Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 149 Thirty Silver Coins (Second Update)
A few days later, on the first day of Passover, according to Jewish custom, believers would gather for a meal to celebrate God's help in the escape from Egypt, and Joshua and the twelve disciples were no exception.

But no one noticed that Judah took this opportunity to secretly go to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. However, apart from Joshua, who already knew all this, no one knew about his departure, but Joshua did not say anything.

The time for the meal arrived, and the thirteen people sat around a table. As the godfather, Joshua naturally sat in the center, while the twelve disciples lined up in order.

They ate and drank like ordinary people, without any splendor or sacred music. Even the room was a bit cramped, but the thirteen of them still ate bread together, prayed to God together, and washed their hands together.

Finally, according to Jewish custom, they should have sung together and agreed to celebrate Passover together again next year. However, Joshua, contrary to his usual behavior, fell silent, looked around at his disciples.

The disciples looked at each other, at a loss, but Joshua looked at the people in front of him and simply smiled and said.

"Great...everyone's doing well."

Before the disciples could understand what was happening, a commotion suddenly arose outside the door, and a group of priests with their servants burst in. As soon as they entered, they saw the people having a meal in front of them and shouted.

"Joshua! Your death is nigh!"

As he spoke, several servants stepped forward to seize Joshua, but the disciples were unwilling to allow it. Some of them, being hot-tempered, tried to draw their swords, but then a voice rang out.

"No!"

When confronted by his servants, Joshua not only did not resist, but instead loudly stopped his disciples from acting.

The disciples were stunned and instinctively stopped what they were doing. Several servants then took the opportunity to take Joshua away. Even so, Joshua still struggled to turn back and look at the disciples in front of him, shaking his head to signal them not to move.

……

Not long after Joshua was bound, the Jewish high priests first met him, and then, for some reason, produced a long scroll of parchment in their hands, which recorded all the things Joshua had said during his sermons, and then accused him of being a "madman of false words."

Joshua remained silent with his eyes closed in response to the high priest's words. He knew it was just a formality. After all, he was the leader of a sect, and he couldn't just kill people at will. Naturally, he needed to find an excuse first. He simply gave the high priest the parchment that was the "excuse".

And indeed, without further ado, the priests immediately brought him before Pontius Pilate, the governor of the province of Judea in the city.

According to the customs of the Roman Empire, the basic principle was to respect the customs of local kingdoms. Therefore, on Passover, the empire would release a prisoner according to local requirements.

When Joshua arrived, there was already a prisoner there, and even Joshua was surprised when he saw the prisoner.

"Lieber?"

Before him stood none other than Ribes, the very man he had once saved—his father and himself, who had later been forced into becoming a bandit for rebelling against Pilate. Only now, he bore another name.

Barabara.

A bandit who was extremely famous within the Kingdom of Judah for his staunch efforts to achieve Jewish independence.

Looking at Joshua in front of him, Lieber, or rather Barabbas, was also dumbfounded.

"How could you..."

In the hall, Pilate frowned as he looked at the many Jewish priests before him and Joshua, who was covered in wounds and looked disheveled.

He had always been at odds with the Jews, but had a good relationship with the Jewish priests. After all, he needed the help of the Jewish priests to manage the Jewish province, and the Jewish priests needed to please him to maintain their power. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

"Who is this person?"

He spoke.

"This is a blasphemer who spouts nothing but falsehoods and claims to be the son of God and the king of Judah."

A Jewish priest spoke first.

Pilate glanced at the Jewish priests and Joshua before him and immediately understood that the Jewish priests were clearly trying to use him to get rid of someone they didn't like.

He rubbed his temples, then turned to the priests before him and said, “Today is the first day of Passover. I think you should decide who to release as soon as possible, so you don’t have to ask again.”

The Jewish high priest looked around the temple and then pointed to the only prisoner, Liber.

"Then let him go."

Lieber's eyes lit up with surprise, but then he looked at Joshua in front of him. He didn't know why Joshua had been imprisoned, but he still spoke urgently.

"No! You should let him go."

But Joshua simply shook his head and calmly looked at Lieber in front of him.

"Release him, then arrest me."

Pilate, not bothering with the relationship between the two, casually waved to the Jewish priests.

"Then you can handle it yourselves."

……

Judah stood bewildered in his dwelling, which was in complete disarray due to the turmoil. He listened to what his many disciples around him seemed to be saying, but he paid no attention to them. He simply walked to his room in a daze, sat on his bed, and remained silent for a long time.

"Heh...hehe...hahahahahaha..."

After a long while, he suddenly chuckled, and then inexplicably started crying again.

"Thirty silver coins... thirty silver coins."

The hoarse voice carried a deep sense of resentment.

He bit his lower lip until it bled, and finally found a rope in the room, tied a knot, and hung it from the roof beam.

Move a stool over, step on it, and position your neck around the rope loop.

On that day, Joshua told Judah his plan. For a faith, a role model that can be remembered is extremely important, just like Moses in Judaism. If the church wants to develop, someone has to make a sacrifice. Rather than let others sacrifice, it is better to sacrifice oneself.

Judas understood perfectly well that his Lord had not told him the whole story, but when he inadvertently saw the Lord's weary and haggard face reflected in the mirror, he realized something...

Unlike Joshua, Judah understood the Lord he believed in far better than Joshua thought, and he understood the perplexity that had always troubled Joshua.

From beginning to end, he never believed in anything about the Son of God, the Messiah, or salvation in the end times. In other words, he never believed in any gods or religions. For someone who made a living by deception, he was full of doubt about everything.

But... when he saw the man preaching, he was shocked. What kind of perseverance and patience could make someone so willing to persuade those laborers who had no income at all, and to treat so many country folk?
He has never believed in God. Even if there really is a God in heaven, he would not believe in him because God never appeared during his most difficult time. Why would such a God be worthy of his belief?

However, he wasn't truly distrustful of everyone.

At least... he was willing to believe what that guy who kept talking about love, forgiveness, and kindness said, to believe in the heaven and salvation he spoke of, because in his most confused time, this was the guy who was really willing to help him, without caring about his bad reputation at all.

"..."

With a soft thud underfoot, the suspended body put immense pressure on the neck, making it impossible to even breathe. Before long, everything went dark, and the brain gradually became sluggish, with only a blurry image vaguely replaying in the mind.

Among the many patients, there was a person who seemed like a deity, shrouded in light and incredibly gentle, patiently trying to help the patient before him...

Thirty silver coins rolled to the ground from his loosened hand.

That man felt he had altered God's will, that he had deceived the believers, but for Judas...

"Lord, you are the God in my heart..."

(End of this chapter)