There was no answer.
And yet…he was not alone.
From the wind came a whisper. It was the blue Archangel, Satan.
‘Greetings, Son of God! You have lasted longer than I expected in that wretched temple. But rejoice! I have come to unlock the door and to let you out!’
‘You mean you have come to ensnare me in your prison!’ he said to him.
The God of Death seized him tenderly by the head to peer into his eyes. ‘Son of God, Alpha and Omega, Lamb of Lambs! You are deluded! Do you not see how much I love you? Look around you, where are your disciples? The moon herself hides her face and leaves you in darkness. Even the Holy Ghost is taking to its heels without so much as a god-speed! I alone have remained at your side in this dark hour, and I come to bring you sleep, rest and comfort!’
Satan’s blue, claw-like wings made to enfold him but he prised them away. ‘Leave me be! I will die in freedom!’
‘Stop joking, for God’s sake! There is no freedom in dying, only the necessity of the Father and I am his master craftsman! You might be His son by name, but you are a son to me by nature! You are stubborn and full of longing…like I am! Come then, give your father a kiss...now or later, what does it matter?’
His breath drew near.
‘Get away! If this body is to pass from me before my task is accomplished then let it be God’s will, not yours!’
The angel sighed, filling the whole world with shadows. ‘You wanted earthly life, you stooped to drink from my fountain – and you have drunk it dry! Now your flesh is drunk and your soul is drunk and you must succumb to my will! Let me take you home before you hurt yourself. Forget those fools you love, they have already forgotten you, for they do not love you like I do. The truth is that when I come into a room, memory goes out the door. You see, memory is a whore, she loves the man who pays her the most, and my purse is always full!’
Christ Jesus took in a breath and Satan slipped into it, filling the span of his lungs. Satan would have him breathe out, but he would not. When he could stand it no more his out-breath gave wings to Satan’s words,
‘I die!’
At that moment, the moon’s dark spectres floated away from her. Demons and ghosts and phantoms were drawn to him like vultures to dead meat. They came down in a gust of wind to encircle and enfold him in their shadows, called forth by Satan’s words in him.
Stripped bare of the living forces of the Holy Spirit by that creature’s power over his disciples, he could not prevent the mighty force of Christ from entering to the very bones. This was Satan’s realm, the bones, and here death would seize him too soon, before the performance of his sacrifice.
An ice-like pain tore through him now. He could feel the heavenly power of divinity invade his organs, it began to macerate his liver and spleen, burning holes in his lungs, erupting into his heart and bladder and brain. It broke through the walls of those earthly veins with such power that it flooded the cup of his tissues, making blood seep through the pores of his skin and from his eyes.
He was knocked down by it and fell with his face in the dirt.
The world turned.
The wind dropped.
A sudden quiet fell over the grotto.
How could he die now?
Upon the midnight hour in the garden of good and evil, the struggle of life with death made a pause.
A sublime effulgence, a subtle warmth descended melting away the coldness of death. This gold-giving radiance gathered into the sparkling, shimmer-glowing form of an angel, the angel of John the Baptist. He bent life’s cup to Christ Jesus’ lips and let him drink the nectar that would bring strength and life and vigour to his wasted body.
The moon’s old forces were obliged to unwind from him and to scurry away. A shriek was heard in the bowels of the world and the blue archangel of death fell back into the shadows. Satan had not succeeded. The moment had passed. Jesus had survived – for now.
Relief washed over him. He would go on to accomplish his deed.
59
THE ARREST
But I don’t understand Lea, why was it necessary that the disciples stay awake? They were weary…why could they not sleep?’
‘He told them that he needed them,’ Lea said.
‘Yes, but what could they do for him?’
‘Well, pairé, it is like this: For three years the circle of disciples had been held together by the Holy Spirit which lived among them, this spirit had provided Jesus with the power to withstand the entrance of Christ’s spirit into his Soul, his blood and his body. Now, when it was time for them to stay awake and keep the Holy Spirit within their circle to enable Jesus to withstand to the end, they could not do it, they were faithless.’