“Yes, they say that they love Him, love Him much, more than themselves.”
“But if we try to take Him, will they not defend Him? Will they not raise a tumult?”
Judas laughed long and maliciously. “What, they? Those cowardly dogs, who run if a man but stoop down to pick up a stone. They indeed!”
“Are they really so bad?” asked Annas coldly.
“But surely it is not the bad who flee from the good; is it not rather the good who flee from the bad? Ha! ha! They are good, and therefore they flee. They are good, and therefore they hide themselves. They are good, and therefore they will appear only in time to bury Jesus. They will lay Him in the tomb themselves; you have only to execute Him.”
“But surely they love Him? You yourself said so.”
“People always love their teacher, but better dead than alive. While a teacher’s alive he may ask them questions which they will find difficult to answer. But, when a teacher dies, they become teachers themselves, and then others fare badly in turn. Ha! ha!”
Annas looked piercingly at the Traitor, and his lips puckered—which indicated that he was smiling.
“You have been insulted by them. I can see that.”
“Can one hide anything from the perspicacity of the astute Annas? You have pierced to the very heart of Judas. Yes, they insulted poor Judas. They said he had stolen from them three denarii—as though Judas were not the most honest man in Israel!”