Caiaphas was sent for and the waiting continued.
One of the police officers looked Peter in the face and said,
"you are one of the Jesus' people-I recognise you."
"Wrong man" said Peter emphatically.
"No", another officer came over, "I was on that call-out, and I saw you. You had a gun."
"Look, I'm here on the Barabbas case- I don't know the guy you are talking about."
Peter was adamant.
The clock struck Midnight.
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Caiaphas was wringing his hands. "We are going to have to get the Duty Judge involved. There is a risk we might have to release him without charge."
The Duty Judge was in his pyjamas, but he came out to see the officers. "Is this so urgent that it can't wait for the morning?" he asked with evident irritation.
"Very serious, otherwise we would have dealt with it ourselves. There is a real and present risk that terrorist acts may occur." explained Caiaphas.
"Right, I'll question him myself", said the Judge. His wife brought him is dressing gown and he took Jesus into his house.
"Incitement to create acts of terrorism." The Judge read out the charges. "Are you leading a Jihad?"
Jesus:- "None of this is from me. They are all other people's ideas about me."
Judge:- "Look, I'm a bit rusty on my religious extremism. Please be patient. What do these people say you are about to do?"
Jesus:- "I'm not here to change the world violently. My purpose is to restore relationships between people and their creator."
Judge:- "So you are a religious leader?"
Jesus:- "Again, not my words. I'm here for the seekers of truth."
Judge:- "Pah- Truth." The Judge was a faithful 'social constructionist'.
The Judge took Jesus back outside. He announced,
"There is no case to answer here. Shall I show some liberal tolerance and pardon this religious extremist?"
Caiaphas, Annas, and a small crowd all became impassioned.
"No, this guy is very dangerous. He's a risk to society. If you want to be liberal, pardon Barabbus."(Now he really was a violent extremist.)
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