Annas’ Diary

I have another report from my agent up north. They are on the move. They have been sweeping up support from those coming to the festival and even encouraging others to accompany them. So that is his timetable. Let’s see, Passover is in three weeks. Full moon was last week so, yes, three weeks.

There is no indication from this report of which way he is coming. That would be useful. Plenty of time for that. I bet it is the Jordan Valley road. My two siccarii should meet up with him in the next week. I would rather it happen up there. Once he is in our area, an attack on him would set off just the kind of violence I am trying to avoid. Without him, though, we could weather any such storm well enough. I am not sure of the Romans. Would Pilate take advantage of any riots and weigh in with his troops to save us, then turn around and extract more concessions from us? That is a good point. We should do nothing to precipitate violence once he is past Jericho, if he comes that way. I am glad now that I had the forethought to tell those two to do the job north of the Galilean border or not at all.

Do I involve Caiaphas? I think not. I will wait until I hear from my siccarii. If they are successful, then that is an end to it. Caiaphas can’t keep his mouth shut, and in any case, I would not like him to have anything to hang over my head. When I consider how he has recently been less amenable in our discussions and more independent, I have wondered whether he is thinking of making a break with me, maybe even getting rid of me permanently. I would not put it past him. Maybe I should watch my back. That’s my imagination; he doesn’t have the stomach for anything like that. That is why I have had to do everything for him. I just love to see him fluttering his hands when we have to take some dramatic action.

However, I may just have to get rid of him and have somebody else take over as high priest. I can work on that later. If someone has to take the fall for what happens to that Nazarene, then Caiaphas would be my candidate of choice. I like that. Maybe Pilate could be the tool whereby that would happen. What I would really like to do is stick it to Pilate, but there is no way I can get the Romans to do the job. I will have to be satisfied with Caiaphas. I am not sure how I am going to finesse this. There are supporters of the Nazarene in the Sanhedrin, and the majority of its members are Pharisees, so I do not see how we will accomplish what is necessary through the normal legal channels. I have time, though. I think we have at least two, if not three, weeks, so we can do a lot in that time.

I wonder if little Tamara is still available. I haven’t thought of that for months. That is a good sign.

 

Damn, I’ve just had a note from the siccarii. They were too late. “Met up with target near Alexandriam. There are two hundred plus in the party. We have tagged along but, at your direction, avoided contact. We are now at Archelais. Subject is still gathering support. We will continue with him as far as Jericho.”

Maybe I should have let them deal with him when they first met him. I know that would have been messy but maybe less dangerous than letting him loose in the city. Having those two with him is comforting. Do I tell them to finish the job? It’s too late. No, they will be at Jericho and have broken contact. The message has taken three days to get here; my reply would take another day or so to find them. No, by now the Nazarene will be in Jericho. I will probably hear about his arrival tomorrow, if not late this evening.

I was really hoping those two would finish it. He is coming. Damn, I should have just told them to get rid of him.

 

Next Day

I’ve just received another report from my agent in his party. My agent says, “He has as much as admitted he is, indeed, the Messiah.” The report took at least five days to get here. I wish I had gotten it sooner.

Look at this! “So the secret is out. Ten days ago, on our way back from the coast, he asked us who we thought he was. One of us blurted out, ‘You are the Messiah,’ and just like that, he agreed. He definitely said he was. He is no longer talking in vague terms about the Son of Man, not that any of us were taken in by that. I do not know what his intentions are. I think he is telling us one thing and planning another. The sanity of his teaching has given way to disturbing and contradictory statements. I no longer understand what he is about.”

“Since his admission that he is the Messiah, he has been talking about how we must now come to Jerusalem. We should be there for Passover. We are joining pilgrims coming for the festival and persuading many others to join us. We are on the way down toward Tiberius right now. It looks as if we will pick up some more there.

“I’ve had difficulty finding a courier. I will try again tomorrow. There will be someone in Tiberius, I am sure.”

Messiah! There it is in black and white. I definitely don’t want to share that with Caiaphas. He would wet his pants, or worse, he would spread it around, and Jesus would have all the publicity he needed. By the time he got here, everyone would be in the streets waiting to welcome him. They have not forgotten Lazarus and all the other people who claim he healed them.

Is he the Messiah? Could he be? What have I been sensing all along? I knew he was dangerous, but is he, indeed, the Messiah? Do I, deep down, acknowledge or recognize him? Is that why he has alarmed me so for so long? Is that what the dreams are about? No! He can’t be. From Nazareth? He has nothing—he has no power, no program, no timetable. As far as I know, he has only attacked the Temple that once, and that was several years ago. Then there are the miracles. Some of them are probably true. There are other wonder workers, though. None of my advisors are worried about him; why am I so sure he is trouble? Some of them think I am senile. Some of the looks that pass between them when I speak of this issue tell me they think I am obsessed. Too right, I am obsessed.

I wish I had listened to him myself. I could have judged better what was going on. Instead, I relied on these reports from so-called reliable sources. Who is he?

I don’t want to go to sleep tonight.

What is he up to?

 

---

 

I look at those last words and still smile bitterly. I thought, “Annas, you blew it. You never figured it out, did you?” I sat there on Patmos with the pages written by that poisonous person. I groaned aloud at the memories his writings brought back. From what he had written, I saw a profound awareness of the deeper issues at stake. If only he had grasped the moment instead of trying to stamp out the inevitable!

 

 

 

[i] Lay Essene group. There is no mention of the Essenes in the gospels, but there were certainly Essenes in Jerusalem. There was a quarter where they were thought to live and a gate referred to as the Essene gate. They would certainly have heard of Jesus and no doubt supported him in his opposition to the Temple. Future references to them are based on possibility not textual fact.