On hearing this, Peter- big, guileless Peter- said-
“No, Lord. We will not let them harm you. We will protect you!”
“Oh Peter, Simon Peter”, Jesus replied, “you see with man’s eyes, and you speak with Satan’s tongue. Do you think I go to this joyfully? It is a difficult way I go; not an easy way, but I have told you often enough, no one can go to the Father, except the way I go, and if any man would enter the Kingdom of Heaven, he must take up his burden and follow the path I tread”.
This had taken place in the forenoon. By mid-day the sun was high, and mercilessly hot. The day was so bright that the stones on the ground seemed to dance, the very air to ripple, and the rocks above us seemed poised quivering, about to come crashing down on us, at any moment. Jesus asked Peter, James and me to accompany him a little way up the track, and to wait while he prayed- ‘spoke with his Father’ as he put it.
Yes- he asked Peter, James and me. Oh I know John-Mark and his blood-letting friend both say it was Peter, James and John, but I do not recall seeing either of those two scribblers around at the time.
Come to think of it, they tell you very little about me at all, do they not? They label me a foreigner, try to call me a knife–bearer¹ but do not quite find the courage to spell it out. They never credit my presence at any significant event and finally they accuse me of betraying Jesus for money, with no explanation. Of course, I took the money! The Sanhedrin were so cynical that, had I offered free information, they would have suspected a trick, and simply flogged me and thrown me out!
Calm, Judas- calm. I must concentrate on my account of things I know happened- the events, and the how and why, insofar as I understand them, too.
Events? Why, now we come to the great non-event. I have told you it was hot and bright, so much so, that it hurt the eyes to look anywhere but down at one’s own shadow. We walked so far, together, and when we were some way beyond and above the others, Jesus said-
“Wait here while I go some little way higher”.
The three of us were glad to stop climbing against the light, and to sit and rest a while. Now I will admit that, at one point, as I looked up at Jesus, standing on the rocks above us, he seemed to burn and shimmer, so that I might have fancied I saw one, two or even three men, where I knew there to be but one; but as for Moses or Elijah, why, if those patriarchs had come down from heaven to grace us with their presence, without wearing labels round their necks, or introducing themselves, they would have had a wasted journey. And why to only three of us? Why not to the twelve; or to the multitude as they munched on their bread and fish?
I cannot think why these gossips have elaborated this incident, and woven in their tapestry of mischief these pictures of visiting patriarchs and speaking clouds, unless it is to glorify their own roles in these events, and to obliterate mine.
You think me bitter and cynical? Then consider this: there was never a miraculous happening associated with Jesus, which did not have a positive, practical purpose, that is- to answer a need, to right a wrong, to relieve suffering, grief or discomfort. Mere self-aggrandisement was never his way, no more than the illusions of the market place magician who ties a pig in a sack, then opens it to reveal his young assistant.
As for this suggestion of three shelters, why, even big-hearted, soft headed Peter would not have contemplated hauling wagon-loads of timber over several days journey from the valleys, to build three shelters, and then what? We all wander off down the mountain, and leave Jesus, Moses and Elijah sitting in their hutches like holy hermits, with only each other for company? No. The whole tale is one born of irrational, religious fanaticism, and I will dwell on it no more.
₁ The Sicariut, meaning ‘knife-bearers’ were a fanatical rebel group.