you would have understood my Father. I‟m leaving and you‟ll look for me. But you can‟t come where I‟m going. THE PEOPLE : Do you think he‟s considering suicide? Jesus: I am talking in the divine point of view. I am belonging to the divine order. If you wake up to who I am, you will join too. THE PEOPLE : Who are you? Jesus: I‟ve been telling you all along. My Father who sent me is for real. I am simply repeating in the world what I‟ve 22 heard. When you respect me, then you will know who I am. I speak only the things my Father taught me. And he who sent me backs me up, because I am always engaged in the things he wants. JESUS (V.O.): These words convinced many to come over to me. So I said to them JESUS : If y‟all stick by what I‟ve said, you are honest followers of mine. You‟ll understand the truth, and the truth will set you free. THE PEOPLE: “Set us free?” But we are Americans. We are not in bondage to anyone. Why are you telling us like that? Jesus: Everyone who is addicted to sin is sin‟s slave. Now the slave never lives in the house of free. The free-born son lives there. So, if the Son set you free, you are genuinely free. I know that you are good Americans but for some of you my ideas don‟t appeal to you. I‟m preaching what I‟ve actually seen from the Father; but you, you‟re practicing what you‟ve heard from your father." THE PEOPLE: Our fathers are all good men! Jesus: If indeed you are sons of the good man, you would act accordingly. As you know some of you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I got from the Father. A good man would never do that. THE PEOPLE : …What we mean is that our God is our Father… Jesus: If God were truly your Father, you would love me, for God sent me and that‟s why I‟m here. I have come simply because God sent me. I have been telling the truth all the time. Can any of you prove me guilty of any wrongdoing? No? Okay, then why don‟t you believe me? I recommend you to be rooted in God! When you are rooted in God, you pay attention to what God says and understand. 23 I‟m not concerned about making a name for myself. I do respect my Father. So, I tell you for a fact that if you latch onto my idea, you will surely be immortal. THE PEOPLE : (they shouted) Now we got you. Look, everybody good or bad passed away. And now here you claim, you can make us immortal? What on earth do you make of yourself?" Jesus: If I okay myself, my okay is no good. The one who okays me is my Father, who you claim is your God. But you have no knowledge of him. I do, though. If I said I didn‟t, I‟d only be a liar like you. I truly do know God and I carry out the very idea of God. 9 JESUS (V.O.): My students and I were walking through some of busy streets of New York. We saw a blind man from birth. THE STUDETNS: (causally) Pastor, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind? Jesus: (casually) Listen. You are not here to find someone to blame. Try and see what God can do. We are here to work for the One who sent me here. I am here to shine my light. So, as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. That is what I mean by saying, “I am the Light to the world.” JESUS (V.O.): Then I spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man's eyes: JESUS : Go, wash yourself. JESUS (V.O.): The man went and washed, and saw. Soon, the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying PERSON 1 : Why, isn't this the man we knew, who sat here and begged? 24 PERSON 2: It's him all right! PERSON 3 : NO, it's not the same man at all. It just looks like him. THE HEALED : It's me, the very one! PERSON 3 : What? Hey… How did you get your eyes opened? THE HEALED : A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, 'Go and wash.' I did that. When I washed, I was able to see. PERSON 1 : Really, what is that man? THE HEALED : I don't know. JESUS (V.O.): It turns out the healed belongs to a religious group. The leaders of his group didn‟t like that I made the paste and healed his blindness on the Sunday, their Sabbath day. So, he was brought to one of their buildings and asked about the incident. THE HEALED : He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see. LEADER 1: Obviously, this man can't be from God. He doesn't keep our holy day holy. LEADER 4: How can a bad man perform this miracle? It is really a Godrevealing thing. LEADER 3: (after discussing among themselves) You're the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you think he is? THE HEALED : He is a prophet. LEADER 4: (Looking at the other leaders) I cannot believe this guy. (Looking back at the healed) Are you really born like that? I mean, were you blind to begin with? …And now you got your sight… 25 LEADER 5: Let‟s call his parents. LEADER 4: (They brought the parents) Is this your son? THE PARENTS : Yes sir. He is our son. LEADER 4: Is he really born blind? THE PARENTS : Yes sir. We know he was born blind. LEADER 5: Then, how is it that he sees? THE PARENTS : Well, we don't know really. We haven't a clue about who opened his eyes. Why don't you ask him? JESUS (V.O.): His parents are talking like this because they are intimidated by the leaders, who they know that anyone who take a stand that I am the Leader would be not welcomed in their meeting place. And their related business relation will suffer. That's why his parents say, “Ask him.” They called the healed man back a second time. LEADER 1: Give credit to God, because we see that this man is very questionable. THE HEALED : I don‟t know about that. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind, but now I see. LEADER 4: What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? THE HEALED : I've told you already. Now you want to hear it again. Do you want to become his students? LEADER 2: (With that, they were all over him.) You might be a student of that man, but we're students of the Bible. We know for sure that God spoke in the 26 Bible, but we have no idea where this man even comes from. THE HEALED : That is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It's well known that God listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does the will of God. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of, ever! Because this man is from God, he was able to do just that. LEADER 1: You're nothing but dirt! Get out. How dare you trying to teach us! JESUS (V.O.): When I heard that they had thrown him out, I went and found him. Jesus: Do you believe in the human being? THE HEALED: Point him out to me, sir. I am going to believe in him. Jesus: You're looking right at him. Don't you recognize my voice? THE HEALED: Master, I believe! (The healed man prostrates himself before Jesus.) JESUS: I came into the world to bring the clear light, making all the clear, so that those who have never seen will see. 10 Narrator: Charlie Rose is sitting at his chair talking with Jesus. Jesus is on TV, again. CHARLIE ROSE: Thank you for coming we are delighted to have you. Jesus: Thank you. Good to see you again. CHARLIE: Let me start by asking the question, “Are you running for president?” 27 Jesus: No, Charlie. You know that. I sort of believe that I am already one, if you know about I mean. CHARLIE: That leads us to the next popular question. Would you like to build your own peace corp.? Jesus: No, I don‟t think I am doing that, Charlie. My mission is different. CHARLIE: What do you want to do then? There is a great movement formed around you. It seems to me it would be safer for you to run for presidency, don‟t you think? Jesus: Yes. But I would say that I am a different kind of … let‟s say… shepherd. Visualize with me if you will. This shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them. The sheep follow because they are familiar with his voice. They love his voice because they are used to the sound of his voice. Sound nice, isn‟t it? Visualize this way. My students love this one. I am like the Gate for the sheep. The sheep pass through me. I am respected as a safest Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for. So trusting in me, they freely go in and out, and find pasture. As you see here, the nature of my mission is different. I am saying that it is important for me to become this good shepherd. It is my mission. CHARLIE: So, your mission is… ? Jesus: I came so that people could have real and eternal life. I came so that 28 people could have a better life than they ever dreamed of. CHARLIE: So… you are a spiritual shepherd. When I announced that I will have an interview with you. We got emails and phone calls from all over the world. Many of them wanted me to ask you this question. “Who are you?” I guess their question is what are you claiming for yourself? Jesus: Yeah. I know. But my answer here will be only this shepherd stories. These metaphors explain who I am. If you don‟t mind, let me answer them with another shepherd story. (Looking a TV camera screen) Whoever watching and wondering, visualize this with me. I am the Good Shepherd. Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. I am a real shepherd, because the sheep mean everything to me. That is it. CHARLIE: Yeah. You are saying you are a spiritual shepherd or a spiritual president even? Jesus: Yes, Charlie. But I like to call myself the Good Shepherd, if you will, because I do something that only a good shepherd can do. Or, I should say, I am the good stockbroker, because I do something that only the good stockbroker can do. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. There is a relationship build in. I am using the word, “know” meaningfully here. Let‟s say, the Father knows me and I know the Father. In the similar degree I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Because of this knowing and loving, I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself even if it is necessary. (Pause) I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I am going to gather 29 and bring them, too. They'll also recognize my voice. And they all will be one flock, under one Shepherd. When my Father realizes that I am willing to do this, my Father loves me even more. He asks me, “Are you freely lay down your life?” I say, “Yes! I will lay it down. I know that no one can take it from me.” My father approve of me, saying, “Yes, you have the right to lay it down; you also have the right to take it up again. It is all up to you.” So, you will see that after everything is done, I will take it up again. Narrator: Jesus is interviewed by another TV news program. They show this conversation. After reviewing this specific conversation, they want to talk about it. The room is arranged like a conference room. The anchor #1: You are strange. I don‟t understand what you are talking about. The anchor #2: I am not sure. But I know you are smart and try to explain something very profound. After all, people want to see the one who open blind eyes. (The audience laughs) The anchor #1: Jesus, we invited a religious group here tonight. They are called, the Sabbath Keeper. They have been troubled by you proclaiming yourself as God. Tonight they are going to ask some questions to you if you don‟t mind. A Sabbath Keeper: How long are you going to keep us guessing? If you're the Leader, tell us straight out. Jesus: I have told you. You have seen and heard everything I have done. What you have heard on everyday news proves that my Father have sent me to do these things. My actions speak louder than words. The anchor #2: everybody knows now that you like to use the shepherd analogy. Can you tell us another shepherd analogy? Jesus: Yes! Of course! 30 I know that my sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected by my love. My Father knowing all this put them under my care. That proves that my Father and I are one heart and mind. Narrator: Many Sabbath Keepers throws their hands in the air. Some of them shows that they are very angry and throwing objects to Jesus. Jesus: (avoiding objects) I have done many good things. For which of these acts do you throwing things at me? Sabbath keepers: We're not against anything good you did, but for what you said. You know you are calling yourself God. Don‟t you know that? Jesus: I'm only quoting the Bible, where God said, “I tell you—you are gods.” If God called your ancestors “gods,” and the Bible doesn't lie, why do you yell at the unique One the Father consecrated and sent into the world? Is it only because I said, “I am the Son of God”? Listen, if I don't do the things my Father does, well and good; don't believe me. But if I am doing them, put aside for a moment what you hear me say about myself and just take the evidences that are right before your eyes. Then perhaps things will come together for you, and you'll see that not only are we doing the same thing, we are the same—Father and Son. He is in me; I am in him. Narrator: They tried jumped at him. But Jesus barely slipped through their fingers. JESUS (V.O.): I ran away. Then I went back to the place where John first baptized, and stayed there. I felt nice. I felt like I can breathe again. A lot of people followed me there. They were saying, The Person #1: John did no miracles, but everything he said about this man has come true. The person #2: Yeah. That is so true. 31 11 Jesus (V.O.) : After talking around a town, I came to a home where my students and I stay. After checking my emails, I said: JESUS: Martha sent me an email saying that Lazarus got sick. You've got that email, right? She is saying, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick." Jesus (V.O.) : My students got the same message. Lazarus was a brother of Mary and Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged my feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. My students ask me whether I would go there. So, I say to them. Jesus: This sickness will become an occasion to show God's glory by glorifying God's Son. My students knew that I loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So they thought that since people were trying to kill me, I was not able to go to them. Two more days went by. After the two days, I said to my students: Jesus: Let's go back to Lazarus. THE STUDNTS: Pastor, you can't do that. It is dangerous. The people are out to kill you. Jesus: There are twelve hours of daylight. As long as we walk in daylight we will be fine. We have a plenty of light from the sun. Narrator: Jesus is looking around and then looking at his students standing and wondering. Jesus: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I'm going to wake him up. THE STUDENTS: If he is in sleep, let him have a good rest. He will be just fine. 32 Jesus: I was talking about death, not a nap. Lazarus died. And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn't there. You're about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let‟s go to him. THOMAS: (looking at his companions) Come along, guys. We might as well die with him. JESUS (V.O.): When we finally got there, we found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. So many friends of Martha and Mary have come to comfort them over their brother. Martha heard my coming and went out to meet me. Mary remained in the house. MARTHA: Pastor, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you. Jesus: Your brother will be raised up! MARTHA: I know, at the end of time, everything will be fine. He will be raised up in the resurrection. Jesus: You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, the Resurrection and the Life. The one, who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does live forever. Do you believe this? MARTHA: Of course, all along I have believed that you are the Leader, the Son of God who comes into the world. Narrator: After this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, MARTHA: The Teacher is here and is asking for you. Jesus (V.O.) : The moment she hears that, she jumps up and runs out. I am still at the place where I met Martha. When her friends see Mary run off, they follow her, thinking she is on her way to the tomb to weep. Mary comes to where I am 33 and falls at my feet. MARY: Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. Jesus (V.O.) : She is sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing. I couldn‟t help but to feel their feeling all over him. Through people I loved, I felt the pain of separation. Jesus: Where did you put him? MARY: Pastor, come and see. Jesus (V.O.): I wept. THE PERSON #1: Look how he loved him. THE PERSON #2: Well, if he loved him so much, why didn't he do something to keep him alive? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man. Jesus (V.O.): Then I got really emotional. I arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus: Remove the stone. MARTHA: (The sister of the dead man) Oh my. There will be a stench. He's been dead four days! Jesus: (looking at her in the eye.) If you believe, you would see the glory of God. (Then, to the others) Go ahead, take away the stone. Narrator: They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed. Jesus: Father, I'm grateful that you are listening to me. I know you always do. But on account of these people standing here I am speaking aloud so that they 34 might believe that you sent me. (Then Jesus shouted) Lazarus, come out! Jesus (V.O.) : And of course, he came out. That was a turnaround for many people who were with Mary. They saw what I did, and believed in me. But the religious group that had a strong reaction against me gathered after this incident. They were at a very nice looking conference room. LEADER #1: What do we do now? This man keeps on creating God-signs. If we let him on, pretty soon everyone will believe in him. We will lose our job for good, then. CAIAPHAS: I see that then it is our advantage that one man dies for the people. (Everybody surprises by the remark and looking at him) JESUS (V.O.) : I think he sort of prophesied that I was about to die for the people so that all children of God might be gathered together into one people. Realizing their decision in my spirit, I no longer went out in public. I withdrew and secluded myself there with my students. But still people were very curious about me. There was a lot of talk of me: PERSON #1: What do you think? Do you think he'll ever show up again? 12 JESUS (V.O.): Now, the religious leaders who were the Sabbath keepers were searching to get rid of me. In the mean time, Lazarus and his sisters invited me to dinner. Martha served. Lazarus was sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with very expensive 35 aromatic oils, anointed and massaged my feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house. JUDAS ISCARIOT: Haven‟t you heard what Jesus said? You got to sold everything and give the money to the poor. Jesus: Leave her alone. She's honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. But you don't always have me. JESUS (V.O.): Word got out that I was back in town. The people came to take a look, not only at me but also at Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead. Because of him, many are convinced that I am the one, they are waiting for. So, the religious leaders plot to kill Lazarus as well. Narrator: Next day, Jesus got a bike and rode it into the town. PEOPLE brought their towels and went out. PEOPLE #3: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of God! Yes! The President of the whole world! JESUS (V.O.) : The crowd that have been with me when I called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they have spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. THE RELIGIOUS LEADER: (threw up their hands) It's out of control. The world is sold after him. JESUS (V.O.): There were some Chinese in town. They approached Phil, who was a Korean: "Sir, we want to see Jesus. Can you help us?" Phil went and told Andy. Andy and Phil together told me. I said: JESUS : I am sorry but time is up now. The time has come for me to be glorified. (Talking to everyone) Listen carefully: If a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, if you 36 understand life, you will let it go, in love. Then, you'll have it forever, real and eternal. (Looking at the people from China standing far) If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you'll be where I am. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me. (Looking at his students) Now I am in trouble. But what am I going to say? 'Father, get me out of this'? No, this is why I came in the first place. I'll say, 'Father, put your glory on display.' Narrator: A voice came out of the sky. THE FATHER OF Jesus: I have glorified it, and will glorify it again. PERSON #1: Was it a thunder!? PERSON #2: An angel spoke to him! Jesus: The voice didn't come for me but for you. Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract everyone to me and gather them around me. PERSON #1: We heard from the Bible that the Leader lasts forever. How can it be necessary, for you to be lifted up, as you put it? Who are you, anyway? Jesus: If you believe in me, you believe the One who sent me also. When you look at me, you in fact, look at the One who sent me. Let me put it this way. For a brief time, the light is among you. Walk by the light. If you walk in the light, you know where you're going. As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within you, and shining through your lives. You'll be children of light. I am the Light that has come into the world so that all may believe in me. I came to save the world. 37 13 JESUS (V.O.): It was suppertime. I knew that that the time has come to leave this world to go to the Father. As I came from God, so I was on my way back to God. I knew that the Father had put me in complete charge of everything. Having loved my dear students, I continued to love them right to the end. So I got up from the supper table, set aside my shirt, and put on an apron. Then I poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the students, drying them with my apron. Then, I got to Simon Rock. ROCK: Master, you wash my feet? Jesus: You don't understand now what I'm doing, but it will be clear later. ROCK: You're not going to wash my feet, ever! Jesus: Only if I wash you, you can be part of what I'm doing. RCOK: Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head! Jesus: (smiling) Don‟t be silly, Rock. If you've had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now. After Jesus had finished washing their feet, Jesus took his shirt, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table. Jesus: Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as your boss. Well, that is what I am. So if I washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet. I've laid down a pattern for you. Do what I've done to you. As little as you understand what I'm telling you, try it out and live a blessed life. I know that the Bible will be fulfilled: “The one who ate bread at my table 38 betrayed me.” I'm only telling you all this ahead of time so that when it happens, you will believe that I am who I am. Anyway, more importantly make sure to remember this: “Receiving someone I send is the same as receiving me, just as receiving me is the same as receiving the One who sent me.” Jesus (V.O.) : After I said these things, I sigh deeply, and then I told them why. JESUS : One of you is going to betray me. Jesus (V.O.) : The students looked around at one another, wondering who on earth Jesus was talking about. John was reclining against me, his head on my shoulder. ROCK motioned to him to ask who I might be talking about. JOHN: Doc, who? Jesus: The one to whom I give this bread after I've dipped it. Narrator: Then JESUS dipped the bread and gave it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. As soon as the bread was in his hand, Satan entered him. Jesus: What you must do, do it right way. JESUS (V.O.): No one else around the supper table knew why I said this to him. Some thought that since Judas was their treasurer, I was telling him to buy what they needed, or that he should give something to the poor. Narrator: Judas, with the piece of bread, leaves. It is night. Jesus watches him leaving. Jesus: I am now glorified. My Father is glorified within me. As my Father is seen in me, so the glory of the Father shines. In glorifying the Son, the Father is glorified. My children… I am with you for only a little longer. You are going to look for me. 39 But just as I told everyone, where I go, you are not able to come. My advice for you is: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my students. Let them see the love you have for each other. SOMON ROCK: Doc, just where are you going? Jesus: You can't now follow me where I'm going. You will follow later. ROCK: Doc, why can't I follow now? I'll lay down my life for you! Jesus: (silence) The truth is that before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times. (Silence) You will follow me later… 14 Narrator: Jesus is speaking to his students. Jesus: Trust God. Don't worry. Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father's house. I'm on my way to get a room ready for you. After that, I'll come back and get you so you can live there. By the way, you know the way I'm taking, right? THOMAS: Pastor, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the way? Jesus: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You can come to the Father through me, because I am the way. When you know me, you know my Father as well. So, you do know him. You've even seen him! PHIL: Show us the Father; then that will be enough. 40 Jesus: You've been with me all this time, Phil, and you still don't understand? To see me is to see the Father. Believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. The words that I speak to you are the words of my Father. The Father who resides in me crafts each word and each divine act. So, at least believe what you see, my works. Believe me. I am in my Father and my Father is in me. Mathematically speaking, it means one. (Silence) I am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. The person who trusts me will do what I'm doing and even greater things, because I am on my way to the Father. Also, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how my Father is seen through you. Remain in me. Then, whatever you request, I'll do. As for me everything is simple. If you love me, you do what I've told you. When you know my command and keep them, you love me. And you who love me will be loved by my Father. I will love you and make myself plain to you. The message you are hearing isn't mine. It's the message of the Father who sent me. If you love me, you will carefully keep my word and my Father will love you. To love me is to keep my words. I am asking the Father to provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. You know the Spirit already because the Spirit has been staying with you, and will even be in you! I'm coming back. But in just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you're going to see me because I am alive and you're about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I'm in my Father, and you're in me, and I'm in you. I'm telling you these things while I'm still with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send, will make everything plain to you. The Spirit will remind you of all the things I have told you. So, I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you. Peace! 41 You've heard me saying, “I'm going away, and I'm coming back.” If you loved me, you would be glad that I'm on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life. I've told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I'll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But he has no basis for an accusation against me. The world will know how thoroughly I love the Father and how I am carrying out my Father's instructions right down to the last detail. Narrator: Now Jesus is in a TV studio. It is a late night show. DAVID LETTERMAN: (on TV) Thank you for coming. I enjoyed your conversation with Charlie Rose, even though many say that they couldn‟t understand. Jesus: Thanks. I am sure you didn‟t understand either? (The audiences laugh.) But anyway, I think this will be my last interview. DAVID: Why? Is Mr. Obama calling you to help him out? Jesus: (Laugh) No. DAVID: Why? Are you going to go to North Korea as some people say? Jesus: (Laugh) No. DAVID: Jesus, I am little worry about you. Some people are really mad at you. (The audiences laugh.) They don‟t like you working with other religious people. They think you are so liberal, you know. Jesus: Yes, but I already have done something that no one has ever done. I show them signs that come right out of God. But they are thinking about beating me. 42 David: Oh, also they think if you become a leader, they don‟t know who is in more danger: you or your students. (The audiences laugh.) Jesus: I guess then they will beat my students, too. (Audience laughs) Some will stand against my students as well, after I die. If only they know the One who sent me… Otherwise, they are going to do something that they are going to regret. So, they better listen to my students. But I am sure that those who did what I told them will do exactly what my students tell them. That is what I want to tell you plainly. David: Are you going to preach at Washington Breakfast… (Conversation continues) 15 Narrator: There is a garden. It is at night. There is a small camp fire set up. Jesus has a small group of people listening. Jesus: I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cherishes every branch that bears grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. Remain in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can bear grapes by being grafted into the vine, you can bear fruit as you are grafted into me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're with me and I with you, the harvest is sure to be abundant. If you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is. As you produce grapes, you mature as my students. 43 Remember that I chose you. I put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that last forever. As you bear fruit, ask the Father whatever in relation to me, he will give you. I have loved you as the Father has loved me. So, remain in my love. By obeying my commands, you remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my happiness may be in you and that your happiness may be full. What is my command? My command is this: Love one another as I have loved you. I am going to love you putting my life on the line for you, my friends. You are my friends when you do the things I told you. You understand how I think and plan. So, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father. Again what is my root command? Love one another. I picked you to live according to the divine compassion. As you understand the divine compassion and love, so you are going to live well. When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes, the very Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side will give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start. 16 Jesus: (Jesus is speaking to his students) Remember there are still a lot of people in the world who need to hear the story of mine. At the same time, I can predict that there are many people thrown out of the meeting places, because of me. They may be killed because they put their faith in me. They may die because they truly understand the Father that I represent. I just need to tell you these things so that you would keep your faith and your good understanding. Be strong. Do not give up your good understanding on how compassionate your Father is. Now I am on my way to the Father who sent me. Everything the Father has is mine. Let me say it again: It's better for you that I leave. If I leave, your Friend will 44 come. When I go, I'll send the Holy Spirit to you. When the Spirit comes, the Spirit will show everything. The Spirit will show who I really am. The Spirit will show that the righteousness comes from above. The Spirit will show you good judgments. The Spirit will tell you many things. The Spirit of the Truth will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. This Friend make you understand what is about to happen, including all I have done and said. The Spirit will honor me. This Friend will take from me and deliver it to you. (Pause, Silence) In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me. Narrator: That stirred up a hornet's nest of questions among the students. The students are whispering among themselves. STUDENT #1: What did he say? “In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me”? STUDENT #2: What is this “day or so”? STUDENT #3: What is that supposed to mean “I'm on my way to the Father”? STUDENT #4: I don't know what he's talking about. Jesus: Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? It means that you're going to be in deep mourning for a day or so. You'll be sad, but your sadness will develop into great joy. When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there's no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy! This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you are going to have is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is even greater. When I see you again, you'll be full of joy, and it will be a joy all around. Then, all your questions will be answered. 45 I want you to do this: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he'll certainly give it to you. Your joy will be overflowed! I've used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon, I'll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I've revealed to you. You make your own requests to the Father in my name. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel back to the Father. You commit yourselves to love and trust in me. Believe I came directly from the Father. And the Father loves you directly. THE STUDENTS: Finally! You're giving it to us straight, in plain talk. Now we know that you know everything. Everything comes together in you. You even answer our hidden questions. We're convinced you came from God. Jesus: You believe at last! But listen, you're about to make a run for it to save your life. But don‟t think that I was abandoned. I'm not abandoned. The Father is with me. I've told you all this so that you can trust in me. I want you to have a deep peace. You will experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world. 17 Narrator: After teaching people to have faith, Jesus moves around and starts praying. Jesus: Daddy, it's time. Glorify your Son, so the Son in turn may glorify you. I glorified you on earth by completing what you assigned me to do. And now, Dad, glorify me with your very own glory, the very glory I had with you before there was a world. You put me in charge of every human being, so I might give real and eternal life to all. What is the real and eternal life? That is, they know you, the one and only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 46 I spelled out your character in detail to the men and women you gave me. They were yours in the first place; then you gave them to me, and they have now done what you said. They know now that everything I said is from you. The same message you gave me, I gave them; and they took it, and were convinced that I came from you. They believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I'm praying for those you gave me, for they are yours. Everything mine is yours, and yours mine, and my life is on display in them. I'm no longer going to be visible in the world, but they' will. Daddy, guard them as they pursue this life of mine. May they be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind. As long as I was with them, I guarded them. I even posted a night watch. Now I'm returning to you. I'm saying these things in the world's hearing, so my people can experience my joy completed in them. I gave them your word. Guard them. They are defined by who I am. Make them holy, with the truth. Your word is the truth. In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. I purified myself for their sakes so they'll be truly purified in their mission. I'm praying not only for them but also for those who will believe in me, because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, so they'll be as unified and together as we are: I in them and you in me. Then they'll be mature in this oneness, and give the world evidence that you've sent me and loved them in the same way you've loved me. Daddy, I want those you gave me to be with me, right where I am. So they can see my glory, you gave me, having loved me long before there ever was a world. 47 O, Good Daddy, my students know that you sent me. I have made your very being known to them, who you are and what you do. Continue to make it known, so that your love for me might be in them exactly as I am in them. 18 Jesus (V.O.) : It was at night. With my students I went to a place where there was a garden. Judas knew the place because we went there often. So Judas led people to the garden. When they arrived there, I went out and met them, knowing by now everything that was coming down on me. JESUS : Who are you after? THE GUNMEN: Jesus. Jesus: That's me. Jesus (V.O.): They recoiled, totally taken aback. Judas, his betrayer, stood out like a sore thumb. Jesus: Who are you after? THE GUNMAN: Jesus. JESUS : I told you. That's me. I'm the one. So if it's me you're after, let these others go. Jesus (V.O.): Just then Simon Rock, who was carrying a gun, pulled it out and struck a young man, hurting him bad. Now every gunman is pointing to Peter and other students. Jesus: Put back your gun. I told you that I'm going to drink this cup the Father gave me. JESUS (V.O.): Then the gunmen joined by the other people, seized me and tied me up. They took me first to the religious leaders. One of them was Caiaphas who had advised that it was to their advantage that one man dies for the people. 48 Simon Rock and John followed me. John also went in with me to the secret courtyard. Rock had to stay outside. Then John went out, spoke to the doorkeeper, and got Rock in. The young woman who was the doorkeeper said to Rock: THE YOUNG WOMAN: Aren't you one of this man's students? ROCK: No! I'm not! JESUS (V.O.): The night workers and police had made a fire because of the cold and were huddled there warming themselves. Rock stood with them, trying to get warm. In the mean time, the leaders interrogated me regarding my students and my teaching. JESUS : I've spoken all in public. I've taught regularly in meeting places and the churches, where everyone was welcomed. Everything has been out in the open. I've said nothing in secret. So why are you treating me like a conspirator? Question those who have been listening to me. They know well what I have said. My teachings have all been aboard. Jesus (V.O.): One of the gunmen standing there slapped me across the face. THE GUNMAN: How dare you speak to our leader like that! Jesus: If I've said something wrong, prove it. But if I've spoken the truth, why are you slapping me? Jesus (V.O.): Meanwhile, Simon Rock was back at the fire, still trying to get warm. THE OTHERS: Aren't you one of his students? 49 ROCK: Not me! Jesus (V.O.): One of the maids, a relative of the man whom Rock swing his arm again said: THE MAID: Didn't I see you in the garden with him? JESUS (V.O.): Again, Rock denied it. Just then a rooster crowed. After this, they led me to an office. It was early morning. They themselves didn't enter the office. Instead, Pilate came out to them and spoke. PILATE: Why are you bringing him to me? CAIAPHAS: He has done something evil. Sorry for bothering you. PILATE: You take him. Judge him by your law. CAIAPHAS: We're not allowed to kill anyone. Jesus (V.O.): It went like this until next morning. Then, Pilate went back into the palace and called for me. PILATE: You are 'President of the world' or something, right? Jesus: Are you saying this on your own, or you saw me on TV? PILATE: Do I look like religious? Your religious people turned you over to me! What did you do? Jesus: My kingdom doesn't consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn't be handed over to you. But I'm a different kind of leader, I should say. PILATE: So, you are a leader. Jesus: You tell me. Because I am a leader, I was born and entered the world so 50 that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice. PILATE: What is truth? Jesus (V.O.): Then he went back out to the religious people and told them: PILATE: I find nothing wrong in this man. I think it is a time when I release some of my prisoners. Do you want me to pardon the Leader? CAIAPHAS: Not this one, but Barabbas!" JESUS (V.O.): Barabbas was a freedom fighter. 19 Narrator: After all the talks, Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. The soldiers, having braided a crown from thorns, set it on his head, threw a purple robe over him, and approached him with, "Your Majesty!" Then they greeted him with slaps in the face. Pilate went back out again and said to the religious folks. PILATE: I present him back to you. I want you to know that I don‟t want to deal with him any more. Narrator: Just then Jesus came out wearing the thorn crown and purple robe. PILATE: Here he is: the Man. JESUS (V.O.): When the religious people saw me, they shouted in frenzy, "Crucify! Crucify!" PILATE: You take him. You crucify him. I find nothing wrong with him. CAIAPHAS: We have a law, and by that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God. 51 JESUS (V.O.): When Pilate heard this, he became even more scared. He went back into the palace and said to me: PILATE: Where did you come from? Jesus: (Silence) PILATE: You won't talk? Don't you know that I can release you secretly or secretly kill you? Jesus: You don‟t have any authority over me except what has been given you from heaven. That's why the one who betrayed me to you has committed a far greater fault. JESUS (V.O.): At this, Pilate tried his best to release me, but the religious shouted him down: The Religious: If you release this man, we are going to go to your boss and settle with him. JESUS (V.O.): When Pilate heard those words, he led me outside. He sat down for awhile. The hour was noon. He tried again. PILATE: Here is your Leader. CAIAPHAS: (They shouted back) Kill him! Kill him! JESUS (V.O.): Pilate caved in to their demand. He turned me over to be killed. They took me away. I went out to the place, where they killed me. Pilate wrote a sign. It read: Jesus the Leader. JESUS (V.O.): When they killed me, the gunmen took my clothes and divided them up four ways, to each gunman a fourth. But for my jacket they said to each other, "Let's not tear it up. Let's throw dice to see who gets it." This confirmed the Bible that said, "They divided up my clothes among them and threw dice for 52 my jacket." My mother, my aunt, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene found me as I was dieing. I saw my mother and John near her. I said to my mother: Jesus: …lady, here is your son… (Turning to John) Jesus: …Here is your mother, John… JESUS (V.O.): From that moment John accepted her as his own mother. They threaten and push away my mother and others. Seeing that everything had been completed as so that the Bible record might also be complete, I said, "I'm thirsty." A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine and put it to my mouth. After I took the wine, I said, "It's done . . . complete." Bowing my head, I release my spirit. Then the gunmen came and saw that I was dead already. One of the gunmen stabbed me in the side with his knife. Blood and water gushed out. After all this, Joseph persuades everyone to take the body of mine. Joseph wanted to give me a nice burial at least. Nicodemus, who had first come to me at night, came also in broad daylight to help him. They took my body and, wrapped it in linen. There was a garden near the place. In the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. This tomb was convenient for them. So they placed me in it. 20 Jesus: Early in the Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw something strange. She ran at once to Simon Rock and John, breathlessly panting, MARY MAGDALENE: They took our Leader from the tomb. We don't know 53 where they've put him. JESUS (V.O.): Rock and John left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. John got to the tomb first. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen lying there, but he didn't go in. Simon Rock arrived after him, entered the tomb, and observed the linen lying there, and the kerchief used to cover a head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded. Then John went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet understood from the Bible that I had to rise from the dead. My students then went back their secret place. But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where the body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. ONE ANGEL: Woman, why are you crying? MARY: They took my Leader away, and I don't know where they put him. Jesus: Lady, why do you crying? Who are you looking for? MARY: Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him. Jesus: Mary! MARY: (She turned toward Jesus and cried out.) My teacher! Jesus: Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go ahead to my students and tell them, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” JESUS (V.O.): Mary Magdalene went to the students with the news at a hiding place. 54 MARY: I saw the Lord! JESUS (V.O.): And she told them everything I said to her. Later on that day, the students had gathered together, but, fearful, had locked all the doors in the house. I entered, stood among them. JESUS : Peace be with you! JESUS (V.O.) : I showed them my hands and side. My students, seeing me, with their own eyes, were exuberant. JESUS : Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you. (Then Jesus took a deep breath and breathed into them.) Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they're gone forever, now. If you don't forgive sins, they are not forgiven. JESUS (V.O.): But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when I came. So, the other students told him: OTHER STUDENT: We saw the Leader. THOMAS: Unless I see the bullet holes, and put my finger in them, I won't believe it. JESUS (V.O.): Eight days later, my students were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. I came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you!" Then I look at Thomas. Jesus: Take your finger and examine my body. Take your hand and stick it in my side. No more doubting but believe. THOMAS: My Lord! My God! Jesus: So, you believe because you've seen with your own eyes. Even better 55 blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing. JESUS (V.O.): I provided far more God-revealing signs to them so that they will believe that I am the Leader, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way I revealed it. 21 Jesus: After my resurrection, I appeared to the students again and again. Once, I did like this. Simon Rock, Thomas, Nat, John and James, and two other students were together. SIMON ROCK: I'm going fishing. THE REST: We're going with you. That will be fun. Jesus (V.O.): They went out and got in the boat. They caught nothing that night. When the sun came up, I showed up standing on the beach. But they didn't recognize me who was about a hundred yards away. Jesus: Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast? SIMON ROCK: Not yet! JESUS: Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens. JESUS (V.O.): They did what I said. All of a sudden there were so many fish in it. They weren't able to pull it in. JOHN: It's our Leader! JESUS (V.O.): When Simon Rock heard that it was me, he threw on some clothes, and dove into the sea. The other students came in by boat, pulling along the net full of fish. When they got out of the boat, they saw a fire laid, with fish and bread cooking on it. 56 JESUS : Bring some of the fish you've just caught. JESUS (V.O.): Simon Rock joined them and pulled the net to shore. JOHN: It is 153 big fish! And even with all those fish, the net didn't rip! JESUS: Ok! Breakfast is ready. JESUS (V.O.): Not one of my students asked, "Who are you?" They knew it was me. I then took the bread and gave it to them. I did the same with the fish. This was now the third time I had shown myself alive to the students since being raised from the dead. I was having a really good time with them. After breakfast, I said to Simon Rock. JESUS: Simon Johnson, do you truly love me more than these? ROCK: Yes, my Leader, you know I love you. JESUS: Feed my lambs. Simon, Johnson, do you truly love me? ROCK: Yes, Sir, you know that I love you. JESUS: Shepherd my sheep. Simon, Johnson, do you love me? JESUS (V.O.): Rock was getting embarrassed because I kept on asking. ROCK: My teacher, you know everything. You know that I love you. JESUS: Feed my sheep. 57 Rock, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted, but when you are old, someone will lead you where you do not want to go. JESUS (V.O.): I sort of indicate the kind of death by which Rock would glorify me. JESUS: Rock, Follow me! JESUS (V.O.): Turning his head, Rock noticed John following right behind. ROCK: My teacher, what's going to happen to him? JESUS: If I want him to live until I come again, what's that to you? You follow me. JESUS (V.O.): Then later, a rumor got out that John may not die. But that is not what I said. I simply said, "If I want him to live until I come again, what's that to you?” That is it! There are other things I did, while I am with them. But let‟s stop here, because if I explain everything, it will take a long time. So, good night! See you soon. (Jesus walks away.) THE END 58