He deserves to die!
This man walks with this "Son of God"!
I do not! I don't know him!
(SCREAMS)
I would like to offer my own tomb as your son's final place of rest.
He was killed for the repeated blasphemy of claiming to be the Messiah.
And if he was?
Once the Romans realize your message remains a threat, they will root you out.
PILATE: The Nazarene was only ever flesh and blood.
I want you to post temple guards at Arimathea's tomb.
It must remain sealed.
On the third day, he promises to rise from death.
I will post a small guard outside the tomb.
REUBEN: Roman seal has been broken.
The tomb is now open, and the Nazarene is gone.
What do you mean, "gone"?
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
Alms?
MAN 1: Have some more?
MAN 2: That's enough? Enough?
MAN 1: I need some more.
What is this?
The Nazarene's tomb was raided overnight.
What of the Roman guard?
Fled.
Do you take me for a fool?
A massive stone sealed that tomb.
One man alone could never have moved it. There must have been many.
So, how many did you see?
ESAU: One, but it wasn't human.
Impossible!
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(GASPS)
They're clearly lying.
(WHISPERS) Nevertheless, we cannot allow
their account to be the basis of a dangerous rumor.
Then think quickly to ensure that it can't.
If asked, you are only to repeat
that you fell asleep on duty.
And while you slept, the Nazarene's men
tore open the tomb and stole his corpse.
(COINS CLINK)
Count yourselves lucky your dereliction of duty
doesn't compel my husband to strip you of the priesthood.
I never want to see you again.
The Nazarene's followers are attempting to fake his resurrection.
Why won't this business end?
Why couldn't this Jesus just stay dead?
You need to keep a cool head, now more than ever.
You are celebrated for your shrewd intelligence, Caiaphas.
Draw on every last drop
before Pilate discovers what has happened and uses it against us all.
Find the Nazarene's body before the Galileans begin to publicize their hoax.
We shall hang his corpse outside the city wall.
What a relief to be finally leaving this damned hole.
I've earned my time away from this place like never before.
CLAUDIA: I'll be packed by midday.
Please, no longer.
I can't wait for the Mediterranean winds to blow away the last traces
of your nightmares and apparitions.
My dream was clear.
The man you crucified was favored by the gods.
We shall all suffer for his execution.
We really need to get you back to civilization.
(ROOSTER CROWS) (INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(WHISPERS) It's empty.
What?
The tomb.
CAIAPHAS: Good morning, Governor.
It was.
CAIAPHAS: I trust the tremor in the night didn't disturb your sleep?
PILATE: Not for a moment.
Now, what brings you here, gentlemen?
I wanted to come in person to thank you
for your guidance with the Nazarene these past weeks.
Your gratitude is unnecessary. Governance is my job.
It is the third day, is it not?
It is.
And he remains dead?
CAIAPHAS: He does.
As I and every law of nature predicted.
Indeed.
Wherever I am posted in the empire,
whatever benefits occupation brings,
there are always those who seek to challenge the authority of Rome,
and the outcome is usually the same.
Your support is a great help.
When faced with a choice of being either firm or fair,
I've learned that firm generally pays the greater dividend.
Good day, gentlemen.
Safe passage.
He knows nothing.
We don't have long before he does. We need to find that body.
I'm working on it.
Well, work harder.
MARIUS: Sir.
(SIGHS)
What is this?
A member of the guard from the Nazarene's tomb to speak to you.
Why does he tremble?
MARIUS: With fear.
Of what?
Of what may follow when he tells you what he told me.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
(GOATS BLEATING)
Enough of this nonsense. That's my price.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
(LAUGHTER)
Long time, no see.
Priest. What do you want?
For the moment, just your attention.
And then your help to find a corpse.
(GRUNTS)
CAIAPHAS: Lord our God, you are the hope of Israel,
and all who forsake you shall be ashamed,
for they have forsaken the one true God,
the fountain of living water.
Blessed are you, Lord our God.
Protect me from my enemies and keep me strong in the way ahead.
(INHALES)
What have I done but support you in every way you asked?
I must protest at this gross violation of my sacred...
What have I done to deserve such disrespect?
If you insist on holding a conversation, at least allow me to dress.
(CAIAPHAS GRUNTS)
Stay in the water like the eel you are.
Governor, I can see you're angry.
You led me to believe
the night passed peaceably at the Nazarene's tomb,
which I know now is far from the truth. Governor.
(SCREAMS) Did you or did you not lie to me this morning?
I know how much you've been looking forward
to traveling to Caesarea with your wife,
and I believed I could resolve the situation
without disrupting your plans.
And have you?
Action is under way.
Meanwhile, this Jesus cult
grows stronger by the hour.
Soon, it will draw every crackpot and revolutionary into Jerusalem
with the sole aim of challenging us all.
The Galileans stole the body. I'm sure of it.
And if we find them, we'll find the corpse.
Send me the information on their whereabouts immediately,
and I will deal with this matter once and for all.
I shall.
(ALL PANTING)
I don't understand.
How is this possible?
We laid him here.
Who would go to such lengths to take his body?
Killing him wasn't enough. They had to wipe out all trace.
But the shroud, it's folded.
(BREATHES HEAVILY) I... I don't know who could have...
Why break the Roman seal?
I don't know.
It is the third day.
Do you dare to believe?
What did you find?
Nothing, we found nothing
and everything.
(INHALES)
(CRIES)
JESUS: Why are you crying?
Have you taken him?
JESUS: Who?
If you've taken him, please
tell me where and I will get him.
JESUS: Mary.
(GASPS)
(WHISPERS) Rabbi.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
(CHICKEN CLUCKING)
(PANTING)
We found the rock rolled back, the Roman seal broken!
If Pilate thinks we're responsible...
Why would he?
Who else would take that kind of risk to get his body back?
John believes Isaiah's prophecy explains what's happened.
The prophet foretold that the Messiah would be led like a lamb to slaughter,
pierced for our transgressions, die beside the wicked,
and be laid to rest with the rich! John!
In the last three days, I've seen all these things!
But do you believe he has risen from the dead?
It's what he promised would happen.
The emperor's seal is broken. Do we stay or go?
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
MAN: Step aside for the governor! Step aside!
Romans!
(SHOUTING CONTINUES)
(HORSE WHINNYING)
We need to leave.
Wait.
We need to calm down.
We can't rule out that the tomb
was opened and emptied by the authorities
to flush us out and round us up.
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
I saw him.
Who?
Jesus.
He spoke to me,
as clearly as I'm speaking to you now.
(PANTING) Mary.
He's alive.
He stood before me and spoke my name.
(GASPS)
Can it be true?
What do you think, Peter?
I think I feel
pain at his absence.
Great guilt...
(INHALES)
Because I wasn't with him at the end.
(VOICE BREAKING) And shame!
I so want to tell him I'm sorry.
Peace be with you.
Rabbi!
Can't you believe your own eyes?
Do you think you're looking at a ghost?
What ghost carries flesh and bones?
(LAUGHS)
Is there any food?
Yes. MATTHEW: Yes.
DISCIPLES: Yes.
Teacher.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
JESUS: This is what I told you while I was with you.
Everything written about me in the laws of Moses,
the prophets, and the Psalms, must be fulfilled.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
It's Thomas!
Rabbi...
You won't believe the journey I've made to get back.
I was convinced I was being followed,
and then I became confused and couldn't remember
which was the right street or the right house.
It was only when I saw...
What?
Jesus.
I know.
No. Thomas, he was here.
What?
Jesus was just here in this room.
He broke bread with us.
Are you playing a sick joke on me
because I'm the last to get back?
No.
So, Jesus
was here with you all?
JOHN: Yes.
(GULPS)
What kind of fool do you take me for
that I would believe a story like that without proof?
What kind of opinion must you have of me to believe I'd be so easily duped?
Thomas, it's the truth.
(SHOUTS) Enough!
I haven't slept for two nights.
I've barely eaten. It was all I could do to come back at all.
Thomas, we... Stop this now!
Go to the tomb and see for yourself.
See with your own eyes.
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger in them,
unless I put my hand in the spear wound itself, I will not believe.
You think he's dead and this is finished?
What else?
The truth.
Mary...
Go to the tomb.
You do well to come to me.
ROMAN DESERTER: No, no, no, no! No! No, no!
MARIUS: You were told to guard the tomb!
(SCREAMING)
ROMAN GUARD: Coward!
PILATE: Enough.
One thing I cannot abide above all else,
disloyalty.
Ugh! Let's do this quickly, before the stench
attracts more questions than rats.
He has the wounds from the crucifixion, hands, the feet, and the side,
thorn marks on the forehead and the welts from the lash across his back,
all fresh.
But this is not the Nazarene.
(FLIES BUZZING)
I told you to bring me the Nazarene's body,
and you produce this mutilated, murdered carcass!
People will take him for the Nazarene if you tell them it's him,
and if you hang him a good distance from the ground,
the resemblance would be striking.
And in the event that the Nazarene's body is not found,
isn't this an alternative?
I can't risk being accused of orchestrating a fraud to deceive our nation.
Unfortunately, the people are not as stupid as you think.
Take it away. I'm made filthy by this.
THOMAS: Temple guards are resealing the tomb.
Why would they do that?
To pretend his body remains inside,
kill any rumors that he's risen.
(SIGHS)
Now do you believe, Thomas?
(SIGHS)
MATTHEW: We saw him.
Each one of us touched him,
sat with him, ate with him, laughed with him.
But I did not.
How can each of us be mistaken in exactly the same way,
at exactly the same time?
JESUS: Thomas.
(THOMAS GASPS)
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(CRIES)
My Lord.
Now that you have seen for yourself, you believe?
(SNIFFLES)
Blessed are they who have not seen me and still believe.
(CRIES)
(GASPS)
(CRASHES) (GASPS)
CORNELIUS: Stand aside!
(GRUNTS)
(SOLDIERS GRUNTING)
DRUSUS: Find them.
CORNELIUS: Tear the place apart!
(FOOTSTEPS RUNNING) Runners! Roof! Door! Stairs! Go!
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
(GRUNTS)
DRUSUS: Stop them!
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
Stop that man!
(PANTING)
Get out of the way!
(GRUNTING)
ROMAN LEGIONNAIRE: Hey!
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
JOHN: Romans!
(SOLDIERS GRUNTING)
(FIGHT EXERTIONS)
(PLATES SHATTERING)
I'll see you at the gate. Go!
(GRUNTS)
(GASPS)
(GRUNTS)
Where will they go?
Why do you need to know? They've done nothing wrong!
You know, some men hesitate before striking a female under interrogation.
I'm not one of them.
Do not play games with me. Where will they go?
Where is your son's body?
Not here.
Where is it?
If his own mother doesn't know, why would I?
They had too much of a start.
Lock down the city. (SPITS)
This way.
(GRUNTS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Where am I? Safe, for now.
Why are you helping us?
History will determine whether your path or mine will drive the Romans from Judaea.
In the meantime, an enemy of theirs is a friend of ours.
PETER: I told my friends to make their way to the city gate
so we can find a way out to Galilee.
There are fewer soldiers there.
We can help.
Not by killing.
Unlike our occupiers, we only take life as our last resort.
There are many who are unsettled
by how close you've been with Pilate over the Nazarene.
They fear it's an alliance you can't control!
The High Priest must maintain a delicate balance
between influencing the governor and joining forces with him against our people.
If only our people were as benign as we might wish.
Do they think I consulted with Pilate over the execution of a fellow Jew lightly?
Even now, I question whether it was the right course of action.
But I made a decision.
And they will see you standing by it like a leader of conviction.
Strong resolve is the bedrock of leadership, Father,
not the easy appeasement of the public will.
MAN: You shouldn't go in there! Please, Sir, please!
First, you instigate the execution of a harmless preacher
then you desecrate my own tomb to interfere with a corpse!
By what authority do you behave like this?
CAIAPHAS: No one's interfered with the corpse, Joseph.
And if your tomb's been desecrated,
it wasn't by anyone associated with me.
You've extinguished a small Jewish flame by smothering it with a Roman oil.
You may yet get burned by this, Caiaphas.
(DOOR OPENS) Naive fool.
But an influential one.
Any attempt to breathe life into Isaiah's prophecy
must be quashed before it ignites public imagination against us!
I am working on precisely that.
Well, may I suggest you work on it harder?
(DOOR OPENS AND SLAMS)
ROMAN LEGIONNAIRE 1: Stand firm! Hold the line!
ROMAN LEGIONNAIRE 2: Hold the line!
Hold them back! Shields together!
Be ready. We'll get you out.
Take one.
The time has come. Open the gates! Open the gates!
CROWD: Open the gates!
Open the gates! Open the gates!
ROMAN LEGIONNAIRE 3: Hold the line!
Hold it!
Go now.
(SCREAM) Come on!
You've been scouring the city for days.
How can a group of men simply disappear?
They know Jerusalem better than we do.
I may not be able to tell you where they are, Governor,
but I do know they didn't escape with the corpse.
They left it at their hideout?
I tore the place apart with my own hands.
None had it when they ran, and it wasn't left behind.
How I loathe this place! Its heat
and its overheated people.
Every stone a witness to a miracle,
every dead dog a portent of supernatural malice,
the slightest inconsistency in the weather
a prelude to the end of the world.
(PILATE SIGHS)
I can see the road I should now be on to the coast,
Claudia by my side,
becoming more her usual self with every mile from the city.
But we're still here,
that damned Nazarene blocking our exit.
Well, we are Rome.
It's time we shut this story down.
(MEN GRUNT)
How long 'til we bring in the nets?
Not yet.
Wouldn't any fish likely to have swum into the nets
during the night have done so by now?
They're more active at dawn.
Dawn's over.
Do I tell you how to collect taxes?
No.
Then don't tell me about collecting fish.
But do you not think... Another word, you're going over the side.
I'll help.
And me.
(GRUNTS)
(SIGHS)
I don't understand it.
The sea is usually boiling with fish this time of year.
We need to throw back the few that we have caught.
Perhaps if you brought the nets in when I said.
Please shut up!
JESUS: How's your catch?
PETER: Poor!
Cast your nets on the right-hand side.
Left or right, it won't make any difference.
Cast them on the right-hand side.
JOHN: Ho!
Peter!
(STRAINING)
It's him.
Peter!
(PETER LAUGHS)
(WHISPERS) Peter.
(SHEEP BLEATING)
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
(CHICKENS CLUCKING)
(GAGS)
(ELI GRUNTS)
(THUD)
(KNIFE SWISHES) (BLOOD SPURTS)
When you told me I would deny you three times, I thought it impossible.
I thought, "You don't know me at all."
But you knew me better than I know myself.
Peter, do you love me?
You know I love you.
Feed my lambs.
Do you truly love me?
You know I do.
Feed my sheep.
Peter, do you love me?
I love you.
Then follow me.
Pilate's tantrum has vexed you, and I am invisible.
What is it?
Pilate I can handle.
Your father, however. Ah!
He forgets that I'm High Priest.
I think perhaps his daughter forgets sometimes, too.
(SIGHS)
Oh, you must forgive him.
He loves you like a son.
And I love you like a wife.
(CHUCKLES LIGHTLY)
You have his support and mine.
What more could you possibly want?
REUBEN: High Priest?
What is it?
The priests guarding the Nazarene's tomb.
What of them?
Two have been found murdered, and the others are missing.
Murdered?
Pilate wishes to see you straightaway.
It was prophesized that I would suffer
and rise from the dead after three days.
Believe, Peter,
and the power of the Holy Spirit will come to you.
When?
Go back to Jerusalem and wait.
Only then will you be ready to spread the word.
Do this for me, Peter,
and one day, you will die for me.
Are you ready to do that?
(SIGHS)
I am.
(CHUCKLES LIGHTLY)
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.
Go into the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(WIND BLOWING)
This will all soon be over.
(SIGHS)
Governor.
The Roman Empire prospers, Caiaphas,
not because it consumes lesser civilizations,
but because it embraces and forms partnerships with them.
At the highest level, this can only happen in a spirit of mutual trust.
I understand that.
Do you?
Bring in the guards.
CAIAPHAS: Guards?
Roman guards you insisted I place upon the Nazarene's tomb,
and guards who I have discovered
abandoned their post in the middle of the night.
Time and again, I entrusted you to bring
this sorry business to a close, Caiaphas.
Time and again, you've failed to do so, so now I must.
You had my priests killed...
I'm speaking!
You should consider this a lesson in civic administration.
If you cannot control a story,
kill it. (GUARDS WHIMPER)
(PLEADING)
(GUARDS CHOKING) (EXHALES)
Governor, please.
I come to you in good faith and loyalty,
because my honor wouldn't allow me to run and hide with the others.
I understand, and I am glad of it.
(EXHALES SHARPLY) Thank you, Governor.
But you, too, were a witness that night.
(CASSIUS GRUNTS)
(CHOKING)
And you came to me not out of good faith and loyalty,
but to save your own skin at the expense of your comrades.
Good men, who really didn't deserve to die,
unlike a cowardly dog, who does.
(SWORD RINGS)
(EXHALES)
Finally, the prophecy of the resurrection
lies as dead as these men.
Let the Nazarene's followers run where they like with his rotting corpse.
They won't surface without being caught and executed.
My wife is waiting for me,
and the coast is waiting for us both.
Clean this up.