Jews and Antichrist, Twelfth-Century Play of Antichrist
Then Antichrist, sending the hypocrites to Synagoga, sings:
“Tell the Jews that the Messiah has come,
and that I have received tribute among the nations.
Tell the Jews: Behold, I am the Messiah.
I am the one promised to them by the prophets.”
Then the hypocrites say to Synagoga:
“You are a people of royal lineage,
a special nation.
Everywhere you are proclaimed
as a faithful people.
For the defense of the Law,
you have long been in exile.
Far from your homeland,
you have waited for the Messiah.
This expectation
will restore your inheritance.
A joyful newness
will transform what is old.
Behold the mystery
of your redemption:
a king has been born,
the founder of religion.
This is Emmanuel,
to whom the Scriptures bear witness.
By his grace
you will reign securely.
He has raised up the humble
and cast down the proud.
Mightily he has subjected all things
under his feet.
Arise, Jerusalem, arise, be illuminated,
and you, Synagoga, long captive, rejoice.”
Then Synagoga says:
“This consolation
of divine goodness
has regard for the labor
of our captivity.
Let us therefore go
to meet the Savior.
It is fitting to render glory
to the Redeemer.”
Then Synagoga rises, goes to Antichrist and sings:
“Be present, Emmanuel,
whom we have always revered.
In your glory
we too glory.”
Then Antichrist receives Synagoga as she comes, marks her and says:
“Through me, come out
from the bar of confusion.
I restore to you
the promised land.
Behold, in your light
the nations will walk,
and under the law of your peace
kings will reign.”
Then, as Synagoga returns, the Prophets enter and say:
“The Word of the Father,
possessing divinity,
took on humanity
in the Virgin.
Remaining God,
he became mortal.
Always God,
he became subject to time.
This was not done
by the ordinary course of nature,
but by the command
of God.
Christ took on
our weakness,
so that he might give strength
to the weak.
The Jews recognized him
as mortal,
but did not know
that he was immortal.
They believed neither his words
nor his signs.
Under Pilate,
they crucified Christ.
By dying,
he put death to death.
From Gehenna
he freed those who believed.
He rose again,
truly never to die.
He reigns forever
and will soon return.
He will judge the world
by fire.
He will raise all people
in the flesh.
He will separate those to be saved
from the rejected,
condemning the evil
and glorifying the good.
You truly know
what the Scriptures say.
They bear witness
to Enoch, alive, and Elijah.”
Then Synagoga says:
“Where, then, are they?”
The Prophets reply:
“We are those very ones
upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
This one is Enoch,
and I am Elijah,
whom the Messiah
has preserved until now.
He has already come,
and he is still to come,
first to redeem Israel
through us.
Behold, the man of perdition has come,
bringing to completion the walls
of great Babylon.
He is not Christ.”
Then the Prophets remove her veil. Immediately Synagoga is converted by the words of the Prophets and says:
“We were truly seduced
by Antichrist,
who falsely says
that he is the Christ of the Jews.
Certain signs
of our freedom
are Elijah and Enoch,
prophets of truth.
We give thanks to you,
Adonai, King of glory,
Trinity of persons
of the same substance.
Truly the Father is God,
whose only-begotten Son
is God.
The same God
is the Spirit of them both.”
Meanwhile, the hypocrites come to Antichrist and sing:
“O royal height
of divine majesty,
the honor of divinity
is being taken away from you.
The old men have entered,
teachers of vanity,
who blaspheme the honor
of your power.
They preach to the Jews
according to the tenor of the Scriptures
that you, almighty king,
are the head of the hypocrites.”
Then Antichrist says to the hypocrites:
“When the whole world
is eager to adore me,
who dares deny
the right of my name?
Bring Synagoga and the old men
before me.
I will charge the guilty ones
for this fickleness.”
Then the ministers come to the Prophets and Synagoga and sing:
“Witnesses of falsehood,
heralds of deceit,
the tribunal
of divine majesty calls you.”
Then the Prophets say:
“The man of wickedness
will not seduce
the servants of Christ
with ministers of falsehood.”
Then the messengers bring the Prophets and Synagoga to Antichrist, and he says to them:
“You have fallen into the madness
of self-will,
you who are deceived
by the appearance of authority.
I am the promised one,
the future redemption of the saints.
I am truly the Messiah,
as Scripture testifies.
Receive from me
the form of religion.
To unbelievers I am
a stone of offense.”
Then the Prophets say:
“You blasphemer,
author of iniquity,
root of evil,
disturber of truth,
Antichrist,
seducer of piety,
truly a liar
under the appearance of divinity.”
Then Antichrist, moved to anger, says to the ministers:
“Behold, let the hand
of divine majesty
avenge the blasphemies
against my divinity.
Let those who blaspheme
divine goodness in me
taste the severity
of divine power.
Let the sheep for slaughter
perish completely
for such a scandal
against holy religion.”
At last Synagoga sings this confession:
“We repent of error.
We are converted to the faith.
Whatever the persecutor brings upon us,
we will suffer.”
Then the ministers lead them out and kill them.
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