Chapter 14

"What did he call himself?" asked Caiaphas, who sat in on his throne with Annas on his shoulder.

"The bread of life." replied the tiger in the orange suit. "He said that he's the bread of life, and whoever eats from it will never hunger or thirst again."

"What is this guy, some kind of cannibal?" squawked Annas, who flew off Caiaphas' shoulder and onto the chair. "He says you must eat the bread of life, and then he says you have to eat from his body!"

"Maybe he means it in a metaphorical sense?" inquired the orange suit.

"Shut up…" muttered Caiaphas, who's face turned sour. He then got up from his throne and began walking around. "This White Lion is starting to confuse me beyond words. It's not bad enough he's making us look corrupt, now he's introducing strange philosophies to the people!" He saw the tiger was still there. "What else do you have to say?"

"Well," replied the orange suit. "The Passover is coming up in a few days and we have to head to Zootropolis. Do you want to take private or public transport?"

"What do you think?" asked Annas huffily. "Private! Caiaphas can't ride with the common, meager crowd!"

"Also," the tiger spoke. "The White Lion and his cohorts are planning on going to Zootropolis, so I was thinking we could go ahead of them and make 'preparations' for their arrival."

"Good idea…" said Caiaphas. "And here I was thinking you were an idiot!"

"I have my moments…" replied the orange suit. He was about to leave, but then he stopped and turned around. "I also have one last bit of news: Mayor Lionheart has returned from business. Pilate is now back in Zootropolis with his police force."

A grim smile slowly spilled onto Caiaphas' face as the orange suited tiger left the room. "This is very good news," he said darkly. "Now the plan to kill the White Lion can be set in motion…"

"But Caiaphas…" said Annas, who looked somewhat worried. "If we arrest him and kill him when he gets there, there will be riots in the street."

"Don't worry; I have a plan for that…" replied Caiaphas. "We simply arrest him on the Passover, at night, when everyone is sleeping. When we do that, nobody will be there to stop us."

"Good plan…" said Annas.

"Yes… Now, go and have my transport prepared; I want to Zootropolis as early as I can."

"Yes sir…" Annas replied. He bowed his head and flew out the open doors of the temple. Caiaphas slunk back to his throne and sat down, tapping his fingers on the arm of his throne in a dull, droning tap.

The next night, Jesus, Judy, Nick, Finnick, Judy's parents, the disciples, and the other followers of Jesus were hanging out on the outskirts of Zootopia. They had lit some campfires, were eating dinner, and chatting with each other. Then the disciples ended up getting in a heated debate over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the leader of God's army.

"If anybody's going to be the leader of God's army, it's going to be me!" said Judas, pointing at himself.

Peter laughed sarcastically and said, "You? You're a hyena! Hyenas are low-down, no good poachers! If anybody is going to be the true leader, it's definitely me!"

"We're forgetting the most important thing, though!" Andrew spoke. "I was the first one to follow him! I should be leader! Plus, I'm the strongest disciple he has!"

"Says you! I'm stronger than you two gorillas combined!" said Bartholomew. "I should be the leader!"

"Oh yeah?" asked Judas. "Why don't we ask the White Lion who's gonna be the greatest when he gets back?"

"Good idea, Judas!" said Thaddeus. "You ask him then!"

The disciples turned around and saw the White Lion come towards the campfire; he carried a bundle of sticks on his shoulder, as if he was just a helper and not the leader of them all. He bent down, put the sticks down near the fire, and started putting them on it.

"Uh, teacher?" asked Judas as he came towards the White Lion. "We want to know, who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

Jesus got up and wiped his hands on his jacket. "You all want to know?" he asked.

They nodded and said their agreements, and Jesus raised his hand to quiet them. He then said, "Alright, I'll tell you."

He went over to a family of snow leopards, and spoke to the mother. The mother nodded and gently handed him her 4-year-old cub, whom she was carrying.

The White Lion held the cub in his arms and said, "Unless you become like a cub, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." He gently placed the cub down, and all the disciples looked at him. The young snow leopard cub then hid shyly behind the White Lion's leg, who patted him on the head gently and said, "Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this young cub is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." He then gently picked the cub up and returned him to his mother's arms.

The disciples looked at each other in amazement at the White Lion's message. Then, over near a campfire, the wolf wearing the red suit yelled, "Hey teacher, come sit with us!"

The White Lion smiled and accepted the invitation. He went over to the campfire with the disciples following. Near the campfire sat Judy, Nick, Finnick, Judy's parents, and the Wolf wearing the red suit. Jesus sat down between Judy and the wolf with the red suit.

"How are you doing, Asa?" asked Jesus.

"Good." The wolf in the red suit, Asa, replied. "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you some questions. I'll be honest, I want to test you and see what you know."

"Alright." replied the White Lion. "Go ahead."

"Okay, well…" said Asa. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What does the law say about that?"

"Well, it says, 'You shall love the lord your God will all your heart, soul, strength, and mind', and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'."

"Correct." said the White Lion.

"But who exactly is my neighbor?" asked Asa.

And when he asked that, Jesus began a parable.

There was a camel on his way from Zootropolis to Zoolopolis. He took a shortcut through a canyon in the desert area to save time and get there faster. When suddenly, THIEVES ATTACKED HIM! They stripped him of his clothing, beat him to a pulp, stole his money, and then they left him for dead.

Now by chance, a turtle minister was going down that road, on his way to visit a friend in Zoolopolis. When he saw that poor camel lying there, looking half-dead, he passed by on the other side. He did that because he believed it was wrong to touch a dead body.

Then there came along a hippo temple assistant. When he saw the camel lying there, he passed by on the other side, because he was late for a meeting with the other assistants.

Then there came along a traveling 'Hyaenidae' who was journeying down that road.

"You gotta be kidding me…" said Stu. "A hyena came along? They throw rocks at me when I'm out in the field, and I even heard those guys eat dead bodies! He's not going to help; he's just kill that poor camel and eat him!"

"Dad!" said Judy. Bonnie grasped Stu's hand firmly, telling him to stop speaking. He did quiet down, but stop speaking completely when he saw Judas looking at him with a 'Stop talking about my species that way, or I'm gonna eat you alive' look.

Jesus sighed inwardly and then continued the parable.

He saw the poor camel lying there, and took pity on him. He went to him and cleaned his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them and then tearing his own shirt to make bandages. He then took him to an inn, and took care of him.

On the next day, when he was about to depart, he took out $200, gave it to the innkeeper, and said to him, "Take care of this camel; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you."

"Now then, which of these three was the camel's neighbor?" asked Jesus as he finished the parable.

"I guess… the one who showed him mercy." replied Asa.

Jesus nodded and said, "Then go and do likewise."