The Easter Story
As told in the Aquarian Gospel
Chapter1: The Betrayal
- The Lord with the eleven were in the
orchard of Massalian, and as they talked they
saw a band of men with lanterns and with
swords and clubs approaching them. - And Jesus said, Behold the emissaries of
the evil one! and Judas leads the way. - And the disciples said,
Lord, let us flee to save our lives. - But Jesus said, Why
should we flee to save our lives
when this is the fulfilment of
the words of prophets and of
seers? - And Jesus went alone to
meet the men; and as they came
he said, Why are you here, you
men? whom do you seek? - And they replied, We seek
the man from Galilee. We seek
for Jesus, one who calls himself
the Christ. - And Jesus answered, Here
am I. - And then he raised his
hands and with a mighty
thought he brought the ethers
to the state of light; and all the
orchard was aglow with light. - The frenzied men were
driven back and many fled and
tarried not until they reached
Jerusalem; and others fell upon
their faces on the ground. - The bravest men, and
they with hardest hearts,
remained, and when the light
had paled, the Lord again
inquired, Whom do you seek? - And Ananias said, We
seek the man from Galilee; we
seek for Jesus, he who calls
himself the Christ. - And Jesus answered him
and said, I told you once before;
but now I tell you once again
that I am he. - By Ananias, Judas stood;
but in a moment he had gone
and coming up behind the Lord
he said, My Lord; and then he
kissed him as a sign that he was
Jesus whom they sought. - And Jesus said, Do you, Iscariot, come
and thus betray your master with a kiss? - This thing must need be done; but woe
to him who does betray his Lord. - Your carnal greed has seared your
conscience and you know not what you do;
but in a little time your conscience will assert
itself, and in remorse, lo, you will close your
span and take your life. - Then the eleven came, laid hold of Judas
and would have done him harm; but Jesus said, - You must not harm this man; you have
no right to judge this man; his conscience is his
judge, will sentence him and he
will execute himself. - And then the mob led
on by Malchus, servant of
Caiaphas, laid hold of Jesus, and
was binding him with chains. - And Jesus said, Why do
you come in dead of night with
swords and clubs to take me in
this sacred place? - Have I not spoken in
the public places of Jerusalem?
Have I not healed you sick, and
opened up your blinded eyes,
and made your lame to walk,
your deaf to hear? You could
have found me any day. - And now you try to bind
me down with chains, what are
these chains but links of reeds?
And then he raised his hands;
the chains were broken and
they fell to earth. - And Malchus thought
the Lord would flee to save his
life, and with a club he fain
would smite him in the face. - But Peter had a sword,
and rushing up he smote the
man and wounded him. - But Jesus said, Stay,
Peter, stay; put up your sword;
you are not called to fight with
swords and clubs. Whoever
wields the sword shall perish by
the sword. - I do not need protection
by the sons of men, for I could
call this moment and a legion,
yea, twelve legions of the
messengers of God, would come
and stand in my defence; but
then it is not well. - And then he said to
Malchus, Man, I would not have
you harmed. And then he laid
his hand upon the wound that
Peter made, and it was healed. - Then Jesus said, Be not
concerned lest I should tear
myself away from you and flee
to save my life. I have no wish to
save my life; do with me as you
wish. - And then the mob
rushed up to seize the eleven
to take them back to stand for
trial as the aids of Jesus in his
crimes. - But the disciples, every
one of them, deserted Jesus, and
they fled to save their lives. - Now, John was last
to flee; the mob laid hold of
him and tore his garments all
to shreds; but he escaped in
nakedness. - Massalian saw the man,
and took him to his home and
gave him other clothes; and
then he followed after them
who led the Lord away. - And Peter was ashamed
because of his weak cowardice,
and when he was himself
again he joined with John and
followed close behind the mob,
and came into Jerusalem.