Chapter 19
Judas walked down the hall that lead to the courtyard of the temple, thinking his decision over. He felt that this was only way out, and that keeping to the White Lion's ideals was going to be the death of everybody! Forget everybody; It was going to be the death of him! Judas felt that he had a lot more to live for, and that he wasn't going to be killed off in the prime of his life. In his own opinion, something had to be done!
He went up the steps and into the courtyard; Luckily for him, the White Lion wasn't there teaching this time. As Judas crept through the yard, he did his best to avoid eye contact with any of the teachers there. He then went into the temple and up to the reception desk, which was the first thing he saw when he entered.
The receptionist, a female pig with blonde hair and wearing a black dress and reading glasses, looked up from the magazine she was reading and saw the hyena standing in front of her. "How may I help you?" she asked, looking at him incredulously.
"I would like to speak with one of your people in charge, please…" Judas replied, grinning nervously.
The receptionist picked up the receiver of the phone on her desk. She then tapped a few numbers into the base, all the while keeping an eye on Judas. She then spoke into it and said, "Mr. Caiaphas, a hyena is here to see you. I think he's one of the followers of Jesus. Should I send him in?"
She was quiet for a few seconds, and then she put the phone down. She then looked at Judas and said, "The religious leaders will see you now. Go down the left hall, take a right, and you'll see some stairs. Go up those stairs, and you'll find the meeting room; that's where Caiaphas and the leaders will be."
"Thank you…" Judas replied, hissing through nervous smile. He then skulked away from the receptionist desk and made his way down the left hall. He took a right and came upon some stairs, of which he climbed up. He then came upon some large doors, opened them, and walked into the meeting room.
Caiaphas, Annas, Pelaiah, and Gehazi were in the meeting room. Three of them were sitting at one end of the table, while Annas was on Caiaphas' shoulder. They watched as Judas walked in, and slowly took a seat at the other end of the meeting table.
"Well, well, well…" squawked Annas, as he flew off Caiaphas' shoulder and onto the table. "It's a disciple of the White Lion…"
"The traitor…" Caiaphas muttered under his breath. He then cleared his throat and said aloud, "Welcome, disciple of Jesus. May I have your name?"
"Judas…" Judas replied, nervously fiddling with his fingers. "Judas Iscariot…"
"And why have you come to us, Mr. Iscariot?" asked Gehazi.
"I came because… I want to help!" Judas replied. "I realize now that I am on the wrong side! The intentions of the White Lion are not what I thought they would be!"
"And what did you think his intentions would be?" asked Pelaiah.
"I thought he would be about freedom, doing away with people such as Pilate and… well, you people! No offense, of course!"
"None taken." Caiaphas responded, raising his hand/paw.
"But he's not about that!" Judas continued. "He's not about war or toppling the strongholds of our enemies! He's about loving your neighbor as yourself, giving to the mayor what belongs to the mayor, loving your enemies! I can't follow that! All that his teachings will do is get us killed! I'm the only one who sees it!"
"And so, you have come to us?" asked Annas.
"Yes… I have come to turn him in. But I just want to know one thing; Am I doing what's right?"
"Of course, you are!" replied Caiaphas. "What you are doing will be the saving of Zootropolis and Zootopia! In fact, all of the country will be saved by what you have done!"
"That's good to know…" Judas replied. Then he asked, "What… would you be willing… to pay me?"
A grim smile came over the old coyote's face. He stood up, reached under the table, and pulled out a sack. He placed it on the table and slid it over to Judas, who caught it. He opened it, and a smile came over his face as he saw the shining glimmer of silver coins!
"Thirty pieces of silver… proper payment for our informant!" Caiaphas beamed.
Judas closed the sack and looked up at Caiaphas. "It's a deal…" he said with a grin. "The White Lion will be at the Gethsemane Gardens tomorrow night. At that time, I will come, and lead your men to him to be captured."
"Good…" Caiaphas replied, sitting back down in his seat. "Now go back to your fellow disciples and wait for us to enact our plan."
Judas stood up, bowed, and left with the sack of silver. As soon as he left, Caiaphas let out an evil chuckle and said, "Now the wheels have been set into motion; there's no going back after this. After we capture the White Lion, we will put him on trial. When we find him guilty of blasphemy, we will take him to Pilate and have him executed. Now all we to do is find out what would be a fitting execution for this blasphemer…"
"I have a most fitting idea…" said Gehazi. "Have you ever heard of… crucifixion?"
…
The next evening…
…
The White Lion, his disciples, and those who followed him arrived in the evening at the house of one of his followers for dinner. After a long day of teaching, preaching, and healing, the group was about to drop from exhaustion!
"Whew!" Peter sighed as he dropped onto a couch. "What a day!"
"Yeah…" Simon replied, lying down on the floor near the couch. "Nothing like walking around Zootropolis, preaching the word and helping others out. Gives you quite a workout!"
"You can say that again." Andrew spoke as he sat down next to Peter. He sighed tiredly, undid his shoe, and pulled off his sock. He then started rubbing his foot. "Boy, are my feet sore. What I wouldn't give to have somebody wash my feet!"
"Hear, hear!" said Phillip, as he sat down in a cross-legged position by Simon.
"Yeah, I could go for somebody cleaning my feet." Simon replied, sitting up. He saw the White Lion walk by and said, "Hey Jesus, think you can get a servant or somebody to wash our feet?"
"Yes; I can do that." The White Lion replied.
"Alrighty…" said Peter, taking off his shoes and socks.
The White Lion walked by Judy, Nick, and Finnick, who were in the kitchen chatting with Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. He caught their attention when he took off his jacket, folded it, laid it down on the counter, and then tied a towel around his waist. He then went to the kitchen sink, pulled out a large bowl from the cabinet under it, and then started filling the bowl with water.
"What's he up to?" asked Nick.
"Looks like he's going to be cleaning his disciples' feet." replied Mary, the mother of Jesus.
"What?" asked Judy, perplexed. "But, he's the White Lion, the son of God! He can't be cleaning others' feet; that's the job of a servant!"
"However, he once told me that the greatest of these, is the least of these…" Finnick spoke up. "So, I guess being a servant makes him a king."
"Good point…" Judy replied, scratching her head in amazement.
They then watched as the White Lion stopped the water, and then carried the bowl into the living room and laid it down at Peter's feet.
When Peter realized what Jesus was doing, he said, "Wait, you're going to wash my feet?"
"Yes." the White Lion replied, nodding his head.
All the disciples and guests who were there heard the reply and looked at him in shock. When the White Lion reached for his foot, Peter pulled back and stopped him. "Wait a minute; what are you doing?" he asked. "Shouldn't a servant be doing this?"
Jesus replied, "You don't understand what I'm doing now, but you will understand it later." He then reached for Peter's foot, but Peter pulled back again.
"My master is not going to be washing my feet! You're way too holy to be doing this!" Peter declared.
Jesus sighed, shook his head, and then said, "Peter, if I don't wash your feet, you will no longer be my disciple."
As soon as Peter heard that, he let Jesus take his foot and put it in the bowl of water. Jesus then took his other foot and put it in the bowl. After that, he began washing Peter's feet. Peter then said, "Lord, while you're at it, maybe you should wash my hands and head, too."
Jesus, who was still doing his work, replied, "Those who've bathed themselves are completely clean and don't have to clean themselves, except for their feet. All of you are clean…" he then paused for a few seconds. "Except for one…"
"One?" Peter asked. "Who?"
The door handle clicked, and everyone, except for Jesus, turned their attention to the door. The door creaked open, and Judas slinked in. He seemed kind of shifty, like he was hiding something important. And in all truth, he was.
"Judas?" asked Andrew. "Where have you been?"
"Uh…" Judas droned for a second, trying to think of an answer. "I… had to visit a sick relative of mine. Yeah; my cousin's not doing very good. Maybe it would be a good idea to pray for him, if that's what we're doing."
"Yeah, sure… Whatever you say…" Andrew replied with a shrug.
Everybody went back to what they were doing, while Judas took a seat at the table where they would eat supper. He then took noticed Jesus cleaning Peter's feet.
"The White Lion, washing our feet?" Judas asked himself. "I wonder what that's all about… Oh well, no matter. The White Lion will be dead soon, and then things will go back to the way they were." He then pulled out a silver coin from his back pocket. "The saving of Zootropolis and Zootopia…" he stared intently at the coin. "And all because of me…"
…
After Peter's feet had been cleansed, Andrew was next. After him, James, and then John. And so, on and so on, until he had cleaned all his disciples' feet. After he was done, he took off the towel, put his jacket back on, and sat down at the head of the dinner table. The disciples then followed and sat at the table, as others either sat down on the floor or on the couch to eat and watch. Judy, Nick, and Finnick took a seat on the floor while Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus took a seat on the couch.
"Do you understand what I have done to you?" Jesus asked. "You call me Teacher and Lord, and what you say is true, for I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." The disciples looked at each other, and at all the other people around the room, when the White Lion said that. "I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."
After he said that, the people around the room nodded and said their agreements. The White Lion then raised his hand/paw, and the crowd quieted down. He then said, "I am not talking about all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.' Now I tell you before it happens, you will believe 'I AM WHO I AM.' I tell you the truth: he who receives whoever I send receives me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."
After the White Lion said this, he then looked out over the crowd, and then at his disciples. He then focused his gaze on Judas, and his spirit was troubled. "Also, I tell you the truth: one of you is going to betray me."
As soon as those words left his mouth, the people became upset and began speaking to one another about who it may be.
John, who was sitting beside Jesus, asked, "Lord, who is going to betray you?"
Jesus then raised his hand/paw and the crowds quieted down. The White Lion then said, "The one who is going to betray me will be the one that I give this piece of bread." He then dipped the bread in his wine, got up from his seat, and went to Judas, who was sitting at the end of the dinner table. He then handed Judas the bread, which caused the people and disciples to gasp in shock, and to speak to each other about him being a traitor. As soon as Judas took the bread, the devil entered his heart. Jesus then said, "Do what you are going to do, and be quick about it!"
Judas, with a look of hatred in his eyes, ate the bread in one gulp and ran out the door, into the night. Jesus stood there for a few seconds, watching the door that Judas had exited through. He then went back to his seat.
"He let him go!" Judy said quietly to Nick. "Why did he do that?"
"I don't know." Nick replied with the same hushed tone. "Maybe he's going to escape from those who come after him."
The White Lion then said, "Now the Son of God is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. I shall be with you a while longer, but where I am going you cannot follow. But, I give you a new commandment to follow: Love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love another. By this, all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
"Lord, where are you going?" Peter asked.
"Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward." Jesus replied.
"No! It's not going to happen that way!" Peter yelled, slamming his fist on the table. "I will be by your side the whole way! I will even lay down my life for you!"
"You're going to lay down your life for me?" the White Lion asked. "By the time that the rooster crows, you will have denied knowing me three times!"
A shocked expression came over Peter's face when he said that, and Peter became quiet. Jesus then picked up a piece of bread and, lifting it up above his head, prayed for it and broke it in two.
"Eat…" the White Lion said, as the disciples began to eat their own bread. "For this is my body, which has broken for you."
He then lifted a small grail of wine and prayed for it. After he did that, he took a sip and said, "Drink, for this my blood which has been poured out for you." The disciples then began drinking their wine. "This is the last time that I will be drinking wine with you, until my kingdom is established."
After he said that, he closed his eyes and breathed a heavy sigh; He knew what was coming.
…
After everybody had finished digesting their food, the White Lion came into the room that they were all waiting in.
"I would like all of us to go for a walk before the Passover is finished…" said Jesus, with a somewhat pained smile on his face. "Let us go to the Gethsemane Gardens; I find it very peaceful there."
"Alright then…" Peter replied. "To the Gethsemane Gardens."
Jesus nodded and then went out the door to wait for his disciples to get ready.
"Haven't you noticed that the White Lion looks like he's in pain?" Finnick asked.
"Yeah; that smile was a little too forced." Judy replied. "I wonder what's going to happen."
"I don't know, but something doesn't feel right." said Nick. "I think this is where the phrase 'THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM' comes in."
After he said that, the two foxes and one rabbit got up and followed the disciples and other followers out the door.
