Chapter 18
The next morning, the White Lion and his disciples returned to now cleansed temple. After attending the services, they went out into the courtyard, where the White Lion began teaching all those who would listen. Pretty soon, a great multitude of animals had gathered around Jesus, asking questions and listening to the wisdom he gave. However, the crowds also attracted unwanted attention, especially from the other teachers in the temple.
In the back of the large crowd, a familiar ram in a blue suit, a familiar weasel in a green suit, and a snow leopard in a black suit watched the White Lion. The snow leopard in the black suit listened thoughtfully to his words, while the ram and weasel sat there, a look of displeasure on their faces.
"Look at all of them…" muttered the ram. He then said mockingly, "Oh, how great is the White Lion! Look at how much knowledge he has! He may be the messiah; the one to save all of us!" He then sputtered his lips sarcastically. "Yeah right…"
"You know what he calls himself?" asked the weasel. "He calls himself the Son of God! The Son of God!"
"That's ridiculous!" replied the ram. "Forget ridiculous; It's blasphemy! Nobody is equal with God, especially not this white-furred know-it-all!"
"Maybe he is the Son of God…" said the snow leopard thoughtfully. "If he is, we should probably listen to him."
"I don't believe this!" growled the ram. "First, Asa accepts Jesus' teachings and follows him, and now you're going along with it! Can't you see this guy's a liar, Joash?!"
"Hey, nobody lost their souls by listening, Gehazi!" The snow leopard, Joash, replied. "Besides, what if what he says is true?! We could be sinning and too stubborn to even know it!"
"We're doing the work of God, and that means we do nothing wrong!" The ram, Gehazi, then looked over at the weasel and asked, "What do you think, Pelaiah?"
"I don't know about you two, but I think we should go up and question him!" The weasel, Pelaiah, replied.
"Yeah, like that's gonna work…" said Joash. He leaned against the pillar they were standing next to. "Every time one of us fought against him in a battle of wits, we were royally defeated! What makes you think that you two can face him and win?"
"I'll test him this time!" replied Pelaiah. "Besides, I know the one question that can trip him up! Follow my lead!"
"I'll just stay back here, thank you very much." replied Joash. "I know better than to rumble with this lion!"
"Alright you chicken, stay here in the coop!" muttered Pelaiah. "Gehazi, you're with me!"
Pelaiah and Gehazi went into the crowd of animals, pushing their way through until they came to the White Lion. When they came forward, they saw the White Lion was holding a young lamb in his arms, stroking its head gently. The young lamb was not frightened but sat peacefully in his arms, not objecting to him stroking its head.
"Who is this lion, that he can make a lamb sit peacefully in his arms with no fear?" Gehazi thought bewilderedly.
Pelaiah didn't like this touching scene, and he stepped forward and said, "White Lion, I have a question for you."
The White Lion looked up at him, and then he looked at the lamb's parents. He gently handed the child back to its mother, and then he looked back at Pelaiah and said, "Okay, what's your question?"
"Tell me; What right did you have to come in here and cause a scurry?" asked Pelaiah. "And who gave you this right, anyway?"
"I will ask you a question." Jesus replied, locking eyes with Pelaiah. "If you answer the question correctly, I will tell you what right I have to do these things."
"Alright, that seems fair enough…" Pelaiah huffed, crossing his arms. "What is it?"
"John the Baptist's baptism… did it come from heaven, or from earth?"
The prideful look on Pelaiah's face shrank away, replaced by one of fright. He then said, "Excuse me; I'm going to converse with my friend here about the answer to this particular question."
Jesus nodded while Pelaiah turned to Gehazi, and they began to talk among themselves.
"I don't know what to say!" Pelaiah whispered fiercely to Gehazi.
"Just tell him that it came from heaven." Gehazi whispered back.
"I can't! If I do, he'll ask me why I didn't believe John the Baptist; he'll make me look like a fool!"
"Then answer from men."
"I can't do that either! If I do, the people will hear me and be angry, for they thought of John as a prophet!"
"Oh man; he gave us an impossible question!" Gehazi growled under his breath. "What are you going to tell him?"
"I'll just tell him that I don't know; that way, we'll save face." Pelaiah replied. He then turned back to Jesus and said aloud, "I don't know the answer to your question."
"Then I'm not going to answer your question." the White Lion replied. Then, turning to the crowd, he began to tell a parable.
…
There was once a rich lion, and he planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it. He then built a winery and built a tower to guard it. He then hired tenants of different species to take care of it, and he then went off to a far country. Now at vintage-time, he sent a servant to check on the tenants, and to receive some of the fruit of the vineyard. The tenants grabbed the servant, beat him severely, and sent him back empty handed. He sent another servant, and that servant had stones thrown at him, and he was hit in the head. The servant then returned home, empty handed and beaten. He then sent another, and that servant was killed! He then sent many servants; Some were beaten, and some were outright killed!
Realizing that this was getting him nowhere, he sent his only son to go to the tenants, as he believed that they would respect his son. But the tenants heard the son was coming, they decided to kill him, as they thought they could have his inheritance if he was dead. So, when the son came, they killed him and threw him out of the vineyard!
…
"With his son dead, what will the rich lion do?" asked Jesus. "He will come, kill the tenants, and give the vineyard to others. As it said in the scriptures, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you." the White Lion pointed at Pelaiah and Gehazi, who pulled back in shock. "And given those who will produce fruit." he stretched his hand out to his disciples and the crowds of people. "He who falls on this stone will be broken, but whoever this stone falls onto, will be crushed!" and just to add emphasis, he slammed his fist into his hand.
Pelaiah and Gehazi, having lost the battle, moved away from the White Lion. While the crowds marveled at the wisdom Jesus had, the two animals went back to Joash.
"I tried to warn you…" Joash spoke, still leaning on the pillar. "But you two never listen to me." He then moved from the pillar and towards the temple gates.
Gehazi growled a curse under his breath toward Joash. He then said to Pelaiah, "Put a call in to Caiaphas; tell him that the situation grows worse for all of us."
Pelaiah nodded and pulled out a small cellphone from his pocket, to which he flipped open and dialed some numbers in. As for Gehazi, he stood there watching Jesus, angry at being humiliated in front of the crowds.
…
"You know I'm getting tired of hearing these phone calls!" Caiaphas said into his cellphone. He then paused to hear Pelaiah's reply. "Yeah, I know… Uh-huh… What did he ask you?... How could he ask such a ridiculous question?!… Oh, well that's just great… Yeah, I know… That's for me to know and you to hear later… Okay… Okay… Yeah alright, bye."
Caiaphas closed his cellphone and then threw it across his room in one quick motion. The cellphone smashed against the wall and broke in two, while the coyote let out a howl of anger.
Annas, who was napping on his perch, awoke when the cellphone got smashed. "Something vexes you?" he asked.
"What do you think, you idiot?!" Caiaphas growled, knocking down Annas' perch. Annas quickly flew up in time to avoid falling, and he fluttered over to the head of Caiaphas' bed, to which he sat on.
"I don't like it when you shove my perch, Caiaphas!" Annas squawked angrily. "Just because the White Lion is doing a lot better than we've ever done, doesn't give you the right to do something like that!"
"Oh, shut up…" Caiaphas muttered. He went over to the window of his chamber. He looked out into the courtyard and saw the White Lion, who was blessing and healing people. His plan to do away with the White Lion came back to him, and his rage subsided.
He turned back to Annas and asked, "You remember the plan, right?"
"Only after the first hundred times you said it!" Annas replied. "We hire a couple of Pilate's guards to bring him in, capture the White Lion under the cover of night, question him about his status as the son of God, bring him to Pilate in the morning, charge him with blasphemy, and have him sentenced to death! Easy as that!"
"Yes; it's very easy, isn't it?" Caiaphas asked, picking up Annas perch and setting it back to its original position.
"Thank you…" Annas replied to gesture, fluttering over and sitting on his perch. "Still though, no offense, I see a failure in this plan."
"How so?" Caiaphas asked, not offended.
"We don't know where the White Lion's going to be. We need to nab him at a secluded location, but he's been pretty much out in the open. How are we going to find him?"
"That's easy; we'll ask one of his followers." Caiaphas replied, going over to his dresser.
"Good luck with that!" Annas squawked. "Those guys absolutely, positively hate us! There is no way that they'll give up his position!"
"Oh, don't worry Annas…" Caiaphas said as he pulled out a sack from one of the drawers. He then went over to his bed, opened the sack, and poured out thirty pieces of silver. He picked one up and held it in front of himself. "There's always a traitor…" He said cryptically, before dropping the coin into the pile.
…
The traitor in question, Judas, had spent the whole night drinking. He was bothered by what the White Lion had said, and he thought getting drunk was the only way to cope. He was now walking through the Zootropolis streets, drunk and out of his mind.
"My mind is clearer now..." Judas sang drunkenly as he walked along the streets. "At last, all too well…" He hiccupped. "I can… SEE! Where we all… soon-SOON, will be! If you… strip, strip, strip away… the myth… from the WHITE LION! You will SEEEEEEEEEEEE…" He hiccupped again. "Where we all-" He then tripped and fell on the ground, somewhat laughing when he did.
"Give to the mayor, what belongs to the mayor!" Judas yelled drunkenly as he stood up. "Well, here you go, May-year!" He threw a bottle of alcohol that he had with him at the wall. "That's yours, May-year!" He laughed.
A newspaper than blew into his face, and he pulled it off to look at it. The newspaper was old, and it had a picture of his friends, Barabbas and Penance, handcuffed and on their knees, with Pilate's black-armored soldiers surrounding them and aiming their weapons. The headline read: 'UPRISING STOPPED, LEADERS CAPTURED AND AWAITING EXECUTION!'
"Heeeeyyyyy, my buddies are going to be executed!" Judas laughed drunkenly. Suddenly, the realization hit him. "My buddies are going to be executed!" He said, this time not laughing. He then dropped the newspaper, let out a loud yell of fright, and started running away drunkenly.
Suddenly, out of the shadows, Pilate's soldiers came upon him. They began beating him over and over till he was black and blue. Then they picked him up and brought him to Pilate. Pilate, who was standing above a crowd of people, yelled out, "Death!" and the black soldiers stripped Judas of his clothes. He was then grabbed and thrown on top of a wooden cross. The soldiers held him down, and one of them put a nail into his right paw. As the crowds cheered, one of the soldiers raised a hammer up high. Judas let out a scream of fear, and the soldier brought the hammer-
Judas awoke with a start; it was just a dream! He hadn't been captured, and he wasn't going to be nailed to a cross. He sat up and looked around; he was lying down in an alleyway, trashed from his all-night drinking. He looked at his right paw; no nail holes in it.
He sighed and said, "I can't do this anymore; It's either me or the White Lion! And It's not going to be me!" He looked around worriedly. "I have to get out of this! Maybe I should-" He gasped; An idea had come to his mind, and a slow grin came over his face. "That's it! I know what to do!"
He then got up from the alleyway, went out into the street, and started making his way to the temple.
