It is night in Jerusalem. The sun has long been set on this first great and holy Good Friday. Heavy dark clouds hover over Golgotha. Only one lone star sheds its weak light through an occasional gap in the clouds. But the thorn-crowned king is not to be found on Golgotha. We can find him again, the spirit of light, in the "court" of his own kingdom, that is, in a region immediately bordering on the physical world, a region which every living being must pass through on his way from a physical existence to a spiritual one, a region from which one can, under special conditions, communicate with the physical world and show oneself again to survivors in the material sphere. Into that region come all beings immediately after death; there they are purified and prepared for the subsequent visit, which all must pay, to the higher divine zones whence they are reincarnated into the material world. In that divine court in front of the highest "mansions" in "his Father's house" we find the Saviour much occupied with teaching and helping "imprisoned spirits". In the light of his great love many souls, who have been tormented by the fact that on earth they thought only of satisfying their base and destructive lusts, have now been conditionally freed and led to the region of the Father.
      In that forecourt, that realm of shadows, there was also a young man who had committed suicide and who was now in very great anguish. He was Judas, one of Jesus' disciples. On earth, fervent and impetuous, he had misunderstood his Master, he had even with a kiss betrayed him and thus helped his enemies to take him and lead him away. From some distance he had afterwards followed the development of events; but when he saw how Jesus behaved before his torturers, his eyes seemed to open so that he suddenly saw in Jesus the "Saviour". But "seeing" the Saviour directly is the same thing as seeing the "Holy Ghost" or holy spirit, and seeing anything so dazzlingly bright, when one is not oneself pure, is dangerous, because the influence of the high cosmic rays or the energy of love on the imperfectly developed consciousness of the individual is much too intense and can in unfortunate circumstances set up mental illness or even bring about suicide. To Judas it happened that, in the divine light of the Holy Ghost, he suddenly saw his soul stripped, in its crude and dishonest state; this appeared to him such a contrast to the image of the Master Jesus of whose martyrdom he was himself the guilty cause that he from that time on detested and hated himself.
      He could not get rid of that terrible vision of himself. In addition, he could not destroy the results of his treacherous act or reduce in any way the sufferings of Jesus, the Master, whom he himself with an hypocritical kiss had rendered helpless, giving him into the brutal iron hands of armed men. In that feeling of powerlessness he despaired and knew of no way out. Previously he had been able to enjoy the love and wisdom of the Master in abundance; but by his own act he had put an uncrossable abyss between himself and his divine protector. He tried to approach the cross of Jesus, but in vain; the armed men had roughly driven him away, while the priests and other bystanders had mocked him. Then his last terrible decision in the physical sphere had come to a head. In despair, because every path to the Saviour was barred to him, even that to the foot of his cross, and because it was thus definitely impossible for him to approach the only person who could relieve his sufferings, impossible to kneel in the dust before him and with his tears beg for forgiveness and blessing, he went away and killed himself. But with that his immortal spirit crossed the threshold of the "court" before the kingdom of light and came into the same forecourt into which Jesus too had come after liberation from his physical body.
      In that court all beings wake up again after physical death. They arrive with precisely the same inclinations and thoughts, the same sensation of welfare or suffering to which they were linked immediately before death. Men who had a pure conscience and deep love for their neighbours, wake up here to the same happy state. But men with a burdened conscience, men afflicted and in agony, awaken with those same realities still active. So Judas too had come to that place. He was surrounded there by unhappy spirits, and he himself was one of the unhappiest. But already from a distance the tireless Master had noticed him among the other unfortunate ones and had seen his sincere repentance and strong desire for forgiveness.
      Judas' gaze wandered almost extinguished in that desert of the disconsolate. His conscience tormented him, black despair darkened his mind, and he felt beyond any possibility of ever being happy again. But suddenly his gaze halted and became fixed: "What is that then?" It seemed to him that from afar a small point of light had appeared. It drew nearer and nearer, grew in size and took on imposing dimensions and at last was seen as a worldwide aura radiating everywhere. His heart filled with a wonderfully ecstatic feeling which he had never before experienced. He felt that something unspeakable, something divine, had come over him. And then, like the luminous rays of the rising sun, an invitation pulsated into that hopeless night of unhappy spirits, the invitation: "Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest".
      Judas felt nailed to the spot. That indeed was the voice of his Master. Could it really be true that that luminous being in the centre of the great radiance was the carpenter from Nazareth, the man whom people on earth had thought a deluded fanatic, a false prophet, a rebel and a criminal, a man who deserved a death sentence more than ordinary robbers and murderers did? Yes, it was impossible to doubt it. The well known features shone with inexpressible clarity, and the hands too Judas recognized but ... they bore traces of ... the crucifixion. As though struck by lightning Judas again saw the part he had played in that drama. His mind again darkened over, and feeling too unworthy of being near the Master he endeavoured to flee. But he did not succeed, the Master was already quite near, and his love prevented any flight, any retreat. The Saviour pressed his unhappy disciple to his bosom, and through space vibrated the words: "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost".