5th Lenten Reading: The Last Week In Jerusalem

Annas’ Diary;  Annas meets Jesus

I met him yesterday. I was just another old man on the edge of the crowd. Nobody seemed to know me. I don’t know whether I am pleased about that or upset that I am now forgotten. What I saw today is alarming and puzzling.

I watched one of our young lawyers take him on. The Nazarene had been expounding on the notion of loving your neighbor. Personally, I think I would have told the impostor that we already had that all laid out for us in the book of Deuteronomy, and we didn’t need help with it, but the lawyer had to go on and on with him about it. Finally he asked, “Who is my neighbor?”

[i]I thought that was a reasonable question because it narrowed the issue down to a specific application or should have done. Instead, that confounded man began to tell the story of some fool who on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho got himself . One of our priests came by and saw the dead man. Quite rightly he avoided any contact with the man and went on his way. A Levite also of the Temple did the same. I could see where this was going. He didn’t mention their need to keep themselves clean for their duties or explain at all why they had to avoid possible contamination by a dead man.

Instead, he introduced a Samaritan who took the victim to an inn, paid for him to be looked after, and even then, said he would be back to check on him. On the face of it, it is a nice story about what the people should do. But no! He has to make it an attack on us. Here we are trying to do our job, and he makes our rules an occasion for ridicule. Worst of all, he all but said out loud that even a Samaritan knew who his neighbor was, and, by inference, we don’t! In other words, even our lawyer didn’t know who his neighbor was and had to ask a question to which even a Samaritan had the answer.

He asked the poor fool of an attorney, “Which of the three saw the man on the ground as his neighbor?” I wanted to scream at the lawyer not to answer, but I couldn’t draw attention to myself.

“The Samaritan,” he mumbled. Could he not see that this Jesus, by inviting his collusion, got him to undermine our authority? Jesus couldn’t have made it worse if he had said that the Samaritans know the law better than we servants of the Temple. Those people all knew what he was saying under cover of that story. At least they laughed as if they understood.

He told the people that the spiritual authority centered on our Temple will be taken away from us. Others will take our place. The intimation is that the Almighty will do all this. Who does he think he is?

My conclusion is that he does not intend to offer us the opportunity of putting down a rebellion. There is nothing that would stand up in court or that would stir the Romans to take action. However, he constantly attacks our credibility and essentially denies our integrity, authority, or function. This can’t go on.

He is building support. All his teaching is down-to-earth so that the riffraff can understand it. I watched the faces of the people. They were not whipped up or angry, rebellious faces but thoughtful. I’ve just put my finger on what is disturbing me. If he was talking civil war, I could handle him; if he was talking civil rebellion, I could deal with that; but teaching the people to think is dangerous indeed. We have to do the thinking for them. What does a crowd in a town square know of the intricacies of our religious duties? I can see that if we don’t put a stop to him, he will indeed destroy our whole edifice. We’ve spent centuries erecting this structure of law, rites, and practices. People will think for themselves and no longer respect our authority. How to stop him?

Some of our people tried to argue with him. He ran rings around them. Worst of all, the people laughed. They dared to laugh at the young priests even though they were dressed so that nobody could have mistaken who they were. This will ruin us. He appeals to common sense, but how can the thoughts of the herd aspire to understand the unknowable mysteries of the divine? He spoke with familiarity of things that should not be mentioned.

Even the Pharisees are eating out of his hand. They don’t understand how he is undermining the whole foundation of our national identity. What center will there be left if the Temple loses the respect of the people and no longer can command their obedience? What would we have if everyone were expected to do what he thought was right?

If I understood him correctly, he also advocated the destruction of the foundations of our culture. “Women will not need a man to stand for them before God.” I even saw women in the crowd listening to him as if they could possibly understand what he was saying! There was a couple of beggars sitting listening and nodding away as if they understood.

This popularization of our belief is treasonable. Gone will be all the commands and customs with all their intricate requirements. Instead we will be faced with a demand to serve the people. Instead of them serving us, we will be expected to pander to their needs. The people are there for the sake of the Temple, which, in its turn, is there to honor the divine.

If we let this happen, we will lose the lynchpin holding our nation together. We don’t have a king nor are we in command of our own existence. We are at the mercy of Gentiles, who deny our existence as a nation. They allow us to worship in our own way because we make too much trouble if we are stopped. If this Jesus has his way, the heart of who we are will be taken away, and the little identity we have left as a nation will be lost. Jerusalem will become one more city and not the city of the Most High God.

Those Samaritans would like to see that.

I am glad I saw him. Now I understand the danger I have sensed all this time. He is not crazy like so many of the doom-and-gloom club; neither is he using the base instincts of the people, but he is calling them forth in a different way. What was the phrase I heard? “Responsible for their own salvation,” was it? At least he called on those who had understood his rigmarole to take responsibility for their actions before the Almighty. That would not last long. You have to have spiritual control over the population, or else everyone is worshipping as they want. Soon you have every weird abomination of the Gentiles sharing the honors with the God of Israel.

When I think of it, he is much worse than John the Baptizer. I should have gotten rid of Jesus and not him. People would have gotten tired of John’s tirades, but I can see people do not get tired of this man. At one point he looked right at me. We have never met, so he could not have recognized me, but I am sure he knew me. He invited me to understand him. He wanted me to go along with him. I think he knew me as his enemy, but he still invited me. Later on in the morning, I noticed he looked for me again and sought my response once more. I am not imagining this.

Why would he invite me to understand him or to hear what he is saying? I would have thought he would try to hide his agendas; but this morning, when he looked at me, it was as if he was inviting me to see everything, showing me he had no secrets, and what he said was what he meant. So what is he hiding? I think he is like one of those Egyptian magicians: they ask you to watch one hand carefully and then do the trick with the other.

Maybe there are other layers to this. He must know we are capable of getting rid of him. Why is he so open? I refuse to accept this wanderer from Galilee is any kind of Messiah. He has been at it for almost six years. He is here to stay unless we get rid of him. That is the bottom line. Tomorrow, I must put in motion plans to look after the Nazarene.

I need evidence of some kind. Pilate is the only one able to carry out a quick sentence, but to accomplish that, I have to come up with evidence of treason. I have to build my case around his admission he is the Messiah. We’ve got the entry into Jerusalem; that would have to be explained in three-letter words to that fool Pilate, but even he cannot ignore the implications of what was being portrayed. I need more evidence of treason and that he is claiming to be king of Israel. Pilate could never allow any such challenge to Caesar to go unpunished, and there is only one sentence for treason. Not only that, but for such a crime, there is no waiting period. The sentence is carried out immediately unless he is a Roman citizen. There is no appeal or excuse for people like this impostor. That’s what we need, for if we arrest him and hold him for a few days before disposing of him under our system, there would be riots. No, we need Pilate to do the job.

The next thing is when and how. It will have to be at night. There must be no hint of what we are planning. Maybe I will not even tell Caiaphas. If he knew, then half of Jerusalem would know. I must look after this myself.

Next, we get him back here; have a hearing that provides us with public accusation by witnesses that he claims to be the Messiah, king of Israel; and I give him to Caiaphas with instructions to march him off to Pilate. We provide Pilate with the witnesses and the accusation; then he will have to do the rest.

I must stay in the background, for if Pilate got wind that I was involved, he would not go along with it. I like this. I get Caiaphas to front the operation and get Pilate to do the final deed. The Nazarene will be gone, and I will wring my hands over the untimely death of a son of Israel. I like it.

All I need is evidence. I will have to work my contacts tomorrow.

5th Reading: The Last Week In Jerusalem

Annas’ Diary: Annas Meets Jesus.

I met him yesterday. I was just another old man on the edge of the crowd. Nobody seemed to know me. I don’t know whether I am pleased about that or upset that I am now forgotten. What I saw today is alarming and puzzling.

I watched one of our young lawyers take him on. The Nazarene had been expounding on the notion of loving your neighbor. Personally, I think I would have told the impostor that we already had that all laid out for us in the book of Deuteronomy, and we didn’t need help with it, but the lawyer had to go on and on with him about it. Finally he asked, “Who is my neighbor?”

[i]I thought that was a reasonable question because it narrowed the issue down to a specific application or should have done. Instead, that confounded man began to tell the story of some fool who on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho got himself . One of our priests came by and saw the dead man. Quite rightly he avoided any contact with the man and went on his way. A Levite also of the Temple did the same. I could see where this was going. He didn’t mention their need to keep themselves clean for their duties or explain at all why they had to avoid possible contamination by a dead man.

Instead, he introduced a Samaritan who took the victim to an inn, paid for him to be looked after, and even then, said he would be back to check on him. On the face of it, it is a nice story about what the people should do. But no! He has to make it an attack on us. Here we are trying to do our job, and he makes our rules an occasion for ridicule. Worst of all, he all but said out loud that even a Samaritan knew who his neighbor was, and, by inference, we don’t! In other words, even our lawyer didn’t know who his neighbor was and had to ask a question to which even a Samaritan had the answer.

He asked the poor fool of an attorney, “Which of the three saw the man on the ground as his neighbor?” I wanted to scream at the lawyer not to answer, but I couldn’t draw attention to myself.

“The Samaritan,” he mumbled. Could he not see that this Jesus, by inviting his collusion, got him to undermine our authority? Jesus couldn’t have made it worse if he had said that the Samaritans know the law better than we servants of the Temple. Those people all knew what he was saying under cover of that story. At least they laughed as if they understood.

He told the people that the spiritual authority centered on our Temple will be taken away from us. Others will take our place. The intimation is that the Almighty will do all this. Who does he think he is?

My conclusion is that he does not intend to offer us the opportunity of putting down a rebellion. There is nothing that would stand up in court or that would stir the Romans to take action. However, he constantly attacks our credibility and essentially denies our integrity, authority, or function. This can’t go on.

He is building support. All his teaching is down-to-earth so that the riffraff can understand it. I watched the faces of the people. They were not whipped up or angry, rebellious faces but thoughtful. I’ve just put my finger on what is disturbing me. If he was talking civil war, I could handle him; if he was talking civil rebellion, I could deal with that; but teaching the people to think is dangerous indeed. We have to do the thinking for them. What does a crowd in a town square know of the intricacies of our religious duties? I can see that if we don’t put a stop to him, he will indeed destroy our whole edifice. We’ve spent centuries erecting this structure of law, rites, and practices. People will think for themselves and no longer respect our authority. How to stop him?

Some of our people tried to argue with him. He ran rings around them. Worst of all, the people laughed. They dared to laugh at the young priests even though they were dressed so that nobody could have mistaken who they were. This will ruin us. He appeals to common sense, but how can the thoughts of the herd aspire to understand the unknowable mysteries of the divine? He spoke with familiarity of things that should not be mentioned.

Even the Pharisees are eating out of his hand. They don’t understand how he is undermining the whole foundation of our national identity. What center will there be left if the Temple loses the respect of the people and no longer can command their obedience? What would we have if everyone were expected to do what he thought was right?

If I understood him correctly, he also advocated the destruction of the foundations of our culture. “Women will not need a man to stand for them before God.” I even saw women in the crowd listening to him as if they could possibly understand what he was saying! There was a couple of beggars sitting listening and nodding away as if they understood.

This popularization of our belief is treasonable. Gone will be all the commands and customs with all their intricate requirements. Instead we will be faced with a demand to serve the people. Instead of them serving us, we will be expected to pander to their needs. The people are there for the sake of the Temple, which, in its turn, is there to honor the divine.

If we let this happen, we will lose the lynchpin holding our nation together. We don’t have a king nor are we in command of our own existence. We are at the mercy of Gentiles, who deny our existence as a nation. They allow us to worship in our own way because we make too much trouble if we are stopped. If this Jesus has his way, the heart of who we are will be taken away, and the little identity we have left as a nation will be lost. Jerusalem will become one more city and not the city of the Most High God.

Those Samaritans would like to see that.

I am glad I saw him. Now I understand the danger I have sensed all this time. He is not crazy like so many of the doom-and-gloom club; neither is he using the base instincts of the people, but he is calling them forth in a different way. What was the phrase I heard? “Responsible for their own salvation,” was it? At least he called on those who had understood his rigmarole to take responsibility for their actions before the Almighty. That would not last long. You have to have spiritual control over the population, or else everyone is worshipping as they want. Soon you have every weird abomination of the Gentiles sharing the honors with the God of Israel.

When I think of it, he is much worse than John the Baptizer. I should have gotten rid of Jesus and not him. People would have gotten tired of John’s tirades, but I can see people do not get tired of this man. At one point he looked right at me. We have never met, so he could not have recognized me, but I am sure he knew me. He invited me to understand him. He wanted me to go along with him. I think he knew me as his enemy, but he still invited me. Later on in the morning, I noticed he looked for me again and sought my response once more. I am not imagining this.

Why would he invite me to understand him or to hear what he is saying? I would have thought he would try to hide his agendas; but this morning, when he looked at me, it was as if he was inviting me to see everything, showing me he had no secrets, and what he said was what he meant. So what is he hiding? I think he is like one of those Egyptian magicians: they ask you to watch one hand carefully and then do the trick with the other.

Maybe there are other layers to this. He must know we are capable of getting rid of him. Why is he so open? I refuse to accept this wanderer from Galilee is any kind of Messiah. He has been at it for almost six years. He is here to stay unless we get rid of him. That is the bottom line. Tomorrow, I must put in motion plans to look after the Nazarene.

I need evidence of some kind. Pilate is the only one able to carry out a quick sentence, but to accomplish that, I have to come up with evidence of treason. I have to build my case around his admission he is the Messiah. We’ve got the entry into Jerusalem; that would have to be explained in three-letter words to that fool Pilate, but even he cannot ignore the implications of what was being portrayed. I need more evidence of treason and that he is claiming to be king of Israel. Pilate could never allow any such challenge to Caesar to go unpunished, and there is only one sentence for treason. Not only that, but for such a crime, there is no waiting period. The sentence is carried out immediately unless he is a Roman citizen. There is no appeal or excuse for people like this impostor. That’s what we need, for if we arrest him and hold him for a few days before disposing of him under our system, there would be riots. No, we need Pilate to do the job.

The next thing is when and how. It will have to be at night. There must be no hint of what we are planning. Maybe I will not even tell Caiaphas. If he knew, then half of Jerusalem would know. I must look after this myself.

Next, we get him back here; have a hearing that provides us with public accusation by witnesses that he claims to be the Messiah, king of Israel; and I give him to Caiaphas with instructions to march him off to Pilate. We provide Pilate with the witnesses and the accusation; then he will have to do the rest.

I must stay in the background, for if Pilate got wind that I was involved, he would not go along with it. I like this. I get Caiaphas to front the operation and get Pilate to do the final deed. The Nazarene will be gone, and I will wring my hands over the untimely death of a son of Israel. I like it.

All I need is evidence. I will have to work my contacts tomorrow.

[i] Luke 10:29-37 Parable of the Good Samaritan

Chapter 18

5th Lenten Reading: The Last Week in Jerusalem.

Chapter 17

Teaching in the Temple

The second morning we were back in Jerusalem, Jesus led us into the Temple precincts, and we settled in our familiar corner. Within minutes a small crowd had gathered, and a typical interchange began. People asked questions, and Jesus carefully and respectfully taught from these openings. An hour went by, and more stopped to listen, then to sit and take part.

Into this familiar and warm meeting of minds intruded a file of clergy. By their dress they appeared to be Temple Sadducees. I trouble, for they were not there to listen and learn. There was a lull in the conversation as they picked their way through the crowd and halted in front of Jesus. In the silence that followed, looks were exchanged between the clergy, as if to signal their leader to take the planned action.

[i]Their leader stepped forward and began, “Rabbi, we have heard you teach that there is a resurrection of the dead, and we would like to ask you to clarify just how the resurrection works.”

Jesus settled back against the wall and nodded. He looked from one to the other, and I noticed a very faint smile of anticipation flicker across his face. “I am sure you do have questions. What is your particular concern?”

The leader took a deep breath, looked at his compatriots, and began, “There was a man who had seven brothers. He was married but had no children. He died, and as is our custom and law, his brother married the widow to raise up children to his brother. He also died before there were children, and so the next brother married her. Each brother died in turn. Finally, after marrying all seven brothers, the woman also died. Our question is, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be?”

The young priest looked around at his friends with barely disguised glee. They all smiled in at Jesus’ humiliation. They should have known better.

Jesus said, “At the resurrection, she will be nobody’s wife. There will be no marriages. Women will stand before God on their own account. They will not need husbands or other relatives as mediators before our Heavenly Father.”

There was silence all around as the assertion sank in; then there was a hubbub of conversation as the significance of this became obvious. One of the young Sadducees started to ask a question, but Jesus silenced him with a slow shake of his head, saying, “Women will not need men to intercede for them. Sinners will not need you priests to intercede for them, nor will the people need you to declare them clean. They will all stand before the Almighty in their own right and not need your help.

“Everyone who understands this and takes their freedom in their own hands will be free. If anyone hears my voice and understands what I am saying, and lets it be so for them, that person will appear before our Heavenly Father on their own account, whether they are man or woman, sinner or righteous, rich or poor.” Then turning back to the file of clergy he continued, “Your sacrifices and precious rituals are not needed anymore.”

Incredulity darkened the priests’ faces at the full import of Jesus’ words. One of them strode purposely off toward the Temple offices. The rest, nonplussed, made their way through the crowd to its periphery. Smiles and gibes by people in the crowd grew to general laughter and derision at their discomfort.

[ii]Jesus sat surrounded by people. He said, “There was a man who built a vineyard from scratch—walls, terraces, tower, and wine press—then planted it with vines. He let it out to a company of men who would look after the vines, harvest the grapes, make the wine, and give him a fair return on his investment. Everything went fine until the third year when there was a good harvest. His servant returned empty-handed and reported a bunch of excuses from the company tenants for not making any payment. So the owner sent two others. They came back, having been beaten up. This went on for a while, and so finally he sent his son, thinking they would listen to him.

“The tenants said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him. Then we will inherit the place.’

“Any one of you can predict what the owner of the vineyard would do. He took a squad of his men, cleaned out that nest of dishonest and violent tenants, and found someone else whom he could trust to take over the lease.”

The Sadducees, who had withdrawn to the edge of the crowd, said, “He is talking about us. The Almighty would never take the Temple away from us. He cannot mean us. Surely not!”

Jesus said, “Yes, I am talking about you. You’ve heard the expression, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, that stone on which all else is aligned and leveled.’ Well, you’re looking at the new cornerstone.” With this Jesus spread his arms. The faces of the remaining Sadducees darkened with outrage and anger. The young clergy pulled away from the crowd and walked purposely towards the offices of the Temple. They disappeared one by one into the shadowed doorway of their hostel.

A couple of hours later, a delegation of Pharisees assembled before Jesus. Our friend Nicodemus was among them. I think they had heard about the rout of the Sadducees, and now they came with their own concerns. The senior of them made three attempts to get started and, finally, as if with an apology, asked, [iii]“Rabbi, we have this problem regarding taxes. We have to handle Roman money, and we have to collect the taxes for them. Our people are asked to acknowledge the over lordship of Caesar. The Romans even talk of Caesar as if he is a god, and they would love it if we would sacrifice to him as they do. We cannot and will not do that, but should we even be paying taxes to Caesar, especially with their idolatrous images on the coinage?”

There was silence in the crowd as everyone considered the possibilities and consequences. Jesus finally spoke, “Anyone have a denarius? Thank you. Now tell me, whose head is this on the coin? Yes, that’s right. It’s Caesar’s head. What I tell you and tell everyone, ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is his.’”

Nicodemus stood there with a big smile, as if to say, “I told you so.” The rest took a moment to digest the idea, then, one after the other, began to smile. Finally the old Pharisee who had been their spokesman said in relief, “That is very good. You’ve spoken well.”

The people in the crowd turned to each other and exchanged comments. A noisy hubbub arose, and the tension among the people diminished. There were smiles and nods. They understood.

However, noticeable among them were some individuals who were clearly upset at the idea of giving anything to Caesar. A knot of men looked anything but pleased. One of them asked when the Messiah would come and lead everyone in to the war that would bring this age to completion and introduce a new kingdom.

Jesus said, “Listen, you go on looking for that day, and it will come. I told my disciples this yesterday. Look around you, and all that you see will be thrown down because of the stupidity and hardness of heart of religious bigots. There are those among you who will see it. When that day comes, you don’t want to hang around. Leave! There are those among you who long for that day. Give it up. Those who want war will bring it upon themselves. There will be such suffering that it will be worse than when the Babylonians destroyed the city. There will not be a stone left on another.

[iv]“There is no Messiah coming that will lead you in battle. There is no day of reckoning for the other nations. There is only the hardness of heart of those who would lead our nation into temptation, into suffering and destruction. The kingdom of God is not of this world. How many more ways do I have to say it? Violent and dogmatic men will try to wrest the kingdom of God out of your hands. There are people like the Essenes who have already drawn up the battle lines for the wars they fondly imagine will usher in their ideas. There are plenty of other hotheaded young men just waiting for the excuse to pick up stones and begin the violence. It’s no good talking to them, for they hear but will not listen. The Essenes in particular read the prophets and use them to buttress their own desires. They think that if they make a big enough mess, God will justify them and come to their aid. God will not! Listen to the prophet Amos. ‘You want the day of the Lord? Well, you will get it, but it will be a day of darkness, of deep darkness and not light.’ I beg you, put these hopes far from you.”

The knot of men began to withdraw, pushing their way silently through the crowd. Jesus glanced in their direction and sorrowfully shook his head. “How often do you think your Heavenly Father has sought to bring you home to himself? Always some stiff-necked religious zealot leads everyone in the opposite direction. When someone comes claiming he is the Messiah, don’t believe him. If someone says the Messiah is in the house or over there, don’t believe it. Many will come who think they are the Messiah, and they will try to convince everyone else that they are. Don’t follow them!”

Later that night we withdrew to Bethany. I alone accompanied Jesus as he went out onto the dark hillside for his usual meditation time. He said to me, “You know, John, people don’t want war. They don’t want rebellion. Did you see how those crowds reacted today as I responded to the Pharisees’ question? These people have suffered enough. Our people have suffered enough. The people don’t care whether they have to handle Roman coins. I doubt whether many of them would mind taking some oath of loyalty to Caesar. What matters to them is that they have peace and can see their children grow up.

“The real enemies are those who want to ignite the passions of our people and then manipulate them. The crowds are easily frightened, angered, and led to take actions that cannot be undone. The consequences pile on consequences until circumstances crush the people once more.

“Within your lifetime, all that”—and he waved his hand toward the Temple silhouetted on the horizon—“will be swept away. There are ideologues and intemperate people who think they know how everything should be, and they will lead the people into suffering the consequences of their stupidity.

“Oh, John, I am crushed by what I see coming. I am their one chance for peace and a new beginning, but they will not listen. The various leaders and factions will bring upon themselves destruction and suffering worse than anything Israel has seen before.

“As for me, I must be eliminated. I told you my death was necessary. Now you can see how their rejection of me is a demonstration of the blindness that afflicts these people. They will not listen! I cannot be different than I am. Like the waves battering a headland, these various contingents of religious ideologues are going to try to overwhelm me. They will, for a moment; but like the rock emerging from the waves, I will rise once again.”

Silence gathered in the darkness, and I looked out over the Kidron Valley toward Jerusalem, which sprawled over that historic mountain. Beside me Jesus muttered, “I am the cornerstone they will stumble over, the rocky headland that breaks the waves into wild spray. I am the light, I am truth, and I am like the paschal lamb of Passover—my blood marking the gateway to freedom, the doorway out of this perpetual nightmare people are forced to re-live over and over.”

“But—” I began.

“No buts, John! Yes, they will kill me, but I will be back. They will kill many who follow in my footsteps down the years, but all those will be mine too; they will be mine forever. Now I must pray. Sit here and watch for me.”

With that he turned away, found a flat space between some rocks, knelt and began his nightly prayers.

****

So this was what Annas saw when he met Jesus! In Annas’ diary these encounters that I remember so well were witnessed by Annas. If he had had doubts about Jesus’ intent before, then he could not have any after hanging about on the edges of the crowd around Jesus. I turned the page and read on. I smiled to myself at the memories of Jesus running rings around those sent to argue against him.

[i] Matthew 22:23 -33, Mark 12:18-27 and Luke 20:27-41. The Sadducees ask Jesus about the resurrection.

[ii] Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12 and Luke 20:9-19 Parable of the Vineyard.

[iii] Matthew 22:15-22, Mark 12:13-17 and Luke 20:20-28 Paying taxes to Caesar

[iv] Matthew 24:4-8, Mark 13:5-8 and Luke 21:8-11.  Warning about hoping for war and rebellion.