"James the Son of Zebedee On the Kingdoms of the World" 


Upon a day in the spring of the year Jesus stood in the market-place of Jerusalem and He
spoke to the multitudes of the kingdom of heaven. And He accused the scribes and the
Pharisees of setting snares and digging pitfalls in the path of those who long after the
kingdom; and He denounced them. 

Now amongst the crowd was a company of men who defended the Pharisees and the scribes,
and they sought to lay hands upon Jesus and upon us also. 

But He avoided them and turned aside from them, and walkked towards the north gate of the
city. 

And He said to us, "My hour has not yet come. Many are the things I have still to say unto you,
and many are the 
deeds I shall yet perform ere I deliver myself up to the world." 

Then He said, and there was joy and laughter in His voice, "Let us go into the North Country
and meet the spring. 
Come with me to the hills, for winter is past and the snows of Lebanon are descending to the
valleys to sing with the 
brooks. "The fields and the vineyards have banished sleep and are awake to greet the sun
with their green figs and tender grapes." 

And He walked before us and we followed Him, that day and the next. 

And upon the afternoon of the third day we reached the summit of Mount Hermon, and there
He stood looking down upon the cities of the plains. 

And His face shone like molten gold, and He outsretched His arms and He said to us, "Behold
the earth in her green raiment, and see how the streams have hemmed the edges of her
garments with silver. 
"In truth the earth is fair and all that is upon her is fair. "But there is a kingdom beyond all that
you behold, and therein I shall rule. And if it is your choice, and if it is indeed your desire, you
too shall come and rule with me. 

"My face and your faces shall not be masked; our hand shall hold neither sword nor sceptre,
and our subjects shall 
love us in peace and shall not be in fear of us." 

Thus spoke Jesus, and unto all the kingdoms of the earth I was blinded, and unto all the cities
of walls and towers; 
and it was in my heart to follow the Master to His kingdom. 
Then just at that moment Judas of Iscariot stepped forth. And he walked up to Jesus, and
spoke and said, "Behold, the kingdoms of the world are vast, and behold the cities of David
and Solomon shall prevail against the Romans. If you will be the king of the Jews we shall
stand beside you with sword and shield and we shall ovecome the alien." 

But when Jesus heard this He turned upon Judas, and His face was filled with wrath. And He
spoke in a voice terrible as the thunder of the sky and He said, "Get you behind me, Satan.
Think you that I came down the years to rule an ant-hill for a day? 

"My throne is a throne beyond your vision. Shall he whose wings encircle the earth seek
shelter in a nest abandoned and forgotten? 

"Shall the living be honored and exalted by the wearer of shrouds?" 

"My kingdom is not of this earth, and my seat is not builded upon the skulls of yor ancestors. 

"If you seek aught save the kingdom of the spirit then it were better for you to leave me here,
and go down to the caves of your dead, where the crowned heads of yore hold court in their
tombs and may still be bestowing honors upon the bones of your forefathers. 

"Dare you tempt me with a crown of dross, when my forehead seeks the Pleiades, or else your
thorns? 

"Were it not for a dream dreamed by a forgotten race I would not suffer your sun to rise upon
my patience, nor 
your moon to throw my shadow across your path. 

"Were it not for a mother's desire I would have stripped me of the swaddling-clothes and
escaped back to space. 
"And were it not for sorrow in all of you I would not have stayed to weep. 

"Who are you and what are you, Judas Iscariot? And why do you tempt me? 
"Have you in truth weighed me in the scale and found me one to lead legions of pygmies, and
to direct chariots of 
the shapeless against an enemy that encamps only in your hatred and marches nowhere but
in your fear? 
"Too many are the worms that crawl about me feet, and I will give them no battle. I am weary
of the jest, and weary 
of pitying the creepers who deem me coward because I will not move among their guarded
walls and towers. 
"Pity it is that I must needs pity to the very end. Would that I could turn my steps towards a
larger world where  larger men dwell. But how shall I? 

"Your priest and your emperor would have my blood. They shall be satisfied ere I go hence. I
would not change the 
course of the law. And I would not govern folly. 

"Let ignorance reproduce itself until it is weary of its own offspring. 

"Let the blind lead the blind to the pitfall. 

"And let the dead bury the dead till the earth be choked with its own bitter fruit. 

"My kingdom is not of the earth. My kingdom shall be where two or three of you shall meet in
love, and in wonder 
at the loveliness of life, and in good cheer, and in remembrance of me." 

Then of a sudden He turned to Judas, and He said, "Get you behind me, man. Your kingdoms
shall never be in my kingdom." 

And now it was twilight, and He turned to us and said, "Let us go down. The night is upon us.
Let us walk in light while the light is with us." 

Then He went down from the hills and we followed Him. And Judas followed afar off. 

And when we reached the lowland it was night. 
And Thomas, the son of Diophanes, said unto Him, "Master, it is dark now, and we can no
longer see the way. If it is in your will, lead us to the lights of yonder village where we may
find meat and shelter." 

And Jesus answered Thomas, and He said, "I have led you to the heights when you were
hungry, and I have 
brought you down to the plains with a greater hunger. But I cannot stay with you this night. I
would be alone." 

Then Simon Peter stepped forth, and said: Master, suffer us not to go alone in the dark. Grant
that we may stay with you even here on this byway. The night and the shadows of the night
will not linger, and the morning shall soon find us if you will but stay with us." 

And Jesus answered, "This night the foxes shall have their holes, and the birds of the air their
nests, but the Son of Man has not where on earth to lay His head. And indeed I would now be
alone. Should you desire me you will find me again by the lake where I found you." 

Then we walked away from Him wuth heavy hearts, for it was not in our will to leave Him. 

Many times did we stop and turn our faces towards Him, and we saw him in lonely majesty,
moving westward. 

The only man among us who did not turn to behold Him in His aloneness was Judas Iscariot. 

And from that day Judas became sullen and distant. And methought there was danger in the
sockets of his eyes.