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CHAPTER 1

The Politics Jesus Knew

ISRAEL'S PLACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST IN 1ST CENTURY AD

The Israel in which Jesus lived and ministered was a far cry from the conquering nation that cut a wide swath through Canaan under the military leadership of Joshua. Likewise, the golden years of Israel's monarchy — the reigns of David and Solomon — were but a page from history in Jesus's day.

In 587 BC, the Babylonians, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, laid waste to Jerusalem and destroyed the magnificent temple that Solomon had built. Nebuchadnezzar's army exiled the people of Israel to Babylon.

That defeat proved to be pivotal for Israel. After the Babylonian captivity ended around 538 BC, a succession of empires assumed control. The Persians ruled the land until 333 BC, when the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, conquered it. The descendents of Alexander fought over regional control and were relatively benign conquerors. At times, Jews were allowed to rule their own affairs.

Jewish self-rule ended in 63 BC, when the Roman general Pompey conquered Israel and absorbed the land of Palestine into the Roman Empire. Rome appointed its own rulers over Israel and maintained a pervasive military presence in the region to discourage rebellion.

Despite the Romans' oppressive presence in Israel, the Roman government gave the local Jewish leaders limited freedom to work out their own religious disputes and affairs. Some Jewish people looked to the priests and teachers of the Law for guidance not only in religious matters, but in social, legal, and political matters as well.

In order to maintain their political position, the Jewish leaders had to strike a delicate balance. Some felt they had to cooperate with Roman authorities without giving the appearance of cooperation. Others wanted to fight. Still others abhorred Rome but were looking for a solution that didn't involve physical conflict. The leaders of Israel often compromised the best interests of Israel to ensure the peace that the Romans required of their conquered territories.

Rome's demand for compliance put pressure on local rulers to keep a close watch on Jesus and his followers. Different factions tried to prevent any social movement that could get out of control (and would also threaten local balance among religious leaders). The leaders all struggled with how to appease Rome, and they drew the line in various places. It was a power struggle where the goal, for many, was to keep their own power.

Eli snaked his way through the crowd gathered in the courtyard of a house in the village of Bethany. The house was small compared to others in which Eli had heard Jesus speak. Two doors were cut into the mudbrick walls of the courtyard. One led to a storage area for tools and equipment; the other led to a larger storage area for animals.

Eli kept his arms folded into his chest as he moved through the assembled throng. He knew from past experience that many of the people who gathered outside Jesus's teaching engagements did not come only to hear him speak. Many came to be healed of all manner of ... afflictions. Eli shuddered. The realization that he might be pushing past someone who was possessed by a demon or suffering from a blood disorder caused him to pull his arms more tightly to his body.

He climbed seven steep stairs to a landing. The door at the top of the stairs was blocked by a group of men jostling for position. Eli opted for a less-populated spot near a window just to the left of the men. Unfortunately, Jesus and his disciples were on the opposite side of the room. Eli could see everything that was happening, but he couldn't hear anything but murmurs.

He grabbed the windowsill, squeezed his body against the wall, and turned his ear to the opening, hoping to hear more. "Whose house is this?" he whispered to the man next to him.

"Jesus is staying at the home of Simon," the man replied, "the leper who was cured by his power."

Eli immediately let go of the sill and took a step back from the house. "A leper!" he exclaimed in disgust. He held his hands out as if they had been contaminated. The disease itself was bad enough. Even worse, though, was the ritual impurity it created, forcing isolation from friends, family, and public worship. It was a loathsome condition that generated fear in many Jews.

"Do not concern yourself," the man replied. "Simon has been made clean by Jesus." The man placed his own hand on the wall to demonstrate his point.

Eli regarded him warily and then turned his attention back to the house. Inside, nearly two dozen people filled the small central living area. The interior was dark. Several oil lamps, strategically positioned throughout the room, cast odd-angled shadows on all four walls. The sunlight that filtered through the windows was obscured by the figures of those, like Eli, who crowded into their openings.

The feast was over, though a few people were still reclining at the table. Others were milling about, talking with one another and with some of Jesus's disciples. The rest were gathered around the teacher from Nazareth — or so Eli assumed. From his vantage point, he couldn't actually see Jesus in their midst.

He noticed that several people in the room were pointing to and staring at a man who stood near two women.

"How healthy Lazarus looks for one who spent four days in the tomb," the man next to Eli said.

Lazarus.

Eli turned and scanned the crowd in the courtyard, looking for two men who would be doing their best to remain inconspicuous. He did not see them.

They will be near the front door.

Before he left the window, a movement inside the house caught his eye. The crowd parted and Eli could see Jesus seated near the table. One of the women who had been talking with the disciples picked up a large jar and approached Jesus. She knelt before the teacher and poured the jar's oily contents over his feet. A wave of excitement rolled through the room as the smell of perfume — very expensive perfume, Eli noted — filled the air.

One of the disciples — the treasurer, the one known as Judas Iscariot — stepped forward. With forceful gestures, he pointed to the woman and then to the empty jar. His voice was lost in the din, but his displeasure was definitely not. The woman kept her back to Eli. Still on her knees, she was using her long hair to wipe the oil from Jesus's feet.

Jesus held up his hand to calm his outraged disciple. He gestured toward the woman in a way that, even from a distance, left no doubt as to his approval of her. The rebuked disciple stormed from the house.

Eli gave a moment's thought to going after him, but he had a more pressing matter to attend to — one that he would surely have to explain later. He left the window and hurried through the crowd to the front door, where some of the guests were starting to emerge. Lazarus was not yet one of them.

Eli spotted the two men he sought standing in the street, facing Simon's house. The crowd had parted in such a way that the guests leaving the feast had to walk past the men. Eli joined the line of people filing out of the house.

Ahead of him, the two men shifted their stance and stared intently at the departing guests. Each one had slipped his right hand inside his cloak, at chest level, and held it there. Eli carefully approached the men.

They failed to notice him at first, focused as they were on Simon's front door. A quick wave of his hand finally caught their attention. Their eyes went wide when they recognized Eli — so wide, in fact, that he felt compelled to look around to see if anyone else had noticed. He glanced back at the men, gestured to their concealed hands, and then shook his head once in a deliberately exaggerated movement.

The two men looked at each other and then back at Eli. He met their confused glances with another shake of his head — a confirmation of his previous gesture. The men removed their hands from their cloaks. Sunlight briefly glinted off the handle of a concealed weapon as one of the men pulled his outer garment closed again.

Muttering their frustration, the two men walked away quickly, pausing to look back only when shouts of "Lazarus! Lazarus!" erupted from the crowd. The brother of Mary and Martha — the second most popular person in Bethany that day — returned to his home unharmed, without an inkling of how close he had come to death a second time.

Eli stopped a couple who were walking away from Simon's house. "Did the teacher reveal where he plans to go after he leaves Bethany?" The woman smiled broadly. "Last night two of his disciples were guests in our home. During the evening meal they told us —" Eli fixed the woman with a cold glare that stopped her in midsentence. Her smile vanished and she took a step backward.

"His disciples revealed to us that Jesus will depart for Jerusalem tomorrow," her husband continued as he stepped in front of her. He was clearly more intimidated than his wife by this interrogation from a stranger. His cheeks and forehead burned bright red as he cast his eyes downward. Eli shook his head and brushed past the two of them.

The walk to Jerusalem — a distance of less than two miles — exceeded the limits of a Sabbath's journey. According to the oral traditions of the Pharisees, Eli was forbidden to make the trip until morning. He stayed with his companions in Bethany another night.

A morning haze burned off quickly as Eli made his way down the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. Near the village of Bethpage, he saw two men emerge from a house near the road. They stood for a moment, discussing something. One of the men pointed toward Jerusalem. The other shrugged his shoulders. They turned in unison and began walking in Eli's direction — back toward Bethany. They did not hurry, but there was a purpose in their gait.

As they drew closer, Eli recognized them as two of Jesus's disciples. He could not recall either man's name.

"Peace be with you!" he called out. If either man returned his greeting, Eli did not hear him. The breach of etiquette bothered him but did not deter him. "I see you are out early this morning, diligently working on behalf of the teacher we all follow."

The two men slowed their pace but did not stop as they approached him. "Are we not always doing the work of our teacher?" one of them replied.

"Indeed!" Eli agreed with a vigorous nod. "Indeed we are. May I assist you in preparing for the teacher's journey to Jerusalem today?"

Eli hid a smile with the back of his hand as the disciples exchanged glances. He wondered if these were the two men who had stayed with the couple in Bethany.

"The arrangements for Jesus's journey have already been made," the taller of the two replied. "We require no further assistance." His tone was cordial but firm, so Eli bade the men farewell and continued on his way. He had other ways of gathering information for his associates.

As Eli neared the house from which they had come, he glanced over his shoulder. Jesus's disciples had disappeared around a bend on their way back to Bethany. He took a deep breath and approached the door.

"Peace be with everyone who dwells within these walls!" he called.

The door opened and an old man limped out. He leaned heavily on a carved staff as he walked. "Peace be with you, young man," he replied.

"Sir, I have been sent to your home by my master, the teacher — Jesus of Nazareth," Eli explained.

"What more does your master require of me?" the man asked. He did not try to disguise the annoyance in his voice.

Eli waved his hands and shook his head. "No, no," he insisted. "He asks nothing more of you. I am here because the servants he sent to your door have proved untrustworthy. The teacher has sent me to make certain that his requests have been clearly stated and granted."

"They have," the old man told him. He raised his staff and pointed it at Eli. "Now you tell me: Will your master prove himself to be trustworthy? Will he swear to me that my donkey will be returned after it has carried him to Jerusalem?"

"A donkey?"

Eli nodded. Caiaphas, the high priest of Israel, considered Eli's words for a moment. Then he, too, nodded slowly, as did a dozen other priests, scribes, and elders who had quickly assembled in the large reception area of Caiaphas's palace to hear Eli's report. The significance — the audacity — of the image of a donkey was not lost on anyone as familiar as they were with the prophecy of Zechariah. The general population might not be educated enough to associate a donkey with the anticipated arrival of the Messiah, but this group certainly was.

"After calling Lazarus from the tomb, does he now presume himself a king?" one priest asked.

"The whole world is running after him!" another noted.

"Long have we endured the blasphemies of this man," Caiaphas said. "For almost three years have we witnessed his callous disregard for the oral traditions of our people."

"For three years have we been made to look foolish by his parables and teachings," a scribe added.

"Yet now his own pride and lust for power makes itself known," Caiaphas continued. "We must devise a plan that will make the Romans take notice and quiet his opposition to our leadership."

"So it shall be left to ... the Romans to do what the Law requires — to put this blasphemer to death?" one the elders asked.

"How long must we be forced to live with these brutal leaders?" another priest muttered.

"The day will come when we will be freed from their tyranny," Caiaphas replied. "Until that time, even brutal leaders can be made useful. They may rid us of an insidious enemy."

Eli gazed at the faces of the men gathered in the room — among them the most powerful Jewish leaders in all of Israel. A surge of pride swelled within him. They had gathered here because of news that he had delivered ... news acquired through stealth and subterfuge. Modesty did not prevent him from believing that one day these men would regard him as an equal.

His moment of triumph was short-lived.

"And now you must answer for your actions in Bethany last night," Caiaphas said. The chief priest had spoken with his back turned to Eli. For a moment Eli wondered if the chief priest's words could have been directed at him. When everyone else turned to look at him, his suspicion was confirmed.

"Our servants informed us that you brought attention to them and prevented them from carrying out their assigned task as Lazarus left the house."

Eli held his ground. "Forgive me, Caiaphas, but those servants were sent to kill a man who had been brought back to life once already. What if Jesus had ..." Eli stopped before he said, " ... raised him a second time." He realized his thoughtless words gave the Nazarene too much credit. But it was already too late. Caiaphas thundered, "They were sent to kill a man who claimed to have been raised from the dead! What reason had you to interfere with his just punishment? As long as Lazarus is walking around, he persuades gullible people that this Jesus is someone who can challenge our authority!"

Eli closed his eyes and held up one hand. "The intent of my words was clear," he insisted. "We must be careful. We can't risk giving this blasphemer any more opportunities to make us look weak and foolish."

Caiaphas paced at the edge of the room. He stared out the window at the upper courtyard, where the remnants of a bonfire still smoldered. After several moments of contemplation, he stood next to Eli and addressed the group of men. "Our young priest does not yet understand the importance of speaking precisely. However, in this matter he has shown wisdom. We no longer need to provoke this blasphemer from Nazareth. He will deliver himself into our hands with his words and deeds. Soon all of Jerusalem will know of his blasphemy. We need only to continue to keep a close watch on this man who has escaped our traps for three years."

The high priest placed his hand on Eli's shoulder. "Jesus of Nazareth will soon give us just cause to act. And when he does, we will act swiftly. The teacher will be in our hands before his followers realize he has been taken from them."

"How soon does this man plan to make his entrance into Jerusalem?" one of the other priests asked.

The roar of a crowd near the eastern gate of the city answered his question.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The World Jesus Knew"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Museum Of The Bible, Inc..
Excerpted by permission of Worthy Publishing Group.
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