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In the quiet aftermath of the feast at Bethany, Adam stands beneath the stars looking toward Jerusalem, burdened by knowledge no other disciple possesses. He knows what lies ahead: Judas’s betrayal, Peter’s denial, Pilate’s judgment, Gethsemane and Golgotha; and, as a physician and friend, he cannot understand how he can simply allow it to happen.
Into the darkness comes Raphael. Adam demands to know why he has been brought across time only to stand helplessly beside Jesus as the Passion approaches. Raphael offers him a profound answer: knowing what people will choose does not take away their freedom to choose. Judas, Peter, Caiaphas, Pilate, even Jesus himself, must still exercise their own free will. Jesus could turn away from Jerusalem, but he will not, for “knowing what love will choose does not make love a slave.”
Adam finally begins to understand his true purpose. He was never sent to save Jesus. He was sent to know him and to witness. Raphael warns him that the Star Bearers are drawing near and must not learn what Adam knows, for these warriors, kings and companions would surely try to prevent what is coming. Adam’s greatest challenge will therefore not be courage, but restraint.
Before the night is over, Adam seeks out Judas. Their conversation reveals the tragedy forming within the apostle. Judas genuinely believes Jesus is the Messiah, but he cannot understand why a man who commands storms, casts out demons, feeds thousands and raises the dead refuses to use such power to free Israel from Rome. Gradually Adam realizes what Judas is contemplating: if Jesus can be forced into a confrontation with his enemies, then surely the Messiah will finally reveal his power.
Jesus himself emerges from the darkness and joins them. He recognizes Judas’s love for Israel and hunger for justice, but warns that hatred can poison even righteous desires. When Judas asks whether Jesus would allow soldiers to arrest him, Jesus answers that he would accept the cup given to him by his Father. Judas cannot comprehend such restraint, asking what good power is if one refuses to use it. Jesus replies that power used merely to preserve oneself is a very small power.
After Judas leaves, Adam confesses that he nearly warned him of what is to come. Jesus reminds Adam that Judas is not merely a character in a story whose ending Adam already knows, he is a living man who must walk his own road and make his own choices. Adam asks what he should do.
Jesus gives him the most difficult answer of all: Love him. And Adam, who knows how the story ends, finally realizes that knowing a man’s fate is not the same as understanding the man himself. Foreknowledge does not abolish free will, and love does not justify taking another person’s freedom away.
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