Kazantzakis and his Temptation

“You will, Judas, my brother. God will give you the strength, as much as you lack, because it is necessary—it is necessary for me to be killed and for you to betray me. We two must save the world. Help me." 

Judas bowed his head. After a moment he asked, "If you had to betray your master, would you do it?"

Jesus reflected for a long time. Finally he said, "No, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to. That is why God pitied me and gave me the easier task: to be crucified.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Excerpts from 'The Last Temptation of Jesus Christ'

Feast in the House of Simon, 1610, El Greco
The Mag 211

I would not call Jesus a human,

Probably a martyr, but never a human!

When I stood perplexed,

Gods died all around,

Poisoned by human intellect.

Life remained obscure,

When forceful winds of humanism

careened the burial tomb of faith,

I was lost in divine debris.

Nikos, came to speak with me,

Amiable yet intense, his words

resolute, praised the wounded son,

Not with typhlotic submission,

But with conjured knowledge.

Yes I would call Jesus a martyr,

The virulent thoughts, eclectic struggle, 

And the victory over temptation,

Makes him unfit to remain a human,

A better resurrection would take place,

Nikos along with Judas shall wait,

For their hero and master to arrive!

Note

I know that the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis would not have gone into the good books of most Christians. And a non-Christian like me expressing the novel would seem blasphemy. I apologize if the poem in anyway would disorient you spiritually. In this instance I remember Nikos's preface to the book, in which he stated that after completion of the book, he closed it and sobbed.